“When I first heard it, from a dog trainer who knew her behavioral science, it was a stunning moment. I remember where I was standing, what block of Brooklyn’s streets. It was like holding a piece of polished obsidian in the hand, feeling its weight and irreducibility. And its fathomless blackness. Punishment is reinforcing to the punisher. Of course. It fit the science, and it also fit the hidden memories stored in a deeply buried, rusty lockbox inside me. The people who walked down the street arbitrarily compressing their dogs’ tracheas, to which the poor beasts could only submit in uncomprehending misery; the parents who slapped their crying toddlers for the crime of being tired or hungry: These were not aberrantly malevolent villains. They were not doing what they did because they thought it was right, or even because it worked very well. They were simply caught in the same feedback loop in which all behavior is made. Their spasms of delivering small torments relieved their frustration and gave the impression of momentum toward a solution. Most potently, it immediately stopped the behavior. No matter that the effect probably won’t last: the reinforcer—the silence or the cessation of the annoyance—was exquisitely timed. Now. Boy does that feel good.”

— Melissa Holbrook Pierson, The Secret History of Kindness (2015)

the brainrot won

TGCF art from 2021 which were very experimental and very much something out of my comfort zone but am still so satisfied with

(gonna ramble more under the cut 👉 )

My main inspiration for these were definitely classic storybook illustration styles and the watercolor-like illustrations included inside the tgcf books which depict hualian's daily slice of life routines as seen below

I wanted to capture that feeling of warmth i got from reading but i also went with the storybook look because their relationship (and by extension broad strokes of the entire plot) really did feel like something out of actual myth or legend; i'm chinese indonesian and was raised surrounded by chinese culture + values so tgcf felt VERY familiar to me, it threw me back to my childhood reading or listening to tales about chinese deities, i'd say the storybook image definitely came into my mind pretty quickly bc of this

I find this style somewhat hard to replicate now but if i could or have the time to, i really want to continue the 'companion pieces to chapter titles ' concept i did with the last 2 pieces (which are of the same chapter title but i was just indecisive 😭😭), i even had 3 more planned based on my favorite titles before burning out back then

reading Sword of Destiny & i have feelings about that one confrontation between istredd and geralt. so i ended up doodling a little gerlion comic to give the witcher some comfort after that whole ordeal

bonus doodle under the cut!

suggestion do you have... any wants? like obviously you do but like? suggestion my guy my ourple boy. both the easiest and hardest to write. you need a skill to say something to move conversation along but it doesn't fit any skill in particular? about 80% of the time you can have suggestion say it and it will make sense. but like actually characterizing him... how do i define you dude... what makes your character tick... urgh. i dont get you yet. im trying to understand but you are difficult.

Nightow naming the chapter 'Wolfwood' has always stuck with me, specifically because of the way it makes the chapter end:

We spend a short amount of time at the end of this chapter with the brief belief that Wolfwood might actually be fine. Us, the readers, alongside Vash, are temporarily allowed a moment of denial before reality comes crashing down again.

And then this. Something as simple as the chapter's end notice, here to inform you that no, this is the end. The end of Wolfwood - the chapter and character, both.

now. beloveds this is not NEW news but I've just had crystal clear confirmation re: the boy (not that it wasn't clear before, but now it's glaringly obvious that he DOES love another girl and this IS reality) and :') you never know how delusionally hopeful you are until such a thing happens!!!!

I love how it turns out that this whole time Luffy was just Kuma's blorbo.

What if it was a sin to love you?

Listened to the hellfire cover of annapantsu on youtube and got su xiyan vibes from it. + the chapter of them both killed me and will infest my mind for days to come

"Have my murderous machinations deprived you also, my dearest Henry, of life? Two I have already destroyed; other victims await their destiny: but you, Clerval, my friend, my benefactor—"

it's a midweek surprise 🥳 echoes (of your name inside my mind) is an appendix to my name is whatever you decide, containing scenes that didn't make the final cut during revisions. some scenes just got fully scrapped, but I was still fond of certain others, and this seemed the best way to share them without overloading mniwyd itself. each chapter starts with a note about where it falls in the overall story; this first chapter falls immediately after chapter 12 (aka—before the next unreleased chapter!)

xxiii: orestes fasting and pylades drunk... what the fuck

one of my new favorite scenes/chapters of the book but at what cost? the final moment between enjolras and grantaire was so good - such a great buildup and conclusion for both their characters individually and their dynamic.

also the chapter title comparing them to orestes and pylades again? okay mr. hugo i see what you're trying to do...

Reminder that Asagiri once said that Bungou Stray Dogs was "not written for people who are good at living." Just. Reminding you guys of that.

I'm really emotional today but I'm also really busy and also experiencing the most severe inability to sit down and write I've ever had and my god I want to write a Checkmatch oneshot fic but my god I physically cannot

Also if I'm gonna write anything I really need to write Flowers Bloom 😭 lord help me

i just woke up from a dream where i was rereading this one book that i truly loved, i think i was finishing the first chapter, still meeting all the main characters, and it was like coming home, yknow?

and now that i'm awake i don't think the book exists and i can't help but feel a deep sense of loss.

happy one year to her and one of my better opening lines for a fic <3

now, because i'm curious: