Sugardy Candy

Dear Author

Thank you so much for writing a fic for me. I've been really quiet about fanfic for a while, and my fandoms are from years ago, but I hope you love these fandoms as much as I do.

I have a few DNRs: coffeeshop alt-universe fics, vampire fics, party games (like spin the bottle, truth or dare) fics -- I just feel complete non-interest in these. Ditto for violence or explicit scenes simply for the sake of it. If it fits the story or character, then no objections \o/

Also, these are all my fanciful thoughts only. Feel free to write whatever inspires you ^_^

1st request: HiStory 3, Trapped
Requested characters: Tang Yi, Jack
My thoughts: I would rather go with canon pairings so any sexy scenes with these two would need some strong plot support, or happen pre-canon. Otherwise, it's a fun exploration of what happens when two ex-gang members who were boss and underling, are now forced to get along, even co-operate, maybe at a social gathering or in a more plotful fic, to get their respective partners out of a spot.


2nd request: Are You Human Too?
Requested characters: Original Nam Shin OR Nam Shin III OR Laura Oh
My thoughts: This is one of the instances where I would happily support an alternate ending where Laura Oh did not die. Maybe she was in a coma and thought dead (for canon events to unfold as usual) but ultimately she recovered and becomes a reclusive scientist, or maybe a superstar scientist who brings the company to new heights, and rules the universe or something. And her sons (bio-son and robotic) have different reactions to that. Hopefully Original Nam Shin no longer needs anger management classes? I'm really up in the air, I have so many thoughts.


Nirvana in Fire
No requested characters
This fandom seems to be the novel, rather than the TV drama? No matter, I love both. It could be a little slice of life about Yen Che and his son, or scenes of family life from General Lin's family, before it all went so wrong. Maybe some exploration of the world-building? I'm sorry I can't provide more direction, please write as your inspiration takes you.


All the best and thank you again!

It's been so long since I posted that I will not look for my last post. Suffice it to say that I had plans for Yuletide, then Hikago Day, then nothing. Yikes. I had not quite anticipated how much a big fandom does swallow you up. My heart Hanyu Yuzuru <3

On the other hand, I've also stumbled upon the world of tolerable to terrible Chinese language webfiction, on podcasts via (probably) an AI-generated narrator, on Youtube. Some of them are long-ish, about 1 hr, the ones I'm going for are about 30mins. I set them on the kitchen counter while I cook... this is the level of intellectual engagement they require. On the other hand it's doing a lot for my listening comprehension of Mandarin, especially the ones that (inexplicably) run at about 1.5 speed.

Most of these webfiction (flashfiction?) that come via my algorithms are of broadly three types:

1. set in unnamed/imaginary ancient Chinese dynasty, a young lady's (yes it's nearly always a noble lady) journey to marrying the right guy, finding love and happiness. Plots include some version of evil stepmother or stepsister drama, mother-in-law drama, harem plots, invasion by barbarians and a/an (in)conveniently conferred decree of marriage by the emperor. Eventually she gets rid of her rivals and villains and live happily ever after.

2. Teenager on the verge of gaokao/national examinations, becoming the top scorer in the province, finding love and happiness. Plots include some version of school bullying, evil best friend/sister/stepsister, nearly missing the exam due to plots, switched at birth drama and meeting a tall, handsome boy who is smart, rich and madly in love with her. Eventually they move to Beijing or Shanghai, build a global business empire, and live happily ever after.

3. Either of the above except with rebirth/redo/reincarnation premise, or that they have been pulled into an imaginary bookworld where 1 or 2 are happening. These variants come with the ability to predict what bad guys are doing and getting on top of that, exposing the two-timing boyfriend, backstabber best friend, etc. and getting some vindictive revenge (in the best way!) along the way

They are incredibly addictive given how generic and predictable they are. It's a bit like Mills and Boon. You know how it will end but you can't stop. A few came close to being genre-savvy but most of them have been very earnest so far. Some are pretty funny and a few genuinely made me cry.

Admittedly my algorithms have skewed me towards a certain type of fiction, so I'm drowning in Mary Sues on a wish-fulfilment journey. They have similar names. The male lead and the 2nd male lead also have similar names, and the ability to differentiate them is how you know the skill of the author. For the stories that are reincarnation premises, I'm grappling with the morality of pre-emptive revenge, i.e. you are reborn and you meet the villain who murdered you horribly in your last life, but now that it's a redo and you've just met him and yes, he's still a baddie but right now, he hasn't yet done a thing to you, should you - just go ahead and skin him alive, so as to speak?

