#injury analysis

[bonefall]

.. opinions on wind runner? i feel like im one of the only ones that genuinely hates her sometimes

If you feel like the only one who genuinely hates her, I think you need to look around more. Wind Runner is a very widely disliked character, because she's often used within the story as a small antagonist who "threatens" the authority of Tall Shadow. Gray Wing dislikes her. Thunder is openly cat-racist to her. She spends several books trying to break through the moor cats' xenophobia to join a group that came to HER LAND.

Then, when Moth Flight is old enough to be a relevant character in Forest Divided, Wind Runner is turned into Yet Another mean mom the very moment Moth displays ADHD. She's contrasted to her mate Gorse Fur, who is a Soft And Good Dad, and ultimately MASSIVELY punished with the harrowing events of Moth Flight's Vision (even though, for most of that book, she's completely right.)

Ask yourself why they're especially harsh on WIND RUNNER for being mean to her child, in the arc with Tom the Fucking Wifebeater and his redemption death, plus Thunder being forced to stop being mad at his abuser Clear Sky, please.

To me, Wind Runner is an intense, ambitious woman who's demonized for it in a way that men just aren't. She's subject to several misogynistic trends within WC, plus a huge helping of xenophobia that goes absolutely unexamined. If DOTC cared at all about women, it would have treated her with the nuance she deserves.

Wind Runner is treated with nearly endless suspicion by Gray Wing through books 1 - 3, while he's bending over backwards to suck Clear Sky's toes.

Her wanting to join the group that came TO HER HOME and being a bit pushy about it earns a stronger reaction from Gray Wing than Clear Sky murdering people.

She's pressured into changing her name "to fit in," and it's still not enough. She wanted to join the group so bad she changed her name, at the request of the Mountain Cats, for a chance of being better accepted

This came after she'd already saved Jagged Peak's life when a burrow collapsed on him. She's plenty trustworthy.

She keeps doing shit to try and prove herself to this group of assholes. Remember Bumble being dragged back to her domestic abuser? Gray Wing interprets this as a power struggle, when WIND RUNNER WAS NOT EVEN PART OF THE GROUP AT THE TIME.

From Wind Runner's POV, she did something that the Moor cats wanted done. It was fucking evil. It was committing violence against another member of the out-group the cats see her as.

But who actually has the power here? Tall Shadow does.

Gray Wing said it himself that she could have come up with some excuse for Bumble to stay, and she didn't. In fact, any cat could have spoken up. No one did.

and still. STILL. Wind Runner gets nothing. Her reward is Gray Wing surmising that actually, her doing their sick dirtywork was a political move.

It's more consistent as a motivation with how Wind Runner wants to join their group. The thing she's been doing.

She only actually gets to join the group after Thunder starts publicly hurling slurs at her for suggesting they need to be ready for Clear Sky to attack them. "What do you know about peace? Last time I was here you were NOTHING BUT A ROGUE WITH A ROGUE'S NAME"

Gray Wing even starts purring when she gives birth, because her ambition goes away briefly and she "stops bossing everyone around." this is treated like a sweet thing. god forbid women retain their personalities when they have kids

She loses her first premature child to a seizure and Gray Wing starts proselytizing his religion to her. "Maybe it's a good thing your weakest child died because Jesus has them now" I want to beat him with a hammer

When her second child gets sick, Clear Sky has a bright idea that involves killing it. I refer to this as his "reverse leper colony" suggestion. He only develops a sense of humanity towards the sick when his brother's pregnant wife is in danger. Wind Runner and her kitten barely seem to clock as people to him.

It's only after her SECOND baby succumbs to a horrible, painful death that she decides the moor cats are assholes, and she goes to start her own group. It's LONG overdue. I was extremely excited to see it.

Now. Listen.

I've been treated just like Moth Flight before. I've practically heard the scolding in Book 6 Chapter 3 verbatim. I'm not downplaying anything about Wind Runner being harsh to her; being yelled at like that never fixed the problem.

What I'm saying is that this is the SAME arc that summons the hollowed-out ghost of Storm to coo that Clear Sky "never drove anyone away" with his abusive behavior and gives Tom the Wifebeater a heroic redemption death.

So why is the scolding from Wind Runner treated as unambiguously harsh? What's the difference between her and them?

