#nif ladies

[nifsrocks]

[winepresswrath]

After spending NiF listening to my girlfriend explain how Lin Shu should die, she is now spending Mr. Sunshine listening to me explain how Lady Ae-shin is femmephobic because she will not marry Hui-seong and have threesomes and/or a protracted emotional affair with Eugene.

[dangermousie]

I really loved the first six episodes of AJTL. It feels adult in a way too few cdramas do nowadays. The protagonists are (sometimes sociopathic, weird) adults and the narrative is adult and the humor and darkness are both adult. Now, I don't mean this is some sort of meditation on the human condition like Royal Nirvana or NiF or Three Kingdoms, but the situations and characters are of a nature you wouldn't usually see in youth-oriented stuff nowadays - whether it's the fact that our FL just wants to ML for stud so she can have a baby with good genetics and no family ties or the fact that literally every politician in this is a complete scumbag.

I actually love that our FL isn't just the most terrifying mofo in the narrative full of killers but that she is a bona fide borderline sociopath who has no understanding of boundaries or proper behavior or consent or even any sort of flirtation let alone a deeper feeling. She's been a killer since childhood; what normal does she have? The fact that she's managed to have any sort of emotions left is a miracle.

So her deciding she needs a child because her benefactor told her she should as a dying wish and picking a sperm donor in our ML because he's suitable, all with about as much understanding of relationships as an alien - she doesn't want ML because she fancies him, she doesn't want a child to love. It's basically a weird duty thing. It all makes sense.

It's a wonderful gender reversal, with FL the goal-oriented, robotic psycho and ML going "but wait a minute, feelings, also no way, no how." His realization as to how crazy she is, is something else.

Look how she explains it, as if it's the most logical business transaction - your genetic material is great, you are not married so nobody will be hurt, if you die on this mission you will have someone to carry on your lineage, you are scheming so if a kid takes after you and is scheming, it's good. None of it will seduce a man in the least, let alone anything further. But I think in a way it's a weird mark of respect where she's not trying to lie but put all her cards on the table. But also - it shows how far from normal she is that she doesn't even realize how insane it sounds to anyone. He may be a spy but his life has been pretty different than hers; he's got friends and he had family - he is a fairly functional dude. She doesn't have any relationship, and the closest she had was weird stubs...

Like - she is acting like an alien...

Yeah, I don't think psychotic rose through the ranks assassins are big on consent.

She's bona fide nuts and I love that for once we have an unhinged FL. But one of the things I love so is that you slowly see her melt a little around the edges, if barely, because he keeps treating her as a proper lady however murdery and crazy she gets - she was an assassin and then she was a spy-whore, she's basically never been treated as a proper person instead of a tool, except possibly by the dowager and that was a long time ago. No wonder she gets drawn in - like she did by his decency in that rooftop speech scene. It's such a great reversal!

Like she genuinely doesn't get why he doesn't jump at the offer.

I really do love the ML who'd be the unhinged one in any other drama but here he's the sane one. And also his angry decency is mmmm.

I don't usually have fantasy casts for characters; there are very few exceptions - CFY and LYX for the mains of 2ha, Chen Kun for the ML of Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir, SZE for Prisoner of Beauty (alas), but LYN is on that short list - he's 100% my fan cast for Yuwu's Mo Xi and stuff like this gives me mad MX vibes:

I mean...

Anyway, this drama is awesome!

PS also the way secrets don't get dragged out. ML knows her true identity and we are long moving on to other stuff, hooray!

[junemermaid]

nirvana in fire for the meme thing!! 💙

Unironically, thank you for reaching directly into my brain b/c I will never climb out of this hole apparently.

my favorite female character — Nihuang, Nihuang, Nihuang. This show is full of delightful complicated ladies (Consort Jing is fucking fascinating and I could write whole essays on how she works ingeniously in her extremely constrained circumstances to change the fate of the empire), but Mu Nihuang hits my thing for warrior ladies and my thing for tragic love that endures but is not enough, and Liu Tao has the kind of face that writes poems for the camera when you just point it at her. She is strong and tender and temperamental and multifaceted and yeah, have you considered that sometimes the woman is the blorbo.

my favorite male character — Okay, Mei Changsu is my problematic fave but also protect Xiao Jingyan at all costs. This is a harder question because I love both of them, and there's also Yan Yujin and Marquis Yan, the unconquerable father-son conspiracy duo we did not deserve but got anyway, and also Meng Zhi, without whom we would all be even more lost and confused amid all the Schemes. But I am going to say Jingyan, because he's such a Type for me (the repressed yet short-fused Lawful Good character who sticks to his morals but also has to grow beyond his narrow views), and also a Type flawlessly executed in both writing and acting. He suffers beautifully but also I don't want him to.

