grumble grumble

it’s just... which one? do i... work on the fun erotic horror VN? do I work on the urban fantasy bakery story? do I try to write Supernatural If It Were Good? or do I rewind and goddamn finish writing the novel version of ASAFAF? do I tackle Threshold City? or do I write dustsceawung bc that’s probably what people want to read?

i just feel like i’m stuck, like a wheel locked in gravel, and I can’t make myself do one thing, and i’m disappointing myself and others, and it’s driving me a little crazy.

🖤🖤

i linked the template i used in the post for a reason! i’m not in the habit of squirreling away free resources just to look good lmfao, go forth and do the same >:3c

i heavily edited it for colours and to make to more dnd-y, but they were all very easy photoshop changes, feel free to nab the same layout!

only thing i can’t share from that graphic are the fonts because the ones i used are ones i own the commercial license to but you can always pick a nice font that fits your character so that’s not such a big deal

….someone needs to answer for this. someone needs to PAY for this. in BLOOD.

And this is where I realize how limited implicit knowledge is! So, the post I made was limited to how I interpreted wwx’s actions within the concept of virtues I was familiar with due to my chinese cultural background. I have not studied confucianism in detail. I can read some literary chinese but I don't have any non-parental bestowed academic training in that regard. (Heck, I chose to drop my intro to literary chinese class in college during shopping period because I decided running off to a boy scout camp and fire spinning was what I actually wanted to do with my time and that meant i would have no classes on friday and i could spend fridays working in a lab. Oddly enough, i have zero regrets… but i digress!) 

I love this question! Mostly because I've never thought to ask this question before, but let’s see what I can cobble together from myself and the interwebs. If anyone finds a mistake, PLEASE PLEASE CORRECT ME BECAUSE I AM NOT AN EXPERT!!!! 

1)  Confucian/Ruism thought is where these virtues stem from. If your country spends DYNASTIES following a school of thought, it becomes part of the culture (e.g. look at Europe and Christianity). Ruism believes that moral education is the foundation of governing. From the perspective of pure Ruism, 仁 is the most fundamental virtue. With humanity and benevolence, everything else if possible. However, assessing these virtues while remembering they were constructed for the sake of state/country stability would be wise. 

2) There are SO MANY MORE virtues than the four I listed. Like I said, I chose those four to focus on because they’re basic and common. However, if you dig a little deeper, you see the four in a longer list, in a different order:  仁义礼智信忠孝悌节恕勇让. These concepts are considered the core of Ruism thinking. I’ve bolded where the four I discussed come up in the list. 

仁 - humanity

义 - righteousness

礼 - decorum/etiquette

智- wisdom

信 - honestly/truthfulness

忠 - loyalty

孝 - filial piety

悌 - respect of elder brother (like 孝 but for older people of your generation)

节 - integrity

恕 - forbearance (paired with 忠 as a ruler-subject relation and both point back to 仁)

勇 - bravery (but one that follows 仁义礼智)

让 - yield/deference (out of consideration for others)

You’ll notice a lot of these virtues are related to each other. Within the school of thought, many concepts are intertwined (孝悌, 忠恕, 勇 in the context of 仁义礼智, etc)

3) Classification and hierarchical order gets CONFUSING. I was overwhelmed by how many different ways thinking and traditions piece different virtues together. Let’s look at some examples (that i’m not going to translate because i’m lazy): 

Per pure Ruism, 仁义礼智信  are collectively called the Five Constants (五常)

But culturally, there are the 四维八德 (Four anchors and eight virtues) where the four anchors are 礼、义、廉、耻 and the eight virtues are 忠、孝、仁、爱、信、义、和、平。

You also see virtues clustered into sets of six as follows: 

为臣之六德 (6 virtues for a minister)：诹、谋、度、询、咨、周 

为民之六德 (6 virtues for the people)：知、仁、圣、义、忠、和

兵家之六德 (6 virtues for the military)：礼、仁、信、义、勇、智

From these few examples, you can tell the order isn’t consistent. Which virtues are included in a list aren’t consistent. AND the application of the list of virtues changes based on your target audience. 

So, I don’t think there is an actual hierarchy to the four virtues. It depends on what you’re doing and who you are. From a Ruism perspective, 仁 is fundamental. Everything stems from 仁. So that would go first. But when the thoughts are applied to government, order becomes important so 忠 becomes the priority.  In fact, if you’re a minister to an emperor, you better prioritize 忠 (and to be a good minister, prioritize 仁) but 孝 and 义could end up as lip service. But if you’re a wandering martial artist on the jianghu, you may not have a need for 忠 but you will prioritize 义 and 仁.

your body is working hard to try and heal itself, and you’ve been working hard around the clock too. rest is more important than ever. if you had a friend who was doing what you’re doing, feeling what you’re feeling, what would you want for them?

i knooow. thanks friend. i just wanted to get some coursework done today, but i simply Cannot.

Ahh yes, thank you! I actually had this in the queue and read the fic in between the time I added the post and it actually showing up hahaha

(It’s SUCH A CUTE FIC THOUGH OMG)

((oh i’m using toon boom harmony right now! i do recommend it, it’s a pretty good interface, although i haven’t checked the cost. i actually have adobe animate bc student stuff, so i can switch to that if need be, but i really appreciate that you’re willing to go to all that trouble for me fjskfj))