icylancet

Latest Posts by icylancet

here's over 6.2K prompts of all sorts you can use for your writing ideas!

happy writing!

**no need to credit the list if it helps you with writing. but reblogging/sharing it with your writer friends is definitely appreciated!

This is how I see Lilia honestly

❥ Twisted Wonderland Dormitory Songs

Dont skip

Please,🙏 I beg you, do not let us down. What is happening now is unimaginable and not everything is being broadcast. There is a great cover-up of the crimes that are happening now. It is terrifying. We cannot sleep because of the sound of the planes and missiles. Please be a reason to help me I have to provide food and insulin to be able to survive. If we are attacked by missiles, we may not survive from hunger and lack of medicine and basic necessities. Please do not let us down. Make our voice heard to the world. Please.

Chuffed

Support Nabila's Fight for Health and Dignity

Hi, my name is Dipa and I'm raising money for Nabila . Please take some time to read her story below and donate so that she can travel to re

💬 Just a Small Update, and a Big Thank You

Dear friends, kind hearts, and everyone who has stood with us,

When I first opened my heart to the world and shared our story, I never imagined the amount of love and solidarity we would receive. Thanks to your incredible support, we’ve now reached $12,837—a milestone that brings real light to some very dark days.

From the deepest corners of my heart, thank you.

💔 A Journey of Loss, but Also of Strength

As many of you know, I’ve lost 25 of my loved ones during this devastating war. That grief lives with me every single day. It’s in the silence that once held laughter, in the empty spaces where we once gathered as a family.

But through your help, I’ve also felt something else: hope. And that hope is priceless.

“21/Oct/2023 Before It Reached Us: The Day Our Neighbor’s House Was Destroyed” A quiet moment of fear, filmed just before everything changed.

“22/Oct/2023 The Morning After: Our Family Home in Ruins” This is what was left behind after the bombing of our home.

🌿 What Life Looks Like for Us Now

Despite everything, we’re still here. Still surviving. Still hoping.

But things have only gotten harder.

The war has returned, more brutal than before—and for over a month now, Gaza has been completely sealed off. No food is coming in. No medical supplies. No aid. No trade. No one is allowed to leave, and no one is allowed to enter.

We’re trapped.

🏚 We live with the fear of tomorrow, every single day. Airstrikes, drones, and the uncertainty of what might happen next. 👨‍👩‍👧 Our family is forever changed—we haven’t just lost people; we’ve lost pieces of ourselves. 📉 Basic needs go unmet—even clean water feels like a luxury now. Medicines, if they exist at all, are unreachable.

And yet…

Your support reminds us that we’re not forgotten. It reminds us that someone, somewhere, is still listening. That someone still cares. That we’re not completely alone in this.

Every message. Every share. Every dollar. It tells us: You’re walking this road with us. And that gives us the strength to keep going.

💖 What You Can Do

If you’ve already donated—thank you beyond words. If you can share our story again, it could reach someone who can help.

Even $5 means warmth, comfort, and a chance to breathe a little easier.

Chuffed

Donate to Help Mosab saving who's left of his family

My name is Mosab Elderawi, and I am a survivor of the war in Gaza. Life as I knew it has been completely destroyed. I have lost my home, my

✨ Why It All Matters

This isn’t just about reaching a fundraising goal. It’s about surviving war with dignity. It’s about believing in tomorrow. It’s about making sure my daughter grows up knowing that the world did not look away.

Thank you for your kindness, patience, and belief in our humanity. You’ve helped me find my voice—and I will use it to keep hope alive.

🙏 From the Heart: A Quiet Apology

There’s something I need to say—something that’s been on my heart for some time.

When I first began sharing our story, I didn’t know what the right way was. I was scared, grieving, and trying to protect my family in any way I could. I reached out to many people, hoping someone, anyone, would see us. In that process, I now realize I may have overstepped, and I might have made some feel overwhelmed.

If that happened, I am truly sorry.

Please believe me when I say it was never out of disregard or pushiness. It came from a place of fear—fear of being forgotten, fear of not being able to keep my family safe, fear of watching everything I love slip away in silence.

I’m learning as I go. I’ve slowed down. I’m more mindful now, trying to share our journey in a way that feels respectful of the space and hearts of those listening.

If my words ever came at the wrong time, or in the wrong way, I hope you can understand where they came from—and I hope you can forgive me.

Thank you for seeing past my mistakes. Thank you for still being here. It means more than I can ever explain.

Vetted by @gazavetters ( #309 )

With love and endless gratitude, Mosab and family ♥️

My Journey to Escape the War in Gaza

My name is Abdelmajed. I never imagined I’d be sharing my story like this, but life in Gaza has become unbearable. I am a survivor of the war here, and in the blink of an eye, everything I once knew—my home, my safety, my community—was ripped away from me.

The war has transformed Gaza into a graveyard of broken dreams. The buildings that once stood as symbols of life and resilience are now piles of rubble. Every corner is filled with the echoes of explosions. Every moment is shrouded in uncertainty. There is no security. There is no stability. There is no light at the end of the tunnel.

Basic needs have become luxuries. Food is scarce. Clean water is even scarcer. Hospitals are overwhelmed and under-resourced, and there is almost no medical care to be found. Every night, families go to bed hungry, praying they’ll wake up to see another day. The cost of basic necessities has skyrocketed, and it’s become a daily battle just to survive.

I’ve seen things I never thought possible—standing in long lines for a piece of bread, rationing every drop of water, and watching my people suffer in silence. I have lost everything—my home, my safety, my dignity.

Escape from Gaza is my only hope, but it’s almost impossible without financial help. The cost of evacuation is far beyond my means, and without support, I’m trapped in a warzone with no way out.

