jellypractices - Tumblr blog

[jellypractices]

QZGS Rec Bingo

I did a blackout bingo for the qzgs october-ish fanwork rec event!

More info on the event here: https://shadaras.dreamwidth.org/181475.html

Full list of recs below!

From before 2020

Title: The Dos and Don'ts

Author: Summer Snow

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14748434 

Jelly’s notes: YeLan alt format fic!! Team happy writes up a guide for yx to flirt with blue river, accidentally sending him the draft version where you can see all the edits on the google doc XD. Summer’s fic is so fun and funny, and the workskin is very cool, though it works better on desktop than on mobile.

Stabbed you with a knife

Title: Even gods can fall

Author: eringeosphere

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16039565 

Jelly’s notes: Magic AU, MCD. erin’s fic is one I’ll never be able to forget because it just makes my heart ache. yx is killed by the people he loves most.

Favorite Tropes

Title: Foundations

Author: BlueberryAsh

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28358907 

Jelly’s notes: which favorite trope does this cover? Soulmates, unconventional soulmates, platonic relationships, angst and feelings… I love everything about this fic so much.

Longer than 10k

Title: Means of Transportation

Author: lynne_monstr

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/32626198/chapters/80932876 

Jelly’s notes: Lynne’s de-aged ywz fic! I uh actually haven’t finished reading this yet bc I didn’t want to be too influenced when I was writing my own time-travel fic, but I’m looking forward to reading til the end! The plot, the feelings, the character interactions, and the attention to detail is #writinggoals. I just love Lynne’s writing a lot.

Missing Scene

Title: but man am i bad at math

Author: syncogon

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27480358

Jelly’s notes: qyf’s rookie challenge from the other side. All of synco’s alternate perspectives are really great and thoughtful, but I like this one especially. Wyc and lx’s reactions at the end made me laugh.

Rare Ship

Title: think of me and burn (and let me hold your hand)

Author: Synoshian

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22763488

Jelly’s notes: NSFW, yuhuangye poly relationship with gray-ace yx! I haven’t read a lot of nsfw tka fics lately, but this one was memorable because of Lies’s portrayal of gray-asexuality. Sometimes yx is into it and sometimes he’s not and that’s okay. I really love the way yuhuangye interact with each other and respect boundaries. This fic is both sexy and soft.

Non-English/Translated

Title: that delivery bro who comes and goes in the wind and snow ( 那个风里来雪里去的外卖小哥 )

Author: 缩水仙人球, translated by Dayadhvam

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/36500344

Jelly’s notes: wonderfully crack-y allye, a lot of fun. Yx gains the skill of teleportation and becomes… a fast food delivery worker XD. ty dtriad for the translation <3. Plus, love lauchis’s contribution of yx’s sizzling whopper

Prequel Era

Title: paved with good intentions

Author: PotterheadAvengerDemigod & theAbandoned_Grimoire

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/40674066

Jelly’s notes: superpower au, tx-centric precanon, a hint of angst. I really liked the characterization of tx in this, and I’m super curious about how tx’s power works. Maybe the writers will go into it futher in another fic since this seems to be part of a series in the same au.

Female focused

Title: Pretty Magical Girl Gao Yingjie

Author: GeniusCactus

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/40506660/chapters/101481006

Jelly’s notes: GK’s bbfic ft art from wack!! Trans girl gyj finds confidence and solidarity as part of a team of magical girls! First chapter hit me in the feels– gyj’s feelings of being scared and alone are too real. But seeing gyj find herself just fills me with so much joy. I have so many hopes and dreams for her. Also the image of wjx with earrings is something I didn’t know I needed.

Made you laugh

Title: how the tables have turned

Author: alkat

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25266829/chapters/61254943

Jelly’s notes: social media & crack! kat has such good one-liners, and this one has so many of them! I really love kat’s brand of crackfic

AU

Title: storm chaser

Author: swanfrost

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20099092

Jelly’s notes: hanye gods au. the way swan writes conflict is so delicious and distinctive. There’s an economy of words that adds to the tension. I really love swan’s writing, definitely #writinggoals.

A work you love

Title: We don't need lights as your smile is as bright as the stars

Author: Missing_Ninja_History

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/35874712

Jelly’s notes: the wangye dance au that gma wrote me for ss. I have no words for how much I love this. The tension, the way they love dance so much, the way wjx thinks and feels about yx… it just makes me smile. This fic deserves so much more love.

Shorter than 1k

Title: Workplace reviews

Author: the_real_lord_grim

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30041430

Jelly’s notes: grim's alt format in the style of reviews, which is really cool!! Samsara’s made me laugh, EE’s made me sad. It’s a fun and creative fic

Pre-canon

Title: ‘til midnight comes

Author: Shadaras

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29921295

Jelly’s notes: shade’s wangye <3 i love how soft and full of feels this fic is. The parallels between yx and wjx really come through, and i love how they can just support each other.

Meta

Title: A magician does not know regret

Author: weilongfu

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21732871

Jelly’s notes: I’ve saved this one since long ago because I liked it so much, a perspective from wjx about qyf’s growth.

Glory focused

Title: Strategem

Author: DancingBloomTKA

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/31039853/chapters/76677230

Jelly’s notes: anyone who is interested in writing battles should study tib's fic. It is not only technically superb but there’s great storytelling too!

A comfort work

Title: A Glorious Butt

Author: Anonymous

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15691755

Jelly’s notes: hehe. Allye crack

Crossover/Fusion

Title: Light From Dust (来自尘埃的光)

Author: MTKiseki

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24616501/chapters/59469184

Jelly’s notes: Kise’s hp crossover! hp is chosen as the tka characters’ representative in the triwizard tournament. Unfinished and idk when kise will get back to updating, but she has some really cool and thoughtful worldbuilding ideas about the clash of eastern vs western and how that plays out in the wizarding world.

Fanart

Title: One Last Dance

Author: skysongxd

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22862440

Jelly’s notes: no I will NOT shut up about Sora’s ballroom dancer smc. Sora’s art is chef’s kiss, smc is gorgeous, and the dress design is asldkfjsdk; This art is so wonderful that I wrote a little oneshot based on it (https://archiveofourown.org/works/28231686). I would love to see more fic based on Sora’s wonderful art!!!

Minor character focused

Title: pocketful of pebbles (swallow, sink to the bottom, swim)

Author: madmaenad

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/32952565/chapters/81783973

Jelly’s notes: one of mae’s staff fics. mae is so good at making you feel for minor characters. I loved this one about wind howl’s healer.

Alternate media

Title: a cosplay show video where the title is clearly mtl’d

Author: Tencent Video

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcSKARsFWks&list=PL8u-QnV8v_57L7HX62o6L0uORwkLm-tSs&index=15

Jelly’s notes: uhhh I’m not good enough at Chinese to be able to tell what show this from, but it’s a clip from a cosplay performance game show I think. The cosplayers put on such a great production with singing! and dancing!! Also the one-liner: “yx, do you have to sing everytime we battle?”

Canon divergence

Title: any way the wind blows

Author: anaiata

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33111721

Jelly’s notes: a yx goes to br set-up! I really love the friendship between hst and yx. You can tell they really care about each other!

Got you into a ship

Title: (I’m Not Throwing Away) My Shot

Author: ryukoishida

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15192653

Jelly’s notes: WangYe!!! An early wangye fic that helped solidify wangye as my favorite ship. I also love the worldbuilding!

[jellypractices]

BB2022 reflections

So I realized I said I would write up a post about my 2022 qzgs bigbang fic in like July, but I never got around to it, oops. But I just wanted to post something with my thoughts on wjx and why I portrayed him the way I did because this fic is special to me.

Take your time (Oh, how we've grown) - WJX/YX amnesia/time travel fic, 16k oneshot. romance, rated T.

Summary:

“Wang Jiexi, what season do you think it is now?”

Wang Jiexi frowned. “It’s midway through season 8, why?”

Ye Qiu closed his eyes, taking a moment to process this. “I think we need to get you to a doctor,” he said with careful measure. He drew in a deep breath before answering Wang Jiexi’s question. “It’s not season 8. It’s the summer before season 11.”

Spoilers below!

What I wanted from this fic was a Ye Xiu goes to Tiny Herb fix-it AU, except rather than detailing how Ye Xiu fixes everything, I wanted to explore what a more inclusive Tiny Herb would mean for Wang Jiexi and the rest of the team.

In my opinion, a lot of Tiny Herb's problems arise from how Wang Jiexi is set apart, or sets himself apart from the team.

The first and obvious way this occurs is because Wang Jiexi is the captain and ace player. Because of his skill and status, the younger players set him on a pedestal. Wang Jiexi is also not so great at communication or knowing what people are feeling in the moment, which feeds into the image of aloof captain. There has already been some discussion of this point on the TKAA discord, so I won't go too much into it.

But aside from the captaincy, I think age might also play into this dynamic of how Wang Jiexi holds himself apart. Wang Jiexi is often cast as a father-like figure because a big part of Tiny Herb skews young. According to what I found on the TKA wiki, like 6/11 members debuted in seasons 7 or 8. For the Wang Jiexi of season 8, those kids are all first- or second-year rookies who still need his support. In my fic, I also took the ~artistic liberty~ to make the older players on the team retire or transfer, further emphasizing the perceived age difference. So Wang Jiexi has this mentality that he needs to be the responsible adult that supports his kids while they grow. The problem with that is that he doesn't trust in them. He doesn't allow them any agency.

I like to think that the reason why Wang Jiexi takes this so seriously is because he had a hard time as a rookie. We know Wang Jiexi felt he had to suppress his own natural playstyle in order to coordinate with his teammates who couldn't keep up, but what does this say about the team environment or what that taught him? I imagined that maybe there was some frustration or even resentment from the other players, which taught him that the magician style (and thus Wang Jiexi) is not worth the time and effort it would take to learn how to coordinate with. So when he gets new teammates, instead of giving them the chance to get used to the magician playstyle, he continues to cut himself off, to suppress suppress suppress because that's what's best for the team. And because of this standard he holds for himself, he consciously or subconsciously believes that it's up to the players to mold themselves to the team. This is seen in canon, where he thinks maybe Qiao Yifan is better suited to a no-pressure mid-tier team. I'm not saying that team compatibility shouldn't matter, but rather that Wang Jiexi literally cannot envision a different team environment that puts less pressure on its players.

So that's why I think having Ye Xiu on the team would help Wang Jiexi work through those problems. Ye Xiu is older than Wang Jiexi and knows the responsibility of being captain, so he is able to break through Wang Jiexi's walls and allow him to not have to be the adult all the time. Ye Xiu also has the technical skill needed to show that coordination with the magician playstyle is possible and he's able to provide Wang Jiexi with a different perspective instead of letting him get caught up in his own head.

So having the WangYe dream team in Tiny Herb accomplishes what I really wanted for this fic, which was to see a Tiny Herb where everyone feels like a part of team. I thought a lot about character parallels in this fic and how everyone's experiences could show Wang Jiexi that he doesn't need to hold himself apart. And by the end, Wang Jiexi is able to let go of some of his tension and trust in himself and the team they've created.

Overall, I'm really proud of this fic even though I think it could be better and I was panicking about deadlines during the whole creation period. It was a self-indulgent idea with self-indulgent details, but it was a story I really wanted to tell. I hope that anyone who reads it will enjoy it too <3

[jellypractices]

And then, the familiar whoosh of power, raw and wild, swept through his muscle and bone. The gravity of the situation suppressed the usual delusion of grandeur, but Muqiu felt the memory of his body singing like a sword settle into his soul. He held that image in mind, and channeling all of the crystal’s essence into his fists, he descended upon the monster.

