#elixir-lang

[thyandrawrites]

Thinking of this line as a good glimpse at the burdens the Gong brothers willingly choose to carry in their utter devotion to family. In Shangjue's case, his loyalty is towards the Gong as a whole, while in Yuanzhi's it's just his gege. But the main parallel between the two is that existing in the brutal martial world turns them both into weapons when all they want is to be protectors. Cause a sword can be used to either kill or to defend, but if you fail at one, what choice do you have but to embrace the other?

Let's go with Shangjue first. He is so war-scarred that he can't stomach eating fish and meat and can smell the faintest drop of blood from a distance. And yet, he still makes himself the family's blade, sharpening into someone unkind and at times cruel, just like the edge of a sword that can only ever hope to cut and draw blood to fulfill its purpose.

But the reality is that he's a saber. He's only sharp on the side that faces outwards, not inwards — the side that faces enemies, not family. His devotion to protect runs much much deeper than his cruelty, and his ruthlessness is a product of how deeply he loves, not its denial.

But he doesn't see it. He asks "do you still think I'm kind?" while digging his fingers into the wound of the person he loves but dares not embrace. Even as his hand strives to hold, he uses it to grab more weapons, more poisons. He can only promise not to make her suffer, but not to spare his lover's life. His needs are always secondary to the Gong's. It doesn't matter if it's a role that doesn't fit his nature. Familial duty in a world like theirs means giving up on wanting things for himself if they don't align with protecting his loved ones.

Yuanzhi does the same, tho his dedication is subtler. The thing he longs for the most is to be loved, and yet he doesn't shy away from embracing the role of the "unemotional" freak who likes insects and plants more than people. It's the only way he knows how to keep his brother safe.

The way we're introduced to his character, it's easy to imagine he's cruel, too. That he would test poisons on other people, cause we did see him torture someone with an unnerving smile on his face. But then here comes the unmasking: the revelation that to be the family's genius, he had to put his life on the line, too, swallowing poisons first-hand to find a cure for them.

When you consider how many poisons the Gong family deals in, both in and out of the market, this line shows how insane that is. Has Yuanzhi tried all of them at some point? He must have, or else he couldn't have perfected the formula of a herb elixir that would neutralize most toxins, including all the extremely lethal ones he produced himself. He couldn't have kept upgrading said formula to counter the increasing miasma of the valley, either. He singlehandedly saves all the Gong's asses every day with his pills, but this gets never commented on, because it's what's expected of him. He's a genius of poisons, so he must put his talent to use. Much like how Shangjue is the brightest young swordsman of the family, one of the only few who passed the trials, so it's on him to keep wielding a sword for them, no matter how much he longs for the relief of a life without violence.

And the martial world keeps backing them into this cruelty, this ruthlessness. Lowering your guard means losing everything, and they can't afford that. So they give in, because they both have things they want to protect, even if it comes at great personal cost. They're only villains because Ziyu took the role of hero, but they believe themselves to be villains all the same.

Their underlying self-loathing comes from powerlessness and self-blame. Shangjue punishes himself for failing to protect Lang, and Yuanzhi punishes himself for failing to protect Shangjue's happiness. Both have a strong wish to shield, but having failed to do so, they end up becoming weapons instead, thinking that's all they can aspire to be. If Shangjue considers himself a blade that doesn't know mercy, Yuanzhi sees himself as the toxin that killed his brother's joy.

But is weapons all they know how to be?

Shangjue doesn't believe himself capable of being kind, yet he treats Yuanzhi with unbelievable gentleness and patience. He sees a boy who cannot cry at his father's death, but who still wipes away his tears. When the rest of the family shuns Yuanzhi for being different, Shangjue recognizes the boy's loneliness for what it is. When Yuanzhi wants love, Shangjue responds by pouring his abundance of it onto him. Not because he's missing out a little brother figure, or because he still needs to be a protector to find purpose, but because Yuanzhi, in all his child-like innocence, told him, "don't be sad. I'll be your little brother." He saw Shangjue's pain and offered himself up as a protector first.

Because of that, I don't even think that his claim that Shangjue never wanted for anything after Lang's death is true. Yeah, his brother might have given up everything for the family, to the point that he doesn't even know how to put himself first anymore. He doesn't know how to reach out, how to keep. But at the same time... There's one clear thing he grabbed with both hands, and that's Yuanzhi. Not a little brother of blood, but one of choice. Not a poison, either, but rather the antidote. For them both.

In loving him like a didi he stops being purely a blade that cuts, but becomes the hand that wraps a bleeding wound. He stops being passive and becomes proactive in his wants, continuing to defend them, even when he has to fight the entire family (including the next Sword Wielder that technically outranks him) who turned against Yuanzhi.

In turn, Yuanzhi doesn't know how to trust people because he always expects the worst of everyone unless proven wrong, and that makes him unbelievably lonely. But in Shangjue's no-nonsense attitude and in his genuine care he finds someone he never doubts, and that slowly opens up his world further. Even if he's only following his brother's lead, he still lends a hand to other branches of the family, and by the end there's a subtle shift in how he interacts with them, too. He's still a caustic little shit, but his gratitude towards Ziyu for giving him a new hidden weapon was sincere, and in the last episode we are even shown him banter playfully with Zishang.

In the end, familial duty is what taught them cruelty and ruthlessness as means to an end, but it's the bond they have with each other that transforms the concept of family into something more gentle and genuine than martial arts and violence

[adarkrainbow]

The fairytale world of The Witcher

The Witcher is first and foremost a work of fantasy and as such, of course, when looking at the inspirations of Sapkowski, we have to look at fantasy works. For example the early worldbuilding and characters of The Witcher world bear the heavy mark of D&D (Jaskier is a cliche D&D Bard, the classification of elemental genies is traight out of D&D, there's the handlings of "druids", etc...), while the main character clearly has parallels with Moorcock's Elric (white-haired wanderer-warrior who knows magic and uses elixirs, drugs to maintain his fighting abilities, philosophizes a lot about the ending of an age and the future of humanity and the doom he is condemned to). However, The Witcher is also, primarily, a fairytale work.

[EDIT: So I am used to call Jaskier "Jaskier" but in English he is called Dandelion apparently... So know that when I talk of Jaskier, I'm talking about Dandelion]

And I am not just saying that in the way that almost all major fantasy works are inspired by fairytales, no. It tends to be lost on people due to how they usually know derived incarnations of this series, but The Witcher stories started out as full on fairytale rewrites. More precisely: subversives parodies of fairytales using dark humor, a gritty tone proper to dark fantasy, and fantasy tropes in general mixed with some folklore sprinkled here and there.

