Somehow I'm reminded of the scene near the end of Return of the Jedi where the Emperor tells Luke that it's his destiny to join the Dark Side.
Destania continues to go up the "complete monster scale."
/obvious
Man "slapping" him around is cruel but this caught me a little off-guard for some weird reason; and to think this is coming from someone who happens to be the daughter of who started the cubi-dragon war.
Of course, we or at least I don't know how strained tensions were before but still it comes off as hypocritical.
Wow I'm really beginning to hate pre Dan Destina. Way to go Amber a hated character is harder to create than a loved one, especially one we were pre-conditioned to like
Hopefully Abel will have the sense to not take whatever a lady in a leather corset says seriously.
It's a strange rule, but it's always served me well.
So, according to Destania, Abel is going to join Cerebus' fate?
Let's hope not, simply for the sake of the comic and Amber's mental health.
I must say that I find it more and more hard to connect this Destania with the one who "had a vested interest in (http://missmab.com/Comics/Vol_713.php)".
Quote from: Captain on May 17, 2010, 04:44:03 AM
Destania continues to go up the "complete monster scale."
Could we make an actual scale? Not sure what the unit of measurements would be, 'Bastards' perhaps.
This scale could be applied to all characters, after all even Dan and Mab have shown evil potential.
Of course we'd need a opposite scale, measured in 'Care-ings' maybe.
Quote from: Dard on May 17, 2010, 05:39:31 AM
So, according to Destania, Abel is going to join Cerebus' fate?
Let's hope not, simply for the sake of the comic and Amber's mental health.
I must say that I find it more and more hard to connect this Destania with the one who "had a vested interest in (http://missmab.com/Comics/Vol_713.php)".
My guess is that Destania is trying to get a reaction out of Abel. While being mean and cruel just to watch somebody be upset about it is all well and fun, it seems like Destania is putting an awful lot of effort into benig particularily mean and creul to Abel. I have to think, 'what does she get out of it'? My guess is that she's trying to get Abel to do something for her, sparking up rage in the pacifistic cat. Go after his father, maybe?
Quote from: Lucheek on May 17, 2010, 07:15:52 AM
My guess is that Destania is trying to get a reaction out of Abel. While being mean and cruel just to watch somebody be upset about it is all well and fun, it seems like Destania is putting an awful lot of effort into benig particularily mean and creul to Abel. I have to think, 'what does she get out of it'? My guess is that she's trying to get Abel to do something for her, sparking up rage in the pacifistic cat. Go after his father, maybe?
Possible. Either way, he didn't plan it until his 400th birthday, which was probably a convenient time to ambush and kill Aniz.
Re: Destania's words here, most of it is complete BS in my opinion. This probably doesn't need to be said, but it hits a nerve, so I'll say it anyway: no one is responsible for being born. It's what you do afterwards that matters.
Also, Destania comments on Abel's lifespan. She could just be referring to the fact that he's a Cubi, and they live longer than beings. But the way she says it makes me think she's also referring to the Cubi in SAIA. Is there perhaps something about Abel's genetics that would give him an extra long lifespan?
edit: Deleted extra quote line, derp derp.
Quote from: LoneHowler on May 17, 2010, 04:47:28 AM
Wow I'm really beginning to hate pre Dan Destina. Way to go Amber a hated character is harder to create than a loved one, especially one we were pre-conditioned to like
Well, it's actually easy to create a hated character. Just make it so overwhelmingly annoying that everyone can't stand it after a single episode! Like 'Poochy' on the Krusty the Clown show.
Or Charline.. ;)
*Charline :< * I'm hated?
Okay, seriously now. Damaging a student is all well and good; there are hundreds to replace him.
But damaging school property? Fa'Lina, get off your overinflated tucus, and stop this before she ruins the carpets next. D:<
Destina should never, never be allowed to give pep talks.
...My, aren't we a psychotic little bitch.
Ahh .. but isn't it obvious that she's really talking about herself ?
That she's talking about how she perceives her own fate ?
All that bitterness transferred to someone else than herself ?
It's good entertainment, is what it is. :)
Quote from: Anker Steadfast on May 17, 2010, 10:37:34 AM
Ahh .. but isn't it obvious that she's really talking about herself ?
That she's talking about how she perceives her own fate ?
