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phnmnt · 1 year

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Shen Yuan shixiong AU - Part 24

New Roots

Ming Fan woke up to the sound of loud voices followed by a terrible screeching sound. He rubbed his eyes and clicked his tongue, annoyed that his rest was interrupted by a bunch of idiots who couldn’t keep it down after curfew.

“Shizun, we need to find an open area! The qi is hurting everyone!”

Hearing the familiar voice, Ming Fan instantly woke up, jumped out of bed, and ran to the door barefooted. He opened it, only to be washed over with an overwhelming unstable spiritual energy that made him weak in the knees. A group of people had stopped in front of his room, discussing urgently in loud voices to cover the terrible screeching coming from who knows where.

“Shen shixiong!”

One of the figures froze and turned to him with a pair of round eyes. It was Shen Yuan shixiong. He was finally back! Shen Yuan was about to open his mouth to answer when their shizun, who was accompanying him along with a varied group of people, cut right in.

“Ming Fan, stay here and make sure that nobody follows us. A-Yuan, follow me.”

Ming Fan, sensing like the situation truly was urgent, acknowledged the order with a nod and went to grab his boots by the bed in a hurry. As soon as he stepped outside, the group left immediately, leaving the space in front of the dormitory empty except for one person.

“Shimei?”

Ning Yingying smiled weakly as she watched the group disappear in the bamboo forest. Ming Fan noticed how paled she looked and went to offer his help. His shimei didn’t refuse, grabbing his arm with what little strength she had left. Some younger disciples came out of their rooms, confused and curious about what had happened. Ming Fan barked a few orders, sending them back inside, before sitting Ning Yingying on a stone bench by the moon gate at the entrance of the dormitories.

“Shixiong, don’t worry about me. I just need to catch my breath.”

Ming Fan squatted in front of her, studying her face with worry.

“What happened? What were you doing with shixiong’s group? And why are you…? Yingying, did you exchange patrol nights with someone again?”

Ning Yingying pressed a few of her chest acupoints with a frown. She gestured to give her a minute to recover before opening her mouth to explain.

“I’m sorry, shixiong. I did. I just… I missed Shen shixiong and Luo shidi so much. I wanted to be the first to greet them at the gate. And I couldn’t sleep anyway when I learned they were on their way back.”

“Yingying, that’s a whole week of patrol you just imposed on your body. How many hours did you sleep this week?”

“…Not as much as I should’ve.”

Ming Fan sighed, rubbing his eyes in exasperation.

“Shixiong, this shimei is sorry. But I promise I was fine! I was starting to feel a little tired, but nothing serious. It’s… this unstable qi. It was so strong. Even shizun didn’t look too good when he got closer to Noodle.”

Ming Fan blinked.

“Noodle?”

“Mn. Remember the last letter shixiong and A-Luo sent me? Noodle didn’t just get hurt.”

“Then, what’s happening?”

Ning Yingying looked in the direction the group had disappear.

“He’s about to become a dragon.”

“Over here!”

Shen Qingqiu had brought them to a big clearing deep in the bamboo forest, away from any form of human life. Shen Yuan ran to the middle, cradling the dusu snake that kept twisting in pain in his arms.

“Shh- It’s ok, you’re ok, you’re fine.”

Truthfully, Shen Yuan was trying to convince himself more than the poor dusu snake. He reached the middle of the soft grass field in a few long strides and knelt there. Luo Binghe followed closely, settling himself in front of him before using his spiritual energy to soothe the creature as much as he could.

The situation didn’t look promising. Shen Yuan’s sleeves were covered in small iridescent scales… and blood. He had studied dusu snakes for years without coming across any cases like this one. Very few among their species became dragons to begin with and it was near impossible to obtain a specimen about to transform. Shen Yuan felt powerless. He thought back on their trip and something finally clicked in his mind.

Noodle had cultivated too fast. They had fought so much and went to so many places full of spiritual energy…

Shen Yuan’s vision turned blurry. He wanted to apologize, but Noodle probably couldn’t hear him now. He pulled the dusu snake closer, hugging him to his chest. The latter’s current body wasn’t strong enough to undergo a dragon transformation and… he might…

Noodle suddenly went completely still. Shen Yuan looked down in panic, only to see a pair of now colorful eyes staring right back at him with complete trust. A small pitiful cry came from the creature, rooting his master to the place he had knelt.

Shen Yuan lifted his gaze to Luo Binghe who simply smiled at him calmly.

Standing at the edge of the open space, Shen Qingqiu’s patience was wearing thin. Why didn’t those two leave the snake? He himself couldn’t get close, the unstable qi made him nauseous and feel like he was going to faint. How strong did his disciples become to bear such a powerful unstable qi without flinching? Or was A-Yuan simply being unreasonable, forcing himself to stay with his pet?

“A-Yuan, you can’t stay there! A-Yuan!”

But Shen Qingqiu’s voice didn’t reach his prized disciple. The ground had started to shake, and wind enveloped the trio, creating a strong spiritual barrier in the middle of the forest glade. From it, Luo Binghe locked eyes with his shizun. Shen Qingqiu felt familiar and powerful emotions assaulting his senses, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. He hated this. Why couldn’t he get close? Why was he still so weak after all those years? Leaving him weaker than this- this Luo Binghe… Why?!

Noodle’s cries suddenly turned even more heartbreaking. Shen Yuan kept him close, tears streaming down his face as he repeated words of comfort to the dusu snake. It… wasn’t going well. He could feel Noodle’s life essence rapidly going out, slipping between his fingers. But if it was to be his old and first friend last moments, he wanted to accompany him to the end. He suddenly felt a pair of strong, youthful arms encircling him. Shen Yuan smiled despite the tears. His shidi didn’t have to accompany him to this extent. But he did. And he was immensely grateful for it. A gentle warmth spread from his heart, gently soothing his mind.

“A-YUAN!”

Still sitting in the middle of the forest glade, both disciples closed their eyes in unison as a harsh white light enveloped them. The gigantic amount of unstable qi was completely washed away in an instant, leaving only a strange electric atmosphere as the light blinded everyone at the scene.

A short moment passed before the light slowly receded, absorbed by something unknown. Soon after, the palpable charged energy followed.

Shen Yuan felt the weight in his arms disappear, ripping a whimper of desperation from his throat. He opened his eyes, intending to search for Noodle. As he did so, his retina was instantly drowned in an ocean of soft iridescent colors. For a moment, everything seemed to sit completely still, and only the gentle reflections of light dancing in the air like charming little pieces of crystal created an ocean of moving colors. Amidst the different waves, a pair of large reptilian eyes greeted his own calmly, the corner lifting in fondness when Shen Yuan stared back in surprise.

“…Noodle?”

The system’s voice, which he hadn’t heard for a long time, suddenly resonated in his head.

“Carapace ability : 50% damage reduction successful! Applied to user and their companions!” “Qing Jing Peak’s favor +50pts!” “Noodle’s favor +500pts!” “Noodle’s favor [ BONUS ] +???points to •••••••” “Protagonist’s halo compatibility with [*Noodle*] successful. +1000 ally points +0 shielding points!” “Completion of master-level quest +1500pts!” “New skills now available on the user skill tree!” “Congratulations! Please continue to work hard!”

But Shen Yuan wasn’t listening. His body refused to move, remaining frozen in face of the unfamiliar creature. A dragon.

Noodle released a short and sharp breath, ruffling his master’s hair from a distance. Shen Yuan jumped, not expecting the playful attitude from Noodle right after successfully cheating death. He swallowed with difficulty, his emotions still bouncing wildly around in his exhausted mind, and raised a trembling hand, reaching for Noodle’s new fluffy tail hovering above his head. “You’re… so big now.” Shen Yuan’s voice broke on the last syllable. Fat tears quickly filled his eyes, escaping in two seemingly never-ending streams which quickly drenched the collar of his clothes. “Y-You’re- You’re alive…!” He quickly let go of the tail to stand on his knees, throwing himself at Noodle who welcomed him in his embrace. The latter leaned on his master’s sobbing form with a soothing noise, something close to both purring and a low growl. Shen Yuan hid his face on the dragon’s body, both relieved that Noodle somehow survived the painful experience of turning into a dragon and embarrassed at how little he was able to restrain his emotions. Unbeknownst to him, Noddle met another pair of eyes. Luo Binghe silently stared back. Noodle then closed his eyes, bending his neck in a graceful arch as if he was bowing to the young man. Luo Binghe’s eyebrows shot up in shock when he heard two clear words echoing in his mind. “Thank you.”

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 8.5 - Part 9 - Part 10 - Part 11 - Part 12 - Part 13 -Part 14 - Part 15 - Part 16 - Part 17 - Part 18 - Part 19 - Part 20 - Part 21 - Part 22 - Part 23

#svsss #scum villian self saving system #luo binghe #shen yuan #sy shixiong au #phansdraws #back with the au in 2023!!!#hope yall enjoy it ♥

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helly-watermelonsmellinfellon · 2 years

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Why tf is harrymort something you ship? Not only is Voldemort constantly trying to kill Harry, has killed Harry's parents, threatened to kill all of Harry's friends, and actually did sort of kill Harry, but like. He's definitely over fifty in the books. IDK how old he is exactly, but he's old enough that he was a feared political cult leader missing 6 chunks of his soul and a Hogwarts graduate when Harry is a baby. It's creepy, man.

Bruh, all of my ships are incredibly problematic in more than one way. I'm suspicious over that being the only one you seem to take issue with.

1.) You lack imagination. HP is a very fleshed out fictional universe with many options at your fingertips for fanfic. Tom Riddle appears throughout the series, in the ages newborn, 11, 15, 16, 18, 20+, 30+, 50, and 70. Harry has appeared in the ages of 1, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 37/38. Time Turners exist. Alternate Universes exist. You can do literally anything because HP is a massive sandbox. I can have Harry find the Diary in his 6th Year and then he is actually older than Diary-Tom. I can have Adult-Harry Time Travel to any point between 1950 and 1970 and end up in a relationship with Adult-Tom.

2.) What attracts me is the potential. Just because you can't see it doesn't mean there aren't ridiculous connections between Harry and Voldy. People would see Voldy's obsession as some kind of mad crush if Harry was a girl and we all know it. Just because Harry's a boy doesn't mean Voldy getting touchy feely isn't weird, or Tom staring at him 'hungrily' many times isn't suggestive, or Harry remarking 18 times between 2 books that Tom Riddle is 'handsome' while doing nothing to tell people about how attractive the supposed love of his life(Ginny) is.

3.) My weakness is Protag/Antag ships. Ever since I was a child and a romance was happening in something I was watching, my first thought was always preferring the hero with the villain. I didn't understand why until I was about 13. Suddenly it's, how would that work? How can they realistically go from being enemies to being in love? Can any fic writers manage it since it isn't canon?

Bruh, I shipped Sailor Moon with almost every enemy she had(even Diamond tbh). I shipped Kagome Higurashi with Naraku and Sesshomaru from the moment those characters were introduced in the story(Inuyasha). Long before we learned any back story on them. I shipped Naruto with almost every member of the Akatsuki at some point out of curiosity the moment I learned about the organization. I shipped Kaname Kuran and Zero Kiryu(Vampire Knight).

As a result of my Protag/Antag obsession, most of my ships end up being unhealthy by nature. Even in cases where they are undeniably canon, like Luo Binghe/Shen Qingqiu | Shen Yuan, they aren't very safe or sane.

Something you need to remember is that it is fiction about fictional characters. Real people are not being harmed. And the only way someone could realistically be 'triggered' by such content is if they go to specific lengths to see it. You have options to curate your online experience. Don't follow blogs/accounts about topics you don't like, mute words/tags that bother you, block ppl who make you uncomfortable. It takes a few minutes to ensure your future is hassle free.

I'm at that age where I've been in fandom spaces so long I don't care about people's ships or interests. Spending my personal time worrying about some stranger's obsession with Tragic Non-Con Reylo fanfic won't do me any favors when I honestly dgaf. I'm here for the fandom stuff I like and only occasionally participate in discourse, and that is never aimed at ships and is always about characters and the people who wrote them.

So yes, I ship fucked up shit, and I could write the fucked up stuff(maybe, if I ever get emotional strength to) but typically I'm more into nuance and drama and slow burns that take 400K words to work through. I don't do Non-Con Triggering horrible stuff because mentally I can't handle writing or reading it very much. But I'm also not up in arms over the people who do. Let people like what they like. Ship and let ship. Live and let live. They're pixels on a screen or words on a page. They don't exist. They aren't real. They are meant to entertain us, and how people find their enjoyment in fiction isn't for anyone to decide.

#fandom #shipping discourse #harrymort #fandom discourse #watermelonsmellinfellon

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truly-morgan · 7 months

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[Kinktober 2022: Masturbation (18+)]

LiuShen | Scum Villain Self-Saving system 01-10-2022

Day 1: [Masturbation] | B̷r̷e̷a̷t̷h̷p̷l̷a̷y | B̷o̷d̷y̷ ̷M̷o̷d̷i̷f̷i̷c̷a̷t̷i̷o̷n

Shen Qingqiu and Liu Qingge are away on a mission to slay some monsters. One night, Shen Qingqiu wakes up to Liu Qingge masturbating and decides to join.

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Shen Qingqiu would lie if he said he knew why he had been dragged along with Liu Qingge to his mission. It was usually the Bai Zhan Peak Lord who was enough to take care of monsters causing trouble to villages.

