Existentialism
Jul. 29th, 2007 07:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tanarillOr, the difference between an angel and a demon.
This is world building for Heres Tanarill, see here for more on demons.
This one is really simple. Angels are the definition of selflessness.
Demons are the definition of selfishness.
A short story, which explains my thoughts on the subject rather well: Death, and What Comes Next by Terry Pratchett.
The fact that the demon in her heart doesn't hurt her doesn't mean he's not just as selfish as the rest of them. All it means is that the condition under which he is most happy is one in which Heres Tanarill loves him. Love can't be forced, so he's had to wait a long time. But he's still absolutely self-centered.
Under this definition, humans are a kind of angel and a kind of demon at the same time. They can be selfish, yes, but they can be selfless too. And they have something that neither angels nor demons have: a choice. We can decide what to be.
Nothing happens in a vacuum, though, which is why Heres Tanarill is almost always at odds with the angel in her mind. Like a good Hunter, she gets unpleasant things that need doing done. She just does it without caring for the people around her at more than the absolute minimum, or sometimes a little more. As far as the angel is concerned, almost the only unselfish thing she's ever done is go through the very dangerous process of summoning an angel from inside the Maze. It showed that she was more worried about the people around her than her own well-being, for once.
For the record, she got the angel to displace the demon. She never planned to have them both riding around with her at all.
No, she's not a nice person. Whatever gave you that idea?
This is world building for Heres Tanarill, see here for more on demons.
This one is really simple. Angels are the definition of selflessness.
Demons are the definition of selfishness.
A short story, which explains my thoughts on the subject rather well: Death, and What Comes Next by Terry Pratchett.
The fact that the demon in her heart doesn't hurt her doesn't mean he's not just as selfish as the rest of them. All it means is that the condition under which he is most happy is one in which Heres Tanarill loves him. Love can't be forced, so he's had to wait a long time. But he's still absolutely self-centered.
Under this definition, humans are a kind of angel and a kind of demon at the same time. They can be selfish, yes, but they can be selfless too. And they have something that neither angels nor demons have: a choice. We can decide what to be.
Nothing happens in a vacuum, though, which is why Heres Tanarill is almost always at odds with the angel in her mind. Like a good Hunter, she gets unpleasant things that need doing done. She just does it without caring for the people around her at more than the absolute minimum, or sometimes a little more. As far as the angel is concerned, almost the only unselfish thing she's ever done is go through the very dangerous process of summoning an angel from inside the Maze. It showed that she was more worried about the people around her than her own well-being, for once.
For the record, she got the angel to displace the demon. She never planned to have them both riding around with her at all.
No, she's not a nice person. Whatever gave you that idea?
