There's a moth stuck in a web


Off-Topic Discussions


I feel bad for it. Its really struggling to get out. But when i went to shoo it out it became pretty clear that the web wasn't just a cobweb, it was still inhabited. Its cruel, but the spider has to eat too. Should i really be the one that decides which lives and which dies? Is this how the gods/aliens/whatevers feel looking down on earth; that with everyone praying for different outcomes the only morally acceptable thing to do with all your vast power is.. nothing?


You could, of course, smush them both. Then there is no more debate over which life is more valuable. They were both equally unimportant.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder Adventure, Rulebook Subscriber

Fire is always the answer.


True, an aerosol can and a lighter would work too. Of course, if its inside you may wind up with a scorch mark on your wall.


Disclaimer:
Ask A Succubus is posting from the perspective of an Abyssal temptress of CE inclinations currently on a short term holiday (only a few hundred thousand years or so) from stuff such as attempting to cause the downfall of civilisation and laughing manically from a bath of virgin's blood. (For one thing bringing down civilisation results in a shortage of decent designer dressmakers, and for another despite the stories virgin's blood really doesn't do that much for the complexion (unless you're one of a handful of unusual corner case creatures) and is thus rather a waste of virgins.) Thus readers should be able to make up their own minds over Just How Seriously This Post Should Be Taken.

Dear Mr. Trying To Evade The Scandinavian Woodcutter's Axe,
If you can't do anything but dither about a moth and a spider web, then of course you shouldn't be the one to decided. 'Do or do not, there is no try', to quote one sage whom I believe is known of even in your rather remote neck of the metaphorical multiversal woods.
And no (unless the other entities of which you speak are unbelievably trivial) that's nothing like what it feels like to be anything remotely approaching a 'supreme' being. On a couple of occasions I have made mind-contact with Abyssal Lords (who are entities reasonably high-up the ladder of sheer power) and there's the whole adoration of legions of worshippers going on, plus the demands and supplications for favours/boons, and the instant knowledge (if desired) of the particular thoughts and intentions of any few dozen or so of the aforementioned faithful, and the sense of the condition of all sites dedicated to your name (and whether or not an entity with moderate power loyal to another 'supreme being' is intruding) and...
And let's not forget that all this intense adoration and worship are coming from seriously sentient entities; now I grant that in the case of the planes and worlds I'm most familiar with, some of these sources with which the Abyssal Lord was in contact could have been moths or spiders, but it seems to me to be a bit unlikely from what I've heard of your world, that the spider and moth you state you were in communion with (you were in communion with them, right?) were quite so sentient. My experiences with Abyssal Lords were really rather intense, and if it weren't for the occasional annoying whiny note or rather petulant demands some of the worshippers I sensed intruding, I would have been rather tempted to seek deific ascension some time ago; from my perspective though, the incredible power and the adoration isn't quite worth the bother of those annoying worshippers who want you to tell them where they left their second favourite sacrificial dagger, or want to know why this week's robes colour has to be purple and yellow stripes with pink polka dots? (The answers to which latter questions by the way are 'almost certainly in the pocket of the robes you were wearing last time you used it' and 'because I say so you twit', for the record.)
Coming back to your original spider/moth question, it's a question of do they both worship you? Do they worship hated rivals? Have they done any favours for you (whether deliberately or accidentally)? Have they ever crossed your path? Are they pretty? Will leaving one or both of them alive annoy/spite someone you dislike? Have either of them annoyed any of your friends? Would it be humorous to interact with them? Add and/or multiply all of these factors (plus several more) together, divide the result by the state in which you got out of bed in the morning, and there's your answer.
Hoping that that unfortunate confusion regarding another wolf and Red Riding Hood's grandmother is resolved soon.

Yours,

Ask A Succubus.

Further Disclaimer:
See the first Disclaimer again. Especially the bit about the Seriousness Of This Post.

The Exchange

Spiders eat moths. They also eat other annoying insects such as mosquitoes. Therefore spiders are our friends. Let him eat the moth and ignore it.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder Adventure, Rulebook Subscriber

Shouldn't you have a drow avatar CJ?

The Exchange

TriOmegaZero wrote:
Shouldn't you have a drow avatar CJ?

Nope.

Shadow Lodge

Whoops. My mistake.


Grandmother Spider's hunger is limitless. Do not disturb her kin, lest she decide that you would provide better sustenance.


I saw this thread title and immediately heard a few moments of this song in my head.

Most likely because of the "There's a butterfly trapped in a spider's web" in the third verse or so of the song.

BigNorseWolf wrote:
I feel bad for it. Its really struggling to get out.

