Sunday Snippet, et. al.

Oh to be an ice cream cone.

Fanart: Anime style novelverse Weilan.

I feel super disconnected today. Very spacey, like I'm existing exactly one inch to the right of reality and I'm not firmly in my own head or body. It's a very particular flavor of brain fog and I don't care for it. It's like having something I want (and can usually access) juuuuust out of reach. Like I can see it, it's there, but it's not available to me. At the same time, my brain feels heavy, even though it doesn't hurt.

Today's my group tarot zoom class and I'm really not feeling it. I haven't missed a single class yet, which makes me feel both better and worse about tapping out of this one. I've got three hours to decide.

I'm just a few paragraphs away from Zhao Yunlan's first meeting with Ye Zun in Redemption, though! 12k words so far, friends. Feels good.

Dixing was dark, but it was the soft, friendly darkness of a warm city night instead of a bleak cave. Glowing lanterns and shop signs illuminated the street with a wash of happy color. The former gravel streets were covered with artfully-arranged stones and mosaics, some of which glowed colors that echoed the shop signs. A few people still lingered in the pleasant evening, most adorned in the mixed fashions he’d noted in some Dixingren living on the surface. Laughter spilled from doors, windows, and a few still occupied tables sitting outside of cafes.

High above a softly-chatting group seated at one, a young woman holding a baby leaned out her apartment window to joke with the patrons below. Silhouetted against the warm light of the room behind her, she waved a laughing dismissal before closing the shutters. On instinct, Zhao Yunlan looked higher, but there was no hint of a shining lantern anywhere in the inky darkness above. He repressed the shiver that ran down his spine.

“Welcome to the new Dixing, Zhao Yunlan,” said An Bai.