Sunday snippet
Feb. 16th, 2020 09:25 pmI have done zero editing on the time loop fic this week. On the other hand, I've written a lot of the post-canon one. So here's some.
( Cut for ending spoilers )
( Cut for ending spoilers )
I got TWO fics for Yuletide! Both Guardian, both Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan, wheee. I really don't know who wrote them (I'm very bad at guessing authors in general), but if you're reading then thank you very much!
Without Conditions
When Shen Wei loses his powers, Zhao Yunlan has to figure out how to help him. T, 3850w
Sweet casefic where Shen Wei deals pretty badly with losing his powers (and I love that look at him being actually pretty unwilling to adapt) and Zhao Yunlan is a really excellent boyfriend.
the strange idea of continuous living
Canon deviation during/around episode 33. Ye Zun tries to break his brother a different way. There are consequences. T, 4535w
Super creepy/dark take on what Ye Zun did to Shen Wei on the pillar. This is heartbreaking for both of them, Shen Wei especially is so wounded here, and Zhao Yunlan is doing everything he can.
-
I got three things written and in the Yuletide collection in the end -- one of them posted literally ten minutes before the collection closed this morning -- and one more that I finished not long ago and is in the Madness collection. I think three of them are quite obviously me and one of them less so. Minor prize if you guess them!
Without Conditions
When Shen Wei loses his powers, Zhao Yunlan has to figure out how to help him. T, 3850w
Sweet casefic where Shen Wei deals pretty badly with losing his powers (and I love that look at him being actually pretty unwilling to adapt) and Zhao Yunlan is a really excellent boyfriend.
the strange idea of continuous living
Canon deviation during/around episode 33. Ye Zun tries to break his brother a different way. There are consequences. T, 4535w
Super creepy/dark take on what Ye Zun did to Shen Wei on the pillar. This is heartbreaking for both of them, Shen Wei especially is so wounded here, and Zhao Yunlan is doing everything he can.
-
I got three things written and in the Yuletide collection in the end -- one of them posted literally ten minutes before the collection closed this morning -- and one more that I finished not long ago and is in the Madness collection. I think three of them are quite obviously me and one of them less so. Minor prize if you guess them!
Sunday snippet
Dec. 8th, 2019 07:37 pmI'm currently cultivating a whole pile of oneshots, all of which need a lot of editing, and most of which I'm probably saving for Yuletide.
This one is not being saved for Yuletide since I've posted it as Sunday snippets already, but it is a oneshot and does need a lot of editing.
-
Shen Wei drank thirstily when Zhao Yunlan held the bottle to his mouth. After a few seconds his eyes opened. "Yunlan," he croaked.
"Right here," Zhao Yunlan said. He lowered the water bottle. "You look a bit better. How are you feeling?"
There was a pause while Shen Wei thought about it, clearly sorting through and rejecting several answers. "…Okay," he said, finally.
Zhao Yunlan snorted at that blatant lie. "You look like death warmed up," he said. "Maybe skipping the warmed up part."
Shen Wei just blinked at him, grey under his wet and disarrayed hair.
This one is not being saved for Yuletide since I've posted it as Sunday snippets already, but it is a oneshot and does need a lot of editing.
-
Shen Wei drank thirstily when Zhao Yunlan held the bottle to his mouth. After a few seconds his eyes opened. "Yunlan," he croaked.
"Right here," Zhao Yunlan said. He lowered the water bottle. "You look a bit better. How are you feeling?"
There was a pause while Shen Wei thought about it, clearly sorting through and rejecting several answers. "…Okay," he said, finally.
Zhao Yunlan snorted at that blatant lie. "You look like death warmed up," he said. "Maybe skipping the warmed up part."
Shen Wei just blinked at him, grey under his wet and disarrayed hair.
Sunday snippet
Nov. 10th, 2019 10:10 pmChapter 4 of Goblin Fruit now up. (3800 words)
-
For the first time ever I have a custom mood theme! It's the Guardian one by![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
naye which everyone is now using, along with the script glymr wrote to make installing it extremely quick and painless. Exciting!
-
I've started on my Yuletide fic but I obviously can't post that here, and I wanted to do a Sunday snippet as usual. So I've also written a bit of a Jiajia fic. This one is an idea directly from a twitter discussion.
-
"Why," Professor Shen asked, "do I need to maintain a work social media account?"
Jiajia looked up from her laptop, unsure whether the question was rhetorical. But apparently not. Professor Shen was frowning in consternation at his email inbox. "I don't know," she said. "Do you need to?"
"According to the dean, all teaching staff are supposed to have one," Professor Shen said. "So that we can 'better meet the communication needs of our students', she says." The quotation marks were audible.
Jiajia was already struggling not to laugh. "I can help you set one up," she said.
His relief was palpable, although he still looked anxious. "Thank you."
"It's really not a big deal," Jiajia told him. "Then you just have to post status updates. It's really easy. And I guess reply if people talk to you. But you've got the hang of email now, this is basically the same."
Professor Shen's mouth was silently shaping words. "Status updates?" he asked.
"You know. Saying what you're doing." She considered that, and decided it probably wasn't sounding very helpful. "Lots of people post pictures of their food. Or their pets! You can post pictures of Chief Zhao's cat."
-
For the first time ever I have a custom mood theme! It's the Guardian one by
naye which everyone is now using, along with the script glymr wrote to make installing it extremely quick and painless. Exciting!-
I've started on my Yuletide fic but I obviously can't post that here, and I wanted to do a Sunday snippet as usual. So I've also written a bit of a Jiajia fic. This one is an idea directly from a twitter discussion.
-
"Why," Professor Shen asked, "do I need to maintain a work social media account?"
Jiajia looked up from her laptop, unsure whether the question was rhetorical. But apparently not. Professor Shen was frowning in consternation at his email inbox. "I don't know," she said. "Do you need to?"
"According to the dean, all teaching staff are supposed to have one," Professor Shen said. "So that we can 'better meet the communication needs of our students', she says." The quotation marks were audible.
Jiajia was already struggling not to laugh. "I can help you set one up," she said.
His relief was palpable, although he still looked anxious. "Thank you."
"It's really not a big deal," Jiajia told him. "Then you just have to post status updates. It's really easy. And I guess reply if people talk to you. But you've got the hang of email now, this is basically the same."
Professor Shen's mouth was silently shaping words. "Status updates?" he asked.
"You know. Saying what you're doing." She considered that, and decided it probably wasn't sounding very helpful. "Lots of people post pictures of their food. Or their pets! You can post pictures of Chief Zhao's cat."
Fic update and Sunday-ish snippet
Nov. 4th, 2019 08:25 pmGoblin Fruit chapter 2/10 (3700 words)
-
I actually posted this snippet yesterday morning, when it was actually Sunday, but after a couple of hours I started stressing that it made me sound like a horrible person and deleted it. But I have just posted the next chapter of Goblin Fruit, which doesn't really dispel that and eh, I am putting it back up. This will probably be the last Goblin Fruit snippet anyway since hopefully I'll be onto something new by next Sunday. Might as well go out with, well, this.
I don't know what I'm going to write next, really. I have some ideas for Jiajia pieces. Mostly I'm waiting on tenterhooks for my Yuletide assignment. (What if I get someone who doesn't like hurt/comfort? What do I do then??)
-
( This is about 2/3 through the fic )
-
I actually posted this snippet yesterday morning, when it was actually Sunday, but after a couple of hours I started stressing that it made me sound like a horrible person and deleted it. But I have just posted the next chapter of Goblin Fruit, which doesn't really dispel that and eh, I am putting it back up. This will probably be the last Goblin Fruit snippet anyway since hopefully I'll be onto something new by next Sunday. Might as well go out with, well, this.
I don't know what I'm going to write next, really. I have some ideas for Jiajia pieces. Mostly I'm waiting on tenterhooks for my Yuletide assignment. (What if I get someone who doesn't like hurt/comfort? What do I do then??)
-
( This is about 2/3 through the fic )
A pile of fics (mine and not mine)
Nov. 2nd, 2019 01:43 amTrick Or Treat went live, and I received TWO fics! Guardian and Vorkosigan, I am extremely happy and loved both :D
Rising Tide (4041 words) Vorkosigan, gen
Tags: Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan, Simon Illyan, Piotr Pierre Vorkosigan, Miles Vorkosigan, Barrayaran politics, Storms And Floods, Hurt/Comfort
Cordelia deals with the aftermath of a violent protest.
vacancy (5057 words) Guardian| 镇魂, WeiLan
Tags: Zhào Yúnlán, Shěn Wēi, Trick or Treat: Treat, Post-Canon, Hurt/Comfort, Pining, Intoxication, Injury, Dubcon Cuddling, Kissing, Future Fic, Handwaving
“Is that it?” Zhao Yunlan asked. “You thank me for showing you the most basic degree of courtesy and we go on as we have?”
I only wrote one fic for the exchange, which is a lot less than I'd meant to do, and I'm also not massively happy with it? Argh. Mostly the problem is that I'm not good at breaking out of writing a long-fic when it's eating my brain. I have at least one half-finished which I might try and finish before reveals?
...on that note, I started posting Goblin Fruit. It's posting in chapters not really for my enjoyment of cliffhangers this time but because the angst quotient in this is literally overwhelming. I actually stopped writing it to write another Jiajia fic because I needed a break. Ellie read halfway through it after it was posted and went, "Katherine are you still cross about the plasterboard?" YES I AM.
Then I also had to stop writing because I got a message from the Yuletide mods Thursday morning saying that because I'd defaulted in 2014 I'd been blacklisted and should write a pinch hit this year to be able to participate again. SO THAT WAS FUN. I queried whether there was anything I could do *this* year and was told if I could write a 1k fic to post to the collection filling a letter from last year before sign-ups closed then I could keep my sign-up. So I did that but it was definitely stress I could have done without.
Anyway, here are three fics from me.
Goblin Fruit Chapter 1 (3500 words) Guardian| 镇魂, WeiLan
Tags: Shěn Wēi, Zhào Yúnlán, Lín Jìng, Chǔ Shùzhī, Dà Qìng, Zhù Hóng, Wāng Zhēng, teamfic, Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Really so much angst I'm not kidding, Eventual Happy Ending, Magical drug addiction, Caretaking, handwavy post-canon, They live in a house now, Extra warnings inside, Slightly bullshit magic science
"It grows barely at all in Dixing," Shen Wei said. "The drug's always been too rare to cause more than very occasional issues."