Of all the Witcher books, the first two are the ones where this logic is on full display, forming the core of each tale. If you ever missed it, here is a little list of the fairytale references in them. [Note: I am using the French translation so I might miss some stuff or write them strangely for those used to the English translations or the original Polish]

Book 1: The Last Wish

Many people might be surprised to learn that the first story, "The Witcher", is actually the parody of a specific fairytale. It might seem to be just a take on the vampire as it appears in Eastern European folklore, but in truth Sapkowski rewrote a tale that you probably do not know. Why? Because none of the "great" collectors or writers have it: it doesn't appear in Andersen, Grimm, Perrault, Aulnoy, Basile, Straparola, or whoever else you might name. It is however a fully classified fairytale-type that is VERY present and popular in Eastern Europe, hence why it appears in The Witcher: the Aarne-Thompson classified it as type 307, "The Princess in the Shroud/The Princess in the Coffin". The closest thing you'll find to a version of this in the "classical" corpus is a Danish fairytale that Andrew Lang placed in his Pink Fairy Book: The Princess in the Chest (and Paul Delarue centered his own French-specific classification of this type around the story "La Ramée and the Phantom"). In interviews the author explained he took "a Polish fairytale" where "the royal daughter transformed into a monster because of the incest of her parents, as a punishment", but I don't known which story prcisely he used.

The second story, A Grain of Truth, is much more obvious, as it is a farcical take on Beauty and the Beast (with some flavors of Undine in it).

The third story, The Lesser Evil, introduces the Curse of the Black Sun, which is the in-universe existence for the "maidens in the tower" and all these princesses that princes have to rescue from doorless buildings (interwoven with the figure of Lilith). The cases of Fialka and Bernika are obviously inspired by the tale of Rapunzel. However the real character of the story, Renfri, is The Witcher's dark take on Snow-White.

A Question of Price is a large mix. The storyline is actually a retelling of Hans My Hedgehog, but exploring the fairytale trope that in Witcher terms is called "the law of surprise" - the episode of someone in need striking a deal with a supernatural being for help, and unwillingly selling away their children (it is most famously illustrated by Grimm's "The Girl without Hands"). One of the "historical" illustrations of this trope in the Witcher universe is a version of Rumplestiltskin (queen Metinna and Rumplestelt). There's also references to great heroes that served as an example of such "fate-striken children" sold to a mysterious stranger - but if there's a cultural nod there, I didn't get it. Finally several fairytales are referred during the discussions: Baba-Yaga and Cinderella are briefly said to exist while "A Question of Price" takes place. And Pavetta's magic is not related to fairytales, but rather to the strange cultural motif of "puberty-induced or virginity-linked psychic powers" found from poltergeists to Carrie.

The fifth story, The Edge of the World, is the only one of the collection not dealing with fairytales. It is rather a tale mixing on one side rural folklore, farming superstitions, field spirits and harvest gods, with on the other an exploration of the fantasy trope of "disappearing elves".

The sixth story, The Last Wish, is all about wish-granting genies, with a strong influence from the tale "The Fisherman and the Jinni".

Book 2: Sword of Destiny

The first story, The Bounds of Reason, is not deconstructing a fairytale per se, but rather the entire myth of the dragon-slaying. You find references to many elements of said myth: "You must kill the dragon to claim the princess", the saint-knight figure interpreting dragons as pure evil, the band of dwarves famed for slaying a dragon seem to me a nod to The Hobbit. But mainly, we see that the tale begins as a subversion/expansion on the legend of Smok Wawelski, the Dragon of Wawel, known to some as the Dragon of Cracovia. There's also a mention of bridge-trolls (The Three Billy Goats Gruff).

The second story, A Shard of Ice, is not linked to fairytales per se, but uses a motif taken directly from The Snow Queen (and in-universe, the fairytale of the Snow Queen is said to be an embellished version of the Wild Hunt).

The third story, Eternal Flame, has no fairytale theme, it is just a pure fantasy story.

The fourth story, A Little Sacrifice, opens and closes on the in-universe love story that caused the story of The Little Mermaid to exist (turns out it is a ballad by Jaskier, the actual romance went much happier, though not smoother). Also, the under-sea city is explicitely compared to the city of Ys, which is a big legend of France.

With the fifth story, Sword of Destiny, we go back into a lot of fairytale nods (it helps that it is a direct sequel to "A Question of Price"). The "Last Forest" of Brokelion is a nod to Brocéliande, the legendary forest of Arthurian legends. Geralt tells Ciri the fable of the Fox and the Cat. Freixenet turns out to have been the inspiration for the fairytale of "The Wild Swans", which in-universe is a ridiculous exaggeration and mistelling of what truly happened.

The sixth story, "Something More", only is "fairytale-y" as it reuses the saw "surprise-child/law of destiny" elements already prepared and presented by A Question of Price and Sword of Destiny.

Afterward, from what I understood (I haven't read the third book onward), the fairytale elements are dropped to rather put focus on the exploration of the fantasy and folkloric elements - but it is always useful to know that it started out as basically a dark humor /dark fantasy take on fairytales.

[richincolor]

Mid-Autumn and Mooncakes

With the Mid-Autumn Festival coming up at the end of September, mooncakes have been on my mind. Several conversations have revolved around the festival and food in my real life and on social media so I started wondering if there were YA books for that. And yes indeed, here are a few books featuring the moon or mooncakes that I've read or have on my TBR.

Retellings Related to the Moon

An Arrow to the Moon by Emily X.R. Pan Little, Brown Books For Young Readers

Hunter Yee has perfect aim with a bow and arrow, but all else in his life veers wrong. He’s sick of being haunted by his family’s past mistakes. The only things keeping him from running away are his little brother, a supernatural wind, and the bewitching girl at his new high school.

Luna Chang dreads the future. Graduation looms ahead, and her parents’ expectations are stifling. When she begins to break the rules, she finds her life upended by the strange new boy in her class, the arrival of unearthly fireflies, and an ominous crack spreading across the town of Fairbridge.

As Hunter and Luna navigate their families’ enmity and secrets, everything around them begins to fall apart. All they can depend on is their love… but time is running out, and fate will have its way.

Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan Harper Voyager

Growing up on the moon, Xingyin is accustomed to solitude, unaware that she is being hidden from the feared Celestial Emperor who exiled her mother for stealing his elixir of immortality. But when Xingyin’s magic flares and her existence is discovered, she is forced to flee her home, leaving her mother behind.

Alone, powerless, and afraid, she makes her way to the Celestial Kingdom, a land of wonder and secrets. Disguising her identity, she seizes an opportunity to learn alongside the emperor's son, mastering archery and magic, even as passion flames between her and the prince.

To save her mother, Xingyin embarks on a perilous quest, confronting legendary creatures and vicious enemies across the earth and skies. But when treachery looms and forbidden magic threatens the kingdom, she must challenge the ruthless Celestial Emperor for her dream—striking a dangerous bargain in which she is torn between losing all she loves or plunging the realm into chaos.

