#Mystic Providence

[senorboombastic]

a/s/l: CHUM

Remember the days of the old schoolyard? Remember when Myspace was a thing? Remember those time-wasting, laborious quizzes that everyone used to love so much? Birthday Cake For Breakfast is bringing them back!  Every couple of weeks, an unsuspecting band will be subject to the same old questions about dead bodies, Hitler, crying and crushes.   This Week: Off the back of releasing their debut…

[thelaithlyworm]

Daomu Biji Watcher’s Guide, May 2024

A few new entries have been popping up lately, and I’m always hopeful new fans will stumble into the pits and never leave so I thought I’d paste up a rough map.

(Obviously the best watching order, like the best reading order of Discworld or the Aubrey-Maturin books, is ‘whatever first comes to your hand’ but for the people who don’t like that…)

tl;dr:

Daomu Biji is a series about tomb raiding. Think Indiana Jones or Lara Croft but much, much longer. The protagonist Wu Xie is deeply in love with BFF1 Zhang Qiling, a hundred-year-old cryptid, and BFF2 Wang Pangzi, who was stolen in a raid from another book series. It’s comic, tragic, horrific, zany, prone to musings on life, love, desire, attachment, and has many, many piss jokes. (‘Journey to the West but modern’ is maybe the other comparison I’d make.)

Notes:

– This guide is not talking about “quality”. All of the adaptations have their own strengths and weaknesses and tone can vary a great deal, which is to say, if one of them doesn’t suit you it’s likely something else will.

– Wacky endings, and plot threads that disappear unfinished and get picked up a long time later, are as inherent to the franchise as the piss jokes.

– It’s common for the dramas to introduce characters and subplots a lot earlier than the books do. Sometimes we’ll see a character introduced ‘for the first time’ on multiple occasions and strangely familiar scenes. I’ll try to point out the biggest continuity clashes as I go.

The Soft Entry:

There are a few movies that are entertaining as standalones but will introduce various characters and background. I would recommend:

Escape from the Monstrous Snake + Mystery/Grave of the Abyss – two monster movies featuring Hei Xiazi, a supporting character. He’s a pragmatical mercenary who’s going blind in kind of a weird way, and goofy as hell when he isn’t tiptoeing over a vast abyss of existential dread. So many fun action scenes.

Time Raiders (2015) – so there are some textual clues that late in his career Wu Xie wrote this story as a memory-jogger for an amnesiac friend. The plot is a freewheeling wild ride which doesn’t directly match any book plot but introduces some major characters and how they relate to each other. It’s colourful and fast-moving. Enjoy, enjoy.

Conjuring Curse and Misty Creed are… theoretically set late in the series even if the actors look about twelve. Both work as stand-alone adventures, though Misty Creed is maybe a little deep in the lore. Again, colourful and fast-moving.

The Chronological Order

You could honestly start with most of these – they tend to come with a ‘what has gone before’ at the start or a newbie character that things get explained to. The only one I wouldn’t start with is Heavenly Palace in the Clouds, which is lovely but also the second half of a set and things won’t make sense if you haven’t seen Lost Tomb 2 first.

Lost Tomb 1 – a highly digestible 10-12 episode version of the Seven Star Lu Palace arc, ie. Baby’s First Adventure. Introduces A-Ning, Xie Yuchen, and Huo Xiuxiu early and a couple of og characters for Wu Xie to talk to instead of monologuing to himself. The restaurant scene at the end was raided from a later arc and you’ll see it again in Ultimate Note. A book character, Da Kui, was cut which is a small problem because how he died is a minor plot point discussed in Lost Tomb 2. 

Lost Tomb 2 – covers Raging Sea, Hidden Sands (underwater tomb) and Qinling God-Tree (weird bronze tree in the mountains) plus a whole lotta side stories and original content exploring the world and foreshadowing later plots. Mooostly in continuity with Lost Tomb 1 (see Da Kui above) and made as a set with Heavenly Palace in the Clouds – they share resources and a lot of actors, and some threads begun here are finished in Heavenly Palace.

Heavenly Palace in the Clouds – covers the Mt Changbai arc, a journey up a mountain to find a very old, very grand tomb. This was made so close to Lost Tomb 2 that LT2 borrows shots from Heavenly Palace and not the other way around, which is fascinating because it pointedly contradicts the last five episodes of LT2. It also brings forward some plotlines originally from the Tamutuo and Zhang Family Old Pavilion arcs (San-shu’s past in the underwater tomb, and the Huo Family videotapes) dragging some characters on-screen and forcing them to talk about their feelings, which they would clearly rather die than do. Given those plot-tweaks and the early, deliberate continuity clash, I’m tempted to call this a Canon Parallel Universe. Got some interestingly chewy character dynamics and luverly, luverly set design.

Mystic Nine – This is a prequel about Zhang Qishan – Fo-ye – and his peers, but later dramas expect us to know who Fo-ye was so I’m sticking it here. Kinda… picaresque? Lots of action scenes and Republican-era flavour and various factions jostling for power – kinda feels like an old-school wuxia story, only set in the 1930s with all that glorious Republican-era styling. Has some unfortunate cut scenes – the details of how Fo-ye recovered at his family’s house don’t make a lot of sense in the aired version, and there are a couple of missing fights in the penultimate episode. Shrug. Still a lot of fun. Comes with four side movies about supporting characters.