I’m reaching out to you now, in the hopes that someone, anyone, can help. I am not asking for luxury. I am asking for a chance—just a chance—to live. A chance to escape this never-ending cycle of fear, destruction, and loss. A chance to rebuild my life somewhere safe, where I can begin again, where I can find hope once more.

Chuffed

Help Abdelmajed Escape Gaza and Rebuild His Life

My name is Abdelmajed, and I am a survivor of the war in Gaza. Everything I once knew has been taken away—my home, my safety, and the people

Any amount you can give will help me get closer to safety. Even the smallest donation will make a difference—it could be the lifeline I need to survive. If you are unable to donate, please share my story. The more people who hear it, the better the chance that I can find the support I desperately need.

Your kindness and support mean the world to me. You’re not just helping me escape a war; you’re giving me a chance to live, to rebuild, to breathe again.

Thank you for listening. Thank you for caring.

Vetted by @gazavetters

i get tears in my eyes whenever i think of how karasuno was the foundation of kageyama’s growth. tobio found a team that accepted him & gave him the space to grow as a setter. not being accepted into shiratorizawa was the best thing that could happen to him. because of that rejection, he found his way to shoyo, who would become his lifelong partner and rival. because of his teammates, he finally understood what it meant to be a team. he felt valued and was able to build a connection with people that went beyond volleyball. it’s because he played at karasuno that he’s now able to create connections that help him become a better person AND player. karasuno needed tobio & tobio needed them.

dancing in starlight fits go hard asl 💯 (ref)

2ha spoilers but i personally believe that 2ha was written so carefully.. like the attention to every detail is amazing. love you meatbun. like in ch 179 where mo ran taught chu wanning—who was afraid of heights—to ride a sword, then by ch 279, chu wanning FLIES across the skies on his paper dragon to save mo ran 🥲 his fear of heights faded, but his new fear became losing mo ran

Tokyo daylight

“What if I write it and it’s bad-”

WHAT IF YOU WRITE IT AND ITS GOOD? WHAT IF YOU WRITE IT AND ITS EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANTED? WHAT THEN????

unfortunately i have no filipino friends who like mhyk so i'll also just post this here lol ganito na magbiro si faust nung ms2 😭😭 KAINES

translation if anyone's curious: "sir, is there a discount for cremation if you die from a fire?"

'di ko pa nga nalagpasan chapter 50 ng yuwu pero mukhang minumulto talaga si mo xi!

😆 1

what i love about mhyk is the way they really played around the concept of magic and wizards and incorporated promises into the lore. like, we as humans often making promises to others, but most of the time, it's merely brushed off or not taken seriously. mhyk takes the concept of 'making a promise' to a whole other level by emphasizing the fact that promises are NOT meant to be broken and if it becomes broken, you eventually are forced to confront the consequences of your actions. (or in mhyk lore terms: wizards making promises to others---whether wizard or human---emphasizes the heavy weight that comes in making a promise and striving to fulfill that promise. you must always take your words seriously because it means a lot to others who are on the receiving end of your own words. wizards in this world lose their magic if they break their promise because it simply means that they failed to commit to their own words---to their own promise.)

enemies to lovers who are only enemies because everyone expects them to be… in reality they’re actually sleeping together

If you're seeing this, I demand you to go write at least 500 words on your current project.

Do it.

Do it.

Do it.

having an archenemy as a grown ass man is so gay actually. what are you arching? your back?

Enemies/Friends to Lovers & more Masterpost

Enemies to Lovers (and vice versa)

How to write Enemies to Lovers + Dialogue Prompts

Oblivious Enemies to Lovers Prompts

Enemies to Lovers: Falling for the flirt

Enemies to Lovers: Co-worker Edition Part I

Enemies to Lovers: Co-worker Edition Part II

Enemies to Lovers: Meet Ugly College Edition

Enemies to Lovers: Drama Club Edition

Enemies to Lovers: Apocalypse AU

Enemies to Lovers: Band Edition

Enemies to Lovers: Assassins Edition

Enemies to Lovers: Martial Arts Edition

Enemies to Lovers: Given up on life

Lovers to enemies

Reasons for lovers turning to enemies

Exes to Lovers

Exes to lovers prompts

Exes to lovers dialogue

Friends to Lovers

Reluctant allies to friends to lovers dynamic

Friends to lovers Prompts

Flirty friends to lovers Prompts

Friends with benefits to lovers Prompts

Friends to Lovers Ideas

Best friends to lovers Prompts

Childhood friends to lovers Prompts

Childhood friends to enemies to lovers Prompts

More:

Enemies to friends with benefits Prompts

Enemies to friends Prompts

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[Birthday] Shino (April 14th, 2025)

Twitter thread | Bluesky thread

Thanks for the lemonade. It's just what I needed after all this training. Want some? You've been standing there watching me all this time. Aren't you tired? Heh, of course I could feel you looking my way. It's not like you were trying to hide it, you know.

Birthday morning

Shino: You said we can do whatever I want today, right?

Shino: Then, you should come watch me train. I want to show you some real cool moves I’ve been practicing.

Shino: Prepare to be blown away!

Voicelines

Shino: … Heath, do you want to go to the party together? …Heck yeah. My birthday won’t be complete without you by my side. …I gotta find Cain and thank him later. …No, it’s nothing. Come on, the party’s about to start.

Faust: Happy birthday, Shino. I noticed you’ve become rather studious lately, and as a result, your grades have improved as well. Keep up the good work. …Heh, I have to give credit where it's due.

Heathcliff: Today’s your special day Shino, so feel free to ask for anything you want. As long as it’s within my capabilities, of course… You want to go to the party together? …How can I say no! Let’s eat and laugh to our hearts’ content and make tonight a birthday to remember.

