#making her into an antagonist. a villain. someone who brings fear and pain and sorrow.

[moe-broey]

Hello are we being mentally ill about Triandra? Because it bothers me so much that she never got to interact with Sharena who is possibly her sister living the happy fulfilled life she always wanted for her except she doesn’t remeber her and everything they went through and themself KDJ (I am mentally ill about No Sharena in the tempest trial)

YEAH. YEAH.

ALSO AAAUGHGHGHGHHHHHHH I. KNEW I SHOULDN'T HAVE GOTTEN MY HOPES UP FOR THE TT EVENT I KNEW I SHOULDN'T HAVE GOTTEN MY HOPES UP FOR SECOND SUMMER BANNER I SHOULD HAVE FUCKING KNOWN‼️‼️‼️‼️Like newgirl is CUTE design-wise but as soon as I fucking saw her I fucking knew. Oh we're Not getting anything about Sharena are we. I just FELT it in my BONES 😭😭😭😭😭

RANT ASIDE THOUGH.

There is something I DESPERATELY want to explore myself (bc FEH WON'T give us ANYTHING). But it's such a huge project and I'm having a lot of trouble like. Conceptualizing it. But it has been in the back of my head For A While, and like, since refreshing my memory on Book 4 (I FORGOT. SOME REALLY FUCKING IMPORTANT DETAILS LMFAOOO) I just. I have SO many other things to explore now.

LIKE. I will talk WAY too fucking much about it maybe it has to be it's own post, but. I have an old project I Need to revisit, that's the catalyst for like, a sequence of events to occur, all exploring how everyone involved (Alfonse, Sharena, Triandra, Peony) are coping with the Developments. And tying up loose ends, like how Triandra and Sharena should have interacted. AND now I'm drawing parallels between Triandra and Alfonse and I'm just. I'm SO unwell about it. ESPECIALLY because of how Triandra ended up. Even though SHE WAS RIGHT AND SHE DID IT TO PROTECT HER LOVED ONE SHE WAS COMPLETELY JUSTIFIED AND SHE SHOULD HAVE BEEN A HERO. SHE SHOULD HAVE BEEN. (AND as I say that, I'm actually not calling bad writing here -- though I DO think there's A Lot to expand upon. I am just SO. SO unwell. About how she did a ruthless but ultimately good thing, for a good reason. She was kind. But not in the way Peony was.)

[chronicallylatetotheparty]

After the Fall Ch.19 Monsters and Men

LoganLight, AO3

This is a bad idea.

I don't care.

He'll akumatize you.

That's why I'm doing this while he's got an akuma already out.

It's reckless.

Yes. Yes, it is.

It's pretty convoluted.

Actually, it's pretty straightforward. And that describes every Ladybug plan ever.

You're not Ladybug.

No, I'm me.

Adrien emerged into a room full of butterflies wearing thick clothing and his arms crossed. The man in front of him stared in shock. Adrien felt too many emotions at seeing the suit he'd only laid eyes on once before to properly feel any of them.

"Adrien . . ." Papillon stood frozen.

"Le Papillon. I wonder who could be behind that mask?" Adrien asked sarcastically.

An explosion thundered from outside. The akumatized villain's laugh echoed unnaturally.

Papillon glanced from him to the window. "I . . . I don't . . ."

"Don't have time for me? I understand. You're work has always been more important. Why should now be any different?"

Papillon's eyes narrowed. "You will not speak to me this way."

"I'll talk to Le Papillon any way I want!" Adrien snapped.

". . . Very well." The hated butterfly mark appeared around Papillon's mask. "Box them in! Don't let up! I have some . . . urgent business I need to handle."

Papillon regarded Adrien for a moment. His too warm clothes, his arms held close to his chest, the accusation in his eyes.

"Nooroo, detransformez-moi."

A flash of light and Gabriel Agreste stood next to a purple kwami that looked at him with sad eyes. A mouth-less kwami. Adrien felt bile rise up his throat.

"Eat," Gabriel commanded dismissively and the kwami floated to a nearby stand to do just that.