Excerpt from Strength, a delusion (our fragile hearts), Oct 2021

[jellypractices]

Day 6: WC/YWZ, surrender

In between their second and third rounds of PK, Yu Wenzhou noticed the near invisible sheen of sweat on the captain’s forehead and hesitated.

One battle later, Yu Wenzhou pulled away from the computer, a bitter smile on his face.

Wei Chen didn’t say anything but stared, haunted, into Yu Wenzhou’s eyes.

From my 3 sentence rarepair week collection, March 2021

[jellypractices]

2020 Fic Year in Review!

Fics posted/updated: 11

Fandoms posted in: 1 (lol)

Total word count: 40,917

2020 Memories

Most proud of: My bigbang fic! Seas, snails, and puppy dog tails: how to make him fur-ever yours

The fic everyone was yelling at me about: my fated, my glory

The masq fic that only one person was able to shoot me for: muscle and nerve (rest easy)

My second dance au: One Last Dance

[jellypractices]

the bees pollinate

our apple blossom spring love

so in fall, we dance

[jellypractices]

Little Dot peeked out shyly from behind Ye Xiu’s legs. He let out a little whine, prompting Shaotian to scamper over and sniff at the other dog. Then, Shaotian sat next to Little Dot and looked up to Yu Wenzhou expectantly. Are we going? He seemed to ask with those dark eyes.

Yu Wenzhou lacked a good reason to refuse Ye Xiu, so he just nodded. It was only the four of them, two men and two dogs, walking along the beach to the rhythm of the waves as the sun disappeared beneath the horizon.

Excerpt from Seas, snails, and puppy dog tails: how to make him fur-ever yours, Summer 2020

[jellypractices]

Last normal day

There’s an odd sense of anxiety in the air that infiltrates the room the way a thick bank of fog creeps in over a valley and smothers everything in its path. Everyone’s a little on edge. You can hear the whispers as you pass through the hallways on the way to the team meeting. How far the virus has spread in other areas. How maybe the company will shut down. How you should start making preparations just in case. 

You’ve never been one to keep up with current events. It doesn’t seem so bad when you look straight ahead and hurry straight down the hall to your meeting. Later, you might lament that you didn’t take your time. That you didn’t stop by the front desk to congratulate the receptionist for her nephew’s birth, that you didn’t poke your head in to greet your coworker as he shuffled in after his lunch break with a bag of Chipotle, that you didn’t sneak by the kitchen to grab a coffee and pocket a couple of chocolates from the candy jar. But you didn’t know that this might be the last day you would be able to slink into the conference room five minutes late, so you make it to the meeting, coffee-less and on time.

The team leader happens to be your best friend and roommate. He’s always been the image of perpetual calmness, and today is no different. Seeing him act the same way as usual sets your mind at ease. Within the soundproof bubble of the conference room, the virus doesn’t exist and you can talk freely about future plans to contact so-and-so and schedule as many pointless meetings as you want. 

It’s not until everyone else leaves that your best friend sinks into his chair and rests his head in his hands. 

“I’m really worried,” he confides in you, and suddenly you can’t pretend anymore. You want to comfort him in the way that he often does for you, but all of the usual words roll around uncertain on your tongue. 

“Me too,” you say instead, and you sit there with him in silence until the hour changes and you need to go back to your desk. 

It’s hard to focus on your work. You alternate between checking your email, Twitter, and newsfeed every fifteen minutes. You’re feeling antsy in your seat, so you get up to stretch a bit. Every day around 3:45, you take an eye-break from staring at your monitor and make rounds around the office. You hope that the light exercise will help settle your nervous energy, but instead it seems to build as you feed off the buzzing apprehension radiating from your coworkers.

The email you’ve both been waiting for and hoping never comes arrives in your inbox only a half hour before closing. Like an iceberg finally calving into the sea, suddenly everyone is rushing about, trying to figure out what needs to be taken home in order to continue on the project, if the project is even still running. 