my favorite book/season/etc — Plot arc, maybe? This is everyone's answer but the Spring Hunt arc is gorgeous and has everything. Nihuang returns! Consort Jing is flawless! There's Strategy and Plotting and Desperate Last Stances! (Everyone gaslights Jingyan to a mildly disturbing degree...) I have too many favourite moments to count, though.

my favorite episode (if its a tv show) — I admit a great fondness for that part where Mei Changsu and Jingyan wait for the rescue team for Wei Zheng to get back. It's functionally just two guys in a room waiting for news, but the incredible tension strung between them and the fact that they're both helpless and can do nothing but wait for time to pass as other people's actions decide their fate make it riveting to me. They are generally characters who always have ways and means, but there, they're at the mercy of time. Together. Something something this scene is the show in a microcosm.

my favorite cast member — Honestly I don't know enough about the actors to say, but they all seem like they had a great time filming the series.

my favorite ship — As anyone with eyes can see, jingsuhuang is where I plant my flag, but I am pretty much a multishipper. The OT3 compels me because both Jingyan and Nihuang have such amazing chemistry with MCS and also because I feel like either of them alone runs the risk of being almost... overwhelmed by his sense of purpose and his stubborn self-denial. It balances better with three. Plus, as a friend perfectly put it, two of them is great but what about the spice (narrative, not merely erotic)? Eh. I could write a novel. I also enjoy Mu Nihuang x Xia Dong, Mei Changsu x Lin Chen, Yan Yujin x Xiao Jingrui (x Gong Yu), and pretty much anything if the writer has put a compelling spin on it. My shipping philosophy in this fandom is that I'll try anything once, and twice if I like it.

a character I’d die defending — Obviously, Consort Jing, but also, protect Xiao Jingyan at all costs. He has, after all, never done anything wrong in his life.

a character I just can’t sympathize with — I don't think there are any in NiF? Many of them do horrible things but the show generally always lets me understand why. Even its villains are written as people. (That said, Xia Jiang is the worst, and the Emperor reaches similar depths of infamy before the end for me.)

a character I grew to love — Lin Chen crept up on me! I think it was the 40-episode absence after the dramatic introduction in ep. 1 that made me feel like he was stealing scenes and intimacy from characters I had spent 40 episodes watching (while they failed in various ways to get close to Mei Changsu). He is also, ah, the kind of comedic that doesn't usually works for me. But rewatching a little, reading some fic, and thinking about it further, he's a vital part of the story and someone that Mei Changsu sorely needs, i.e. a friend he made after the Meiling massacre, who won't always reflect him against the image of Lin Shu but cares for him as he is now.

my anti otp — IDK? There are various awful men in this show that the women around them Do Not Deserve. Poor, poor Consort Jing, working herself into the Emperor's favour. So maybe it's just that some of the canon marriages are really sort of terrible.

[kommissarkartofelov]

a

i like this sorta ranty blogging style, brings back feelings of the old internet

flalout

to continue my love of the toyger hair i ported an oblivion port of the hair into fnv since i dun have the knowhow or patience to backport skyrim's nifs into the fo3/fnv era gamebyro engine plus someone made a freckled race (sadly hidden from the nexus as of writing)

unfortunately the preset for the freckled race was not sufficiently cute enough for me, so i decided to crack open the g.e.c.k. n make a freckled asian race

guess more than anything its a hapa race lol dunno where i put the files, so prolly lost to the zone

oh, and the reason why i felt that the lobotomite texture would work for a creepy-cute design is i played a bit (probably for 5 mins before quitting from a trauma loop in DUST) with the playable lobotomite mod and managed to mess with the sliders to make a kinda cute lady. fllatou 4 have toyger will tomboy

also tried making a tired/sad girl instead of a tomboy

pretty proud of her since she conveys the exact vibe i want

fits with the total desperation of FROST though unfortunately by the time i got done taking a handful of screenshots of her i lost interest in playing also yey not using the toyger hairdo for the umpteenth time

eh why not bonus sims segment i have an unhealthy like for character creators

wanted to try making an unconventional lass, ended up with a NEET goblin

think i had that one jewish girl who photo got posted occasionally on 4chins n popopoka's blind girl in mind when i made her

am tired now dunno if i'll do any more posts like this aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah bye

[circumference-pie]

Trick or treat! :3

Treat!

Nirvana in Fire:

I wrote most of a fic alternating between Xie Qi's (Jingrui's sister, the one married to Zhuo Qingyao) and Liyang's point of view for NiF Exchange 2021 (or was it 2020...?), before scrapping it all and starting over. But here's some of the scrapped fic!

= = = = =

At six, Xie Qi is good at getting what she wants, which is to escape lessons, play tag in the garden, and wheedle piggyback rides from the older kids. Jingrui-gege gives her the most and Lin Shu-gege carries her the fastest, but Qing-gege talks to her like a grown-up, so she likes him best.

Xie Qi wants to be like Jingrui-gege when she’s older. He knows martial arts and can ride horses and shoot a bow. She copies Jingrui when he’s practicing his sword forms, stabbing at the air with a long wooden spoon, her nursemaid watching on indulgently.

Mama sees Xie Qi twirling and slashing alongside Jingrui one day, and there’s yelling and Xie Qi cries. The next day Xie Qi’s nursemaid is gone and instead there’s a tutor, an iron-haired woman who doesn’t let her out of lessons even if she screams, who makes her learn embroidery and takes her on visits to other little noble girls. And worst, when she runs to Qing-gege and lifts up her arms, he says, “No, Qi-er, the Dowager Princess says you need to behave like a young lady.”

Xie Qi hates behaving like a young lady. It means dresses with layers and boring people and sitting inside and no piggyback rides. She can’t watch Jingrui-gege practice anymore, and nothing interesting ever happens.

= = = = =

NiF spoilers

The prompt was Liyang-focused, and the novel says she was a fiery girl who rode horses and competed with the boys before she married Xie Yu (>_<), and I felt like her relationship with her daughter must be really complicated because of that. Xie Qi is pretty much only in the drama to die (>_< again), but her death must had so much impact on Liyang, which isn't explored in the story.

[sophia-sol]

November recs: fic, vids, short stories, and novelettes

In November I started doing a thing where whenever I read a story or a fic that I enjoyed, I quickly wrote up a brief rec for it and posted it directly to my mastodon account. I am amazed at how much I'm enjoying doing this, and how well it works for me! But this means that I have now built up a backlog of recs that I want to share to my dreamwidth and tumblr as well. So I think going forward I'll post a roundup once a month of the past month's recs, so that y'all can see them as well!

Here's the November ones! Featuring:

7 TGCF fics 13 SVSSS fics 1 MDZS fic 1 NiF fic 1 Persuasion (Jane Austen) fic 2 multifandom vids 5 short stories 3 novelettes

TGCF RECS

Digging for Orchids, by betts

TGCF, hualian

Over the last couple days I reread this fic and was reminded just how GOOD it is

modern AU hualian

roommates! out of work actors! pretending to be husbands!

hualian are canonically both just so weird about each other and so over the top about everything to do with each other always, and this fic captures that dynamic beautifully

the author's careful attention to the physicality of scenes is so good and so important

xie lian is living with chronic pain after a fall and it's so real about how that affects his life

there are so many funny and on point observations of various characters and their relationships with each other!

I had many feelings

LOVE WINS.

On Our Way to Fall, by etymologyplayground

TGCF, hualian

a cute quiet small domestic scene in puqi shrine in the middle parts of book canon

see hua cheng as a cat! hear hua cheng's theory about breathing being sexy! enjoy hua cheng and xie lian being completely smitten with each other! also lady windmaster is a real pal as always

it's super adorable

6k words in length

Celestial Confluence/Cultivation Cross, by pengiesama

TGCF, hualian

a silly funny fic about hua cheng causing chaos in heaven by creating a trendy new gacha game

xie lian, bewildered, ends up on shi qingxuan and ming yi's livestream about the game

hua cheng is absolutely willing to get distracted from the game by gege

there's some excellent comic timing in here!

6k words in length

The Heart and All its Chambers, by etymologyplayground

TGCF, hualian

modern au where hualian are lesbians

xie lian has never had an orgasm, and hua cheng offers to help by loaning her a toy

obviously the help ends up going further than that

it's just so cute and sweet how much xl and hc love each other and take care of each other and are clearly SUPER into each other!

and how good they are about each other's weird hangups about sex!

19k words in length

Stick in the Mud, by etymologyplayground

TGCF, beefleaf

beefleaf before the beefleaf arc goes down

having sex with a strap-on and definitely not having any undercurrents of emotions about anything, what are you talking about, beefleaf would never

god, the note it ends on!!

4k words in length

beloved in your sight, by olivers_box_of_raisins

TGCF, mulian

mu qing pov from the xianle trio era

ft. class issues and teen relationship drama

xie lian is an enormous martial arts nerd and a naive but shining prince; mu qing is pining but hyper-aware of class boundaries and how everyone sees him; feng xin is ready to judge

it's so great and succeeds so well at what it's doing, I love it

I love the last scene, which it ends on, about xie lian's appearance after he ascends. perfect ending to the fic

7k words in length

Your Sweet Breath On My Dice, by Siamesa

TGCF, hualian

canon divergence story where ghost king hua cheng manages to catch up with his god in a different way

that way: xie lian accidentally triggered a curse and now he's swapped bodies with a mysterious ghost….?

(INCREDIBLE premise)

I love xl and hc's very different reactions to finding themselves in each other's bodies

I think my favourite part though might be poor yin yu doing his best to handle the situation, between hc's firm instructions on how to treat xl, and xl's equally firm opinions on what to do

a very fun read overall!

