#sort of ying and yang

[maxescheibechlinichacheli]

#kiseki: dear to me #kiseki dear to me #fan ze rui x bai zong yi #taiwan bl #bl series #bl drama #maxine gifs #how wonderful that must feel to finally be able to touch each other again #to kiss and caress #oh and how I love the dark blue and white contrast between them #sort of ying and yang

[demiamphitere]

I don't think Crowley and Aziraphale are to different shades of grey. They aren't of course black and white either.

They are Cool Gray™ and Warm Gray™

#good omens #crowley #aziraphale #ineffable husbands #They are not ying and yang either #Sort of the same gray but when you compare them to different backgrounds (aka hell and heaven) they appear different #It's all color theory

[nicolegmattos]

David: I expected Michael to be a little more discombobulated.

Georgia: Why?

David: Because I’m a bit more discombobulated?

Georgia: Well, you’re not the same person.

#I mean sort of? #they’re the ying to each other’s yang #they complete each other #I have never heard the word discombobulated before today lol #staged #david tennant #georgia tennant #michael sheen #watching staged

[doufudanshi]

ON GHOSTS AND DEMONS: Wei Wuxian's "demonic" cultivation?

There are a few big misconceptions I have repeatedly seen in English-speaking fandom about things that are fundamental to the story of MDZS. One of them is this—

Wei Wuxian is not a demonic cultivator.

To prove this, let's take a deep dive into the original Chinese text of MDZS.

(Adapted from my original gdoc posted on Twitter on May 27, 2022. All translations my own unless otherwise stated.)

Demon vs. ghost

Let's start from the very basics. In addition to orthodox cultivation using spiritual energy and a golden core, there are two other forms of cultivation that are mentioned in the novel:

魔道 (mó dào), or “demon cultivation/path.”

鬼道 (guǐ dào), or “ghost cultivation/path.”

To be clear, 魔 mo "demons" and 鬼 gui "ghosts" (and thus their respective cultivation/paths) are not interchangeable because of the in-universe worldbuilding within MDZS. Using the characters in the term 妖魔鬼怪 "monsters," MXTX created four distinct categories of beings, each of which has a strict definition in the novel. From chapter 4 (jjwxc ch 13):

妖者非人之活物所化; 魔者生人所化; 鬼者死者所化; 怪者非人之死物所化。 Yāo (妖) are transformed from non-human living beings; mó (魔) are transformed from living people; guǐ (鬼) are transformed from the deceased; guài (怪) are transformed from non-human dead beings.

And of course, WWX hoards all the ghost-type pokemon monsters at the Phoenix Mountain tournament, and he only exerts control over corpses, spirits, and the like (aka people who have already died). (As opposed to Xue Yang, who appears to have been actively trying to make 魔 "demons" out of living people with those "living corpses" of his, perhaps.) (And, ironically, in order to avoid showing necromancy / zombies on screen, CQL technically does show WWX practicing demon cultivation because everyone is "supposedly alive" even when they're corpses? Which is, funnily enough, far worse morally in the MDZS universe, lol.)

So, intuitively at least, we know that WWX must be practicing ghost cultivation—now let's look at some concrete examples from the book.

Running the numbers

1) 魔道 (mó dào) means “demon cultivation.” As such, it must use living humans.

魔道 appears one (1) time in the novel.

Yes, once. The only time it appears is in the term 魔道祖师 modao zushi, or the namesake of the novel, in chapter 2. This is a title the general public has given him through rumors:

魏无羡好歹也被人叫了这么多年无上邪尊啦、魔道祖师啦之类的称号，这种一看就知道不是什么好东西的阵法，他自然了如指掌。 Wei Wuxian wasn’t called titles like “The Evil Overlord,” “The Founder of Demon Cultivation,” and so on over the years by others for nothing—he knew these sorts of obviously shady formations like the back of his hand.

2) 鬼道 (guǐ dào) means “ghost cultivation.” As such, it must use dead humans. 

鬼道 appears 12 times in the novel.

Here is the first instance that 鬼道 appears, which I believe is the first time Wei Wuxian's method of cultivation is properly introduced. From chapter 3 (jjwxc ch 8):

蓝忘机 […] 对魏无羡修鬼道一事极不认可。 Lan Wangji […] had never approved of the fact that Wei Wuxian practiced ghost cultivation.

Here's another quote from chapter 15 (jjwxc ch 71) for funsies:

蓝忘机看着他，似乎一眼就看出他只是随口敷衍，吸了一口气，道：“魏婴。” Lan Wangji looked at him as if he saw through his half-hearted bluff. He took in a breath, then said, “Wei Ying.” 他执拗地道：“鬼道损身，损心性。” He stubbornly continued, “Ghost cultivation harms one’s body, and harms one’s nature.”

3) 邪魔歪道 (xiemowaidao) means heretical path/immoral methods/evil practices/underhanded means/etc—e.g., lying, cheating, stealing, bribery, and so on.

It appears ~24 times in the novel.

I mention this last term because it is often used to refer to Wei Wuxian's cultivation, but as a pejorative. Every instance of 邪魔歪道 is said by or to quote someone looking down upon Wei Wuxian’s cultivation (Jin Zixun, Jin Ling, etc.) and referring to it derogatorily, whereas every instance of 鬼道 guidao/ghost dao is said by someone discussing it neutrally and/or factually (Lan Jingyi, Lan Wangji, Wei Wuxian himself, random cultivators at discussion conferences, the narration, etc.). Here is a pertinent example with Jin Ling (derogatory) and Lan Jingyi (neutral) in chapter 9 (jjwxc ch 43):

金凌怒道：“是在谈论薛洋，我说的不对吗？薛洋干了什么？他是个禽兽不如的人渣，魏婴比他更让人恶心！什么叫‘不能一概而论’？这种邪魔歪道留在世上就是祸害，就是该统统都杀光，死光，灭绝！” “We are discussing Xue Yang,” Jin Ling said angrily. “Am I wrong? What did Xue Yang do? He’s scum that’s lower than a beast, and Wei Ying is even more disgusting than him! What do you mean ‘don’t make sweeping generalizations?’ As long as those practicing this kind of demoniac, heretical path are alive, they’ll continue to bring disaster. We should slaughter all of them, kill all of them, annihilate them once and for all!” 温宁动了动，魏无羡摆手示意他静止。只听蓝景仪也加入了，嚷道：“你发这么大火干什么？思追又没说魏无羡不该杀，他只是说修鬼道的也不一定全都是薛洋这种人，你有必要乱摔东西吗？那个我还没吃呢……” Wen Ning shuffled around. Wei Wuxian gestured at him to stay still, only to hear Lan Jingyi also cut in loudly, “Why are you getting so riled up? It’s not like Sizhui said Wei Wuxian shouldn’t have been killed. All he said was that people who practice ghost cultivation aren’t necessarily all like Xue Yang. Do you have to go around breaking things? I didn’t even get to eat any of that yet…”

Tl;dr—Wei Wuxian does not 修魔道 practice demon cultivation. When Wei Wuxian’s craft is discussed in a neutral and factual manner, it is referred to as 鬼道 ghost dao. 

In fact, Wei Wuxian’s imitators are also referred to explicitly as 鬼道修士 ghost cultivators.

魏无羡早就听说过，这些年来江澄到处抓疑似夺舍重生的鬼道修士，把这些人通通押回莲花坞严刑拷打。 Wei Wuxian had heard a while back that over the past few years, Jiang Cheng had gone around snatching any ghost cultivator suspected of being possessed or reborn, detaining them in Lotus Pier to interrogate them using torture.

So why the confusion?

Of course, there is the matter of the novel's title, which I will get into in a second. But the real issue is a matter of translation.

The idea that WWX uses "demonic cultivation" is a misconception in English-speaking fandom due to issues with the translation of terminology. Of note, EXR actually did translate 鬼道 guidao as "ghostly path" most of the time, though there were at least 3 instances of "demonic" and 1 instance of "dark," especially regarding the first few.

However, this misconception was perpetuated (and arguably worsened) by 7S's official translation, which not only mistranslated additional terms as "demonic cultivation/path" (at least in book 1), but also consistently mistranslated every instance of 鬼道 as "demonic cultivation/path."

So why is this book called 魔道祖师, commonly translated as "Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation?"

One possibility is one posed in Chinese-language meta online, which often cites that WWX himself is a sort of 魔 demon. While this may be true—after all, he can hear the voices of the dead—it doesn't quite explain the fact that the title sets him up to be the 祖师 or "founder."

My take is that this novel is very much concerned with hearsay vs. truth. This is one of the many monikers WWX is given by the public, who collectively view him as evil. (Also of note is that the non-cultivator public is not aware of all the nuances that cultivators learn re: distinctions between the 妖魔鬼怪 monsters.) In the quote from earlier, note that the first title we're given is actually 无上邪尊 “The Evil Overlord,” then 魔道祖师 "The Founder of Demon Cultivation." Like, what can that be other than MXTX telling us, "please take both of these with a HUGE grain of salt, lol."

(And not only the title, but the very first line—"魏无羡死了。" / "Wei Wuxian is dead."—is a lie.)

I think the title is genius, honestly. It intentionally makes readers come into the novel with preconceived notions that Wei Wuxian practices 魔道 demon cultivation and evil techniques—just like the public in the novel. What better way to tell a story warning about the dangers of how easy it is to fall for misinformation and jump to incorrect conclusions?

(Though, in our case, perhaps it worked a little too well.)

#魔道祖师 #mdzs #mdzs meta #mdzs translation #wei wuxian #wwx #demonic cultivation #ghost cultivation #mine #doufudanshi translation #crossposted from twitter #(sort of)

[finchers-ipad]

I watched ‘Fight Club’ with commentary from Chuck Palahniuk and Jim Uhls (screenwriter) and here are some of may favourite bits of information from it:

- the narrators condo was modelled after a condo Fincher used to live in

- Palahniuk owned the ying-yang table after the movie

- when Fincher first read the book he was so excited that we went to New York to pitch it to Pitt, and Brad Pitt was filming ‘Meet Joe Black’ at the time so Fincher sat on his door step until 1am and pitched him the role over a beer

- this is a direct quote from Palahniuk about their ‘post first fight sharing a beer scene’ “now this is so weird, drinking out of the same thing is like sort of a short hand for a love relationship in so many movies. um, that i couldn’t believe they were sharing a beer. it just seemed like such a powerful symbol, metaphor.” I KNOW WHAT THEY ARE!!!!