Ultimate Note – Covers the Tamutuo arc (a trip through the jungle) and two-thirds of the Zhang Family Old Pavilion arc (investigating Zhang Qiling’s past is like kicking a hornet’s nest). Very, very flirty and has some zippy-zip action choreography. Politely ignores Lost Tomb 1–Heavenly Palace continuity (Xie Yuchen is, once more, introduced for the first time, now with a romantically coded friendship arc) and brings in a lot of cameos from Mystic Nine and Sand Sea, which it was filmed after. Kinda tiptoes around parts of the book plot, which I suspect would be hard for anyone to film, re: Fo-ye’s actions in the 1960s. Fair warning, this ends on a cliffhanger. This is also where the Xinyue Restaurant scene appears again – two cakes!

Tibetan Sea Flower – If Tibetan Sea Flower ever airs, it will go here.

Sand Sea – Based on the Sand Sea novel. After Tibetan Sea Flower, Wu Xie goes into a bit of a decline and makes that the world’s problem. We the audience, plus Li Cu and Liang Wan, EDIT: a lovely doctor, are pretty much dropped in media res into a number of ancient conspiracies and complicated plots coming to a head in the manner of a boil. It’s weird; it’s messy; it’s mad fun. Like Mystic Nine, has a lot of factions jostling for power and colourful jianghu characters. We will, once more, see the Xinyue Restaurant scene. Also has some side movies.

Time Raiders – The textual hints that suggest Wu Xie wrote this, suggest he wrote it around Sand Sea-era, when his life was a bit complicated. I’m putting it after Sand Sea because I believe it caps a conversation that, ah, doesn’t quite make it into the drama. But notionally this is where it should go. Ah…. at one point, someone tells a story about an ancient ruler, King Mu of Zhou, who sought immortality from the Queen of the West in Tamutuo. The longer book conversation suggests that a) King Mu of Zhou engineered a “trap” for someone like Wu Xie to fall into in the future, and b) that Iron Mask Scholar, a villain from Lost Tomb 1, was an alias that King Mu of Zhou used in the Warring States Era. Which makes some of Iron Mask Scholar’s appearances in Time Raiders… interesting.

Reunion: Sound of Providence – sometimes known as Reboot. Having peaked in badassery in Sand Sea, Wu Xie has to consider what his life is going to be now, and also, he would like to track down a missing family member. So this was tweaked to make it more accessible to new viewers (so some parts of the back-story are not mentioned or conflated for simplicity) and that mostly works but I did find watching this first and then picking up the earlier dramas a bit of a mindscrew. Zhu Yilong is, however, a powerful draw and the rest of the cast sparkles. Probably best to think of Season 1 as two short seasons jammed together, which is to say, once the Warehouse 11 arc starts there are a number of characters who won’t reappear until Season 2. It’s a fun arc even so. Season 2 ends with a badass action scene and then a big party, which I think is a great way to end a story.

Escape from the Monstrous Snake, Mystery/Grave of the Abyss, Conjuring Curse, Misty Creed – these are all theoretically set around or after Reboot-era, though they can certainly be watched as stand-alones.

[dmbjexchange]

DMBJ Rarepair Exchange 2024 Signups

It’s time for the Daomu Biji Rarepair Exchange, a fic, art and vid exchange for DMBJ ships where less than 3% of English-language authors have posted fics on AO3.

In this exchange, participants will be anonymously matched to create gifts for one another during an eight week creating period.

This exchange is open to all the DMBJ canons - if it’s DMBJ, then it’s eligible! It will take place on AO3, so you need an AO3 account to participate – if you don’t have one, you can request an invitation code here. If there isn’t enough time, no worries - contact the mods at here on Tumblr or on Discord and we can send you an invitation!

Please read this post carefully before signing up.

Schedule

September 9: Signups open September 15: Signups close September 23: Assignments out November 17: Assignments due November 18 - 24: Pinch-hit period November 25: Fic reveals December 2: Creator reveals & treats deadline

Allowed Ships

Any DMBJ ship which has had less than 3% of English-language authors post fics for it on AO3.

For this year's exchange, this means the following ships are NOT allowed:

