Hils's journal

Alive

hils — Sun, 06 Feb 2022 15:35:49 GMT

Just to let you know cross-posting from DW to LJ no longer works. I'll try to check in occasionally but I don't have time to manage 2 blogs. I barely have time for DW as it is.

Hope everyone is well.

I did this to myself

hils — Mon, 24 Jan 2022 17:10:07 GMT

Remember the AU I came up with in 5 seconds for this post? The idea won't leave me alone so I have decided to write it.

Those who know me will know I generally don't write super long fics and definitely not big multi-chaptered things. This is going to be big. I don't know how big, exactly, but I've outlined the first six chapters and barely scratched the surface.

Is it weird to be intimidated by something you haven't even started writing yet? I think it's the whole process of writing something big like this just because it's so different to the 8k one shots I usually bash out.

I've been lucky that two discords I'm on have been super helpful when I've had questions like 'do I post as I go or wait until it's finished?' and 'do I get someone to beta a chapter at a time or give them the whole thing at the end'.

Well, last year was the 'get back into writing' year. Maybe this year's challenge is to write this.

There are a few exchanges and other fandom events I want to participate in so I'll be writing this around other fics.

Wish me luck! This entry was originally posted at https://hils.dreamwidth.org/8808245.html.

TV Shows 2022

hils — Sat, 22 Jan 2022 17:04:21 GMT

1. Hawkeye - Started this last year but finished it last week because I was watching it with Jacqui so we left the last episode until we were both back from the holidays. It was fun. A nice mesh of the Fraction comics and the MCU version of Clint. Kate was awesome.
2. The Witcher Season 2 - Despite the fact I could barely remember anything that happened in season 1 I still very much enjoyed this. Jaskier continues to be a delight. Henry Cavill's arms, also delightful.
3. Tale of the Nine-Tailed - I loved this! Full of Korean mythology and folklore, an excellent female lead, and a side character I got very attached to. I didn't think I was overly emotionally invested and then I bawled through the finale. So good.
4. Kieta Hatsukoi (My Love Mix-Up) - This was adorable. It was very silly, and a lot of the drama could have been avoided if the characters had just talked to each other, but I haven't watched a bl drama in ages and overall it was very sweet. This entry was originally posted at https://hils.dreamwidth.org/8808159.html.

Snowflake Challenge

hils — Fri, 21 Jan 2022 16:17:56 GMT

Challenge #11

In your own space, Interact with someone. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

This is a nice easy one to do. I've had people comment on all the challenges I've done so far, which has been lovely. I won't link to them all but introducing some people to one of my fandom discords in this post was nice

This entry was originally posted at https://hils.dreamwidth.org/8807588.html.

Movies Watched 2022

hils — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 20:38:51 GMT

1. Tokyo Godfathers - I knew nothing about this before we watched it for tonight's movie night. I didn't even realise it was animated until it started. I loved it! Nice to see a trans character who not only lives but also saves the day.
2. Ghostbusters Afterlife - I absolutely loved this! It managed to capture all the joy and nostalgia of the first two movies while feeling fresh at the same time. You can tell a lot of love for the franchise went into this. This entry was originally posted at https://hils.dreamwidth.org/8807343.html.

Snowflake Challenge

hils — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 16:28:23 GMT

Challenge #10
In your own space, rec a fanwork (fic, art, vid, playlist, anything!) you did not create. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Ooh, this is a tough one. There are some great fics in my current little fandom and some I re-read often but I'm going to go with this one, which I've only read once, but still think of often.

Brigid is an incredible writer. Parts of this fic read like poetry, and made me feel seen. It takes a lot to make me cry when reading a fic but this one did it. Killing me softly with this fic.

I Wish That You Would Love Me
Author: Slutspeare
Fandom: 盗墓笔记 - 南派三叔 | The Grave Robbers' Chronicles - Xu Lei, 盗墓笔记重启 | The Lost Tomb Reboot (TV)
Pairings/Characters: Wu Xie/Zhang Qiling/Wang Pangzi/Liu Sang
Summary: He's in love with all three of them.
Rating: Teen and Up
Length: 7,311 words
Tags: Iron Threesome, Plus Liu Sang, we're exploring sexualities tonight bois, Asexual Character, Asexual Liu Sang, Asexual Wang Pangzi, Liu Sang Needs A Hug (DMBJ Series), Angst and Hurt/Comfort

This entry was originally posted at https://hils.dreamwidth.org/8807009.html.

