#hocs 1

[mitamicah]

Joker Out in Helsinki sketches; SyS tour 03.02-03.03 2024

[silverwhittlingknife]

in love with batman 138. this comic was made for me personally <333

bruce and jason angst!!! dick and tim team up against bruce - a return to their traditional dynamic!! callback to dick's origin story!!! dick and bruce fight!! dick and tim tag-team - tim distracts bruce so dick can keep breaking in!! bruce and tim fight!! callback to tim's origin story!! dick and bruce fight again!! dick loses it and tim holds him back - a return to their other traditional dynamic!! bruce is losing it completely!! except!! for a moment he hesitates - will he be able to come back from this?? dick and tim "hug" (okay not really. they got squashed in a net. let me have this). bruce and damian angst!! tim and damian hug!! (sort of. tim hugs damian, and damian allows this and doesn't taze him. look my point is this is very affectionate by damian standards!!) and then dick being the guy in charge!! and more jason angst!!

everything perfect. no notes.

[il3x]

Any idea how more power solves the problem of being a good person?

With more POWER, you can protect your teammates. With more POWER, you can defeat the Aberrant criminals who kill and extort and farm children for Rapture. With more POWER, you can avenge Jaeil. With the right kind of POWER, you could reform the Aberrant Corps from a killer, his killer, into a true hand of justice. You could impose Goodness across the entire world. With enough POWER, you wouldn't even need violence to do it.

And on the smaller scale... POWER can erase your mistakes. Good? You could be perfect.

[liamthemailman]

he's napping so shhhhh

[whetstonefires]

you've been reblogging a lot of posts about time loops recently.... is there something you want to tell us this time around

i saw the one about intentional time loops and the massive stress pileup pressure to achieve perfection right after @tuesdayisfordancing's comment in my notes about the compelling 0-pressure fantasy of being trapped in a timeloop, and i felt this juxtaposition deserved to be presented to my followers. so you could all contemplate the philosophical whatsit with me ig.

also i read a really disappointing Groundhog Day premise fanfic yesterday.

[kerizaret]

I'm giving you a hug. But it's going to be a very long one

Bold of you to assume I would let you go quickly once you give me a hug. You're trapped now. Say goodbye to your breath I am crushing into your chest for the next 2 hours!!!

[micahthemoon]

March 25 2024 Today I finally edited my transgender vlog. To nobody’s surprise it turned into 90% joker out concert footage. Hearing myself scream along on camera is sort of odd. I mean, it doesn’t necessarily sound bad all the time: I just sound silly singing half gibberish when I don’t know the Slovenian lyrics by heart. Good thing I don’t have voice dysphoria otherwise this editing process would have been a nightmare. I mostly just smile at myself while getting lost in the good memories (take me back!!!).

[anomalocariscanadensis]

the full text of the ruling (PDF)

no ceasefire has been called for.

the court has concluded that there is plausible immediate risk of prejudicial (i.e. significantly harmful) outcome for Gazans if measures are not taken before it reaches its final conclusion, and is calling for immediate interim measures.

some of Israel's acts "fall within the scope" of article 2 of genocide convention (preventing births, denying food and fuel) & court is ruling that Israel must not do these things, must punish incitement of genocide, implement humanitarian aid, ensure preservation of evidence

Israel must submit report about all measures taken to meet these requirements within one month; to be then sent to South Africa for comment

these rulings "create international legal obligations" for Israel (and South Africa)

calling for immedate & unconditional release of all hostages taken by Hamas.

(votes as follows: 15 votes to 2 call for Israel to stop committing acts falling under articles 2 and 3 of genocide convention

16 votes to 1 call for Israel to take measures to prevent, and punish, incitements to genocide

16 votes to 1 call for Israel to take "immediate and effective measures" to improve life in Gaza re: resources

15 votes to 2 call for Israel to preserve evidence, and take measures against destruction of evidence, relating to acts falling under acts 2 and 3 of genocide convention

15 votes to 2 call for Israel to submit a report within 1 month)

session has ended, full text will be available on the website shortly.

