#making mdzs my 'fandom of the summer and also the rest of the year and more' of 2020 and 2021 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

procrastynol · 3 years

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I wasn’t tagged, but I’ll take the invitation from @theghostcaptain and just hop on the train to answer some questions about my writing. So, I guess thanks are in order? 😉❤️

AO3: @Procrastynol

Fandoms

Currently I’m trapped in the MDZS hell (focusing on songxiao, but pretty much everything else is also go, wangxian, 3zun, anything) with a side of SVSSS and FF7 (mainly tsengru and/or turks centric). I’m still working my way through the huge load of danmei, so maybe things like TGCF, 2HA or SPL will soon join the list.

Other things I can’t seem to let go of include FF15, Mass Effect, Dragon Age and a hint of Marvel and Star Wars. If you want to go really far back, you can add LotR and Hobbit to the pile.

Where You Post

You can find all of my fics on AO3 @Procrastynol

I rarely use tumblr anymore, mostly for keeping all the links to my fics organised in one place - and to read meta that will shred my poor heart. My main social media is Twitter, so if you want to yell at me, please go over there and feel free to do so.

Most Popular Multichap

None (so far). But I have something brewing for my songxiao gang, so I’ll just be a little tease and tell you to stay tuned for more until Summer 2021. 😉

Favourite Story You’ve Written So Far

Untethered (MDZS, songxiao, character study xxc)

That is my November/December/Christmas-procrastination baby, which started out as a midnight word vomit I wrote in a desperate attempt to find sleep. It only grew from there, and it has become my first deep dive into the character of Xiao Xingchen and the canon setting of MDZS. To this day, it just blows me away how well this story is received despite its length and the rather limited songxiao bubble. I’m really proud of what I did here, and it has been a while since I could say that about anything I have written.

Fic You Were Nervous to Post

Frostbloom Flowers (MDZS, modern songxiao, flowershop AU)

This was my absolute first fic for the fandom, and my second fic in total after the unexpected “success” of Conflict of Interest. I was so scared to get the characters or the setting wrong, even more so since this was a prompt fill for the songxiao Secret Santa event. It has done surprisingly well, so well actually, that I have turned this into a series that I will continue this February.

How You Choose Your Titles

They either come to me or the don’t. Really, there is almost nothing in between. Sometimes a poem, a line, a lyric, an image, SOMETHING sparks my imagination and the title is the first thing I have.

If it is the other way around, the idea usually revolves around a certain dialogue, scene, setting, etc. that I want to explore and I really struggle finding a title for it once the fic is finished. There are rare instances where a title comes to me simply while working on a fic, but mostly it’s hit or miss. If it is the latter, I usually sit in my room and decide to name stories after the first thing my eyes land on 5 minutes before posting them. 😅

Do You Outline

90% of times I do. Especially larger works or multichaps need an outline. I sometimes try to write non-chronologically, and I have a really hard time doing it, so the outline becomes my LIFELINE. It allows me to skip over parts I find hard and just put the famous [get there] in certain spaces, knowing I can come back later to flesh them out because the outline guides through this process.

For oneshots, I sometimes freestyle, but even then I usually write down a few lines for the scenes/dialogues I really want to include and put them in the corresponding order, so I have a goal to work towards to and don’t start meandering around.

I hate doing them, though, even though I largely depend on outlines.

Complete

All of my fics are complete at the moment, but I have two on-going series that I’m feeding with new entries in irregular intervals.

In Progress

I have some WIPS, but none of them are in the process of being published right now. But there are a few things I’m working on, so follow me to the next paragraph if you want more details on that. 😁

Coming Soon / Not Yet Started

Curiosity killed the Cat [WT] - which is a MDZS multichapter fic I have started working on last December. I really wanted to try writing a case fic for once, something more than just drama and romance (although drama and romance will still be very much part of this). Plotting a murder mystery is really new to me and sometimes exhausting, but so far I’m having a lot of fun doing it. I don’t want to spoil the details, but it will definitely focus on pre-canon songxiao and a mysterious haunting/murder they encounter during their travels.

Another thing would be the continuation of the Egret Flower series. Currently I’m finalising the second part, writing on part three and four has already begun. Part two will feature songxiao going on the date that has been teased in the first part, Frostbloom Flowers, and part three is currently giving me a hard time because I decided to include some wangxian - we’ll see how it goes.

I’m also trying to feed the Shinra fandom a bit, since it got me back into writing literally days before I got swept away by MDZS and danmei hell. But tsengru still holds a place in my heart, has done so for years, and so Conflict of Interest has now also been turned into a series, It’s me or the Dog, and the second part for this series is also outlined already and just waiting for me to flesh it out.

Upcoming Work You’re Most Excited About

Curiosity killed the Cat [WT], definitely. I have only ever finished one other multichap in my life, and I plan to complete this one before I start posting it, to feed my lovely songxiaoists in regular intervals (and to make sure this entire case fic works and does not go up in smoke halfway down). But since this involves so many new things for me at the same time, I’m equally excited and anxious to finish it and start posting it.