Nero: ‘appy birthday, Shino. Ya sure have a way with words, but sometimes ya gotta take a step back an’ indulge yer childhood self. ‘Ere’s some warm soup for ya. Now, ya better drink up an’ go to bed, or you’ll never grow taller than me.

Oz: ...Is it Shino’s birthday today? He came up to me and declared he would defeat me one day… That boy knows where his strength lies, and he’s determined to grow stronger. He’s far from being on par with me, but he’ll undoubtedly become a powerful wizard in the future.

Arthur: Happy birthday, Shi– Whoa, where did you find this beetle? It’s huge! It must’ve come all the way from the depths of the forest to wish you a happy birthday. …Right, I came to find you to do just that too! Happy birthday!

Cain: It’s gonna be fine, don’t sweat it! Just go up to Heath and tell him you wanna celebrate your birthday together. He’s gonna fold immediately, bet! Now, take deep breaths a–nd off you go! …Those two never change, do they?

Riquet: Master Sage, look! Shino and Heathcliff are heading to the dining hall together. It seems like they’ve made up. Cain and I were a bit worried, but thankfully, it ended well. After all, there’s nothing more precious than celebrating your birthday with your best friend.

Snow: For his birthday, Shino requested a joint lesson with us Northern wizards, so we're consulting with Faust about it. Knowing each other’s homeland is more important now than ever after all. Our present will come a bit late, but we hope Shino will be pleased with the results.

White: Not only is Shino interested in a lesson with the Northern wizards, but with the Southern ones as well. He’s taking his studies very seriously these days, so they're holding a special classroom lecture for him later. Oh, how we look forward to seeing his continued growth!

Mithra: Happy birthday, Shino. Say, your magical artefact is quite impressive. Could I try holding it for a bit? …Hmm, I didn’t expect it to be so small since it always looks massive next to you. Well, regardless, it’s still a cool weapon to have. 

Owen: Happy birthday, Shino. I have a very special guest I’d like you to meet. It’s my dear Cerberus. He’s not as loyal to his master as you are, so I’d like him to learn a trick or two from a well-behaved dog such as yourself.

Bradley: If ya really wanna impress yer elders, it ain’t enough to jus’ keep bumpin’ up yer age. Ya gotta make the most outta every opportunity an’ put in the effort to grow. Kiddos like you are always lookin’ for that approval, yeah? …Eh? Yer past that age already?

Shylock: Welcome in, Shino. I made you a special birthday drink using orange juice and a touch of bitter herbs to give it an alcoholic taste. You’ll have to get used to the flavour eventually should you want to drink one day. Worry not, I also have a palette cleanser prepared.

Murr: Here’s your present! A lapis lazuli amulet made by yours truly! Even a real go-getter like yourself can feel lost from time to time, right? Well, this amulet can help ya find your way when ya need it! Probably! …Ahaha, got your attention?

Chloe: Isn’t Shino just so~ badass? It’s like nothing can bring him down… OMG wait, this is giving me so much inspiration! I feel like I could make him a ton of new outfits right now! Wouldn't that be an awesome birthday gift!?

Rustica: You and I once had a discussion on love, did we not? Now that you’re older, I’d love to tell you my own love story. I’ll set a table for us, brew a pot of tea, and prepare some suitable music… That sounds like a lot of trouble? Well, love can be quite troublesome.

Figaro: There’s a cafe around here that makes delicious lemon pies, so I could take you sometime. I do know a thing or two about sweets after all. ...Is it really so surprising that I’m up-to-date with where the youths like to hang-out? I am a youth myself, I’ll have you know.

Rutile: Here you go, Shino! I saved the best cut of meat for the birthday boy! …Ahaha, you got me. Heath was the one who asked me to do this since he thought you’d just give it back if he came himself. Look, he keeps sneaking glances at us, so you should accept it for him!

Lennox: Happy birthday, Shino. I hear you’ve been taking your studies seriously as of late. I’m sure Lord Faust has been very happy to see you challenging yourself. ...Now, I should challenge myself and learn how to smile? Haha, I’ll do my best too, then. 

Mitile: Hey, Mister Shino, why don’t we take a study break here and head to the cafe? Since it’s your birthday, I want to treat you to something! I probably can’t afford the most expensive cake on the menu… But hopefully, I’ve saved enough for the second most! 

Peter, not slept in 2 days and on a minecraft binge: no, no Mr. Stark dont turn the lights off or else the mobs will spawn

Tony, standing by the labs light switch: the who

Tony and his PPs (forgot to post this one too)

The Avengers 2012 era was the best time ever in the fandom

Thor loves pop tarts, Clint lived in the vents, Bruce and Tony did science together, Steve was the mom friend of the team and did art in his free time, Natasha was cool aunt of the team, Loki was there too and a bunch of other characters like Peter, Sam, Bucky, Vision and Wanda all lived in the Avengers tower together

It was a much simpler time where everyone in the fandom was chill and having fun together

somehow my mcu phase resurfaced but it's crazy to think that it was a picture of tony and peter that made tony decide to invent time travel. like. wow. damn. okay.

