#magpie bridge

[shiningdesignersreflections]

Yexiao: Magpie Bridge

Designer's Reflection: Magpie Bridge

Obtained: welfare

Rarity: SR

Attribute: Green/Fresh

Awakened Suit: A Windy Dawn

Story - transcripts from Designer's Reflection

Chapter 1 - Orchid Fragrance

Chapter 2 - Handicraft Contest

Chapter 3 - Orchid Night Beauty

Story - summarized

Yexiao has lived in Cloudcrest for 9 years. In that time, she befriended a young girl who lived in the same courtyard. They'd paint together, visit the mountains, and gather fresh berries.

Now, the girl has grown into a lovely young woman. She still wants to spend time with Yexiao, but she also dreams of finding love. With the Orchid Night festival coming up, she wants Yexiao to come with her. Yexiao sees how important this is to the girl, so she readily agrees.

The two of them practice for the embroidery contest that will be held on Orchid Night. While the girl dreams of finding her true love after winning the contest, Yexiao just wants to spend time with her friend and have fun.

Finally, Orchid Night is here. The girl is nervous, but Yexiao reassures her it will be okay. They enjoy the fireworks, the food vendors, and finally the Handicraft Contest. Yexiao is winning, so she slows down to let the girl win instead.

And she does. The girl prays for true love in her life, and also makes a wish for Yexiao to be happy.

Connections

-Yexiao has seen several friends grow up in her lifetime. In Thousand Dreams, before she is banished from Cloudcrest the first time, she spent ten years living next to a family that shared the same courtyard, and she got to watch that little girl grow up. And when she returns to Cloudcrest many years later, the girl has become an old lady, and the two keep painting together.

-During the first Chinese New Year event, Wishes on the Cloud, Nikki and Momo help Luming collect people's wishes to protect them. Yexiao's wish is to remain happy doing the things she loves to do.

Fun Facts

-The Seventh Star that appears before Orchid Night is most likely from the constellation Hegu, also known as "Drum at the River." It refers to the myth of the Cowherd and the Weaving Girl, who were lovers that could only meet once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, when magpies gathered to form a bridge across the heavens. Find more here.

[bakedbeanchan]

Sokka and Yue reuniting in the spirit world

[visavice]

[creativesplat]

Stargazing

[iwillruletheuniverse]

I found this book by Lasse Åberg. A book about animals and space and much more. I often called Lullaby my little owl; I often called Thomas magpie; saturn is a symbol for him; Laika mentioned❤️

[ha-bakbuk]

[writeronartblock]

Hestia. Hestia. HESTIA. HESTIA

If you're gonna approve any one of the boys in Shulaina's vicinity to be her partner, PLEASE APPROVE CORY!! HE'S LITERALLY THE BEST CANDIDATE, NO STRINGS ATTACHED!!

HE'S THE MOST NORMAL ONE OUT OF ALL OF THE LOVE INTERESTS, PLEEEEAAASSSEEEE!!!

[literaryphilanderer]

Webtoon: I Don't Want To Be a Magpie Bridge

Author(s): 살오른 곱등이

Artist(s): Chubby cricket

I’ve been reincarnated into a side character of a novel. On top of that, I am the character who is like a magpie bridge in the mentally-exhausting story, "The Guys Around Hestia." There is no romance in store for me, and it absolutely horrifies me to think that my family is destined to drown in debt! I planned on becoming a civil servant, enjoying a life of wealth and honor that I was unable to attain in my previous life but… why are the guys behaving out of character? Why are you blushing in front of me? Why do you keep giving me food? “Can you Imagine Shushu being shy when looking at someone?” “Whoa… It’d be amazing if that happens.” As Cory absent-mindedly said to Hiley, Eve frowned and murmured under his breath. “Should I run away with her…” Swan remained silent while he hid his face with his sleeves. His face and ears turned red. What’s up with you guys? Why are you guys doing other things instead of being obsessed with the female lead? Get yourself together! This is the survival story of an academy student, Schulaina West, who wants to pursue a wealthy future in a reverse harem novel. TL/N: Magpie Bridge is the bridge made by a flock of magpies that connects the two star-crossed lovers Orihime and Hikoboshi in the legend behind the Tanabata festival.

