#mos rants

[mosiee]

You good buddy?

[luanna801]

Oh so when Nie Huaisang tricks a guy into stabbing his best friend to death it's ""justified revenge"" and ""very girlboss of him"" but when I, Xue Yang--

[officiallylawless]

instead of updating my current fic i made this;

it’s short and at times nonsensical pls enjoy. or don’t but pls lmk if u don’t and why :3

[gentlegentian]

i feel like one of the biggest things the mdzs fandom tends to forget is that lan wangji is silly

like yes he's stoic and jade faced and perfect but he also:

blushes SO often

loves bunnies and anything related to them

throws little tantrums when he's away from his husband for too long

gets flustered easily

is a MENACE when drunk

messes around with his husband

buried his son in a bunny pile

is a biter

so yes, whilst hanguang-jun is a big scary warlord, lan wangji is just a silly guy who likes bunnies and messing around with his husband :3

[theimpurelily]

@grubus taadaa? lol

Sooo ya know that little gif I posted? This whole thing stemmed from me letting things get too out of hand while drawing up the dream scene that was only going to be that tiny little image....I have no regrets.

Just in case here's the rant

WHAT THE FUCK! I DIDN'T EVEN GET TO KISS MY HUSBAND? WHAT A SHITTY DREAM! MENG MO COULD DO BETTER. WAIT, THE ORIGINAL NING YINGYING DIDN'T DREAM OF-OF THAT RIGHT? I WOULD HAVE REMEMBERED. I THINK I WOULD REMEMBER? FUCK. IT'S BEEN SO MANY YEARS. DID SHE? AM I GASLIGHTING MYSELF? DOES THIS COUNT AS GASLIGHTING? REGARDLESS, WHY THE FUCK WOULD MENG MO SHOW ME THAT? WAS IT BECAUSE I WAS PUT IN A WIFE PLOT? SO HE JUST...JUST AUTOMATICALLY DID THAT? LIKE A GLITCH IN THE SYSTEM OR SOMETHING? OMG! WAIT! DID BINGHE SEE THE WEDDING? FUCK! WAS THAT HIM THERE AND NOT JUST SOME FAKE? FUCK! WAIT! NO. HE WOULD STILL BE TALKING TO MENG MO... RIGHT? BESIDES, I’M A GUY! SO BINGHE WOULD NEVER WANT TO-TO...SYSTEM! DID BINGHE SEE THAT? WAS THAT HIM? SYSTEM! WHAT THE FUCK! WILL I BE PUT IN FUTURE WIFE PLOTS JUST BECAUSE I'M BINGHE'S BESTEST FRIEND IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD...

[jinlin-at-the-moon]

i dont know how to Articulate my thoughts abt this but like. im deeply fucking surprised i haven't seen any 3zun fics where it would fully lean into jin guangyao's severe parental issues. like maybe im just too svssspilled (its totally me being too svssspilled thanks 'i wouldnt abort you' sqq) so the freudian angle analysis comes way too easily to me for it to be normal but like. someone else has gotta be seeing this shit right. rancid desire for approval meng yao couldn't get from his father specifically was already deeply seeped into his relationship with nie mingjue from the start. sideyes lan xichen and raises an eyebrow. "the child desires to kill its father for it is in competition for its mother's affection", huh? shit kind of writes itself and my primary reason for even considering this angle is that jin infamously committed actual incest and later also kicked out his half brother for trying to flirt with him guangyao would absolutely hate it

[lady-of-the-spirit]

annoying as fuck to see people acting like Madam Jin made excuses for Jin Zixuan and tried to pressure Jiang Yanli into marriage with him as if 99% of her scenes aren't her going "I'm sorry about my stupid loser son's behaviour Yanli dearest I'll make him apologize if it's the last fucking thing I do don't worry about a thing"

[bixels]

Splatoon 3: Side Order is good, but not great. I still highly recommend it, but if you care about the story, you're going to be disappointed. Quick review: spoilers ahead.

Side Order was the devs experimenting with Splatoon's gameplay loop. The campaign is a rogue-like, and it works amazingly well. Super fun, super challenging, building my deck and fighting through challenges with the stakes of resetting really scratched an itch in my brain. They did a great job with it.

Unfortunately, I feel like priority went to game design rather than story. Much of the mysterious artwork we saw in the first teaser trailer was completely unused; turns out, all of that was just concept art that never made it into the final product. Side Order failed to make me care about what was happening. I don't know why the protagonist had to be Agent 8; it could've been anyone else and the story would've worked the same.

