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I would be the worst spy of all time because on one hand I overshare like hell, but on the other hand I also have THE shittiest memory so it’s really a lose/lose scenario for everyone involved.

#lmao!

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“If a society puts half its children into short skirts and warns them not to move in ways that reveal their panties, while putting the other half into jeans and overalls and encouraging them to climb trees, play ball, and participate in other vigorous outdoor games; if later, during adolescence, the children who have been wearing trousers are urged to “eat like growing boys,” while the children in skirts are warned to watch their weight and not get fat; if the half in jeans runs around in sneakers or boots, while the half in skirts totters about on spike heels, then these two groups of people will be biologically as well as socially different. Their muscles will be different, as will their reflexes, posture, arms, legs and feet, hand-eye coordination, and so on. Similarly, people who spend eight hours a day in an office working at a typewriter or a visual display terminal will be biologically different from those who work on construction jobs. There is no way to sort the biological and social components that produce these differences. We cannot sort nature from nurture when we confront group differences in societies in which people from different races, classes, and sexes do not have equal access to resources and power, and therefore live in different environments. Sex-typed generalizations, such as that men are heavier, taller, or stronger than women, obscure the diversity among women and among men and the extensive overlaps between them… Most women and men fall within the same range of heights, weights, and strengths, three variables that depend a great deal on how we have grown up and live. We all know that first-generation Americans, on average, are taller than their immigrant parents and that men who do physical labor, on average, are stronger than male college professors. But we forget to look for the obvious reasons for differences when confronted with assertions like ‘Men are stronger than women.’ We should be asking: ‘Which men?’ and ‘What do they do?’ There may be biologically based average differences between women and men, but these are interwoven with a host of social differences from which we cannot disentangle them.”

— Ruth Hubbard, “The Political Nature of ‘Human Nature’“ (via gothhabiba)

Yes.

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blogging

#*snorts* #i almost didn't play this video #what a fool i almost was #🤣

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#teehee!

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people telling you they reread your fic is the biggest compliment you could ever receive. there are thousands of stories out there begging to be found, to be explored, but your story meant so much to someone that they came back to it eagerly, they went over every word again. to love is to return and loving a fic is rereading it. thank you to all readers and rereaders <3333

#💜💜💜

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Ugh, was having a great time mocking my recently imprisoned rival when I noticed the camera positioning makes it so that I appear behind the bars, thus framing me as trapped in a metaphorical prison of the narrative, now my whole day is ruined. Fuck.

#😂😂😂 #fantastic

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how do i love the blindfold scene? let me count the ways

(shitty screenshot for visibility sake, but c’mon, you knew which scene i was talking about)

- first of all, the cinematography. what’s with the indie movie vibes?? 

- the eerie silence, broken only by those little nature sounds, then the otherworldly music, with the flute and the bells

- JC struggling a bit to follow WWX, stopping to catch his breath

- black and white is such a good combo on JC and WWX looks regal in Yunmeng Jiang’s purple sash and undergarments, plus The Cape™. they both look fire and Wang Zhuocheng should wear blindfolds on a daily basis, his jawline really pops in this scene. 

- je simp

- honestly I’m obsessed with the (relative) simplicity of JC’s robes, compared with WWX’s more sumptuous attire. i wanna say, initiate and hierophant? idk, the whole scene looks like a ritual initiation into the mysteries of some deity (Baoshan Sanren, i guess?). 

- i was a classicist kid, what can I say

- “Why would I lie to you?” - WHY INDEED, WEI YING

- unrelated but can we, as a fandom, agree that what WWX did was equally a horrible violation (and likely a cultural abomination, à la cutting daemons away in the HDM universe) AND a supreme act of love?? both a selfish AND a selfless act?? and that’s PRECISELY why it is an interesting and compelling narrative choice?? k thx bye

- “From here on out, you’ll have to go alone”, well, fuck me gently with a chainsaw

- THE BLINDFOLDING, OH GODS, THE BLINDFOLDING

- i can’t gif to save my life, but the sheer tenderness with which WWX ties the blindfold around JC’s eyes?? even making sure that JC’s side fringe doesn’t get caught in it?? JC’s lowering his head almost submissively?? WWX reassuring touch lingering for a moment on JC’s shoulder?? 

- i’m dead

-listen, JC is so utterly vulnerable in this scene (WWX could literally crush him with his bare hands like a baby bird) and yet he’s so heartbreakingly trusting and hopeful, allowing himself to be blinded to the truth for the next two decades or whatever

- the way the camera goes black - for we go blind with JC, sure, but also out of modesty for the intimacy of the whole scene (idk??)

