( 9 songs & 4 bonus )
( 9 songs & 4 bonus )
Fic in a Box!
21 Nov 2020 18:37![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
What I made:
A Little Black Spot on the Sun Today (5572 words) by ExtraPenguin
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Lǐ Qiàn, Shěn Wēi, Zhào Yúnlán
Additional Tags: For Science!
Summary:
When Li Qian goes snooping in her new boss's files and discovers something alarming, there aren't many people she can inform. And it's not like they'd do anything about it, right? Certainly not anything involving her. Or her on adventures. Right? Wrong.
[Vid] Children of the Sun (5 words) by ExtraPenguin
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Yè Zūn/Zhú Jiǔ
Characters: Zhú Jiǔ, Yè Zūn
Additional Tags: Canon-Typical Vore, Fanvids, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Video Format: MP4, villains win
Summary:
They were downtrodden, once, but now they've come to their powers, met each other, and work together. After all, they are children of the Sun, too, and deserve the glories of the surface. And Ye Zun will come to Zhu Jiu in his hour of need.
[Art] A Horrible Goose's New Nuclear Waste Repository Lair (0 words) by ExtraPenguin
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Untitled Goose Game (Video Game), Expert Judgment on Markers to Deter Inadvertent Human Intrusion... - Sandia Labs
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Goose (Untitled Goose Game)
Additional Tags: Fanart, Watercolors
Summary:
Exactly what it says on the tin.
A Friend Indeed (3378 words) by ExtraPenguin
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Plo Koon & Ahsoka Tano
Characters: Ahsoka Tano, Plo Koon
Additional Tags: Post-Episode: s04e13 Escape From Kadavo, Mission Fic, Jedi Lore (Star Wars)
Summary:
After their rescue of the colonists of Kiros, Ahsoka Tano's Master asks for her to be sent on a mission away from the front. She ends up being sent to the Deep Core with Master Plo Koon to investigate one of the first known locations of the Jedi Order, since abandoned.
What I got:
Outplayed (7846 words) by anticyclone
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Luminous Dead - Caitlin Starling
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Gyre Price & The Cave, Em Arasgain & Gyre Price
Characters: Gyre Price, Em Arasgain, Eli Abramsson, The Cave (The Luminous Dead)
Additional Tags: Tunnelers, Cave Horror, Eventual escape, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Injuries, Minor Character Death, Hand injury
Summary:
I DON'T THINK IT SAW YOU, says the silent message Em sends Gyre in Camp Four. But Em is wrong. And Gyre was right - she's not crazy. She's never been alone. If not this thing chasing her, then the cave.
The cave kept Eli. It didn't keep him well. It wants to keep Gyre, too.
Apply Pressure As Needed (4511 words) by anticyclone
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Luminous Dead - Caitlin Starling
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Em Arasgain/Gyre Price
Characters: Gyre Price, Em Arasgain
Additional Tags: Sex In A Cave, Caving Suit Sex, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Restraint, Masturbation, Cybersex, (kind of?)
Summary:
"The lining of the suit can shift to provide various stimulation. There's also a vibration function." Em fidgeted again, squirming in her chair, as Gyre started to laugh. Em said, clipped, "The suit is designed to provide a range of experiences."
In other news, Yuletide assignments have come! I have half an idea, but I need to finish this pinch hit for another exchange first.
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The Last of the Real Ones by
Star Wars: Rebels, G, MCD, gen, Ezra Bridger & Kanan Jarrus
This vid about Ezra and Kanan's master-padawan teachership has a nice sense of flow, and I liked the look at Ezra's arc of growing into his own.
Catch Us If You Can by
Star Wars: Rebels, G, NAWA, gen, Ghost crew
A fun compilation of the Ghost crew doing, well, Rebel stuff and blowing up Imperials
Control by
Monstress (Comic), T, Violence, gen, Maika Halfwolf
Wonderful editing of a still source into a vid with an apt choice of song.
Look What You Made Me Do by
Guardian (TV 2018), M, MCD, Violence, gen, Ye Zun, SPOILERS
The perfect song for our favorite deranged villain Ye Zun, with excellent timing and choice of clips. (See also: my post about this on
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Start a War by
The Untamed (TV 2019), T, Violence, Meng Yao, Nie Huaisang
This is an excellent look at the collateral damage of Nie Huaisang and Meng Yao's schemes, with on-point editing.
