#i really want to find the source to these! i can't!

[frownyalfred]

I'm not sure if you've done this before or not but could you do a guide on the batfamily? I'm really getting into the fandom and there seems to be some big differences between fanon and canon... like dick being the golden child and jason being the black sheep and tim being the unhinged genius and damien being the violent child? And then like the relationships between everyone? Thanks! I love your blog and I consider you a good source for batfamily stuff!!

I would love to do this, but I am much happier without 394 angry anons in my inbox right now, so I will gently defer to someone else both 1) more knowledgeable than me and 2) more willing to stand their ground on characterization. As I've said, please take my characterization with a handful of salt!

There was a good fanon vs canon characterization post floating around here a few years ago, but I can't remember where to find it. It was basically a breakdown of what generalizations can be made about their canon roles and how fanon chooses to interpret (or ignore) that.

But the TL;DR is that canon is also pretty inconsistent with batkid characterization and canon-purists tend to hold tightly to one interpretation, which puts them at odds with fanon proponents, who also tend to hold tightly to one interpretation of a character, though that interpretation isn't always -- but sometimes it is! -- based in canon material.

So, an even shorter TL;DR: write/read/enjoy whatever interpretation you want, just don't be mean to other people who don't agree.

[lesbianherald]

No because they’re both going through corruption arcs!!!!!! I think all the time about how S1 arc 1 Jayce and Viktor are the comic relief characters - their scenes are always a source of hope and levity when everyone else is going through the horrors of impending war and how intentional it is for when they eventually fracture. The story is literally set up so that you fall in love with these characters and then watch them lose themselves.

This is a really interesting way to look at it! I hesitate to call Viktor's a corruption arc in the traditional sense of the word because so many of the choices he makes I think are so rooted in this base desire to survive.

ok more below sorry for yapping so much today

To survive in piltover first and then just to survive in general. I think part of Viktor's arc is so interesting because he's not necessarily making all the right or safe decisions, but he's making decisions I think most people could see themselves making in his shoes.

His fatal flaw i think is his inability to see himself as someone who has support. He thinks he has to shoulder this alone. Shoutout singed! His mentor essentially signs off on his death. The bridge scene happens which makes him feel like he can't rely on Jayce. Sky is present, but he completely doesn't recognize (or want) her affection for him or her ability to help in a way that's so extreme it results in her death. Piltover doesn't give a shit about him. (Every scene in the council room with Viktor, and the scene with mel, jayce, and the weapons conversation are so important in illustrating this)

I also think his desperation to live + a bit of his internalized ableism play a huge role in Viktor's arc as we find him going back to the hexcore before having any shimmer that would guarantee his survival. He's 1000% responsible for his own actions but his own actions are so based in his lack of power in so many ways so its hard to view him and Jayce's arcs as the same type of corruption at least.

I see a really interesting thread between Viktor's arc being tied to isolation and Jayce's arc being tied to being surrounded by the wrong people (!!piltovian high society in general!!). Viktor's arc being what happens when you feel you have nobody and Jayce's arc being what happens when you have a lot of people and feel you have to please everybody.

I also see Jayce's arc as one of what happens when power you don't want gets handed to you and Viktors as what happens when no matter what you do you can never obtain the power you need. It puts them at really interesting odds.

[yayasvalveplay]

https://www.tumblr.com/yayasvalveplay/774783569177493504/but-now-that-is-out-of-the-way-all-they-see-is-a?source=share

Orion might be living the hentai protagonist life rn but internally he is going through the DEPRESSION TRENCHES

Not only does Orion miss Dee; his carrier coding is going crazy from being horny for his baby daddy, preparing for the sparkling–BUT ALSO Orion's also stressing over the truth of Sentinel/Quintessons/Cogs–with what the High Gaurd told him so he's very worried for Dee and the others. As he rests in the crashed quintessons ship, veil over him to prevent overheating a gift. Orion feels like he doesn't deserve to be treated so nicely since he left D.

Sure it was for their sparkling, now that the High Gaurd are teaching him about sparkling care but given what he's been told— he realizes he truly wouldn't be able to care for his baby, to know what to do without them — hence he feels horribly selfish.

He's gonna be a first time mom, it ain't easy for him even with the seekers' help 😭

Meanwhile for D-16, oh that sire coding HITS HARD, it was a little slow for him but when he finally learns what a sparkling is and what Orion left for. THE SIRE CODING OVERDRIVES AKA FERAL

D-16 gets territorial even; It doesn't take a genius for everyone; D doesn't like the new miner AT ALL, its only when at this point will D crash out which honestly better to crash out now that later ngl D-16 sneaking out more— no one dares mention it, he's becoming withdrawn. The miners really want to stop him– he keeps ignoring them or just gives small replies—so out of character for the mech who a stickler for protocol it lowkey scary; the closest ones who barely get enough even then who talk to him are Elita and Jazz.

He's depressed and pissed off; WAY MORE HORNY his sire coding is basically telling him that he only transfered once so HE NEEDS TO FIND HIS BABY MAMA RN, is maybe having a life crisis over protocols, information concealing, etc including what's really happening due to how can they just replace Orion like that so fast. Then the mining accident occurs with Jazz; how everyone was so quick to let him die, where Orion would've helped Jazz, how Elita-1 gets demoted by Darkwing. They simply didn't follow protocol, right? But with extra knowledge currently from the Archives, there surely could've been another way? Orion has his sparkling—Jazz was going to die– why deny aid?

