02 | Video

[wayhot]

So, since we're all supposed to be heroes, people here know all about villains and evil junk, right? Like... [Uh.] What makes somebody evil? Is evil just kidnapping princesses or keeping people in lamps for forever? Or if someone's normally super neat, except they lie to you and say mean things, but then say someone else said the things but only they'd know the mean, hurtful things they said? And then those things they pretended someone else said make you angry and then you fight a guy and burn down his kingdom... Is that the person who lied being evil or are they just being a jerk?

[Okay, this is feels really weird. But it's still confusing to her, and people with more hero experience than her or Finn would hopefully have a better understanding.]

Or what if someone's born evil? Or... maybe they're evil and they don't know it yet? Would telling them they're evil all the time make it happen? And how would you even know somebody's a bad guy if they're not always really obvious about it?

[UUUGH.] Sorry. It's just so annoying to try and figure this out. I'm still pretty new to all of this hero stuff.

Comments

[ video ]

[hostage]

Evil's just like... Okay, if somebody knows something's wrong and they do it anyway, that's the evil thing to do. And if they keep doing it on the regular, it's safe to call 'em a villain, I'd say.

[ video ]

[wayhot]

... Yeah. I guess that makes sense. [She certainly knows of a few people who fall under that category. And she also knows some where it's a bit harder to say for sure.

Herself included.]

Have you fought a lot of villains?

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[fieldresearch]

[omfg a girl on fire. Hange will never cease to be amazed by all the cool things she sees on this network! BUT THAT ISN'T THE POINT RIGHT NOW!]

I think you're trying to make everything too black and white, my dear! "Evil" and "Good"... well, there are certainly some things that usually go one way or another. Killing, for example. But what if killing one person saves countless other lives? Things aren't so simple. I think, instead of asking for the answer, you'll have to find it yourself!

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[wayhot]

But that's... [COMPLICATED. And complicated is not something Flame Princess wants to be dealing with. Black and white makes it easy to see what's what. Shades of grey are far more difficult to work with.]

Then how can you ever know if you're doing the right thing, if you can't tell what's evil and what isn't?

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[redhairring]

I don't think anyone's born evil. But 'evil' is one of those words that means a different thing to different people--so you're probably not going to get one good answer.

For me, what makes somebody evil is if they purposefully hurt somebody for no good reason.

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[wayhot]

What if somebody thinks their reason for hurting people is good? Would that still make them evil?

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[real_archer]

No one is born evil.

[Artemis stares stonily into the camera as if daring Flame Princess to argue.]

And no one can make you evil. No matter what they say or do to you.

[So she's apparently talking to a living flame--this is still something Artemis feels very strongly about. It's the mantra she repeats to herself in moments of doubt.]

Video

[wayhot]

[Artemis seems to know what she's talking about, and Flame Princess doesn't want to contradict her, but... it's a bit hard to believe that completely. Or at least, hard to believe that about herself.]

And if you're destructive, or someone tricks you into doing nasty jazz... that doesn't make somebody evil?

Video

[fantasykiller]

[There was so many questions and some of them were suspiciously specific. Especially the "keeping people in lamps" part given that she looked like a cute monster girl version of a fire summon.]

You shouldn't get too stuck on labels like "Good" and "Evil". People are too complicated to be shoved into such ambiguous categories. I had a friend who was tormented by similar thoughts. He was consumed with labeling himself as a "Villain" who could never save anyone because of what he done in the past. He lashed out at me while screaming why a "Hero" like me didn't save his important person without realizing that he had the power to save her. I had to give him a little push.

Would you mind telling me why you're asking all these questions?

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[wayhot]

[She's a bit quiet at first, taking a moment to think about the story he told, before she finally replies.]

Because I might be evil. ['And I don't want to be' remains unsaid.]

permavid

[demonspawn]

The labels are stupid. I mostly ignore mine. Or pretend to ignore them while not-so-secretly hating my heritage and destiny. You know, whichever.

also permavid

[wayhot]

... So people think you're evil, too? [Because that is definitely the impression she's getting.]

[symbionic]

I think it's a lot more complicated than anybody would like it to be. But jerks are more like that guy who shoves you at school, not so much of the guy who takes a whole city hostage kind of thing.

[He should find it odder to have this conversation with a girl on fire (and thank god it's not in person or the symbiote would flip) but it's really...getting to be less weird now.]

