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#or so the chinese view went
arcticdementor · 6 months
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Swaying the wide world, I have but one aim in view, namely, to maintain a perfect governance and to fulfil the duties of the State: strange and costly objects do not interest me. If I have commanded that the tribute offerings sent by you, O King, are to be accepted, this was solely in consideration for the spirit which prompted you to dispatch them from afar. Our dynasty's majestic virtue has penetrated unto every country under Heaven, and Kings of all nations have offered their costly tribute by land and sea. As your Ambassador can see for himself, we possess all things. I set no value on objects strange or ingenious, and have no use for your country's manufactures. This then is my answer to your request to appoint a representative at my Court, a request contrary to our dynastic usage, which would only result in inconvenience to yourself. I have expounded my wishes in detail and have commanded your tribute Envoys to leave in peace on their homeward journey. It behoves you, O King, to respect my sentiments and to display even greater devotion and loyalty in future, so that, by perpetual submission to our Throne, you may secure peace and prosperity for your country hereafter. Besides making gifts (of which I enclose an inventory) to each member of your Mission, I confer upon you, O King, valuable presents in excess of the number usually bestowed on such occasions, including silks and curios-a list of which is likewise enclosed. Do you reverently receive them and take note of my tender goodwill towards you! A special mandate.
The Qianlong Emperor, in his 1793 letter to King George III
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astranauticus · 4 months
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im back on my 'never shutting up about animatics i cant make' bullshit but like, orv and changgwi by ahn ye eun anyone
#i think this is like the third time im talking about this song on my blog but consider: its REALLY GOOD#ive seen many wildly different translations of this song (both english and chinese bc this song went a bit viral on cn internet a while bac#so yknow. not great. cuz i cant speak korean. but anyway#i call it the evil spirit tricks you into getting eaten by a tiger song but like idk i feel like some of the lines work rly well#got introduced to this song via absolutely incredible arknights chongyue animatic on bb so yknow#add this to the pile of 'potential animatic songs that also constantly make me think of other (better) animatics'#oh but thanks to that animatic for the idea of every time the lyrics go 'come lets dance' the visuals is just a fight scene LMAO#idk im just constantly coming up with new animatic ideas because the longer its been since i finished my last one the more i realise how#god AWFUL it is like idk if other people get this but i sometimes get youtube videos with like 200 views recommended to me for no reason#and a while back i was looking for like. an ado song or something and i got my own animatic as a sidebar recommendation???#like youtube what the fuck? anyway yeah my god its really not good#im not like. blaming my past self for it necessarily i planned that with the editing power of IMOVIE in mind thats why it looks Like That#but my god i want to make a new one so bad just to prove that i can make something better#like i got capcut now i can actually fucking edit.#asto speaks#orv
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lokislytherin · 1 year
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shitpost art arc? aka i posted the art on twt too and if sera likes it this will actually be my biggest win of all time
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edwardslvrr · 16 days
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MY FAVOURITE DRIVER 𐙚 lando norris
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౨ৎ lando norris x singer!reader
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the one where reader has been lando his celebrity crush for ages now, now reader confirms in an interview her formula one crush is lando norris
taglist if you'd like to be added to my taglist, message me privately or comment on this post
warning this is all fake and just for fun, no hate to any of the people mentioned. Just a reminder that this is pure for entertainment хохо
main masterlist 𐙚 lando masterlist
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౨ৎ yourname - interview
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౨ৎ f1fan twitter
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౨ৎ yourinstagram dublin, ireland
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liked by landonorris and 421.792 others
yourinstagram dublin you were amazing 🥲 so excited for the rest of the tour & to see you all!!
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username sobbing cus i don’t have tickets
username lando i see u my man xx
username let him crush
username don’t blame him, she’s gorgeous
username see you in london!!!
username (exbf) fumbled HARD
౨ৎ yourinstagram posted on their stories
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viewed by yourbsf, maxfewtrell and 1.218.782 others
replies to your story
username seeing you tomorrow💘
yourbsf is that my shirt!!???
yourinstagram oops? 🤷‍♀️
username girl crush for real
username cannot wait to see u in antwerp‼️‼️
౨ৎ landonorris twitter
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౨ৎ f1fan twitter
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౨ৎ landonorris - post-chinese grand prix race interview
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౨ৎ yourname/landonorris twitter
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౨ৎ messages max/lando
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౨ৎ f1fan twitter
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౨ৎ landonorris posted on their stories
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viewed by yourinstagram, maxfewtrell and 4.572.782 others
replies to your story
౨ৎ yourinstagram london, united kingdom
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liked by landonorris and 563.853 others
yourinstagram london n2 you own my heart, you’ve all made it so special for me! can’t believe my eyes everytime i see your posts🫀🥲 thank you
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username wonder why it was special..
username girly acting like lando wasnt there
username this show was the cause of my dead
username “so special for me” cus of lando wbk babe
username so real 😭
username she defo went on twitter before the show and saw the lando being there tweets & panicked
username you were a giggling mess all night, i wonder why
౨ৎ instagram DM landonorris/yourinstagram
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౨ৎ f1fan twitter
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౨ৎ yourinstagram posted on their stories
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viewed by yourbsf, gracieabrams and 1.289.782 others
replies to your story
username DATE CONFIRMED ‼️
landonorris exposed for not keeping my diet🥲
yourinstagram you’re on a date with the coolest girl ever i think your trainer will figure you 🫶🏼
landonorris maybe yes, he’ll have to give me a pass for being on a date with a pretty girl
yourinstagram oh 😋
username girlfriend got herself a hot man!!
username wife is taken😣
౨ৎ lando.jpg no location
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liked by yourinstagram and 491.853 others
lando.jpg girlfriend.jpg
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username the hard launch >
maxfewtrell guess i was wrong..
lando.jpg you were indeed 🙂
username i’ve been begging for this hard launch
username wish i could pull my celebrity crush… jackhughes wya?
username so real, lemme join u. harrystyles hi☺️
username you’re hot drewstarkey
username trevorzegras call me
username be my lightning mcqueen carlossainz55
username screaming crying and throwing up
username my parents (real)
yourinstagram you love me hehe
lando.jpg i did the second you unfollowed charles
charles_leclerc now what did i do?
taglist - @louvrepool @italyrryx @buendiabebeta @janeholt3 @lightdragonrayne @namgification @aquangxl @sammyam @americanbluebirdrb @poppyflower-22 @c-losur3 @nxrrislando @haikyuen @evie-119 @raevyng @urfavsgf
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piosplayhouse · 5 months
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I too watched the hbomberguy video and went straight to Twitter, whereupon I found that James Somerton had mentioned danmei in one of his videos and it made everyone mad, so I went looking and. yeah here's a full transcription of his just completely incorrect coverage of cql and mdzs from "Hollywood's (Gay) China Problem" so you don't have to watch it and give him views:
"The 2019 fantasy series The Untamed, featuring an unlikely bond between a man with magic powers and a stoic prince, started an online craze over the pair's implicit romance, but the show's promotion focused on its portrayal of Chinese traditional culture, a push consistent with Chinese communist party propaganda.
The show was... Queerbait-y. But the novel on which it was based [shows a picture of the fanmade cover for The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation made by fan translator team Exiled Rebels] certainly was not. That featured a very explicit love story between the two main characters, but was self-censored when adapted to meet the censorship guidelines of the Xi Jinping government. But it didn't matter. Like so much queerbaiting before, people saw through the weak veneer of heterosexuality. They "took the bait", so to speak. The series has accumulated a total of 9.5 billion views in China as of this summer, and had also received an international release via Netflix. It was described as a global phenomenon, taking off like no BL series before it, making its way all around Asia and with the Netflix deal, all across Europe and North America as well.
Tencent, the Chinese streaming platform it originated on, saw 2.6 million new subscribers to the service when it was released. And WeTV, an app that lets you watch BL content anywhere in the world, saw growth of 250% while the show was airing. In January of 2020, the cast members planned to embark on a multi-city, worldwide fan meeting tour. Cities included Bangkok, Singapore, Tokyo, Seoul, Macau, Kuala Lumpur, Toronto, Los Angeles, New York... But it was cancelled due to COVID-19.
Even the Chinese government has endorsed it. The overseas popularity of these romantic sword-wielding heroes is often highlighted in Chinese media coverage focusing on the massive overseas streaming numbers and its ability to build a growing appreciation of the charm of Chinese culture."
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rosequarzo · 3 months
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only you
૮₍ ˃ ⤙ ˂ ₎ა • ! zayne+ fem! reader canon divergence tooth-rotting fluff implied friends to lovers ☆ warning not proofread . . . !? & 644 — catalogue
notes. as promised, here is the zayne drabble hehe.
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Zayne drops whatever was in his hands whenever you came to visit him. It has become a habit of his; he realised after nearly dropping his pair of glasses that he was busy wiping. He didn’t want to go through the painful and troublesome procedure of purchasing a new one, despite how his salary was able to cover it easily.
The doctor could physically feel his office brightening up whenever you entered, greeting him with your signature smile as you revealed the takeout bag, concealed from his view. 
“Zayne, you haven’t eaten, have you? I brought us Chinese food so we could eat together,” you grinned, waving the bag slightly like an excited puppy. The sight was enough for a smile to slip from his usual composed demeanour. 
“Sure, we can eat together,” he agrees, resisting the urge to break out into a smile when his ears pick up your cheering noise. 
He got up, walking around his table to help you remove the plastic containers from the takeout bag, placing them on the coffee table instead. Both of you sat on the same couch, your clothed knees brushing against one another due to the close proximity. You wasted no time in removing the lids, feeling your mouth drooling at the fragrance instantly engulfing the room. 
“Did you buy fried rice?” He questioned, quirking an eyebrow as he stared at the food displayed before him.
“Yup, I was craving for it and I passed by a restaurant that was selling fried rice,” you answered, eagerly handing your dear friend his utensils. 
Zayne watches as you scoop a mouthful of steaming and fragrant fried rice with your spoon. It was a miracle that you didn’t split the food, considering how it was about to fall. His eyes remained fixated on your face, observing as you slowly chewed and your eyes widening, only for happiness and satisfaction to flicker past. He finds your reaction amusing and adorable, not that he dares to say it out loud. Not when he was in his office, that is. 