All that bitterness transferred to someone else than herself ?
It's good entertainment, is what it is. :)
I dunno, what horrible thing happened as a result of her birth? The only event I can think of that would sort of tie to this was Destania's attempt to stop Aniz from going to help Siar. And the result of that... really wasn't her fault. I don't see how it fits.
Quote from: Alondro on May 17, 2010, 08:03:27 AM
Quote from: LoneHowler on May 17, 2010, 04:47:28 AM
Wow I'm really beginning to hate pre Dan Destina. Way to go Amber a hated character is harder to create than a loved one, especially one we were pre-conditioned to like
Well, it's actually easy to create a hated character. Just make it so overwhelmingly annoying that everyone can't stand it after a single episode! Like 'Poochy' on the Krusty the Clown show.
Or Charline.. ;)
*Charline :< * I'm hated?
Quite right. Now creating a character that people love to hate. (As in they like them as a character but would totally hate them if they were a real person) is hard. Very hard.
Quote from: Arcblade on May 17, 2010, 10:52:05 AM
Quote from: Anker Steadfast on May 17, 2010, 10:37:34 AM
Ahh .. but isn't it obvious that she's really talking about herself ?
That she's talking about how she perceives her own fate ?
All that bitterness transferred to someone else than herself ?
It's good entertainment, is what it is. :)
I dunno, what horrible thing happened as a result of her birth? The only event I can think of that would sort of tie to this was Destania's attempt to stop Aniz from going to help Siar. And the result of that... really wasn't her fault. I don't see how it fits.
I'm going to start by saying that I can't prove any of this.
But...
Look at the Demo 101 page for 'Cubi. Aside from Tri-Wings who are effectively immortal, 'Cubi live a lifespan of about 3,000 years. Destania is 7,000, and seems to show no signs of aging. We also know that she can't be much younger than her mother, who, if Mink rounded down to the nearest thousand, is 7,999 at the very *most*.
Cyra is awfully young to ascend to Tri-wing, methinks, and I'd be willing to bet good money, if it were ever revealed, the relative youth of Cyra at time of her ascension, the nearness of ages to her and her daughter, and whatever triggered the Dragon-Cubi war are all intertwined.
Mass death for Destania's birth would then be a valid correlation, and it's conceivable that Destania blames herself somehow.
Best wishes,
Corgatha Taldorthar.
Quote from: Corgatha Taldorthar on May 17, 2010, 11:15:59 AM
Look at the Demo 101 page for 'Cubi. Aside from Tri-Wings who are effectively immortal, 'Cubi live a lifespan of about 3,000 years. Destania is 7,000, and seems to show no signs of aging. We also know that she can't be much younger than her mother, who, if Mink rounded down to the nearest thousand, is 7,999 at the very *most*.
I don't think we know Cyra's age, if that's what you're saying. The way I read it, 7000 on the clan pages is the age of the clan - i.e. the moment of ascension - not the age of the founders themselves.
I can see what Destania is doing here. She's taking all of the nasty things Abel tells himself inside his head and gives them a voice.
Face it. Abel doesn't like himself very much and prefers to be by himself to sulk and wallow in his self-loathing.
Now why would Destania say this to Abel? Because she wants him to snap out of it and take some initiative to control his own life? Because it's fun to torture emo students? Who knows?
Kudos on great writing to Amber.
Quote from: jeffh4 on May 17, 2010, 11:31:23 AM
I can see what Destania is doing here. She's taking all of the nasty things Abel tells himself inside his head and gives them a voice.
Indeed, that's my take on it too - the thread title is taken from the demonology entry, by the way.
QuoteNow why would Destania say this to Abel? Because she wants him to snap out of it and take some initiative to control his own life? Because it's fun to torture emo students? Who knows?
I'd say it's because she still wants to manipulate him for her own purposes.
Heh, i can soo imagine Destania having a checklist of methods...
1) Beating up and brute intimidations ... X
2) Emotional torturing... X
3) Persuasion by honey voice and offering cookies ...
it just would be funny with her switching between modes...
Quote from: jeffh4 on May 17, 2010, 11:31:23 AM
I can see what Destania is doing here. She's taking all of the nasty things Abel tells himself inside his head and gives them a voice.
