[2007-5-14] Abel's story #88: All I want is...You!

[Magic]

I doubt Aniz wants Abel to kill him.

Tsk. You see only words.

Arguing against myself, that really only works if there's a good cop for Aniz to play off of.  If Aniz sends him to Fa'Lina, that would work, but if he intends to train Abel himself, Aniz may find himself playing rock, paper, skull.

You're missing the point. Unlike Fa'lina and Dan, Aniz actually gives more than the tiniest shred of care about Abel. I quote. "It's all about you."

Consider this; If Abel spirals down into self-loathing and eventually kill himself, that would be entirely counterproductive to Aniz' efforts to raise him and keep his true identity as a secret. He doesn't want to go through the hard work of killing Abel, May, and Hennya, assuming another identity and starting again. *

Therein lies the reasoning. Better he hates Aniz than himself.

* Even though he probably could, and even though he'd probably kill May in any case. Hennya is just collateral damage, victim of having bad timing and being a witness to the crime.

EDIT:

Oh and really, it's a moot point on whether or not he plays devil's advocate. His cover is blown anyway, he can be as much as a bastard about it as he wishes.

[mwcain]

I hava a theory...... and a theaory only........ What if Cubi don't have children easily? I don't know if this is the case but in some fantasy I have read it is with long lived races because if the bred at the same rate as the shorter lived races they would over populate.

So the theory is that it is easier for beings and cubi to breed and so in his hurry to have a child (for some unknown reason) Aniz took on this disguise so that he could have one with Mae. and yes I know it has been 25 years but thats still not too long for a cubi.

[sanasawa]

^ Possibly. Or perhaps female Cubi (succubus?) expect some really complicated, heavy ritualized or painful form of foreplay that Aniz just cant handle.

[Nino]

^ Possibly. Or perhaps female Cubi (succubus?) expect some really complicated, heavy ritualized or painful form of foreplay that Aniz just cant handle.

Haha yeah, poor Merlitz.

[Tycoon]

I blame this on my poor MSPaint skills.


Once again, I am here to reaffirm my love for that devilishly evil Aniz!

[Aleolus]

Is it fatherly affection?  Or is this something far more  sinister?  Find out in the next edition of DMFA, Abel's Story!

[superluser]

I doubt Aniz wants Abel to kill him.

Tsk. You see only words.

Not having played Advent Children, I don't know where One Winged Angel comes in, but if it's anything like FFVII, then I see your final boss music.

But I also see the words.  You don't say, ``da mihi mortem'' unless you're talking about someone giving you death.  Perhaps ``Noli manare in memoria./Saevam iram et dolorem?''

Consider this; If Abel spirals down into self-loathing and eventually kill himself, that would be entirely counterproductive to Aniz' efforts to raise him and keep his true identity as a secret. He doesn't want to go through the hard work of killing Abel, May, and Hennya, assuming another identity and starting again.

Except...what happens if Abel tries to kill Aniz?  The whole problem here is that Aniz could have gotten Abel on his side, which would have made things easier.  If Aniz doesn't do that, he's going to have to spend all his time watching him to make sure that Abel doesn't try to kill him.  It would most likely fail, yes, but it would take time away from training.

It may be better to have Abel hate him, rather than himself, but by far the best would be to have Abel eagerly participate in the training.  Had Aniz started working on turning Abel at an early age, Abel might have eagerly participated in the training.  He's not going to do that, now.

[Kenji]

Is it fatherly affection?  Or is this something far more  sinister?  Find out in the next edition of DMFA, Abel's Story!

o/~ Go, go Abel's story! *guitar riff* Go, go Abel's story! *guitar riff* Go, go Abel's story! You full of cubi, gloomy storyyy! o/~

Couldn't resist..

[Zedd]

Have a feeling Abel isnt gonna get go all freewill bit..

[Magic]

Not having played Advent Children, I don't know where One Winged Angel comes in, but if it's anything like FFVII, then I see your final boss music.