Wu Xie/Zhang QIling

Hei Xiazi/Xie Yuchen

Wang Pangzi/Wu Xie/Zhang QIling

Wang Pangzi/Wu Xie

Liu Sang/Wu Xie/Zhang Qiling

Qi Tiezui/Zhang Rishan

Wang Pangzi/Zhang QIling

Kan Jian/Liu Sang

Qi Tiezui/Zhang Qishan

Liang Wan/Zhang Rishan

Liu Sang/Wang Pangzi/Wu Xie/Zhang QIling

Er Yuehong/Zhang Qishan

Wu XIe/Xie Yuchen

Hei Xiazi/Liu Sang/Xie Yuchen

Hei Xiazi/Zhang Qiling

Hei Xiazi/Huo Xiuxiu/Xie Yuchen

Huo Daofu/Wu Xie

Rules

1. Your creation must focus on your recipient’s requested ship (or one of their requested ships, if they have nominated multiple ones). While unrequested background ships are fine (unless listed as a Do Not Want), the focused ship must only be one of the requested ones. 2. You will be expected to create a gift matching your recipient’s request. Filling any specifying prompts is not obligatory, but try to create something you honestly think your recipient will enjoy! 3. You must not include anything that your recipient has listed as a DNW (Do Not Want). This goes for treats as well. 4. The minimum requirements for the gifts are 300 words for fic, one sketch on unlined paper for art (traditional or digital; no manips), or 30 seconds for a vid. 5. All the requests will be made visible to everyone to allow for treating! There are no minimum requirements for treats (but remember to mind your recipient’s do not wants!). You can also create manips for treats. 6. This is an anonymous exchange: refrain from discussing your assignment in public. After the works are revealed, there’ll be one week anon period when the creators remain anonymous before the creator reveals. 7. If at any point you need to drop out, just click on the “default” button on your AO3 assignment page; we’ll find a pinch hitter to create a gift for your recipient instead. If you need an extension to finish your gift, contact the mods before the deadline. 8. After the reveals, comment on your gift in a timely manner. 9. Most importantly: be excellent to each other!

Sign-Up Information

Sign-ups will take place here on AO3, ending on September 15th. There, you can fill out details about your request and offer. You can edit your sign-up at any time until the sign-ups close on September 15th.

When signing up, you will be able to choose fandom and genre tags, as well as specify any additional details.

You will have to select the DMBJ canon you’re interested in creating and receiving a gift in:

Novels: Daomu Biji / The Grave Robbers’ Chronicles (including spinoffs, side stories, and extras)

TV: The Lost Tomb 1

TV: The Lost Tomb 2 Explore with the Note

TV: The Lost Tomb 2.5 Heavenly Palace on the Clouds

TV: Ultimate Note

TV: Sha Hai (and spin off movies)

TV: The Lost Tomb Reboot/The Sound of Providence (and spin offs)

TV: The Mystic Nine (and spin off movies)

TV: Zang Hai Hua/Tibetan Sea Flower/Adventures Behind the Bronze Door

Movie: Time Raiders

Movie: Reboot movies

Game: Time Raiders

This does not mean that you’re limited to requesting or creating a work during the canon timelines for those series/books/games. It’s just to mark which canons you’re familiar with to allow for easier matching: some participants might have a preference for a particular canon era, some might not be familiar with all the versions. You still have to choose your preferred canon eras even if you want to create or receive an AU.

You will also have to specify genres you’re interested in

Action/Adventure

Alternate Universe

Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence

Angst

Canon Compliant

Crack

Dark

Domesticity

Fluff

Humor

Hurt/Comfort

Porn With Plot

PWP

Requests

Fandom - you have to choose at least one. If you’re willing to receive a gift in any canon era, you can just click “Any”!

Genre - you have to choose at least three tags.

Ratings - you have to choose at least one. This will help your gifter know what you like and are comfortable with when they're coming up with ideas to fill your prompts.

Warnings - you have to choose at least one. This does not mean that you WILL receive a gift with warnings, it just lets your gifter know if you are comfortable receiving a gift with warnings or not.

Optional Details - here’s where you can go into more detail about your perfect exchange gift!

If you run out of slots in the Relationships section (there is a limit of 20), you can list additional potential rarepairs here. Also, if you don’t have a specific ship in mind, but would like any ship involving a particular character, you can say that instead (e.g. ‘Liu Sang / any’, ‘Pangzi / any’, etc.)

You can also include:

General Likes: your creator may, but doesn’t have to, include them. This doesn't have to be detailed prompts, just general themes you enjoy, like getting together or established relationship.

Please note that works featuring QPRs, ace, and/or aro characters are absolutely valid things to request in a ship exchange. You may also request a fully platonic relationship if you wish.

DNW (Do Not Wants): things that your creator must not include - squicks, triggers, characters or things that you simply don’t like. Remember that you don’t owe anyone an explanation about why something is a DNW, and that DNW are not meant to be taken personally. Just list the things you don’t like, “DNW: X, Y.”

Please list if you have any audio or visual triggers (such as flashing lights). This could be in your DNW or could be separate. Please also list song/music DNWs (e.g.   "please no lyrics that use the n-word" or "please no lyrics in [specific language]"  or “please no [specific genre/s of music”).

Prompts/specific ideas: if you have any prompts, you can also put them here! You can be as general or as detailed as you’d like, but remember that while your creator will try to make the best gift for you, filling a specific prompt is not obligatory. You can include a crossover prompt (with other DMBJ verse or other canons), but make sure it’s not the only prompt you have.

For vid prompts, please list things like genres/styles of music you like (or like in vids), vibes/tone/theme you’d like to see (e.g. “angsty amnesiac Xioage”, “Heisang crack”, etc.), and things like that. Please try to avoid giving one or two specific songs for a specific character/ship.

If you run out of space for your prompts, you can write a prompt post on another platform like Dreamwidth, Tumblr, GoogleDocs, etc. and put the link in your sign up.