“You silly girl, you have something on your face,” he chuckles at the sight of two stray rice grains sticking near the corners of your mouth. 
It was humiliating with how your throat went dry and how your heart skipped a beat at the romantic gesture your partner just did. As far as you knew during your long-term friendship, Zayne was someone who prefers to keep to himself.
He doesn’t dare to show his affection for you in public, not when everyone’s eyes were on him and not when he was practically well-known for his talent as a doctor. He may come off as a cold and aloof person, only for him to discard the demeanour aside once he was alone with you. 
“What’s wrong?” He furrowed his eyebrows at the lack of response, snapping you out of your thoughts. You blinked your eyes twice and cleared your throat. 
“Huh? Oh, it’s nothing, don’t worry about it. We should continue eating before your break ends,” you didn’t know why you were acting shy out of a sudden.
Perhaps it has something to do with how Zayne was staring at you with such an intense gaze. Perhaps it has something to do with how he looked at you like you were his whole world. You risked a sneak peek at him, only to quickly look away when you accidentally made eye contact. Your flustered reaction and action elicited an amused chuckle from him. 
“Stop looking at me like that,” you huffed, cheeks dusted in a light shade of red. 
“Like what?” 
“Like I’m the only one here.” 
Zayne paused, only for a genuine smile to stretch across his face from ear to ear. “Oh, but you are. Even if there are people here, I will only look at you and only you.” 
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tanuki-kimono · 5 months
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Cw: We are going to talk here about periods, and sex education in the past. Read this note according to your own sensibilities :)
How women dealt with periods during Edo period, article by shunga enthousiast Shungirl who made a paper pad following instructions found in makura bunko 枕文庫 - ie ancient sex books illustrated with erotic ukiyoe.
One of such makura bunko is 渓斎英泉 Keisai Eisen's 閨中紀聞-枕文庫, first published in 1822. It details Chinese remedies recipes for menstrual pains and irregularities, give tips about sex, and information about menstruations and pregnancy. From a modern point of view, some beliefs are outdated, but it was then such a bestseller it went through several reeditions.
Several words were apparently in use during Edo era to designates menstrual period: keisui 経水, gekkei 月経, tsukiyaku 月水, etc.
When girls went throught their first period, their females relatives or nannies would taught them how to deal with them. One method was to use paper as sanitary products (please note people without easy access to paper probably dealt with periods differently).
__________ 御馬 paper pads
Sanitary pads, such as the one recreated above by Shungirl, were then called mima 御馬 (probably as a pun on true "mima" which were then fine horses own by noblemen, or attached to sanctuaries as mounts for gods etc) or simply ouma お馬 ("honorable" horse).
Ouma were made from inexpensive recycled paper called Asakusagami 浅草紙. Sheets were folded 8 times, tied with twisted paper strings (koyori 紙縒), and then wrapped with another layer of folded paper. It was secured once again with paper strings.
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Part of the strings could be left long so to tie around the waist, or/and pad was hold into place by wearing fundoshi 褌 loincloth (which would also help prevent leaking on inner tights).
Asakusagami quality was low (it was also used as toilet paper) so paper pads had to be changed often, meaning you had to fold quite a lot of them to go through your period!
Shungirl folded the pad above following instructions found in the book 実娯教絵抄, which provided several other "models":
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__________ 詰め紙 paper tampons
Another method for dealing with periods were tampon-like paper bundles which were inserted into the vagina, the 詰め紙 (tsumeshi? I am not sure of the reading).
This method may have first appeared in red-light districts (?). Beside its use for periods, prostitutes also used those tampons as method of contraception (OP has an interesting article on this subject).
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By the end of Edo period and into Meiji, paper tampons were widely used even by women who were not prostitutes - despite voices branding this method as unsanitary.
__________ About girls' coming of age rites
Menarche (first period) was an important milestone for girls, and was celebrated as such via specific rites (shochō o iwau 初潮を祝). Those differed a lot from places to places, and also depended on social status.
Celebrations would concern close family, but often spread to wider community who could received for example a festive meal (sekihan 赤飯) for the occasion (some Edo era senryû poems stress how mortifying this publicity could be!).
Interestingly, some traditions were also pretty sweet: in some places, mothers would sew 3 stiches into their daughter's underskirt (koshimaki 腰巻き) as a good luck charm, hoping their periods would last only 3 days <3
Those rites were part of coming of age traditions (seijoshiki 成女式) which marked the start of a young woman adulthood. Another example is the blackening of teeth (ohaguro お歯黒) which usually started around 16-17 years old.
Celebrating menarche publicly was a way of advertising that the girl was no longer a child and would "soon" be a bride. Yet, if menarche often took place around 13-14 years old, in reality it was somehow unusual to have girls married so soon!
Before marriage, especially in non-noble/samurai families, young women often started their sexual life via flings or yobai 夜這い ("night crawling" ie pseudo-secret nighttime encounters) before any wedding actually took place.
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w--zii · 3 months
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gam3 bo1
bf!seungcheol x fem!reader x dom!wonwoo
[minors dni]
smut warning: 3some vc sex, edging, reader gets called slut a lot, wonwoo is acting dominant, degrading, unprotected sex, riding... let me know if theres more.
vc: 1817
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as chinese new year is getting closer, all members got a week free. first day of the holiday was how it should be, you and seungcheol took a good rest and enjoyed each other’s company.
after dinner seungcheol got bored and called wonwoo to play LoL with him. “baby im gonna play some with wonwoo” he shouted from other room, letting you know.
while you are doing your work in kitchen, you can hear him yelling and complaining about how he died for the nth time.
you went to bedroom, smiling to his back, thinking how cute he is when he acts sulky, hopping in bed. you watched some videos and did other social media things but when searching through pinterest, it started to overwhelm you after a while and you can no longer stand the temperature. although its winter, whole house was burning.
you switched to some shorts and continued looking through social media. doing one of your favorite things; looking for hot seungcheol pictures. you literally had at least one folder for sexy kinda photos of seungcheol in your every social media account. not only these of course, you literally try to collect every picture of him on internet. how can you not? this man is stunning.
like right now too. he doesnt have a top. you didnt mind at first but as you kept looking at photos and videos of him, it started to make you dizzy. seungcheol removed his headset and slipped his hair back, his movements showcasing his back and biceps for you. he continued his game and you tried to ignore everything.
until you heard him asking “baby can you bring me water” with a groan. you went to kitchen, took slightly cold water and brought it to him. “here” handing the glass to him, now having a full view of his abs and shoulders. this man is huge. your hand reached for his locks, tugging them softly.
“whats it pretty?” you didnt bother to answer him. shyly settling on his lap, thanks to his big thighs, it was comfortable, more than enough. and in seconds you found your mouth on his neck, giving him kitty licks. he put the glass on table as he let out a scoff, a smirk forming on his lips. his hands caressing your back, they landed on your hips. one movement from him and you are breathy, panting like you've just ran 5 kilometers.
in the mean time wonwoo acting like he is not hearing anything and minding his business in game home page, at least trying to, as he paced out in his toughts seungcheol’s voice woke him up. “trying to put on a show for wonwoo? are you?” wonwoo smirked to what his friend said, he leaned his head back in his gaming chair and stared at the ceiling for a while, wishing he was there. he knows how much a slut you are, of course, you loved teasing the members since seungcheol don't mind it but it was wonwoo making you want to tease him more than you do to other members. the look he has, his calmness about what you are trying and doing his best to ignore you. he doesn't want to give you what you want that easily. but he knows, the day where he will brat-tame you will come. just letting you have fun, for now.
“are you okay baby? mhm?”
trying to make you look at his eyes but you refuse. “you don't seem okay.”
smiling to you, he started to move your hips making you feel his growing bulge, when you felt some friction you let out another breathy moan.
“don't do this to me scoups.” wonwoo's words made seungcheol grin.
you started dry humping him and chase the feeling you want most, lips never leaving his skin, you made your way to his jawline and then his plump lips where he needed you most. your eyes meet but seungcheol didn't have enough patience so he starts kissing you. with all his love and adore he has for you, he kisses you so hungrily like that's his last chance. as your mouths move, it makes the most erotic noises wonwoo ever heard. the sloppy kissing and all soft moans you make has no good on him.
wonwoo's right hand reached for his hardness, letting out a whimper. hearing wonwoo only causing seungcheol getting more horny, its not that he likes hearing wonwoo but the dirty mind you three have.
seungcheol's hands moved up to your face to stop you. “needy slut.” he whispered towards your mouth, just enough for wonwoo to hear. you bit your bottom lip as seungcheol made you wear his headset, he turned up the volume too. now you can hear both your boyfriend and wonwoo's voice. “tell him how needy you are.” a smile appeared on his face. knowing you won't be able to talk and hearing wonwoo will make you more horny.
“seungcheol, please.” you sobbed. you like being a brat and hearing him call you filthy things, but not feeling brat enough to face wonwoo right now. you're just so wet and shy for that. as expected from you, seungcheol thought.
“y/n,” wonwoo called your name in the most horny way, “let me hear you.” he ordered. “wonwoo-ya” you whined, in mean time seungcheol unbuttoned his sweats, letting his cock out, your mouth watered. seungcheol gave his shaft few strokes, hissing and looking at you, he pulled you to another sloppy kissing section, moaning between.
while his left hand on your hip, keeping you still, seungcheol's right hand met your panties, he teased you through clothing, his fingers finding your clit and pinching it, making you jolt, “cheol-,” you whimpered and let your head fall on his shoulder.
“y/n? you okay there?”
“mmh,” making breathy moans in order to communicate with them.
“use your words.” wonwoo ordered, now palming his fully out length, “you are such a slut you know that?” he groaned, “having no shame and coming to scoups while he is in voice chat with me, only to get yourself fucked.” seungcheol continued playing with your pussy and teasing you more, it formed a wet spot on your panties,
“hmm, wonwoo, she's soaking.”
“keep teasing her, hyung. i don't think she deserves more”
“oh baby your pussy is dripping, all for us? mhm?”
their words making you clench around nothing, that cuases more wetness on your clothing, “please.” you begged.
wonwoo's cock twitched in his hand, “please what slut?”
“you can't even say it? are you that needy? tch.”
