#am I having Bingqiu feels again?

[benevolenterrancy]

Scholarly peak is catching up on recent literature

[blueblurseptember]

suddenly feeling very ill after interpreting tianlang-jun and su xiyan's relationship and qijiu's as foils to bingqiu's. all three relationships suffered greatly because of a horrific big misunderstanding, aggravated further by a lack of communication thereafter.

su xiyan, yue qingyuan, and shen yuan are all similar in their decision not to communicate the truth out of guilt, believing that they have failed and have (though unwillingly) abandoned their loved one thus deserve no forgiveness, just suffering.

meanwhile, the common denominator between tianlang-jun, shen jiu, and binghe is the self-loathing born out of the fact that despite the perceived betrayal of their loved one, forgiveness still won out (even before they knew of the truth and received the apology they were due) and the love they feel have persevered.

unfortunately for tianlang-jun and su xiyan, tianlang-jun didn't even get to find out the truth in the original plot, and it had simply been too late in the svsss universe.

same goes for qijiu, shen jiu doesn't get to find out the truth in pidw. meanwhile, yue qingyuan musters the courage to confess his truth too late in svsss; the shen qingqiu that awoken from that one qi deviation all those years ago is no longer the same one he'd loved—which interestingly can be, in some way, paralleled with how shen yuan initially believed that the luo binghe who emerged from the abyss is no longer his beloved white lotus binghe and thus his own lack of attempt to ask forgiveness and explain his actions to binghe upon his return.

[amorremanet]

seeing a post that has interesting canon analysis and wanting to reblog it until you get to the last paragraph and just

[jade-len]

i adore how mxtx sorta flipped the idea on the whole top/bottom thing with svsss, and just BL relationships in general.

making bingqiu very open to switching, not making the "bottom" super feminine and actually leaning more to the handsome side compared to the "top", how luo binghe is manipulative sensitive and cries easily, etc. one of the main themes in svsss is literally about sexuality (and possibly even about gender roles).

as a queer asian man myself, i absolutely despise the "yaoi archetype" and it was one of the reasons why i avoided consuming BL media. hell, years ago when i first saw heavens official blessing, i mentally groaned and went, "ugh, let me guess, the bottom is super feminine and innocent, while the top is masculine and experienced." of course, that's not the case now, but it's disappointing how that thought was there purely because of the god awful way fetish-y media portrays homosexual people and couples. because, believe it or not, we are not assigned male/female typical gender roles just because one likes to top/bottom (and even then, it's not even like that! some people have preferences, sure, but it's not so strictly "i'm top/bottom")

so, while i absolutely LOVE the english novel designs (especially luo binghe's cute curly hair, gongyi xiao, etc, and personally believe a lot of the takes from the western artist on the designs are an improvement), i am greatly saddened by people subconsciously assigning shen qingqiu as someone more delicate and feminine and luo binghe as someone super masculine and muscly. like, if you're going to have luo binghe depicted as the western design (i believe this stems from binghe being applied to more western ideals for men, and, admittedly, i actually really love his design), at least don't make shen qingqiu feminine and delicate? don't have his appearance play into the stupid yaoi thing?

i get that people have different takes on svsss, especially how the western version depicts it. but, people just... seem to very over exaggerate the top/bottom roles when it comes to bingqiu (again, these two are, canonically, VERY open to switching).

it's weird, it's uncomfortable, and it comes across as, "so, who wears the pants in the relationship?"

so, can we please have more canonically handsome shen qingqiu? canonically beautiful and pretty boy luo binghe (they literallly state that binghe looks EXACTLY like his mom, su xiyan! while a more handsome woman, is still very beautiful!! plus it is stated several times that binghe is slim, and that shang qinghua made him that way!) or at the very least, a BL couple who actually look like normal people (ok thats a little hard considering binghe is literally supposed to be perfect) and not just a stupid fetishized version of themselves.

and no, i'm not saying that queer men shouldn't be feminine or men who are feminine shouldn't be in a relationship with guys who are masculine, etc.

