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* HypnotismReversal: Red Robe captures Zorian, then attempts to use mind magic to read his memories and find out who else is aware of the [[GroundhogDayLoop time loop]]. However, while Red Robe has put considerable effort into training his unstructured mind magic skills, he doesn't have the bloodline gift that would make it truly effective. Zorian ''does'', and even with his more limited training, he's able to seize on the mental connection Red Robe has created and use it to counterattack, scrambling Red Robe's thoughts and interfering with his muscle control for long enough to escape.
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* HelicopterParents: Zorian's mother is a close-minded, status-obsessed social climber who tried to groom him into a worthy successor for their merchant family. It didn't take. Later on, it's revealed that [[spoiler: the reason why they are traveling all the way across the world to meet Daimen is because he intends to marry a princess in Koth, which very much goes against the parents' plans of having a ''local'', influential in-law.]]
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* MeddlingParents: Zorian's mother is a close-minded, status-obsessed social climber who tried to groom him into a worthy successor for their merchant family. It didn't take. Later on, it's revealed that [[spoiler: the reason why they are traveling all the way across the world to meet Daimen is because he intends to marry a princess in Koth, which very much goes against the parents' plans of having a ''local'', influential in-law.]]
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* DealWithTheDevil: [[spoiler:Red Robe made an agreement with Panaxeth, getting himself incarnated in the real world with an enhanced body and his memories intact, but with a kill switch embedded in his body and soul. If Panaxeth isn't released by the month's end, he dies. Since he actively wants widespread destruction of the existing social order, he's okay with that. Silverlake, who is selfish enough to care more about her own survival than her original version or anyone else, eventually takes the same deal.]]
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* BargainWithHeaven: [[spoiler:Zach agreed to a divine contract while dreaming, which resulted in him being marked as the loop Controller, given a divine blessing that doubled his mana reserves, and tasked with secretly defeating the invasion and keeping Panaxeth locked up. If he fails, though, or if anyone else finds out and isn't silenced, he dies.]]
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* AdventureFriendlyWorld: Between humans expanding into the monster-haunted wilderness, the worldwide Dungeon full of peril and wealth, the countries preparing for the next round of war and buisnesses using dirty tricks to compete, there are lots of options for skilled mages. Zorian gets invited to engage in corporate espionage while hunting monsters.
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* AdventureFriendlyWorld: Between humans expanding into the monster-haunted wilderness, the worldwide Dungeon full of peril and wealth, the countries preparing for the next round of war and buisnesses businesses using dirty tricks to compete, there are lots of options for skilled mages. Zorian gets invited to engage in corporate espionage while hunting monsters.
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Rational Fic is now definition-only.
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* RationalFic: There are almost no blunders on the protagonists’ part that can be called out on. To elaborate, the character doesn't do anything stupid based on the information they are provided with, rather than never make a mistake.
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* YearInsideHourOutside: Although traveling back through time is supposed to be impossible, time ''dilation'' is well established, in the form of "Haste" spells that allow the user to briefly experience perhaps four or five times as much subjective time as everyone else. Black Rooms take it a step further, isolating the interior physically and magically from the outside world in order to achieve a cleaner dimensional boundary that allows a dilation factor of up to thirty. [[spoiler:The world of the Sovereign Gate is in a pocket dimension, almost entirely cut off from not only the real world, but even the spiritual planes, allowing it to achieve orders of magnitude more dilation. Hundreds of years can pass there, while only a fraction of a second passes in the real world.]]
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Grumpy Bear is no longer a trope. Moving examples to other tropes when applicable.
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* GrumpyBear: Zorian can't be having with all the cheerful, boisterous people around him trying to involve him in parties and other excessively social situations -- that's for his brothers and sister.
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* GoodAllAlong: [[spoiler: The Sulrothum, also known as the Devil Wasps, are, in fact, literally and firmly on the side of the angels.]]
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* GoodAllAlong: [[spoiler: The [[spoiler:The Sulrothum, also known as the Devil Wasps, are, in fact, literally and firmly on the side of the angels.angels. Within the loop, when approached diplomatically, they hand over the imperial ring without any complaint. Back in the real world, they assemble an army to fight against Red Robe.]]
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* GoodAllAlong: [[spoiler: The Sulrothum, also known as the Devil Wasps, are, in fact, literally and firmly on the side of the angels.]]