Sunday Snippet
30 Aug 2020 20:41There was no dawn or dusk in hyperspace, no day or night, nothing to indicate whether one had woken early or late. Shen Wei stared at the ceiling in darkness, thoughts a restless tangle after Atton's confession and plea. He moved minutely and found himself still worn and weary, in need of rest. Early, then.
Nothing changed in the room. The tiny sliver of a crack under the medbay door blared with blinding light now the room itself was in darkness. The only sound was the hyperdrive. The others must be asleep as well.
Shen Wei sighed. He should calm himself.
Perhaps meditation would help? The bed was already comfortable enough – or as comfortable as a bed could be without Zhao Yunlan in it-
No. He'd think of nothing at all and let sleep come to him when it would.
With a slow and infinite care, Shen Wei slowed his breaths and quietened his mind. He started by breathing against a count, inhalation, hold, exhalation, repeat. He let himself sink down into it, sink beneath the surface of his immediate surroundings, down into the Force. The hyperdrive hummed, the ship's denizens slumbered, and he heard the universe
talking
to itself.
Time in Dixing
12 Aug 2020 20:10What about the prison sentences, you may ask? They give the terms in years; surely they have official timekeeping? No – Dixing runs on lava and melodrama, remember? The Regent simply shouts out a sentence length that sounds suitably melodramatic to his ears, then drags prisoners out as he remembers them for further torture/release/what-have-you. Someone sentenced for 1000 years might get out before the person sentenced to 100 years immediately prior. (This also explains why Chu Shuzhi only aged ~20 years during his "300"-year prison sentence whereas Zhu Jiu reacts to Sang Zan as if Dixingian lifespans are similar to humans': Chu Shuzhi was only imprisoned for ~20 years, despite the Regent yelling "300 years" at the sentencing.)
Of course, if the timekeeping is inconsistent, then did the meteor really happen 10 000 years ago? Probably not! After all, the tech level they have 10k years ago is vastly inconsistent with the tech level we actually had 10k years ago. Also, given that the number only has one significant figure (i.e. has been rounded to the nearest 10 000), we can probably safely say it's been less than 10k years; probably more on the 5-6k end*. As for Zhang Shi, well, he is lying to embellish sempai's reputation. It sounds much better if the peace Ma Gui forged lasted 10 000 years than if it lasted a paltry 4 000, no? :P
* The earliest attested sundials (shadow clocks) are c. 3500 years old, though people have likely been telling time with them before that. The earliest metal weapons were of bronze, which is attested in China from 5.1k to 4.7k years ago onward. While they do have cures available in the Alliance which were since lost, there does seem to be enough of a population to avoid total technological collapse, and it's supposed to be closeish enough to our world, so I would have the dirt nap be several thousand years shorter than the impressive and almost certainly exaggerated 10k years.
Sunday Snippet
9 Aug 2020 22:35![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
An indeterminate time later, he woke up with a blaring headache and a mouth that felt like something had died in it. Water fixed both of his problems, and he felt humanity return to him as he cleaned up.
*Humanity*. How odd that he'd call sanity and sentience *humanity*. They called him a traitor to his race, back home – had called him that in his prior home in years gone by, albeit with more open vitriol and in fewer numbers – and here he was, proving them right.
Fate afforded no country for him. Whenever he felt safe, he would be ripped from his home into the mists of time.
He clenched his hand, recalling the Sundial's burn. Was that why he was here? The Hallows could induce temporal dislocation – but only in humans. Not Dixingians.
He'd spent his entire life on the surface. Perhaps he counted as one.
The bargain he'd struck with the Sundial had been to take the dark energy that had struck Zhao Yunlan blind into his own body. But he was a fool, and had not realized the dark energy of the Hallows was slightly different to his own, and mingled with the light energy of Zhao Yunlan besides.
The Force was a mixed blessing. It drowned out his dark energy – but also the light energy that tainted it.
With conflicted thoughts, he sought out Kreia. She would if nothing else prove a distraction.
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In further "I regret my life choices" news, Shen Wei's transmigration into KOTOR2 is going very, very verbosely. He has just left Citadel Station and that has taken us almost 16k. /o\ I am perhaps 15% through, so... over 100k??? D: noo my fingers
(That is to say: expect this in 2021. Especially since I need to sprinkle more Shen Wei being a drama llama in there. Anyway, have an excerpt.)
