#asksilvy
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For the ask game:
any current crafting project you'd like to share making of pics? ❤
I do have a few projects I'm currently playing around with... 🤔
The first is playing with fimo clay. We used to do lots of stuff with polymer clay when I was a kid/teen, but I haven't used it for decades.
But I wanted to try making a hairpiece to match a sparkly necklace of mine, so I bought some translucent fimo to experiment a bit. (You've already seen this one, I know, but it is one of my current creative projects! It counts!)
First experiment: pretty successful! (I had the hairstick from before) Hopefully I can scrape together the spoons to make some more elaborate designs!
I know you've seen these, too, but I want to show them off, so...
Experimenting with shrinkydinks, also for the first time in over a decade! Made a set of shimmery dragonfly wings - maybe I'll even figure out what to use them for at some point... 😂
Here's another project from just the other day - my first time experimenting with wire+nail polish flowers!
I only had clear nail polish at home, so I'll probably test either painting it or getting more nail polish in more fun colours.
This is a craft I've seen around for years and wanted to try one day, and finally got around to it! Not too shabby for a first try! I may try making more!
Finally, this. First experiment in carving/painting a sheet of translucent white plastic that I'll use to make a ceiling light! Picture to the left is lit from the front, picture to the right is lit from behind.
This was just a test-run, I still need to tweak parts of the process to get the look I want, but the goal is to make something inspired by Tiffany stained glass. We'll see how it goes! Wish me luck!
#asksilvy#silvyart#crafting#i am learning on the job with all these#just playing around and having fun!
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I'm involved in a project that requires casting some residential circular-arch doors out of concrete, one side at a time. I was considering designing the embellishments with digital tools and having them cut with a CNC machine for the mold, but it seems like a lot of trouble and I already know how to design things in the physical world. My question: what did you carve your beautiful embellished doors from, was it expensive, and do you think it'd work to cast a rubber mold from?
That sounds like a really cool project!
The carved panels on the doors I made were made in mdf-board. It's pretty cheap, about the same as plywood, and you can carve it like wood with a multitool - with the right bit, it's pretty fast work! (I talk about the different bits I use in this post.)
As long as the relief doesn't have any wierdly angled deep nooks and crannies, you should absolutely be able to make a rubber cast from it! Especially if you put down a base coat of somewhat glossy paint first, to make all the surfaces smooth and non-porous!
(Mandatory word of caution - carving mdf means a lot of sawdust, and it's a health-hazard to breathe it in. So do it outside, if you can, and wear a mask and goggles!)
The board on the doors is actually quite thin, about 10-12mm - the layered paint helps accentuate the 3D depth of the carvings. If you want a physically deeper relief, it'll be more work to carve it and the mdf sheets are more expensive the thicker they are.
That said, even a relatively shallow pattern can be very striking!
This divider was carved from 10mm mdf, so the carvings are just a few mm deep, but even without paint, it makes for a pretty effect! 🙂
If you do go ahead with it, feel free to share pictures! I'd love to see what you end up making! 😀
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For the 'ask me anything'
... Have you done any writing today, Auntie? 👀
THAT IS CHEATING 😒
... and no, I haven't written anything the last few days, because I've been busy drawing the next chapter illustration.
Since a new chapter is scheduled to get posted tomorrow. 😊
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so three questions in one, i would like to know your:
-xuexiao thoughts
-songxiao thoughts
-songxue thoughts
separated from songxuexiao
(if you would also like to provide your songxuexiao thoughts i would love to read that too i just wanna see specifically how you feel and think about each ship individually)
(+bonus: any a-qing ships you do or don't have, why/why not, and/or any sexuality/gender headcanons you might have for her)
Oh wow, that’s a very broad question! Let’s see what we can come up with…
XueXiao was my entry point to the SXX ship. I love their chemistry in CQL (much more than in MDZS) I love how – when all other variables were stripped away – they make each other happy. How they share the same silly, almost childish humour, and love to laugh and tease and joke together.