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** The entire way Zorian got into the time loop was by a MillionToOneChance accidentally taking advantage of one; Zach's soul marker got copied over to him, and the time loop didn't notice because it was never designed with expectation that someone would manage such a thing.
** Subverted with the reason Zach is in the time loop in the first place. [[spoiler:The angels]] explain that normally, if Zach managed to loophole out of his contract, they would just descend and violently enforce the contract anyway. But since the whole situation is so desperate, he's responsible for saving the world, and he was tricked into it in the first place, they promise they won't do that. They are flat-out incapable of letting him out of any part of the contract, but if he does weasel out of it, they'll allow it.
** Speaking of which, Zach contract is that [[spoiler:if the safeguards on the primordial's prison go off before the end of the month, or if anyone still knows about the time loop at the end of the month, Zach dies. If Zach passes the end of the month with those conditions satisfied, the contract dissolves and whatever happens next doesn't matter. Zorian determines that it's Zach's ''perception'' that governs the "knows about the time loop" portion; under normal circumstances he can mind-wipe witnesses, but if he believes that they have enough mind magic to defend against that, he has to kill them. So Zorian traps Zach in an illusory world (while Zach is under a mind blank that should render him completely immune to such things but which Zorian has found a way to circumvent) and shows him Zorian, Quatach-Ichl, and Jornak dying, then everyone else getting mind-wiped of the past month. It's good enough to fool Zach, which means it's good enough to fool the contract, and Zach survives the month]].
** Subverted with the reason Zach is in the time loop in the first place. [[spoiler:The angels]] explain that normally, if Zach managed to loophole out of his contract, they would just descend and violently enforce the contract anyway. But since the whole situation is so desperate, he's responsible for saving the world, and he was tricked into it in the first place, they promise they won't do that. They are flat-out incapable of letting him out of any part of the contract, but if he does weasel out of it, they'll allow it.
** Speaking of which, Zach contract is that [[spoiler:if the safeguards on the primordial's prison go off before the end of the month, or if anyone still knows about the time loop at the end of the month, Zach dies. If Zach passes the end of the month with those conditions satisfied, the contract dissolves and whatever happens next doesn't matter. Zorian determines that it's Zach's ''perception'' that governs the "knows about the time loop" portion; under normal circumstances he can mind-wipe witnesses, but if he believes that they have enough mind magic to defend against that, he has to kill them. So Zorian traps Zach in an illusory world (while Zach is under a mind blank that should render him completely immune to such things but which Zorian has found a way to circumvent) and shows him Zorian, Quatach-Ichl, and Jornak dying, then everyone else getting mind-wiped of the past month. It's good enough to fool Zach, which means it's good enough to fool the contract, and Zach survives the month]].
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** The entire way Zorian got into the time loop was by [[spoiler:by a MillionToOneChance accidentally taking advantage of one; Zach's soul marker got partially copied over to him, in such a way that the safeguards intended to ''prevent'' it from being copied were damaged and the time loop didn't notice because it was never designed with expectation that someone would manage such a thing.
work]].
** Subverted with the reason Zach is in the time loop in the first place. [[spoiler:Theangels]] angels explain that normally, if Zach managed to loophole out of his contract, they would just descend and violently enforce the contract anyway. But since the whole situation is so desperate, he's responsible for saving the world, and he was tricked into it in the first place, they promise they won't do that. They are flat-out incapable of letting him out of any part of the contract, but if he does weasel out of it, they'll allow it.
it.]]
**Speaking of which, Zach contract Furthermore, Zach's [[spoiler:contract is that [[spoiler:if if the safeguards on the primordial's prison go off before the end of the month, or if anyone still knows about the time loop at the end of the month, Zach dies. If Zach passes the end of the month with those conditions satisfied, the contract dissolves and whatever happens next doesn't matter. Zorian determines that it's Zach's ''perception'' that governs the "knows about the time loop" portion; under normal circumstances he can mind-wipe witnesses, but if he believes that they have enough mind magic to defend against that, he has to kill them. So Zorian traps Zach in an illusory world (while Zach is under a mind blank that should render him completely immune to such things but which Zorian has found a way to circumvent) and shows him Zorian, Quatach-Ichl, and Jornak dying, then everyone else getting mind-wiped of the past month. It's good enough to fool Zach, which means it's good enough to fool the contract, and Zach survives the month]].