You stuff some files into your backpack. Files from today, files for tomorrow, files you’d been planning to get to next week. You then pack your work laptop, but hesitate holding your wireless mouse. It technically belongs to the company, but you’ve always preferred using a mouse to the trackpad. The mouse ends up tucked into a pocket. You can return it when you get back you figure. 

The last part is tricky though. You have two potted plants on your desk, but can only carry one of them in your arms. If you leave one at the office, it would surely dry out and die.

Your best friend saves you once again by offering to carry the other plant. 

You breathe a sigh of relief. 

“At least you’ll be with me,” you say, and he gives you an exhausted smile.

The two of you exit the building and hop on the bus like you would on any other day, but with two potted plants sitting on your laps. The neighborhood has a different feel when you finally get off the bus. These waters are familiar, and yet, uncertain

June 2020

[jellypractices]

Pros don’t need sleep

He blocks the opponent’s sword with a parry of his spear. The red health bar on the left side of the screen is less than a quarter of the way full, but the opponent’s health bar on the opposite side isn’t much longer either.

Beads of sweat roll down his neck. It’s the coldest night of the year, but he is warm from the heat of battle and the warm air blowing out from his desktop. The room is dark but for the light coming from the monitor and the shifting rainbow colored glow from the backlight of his keyboard.

His left hand taps rhythmically at the keyboard while his right makes adjustments with the mouse. Half of the icons in the tray at the bottom of the screen are grayed out as skills used previously wait to come off cooldown.

He leans slightly forward from his high-backed gaming chair. He has bags around his eyes from too many nights of staying up gaming, but his eyes are wide open and focused, pupils making rapid movements from opponent to status bar to skills.

Clang! Clang! Clang! The sounds of the battle flood the neon green headphones sitting atop his slightly long dark hair. The view on the screen whirls around as his character evades and blocks the enemy attacks while sending out a few jabs of his own.

Both health bars are dangerously close to zero. His heart is pounding in his chest like a prisoner banging against the walls of his cell. His bare feet press deeper into the hardwood floor.

The enemy’s sword flashes white as it slashes down with a high priority skill. He tanks the damage instead of dodging, holding his breath at the few percentage points of health left. The enemy has miscalculated, failing to kill him off in one strike. Using the extra second gained from the ending animation lag, he holds down his T key to charge up his spell, causing the black iron spear to light up with crackles of purple lightning as a dark ball of magic grows at the tip.

Releasing the spell, he maneuvers the spear to send out another stab right as the dark orb pierces the enemy’s armor and explodes, sending shockwaves of electricity through him and knocking the character backwards in a smooth arc. The swordsman lands in a bloody heap on the sandy gravel of the arena while the golden word “VICTORY!” falls over the screen.

Releasing a breath as he shakes out his wrists and leans back in his chair, he adjusts the microphone of his headset closer to his mouth.

“Come on, bruh. Are you even trying?”

June 2020

[jellypractices]

It’s time for bed

There was still light shining from underneath the door to Jamie’s bedroom when he finally clambered up the stairs to bed. 

The hallway stood in eerie stillness, the quiet of night indicative of just how late it had gotten. Shadowy piles of boxes stuffed to the brim with old picture books and clothing to be donated stood watch against the banister like silent soldiers. Standing in front of the blue and white painted door, he shifted his weight under their gaze, the floorboards softly protesting the extra fifteen pounds he’d put on since last June.

“Jamie,” he called out lightly, pressing an ear against the white dotted stars he and Jamie had painted together one summer afternoon when Amanda had decided that the boundary to her older sibling’s sanctuary was an appropriate display for her Sharpie artwork. 

With a gentle twist of the doorknob, he pushed open the door to see Jamie laying splayed out in front of their laptop, with their head resting on a folded arm and one hand still cradling a green cased iPhone. A stack of spiral bound notebooks was pushed to the side of the desk, atop which sat a half-eaten bowl of salt and vinegar chips-- the remnants of a late night snack.

He sighed in defeat at the child. 

