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starry-bi-sky · 2 months ago

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Okay so this is almost a direct copy-paste of my earlier reblog but only the Xin Yuan parts, because its long enough to be its own post and i want to share it! It deserves it's own post <3 typical starry stuff to write a 2k word long reblog, unfortunately.

I say almost because I went through to proof read and ended up adding more stuff.

I've been cooking on this idea for the last two days since I saw the Xin Mo!Shen Yuan post but??? I can't find anything on Xin Mo's backstory or how it came to be -- which means that's free fucking plot right there baby. That's a sandbox and im making LIFE SIZED CASTLES. I'm so excited.

The idea of Shen Yuan transmigrating centuries before the events of PIDW as Xin Mo -- but when he wakes up, he's not the sword. He wakes up in the body of a young boy named Xin Yuan. Now it makes sense for this boy to be a demon, but the drama, the intrigue, the spice of Xin Yuan being a human child.

SY wakes up as a boy below the age of ten, and the System tells him where he is, and SY is excited to meet his favorite protagonist -- only to gradually realize that he's like, a thousand years or so before the events of the novel. The rant he gives the system is legendary.

Bc what's the point of getting dropped into PIDW if he's never going to meet his favorite character??? This is a scam! BUT he settles into his new life, he's like, some orphan street rat or some other tragic airplane-esq backstory.

The system gives Shen Yuan his first mandatory quest: become a righteous cultivator. Which was like, kinda his plan/hopes anyways, except! There's like?? No official cultivator sects anywhere? The Cang Qiong Mountain Sect hasn't even been established yet, and there are pockets of cultivators running around, maybe some groups or schools popping up and then sinking back down, but nothing's really taken root!

If he asks someone how to become a cultivator, there's no straight answer. No "oh you can go to X to do that". He's pissed! How can he become a cultivator if there aren't any schools around to teach him? Deus ex machina, that's how.

Out of sheer luck, SY manages to help save a rogue cultivator, and promptly gets adopted by said rogue cultivator, who gives SY the name 'Xin Yuan'. He is ecstatic. And you know what? It's actually pretty fun!

He's getting to travel the world of PIDW in its early stages, and gets to see the building blocks for the eventual main story. He's discovering all this local flora and fauna that are foreign to his old world and unmentioned in the book, and he's learning cultivation! Granted, its unsafe, newly(ish) discovered cultivation, but it counts!

Wistfully, he thinks about perhaps he'll do something grand and get his name carved into legend. Something that would eventually help the protagonist later down the line in his quest for revenge.

The system remains silent to his thoughts.

But Xin Yuan doesn't take much stock in that daydream anyways. It's nothing more than fantasy to him; wish-fulfillment. He does discover however, that he is positively brimming with spiritual energy. Overwhelmingly so.

It's both a blessing and a curse, as it puts a strain on his meridians if he's not careful, and leaves him prone to qi deviations for the exact same reasons. He already has a heart demon or two from a few traumatic experiences in the past.

(bc hey! angst a day keeps the writer sadism at bay, and all that)

I'll say he's about... eight when he gets picked up by the rogue cultivator, who I'm calling Lin Kai bc he deserves a name. They travel around PIDW up until Xin Yuan is twelve, where he goes through a traumatic experience that results in a heart demon.

It's after that that Lin Kai decides to put a stop to his wandering, and find a place to settle down to raise Xin Yuan in. Coincidentally! They settle down in a nice mountain region that's thriving with spiritual energy. The mountains at the time were called something different, but they will be eventually known as the Cang Qiong Mountain Sect

Coincidentally, the mountain Lin Kai and Xin Yuan end up on is Qing Jing Peak. XY does not realize that the mountain he's on is Qing Jing. The System does not tell him. But he likes it there, more than he was expecting. And as much as he's traveled around, he really does enjoy being in one place.

He has a tendency to go down the mountain and help the village setting up down there, and when he's a teenager he starts venturing out more and more.

Xin Yuan forgets sometimes that he's in a novel, especially after settling down on Qing Jing peak. The system becomes remarkably quiet since there's no quests for him to do and not a ton of opportunities to get B-Points. He cultivates with Lin Kai, helps tend to the garden they're growing, goes down to the village to play with the other kids.

There's one boy he's best friends with, a boy whose not all that good with words, named Liu Zhihao. He's got potential for cultivation though, so Xin Yuan drags him up the mountain when he can so that Liu Zhihao can sit in on lessons with Lin Kai. He drags him all over the forest at the foot of the mountain to go look at bugs and animals.