Octo Expansion was the absolute peak of meshing story and gameplay. The campaign's hook is insanely strong; we immediately empathize with Agent 8 because we know from previous lore that octolings like her have been trapped underground for all their lives. We care about her fight to the surface because it's a fundamentally ideological fight for freedom. The plot stuff about Tartar and the Thangs is just nice set dressing; 8's fight for freedom is the real story.

There's none of that in Side Order. I don't particularly care about Marina's metaverse, even if it's tied to Octo Expansion's story. I don't know why Acht is there other than backstory stuff. It really feels like 8 is just told to do something and she does it because she's the protagonist; she has zero personal stakes or motivations in the conflict. This is a story blunder the devs did in Splatoon 3's default campaign––forgetting to give the protagonist a personal reason to fight––that I hoped would be fixed here, but alas.

What makes it worse is that the gameplay and story progression are completely out of sync. I beat the entire game on my third run in 4 hours. With each run, you get up to two keys to potentially unlock bits of story. That means you'll get about one piece of the story every two runs. There are twelve pieces of the story; I got the first and then beat the whole damn game. Now I have to go back and grind to see the remaining story when I've already beaten the final boss and resolved the conflict. I missed the entire story because I never had to reset because I blazed through the gameplay! It's just a real shame that I experienced everything without knowing... why it's happening. The final boss had me asking myself what the hell is going on because I don't know the backstory at all.

Again, I still really recommend. The devs did a great job, but Side Order remains in the shadow of Octo Expansion's incredible success. Like the default singleplayer campaign, there's just a lot of lost story potential here that, while not necessary, would have really elevated this DLC into something amazing.

[halenhusky309]

"You can't deny that Wei Ying saving Lan Zhan and Mian Mian (it's quite convenient that you left out Jins Zixuan) did put the Jiangs clan in the Wens' radar"

Oh so how the fuck the Lans clan got themselves in the Wens' radar that got their sect burnt down??? Winning the archery competition at the Wens' territory?

You knew that Jins Zixuan also put himself in the Wens' radar too, by not being a pussy like Jiang Cheng and the rest (except for Lán Wangji and Wei Wuxian) and standing up against Wen Chao to protect Mian Mian... But their clan was still fine...

Also, between the Jiangs territory and Jins territory, which one was closer? Definitely not the Jins territory... Like you forgot how the Wens would fucked with all the clans anyway...

[lavender-phoenix-flames]

Everytime I see a jc stan excuse his abuse as "That's how Asian parenting works" I get so angry, even worse when they say "I am an Asian so I know"

I am a South Asian who grew up with a mother that was a calmer version of madame yu and in a very toxic household, and it's infuriating enough for me to already be surrounded by people that excuse abusive parenting, I don't need y'all to do the same. Both jiang cheng and madame yu are abusive narcissists and I know that cuz I grew up with one.

Stop abuse apologia! "abused becomes the abuser" yeah but what about those who choose to become a better person, do everything in their power to improve themselves and not be like their parents, the cycle breakers.

Personally, I think you take away credit from people who go through some terrible traumatic situations and don't let it break their will to remain kind and righteous and who don't turn bitter. When you excuse a character's bad behavior like that cuz' jc gets all this undeserving praise for not even doing the bare minimum and y'all find reasons to take away wwx's very deserved applause and respect for doing everything in his power to do the righteous thing.

Jiang cheng is pathetic, he is weak willed, spineless and an abuser and no amount of apologies and excuses will change that.

[mosiee]

Hey @no-sleep-for-you I hope you know I love and appreciate you

[totallynotsloughjykk]