Fandom Wrapped

hils — Mon, 17 Jan 2022 12:41:36 GMT

This is a great idea for snowflake_challenge

Challenge #9

In your own space, list your Fandom Wrap categories. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

What are your top five fandoms for 2021 based on the amount of time you interacted with them?
1. Daomu Biji (The Lost Tomb)
2. Guardian
3. Kpop
4. The Untamed
5. Killer and Healer

What are your top five fandom spaces in terms of time spent? (AO3, Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit, Dreamwidth, and others)
1. Twitter
2. Discord
3. AO3
4. Tumblr
5. Dreamwidth

What are the top five ways you interacted in these fandoms? (Reading fanfic, writing, commenting, watching videos, chatting with friends, making art, or anything else you can think of).
1. Reading fic
2. Chatting with friends/the community
3. Writing fic
4. Posting recs
5. Retweeting/reblogging other peoples posts

What are the top five things you did to contribute to fandom in terms of time? Did you write? Comment? Send positive energy into the universe? Create art?
1. Writing fic
2. Brainstorming/helping other people brainstorm
3. Posting recs
4. Retweeting/reblogging other peoples posts
5. Commenting

What things did you create that took the most time?
1. Memories of You
2. Shaken
3. Stabilised.
4. The Unraveling of Zhu Yilong
5. Visible to All But Me

Have a Top 5 List you'd like to share?? By all means!
Characters most often written
1. Wang Pangzi
2. Zhang Qiling
3. Wu Xie
4. Liu Sang
5. Zhu Yilong

This entry was originally posted at https://hils.dreamwidth.org/8806650.html.

TV Shows 2022

hils — Sat, 15 Jan 2022 23:00:46 GMT

Managed to get 2 things finished tonight!

1. Hawkeye
2. The Witcher Season 2 - Despite the fact I could barely remember anything that happened in season 1 I still very much enjoyed this. Jaskier continues to be a delight. Henry Cavill's arms, also delightful.
3. Tale of the Nine-Tailed - I loved this! Full of Korean mythology and folklore, an excellent female lead, and a side character I got very attached to. I didn't think I was overly emotionally invested and then I bawled through the finale. So good. This entry was originally posted at https://hils.dreamwidth.org/8806316.html.

Saturday!

hils — Sat, 15 Jan 2022 13:39:52 GMT

I love Saturdays. It's the one day of the week when I can properly relax. I usually do something online with Emma mid-afternoon for a couple of hours but other than that the rest of the time is my own. I don't feel like I have to rush anything because I have to be somewhere.

Don't get me wrong I enjoy all the social activities I have going on, but I do find it all a bit exhausting. Sometimes I just need quiet time.

This week has actually felt a bit like the lockdown times. My car was supposed to go in for its MOT on Monday, which is the day the MOT expired. At the last minute I got a call saying they had to move my appointment to Friday 'due to unforseen circumstances' which I interpreted as staff shortages due to covid. So, because my MOT expired I couldn't drive my car so I spent Mon-Fri at home.

It's weird I actually missed my usual Tue and Thu trips to the office to do the postage stuff. I think it's just nice to get out of the house.

Anyway, my car is back now and it passed its MOT so it's all good. Back to normal next week.

I've got Monday off work because I have loads of leave to use and I have no holidays planned apart from a week to visit my parents in the summer. I figured I may as well do what I did last year and just treat myself to one long weekend every month.

I'm going to try not to pressure myself into spending the day being 'productive'. I might fire up one of the PS5 games I got for Christmas and haven't even opened yet.

Now, onto snowflake_challenge

Challenge #8

In your own space, celebrate a personal win from the past year: it can be a list of fanworks you're especially proud of, a gift of your time to the community, a quality or skill you cultivated in yourself, something you generally feel went well. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

I think the thing I'm most proud of is sticking with my Mandarin lessons. It's been over a year of practicing every day and I can see the progress I've made. I'm struggling with my current module on Duolingo so I need to remind myself that it's okay if I don't pick everything up immediately. Some things will take longer than others to grasp and that's okay.

(I'm also really proud of the amount of fic I posted last year)

This entry was originally posted at https://hils.dreamwidth.org/8805895.html.

Movies Watched 2022

hils — Thu, 13 Jan 2022 21:55:48 GMT

In the same way that I'm tracking TV shows I finish this year I'm also going to track the movies I watch. I'm only going to include things that I haven't seen before.

1. Tokyo Godfathers - I knew nothing about this before we watched it for tonight's movie night. I didn't even realise it was animated until it started. I loved it! Nice to see a trans character who not only lives but also saves the day. This entry was originally posted at https://hils.dreamwidth.org/8805843.html.

hils — Thu, 13 Jan 2022 16:46:04 GMT

Been a while since I did a ye olde friending meme

Dreamwidth Circle Meme

And snowflake_challenge continues

Challenge #7
In your own space, tell us about 3 fandom resources, spaces, or communities you use or enjoy. (One or two is fine, especially if you're in a smaller fandom!) Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

My current fandom is very small (well, the English speaking corner at least) so we tend to all just hang out on Discord. It's a good little group. We have channels for cultural questions, one for language learning, one for brainstorming, one for talking about fics we're writing and more

The link is here but is only valid for 7 days. If you want an invite after that just drop me a comment and I can send you a new one.

