wrote_and_writ | Entries tagged with sunday snippet

Life, as ever, rolls on. I’m getting more details about what my return to China (if it’s approved) could look like, which is both comforting and a new source of anxiety. I got stung by a wasp a few days ago, and my arm still hurts. Wasps are jerks. Guardian Week is actually working well for inspiration, so I’ve put aside my modern Sangcheng/Yunmeng brothers feelings for a bit, but here is a snippet of conversation that I’m not sure I have a place for — yet — but I really want a place for it because it makes me laugh.

Huaisang gives Jiang Cheng his sweetest smile. “It’s only ever been you, Chengcheng. And that one guy from that show we watched? The magic archaeologist one?”

Jiang Cheng nods. That guy was hot. His magic tattoo may or may not be the reason Jiang Cheng’s got a folder on his computer of tattoo ideas. “Okay, honest answer? The sight of your brother in his rugby shorts was my bi awakening,” Jiang Cheng says.

“Same, actually,” Wei Ying replies.

Jiang Cheng doesn’t realize he’s moving until his hand comes up, clenched in a fist which he holds out to Wei Ying. Wei Ying doesn’t take his eyes off his phone, but he raises his own hand to bump Jiang Cheng’s fist.

General Update: Things are moving! Slowly and tentatively! I got an email from work asking for some paperwork. They are applying for a special invitation to allow staff to come back to China. IF all goes well, and IF I am approved, I could be back to work to start the school year!

Writing is still a bit of a slog, but I managed to get another chapter of my Untamed high school AU out. I have another outlined and partially drafted. I would love to finish it in the next week. As for my Guo Changcheng-centered series idea, well...I hope to finish what was supposed to be a chapter but will now probably be a little standalone fic. Because last night I was hit with an idea for an Untamed fic in a modern classical musicians AU. I outlined in a bit of a frenzy last night and started making a playlist. It’s heavy on Ralph Vaughan Williams at the moment — Jiang Cheng is a violist (playing up the feeling that he is second best, an after thought), and RVW wrote some incredible pieces for viola. His other works also have good parts for the viola section. I’m also a violist, so I’m hoping that helps me stay motivated. I’m actually excited about this piece because I can see the general shape of the story almost totally clearly, but instead of my usual slapdash, publish-as-I-write nonsense, I’m actually going to try and draft the whole thing first. Shocking, I know!

If anyone is interested in the playlist, I’ll probably make one on YouTube and put a link out on Twitter at

trixietricoter and in a post here. Expect lots of RVW, Dvorak, and Elgar. Lots of late 19th and early 20th century stuff.

Anyway, I still feel hesitant about this current high school AU but I have enjoyed the space the characters occupy, and I think that’s enough for me. For now. So I press on. So here’s a bit from that story.

“Hi, Mr. Song. Hi, Mr. Xiao.”

The shorter man, dressed in a dove grey sweater and comfortable jeans, smiles serenely as the other, taller man wearing head to toe black cries with dismay “We’re twenty five, Wanyin! Twenty! Five!”

“Hello, Wanyin.” The shorter man, whose name tag says Xingchen leans against the counter. “I didn’t see your name on the schedule for today, especially not at, “he checks his watch, “eleven AM on a school day.” He casts a questioning glance towards Wei Ying, who paws idly through a bin of metal badges.

“Mental health day,” he says, knowing Xiao Xingchen of all people would understand. He was the first person Jiang Cheng told about Wen Chao, though he only gave a truncated version of events, and it was only because that prick had followed him from school to work one day to continue harassing him.

Most days, I’m only vaguely aware of what day of the week it is. I’m still feeling both utterly unmoored and permanently anchored. It is somehow August. I should be getting ready for the next school year, but since I’m pretty certain now my dreams of getting back into my classroom in time to start the year will not be coming true, I’m wholly unmotivated to make any lesson plans at all. I’m experienced enough that I can put together a unit in about a day, so I’m waiting to see what my schedule will be like, who my students are, and where they are in the curriculum before I do anything. Normally, I love the vast possibility of a new year, but this year, the best I can manage is “meh. We’ll read some stories and write some essays and learn some vocab and it will be whatever.”

Oh! I did manage to consume the new season of The Umbrella Academy and I’m almost caught up on the new season of Tomb Show, plus I finished season 3 of Medical Examiner Dr. Qin, mostly because Liu Haikuan is gorgeous and I love him.

July was a better month than June for my GYWO challenge. I’m ahead of the goal by about 20 days (I’m doing the habit tracker goal of writing 240 days this year), so I could just slack/rest, but I don’t want to lose the little forward momentum that I have, so I’m going to work on my sangcheng/Yunmeng bros modern AU fic and a Guardian fic (loosely inspired in structure by

starandrea Untamed AU — not in content but in the slice-of-life daily story, although I know I won’t manage to get something written and out everyday.