okay rant because I need to hhhhh I'm so tired of people misinterpreting mu qing. no he is not a heartless monster nor is he a tsundere baby. he's a complex character and people need to stop dumbing him down to either good/bad mu qing values logic before anything. he thinks everything through too much and only considers feelings after, which makes him come off as unempathetic and uncaring. that's his main flaw. he cannot deal with any emotions and hides behind an indifferent/arrogant mask despite it being far from his actual self. his avoidance with vulnerability is understandable considering just how much he had to watch himself during his teenhood and probably even childhood he's hypervigilant and gets defensive the second he feels any form of attack coming towards him. for example, him freaking out over the red coral pearl going missing during the xianle era - which, again, is understandable since that would've ruined his reputation completely. he's also terrible with showing affection and care and that's another reason why he always come off as so mean and rude mu qing is also deeply insecure; he suddenly turned his attention to hong'er after xie lian praised his skill with a saber and he found reasons to kick him out fast (I'll get onto this later). he jumps any time he's handed a broom and he's also pretty easily envious. he doesn't usually go far beyond petty words and punches - like xie lian said, he's spiteful enough to spit in someone's cup, not poison it his flaws are well thought-out and make a lot of sense for his character. you can trace his behavior patterns back to his past; for example, his hypervigilance and arrogant mask comes the fact that everyone always expected the worst of him. the second he was even suspected to be in the wrong everyone turned on him without a doubt, so he grew wary of what he did and what he said. and for the arrogant mask, he couldn't prove otherwise at all - who would listen? no one. so he just gave up and got used to it mu qing has his flaws but he also has his qualities; he's a kind person beneath everything, shockingly enough. he handed poor children cherries after he was beaten up for picking them, he brought feng xin and xie lian rice and medicine after he left, he helped jian lan give birth, he disguised himself to help xie lian and he took a whole cursed shackle for refusing to hurt him. he can only show affection through actions and it's still uncomfortable for his deeds to be recognized since he's already so used to the selfish, cold and indifferent tag everyone slapped on him so he never expects any gratitude or anything in return at all also controversial take but hua cheng was wrong to hold a grudge against mu qing and feng xin. first of all, the feng xin grudge was entirely unnecessary (for mu qing it's a lot more understandable) but that's for another rant. second of all, while it is, again, understandable from hua cheng's POV, from an outside perspective it's just.. wrong. hua cheng will go towards extreme lengths to anyone who even mildly hurts off xie lian, and that's one of his flaws as a character. I love hua cheng deeply and that's part of what makes him beautifully complex. he's overprotective after seeing his beloved hurt so many times by so many people while he couldn't do much about it. he views xie lian through rose-colored lenses and I doubt he'll let go of the way he sees mu qing any time soon considering just how heavy of a grudge he held and how complicated their friendship/relationship in general is. they don't get along and until they formally talk things out, give them 200 years to warm up to each other they'd still probably stab each other if left unattended

[classygreydove]

The perfect contradictory character of wei wuxian

i'm writing this as i eat chocolate instead of working on my WIP lol - but essentially i've been thinking a lot about when a fic characterization of WWX just hits the spot for me, and when it doesn't. Now whether this type of characterization is canon I think is always partially a matter of opinion, because by its very nature a fanfic cannot be...well, canon. And it is made all the more complicated by the existence of CQL canon and MDZS canon, and the different MDZS canons with different scenes and levels of censorship, and the way fans and fic writers often franken-canon it together. So this post is only my rambling about characterizing WWX in fic.

Whenever I write WWX, i always find it a balancing act. Talkative, but not too talkative; golden-hearted, but willing to question what society sees as moral; confident, but complicatedly so depending on what point he's at in his character arc; oblivious, but not oblivious; impulsive, but analytical. I'm also constantly asking myself "Is this a personality trait, or a result of his environment? Both? What would impact his character if there are different events or circumstances?

And then there's the appearance of what his character is, which is almost just as important as his actual character. The masks or roles he puts on for others, or the ways those around him willfully misinterpret him. How does this character perceive WWX's actions in this or that context? Do they find him reckless, oblivious, or call him morally wrong (even when he isn't)? Does WWX want them to react a certain way, and does that impact how he acts around them?

In my opinion, writing WWX in a modern setting or genderbend is perhaps the most challenging. Not only do you have to ask yourself what personality he'd have if it were shaped by different cultural standards, gender roles, or backstory, a fic author might also want to do their best to preserve his character integrity as a "classic golden-hero turned dark anti-hero" archetype, but have no idea how to translate that into completely different set of circumstances.

For instance, WWX and gender roles. I really love that WWX is a subversion of the classical masculine hero archetype in cnovels. As a teenager, he's confident, flirty, intelligent, skilled, enjoys having fun and not taking life too seriously. As a resurrected MXY, he has no issue pretending to be a lunatic cutsleeve, so no toxic masculinity there lol - he also likes getting swept off his feet by LWJ, and playing up the "helpless maiden" role, and is very much a romantic with cottagecore dreams, saving his first kiss (traditionally that kind of innocent romanticism is attributed as a "feminine" trait, regardless of whether it actually is or not) - LWJ in contrast falls into many feminine tropes such as being known for his beauty/grace, the way he carries the money pouch (women traditionally managed the finances), can cook, has petty jealousy, etc - while at the same time undeniably also has masculine traits. The way Wangxian subvert gender roles and tropes is wonderful and i love their characters for it.

