Scene From The Lighthouse In My Skybound Fic

scene from the lighthouse in my skybound fic

kay, so I haven't gotten anywhere near this part yet, but this specific conversation has been in my head for months, so here's a very rough draft of Nya sort of coming out to Jay as aroace from my skybound fic in the works!

"

Nya looked down at her hands, breathing deeply. It wasn’t entirely fair of her to explode at Jay like that, she was just so- so angry! She didn’t want to be the ‘girl ninja’, or ‘Kai’s sister’, or ‘Jay’s girlfriend’. Hell, she didn’t want to be anyone's girlfriend!

She opened the door to the room with a soft ‘creeeeakkkkk’, noting how Jay’s feathered ears—still a bizarre and disarming sight—twitched at the sound.

“I- Jay, we need to talk. About- about yesterday.” Jay looked up at her words, and she bristled when she saw the feathers marring his left side. She still wasn’t used to that, though he probably wasn’t either. He looked… well, angry wasn’t the right word. Unsettled, maybe? Wary? Tired, definitely, maybe annoyed, possibly frustrated. With her? She didn’t know.

“I- I don’t… I don’t feel what you feel for me. I don’t love you, not- not like that. I care for you, absolutely, but I don't…” She trailed off. “I don’t feel that way towards you. I don’t feel that way towards anyone. I never have, and I don’t think I ever will.” He was quiet, but he didn’t seem on the verge of freaking out as she sat down next to him on the old bed.

“It wasn’t fair of me to blow up at you, but it hurts, y’know? To be reduced to a prize for two of my best friends to fight over! It- I’m sorry, for how I said it, but I’m not sorry for saying it.” Jay was silent for a moment before he nodded.

“I… I get that. And… I’m sorry too, for what it’s worth,” he said, and she was still uneasy about how his voice had changed. It used to be endearingly high; snippy and full of life, and while it hadn’t, like, dropped or anything, he spoke in a quiet rasp now and he seemed to overthink every word to come out of his mouth. “It wasn’t fair towards you to… to treat you like that.”

"

Elminx's Long-Form Lemonade for Sweet Cleansing

If you've been hanging out for more than a hot minute, you have probably caught on to a secret about my kitchen witching: it's not the NUMBER of ingredients you enchant; it's how you enchant them. For the purposes of witching, I prefer simple recipes (ingredient-wise) that have a bit of oomph to them. Do you need to stir a pot for 45 minutes straight? (see also my french onion soup recipe) What about starting a vinegar infusion that needs to be shaken every day?

This, as the saying goes, is where the magic is made. At least, for me.

So, imagine my surprise when my friends introduced me to a long-form way of making lemonade. Rather than simply juicing the lemons and adding some sugar and water - you combine the sugar and lemon peels and let them sit for some time to release the lemon's essential oils.

Not only does it make a superior lemonade (can confirm!), but it immediately had my magic wheels turning.

The goal is to make lemonade that will sweetly cleanse you of what ails you. This spell can easily be adapted to add specifiers—see the end of this post for more details.

As always, I will not tell you how to do YOUR magic. This is a technique, not a magic tutorial.

The Basics: When Life Gives You Lemons

Lemons have a long history of use as a cleansing agent. Cunningham's infamous green book lists them as a feminine plant, under the purview of water and the moon and used for the powers of "longevity, purification, love, friendship." (for what that's worth) From an herbal energetic perspective - lemons are considered to be cooling - they are used in the summer to cool hot termperatures and applied to the sick to help bring down fevers. Citric acid is also a bladder stimulant, which we will be making use of for the purposes of our potion-making.

What we associate with lemon as the "cleaning agent" is believed to come from limonene, a terpene found in the peels of most citrus fruits that is both antiviral and antibacterial. Lemonene is used in many cleaners that you can buy on the market but can also be extracted directly from the fruit, as we will do in this recipe.

The Technique

This standard high-end bartender technique makes wonderful, complex sour mixes that can absolutely make the perfect cocktail. Rather than extracting the limonene from the citrus using alcohol or vinegar, we use sugar.

This technique is called oleo-saccharum, which means "oil-sugar" - you are using sugar to draw the essential oils out of the lemon peels, making a natural (no heat) syrup. Note here: this syrup can be used on its own for all sorts of syrupy needs - you could stop the preparation here if you don't love lemonade.