Why is it that outside of this little bubble of the community, you can get buried in a flood of people crying about how "Clear Sky made Summisteaks Butt he thought it was the right thing :((( He feels bad about shoving Thunder's face in a weeping, pus-filled wound and trying to kill him :((((" but Wind Runner is mean about Moth Flight not catching a rabbit and she should be skinned alive

Why is WIND RUNNER held responsible for the death of Clear Sky's child in Moth Flight's Vision, WHEN IT WAS COMPLETELY HIS OWN FAULT??

So, why should I hate her? Because she's mean to the idiot protagonists? Because she's Yet Another Bad Mom whose actions ARE treated as Bad in the story, in the arc famous for openly weeping whenever someone's mad at their abusive dad?? When she has this whole horrific, unexamined story about how incredibly bigoted The Settlers are towards her and the extremes she goes to in order to please them?

I'm glad she's mean, actually. She should have been even meaner. I think she should have a gun

[somesaintiam]

uhm guys so you remember that one scene where Mike looks at Will's art of a dragon biting someone's head off in season 1 when Will is missing??

but like Will gave Mike another painting containing a dragon in the van but obviously no one is dying

so like do you guys think it could have a significance somehow or like is it just a coincidence, but it doesn't seem like a coincidence to me

[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.

[bleue-flora]

You know, I feel like we don’t talk enough about how sensitive and painful scar tissue is. Maybe because most people haven’t had stitches and huge, deep cuts. But let me just share as someone who’s had quite a few surgeries and injuries, scars are really tender. Like I cut the side of my pinky pretty deeply and I couldn’t wear rings on my ring finger for like a year because the ring rubbing against it hurt so much. And after I got my eyebrow stitched up, I couldn’t pencil my brow for about a year and whenever my sunglasses bumped against it, it hurt so badly. The surgery scar I have on the base of my thumb from when I was 4 years old still hurts if I’m stretching or using my thumb too much. The bigger the scar the worse it is too, which makes sense. I have two scars about half a foot long on the inside of both of my knees and they took forever to not be super painful to touch, even now they can be a little sensitive. All that to say, even when a character’s injuries are healed they would still have a lot of pain and tenderness going on from any sort of touch, even months after, especially in the places with the most nerves. Just something to think about…

[writing-for-life]

Where the Blood Fell, Red Flowers Grew…

Red Flowers as a Symbol for the Loss of Innocence & Guilt in Tales in the Sand & Brief Lives

So we’re (re)reading Tales in the Sand in our community right now, and while the following scene always gives me the ick (and hence I will put it under the cut), I couldn’t help but reflect on that line in the header (because that’s from “Tales in the Sand”, not “Brief Lives”)…

Blood turning into red flowers is a recurring theme, but somehow, I’ve never thought of the implications of adding it here, in “Tales in the Sand”.

The first instinct would obviously be to say:

Red flowers symbolise the loss of innocence.

It’s a bit tricky to call it that in Nada’s case though.

Because despite destroying her hymen herself, that obviously doesn’t take away her “innocence” (I struggle a bit to voice this in a way that doesn’t sound archaic and yesteryear), as in: She doesn’t really stop being a virgin because of it. We can obviously discuss that these were different times, and that’s what she believed etc, but I think that doesn’t matter in this case.

Neither do these panels, in which Morpheus heals her but doesn’t “restore her maidenhead” (not maidenhood!), truly change anything about that. I have many other thoughts about these panels, but they’re maybe for another time.

But if we see “loss of innocence” metaphorically, if we think about feelings of guilt, it still makes sense.

So why the flowers in “Tales in the Sand” and then have them return as a motif in “Brief Lives”?

What Nada felt at this stage was already overwhelming guilt for having fallen in love with Dream (she pursued him first—she felt like she had brought it on. And of course we all know that she isn’t the one to blame here, but he for not being able to accept rejection and honestly being coercive). The loss of her innocence is twofold—real and symbolic.

And red flowers aren’t just about grief in “Brief Lives”. Much in the same way that the blood on Morpheus’ hands was never real either (it disappears and reappears, and I’m saying here and now: he’s the only one who sees it), but always a symbol for feelings of his guilt.