"I'd love to strangle whoever thought to bring some up to Haixing," Zhao Yunlan said, grimly.
Low Statistical Significance (2133 words) Guardian| 镇魂, gen
Tags: Jiājiā, Zhào Yúnlán, Shěn Wēi, Fluff, Slice of Life, Burglary, Mild boundary crossing which would be stressful IRL, but this is fiction so it's all good, Zhao Yunlan cannot do DIY, nor can Shen Wei but he cheats
"Oh," Jiajia said, surprised. "The SID deals with burglaries?"
Chief Zhao grinned, a bit sheepishly. "Not usually," he said. "Shen Wei called and said I needed to help you out."
Negative Spaces (1101 words) Guardian| 镇魂, WeiLan
Tags: Shěn Wēi, Zhào Yúnlán, Post-Canon, Assumes a fixit happened, Angst, Imperfect endings
It's not enough, sometimes, not really. But it has to be.
Rising Tide (4041 words) Vorkosigan, gen
Tags: Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan, Simon Illyan, Piotr Pierre Vorkosigan, Miles Vorkosigan, Barrayaran politics, Storms And Floods, Hurt/Comfort
Cordelia deals with the aftermath of a violent protest.
vacancy (5057 words) Guardian| 镇魂, WeiLan
Tags: Zhào Yúnlán, Shěn Wēi, Trick or Treat: Treat, Post-Canon, Hurt/Comfort, Pining, Intoxication, Injury, Dubcon Cuddling, Kissing, Future Fic, Handwaving
“Is that it?” Zhao Yunlan asked. “You thank me for showing you the most basic degree of courtesy and we go on as we have?”
I only wrote one fic for the exchange, which is a lot less than I'd meant to do, and I'm also not massively happy with it? Argh. Mostly the problem is that I'm not good at breaking out of writing a long-fic when it's eating my brain. I have at least one half-finished which I might try and finish before reveals?
...on that note, I started posting Goblin Fruit. It's posting in chapters not really for my enjoyment of cliffhangers this time but because the angst quotient in this is literally overwhelming. I actually stopped writing it to write another Jiajia fic because I needed a break. Ellie read halfway through it after it was posted and went, "Katherine are you still cross about the plasterboard?" YES I AM.
Then I also had to stop writing because I got a message from the Yuletide mods Thursday morning saying that because I'd defaulted in 2014 I'd been blacklisted and should write a pinch hit this year to be able to participate again. SO THAT WAS FUN. I queried whether there was anything I could do *this* year and was told if I could write a 1k fic to post to the collection filling a letter from last year before sign-ups closed then I could keep my sign-up. So I did that but it was definitely stress I could have done without.
Anyway, here are three fics from me.
Goblin Fruit Chapter 1 (3500 words) Guardian| 镇魂, WeiLan
Tags: Shěn Wēi, Zhào Yúnlán, Lín Jìng, Chǔ Shùzhī, Dà Qìng, Zhù Hóng, Wāng Zhēng, teamfic, Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Really so much angst I'm not kidding, Eventual Happy Ending, Magical drug addiction, Caretaking, handwavy post-canon, They live in a house now, Extra warnings inside, Slightly bullshit magic science
"It grows barely at all in Dixing," Shen Wei said. "The drug's always been too rare to cause more than very occasional issues."
"I'd love to strangle whoever thought to bring some up to Haixing," Zhao Yunlan said, grimly.
Low Statistical Significance (2133 words) Guardian| 镇魂, gen
Tags: Jiājiā, Zhào Yúnlán, Shěn Wēi, Fluff, Slice of Life, Burglary, Mild boundary crossing which would be stressful IRL, but this is fiction so it's all good, Zhao Yunlan cannot do DIY, nor can Shen Wei but he cheats
"Oh," Jiajia said, surprised. "The SID deals with burglaries?"
Chief Zhao grinned, a bit sheepishly. "Not usually," he said. "Shen Wei called and said I needed to help you out."
Negative Spaces (1101 words) Guardian| 镇魂, WeiLan
Tags: Shěn Wēi, Zhào Yúnlán, Post-Canon, Assumes a fixit happened, Angst, Imperfect endings
It's not enough, sometimes, not really. But it has to be.
Sunday snippet
Oct. 27th, 2019 06:50 pmI'm on half term now, so naturally so far I have been on a massive physical and mental crash and written practically nothing.
Have more of Goblin Fruit. Everything which happens in this fic continues to be terrible.
-
The front door opened, signalling Da Qing's return. He called a greeting, but his voice sharpened halfway through and he stuck his head into the kitchen, sniffing the air in distaste. "What are you doing?" he demanded.
"Help me up to bed and I'll tell you on the way," Zhao Yunlan said, tiredly.
Shen Wei should have thought of getting him settled upstairs. He watched from the kitchen doorway as Zhao Yunlan threw his arm over Da Qing's shoulders, unashamed of asking for support from him. Da Qing took the IV pole and they moved up the stairs together.
After a few minutes, Shen Wei followed. Enough time for Zhao Yunlan to have stripped off his jeans and climbed into the bed. The wrong side, because of the IV.
His whole focus, the moment Shen Wei entered, went to the bowl in Shen Wei's hands.
Have more of Goblin Fruit. Everything which happens in this fic continues to be terrible.
