Writing success and recipe request

[clevermanka]

Guardian and Guardian-adjacent:
Fanart: A not-so-bb!-looking Shen Wei and Kunlun. Dunno what Zhao Yunlan and Da Qing see on the phone but I bet it's something. More start to finish.
Another ReFa manip.
Zhu Yilong demonstrates the duality of man.
ETA: Oh right, forgot to mention I'm kind of relieved Zhu Yilong's ELLE photo shoot didn't hit me hard. I don't know that I could have survived another Harper's Bazaar-level assault.

Untamed:
Trailer for The Fatal Journey. Someone already giffed it and look at my baby boy being such a Fucking Scary Badass in that first one. (oh please please please be more emotionally rewarding than The Living Dead)

Finished the first pass of my History 3 Trapped fic last night. *whew* This was a difficult one. Much trickier than I'd expected, honestly, for a number of reasons, one of which being I didn't have as complete a grasp on Tang Yi or Meng Shao Fei's motivations. Like, for this scene in particular but also their life in general. I hope someone on the Trapped comm does character discussion posts for both of them because I'd like to write more for these guys (if for no other reason than the English speaking fandom is woefully under-served and I believe in Leading By Example) but I'm not gonna try again until I have a better handle on them.

Getting back to Deconstruction is gonna feel like climbing into a warm bed (which is, conveniently, exactly what was happening when I stopped working on it last week).

Forgot to pick up two things at the grocery store yesterday but OH WELL I am not leaving the house again until Thursday's write group. Which leaves me time to ask, if anyone has a recipe for rice noodle soup that uses left-over slices of beef, send it my way, please. The steaks I made for dinner last night were laughably huge (I shoulda taken a photo) and I need something to do with what remained.

Comments

[jo_lasalle]

oh please please please be more emotionally rewarding than The Living Dead

Sing it, omg.

[clevermanka]

[winter_blossom]

A not-so-bb!-looking Shen Wei and Kunlun.

Oh, now this is more my speed! *Ogles shamelessly* (The usual depictions of YOHE!Shen Wei are adorable, of course, but tbh he doesn't do it for me at all. Reminds me of one of my little sister's classmates, and boy is that an effective deterrent, haha.)

Zhu Yilong demonstrates the duality of man.

Zhu Yilong in a nutshell!

[clevermanka]

Yeah, I'm not a fan of the ones where he looks like a literal child. I mean, I get that it's a reflection of the novel!verse, little ghost king, etc., but it's... well, not my thing.

[winter_blossom]

Interestingly, I don't mind those much because they're often not sexual, just cutesy in an "elementary school kid crushing on his cool teacher" kind of way. I meant the ones where he looks about 16 (my sis is 17) and is blushing furiously, starry-eyed, virginal, etc. While Zhao Yunlan's almost 30 by that time and looks it, especially in the Kunlun outfit.

Though it's definitely not the idea of them having sex that bothers me (I loved your take on it in The First Time Is Different for Everyone, for example, and also elizacake's 15Kisses oneshots), but just the way it's done, I suppose.

[clevermanka]

I count teens as "literal children," I guess.... XD And I get it, I do! I remember being a teenager crushing HARD on the poor college dude who was student-teaching for my drama class. But it makes me uncomfortable in ways I don't care to be, so...

Thank you for letting me know you liked the way I handled it in First Time. I really needed to get my feelings out about that. For a while I thought that was the only way I could imagine that happening* but over the weekend I got a bit of inspiration for a kinda knife-y angle from ZYL's pov. I hesitate, though, because it's kind of more of the same (coded communication reassuring the other that this is what they want) but a bit more angsty (because me).

*not that I mind reading about it, just couldn't imagine writing it myself

[winter_blossom]

Well, if you ever do decide to write that fic, I'll be definitely be around to read it! Alternate takes on the same trope sounds totally fine to me ;D Then again, I am the kind of weirdo who shies away from h/c but adores angsty smut, because I love it when characters stoically lock down their doubts and insecurities and just go for what they (both) want, damn the consequences. Emotional badassery, if you will. (I wonder how much of this is because I'm pretty stoic myself and am totally averse to emoting in front of other people...)

[clevermanka]

I'm pretty stoic myself and am totally averse to emoting in front of other people
Heyyyyyyyy boy do I know that feel!

And yeah, why should Shen Wei get all the sexy angst? Spread that stuff around! XD Maybe that'll be my outlet for angst writing for when Deconstruction hits its full fluff stride.

[naye]

I'm curious how the History3 fic turned out - I admit that to me something that short is almost impossible to write for, because there isn't enough to go on...

[clevermanka]

I wanna post it before the end of the month for a theme, so you'll get to find out soon, I hope!

something that short is almost impossible to write for, because there isn't enough to go on...
For. Real. And such an awkward line between not much to go on and but actually a real character so I couldn't do what I did with Elsewhere and be all "guess I'm making this out of mostly whole cloth!"

[ratbones]

That absolutely gorgeous first art piece is Shen Wei with Shen San, from (an extra of) the novel. He's the only reincarnation of Kunlun that Shen Wei revealed himself to, and he's the one who gave Shen Wei his surname, and...i love him a lot ahhh. Was I going somewhere with this? Oh right, so Shen Wei actually is older there than he was with Kunlun, not that age shows much on the Ghost Slayer.

[clevermanka]

Ah, got it! Thank you!