Our Lady of Fandom, Thursday

[scruffnfeathers]

It was Thursday again, which meant Castiel was behind the pulpit. He seemed especially interested this week in keeping an ear tuned to the choir -- apparently he'd finally gotten over finding himself involuntarily singing for his first sermon.

When it came time for him to speak, he remained silent for a long moment, looking over the congregation with his usual blank, but slightly curious expression, his hands resting lightly on either side of the stand where he had a distinct lack of laptop, bible, or notes of any kind.

"Music is an interesting thing, isn't it?" he said finally. "Ethereal and intangible, created purely for one's auditory senses. It exists, as so few things do, only in the very moment of its creation, every note born in the 'attack', lasting only a moment or two, then fading off in the 'decay'. The note can be solitary, plaintive against the darkness of silence, or one of many, a parade of aural soldiers marching to fill an empty world. Music can be soothing or jarring, smooth or staccato, poetic or vulgar or anything in between. However it is played, whether live performance or reproduced on plastic or in electrical impulses, it is that which simply is until it isn't until it is again."

He was clearly quite pleased with these thoughts on music. Then his expression turned, if not actually dour, then at least more serious.

"There are those that would claim some music to be the work of the devil, leading man down the path of evil. While forces of power, such as angels and demons, may and certainly do make use of music -- 'hark, the herald angels sing', while perhaps a little excessively florid, is not a fabrication -- it is only through human voices, those of our vessels, that we may create voices that you can even hear without worrying about your eardrums exploding. And the majority of demons, and most certainly the devil himself, have other things to do rather than possess heavy metal bands. And finally, while there certainly no denying that words have power, influencing people through popular entertainment is actually far more subtle than most demons tend to be. A demon wishing to use rock music would be far more likely to, say, promise to grant a musician great fame and ability in return for his soul, or perhaps create exploding compact disc players, than simply try and tell you what to do in lyrical form.

"And so I would urge you, each of you, to find time to spend with music this week. The format of the music, and the way it's created, doesn't matter. Music, like man, is free to follow what style it likes. And music, like man, is a fleeting, momentary thing, that somehow, despite its apparent insignificance, manages to do great things."

[ooc: and here comes the minor OCD is up. Watch out, I've reversed some of the threads. . . .]

Comments

Talk to Castiel

[scruffnfeathers]

Tell him all about your favorite band! Or all about how music totally really is a tool of the devil, you know 'cause the Charlie Daniel's Band told you. . . .

Re: Talk to Castiel

[rocksthescarf.livejournal.com]

"Do you just randomly pick a topic while you're staring at us at the beginning or do you actually plan these things out?" Chuck asked. Music was something he totally wasn't expecting to hear about.

Re: Talk to Castiel

[scruffnfeathers]

"Depends on how quickly my mun realizes it's Thursday," said Castiel. "She's a little absent minded sometimes."

"I generally find myself inspired by the events of each week. For instance, yesterday I visited the island's recorded music store."

Re: Talk to Castiel

[rocksthescarf.livejournal.com]

"Ah. That explains it," Chuck said. "Also kind of makes me sad that we don't have a whorehouse around here for you to visit anymore."

Re: Talk to Castiel

[scruffnfeathers]

"Why do you want me to go to a brothel?"

Re: Talk to Castiel

[rocksthescarf.livejournal.com]

"It would be interesting to see what kind of sermon you'd come up with after that," Chuck said. There was also the fact that it would be hilarious to see.

Re: Talk to Castiel

[living_endless]

"'That which simply is until it isn't until it is again,'" Didi repeated, looking faintly bemused. "Seems like it should describe a lot of things that aren't music."

In truth, while she'd enjoyed the sermon, she was mostly there because she was curious about the angel.

Re: Talk to Castiel

[scruffnfeathers]

Castiel nodded. "I rather agree. Humanity, especially."

Re: Talk to Castiel

[living_endless]

"They only get a little bit of time, but a lot of them are just amazing," Didi said. "I always like watching how it turns out."

She was speaking as Death, now, not as a 16-year-old. Not that she wasn't both.

Re: Talk to Castiel

[scruffnfeathers]

Castiel nodded, a little bit surprised to encounter a young woman with such perspective. "Indeed. Though I haven't had much opportunity to be present for the last two thousand years, I have on occasion found time to observe. The creatures of this earth are wonders."

Re: Talk to Castiel

[living_endless]

"Every single one of them," Didi said fondly. "I'm sorry you missed the last two thousand years. There's recorded music and way better food now."

Re: Talk to Castiel

[suit-of-sables.livejournal.com]

When in doubt, the church is the last place you go.

That's why Geoffrey ended up there, looking around for--

"You."

Re: Talk to Castiel

[scruffnfeathers]

Castiel turned from where he'd been examining one of the stained glass windows.

"May I help you?"

Re: Talk to Castiel

[suit-of-sables.livejournal.com]

"Yes," and Geoffrey stepped forward, almost like a man possessed.

"I need your help. I need... are you any good with memorization?"

Re: Talk to Castiel

[scruffnfeathers]

Castiel resisted the urge to step back and looked at Geoffrey cautiously. "I have an excellent memory, yes."

Don't talk to Castiel

[scruffnfeathers]

He won't hold it against you. He's just glad you came.

Not like that you sicko. He's not glad of that. Mildred would get mad about having to clean that up.

Re: Don't talk to Castiel

[bitchprince]

... And so Castiel returned to the kind of sermons that made Arthur's brain curl up in a funny way. Which didn't mean he wasn't there, sitting neatly in the pews as always, but it did mean that he was very much put off today.

What?

Re: Don't talk to Castiel

[thatsamilkshake]

Oh Francine. Never, ever assume Arthur is confused for the same reasons you are confused. Not that he isn't, sometimes, but it's never a good foot to start off on.

"Um. That made sense. Who is that and what has he done with our angel?"

Re: Don't talk to Castiel

[bitchprince]

Arthur was about to open his mouth and agree with that, when the lack of a preposition struck him straight across the forehead. "...That made sense?" he repeated, incredulously. "That made about as much sense as a herd of purple cows nestling in a snake's armpit."

Re: Don't talk to Castiel

[thatsamilkshake]

"...Snakes don't have arms."

Congratulations, Fandom, you've successfully removed 'purple cows' from the list of things people bat an eye at.

Re: Don't talk to Castiel

[rocksthescarf.livejournal.com]

Chuck came but not in the dirty way. He didn't like music quite that much, thank you.

Re: Don't talk to Castiel

[thatsamilkshake]

Francine found herself staring at the angel, not in confusion as she usually did, but in a sudden mistrust that she'd actually made it back to the right universe after all, because she kind of ...understood what he'd said.

Whoa.

OOC

[scruffnfeathers]

Fun with completely last minute ideas about sermons. I got a few thinky thoughts from the DVD extras I spent all last night watching (there's a wonderful deleted scene bit for Cass, especially), but they are not fully formed enough yet to get actual posts out of.

Re: OOC

[thatsamilkshake]

TRICKSY, TRICKSY THREAD-REVERSING THING!

Re: OOC

[scruffnfeathers]

IT TOTALLY MAKES MORE SENSE READING IT THAT WAY!