How Xiao Xingchen’s patience and gentle nature allows Xue Yang to experiment with being a kind of person he’s never been before – just a human being, a bit sharp around the edges, but no longer an attack-dog, a weapon or tool. Just a person, being given affection for free, just for being.
And how Xue Yang makes Xiao Xingchen happy, makes him laugh. He’s helpful – first, no doubt, because he’s learned to make himself useful to stay alive. But later just because he actually enjoys taking care of the people he likes. And Xiao Xingchen relishes in being loved and appreciated – and also getting to be just a human being. No legendary hero or world-saviour. But just a person, loved.
I also have a huge weak spot for the kind of hopeless obsessive devotion Xue Yang expresses after Xiao Xingchen’s death! That getting him back somehow matters more than anything, even his own life. That he never stops trying. That his final moments is remembering Xiao Xingchen’s kindness, smiling as he looks at the candy and finally lets go.
That’s a major reason why I started writing Heaven – to give them a second chance at realizing how much they did and do care about each other, how much the other cares. How much of that was real.
SongXiao is by far the weakest part of the triangle for me, personally. Not as in they’re not close, because they are, but because they don’t interest me much without Xue Yang there to spice things up. They have some issues, certainly, but on their own they’re just a bit too straight-laced and wholesome to be very interesting.
I do find Song Lan’s issues with touch clashing with Xiao Xingchen’s tactile nature interesting, and the Yearning can be good, too.
But still... Without Xue Yang there, I don’t connect much to these two on their own. I virtually never read fic for just the two of them (and not only because a lot of SongXiao fics sadly often spring fun surprise “fix-it”s that just boil down to “kill Xue Yang and everything’s fine!” on you without even warning for it.) They’re just a bit eh.
SongXue is delicious. It’s hurty and crunchy with a lot of fun chemistry to poke at. They both start from a place of loathing everything the other is, and then take a fascinating further detour through destroying the most precious things the other has. For that to turn into any kind of working relationship… It takes a lot of work. And that work, the dealing with and overcoming past trauma, forced cooperation, realizing the things they have in common, the world’s most grudging respect and appreciation slowly growing between them... That’s my catnip. I love it. I’m not interested in canon divergent stories where they just rush past all that to forgiveness and love. I want to see the work.
When I first started writing Heaven, my outlook was to fit in some angry hatesex at best, and really struggled with imagining a way for them to actually grow to love each other. And it did take a lot of work! Some 350k of it! And a lot of hurt, and compromise, and dogged determination from the both of them! But now they’ve finally gotten there and it feels solid. It feels earned.
No forgiveness for the unforgivable hurt of the past, but an unspoken mutual agreement to look to the future. Love that for them.
Finally, the SongXueXiao triangle as a whole – I love how well they all balance each other when together.
Xiao Xingchen can be overly idealistic, but paired with Song Lan’s pragmatism it turns into more concrete things to actually do, and Xue Yang’s irreverent habit of pointing out the weakest links in their reasoning to tear down their arguments also identifies what really needs working on… It’s a good way of making progress!
I like how Song Lan’s stubborn patience and stern sense of justice can temper Xue Yang’s worst and most violent impulses, and how Xue Yang can push Song Lan out of his comfort zone and force him to consider greyscales and not just neat blacks and whites.
I love how Xue Yang grows when he’s feeling loved, and how much he loves taking care of his loved ones, though he wouldn’t realize himself that that’s what he’s actually doing. He just likes pampering them, when given the chance! It does piss him off to no end, sometimes, the way they try to "change" him and "hold him back" - but once he’s calmed down a bit, he can usually see when it’s merited and for his own good, and even when not… the compromises are an acceptable trade-off to get to have the good parts of the relationship.
They’re good for each other, a mix of supporting the best in each other, and helping temper and guide their weaknesses into better habits and more nuanced understanding.
