#South East Asian Folklore

[ambisun]

South East Asia and our Dragons that solves their problems by flooding villages when they’re disrespected.

[shower-thoughts-last-responder]

I've been listening to a horror folklore podcast recently and what I've mainly learned is that South East Asian folk does not fuck around

I love folklore so much because depending on the location and era it comes from it's either the most terrifying concept or the dumbest thing you've ever heard

[consumeroflemoans]

Which myths would you be particulary excited about working into the superfox verse

Greek myths are always a classic. I’ve already mentioned things like centaurs, harpies, sirens, and dryads. But tbh them in a modern setting has already been thoroughly explored by stories like Percy Jackson so they’re not the most exciting to explore.

I think what I’m most anticipating is Celtic folklore. It’s always been one of my favorite mythos. I kind of want to include Kelpies somehow because I love those murder horses but I’m not sure how. I just love how many of their creatures are just slightly inhuman like with the fae, leprechauns, werewolves, bodach, the dullahan, vampires, and a bunch of unique ghosts like the banshee. It would be fun to find ways to integrate them into modern society.

I think I just have a weakness for myths about tricksters

[kelawar-ungu]

Bat Week 2020: A Celebration of Bats in Asia-Pacific Cultures Art by Reimena Yee.

(Bigger image from here for more readable text. The background colouring is a little too bright though)

Text on the map under the cut.

You may have heard the soft flutter of bat wings at dusk, noticed them flitting around at night, or even seen them sleeping under roof eaves, in trees and caves during the day. But apart from these brief encounters, have you ever wondered how bats may have traditionally held deeper symbolic meaning in various cultures?

This visual map guide celebrates the many positive bat symbols and folklore found across the Asia-Pacific region. Our ancestors recognised the importance and wonder of bats!

Look out for our full write-up and get updates by following rimba.ngo!

Project Pteropus, a project under RIMBA.

India

In India, Hindu devotees of the goddess Kali worship and protect flying foxes which roost in sacred groves. Bats also feature as symbols of love in Tamil Sangam poetry, dating back more than 2000 years!

China / Taiwan / Chinese culture

A tale from ancient China: The gods took pity on Zhong Kui when he committed suicide. They named him King of Ghosts and tasked him to discipline demons, with bats acting as his helpers who scout out demons for him to vanquish.

In Chinese opera, the Zhong Kui character wears a bat motif on his mask.

The Five Blessings (五福 wŭfú) in Chinese culture are health, wealth, longevity, love of virtue and peaceful death. They are represented symbolically by five bats (五蝠 wŭfú).

In traditional Chinese culture, bats are lucky symbols because the word for bat (蝠 fú) sounds like the word for blessing (福 fú).

Lucky bat motifs can be found on traditional ceramics, jewellery and textiles in Chinese, Peranakan and other Chinese-influenced communities across East and Southeast Asia.

Vietnam

Locals believe that flying foxes roosting in the Wat Mahatup temple grounds in Vietnam are calling forth blessings from Buddha when they circle the temple during their fly-out every evening.

Malaysia / Indonesia

The indigenous Mah Meri in Peninsular Malaysia perform a traditional dance called 'kuang kuwait', mimicking the graceful movements of flying foxes.

The 'siku keluang' a choreography step in the traditional Malay Zapin dance represents humility and restraint - inspired by the flying fox wrapping up its mighty wings' strength when not in flight.

The 'siku keluang', meaning flying fox elbow in the Malay language, is a zigzag, chevron or herringbone motif used in Malay and Javanese traditional textiles and pottery.

According to a traditional Iban belief from Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, bats act as shamanic messengers to the upper-world during the Gawai harvest festival.

The indigenous Iban in Sarawak traditionally featured the flying fox, locally known as 'semawa', as a tattoo motif.