TLDR: please stop twinkifying shen qingqiu and going against what mxtx defied for us queer men (the stupid yaoi roles). and for the love of whoever you believe in, do NOT think that i hate the english design or people's personal interpretation of characters, i just hate the subconscious assigning of gender roles to bingqiu and how media portrays and fetishizes LGBTQ+ relationships in general.

edit: also i love teardrew's (check them out on twitter!) interpretation of shang qinghua. while i do really like the the eng novel design's tiny scared hamster vibes, teardrew's version just radiates "up to no good, paranoid but suspicious looking bitch" rat man and i love it so so so much. i'm not gonna repost their art bc i don't know how they feel about that but perhaps you can search up "svsss designs" on here, you'll see it pop up eventually lol.

edit 2 (1/16): i just saw someone reblog a post (that im pretty sure was referring to this one because, well, if you saw it i think it'd be a little clear kahxj) that was about how bingqiu switching and completely eschewing traditional top/bottom dynamics was a fandom idea or smth? so now i'm wondering, since i swear i remember that they were open to switching, but it's just that sqq preferred to bottom and/or was just a little too lazy to top. plus, sqq is a pretty unreliable narrator who says he doesn't want something one moment and then he does. how could he say no to bingbing? esp if he seems to wanna try bottoming too. perhaps i'm mixing things up though, idk? so if anyone can find that passage that says he only and strictly wants to bottom or whatever please show me! but i think the point of this post still stands haha (i wanted to ask about it, actually, but when i clicked on the og post's user it turned out that they blocked me ? so that was a little surprising oops. hey if ur somehow reading this, im... sorry for making you want to block me bc of this post? akdhxjj)

[svsssbrainworms]

🍃 SVSSS fic rec list

(shen yuan / bingqiu -centric edition) 3/3

[ au/abo; bingqiu shameless fluff and smut ]

au / abo 🌹

• I Wish You Were My Husband

Wherein Shen Yuan transmigrates into a harem intrigues romance novel (gay edition), Yue Qingyuan really fucks up, Liu Qingge is not suitable for his job, and no one even remotely sees Luo Binghe coming.

• Honored Eternal Path of Demise 

It's bad enough when Shen Yuan dies. It's even worse when he transmigrates into the worst horror game inspired by Proud Immortal Demon Way that could ever be imagined. But nothing is more terrible than transmigrating as the scum villain Shen Qingqiu, the character with the most violent and grotesque deaths the game has to offer! Couldn't he have transmigrated into the stallion novel instead? At least there his character would only have to die once! Now Shen Yuan has to navigate his new life as Shen Qingqiu while trying to keep not only himself alive, but also a cast of characters, each more suicidal than the next. A goal he is going to fail. A lot. Many times. Too many times! At least he can spend some time with his favorite character Luo Binghe while stuck in this mess.

• The First Law of Alchemy

Shen Yuan is jolted awake and finds himself worlds away from his comfy modern bed. Instead, he's in the middle of a summoning circle, but nobody seems happy to see him! Least of all the fearsome Emperor who takes one look, judges him as defective, and promptly throws him into the dungeons like trash. Excuse him if he’s not up to standard! It’s not like Shen Yuan asked to be delivered here! Where is he, anyway? This must be one long, shitty dream his sleep-deprived brain cooked up, right??? OR: That one BingYuan fic where nobody wants BingYuan to get together XD

🌹 • Better Lock It in Your Pocket

Shizun has a secret. When Luo Binghe figures it out, his true purpose in life becomes clear. Now, he just needs to make Shen Qingqiu accept him as human again so he can perform it.

🌹 • Moon Thistle Madness

After the events at Maigu Ridge (where dual cultivation didn't happen and they sorted that out another way); Shen Qingqiu has come to know a type of peace he hasn't felt since Binghe was a little student running around his path. Luo Binghe is currently in his care, restricted to the bamboo house to repent for his wrong doings against Cang Qiong Peak, and looks after him just as before. As if nothing happened and he was still his perfect little alpha lotus student. And then the system kicks back in with a new update. It's taking forever to load and it's driving Shen Qingqiu crazy! What the heck is it?! -- Or the one where Shen Qingqiu gets a rude awakening after a beta-only mission and goes feral!

bingqiu shameless fluff 🪷 and smut

🪷 • Wine-Flushed (Your Rosy Face Is Rosier Still) 

“This is all really mine,” Shizun is loudly whispering into his curls. He presses a kiss to the crown of Luo Binghe’s head, then places a few more as if dissatisfied with just the one. Then he pulls Luo Binge’s head away from his bosom without warning, holding him at arms’ length. Binghe feels his gut tighten with instant reaction when he meets Shizun’s half-lidded, liquor-sweet stare. Or: Luo Binghe puts his drunken husband to bed, but it’s BingMei, so there’s lots of feelings and some tears.