“please, p-please, touch me, i-i need it inside.” you begged.
you sound pathetic, and you know you are, humping your swollen cunt against his hand, hoping he will let you ride him.
“good girl.” seungcheol is keeping his mouth shut because he knows it makes you more aroused like this, being controlled by someone that isn't even here, just letting younger one have some fun.
you can hear how wonwoo panting, moaning your name between his dirty words. he really didn't want you two's first time to be like that, but he won't count this. he squeezed his pre-cum coated tip with his fingers, imagining it as your lips sucking him.
seungcheol put your both shorts and panties aside and now teasing your entrance with his head, smearing all his slick and mixing it with your arousal. you're flustered that he's not putting it in nor touching your clit,
“fuck, please.” you're so done with them. as you are about to complain and beg for anything seungcheol slides his tip inside, “oh, baby, fuck-” he can just cum there, “you are dripping, love.”
and you sit completely, getting a loud moan from him as you clench, at the same time you can hear wonwoo breathing and cursing.
you start riding him slow, almost on the edge because of all the teasing, seungcheol’s hands guiding you by your hips, “you feel so good baby, my little whore.”
“c-cheol-” you sutter and your boyfriend starts speeding up the pace, now thrusting into your needy cunt.
“are you close, dirty thing?” wonwoo never shutting up about how dirty slut you are, “y-yes, please let me c-cum, ah-” seungcheol hitting your g-spot and making you see stars.
“you can't cum until i say so.” wonwoo finds a way to edge you every time, such a tease he is. your mind going blank.
“i wish i was there to shove my cock in your mouth, i bet you would like that, am i wrong y/n?” you lick your lips to the tought of it, not capable of responding him at the moment, all you can think of is how much you want to take them both at the same time.
“talk to me slut.”
“yes! yes, yes, please,” tears sliding down your cheek as you cry out for wonwoo.
three of you having the best time ever, moans and names in air, sweats dropping, both men's cock twitch to the tought of you.
“you are so hot like this baby,” seungcheol wipes your tears away and grips your throat as he starts being more rough with you, “come for us, pretty.”
younger one comes first, cumming on all of his hand and table, making a literal mess. he wished you were there to lick everywhere clean. “oh- f-fuck!”
you can hear wonwoo's deep breaths through headset, “our little cumslut, come for us, show your love.”
your eyes roll back as you reach your climax, trying to keep yourself steady while holding seungcheol’s neck, walls cleching around him, not much later you feel his seed spilling inside you. seungcheol letting you both ride through your orgasm, his pace slowing and pressing you down on his cock before he moans your name. “fuck- y/n.”
“good girl, you did so well for us.” wonwoo praising you. now he is sitting all clean, still having a problem with his hardness though.
all your arousal dripping on your boyfriend's balls, you can't form a single word or move any part of your body, your eyes close, just letting yourself be there. seungcheol caresses your back and takes-off headset from you, “you were so good baby, i love you.” he leaves a kiss on your cheek.
“i will text you later,”
“okay hyung, tell her i had fun.” wonwoo ends the call with a smirk on his face. but his face drops when he sees his bulge again. sighing, it's never enough for him. he can't get enough of you.
seungcheol takes care of you like he always do, after helping you to take shower and putting new clothes on you, he lays you down like a baby, he strokes your hair gently, his eyes full of love.
on the other side he can't wait to talk with wonwoo about you. and hear wonwoo's complains on how slutty you are.
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not proof read. © w--zii. do not repost.
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artists-ally · 25 days
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Hello sweetheart 😘 I really really adore your writing so much ! So, I dare to send in an idea as well 🥰 maybe you're dating Harvey but he barely had time for you lately, so one time he wants to surprise you with dinner at his apartment and you enjoy your time together. Then you both end your evening with lovely passionate smut and lots of cuddles afterwards. In the morning he wakes up before you and takes time in admiring you, realizing how happy he is to have you ? Hope that's not too cheesy ❤️ thank you so much in advance!
{Warm} Reader x Harvey Specter
This has been sitting in my inbox for god knows how long. I thank you for your patience my dear. I love this idea so much, and this song Warm by SG Lewis is just perfect. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it. P.S. nothing is EVER too cheesy for me to write <3
Word Count: 3,998
Warnings: Just some good ole fluff and smut, some very soft dom!Harvey.
Tagging: @rosedpetal @blacktreacle22
Summary: After a particularly brutal month in the office, you've noticed some changes. Harvey is just... not present. Rather than demanding his attention, you just simply float by, knowing eventually he'll return his negligence. And boy does he ever.
~~~~~
“Yn, you really just need to grow a set and tell Harvey he’s being a jackass,” Donna scolds through the phone.
I roll my eyes, “Donna, I told you before. I don’t mind. He’s focused on winning this case, and it quite literally is the life and death of this firm. So, while I appreciate your ‘words of affirmation’, I didn’t ask for them.”
“I know, I just hate to see you so neglected.”
“Oh please,” I pff, flipping my head to move a chunk of hair out of my eye. “Neglected is probably the last thing I am. I can entertain myself. I actually haven’t minded the space. Every once and a while it’s good to go back to the basics. I’ve finally learned how to take care of the plants, I can make a mean lasagna too. I’ve even gotten back into reading. For fun.”
“Sheesh, clearly something is wrong if you’ve been reading voluntarily.”
I snickered. “I don’t know, I saw a book recommendation on instagram and fell in love. Childhood penpals turned strangers, turned back to penpals and she found out he’s the world's biggest rock star and he’s been writing songs about her the entire time.”
“Sounds exactly like the fairytale mushy-gushy shit you love. How you found Harvey to fill those shoes I’ll never understand.”
“He’s just… I don’t know, exactly what I need? My life is perpetually disorganized and he’s too organized. We balance each other out. It just works, and I love our life. I love our dynamic, and I love him. Since he’s so busy, and I have the energy and mental space to, I don’t mind picking up the slack. Again, things will balance themselves back.”
Donna sighed, and I knew that flat line was on her lips. “I know, you’re always so insightful. Optimistic bitch.” I cackled a laugh. “But in all seriousness, Harvey needs you. You’re right, he is too organized. He needs you to unwind him. I know how he is, and he needs a kick in the ass every once in a while. So, if by the end of the week, he doesn’t come around a little, just push him. He’ll fold. Especially for you, and that ass of yours.”
A smile bloomed onto my face, the door of our apartment building coming into view. “Thanks Donna, I’ll let you know how tonight goes. Maybe I’ll stop by the office in the morning and bring the crew some coffee, a few bagels as well.”
“This is why you will always remain my favorite. Now go eat that Chinese food, you sexy son of a bitch.”
“How did you know I had Chinese food?” 
“Because I’m Donna.” Then the line went dead.
Psycho. My psycho, but still a psycho. 
I did indeed have a takeout bag hooked in my elbow filled with Chinese food. Sesame chicken and wonton soup for me, beef and broccoli with pork lo-mein for Harvey. I got a small order of pork fried rice and some scallion pancakes to share. I was about ten seconds away from crouching in an alley and eating myself into a coma. 
The city streets were just beginning to fill up with Friday night festivities. Those heading to lavish dinners or exotic clubs, dressed to the nines with pristine hair and outfits. I looked down at my beat up orthopedic sneakers that kept the never ending foot pain of being a museum tour guide at bay. Here I was, surrounded by the most eccentric and busy place on earth, with absolutely nothing to do.
And that felt amazing. 
I scurried up the steps to the apartment building, greeting our doorsman with a smile and a wave. He gave me one back, pulling open the big glass doors. The mild April chill vanished and the comfortable, still air caressed my cheeks. The elevator door chimed open, chimed closed, and ascended to the top. 
21… 22… 23… the floors climbed and climbed. What was I going to watch? The new season of Bridgerton was out, I could watch that. No, the next season can’t possibly be as good as Charlottes. Maybe a movie? Didn’t that second Dunne one come out? I’m not sure I understand the first one enough to comprehend the second. 
The ding sounds, and I step off, juggling my keys as I rattle off more ideas in my head. 
There's always The Big Bang Theory, maybe Two Broke Girls? Nah, I’ve seen those a thousand times. Maybe I should watch something new. No, nothing sounds interesting. I could try to read, but I don’t wanna risk spilling anything on my book. Once in third grade, I was eating a bowl of cereal in the morning, and I spilled the entire thing on my book. If You Give A Mouse A Cookie was never the same again. 
When the door opened, I toed off my sneakers, kicking them in the corner. I threw the keys in the bowl and hummed a song aimlessly. In the kitchen, I pried a plate out of the cabinet and began to spoon food onto my plate. I won’t tell Harvey, but I stole some of his lo-mein. 
“Yn,” a voice spoke. 
I spun so hard I knocked my hip into the kitchen island corner, a scream bubbling out. “Jesus fucking christ Harvey! You could warn me next time, fucking hell.” 
My heart thrashed in my chest, my eyes going a little wonky from adrenaline. I swallowed, bending at the waist to catch my breath.
“Sorry, my love,” he smiled, coming to raise me from my hunched over position. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“A simple text would’ve been lovely,” I sighed, rising to my full height. “What the hell are you doing…”
All words died on my tongue as I looked around. The table was decorated with a white cloth, candles skewed about. There were flowers in a vase on the counter, beside it a card with two small boxes. There was champagne chilling in a metal bucket of ice, a box of chocolate covered strawberries and cherries next to it. 
“Harvey, what’s all this for? Our anniversary isn’t for two months.”
He grinned, that smirk going right to my chest. “No, it’s not.”
“Then what's all… this?” I waved my hand around, noticing a few balloons blown up and taped to the archway. I somehow completely missed the rose petals lining the floor. 
“It’s because I love you,” Harvey grabbed my hips, pressing our fronts together. “You’ve been… dealing with me for weeks now. My absence, my constant mood swings and lashing out. And I know what you’re gonna say-”
“That I know you’ve been stressed and need some time to focus on the case?”
Harvey tilted his head, a flat expression on his lips. “Yes. That.” 