Compassion and empathy for other forms of life is a pretty strong indicator of an evolved and ethical consciousness, from what I've been able to discern of life.

BigNorseWolf wrote:
Its cruel, but the spider has to eat too.

I'm not sure it's "cruel", it's just the "food web" in action. Nature (life) seems to me pure, true Neutral. As has been pointed out here in this thread, Momma Spider's gotta' eat.

BigNorseWolf wrote:
that with everyone praying for different outcomes the only morally acceptable thing to do with all your vast power is.. nothing?

Well, choosing to "not intervene" / "do nothing" in this struggle you witnessed was a choice. It's hard at times, but sometimes the highest ethical choice in some situations is not to intervene / enforce one's will on a situation.

It's been more than a few hours, I suspect the moth's struggles have at least ended by now.

Regards,

-- Andy


1 person marked this as a favorite.

Grarnold Smurfenegger: You're in your room, surfing on Paizo.com, when all of a sudden you look up...
BigNorseWolf: What one?
Smurfenegger: What?
BNW: What forum?
Smurfenegger: It doesn't make any difference what forum, it's completely hypothetical.
BNW: But, how come I'd be there?
Smurfenegger: Maybe you're playing a PbP. Maybe you want to optimize a PC. Who knows? You look up and see a moth, BigNorseWolf. It's crawling toward you...
BNW: Moth? What's that?
Smurfenegger: {irritated by interruptions} You know what a Mothman is?
BNW: Of course!
Smurfenegger: Same thing.
BNW: I've never seen a Mothman... But I understand what you mean.
Smurfenegger: You reach down and you flick the moth into an OTF political thread.
BNW: Do you make up these questions, Mr. Smurfenegger? Or do they write 'em down for you?
Smurfenegger: The moth lies trapped in the thread, its SAN draining from the trolls' comments, beating its head against the rhetorical wall, smurf's dancing and singing everywhere. It can't escape. Not without your help. But you're not flagging.
BNW: {angry at the suggestion} What do you mean, I'm not flagging?
Smurfenegger: I mean: you're not flagging! Why is that, BNW?

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
BigNorseWolf wrote:
I feel bad for it. Its really struggling to get out. But when i went to shoo it out it became pretty clear that the web wasn't just a cobweb, it was still inhabited. Its cruel, but the spider has to eat too. Should i really be the one that decides which lives and which dies? Is this how the gods/aliens/whatevers feel looking down on earth; that with everyone praying for different outcomes the only morally acceptable thing to do with all your vast power is.. nothing?

The moth was doomed from the moment it made contact. It's highly unlikely that you'd be able to free it without seriously fragging it's wings. And a wingless moth is just someone else's meal.


Is this testing whether I'm a replicant or a lesbian Mr. Smurfenegger?


Freehold DM wrote:
Grandmother Spider's hunger is limitless. Do not disturb her kin, lest she decide that you would provide better sustenance.

Someone has played a lot of oWoD.

{ponders viability of oWoD-based My Little WerePony: Friendship Is Darkness mashup}

The Exchange

Zombi Smurfs???


Ambrosia Slaad wrote:
Freehold DM wrote:
Grandmother Spider's hunger is limitless. Do not disturb her kin, lest she decide that you would provide better sustenance.

Someone has played a lot of oWoD.

{ponders viability of oWoD-based My Little WerePony: Friendship Is Darkness mashup}

i own everything for hunter the reckoning, almost everything for werewolf the apocalypse, and almost everything for nwod changeling. I spent an entire summer with my father in south Carolina reading the second edition werewolf book, I still have that same book somewhere in the house.


Crimson Jester wrote:
Zombi Smurfs???

Mmmmmm....smurffffffffff.

Liberty's Edge

Sniff.


Personally, if the moth was just caught in an abandoned web, I would try to free it. Its death would otherwise be wasteful and I would feel bad that I did not help.

But if an active spider is there, I don't think it's cruel or wrong to let the thing have its meal. That's its job, after all, and the web is its means of hunting. It's good of humans to want to help, but in letting the spider eat, you are also helping and being fair to it.

The Exchange

Mothman wrote:
Sniff.

OK I would cut you loose. But those are some BIG spiders.


For the record the moth was lunch.


BigNorseWolf wrote:

For the record the moth was lunch.

Well, it was probably the spider's only meal all day.


Sean FitzSimon wrote:
BigNorseWolf wrote:

For the record the moth was lunch.

Well, it was probably the spider's only meal all day.

Given the size difference i don't think that spider will need to eat again for a loooong time.

I swear the thing looks bigger every time i see it.

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