This entry was originally posted at https://hils.dreamwidth.org/8805442.html.

Fandom Year In Review

hils — Wed, 12 Jan 2022 16:36:11 GMT

1. Your main fandom of the year?

I still don't quite know how I've ended up in the Lost Tomb fandom but that's where I spent most of last year

2. Your favorite film watched this year?

I'm not sure. A lot of the films I watched last year were old films that I rewatched with my work movie night gang. I only went to the cinema once, and that was to see Cloudy Mountain, which was fun but probably not my favourite.

Oh, I saw Battle Royale for the first time and that was pretty good

3. Your favorite book read this year?

I think I spent most of the year reading the Lost Tomb novels. There's a lot of them. I've just looked at Goodreads and, yeah, I spent the first few months reading Heaven Official's Blessing and most of the rest of the year reading the tomb novels. I did read Think of England by KJ Charles which I very much enjoyed.

4. Your favorite album or song to listen to this year?

I don't think I could say a specific album but the song I listened to most was Drive You Home by Jackson Wang. It's in English if kpop isn't your thing. I like it a lot.

5. Your favorite TV show of the year?

God, what did I even watch? I think probably Nirvana in Fire. I watched that right at the start of the year. Ancient Detective was also excellent.

6. Your favorite DW community of the year?

I wasn't on here that much so I can't really answer this. I did write a couple of fics for hc_bingo before giving up.

7. Your best new fandom discovery of the year?

Not really the source material, but I found the Lost Tomb fandom and I'm now on a couple of discord with some very lovely people.

8. Your biggest fandom disappointment of the year?

The original Lost Tomb discord breaking down. That place was my home for a good few months and when it fell apart I was really sad. Luckily some people set up a new one, which I am now also a mod for. When a door closes a window opens etc.

9. Your fandom boyfriend of the year?

Much in the same way I'm not sure how I ended up in the Lost Tomb fandom, I'm also not sure how Pangzi became my favourite character. He's there mostly to be the comic relief, but (and I think this is largely down to how Chen Minghao plays him in Lost Tomb Reboot), he's got so much warmth and heart I can't help but love him. Very much my definition of a comfort character.

10. Your fandom girlfriend of the year?

Alas, the Lost Tomb does not have a dearth of female characters, and those who are around tend to die. It's like Supernatural. I think if I had to choose it would be Su Nan from Tomb of the Sea.

11. Your biggest squee moment of the year?

I was truly blessed with fandom gifts in 2021. I got some lovely things from sundial_exchange and guardian_wishlist. A couple of friends also wrote me fics for my birthday which I go back and re-read often.

12. The most missed of your old fandoms?

I'd say probably Guardian, although I haven't really left the fandom. I still read a lot of fics I just don't write in it anymore.

13. The fandom you haven't tried yet, but want to?

I'm pretty happy where I am tbh. I'm still feeling very inspired by Lost Tomb and I'm watching other things but no real urge to move into another fandom

14. Your biggest fan anticipations for the New Year?

I'm really hoping for lots of good OT3 or gen queerplatonic fics for Iron Triangle Week next month. This entry was originally posted at https://hils.dreamwidth.org/8805218.html.

Resolved

hils — Tue, 11 Jan 2022 16:42:56 GMT

Today I hit my 1 year streak of learning Mandarin on Duolingo, which I'm really pleased about. This is the longest I've managed to stick with studying a language outside of the ones I learned in school or at university.

I think being stuck at home for most of this time has helped. It's easy to get into a routine when you have no social life.

I'm still very much a beginner, but at the same time I can see the progress I've made over the past year which is the important thing.

Hopefully now I've settled into it I'll be able to keep going. I don't anticipate ever getting to the point where I'm fluent unless I decide I want to pay a tutor, which I don't, but I'm enjoying learning and I think consuming a lot of Chinese media is helping.

Now, back to snowflake_challenge

Challenge #5

In your own space, talk about an idea you wish you had the time / talent / energy to do. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

You know what, I kind of did this to myself, because I keep thinking about the AU I came up with on a whim in my Day 3 post.

Those of you who have read my stuff know that I don't really do long fics. I did a couple of bigbangs back when I had more time and energy several year ago but these days a long fic for me is 10k.

So, I do want to write this AU but it's going to be long and I don't know if I have the time for that, or the talent for that matter. AUs are hard, and they need a lot more groundwork than a canon fic does.

I've said that I might write it in the background around shorter challenge/exchange fics and see what comes of it. I don't know.

This entry was originally posted at https://hils.dreamwidth.org/8804963.html.

Dramas I've finished this year

hils — Mon, 10 Jan 2022 20:16:23 GMT

A few days ago I was tagged in a thing on tumblr to list 10 characters I fell in love with last year. I found that I really struggled to remember what I'd watched in 2021 vs 2020 because it all felt like one very long year.