How I imagine D-16 eventually ending up in sublevel 50, is that Dee eventually has his crash out moment which better now than later fr as he gets caught by the gaurds, outrunning really doesn't mean much when you really don't know the layout of the place like Pax would.

D-16 who's running on fumes, emotions a crisis and sire instincts do him in, the gaurds are just done with his shit so they throw him down.

That's where/when he meets B-127. The usual happens, the map is revealed via Steve death. D-16 really should've figured this out — had this been before Orion's disappearance, he wouldn't even entertain the idea. But... it's a start.

I was not expecting to wake up to a wall of text this morning.

But yessss Orion may be living like a queen, gifts to help out with the sparkling arrival. But he's missing Dee, he's missing his baby daddy and wants his transfluids badly, but by the time the sparkling emerges Dee's transfluids have been gone for a while.

In Iacon Dee's sire protocols slap him in the face our of no where, and now he can't really control what he does or say. He knows he's acting feral, more scary to the other bots. Yes he's sort-of ok being near Elita and Jazz. But even then they can push him to a breaking point.

Yes he's also sneaking out more, putting more pieces to the puzzle. Finding out gestation takes a full year to complete.

How long has Orion been pregnant for, has he missed the birth of his sparkling? Will his baby grow up not knowing who he is because Orion refuses to come back!?

D-16 is desperate and wants to find him so badly.

It's how he gets caught. He was so far deep he couldn't stop himself. Now he's on a train grabbing for Elita as they climb up and up, then out, looking at the first sunrise of their planets surface.

I say by this point the baby is born. And for tf baby's it only takes about 2 weeks for them to go to full adults. So by the time this all happens baby Tronus I'd ready to go on his first expedition.

Funny how his first expedition he meets his true sire.

[pleasantspark]

To make it abundantly clear. I do see @chaifootsteps as a friend. A close associate. But it doesn't mean spreading false allegations. Just like the pitchforked. I don't like Proshippers or Zoophiles but I don't obsess over calling Chai out 447744747 times over blatantly disproven claims. And thanks to @doodler16 Chai had delivered on concerns that brought up.

I'm a victim of CSA, Grooming and a plethora of false allegations. To have people freak out about the drawing of a chibi character (I don't really understand the difference between the two. Because Cub is child like and chibi is just miniature. People mistake the two a lot.)

"These came from credible SOURCES!!!!"

The screenshots you are referencing and the anti-chai crowd are getting it from DaniDraws and other problematic Twitter users. The same people who exclusively defended against the things YOU claim CHAI did.

They accused Chai of shit that seems to be out of nowhere. Going off assumptions rather then actual logic. Because the crash outs I see is really fucking telling. You can claim someone is a Murderer for wanting to kill a fictional character and the person accusing them of it would be attacked but THE AUDICITY WHEN I A GROWN WOMAN LIKES CELL, A BUG!!!1! INCECTAPHILLA! YOU'RE A ZOOPHILE!

If you're this butthurt about people TRYING to change maybe I don't know? Ignore them. This drama all started because people genuinely can't take a hint and solve this shit in private. And no it's not because "Ohhh I couldn't contact them bc their DMs are private" its really dumb af because this person could've asked someone else to help them contact them, which shows you DIDN'T want to handle it.

I'm sorry if I am laying Heavy on this person but I am sick and tired of false allegations that were proven by the accusee of being false or warped or even worse misconstrued being used around. If you have a problem with someone, go to them. Refusing to confront them but rather call them out as the various people (Newsflash some people who are criticizing them in your Anon Box/Reblogs are on the side of the Stans so they will OF COURSE overexaggerate claims.) who I see are COWARDS who can't even leave a message or go to me to sort an arrangement out, FOR THE LOVE OF SATAN HIMSELF, I have a server where you can sort this shit out.

Some of you are what? in your 20s? Adults? Functioning members of society but you cannot handle talking to people or hiring someone to middleman it? I am genuinely embarrassed of you guys, perpetrating false allegations and pushing the guilty by association just for PEOPLE trying to educate you? No, none of you should be critics at all if you're gonna act like stans, if you disagree and still believe Chai is guilty after his clarifications, then fine by me. No one's gonna change your mind. I just find it time consuming and all in all stupid to continue to focus on shit NO ONE really cares about or just finding more reasons to hate.

Sounds like stans amiright? So whenever you cross a post that has some allegations, don't go get the pitchforks, consider it as false before proven. You are not helping the case, and Tumblr is going to become the next coming of Twitter if we all don't treat allegations as skepticism. Goodnight, and this is my final message.

[sirfrogsworth]

This bugged me so much that I actually watched Spider-Man last night.

To show you how cherry picked this nonsense is...

Doc Ock sees Spider-Man in the shadows. He only knows that the Tom Holland Spider-Man is in this universe.

And then Spidey walks forward to reveal, he is Tobey Spider-Man!

In the context of the scene, this lighting makes a lot of sense. Doc Ock can't really tell who it is until he steps into the light. You feel what the character feels when this reveal happens. It was an artistic decision that I think worked very effectively.

But if you cherry pick different scenes, you can find some really cool looking shots with more dynamic lighting.

The movie did not feel overly dark to me. There are far worse examples.