I'll get you out of here, Nooroo. I swear.

"So," Gabriel began. "How did you find out?"

Adrien felt disappointment at the question. "Really? With the butterfly symbols you spammed everywhere, the Miraculous Grimoire you akumatized yourself over, the fact that you never once tried to kidnap me after you found out I was Chat Noir."

Gabriel flinched.

"Or how akuma stayed as far away from me as possible . . . until they didn't. Oh! Let's not forget the first thing you asked me immediately after dying! 'Where is your ring, son?' I'm disgusted I didn't figure it out sooner!" Adrien breathed heavily as he shifted his grip.

Gabriel's struggle was written plainly across his features. "It . . . It doesn't have to be this way."

Adrien scoffed. "Oh, no?"

"No, I . . ." Realization dawned on Gabriel's face "You told her . . . That's why there are so many heroes active. You know who Ladybug is!"

A shiver of fear shot through Adrien's body. He kept his face carefully neutral.

"How did you know it would be today, though? I could've done it at any time."

"After that business with Miraculer? The Bourgeois's anniversary was the only . . . possible . . ."

Gabriel grinned at Adrien's unintentional admission. "Tell me who she is! Help me defeat Ladybug! Together we can bring back Emilie! We can make it so none of this ever happened! We can be a family again!"

Adrien hated the small part of him that was tempted to accept Fa- Gabriel's outstretched arms. Hated the weakness inside him that would pretend all the pain he'd suffered at the hands of this man had never happened. Hated himself for even considering bringing Maman back by sacrificing someone else.

But the rest of him knew better.

"I don't want Maman back like this. She wouldn't want it either. Maman would be ashamed of what you've done."

Gabriel snarled and took a step towards Adrien. "How would you know what she would want? You think Emilie was some sort of saint!? You're just a child!"

". . . I was a child," Adrien admitted heavily. "You killed him."

"NO!"

Adrien was surprised at the remorse in his father's voi-

"Weredad did that! I tried to stop him!"

Disgust filled Adrien as even now Gabriel denied any responsibility for what he'd done. "You have the Power of Transmission! That means you empower people with your own emotions! All the rage, all the selfishness, all the apathy, that every one of your akumatized victims have inflicted on this city, all of that comes from you!"

"So, you'll turn your back on your family and go running back to Ladybug!?" Gabriel sneered. "You think she'll take you back!? She'll abandon you! Just like she did before!"

Marinette's not the one who abandoned me.

"And what have you been doing for the past four years?"

"DON'T TALK BACK TO ME YOU REBELLIOUS LITTLE INGRATE! I AM YOUR FATHER! I DON'T HAVE TO EXPLAIN MYSELF! IT'S YOUR JOB TO OBEY ME!"

Adrien's eyes burned, his heart ached, throat constricting. It did not come naturally to Adrien to confront his sire. His very being rebelled against it. All his life he'd tried his best to make Gabriel proud. To be the perfect son.

But Adrien's relationship with Gabriel had been antagonistic for a long time. Whether they understood that or not. He felt the familiar rhythm of the game.

Villain and hero.

Monster and knight.

Father and son.

Adrien pushed it up. Forced it out. Something he hadn't said to Gabriel in years.

"No."

". . . It appears I've been neglecting your discipline," Gabriel said through gritted teeth. "I'll correct that oversight as soon as Ladybug and Panthera's Miraculous are mine."

Gabriel turned his back to Adrien, dismissing him. Adrien shifted his grip on the weapon he'd concealed. Nooroo's eyes widened in surprise. Adrien aimed.

"Nooroo, transf-"

Gabriel jerked and spasmed as electricity coursed through him. Nooroo reentered his Miraculous in a flash. The taser clattered to the floor as Adrien's arms went limp.

He stared at Gabriel's immobile, drooling, blurry body. Not quite understanding. There laid Le Papillon, the terror of Paris, invader of minds, Ladybug's archenemy, France's first supervillain in decades . . . And he was beaten by a taser.