So, I'm going to keep a list of what I've watched this year so that I can check back at the end of the year :D

1. Hawkeye - Started this last year but finished it last week because I was watching it with Jacqui so we left the last episode until we were both back from the holidays. It was fun. A nice mesh of the Fraction comics and the MCU version of Clint. Kate was awesome. This entry was originally posted at https://hils.dreamwidth.org/8804770.html.

Meh

hils — Mon, 10 Jan 2022 16:28:58 GMT

It's honestly depressing how little the world has learned during this pandemic. Governments are saying we now need to 'live with it' despite doing nothing to actually facilitate that. So basically it's get sick and if you're one of the unfortunate ones who dies well so be it.

I'm fully vaccinated and boostered so I'm as protected as I can be, but the idea of going anywhere now has me as anxious as I was this time last year. Chances are if I get covid at this stage I'll be unwell for a few days and then be okay, but I might not be. And even if I am that doesn't mean I want to go out and knowingly get myself sick because all preventions are being removed.

This morning I got a gleeful email from one of the airports down in London proclaiming that 'travel is back on' because PCR tests are no longer mandatory before getting on a plane. Yeah, no, I will be staying in the UK for the forseeable, thanks.

It just feels like we haven't made any progress at all, or at least that no one cares anymore. It's all about making money.

I am Tired.

I'm trying not to dwell on it too much, or I'm just going to wind up depressed to the point where I don't want to get out of bed.

So, carrying on with snowflake_challenge

Challenge #4

In your own space, make a list of things that you wish existed in fandom or elsewhere, and/or that you'd like someone to create or do for you. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

1. I have a blanket transformative works policy so if anyone wants to do art, or remix one of my fics, or record a podfic, they are more than welcome.

2. More queer Pangzi fic. It makes me sad he's either relegated to the best friend or given a female love interest a lot of the time. Let him be queer!

3. More Iron Triangle OT3 fic. I feel like me and my little discord clan are the only ones writing it.

4. Comments/Kudos on my fics. This fandom is actually pretty good at this but it's always nice to get more

5. More ace rep in fic. I'm as guilty of this as anyone, but I've written a couple now and I'd love for there to be more.

This entry was originally posted at https://hils.dreamwidth.org/8804474.html.

Snowflake Challenge

hils — Sun, 09 Jan 2022 12:08:45 GMT

Challenge #3

In your own space, put some favorite characters into an AU, fuse some favorite canons together, talk about your favorite AU/fusion tropes, or tell us why AU/fusions aren’t your cup of tea. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

AUs are a weird thing for me. I don't mind reading them at all but I struggle to write them, except RPF AUs for some reason. One of my favourite fics that I've ever written was a Supernatural RPF AU. I think maybe because the 'characters' are real people it's easier to put them in other roles like they're actors. I don't know.

Now I'm trying to think what a Lost Tomb AU might look like. There aren't a huge number of them in our fandom. Probably because you can use 'tomb nonsense' to explain away a lot of things. We have a large number of animal transformation fics for that very reason.

As I mentioned yesterday in my 2021 Fic Review post I did write one AU last year for an exchange, but it was a soulmark AU so really everything was pretty much the same except the characters had tattoos on their wrists with the first words their soulmate said to them.

I think if I was going to go for something fully AU I'm quite fond of 'one of them is famous and one of them isn't' so maybe something like Zhang Qiling is an idol and IDK he saves Wu Xie from a mugging but Wu Xie has no idea who he is. He's an architect and Pangzi runs a construction company.

Damn, now I want to write this.

This entry was originally posted at https://hils.dreamwidth.org/8804117.html.

AO3 Meme

hils — Sat, 08 Jan 2022 17:36:50 GMT

I know we're a week into 2022 already but I've seen a couple of fun 2021 recap memes I want to do. The first one is about AO3

Works I posted this year:

