The Western Door

Nerd, fan, reader, writer. Thewesterndoor on AO3. Side blog.

[eaion]

山河令 / Shan He Ling (Word of Honor, 2021) episode 31 & 36

[liss-art]

Sketching

[theerakits-archive]

Ah yes...this is how I'll talk to my soulmate.

[baiwu-jinji]

"In the analysis of Chinese danmei novels, Ke Ning notes that the narrative of danmei novels is mainly constructed as follows: (1) the male’s body is constructed as an object of desire; (2) the relationship between the male and society is downplayed, while the one-on-one intimate relationship between two men is retained and emphasized. In contrast, to adapt danmei narratives as brotherhood narratives [in dangai dramas], (1) the male’s body must not be constructed as an object of desire, and (2) the relationship between the male and society is emphasized, while that between the two male characters is downplayed."

Below the author compares Word of Honor's original script (mouthed words) with its official dubbings to see how the romantic relationship between Wenzhou is downplayed:

-"Strategic mouthing of words: the Chinese bromance drama Word of Honor, censorship and gender stereotypes," by Mi Erin Zhou

[alliumms]

Watching people dissect the original script on XHS after I watched this show made me SQUEAL, I had no idea they censored so much 😭 Had to go and find the "unofficial" official ending that they couldn't put in the show where it showed Wenzhou living happy immortal lives in the mountains and they didn't PERISH IN AGONY 🙏🏼

[florthier-than-thou]

Therapist: the costume drama Wall Of ‘Staches isn’t real and it can’t hurt you

The Wall of ‘Staches:

[florthier-than-thou]

NOOOOO IT GOT HIM

[thewesterndoor]

“The length of the Huangquan Road depended on how many indelible memories were carved into an individuals heart. The glow of the lamps cleansed a soul of everything that connected them to the Mortal Realm.”

Guardian, vol 3, pg 58

I’ve been trying to work on my pen and ink sketching this year so a quick piece based on my current read.

[thewesterndoor]

Night Has Come

I don’t know what it is about summer but I find it’s a time I crave horror. I saw in a book somewhere something about the idea of scary things to chill the blood in the heat of summer and it’s kind of stuck with me. All this to say, this show was exactly what I was craving. And the episodes seem to all be under 40 minutes and there’s only 12 so it’s a satisfyingly snappy watch.

In a nutshell: students at a retreat are pulled into a game of mafia with deadly consequences

Sort of like: if The Traitors was real and featured high school kids; Battle Royale; Re(member)

Warnings: pretty graphic for violence, bullying as a significant element

[thewesterndoor]

Self care Saturday

Reminder to do something good for yourself today!

This has been a weirdly hard week with a lot of stress and anxiety, so today’s plan is to try to set myself right. It’ll be a chance to make sure my spaces feel comfortable and set up for the coming week. So laundry and tidying.

I also have plans for sushi and a book this afternoon and games this evening. Hopefully it’ll put me in a place where writing can happen tomorrow.

[thewesterndoor]

When the current project requires some actual research 😂 ⚾️

[thewesterndoor]

Motivation Monday

Motivation to write this project has been in short supply lately and I think it might be that the well is dry. This fic goes outside my wheelhouse of knowledge and so as I’ve been writing it’s a lot of second guessing and tentative steps—especially as I’ve got to a part where I actually need so more info.

So today’s task is filling the well. It’s a holiday here, so the cat and I are going to rewatch Ace of the Diamond (Sawamura is really my inspo for Simon in the fic) and maybe watch some actual baseball. If I have to. I guess.

Hope any and all who are writing this month are having an easier time getting words out. Lmk about your motivation (or lack thereof). And lmk if you’d like to be tagged in my fic write along posts.

[youandmeboth1]

They have come so far! I'm crying 😭😭

[zuura]

because i couldn’t forget the sound of his mitt that day, i came to this school

[cat-cosplay]

Gojo Catoru

Jujutmew Kaisen

[ruemxu]

so the anime reached the kfc breakup scene huh? time to post some old satosugu

>> ruemxu

[thewesterndoor]

Six Sentence Sunday

“Alright, Snow and Pitch, you’re paired off today.”

Simon’s head snapped up from where he’d been staring at the scuffed ground to look at Davy.

“Coach, what? Why…?” The words stumbled out of Simon’s mouth.

“Now that Pitch has agreed to behave, he’s back into the first string. No sense in having our best catcher on the bench if we don’t need to.”

Thanks to @chen-chen-chen-again-chen I was able to get some writing in today! And I think (hope) I can get some more writing done tomorrow.

[thewesterndoor]

Self care Saturday

Just a reminder while working on projects to take some time to look after yourself!

A while ago someone from my art group sent a video about the idea of creating a menu for self care. I find it really easy to forget about things i could do that would make me feel better and so this idea has really worked for me. The idea is you can have options arranged by what need should be met.

I’m hoping a day of recharging will set me up for some good writing tomorrow.

(Below is my latest menu)

[thewesterndoor]

Motivation Monday

Last day of July, so I guess I could count this as a day to not write but I know the longer I delay the harder it is to start. So I guess, for me, this motivation Monday is trying to figure out how to find some motivation to get started. Whenever there’s a gap between projects or writing days, I end up feeling an inertia that’s hard to overcome, which is me right now. I was working from home today, which is an awesome thing, it just makes some of my routines harder. Wfh days I get up a lot later, giving myself the min time to switch between rest and work, where on site days I’m usually in the office an hour early with time to kill. I had thoughts of getting up at my on site time and writing in the morning, and then I actually woke up at the time and my brain was like, how about we just change the alarm and get up in another hour and a half…

So I’m now into the early evening without having written anything, and trying to figure out how I start. Sigh.

Going to bust out some of my usual tricks that work and see if I can get something written. Or even just get to a point where I’m familiar with where I last left my fic and where it’s going. My biggest trick is sort of pomodoro, but not a lot of rules. I set my timer for 20 minutes (15 if my brain is being really terrible) and promise myself that if I do just 20 minutes I can call myself successful for the day and quit after. Usually 20 minutes is enough to get my brain in gear and for me to feel like I WANT to write more after, but if not…well, I’ve already given myself permission to go do something else and some time/words are better than nothing.

Also, it helps that I posted about trying to do writing this month so I feel like I have to do something happen. The power of accountability! Even when it’s largely just shouting into the void.

[thewesterndoor]

It took me ages to get down to it (dinner and then a YouTube pit with the roomie) but I got in my 20 minutes AND I did a bit of inspiration diving (rewatched some dna) and got some plot notes written. I’m calling this a win.