Creative prunes would be writing something self-indulgent, shameless, and utterly bad. I incline towards a Woxin doujinshi with a bedazzled Fu Chai seduced by the empire-shaking beauty of Gou Jian into beheading his chancellor, except I'd need to rewrite Fu Chai completely so that he's played by somebody else. (I also need a broader range of Chinese actors to pick from. Who else has Uncle Ming's innate fastidiousness?)
Or I could write Gou Jian driving Fu Chai to the extremes of sexual distraction by doing absolutely nothing but be himself, only that would come off as the worst kind of Robin Hobb schtick, endless internal monologues from Fu Chai about 'what is this strange thing I feel, what is it I want from him, why is he so entrancingly different from anyone else?' etc etc for
Maybe I should write Fu Chai and Fan Li seduced and abandoned by Gou Jian (who dazzles them both but makes it clear that his heart belongs to Ya Yu alone) and drowning their sorrows together in many cups of wine. Hu Jun could be that Fu Chai, and the sex would only be mildly icky. Well no- there'd be no sex because really, I can't see live action bodies Doing It. Or don't want to, whichever.
Or just continue with The Way It Should Have Been, except that TWISHB keeps wanting to kick up its A/U heels and be self-indulgent, shameless, and utterly bad.