These are just the little things and repeating motifs interwoven into the Sandman that make me go:

[feelingthedisaster]

saw someone say some fans give dean sam's arcs and thinking about it, it does happen and kinda sucks bc 1. just like sam instead and 2. as someone who loves dean, you're removing what makes him dean

i dont want a rebellius dean. i want the dean who no matter if he dislikes an order, he will follow it, bc and order is an order and he is a soldier. he likes to act like a he is some cool rebel but at the end of the day, he'll keep his head down and do as he has been told (and the intro personal conflict "i have to do this even if i dont like it" is top tier)

i dont a want a dean who fights john. i want the dean who shouldnt forgive him but does it anyways bc that's his dad. i want the dean who tries so hard to be a mediator when john and sam fight again and again cause someone has to keep the family together.

i dont want the dean who wants to stop hunting. i want the dean who doesnt have a life outside the life, the man you take away hunting and doesnt know who he is because that's what his life has always been and will be, there was never another option so he doesnt exist without it. he cant stop bc he si nothing outside of hunting (edit: early seasons dean, he gets some character develepment)

i dont want a dean who emphatizes with monster bc he feels like one (thats's literally sam character). yeah, he can feel like a monster in the way "i killed so much people, im a monster" but not in the supernatural monster way. he thinks mostly in black and white about supernatural monster-ish stuff, and yeah, with time and all that sam, benny, etc he learns to tolerate supernaturals but emphatizing on how a supernatural-related freak way? hell no. i want the dean who has to deconstructe himself on monsters for the sake of the people he loves and will fuck up (but try)

want those arcs? sam winchester is right there but dont change dean's. he is already an extremely interesting character on his own

[totem-but-shark]

I was thinking more about the federation limiting and damaging qfoolishs shark traits as i explored in this post and realised, what the hell must the federation have done to qfoolishs gills. When he healed he not only could breathe underwater but do so INDEFINITELY and yet when he had his shark parts stripped away his breathing became that of any average terrestrial creature, which is to say completely incapable of aquatic respiration. The thing is that for most aquatic sea creatures with gills their gills grow continuously throughout their lives and thus are able to regrow and regenerate to quite an extreme degree, even in cases of total amputation for certain species. However, there are of course limits to this. If enough damage is sustained to gill tissue or chemical treatment is used gills can become compromised and unable to absorb oxygen as needed, or essentially, preventing them from breathing underwater causing suffocation.

With this knowledge my guess is that the federation would've had to chemically burn qfoolishs gills to prevent his water breathing. Frills melt away, tissue scars, rots and dies. It can be pretty horrific.

Perhaps at some point the federation allowed his body to heal just slightly, manipulating his recovery process to seal his wounds though only enough that his body isn't lined with awful burns, sacrificing his gills in the process. If qfoolish had his memory erased he wouldn't know they had ever been there at all.

[mean-scarlet-deceiver]

This is 90% of my basis for AHITN Seagull characterization btw

[athina-blaine]

i love sincerely love working with dungeon meshi's magic system and the way mana sickness is depicted, like it has the breadth and scope for some truly powerful and wacky fun shit, but you can also easily bring down the hammer when you want to put the characters in difficult situations they can't get out of without a little creativity. i found when writing for baldur's gate 3 that, unless i was in a modified setting, i was hard-pressed thinking up fun ways for characters to solve their problems without just using magic, especially for the small things. i mean, what fun is throwing a character into a river and needing to warm them up when you can just cast prestidigitation?? it's one of the first things a novice can learn and also it's a cantrip, it literally costs nothing!

[sweetlullabyebye]

Here is the list of all of Jongwoo's wounds, from episode 7 and 10, because... because (+ my thoughts on the ending and the whole 'is it real/is it not'):

Episode 7 (Jongwoo vs Teenagers):

Wound at the top of the left cheek

Wound in the mouth on the right side

Possible wound near the mouth (or just blood from the mouth)

Episode 8:

Confirmation of wound at the top of the left cheek/near the eye

Bruise to the jaw on the right side

The mouth wound has been sewed

Light bruises on the fingers (pProximal InterPhalangeal, according to internet)

Episode 9:

Bruises on those proximal thing fingers

Wound near the left eye

Bandaid on the index of the right hand

Bandaid on the side of the right hand

Bruise on the jaw

Episode 10 (first fight with Moonjo: at 10:46):