- at the publishing party for the book, one of Palahniuk’s friends had buttons made that said “I want to have Tyler Durden’s abortion”

- Direct quote from Palahniuk again “and it’s funny because there’s a whole undercurrent, like her alluding to him wearing the dress, her asking if it was a man or woman who kissed his hand. In a way she’s re enforcing this possible homoerotic thing on the side”

- Jim Uhls described the scene where the narrator beats up Angel Face as having “homosexual connotations”

#I NEED TO FIND ONE OF THOSE BUTTONS #for my own sanity #also yeah i wouldn’t really recommend watching the film with this commentary #like it was fine but just kind of boring at times #Palahniuk and Uhls just don’t have a chemistry #the other ones are better #BUT they do allude to it’s gay undertones throughout so points for that #fight club #soapshipping #tyler durden #the narrator #chuck palahniuk #jim uhls

[salamanderinspace]

On Love

My best summary of the new Contrapoints video, if you're not a "watch a three hour video about Twilight" sort of person:

It's not about Twilight. It's about desire. The first chapter is the obligatory "yes there is a predatory dynamic in this, but let's talk about the role of fiction and fantasy, because it's fiction and not reality."

There is some discussing about what erotic love and desire truly is. Distinction between "yearning" (a lack for an abstract quality) and "craving" (which can be concretely satisfied.)

A really excellent dive into radical feminist theory about the predator-prey, hades-persephone dynamic that rules over romantic fiction. How the default heterosexual paradigm really does celebrate oppressive paradigms. Spoiler alert: it's not JUST fiction, there is a social context.

An argument that violence and death really are part of sexuality.

Mostly reframing the radical feminist theory in terms of a relationship to christianity as opposed to patriarchy.

An observation that women often consume this type of romance by identifying with the predator role because roles are inherently versatile and complex. Musings on the nature of masculinity and femininity as a ying/yang dichotomy.

There's a lot of research and nuance and jokes. A particularly good RHPS reference. Holding up a pair of scissors at an opportune moment. I don't think every single take is presented from the MOST based perspective but there was enough "this is what I've been saying" that I recommend the video overall as a source discussing fantasy and romantic love.

#contrapoints #ship wars #philosophy #romance #love

[maggie-margret-blog]

Friends with Tattoo Benefits

Mingi was one of those guys you just couldn’t replicate. he had a sort of passion for life that was kinda hard to find in people.I had been seeing him as an artist for a little over a year now, slowly but surely filling my arms and mid section with ink. He was talented and enthusiastic about each new project I threw his way, may it be big or small. Mingi himself only had a handful of tattoos littering his milkish skin,but claimed he was in it for the arts, not the personal experience. I had a theory he was just a bitch about pain or needles, nevertheless I never bothered him about it during our sessions. And he couldn’t lie about the money either. It was good fucking money.

Mingi had become somewhat of a best friend, mixed in with all the other things that come with being in close contact for so long.

We had first met that one fateful morning, 2am to be exact, when I had decided that drunk tattoos would be a hilarious idea. In hindsight it was a wonderful memory and honestly I was better for the experience. My young, college ego had been inflated and a stupid decision was just what I needed to keep my head on my shoulders. The night had just begun for me and my friends, bar hopping and partying at each frat house we could bare to see the inside of. All the ones I had seen prior were rat nests, and yet I chose to place myself there. A few of my friends had tagged along one Friday in search of some of my famous shenanigans. Modesty forbid I ever keep my thrills to myself.

“C’mon let’s dip, this place sucks.” Renel quoted as she threw down a pink solo cup onto the frat house floor. We had only been there about 30 minutes and already we were feeling the effects of poor party planning. A dozen or more drunk college girls stood in a tight circle, grinding on any available guy, and in some cases other gals as Salt Shaker boomed from the shitty stereo system. Since the Ying Yang twins weren’t the vibe for the night, I wholeheartedly agreed- “Let’s get the fuck out!”

“I’m barely drunk! Give me a fucking minute!” San hollered over the loud music, grabbing onto Renel’s ponytail and stopping her from moving any further towards the door. “There’s smoke in my eyes, this drink taste like dog shit and my thong is literally splitting my asshole in half, San.” Renel growled as she swatted his hands away. “That’s your fault. Just take it off and sit down.” He laughed, knowing he was only egging her on. “Fine, here-“ Renel said smuggly as she reaches under her sequined skirt, pulling the lacey garment down her legs and stepping out of it. “Woah Ren-“ I began, on my for her to grab the thong and shove it in San’s pocket. “I’ll go sit down.”

“San you asshole.” I laugh lightly, never quiet getting over those two’s battles. “Remind me to give this back to her. If Yunho ever finds out I have his girlfriend’s thong in my pants, he’ll kill me.” He chortles. “I don’t think I will. You deserve a beating.” I joke.

“Tryna get rid of me?”

“Maybe.”

“He’s twice my size. I’m dead.”

“You’re a good guy, you’re fine.”

“Thanks.”

“I’m heading out. I’m meeting my friend downtown.” Hongjoon, another one of chipper friends, said as he pushed past us towards the exit. “Who?” I called out as the sixth drink I had been nursing finally began to hit me. Whatever this shit was was weak, and disgusting. Yet, I was still drowning my weekend stresses in it.

“Mingi. You know that tattoo guy I was talking about.” Hongjoon enthused. This guy was always so happy for some reason. “Are you getting a tattoo?” I asked again.

“Yeah why? You wanna come?”

“I’ll go. Anything to get me out of here.” I agree hastily as I set the solo cup I had been drinking from down. “I’m drunk enough I’ll go.” San called, as if he hadn’t been complaining of the opposite just minutes ago. “Go tell Renel.” I bark as I follow Hongjoon out into the yard.

Once San and Renel had caught up to us, we were already halfway downtown, passing bar after bar and collectively agreeing that we should all go to each one. “If we keep this up I’ll literally never make my appointment.” Joon whined as he threw back one last shot. “Fine, okay let’s go.” San gave a unionized answer for us all. “Mingi’s gonna kill me. He’s supposed to be closing and I’m already 20 minutes late.”

“We’re almost there Joon, calm down.” San said with a hint of a slur. With that statement we came up upon the shop. The neon light was already off, but a man sat at the counter with his head down to scroll on his phone.

“Hey Mingi! Sorry I’m so late!” Joon said sorrowfully as he brought his hands together and bowed shallowly. “Hey, no don’t worry about it. I was just chilling out.” The man spoke as he raised from the counter and reached out for Hongjoon’s hand. The whole place reminded me of a mechanic’s shop. Sort of industrial and gray, but art was strewn across the walls and a few neon light had been added to spruce up the place.

The size of this man had me speechless, though my drunken stupor may have exaggerated it. Mingi was maybe 6’0 and broad in the shoulders and chest. I could tell by the way his black compression shirt stretched over his muscles, rippling in their definition. With the buzz already prominent in my head, this man looked like a playground to me. All I wanted to do was climb him. I could feel a flush flooding my cheeks as he and Hongjoon giggled and joked over sketches and last minute ideas. I could just play it off as a liquor blush, but I knew it was because of him. Fuck he was attractive. He was just so big and handsome.

“Shouldn’t take too long. Maybe an hour.” Mingi said softly as he looked over the small design. It seemed to be just a simple spiderweb with a few intricacies.

As soon as Hongjoon laid down on the sterilized bed, he was snoring. Joon had never once been awake during a session. Either this was a result of the alcohol, or the pain was a sickening comfort for him. Either way he was out. I spent m my time, however, inspecting the artist and the way he did every little thing. His gloves were blue like they had at a doctor’s office, tight and defining over his veined hands. The tips of his thick fingers were gripping the gun firmly with a controlled pressure. His focus and precision were evident in both his work and how he carried out his task. Why was everything about him so alluring?

“Joon? Are you good buddy?” Mingi asked after working on the piece for a good hour. It was swollen and puffed, but I could already tell it would heal beautifully. “Yeah, I’m cool.” Joon said groggily.

San and Renel were sleeping across the waiting room chair at this point, San’s jacket draped over Ren’s legs. That’s small detail made me chuckle. Sure they had their differences, but if she was naked from the waist down in public, he’d protect her. “Dude sick, thank you.” Joon said as he looked over his Achilles heel, now inked and decorated. “No problem man. Now pay me and go home.” Mingi laughed lightly as he pushed Joon towards the front.

“How much?” I asked as an interception. “Hm?” Mingi cocked his head to the side as I stood from my seat, still a little wobbly from all the alcohol in my system.“How much for a small tattoo? A really little one.” I asked. I hadn’t known how I would get close to him, but this was the perfect opportunity. This way I really inspect him up close. Stare deep into his concentrated expression and analyze his eyes. Oh fuck, those eyes.

“Uh, all depends I guess. Why, do you want one?” He questioned as he handed Hongjoon a pen to sign his receipt. I nodded vigorously as I popped up from the plastic chair. I had no clue what I was doing, or why I just agreed to get a tattoo on the spot, but here I was. “Cool, give me a minute.” Mingi said with a smile, showing off his row of beautiful teeth. They weren’t straight but who cared? Not me! He was so cute!

“We’re gonna head out. I’ll get her back to Yunho.” Hongjoon said as he shook Renel awake for a minute or so. “Okay,” I said shortly as a twinge of turmoil erupted in my stomach. Sure this was kind of what I wanted, to be alone with this new hunk, but now I was alone alone? My body shivered involuntarily, spine tingling and adjusting at the thought. “Where’re you going San?” My voice was timid, a gleaming ray of hope in eye as i asked. I was praying that he could be talked into staying with me. “I’m going home so I don’t die. You know how Woo is if I’m not in before sunrise.” I only nodded at the statement as the unsettling feeling began to sober me. But I couldn’t pass this up!

“This way m’lady.” Mingi’s voice broke my illusion of loneliness as all my prior thoughts raced back in. He was the reason I stayed anyway. “Thank you.” I punctuated with a head nod as we walked back to where Hongjoon had just been napping. “Now, what’s going on? What’re we doing?” Mingi asked as he sat back against the counter, arms crossed to expose the few tattoos he had. Though not plentiful, they were big and loud. The one he sported on his left forearm was a colorful mural of what seemed to be hyper realistic squid. The body was red and luminescent with a somewhat manly aura somehow. It was an interesting choice for sure, but it was executed beautifully so I had to admire it for that reason. His right arm was detailed in black and white, a few odd and ends tattooed on his skin, probably to represent certain things. I did notice a small KQ prominent on the first knuckle of his index finger. KQ had been a music club hosted on my campus for years.

I laughed internally at the thought of this big, beefy man singing in a choir, or performing The Newsies at the campus theater. He didn’t seem the type. “Anything I guess. Maybe something coquette-ish.” I babbled, unable to tear my eyes away from Mingi’s form in front of me. I stood sheepishly in front of him, a facade of confidence saving me face, but only a little bit since I was still kind of drunk. “Coquette-ish? Like the frilly bows and Victorian shit?” His voice reverberated is low bass over the air. I watched his mouth and nose as he repeated what I had said, then nodded. He nodded along and choked down a chuckle.

Mingi drew up a tiny little design, detailed with a small, pink ribbon tied into a bow with a pearl accent. It was actually very cute and even my sober mind loved it. Something tiny and coquettish. I was so happy with it.