Face it. Abel doesn't like himself very much and prefers to be by himself to sulk and wallow in his self-loathing.
Now why would Destania say this to Abel? Because she wants him to snap out of it and take some initiative to control his own life? Because it's fun to torture emo students? Who knows?
Kudos on great writing to Amber.
I think i realise why she is doing it, but it rests on the assumption that she still wants to use him for her ends and so needs to keep him up.
You see, you already correctly mentioned she is giving Abel's thoughts a voice. The problem with such thoughts is that it is difficult, nearly impossible to argue with yourself, and leads you only to doubts.
However here we have her, whom abel loathes already, stating these things... Which will, quite likely make him oppose her just out of the fact he dislikes her, and at least unconciously try to prove her wrong. Which is, incidentally, at odds with his destructive beliefs about himself, and one of possible ways to dupe him into defeating them...
It works in reality too - if you argue with someone about something important to you, it is in general that both of you will leave with much firmer belief.
Now, if the initial beating, except for tasty food, was for this reason too, ie she planned it entirely , she is even more brilliant than i had thought
She's definitely not the nicest person. Was she this nasty when she met Edward? or had she already softened a bit? Or is Edward that awesome? hrm...
Ah well, as the old saying goes, "Thieves thinks everyone steals".
She's definately up to no good.
Quote from: Alondro on May 17, 2010, 08:03:27 AM
Well, it's actually easy to create a hated character. Just make it so overwhelmingly annoying that everyone can't stand it after a single episode! Like 'Poochy' on the Krusty the Clown show.
Or Excalibur if you've seen Soul Eater :< Recurrent character, but you'd never forget the way he says 'Idiot!'
I'm thinking the reason she's 'confirming' the reasons for his self-loathing is to amplify them. She does not have the authority to kill him herself. She's already said subtlty isn't her strong point, so I think she's telling the truth about wanting to kill him. But, since she can't kill him herself, she's decided to settle on driving him to suicide. After all, according to her, every moment he's alive he's a threat to everyone around him, and there's no way to avoid it. Therefore, the only way to stop killing those he cares about is to cease to exist. Fortunately, we know he doesn't go with Dee...
Quote from: Scow2 on May 17, 2010, 12:57:49 PM
I'm thinking the reason she's 'confirming' the reasons for his self-loathing is to amplify them. She does not have the authority to kill him herself. She's already said subtlty isn't her strong point, so I think she's telling the truth about wanting to kill him. But, since she can't kill him herself, she's decided to settle on driving him to suicide. After all, according to her, every moment he's alive he's a threat to everyone around him, and there's no way to avoid it. Therefore, the only way to stop killing those he cares about is to cease to exist. Fortunately, we know he doesn't go with Dee...
Oh , come on.
The last thing this is going to do is to confirm them. Abel by now probably loathes her as much as his 'dear' father - he is dfinitely not going to take her words to the heart.
Lore's coment about 'they may have done bad things but being a bad family wasn't one of them' seems relevant. (comic here (http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_1045.php)) there is no reason that Dest can't be a loving wife and mother and a evil megalomaniac bend on genocide.
Also I still think there should be a scale.
Quote from: jeffh4 on May 17, 2010, 11:31:23 AM
She's taking all of the nasty things Abel tells himself inside his head and gives them a voice.
A saccharine, mummy-telling-nice-bedtime-stories voice is the one I hear in my head as I read it. The razor sharp claw just a whisker's breadth from his eyeball is just punctuation.
Remember how Fa'lina described Destania to Abel: "Melodramatic as always." (http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Ab_050.php) This seems to be her normal behaviour.
Quote from: danman on May 17, 2010, 01:00:56 PM
Quote from: Scow2 on May 17, 2010, 12:57:49 PM
I'm thinking the reason she's 'confirming' the reasons for his self-loathing is to amplify them. She does not have the authority to kill him herself. She's already said subtlty isn't her strong point, so I think she's telling the truth about wanting to kill him. But, since she can't kill him herself, she's decided to settle on driving him to suicide. After all, according to her, every moment he's alive he's a threat to everyone around him, and there's no way to avoid it. Therefore, the only way to stop killing those he cares about is to cease to exist. Fortunately, we know he doesn't go with Dee...
Oh , come on.