“It’s not a big deal, Harvey. I know how important work is to you, and I know that you’ve really needed to focus so the firm doesn’t crumble and-”
“But I need you to know that you are a thousand times more important than work,” he says, placing his palms on my cheeks. He kisses me softly, stealing the air from my lungs. “Then the firm,” another kiss.  “And anything that has to do with that hellscape. I love you, Yn. And I don’t know what I would do without your constant flexibility with my chaotic life. So this is a very small token of my appreciation. The first part, at least.”
I hummed against his lips, letting my arms lay across his shoulders. I kiss him deeply. “The first part?”
“Mhmm,” he nodded, hands falling down my back, a less than PG-13 flex of his hands on my ass. “First, I want you to open those little boxes. Then, we’re gonna eat and have some dessert.”
“I feel like there's more to this list,” I smile, making my way back to the counter to get our food. One second to the next, Harvey gripped my arm and pulled me back into his chest. I could feel his desire pressing into me. “Looks like I’m right.”
“You’re always right,” he whispered, breath tickling my ear. He kissed the side of my neck, leaving a little bite below my ear. “Go sit, I’ll get the food.”
A new thrill fueled my body, propelling my steps to the dining room. I sat, playing with the end of the table cloth as Harvey brough everything over. The champagne, the card, the boxes and the food. Before he made his way to his seat, his palm cupped my neck and he tilted my head back. His deep, lust filled eyes locked with mine before he kissed me again. 
“Open whichever you’d like, darling,” he sat opposite me, tucking the napkin across his lap. 
“Just because I did what anyone would for their love doesn’t mean you need to shower me with gifts, Harvey,” I said, giving him a pointed look. 
“And if I bought them just because I wanted to?” 
Point taken. I read the card, a picture of a polar bear wearing sunglasses on a beach with a coconut in its hand plastered on the front. 
Classy. It made me giggle nonetheless.
To my Yn,
Thank you. I’m sorry. I love you. Thank you for being here, even when I wasn’t. I’m sorry for my absence, I promise I’ll be more conscious of my time spent at the office. I love you, more than I ever thought I’d ever be able to love anything. You are everything I’ve always wanted, and everything I never knew I’d need. After this last month, I didn’t understand just how badly I craved you. Your smile, your laugh, your warmth. The taste of you in the morning, and those adorable snores at night. No matter how many times I do it, I’ll never get tired of kissing you. Never tire of taking your breath away. I’ll never get sick of you being the first thing I see when I wake up, and the last thing before I sleep. 
You are forever entwined in my soul, Yn. And I wouldn’t dare to imagine it otherwise. 
I love you. <3 Harvey
I looked up at him, tears lining my eyes. He just winked at me, fork scraping his plate as he shoved a mouthful in. 
“Fuck you for that,” I sniffled, brushing away the tears as I blinked. “That was so uncalled for, you didn’t need to do that to me. That’s so unfair.”
He smiled, “I know you love that shit. And before you ask, Donna didn’t come near me when I was writing that. It all came from up here.”
I laughed as he touched the side of his head. “Good to know all those years at Harvard Law taught you something other than corporate jargon.”
“Open the boxes, little devil,” he sipped his champagne, nudging the boxes towards me. 
Both were a dark blue velvet, unlabeled. They were closed with a silver ribbon. The first one I grabbed was about the size of a book, and something rattled inside. I undid the bow, lifting the lid. Inside was a Kindle. I gasped, pulling it out and looking it over. 
“Harvey,” I grinned, mouth falling open. “You did not.”
“But I did,” he smiled brightly. “Unlimited.”
I could jump his bones from across the table. “Have I ever told you how much I love you?”
“Well, after you find out I got you a case, a Pop Socket, and one of those stands with the remote clicker so you don’t even have to hold it, you might love me a little more.” I squealed, pushing out of my chair as I crashed into him. We nearly tipped backwards. Harvey laughed, rubbing my sides as I latched onto him. “I knew you’d appreciate this. I know we haven’t been together much, but I remembered you showed me a video of some girl who had one.” “You remembered that?” A new set of tears choked my voice. 
“Of course I did. And I also remember you telling me that if I bought you another set of earrings you’d use them to pierce my ears, so that option went out the window.”
I swatted his chest, Harvey’s smile easy as he eased me off of him. “This is perfect, thank you so much.”
“Of course, my dear. Now open the next one.”
What could be better than a Kindle Unlimited? With a stand AND a remote to turn the pages for me. Harvey has no idea what he’s done, I’ll literally never get out of bed again. 
Practically ripping the box in half, I take off the lid and peer inside. 
I blink a few times, looking from him to the box. “My passport?”
“Yup.”
“I feel like there is something I’m not getting here.”
“There is.”
“Are you gonna tell me or make me guess?”
“I’m not that mean,” he rolled his eyes. 
“I mean you have been ignoring me for the past month,” I feigned being upset, letting out a little yelp when he threw a piece of broccoli at me. “You're literally four years old.”
“We’re going to China.”
Everything stopped moving. I dropped the box, my small, navy blue passport skittering across the floor. My ears buzzed, my fingers buzzed. “I- What?”
Harvey grinned. Fuck, I missed that grin. “We’re going to China. We won the case last night, and I am desperate for some time with you. You’ve always wanted to go, so why not now? I have everything set up. We’re gonna stay in the mountains, we’re gonna go hiking and see some shows. I also know you’ve wanted to-”
“We’re going to China?” I had to make sure I heard him right? I’ve been learning the language for years now, engrossed with their rich culture and history. The cuisine, the art, the music… everything. Had I been in a different timeline, I would’ve moved there. 
“Yes, my love. We’re going to China. Two weeks.”
“Two weeks?” My eyes nearly fell out of my skull. “I can’t take two weeks off of-”
“Yn,” he cut me off, knowing I was going to spiral into a never ending list of reasons of 'why this and why that'. “It’s all been taken care of. All you have to do is pack a bag and get you cute ass in my car on Sunday morning. Don’t worry about anything else.”
“But-But Harvey… what the FUCK? WE’RE GOING TO CHINA? Oh my god, I have to call Donna.”
“Can you call Donna tomorrow? I have other things I’d like to do before you go blabbering to her about how amazing and awesome I am for planning this.”
I eyed him suspiciously. “Donna planned this, didn’t she?"
“She did find the panda place. And the art festival. But everything else was my doing. You can applaud now.” Cocky, arrogant son of a bitch. My cocky, arrogant son of a bitch, but one nonetheless.
I looked at him, dumbfounded. He did all this for me, just because he had a crazy workload. I feel like it should be the opposite, me pampering him, congratulating him on his huge win. Not him fueling my book obsession and planning my dream trip. 
But it was yet another reason I loved him more and more every day. He just did these things, without prompting. Without need. He felt like he was neglecting me, leading to… all of this. 
We ate our dinner, chatting about anything other than the case. I asked about it, twice, and he completely side-stepped my attempt. I wanted to know, but if he didn’t want to talk, I wouldn’t push. I told him the plot of this terrible Mafia romance book I finished earlier in the week, and he listened to every grating, awful point I made about it. All with a dopey smile on his face. 
Harvey cleared the plates, setting them in the sink. He brought more champagne, the strawberries and the cherries. In a calm silence, we devoured them, eyes raking over each other. I risked a look below the table, seeing just exactly where he wanted the next phase of the night to go. 
“You looking at it makes it worse, you know,” Harvey leaned back in his chair, my legs propped in his lap. He stroked his hand up and down, fingers dipping into one of the holes in my jeans. 
“Good,” I smiled, a sinful intent in my eyes. 
He looked from my smile to my eyes and back down. With a curse, he threw my legs off his lap and pulled my chair close to his. Harvey enveloped his mouth with mine, the sweet taste of chocolate mixed with the sour berry and tarte champagne. Every flavor on his tongue became my own. 
I was in his lap the next second, legs folded against his thighs. Harvey kept me firmly planted. Steady. He wouldn’t dare let me fall. I got lost in him, suddenly aware just how long it had been since I truly had him. Truly tasted him. Truly craved him.
He stood, taking me with him. The familiar route to our bedroom whirled by. I landed on the bed with a soft bounce, tugging on the collar of his shirt until he laid on top of me.
“So demanding,” he whispered on my lips. I wrapped my legs around his hips to emphasize my need. “Fuck… I love it when you get like this.”
“You made me this way, Harvey,” I pleaded, eyes catching him. 
“I’m sorry I haven’t been able to give you what you deserve,” Harvey sighs. It’s not heavy, but it’s noticeable. “Let me take care of you, Yn.”
“I just need you to-”
“I know, my love. Let me worship you. Treat you how you deserve. You’ve been so patient with me, now let me return the favor.”
Well, I’d be stupid to deny him.
Delicately, he kissed down my torso, lifting my shirt over my head and throwing it for tomorrow's problem. He removed my socks, then my jeans. From ankle to knee, he kissed and bit my skin, making me squirm against the sheets.
Every nerve ending in my body was on fire, the tips of my fingers and toes pulsing with anticipation. With the last remaining pieces of my clothes gone, he spread my legs, kneeling to the ground. 
The sight of Harvey Specter on his knees between my thighs was… empowering. Not that he hasn’t tasted me with his tongue, I’ve just… always been on top. Never so… exposed.
A heady sigh left my lips, body going lax with the first pass of his tongue on me. I clenched my legs against his ears, muffling my whines. He pushed them against the mattress, eyes pinning me as he sank his teeth into the muscle of my thigh. 
“You know better than to hide those pretty moans from me, my love.” Yes, I do know better. “Scream my fucking name if you want.”
I just might. 
He made quick work of me, practiced movements easily sending me up and up and up. He’d slow back down, torture me with more bruising marks on my thighs while I writhed and begged for him to let me release. I arched up off the bed when he added his fingers.
I was so close, a month's worth of pent up desire threatening me all at once. My mind and body were on fire. I couldn’t hold off any longer. I chase that high, circling my hips against his face. His hands, firmly planted on my inner thighs, I shook, that month long ache finally subsiding before roaring back to life. 
When I thought he’d stop, he kept going. Around and around and around his tongue went. Teasing and sending an endless supply of pleasure through my body. 
“H-Harvey,” I gasped, my body up in flames over his never ending devotion.
“I’ll stop when I want to. Fuck Yn, you taste so sweet. Almost as sweet as hearing you beg for me to let you cum. Can you take one more?”