[...] A woman's face popped up [on the holoscreen]. "Thank you for accepting my call. As my assistant no doubt informed you, I am Jana Lorso," she said. "I understand that you were approached by an Ithorian earlier. Doubtless he tried to obtain your help, attempting to purchase it with imposed guilt and veiled threats..."
"‘Imposed guilt’?"
"Yes. They play at being downtrodden innocents, having come to you beacuse of these ‘Jedi’ rumors that are going around the station."
"I don't recall him threatening me."
"Oh, and I suppose he didn't mention the Exchange? ‘Helping’ you with any problems here? In other words, the Ithorans won't lead the Exchange to you if you work with them?"
"No, he didn't mention anything like that."
"Well, no matter. My apologies – I never intended to waste your time discussing Ithorians," Jana Lorso said. "Their plans for the restoration of Telos are aimless and meandering. ‘Restore the sacred, natural beauty of Telos,’ they say. Just what does that mean? How does that apply to natural resource development and consumption? The proper planning of urban sectors? Resorts and tourism?"
The woman reminded Shen Wei much too much of his least favorite member of the University board. "I am done talking to you," he said. "It was not a pleasure." He pressed the "end call" button and ignored Kreia's aggravated sigh.
Sunday Snippet
19 Jul 2020 03:45He attempted to reach out with dark energy, but couldn't sense it. Was this some sort of new invention of the Haixing Department of Supervision? Shielded rooms that cut off his access to dark energy and Dixing powers?
There was an echo, though. It could not be grasped, and it felt alien, but it was there, despite their efforts.
The single door opened at a touch. To the left was some sort of command room.
Again, no occupants, save for a blue and grey thingy that looked like a lectern with aspirations. Shen Wei touched it.
A hologram popped into existence. "...still examining the survivors of the damaged freighter – looks like it goes by the name of the Ebon Hawk," the blue-tinged translucent image of a woman said. "Only one survivor, placed in the kolto tank for recovery. The carbon scoring on the vessel suggests it was in a battle, but no indication of who fired on it... Aside from the lone survivor, we recovered an old woman, no life signs. There was also a protocol droid and a utility droid on board – sent both down to maintenance while security sorts through the other items on the ship."
So he'd been unconscious for long enough to be spirited out of the decidedly inland Dragon City all the way to the coast, after which the ship he'd been on had been fired upon and he'd ended on this no doubt top secret offshore installation. No wonder the facility looked nautical.
"...could be a Jedi, but we won't know for sure until we get the transmission back from the Republic. If the survivor is a Jedi, that would account for the recovery rate..."
While Shen Wei wondered about whether these "Jedi" she mentioned were a divergent group of Dixingians in some republic – he really should've paid more attention to Haixing's politics – the hologram talked about detonations in fuel vents, then finished with a warning about a fuel detonation in the mining tunnels, upon which the recording ended with the detonation products ending up in the medical bay and poisoning everyone. That would explain the lack of fellow sentients.
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In Two Nights and a Day (4504 words) by ExtraPenguin
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Yè Zūn/Zhào Yúnlán
Characters: Zhào Yúnlán, Yè Zūn, Dà Qìng
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Pre-Canon, Wrong Twin Empillared, Food Issues, Food
Summary:
On a nighttime hike with Da Qing, Zhao Yunlan comes across a beautiful gray-haired man who's been buried alive. Problem is, he's Dixingian, and thus not supposed to be on the surface. And the only way the SID has of dealing with Dixingians is murder.
Their childhood is easily explicable – Ma Gui and Fu You have some spaceship tech still there, with the salve and all, but that must've been restricted to the upper classes and Shen Wei and Ye Zun were poor homeless orphans struggling to survive; I don't think they'd ever have been in a position to access high-level tech as kids. Ye Zun's life went from bad to worse at the rebel camp, which doesn't seem to have tech, and Ma Gui and Fu You seem to have kept Shen Wei away from the spaceship tech, including the Hallows.
Fastforward 10k years. Ye Zun, sure, he's too busy seething in his pillar to really notice the proliferation of technology into Dixing (like the barkeep's sound system), especially if it was more recent, but Shen Wei? He lives on the surface, he's a professor of bioengineering, how the hell did he get his post if he can't submit funding applications online?