Generals and their little light

I love them very much

wei wuxian vs. pragmatism: what MDZS intends to say about righteousness

copy/pasting most of my rather bitchy reply into its own individual post because i think it deserves to stand on its own.

so i think we can all agree that MXTX intends for us to read MDZS and conclude that wei wuxian is ultimately a deeply heroic and righteous person. whether you as the reader agree with this assessment of wei wuxian's moral character is another question entirely, but at the very least it is fairly obvious to all of us that MXTX intends for us to read him as a good person.

so why does MXTX call wei wuxian a good person? what aspects of his character and which of his choices make him a good person? what moral framework and what definition of morality does MXTX employ in order to call wei wuxian a good person?

i posit that MXTX argues that wei wuxian is heroic precisely because he is not pragmatic - because he adheres to his moral ideals despite the consequences, and because he did not make moral sacrifices at critical junctures of his life. the first half of this post will argue that wei wuxian is not pragmatic. the second half of this post will argue that this is exactly why wei wuxian is heroic, and that the moral framework employed by MXTX is deeply idealistic instead.

so let's begin.

let's start by establishing two things.

first: what MXTX argues about morality through the narrative of MDZS and the reader's own beliefs about morality are two different things. me saying "MDZS argues that xyz is righteousness" and me saying "i think xyz is righteousness" are two different statements. the following analysis is concerned not with what i myself consider to be righteous, but rather what MXTX argues through MDZS is righteous.

second: wei wuxian is not pragmatic.

what does it mean to be pragmatic? unless we are speaking about the school of philosophy specifically (which i am not here), being pragmatic means being grounded in reality and focused on practical outcomes. it means being result-oriented and considering the consequences of your actions before you act; it means acting only after you have considered the potential consequences of all possible courses of action and have then decided which outcomes are acceptable. being pragmatic also means recognizing when achieving everything you want is impossible. and, in such situations, being pragmatic thus entails compromising to achieve a desired outcome, even if that means you don’t get everything they want. to put it in edgier terms, being pragmatic means being able to make moral sacrifices.

an idealistic person attempts the impossible. a pragmatic person recognizes when something truly is impossible.

wei wuxian is not pragmatic.

first, wei wuxian is not someone who carefully considers the consequences of his actions before he acts. in fact, he displays a startling lack of consideration for consequences. it repeatedly falls upon other characters to either try (and fail) to hold him back.

when wei wuxian punched jin zixuan for insulting first jiang yanli and then jiang cheng, did he consider that jiang fengmian and jin guangshan might then dissolve the betrothal, and that jiang yanli might have wanted to make a decision regarding that on her own? no. he just punched jin zixuan because he was mad that jin zixuan had insulted two people he loved.

when wen chao threatened mianmian, and lan wangji and jin zixuan stood up for mianmian, and then wei wuxian stood up for them by holding wen chao hostage in turn - did he consider that there might be consequences for humiliating and threatening the life of the son of a warmongering great sect leader who has already proven capable of attacking other sects? no. did he stop and think "alright, wen ruohan has already attacked the cloud recesses, which proves that he's willing to wage war against the other sects. threatening the son of a sect leader is an easy way to earn any sect leader's ire, and since i'm the first disciple of the jiang sect, this puts not just me but the entire jiang sect on wen ruohan's shitlist"? no. it would be one thing if wei wuxian weighed this possibility and then decided that rescuing an innocent girl and the people who defended her was more important was worth the risk - that would show that he considered the consequences and then made his choice. but the thought simply never entered his mind. he acted simply because he wanted to save mianmian, jin zixuan, and lan wangji from the wens; he did not think beyond that.

when wei wuxian busted the wen remnants out of the qiongqi pass labor camp, did he have a clear plan as to how he was going to weather the political fallout? did he have a plan more detailed than "live quietly in the burial mounds until everyone forgets about us"? no. when jiang cheng challenged him as to how he was going to survive the situation, he did not in fact offer anything more concrete than "we'll just wait for everyone else to forget about us." he blustered about being a once-in-a-generation genius who could accomplish the impossible, but he provided no actual plan as to how he was going to do it. this leads me to conclude that wei wuxian did not in fact have a long-term plan for handling the consequences when he went ham at the qiongqi pass camp - that, instead of weighing the consequences and then making his decision, he instead decided immediately that this was something he had to do, consequences be damned.

and then - on top of this - all of his following actions then point in the exact opposite direction of his stated plan of waiting for everyone to forget about them. because instead of doing anything to fade into the background, everything wei wuxian did instead just convinced the jianghu he was an intolerable threat.

and this was not a sustainable strategy.

one thing i really appreciate about MXTX is that she does not make the rest of the jianghu into one-dimensional villainous morons. it's quite easy for lazy writers who want a persecution plotline to have the rest of the story's society magically start hating on the protagonist for no good reason, to make every background character in the story's world a three-braincell moron. but MXTX is not that author. it speaks to MXTX's skill as an author that, from the perspective of the rest of the jianghu, fearing wei wuxian as a mortal threat was an entirely reasonable conclusion for them to come to.

first, the gentry's most recent direct interaction with wei wuxian during this time period is him threatening to kill all of them. when jin zixun doesn't give him the information he wants, wei wuxian straight up says: "if i want to kill everyone here, who can stop me? who dares stop me?" this is a threat! and - surprise - threatening to kill people naturally makes people think that you want to kill them! 

next, wei wuxian refined wen ning's dead body into the first sentient fierce corpse in history, and also the strongest fierce corpse in living memory - and then took wen ning with him on night-hunts. that's where the reputation of "the yiling patriarch and his ghost general" comes from. this very naturally made the rest of society fear him even more, because now the guy who has just recently threatened to kill you has demonstrated even more of the power to easily do so! the unparalleled power to do so, which no one else possesses and it would be very hard for anyone else to counter! add in the fact that wei wuxian's activities were also attracting prospective disciples - people gathering outside the burial mounds because they wanted to learn demonic cultivation - and naturally the public is even more frightened, because now it looks like the guy who threatened to kill all of you is also gathering the political force to do so!

the public is incorrect about wei wuxian's intentions, of course. but what does wei wuxian do to correct these misconceptions? to rehabilitate his public image, because now his public image has the life of not just himself but also all the wen remnants under his protection riding on it? to prove to the public that he isn't an active threat to their lives - that he does not seek to murder them all in their beds - that it is safe for them to allow him to live, and that they can in fact survive if they don't kill him?

nothing.