But I also see the words.  You don't say, ``da mihi mortem'' unless you're talking about someone giving you death.  Perhaps ``Noli manare in memoria./Saevam iram et dolorem?''

Subtlety fails you.

By saying 'You see only words', I had meant you had not understood why I quoted, I am well aware that you understood the Latin translation.

And I say again, you see only words.

[Angel]

Hm. I've been guessing since the last comic that Aniz could be trying to repopulate his clan. Members of that clan are few and far between, selon Abel's page. And I'm guessing that Cid probably killed a few too many Cubi in Aniz's clan. Or am I giving him too much credit by giving him this much of a motive?

Also, did Abel just turn all Cid-like later in life to deal with the pain, discovering that being a bastard is easier than being too emotional and having to deal with his sad memories? 'Cause otherwise, being a jerk is genetic. Which is really pretty awesome.

[superluser]

Not having played Advent Children, I don't know where One Winged Angel comes in, but if it's anything like FFVII, then I see your final boss music.

But I also see the words.  You don't say, ``da mihi mortem'' unless you're talking about someone giving you death.  Perhaps ``Noli manare in memoria./Saevam iram et dolorem?''

Subtlety fails you.

By saying 'You see only words', I had meant you had not understood why I quoted, I am well aware that you understood the Latin translation.

Which is why I mentioned that I knew that it came from Advent Children.

And then pointed out that--barring Aniz wanting Abel to kill him--there were probably other, more appropriate lines from that song.

If you meant to imply that he's giving other people death, that's not what that phrase means.

If you meant to imply some sort of reincarnation (as the association with Sephiroth and Jenova might suggest), then I'm really confused, because that doesn't seem to fit in Amber's worldview.

[cerridwen666]

I'm glad I'm not the only one that sort of snickered at Aniz' line in the last panel.

[nikename2]

yeah, Abel was like "What the? Are you coming on to me?" 

[candide]

Somehow,  had a feeling we'd be seeng what we're now seeing.

Which makes me wonder who's responsible (directly or indirectly) for Abel going SAIA... his father, or Kria?

Guess it all depends on whether Aniz trusts or distrusts SAIA.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Also, did Abel just turn all Cid-like later in life to deal with the pain, discovering that being a bastard is easier than being too emotional and having to deal with his sad memories? 'Cause otherwise, being a jerk is genetic. Which is really pretty awesome.

It's not genetic, it's environment. There's a lot of subtle clues you pick up form your parents without even thinking about it. Things like, say, how they fold a piece of paper. Or how they hold a knife to slice bread. Or how they behaved to each other. Or how they folded up plastic bags.

All sorts of little things that you don't even think about. Heck, they were even the ones who taught you how to wipe your backside when you were little.

[MaskedRetriever]

My current theory is that Aniz is indeed playing bad cop with some other cubi waiting to be good cop in wait in the wings.

However, let's talk about things Aniz could have done!

"Cid" comes out as having secretly been a cubi all along: This would have been a master stroke-- if the goal was to get Abel to stand by his side and ultimately become a strong and functional good-aligned Incubus.  So, assuming Aniz is being "sufficiently thinky" to poorly coin a phrase, we know the following:

Aniz places no value on teaching Abel to be a "good" Incubus, or if he somehow does, he does not want Abel to think of him as an ally.

Aniz also places no (if not NEGATIVE) value on preserving the family unit any further.  He wants this family dissolved.

Aniz could have come out as Aniz, and broken Mae's heart without pissing off Abel all that much:  "Mae I'm sorry, I couldn't tell you.  I should have but... I'm sorry" *FAKE CRY! RUN!*  In this scenario the family unit gets dissolved pretty effectively because Mae'd be plenty broken up and not be interested in dealing with Aniz, and Abel would basically pick a parent to follow.  More subtle manipulation COULD then bring Abel over to following Aniz, if corresponding with his mother on a regular basis.

So Aniz probably WANTS Abel to be pissed off at him.  For some reason.

So Aniz is wrecking the home, and getting Abel good and angry at him.  INTENTIONALLY.  To what effect?  Well!