How mundane.

Explosions from outside snapped Adrien out of his trance. Wiping away his tears he turned Gabriel over and there it was. The source of so much sorrow. The Butterfly Miraculous. Adrien removed the brooch and held it in his hand.

Besides Ladybug this Miraculous was the only known way of stopping the akumatized victim.

I wonder what her powers are that she's giving so many holders this much trouble.

All he had to do was put it on and dispel the akuma . . .

The Power of Transmission gains its strength from the emotions of its wielder.

Adrien's emotions we're not stable.

I . . . I don't want this.

But this wasn't about him. Adrien put on the Miraculous. Nooroo materialized, with his mouth this time.

"Thank you, Master," The kwami said earnestly.

Adrien shook his head vigorously. "Adrien . . . please."

Nooroo smiled. "Thank you, Adrien."

He's so warm. How could anyone do this to him!?

Shoving the thoughts away before they overwhelmed him, Adrien focused. "How do I stop the akuma?"

"My Miraculous is more intuitive than most. Just transform and concentrate on what you want to do."

"R-right . . . Thank you . . ."

Adrien could feel it. Even without transforming, the emotions of so many people whispered in the back of his mind. The civilians' fear and hope, the heroes' determination even in the face of fallen comrades, the akumatized victim's single-minded devotion to her ideal. All of Paris in all it's imperfect glory . . . And he understood Gabriel even less.

Adrien took a deep breath.

"Nooroo, transformez-moi!"

Ch.1  Ch.2  Ch.3  Ch.4   Ch.5  Ch.6  Ch.7  Ch.8  Ch.9  Ch.10  Ch.11  Ch.12  Ch.13  Ch.14  Ch.15  Ch.16  Ch.17  Ch.18    Ch.20  Ch.21  Ch.22

[lady-of-rohan]

My sincere and honest thoughts regarding The Evil Within 2:

So, I'm finally sitting down and writing out ALL my thoughts on TEW2... at first, I was kind of nervous. After all, I mean so many people are going to love it, right? Well, to put things into perspective, @detective-joseph-oda and I literally returned the game. I've never taken back a game in my life.

It's been a difficult rollercoaster for me. TEW fandom is my everything... so, it's not like I'm leaving, or going to stop being mama or shipping or cosplaying or anything like that. I love this community and I want to contribute and continue to support my kids. I also would never want people to not play a game, or not get enjoyment out of it by voicing my opinions. A lot of people have asked me what I thought ... so here's my honest write-up, as someone who picked up TEW1 on its release date back in 2014 and has been in the fandom ever since.

MAJOR SPOILERS naturally.

Let's start out positive with things we actually liked:

Stefano! He was a super cool character, a total flamboyant psycho, and I adored all of the artsy, musical-inclined deaths with the slow-mo blood. That was really aesthetic, and really gorgeously done. Like, I couldn’t get enough of it.

Obscura is also amazing, though her moaning noises were a bit odd.

Anima (the singing enemy) was nicely done.And probably the scariest thing in the game.

The graphics are beautiful.

Gameplay controls are good.

Music is also nice.

Save kitty and Tatiana are back, which was a brief treat, but awesome ones.

Green gel and syringes are back (eyyy~).

Getting to walk around KCPD in Seb's old office.

The beginning fire sequence with Seb entering the house. GORGEOUSLY and amazingly done... it really built it up and started out strong... but then... well...

General things I sincerely disliked:

Firstly, the OPEN WORLD SEGMENTS. Ugh... this was the worst part of the game. Hands down. It was unnecessary, and not remotely horror at all. It was easy to see where this game drew influence from other games recently, and quite honestly , it didn't work for me. It was wicked distracting and out of place. This does not belong in this genre, making the game feel like it was torn in several different gameplay directions. It couldn't decide whether it wanted to be linear or open world. The tracker was annoying, and straight out of Silent Hill Shattered Memories which is certainly nothing new.

