RE: Asleep in Nara (Short Story Series, Pt. 6)
Primero: es "no más" porque ¡la letra a necesita el acento!
Now moving to our regularly scheduled commenting. Now if there ever was a reason not to use this line, well then peck yah: "the plot thickens and the plot twists keep on twisting." Now if there ever was to be a reason to like Jæl, now's a reason except for the sadistic plot we were lead to believe was her only reaction to clowns like Sebastian. A perfect plan, a lil' fun and a messy night - yet par for the course. Albeit now I want that entire Buddhist tale transcribed and Sebastian slowly realizing how screwed/lucky he is to accept the deal when the Lord was about to make him see the Light.
On another tangent, that greek name Persephone; dunno, reminds me of the literal goddess of beauty and forced-into-relationship Persephone of Hellas (heroic age of Greece). I mean, she was a charmer with a charisma beyond 10 or 100 and she had her fun in the meanwhile. Nonetheless, I do wonder what is the upkeep of beauty for our vampire; wouldn't imagine it being easy nor cheap for her activities if she called the slaughtering of reactionary sword-wielders a fun night. More-so, I now doubt that this is her only form if she really is mystical, or, in another way, that she's being sincere but cannot be blunt with her statements to the point that she resorts to metaphors that maybe pre-1990s Americans might understand. My keen eye for her rituals have been rewarded, but to what extent?
Thanks for commenting, @theironfelix. I always appreciate your insights--even as you manage to school me on simple Spanish phrases and baffle me with some of your interpretations. :)
If you're curious about the Buddhist tale, the punchline is the Buddha indicating that the injured man has entirely missed the boat (anachronistic Mahayana pun intended). Like the rest of us, he is distracted by all these details and anxious to have more knowledge, as if more complete knowledge of his situation could possibly help his present suffering. What the Buddha does know is that this man, again like the rest of us, is suffering, and that suffering is going to kill him. Rather than fretting over all the things he wishes to know, he needs to acknowledge his present suffering, treat the cause of that suffering, and thereby save his own life. As for the rest of us, the Buddha would say we are just like this man: distracted and unwilling to acknowledge our own suffering or the attachments at the core of that suffering. If we could only calm our minds and focus on dukkha (suffering) and its origin in our attachments, then we could escape the cycle of dukkha and rebirth. Instead, we're happy to add to our own suffering rather than seeking real awakening (improperly translated as "enlightenment" by a bunch of Western Enlightenment asshats).
Persephone, of course, has completely appropriated this tale for her own narrow purposes. And, yes, the irony is that she has denied Sebastian death and sucked him into a new world of suffering. But let's be real here, Sebastian's understanding of the core of his own religion, Christianity, was flimsy at best (look at his choice of shallow items of faith to focus on in his final moments). I'm not so sure about how positive or "enlightening" his death would have been.
Secondly, you don't find Persephone/Jael charming? :)
Thirdly, you're right to pick up on the rituals. I must confess, however, to not completely understanding your pre-1990s metaphor reference. Did you mean the deal? Are you thinking like American mafia movie tropes? I mean, we just had the Japanese mafia on the scene, so I could see the connection...
At any rate, again, thanks for reading and commenting. Always appreciated!
On the first: the buddhists suffer the most on trying to overcome Desire as they desire to get rid of desires, and now we end up in this infinite regression. Bóg help the Pyrrhonian Skeptics if they ever find a Buddhist on their path.
On the second: I know what I felt, she had that Charisma locked at 100+ but her Deception roles didn’t pass my AC/DC.
On the third: Don Salieri sends his regards! Peppers your comment with lead. On a more serious note, I meant both the dying American Mafia culture (don’t worry the Gangs were next as La CIA would soon kill four gangster heads in Chicago and fucktuple the amount of crime) and the declining American Education on the classics/antiquity. The causes for the former is self-explanatory; the latter, let’s say NeoLiberalism with Capitalist Realism and their monster baby for education being Common Core.
::Giggle::
Now I have a new vocabulary word in my lexicon. I shall commence employing it post-haste. (Obviously, I have dug right to the meat of your comment with my response).