This is a set, do not separate. ♥
As for a-Qing… I love her as a character! Especially her weird aggro-sibling relationship with Xue Yang. But I don’t have any very strong feelings about her aside from that – I’ll happily read fics where she stays single all her life, or ends up in a happily married polycule, or settles down with husband and kids, or dates around as she pleases. She can be ace or lesbian or pan or anything. You do you, Queen!
In Deep Blue Sea, she had a friends with benefits situationship with Wen Qing. In Under The Wheel it wasn’t stated outright, but the way she kept wandering with the other three, she never settled down with any one partner, but had the occasional flings and a number of more or less casual bedmates along the journey.
The only real notp I’d have for her would probably be Xiao Xingchen or Song Lan, who are more gege/parent-coded to her in my mind. If, in some version of events, she would be interested in exploring sex with the mysterious (canonically designated handsome) stranger who lived with them in Yi City, though? Sure, why not. I don’t know if Xue Yang would go for it, and it’s not a ship I would seek out, but that I can imagine enjoying if handled just right.
Other than that, as I said, pretty much anything goes. She’s not a character I would seek out fic for, but I very much like her as part of the whole Yi City mess. She should get to have fun and get good things! She certainly deserves it every bit as much as the other three disasters.
#asksilvy#long post#this will be answered from a Heaven sort of angle#since that's the core of how i write and work with these three characters together#so ymmv
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top five favorite moments of Heaven Has a Road
I already got this question, but that just means I get to list 5 more, oh no... >.>
1. Xue Yang and Xiao Xingchen looking for Song Lan in Muaishan (chapter 41)
The scene where Song Lan has finally had enough and nopes out, and both the other two panic a bit about it and bond together to try and find him. The way they fall into each other without thinking, once they have a common goal. Xue Yang unthinkingly being reassuring, Xiao Xingchen unthinkingly trusting him. The little quips and jokes – “Far as I know, I’ve never been your wife!” (Is that so?)
This is the first time they interact properly after Xiao Xingchen lost his memories, but it quickly becomes apparent that there is a muscle-memory to his emotions, his affection and intuitive trust. And Xue Yang, who’s been so torn apart reacting instantly to that, falling back into step with him without thinking, because this is how things are supposed to be.
2. Yingchuan reveals (chapter 43)
I love the combo KO of Song Lan learning that Xue Yang has been expecting them to offer him up as a sacrifice the moment they get to Jinlintai just about all along, and then right on top of that, the reveal that Jin Guangyao is dead, and all their plans – including the ill-advised willingness to self-sacrifice – are completely shattered. It’s just such a perfect storm of a mess!
Counting the following confrontation in Wangzhuang into this, too, when they finally drop that fact on Xiao Xingchen who gets to join in on the shocked yelling and nervous breakdowns all around. 🙂
And of course, being faced with the prospect of Xue Yang dying is where Song Lan first has to confront his own feelings for Xue Yang, and how strong they’ve grown, no matter how unwanted.
3. Demonic cultivation in Wangzhuang (chapter 44)
I just think this is a really cool one? Xue Yang who’s teetering between “kill” or “help”, but finally offering to help the haunted widow of Wangzhuang reach out to her long-dead husband's soul, to either meet his ghost again or getting closure on him being truly gone. Using all the lingering ghosts of that miserable place as willing fuel and dancing with the thunderstorm to finally give her an answer to the same question that haunted him all those years in Yi City - is there anything left? Any hope at all? Why won’t he ever answer when I reach out?
Xue Yang has a very low capacity for empathy, and certainly not on a conscious level - but this once he witnesses this grieving stranger’s despair and feels something resonate within himself. And so he decides to help, for shits and giggles, to prove that he can pull off this insane feat… but maybe also for the sake of his own past self, and to give grief and longing one big middle finger on someone else’s behalf, too.
4. Xue Yang and Xiao Xingchen’s reconciliation in Hongqi (chapter 50)
Another scene I spent a lot of time thinking about for literal years before actually getting to write it. Xiao Xingchen having been given Song Lan’s “blessing” to court Xue Yang too, being giddy (and very, very horny) with anticipation, and Xue Yang not picking up on it. At all. Just sulking about being hungry and wondering why Xiao Xingchen insists on them waiting in the bedroom? When they could be having lunch? Why, Daozhang? :(
And then being utterly floored when Xiao Xingchen spreads his arms to embrace him, telling him how much he’s missed him. Completely blindsided. Not one single defense up and ready. Just breaking right down crying, 8 years worth of horror and grief and hurt exploding out at once.
Not what either of them had planned for that afternoon, but lancing that wound for both of them is where they can finally begin healing, not only as individuals, but starting to mend this broken, twisted but heartfelt love between them.
5. Song Lan’s final insight in Dushou (chapter 56)
I'm very soft for the scene in the last posted chapter where Song Lan wakes up resting on Xiao Xingchen’s lap with Xue Yang draped all over him, clinging possessively to him, being theirs. And acknowledging being theirs.
Accepting his own messy feelings for Xue Yang, even to himself, even out loud. And confessing that Xiao Xingchen’s dream of them all being together is something he wants, too.
It’s a hurting kind of love, and he weeps as he finally faces it, how much it hurts him to love this way and what a betrayal it is, in so many ways. But also realizing that fighting himself on this would only cause more hurt, for himself, and for the others. Accepting that love is a surrender and a triumph in one.
Giving the sleeping Xue Yang a tentative little kiss on the head, and holding him closer as he goes back to sleep, directing that final “I love you” to them both. ♥
Thank you so much for asking, truly! 🥰
#asksilvy#the happy songxuexiao roadtrip story#maybe if i get to talk about the story enough#my motivation will return from the war
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Are we gushing about your Vexen art? Because back in the day Vexen was always my favorite but because he was 'old' and wasn't considered 'sexy' by most (and my friends), I found that it was incredibly difficult to find anything nice of him. Then Bam! One of my favorite artists starts drawing him and suddenly my friends become a little more interested. I loved your KH art. You made me squee on several occasions!
Ahh, that makes me so happy to hear!
I very much remember how large swathes of the fandom declared any character over 20 "old" and "ugly" with an optional side-order of "icky" - but be the change you want to see in the world and all that! 😤
And if my art helped change anyone's mind when it came to Vexen, I'm all the happier for it!
Amoral genius with hair-swooshies and widow's peak, dabbling in forbidden science and turning human test subjects into mindless puppets... It's nice to see I don't have a type or anything. 🙂
Also - for the TPBoD memories:
We must give the Lady her due respects. 💚
#asksilvy#vexen#thank you SO much for all your kind words!#vexen and 411 still hold a very special place in my heart#definitely contenders for the all-time otp
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Dark xiao xingchen yes/no? (Xy version works as dark xxc I think) (Aesthetically?)(Characteristically?) (Please give your thoughts I love your thoughts)
Dark/monster/sadist Xiao Xingchen in any capacity is actually a hard pass of mine! 😅 Possibly one of the closest things to a squick I have in this fandom, and very likely to make me just click out.
I can see why people would find the concept alluring, and I'm always game for pushing the boundaries of what a character can be! But making Xiao Xingchen dark/cruel/monstrous is pretty much the antithesis of how I view him as a character, and when you get that far removed from the core of a character, it's just not them anymore, you know? So it's not for me.
Not to say he has to be absolutely angelic all the time! He can and should definitely be allowed to be human - allowed to be angry and upset, graceless in his emotions, teasing or a bit snippy, even arrogant and imperious in his righteousness... But as soon as any of that tips over into intentional cruelty, I personally lose interest.
#asksilvy#sorry if that wasn't the answer you were hoping for!#but dark xiao xingchen may just be one of my least favorite tropes for this fandom#and i will click away if i encounter it#but thank you for asking!#🥰
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writing pattern tag game
thank you to @ameliarating for tagging me!