“You know I don’t usually do walk ins.” He said as he etched a stencil. “Oh? Why start tonight?” I asked, looking over his shoulder, feeling the heat rising from his body. “If I’m being honest I thought you were cute. And I’d rather you get a good drunk tattoo instead of one you’ll regret.” He chuckled lightly, but my face turned red at the mention of his attraction. He thought I was cute? “Now where do you want it?” Mingi asked as he turned to look at me, now just inches from my face. I had practically been his shell for the last 15 minutes as I watched him sketch, so the sudden movement surprised me. I stumbled backwards a bit, and was sure to fall of Mingi hadn’t gripped onto my belt, pulling me back to stability. His hand was nestled between our two bodies, now practically sandwiched together. I couldn’t help myself as the moment dragged on, but I looked forward at the chest I was now level with. Traveling upwards, my eyes met his. They pooled with a twinge of worry and one other emotion I couldn’t quite express. “Sorry,” I mumbled briefly as I stepped back, only for his hand to stay firm on my leather belt. “No, no it’s okay. Are you alright?” He questioned, unmoving from his position. “Y-yes I’m fine.”

The air was thick and heavy around us. The room wasn’t too big so that might have had something to do with it, but probably not. It was more likely the tension between us that simmered. His hand stayed on my belt, even going as far as to tighten his grip. “How drub are you?” He asks suddenly.

“I’m, I’m practically sober.” I answered.

“Do you have a boyfriend?”

“N-no I don’t.”

“Do you know where you are right now?”

“Tattoo shop.”

“Be more specific.” He hummed lowly as his hand pulled me closer, my hip flush against his thigh.

“Flaming Ink, downtown Astoria,” I answered again, quieter than before.

“Can I kiss you?” He asked finally, lowering himself to my level so he could see my expression clearly. My face was burning as it was, so for him to face me directly turned me to mush. And to kiss him? Oh fuck I could’ve vomited with how nervous I was!

I nodded slowly as the larger man braced my jaw in his palm, gently pulling me forward and pressing a hunger pained kiss to my lips. I was taken aback by the way he was already desperate for the contact. To be fair, so was I. The kiss only lasted about 3 seconds before he pulled away, lips parted and eyes droopy. The flecks of his dyed hair fell into his line of sight. The image in front of me was borderline erotic to say the least. I could tell by the look in his eyes that we were nowhere near finished.

Hastily, my arms found perch on his shoulders and I reconnected our lips, lapping at the pillowy petals and melting as he returned the favor. He tugged me closer, hands finally leaving my belt and landing on my waist, pulling my hips to his own. This was all too much yet I couldn’t (wouldn’t) stop myself. I had only wanted him for an hour or so, but that was an hour too long with out him.

Our lip lock progressed into something else entirely, and what that was I didn’t know. Something primal. Something languid and wet. Before I could count his teeth with my tongue, his hands were burrowed down the back of my jeans, fingers gripping at my ass haphazardly. The hum of the overhead lights was enough of a lullaby to keep us in the moment. Soft murmurs from the radio entwined around us and took the lead. “Mingi,” I said hushly, placing a hand on his chest. Oh finally I got to feel it. The muscles tensed under my touch and I watched the nipple harden from under the shirt. “Hm?” He acknowledged my plea and stopped himself. “I’m sorry it was all so fast, I-“ he began to explain himself, hands leaving my behind.

“No, no keep it there. I’m just— kinda you know, worked up.” I heaved as I kept eye contact with him. Those eyes, those honey brown eyes. Somehow the orange and yellow tendrils of hair complimented his eyes perfectly, encasing them in a warm, golden light. He was beautiful.

“Isn’t that a good thing?” His breath fans over neck slightly.

“Yeah, just not used to it.” I admit.

As far as sexual experiences went, I was dim in the subject. Yet, this was fueling a fire I never knew I had.

“Do you wanna stop?” Mingi asks as he’s pulling away.

“No! No I don’t want to!”

With that answer, Mingi was back to exploring what was exposed of my skin. Hands, finger tips, nails. I could feel everything as he lit each of my nerve endings on fire. Each swipe of his tongue left a burning trail in its path. “Fuck-“ I whispered internally, somehow finding my hands curled in his hair, entangling in the locks and pulling at the roots. The feeling of his lips on my neck made my stomach turn and twist with excitement.

How could this happen so fast? How was this really real? Was I dreaming?

No I couldn’t be dreaming. I could feel Mingi’s curious hands pushing up my shirt, folding the fabric upwards and letting it pool onto top of my breasts. Mingi pressed open mouthed kissed on my chest, tugging cheekily at the lining of my bra, teasing the nipple as he let it free. “Pretty.” Mingi’s voice vibrated against my skin, sending shivers down my entire being. Never in a hundred years could I explain myself and my behavior. I hadn’t been this kind of girl. Sure I partied and went a little crazy sometimes, but I had been strict with dating and sex. I never fucked on a first date. Hell, we had just met, never even went out. Renel would never believe me if I told her what was happening.

My brain was fuzzy as we continued in some sort of soft foreplay. His thick fingers had found their way down the front of my jeans, rubbing generously on my stiffening clit and entrance. My breath hitched as one found its way inside of me, petting at the spongy g-spot. I couldn’t keep my knees from buckling under that sort of pressure. I remembered stumbling around in an attempt to find something solid to hold onto, or at least steady myself on as he rid me of my clothes. I could remember removing his skin tight shirt and finally getting an eyeful of his sculptured physique. He was carved artfully as if by a woman with taste and experience. My hands explored his torso, slowly but surely making their way down my boxers. I ran a polished nail down the shaft of his throbbing cock, only to grab the entirety and grace it with a few passing pumps. His belt and jeans found themselves on the floor along with mine.

I had no time to feel the inevitable embarrassment. “Mingi-“ I moaned as he took the initiative to set me on the table, lips now working down my stomach and hips. A strong hand pushed gently on my chest and gestured for me to lay back and I followed with no hesitation. The icy sensation of the vinyl coating made me shiver, but I recovered as soon as his fingers hooked to the hem of my panties. My breathe caught in my throat, Mingi dragging the garment down my legs and letting them fall where they may.

“You’re sure you’re good with this?” He asked once more, looking down at me from his standing position. His eyes were soft and concerned but I could tell he was barely hanging on. His lids sat halfway across his iris, cutting off the light to his eyes. He looked dark and sexy, but alluring. The tattoos that weren’t apparent earlier were now proudly on display.

I only reeled back slightly at the sight of his miniature. Well, you could hardly call it miniature, but you know what I meant. The dick held itself proudly, the tip a dark pink and mushroomed, while the rod was stained a lighter hue, coursing with a few deliciously placed veins.

With as tender of intentions as possible, I reached to caress the decorated man’s chest and feel the heat emitting from the skin. He was as soft as satin, the feeling becoming addictive against my fingertips. His hands traveled to meet mine, bringing the appendage to his lips and leaving a few short kisses on the palm before holding it above my head. Our fingers intertwined as his other hand cradled the soft underside of my knee, pushing it upwards.

“I’m sure.” I said finally, eyes meeting his and he came closer, pressing gentle and reassuring kisses to my cheek and neck.

“Good,” he hummed.

Another blurry moment flashed as he said a few sweet things then continued to move his body. Soon enough I was in a comfortable position with a hand in his and one helping him push inside. My head fell backward as a silent sigh left my lips. Oh shit. “Oh Mingi-“ the words fell fluidly as he breached past my entrance. The stretch alone brought me back to reality, only to be pulled back into whatever sensual scene this was as he began to adjust. His breath was low but not indistinguishable, I could tell he was already feeling good. A second or so passed in silence until the pit in my stomach had grown twice it’s normal size.

“You can move.” I say, slight circling my hips. A pained hiss left Mingi’s plump lips. He takes the bottom in between his teeth and nods as his hips break their isolation

I felt as though my lungs had been palpated, deprived of air and squeezed to the brink. I felt like I was drowning but I couldn’t stop this. This was all too good. Mingi moved with a steady rhythm and intensity. His hands roamed my chest, poking and prodding at my breasts and using them for leverage for his powerful thrusts. I almost felt ridiculous as lewd noises leaked from my throat. My body shook with excitement and my voice was shaky with adrenaline.

“So cute. I can’t fucking stand it.” He growled next to my ear as he punctuated each word with a particularly sharp thrust. I couldn’t believe I had come here to accompany Hongjoon on a drunken tattoo venture, and ended up fucking the artist.

His motions grabbed me as wild, someone with experience in pleasure. Mingi’s body was following a natural progression as the bulbous head of his well endowed cock nestled against my cervix with each violent bash of our hips. A slight shake wracked my muscles and joints as the pressure and endurance of our position grew tiresome. I was exhausted but so ready to reach a peak with him. Coils tightened in my abdomen when Mingi’s voice sounded, moans and small grunts of praise echoed from him.

“Fuck-so good-“ he panted into my neck as his body curled around mine, encasing me in a lustful embrace. Mingi’s toned arms wrapped around my shoulders and waist while his forehead dropped to my collarbone. I could feel the change in angles as he hoisted my torso upwards to meet his, somewhat suspended in air. The erratic pace and movements of his hips reminded me of some crazed animal in heat. I felt the same way though. My body was craving each and every thing Mingi would give to me. His now harsh grips left marks on my skin that I wild find later; they’d bring back me memories of this night and how desperately I would be chasing a feeling like this again.

Creaks and screeches wailed from the legs of the table, yet Mingi couldn’t have cared any less. My arms gripped around his waist, in a way, propelling him forward. “Mingi!” My voice grew weaker in the moment. I was coming close.

“Mmm- fuck…” Mingi groaned against my skin, lips flattening to my chest and hair falling messily over my shoulder. I let my body speak for me as the intensity of his movements and brought me higher and higher. My walls closed around him, clenching in an effort to warn him that I was there. “Mingi! Uh! Gonna cum-“ I moan directly into the man’s ear, hoping to affect him the way I wanted to. “Mm- go ahead baby. You can cum.” His breath was hot as he lifted his head to face me, pressing a kiss to my lips as he quickened his pace. I couldn’t stop the chorus of moans, colored in shock as he pushed me over the edge.

I lay in waves of bliss. One surge after the other. If I was being honest, I had never cum first in any of my previous encounters. This was a once in a lifetime experience for me and I wasn’t going to lie, it was beautiful.

Mingi stalls briefly before sighing in satisfaction as he pulls out of me. My body immediately misses the weight of him inside of me, closing around nothing but air and slick ejaculat. My chest is heaving as I caught my breath, warm fuzzy feelings filling my body. Never had I ever had an orgasm quite like that.

It was soon interrupted at the sound of Mingi’s hand sliding over his still hard erection. I had been so caught up in my own pleasure that I forgot that he hadn’t cum yet. I peak downward at the beautiful man, his face scrunched a bit as he leans over my body. Without much thought I place my smaller hand in his. I can see a smirk forming on his lips as he allows me to help him rub his moistened dick. His eyes open slightly as we make contact, gazes holding intently as waves of pleasure flood his system. I never break eye contact as he reaches his final breath, our hands slow and a loud cry erupts from the man.

