don't fear the sun.

Today, I joined tinyfandomflash, a community for flash fiction written for tiny fandoms (500 fics on AO3 or less). New prompts go up twice a month and you can answer any prompt at any time. I just thought it looked swell. And maybe, once I'm done with this novel-length Napoli fic, I can go back to writing shorter pieces again? Maybe? Please?



Now, almost ten hours since I last updated, I've gotten the first scene, the one I wrote yesterday, late, before bedtime, edited finally - and I've written the last scene of this whole chapter, too. I feel majorly accomplished.

The girls have met and will be sleeping in the same bed for the first time since they were teenagers between the scene I just wrote and the next, where the fourth chapter begins. Nothing romantic or sexual will come of that at first, but emotionally, they've definitely picked up their old bond and I've, thematically, been able to tie some things together, front to back. I love being able to make pointers back and forth throughout a text, it's the kind of inter-textuality that makes both writing and reading so much fun. Recognising previous hints and themes. Finding new clues and little ribbons, tied around particular words, actions or dialogue bits. Treasure hunt, but literary.

I love that.

For now, I hope to be able to write the first scene of the fourth chapter today as well. It should, by all estimations, be a rather short one, but I haven't quite figured out the angle or the starting point I wanna take, so we'll see if it has to wait till tomorrow when I've had more time to think. Plot. Plan.

Maybe that should honestly just be my ambition for night, plot and plan how the fourth chapter is supposed to start off.



We're having oven-baked salmon tonight with a marinate of cajun seasoning, parsley and garlic. It was super delicious last time we had it, so gotta say I'm looking forward to it. Some spicy cucumber salat with that on the side.

At the moment, my mouth is a happy place, thanks to K. being okay with cooking so often.

If it was me in charge of the kitchen, we'd just have chicken seven days a week. LOL.

Busy day today.

We went downtown in the morning to buy some tupperware, jewellery-making stuff and a picture frame, but I'd forgotten to measure the picture we needed a frame for, so that was out pretty fast. Then, the store that sells jewellery stuff was closed for repairs and we forgot tupperware in the stress of that, LOL, so all in all our greatest success today was getting medication for me and a lovely time at our favourite café with some rooibush tea with strawberry and elderflower. Very good. Not time wasted, just differently distributed that originally intended.



It's been really hot today as well, so once we got home and I had eaten lunch (K. ate lunch downtown), I grabbed a much needed nap and woke up in somewhat of a mood (probably heat-related) that dispersed once I sat down to write. I managed to finish a scene this morning (half of it was written last night before bed) and then, this afternoon I wrote the following scene which I still have to reread and do first edits on, but I loved writing it, so I hope that's gonna show in the final product. Usually, if a scene comes out very naturally, I've noticed that I tend to like the end result better. This was one of those scenes. It just kinda exploded out of me. Total flow.

Next scene, which I'll try to write tonight, is the first scene where my narrator actually faces the girl her thoughts have circled around the past, what, 62 pages, so this is gonna be a thrill, to explore their relationship. What it was and what it's got the potential to become. I'm considering whether I need a quick canon review to really catch Teresina's character and voice, but honestly, Alexandra Lo Sardo - who dances the role in the version I'm basing this fic on - lives rent-free in my headspace, so I don't actually think so.

Otherwise, it's not like it's a chore...



We've just had dinner and K. made the most delicious chicken meatball dish with a lot of herbs and red curry paste, both in the meatballs themselves and in the reduced coconut milk sauce which is divine. It was really good, although it takes a while to make, at least by our standards (we generally prefer fast cooking that doesn't take longer than half an hour at the most) and this takes about twice that. But so worth it! Served with rice and since it's the weekend, some wine and sparkling water, too. It was nice.

I cleared the table and here we are, we've lit the first candles and turned on some lamps, because although it's still only early dusk and thus fairly light out, our living room is deep and gets dark in the far end, so we've gotta counteract that with some alternative sources of light.



Also, I wore the earrings K. made for me today! They look like little jellyfish, they're so pretty! And they aren't too heavy for my ears either (I have very sensitive ears, unfortunately), so I wore them all morning. I love them a lot and hope, when the shop opens again, we can make a pair in blue (mine are pink with one freshwater pearl in one of the "arms"). Would be cool to be able to switch them up and match them to clothing, and pink and blue are our two main colours in this house.



In a moment, I'll go make a cup of tea in the new teamugs we bought and I'll sit down to edit and write. It's been a good Saturday.

It's very early Friday morning. Five minutes to six, currently. I expect it's easier (and better for me) to get up this early when I went to bed at nine last night and have had an almost undisturbed stretch of sleep since then than on the days when I go to bed at midnight and get up at various points through the night, too. I was always an A type person when it comes to sleep patterns and this probably fits the natural rhythm of my body much, much better than the other model I've been living by for years. Bed late, up early. I'm stupidly amazed at how much of a difference it makes that I go back to bed when I've been using the bathroom throughout the night, rather than sitting down at the computer or something. This sounds like simple brain logic, I know, but for me - it's like the discovery of a new physics principle. I just feel so much more rested.

Although, I also have to get used to how long it takes for me to properly wake up. Before, it felt like I was in some kind of chronic wakefulness, so waking up as a process was no problem?



I have absolutely no plans today, which I think is a good thing, because I was through the wringer at therapy last night. Some very important discoveries, but also hard and draining ones, so. I feel like I deserve a day off, tbh. And I guess, no plans is also an exaggeration. I have writing plans and when K. gets home from work, we'll be cleaning the apartment, but besides those things. Just me, tea and doing whatever the fuck I feel like.



Re: writing plans. I need to reread the latest scene I wrote and edit it, decide whether I'm satisfied with it as it is or I need to give it a different ending. This ending is kinda... abrupt and I'm not sure how I feel about that, but it's also meant to show a change that's becoming evident in the narrator, so. I dunno. We'll see, I guess.

FRIDAY PLANS:
- Breakfast and medication at some point before 10 am
- Hopefully shower?
- Reread Chapter 3, Scene 1 + edits, some considerations
- Write Chapter 3, Scene 2 (expecting that to be a short one) + maybe Scene 3, at least some of it
- Tea, lots of it
- Lunch around noon-1 pm-ish
- Begin tidying up apartment to prepare for cleaning
- Cleaning the apartment around 4 pm
- Dinner at some point between 6 - 7 pm
- Medication around 8 pm
- Bed 10 pm-ish

I guess that's a day.



We watched Ahsoka last night and OMG. OMG. No spoilers, but had I not been told beforehand by K. (personally, I don't mind spoilers), I would not have expected that. Argh. Soooo good. I love the entire premise of this show, though, it's pretty simple, structure-wise, very reminiscent of Clone Wars, which makes sense, of course, probably of Rebels, too, but I never watched much Rebels, so can't say. But I love this whole row of strong female leads, I love Ahsoka with Sabine and I am not going to be shy about saying I totally ship it. They both have peak lesbian energy, especially together, I can't. Also loving Hera, she is the only thing I remember clearly from what little Rebels I watched and this is a very good live action rebirth of the character.

Apparently episode 5 is gonna be released in select theatres in the US. I wonder how long it's gonna be, even the first two episodes weren't more than 40 minutes each, so I think that might be a stretch, but if it's gonna be the peak of the show, maybe I can understand that.

No spoilers. Just watch it. It's good shit.



Now I've almost spent an hour on this entry and I don't know how to finish it off. I'm listening to Quadro Nuevo, Roma Nun Fa la Stupida Stasera and life feels pretty good right now.

How's that?