But then I looked at Spider-Man 3 from 2007. I found the scene used in the example. In the scene, there are news helicopters and spotlights that occasionally light up the characters.

This does not look nearly as bright as the Twitter photo. And that is because it was a promotional still that was most likely photoshopped and enhanced for marketing.

Here is the full image released as a "leak" to the press.

Photos are color graded much differently than movies. For a still frame, the dynamic range is pushed to the limits. You only have that single frame to convey your artistic vision. But for a movie, you want to use dynamic range over a period of time for impact. If you make everything have max contrast and brightness in every frame, your eyes are gonna get tired and the impact will be diminished.

And if you look at a few other shots from this same section of the movie, you can cherry-pick some pretty dark shots if you want.

There is a debate in the world of cinematography about "motivated" light. Especially when it comes to night scenes.

Do you shoot your movie with light that could not possibly exist?

Or do you try to "motivate" the light so there is a plausible source for where it comes from?

Or do you do a mixture?

Some people do not care if the light is unmotivated or unrealistic. But for lighting nerds like me, it can sometimes break the immersion. In fact, I was just watching Die Hard 4 the other night and this scene triggered my spidey-sense.

They are in the middle of a blackout. All lights are out. Where the heck is this bright ass light coming from? Even a full moon is not that fucking bright. The glare on the road is literally blowing out the film stock to pure white.

Most people don't care.

But some people care.

Directors and cinematographers tend to be lighting nerds like me. And many like to justify where the light is coming from. It's a big artistic choice and a lot of viewers do not agree with the decision to go more realistic. And so you get this "movies are too dark" discourse. Could a compromise be made? Is there a happy medium? Will this current fad just die out? Or will it evolve into something new that makes everyone a little happier?

Nope had a very novel solution to this lighting conundrum. They actually shot during the day and used infrared film along with normal film to compose a very visually legible day-for-night effect.

But that was very expensive and a lot of work to dial in. It wasn't a push button solution and the sky had to be replaced.

People have a lot of strong opinions about this. They want their personal viewing experience and tastes prioritized. But to fix the sound for people using small speakers, you have to make the experience worse for people with home theaters. To fix the darkness you have to do the same, but you also have to go against artistic intent.

Let's say I posted this photo I took and edited it to be dark and spooky.

This is what "hypothetical me" felt suited this photo best from my artistic instincts. And I edited it on a 32-inch, 4K, 1000 nit, perfectly calibrated monitor, in a dark environment. I kept the subject small in the frame because I wanted the darkness to envelop her.

But someone says, "Hey, I'm viewing this on a phone on a park bench on a sunny day. She is too small and the photo is too dark. I can't tell what is going on. You need to brighten this photo and crop it so I can see it better."

That hypothetical person has demanded hypothetical me change my artistic vision to suit their circumstances.

As an artist, that feels kinda bad.

Even if a consensus of people think I made a bad artistic choice and the majority of people will not see my photo as I created it, should I compromise my intent and change it?

What do I do?

Personally, I want as many people as possible to enjoy my photographic antics. I like to consider input and sometimes I do change my mind. But if people *demanded* I change a photo... I'd probably be pretty unhappy about that.

So you have a situation where there is artistic intent, displays with technical limitations, and varied viewing circumstances all crashing together and everyone wants their needs prioritized.

If you think you have a perfect solution to this or a way to please everyone, I assure you, you don't. I've been researching this for years. There is no compromise that will make everyone happy aside from making different versions of the content. But if you do that, some of those versions may go against the artist's wishes.

I think creating a new version would be easier for the sound. Streaming services already have multiple audio tracks for different languages and descriptive audio. I don't think it would be very hard to create a stereo mix for small speakers.

But the darkness issue is another matter. Every single device has a different screen with a different max brightness and a different dynamic range and a different way of tone mapping and a different array of settings you can change. And your viewing experience can change drastically depending on the size of the screen and the lighting of the room you are in.

The good news is, modern displays are all getting much brighter. If you are in a bright environment, your display will be able to compete with the light. And as more people watch content in HDR, both dark and bright details will be easier to see. Artists can create a dark scene that still has plenty of detail with that expanded dynamic range. But I'm afraid HDR is still pretty new and they are still figuring out the best practices for color grading and lighting and all that. There are movies that have flat color grades to make the VFX and HDR color grades easier, but contrast and saturation take a hit. Wicked is getting a lot of flak for that. But I do think movies will look better on more screens in more challenging settings in the next decade or so.

And there are some imperfect solutions you can employ in present day.

For audio...

Prime Video has a dialogue boost mode. There are headphones and soundbars and streaming devices that have the same in their settings. Though getting something with a center channel speaker will help more than anything.

There is also a dynamic range compression feature in audio receivers and other devices. That's usually called night mode or quiet mode. You might be able to find a phone app or computer app to do this. It will raise the volume of the quiet stuff and lower the volume of the loud stuff. People sensitive to volume changes and hard of hearing folks seem to find this mode helpful. (And people that want to watch porn at a low volume.)

For video...

VLC Player and Media Player Classic both have ways to adjust various brightness and contrast and color settings. You can almost apply your own color grade to what you watch.

There is a plugin for Media Player Classic called "MadVR" which has endless options you can tweak. It has a learning curve, but it is very powerful. Here is a setup guide.