Well, Shen Qingqiu would lie if he said he hated following along, it was nice being with his shidi side, even more, when he could learn even more about monsters!

But a mission that should have taken at best two nights of work took five.

Thankfully they had managed to deal with all the problems after those five days, they could now rest so they would have energy for the three days trip back home. He still didn’t understand how they couldn’t just fly on swords like every xianxia story!!

As much as he enjoyed staying by his Shidi’s side, after a week of always being by his side without a moment alone, he was starting to miss home. He had no privacy, how was he supposed to relieve himself?! How was Liu Qingge doing?

He got his answer to the last question that night when he woke up in the middle of the night. When he noticed the quiet panting and groaning coming from his shidi’s bed he got worried. He didn’t really remember him getting badly hurt?!

But then as he quietly made his way closer to take a look and make sure Liu Qingge was alright, he got flustered.

Liu Qingge wasn’t hurt, he was masturbating!!

It had probably all been too much for his poor shidi and he had to take care of it even before they could be back. Shen Qingqiu couldn’t help the huff that escaped him, because he too would like to jerk off but wasn’t sure he would be quiet enough.

His huff hadn’t been though and suddenly a flustered Liu Qingge turned around to see him standing near his bed. Shen Qingqiu nearly jumps out of his own skin at the sudden movement, trying to regain his composure quickly.

“I didn’t know shidi was so pent up” he decided to tease, which only made the other Peak Lord blush even more than he already was, trying to him his lower part as best he could.

Shen Qingqiu was pretty sure he was probably not all that much better in the blushing department. Plus he might have gotten excited a little too now that he was in this situation.

“This isn’t…. I just needed” Liu Qingge tried, clearly unsure what to do.

“Shidi needed?” Shen Qingqiu asked with a smirk, approaching his bed. An idea had come to his mind. Clearly, his fellow Peak Lord needed pleasure so did he, they could help each other.

“I-I got like this without wanting to” the man mumbled, starting to panic a little when Shen Qingqiu sat on the bed too. “What are you doing?!”.

“Well, I too am in need of this, why don’t we help each other?” Shen Qingqiu asked. This wasn’t gay, this was just two Peak Lords giving each other a little help in needed times.

Liu Qingge then looked at him a bit unsure, looking to the side as he clearly thought about it, before sighing. Shen Qingqiu smiled at this, knowing he had won.

They soon got rid of any fabric that was in the way, awkwardly trying to find a position where they could face each other. Shen Qingqiu would probably not admit it aloud, but his shidi was really pretty as he was pleasuring himself.

Panting and groaning with such a different and interesting expression from when he did so while fighting.

Then his eyes travelled to where his shidi’s hand were working on his own cock, hands unconsciously matching the rhythm.

He noted that Liu Qingge wasn’t doing too bad in the size department, it was probably nothing compared to what the protagonist of the story will have. But Shen Qingqiu was pretty sure many would envy the Peak Lord for his good size.

“Don’t stare” he heard Liu Qingge whisper close to his face, taking him out of his observation. He hadn’t realised just how close they were now.

“Ahah, sorry” he replied, “I was just thinking Liu-shidi would be considered lucky by many people” he pointed out.

The other man just scoffed at his word, blushing prettily. Then he reached out with his other hand, touching Shen Qingqiu’s dick as the Peak Lord had slowed his strokes. “Shixiong isn’t to pity either” he replied, his fingertip teasing him.

Shen Qingqiu had not expected this, his breath hitching at the touch of someone else on it. Then he got embarrassed by the moan that escaped his mouth when Liu Qingge wrapped his fingers around him.

And his shidi had the gall to chuckle at his reaction!

Shen Qingqiu then decides to retaliate, letting go of himself to instead wrap his hand around Liu Qingge, starting to jerk him off. He didn’t expect to enjoy the man’s reaction so much, continuing to get more out of him.

Before either of them really knew it they were just moaning and groaning against each other, faces close to each other. Hips buck up as best they could in this position to fuck into the other’s fists.

Liu Qingge was the first one to release, Shen Qingqiu following closely behind. The Qing Jing Peak Lord leaned his head against his shidi shoulder, coming down from his climax.

He was a little surprised when he felt a kiss being placed against his naked shoulder, shivering a little bit at the contact.

Before he could really question Liu Qingge he felt arms pull him close before being laid down in bed.

He was a bit confused at how he was being hugged by Liu Qingge, the man already falling asleep while holding him.

But Shen Qingqiu was starting to feel too tired to try and get out of the hold. Plus it did feel nice.

The next morning would be awkward and he’d find reasons, but for now, he just wanted to enjoy the warmth.

====

(hehe, sqq and lqg are having some bonding time while Binghe is away in the abyss)

Original - AO3

#tweet archive #svsss #scum villain self-saving system #liushen #shen qingqiu #liu qingge #kinktober 2022 #hand j0b #nsft

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janecrockeyre · 3 years

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scum villain is a greek tragedy disguised as a regular tragedy disguised as a comedy disguised as a danmei

this is going to be long, and this is only PART ONE.

a.k.a, Analysing the plot of Scum Villain’s Self Saving System through Aristotle’s Poetics, because I Have Mental Issues

Part One: Introduction and the Tragic Hero

Scum Villain’s Self Saving System is a tragedy disguised as a comedy, unless you’re Shen Yuan, in which case it’s a mixture of a romance and a survival horror. It's a fever dream. It's a horrible, terrible book that made me feel new undiscovered emotions when I finished reading it.

The thing is... SVSSS shares characteristics with some of the most famous tragedies in the West, such as Oedipus Rex, Medea, Antigone, the Oresteia... if you haven’t read these, I’ll explain everything. But the gist of my argument is this: SVSSS is the perfect tragedy. In triplicate.

Tragedy as a genre is old as balls and so it has meant slightly different things to different people over the last few thousand years. I'll be focusing on ancient Greek tragedy, which was performed at the yearly Festival of Dionysus in Athens during the 500-350s BC (give or take a hundred years). Aristotle, when writing about this very specific subset of tragedy, had no idea that one day Scum Villain would be written, and then that I would be using his work as a way to look at Shen Qingqiu’s Funky Transmigration Mistake. Anyway!

Greek tragedy greatly influenced European dramatic tradition. I have a lot of opinions about white academics idolising and upholding the classics as the "paragon of culture" but I'll withhold them for now. I have no idea if MXTX has read Greek tragedy or not, so don't take this as me saying they are writing it.

In my opinion, tragedy is a universal human constant. We are surrounded by pain and hurt and none of it makes any sense, so we seek to process that pain through drama, art, literature, etc. We want to understand why pain happens, and how it happens, and try to make sense of the senseless. The universe is cold and cruel and random. Tragedy eases some of that pain.

On that note: Just because I am analysing Scum Villain through a Greek lens doesn't mean that it was written that way. I'm pasting an interpretation onto the book when there's probably a very rich and deep history of Chinese tragedy that I just don't know about. If you ever want to talk about that, please, god, hit me up, I would love to learn about it!!

Anyway, tragedy. MXTX is excellent at it! Mo Dao Zu Shi? Painful dynastic family tragedy. Heaven Official's Blessing? Mostly romance, but she managed to get that pure pain in there, huh?

But in my opinion, Scum Villain holds the crown for the most tragic of her stories. MDZS was more of a mystery. TGCF was more of a romance. Neither of them shy away from their tragic elements.

Scum Villain would fit right in between the work of Sophocles, Euripides and Aeschylus. How? Let me show you. Join me on my mystery tour into the world of "Aristotle Analyses Danmei..."

Part One: The Tragic Hero

What is a tragic hero? Generally, Greek tragic heroes are united by the same key characteristics. He must be imperfect, having a "fatal flaw" of some kind. He must have something to lose. And he must go from fortune to misfortune thanks to that fatal flaw.

There are two (technically three) tragic protagonists in SVSSS and all of them are tragic in different but formulaic ways. Each protagonist has their own version of “hamartia” or a “fatal flaw”.

Actually, hamartia isn’t necessarily a flaw - rather, it is a thing which makes the audience pity and fear for them, a careful imperfection, a point of weakness in the character’s morality or reasoning that allows for bad things to happen to them. For example, in Oedipus Rex, the king Oedipus has a “fatal flaw” of always wanting to find the truth, but this isn’t exactly a flaw, right? Note: this flaw can be completely unwitting, as we see with Shen Yuan. It can also be something that the protagonist is born with, some kind of trait from birth or very young.

Shen Yuan

Shen Yuan’s “hamartia” is his rigid adherence to fate and his inability to read a situation as anything but how he thinks it ought to be. He believes that Bingmei will grow into Bingge, and it takes several years, two deaths, and some truly traumatising sex to convince him otherwise.

Shen Jiu

Shen Jiu’s fatal flaw is his cruelty. It is his own sadistic treatment and abuse of Binghe which directly leads to his eventual dismemberment. This is kind of a no-brainer. Of course, it isn't all that simple, and as an audience we pity him for his cruelty as much as we fear it because we know it comes from his own abuse as a child. This just makes him even more tragic. Delicious.

Luo Binghe

Luo Binghe’s fatal flaw is a complicated mix of things. It is his position as the “protagonist” which compels him to act in certain ways and be forced to suffer. It is his half-demonic heritage, something entirely out of his control, which sets in motion his tragic reversal of fortune when he gets yeeted into the Abyss. He also, much like Shen Yuan, has the propensity to jump to conclusions and somehow make 2 + 2 = 5.

As well as having their respective “flaws”, all three protagonists match the rough outline of a good tragic hero in another way: they are in a position of great wealth and power. Even when you split the different characters into different “versions”, this still holds true. Yes, Luo Binghe is raised a commoner by a washerwoman foster mother, but his dad is an emperor and he also ends up becoming an emperor himself.

Yes, Shen Jiu is an ex-slave and a victim of abuse himself, but Shen Qingqiu is a powerful peak lord with an entire mountain’s worth of resources at his back.

Shen Yuan is a second generation new money rich kid.

Bingge is a stereotypical protagonist with a golden finger. Bingmei is a treasured and loved disciple with a good reputation and a privileged seat by his shizun’s side.

In a tragedy, having this kind of good fortune at the beginning of your story is dangerous. Chaucer says that tragedy is (badly translated into modern english) “a certain story / of him that stood in great prosperity / and falls out of high degree / into misery, and ends up wretchedly”. If we follow this line of thinking, a good tragedy is about someone who has a lot to lose, losing everything because of one fatal point of weakness that they fail to address or understand.

If we look at Shakespeare, this is what makes King Lear such a fantastic tragic protagonist. He is a king in control of most of England, who from his own lack of wisdom and excess of pride, decides to split his kingdom apart to give to his daughters, favouring his murderous, double crossing progeny, and condemning his only actually filial daughter to death. He loses his kingdom, his mind, and his beloved daughter, all because of his own stupidity.

This brings us to:

Part Two: Peripeteia

This reversal of fortunes is called peripeteia. It is the moment where the entire plot shifts, and the hero’s fortunes go from good to bad. Think of it like one of those magic eye puzzles, where you stare at the image until a 3D shark appears, except you realise the shark was always there, you just couldn't ever see it, waiting for you, hungry, deadly, always lurking just behind that delightful pattern of random blue squiggles.

Each tragic hero has their own moment of peripeteia in SVSSS, sometimes several:

Shen Qingqiu

In the original PIDW, SQQ’s peripeteia presumably occurs when he finds out that Bingge didn’t perish in the Abyss but has actually been training hard to come and pay him back. There’s really not much I’m interested in saying here - as a villain, OG!SQQ is cut and dry, and the audience doesn’t really feel any pity or fear for him. As Shen Yuan often mentions, what the audience feels when they see OG!SQQ is bloodlust and sick satisfaction. There is also the trial at Huan Hua Palace, which I will talk about in Shen Yuan’s section.

Shen Yuan (SQQ 2.0)

One of SY’s most poggers moment of peripeteia is the glorious, terrifying section between hearing Binghe for the first time after the Abyss moment, and getting shoved into the Water Prison.

“Behind him, a low and soft voice came: “Shizun?”

Shen Qingqiu’s neck felt stiff as he slowly turned his head. Luo Binghe’s face was the most frightening thing he had ever seen.

The scariest thing about it was that the expression on his face was not cold at all. His smile wasn’t sharp like a knife. Rather, it showed a kind of bone-deep gentleness and amiability.”

This is the moment of true horror for Shen Yuan, because he knows what happens next: the plot unfurls before him, inevitable and painful, and he knows that death awaits him at Luo Binghe's hands (lol). Compare it with the bone deep certainty with which he faces his own downfall during the sham of a trial later in the chapter (I’ve bolded the important part):

“In the original work, Qiu Haitang’s appearance signified only one thing: Shen Qingqiu’s complete fall from grace. [...] Shen Qingqiu’s heart streamed with tears. Great Master… I know you’re doing this for my own good, but I’ll actually suffer if she speaks her words clearly. This truly is the saying “not frightened of doing a shameful deed, just afraid the ghost (consequences) will come knocking”!”

After the peripeteia is usually the denouement where the plot wraps up and the threads are all tied together leaving no loose ends, but because this tragedy isn’t Shen Yuan’s but the former Shen Jiu’s, it’s impossible to finish.

Shen Yuan cannot provide the meaningful answers that the narrative demands because 1) he doesn’t have any memory of doing anything, and 2) he wasn’t the person who did them. Narratively, he cannot follow the same path as the former SQQ because he lacks the same fatal flaw: cruelty.

