Modern TGCF

紅簾前 "Before the Red Curtain" - song from TGCF donghua Season 2 Episode 2 (lyrics translation)

This is the song played when Hua Cheng taught Xie Lian to roll dice. Some of the lyrics from this song are kind of abstruse, so there're definitely elements of my interpretation, see lyrics translation below:

如影拂輕幔 亦如夢飄轉

Like a shadow brushing against the light curtain, like a drifting and whirling dream

翩翩花雨 遊入長街盛宴

A shower of dancing flowers travels through the festivities on the long street

人聲作伴 四下皆歡 未斷

Accompanied by the noise of the crowd, the celebration is all around and unceasing

隔淺淺一線 倏然驟暖

Seperated by a thin line, the warmth grows all of a sudden

繞指間紅線 繫兩端輕纏

The red string around fingers tied around two ends gently connects them

緣起驚鴻 結作銀蝶相盼

Fate brought us together when I laid my eyes on you; longing for each other, fate connects us with the silver butterflies

盅裡玲瓏 幾番輾轉

The delicately carved dice in the cup tossed and turned

凝眸處依舊 映晨星斑斕

The one I gaze on still looks the same, with morning stars reflected in his eyes

逐世間逢故人 裁長夜銜離恨

Pursuing an old aquintance in this mortal world; the long night grows shorter, I taste the regret of seperation

一朝一夕織紅簾 相認

Day and night, weaving the red curtain so we'd recognize each other

遣游絲爭繚春 染心花舞紛紛

Send out gossamer in the air to entangle the spring, the joy in my heart blooms like dancing flowers

手心溫 擲年輪 皆遊刃

The palm is warm that tosses away years as skillfully as it wields knives

不語或忘言 咫尺卻難辨

Speechless or forgetting to speak, you're hard to recognize even close in front of me

切念浮想 猶似經久未見

How I long for you, so many thoughts of you on my mind, as if I haven't seen you in a long long time

迷雲飛幌 流螢熠熠 怎斂

Streaming curtains in misty clouds and glowing fireflies, how do I gather it

望眉宇模樣 恍若從前

Watching your face, it looks the same as it was in the old days

無止或無端 悲喜中縈牽

Without end, without cause, lingering and tangling in sorrow and joy

眇眇幽火 曾映照伴人間

The small feeble flame was once your companion, casting a light on you in the mortal world

粲然一笑 萬事隨煙

With a bright smile, the burden of everything dissipates like the smoke

天縱難垂憐 只為一至願

Even though the heavens could not pity you, yet only for this one most earnest wish

逐萬變知所向 予此間知所眷

Chase all the changes in the world to know the direction, and know who's the one dear to you in this mortal world

但見月缺覆月圓 相連

See the full moon turns into the sickle moon, and lovers together under the same moon

此身虔渡此程 等千年更繾綣

I travel through this life with great faith and devotion, love only deepens over a thousand years of waiting

寄明燈 枕遙夜 伴夢眠

Send off the bright lanterns, in a faraway place I sleep and dream

一朝一夕織紅簾

Day and night I weave the red curtain

Can y'all BELIEVE this art? Tiira, you're the best ;A;

I participated in the TGCF Mini Bang 2022 as an artist for Withering Lotus, a modern heavy metal au fic written by Yabanned and beta-read by Leonidskies!

Working with Ban on this series has been an absolute joy and I love this fic and everything about the work process more than I can describe. Ban is a lovely writer and I recommend this fic to everyone who enjoys mostly fluffy and healing modern au fics with a twinge of angst! The Xie Lian lotus cover art was based on an idea and a sketch from Ban!

TGCF Mini Bang 2022 collection

ABCDMXTX - Day 9: Items.

"What's on my sleeve?" post-timeskip Wei Ying edition.

List of prompts.

i hate when people are like “i really understand what it’s like to be Prey… to look up into the jaws of a predator and know it’s my purpose to be Consumed…” like bitch no, prey runs away, you’re some other shit

Hi! 💜 For the wip ask game: please please please, tell me more about in memoriam 👀

Hi! Of course, let's see: both In Memoriam and Scars surged from my curiosity about how Wei Ying (and Lan Zhan, plus the rest of the cast) processed Wei Ying's change of bodies in the long run. The novel shows some of it, yes, but it's such a strange occurrence! Surely there's more to it than saying, "alright, this happened. Moving on~"

Specifically for In Memoriam, I thought about the people who used to know Mo Xuanyu. His family was killed at the beginning of the novel, and no one in the Jin clan cared about him, but there are more people in the world. Someone had to remember him dearly from his childhood years, right? I thought of their reaction upon learning that who they used to know as an odd yet sweet child of the local gentry is now a completely different person. What an unholy aberration it must look like for someone outside the Jianghu who can't even imagine the power of cultivation! That's why I chose a former nanny, someone humble who looked after the clan's kids when needed, isn't well-read nor has contact with the Jianghu—she might even be wary of cultivators. She's gentle and a little superstitious, and would definitely die of horror and shock if they told her what happened with xiao Xuanyu. Her last wish is to see him because she's had dreams of something terrible happening to him, and thus her family decide to lure Wei Ying to the Jin territory with an outrageous story in order to ask him privately to help, so the old lady can leave the world with no worries.

