#Good vs Evil

[tampire]

Dandyism from Goenitz and Slayer in King of Fighters XV and Guilty Gear Strive

[warandpeas]

Choices

[reality-detective]

This has already begun. No one is coming to save you, that's your job. The return of "Christ Consciousness" within you is what will save you. That's what I was saying in this 👇 post.

[smallsilverbullets]

colourofhue

[pratchettquotes]

"It's daft, locking us up," said Nanny. "I'd have had us killed."

"That's because you're basically good," said Magrat. "The good are innocent and create justice. The bad are guilty, which is why they invent mercy."

"No, I know why she's done this," said Granny darkly. "It's so's we'll know we've lost."

"But she said we'd escape," said Magrat. "I don't understand. She must know the good ones always win in the end?"

"Only in stories," said Granny, examining the door hinges. "And she thinks she's in charge of the stories. She bends them around herself. She thinks she's the good one."

Terry Pratchett, Witches Abroad

[intheafterall]

It's been a rough week... Saw this post @tokyo-daaaamn-ji-gang made and got thinking

https://www.tumblr.com/tokyo-daaaamn-ji-gang/742497152578797568/hes-the-opposite-rn-but-mikey-actually-looks-like

[cluelesshero]

#490 Two Kinds

The world is made up of good and bad people

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[roseshark]

Commission for the lovely and talented @fearcrowzz !! I loved painting Reverie & Cain, their designs are PEEK!

[captainfantasticalright]

So the “are you sure they are wrestling” statue that David signed is now up for sale. Maybe someone here can get it so that Michael can sign the other cheek.

[dosesofcommonsense]

[liminalflares]

“It may help to understand human affairs to be clear that most of the great triumphs and tragedies of history are caused, not by people being fundamentally good or fundamentally bad, but by people being fundamentally people.”

—Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch

[reality-detective]

This 👇 is probably the best answer I've ever heard to the question, "Why did God create evil?"

A professor at the university asked his students the following question:

“Everything that exists was created by God?”

One student bravely answered:

“Yes, it was created by God.”

The professor asked :

“If God created everything, then God created evil, since it exists. And according to the principle that our deeds define ourselves, then God is evil.”

The student became silent after hearing such an answer. The professor was very pleased with himself. He boasted to students for proving once again that faith in God is a myth.

Another student raised his hand and said:

“Can I ask you a question, professor?”

"Of course," replied the professor.

“Professor, is cold a thing?”

“What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you ever been cold?”

Students laughed at the young man's question.

The young man answered:

“Actually, sir, cold doesn't exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is actually the absence of heat. A person or object can be studied on whether it has or transmits energy.

Absolute zero (-460 degrees Fahrenheit) is a complete absence of heat. All matter becomes inert and unable to react at this temperature. Cold does not exist. We created this word to describe what we feel in the absence of heat.”

The student continued:

“Professor, does darkness exist?”

“Of course it exists.” said the professor.

“You're wrong again, sir. Darkness also does not exist. Darkness is actually the absence of light. We can study the light but not the darkness. We can use Newton's prism to spread white light across multiple colors and explore the different wavelengths of each color. You can't measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into the world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you tell how dark a certain space is? You measure how much light is presented. Isn't it so? Darkness is a term man uses to describe what happens in the absence of light.”

In the end, the young man asked the professor:

“Sir, does evil exist?”

This time it was uncertain, the professor answered:

“Of course, as I said before. We see him every day. Cruelty, numerous crimes and violence throughout the world. These examples are nothing but a manifestation of evil.”

To this, the student answered:

“Evil does not exist, sir, or at least it does not exist for itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is like darkness and cold—a man-made word to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is not faith or love, which exist as light and warmth. Evil is the result of the absence of Divine love in the human heart. It’s the kind of cold that comes when there is no heat, or the kind of darkness that comes when there’s no light.” 🤔

[awesomecooperlove]

😬😧😴

[meegan420]

[rainforestakiie]

new au idea~

the opposite of heaven isn't hell, for hell is merely a reflection of humanity's darkest impulses. instead, it is the tangible shadow of heaven, a realm steeped in despair, ruled by the enigmatic sister of god, morgan. like a twisted yin and yang, where god embodies life, morgan reigns over death. she sits upon a throne woven from the essence of pure darkness, her very presence a harbinger of malevolence. from the tattered folds of her shrouded cloak, archreapers emerge—sinister beings born to counter the archangels.

