text; un: xiaoxingchen

[mingyues]

[ xiao xingchen is not someone who feels the urge to ask questions often. not of others, and even less so of strangers. for this, however, he'll make an exception, even if the words are hard to parse. ]

I have been thinking
The people that we are in this place, the people we become —
Is there a chance in this world for those who are destined to commit evil?
Or is it futile to expect that anything will change when we return to our worlds?

And if it is futile then... does anything we do here matter?

Comments

[ze_uwu_jun]

You did not do evil, Daozhang. You may have been tricked to do wrong, but you did no evil.

As to moonlacing, there are many things we need already, with little choice. Air, food, water. Sleep. They can be reduced, with discipline developed over ages and self-work that lasts for years. Perhaps, with time, we can reduce this need, as well, while not depriving this world of its needs. Would that seem more acceptable?

[mingyues]

I ... I think it was evil. I cannot shake away that notion no matter how hard I try.

I do not judge others for moonlacing, nor needing it nor enjoying it. I merely wish I could help this world in other ways. It is daunting enough to share intimacy with familiar faces...with strangers it can be


Awkward.

[ze_uwu_jun]

I think evil is when the intention is to cause pain and hopelessness, to destroy the future as well as the present, to nurture resentment rather than righteousness. Evil is when one means to cause harm, and takes joy in it. When you feel pain because of it. When you wish to make amends. When you wish for a better future, rather than a worse one. I would call it wrong, but not evil.

And yes, of course. Strangers might be... far too much. Simply remember that your needs are real, too.

[mingyues]

That is a sound distinction and yet I cannot convince myself of having done wrong rather than evil. Both seem too alike in my mind, wrong being stealing, evil being murder. I should not have left the mountain.