ceruleanmornings: (Mo Dao Zu Shi)
I believe I lamented this at length when I was into Laviyuu back in my D. Gray-Man phase. Way too many plots and setups and I finished like a fifth of them? A tenth? Very little. And, of course, me being me, getting into ChengXian just means the exact same situation. Again!

I currently have 3 ish plot bunnies hounding me. Now, don't let the number fool you, because 1 is a novel, as in literally with over 100k words planned. 1 is a novella with maybe 50k words planned. And the last is a series of short stories that will probably have 10k each, if not more. Yeah. I also have a collection of "shorts" that I'm currently working on. They're actually supposed to be short, but you know, sometimes they grow into monstrosities, too. I...I'm not sure what I should be doing at this point. I started the shorts to ease myself into writing ChengXian, but now I'm like, goddamn it, this is supposed to be fun and easy! What in the seventh hell? 🤣

Here's a quick run-down of what I have planned:

1) The novel - a complete AU where the Sunshot war doesn't happen until much later. WWX and JC grew up together, had inclination to marry, but were denied when WWX had to be married off for political purposes. Contains indisputable WangXian and some serious cuckji moments because, yo, this is a ChengXian story, okay? (I am 100% NOT tagging the story with any of those when I post though, because I ain't inviting that drama!) Anyway, no one loses any golden cores or take up demonic cultivation. And despite everything, this is in essence a very sweet love story. (Or a very long, torturing love story, depends on who you ask.)

2) The novella - a canon-divergence AU where instead of JC getting captured, it was WWX who got captured and lost his core. JC then tries everything he can to get WWX out of Wen's hands. Major hurt/comfort vibes, some serious, depressing PTSD issues, and instead of a lot of people dying they're alive but are very, very miserable.

3) The series - a modern, mobsters/gang wars/police AU. (Got some inspiration from The Wire, for sure.) It is a multi-ship series where WangXian and ChengXian co-exist peacefully (or at least they do in my fic. Some people might interpret it differently but you know, that's out of my hands.) Also my first serious jaunt into NieLan. Actually you can probably call this series a NieLan fic with ChengXian on the side. At least the angst does not come from JC and WWX this time, mostly.

4) The shorts - Random small bits that, like I said, I'm writing to get myself familiar with these characters. Also I found that there's a curious lack of alpha!JC/omega!WWX fics in the omegaverse AUs. It's always the other way around, which I think is fine but don't understand why it is so much more prevalent. So I'm going to add to this rarest of rare things just for kicks. 

And that's what I have so far. I say so far because who knows what my brain'll come up with tomorrow. I'm trying very hard to keep it contained to these four items, though.
ceruleanmornings: (Cygnus)
Pretty much what the title said. Also, I've been talking a heck lot about this, so maybe I should actually make an icon? Definitely NOT using any official Saint Seiya art because they are fugly lol. But maybe something to do with either the Cygnus constellation itself or a giant gothic cross? We'll see.

I have been putting off starting to write because I suck, but today, I am determined to actually put words on paper. I think starting a new file is always daunting, no matter how much I prepare for it. Anyway, I have been ruminating over a scene that doesn't come until waaaaaay later in the side fic. I haven't even begun the main fic yet! But because I just really want to get that part out of the way (there's a high chance I might throw this scene out later or completely change, but, eh). So I'm going to write the prologue. Then write the introduction scene so Ikki can describe everyone and how they changed at least physically. Then we're jumping straight to this other scene. What scene is it, you ask? It's an interlude, from Nachi's POV, showing what exactly went down when he figured out Hyoga and Shiryu's, ahem, situation. 

