#I still have so many ideas for LBH

[astralsfrost]

Checkpoint/Save State Shen Yuan AU - Part Two (Cumplane Friendship)

The Cumplane addition of this AU brainrot. AKA: where Shang Qinghua is the ONLY person that retains their memories of each reset. SY discovers very early on that he is unable to speak about his ability, a deadly grip on his heart that leaves him breathless the moment he dares to try and explain the previous lifetimes... that he cannot truly die.

He comes to terms that there are lifetimes that he will be forced to mourn, overlaps in his memories where he can't determine what is his current reality and what was one that was lost. Unable to keep a clear recollection on everything until the brothers are settled on Qing Jing Peak and he is able to record everything that he can remember and sort out the jumbled lives he has lived. It is due to these records that SQH and SY discover the others status as a transmigrator, SQH noticing the different language and connecting the dots. Loudly exclaiming he discovery, only to have a hand hastily slapped against his mouth as SY all but drags him away from the confused gazes of their peers. SY comes to discover that SQH is not the same as him, the two having vastly different systems in place upon their transmigration. While SY is essentially a free soul able to interact with the world however he pleases, SQH is locked behind missions and quests to make sure the plot doesn't venture off course. SQH being bitter about the fact until SY explains his own ability and the resets that come at the cost of his life. Eyes growing wide as SQH finally has answers to the questions that plagued his life, why he continuously had to repeat lifetimes. Only given a giant warning message about 'A loss of power source, system rebooting' before being thrown backwards in time. Sometimes that was insanely frustrating when he was doing his best to survive, but he finds his complaints die on his tongue in the face of SY's hollow gaze.

Its during this explanation that SY realizes that his heart doesn't seize up, that he is able to explain how he has died dozens of times. There is a relief he can't explain at FINALLY having someone to vent his frustrations to, even if it happens to be the shit author that got us stuck in this shitty world.

At least he had a friend accomplice.

PART 1 PART 3

[lomlompurim]

What if instead of waking up in the mushroom body, sqq woke up in a doll.

Something something while lbh was away in the abyss, sqq without noticing offended a misterious (demonic-succubi-esque???) cultivator with a weird thing for making dolls. She had dolls all over her secret workshop that she very kindly let him into when she heard about the famous Xiu Ya sword being in the city.

What she wanted of him? Who knows, sqq couldn't bring himself to care. She probably wanted his money or try to steal his hair, the hair of those dolls seemed very much like real hair, although he had to admit the level of details on these dolls were amazing.

(she wanted to trick him into buying one of her cursed dolls and steal his life energy little by little, but got wifebeamed by widow sqq during their conversation about how talented she was to be able to make so many dolls, and without really understanding he rejected her with little to no emotion on his face)

So she cursed him, and since sqq didn't feel anything bad at the moment he thought it just didn't work and left, not sparing the curse a single thought after their encounter.

The rest of the story goes as usual, excep that after he self detonates his soul doesn't go into the mushroom body, instead it got directly into the shape of a doll in the workshop of this woman.

His first thought is thinking someone snitched the mushroom body bc wtf wasn't he supposed to wake up under the dirt??? Why this place smells slightly familiar? Like paint and humidity and floral perfumes?? and why everything looks fucking giganourmus?!?! A teapot should NOT look that big from his position....Oh no, did the mushroom body turned out as small as a squirrel? WhAT is happening?!

And then he looks at his arms and legs, and he has joints. White paper skin with joints in his wrists, elbows, torso, waist, knees, feet. And he panics, a lot.

The woman who cursed him starts monologuing about how she trapped him now, and you are mine, I made this doll specially for you master shen, this is my revenge for your insolence to leave me yada yada- Sqq stoped listening a while ago.

Somehow he manages to escape from this woman and now he is roaming around as the size of some apples. Everything is huge. Everything is dangerous, even the grasshopers! And this body is fragile! He can't feel heat nor cold, neither hunger or other things, but he is useless with no spiritual veins inside, and if someone is not looking carefully, they might crush him. And the way back to cq is gonna be a hell of a trip! But he needs airplane to fix this. He can't stay as a doll forever! He needs a mushroom body and then fly into the sunset far from this mess! Adiós! Goodbye! So his new plan is to infiltrate into cang qiong, look for that rat and disappear. Sneaking into some disciple's pouch must be enough to break in.

Something something it only had passed a few months since lbh stole sqq's body and everything is still very fresh. CQ mountain is a hot mess. Sqh frankly needs to lay down and take a nap. Lqg keeps figthing with Lbh practially every day and coming back beaten bloody, he has his king pestering him and a lot of paperwork to do, Lbh is a pain in the ass, Yqy is really close to snap and start a war with HHP, and he knows nothing about his bro. So yeah. Such a great time to be alive.

The mushroom bodies should had been ready, right? He must be alright...Yeah. He has enough already to keep him busy. Cucumber bro is gonna come out and stumble across at any moment. No one would bat an eye if he takes a nap, right? He deserves it. He is overworked enough for another lifetime, his head hurts, his bones hurt everywhere, a short nap should be fine...

Until he feels something small tugging his robes and a cold tiny finger poking his eyelids. But he doesn't want to. He is very comfortable on the floor of his office. Whatever bird decided to pick a fight with his face can keep trying.

"AIRPLANE, WAKE UP, YOU HACK! I NEED YOU TO FIX THIS! WHY IS A WITCH WITH ANACHRONISTIC HAUNTED DOLLS IN THIS NOVEL? THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"

That voice. That fucking annoying voice was of just one person and one person only. He opened his eyes, looking for the source of the unmistakable voice of his No1 hater, but he came across with a pretty porcelain doll. With a very ugly sneer in it's face.

"W-Wha-?...Bro-?!"

"Fucking finally! Why are you sleeping on the floor in your ofice?! I was looking around your bedroom like an idiot! Do you know how close I was to falling from your window?!"

-TBC-

[soyoursoulisgreen]

7, 24, 27!

7. Is there a character or ship you’d love to write for, but haven’t yet?

I honestly can't believe I've gone this long without actually writing anything solid for The Stanley Parable - I have ideas, and headcanons that I think would be really interesting to explore, they've just been relegated to drawings, almost completely! I've have a fix-it fic in mind for Ace Attorney for too long that I'd honestly like to make into a fancase lol, an Adventure Time comic, a Coraline/Camp Camp fic, there's like no Nova/Hikaru in the Magic Knight Rayearth fandom somehow and I'd love to fix that, some original work...

If I had to pick one, it'd probably be Nova and Hikaru, since they're just so sparse. They're also kind of a dead giveaway on the next question lol

24. What are some of your favourite tropes?

Clones/duplicates/souls split into two people are a big big big one for me - YuGiOh was a huge influence on that, Jekyll and Hyde, Kingdom Hearts, Hermitcraft to a lesser extent, MKR as mentioned lol, Vargas of course <3 And most recently In Stars and Time! I'm a huge sucker for This Guy But Twice haha ♪ In a similar vein I also really like possession (demonic, parasite, etc.) - any time there's two individuals hanging out in one body it's interesting to me :) What does personhood look like! What does individuality look like! What does free will look like! Bonus points for partial control of the body ♥ I may have a Stanley Parable and Law Abiding Citizen double feature with that particular trope sketched out in the backlog cough

27. Does anyone you know in real life know you write fanfiction?

Yes! I tend to share That I've written with my family, not necessarily What tho lol. I'll sometimes read snippets out loud if I think it's particularly clever or funny, but I rarely subject them to more than a line or two haha. My mom has read the intro to Inside and Out and yes I'm okay with that lol - she stopped when it was too much for her and I respect that deeply haha

[sunderwight]

Thinking about how lucky it is that Shen Qingqiu (SY version) never gave Luo Binghe the wrong impression that he wanted a harem.