Rules: List the first line of your last 10 posted fics and see if there’s a pattern.
1. It was still dark when he woke up, but this dark had stars in it. (Heaven Has A Road chapter 56)
2. It's a sad thing to die alone far from home, Xiao Xingchen had told the old villager earlier, because he knew it was. (Heaven Has A Road chapter 55)
3. Bleeding out, chopped up like some badly butchered animal, Xue Yang dies in the dirt. (Under The Wheel)
4. “It's not a ghost,” Xue Yang said, sounding bored. (Heaven Has A Road chapter 54)
5. It could almost have been amusing, the way Xue Yang's moods swung wildly between almost ingratiating friendliness one moment, to glaring sullen murder at him again the next. (Heaven Has A Road chapter 53)
6. He surfaced from sleep completely ensnared in a tangle of limbs, confused for several long moments until the memories of last night clicked into place, and a wave of aching fondness made his breath catch. (Heaven Has A Road chapter 52)
7. The day had gone from crazy to something beyond surreal, and it felt like his mind had just given up and shut down halfway through, unable to really keep up anymore. (Heaven Has A Road chapter 51)
8. It was funny, in a way that actually really wasn't, how much easier flirting up a willing stranger to burn off some excess energy had been before - younger, brighter, sporting ostentatious Jin gold.... Having two arms. (Heaven Has A Road chapter 50)
9. Even in half-sleep Xue Yang could tell that the day would be unpleasantly hot and humid, and he was still a bit sore after last night's Night Hunt, but Xiao Xingchen was a comfortable enough pillow and so everything was as it should be. (Heaven Has A Road chapter 49)
10. “Jiangzai is here to see you.” (Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea)
I really appreciate Amelia asking me to do this with chapters as well as fics! Many Heaven chapters are 10k+ long, so could almost count as fics in their own right length-wise if you squint? 🤔😭
I think a pattern for opening lines for me is instantly establishing a mood, often by juxtapositioning concepts or words that clash or contradict, or just give a bit of emotional slap!
Xiao Xingchen knows firsthand what it’s like to die far from home. Xue Yang talks about something as extraordinary as ghosts and sounds bored. Xue Yang talking about sexy flirting and bringing up his mutilated arm in a single sentence, Song Lan wearily finding Xue Yang being friendly vs. murderous almost ‘amusing’.
Also throwing in stark phrasing like “butchered” or "dies in the dirt" or “ensnared” or other loaded words or subjects to grab the reader’s attention! Though I also really like more quietly poetic phrasing like the “this dark had stars in it”. 💚
Apparently I also like opening on a Xue Yang pov? At least looking back at these, though I do try to make a conscious effort to mix it up a bit!
Thank you so much for tagging me! I’m asking @fromaliminalspace @ebonykain @heretherebebookdragons and anyone else who wants to to join in on the fun! And if you don’t have enough/any published fics, just go with your wips! 😁
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top 5 colors, top 5 song lyrics, OR top 5 cooking utensils. or all of the above if you dare >:3
💪😤💪
Favourite colours:
1. Green. Green is my absolute favourite colour spectrum, and I especially lean into shades of jade, olive and moss.
2. Purple. Another strong contender! I like somewhat muted jewel tones of purple - aubergine, lavender, amethyst
3. Teal and turquoise, especially the deeper tones.
4. Graphite greys and blacks. Shades that are both objectively pretty and that I like to wear.
5. Hnnngh, how can I choose... I like muted chocolate browns, like dark stained wood. Rust is pretty, as are gold and silver as contrast colours... but if I can only pick one, I think I'll go with blue, especially smokey, muted mid-range blues.
Colours is one of those things my autistic brain is very attuned to. I am very aware of all colours around me, and colour is always a very important variable in choosing one thing over another.