This is why Binghe doesn’t kill him - because he loves him, rather than despises him. And this is why Shen Yuan has to sacrifice himself and die for Luo Binghe in order to save him from Xin Mo: because the narrative demands that denouement follows peripeteia, and SQQ’s fate is in the hands of the narrative.

(Side note: I believe that this literal death also represents the death of OG!SQQ's tragic arc. The body that committed all those crimes must die to satisfy the narrative. SQQ must die, like burning down a forest, so that new growth can sprout from the ashes. After this, Shen Yuan's story has more room to develop instead.)

It must happen to show Bingmei that SQQ loves him too. And this brings us to Bingmei.

Bingmei

Bingmei has two succinct moments of utter downfall. The first is a literal fall - his flaw, his demonic heritage, leads his beloved shizun to throw him down into the Abyss. From his point of view, SQQ is punishing him simply for the status of his birth. He rapidly goes from being loved and cherished unconditionally, to being the victim of an assassination attempt.

He realises that he is totally unlovable: that for the crimes of his species that he never had a hand in, he must pay the price as well: that his shizun is so righteous that no matter what love there was between them, if SQQ sees a demon, he will kill it. Even if that demon is Bingmei.

The second moment is when SQQ dies for him. Again, from his point of view, he was chasing after a man who was struggling to see him as a human being. Shen Qingqiu’s death makes Bingmei realise that he has been completely misunderstanding his shizun: that SQQ would literally die for him, the ultimate act of self sacrifice from love: that SQQ loved him despite his demon heritage.

Much like King Lear holding the corpse of his daughter and wailing in sheer grief and pain because he did this, he caused this, Bingmei gets to hold his shizun's cold body and cry his eyes out and know that it was his fault. (Kind of.)

(Yes, I’m bringing Shakespeare into this, no I am not justifying myself)

Maybe I'm a bit sadistic, but that scene slaps. Let me show you a comparison of scenes so you get the picture.

Re-enter KING LEAR, with CORDELIA dead in his arms; EDGAR, Captain, and others following

KING LEAR

Howl, howl, howl, howl! O, you are men of stones:

Had I your tongues and eyes, I'ld use them so

That heaven's vault should crack. She's gone for ever!

I know when one is dead, and when one lives;

She's dead as earth. Lend me a looking-glass;

If that her breath will mist or stain the stone,

Why, then she lives.

[...]

KING LEAR

And my poor fool is hang'd! No, no, no life!

Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have life,

And thou no breath at all? Thou'lt come no more,

Never, never, never, never, never!

Pray you, undo this button: thank you, sir.

Do you see this? Look on her, look, her lips,

Look there, look there!

Dies

Versus this scene in SVSSS:

Luo Binghe turned a deaf ear to everything else, greatly agitated and at a loss of what to do. He was still holding Shen Qingqiu’s body, which was rapidly cooling down. It seemed like he wanted to call for him loudly and forcefully shake him awake, yet he didn’t dare to, as if he was afraid of being scolded. He said slowly, “Shizun?”

[...]

Luo Binghe involuntarily held Shen Qingqiu closer.

He said in a small voice, “I was wrong, Shizun, I really… know that I was wrong.

“I… I didn’t want to kill you…”

PAIN. SO MUCH BEAUTIFUL PAIN. Yes, I know Shakespeare isn’t Athenian, but he was inspired by the good old stuff and he also knew how to write a perfect tragedy on his own terms. Anyway. I’ll find more Greek examples later.

This post was a bit all over the place, but I hope it has been fun to read. Part Two will be coming At Some Point, Who Knows When. This is a bit messy and unedited, but hey, I’m not getting paid or graded, so you can eat any typos or errors. Unless you’re here to talk to me about Chinese tragedy, in which case, please pull up a seat, let me get you a drink, make yourself at home.

ps: if you want to retweet this, here is the promo tweet!

#svsss #scum villain #luo binghe #shen qingqiu #shen jiu #greek tragedy #hello followers this account has been silent for a long time but today i bring you whatever this is #long post #i am gonna cross post more art here from my twitter i think #you guys really like my shitposts on here

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delicioussshame · 3 years

Text

[cries in fandom] I was supposed to work tonight and instead I wrote more of yesterday’s fic because I had the idea and couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Shen Qingqiu isn’t an empty nester. He has plenty of disciples still running around the peak, eager to learn and keeping him very busy.

It’s just that the generation that was already there when he arrived, Ning Yingying, Ming Fan and the others, are now fully grown cultivators, spending most of their time roaming the world on their own quests.

They bring him pride each time they visit, usually gifting him with obscure artefacts and rare volumes he spends days pouring over. It doesn’t quite make up for their absence, but it helps.

Still, he would have preferred Ning Yingying gift him something else the last time she visited.

He, of course, knew she would eventually cross paths with Luo Binghe. She was bound to. After much pondering, he had decided not to interfere. Her occasional visits to Luo Binghe weren’t enough to hurt her cultivation, and anyway Luo Binghe was usually careful not to let Xin Mo gorge enough to leave traces, especially on trained cultivators. She’d be fine.

Plus, when Luo Binghe would tire of hiding in plain sight and reveal his status as leader of the Demon Realm, his fondness for her would protect her from the consequences Shen Qingqiu himself might face.

He would probably be fine though. He’d just have to take a less adversarial take than his predecessor, who had fought to the death to “protect his disciple from the beast”.

Or he’d thought he would, until Ning Yingying, with a blinding smile that radiated unblemished innocence, had told her she’d booked him a session with her A-Luo, because, to hear her say it, he needed it.

He had been tempted to expel her on sight. Don’t thrown Shen Qingqiu into the maws of the beast! He doesn’t have your youthful beauty or girlish charms!

He hadn’t. Ning Yingying is just too caring. She hadn’t realised that just because she very much enjoyed Luo Binghe, Shen Qingqiu might not feel the same. Wrong tree. Because if he were attracted to men, which he was not, what a ridiculous notion, he would have made a move himself. Luo Binghe is soft on his favorite clients. He’d have nothing to lose by endearing himself to him.

Too bad he’s not interested. He had to refuse him.

He’d thought he knew what to expect when he’d gone to reject the offer as politely as he could. It wouldn’t do to offend him.

Sadly, all the foreknowledge of the world hadn’t been quite enough to shield himself from his unnatural charisma. He’d made a fool of himself, practically running out to escape the protagonist’s aura. Luo Binghe, how terrifying! His poor disciple had stood no chance!

Anyway, he can admit he is occasionally lonely. He misses his dear Yingying and his first disciple, whom, for all his flaws, Shen Qingqiu had grown fond of. It wasn’t impossible for Ning Yingying to have noticed, and to have tried to offer him company. Totally misguided, but understandable.

When he hears a commotion outside, he instantly goes to check it out. Maybe it will break his monotony.

He immediately regrets it. Why, why on earth are Luo Binghe and Liu Qingge fighting with enough strength that they could easily kill his terrorised disciples here on his peak! It’s way too early for Luo Binghe to have come out of the demonic closet! And why is he even here!

Shen Qingqiu turns towards his closest disciple. “What is happening here.”

The poor girl jumps at his tone. “Shizun! I’m sorry, I’m not sure, we heard rumours that Luo Binghe was at the sect, so we were curious, but Liu-shishu showed up and it devolved into a fight. I don’t know why.”

Huh. So Liu Qingge made the first move? Quite possible. He might have wanted to protect his sister’s honor.

That should be manageable. He raises his voice. “Fighting on my peak isn’t allowed. Stop at this instant.”

To his surprise, both swords freeze.

Shen Qingqiu despairs for this world’s mob characters. How come no one wonders why a courtesan can keep up with Liu Qingge? Why can’t they notice how Xin Mo oozes with malevolence? Can they only see Luo Binghe’s fabulously handsome face and physique?

He wouldn’t be surprised.

“Shen Qingqiu! How dare you!”

Shen Qingqiu blinks. “How dare I what, Liu-shidi? I’m not the one who picked a fight on someone else’s peak.”

He points to Luo Binghe. “Him!”

Beside his general existence, there’s nothing especially offensive about Luo Binghe? “What about him?”

“I thought you’d outgrown such nonsense, but he shows up here!”

Shen Qingqiu has no idea what is happening. “I’m sorry if his presence offends you, but I assure you I have nothing to do with it.”

“I’m afraid that’s a lie,” says Luo Binghe as Liu Qingge seems close to death via outrage.

Shen Qingqiu turns toward Luo Binghe. “How could it be?”

In answer, Luo Binghe brandishes… the fan he’d completely forgotten when he’d visited, shit! Did he come here, on his peak, holding this incriminating evidence as a badge of honor!?

Shen Qingqiu feels himself blanch. How can he clear himself of these allegations? Liu Qingge thinks he’s trying to steal his sister’s man! Once the War God of Bai Zhen is done with Luo Binghe, Shen Qingqiu’s head is next!

Luo Binghe continues like he didn’t notice Shen Qingqiu’s obvious discomfort, which he must have. “You left this behind the other day, and so I have come to return it. Let it not be said I am not a perfect gentleman.”

Oh no. He can hear consternation from some of his pupils, and definitely less consternated exclamations from others.

Liu Qingge has now plunged on Luo Binghe again, who dodges with too much ease. How can no one notice something is wrong!

Maybe the renewed fight will distract everyone while Shen Qingqiu discretely dig himself a hole deep enough to never have to come out.

Oh well, there’s nothing he can tell but the truth. No one will believe it, but since no one ever believed Shen Qingqiu, how will it be any different? “Please stop this fight at once. Luo Binghe, I thank you for bringing my fan back to me despite my rude refusal of your services. It wasn’t your fault my student misconstrued my interests. Again, I am sorry for your wasted time. Liu-shidi, I understand your sister’s paramour might not be your favorite individual, but please don’t assault the sect’s guests. Think of our reputation. What will people say?”

Liu Qingge stares at him with… stupefaction? “You’re not his?”

Yeah, he’s nipping that train of thought in the bud. The last thing he needs is his disciples thinking he’s some pretty thing’s toy. They would never respect him again. “No. He’s not my type. No offense intended.”

Liu Qingge remains still for a moment, before he plucks the fan from Luo Binghe’s hand and shoves it toward Shen Qingqiu. “Keep track of your fans! There are two in my home!”

Ladies and gentlemen, Shen Qingqiu, a man being berated in public about his chronic tendency to forget things like an unruly child. “Why should I care when Shidi is always so eager to bring them back to me?”

Liu Qingge flushes in anger.

Shen Qingqiu gives himself a point.

_______________

Things were light-hearted before.

Now, Luo Binghe is serious.

Not only did Shen Qingqiu refuse his advance, but he implied Luo Binghe himself wasn’t good enough for him, in front of his whole peak, before ignoring him in favor of flirting with another man, right in his face?

Never has he suffered such humiliation.

He had intended to be kind. To soothe and seduce the man gently until following Luo Binghe to bed would seem like the only logical option.

He bets Shen Qingqiu would have paid him for the privilege, and paid him well, regardless of his disciple’s previous arrangements.

Now, those options are off the table. When Luo Binghe is done with him, pleasure will have robbed Shen Qingqiu of the last of his voice, and yet he’ll still be trying to beg him for more.

He’ll be ruined to anyone that’s not Luo Binghe; unable to live without his touch.

Anything less would be an unsurmountable affront.

Shen Qingqiu better prepares himself. The fight might have been lost, but Luo Binghe will be the one to win the war.

#The Scum Villain Self Serving System #Scum Villain #BingQiu #but it really is #OriginalLBH/SY #Courtesan LBH AU #This has its own tag now and I'm sad

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tossawary · 3 years

Text

Chapter 28: “A Growing Family” of “pride is not the word I’m looking for” quotes and commentary. Not a full list of favorite quotes or full commentary.

The fact that Shen Qingqiu is waiting for them, just outside of Yue Qingyuan’s office, really doesn’t help the dread that Shang Qinghua is feeling here.

A stocky young woman is standing attentively beside the seated Peak Lord. This is that Fu Qiang character, one of Binghe’s favorite shijies on Qing Jing Peak, here to whisk Peerless Cucumber away for a one-to-one chat on the other transmigrator’s potential relationship to the House of Rejuvenation. Or maybe to give the kid a tutoring session on recovering memories from trauma or something! Shang Qinghua doesn’t know exactly, not having been invited to sit in.

“Shidi,” Shen Qingqiu greets coolly.

“Greetings, Shen-Shixiong,” Shang Qinghua returns, feeling sweaty already, but also weirdly giddy. He’s tempted to wink, but he’s pretty sure that would get him killed. “How are you? You look very well! Aha, how did those ‘other engagements’ go the other day? Meet with anyone? Have a good time?”

Over the top of his elegant fan, Shen Qingqiu immediately gives him a look that could probably kill a lesser man - or maybe a greater one, like someone who has more dignity and shame and whatever than Shang Qinghua does. Shang Qinghua doesn’t flinch. He assumes that the meeting with Yue Qingyuan went well! Which is great! Super great! If it had gone badly, he’s pretty sure that Shen Qingqiu wouldn’t even be setting foot on Qiong Ding Peak now - or at least would have been projecting “I’ll kill to get out of here and I’m mentally picking all my victims” hard enough to send all the Qiong Ding Peak disciples and cultivators off like panicked chickens.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Shen Qingqiu says, downright frosty now. “Shang-Shidi must have been paying too much attention to nonsense gossip again.”