the first human, adam, was not a creation of light; he was forged in the depths of morgan’s domain, a place known as the underworld, or perhaps purgatory—a liminal space where shadows intertwine with despair.

morgan's oldest and most cherished archreaper, lucifer, acts as adam's reluctant guardian.

this version of lucifer is a far cry from the angelic figure whispered about in tales of old. his hair, an inky black, spills like night itself, and his skeletal arms protrude from a form draped in darkness. his eyes are hollow voids, framed by sunken cheeks that echo his sinister nature. he dons a short-sleeved dress shirt, layered with a sleek black vest, and a tailored tie, all complemented by trousers and knee-high boots that speak of a forgotten elegance. of course he still has his top hat, only it is pure black with skulls framing the base instead of the snake and apple. as an archreaper, lucifer is adorned with eight wings—either a tapestry of black feathers or the twisted remnants of bones.

his existence is the antithesis of archangels; lucifer thrives on spreading death and shadow, a harbinger of darkness long before humanity graced the world. at this point in time, when adam is yet to awaken, lucifer's hunger is insatiable—a swirling black hole within him, yearning to consume the very light that flickers in the distance.

each archreaper possesses a monstrous companion, and lucifer's is cerberus, a beast born of nightmares. wielding a scythe, lucifer stands as morgan’s most powerful servant, her dark reflection in a realm untouched by light.

after adam’s birth, lucifer’s singular purpose shifts to protecting him, for within the shadows lurk creatures ravenous for the pure soul of light that adam embodies. as they navigate this darkened realm, lucifer finds himself entwined in a forbidden love with the very being he was meant to guard.

however, morgan sees adam as a failed creation, a mere flicker of light to be extinguished. in a desperate bid to save him, lucifer confronts morgan and emerges victorious, forcing her to relinquish adam to her brother, god.

transformed by love and the urgent need to protect, lucifer’s soul is purified. cast from the depths of shadow to the radiant embrace of light, he is reborn as an archangel, but at a harrowing cost—his memories of morgan, his fellow archreapers, and his love for adam are erased.

simultaneously, adam’s memories are stripped away, and he is placed into the lush, untainted paradise of eden. there, he encounters lucifer anew, now his guardian archangel, and yet the echoes of their past remain shrouded in mystery.

perhaps lilith, a specter of ancient evil, lingered in the shadows, once intent on devouring adam's pure soul.

the threads of fate intertwine, weaving a tapestry of light and darkness, love and loss, waiting to unfurl.

[plague-of-insomnia]

Is Sebastian “Evil”?

Recently, I saw a post by @puppyfan9000 about Sebastian, commenting on whether or not he is evil, suggesting he’s more like a lion, who preys on animals for survival and not because they’re “evil.”

I guess I had not fully appreciated how many people apparently view Sebastian through the lens of Christian demonology and dogma and thus view him as evil, some apparently going as far to say he’s the villain of the series. (Yana has said he’s the protagonist, actually, but go off, I guess.)

While I can’t ofc know what Yana had in mind with Sebastian when she created him, I do feel like the manga does a good job of pointing out that demons are not innately good or evil, and the truly “evil” ones are humans themselves.

(This is gonna be a bit long so I’ll go ahead and tuck the rest under a read more.)

Shinto Kami & Three Natures

One of the cores of Shinto belief is the kami, sometimes translated as “god,” though I think “deity” is better since the former often has an association with “good” in the western mindset.

The thing about kami is they aren’t good or evil; they exist outside those human parameters. They’re more like a force of nature than what we in the west might view as demonic or godly.

And each kami has 3 natures, or mitama:

aramitama - rough and wild

nigimitama - gentle and life supporting

sakimitama - nurturing

[SS from Handbook of Japanese Mythology by Michael Ashkenazi]

Think of these three as different colored liquids all contained within a vessel. Each kami has a diff amount of each, with one or more of these natures dominating in different situations and at different times.

Connected to this, the line between a “god” or “kami” and a “demon” (so many words you can use here, including akuma, or even yokai) is fluid in Shinto belief.

A kami can “fall” and “devolve” into a baser yokai or “demon” if they become impure (purity is a big part of Shinto belief and ritual), and/or if their aramitama nature becomes more dominant.

Even so, these beings aren’t considered “evil” in the same sense that a Christian views Satan as “evil.”