Again, I nodded, content to let him spend however long he wanted at my aching core. My second release came much sooner than the first. He didn’t bother teasing me, knowing it would ruin all his hard work if he stopped. With a few more sweeping passes, he licked me clean, sitting back on his heels to look at me. He wiped my cum off on the back of his hand, giving me a wicked grin.
“You are so fucking beautiful, all laid out for me to do as I please,” Harvey said, beginning to strip. 
“Please Harvey, have me. Any way that you like.”
He chuckled, kneeling over me. “I will, but like I said, I want tonight to be all about you.”
“Well I want you to fuck me.” I am not very good at being subtle. 
“How can I deny you when you ask so nicely,” he purred, closing our lips together, I parted my legs for him, desperate for the friction of his body on mine. His chest, his stomach, his hands lacing with mine. I needed all of him all over me. 
It didn’t take long for him to slip inside me, every inch of him stretching me in the most desirable way. I hummed as he stilled, his need clear in the way his arms shook to keep still. 
“Move, please please move,” I begged, threading my hand in his hair. With a reluctant drop of his head, he rolled his hips into mine, our bodies finally meeting in full. 
“I was trying to be gentle,” he reasoned. 
“Fuck gentle, I need you. I’ve missed you so much.”
“I know my love, I know.”
With each thrust into me, a new sensation bubbled inside me. My toes curled, my back bowed, my eyes fluttered shut. He quickened his pace, heavy breaths falling from his lips into mine. His air was mine. Every muttered curse and moan and praise went straight through me. He needed me as much as I needed him.
~~~~~
With my mind not fully awake, I lazily fling myself off my stomach and onto my back. My arm knocked into something hard, and I squinted against the morning sun. Oh, Harvey.
“Sorry,” I mumbled, crashing back down against the pillow. 
He chuckled, kissing the hand that accidentally hit him in the face. “It’s okay.”
“Are you going into the office?” I asked, still keeping my eyes closed. Man this bed is so comfy…
“No?” He said, a question in his tone. “Why would I?”
“Why else are you up so early?”
“I was just looking at you, my love. It’s been a while since I’ve just… looked at the love of my life. Taken the time to appreciate just how fucking stunning you are.”
My heart melted, a lovesick feeling welling up in my chest. I turned over, facing the handsome lawyer and grinned ear to ear. “I’m sure I look fabulous after last night.”
“You’ve never looked hotter. Lips swollen from mine, hair a mess from my hands… your body covered in my-”
“Okay,” I snatched his lips between my fingers, silencing his next words. “I did just wake up, at least let me shower before you destroy me again.”
“Only if I can quote on quote destroy you in the shower before I cook you breakfast and fuck you again on the counter.”
My eyes snapped open, meeting his blown out pupils. “You certainly have a vivid imagination for…” I looked over at the clock on the side of the bed. “... eight thirty-seven AM.”
“Wait till you find out I’ve been awake since six. With nothing to do but plot all the ways I could ruin you.”
I rolled my eyes playfully, offering my lips as a peace offering. He quickly accepted, kissing me deeply. “Man, I missed this.”
“More than you could ever know.”
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eyesofshinigami · 2 months
Text
Gifts
Rating: T
CW: None
Tags: Established relationship, fluff, minor sexual content
Prompt: For @forgottenkanji "Love is going out of your way to do something you know will make them happy"
WC: 653
Written for Day 29 of @steddielovemonth
He tells himself it’s going to be worth it. Standing here in thirty degree weather, shivering his ass off, waiting for the ticket office to open. Steve can picture the look on Eddie’s face when he shows up on their anniversary with Metallica tickets and that almost makes it worth it.
Three hours he’s been standing out here. The line is getting longer and longer, so he’s glad he made the decision to skip work for the day to come. 
Almost. His toes are still fucking freezing. 
“Hey man, you in the right line?” a couple of guys behind him snicker, and Steve has to keep from rolling his eyes. 
“Sure am. Friend of mine really likes the band and couldn’t make it out, so I figured I would grab tickets for him,” Steve lies smoothly. It’s not really any of these guys’ business, but he’s learned that it’s sometimes the best way to deal with people like this. 
The guys are quiet and one finally pipes up, “That’s kind of awesome, man. Sorry.”
Steve waves them off, pulling his jacket tighter around himself. He checks his watch; eight o’clock, the box office should open very soon. He had felt a little bad lying to Eddie, saying that he was going for a run and then had to get to work early, but he’d make it up to him with kisses later on. 
He hears cheers go up and the line starts moving, butterflies kicking up in his belly. The counter comes into view and the bored girl at the desk pops her gum as he gets the tickets. Middle seats, nothing fancy, but it’ll be enough to make Eddie lose his mind. 
Steve can’t wait.
Two weeks later they’re laying in bed, sweaty after sex and full of Jim’s Chinese from down the block. It’s been one of the best anniversaries Steve can remember, and he knows it’s about to get even better. 
“Got you a present,” he tells Eddie, reaching over to his nightstand to pull out the envelope he’s been hiding there for the last two weeks. He can’t wait to see the look on Eddie’s face; it’s going to be worth being cold for three hours and the subsequent runny nose that followed. 
Eddie grins, eyes shining. “I got you one too.” He reaches over and grabs something from his own bedside table. “On the count of three?” 
Together, they say, “One… two… three!”
They each hand the other a similar looking envelope. Eddie opens his first, and lets out a screech of pleasure. “Holy shit!!! Metallica tickets? I thought they sold out!!” He tackles Steve to the bed, kissing his face obnoxiously. “How?”
“Went and waited in line,” Steve replies, because yup, absolutely worth it. “I wanted to get them for you.”
Eddie’s eyes are a little wet and he pulls his hair in front of his face, delighted. “Okay, now you. Then I’m going to ride you into the mattress because I can’t believe you did this for me.”
Heart full, Steve opens up his own envelope, only to find a pair of tickets to go see the Bulls play next Saturday. His eyes go wide. “Eddie, what? You got me Bulls tickets? How-?” 
“Asked that guy Jake at your work and I went down the other day and got them. I thought you would like them.”
“But you hate sports!”
Eddie shrugs, looking bashful again. “Yeah, but you don’t. I thought it would nice, you know? We could go together? Unless you want to take like… Jake or something, but-”
He doesn’t even get to finish his sentence. Steve is pulling him close, kissing him like it’s the last thing he’ll ever do. Their bodies press together and Steve is so ready to show Eddie how much he appreciates him. Repeatedly, until neither of them can move. 
All in all, a pretty great anniversary, he’d say.
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thenightling · 3 months
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So for those unaware of what just went down, a whistleblower has exposed that last year the American / Canadian / and UK comity of the Hugo Awards deliberately removed some nominations specifically because those nominations might offend the Chinese government.
The Hugo Awards (until now) were a very respected scifi / fantasy award. In years past Neil Gaiman had won Hugo awards for such things as The Sandman: Overture and other works.
However the nominations removed last year to avoid offending China included episode 6 of the Netflix adaptation of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman, likely because it showed Death taking souls to the afterlife. The Chinese government does not like Western depictions of the afterlife.
This has blown up into a very big and interesting scandal and now Neil Gaiman and The Sandman Netflix series are part of it.
I grew tired of Hollywood pandering to China years ago when I found out that's why so many horror reboots removed supernatural elements (i.e. the Child's Play remake turning Chucky into an evil AI robot doll instead of a possessed talking doll).
The Chinese market does not like western depictions of ghosts or the afterlife and this has lead to a steep decrease in high budget supernatural horror and why most horror is now made by smaller, low-budget divisions like Blumhouse.
Disney couldn't even put a Haunted Mansion in Hong Kong Disney. Instead it's "Mystic Manor" which isn't haunted at all but just "enchanted" with "living furniture." The popular excuse they give is that the Chinese culture has different views on ghosts than us. Bull. I've read plenty of scary Chinese ghost stories. And they don't mind western depictions of ghosts if they happen to be in Korean or Japanese animation.
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prince-kallisto · 6 months
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Levan aka Papa Draconia: Dragon, Long, or Raven?
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So I rewatching from clips from the live-action Maleficent movie, and I was SHOOK at this scene. When Maleficent was trapped underneath the iron chains, Diaval (known as Diablo the Raven in the og Sleeping Beauty) was flying around in his Raven form to try and help her.
But Maleficent waves her hand, and says “turn into a dragon.” The dragon form in Sleeping Beauty was now given to Diaval, NOT Maleficent. Maleficent in the live-action film does have a habit of turning Diaval into different forms: first he was a raven, then a human, then a wolf, and then a dragon.
This is very interesting to me because the TWST fandom does seem to be a little divided on what type of Fae Levan is. Levan/Revan sounds a lot like “Raven,” and if he’s married to Meleanor, who represents Maleficent, it makes sense that Levan would represent “Diablo,” Maleficent’s loyal companion.
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However, the confusion lies in Levan’s official title: Ryūgan Duke Levan, or 竜眼公レヴァーン. It roughly translates to “Dragon-Eyed Duke,” or more specifically, “Long-eyed Duke.” If you remember from the first Halloween event, Malleus makes it rather clear that the Chinese Long is different from a dragon
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This title gave maybe people the impression that Levan is NOT a Raven Fae, but a Dragon Fae like the rest of the Draconia family. However, others say that it could just be a title representative of Levan’s connection to the Draconia family. Lilia even refers to Levan as “Meleanor’s eyes, limbs, and husband,” just like how Maleficent in the live action says she needs Diaval “to be her wings.”
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I personally lean towards the idea that Levan is a Raven Fae, but this Maleficent scene intrigued me. Shape-shifting magic seems to be very looked down upon in modern Twisted Wonderland society. Jack Howl has a very rare type of Unique Magic that can transform him into a wolf, implying that this is not a regular power of Beastman, Merfolk, or Humans.
Fae, however, do have some forms of shape shifting magic. Perhaps the negative views of shapeshifting magic in modern TWST society is another indicator of the prejudice society had against Fae.
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Y’all know I had to bring CROWLEY into this 💞💞💞💞💞🐦‍⬛ But remember in the prologue, Crowley literally just has a transformation potion on him, which transformed him into a ghost. It’s mentioned several times throughout the main story that shapeshifting potions are illegal under less prescribed under very specific circumstances, and Azul and Riddle went even more into detail about this in Book 6. It’s seems like no surprise that Crowley would be doing something illegal yet again, but why shapeshifting specifically?
