I think you are misunderstanding me.
I am saying we should help him since he is in the same boat as our minions.
Eh. If he's useful I don't care, but nothing you've said has convinced me to care about what happens to him for other reasons.
No he couldn't, they would kill him if he choose anything else.
An interesting point of comparison here is how Dresden ended up with Lash in his head. The denarians drove by Micheal's place and tossed a coin on the sidewalk just in front of where little Harry was standing. Dresden himself was closest, and possibly the only one to immediately notice, so he slaps his hand down on it to stop the toddler from grabbing the ebony object.
For a significant period of time the narrative treats it as a necessary sacrifice, something he had no choice but to do. Until he's talking about it with someone else and they ask him why he didn't pick up the kid instead.
As is explored more throughly past that point saving the kid was
a reason he acted, but not the reason he picked it up. For a moment when he saw it part of him wanted the power, so he took it.
I think something is in play here. The threats
were likely a factor, but this is the reason:
what J's motivation is in working with the Wan Kuei.
The answer is swift as it is disquieting to hear in a voice you had never heard with your ears and yet know to be the unlucky J's own: To become strong enough to stand beside my beloved without withering, without fading.
Before and above the rest, because the crown isn't an evil genie.
This isn't whataboutism. It's about having a consistent ethics, which requires looking at past actions.
These situations are complicated convergences of factors, the past is a good guideline but superficial comparison shouldn't be taken as ironclad law. Isabella in particular was an opportunistic hire we stumbled backwards into anyway, so taking the lesson "don't do that again without cause" is perfectly valid.
That applies to all our minions they choose to be involved. They only stopped because we stopped them not any inherent change of mind.
The ghouls had no choice; alone they can't become something different. They do have responsibility for what they do with those desires, but there is a difference there.
J is a mortal, he has a choice. It's not always a good one, and it's not always one you want to take, but what he's doing is a value judgement in which he places others lives below his interests.
I don't consider him that much worse than our other minions, but I do think that element makes him more culpable in a few ways.
To be honest it feels like half your position changes two posts or so into this, which makes it feel disjointed and unconvincing on a rhetorical level.
1)Shikome have an intrinsic social power against male opposition.
They can canonically talk kueijin into going to watch the sun rise, where sunlight is fatal to them.
I dont think its reasonable to assume a mortal had much of a chance here.
2) The fact that Tuzi didnt have him hidden behind prayer scrolls suggests that he was grabbed near the beginning of this entire affair. Which is, I will remind you, less than three weeks old.
3)I dont think that follows.
In this story, consent obtained through deception was enough to give Corpsetaker control over Lydia, and she's an Exigent.
In Ghost Story, Corpsetaker demonstrated that consent gained through torture still counted for magical purposes.
In Exalted 2E, much the same thing is done with turning Solar Exalted to Abyssals in a Monstrance.
4)Im not saying it was made up out of whole cloth.
But its well within shikome capabilities to get you to pursue a desire that you would normally have the good sense to ignore.
For example?
Everyone wants to be wealthy and loved, but most people wont commit murder for it.
A shikome could talk you into that if they wanted to.
1-2 have some credibility, but I think it's a mistake to implicitly assume mortals have no agency. We've seen that not to be the case repeatedly in this quest.
3) Getting tricked into consenting isn't the same as actively being involved. See how Mathews wasn't turned into a drone until after he rebelled and they had no other practical choice. If he could be totally beguiled and also do what they want him to, why would they share anything real at all?
4) Fair enough, though I think we need more information to really judge how far this went.
1)There is a lot of background planning by other people supporting Molly now.
Im not sure I see your point.
2)I think its an unwise presumption that the betrayers did not plan for being betrayed.
Especially given a two week head start.
This is not a situation where we're giving them preptime; they've already had it.
3)Because mass murder doesnt get them what they want.
But if they dont get what they want and arent going to anyway, lashing out as a punitive measure is very much in character for the rulers of Yomi Wan. Hence we really want to ensure this party cant do so.
1) Not like what the summer lady was doing for Dresden, or many of those other cases. We're doing the heavy lifting here.
2) So we're assuming that they're competent enough planners that their backup plan is dangerous to poke, but their primary killbox is fine because they're uniformed and arrogant?
3) Still doesn't explain why they would do this if they had a perfect read on Molly's life. A death threat by formal letter a few days in advance is asking for trouble that introducing yourself by taking hostages and demanding on the spot compliance doesn't.
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On the vote itself, didn't we have this conversation around this chapter in regards to the Naagloshi?
With the conclusion mostly being that Murphy was a grown woman who can make her own choices and generally recognizes when she's in over her head? What changed?
[X] Yes, you would need her authority to clear up bystanders