(One time, when they're fourteen and Liu Zhihao has been learning cultivation for a few years now, Xin Yuan drags him out of bed late one night to go look at the stars. Xin Yuan tells Liu Zhihao about ascension -- something that still feels like a far off dream to many in this time -- that night, while they're sitting on the wet grass.)

("We should ascend together." Xin Yuan tells Liu Zhihao, jade eyes gleaming. Never let it be said that Xin Yuan doesn't love deeply, no matter what kind of love it is. He was always so lonely as Shen Yuan, Liu Zhihao is his best friend. "We'll become immortals, and then we won't ascend until the other is able to.")

(Liu Zhihao stares at him silently, his face unreadable. Then, quietly, he asks; "Promise?")

("Promise.")

When he starts adventuring outwards, further away from the mountain and the village, Liu Zhihao sticks to him like rice. Not that Xin Yuan's complaining, that's his best friend after all, and Liu Zhihao has become a formidable cultivator. He deserves to show off his skills.

He starts making something of a name for himself by the time he's, like, 18 -- although that name is in its baby steps, along with Liu Zhihao. They're slowly growing renown.

Perhaps XY uses his knowledge of PIDW and cultivation in general to help make advancements in the cultivation field. Although the system prevents him from sharing too much, it doesn't mean he can't practice it himself. Perhaps he's one of the first cultivators to develop a golden core. One of the first known immortal cultivators. One of the first to have a spirit sword.

(Although I don't know the logistics of any of this since my knowledge on xanxia/cultivation stuff in general is all still pretty new and google wasn't all that helpful lol.)

Either way, its my excuse to eventually make Xin Yuan come across as ethereal to other people. Peerless beauty SY for the win. Hs wifebeam is too strong, Xin Yuan has a line of suitors following after him and he's completely unaware of it. The rest of history is not.

Demon realm stuff has been stirring up since Xin Yuan was a kid, but at the time it was rare and in the beginning stages. Its been steadily ramping up and the system is sending him on more and more treacherous quests -- some of them mandatory, some optional. SY doesn't often take the optional ones unless it comes with a sufficient B-point reward.

for all intents and purposes though, he's a wandering rogue cultivator with Liu Zhihao, going from place to place to either help a town or village, or to discover more creatures or artifacts (although there aren't that many). Just all around living his life. He participates in a few major quest lines that are sure to get him mentioned in legend, even if it's a background character way.

(Unbeknownst to him, rather than being a side character in these legends, he's named directly. You can't become one of the first immortal cultivators and NOT get name dropped for clout.)

He has a spirit sword named Shā Mó, (杀 shā - to kill/weaken/counteract/reduce) (魔 mó - evil spirit, demon, possession). He routinely goes back to QJP to see Lin Kai, or to rest when traveling has worn down on him and he wants nothing more than to sleep somewhere he knows he'll be safe in. It becomes more frequent as Xin Yuan becomes more famous. Liu Zhihao often comes with him.

it all comes to a head though when the rifts between the demonic realm and the human realm become too great, and the balance between both realms becomes unstable. A demonic emperor's influence, wanting to merge the two realms so he could conquer both to satiate his own greed.

Typical evil king stuff. This comes to a climatic head in a great battle between every cultivator available and the demon emperor's army. Xin Yuan was one of the many who helped lead the charge.

In the end, it was Xin Yuan who ends up defeating the demonic emperor, but the rift that the emperor used to cross between worlds is destabilizing as well. Except instead of trying to close, it's getting bigger and bigger, threatening to swallow the heavens and earth and demonic realm whole.

You know how Yue Qingyuan's soul is bonded to his sword due to a qi deviation? Let's take it a step further >:)

Xin Yuan uses himself and Shā Mó to close the rift. However, it takes all of his spiritual energy to do so, as well as him filtering the demonic qi into his body to redirect it back to the demon realm.

In the end, Xin Yuan and his beloved sword Shā Mó fuse. Xin Yuan's soul becomes trapped in the sword. His physical body is unable to handle the immense amount of power it takes to close the rift, and is destroyed. He is immortalized in legend by his grieving cultivators.

(Liu Zhihao ends up ascending alone. He ascends with the hope that one day he'll see Xin Yuan again, even if it's in the face of someone else. Lin Kai does not ascend, too weighed down by the grief of losing his son.)

Xin Yuan, now Xin Mo, falls into a stasis. He's very confused and disorientated when he regains 'consciousness'. The system has been silent for most of his life, only popping up to give him mandatory quests, hints, points, or to answer any questions.

