#also BLUE SQQ RIGHTS!!!!!

[flowerj3lly]

SVSSS x Hello Kitty 🎀

[greeniegaes]

Back at it agains with another svsss au im pulling out of my (slightly) sleep deprived brain

Basically yada yada everything happens as normal UP UNTIL the immortal alliance arc. SQQ gets this searing headache and the system just keeps popping up with errors, so while they are all fighting the spider hoard the system just kinda snaps and breaks. SQQ suddenly feels like he’s hit by a truck, his body starting to act like his sickly Shen Yuan body and his cultivation is tying itself into dead knots and every bone in his body feels like it’s locking up. There’s no system to blame for things as he and LBH confront MBJ and he just has to do his hardest to survive with just his spiritual sword.

And then the worse thing happens, Xiu Ya shatters.

SQQ panics at this, continuing to try his best fighting people off and eventually MBJ leaves *hooray* except not really because all the system errors are getting louder and louder in his head, and everything is blue and blaring and he might be bleeding and he can’t understand what LBH is saying even though he is right there, shaking his body and crying.

And then the abyss opens. He suddenly has the choice. He can send LBH, his white little sheep, down there to continue on with the PIDW plot, or he can… not do that.

So he pushes LBH.

Away from him. Away from the abyssal rift, only for him to be the one that falls though. He had prepared various lesson plans, life advice, what skills people to work on and so much more once he got without-a-cure, just incase he slipped up one day and couldn’t protect himself. So SQQ was satisfied as he knew his peak would be taken care of if LBH opened a specific drawer, everyone could still be taught by the hall masters and also have some future help prepared for each of them.

So SQQ let’s himself fall into the abyss, watching his student’s horrified expression as he plummets. He hears the system disconnect from LBH as he falls, all of the glowing blue error messages and pop ups instantly go away and he’s left in the dark as he sinks further and further into the abyss.

Surprisingly, he wakes up. He landed in the same field of flowers that are the reason LBH didn’t die in the original, they are filled with celestial qi in a place meant to be horrible and deadly. The one good thing about this place. He lays there for awhile and lets the plants essence fix up his meridians.

Then he has to experience the same horrifying things the protagonist did in person, fighting off each beast and trying his damn hardest to survive. It takes him a while, fighting and walking his way through what’s practically hell on earth, slaying beasts ten times his size, making sure not to fall into the trappings of demonic plants. He cuts his long hair, he thinks he will never see his peak again, so what do filial ties matter when you’re barely surviving. Sometimes the worse thing is his own mind, he feels a heavy layer of guilt to himself for so willing going along with the system. He sometimes forgets it’s not his fault too, that he was threatened to return to a dead body if he didn’t do as he was supposed to. But he’s happy sometimes too, he goes back to that field of flowers, laying in them and basking in his memories of a happier LBH, a LQG that isn’t dead, a Qing Jing peak full of song and happy healthy students.

He ascends from the abyss that day. He doesn’t know how or why but he wakes up in the same field of flowers, the sky above him no longer a damning black with red cracks seeping light in. it’s blue, soft, it hurts his eyes almost to look at it. It hurts so much but he can’t look away. He picks himself up, looking at all the grime and blood on himself and weeps in relief that he can go home. He hides his face and asks people where he is, somewhere in HHP territories, and begins to make his way back to his sect. Once he gets to his peak he sits down softly at the gate, it’s night time and there haven’t been many people about. He basks in the feeling of being home, leaning his head against the tall bamboo pole as he falls asleep.

He’s glad tomorrow is a new day, when he can see his family and just go back to his life.

(in the years he’s been gone all of CQS has been in some kind of mourning. LBH found all the letters from his shizun and they made all the disciples of QJP weep. Some of them took the advice given and left, some of them stayed and took care of a lordless peak. None of the hall masters or disciples were qualified to step up, and when the issue was raised even the peak lords agreed he shouldn’t be replaced. It was LQG who found him at the gate, going to visit the sword shrine in the bamboo house after an expedition, going to leave another fan to rot at the shrine’s foot. instead he heaved up his shixiong, hair not even reaching his shoulders, hands callused and dirty, and brought him back to the bamboo house, waking LBH in the process. Once morning light came everyone would know that their lost peak lord came home, but first they had to get the doctor to make sure he actually got through the night)

[joys-of-everyday]

On the fifty shades of morally grey

So quick thoughts on how MXTX writes morally grey.

Sorry, I mean, excessively long meta post on how MXTX writes morally grey. Light spoilers for all three books.

A gazillion caveats to begin with. Firstly, I don’t want to argue about whether character x is morally good, bad, grey, pink or whatever. In my books, arguing about whether someone is or is not morally grey is like arguing whether a colour is green, blue, teal, or turquoise – we’re arguing definitions. To add to that, I’m not saying that concepts like ‘this person is overall good’ doesn’t exist, but I would posit that a morally unquestionable person does not exist. Secondly, I also don’t want to pass moral judgements on any of the characters. That’s for a different post. I strictly want to focus on the storytelling techniques that make the reader think ‘hang on a second, are they good or bad?’. Thirdly, this whole post is mainly based on How Arcane Writes MORAL AMBIGUITY (9 Methods, 4 Rules) - YouTube. Great video, great channel (no knowledge of Arcane required). Would recommend if you are interested in story writing techniques!

1) The information gap and the poor narrator

Best example is Shen Jiu from SVSSS. We barely know anything about Shen Jiu. Almost everything we know is from SQQ’s notoriously unreliable perspective, so we’re left to fill in the gaps ourselves. Depending on exactly how those gaps are filled, you can get two completely different people. E.g. Did he have designs of NYY, or was he just ridiculously misunderstood? Who knows! We’re never told. Even if we were told, we should doubt it because it’s SQQ telling us.

2) 4D characterisation

Schnee’s video goes into this in more details, but this is where you build two narratives on top of one another. Best example is Jin Guangyao from MDZS. Is he an underdog who did what he could out of his situation and tried his best to be a better person working for the good of the common people? Or is he a selfish, manipulative, ambitious snake who at every stage pretends to be good in order to win the favour of those around him? The point is that both narratives make sense in the story. There are moments that lean more one way or another, but you can never quite pin him down completely.

3) Moments of weakness

Best example is Xie Lian from TGCF. On the whole, XL is a wonderful human being who you 100% want to root for. Except… there was that one time he made a mistake. He let his hurt and pain overcome him; he became hurtful himself. The point here is to add in just a few ‘moments’ which fundamentally impacts how the rest of the world perceives them from that point forwards. They are forever trying to redeem themselves, forever weighed down by what is a tiny proportion of their life. The underlying question is ‘is a moment of weakness a moral failure?’

Another good example is Qi Rong from TGCF. On the whole, he’s a piece of s***. But then there are moments when he’s a genuinely good father to Guzi, and that’s confusing.