“Oh shit- oh fuck-“ Mingi mumbles quietly, forehead nudged to mine as he unloads on my stomach. I was quick to find Mingi’s jaw and yank his sight forward, our eyes meeting once again. “You’re so pretty.” I kiss him before he can answer my statement.

“Me?” He huffs confused. His string brow bone dips in concern of the comment. “Yes, you. You’re very pretty.” I reply, pulling him in for another kiss. “Thank you.” He says genuinely as heaves and tries to catch his breath.

——

“Soooo…. Do you still want that tattoo?” Mingi jokes as he holds the collar of my shirt open above me, placing it down over my head and resting it on my shoulders.

“I might have to take a rain check on that. I’m kinda tired.” My voice was hoarse and losing volume by the minute. A mix of drinking and calling his name for an hour would do the trick.

“Anytime, really. I do actually do tattoos. I swear. I’m not just a whore.” He laughs, looking down at me as I finish dressing myself and heave a sigh.

“I believe you.”

“Good. Do you think you’ll be back?” He questioned, flicking the light switch and opening the door for me. It was almost 5 am and I had no alibi for when Renel inevitably asks what kept me out so late. My cheeks flushed as I thought over the details. I might just tell her, just to see her reaction. If I knew anything about Renel, it was that she’d flip if I told her I fucked the tattoo guy.

“I’ll be back. For that tattoo and also… you know, if you ever wanna…” I led the the statement, looking down at my hands as he walked along side me towards the dorms. “I’m down. You know for tattoos… and… yeah.” He agreed. It was barely dawn, but I could tell his cheeks were as red as mine.

As soon as we reached my dormitory, I turned to face the man who had just made my night. I craned my neck upwards to face him. Gosh he was beautiful, especially in the light of the rising sun. “Thank you so much for tonight Mingi. And for walking me home.”

“Of course. Anytime, really. Have a good night.” He said gently.

“Or I guess morning. Have a Good morning.” He repeated. I chuckled slightly, placing a hand on his chest gingerly and pushing myself to stand on my tiptoes. I was hoping Mingi would get the idea and thankfully he did. His strong hands embraced me one last time as we shared a kiss. Nothing lustful or suggestive. A light, sweet, tender kiss.

“Have a good morning Mingi.” I said finally as we broke the kiss and I ran off towards the dorm doors.

“Tell me EVERYTHING!” A shrill voice echoed throughout the whole room as Renel surprised me at the door. My heart nearly burst out of my chest.

“Girl, sit down. You’re gonna love this!”

~The End~

#SoundCloud #song mingi #mingi #ateez #ateez fanfic #ateez smut #ateez x reader #Ateez tattoo #Mingi’s a tattoo artist #fanfiction #smut #mingi smut #song Mingi smut #the song of from Alpha I’m sorry but I just really love this song for sexy situations I can’t help it #it’s just sex #fluffy #this is really only for Lisa

[kvrokasaa]

6:05am

Rindou x fem!reader

cw: implied fighting, fluff, ooc rindou, a mention of ran

This is in a college setting, but a lot of flashback lmfao

1k words

The walk to the campus was a long one. Every day you had to walk from your dorm to your class, but it was worth it. The reason being a boy. One that you went to high school with, but you're sure he doesn't even know your name.

He always seems so laid back and chill, something you wish you could accomplish. With having anxiety, everything always has a bad outcome in your mind. It was like ying-yang with you both.

Back in high school, you always managed to find yourself staring at him. He wasn't subtle in classes either with his blonde hair and blue highlights.

Honestly, you used to hate him and his stupid brother. Both of them were known as troublemakers, always getting into fights and always giving people attitude. But it wasn't a hate that you could describe. It was more along the lines of jealousy.

He always managed to be care-free. He could do anything he wanted, but you couldn't. You had to be the daughter that got the good grades, the good student who never talked unless spoken to. And when you saw how he didn't even care about what he said, how he was always late to class but still managed to get good grades. You wanted to scream, you wanted to cry, but you couldn't.

It's not fair, that's what you always told yourself.

But over the years of high school, you realized that he was actually a good person. It took you by surprise when you first noticed. A new student was lost and accidentally bumped into him, and instead of lashing out or doing anything of the sort, he guided them to their class.

When he volunteered to help with the first years, when he went with the class to pick up trash in the park, when he helped a girl get away from a guy who was being weird.

You noticed all of it, and every time he helped someone, you couldn't help but smile. But you were too scared to talk to him.

So, you watched him from afar. You wished you could have just talked to him, to at least thank him for helping you get out of your mind.

But when graduation neared, you knew you had no chance to. You had to graduate and go to medical school for your family. You didn't even want to be a doctor, or even a nurse. You wanted to be free, do something that made you feel like yourself again.

Rindou helped with that, in his own way. He never told you to be free, he never encouraged you through his words, but his actions. Your voice came back thanks to him.

And now here you are, walking to your class. Hoping that Rindou was in your class today.

You didn't pick this class because of him; it was a coincidence. But it made you happy that you knew at least someone in your class.

Your head was down as you were taking your seat in class, unpacking your bag and bringing your computer out. What you didn't expect was for someone to place a cup of coffee on your desk.

Your head shot up and you saw Rindou. He had his head turned with his hand on the nape of his neck, rubbing it a little.

"You look tired, drink."

You inspected the cup and realized that it was your favorite coffee. You don't even know how he managed to find out what your favorite coffee was.

"Oh, uhm- thank you," your voice was quiet and timid. You didn't know what to say, only a thank you should surfice.

You thought that would be the end of it, he would walk back to his seat and pull out his headphones, something he always did to pass time. But instead, he sat next to you, your knees brushing against each other.

His hand reached out and found itself onto your cheek. "You need to sleep more."

You could only hope he didn't feel the heat from your cheeks or hear your racing heart. Did he see you studying last night in the library?

"You never slept well in high school either. Bad habit." His voice was soft, as if he spoke any louder, he would break the tension between you two.

You could only let your eyes fall down to the floor. What were you supposed to do in this situation? Your crush of three years is currently rubbing your cheek and whispering next to you.

"How did you know it was my favorite?" He knew what you were asking about, your coffee.

But he only avoided the question. How could he tell you that he asked the cashier what you liked after showing them several pictures of you.

To be honest, Rindou always noticed you in classes. He admired your hard work, how you were always quiet, yet when one of your friends were in trouble you would be intimidating. He admired how much you cared.

He would always notice how you would always leave a little bit of food behind the school building for the stray cats. He couldn't take his eyes off you.

But you always avoided him, never talked to him. He thought you were scared of him, he believed that you heard the rumors, that he was in a gang, and he killed.

But then he started noticing how you watched him, your little smiles when he helped someone. So, he started to help more. Even though his brother teased him when he helped, he would still do it. Just so he could see your smile.

He started to notice how burnt out you were, he saw how much you studied, and he saw how you pushed people away when things got hard for you. He hated that. He hated that he couldn't see your smile anymore. He hated that he could see the dark circles under your eyes.

He wanted to help, he wanted to do anything he could just to see you smile again. But he still thought you were scared of him.

But then he heard about the rumors involving you. How your parents were overachievers and wanted the same with you. How you couldn't bear the feeling of falling behind.

He hated that he couldn't help you. So, instead of scaring you, he would leave little things in your locker. Coffee, notes, extra supplies, sometimes even a rose.

Rindou tried his hardest to make you happy again, and bit by bit, day by day, he started to see your smile again.

The sun shined on your face, illuminating your features. You looked so ethereal to him.

He grabbed a strand of your hair and brought it closer to his face.

"So beautiful," he whispered under his breath. You couldn't hear him, he knew that. He doesn't want you to know how much he likes you, how much he adores you. Not yet.

I don't know what this is lmfao. But yay a Rindou post

your honor, I love him

#rindou haitani #rindou x reader #tokyo revengers rindou #tr rindou #haitani rindou #haitani brothers #haitani ran #tokyo revengers sanzu #tokyo revengers #i love him #i love him so much

[nico-is-typing]

"Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation", a guide

Notes:

The chapter summaries were written by the author and translated by the staff at the Mo Dao Zu Shi Wiki. This "guide" serves as a simplified overview.

To make it easier to access the information, this is divided into novel volumes. Aside from the list of chapters, and respective summaries, at the end you can find ALL FLASHBACKS (for people who, like myself, dislike flashbacks and need a previous warning).

Volume 1

Prologue

Wei Wuxian has died!

1. Reincarnation

Wei Wuxian is reincarnated into someone else's body.

2. The Intractable

Part 1: Wei Wuxian makes a scene in front of Gusu Lan disciples. Part 2: Evil spirit comes Part 3: Battle corpses

3. The Prideful

Part 1: I have a little donkey that I never ride Part 2: Wangji's long-awaited arrival Part 3: After washing my face, found out I was actually pretty handsome Part 4: Soul-eating woman Part 5: I am taking this person back to the Lan Clan

4. The Elegant Flirt

Part 1: Overbearing Hanguang-jun's crazy little escaping wife??? Part 2: Inviting death by crawling into his bed Part 3: First meeting as schoolmates Part 4: I hate you Part 5: Inviting death by provoking him Part 6: Teasing this Goody-two-shoes Part 7: Water spirit, loquat, muahh! Part 8: Rabbit, taking a beating, bye-bye!

5. The Sunny Pair

Part 1: Leaving the mountain to elope!!! Part 2: The husband duo leaves the mountain Part 3: Caressing your hand, huzzah! Let's go to a darker place together...╭(′▽`)╭(= =)╯ Part 4: Man-Eating Ridge

6. The Malevolent

Part 1: Rotten luck Part 2: Coming out alive Part 3: Nonchalantly shedding fake identity + princess carry Part 4: Unveiling the secret of the Man-Eating Ridge of Qinghe Part 5: Aaaahhhhh! What else is buried in the walls?!

7. The Morning Dew

Part 1: Come~~ be happy~~ let's drink wine~~ Part 2: "Sir, what's your last name?" "It's... Lan" Part 3: The extermination of the Chang clan, gravedigger, summoning Wen Ning again Part 4: Lan Zhan... is drunk......... Part 5: "You were so wild last night, Hanguang-jun"

Volume 2

8. The Stalk of Grass

Part 1: Foggy ghost city Part 2: Paper effigies Part 3: Paper effigy shop and sticky rice porridge Part 4: Who's outside the door? Bamboo pole clacks Part 5: Who are you, and who are you? Who the f**k are you guys really? Part 6: Secrets start unveiling Part 7: Yi City's story Part 8: Frost Blood Parts 9: Trash Yang incites the wrath of heaven and people Part 10: The husband duo decapitates Trash Yang, Xing-Lan-Qing gets sorted out, Yi City Arc complete

9. The Allure

Part 1: Wangji drunkenly hits Wen Ning, Xiao-Wanjun binds Wei Ying at night Part 2: Special program: "Drunk" by Lan Wangji, "Interrogation" by Wei Wuxian, "Kiss" joint performance Part 3: Take off my headband, you become mine!!!