6k words in length

SVSSS RECS

ars adeo latet arte sua, by lavenderandrue

SVSSS, bingqiu

post-canon bingqiu experimenting with roleplay

in which they pretend that lbh is a statue in a museum and sqq is the museum caretaker who understands the statue's true value more than anyone else

yes obviously they're both extremely horny about it and also feelings-horny about it

the asides about the various lbh figurines sqq had in his old life are so funny

I love seeing them able to just be happy and have fun exploring their sexuality together, after all the woes of canon!

the word count is 6969, nice

bereft, bestowed, by sixthmoon (seventhstar)

SVSSS, moshang

cute fic about mobei-jun being hounded by his advisors to get married, but he's uninterested in the various eligible women being presented to him

shang qinghua suggests that mbj set a task that anyone who wants to marry him must fulfill

I think you can guess how this ends :D

3k words in length

in the thin winter sun, by goshkiki

SVSSS, moshang

rule 63 post-canon moshang from mbj's pov, featuring a pining mbj who can't understand why sqh doesn't seem to be interested in being her queen even though sqh is happy enough to have sex with her

gorgeously desperate and despairing, lyrical and in love and hopeless about it

mbj's pov is amazing, and so is seeing sqh through mbj's eyes

note that the fic ends with the pining situation unresolved, but the author is planning a sequel, and the fic is satisfying as it is as well!

17k words in length

Tale Within A Tale, by BrilliantLady

SVSSS, bingqiu

an au where sqq does his best to communicate to lbh prior to the Immortal Alliance Conference, despite having his words held back by the system; so he tells a series of meaningful stories and hopes lbh will draw the right conclusions

the fic is from lbh's pov and I love how earnestly and carefully he tries to put together the clues sqq is giving him! the CONCLUSIONS he draws!!

I screamed internally with delight at multiple points while reading the fic. it's such a delightful read!

32k words in length

Come With Me, by acernor

SVSSS, bingliu

modern au, liu qingge's ex-fiance yue qingyuan is marrying luo binghe's ex shen jiu

lqg & lbh have an ill-advised hookup at the wedding of their exes, and then keep on having ill-advised hookups

both of them are completely incapable of being emotionally self-aware, even as they spend more and more time with each other, most of it framed antagonistically

oh my god they are both so fucked up

the draw and the attraction they both feel toward each other is so well-shown

truly impressed with them for managing to make a happy ending for themselves out of all this!! <3

63k words in length

Cold Blooded Rivalry (Just Add Heat), by acernor and hyphendots

SVSSS, liubingqiu

liu qingge gets hit with a fuck-or-die monster venom! shen qingqiu and luo binghe are here to help him out

the vibes are SO good, from the prickly antagonism between lqg & lbh at the beginning, through the awkward unspoken interest in sqq, to the way lqg goes all melty and floaty at the end

it's SO soft from lqg's pov once the cure is embarked upon and I love it so much

7k words in length

The Cost of Sacrilege, by Prim_the_Amazing

SVSSS, luo binghe & the old palace master

lbh is having a totally chill time of it having a breakdown after his shizun dies

the old palace master of huan hua is ALSO having a totally separate chill breakdown about once again having a disciple under his control (….he thinks) who looks like su xiyan

when their breakdowns intersect, no prizes for guessing who wins lol

It's Time For Binghe Angst

such a good view into what might have happened at the very beginning of the 5 year period where sqq is dead!

5k words in length

The Dark Is Full of Your Voice, by straightforwardly

SVSSS, bingqiu

post-canon au where post bing-ge vs bing-mei fight, it's bing-mei who returns to sqq

prompts that inspired this fic included “Technically awful attempts at comfort are actually very comforting” and “Comfortee flaunts their hurt in order to get more comfort” and it's perfect actually, I love how THEM it is

sqq having zero clue what to do that's Actually Helpful when someone's injured is soooo funny tbh. but his fussing is what really matters!

2k words in length

shen yuan and original luo binghe’s epic adventure in the modern world, by tshirt

SVSSS, bingyuan

shen yuan definitely didn't intend to buy this body pillow of luo binghe what are you talking about

he also definitely didn't involve his "essence" in an accidental ritual that summoned the real luo binghe

however luo binghe is now here and he needs to do SOMETHING about that

extremely funny, tshirt is always so good at the comic timing

the airplane cameo is also perfect

4k words in length

if you don't have your own boyfriend, rented is fine, by nyoomerr

SVSSS, bingyuan

I feel sure I've talked about this fic before but I can't find it in my tags?! I've been following it as a wip and it's now DONE!