-
The front door opened, signalling Da Qing's return. He called a greeting, but his voice sharpened halfway through and he stuck his head into the kitchen, sniffing the air in distaste. "What are you doing?" he demanded.
"Help me up to bed and I'll tell you on the way," Zhao Yunlan said, tiredly.
Shen Wei should have thought of getting him settled upstairs. He watched from the kitchen doorway as Zhao Yunlan threw his arm over Da Qing's shoulders, unashamed of asking for support from him. Da Qing took the IV pole and they moved up the stairs together.
After a few minutes, Shen Wei followed. Enough time for Zhao Yunlan to have stripped off his jeans and climbed into the bed. The wrong side, because of the IV.
His whole focus, the moment Shen Wei entered, went to the bowl in Shen Wei's hands.
Sunday Snippet
Oct. 20th, 2019 11:26 amI have written 12k of the Goblin Fruit fic since last Sunday, and it continues to be So Very. And will need quite a few warnings. Anyway.
-
"Is he asleep?" someone whispered.
"Mmm," Zhao Yunlan replied, drowsily. "Maybe."
"I think… you shouldn't sleep here." It was Zhu Hong speaking. Her voice was softened, blurred, as if Shen Wei heard her through water.
"I'm not —" Zhao Yunlan said. "I want to stay with him."
"We'll make you a bed on the sofa," Zhu Hong said.
"No, I want to —"
"Lao-Zhao," Da Qing said. "Do you really want to risk hurting Shen Wei again?"
-
"Is he asleep?" someone whispered.
"Mmm," Zhao Yunlan replied, drowsily. "Maybe."
"I think… you shouldn't sleep here." It was Zhu Hong speaking. Her voice was softened, blurred, as if Shen Wei heard her through water.
"I'm not —" Zhao Yunlan said. "I want to stay with him."
"We'll make you a bed on the sofa," Zhu Hong said.
"No, I want to —"
"Lao-Zhao," Da Qing said. "Do you really want to risk hurting Shen Wei again?"
Sunday snippet
Oct. 13th, 2019 09:27 pmChapter 3 of Above All Shadows is up! This is my favourite cliffhanger of the series, jsyk.
Next chapter Tuesday. I have already written out my posting schedule, which is good because I am super impatient and keep wanting to throw the entire thing at people. But it's going up a chapter every three days and I'm sticking to it.
Now, GOBLIN FRUIT! I started writing it today. This is already a fic which is Very.
--
He didn't notice anything unusual as he opened the largest cupboard — and went stumbling backwards as a man flung himself out, bowling him over. Zhao Yunlan hit one of the tables and it collapsed under him as he yelled for backup, trays clattering to the floor. He grabbed for the man and they went rolling across the floor together.
Then… things were going… wrong.
Zhao Yunlan was aware that he had let go of the man. His hands had gone nerveless, numb. He rolled onto his back and lay there, trying to make sense of the way the light from the window was fracturing in the dust-filled air.
Dust…
Fuck. Fuck.
Next chapter Tuesday. I have already written out my posting schedule, which is good because I am super impatient and keep wanting to throw the entire thing at people. But it's going up a chapter every three days and I'm sticking to it.
Now, GOBLIN FRUIT! I started writing it today. This is already a fic which is Very.
--
He didn't notice anything unusual as he opened the largest cupboard — and went stumbling backwards as a man flung himself out, bowling him over. Zhao Yunlan hit one of the tables and it collapsed under him as he yelled for backup, trays clattering to the floor. He grabbed for the man and they went rolling across the floor together.
Then… things were going… wrong.
Zhao Yunlan was aware that he had let go of the man. His hands had gone nerveless, numb. He rolled onto his back and lay there, trying to make sense of the way the light from the window was fracturing in the dust-filled air.
Dust…
Fuck. Fuck.
Scattered fic updates
Oct. 10th, 2019 09:04 pmI have written 100,000 words of Guardian fanfic since the end of June!
For comparison, my most productive year ever according to AO3 was 2013, during which I posted 135,582 words over 12 months.
-
Chapter 2/7 of Above all shadows rides the sun is up. Next chapter on Saturday. I'm so glad everyone likes cliffhangers.
I also wrote three fills on the hurt/comfort prompt meme thatxparrot has been hosting.
-
I'm amused to realise that I'm now apparently very here for Zhao Yunlan calling Shen Wei "baby" and actually prefer it over Xiao-Wei. This changed over the course of my fics as I gradually began writing them in a more and more shippy way. I still haven't quite worked up to Shen Wei using diminutives, though.
-
I swear I'll get back to the 30 days posts! I just don't have brain for much that's not Shadows. But I'm literally writing the very last scene of that right now! (Um, when I'm not procrastinating by making DW posts.)
ETA: Shadows is now FINISHED! A hair over 30,000 words. I'm so pleased with it :D (And preserving this feeling for posterity before I decide that it's terrible after all!)
For comparison, my most productive year ever according to AO3 was 2013, during which I posted 135,582 words over 12 months.
-
Chapter 2/7 of Above all shadows rides the sun is up. Next chapter on Saturday. I'm so glad everyone likes cliffhangers.
I also wrote three fills on the hurt/comfort prompt meme that
xparrot has been hosting.-
I'm amused to realise that I'm now apparently very here for Zhao Yunlan calling Shen Wei "baby" and actually prefer it over Xiao-Wei. This changed over the course of my fics as I gradually began writing them in a more and more shippy way. I still haven't quite worked up to Shen Wei using diminutives, though.