10. The Beguiling Boy

Part 1: Headless man Part 2: Secret room, head Part 3: The Venerated Triad Part 4: A mutual fan-turned-anti story Part 5: A mutual fan-turned-anti story, complete

Volume 3

11. Supreme Courage

Part 1: Previous life Part 2: The beast at the end of the deep cavern Part 3: Wicked beast and biting Wan-jun, piggyback leads to heart aflutter Part 4: Tease. Flirt. Escape. Bite. Yell. Wail~ Part 5: Kill after finishing teasing, tease after finishing killing.

12. Sandu: The Three Poisons

Part 1: A storm is brewing Part 2: All hell breaks loose. A great slap Part 3: Upheaval at home Part 4: Wen Ning Part 5: Dead end

13. Ill Winds

Part 1: Rise of the evil and charming wickification Part 2: Continuing that rise of evil and charming wickification

14. Soft

Part 1: Inseparably in love Part 2: Sinister melody Part 3: Set out Part 4: Pouncing into a grass pile is a type of romance Part 5: Dig graves and eat melon Part 6: Crusade against

15. Peony for the Soon Departed

Part 1: Everyone, I like flashbacks Part 2: Shadow Part 3: Tossing flower from the balcony

Volume 4

16. The Unruly

Part 1: Crashing a feast Part 2: Defect

17. Distance

Part 1: Two people taking care of a little one together Part 2: Goodbye my love

18. Night Flight

Part 1: Wei Wuxian, lifelong anti-fan of Jin Zixuan, says "I won't troll Jin Zixuan for a year" Part 2: Wickification maxed Part 3: Die with her, everyone!

19. Core of the Truehearted

Part 1: Flashback ends, back to the present Part 2: Unmask Part 3: The crowd of corpses at Burial Mounds Part 4: Battle against the fierce corpses Part 5: A-Yuan, A-Yuan Part 6: Blinding the children by showing off Part 7: Spilling secret Part 8: Don't you know? Once you have a boyfriend, you must take him to see where you grew up Part 9: Pay respect towards heaven, saving mutual salute between couples for later Part 10: The truth behind the golden core Part 11: Jiang Cheng is shook

20. Day and Night

Part 1: Stealing lotus pods Part 2: One inn, one room Part 3: One is handsome, one is charming, therefore they should do something Part 4: Drunken Ji Part 5: Stealing jujube and chicken Part 6: Love bathing Part 7: Overthink Part 8: Now Wei Wuxian can't leave Lan Wangji

Volume 5

21. Hensheng: To Hate Life

Part 1: Time to beat Yao-meimei Part 2: Discipline whip scars Part 3: Confession Part 4: Rescue failed Part 5: I'm sorry. I broke my word. Part 6: But, those are all things in the past Part 7: It is all you guys' fault Part 8: Boss's dignity Part 9: All gathered in one hall

22. Hidden Edge

Part 1: Everyone fights older Nie together Part 2: Nie Mingjue f**k you #%@&#*&@ Part 3: Seal the coffin Part 4: Everyone has their own path

23. Wangxian: Forgetting Envy

Part 1: Every day is every day Part 2: Sweet Part 3: The ballad of Wangxian was as long as the journey here, now the song has ended but the couple are together at last

Extras

Family Banquet

Part 1: Honeymoon, going back to check up on Hubby's family (○｀3′○） Part 2: Honeymoon, day-to-day accounts Part 3: Daily lives of the lovey-dovey husband duo

The Incense Burner

Part 1: Let's gather around and watch Er-gege's () dream Part 2: Yiling Patriarch Xian vs Young Wangji, KO

Villainous Friends

The daily lives of the evil duo, committing crimes and wiping evidence

Gate Crasher

Part 1: A small night-hunt after Wangxian goes into seclusion Part 2: Catching creatures with Sizhui Part 3: You're a virgin? :P

The Iron Hook

Part 1: Patriarch's night-hunt course Part 2: Second night-hunt notes

Lotus Seeds

Summertime of youth

Yunmeng

A dream among clouds, a dream come true

From Dawn till Dusk

Cuddling and grading papers

Flashbacks

Vol. 1

From "The Elegant Flirt, Part 3" to "The Elegant Flirt, Part 8"

Flashback to the beginning of the Cloud Recesses' Arc. Includes: Wei Wuxian and Lan Wanji's first meeting at around fifteen years old.

Between "The Morning Dew, Part 2" and "The Morning Dew, Part 3"

Lan Wangji (re)tells the story of Xiao Xingchen and the massacre of the Yueyang Chang Clan.

Vol. 2

From "The Stalk of Grass, Part 6" to "The Stalk of Grass, Part 9"

Past memories, from performing Empathy on A-Qing (ghost) Includes: The expanded story of Xiao Xingchen, A-Qing, Xue Yang, and Song Lan; What is really happening in Yi City.

In "The Allure, Part 3"

Minor flashback to the archery contest, at the Qishan Wen Clan's Discussion Conference. Includes: One of the first forehead-ribbon incidents

From "The Beguiling Boy, Part 3" to "The Beguiling Boy, Part 5"

Past memories, from Nie Mingjue (non-consensual Empathy) Includes: Meng Yao's back story; A look into sworn-brotherhood; What really happened to Nie Mingjue?

Vol. 3

From "Supreme Courage, Part 1" to "III Winds, Part 2"

Flashback to Wei Wuxian's first life. Includes: Nightless City Arc (Wen Clan of Qishan); Burial Mounds, the first appearance; The demise of Wen Chao; Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji realizing Wei WuxIan has changed.

From "Peony for the Soon Departed, Part 1" to "Peony for the Soon Departed, Part 3"

Flashback to Wei Wuxian's first life. Includes: Archery competition, the full story; A sneaky kiss; Jin Zixun being the worst.

Vol. 4

From "The Unruly, Part 1" to "The Unruly, Part 3"

Flashback to the "The Downfall of Wei Wuxian". Includes: Crashing the Jin banquet; Qiongqi Path (freeing the remnants of Qishan Wen Clan); Turning the Burial Mounds into a home; Cultivation World leaders start scheming; Jiang Cheng wants to fight.

From "Distance, Part 1" to "Distance, Part 2"

Flashback to the "The Downfall of Wei Wuxian" continues. Includes: Lan Wangi visiting the Burial Mounds; Accidentally adopting a child together; "Rich-gege"; Jiang Yanli is a bride now.

From "Night Flight, Part 1" to "Night Flight, Part 3"

Flashback to the "The Downfall of Wei Wuxian" continues. Includes: Wei Wuxian tries to be a good uncle; Ambush at Qiongqi Path; R.I.P Jin Zixuan and good-riddance Jin Zixun; The Wen siblings surrender; Wei Wuxian says goodbye to his remaining sanity (Yanli deserved better); Bloodbath of Nightless City ensues.

There's no actual flashbacks in Vol. 5. Still, some of the Extras take place in the past.

#grandmaster of demonic cultivation #mdzs #mxtx #wangxian #mxtx mdzs

[tendaysofrain]

Random Stuff #14:  Cats in China--History (Part 2)

(Link to Part 1)

(Warning:  Very long post ahead with multiple pictures!)

Cats Becoming Pets

In the book Dreams of Splendor of the Eastern Capital (《 東京夢華錄 》), a memoir by Meng Yuanlao/孟元老 about life in the then “Eastern Capital” or Bianliang/汴梁 (today known as Kaifeng/开封, located in Henan province) in Northern Song dynasty (960 - 1127 AD), there was a section called “Miscellaneous Goods”, which revealed that there were special street vendors who sold horse feed, dog food, and of course, cat food and cat treats:

“If you kept horses, there were two people who sold hay daily; if you kept dogs, there were dog food being sold; if you kept cats then there were cat food and small fish”. (“若養馬，則有兩人日供切草；養犬則供餳糟；養貓則供貓食並小魚”)

Another book that shed light on this change in more concrete terms is Fleeting Dreams of Splendor (《夢粱錄》)--which as you can probably guess from the title, is a memoir modeled after Dreams of Splendor of the Eastern Capital, this time about life in Southern Song dynasty (1127 - 1279 AD) capital city Lin’an/臨安 (today known as Hangzhou/杭州, located in Zhejiang province).  In the book it was mentioned that people in the capital kept white or yellow long haired cats, called “lion cats”/獅貓, which couldn’t catch mice and were only kept for their looks, or in other words, these cats had become actual pets:

“People of the capital kept cats to catch mice, and the cats have long hair.  Those that were white or yellow were called ‘lion cats’, these cats could not catch mice and were kept because they looked beautiful”. (“貓，都人畜之捕鼠，有長毛。白黃色者稱曰「獅貓」，不能捕鼠，以為美觀”)

During Song dynasty, folk customs also developed around cat adoption.  Cat adoption, called pin/聘 or na/納, was treated like a “wedding” of sorts, complete with a “bride price” and a “marriage certificate” contract/契.  The “bride price”, of course, was paid to the family that the cat came from, and usually took the form of some salt (this act is called ”bringing salt”/裹鹽; historically salt is a valuable commodity) or some small fish skewered on a willow branch (called “buying fish and skewering with willow”/買魚穿柳 or simply “skewer of willow”/穿柳).  The contract, however, had quite a mysterious air about it and vaguely resembled a Daoist talisman:

^ Template of a cat contract, from Yuan-era (1271 - 1368 AD) book Newly Published Reference on Ying Yang and Selection of Dates/《新刊陰陽寶鑑剋擇通書》.  Top says “Cat Contract”/貓兒契式.  Content consists of a drawn picture of the cat in question at the center, and the terms of the contract written in a counterclockwise order that spiraled outwards from the picture of the cat, which read:

“A cat is Black Spots¹, it used to live before the bodhisattvas of the West, Sanzang² brought it home with him, and it has since been protecting Buddhist scriptures among the people.  The Offeror is Moujia³ , who is selling (this cat) to a certain neighbor.  All three parties⁴ has agreed upon the price of __, so __ will be returned as the contract finalizes.  May the Offerer become as wealthy as Shi Chong⁵, and as long-lived as Peng Zu⁶.  (From now on, the cat) Must patrol the grain storage diligently, and must catch rat thieves without slack.  (The cat) Must not harm the chickens and other livestocks, and must not steal any sort of food.  (The cat) Must guard the home day and night, and must not wander to the east or west.  If (the cat) breaks these terms and wanders off, it shall be punished in the courtyard.  __ year __ month __ day, Offeror __.”