To that end, here is a little bit of my Untamed story, back with Brotherly Feelings (as was the original intent of the story before Nie Huaisang muscled in).

“So what are you kids into these days besides video games and rock music?” Wei Ying asks with a broad grin and broader gestures.

Jiang Cheng rolls his eyes, but a bit of ice forms in his heart when he realizes Wei Ying isn’t just being his normal, ridiculous self. He realizes that his brother doesn’t actually know what he likes, what he does in his (limited) free time. His response is frosty when he says “I’ll take you to a shop.”

I actually managed to post a small update to a fic I started back in May! 😮😮😮 It’s not great, but it’s also not terrible, and I’m going to just take that small victory.

In the mean time, I’m rolling around in The Lost Tomb world, trying not to think about work as it gets close to August, finishing up an online class, and generally Fretting About Things.

My local Starbucks has put out its outdoor tables for the first time in months, and I went out today and sat and wrote a bit. I can stay nice and distant from other people and feel a bit more normal. Not being able to go to cafes has been the toughest for me because I have spent the last 15 years or so training myself to work there. Home is too quiet, naps are too tempting, but go sit at a Starbucks, anywhere in the world, and I have an almost Pavlovian response to write a few things down. I’m hoping to get my mom’s bike fixed up so I can ride down in the morning, treat myself to a coffee and a bit of a sit, and then go back home — get some mental and physical exercise.

In the meantime, I’ve had an idea for a Guo Changcheng-centric fic about his first full, “normal” year at the SID, after everyone finds the Hallows, defeats Ye Zun (I don’t have the energy to save him, too, not in this story), and get on living because nobody else dies. Below the cut is a little snippet of part of that fic.
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Ah, time. What even is it any more? As I was falling asleep last night, I suddenly felt that I had missed Sunday, but it was only Saturday.

Another week of not really finishing anything, writing wise. I’m getting into The Lost Tomb reboot and watching the original series, which I enjoy. I’m crocheting. But my heart wants to write and my everything else is not cooperating.

Normally, this is the time of year where I’d be making plans to go back to work, but I don’t know what that will look like, so it’s really hard to plan. It’s hard to be excited about school, too. I refuse to teach in the US anymore. I’m not cannon fodder.

I feel like I’m sitting on an airplane that’s stopped on the runway. We can neither take off to go somewhere, nor can we get off the plane and make other plans. Sitting there, crammed into a too-small seat, unable to do anything besides watch TV and crochet. -_-

Anyway, I’m still working on a sangcheng fic, in bits and pieces, and I think I have the general emotional shape of it, but I haven’t managed to write the plot.

“Do you love me, Huaisang?”

Huaisang sighed. “After all these years, Wanyin? Does it really need saying?”

“Answer me, please.”

“I would pull down the heavens for you, Jiang Cheng.”

“That’s not the same thing as love.”

“Isn’t it?”

Jiang Cheng picked up the letter and stood. “The Yunmeng Jiang Sect accepts your proposal,” he said, not meeting Huaisang’s eyes. “You will receive a formal acceptance letter within the week. I’ll go now.” He turned and picked up his sword.

Oh hello! I hope you all had a lovely and relaxing weekend. If you aimed to be productive in any way, I hope you are satisfied with your progress. I’m binge watching dumb UFO shows at the moment because I can put them on in the background. Anxiety is still far too high, but I did manage to get some writing I’m proud of (or will be once it’s edited). However, they’re pieces for exchanges and other people, so I can’t share any snippets of those. I have made some progress on a sangcheng piece that I still have good feelings about, although it’s got a long way to go. It’s a post-drama relatively canon-compliant story that takes place roughly 10-15 years after the show ends. I hope I can actually finish it because it will end up being longer than things I normally write, and I would like to meet this challenge.

Anyway, here’s a little bit of actual prose that may or may not end up in the story.

Huaisang’s solution was elegant. Of course it was.

Jiang Cheng sighed. “I don’t suppose you’d tell me how long you’ve been working on this particular scheme?”

”Since Wen Qing died,” Huaisang responded immediately. He set his fan aside and calmly sipped his tea while Jiang Cheng fought to get control of his expression.

Sunday Snippet
Writing, ah writing. I fear the muse is taking after my three-year-old nephew, refusing to be wrangled and lead into anything resembling productivity. However, I got my assignment for the multi fandom Drabble, so I actually have things I’m somewhat happy with, but I don’t want to give anything away. I did, however, write a short Untamed fic, part of my personal modern AU world, focusing on the familial relationship between Jiang Cheng and Lan Jingyi. I’ll pop a snippet of that under the cut. I put it up on AO3 a few days ago.