🪷 • sweet thing, just call me yours

Post canon, Shen Qingqiu suddenly has a thought: if they're married, and Luo Binghe calls him 'husband' - that has to mean that Luo Binghe is the 'wife,' right?! Luo Binghe is thrilled to hear this conclusion, but still tries to work with his husband's thin face.

• The Shizun Motivational Rewards Programme

Whereby Luo Binghe just wants some attention, and Shen Qingqiu is weak for his little white lotus.

• a thousand jars

The first time Shen Qingqiu feels it, he thinks he’s experiencing some sort of minor qi deviation. “Shizun,” Luo Binghe asks quietly. “Are you okay?” “Am I not allowed to look at my husband?” Shen Qingqiu asks, doing his best not to get snippy. After all he’s a Peak Lord, a powerful cultivator, a man that has cheated death. There’s no reason for him to act like a needy spouse. “My lord,” the servant leans down again with their voice practically purring as they refill a cup that’s only a quarter empty. It catches Luo Binghe’s attention, interrupting the beaming look he had been about to shoot towards Shen Qingqiu. Despite the fact that Luo Binghe looks more bemused than entranced, Shen Qingqiu feels the porcelain cup in his own hand crack.

• look at me

Luo Binghe is jealous of the attention Shen Qingqiu's showing other demons. In Shen Qingqiu's defence, they look really fucking cool. “We cannot leave our guests,” Shen Qingqiu starts. Quicker than he can comprehend it, Shen Qingqiu is flipped around, and immediately pressed against the wall once more. Normally, Shen Qingqiu finds Luo Binghe’s jealousy cute, but this time it punches the breath out of his lungs. Luo Binghe looks down at Shen Qingqiu, thick lashes lending to the lethal look in his eyes. “Of course,” Luo Binghe murmurs, reaching forward and running a knuckle alongside Shen Qingqiu’s cheek. Shen Qingqiu is so used to Luo Binghe’s extortionate expressions that when he turns something smoother, darker towards Shen Qingqiu, he’s at a loss for words. “We would not want to displease them.” “Now hold on—”

• Mommy? Sorry, Mommy?

Luo Binghe accidentally calls Shen Qingqiu A'Niang in bed. Shen Qingqiu goes along with it. No one does too much thinking about why that happened.

• Shen Qingqiu, Resident Milkman

In which I explore Shen Qingqiu lactating. The first chapter/series up involves Bingge going back to his past body, with a Shen Yuan who transmigrated much earlier. Bingge is now Shen Yuan's disciple, lactation ensues.

• The Mirror is the Window to the Soul

Ranking high among suspicious objects in the world of PIDW (below only the general flora) was the mirror. So when Binghe shows up with one, Shen Qingqiu shouldn't be all that surprised that he ended up looking... not quite like himself. Or more accurately, not like his current self. What was more surprising though, was that Binghe didn't look quite the same as his normal self either.

• Hold Me Down, Lift Me Up 

After five years of marriage, Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu are getting better at communicating their desires. Still, Luo Binghe is taken by surprise when a visit to the dream realm reveals Shen Qingqiu’s interest in a less gentle form of intimacy. Determined to indulge his husband’s fantasy, Luo Binghe devises a roleplaying scene for them in the waking world. But as their game begins to stir up some of Luo Binghe's long-buried insecurities… can they both manage to stay in character?

[mxtxfanatic]

i think you'd articulate it much better than i could but i'd love to know your thoughts about disability in mxtx's work!

i love the way she has all her mcs deal with spiritual (?) disabilities (corelessness, without a cure, the shackles). i'd say it's like half a step removed from actual rep, but she handles it really thoughtfully imo!

( maybe including other stuff/characters like the bm trauma etc)

Idk, I’ve never thought of stuff like the golden core removals or Without-a-cure as disabilities, because they only affect cultivation, which is not innate to the human body. It’s like claiming that an able-bodied person has a mobility disability because they no longer have a car. Yeah it takes longer to get places because you have to walk, now, but that doesn’t make you disabled. I am much more willing to talk about disability in mxtx novels through the lens of mental illness.