the premise: bing-ge transmigrates to our world, and shen yuan thinks he's an attractive but incompetent and down on his luck cosplay-boyfriend-for-rent and takes pity on him

sy tries to reform lbh and turn him into someone who's not terrible at being a boyfriend. meanwhile lbh is slowly discovering that maybe…..it's possible………for someone to care about him and be nice to him just because they like him?? sounds fake! but what if?

every single aspect of their relationship (and everything else in the fic!!!) is a COMPLETE delight. I love to see how much sy's sharp-mouthed peerless cucumber side is out in full force, and how feral lbh is, and how the two of them play off each other

86k words in length

commodity fetishism, by tshirt

SVSSS, moshang

tshirt is a genius, this is SO funny, I'm dying

modern au where mbj is a trust fund baby who's lost access to his trust fund, and what is he going to do, WORK for money?? no.

enter sugar daddy sqh, or possibly findom mbj's paypig sqh

3k words in length

bro you posted cringe, by tshirt

SVSSS, cumplane

yes more tshirt fic, can't stop won't stop

this one's about shang qinghua and shen qingqiu arguing about whether sqh's sex scenes are at all believable

which of course leads to a hands-on demonstration

during which OBVIOUSLY they don't stop arguing

it's so funny and so in character and it's amazing

the excerpts from pidw that are read aloud as evidence are also peak comedy

also it's rule 63

3k words in length

is she, you know, a disciple of xian shu?, by tshirt

SVSSS, mingying

liu mingyan and ning yingying's developing relationship as they find ways to open up and be real with each other

it's so cute!!

I love how it talks about the experience of gender, how nyy likes that with lmy she isn't expected to be a demure flower, and lmy likes that she doesn't have to be perfect, and none of that excludes them from belonging as a woman who loves women

and also they bond over writing RPS, obvs

3k words in length

MDZS RECS

Disrupt, Corrupt, and Interrupt Me, by hansbekhart

MDZS, lan wangji/su minshan

I love fic that takes Su Minshan seriously as a character, it's a rare delight whenever I come across one

Lan Wangji/Su Minshan during the disciple era, before the guest disciples arrive

lwj is a fuckboy and sms is delighted to discover evidence that lwj despite his airs is the same as everyone else

they fuck about it a lot

content note for nonconsensual somnophilia

PERFECT ENDING omg.

3k words in length

NIF RECS

all around us are cliffs (close your eyes and fall), by plalligator

NiF, mei changsu/mu nihuang/xiao jingyan

canon divergence au where after the destruction of the chiyan army, mu nihuang takes her army back to yunnan to set up as an independent ruler, and prince jing disappears

mei changsu, hearing that nihuang has taken a husband and nobody knows who he is: right so I'm going to yunnan

cue identity shenanigans, of course!

the wip is at 5 chapters and 12k words right now, and it's left unmarked what the expected final length will be, but I am HERE for the ride wherever it goes because everything it is doing is delicious to me

it's tagged with mei changsu/mu nihuang/xiao jingyan so I'm assuming that's the endgame ship, which, yes, take me to there

PERSUASION RECS

An Officer and a Gentleman, by cedarboots

Persuasion, Anne/Frederick

a rewrite of Persuasion featuring butch 4 butch Anne/Frederick

god it's so GOOD and I am so EMOTIONAL about it

I love all the ways in which it is both the same and different, the ways their identities affect the things they do and the choices they make

and I mentioned in an earlier post how meaningful it is to be able to see gender non-conforming people like me in historical fiction, living their lives, finding ways to be happy, finding their community. shaking hands with them across time. I see you and you see me.

making Persuasion specifically be the story told is so perfect too because of how it's about getting to know yourself better when you've had time to grow up more

also there's lots of excellently-researched historical content

and lots of feels

READ IT READ IT READ IT

it's such a lovely ending and I nearly cried about it

47k words in length

MULTIFANDOM RECS

Masculine Women, Feminine Men, by Tafadhali

multifandom vid

fanvid about queer movies from mostly pre-Code hollywood days

a fascinating window into the way queer themes were portrayed in that era

fun and thoughtful at the same time

3 minutes in length

We Kiss in a Shadow (I Have Dreamed), by Tafadhali

multifandom vid

a follow-up to the pre-code vid I just recced, this one is about queer themes in 1950's-60's hollywood

very different vibes, and the contrast says a lot when you watch the two back to back

this one does really good understated yearning and unspoken secrets.

SHORT STORY RECS

Brincando Charcos (Jumping Puddles), by Ben Francisco

Short story

a beautiful story about fear and trauma and being latino in the USA, and queer romance and the wisdom of the people who love you, and how something that can help save you and that can bring joy and fun in your life can also be an unhealthy coping mechanism if you take it too far. I loved reading about Javier and Mateo as they developed their relationship!