-
I swear I'll get back to the 30 days posts! I just don't have brain for much that's not Shadows. But I'm literally writing the very last scene of that right now! (Um, when I'm not procrastinating by making DW posts.)
ETA: Shadows is now FINISHED! A hair over 30,000 words. I'm so pleased with it :D (And preserving this feeling for posterity before I decide that it's terrible after all!)
Sunday Snippet
Oct. 6th, 2019 07:15 pmAbove all shadows is almost done! It's at 27k and is all over bar the comfort. So when it's finished it will be as long as parts 1 and 2 put together, and that will be the Beneath the sun series DONE. It's definitely being posted in chapters, probably five of them. I'm... really proud of it? Although I really wish I'd realised while I was writing In darkness buried deep that it was going to be part 1 of a novella trilogy (haha that sounds so pretentious). I'd have done quite a few things differently. (Not things I can easily fix now, more the whole structure and tone of it. Especially compared to part 2, which was waaaaay more politics and plot than incredibly gratuitous h/c.)
I might actually start posting it quite soon. Then write the comfort and start getting on with some Trick Or Treat fics. Then GOBLIN FRUIT, I keep talking about that one withxparrot and getting more and more excited to write it. I also have two-maybe-three Jiajia fic ideas stacked up to write too.
(I'm really relieved to have all these things I'm desperate to write because I've been worried about writing something Too Long and then not having any more fic-feelings, as happened in Wolf 359 with my 52k post-canon wrap-up/fixit which I wrote and still love and then once it was finished I had no more things I felt like writing about. Thankfully this doesn't seem like it's about to happen with Guardian, even though if I add up my three parts of Beneath the sun they come to the longest thing I've ever written in my life to date!)
Also, sorry everyone who's left me an AO3 comment recently and not had a reply yet. I'm working my way through! I've been spending all my spare time writing, and have got way way behind so am trying to catch up one fic at a time. They are all super loved, it's just me being exhausted and short on time and disorganised. I'll get there!
And now, fic!
--
"Just tell me whether the damn gun is safe to fire or not," Zhao Yunlan demanded.
"I don't know," Lin Jing said.
Zhao Yunlan glared at him. "Give me better than that."
Lin Jing raised his eyebrows. "Um. Probably?"
"Probably?"
"It probably won't explode and kill you. It might even shoot someone. But I can't tell you for certain yet." He lifted it out of the current scanner it was in and placed it down carefully. He'd done something to it — lines of solder ran down the barrel over the worst of the cracks.
Zhao Yunlan pursed his lips. "Would you fire it? Right now?"
Lin Jing looked at him. "No."
I might actually start posting it quite soon. Then write the comfort and start getting on with some Trick Or Treat fics. Then GOBLIN FRUIT, I keep talking about that one with
xparrot and getting more and more excited to write it. I also have two-maybe-three Jiajia fic ideas stacked up to write too.(I'm really relieved to have all these things I'm desperate to write because I've been worried about writing something Too Long and then not having any more fic-feelings, as happened in Wolf 359 with my 52k post-canon wrap-up/fixit which I wrote and still love and then once it was finished I had no more things I felt like writing about. Thankfully this doesn't seem like it's about to happen with Guardian, even though if I add up my three parts of Beneath the sun they come to the longest thing I've ever written in my life to date!)
Also, sorry everyone who's left me an AO3 comment recently and not had a reply yet. I'm working my way through! I've been spending all my spare time writing, and have got way way behind so am trying to catch up one fic at a time. They are all super loved, it's just me being exhausted and short on time and disorganised. I'll get there!
And now, fic!
--
"Just tell me whether the damn gun is safe to fire or not," Zhao Yunlan demanded.
"I don't know," Lin Jing said.
Zhao Yunlan glared at him. "Give me better than that."
Lin Jing raised his eyebrows. "Um. Probably?"
"Probably?"
"It probably won't explode and kill you. It might even shoot someone. But I can't tell you for certain yet." He lifted it out of the current scanner it was in and placed it down carefully. He'd done something to it — lines of solder ran down the barrel over the worst of the cracks.
Zhao Yunlan pursed his lips. "Would you fire it? Right now?"
Lin Jing looked at him. "No."
Sunday Snippet
Sep. 29th, 2019 04:00 pmI'm still working away at Above all shadows. Although I'm considering changing to the full phrase, so it would be Above all shadows rides the sun, which makes it a lot more thematically relevant but I'm not sure I like it so well as an actual title.
Also it's... still getting longer. I've nearly hit16k words, which was the complete length of part 2, 18k and there is a LOT of story left. I think I'm going to be posting it in chapters, which feels a bit mean since the story itself is already part 3/3, but I think it's just going to be too long to post as a blob. Also it splits up quite neatly every 6k so far, with some good cliffhangers. (I sincerely promise this is not going to turn into Half Life.)
---
There was another guard at the top. Zhao Yunlan pretended not to see him until he literally walked into the man's rifle. "Get out of my way," he said.
"You can't just —"
"Do you know who I am?" Zhao Yunlan demanded. "I am the Lord Guardian of Haixing and I have urgent business with the Regent and the Lord of Dixing. This instant. Get the fuck out of my way."