4) Well-intentioned idiot

Trying to do the right thing and absolutely failing. Best example is Wei Wuxian from MDZS. His intentions are always good. There are extremely few moments where he is selfish or overly cruel. He is always fighting for justice, always self-sacrificing, always kind. And yet the outcome of his actions is pretty bad. The underlying question is ‘should you judge a person based on their intent, or on the consequences of their actions?’

(btw the name of the method is from schnee’s video. No shade on WWX. He is very smart… well, unless it comes to LWJ’s feelings.)

5) Excuses

Yes, they’re bad. But we feel sorry for them! Almost everyone fits into this boat, because doesn’t MXTX love trauma dumping? As one example, let’s look at Jiang Cheng from MDZS. JC’s behaviour towards WWX is pretty bad on its own. But given the context of his childhood being compared to him, of having his self-esteem brutally crushed by both parents? Knowing how much he’s done and sacrificed for him, how much he truly cared for him as family? It hits different.

A small point: ‘excuses aren’t enough’ we say a lot (and I agree, to an extent). But compare, for example, Jin Guangshan vs Xue Yang. JGS seems to be a power-hungry asshole for absolutely no reason. On the other hand, put XY in different circumstances and we feel like he might have been a better person. Just as food for thought, there was a Japanese monk Honen (1133-1212) who said: ‘The good person can reach the Pure Land, so of course the evil person can as well’. The point being that the people who struggle with anger and hate because of their circumstances are most in need of salvation.

6) World building and presenting hard questions

What is acceptable sacrifice in war?

Is it okay to make a super dangerous weapon for the sake of deterrence?

How much personal responsibility does someone hold for a lifetime of circumstances pushing them towards a morally questionable path?

What are the responsibilities of a leader – to do what is right, or to do what is best for their people?

The world of MDZS is imperfect. It’s full of horrors and disasters, as well as a mob of outsiders all trying to impart their opinions despite knowing little about the situation. An imperfect world presents unanswerable questions. We see the characters struggle with these questions, come to decisions, and make mistakes, all naturally arising within the complex world that’s been presented. 

TGCF does this most explicitly. We literally have Kemo and Pei Xiu arguing about the ethics of war and XL concluding that it’s a Hard Question. In fact, every backstory of every Heavenly Official presents a new Hard Question. I don’t know if I like this method over the more subtle style of MDZS, but I have Thoughts about the storytelling styles of both (long story short, I love them both for different reasons).

7) Worlds are colliding

A slightly complicated method that takes a huge amount of set up. To summarise, set up two arcs that we the reader both feel invested in. Then set up a point where the ‘good’ outcome of one is the ‘bad’ outcome of another. For MDZS, we have 1) JC and WWX’s brotherhood arc. 2) WWX standing up for justice arc. They’re both merrily developing all the way through the conflict with the Wens… right until the moment WWX has to make a choice: stand up for justice and leave JC behind, or to fulfil his promises to JC and turn a blind eye to the injustices against the Wens. The decision is a lose-lose scenario because of the way these arcs have been set up.

8) Spectrums, Spectrums, we love Spectrums

Gongyi Xiao is a cinnamon roll. As is Wen Ning and Quan Yizhen. Meanwhile, the Old Palace Master? Literally no redeeming qualities. Wen Chao? Absolute scum. Then there’s everyone lying somewhere in between. We like Lan Wangji more than JC (I think that seems to be the case for most people?) but we certainly like JC more than JGS. Having a spectrum of morality is important because it gives us reference points to contrast and compare. It also emphasises the moral greyness of everything, because sure, Mu Qing isn’t a noodle like Shi Qingxuan, but is he worse than White No Face?

9) Spectrums aren’t enough – adding depth

Almost all of WWX’s moral ambiguity comes from the fact he has hard decisions to make. And for each of these decisions, the outcome is murky. He developed a new technique to fight against the Wens, but at what cost later down the line? He defended the Wens and gave them a few years of life, but was it worth it?

Compare with JGY. JGY does a lot of good. He also does a lot of bad. The magnitude of both lists is ridiculous. Sure, you wouldn’t usually find someone who’s killed most of their family members in any way likable, but how often do you come across someone who literally ended a war?

So one way of creating moral ambiguity is to make each decision difficult, but another way to go about it is to just… make them do loads of things. Like loads of things. Good things, bad things, all the in between things. Judging each thing is not that hard, but then trying to judge the overall person based on it is extremely difficult.

10) Pulling from the real world

Often, moral questions in fiction is hard because (surprise, surprise) moral questions are just hard full stop. Idk enough Chinese history and culture to accurately pin down all of MXTX’s references, but things like stupid misunderstands leading to conflict, poverty and inequality, less than ideal family situations, the horrors of war… these are all things that happen irl. No matter how fantastical the setting, grounding moral conflicts in reality makes us feel more emotional and invested.

Anyway, I hope that was an enjoyable rundown! This is an imperfect list, so comments, criticisms, suggestions greatly appreciated!

[danmeiconfession]

This is part 2 of 'allegations' against SJ

"Oh, SJ is a child abuser who abused talented disciples." Okay... Just name three disciples he abused other than LBH. Or give me one statement about it given by the great lord Airplane shooting towards the sky. Do you have any? No, right? It came from an unreliable shit called Shen Yuan who, from his hcs, had always believed SJ abused talented disciples. If SJ did abuse some unnamed disciples, then why didn't they come to testify against him? It was only LBG who cried to others about how he was uuuuuuuu..... abused by his master.... 😭 Then again, isn't this another way to manipulate people? I'm not saying this isn't canon. But isn't this exaggerating more than what actually happened? Even your YQY 'who has always been biased towards SJ' claimed that his treatment towards LBH was wrong. No 'xyz/abc/lmn' disciple, only LBH.

And okay, maybe he did, in modern terms, abuse his disciples but in ancient China, it is fucking normal. There are so many novels in which whipping their disciples is a method of discipline. The perfect example is in MXTX's 2nd book MDZS. Didn't LQR whip his disciples? Isn't LWJ's back full of whip scars? Then how come SJ whipping LBH or his disciples is abuse?

Even in SVSSS, LQG abandoned his disciples, and when he comes back, he beat them black and blue until they all needed to end up at QCP. Hell, even your 'Holy mother of God SY' has abandoned and abused his—no, no, no, not his but SJ's disciples mentally. I'll never call them SY's disciples. They have to deal with BZP regularly. They have to pay for the damages caused by BZP from their own allowances. And what did SY do? He was annoyed by it and continued to coddle LBH. He has the audacity to claim himself as SQQ PL of QJP. Then shouldn't he take responsibility for the Peak and their disciples? No, his only priority has always been LBH—only to save his own ass, might I add.