Fic:
The Unravelling of Zhu Yilong (Lost Tomb Reboot RPF, Zhu Yilong/Chen Minghao)
Hotpot Reunion (Lost Tomb Reboot RPF, Zhu Yilong/Chen Minghao)
Because the Night (Lost Tomb Reboot, Gen)
Where Love Has Been Confined (Guardian, Zhao Yunlan/Shen Wei)
Falling Too Fast to Prepare for This (Guardian, Zhao Yunlan/Shen Wei)
Talking Side By Side (Guardian RPF, Zhu Yilong/Bai Yu)
I Live For You (Lost Tomb Reboot, Wu Xie/Zhang Qiling)
Handover (Chinese Actor RPF, Zhu Yilong/Qin Hao)
The Only One On This Road (Lost Tomb Reboot, Gen)
Mine Forevermore (Lost Tomb Reboot RPF, Zhu Yilong/Chen Minghao)
Go On As Three (Lost Tomb Reboot, Wu Xie/Wang Pangzi/Zhang Qiling)
Sun-Soakin' Bulges in the Shade (Lost Tomb Reboot, Wu Xie/Wang Pangzi/Zhang Qiling)
Recast (Lost Tomb All Dramas, Wu Xie/Wang Pangzi/Zhang Qiling) - Co-Written with fangirlishness, achray, teyla & elenothar
Smiles Await You When You Rise (Lost Tomb Reboot, Wu Xie/Wang Pangzi/Zhang Qiling)
A Friend in the Dark (Lost Tomb Reboot, Gen)
Memories of You (Ultimate Note, Wu Xie/Zhang Qiling)
You, Me and a House in a Tree (Lost Tomb Reboot, Wu Xie/Wang Pangzi/Zhang Qiling)
Dinner For Three (Lost Tomb Reboot, Wu Xie/Wang Pangzi/Zhang Qiling)
Live by the Sword (Lost Tomb Reboot, Gen)
Shaken (Lost Tomb Reboot, Wu Xie/Wang Pangzi/Zhang Qiling)
Reach Out and Touch Me (Lost Tomb Reboot, Wang Pangzi/Zhang Qiling)
Sanctuary (Lost Tomb Reboot, Gen)
Stabilised (Lost Tomb Reboot, Wu Xie/Wang Pangzi/Zhang Qiling)

Fandoms I wouldn't have expected to write this year:

I've only really written in two fandoms this year but the Zhu Yilong/Qin Hao fic was definitely a surprise. It's still the only fic with that pairing on AO3

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?

Definitely more! When I said I wanted to try and write more this year I never imagined I'd end up churning out nearly 160k. Hell, I'd written 35k by the end of Feb alone which was already more than I wrote in the entirety of 2020.

What's your own favourite story of the year?

I'm very fond of Sun-Soakin' Bulges in the Shade. I had a lot of fun coming up with some backstory for Pangzi since the source material basically gives us nothing.

My best story of this year:

Probably Shaken but I don't know I'm not very good at judging my own fics

My most popular story of this year:

Visible to All But Me by quite a lot. I think it's the combination of it being the most popular ship in the fandom and also the only multi-chaptered work I've posted.

Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:

Stabilised is pretty low for hits, kudos and comments but that might be because it's one of my longer fics and I posted it right at the end of the year just after Christmas

Story of mine the universe appreciated way more than I expected it to:

I'm quite surprised Where Love Has Been Confined is my second most kudosed fic from all of last year, and the third most kudosed fic in the entire sundial_exchange. I wrote it pretty fast, and nothing really happens in it. Clearly something resonated with people (or, more likely, they just like seeing Shen Wei whumped)

Story that could have been better?

Ironically it's also Where Love Has Been Confined. The person who beta read it for me isn't someone I know and they only spent a few minutes on it. I'm quite sure there's lots that could be improved.

Most fun story to write:

Probably Recast because it's been years since I wrote something with other people. We had a blast.

Sexiest story/story with the single sexiest moment:

For some reason I went through a period towards the start of the year where I wrote a bunch of explicit fics before I remembered I'm ace and actually really bad at writing sex. I think my beta readers helped me make those fics readable because I don't think they would have been otherwise.

Hardest story to write:

I struggled with Memories of You because the prompts I got for this exchange were all for AUs which I'm not hugely comfortable writing. I eventually managed to find something that let me largely stick to canon.

Favorite title:

Titles are hard! I like Shaken because it manages to cover the plot of the fic and Wu Xie's emotional state at the same time.

Favorite opening line:

Zhu Yilong comes awake slowly, the faint sound of the waves lapping on the sand penetrating his awareness before anything else does. - Mine Forevermore

Favorite closing line:

But right now, listening to two grown men plotting to swindle a fellow antiques dealer while their best friend watches with a fond smile, he wonders if maybe this is what home and family are supposed to feel like. - The Only One on This Road

Did you take any writing risks this year? Did you learn anything from them?

I learned that writing the first fic in existence for a ship is surprisingly liberating.

Do you have any goals for 2022?

Just to keep writing I think. I'm trying not to push myself too hard or stress myself out too much. I want writing to be fun not a chore.

Leitmotif(s) of the year:

Whump and cuddles are my recurring themes I think

In the pipeline for 2022

I've already posted one short bit of fluff Soup and Snuggles. Now I'm working on stabbing Wu Xie for a theme week. After that...I've got lots of ideas written down I just need to see what grabs my interest when I'm ready to start something new. This entry was originally posted at https://hils.dreamwidth.org/8803989.html.

Quick Update

hils — Sat, 08 Jan 2022 12:50:29 GMT

I said I was going to post a life update but there isn't actually much to report. We went back into the office full time in November and we lasted 3 weeks before the surge in cases had us being told to work from home again. Initially we were supposed to be going back next week but that's now been changed to working from home indefinitely. Sounds like it's going to be at least another couple of months before they talk about us going back.

