because I'm at it again ...
May. 23rd, 2025 07:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
trobadoraAfter finishing my 520 Day fic, I'm not exactly writing a lot, though I am trying to get into the flow again, but I've been thinking about it, because this sort of thing happens to me so often after I finish something, or even while I'm in the middle of it. So, poll!
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 38
When I write or finish a fic, I think about (or actually start) a sequel ...
These sequels are actually finished and posted ...
Ticky boxes?
View Answers
ticky boxes!
17 (50.0%)
more tickyboxes
9 (26.5%)
tickyboxes propagating further tickyboxes
27 (79.4%)
520 Day things, part one!
May. 22nd, 2025 11:13 pmtrobadoraSecond day of not-a-zombie-ness! And I do wonder if it's connected to the fact that I finally managedd to write (and finish!) a fic again ...
For this year's Guardian 520 Day exchange, I wrote for![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
AVAAntares. Protective and possessive Shen Wei, yes! And not in the way you'd maybe expect. *g* This story owes a lot to my beta china_shop, who made me make it immeasurably better:
And I received fantastic artwork for another of my stories, A Thread as Red as Blood, which is a post-YOHE first time at the SID. Just look at whatfacethestrange made - it's so good, and captures both the scene in my fic and the canon aesthetic so well!
(This post is part one because once I've made my way through the collection I hope to post recs. Such a bounty in there!)
For this year's Guardian 520 Day exchange, I wrote for
china_shop, who made me make it immeasurably better:The Consultant (3,830 words)
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Relationship: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Characters: Zhao Yunlan, Shen Wei, Gao Jingfeng
Content Tags: Episode Related, Episode 13, Canon Divergence, Protective Shěn Wēi, Possessive Shen Wei, Shen Wei's secrets, Dancing Around an Envoy Reveal, Zhao Yunlan's Self-Worth Issues, Pre-Relationship
Summary:
Never mind the chaos of the ruined wedding all around them: this was a different trainwreck altogether. Shen Wei - Dixingren Shen Wei, Black-Cloaked Envoy Shen Wei who must have used his powers to break Zheng Yi's spell - had drawn Minister Gao's attention.
And I received fantastic artwork for another of my stories, A Thread as Red as Blood, which is a post-YOHE first time at the SID. Just look at what
facethestrange made - it's so good, and captures both the scene in my fic and the canon aesthetic so well!Attuned by facethestrange
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Relationship/Characters: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Content Tags: Implied Sexual Content, Post-Coital Cuddling, Tenderness, Forehead Touching, Inspired by Fanfiction, Fanart, Drawing
Summary:They leaned against each other, Shen Wei still straddling him, their foreheads touching, both breathing hard. Zhao Yunlan felt sweat cooling on his skin as his heart came down from its race.Illustration for A Thread as Red as Blood by Trobadora.
"Shen Wei," he murmured, just for the pleasure of saying his name.
"I'm sorry," Shen Wei said, sounding not at all sorry. "I suddenly found I couldn't wait a moment longer."
(This post is part one because once I've made my way through the collection I hope to post recs. Such a bounty in there!)
wait, what?
May. 21st, 2025 08:52 pmtrobadoraIt's been almost two months since I've posted here?!
In conclusion, hi, everyone! I hope to actually post more again now, and not fall into a slump again right away. (Fingers crossed!)
Coming soon (I HOPE): Guardian 520 Day Reverse Exchange reveals (preview: I wrote a fic! I got fantastic artwork for one of my fics! There's a delightful bounty of stuff in the collection that I need to sit down to properly enjoy and comment on!) and also other updates.
- That can't be right. But it is??
- I mean, I have been in a complete slump for nearly three months now, and today is the first day in ages that I don't feel like a zombie, but still. How did that happen?!
- It didn't and doesn't feel like I was away from here for that long at all!
- But I guess that's because I've actually been commenting a lot - I've been on DW! I've been reading my flist, and replying to posts and comments! And I've been part of the 60-billion-comment club over at
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
sid_guardian, aka the excellent Guardian discussions happening in the comments of the novel readalong posts, and china_shop's delightful drama polls, where we can't shut up about our fandom. *g* - What I haven't done in all that time is any real writing, other than the one exchange fic that went live last night. Just a bunch of alibi sentences and false starts. Pretty sure that made the zombie issue worse; I always feel worse when I'm not writing. But in addition to the slump, time and energy have both been at a low ebb.
- So, uh, yeah. Two months! For reasons, but I'm glad to finally be breaking that streak.
In conclusion, hi, everyone! I hope to actually post more again now, and not fall into a slump again right away. (Fingers crossed!)
Coming soon (I HOPE): Guardian 520 Day Reverse Exchange reveals (preview: I wrote a fic! I got fantastic artwork for one of my fics! There's a delightful bounty of stuff in the collection that I need to sit down to properly enjoy and comment on!) and also other updates.
Our local butcher has been driven out of business
May. 17th, 2025 09:46 ameledonecirrhosa My local butcher is closing down this week. He says meat prices are so high, his customers can't afford to pay what he'd need to charge to stay in profit. Beef has risen in price 3 times recently. Even traditionally cheap cuts like ox tails are now ridiculously expensive. Once he ordered beef on a Monday and by the time they delivered it on Thursday and invoiced, it cost him £200 more than Monday's quoted price. Last week he sold £1200 worth of meat, and made £146. That's not enough for him to cover the shop's expenses, let alone pay himself a wage. He says one of the local 'mini-marts' which sells meat (including halal) told him they are in the same situation.
If he buys chicken wholesale, it costs him £2.18 a kilo. The supermarkets sell that same chicken for £2.16 a kilo, because they make profit elsewhere and take the hit on the meat.
He says the wholesalers are telling everyone the rise in National Insurance contributions and National Living Wage is what is pushing up their overheads.
I guess eating less meat will be good for me. But I also used to get fishcakes, macaroni bakes and hash browns from my butcher.
The butcher has a side-line in selling second-hand goods. So he'll expand that business after the butcher's shop is closed. I hope that works out for him.