Now this? This is villainous.

State of mind: grim
Current soundtrack: "Old newspaper...Paper lama...*tootle tootle*"

U.N. urges calm amid Myanmar clashes

At this point, one was just waiting for the other boot to drop, really.

I may not be the BEST Buddhist in the world (who am I kidding? I'm not!), but one thing I learned quite early, while writing up Gensomaden Saiyuki fanfiction.

There are 18 levels of Buddhist hell, the lowest of which is deemed Avici. The suffering is nigh endless and the space is flexible. There are a few crimes that, um, secure your place there: matricide, patricide, killing an arhat and shedding the Buddha's blood, to name a few. Some group matricide and patricide together, and include suicide. The list changes here and here, depending on where you look, but one crime is usually on that list: creating discord in the sangha, or the community of monks/nuns/practitioners.

Deaths and tear gas for a peaceful protest, led by a respected religious institution. Mm. I call discord, all right.

So yes, o junta, I must agree with the catcalls of your people. Justice will be served in another world. You are fools. You are fools.

And if y'all are curious about why I didn't link from a local paper's site - I looked at three, and couldn't find the exact article.

---

So suddenly, the graduating batch wants to revamp themselves as Villains. Fine turnabout, from the heroic theme we once had.

I don't particularly care how dark and edgy and anti-establishment and WILDLY DIFFERENT it is. Anti-hero, ho yes. Bringit. Anti-villian, convoluted, but I like. Even my co-writers' outlooks on that brought me round a little. But *Villain*? Outright bad guy?

vil·lain
–noun
1. a cruelly malicious person who is involved in or devoted to wickedness or crime; scoundrel.
2. a character in a play, novel, or the like, who constitutes an important evil agency in the plot.
3. villein.
[Origin: 1275–1325; ME vilein, vilain <>villa, -an]
—Synonyms 1. knave, rascal, rapscallion, rogue, scamp.

Maybe I'm idealistic (who am I kidding? I am!), but I didn't come to TOA to emerge as some dark force of power, forcing change. I came because I wanted to change the world in a non-violent fashion, and if I want to be evil, malicious and cruel, I'm perfectly capable of doing that on my own, thank you, away from the industry.

What's bad about being negative? Well, it's all there in the question. The world is dark enough as it is. I refuse to pour any more shadows onto it.