But once he wakes up, it cheerfully pops up again, congratulating him on completing the origin story of Xin Mo. SY freaks the fuck out. he'd shake the system screen if he could, but he doesn't have arms. or legs. or eyes for that matter.

He can sense his surroundings, but its all like imprints to him. He can sense the energies, but he can't see anything. It's all very disorientating and horrifying after years of being human. Like a sensory deprivation chamber.

The closing of the rift and the cycling demonic qi tainted both Sha Mo and Xin Yuan irreparably, and it did some kind of damage that resulted in SY needing to feed in order to use the spiritual powers. Kinda like how Xuan Su uses YQY's life force for it's spiritual energy, but instead of feeding on his own lifeforce, Xin Mo feeds on others.

The rest is history. Xin Mo is originally tied to the story of Xin Yuan -- believed to be all that remained of the man after he sacrificed himself to keep the realms separate. It's believed that the force of the realms closing permanently infused Sha Mo with demonic energy, turning it into Xin Mo.

But, like many stories do when faced against the tide of time, things get lost; chipped off; changed. Xin Mo is steadily separated from Xin Yuan, especially once it becomes clear how parasitic the sword really is, until they are all but separate entities themselves and the origin of Xin Mo's creation all but forgotten.

The years blur together when Xin Mo is not being wielded, and at first Xin Yuan was agonized by the fact that he stole the lives of all his wielders. He knows it's only a novel, but his decades spent in this life have softened him, and he's grown attached to the world around him.

But time erodes the mind like water erodes stone, and he becomes numb to it, then eventually anticipating of it. He forces himself to remember what he knows of PIDW's plot, and kinda fixates back on his old obsession on Luo Binghe. But while PIDW stays in his mind, his memories as Xin Yuan fall to the wayside.

Not forgotten, per se, but... tucked away. The system prevents him from forgetting fully.

Xin Mo isn't fully a demonic sword either i think, but instead harbors an ugly cocktail of both spiritual and demonic qi. Special circumstances and all that. Everyone just assumes he's a fully demonic sword because that's usually at the forefront, his spiritual qi weakened from the initial fusion and from years of not being fed spiritual qi. It's part of the reason his wielders always end up destroyed by him, other than the whole, yk, 'overwhelming qi' thing.

Nobody would recognize Xin Mo's human form as Xin Yuan other than some truly ancient demons. Of which Meng Mo might. But even that's iffy because there's a lack of surviving paintings of Xin Yuan, but also because of XM's demonic appearance and supposed lack of connection to XY.

Xin Mo has never spoken to his wielders before, not in the same way he does Luo Binghe. He tells Luo Binghe this, and he also tells Luo Binghe down the line that he is both spiritual and demonic -- something he also never told his wielders because there was no point to it.

okay okay i've got to end it here because its already gotten ridiculously long -- of which im both apologetic and unapologetic for -- but i DO think the Shang Qinghua and Shen Yuan meeting (and reveal) would be fucking hilarious. Especially if SY has learned how to pop between sword form and human form by then -- although i guess it doesnt matter either way because SQH's reaction is still the same.

And that reaction is internally screaming and going "hey what the FUCK?? WHY DOES XIN MO HAVE A HUMAN FORM??? WHAT IS THIS??? SYSTEM??? EXPLAIN???"

meanwhile from his place on the sword hilt xin mo is squinting at Shang Qinghua in bewilderment and going "aren't you supposed to be dead" but doesn't pay too much mind to it because its not like its going to change anything.

...up until he catches shang qinghua going "WTF" silently from his little corner while all eyes are off him. One moment SQH is standing beside his king, and the next he's been tackled to the ground by one wild-eyed, human-shaped Xin Mo.

everyone, including SQH, thinks Xin Mo is going to kill him. It is a surprise to everyone when he does not, and instead dissolves into deranged, uncontrollable laughter after spitting out some phrase in some ancient tongue and watching SQH's eyes grow wide in recognition.