People grow out of it, sometimes. You get older and you learn a little more and you realize the stuff you were doing was wrong.

[wayhot]

And if somebody doesn't learn, or just doesn't care what they did was wrong... that makes them evil. [Or at least she thinks it does. COMPLICATED ISSUES ARE ANNOYING.]

... Right?

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[yourpiecenow]

Don't listen to those nerds up there; of course people can be born evil. It happens all the time. Not everybody gets a super tragic back story that makes them want to do evil shit. Some people just want to watch the world burn.

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[wayhot]

[... Flame Princess isn't entirely sure if that last part is a shot at her or not, considering she's made of fire. But she'll try to avoid overthinking that.]

But why? It doesn't make any sense why people would want to do those things. [There has to be some reason. Maybe. Because if people really can be born evil, then that probably means she's evil, too.]

AUDIO.

[selfimage]

[he would have passed this up, but the timing was a little too perfect. coming from someone who made himself the God of Evil, and then decided to retract it.]

They're comparative methods, good and evil, a simple line to draw. They're both lies, actually, in those terms there is no such thing unless you prove to make it that way. They're very convincing lies, aren't they? Someone's good, someone's evil, no one cares to look at the details.

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[wayhot]

But what are the details? Is it why somebody does junk that's wrong or right, or something else?

[incendere]

We beings are complex creatures. While there are those who solely desire to hurt or destroy others, those who may define themselves as a good person are also capable of such actions. Because of that, it would be impossible to distinguish anyone by being purely "good" or "evil".

[wayhot]

[That does make a lot of sense, all things considered. But it also makes things even more confusing. It would be so much easier if everything could actually be put into neat little boxes of good and evil.]

But if everyone can do things like that, then... then how can you trust anybody? How would you know that somebody wouldn't try to hurt you or somebody else?

1/??

[the_human]

FLAME PRINCESS!

[the_human]

Oh my glob-- OH MY GLOB, you're here! When did you get here? I just got here, I'm brand new, oh my glob!!

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[bulwank]

[Whoa, okay she said a lot there but-]

Evil is something that lies deep in the hearts of men, everyone has the potential to show some of it or all of it. We are made from both good and evil, but no one is only one.

-Also, greetings Princess.

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[wayhot]

Yeah. Most people seem to be saying stuff like that. I guess it's true. [That people have times when they can be good or evil, she means.

She offers him a small smile, though. He's a cool guy.]

Hi, Gamagori.

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[godly]

[For some reason, Light feels compelled to respond to this particular entry. But for the sake of politeness:]

Would you care for another opinion, or have you made your mind up on the matter yet?

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[wayhot]

Not totally. I mean, some answers make more sense than others, but stuff like this is complicated.I don't think another opinion would be a big deal.

Voice

[biotically]

I don't think anyone's exactly evil, and wants to be. And I don't think they can just be born it, either. You don't wake up one day and come to the startling realization that you're not like other people because you're evil.

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[wayhot]

I don't know. Some people like to say people are born evil and that they're evil, too, and that everybody where they're from is evil. My dad did that a lot. [But maybe that's just her dad. It's kind of hard to say for sure.]

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[attainment]

[Oh, it's that girl who's made of fire again. Of course, after seeing other people's reactions to her last request for assistance, Barnaby has more tact than to call attention to it.]

It looks like quite a few people have weighed in with what they think, although their answers probably aren't as straightforward as you wanted. Morality is often determined by personal values or social mores, which is why it's so subjective.

In that same vein, most people who are called evil don't think of themselves as evil. Some of the world's worst atrocities were committed by people who thought they were doing the right thing. This is why it's important to see things from other perspectives, and to be willing to change when faced with evidence that you may be wrong after all.

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[wayhot]

[What he's saying makes an awful lot of sense, actually.]

I think I get it. Like... if you or somebody else does something, you can't just think of how it'll make you feel or how it'll make things better for you. Something like that?

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[aggressiveapathy]

Whoever has the best PR team. That's the hero.

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[wayhot]

PR team? [????????]

[voice]

[glassinine]

May I ask why you think that you might be evil?

[voice]

[wayhot]

Because I get too excited about setting things on fire, I got angry and destroyed the Ice Kingdom, and my dad would always whisper "evil evil evil evil" at me when he thought I wasn't paying attention. [It comes out pretty quick, since she's gradually getting used to explaining this all to the people asking.]