#shifts the focus from

[winepresswrath]

hi! i always love your MDZS/CQL takes; can i ask what are the questions you think CQL is asking, as compared to MDZS?

I haven't actually revisited either canon in ages, which is making me nervous. what questions the novel is interested in can be pretty contentious all on its own! @mikkeneko has an excellent answer in the notes here which I reccomend to everyone. My own thoughts are honestly pretty scattered- I keep on deleting things and going hm, that's not quite right.

So, for the obvious-to-me example, people reasonably zero in on the creation of innocent doctors/radish farmers who Wen Ruohan is holding hostage. In CQL it's easy to infer that Wen Qing and Wen Ning are maybe the only cultivators and almost certainly the only combatants among the Wen remnants, and their status is much more ambiguous in the novel, which I personally think is asking, essentially, "and so what? were they wrong to run, when they had a chance? Do they deserve what Jin Guangshan will do to them if they go back? Aren't they just people, actually?" Whereas the question that CQL is asking is more to the effect of "What does Wen Qing owe these people, when she is their only defence? What is she entitled to do to save them, at other people's expense? If she fucks up that moral calculus, what then? Does it matter if she's personally fond of some of the outsiders who are going to get hurt? If one of them saved her brother? Later, this question will flip to what Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng, and the parallel to Jiang Cheng's situation in particular is, I think, genuinely pretty fun. You're giving up the Wen as soldiers who've laid down their arms in exchange for Wen Qing also grappling with leadership and the question of how many horrors she can stand to look the other way on to protect her own people. one reason I keep deleting so much is that a lot cql's changes were motivated at least in part by censorship, which I think we mostly share a general and justified distaste for! but I also think that within the bounds of that censorship the creative team put a lot of work into actually doing something interesting with those changes. Or, for another example- nieyao! There's a much greater emphasis on the nmj-jgy relationship, it's unambiguously very close and they are clearly extremely important to one another, and I think that's because the cql team has a lot to say about love, trust, power, and the ways those things interact, and that reflects back on all of the other relationships in play, including Wangxian. Almost every time, when CQL chooses change a relationship they make the characters in question closer- that's true for Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji, for Wen Qing and the Yunmeng contingent, for Zixuan and Mianmian, and Huaisang and Meng Yao. It's even true for Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian, who have a close and trusting relationship in first life! CQL puts a much greater emphasis on "all right, so you care, what next?" How do you choose someone and then choose to be good to them? What if there's a massive power disparity between you? What if you seriously disagree about your priorities and morals? How do you trust someone who's betrayed you? When is it a stupid choice to trust at all? How do you have faith that you know someone well enough for that trust to be meaningful?

for legal reasons i would like to specify that it's not that mdzs isn't interested in these problems. i do remember wangxian's literal trust fall. cql is asking these questions all the time about everyone. also for legal purposes i'm not suggesting that cql lwj and jc love each other. but! they establish a three month wartime partnership looking for wwx and then jc immediately drops him on wwx's say-so despite apparently having a positive enough opinion of him to tell wwx he thinks they should make up twice. lan wangji will later tell wwx he thinks he should loop jc in on the second flautist! these are people trying to navigate some kind of relationship/shared interest/community, as opposed to a hateful void. cql wants to say hey, how do you go about this? while I'm here and rambling cql also puts a lot of emphasis on wwx's connection to yunmeng and changes things up so instead of feeling alienated right before he leaves our last glimpse of him there is happily picking lotuses and playing with a kid! in both stories the narrative is asking who do you protect? who do you leave behind? can you ever get it back? but the angles are very different.

[notllorstel]

I blacked out for 2 hours and came back to with this image in my head

[hephaestuscrew]

Who says the episode title phrases in each episode of Wolf 359?

I've created a spreadsheet to show which character says the episode title phrase (i.e. the words which form the name of that particular episode) in every episode of Wolf 359. Graphs summarising this data can be found below, but to look at the full spreadsheet in all its glory, and see the progression through the series, you can follow this link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1cQLkhxbDAItU6rdiUAYGn54FXXxYC-JXlCmP_Dqe9FA/

(Please note: I’ve focused here on which character first speaks the exact title phrase within the episode itself. In some cases, this is not the only - or the most significant - time that the title phrase is spoken.)

EDIT: This post previously stated incorrectly that "the devil's plaything" is not said in Ep57. In fact, it is said by Pryce (through Minkowski). Thank you to @yaghoulghosty for pointing this out!

Season breakdown graphs below the cut...

