Sugardy Candy

So, I am now the mildly bemused and bewildered owner of not one but four photobooks for Hanyu Yuzuru as well as being on fs Twitter as well as subscribing to his YouTube channel. (I didn't even do this for Jay Chou, not when I was at my most fervent fandom-ly worship state. Buying CDs was deemed enough. But I suppose budget constraints then.) His fandom is huge, with some very smart segments and nice people and (as with most fandoms) some rather less desirable ones. Ah well, it's been fun so far, so we'll see how it goes.

Twitter is kind of fun? I follow a lot of politics and books and academia-ly things as well and occasionally it brings a lot of food for thought. But it's so annoying USA-based too, yikes.

And then media consumed. After Extraordinary Attorney Woo, I went on to Sandman which was good and awkward and horrifying by turns - I do so badly with horror that I probably would not see it again, but it was entertaining and it did/does have very high production value, so thumbs up, I suppose. And I would rec if you are new to Sandman and enjoyed some urban fantasy featuring (again) some mysterious beings inspired by Christianity and the (ancient) Greek pantheon. The pretty parts are really very, very pretty.

After that I milled around aimlessly for a bit, and ( such as Goblin Emperor )

Dramas:

I was watching Love Between Fairy and Devil and libitina had a post about the male protagonists in this and Love Like the Galaxy (https://libitina.dreamwidth.org/613285.html), and so I went to watch LLG as well. Which was a pleasant surprise! Wu Lei as the male lead aside, I realised that LLG was chockful of excellent characters like Concubine Yue and Xiao Yuanyi (Cheng Shaoshang's mother) and the empress, not to mention a whole bunch of scheming, nasty-tongued princesses, venal grandmothers, matriarchs, and assorted hangers-on (and also Shaoshang's suitors). All the sniping underneath the seemingly nice and polite language and all those manners and formalities - delightful. Not to mention, there's genuinely good/moral people who unironically insist on such trite virtues as honesty, loyalty, honour, repaying your debts, etc., as a contrast, and it's been very satisfying to watch. I like the emperor's unabashed support of the canon couple, lol.

( Yuletide )

It has been an insane two months. Pandemic aside, I thought all that was going to happen for February 2022 was Lunar New Year, Winter Olympics with some lovely figure skating... and then a war broke out in Ukraine. On top of all other armed conflicts happening in the world, of course.

Then another earthquake in Japan.

March is ending soon...?

Out of curiosity, I started watching Servant of the People and thoughts about the drama itself aside, and it hits hard that the country appearing in the drama is no longer like that, and the actors, the crew, everyone involved, has had their lives utterly turned upside-down. Just because Putin couldn't keep his hands in his pockets. The invasion's a somewhat distant event in my corner of the world (for now) but apparently there are plenty of people in my vicinity who are eager to tell me how justified Russia was because reasons. Which is nuts. How can murder and destruction ever be justified? I've been talking about the weather a lot, instead.

I'll just add this link where Yuzuru Hanyu teaches a masterclass on musicality in just 72 seconds for people who need a little joy in these dark days.

So, 2021.

Fandom-wise, I've been immersed in MDZS for the better part of a year if not longer that I'm starting to wonder if Covid came first or my fangirling. Also taken aback to realise (re-realise?) that I was writing some HIStory3 fic last year too.

RL-wise, work continues at a frentic pace as it has since we ended a shutdown last June, AND finally, thank goodness, we have begun vaccinations (albeit for the most vulnerable at this point, but I await my turn impatiently). And I think a lot about a commentator on Twitter who felt that people who are on an island shouldn't be jostling for vaccines with other countries as island nations should have been able to gatekeep Covid out of their territories (I'm paraphrasing). First, I think it's pretty well clear that island nations or not, Covid has been spreading. Second, WTF. The situation is not good and 'should' pretty much goes out of the window.

On my end, my so-called essential work means I meet half a dozen strangers in person every day, where we proceed to talk at each other for anything from 15 minutes and longer. I can't work remotely. I'm not in healthcare or transit so I don't get priority for a vaccination. I'm the only one in my office who sees this many clients, because I'm not senior enough to arrow the work to someone else. I feel vulnerable as fuck. I take my precautions - maybe even getting a little complacent with it - and feel lucky that cases are very low where I am but the reality is always at the back of my mind, and I think of this Twitter stranger and, and I think, how dare they. /rant

RL-wise the second, Lunar New Year is upon us! (Soon.) I've been so busy that I've not been able to think seriously about it, but this weekend I have (a) obtained egg rolls aka love letters, deep-fried sambal rolls, a bag of pistachos, a bag of cashew nuts; alas being too late to buy Sunny Hills pineapple tarts (honestly the best, next to my mum's homemade ones), and also traditional pork jerky (okay so it was my parents who got them for me); (b) purchased flowers including peach flowers; (c) laid out pattern and did the cutting for a dress which will hopefully be completed - without disaster; I've not sewn for ages - by Lunar New Year for me to wear (who am I kidding); and (d) have mixed a batch of chocolate chip cookies which frozen batter is in the fridge. Home visits are supposed to be limited during the long weekend (prolly only seeing my immediate family) so I may be able to catch up on sleep: work plus Covid-stress has been causing sleep problems for months.

Also being terrified of falling sick (Covid or not), I've been taking pains to eat healthily and get regular exercise and so on? I've been on long walks every weekend. I used to fall apart after walking five kilometres; now apparently 15 is my regular distance. While avoiding people. Covid-year has been...

Also have to make a stab at spring cleaning. I guess I could put up fresh curtains...?

RL-wise the third, I must say it's kind of fun/sad that I come home at night and check that my robot vacuum cleaner is back at its charging spot. (This is also my sad acknowledgement that I really can't get a cat for now; I'm not home long enough.)