Also, 'Holy mother of God SY' directly abused some BZP disciples. He was 'punishing' them using their Shifu as bait. He made LQG beat up his own disciples only because they were abusing LBH, no MF, no NYY or any other QJP disciple. Only because they were abusing LBH."

.

[ectoodle]

Hello! I wanted to ask what made you fall in love with bingqiu?

Hey there!

Ah hmm that's an interesting question, I've never thought about it actually. I like bingqiu a lot, but I never considered it as falling in love with the ship? They're a fun ship to play with and they have a wide range that's pretty flexible so I'm always in my comfort zone drawing them.

I suppose most of the art I draw for bingqiu are a love letter to them, though. And I think that's pretty telling of my brain rot for them 😂

I think the food the fandom cooked up really helped a lot. SV fic writers are on a whole other plane of existence when it comes to analyzing binghe's character and filling in on his journey of healing with sqq by his side. I'm the annoying type of audience that gets bored when the main couple gets together at the end...so when scum villain ended the way it did, mxtx may as well have german suplexed me on the concrete. scum villain is a story that subverts its tropes left and right and the ending was no exception! I love that bingqiu getting together at the end was not an automatic happily ever after, but rather, they still are putting in the work and effort to understand and stay in each other's lives. The glimpse of that path we get in the extras really did solidify my desire to see how bingqiu will continue to stay together--bingmei vs bingge extra was probably the finishing blow for me tho lmao. I couldn't stop thinking about what the heck happened to bingge after he left the sv world that I read a bunch of fics about him and needed to soothe the angst with sv bingqiu

on a side tangent, bingqiu parallels another of my all time ship, nozomizo from liz and the blue bird. mild spoilers if you haven't seen liz, but nozomizo had a similar codependent relationship that needed them both to grow apart as individuals in order to stay together. bingqiu separated unwillingly and binghe's growth as an individual was fueled by betrayal, despair, and that dying glimmer of hope that maybe, maybe shizun could accept him now that they're equals. but they don't. because binghe still hasn't emotionally grown to get past his temper tantrums (thanks xin mo) and sqq is still failing binghe by constantly misunderstanding him. but bingqiu still choose each other, choose to love and support each other, and they refuse to be separated again. whereas nozomizo was a healthy separation with a promise of reunion, bingqiu was fighting through the muddy trenches with a vague hope that the other is reaching out their hands too. i thought it was neat how differently both ships handled their codependency that still guarantees a happy ending, no matter how dirty and bruised they got along the way.

I also think sqq's compassionate narration in regards to binghe's suffering got to me lmao. He truly does care for binghe, and even if naysayers argue it's not romantic, it's undeniable that binghe is special to sqq. although not the best choices, most if not all of his choices were for binghe's best interest (thanks system). sqq had so much heart for binghe that it affected me through the screen too. binghe's abandonment issues and fake wet tears have captivated me. his gap moe as a chuuni emo demonic overlord and wife with a maidenly glass heart has bewitched me body and soul. i want luo binghe to be happy so badly!!

i think that's why bingqiu fascinates me. most of the bingqiu arts i draw are like slice of life vignettes, so without the meat and bones of fanfic diving into bingqiu's messiness, i would not have ascended to this level of brain rot for them...

[oleanderedits]

I think the closest we get to him talking about mbj’s chest in canon is from vol 4, page 169: “while watching [mbj] undress, nursing both extreme envy and extreme admiration for the figure and abs he had longed for in his dreams” (also dear lord sqh your thirst is unquenchable isn’t it?)

The rest of the time his descriptions show an obsession with mbj’s face.

I do however enjoy this mass fanon bit than the other one that treat’s mbj’s teleporting power as a portal power.

At no time is it ever described in canon as portaling in and opening a portal (only xin mo does that), but it is described as “move under the cover of darkness anywhere at anytime” (pg 180) and “And ink-blue silhouette fluttered into view like a specter”. (pg250) mbj teleports. Also... he teleports when sqh calls for him - after having spent a month not being able to find him. And interestingly, earlier in the extras - pg 180 where the teleport power is described - he has no trouble teleporting right to sqh and finding him without having known where he was before.

The difference seems to be that until that month of hiding happened, sqh had never not wanted to be found by mbj before. we don’t know all the perks being the author gave sqh as a system user, but sqq never mentioned a return home function being offered. it’s possible that sqh has a singular ability to control certain aspects of his favorite character - summoning mbj or preventing him from teleporting to his side.

tangent aside, I like teleporting mbj more than portaling mbj, but subscribe whole heartedly to mbj-boobs obsessed sqh

You know sometimes fanon is just more fun

Like it's not stated anywhere but the fandom is convinced that Shang Qinghua is obsessed with Mobei Jun's tiddies

Just fixated on them

We gave this man a particular fetish and we are sticking with it and I love that for us and for him

[icancdramahanfu]

hello! Id like to ask if you can describe what are the layers Luo Binghe (thai version) from SVSSS are wearing? Im having troubles the one with the collar im on a budget and I wanna cosplay him thanks a bunch!

Hello, 

Happy to hear you are looking to cosplay LBH!  Ah, the very pretty but complicated Thai cover artwork. . . this one makes me groan at how intricate it is.  I screen shot this from the SVSSS carrd.

There is a lot of layer action going on.  Kityone, an amazing soul, did great work to remove text from more official artwork for the Thai editions.

This is the only full length shot of Binghe’s outfit I could find.

kityone, did a spectacular job; when you click on the image you can zoom in!

Layers 1.) Zhong yi layer 1- innermost layer - black.  I’d pick a cotton or linen fabric for this.  You are looking at one that is very slim fitting. The Hanfu Story sells them as well to give you an idea for cut; see here

2.) Zhiju layer 2 - straight hem robe - black with narrow sleeves.  It has what I think is an ‘artistic/anachronistic’ high Mandarin-ish style collar.  The Erha manhua/artwork does this all the time.  It seems to be a thing for xianxia attire.  It is hard to find info on this in English, so, I could totally be wrong.  I can only find that type of collar on vintage patterns - think cheongsam/qipao or maybe Qing historical garments.  I’d personally copy the cheongsam/qipao collar as a base pattern and then modify it to match the hanfu style.  I know this is a huge shortcut but it makes sense in my mind.  Do a mock up with scrap fabric. 3.) Zhuji layer 3 - straight hem robe with red neck placket and red sleeve cuffs.  I think this has shorter sleeves that fall just past the elbow (3/4 length?) and are super wide.  [cries in sheer yardage]  The sleeve looks like it almost reaches mid-calf or lower.  I think it is supposed to be imperial/royal level - like the looooong sleeves you see in Nirvana in Fire worn by the princes when they attend court.  The neckline is a deeper V and I think a good reference for the cut is from the cdrama My Heroic Husband with the MC, Ning Yi.  His outfits frequently have this style which makes a clear X across the chest.  The blue/teal one in the middle is the best match and seems to fall in the right spot on the chest.

4.) Belt with long fabric strip/accent.  I have no idea what the large silver belt buckle is supposed to look like - we don’t have good enough detail and resolution.  However, we can see that there is a long strip of red fabric that falls from the waist down the front to the feet almost.  On top of the red fabric is a fancier accent piece in black with silver trim and tassels.  I think it is a mix of these accessories from LBH and SQQ in the Korean cover here.  With the shape of SQQ’s being a slightly better match - minus the tasseled pendant.

5.) Banbi jacket/coat - white with red trim and “artistic” choice collar.  The jacket is a short sleeve one with a red cuff/trim that is clearly an under layer but I would attach it to the white jacket to make my life easier and less sweaty.  The popped collar baffles me - is it sort of like a jacket with a lapel-ish collar?  It gives me vibes of the jackets that Sakamoto and Takasugi wear in Gintama and shogunate officials which are also anachronistic by design in a series like Gintama.  Or maybe a better comparison is the donghua for Thousand Autumns and Yan Wushi’s open collar layer?

It looks like the neck placket itself is thick in the middle and normal on the outside.  I’ve attempted to make a quick example of what I think this looks like here.

I think this is what I would do to sew it onto the jacket and make sure to add interfacing and iron it well. I would do these five layers if I wanted to cosplay this LBH outfit.  The zhong yi layer is really important since that is where you are gonna sweat the most, I found it worked well with my 13 hours of WKX with a wig in LA having to stand outside in lines in the summer temps. Good luck!

[janecrockeyre]

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

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

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

Part One: Introduction and the Tragic Hero

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Part One: The Tragic Hero

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

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

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

Shen Yuan

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

Shen Jiu

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

Luo Binghe

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

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

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

Shen Yuan is a second generation new money rich kid. 

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

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

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

This brings us to:

Part Two: Peripeteia

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

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

Shen Qingqiu

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

Shen Yuan (SQQ 2.0)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bingmei

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

KING LEAR

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

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

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

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

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

If that her breath will mist or stain the stone,

Why, then she lives.

[...]

 KING LEAR

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

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

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

Never, never, never, never, never!

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

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

Look there, look there!

Dies

Versus this scene in SVSSS: 

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

[...]

Luo Binghe involuntarily held Shen Qingqiu closer.

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

“I… I didn’t want to kill you…”

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

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

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

[shinebrightlikeanarwhal]

Harem Shen Jiu idea!!

Shen Jiu being taken in by a madam of a prominent house. Raised as a daughter and treated like a pretty trophy by the sons and husband of the house. Of course she knows SJ is a boy but for his safety they team up to make everyone think he’s a beautiful girl.

YQY never stopped searching for Xiao Jiu. From peak to peak he’d follow his Shizun everywhere to search and caught sight of pale skin and pretty green eyes. A veil around the lower half of the face and neck. Those sharp calculatrice eyes were his Xiao Jiu!! What did these kids mean by young mistresses Fei??

LQG was curious. The only person strong enough to fight him was hellbent on the hunt for some boy. Was it a boy? Whomever Xiao Jiu was, they were a nuisance to LQG. Or so he thought until he found himself on his butt with a fan to his throat. A very angry little miss scowling at him. Maybe YQY was right about Xiao Jiu being one of a kind…

MBJ stumbled onto the young mistress by accident. He was still young and his uncle had thrown him to the humans as a way of trying to kill him. Instead he finds himself in the arms of a worried youngster. Being checked for temperature and he feels warm??? A human made such a strong impact that this mobei strives to get stronger and spirit them away.

LBH is absolutely feral when he gets to the sect and SJ isn’t there. How dare his shizun avoid consequences of another life entirely?? Oh?? But who’s this pretty cultivator that graces the peaks once every blue moon? His shizun?? Such beauty and grace!? He knew SQQ was beautiful, ethereal really, but to see him actually sociable and showing off his beauty. It was astounding! Mind boggling!! LBH becomes obsessed with this shizun. A shizun that never learned from CQMS. He will unite the lands and make SJ his one and only ethereal empress!!

SQH just wants to simp in peace! This is his second reincarnation but somehow he’s stuck with LBG from his money grabbing plot and is mortified when MBJ demands he keep a close eye on the cultivating worlds rare beauty!! His king wants to marry his princess!? Ah… but they would make pretty babies… maybe SQH should hint at that next time MBJ receives a report.

Gyx is the worlds luckiest disciple. SJ took interest in him and offers to claim him as his own disciple, like mother like son. He develops a close bond with his new shizun. Trailing after the cold beauty and doing everything to the best of his ability. (LBH is seething) tea time with SJ is nice and calm when GYX is around. No crusty men vying for his affections. The local strays and kids also tag along to enjoy tea and snacks!

Or;

SJ getting a harem simply because they learn his personality and not assume things. LBG fighting for his life to get close to SJ. MBJ happily bridesnatches to be at least one of the first three husbands!

[kimievii]

tagged by @highstrionics thank you so much!! ♥ and sorry, it took me quite some time to do this ;;

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fave colour: I don’t think I have one favorite colour actually. But I tend to love shades of purple, blue, pink, grey and green a lot.

currently reading: Not reading any novel at the moment (even though I have many (way too many) in my to-read list. But right now all I can read is fanfiction. Pretty obsessed with this svsss fanfic (bingyuan, magical boys au) Balala Like Magic, You Transform My Heart by Kuku88 at the moment!)

last song: I’ve been listening to nothing but lofi hip-hop for the past two weeks. I don’t know why I kept denying myself this for such a long time because turns out it one of my favorite things to listen to and it’s been doing wonders to help me motivate myself into writing. I’ve been listening mostly the classic Lofi girl, but also found this band and especially this video from them, which I’ve been listening in repeat lately!

last series: First Kill. Watched it with a friend when he was over at my place because we didn’t know what else to watch but it was... disappointing tbh ;;;

last movie: It’s been so long since I last watched a movie that I don’t... even remember what it was, huh. I think it was Encanto? God, it’s been a while...

currently working on: Working on a SVSSS fanfic at the moment. I wrote 4 chapters so far and still have a lot to do. I just hope I’ll manage to finish that one (I have a bad habit of dropping wips, reasons why I no longer publish anything...) SVSSS is a fanfom that inspires me so much, though, it’s crazy. Like, I have a good dozens of fic ideas and parts of me really hope I’ll manage to write them all.

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share 10 different favorite characters from ten different pieces of media in no particular order, then tag 10 people 🎥🎬📺

(this part took me forever tbh 10 different pieces of media is a lot for me, and having to pick just 1 for each piece was also super hard ;;;

1. Shen Qingqiu (SVSSS) - God SQQ, what a dork. I love him. I love him SO MUCH. So much. He’s my everything.

2. Cloud Strife (FFVII) - I cannot make a list of character and not mention him. He’s been a fave for roughly 20 years, after all.

