whatwhywhowherewhen

[whatwhywhowherewhen]

San Lang captures the twink essence with artistry, but it is through boyishness: playful, petty, and ultimately very masculine, just not in the rough'n'tumble man's man or austere patron image

Xie Lian on the other hand just will not stop wearing women's clothes and pretty jewelry. Every single outfit that isn't his practical day clothes has an explicit feminine element. In story and presentation he evades the effeminate aspects of the twink but is instead androgynously feminine and masculine in equal quantity, shouldering the social burden and consequence of both identities

Hua Cheng can be more of a twink, but Xie Lian is definitely more feminine

hua cheng is more of a twink than xie lian and the only reason people think otherwise is because they think top=masculine bottom=feminine goodnight Tumblr

[whatwhywhowherewhen]

It’s 2025. BBC Sherlock ended 8 years ago. The last season was so bad the fans didn’t even want to talk about it when it came out. Occasionally a post resurfaces where we all laugh at struggling to plug our phones in and being called alcoholics. Every time, there are more and more people in the comments who don’t get the joke. There are two currently airing Sherlock Holmes audio dramas that both portray a queer Holmes (as well as several other excellent queer characters), and one of them now has Holmes and Watson in a canonical romantic relationship. There’s an adorable crowdfunded short film where Watson plans Holmes’ birthday party and they flirt with each other, share a bed, plan their retirement, and kiss on the mouth. A video game about retired beekeeper Holmes just released where he arranges a romantic picnic so he can finally tell Watson how he feels. A popular graphic novelist just released the first part of a queer comic book retelling of the complete Holmes canon and had to do several rounds of preorders because she kept selling out too fast. Sherlock is garbage and here’s why has 15 million views on YouTube. Nature is healing. ❤️🐝

Edit bc I forgot to drop the names: The podcasts are Sherlock & Co and Fawx & Stallion aka @224bbaker (the one with the canon gay relationship.) The short film is called The Adventure of the Furtive Festivity and it's on youtube. The video game is @beekeeperspicnic and it's on Steam. The graphic novel series is by Molly Knox Ostertag, aka @contact-guy) Please feel free to drop any other queer Holmes adaptations I may be missing.

[whatwhywhowherewhen]

Divorce seems to radicalize american men in a way that needs to be studied

[whatwhywhowherewhen]

As , the United States, potentially heads into another forever war I can only think of this quote.

[whatwhywhowherewhen]

Everyone is so afraid that if we allow transgender women to exist, men will impersonate transgender women in order to assault women.

Why aren't they afraid that if we allow ICE to exist, men will impersonate ICE in order to assault women?

[whatwhywhowherewhen]

Lines drawn, teeth bared.

[Ko-fi members can check out the behind-the-scenes thumbnails for this comic!]

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[whatwhywhowherewhen]

[whatwhywhowherewhen]

Do it for the meme. http://blinkingguy.com

[whatwhywhowherewhen]

i had a dream that there was like a revival of the man vs bear debate but instead it was "would you rather be alone in a woman's bathroom with a random trans woman or jk rowling?" and everyone picked the trans woman and jkr crashed out on twitter because of it

[whatwhywhowherewhen]

So far in LA an Australian news reporter has been shot in the leg by a rubber bullet, a British reporter has been shot by a sponge bullet and sent to the hospital for emergency surgery. A NY Post reporter has been shot in the head with a rubber bullet and went to the hospital for a large bruise on his forehead, whiplash and neck pain, and CNN reporters were handcuffed and escorted away being told to not come back or they will be arrested BECAUSE they are reporters.

It seems like all reporters there to give the real story are being targeted by police/ICE/military in LA.

[whatwhywhowherewhen]

I'm coming to realize how vital it is to keep a running list of shit you did in the past few weeks so that you can participate in small talk. It's literally not anything to do with them being interesting at all it's just having Something to say to give people even the barest thing to hold on to. It's so you don't get into the "what have you been up to" "nothing much what about you" "yeah same" trap. Literally just say something.