Like imagine they've having a conversation and Shen Qingqiu makes some offhanded comment about a harem is all well and good, but he thinks it should definitely be of a manageable size, hint hint, with individuals who get along harmoniously and support their primary spouse, hint hint, and marrying almost everyone you hook up with is just bad form because it's inevitably going to cause friction and it'd be nearly impossible to properly look after that many extra spouses, hint hint.

Luo Binghe picks up on the hints but draws the entirely incorrect conclusions. Combined with his previous inquiries into what kinds of women his shizun likes (SQQ, not wanting to ever be seen as LBH's potential romantic rival and eager to free himself of the original's lecherous reputation: I have no interest in any women whatsoever!) and some subtle inquiries about when a person should settle down (SQQ, with unexamined anxiety at the prospect of his dear disciple heading out into the world: not too soon! a man should establish himself well and figure out what he likes first, and take his time!), Luo Binghe concludes that his master has been biding his time and is building up to constructing a reasonably-sized harem of malewives.

Because apparently, Shizun believes that a man in a position of significant power should inevitably want such things. And disciple Binghe isn't thinking of "a position of significant power" as "effective god-emperor of the whole world", his current ideas of such things are more along the lines of "peak lord" really. Also why should Shen Qingqiu make so many comments about how Luo Binghe must surely be anxious to start taking lovers or daydreaming about having a billion wives unless he just thinks that's the standard for everyone? Because that's what he wants?

It was chaotic enough when just one of these guys was bracing himself for the inevitable harem-building, but if Binghe also expected he was going to have to supply Shen Qingqiu with a stable of other men, hoo boy. Binghe telling himself that he's fine with it. As long as he's first wife, Shizun can have others. Getting particularly vicious towards new guys Shen Qingqiu meets, like okay he's resigned himself to Liu Qingge, and probably maybe also Yue Qingyuan, and in those cases definitely having to fight them tooth and nail for primary spouse position (his plan is to become the undisputed master of the domestic sphere and thereby outrank them on that front, even if he can't beat their peak lord credentials), but anyone else is someone he can potentially chase off and Shizun will still have his reasonably-sized harem. If Gongyi Xiao wants into the harem he's going to have to earn it, and he's getting bottom of the pecking order!

Binghe, after they finally get together, trying to have frank discussions about the inevitable harem. Shen Qingqiu putting on a brave face because he, of course, thinks Binghe's talking about his own harem. Getting confused as to why Liu Qingge is suddenly factoring into the conversation. Then reaching entirely the wrong conclusion because oh right, Binghe is gay now and Liu Qingge is extremely pretty. Makes sense! Definitely not what Binghe means but it makes sense!

Actually this would be a hilarious way for bingliushen OT3 to happen. Just a complete comedy of errors where bingqiu are both trying to secure Liu Qingge for each other without ever concretely establishing that either of them wants him, even though they think they have.

[allpiesforourown]

Sweet idea for the Harem Member Shen Yuan (with the potential for jealous LBH)

What if when omega's went into heat, they don't necessarily need an alpha to have sex with them to get them through it. Omega's who aren't married will usually cuddle in their nests with those they trust, usually other omega's. At the palace, Luo Binghe can't be with all the omega's during their heats and there are those like Shen Yuan who have all but been discarded or Luo Binghe has forgotten them. I know you mentioned the concubines having some assist them through this possibly but I doubt Luo Binghe would let anyone touch what belonged to him in that way.

Now imagine Shen Yuan noticing this problem and, having come from a household where he used to cuddling with his family members during his own heats, helps take care of his fellow omega's needs (not sexually). He learns what their favorite food to eat during this time is, provides them with tea and a warmed cloth bag of rice to help sooth their cramps, figures out what nesting material they prefer, and helps slip them scented items from family members. His fellow omega's are of course wary but warm up to him once he also helps out with seeing their family members and handling the the problems in their towns. At some point, some trust him enough to enter their nest where he just helps braid their hair, cuddles with them and reads them some of their favorite novels. It leads some them to view him as family and Shen Yuan's robes or sheets will sometimes vanish only to end up in another omega's nest. Of course some use the excuse that their child finds his scent soothing so that's why they have it but Shen Yuan is just happy to help.

So naturally some of them start to return the favor when Shen Yuan's heat hits. They quickly discover that while Shen Yuan is great at taking care of others he is terrible at taking care of himself and will push through the pain. The man will stay up well into the night, burning up with heat just to try and solve the problems he's been presented. They've got it narrowed to a science where they have a whole routine to get Shen Yuan into his nest to rest for his heat and rotate who helps take care of them (they are not above using their children because they realize how quickly Shen Yuan caves to their children's sweet requests to cuddle while in he's in heat.)

Now imagine Luo Binghe, who is unaware any of this has been happening for months, has grown to tolerate Shen Yuan but still isn't sure if he's attracted to him. He runs into Shen Yuan one day clearly in the early stages of heat, looking exhausted and thinks "ahh he must be trying to seduce me." But before he can reject this offer, one of his wives runs up to Shen Yuan and thrusts a child in his arms.

Child: Yuan Gege, Fei Fei wants cuddles!

Wife #474: Forgive me my lord, this humble one will assist Shen Yuan back to his room. (Turns to Shen Yuan) How many times have we told you to take it easy! You can worry about the grain problem later. Let's get you back to your nest now. We've already prepared your favorite blankets and Níng Xīn found a novel by that author you like.

Shen Yuan just nods distractedly as he scents the child in his arms, inner omega purring at the fact they are caring for one of their pack members.

Luo Binghe is going to have a hard time courting Shen Yuan, especially he thinks he can just share a heat with him.

This is so cute omg 😭❤️ shen yuan dealing with baby fever by cuddling a bunch of binghes kids.... ahhhhh

Personally if it was me I'd wear a comically long trench coat and shen yuan would think I'm three kids pretending to be an adult and let me into his room and then I'd go aha I actually am an adult! And kiss him so much

[zykamiliah]

the many ways shen qingqiu loves luo binghe

this was more or less inspired by this post, but because this is gonna be a personal opinion and i don't want to make a thread of it and inadvertently contest with the other two's points, I'm going to make my own post.

so i wanna start saying that "the moment one falls in love" is a trope that's waaaay too overstated. in my opinion. specially because falling in love tends to be something that has to do with romantic love most of the time, and it pretends to establish a sort of timeline, a point of no return, for ships and fictional relationships.

when the stories surrounding the characters are more straightforward, i don't really mind, since it makes sense for there to be an "Oh" moment when the character realizes they are in love. like, we know the moment lbh started to see sqq in a sexual light, and we can roughly add to this that the events of the demon invasion and the nightmare scenario are what sealed the deal for lbh. it helps that he's more honest about his feelings and the sexual awakening had already happened, and we can easily assume that from that point on lbh's feelings have a romantic-sexual side.

it still has other sides... because lbh loves sqq as a shizun, as a parent, and this side of their relationship, the master-disciple and parent-child side, is intrinsic to their dynamic; it's a conflicting element during their prolonged conflict for most of the novel, but at the same time, it's their default when they want to approach each other, it's the "safe zone".

