Just let me lie here on the tile

wenella_subs

sakana17

“Hmmm,” said Lao Xie. He was walking around Shen Wei now, slowly and carefully, tottering artistically now and then before going back to his murder stalk. “What color? What fabric?” His hand shot out, to pinch at a fold of Shen Wei’s suit jacket. Shen Wei had carefully chosen his most conservative three-piece suit for this appointment, in an attempt to pacify his tailor for not coming to see him in several months. An attempt that had backfired as soon as he uttered the dreadful word ‘leisurewear.’

“Navy,” Shen Wei reported. “With a white bar on the arm. And—cashmere.” He admitted, “I bought it in heather grey, as well.” The cardigans were soft and silky to the touch. Not like armor. Much more inviting. More—approachable.

Lao Xie paused for a long moment, then sniffed. “At least you have not lost your reason entirely. I was expecting you to say maroon, or salmon pink, or something even more offensive, like acrylics. What else did you buy?”

(from Tailor-made)

sakana17

I enjoyed the fandomtrees experience a lot: it felt very low-key and enjoyable, and I managed to write two short stories in a weekend, which is a record for me. Deadlines are magic.

Threat Level: Bears (3492 words) by marycrawford

It was ironic, Shen Wei thought. After all the nonsensical information he had made Zhao Yunlan sit through, he had still not expected to be attacked by bears.

It was all wrong. Why didn’t anyone else seem to see that it was all wrong?

They were all falling over themselves to welcome General Kunlun, to show him the camp, to vie for his attention, and there were rumors that the Black-Cloaked Envoy had smiled at him.

Maru (the Cat who Sits in Boxes) and Hana now have a kitten to deal with.

I'm still watching Lost Tomb Reboot, going very very slowly, mostly because of my fractured attention span but also, I admit it, because I keep pausing to stare at Sir's Face. The best thing about this show is just how much they labor to give Zhu Yilong room to work his microexpression magic and nuanced character acting in the midst of all the action-adventure (he got threatened by clams in the most recent episode, and it was amazing), and to light him beautifully while he does it. They read the label when they bought him, and I really hope other shows will do the same.

I signed up for fandomtrees, which is a really nice little fannish gift challenge that would be especially suitable for anyone who isn't feeling up to the big ones this year, like yuletide. You simply ask for a gift in a fandom of your choice - art, fic, anything. Officially you must request three fandoms, but they can also be non-fannish things like recipes, song recommendations or whatever, so it's suitable for monofannish people like me. And all you need to do to give someone a gift is post a comment under their letter, no need to sign up or anything. It's a 100 word minimum for fic, so it's super low-key, and I will be stalking people's letters to see what tasty things I can offer.

My fandomtrees letter is here, and there are already four Guardian requests!

And the Sundial Exchange signups have started, too, yay! I haven't signed up yet but I plan to, and I'm really looking forward to it. This is for Guardian and Guardian-related fandoms, and there was some spectacular art and fic for it last year.

sakana17 has an inspirational picspam of Bai Yu and Zhu Yilong lounging against walls, floors, windows, etc.

kalakirya

Ai-ya, trying to get Shen Wei to take time for himself was like dragging a stone statue up a mountainside. Backwards, blindfolded, through the brambles, and barefoot.

However: this is a constructed reality vid that is just gorgeously well done, where Bai Yu is a cop and Zhu Yilong is some kind of criminal mastermind, and it is HOT TO DEATH.

There is some dialogue subtitled in English, setting up the story very sparely, and there is a single sequence I recognize from Guardian (Shen Wei healing the scrapes on his shoulder) which just fits in seamlessly here, even though I know we didn't see Shen Wei taking a shower afterwards (and really, why not??).

The sequence starting at 00:30 where Zhu Yilong is in disguise as a waiter, recognizes Bai Yu as a cop, there is a fight, and then ZYL abseils off the building is amazing. I would watch this movie, just saying.

(Special mention for Zhu Yilong's little side-smile at 1:36, which is just perfectly placed in the middle of Shit Blowing Up that he certainly didn't have anything to do with. Yum.)

‘This area is mostly stories about concubines and favourites who win their favour from the Emperor by whatever means necessary,’ Nie Huisang said matter-of-factly, and waved his fan at a wide area of the shelves in his bedroom antechamber. ‘Over here, we have villainous women who have to take men for their companions so they can keep their matriarchal tribe going, and this bit,’ he waved the fan again, ‘is the stuff about sworn brothers who are trapped on the road together when it snows and have to shelter in very small caves. You might want to start here?’

After he brings Shen Wei back from Dixing, Zhao Yunlan takes him home to recover and take it easy for once in his damn life. It doesn’t go exactly as planned.

Shen Wei is wet. Not just wet, sodden. Soaked.
For one single terrifying moment, Zhao Yunlan thinks blood, but he can’t smell anything like that, it’s just…water.
Of course. The rain.