lacie-crying-ruby

[lacie-crying-ruby]

Italian Lemon Ricotta Cake

by Chocolates & Chai

[lacie-crying-ruby]

Writing jam - Identity

Fae/yao nie Huaisang wants to paint with mortal memories. Meng can-not-forget-anything-ever Yao is willing to trade away some in exchange for money/medicine/something

He didn't actually have much hope of this working, but his throbbing ribs and left knee were a pointed reminder that nothing else he'd tried had worked either.

Holding the cheap, stolen brush tightly in both hands, he bowed to the pond that was the first source of still water he'd come across since leaving the city and sent out his desperate thoughts.

There was no clap of thunder or bright flash or rush of wind or... anything.

Disappointed despite himself, he straightened and opened his eyes-

-then stumbled back with a yelp when he found glowing pale green eyes staring back into his own from behind a white mask decorated in delicately intricate green and gold designs.

The owner of the eyes and masks laughed at his surprise, and she -He? Between the clothing and the type of mask, it was hard to tell- sounded surprisingly young for a creature with the reputation -he was going with he- he had.

The stranger was smaller than expected as well, almost identical to his own size.

"Well?" the stranger asked, folding his arms as he floated comfortably, almost lazily in the air. "Don't just stand there staring like a cow in a busy road. You're not a cow, you're a fox. So be a fox."

Right. He shook himself out of his shock and quickly started to bow again, but was caught with a hand under his arms.

"No need for that either, fox. Just tell me what you're here to trade for."

He swallowed hard. "This one is Meng Yao. My mother is Meng Shi, one of the workers in The Ornate Fan, a brothel in Yunping. My father is Jin Guangshan, head of the Jin Sect in Lanling."

"Ah. That one."

He raised his head, surprised by the tone of the stranger's voice. Even behind a mask, he could read the disdain there. "You know of my father, gongzi?"

It made sense, really. The supernatural creatures powerful enough to have higher thought would surely know and dislike the cultivators that hunted them. But there was just... something about the way the stranger had scoffed...

"He wants my services, but is too much of a greedy coward to pay for them himself. I haven't appeared to a Jin cultivator in years because most of them turned out to be sent by him."

Those entrancing eyes narrowed. "And what about you, fox? Did he send you as well?"

"In a manner of speaking," Meng Yao replied, not bothering to hide the bitterness he felt now that he knew they were on similar ground. "When my mother grew pregnant with me, he left her a token and a promise that she could call on him if it became necessary. She is too ill to make such a long journey from the brothel, so I did it for her."

"And got kicked out on your fluffy tail."

"Why do you keep- yes, my father had me quite literally thrown out after revealing the token had just been one of many fakes."

It was a long way down the stairs, he didn't say, but the way the stranger looked him over, he could tell it was apparent.

"Well, then. I guess the only question I have is which matters more: saving her or punishing him?"

"Saving her," he replied immediately. "I will find my own way of making him pay."

Green eyes crinkled in amusement. "Oh, I like you, fox. Very well."

The stranger held out a hand, but he hesitated, suddenly a bit self conscious about the poor quality of the brush he'd brought.

"The brush doesn't matter, only the other part."

Right. "What... sort of memories do I have to give you?"

"Whatever you're willing to part with, mostly. People who come for vengeance tend to give me almost all of the memories of the person they hate, but I really only need one."

So... one memory of his mother, plus some assorted others. That was a small price for what he was asking.

"Okay," he said, and handed over the brush.

The stranger took it, then lifted his chin with the fingertips of his other hand.

"Ooh," he breathed in delight. "Such vivid colors you have, fox. I'll be able to make something of very high quality out of you."

He probably should have been terrified by that, but instead the shiver that went up his spine was... not unpleasant.

The bristles of the brush touched his forehead, and his mind automatically brought up a memory of one of the many times he'd watched his mother do her hair and makeup before it was time for her to entertain. It was a mundane memory, but he'd always loved the meticulously elegant way she'd made all the big and small adjustments, slipping on her role like an opera performer.

It faded, first washing out like a painting that had been splashed with water, and then vanishing entirely.

He remembered the cultivational manuals she'd scrimped and saved to buy him, how they'd turned out to be fakes just like his father's promises. The lies written in them and all the hours he'd wasted studying and trying to emulate them faded, but not the awareness of their fraudulence.

It happened again, and then again, and he found it fascinating that the stranger seemed to pick and choose things with such care, leaving the lessons learned, even as he took what had taught them.