[fullmetalbee]

I was listening to the GTN audiobook and I was at the bit from chapter 21 where Camilla mentions that soul siphoning normally causes brain damage, and that Colum probably does have brain damage:

And now I can't stop thinking about Augustine basically calling Cristabel an idiot in chapter 17 of HTN

Was it just the siphoning??

[wackulart]

my demencia backstory hcs.......... OOH BROTHER /pos

[rockingthegraveyard]

If Dick had succeeded in killing the Joker (albeit unintentionally) it would have fucked Jason up.

Either he learns from a news source that Joker died and goes digging or Talia finds out and tells him. Bottom line he most likely comes away with the conclusion that Nightwing killed the Joker for Robin. He wasn't there, he's not going to know that it was the Joker mentioning Jason by name that sent Dick over the edge. Short of hacking the bat computer, which might not even include the detail, which he may not even have the means to do, he'd never know that until he confronted Dick.

So to Jason, the Joker kills him and absolutely nothing changes but the Joker takes this new Robin and everything changes? You can just imagine this heartache fueled rage chanting in his head. What makes this Robin so fucking special?

[gardenerian]

thoughts on ian’s face in the “sorry im late” scene in 5x8 (i think it’s 5x8)

my thoughts are that i am going to start crying and never stop. my additional thoughts are:

so he's in bed, right? he's been trying mickey all day, meanwhile mickey has been going through his own process at home. but ian is thinking that he might have finally pushed mickey away for good - or scared him away. so he's in bed, eyes shut - probably not sleeping, but just laying there. shutting out the rest of the day. he hears someone behind him and his eyes kinda open. it's when he hears mickey though that his breathing picks up and we go from this:

to this:

like it's so slight, but like. the little flutters and the way his eyes start to move 😭 there's life left there. i feel like...... in moments like this, it sometimes feels like you might just lay there until you're dust. it's all over. the life you knew, the life you wanted. and yet - here he is again. and i think ian is genuinely surprised. this is where is starts being surprising to ian that he could be someone to come back for.

anyways. he turns around as fast as his medicated body will let him. we don't see his face when he first sees mickey, but we see it when he says "sorry i'm late." and it reminds me of the scene in 4x11 where mickey says "what you and i have makes me free." like it makes me insane. in both of these moments, his face just drops into something so young and so vulnerable.

like???? he's a little boy! and here is someone standing in front of him - someone he he has ALWAYS WANTED to stand in front of him - promising to be there. that he knows ian needed him. that he's here now for whatever might happen. reality is so warped these days but here he is.

and you see it land??? you see ian exhale and settle in a way he probably hasn't in a while. things are not okay. they're not okay!!! and they won't be for a while. but in this little moment together in this room where he grew up, he can breathe out the grief. he can share it.

mickey moves to get in bed and ian just makes room, like he always has. but he never blinks. doesn't dare take his eyes off of mickey. it's like he's scared mickey might change his mind, or dissolve right in front of him. is he even really there?

and there's another layer of disbelief here. another layer of grief. mickey milkovich is crawling back into his bed to hold him, and it's like this. it happened like this. everything he's done and suffered and been made to face comes down all at once. he's tired, he's scared. he's sorry. mickey has finally seen the worst of him.

he looks away, and mickey chases after him. i think it's important to mickey here that he lets ian feel him. something about that tactile, grounding comfort. and mickey won't look away either, it's too precious. ian's safe, even if nothing is the same.

and it's here, in these quivering lips and drawn eyebrows...... this is the release. his body and his mind have been through a lot in the last few days. it's as close to cathartic as ian really gets for a while. it's not long before the walls go back up and he's angry. but right now, he brings his hand to hold mickey's wrist, and he lets himself be held.

now.... this face:

this face fucking haunts me. i cannot name this face. what is he seeing here? i imagine it's so hard to see past this moment, into a future he can't name. it's like he's simultaneously feeling mickey there and also completely isolated. i can't explain this face. can anyone else explain this face???

either way, he closes his eyes against it. and you can assume that rest is coming.

with mickey keeping watch.

[sinnamonpork]

DOING A DOMESTIC AU HEADCANONS FOR DABIHAWKS BC THEY DESERVE IT <33

Nest beds. The softest, most roundest bed you could think of covered with the most random patterns of pillows and blankets. It's partially covered by a canopy bc the boys likes the darkness.

Toga, Tokoyami, and Shiggy are their gremlin kids. Toga is like a cat that goes in and out of their home whenever she wants headpats or to be fed. They have a joint custody with Kurogiri on Tenko, depending on his level of brattiness for the week. Tokoyami is goth birb child, so basically, the only child they acknowledge.

Contrary to popular belief, its not actually Hawks who found all the shinies decorated around the house. Dabi is one hell of a curious villain and would pocket all the shinies he could find, presenting the gifts to Hawks like an oversized cat.

Both of them have the habit of staring but very different in the way they do it. Dabi would pretty much be a gremlin cat, guilt tripping you to pay them attention while he single handedly destroys all your productivity for the day. Meanwhile, Hawks would be the adorable kind. The kind of stare you coo at while also finding lowkey creepy.

Their house is like a revolving door for both heroes and villains. Sometimes they come home to Toga and Ochako just chilling in their hammock all tangled up together. Other times, its Rumi and Shiggy staring at them at 4am from the bedroom door, asking where the cereal is placed.

Shouto has the same grabby hands personality as his big brother. Whenever he visits, 90% of the time one of their shiny decorations inevitably goes missing. Hawks' absolute stink eye whenever the pro hero sees him is so deserved.

BAKUGOU KATSUKI HAVING WEEKLY VISITS TO THEIR HOUSE. To everyone else's horror, touya and katsuki get on like a house on fire. Their insults seem to have a language of their own, and Keigo is helpless to do anything as he watches his husband and this gremlin kid have a shouting match in their kitchen while making the most mouth watering cinnamon buns ever.

The whole Class 1-A once stayed at their house for a day. A frantic Aizawa comes knocking at their door, sees the absolute mayhem, and promptly walks out - probably about to plan a date with Hizashi.

If Shiggy is in the house, Spinner is probably somewhere in there too. They come as a set, buy 1 get 1 free lmao.

dabihawks healing their inner child by fucking around and doing all the things people below the age of 16 do. Disney and Barbie movie marathons are a weekly occurrence. Dabi absolutely adores Megamind, while Hawks leans more towards Rapunzel.

[willows-woes]

every hs main character is going through something.

charlie? ed, sh, ocd, trauma

darcy? homophobic parents who constantly argue [i think there's references to them being physically violent somewhere]

elle? transphobic grandparents, had to switch schools because of transphobia from her teachers

nick? identity confusion, not really knowing who he is or what he's supposed to be, people pleasing

tao? massive fear of abandonment, or being seen as not good enough to keep around

tara? homophobia from classmates, potentially some internalised homophobia as well

tori? potential depression, suicidal ideation, and low self-esteem.

[twistedappletree]

I really want to write a short post-canon story about Jin Ling having nightmares from all of the trauma he’s endured, so Lan Sizhui uses his spiritual energy and their connection to guard his dreams one night and ends up guiding Jin Ling through his sleep.

Meanwhile, everything they see in Jin Ling’s dreamscape is lush and vibrant and fantastical without even a hint of anxiety or darkness, and while Jin Ling assumes the entire dream is shaped by Lan Sizhui’s influence, Lan Sizhui is only blocking out Jin Ling’s intrusive thoughts—the rest is all of the light and wonder Jin Ling’s imagination conjures on its own, a glimpse into what his dreams would be like every night if he hadn’t suffered all that he did.

[singedbutter]

Okokok

I just queued a bunch of stuff for the next few weeks! I’m going to try my hardest to put more effort into my account going forward.

I will now be sending PPV messages for things I don’t usually post (🕳️😉) so be sure to sub to have the option to see those! First one is schedule for tomorrow 🤗

[lesbiradshaw]

if theo and liam weren’t supposed to end up together then what was up with that shot of theo (former murderer who claims to care about no one) appearing behind liam in the cracked, blood-spattered mirror right as he was considering killing someone just to talk him down.

[hardtchill]

Why are so many people suddenly coming out in support of Ashlyn?

Because her fake ass statement is the perfect hook for Ashlyn stans to pretend she is the victim.

It's a combination of whataboutism, delulu and i can't ever say anything bad about my fave ever. Honestly not surprised those hardcore stans would take this road instead of be reasonable human beings.

[galactic-bi-cat]

Noticing a new wave of pornbots, but this time around, they got almost passable usernames, which made me do a double take every time someone followed me

This is a warning for my mutuals to check the blogs of these types of followers n do the report/block combo

That is all.

[balteus]

you either die a rusty fan or live long enough to see yourself become a walter enjoyer

[handmadehazefromtheheart]

Last April, I designed these infinity autistic pride stim toys for the Autistic Creative Festival.

This April, I'm reallyreallyreally hoping to make my first sale on the Artisans Cooperative! Help an autistic boi out this Autism Month and maybe get one for yourself or a friend!

Want a different color combination, or a bigger version? Shoot me a DM and I can add a custom variant to the listing after chatting it out.