Tweaking the actual video file works much better than adjusting the settings of your display. You can get a much more natural looking image. But if you use a streaming service this doesn't really help much due to their proprietary players. MadVR makes a hardware solution that would work, but it is very expensive.

Rtings.com has a great guide on how to calibrate a TV or Monitor. Depending on your display and how well it was calibrated by the manufacturer, this could help you see things better and also get a more accurate experience aligned with the artist's intent.

That said, movies are always crafted to be seen in a dark, quiet environment. They design movie theaters like that for a reason. If you want the best experience and you want to honor the artist's intent, matching that environment as close as you can is the way to go.

I know that isn't always possible. And I know I didn't even touch on people with disabilities and the complexity of improving their experiences. But this is as much as I can explain with my energy right now.

I honestly am not sure how I wrote this much. But I guess that Twitter post pissed me off enough to give me rage energy.

I have two posts 90% written that have been sitting in my drafts forever. One is about how megapixels are deceiving. And the other is about why people feel TV and movies are too dark.

I don't know when I will find the energy to finish them. But I do want to say this...

If something seems too dark, make sure you are in a dark room when watching it.

For a long time, I thought people just didn't have their screens adjusted properly. But then I saw a guy complaining about this on Twitter and he was watching on an old laptop with a dim screen in his kitchen next to a giant glass door in the middle of a sunny day.

Light competes with light.

The brighter thing will always win.

Make sure your screen is the brightest thing in the room. If you need some lights on, make sure they are behind the screen (bias lighting). The dimmer your screen, the darker your environment needs to be.

Bonus tip... if you are having trouble hearing the show, try a quieter room and make sure your speakers are close to you.

It's the same concept. A/C hum or fans or any ambient noise can hurt the fidelity of your sound.

Sound competes with sound.

Also, speakers have to work harder the farther away they are. If the speakers are underpowered, this can cause distortion. So if you move closer to your speakers, they can operate at a lower volume and work more efficiently.

Every movie/show is mastered in a super dark, super quiet room. The closer you can come to matching those conditions, the better your experience will be.

[bugthingsdaily]

today's bug thing are these very hungry caterpillar socks!

[fuckmewithyourtoespj]

jamie tartt in ted lasso 3x03, “4-5-1″

[rubiscodisco]

@clova-nova @communist-mannyfesto

The more that I think about it the more I realize this probably wasn't a USA only problem it's more of a nuclear arms race problem but let's be honest at least half the blame for that is because of the USA.

So basically you know how when you're in high school chem you come across the concept of Average Atomic Mass, which you might also know as Atomic Weight? Each chemical element has one - you'll find it in the periodic table. It tells you how heavy an atom of Hydrogen is compared to that of, say, Carbon. (On average of course. An atom of ¹²C isotope is gonna be lighter than one that's a ¹³C isotope. We'll get to that)

Well, if you look up the atomic weight of Lithium in any up to date periodic table, you'll see a difference between it and other elements.

That's right, it's weirdly so imprecise compared to other elements. Just 3 digits, while for the others, even though they abridge them to 5 digits here, they can usually narrow it down way more. So why do we have such an imprecise idea of what the atomic weight of lithium is? That's because of the Nuclear Arms Race.

So basically when the US, followed by other countries, were developing and stockpiling hydrogen bombs, they realized that they can utilize that One Weird Trick™ that Lithium does where it's particularly good at absorbing neutrons and making Tritium (...I think? don't quote on this, i didn't really grasp the nuclear physics of it). But the thing is, this only works for the isotope, ⁶Li.

So the people who were making these bombs got a lot of Lithium. Then, they used separation procedures to make their desired samples enriched with ⁶Li. Now they have what they need to make enough god damn bombs to end civilization hundreds of times over. Hooray.

But what do they do with the wasted Lithium? The lithium which is now sans a lot of ⁶Li and has more ⁷Li than normal? Well, it's still pure lithium, so we'll just distribute them to be sold as chemical supplies. Without telling people where they came from. Cause making world ending bombs was Top Secret.

So now there's this huge supply of Lithium being used by everybody which unbeknownst to anybody has been depleted of ⁶Li, and thus doesn't have the right atomic weight anymore. We eventually found out about it, but by then it had gradually made its way everywhere and now you can't tell just by looking how much of your Lithium is from an old stock that's been depleted of ⁶Li.

And that's why we can't really have a very precise figure on the atomic weight of lithium. It could be ⁶Li-depleted, it could be not, could be half and half. Who knows. You better buy the overpriced ones from the fancy chemical supplies store so you can ask how they sourced it.

So now, we're CURSED with having only 3 digits in the atomic weight of Lithium. All because people wanted to make world ending bombs. Smh

My source for this is the DeGruyter article by Norman Holden. You can download the PDF for free here.

The US military has done thousands of unconscionable things, each one more evil than the last, but on top of all of those things, on a minor but more spiteful level, I'll also never forgive them for what they did to Lithium

[withthewindinherfootsteps]

So we know that Wei Wuxian's treatment after his death was horrible. Even if nothing could impact him directly, there was still neverending slander, hatred, misinformation, theft...

But, for a while after he died, the sects did try to impact him directly – namely, frequently trying to resummon his soul. And today I'll explore the possible reasons for this, their likelihoods, and why I'm so, so thankful that Wei Wuxian's soul managed to resist the summons. Because, spoiler alert (or, you know. maybe not)... none of them are good.