Thoughts:

This...this is incredible? I don't even know how to start my review. The characters are incredibly constructed, with believable flaws and motivations. The friendships are complex and textured. The plot is intriguing. Of course it is a manhwa and the standard suspension of disbelief is mandatory but the webtoon manages to straddle the fence between believable and outright ridiculous incredibly well. The protagonist is fun and even as readers realize that she's not a very reliable narrator, they can't help but root for her since she's so utterly charismatic. Of course, the magic school, the bickering and the banter between several very pretty people doesn't hurt. All in all, I want to read more. Now.

[nought-shall-go-ill]

A Bridge Made of Magpies please! 👀

Certainly! Annoyingly, I have most of this piece written out by hand and don't have my notebook on me, but I do have the first line saved in my notes:

The end of the world shouldn't start with soft kisses.

A Bridge Made of Magpies is my Jily version of The Cowherd & The Weaver Girl. In the story, Lily and James are forced to be apart for decades by an ancient curse, except for one day a year.

I have a feeling it won't be my most popular story, but it is probably one of my favourite ever plot bunnies, and I love it very much. (Difficult in execution though).

[yearnstarved]

okay but what if (😳 for a kiss on the forehead ) for nezha from chang'e ( NEW YEAR'S KISS | @inmiasma )

✧ THE MAN-MADE LIGHTS TOUCHED THE SKY. It scattered and rained down in a full spectrum of fire and thunder. Another year was behind them with more days coming just over the horizon. Chang'e spent most of the latter half of the year inviting Nezha over. All the bickering, the pokes and prods, became something of a predictable comfort. She sighed as the thought sprang to life in her head.

"Do not headbutt me or I will put a curse on you," she warned with her eyes narrowed.

"Happy new year, Nezha. I'm gifting you with the blessing of the moon. Be good this year. Fortune will walk beside you." She leaned down to kiss his forehead. "—As long as you don't scare it off with your face."

[lilnasxvevo]

Now, now, this is Eurocentric! Different cultures have different names for our galaxy. For example, in China it’s called the Silver River, and the legend is that the gods created the river to separate two forbidden lovers, the heavenly weaver girl Zhinv and the mortal cowherd…dammit! Never mind, this one has cows too!

We have GOT to pick a better name for our galaxy than the Milky Way, if aliens ever come from the Andromeda Galaxy they're gonna think it's a horny thing

[shiningdesignersreflections]

Yexiao: A Windy Dawn

Awakened Suit: A Windy Dawn

You can find the original suit here.

[sillygoofyqueer]

More silly heavenly demon crowyuan things!

I like the idea of this particular crowyuan showing up before Binghe gets tossed into the abyss.

Shen Yuan considers sneaking his way onto Cang Qiong Mountain, but unfortunately he is a demon and isn’t entirely sure how to get through the wards without just smashing them to pieces.

Even if he could, the whole golden tipped feathers, and glowing golden flame Zuiyin on his forehead, makes stealth missions way more challenging for him than they are for his cousins and half siblings.

(I do think Shen Yuan eventually learns how to hide these features, just like Binghe learns to hide his demon features and Zuiyin, but he both initially thinks he’s a hybrid crow/firebird or something, and is still getting a hang of his powers).

Instead he’s stuck just getting the crow family together (regular crows and yao-crows included) and having them help him acquire items and deliver the goods to Binghe (the non demon crows do the delivery part).

(As an aside: for added possible silliness maybe the demon and yao crows didn’t get along before, since crows can be quite territorial, but after transmigrating Shen Yuan just sort of bulldozed over the division by befriending everyone and being too indestructible for the initial murder attempts to work. Heck, maybe he unknowingly became the de-facto ‘Corvid king’, with even ravens, magpies, and Airplane’s weird made up corvid species thinking he’s cool 😂).

Back to the Binghe stuff, Shen Yuan’s crow delivery system mostly works great, with only minor hiccups! Binghe has no idea why a shabby looking qiankun pouch with 15-different cultivation manuals showed up in his woodshed, but he finds all the selections quite useful.