it would be one thing if the story mentioned how wei wuxian tried to correct the malicious rumors about himself and failed. but that is not what happened. what happened is that wei wuxian sat on his corpse mountain and let everyone else say what they wanted to say. and when he left his corpse mountain, it was to bring his one-of-a-kind unparalleled sentient fierce corpse with him on night-hunts, which of course just fanned the flames of the rumors instead. he doesn't even tell the prospective pupils camped on his front door to fuck off - he just sneaks in through the back door.

this is not pragmatic behavior. though you can argue that wei wuxian's strategy here was to become so powerful and so scary that no one would dare try to fight him, anyone with a brain can tell you that this is not a sustainable solution in the long-term. first, if you want to use threats to keep someone from attacking you, you also need to promise stability - you need to give people the reassurance that if they don't start shit with you, then you'll leave them alone too. if you drive the "threat" factor too high, as wei wuxian did, you instead end up convincing people that if they do nothing you'll kill them anyways - that they have no choice but to kill you if they want to survive.

second, if you want to use threats to keep someone from attacking you, you also need to prepare for the inevitability that, if someone does end up getting hurt, everyone will blame you first and no one will want to hear your side of the story. after all, if someone gets hurt, then the first suspect everyone looks towards will be the guy who's been consistently saying "i'm strong enough to hurt you! i'm strong enough to hurt you! don't start shit with me because i'm strong enough to end you!" for the past few months. this is basic common sense. and yes, the society of MDZS is unfair - wei wuxian deserved a proper trial and investigation after the death of jin zixuan. but the fact that society is unfair is something a pragmatic person would have recognized and planned for.

wei wuxian did not recognize and plan for this reality. even after he accidentally kills jin zixuan, wei wuxian still insists that if only the jianghu investigates jin zixun's hundred holes curse, they'll see that wei wuxian didn't cast the hundred holes curse, they'll see that there was more scheming going on, etc etc. wen qing has to directly spell out for him that, at this point, society no longer cares about the truth of the matter. it seems that wei wuxian was actually oddly idealistic about the true nature of his society all the way until the very end.

all of this leads me to conclude that, when wei wuxian busted the wen remnants out of the qiongqi pass labor camp, he did so without considering the consequences of his actions. he assumed that he could improvise and weasel his way out of this situation, as he's always done in the past with his typical genius - only this time, he was wrong.

wei wuxian acts without considering the consequences of his actions. he does not make a decision only after carefully deliberating over all of the potential outcomes - not at all. instead, he acts in the moment - not out of any rational consideration of potential outcomes, but rather because it is simply something he must do. this by definition makes him a deeply unpragmatic person.

to put it into more familiar terms, for wei wuxian, the righteousness of an action comes not from its consequences, but are rather inherent to the action itself. even if he were doomed to fail, he could not give up on the wen remnants.

second, at critical junctures, wei wuxian is unable to make moral sacrifices. to be pragmatic is to know when you have to sacrifice: to know when, in order to achieve the most inalienable of your goals, you have to give up on some of your other goals. this is something wei wuxian is consistently unable to do.

of course, when it comes to his own wellbeing, wei wuxian is all too willing to sacrifice. he'll carve out any number of his internal organs to save those he loves. but this honestly speaks less to wei wuxian's moral framework and more to his lack of self-worth from a troubled upbringing.

because, when it comes to any moral cause, wei wuxian is entirely unable to sacrifice anything, even if being unable to sacrifice entails more negative consequences. wei wuxian could not sacrifice mianmian, jin zixuan, and lan wangji to wen chao and his goons, so he took action and took wen chao hostage himself. to sit back and do nothing as wen chao threatened the lives of those three was simply unthinkable for him - even if it meant taking a course of action that put yunmeng jiang in danger.

wei wuxian's relationship with jiang cheng deteriorated because jiang cheng did not know about the golden core transfer: because jiang cheng did not know that wei wuxian could no longer cultivate, from jiang cheng's point of view, it looked like wei wuxian was just refusing to help out and fulfill his promises for kicks. wei wuxian could have made things a lot easier for himself and also any wen remnants he chose to rescue had he simply told jiang cheng the truth - but he knew that finding out the truth of the golden core transfer would make jiang cheng miserable, and [jiang cheng's happiness] was not something he was willing to sacrifice.

wei wuxian's single most prominent moral decision is his refusal to allow the wen remnants to be sacrificed. anyone with a shred of political sense had to know that rescuing the wen remnants and then protecting them would be near impossible - that it entails making an enemy of the jin, and due to the jins' power, the entire jianghu. wei wuxian himself knew this; he is no moron. wei wuxian also had no long-term plan, no allies, and significantly less power than the rest of the world believed. yet, despite this all, he acted anyways, because he could not let the wen remnants be sacrificed.

the wen remnants wei wuxian rescued from the qiongqi pass labor camp included both regular civilians and cultivators. perhaps wei wuxian could have negotiated a proper release for the non-cultivating civilians, such as granny wen and a-yuan, had he chosen to give up on the cultivators. but - the question of whether this would have worked or not aside - this was not a sacrifice wei wuxian would be willing to make.

nor could wei wuxian sacrifice the safety of yunmeng jiang. i am firmly of the belief that, had yunmeng jiang formally stood by wei wuxian's side after wei wuxian attacked the jin-run labor camp, lanling jin would have eventually declared war on yunmeng jiang, and yunmeng jiang's would inevitably be destroyed. both wei wuxian and jiang cheng understood this as well - which is why wei wuxian told jiang cheng to let him go.