A captivating debut fantasy inspired by the legend of Chang'e, the Chinese moon goddess, in which a young woman’s quest to free her mother pits her against the most powerful immortal in the realm. Daughter of the Moon Goddess begins an enchanting, romantic duology which weaves ancient Chinese mythology into a sweeping adventure of immortals and magic—where love vies with honor, dreams are fraught with betrayal, and hope emerges triumphant.

Mooncakes 

Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu Oni Press [Jessica's Review]

A story of love and demons, family and witchcraft.

Nova Huang knows more about magic than your average teen witch. She works at her grandmothers' bookshop, where she helps them loan out spell books and investigate any supernatural occurrences in their New England town.

One fateful night, she follows reports of a white wolf into the woods, and she comes across the unexpected: her childhood crush, Tam Lang, battling a horse demon in the woods. As a werewolf, Tam has been wandering from place to place for years, unable to call any town home.

Pursued by dark forces eager to claim the magic of wolves and out of options, Tam turns to Nova for help. Their latent feelings are rekindled against the backdrop of witchcraft, untested magic, occult rituals, and family ties both new and old in this enchanting tale of self-discovery.

When You Wish Upon a Lantern by Gloria Chao Viking

Liya and Kai had been best friends since they were little kids, but all that changed when a humiliating incident sparked The Biggest Misunderstanding Of All Time—and they haven’t spoken since.

Then Liya discovers her family's wishing lantern store is struggling, and she decides to resume a tradition she had with her beloved late grandmother: secretly fulfilling the wishes people write on the lanterns they send into the sky. It may boost sales and save the store, but she can't do it alone . . . and Kai is the only one who cares enough to help.

While working on their covert missions, Liya and Kai rekindle their friendship—and maybe more. But when their feuding families and their changing futures threaten to tear them apart again, can they find a way to make their own wishes come true?

Fake Dates and Mooncakes by Sher Lee Underlined

Dylan Tang wants to win a Mid-Autumn Festival mooncake-making competition for teen chefs—in memory of his mom, and to bring much-needed publicity to his aunt’s struggling Chinese takeout in Brooklyn.

Enter Theo Somers: charming, wealthy, with a smile that makes Dylan’s stomach do backflips. AKA a distraction. Their worlds are sun-and-moon apart, but Theo keeps showing up. He even convinces Dylan to be his fake date at a family wedding in the Hamptons.

In Theo’s glittering world of pomp, privilege, and crazy rich drama, their romance is supposed to be just pretend . . . but Dylan finds himself falling for Theo. For real. Then Theo’s relatives reveal their true colors—but with the mooncake contest looming, Dylan can’t risk being sidetracked by rich-people problems.

Can Dylan save his family’s business and follow his heart—or will he fail to do both?

[queereads-bracket]

Queer Fantasy Books Bracket: Round 1

Book summaries below:

Mooncakes, written by Suzanne Walker, illustrated by Wendy Xu

A story of love and demons, family and witchcraft. Nova Huang knows more about magic than your average teen witch. She works at her grandmothers' bookshop, where she helps them loan out spell books and investigate any supernatural occurrences in their New England town. One fateful night, she follows reports of a white wolf into the woods, and she comes across the unexpected: her childhood crush, Tam Lang, battling a horse demon in the woods. As a werewolf, Tam has been wandering from place to place for years, unable to call any town home. Pursued by dark forces eager to claim the magic of wolves and out of options, Tam turns to Nova for help. Their latent feelings are rekindled against the backdrop of witchcraft, untested magic, occult rituals, and family ties both new and old in this enchanting tale of self-discovery. Graphic novel, fantasy, young adult, romance, cozy fantasy, contemporary setting

Malice duology (Malice, Misrule) by Heather Walter

Once upon a time, there was a wicked fairy who, in an act of vengeance, cursed a line of princesses to die. A curse that could only be broken by true love’s kiss. You’ve heard this before, haven’t you? The handsome prince. The happily-ever-after. Utter nonsense. Let me tell you, no one in Briar actually cares about what happens to its princesses. Not the way they care about their jewels and elaborate parties and charm-granting elixirs. I thought I didn’t care, either. Until I met her. Princess Aurora. The last heir to Briar’s throne. Kind. Gracious. The future queen her realm needs. One who isn’t bothered that I am Alyce, the Dark Grace, abhorred and feared for the mysterious dark magic that runs in my veins. Humiliated and shamed by the same nobles who pay me to bottle hexes and then brand me a monster. Aurora says I should be proud of my gifts. That she . . . cares for me. Even though it was a power like mine that was responsible for her curse. But with less than a year until that curse will kill her, any future I might see with Aurora is swiftly disintegrating—and she can’t stand to kiss yet another insipid prince. I want to help her. If my power began her curse, perhaps it’s what can lift it. Perhaps, together, we could forge a new world. Nonsense again. Because we all know how this story ends, don’t we? Aurora is the beautiful princess. And I— I am the villain. Fantasy, retelling, romance, fairytale

[the-monkey-ruler]

Yellow Emperor's Sword (2012) 春光灿烂之欢乐元帅

Director: Li Huimin Screenwriter: Zhang Tan / Gu Man / Zhu Yili / Fan Xiaotian / Xu Shalang Starring: Charlene Choi / Gillian Chung / Leo Kee Ku Genre: Drama Country/Region of Production: Mainland China Language: Mandarin Chinese Date: 2012-01-07 (Mainland China) Number of episodes: 48 Single episode length: 45 minutes Also known as: Happy Marshal of Brilliant Spring / Happy Marshal IMDb: tt2473962 Type: Reimanging

Summary:

This is a mythical and legendary comedy. In the ancient East, there was a beautiful village rich in "celestial silkworms", and everyone lived a leisurely life in a paradise. Tmall Girl (played by Zhong Xintong) escaped here because she stole the elixir of Taishang Laojun (played by Han Zhenhua). When she discovered such a fairyland, she became greedy. She put herself into Miaomiao's body and planned to occupy the village. Taibai Jinxing (played by Guo Jinan) came to Zhujiajiao to chase the cat demon, and was rescued by a piglet during a fight with the cat demon. In order to repay the favor of saving his life, he let the piglet sneak into the owner's body and become a human for one day, and named him Zhu Tianshuai (played by Leo Ku) ). Little Dragon Girl (Charlene Choi), who came to the world to repay her kindness, met Zhu Tianshuai and mistakenly thought she was his benefactor and fell in love at first sight. The cat demon is almost exhausted due to the loss of the golden elixir. She drains the blood of the villagers to replenish her physical strength, and the villagers whose blood she has sucked all become her minions. Seeing the cat demon wreaking havoc, Little Dragon Girl and Zhu Tianshuai decided to get rid of her...