(Long meta ahead)

In my opinion, there are four likely motivations for this: confinement, coercion, torment, and potentially destruction.

Out of all of these, confinement is probably the most likely motivation, at least for most sects (Jins and Jiangs excluded, though it was likely what the Jin sect said their motivations were – but I'll get to them later). This one is the most simple – we know spirit-trapping pouches exist, and we know the sects also placed 120 stone beasts on the Burial Mounds to prevent Wei Wuxian's soul from escaping. Therefore, this seems to be the most likely motivation – and fortunately for Wei Wuxian, probably also the best case scenario, though it still certainly isn't a good one.

For the second, coercion – this is where the Jin sect come in (more specifically Jin Guangshan with the help of Jin Guangyao). Due to their wealth and resources, they're likely the sect who played the largest role in the soul-summoning rituals. We know what they're willing to do to try to gain power – keeping Wen Ning under the pretence he was burned to death and trying to control him with the nails, and working with and helping Xue Yang torture people to help him refine his demonic cultivation, in order to have the Yin hufu fixed. Along with working with many other cultivators, alongside Xue Yang – Jin Guangshan really, really wanted that seal.

And so, Jin GuangShan sought after all those who imitated Wei WuXian in cultivating the ghostly path and gathered them under his rule. He spent a great amount of money and resources and these people, ordering them to study and analyze the structure of the Tiger Seal in secrecy so that they could replicate and restore it. - Villainous Friends extra, EXR

(Note that working with these cultivators very likely happened after Wei Wuxian's soul had failed to be summoned, since this happens some time after Wei Wuxian's death, whereas the soul-summoning ceromonies presumably started happening very close to it.)

In the previous paragraph, he's also quoted as having 'lusted after' the Yin hufu, which we already knew but it's nice to have a direct quote as evidence.

Now, would Wei WuXian willingly work with the Jin sect in doing this? No. We know that, and, given Wei Wuxian's actions in his first life (refusing to hand over the Tally, not being afraid to stand up to the sects, etc), I’m pretty sure Jin Guangshan knows that, too:

He beat around the bush a couple of times, using all his skills, yet Wei WuXian didn’t give in no matter what, and it made him run into a bunch of obstacles. - Villainous Friends extra, EXR

So this could actually make things go two ways. One, I'm wrong and that wasn't actually part of the Jin sect's motivations, since they know they wouldn't be able to control him (and in that case, had they managed to summon him, I could imagine them putting him in a spirit-trapping pouch and doing something similar to what Jin Guangyao did to Nie Mingjue's head. Which, also, not good). Two, it was a part of their motivations, and they hoped to find a way around that. After all, there are other guidao users out there now, and Wei Wuxian would now be a gui*. Also, cultivators can obviously harm ghosts – see the very existence of Night Hunts, and I'd include Xue Yang's talisman-caused destruction of A-Qing as well (while he isn't a traditional cultivator, talismans can be used by everyone).

Now, would either of these methods actually work? I'm inclined to think not really (and I expand on the former method in a note below). Would that stop Jin Guangshan/Jin Guangyao/the cultivators they employ from trying? Especially considering Jin Guangshan's lust for power?

I'm inclined to think no, too.

For the third, look no further than Jiang Cheng's reputation of capturing and torturing demonic cultivators after Wei Wuxian's death, due to thinking they could be him. And this does happen – Jin Ling knows and talks about it, and there's not real motivation for him to negatively lie about someone he loves. Also, when they come across each other at Dafan Mountain, we're told this in Jiang Cheng's inner voice:

A moment ago, Jiang Cheng was certain that this person was Wei WuXian, and all of the blood in his body started to boil. Yet, now, Zidian was clearly telling him that he wasn’t. Zidian definitely wouldn’t deceive him or make a mistake, so he quickly calmed himself and thought, this doesn’t mean anything. I should first find an excuse to take him back and use every possible method to get information out of him. It’s impossible for him to not confess anything or give himself away. I’ve done things like this in the past anyways. - MDZS Chapter 10, EXR translation

This mainly shows that he's tortured people before, rather than that he's tortured people because he thinks they're Wei Wuxian, but this reason is confirmed by Jin Ling in Chapter 24. Of course, the reason is also mentioned in this chapter, and there are other moments in the chapter that illustrate my point better**, but they come from second-hand sources which I know are easier to deny. Do take note of Jiang Cheng's expression both times he comes across 'Mo Xuanyu' (after he suspects he's Wei Wuxian) in Book One***, though:

After a moment, the corners of Jiang Cheng’s lips pulled into a twisted smile. His left hand started to unconsciously stroke the ring [Zidian] again. He spoke softly, “… Well, well. So you’re back?” - Chapter 10, EXR Although his face had always been clouded, marked with arrogance and satire, it seemed as if every corner of it had come alive. It was difficult to determine whether it was vengeful wrath, fathomless hatred, or raving ecstasy. - Chapter 23, EXR

This does seem to line up with what people say his attitude to Wei Wuxian is – there doesn't seem to be any happiness at seeing him again at all. The only time a word that could suggest that ('ecstasy') is used, it's accompanied by 'raving', and considering the context and the other possibilities of his expression, it's... probably not due to happiness at being reunited.