(you can argue - successfully - that wei wuxian did in fact sacrifice [his obligations to yunmeng jiang and his promise to jiang cheng] by leaving yunmeng jiang to protect the wen remnants. this is true. but i think that - from wei wuxian's point of view - this was not much of a sacrifice, because due to wei wuxian lacking a golden core, he already viewed himself as mostly useless to yunmeng jiang. so him leaving - in his view - is not really that much of a loss for yunmeng jiang.)

wei wuxian promised wen qing that he would return wen ning's consciousness to his corpse. when wei wuxian made this promise, he had no idea if he could actually pull it off or not. but then he did - and, in the process, created the most dangerous weapon the jianghu had seen in living memory. wen ning specifically, or moreso wei wuxian's inability to control him, leads to so much of wei wuxian's eventual downfall: wei wuxian loses control of wen ning and accidentally kills jin zixuan; when wen ning goes to turn himself in at jinlintai, he ends up going berserk again and killing another 10-20 jin and lan cultivators, which leads to the nightless city pledge conference. frankly, wei wuxian could have avoided a lot of trouble - or at the very least, a lot of the public's fear - had he not raised wen ning from the dead. it's not like he'd be completely defenseless without wen ning, either. but wei wuxian promised wen qing he would resurrect wen ning - and he could not sacrifice his promise to wen qing because of what wen qing had already done for him.

a pragmatic person is able to make sacrifices, including moral ones. at the very least, a pragmatic person recognizes when sacrifice is inevitable, when all paths lead to something being lost. a pragmatic person, put in the trolley problem, would recognize that there were only two options and that both options involve sacrifice: either he must kill one person, or he must allow five people to die. there is no path forwards in which all six people live.

wei wuxian is unable to make moral sacrifices. he clings on to all of these moral causes, all of these promises and obligations, and it is precisely because he attempts to hold onto all of them that he ends up losing everything. to reuse the previous example, wei wuxian in the trolley problem tried to save all six people because he could not accept any of the sacrifices made inevitable by the trolley problem.

to put this all together - wei wuxian is not a pragmatic person. he makes decisions with his gut, not his head - he does not consider the consequences of his actions before he acts. nor is wei wuxian able to make sacrifices - even necessary ones in order to avoid greater tragedies.

but. none of this means that wei wuxian is not a deeply heroic person. rather, to do what you believe to be righteous and attempt to live up to your ideals despite the consequences is exactly what MXTX lauds as moral. and to be unable to make a moral sacrifice when everyone else in your society easily does so is in fact deeply heroic.

it is precisely because wei wuxian is not pragmatic that MXTX declares him a hero.

some people, including myself, favor a moral framework that centers pragmatism and reason as virtues. to us, the ideal moral character is someone who makes decisions based on reason and not emotion, who considers the potential consequences of every course of action before making a decision, and who then, based on these inferred future consequences, uses reason to deduce which of all of the possible outcomes is the most preferable.

but this does not in fact describe wei wuxian, nor is this how wei wuxian views ethics. and to be honest, i don't think this is how MXTX views ethics either.

in all three of her stories, MXTX repeatedly comes down harder on the characters who make pragmatic decisions, the characters who are willing to sacrifice. in fact, killing sunshot soldiers while acting as wen ruohan's spy, and then killing nie mingjue's men in order to ensure a chance at killing wen ruohan and saving nie mingjue, was the pragmatic thing for meng yao to do, because that was the least bloody path forwards towards a sunshot victory over qishan wen. in fact, cutting ties with wei wuxian after he attacked the jin-run qiongqi pass labor camp was the pragmatic thing for jiang cheng to do, because it was the only path forward that did not put yunmeng jiang, his first and foremost responsibility, in the line of fire. and yet (though the situation is less clear with jin guangyao), MDZS as a narrative criticizes both jin guangyao and jiang cheng for these decisions - because, to MDZS, righteousness does not lie in pragmatism.

(this is a statement i personally disagree with. but we are here to discuss what MDZS wants to say about pragmatism and righteousness, not what i want to say about pragmatism and righteousness.)

by contrast, the one single act for which deeply controversial jiang cheng is ultimately lauded for in the narrative is also his single least pragmatic, most emotional act. the one single act of jiang cheng's that MDZS does not criticize is when, after the fall of lotus pier, jiang cheng ran out from his hiding spot to distract the wen soldiers from seeing wei wuxian. from a filial, duty-based point of view, this was a deeply stupid and unpragmatic course of action: jiang cheng's first and foremost duty, as the sole surviving jiang and new sect leader jiang, was to survive, rebuild his sect, and avenge his parents. from a consequentialist point of view, this impulsive choice is also what led to the domino-fall of tragedy that followed, since jiang cheng then got captured and had his golden core melted, which then led to everything else. yet this stupid, unpragmatic, and impulsive decision is ultimately the one act MDZS considers to be jiang cheng's single most heroic.

the key as to what MDZS considers to be heroic, what it considers to be righteous, lies in the jiang family motto: 明知不可而为之, attempt the impossible. this line, taken from the analects of confucius, can be considered to be a deeply deontological ideal. i find this twitter thread (warning to my followers: does kind of dunk on JC) to be rather helpful in elucidating this line's meaning. 

to attempt the impossible, to try what shouldn't be tried. "ask yourself not whether you can do it, but whether you should...consider not the result but rather the journey - have a clear conscience regardless of outcome." in other words, what matters is less whether you succeeded or failed, or what sort of outcome your actions brought about - what matters is that you tried. what matters is that, in the face of overwhelming odds, you tried to do what you think is right. and even if you end up failing - even if everyone you sought to protect ended up dying - the fact that you tried still has moral weight.

this is why it was righteous of wei wuxian to save the wen remnants - even though the ultimate consequences of that decision were overall negative, even though everyone wei wuxian tried to protect died. in fact, if wei wuxian had died immediately - if he had been shot down by jin archers at the qiongqi pass labor camp the moment he came within their range - if he had died before any wen in the labor camp realized someone wanted to save him - he would still be a righteous person. because, for MDZS, what makes an action righteous is not its consequences. for MDZS, what makes a person righteous is not what impact their actions have on the world, but rather that they have the sort of moral character that leads them to never give up on their ideals.