Source: https://tv-1.chinesemov.com/tv/2012/Happy-Marshal

Link: https://www.iq.com/album/%E6%AC%A2%E4%B9%90%E5%85%83%E5%B8%85-2018-19rrh76hed?lang=en_us

[anxiousnerdwritings]

Part 2 of Marvel comics characters list:

Cloud 9 (Abigail "Abby" Boylen)

Kid Kaiju (Kei Kawade:a boy and his monsters)

Ziggy pig and silly seal

Howard the duck

Aero (Lei Ling)

Jubilee

American Kaiju (Todd Ziller)

Somnus (Carl Valentino)

Amulet (Fadi Fadlalah)

Nightmask (Adam Blackwell)

Ghost rider (Robbie Reyes)

Synch (Everett Thomas)

Misty Knight (Mercedes)

Dazzer

Lionheart (Kelsey Leigh Kirkland)

Gwenpool(Gwendolyn "Gwen" Poole)

Moon Girl(Lunella Lafayette)

Devil Dinosaur

Blue Marvel (Adam Brasher)

Jack of Hearts (Jack Hart)

Dust (Soorya Qadir)

Shang-chi

Elixir (Joshua Foley)

Kid Omega (Quentin Quire)

Legion (David Haller)

Speedball (Robbie Brown)

Silhouette

Ultraman

Justice

Night thrasher

Firestar

The Unstoppable Wasp(Nadia Van Dyne)

Armor (Hisako Ichiki)

Hurricane (Makoto)

Charade (Chloe)

Codec(Adi)

Twister(Bruno)

Diana Soar

Cloak(Tyrone Johnson)

Dagger(Tandy Bowen)

Vin Vision

Virginia Vision

Ant-man(Scott Lang)

Skin (Angelo Espinosa)

Husk

Broo

Eye Boy(Trevor Hawkins)

Moon Knight

Gentle(Nezhno Abidemi)

Prodigy(David Alleyne)

Danger

Pixie

Singularity

Captain Universe

Squid Boy(Samuel Paré)

Jocasta

Echo(Maya López)

Destiny(Irene Adler)

Iron Fist(Danny Rand)

White Tiger(Ava Ayala)

Power Man(Victor Alvraez)

Nova(Sam Alexander)

Luke Cage

Transonic(Laurie Tromette)

Snowguard(Amka Aliyak)

Sky(Kaila)

Martinez T,Naga

Vance Astrovik

Captain Charlie-27

Manon and Maxime

Idie Okonkwo

Surge(Noriko)

Triage(Chris Muse)

Anole

Wind Dancer(Sofia Mantega)

Magma(Amara Aquilla)

Bombshell(Lana Baumgartner)

Locust(Fernanda Rodriguez)

Pinpoint(Qureshi Gupta)

Domino

Shaman(Dr. Michael Twoyoungmen)

Alloy(Ramone Watts)

Giant-Man(Raz Malhotra)

Moondragon

Gorgeous George

Wiz Kid

Quicksilver

Scarlet Witch

Toad(Todd Talonsky)

Blob

Avalanche

Pyro

Sabertooth

Wave

Tempo

Jo-venn

N'kalla

Lila Rhodes

Priya Aggarwal

Xavin

Red Widow(Ava Orlova)

Ying Liu

Demolition man

Elsa Bloodstone

Stingray

Fantomex

Captain Ultra

This is the last part of the marvel comics characters list, I'll let you know if there are any other characters I overlooked

Take your time and Happy writing❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

Awesome!☺️ Thank you again for going out of your way to put together these lists. You’ve definitely brought some new characters to my attention that I’m excited to look more into and write for at some point.

[themuseumwithoutwalls]

MWW Artwork of the Day (8/19/23) After Zhou Wenju (Chinese, fl. mid-10th c.) The Goddess Chang'e in the Lunar Palace (16th-17th c. copy) Ink and color on silk, 29.5 x 29.1 cm. Sackler-Freer Gallery, Washington DC (Gift of Charles Lang Freer)

In primordial times, the legendary hunter Yi once received the elixir of immortality from the great goddess, the Queen Mother of the West. Before he could consume the elixir, however, Yi's wife Chang'e (or Heng'e) stole the concoction and ingested it herself, thereby becoming an immortal. Fearing her husband's wrath, Chang'e fled to the moon, where she dwells for eternity in the Palace of Boundless Cold. Among the many denizens of the moon, the white rabbit, seen beside her on the terrace, is generally shown preparing the elixir of immortality with a mortar and pestle.

[pascal-testet]

(Werbung) mein aktueller Test mit Jean Paul Gaultier - Le Male Elixir Absolu ❤️Ablauf: das Parfüm bekam ich auf dem Postweg zugesendet ❤️Fazit: Le Male Elixir Absolu hat eine reichhaltige, würzige und sinnliche Duftkomposition, die sich von der Originalversion von „le male „ abhebt, aber dennoch deren markanten Ausrichtung beibehält. Die Kopfnote öffnet sich mit einer kräftigen Mischung aus Pfefferminze und Bergamot, was dem Duft eine frische und prickelnde Note verleiht. In der Herz notte finden sich warme und süße Akzente von Lavendel und Vanille, was dem Duft einer gewisse Eleganz und Sinnlichkeit verleiht. Die Basisnoten bestehen aus Holz, Ambra und Tonkabohne, die dem Parfüm, tiefer und Wärme verleihen und den langanhaltenden Eindruck abrunden. Die Haltbarkeit von Jean Paul Gaultier, Le Male Elixir Absolu ist ausgezeichnet und bleibt über viele Stunden wahrnehmbar. Auf die Projektion ist sehr gut – der Duft ist intensiv und zieht sicherlich die Aufmerksamkeit auf sich, ohne zu überwältigen. Le Male Elixir Absolu wird oft als eine raffinierte, aber dennoch zugänglicher Weiterentwicklung des „Le male“ Dufts wahrgenommen. Die zusätzliche Komplexität und Intensität des Parfüms machen es zu einer idealen Wahl für kühle Abende oder besondere Anlässe. Besonders für Männer, die bereits die Originalversion mögen, bietet das.Elixir Absolu eine interessante, tiefere Variante. John Paul Gaultier Le Male elixir Absolu ist ein sinnliches, intensives und zugleich elegantes Parfüm, das ideal für den Herbst und Winter ist. Es hat eine lang anhaltende Wirkung und eignet sich gut für abendliche Anlässe. Es spricht besonders Männer an, die einen süßen, aber maskulinen Duft mögen, der sowohl frisch als auch warm wirkt. Mir persönlich gefällt der Duft sehr gut ich kann mich gar nicht mehr von ihm trennen. #produkttester #produkttest #pascal_testet #jeaunpaulgaultier #parfüm #jeanpaulgaultierlemaleelixirabsolu @influenster

[hadeschan]

item # K18C60

RARE Pra Kring Deed Nam Mon, Chao Khun Nor, Nua Thong Leuang, Pim Lek, Lang Yant U, Ok Wat Wang Krachom. A small-size brass Pra Kring figurine, a Medicine Buddha whose hands are splashing and dashing holy water or Buddha in his first sermon gesture. Made by Wat Wang Krachom, Nakhon Nayok Province in BE 2513 (CE 1970) for a fundraiser of the construction of a building of Wat Wang Krachom School, blessed/ consecrated by Chao Khun Nor of Wat Thep Sirinthrawat at the temple of Wat Thep Sirinthrawat for Neuang Trimaat (3 months of Buddhist Lent) in BE 2513.