3.  Lan Wangji (MDZS) - What to say, he’s a dear, I adore him ;v;

4. Crowley (Good Omens) - Favorite fallen angel~

5. Axel/Lea (kingdom hearts series) - By far my favorite character in the KH series. 

6. Atem (Yu-Gi-Oh! DM & Season 0) -  Possibly one of my very first fictional “crushes”.

7. Frodo Baggins (LOTR) - Kinda like Cloud Strife, he’s been a fave for so long. I adore him.

8. Thanatos (Hades by Supergiant Games) - As far as I can tell, everyone loves Thanatos in Hades, and for very good reasons. I think me saying “He’s a dear, he’s a dork, I adore him” is valid for literally every single characters in this list =‘D

9. Ja’far (Magi The Labyrinth of Magic) - You know, it’s funny because I don’t actually like Magi all that much, and dropped the manga fairly early on and yet Ja’far remains one of my favorite characters. I loved him then, I love him still. 

10. Mabudachi trio (Ayame, Shigure and Hatori Sohma - Fruits Basket) - Can’t mention one without the other two so I made an exception here and picked all three. Teenage me adored them so much aah 

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Tagging 10 people is just too much, I never know who to tag ;;; But feel free to do this even if I’m not tagging you!

Tagging @oddishblossom ; @demoiselledefortune ; @spacedoutpup ; @xkilluas(only if you guys want to!)

[scribble-dee-doo]

svsss fic ideas

1. moshang accidental telepathy - i'm thinking one-sided for mbj getting surround-sound chatter while sqh has no idea and mbj gets a head full of sqh being intensely sarcastic and insulting at people and also gets a look at the advanced calculus sqh pulls out whenever he's trying to interpret mbj behavior

1.2 bonus system is fine with this until it dings one of its rare notifs and suddenly sqh is getting penalized for revealing the system Cue much panic and mbj experiencing his first existential crisis

1.3 bonus bonus adhd sqh

2. bingqiu sqq is tired of binghe blaming himself for things and decides to work on that via calling lbh whenever he breaks a teapot or trips on a stick to tell him it wasn't his fault like he's reverse-training a cat on consequences

3. moshang sqh is accidentally (or on purpose!) exposed to an artefact/ritual/macguffin that's for "rewarding human retainers for faithful service to demonkind" except the reward is slowly developing into a new type of demon based on personality traits so of course sqh ends up a camouflage/mimic-focused type with venom and fast escape mode. i'm thinking about blue-ringed octopus and mantis shrimps. hmmm.

3.2 bonus mbj doesn't know why sqh has suddenly taken a proactive attitude towards disposing of his enemies but he's here for it

3.3 bonus bonus sqh is 1. Too Sneaky (slow-active venom or just moves too fast) 2. very desensitized to demons at this point 3. Very Preoccupied and letting autopilot manage a lot without realizing that his autopilot has been switched out for a different model which results in shenanigans such as killing people right in front of mbj and mbj Does Not Notice sqh is the killer and sqh getting dragged into investigating the rash of mysterious murders that seem to be following mbj. sqh does not realize that he's the killer. if mbj doesn't figure it out then we have the two of them in a paranoia feedback loop that of course means sqh is tightening security and Very Stressed that murders keep happening. if mbj knows then it's just sqh running around trying to solve his own murders and tearing his hair out about mbj not taking him seriously.

4. aroace sqh - northern demon culture is rife with sworn-brother and other found family ceremonies bc sqh hasn't come across qp relationships and is struggling to conceptualize a dedicated relationship without the """standard""" relationship markers and is unloading his feelings about it on mbj

5. og!sqq - i'm not Totally versed on shen jiu's bg but i'm under the impression that after he escaped he took up with a rogue cultivator who he? killed? maybe??? so au where the rogue cultivator is part of a loose alliance of ex-slave rogue cultivators who specialize in heart-demons as part of their cultivation path and are focused on rescuing people and breaking up human trafficking rings hence remaining rogue cultivators even though shen jiu now has enough adopted extended family to technically qualify as a small sect and they All want to pinch his cheeks and feed him.

5.2 shen jiu's teacher would like to know why the sect leader of the most powerful sect in the world is bothering her student. she's recognizing familiar behavior patterns. she's contemplating how to adopt a man who thinks he's graduated from cultivator school with a foundation like that. she thinks it's a worthy challenge. sqq dearly wants his mom to reconsider bullying a man who can squish her like a bug but after all the times she critiqued his attempts to assassinate her he knows it's a lost cause

[chaoticgoodlawyerwrites]

Sorry for my out-of-the blue question since I haven't messaged you before, but I just couldn't help myself after reading Chapter 19 (which is awesome, by the way!) I couldn't help but think that because of a certain *action* that Shen Qingqiu took during the ending scene, along with the line, "once [...] awakened" that this could prompt some major chaos - something happening while Binghe's in the Abyss, prompting a premature return before anyone or anything is fully ready or prepared....and like always, Shen Qingqiu has just brought it on himself. I'm probably reading too much into it, but that moment did have me sucking in air through my teeth for a moment!

Hey no worries! Ah you caught me right before sleep so I may not be getting to your question in full but I’ll try!

SQQ does bring a lot of things on himself for sure, but likely not this one thing! They need to be in the same realm for that thing to be an issue. Luckily, Binghe’s instinct is to never hurt him, so there are unlikely to be unexpected bad consequences at a later date.

Thanks for asking! Always cool to know folks are thinking about the fic after reading it. Also happy you enjoyed the chapter!!

[gloriousmonsters]

If you don't mind me asking, who are your favorite “villains” (or antagonists) in all of MXTX novels? (Whether you want to do a ranking or just write out in no particular order)...Sorry if you've answered this question before....Thanks....

part of me wants to do a full ranking but I feel like that's the devil talking. so I'll just name off some of my favorites.

Su Minshan is the obvious one, because he's basically taking THREE types of character i usually like a lot (villain with Failed/Gone Wrong Hero vibes; sneaky cursing & poisoning bastard energy; devoted subordinate of other villain I like) and combining them into one package.

Jin Guangyao is a close followup, tho. I'm also a huge fan of villains with incongruous personalities to their main role in the story, and appreciate that he's a genuinely well done 'villain with some good points'--genuine good balanced against genuine bad, and a lot of crunchy neutral and gray stuff in between. Also it's so common to have villains that are trying to get High In Society look down on or plan to discard of any villainous connections they have, but JGY eschews that to have genuine relationships with both XY and SMS. we stan.

...Fuck I'm gonna have to put Xue Yang third. MDZS just knocked it out of the park with its villains for me, lol. I've mentioned in the past that I've been very fond of 'slightly childish ~crazy~ murderer' character types in the past and were always disappointed with how little depth they had, so XY is a gift in that way. And every other way. The Yi City arc is one of the, if not the, best MXTX subplot of all time, and it couldn't be the way it is without XY.

Tianlang-Jun and Zhuzhi-Lang from SVSSS are right up there as well, just because they're so entertaining. A friend described Zhuzhi-Lang as being like a fairy that decides it owes you a favor so it keeps trying to help you out, but it just does it in the worst and most unhelpful ways possible. Tianlang-jun is just... such a creep, but in such a straightforward way it's hilarious instead of offputting (him dragging up a chair to (presumably) watch SQQ and ZZL fuck is one of my top funny moments from SVSSS as a whole) and both of them have an entertaining Blue and Orange Morality vibe to them I enjoy. Not to mention ZZL's extra chapters killed me emotionally 😢

Aand last but not least, can we call the Three Tumors villains? I feel like at least Ling Wen can count as an antagonist, considering that she acts as one for a chunk of the book. Ling Wen, and Shi Wudu if we can stretch the definition. (I feel like General Pei, with his extremely tenuous Token Good Teammate qualities, doesn't quite make the grade but rest assured I love him too). I just *points at top of list* love horrible people that care about each other! The truest of friendship is knowing where each other's bodies are buried, metaphorically, and Pei Ming and Ling Wen both reacting in a way that indicates they KNOW about the He Xuan business really speaks to the depth of theirs. Shi Wudu kind of hits me where it hurts as someone who came from a bad family and got out with one sibling, and Ling Wen just. Has my heart. 10/10 would bring her tea every morning and never ask about her murky past.

[othercat2]

Writing Update!

I am going to be posting some meta stuff to my Wordpress blog. Some might be from my tumblr, or from elsewhere. I have some original fic ideas, but they don't really go anywhere, much to my frustration. (I will post more about them on my original fic tumblr.) I have some vague plans to do more prompts. Failing all writing goals, I might also write about not being able to write!

(molasses dark as pitch): This has a slow build, and I'm not sure where I'm going with this, though some goddamn ashen dates would be nice, as well as confirmations of the pale and flushed romances with Shang Qinghua. How many chapters that will take, I have no clue. I also want to do something with the YQY/SQQ relationship.

some other story line: I have some idea where I'm going with this, and it is somewhat grimdark. I have to be in a certain Mood to write grimdark. PLS be patient. Grimdark is hard.

Duende: ALSO GRIMDARK. I kind of know how the ending goes, but I have less of an idea of the middle. I did mention grimdark is hard, right? I am also slightly frustrated with it because I realized the "gotcha" is similar to some other story line's "gotcha."

The cute little Murderbot/MDZS fics: I want to write more of them. I also want to write more of the cute Hidden Almanac/MDZS fics.

Of course I want to finish Build a Life from Scratch. I think it is closer to getting done! (I don't want to Jinx myself though.) I have some parts of the ending. I need the climactic battle and all that. I worry about climactic battles. :/

(they flow from form to form) I will have more time for this fic once Build is complete. That is unless my brain gets eaten by another fic. I have an idea of what's going on, and the ending, but I had to start over on the most recent chapter, and might have to re-re-restart. :/

Rebel and Conqueror: *sigh* I have no idea of what I'm going to do with this fic. OYYYYY.

Crooked Little House series: I want to continue the most recent story. As you do.

lions with blue mane: Same here! I don't know if I can get to it or not.

Pernstuck: I might want to do more stories in this setting.

That one Homestuck/Belgariad crossover: I really, really want to continue this. It makes me very sad that I haven't been able to work on it. I might rewrite bits.

All of the Bleach Stuff: *sob* I want to work on these but I have so many WIPs. I'll see what I can do, because I don't want to just dump them in the incomplete works section. :/

[tossawary]

Some random favorite lines (with commentary) of Chapter 20: “The Other Shoe” of “pride is not the word I’m looking for” because I’m doing a re-read. Not a full list or full commentary.

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AN: I actually really like the title of this chapter. It’s a reference to the saying, “Waiting for the other shoe to drop.” Both in regards to the arrival of SVSSS’s other transmigrator and to the sudden, forced System World Update that happens because SQH’s been breaking the world too much.

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 One of Mu Qingfang’s glowing hands is on the man’s bared stomach, while another rests on his chest, and Shen Qingqiu bares his teeth in agony. Mu Qingfang is speaking very quickly to the people around him - voice sharp with urgency and brow furrowed with intense concentration - giving instructions to his patient, his head disciple at his side, and his sect leader. 

 Yue Qingyuan is kneeling beside Shen Qingqiu, hunched and desperate and wild-eyed, letting the other man squeeze all life and feeling from his fingers, the both of them holding on for dear life. 

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AN: My feelings towards YQY, SQQ, and Qijiu have their ups and downs, but I’m always firmly convinced that they care. If they cared less, if they were both more vulnerable people, maybe they could actually talk about it. 

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 The young man has short hair -  short hair -  short enough that the tips only just cover the top of his ears. That’s one of the many haircuts Shang Qinghua thinks about wistfully every time the weather gets too fucking hot for fancy long hair. The kid turns to look at Shang Qinghua, clearly terrified, wide-eyed behind his glasses.  Glasses!  Semi-rimless glasses with bright blue frames! And to top it all off, the kid is barefoot and wearing  patterned pyjamas, with buttons and a breast pocket, and just the sight of them is nearly enough to knock Airplane Shooting Towards The Sky back on his ass. 

  Modern  hair.  Modern  glasses.  Modern clothing. 

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AN: Why give SY piercings? Idk, because it’s fun. That’s it. Here’s some young punk with a cool haircut and cool piercings and also glasses and button-down patterned pyjamas, who likes to read shitty stallion novels for the monsters and the emotional arcs and negative development of the sexy protagonist. 

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 Shang Qinghua launches forward and grabs the transmigrator - holy fucking shit, the  transmigrator  - by the arms. The transmigrator  wobbles  under Shang Qinghua’s hands, which makes Shang Qinghua’s skin crawl in sympathy and  “get me the fuck away from this thing” horror, but there’s something there - something mostly there - to hold. The kid struggles, but he’s not strong and not heavy, and Shang Qinghua is arguably a little bit more than human at this point. 

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AN: They are both... SO FAR from home. 

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 Flashy and attention-grabbing? Yes. Probably a crime against graphic design? Also yes. Ahhh, Airplane Shooting Towards The Sky probably thought it was cool! But it’s been… ehhh… a few decades in the world itself has given Shang Qinghua some opinions and different tastes. Super nostalgic! But, like, in a very bad, dread-inducing,  “a haunting image from another life”,  and  “someone just walked over my grave”  way. 

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AN: It is immensely funny to me to imagine someone being genuinely (and for good reason) haunted by some shitty web-novel banner. It’s like picturing a “Modern Character in Naruto” Self-Insert knee-deep in some extremely bloody ninja wars and then being confronted by the Naruto title design again. 

The dissonance of experiences! 

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“...You’re… you’re a transmigrator,” the kid says. 

 Being found out is definitely one of the Top Ten Worst Transmigration Crimes, so far as Shang Qinghua has been able to pierce them together from his System’s disapproval. But, ahhh, it looks like Shang Qinghua’s own System has just done that for him! What the fuck are rules or reality anymore? 

 “For my sins,” he answers. 

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AN: Says the Author God of this world, Airplane Shooting Towards The Sky. 

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 "So! You're a reader?" Shang Qinghua asks. "A fan?" 

 "I wouldn't say 'fan',” the kid grumbles, lifting his chin while still visibly trembling. “What's the other option? Someone who didn't waste hours of their life on a stallion novel written by someone with no taste and the writing skills of a grade-schooler? A ‘non-reader’?" The kid's eyes narrow. "The author?" 

 Shang Qinghua is both mildly hurt and reluctantly impressed. “Ah, wow, you’re sharp,” he says. “An anti-fan, then? Hey, that’s fine, it was kind of all the same to me, really.” 

 The kid blinks at him, apparently surprised to be right. “You’re… Airplane?” 

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AN: SY can be a complacent guy sometimes, but he can also be sharp sometimes too. It’s a fun balance. 

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 He’s been here, alone, for decades. If there are more transmigrators, Shang Qinghua is going to scream. In fact, it’s really unfair that he’s not screaming now! He would really, really,  really  like to start panicking now! He’s having a day here! Except the kid currently has the  “allowed to panic”  ball right now. Dying (Shang Qinghua assumes), transmigration, almost becoming  Shen Qingqiu, and getting a broken transmigration instead? That’s a lot of bad news in very quick succession! Shang Qinghua doesn’t want to set the kid off or make an even worse first impression by having a much-deserved breakdown. 

 He’ll have his breakdown later in private, like a responsible adult. 

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AN: SQH has the “Responsible Adult” Override here. 

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“The time and place for your appearance wasn’t good,” Shang Qinghua admits. “But I can come up with something for a mysterious backstory. I have some pull here, you know. There are lots of teleportation plot-devices lying around. You’re an escapee from somewhere, fleeing… ah, something. Someone, maybe! Hey, you pretend to have amnesia about the whole thing and we call it a day! If we’re lucky, you get lost in the shuffle!” 

 “Amnesia,” the kid repeats, unimpressed. 

 “It’s cliché because it’s a classic, Cucumber-Bro.” 

 “I’ve always wanted to be a  Proud Immortal Demon Way  background character with potential for an interesting story, but who gets abandoned in favor of  papapa plotlines and fades away into non-existence!” 

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AN: Cucumberplane banter is just fun. 

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 “Hey, want to learn to cultivate? You can learn to cultivate!” 

 “With  your cultivation system?” the kid says, unimpressed and wary, but he’s totally considering it. Flying swords are pretty tempting! 

 Kids love the flying swords! 

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AN: SQH is definitely trying to pull a “hey, shiny thing!” tactic. 

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“...The System will look after you,” Shang Qinghua says. 

 The kid squints at him. “What?” 

 “I was lying before,” Shang Qinghua lies. “I just didn’t want to do the update. Yeah, it’s actually going to be fine. Everything is going to be fine, bro.” 

 Now the kid called Peerless Cucumber looks like he doesn’t know whether to be relieved or furious; he looks like he’s managing both at once pretty well. “You’re only looking out for yourself here, aren’t you?” he says icily. “It’s like you really are Shang Qinghua.” 

 “The one and only,” Shang Qinghua agrees. 

- 

AN: There’s a lot I like about this moment. Shang Qinghua lying to comfort Shen Yuan in the face of the unknown. Shen Yuan being prickly again and pulling out another insult. Airplane honestly being the only Shang Qinghua there’s ever been in this world. He really is Shang Qinghua now! This is his life! 

- 

 He needs to think that he has some control over the life he is living  right now and has been living for decades now. This is a life that he really doesn’t want to see actually become the shitty story he wrote. 

 Shang Qinghua grabs the kid by the arm and makes for th

- 

AN: This was mean, but it was also a lot of fun. I’ve had AO3 glitches before. Time to mimic them now in a serial storytelling format for tension!

[touchmycoat]

OP!Anon for Leverage!HX/LQG: *SCREAM* oh I adore how you wrote this - HX is so good at reading everyone and understanding how to motivate/manipulate them, except for lqg. I love how angry he got at the idea of lqg seeing him in the same light as swd, and also how lqg's just like, yep, swd's gotta die when he heard the full story. I love the idea of HC coming in like the king he is and laying down the law about XL. ahhhhhhh!!!! just imagining hx and lqg getting close after lots of shenanigans!

teamwork baby

"Xue Yang must die" is literally one of my favorite WWX quotes of all time LMFAO time to pay homage

so you know how in book 3, during the Black Water arc, HX is there trying to push his whole scheme forward? It's well-timed, well-thought-out, but the only fucking spanner that keeps jumping back into his work is XL-and-therefore-HC? Yeah I imagine working with grifter!HC is pretty much like that. He's always late or never shows up at all to briefings, or he shows up to the very end to hear the conclusion and goes "Nope, that's fucking stupid, change it." SQQ's like "Why??" and HC's like "oh, lil boy can't figure it out?"

and whenever they have an actual plan going, HC sometimes just shows up and starts doing his own thing in the middle and forces HX to keep up. This is often motivated by one of XL's jobs, and XL would ask if HC knows a little piece of intel, and HC would be like "oh you know what, I actually have a hostage right here to ask about that, one moment please :)" and utterly prioritize XL's thing. HX has to change the job on the fly so many times, and it's so fucking annoying, but it's not like HC leaves him at a dead end, so he always does find a way out.

(this got fucking long, but HX/LQG under the cut)

Bingliushen are also annoyed as fuck, but while they're godtier at their own things, none of them are mastermind-level (yet—Binghe's gonna get there, isn't he), so they just have to put their faith in HX and keep chugging forward. This is how the foundation builds, y'know? HX insists to both others and himself that he's being honest and faithful to his team because that's just the best way to handle them, not 'cause he's actually a team player and not 'cause he cares for anybody at all. And LQG's a simple guy—you save my life, I'll save yours. You act in good faith, I'll be loyal in turn.

It starts with something small. HX's suffered tremendous loss, and has been on his own for a very, very long time. He's used to taking care of himself, but we all know LQG's love language is "here, you dropped this. I've been quietly paying attention to everything you like and do, no big deal." So maybe it happens on a mission. HC has three marks to dupe in succession, and they're playing a nasty Big Pharma group, so it's hitting close to home for HX. At the last minute though, HC says over the comm, "the CEO & CFO made me. Must've recognized me from speaking to the secretary earlier. He Xuan."