Tagging

Since I’m pretty much inactive on this platform I find it a bit hard to tag someone. I think @wangji-string might have something to offer, at least if they haven’t participated already (although if you don’t feel like doing this, please feel free to ignore me). I’ll just leave it open to the rest of you whoever read this and may find it interesting - if you want to do this, please, feel free to do it! 😉

#my writing #procrastynol speaks

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bladedweaponsandswishycoats · 3 years

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Another Ask game from @theleakypen

Name: myro (not really, but for here). bladedweaponsandswishycoats on tumblr, bladedweapons on fandom twitter.

Fandoms I have written for: Only MDZS/The Untamed so far, really. (Technically I wrote a 1 sentence fic for Gideon the Ninth, but that doesn’t really count, it was a furious 1am angry post when I finished the book and was mad at the ending.)

Where you post: AO3, twitter, whatever on here, though less here.

Favorite one-shot (yes I changed the prompt): Missed Connections, Yunmeng which is Yunmeng siblings pov of the last bit of the flashback/episode 33. It is angsty and only 400 words but I love it.

Favorite multichapter: I think probably my Mo Xuanyu fix-it that I have not yet started posting. It’s a postcanon wangxian casefic that rescues Mo Xuanyu. Here’s a bit from a WiP Weds post. But since it is not posted yet, in the interests of talking about what is posted, maybe It Must Be Tuesday (Wei Wuxian’s in Trouble), which is a Burial Mounds canon divergence. I haven’t updated it in a bit, but that is because I’ve decided to write the whole rest of it so that I can post it quickly over a few weeks, and at this point its nearly there.

Fic you were nervous to post: Oh My God, There’s Two of Them Now, which is a crossover with a lot of meta-textual silliness and dimension jumping, in which comics-Loki, wangxian, and Jiang Cheng team up to go help other demonic cultivators in other fandoms, starting with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Yes, Buffy is a demonic cultivator, fight me. I was nervous to post it because crossovers are not usually as popular and I wasn’t sure anyone would want to read it.

How do you choose your titles: Uh, I don’t really have a consistent method. My first fic in the fandom was based on a translated Wuji lyric, the Tuesday one is based on a line of dialogue in Buffy, and the crossover is based on my reaction/ how I assume the rest of the characters in MDZS/Untamed would react if faced with WWX and Loki, with TWICE the chaotic queer gremlin energy of either one alone.

Do you outline: Yes, but sometimes it means I do so much outlining it is then hard to start writing, so I have been reconsidering maybe using the method less.

WiP I’m most excited about: (untitled) the Lanpires fic - the canon-verse Wangxian fic where the Lans are all vampires, that I’m writing with @iamwestiec- It’s so and sexy and fun, y’all. What’s better than just Yiling Laozu vibe? Yiling Laozu AND horny bitey Lan Zhan vampire vibes (Not posted yet but here’s a WiP Weds clip)

Other WiPs/not yet started (besides those already mentioned - but I have a rule of no more than 3 WiPs posting at a time so will be a while for some):

MDZS/Untamed:

One-shot about a nightmare where playing Inquiry turns into Vanquish (not posted)

written out form of this threadfic I did about the Lan forehead ribbon being woven with spells for compliance and obedience

(not yet started but exists in full form in my head) prequel to the Loki crossover where Loki as a multiverse-hopping god(dess) of story jumps into the Burial Mounds, see the mess that is the MDZS/Untamed verse, and proceeds to help Wei Wuxian unfuck the narrative and save some lives/make a happier ending for MDZS/Untamed.

Pseudo-academic paper-based fic in which academics several hundred years post-MDZS canon theorize about the “Qinghe Patron X” and their potential involvement in pivotal events leading to the Four Sects Era. In which academics theorize about Nie Huaisang, meanwhile Nie Huaisang is still alive and thinks it is hilarious to drop false clues and fuck with them.

TGCF:

Hualian smutty one-shot where Xie Lian and Hua Cheng find out that drinking divine/demonic(ghost) blood allows the demon(ghost)/god to control the drinker (like in SVSSS) and decide to have fun with it, involving blood drinking, Xie Lian with fangs, and bodily control fun.

Postcanon cathartic Beefleaf fix-it and get-together (mostly an outline so far)

Ghost Bros - about He Xuan and Hua Cheng being friends (so far some random chunks of dialogue but I want to do more but I lack a plot)

Prompts: I haven’t really done prompts, but I totally would try. Fair warning I am better at angst than I am at fluff. I was doing 3-sentence fic prompts for a while this summer and this Wei Wuxian + ghosts Murder Boi one is my favorite. (Prompt was Wang Lingjiao + Chenqing “thankful”)

Not tagging anyone because I am, as usual, too shy to presume so much (and also I think most people who might do this already have.)