But then how does one even begin to translate that dynamic into a genderbend? Does teenage WWX still have that masculine classic hero personality? Or does she become traditionally feminine with LWJ the one acting more masc? Do different gender roles and expectations affect how WWX interacts with the world, such as how they react to her flirting, her confidence, her heroic tendencies? I read a fic a few years ago that I thought it a fabulous job exploring some of these very questions in the canon setting. I am still devastated that it remains incomplete.

Whenever I read a fic with Wei Wuxian, I always fall in love with depictions of his character that capture some of this balance, these "contradictions," so to speak (I don't have a better word to describe it than contradictions, even though these traits don't actually contradict. Ig I could say character complexity? But people often throw that phrase around without explaining what they mean by it, so). It's what makes him such a cool character to read about. It's also what makes him so unbelievably difficult to write sometimes. So many fic authors struggle with his character, whether attributing a trait to him that he only appears to have, like thoughtlessness. Or project a trait onto him that he doesn't seem to have that much, like insecurity, or not knowing his own worth as a person/or not knowing the magnitude of his abilities.

WWX to me has always seemed to know exactly how skilled he is and what he is capable of, and he at least intellectually seems to be aware that he is not unlovable or worth less than others, even if he is required to act or treat himself as less than his peers due to classism and society. I've always felt that his attitude towards himself, his own worth and his own ability, is a sort of practicality that would come from growing up as a street kid whose only goal is survival, and who is completely aware of just how little the world cares if he does or not.

Then there's the concept of him being ridiculously oblivious/emotionally unintelligent, which many others have talked about before me. I think this idea in the fandom largely stems from the fact that Wei Wuxian doesn't pick up on a lot of small details that he later recognizes and realizes later on. But there's been a lot of discussion of how much of that was because of comphet, situational circumstances, and LWJ's own reticence that prevented or distracted WWX from making those connections earlier in the canon timeline. This means that this "obliviousness" is likely something that would change if the circumstances are different, such as WWX existing in a world with no comphet, or existing in a timeline where he isn't dealing with Wen indoctrinations or being severely traumatized by the burial mounds and a war, LWJ being less repressed and hot-cold etc, etc, etc.

Now, one WWX characterization i genuinely have such a hard time reading is manic pixie WWX. The ones where he's just... chirpy. Bubbly. (Usually really oblivious. Never intentionally breaking rules, he just can't help it! he's just too cute and enthusiastic uwu) I can't explain why, I don't even know why, but it grates on my every. last. nerve. (that being said, if u want to write manic pixie WWX, then write whatever u want, seriously. Don't even think about letting my opinion stop u from doing what you like and having fun)

As for depictions I really love to see: a WWX that kind of scoffs at rules/the system. One who genuinely has a somewhat poor opinion of LWJ's character before LWJ proves himself, because I like a good enemies/rivals-to-friends-to-lovers because that's how I believe he sees LWJ until LWJ punishes both himself and WWX and WWX goes "oooh u don't use the system to self-benefit or aggrandize or oppress, you're actually trying to be like, moral. I respect that, actually. Let's be friends and go on bromantic outings in Lotus Pier"

Or when WWX's teasing gets a little mean, because WWX can be a little mean, often unintentionally so, but still (think WWX showing LWJ porn/intentionally pushing LWJ's buttons, WWX making that comment about JL's mom). I think it's a character flaw of his that adds depth/complexity.

Also, WWX trolling people/enjoying mischief and making people question the "system." I've always felt his first-life self had the kind of annoying swagger that a guy who Knew He Looked Like That and Knew Exactly How Smart He Was that would honestly make me so annoyed if I knew him irl. Like, Mianmian, I get it. LWJ, I get it.

Basically, I like when his character is written to make u so mad you aren't sure if you want to throttle him or kiss him silly (especially if it's a LWJ pov). Or when he acts super carefree/silly, at the same time as he shows how scarily smart he is. It's the juxtaposition. The contradiction. *slaps hand on the metaphorical table in emphasis*

[TL;DR] So what i'm trying to say is, writing WWX is a challenge, but one that is so worth it.

