About that drabble request

[petronia]

And I realise no one even thought about this but I must slake my own nitpicking soul - the drabble request is not a drabble request per se but a shortfic request, because let's face it, 100 words is a bit ghetto as a proper gift. ^^; Even if it occasionally does take me as much effort to trim down to 100 as to write up to 500, drabbles being like bonsai (which are like bishounen). So there is no word limit, and all of them will be as long as they need to be. Wen's (which I've thrown in with the rest simply because it looks to me as if it'll be done around the same time) will be 2500-3000 likely enough, and the current one is almost guaranteed to go over 1000. It's 700 so far, and a pity that's not NaNoCount, wot.

I kind of like said current fic, despite (because of!?) the fact that it's a failure on an almost ludicrous number of parallel fronts. It fails at being fanfiction by virtue of over-extrapolation; it fails at historicity (well obviously ahaha *dies*); as I've not read the last few tankoubon it almost certainly fails at canonicity; it fails at decent characterisation; it fails at BL out of masochism; it fails being Christmassy by being set in early summer, and it fails to provide good cheer by being really depressing. I can think of several people on my flist whom it would inspire to point at me and laugh. Perhaps its major merit is that it's incomprehensible, so it's not readily apparent that it's depressing (or, hopefully, that I am a laughingstock who shouldn't be allowed near pseudo-historical anime, or anything written pre-Meiji for good measure).

In other news, my dad's poetry book came in the mail. Remind me to post the one about the ancient Chinese poetess/nun/murderess with a bit of commentary. (FWIW the thing the other day was just some Faye Wong lyrics, so no need to think I'm intentionally talking over Westerners' heads or anything. XD In any case when I babble in languages beside English there's always a few people on the flist who understand.)

Comments

[tsutanai.livejournal.com]

Actually, if I were to point at your fic and laugh, it'd be pot and kettle anyway (as you well know). So.

[tsutanai.livejournal.com]

Actually, I look forward to the poetess/nun/murderess greatly O_O. (This nun-ish introductory paper's due Monday after all XD)

[petronia.livejournal.com]

Ah XD Well, to make a long story short her (religious) name is Yu Xuanji (鱼玄机, 原名幼薇，字慧兰), one of the more colourful minor characters of the Tang dynasty. Child prodigy, renowned beauty, Taoist nun (was cloistered by the great love of her youth after his wife refused to allow her into their home as a concubine), who became an infamous seductress at the age of 20 after said great love had disillusioned her thoroughly. XD She became abbess, held literary salons, and took lovers as she wished from her visitors. Eventually her servant girl rivaled with her for one of said lover's affections, and she strangled the girl in a fit of jealousy and buried the body behind the abbey. XD;; Some months later the body was discovered by a police functionary and Yu was taken to court, where she promptly confessed and was executed. At the age of 26!

[tsutanai.livejournal.com]

Eeexcellent.... Thank you muchly. I can footnote her as a reason why we need to look at Taoist nuns too in terms of the wider east-asian context XD. (Hey, if I'm including the chigo monogatari why not? XD)

[canis-m.livejournal.com]

...I'm going to quietly pretend you weren't talking about the Hiji x Oki one.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

In point of fact I am not. XD;; Precisely because you asked for Hiji x Oki, and if I try to pass this one off as such you will have grounds for putting coal in my stocking. No, this one is luckykitty's - if she will have it - as she was imprudent enough to ask for PMK fic in a general sense. Yours will be more upbeat if I have to fill it with piglet to the brim.

She wrote me very nice Hijikata x Okita (she gloats). You must read. (http://www.livejournal.com/users/luckykitty/397766.html#cutid1)

[luckykitty.livejournal.com]

Eee, thanks for the free rec!

I am actually looking forward to it, sick bastard that I am. Everything you've said so far makes me totally curious! And I don't mind depressing at all. (Honestly, like you said, with what the series is about and who the main charas are, how can it end anything but bad?)

Although I'm also very curious to see what you'll write for the Hijikata/Okita :D~

[canis-m.livejournal.com]

Whew! Vast relief. I really didn't want to give you coal. I'd rather give you something else. To that end, if you'd care to ask for something, ask. I know, you said "no reciprocation required blah blah," but I'd like to, so. Fic or pic, either is fair game.

Also I keep forgetting to say that I have a mix CD for you, and therefore need your address.

*off to read rec eeeee*