The game also sometimes flipped from third to first person. Very distracting. To be fair, I think a lot of this game mechanic confusion happened due to the following reason:

It's American horror transformation from Japanese horror. I won't lie, I'm a Shinji Mikami fangirl. I find him to be brilliant.  Always have... and I stopped liking Resident Evil as soon as 5 came out, and he left as director. TEW was supposed to be his love story to horror fans. Something he could leave us, as he described in one interview, that didn't suffer from "sequelitis." So you can imagine my true horror when I heard that Johanas was the new director.

The jump from American horror from Japanese is stark, and shattering if you're a big horror gamer like I am. Japanese horror isn't afraid to leave things up in the air or neatly explain everything. They often leave you confused, and often in high anxiety or suspense. They don't give straight answers.  In TEW2, though, nothing is really scary any more. It also relies HEAVILY upon mechanics, plot devices, and gameplay from other games... most notably The Last of Us but also Uncharted, Resident Evil 7, The Division, Outlast, SIlent Hill and SH Shattered Memories, Layers of Fear. Of which TEW was nothing like ANY of these. And yes, I know the new director, Johanas, is the same as the DLCs... but at least the DLCs provided some sincerely terrifying moments.

(side note: I was the most peeved that the ending of both TLOU and TEW2 is literally carrying your daughter or daughter figure in your arms... and that the emotional moments between them take place in a vehicle as they gaze at one another. Influenced much?).

Which brings me to... the main thing a survival-horror game should have. Horror.

This game is not scary. Nor was it difficult in any sense of the word. Unless you count... actually getting through it, which was very painful at times.

We honestly didn't die once during our 12-hour stream. This was absolutely disappointing. And confusing. Why wasn't this game more difficult? Sometimes I still die in the beginning sequence of TEW1. It's still terrifying as the Sadist comes at Seb, he injures his leg, and Seb limps for his life.

Furthermore, the utter sense of isolation, confusion, and abandonment is gone. In TEW1, you literally have no idea what the hell is going on, left in the dark figuratively and at times, literally. That's what makes it scary, aside from the hideous creatures out for blood. With so many Mobius NPCs, you always know a safe house, or a safe room, is well within running distance. It's so easy to use avoidant tactics and not fight much, rather than fighting for your life every few minutes.

Which leads us into...

The NPCs. I'm sorry, everyone was so cardboard and generic. Also boring in my opinion. Their interactions with Seb felt awkward and forced. I didn't give a damn about any of them ( @detective-joseph-oda, liked Sykes, which is fair because he had the most personality out of all of them). Again, the isolation and terror is gone. You have friends... and not just Kidman in your ear telling you what to do. Unlike the first game, where you were absolutely alone 90% of the time, with increased anxiety every time Joseph left your side and you were left to your own devices again.

On that note, this game provides way too much information as you work with Mobius. TEW1 left theories in the online community for months. No one knew what truly went on behind Beacon. It was fascinating to theorize about the character's fates. Mobius was just a terror in the distance, vaguely mentioned and yet their symbols were emblazoned on doors every so often leaving a sense of intrigue and mystery.  What was real and what wasn’t? Not something to worry about any more, as everyone directly explains everything to you, every step of the way. Even the DLCs added more information than answered questions, and the fandom was, well, for lack of a better word, shook.

The DLCs suddenly made Mobius, and Kidman,  Administrator, etc... the main focus. Suddenly, Beacon wasn't so spooky any more because they were tugging the strings. Which brings us to our next point...

The importance is suddenly almost entirely placed upon Kidman as a side character (she's the only other one you play as, after all).  I get it. People love Kidman. She’s a familiar face. This was obviously shifting this way in the DLCs. Not only was this Seb's story arc (unless you count the DLCs) but it felt out of place seeing as you only get to be her a few brief segments.  It seemed to me like the game wanted to neatly tie up BOTH of their character arcs in one game, rather than provide another Kidman DLC to see how things went down on her end again. It felt like a bit much going on.. not to mention Joseph was Seb’s actual partner and his focus in TEW1. More on that later. On that note, The Administrator was such a wasted opportunity. Instead of being a creepy monster influence like he once was inside of STEM, he just sits in his chair like a typical Bond Villain and has agents do his evil bidding. He sits back and "MWAHAHAS" rather than actively playing a part in the events around him.