So, considering 1) this, 2) his contribution to the Siege specifically intended to kill Wei Wuxian, and 3) that at the time of frequent soul-summoning Jiang Yanli's death would be even closer for him, I feel pretty confident in saying that yes, this is likely a motivation for the Jiang sect in trying to re-summon Wei Wuxian's soul after his death. And, as mentioned earlier, cultivators can harm ghosts (and we know Zidian is able to remove souls posessing a body from that body, and that Jiang Cheng used Zidian on 'Mo Xuanyu' in Chapter 10. If it wasn't able to restrain/harm ghosts, or other methods weren't able to, why would he risk Wei Wuxian's soul escaping?).

And finally, option four: destruction. We're heading into much more speculative territory here, so don't consider this on par with the first three. But consider this:

We know there are some spells, like Xue Yang's talisman used on A-Qing and the body-offering ritual, that can ruin the returning soul’s reincarnation cycle by destroying it. Therefore, soul destruction is possible.

The 'main'/supposed reason for summoning Wei Wuxian's soul back is to stop the "cultivation world, or even all of mortal land" from being "faced with the most insane damnation and revenge, sinking into nothing but chaos and despair" when Wei Wuxian inevitably returns. While, as mentioned above, I severely doubt this is the motivation for certain sects – and to me is likely a rumour which the Jins (again, especially Jin Guangsha) fanned the flames of to justify summoning Wei Wuxian back for their own purposes**** – there are other sects which would take it more seriously.

Although likely disrespectful, people already thought it served Wei Wuxian right to die without his body intact by the time of the second siege – something believed to negatively affect your reincarnation in your next life*****. This is only the logical next step, and I'm pretty sure the vast majority of people would believe that, again, it would serve Wei Wuxian right, or would at least lead to less harm of the world in the long run.

For these reasons, I could definitely see this as an option for some sects, especially the sects who consider themselves more 'righteous' (cough cough the Nies under Nie Mingjue cough cough). After all, evil is evil and good is good, and the evil deserve what's coming to them. And what better way to prevent that than from preventing his soul from returning at all? So for the Nie sect – and likely some of the smaller sects involved in the Siege, since among them, additudes probably vary – yes, I do think it could be a motivation.

I’m not as sure about the Lans being willing to go this far, and that’s largely for two reasons. One, Lan Wangji’s presence and his relationship to Lan Xichen, who does (not always, but he does) let this affect how he treats Wei Wuxian. An example of this is that, when Wei Wuxian's return is made public, Lan Xichen does let him hide and shelter at the Cloud Recesses instead of trying to pursue him, likely majorly due to Lan Wangji. I'd argue that the aftermath of the Nightless City also acts as an example of this, although it definitely isn't perfect. But though he, Lan Qiren and the 33 elders do come to find Lan Wangji and do not let him continue to shelter Wei Wuxian (after they see Lan Wangji's feelings), Lan Xichen doesn't use this opportunity to kill/capture Wei Wuxian, despite Lan Wangji being in a worse condition due to having fought 33 elders, Wei Wuxian being catatonic, and Lan Qiren likely supporting this outcome (especially considering he was the one who led the Lan sect in the Siege – chapter 68, Wei Wuxian's POV). And he did let Lan Wangji take Wei Wuxian back to the Burial Mounds after:

After he went out of his way to send you back to Burial Mound and returned in such low spirits to receive his punishment, how long he kneeled before the Wall of Rules! - Chapter 99, EXR

Again, this was right after the Nightless City massacre – there isn't any goodwill towards Wei Wuxian at this point in time.

Of course, the Lan sect did participate in the siege after Lan Xichen knew of Lan Wangji's feelings towards Wei Wuxian, which Lan Xichen was no doubt a part of (although Lan Qiren lead the Lan sect in the siege, Lan XIchen had to have at least known/given his support, if not participated.) And it should be considered that Lan Xichen letting Wei Wuxian shelter at the Cloud Recesses was after Wei Wuxian had been back for a while, and had not caused the downfall of the Cultivation World, like many suspected he would after his death. And of course, as stated previously, his handling of the aftermath of Nightless City wasn't perfect either (though please note that his main motive here was to protect Lan Wangji from being potentially executed, rather than anything about Wei Wuxian himself). So caring about Lan Wangji doesn't mean he won't harm Wei Wuxian. But I do think he could find bringing Wei Wuxian's soul back to completely destroy it a bit excessive. There is, though, the chance that the elders of the Lan Sect would react to this differently, and of course they would have a sway on both Lan Xichen and the Lan sect as well.

The second reason is smaller, but there seems to be more focus in the Lan sect than in others when it comes to letting ghosts rest peacefully/helping them move on. And that could definitely lead to more resistance to the idea of summoning a soul back to destroy it as well, which could especially impact the elders. So I'd assume that the Lan sect would be the most likely sect to summon Wei Wuxian's soul back just for confinement, or just for some way of making sure any resentment is disippated, his spirit moves on, and he can't cause more harm to the world (eg via Inquiry)******. Not that he would or does as a ghost or as a reborn person, but that's unfortunately not relevant to this.

But yes, as a motivation for the Nie Mingjue-led Nie sect? Absolutely.