I like how mental illnesses like trauma and ptsd are handled through community care and not random vent sessions as stand-ins for modern therapy. I feel like this takes a more realistic approach on what it could look like when you take trauma seriously instead of relegating all healing to individualistic habit changes. For instance: the onset of Xie Lian’s spiral into his panic attacks and depression was being abandoned by his closest friends and then the suicide of his parents. Before that, he was able to continue on after the fall of Xianle based on their support of him, but after everyone leaves and he’s alone, he sinks heavily into despair. It is only after experiencing the unconditional support of Wuming that he is able to pull himself out of the pit, and meeting Hua Cheng later is what gives him to confidence to actually open himself back up again instead of taking on issues alone because he had no one to rely on anymore.

In mdzs, Wei Wuxian during the war and immediately post-war aftermath is a very tense person, still polite and charming but very distant from his peers. Part of that is the cultivation world beginning to treat him differently as they covet his power, but another part is that he had to remain on guard to protect himself, even from the people who he was formerly closest with. There was no one that he could depend on until he liberated the Qionqi Path labor camp. Afterwards, we see how Wei Wuxian is returned to his silly, playful self after spending time with the Wen remnants in the Burial Mounds, even though logically, this was the most dangerous time of his life outside of literal war in his first lifetime. The difference, however, is that he actually has people that he doesn’t have to guard against and who he can be honest and free with despite all the messy lines of debt and repayment that initially bound them together.

In svsss, though I don’t think Shen Qingqiu had any mental health issues, the thing that differentiates him from Shen Jiu is that Shen Qingqiu built up relationships with his martial siblings in the few years he had transmigrated, while the original goods kept himself intentionally isolated in his own sea of bitterness and jealousy. When the world turns against Shen Jiu, it is of his own making, but when the same happens to Shen Qingqiu, he has a whole mountain at his back ready to defend him—or even just his body! And in the post-canon when something happens on bingqiu’s time away, his first thought is “let’s go back to the sect for protection.” He never has a chance to fall into that same despair because he knows he has a community of support in case anything goes wrong. On the opposite end of things, the lack of love, community, and inclusion is what eventually sets Luo Binghe on his descent into madness, and it is the assurance that Shen Qingqiu both loves him and will never abandon him that pulls him back from the brink.

I’ve seen quite a few people make snide comments about how “of course” mxtx characters react badly to trauma because they exist in a setting without therapy, but I think this both ignores the autonomy of the characters (wwx, xl, or even yqy do not react to being traumatized in the same way that, say, sj or mq do) and also the fact that the solution to a lot of mental health issues that arise from trauma is a change in circumstances and having community. So even though therapy doesn’t exist in mxtx novels, the solutions to a lot of these problems still feels realistic and intentional rather than falling into “everyone traumatized will turn evil” or “love cures all, don’t look too deeply into it,” while also putting onus on the individual to choose healing rather than it being something that just passively happens to them.

[khattikeri]

prefacing this post by saying this is not a ship bashing post; i like all these ships; i am musing on my own personal preferences

i think the reason why i like wangxian and bingqiu just a little bit more than hualian boils down to the misunderstandings, with the sex scenes of their respective stories being insights into those misunderstandings.

in mdzs, lan wangji and wei wuxian's misunderstandings come about because 1) they were acquainted but not seriously close friends 2) they had to deal with a massive war and its aftermath. lan wangji was worried for wei wuxian's personal safety and had romantic feelings for him. wei wuxian was slowly led to believe over time that lan wangji didn't really like him much and wanted to harm him just like everyone else in spite of wei wuxian's righteous actions.

combined with their respective upbringings as a respectable second son and the dubiously accepted son of a servant who always has to watch his own back, there's a lot for them to untangle after the death and resurrection and feelings realization! but the moment they do realize that they're mutually in love, they jump on the chance to stay together, no more miscommunication, no waiting, no more turning away from each other again.

and the respective sex scene: you explicitly see the peerless illustrious hanguang-jun lan wangji straining, apologetic and still openly nervous during his and wei wuxian's first time. because they didn't talk things out! they were too excited! they were too happy and intent to have each other after all those years of pain so they rushed into it without really discussing anything beforehand. so lan wangji doesn't actually know if wei wuxian is going nooooo~ in a sexy way or if wei wuxian actually seriously wants lan wangji to stop. it's flawed and they work out each other's preferences later on, but they both enjoyed themselves and continue to do so even in future sex scenes.

in svsss, shen qingqiu and luo binghe's misunderstandings come about because 1) former is a modern day transmigrator compelled to not reveal anything about the story or what he actually feels for any of the characters 2) the latter is desperate to understand the former's contradictory actions and to not be abandoned.

combined with several miscommunications and hasty assumptions (e.x. luo binghe thinking that shen qingqiu must've harmed him because he despised luo binghe's half-demon ancestry; shen qingqiu thinking that luo binghe intends to torture him the way he tortured the original story's counterpart shen qingqiu) and you get a fascinating and heartrending dynamic where they clearly adore each other and are dismayed at the idea that it's inevitable for the other one to despise them and want to hurt them. things clear up because they show each other their devotion and intent to stay.

and the respective sex scene: their first time isn't even written to be titillating! they're still in the middle of battle. luo binghe's mind is being overpowered by the demonic sword xin mo, so even though shen qingqiu is okay with dual cultivation/sex to pacify the sword's lust for conquering, it's extremely rough and unpleasant. it is violent and painful and leaves shen shingqiu so battered he looks like he's been assaulted, which horrifies luo binghe when he finally regains his senses.

they're distraught as hell! it traumatizes them both! and yet in spite of that and in spite of their fears of being hurt they want to stay with each other and they actively choose to keep being with each other. they improve their communication and clearly seem to understand each other's quirks and sexual preferences better in the extras and after marriage.

versus in tgcf: xie lian and hua cheng got along with each other from day 1. there was a spark the moment xie lian met san lang on the back of that ox cart. they talked for ages and were endeared to each other basically immediately! even during the ghost bride mission where they didn't really speak to one another, xie lian clearly felt a connection to the mysterious groom who gently and safely led him through the blood rain.

through all their present-day adventures and the final battle, even when they separate by choice or by force of circumstance, hua cheng and xie lian don't ever have a serious falling out. hua cheng is loyal to the bone and xie lian is also deeply drawn to hua cheng; both their respective insecurities are treated seriously and with sincerity by the other. there may be some confusion about each other's feelings, but even that isn't twisted to the point that they completely misconstrue each other's intentions and characters.

there isn't a central misunderstanding or miscommunication between hualian the way wangxian or bingqiu had; just a mutual past to be unraveled, and the looming question of if xie lian will actually act upon his feelings/the fact that he's attracted to and in love with hua cheng.

and the respective sex scene: we don't have any explicit sex scenes due to censorship. everything is in xie lian's rather selective point of view (and he's the type who hides certain details from readers for entire volumes on end!) so the most we get is the skimmed summary: xie lian really enjoyed it and hua cheng is kind of rough. just the implication that hua cheng was naturally amazing and satisfied xie lian fully, without any particularly humanizing aspects or awkward/upsetting first time moments.

of course tgcf is a beautiful story and a lovely romance in its own right, but personally, i found mdzs and svsss's main pairings more compelling because of the misunderstandings and how the sex scenes tied into the characters' personalities and overall relationship arcs.

[bloopitynoot]

Reading SVSSS: BONUS- Chapter 22

For those who don't know, I am reading SVSSS for the first time and sharing my thoughts!

If you have not read it, there will be spoilers! Consider this a warning.

Also- if you want to follow along, I am aiming to post updates daily. You can find all the posts in the tag bloopitynoot reads SVSSS. You can also check out the intro post for context on my read.

Yall I am sick as heck. I tested for the plague and it does not seem to be that, but I defo have a head cold/sinus thing going on.

I did something wild and a little unhinged and made my matcha latte with a protein shake like i'm some sort of athlete instead of a feeble old man. I also have enough vitamins running through me courtesy of ener-c to fuel a football team.

Still feel like ass, but this chapter was a solid up to my day.

Before we even get into it, based on the title of this chapter I can already tell I am not ready. The fact that there are TWO Binghe's is already telling me there is a metric shit-ton of threesome PWP on Ao3

Oh! okay! It's like an immediate continuation of the story. I totally thought we would be skipping a bunch of time or something, yay! this is a good surprise. p11

I forgot about the bamboo house replica LBH made for SQQ. It is so cute that he got the bamboo to actually grow in this realm. p11

LOL ofc LBH is sulking because SQQ will not sleep in the same bed as him. p12

I feel like based on the chapter title and the behaviour of the Binghe we have here that this is not the sweet Binghe we know and love. p15

How has LBH constantly pulling AWAY from SQQ not triggered some red flags for this man. Normally LBH makes every excuse to attach himself to SQQ. p16

okay LOL now SQQ finally questions it p18

Ming Fan you fucking narc! No one asked you to go get the other peaks involved. so rude! p19

Dang. Liu Qingge really is all or nothing. He is truly doing the lords work trying to constantly save SQQ from himself. The fact that he keeps picking up his literal shit every time this guy gets himself into A Situation is telling. Not enough respect for this guy, truly. p21

Oh god, well. RIP SQQ because this LBH is most definitely an imposter! p23

(I literally cannot read what I wrote for this note/I think my hand was working slower than my brain and many words are missing in the sentence. I think I was TRYING TO SAY): This Binghe is evil as shit and SQQ still has not confirmed. I am a little bit worried if this Binghe is here- where is the other one????? Is he okay??? p26

Yeah! You correct that asshole Ying Ningning. (If you can't tell this character really grew on me- she had the glow up for sure for sure). p27

I do love that this evil Binghe get's to have some internal dialogue that we read, "Like fuck you do!" p28

OMG. This evil Binghe totally did read the BingQiu porn and is taking his "shizun" for a test run. Oh no! Does good Binghe stop this??? p31

Thank fuck SQQ finds out who this Binghe is (though he sort of was not complaining about the man handling at all). Bless for good Binghe for showing up too! pp32-33

Bless his heart, "In the end, he and Luo Binghe were too unfamiliar with each other's bodies. That was why it had taken him so long to figure out what was wrong here" P35 Okay but I do love that his response to all of this is definitely- "me and Binghe need to be more intimate in case this situation happens again. I will definitely fix this for the future".

The way SQQ is just clutching his pearls this chapter is killing me LOL the romance novel energy is too much. "Shen Qingqiu was stunned silent. Playing around with who? Playing around with me? Bing-ge you...you'd accept all corners?! Welcoming both men and women! Is this something like 'both meat and fish are fine- I'm not picky, I'll eat whatever I'm given'?" P37

SQQ: "What the fuck am I supposed to tell anyone..." Also SQQ: p39

Oh no! Bing-ge is getting into Bing-mei's head. Leave the poor boy alone, he is very sensitive. All the while SQQ is trying to get the little guy to just focus on dealing with Bing-ge. p41

Since this is a different Binghe, I have decided to add another dime to the demon blood mite bank. I believe we are at $0.60 which is TOO damn much. p44

It is highly effective! p46

Oh no. Now Bing-ge is having feelings. Understandable though- he really did get the shit story where in everything is terrible and he has no real support. Bro just wanted some softness. p47

Oop. Well. I guess Bing-mei is going to attempt to level up some skills today. p49

Luo Binghe and his Dick Weapon (TM). p52

Blessed be, we have some sort of lube. I am literally so glad for this. The way my body viscerally reacted to their last scene- this is not much of an improvement, but they are getting there. p55

Oh no, and they're both crying now. p57

Thank fuck his disciples did NOT decide to fix the roof. p60 that would have been one heck of a surprise.

Okay, but this is so tender. Look at them both growing and learning. p61

LOL LBH is DETERMINED to learn. "Shen Qingqiu knew what he wanted to ask and mercilessly spoke first, "awful." However this time, even after receiving criticism, Luo Binghe wasn't depressed. Rather, he exuberantly declared, "Yes, it was awful. Unacceptably awful." "what are you saying...?" "Because it was simply awful, this disciple requests that his Shizun assist him with further exploration." Well." p62

It could have been worse!

These two are so damn weird. Good for them, but also, it's too much LOL. One is self sacrificing, the other is needy as HELL. It must have been so weird for BIng-ge to witness; drastically different version of himself!

[magpiefngrl]

halfway through 2024 book review

June isn't over yet but I'm looking at a couple of very busy weeks so it's unlikely I'll read a gazillion new books or something by end of month. So we do this now!

books I enjoyed so far

Aliette de Bodard's Dominion of the Fallen series, set in a post-apocalyptic Paris with fallen angels and magic and dragons in the Seine. I didn't quite love the three main novels, but I enjoyed how unique the world-building was. However, I REALLY loved the last two novellas about Asmodeus and his husband Thuan, who are a delicious pairing. The novellas are: Of Charms, Ghosts and Grievances and Of Dragons, Feasts and Murders.

Pacat's Dark Heir, which I enjoyed so much that I went back to reread Dark Rise and then again, Dark Heir. I liked the second novel a lot more than the first (and I actually ended up appreciating the first novel more on my reread). Needless to say, I am very, very impatient about the end of the series.

A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel. KJC has done it again. The sequel to her Doomsday Books series is fantastic, with a vivid cast, an excellent main pairing, and superb pacing. Couldn't put it down. A great historical m/m romance.

The Warrior's Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold. I'd heard a lot about Miles and it was fun seeing him bullshit his way across the galaxy.

The Mountains of Mourning by Lois McMaster Bujold. A novella in the Vorkosigan saga. Very touching and emotional and a great character study of Miles. Really loved this.

Newcomer by Keigo Higashino. This dude is seriously amazing at crafting unusual murder mysteries. This one is structured as vignettes of shop-owners in a Tokyo neighbourhood and, as the stories progress, more light is shed on the mystery of a strangled woman.

Faithful Place and The Secret Place by Tana French. Fantastic prose, absorbing murder mysteries that are more like deep character studies as well as an incisive portrait of contemporary Ireland.

The Lady of the Lake by Andrzej Sapkowski. This is pretty grim at times, ngl, but it has a daring structure with lots of POVs, switching between numerous timelines, a frame device, lots of found materials (essays and chapters from fictional books). All that worked for me very well. I love some experimentation with craft. I wouldn't say it was my fave read, but I'm happy that I finally reached the end; completing a series always gives me a dopamine rush so yay

progress on my reading goals

A reminder that my two goals for the year are:

to read (some or all of) the Vorkosigan saga

to read less or no US authors

I'm doing pretty well on those two scores. Read a few installments of the Vorkosigan saga, and (besides Bujold and a poetry anthology by Maggie Smith) have read no other US-based authors. My intention was to diversify my reading and, indeed, so far, I've read French, Japanese, Polish, UK, Australian, Irish, and currently reading a Ukrainian author.

fics I loved

I've not read as many books as I normally do so far, esp in the last couple of months, but I read a lot more fic than recent years. I've read some fab stuff in a variety of fandoms. The fics I'm going to rec below are the longer ones that I read on my ereader:

Tarnished Gold by Prim_the_Amazing (bingqiu/svsss, M, 118k) Inventive premise. Couldn't put it down.

Memory (T, 23k) and Out of the Dead Land (M, 62k), both stucky, both orphaned by one of my top authors ever. The second one gave me the worst fic hangover I had in ages. I had to go and rewatch Captain America.

contrapasso by damagecontrol (jegulus, E, 41k) Very horny. I like that.

Fire Burn and Caldron Bubble by pastapug (jegulus, E, 40k) Lush language, fascinating setting.

Beholden by Faith Wood (faithwood) (drarry, E, 123k) Gave me all the drarry feels.

Shout out to @hoko-onchi-writes's WIP: To Hold You in the Earth's Unholy Din, which I am loving <3

That's all, folks. Here's hoping for more wonderful reads till December!

[thepalaceofharuhime]

Hmmm…

Looking at your fandoms, I can’t help but think some sort of Bingqiu in Spy X Family (or a SxF Xianxia fusion) could be super fun!

The question is… what would their roles be.

Assassin Luo Binghe, or spy Luo Binghe… and which of them gets gender swapped. 🤔

Oh!! Maybe Shen Yuan was meant to be an ally of the female half of the main duo, Liu Mingyan, but through shenanigans he somehow ends up with her role instead, and the System demands he fake marry Binghe anyway. 😂

This is exactly the kind of prompt i was hoping for! TY!!! 🙏

The way i see it Binghe would definitely be the assassin, Shen Yuan is too big of a softie not to mention one who so easily put on the mask of another man before so he would definitely be the spy.

But also being oblivious to feelings yet a capable badass, bad in the kitchen, feeling inadequate as a partner? All Shen Yuan. Binghe with his protagonist Halo meanwhile would fit better with Mr. All around perfect Husband. So i guess it'd be a little like Yor and Loyd had switched professions.

Shen Yuan's over protective brother in a position of power? I wonder who that would be? Enter Shen Jiu haha. Rather than secret police he'd be a detective looking in to all the murders rather than keeping state secrets from spies though. To keep that rivalry between him Binghe. The family member Binghe became an assassin to provide for? His mom. The gardener AKA the guy who hired him and hands him his missions? Meng Mo. Franky,the spy's funny informant and gadget supplier, occasional babysitter and not to mention bestfriend? Shang Qinghua.

I dont know if i should replace Fiona with Liu Quinge as Fiona's character really would fit Binghe better. But Liushen is a weakness of mine even if onesided and those two were just made for coworker romances. Maybe I should give Binge someone trying to woe him too? Sha hualing? Then if i dont go with your other idea of having SY transmigrate in to Liu Mingyan (which i am saving up in my head because i absolutely love the idea) then i can add something in the background with her and Sha hualing. I'm positive i could find a way to write in Mobei for SQH or i could go with Scumplane and have him end up Shen Jiu and actually yeah that would work, need to distract SJ long enough for Bingyuan to get it on afterall. Oh what about SQH x SJ x LQG? Or should Shen Yuan get a second husbandafterall? Alternatively imagine LQG crying over a bowl of icecream.

Next question is if SY didnt transmigrate into LMY then who is he? What about Ning Yingying? Who could be SJ's little sister in this world? Or he couldve just been put in there as a female version of himself. Or like it was with Shen quingiu a character who vaguely resembles him and has a similar name. She just happens to be a woman though. Or maybe go with the mulan aproach and have him crossdress? But then how does he explain to his brother that he's suddenly - he could say that he's in love with binghe and the only way to marry him was fake his papers to pretend to be a woman since queer marriage isnt yet allowed in their fictional country. Like no one cares if they date its just they havent gotten to the legalisation of marriage yet. And if SJ asks why they had to get married so suddenly anyway (cuz no way in hell is SY getting away with saying he forgot to tell him for a year) he could say that they had to so they could adopt their daughter. Who in this case scenario could be Ning Yingying, should she still have Anyas powers? damian could be Ming fan or the little palace girl or whatever (im not yet far enough in the books to now her and the old man that well so id have to check the wiki) and i could make the palace master donovan desmond and have SY and LBH team up to take him down in the end.

Anyways yeah these are just some ideas, and again thanks for the prompt! I can't wait to write this! Maybe i'll draw something for it later too. ❤️

[overshelter]

REVIEW: The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System

WARNING: Contains numerous SPOILERS, so CAUTION!

Okay. What can I say about this baby? I am simply OBSESSED and FOURTEEN for Luo Binghe. He is without a doubt my protégé, my precious, my everything! I would give my soul, my ass, my dog... EVERYTHING FOR HIM AND NEVER SORRY!

You may think I'm exaggerating, but I'm not. He's just a baby who needs a lot of love and a few therapy sessions. And, okay, maybe a few Love Yourself lessons with Kim Namjoon... I'm getting off track, but AGAIN...! Obviously, he's not my only favorite thing about this story. I love Shen Qingqiu. Like, SO MUCH! He has an extremely fun, attractive and captivating personality. Even if that personality is represented more internally, and externally, he's just trying to keep a poker face. Yet he's still that protagonist who will make you laugh at REALLY dubious moments – Mountain Maigu, I'm looking at you! – and make you question your own sanity because of it. But that's precisely why you simply can't help wanting to continue. Nor can you forget the fact that SV is very gripping when you realize how deep it goes into the characters' emotions. Especially, for me, when we see one in particular. Luo Binghe has a psychological journey that is the equivalent of a rollercoaster ride. He's broken, he's breaking and then getting back on his feet, only to fall a little further. It was really painful to get to the final chapters and see how clearly destroyed he was. How hurt, lonely and desperate he was. There were moments when I really just wanted to pick him up and smack that dear author. But, well... there wasn't much I could do. At least she didn't trick me and it was a happy ending. Well, I've already talked about the main couple – more about Binghe, but what can I do if I just love him so much? –, now I'm going to bring up another topic that I loved. The fact that SV is a great satire on novels with studly protagonists with a harem, where everything can be summed up and solved with sex. Mo Xiang Tong Xiu hit all the right notes here, bringing situations where it was possible to feel the criticism with an almost cruel veracity. The Maigu Mountain scene was undoubtedly the highlight of this satire. Because in it we have a Binghe completely fucked up emotionally and psychologically, without any conscience, with a fucked-up sword controlling him and a Shen Qingqiu who thinks that the whole situation can be solved with sex. Just because that's "common sense" in this kind of novel. And what really resolved everything in the end was the dialog. Something very simple, right? Simple, but difficult to execute. Even more so when you've had an eternity of misunderstandings between you and the other person. And that's precisely the situation BingQiu finds himself in almost from the start of the novel. And, of course, with a little extra help from the system that seemed obsessed with making everything worse. