#2close

[cryst-lised]

Pro tip: if you lookin oily use that grain filter🤙🏽

[gurguliare]

some more disturbing fox stories

FOX IN THE BOTTLE

A woman of the Shi family in Wan Village was possessed by a fox-spirit. She suffered greatly, but was unable to get rid of it.

Behind the house was a bottle, and whenever the fox heard the woman's husband coming home, it would disappear and hide in this bottle. The woman made a note of this and formed a secret plan, which she mentioned to no one.

One day when the fox was hiding in the bottle, she plugged the mouth of the bottle with cotton wadding, then placed it in a big pot, poured in some water and brought it to the boil, fox and all.

‘It's dreadfully hot in here!’ cried the fox, as the temperature mounted. ‘Stop this nonsense at once!’

The woman said nothing. The screams from within the bottle grew louder and louder, and then suddenly there was silence. She removed the stopper and looked inside the bottle. All she could see was a mess of fur and a few drops of blood.

and 2:

SCORCHED MOTH THE TAOIST

The household of Hanlin Academician Dong was troubled by fox-spirits. Tiles, pebbles and brick shards were liable to fly around the house like hailstones at any moment, and his family and household were forever having to take shelter and wait for the disturbances to abate before they dared carry on with their daily duties. Dong himself was so affected by this state of affairs that he rented a residence belonging to Under-Secretary Sun, and moved there to avoid his troubles. But the fox-spirits merely followed him.

One day when he was on duty at court and described this strange phenomenon to his colleagues, a senior minister mentioned a certain Taoist master from the north-east by the name of Jiao Ming – Scorched Moth – who lived in the Inner Manchu City and issued exorcist spells and talismans reputed for their efficacy. Dong paid the man a personal call and requested his aid, whereupon the Master wrote out some charms in cinnabarred ink and told Dong to paste them on his wall. The foxes were unperturbed by these measures, however, and continued to hurl things around with greater vigour than ever. Dong reported back to the Taoist, who was angered by this apparent failure of his charms and came in person to Dong's house, where he set up an altar and performed a full rite of exorcism. Suddenly they beheld a huge fox crouching on the ground before the altar. Dong's household had suffered long from this creature's antics, and the servants felt a deep-seated sense of grievance towards it. One of the maids went up to it to deal it a blow, only to fall dead to the ground.

‘This is a vicious beast!’ exclaimed the Taoist. ‘Even I could not subdue it! This girl was very foolish to provoke it.’ He continued, ‘Nonetheless, we can now use her to question the fox.’

Pointing his index finger and middle finger at the maid, he pronounced certain spells, and suddenly she rose from the ground and knelt before him. The Taoist asked her where she hailed from.

’I come from the Western Regions,’ replied the maid, in a voice that was clearly not her own but that of the fox. ‘We have been here in the capital for eighteen generations.’

‘How dare creatures such as you dwell in the proximity of His Imperial Majesty? Off with you at once!’

The fox-voice was silent, and the Taoist thumped the altar-table angrily. ‘How dare you disobey my orders? Delay a moment longer, and my magic powers will work on you harshly!’

The fox shrank back fearfully, indicating his submission, and the Taoist urged him once more to be gone. Meanwhile the maid had fallen to the ground again, dead to the world. It was a long while before she regained consciousness.

All of a sudden they saw four or five white lumps of some strange substance go bouncing like balls one after the other along the eaves of the building, until they were all gone. Then peace finally reigned in the Dong household.

[tom-at-the-farm]

Xavier Dolan and Nancy Grant at TIFF 2014

[undercoverstorey]

(christian)

[dmaurier]

I might be a terrible person but at least I've got an interesting character arc

[queenologies]

Each time my heart is broken it makes me feel more adventurous (and how the same names keep recurring on that interminable list!), but one of these days there'll be nothing left with which to venture forth.

Frank O'Hara, from "Meditations in an Emergency"

[sillystart]

So I'm on vacation at Elk Lake and we are using someone else's wifi. The guy must've turned off the sharing mode to wifi but we got it back. Holla!

I really hope the wifi lasts for the rest of the vacation.