Jamie had already changed into pajamas, a pair of old cotton shorts and their favorite graphic T-shirt that they insisted was not cool to wear in public, but their dark mop of hair was still wet, a used bath towel hanging haphazardly off the back of the desk chair. Their legs, tanned and muscled from the long hours of spring lacrosse season, were tucked underneath themselves with one foot up on the seat of the chair and one foot brushing the floor beneath it.

The laptop screen was angled slightly downward, as if they were still watching the Brookline 9-1-1 or whatever that was still playing on low volume. He reached over the sleeping teen’s head and pressed the spacebar, freezing the two figures in their wildly humorous discussion before closing the lid with a gentle click. 

“Don’t complain if your neck hurts tomorrow,” he murmured, gathering up the wet towel from its precarious position on the chair. 

“Sleep tight,” he said, flicking off the lights.

June 2020

[jellypractices]

Dizziness

It doesn’t feel like everything is spinning.

It’s the sensation of rocking.

Back and forth, 

constant,

like you’re on a boat.

Sometimes the waves are small.

Peaceful rocking, docked safe at the harbor, one step away from the shore.

It’s enough to not mind, to lose notice, when you concentrate hard enough.

When you were a child, these waves rocked you to bed at night,

the last thing you remembered before slipping into a dream.

You were once told that it was nothing but a dream

so you learned to keep it to yourself, a whisper lost among the waves.

Now though, your boat goes out to sea.

The waves are bigger now, out on the open ocean.

There’s a feeling that something is not how it’s supposed to be--

Your legs are looking for dry land, but the ground is moving beneath your feet.

You can still move if you walk slowly,

but running on deck feels like it could be dangerous.

Occasionally, you’re hit with a big wave.

Six foot swells that make you pause in place.

You feel like you should hold on to something, 

but of course, everything is moving with you.

There’s nothing you can do but wait for it to pass.

It feels like you’ve been on the water for a while now. 

It’s getting harder to remember the feeling of solid ground. 

You want to go back there,

But out on the ocean, there’s no shore in sight.

[jellypractices]

“I shouldn’t be so surprised.” Han Wenqing enunciates each syllable slowly and clearly, all the tenderness from earlier leeching away, leaving only the bare bones of sentence structure. “You’ve always been so selfish, Ye Xiu .”

Excerpt from my fated, my glory, March 2020

[jellypractices]

2019 Fic Year in review!

Works published: 11

Chapters published: 23

Word count:  39,949

Self-Awarded Achievements: 

Until My Body Breaks: 1 year anniversary award, 10 chapters award

destiny within our hands: masquerade winner

translations: crackfic of the year award

catch a falling star: darkfic of the year award

forget-me-not: first fic translated award

Here’s to 2019! May we write even more good fic in 2020!

[jellypractices]

In thoughts, we are more similar than we think we are twin sides of the same coin In truth, I wish I could confide to you It is something we must both work on

[jellypractices]

Seawater still laps at the edge of the road as we drive down Route 1A. Had there been any more wind, it would have overstepped this arbitrary boundary between manmade and natural, encroaching upon the lots of the surrounding small businesses and spilling out onto the highway. I have half a mind to snap a picture, to save this striking image of near-flooding and share it with others in the MyCoast database, but we whiz by too quickly for me to whip out my camera. Next time, I think. There will be plenty of next times.

Excerpt from King Tides, Citizen Science, and Resilience: the Future of Boston, wip Dec 2019

[jellypractices]

They took a moment’s breath just to feel each other’s heartbeats thump steady in their chests.

It felt like a thousand eternities contained within a single second.

“Don’t you think that palm reading is like a self-fulfilling prophecy? Even just the state of knowing influences a person’s behavior. You wouldn’t know whether it was true or not until the very end, and even then, would you change around the experiences in your memory to match what you thought was destiny?”

Ye Xiu wriggled himself further into Han Wenqing’s arms.

“We don’t need to get married. Let’s make our own fate.”

Excerpt from destiny within our hands, Oct 2019

[jellypractices]

The times that we take

To stand aside and watch you

Are my favorite