Just as the destruction caused by a hurricane can’t be called “evil,” the behavior of a kami or other spirit likewise is neither good nor evil. It simply is.

Yana has described him as “without shame or moral sense” but I think this is a bit misleading in translation (though the original Japanese is lost so I can’t say for sure what she said exactly). I think what she means isn’t “he’s evil” but that “he exists outside the framework of human morality.”

Humans Vs Demons in the Manga

I feel like to call Sebastian evil is to miss the fundamental message of the manga: that humans (and formerly human creatures like shinigami) are far more demonic than demons.

Ciel says that almost verbatim, depending on the translation (and if you’re talking about the manga vs the anime) at the end of the circus arc, and Seb replies that is something that sets humans and demons apart.

Sebastian doesn’t kill for the sake of killing. He only kills on command/when necessary to execute (ha) Ciel’s orders/goals. More than once he’s expressed either his distaste at Ciel’s desires, and while Ciel calls him a beast, he takes offense to that.

From Sebastian’s perspective, humans are interesting because they are more complex than demons, who seem to be driven largely by their hunger and not much else.

Recall that Sebastian hesitated to burn down Kelvin’s manor with all the children inside, and it confuses him enough he even questions Ciel about it later. Likewise, while he does kill everyone involved in the Green Witch arc, that was far less about his being “evil,” and more about his doing the job that Ciel ordered him to do while giving him a chance to get his own “revenge” for nearly losing his meal due to the effects of the gas.

I think the closest thing to “evil” Sebastian gets in the manga is when he first makes the contract with Ciel and tries to trick him by making him believe his brother is alive, since he can’t actually resurrect the dead. But I feel it’s telling that is “day one” Sebastian and he has certainly grown and changed since then.

The Ripper Arc: The First Evil

The first true arc is the ripper arc, and I think it’s important because it shows us early that while Sebastian is a literal hellspawn, it wasn’t a demon involved in the serial murders but rather a human—Madam Red—and someone who was once human—Grelle.

Grelle then kills Red in cold blood because she’s become “boring,” which, as far as we know, Grelle never regretted or felt remorse over.

I’m not quite sure if I would even call Grelle evil, but the point is clear: humans, and former humans, are more demonic than demons.

We see it again and again, with the cult, with Kelvin, with the German military in the GWA, with Undertaker and the Aurora society— perhaps it is telling that Sebastian is the only known demon in canon (no, season 2 of the anime is not canon), because it really forces us to see that even the worst of Sebastian’s actions pales in comparison to the depravity of human beings.

If we do wanna look at non-canon, the first season of the anime featured an Angel, a being that is normally associated with being “good,” who becomes so twisted and obsessed with “purity” that they let their aramitama nature take hold and commit great evil in their quest for purification. Even so much as to try and ally with a demon and offer Sebastian any souls he wishes in exchange for Ciel.

So once more we see a non-demon character being the evil one— and Pluto, who is technically a demon, isn’t “evil.” He only “becomes evil” when Ash/Angela break his mind and force him to attack the city.

Ignoring Ciel’s Commands

Finally, I think it’s important to point out that despite promising to always fulfill Ciel’s orders, there have been several times in the manga that he has disobeyed in order to protect Ciel.

One example happens in the circus arc. Ciel’s asthma flares from the harsh conditions at the circus, but he’s determined to go out regardless. But they’re stopped by Agni and Soma.

Agni then gives Sebastian a harsh lecture that makes him realize that simply always following Ciel’s orders isn’t enough if doing so puts his life at risk. So he goes against Ciel’s wishes and not only makes him rest, but let’s him sleep as long as he needs to.

Later, during the Weston arc, when confronted by Undertaker again, Sebastian ignores Ciel’s orders to try and catch him because he learned from his experiences on the Campania and doesn’t want to risk putting Ciel in danger again.

If Sebastian were truly such an evil being, an embodiment of sin, then why would he care about Ciel’s health? Yes, he’s cultivating his soul for optimum yumminess, but harvesting him a bit early wouldn’t really affect him that badly.

Though Sebastian says that he’s doing it because of the terms of their contract or because he’s “taken great pains” to cultivate Ciel’s soul and doesn’t want him stolen, I don’t think that is entirely the truth. While he ofc doesn’t want to lose his meal, I think it’s more than that.

No, he protects Ciel because he wants to. He keeps him safe and out of harm because he chooses to. And demon or not, I don’t think someone like Agni could call an evil being his friend.