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In Mahayana Buddhism, it is believed that Pra Kring would help bring 12 kinds of success to the owner. And Thais (Theravada Buddhism) believe that Pra Kring helps bring good health, longevity, cure for all diseases with wealth & prosperity.

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Holy Water or Nam Mon in Thai, Thais believe that the holy water can cure diseases, bring good fortune, and ward off evil spirits, bad luck, bad omens, curses, bad spells…

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BEST FOR: Pra Kring helps reverse your chronic disease and cure the underlying cause of your symptoms, Pra Kring adverts all distresses, and destroys all deceases. Pra Kring brings happiness, prosperity and longevity. Klawklad Plodpai (it helps push you away from all danger). Kongkraphan (it makes you invulnerable to all weapon attack), and Maha-ut (it stops gun from shooting at you). Metta Maha Niyom (it helps gain loving, mercy, caring, kindness, and compassion from all people around you). Maha Larp (it brings Lucky Wealth / wealth fetching), and Kaa Kaai Dee (it helps tempt your customers to buy whatever you are selling, and it helps attract new customers and then keep them coming back. Ponggan Poot-pee pee-saat Kunsai Mondam Sa-niat jan-rai Sat Meepit (it helps ward off evil spirit, demon, bad ghost, bad omen, bad spell, curse, accursedness, black magic, misfortune, doom, and poisonous animals). And this amulet helps protect you from manipulators, backstabbers, and toxic people.

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THE HISTORY OF PRA KRING

Pra Kring is a small figurine of Buddha in Mara Vichai Gesture (Subduing Mara, also known as Calling the Earth to witness) with lotus petals at the base in the front, the right hand of Buddha is on his knee, and his left hand is holding a pot of elixir of immortality or a peach (peach is regarded the fruit of immortality). The style of Pra Kring is similar to Pra Paisatchayaguru (Buddha of Medicine Bhaiṣajyaguru), and it is believed that Pra Kring is Bhaiṣajyaguru of Mahayana Buddhism. Bhaiṣajyaguru is also known as Healing Buddha, Master of Healing, Supreme Physician, and King of Medicines. The figurine of Pra Kring will be put in the water for making holy water for healing sickness, warding off evil spirits, easing the suffering, Klawklad Plodpai (bringing safety, and pushes you away from all danger), and Metta Maha Niyom (easily gaining loving, mercy, caring, kindness, and compassion from all people around you), and Maha Larp (bringing Lucky Wealth / wealth fetching). In the reign of King Rama V of Bangkok (King Chulalongkorn) between CE 1868 to CE 1910, the Pra Kring Pawaret was used for making Holy Water on his Birthday Anniversary Ceremonies.

The oldest Pra Kring figurines were made in Tibet and China, they are called “Pra Kring Tibet” and “Pra Kring Nong Sare” in Thai. And the second to the oldest Pra Kring figurines were discovered Cambodia dated as of Angkor period, they were called “Pra Kring Ubageng”, “Pra Kring Panombageng”, and “Pra Kring Pra Patoom Suriyawong”. The Cambodian style Pra Kring Patoom Suriyawong was popular in the reign of King Jayavarman VII (reigned CE 1181 to CE 1218), this type of Pra Kring was made to replace the figurine of Buddha of Medicine Bhaiṣajyaguru which was firstly made in Cambodia since King Jayavarman I (reigned CE 657 to CE 681). The making of Pra Kring figurines in Thailand was influenced by Cambodia, and it believed that Pra Kring figurines in Thailand was firstly made as early as in the Kingdom of Sukhothai (CE 1238 – CE 1438).

In Thailand, the Pra Kring figurine is traditionally stuffed with a small metal ball inside to make noise after it is shaken. The ringing the Pra Kring is to perform while praying a sermon. The material used for casting Pra Kring figurines in Thailand is called “Nawaloha”, an alloy, a combination of 9 kinds of metals which are iron, mercury, gold, silver, copper, pluang (antimony ore), zinc, chin (silver lead alloy), and borisuth (pure copper ore). There are different sizes of Pra Kring figurines, and the portable tiny Pra Kring figurine is called “Pra Chaiyawat”.

As for Thais, Pra Kring is a Buddha figurine that makes noise after being shaken. And in Mahayana Buddhism, it is believed that Pra Kring would help bring 12 kinds of success to the owner. And Thais (Theravada Buddhism) believe that Pra Kring helps bring good health, longevity, cure for all diseases with wealth & prosperity.

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Yant U or Unalome

Yant U or Yant Unalome, unalome cabalistic writing represents the path to enlightenment in the Buddhist culture. The spirals are meant to symbolize the twists and turns in life, and the straight lines the moment one reaches enlightenment or peace and harmony. The dots at the end of the symbol represent death, or the moment we fade to nothing.

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CHAO KHUN NOR OF WAT THEP SIRINTHRAWAT

Chao Khun Norrarath Rachamanit (Chao Khun Nor) was born on Saturday, 5th Febuary BE2440 and was the eldest of the family of 5 children. He was in the first group of students of the 1st Official University of Kingdom Siam, later known as Chulalongkorn University. After completing his studies, Chao Khun Nor became an officer of the Royal House of King Rama VI. He became the closest attendant to the King and he was promoted to serve at the King’s chamber and attended to the King’s daily needs. After the death of the King Rama VI, Chao Khun Nor was devastated. He left the palace in BE 2468.

His parents wanted him to get married with a lady teacher after seeing Chao Khun Nor was in lament over the death of the King. However, before the marriage would be engaged, Chao Khun Nor told his parents that he wanted to enter monkshood.

Chao Khun Nor ordained on 23th March BE 2468 at Wat Thepsirintravas, a day before King Rama VI was cremated. He became a monk as thamboon (making a merit) for the King Rama VI. Chao Khun Nor was a devoted vegetarian who consumed only a meal a day and decided never to leave the monkshood. He was ordained by Somdej Phra Buddha Ko-sacharn (Charoen), who was also his preceptor. Phra Putwiriyaaigon, the abbot of Wat Sommanatwiharn and Phra Udon Seelahkon Wat Thepsirin were the Dhamma teachers.

STRICT OBSERVANCE OF THE 227 PRECEPTS

It is widely believed that Chao Khun Nor could accurately predict the future by looking at finger and palm prints. When the villagers heard of that ability, all of them flocked to the temple asking him to tell them their future but they were declined by Chao Khun Nor. Despite that, many people continued to visit Chao Khun Nor very often even though they know that they will most probably go back empty handed. They all came for an assortment of reasons ranging from offering presents, to seek a guidance about their problems and to ask Chao Khun Nor about their future lives. Chao Khun Nor was very uncomfortable, pity and sad with all these human beings.

