"I’m of the fallen leaves"

June 25, 2019 4:42 PM

A collaborative short story based on this prompt:

Temples are built for gods. Knowing this a farmer builds a small temple to see what kind of god turns up.

posted by Johnny Wallflower (18 comments total)

h/t zarq
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 4:43 PM on June 25, 2019 [1 favorite]

Here I am, at work, pretending there's something in my eye...
posted by Anonymous Function at 4:59 PM on June 25, 2019 [5 favorites]

Arepo the sower features in one of the oldest palindrome phrases.
posted by domo at 4:59 PM on June 25, 2019 [13 favorites]

as is so often the case with religious texts, the final author tied a bit too much of a bow on it
posted by prize bull octorok at 5:11 PM on June 25, 2019 [10 favorites]

The prompt reminds me of this news story:

Stevenson isn’t religious at all. But his wife bought a Buddha at a local Ace Hardware store, and inspiration struck. They thought the statue might shift the energy in the neighborhood.

Stevenson epoxied the Buddha to a rock on the corner to ward off potential vandals. “I would have stuck Christ up there if he would have kept the mattresses off,” he says. “I don’t care who’s doing it."

Once the Buddha went up, the trash dumpings slowed down. And after a year, other stuff began to show up: flowers, oranges, small coins — and even people.

posted by sallybrown at 6:12 PM on June 25, 2019 [28 favorites]

Lovely sentiment. A beautiful tale. A religion based on the margins.
posted by Oyéah at 6:24 PM on June 25, 2019 [1 favorite]

Oh, I read this one on tumblr a while ago and loved it. If you liked this notion of gods, you might like Ann Leckie's The Raven Tower too. Though I suppose the Strength and Patience of the Hill isn't quite so kind as Arepo's god.
posted by yasaman at 9:17 PM on June 25, 2019 [1 favorite]

Beautiful.
posted by darkstar at 9:32 PM on June 25, 2019

Beautiful story and thanks to domo's link, I found some fascinating reading on the Sator Square.
posted by entropyiswinning at 10:20 PM on June 25, 2019

That was lovely.
posted by Mchelly at 5:50 AM on June 26, 2019

How was this done, technically? Did different Tumblr users each post their own contribution on their individual sites, and it was pulled together for another?
posted by doctornemo at 6:45 AM on June 26, 2019

Lovely. Appreciate you sharing this with us.

I have recently been more cognizant of my natural surroundings. I walk in a space that is a boundary between a marsh and a forest. That particular language in the piece struck me.
posted by zerobyproxy at 7:12 AM on June 26, 2019

How was this done, technically?

Tumblr works through reblogs. So the original post was the writing prompt itself, which sadouphemist reblogged while adding the first part of the story. Tumblr user ciiriianan reblogged that post, and added the second part. Tumblr user stu-pot reblogged ciiriianan's addition (which still includes the other parts as part of the reblog chain), adding the third part.
posted by yasaman at 7:20 AM on June 26, 2019 [2 favorites]

I really liked the first part, I was tearing up a little in the end. Didn't know loyalty to a minor-god was so touching for me, but there it is. The second and third parts felt like unnecessary fanfic epilogues, ones that almost seem to be fansplaining why the original story was touching. The first part could stand alone, possibly even translate into a video short. Or I could even see it as an episode opener for American Gods. I really enjoy more personal gods, where prayers, belief, and offerings seem to directly matter to the gods, like gods are beings that have needs and hungers like us. The Christianity I was brought up with talks a lot about God or Jesus always being there or like personal deities who watch and care over you specifically, but the gestalt of it always felt like God away in his Heaven until further notice.
posted by GoblinHoney at 8:09 AM on June 26, 2019 [6 favorites]

I like the idea of the gods of small things and hidden spaces and ephemeral beauty and also narratives of strange sideways politics of gods. Max Gladstone's exploration of gods in the Craft series has some of that feel, as does N.K. Jemisin's Inheritance Trilogy. Pratchett has an irreverent take on it throughout his Discworld (Anoia, Goddess of Things That Get Stuck in Drawers!) There's a different flavor of it in Lois McMaster Bujold's World of the Five Gods series and also in Megan Whalen Turner's the Queen's Thief series. This was a lovely touch of it, much like finding a bit of divinity in an unnoticed space.
posted by carrioncomfort at 9:28 AM on June 26, 2019 [6 favorites]

@carrioncomfort - Don't forget the entirety of Small Gods, as well, which explores in detail the idea of what worship means to a god, what impact it has on the god's power, and much more.
posted by caphector at 12:57 PM on June 26, 2019 [3 favorites]

that was lovely
posted by numaner at 2:08 PM on June 26, 2019

Thank you, yasaman .
I guess threefelines edited out the reblog formatting for the final version.
posted by doctornemo at 9:41 AM on June 27, 2019