#svsss au #svsss #scum villain au #scum villain #scum villain self saving system #shen yuan #shen qingqiu #luo binghe #liu zhihao is indeed based off liu qingge. i am a multishipper at heart and liushen is a delicious ship. XY and LZ i think were very devote #to each other regardless of if it was romantic or platonic. they're besties! and im a sucker for devotion in all aspects. its neat :)#XM eventually tells LBH about how he used to be human once and he tells him about his Xiao Zhi. and that he hopes Xiao Zhi was able to reac #ascension in his absence. LBH silently seethes with jealousy and abandonment issues a mile wide. he asks XM if he misses him. XM gets this #unreadable distant look on his face that makes him look far more mortal than is comfortable. then he mutters 'yes.' LBH hates it #Cang Qiong sect gets miraculously spared by Luo Binghe on account of 'my demonic sword grew up here and he'd be upset if i ruined it'#does LZH look like LQG? ...i want to say yes bc itd be crime to derive SY of LQG's beauty even if he never knows what LQG looks like #imagine XM as human coming to clash with YQY. he takes one look at YQY. then at Xuan Su. before going 'we're alike. you and i.'#rip SQH. executed for the crime of *checks scroll* making XM laugh before Binghe could. making XM laugh at all actually #XM is usually very reserved and restrained but for the first time in a thousand years he's met someone just like him. the emotional rush #is intense. SQH asks him later how long he's been Xin Mo. expecting like. at LEAST a few years now or after him but then XM blinks at him #and then mutters something about how he's lost track of time. oh hey btw what year it is??? he forgot to ask. SQH tells him and Xin Mo says #'oh! about a thousand years now' 'WHAT' and XM tells him about being Xin Yuan which SQH was not expecting. whether thats because #he genuinely wasnt expecting it or it was part of his outline or an idea he messed around with and didnt expect to make it into the world #SQH tells him about the legend of Xin Yuan. XM is stunned. he asks about Liu Zhihao. LZH made it into legend too. which XM is very #pleased by. 'good. he deserves it for all the hard work he put in.'

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aria0fgold · 7 months ago

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Two birds, One Stone, and Me

A Persona 5 snippet starring Akechi ft. Kaito Kuroba (Magic Kaito) and Asuka (an oc by @misty-wisp)!

Akechi massaged his temples as he walked through the station after having just gotten out of the train. It was headache one after another for him nowadays, the matter with Shido's jobs combined with the emergence of the so called Phantom Thieves of Hearts, not to mention the return of that pesky thief Kaito KID in Japan after doing heists overseas. His first problem is easy to deal with, as something he had gotten used to doing, his second problem was coming along well enough as he already has a good idea on who the members of the Phantom Thieves are, and the third problem is the biggest headache of all as Kaito KID has been a consistent problem for years now. Disappearing in the past only to have a come back years after and no one has any idea how to deal with him.

There's already even a police force specifically designed to capture that thief and yet there's no progress at all anyway. And for some goddamned reason, Akechi was also tasked to help with that too!

If a police force dedicated to capturing that thief can't even handle it then what else can I do anyway? Detective Prince my ass, if only those people know the truth they wouldn't add on to my mountain of problems something nearly impossible to achieve!

Figuring out the identities of the Phantom Thieves were easy with how sloppy they were at keeping it hidden in the first place but figuring out the identity of a criminal that's most likely been at it for more than a decade isn't something Akechi should be doing in the first place. That should fall on the hands of the adults instead.

Ah but of course! Adults are practically useless, good for nothing fools who's only good at hurting others and getting children to clean up after them, OF COURSE! WHY ELSE AM IN THIS WHOLE MESS ANYWAY IF NOT FOR THAT!

Akechi let out a small quiet sigh, it's best for him to retire for the day and take a rest, although, just as he rounded the corner, he was met with a particularly familiar face that had immediately fallen into a frown the split second she noticed Akechi.

“Ah, Asuka, yes?” Akechi put on his usual polite smile, the face of the exemplary Detective Prince.

“Riight, yeah.” She averted her eyes from him, it was obvious it wasn't out of embarrassment, “Excuse me.”

Akechi could just let her go, but a thought formed on his mind, “Wait, if it's alright with you, could you spare some of your time to have a short chat?”

Asuka attends the same school as Akira. In fact, she attends the same school as most of the members of the Phantom Thieves. There's a possibility of her being involved with them, it's better to check just in case.

There was also... That... Although it doesn't seem to be relevant at the moment, it was still a particular pattern to keep in mind.

Asuka looked back, her eyes squinted slightly, though it was still a frown, Akechi can feel the sharpness of a glare hidden behind a thin veil of public civility. “Unfortunately, no. Goodby—”

“Isn't that…”

Just before Asuka could finish her sentence, a person by the distance caught Akechi's attention. And as his gaze fell on the figure's back, the person turned to meet his eyes.

It was Kaito Kuroba. Someone who's close to Akira.

Asuka followed Akechi's sight with a glance and it was at that moment that Kaito beamed at them before waving his hand as he approached the two.

“Oh hey! You're that so called Detective Prince, aren't you?” He smiled so brightly at them Akechi felt blinded and very much so annoyed.

But he can't quite show such a thing, smile, smile… smile… he needs to smile.