** Subverted with the reason Zach is in the time loop in the first place. [[spoiler:The
**
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* CloningBlues: This is part of the ethics of the time loop. [[spoiler:The entire world, including copies of every living soul, is destroyed at the end of each month only to be re-created again next time. The creators of the time loop decided that the only way this was at all ethical was by limiting the loop to a month; they decided that over a single month, a soul would not diverge enough to be considered a "new" person, and therefore killing the entire world was not a crime. However, the Crown allows temporary loopers to exist for six months, more than long enough to diverge, and therefore killing them is inevitably murder. The Guardian insists that it is the responsibility of the controller to decide if the gain is worth the murder.]]
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* CorruptedContingency: Liches tend to have protections intended to pull their souls back to their phylacteries if threatened.[[spoiler:Which is how Kael's banishment coin is able to work; it couldn't have kicked Quatach-Ichl out by itself, but his contingencies triggered. Zorian defeats Quatach-Ichl in the final battle in a similar way, although that is a downplayed example, as it did involve a genuinely dangerous attack.]]
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* CorruptedContingency: Liches tend to have protections intended to pull their souls back to their phylacteries if threatened. [[spoiler:Which is how Kael's banishment coin is able to work; it couldn't have kicked Quatach-Ichl out by itself, but his contingencies triggered. Zorian defeats Quatach-Ichl in the final battle in a similar way, although that is a downplayed example, as it did involve a genuinely dangerous attack.]]
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* LoopholeAbuse:
** The entire way Zorian got into the time loop was by a MillionToOneChance accidentally taking advantage of one; Zach's soul marker got copied over to him, and the time loop didn't notice because it was never designed with expectation that someone would manage such a thing.
** Subverted with the reason Zach is in the time loop in the first place. [[spoiler:The angels]] explain that normally, if Zach managed to loophole out of his contract, they would just descend and violently enforce the contract anyway. But since the whole situation is so desperate, he's responsible for saving the world, and he was tricked into it in the first place, they promise they won't do that. They are flat-out incapable of letting him out of any part of the contract, but if he does weasel out of it, they'll allow it.
** Speaking of which, Zach contract is that [[spoiler:if the safeguards on the primordial's prison go off before the end of the month, or if anyone still knows about the time loop at the end of the month, Zach dies. If Zach passes the end of the month with those conditions satisfied, the contract dissolves and whatever happens next doesn't matter. Zorian determines that it's Zach's ''perception'' that governs the "knows about the time loop" portion; under normal circumstances he can mind-wipe witnesses, but if he believes that they have enough mind magic to defend against that, he has to kill them. So Zorian traps Zach in an illusory world (while Zach is under a mind blank that should render him completely immune to such things but which Zorian has found a way to circumvent) and shows him Zorian, Quatach-Ichl, and Jornak dying, then everyone else getting mind-wiped of the past month. It's good enough to fool Zach, which means it's good enough to fool the contract, and Zach survives the month]].
** The entire way Zorian got into the time loop was by a MillionToOneChance accidentally taking advantage of one; Zach's soul marker got copied over to him, and the time loop didn't notice because it was never designed with expectation that someone would manage such a thing.
** Subverted with the reason Zach is in the time loop in the first place. [[spoiler:The angels]] explain that normally, if Zach managed to loophole out of his contract, they would just descend and violently enforce the contract anyway. But since the whole situation is so desperate, he's responsible for saving the world, and he was tricked into it in the first place, they promise they won't do that. They are flat-out incapable of letting him out of any part of the contract, but if he does weasel out of it, they'll allow it.
** Speaking of which, Zach contract is that [[spoiler:if the safeguards on the primordial's prison go off before the end of the month, or if anyone still knows about the time loop at the end of the month, Zach dies. If Zach passes the end of the month with those conditions satisfied, the contract dissolves and whatever happens next doesn't matter. Zorian determines that it's Zach's ''perception'' that governs the "knows about the time loop" portion; under normal circumstances he can mind-wipe witnesses, but if he believes that they have enough mind magic to defend against that, he has to kill them. So Zorian traps Zach in an illusory world (while Zach is under a mind blank that should render him completely immune to such things but which Zorian has found a way to circumvent) and shows him Zorian, Quatach-Ichl, and Jornak dying, then everyone else getting mind-wiped of the past month. It's good enough to fool Zach, which means it's good enough to fool the contract, and Zach survives the month]].
