#Heavenly Bamboo

[duxuebing]

Photography by Xuebing Du

[tanuki-kimono]

Celebratory outfit perfect for New Year season, featuring an antique kimono depicting shishi (lions) on a bridge - maybe a reference to auspicious play Shakkyô. The beautiful pines nicely frame the main motif, and the temari balls add some whimsy.

Kimono is paired with a romantic obi showing yuki-mochi (snow covered) gosho-guruma (ox cart) and late winter/early spring plants (ume/plum blossom, kiku/chrysanthemum, nandina/heavenly bamboo, suisen/daffodil).

[firstlawcedarprairie]

Heavenly bamboo flowers

[koshigurajumy]

Jumy-M Heavenly Bamboo / 南天

[ayanos-pl]

南天の花にササグモ（6月16日）

[tawnyterror]

I learned that it is toxic to birds, but that the birds are not aware of it and consume it and get sick afterwards...

I was so happy to see that massive flock of robins feeding on them, my thought was "food for birds in winter"! It was a pleasant thought.

But now the thought is scorned...

[faguscarolinensis]

Nandina domestica / Heavenly Bamboo at the JC Raulston Arboretum at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC

[my--little--corner]

May 2023

[tanuki-kimono]

Oh thank you @mafaldinablabla, that's one beautiful formal kimono we have here!

The lovely pattern mixes auspicious plants, with ume (plum blossoms), bamboo and bamboo grass (take and sasa), ran (orchid), matsu (pine), tsuta (ivy), nanten (nandina) and manryô (corralberry). The ground has higaki (cypress lattice) pattern.

It's hard to be sure without the exact background history, but I feel this piece could be part the white part of a 3 pieces bridal ensemble called sanmai gasane, which was then worn layered by well-off brides:

Floral kimono design with close up of marlberry

[mosaicofdreamsanddragons]

Venti’s Sister is Angelica

Or at least she inspired her

So for those of you who haven’t been obsessing over the crumbs of Venti Lore we got recently:

In this book called Springs of Hidden Jade:

We get some more lore on the gold-eyed not adeptus from Moonlite Bamboo Forest

You might know her from a beautiful animation by the same name:

She very famously tells the story of the three moon sister and their fallout. She also says some interesting things about Wolves which I am convinced are connected to what Wolfy says about Wolves, lizards, and snakes being what those who didn’t become Seelie but that’s another issue.

What’s important for this point is that in the new book that came out 5.3, we get some more information about her, including that she was called “Time’s Daughter” and is “awaiting her mother’s thousand treads”

Which is why she’s Venti’s “sister” in that both are creations of Istaroth.

Go visit your sister Venti.

Now what do we know about her life from this book?

We now know she has a white horse form or at least was thought to have one, and used to lead shepherds through plains, and that she was seen as an emissary to a kingdom below the oceans depths (probably Enkanomiya but it could be Remuria). She was not bound to the eggshell, like her mother, until the disaster with the three moon sisters where she had to shelter in it.

Now first a point on the emissary business. Because she lives in Liyue. Moonlit forest takes place in a bamboo forest in Mt Qingce. And she’s hiding “away from the majestic, kindly gaze of that great Lord of Geo” in that work. In Springs she’s “forced to tarry within this stagnant, foreign land,” awaiting the erosion of hardy stone” and “concealing her trail beneath the forests and springs, far from the gaze of the gods.”

So she’s hiding in Liyue

Now about Liyue, not to far from Mt Qingce we have this mural:

Of people fleeing the nail as they come to Chenyu Vale. A place where there are stories of emissaries from the heavens who stopped coming.

And we have an emissary

Who’s nearby.

Possibly, she is not just an emissary but the missing goddess of Chenyu Vale which would explain her hatred of Morax if wishing erosion on him while hiding from him is anything to go by.

She could also be dodging the archon war.

But what does all this have to do with Angelica? A character we know is in an allegory?

Well I’m glad you asked. Because if you were going to have someone represent Freedom, why not use Barbatos?

Can’t just be because he’s an archon and they don’t like gods in Khaenri’ah, Angelica is an antagonistic force in the narrative and we know some of the survivors (Abyss Order) seem to have a special hatred for Barbatos if the statue is anything to go by:

I suspect it has a lot to do with the time the story is set: the archon war.

Because if Zhongli is still actively fighting, this story could easily take place (or be meant to take place) before Venti has claimed his seat as Archon if Anemo and god of freedom.

And, since the person writing this story is setting it in the past, they themselves likely already know that Venti does win and does become god of freedom, they can look for another person related to him to represent freedom.

And here we have Venti’s sister who:

1) associated with Liyue…just like Angelica who fled Morax from a kingdom conquered by him

2) dislikes Morax just like Angelica who’s fleeing him

3) has a connection through Istaroth to the current god of Freedom

4) is a woman who is beautiful and rude

She’s the perfect pick for Angelica. It would also explain why her name is “Angelica” (with Latin roots, similar to Venti) instead of the Liyue name that would make sense. There is even a note by a scholar theorizing what her name should be in Liyuen to have the same meaning.

It also leaves me wondering…how does a Khaenri’ahn story teller know about a Seelie/angel/emissary that is actively hiding from Morax?

Possibly she dipped down for a visit (in which I mean: went down there to hide from Morax when he’s getting to close) or met this story teller when he came up to the surface. Or the boy from the moonlit bamboo forest who traveled the world went down and told someone about her.

Now who wants to put on a tin foil hat? Because I find it very interesting that we keep getting more and more books about this person. And I’m starting to wonder, why? Why is she important?

And I think it might have something to do with why Celestia hovers over Chenyu Vale. Because we know there are emissaries who once communicated with people there. And we know they stopped. And Angelica (or whatever her real name is) is nearby but not in there. Possibly because she is hiding from Celestia or….

She isn’t in Chenyu Vale, she’s above it.

Who has white hair and gold eyes and strangely no horns? Whose floating city is parked right over Chenyu Vale?

Especially now we have seen a shade and her eyes are red, this is a seelie/angel.

[hxroic-wxlls-fxrever]

“ …What’s a plagiarism? “

“ There’s a lot of things you don’t know, huh? “

“ I’m seven and hated school, so shut up. “

[tanuki-kimono]

Quiet snowy day mood for this outfit, pairing a flowery yukiwa (snowflake) obi, with a serene kimono depicting yukimochi nanten (snow-covered nandina/heavenly bamboo).

The arare (lit. hail) ground of the kimono look like falling snow - very chic!

[firstlawcedarprairie]

After rain

[cultivating-wildflowers]

btw here’s my current smaller project

[ayanos-pl]

ナンテンの花にコハナバチの一種が来ていた（6月8日）

[errmmlol]

Can you do a reading on ranboo, relationship and career? To see if they get dumped and flop

RELATIONSHIP (the emperess upright) - The emperess means its of elevated nature or your relationship is coming together. Overall it means it’s a stable and committed relationship

CAREER (five of wants reversed) shows end of conflict in the workplace. Collaboration might before easier. However this could mean need for greater control, focus and professionalism.