If you chose novels as one of your fandoms, you can use this field to list the ones you’re familiar with, such as ‘Books 1-4′ , ‘main series only′, ‘main series + specific extras’, etc.

The requests will be made publicly visible after matching is done, so that others will be able to create treats (additional gifts) based on them!

Offers

Fandom - you have to choose at least one. If you can create works for any canon era, you can choose “Any”!

Genre - you have to choose at least three.

Ratings - you have to choose at least one. This will help matching what people are comfortable creating with what people are comfortable receiving.

Warnings - you have to choose at least one. This does not mean that you have to create a gift with warnings, it's just for helping to match what people are comfortable writing with what people are comfortable receiving.

Optional Details - in this field, you can tell us more about the kind of works you like to create, for example if you really prefer established relationship, feel best with certain kinds of AUs, or like writing darkfic. We’ll take it into account when matching! By the same token, if there’s something you really don’t want to write, let us know here as well.

If you chose novels as one of your fandoms, you can use this field to list the ones you’re familiar with, such as ‘Books 1-4′ , ‘main series only′, ‘main series + specific extras’, etc.

In the optional details of your offer, you can also name people you don’t want to be matched to, for example your regular beta, and we will do our best to avoid matching you!

The offers will only ever be visible to the mods; never to anyone else.

Your Assignment

You will be matched to create a gift for someone who requested at least one of the fandoms that you offer, with as many similar genres/likes as possible. This exchange will be hand-matched, after using AO3’s matching algorithm to first generate the potential matches.

If you have any issues when you receive your assignment (you have a question about it or think there’s an issue with it), contact the mods as soon as possible. Do not contact your recipient on your own.

You will have to create a gift for your recipient, fulfilling the minimum requirements of fandom, genre, and ship, and avoiding any stated “do not wants”. Filling exact prompts is optional, but try to create something matching your recipient’s likes that they will enjoy!

You will have to post your gift to the exchange AO3 collection before the due date (November 17th), using the “gift this work to” option to give it to your recipient. Your work will remain in the collection only visible to you and the mods until the reveals happen. Remember to tag your work appropriately or use the “chose not to warn” warning.

Treating

Treats are additional gifts for the participants! To allow for treating, the requests will be made visible when matching is done. You can create treats at any time until the creator reveals! There are no minimum requirements for treats, and manips/moodboards/etc. are also allowed in addition to fic, art, and vids. As with assignments, you have to respect the recipient’s Do Not Wants, and while the optional details are optional, try to create something fitting the listed likes. One treat can only be gifted to one person.

Pinch Hits

In case someone needs to drop out, we will look for a pinch hitter to complete their assignment. Pinch hits will be posted to this tumblr and the DMBJ Yu Cun Discord.

Extensions

If you think you can finish your assignment, but you need a few days more, you can always ask for an extension!

Multi-Chapter Fics

If you are writing a multi-chapter fic for the exchange and don’t want to drop the entire fic at once, these are the posting guidelines for it:

Multi-chapter fics that are assignment fills must be fully written and at least the first chapter posted by the assignment deadline, ready for the fic reveals on November 25th.

From November 25th, at least one chapter is to be posted daily.

All chapters of the fic must be posted by the time of author reveals and end of treating on December 2nd (If the fic is more than 7 chapters long, then this will mean that multiple chapters will need to be posted on some days).

Multi-chapter fics that are treats can begin to be posted at any time, but must also be fully posted by December 2nd.

Other Important Information

Make sure to check the email you use on AO3 frequently during the exchange, as it will be the primary means of communication. We might contact you if there is an issue with your sign-up or if your gift creator has a question for you.

If you’d rather we contact you on DIscord or Tumblr, please leave your handle in the offer section of your sign-up.

Follow us here to avoid missing an announcement or a deadline!

If you have any questions at all, don’t hesitate to contact us here on Tumblr or on Discord.

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

[femmeidiot]

[valeriefauxnom]

Euden's Surprising Spread of Spidey Senses

So this is another of the 'things I noticed a while ago but am now properly committing to text so I don't forget everything'. Anyways, I found it funny the more I looked that Euden seemed to have a wing of general senses/ability to discern things/feelings or reactions that nobody else had, and sometimes he thought he was completely normal when they really weren't.

The earliest example I can think of offhand is chapter 13, wherein he feels drawn to the whatever ominous mana stuff that gives Ranzal the heeby jeebies.

Yes Euden I wonder why you're attracted to artificial mana that may be corrupted by black mana

As my friend joked in this scene, he's the one kid in a tv show that has to be stopped from licking whatever clearly bad object everyone else has the good sense to not touch (even if in this case, he'd be perfectly fine if the main reason it is 'dangerous' is because of black mana, being immune. Not that they knew that because since everyone hightails it as soon as it starts getting too thick so they have no idea he's not susceptible, but I digress).

Then, there's his ability as I jokingly refer to as the ability to sample and dissect dragon roars/behavior like fine wine:

Nothing like being able to tell if a dragon is hurting or sane as well as their mood based on their roars. And it's not exactly a set science or habit that can be learned with all the noises the very-varied-in-form Dragalia dragons make. I think he does this at least once or twice more, but I could be wrong.