[tpwrtrmnky]

hindsight

[ID: A two-panel comic with crudely drawn stick figures.

Panel 1: The lime green person is talking to the leaf green person and the moss green person.

Lime: "I... have a confession to make."

Leaf: "Go ahead."

Lime: "I want to rewatch the Wizard Child movies."

Leaf: "Didn't the wizard author get incredibly chromophobic?"

Lime: "Yeah I just... It's nostalgia you know? They meant a lot to me when I was a kid."

Panel 2: The three are on the couch.

Lime: "All right, let's go."

Leaf: "It's so weird how the wizard author just turned chromophobic though. Like I remember this series being pretty good for its time. It'll be weird seeing their work contrasting with their views now."

Moss: "I'm just glad we got the movies for free through normal and legal means. Heh."

End ID.]

[ID 2: Scenes from three Wizard Child movies.

Wizard Child and the Simplistic Morality: A slightly round child with a propeller hat is talking to a child with no hat.

Round child: "I am so fucking fat and greedy I am textually shown to be fat because I am greedy and also evil."

Hatless child: "You are to infer my moral purity from juxtaposition with this fat child. Woe is me for our shared parent has deprived me of a propeller hat."

Wizard Child and the Goodness of Wealth: An adult wizard is talking to the child, who now has a wizard hat.

Wizard Adult: "Wizard child you are secretly extremely rich."

Wizard Child: "I will form biases regarding the bankers all being triangular for some reason!"

Wizard Adult: "Your wealth is deserved because your true parent was Good and therefore you are also Good."

Wizard Child: "Now we should acquire consumer goods. Buy consumer goods!"

Wizard Child and the Dark Family History: A blue-grey horse person is talking to the wizard child.

Blue-grey: "No, wizard child. You don't understand. I am one of the good ones, because unlike the bad ones I don't try to spread my curse that makes you a blue-grey horselike creature to others!"

Wizard child: "Wow uncle blue-grey you are one of the good ones! I forgive you for being a horse because I am so good I would even forgive horses. I sure hope you don't conspicuously get killed off later in this movie!"

End ID 2.]

[ID 3: Oh hell no there are even more of these.

Wizard Youth and the Tokenistic Relationship Dynamics: A square headed wizard youth is talking to the former wizard child, now a wizard youth.

Square Wizard Youth: "Wizard child, as the only person with a square head in this entire series it is my duty to inform you that you are the savior of all people with square heads, too. Let us build a one-sided relationship that only furthers your character development, after which I will immediately lose all plot relevance."

Wizard Youth: "I will do this because I am a maturing wizard youth and need disposable relationships that don't threaten the endgame!"

Wizard Youth and the Escalation of Stakes: The Dark Wizard, a sort of grey-green person with a cloak, is pointing at Wizard Youth.

Dark Wizard: "Wizard Youth, I have returned!"

Wizard Youth: "Dark Wizard! Why are you green now?"

Dark Wizard: "Evil magic made me green! I am green with envy towards all who are good!"

Wizard Youth: "I will not engage with how you are clearly based on fascist ideologies and yet this narrative plays into fascist aesthetic sensibilities!"

Wizard Youth and the Post-Hoc Revelations: The Wizard Youth is leaning over their Wizard Mentor, who is laying in a pool of blood.

Wizard Youth: "Wizard Mentor no! You can't die!"

Wizard Mentor: "It is fine, wizard youth. My death will further your character development into a wizard adult. Also, I was secretly a very very dark purple this entire time. I never brought it up so I could retain narrative approval.

End ID 3.]

[ID 4: Wizard Adult and the Overdue Conclusion. Three panels. I am sorry.

Panel 1: The dark wizard is dueling the Wizard Adult with magic beams.

Dark Wizard: "Evil green beam!"

Wizard Adult: "Good red beam! Despite the enormous variety of magic in this series this is what our final battle looks like!"

Panel 2: Wizard Adult stands victorious over the dark wizard, who is dying on the ground.

Wizard Adult: "In the end, dark wizard, you were defeated because I am morally superior to you."

