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likealeafonthewind) wrote2019-04-20 08:11 pm
likealeafonthewind) wrote2019-04-20 08:11 pm
Entry tags:
wipbigbang update
Today's the first check-in for the wipbigbang (which I only coincidentally stumbled upon because I apparently never subscribed to the journal, haha, oops) so I thought I'd also give an update for my fic. I'm using the concubine Shen Wei fic for this bigbang, which I've been calling my Scarlet Pimpernel fic because it was initially inspired by this plot bunny. However, I finally looked up the original Scarlet Pimpernel novel and realized that that name doesn't quite fit this fic. So....I think I might start calling this my wuxia fic? Because wuxia films are what I've ended up basing a lot of this on.
Word count at the start: 4,480
Current word count: 8,100 (a little less, actually, because some of those are section titles)
So, good news: I've already met the word count requirement for the fest!
Bad news: There's still so much more to write. :cries:
Worse news: I'M STUCK ON THE SEX SCENE. WHY IS SMUT SO HARD TO WRITE???
Shen Wei furrows his brows. Is this a test? Is Zhao Yunlan trying to assess his knowledge? Determine what types of weapons he had been trained in? Would it be better if he reveals that he is in fact very familiar with swordwork or not? He licks his lips a little and weighs the sword in his hands as he weighs his words. It feels uncannily similar to his own sword, in length and weight. “It is a well forged blade,” he settles on saying. “It feels balanced and looks to be evenly hardened by fire and water.”
Zhao Yunlan hums. “That’s good,” he says. Then he whips around suddenly, so fast that the skirt of his robes flare out.
It’s not until the harsh clang of steel clashing together echoes in the large room that Shen Wei realizes that Zhao Yunlan is holding a sword in his own hands, that he’d used it to strike at him, that Shen Wei had moved to block him automatically. From the shock reverberating down his arm, he can tell that it had been a strike with real intent behind it.
Word count at the start: 4,480
Current word count: 8,100 (a little less, actually, because some of those are section titles)
So, good news: I've already met the word count requirement for the fest!
Bad news: There's still so much more to write. :cries:
Worse news: I'M STUCK ON THE SEX SCENE. WHY IS SMUT SO HARD TO WRITE???
Shen Wei furrows his brows. Is this a test? Is Zhao Yunlan trying to assess his knowledge? Determine what types of weapons he had been trained in? Would it be better if he reveals that he is in fact very familiar with swordwork or not? He licks his lips a little and weighs the sword in his hands as he weighs his words. It feels uncannily similar to his own sword, in length and weight. “It is a well forged blade,” he settles on saying. “It feels balanced and looks to be evenly hardened by fire and water.”
Zhao Yunlan hums. “That’s good,” he says. Then he whips around suddenly, so fast that the skirt of his robes flare out.
It’s not until the harsh clang of steel clashing together echoes in the large room that Shen Wei realizes that Zhao Yunlan is holding a sword in his own hands, that he’d used it to strike at him, that Shen Wei had moved to block him automatically. From the shock reverberating down his arm, he can tell that it had been a strike with real intent behind it.
no subject
I LOVE that this is turning into a wuxia fic. I super support that and can't wait to read! <3
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Smut scenes are really not my thing as a writer. I've only written smut once before and I hated how it turned out. But this fic really does call for a couple of explicit scenes so I'm gonna give it my best shot. I'm mostly stuck because suddenly words that are perfectly good words sound completely awkward and ill-fitting and terrible when I'm using them in this context.
Yay, I'm glad you're excited for the fic! Every picture of long-haired Zhu Yilong that you've posted on Mastodon has served as inspiration for this, btw.
no subject
Scarlet Pimpernel is hard to work with these characters because it's so ... European. The problem I'm having in my fic is writing innocent naive Shen Wei on the surface and scheming, secretive Shen Wei underneath and having it seem plausible without shoe-horning him into something that doesn't fit his character. I don't know if there's a way to directly transpose them into that universe without it seeming like whitewashing. So mine has turned into arranged political marriage with some elements from the novel/films and that's about the best I can do lol
Excited for all these fics that are coming :D
no subject
I love arranged political marriage fics so I'm really looking forward to reading yours! I'm also really in awe of how much you've written for it already.
no subject
no subject
(Good luck with the sex scene!)