The foot of the contract read:

”To evaluate a good tabby cat:  there must be stripes on the body, and the stripes on the limbs and tail must be just right”⁷

“King Father of the East⁸ see to it that (this cat) does not wander south”

“Queen Mother of the West⁸ see to it that (this cat) does not wander north”

“Received on a day blessed by the Eminent Benefactor of Heavenly Virtues and Eminent Benefactor of Lunar Virtues⁹”

“Returned on a day blessed by the Eminent Benefactor of Heavenly Virtues and Eminent Benefactor of Lunar Virtues”

Notes:  

“Black Spots”/黑斑:  placeholder cat name.

Sanzang/三藏 refers to Xuanzang/玄奘, as in the real life inspiration of the character Tang Sanzang/唐三藏 in Journey to the West.  It was widely believed that domestic cats had came to China from India with traveling Buddhist monks, and that they were protecting the scriptures from damage by rodents.  

“Moujia”/某甲:  placeholder human name.

“Three parties”:   Offeror, Offeree, and Witness.

Shi Chong/石崇 was an extremely wealthy official during Western Jin dynasty (266 - 316 AD) who loved to compete with others over who was the wealthiest.  

Peng Zu/彭祖 is a figure in legend and a Daoist immortal who had lived for 700 years according to legend.)

This is part of the practice of evaluating cats based on looks, called xiangmao/相貓.  

King Father of the East/東王公 and Queen Mother of the West/西王母 are gods of Yang and Yin respectively.  

Eminent Benefactor of Heavenly Virtues/天德貴人 and Eminent Benefactor of Lunar Virtues/月德貴人 are deities representing celestial objects, and are part of the Four Pillars of Destiny/四柱命理 concept in Chinese astrology, where basically different days and times are presided over by different celestial objects and therefore different gods.  A day that is blessed by both of the aforementioned Eminent Benefactors is considered to be a very auspicious day.

As a cat owner, I could most definitely feel the helplessness and desperation emanating from this contract.  Invoking deities in the hopes that the cat will do its job, not destroy stuff, and not simply run away......I’m sure many cat owners throughout the ages and across the world could sympathize with this sentiment.  The special emphasis that was placed on keeping the cat from running away was probably because back then, people lived in residences that consisted of buildings surrounding a courtyard in the middle (for example, a siheyuan/四合院), so it was extremely easy for cats to run out of the residence and become lost.

Anyways......back to history.

Song-era poets wrote many poems about cats, and both Song-era and Yuan-era painters painted many works about cats (which I will cover in my next posts!).  At the same time, cats were painted in Song-era tomb murals along with sparrows as a sign of longevity, since cats are māo/猫 and sparrows are què/雀, and when said together they sound like the word mào qí/耄耆, which means “elderly people”.

^ Tomb mural depicting a tabby cat with a sparrow in its mouth.  From a Northern Song-era tomb discovered in Dengfeng, Henan.

Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644 AD) emperors were also big-time cat lovers.  Of note were Emperor Xuanzong of Ming/明宣宗 (personal name Zhu Zhanji/朱瞻基), who painted cats, and Emperor Shizong of Ming/明世宗 (better known as Jiajing Emperor/嘉靖帝), who reportedly loved his cat Frosty Brows/霜眉/Shuangmei (I swear this name sounds a lot more artsy in Chinese) so much that he bestowed the title of Qiulong/虯龍 (note:  Qiulong is a type of Chinese dragon that is either defined as horned or hornless depending on the source) upon it, and when Frosty Brows died, he ordered a tomb be constructed just for his cat, then ordered high-ranking officials to write eulogies for Frosty Brows:

“During Jiajing Emperor’s reign, there was a cat in the palace whose fur was slightly blue-ish except the glowing white brows, so it was named ‘Frosty Brows’.  This cat understood His Majesty well, and when His Majesty went somewhere in the palace or visited a consort, it would walk ahead and lead the way.  While His Majesty slept, it would stay nearby.  His Majesty adored it the most.  When it died, His Majesty ordered it be laid to rest at the shady side of Mt. Wansui (today called Jingshan/景山), and a stone stele was to be erected marking its grave as ‘The Grave of Qiulong’”. (嘉靖中，禁中有貓，微青色，惟雙眉瑩潔，名曰“霜眉”。善伺上意，凡有呼召或有行幸，皆先意前導。伺上寢，株橛不移。上最憐愛之。後死，敕葬萬歲山陰，碑曰‘虯龍塚’)

-- Old Rumors Under the Sun, “Within the Palace of Ming Part 3″/《日下舊聞考·宮室·明三》

“Later when a lion cat of the Palace of Eternal Longevity died, His Majesty grieved and ordered it be laid to rest at the shady side of Mt. Wansui in a coffin of gold, then ordered the senior officials to write eulogies and a funeral ritual be done, so the cat’s soul may achieve transcendence.  However because the prompt seemed awkward, most of the senior officials could not perform at their usual levels, only the Scholar of Rites Yuan Weiwen came up with such words as ‘the lion metamorphosed into a dragon’, which delighted His Majesty”.  (“最後西苑永壽宮有獅貓死，上痛惜之，為製金棺葬之萬壽山之麓，又命在直諸老為文，薦度超升。俱以題窘不能發揮，惟禮侍學士袁煒文中有「化獅成龍」等語，最愜聖意”)

-- Compiled Rumors of Wanli Era, Chapter 2/《萬曆野獲編·卷二》

^ A Nebelung cat (image source).  According to the description above, Frosty Brows probably looked like this cat but with white markings above the eyes.  RIP Frosty Brows, you shall be remembered.

Of course, Frosty Brows wasn’t the only pet cat in the palace.  According to Moderate Records/《酌中志》, a book that’s mostly about life in Ming-era imperial palace (which is the same as the Palace Museum today), there was a special place called the “House of Cats”/貓兒房 that employed 3-4 servants just to take care of the cats that were favored by the emperor.  These cats even had titles and nicknames:  un-neutered male cats were called xiaosi/“小廝”/”lads”, neutered male cats were called laoye/”老爺”/“old men”, female cats were called yatou/”丫頭“/”gals”, and cats with titles were called maoguanshi/”貓管事”/“cat butlers” .

Speaking of royal kitties that left their names in history, Emperor Qianlong (1711 - 1799 AD) of Qing dynasty commissioned a series of paintings of his cats from the court painter and Jesuit missionary Ignatius Sichelbart (also known by his Chinese name 艾啟蒙/Ai Qimeng), and this series of 10 paintings were collectively known as 《貍奴影》, or “Cat Images” (li/“貍” or linu/“貍奴” are both archaic names for cats).  Here is a Douyin video of these 10 paintings and the names of these 10 royal felines, translation courtesy of @rongzhi​.

The Ins and Outs of Feline Ownership

By Qing dynasty (1636 - 1912 AD), there were two encyclopedia-like books specifically about cats, called The Compendium About Cats/《貓苑》 and The History of Cats/《貓乘》 respectively, which were extensive compilations of records and mentions of cats from older texts, including everything from folktales about cats to cat behavior to how to take care of cats, which served as guides for new cat owners back then.  Although cat owners today have much more reliable and scientific sources on how to take care of cats (***Please keep in mind:  this post is for fun!  If you have any questions regarding the health of your cat, please ask your local veterinarian!***), books like these still provide an interesting glimpse into how cat owners of old went about taking care of their cats.  Here I will be presenting a few passages from The Compendium About Cats/《貓苑》 that I found to be pretty cool or interesting:

How people used to bring cats back home and litter train them:

“The way to adopt cats:  use a dou¹ or a bucket, and carry it in a cloth sack.  Once you reach the home of the previous owner, ask them for a single chopstick, then put both cat and chopstick in the bucket inside the sack to bring them back home.  Should you encounter potholes on the way back, you must fill the pothole with rocks before passing over it.  Upon arriving back home, take the cat along to worship the household stove god and greet the resident dog.  When you are done, take the chopstick and stick it in a mound of dirt in the yard, then tell the cat to never urinate or defecate inside, but still allow the cat to sleep on the bed.  This way the cat will not run away”. (“納貓法，用斗或桶，盛以布袋，至家討著一棍，和貓盛桶中攜回。路遇溝缺，須填石以過，使不過家，從吉方歸。取貓拜堂灶及犬畢，將箸橫插於土堆上，令不在家撒屎，仍使上床睡，便不走徃”)

How people thought neutering changed behavior:

“Male cats must be neutered to blunt its might, so their toughness may be softened, and they will soon become plump and friendly”.  (“公貓必閹殺其雄氣，化剛為柔，日見肥善“)

What to feed cats and what not to feed cats:

“Cats will grow sturdy when fed eel, and will grow plump when fed pork liver.  However if cats are fed too much meat broth, it will give them intestinal issues”.  (“猫食鳝则壮，食猪肝则肥，多食肉汤则坏肠”)

“Catnip”:

“Cats will become inebriated after eating mint²”... “Mint is the alcohol of cats, as such the leaves are fresh and relaxing”.  (“貓食薄荷則醉”...“貓以薄荷為酒，故葉清逸”)

Treatment for fleas:

“When a cat has fleas, mash up peach tree leaves and chinaberry tree roots, boil the paste into a warm brew and bathe the cat in it to kill the fleas; otherwise rubbing camphor tree shavings over the cat also works”.  (“貓生虱，桃葉與楝樹根搗爛，熱湯泡洗，虱皆死，樟腦末擦之亦可”)

Notes:

Dou/斗 (here pronounced dǒu), was historically a type of container that was originally for wine, and then became an apparatus used to measure volume (particularly for grains), so dou also doubled as a unit of volume.  This unit of volume can be traced back to at least the Warring States period (770 - 221 BC), but is considered archaic today and could only be found in chengyu and other sayings that originated in history (ex:  升斗小民, “sheng and dou commoners”; since both sheng and dou are relatively small units of volume that ordinary people used in day-to-day life, this chengyu was and is still used to imply “ordinary people”).

“Mint” or “薄荷” here is likely just a species of mint.  However, catnip (Nepeta cataria) is a member of the mint family, and its native range seems to span much of Eurasia, including parts of China, so it’s unclear exactly which member of the mint family this text is referring to.

Cats in the Age of the Internet

Thanks to scientific and technological advances, many people no longer adopt cats to keep rodents away, but keep them solely as companions.  However, being our feline overlords, cats require a lot of affection, attention, service, and commitment from their humans, thus giving rise to the playfully self-mocking terms of "official(s) of poop-scooping”/铲屎官/chanshiguan and “slave(s) of cat(s)”/猫奴/maonu, while cats are called “cat master(s)”/猫主子/maozhuzi due to their seemingly volatile moods and behavior.  People even imagined that cats were aliens from another planet called the “Planet Meow”/“喵星” who came to Earth to conquer humans with their cute appearance, thus giving rise to the term “Meowish”/“喵星人”, meaning “inhabitant of Planet Meow”.  A cat who raises its hind leg up straight to lick its backside is described as “sending signals back to the mother planet (Planet Meow)”, and a common euphemism for a cat passing away is “(the cat) has returned to Planet Meow”.  

^ An inhabitant of Planet Meow sending signals back to its mother planet.