When the villagers offered things to Chao Khun Nor, Chao Khun Nor advised them to bring those to other monks as he strictly observed the 227 provisions of moral precepts. Chao Khun Nor also mentioned that one would similarly accumulate merits when giving offerings to other monks. This made the villagers unhappy and felt that Chao Khun Nor looked down on them. They people brought the matter up to Somdej Phra Buddha Kosacharn (Charoen).

When Somdej Phra Buddha Kosacharn heard this, he asked Chao Khun Nor about this matter. Chao Khun Nor explained that the reason he did not accept the offerings or attendance from the villagers because he was ordained for the purpose of making a merit to King Rama VI. Besides that, he also needed to maintain good concentration in order to study the teachings of Buddhism. In order to succeed, he needed to have no connections to the outside world. All the people who came to visit him brought along the troubles of the world, which adversely affected his concentration. When Somdej Phra Buddha Kosacharn heard his reason, he sympathized and agreed with him.

Chao Khun Nor had strictly observed the 227 precepts, he did not accept any form of offerings from the villagers. The room in which he lived was very empty and consisted of only the basic necessities. There was even no electric lighting. Chao Khun Nor did all his readings in the daytime. When Chao Khun Nor went back to his room, he would lock the door and stay inside. No one ever knew what he did in his room and he never came out to receive guests. He never accepted anything from anyone with the exception of his nephew who would bring vegetarian food from his mother. Chao Khun Nor spent most of his time in his monk’s house.

At the temple, they placed some skeletons of dead people to aid the monks in the development of their insight. The intention was to remind the monks that the female body would eventually resemble this ugly state so that they will refrain from sex and impure thoughts as well as to reinforce the rule of impermanence. LP Parn of Wat Bang Nom Kho Ayutthaya also practiced in such a manner.

WATER AFTER WASHING CHAO KHUN NOR’S FEET COULD CURE SICKNESS

It is a daily routine for Chao Khun Nor to walk back to the monk’s house. There were 2 things that were significantly different with him. Firstly, he did not wear any slippers like the villagers and walked around barefeet. The second and most remarkable was that he always walked on tip-toes and his heels never touched the ground. No one knows why he walked like that but it was assumed that it was a kind exercise for his leg muscles. Before stepping into the monk’s house, he would wash his feet in a basin and dry them.

A village was hit by a deadly disease and one of the villagers was instructed to bring an empty bottle to Chao Khun Nor to ask for some holy water to try to cure his fellow villagers but was declined. The villager had no idea what to do and how to get holy water from CKN to appease the villagers. Out of desperation, he decided to take water from the basin used for washing Chao Khun Nor’s feet and brought it back to his place to give to the sick. Nobody knew the origins of the water and what it was used for. After those sick people drank the water which they thought was holy water given by Chao Khun Nor, all of them were miraculously cured. This greatly puzzled the man who brought back that water to the village.

When this rumor spread out, people who heard it, then all rushed towards Wat Thepsirin to ask Chao Khun Nor for this special holy water but he denied having given any to anyone much to their disappointment. When the villagers heard Chao Khun Nor’s reply, they were all very confused as to where the holy water came from.

The monk staying next to Chao Khun Nor couldn’t stand it anymore as more and more people flocked to the temple and decided to clarify to the villagers once and for all that Chao Khun Nor had never given any holy water to anyone. However, there was one man who came to beg for it but was declined. He also witnessed the same man taking the water from Chao Khun Nor’s feet washing basin but at that time, he did not know what the man was doing.

When the origins of the “holy water” was established, all the villages rushed to take water from the basin. Some waited around for it to be filled up and immediately emptied the basin. This made it a very hectic job for the person responsible for topping up the basin as he had to do it numerous times a day. Finally, the basin was placed in Chao Khun Nor’s room to stop all trouble.

MIRACLE AT THE AMULETS BLESSING CEREMONIES

There were reports of strange incidents happening when Chao Khun Nor made incantations. On the fateful day of Saturday, 25th April BE2513, a photographer was assigned to take photographs of him consecrating a batch of amulets and was busy snapping pictures of the long and elaborate process until it was finished. After the photographs were developed, there was something strange and remarkable about a picture in which Chao Khun Nor was sprinkling holy water on the amulets. The wooden brush that was used to sprinkle holy water emitted white light from its tip. There were many people who were present at the ceremony but the light was not seen by anyone there. It only showed up on the picture. Everyone was amazed as they could not find any logical explanation for this. However, everyone agreed that it could not have been caused by the actual physical sprinkling of holy water itself.

There was another strange incident on Saturday, 5th December BE 2513. There was a big ceremony at Wat Thepsirin and many people came to witness the event. Chao Khun Nor announced that it was going to be the last time he was going to make incantations for the blessing of amulets. In a photograph, the flames from the candles which were lined up directly in front of the principle Buddha statue were “swaying” as if there was a strong wind blowing. However, all the windows and doors were shut during that time and there was no wind at all. The flames should have been completely still. Everyone who was at the ceremony were astonished when the picture was shown. This particular picture was taken when Chao Khun Nor was making incantations in front of the principal Buddha image in a temple and Chao Khun Udomsarasophon was blessing the amulets with holy water.

Based on the pictorial evidence taken during the ceremony, there was widespread belief that the strange incidents were the result that Chao Khun Nor was already an arhat.

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*with Certificate of Authenticity issued by DD-PRA

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DIMENSION: 4.20 cm high / 2.20 cm wide / 1.50 cm thick

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item # K18C06

Price: price upon request, pls PM and/or email us hadesamulet@outlook.com

100% GENUINE WITH 365 DAYS FULL REFUND WARRANTY

Item location: Hong Kong, SAR

Ships to: Worldwide

Delivery: Estimated 7 days handling time after receipt of cleared payment. Please allow additional time if international delivery is subject to customs processing.

Shipping: FREE Thailandpost International registered mail. International items may be subject to customs processing and additional charges.

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[kingjamesroystonpub]

New Year Celebration at Royston | King James Royston Pub New Years Eve

The United Kingdom becomes a veritable festival of celebrations as the clock strikes midnight. Welcoming the arrival of a new year. All throughout the country, people join together to say goodbye to the old and hello to the new. Celebrating the New Year in Britain is all about a vibrant tapestry of customs, delicious food, and a sense of community. Let’s also explore New Year Celebration at Royston.

A Festive New Year's Feast

Traditional lavish feasts showcasing the best of British cuisine are a hallmark of British New Year's Eve celebrations. In the kitchens of friends and family members come together to whip up a variety of delectable foods. Also, forming a buffet that delights the senses and encourages sharing.