Papua New Guinea / Western New Guinea

In Bowi folklore of Papua New Guinea, Kinjinmbunduo was a mythical giant flying fox female spirit who left thunderstorms and strong winds in her wake, striking terror and awe but also replenishing the river basin with fruit trees by dispersing seeds during her nocturnal visits.

In New Guinea and Papua New Guinea, the indigenous Asmat and Trobriand carved out flying fox motifs on their war shields to represent triumphant head-hunters.

Samoa

Flying foxes are perceived as protectors and saviours in Samoan folklore. According to legend, Samoan Princess Leutogi befriended and warned flying foxes about the king's hunting plans. In return, the bats rescued her from being burned alive and also brought her food when she was stranded on an inhospitable island. She later bestowed the name "Tonumaipe'a" on her son, meaning "rescued by flying foxes".

For Samoan men, the pe'a—the local name for flying fox is a coming-of-age tattoo that extends From the waist to the knee, symbolising protection over a warrior.

The Samoan war god Sepo took the form of a flying fox to guide his people in battle. If they saw a flying fox ahead, it meant victory would be theirs; if it flew back towards them it was a warning to retreat.

Australia

Flying foxes were important animals to the Aboriginal people of Cape York, Australia, and a common feature in their prehistoric rock art.

Folklore of the Aboriginal Wik in Australia tells of two brothers who broke taboo by spearing and cooking flying foxes. The bats escaped and carried the boys up into the sky as punishment, leaving them there to serve as a grim reminder now immortalised in the Gemini constellation!

Link to open access article of the research:

[knightofhylia]

Oracle deck based on South East Asia mythology coming up on Kickstarter!!

[ambisun]

We're at the last week of our campaign and just need a little more to reach the end!! Please help us if you can.

Read about our stories here.

Hi Neil, I've been a long-time fan of your work.

Art Matters really helped me in my career as an Illustrator especially when I was going through self-doubt and burnout. The book was part of the reason that I ended up working with a friend and created an anthology and oracle deck that highlights the Mythology and Folklore of South East Asia.

Our folklores tend to be passed down orally and are slowly being forgotten through time as much of them are wiped away with war and colonization. SEA folklores are also not as popular compared to Greek and Egyptian mythologies even though we have equally fascinating lore. With this project, we hope to share a part of our culture with the world and ensure that they are not lost or forgotten over time.

Our project is currently going through a Kickstarter campaign and I thought I'll try my luck to get a shoutout for our project as we've been having a hard time getting the word out there.

Even if you can't do so for any reason, that's perfectly ok! ( I'm literally just here shamelessly shooting my shot) Thank you for your books, I'm excited to read more from you in the future.

That looks very cool.

[whencyclopedia]

Polynesian Navigation & Settlement of the Pacific

Polynesian navigation of the Pacific Ocean and its settlement began thousands of years ago. The inhabitants of the Pacific islands had been voyaging across vast expanses of ocean water sailing in double canoes or outriggers using nothing more than their knowledge of the stars and observations of sea and wind patterns to guide them.

The Pacific Ocean is one-third of the earth's surface and its remote islands were the last to be reached by humans. These islands are scattered across an ocean that covers 165.25 million square kilometres (63.8 million square miles). The ancestors of the Polynesians, the Lapita people, set out from Taiwan and settled Remote Oceania between 1100-900 BCE, although there is evidence of Lapita settlements in the Bismarck Archipelago as early as 2000 BCE. The Lapita and their ancestors were skilled seafarers who memorised navigational instructions and passed their knowledge down through folklore, cultural heroes, and simple oral stories.

The Polynesian's highly developed navigation system impressed the first European explorers of the Pacific and since then scholars have been debating several questions:

was the migration and settlement of the Pacific islands and into Remote Oceania accidental or intentional?

what were the specific maritime and navigational skills of these ancient seafarers?

why has a large body of indigenous navigational knowledge been lost and what can be done to preserve what remains?

what type of sailing vessels and sails were used to cross an open ocean?