What have you been up to? Um well it's getting warmer so I've been having to brush my cat every day.

Like no it's not that interesting of a thing to say. But now they can respond to it. They could say, man yeah it really is heating up, I've been trying to think of things to do inside more often. Or, oh you have a cat? What's their name?

Like. It's Something. All you need is Something. And if you're like me and your brain immediately goes blank upon entering small talk then keeping a list will help you remember things to say.

[whatwhywhowherewhen]

Happy Pride for all my fellow asexuals and aromatics and demisexuals and everyone else under the asexual umbrella

[whatwhywhowherewhen]

Iceland is fucking bizarre my name change made the news

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[whatwhywhowherewhen]

Hua Cheng, finding out that Xie Lian wants to bottom: This is not a situation I thought I'd find myself in. But it is FAR from an unfortunate one

[whatwhywhowherewhen]

prompt for qiu haitang shen yuan:

I want to know more about the bingqiu side of that death and resurrection!! The realization Binghe actually changed for him... without Shen Yuan even intending that?! And after decades of Shen Qingqiu revealing himself to be the same he always was 😮‍💨.

Shen Qingqiu seems very aware of the physical and reputational harm he has done and could do to "Shen-furen" but is missing the context for half the times he's disappointed them. It seems Shen Yuan became aware of what he could be the moment Shen Jiu was set to be peak lord, but was still open to being friends at least? They believed their Shen Jiu could be different. Until he wasn't. At all.

Anyways. That rejection of vengeance has to have done Shen Yuan in romantically (even if they didn't know it). Also Shen Yuan's self-sacrifice dialogue has to have been peak in this au: "I doubted you for 0.05 seconds! Never again! Shizun is sorry you sweet perfect adorable little sheep! Be the bestest demon lord EVer!"

Also: It was always my headcanon that the reason Binghe couldn't bring Shen Yuan back easier was that his soul was already in the mushroom body from the death, so only something that could pull his soul out of it would work. With no mushroom body...

am I just mixing canon and fanfic? Or did something in the au send Luo Binghe in the direction of the Mausoleum first thing? Wait who's the one who ends up resurrecting them? Binghe or Bingdad?

part 1 | part 2

Don't cry, Binghe. Shizun was the one in the wrong.

It's all this teacher's fault. Don't cry.

Luo Binghe stares down at his Shizun's pallid face in a daze. A month has passed since that horrible day in Jinlan—an interminable month filled with nothing with darkness, now that the bright candle of his beloved's life has been extinguished by Binghe's own hands—and in all that time, he did nothing but sit by Shen Yuan's bed and fight Liu Qingge when he broke into Huan Hua to steal her body.

"It wasn't your fault, Shizun," he whispers numbly, reaching out to touch Shen Yuan's cheek. "This Binghe was the one who failed you."

"Palace Master," a low voice says near the door, as Luo Binghe draws Shizun's blanket up over her chest. "Mu-fengzhu is requesting entry to Madam Shen's room, Junshang. And Liu Qingge—"

Luo Binghe blinks.

"Mu-shishu?" he mumbles to himself, running a trembling hand through his hair. "Mu Qingfang said yesterday that there was nothing to be done. What does he want to see me for?"

Gongyi Xiao looks more discomfited than ever. "That—I heard him speaking with the girl Junshang brought back to serve Shen-furen. It must have something to do with her."

Sha Hualing? Luo Binghe rises from Shizun's bed, confused. He brought Sha Hualing back to Huan Hua to bathe and dress Shen Yuan in his absence, since none of the female Huan Hua disciples are trustworthy enough to be left alone with her; and she had been instructed to speak to no one but Gongyi Xiao and Luo Binghe himself while she was at the palace.

What was she doing with Mu Qingfang of all people?

"Send him in," he says tersely. "And send a group of disciples out to the front gate to delay Liu Qingge."