When Meng Yao opened his eyes again, he was lying on a soft patch of grass that had sprung up out of nowhere to cushion him, and the sun was just peeking over the trees.

He yawned and sat up to stretch, but before he could start wondering if maybe he'd only dreamed his encounter at dusk, a rolled up scroll floated in front of his face.

"Here's how it works," the stranger said. "You absolutely can't unroll it before you get home. When you arrive, then unroll it and tear off all four edges. Burn them to ash, then mix them into some wine. Hang the scroll over the head of your mother's bed and have her drink the wine. By the next morning, she'll be healthy again."

Those eyes bored into him from behind the mask. "Do. Not. Open it before you get home. Got all that?"

Voice sticking in his throat, he nodded, and the scroll fell into his hands. Clutching it so tightly he was almost afraid he'd crinkle it, he got to his feet and turned to go...

Then stopped and looked over his shoulder.

"Do... you ever make visits besides to make deals? Like if a-niang and I were to go lakeside this summer?"

The stranger blinked at him in surprise, evidently caught off guard by the insinuated offer, then laughed. "I haven't before, but perhaps I could. Run home first, fox."

And so he did.

[lacie-crying-ruby]

Вдохновившись работой известного художника, я просто не смогла пройти мимо.

Это работа подбрасывала мне палки в колёса, то комп вылетит, то программа ничего не сохранит... Нооо. За 5 часов в течение 15 дней у нас таки есть итог!)

[lacie-crying-ruby]

Yosomono photography・ By Michel Godimus

[lacie-crying-ruby]

suck, and i cannot stress this enough, my cock to the fucking base

[lacie-crying-ruby]

References and Allusions to Male Same-Sex Relations in Chinese Literature

I am tired at this point of reading and watching Danmei/Dangai and be exposed to the same “cut sleeve” reference to allude to male same-sex attraction and relationships.

Don’t get me wrong, I thank the creative team and the writers for finding such a unique (?) way of bypassing censorship but there are so many more literary and historical references that they could use to allude to same-sex attraction. I’m kinda over the same old “Cut Sleeve” reference. 😖

Here are some of the most popular allusions used by writers in Chinese literature to reference male same-sex desire.

The Four Male Love Icons of Chinese Literature

I’m pretty sure that, if you are into Chinese history, folk, literature, etc, you have heard of the four beauties of ancient and imperial China. You have the four most beautiful Chinese women and the four most handsome Chinese men.

The same thing is true for the tradition of male same-sex love. Those are:

Mizi Xia (彌子瑕) and Duke Ling of Wey (衛靈公)

Lord Longyang (龍陽君) and King Anxi of Wei (魏安僖王）

Prince Zixi, Lord of È (鄂君子皙), and the Yue man (越人)

Emperor Ai of Han (漢哀帝) and Dong Xian (董賢)

Other literary allusions include:

Pan Zhang (潘章) and Wang Zhongxian (王仲先)

Lord Chan of Anling (安陵君) and King Xuan of Chu (楚宣王）

Hu Tian Bao (胡天保) as Tu’er Shen (兔兒神)

The four revered bottoms of Chinese literature and history are:

Mizi Xia (彌子瑕)

Longyang (龍陽君)

Dong Xian (董賢)

Chan (纏), Lord of Anling (安陵君)

If you ever come across a poem or prose that mentions any of those names to refer to a male beauty, just know that it’s an allusion to their stories. They were considered the peak of bottom literary reference.

The Passion of the Half-Eaten Peach (餘桃癖) 🍑

Keep reading

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A pair of corvids are observed perched silently atop a street light during a misty morning in coastal California.

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i might've gone a little feral seeing this. the way we were robbed of a proper judecardan wedding 😭. I'm never forgiving holly for that 😞💔

🎨: illustratinghan

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It's his enchantix form. The final one.

Wen time meng Yao-design, cause I think the other versions are too plain sorry-

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Nie mingjue you've just signed your death warrant

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trump dies of congestive heart failure before being sworn in charge to like cast to reblog

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suck, and i cannot stress this enough, my cock to the fucking base

[lacie-crying-ruby]

Okay here's my Lan Qiren apologist masterpost

"He had Lan Wangji whipped! He's an abuser!"