He hadn't thrown around the Lord Guardian title once in the previous years he'd held the post. It had always sounded a bit silly to him. Pompous and old-fashioned. Now he leaned into every ounce of that gilded weight, staring into the guard's eyes and willing him to see how utterly serious he was.
The guard hesitated, and Zhao Yunlan shoved his rifle out of the way and threw the door open.
Also it's... still getting longer. I've nearly hit
---
There was another guard at the top. Zhao Yunlan pretended not to see him until he literally walked into the man's rifle. "Get out of my way," he said.
"You can't just —"
"Do you know who I am?" Zhao Yunlan demanded. "I am the Lord Guardian of Haixing and I have urgent business with the Regent and the Lord of Dixing. This instant. Get the fuck out of my way."
He hadn't thrown around the Lord Guardian title once in the previous years he'd held the post. It had always sounded a bit silly to him. Pompous and old-fashioned. Now he leaned into every ounce of that gilded weight, staring into the guard's eyes and willing him to see how utterly serious he was.
The guard hesitated, and Zhao Yunlan shoved his rifle out of the way and threw the door open.
Sunday Six
Sep. 22nd, 2019 01:12 pmI should really rename these to Sunday Snippet but so far I've been too lazy to edit my tag. (It's so great to see all the Guardian snippets every week, and I'm still hoping this spreads out beyond Guardian fandom to other people on my flist -- I want to see what y'all are working on too!!)
I'm now onto Part 3 of the epic angst thing! It's called Above all shadows and currently stands at 5000w, 3600 of which I wrote yesterday. Goodness knows how long it's going to be when it's finished, I have a LOT of stuff to get in there.
-
Back in their room, Shen Wei let the robes dissolve back into his nightclothes, earning another grin from Zhao Yunlan. "Shall we go back to bed?" he suggested.
"I'm awake now," Zhao Yunlan said, sliding coyly into Shen Wei's personal space.
Shen Wei kissed him back, and let his hands run up Zhao Yunlan's spine, telling himself as Zhao Yunlan guided them gently towards the bed that he did want this, he must do.
But Zhao Yunlan paused with his fingers on the buttons of Shen Wei's pyjama top. "Is something wrong?" he asked.
"No," Shen Wei said, because nothing was wrong, except for him.
I'm now onto Part 3 of the epic angst thing! It's called Above all shadows and currently stands at 5000w, 3600 of which I wrote yesterday. Goodness knows how long it's going to be when it's finished, I have a LOT of stuff to get in there.
-
Back in their room, Shen Wei let the robes dissolve back into his nightclothes, earning another grin from Zhao Yunlan. "Shall we go back to bed?" he suggested.
"I'm awake now," Zhao Yunlan said, sliding coyly into Shen Wei's personal space.
Shen Wei kissed him back, and let his hands run up Zhao Yunlan's spine, telling himself as Zhao Yunlan guided them gently towards the bed that he did want this, he must do.
But Zhao Yunlan paused with his fingers on the buttons of Shen Wei's pyjama top. "Is something wrong?" he asked.
"No," Shen Wei said, because nothing was wrong, except for him.
30 days of Guardian: Favourite SID member
Sep. 21st, 2019 01:01 pm30 Days of Guardian Day 7: Favorite SID member
This one is the hardest to answer so far, I think, which is why I've had a blank post open in tabs for over a week while I try and decide!
Probably the boring cheaty answer is that I really do like them all as a background ensemble cast. My favourites I'm torn between, though, are Da Qing, Lin Jing, and Zhu Hong. (Zhu Hong when she's not pining ONLY because sorry people who liked that storyline but I hated it so much and it just went on and on.) Da Qing is a wonderful bratty cat (seriously, why is he second-in-command, though, other than seniority? He is not very good at it XD), Lin Jing is just great fun and enthusiastic, much as he pretends otherwise, and Zhu Hong has this whole complicated life and Yashou backstory and I really enjoy it. I was really happy with her ending, too.
Also I have a deep soft spot for Wang Zheng as the one who actually keeps the office running! In a conversation the other daynaye mentioned that she's also definitely the one making sure everyone is up on their first aid training and fire marshal protocols and all the things like that while Zhao Yunlan is mostly oblivious.
( All the days )
This one is the hardest to answer so far, I think, which is why I've had a blank post open in tabs for over a week while I try and decide!
Probably the boring cheaty answer is that I really do like them all as a background ensemble cast. My favourites I'm torn between, though, are Da Qing, Lin Jing, and Zhu Hong. (Zhu Hong when she's not pining ONLY because sorry people who liked that storyline but I hated it so much and it just went on and on.) Da Qing is a wonderful bratty cat (seriously, why is he second-in-command, though, other than seniority? He is not very good at it XD), Lin Jing is just great fun and enthusiastic, much as he pretends otherwise, and Zhu Hong has this whole complicated life and Yashou backstory and I really enjoy it. I was really happy with her ending, too.
Also I have a deep soft spot for Wang Zheng as the one who actually keeps the office running! In a conversation the other day
naye mentioned that she's also definitely the one making sure everyone is up on their first aid training and fire marshal protocols and all the things like that while Zhao Yunlan is mostly oblivious. ( All the days )
Sunday Six
Sep. 15th, 2019 02:14 pmHaving decided that it will be the middle part of a trilogy, this story is definitely suffering from all the middle-part-of-a-trilogy problems. At this point (it's 16k now) I just need to END it so I can get on with the part 3 where all my nice hurt/comfort kicks in again.