"Can you still do the COO?"

"I'm not about to waste this outfit, am I."

and HX has to hop in and do 2/3rds of the grifting himself, which is fine, he's completely capable of this, he's a goddamn prodigy at hiding his murderous tendencies. but out of nowhere LQG is on the line, "Shen Qingqiu, you said you can hack the finances, right?"

"Yes, but nothing else."

"Then He Xuan doesn't have to talk to the CFO. Give me 2 minutes, I'll knock him out."

and HX doesn't stop him because sure, why not? It was more efficient for HC to do three of them at once, but now that it was HX doing it (and HX still has his own part to play), it would save them more effort if LQG goes for the blunt force solution. But it rubs HX the wrong way—what the fuck? Yeah, HX may not like grifting as much as HC, the stupid drama queen, but hasn't he proven himself every bit as capable of it? Why did LQG think it necessary to, what, bail him out?

So that night, after debrief, HX pulls LQG aside to give him a piece of his mind. "Don't ever try to override my judgment again." "What are you talking about?" "I made a call, I did not need your 'help' on the grift." "That wasn't help." "Then what was it." "You hate talking to guys like that!" "???" "You didn't need to talk to him, and I was right there. It was the obvious thing to do."

and HX still doesn't get it, not until the next day, when SQQ and HX are quietly setting up for the morning, and SQQ says out of the blue, "that's just how he cares. Liu Qingge, I mean. It's never an ego thing once he's your friend."

"I don't need friends," is HX's automatic response.

"No," SQQ snorts in agreement. "You need revenge. That's fine. Then I'm sure he'll get over it."

Which—okay—no? Bastard. That's just a passive aggressive attempt at a guilt trip, and it's not going to work. HX has already made it abundantly clear from the get-go that this was simply a job, he was the pointman, once they were done everybody will go on their way. It's not his fault SQQ dragged in a hitman with the loyalty instincts of a german shepherd, and it's certainly none of his business whether LQG treats him as friend or a colleague.

LQG will just have to be disappointed.

BUT OF COURSE WHAT GOES ON TO HAPPEN IS THAT HX sees more and more of the things LQG does, the ways LQG manages to be thoughtful. The way LQG handles visitors during HX’s mealtimes despite how much LQG hates talking to randos, bc HX has bad food days and can’t really stand eating with others. The time they had some time to kill undercover in a consultant’s office, and HX passed the time by pointing out all the things wrong with the office’s mini-aquarium set-up, so when SQQ brought up something inane about decorating their headquarters, LQG made HX draw up specs for a saltwater tank of their own. HX and everybody else kept insisting it was a waste of time, but LQG still went ahead and got it made anyways, and now it’s HX’s favorite thing in the entire HQ.

But HX wasn’t about to owe anybody anything. If LQG insists on this game, then fine, HX was going to play to win. He requisitions new toys (read: weapons) for LQG, he builds heists around the sole purpose of giving LQG a room of satisfying bad guys to beat up, he goes to the gym and spars with LQG, he even tries to give LQG’s weirdly famous younger sister’s novel a read—which was a lot. Ahem. But LQG loves his younger sister, so surely this would be the ultimate “hah! I’ve given you more than you’ve given me! I win! move.

...turns out LQG’s never read the damn thing, and just takes everything HX gives him in total stride. “We still on for tomorrow?” “...Yes.” “Cool. See you.” And HX’s over here totally overthinking EVERYTHING while LQG’s just chilling, super matter-of-fact.

Fuck, were they friends???

HX rage-panics, because he does. not. need. friends. And it has nothing to do with how everyone he’s ever loved dies, it has nothing to do with the careful balance of vengeful fury and self-hatred inside him that’s about to tip over any day now, once they take down SWD. It has nothing to do with HX being too traumatized and grief-stricken to imagine moving on from revenge, to ever imagine being simply content again.

His eating habits get worse. One day he snaps at LQG for pining so much after SQQ. “You already know he’s never going to return your feelings. It’s embarrassing to watch you insist on giving so much when he’s not going to give anything back.”

“Shut up,” LQG snaps, “it’s not about getting anything back.”

But that makes it worse. Of course HX wasn’t actually talking about SQQ, though sure, that’s annoying too. LBh obviously knows, so why can’t they take their infernal flirting somewhere private, instead of flaunting it in front of LQG all the time?? But the fault’s with LQG too, what with all the giving. He should find someone more worthy of his affections and stop wasting his time here.

HX cuts everything he and LQG has built up in one fell swoop—completely gives him the cold shoulder. Only ever talks about work, no more dry quips, no more infodumps on niche hobbies. HX wishes he could destroy the tank at HQ, but that would be way too confrontational at this stage.

Until one mission, when LQG knows HX is not in a good place, and keeps trying to argue HX out of doing something excessively risky. HX rounds on him and says, “you’re just a hired gun, so shut up and shoot where I'm pointing, or you can pack your things and get out.”

LQG goes red, then white, and storms away.

“Nice sucker punch,” HC comments idly where he’s lounging on the side. Who knows when the fuck he showed up. “Right where it hurts.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t tell me you don’t know. His five-year stint with the Sha City Demons?”

Of course HX knows about that. He’s looked thoroughly into everybody’s backgrounds. But what does that have to do with this?

“Gege is the best at this, after all. See you and I, we stopped asking questions once we knew the name, because we don’t think people are ever as pure and good as they pretend to be. But you know what Dianxia said, after I mentioned Liu Qingge’s old gig to him? ‘Five years, hm? I wonder what they had on him. In my experience, men like Liu Qingge don’t work for crews like the Sha Demons. And in order to sink their claws deeper into men like him, the Demons always make them do the worst jobs.’ Just a hired gun indeed.”

That’s right. LQG gets a Moreau backstory of his own. HX feels his heart sink to the pit of his stomach.

“Fuck.”

“I don’t know why you’re so stressed out about it. He is just a hired gun—”

“You know why. Fuck.”

“So get out of my face and do something about it already. You know where he’s gone, I know you’ve put trackers on your entire team.”

“...”

“You didn’t? No, you didn’t put one on him? My god, you do care.”

While HC’s busy sounding disgusted, HX is reeling. He just sent the best hitman in the field packing, and was an absolute dick about it. He was not a kind man, but he also wasn’t a cruel one. He believes in fairness, and everything he said simply had not been fair. It had all been his own guilt and issues talking; if he really didn’t give a damn, then he wouldn’t have...done all this.

“How much are you willing to pay?” HC says, swiping at his phone.

“What?”

“Because I don’t trust any of you, and did put a tracking device on Liu Qingge.” He sure has—HC is waving the loading tracking app in HX’s face. “So I’m asking, how much are you willing to pay?”

...And that’s the reason why HX owes HC so much damn money.