I managed to make it up to my parents for Christmas which was nice. Spent most of the time playing board games with my dad and doing jigsaws with my mum. My sister came up for New Year after her pre-Christmas visit had to be cancelled because she and her partner both caught covid after a trip to New York. It was nice to have the whole family together though. It doesn't happen very often.

So, we're pretty much back to how things were this time last year. Just have to keep plodding on.

And slightly related Challenge 2 of snowflake_challenge is about goal setting and I need to keep myself busy so

Challenge #2

In your own space, set some goals for the coming year. They can be fannish or not, public or private. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

It's actually going to be pretty much the same as last year. I'm 3 days away from hitting my 1 year streak of learning Chinese on Duolingo. Starting to learn was my goal for last year so I want to carry on with it. I'm really pleased with the progress I've made. I'm at the point now where I can sometimes tell when subtitles for Chinese dramas and films aren't quite right and I always get excited when someone says something I can understand.

My other goal for this year is to carry on writing. I wrote 157K last year and I don't think I'll quite manage that this year. At the start of last year I threw myself into sundial_exchange and wrote several fics in the first two months of the year. I don't really have time or the energy to do so much but one of my small discord groups has suggested we try and post at least 1 fic per month which is more than achievable. Ideally I'd like to get over 100k again this year but I don't want to push myself to try and 'beat' last year's word count.

This entry was originally posted at https://hils.dreamwidth.org/8803649.html.

New Year, New Me

hils — Fri, 07 Jan 2022 22:17:45 GMT

Yes, I am still alive despite not having posted here since *checks* September.

fangirlishness mentioned Snowflake Challenge was running again this year and I do miss being on here so I'm going to try and do at least some of them.

I've also added DW to my habit tracker. I don't know that I'll post every day (but I will do a life update post some time this weekend) but I'll at least read it every day.

So, without further ado here's challenge 1 for snowflake_challenge

Challenge #1

In your own space, update your fandom information! Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

This is a good one to start with because my Intro Post needed a bit of an update and some tweaking anyway. This entry was originally posted at https://hils.dreamwidth.org/8803462.html.

LOOKIT!

hils — Sat, 25 Sep 2021 23:15:09 GMT

As a writer there's honestly no greater joy than someone creating something based on your words.

Not only did tinny make some wonderful art of one of my scenes a while back she's now also made a series of icons based on a silly joke that runs across a couple of parts of the series.

I'm delighted, touched, and I kind of want to cry. Obviously I have snagged a couple of the icons but I love them all. This entry was originally posted at https://hils.dreamwidth.org/8803285.html.

Still alive

hils — Fri, 24 Sep 2021 16:08:22 GMT

I just noticed that I haven't posted here since July. Whoops.

Hi, I'm still alive. Here's a brief (okay let's be real it's me so it probably won't be brief) update of what's going on in the world of Hils.

I just got back off a vacation for my birthday. A small group of us rented a cottage for just under a week. I mean it was listed as a cottage but it was pretty big and had six bedrooms (so no one had to share in these Covid times).

It was nice. We did fun fandom activities, had a disco, saw some scenery and just hung out. It was a nice mix of doing activities but not cramming so much in that we all felt exhausted. I got some writing done during the quiet times and some reading.

Now I seem to suddenly have all the social activities together. My aunt is getting married next weekend up in Scotland so I'll be heading up to stay with the parents for a couple of days, then the weekend after it's my friend Emma's birthday and we've rented the beach apartment that I was supposed to stay in at Christmas, and then the weekend after that I'm going to visit my sister who I haven't seen in nearly 2 years.

Work has been a bit of a saga. We were supposed to return to the office at the beginning of this month. We spent ages setting everything up and making sure it was all as safe as possible. Then, 2 days before we were supposed to go back, our health and safety officer said we couldn't reopen without an inspection first. Apparently the London office delayed their reopening by a month for this reason and everyone just assumed we knew and had done the same even though no one had told us.

So now the return to the office is set for the beginning of October at the earliest. Who knows what's happened while I've been away.

In fandom news I have finished The Rebel, which was mostly excellent with a slightly disappointing ending. Now I'm watching The Devil Judge which is a Korean dystopian drama where the outcome of high profile court cases is decided by public vote. I'm really enjoying it so far. The cast is fantastic. One of the leads is a former k-pop idol and I had no idea until I was a few episodes in. He can definitely hold his own as an actor.

I have posted several fics since I last updated here. My total AO3 word count for the year is now 115k which is wild. I never imagined when I posted my first Lost Tomb fic at the end of last year that it would unlock all of the inspiration. I've got another fic I'm working on at the moment which is probably going to be around 7k when it gets finished and I have more fics outlined than I will ever have time to write. It feels really good to have a fandom I'm fully engaged in like this again and I'm so thankful to achray, fangirlishness, teyla, elenothar and charloween for being so encouraging and always being willing to beta when I finish something new.