Ancient Voyaging & Settlement of the Pacific

By at least 10,000 years ago, humans had migrated to most of the habitable lands that could be reached on foot. What remained was the last frontier – the myriad islands of the Pacific Ocean that required boat technology and navigational methods be developed that were capable of long-range ocean voyaging. Near Oceania, which consists of mainland New Guinea and its surrounding islands, the Bismarck Archipelago, the Admiralty Islands, and the Solomon Islands was settled in an out-of-Africa migration c. 50,000 years ago during the Pleistocene period. These first settlers of the Pacific are the ancestors of Melanesians and Australian Aboriginals. The small distances between the islands in Near Oceania meant that people could island-hop using rudimentary ocean-going craft.

The so-called second wave of migration into Remote Oceania has been an intensely debated scholarly topic. Remote Oceania is the islands to the east of the Solomon Islands group such as Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga, Aotearoa (New Zealand), Society Islands, Easter Island, and the Marquesas. What is debated is the origins of the first people who settled in this region between 1500-1300 BCE, although there is general agreement that the ancestral homeland was Taiwan. A dissenting view has been that of Norwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl (1914-2002 CE) who set out in 1947 CE on a balsa raft called Kon-Tiki that he hoped would prove a South American origin for Pacific islanders. Archaeological and DNA evidence, however, points strongly to a southeast Asian origin and seafarers who spoke a related group of languages known as Austronesian who reached Fiji in 1300 BCE and Samoa c. 1100 BCE. All modern Polynesian languages belong to the Austronesian language family.

Collectively, these people are called the Lapita and were the ancestors of the Polynesians, including Maori, although archaeologists use the term Lapita Cultural Complex because the Lapita were not a homogenous group. They were, however, skilled seafarers who introduced outriggers and double canoes, which made longer voyages across the Pacific possible, and their distinctive pottery – Lapita ware – appeared in the Bismarck Archipelago as early as 2000 BCE. Lapita pottery included bowls and dishes with complex geometric patterns impressed into clay by small toothed stamps.

Between c. 1100-900 BCE, there was a rapid expansion of Lapita culture in a south-east direction across the Pacific, and this raises the question of intentional migration.

Continue reading...

[rrcraft-and-lore]

Another shared myth across many cultures you might not know about? The swan maiden.

Shows up in Irish folklore, in Wales, Germany, Romania, Russia, Swede, Finish, through other parts of Asia, the middle east, and one of the oldest south Asian tales there is - so old that- people believe the theme might have come to that story from an earlier proto Indo-European tale.

What does the swan maiden represent? Well, it changes, but it's often thought to be: divinity, a representation of both the sky and water, a bridge between them, and celestial presence - entities. Luck. Prosperity.

[draconesmundi]

Can we have a little info on all the ones you haven't drawn yet, even the Maybe Canon? ones? There's a few there I don't recognize at all, and I'm curious.

Sure thing!

Not Drawn Yet:

The angont – a serpentine dragon from North East USA and Eastern Canada

The Australian rainbow serpent – exactly as the name implies. Rainbow serpent from Australia.

Chicken headed serpents – I didn’t know about this until I read @a-book-of-creatures excellent article on Crowing Crested Cobras. I need to actually research these myself, I read the article, thought “these are cool, I will add them to Dracones Mundi”, and then didn’t read/write/draw further (yet!!!!!).

The grootslang or ‘Great Snake’ is from South African folklore.

The kongomato, a winged dragon from the Congo.

The kurrea, a crocodile serpent from Australia

The makara, a creature like a crocodile mixed with an elephant from south Asian folklore: for Dracones Mundi I am making it a relative of the phaya naga.

The markupo is a large red-crested serpent from the Phillippines.

The ropen is a glowing, flying dragon from New Guinea – I might make it a relative of the glowtail in Dracones Mundi lore

Taniwha are water spirits from New Zealand – in Dracones Mundi I am making them a species of sea serpent

Wanizame or wani are sea dragons from Japanese folklore.

