My character Lyria says the secret to getting away with being "evil" is to lie low, avoid angering anyone more powerful than yourself, until you've learned enough and worked hard enough in secret to get to the point, some day, when you don't have to take shit from as many people; I say "as many" because you still need to keep from angering the people "bigger" than you, and also, your peers can gang up on you. But still be polite and politic as much as possible, to everyone, unless they try to abuse you first. Do not abuse your power; piss off enough people who are beneath you, or just the right person, can be hazardous to your health.
Avoid fighting if you can. But if someone threatens you and running away would only make them a thorn in your side, either make sure you run farther than they can follow, or kill them. She lives by the mantra, "Don't leave a live enemy behind you."
Another secret to being evil is, make people fear you enough to give you a wide berth, but not so much that they come bearing pitchforks and torches. Also, make your own henchmen if you can. But however you get your henchmen/henchwomen, treat them very well, but not *too* well. It inspires loyalty.
Also, don't seek power for power's sake. Have some goal. Lyria doesn't conquer, she holes up in her fortress and occasionally travels in search of more information. Her eventual goal is to defeat death by becoming a goddess, even a Creator. Her basic rule of thumb is, don't give anyone more excuse than they need to try to bring you down. And in case someone gets angry enough or bored enough to try to bring you down, be prepared. Not only is Lyria a formidable sorceress, she also has a huge army of unkillable supersoldiers, and in case all else fails... well, I'll not spoil things too much. But she has a backup plan for her plans, and all her backup plans have backup plans. She also has the capability to run to safe places if she has to.
Another good rule she lives by is this: defy labels. No one is truly good or truly evil. If you're aware of this and play your cards right, you can get allies from anywhere. Having friends and allies who are "good" as well as "evil" can be of tremendous help, as long as you are honest with them from the get-go, and they befriend you knowing full well that you're not a goody two-shoes. Same goes with "evil" allies: they have to know up front that you are a complex person with your own ethics and that there are some lines you won't cross. Nothing is worse than lying to friends and allies about what kind of a person you are, because Good may feel obliged to take you down, and Evil may think you're a traitor or a snitch. Even being honest up front like that is risky, so don't make too many friends from either side.
So, like anything in life, get good at hiding (but not too good), get good at gathering information, get good at finding trustworthy allies, don't abuse your power, don't be an asshole, and get good at kissing ass (politics). Keep your head down and work diligently without attracting undue attention, until such time as you can strike. And be clever, but don't get a swolen ego. Don't overestimate yourself, and don't underestimate others. And if your particular skill involves changing yourself through science or magic into something faster, stronger, and better than you were, be very careful not to rush things! Be methodical in your research before making any changes, and give yourself time to get used to the changes you make. It takes lots of cunning, hard work, the tongue of a politician (not literally), and a well-balanced air of mystery to survive in the dark, fuzzy area between Good and Evil, or to be evil. Not everyone's cut out for it. Between rivals and heroes, villainy has a high mortality rate. If you seem to have no agenda except to survive, it gives you a kind of protective invisibility.
A small potatoes villain who is sometimes riding the edge of the Pragmatic Dictator line, but he does have style and cleverness. For villainy, Xykon's your go-to guy.
Hopefully, Elan will figure out that his father put the wrong framing on the problem.
He's not looking at an evil dictator; he's looking at an evil conspiracy. And the thing about conspiracies is how some well-placed rumors and carefully generated disinformation can turn a conspiracy into infighting.
He's organized a team of six people to become the power behind three thrones, and effectively controls a third of the world. In my opinion, if that's small potatoes, the big potatoes aren't that much bigger.
Third of a CONTINENT. There's a large difference. Plus Xykon is playing for ALL the marbles -- which includes the godly ones, eventually. By contrast, Daddy Dearest just wants to live well.
(on my own scale, neither of them is hitting the big time, but within their own universe Xykon's in an entirely different class)
This is true if the conspiracy isn't close-knit. One thing that Dad seems to be good at is recognizing his self-interest lies in the RIGHT people trusting him. His companions MUST top that list.
What? You just accept being corrected like that? What's WRONG with you? This is the Internet! We can't have reasonable discussion here! Kengr, you tell him!
Yep. So, which requires harder testing to get, a driver's license or a gun license? And if it's unreasonable to expect that the owner of a firearm can't hit a target at a reasonable distance, can we at least expect the owner to be able to clean the firearm without a self-inflicted wound?
"I am not on anyone's 'side' because nobody is entirely on MY side."
Absolutely correct! It's a harder route to travel, but it's a better one overall. (I freely admit to being too lazy to take that path.)
Yes, but you LINKED in this very post to an "Order of the Stick" comic, so I presumed (apparently incorrectly) that you knew something about "Order of the Stick", in which the primary bad guy is Xykon.
I can't say, actually, because when *I* got my driver's license it was drop-dead easy, but when my wife had to get hers again (she had, literally, not noticed that it had expired FOUR YEARS AGO and thus had to start the whole process again) it had turned into a nightmare circus.