“Ah, of course! Of course! My mistake, Shen-Shixiong! Please forgive me!”

Shang Qinghua looks to his fellow transmigrator next, to reintroduce them, only to find Shen Yuan making a very strange expression. Shen Yuan is looking between Shang Qinghua and Shen Qingqiu kind of like he’s never seen them before. His mouth is even a little open and everything. It takes the kid a few seconds to realize that he has two Peak Lords staring at him and to swallow the strange expression.

AN: Shen Yuan knows that 1) SQQ came to meet SQH personally immediately after their mission was over, 2) SQH stayed in bed the following day for a LONG time, and 3) SQH had a hickey on his neck.

So when Shang Qinghua makes a reference to the meeting that SQQ had with Yue Qingyuan, almost flirtatiously asking if Shen Qingqiu “met with anyone” and “had a good time”, Shen Yuan is going to draw his own conclusions.

Namely, that Shang Qinghua and Shen Qingqiu might be sleeping together.

After all, Shen Yuan doesn’t know about the YQY and SQQ backstory! Shen Yuan only knows that Shang Qinghua is weirdly friendly with PIDW’s most famous scum villain and that Shen Qingqiu apparently likes SQH enough not to be an asshole to Luo Binghe. Shang Qinghua kind of talks like they’re friend, so what if they’re... more than friends?!

Meanwhile, Shang Qinghua cannot fathom anyone EVER considering that he and SHEN QINGQIU might be lovers. It’s not an idea that he is in a position to have because what the fuck?!

I was tickled pink when I realized that things were in position to have the disciples think that Shangjiu is a thing. I was already planning on having them notice Shang Qinghua’s brand-new-relationship good mood. Shen Yuan may not notice when people are in love with HIM, but he did still read a twenty-million-word stallion web-novel, so he’s totally prepared to assume that secret affairs are happening for OTHER PEOPLE.

His fellow transmigrator hastily performs the appropriate greeting. Shen Qingqiu doesn’t reply beyond inclining his head, instead sweeping his eyes over Shen Yuan, who stands hilariously still like he’s facing down a predator, except for how the kid squints back a little at the Lord of Qing Jing Peak. Ha! That’s pretty fearless coming from someone still so unnerved by the man who would have Proud Immortal Demon Way’s most famous scum villain.

“Fu Qiang,” Shen Qingqiu says finally. “I have instructed Assistant Ma to set aside a private room for your discussion. You may take Disciple Shen there now.”

“Yes, Shizun.”

The other disciple gestures for Shen Yuan to follow and the other transmigrator hastily takes her up on that. As the disciples disappear, Shen Qingqiu rises and, without a word, leads Shang Qinghua into Yue Qingyuan’s office.

AN: It’s tempting to try and make Shen Qingqiu and Shen Yuan actually develop more of a relationship than “passing acquaintance”, but the thing is that I can’t see either of them really going for it without being forced or without a very serious push. They’re both so prickly.

Yue Qingyuan greets him in a friendly manner, like he’s genuinely pleased to see Shang Qinghua and happy to help. Shang Qinghua greets the man in the same way. It’s nice! It also kind of feels like they’re both pretending the past few months of awkwardness, resentment, and avoidance never happened.

AN: It felt a little more true to life and to the characters to have Shang Qinghua and Yue Qingyuan just... move forward instead of getting into their issues with each other and what apologies may be due.

It’s kind of like a mutual: “What if we didn’t talk about it?”

And they’re both like, “Oh, thank fuck.”

I think that if they both brew on it a bit more, they may eventually decide to try to assuage their respective anger or guilt by saying something, but right now they’re feeling raw and/or embarrassed, and don’t want to accidentally get into it again. So they’ll talk about work! They always have work to talk about! Work is more important than personal matters, so they’re just going to pretend everything is fine!

It’s not just the System who won’t let the Immortal Alliance Conference not happen! But, ahhh, Shang Qinghua can still dream of them actually managing to convince Zhao Hua Temple Sect and everyone else to call the whole thing off. He can dream!

Yue Qingyuan has this pained expression that says, “You’re not wrong, but I wish you were.” This guy knows what Shang Qinghua is talking about!

Shen Qingqiu has this expression that says something like, “I can only critique the accuracy of your assessment on the grounds that you may be giving our fellow cultivators too much credit in terms of common sense and cooperation. This annoys me immensely.”

“You have put a great deal of thought into this,” Yue Qingyuan says finally. “You received this news… when exactly… again?”

“Ah, yesterday morning?” Shang Qinghua answers.

“While in bed with a demon lord,” he doesn’t elaborate. Nope! Not elaborating!

“I know it’s not- I’ll try to get more information, but everyone is still in the planning stages, and it’s not easy getting any information!” Shang Qinghua says defensively. “But, even with that, I thought, ‘Ah, my shixiongs will probably want to know right away!’ Someone will need to tell Zhao Hua to take precautions, at least?”

Yue Qingyuan visibly regathers himself and says, “It is better to know these things as soon as possible. Thank you, Qinghua, for this forewarning.”

“He’s very good at knowing these things,” Shen Qingqiu agrees, but the man’s gaze is like a very sharp pin and Shang Qinghua is but a lowly insect under it. “When might you be expected to know more about this?”

“Ah, I’ll have to get in contact with… ah, some people I know.”

AN: Of course YQY and SQQ want to know more about where SQH is getting this information, but for all they know he might just have gotten a tip-off from one of his merchant contacts or someone in the black market. This has been brewing for a while between these demon lords and the cultivation sects. It’s really bad news, but it’s also not really that surprising.

According to the Airplane Extras, when MBJ and SQH meet, Airplane offhandedly mentions that Mobei-Jun’s clan and Huan Hua Palace Sect have a serious grudge from a conflict at a previous Immortal Alliance Conference. In PINTWILF, this conference is why the IACs got cancelled and had to be recently “revived”. The coming IAC is the 3rd since this revival.

Shang Qinghua has proven himself reliable enough by this point that YQY and SQQ will let him keep his informants close to his chest. Between SQH’s years of improved services (helped by actually getting his personal disciples to help him) and SQH’s interference in their personal issues, they do actually trust him.

So, yeah, they think he’s a squirmy little rat man.

But he’s THEIR squirmy little rat man who has come through in times of need. Also, SQQ, for all his glaring, might stab YQY if he started giving SQH a hard time about this. Sometimes a shidi just wants you to back the fuck off, YQY! Let him have his secrets! Even though SQQ absolutely wants to know SQH’s secrets and is on the verge of dying of curiosity.

I am VERY MUCH looking forward to them finding out that Shang Qinghua has a demon prince for a boyfriend. That’s going to be fun.

“I have also been… considering the advantages of lessons and between Peaks to encourage both cooperation and… survival skills,” Shen Qingqiu says next. “Rarely does one become a master of all disciplines - the Twelve Peaks allow for many of our sect to become specialists, masters of one art - but it seems unwise not to be learned in the basics of as many life-saving arts as one is able.”

“A diversity of learning can be very beneficial,” Yue Qingyuan agrees immediately.

“My disciple, Fu Qiang, has become a very adept medic over the years, though this was in the hopes of avoiding visiting Qian Cao Peak. The head disciples of An Ding, as I understand it, have sought to take special lessons from Qian Cao and Xian Shu to improve themselves."

“Ah, that explains how Hongpeng spied on Peerless Cucumber back when the little bro was still in Mu Qingfang’s clutches,” Shang Qinghua thinks. “And, ah, Shen Bro, I don’t know how to tell you this, but Wenjiao goes to Xian Shu Peak mostly to moon over pretty girls, especially my little sister-in-law.”

"There is also the example of Qi-Shimei’s most frustrating disciple, who must be routinely dragged away from Bai Zhan, but who has also apparently helped to improve her fellow Xian Shu disciples’ martial abilities.”

"Ah, that's one of putting Qi Qingqi letting Luo Fanli and Liu Mingyan fight each other in order to hopefully wear them both out," Shang Qinghua thinks.

“Even if demons should not attack, though only a limited number of our disciples will be attending the Immortal Alliance Conference, it would nevertheless be beneficial to ensure that all disciples across the sect are well-equipped to keep themselves alive until the specialists arrive,” Shen Qingqiu finishes. “Shang-Shidi, as one of the most well-connected leading members of our sect, the organization of such an initiative would be best left in your hands.”

AN: Okay, so I know that this is kind of a weird thing to be coming from Shen Qingqiu, but he’s grown a bit over the course of this fic! AND he’s totally coming at it from the perspective of: “I don’t have to cooperate or get along with anyone beyond what I’m doing now.”

So SQQ is like, “My disciples are stupid. We should have more field medics.”

And he’s like, “Some people’s disciples can’t fight for shit and we should make sure they know more self-defense.”

And he’s like, “Liu Qingge’s disciples are animals. Someone at least teach them how to protect other disciples and how to not bleed to death, because he won’t. That man doesn’t teach them anything.”

And he’s like, “Shang Qinghua, you do that. I don’t want to.”

Peerless Cucumber’s conversation with Shen Qingqiu’s disciple is long over, but apparently his fellow transmigrator didn’t just leave afterwards. Yue Qingyuan’s youngest assistant intercepts to politely point Shang Qinghua towards their waiting room. Shen Yuan is asleep in a chair, with one of his cultivation manuals open in his lap. Judging by his pose, Shang Qinghua is going to guess that the kid was trying some kind of meditation and ended up taking a nap by accident.

It happens to the best of them sometimes! Or at least to Shang Qinghua!

“Ah, I told you not to wait on me. Come on, bro, I don’t want to have to carry you back,” Shang Qinghua says, while jostling the kid awake. “You’re too big for that. My nephew is too big for that these days. Just because it would be nostalgic for me and just because I can doesn’t mean that I want to be carrying you around like a sack of vegetables.”

AN: If Shang Qinghua can haul Mobei-Jun around, then he could pick up Shen Yuan no problem. Also, this is the bit where I was like, “Wow, I have very much made SQH into SY’s dad here.”

Even SVSSS SQH gives me Uncle Vibes, to be honest. The man wants to pop into Bingqiu’s life, ask some nosy questions, be treated to a free meal (who doesn’t), tell some bad jokes, offer some terrible advice, complain about his workload, and then flounce off again with his boyfriend. SVSSS SQH seems to like being useful and appreciated and part of the group, but in a way where he’s not directly attached to anyone, you know? Give SVSSS SQH the benefits, but none of the responsibilities!

Shang Qinghua is kind of sick of this roundabout conversation and decides to bring out the big guns: a move taught to him by his extremely powerful sister-in-law, who has effortlessly defeated their resident War God. He knows the effectiveness of this technique personally, because Luo Jiahui has used it to defeat him many times. He puts on the best concerned face he has.

“Yuan,” he says seriously, looking the kid directly in the eye. “I’m not making jokes here about not skipping out on cultivating. It’s not always going to be fun - a lot of the time, it’s going to be pretty embarrassing and a little painful. Bro, I was an adult stuck in a teenage body, regularly getting my ass handed to me by actual teenagers. That was awful. But I really need you to keep doing it, even if you don’t become the next War God ready to challenge the protagonist, because I don’t want you to die. This shitty world isn’t safe. And if you want to be involved in these missions, then I need you to be able to carry yourself, or we’re both going to get trampled by some OP monster wandering out of an advanced chapter early instead of fixing anything here.”

Shen Yuan is having difficulty meeting his eyes. He keeps trying to force himself to look at Shang Qinghua and then looking away again automatically.

Shang Qinghua employs another of his sister-in-law’s immensely powerful techniques: he reaches out and puts a hand on the kid’s shoulder. “I will tell you stuff when I have stuff to tell you and when I can tell it to you. You’ve been super helpful, I’m going to need your help in the future, but I need you to be a little patient right now too.”

Shen Yuan nods. “...Fine.”

AN: Shang Qinghua: “I can’t believe that I’m tricking this person into thinking I’m a good person by being nice to them and looking after them and doing good things. I have learned this behavior for TRICKING PURPOSES only and have NOT accidentally adopted yet another kid.”

Shang Qinghua can’t answer the question right now! Leave a message!

He’s too busy replaying all the times he’s seen his nephew and his fellow transmigrator interact. Binghe did ask after Shen Yuan every time that he and Shang Qinghua talked, while the other transmigrator was on Qian Cao and after he came to An Ding, but… Shang Qinghua just thought his nephew was being polite and curious? Peerless Cucumber stands out! Binghe didn’t act too weirdly about it!

Luo Binghe is supposed to be a stallion protagonist with 600 wives!

Although… Shang Qinghua’s nephew has never really shown any interest in that kind of thing. Which Shang Qinghua has been pretty glad about! He doesn’t want to have 600 nieces-in-law! He also doesn’t want that for his nephew!

The protagonist of Proud Immortal Demon Way ’s harem was basically a snake pit of drama and desperation and decaying fantasies. For everyone who could read between the lines of empty papapa to see Airplane Shooting Towards The Sky’s tragic story of resentment and revenge, it wouldn’t be inaccurate to say the tyrannical, broken protagonist was like a black hole, dragging everyone else into orbit around this man who couldn’t really love anyone! You can take a blackened protagonist out of the Eternal Abyss, but you can’t take that abyss out of the blackened protagonist, right?

The original Luo Binghe didn’t take wives because he was in love. He took wives because he could! Because they were beautiful or powerful or useful! Because he pitied them! Because he liked being their savior! Because he didn't want anyone else to have them! Because he liked being an object of envy and desire and love! Because it was expected of him, as the man all the readers wanted to be, who was supposed to have everything a man could ever want!