Title: A Friend in the Dark
Fandom: The Lost Tomb Reboot
Pairing: Gen
Rating: Teen
Summary: He’s starting to wonder if Wu Xie secretly hates him. Wu Xie could have stayed himself or left Zhang Qiling to keep an eye on him while he drew. Not that he needs a babysitter. He’s a professional and has managed just fine by himself up until now. He’s not the one who gets into trouble as soon as anyone’s back is turned.

Title: Memories of You
Fandom: Ultimate Note
Pairing: Wu Xie/Zhang Qiling
Rating: General Audiences
Summary: The mark on his wrist is a tattoo. It’s small, only about the size of a fingernail, but it stands out stark on his pale skin. It’s writing, cleanly printed and easy to read. Two characters making up the word ‘mine’, which he thinks is a strange choice for a tattoo. Did someone else design it to mark him as their own? Or was it his choice, laying claim to someone or something he has now forgotten?

Title: You, Me and a House in a Tree
Fandom: The Lost Tomb Reboot
Pairing: Wu Xie/Zhang Qiling/Wang Pangzi
Rating: Teen
Summary: “For Xiaoge,” Wu Xie says, lifting the paper slightly so Pangzi can see it clearly. “Do you think he’ll like it?”

It’s not a very complex design, but Xiaoge isn’t really one for ostentation. What he likes are things that are practical and functional, which this very much is.

“He sleeps on a tree branch,” Pangzi points out. “Of course he’ll like it. This is a mansion compared to that.”

Title: Dinner for Three
Fandom: The Lost Tomb Reboot
Pairing: Wu Xie/Zhang Qiling/Wang Pangzi
Rating: Teen
Summary: They’ve both cooked with Pangzi before, always under his guidance, but often enough that neither of them are total novices. How hard can cooking one meal be? Wu Xie has a degree in architecture and Xiaoge has been alive for over a hundred years. It’s not like either of them are stupid.

I also want to share a couple of fics that have been written for me because they are delightful.

achray wrote this one for my birthday

Title: Unity and Mutual Assistance
Fandom: The Lost Tomb Reboot
Pairing: Wu Xie/Zhang Qiling/Wang Pangzi
Rating: Teen
Summary: “You’re the best person they could have on their stupid village committee, and at least they’re sensible enough to know it!" Wu Xie said.

And teyla wrote this one as part of the guardian_wishlist exchange

Title: Space to Live
Fandom: The Lost Tomb Reboot
Pairing: Wu Xie/Zhang Qiling/Wang Pangzi
Rating: General Audiences
Summary: After the tomb raid is before the tomb raid. There comes a time, though, when every tomb raider has to think about retirement.

I think that's pretty much it. I'll try not to leave too long between updates in the future. This entry was originally posted at https://hils.dreamwidth.org/8803054.html.

Checking In

hils — Sat, 31 Jul 2021 23:01:10 GMT

It's been a strange week. I spent two days in the office towards the end of the week with the other 3 members of my team, my boss and her boss. We stripped the place down and worked out what we wanted to get rid of and what we wanted to keep before we have a team coming in to redecorate and replace all the furniture ready for our (potential) full return in September.

Being in the office itself wasn't that stressful. Everyone had to be tested before they came in, we wore masks in communal spaces and everyone was sanitising their hands regularly.

What it did, though, was really throw out my routine. I am a creature of habit and having a (reasonably) strict routine is how I've got through the 18 months of working at home. I know on Tuesdays and Thursday I go to the post office to mail things for work, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays I go for a lunchtime walk. As soon as I'm finished for the day I do my Chinese practice, a 20 mintute writing sprint, and read a couple of chapters of whatever book I'm reading before dinner.

Going into the office just felt a little off. After the first day I was absolutely exhausted. I don't know if it's because we spent a day moving furniture and computer equipment around or because I was somewhere else and had to go back to commuting. Maybe a bit of both.

So, that was a little taste of what's to come I guess. My company has been really good and they've explicitly said that if there's a spike in numbers or if anything else happens before September then we just won't go back. We've shown that we can work effectively from home so there's no need to rush back. We'll see what happens I guess. They also bought all of us lunch on both days to say thank you for going in and sorting everything out. I do like the company I work for.

In fandom news I am now 15 episodes into The Rebel and still very much enjoying it. Zhu Yilong looks sad a lot, there's all sorts of spy shenanigans, the main villain is delightful, the female lead is awesome, and the support cast are all really good actors. Loads of things to enjoy. Today Zhu Yilong stood in the snow looking sad AND walked in the rain, again looking sad. Then he cried. Playing to his strengths. I like it.

