[evil, shmevil.]

So I was working through the comments to Sister M's supervillains-r-us post, and I realized something amidst all the talk of Voldemort & eternal life and whatnot....
    It struck me that I think the most basic definition of 'villain' is really 'someone who prizes the needs and goals of their individual self above or separate from the balance, welfare and existence of other conscious living beings'. Because in the end, there can be no 'villainous act' without it being villainous -to- someone; one can't suck in a vaccuum, in other words. And even if you're not directly doing harm to someone else, your existence will have an -effect- on other people no matter what, unless you do exist in a bubble out in space.
    This sort of clues me in to why I was rather disappointed when in Juliet Marillier's 'Wolfskin' (and sequel), she 'fixed' her main villain-like character (the psychopathic!lonely!boy I slashed with the hero-type he loved) by having him 'find god' in relative solitude, far away from 'the affairs of men', only sometimes visited by his son, whom of course he cares for (from a distance). Any 'redemption' that involves some degree of quarantine from 'real life' and humanity in general isn't really worth its weight in beans. And I say this as someone who'd always wanted to be happy by running away and living the life of a hedgewitch on some deserted island, so I know.

    This is not to say 'you must always think of other people' or something uber-sappy like that (because I certainly don't plan to stop being a self-centered bitch anytime soon); it's only to say that in making serious decisions that can impact your own balance permanently, you can't -ignore- the effect it will have on others without -risking- that this effect will be negative. Through sheer statistical likelihood, it's probable that eventually, ignoring these sorts of environmental or personal ramifications will create a serious problem somewhere. In other words, karma will kick your ass in the form of either other people or a natural disaster, if you wait around long enough; and karma doesn't merely work in an 'eye for an eye' sort of way, but rather through aspects of life you weren't paying attention to by separating yourself and say, trying to or becoming immortal.

( ...caring is sharing, or why I'm Not A Carebear, I Just Play One on LJ! )

~~

EDIT - In the spirit of 'thinking of other people', meme!

( On 10 Anonymous HP Writers! This... might mean you. )