Dark Wizard: "I was a product of systemic failures. There will be someone like me again someday!"

Panel 3: Zoom in on wizard adult, who says:

"Not if I can help it. Because I am going to be a wizard cop now. The moral of this story is that all systemic issues can be solved by finding a bad guy to beat."

End ID 4.]

[ID 5: Four panels.

Panel 1: Return to the green trio on their couch, watching the TV say "The End." All are are silent.

Panel 2: They are sitting on the couch. Moss is looking at their phone.

Lime: "Yeah so there were maybe a few signs we missed because we were children."

Leaf: "Yeah. A few. Some."

Panel 3: Continue conversation.

Lime: "So what did you think, Moss?"

Panel 4: Zoom in on Moss, who says: "I've been zoned out on my phone since the second movie. They lost me at the magic stuff. Wizards aren't real."

End ID 5.]

Start - Previous - Next

[xaviergalatis]

[shiraishi--kanade]

Siffrin from ISAT and Xerxes Break is the exact same breed of character in an unexplainable way. Except one of them is a middle-aged man

[mitamicah]

I guess I wasn't done with the Helsinki sketches x'D

[noithatvppost-blog]

Xu Huong lua chon ban hoc sinh cap 1 cua hoa phat

Mùa hè là thời điểm quan trọng để các bậc phụ huynh và học sinh cấp 1 chuẩn bị cho năm học mới. Một phần quan trọng của việc này là chọn mua một chiếc bàn học phù hợp. Mỗi năm, việc lựa chọn mẫu bàn học cho học sinh cấp 1 đều trở nên quan trọng và khá thách thức cho các phụ huynh. Trong năm 2023, tại thị trường Việt Nam, các sản phẩm của Hòa Phát đang trở thành một lựa chọn phổ biến và được quan tâm. Hãy cùng tìm hiểu về xu hướng lựa chọn mẫu bàn học sinh cấp 1 Hòa Phát trong năm nay.

Xu Hướng lựa chọn bàn học sinh cấp 1 cuả Hòa Phát trong năm 2023 là gì?

1. Thiết kế bàn học sinh cấp 1 thân thiện với trẻ:

Trong những năm gần đây, xu hướng tập trung vào thiết kế bàn học dành riêng cho trẻ em. Điều này bao gồm các góc bo tròn để tránh chấn thương, màu sắc tươi sáng và thiết kế đáng yêu để kích thích sự sáng tạo và thúc đẩy việc học.

Hòa Phát đã liên tục cập nhật và đa dạng hóa các mẫu bàn học cho học sinh cấp 1. Các sản phẩm này không chỉ đơn giản về kiểu dáng mà còn về màu sắc và kích thước, giúp phụ huynh có nhiều sự lựa chọn phù hợp với không gian trường học cũng như sở thích cá nhân của mỗi học sinh.

2. Thiết kế bàn học sinh cấp 1 đa năng:

Ngày càng có nhiều lựa chọn bàn học đa năng, bao gồm bàn có giá đặt biệt có thể điều chỉnh theo chiều cao của trẻ. Điều này đảm bảo rằng bàn có thể phù hợp với sự phát triển của trẻ qua thời gian.

Các sản phẩm của Hòa Phát thường đi kèm với các tính năng bổ sung như kệ sách, ngăn kéo để lưu trữ đồ dùng học tập, giúp tối ưu hóa không gian học tập và tạo điều kiện thuận lợi cho việc học tập.

3. Bàn học sinh cấp 1 chất liệu bền và an toàn:

Mua một chiếc bàn là đầu tư, vì vậy chất liệu của bàn cũng là một yếu tố quan trọng. Bàn học phải được làm từ chất liệu an toàn cho sức khỏe của trẻ, dễ lau chùi và bền bỉ.