“...Ah, there are… some implications there,” Airplane Shooting Towards The Sky realizes, remembering just how half-hearted most of that harem bullshit was. “Maybe a bent man wrote a kind of bent protagonist by accident? Who knows?”

“Da-Ge?” Fanli says. “Da-Ge, didn’t you know?”

AN: I’ve said this before, but there’s a meta argument to be made in regards to Luo Binghe and obligatory heterosexuality.

Also, from what I remember, Airplane didn’t actually seem to care too much about Luo Binghe being interested in Shen Yuan. In the Airplane Extras, Airplane says that in the original version of PIDW that he never got to write, Luo Binghe actually ended up totally alone at the end of the story. He was apparently planning a pretty downer ending for Luo Binghe. But Luo Binghe ended up getting a huge harem instead because that’s what the readers wanted!

So, my impression is, that when SVSSS Airplane first realizes that LBH is into men (and into SQQ specifically), he does a little bit of self-reflection and also reflection on PIDW, then just goes, “Huh. That makes... sense.”

“Though, aha, I can’t remember Shen-Shixiong ever really not being kind of angry at me and I’m not dead yet. I had to talk really fast sometimes, but I lived! Now go away.”

When Shang Qinghua looks up, all of his disciples are staring at him. They all look surprised, except for Shen Yuan, who looks embarrassed. Shang Qinghua would guess that someone cracked a dirty joke, but that doesn’t seem right.

"What?"

“...Shifu, how long have you known Shen-Shibo?” Chen Xuan asks.

“Since we were disciples? Ah, I think he hated me at first sight.”

“But you’re close now?” Lin Wenjiao blurts out.

“Closer, ” Shang Qinghua agrees warily. “Aha, don’t think that any of you can ask me for favors to do with Shen Qingqiu or Qing Jing Peak too! That’s not happening! Disciple Luo, Shen, get out of here before you give my disciples any more weird ideas.”

AN: Okay, so what happened is that as soon as Luo Fanli and Shang Qinghua left the room, Shen Yuan was like, “...Shang Qinghua and Shen Qingqiu are... very close? Are they...?”

And SQH’s disciples are like, “Holy shit, are you asking if SQH and SQQ are romantically involved?!” And SQH’s disciples laugh in SY’s face because that’s RIDICULOUS. Which makes SY really embarrassed and defensive! SQH’s disciples ask why he would EVER think a thing like that.

SY provides the evidence. It’s a reasonable conclusion!

And then SQH’s disciples are like, “...Holy shit?!”

And then SY is like, “Wait, maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned that.”

But it’s too late. SQH’s disciples are already putting all the evidence together and there is SO MUCH EVIDENCE of something going on there.

I know I refer to this ship as “Shangjiu”, but that’s mostly just to specify which Shen Qingqiu and I doubt that anyone in Cang Qiong Mountain Sect dares to call SQQ “Jiu” besides YQY. They’d probably actually end up calling it something along the lines of “The Premise” like original Star Trek: The Original Series Kirk/Spock shippers. (See Fanlore or something for more info on that.)

Again, SQH cannot... CONCEIVE of them conceiving this idea.

By the time that Mobei-Jun shows up at his Leisure House, Shang Qinghua is a little on the edge! Honestly, he’s kind of off the edge, dangling from a very thin branch just underneath the cliff’s edge, and that thin branch is making some very concerning noises! Sure, at least the demon lord isn’t late, but Shang Qinghua is suddenly reminded of just how intimidating Mobei-Jun looks! Also, he’s cleaned up his house and knows his sister-in-law knows he’s kind of a slob sometimes, but he’s so sure that she’s still going to judge his cleaning job! What if she blames Mobei-Jun for it? (She’d be right to blame him a little! The man can be kind of lazy and messy sometimes too!)

A cool hand at Shang Qinghua’s hip prevents him from walking around in circles, repositioning disobedient cushions and offending tables. Shang Qinghua looks up at Mobei-Jun, who moves his hand to where Shang Qinghua’s neck meets shoulder.

“Stop it,” Mobei-Jun says.

AN: It’s really funny thinking about how all of Mobei-Jun’s gentle and affectionate behaviors towards SQH are totally learned. This does not come naturally to the man. If SQH was having a panic attack, Mobei-Jun’s first (panicked) instinct would be to bark at him to stop it.

“It’s just… Jiahui is… it didn’t have to be this way for us? I would have just helped her get to safety and left her to live her life without me, but she didn’t let that happen, even though her family wasn’t any good either, so why would she want another one?” Shang Qinghua tries to explain. “She chose me? She looked out for me. She helped me understand a lot of things. Even though she probably could have picked anyone else. I don’t really know where I’d be right now if she didn’t? Ah, probably… not talking to or trusting anyone ever? You remember what things used to be like.”

“Yes.”

“I’ve never really liked any of the sisters I’ve had before very much,” Shang Qinghua admits. “Ah, but they didn’t like me either, so it worked. Anyway! It’s… important to me that things work out now because…”

“I don’t want to choose,” Shang Qinghua doesn’t say.

He clears his throat instead.

“Qinghua.”

Shang Qinghua forces himself to look up from his hands on Mobei-Jun’s collar.

“I am glad that you were not without someone to trust,” Mobei-Jun says, though it sounds like it takes effort. “Your sister has nothing to fear from me.”

Mobei-Jun has already made this promise, but it’s good to hear it again.

“Thank you, my king. I’ll, ah- I should go get her now.”

AN: Mobei-Jun is jealous. He is very, VERY jealous.

BUT Mobei-Jun can also see some parallels here. Luo Jiahui is to Shang Qinghua in many ways what Shang Qinghua is to him. Mobei-Jun understands the importance of this relationship and of this person. He understands that Jiahui and SQH’s relationship is not romantic, of course, and understands her to be the “head of the family”, so he has to force himself not to act on his jealousy.

I think that a part of Mobei-Jun might see jealousy as something very negative? Thinking about what I said about Mobei-Jun’s hang-ups surrounding consent and possessiveness possibly originating with his father being a wife-stealer, Mobei-Jun can’t act on his jealousy for the same reasons that he needs Shang Qinghua to make the first explicit moves. He wants Shang Qinghua to choose him and to choose him of his own free will.

So, he’s jealous when he hears about how LJH chose SQH and SQH chose LJH, but he can’t act on it because 1) he loves SQH and 2) he’s (possibly unconsciously) terrified of becoming his father and creating resentment that will ripple out into his family potentially for generations.

It’s so, so weird to see his human sister-in-law sitting across from a demon lord. Luo Jiahui is not a tall woman and her cultivation is very good these days, but she’s not a warrior. Seeing the height and width differences side-by-side make them really obvious! Mobei-Jun is at least twice Shang Qinghua’s sister-in-law’s size! He has to be easily twice her weight!

When Luo Jiahui puts food in front of Mobei-Jun, Shang Qinghua gets huge “I dare you to not eat my food” messages! It took a really long time before Mobei-Jun seemed to accept that Shang Qinghua really wouldn’t take every available opportunity to hand him poison. Thankfully, however, Mobei-Jun has eaten Luo Jiahui’s food before! Shang Qinghua has shared his sister-in-law's food with the demon lord! Shang Qinghua also communicated beforehand that Mobei-Jun has to eat the food. No matter what!

So, Mobei-Jun eats the food and Shang Qinghua breathes a sigh of relief. Mobei-Jun even goes so far as to tell Luo Jiahui that she’s a good cook (above and beyond social interaction! Also delivered kind of awkwardly!), which his sister-in-law accepts with thanks (and also maybe just a little bit as her rightful due).

Luo Jiahui already knows the basics of Mobei-Jun: that he’s an ice demon, the son of the Northern Demon King, and he’s going to be the next Northern Demon King. She already knows that he’s a warrior and that his time is mostly spent tending to his duties, usually on his father’s behalf. She even knows that demon families can be kind of violently competitive and that Mobei-Jun’s family is no exception.

So, when she finally decides to speak seriously, she says, “My brother is very important to me. I have told him that if he is happy, then I’m happy for him. He has told me that you are very important to him.”

AN: Mobei-Jun is going to hold that revelation close to his chest for WEEKS. Shang Qinghua said that Mobei-Jun is very important to him!

Juggling the tension of this scene was weird.

Because, like, Mobei-Jun is not a kind or a gentle or a good person. He’s disdainful of humanity. It’s kind of a mindfuck for him to be having a meal with a strange human who is not of the things he has been raised to respect.

Meanwhile, Luo Jiahui is fucking terrified of Mobei-Jun, dislikes him, and doesn’t want to like him. He’s a stranger who could destroy her family. He looks kind of monstrous. He acts strangely.

But they HAVE TO BE CIVIL to each other for Shang Qinghua’s sake.

So they are.

Mobei-Jun tries not to make any scary moves around the soft human.

Luo Jiahui tries to act like MBJ is a normal person and to be polite.

They are both very out of their depth.

“...Shang Qinghua saved my life,” Mobei-Jun says, which is the first time he’s spoken without someone else speaking to him first. “Many times, he has done this.”

Luo Jiahui sets down her teacup, listening expectantly.

“Even when I did not trust him, and he did not trust me, Qinghua has always provided shelter and safety,” Mobei-Jun says slowly, solemnly. “Medicine, when I have been injured. Direction, when I have been lost. Company and loyalty. This is rare.”

“Yes,” Luo Jiahui agrees.

“The trust I have put in him has never been betrayed.”

Shang Qinghua kind of feels like he’s overheating here - like maybe his heart is melting! Mobei-Jun as a character has always prized loyalty above all! “I had no fucking clue,” he thinks. “Honestly, how the FUCK did I have no fucking clue?! Hindsight is incredible!”

“I would not betray him,” Mobei-Jun says, looking to Shang Qinghua directly. “My life has been his since the day we met.”

Shang Qinghua tries not to melt even more. Mobei-Jun is supposed to be an ice demon! What the hell is this?! It’s unfair! It’s embarrassing! It’s too much!

“...Good,” Luo Jiahui says, determinedly. “I’m happy to hear that. My hard-working brother needs someone to appreciate and cherish him.”

“Yes.”

AN: Mobei-Jun is like, “Humans use words. I need to use words. I need to be direct about this because humans are bad at understanding things.”

And Luo Jiahui is like, “Oh my, you are very intense. Okay.”

Mobei-Jun nods. “I did not think a human would ever care for a demon child.”

Luo Jiahui frowns a little. “Oh?”

“I admire this,” Mobei-Jun amends, frowning back. “I do not know how humans are raised. It is good that your child has never had to doubt his safety here.”

“...Of course.”

“It is clear that your child is loved beyond his bloodline.”

“Of course,” Luo Jiahui insists, with an offended note in her voice. “When I found Binghe in that river, I didn’t know he was part demon, but I would have taken him in anyway! Whoever the parent is, whatever the parent has done, it’s never the baby’s fault. Even if a parent has done something wrong, then babies shouldn’t suffer for it. All children should be cherished.”

Luo Jiahui’s voice breaks a little, her eyes turning wet. Shang Qinghua fumbles for a handkerchief to offer his sister-in-law, which she accepts gratefully.

He wonders if she’s thinking about her stillborn baby. She doesn’t talk about her other baby very often, but she does sometimes. She told him once that she observes that day. It’s something that she insists on doing alone.

“...I was left in the human world as a young child,” Mobei-Jun says.

Shang Qinghua’s head snaps up. He knows that, but that’s because he wrote that. He has never, ever heard Mobei-Jun talk about it before.

“Oh, no,” Luo Jiahui says.

“I was nearly killed by humans,” Mobei-Jun informs them.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Luo Jiahui says.

“It was my uncle’s doing. He wishes to see me dead.” Mobei-Jun says this like it’s just another fact of life, not even an upsetting one, which kind of makes it one of the saddest fucking things that Shang Qinghua has ever heard the man say.

“That’s terrible,” Luo Jiahui says vehemently. “How rotten.”

Mobei-Jun blinks at her. His expression is still solemn, but the pause seems surprised.

Shang Qinghua almost wants to shrug. Yep, his sister-in-law is just like this!

“I have promised Qinghua that I will protect your son,” Mobei-Jun says to her. “I make you the same promise now.”

“...Thank you.”

AN: Mobei-Jun is like, “I understand you to be one of the rare humans who is not a piece of shit and who would have saved me as a child. I respect this. I don’t fucking understand it, but I understand you should be protected and that your child should be protected. I am doing this for Shang Qinghua and not because I have any personal issues surrounding the endangerment of demon children.”

Luo Jiahui is like, “Oh, he’s soft inside! He’ll protect my Binghe. Okay, I like him now. I didn’t want to, but anyone who basically professes to be willing to die for my child and my brother has my reluctant approval.”

Shang Qinghua can’t help it. The energy in here is so weird! He laughs.

“My king, have you had that all this time?”

Mobei-Jun doesn’t say anything, he just frowns.

“Clearly he was waiting to return it in person, Houhua,” Luo Jiahui admonishes. “It’s not his fault that you took so long introducing us or surely he would have returned it sooner. Don’t make it out to be impolite.”

Mobei-Jun gives Shang Qinghua’s sister-in-law an approving look.

AN: Mobei-Jun is like, “Oh, she’s smarter than Qinghua. Good. (Not that my Shang Qinghua isn’t very clever, but he’s an idiot.)”