Aniz needs to demonstrate to Abel that he can't beat him, physically, I think.  There will be a breif fight.

Aniz also wants a really heart-rending bargaining chip to get Abel to come along, but -and this is the really interesting bit- WITH NO MISCONCEPTIONS as to Aniz's basic disposition.  From Aniz' perspective, (remember Kria's Neitzche-inspired speach on Demon Morality) Abel needs to be taught that the world is ugly, brutish, and cruel, and that Power is the real way to keep yourself together and get what you want.  With a dramatic demo like we're seeing, he'll have Abel feeling a lot of the (to me and many others pretty revolting) sentiment behind the Demonic Ubermench.

In short: Sink or swim time, kiddo.  See how dangerous the world is?  Now come along, you've got survival lessons to take.

[Regal]

Which would explain his love for the shirt that he hasn't backwing-ripped...

It is true Aniz really likes that shirt...

Quick, Abel! Tear off his shirt!

Wait, that doesn't sound right at all.

[superluser]

Aniz also wants a really heart-rending bargaining chip to get Abel to come along, but -and this is the really interesting bit- WITH NO MISCONCEPTIONS as to Aniz's basic disposition.  From Aniz' perspective, (remember Kria's Neitzche-inspired speach on Demon Morality) Abel needs to be taught that the world is ugly, brutish, and cruel, and that Power is the real way to keep yourself together and get what you want.  With a dramatic demo like we're seeing, he'll have Abel feeling a lot of the (to me and many others pretty revolting) sentiment behind the Demonic Ubermench.

You misspelt `Hobbes.'  Also, `nasty' and `short.'

I'm not sure about the heart-rending bargaining chip.  Do you mean, he'll keep May alive but threaten to return to Zinvth and visit violence upon her if Abel steps out of line?

We also have seen no examples of Cid or Aniz trying to give Aniz a Hobbesian outlook.

(Wow.  Firefox spellcheck has `Hobbesian.')

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Calvin and Hobbes?

[Alondro]

Which would explain his love for the shirt that he hasn't backwing-ripped...

It is true Aniz really likes that shirt...

Quick, Abel! Tear off his shirt!

Wait, that doesn't sound right at all.

*Charles noddles*  That's right!  That was totally gay!  Abel should totally tear off his pants instead!   

*Charline erfs fromt he sidelines*  He's now evil... but even stupider than before!   

[King Of Hearts]

What happens in Bizarro World, STAYS in Bizzaro world.

Also... incest subtext.

Also... subtext with its letters moved around is buttsex

Also... I havent slept in over 48 hours and am feeling loopy.

[kaskar]

       Of 'course Aniz can't let Abel commit suicide over this whole deal, otherwise 25 years of hard work will have gone to waste. We can presume that Abel is to now expand the numbers of the Aniz clan by one. Seems Abel has to like it or lump it.

[Tapewolf]

Of 'course Aniz can't let Abel commit suicide over this whole deal, otherwise 25 years of hard work will have gone to waste. We can presume that Abel is to now expand the numbers of the Aniz clan by one. Seems Abel has to like it or lump it.

The flipside is that if Aniz drives Abel to a killing rage, he is likely to kill Aniz.  Maybe not at first, but possibly later when he's more experienced.  That means that the number of clan members is now the same as before the exercise.

[Damaris]

You misspelt `Hobbes.'  Also, `nasty' and `short.'

You misspelled "I am not the forum spelling police."

Oh wait, you didn't say that.  Although maybe next time you should think it to yourself before you post.

[superluser]

The flipside is that if Aniz drives Abel to a killing rage, he is likely to kill Aniz.  Maybe not at first, but possibly later when he's more experienced.  That means that the number of clan members is now the same as before the exercise.

Well, in the interest of fairness, I feel compelled to mention that Aniz would have extended the longevity of his clan by a few years.  The animal kingdom is full of examples of this sort of thing.  Some spiders eat their mother, and many mantids eat their mates during compulation (though this actually seems to be more common for mantids under observation).