Hòa Phát là một thương hiệu uy tín về nội thất tại Việt Nam. Các sản phẩm của họ được sản xuất từ chất liệu chất lượng, đảm bảo tính bền vững và an toàn cho sức khỏe của trẻ. Điều này làm yên tâm cho phụ huynh khi mua sắm.

https://hoaphat.net/images/upload/image/202310/ban-hoc-sinh-cap-1-bhs108.jpg

Bàn học sinh câp 1 BHS108

4. Kết hợp bàn học sinh cấp 1 với không gian học tập:

Xu hướng mới là lựa chọn bàn học phù hợp với không gian học tập ở nhà. Điều này bao gồm sự kết hợp màu sắc và thiết kế để tạo ra một môi trường học tập thú vị và kích thích sự tập trung.

5. Tănggiá trị của bàn học sinh cấp 1:

Các bàn học hiện đại thường đi kèm với các tính năng bổ sung như kệ sách, giá treo túi, và nhiều ngăn kéo để lưu trữ đồ dùng học tập. Điều này giúp tối ưu hóa không gian học tập và giúp trẻ tự quản lý và sắp xếp đồ dùng của họ.

Hòa Phát cũng cung cấp các sản phẩm có mức giá phù hợp với ngân sách của đa số gia đình. Phụ huynh có thể tìm thấy các mẫu bàn học có giá trị tốt, đáng đầu tư cho sự phát triển và học tập của con cái mình.

6. Chọn bàn học sinh cấp 1 theo sở thích cá nhân:

Cuối cùng, quan điểm của trẻ về bàn học cũng quan trọng. Hãy cho phép trẻ tham gia vào quá trình chọn mua để họ cảm thấy tự hào và hứng thú hơn với môi trường học tập của mình.

Trong tất cả, việc lựa chọn mẫu bàn học cho học sinh cấp 1 năm 2023 đòi hỏi sự cân nhắc và nghiên cứu kỹ lưỡng. Bàn học phải đáp ứng các yêu cầu về an toàn, sự phát triển của trẻ, và tạo điều kiện thuận lợi cho việc học tập. Hãy tận dụng những xu hướng mới để đảm bảo rằng bạn đã chọn được một mẫu bàn phù hợp nhất cho trẻ trong năm học mới.

LIÊN HỆ MUA HÀNG:

Fax: 024.37 37 30 88

Số điện thoại: 024.3550 5888

Mobile: 0934.534.777 - 0917.311.386

Web : https://hoaphat.net/

Email: hoaphat185@gmail.com

Địa chỉ: Số 16-18 đường Nguyễn Bồ - TP Hà Nội.

[best4team]

90 Mẫu Đề Tài Sáng Kiến Kinh Nghiệm Lớp 1 Theo Chương Trình Mới

Hãy cùng Best4team điểm qua 90 đề tài sáng kiến kinh nghiệm tiểu học lớp 1 nổi bật nhất qua bài viết sau.

Tham khảo: https://best4team.com/skkn/sang-kien-kinh-nghiem-lop-1/

[milflena]

my new job makes me feel like i'm in a game simulation and honestly i'm here for it

[whetstonefires]

Hmm 18 and 29?

18) What’s one of your favorite lines you’ve written in a fic?

Oh gracious. I honestly like my own stuff quite a lot, as a rule, or I wouldn't work on it long enough to finish anything. Fortunately it says 'one of.' Asking for a very favorite always paralyzes me aslkdjadfs. This is hard.

Is the word 'line' here meant to be 'pieces of dialogue' or 'sentences' or what, do you think?

I decided to pick something from my 'Jason Todd getting parented' era and then couldn't find the time to reread the like 30k of All the Roofs of Uncertainty that involve Bruce to pick out a line, so I'm going to nominate something from the fic where Talon!Jason and the Jokester have a heart-to-heart on a roof.

Hm. It has fewer good bits than roofs, being shorter, but they're all kind of interdependent, they don't stand alone very well. Hm.