Something to consider lol

Happy new year everyone!

For Yuletide I got TWO amazing fics, both for 莲花楼 | Mysterious Lotus Casebook (TV):

Constancy, Di Feisheng/Fang Duobing/Li Lianhua | Li Xiangyi, and Denouement by Franzeska

Both so good, I love the style, the writing and the plot.


I wrote The far shore, Kim Shin/Wang Yeo, Goblin. Hm, it was a nice experience, two Kim Shin/Wang Yeo fics for 2 years running. ^_^;;;

Updated (finally):

Dear Yuletide author,

Thank you for writing a fic for me. I'm very sorry that this letter is late; I have been distracted. But my appreciation for fics is no less fervent, and here are my thoughts.

DNWs: No coffeeshop fics, no spin-the-bottle or drinking truth-or-dare scenes. If there will be explicit or violent scenes (I can't imagine why), they need to be plot-necessary and character-driven.

Other than that, please feel free to write as your inspiration leads you.

Request 1: Hikaru no Go
Characters: Hikaru, Akira, Waya

( Read more... )

Request 2: The Imperial Coronor
Characters: Xiao Jinyu, Xiao Jinli

( Read more... )

Request 3: Goblin
Characters: Eun Tak, Kim Shin, Sunny

( Read more... )

Request 4: Mysterious Lotus Casebook
Characters: Li Lianhua, Fang Duobing, Di Feisheng

( Read more... )

Currently watching:

(1) My Happy Marriage, anime version: I had thought the title was ironic but now it seems serious? (I'm at episode 7.) I'm not sure why exactly I'm following it: it's certainly pretty, and the details are well done, pacing is slow but okay. It is very old-fashioned? No spoilers please. The supernatural elements are quite simple so far. If you're me you looked at the militarized set-up of her husband's job, note the somewhat pre-war (WW2, that is) setting and feel a bit jittery at where the series thinks it's going (or what it's avoiding).

(2) 长风渡 aka Destined, a c-drama with Bai Jingting and Song Yi. I started this for Bai Jingting but am continuing this for Song Yi because she is so pretty. And I like all the formality and manners in it, y'know? You don't get that unless it's a historical drama anymore. And the same-colour embroidery on all those clothes!

(3) 莲花楼 aka Mysterious Lotus Casebook, another c-drama that is... pretty? Ok, the set-up of crime-investigating is a nice difference, and I'd always liked the actor who plays Fang Duobing (he was Zhang Wuji! continuing my love of any actor who ever acted as Zhang Wuji). Chang Yi is rather good at some moments, though I still think they should have got a different actor for his younger days. But there's so much mumbling - like they have marbles in their mouths when they speak, it's annoying. (Also, as I suspected, the m/m fics came fast lol.) I have such a soft spot for the caravan and the dog.

(4) Hanyu Yuzuru ICE STORY GIFT which is on Disney Plus and I got Disney Plus just to watch this, so take this entirely as a rec of fannish sort.

In RL, I had to postpone a planned trip to Japan *cries* due to work stuff, and perhaps that was for the best given the intense heatwave in Japan recently, so maybe going during autumn might be better. Well. We'll see how work stuff stacks up.

But thinking about that and making a fannish trip to Sendai (Yuzu's hometown) and also funnily enough, the military set-up of My Happy Marriage:

( travel encounters )

Happy new year! An advantage of this year is that it is easy to type 2-3.

Yuletide reveals:

I wrote Annunciation, a Wang Yeo/Goblin, Goblin fic. The title's not really right, but I was stuck for ideas and 'Untitled fic' wasn't my preferred option. The pairing's a bit... I've always loved the canon pairings, but the pairing was requested, so this took a bit of getting used to, and I kept wondering if I was erasing the female characters.

The advantage of being in the doldrums is that when you start spring cleaning, you don't have much energy to be sentimental about stuff that you don't really need and end up chucking them. I mean they're things that I've told myself to throw out since forever but hesitated because I've had them forever. >_< So my place now looks marginally neater, which should be good overall.