So, these are the main motives I suspect to be behind the attempted summoning of Wei Wuxian's soul after his death (and if I've missed any, please let me know – I'd love to have a discussion). And, of course, none of them lead to anywhere good. Because of course it wasn’t enough to besiege Wei Wuxian, murder the 50 non-combatants he was responsible for (and throwing them into the blood pit as a mark of disrespect because why not?), and lead to his death via him getting torn apart. It wasn’t enough to steal all his inventions, and use them commonly while still slandering him with no reprieve – or to steal his notes and give them to people like Xue Yang to study (Villainous Friends, again) and to use for their own, extremely extremely harmful, purposes. Of course, the cultivation world has to try to harm Wei Wuxian after death as well ((:

We don't know whether Wei Wuxian rejecting the summoning ceremonies was conscious or unconscious, but if it was the former, these are very likely reasons he refused to return in this way. If it was unconscious – for example, maybe during the frequent soul-summons his soul was in a weakened state due to him dying from a backlash of resentful energy and getting torn apart, and it healed over time but not before the soul-summoning rituals stopped – well, I can only be thankful.

Finally, let me leave you on the thought that – although it may well have happened since we don't spend much time in the immediate aftermath of the Sunshot campaign – there isn't even any textual mention of this happening to Wen Ruohan. Who, while not being a guidao user, was still very dangerous, still an extremely powerful cultivator, and still had a lot of reason to feel resentment. So.

:')

Thank you for reading!

--

*Considering what we see of how Wei Wuxian's guidao functions – redirecting the ghosts'/corpses' resentment into doing something they'd want to do, eg attacking people, and directing it towards a target – I'm not sure using it to force a spirit to do something 1) extremely specific, and 2) explicitly against their will would actually work. Iirc the closest thing we get to this in text is Wei Wuxian using the corpses of Wens to attack other Wens in the Sunshot Campaign, but he's still just directing their resentment to a target of his choice, and fierce corpses do tend to be on the less concious side of things (hence why Wei Wuxian had to awaken Wen Ning's consciousness). Considering how Wen Ning attacks Wei Wuxian and the Burial Mound Wens before his consciousness had fully awoken, I... really don't think those fierce corpses were able to differentiate (or didn't care).

Meanwhile, ghosts seem to be a bit more in control of themselves – see A-Qing, and Wei Wuxian's own descriptions of his ghost self.

That, alongside ghost!Wei Wuxian being able to resist his soul-summoning and the fact that pretty much all of the new guidao users are a lot weaker than he was, does make me think that this this wouldn't work. I do wonder about Xue Yang, since his methods are pretty different as well, but he's more of a modao user than a guidao user (he controls living corpses rather than dead people) and I don't think you can insert physical nails into ghosts?? Though if he was specifically instructed to figure out some way to control ghost!Wei Wuxian (who's probably kept in a spirit-trapping pouch in this scenario), he might be able to do something at least. Though also he was also struggling to piece Xiao Xingchen's ghost soul back together, so he may struggle with those areas?

Well, whatever the potential outcome, I'm so so happy once again that Wei Wuxian's soul managed to resist the soul-summonings...

**Mainly this:

Everyone in the cultivation world knew that the young leader of the Jiang Clan watched out for Wei WuXian in an almost crazed manner. He would rather catch the wrong person than let go of any possibility, and took anyone who seemed like they held the soul of Wei WuXian away to the YunmengJiang Sect, inflicting severe torture on his victim. If he wanted to take someone back, the opposition would surely lose half of their life. - Chapter 10, EXR

But I have heard people say 'you can't prove that it's just more rumours' before, and I wanted my evidence to be as watertight as possible.

(And, off-topic... isn't it really sad how Jiang Cheng, in the present day, is described as young? Because, for a clan leader, he is. And another thing he is, is close in age to Wei Wuxian – who was killed 13 whole years prior :') )

***And do note that the only other time they run into each other before Wei Wuxian's identity is revealed to the world apart from this is their brief interaction at Jinlintai, where he can't just act however he wants. The next time they run into each other after it, Jiang Cheng is literally taking part in another siege against him, and still extremely hostile ("surrounded by hostile energy, face insidious, staring straight at him" – from EXR chapter 60). Then he loses his spiritual powers and can't do anything. By the time he regains his powers, Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji and the Wen remnants' corpses have saved everyone during the Second Siege, and though public opinion hasn't properly shifted quite yet, it will soon after Sisi and Bicao tell the story of Jin Guangyao, and voila, a new scapegoat (do note that he doesn't completely bar Wei Wuxian from entering Lotus Pier after the Second Siege, though). Plus, throughout it all, Lan Wangji is still constantly present, which makes it hard for Jiang Cheng to really do anything. And then he's finally faced with the Golden Core reveal, which does alter his motivations towards Wei Wuxian (obviously the resentment is still there – read chapter 102 – but it's also mixed with other complex emotions, and he seems to start being able to move away from that a little in Chapter 103). I still definitely wouldn't describe Jiang Cheng's attitude towards him as positive, but it isn't at the point it was at the start of the novel (eg Chapter 10).

But even if his attitude does change, or would for whatever other reason apart from the reveal, that still doesn't change an initial motivation so isn't relevant to this meta. We know his intentions at the start.

****It's also possible they may have originated it, but I think WWX's reputation was bad enough for it to form naturally. Though you can trace a major part of that back to them, too.