It would still seem to be more beneficial for a slowly-reproducing species (25 years to maturity is pretty long) with a long period of fertility to keep all potential parents in the gene pool.

You misspelled "I am not the forum spelling police."

Oh wait, you didn't say that.  Although maybe next time you should think it to yourself before you post.

Huh?  I was merely pointing out that I think that Thomas Hobbes, who referred to the life of Man before government as ``solitary, poore (sic), nasty, brutish, and short,'' was in my opinion more appropriate than characterizing Nietzsche as saying ``ugly, brutish, and cruel.''

My intention was not to correct spelling, which I think was obvious by the fact that none of those words were even in the quoted text, but to discuss classical philosophy and which one best applies to the `cubi race.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Well, in the interest of fairness, I feel compelled to mention that Aniz would have extended the longevity of his clan by a few years.  The animal kingdom is full of examples of this sort of thing.  Some spiders eat their mother, and many mantids eat their mates during compulation (though this actually seems to be more common for mantids under observation).

There is a minor difference here - mantids keep the sperm from the copulation for months if not years, if I remember correctly. So mating once and then eating your partner is not limiting more births, as it would in mammals. Plus it's the female that eats the male, which leaves poor Aniz eaten by May? Er...

I -think- I remember someone saying something about parthogenesis, as well - for those of you who haven't run across this word, it means "giving birth even with no sperm, in a form of cloning the mother for each child" - if there are no male mantids around.

My intention was not to correct spelling, which I think was obvious by the fact that none of those words were even in the quoted text, but to discuss classical philosophy and which one best applies to the `cubi race.

Hmm. You might want to expand on that a bit next time. Not everyone picked up on the classical reference - I know -I- was lost, and I seem to catch a number of things that a lot of people here seem to miss. That might just be the people who miss things talking about it, and those who catch remain silently laughing to themselves, though...

[MaskedRetriever]

Huh?  I was merely pointing out that I think that Thomas Hobbes, who referred to the life of Man before government as ``solitary, poore (sic), nasty, brutish, and short,'' was in my opinion more appropriate than characterizing Nietzsche as saying ``ugly, brutish, and cruel.''

My point was mangled slightly by poor forethought, but I didn't mean to say that Neitzche thought of life as ugly and brutish, but rather that this was part A of the lesson, and part B was basically http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_343.php , which I'm gonna go ahead and say I'm not for.  I'm about 2/3 of the way through "Beyond Good and Evil" and my feeling on Neitzche is basically that he is often misunderstood vastly and to his detriment, but still not so much that we should admire him.


Also I have another theory that Aniz did it for the Lulz.

Because seriously if YOU were a Cubi who thought of beings as disposable resources the way Kria does, wouldn't YOU think the look on Abel's face was just priceless?  Comedy.  GOLD.

I mean sure if you're ME the look on Mae's face makes you want to beat Aniz to a bloody pulp but we're talking about Aniz here.

[Kenji]

Also... I havent slept in over 48 hours and am feeling loopy.

You mean you weren't there before?

[superluser]

There is a minor difference here - mantids keep the sperm from the copulation for months if not years, if I remember correctly. So mating once and then eating your partner is not limiting more births, as it would in mammals. Plus it's the female that eats the male, which leaves poor Aniz eaten by May? Er...

I'd go so far as to say that there's a major difference there.  I don't argue that the preying mantis analogy is true, just that an argument that could be made.

Hmm. You might want to expand on that a bit next time. Not everyone picked up on the classical reference - I know -I- was lost

Frankly, I'm surprised.  You usually get things, and I thought that everybody knew ``nasty, brutish, and short.''

I'm about 2/3 of the way through "Beyond Good and Evil" and my feeling on Neitzche is basically that he is often misunderstood vastly and to his detriment, but still not so much that we should admire him.

I think just about everybody has that opinion of Nietzsche.

It occurs to me that the ``forum spelling police'' assessment may also have something to do with the Sealab 2021 quote from the other thread.  If you're not familiar with the episode, it may have looked like I was correcting the spelling of martial law.  The quote has now been added for those who may not be familiar.