Traditional Roasts: 

As families gather around the stove to make traditional roasts, the air is filled with the tantalising aroma of roasting lamb or beef. This hearty meal, served with golden Yorkshire puddings and a variety of seasonal vegetables, represents the coming together of loved ones. It is the comfort of home, and the promise of a prosperous new year.

Seafood Fest: 

As a way to welcome the new year in style, many Britons enjoy seafood feasts. These delectable meals, which include smoked salmon, prawn cocktails, and fresh oysters, not only bring an air of opulence, but they also represent the year's worth of good fortune and plenty.

Sweet Treats: 

Sweet treats like mince pies and Christmas pudding are served as the icing on the cake at New Year's Eve dinners. The rich fruits and spices fill these delectable delicacies, which, when served with a scoop of velvety custard or a dollop of brandy butter. Thus, bring a sweet touch to the festive feast.

Toasting Drinks: Joyful Drinks

As the feasting begins, Britons raise a glass to the old year and a cheers to the new one with a variety of drinks. The variety of drinks available reflects the variety of events. Ranging from classic cocktails to trendy new faves.

Sparkling Wines and Champagne: 

The sound of popping champagne corks reverberates around the nation as the midnight hour arrives. The spotlight is on sparkling wines and champagne, which represent joy and effervescence. Aspirations of a nation eager to start over are symbolised by the rising bubbles in glasses.

Homebrewed Ciders and Beers: 

Craft beers and ales made in the area are popular choices, as is typical of the British. The festivities would not be the same without these strong and tasty beers. There's always something new and interesting to sample thanks to the growing craft beer culture.

Signature Cocktails: 

At the New Year's Eve party, creative mixologists create mouth-watering unique cocktails to ring in the new year. The classic celebration gets a modern twist with these cocktails, which range from fruity concoctions to elixirs made with herbs.

Year-End Celebration at Royston, in the UK: A Fusion of the Modern and the Traditional

A wonderful combination of tradition and modernity characterises the British approach to ringing in the New Year. As the clock strikes midnight, London is greeted by the recognisable chimes of Big Ben,. Signalling the start of a spectacular fireworks show. The night sky is illuminated by dazzling bursts of colour, captivating millions of spectators as they marvel at the spectacle set against the backdrop of famous landmarks.

Local communities are the places where long-standing traditions are revived. With the joyful ringing of church bells and the energetic singing of "Auld Lang Syne," a feeling of togetherness and shared joy fills the atmosphere. Gathering around crackling fireplaces, families enjoy each other's company while playing board games, listening to tales, and exchanging New Year's resolutions.

New Year Celebration at Royston : Music and Celebration

New Year Celenbration at Royston  is a lighthouse of entertainment for people in need of a lively and exciting New Year's Eve. An unforgettable party of epic proportions is in store for this cherished venue's planned evening.

When the legendary DJ Leeno—known for his impeccable taste in Disco, House, and Club Classics—takes the stage at King James Royston Pub, the energy level will skyrocket. With his infectious rhythms, the dance floor will be alive with the pulsating energy of revellers as they ring in the new year.

Disco, House, and Club Classics: DJ Leeno plays music from all over the dance music spectrum. Including the infectious rhythms of House, the funky sounds of Disco, and the classic club songs that have shaped the genre. At King James Royston Pub, the dance floor will be a fusion of genres. We guarantee that every partygoer will discover a beat that speaks to their spirit.

Entry: Celebration Ticket

A nominal admission price of £10 will grant participants access to this fantastic party hosted by King James Royston Pub. To ensure a smooth entrance into a night of music, laughing, and memories, cash is welcomed at the door.

For a small price, guests can enjoy an unforgettable party that blends classic and modern forms of entertainment. At every turn, the infectious energy of the party will shine through. Starting  from the throbbing beats of the DJ to the clinking of glasses and the jubilant cheers that fill the whole bar.

Final Thoughts: A Year-End Concert

Live music fills the air as the night progresses at King James Royston Pub. Where revellers raise their glasses in synchronisation to toast the arrival of the new year amidst a dance floor that pulses with excitement. A spectacular New Year's Eve spectacle, it embodies the spirit of British festivity with its blend of tradition, gastronomic delights, and entertainment, weaving a tapestry of joy that will stay with everyone who attends. A toast to the dawn of a new year, to the enchantment of the evening, and to the hope that this year brings you nothing but joy, success, and celebration!

[tokotestet]

Produkttest Ralphs Club Elixir

#werbung Ralphs Club ElixirDank @lorealparis und @ralphlauren darf ich das Ralphs Club Elixir testen.Ralphs Club Elixir kombiniert sinnliche Noten, die durch eine berauschende Amberqualität verfeinert werden. Der perfekte Duft für alle, die sich von der Masse abheben und ein Statement setzen wollen, das noch lange nach der Nacht anhält.Fazit:Sehr intensiver, interessanter Duft, würzig-…

[nolasvision]

functional programming is awesome.... gotta learn all these

[prestonprograms-blog]

IS RUST WORTH IT?

Alright guys, so for several weeks I have been studying rust, playing with it,trying to make meaningful programs using the keypoints of the language. what do I mean by that

zero-cost abstractions

move semantics

guaranteed memory safety

threads without data races

trait-based generics

pattern matching

type inference

minimal runtime

efficient C bindings

The highlights of the language are more wordy than I like(I enjoy understanding text without frying my brain to read at a college level). so ill break some of this down. Zero-cost abstration: This is the idea in Rust, that you can implement and use interfaces without lowering performance(basically). Move semantics: This is probably my second favorite thing about rust, This is the act of moving variables between functions and different scopes, by transferring ownership or borrowing , and when the variable exits scope, it will be disposed of in memory. ( you can google ownership and borrowing , i dont want this post to drag on). Guaranteed memory safety: RUST WILL NOT LET YOU RUN A PROGRAM THAT IS NOT MEMORY SAFE. the language and compiler forces you to write safe code. this is the sole reason for rusts existence. The last few keypoints are something that can be explained quickly through google searches, and in my point are not that important ( except traits, but those are basically interfaces, and threading is important but not for the scope of this post). Now to the good stuff. Is Rust Worth it. If you are coming from a c/c++ background( or have taken some classes on it) then you know about pointers, references, and how fun they can be [sarcasm]. Rust makes using pointers simple, and easy, and the compiler will not let you use a pointer incorrectly or unsafely(unless specified, but dont do that if you dont have to). By using the "move semantics" you pass everything a function needs /safely/.That is the big deal about Rust, being able to do everything safely, and not having to worry about seg-faults or other random errors. Now, other than the safety nets, the language does offer zero-cost abstraction, so you can do interfacing and other abstractions safely, and without slowing performance. That is it. That is all the language has offered to me in the past months. It can do everything C can do. It can do it SAFER though. But, if you program in C or C++ you know there are safe ways to do things, so if you actively try to be safe, you will be safe. Rust is for the people that arent actively trying or do not know what is unsafe about their code. Rust is a C safety-net, with some nice things added to the language, like UTF-8 encoding by default, disposing of unneeded variables and memory for you (THIS IS A BIG HELP DO NOT GET ME WRONG), and faster interfacing. But does that make Rust worth it? Yes and no. Yes because you can make sure you are safe, and you can make sure your programs are efficient. Rust can also be compiled to a shared object ( dynamic library) and be used by C with extern functions ( THAT ARE SAFE), and the language is fast, just as fast as C from what I have come to understand(i could be wrong). No because C can do everything Rust can as long as you are safe about your code, and check and try it over and over again with testing. C also has rich libraries developed for things that rust doesnt( YET, libraries are constantly being developed and ported to rust). For instand http is really hard with Rust right now. OpenGL is kind of hard ( though the game engines i have tried are nice with rust.) And finally, it is a little confusing as to how to interop rust with other languages at times, it took me 2 weeks before I was able to use it with C( it was because I am stupid and did not know you can just gcc main.c and rust.so).So as long as you are safe with C, you are just as good as if you were to use rust.