Regardless, imagine Euden and Bahamut having a conversation where Bahamut does his standard Variations On A Roar performance and Euden's just like, 'hm, interesting. that does sound tasty'. And everyone is very confused how he got that from ROOOOAAAARR.

Then there's his sensitivities regarding other things, like his ability to tell when someone is about to shapeshift.

This is where he also tries to turn to his siblings to go, 'hey this is normal, right guys??' only to be flatly rejected.

Granted, they more suggest experience might be the cause of his talent here, but since it's ultimately speculation and up in the air and explicitly something everyone else finds weird I elected to include it. Regardless if it's natural or supernaturally developed, it's a sense nobody else has.

Even Nedrick realizes quickly that Euden's just Weird and hypersensitive to dragon-mana stuff and decided to formulate a plan around that and extend a bit of trust to his ability. Which, for Nedrick, Mr.Never Trust Anyone Ever To Do What I Need Done, is a testament to just how weird and valuable he finds the skill.

He later goes on to use his understanding of dragons and pacts to split up the power concentrated under Elysium back to their proper owners, the individual Greatwyrms.

Then, of course, is the built-in 'GPS return to sender' he has when it comes to Xenos' location and status. Quite handy he had that, or else we would immediately have gotten Dragalia 2: Electric Boogaloo wherein everyone collectively realizes Xenos isn't dead and has to assemble the gang again x years into the future. (Actually maybe it'd be better if he didn't so we could've gotten another Dragalia-)

Ahem. Anyways, this is getting long, so I'll cut it off there, but the fact that Euden was weird compared even to his family is just a thing that is passively baked into canon. And this isn't even counting his behavioral oddities that constantly leave others going ??? regarding him all the time, just his sensory ones!

And I like those little kinds of oddities very much.

Long story short regarding Euden:

Bonus round on editing:

Oh yeah, he also has a Find a Friend working ability that allowed him to track down and hear his friends across pocket dimensions. Even Mids, who has supernatural senses of his own in being able to derive 'true location', can't hear across worlds. Perhaps it's a good thing Euden didn't make too many otherwordly friends. Imagine constantly hearing friends speaking that aren't even in the same area or time of existence as you are (like Luca did that one time in the comics).

Also, it's a bit funny that even if it's a power innate to him he's still addressing it as if it's completely separate from him and asking 'it' nicely to open up portals. Nothing like Euden being unable to do something himself, but because he's asking 'himself' nicely suddenly finds the willpower to make manifest what he wants.

...Imagine if it applied to food. 'Please mysterious power my friends and I are starving, can we have some food?' and a luxury turkey dinner just pops in front of them, what he was secretly wanting and is like 'wow what a coincidence, exactly what sounded heavenly to me personally. Thanks mysterious power!'

[bitterflames]

i barely know zhang rishan but i think i love him already. putting on headphones and chilling with music and refusing to perceive the trio of lunatics trashing your restaurant downstairs is such a Mood

[callisteios]

I ended up with "god of longing for connection", which is funny given my current situation (housing/attempting to get comics into animation etc) and I'm noticing that some others are getting deep sea god (when they're actually studying the deep ocean as their major) etc... so my q is, are you somehow an ancient greek oracle pointing things out using modern technology to see what the mortals do with this knowledge? (Also thanks for a fun quiz)

you're going to get a long answer for no other reason than I'm at work and I hate my job. sorry

like way to long. i am so sorry.

So.

personality stuff

I'm going to say that first and foremost I am a massive skeptic when it comes to stuff like personality types, astrology etc. I think a lot of these things are people making very broad statements which many people identify with and become more convinced of their reality. a messy rabbit hole. I'm hardly the first to say this so lets move on

I also am a massive fan of personality quizzes (done well) and things like tarot ( i literally love doing tarot readings does anyone want a tarot reading). so not super well meshing opinions you may say?

yes.

however. i make them fit like this. I don't think all people can be split into 12 or 16 or whatever number of groups. I do think there are many shared human experiences and emotions. I know that most people taking my quiz are of a smiliar age and mostly western. This means we have even more shared experiences in this very global world.

I also know that from a lifetime of studying people and trying to understand their motivations (thank you autism (in case you couldn't tell)) I have got reasonably good at understanding various types of feelings and states people experience. and yes i suppose 'types' of people.

From this observation I have understood that (on top of us living in a very similar/global environment) we all (not all but basically all) go through the same emotions at some point during our lives.

From this experience and my understanding of our shared reality and feelings it is not exceptionally hard for me to then craft a quiz and retroactively apply the answers.

Example:

I'm going to give an example here because I feel my explanation has got incredibly rambly. Uh spoilers for my god quiz

Let's look at this result: the sky and the earth (because it's one of my favourites)

the first thing i'd say about this is that it's literally based on one of my favourite songs of all time. written while the author was in a mental instition no less (stream dory previn). so i am hardly the first to identify this 'type'.