Favourite song lyrics:
1. Hurts, Emili Sande
It hurts the way that you pretend you don't remember
It hurts the way that you forget our times together
Like the time laid in bed when you said it's forever, baby
I can't, I can't explain no more
Baby, I'm not made of stone, it hurts
Loving you the way I do, it hurts
When all that's left to do is watch it burn
Oh baby, I'm not made of stone, it hurts
(Straight up the lyrics that inspired those scenes in Heaven)
2. A Beautiful Lie, Thirty Seconds To Mars
It's time to forget about the past
To wash away what happened last
Hide behind an empty face
Don't ask too much just say
Cause this is just a game
It's a beautiful lie
It's a perfect denial
Such a beautiful lie to believe in
So beautiful, beautiful, it makes me
(A very Xue Yang in Yi City song to me)
3. Damaged People, Depeche Mode
We're damaged people, drawn together
By subtleties that we are not aware of
Disturbed souls, playing out forever
These games that we once thought we would be scared of
When you're in my arms
The world makes sense
There is no pretense
And you're crying
When you're by my side
There is no defense
I forget to sense
I'm dying
(This has been on so many character/ship playlists...)
4. Illusion, VNV Nation
A part of your soul ties you to the next world
Or maybe to the last, but I'm still not sure
But what I do know, is to us the world is different
As we are to the world but I guess you would know that
Please don't go, I want you to stay
I'm begging you please, please don't leave here
I don't want you to hate for all the hurt that you feel
The world is just illusion trying to change you
(Love this both for characters and myself)
5. Dawn, Poets Of The Fall
When darkness is no less than everything you've built become undone
There's no fight and no flight, disaster leaves your passion overrun
It's time to let go, it's time to carry on with the show
Don't mourn what is gone, greet the dawn
And I will be standing by your side
Together we'll face the turning tide
Remembrance, can be a sentence, but it comes to you with a second chance in tow
Don't lose it, don't refuse it, 'cause you cannot learn a thing you think you know
A new light is warm, shining down on you after the storm
Don't mourn what is gone, greet the dawn
(One of my absolute favourite songs. Another I love both for myself and so many characters)
Music more for the blorbos than me, maybe? But these are songs that I like a lot. Though actually, the vast majority of the music on my playlists is actually either instrumental or in languages I don't speak? Sometimes, especially when writing, lyrics can be too distracting. But I do have some workhorses that have been on many a blorbo playlist, and many of the above songs certainly qualify. 😂
Top Cooking utensils:
1. Tea ball thingies. Most of our tea is loose leaf, so you need a tea strainer to steep the tea. We have a bouquet of a dozen or so in a little vase over the kettle, and I use them daily.
2. Cooking pliers? I guess? I use those just about every time I need to fry something, to be able to both poke and flip even small bits and pieces. (they're plastic, they don't scratch the pan!)
3. Pasta ladle. We have a very pretty one shaped like a green leaf! (Remember how I said green's my favourite colour? Luckily it's wife's, too, so a lot of our china and kitchen utensils are green! In fact, the pliers above are green, too!)
4. Wooden fork spatula. The other go-to for frying things, when you need to stir stuff about.
5. Wait, does the electric kettle count? Because I absolutely use that daily too! Heating water both for tea and for ramen and similar.
Hah, did them all! Thank you for playing! 😂
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Top 5 scenes from Heaven? :)
I got variations of this question twice (yay!) so I will just shamelessly list ten, starting with the first 5 here. 😂
In a loose chronological order:
1. Carve your vengeance from my bones (chapter 6)
I feel this is the scene where the true mood of the story finally shines through, the hurt and desperation, the devotion and grief. Xue Yang offering Xiao Xingchen to take whatever revenge he deems fit to settle the score between them so they can go back to how things were, even if that entails Xue Yang’s own death.
Up until this point, he’s kept the cocky, carefree mask firmly on, being snarky and contrary at worst, but neither expressed remorse or particular happiness that Xiao Xingchen is back.
But when he finally gets to talk to him one on one, that facade finally cracks and he breaks down in tears, offering him anything, everything for a shot at second chance.