This can be done on the fly (an hour or so), but I highly suggest letting this sit for 12-24 hours for the full effect.

The Recipe

You will need:

5-6 lemons, the best-looking ones you can find

1 1/4 cups sugar

Filter Water (to taste)

Peeler, citrus juicer, optional

Additional magical flavoring, optional

Become better acquainted with your lemons. For the purposes of this recipe, I do this by holding them, talking to them about what I want from them (general or specific cleansing), and rolling them across a hard surface. This last part helps to separate the peel from the pith, which will help you cut away the peel in the next step. Because we intentionally try to release the limonene compounds in this recipe, you may wish to begin by carving your lemon at this step (BEFORE you peel). You could carve your intentions, your name, the names of the people you are looking to cleanse, or any cleansing runes or sigils that you use in your craft.

Carefully peel your lemon. You want to get as little pith (white parts) as possible, as they don't taste good. Take your time here. Really breathe in the scents of the lemon during this. This is the first part of the cleansing process - you are incidentally cleaning yourself and your kitchen as you do this part of the spell. Lean into this. It smells amazing. Revel in it. Think about how it reminds you of everything being shiny and clean as a child. Lemons ARE cleansing - really feel into this here. We won't use the rest of the lemon until tomorrow; you can juice it here or store it overnight in an air-tight container)

Add your lemon peels and the sugar to a mixing bowl and thoroughly massage the sugar into the lemon peels. This should take some time - think fives of minutes at least. You want to do this until you can feel the change in consistency in the sugar - try to incorporate all of the sugar with all of the lemons. Remember, sugar is inherently sweetening, and lemons are inherently cleansing - you combine these two elements here to make a sweet, cleansing spell. Let the smell of it clean out your nose and your sinuses. This is the meat of your spellcasting - you are working your spell into your ingredients. Talk to it. Use your energy. Pray over it. You will know when this step is complete.

Cover your bowl and let it sit at room temperature overnight or for up to 24 hours. The longer this extracts, the more intense the flavor in the finished product. In a pinch, give it an hour, but I suggest waiting at least 8-10 for the best effect.

The next morning, add 2 cups boiling water to your lemon paste and stir until it has thoroughly combined - this is a great place to reinforce your magic from the day beforehand. (This version had the addition of some freshly picked sour cherries which gives its red color)

6. When this has cooled, add the lemon juice and additional water to taste. I personally put this in a half-gallon ball jar and filled it with water, and then my partner and I further diluted it from there.

7. Drink and enjoy. For an extra cleansing effect, consider that part of the act of citrus is that of a urinary stimulant - it will make you pee. Think about how peeing removes things from your life. Remove what needs cleansing. Your spell is complete.

This spell is as simple as that but it can be dressed up in some many different outfits with very little effort. Do you know a flavor (remember, all edibles here) with the right magic associations to add to this spell?

Add some blackberries at the infusion stage for good old-fashioned hedge witch protection. If you really need something out, you could experiment with infusing some jalapeno after you've made the lemonade (tread with a lot of care here...). I've worked with lavender and hibiscus here for calming, cool energies. I recently added a cup of sour cherries to Step 3 for a love-cleansing effect.

There are two ways you can add flavors to this spell: you can mix your flavor in during the sugaring phase, or you can do a secondary infusion after your lemonade has been made. Use your best judgment here - fruits can go in with the citrus peels for sure, but herbs and other more "tea like" ingredients might be better steeped afterward.

I haven't tried it yet, but I'm eager to use some of my savory kitchen herbs the next time I near to clear out my money flows.

Or alternatively, use it as the first step in a witchy cocktail (my go-to, as you know). This lemonade makes an exquisite base for a margarita—for a bougie twist, use white Patron and some Chambord; you will not be disappointed.

This is almost a blank slate - sweet cleansing could be used for anything you put your mind to.

Do you like my work? You can support me over on Kofi by tipping me, ordering an astrology commission, buying some art, or signing up to be a monthly supporter of my work.

i think i might go to hell for loving you, but if being with you forever the worst punishment god can come up with, i think he might just be as merciful as the scriptures say.

ANNOUNCEMENT:

a fic is officially in the works!! currently im in the process of plotting as much as possible and writing the first chapter, but yeah!! the brainworms are eating away at me and ive succumbed. y'all'r welcome.

