Talk:Index Librorum Prohibitorum/@comment-2605:E000:6396:5B00:3D65:B49D:2560:F1B8-20170816072445/@comment-2600:6C50:437F:F86F:30FB:A73E:583A:673B-20190103022312

It seems most people don't understand how powerful works of art are made in the long term. Courage couldn't exist without the presence of evil. Patience, wisdom and all other virtues are only produced because of the fight against evil. Without fighting evil, we would stay indifferent to God's graces and no real loving saints would appear in this world.

Beautiful paintings, sculptures, novels, films all involves, typically, a play of DARK and LIGHT. It is the reason why Mugino, Hamazura, and especially Accelerator has such a fascinating background and enjoyable development. As of Othinus arc conclusion, Touma as well since he has experienced both the deepest ends of depression and obtained hope from that with the help of the Will. It's the necessary rhythm between dark and light that often makes the play or movie or painting powerful. The play of shadow and illumination. Thomas Aquinas- "Therefore, God in his great work of art, permits evil."

Take the book of Job for instance, even if he thinks he is righteous and complains to God. God answers him by taking him through an elaborate tours of the cosmos, asking him "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the world, where were you when I arranged the planets and stars, where were you when I told the sun to arise." This is seriously what Touma should say back every time any of his friends complains to him. Unfortunately, he's too much of a nice forgive and forget type to do that...

God takes Job to an even wider horizon, so Job can see his own suffering within a much wider cosmic context. This can be attributed to Misaka developing an inferiority complex after encountering High Priest with Touma and gets a glimpse of what Touma has been through. This gives her a more proactive mindset, removes the idea of sloth and complacency, and sets her on a developmental phase. Not quite like accelerator but decent enough. She is in the transition between shadow and illumination during NT15-17. Post-NT18 nothing seemed to happen, but I hope the author expands on this because it dissipated way too easily.

Anyways, that's the way the churches in real life typically explain the problem of suffering, it gives you the will to progress further and after you emerge from the pits of suffering, you come out a better and more mature person.

Index has technically been mistreated by Lola/Choronzon, however, her personality and character development has been pushed to the side and largely ignored using the convenient trope of memory wipe (seriously getting old). As a result of this, she is fine not being proactive due to a lack of traumatic experiences that will entice her to take a more frontal approach to solving problems. If Index wants to be considered anything remotely close to interesting, she needs to delve more of the dark side of things and handle it the way Touma does (or get helped by him).