“Ah, yes—”

Kaito then quickly turned to Asuka, her passive aggression towards Akechi was replaced with slight anxiety, “And you… Ah! You're that student Akiki told me before! You sit behind him, yeah?”

She nodded, “R-right…”

. . .

Akechi really hates this guy.

He mentally collected himself, it seems that he'd have to talk to Asuka another day. Though this is an ideal situation of killing two birds with one stone, both of them have possible connections to the Phantom Thieves but right now, he'd rather not deal with someone as obnoxious as that guy.

Kaito clapped his hands, “Hey! Since we're all here, how about a meal? My treat! I'd love to get to know more about Asuka and Mister Detective Prince! It's not everyday an opportunity like this can come by!”

Goddammit, WHY?! “You're right, I'll take you up on that offer then.”

“I'll take my leave instead…”

“Now, now, Asuka. Since this kind person is going to treat us, wouldn't it be polite to accept such an offer? He seems to know someone close to you too.”

FINE! Might as well take this chance! DAMMIT!!!

“I'm not really… close to him though.” Asuka tried to take a step away from them.

“Aww! Please, please, please, pretty please? How about I help you with homework too? Please come with us! The more the merrier after all!” Kaito pleaded with the best puppy dog eyes expression he can muster.

“Exactly!” Akechi added, to which Asuka openly glared at him for.

For a second, the two's expression seemed to telepathically communicate with each other, two different thoughts yet both in sync enough to converse with the other.

This bastard is surely planning something…

If I'm getting roped in with this guy, I'm going to drag you into this one too.

. . .

And so, the unlikely trio sat by the table of a restaurant nearby. One who was visibly dragged in, another beaming with a light as bright as an artificial sun, and lastly someone who deep down wanted to break the glass of water nearby as they waited for their orders.

Dealing with Asuka should be easy enough but this obnoxious bastard has got to be faking this entire overly cheerful personality of his otherwise his entire existence is just gonna piss me off to no end.

“So, you go to Ekoda High, Kaito? That's quite far from here.” Akechi is luckily used to maintaining this image of his, it should be easy to do despite how badly he want to just get out already.

“Nah! So long as you know your ins and outs, it's actually pretty close by!”

“Is that so—”

“By the way, Asuka! Your scarf suits you so well! It even matches your uniform!” Kaito cut Akechi off again.

Deep breaths… This guy… is clearly doing that on purpose!

“Ah… Thanks…” She took a small glance at Akechi and then at Kaito before looking at her scarf, she seemed to be thinking about something.

It's fine, if his goal is to rile me up then let him try, his attempts won't work on me at all anyway.

“Being a so called Detective Prince at that age sure is impressive, huh Akechi?” Kaito threw the ball back at Akechi's court.

“It's nothing I can't handle—”

“Yeah, it must be so hard getting swarmed with cases left and right that you don't even have time to do all of them anymore.” It was Asuka that cut him off this time.

“Pardon?”

“Oh, I'm just saying. In a general sense.” Asuka slightly squinted at him and seemingly rolled her eyes in a subtle manner as she turned to look away. It was as if a switch was flipped and now, instead of Akechi killing two birds with one stone, it feels as though that two birds are killing him with one stone.

. . .

Akechi mentally sighed as he could only freeze his own smile in place to keep it from faltering, he shouldn't have accept this invite.

#ariawrites #mkp5 #persona oc #friends oc #this turned out longer than i wanted it to be... but it somehow was pretty fun trying an akechi pov!#i can see this guy being oh so polite outwardly but you just know that deep down hes just so done with everything #pairing him up with not only One person capable of giving him a headache but adding another one to the mix is sooo fun #mental torture in the form of akechi trying to manipulate the situation to go his own way but it doesnt purely cuz #Someone (kaito) wants to fuck with him so terribly he got asuka joining the wagon #the moment kaito saw akechi he IMMEDIATELY thought: oh good! a detective i can mentally mess with. i should be as annoying #as humanly possible for shits and giggles this one time. thatd be a fun first impression for me #dont worry akechi he isnt Always that annoying he just saw an interesting situation and decided to add fuel (himself) to the fire #asuka sees kaito be so obviously overly cheerful to the point of being so visibly fake and thought: oh god who's this guy #and then sees kaito just purposely annoy akechi every chance he gets and just: oh wait this is an opportunity for me too!#long story short: kaito +1 and asuka +1. akechi +2 headaches. he lost this round. better luck next time!#i also referenced that oneshot misty wrote with asuka and akechi with the interrogation room scene they had!

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