"And remember, no matter what, you still have us." Jason wasn't sure what he gave away, but there must have been some kind of surprise, or doubt, because J pulled his hand away and frowned. "What, you thought…? You're one of us. Even if you leave. We love you, JJ. That's not gonna just stop." Jason opened his mouth to say something scathing, or dismissive, or defensive, but (maybe because he hadn't quite decided what tack to take) what came out was, "Why?" To be honest, it sounded more like 'whhyyyyyy?' Half whine, half word, a long syllable dragging itself out of his throat as he tried to take it back. Jokester stared at him for a split second, his hand moving like he wanted to reach out and grab Jason again but decided not to, twitched a little like he couldn't find any words that would fit out his mouth, and said, "Because!" Jason was pretty sure he said something like "that's a stupid reason why are you so stupid all the time," but honestly he wasn't sure because his body had gone into full scale mutiny and decided that it wanted to cry.

(It's the 'that's a stupid reason why are you so stupid' bit I'm so fond of; Jokester got a lot of the series' themes put into his dialogue here and they did a lot of emotional lifting, so including that bit that made me laugh felt like it made the whole fic work better.)

29) Share a bit from a fic you’ll never post OR from a scene that was cut from an already posted fic.

Oh this is fun, I have so many abandoned fics.

Ah! Here! A bit I had a lot of fun writing from near the end of a fic I abandoned at 65k because both the characterization and narrative had too many structural flaws to be worth the effort of an overhaul.

“Uh, Lan Zhan? What is this?” Lan Wangji glanced away from the growing stack of rice long enough to see Wei Ying’s baffled, nervous smile, then went back to counting and stacking. “Inadequate,” he said, and kept drawing out baskets from his qiankun bag. “Uh,” said Wei Ying, which was amusing, but not enough for Lan Wangji to let himself lose focus and lose count. Wei Ying sidled over and pried up the lid of a basket; stared at the contents. Uttered a stifled oath, stepping back and taking in the growing wall of rice. Mentally, Lan Wangji calculated. One dou of rice could make a single, small meal for the whole Burial Mounds population; to feed them all well, say four dou a day. Lan Wangji had appropriated well over a thousand dou of rice from the Lan—perhaps two weeks’ food, there. Here, a thousand dou would last nearly a year if they relied on it entirely and did not stint, which seemed unlikely—but it would not keep so long, in these conditions, probably even in a qiankun pouch, so some of it would have to be sold, so it would not go to mold and waste. A year of life. That was all he could offer. Such a paltry recompense, but at least it answered a real need, rather than offering merely what he thought should be wanted. Lan Wangji could learn. “Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying said more sharply, when he was finally done with the rice and started unloading pickles. They had collected an audience now, a dozen of the Wen grouped together in the cave mouth. This was entirely undignified, but Lan Wangji could not think of any other way it could be done. Privacy wouldn’t be appropriate either, even if it was easily obtained. “Lan Zhan, what is this?” “Rice,” said Lan Wangji. Someone laughed. Wei Ying rubbed his forehead; many hours of Wangji’s aggravation in their youth were avenged. “I can see that.” Wangji finished lining up the pickled vegetables, and handed Wei Ying the single sealed jar of ginger. Wei Ying frowned at it, a little wrinkle between his eyebrows. He was adorable. He sighed, and bent to put the pickled ginger next to the pickled cabbage. “Lan Zhan,” he said. “Really. What is this?”

Lan Wangji reached into his final pouch and pulled out the bolt of deep blue silk. He could not press it into Wei Ying’s hands; they were covered in dirt. He set it across the top of one of the stacks of rice baskets. A hush had fallen over the Wen. Wanji stepped closer to Wei Ying, and sought his eyes now that he had been evading. “Gifts,” he said, and felt that the way he said it left no question of his intent.

It was a pathetic offering—nothing compared to what would have been given if he had made a match approved by his sect and clan, what would have been brought forth to honor his bride. But it was what he had been able to bring, without that approval. A dowry he had assigned himself, as it were.

And far more valuable to Wei Ying and the people he had chosen to protect than treasures would have been.

Wei Ying’s mouth and hands worked emptily for a moment, and he made several stifled sounds, as though the silence spell had somehow been cast on him without sealing his lips shut. “You,” he managed. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, let it hiss out. Turned to their audience and pointed, jauntiness back in his motions, the slant of his eyebrows, the tilt of his head. “Okay, everybody scram.”

The Wen laughed at him, but they did go. Fourth Uncle called congratulations and someone whooped; Wei Ying rolled his eyes and shooed them off.

When he turned back to Wangji he was subdued again. His smile small and unreal. “Lan Zhan,” he said, “you can’t do this.”

“These are nothing.”

The linen and cotton, the other bolt of silk, the shirts, the little clothes for A-Yuan, he should unpack all of those as well. But he could not stop looking back at Wei Ying.

Wei Ying blew out another breath, puffing out his lips as it went this time. “Thank you for the rice,” he said, unhappily. “I—I don’t want to refuse it on behalf of everybody, and I….”

There was a struggle on his face that sent a chill through Lan Wangji. Wei Ying, trying to refuse a marriage, with a pile of a little more life lying at his feet as a bribe he could not ignore.

Could he never escape becoming his father.

“No,” Lan Wangji said sharply. “No, even if Wei Ying sends me away in disgrace, these things will stay here. It is not.” He stopped, gathered his thoughts. “I am not trying to buy you.” As though a year’s worth of rice and some decent silk could begin to add up to the value of Wei Ying.

“The disgrace is staying here!” Wei Ying said, shockingly direct. He seemed startled by it as well, as Wangji studied his face. “Lan Zhan, you don’t deserve this.”

Lan Wangji tilted his head. He could choose to agree, to say he didn’t deserve Wei Ying, never could, but wanted him anyway. He would like to see how Wei Ying responded to that—probably by recoiling, but in the way that made Wangji’s chest ache for Wei Ying rather than for himself. “You do?” He flicked his eyes the way the Wens had gone. “They do?”

“Lan Zhan. You could have anything and anyone. I can’t—tie you to a heap of corpses.” Wei Ying made a face and glanced sourly at the wall of rice again. “The rice was a good move,” he acknowledged. “I keep wanting to say something mean to make you leave, but most of them sound stupid now.”

Wei Ying should not have admitted to that tactic aloud, Lan Wangji thought to himself, but he didn’t point out the error. “Not tied to the corpses,” he said. “Tied to Wei Ying.” Oh, how he wanted to be tied to Wei Ying. Oh, how bound he was already.

Wei Ying laughed, the unpleasant sound Lan Wangji had gotten used to during the war, but without the thick layering of pride that had covered it then. “Do you really think there’s a difference?” He shook his head and spread one hand, palm up, taking in all their surroundings. “This is a place for the doomed, Lan Wangji. You don’t belong here.”

“I came here doomed, and had my life returned to me.” Lan Wangji took a step forward, pinning Wei Ying under his attention. “Wei Ying. Do not refuse me for my sake. I—”

Lan Wangji had tormented himself so selfishly over Wei Ying leaving him behind, all this time. As though following were wholly beyond his power, as though Wei Ying were the only one who could choose to alter his path—because he had been so sure his own was right, that Wei Ying must return to his side on it, or be counted lost.

His love had not been strong enough. He had not been brave enough. He had mourned their parting. A child deprived of a toy. “There will be no one else. There is nothing else for me, now.”

To give up Wei Ying, after having had him—to turn away from that whispered affection, or the consuming addiction of desire now whetted by knowledge—impossible. He wanted to say, if I was willing to make love to you within sight of your horrible blood pool in full possession of my faculties, why do you think there is anything that would turn me away now, but he did not think it would resonate with Wei Ying the way he wanted, since it admitted to the repulsiveness of the blood pool. Wei Ying had to be aware of the repulsiveness of the blood pool, but Lan Wangji could attempt to be diplomatic in his own marriage negotiations, unorthodox as they were.

Wei Ying’s face twisted, but it passed through anger into grief. “Lan Zhan,” he said, with tears in his voice though not in his eyes. “Don’t say that. Don’t tell me I’ve ruined you.”

“Not ruined.” Lan Wangji finally drew close, and for a moment it seemed Wei Ying would allow it, but then he spun and danced away sideways, in the only direction allowed by the wall of rice baskets, and was again too far away to kiss.