2. The catfish-yao river and storytelling (chapter 19)
This is such a turning point in all their dynamics, and especially between Song Lan and Xue Yang! Up until this point, they’ve been more or less openly hostile, Song Lan still wishing they could get rid of Xue Yang once and for all, and Xue Yang only just barely tolerating Song Lan’s presence because it’s been made clear he is the condition for Xiao Xingchen’s healing and survival.
But in the river, Song Lan could have turned his eye away for just a moment and let Xue Yang drown – but instead he chose to save him. Xue Yang is shocked, but it does mark the first dramatic shift in his attitude towards Song Lan.
And of course I love the more lighthearted scene after, when they sit around the fire telling the infamous frog story! Actually laughing together for the first time. A first warmth.
3. Yueyang gossip reveals (chapter 23)
The scene that hit the fragile budding companionship like a bombshell – Xiao Xingchen overhearing the gossip in Yueyang, about how “Xiao Xingchen” supposedly tortured Chang Ping to death with Shuanghua. The absolute betrayal and shock when it turns out Xue Yang went right back to his murderous ways after Xiao Xingchen’s death, and how that utterly shatters the very brittle trust that had begun forming between them.
Every hurts a lot. Everything’s back to pieces. It’s very yummy. 🙂
4. Xue Yang drunk in Muaishan (chapter 39)
For the longest time before writing it, this was my go-to angsty bedtime story in my head before going to sleep. This is Xue Yang’s absolute lowest point, where he’s lost all hope and given up on everything, trying to drown up all that grief and hurt he doesn’t even understand feeling with determined alcohol poisoning, clinging to his worst enemy crying and whimpering that he doesn’t want to do this anymore. That Song Lan is the only thing he has left.
And then Song Lan finding the note he’s kept all the way from Tanzhou, with the words “losing you now would destroy him. he still misses”, the only proof Xue Yang has that at least before, Xiao Xingchen had actually missed him and didn’t want to lose him. A very pitiful last straw to cling to.
A scene that has both Xue Yang’s utter breakdown, and Song Lan’s first, very reluctant feelings of sympathy.
5. Xiao Xingchen's vision of Baoshan Sanren (chapter 40)
This may actually be the scene that’s had the greatest emotional impact on me personally in the story? I can endure tons of angst with no problem, but the hope of this one… I’ve cried so many times to this scene. First when I first thought of it, sitting in the car on the way to town, openly crying as the conversation played out in my head. Then again when actually writing it. And many times rereading it.
I’m very proud of this one, of the wisdom that Baoshan Sanren conveys in her calm, no-nonsense way. Maybe this scene was a bit of a vision for me, too. It’s very dear to me.
Thank you so much for asking, truly! 😍😍😍
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Top 5 flowers!
The problem with asking for questions like this is that the moment someone actually asks, I've apparently never seen a flower in my life, according to my brain. 🙂
But okay, let's try!
1. Purple roses.
I remember as a child, I was stunned to learn purple roses existed, and it became a wistful dream to grow them one day.
And my dream came true! All these pictures are of my own roses. 🥰
2. Vitsippor / wood anemones
These snowdrifts of little star-like wildflowers is the final proof that spring has finally come! They're beautiful harbingers of brighter days. 💚
3. Waterlilies
I love water, and I love white flowers, so of course I love waterlilies! These particular ones grow along the shores of the little lake where we go swimming every day in summer, and they're so beautiful to look at as you swim past, home to dragonflies, frogs and small birds!
4. Tulips "Vovos"
Something a bit more specific! These are parrot tulips of the cultivar Vovos that I planted two years ago, and I find both the shapes, colour combinations and the way the change colour over time mesemerizing! I love them!
5. Uhhhh...
I just can pick one final favourite. 😭
I love magnolias and lillies of the valley, cornflowers and columbines and clematis. I also really love green plants, especially ferns. Plumerias are gorgeous and tied to many fond memories from my travels, as do lotuses. I'll just chicken out on this one and go "lots of them"..? 😂
Thank you so much for asking!