(The corvid army heard Shen Yuan’s ponderings about good techniques from various sects/clans/forbidden crypts/etc. that might suit Binghe and decided that it was a fun ‘gotta catch them all’ quest situation. There were good shinies to be had at all those locations too! Nice!)

Binghe also somehow gets his mother’s jade guanyin dropped on his head mid meditation—with an apology note attached???—a few days after Ming Fan tossed the thing. (It was pretty, so a crow stole it, and Shen Yuan had to bully/bribe them into giving it back.)

D-Don't look at the date, it hasn't been that long since I've updated hahaha... ANYWAY. LET ME GET INTO THE ✨MINDSET✨ OF CROWYUAN. So, heavenly demon crowyuan. Pre-abyss Binghe. This shit is brilliant. I really love the idea of Shen Yuan chilling with his family for like a get-together of sorts, (crows bonking each other on the head and squabbling over shiny shit the moment he looks away), before he has a sudden startling realisation that he's still in PIDW and just shoots up with an "AH FUCK, BINGHE!!" The crows are startled, he's startled, everyone is staring at him like he's lost his mind. And he immediately sets about muttering the things the poor kid'll need to survive on Qing Jing Peak. I like to think he definitely takes a look at the sect and its wards, but he obviously can't get in himself, so....CROWS. Now, imagine this from Binghe's perspective. He's having a generally shit time on the peak, bullied and abused and all that shitty shit, when he suddenly gets a full arsenal of cultivation manuals and cultivation aids. It'd be like a gift from the gods, to him!! He prays, more comes. This happens way too often, so he stakes out his woodshed one time and finds out that...crows are leaving them??? He's baffled. Then he hears rumours of a corvid king whispered around amongst the other disciples. Apparently this king can be linked to all types of corvids, even bridging the gap between territorial ones!! At first it sounds like a stupid myth, a joke that nobody really believes. I mean, come on, an ARMY of corvids??? Then Cang Qiong sect hears of an overconfident group of Hua Huan cultivators being attacked by a flock of corvids for trying to destroy a forest that falls into the apparent "territory" of the Corvid King, a part that borders on Huan Hua's own territory. A coincidence? Sure. Until Huan Hua get greedy and try and do it again, with the same results. Every. Single. Time. Binghe can now only assume the Corvid King has taken a liking to him, and even if he doesn't quite know why, and isn't sure if he should be receiving help from a demon...HE VOWS to put the king's gifts to good use, to find and show him just how much his gifts have helped Binghe. This ran away with me a little... I love the idea of Shen Yuan just wandering in, not caring about any form of customs and dragging two warring/territorial groups of crows and just chilling with both of them so they have to be like..."FUCK, okay fine we can share..." Just for now. Check out the crowyuan tag on my blog for more information :D I KNOW IT'S BEEN FOREVER, BUT I'M BACK. I'M HERE, ANON. IT'S NOT OVER FOR US YET. HAVE YOU MISSED ME??? After I've checked out the next ask (probably answering it tomorrow), I'm going to take the initiative and think about the peak lords' reactions to this random demon that's shown up

[kesbeacon]

Get your inns, taverns, pubs, and alehouses here!

You all meet up in an inn. But what's the inn like? What's it called? What can you do there? And how do I satisfy my players' unending appetite for entertainingly-named inns?

This generator has your answer. It will give you a name, a brief description including reputation and proprietor, and optional entertainments and encounters. Or you can generate a name and do the rest yourself!

Here's some names:

The Shirking Eagle

The Flea's Head

The Void on the Bridge

The Wrestler and Newt

The Mouse House

The Sheep's Serpent

The Honourable Eel

The Spectacles and Sword

The Bald Orb

The Smiths

The Toad on the Dragon

The Fighting Magpie's Arms

[lalunanymph]

Speculations for Caleb's myth based on what we Know So Far (Dawnie's Version) (Infold please don't sue me) 

Disclaimer: THIS IS ALL PURE SPECULATION after discussing with the caleb gc and i thought i would share it here, too‼️

CalebMc is not your typical love story because of two things: 

Caleb’s established relationship with her

Infold’s commissioned art depicting CalebMc as the seduction of eve 

ESTABLISHED RELATIONSHIP

Caleb and Mc were both adopted by Josephine, though it is noted that he does not share the same family name as her and retains his own surname (Xia). However, due to the close nature of their relationship, it is not socially acceptable to simply just show his love to Mc… but what if there’s something deeper? 