I told you that I have been putting a lot of thought into Nachi because he has become such a good side character, with personality and purpose! I also want to involve the other neglected 5 Bronze Saints and put a little more into them. (No one writes them, but I'm gonna make them interesting to read for once. You watch!). I also need practice with group dynamics and, hey, here's a scene where there's like six guys drunk in an apartment talking smack about each other and, yeah, dialogue practice bitches! If this were in America there'd be rap music blaring and all kinds of substance being passed around (probably not weed, because these guys would definitely go for uppers like meth or crack or something) and the talk would involve fucking hoes and shit. Unfortunately this is allegedly in Japan sooooo we're gonna have to dial down the drug abuse. Drinks though. That can do. Maybe some cigarettes. I will have to plan this scene a little bit further, but boy, I'm just too excited I have to get this out of the way before I can move on thinking about other things lol.

(Hyoga you beautiful bastard. I've never tried to write you before, and I'm not sure I know how to write you convincingly, but I will try.)
ceruleanmornings: (Cygnus)
Yeah I haven't really started writing the main fic and I'm already getting taken over by a side plot bunny. Great! Just what I need. I blame my thoroughness in setting up the relationships that I think I started shipping another pairing unintentionally haha. I definitely 100% should NOT write this until I'm way through my main fic. Otherwise things will get too messy.

So, what is this? Well, during the main, still unnamed Hyoga/Shun fic, I decided Hyoga and Shiryu would no doubt have a deep friendship through the entire aftermath. Mostly because they had to take care of Shun together. I think I drank too much of my own kool-aid or something, because I was then like, hmm, so there was a period of years where the two were super stressed over everything and leaned on each other (because there's literally no one else; no, Athena does not count or care, she's beyond human affairs like this). I wonder if they ever slept together? 🤔 Just out of pure stress relief. Hmmmmm, I wonder if they've decided to stop because Shiryu learned Shunrei's pregnant and Shun's getting better so he and Hyoga are becoming the destined pair. Hmmmmmmmm. I wonder what would happen if, say, neither of them wants to stop sleeping with each other despite their silent agreement after all. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I wonder if Shiryu just may have been a bit more invested emotionally than Hyoga and............you see what I'm saying when I say this'll really mess up the original fic's dynamics? But the idea just gnaws at me haha. I love messy relationships because human hearts are so complicated! And so, this side idea was born.

I'm gonna have a hell of a time writing Shiryu "correctly." But I do think most fics with him in it writes him terribly lackluster. They just give him a proper style of speech and make him kind of dumb. I mean, what? You can do so much with him! By the way I looked up the Shiryu/Hyoga tab on AO3 and, uh, there's like 10 fics total in 4 different languages lol. So one brave soul PER COUNTRY tried out this pair - that is hilariously sad. I really want to add to this just out of principle now.

And I've kept on adding more scenes with Nachi. I don't know why haha. He's becoming so smart and savvy it's endearing. I'm just giving all the comic-ish relief to him. One line I definitely thought of him is that he's a lousy Saint, but not a lousy anything else. He's doing okay for himself in his studies and he's one of the very few that actually figured out Shiryu and Hyoga had a thing (by pure accident, because Hyoga has absolute zero poker face). And Nachi's just like 'well fuck my life now that I know this for a fact!' He speaks his mind and does what he wants, and that's necessary sometimes in a fic. (Notice almost no one does both. Hyoga doesn't do either. Ikki doesn't talk but does what he wants. Shun is polite/positive all the time, does what he wants mostly, and same with Shiryu, mostly, minus the positive part and add in some sarcasm. Who would tell Ikki he deserves to be punched for abandoning his brother and then also actually punches him? Only Nachi.)

I just added a lot more depth to my timeline again. Yuck, better get to work!
ceruleanmornings: (Cygnus)
Okay, here's another long entry where I want to talk about my current fic. So first of all, I have started a small Notion project for it. See, I wanted to try out Notion's functions for writers, because I've seen people use it as a writing project tool, not just for database or daily life managing. (My s.o. said his company just use it as a wiki.) So what better chance to get familiar with it than planning this fic in detail? I have to say I've gotten the hang of it now, and appreciate it for its mobile possibilities. No, it will not replace my Scrivener, but I think maybe have a space where I can write some ideas on the go and syncing it seamlessly into what's already written, is a pretty good draw. I have no idea why people would pay for templates, though, unless they're a large company. Certainly did not need one for my writing projects, that's for sure.