Never having applied for a firearm myself, I know some areas where it's a matter of filling out a form and waiting a bit, and other areas where it would probably be easier to MAKE the gun than to actually get a license to use it.
Of course, a driver's license should be much harder. A handgun is harder to aim and can't smash through walls, doors, light poles, and so on. The amount of energy in a car is immense -- the kinetic energy of two tons of steel travelling at 60mph is very impressive, and the chemical energy in the tank is worse.
Where I live, thee are no licenses, except for concealed carry, or for the Federally required stuff for automatic weapons and the like.
And given recent Supreme Court rulings, it'll eventually be that way most places.
If I ever take Fay shooting, we'll probably have to have one of use carry the rifles and the other carry the ammo, given that we'd have to go on our bikes. Might even have to lock the cases, and have each other carry the keys.
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Avoid fighting if you can. But if someone threatens you and running away would only make them a thorn in your side, either make sure you run farther than they can follow, or kill them. She lives by the mantra, "Don't leave a live enemy behind you."
Another secret to being evil is, make people fear you enough to give you a wide berth, but not so much that they come bearing pitchforks and torches. Also, make your own henchmen if you can. But however you get your henchmen/henchwomen, treat them very well, but not *too* well. It inspires loyalty.
Also, don't seek power for power's sake. Have some goal. Lyria doesn't conquer, she holes up in her fortress and occasionally travels in search of more information. Her eventual goal is to defeat death by becoming a goddess, even a Creator. Her basic rule of thumb is, don't give anyone more excuse than they need to try to bring you down. And in case someone gets angry enough or bored enough to try to bring you down, be prepared. Not only is Lyria a formidable sorceress, she also has a huge army of unkillable supersoldiers, and in case all else fails... well, I'll not spoil things too much. But she has a backup plan for her plans, and all her backup plans have backup plans. She also has the capability to run to safe places if she has to.
Another good rule she lives by is this: defy labels. No one is truly good or truly evil. If you're aware of this and play your cards right, you can get allies from anywhere. Having friends and allies who are "good" as well as "evil" can be of tremendous help, as long as you are honest with them from the get-go, and they befriend you knowing full well that you're not a goody two-shoes. Same goes with "evil" allies: they have to know up front that you are a complex person with your own ethics and that there are some lines you won't cross. Nothing is worse than lying to friends and allies about what kind of a person you are, because Good may feel obliged to take you down, and Evil may think you're a traitor or a snitch. Even being honest up front like that is risky, so don't make too many friends from either side.
So, like anything in life, get good at hiding (but not too good), get good at gathering information, get good at finding trustworthy allies, don't abuse your power, don't be an asshole, and get good at kissing ass (politics). Keep your head down and work diligently without attracting undue attention, until such time as you can strike. And be clever, but don't get a swolen ego. Don't overestimate yourself, and don't underestimate others. And if your particular skill involves changing yourself through science or magic into something faster, stronger, and better than you were, be very careful not to rush things! Be methodical in your research before making any changes, and give yourself time to get used to the changes you make.
It takes lots of cunning, hard work, the tongue of a politician (not literally), and a well-balanced air of mystery to survive in the dark, fuzzy area between Good and Evil, or to be evil. Not everyone's cut out for it. Between rivals and heroes, villainy has a high mortality rate. If you seem to have no agenda except to survive, it gives you a kind of protective invisibility.
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He's not looking at an evil dictator; he's looking at an evil conspiracy. And the thing about conspiracies is how some well-placed rumors and carefully generated disinformation can turn a conspiracy into infighting.
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(on my own scale, neither of them is hitting the big time, but within their own universe Xykon's in an entirely different class)
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(Now, if you wanted to talk politics, or gun control, I might consider being unreasonable, stubborn, and irrational. Maybe.)
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Gun control is when I hit what I aim at.
Politics: "I am not on anyone's 'side' because nobody is entirely on MY side."
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Yep. So, which requires harder testing to get, a driver's license or a gun license? And if it's unreasonable to expect that the owner of a firearm can't hit a target at a reasonable distance, can we at least expect the owner to be able to clean the firearm without a self-inflicted wound?
"I am not on anyone's 'side' because nobody is entirely on MY side."
Absolutely correct! It's a harder route to travel, but it's a better one overall. (I freely admit to being too lazy to take that path.)
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Creators are funny that way. :)
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Never having applied for a firearm myself, I know some areas where it's a matter of filling out a form and waiting a bit, and other areas where it would probably be easier to MAKE the gun than to actually get a license to use it.
Of course, a driver's license should be much harder. A handgun is harder to aim and can't smash through walls, doors, light poles, and so on. The amount of energy in a car is immense -- the kinetic energy of two tons of steel travelling at 60mph is very impressive, and the chemical energy in the tank is worse.
By comparison, handguns are harmless.
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And given recent Supreme Court rulings, it'll eventually be that way most places.
If I ever take Fay shooting, we'll probably have to have one of use carry the rifles and the other carry the ammo, given that we'd have to go on our bikes. Might even have to lock the cases, and have each other carry the keys.
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