#it's hard while feeling the sympathetic pull for orym and FCG and Caduceus and Pike and Fjord and Ayden and Trist

[arabella-strange]

The problem is, there are two problems:

Problem #1: The Gods. They hold all the cards. They act like they're inevitable, immovable, and most important of all? Already here—they're a known danger. Literally the devil (and celestials and others) you know. But just because they are complex and flawed and powerful and pre-existing and far-reaching and far-knowing, does that mean we mortals of Exandria must accept their power regime forever? Can those under their domains not choose to strike out for a radical new future of unknowns—not even try? And yes, absolutely, they're good to us sometimes, they like or love us sometimes, they want what's "best" [according to them] for the world and the universe sometimes. But just because of those sometimes, just because things would change in unprecedented ways that might even be daunting or frightening or hard, does that fear mean we have to yield and submit to their fundamental prioritization of their continued dominance over us? Solution: unclear. Who gets to decide: also unclear.

Problem #2: Ludinus and Predathos. Ludinus has seized unilateral control. He has decided (as Orym pointed out) that he knows best, that "the ends justify the means." He has likewise decided (as Imogen pointed out) that what he wants and his judgment have achieved a level of rightness that must either be followed or be cut out of his way. If you're not with me, you're my enemy. Now, these two problems are intertwined at present because Ludinus is partly responding to Problem #1—namely, the injustice of living under what mortals must [he asserts] realize is not an inevitability or a necessary constant of the world. But he has turned in his campaign to solve this problem to Predathos, a total unknown, and Ludinus has gone so far down this path that he has convinced himself (or allowed himself to stop questioning) that his solution is the only right one. The absolute conviction without regard for harm, for alternatives, or for consequences makes him and this route a problem in its own right. Solution: unclear. Who gets to decide: also unclear.

*** But the thing I hope there is still time for? is a disentangling of these problems.*** Because Ludinus has warped the conversation so much, sooooo much, to make it seem like Problem #1 MUST be solved and it must be solved NOW, HIS way. But that's not true. If the Gods must be overthrown—if it is their time to become simply "the old gods"—then that deserves consideration. But he does not get to decide on behalf of the whole world that his way is the only way; there is no evidence that this is the only way and the only time and the only terms by which this important, maybe-uncertainly-possibly necessary step must be taken. But he benefits by making everyone think so.