Thus, my theory: Shen Wei has a number of privacy/exposure-related concerns wrt mobile phones (they leave a log of their position) and went full on into the text-based hardcore security nut thing as camouflage of the real reason he doesn't want a mobile phone. He can't use Windows, but he has his own install of Tinhat Linux and runs everything 100% text-based. This means he's lacking a few of the things bystanders would class as tech knowledge signifiers (smartphone, ability to use Windows), so e.g. the SID all think he's a fossil from the time of the dinosaurs who can't use a single piece of technology. And he is a colossal troll who knows he can only correct this misconception once, so the SID will keep thinking he's just bad at tech ... until one day a case happens and he sits down at the suspicious Linux laptop and touch-types a terminal command without even looking at the references, ideally while in Envoy getup, and makes everyone's minds explode.
(Then Zhao Yunlan gives Shen Wei responsibility for configuring the wifi at home, and regrets it later when he realizes all the security measures Shen Wei slapped on.)
Videographica
7 Jul 2020 08:19![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
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I also did what I'd threatened to do and made a Shen Wei POV cut of select bits of Guardian! Chronological order, episodes 40, 34, 35, and 1. Poor bb. Google drive link, no subs. It's ... 33 minutes long. It's sort of interesting to see what the thing looks like from Shen Wei's POV! I might throw up some coarse-timed subtitles to go with it later, we'll see.
ratbones: But what if Shen Wei really needs the glasses? The dewy Envoy eyes are all due to eye strain.
me: Obviously he needs a new pair of glasses to go over his mask
ratbones: i do want to see what glasses over mask would look like, though, lmao
me: I...might have to try my hand at that, tomorrow/your today evening
*fastforward through 9 hours of shut-eye and some fiddling with GIMP*

... I was expecting something colossally dorky but he just looks hot. Oh Shen Wei. You should definitely start wearing glasses over the mask!
Then I recalled that last year, I'd promised
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Not quite as happy with this one, but it does look slightly more naturalistic than the original manip. And I got to stare at Ye Zun's face! That's always a bonus. (He does look better with his brown eyes, but I'm not sure how much of that is my insufficient skillz and how much is the fact that 99% of humanity looks better with dark eyes.)
Prompt Meme Fics
11 Jun 2020 17:44There's a prompt fest going on on
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Ice? Nice! (1113 words) by ExtraPenguin
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Shěn Wēi/Zhào Yúnlán
Characters: Shěn Wēi, Zhào Yúnlán
Additional Tags: Dixing, Ice Skating
Summary:
When Zhao Yunlan goes to Dixing for the first time, he discovers that it's cold and full of ice. He immediately has an idea.
From the Dark Illuminated (2077 words) by ExtraPenguin
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Shěn Wēi/Zhào Yúnlán
Characters: Zhào Yúnlán, Shěn Wēi, Lín Jìng
Additional Tags: Truth Serum, Identity Reveal, Getting Together, Episode 4
Summary:
Zhao Yunlan has just gotten a new chemical from the Department of Supervision labs. Professor Shen, wandering around in the middle of the night on his third crime scene in two weeks, is a very suitable test subject.
Silver-Tongued (1225 words) by ExtraPenguin
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Shěn Wēi/Yè Zūn
Characters: Shěn Wēi, Yè Zūn
Additional Tags: Licking, Bondage
Summary:
When Shen Wei goes to demand answers from his brother, Ye Zun ties him not clothed to the Sky Pillar but naked to a bed. Then he starts licking.
I also finished my action/adventure story's first draft. It clocks in at 10k, so I'll do gross edits and then post it as two chapters while doing line edits, probably. Reader question: if you saw something tagged with Major Character Death (archive warning) and Temporary Character Death (freeform), how would you interpret that?
(Things inspiring the fic: the legend of Lemminkäinen's mother, the Babylon 5 episode Soul Hunter.)
You might also recall that I posted four ideas on what to do next in the sausage factory post. In the grand tradition of Pingu getting ideas, I'm doing none of them and instead have conceptualized something completely different. Well, the Hallows will still feature, but ... differently. >:D
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Blue
Abluent of the Mind (T, Guardian) Ye Zun decides to try his mind control powers on Zhao Yunlan the moment he gets out of the pillar. It does not quite go as planned.
Drowning Depths Blazing Blue (T, MDZS) Yu Ziyuan's husband has left her to deal with the newest menace alone – again. Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian have just received their swords, however, and have a desire to prove themselves and the skills to sneak out.
Purple
Purple Wisps of Greyish Mist (T, Guardian) Instead of quitting, Li Qian takes a month's break and returns to Professor Shen's care. She's glad she's there, as Professor Shen has started to be more and more stressed with all the duties piled on him. And that greyish smoke occasionally poking at him can't be a good omen, either.
A Wrong Turn Left at the Purple Forbidden Enclosure (T, Guardian) Zhao Yunlan wishes he were in a world where it all went differently. The Guardian Lantern sends him somewhere unexpected. (Ye Zun/Zhao Yunlan)
Orange
Orange Alert (T, Guardian) Zhao Yunlan was innocently contemplating the Hallows when Shen Wei strode in. Then the Hallows started playing mood music, and the world became a lot more confusing. (Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan, Ye Zun/Zhao Yunlan)
Comes the Orange Dawn (T, Guardian) The Black-Cloaked Envoy's inaugural tour of this new Dixing is perhaps much too late in the coming, but hey, that just means that Zhu Jiu can be his tour guide! Even if he has no clue what to show the Lord Envoy, oops.
Green
Once, there was a story, written in green (T, Guardian) ...and the story was based on the truth as its teller knew her. And as each story is told to an audience, the audience can discover the discrepancies in the truths presented.
My Mother is a Goose, Honking in the Green (T, Guardian) Zhao Yunlan is accosted by the villainous trio. Proceedings are interrupted by a goose falling from the skies, the plot is derailed with honking, and Zhao Yunlan discovers a deep-seated loathing of goose poop.
Yellow
Yellow Carp's Maw (T, Nan Chan) Jing Lin dares Cang Ji to eat him.
A Smile (Warm Like the Yellow Sun) (T, Sect Leader/Shimei) After their reunion in the Shuzhou town, Xiao Rufeng brings Ye Xiaoqi to the demonic sect's compound. Alas, on the way, Ye Xiaoqi ends up falling into a lake. What is Xiao Rufeng to do but remove all her clothes?
Red
Caught Red-Handed (T, MDZS) Wei Wuxian challenges Lan Wangji to a friendly duel. Then Lan Wangji's relatives turn up and congratulate them on their nuptials. WTF?
Bruises Rage-Red (E, Guardian) The Rebel Leader returns from a successful battle. Ye Zun bears the brunt of the celebrations. (Archive warning: rape/noncon)
Robot Rainbow (with AI-generated colors)
The Future Pester Pink (T, Guardian) Shen Wei and Li Qian are invited to Professor Zhou's new lab. It is not what they expected.
not so shy bather (T, MDZS) Just after waking up in Mo Xuanyu's body, Wei Wuxian stops at an inn with its own hot springs. Unfortunately for him, he runs into Nie Huaisang.
(The colors used above are Pester Pink and shy bather. Full list (gdocs))
I've had fun! There's talk of going further, into colors like black, white, teal, grey, etc, and a flash exchange with silly tags is always enjoyable.
Guardian timeline
30 May 2020 15:57Months from start | Case | Episodes | Lasts (days) |
---|---|---|---|
0 | Sundial/intro | 1, 2 | 4? |
Rapid aging | 3 | 2 | |
0.5 | Face stealer | 3, 4 | 2 |
Bathroom kidnappings | 5 | 3+ | |
Mirror girl | 5, 6 | 4 | |
Webnovel murder | 7 | 2 (3?) | |
1 | Ding Dun | 8 | 2? |
Hanga arc | 9-11 | 3? | |
Doom sounds/identity reveal | 11-14 | 4? | |
Cong Bo | 14, 15 | 2 | |
3 | Soil/Dixing trip | 15-17 | 3-4 |
4 | |||
5 | |||
6 | Fight Club/Zhu Jiu endgame | 17-20 | 3 |
6.5 | Miracle doctor | 21, 22 | 5? |
Dixing's new king | 22, 23 | 2? | |
Video game | 23, 24 | 2 | |
Personality change | 24, 25 | 4 | |
Da Ji/MOMB identity | 26 | 4? | |
Merit Brush endgame | 27-29 | 5-ish | |
Shen Wei pillar BDSM | 30 | - | |
Zhu Hong dream | 31 | 2 | |
Chu Shuzhi dream | 32,33 | 3 | |
Shen Wei pillar rescue | 33 | (6? days of BDSM) | |
SID disbanding | 34 | 1 | |
Time travel | 34-35 | 2 (in the present) | |
9.5 | Mi Lu/Yashou branch (wick search) | 37, 38 | 1? |
Endgame showdown | 38-40 | 1? 2? | |
21.5 | Epilogue | 40 | 1? |
Other notes:
- I'm relatively sure that there was a timeskip between the doom sounds/identity reveal case and the visit to Dixing, beyond the canon minimum of 2-3 days, since Zhu Jiu needs time to heal up a bit and the doom sounds seems to flow straight from the Hanga stuff, which flows straight from the 1-month marker. So the identity reveal would be under 2 months in?