And now we get into the nitty gritty, and the things I am most passionately outspoken about with this game.

Stefano is HARDLY in it, and the game has far too many antagonists. I was so disappointed to see Stefano ended by chapter 9 because he was the best part of the game. That's only halfway through that he makes it, and he is the character they used on all of their promotional material, and even their art contest. Super disappointing.

New Seb... isn't our Seb. He's down on his luck, sure, but he's almost at peace with it given his other behavior. We only really see that Seb is downtrodden because he's written in a bar at the beginning of the game and he has a beard of sorrow. Everything else leads to Seb seeming pretty high functioning and generally in better spirits. It almost feels like invasion of the body snatchers. His facial features are different (rendered to be more classically handsome, perhaps). He's suddenly more sassy, and infinitely more talkative, making him far from the near-silent protagonist he once was. Instead of playing his cards close to the vest, he wears his heart on the sleeve, often openly emotional. Which, given the contrast between he and Joseph in the first game, is not his usual style. Joseph was the "emotional" of the two. He also hardly swears or even says his token trade-marked 'FUCK.' You can't get through five minutes of the game without him making some kind of snappy, cheesy one-liner or talking to himself. It’s hard to take the game seriously as horror this time around.The obviously new voice actor for him, compared to Anson's experience, is also a rough transition.

Is it because he's after his child, who he thought was dead that he's so different? I dunno... I don't buy it. And speaking of, Lily's crying was some of the worst voice acting I've heard in a game in a very long time. I won't say much on her, other than I was severely disappointed by the overly-happy ending, neatly tied up in a package with a bow. TEW isn't The Last of Us. It was never a "father saves his daughter" game. It was horror. Lily and Myra were there for backstory only.This seemed like a money-making gimmick to me, given the popularity of such series that have gone the familial route, rather than sticking to their original genres (Uncharted for example). Family sells. Saving your family sells. Although I'm happy for Seb, I truly am... it's absolutely jarring to see the end of this game compared to the first.It’s almost alien.

The characterization, and dialogue writing... overall was bad. Especially between Seb and Myra (O'Neal, too).

Myra... well, again, I won't say much. I was very disappointed that she had a redemption arc, and that she wasn't out against Sebastian from the start as the DLCs perhaps hinted at. She was a good wife. A good person. Very clean for a horror game. It was an easy out. And her design was a direct rip off Ruvik and honestly really reaching. Shoutout to the fact that she looks like literal cum.

Finally, and here we go... the original story arc was about Ruvik. His pain, his motivations, his invention of STEM to bring Laura back. As far as we know, he's still out there inhabiting Leslie as a vessel. This... was just dropped in favor of a retconned Seb saves Lily story. Ruvik was so much more interesting. They could have at least given him a little bit of screen time. I really feel like they dropped the actual horror ball, shifting the focus from the mind of a madman, as the original game called it.. to a very Umbrella-esque organization. Seeing Seb face Leslie/Ruvik in the real world was a HUGE missed opportunity.

And last but certainly not least.. the fandom's beloved Joseph Oda. Going back to Kidman who was the Junior Detective, and not Sebastian's actual partner of 9 years like Joseph was, it just hurts to see him discarded. Yes, we got our confirmation that he's alive which is something the fandom has theorized for years. Johanas himself had left Joseph with a heartbeat in the DLCs, hinting at his state of life. But you also have to work for it. HARD. To even see this happy information flashed on your projection screen, you need every single photo slide and side quest finished. It isn't even remotely satisfying, and again, it's another tease. Kidman gives you an excuse and dodges questions about his whereabouts, or how he is, or if he's just a brain in a jar...

The ending hints that someone is now running STEM again as the Core. Is it Joseph? Who knows... DLC perhaps? If so I'm not sure I'm interested. Joseph may not be who he once was if he gets the same treatment of the other characters.