4k words in length

The Long Mural, by James Van Pelt

Short story

about a stowaway on a generation ship

also about art and being part of a community of amateur artists whose work is worthwhile

I loved the details about the problems with microbial growth in a closed system full of humans who are constantly shedding skin particles, and that the main character sees it as an important job to be part of the clean-up

the future is unknown but worth being a part of

7k words in length

The Dying Lover of Nogorod, by R. K. Duncan

Short story

fantasy story about wizards and dragons and power, and being queer, and being horny for a dragon who is also your death

deliberately written in a higher register, which can too easily feel stilted or cold, but here works to give the whole thing a sense of dignity and depth

5k words in length

To Carry You Inside You, by Tia Tashiro

Short story

sci-fi story about a woman with a port-drive into her brain that allowed her to be a great child actor when she was young, and gives her a career as an adult of plugging in the mental backup of a dead person to visit bereaved families who want their beloved dead back again

about identity, embodiment, and not knowing how to want things

also about body-sharing

in second-person pov which works so well for the things this story is about and the things it's doing! the main character is someone who spends most of her time being someone else, after all

it's so compellingly written!

has the perfect ending, which can be so hard to pull off right

7k words in length

this is the first published story by this author, and something this great is her first; I am excited to think of where she might go from here!

Nextype, by Sam Kyung Yoo

Short story

a short story about a young woman who was given a neural implant to improve her abilities and skills in school to be able to get a good job

about parental expectations and abusive control

trying to figure out who you are and what you care about when you've never been given the opportunity to be anything but obedient

I had feelings

4k words in length

NOVELETTE RECS

The Year Without Sunshine, by Naomi Kritzer

Novelette

an urban neighbourhood handling an ongoing collapse of systems in a climate crisis by banding together and forming supportive community

doesn't ignore things like temporary and permanent disability

believable amounts of hopeful

10k words in length

Over My Dead Body by shukyou

Novelette

content notes for ummmmmmm body horror? body grossness definitely. also, murder, plus sex with weird consent stuff going on. drug use. probably other stuff too.

but it's not, like, horrifying and depressing about any of that! it's remarkably sweet!

an absolutely incredible piece of original fiction about bodyswap/bodysharing that really makes its home in exploring the weirdness of the situation from the inside. What Is Embodiment. How to have a relationship with the body you're in. Bodies have a lot going on! The brain is part of the body.

probably this story isn't for everyone, but if it is for you then you are in for a TREAT. I adored it.

14k words

Black are the Waters, by Ten Tzeng

Novelette

about the difficulties of being a teen girl whose dad just died, and who is trying to figure out her identity as an othered visible minority, with a large and close-knit multigenerational family whose older generations are more connected with traditional culture and who want her to be too

the traditional culture is selkies

yeah it's a GREAT premise and I love how carefully and believably the selkie culture is imagined, and what the experience of being part of a landed selkie family would be

very emotionally affecting too!

8k words in length

[starjunco]

Day 3: Storm (Ao3)

No one called 'ceasefire' like Ramuh.

Within hours the Resistance shifted from mounting its latest offensive to prepping half the island for possibly the worst storm in decades. When Cor proposed volunteer Crownsguard and Hunters reinforce the islands, he hadn’t accounted for rain delays.

“Is that everyone?” Cor asked his liaison.

“That’s supposed to be here, yeah,” Nyx confirmed.

If Cor didn’t know better, he’d assume the Galahdans were throwing a party: a couple who were tuning thin, guitar-like instruments were joined by another pair with instruments somewhere between horns and flutes; a group of children were folding and tearing paper to thread for streamers while an old lady told them stories; a group of women produced boxes and ceramic pots full of food that they were warming up in the stone ovens that occupied one corner of the large cavern; and Cor had seen kegs amidst the supplies.

“Hurricanes happen every year,” Nyx explained. “Why should life stop? There's food we only make during a storm -- you’ll love it.”

Cor was curious, if cautious, but dinner was instantly swept from his mind as a man ran in from the main entrance. He yelled in Galen, and Cor looked to Nyx who was frowning deeply.

“There's Nifs at the door -- scientists and infantry.”

Cor motioned to his people. “We’ll take care of them.”

Nyx cringed and held up a hand. “It’s not that simple. We have laws -- you don’t spurn Ramuh, especially during a storm.”

[hyperionswrath-a]

@holyguardian​ | | unprompted birthday shenanigans

Aerith could claim to know of the Glaive. She knew him in name, just as she knew his taste for beer and certain Galahdian food stalls. Though it was a superficial kind of acquaintance. Like passing ships in the night, she with increasing pressure to study hard to remain eligible within the refugee program and he with his relentless work that never-seemed-to-end.

If they could each other a friend, it was only loosely.

So, when he mentioned his birthday in passing, she almost didn't do a damn thing. But that wasn't the kind of person she was. Even someone at a distance, someone she didn't really know, they were deserving of a small piece of kindness on a celebrated day.

[Text: didn't cry over spilled beer guy] — Yamachangs @ 4pm???