wei wuxian does not consider the consequences of his actions before he acts. or, should i say - wei wuxian makes decisions despite their consequences, because despite the consequences there are simply some moral causes he simply cannot give up on. wei wuxian did not save the wen remnants because it was pragmatic to do so. it was in fact deeply unpragmatic to do so. no - wei wuxian saved the wen remnants without a concrete long-term plan, without having thought through anything beforehand, with the knowledge of how weak he was in reality - because he could not give up on the wen remnants, consequences be damned.

to have some moral causes you simply cannot give up on, no matter the consequences - to MXTX, is deeply heroic. in this sense, MXTX's moral philosophy is not pragmatic at all, because to be pragmatic is to be concerned with practical consequences. instead, both wei wuxian and MXTX herself are deeply idealistic, because what matters to them are ideals and principles that extend beyond consequence.

as the linked twitter thread notes, this is why MXTX waits until the very end of the book to reveal that wen yuan, now lan sizhui, lived. this is why wangxian only meet mianmian and her family at the end of the book. this is why all of the cumulative positive impacts of wei wuxian's resurrection -  jin ling forgiving wei wuxian, jin guangyao, and wen ning, for one - are kept to the end of the story: because MDZS needs to move away from the consequentialist argument. MDZS needs to establish that wei wuxian's righteousness is separate from the impact of his actions: that wei wuxian isn't righteous merely because his actions had a positive impact for which others can thank him, but rather because the actions he undertook were inherently righteous on their own. that even if none of these positive impacts existed - if wen yuan had also died, if mianmian hadn't made it - then wei wuxian's choices would still be moral.

this is also why MDZS ultimately comes down harder on characters like jiang cheng and jin guangyao, even though a more results-oriented moral framework would instead laud such characters. both jiang cheng and jin guangyao are deeply pragmatic characters: they put concrete results before abstract moral ideals, and they're willing to compromise on their ideals in order to achieve better results. i am a JC stan and a jiggy apologist because of these exact traits. but MDZS is a narrative that criticizes such pragmatism and instead holds up wei wuxian's idealism as a moral ideal - so, in order to advance its themes, the MDZS narrative ends up criticizing both jiang cheng and jin guangyao.

ultimately, this idealism - this criticism of pragmatism - lies at the heart of MDZS's themes. wei wuxian's righteousness is directly connected to the fact that he is not pragmatic. the fact that wei wuxian makes moral decisions despite the consequences, and that he is unable to sacrifice any moral cause - is all part of what makes him at once deeply unpragmatic and deeply heroic.

---

you see, the funny thing here is that i personally disagree with this theme. as i've said before, i'm a utilitarian. to me, the morality of an action does in fact arise from its consequences; to me, someone who compromises on their ideals to achieve better results is preferable to someone who adheres to all of their ideals and then loses everything. the character i consider to have had the greatest positive impact on this story's world is jin guangyao. the character i consider to have most dutifully fulfilled his obligations is jiang cheng.

therefore, i disagree with basically everything i wrote up there about "trying": i think that if you try to do the right thing, fail epically, and in the process of your failure get a bunch of other people killed as well, the fact that you failed this badly does in fact matter quite a bit. the bulk of my more haterish posts are born from this fundamental disagreement with what MDZS posits is righteousness.

however. as a reader i must recognize that [what i consider to be moral] and [what the author of this story considers to be moral] are two different things. my own moral philosophy may be heavily results-oriented, but MXTX's is much less so. therefore, regardless of what i think of wei wuxian, i conclude that MXTX ultimately intends for us to read wei wuxian as a heroic figure for the exact reasons i gave above - and that fact must then inform every analysis of MDZS i write.

Okay, but Malleus and Silver mirroring each others book 7 groovy arts / being the colors of Aurora dress....

Silver being mostly pink and in a bright palace without thorns

And Malleus with mostly blue in a more dark palace "decorated" with thorns Same pose, the pov as if they were facing each other... I'm so sick....... my babies........

[Log-in story] Fusetter x Mahoutsukai no Yakusoku

Appearing characters: Figaro, Cain, Faust, Rustica, Bradley, Fusetter

Keep The Secret of Tonight Under Lock and Key

Figaro: Is this the place?

Cain: I think so? That ball of light we saw should be around here somewhere… What was that anyway? It gave me the creeps…

Faust: I don’t sense anything ominous, and the barriers are intact, so I doubt it’s anything serious. We should investigate properly, though. Just in case.

Rustica: There’s something so mystifying about forests at nightfall. One can spot many different critters roaming about, guided by the light of glowing mushrooms and fruits.

Bradley: …Hm? Wuzzat over there, under the tree?

???: …

Bradley: Izzat a… dog?

Figaro: If it is, seeing this kind of breed is a first for me. Have you seen anything like it before, Faust?

Faust: Can’t say I have. It’s unusually long and… pudgy.

Cain: Doesn’t seem hurt or anything either. Heya, buddy, you good over there?

Bradley: Lessee… Giddy-up!

Bradley: …The hell?! It can’t be that long…

Rustica: Is it in the middle of taking a nap perhaps?

Strange dog: …Hruk…

Wizards: !

Strange dog: W-Wah! W-Where am I?!

Bradley & Figaro: It…

Faust, Cain & Rustica: Can talk?!

Strange dog: E-Erm…

Figaro: Well, you don’t see this every day. What’s your name, little guy?

Fusetter: I’m Fusetter!

Figaro: I hope you don’t mind me asking, but just to clarify, you are a dog, right?

Fusetter: Yep! …Whoa, it's the moon! And it’s so big!

Rustica: It’s always been this big. Does it perchance have something to do with your arrival?

Fusetter: Well, I remember looking up and admiring it.