but when it comes to sqq I think it's a much more difficult thing to ask: when does sqq falls in love? when is his Oh moment? Is there one, a conscious realization that he's in love? Can his relationship with lbh be described as "being in love"?

he loved Luo Binghe The Character

—the way a reader loves a favorite character, and fanboyed about him plenty before and after transmigrating. the shadow of what the little sheep he was raising would became was ever-present throughout those first 6 years before their meeting in Jinlan City.

but he loved lbh the character in a fanatical way that wasn't actually real... it was meaningful to him because he liked this fictional character a lot, but it's a safe love from the side of a screen.

he was compelled by lbh the character, by his tragic backstory full of angst, and by the ways lbh the character did things: he "rightfully" took his anger out in the people who'd hurt him and paid back for it tenfold. in a way, sy as a reader was also projecting himself in lbh the character.

in short, he loved the Idea of luo binghe, but not luo binghe as a real person.

he loved Luo Binghe the White Lotus Disciple

—and he loved him like a parent loves a child. yet, as I mentioned, he always kept in mind that this boy would grew up to be a very attractive and sexual man, and thus sqq expected him to have romantic encounters with girls around his age.

i know some people shy away from talking about this because everyone is paranoid about your favorite character being called a pedophile etc etc, but really, sy could be nothing farther from that, and whoever who says that has a very, hmm, wide definition of the word and it's probably just using the buzzword to hate on the character.

the important thing is that, despite sqq being aware that lbh is a potential sexual being and will become very sexually active in the future, he does not in any way sexualize his and lbh's relationship. Like I said, sqq would never abuse his power in that way, and he'd never get it on with someone he sees as a child, his disciple. that lbh is very much viewing their relationship with romantic and sexual lenses is a complete shock for him because of this, along with other reasons and assumptions (that lbh was straight)

the problem here is, precisely, that he treated lbh like a child once, and would go on treating him as a child later, post-holy mausoleum: disregarding lbh's agency, making decisions for him and without asking what lbh wants, since as the parent he obviously Knows Better, and taking responsibility for lbh's "bad behavior". the endless abyss was a decision he made without consulting lbh. he self-detonated because he thought that would be best for everyone, and he intended for his death to (among other things like saving the city and escaping prison) "make up" for his mistakes. in maigu ridge, he almost kills himself again because he thought that would be better for lbh.

he's self-sacrificing, protective, caring, and overall parental/maternal towards lbh, which has it's good and bad sides. for a long time, he loves lbh like a parent loves a child, and though this side of his love for lbh is not lost in the extras, it's lesser in the sense that the power imbalance is nullified, and the parent-child, shizun-disciple side of their relationship turns more into a comforting, safe roleplay that allows them to access intimacy and express their feelings (that infamous "if i was your mother" speech) than the entirety of their relationship.

and the thing is, he always loved and will always love lbh as a parent loves a child. and i think people uncomfortable with this fact have to get around to accepting that lol

he is subconsciously attracted to luo binghe (bingmei) the Man

we all know this part. sqq's descriptions of lbh's beauty are numerous and far too difficult to quote them all, but one that really stands out to me, because it proves the point, is this one:

[Shen Qingqiu] asked, “The important person you’re talking about, was it…a good-looking young man?” When he thought about it, he decided against suppressing his conscience and clarified. “Not just good-looking, he’s very good-looking, especially good-looking. Fair skin, pretty face, tall. He doesn’t smile often, but when he does, it’s exceptionally dark.” chapter 9: borderlands

if he was unaffected by lbh's attractiveness, he wouldn't need to "suppress his conscience" about it. also this description is just... describing lbh's smile from his own pov? a personal feeling? to a stranger? he has it bad.

he's repressing his own feelings, so it's difficult to point to a specific moment as the moment he realizes he's attracted to lbh... because he never has a conscious realization, and he's in constant denial about it. all the way through to the last bingqiu extra, the wedding extra, he'll continue using the same narrative: the Protagonist is Beautiful and Irresistible, so what can sqq do but surrender to him? It's inevitable, really. (hahahaha he can't help but love and be attracted to lbh. it says more about him that he could ever verbalize)

so yeah, sqq really has the hots for lbh the man. but he'll NEVER admit it, he'll never had an Oh moment. Not even when he unconsciously called lbh "husband".

i want to make a clarification: for a character like sqq, who care about his pride and dignity way too much and has internalized homophobia and sexism to the detriment of his own peace of mind and fulfillment, admitting that he enjoys sex is way too shameful. he's never doing it. he mentions being "drunk with lust" in the showdown extra; in the deep dream extra he gets enthusiastic and proactive, initiating sex with lbh himself very smoothly; in the RoC,SoBQ extra he initially asks to do it doggy style and then changes his tune and wants to see lbh's face, DESPITE being embarrassed about it, and his desire is described as wanting the spot inside him to be rammed. all of this are subtle hints of how he really feels about sex, despite his inner struggles with his pride as a man.

another clarification: the way smut is written in western space is not the same as the way is written in chinese novels. for example, some chinese slang put the the top as the one "attacking", as if sex is a sort of fight. there's always this implication that the shou surrenders to the gong. there's a clear distinction of who tops and who bottoms and the roles of husband and wife made by this distinction; pleasure is described differently: phrases like "scalp going numb", "getting goosebumps" are not particular to svsss alone; the way the bodies engaged in the sex act are described, etc. (it IS a different language with a different culture) so it's normal that most of us come out of the extras thinking the smut is not enjoyable for readers or the characters themselves. what is the difference between the mdzs extras and the svsss extras? that wwx, being characterized as a "shameless" person, is very vocal about how he feels during sex. he has no shame around sex, unlike sqq, who is in the opposite side of the shame spectrum.

sqq is still struggling with that part of himself, and personally I think it's very understandable that even until the end of volume 4 he still has a difficult time with it; it's not easy shedding the believes one grows up with.

which bring me to,

he loves luo binghe the Man, "romantically"

—and it's a love that conflates his parental love, his attraction, too, but that starts to develop mostly post-holy mausoleum: it's when the hand-holding starts, somehow, though it develops fulling throughout the extras, when they finally become romantic partners and explore sex together. mxtx traces an arc that starts with the showdown extra, goes through the deep dream extra that has sqq telling lbh that "Tonight I feel like... I live you a great deal" and ends in the wedding extra with sqq calling lbh "husband" unprompted; despite previously agonizing about his loss of face and dignity and the humiliation of it, his actions speak louder than his words and inner thoughts. because of this, functionally, sqq can be read as a tsundere.

but aside from the sex, sqq enjoys domesticity and spending time with lbh; he likes teasing him, conversing with him and going out with him to see the world. post-main novel they're equals in their relationship and treat each other with respect and consideration, even if their shizun-disciple roleplay prevails. by romance definitions, I believe they mostly fit them, even if their relationship is unconventional.

as for when sqq fell in love with lbh? i still don't have a clear answer. he's always loved him; this love evolves through time, bringing him and lbh closer together. personally, i don't think it's not important. sqq loves lbh, and that's what matters.

[biinaberry]

I have so many question about the QJP disciple in hiding AU-- Has SY been identified as an insurgent/someone speaking against the emperor? Does LBH recognize SY as his ex-shixiong? Does LBH know his kids are running off or does he not pay any attention? Is LBH familiar with SY's femme persona/ is he trying to woo her?