SEDUCTION OF EVE

Eve is a biblical figure known to be the first mother of humankind. During her time in the Garden of Eden, she is seduced by the potential knowledge from the serpent. Most interestingly, Infold has commissioned a drawing of Mc and Caleb in this exact scenario which implies: 

Caleb has knowledge Mc wants

The desires within the both of them need a catalyst to grant them that knowledge 

OR

Caleb is being set up as someone to corrupt MC. 

BUT, WHO IS CALEB?

He is shown to be someone kind and charismatic, witty and good at cooking. It is implied he is a charmer and is highly intelligent due to his high-risk job as a fighter pilot in the Deepspace Aviation Academy. 

WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM?

After the explosion, Caleb is presumed to be dead. However, with his name already listed in the beta, it is highly probable for us to deduce that he will be returning back to the game. Further proof: In the trailer for the Visions Opposees music video, we see a man falling from the sky after the 4 LIs are shown with MC. There is some speculation that this might be Caleb. 

As he falls between time and space, there are suspicions that because of his Evol or the Spatium Protocore, he is currently in a different plane of existence.

But, where he is or when he will come back is not what we’re here to discuss. We’re here to speculate about his myth. 

THE MYTH OF THE WHITE SNAKE

Snakes are an important figure in Chinese myths, and the biggest one is Bai Suzhen. She is a white snake spirit who became immortal and could take human form and is the main character in the Legend of the White Snake, one of China's four great folktales. She notably met her husband in a past life and risked her life to steal herbs from the monk of the South pole to revive him back from the dead. 

THE COWHERD AND THE WEAVER

Another big Chinese myth. This one centers around forbidden love between a celestial weaver and a cowherd. Long story short, she returned back to the heavens after living a life with him and bearing him two children, but because of her grave error in tarnishing herself with humans, the gods separated them by heaven and earth—forcing a milky way between them. They are only allowed to meet once a year by crossing a bridge of magpies. 

SPECULATIONS FOR CALEB'S MYTH

If we follow Infold’s style according to the other LIs’ myth, MC is always someone who is shunned and ostracized by society in order to set up a connection between her and the LIs. However, taking into account all the myths listed above running in the same vein as Caleb’s general vibe, they have one thing in common: forbiddenness. 

Forbidden love. Forbidden knowledge. 

Mirroring Caleb’s love for MC which is forbidden because they were raised together. 

What I speculate is this:

MC is someone who is of high importance and meets Caleb through a chance encounter. Her life is sheltered and she yearns to learn more—to experience more (kind of like Abysswalker’s MC). But, she is not used for the powers of her Aether core, and is sheltered from that knowledge. Enter Caleb who has an inkling of what she is and what is her potential. He shows her a different world, one where she can’t be used as a pawn in anyone's game and gives her a taste of true power. In turn, she becomes drunk on it and seeks him out more to learn about her true purpose.

Somehow, they fall in love with each other and he admits his feelings. But, what she doesn't know is he has a different form, and only lives among humans to [insert motive because I am not Infold’s writer goddamnit]. However, something happens to her and she gets seriously injured. To save her from the brink of death, Caleb has to steal something from a deity or whatever. He goes to the heavens and steals a herb that can bring her back to life but unbeknownst to him, MC is actually the child of a god/higher up being/etc and this could be alluded to be Josephine. 

Knowing what he has done to her granddaughter, the Queen Mother Cvnt of heaven casts him away and keeps him from MC in the heavens, where she thinks he has abandoned her during her weakest moment. Someone saves her and it's Josephine, who brings her back to life but only poisons her thoughts about Caleb as the subsequent days go by. 

But, seeing how much Caleb loves MC, her heart softens and she allows them to meet once a year, under her watchful eye (EVER WHAT’S UP). 

….. Okay that’s it…. That is the only way I can connect the dots. 

THE END 

[iwillruletheuniverse]

In the magazine that comes every friday, the editor in chief took this picture of a magpie🥺❤️ I often called Thomas magpie💖