The last thing this is going to do is to confirm them. Abel by now probably loathes her as much as his 'dear' father - he is dfinitely not going to take her words to the heart.
I don't know. Seems to me that if you really loathe somebody, that very emotional investment would make it rather difficult to then just turn and ignore them...in fact, Aaryanna's and Destania's behavior in the recent strips appears to illustrate that principle quite nicely. So yes, I'd say Abel probably
is going to give those words some serious consideration -- more than they IMO deserve, but then
I have the luxury of just being on the outside looking in.
Quote from: Darktail67 on May 17, 2010, 12:32:42 PM
Quote from: Alondro on May 17, 2010, 08:03:27 AM
Well, it's actually easy to create a hated character. Just make it so overwhelmingly annoying that everyone can't stand it after a single episode! Like 'Poochy' on the Krusty the Clown show.
Or Excalibur if you've seen Soul Eater :< Recurrent character, but you'd never forget the way he says 'Idiot!'
Well, that didn't take a whole episode. Even the other characters couldn't stand him after about 2 minutes. Except for that one guy later on...
Quote from: danman on May 17, 2010, 01:00:56 PM
Oh , come on.
The last thing this is going to do is to confirm them. Abel by now probably loathes her as much as his 'dear' father - he is dfinitely not going to take her words to the heart.
He may hate her, but she's also older, more experienced, and in a more authoritative position than him. Also, she's
agreeing with him in the most dangerous way. He may also believe it because he thinks it's the very painful truth of his existence... Remember, it's not improbable that she could be reading his thoughts, or using memories of his thoughts before he got his mind-shield up. He hates her because she hates him, and she's giving him the reason she hates him, so he'll likely think it to be true. And, unlike Aaryanna's reasons for hating Abel, he simply can't "whatever" it away, which requires him to admit he's a walking sphere of death: Something he can't
not care about. Also, people, especially pessimists like Abel, have a tendency to believe derogatory comments more than positive ones, no matter who says them. (One negative is ~ ten positive).
Ah... ninja'd on my second point.
Quote from: ooklah on May 17, 2010, 12:22:42 PM
She's definitely not the nicest person. Was she this nasty when she met Edward? or had she already softened a bit? Or is Edward that awesome? hrm...
Eh, she just needed to get la-*Gets shot.* OW! Dammit! Who keeps doing that?!
In a way I wonder if Destania is trying to make a connection with Abel so she can manipulate him?
It does sound like her point may also be a statement that would apply to her as well.
"If we're so much alike why shouldn't we work together" kind of way of thinking.
Quote from: A. Lurker on May 17, 2010, 01:23:17 PM
I don't know. Seems to me that if you really loathe somebody, that very emotional investment would make it rather difficult to then just turn and ignore them...in fact, Aaryanna's and Destania's behavior in the recent strips appears to illustrate that principle quite nicely. So yes, I'd say Abel probably is going to give those words some serious consideration -- more than they IMO deserve, but then I have the luxury of just being on the outside looking in.
True, it makes it difficult to ignore, but, because of the source, and the ways most minds work, most would rather eat a brush rather than admit their enemy wrong- in fact there is a nice anecdote (but true) from one guy who worked in SAV (slovak academy of sciences) how back in the 60s there were two geological theories about the coming about of a particular mountain range, each forwarded concrete-headedly by one scientist, and only after the death of one of them the other admitted the other theory is most likely to be the correct one... and that was to do with objective facts.
So it really depends on whether selfdeprecation, or anger and stubbornness are the dominating traits of abel's personality.
She's messing with his head. No doubt about it. I don't know if she's thought of that for a long time or is coming up with it on the spot, but it's definitely, specifically, meant to mess with him.
Quote from: Arcblade on May 17, 2010, 07:55:06 AMDestania's words here, most of it is complete BS in my opinion. This probably doesn't need to be said, but it hits a nerve, so I'll say it anyway: no one is responsible for being born. It's what you do afterwards that matters.
Yeah, I don't believe what she's saying either. It doesn't even make sense to me. Though considering Abel's current emotional and mental state, I'm willing to bet he's more likely to believe it. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if she's emotion jammering (http://missmab.com/Comics/Vol_670.php) him to increase the likelihood of him being confused and taking her words as truth, no matter what his current opinion of him is.