My Final Thoughts. Rust should be learned by all systems programmers and low level designers, or even web developers( more on that in a minute). Rusts safety is amazing, and can really speed up development. I personally do not think you should just use rust by itself ( not right now atleast, maybe as the language gets more frameworks , this view will change). I feel Rust and C together is good, I think Rust and pretty much any other language is good. Rust gives you the ability to do low level coding with higher level languages just by linking the dynamic library and calling some extern functions. Rust can also ffi with node, pythong, ruby, and ive even seen where someone has linked it with elixir. This means that web developers can write functions in rust, and call them from their favorite high level language. You have always been able to call C from those languages, the issue is /safety/ you dont want to mess with memory or low level code on a server, if it can seg-fault, that could be catastrophic. But Rust is safe, so it can do this just fine. Though you can call rust from other languages, its not always faster to use a rust function. When using ffi for node for instance, you have to have node call the ffi library, then the ffi library calls your rust code, the rust talks to ffi, then ffi talks to node. this is very slow( example where someone tried writing their own regex parser for node in rust: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okaNt-dGfUg), also Rust compilation to WASM is coming very soon. When using a .so dll call that was linked with C, it didnt seem to make a difference, so i think c + rust interop has no downsides. TLDR;Learn Rust if you are a systems developer or a web developer. Rust is not perfect yet, with C interop you can do everything you want, and need. Rust is not magic, it is safe and growing. Rust is both worth it and not worth it depending on the situations. FOR FUN: here is a link to an operating system written full in rust besides what was needed to be programmed in asm: https://www.redox-os.org/ and here is an opengl based game engine made in rust called piston, and another called glium: PISTON: http://www.piston.rs/ GLIUM(an opengl wrapper): https://github.com/glium/glium

[the-girl-not-next-door]

joints

[natasha-lightwood]

okay but when are marisa tomei and paul rudd gonna admit they are actually immortal and ageless

[chaoticgoodlawyerwrites]

Preview for HSY chapter 6! After YQY's kidnapping!

~~~~~~~~~~

Oh. Oh, shit.

Shen Qingqiu would just ignore that little slip!

“The point is, there is no deal between us. Especially not that I would be your empress!”

“So you didn’t marry me of your own will?”

It felt like the entire Peak took a breath, and Shen Qingqiu realized this little melodrama was happening in front of everyone who cared enough that their Sect Leader was kidnapped to come to Qiong Ding Peak and aid the search effort. That included, by necessity, at least one representative of each Peak, and a good portion of Qing Jing. Oh, and most of Qiong Ding Peak, too, since they didn’t want to be seen as treasonous as their Shizun.

The Elixir of Truth was powerful, but Shen Qingqiu had some free will. “In dreams, yes.”

“You know my powers, Shen Qingqiu. And you know a dream is never just that with me.” He walked up to him and Shen Qingqiu didn’t understand why he was doing this. He couldn’t ask him, not with their communication spell long ended. “The blood exchange was binding.”

“I don’t carry your blood para…”

There was a slight but very present shifting of something in Shen Qingqiu’s body. It was light as he felt something brush against his lip from the inside. It was minuscule, but certainly there.

“I won’t steal you from your life here,” Luo Binghe said, staring at Shen Qingqiu’s pale face steadily. “I will not harm anyone here. And will not renounce my claim to being your Second Husband, or to you being my First Husband and Empress as soon as I can bring you to my court.”

“Second Husband!” Wei Qingwei shouted, coming forward, flushed and fuming. “Sect Leader Shen! Please explain!”

“He’s promised, isn’t he?” Luo Binghe said, not breaking eye contact with Shen Qingqiu. “To Prince Tianxuan-Jun. This is his world, not mine. But Shen Qingqiu is one I have crossed space and time to find; I won’t let a little treaty keep me from my soulmate, as confirmed by Madam Meiyin.”

…

“So disciple Luo Binghe. Is Prince Tianxuan-Jun.” Wei Qingwei said.

“The family resemblance is rather obvious,” Ning Yingying said under her breath. Which… yeah, that was true when you looked at the Emperor, Empress, and Luo Binghe together.

“Do you love me?” Luo Binghe asked him.

“Yes,” Shen Qingqiu answered. “And it’s complicated.”

“How so?”

“Binghe, you just killed the second in command of this sect!”

“He was in the middle of trying to assault you. I would have taken my time as he deserved, but your safety was my priority.”

“He did what.” Ning Yingying prompted darkly and okay, he didn’t really need that spread around.

“Yes, and I appreciate you for that,” Shen Qingqiu conceded. “But I haven’t agreed to marry you outside of dreams, let alone be your empress! And I need to talk to my first husband before I can take on a second!”

“You already have.” Shen Qingqiu startled as he looked at Tianlang-June’s severe expression from where he had backed up to stand beside his wife. Oh, it was never good when the emperor got serious. “Under demonic law, if you exchanged blood with the intent to marry, unless under clear duress, you’re married.”

“I knew,” Luo Binghe said, Zhuzhi-Lang slithering away to stop being a barrier between them. It felt like everyone had backed away from him, leaving him at the center of everything with Luo Binghe. “I knew that marriage would be binding here as long as my blood parasites took.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because you are the most important person in my life. And didi is the most important person in yours. There was no other way to make sure you stayed with me once he returned. And now you can’t escape me.”

This was so, so fucked up. But Shen Qingqiu heard the hurt in his voice, saw the need he had, and forgave him instantly, because he was Luo Binghe. “You didn’t need to do this.”

“Yes, I did. I’m not a good person, Qingqiu. I’ve had to take everything I’ve ever had; your hand in marriage is no different. I have schemed and manipulated and pushed you to this point. If that makes me the villain, then so be it.”