Another common internet slang for the act of kissing, sniffing, or hugging a cat out of adoration is “sniffing cat”/“吸猫”/ximao.  As some might notice, the term subtly and playfully draws a parallel between the addictive aspect of cuddling with a cat and the addictiveness of illicit drugs.  Finally, because 喵 (miāo), the character for “meow”, is a homophone of 妙 (miào), the character that can mean “great”, on videos where there are cats meowing clearly, you can see barrage comments from many people asking questions like “how is my exam going to go” or “how is my job interview going to go”, as a playful way of wishing for things to go smoothly in the near future.  

^ Some examples of these barrage comments, with people asking “how is my job interview score”, “how is my luck in the future”, “am I going to be accepted into Tsinghua University”.  Video from Bilibili.

And that is all for the history of cats in China!  In Part 3 and Part 4 I will cover famous paintings about cats and poems of cats, and these posts will be coming out within the next two weeks, stay tuned!

#cats #chinese history #chinese culture #chinese folklore #internet culture #cat #history #random stuff

[tsams-confessions]

Shit my first time doing this, uhhhh-

OK so! I've been watching tsams since the end of August of 2023 and honestly, I don't know what the fuck is going on at this point!

I stopped watching gaming vids (with some exceptions) just so I can focus on the lore and I am still lost! I forget details very easily myself, so when somebody points out something from a video (especially an older one), I'm like : "oh shit, for real?" 'cuz I don't know how to react otherwise-

But I also notice a few details during lore episodes (especially older ones) that (just maybe) we're forgottened by accident? Or something?? Maybe it's intentional that they're left alone and never spoken about again? I don't know. Sometimes, it does tie back to a certain event or a thing a character has said but doesn't always get executed properly in the show-

And so I have detached myself from these characters for the most part because of this and decided to just listen to the people making theories here and ONLY watch the lore vids. I have agreed in the past and even now that Eclipse deserves redemption and it's so irritating how in the story he's still shown acting the exact same way with no development! In the present, I get why he's like this, cuz he's a copy, but also: HE'S A COPY! Does that make sense?! He could change cuz he ain't the same old guy; but it isn't surprising if he DOESN'T either! He was built to act like his original. Use the same old bad habits that he 'remembers' doing once..

..But it would be so interesting if, somewhere in the future, he cracks a little and shows something more different! Maybe he's too insane for that to happen now and he's mainly trying to do what he's already familiar with from the get-go still. You see this sort of behaviour in other characters too. But still; I think it would be so cool and would add nuance to him (current version) that he isn't all just evil and/or insane (ying yang bullshit) and has no chance to change AT ALL!

Also, no more new characters I think (there's too many)! The current ones should already be focused on more instead of adding new ones for the sake of angst and stuff and at such a quick pace! Their dynamics, habits, everything should be further explored more (with less drama and better/more development instead)! It would add so much detail to the full picture instead of doing it like this!! That doesn't mean I don't want a new character to make sense of the narrative or help it, it's just that it gets so chaotic so fast (physically in their life and the stuff around them)! Or maybe that's just me idk.

I haven't checked every corner of this fandom and I don't plan to either. Too much stuff going on. I'm sure others will either agree or disagree with me. Maybe both. Doesn't mean it isn't fun to watch/participate in sometimes! It just gets too dramatic at one point when it's all fictional characters in a fictional world and, apparently, artists are getting flunked over by other fans for certain ships and/or opinions and headcanons which is not good! So yeah... (other people have talked about it already so I won't go into further detail myself).

This was nice doing at 2:32 in the morning by the way, it's refreshing! I'll probably do it again in the future.

(maybe not at this hour hopefully and with an english test ahead that I haven't studied for properly cuz I'm a massive dummy :">)

10/10, would recommend!

.

#the sun and moon show #sun and moon show #tsams #sams #tsams confession #< block this if you dont want to see these #mod 4bones

[mxtxfanatic]

Do you have any posts about all the things the people who use demonic cultivation have in common?

I’m not sure I can explain it properly, but I came away from the book thinking that all the people who used demonic cultivation (either directly or through the Yin Tiger Tally) are very similar to one another in terms of their trauma, background, and status as cultivators.

They all have quite traumatic upbringings, either living on the streets for some time or otherwise mistreated as part of the serving class. While they end up with some form of sect alliance, they are only ever half accepted, with their common parentage being brought up quite often. They’re all stuck living on that razor edge of not quite acceptability.

It makes me think that demonic cultivation represents or reflects that sort of traumatic razor’s edge position. (Appropriate when they are literally using resentment).

The major difference between the demonic cultivators is how they decide to use the trauma they’ve been stuck with. Wei Ying does his best to channel it towards protecting people, while trying to minimize harm to the innocent (though some “splash damage” is inevitable), while Xue Yang and Jin Guangyao use it as an excuse to hurt others with impunity (trying to drag the whole world down with them if they must).

Hopefully I’ve made sense.

Hate to say it, but the only demonic cultivator in the text is Xue Yang. Wei Wuxian does not cultivate with mo (living humans) but gui (dead humans), which is why his cultivation is called the ghost path. A better wording would be about who strays from the orthodox path of cultivating, but even then, all of the “righteous” cultivation clans would fall under this because they use Wei Wuxian’s inventions that they stole after his death. Speaking just on the characters listed, though, Xue Yang uses living humans by turning them into living corpse puppets, making him a demonic cultivator, but he also still uses a sword and his golden core, meaning he never left the orthodox cultivation path.

Other than both being street orphans taken in by major clans as kids, Wei Wuxian and Xue Yang have nothing in common. Wei Wuxian had a moral code that he followed even on the street, while Xue Yang didn’t and made a name for himself being a terror before he became a cultivator. When they become cultivators, it is only Wei Wuxian who is disparaged for his background. Nobody ever calls Xue Yang a servant, insults his parentage, or treats him less than courteously, from what we are shown in the text, until he massacres the Chang Clan. He is a guest of the Jin, therefore making him practically untouchable. Now, bringing Jin Guangyao into this, yes he was disparaged in the beginning, but he was definitely accepted once he climbed his way into the clan leader position. People stopped bringing up his past and parentage due to it, because now he was in an accepted and traditional position of power.

The story isn’t about how the type of cultivation one uses represents a theme or says something about the person using it (other than the demonic cultivation because that one says a lot about Xue Yang who created it); it’s about how any cultivation path, orthodox or not, can be used for good or evil and what really matters is to look at the character of the person. Xue Yang and Jin Guangyao are greedy bastards who want to be universally feared (the former) and worshipped (the latter), and will sacrifice anyone or anything that goes against their plans to attain power. They both use sword cultivation to achieve these goals, even if they use other tools to aid. Xue Yang turns to demonic cultivation because he is not clever or powerful enough to use the ghost path as effectively as Wei Wuxian does nor does he have empathy or care for the living or dead which is necessary for the ghost path, so he takes shortcuts with horrific (intended) consequences, instead. Wei Wuxian made his name exclusively with the ghost path and only did so by doing what was right. But only Wei Wuxian was reviled for it until the very end.

In short, mxtx doesn’t write stories where you can use characters’ identities and backgrounds as shorthand for moral lessons. So while all three characters had their traumas and bad encounters with the “righteous” established cultivation clans, Xue Yang and Jin Guangyao are villains because they ultimately believed in the same system that abused them and, thus, strove to uphold it so that they could benefit from that power to oppress others, while Wei Wuxian is the hero for challenging that system and rejecting it for its corruption.

#mdzs asks #anon #idk which translation you read #but the original raw and the exr translation both call wwx’s cultivation gui dao/ghost path #other translations fuck up that distinction though and so i get the confusion #wwx never calls his cultivation ‘demonic’ #and the only other characters who do do so to disparage him

[houseoflibra-if]

What kind of people are the ROs naturally drawn to? What kind of people are actually good for them?

Hello!

I believe I've answered something similar before, so I'll answer these questions in a simple manner if you don't mind.

People the ROs are naturally drawn to:

A: Someone who is friendly, yet they only have a few true friends. A is particular about friendships, so they appreciate people like these who handpick their friends carefully.

C: Someone quiet, but they don't necessarily have to be shy. C enjoys talking/annoying these kind of people, but they do wish to have a sincere relationship with them (platonically or romantically).

E: Surprisingly, they're drawn towards extroverted people. It's similar to a ying yang situation, as E is more on the aloof side. I guess these people give them a sense of balance.

N: Quite specific, but they're attracted to people with kind eyes. As N is a hybrid of sorts, they have senses that are out of human reach. As such they take great comfort being in the presence of those with eyes that speak more than words.

As for what people are good for them, I think there was a post on this. You'd probably have to scroll down a bit, but I think I answered a similar question there. In general, people with good hearts and a patient personality are good for all of them. 👍

#house of libra resurgemus #interactive fiction #twine if #interactive game #ask #ro #ro:nyoka #ro:castora/castor #ro:esme/esmeray #ro:avira/aurelius

[veliseraptor]

Listen Jiang Fengmian doesn't know his ass from his elbow he is fully capable of bringing home the first kid savvy enough to lie to him.

someone else mentioned this in the comments of that post (about how xue yang could end up with the jiangs instead of wei wuxian) and then you sent this and you're not actually necessarily wrong. i don't actually think jfm is actually stupid but dude probably at the very least has no idea what the kid he's looking for looks like, one misheard syllable and a quick-witted xue yang knowing an opportunity when he sees one and we do have an opportunity

(obviously we are completely ignoring timeline fuckiness here, or rather embracing cql timeline fuckiness)

the thing is though I think growing up in this environment, as toxic as the jiang family issues are, would make a huge difference in how xue yang turns out/what his future looks like. I think he would feel a certain level of gratitude to the jiang for saving him from a much harder life, and I think growing up as part of a community (as opposed to largely on his own and fending for himself) would change at least some things about his perspective on the world and how to behave with other people. at the very least it gives him some experience with the concept of "people doing things for you because they care about you" before he's gone too far down the murder road.