Gongyi Xiao bows and retreats; and a moment later, he returns with Mu Qingfang trailing at his heels.

Mu Qingfang offers no greeting, and Luo Binghe does not expect one. He looks at Shizun's still body for a little while, watching as Luo Binghe's long fingers smooth away the death-bruises on her back, and then:

"There is something I must ask you, Your Excellency."

Luo Binghe's gaze remains fixed on his master's skin. "What is it?"

"Shen-shixiong told me that you were not felled by demons at the Immortal Alliance Conference, as Qiu-shimei told us. He claimed that he threw you into the Endless Abyss; was he speaking the truth?"

"He was," Luo Binghe hears himself say, as if from a great distance. "But Shizun did not lie, either. She was unconscious when I fell—she did not see what happened."

"He also said—" and here Mu Qingfang's voice falters— "that he caught you in the act of forcing yourself upon your Shizun, and that he would not have laid a hand on you otherwise for fear of angering her."

"That is not true," Luo Binghe says quietly. "But I suppose he had every reason to think so. I did not force myself upon her; Shizun was willing. And as for Shen-fengzhu being unwilling to lay a hand on me—well. In that respect, Mu-shishu must know Shen Qingqiu better than I."

Mu Qingfang's eyes narrow. "She was willing?" he asks, taking a step closer. "Then, why—?"

"She was unconscious," Luo Binghe groans, pinching the bridge of her nose. "When Shen-fengzhu found us, he must have thought that I dragged Shizun away from the others and...attacked her when I saw that she was too weary to resist. I tried to explain what happened, but he would not listen; and Shizun couldn't defend me, so he kicked me into the Abyss."

"What did happen, then?"

Sighing, Luo Binghe draws the curtain around Shizun's bed before escorting Mu Qingfang out into the hall and explaining the events of the last shichen before his descent into the Abyss. Mu Qingfang is as pale as a ghost by the end of the tale, looking between Luo Binghe and the shuttered door to Shizun's room with pitying eyes: and at length, he bows deeply and does not rise until Luo Binghe orders him to do so.

"I do not wish to speak on the matter any further," Luo Binghe tells him, afterward. "But there is something I must ask you in turn. Gongyi Xiao told me that he saw you speaking with Sha Hualing earlier; why?"

"I asked her if you had found a way to restore Qiu-shimei to life," Mu Qingfang says somberly. "She told me about the Holy Mausoleum; and now that you have explained the circumstances behind your departure, this Mu is willing to help you keep Shimei's body intact until you can find a way in."

"You believe me?" Luo Binghe asks, taken aback. "Just—just like that?"

Mu Qingfang shrugs his shoulders. "My belief in you is irrelevant. I have known Qiu-shimei since she was sixteen; and if she chose to leave Shen-shixiong and return to you on that day in Jinlan, there must have been a reason."

"If she had not come to me, I would have blown the city to pieces in my grief. That was all the reason Shizun needed."

"I have no doubt of it," Mu Qingfang replies, with a wry turn at the corner of his mouth. "But from what Ning-shizhi told me afterwards, Qiu-shimei stopped suspecting you immediately; and before she breathed her last, she asked you to flee and build a life somewhere beyond the reach of the great sects now that she could no longer protect you herself. Was it not so?"

Luo Binghe swallows. Run away, Binghe, Shen Yuan had begged, as she lay dying in Luo Binghe's arms. Run somewhere that they'll never find you, and live a good life for my sake. Please.

The mere thought of her last moments turns his stomach. She had not even been angry at him when she asked if he sent the sowers—she only assumed, because she thought he had the right to revenge himself upon Shen Qingqiu for sending him into the Abyss—and instead of explaining himself to her calmly, he had unsheathed Xin Mo in his anguish and driven his heart to death.

"Why have you condoned any of this?" he asks Mu Qingfang. "By rights, you should be fighting alongside Liu Qingge to lay Shizun to rest, and yet..."