Forehead hits a table ×4

Side of the head hits a wall

Stabbed somewhere between shoulder and chest with a pencil

Hair grab

Side of the head (left side) repeatedly hit

Wound at the jaw on the right side (and possibly near the ear, or wound on the head made it bleed all the way past the ear)

Wound at the wrist

Area near the left eye has bruises and wounds

Wounds on the nose

Wound on the lower lip

Episode 10 (second fight with Moonjo: 35:55):

Before the fight:

Wound to the jaw on the right side

Bruised left eye area

During the fight:

Slammed against the wall/door ×2

Difficulties standing/moving ×2

Back of the head hits the floor

Hit with a (hatchet?) on the right side of the torso x6

Hair pulled

Fall on his butt/lower back

Punches to the face ×too many

Thrown onto a table and lands on the right side of his body

Thrown onto/hits the floor ×4

Kick to the torso

Back of the head hits a wall

Strangulation

Kick to the stomach ×2

Result

Bruised left eye area

Clutching at left side of the body

Wound to the lips

Episode 10 (ambulance + hospital):

Area around the left eye

Jaw on the right side

Right wrist

Lower lip

Fingers

Episode 10 (alternative: murder scene):

Wound above left eyebrow -all the way to the nose-

Wounds in the area around the left eye

Wound on the right wrist

Wound on the jaw on the right side

Wound on the down lip on the right side

Possible bandage on the side of the right hand

Possible wound to the head/near the ear

Episode 10 (alternative: altercation with Moonjo):

First picture: imaginary Moonjo:

Wound to the jaw on the right

Injured area around the left eye

Wound on the wrist

Second and third picture: Jongwoo having a crisis with Moonjo:

Wound to the jaw on the right side

Injured area around the left eye

Wound on the wrist

Bandaid on the hand

Injured lower lip?

So in conclusion:

Probably a concussion, wound to the jaw on the right side, wound on the lower lip, wound over the left eybrow, wound on the left cheek, bruising around the left eye, his back probably looks like a mess as would a lot of his body, wounds on the hands and on the right wrist.

Now for my opinion on the ending: obviously my pictures and the website I used are a shitty quality, so I could be mistaken, but if you compare Jongwoo at the start of the 10th episode (after his first fight with Moonjo)/Jongwoo during and after his second fight with Moonjo where he kills him/Jongwoo in the alternate reality, there is (1) or maybe (2) differences.

The first one is the jaw wound. First appears after the fight with teenagers, and then becomes more serious after the first fight with Moonjo. Then disappears through the second fight, after the initial moment where Jongwoo says he'll kill Moonjo, and reappears in the ambulance scene. In the alternate version of the final fight, whether it is the version where Jongwoo is having the internal crisis by himself or with Moonjo, Jongwoo has the jaw wound.

So this -in my opinion- establishes the continuity with episode 7-episode 9-first fight scene with moonjo-jongwoo having a crisis while moonjo is like 'congrats on your first murders!'-ambulance scene-hospital.

Now the 2nd difference is more vague because the quality of images is really shitty and the way the show is lit makes it difficult to see, but it's based on the bandage on Jongwoo's hand. In episode 9, the bandage is very easy to see. In the first fight with Moonjo, Jongwoo's hands don't really show so it's not easy to say whether it is here. In the fake fight, it might appear -I think I maybe saw it once-. In the murder scene, it is visible. In the discussion with Moonjo, it is very visible. In the version where Jongwoo is having his crisis by himself, there doesn't seem to be a bandage on his hand.

So I think that the way the show goes is really that Jongwoo fights some kids, get the first three injuries (cheek + fingers + jaw), beats up his colleague, has a bandaid on his wounded hand, gets into the first fight with Moonjo where he gets thrown around, gets the bruises on the area around the eye + the bleeding wound on the jaw + the wound on the wrist, then goes on his murderous rampage, and then meets Moonjo again and has his little conversation, with in total wounds/bruises to the jaw/mouth/around the eye/wrist/hand, and then he goes into the ambulance with all those wounds.

Idk if any of this made sense but now I have my list of total injuries that Jongwoo got, so 👍.

[anxiety-elemental-kay]

Slowly making my way through volume 10 (I'M NOT READY NOOOOO) and I have two quick things from chapter 3.

This Vash panel after telling Melanie and the kids to run inside is SO CUTE. Look at him. "Oh yeah the feathers. Yeah. Uh. It's cool I'm Nick's friend."