Vaguely planned dragons:

The Antarctic Jaculus – dragon I 100% made up, because I was bragging about how Dracones Mundi has ‘dragons all over the map’ and a little snide voice in my head said “what, even Antarctica?” and as Antarctica is not inhabited by people for most of the year it was difficult to find folkloric serpents, so I made up another sea-bird inspired dragon. Both cliffwyrms and Antarctic Jaculus have diving behaviours, which is why their inland cousin, the jaculus, evolved it's divebombing hunting strategy.

Butterfly winged serpent; very small winged serpent with butterfly wing patterns, 100% fictional with no mythology behind it (I mean. There is Pyrausta. But I think Pyrausta would be a different sort of animal, an actual insect, in the Dracones Mundi world, so butterfly winged serpents are not pyrausta)

Oceanic Turtle Dragon; I have the Asian turtle dragon, the European turtle dragon and the Congo Plated Dragon. Running around looking for folklore on ‘turtle dragons’ you end up stumbling into some fantastic artwork for Dungeons and Dragons involving their take on turtle dragons and something about a sea-turtle inspired dragon is really fun and cool. I will see if I can do something unique and different with this concept. If not, I will not be including the oceanic turtle dragon.

Pterosaur dragon; I made dinodrakes as dragons inspired by retro palaeoart of dinosaurs, and I thought “hmm. What if I did the same for retro pterosaurs?” – it turns out there’s a lot of cryptozoology in Africa I could research into for placing these pterosaur dragons somewhere on the map.

Snapdragons; snapdragon flowers need to be named after dragons, so I have a fun idea for a small cave dwelling dragon with petal-like frills and barbels that it uses to sense it’s environment. They also can emit an eerie blue warning glow from their mouths, not dissimilar to the glow of brandy on fire in the Victorian game ‘snap dragon’.

[cerinelle-stellarium]

Magical girls inspired by the folklore of Indigenous, African, South/South East Asian, Mexican, Brazilian and Aborigine cultures.

[ambisun]

I've been working on this project with Sha for almost a year now and it seems unbelievable that we're about to launch so soon!!

I realized that I tend not to share a lot about my inner workings, as I'm so used to communicating via art, but there's so much I want to talk about in regard to the conception and process of TO11.

When I was a child, I had always been into mythology, fairytales and folklore from all places, especially Greek and Norse mythology as those were always popularized and easily accessible. Growing up in SEA, I was always told tales from Malaysia and the countries surrounding us, but as I grew older, I started to wonder why South East Asian folklore wasn't as popular as Greek or Norse myths even though we also had stories that were equally as interesting and captivating. 

This led me down a rabbit hole of learning about the history of S.E.A and how due to war and colonization, so much of our cultural history has started to disappear since most of our stories are passed down orally. This motivated me to start working on the development of Tales and Oracle of Eleven with my friend Sha Roose, who I asked to be a writer for the anthology. 

Collecting stories from different countries was quite a challenging task, especially since many of these stories were passed down through oral tradition and have been scarred by the painful effects of colonization. In some countries, we see local stories, once woven into the fabric of their communities, systematically erased and slowly forgotten. Despite facing resource limitations, Sha approached the research and writing with great care, making sure to select stories that were not widely known and focused on ones featuring diverse protagonists, intriguing outcomes, and meaningful analogies. 

I'm so happy to be able to invite 11 artists from these 11 countries as well to participate in this project. Besides making art for us, the artists also graciously allowed us to interview them and to get their lived experience of being SEA be it if they are still living there or living overseas as Diasporas. I've learnt so much from them, like did you know Timor Lorosa'e ( commonly known as Timor-Leste ) just gained their independence in 2002?

Anyways, this project has taken about 2+ years to make, and even now I'm still working on the art. ( 64% completed ) Sha and I have truly poured our hearts into this project and If you're still here, thank you for reading this all the way, I really appreciate it.

We're about 11 days away from the launch on Kickstarter, and if you can, please follow us there and share the project! Also, a quick reminder that we will be doing extremely limited quantities of early bird bundles so hit the notify me button on Kickstarter to be the first to know when we launch on the 11th of July, 11:11am EST!

Follow us here

[adirondack-arcane-university]

Adirondack Arcane University Course Catalogue Pt. 1

Writing, History, & Literature

Ancient History (ANCH)

ANCH 0100 The Ancient World: Mesopotamia and Phoenicia

ANCH 0200 The Ancient World: Egypt

ANCH 0300 The Ancient World: Greece and Rome

ANCH 0400 The Ancient World: China

ANCH 0500 The Ancient World: Mesoamerica

Magical History (MAGH)

MAGH 0100 Magic in the Middle Ages: Europe

MAGH 0101 Magic in the Middle Ages: Africa

MAGH 0102 Magic in the Middle Ages: Asia

MAGH 0110 Magic in Pre-Colonial North America

MAGH 0111 Magic in Pre-Colonial South America

MAGH 0200 Magic during the Renaissance: Europe

MAGH 0201 Magic during the Renaissance: Asia

MAGH 0202 Magic during the Renaissance: North America

MAGH 0203 Magic during the Renaissance: South America

MAGH 0300 Magic during the Industrial Revolution: Europe

MAGH 0301 Magic during the Industrial Revolution: North America

MAGH 0400 History of Modern Magic: Europe

MAGH 0401 History of Modern Magic: Africa

MAGH 0402 History of Modern Magic: West Asia

MAGH 0403 History of Modern Magic: South Asia

MAGH 0404 History of Modern Magic: East Asia

MAGH 0405 History of Modern Magic: North America

MAGH 0406 History of Modern Magic: Central America

MAGH 0407 History of Modern Magic: South America

MAGH 0408 History of Modern Magic: Oceania

Magical Literature (MALT)

MALT 0100 Cross-Cultural Literature

MALT 0200 Oral Histories

MALT 0300 Major Figures in The Tales of Beedle The Bard and Other Major Works

MALT 0400 Extinct Language Literature

Folklore, Mythology, and Religion (FOMR)

FOMR 0100 Introduction to Folklore

FOMR 0200 Magic and Religion

FOMR 0300 Myths and Religions of the Ancient World

FOMR 0301 Greek and Roman Mythology

FOMR 0302 Hindu Mythology

FOMR 0310 Asian Religions

FOMR 0311 Religions of the West

FOMR 0312 The Religion of Ancient Egypt

FOMR 0400 Jewish Mysticism

Anthropology (ANTH)

ANTH 0100 Magical Language, Society, and the Wizard Experience

ANTH 0200 Magical Food and Culture

ANTH 0300 Magical Archaeology

Communications (COMM)

COMM 0100 News Reporting and Writing

COMM 0200 Critical Perspectives in Journalism

COMM 0300 Philosophical Problems of Journalism

COMM 0400 Journalism and Public Service

COMM 0500 Comparative Journalism

COMM 0600 Long Distance Communication

Arcanarunology (ARUN)

ARUN 0100 Introduction to Arcanarunology

ARUN 0200 Rune Theory

ARUN 0300 Practical Applications of Arcanarunology 

ARUN 0400 Semiology

ARUN 0500 Structural Arcanarunology

ARUN 0600 Runic Syntax

[nanshe-of-nina]

Wrong definitions of Orientalism I’ve seen online:

Simply using elements from East, South, Southeast, and/or West Asian cultures and folklore as inspiration for fantasy. (This can be problematic, but it's not inherently so.)

A generally racist portrayal of Asian characters. (The portrayal of Mr. Yunioshi in Breakfast at Tiffany's is pretty damn racist, but ain't particularly Orientalist.)