[original post] Shen Yuan still has remaining trauma from the abuse SQQ has put him through over 70 years ago. He chooses to isolate himself as to prevent himself from lashing out at others or causing a paranoia episode. After the burning of cang qiong he actually has the idea to rebuild the forests on the burned mountain peaks after all the demons and cultivators left. He plants bamboo and shrubs in the area and finds himself making peace with what has happened to him through this process. Thankfully LBH never returned to the peak as there's no reason to now, there is no more revenge that can be performed. No one knows he exists and SY wants it to stay that way

Shen Yuan was already a full adult by the time LBH joined qing jing peak. When LBH joined at 14 sy was already 27 and long since left the sect (at 17). There's a chance they crossed paths when LBH was a disciple but,

To me Luo Bingge screams being ace. Yes, the stallion protagonist known for the large amounts of sex he has, is ace. The first time Binghe had sex he was basically pressured into it by Qin Wanyue and I feel that drastically impacted his relationship with sex. The fact that his body is a form of medicine leads him with internal battle where he doesn't want to confront the fact he doesn't really Enjoy sex and is instead going through the motions.

Do you want to be the one responsible for someone dying just because you didn't want to bang?There's a lot of social pressure. The constant pattern of women falling for his body and charm speaks to me that they aren't actually there for him they're there for his body. And this is further pushed by him taking on these multiple wives but soon dropping them after having sex with them, he marries them bc its the one form of moral code he stands with. If he has sex with them, then he must marry them for proprietary sake.

So when he eventually has his first child, Tian Feng he has to come to terms with the fact he doesn't actually want kids either. But does it to please the wives which he forced himself to have.

He cares for them but doesn't really love them. He let the wives have kids bc it is expected that he has tons of heirs. He knows the heavenly demon blood will prevent them from being killed. He only notices after one of the wives comes up to him saying their children have been missing for a week so he goes searching for them.

And has he flirted with SY while he was in his femsona?

Absolutely. SY has to strain in order to not punch LBH in the face. But gets him to backoff after saying hes happily married already and isn't looking for a second husband

[endlessburningdarkness]

How the fandom generally views Shen Yuan is exactly how his viewd by the people around him in SVSSS. And the thing is that it's a lie crafted for survival. The reason why there was no identity reveal is because doing so would break that illusion. I have always believed that, realistically, everything would have fallen apart if it happened.

Yue Qingyuan would have been as devastated as we, the audience, are at the revelation that his Xiao Jiu has been gone for years. He died without the explanation that he always wanted but was given to a complete stranger wearing his skin. That while people, himself included, noticed something wrong, they didn't bother or care enough to look deeper into it.

The peak lords (who no one can convince me didn't have character development in the background, and learned in detail that SJ was never the vile human scum they thought he was) would be outraged that Shen Yuan took over a position of power that he didn't earn. That he has been enjoying the fruits of someone else's labor for years. Liu Qingge would have felt betrayed the most because of the implication that SY knew about his Qi Deviation and so many other things. He would have been so angry I wouldn't be surprised if he accused SY of causing everything, even the Qi Deviation, to manipulate them all for Luo Binghe's sake.

The political fallout would be devastating for not only Cang Qiong but the entire cultivation world as a whole. Their entire credibility would be shot because someone of a high position was replaced by an entirely different person, and no one noticed for years. There would be noise, especially if Shen Yuan is driven out of Cang Qiong when Yue Qingyuan demands he vacate Shen Jiu's body.

Luo Binghe and Shen Yuan's relationship would slowly fall apart. Their entire relationship is based on lies and manipulation. Finding out that his husband has been lying about his identity for years, and part of the reason why he was treated kindly was due to fear of him would absolutely mess him up. It's driven home when Shen Yuan is finally allowed to be himself, completely and unapologetically, and the reality turns out to be different than what LBH thought it was. Everything that SY has ever done or said would be suspect. There would also be the added pressure of the political fallout because Cang Qiong wants Shen Jiu's body back and the accusations that he himself orchestrated the entire thing for power. Not to mention that there would be whispers about grooming from his own people, and while Luo Binghe defends SY, at first, the more time passes, the more it eats away at him. BingYuan has always been flawed, and the pressure of political crisis and everything falling apart around them would highlight them to the point that they can not be ignored.

Shen Yuan is not trusted, not anymore. In the end, much like the original Shen Qingqiu, he still ends up as the villain of the story. He becomes the imposter who lusted for both power and a child. Every sin that Shen Jiu was accused of are now his to bear. Especially since I doubt the system would have allowed SY to reveal its existence. Airplane would try to help, but the more stress that builds up, the more SY takes it out on him. Until he eventually hits his breaking point with SY, and just decides to leave him alone to deal with it all.

Shen Yuan's Shen Qingqiu is not real, and everything and everyone revolving around it is caught up in the illusion. Bursting that bubble would not be pretty.

This is really nicely written and I love the idea, I hope you write this into a fic one day!

yeah i once said Shen Yuan did not become Shen Qingqiu, rather Shen Qingqiu became Shen Yuan. Bingqiu is built on a lie, and some fans genuinely seem to forget that lol. LBH loves Shen Yuan because he believes he's Shen Qingqiu (Jiu).

Luo Binghe has no idea Shen Yuan exists, and realistically he would not react well. With his personality, the idea that the Shizun who picked him on that day during the disciple test, when LBH fell in love, is not in fact dead, and this other person has been pretending to be him, would break him utterly. Like he was ready to destroy the world bc Shen Qingqiu (Jiu) from his perspective, smiled at other people, how would he react to finding out Shen Qingqiu (Jiu) is actually dead? BADLY

There's a reason mxtx, the actual author did not do a reveal, bc she knows it wouldn't work. Like the author couldn't make bingqiu work without a massive lie still hanging over them, it's incredible anyone convinces themselves this is a healthy relationship.

I headcanon their relationship falls apart anyway, even without a reveal, bc there's only so long Shen Yuan can lie to himself and put up with terrible sex and LBHs manchild behaviour. I imagine he logs out at some point and returns to his real life.

Also, are you the same anon every time? You can chat with me you know, in the dms 😊

[coolshadowtwins]

I was thinking about the ranking of ‘canon’ ships on how believable I would find it for them to get together very quickly in fanfiction. Specifically if they have never met before.

So from quickest to slowest I have-

WenZhou from Word of Honor! You get Zhou Zishu and Wen Kenxing in a room together then they are flirting in the first ten minutes, dating in an hour, have had a massive fight and broken up in two hours, gotten back together in three hours and then married the next day.

BingYuan (Luo Bingge/Shen Yuan) from SVSSS is a tricky one to place on here, but I do think it’s relatively fast. Even without knowing SY is the SQQ that he liked so much, LBG is really good at getting people to marry him lol.

BingQiu from SVSSS is only below BingYuan because 1) I think LBG just has a little more charisma than LBH, gained from getting so many wives while LBH was too focused on Shizun and 2) it’s hard to have this ship where they didn’t know each other prior? I do think this ship, to be different enough from BingYuan for this list, needs to be SQQ(Y) and not just plain SY. But even still, I think once Binghe gets past SQQ’s ‘I’m not gay just an immortal cultivator!’ Then they get together so quickly.

MoShang from SVSSS is in the middle here because either they take 20 years of their life or they are dating on day two. No in between.