(especially after his powers manifesting against his will and shown to be horrifying until now, it's fun to see them in a cute panel. more thoughts on this later.)

And finally:

DING DONG THE BITCH IS DEAD

[jjsanguine]

People who said "everything in episode 6 really happened but the dreamlike quality was because the recollection of events was distorted by the trauma of the accident" how does it feel to have the biggest brain

[hyperfixatedoncrimminalminds]

request:jjs daughter gets hurt in a soccer game but jj is away on a case

Jennifer Jareau X Teen Daughter Reader

request:jjs daughter gets hurt in a soccer game but jj is away on a case

I need more JJ, I'm British so I call it Football.

Third person pov...

It was the day of Y/N Jareaus football game the last game of the season, Y/N like her mother loved Football and was the Captain of her high school team, since the beginning of thr season her team and been doing amazing and won almost every game.

Y/N was dressed in her uniform and jsut put her shin guards on and grabbed her duffle bag she was ready to go, the then ran downstairs for breakfast.

"There's my star!" Exclaims Will as he sees his daughter come downstairs, Y/N smiles and twirls a bit as her Dad claps his hands, 5 year old Henry giggles at his sister.

"Yay sissy!" Laughs the toddler, Y/N hugs her Dad and kisses her little brothers head before sitting down and eating the feast Will made.

She then looked around someone was missing, she put the piece of toast down. "Where's Mum, I thought she was coming to see my game" she said, Will stopped drinking his coffee.

A guilty expression on his face told her. "No, she's hasn't got a case right? She promised she'd be here for my game!" Exclaims the annoyed teenager.

Will then wraps an arm around his sad daughter, pulling her to rest on his chest, he put his chin on her head. "I'm sorry honey, your Mum was sad she couldn't come watch ya" says the man, Y/N sighs before finishing her breakfast.

She was happy atleast her Dad and Brother could watch her play. The three soon leave to get to the field on time.

With JJ...

Jennifer Jareau was a successful FBI agent who worked tirelessly to keep her family safe. On this particular day, she was in the middle of an important case, interviewing witnesses and gathering evidence. She never expected she would be so far away when her daughter needed her the most.

The minute she got the call about a case she felt guilty about having to leave and not be able to watch her daughter in one of her biggest football games and she wasn't there to watch.

Atleast she would have Will and Henry to watch her. JJ then tunes back in to what Hotch was saying, they had a serial killer to catch and fast.

With Y/N...

The teenager and her team where determined to win the game. Once the game started She was in the midst of a fierce competition, her team had the ball Y/N gets passes the ball she kicks it straight into the goal.

The crowd of parents ans from erupt into cheers, Y/N gets slapped on the back and hugs from her team mates as they get the first goal. The H/C girl turns to the crowd and waves at her Dad and Brother a huge smiled on her face.

The ball is then back in the middle Y/N team has the ball, as Y/N gets it one of the opposing team is behind her, she was alot taller than Y/N but the teen wasn't intimated.

Y/N continued to run with the ball when suddenly she was shoved hard forward, she went flying over the ball almost doing a flip, she held out her arms hoping to soften the blow.

It didn't do anything, the teenager landed hard on her elbow she howled as pain exploded throughout her arm, she girl screams on pain gain the attention of the crowd.

They all go silent as Y/Ns team mate run over to their fallen leader. "I'm okay don't worry" she says as they help her stand up, she was covered in mud and grass.

The teen held her definitely broken arm gently groaning when it was accidentally moved, as she was walked over to the sidelines her Dad holding Henry in his arms come bounding through the crowd.

"Out of my way that's my daughter!" Yells the man, once they made it through Henry figured down from his Dad's arms and runs over to his Sissy.

He puts his hands on her muddy knees big eyes look up into E/C eyes. "Sissy okay?" He asks tears in his eyes, Y/Ns heart aches she can't lie to Henry.

Instead she smiles down at him as the medic come over to look her over. She hisses when they move her arm. "I'm okay Henry, just hurt I'll be okay" she says reassuring him.

Suddenly the sounds of sirens could be heard and an ambulance is parked outside the pitch, two men start rolling down a gurney towards the group.

"Out of the way please coming through" they yell Will picks up Henry and boy cries as he is separated from his sister.