-
Unhappily, Zhao Yunlan opened the door, and shut it behind him. Lao-Chu was waiting for him, arms folded. "Where's Shen Wei?" he demanded.
"You weren't listening?" Zhao Yunlan asked.
"The door's too thick," Lao-Chu growled.
"The Regent wanted to speak to him alone," Zhao Yunlan said. He kicked the wall unhappily. "Politics. This is all politics. I knew it wouldn't be easy —"
The door opened again. Shen Wei came out, white to his lips.
-
Unhappily, Zhao Yunlan opened the door, and shut it behind him. Lao-Chu was waiting for him, arms folded. "Where's Shen Wei?" he demanded.
"You weren't listening?" Zhao Yunlan asked.
"The door's too thick," Lao-Chu growled.
"The Regent wanted to speak to him alone," Zhao Yunlan said. He kicked the wall unhappily. "Politics. This is all politics. I knew it wouldn't be easy —"
The door opened again. Shen Wei came out, white to his lips.
30 Days of Guardian Day 6
Sep. 9th, 2019 06:45 pm30 Days of Guardian Day 6: Favorite character
*drumroll*
Yeah, it's Shen Wei.
I just utterly adore Shen Wei. His clothes! His face! He is a stunningly beautiful, competent, overpowered, intelligent, complete fucking disaster. I am endlessly fascinated by his complete lack of objective reality in assessing "risks I am taking" vs "risks Zhao Yunlan is taking". He is such a self-sacrificing idiot who is completely taken aback when Zhao Yunlan finally goes DO YOU THINK I COULD BE OKAY IF YOU DIED??? because this did not occur to him.
...I love him such a lot.
Also I love how fandom is united in agreement about how pretty he is when coughing blood. He does it so very well. Along with being covered in blood generally. Or literally falling apart slowly and not telling anyone. Shen Wei, I mean, what the actual fuck. "Fortunately, I'm used to getting injured." Why are you like this.
This is my favourite Shen Wei gifset
( gifs )
( All the days )
*drumroll*
Yeah, it's Shen Wei.
I just utterly adore Shen Wei. His clothes! His face! He is a stunningly beautiful, competent, overpowered, intelligent, complete fucking disaster. I am endlessly fascinated by his complete lack of objective reality in assessing "risks I am taking" vs "risks Zhao Yunlan is taking". He is such a self-sacrificing idiot who is completely taken aback when Zhao Yunlan finally goes DO YOU THINK I COULD BE OKAY IF YOU DIED??? because this did not occur to him.
...I love him such a lot.
Also I love how fandom is united in agreement about how pretty he is when coughing blood. He does it so very well. Along with being covered in blood generally. Or literally falling apart slowly and not telling anyone. Shen Wei, I mean, what the actual fuck. "Fortunately, I'm used to getting injured." Why are you like this.
This is my favourite Shen Wei gifset
( gifs )
( All the days )
Sunday Six
Sep. 8th, 2019 02:49 pmYou know how a couple of weeks ago I was here stressing about my fics being only h/c and no plot? I'm still writing the sequel to In darkness buried deep (it's going to be a trilogy now, someone please reassure me that this is a good idea) and now I'm like Oh No, this has Too Much Plot, people who are reading me just for the h/c are going to get bored.
...I mean, it does have h/c, obviously, but it doesn't kick in until after the first 5k. Before that it's mostly plot and angsty knives and the Regent being a massive dick.
Today's Sunday Six is indeed part of that fic, and contains a PSA from Zhao Yunlan.
-
"Shen Wei!" Zhao Yunlan shook him. "Shen Wei, wake up!"
Shen Wei resisted his efforts. Mumbled something, sluggish as Zhao Yunlan had been at first.
"Shen Wei, I think there's a fire," Zhao Yunlan said. Coughing again. He was lucky he'd been sleeping under the covers, with some of the smoke filtered out before it reached him. "Shen Wei!"
"What —" Shen Wei finally sat up, reaching for him.
"Fire, come on!" Zhao Yunlan let go of him to pull on the jeans and sweater he'd abandoned on the floor. In the pause he could hear the distant sounds of smoke detectors ringing from other apartments.
Not theirs. He had meant to check the batteries… at some point…
...I mean, it does have h/c, obviously, but it doesn't kick in until after the first 5k. Before that it's mostly plot and angsty knives and the Regent being a massive dick.
Today's Sunday Six is indeed part of that fic, and contains a PSA from Zhao Yunlan.
-
"Shen Wei!" Zhao Yunlan shook him. "Shen Wei, wake up!"
Shen Wei resisted his efforts. Mumbled something, sluggish as Zhao Yunlan had been at first.
"Shen Wei, I think there's a fire," Zhao Yunlan said. Coughing again. He was lucky he'd been sleeping under the covers, with some of the smoke filtered out before it reached him. "Shen Wei!"
"What —" Shen Wei finally sat up, reaching for him.
"Fire, come on!" Zhao Yunlan let go of him to pull on the jeans and sweater he'd abandoned on the floor. In the pause he could hear the distant sounds of smoke detectors ringing from other apartments.