I have been productive in other areas. I made somewhere between 10-15 cloth masks this week. I gave them out to family and friends and kept a few for myself. I also made a little purse using some of the fabrics from my Spoonflower order. I call it the Lotus Pier bag because I’m a hopeless nerd.

( continue on for story snippet )

Words continue to be difficult and elusive. However, my star blanket is coming along nicely. I have THREE more weeks of school, and I am ready to be done! I hope that with some rest, words will be a little more cohesive. I’m still writing a bit every day, but it hasn’t amounted to anything substantial.

This Nie Huaisang/Jiang Cheng (The Untamed) fic is what I worked on a bit this weekend before quitting to crochet and watch Netflix. It’s a lil sexy, so I’m putting it under a cut, just in case.
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Writing is not going well. The news is making me extra anxious. I’ve started crocheting and knitting some new things, so that’s something. I have four weeks left of distance learning for this year, and then I can take a week or two to rest before I start planning for next year. There’s still no word on when I can go back to China, but I really hope I can go back in August to start the school year in my classroom.

Anyway. I have an idea that I really like that I’m letting sit for now because I don’t want to ruin it by pushing too hard when I hate everything I write, but here is another snippet. I’ve been sitting on this story for awhile, and I’m stuck.

Zhao Yunlan was, admittedly, a greedy bastard, and he reveled in the attention his lovers heaped on him, showering him with love and affection in their own ways. But they deserved more, and Zhao Yunlan was only one man. A shameless, ravenous man, yes, but even he had his limits.

Da Qing didn’t laugh when Zhao Yunlan told him his plan, which was, on reflection, rather worrying. He didn’t insult the plan or Yunlan’s intelligence or his limited human views of love and sex. He merely raised an eyebrow and told Zhao Yunlan that he would meet him outside his house the next morning and that he would be sleeping for the entire drive to Phoenix Lake, so Zhao Yunlan better be well rested.

I haven’t managed to finish a lot of things recently, but I’m still managing to write almost every day, so huzzah!

Here’s a little Guardian snippet for a new WIP that will have cuteness and humor.

Shen Wei heaved a deep sigh as he unboxed yet another smug, cream-and-white cat figurine, the vermillion dot between its eyes glaring at him, a symbol of his continuing failure.

“Here,” he said, handing it across his desk to Jiajia. “For your girl gang.”

Jiajia laughed nervously. “Wha—girl gang? Professor Shen, I have no idea what—“

“Jiajia,” Shen Wei said wearily, “Do you want it or not?”

The screaming comes from work — I was supposed to teach a live lesson when Teams just...died. Gremlins in the internet. I “fixed” it by uninstalling and reinstalling the app. Feelings and tech problems and aoifha[ohaepuhqeoiaoj

Which brings me to my Sunday Snippet, a modern Xicheng story that is percolating, a slice of life thing. Lan Xichen is an art teacher and Jiang Cheng does...something. Anyway, this is one of the stories I’m working on right now.

“Well. You know how middle schoolers are,” Xichen began, as he rubbed a hand along Jiang Cheng’s spine. “Disgusting little monsters, the lot of them,” he said, voice full of fond exasperation. “Dana noticed a rather suggestive drawing scribbled on the wall outside her classroom. It was about a foot off the floor, so she had a pretty good idea who the culprit was. She had set Asher Jenkins out of class earlier in the day for some minor infraction. She didn’t think much of it. She didn’t even write him up.”

I am le tired, y’all. Seven more weeks of school left, and my brain is mush. I’ve been bouncing around between different WIPs, different media, different everything. Everything gives me Feelings, and I’m ill equipped to deal with them.

I’m still working on that h/c Weilan fic, but I’m also watching The Untamed while on the treadmill and subsequently wallowing in Yunmeng Brothers Feelings. However, I am only dealing with them in a modern AU where no one gets murdered and everyone will (eventually) get therapy. So my Sunday Snippet is from a nebulous Wei Ying-Jiang Cheng centric fic in which there will be Talking About Emotions as well as Oversharing Personal Details.

“You know the family motto is ‘attempt the impossible,’ not ‘achieve the impossible,’ right?”

Jiang Cheng peels his swimming cap and goggles off and tosses them on the edge of the pool. He takes a breath and ducks under the cool water, ignoring Wei Ying’s quizzical look for a few moments more.

“What do you want?” Jiang Cheng asks, breathless and irritated.

“I’m taking you to dinner, baby bro.”

“I have a meet on Saturday.”