HuaLian from TGCF is a funny case. I think Hua Cheng falls in love instantly, even faster than any Binghe. And maybe Xie Lian also falls in love instantly- they both kinda strike me as ‘love at first sight’. Now, do they act on these feelings? Absolutely not. Neither wants to bother the other about it until something makes them. (EDIT: I switched HuaLian and WangXian!)

WangXian from MDZS is a funny one because they are the only normal one. If you push them to together long enough, they will just… start to date. Because niether are weirdly obsessed with the other? (Or at least, not as much lol) (EDIT: After much thought, the idea that WangXian would not get together without a plot to drive them got brought up, and without that, they would in fact be last! So I switched HuaLian and WangXian)

I might add more Ships later, if I think of them. Give me your thoughts on the rankings, and your arguments on where they should be placed.

EDIT: Ok, I asked some friends in real life and no one agreed with me. I know when it admit defeat! I switched HuaLian and WangXian, but I will keep everything else the same.

[coffeesleep-ooc]

Essay on heartbreak points

Just thinking of LBH pining over SQQ along the novel before he finally gets the man

Pre-abyss LBH wants SQQ, but the thing i see in him is not just wanting him, carnally sexually or otherwise, he wants SQQ’s attention and approval bc he admires him, its as simple as that. Og goods already had his admiration just bc he was a great cultivator, he was elegant and beautiful and worked hard af, it was like…if a polished stone like jade was used to hurt rather than be the soft, warm and flawless concept of beauty - that chinese media usually uses -. But then the cold showed a soft inner core! Yes! Our dear transmigrator took over and confused the hell out of t he poor LBH that still struggled to excuse SJ’s behavior. Then though, SY took care of him with love and with smiles, using mdoern sensibilities to measure things like care and affection…and I think that some of those discrepancies between a hellish setting and a soft oblivious SY must have been quite jarring to LBH. He sees someone that believes in inherent good and is passionate and silly, knowledgeable and kind, and can’t help but want to be close! He admires him so much!!

Still pre-abyss, not only LBH admires the heck out of SY, he is also his shizun, and i don’t forget about his teacher kink but im talking about the dynamics of it instead of anything sexual. LBH knows and firmly believes that his position is way below that of SQQ’s, he is protected and cared for, but he longs to protect and care for as well right? Because he has seen that SQQ is powerful but not above everything, because he is knowledgeable but not all-seeing, because he may be taken advantage of by someone crafty that doesn’t deserve his kindness. LBH pretends to fall and be weak and helpless when it’s convenient for him, but he knows he has to take every advantage he can bc he needs to be strong enough to protect SQQ, because the world has shown him that there are many dangers and that someone not of a peak lord’s status isn’t worth to marry (idk how much about this airplane would have put into his work, but lets remember that ancient chinese marriages were a very foemal and important thing that involved status and wealth, not just love). Let’s remember our bun has also been a street rat and probably saw many things at one point or another! We can only speculate and write fics about that last point, but the street is not a good place to be, especially in a PIDW setting. Also, bc he wasn’t strong enough, quick enough, bc his family had no power or money his mother died, it’s as hurtful and as plain as that for him, even if he knows (does he though?) that it’s not his fault.

Onwards to the abyss! It’s shit. That’s what it is. Shizun who he admires, respects and loves above everything, who told him that nobody was intolerable for the heavens went against every fucking shit he said and coldly forced LBH into the abyss. What the actual fuck SQQ (affectionate), you gave him so many issues fr. I can only imagine how confused the poor LBH must have felt when his Shizun yet again changed tune like this in a way he can’t fully explain this time, even more so, he could try, but it wouldn’t change the fact that LBH is currently in the worst place ever because the person he loves with his whole heart threw him there (and possibly wanted him to stay down there? to become one of its creatures? To die? He has no idea???). LBH has strived to be good, to be worthy in his teacher’s eyes since he entered the sect and he has just gotten proof that he isn’t and will never be even though he had the hope of getting there despite everything. It’s just filled with heartbreak and i think that the system only deducted SQQ’s current total points bc he literally had to die to be deducted any more and LBH can’t have him dead and the system knows that extremely well! It also gave SQQ a scenario push remember? And that was only for LBH’s benefit istg, SQQ had no idea.

and talking about death! Funny thing isn’t it? It’s ridiculous that SQQ dies so many times (srsly bro, wtf - again affectionate) but I believe that the first was the most traumatic for LBH. SQQ doesn’t sneer at him like a disgusting mucus but instead is afraid of him! LBH worked hard to just see SQQ again, to reunite the courage to talk to him and ask him if he regretted what he did, to show him he was a good person and that he had power now, that he could impress him and protect him (he has lost a lot of his own self-esteem base and i do believe that’s part of where heartbreak points come from) the person whom he values the opinion of the most -the only one even- thinks him a beast and an unredeemable demon…and when he tries to peove himself not that, the only thing SQQ does is run away from him, to decide to be silent and refuse even LBH’s (biased) kindness. He wouldn’t even take LBH’s robe! Imagine that you love someone and that someone hates your guts and refuses to even acknowledge that they hurt you, oh, and all this while an evil sword is fighting to take advantage of your negative feelings. Post-abyss is also shit, just a bit better bc LBH has the illusion of control, he thinks he can still control the situation and is slowly losing hope of shizun understanding him. But the illusion shatters when SQQ self-detonates to save him. The one he supposedly hates. LBH is probably just eternally confused in sv now that i think about it lmao *pats consolingly*

post death 1 (actually 2 for SY): LBH thought he knew shizun, then he realized he couldn’t explain everything shizun did. Then he tried to ask, not even for a full explanation, just to know if shizun really did hate him (bc LBH truly doesn’t care at that point what SQQ does or what SQQ’s reasons and actions were as long as he still loves him, smhw he is so…) and got instead a blow up in his face, coupled with other ppl’s accounts of SQQ mourning him like he was actually truly dead, missing him and finally he sees SQQ sacrificing himself for him. This surely must be enough fpr LBH right? Well…not really, SQQ could have been sacrificing himself to protect the ppl around him - LQG is there and we all know that LBH is mildly sus of him at this point, it will get worse later when LQG is the one coming by every fucking day to retrieve SQQ’s corpse so mhm…its possible LBH thought they had something (not necessarily romantic) at some point, or that LQG and the other ppl were important enough to sacrifice his life for. Not only that, but shizun was not rejoicing when he came back, he never said anything. He killed himself in everyone’s pov -but SQH’s-without explanation, in the most tragic and confusing way of all, saying he would repay LBH…lets also remember that repaying someone can mean completely cutting ties and leaving with a clean slate. And the only actual thing he did was show LBH he didn’t have actual control over the situation and that it was possible to be completely powerful and still lose the ones you love and care about. Idk (or don’t remember haha…) the moment LBH started building the bamboo house in the demonic realm, but it says a lot about what he wants and what he dreams about, the most probable things he is feeling at this point is desperation and melancholy, nostalgia. He longs for the days where he was secure in the knowledge of Shizun’s affection for him, no matter what kind of affection it was, but at the same time is bittersweet because he knows that shizun will never love him foe who he is and that drives him mad with heartbreak that is just building up over time. He will also feel incredibly guilty over SQQ repaying him with his life, because all he ever wanted was basic communication but Shen ‘i am so emotionally repressed i can’t even tell what I’m actually feeling’ Qingqiu obviously thought he was being hunted for revenge. So rip LBH, he wanted an explanation or just a simple ‘i regret it’ but what he gets is confusion, a corpse he has to reanimate asap, and incredible guilt + more damage to his self esteem