- The time travel segment in the past was probably about a month, since that's the amount of time it takes to make baijiu, but they were excised from the present for 2 days.
- The endgame showdown with Ye Zun is probably on the same day as the Yashou branch thing, and the entire stretch from the Merit Brush endgame to the end is one segment without significant timeskips.
sleep doesn't come easy
23 May 2020 18:47So uh ... fic things. I'll post more tomorrow, hopefully, but, for 520 day I got two (!!) fics by
Write Me Down and Remember, YOHE missionfic with Dixing worldbuilding
Where I’m From It’s Like a Long Night / That Never Turns to Day, ep 23 tag with a Shen Wei whose shoulders weigh heavy with the weight of the world, and also food and worldbuilding
I wrote a thing for
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Outwalked the Furthest Lights for You, where Zhu Jiu gets the Boss out of the pillar.
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As for the one I couldn't figure out how to put text on, well, it's here:
Children of Ruin, by Adrian Tchaikovsky
A sequel to Children of Time. Thematically similar in very many respects, though I think I liked the spiders more than the octopodes. The critters of Nod were intriguing, and one of them especially felt like it belonged in an Alastair Reynolds novel. The ending was both more heartwarming and less apt than that of Children of Time. The epilogue, OTOH, was much too far in the future to feel ... good, IMO. I think this is it for the series – the epilogue sort of removed space from sequels – but I'm definitely requesting this for Yuletide, and perhaps next WBEX, if I have time to participate.
TBR pile: The Luminous Dead. The Monster Baru Cormorant.
Watches
I watched 13 episodes of The Untamed and quit. I'd read the original novel and had some issues and id mismatches with it, so the fact that the series changed things was a bonus. I did enjoy a bunch of the changes – Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji being actual friends in the past, the new yin iron plot – but ( I did not like it at all ) I think I might've been able to persevere had I not known via the novel what was coming, but ... no. I have much better things to do with my time. (I also can't shake off the residual bitterness that I was in the fandom back in 2018, but no-one cared back then, and everyone's only coming in when I've left.)
I'm currently 6 episodes into Motherland: Fort Salem. It has canon F/F, and the premise is that the military consists exclusively/mainly of witches, who are all women, so I get lots of women in uniform! Like all US TV, it's mumblecore and the color grading equivalent of mumblecore, which makes me really grateful for the dubbing, subs, and lack of hatred for the color green found in cdramas. It's 10 episodes long, 9 of which are out. The plot and worldbuilding are intriguing, and there is copious eye candy (oh hi Alder, oh hi Scylla, oh hi Abigail's cousin), even if I wish the actresses had bulked up a bit. My biggest complaint is the fact that there is het there. (Turns out my greatest desires include lack of het?)
To watch: I've heard good things about 沙海/Tomb of the Sea (note: eng title is a mistranslation) the TV series that's a prequel to a drama Zhu Yilong will be starring in. I might watch that if I can find it.
Rewatches
I've been rewatching Guardian with
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- When Zhao Yunlan in ep 2 tells Shen Wei he thinks they've met before, he doesn't actually think so, he's just fishing for information from Shen Wei, because Shen Wei's reaction to meeting him was so strong.
- Shen Wei seems to have completely shut down Zhu Hong's hypnotism – after the hypnotism attempt in the mountains, she doesn't use it on anyone, though she does tear a leaf from Ye Zun's book and use her powers to rip the life straight out of Mi Lu later on.
I've also introduced more people to the concepts of Shen Wei's catch and release program, prize cabbages, and the very important canon moment of episode 2, where Guo Changcheng hugs kitty Da Qing.