When i look at this result and am assigning answers for it, several things about it stick out to me. Its main focus is the in between feeling, the longing for more spirtuality but also a desire for the physical and real. while at the same time feeling as if those are very confliced desires. there's obviously more to it but i can only hold so much info in my brain.

i think this is a state many in modern society will experience as we live in such a new and confusing and separate world. i am exposed to more of the world every day, and yet i feel as if i understand it less. the opportunities for me to truly experience the natrual are few and far between. i want to crawl around upon the earth. i want to see the stars and be enlightened.

knowing this i will say

does someone who is sky and earth want to be a god?

(this was the hardest question for literally every type btw.) here i'd say yes. because only something divine can be two opposing concepts surely. surely to know the sky and earth is an impossible goal for a mortal.

ok moving on (im not doing this for every quesion, don't worry, just a couple more to hammer home the point)

this one was harder. i was torn between fruit, dedicated to one issue, and drowning. I think all fit but went for dedicated in the end

for this one i knew i was using a picture of an iguana and i thought iguanas come from deserts so i chose desert. they're not all hits

this one was so easy. to me the confluence of rivers, bringing together something that's normally apart. that felt like the duality of sky and earth to me.

basically the exact same thing as above with mutilation.

i chose the painting of the building surrounded by people. i felt like this building crushed between the sky and the earth, looked upon by passers by, felt like a monument to the dichotomy. when i am feeling sky and earth i feel like the building, i cannot move or touch or really experience. i am just stationary watching it all move around me

So you see. I have identified here an emotion which i felt, which i have witnessed others feeling. i have identified the likely responses i believe a person in this state would give and i hope for the best.

Tarot

OKay you definitely get the point bt now. but i am nowhere near done, i mentioned tarot earlier. there was a reason for this beyond me wanting to do more tarot readings.

I think even though im good, i am really not that good. one thing i have noted over doing many tarot readings is that often the subject needs incredibly little input from the reader. oh, they may need your help guiding them towards the symbolism on the card, but once they've got that they launch into an explanation of how this answers their question.

Because I Always make sure they ask a clear question. this to me is the most important part of any kind of reading or quiz. you want the person to think about this themselves and then perhaps help them to the conclusion. once they're at the results screen/have a card they already have some idea in mind. it doesn't matter if they were expecting something a bit different, this is just a vehicle for their own self truth anyway.

ok im done.

i am a god

woah woah woah. im not done though. you're talking to a classicist so ive GOT to address the oracle comment. my favourite oracle of delphi theory is that the oracle's chamber sat above some kind of natural gas deposit, this gas was possibly hallucinatory. The oracles would get high and then deliver prophesies. I believe that if you combined my observation with powerful drugs I could come up with prophesies like "if your empire goes to war with another empire a great empire will fall ;)". Therefore, yes i am. and i'm taking requests ;)

tldr? uh. i take very universal feelings, use some skill to present those to people most likely to identify with them, they do a bunch of the work

/tldr i am a divine prophet and would like my place at a nice temple and access to good drugs asap

[artistrywhims]

maybe you want to buy a poster or other items with this print, idk, well if you do, check it out here: https://www.redbubble.com/i/sticker/Esoteric-Illuminati-eye-of-providence-in-boho-style-by-ArtistryWhims/156704683.EJUG5

[kadoodles-on-ao3]

Artist: mugimugis3 Source: Twitter Archives: Original Post | First Image | Second Image

(Rough) Translation: Melia: "Actually, I fell from a great height when I was young. I must send a bill to your colony's chief [for all of the ether cylinders you took from the crashed airship]." Reyn: "Really?" Melia: "Obviously I am joking." Text in corner of first image: Reyn and Melia's Heart-to-Hearts are extremely cute Text in corner of second image: #Closefriends Melia: "Suppose I were to tell you that I liked you." Shulk: "Huh?" Melia: "I was joking, needless to say." Shulk: "Huuuh?"

[frozentothetouch]

if tbhk got a reboot, can tpn? please???

[dmbjexchange]

DMBJ Rarepair Exchange 2024 Signups

By request, here is the sign up announcement that doesn't name the currently airing DMBJ show, so that people who have blocked mentions of it to avoid spoilers don't miss the signups!

It’s time for the Daomu Biji Rarepair Exchange, a fic, art and vid exchange for DMBJ ships where less than 3% of English-language authors have posted fics on AO3.

In this exchange, participants will be anonymously matched to create gifts for one another during an eight week creating period.

This exchange is open to all the DMBJ canons - if it’s DMBJ, then it’s eligible! It will take place on AO3, so you need an AO3 account to participate – if you don’t have one, you can request an invitation code here. If there isn’t enough time, no worries - contact the mods at here on Tumblr or on Discord and we can send you an invitation!

Please read this post carefully before signing up.

Schedule

September 9: Signups open

September 15: Signups close

September 23: Assignments out

November 17: Assignments due

November 18 - 24: Pinch-hit period

November 25: Works reveals

December 2: Creator reveals & treats deadline

Allowed Ships

Any DMBJ ship which has had less than 3% of English-language authors post fics for it on AO3.