Then SQQ comes back and doesn’t even try to search fpr him? And everything becomes a huge mess quite quickly. But. Luo Binghe watches his shizun go back to his martial family and interact with them in a way that he doesn’t interact with LBH anymore. LBH gets his face rubbed with the fact that what he strongly wishes for (going back) is impossible because he made the mistake of being born. Which, would demoralize the strongest of us honestly. And uta been so long since i read sv that I don’t remember much, but im sure that LBH can’t even think that SQQ does care for him, the trauma and insecurity, the abandonment issues have grown so big that they are like a bull in a china shop, ready to shatter everything in short range. Its only when SQQ gives his life (LBH does not know this but he is aware that SQQ would not have used papapa to save the world with just everyone) and gives him something he kept for so long - and that LBH himself thinks is precious despite being worthless - that he understands a bit that shozun may not hate him so much. I’m surprised that heartbreak points weren’t so used or that we didn’t get reminded of them through the story, because it would have given us an inkling of how LBH was feeling, but also spoilers and SQQ’s obliviousness, i imagine that at the end of sv they would have been lower than what they were (in truth) at the IAC but not completely gone

finally, i think that heartbreak points could be used to gauge how traumatized poor LBH was at eaxh point in time, but also to measure the state of his self esteem and the level of hope he had according to the way SQQ acted along the novel. I think that the points were all gone at some point (i eont remember anymore -cries- ) but i fullly believe that post canon Binghe still has heartbreak points and a whole lot of issuws that start to slowly disappear as thwir relationahip progresses. The only thing is that LBH still ties his own worth to SQQ’s opinion of him, and he will have heartbreak points again if he misunderstands SQQ st any point (unlikely but still).

Anyways…

THIS POOR BABY BREAKS MY HEART! He was terrible but he was also very human and truly, he deserves good.

Sorry about the rambling essay! :D

[grubus]

is there any "what ifs" that you would explore with syonr? like when it's finished, would you write aus of the aus? i've seen some writers do that and i find it so interesting.

yes and no! I have a lot of "what ifs" ideas in my head, but I think there's only one I would ACTUALLY write out? But because I too love aus of aus, let me list a few of them uwu

*clears throat*

What if Shen Yuan had never left Lady Jia? This is the idea I want to write at some point! Would still be BingYuan, with some intense gender fuckery going on <_<

Some others are;

What if Shen Yuan reincarnated as a girl? if you think SQQ is overprotective now, you have seen NOTHING. Binghe would be fighting for his goddamn life. SY would fight for her own dignity, because OBVIOUSLY she has to become a WIFE, but SQQ is weird as fuck about Sweet Girls Under His Protection and the only reason LBH isn't already dead is because SY is frantically wielding her "i'm your widdle baby girl!" powers at SQQ to shield him. There would be no roomie situation. RIP. But NYY would be hyped about having a sister! And SY wouldn't have any trauma from Zhao De, because MF would be like !!!!!!!!!!!! DONT BULLY A GIRL!!!!!!!! which means Zhao De sticks around and focuses his bullying on MF instead. Lovingly. If you guys haven't read "Toxic" by Prim the Amazing yet, well..............

What if Yue Qingyuan managed to take Shen Yuan? This would basically just be PIWD. SQQ would not take it nicely at all, seeing his Qi-ge taking in a mini-SJ and spoiling him rotten. SY would NOT be allowed on Qing Jing at all, but SY is also Binghe-obsessed and Binghe is in turn SY-obsessed. The only reason SQQ would not abuse SY out of pure jealousy and self-hatred is because SY isn't under his control. YQY would be an adoring fool but also SY would probably not feel 100% safe considering he knows that YQY always yields to SQQ in canon... On top of that, SQQ would most likely treat Binghe much like he did in PIWD. There are perhaps a FEW things that would, maybe, make him treat Binghe better out of pure spite but it would take many twists and turns for that. In the end, BingYuan in this would be Romeo and Juliet romance that would end in insane tragedy for all involved and CQM in flames. Unless Binghe manages to run off to Bai Zhan Peak. A big If.

What if Shen Yuan had met *** while at Lady Jia? Well SY would have brought *** with him to CQM instead! Or *** would have helped him escape and then years later............... hmm but that's a different arc.

There's more but :D

[m0owu]

Someone said SQH x LBH is pathetic x pathetic

Which, to me? I don’t think so, I don’t know haha

If SQH was really comfortable with LBH, it could be doting x doting honestly

Doting as in, SQH really loves to outwardly praise his partners and LBH is also just as outwardly affectionate.

Is that considered pathetic x pathetic actually... idk

Oh well, it's just a fun thought!

They’re a fascinating rarepair (?)

Would LBH fall for SQH puppy eyes

What do you think about YQY x SQH?

They’re like, the people pleasers duo I feel

Admittedly, I like the idea that YQY has a soft spot for him, even if it’s platonic

sqh harem when/j

Now it's my prime time 🤌 (btw, I don't really know how tumblr works so idk if this one question was addressed to me)

Soo, I do really like sqh × lbh iterations bc there's so many possible situations that could happen.

If we are talking about them as a ship, I read more lbg × sqh than lbh × sqh, but I still think second one is cooler. idk, they have vibes of comforting each other and support. They don't really know how to help their heart demons but trying their best. I think they'll like long hugs in bedroom. I'll definitely think about it, they're cuties.

I like and at the same time don't fanfics where sqh is lbh's father, no matter if biological. Probably bc some of them write sqh too much OOC, but still. But I like to think how sqh's apperence in lbh's life impact on lbh's character and his vision of the world.

Lbh's puppy eyes were so noticeable bc of sqh's advice, but have you seen lbh's love language when he was a disciple? I think it doesn't really change much (like a lot). I'd like to talk about it more (lbh×sqh or others) so if you want to you can write to me or ask another question like this

So, talking about sqh×yqy I prefer to add sj. Actually, I do really like sqh that impact on qijiu, this is so cool, I'll definitely write a few fics about that. I don't really have thoughts rn, even including fact, that I've read some fics with them 😭

Talking about rare fics with sqh (yeaaahhh, sqh's harem) I like tlj × sqh × sx (and I'll write fic with them).

[emkaii]

in a random thought (more like this plot bunny has been living in my head rent free since this "what if" fic started and now i cant stop myself from sharing it after so many months? years? idek)

thank you to @feynites for the wonderful fic above that i continue to go back re-reading again and again

(also tagging @wangxianficrecs even though im not sure they share scum villain fics *sobs*)

! tw: death !

