#yufan packs

[users-kpop]

#1. bae jinyoung

jinyofix

jinyofair

jinyovie

baejinfvs

4baejiny

ibaejiny

#2. jake + sunghoon

jkesungh

jkesghoo

jaksgho

snghjk

ghoojk

sghoojk

#3. bts + enhypen

bangtenh

btssenh

ibtsenhyp

hypnbts

hypbtss

4enhbts

#4. zhao yufan

yufanfav

yufanlip

yufanvcr

yufanweb

zhaoyufv

izhaoyuf

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don't save if u won't use

[sugar-stories]

A Varri-Cycle Built for Two Chapter 2 Extended Author’s Notes

Welcome to Part Two of a continuing series of notes & sketches that accompany my LoK fanfic! In short, it deals with the adventures of Varrick & Zhu Li about a year before they meet Team Avatar, which you can read here:

Chapter Two is the shortest chapter, but it introduces the fic’s namesake. You may think that a tandem bicycle is a silly thing to name an 18,000 word story after, and honestly, you may be right. But the reason I chose that name is because the bicycle isn’t just a bicycle, it’s a symbol of Varrick’s capacity to have a relationship with the girls he tries to show it off to: these’s only room for him and Zhu Li on it, and Zhu Li is the one who does all the pedaling and steering. 😏

In this chapter, Varrick drags Zhu Li around the Earth Kingdom as he tries to court investors for the Varri-Cycle. Chapter Two is much less action-packed and more “slice of life” than Chapter One, and I use it to establish a status quo: Varrick has a lot of shallow relationships with a lot of women, but even when he’s out on a date, Zhu Li is still there and on the job—taking notes, handing him things, attempting to put out fires (both figuratively and literally), and just generally looking out for him in her own quiet way. Although taking your personal assistant with you on all your dates is definitely a weird idea, it seemed pretty on-brand for Varrick—if the two of them sharing a platypus bear suit and a jail cell in Book Two are any indication, anyway! “Zhu Li never leaves my side” indeed.

Sketches and more under the cut! :) (...is what I tried to do, but alas, mobile Tumblr is a harsh mistress. Sorry about that. Pretend there’s a read more here. :| )

So here are the girls Varrick fails to win over this chapter:

...again, bear with my inability to draw, but here we have Yufan Ling (left) and Lady Xing (right).

Yufan is an heiress who has both Water Tribe and Earth Kingdom heritage, so her style reflects a little of both and is a little more “current” for the 20s-esque style of Korra than Xing. (The 1920’s are when qipao were coming into vogue.) Yufan is an adorable, smiling bundle of barely-contained rage. Varrick flirts with her solely for her potential to invest in his inventions, and she desperately flirts back due to being insecure. She gets extra clingy and jealous when she notices Zhu Li is around.

Lady Xing is a member of Queen Hou-Ting’s court. As Hou-Ting seems to be based on the Dowager Empress Cixi, I have Xing dressed in a style reflecting the late Qing dynasty, when the Manchurian ruling class defined a lot of China’s fashion, but Han styles were being incorporated as well. Despite Xing’s elegant appearance, her hairpiece is probably relatively tiny compared to those of her contemporaries. Xing’s family is an old noble family, but money has been an issue lately, which is why she answered her own door—all the servants have been let go. Xing is shrewd, observant, sarcastic, and isn’t afraid to speak her mind. Because of this, sees straight through Varrick and does not put up with any of his shenanigans. (At least not anymore—he hurt her deeply in the past during some noodle incident that I intentionally leave vague.) Xing is also quick to pick up on Zhu Li’s feelings towards Varrick, which is a skill few people possess since Zhu Li is extremely hard to read at this point in her character arc.

Speaking of which, I got to do my first romantic fake-out ala Book 4 this chapter...gosh those are fun to write though, haha 😅

Finally, it might be interesting to point out that the scene at Xing’s estate was the first one I envisioned when I was trying to come up with ideas for this fic. It was originally going to be the first scene, but then I figured it’d be more fun to start with something action-packed—hence what then became Chapter One. I was also going to have Chapters 2 and 3 be one continuous chapter, but it seemed like it’d be too long. (Joke’s on me, Chapter 4 ended up being about 10K words! Oh well.)

Last but not least, my additional resources for fashion research (which serve as a helpful supplement the East Asian history/languages courses I took at school. You’re never done learning! There’s still so much I don’t know 😭)

Chinese Fashion Timeline

Late Qing hairstyles & clothing (as conveyed in period dramas vs. real life) from Hanfugirl:

Accessories and Makeup

Hair