We've group watched the first few episodes of the new/old Lost Tomb show and we are enjoying it. It's silly and the plot is incoherent which is exactly what I expect from a tomb show. We are having a lot of fun.

I finished and submitted my 10yearpromise fic and it came in at 15k after I added a bunch during the editing. Now I'm back to working on something utterly self indulgent and I am having fun.

I checked AO3 earlier and including the unpublished exchange fic I have posted 98k this year so far. I've written 18k this month alone. After this fic I'm working on, though, I don't have any clear idea what I want to work on next. Before I got back into writing towards the end of last year I'd barely posted anything the 2 years before that and part of me is worried that if I stop I won't be able to start again. I might only be writing for 20 mins per day but eventually, I assume, I will run out of ideas or inspiration and I don't want that to happen. Writing has brought me so much joy in this shitty time and I don't want to lose that again.

We shall see what happens I guess. This entry was originally posted at https://hils.dreamwidth.org/8802715.html.

The Rebel

hils — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 16:36:34 GMT

After several friend raved about how good The Rebel was I decided to give it a try, and they weren't wrong. I'm only a few episodes in but I was expecting...I'm not sure really. I think I was expecting it to be darker than it is. I mean, it's dark, but a bearable amount. So far it has mostly been spy adventures. It's pretty gripping stuff.

I'm also very excited that a new/old tomb show has started airing. It's a sequel to The Lost Tomb 2 that was made in 2018 but has only just been released. One of my favourite actors from Love and Redemption is playing Wu Xie (the main lead) and I'm delighted.

I'm especially happy that my old gang who watched all the other tomb shows with me is getting back together to watch this one. We're starting on Saturday and we're taking it slow instead of cramming several episodes into a day. It was fine during lockdown when no one had anything else to do but I think people are wanting a bit more free time now instead of a distraction.

It'll be fun!

I'm also currently editing my 10yearpromise fic and I'm almost done. The first draft is 10k and the edited version is looking like it'll come in somewhere between 12 and 13k, which will make it my longest Lost Tomb fic. I'm not sure where all these words have come from given I had no idea what to do with my prompts at first. I just hope they are good words. I've reached the point now where I've been working on it for so long I'm not convinced it's any good. Hopefully my beta (thank you teyla) will be able to either reassure me or tell me what needs fixing. There's still a couple of weeks until the deadline so I'm not too worried. This entry was originally posted at https://hils.dreamwidth.org/8802416.html.

A Good Time Was Had By All

hils — Thu, 15 Jul 2021 16:16:01 GMT

Had dinner with achray and elenothar last night and it was totally worth shoving a swab up my nose and down my throat multiple times beforehand to make it possible.

I've generally found that when I meet people in person after first meeting them online we get along well, and this was no exception. We all got along really well and we had a lovely evening chatting about studies, travel, and Zhu Yilong's face. We also realised that fangirlishness is the person who brought us all together.

Everyone on our small DMBJ server is slowly convincing me to watch The Rebel. I was so sure I didn't want to watch depressing Chinese propaganda even with Zhu Yilong being in it but apparently it's very good. We shall see.

Everyone was making fun of me at work this morning because one of my colleagues agreed to cover being on-call for me so I didn't have to worry about work phoning me in the middle of dinner. I told him I'd probably be home by 9 because the restaurant outdoor area closed at 8. But then while we were walking back to the station we found a nice outdoor bar so we stopped to have a glass of wine and talk about Zhu Yilong's face some more. I eventually got home at 10:30 and texted the work group chat to say I felt like a kid sneaking in after curfew :D

It was a really nice evening and the only sad part was not being able to hug either of them just in case.

I can't wait until it's safer to travel because I hadn't met any of my new cdrama fandom friends since I got into it at the start of lockdown. Eventually I am going to go and visit anyone who will have me. This entry was originally posted at https://hils.dreamwidth.org/8802302.html.

Good News!

hils — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 16:18:09 GMT

Jacqui suggested I go and get a PCR Covid test, because last time she had to self-isolate she was allowed back out once she'd registered a negative covid test.

So, I went to the drive through test centre yesterday afternoon. It was very well organised and efficient. I was there maybe 15 mins in total. Took the test at 2:30pm yesterday, got the results at 10am this morning. Negative, which I figured it would be. And, sure enough, I was advised in the text that if it'd been more than 48 hours with no symptoms, and provided I didn't live with anyone who had tested positive, I no longer needed to isolate \o/

I have to say I'm so glad I've got such a nice and understanding boss who was totally cool with me going out and getting tested in work's time, and was totally understanding when I said I didn't get anything done yesterday because my head was all over the place.

This means dinner with achray and elenothar is back on \o/

Looks to be a nice day tomorrow, too, so there should be no issues with us sitting outside to eat. YAY! This entry was originally posted at https://hils.dreamwidth.org/8801993.html.