The teenager is then strapped to the gurney with support for her broken arm, as they arw putting her in the ambulance Will and Henry walk over the medic stop them.

Henry cries as he sees his sister strapped in. "Sissy!" Cried the toddler. Will then speaks to the medic "that's my Daughter let me threw!" He exclaims the man then let's him and Henry in.

Will sits beside his daughter and gently lays his crying son on the side with her good arm, once he is next to his sister the child stops crying only sniffling.

Will took this chance to call his wife and tell JJ  what happened.

Jennifer was immediately informed of the situation by Will she told her team and rushed to the hospital.

It took her a whole in the car but she made it, She was beside herself with worry and guilt for not being there for her daughter when she needed her the most. When she finally arrived at the hospital, she was relieved to find her daughter in good spirits, despite the pain she was in.

The doctors told Jennifer that her daughter had a clean break, and she would make a full recovery, once she got to the room Y/N was in she saw will sleeping in one of the chairs.

The blonde woman smiles at her Husband having to deal with bkth kids took alot out of him, then she looked next to him, the teen was currently in a bed her arms wrapped in a fest cast.

Next to her on thr bed was Henry he was half laying on Y/N and half on thr bed, Y/N had her good arms wrapped around him making sure he didn't fall off.

Jennifer was overwhelmed with relief, but it was tempered by the knowledge that she had not been there for her daughter when she needed her the most. "Hey Mum" whispers Y/N.

"Hi baby, how are you feeling?" Whispers JJ taking a seat on the kther side of her daughter running her hand through her H/C hair. The teen gestures to her arm. "I'm doing okay that and I'm so high on pain killers right now" she laughs as JJ smiles.

Once Y/N  was out of the hospital JJ made sure to be there for her daughter every step of the way during her recovery, and the two of them grew even closer in the process, Henry tried to help as much as a 5 year old could.

Will make sure she keep to her bed and didn't use her arm to much.

The end!

Hope you liked this oneshot!

Sorry for the grammar and Spelling mistakes!

Request are open!

Word count: 1280

[writing-for-life]

Dream and Death—David Hitchcock

All the Endless are buckling under the weight of their functions, not just Dream

This is so heavy in so many ways. Because yes, in your last moments, you might actually meet both Dream and Death. I find it strangely moving that they are portrayed as a team here to ease what can only be described as the most horrible suffering. Or maybe that’s just how I see it.

But it looks so heavy on her—so many stretching out their hands/reaching out for her, and we will never know whom she offers it to in the end (apart from the fact that she holds Dream’s hand 😬, which might be accidental or on purpose on Hitchcock’s part).

I personally think we actually see how heavy her function weighs on her here, and I sometimes find that vulnerability lacking in other portrayals. Dream looks almost protective in the way he wraps her up—she is allowed a moment, isn’t she?

But naturally, Death can also come to us shrouded in a Dream, which brings us full circle…

[overthinkingdsmp]

Do you think ctommy stumbled out of pandora's vault that week later with skin cracked bleeding and dry. Cooked by the lava around the cell, as he laid dead on the obsidian floor.

I think he never recovers from his third death (and subsequent resurrection). His life is brought back, but his body must heal, from bruises and heat damage alike. He gains scar tissue across his body from where his skin keeps tearing and takes weeks to get back to a healthy hydration. His hands especially, outstretched towards the front of the cell as he died, reaching for some way to stop Dream, are damaged.

When Sam finally lets him out, he leaves with his hands still seeping blood from every joint. They were already less mobile due to the war, and his hobbies, and every time he broke his left pinky doing something stupid, but once they heal he realizes he can't close his hands.

Its a painful process, healing. He has cracks in his skin all over, but the worst ones are the ones crisscrossing his joints. They scab, he moves, and they break. Health and regen potions help but he's warned that if he uses too much, his wounds won't heal into the right shape, and he'll lose more mobility than he will otherwise. Tommy wonders how Tubbo managed to stay sane with his wounds.

[seijohsorbet]

I few things I noticed about this.

If you look at one of the twices that is pining Monona down you can see that his other hand is forming into a sort of fist. And the way it is angled it almost looks as though he is about to punch monoma's head into the ground.

You can see aizawa gripping onto monama but being pulled away 😭

How did monoma end up facing that direction? Some of the only things I could of is one twice like sorta grabbing him and turning him around to pin him but I'm not sure