Her pittance of a student allowance afforded Seifer a beer and a plate of skewers with spicy dipping sauce, which she presented to him like an absolute well-behaved upstanding citizen. "Happy birthday, Steve!" Aerith joked, grinning far too mischievously. "Sorry, See-far? Sigh-fun?"

There had been occasional exchanges via text messages before, nothing too serious, nothing that really would make them any more than acquaintances. And yet - as was his nature - Seifer felt rather entertained by the chaos that Aerith seemed to bring along with her wherever she went. Be it on purpose or not. Besides, she had tried to make up for the spilled beer disaster and somehow whatever loose connection they had going since then had been rather entertaining. Dropping the hint of his birthday had more or less been an accident, if he was completely honest. His mind had already been wandering to the evening prior to his day of honor, Tredd, Luche and him planning to head to the Diamond Dust to get hammered and eventually find some nice distraction in form of other guests or even employees, if lady luck was on their side. However, even with mentioning it to Aerith, Seifer had not expected her to remember, much less reach out to invite him to Yamachang’s. So when his phone buzzed, signalling an incoming message, he pulled the device from it’s pocket in his Glaive fatigues, swiping it to life with his thumb and raising his brows in surprise at the message received. Not one to say no to any sort of invitation, the tall blond tapped away to reply. [Text: Crashing-Bikes-Into-Stalls-Gal] — Your treat? Betcha. Snorting a quiet chuckle, he stowed away the device again to go about the rest of his shift, before making his way to the place at the appointed hour. It wasn’t rare to see Glaives around here, although most of those that visited Yamachanga’s were of Galahdian decent. Seeing someone with features that clearly screamed Nif around was rare, but not unheard of. Soon enough the two of them find each other and he is presented with the specialty of the “house”, if one wanted to call it that, the cheerful congratulations affording the brunet a quirked brow before Seifer gave a low, rumbling laugh upon hearin his name butchered. “Seifer,” he corrected with a bemused shake of his head, grabbing the beer bottle and clinking it against her drink of choice. “But you’re not wrong about the fun part~” he added, before taking a generous sip.

[altrxisme]

oh man, i've emphasized how goddamn touch-starved Jo is yes but it's muuuuuuuuuch worse in her Nif General AU like way worse bc aside from the good people in her life, a majority of her life has been fighting for an Emperor she doesn't even support. Lady doesn't even take off her damn helmet except around her unit in the privacy of their own camp, family, and when she's on her own. When the occasional child that encounters her and talks to her hugs her leg she will fucking cry afterwards. good, safe touches overwhelm her in this au but damn if she doesn't cry for it

[nifsrocks]

[gamblins]

" thank you niffty " husk didn't except the tiny lady to down the whole drink in one go. blinking lightly wondering if this was a good idea to even give her more drinks. " nif i don't think its a good idea to have you drink more. . . "

but husk would be a hypocrite for he drinks a lot, but she was tiny compared to him . . . she was def a light weight. " fine fine , but im gonna cut you off you your get crazy . "

mixing up another drink for her mixing up a Strawberry Mezcal Margarita which is much more stronger in alchoal but still fruity " nif dont down this one too okie take your time with it . . . "

Her eyes light right up, sparkling with awe as he worked his fancy hands for her fancy drink, her own hands quickly clapping together as she reaches forward to grab at the cocktail.

✥✧∘* "Oh, Husk, this looks good...!" She giggles, moving the drink to her mouth to sip on it, squinting a little as she smacks her lips to really take in the taste before she downs the rest of it in the next moment.

✥✧∘* "Gimme something stronger...! Mama's feeling the zing now!"

[junemermaid]

ohoho, tell me about 'happened on the way to the pier'! *Is* it a 'A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum' crossover like my brain is insisting it must be?

Alas that it is not a crossover! I have many regrets.

This is a fic that only exists as a jumble of notes and a conversation with an RL friend (also into NiF), BUT if I ever flex my humour muscles enough to pull it off, it will go thus:

Li Gang and Zhen Ping really need to make it to a river boat departure at the other end of a picturesque village somewhere in the sticks of Da Liang. On the way there, they will encounter certain difficulties, such as:

someone's goat is missing. it is their only goat, and as gentlemen of the Jiangzuo Alliance LG and ZP are honour-bound to help.

Zhen Ping gets recognised and challenged to a duel by an old enemy. a tavern brawl may ensue.

a young lady is fleeing from a distasteful marriage and they need to disguise her and bring her onto the boat with them. between here and the pier, she may decide she'd rather marry one of them instead.

there is a herb they have to buy from the village apothecary for the Chief's treatment. if they don't, Lin Chen will be extremely cross.

and various other escapades that may or may not somehow feed into a scheme Mei Changsu has going on in the background.