That was Lan Wangji's punishment for injuring 33 Lan elders while defending a demonic cultivator who caused innumerable deaths in the cultivation community. You need to remember the setting of this story: Madame Yu whipped Wei Ying half to death just because she went "you didn't do anything wrong, your general existence is just mildly annoying to me." Lan Qiren deciding Lan Wangji get one lash for every person he hurt is NOTHING in comparison to the punishment he would have gotten if anyone else was in charge and it was the only way to clear his name.

2. "The Lan sect rules he enforces are too strict."

First of all, Lan Qiren is an old Asian person. I feel like that would be enough to make my point, but I will continue regardless.

The Lans have so many rules because they have extreme self-regulation issues when it comes to their emotions. We've seen Lan Wangji's dad ruin his life by trying to atticwife his lover, but Lan Wangji wasn't any better. If you've read the incense burner extra you know he got his first crush at 15 and his brain immediately went to fantasizing about violently assaulting Wei Ying in the library. Their hundreds of rules are stifling because they're supposed to be. If the Lans don't try to contain themselves they will ruin their lives and the lives of people they care about.

Is "don't talk while you're eating" even that extreme of a household rule? Like every family has some variation of "don't do ____ at the dinner table" and the Lans having their own version is not that insane.

3. "He was against Lan Wangji loving Wei Wuxian."

I need you to spend like. 2 minutes putting yourself in Lan Qiren's shoes.

Imagine you are Lan Qiren. Imagine you find out your brother broke his family apart by forcing his wife to stay with him. Lan Qiren was just a man who was thrust into not only taking care of the Lan clan, one of the biggest cultivation sects you can think of, but also his two traumatized nephews. Imagine cleaning up the mess your brother left you while having to raise two children that aren't yours.

Then you see your nephew, who you have raised like your own son, helplessly pining after the infamous demonic cultivator who has rejected him and teased him. You watch him turn against and injure his own family members to protect a literal criminal.

Then he comes home holding the child of the man he loves and you let him keep that baby and raise him. Because you see yourself in him. You see someone who just lost a loved one who was not a good person but someone you loved regardless. How many times do you think he saw Lan Wangji raising Lan Yuan and remembered himself raising someone else's children because their father was no longer there?

And then after all that Lan Qiren had been through, he didn't even try to keep Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian apart once he found out the truth. When Wei Ying explained how he'd been set up, he was one of the first elders in the cultivation community to give him a chance to explain himself. And after that even if he was cold to Wei Ying, he didn't say shit about the two of them having nasty loud gay sex in gusu every night.

I don't care. Lan Qiren hate will always be forced to me, he did literally nothing wrong and if I was in his shoes I would not have been able to handle it

[lacie-crying-ruby]

What are your favorite pieces of media that you think accurately represent magic and spirit work? Movies, books, even music..

This is an interesting question, but one that requires a lot of thought, as I have read and watched an inordinate amount of books and movies. Plus, even really good fiction with pagan themes that I've read/watched is generally inaccurate in most ways, with some realistic aspects of magic woven in here and there. Some of my very favorite media relating to the subject can't really be included, simply because of how inaccurate it is overall, but there are a few that have caught my notice.

I'm sure I'll end up missing ones, which bugs me, but I'll do my best to recount some examples that I can think of:

The Love Witch (2016) is a movie that I think presents a strikingly realistic portrayal of what magic can look like. It manages to show some of the ways one might use magic to great effect, without actually skewing into fantasy at all. Clearly, the magic shown isn't going to line up with every paradigm, and its not exactly a heady or spirit-based story, but I think it's a very real look at how ritual and magic is/can be approached by many folks in the modern day.

The Witch (2015) is, above all else, a great slow-burn horror film and an excellent period-piece. However, it also portrays quite an accurate conception of folkloric beliefs about Witchcraft in the 17th century, which inexorably inform the realities of modern Witchcraft traditions. It does just barely skew into fantasy horror, but the actual folkloric information being presented is quite sound.

A Dark Song (2016) is a film that portrays ceremonial magic realistically in many ways. Ultimately, it is still a supernatural horror film, but the bulk of the magic in the movie is based directly on the Abramelin Operation, which was interesting to see. A lot of the ways that the magic "takes shape" in the film feels real enough to me, too (though it certainly takes it to extremes at points, as horror movies are wont to do).

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson is a horror novel I much enjoyed when I read it a coulple years ago, but I also remember that it happens to contain small, but meaningful, instances of sympathetic magic within the story that I appreciated as a practitioner looking in. This one has been made into a movie as well.