Not theirs. He had meant to check the batteries… at some point…
30 days of Guardian, day 5
Sep. 6th, 2019 10:46 pm30 Days of Guardian Day 5: Favourite set
I was going to answer this question with the SID building, which is pretty fun (although weirdly confusing -- I was extremely grateful tonaye pointing out when beta-reading one of my fics that I was clearly under the impression that both the lab and Zhao Yunlan's office are upstairs, when actually neither of them is.)
But actually I've seen several people give that answer already. So I think I'm going to go with the ridiculous over-the-top-ness which is Dixing Palace. The darkness! The lava! The definitely-not-polystyerine pillars! THE LAVA. I love it so much. It's such a Choice.
( All the days )
I was going to answer this question with the SID building, which is pretty fun (although weirdly confusing -- I was extremely grateful to
naye pointing out when beta-reading one of my fics that I was clearly under the impression that both the lab and Zhao Yunlan's office are upstairs, when actually neither of them is.) But actually I've seen several people give that answer already. So I think I'm going to go with the ridiculous over-the-top-ness which is Dixing Palace. The darkness! The lava! The definitely-not-polystyerine pillars! THE LAVA. I love it so much. It's such a Choice.
( All the days )
30 Days of Guardian Day 4
Sep. 2nd, 2019 07:35 pm30 Days of Guardian Day 4: How you started watching
This was one of the questions I added and I'm frankly really hoping other people might answer it too -- I'm very interested in the answers because I suspect a large proportion of them are "through fandom".
It's definitely my answer! I had seen people likenaye and philomytha posting about these Chinese shows on DW for a while without managing to pick up anything else at all about them. (I don't think I distinguished between Guardian and Nirvana In Fire tbh.) Then at vidukon I was AMBUSHED by loneraven and soupytwist who sort of handed me a pen-drive. "You like hurt/comfort, we have a show which you will LOVE!" Then I had the 5-minute Weilan premise and I agreed that it did indeed sound interesting, and I put the files onto my laptop. Then started watching on the train home and the rest is history -- also from the train I tweeted that I was watching Guardian and I think naye retweeted me and then SUDDENLY MANY ENTHUSIASTIC NEW FRIENDS who lived through my show experience with me and just increased my whole enjoyment manyfold. (The twitter Guardian fandom is like a roving gang of muggers waiting to POUNCE on new people, it's hysterical.) But then I have also watched a load more cdramas because of being told to by twitter friends, and have watched (and encouraged) many other people to get into Guardian via this method. Best channel, I'm certain, and I knew absolutely what sort of fannish experience I was letting myself in for within a couple of hours.
( gifs )
( All the days )
This was one of the questions I added and I'm frankly really hoping other people might answer it too -- I'm very interested in the answers because I suspect a large proportion of them are "through fandom".
It's definitely my answer! I had seen people like
naye and philomytha posting about these Chinese shows on DW for a while without managing to pick up anything else at all about them. (I don't think I distinguished between Guardian and Nirvana In Fire tbh.) Then at vidukon I was AMBUSHED by loneraven and soupytwist who sort of handed me a pen-drive. "You like hurt/comfort, we have a show which you will LOVE!" Then I had the 5-minute Weilan premise and I agreed that it did indeed sound interesting, and I put the files onto my laptop. Then started watching on the train home and the rest is history -- also from the train I tweeted that I was watching Guardian and I think naye retweeted me and then SUDDENLY MANY ENTHUSIASTIC NEW FRIENDS who lived through my show experience with me and just increased my whole enjoyment manyfold. (The twitter Guardian fandom is like a roving gang of muggers waiting to POUNCE on new people, it's hysterical.) But then I have also watched a load more cdramas because of being told to by twitter friends, and have watched (and encouraged) many other people to get into Guardian via this method. Best channel, I'm certain, and I knew absolutely what sort of fannish experience I was letting myself in for within a couple of hours.( gifs )
( All the days )
Sunday Six
Sep. 1st, 2019 09:57 pmI've started a sequel to In darkness buried deep. Also I wrote 27,200 words in August.
-
"Wait for the fire department," Zhao Yunlan said, and kept his hand on Shen Wei's shoulder; not tightly enough to be holding him still, but it could change in a moment if needed. For his part, Shen Wei was tense and unhappy beneath his hand, on the edge of shaking him off.
The building now well ablaze was a furnishings shop with a small data business above it. Everyone was safely out. A fire engine was on its way. And of course Shen Wei still felt he should be taking on responsibility for the situation, even if he wasn't saying so out loud. It was there in the way he held himself, the pinched corners of his mouth. He hadn't suggested contributing his dark energy to try and fight the fire, but they had passed the argument silently back and forth between them without needing to say a word.
-
"Wait for the fire department," Zhao Yunlan said, and kept his hand on Shen Wei's shoulder; not tightly enough to be holding him still, but it could change in a moment if needed. For his part, Shen Wei was tense and unhappy beneath his hand, on the edge of shaking him off.
The building now well ablaze was a furnishings shop with a small data business above it. Everyone was safely out. A fire engine was on its way. And of course Shen Wei still felt he should be taking on responsibility for the situation, even if he wasn't saying so out loud. It was there in the way he held himself, the pinched corners of his mouth. He hadn't suggested contributing his dark energy to try and fight the fire, but they had passed the argument silently back and forth between them without needing to say a word.