Mu Qingfang sighs.

"Your Shizun was miserable with Shen-shixiong," he says bluntly. "I spent years prescribing prophylactic teas to him, so that he would not carry home some disease from the brothels and sicken her. I watched her come near to bleeding to death under my hands not long before you joined the sect, because Shen-shixiong could not keep himself from whipping his charges whenever the mood struck him; and after he forced you to fight that demon at Qiong Ding, I had to tell Qiu-shimei that she would never bear a living child because of Without-A-Cure.

"It grieved us all to see her mourn you these last three years. She clearly cherished you above all else; so if she could be brought back, and be given the chance to live well at your side, then perhaps..."

His voice trails off into silence.

"It is true that I ought to be following Liu-shixiong's example," he admits, after a moment. "But Lady Sha assured me that Qiu-shimei could be brought back to life in full health as long as her body was properly preserved. In that, I can assist you; and since I have every reason to believe she would be glad to return to you, there is no need for you and Cang Qiong to be enemies. You and I and my shixiongdi want only the best for your Shizun: so in that, we can consider ourselves united."

With that, Mu Qingfang bows once again before retreating back down the corridor after Gongyi Xiao.

Luo Binghe lets himself back into the bedroom, overcome, and falls to his knees at Shizun's side.

"Did you hear that?" he whispers, pressing her icy hands to his lips. "Don't worry, Shizun. This disciple will bring you back. I swear it."

[whatwhywhowherewhen]

soulmate au where you always know when your soulmate is laughing

The first thing Lan Wangji notices about the Jiang sect’s head disciple (after that first meeting on the roof, where Young Master Wei wore black and grey to sneak into the compound undetected) is that he always wears mourning white.

Not purple, like the other disciples of his sect, or dark blue like Jiang Fengmian wore on the rare handful of occasions that he and Lan Wangji crossed paths: Wei Wuxian is dressed in blanch-white from the ribbon in his hair to the shoes on his feet, and Lan Xichen pulls up short at the sight of him standing beside his sister and brother for the salutation ceremony.

His soulmate must be dead, Lan Wangji hears a couple of sympathetic Lan disciples murmuring in the crowd. Poor child, to be mourning his fated one so early in his life!

Despite himself, Lan Wangji pities Wei Wuxian, too. The first few weeks of classes are enough to prove that the young man is irreverent, careless, irrepressibly cheerful--but in the few moments of stillness that Lan Wangji manages to glimpse, the bold laughter in Wei Wuxian’s eyes and the frank happiness of his smiling mouth falls into a kind of melancholy that Lan Wangji prays he will never have to learn himself.

His own soulmate has been a constant presence throughout his life. He knows when they laugh, which is so often that Xiongzhang often teases him about how happy his future will be with such a beloved to bring down the sun and stars for him, and Lan Wangji already cherishes this precious person so much that the mere idea of losing them is enough to stop his breath.

Much later, Lan Wangji learns that Wei Ying’s soulmate had died when he was around six; one day the young Wei Ying noticed that his fated one had not laughed in many months, and when many months turned into two years it was decided that the one on the other side of his connection must have passed away. Soulmates are usually the same age, after all, and Wei Ying had been young enough that even children destined to grow up into somber adults would have laughed at that age now and then--but Wei Ying’s soulmate had not laughed at all in the twelve years since, so he began wearing mourning for them when he was only ten.

It makes Lan Wangji more lenient with him than he would have been with anyone else, though he doesn’t realize it for the next several months.

The time they spend together is also what leads Lan Wangji to betray his own soulmate, and fall in love with someone already mourning theirs.

___

“Are you well, Wangji?” is the first thing Lan Xichen asks, when they reunite in Qinghe after Lan Wangji’s escape from Qishan. “What--A-Zhan, what’s the matter? What’s wrong?”

“Xiongzhang,” he croaks, clutching at his brother’s warm sleeve. “Xiongzhang, my soulmate is dead.”