Mixing different elements from different Asian cultures together for a fantasy counterpart culture. (As with #1, it can be problematic, but mixing together elements of different cultures is rather common in fantasy works. Furthermore, while Asians are not a monolith, different Asian cultures have, in fact, influenced each other and they are not hermetically sealed.)

A White person liking anime, K-Pop, or any other Asian media.

A White person being attracted to an Asian person. (Do note: this is not the same thing as, say, "I want an East Asian wife because they're more feminine and submissive.")

Depicting Asian characters as having magical powers in a work that’s very clearly supposed to be a work of fantasy. (If this was enough to classify a work as Orientalist, then One Thousand and One Nights and the entire genre of wuxia would both qualify. Both are also generally vague about when and where they’re supposed to be set.)

Having a “stereotypical” villain. (Specifically, stereotypical how? A villain who twirls their mustache and kicks puppies isn't automatically Orientalist.)

The weird thing about these misconceptions is that the Wikipedia page on Orientalism actually does a decent and succinct job of explaining what Edward Said meant when he used the term:

In Said's analysis, the West essentializes these societies as static and undeveloped—thereby fabricating a view of Oriental culture that can be studied, depicted, and reproduced in the service of imperial power. Implicit in this fabrication, writes Said, is the idea that Western society is developed, rational, flexible, and superior.

This also tends to involve depicting “the Orient” as effeminate, misogynist, decadent, and inherently inclined to tyrannical rule and also conceiving of most, if not all, Easterners as a monstrous horde.

My default go-to when trying to show these attitudes in practice is depiction of the Persians in the comic and its film adaptation, 300. It uses ALL of the Orientalist stereotypes without the slightest bit of irony or nuance.

[roninreverie]

Big Mama's Chinese Roots and a Connection to Tang Shen?

First off, to preface... this whole thing started because @caro-rolo figured out that the Mystic Portal Key doohickeys in Rise are actually just some kind of fancy compasses that have North, South, East, and West written in Chinese characters.

Now, the first thought I had to learning this was "Tang Shen" because in the TMNT universe where Japanese influence is pretty heavy, she is notable for having a Chinese name.

She is also the love interest of Hamato Yoshi in many different variations. Though in Rise, that role belongs most notably to Big Mama, with Tang Shen being a blink and you miss it easter-egg credit on the cover of Jistu for Justice:

Mama is also most likely the source of where Splinter got his mystic portal key, and she even has one of her own in her office. Judging by how much control she has over the Hidden City, from the Battle Nexus, to demolition derbies, to train stations, to crime rings, she seems to have a large control over just who all is in her city, and these keys could very well be something she controls directly.

Now, Big Mama has all the set ups for having typical TMNT Japanese roots. Even her home estate seen in "Hidden City Job" has a very Asian look to it inside and out:

Plus, the whole "her being a yokai", makes it easy to assume she is based on some kind of Japanese spider demon like Jorōgumo, Yatsukahagi/Tsuchigumo, or Ōgumo, etc.

But "Yokai" can also be used to describe the Chinese term "yaoguai" which is basically the same definition.

So if Mama were a Chinese spider demon instead, the first one who comes up on a quick Google search is "zhī zhū jīng" or "spider woman". These are 7 spider demon sisters who fight Sun Wukong in Monkey King: Journey to the West.

Here, the spiders changed into seven beautiful young ladies who wanted to eat the flesh of Sun Wukong's master, Tang Seng, which is said to make the consumer immortal and forever young.

"Tang Seng"... "Tang Shen"... sounds pretty similar.

And aren't there also some animation ties from ROTTMNT to Lego Monkey King? Tangent side note, but there's a spider demon queen in that universe too and guess what? SHE'S PURPLE!

And where did Mama and Lou Jistsu first meet? On set of one of his movies "Crouching Shrimp Hidden Tiger Prawn" in 1984. A movie where an actress like Tang Shen could very well have ties to? (We'll come back to this at the end.)