ALSO!!!

i need a beta reader, so if anyone is interested, pls tell me!

skybound Thoughts

sooo uh, im thinking about doing a rewrite of ninjago skybound.

im currently rewatching it because of this, and in case i never get around to actually writing anything, im gonna word-vomit onto this hellsite (affectionate) cuz im having Thoughts.

quick tangent though, skybound seems very similar to danny phantom (at least in how the fandom treats it) in the sense that, when you actually watch it, it's pretty tame and honestly kinda shit. but then you dig deeper. and you see the Implications and Possibilities, and suddenly it has you by the throat with all the ways this could have gone if it wasn't a kids show.

like, in skybound you get genuine torture and creepy implications on nadakhan's part (seriously, get away from jay and nya you fucking creep), and while it's never really explored since, y'know, kids show, it makes nadakhan one of the best and most terrifying villains i personally have watched in ninjago.

anyway, here are a couple of things i've been toying with in terms of a possible rewrite:

one thing im thinking about taking from various other fics i've seen (i think its mainly shown in bending but never breaking, which is an absolutely amazing fic and you should go read it but MIND THE TAGS AND TRIGGER WARNINGS PLEASE) is jay learning to use the electricity in his body, though obviously not painlessly

bonus points for his elemental power getting royally fucked up once/if the vengestone is removed, but in the sense of suddenly he is completely overwhelmed and his power is so much stronger and its a danger to both himself and others

queerplatonic jaya: i think in this season especially, nya felt very aroace coded (i might just be projecting as i myself am aroace, but that's the vibe i got) and so for a skybound rewrite nya and jay would have a serious conversation about how nya doesn't feel that way for anyone, even if she *does* really like jay

just general angst and torture

id rewrite jays obsession with nya, specifically his first wish (if i dont just jump right into him being on misfortunes keep)

i think id like to do something more with delara than just her being some dead girlfriend. i.e.: i'd make her fucking unhinged and the kind of person that would fall in love with and support nadakhan.

i really liked @cotidianoseeder's idea for canary!jay, so possibly something in that direction

i also really like it when people keep serpentine aspects in jays character, so some of that as well

fuck it, make him inhuman, y'know?

i'd age everyone up i think (i dunno how old they are in skybound, but a 17 minimum would be in my rewrite)

OH! i'd put bruiseshipping as a romantic relationship cuz i love them

nya would make the final wish, since a big part of her character would be forging her own story and taking control of her own life

zanes falcon would survive cuz i love that fucking bird

echo would be taken off the island post-rewind

what do y'all think??? i keep having more ideas, i might post them

Kitchen Witch Recipes: Balsamic Glazed Porkchops

Not only are these chops delicious, the ingredients are magical too. First the recipe then what the ingredients do

2-4 large pork chops

1 large zucchini, sliced thinly

4-6 red or Yukon potatoes

3-4 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1/4 cups balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup chicken stock

Salt & pepper to taste

Pre-heat oven to 450°

Wash and dice the potato's and the zucchini, finely chop the garlic

Toss the zucchini and potatoes in the oil, salt and pepper, cook in the oven for approximately 30 minutes/ checking after 20 minutes to not over cook

Pat pork dry, salt and pepper both sides, heat the oil on medium heat, cook chops for 8 to 10 minutes, turning half way through. Do this while the vegetables are cooking

Remove the chops, then add the chicken broth, garlic, brown sugar and vinegar to the skillet, bring to a boil, reduce heat, simmer till reduced by half, add the chops back, cook for a few minutes so they absorb some of the glaze if desired.

Cut the chops up, add vegetables, coat with sauce, serve while hot

Now the magical portion:

Pork: Element is fire, used for strength, fertility, and luck

Garlic: Planet is Mars, zodiac is Aries, Goddess is Hekate. Good for bansishing, protection and breaking curses. Good for lowering cholesterol, cardiovascular health, and stabilizes blood sugar

Zucchini: This veggie is ruled by Jupiter, helps with abundance, honor, and prosperity.

Balsamic vinegar: Is ruled Mars, this is a fire energy, good for protection, purification, and renewal

Potatoes: Ruled by the moon, it's element is earth, this vegetable is part of the nightshade family and was once considered poisonous. This is good for grounding, protection and stability.

Salt: Ruled by Venus and the moon. Good for protection, absorbs negative energies, and prosperity

Pepper: This is a fire element and is ruled by Mars. Use it for protection, cleaning, energy and passion