Going back to Seb's characterization, (I think @debussyj will agree with me on this) his partner for most of his detective career has been supposedly "dead" in his eyes for three years.  He was willing to believe Lily was alive again, but why not Joseph? The care that they showed for each other in the first game was so apparent. All shipping aside. They cared for each other so much and yes, Lily is his blood, but Joseph was part of his life far longer. And now Joseph is just a footnote in Seb's life, because he got his daughter back. Blood is thicker than water I guess, but boy Seb, that's no way to treat the man who helped you through your personal tragedy, as the DLCs went out of their way to mention, and the partner you came to work beside, admire and respect. This more than anything felt the most disappointing and OOC for me. It felt downright disrespectful, especially since Ruvik pointedly mocks Sebastian by using Joseph in the first game ("poor little Joseph") and Seb's motivations throughout the first game are first and foremost, helping his partner get through it, too. It's like the two almost never existed as partners.

The TLDR version; this game is not an actual horror game, is a far cry from its original genre, theme, and atmosphere... it uses a heavy reliance upon other popular games, the writing isn't good or consistent, the characters feel entirely different, and no, Joseph is not in it.

[tkwadeblog-blog]

"Fairy Tale Spotlight: Definitions with Commentary (Vol. 2)" by T.K. Wade

[All definitions are taken from Noah Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Enjoy.]

Spell

-noun-

1. A story; a tale.

2. A charm consisting of some words of occult power. Start not; her actions shall be holy; you hear my speel is lawful. Begin, begin; the mystic spell prepare.

3. A turn of work; relief; turn of duty. Take a spell at the pump. Their toil is so extreme, that they cannot endure it above four hours in a day, but are succeed by spells.

4. In New England, a short time; a little time. [Not elegant.]

5. A turn of gratuitous labor, sometimes accompanied with presents. People give their neighbors a spell

-verb-

1. To tell or name the letters of a word, with a proper division of syllables, for the with a proper division of syllables, for the purpose of learning the pronunciation. In this matter children learn to read by first spelling the words.

2. To write or print with the proper letters; to form words by correct orthography. The word satire ought to be spelled with i, and not with y.

3. To take another's place or turn temporarily in any labor or service. [This is a popular use of the word in New England.]

4. To charm; as spelled with words of power.

5. To read; to discover by characters or marks; with out; as, to speel out the sense of an author. We are not left to spell out a God in the works of creation.

6. To tell; to relate; to teach. [Not in use.]

-verb intransitive-

1. To form words with the proper letters, either in reading or writing. He knows not how to spell Our orthography is so irregular that most persons never learn to spell

2. To read.

Commentary: This is one of those words that have different meanings that are utterly unrelated. The main example of this has to do with the spelling of a word. This really has nothing to do with the reason I chose this word to define. I was more interested in the word from a magical standpoint.

I was surprised to see that the very first definition was "A story; a tale." Only by the second definition do we go into the occult. Are the creation and telling of stories filled with some sort of magic power? Don't worry! I came with an answer. Yes! Storytelling is actually a spell that causes change in the reality around you. People get inspired and want to make these tales a reality. Stories also change people's perspective of the world which will inevitably alter their decisions. I know it looks like cause and effect, but that is actually what a spell does. It causes reactions, whether they are good or bad.

Fairy tales have always been about opening your eyes to that which is not often seen. It takes a willing listener for it to work, but the intention is clear enough. Also I am pretty sure we would have never gone to the moon if we did not have stories since time untold about visiting the sphere.

-----

Evil

-adjective-

1. Having bad qualities of a natural kind; mischievous; having qualities which tend to injury, or to produce mischief. Some evil beast hath devoured him. Genesis 37:20.

2. Having bad qualities of a moral kind; wicked; corrupt; perverse; wrong; as evil thoughts; evil deeds; evil speaking; an evil generation.