And sometimes it’s just nice to take a minute to sit back, relax, and see his disciples daring their shidi, his fellow transmigrator, to chug the spiciest soup on the menu.

“Ah, kids,” Shang Qinghua says to Luo Jiahui.

Luo Jiahui is making a very concerned expression as her sisters, Shang Qinghua’s head disciples, and even Liu Mingyan chant: “Chug! Chug! Chug!” Yeah, he should probably stop them! But why would he? If anyone throws up from this, he’ll just appear out of nowhere to scare the shit out of all of them and then make them clean it up. It’s fine. He says as much to Luo Jiahui.

“They’re old enough to know better,” she says, but she looks fond now. “Their shifu should have taught them better manners, hm?”

“Hey! Only… four of those are mine.”

AN: Friends for Shen Yuan! Friends for Shen Yuan!

Also SQH being like, “Oh, fuck, I really have too many kids.”

Luo Jiahui sighs wistfully. “It is nice having children in here again, even big ones who are supposed to be adults now. I’m so proud of how Binghe has grown, but I miss when he was little. I miss when I could pick him up and carry him around. Uncle Han’s daughter brought her new baby in yesterday. He was so cute!”

“Aha, don’t steal a baby to fill the empty nest, please!”

Luo Jiahui swats him. “I wouldn’t do something like that!” she insists, cheeks flushing pink.

AN: Baby?! Baby for Luo Jiahui and Liu Qingge?! Maybe!

#tossawary commentary #tossawary svsss #pride is not the word

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writing-frenzy · 5 years

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Mobbing Around: CucumberPlane AU~

yup, here I am again, back with my AU’s~ This time for one of my favorite pairings of Scum Villain CucumberPlane (I just love this disaster duo)

Here is first thing first; Shen Yuan and Airplane are not Shen Qingqiu or Shang Qinghua respectively.

But the both do have relations to both in certain ways-

Shen Yuan was transmigrated in this world into the body of a dying Shen Yi, the first of the street kids in Yue Qi and Shen Jiu’s group. He was the one who taught Yue Qi all his survival tips and in the beginnings of Shen Jiu’s life was the one who would sing nightmares away and provide a hug when needed. It’s also thanks to Shen Yi that the two have more power in the arsenal, because of course you know the minute Shen Yuan knew this was a cultivation world, he tried and see everything that would work in cultivating (which was surprisingly a lot, thanks to how PIDW is set up, his mish-mash of styles were perfect.) It’s like this for a few years, these years on the streets hardening Shen Yi in a way, the world undeniably real to him in every pain he feels, the grief that hits him, and even in the little pleasures he finds day by day... But of course it doesn’t last... After all, the extra’s did mention that Yue Qi and Xiao Jiu were the last of their group for a reason. It happens when a group of slave traders come through town, making nice with the lord there, showing off their pretties and then getting out with their pay... but with so little stock left, they of course of to bulk it up before they leave.

And who would miss a few kids from the streets? (Shen Yi did what he could, buying time to make sure the others would at least get away, unknowing that he himself would be the price paid to buy those precious seconds)

Now for Airplane, who was born one Shang Huanmu (hopefully means Pleased Desire but if not i’m blaming PIDW’s naming sense) Who is one of the numerous half-brothers of this world’s future Shang Qinghua. Shang Huanmu was a child that should have died in the womb, but thanks to transmigration, he in the end lives! Airplane’s father can be thought of as the Jin Guangshan of Scum Villain, a power hungry womanizer who only thinks of himself and the pleasures in life, just this one is actually able to legally have more wives. Now, if Airplane had been born as Shang Qinghua, as one of the sons of the Legal First Wife, he wouldn’t have to concern himself with harem politics and treachery, especially after his mother ensured he could escape it permanently by giving him the chance to be a big renown sect’s disciple... But like I said, Shang Huanmu does not have that safety net. He and his mother are stuck deep in the poisonous words dipped in rouge and perfume, where one wrong word, where one misstep, where one simple look could get them flogged, booted out of the clan, or even death if they are not careful.

Airplane gets a very different second childhood (but with a mother, a parent who actually loves and supports him, despite all his eccentrics and quirks? It goes a long way for his shallow heart). (EDIT: found out Huanmu can also mean 360 degree cinema screen, which only makes me want to keep it even more.)

Now, can you guess how they meet? :3 The head of the Shang Household decides they need more sex slaves hmm, ehem, I mean servants, of course, look, there are even a few boys here even! (not to say just how many woman there are) Shen Yi Just happens to be one of these poor souls stuck here. For a while, he just gets shuffled around for a time, no set place yet as he is still new and they’re not sure what to do with him yet.

Until one day, Shen Yi gains the favor of one of the many wives, her son one day seeming to favor him, so thus making him their personal servant.

(I’m thinking Airplane hears Shen Yuan singing a fan song under his breath, joins in with him, and suddenly both are like ‘I’m not alone’)

Now that that is set up, here are a few other things to note-

Mama Shang is a certified bad ass who loves her babies (yes, Shen Yuan is her baby now) and will fuck up anyone who thinks of hurting them (how else do you think they’ve survived for so long? and give me more awesome woman in SV!!)

In public, Shen Yi is the dutiful, grateful servant while Shang Huanmu is the careless weird master (in private they are just disaster best friends, with Shen Yuan being the huffy commanding one.)

Both boys learn degrees of her badassery, Shang Huanmu going more mental manipulative route with plenty of tricks and traps, while Shen Yi takes the fighting approach with the mental strategist route. This also gives the public a more Master-Bodyguard servant relationship to view...

Shen Yuan and Airplane find out in mid-early of their friendship who they were in a past life, but seeing as neither know they are in PIDW, Shen Yuan just bitches at him occasionally about it, even teasing him as well.

The reason why they don’t know is because they are much more focused on surviving their environment around them, the sects that are mentioned are the ones either a) close by to the Shang Family or b) something more ‘fitting’ for their stations in life. (besides, a lot of stories have similar names for clans, I know about two that have a Jiang clan. not to mention Jin clan and others)

So yeah, Cucumber-bro and Airplane-bro grow up close, bitch and complaining, and crying to each other (laughing and smiling and clinging tight in the night, worried an assassin would be right there to take one of them away.)

Both men are mentally older, wearier, and jaded here, both seek comfort in the other, both trust each other greatly... but both are still as dense as rocks when it comes to the realization that they have been in love with each other for years now.

(Shen Yuan has no idea why he wants to vomit everytime he hears about possible marriage matches for Airplane; probably just the thought of someone actually marrying him that gets him, even if he isn’t that bad to look at...)

(Airplane smiles like normal, but his eyes are like they were made of ice the moment someone offers to buy/take Shen Yi off his hands; no way is someone going to take his bro from him, even as the thought of separating from Shen Yuan fills his soul with a chilling fear. Probably just the thought of what could happen to his friend getting to him, what with how pretty the other is...)

If there is a system in this world, I want it to be as ridiculous as possible; Like, the Good Deed System, where you have to perform good deeds from simple ones to world saving quests, or even a Side Quest System, a system that makes sure that those little details actually get met. Maybe even a Karma System, where what comes around goes around and all that (basically, I want these two boys to be in the dark about where they actually are for as long as possible :D But Systems are so much fun to mess with~)

Now, this AU can actually Branch out:

In number one, Mama Shang sees an opportunity for her boys, since the first wife is sending one of her sons to the prestigious Cang Qiong Moutain Sect, she joins in with a group of other wives to try and get their own children sent, which the Shang Head allows, because hey, if more of his blood get in, more face for his family! This is when both boys find out that they are in PIDW, which makes Shen Yi glare at one certain shrinking author, who pales at all the realizations. But this is their best chance at a new life, to become cultivators and escape their harsh family and all it’s tricks and traps. Both of them take the digging holes seriously (even as Shen Yuan bitches about it to Airplane all the while) because again, best shot they have. And to their relief, they even manage to get in!... at different peaks that is... (why yes, I noticed that certain Peaks don’t have Peak Lords :) shame they have no named Lords at all... :) oh, how could this ever be fixed?)

In this number we have these two boys and their mother leave the family (how they do so is unclear for now), learning under a random, maybe renown cultivator and Mama Shang, who become rouge cultivators themselves, their own ideas helping to improve and create entirely new paths of cultivation. In this path, they will eventually find out what world they are eventually, but decide to just stay as rouges here, with adventure and mystery all around them, making allies and accidently derailing canon all along the way as they do so :3 (it would be such a sweet freedom for these two disasters to enjoy, and with Mama Shang with them to be badass as well.)

Now, this one kinda branches off from number 2 in an interesting way :D You see, both these disasters have a great charisma, just aimed in different ways that could get many different types of people. They also, have different moral systems, things that would get people all around them, while Shang Huanmu and Shen Yi really couldn’t care less or have different takes on, despite all the years they have lived in this world. They end up getting... a lot of followers, people who would love to either be a disciple, little brother/sister, even servant at times... Slowly, ever so sudden, there is a big group of rouge cultivators at night hunts, Airplane figuring out the best way to settle supplies and money, while Shen Yuan easily makes nice with all these people, or if needed threaten them harshly. Soon, the two find themselves in a situation of; the only reason we aren’t a sect is that we haven’t gotten a place to settle down/Emperor’s approval...

Yeah, as you can see, I really like this idea XD

#Scum Villain #Scum Villain's Self Saving System #SVSS #CucumberPlane #Shang Qinghua #Shen Yuan #Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky

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natsunoomoi · 4 years

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Diving Further In

So just going deeper into this SVSSS rabbit hole. Still in earlier chapters because I work, but just poking around online again because again I really just like looking at Shen Qingqiu’s face and also Liu Qingge’s look isn’t so bad either.

But like I came across some stuff that’s spoilers for me and it said that they are a popular ship together? But like also a lot of people question if Qingge is straight which the author said and I found curious that a lot of people seem to dispute that? So then I looked more and it seems people are citing an extra story where the two of them go to fight some succubi in a cave. I read the story, and I don’t really see it myself? Like I can see how some people could read that it implies that he is actually interested in Shen Qingqiu and maybe a little jealous, but also I can also see how it doesn’t necessarily and also aligns with the author saying that he is straight. This isn’t to say that I want to kill anyone’s ship or anything, but just want to point out how what MXTX is saying isn’t exactly crazy either.

I’m not really sure, but I think it might be because I’m asexual myself so even my own experience going through life there’s a lot of things that maybe other people who aren’t ace interpret as more romantic that I don’t think so at all and it’s gotten me in trouble sometimes where I feel like I’m just having pleasant conversation with people but people think I’m flirting? I’m just being nice and talking? I don’t understand?

But just the same like even for me if someone says something that could possibly suggest that I’m involved in something or that I like someone even if I don’t, I still get flustered and blush because people are talking about my private life even if I don’t actually like the person. And then they become convinced that that’s the person I like because I’m blushing as we are having a conversation about if I like someone.

Like truthfully, in the 4th grade I had an interaction with a classmate that I had that I thought I had an amicable friendship with. During the first week or so of school a bee came into the classroom and landed on my desk and my classmate killed it for me and I was scared and eternally grateful, so at a later date later I gave him like a small gift or something as a thank you. My classmates thought it meant I liked him or something and I was VERY CONFUSED. I was literally just grateful for the help with the bee and he’s always been kind and helpful to me in class so I didn’t really think anything of it, and just simply you do nice things for people who are nice to you right? It’s a very simple and pure thought, but I learned from that experience and misunderstanding that normally people don’t do that for people who are just your friends. I think they also thought I did because apparently I was staring at him a lot when we were on a field trip, but like during the field trip he was also goofing around and jumping on the bus and stuff. How do you not look at someone making a ruckus?

So basically, in reading the succubus story, I kind of thought about something like that for Qingge. Like if I were him, I would be a little surprised also that the description sounded a bit like me and like I’m sure just as Shen Qingqiu is going through all the women he knows, Qingge is also running through all the people who knows that Qingqiu hangs out with and realizes that he is with him an awful lot. I’m somewhat serious as well, and even though I’m focused on getting the job done, it’s not like I’m not trying to look out for my friends and their interests so I’d want to still listen too to learn more about them as a friend and even to find out how I can be a better friend to them or like encourage them in the future. Plus like nothing else was happening in the cave, so you just get bored and listen to what's happening. Same as me on the field trip. Space out staring out the window or turn in the direction of the commotion on the bus.

I also think that part of Qingge’s alarm is that the succubus mentions that the person is his junior, and I think most people would normally exclude anyone who was a student or disciple of theirs. He probably didn’t even consider someone who was from a younger generation as he was running through the list of people in his mind, and the description does sound like him and to me it reads like because he is straight and doesn’t think of his friend in that way exactly, he’s having a kind of panic attack and questioning himself internally trying to discern if it is him and his own feelings. But at the same time, he doesn’t want to say any more or explain himself because its not like he wants to be mean to his friend either.

Like I’ve had times like that too where people apparently maybe liked me, but I just didn’t like them that way or I was emotionally unavailable because I liked someone else. And then when you’re in grade school you do those fortune telling games where you write the names of different boys in your class and stuff and it’s not serious, but sometimes you don’t want to be mean if like the fortune tells you it matched you to one person or another. Like even if you’re friends and it’s just that you don’t feel them that way, if you played that game and got matched with them and then shouted, “Eww! Gross!” Isn’t that awful? So like, I think he thought that the succubus was talking about him, so he said it was inaccurate, but also just like got really flustered because it’s a private topic like I would, but at the same time tried to keep his eye on the ball and complete the mission while also balancing trying to not to be a dick to his friend. Like even asking the other questions to me sounds like panicking and trying to find out more info to check if it is him, because he isn’t aware of Binghe’s future either. It’s kind of a mess of emotions and trying to balance everything he’s taking in his actual personal feelings and trying not to offend his friend. All that together I think would make me embarrassed and give me a stormy look too.