*****That belief isn't outright stated in MDZS, but the fact people are specifically talking about the status of WWX's body in the aftermath of his death suggests that this belief does have some grounding in the MDZS universe, at least? And we know MXTX has included it in TGCF (though that doesn't mean it's definitely in MDZS), so she has used it in her works. If this isn't the case in the MDZS universe I am sorry (although that could also mean there's less importance placed on not disturbing the reincarnation cycle in the world of MDZS...? Which would work towards my original argument) – I don't want to spread misinformation that something is definitely true, I just think there's evidence to suggest it is true, which isn't the same thing.

******Again, I think this would depend on who ends up having more influence over who in the Lan sect. After all, normal resentful spirits only do what they do because of their resentment in death, whereas Wei Wuxian is 'dangerous' because of who everyone thinks he was in life – so him being reborn naturally could also 'cause a lot of harm to the world' during the time period this version of him would live in, unlike the resentful ghosts they appease. This could definitely lead to many advocating for confinement, I think.

[monstersinthecosmos]

sometimes I read really great meta about the ways marius preys on people but I would hate to make OP uncomfortable if I act too excited about it when i reblog it into my perv blog 😂

[whatudottu]

Something something Decepticon recruitment (+physical exam) yada yada putting my Malay twins headcanon to good use and making names (and a non-typical matrilineal last name as opposed to a patrilineal last name) for them :P

Old fanfiction as well as echo chambering myself I have got some headcanons in my mind that do not make surface level sense but have Syakir and Darwesh bin Kalsom!

[laforzadelvoila]

Q3. Who is your favorite member of the Phantom Troupe, and why is that member your favorite? Togashi: "It's Danchou (Chrollo). This gets a bit off topic, but I can't trust people who nominate themselves. So even when it comes to politics and politicians, I am very distrustful. I feel that everyone who has a strong desire to nominate themselves, as part of their personality, has a shared terrible quality within themselves. To go back on topic, Danchou is not someone who actively wanted/nominated himself to become Danchou." [Source]

I get the impression that Chrollo never really wanted to be a leader strictly speaking, so much so that at first he wanted Uvogin to lead them.

I believe he simply accepted the role of leader, but I doubt he made the others call him "Danchou", especially considering Togashi's interview, so my headcanon is that, as they and the Troupe itself grew, they started referring to Chrollo with more respect.

(Also, I find it interesting that the other members seem to respect him more than he probably respects himself, including the fact that the others were more concerned about his safety when he was captured by Kurapika than Chrollo himself was.)

Btw I recently been interested in MBTI, and I was happy when I found out that Chrollo has the same personality as me, INFJ, and that's what they say about INFJs and leadership:

INFJs are insightful, brilliant leaders who are likeable and encouraging, seeking to bring out the potential in others through their leadership. Although they prefer to stay out of the spotlight, INFJs will rise to leadership when they see a humanistic purpose in what they are doing. [Source]

Anyway, just some thoughts I had when I read your post! I really enjoy your posts reflecting on Chrollo and the Phantom Troupe.

when do you guys think the phantom troupe started addressing chrollo by “danchou/boss” instead of “chro/chrollo”?

because we know that in the backstory, most of the founding troupe members called chrollo by “chro” or affectionate nicknames. so do you guys think that they eventually just got into the habit of it because they thought that it was the right thing to do? because all of the troupe members still call pakunoda by “paku”, which is her childhood nickname.

also, do you guys think that chrollo enforced the rule of them calling him danchou/boss? i don’t see him as the type of person to care, but you never know. this is especially confusing because when nobunaga (sort of) argues with chrollo over staying in yorknew, the big “disrespectful” part of the argument is when nobunaga calls chrollo by his given name instead of “danchou/boss”

or maybe chrollo was just so different from himself as a child that his overwhelming aura kind of forced them into calling him boss/danchou???

@monosanimegenericzone @opalwatch @silverhypnos i need answers

[papayafiles]

do you think lewis hamilton ever looks at lando norris and thinks wow a fellow artsy creative british dyslexic mclaren-born formula 1 racing driver with homoerotic teammate dynamics who gets called adorable babygirl by all his fans. he's just like me for real.

[atsukunaritai]

ワンルームエンジェル　第１・２話　　　　　 　　　one room angel - ep. 1&2

[deadrocks]

It is wild to me that DA2, the (former?) black sheep of the Dragon Age series, significantly outsold Veilguard. This article gives the actual numbers and links directly back to its reference, an EA quarterly financial report which states that by May 4, 2011, Dragon Age 2 had sold over two million copies -- just under two months after it released. Conversely, in its first two months after release Veilguard "reached 1.5 million players," with no breakdown of how many players bought the game vs how many played via subscription service. The gap is even more stark when you factor in that Veilguard was on significant discount going into North America's biggest gift-giving holiday, while DA2 released in March. Since EA did put Veilguard on EA Play Pro from day one, they may have never expected it to hit 2 million in sales, and instead were banking on it bringing in new Pro subscribers who would come for Veilguard and stay for months to come based on the rest of the Pro library. But at 1.5 million total players, that almost certainly didn't happen, and a new subscriber would have to stay subscribed for four months to generate EA as much revenue as one sale. Love the game or hate it, this is a big blow for Bioware.

[project-sekai-facts]

i'm not sure if you're the right person to ask but what story is this quote from?

apologies, i'm not sure where it's taken from. i'm not even sure if it's actually in the game because that's been on her page since before JP launched. it's a fan translation unless EN translated whatever line it is the same way.