For this year's exchange, this means the following ships are NOT allowed:

Wu Xie/Zhang QIling

Hei Xiazi/Xie Yuchen

Wang Pangzi/Wu Xie/Zhang QIling

Wang Pangzi/Wu Xie

Liu Sang/Wu Xie/Zhang Qiling

Qi Tiezui/Zhang Rishan

Wang Pangzi/Zhang QIling

Kan Jian/Liu Sang

Qi Tiezui/Zhang Qishan

Liang Wan/Zhang Rishan

Liu Sang/Wang Pangzi/Wu Xie/Zhang QIling

Er Yuehong/Zhang Qishan

Wu XIe/Xie Yuchen

Hei Xiazi/Liu Sang/Xie Yuchen

Hei Xiazi/Zhang Qiling

Hei Xiazi/Huo Xiuxiu/Xie Yuchen

Huo Daofu/Wu Xie

Rules

Sign-Up Information

1. Your creation must focus on your recipient’s requested ship (or one of their requested ships, if they have nominated multiple ones). While unrequested background ships are fine (unless listed as a Do Not Want), the focused ship must only be one of the requested ones.

2. You will be expected to create a gift matching your recipient’s request. Filling any specifying prompts is not obligatory, but try to create something you honestly think your recipient will enjoy!

3. You must not include anything that your recipient has listed as a DNW (Do Not Want). This goes for treats as well.

4. The minimum requirements for the gifts are 300 words for fic, one sketch on unlined paper for art (traditional or digital; no manips), or 30 seconds for a vid.

5. All the requests will be made visible to everyone to allow for treating! There are no minimum requirements for treats (but remember to mind your recipient’s do not wants!). You can also create manips for treats.

6. This is an anonymous exchange: refrain from discussing your assignment in public. After the works are revealed, there’ll be one week anon period when the creators remain anonymous before the creator reveals.

7. If at any point you need to drop out, just click on the “default” button on your AO3 assignment page; we’ll find a pinch hitter to create a gift for your recipient instead. If you need an extension to finish your gift, contact the mods before the deadline.

8. After the reveals, comment on your gift in a timely manner.

9. Most importantly: be excellent to each other!

Sign-ups will take place here on AO3, ending on September 15th. There, you can fill out details about your request and offer. You can edit your sign-up at any time until the sign-ups close on September 15th.

When signing up, you will be able to choose fandom and genre tags, as well as specify any additional details.

You will have to select the DMBJ canon you’re interested in creating and receiving a gift in:

Novels: Daomu Biji / The Grave Robbers’ Chronicles (including spinoffs, side stories, and extras)

TV: The Lost Tomb 1

TV: The Lost Tomb 2 Explore with the Note

TV: The Lost Tomb 2.5 Heavenly Palace on the Clouds

TV: Ultimate Note

TV: Sha Hai (and spin off movies)

TV: The Lost Tomb Reboot/The Sound of Providence (and spin offs)

TV: The Mystic Nine (and spin off movies)

TV: (The one that is currently airing)

Movie: Time Raiders

Movie: Reboot movies

Game: Time Raiders

This does not mean that you’re limited to requesting or creating a work during the canon timelines for those series/books/games. It’s just to mark which canons you’re familiar with to allow for easier matching: some participants might have a preference for a particular canon era, some might not be familiar with all the versions. You still have to choose your preferred canon eras even if you want to create or receive an AU.

You will also have to specify genres you’re interested in

Action/Adventure

Alternate Universe

Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence

Angst

Canon Compliant

Crack

Dark

Domesticity

Fluff

Humor

Hurt/Comfort

Porn With Plot

PWP

Requests

Fandom - you have to choose at least one. If you’re willing to receive a gift in any canon era, you can just click “Any”!

Genre - you have to choose at least three tags.

Ratings - you have to choose at least one. This will help your gifter know what you like and are comfortable with when they're coming up with ideas to fill your prompts.

Warnings - you have to choose at least one. This does not mean that you WILL receive a gift with warnings, it just lets your gifter know if you are comfortable receiving a gift with warnings or not.

Optional Details - here’s where you can go into more detail about your perfect exchange gift!

If you run out of slots in the Relationships section (there is a limit of 20), you can list additional potential rarepairs here. Also, if you don’t have a specific ship in mind, but would like any ship involving a particular character, you can say that instead (e.g. ‘Liu Sang / any’, ‘Pangzi / any’, etc.)

You can also include:

General Likes: your creator may, but doesn’t have to, include them. This doesn't have to be detailed prompts, just general themes you enjoy, like getting together or established relationship.

Please note that works featuring QPRs, ace, and/or aro characters are absolutely valid things to request in a ship exchange. You may also request a fully platonic relationship if you wish.

DNW (Do Not Wants): things that your creator must not include - squicks, triggers, characters or things that you simply don’t like. Remember that you don’t owe anyone an explanation about why something is a DNW, and that DNW are not meant to be taken personally. Just list the things you don’t like, “DNW: X, Y.”

Please list if you have any audio or visual triggers (such as flashing lights). This could be in your DNW or could be separate. Please also list song/music DNWs (e.g.   "please no lyrics that use the n-word" or "please no lyrics in [specific language]"  or “please no [specific genre/s of music”).