So I dunno, I kind of feel like if I was in his place I would react much the same even if I didn’t have feelings for Qingqiu. The idea of Qingge being straight sounds totally reasonable to me, and Qingge is like the traditionally virtuous macho guy of Chinese lit. Incredible martial skill and stoic and very work-oriented. Like I like looking at Qingqiu’s face a lot, but when I was young a stoic and work-oriented guy like Qingge was my ideal man because I thought they would never cheat on me because they would have the self-control to keep it in their pants. As I got older I started to realize that such a person was not actually realistic and I became disappointed as I came into middle school and realized my ideal was most likely a Buddhist monk who could not get married to my utter disappointment. A lot of other characters I like in my fandom often have the same trait where they canonically don’t seem to show any kind of attraction to almost anyone really because of my fear. Guys who chase skirts all the time are the least appealing to me.

But like also, Qingge being the stereotypical manly man kind of character leads me to remember other stuff about Chinese culture as well that maybe blur the lines that perhaps other readers don’t pick up on because it’s not part of their culture? Like Chinese culture is very heavily influenced by Confucianism and even more classic lit that has a history that actually pre-dates Confucianism is written to have a Confucianism bent because it was a popular thing by the time it was actually written down to paper. It was already so pervasive in society by that time so there’s a lot of stories where we don’t know their “original form” but the Confucian ideas in it are highly influential and if that story is particularly notable or influential in itself, it trickles and affects the thoughts and ideas of the entire culture and all of our stories. Like Journey to the West is probably one of the most influential of the classics in all of East Asia, and while it’s mostly a Buddhist allegory, it does have bits and pieces of Confucianism in it and upholds the cardinal relationships. All this is to say, that this philosophy is pervasive and needs to be taken into consideration if we’re looking at how people behave in a Chinese story. Sometimes character actions can be affected by it, and sometimes they’re not. Binghe being a stallion novel protagonist with a traumatic past that involves demons is probably way beyond the scope of Confucius’ ideas, but Qingge being the traditional man’s man so to speak, absolutely falls within it. He is that kind of character because he follows those ideals and mannerisms.

That is important because Confucianism highlights very strongly loyalty. It comes in the form of filial piety and so on and so forth, but being loyal to your community, your ruler/boss, your family, and so on was really important. Spousal loyalty you can throw a side eye at and question because it’s mostly only one way if we wanna be real, but even though it was one way there was a prescribed way to behave still. So then some people kind of criticized Qingge’s sexuality because he dedicated himself for so long to doing something for Qingqiu. But that like doesn’t necessarily mean anything either because of loyalty to help your friends or someone who specifically helped you or even to your clan/sect/family especially which Qingqiu falls into. You do that for people you have obligations to. Bear in mind, I also gave an actual gift to a boy who just saved me from a bee landing on my desk and had all of my classmates completely misunderstand that, so Qingge’s meta situation is a mood for me.

The other thing is, what is considered to be acceptable male behavior is probably a lot wider traditionally in Chinese society also because of Confucianism. Specifically because Confucius was very, VERY, misogynistic. There’s a lot of merit to think about into the things he thought about for some bases of the cardinal relationships, but any time he delved into anything regarding gender relations he was pretty much full of shit. Like in principle, a ruler is the head and the ministers under the ruler are like the body making the ideas from the head happen. That sounds like a pretty sound metaphor to how to run a country or a company even. Like maybe if you’re the CEO as the head of the company you don’t do something that benefits your head only and spites your workers equivalent to like cutting off your own feet (like making them work if they have coronavirus). That sounds like a horrible way to keep your company going, right? How would a "body" last and succeed without feet? (It should be noted that this metaphor also works for why Binghe's punishment of the original Qingqiu via human stick was super appropriate for his mistreatment because disciple Binghe was a subordinate and should have been treated better according to the rights). So Confucius’ ideas in things like that seemed pretty reasonable. His ideas on women, however, were not.

As a base, we should probably start with Taoism which is the source of all the cultivation lore in this book anyway. But the very simplest and most well-known symbol from Taoism is the yin-yang symbol. Yang is a positive male energy and yin is a negative female energy. Positive and negative are not actually good vs evil in terms of contrast, but are more like photons and electrons. Just two kinds of energies that coexist in the world and create a balance and cannot fully stand on their own without the other, and there’s a little bit of each in each one. Black is not pure black, but has a little white. White is not pure white, but has a bit of white, so basically nothing is perfect. This alone could be misogynistic too, but not necessarily. Depends on how much a person runs with that.

Confucius really ran with it though. He really thought and it was popularized that women were “inherently evil” because of their genitalia. Absolutely full of shit, but I think he was trying to point out how a lot of men act the fool over trying to chase skirts and get laid. It’s really shitty that he blames women for just inherently being temptresses just because they have that genitalia and it spreads to their overall oppression and lack of rights, but at the same time he does to an extent tell men to be accountable for falling into the temptation. Dalliance with women was only necessary to continue the family line and otherwise was thought should be avoided because our ladies are just too tempting and distracting. He warns men to stay away and control themselves, but unhappily for the wrong reasons. With that backdrop, he even went as far as to say that sex between men was better than with a woman because well, you’re not messing with that “evil”. In that respect, he heavily, HEAVILY encouraged relationships with other men and boys clubs including ones where people get drunk and make paintings and poetry with each other. So some level of intimate closeness between even straight men was normal too, so you have to kind of alter your perspective to look at this and find "signals".

These kinds of teachings were thought of to an extent in China, but didn’t really affect the LGBT scene of ancient China because the filial piety part of ensuring the next generation was top priority. Homosexuality as a word even didn’t exist in the Chinese language until more modern times as an import from Japan because the above teachings we just discussed *really* took off in Japan where I guess filial piety was less important. A huge amount of pre-modern same-sex lit came out of Japan including lover suicide themes because damn, I love you so much but we can’t be together because one of us isn’t a woman and we have obligations. Let’s drown ourselves in the river and hope in the next life we can be reincarnated together as a couple that can actually consummate our love. This was a thing in Japan. Onnagata in Kabuki were also to an extent another level and extension of this. In China, it wasn’t like same-sex relationships didn’t happen, but it wasn’t openly discussed because of filial piety. Generally everyone just got married and basically had a cover family and after you had a child to pass on the family legacy, people could not care less what you did privately. If you can imagine it, there were likely some shady dealings here and there with how to deal with this problem too because I can’t imagine that everyone was really down with forcing themselves to be intimate with someone no matter how much they wanted to get their parents off their back, but that kind of family secret was probably deeply buried. It’s also not like people didn’t talk at all about relations with the same sex because people looked at temples with a bunch of men together all practicing Buddhism and thought surely something must be happening, but obviously none of that would be officially recorded or openly discussed. The whole scene was just under the surface and not talked about because it was important to keep appearances and the appearance was that you had an actual family and fulfilled your filial duty. It’s only been recently where the idea of homosexuality as an orientation and being talked about openly as something beyond a secret you do after fulfilling your family obligations, and that’s why the word had to be imported in in modern times.

So with all that in mind, actual bromances that aren’t even actually romantic at all between straight men totally seems normal in the context of this culture. Relationships with other men were very highly valued, and if Qingge is a basically traditionally perfect Chinese man he would basically follow this ideal and would likely have some behavioral traits that seem questionable to a modern audience.

I would also think Confucius would have a problem with romantic relationships between a master and disciple. It's thought to usually be similar to a surrogate parent-child situation, so awkward. But original Qingqiu had some designs on Yingying and while that's kind of a violation-ish too, Yingying is also female and you're expected to obey your father, husband, and son so eh.... not that weird because they aren't actually family. The specifics of two men though is a different matter not commonly discussed obviously. Generally you sought a master to better yourself and grow virtue, but if you start a romantic relationship with them it equalizes your dynamic and they become more of a peer than someone you learn from, so in Qingge's mind because he is traditionally virtuous Binghe was likely not on the radar at all because why would anyone mess with that mentor-student relationship? It has to be from among the other leaders in their sect that the succubus is talking about to his mind.

This is probably circular, but I’ve been writing this up for over an hour late at night. XD

Sources: life, heritage, reading classic lit books, and at least 3 courses discussing gender representation in East Asia at UCI (arguably almost all my coursework covered these ideas to a degree)

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violetdisasterzone · 1 year

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Luo Binghe & Selflessness

There's a great post by @/jayktoralldaylong talking about how all the love interests in MXTX's novels prioritize the safety and well-being of the MCs rather than prioritizing - or even expecting - their love being returned. And image my surprise when the first reply I see is "Except Binghe. That bitch will sleep with your corpse," with others agreeing and calling him the "worst MXTX character" in the tags. I am yet again asking, did we read the same book? Luo Binghe is just as single-mindedly devoted to Shen Qingqiu as any of the others. Evidence of this is found at every turn during the main plot of Scum Villain: the plot during which he was actively possessed by a sentient evil sword. A sword which in a different timeline - a timeline without Shen Yuan - almost single-handedly turned Luo Bingge into a tyrant. He is under this influence for a majority of volumes 2 and 3 (of the Eng. transl.), which is also when he is accused of being "crazy" or "pushy" in regards to Shen Qingqiu.

Since the reply that inspired this post discussed the 5 years in which Shen Qingqiu was dead, that's what I'll address first. When Shen Qingqiu self-destructs, Luo Binghe is caught extremely off guard. It's easy, I think, to forget or disregard just how awful and confusing the entire novel's events have been for Binghe so far. Accepted to Qing Jing and subsequently horrifically abused for 4 years; a sudden, drastic, unexplained change in Shen Qingqiu and a blissful 3 years of peace; pushed into hell and utterly betrayed in an act of what appears to be very out of character hypocrisy. And when he returns (now in possession of the aforementioned sentient evil sword), he stays away from Cang Qiong and becomes a respectable cultivator in his own right, so that maybe, maybe Shen Qingqiu would accept him once again. And then he runs into Shen Qingqiu enjoying the company of someone who looks exactly like him; yet Shen Qingqiu runs from him, acting as though Binghe is the one who is dangerous, who is going to hurt him. Of course, Shen Qingqiu is justified in his fear, based on his own perceptions of the situation. But Luo Binghe does not know this.

Immediately following Shen Qingqiu's destruction is one of the only times we get a firsthand glimpse into Luo Binghe's perspective. This line is from the moments after he catches Shen Qingqiu's body: "Didn't Shizun hate his blood more than anything? Wasn't he unwilling to even be near him, to associate with him at all?" In the following pages is when he learns, for the first time that "Shizun too was...utterly heartbroken" during his time in the Abyss. When the chapter ends, Luo Binghe is still in utter shock, wiping the blood from Shen Qingqiu's face and trying, uselessly, to explain that he was just angry, that he just wanted to make him happy. We don't see the part of the scene where Luo Binghe leaves with the body, but it is not hard to infer that, in his complete state of denial and shock, his mind recently saved from an agonizing deviation, he was unwilling to part from his Shizun.

During the five years of Shen Qingqiu's absence, Luo Binghe kept his body in as perfect a state as possible. As we see in the Deep Dream extra, Luo Binghe brings Mu Qingfang (who he seems to respect, however minimally) to Huan Hua Pavilion some time after the events of Hua Yue City (which we know because Mu Qingfang expects Shen Qingqiu's body to "have long since festered and decayed"). We, as Shen Qingqiu, then get a glimpse into what Luo Binghe does with the body: he cooks countless meals that will go uneaten, and he transfers qi to prevent that decay. Skin to skin contact is the most direct way to transfer qi, as supported in many other scenes, including the flashback scene in this same extra. This type of qi transfer can also be carried out while sleeping, as evidenced in the Bing-mei vs. Bing-ge extra, providing a regulated stream of spiritual energy for an entire night. As Mu Qingfang said earlier, this uses up "an enormous amount of spiritual power" and is only enough to keep his body protected "for a single day" without reversing everything. Luo Binghe is immensely powerful, but even protagonists are not built to drain themselves every night for 5 years, while also fighting off Xin Mo, running Huan Hua, controlling the demon realm, and NOT giving up on everything. When Shen Qingqiu is thought to be dead in the minutes after Maigu Ridge, Luo Binge "almost tried to follow" him. And yet, when he believed there was even a chance he might return, he held on "for almost two thousand more of these days and nights."

The only other time we see Luo Binghe's interactions with the corpse is when Shen Qingqiu, undiscovered in the plant body, witnesses Liu Qingge's infiltration. In this, it is said that "Luo Binghe was unwilling to harm the corpse, so he could only release it." It's worth mentioning that, if Liu Qingge had managed to take the body back to Cang Qiong - or, what sequence is initiated when he does - it will be given burial rights, it will decay, and Shen Qingqiu will never again have a possibility of inhabiting it. Luo Binghe cannot let this happen; it's not merely about possession or attachment. And yet, he would sooner allow this possibility that allowing even the potential of harm to come to him.