WHAT IF SCENARIO

og!sj dies the night of yqy & lqg wedding because of heartbreak? (because real heartbreak can literally kill in this fanfic universe) just, like, he dies. that's it. no shen yuan to transmigrate in his body as replacement.

so, og!sj was in seclusion punishment during that night right? and he was only allowed outside to attend the wedding itself. (am i right? or if not, meh)

so shen jiu dies in his bedroom, alone. lbh tries to enter his room to help him prepare for the wedding but doesn't get an answer (bc og!sj is ded), so lbh leaves bc he's obviously afraid of entering the room without og!sj's permission in fear of punishment.

the wedding is completed without sj arriving and everyone just assumes that he's bitter about the whole thing and doesn't attend as a show of rebellion.

also, since he's in secluded punishment and the servants doesn't like him, no one approaches or even tries to enter his room. lbh tries to tell the upper servants that it has been almost a full night & day that og!sj hasn't responded to anything outside his room, but of course, they don't listen to him.

so, he tries to directly report to yqy. who at this point is feeling disappointed? relieved? (even he himself doesn't know) that sj did not cause any problems to his new wedding. so, he goes to check on sj.

he tries to ask permission to enter the room, no answer.

tries to lengthen sj's punishment if he continues to be stubborn, no answer.

tries to threaten that he will break the door, no answer.

yqy gets nervous. something doesn't feel right.

sj is not the type to stay quiet.

he forcefully opens the door.

and he finds sj looking peacefully asleep.

but there's something wrong in the picture. sj was too quiet. too still.

yqy realizes that he can't hear sj breathing. he can't see any movement. at all.

he flies to sj's bedside.

tries to take his wrist to check his condition, and whole body-flinches at the cold skin. sj's body was stiff. and as a highly accomplished cultivator, yqy knows the state of a dead body more than a few hours after death.

he whispers, "a-jiu?"

sj' body would look peaceful in death, if not for the dried tear tracks in his face.

(I don't know how to describe/write it but i want yqy's reaction to be utter devastation, something similar or worse than his reaction in this fanfic's og novel when sj died in the original timeline)

minutes or hours later (yqy doesn't know, doesn't know or aware of his surroundings anymore), after mqf arrives and checks the situation after a frantic lbh tells lqg about sj and lqg flies to have mqf at their estate, mqf states:

"his body showed signs of grief sickness. in this case, his lungs decided to stop taking in air, his mind decided to stop all functions of his body, and his heart just decided to stop beating. i can say that it occurred around 24 hours ago."

24 hours ago.

24 hours ago was when sj tried to convince yqy not to proceed with the wedding for his new husband.

24 hours ago was when sj tried to tell yqy that he'd rather die than let yqy have a second husband.

yqy ignored him.

and now a-jiu is dead.

"A-Jiu couldn’t survive his husband marrying another man. That person died the day Yue Qingyuan married Liu Qingge"

AND THIS IS THE LINE FROM THE ORIGINAL FIC THAT INSPIRED THIS PLOT BUNNY.

i really do sometimes love making myself cry with my thoughts and ideas. now im sharing these to the world. and now i want to re-read, for the 8th? 9th? time, this whole wonderful series.

[bamboospirit]

SPOILERS!!!

Spoilers for Cultivate chapter 53 by @neonghostcat

So… Cultivate i almost over and I decided to make another animation to honor it. Obviously, the Old Palace Master monster hasn’t been described on screen so I came up with the creepiest design I could, which was inspired by the face stealer from ATLA. Kind of fitting if you consider the bgm!

I decided to make this sort of a continuation of my last animation. Is the OPM going to be a giant centipede covered in miasma? Probably not, but I asked my moots what they thought of my design ideas and this is the one they chose. To be fair, I was already leaning towards this design anyways. The alternative would have been a giant no-face-esque formless blob with the faces of the devoured people and beasts straining against the surface, which would have been way out of my skill level and would’ve taken too long.

Not that this hasn’t taken me quite some time. At first I tried to make the centipede curl in on itself, which didn’t work out so I had to improvise and leave the curling off screen. Then I uploaded it and noticed that I forgot to add the second row of legs… So I deleted that post and uploaded the new version now. But I’m still proud of the result! Just don’t ask me how long this took, I lost count after a while :D

(so…many…hours… just for a 20 sec animation)

The little glow at the end is part of a theory I had for a while now, and I REALLY hope that I’m right.

If you want to hear a few little (not so fun) fun facts, Xiu Ya finally breaking off screen right on the beat of the drum as NYY and LBH watch was a happy little accident :D Also, the last animation on Tao Ren Mountain (TRM) got animated to the intro of the bgm (“The Last Agni Kai” covered by Eliott Tordo, for those who are interested), while this animation is showing the situation on CQM, animated to the outro of the bgm. Kind of fitting, since this story started out on TRM, and now we’re here.

Anyways, I hope you liked it! See you at the last chapter :D

[sunderwight]

Bingqiu AU where SY and LBH grow up as childhood friends (idk maybe they're both at QJP but Shen Jiu is less of an asshole, or maybe SY transmigrates into Random Village Bully Child No.3 when Binghe's mom is still alive -- or both) and there's none of the tension of the idea of "one day Luo Binghe is going to rip my limbs off" for Shen Yuan.

So he and LBH can just be bros! Fantastic! Shen Yuan has never had a little brother before but he's had a little sister, he knows how to do this. Just spoil the cute kid rotten!

It's only fair compensation for how many terrible things LBH is gonna have to endure on the road to ruling the world, after all. SY also feels more freedom to change minor aspects of the plot around, too, like maybe he'll stop Liu Qingge from dying, definitely he can help LBH get a better start to his cultivation journey, and maybe the abyss and xin mo thing doesn't really need to happen...?

The list of things SY considers meddling with ends up including wives.

Like really, come on now, Luo Binghe may be a stallion protagonist but there's no need for that many women. Especially when at least half of them are just increasingly cheap copies of the other half, and that's being generous about it. Some of PIDW Binghe's wives were, frankly, horrible people. And if he's being honest about it, it wasn't fair of Binghe himself to take on that many either. Even if anyone would naturally give their left arm to be the protagonist's wife, after a certain point Binghe just can't spend that much time actually with them! And then he can't form the kinds of deep and meaningful bonds which might actually help heal his trauma!

SY's not looking to interfere too much, of course. Ning Yingying is not his favorite wife, but she's fine. She causes trouble but it isn't on purpose, and she's genuinely sweet and willing to befriend Binghe before he's anything special (although even now, it's obvious Binghe is special). Ning Yingying can stay.

And of course, so can Best Wife Liu Mingyan.

But Sha Hualing? Well, she offers some political advantages, and as the demon wives go she's not the worst. She's kind of iconic and was very popular, but Shen Yuan thinks the harem could do without her scheming and malicious attitude towards the other wives. The cost of harmony was too high for the political bonuses offered, especially when Binghe might as well just take her ancestral lands by force and be done with it. He's going to advise against that match.

And the Qin sisters. Sure there's the legendary threesome, but Wanrong's dead weight and it never struck SY quite right how Qin Wanyue pressured Luo Binghe into sex. The threesome wasn't even good anyway.

Better Qin Wanyue than the Little Palace Mistress on that front, though. But aish, that's complicated, the Palace Mistress is even more politically vital to securing HHP than Sha Hualing is for her father's kingdom, and almost as bad for the peace and harmony of the harem. Ultimately SY will leave it up to Binghe, but if Binghe asks, he's going to advise against the Huan Hua wives too.

With thoughts like this in mind, SY starts talking to Binghe about how to establish a household, what to look for in a spouse (or twenty), and other topics of that nature. What sort of household Luo Binghe ought to strive to have, and what sorts of standards he should himself to. Also while of course assuring him that Shen Yuan isn't interested in women. Lest he worry that Shen Yuan might be trying to steal any of the wives from him, at any point. He's not competition!

SY: I am helping to pave the way for Binghe to have better marital relationships! I am the best big brother slash best buddy ever! don't worry, no matter what happens to Binghe, this gege will be your no.1 cheerleader forever!