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* IWishedYouWereDead: Rea [[spoiler:speculates that Raynie has often wished ill on her little brother, due to their acrimonious family history, and that Raynie is thus feeling incredibly guilty about him being kidnapped.]]
--> '''Rea:''' Shifter tribes have a somewhat superstitious view of curses. Wishing misfortune to someone in your head is not just harmless catharsis to a lot of them.
--> '''Rea:''' Shifter tribes have a somewhat superstitious view of curses. Wishing misfortune to someone in your head is not just harmless catharsis to a lot of them.
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[[folder: E - N]]
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[[folder: E - N]]M]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder: N - Z]]
[[folder: N - Z]]
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[[/folder]]
[[folder: O - Z]]
[[folder: O - Z]]
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* TheNoseKnows: [[spoiler:Rea Sashal knows that Zorian is better connected than he appears, because she can detect his scent on almost all the people who approach her about evacuating from Cyoria.]]
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* MexicanStandoff: [[spoiler: In the real world, Zach and Zorian could shut down the invasion by contacting the capital and bringing in the army, but if they tried that, then Red Robe would retaliate by causing as much chaos as possible -- weapons of mass destruction, assassinations targeted at starting wars, dragon rampages -- in hopes of creating an opening to free Panaxeth. So, Red Robe wants a truce.]]
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* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: Invoked by Ilsa when [[spoiler:thanking Zach and Zorian for helping to contain Veyers' outburst, but telling them that they'll be called in as witnesses.]]
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* NotAfraidToDie: A certain amount of fearlessness is needed in order to successfully use the simulacrum spell -- otherwise, the copies will have an existential FreakOut and possibly betray the original or do something stupid. [[spoiler:Silverlake doesn't use the spell, for this reason; she's too self-interested, and any copy of her would readily backstab the original if it keeps the copy alive. Zorian's copies aren't afraid of dying for the original, but are fond of pranking and inconveniencing him.]]
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** Zorian is a little surprised to find himself on the other end of this, when [[spoiler:Gurey persuades him to help with some corporate espionage, in exchange for Gurey's information about analysing and defeating wards, and an associated spellbook.]]
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* IHaveThisFriend: PlayedForLaughs when Zorian asks about the legality of owning [[spoiler:a giant, magically-enhanced hydra]] in Eldemar, "for a friend." Not that he ever had any intention of going through any legal channels, of course.
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* BroughtDownToNormal: [[spoiler:When his soul is damaged, preventing him from using any magic for several months while it heals, Zorian finds the whole thing a thoroughly miserable experience. He can't teleport, he can't craft magical items, he can't even repel vermin. By that point, he's essentially an archmage, but without his magic, he's reduced to being a mundane teenager.]]
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** The parents seem more or less united by their shared ambitions, although Cikan is seen openly disparaging her husband in front of her children, and his reaction to Zorian being sick is to scoff at Zorian's weakness.
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** The parents seem more or less united by their shared ambitions, although Cikan is seen openly disparaging her husband in front of her children, and his reaction to Zorian being sick is to scoff at Zorian's weakness. The only time Zorian ever seems to draw his approval is [[spoiler:when Zorian is extremely ill from soul damage, but still wants to return to school]] -- not exactly a glowing recommendation.
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* FinaglesLaw: Zorian is GenreSavvy enough to exploit this law when searching for a MacGuffin, checking the most dangerous location first. [[spoiler:Naturally, he's correct.]]
--> '''Zorian:''' I don’t know where the ring is, but I’m operating under the idea that our luck is horrible and thus our target is obviously in the most dangerous part of the ziggurat.
--> '''Zorian:''' I don’t know where the ring is, but I’m operating under the idea that our luck is horrible and thus our target is obviously in the most dangerous part of the ziggurat.
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* AcceptableTarget: InUniverse, Zorian decides that he's okay with whatever happens to the cultists of the World Dragon. That includes everything from burglary and robbery to MindRape and assassination, if it serves his goals. He doesn't quite go as far as [[spoiler:torturing dozens of them to death while bonded to them, in order to unlock his soul perception]], but otherwise, pretty much anything goes.
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* AcceptableTarget: InUniverse, Several InUniverse.
** Zorian decides that he's okay with whatever happens to the cultists of the World Dragon. That includes everything from burglary and robbery to MindRape and assassination, if it serves his goals. He doesn't quite go as far as [[spoiler:torturing dozens of them to death while bonded to them, in order to unlock his soul perception]], but otherwise, pretty much anythinggoes.goes.
** Zach feels similarly about [[spoiler:using the time loop to make one-sided deals with Quatach-Ichl, where the lich's gains are ephemeral while theirs are lasting.]]
---> '''Zach:''' I feel a dark spark of joy at the very thought of such a scenario. If there is anyone that I don’t feel the slightest bit guilty doing that to, it's him.
** Zorian decides that he's okay with whatever happens to the cultists of the World Dragon. That includes everything from burglary and robbery to MindRape and assassination, if it serves his goals. He doesn't quite go as far as [[spoiler:torturing dozens of them to death while bonded to them, in order to unlock his soul perception]], but otherwise, pretty much anything
** Zach feels similarly about [[spoiler:using the time loop to make one-sided deals with Quatach-Ichl, where the lich's gains are ephemeral while theirs are lasting.]]
---> '''Zach:''' I feel a dark spark of joy at the very thought of such a scenario. If there is anyone that I don’t feel the slightest bit guilty doing that to, it's him.
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* LivingLieDetector: The details of the Iljatir bloodline magic are secret, but it's known to be related to divination. And then Zorian notices that Neolu seems very confident that she can tell whether or not people are being honest with her...
--> '''Neolu:''' Woman's intuition.
--> '''Neolu:''' Woman's intuition.
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* AwesomeButImpractical: Magic is totally capable of making objects fly, but the mana cost scales up so quickly that magical aircraft are largely an impractical novelty, requiring expensive construction materials, consuming exorbitant amounts of magical fuel, and being restricted to paths with high ambient mana. For intercontinental travel, people generally prefer teleportation (if they're in a hurry) or sailing ships (if they aren't).
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/21220_mother_of_learning.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:If at first you don't succeed, start over.]]
[[caption-width-right:350:If at first you don't succeed, start over.]]
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* MagicallyBindingContract: A sufficiently powerful mage can construct a magical contract that binds someone's soul.
** The angels [[spoiler:used a divine artifact to make a contract with Zach, obligating him to stop the release of Panaxeth without telling anyone else about the time loop. In exchange, he was marked as the Controller and given a divine blessing that doubled his personal mana reserves without lessening his ability to shape them. However, if Panaxeth escapes, or if at the end of the month he's aware of anyone else knowing about the time loop, he dies.]]
** Panaxeth [[spoiler:makes a deal with Red Robe, incarnating him in the real world in an enhanced body, but obligating him to release Panaxeth from prison. If that doesn't happen by the end of the month, Red Robe dies -- possibly even warping his soul, too. Silverlake takes the same deal.]]
** The angels [[spoiler:used a divine artifact to make a contract with Zach, obligating him to stop the release of Panaxeth without telling anyone else about the time loop. In exchange, he was marked as the Controller and given a divine blessing that doubled his personal mana reserves without lessening his ability to shape them. However, if Panaxeth escapes, or if at the end of the month he's aware of anyone else knowing about the time loop, he dies.]]
** Panaxeth [[spoiler:makes a deal with Red Robe, incarnating him in the real world in an enhanced body, but obligating him to release Panaxeth from prison. If that doesn't happen by the end of the month, Red Robe dies -- possibly even warping his soul, too. Silverlake takes the same deal.]]
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* GodzillaThreshold: [[spoiler:The gods actually prepared contingencies in the core of the world to deal with disasters like the release of a primordial. However, "deal with" in this case means scorched earth to remove the threat. According to the angels, humanity would ''probably'' not be entirely wiped out in the conflagration, but there's no guarantees. Thus, preventing the primordial's release is of prime importance.]]
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* SealedEvilInACan: The primordials were imprisoned in pocket dimensions by the gods, thousands of years ago, because killing them was too hard, too expensive, had too many side effects, or was otherwise not practical (the records are too fragmentary to be sure). Technically they don't actually ''hate'' humanity, any more than a human who steps on an ant necessarily hates that ant, but that would make their release no less devastating.