Another chip in the Chinese vs Japanese bucket is Big Mama's Security Team:

At first, I thought their distinct faces represented Blue Japanese Hannya/ Oni masks, but what if they're supposed to be Chinese Nuo masks instead? Not unlike Zuko's Blue Spirit mask in ATLA.

You could also argue these guys are wielding a sort of Qinglong Ji or Fangtian Ji, which are Chinese spear or polearm weapons. (But if anyone knows what those spear thingies are really called, please let me know, it's driving me nuts!)

...

In conclusion, I got sent on a massive rabbit hole because of a fictional compass and regret nothing! 🧭

Now what is Big Mama's connection to Tang Shen? Are they related? (The actress does look a bit purple.) They could be sisters like the 7 sisters of the Monkey King lore. Did Mama seek to get rid of Tang Shen so she could get closer to Lou Jitsu herself? Are they the same person? Is Big Mama based on Japanese or Chinese folklore? Did any of this make any sense at all?

Let me know what you think, and thanks for joining me for another deep dive into another one of my random ROTTMNT theories!

EDIT: (PS- Sorry, if the "read more" messes the order of these up, but the scroll was annoying me in my own tags.) 😅

[katiajewelbox]

Dragons of the Plant World

Happy Lunar New Year of the Wood Dragon! The Lunar New Year is a major cultural event celebrated in Asia and across the world. The year of the wood dragon begins on February 10th 2024 and concludes on January 29th, 2025. The Asian dragon or “Loong” is a noble, benevolent creature unlike the destructive monsters of Western folklore. Let’s meet some plants named after dragons!

A whole genus of monocot trees is named after dragons, namely the genus Dracaena which includes 120 species of trees and succulent shrubs native to Africa, South Asia, Australia, and Central America. The name Dracaena is derived from a Greek word meaning “female dragon”. It is unclear why these trees are named after dragons, but their spiky foliage and scaly trunks may recall the typical traits of western dragons. Additionally, the Socotra Dragon Tree (Dracaena cinnabari) yields a red resin known as “Dragon’s Blood” which was harvested from these trees since ancient times and used in the Mediterranean and the Middle East for dye and medicines. Several Dracaena species including Dracaena marinata are popular houseplants since they require minimal water and can tolerate low light levels in indoor environments.

Dragonfruit is a tropical treat that comes from a cactus. The Dragonfruit cactus is a general name for one of three species in the Selenicereus genus and is commonly known as the Pitahaya or Moonlight Cactus. These night-blooming lanky cacti are epiphytic and lithophytic, meaning they grow on trees and stones instead of rooting directly into the ground. Their hot pink or yellows fruit have dragon-like fleshy scales and an interior that can be either white or red. Although they were originally cultivated in South America, Vietnam is now the main producer of Dragonfruit. The fruit is rich in dietary fibre, vitamin C, betalains, and carotenoids.

Snapdragons (Anthrrhinum genus) have flowers with cute dragon-like snouts that open and close like a mouth when pressed sideways. These perennial flowers add fiery hues like yellow, orange, red, and pink to cottage gardens of Northern Europe and are a favourite of bees. The Snapdragon (A. majus) is a model organism for plant biology research, especially biochemical studies and developmental biology as well as research on plant-pollinator interactions.

I hope the Year of the Wood Dragon brings new growth to you and your plant collection!Features photos from Wikipedia along with my original AI-generated art made with DALL E.

[readerbookclub]

Hello everyone! A new month is approaching so I'm back with another list. This time, it's a collection of fairytale retellings! Hope you like it :)

As always, please remember to vote using the link at the end of the post. And now, onto the books...

Bryony and Roses, by T. Kingfisher

Bryony and her sisters have come down in the world. Their merchant father died trying to reclaim his fortune and left them to eke out a living in a village far from their home in the city.

But when Bryony is caught in a snowstorm and takes refuge in an abandoned manor, she stumbles into a house full of dark enchantments. Is the Beast that lives there her captor, or a fellow prisoner? Is the house her enemy or her ally? And why are roses blooming out of season in the courtyard?