Happy Lunar New Year to all who celebrate it, and even if you don't, stay healthy and may your vaccination date come soon.

Hope everyone had a good break so far!

I'm feeling... a lot, from the year 2020 has been, even though me and mine have been terrifically lucky so far where Covid-19 is concerned. But I do feel a lot less energetic and am generally unenthused about things. Plus RL has been busy like whoa for six months, I feel like I'm burning out. Dunno how the next year will be, still plenty of things to come. Waiting for the vaccine being one, though my guess is that it's gonna take months before non-medical people in my country get to be in line for it.

Anyway!

Yuletide was both exciting and a little frustrating, due to the abovementioned busy like whoa. To my delight, I did get a History3: Make Our Days Count fic Five Years Later, the Way Things Should Have Been which has Xiang Haoting/Yu Xigu by iamtheenemy (Steph). Thank you so much, Yuletide author. It was a lovely surprise!

Also came across:

How to Thrive in the Cloud Recesses, MDZS Q, by donutsweeper


Castle Sonas, Hotel Del Luna, by AJHall, which is so good.

***

Also I stress-wrote a drabble fic: Wei Wuxian and vampires which was an outburst, to be frank. If only RL frustrations are so easily gotten rid of.

Happy 2021, everyone.

I have so many half-assed fic ideas and am so incapable of getting them into any sort of coherent order, I'm sick of myself.

Possible my lack of sleep has something to do with that, hm. And possibly the long workdays? Recently I've made the discovery that a short bus-ride from my place brings me all the way to a tiny, tiny island that has been turned into a park/hiking spot (there's a road/bridge leading to it and it takes just two hours to walk the perimeter) and the prospect of going there during the weekend is the one thing getting me through the week. There's something incredibly precious about it. To a dreamy weekend. Well, I have to get through Friday first.

***

Still MDZS | Untamed

black milk of daybreak, drunk at sundown, AU, no to Burial Mounds siege, Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian, by stiltonbasket

Dragon's Gall, Madam Lan, Qingheng-jun, forced marriage, rape within marriage, forced pregnancy, imprisonment and torture, abuse, life-endangering childbirth, postpartum depression, miscarriage, by jelenedra. So many warnings, but it's a fic that involves Madam Lan...

As of midnight, I have:

- washed and cut and apportioned the french beans, the cabbage, the broccoli (prep for veg is far easier)
- soaked the dried mushrooms; sliced and diced;
- sliced and minced a quarter cabbage, slightly salted;
- washed and scrubbed 1 bag of water chestnuts; peeled and diced them;
- washed and sliced a bunch of spring onions;
- deveined a handful of shrimp; half chopped coarsely, half chopped into a rough paste;
- sliced a smallish slab of salmon and seasoned with sliced ginger and apportioned for future lunch/dinner;
- deboned the chicken thighs and seasoned and apportioned for lunch/dinner;
- sliced the pork loin for pork chops, tenderised, seasoned and apportioned for lunch/dinner;

and

- mixed the filling for dumplings (mmm, five spice powder). Will wrap tomorrow.

Cooking is hard. But I ate all the water chestnuts that weren't being used, so \o/

I knew he was in it, but my primarily reaction is still "That is Yang Yang?!" (as Jia Baoyu in 2010 Dream of Red Mansions): trailer here.

***

Wait, cauliflower rice is really a thing? *aghast* Why not just... eat cauliflower? In other news, I bought an electric lunchbox which is actually a tiny little steamer and now I can pack lunch to heat in the office. (We don't have a microwave oven.) Goodbye, sandwiches! \o/ It is so simplified (I got the cheapest model) that it doesn't have a timer: the amount of water in it determines the cooking time. When the water is all boiled up, it switches off automatically. I'm trying to figure out if steaming temperature is good enough to heat curry: I have some in the freezer (for the frozen prata, actually) and it could go with my rice. Maybe I'll cook some cauliflower in curry: that's gotta be a thousand times better than cauliflower rice.

***
All MDZS | Untamed

unceremonied poetry, Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian, mentioned dog death while on a case, by magicianprince

Diamond in the ruff, dog, Jin Ling, Jin Rusong, by citron_ella

Five Dogs, One Cat, accidental dog acquisition, Jiang Cheng, Wei Wuxian, Jin Ling, ryfkah

Why are you so... I don't have a good enough description, except that I think the country (or the various units of it) began on very shaky grounds right from earlier times and apparently most people (aka the people in power) thought no, this was totally fine and so the shaky grounds just got papered over but the faultlines were always there?

Okay, I'm not qualified to give any further opinions other than that.

***

Watching It's Okay to Not be Okay (Netflix trailer), and it is okay like whoa? I love it loads so far: hoping that it stays on course for the portrayal of mental illness. The fantastical elements are beautiful (and a bit spooky) and thought-provoking, especially the fairy-tale parts.

***

Chief Cultivator Yao, title is summary, crack, by nirejseki. Also by the same author, Twisting Twining, Nie Huaisang!dragon

a hope, a memory, a quiet green place, Lan Sizhui, Wen Ning, Wei Wuxian, memories and moments, by northofallmusic (tofsla). The same author's Alchemical Processes, Lan Wangji/Wei Wuixian, explicit.

Stole it from my f-list: the end of year quiz

1. What did you do in 2018 that you'd never done before?
Travelled to Vietnam. Became a homeowner. Decided on my own floor tiles.

( more )

I was going to post more regularly, really. That can be my new year resolution for the year of the Dog.

Well, today is the 7th day of Lunar New Year, also known as 人日, the day when human beings were created (chickens were created first) by 女媧. So today is the birthday of every human. Yay! (I guess the goddess did have to practice on chickens first.)

More randomly: ( life, job, flat, K-dramas, part-time job )