I would say Xiao Chiye is the wolf with ears laid back. I googled wolf body language and yeah that guy‘s PISSED… but also very afraid. „aggressive fear“… I love how each wolf has different body language fitting to the character they represent.
Edit: Lowkey wrote an art analysis below cut oops. As a writer and artist, I felt the urge to examine this side of the artwork thoroughly. It's so fun hehe,, Minimal spoilers below cut, it's just me interpreting stuff and drawing (lmao) parallels to canon. Also, I'm not done yet but I wanted to update it. I wrote this for like, over an hour...
Expanding on this, Wolf!Chiye also looks aware that he either has to get rid of the threat or submit to it. He's out of line with the others.
On to the others: Xiao Fangxu is on the right, Xiao Jiming is in the middle.
Wolf!Fangxu's body language is alert but not overly cautious, facing forward and in the lead: He's the leader, he's self-certain, but he is looking upwards like Xiao Chiye, assessing the threat. His pupil is not blown wide in distress, anger or fear. Just watching. Observing, waiting to make his move. His jaw/snout appears slim in comparison to his body, like its clenched shut in silence. He's wider/bigger than his sons, shielding them from the side and from the front. His coat and the fur along his forehead speaks of age and experience.
Blood has gathered at the corner of his eye like tears or like, what I think fits better, rheum ("sleep crust/sand"). It speaks of a silent, measured kind of exhaustion, the kind you wipe away in the morning with a yawn. But his is made of blood, something that speaks of violence and an exhaustion that cannot be wiped away so easily, if at all.
Out of the three, he has the most blood on him. On his closed maw, on his pelt. I think the blood on his maw is indicative of his former voraciousness. He too was like Xiao Chiye, tearing and biting into threats with equal amounts of fear (for existence) and determination. He has spilled blood, he knows the taste of it: It lingers, but he has stopped showing his teeth. He's not as aggressive as he once was.
The blood on his pelt is a bit "funny". A bit further down and it would be where a wolf's heart is located, just above the front legs. Again, the intention behind the placement is debatable, but it's in a spot clearly visible to anyone. The fur is also darker, providing more contrast and thus even more visibility. It's more apparent than the blood near his eyes and snout. Oh also, I'm gonna be cruel about it and say the placement of the blood around his head can also indicate what happened during canon, meaning he is tasting his own blood, instead of that of his enemies, too.
Wolf!Jiming is the most interesting to me because its quite easy to read Wolf!Fangxu and Wolf!Chiye's stances even if you have no clue about dog body language or wolves.
Wolf!Jiming, at least to me, appears not to face the threat "upwards" but to be surveying the pack. He has an eye on his brother and what he does, ready to jump in when the fear or aggression gets to him- to protect his little brother, but also to stop Wolf!Chiye from doing stupid shit that would result in nothing good (for the pack and himself).
Also, as much as Xiao Chiye is "out of line", Xiao Jiming is the next in line. He's not as broad and forward like Wolf!Fangxu, but he stands tall, not crouched. He seems less steady than Xiao Fangxu, certainly, but way more composed than Xiao Chiye. He is aware that Xiao Chiye is inching forward, almost too much.
His maw is closed, speckled with blood but not dripping like Xiao Fangxu's or Xiao Chiye's. He isn't as voracious or bloodthristy and it doesn't even look like his own blood, but stains he got from biting feeding, biting into carcasses and distributing it. He doesn't look like he enjoys killing while I would argue the other two readily sink their teeth into threats. No, Xiao Jiming is more reserved than that.
The tiniest speck of blood is next to his eye and I'm still trying to make sense of it. He can't see it, it's on his temple. He probably can't feel it, it's too small. It's unlike all the other bloodstains in the artwork. A wolf's jaw can stretch all the way back to where the last speck of blood on Xiao Jiming's jaw is, but the one next to his eye really wouldn't shift. But without it, it doesn't feel the same. I assume it's resembling something I haven't read about in canon yet; a faint migraine at his temples, an itch he cannot scratch, a stain he cannot wash away without putting his eyes underwater too. It's something trivial that adds to the picture something that cannot be taken away, but is easily overlooked and it haunts him.
Yes, I'm paying way too much attention to this. Maybe it just looked good to the artist. But I'm gonna go in even more in depth anyway.
To make a long study short: If the zygomaticus major nerve is damaged, a lot of facial communication for wolves isn't possible anymore and howling for longer could be a problem as well. Meaning: If that small speck of blood could become a bigger injury, it's not fatal, but very bothersome if not isolating. Imagine having huge difficulty to communicate well with the people you're supposed to protect and warn for danger and you can't anymore (howl).
Ok sources below akshhdj it was kinda insane of me to research this but I wanted to lol
study referenced: https://anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ar.25580
You think I was done?? Nah. More on Xiao Jiming's wolf!!!
His ears are not facing forward but sideways, indicating that he listens with the same alertness as Xiao Fangxu and has more awareness of his surroundings than Xiao Chiye. To me, he appears calm but worried. Wary. Even a bit tired. Though I don't know if the little wrinkles around is eyes are intentional (they may just be part of his pelt and illustrating the fine hairs), they appear to me as if his brow his furrowed a little. Ultimately I'd say, he's gonna have a lot of trouble in the 6th volume.
edit: "more about wolf!chiye will be added soon" i said... yknow, like a liar. anyways. Xiao Chiye.
He's the youngest, the one furthest out of frame and behind the others. Yet he looks up, not forward. Like his father, he sees the threat above him, but he is less calculating, he has already seen it for what it is and wants to charge ahead- He tasted blood, running down his maw, and he wants more. Despire this, he looks inexperienced to me. His eyes are wide and bright and reactive. To me, it seems like he would growl or flinch in anxious aggression if the threat just moved closer to mock him. Yes, he is displaying himself as an attacker, yet he is also showing how afraid he is. Like I said above, he nods he has to either eliminate the threat or submit to it, yet hell nah it doesn't look like he's gonna bow to it. To me, he seems like a feral wolf that will pounce with determination again and again even if he sustains large injuries. He looks on edge, blood bumping hot, breath coming in foggy clouds. His fericiousness is only held in check by Xiao Jiming eying him and his father striding forward. One word of his family members, and he would jump forwars and attack.
His folded back ears also imply he has ceased to listen, at least to the threat, while his open mouth? maw? snout? suggests that he growls menacingly, a warning. And it stays a warning, because unlike with Xiao Fangxu or Xiao Jiming, we cannot yet assess his relative size, his build, etc.
He needs to wait his turn before he can tear into his enemies.
