#defeating binghe by surrendering to him

[spockandawe]

ALSO! New webnovel rec, because I am incapable of reading the quality fanfiction my dear friend harvests and brings back home to feed our family, but am apparently perfectly capable of reading whole novels’ worth of possibly-garbage looking for something edible.

And this wasn’t garbage! I’ve been craving books that scratch the same itch as svsss basically since I finished svsss, but haven’t had much luck tracking down good stuff. Transmigration books aren’t that hard to find, or ones where the transmigrator enters a villain’s body, but I’m really a sucker for that stallion-novel-(straight)-sex-drive-turns-into-single-target-(gay)-sexuality, and finding someone who can execute that in a cute+funny way, but still with moving moments and serious emotional depth... it’s harder. And I do want something distinct from svsss. So in general, I’m still/always on the lookout, but this is the first real success I’ve found, and I like it a lot.

It’s called How To Survive As A Villain, and the premise is that a current-day mild-mannered young ceo type.... gets terminal cancer, and eventually, kills himself. Towards the end, he was reading a webnovel about a stallion novel protagonist who had been a prince, until his kingdom was attacked, his family was killed, and he was captured by the emperor of the attacking kingdom. From there, he endures lots of hardship and torture, falls in love with the emperor’s little sister, eventually escapes and returns to his kingdom, comes back up north with an army, kills the emperor, etc. Eventually he collects a huge-ass harem and unites all the kingdoms under his rule.

WELL, that emperor... is who the main character (Xiao Yu’an) becomes. And the original emperor had been young, new to the throne, hedonistic, openly gay, and..... predatory doesn’t exactly feel like the right word, but it’s not WRONG, and saying No to the emperor is a terrible idea. He’s got a whole wing of gay concubines, some of whom are much more willing to be there than others. Xiao Yu’an is not interested in using the harem in the same way as the original goods, but they’re there, and his tastes are well known, so he’s a little bit stuck with them.

The stallion novel male lead (Yan Heqing) is imprisoned, and is busy suffering away. Xiao Yu’an is a genuinely good egg, and tries to act in as much good faith as possible with everyone around him, which includes trying to do decently by Yan Heqing. However... the northern kingdom is kind of responsible for crushing the southern kingdom and the deaths of Yan Heqing’s whole family, and he is not willing to put that behind him. First notable point of compare and contrast with svsss: Yan Heqing is NOT willing to forgive mistreatment in the same way that Luo Binghe is, and... I love the svsss plot, but this kind of determined resentment was also very tasty.

And the first point of general plot divergence that I hadn’t expected! Yan Heqing tries to kill Xiao Yu’an, and Xiao Yu’an is like STOP STOP STOP, I’M NOT THE EMPEROR, I’M REALLY NOT. And Yan Heqing does not want to believe that, but Xiao Yu’an stops his guards from bursting in on this attempted murder, and is finally like ‘whatever!!!! I already died once, I don’t care anymore!! Screw it, I’m going to bed!!!!!!!!!!’

So that is the turning point for the Yan Heqing to start catching Feelings, and it seems for a while like things will be able to progress happily. But everyone knows that Yan Heqing is the imprisoned prince of an enemy country, and a lot of powerful people are VERY eager to beat him down and/or just eliminate him, and eventually, it becomes clear that he can’t stay, and Xiao Yu’an takes back the intimacy between them (’instead of calling me by name, you should call me ‘your majesty’.’) and sends him back to his home, and settles in to try to take care of his kingdom.

But the book plot presses on, and their kingdom is destined to be defeated in the end. And it was surprisingly sad to read, because a lot of good people try really hard to make things work. And in the end, Xiao Yu’an goes to surrender himself to the approaching army. And oh my god, the MISUNDERSTANDINGS in this book. I do sometimes get impatient with misunderstandings as a plot point, because ‘just! talk!!!!!!!!’ but this book has done a LOVELY job with continually adding new inputs that change the situation without allowing them to sort things out. Both of them think the other one despises him (Xiao Yu’an: of course he hates the ruler of the nation that crushed his home) (Yan Heqing: of course he hates the leader of the army in the process of crushing his home) and Xiao Yu’an eventually makes his escape to a quiet mountain town to live a quiet mountain life while thinking that if Yan Heqing sees him again, he’s definitely going to be killed horribly :’)

The translation isn’t done yet, and I’m wrestling with whether or not I’m desperate enough for mtl or not. The main character is really funny at times, and makes jokes about marxism and management and things that I doubt the mtl has any hope of translating well, but also........... the two leads have just been reunited after a long separation, there is a LOT of heartsickness and pining, fresh misunderstandings, and SO MUCH HEARTSICKNESS! The novelupdates summary was like ‘A takes care of B, and then B takes care of A’, and I’m so impatient for Yan Heqing to start taking care of and protecting Xiao Yu’an. He wants to dote on him so BADLY, and was COMPLETELY rattled the first time he realized he’d been reunited with Xiao Yu’an again. 

And also........ I love mxtx, don’t love the way that she is like ‘yeah, only the two leads are gay, everyone else is str8, except for moshang’, and this book is DEFINITELY not doing that same thing. There are pair of EXCELLENT girlfriends who just got married, and I am definitely shaming the boys for not being even a FRACTION as competent as these ladies are. There’s another side couple that genuinely made me gasp with how sweet they are. And the main character is oblivious when it comes to his own self (though it is established in that in his previous life, he was never able to pin down his own sexuality), but he’s so supportive of everyone else. He falls into very sqq-esque traps of ‘oh, this girl is for the male lead, and nobody else’ and misses the way she’s clearly pining for a lady, but once he does catch a clue, he’s so good!

About half the book is done, and there are some INTERESTING dangling plot threads that I have to assume will come up again, but I have no idea in what capacity. At this point in the original canon, the main character’s First True Love had died, and he kinda fell apart and threw himself into harem-building shenanigans, but we’re past that point in the story now and while the PLOT-plot is moving in approximately the same direction, the emotional plot is completely different. And Yan Heqing has... pretty much made his smooching intentions clear, though we still have to see Xiao Yu’an is going to stop to process that, or if he’s still going to be stuck in panic mode that Yan Heqing wants to torture him. He’s got valid reasons for those worries, even outside just ‘ummm, i read the book’, but Yan Heqing is DESPERATELY devoted now, and I need the translator to translate more, right away, blease, I’m desperate ;u;

#how to survive as a villain #i don't want to *just* compare it to svsss #because it's a very different beast in the end #but i arrived here because of svsss cravings #which makes it a very convenient way to talk about the book #and it goes down so smooth and easy #i love it a lot #suicide mention/

[xerrapin]

"bai zhan peak's lord is here. you're right in front of me but you intend to sacrifice yourself by surrendering your body to him?"

unintentional innuendo of liu qingge aside, this line has always brought me intolerable sadness every time i reread svsss. the only thing that comes to mind is, "they've done my boy qingge so dirty," and i've resolved to enumerate the reasons why

the way of address - lqg calls himself by title here, not by any possessive pronouns. this is important for a couple reasons;

(1) the bai zhan peak's lord, prior to sqq's "death", has been labeled as the undefeated war god and cang qiong sect's main offense. his power is no joke. it’s a reassurance, of cang qiong not holding back to help their fellow members;

(2) as we all know, he eventually gets described as "defeated in every battle" as opposed to his prev invincible title. but lqg has no regard for the rumors. and he has no regard for titles. he doesn't even care that lbh has thwarted him in every turn. even if his victory has no precedent, he's willing to stand by this fact and fight lbh once more;

(3) actually, what hurts me the most is this: if you think about it, lqg only got his label of being eternally "defeated" after sqq's death, because he kept fighting binghe and only binghe, who has plot armor so thick you'd need an excavator to dig through. and i think, lqg does know about the rumors. and i think, lqg hopes that sqq doesn’t. and i think, "bai zhan peak's lord is here," is a silent question all the same. "am i that powerless?" and it makes you want to hug him and say, "NO!! LBH IS JUST A FREAK OF NATURE!!! DW AH QING UR DOIN FINE HONEY"

"you're right in front of me but..." - ooh another piece of tasty fodder to dissect. it stands to reason that this can already be a prelude to some angsty romantic scene in an 80s anime but i digress. i'm just here to say it reinforces the whole "am i powerless" statement, and shows the vulnerability lqg must have felt. he's not speaking in terms of the sect now. this is purely done by lqg desires to. they've grown a friendship and i will never stop crying about it

"...you intend to sacrifice yourself..." - lqg remembers that sqq saved him from deviation. probably the only thing stopping him from strangling lil shen yuan. so for sqq to be in a position of peril and lqg can't return the favor? isn't that just a slap to the face?

"... by surrendering your body to him?" - and we have reached the killer line. when i first read it, i chuckled a bit. just trust this —dare i say it— tsundere war fanatic to phrase it in a way that launches an ambiguous air in the bg. but we have to remember lqg spent every waking day after sqq's death to retrieve his corpse. another slap in the face. something that lqg tried so hard to maintain, his goal every single time he opened his eyes—and sqq gives up? just like that? does he not trust that cang qiong sect will always have his back, even if they all get buried together?

i imagine his tone is quiet for the first sentence, then slowly rising to indignation. he's just in sheer disbelief. he hasn't even processed fully that sqq's alive lol. i think he's trying to rearrange the pieces of his aggrieved mind because the fact that sqq's alive and he hadn't thought to tell them... no matter what the reason is, can't he have dropped by?

and maybe, there's that anxiety in the back of his mind that he desperately does not want to uncover: sqq never reached out to them because they're of no help. cang qiong sect is too weak to face luo binghe, and they can only nod in assent as they have a last glimpse of the person they failed to save.

tbh my main otp will always be bingqiu, but i like reading liushen because our little lqg deserves to be happy

#liu qingge #scum villain's self saving system #scum villain #svsss #liushen #i have a lot of feelings okay #word vomit bcs lqg deserves all the love

[delicioussshame]

Short prequel to the SJ/SY kinktober fic, LBH pov.

This is not the future Luo Binghe had envisaged.

He admits that he had some difficulty accepting that his shizun wasn’t actually Shen Qingqiu at first, but after he did, the path had seemed obvious.

Luo Binghe had then spent most of his time and energy understanding the Holy Mausoleum until he was confident he could call back the original Shen Qingqiu’s soul into the shell Shizun had provided. Surely, when that Shen Qingqiu had returned, he would take back his place as Qing Jing’s Peak Lord, thus freeing Shen Yuan from his obligations to the sect. Shizun could then happily follow Luo Binghe back to his palace, where they could settle into their own bamboo house, one completely free of the first Shen Qingqiu’s influence. From then on, Luo Binghe could move to his plan to make Shen Yuan realise Luo Binghe’s affection for him wasn’t exactly platonic, since, for all that he was the most wonderful person in the whole world and Luo Binghe wouldn’t want him to change for anything, he could be somewhat oblivious to what said whole world already knew.

This is not what happened.

He hadn’t expected Shen Yuan would refuse to leave. He’d thought that the sect would be uncomfortable for him after that reveal. After all, he’d half-expected the breakdown Shen Yuan had after Shen Qingqiu turned his vicious temperament on the man he’d been replaced with, demanding his head, or, if not, his expulsion from what he called his peak. Why would Shen Yuan wish to continue dealing with this man?

Luo Binghe himself had flinched when the original Shen Qingqiu had recognised him and was apparently overwhelmed with disgust. Even if he knew he wasn’t Shizun, they shared the same face. Seeing this expression on him had hurt.

Only for a moment. Shen Yuan’s hand had found his and squeezed briefly, but it had been enough. Luo Binghe wasn’t a child, to let himself be intimidated by someone he could defeat without a second thought. He had taken a deep breath and had fostered the problem on the sect master. Let him deal with Shen Qingqiu. He seemed more than eager for it.

Still, even after tempers were quieted, Shen Yuan insisted on remaining on Qing Jing Peak. He claimed the disciples as his to teach and protect. Luo Binghe had melted when he caught on; Shen Yuan didn’t want what happened to him to happen to others.

Shen Yuan was really too good for this world.

Shizun found unexpected support in Bai Zhan’s Peak Lord. When Mu Qingfang, much more sceptical at first, had asked him why, he’d shrugged and said Shen Yuan has spent years proving himself, that he wasn’t a demon and had passed Wei Qingwei’s test. He was a better man than Shen Qingqiu had been, and that was enough for him. Luo Binghe had begrudgingly given him his approval, slightly jealous of his ease, even more jealous of the grateful smile Shen Yuan had thrown that way. In the company of people that weren’t Shizun, he’d have hissed at him.

In the end, Yue Qingyuan had refused to censure Shen Yuan, Shen Yuan had refused to leave, and Shen Qingqiu had refused to go anywhere but Qing Jing Peak. Luo Binghe could only watch as his dream of stealing Shizun away from this sect that didn’t deserve him died, killed by the very man he wanted. He had to surrender him to his predecessor.

No matter. This was a temporary situation. Luo Binghe wouldn’t abandon Shen Yuan to Shen Qingqiu’s inexistent mercy. He’ll free him from this cage.

Until he convinces him, Luo Binghe will visit as often as he likes, the rest of the sect and the inferior Shen Qingqiu be damned. No amount of disapproval can rival one of Shen Yuan’s smiles, hidden behind painted paper.

Someday, these smiles will only be for him.

#The Scum Villain Self Serving System #Scum Villain #kinktober 2019 series