That said, I never planned to make the fic about their meeting, but rather, of the before and after, and the narration is a third person vaguely close to Lan Zhan's perspective. Wei Ying goes to see the nanny without giving it much thought, but the experience makes him face the fact that he was shoved into an already started life that had memories and significance and an identity, and he comes back pretty shaken. Most of the fic would be about how he and Lan Zhan come to terms with it together.

I find writing for MDZS pretty intimidating. The worldbuilding and characterization are both very solid, I don't find as many crevices to get in as with TGCF. I don't know if I'll ever post any of these ideas. Have a preview of what I have written, to compensate, and thanks for asking!

——————

“I am talking nonsense, aren’t I? I'm sorry, Hanguang-Jun,” he said and leaned on Lan Zhan’s chest, looking up at him with eyes filled in equal parts with mischief and adoration. “I really want to see them try to explain their scheme to my face, and they won’t dare doing so in front of you. They are not worth your time, anyway; it would even stain the reputation of the Gusu Lan Clan to meddle with such affairs, don’t you think?”

“They will try to kill you.”

Wei Ying smirked and stretched a bit in order to get close to Lan Zhan’s ear.

“Let them try,” he purred, malicious. “Let me have some fun.”

Lan Zhan could feel Wei Ying’s slender fingers slide across his chest, drawing his collarbones and making little circles around his burnt scar. He didn’t falter.

“I’ll behave, I promise.” Wei Ying smile turned into a kiss against Lan Zhan’s neck. “I’ll be good, very good. I'm only ever naughty with you.”

“Stop it.”

“I can’t fly on a sword, so I’ll take Little Apple with me. It'll be a good bonding experience.” Wei Ying sat straight to see Lan Zhan in the eye and offered him the most innocent, purest smile, exquisitely fabricated. “Your uncle will be happy to have some peace; maybe you yourself will remember how much you enjoy silence and how bothersome I am.”

“Wei Ying…”

“Isn’t it true that I am bothersome, and that I love to bother you, and that you love to be bothered by me?”

Lan Zhan couldn’t stop the smallest smile from briefly appearing on his face. Wei Ying noticed it, and he was delighted.

“It is true, it really is!” he said, and leaned forward to point one finger at Lan Zhan’s chest. “Yet don’t tell me you don’t feel at least a bit tempted to have one day of your little five-to-nine clan rituals without my sabotage.”

Lan Zhan frowned slightly. Perhaps Wei Ying was the one in need of a break. He had always been a walking terror, ill-adapted to discipline and routine. Maybe the night hunts were not enough to compensate for the rather domestic, uneventful rhythm of the Cloud Recesses. That was understandable, but why did he want to go alone? 

“Lan Zhan, are you pouting at me?”

—————— Back to WIP game main post.

ABCDMXTX - Day 19: Shen Qingqiu.

Let's pretend it hasn't been three months since the day I was supposed to finish this. A classic case of better done than perfect.

List of prompts.

So one of my neighbors has a lawn Roomba or whatever they're called, and this thing trundles around looking like a background robot in the background of the original trilogy, and ABSOLUTELY BAFFLING THE DOGS.

They have concluded, I think, that it's some kind of prey animal because right after this video ended they decided to crouch down and stalk it, which means I'm 90% sure I'm going to have to stop Arwen from eating it at some point.

It’s that time of year. Reblog with how many you’ve heard of.

Anime Opening: GetBackers Song Title: Yuragu Koto Nai Ai Artist: Naomi Tamura

By the fire (BotW Zelink ficlet collection)

I'm preparing myself for Zelda TotK by revisiting my Zelda projects. This collection was originally written between 2017 and 2018, and I still hold it close to my heart.

Read it on AO3 - Disponible en español

Rating: T Summaries:

Royal ranks: In the first night after defeating the Calamity, Link wonders what he should call the woman next to him.

Sick leave: Link is late to a new sheikah rune test, so Zelda goes to his house at Hateno Village to find out what happened.

Feel the rain: Link and Zelda go to Lurelin Village to take a break and relax. A thunderstorm ruins the night for Zelda, but Link seems to be pretty excited.

Cold night: Princess Zelda is overjoyed: his father has finally given her permission to go on a research fieldtrip, only under condition of taking Link, her appointed knight, with her. Things are going smoothly enough until the freezing cold of the night puts Zelda in a tricky situation.

Veiled intentions: A pleasant night at the Gerudo market turns into madness when Zelda learns Link infiltrated the town against the Gerudo law.

Shock-still: Link is used to pursue what he wants without giving much thought to his safety. After a colony of electric keese catches him off-guard and renders him unable to move, he has to confront a deeply affected Zelda.

Step by step: Zelda visits Link one more time in his house at Hateno, hoping to make him go back to his senses.

Shining star (a final quest): Zelda tries to keep up with Link's endless energy and crazy ideas, but he always manages to go one step ahead.