Armed only with gardening shears and her wits, Bryony must untangle the secrets of the house before she—or the Beast—are swallowed by them.

Deerskin, by Robin McKinley

As Princess Lissla Lissar reaches womanhood, it is clear to all the kingdom that in her beauty she is the image of her dead mother, the queen. But this likeness forces her to flee from her father's lust and madness; and in the pain and horror of that flight she forgets who she is and what it is she flees from: forgets almost everything but the love and loyalty of her dog, Ash, who accompanies her. But a chance encounter on the road leads to a job in another king's kennels, where the prince finds himself falling in love with the new kennel maid . . . and one day he tells her of a princess named Lissla Lissar, who had a dog named Ash.

A Thousand Beginnings and Endings, Edited by Ellen Oh and Elsie Chapman

Sixteen extraordinary authors—including New York Times bestsellers Melissa de la Cruz, Renée Ahdieh, and Julie Kagawa—reimagine the folklore and mythology of East and South Asia in short stories that are by turns enchanting, heartbreaking, romantic, and passionate. This exquisite paperback anthology includes an original bonus story from Ellen Oh. In a starred review, Publishers Weekly called A Thousand Beginnings and Endings a “must-read.”

A mountain loses her heart. Two sisters transform into birds to escape captivity. A young man learns the true meaning of sacrifice. A young woman takes up her mother’s mantle and leads the dead to their final resting place.

Bestselling and award-winning authors explore the timeless themes of East and South Asian lore in sixteen original stories that will appeal to every reader. From fantasy to science fiction to contemporary, from romance to tales of revenge, these stories will beguile readers from start to finish.

All the Ever Afters: The Untold Story of Cinderella's Stepmother, by Danielle Teller

We all know the story of Cinderella. Or do we?

As rumors about the cruel upbringing of beautiful newlywed Princess Cinderella roil the kingdom, her stepmother, Agnes, a woman who knows all too well about hardship, privately records the true story. But what unfolds is not the princess's history. The tale Agnes recounts is her own.

A peasant born into serfdom, Agnes is separated from her family and forced into servitude as a laundress’s apprentice at Aviceford Manor when she is just ten years old. Alone, friendless, and burdened with a grueling workload, Agnes carves a place for herself in this cold place that is home to Sir Emont Vis-de-Loup, a melancholic and capricious drunkard.

Using her wits and ingenuity, Agnes eventually escapes and makes her way toward a hopeful future, serving as a housemaid for the powerful Abbess Elfilda. But life once again holds unexpected, sometimes heartbreaking twists that lead Agnes back to Aviceford Manor, where she becomes nursemaid to Ella, Emont's sensitive, otherworldly daughter. Though she cares for Ella, Agnes struggles to love this child, who in time becomes her stepdaughter and, ultimately, the celebrated princess who embodies all our unattainable fantasies.

Bitter Greens, by Kate Forsyth

The amazing power and truth of the Rapunzel fairy tale comes alive for the first time in this breathtaking tale of desire, black magic and the redemptive power of love

French novelist Charlotte-Rose de la Force has been banished from the court of Versailles by the Sun King, Louis XIV, after a series of scandalous love affairs. At the convent, she is comforted by an old nun, Sœur Seraphina, who tells her the tale of a young girl who, a hundred years earlier, is sold by her parents for a handful of bitter greens...

After Margherita's father steals parsley from the walled garden of the courtesan Selena Leonelli, he is threatened with having both hands cut off, unless he and his wife relinquish their precious little girl. Selena is the famous red-haired muse of the artist Tiziano, first painted by him in 1512 and still inspiring him at the time of his death. She is at the center of Renaissance life in Venice, a world of beauty and danger, seduction and betrayal, love and superstition.

Locked away in a tower, Margherita sings in the hope that someone will hear her. One day, a young man does.

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