In the end, they make the boat. Happy ending because this is a strictly funny fic about two very tired henchmen and public transport (because this was a prompt in the NiF holiday exchange and I very much wanted to write a treat before the holidays intervened).

I'm not sure this will ever happen, but the thought of it delights me.

[semirahrose]

 kind people are kind because they know firsthand that life isn't   (insp.)    [ ♕ ]

[sugarbabywenkexing]

I'm only two episodes in to Nirvana in Fire but Mu Nihuang please call me

[dangermousie]

@aysekira #nobody wins in this drama seriously#had royal nirvana not come out i'd pegged this as the (if not one of) most realistic 'ancient royal' potrayal(s) in my mind#also you just know i have a penchant for WJS because his niche of playing 'villainous' dad actually made my heart sing#got to the point where i feel weird seeing him playing a good guy dad in NIF#&then went 'there he is' seeing him in fu yao&ingenious. HEH.#the glory of tang dynasty#大唐荣耀

I have the hots for the evil dad. He's my personal GFILF tho he's usually playing such scumbags! That scene in Fuyao where he tells Wuji as he's dying (after doing his best to break him in every possible way) that he, Wuji, will now be lonely forever but that also dad has given him all the love he had to give (while fully knowing Wuji is not his child) - it's one of my fave ever drama scenes.

For a show that started with crossdressing hijinks, The Glory of Tang Dynasty really decides to dive into bleakness quicker than one thought possible. Not that it didn't give you warning - that opening with the fatuous old king beating the drum for his concubine intercut with a whole clan getting exterminated and his crown prince on his knees? One of the best drama openings of all time imo.

And I do love that nobody wins - they are all either dead, exiled, permanently wounded by life (Linzhi just peacing out, wanting to forget she ever was married or knew anyone in the imperial city - my god. And she and Li Tan show that it doesn't even matter if you don't vie for power, you will still be ground down - Li Tan was than unicorn of a prince who had no interest in power and was all about supporting his brother the crown prince potential and all he wanted was to chill it in his mansion with his lady wife and he still got destroyed) or lost what makes life sweet.

Li Chu unlike Luo Jin's tormented Crown Prince in Royal Nirvana, does not lose his battle for the throne - in fact he ascends to the top dog position. But it is no way a victory - not only is the country a wreck, on a personal level he loses everyone he's ever cared for. His beloved brother is executed by their father (!), his friends are dead, and in the end he loses the love of his life. Someone else once pointed out that the drama ends the way it opens - with Li Chu watching the most important woman in his life (mother in the beginning, wife in the end) walk away from him forever and not able to stop it and that has sort of haunted me since then.

Honestly, it's a crime this drama has no Engish subs because it's so good and it really does have a stacked cast you'd expect to result in subbing (Allen Ren, Jing Tian, Qin Jun Jie, Mao Zijun, Wan Qian.) I guess it had the misfortune to come out in 2017 when viki switched from fan channels to licensed only and so no fansubs but it was before almost all cdramas ended up subbed by various official entities.

Daddy the Crown Prince: Divorce your wife! Her reputation is ruined and everyone is talking about her being in a brothel. Who cares none of it is her fault.

Li Tan: Like hell I will! I may be terrible as an emotional support but apparently I am way better than most men in this benighted story because I AM CAPABLE OF BEING ABLE TO FIGURE OUT WHAT IS SOMEONE’S FAULT AND WHAT IS NOT.

Daddy the Crown Prince: Just thank God you have no children or the reputation of our whole family would be implicated, the kind of gossip those kids would have about who their father is! Too bad I don’t know my own wife is gonna give me a baby not my own.

Stepmom: heeheehee

Li Tan who apparently discovered his inner feminist: Stepmom, you are a woman yourself, how can you be OK with this idea? Also, Dad, what if someone had gossip about stepmom having a baby not your own, you’d just divorce her?

Stepmom: heeheehee

Daddy the Crown Prince: Did you forget the bit where I divorced your mom the royal wife and sent her to a nunnery to please daddy? I don’t know where my sons learned their ability to put others above themselves but it’s not from me.

Li Tan: I am NOT divorcing her.

Daddy the Crown Prince: Let me kick you some. In fact, the way I am handing the whole thing being enraged and abusive and as comforting as a boulder definitely shows where you learned your lack of healthy family interactions or how to comfort someone from. I mean you being able to be genuinely in love is already pushing the bounds of probability, kiddo, emotionally open marriage would be a step too far. At least you are not a freak like Li Chu, who actually can communicate within relationships.

Li Tan: ibid.

Daddy the Crown Prince: OK, I am gonna use really small words. Either you divorce her and kick her out and her life gets saved, or you drag it out and grandpa emperor is gonna send down a decree for her to hang herself. You can slut it up with concubines and whores, but your wife is supposed to be pure.

Li Tan: Fuck. What else did I expect though. I am played by Qin Jun Jie and thus my lot is to suffer.