Lunar New Year in 12 days. I should do some baking.

Yuletide fic done on time, yes! I'm not entirely happy with it, and if I can squeeze in a little time I'll try to edit it further.

Visit Japan for the first time ever in my life, for one week, over end-November/beginning-December. It was glorious. Everything else aside, no one spoke to me for a week. (I spoke only when I wanted, and that was to very lovely and polite shop and restaurant staff and hotel staff.) I went to Sendai, which was all layers of happiness, not-so-incidentally also met an ex-classmate which was very comforting, and also to Kyoto which had a delightful surprise for me.

Back home, I thought things were back to normal but now coming to year-end, to my dismay, I'm approaching a mindset that I thought I had abandoned years ago:

1) refusal to eat;
2) a wild urge to fling myself off the building, or alternatively to maybe self-harm a lot;
3) trying not to burst into tears when I have to go out in public and interact with people.

I am like, damn it. I don't have time for this only to realise, sure I have time for this. I can take as much time as I want to think about how I need to buy more fan-stuff so I'm motivated to wake up in the morning. Anyway, it's probably seasonal and will pass, but I am annoyed now. Or I should be, if I had the energy for it.

I should probably eat. Food solves a lot of problems.

Happy winter solstice, everyone.

Hi Yuletide author, thank you for offering to write a fic! Here are some of my thoughts, but please take them purely as inspiration and feel free to write the fic that's at your fingertips.

My few DNWs: no high school, coffeeshop or zombie AUs. I'm iffy about specifying other stuff because to me, it really depends on how in-character it is, and whether it's just (for example) violence for violence's sake, which seems a bit tiresome.

So, my thoughts on:

( HIStory3 - Trapped )

( The Imperial Coroner )

( 琉璃 Love and Redemption )

Well, it's not COVID but a cold/cough after more than three years isn't welcome either.

(1) I've just finished the beginnings of my Linkedin profile, an ordeal which was as sigh-inducing as expected. I think the sole reason I haven't gone looking for a new job earlier is just how much I hated/still hate job-hunting. I'm that mix of (a) some experience but it's a rather niche area that doesn't really adapt well to other areas, which is a bummer if you would rather not have the same job again, (b) being not very motivated to want to put in additional hours (but if I have to...) but almost certainly have to, and (c) sadly and low-key worried that my job is becoming obsolete and therefore change is imminent. And (d) I'm really not a genial person and am hampered by extreme passivity. Basically, needs must but T_T

We'll see.

(2) Another thing that are (more?) imminent: Yuletide nominations, and then Yuletide itself. I'm (again) in two minds about Yuletide this year. The thing is, after making my requests I inexplicably (or not) feel like writing my requests myself anyway, for better or worse. But then I've got great Yuletide fics over the years, so that feels too lovely to give up.

(3) Related to (2), what fandoms? I suddenly thought of The Imperial Coroner, and possibly HIStory3: Trapped and Make Your Days Count again.

Selamat Hari Raya Puasa aka Hari Raya Aidilfitri, this year we get to go on visits, so that's a *\o/*

Also yay for long weekend (Raya and May Day). Alas coming to the end of it. But it means a short work week, so again yay!

***

I've been in the process of turning into a fanyu, lol, since slightly before the Beijing Olympics (I started watching all the vids of Hanyu Yuzuru to familiarize myself before the event, and then fell into the rabbit hole). It's been a beautiful experience: a bit heartbreaking, a bit bittersweet but very, very joyful and inspiring. <3 <3 <3 (Currently re-watching the amazing "Let Me Entertain You", and also rec his 2012 Romeo & Juliet, because I'm weak for Romeo & Juliet interpretations (and his is sooo dramatic lol) and the thought of Yuzuru skating it at the age of 17 is so astonishing and poignant.)

***

Recently I added another chapter to my HIStory 3 Trapped fic: Chapter 6 of How Tang Yi Got His Name.

You'd think I'd have made use of the long weekend to do more fic writing, but not quite: there's a few things scheduled with family, and other than than I find myself doing nothing or watching drama or Yuzuru vids, haha.

Started watching The Longest Day in Chang'an, love how the concept is used, episode 1 here.

And also started Be Reborn, which we're told is "Detective Cracks Cases with Talented College Boy". Hm... it's good so far? Only on episode 2 so far.