Telling him everyone will die... I'm willing to bet that this is why Abel takes classes from her to learn how to survive on his own, (http://missmab.com/Comics/Vol_713.php) and also why he tends to push everyone away (in increase their chances of survival). May also be a big reason for the Pip head squish in his dream (http://missmab.com/Comics/Vol_1095.php) (playing on his fear of hurting others, and also the 'becoming a monster' one that fake!Pip points out - possibly the same fear, actually).
Quote from: Tapewolf on May 17, 2010, 11:31:19 AMQuote from: Corgatha Taldorthar on May 17, 2010, 11:15:59 AMDestania is 7,000, and seems to show no signs of aging. We also know that she can't be much younger than her mother...
I don't think we know Cyra's age, if that's what you're saying. The way I read it, 7000 on the clan pages is the age of the clan - i.e. the moment of ascension - not the age of the founders themselves.
Actually, take a look at Piflak's clan leader page. (http://missmab.com/Demo/Leader13.php) It says that she ascended at 2,000 years of age with only two clan members, so for the fun of it, she only allows one new member for every 1,000 years she lives.
Now compare the listed age with the number of clan members... They match up, instead of having an offset by two members/millennia. I think it's safe to assume that the 'age' is the age of the leader, instead of the age of the clan.
Abel's depression means he already believes that he's to blame, and the others saying it isn't his fault are the one's he's struggling to believe. He'd believe the other to be correct because he doesn't have a countertheory, and accepting Destania's rant would conveniently justify his isolation, or drive him to suicide (Which would really, really hurt Aniz!)
Right now, he's seen that everyone around him he cared about has died, but doesn't see himself as the cause. Thus, he's isolating himself out of caution, but still trying at least somewhat to make a life for himself
Quote from: Infranscia on May 17, 2010, 02:28:01 PM
Actually, take a look at Piflak's clan leader page. (http://missmab.com/Demo/Leader13.php) It says that she ascended at 2,000 years of age with only two clan members, so for the fun of it, she only allows one new member for every 1,000 years she lives.
Interesting. I think you may well be right there.
Now I'm even more confused as to what her motives are for doing this.
Granted it's not too soon to rule out the obvious, that she simply wants to be cruel to Abel, but that seems a little mundane and plot irrelevant.
The other option is that she wants a particular reaction out of him. For plot reasons, this seems more likely, but it's hard to understand what reaction she's looking for.
If she wants obedience, she oughtn't to have beaten him.
If she wants aggression, she's certainly provoking it, but it will be directed at her, which is not particularly useful.
If she wants him to roll over and die... well she might be getting there. If she can make him lash out, then beat him down, she might just get him to break.
Of course, she might hint a "way out" of his misery. I.E "You are hopeless. The only way you could possibly redeem yourself would be to kill your father, but no. No, you're too big of a pussy to do that aren't you? You're going to roll over and cry now aren't you. Worthless."
Quote from: Scow2 on May 17, 2010, 12:57:49 PM
... But, since she can't kill him herself, she's decided to settle on driving him to suicide.
I don't think Fa'Lina would allow anyone at her school to kill themselves. She's stop the attempt just like she would stop any attempt to kill a student or teacher.
... Is this a bad time to point out that my wife's nickname is "Dee"? Maybe I should start sleeping with a bat next to me in bed. :)
Edit: Fixed whose school it was :-)
Quote from: jeffh4 on May 17, 2010, 03:52:25 PM
... Is this a bad time to point out that my wife's nickname is "Dee"? Maybe I should start sleeping with a bat next to me in bed. :)
In turn, am I a bad person for immediately thinking of this strip (http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_284.php) at the above? ;)
Quote from: Arcblade on May 17, 2010, 10:52:05 AM
Quote from: Anker Steadfast on May 17, 2010, 10:37:34 AM
Ahh .. but isn't it obvious that she's really talking about herself ?
That she's talking about how she perceives her own fate ?
All that bitterness transferred to someone else than herself ?
It's good entertainment, is what it is. :)
I dunno, what horrible thing happened as a result of her birth? The only event I can think of that would sort of tie to this was Destania's attempt to stop Aniz from going to help Siar. And the result of that... really wasn't her fault. I don't see how it fits.
Well for one thing her clans existence started the war that broke her lover and probably killed off most of her family and friends.
She seems to be projecting.
