rlyqueer

Writing is still a struggle, but I'm still trying, so that counts for something! Work has slowed down (briefly), but I've been pretty busy these last few days. My poor dog Wally had a scary bout of mysterious allergies, and it got so bad at one point that I searched for the nearest animal hospital ready to jump in the car. But somehow, I got it under control—or I just got very lucky—and he finally started recovering yesterday. We got our first full night of sleep last night in a small while, and he's fully recovered today thank goodness.

It resulted in me doing a ton of laundry, because I wasn't sure if something got something contaminated and so everything went into the wash. I'm still sore because the laundry room is on the fourth floor, and I live on the first lol. But we got through it and now everything is fresh and clean, and I also baked banana muffins from scratch which was a nice and grounding exercise. Here's the recipe if anyone is interested. They're super delicious.

Meanwhile today, I painted my nails and got some rewrites done on a few things that just weren't working. I'm feeling a lot better about two of my WIPs and hope to finish them soon! So here's a fresh little snippet from Telling Tails:

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Ignoring him, Zhu Hong takes her chopsticks in hand and delicately plucks a thin slice of raw beef from the ochre-glazed plate that sits in front of her. “You owe me for hearing you out while you’re drinking my booze,” she says, and looks him in the eye while taking a generous bite.

It’s cute, and Zhao Yunlan hides his smile by picking up his drink to finish it off. “Of course, I intend to repay you for your wonderful hospitality!” he chirps after smacking his lips and setting down his cup. When he reaches for the bottle again, Zhu Hong moves to snatch it from him with a fierce glare, but he bats her hand away and refills her cup before setting it back down.

“Really, Hong-jie,” he chides, “Trust in your old boss a little more. Dinner’s on me next time, I promise!”

I've enjoyed a nice and relaxing weekend! Even got some writing done.

Here's a (very) fresh snippet from Telling Tails:

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“It’s suspicious,” Zhao Yunlan grunts as he slams his cup down on the table, liquor sloshing over the rim to wet his fingertips. “So damn suspicious!”

Zhu Hong scowls and sets her own cup down, sweeping a stray leaf off the table's lacquered surface with an irritated click of her tongue. “And why did you come all the way here to complain to me about it?”

“Because you’re the most perceptive of the bunch, obviously,” Zhao Yunlan says, impatient. “Even if you’re only with us part-time now, I can still count on you to give me your valued feedback, can’t I? One leader to another?”

“I don’t get in the middle of lovers’ quarrels,” Zhu Hong says flatly.

Getting back into the swing of things, with determination! Happy New Year, friends.

I'm so relieved 2019 is over. It ended with a bang, spent in the hospital with my brother after he had a skydiving accident. But he's doing fine now and he's on the mend—got him discharged on NYE, and I welcomed the new year with him and friends at a much-needed party (well partially with him, then partying while he rested in another room ofc).

Returning to work has been pretty odd, but the feeling is mutual with my whole team, and clients have been slow too. Things will probably pick up starting tomorrow, which is a good thing because I indulged a LOT during my vacation (very necessary, no regrets) and I'm ready to start making that cash money again lol.

I'm mainly working on my Sundial Exchange piece, but in the meantime I can share a snippet from a massively indulgent WIP.

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Ash to Dust to Starlight

A loud knock on the door startles him from his thoughts and he freezes, eyes wet and breath short.

“Professor Shen?” asks a woman's voice, and oh, it’s Ya Qing. At least she hasn’t just barged right into the men’s facilities—something that wouldn’t have surprised him even if she had.

“—still in there? Shen Wei?”

He’s missed something, and there’s a shadow of uncertainty in Ya Qing’s usually-confident voice. Perhaps his escape from the group hadn’t gone as unnoticed as he’d planned. Shen Wei doesn’t know how long he’s been in here.

“I’m fine,” he manages to squeeze out of his throat. “I’ll just be another minute.” He can’t let them see him like this, not when he’d made it through the funeral without once losing his composure. Not when he'd sat poised and blank through the long vigil as he held onto the picture frame with numb, white knuckles. Not when he'd ushered their friends into venue after venue for the wake, his smile forced and his stomach churning.

A part of him thinks he can’t do it anymore, but Shen Wei knows that he has to hold on. He just has to make it through the rest of the wake, and this is their final stop.

I thought I could go in on a simple flashfic prompt and produce a little something nice, but nahh. Two months later and I'm still trying to finish up the first part of something that's turned into a complete BEAST.

The rest of it needs plenty of brainstorming and outlining, but I've finally accepted what this fic wants to be. cries This is baptism by fire and I am full of fear, but there's really nothing to do but forge stubbornly ahead at this point!

Today's frustration is the copious amounts of head-scratching I had to do before rewriting part one's conclusion. How do people end fics? This is wild, man. It's done, though, so one holistic read-through to go before I send it off for its second beta round.

Don't know when it'll start getting posted (nothing else has even been outlined, let alone drafted!! ahh!!!), but I wanted to share a snippet:

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“Zhao Yunlan?” Shen Wei tries to keep the uncertain waver out of his voice.

When Zhao Yunlan straightens up again, he smiles at Shen Wei, but it isn’t... It doesn’t reach his eyes, and the way he bares his teeth looks more like a snarl. “It’s good to see you awake!” he says with false cheer. “You really gave us a scare. How are you feeling?”

How is he...?

Shen Wei stares, and Zhao Yunlan tilts his head, sliding his hands into his pockets. It’d look casual if Shen Wei didn’t know better. “I—Zhao Yunlan, what’s going on?”

Something flashes across Zhao Yunlan’s face, but it disappears so quickly behind that sharp gaze that Shen Wei isn't sure he’s seen anything at all. Zhao Yunlan shifts his weight onto one foot and asks, “What do you remember?”