“I had Jiang Cheng throw me out of the Sect to avoid dragging anyone else down with me. Lan Zhan, you can’t—”

“Stupid.” Lan Wangji frowned. He supposed he should have known that was Wei Ying’s idea. Jiang Wanyin had never impressed Wangji particularly, but among the virtues he did have, courage and loyalty must surely be counted foremost, judging by what Wangji had seen in the war and particularly those three months together, searching for Wei Ying.

Left to his own devices, Sect Leader Jiang would have taken longer to disavow his head disciple, whose unorthodox cultivation he had championed on the battlefield, even if he was too politically cowed by the Jin to defend him properly, either. But Wei Ying, of course, had hastened to make himself a sacrifice.

Wei Ying snorted. “Oh, and you’re planning to bring the whole support of the Lan behind you?”

Of course, he clearly wasn’t. And if any disciple other than himself had staged such a shameless robbery, he would be a wanted criminal. But unless they expelled him, which his brother and uncle would, he felt, after the way he had parted with them, fight with all their considerable power, his affiliation with the sect would still be valuable. To all of them. “Wei Ying does not always have to be the shield. Sometimes, he should be protected also.”

“Lan Zhan.” As easily as that, Wei Ying was looking at him shattered. The vulnerability on his face hurt to witness even as Lan Wangji reveled in it. He was learning Wei Ying, how to love him for his sake, rather than for Lan Wangji’s own.

“Do you not want me?” he asked, bracing himself for an affirmative. Wei Ying might say it and lie; Wei Ying might say it and, despite everything before, actually mean it. He had had time to think, while Lan Wangji was gone.

“I don’t want your pity.” The word curdled on Wei Ying’s tongue and in the air, and his face wore an ugly look again. “We will live as we may. We have survived this long without you, Hanguang-jun, and we will live after you grow sick of the foul air and poisoned earth and leave again. This place is beyond the reach of the cultivation world, why bring it here with you?”

“Even though you do not need me,” Lan Wangji said carefully, letting the sharp edge of those words break over him like a wave because Wei Ying had admitted outright he said these things to drive people away; because declaring everyone here doomed even the little child, and then saying they would live despite him, was too much contradiction to bother with. “Do you want me?”

“If I say no will you go?”

The refusal to say it at once was an answer in itself. “If I believe you.”

Wei Ying snorted, less disgust than acknowledging Lan Wangji’s point scored. He smiled unhappily. “Lan Zhan, I’ve made my choices. I would make them again, even knowing where they’ve led me. That doesn’t mean I want to bring you down with me. You don’t owe me anything. You do realize you don’t owe me?”

Lan Wangji hesitated. It was a difficult question. He did not, precisely, feel indebted to Wei Wuxian, not the way Wei Ying meant or the way his brother had, though he was acutely aware of the gift of his life and the cost Wei Ying had borne to give it. But he did feel obligation toward him, a duty, which was a kind of owing as well. “Wei Ying deserves better,” he said. “And I owe you—courtesy, at least.”

“Courtesy,” Wei Ying echoed, abstract, scornful. His eyes flicked down, past Lan Wangji’s eyes to his mouth.

“You never answered my question,” Lan Wangji said.

“Which one? Oh. Lan Zhan. Who would ever not want you?” Wei Ying shook his head, but there was a smile there now, one that caught in the corners as though pain and fondness were the selfsame emotion.

Once again, he spoke of it like he spoke of natural law.

Lan Wangji ached. “Wei Ying.”

Wei Ying sighed, and glanced at the wall of rice, the silk. Lan Wangji’s perhaps pathetic offering of something, anything more valuable than merely himself. A little life. “I really don’t understand,” he said. “When you left, I thought—”

“You didn’t expect me to return.”

“No. I thought you’d listened.” Wei Ying shook his head. “I don’t want to—I know what they say about me, but I never wanted to…” He took a breath, and tried again. “You’re so brilliant, Hanguang-jun, so good, they named you well, and I would never want to be the reason that light was stolen from the world.”

“Already done.”

Wei Ying winced, and looked at him with his eyebrows knit, annoyed.

Lan Wangji said, “You took the light from my world when you went into the dark.”