Prompts/specific ideas: if you have any prompts, you can also put them here! You can be as general or as detailed as you’d like, but remember that while your creator will try to make the best gift for you, filling a specific prompt is not obligatory. You can include a crossover prompt (with other DMBJ verse or other canons), but make sure it’s not the only prompt you have.

For vid prompts, please list things like genres/styles of music you like (or like in vids), vibes/tone/theme you’d like to see (e.g. “angsty amnesiac Xioage”, “Heisang crack”, etc.), and things like that. Please try to avoid giving one or two specific songs for a specific character/ship.

If you run out of space for your prompts, you can write a prompt post on another platform like Dreamwidth, Tumblr, GoogleDocs, etc. and put the link in your sign up.

If you chose novels as one of your fandoms, you can use this field to list the ones you’re familiar with, such as ‘Books 1-4′ , ‘main series only′, ‘main series + specific extras’, etc.

The requests will be made publicly visible after matching is done, so that others will be able to create treats (additional gifts) based on them!

Offers

Fandom - you have to choose at least one. If you can create works for any canon era, you can choose “Any”!

Genre - you have to choose at least three.

Ratings - you have to choose at least one. This will help matching what people are comfortable creating with what people are comfortable receiving.

Warnings - you have to choose at least one. This does not mean that you have to create a gift with warnings, it's just for helping to match what people are comfortable writing with what people are comfortable receiving.

Optional Details - in this field, you can tell us more about the kind of works you like to create, for example if you really prefer established relationship, feel best with certain kinds of AUs, or like writing darkfic. We’ll take it into account when matching! By the same token, if there’s something you really don’t want to write, let us know here as well.

If you chose novels as one of your fandoms, you can use this field to list the ones you’re familiar with, such as ‘Books 1-4′ , ‘main series only′, ‘main series + specific extras’, etc.

In the optional details of your offer, you can also name people you don’t want to be matched to, for example your regular beta, and we will do our best to avoid matching you!

The offers will only ever be visible to the mods; never to anyone else.

Your Assignment

You will be matched to create a gift for someone who requested at least one of the fandoms that you offer, with as many similar genres/likes as possible. This exchange will be hand-matched, after using AO3’s matching algorithm to first generate the potential matches.

If you have any issues when you receive your assignment (you have a question about it or think there’s an issue with it), contact the mods as soon as possible. Do not contact your recipient on your own.

You will have to create a gift for your recipient, fulfilling the minimum requirements of fandom, genre, and ship, and avoiding any stated “do not wants”. Filling exact prompts is optional, but try to create something matching your recipient’s likes that they will enjoy!

You will have to post your gift to the exchange AO3 collection before the due date (November 17th), using the “gift this work to” option to give it to your recipient. Your work will remain in the collection only visible to you and the mods until the reveals happen. Remember to tag your work appropriately or use the “chose not to warn” warning.

Treating

Treats are additional gifts for the participants! To allow for treating, the requests will be made visible when matching is done. You can create treats at any time until the creator reveals! There are no minimum requirements for treats, and manips/moodboards/etc. are also allowed in addition to fic, art, and vids. As with assignments, you have to respect the recipient’s Do Not Wants, and while the optional details are optional, try to create something fitting the listed likes. One treat can only be gifted to one person.

Pinch Hits

In case someone needs to drop out, we will look for a pinch hitter to complete their assignment. Pinch hits will be posted to this tumblr and the DMBJ Yu Cun Discord.

Extensions

If you think you can finish your assignment, but you need a few days more, you can always ask for an extension!

Multi-Chapter Fics

If you are writing a multi-chapter fic for the exchange and don’t want to drop the entire fic at once, these are the posting guidelines for it:

Multi-chapter fics that are assignment fills must be fully written and at least the first chapter posted by the assignment deadline, ready for the fic reveals on November 25th.

From November 25th, at least one chapter is to be posted daily.

All chapters of the fic must be posted by the time of author reveals and end of treating on December 2nd (If the fic is more than 7 chapters long, then this will mean that multiple chapters will need to be posted on some days).

Multi-chapter fics that are treats can begin to be posted at any time, but must also be fully posted by December 2nd.

Other Important Information

Make sure to check the email you use on AO3 frequently during the exchange, as it will be the primary means of communication. We might contact you if there is an issue with your sign-up or if your gift creator has a question for you.

If you’d rather we contact you on DIscord or Tumblr, please leave your handle in the offer section of your sign-up.

Follow us here to avoid missing an announcement or a deadline!

If you have any questions at all, don’t hesitate to contact us here on Tumblr or on Discord.

[possessed-nia]

the air starts to smell like i miss him again and i can hear the game music playing somewhere far away in my head forest

[rhythmicreverie]

In the heart of an ancient forest, where magic whispered through the trees, two brave friends faced a colossal task. The mystical mountain loomed before them, its summit shrouded in mystery and promise. Through enchanted glades and hidden realms, they journeyed, overcoming every obstacle with wit and courage. When they finally stood upon the mountain's peak, their hearts soared, for they had conquered the impossible. And thus, the friends became legends, their tale echoing through the ages. This is the summary of your work so far: - Created a Hardcore poem in under 100 words and in rich text with minimal formatting