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So what if Levan, a Raven Fae, found a way to shapeshift into different forms other than a raven in battle? Levan is one of the top generals in all of Briar Valley, after all. It would be even more interesting if he’s referred to as a “dragon” in his title this way…perhaps he was well known for shapeshifting and utilizing different forms to defeat enemies. Riddle mentions how potentially dangerous the major physiological changes can be…so if Levan really does shapeshift in battle…that’s incredibly impressive.
This seems like case closed, right?
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BUT THEN THIS ONE THROWAWAY LINE FROM MALLEUS CHANGES EVERYTHING
“Technically, longs wouldn’t be categorized as Fae.”
HM???
Again, Levan is referred to as the “Long-Eyed Duke.” The Chinese characters heavily imply that he has some type of relation to the long.
But the long can’t even be categorized as a Fae?? What are they categorized as then? Monsters????
It’s very interesting. Either this line supports the idea that Levan can shapeshift into a long (but isn’t a long himself) or, Levan isn’t even a Fae at all, and is merely blending in with Fae society.
ANXHXHHSS MALLEUS I THOUGHT I CRACKED THE CASE BUT NOW THERES MORE POSSIBILITIES 🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️
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spaghettioverdose · 8 months
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how did u went from anarchism to ml question mark
I was just going to write a couple paragraphs but I basically ended up writing a novel so I'm going to put a keep reading link here for my everyone's sanity.
Tl;dr: I became disillusioned with liberalism, became ancom, saw many silly takes and analysis that felt incomplete, became disillusioned with ancom, learned more about ml, went "this makes way more sense, has been applied in real life and has also helped many millions of people", became an ml.
I became an anarchist when I was in my late teens. I was already disillusioned with liberalism, and while I was sympathetic to socialism because I come from a formerly socialist country and grew up with stories about it from my grandmother, I was still of wary of it. Partially due to some of the genuinely bad things that happened during it and partially due to the immense amounts of anti-communist propaganda I was constantly bombarded with growing up. Then I found anarcho-communism which to me at the time seemed like "communism with none of the bad stuff".
I got into it, I watched ancom youtubers, I read Kropotkin, Graeber, Bakunin, I joined online ancom communities etc.
Slowly, over time I started becoming disillusioned with ancoms.I found myself having to defend marxist-leninist projects a lot (mostly from usamericans) against some very silly cold war anticommunist propaganda a lot. Such as the idea that everyone was just miserable and trying to escape the country or brainwashed by the leader's cult of personality.
Keep in mind that I myself ate up a lot of anticommunist propaganda growing up, but I also come from a formerly socialist country and had someone who was around during the socialist era of my country to ground my view of it in reality to some extent. Most of the ancoms in these communities only had the propaganda.
I also didn't like the way so many of these people talked more about an idealised, aestheticised, romanticised and abstract idea of revolution, and especially past failed anarchist revolutions, rather than talking about the material results of revolution.
Even when I still was mostly convinced by anarchist theory, I still found anarchist analysis to be incomplete and lacking predictive power and real world practice. Other anarchists tended to excuse the fact we didn't have a lot of revolutions and that the vast majority of them were crushed within their first couple years by saying things like "we were up against everyone" or "we were betrayed" which didn't really hold up. The bolsheviks had to fight everyone as well and yet they still won. Same with the Chinese communists who were also against massive internal and external threats. This is because in both cases they had popular support and were capable of analysing the material conditions and formulating policies based on that.
Another rebuttal was that every socialist revolution was state capitalism because it didn't adhere to a very simplified definition of socialism. I thought that lacked nuance and in the end it mattered to me less than the fact that it got results and helped millions of people, but it didn't prevent me from internalising this to some extent. I did (for at least some time) think that most ml states were incomplete revolutions that eventually fell to state capitalism.
When I did believe to these ideas I often fell into pits of despair, as did other ancoms, over the fact that in our world view, communism was essentially entirely defeated and at best we (as anarchists) had two current revolutions: the Zapatista (a group who follows marxist theory, refuses to call itself anarchis and controls a very small region and only due to an agreement with the government) and Rojava (who also controls a small region, is a military ally of the US and has a constitution which guarantees private property and definitely fits the anarchist definition of a state).
The holes in anarchist theory became even larger and more apparent to me once I started reading Marx and Lenin. The contrast in the explanatory and predictive power of dialectical materialism against the philosophical idealism of anarchist analysis eroded my remaining trust in anarchism very quickly.
Anarchist analysis severely lacked much class analysis beyond "people do evil things to each other because of the profit incentive of capitalism" and "power wants to hold onto power" which while in some ways is correct, it is vastly incomplete. Which is why the conclusion of this analysis, that after an anarchist revolution the profit incentive would simply be gone and so would reactionaries, also felt incomplete.
As it turns out it's also historically been proven wrong. Revolution doesn't stop when the civil war ends and that capitalists (even if disposessed) don't suddenly stop being reactionary and don't suddenly stop being a danger to the revolution.
However many anarchists also viewed historical events in a vacuum and lacked any sort of tools for materialist analysis and therefore came to silly conclusions about why things happened the way they did.
Many propositions on how an anarchist society would run resembled some variation of Old West homesteading, medieval peasant communes or some other strange individualist fantasies.
In the end I realised about anarchism that it entirely resembled the philosophically idealist utopian communism of old. A form of communism that lost the debate against the scientific communism of Marx, Engles and Lenin over a century ago and there is no reason to engage with it in the present day.
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silencesscreams · 1 year
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can i ask you a question?
james potter x f!reader (smut + muggle!au)
summary: ever since you met james potter on your sophomore year of college, you haven’t been able to deny the effect he had on you, as much as you hated it. he was a player, always got what he wanted and was just stupid, to say the least. sharing a friend group didn’t make it any better. sure, you both just scoffed at each other and would both agree that one another was insufferable. it seemed perfect when it started, thanks to that very drunken night, after a fight on the phone with your asshole of a boyfriend.
but what happens when you feel like the benefit part wasn’t enough for you?
warnings: getting cheated on and cheating (not on each other but with each other) bad morals, kissing, dom james, making out, degradation?, fingering, penetration, overstimulation, use of y/n once, unprotected (don’t even think of doing that irl i’ve got my eye on u)
“im serious! you have to break up with him, he’s an asshole” said lily through the speakers on your phone, you hated how she was always right.
“i know”, you look away from the screen, viewing your room, as lily kept on talking, you were able to see her facial expressions just because of the sound of her voice, even if you were looking away from the face time display on your phone.
“… and he’s not even pretty! he’s just a cheating piece of garbage” she finished, spitting out the offenses. you smile, even when he was that far away (a whole other continent) he would still fuck up brutally, over and over again. sure, lily didn’t know you were also a ‘cheating piece of garbage’, but your boyfriend did it first, or at least that was what you took comfort on.
“i get it, lil’s, thank you.” you smile, pausing your video.
‘hii, u up?’ is typed in very quickly and sent to a contact with the name of james potter. you went back to the face time quickly, heartbeat quickening with the anxiety for a response, in a few seconds you saw the notification ‘be there in five, bringing chinese’ you smile at that, he knew about your obsession with left over asian food.
“gotta sleep, thank you for the talk though” you tell lily, very anxious to turn off the phone and turn on some silly playlist.
“no worries, see you at work monday?” she asked, like if you even had a choice about coming in, you nodded, turning the phone off. the past next moments were excruciatingly painful, you hated those 10 minutes more than anything. it was a build up of anxiety and being nervous if you were getting stood up, of course, that never even happened with james, but really, you weren’t friends like that. or maybe you were, you don’t really know. he was fun once you got to know him, and he did know a lot about you by now. but of course, the friends with benefits couldn’t work out any longer, it never did, did it? someone would always end up catching feelings. its not like its that big of a deal though, its just no one outsmarts it.
these thoughts did consume you until you heard the knock on your door, you had started to recognize his knocks a long time ago, slow one, three quick ones, two quick ones. it was fun now that you though about it, you waited around 15 seconds at the door, you always did that, you were carful for him never think you were desperate, being sure he’d tease you about it later if he ever did. and so you open the door, he smiles at you, entering and closing the door, as he’s leaving the food on the kitchen table he starts,
“i brought some-“ and you interrupt him with a kiss, you hate to admit it but you missed him.
“a bit eager, aren’t we?” he teases, pulling away to take off his jacket.
“shut up” you pull him back in, his hands on your waist as he tries to take his shoes off, almost tripping over them but still managing to kiss you while he’s at it. james quickly picked you up and you had your legs were wrapped around him, you could feel his already growing bulge as his hands went under your thighs, your oversized shirt hiking up, as you remembered you probably shouldn’t have opened the door in your underwear. he carries you to your room, the only lighting being your lamp on your desk, you were trying to finish an essay when you got your boyfriends call. you’re thrown onto your bed as he takes off his shirt, glasses foggy, he’s taking them off.
“tell me, were you missing me?” he grins, climbing onto bed, his knee between your legs.
“i hate you” you roll your eyes, and suddenly he was closer than you thought, you tilt your head up, trying to dom him out, at least this one time. he looks smug, and you want o hit him harshly, but you also want him to pin you to your bed and- was he chuckling right now?
“i don’t hear you denying it though” he counters, your cheeks flushing.
that’s probably it for you, you lose. you lose to the conceited assumptions, to the tension, to the way his hair looks, to the darkness in his eyes, to the wetness he was causing between your legs and to the tension.
that was all it took for him to smash his lips against yours. its a kiss so rough, so brutal. that was something you didn’t expect from james potter.
he's pushing your hips harshly into the mattress beneath you, immediately pressing close to you, chests touching and his leg slipping deeper between your legs. your hand is on his neck and it threads into his hair as your teeth clash, both of your hearts thundering.
your noses hit each other; you hope he can feel the adrenaline through your lips. you can certainly feel his. his hand moves up so he's grabbing your thigh, pulling you closer to him. you pull away and immediately attach your lips to the column of his neck, not wanting to have to look at his face. one small groan he lets out causes you to smile against his skin, suddenly realizing that you have just as much an effect on him as he on you, even though you're the one who is under. you nip at the flesh on his neck, sucking onto it, making sure to mark.
he moans lightly at that and you feel yourself tremble as your stomach tingles. he tugs onto your hair with one hand, as you start to grind desperately against him. you feel the outline of him, semi hard and desire takes you over. his hand now on your ass, gripping it as you suck another bruise onto his neck. he pulls away to look at you, his eyes darkening before kissing you again. your hands trail down his chest, towards his bulge, and as your fingertips graze it, his other hand grabs your wrists and holds them down above your head, only one hand holding them. he takes off your shirt and starts to take off his belt. he takes a minute just to look at you, lace underwear, you were waiting for him.