I've always said that I think that, while it wouldn't come easily or naturally to him, Xue Yang can learn prosocial behaviors, given positive reinforcement/incentive. I doubt he and Jiang Cheng would ever get along well - the clash of personalities is pretty intense and Xue Yang does not let things roll off him the way Wei Wuxian does (or at least performs to), but at the same time I think Xue Yang could see Jiang Cheng as sort of His to piss off and bother and provoke in a way that would immediately make him turn on a common enemy in a pinch. he'd adore Jiang Yanli, though.

as far as Yu Ziyuan goes...he'd be too aware of the power dynamics involved, I think, to ever openly show his feelings (or, god forbid, act on them), but he would hate her. especially if we're post-finger smashing (which I kind of like the idea of), that's going to be even more intense, because that's also the point where I think Xue Yang really learns resentment in a real way. he respects her as a formidable force but he does not like her, and would not spit on her if she was on fire.

zero respect for Jiang Fengmian, though. right from the get-go. in this situation he would, after all, be the sucker who picked Xue Yang up instead of this "Wei Ying" kid he was actually looking for (and is there something about knowing that all of this isn't meant for him, not really? yeah, every once in a while when stories about "his" parents come up in particular).

anyway I'm going to be turning this over in my head for a while, this is an interesting concept that I'm now able take away from a really annoying post so thanks for that, anon

#conversating #anonymous #xue yang #aggressively headcanons #the sad queer cultivators show #what am i doing

[thebearer]

i feel like lip is the total health nut for everything. clean organic everything, food, laundry detergent, soap. EVERYTHING

i don't think he'd be all the way granola and crunchy, but maybe like a chewy kinda parent. like he won't go buy super overpriced (like wholefoods) organic type stuff, but is an avid aldi shopper bc it's fresh and discounted. doesn't just jam a poptart or bag of doritos towards them, actually makes decent and healthy snacks, but... will occasionally swing through mcdonald's for a happy meal. buys detergent free of scents and as clean as possible without it being too much, and always fragrance free soaps bc his kids have sensitive skin (or could, he doesn't want them to have a reaction to find out) but cleans the house with actual cleaners like lysol and such bc he knows it works (did for him as a kid at least). very much so a ying-yang type of balance for those sort of things.

#thebearer #bearblahs #dad!lip gallagher x mom!reader #dad!lip gallagher #lip gallagher #lip gallagher fluff #lip gallagher blurb #lip gallagher x reader #lip gallagher imagine #shameless #shameless us #lip gallagher x female reader #lip gallagher x you #lip x you #lip x reader

[ladykinrannoch]

I’m sorry I know you have an interest in tarot yourself but I’ve realized the tarot readers may be where all the nasty rumors are starting. There’s also one astrologer blog here saying there’s an upcoming storm for the Wales fandom, and the way this blog says it, it’s like something really ominous. I tend to be a pessimistic person who always thinks things are going to go badly, which is why I find it hard to brush it off when some random person on the internet is saying stuff like that as much as I just want to ignore it or brush it off as nonsense. I have to say I am not very good with differentiating between anxiety and intuition. I tend to be a bit paranoid. Idk if this is just paranoia, but I am scared for the coming days because of this particular blog’s warnings.

So this is an interesting observation and reminds me of a discussion we had at our Church of Wiccan Culture last week about living a spiritual life in the mundane world and one in which there are lots of muggles, and one of the most common tools we discussed was employing discernment. So this answer is not about tarot, it is about living in the divine light and how to do that! But this post also led me rather nicely into a Saturday Morning Tarot by Lady Kinrannoch. (skip to the end if you don't want to read the preamble)

As I foresaw and said to my then husband back in 2007 that it seemed to me that social media had the potential to become evil, in fact I asked him whether social media was possibly an aspect of Satan. This is long before I turned from institutional religion to embrace the Old Ways and Old Gods. Satan is a construct of organised religion, it is meant to keep you in line through fear and guilt. My journey to enlightenment started then as I began to embrace the aspects of me that always meant I felt like I did not fit in, and did not get answers in the bible or from religion. I started reading the Gnostic texts, explored Kabbalah, esoterism, hermeticism etc. and more and more I was drawn to Paganism or what we call The Wiccan Way. (please note that Paganism is an umbrella term and that not all Pagans are Wiccans, there are many denominations of earth-based religions that identify as Pagans)

Now Pagan's are naturally drawn to nature and all that was created by the Divine Mother. Not man-made interventions. We believe that Mother Nature/Earth (Gaia) has provided everything we need to survive and that with the assistance of the Old Gods, we can awaken the Divine inside us and manifest love and light. It is why we are often referred to as light workers. We do not believe in Satan, but we do believe in "good and evil", in the aspects of light and dark (in Eastern religion Ying/Yang). No one is all light, everyone has some dark or shadow aspect. The Old Gods across multiple pantheons have light and dark aspects and represent the various Archetypes in the same way that the Tarot Major Arcana represent the 22 main Archetypes. So the discussion was about how to identify when you move off the path of the light and begin to become overcome by the darkness. When people are overcome by the darkness, they tend to become toxic, cultist and abusive; or depressed, anxious and stuck in victim energy, sort of fatalistic, giving up and giving in to Fate. There are many dark cults that frequently get incorrectly associated with Paganism and it is important to use discernment to avoid dark cults. True Paganism is about celebrating nature and following the light, which is why we have many fire festivals among the Sabbats in the Wheel of the Year.

Now I think we see this dark aspect of social media manifesting more and more where various groups of people are pushing their various agenda's. Back in the days with no social media platforms, there is no way you would have managed to get 70 to 80% of a population vaccinated with a trial vaccines with numerous early-on discovered side effects. I am not a denialist, I know there was risk with Covid which it now seems was indeed bio-engineered as part of a global plan to seize totalitarian control. I decided early on that I would not comply, I searched the Old Ways and naturopathy for solutions. I started a regime of supplements that made sense to me. and was also recommended by the FLCCC in the US by Dr Kory and Dr Malik. I have never had Covid despite meeting up with people with Covid to give them IvermectIn (ivm) for themselves or sick relatives. I have access to IVM because I have a breeding and show kennel and so I could order it via veterinary dispensers. Through the pandemic, my staff and I took it every week. None of us got sick. We stopped taking it weekly when Omicron started (Mother Nature, Gaia's intervention). Now we use it whenever one of us is coming down with something. Just this week I felt I was coming down with the flu that is doing the rounds, I took one dose and the next day I was 100% fine again. I take my supplements every day and spend time in the Sun, at least 15 minutes with no sunscreen and visualise filling my body with healing vitamin D.

As you can imagine, I was called a conspiracy theorist. But I like asking the big What if questions. And I use discernment, scepticism and intuition in equal measure daily. I believe that despite none of my staff or I taking the vaccine, we never got sick. I see vaccinated colleagues every day, with all sorts of maladies, ranging from messed up menstrual cycles, all the way through to late term still birth, high blood pressure, blood clots, high blood pressure, septicaemia, heart attacks, auto immune diseases and turbo cancers. I have lost many dear friends over the last four years, all of them vaccinated and it absolutely breaks my heart.

The point to this long preamble ramble is presenting an example in how discernment, scepticism and intuition can play a role in your life if you tune into it and employ it. If you are feeling anxious and depressed by all that you are consuming on social media, perhaps it is time to question yourself about who you are following, what are you consuming, why you are giving your divine manifestation over to the control of others. For we as Pagans believe that the Divine is not out there in nebulous outer space, but that we are part of the Divine and the Divine lives in each one of us. We just need to awaken the Divine inside and listen in the stillness to that spark and that voice.

Anon, I suggest that your intuition is telling to you not to trust what you are consuming, use discernment, scepticism and intuition to decide who to unfollow and what to allow into your divine consciousness. Follow only those that are clearly on a path of spiritual enlightenment with no specific personal and/or dark agenda. Be sceptical. If you feel like something is rubbish, discard it. Don't allow unnecessary darkness into your soul. It is a choice to stand in the light and defeat darkness.

Reading - For Anon and for the Wales Family - Intuition, Commanding all Resources, Healing and Hope

For your benefit, I have done a short tarot spread for you. Just three cards for you to contemplate.

This is what I got:

Situation: The High Priestess, this is confirmation to me that you need to start trusting your intuition. This is also a card typically representing secrets. Not many tarot readers explore that meaning nearly deeply enough. This card's message is Explore your Spiritual Side.

Tarot is a pagan divination tool. For me, this card is also a message of guidance to seek out the secrets of the universe in the quest To Know, which is the first step in the Witches Pyramid. (To Know, To Dare, To Will, To be Silent and To Go). The pentacle is one of the suits in Tarot for a reason. It's five points also represents the four elements associated with tarot, Earth, Air, Fire and Water, with the pinnacle of the pentacle representing Spirit/Divine. I will put a link to an article at the end for those that want to read more.

What happens next: The Emperor, this is commanding and utilising all your talents and resources to bring order from chaos. It is telling me that you have tools to take command of your life and employ discernment. This links beautiful to To Will (manifest through commitment) and To Dare (to develop skills, to make courageous choices). This card's message is Take Control You Are Protected.

The Outcome: The Star, which in RW its core meaning is healing and hope. It is also for me about achieving balance in your life, turning to nature and the elements. Listening to the Divine and links quite beautifully to To be Silent (Introspection), for in the stillness of meditation you find answers. And also links to To Go (wisdom/higher self), to go within in search of the light and the dark, which increases your Knowing, and so repeatedly following this cycle increases intuition, healing and hope as well as growing your inner peace. You cannot know the Divine, until you Know Thyself. This card's message is Be Inspired Dreams Come True.

Underlying energy: Four of Swords, retreat and rest, take yourself away from social media for a while, avoid negativity, focus on goodness and follow the light until you feel better and stronger.

Other observations:

Three major arcana cards, this is absolutely beautiful energy and I don't think it is meant only for you. Three major arcana cards, means this is for everyone who is feeling just like you, anxious, depressed and paranoid.

Royal Reading - The Wales's

High Priestess: There is a reason there is a certain amount of secrecy currently, it doesn't mean we should feed into the dark speculation, but should rather trust our intuition and the divine mother who Knows All. We are being told that there are some people who cannot be trusted right now to know everything. I think this is Catherine, giving us a message. She is in a higher energy right now and following her intuition. Only she is in the Know, as it should be. This is the also the all knowing, wise mother archetype.

Emperor: William is in Emperor energy, he is giving us a message that he is very much in charge right now. So I feel this is him saying to us all "don't worry". Remember also this is King of Kings energy (The Emperor is higher than the four court Kings), and let us remember that William is the Summer Solstice King, brought to us to show us the light, and give us hope.

Star: There is a lot of hope for the future and healing for the family and I believe it will result in good news. I genuinely feel that we have nothing to fear. There is no ominous energy here. As I said it all beautiful and powerful energy.

Middle of the Deck: The Queen of Wands RX - that is who we should watch out for. The dark agenda. This truly is a fight between darkness and light. Wands is also media and PR. Discern the agenda around every piece of speculation in the media for it is all only speculation. This tells me the Wales's know more than we do about the agendas and it is a cautionary message from them, to do exactly what my preamble was about, practice discernment.

Four of Swords: Retreating to find strength and healing. We do not know all of what they are battling, just what we see in the dark media agenda and the attacks from the unenlightened. Remember that light always triumphs over darkness. This tells me that the Wales's withdrawal is for a very strategic reason. The Art of War reminds us that we "should not interrupt our enemies when they are making mistakes". Stand back and allow them to defeat themselves. Also find the light and strengthen yourself in order to overcome the darkness. So the Stand Back strategy as I am calling it is very deliberate.

https://exemplore.com/wicca-witchcraft/Witchcraft-for-Beginners-What-Is-The-Witches-Pyramid

#british royal family #royal reading #tarot #tarot by ladykinrannoch #prince william #princess of wales