- i do love the anger in WWX’s voice where he goes all “You only have one chance! Next time, don’t ever be this reckless again”. WWX is no saint and, for all he knows, he’s about to lose the most important part of himself due to JC’s inability of controlling his own emotions. i respect him for that, 10/10 would love to see that kind of energy again

- JC waving goodbye, fuck

- the rollercoaster of emotions on WWX’s face while he’s watching JC take off. no, really. he literally goes through the five stages of grief. at first, he almost looks like he’s about to call off the whole thing, then we’ve got anger and pain, and finally stone-cold determination and acceptance. kudos to Xiao Zhan 

- WWX’s voice guiding JC up the mountain

- WWX giving his name away to JC. JC taking it as his own. names have power. i repeat. NAMES. HAVE. POWER. i’m getting huge fairytale vibes from this detail and tbh, from the whole scene, and i’m here for that

- the wandering fool imaginary, with the stick and the unseeing eyes (after all, JC is being fooled). even more interestingly, The Fool is arguably the Major Arcana that mostly identifies WWX himself.

- also, Orpheus and Eurydice vibes (”No matter what, do not open your eyes”)

- again, i was a classicist kid and that’s my only excuse, really

- back to the eerily beautiful cinematography

- Wang Zhuocheng really invented bone structure, mh?

- the flight of birds is both symbolic and aesthetic, which is excellent

- WQ’s voice is very clearly WQ’s voice but i’m not gonna hold it against JC. he was nervous and emotional and most importantly, he would believe WWX even if he said that the sky is made of silk and the moon of spun sugar. that’s just the way it is

- JC’s little speech, blazing with grief and hope and innocence

- holding onto the fabric is also very aesthetic

- in another story, in another genre, this would be a defining step in JC hero’s journey. the disgraced young prince stepping into a fairytale realm where no fierce beasts dwell, disguised as a blind beggar, humbling himself in order to fulfill his destiny with the aid of an immortal sorceress. but alas, the genre here is tragedy and JC is no hero. so the only fairytale here is the one spun by WWX (ever the storyteller) in a web of lies and love. WWX, who held his shidi’s life, soul and destiny between his hands and weighed it against the whole world, and found the whole world lacking 

- that’s it, im going fully feral 

#😭😭😭 #the untamed #mdzs #jiang cheng #wei wuxian

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When I posted this, the lovely @jiangwanyeehaw  mentioned Lxc’s abomination of a hairpiece and I just had to.

Not quite getting stuck, but neverending hairpiece mishaps.

Thank you @jiangwanyeehaw​ for letting me use your idea<3

Bonus:

#😂😂😂 #that's adorable #💜💜💜 #the untamed #mdzs

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Three times someone touched Zidian (insp)

Bonus:

#oomph #the poignancy! #the untamed #mdzs #jiang cheng #zidian

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Girl are you the Hays Code the way you consider media irredeemable if it depicts anything that strays away from the norm you're comfortable with or depicts anything morally questionable without definitively condemning it and anyone associated with it, therefore creating worse stories and content and making it difficult for people to engage with complicated issues from a nuanced and controlled perspective?

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#sounds lovely #💜💜💜

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my second prompt for the MDZS gatcha for gaza fundraiser!! @ gentil_minou on twitter requested the juniors wrangling a de-aged WWX, LWJ, and JC. i adore this concept

#absolutely adorable #the untamed #mdzs

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#lmao #love it

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舅舅在…

Jiu jiu with some baby Jin Ling! And also sad Jin Ling post stabby😬

#the untamed #mdzs #jiang cheng #jin ling #💜💛

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#gosh this just makes me want to cry #oh to be loved this much

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Just sent out my seventh author newsletter update! 😁

Newsletter #8 is out and available to read!

Click the image above to be taken right to it or copy and paste the following link into your browser URL bar: https://open.substack.com/pub/tmdelaney/p/newsletter-8-041324

Like what you see and want it sent directly to your email? Subscribe for free! 😊

#newsletter #author newsletter #t. m. delaney newsletter #substack newsletter #writing #writing updates

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Because Lan Xichen’s name sounds like “blue vacuum cleaner” in Chinese 😃 (from Apr 2022)

#every time i see this picture it just makes me so happy #look at their expressions! #my heart! #🥰🥰🥰 #mdzs #the untamed #jiang cheng #lan xicheng #xicheng