Right, the fic. I have to say that by this point it has morphed into a respectable (well, relatively lol) story with a proper plotline and character growth and etc. It started with me wanting to write a Hyoga/Shun story, seen through the eyes of Ikki. Ikki, in order to avoid his grief about the end of the Hades war, decides to wander the world instead of staying in Japan with the wounded. After 5 years he's finally ready to face his past, so he comes home to Tokyo, and finds that everyone he knew has, of course, also changed. Some beyond his recognition, like Saori, others seemingly familiar on the surface, but whatever lies beneath is anyone's guess. He is my narrator but also my way of telling everyone's trials and tribulations to the audience, because Ikki will find out everything on the same pace as us, the readers. Kind of like Watson with Holmes in Sherlock.

Now I want to talk about Hyoga/Shun in general. So, unlike the majority (?) of the people that shipped this, I did NOT think that scene in the Libra Temple is indication that they're into each other. At all. Granted, I watched it first when I was like, 8, so my idea of romance was practically nonexistent, but I did re-read it when I was older and lurked in fandom. And I vehemently did NOT see Shun sacrificing himself to save Hyoga as anything more than nakama power, you know, the drive behind a lot of shonen manga friendships. They did not interact much in the rest of the storyline anyway, so I thought in order to write a convincing Hyoga/Shun (mostly to convince myself lol) it needs to be built from after everything's over. And you know, this series' fanfic authors just doesn't address PTSD enough, from all the fighting and death and all, especially with the Bronze Saints. So what's better than combining the two to make a 'cause' for the pairing to get to like each other, eh? Shun could not get over everything Hades had done, therefore becoming mentally unstable, and Hyoga, being the overly emotional Saint born under a cross as he is (geez, Kurumada, lighten up on the symbolism a bit, would you?), could not let Shun fall. Voilà! Relationship status achieved. The story is showing this whole process. Maybe they had mild feelings for each other before (at least maybe from Shun's perspective), but the aftermath is what truly cemented the outcome.

I also wanted to have some fun with some of these characters with less screen time. Ikki, for example, I want him to get ragged on a lot. I mean, everyone who survived surmised that he had run away due to cowardice (pretty much!) and left Shun in hell while Hyoga (and Shiryu, to an extent) picked up his slack. So of course they wouldn't talk to him about what happened at first, because they were all more or less pissed at him, and didn't trust him to not run away again. (Super convenient for story-telling purposes when I need to slowly reveal the past!) With Shiryu I made him more sarcastic, told off-colored jokes, and took on a 'smile in the face of adversity' kind of attitude, because I imagine the dude at this point just doesn't give a fuck anymore. (You know, Saint Seiya really doesn't have anyone like this, except maybe Kanon, a little bit, but he's dead so, what's a girl to do?) I added in Wolf Nachi because he's so minor that no one remembers he's around, and therefore also a blank canvas, but I think Hyoga needed more friends. Nachi hates Ikki's guts, not just from the very first time he got defeated by Illusion Demon Fist, but he also saw the shit Hyoga went through with Shun because they (Nachi and Hyoga) attended the same university. I think a couple more side characters like this is what makes the story more alive, and drives the plot forward (because having literally 2 people to converse with tend to get stagnant), and yeah, I can shit on Ikki a bit more lol. (Shiryu's on Hyoga's side, too, btw, just, a little bit more diplomatic than some of the more hotheaded people, but hey, that's when the biting sarcasm comes in!)

And Athena is above it all because she's a god now. She just wants to make sure nothing too crazy happens, because when you have supernaturally powered people living under your roof, a wild card (Ikki) thrown in is bound to cause more problems. 

I'm going to stop here, because again, this entry has ballooned massively. Can't you tell I'm kind of excited to write this? Still working on getting all the details down for now, but I'll get cracking in the actual prose soon.

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ceruleanmornings

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If you came here from various fandom links where I write fan things, well, hello! We should be DW friends!

March 2025

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