The Pointless, Yet Poignant, Crisis of a Co-Ed

To Naomi Novik,

I cannot tell you how much I love the fact that a majority of your novels are basically 19th century travelogues with dragons.  Seriously, it has made reading them AMAZING.  Keep it up!

Sincerely,
Pax

To Self,

Stop expecting Temeraire to show up at various Beijing landmarks.  The Temple of Heaven should be sufficiently awesome without dragons.

Thanks,
Pax

To Beijing,

HOLY ROMAN EMPERORS you are hot.  I have lived in Houston almost my whole goddamn life, and I STILL think you're too hot.  Please for the love of Dog rain already.  Also, when you are dirtier than your most hick city that can still be called a city, you have issues.  You have some awesome stuff, but clean up your act.  Literally.  Please.

Kthanx,
Pax

To Jingshan Park,

Keep being amazing.  Seriously, you have a famous suicide spot and fantastic views of the Forbidden City and Beihai Park, both of which I was expecting and both of which lived up to said expectations, but then I come down the other side of your neatly manicured, restfully green hill, and hear a velociraptor.

THERE ARE FRICKIN' ANAMATRONIC DINOSAURS.

Like, not just a sad little roaring T-Rex, but Gallimimi and Pachycephalosaurs and Maiasaurs WITHOUT BABIES which I have never seen before, ever, in an dino display, and believe you me I have seen a lot of dino displays.  Plus, there was an attempt b\made at education, with what looked like good informational displays (sadly, I am illiterate. so no actual info on their content), balanced out with that one diorama with a bunch of Velociraptors attacking and actual revealed gore.  Well played, Park.

Sincerely,
Pax

So yes, China is awesome, and I keep getting Ideas for a racebent Merlin/Arthur modern AU.

(They're reincarnations of Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang; Arthur is the son of a highly successful Beijing businessman who's contemplating entering Party Politics, Merlin is a Chengdu dude working far too many minor jobs because he skipped high school to help pay for Will to go, but Will got his fool self killed in the quake.  They meet when Arthur tries to talk Morgana into playing Make Fun Of The Provincials in English and Merlin not only understands, but sasses him back in perfect English because Gaius taught him. ther then immediately hires Merlin to show Arthur The Real Chengdu in anticipation of his company's expansion into Sichuan, and Merlin drives Arthur NUTS by being very Chengdu and chilling in a teahouse a lot.  I am not allowed to write this because I couldn't even talk myself off the Research Cliff to write a Mexican Winchesters fic, and I actually know stuff about Mexican-American culture.  I would have to ACTUALLY READ The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.  This is not happening.  I refuse to commit racefail by talking politics I only have a very dim understanding of.)