#ask meme #fanfiction

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thirtysixsavefiles · 5 years

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Mo Dao Zu Shi/The Untamed: A Very Quick Overview

THIS IS A PITCH for reading/watching Mo Dao Zu Shi (also known as MDZS) and/or its live-action adaptation The Untamed. There are more than one excellent rec posts floating around which touch on different aspects of this story, including this one which I highly recommend (specifically for The Untamed).

If you’re seeing a lot about it lately, it’s because The Untamed (which aired in China this summer) just dropped on US Netflix as of 10/25/19 - I cannot emphasize enough how the entirety of the show is now on Netflix - so there’s never been a better time to see just what all these gifs of pretty people are about. :D

SO WHAT IS MDZS?

MDZS is a Chinese webnovel by author Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (MXTX) set in ancient fantasy China filled with magic, murder, and intrigue. It will do its very best to shred your heart, but it delivers on the happily ever after. It also offers a ton of my very favorite tropes, including but not limited to: mutual pining (so much pining), only one bed (only one bathtub!), battle couples, and brotherly (and “brotherly”) bonds, to name just a few.

It also has a canonically gay main couple - almost the entire novel is the main character figuring out he is stupidly, desperately in love with the other male lead. If you read/watch it you will spend so much time going “Wei Wuxian you dumbass,” and I mean that in the best way possible. Wei Wuxian is the “very smart but very stupid in one specific area” trope to a T, and it’s delightful.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

The story follows Wei Wuxian, one of the most powerful and most divisive cultivators (essentially, magic users) of his generation, who when the novel opens has been dead for thirteen years. (Or sixteen - the show and the novel have slightly different timelines.) He’s been summoned back to enact some revenge, but almost immediately runs into a murder mystery plot, a bigger revenge plot, and his ex Lan Wangji.

Lan Wangji is one of the other greatest cultivators of their generation, and has an impeccable, unimpeachable reputation. Wei Wuxian is pretty sure Lan Wangji hates him and always has; but the minute Wei Wuxian shows up Lan Wangji grabs him and refuses to let go. What could be going on here?

(It’s exactly what you think it is.)

The story follows Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji as they travel the countryside and unravel multiple mysteries (who do these dead body parts belong to, where are the rest of the body parts, who made them dead to begin with) including intrigue that stretches back before Wei Wuxian’s death and who’s pulling the strings behind Wei Wuxian’s return. There are several flashbacks to the past that illuminate the present, and there’s also both accidental and intentional kid adoption.

It can also get heavy. There are several character deaths, inter-clan warfare (although this happens mostly off-screen), and people behaving terribly toward each other. It gets sad, and heartbreaking, but (for me at least) still in a good way. And for the stuff that doesn’t get fixed in the story’s timeline, there’s always fic - there’s always fic.

There’s a lot I’m glossing over - the gray morality, the endless flirting, the mirroring of relationships, the things we do for the people we love, the things we do in the pursuit of power, the extensive cast of characters both lovable and asshole (and often both!) - but this post is already long enough.

OKAY BUT HOW DO I GET INTO IT?

You are in luck, because right now there are so many entry points to this story.

You can READ the fan-translation of the original novel (translated as The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation) at Exiled Rebels Scanlations. If you’re looking for the story in its original framing with as much detail as possible, this is your bet.

You can WATCH the (subtitled) live-action adaptation The Untamed on US Netflix, on Viki, and on WeTV Youtube. The subtitles vary in quality, so take them with a grain of salt.

You can ALSO WATCH the donghua on Tencent Youtube (official) and from Guodong Subs (unofficial).

You can ALSO READ the manhua on Exiled Rebels Scanlations.

You can LISTEN to (and also read, because subtitles) the audio drama from Suibian Subs.

HELP I’VE GOTTEN INTO IT AND I’M TERRIBLY CONFUSED

Yes this is pretty typical, especially for a Western audience that lacks the cultural context! I offer you two pieces of advice:

1) KEEP GOING - it will make sense in the end, mostly. You can figure out a lot by context, especially with the translator’s notes in the novel.

2) I HAVE RESOURCES FOR YOU which may help contextualize some of the names, relationships, and customs. Almost certainly contains spoilers, so follow your own judgement about that:

Brief primer on titles and relationships by @fleurdeliser

Visual primer of relationships (uses donghua visuals) by @yeetlung17 on Twitter

MDZS Fandom Wiki

Searchable glossary/dictionary of Chinese terms

I could say more but this post is already long enough. Go forth, if this sounds interesting - have I mentioned it’s on Netflix? - and see just what the fuss is all about.

#mdzs #the untamed #pitch post #why you should get in to mdzs #this is a very high level overview #there is more to say #more gifs to present #but i will stop here #for now #paging tumblr user #callmearcturus #long post

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