“what are you doing?” you ask, like you weren’t sure of it already.
“what does it look like i’m doing? im putting you in your place, now be a good girl, how about that?” he teases you, throwing the belt across the room.
“you’re an asshole.” are the only words you can say right now.
“don’t see you complaining right now” he muttered, nipping on your neck, as he left a trail of kisses and bites on your neckline and chest, you weren’t even wearing a bra. he pushes two thick digits into your heat without warning.
“shit!” you yelp, he finds your g-spot easily, nudging against it as he hooks his fingers up, teasing you, his voice sweet and clear when he says, "maybe you'd prefer your boyfriend to fuck you."
you let out a choked noise that had been intended to be a scoff,
“is that what this is about? are you jealous?” you look between your legs to him as his fingers move faster inside of you, your panties discarded elsewhere. the roughness of it was hot. his fingers crook upwards inside of you, making any legible thought damn near impossible. the way his fingers were moving fast and hard inside of you, pushing you towards the edge faster than you'd like to admit.
"maybe i would prefer him," you catch the look that passes over his face, you lean into his ear, teasing him, "bet he could fuck me like i need it." and just like that, you got what you wanted, his fingers thrusted rapidly into you, his thumb stimulating your clit.
“fuck, james!” you moan out.
“dont worry, i can’t fuck you like you need it, right?” he says, voice low, as his fingers keep on thrusting into you, his other hand is on your neck, holding it just hard enough to get you flustered.
“i was kidding! i s-swear” you leat out in the midst of moans.
“i can’t understand you, princess. what’d you say?” he wants you to repeat it, god, you were fucked.
“i was kidding! no one can - shit! - do it to me like you can, please james” you beg, reaching your high, you can feel tears coming.
“please what?”
“please james, let me cum”
“ah, sweets” he coos, your fucked out expressions making him even harder, he rubs his thumb onto your cheek, “not yet” he pulls his fingers out and you whine at that, feeling empty.
“ass up, doll” he whispers, you immediately turn around, on shaking hands and knees. “not like that”, he hummed, his hand sliding to the centre of your back, firmly pushing you down as your face pressed against the pillow. your shirt slipped down, letting him see you fully. he loved it when you wore lace. his hand runs over the curve of your ass, he could get used to the sight, he loved how responsive you were to his touch too.
as he positioned himself behind you, he undid his zipper and unbuttoned his jeans, his thick tip was pressed up against your hole, pushing your panties aside.
the teasing made your back arch in need but he wanted to make you work for it,
"say please, baby, remember your manners." you probably sounded pathetic, whimpering and whiny, you didnt care though, you needed him.
“please james, fuck me, i need you so bad, please” his hand gives your ass a light tap, signaling he’s going to do it.
“good girl” he murmured, pushing in slowly, your body rocking at the feeling, the stretch of him being in you. you moaned out, a very sweet sound to him.
he pushes into you, looking down and seeing how well you take him. you're whimpering and gasping, the hot and heavy press of his cock against your walls reducing you into a mess of incomprehensible words.
“princess, im only halfway in, you sure you can take it tonight?” he rubbed your shoulder, dipping down his head to kiss your neck. you nodded rapidly, already feeling so full, your hips grinded back against him. he thrusted in the rest of the way, you moaned out, feeling so full and trying to muffle it out with your pillow.
he lets out a groan that makes you wish you were facing him to see his face lost in pleasure. he moans,
"fucking hell, you feel so good my cock," the way your walls fluttered around him when he praised you made him go crazy. "can i move, doll?"
you hummed,
“yes please”, at that, he slowly pulled out, you moaned loudly as he slammed back into you. with your little moans and gaps he sets a rhythm.
ecstasy coursing through you, eyes rolling into the back of your head as he pounded into you, body boucing on the bed with his thrusts. he placed a hand on your abdomen, needing to hold on to something, making you realize how deep he was hitting. he kept on shoving his dick harder and harder into you, pounding against you roughly. he kisses along the side of your neck, you can feel his bare chest pressing to your back, his breathing ragged in your ear, hips never even stalling,
“such a good girl, right? taking my cock for me, ‘feels so good, love” and you couldn’t do anything but agree in mindless, fucked out whimpers of ‘yes’ and ‘james’.
he pounds into you fast and rough, your cheek pressed against the mattress as you felt his cock wrecking you with each rough roll of his hips, filling you up easily. you nearly scream as the hand that was gripping your ass slipped under and, before you can process it, your eyes are rolling back again as he rolls your clit between deft fingers.
“fuck!” you moaned out, surprised. it was like he memorized every single thing you loved about having sex with him, the way he could find the right spots, his praise, his degradation. you did miss him.
the rolling of his fingers on your clit with the fast-paced thrusts made you gasp in pleasure, tightening around him as he brought you closer to your high. moaning in response to his praises, no tangible sentences able to form. your back arches subconsciously, a silent beg for more.
"james, i'm, fuck, m'gonna," you whine, unable to finish a sentence, too lost in pleasure, "g-gonna cum-"
your weak whimpers made you feel so vulnerable and he found it so. fucking. hot.
“yeah? you gonna cum on my cock like a good girl?” he teased you, pounding into you even faster. driving you to your climax crazy quick, words pushing you further. “go ahead doll, cum on me” he muttered.
your mouth dropped into loud calls of his name, you clenched around him and there was no doubts of the complaints you’d get, the begging growing louder. his thrusts don't stop, they do slow, letting you ride your high out for as long as possible.
once you finish, he flips you over onto your back. he threw your legs over his shoulders, going even deeper.
“wanna se your face when i cum, babe” he continued to thrust on a rapid pace, the snap of his hips wrecking you, as your nails dug onto his back. from that position, the base of his cock grinded against your clit.
“cum in me, please” you whimpered as he took sight of you. how your heat flushed lips were parted into a sweet moan, your hair splayed out across the pillowcase, your flustered face screwed up in pleasure.
there wouldn’t be another day where he didnt think about how good you looked under him. the edge of the overstimulation had a familiar tightening in your gut. his hand palming your tit as he groaned out into your ear,
“cum for me again doll, c’mon, be a good girl for me” your back arches off of the bed, your head tipped back as you reach your second high. this one more powerful than the last.
at the feeling of you tensing around him for a second time, he lets out a low groan, the pace of his hips stuttering. your moans and begs from underneath him push him over the edge, burying himself deep inside of you as you gripped hard onto him.
"fuck y/n!" he finishes hard, rolling his hips up hard to meet yours. he feels dazed, he thinks its the hardest he's ever cum.
he pulled out gently, laying down next to you and putting himself back in his trousers.
“you good?” he asked, and you just hummed in response. james smiled, pulling you in.
“listen, gotta tell you something” he whispered, you quickly looked over at him.
“what? did something happen?” you ask, worried, he never really did that.
“yeah, i dont think im a friends with benefits guy.” he said, smiling akwardly.
“oh” you sigh, confused.
“im more of a boyfriend guy, if yours doesn’t matter with stepping back from his position, after all, he is working in another company and i’d love to make some more business with you and-“ you slap him on the shoulder.
“shut up james.” you smile, rolling your eyes, you decide to play along. “thank you for your advice, mr. potter, he will be fired tomorrow morning, your work starts about now. your first task is to grab me that chinese food in the kitchen because god, im starving.” he gives you a quick peck as he gets up, god did he feel lucky.
maybe not being able to pull off the friends with benefits deal was a good thing after all.
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asksythe · 10 months
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I've been understanding a lot of cultural subtext around MDZS thanks to you. I'd like to ask more about what makes "cultivation partners." Is it synonymous to marriage or is it a different thing altogether? From my understanding of various marriages depicted in MDZS, marriage can easily be a power move, right. I've also read about dual cultivation, but not sufficiently, and I wish to understand if becoming cultivation partners, sex, marriage - all are supposed to be exclusive stuff. like Jin Guangsham was married yet had sexual relations with plenty of people, perhaps including cultivators? JFM and Madam Yu had a complicated marriage; were they cultivation partners as well? Mianmian married a non cultivator (?) but still went on night hunts to cultivate her core. Other marriages were Qin Su and JGY, and JZX and JYL - so, I do wonder if all of these were classified as cultivation partners.
Another thing I do wonder is, from where I am, in olden times in certain dynasties it was acceptable to have many wives or spouses or marry for gains. In others, the emperor had one true wife who would repeat 7 lifetimes with him and the others were on a lower social level - ploys for expansion etc. I wonder how monogamy etc plays out in chinese context around mdzs time frame, as well as what sort of "expectations" marriage should entail?
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Woo… that’s a fair bit. Okay. I’m going to try to answer what I can. Let’s take this one thing at a time. 
1. The O.G meaning of cultivation partner: 
Cultivation partner = Daolǚ (道侣) 
From a lingual view, dao is path, truth, knowledge, and faith. Lǚ is a companion who shares your food, your bed, and your path. So Daolǚ = one who walks the same path in pursuit of truth, faith, and knowledge as you. 
From a Daoist view, Daolǚ is a couple who cultivate together, who seek the same truth together, and who share life and death together. They don’t necessarily have to be husband and wife or lovers. They can also be family members, parent and child, or shifu and dizi. They can be of different sexes or the same sex. All of those are only accessories to the OG meaning. 
The core of Daolǚ is “ones who seek the same truth.”