When all is said and done, after Luo Binghe has been broken out of Xin Mo's control and Shen Qingqiu does not die - the first thing he does is return him to Cang Qiong Mountain. When Shen Qingqiu suggests that they leave, together, Luo Binghe is "dumbfounded." He fully expected to be left, for Shen Qingqiu to be unwilling. He would have done anything for Shen Qingqiu and expected nothing in return.

At his core, even under influence and in emotional turmoil, Luo Binghe's love is unfalteringly selfless. There are so many examples of this, both in the main plot and in the post-canon extras, but I think this post is long enough already. Suffice it to say that nothing is more important that Shen Qingqiu to Luo Binghe - least of all himself.

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delicioussshame · 3 years

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Happy New Year! Have a transition chapter.

If there is a thing Luo Binghe doesn’t understand, it’s whatever appeal Shang Qinghua holds.

There must be something of note to this insignificant man, for Shizun to consider him a friend. For all that Shen Qingqiu disparages Shang Qinghua all the time, Luo Binghe is too familiar with his husband’s temperament not to notice the affection hiding behind the harsh words. Their relationship is not only that of fellow peak lords.

Why did his husband, usually so discriminate, decide to favor this man out of all?

Even more incomprehensible, Shang Qinghua has managed to enthrall Mobei-Jun? Someone who, up to this point, had remained cold to all advances made to him? Luo Binghe admits he has sometimes enjoyed watching the women who had their heart set on him turn to the next best option, his second-in-command, only to have all their flirting hit the unbreakable wall of ice that was Mobei-Jun, all without causing a single crack. It had been one of the reasons why he’d felt it safe to hand him Shizun’s care. He couldn’t imagine Mobei-Jun would open up for the husband of his superior. Luo Binghe flattered himself that Mobei-Jun respected and trusted him too much to attempt such an affront.

Then again, they had struck an accord that Luo Binghe did not regret. Shen Qingqiu needed all the allies he could gather in the demon world, since his position as Luo Binghe’s sole spouse made him the target of more enemies than could be imagined. Knowing Shen Qingqiu has someone on his side when Luo Binghe left him behind did make it easier for him not to worry.

Maybe he could consider Shang Qinghua as one such ally? He was heavily involved in this realm too, after all, and managed it well enough not to have his own share of enemies, as far as Luo Binghe knows. He might be wrong about this. He doesn’t pay Shang Qinghua much attention.

At this point, he might as well ask his husband. Shizun taught all his students that knowledge is power. If Luo Binghe understood Shen Qingqiu’s relationship with Shang Qinghua, it might soothe some of his worries. Since he’s going to be an important part of Mobei-Jun’s life and thus, of his and Shen Qingqiu’s, a few questions should be acceptable. “Shizun?”

Shen Qingqiu lifts his eyes from the book he’s reading.

Luo Binghe feels a hint of guilt at interrupting Shen Qingqiu’s leisure time.

“Yes?”

“Why are you friends with Shang Qinghua?”

Shen Qingqiu sputters, his countenance disturbed by the unexpected question. “What? We’re not friends!”

Luo Binghe sighs. Why does Shizun bother to lie about such matters? He’s terrible at it. “Why do you spend time with him then? You both see each other quite often, not to mention Shizun arranged his relationship with Mobei-Jun. Surely you wouldn’t have extended them this courtesy if you didn’t believe they were worthy of one another? “

Shen Qingqiu has pulled his fan, and is using it to try to hide his discomfort with the subject at hand. It’s cute. “Their affairs are their own business! I just gave them a tiny little push! Why does Binghe care who I spend time with?”

What a ridiculous question. “I care about how Shizun spends every second of every day, of course. I’m just not quite certain why Shen Qingqiu chooses to do so with Shang Qinghua. This disciple’s insight pales when compared to his master’s; if he could illuminate his stupid student on the matter, this Luo Binghe would be forever grateful.”

As expected, Shen Qingqiu rises to pat Luo Binghe’s head, his discomfiture forgotten in his urge to console Luo Binghe. “Binghe isn’t stupid! Anyone would have difficulty noticing Shang Qinghua’s qualities. The few he has are well hidden.”

He leans into it shamelessly. Also like he didn’t say what he just said to get this exact reaction. “What are they?”

Shen Qingqiu falters for a moment, but Luo Binghe tilts his head in his hand and stares at him with wide eyes. “He’s… learned? Sometimes. He occasionally remembers things I don’t. We share… similar interests as scholars. He can be a good listener, if not a very good advice giver.”

That’s… surprising. “How did you find out you two had similar interests? You didn’t meet very often when we were still on Qing Jing Peak.”

“I… Shang Qinghua and I are from the same place. We did not know one another intimately, but because of it we share… values that some other cultivators don’t.”

Luo Binghe straightens. It is extremely rare from Shen Qingqiu to talk about anything regarding his past. When the topic comes up, he is usually very evasive. Luo Binghe doesn’t push him. He wants to know everything there is to know about his husband, but not if Shen Qingqiu doesn’t want to talk about it. What has passed long ago has no impact on their current life.

Or at least he thought this was how it was, but if the past is what ties Shen Qingqiu and Shang Qinghua… “Where did you two come from?” A place that could create Shen Qingqiu, whose noble nature can be noticed by the blind, and Shang Qinghua, who does not possess even a fraction of a similar presence. “We could visit! I would love to see where Shizun grew up.” What a place it must be, for it to have given birth to his husband. He imagines it is just as beautiful and serene as him, with only the sounds of the wind travelling through the bamboo to disturb the peaceful silence.

Shen Qingqiu squirms, just a little. “We can’t.

“Why not?”

“Because… it’s unreachable.”

“Was it destroyed?” Wars, bandits, monsters, natural disasters. Anything can happen to a measly village.

“No, it’s not that, it’s… I didn’t plan on talking to Binghe about this today! Give me a minute!”

Luo Binghe flinches a bit at his husband’s unexpected outburst. He remains still and quiet after, giving Shen Qingqiu the time he requested.

Shen Qingqiu sighs. “Binghe has a right to know. He should have been told a long time ago, really. I just… was afraid he will not like what he will hear. Would he prefer not to be told about it?”

Luo Binghe shakes his head, cutting off his husband’s escape route. Whatever this is, Shen Qingqiu seems to be troubled by it. From what he just said, this secret has been weighing down on him. It would be better for him to free himself from it, so that they can work on the problem together.

“Just like the other you, the one who appeared, Shang Qinghua and I do not come from this world. We come from a completely different world, a different time, really. We died, then we came here. The big difference between us is that while Shang Qinghua was born in the body he is inhabiting, I arrived later. The real Shen Qingqiu, the one who earned this title… He did not survive the fever he suffered from when you were still a disciple.”

He’s not lying. Why would he?

Luo Binghe has no idea how to react to this revelation, so instead he’ll react to his husband’s tense frame, like he expects to be hit. “I believe you.”

Shen Qingqiu turns almost frightened eyes toward him. “You do?”

Luo Binghe nods. “My husband would not lie to me about this.”

…Are Shen Qingqiu’s eyes turning wet? Really?

He’s never seen Shen Qingqiu cry.

“Does Binghe still consider this master… no, this man, his husband? Despite the deception? Despite the many treacheries he had to accomplish to keep hiding? Because I would understand if Binghe didn’t. He married his husband under false pretenses, so if he wanted to reconsider, I would cooperate. I could return to the peak until he decides what he wants to do, or maybe visit the human realm, where no one cares who I am. Whatever Binghe wants, I will facilitate, I promis-”

Luo Binghe shuts his husband up by pressing a finger to his lips. “Shizun has said enough.”

Shen Qingqiu audibly stops talking.

“This is… a complicated matter. Something I will need to think about. Something I want to hear more, much more, about. But first: did Shizun decide to come here? Did he pick his body?” Did you kill your predecessor, husband of mine?

He removes the finger.

“No! No to both questions! I woke up in this body, and the System, that’s the… deity is the easiest comparison, responsible for mine and Shang Qinghua’s situations, enforced my silence about it.”

Luo Binghe nods. “I see. Then, since the man in front of me is the one I fell in love with, I see no reason why things would change. Shizun should remain here, and we can discuss it further. Later, maybe, when Shizun has calmed down a little.” He takes his husband in his arm and holds him there, until Shen Qingqiu has regained his inner equilibrium.

He holds him a little longer, just because he can.

______________

Something weird is going on.

Shang Qinghua is being tailed.

Well, not really. They’re not being subtle about it. From the moment he set foot inside Luo Binghe’s palace, two burly demons have been following him everywhere he goes.

He would have said something if they weren’t wearing Luo Binghe’s livery.

Hopefully they’ll get bored of watching Shang Qinghua pouring over the books of Luo Binghe’s library and leave to do something worth their time.

Except Big Scary Demon number 2 decides to steal the book he’s perusing. “You’re meeting Junshang now.”

“Huh, no? I would know.”

The demon gives his comment all the consideration he must think it deserves: none at all. “You’re coming with us or we’ll make you go. If Junshang has to wait, you’ll pay for wasting his time.” He grins the kind of grin Shang Qinghua bets dumb henchmen everywhere grin. “If you’d rather wait, I’ll happily watch Junshang punish you. It’ll be fun.”

Yeah, no. Shang Qinghua jumps to his feet. Better not make Luo Binghe wait. Nothing good will come out of pissing him off. “I’m coming, I’m coming! Don’t hurt me!”

He’s unceremoniously shoved in the direction of the door and escorted through the meanders of Luo Binghe’s palace.

Luo Binghe dismisses his flunkies with barely a word. Ha! Shang Qinghua knew they were nobodies.

In other matters, it is possible Shang Qinghua is in deep shit. Luo Binghe has never cared about his existence before. If he had him “accompanied” to his quarters, then something is wrong. “Lord Luo?”

Luo Binghe stares at him wordlessly.

Shang Qinghua has developed reflexes when it comes to scary demon kings glaring at him; he freezes and starts sweating helplessly. “Please tell me why I’m here? If I’m not needed, my king has left me duties I need to complete. There is no reason for me to keep you from your own very important duties.” Please don’t kill me.

Luo Binghe sighs. “You’re here because Shizun told me the truth about your common origin.”

Shang Qinghua freezes on the spot, only more than before. Cucumber-bro, really!? You went and told Luo Binghe about transmigration and didn’t even warn me about it? That was the least you could have done! “I see.”

“Shang Qinghua is not going to deny it? Or ask questions?”

If anything had happened to Shen Qingqiu, who stood to lose a lot more than Shang Qinghua after that revelation, he would have heard about it. As a spy, he needs to keep afloat of such major developments. He heard nothing, so things should be fine. “He did tell you about transmigration, right?”

Luo Binghe nods.

“Then you probably have heard everything relevant. I don’t have anything to add. Unless Lord Luo is the one who has questions?” He would not be surprised to hear Shen Qingqiu has been less than forthcoming.

He’s going to have to talk to Mobei-Jun about this, right? Can’t have him learn the truth from Luo Binghe. That would turn out badly.

“I used to wonder why my husband and yourself had a relationship at all, but I have been made aware that you are his sole compatriot. As much as it pains me to admit it, this puts you in a position where you can offer Shen Qingqiu solace I cannot. As such, you are important to my husband’s happiness, and since my husband’s happiness is my first priority, it is incumbent on me to do everything necessary to preserve it. You will now be the subject of increased security. I have also warned Mobei-Jun to do the same, though I have been told you were already under extensive protection.”

Huh. News to him. “Okay.” That’s going to make his life harder, isn’t it? Can’t spy if you have your own guards. “Thanks, but that’s really not necessary? I’m not anyone’s target. It’s mismanagement of resources.”

Luo Binghe frowns. “It is not. Shen Qingqiu would be displeased if something happened to you. Resources extended for my husband’s sake are not misused.”

Okay, so Shen Qingqiu waltzed right out of any issue regarding his real identity with his control on Luo Binghe intact. Of course he did.

Trying to get Luo Binghe not to do something he thinks will benefit Shen Qingqiu is an even bigger waste of time. “As Lord Luo wishes, then.” No point in opposing the protagonist.

“Shizun told me the place you two came from is very different from here, and that sometimes these differences can be… overwhelming to him. Do you have any idea of what he could mean?”

Shang Qinghua bites back his laughter. “Oh yes. There are so many potential triggers I couldn’t possibly count them.” The lack of any modern comfort can still annoy them, despite all the years they have been living here.

“Tell me if there is anything I could do to make his life easier. Just because you can apparently help doesn’t mean you should be the one only doing it.”

Luo Binghe would want to be the only one doing it. Big surprise here. He must have loved hearing all about how Shen Qingqiu was separated from everything Luo Binghe grew up with, but Shang Qinghua shared baggage with him.

Shang Qinghua thinks that not even Luo Binghe could bring Shen Qingqiu his beloved internet back, or his favorite books, and let’s not even get into the families they left behind when they died. Even the protagonist doesn’t have those skill sets.

What he does have though… There should be rushan somewhere? He thinks he included some at some point. It’s not quite right, but what does he know about food anyway. “While the food we used to eat is not completely different from what we can find here, some more recent offerings have been sorely missed. I don’t know anything about cooking, but you do, so are you up to a challenge?”

He can see Luo Binghe light up at the idea of helping his husband with something he can definitely handle. “Yes! Whatever Shizun used to eat, I’m sure I can reproduce.”

“Well, clear your calendar, because I can count what I know about cheese production on my fingers, and if we’re making pizza, it’s going to be necessary.”

#The Scum Villain Self Serving System #Scum Villain #The MoShen Thing

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