Someone who hates themselves can be especially devastating to those around them who remind them of the qualities they don't like about themselves.
Quote from: jeffh4 on May 17, 2010, 03:52:25 PM
I don't think Destania would allow anyone at her school to kill themselves. She's stop the attempt just like she would stop any attempt to kill a student or teacher.
It's Fa'Lina's school, isn't it? Not Destania's...
Seems to me, considering that later on she is his teacher, she is trying to take him out of himself. Depending on how the rest of their encounter goes, her underlying message might be this: "Okay, here's how it is right now, and it sucks. Now are you going to just sit there and wallow in self-pity, or are you going to get off your duff and DO something about it?" So far just giving him good advice hasn't had any effect. However, getting a rise out of him may just do the trick, and feeding off the pain that is a result of the smack-down she's giving him is a bonus.
Quote from: PhoenixMiranda on May 17, 2010, 08:16:50 PM
Quote from: jeffh4 on May 17, 2010, 03:52:25 PM
I don't think Destania would allow anyone at her school to kill themselves. She's stop the attempt just like she would stop any attempt to kill a student or teacher.
It's Fa'Lina's school, isn't it? Not Destania's...
Seems to me, considering that later on she is his teacher, she is trying to take him out of himself. Depending on how the rest of their encounter goes, her underlying message might be this: "Okay, here's how it is right now, and it sucks. Now are you going to just sit there and wallow in self-pity, or are you going to get off your duff and DO something about it?" So far just giving him good advice hasn't had any effect. However, getting a rise out of him may just do the trick, and feeding off the pain that is a result of the smack-down she's giving him is a bonus.
Aniz was eventually abel to get a reaction out of Abel, and even a week attack. Maybe Destania is trying to do the same. Since she's read his mind, that would make sense.
Something that just occurred to me re-reading this strip. It's been speculated before that part of her lashing out is to remind Abel of his and her relative 'place. She is the elder, arguably wiser, obviously far more powerful and the one higher in rank. But, she is also the Teacher and he is the Student.
Abel has suffered many slings and arrows from peers throughout his life, culminating in the harrowing trauma leading-up to and following his 'awakening' as a cubi and as a result is very emotionally defensive. Abel also appears to adhere to the philosophy of 'the best defense is a good (verbal/emotional) offense' and uses his native wit to lovingly hand-craft exquisite snarks which he then lobs in delicate arcs toward his targets where they perfectly land on just the right buttons. He does this to Everybody except Mink and Mink is just a great big puppy-squiggly and you just do not kick the puppies.
He then tries this on Destania... Now, she's schooling him on how emotional/psychological warfare is really done.
By now I can't make anything of Destania's behavior: I don't know if she is evil or not, if she does all this for the bigger picture or just for her own amusement. I'll just go on believing that there is a reason to it and that I'll most likely find out soon enough. And up until then I'll hope they'll be all gumdrops, cookies and sunshine in the next update. xD
I guess I could go and reread the archives and all the theories and try to sort things out, but I like being surprised. ;)
NOW she's scary! :mowsmile
I hope it's really just a mind game, not a prophessy of sort. Not that we know about Destania being a seer, or something, I'm still a bit scared to hear that from someone, who's name is derivative from "destiny". :mowmeep
Hmm, for several months i thought she is called Destainia.... which gave her more similarity to cleaning agents...
Quote from: danman on May 18, 2010, 02:23:29 PM
Hmm, for several months i thought she is called Destainia.... which gave her more similarity to cleaning agents...
Well, I would like to bleach her from my memories.
Quote from: Jairus on May 18, 2010, 03:00:21 PM
Quote from: danman on May 18, 2010, 02:23:29 PM
Hmm, for several months i thought she is called Destainia.... which gave her more similarity to cleaning agents...
Well, I would like to bleach her from my memories.
*Charles sings!) I'm gonna wash that Cubi right outa my hair!
Funny, I thought her name was a pun for "Disdain-you".
Ah, well!
Quote from: jeffh4 on May 18, 2010, 02:41:34 AM
Aniz was eventually abel to get a reaction out of Abel, and even a week attack. Maybe Destania is trying to do the same. Since she's read his mind, that would make sense.
