X Never Marks the Spot

The sundial_exchange went live last Friday and now is up to an incredibly 171 works and counting! Guardian had a great showing but The Lost Tomb came in a strong second.

My gift was amazing:

A Tolerance for Pain (18470 words) by marycrawford
Chapters: 3/3
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Characters: Shen Wei (Guardian), Zhao Yunlan, Da Qing (Guardian)
Additional Tags: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Presumed Dead, Not Really Character Death, set after Episode 23 (the one with the Kitchen Scene), Canon Divergence, Magical Exhaustion
Summary:

Shen Wei faced the storm and let it break around him. In the center of catastrophe, he closed his eyes. He could hear no heartbeats, could feel no life around him other than his own.

Zhao Yunlan. Where are you?

18K of presumed dead!!! and other angst!!! Shen Wei being totally metal and then getting to nap (in Zhao Yunlan's arms, of course) -- I could not have asked for more (actually I didn't, I totally forgot to put "presumed dead" in my wants, but marycrawford is a mind-reader among her other skills and knew just what I want!) Plus the resolution of the antagonist is just what I like (Zhao Yunlan, you softie) and there are tasty bits of headcanon for flavor throughout -- so good!


And I also! got treats?!

Cover art for my story "How to break up with your boyfriend" by naye
Such an adorable image, with the blog title and everything, and HAH Zhu Hong! Such the perfect attitude!

Fanart: Traces in the snow by yue_ix
Gorgeous Zhao Yunlan h/c that manages to tell a whole story in a single image (Shen Weeeeiiiii come rescue your boyfriend stat!!)


I wrote a The Lost Tomb Reboot post-canon fic for laireshi, who has the most excellent taste in h/c, and Xiaoge hides pain with the best iron woobies (until he can't):

Nor Shall the Flame Scorch You (11546 words) by Xparrot
Fandom: 盗墓笔记重启 | The Lost Tomb Reboot (TV), 盗墓笔记 - 南派三叔 | The Grave Robbers' Chronicles - Xu Lei
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Wang Pangzi & Wu Xie & Zhang Qiling, Wu Xie/Zhang Qiling
Characters: Zhang Qiling, Wu Xie (DMBJ Series), Wang Pangzi
Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Action/Adventure, Post-Canon, Poison, Fever, Peril, just constant peril, Xiaoge Has a Bad Day, Tombs Are Very Dangerous, especially when your resident badass is down for the count, (technically it's a temple but who's counting), Iron Triangle feels

The bronze needle was tiny, not three centimeters long and without even a tuft of feathers to mark it. Zhang Qiling closed his fingers around it, plucked it from his biceps and tossed it away.


I've been working through the rest, should do some recs later!

--But don't miss naye's TLTR vid! I've been waiting for this one to come out since she finished it. If you know the Iron Triangle, here is 3 minutes of solid squee; and if you don't know them yet, find out why you should if you're an h/c fan:

[vid] I'll Wait (314 words) by Naye Visuals
Fandom: 盗墓笔记重启 | The Lost Tomb Reboot (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Wang Pangzi & Wu Xie & Zhang Qiling
Characters: Wu Xie (DMBJ Series), Wang Pangzi, Zhang Qiling
Additional Tags: Fanvids, Iron Triangle feels, Any configuration you want them, It's all about the love, Also about the whump and the holding, Hurt/Comfort, Friendship/Love, Video Format: Streaming, Video Format: MP4
Summary:

3-minute fanvid celebrating the love the Iron Triangle have for each other.

I'll wait, I'll wait to be the one
To catch you when you're falling
Always, always, I'll be the one
To answer when you're calling

Writing has been less than happening so I don't have a Sunday snippet, but I did post a short fic last week for DMBJ/Reunion:TSotP/The Lost Tomb Reboot (the last seems to be sticking the most in English-speaking fandom, as "TLTR" but who knows if that will last!)

--And I need to post a longer thing on that, because s1 ended and it was completely ridiculous and I didn't enjoy the second half nearly as much as the first, but what I love in the show I REALLY love, making everything else worth it, and I want the second half so badly, you have no idea.