This video is from a master Taoist answering the question, “Are Dao couples husbands and wives?”
http://baike.baidu.com/l/nBoL850d
2. So why did MDZS use Daolǚ when talking about married couples? AKA a stealth reference to a real-life historical split in opinions: 
The first time the topic of Daolǚ comes up in the novel is during the Cloud Recess era when Lan Qiren taught the history of the Lan ancestor, how Lan An met his Daolǚ, and together they created House Lan. Then the students started discussing their future Daolǚ, which eventually led to the fight with Jin Zixuan. 
Daolǚ, in this context, definitely sounds like a different word for a married couple in the setting. Why? 
Well…. Because there is a historical split in opinions regarding what Daolǚ really is in practice.   
Of course, if we are only talking in theory and lingual origin, then the married or sexual aspect just doesn’t come into play. But in real practice, this kind of close proximity inevitably ends up becoming (or is born out of) actual physical, emotional, and sexual intimacy.
Think about it. The one who shares your faith. The one who shares your path. The one who holds the same ideal. The one who shares your food, your life, your bed. The one whose life and death are intertwined with yours. The one who will walk with you to the very end, wherever it may be. The one whose soul is literally linked to yours through shared cultivation.
You don’t really get this kind of exclusive, super intense, intimate relationship from anywhere other than a married couple. Of course, there are exceptions, but they are, by and large, exceptions that prove the rule. 
It’s very funny because even in the official Baidu entry for Daolǚ, beneath the super official definition provided by Daoism associations and sourced from some of the most credible historical texts that survive to this day, even they had to admit in the modern understanding, and especially in media portrayal, Daolǚ is used almost exclusively to refer to Daoist couples in every way that a regular couple can be. Even funnier, if you go and search for the term 道侣双修 (Daolǚ dual cultivate) in the book section, it turns up some 4300 titles concerning Daolǚ dual cultivation. And a very significant portion of those 4300 titles aren’t actually entertainment media at all, but actual historical texts, modern research, and serious treatises written by reputable modern Daoists on the subject.      
Okay. So then, why not just admit that outright? Why the extra step? What’s there to disagree about? 
Well, because sex is icky. 
Hahahaha! But no really… 
3. Dual Cultivation aka Magic Sex: 
And here we are at the crux of the historical split of opinions. 
Dual Cultivation aka Magic Sex (eyebrow waggle!).
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From Daoism's founding point, the idea of harmony between Yin and Yang has been one of the founding precepts laid by Laozi himself. There’s not a single reputable Daoist school that disagrees with this precept. The disagreement comes from the interpretation of this precept instead. 
From very early on, there were already schools that believed in the application of Yin Yang harmony to manifest as the physical and spiritual relation between men and women (or Yang bodies and Yin bodies). 
How early are we talking? Well, BCE kind of early. The earliest text that teaches sex art as part of Daoism is a pre-Qin-dynasty book named The Dao of Huangchi 黃赤之道. This text was later religiousized by various schools of Daoism. 
Before the 10th century, there was not much disagreement at all among ancient Daoists about the sex part. 
Sexually explicit dual cultivation only became an issue sometime around the Tang dynasty forward (618 - 906 CE). Why the Tang dynasty? Well, that’s around the time Daoism became bourgeois. Before Tang, Daoism was the religion of anti-authoritarian hippies (for lack of a better word). Yep, they were very screw-the-government, let-me-have-my-weed-and-intense-sexercise-while-high kind of people (I’m not even kidding).  
One of the earlier records of Daolǚ dual cultivation after the bourgeois-ification of Daoism that still survives to this day is Wu Zhen Pian by Zhang Boduan from the 10th century. Around this same era, numerous sects and schools adopting the same practice of Daolǚ dual cultivation (sexually explicit at that) sprouted up, such as: Shuangxiu Sect, Fangzhong School, etc… 
The Wu Zhen Pian, despite being a fairly cryptid text, also explicitly referred to the “places where the body is first given qi” as the male and female genitalia. So there really isn’t any room for misinterpretation as to what exactly it was speaking of. 
Around this same era, the disagreement around dual cultivation being sexually explicit and Daolǚ being 99.99% couples became very intense… as in sect war kind of intense. 
Ancient High Chinese society was, by and large, very “performatively” puritanical. So from the time Daoism started rubbing shoulders with kings and rulers (instead of eschewing them as the literal founders of Daoism taught), they also started eschewing their fairly sexual, anarchist roots. 
Ergo… the ideological schism.  
This schism would split between diehard, purists practicing Daoists from the more neutral ones that used Daoism as a political tool as well. 
4. A history of sexual exploitation:  
Okay, so sexy Daoism is the pure, root Daoism. Why isn’t it the one being preached as official these days? 
Because… as usual, whenever there’s a great idea, some chuckleheads somewhere would come along, bend it around its knees, and abuse it instead. 
Think about it for a moment. Daoist sects in ancient times were steeped in mysticism. Many of them were powerful and rich. You throw in the sex element. It’s extremely easy for exploitation to happen. 
Cults are some of the oldest things in the history of mankind. Sex cults aren’t new, and they aren’t rare, either. Charles Mansion of the Mansion family is just one in a very, very long string of such things. 
Let’s just say that for many reasons and many factors, pure Daoist schools practicing sexually explicit dual cultivation also tended to have a checkered history and that along with the historical transformation of Daoism from an anarchist religion to a state-sponsored philosophy massively discredited them. 
To this day, you can still trace this history of exploitation down to modern media concepts such as “Human Cauldron,” which is the term denoting a human being used as a sex slave and a cultivation tool by another cultivator. You would think that’s a modern media invention… but no… this term has a long and dark history. Forgive me but I don’t exactly want to go into details in this part.  
5. So, what does this all have to do with MDZS? 
Well, you can use this context to understand how concepts like dual cultivation and Daolǚ are interpreted and practiced by different people within the MDZS world. MDZS is based in Wei Jin period, which was a period of transition, chaos, and clashing ideologies. You can kinda see that complexity in the way a concept like Daolǚ seems so… mixed and different between theory and practice. 
When you really get down to it, there are two ways to understand Daolǚ. 1/ Those who share the same mind, the same faith, the same truth. And 2/ Those who are boinking magically. 
Do Wangxian meet these requirements? Yep, both of them. I think that’s pretty clear. Near the end of the story, when Wei Wuxian said his goodbye to Wen Ning and Lan Sizhui, he also remarked about everyone having their own “road” to walk and that, in the end, only one person walked the same “road” as him. That person, Lan Zhan, was also the one person he wanted to walk with. (I don’t have to provide a snap for this, right? People aren’t going to shoot out of nowhere and accuse me of not providing adequate citations, right?). Dao is road. So that’s another nod to the fact that Wangxian are Daolǚ in every interpretation of the concepts (And yes, I’m totally into the interpretation that their boinking is, in fact, magical and working to stabilize Wei Wuxian’s cultivation! Look at the Japanese art featuring Wei Wuxian with the blue cloud patterns on his body! Clearly, lots of people agree with this interpretation! You can’t convince me otherwise!).  
What about Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan? Are they Daolǚ? Ehh… it’s kind of a toss-up, isn’t it? There’s not really much in any permutations of MDZS (with maybe the exception of the live-action) that either supports or disprove. I think if you want to interpret them as Daolǚ and Jin Zixuan would eventually help Jiang Yanli cultivate a Jindan and be able to stay young alongside him, you definitely can do that. Or if you want to see them as a more traditional, ordinary husband and wife couple, then that’s a valid interpretation too. 
Jin Furen and Jin Guangshan? Ehhh… the above paragraph applies… although… geee… I really don’t see them as either pursuing the same truth or… exclusively boinking magically or that either is using the other as a human cauldron… although that doesn’t disqualify Jin Guangshan himself from using that for his sexual escapade? But then why would he die to marathon sex? I guess Jin Guangyao is hax enough? 
In any case, I’m going to stop here. I’ve been sick for the past three weeks and my work has been really demanding. I really tried hard to reserve some free time to write. So the things I have not answered, can you come back to me another time and I will, when I find the time and full citation materials, write a separate reply? 
Have a great day! 
Oh, also… just as a disclaimer, please don’t use my writing for fandom strife or anything like that. I only very recently found out there were people using my writing for… well… Let’s just say I’m not for that. If anything, please use my writing for creative purposes or just to learn something new!  
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tanuki-kimono · 9 months
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Irezumi kei (tattoo penalty) as depicted in the [徳鄰厳秘録 - Tokuringenbiroku], a kind of penalty instruction book compiled in 1814, digitalized by the National Archives of Japan.
CW for this post about Edo period judiciary => mentions of physical punishment, torture, death penalty (text only, no details, no graphic illustrations) . The irezumikei pages above are p.19 to 25.
I won't reproduced the illustrations here, but the Tokuringenbiroku book also presents other Edo period "punishments" and death penalties, like different types of goumon (torture), gokumon (decapitation and exposure of the head to public view), kakei (stake), haritsuke (crucifixion), or tameshigiri (sword cut testing, here on executed convict corpse). Please proceed to the full book according to your sensibilities!
Back to irezumi kei : the markings of character Akaza (from Kimetsu no Yaiba/Demon's Slayer) are directly inspired by those, same for Mugen in Samurai Champloo for example:
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After Tokugawa Yoshimune's reforms abolished bloodier punishments (nose or ear cutting) for lesser crimes (like theft, gambling or fraud), irezumikei spread, inspired by Chinese bokkei practices.
Yet, zainin (lawbreakers) were also often beaten or whipped (tataki), which could be a "light" sentence or more far extreme one. Women tended to be imprisoned instead.
Punishment tattoos also often went alongside tokorobarai (banishment), which had several levels depending on the crime. You could be banished to a remote island, just away from your city, or forbidden to enter a certain perimeter.
Exile is why different areas had different marks, placed on the arms or faces, easily identifying the person as a criminal convicted in another region.
Number of lines or dots were often used to symbolize repeated offences (pic below source). Most of the times, getting 3+ irezumikei could grant you death penalty.
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Irezumikei maybe be why criminals came to use extravagant tattoos, as to cover their infamous marks, leading to the yakuza association with body ink.
Yet, other strata of population also favored figurative tattoos, so the link between criminals and tattoing in Edo period is not self-evident.
Some shapes of -sode (sleeve part of a tattoo) for example left arm interior bare, maybe to prove then that no armband tattoo was hidden underneath a bigger design.
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