Fusetter: I’d never seen a moon so big and pretty, so I decided to take a picture of it, but… Before I knew it, I ended up here.

Bradley: Where have I heard this story before…

Rustica: It’s easy to lose your way while following the moon.

Faust: I’m more curious how it managed to pass through the barrier. The capital and the market are a long distance away.

Faust: As for what it is… A magical beast or fey of sorts?

Figaro: Could he be from another world?

Cain: Maybe even the same one as the Master Sage?

Figaro: Well, we do live in a world riddled with mystery.

Figaro: It wouldn’t be a first.

Bradley: The Sage never said nothin’ about dogs bein’ able to talk in their world.

Bradley: Say, lil’ fella, where exactly were ya watchin’ the moon from? Got any name you can give us?

Fusetter: Of course, I was at ◯◯◯!

Bradley & Figaro: Come again?

Cain: Sorry, we didn’t quite catch that, can you say it again?

Fusetter: I was at ◯◯◯!

Faust: …Interesting. It’s as if the most important part is evading us.

Figaro: Are you using magic to do this?

Fusetter: I wouldn’t call it magic, but I do have this unique power…

Fusetter: It’s a bit difficult to explain.

Cain: Go on, we’re listening.

Fusetter: Okay, then, can you hold my paw for a moment?

Cain: Of course~ Ooh, you’re so squishy!

Fusetter: Hehe, thank you.

Fusetter: Now, think about something you’ve kept secret recently.

Fusetter: Once you’ve got your secret ready, go on and say it.

Cain: Oookay…

Cain: When I woke up yesterday, my pants were ◯◯◯◯.

Cain: What the…!

Bradley & Rustica: We…

Figaro: Couldn’t understand that last bit at all.

Faust: …Really interesting.

Fusetter: That’s my power: I can keep others’ secrets!

Rustica: Why, it’s just like a little spell. May I give it try as well, Fusetter?

Fusetter: Of course!

Rustica: Thank you. Now, to think of a secret… Oh, I got it.

Rustica: Two days ago, right as I was about to go to bed, I was heading towards ◯◯◯◯, and somehow ended up singing and dancing at ◯◯◯◯◯◯.

Bradley: That’s rad as hell! My turn, lil’ pup.

Bradley: I keep my ◯◯◯ at the manor.

Figaro: Me next.

Figaro: My ◯◯ is ◯◯◯◯◯◯.

Fusetter: Your secrets are safe with me, everyone!

Figaro: I can’t help but feel like we’d be living in a different universe if we’d met you earlier.

Fusetter: I’m happy to help as long as everyone’s getting along.

Faust: …

Fusetter: Would you like to try it too?

Faust: I think I’ll pass.

Rustica: But his paw is really soft.

Figaro: It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, you know. Don’t let it pass you by.

Fusetter: Please!

Faust: …Well, it wouldn’t hurt to try, I suppose.

Faust: …Oh, you really are fluffy all over. …Right, the secret. Let me think…

Faust: …I had ◯◯◯◯◯ for last night’s dinner.

Faust: Wow…

Bradley: Pretty sick, yeah?

Cain: But how are you doing that if you’re not a wizard?

Figaro: I don’t sense any magic, so maybe he’s not a wizard but a magician?

Fusetter: You’ve brought up the word ‘magic’ so many times now, so I have to ask… Are you all wizards?

Figaro: Yep, and we serve the Sage.

Figaro: They came from another world, just like you, and under their guidance, we save the world every year.

Fusetter: Woow, that sounds awesome!

Rustica: And we’re not the only ones. Say, Fusetter, would you like to go back to the manor with us?

Rustica: I’m positive the rest of our friends would be thrilled to witness this unique ability of yours.

Bradley: You Western bunch just wanna toss ‘im ‘round like a hot potato, don’tcha?

Fusetter: Please don’t do that…

Cain: Nah, don’t worry about it. They’re a bit of a special case but mean well.

Cain: But Rustica’s right, why don’t you come with us? I imagine you must be feeling quite lost in another world all by yourself.

Faust: And while your situation might be a bit strange, you don’t seem like you’re here to cause trouble.

Figaro: Yep, the Master Sage and kids will love you.

Fusetter: Aww, you’re all too kind!

Figaro: Nonsense. Maybe the twins will know something about you, so we should talk to them and see.

Figaro: Although, something tells me you’re going to keep all personal information to yourself.

Figaro: I would also like to perform a few check-ups on you.

Fusetter: …What’s a check-up? Will it hurt?

Figaro: No, not all. I’m a world-renowned doctor, you know? I’ll handle you with care.

Fusetter: Ooh, sounds good!

Fusetter: Let’s get along, everyone!

i made this realization almost a month ago about that my extreme liking and obsession towards yanshen is also because of the fact that i like caiowe but unfortunately i do not know anyone who likes both mhyk and thousand autumns so i feel like i'm talking a wall whenever i mention this. anyway, for example:

a-qiao's and cain's constant goodness and perspective on the world, their strong will and determination on their beliefs and morals...

yan wushi and owen enjoying 'good' people straying away from their good character, their eagerness in riling up the person they've taken a liking to (shen qiao and cain respectively), their questionable beliefs and worldview... also the fact that both of them have a child-like personality (as a result of ptsd) LIKE THAT HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD FOR ME. xie ling and kizu owen 🥺

fjkefhdk i'd talk about this more but it's nearly 4 am and i have a class at 10...

oughhh i'm so mhyk main story deprived i wish they had better pacing with the main stories but if it’s for good writing then i can deal with it...... the world building in this stupid wizard game is actually so interesting to delve into and all the characters are carefully written in a way that it forces you to learn more about them. what i like about it the most is the combination of older wizards and ""newborn"" wizards. it creates crazier and more fun dynamics