In the meantime, fic! Extremely gratuitous gen h/c, and yes it feels as comfortable as an old pair of slippers.

a place of refuge (2113 words) by Xparrot
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 盗墓笔记重启 | The Lost Tomb Reboot (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Wang Pangzi & Wu Xie, Wang Pangzi & Wu Xie & Zhang Qiling
Characters: Wu Xie (DMBJ Series), Wang Pangzi, Zhang Qiling
Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Gratuitous Wu Xie Whump, Nightmares, migraines, Holding, all I want is Iron Triangle cuddles okay?, Present Tense, Podfic Available
Summary:

Wu Xie has nightmares. Fortunately he also has friends.

[Podfic read by Naye]

Also Lucifer s5 dropped -- only have seen a couple eps but it's definitely still Lucifer and so I'm enjoying it -- and we're finally catching up with s2 of the new DuckTales and it makes me happy. And we watched The Mandalorian and I was surprised how much I enjoyed it, not only because Baby Yoda was so cute I was in paroxysms of squee every time he was on screen, but also it proved to be in a genre that seems to be growing in popularity, of shows that have the trappings of grimdark and then are actually not that, because the supposed antiheroes are really just heroes and completely, catastrophically fail at pretending to be otherwise. The Expanse is like that, too, and I hope to see more like it!

It feels like we've been waiting for this show forever, but last week it finally dropped, and guys...guys, it is so good???? Ten episodes in (yes we signed up for VIP access) it's fun and funny and has already had more h/c scenarios than many shows manage in three seasons. I have no idea how they're going to escalate from here and I can't wait to find out. Whatever else the show had going for it, I was assuming Zhu Yilong would look gorgeous and act wonderfully, and I was hoping for some whump -- and it's got all that and then some; but I wasn't expecting it to be THIS friendshippy, I was not prepared.

I'd recommend this to any fans of the Stargate series -- in particular, if you enjoy the parts of Stargate that are "a team of huge dorks run around poking at alien things that they should know better than to touch and getting in trouble and surviving by the skin of their teeth." It's basically Chinese Indiana Jones, about a trio of guys raiding ancient tombs that are filled with priceless treasure and magic artifacts and also the usual assortment of diabolical traps, animate mummies, and creepy supernatural monsters.

Wu Xie (trying to buck up his friends after they land in like the 5th life-threatening peril in as many hours): We have two things to rely on: luck, and our tacit understanding!

Pangzi: Do we really have a tacit understanding? Didn't we just get by so far on luck?

The chemistry between the Iron Triangle is fantastic -- they feel like guys who have been friends forever, they've got their own secret language and everything. Still, how they've survived their job/hobby is anyone's guess because they're complete idiots (okay, two idiots, one wildly skilled immortal badass who is constantly getting in trouble too because he has to save his idiot BFFs). The show is pretty much all action-adventure all the time -- action-adventure as written by a fanfic writer. Ten episodes in we've already had: ( spoilers for tropes )

For the record, while like other cdramas I've talked about, this show is adapted from Chinese webnovels, in this case it's not a danmei (m/m romance) book but a straight action/horror series. ...That being said, Wu Xie/Zhang Qiling is apparently one of the more popular slash ships in China. Though honestly I'm not even shipping them that hard, because I am enjoying the friendship of their trio so much. I love how for both Pangzi and Qiling, Wu Xie is probably their most important person, but this doesn't engender any jealousy between them; instead they're completely united in Team Wu Xie Is Precious And Must Be Protected, And Seriously He Is So Challenging To Keep Alive, Like an Orchid Or Something, Our Lives Are Very Hard.

The show does come with a few caveats: ( cut for mildly spoilery warnings and squee-harshing )

There's only 10 episodes out so far (out of 30+ this season and another 30+ to come, all already filmed) so I don't know where it will be going from here, but I'm definitely looking forward to it (is it Wednesday yet???)

You can watch it (legally, for free, with English subs) on Iqiyi's site. (the first four eps are available to everyone, with 4 new ones a week).

(Ahh I need an icon!)