Cunning Folk by Adam Nevill is one of the more realistic looks at magic—including the uncanny side of it—that I've come across. It's still definitely a horror story, first and foremost, but there's an oomph to the ritual and magic described therein that a lot of other similar fiction lacks—even when the ritual act being described isn't necessarily accurate in terms of historicality or my personal experience of the Craft.

The White People by Arthur Machen is a Welsh short horror story from the turn of the century, which I think is worth including here. There are elements and aspects of the story that feel surprisingly real in terms of Gloaming initiation and the Gloaming Spirits—though, of course, it takes creative liberties informed by the paranormal beliefs and trends of the time (1890s).

The Craft (1996) is a movie that I'm sure a lot of pagans have of nostalgia for in one way or another, myself included. I struggled with whether this movie should be here or in the Honorable Mention section, but I included it here in the end because a lot of the ways magic and ritual are presented in the film are accurate enough. I also think it did a fairly good job of capturing how it can feel to discover, revel in, and then become overwhelmed by magic. However, since it is a supernatural horror film, a lot of magic shown is portrayed more fantastically than the real thing, and there are aspects of the magic (rituals, entities, etc.) made up entirely for the sake of the story.

As implied above, there are also some pieces that, while largely inaccurate or too far into the realm of fantasy, still manage to succesfully capture some essence of realistic feeling magic in them. I will list those here as Honorable Mentions:

Practical Magic (1998) is another movie that I'm sure a lot of Pagans have nostalgia for in some way or another. I won't claim that it's a genuinely "accurate" representation of magic—and it certainly strays into outright fantasy at times—but there are little things throughout the movie that managed to ring a bell for me, as someone who grew up with magic in my family. I know this was originally a book, but I actually haven't read that as of yet, so I can't speak to it.

Pan's Labyrinth (2006) is a movie is squarely in the fantasy-horror genre to me, but even still, I include it here as an honorable mention because a lot of the lore depicted is drawn from real lore, and the overall ambience it manged to evoke strongly reminds me of some of my own experiences with chthonic journeying.

The Good Witch franchise isn't one I have ever actually watched any part of before, but I include it here because, oddly enough, multiple practitioners have mentioned to me that they think the magic is surprisingly realistic for a Hallmark series. As I understand it, the main character is a sort of local Wise Woman who helps the folk in her little town using things like folk-knowledge, remarkable intuition, and an uncanny ability to seemingly sway people and circumstances. Since I haven't seen it myself, my take on it may be somewhat lacking, (which is why I listed it as an honorable mention), but based on the description, it actually sounds like it may be one of the more realistic interpretations of magic on this list.

I know this is a strange addition, as it's not exactly magic, per se, but much of how Stephen King writes about psychic abilities like clairvoyance and healing throughout his works manages to touch on something all too familiar for me. I think, sometimes, that he may have known someone with the Sight and/or the Touch in his real life, as it comes up a lot in one shape or another in his writing.

As I said, I'm sure there's stuff I'm missing, but this at least a serviceable overview. I encourage others to share any other media that they think deserves a mention, too!

[lacie-crying-ruby]

I will have you all who did not want to know know that I am still haunted by this idea. Or something like that at least.

"I am the reason my wife is dead."

"How dramatic! My wife is the reason why I am dead!"

Wanna know where my mind currently is?

It’s in a Realm where Locke and Meng Yao are discussing trading bodies for a while.

[lacie-crying-ruby]

A Modern Faery's Tale by Holly Black - Favorite Quotes

"And he wondered in that moment what he might have accomplished if he'd done more than just endure. Whom he might have saved."

"He had known only two rulers, both great and neither good. He did not know how to be any kind of King nor how to win, other than to be even more ruthless than they."

"And the moon is just watching. She's just watching him die. She must have driven him to it."

"He imagined the chaos that would ensue. It very nearly pleased him."

"She wouldn't have died tonight. "One day is much like another.""

"And in that moment it seemed that the whole world had gone cold and that she would never be warm again."

""The more powerful you become, the more others will find ways to master you. They'll do it through those you love and through those you hate; they will find the bit and the bridle that fits your mouth and makes you yield.""

""So there's no way t be safer?" "Be invisible, perhabs. Be worthless." Corny shook his head. "Doesn't work." "make them yield first," Roiben said, and the half smile on his lips wasn't quite enough to render the suggestion frivolous. "Or be dead. No one can yet master the dead.""

"Kaye wondered if everyone felt like there was a monster underneath their skin."

""You know us humans. We talk an enormous amount of shit.""

[lacie-crying-ruby]