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Since you've been getting asks on the subject, I want to also say that I've rediscovered you, too, from back in the TBPoD days. One of my first fics was actually for the writing contest you held at the end (Lugubrious) and I have always held your work in high regard. I'm so sorry that it was such a negative experience for you; I want you to know that, despite that, your works and presence have always been a positive experience for me and doubtlessly many others. I hope you know that. You, Chigrima, and Abby.
Wishing you all the best. <3
Thank you so much! That's what I mean about happy memories - I'll never forget how everyone came together for the finale of TPBoD! It was an amazing moment in time, filled with so much love - both given and received. 💚
I'll clarify that writing TPBoD itself wasn't a negative experience! The bad stuff happened in other corners of the fandom, but thankfully the story was left alone, which is really the reason we could pick it up eventually and finish writing it.
Writing that story together with two such wonderful writers and friends was an experience of a lifetime! I know for sure I wouldn't be the writer i am today if not for that experience, it's truly one I'll always treasure.
#asksilvy#thank you SO much for all your kind words!#truly!#also fun fact!#me and chigrima are married now!#love wins! 🎉🎉
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For the ask game: Definitely Heaven Has A Road But No One Walks It, 'though I really enjoyed the sxx exchange fics too (dolphinsitter XY is just the cutest thing!❤). But Heaven will forever hold a special place in my heart. It's such a beautifully crafted story that keeps giving me everything I could want from a songxuexiao story adn it has carried me over some really though times. It's just one of those stories that you can sit down and read and know that it'll not fail you. Eagerly waiting for the next chapter!❤❤❤❤❤
Thank you so much!
Much like last winter, I've had to put Heaven down for a few months while participating in the SongXueXiao Exchange 2023 (the works go live tomorrow, people! 46 new SXX works dropping all at once!)
But Heaven Has A Road is my precious ongoing baby, and I look forward to returning to it after the holidays! Making a soft new year's resolution that I'll finish it in 2024! 💪😤💪
We're getting pretty close to the end now, I just have to scrape those elusive spoons together to write it!
Thank you again for your kind words, it means a lot to me that people are still invested in the story and want more of it! 😭💚
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Heaven Has A Road But No One Walks It! (Even my predictive text likes it)
Though TPBoD will always have a place in my heart too, as it was what first got me to talk with you💙
TPBoD will always have a special place in my heart - at the time, it was the longest project I'd ever worked on, and co-writing a fic like that with two other talented authors was an amazing experience! And made me some wonderful long-term friends, too. 💚
But of course Heaven is my current baby, so I'm very happy to see it get some love! 🥰😍
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Hi~ if it's possible and you have the time could you perhaps share the jiangzai references you used for the keychain? i'm planning to get a jiangzai tattoo but i can't seem to find high quality pictures of the full sword and its details. Thank you!
Of course! Here are some of the refs I've used for my own art. 💚
Good luck with the tattoo! 🥰
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Gentle nagging for TPBoD ao3 migration! Also, would it be alright if someone printed the story into the three separate books for their own private use and not for selling? Thanks!
😅
Thank you so much for the reminder (and your patience!)
TPBoD is technically uploaded to AO3 now, but we need to do some fiddling and tweaking before unleashing it for public consumption (extensive tagging and warnings, mostly, though there is that one scene we always meant to write back then and then... uh. Forgot. It would be nice to actually get that in there this time around.)
I talked to one of my co-writers aka my wife about it only last night, after seeing your message, and we agreed we'll try to get that last haul done so we can reveal it! (If you really want results, feel free to nag @chigrima as well, though, since both of us have notoriously bad memories and are easily distracted! 🤣)
As for printing - of course! You're very welcome to! And if you do end up binding it into real books, please do share pictures, we'd love to see! :D
In the meantime, enjoy this illustration I made way back when we first decided to rouse the fic from its slumber and move it to AO3! It was supposed to be an announcement poster, but we kind of never got that far. 😅👍
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