Alright I've spent like an hour on this post, so though there's so much more I could talk about, I'll leave it at that for now. For those of you who would still really like a part 2 of that "so i read a comment bashing LWJ" post, i do plan to write more on that, so keep an eye out 👁️

[indulginginbeauty]

One thing that makes me laugh about WWX being resurrected is he’s like “Everyone thinks my new body is gay and insane. So I’ll just be like that!” And proceeds to act exactly like he always has in the past. Like Wei Ying baby, your audacity has always been both gay and insane. You are not fooling anyone. I would say you’re just giving yourself permission, but since when have you ever needed it?

[deskraven]

Thoughts on how the Terrans will cope with Human Family Member Death

(Inspired by @wiltyard's post)

I would assume the Terrans are aware of the life expectancy difference between them and their human family right now. They have witness human death twice, and transformer "death" twice. It would be weird if the parents haven't yet talked to them on the topic of death. In addition, Jawbreaker was well aware that transformer life expectancy is longer than "10 thousand years".

Thoughts on their reactions:

Nightshade takes it really well. They are probably aware of the fact even before they started regarding Alex and Dot as their parents. (I'm going down the path of S1E13's early storyboard, where Nightshade took some time to actually accept the human Maltos as family.) They would continue to take it really well throughout the next 100 years. They would be prepared for their human family's aging and take good care of them. They would do their best on researching human medical problems but at the same time respect their medical decisions. They would be present at all the funerals, probably even giving an eulogy if Twitch and Thrash are not present. They would be sad to lose them but they won't break - at least at first. They feel more like the type to break years/decades after the funerals.

Hashtag also realized this fact really early. She kinda just brushed the unpleasant thought away, unwilling to think too deep into it. When her family is talking about the topic, she would pretend she's taking it well but is actually quite terrified. She might feel more comfortable talking to non-family members about this. Eventually someone (Twitch?) will notice and approach her. But when the time actually comes she might still need a while to process the loss. I can imagine the grandkids / great grandkids of Robby and Mo asking their parents "Why does great aunt Hashtag stop visiting?" because she kinda just disappeared for years/decades after Robby and Mo passed away.

Twitch would be aware of this early too. She would feel obliged to be mature, thinking that she needs to stay emotionally strong for her family. Her stress is obvious thought - she's hyperactive, overworking herself during trainings, helping too much with the family chores, etc. Robby would talk to her about this, express his own insecurities on the faraway future, and they will figure things out. When death is actually approaching, Twitch would be quite stressed again. She would push all her important work aside to take care of her parents (even though they already have more care than they need). She would try to stay with them all the time, saying she's more suited for the job because she's about human height and doesn't get tired. And she would really, really want her human family to stay, to the point that it might be a little bit unhealthy.

Thrash is aware of the life expectancy difference, but it would take him a while to realize what this actually implies. The moment of realization would be a shock for him, then he would be in denial. Mo might actually fuel in with the denial, saying they might have a longer life expectancy due to Quintus power. He would be quite angered by the time they realize Quintus power doesn't work this way / or when one of his human family express the desire to live a normal life and die naturally. It's a quite standard 5 stages of grief except that he would be stuck in an endless loop of denial and anger and bargaining. I think he would be the one who harbors the strongest negative feelings over this, and it will be a recurring thing throughout his life. He would snap if someone outside the family brings up the topic. And he might not be present at the funerals. Losing Mo would definitely be a devasting thing for him - the bond between them is just too important and too special. He's her Rocinante and he feels incomplete without her.

Jawbreaker would be very obvious about not taking it well. He probably wouldn't realize the life expectancy problem on his own and needs to be informed, then he just starts bawling his eyes out, which is honestly a relief for Dot and Alex because this is the same reaction Robby and Mo had when they were first introduced to the concept of death (at the age of 5 or something). This is a recurring thing for him too - for a few years, whenever someone brings up this problem he just starts crying. I think he would say some innocent disturbing things like "I would die with you! 🥹" He would probably accept a religious/spiritual explanation like "We will still be with you even though you won't be able to see us or interact with us. / We will meet again in afterlife." He might become religious solely for this reason. But which religion? Can he still "join the Matrix" or "join the AllSpark" if he was born from the Emberstone? But then can humans join the AllSpark/Emberstone? Should he pick a human religion instead? Can a terran join human heaven in afterlife? How does reincarnation work? Can he reincarnate into a human? Could he be the reincarnation of a human? His family would need to deal with questions like these for a good while (which is actually really helpful for all of them).

[sunderwight]

Thinking about Lan Qiren being online and I'm pretty sure that he would fall for the Smooth Sharks Fallacy like every single time.

People would try and explain it to him and it wouldn't matter. He would still keep trying to bring academic articles into pie fights.