LBH: is he saying I should get a palace if I want to marry him? well... that sounds reasonable. ok, I will do it! (•̀ ω •́)✧

[pipsqueakparker]

ok but what dots did you connect in the oops flashbacks i"'m curious now

so here's my extensive personal analysis/breakdown of oops as it pertains to blitzø, fizz, and their history - i'll preface this by reminding you that i am just some silly little guy on the internet that loves to read into things

first of all, the sheer fact that fizz knows exactly what to say to get under blitzø's skin speaks to just how close they were because even fifteen years later fizz knows what buttons to press to get a reaction. this isn't a revelation by any means, but just a bit that i wanted to include because as a writer i love the subtle power of one or two lines of dialogue - and i don't think fizz actually expected blitzø to fucking pounce but he probably should have lbh

additionally, despite saying how much he fucking hates this guy, he is still extremely protective when striker gets his hands on fizz - and okay, i just thought the detail of him pushing fizz's head down so he doesn't get shot was just cute.

okay, so yes - so far i have simply connected the very basic dots of irrefutable evidence that blitz and fizz were very close friends. but was it more? yes, absolutely. at the very least, we know blitz had feelings for fizz but i fully think that was reciprocated and even acted upon and here's my further evidence:

I couldn't get a good screenshot, but the letter says 'FIZZ'S EYES ONLY' and it's sealed with a little heart and he has a little flower and he was about to give this to fizz for his birthday. blitz was coming with his little love letter, and it appears he made it all the way there with full intentions of handing that over to him - in front of other people. whatever they had, they at the very least weren't trying to hide it.

(and i'm so soft for the idea that this wasn't the first love letter he'd written to fizz, but i digress)

but in the moment just before...

CASH LITERALLY HANDS FIZZ A CARD THAT SAYS 'WISH YOU WERE MY SON' - now, Blitz may not know what the card says, but i'm sure cash was never subtle about favorites. especially when his favorites were just whoever made him the most money, and we know fizz made him a nice chunk of change - especially in comparison to blitz, who, in cash's eyes, was probably worth even less than a crumpled up five and a slim-fit condom by this point.

here's where i've connected my dots - it gets long so i'm gonna pre-emptively stick a rea more here

something happened just before blitz got to the tent, he's rolling up, love letter in hand, probably got that goofy fuckin smile on his face because it's fizz's day and he's so excited to see fizz, when someone stops him. it could've been cash, it could've been barbie, it could've been some random fuckin guy on cash's payroll who was assigned the task of breaking blitz's fucking heart, but someone told him something.

there are... many possibilities, but here's what i've convinced myself the truth is - fizz was the fuckin' star, he was the One mostly likely to make it the fuck out, and everyone knew that including blitz - hell, blitz probably thought they could do it together, because he tried to hold on to that dream for himself as long as he possibly could. but someone - maybe fucking everyone, we don't know the general feelings on blitz pre-fire - told blitz that he was holding fizz back. not just once, but many times, spent as much time as they could convincing blitz that he was distracting fizz, that fizz wouldn't make it if blitz kept clinging on. that, ultimately, their relationship was going to be fizz's downfall. (and probably because they knew fizz was really fuckin soft for blitz and didn't think they could push him up any higher so long as he was determined to keep blitz by his side)

and i think he was caught just outside the tent with that letter, and reminded of that "fact".

so this moment, witnessing this exchange, seeing fizz so fucking happy while he is left feeling like he is somehow ruining the person he loves? ripping away any chance for future success? i think he's already started feeling ashamed of himself here, and this anger is entirely towards himself, not fizz. so...

yeah, he lashed out and accidentally set the tent on fire and the prophecy fulfills itself. by believing that bullshit, he truly "ruins" the person he loves. and his mom, what a horrible additional fact.

(but i pull this from blitz's reactions when fizz tells him that getting blown up did not ruin his life, and that actually because of what happened, he's ended up in a place so fucking good and with someone that makes him so fucking happy - even when he thought he truly fucked up fizz's life, he didn't ruin it.)

and it of course didn't stop there, because they were both being fed lies after the fire. "they" told blitz that fizz didn't want to see him, and 'they' were probably feeding fizz lies about blitz not caring enough to come, probably started feeding into fizz's whole idea of no one caring about him if he isn't useful or talented - because even blitzo left him once he was too broken and he never thought he'd lose blitzo.

(and my guess is that cash is at least one of the 'they's mentioned, judging from a screen cap from the trailer, when blitz is reliving his memory and we see cash outside of fizz's hospital room - and i would 100% believe that at the very least after the fire, barbie became one of the people pushing blitz away, too. i'm so curious about their relationship before the fire, when did they truly disintegrate?)

anyway - this 'oooohh' could very well just be the realization of a horrible miscommunication, or it could be the realization of the lies that they were fed to keep them apart. it could be both.

(okay but imagine blitz bringing this all to therapy, god what a field day - as someone that just made up with a childhood best friend after we had a huge falling out in our teenage years, my therapist and i had such a time rehashing and healing some old wounds)

ANYWAY

so, yes, from all of THAT it is very safe to assume that blitz and fizz were extremely close friends. at the very least, they were like besties 5eva.

however, i am telling you that these two fucking dated. and here is my supporting evidence:

okay, this could also just be a TMI bestie thing but something tells me blitz made fizz watch his horse porn shows and there is nothing inherently platonic about that. i'm not saying you can't watch porn with your friends, but i am saying that if you're watching porn with your friend you at least wouldn't say no to fucking that friend. and it is valid to still hold a platonic relationship with that person! but...

BLITZ'S FUCKING FACE HERE.

that's... a very fond and familiar look. that's a 'oh, we've been in this position before' and he's not mad about being back in it, that is a face that has been this intimately close with fizzarolli and is probably reliving all of those moments right now.

and yes, this can still be read as blitz just reliving his one-sided crush so let me just add on the final moment that cemented in my mind that they had already moved beyond mutual crushes...

this is i think one of my favorite moments & you can't convince me that this is the first time blitz has ever said that. i mean look at their FACES. (yes it is a funny one-liner, but look, i'm here for the deep dive baby and i will read into every single detail)

and so here i'll also just give my little thoughts on this moment, because i don't think this is the first time blitz has said something along those lines and i want to believe it's actually a callback to a moment we haven't seen.

like maybe the moment after they've actually confessed their feelings to each other - fizz is probably a nervous fucking wreck, because maybe it was his idea to just tell blitzo how he feels and he blabbers on about it and keeps reassuring blitz that this doesn't have to change anything between them and actually if he wants they can both just forget this EVER HAPPENED because like, fizz would totally be okay with that if blitz doesn't feel the same way -

and as adorable as blitz finds fizz's nervous babbling, he does stop him because god of course he feels the same way, fizz is one of the single most important people in his life, and maybe he can't quite say that but he says something close. he says it how he can, and he's not good with words but he doesn't have to be because fizz gets it and fizz, overcome with relief and also probably just overwhelmed bc oh blitz likes him BACK? he just reaches out and hugs him because what the fuck else are you going to do? and maybe he's babbling again about how he didn't expect blitz to feel the same way, and he's lowkey pouring all of his insecurities out, and blitz hugs him back because he knows it'll calm him down and it does and they're just sitting there in each other's arms.

and blitz being blitz. well. he's gotta shoot his shot, and yes this is a very nice moment but... "would it totally fuck up the moment if we made out right now?"

and it kind of just became his thing when the emotions got too overwhelming of just suggesting they make out, because he doesn't know how to hold emotions unless he is actively letting it out physically. because blitz is bad at the words but good with the sex, and assumedly most other forms of physical intimacy.

so yes,