Well, yes. Aary has been trying to get him to respond to his situation rather than just mope (and his "oh poor me" schtick has been grating on her nerves, from what I can tell--but it doesn't dampen her desire to get down and funky with him, oh not at all), but so far the only thing he's done is react negatively to what he sees as others trying to interfere in his personal affairs. Looks like Destania's trying to get him to do more than that, and actually think about things. Throwing them in his face and telling it like it is (well, maybe exaggerating a bit to get her point across) while giving him a bit of a beating might get him to strike back and argue with her, to attempt to refute what she's saying, or at least make him decide to go forth and prove her wrong. But of course he'll need some lessons in Growing A Backbone, etc....and who better to get them from than Destania? (Other than maybe Fa'Lina, except that she doesn't teach any courses.)
I'm starting to think that I'm one of the few DMFA readers who do not have an emotional investment in any of Amber's characters.
I can't tell if I'm emotionally stunted, or if it's just that I can let go of my opinions and beliefs for the sake of enjoying a good story.
As for Dee going Destaniatrix on Abel, who can truly presume to understand the motivations of a powerful, magical creature who has lived in an unforgiving world for thousands of years? More than likely she's goading Abel into taking action - any action. And there's a good chance that she's using her own feelings and experiences to do so (as well as some 'persuasion'). After all, it was Cyra, her own mother, that started the whole train wreck. Indeed, Cyra is indirectly responsible for Abel's situation (granted, choice and circumstance play a big role too). Perhaps Dee feels ashamed-of/angry-about her clan's/family's legacy and is lashing-out-at/trying-to-shape-up Abel because of it. Perhaps Dee is simply still pissed at Aniz and figures having-to-kill-his-own-son/being-killed-by-his-own-son is fitting punishment. Or perhaps Dee has a "Do Something Random Today" roulette, and it just happened to fall upon 'abuse someone physically or emotionally', and she's going for the two'fer. Or perhaps even still, Prof. Ink bet her a bag of muffins that she couldn't crack Abel's shell. As I mentioned before, it's hard to understand exactly what Destania's intentions may be, but I know one thing for sure: I can't wait until the next comic.
Quote from: Scarydragon on May 24, 2010, 10:58:56 AM
I'm starting to think that I'm one of the few DMFA readers who do not have an emotional investment in any of Amber's characters.
I can't tell if I'm emotionally stunted, or if it's just that I can let go of my opinions and beliefs for the sake of enjoying a good story.
You sound stable enough to me, getting overall emotional over a fictional character is for people who write hate mail to the actors in soaps because they don't like the character they play, that or join hatedoms. You probably right on the second part (I can let go of my opinions...) and that is perfectly healthy.
Quote from: MT Hazard on May 24, 2010, 01:14:01 PM
Quote from: Scarydragon on May 24, 2010, 10:58:56 AM
I'm starting to think that I'm one of the few DMFA readers who do not have an emotional investment in any of Amber's characters.
I can't tell if I'm emotionally stunted, or if it's just that I can let go of my opinions and beliefs for the sake of enjoying a good story.
You sound stable enough to me, getting overall emotional over a fictional character is for people who write hate mail to the actors in soaps because they don't like the character they play, that or join hatedoms. You probably right on the second part (I can let go of my opinions...) and that is perfectly healthy.
Ehm, that is a different problem alltogether- is called failing to distinguish reality and fiction , and should not happen after the age of 4
Surely getting over emotional about a fictional character is failing to distinguish reality and fiction. I agree that shouldn't happen after age four, but it does.
Anyway back on topic, I'm not sure what Dest's end game is or if she is Abel loathing, self loathing or species loathing (all three?) but would Abel be in better shape mentally in present time if Dest had left him alone?
Quote from: MT Hazard on May 24, 2010, 03:49:58 PM
Surely getting over emotional about a fictional character is failing to distinguish reality and fiction. I agree that shouldn't happen after age four, but it does.
Anyway back on topic, I'm not sure what Dest's end game is or if she is Abel loathing, self loathing or species loathing (all three?) but would Abel be in better shape mentally in present time if Dest had left him alone?
Actually, Abel didn't seem to be in all that good a shape mentally and emotionally Before the Dee beat-down.
That's kind of my point, without Dest's 'help' he could of just slid into depression, in the present day he does have problems, but they could have been considerably worse (possibly).