3. Unfortunate; unhappy; producing sorrow, distress, injury or calamity; as evil tidings; evil arrows; evil days.

-noun-

1. Evil is natural or moral. Natural evil is any thing which produces pain, distress, loss or calamity, or which in any way disturbs the peace, impairs the happiness, or destroys the perfection of natural beings.

Moral evil is any deviation of a moral agent from the rules of conduct prescribed to him by God, or by legitimate human authority; or it is any violation of the plain principles of justice and rectitude.

There are also evils called civil, which affect injuriously the peace or prosperity of a city or state; and political evils, which injure a nation, in its public capacity.

All wickedness, all crimes, all violations of law and right are moral evils. Diseases are natural evils, but they often proceed from moral evils.

2. Misfortune; mischief; injury. There shall no evil befall thee. Psalms 91:10. A prudent man foreseeth the evil and hideth himself. Proverbs 22:3.

3. Depravity; corruption of heart, or disposition to commit wickedness; malignity. The heart of the sons of men is full of evil Ecclesiastes 9:3.

4. Malady; as the king's evil or scrophula.

-adverb-

1. Not well; not with justice or propriety; unsuitable. Evil it beseems thee.

2. Not virtuously; not innocently.

3. Not happily; unfortunately. It went evil with his house.

4. Injuriously; not kindly. The Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us. In composition, evil denoting something bad or wrong, is often contracted to ill.

Commentary: Here is a word that gets thrown around a lot. People like to call anything bad "evil." I know what you must be thinking. Evil is something more specific, right? No, it isn't. Evil is anything that should be good, but isn't. It makes perfect sense that everyone wants to call bad things evil. It is indicative of a world that isn't working the way it was intended. A broken machine is evil. Pain is evil. Death itself is evil. That's why the definitions cover such a broad spectrum.

People can be evil too--what Webster refers to as "moral evil." Humans are supposed to uplift others and bring new things to the world around us. Instead, many of them hurt others, murder, and destroy. That is evil.

But what is the worst possible evil? I'll tell you. It is when someone can readily help another in need and won't. Remember that.

-----

Sorcerer

-noun-

1. A conjurer; an enchanter; a magician. The Egyptian sorcerers contended with Moses.

Commentary: First thing you'll note is there is nothing specifically maligned about the sorcerer. He could be either good or evil. We often tend to think of them as being on the wrong side of things. Even Webster chooses a more maligned example. This is likely because there was a time when we feared people that could play around with the forces of nature merely through hand gestures and words. Power and humanity often make very dangerous bedfellows.

-----

Villainous

-adjective-

1. Base; very vile.

2. Wicked; extremely depraved; as a villanous person or wretch.

3. Proceeding from extreme depravity; as a villanous action.

4. Sorry; vile; mischievous; in a familiar sense; as a villanous trick of the eye. Villanous judgment, in old law, a judgment that casts reproach on the guilty person.

Commentary: I was actually going for the word "Villain (noun)" but the dictionary for some reason redirected me to the adjective version. That's fine. I'll settle for it since this is really about the qualities of a villain.

The word "Villain" often conjures to the mind some sort of great antagonist in a story. We can forget that they do actually exist in real life. There are people who are base, wicked, and vile. There are even those who revel in such qualities. I am not talking about dictators and terrorists; although, there is a place for them. You may have someone in your life that is against you. Go ahead. Call that person a villain. That's what they are. By definition, the word is not limited by class.

-----

Fiction

-noun-

1. The act of feigning, inventing or imagining; as, by the mere fiction of the mind.

2. That which is feigned, invented or imagined. The story is a fiction So also was the fiction of those golden apples kept by a dragon, taken from the serpent which tempted Eve.

Commentary: The definition suggests that fiction is a falsehood but does not out rightly say it. Fiction is clearly something invented or imagined. What does the imagination have to do with falsities? God imagined the universe, and so it became real. George Lucas imagined Star Wars, and that universe is a very established part of our society now. Scientology was imagined by L.Ron Hubbard, and now it's an established religion. Fiction can become reality real quickly, so be careful what you create in this world. Creation has consequences.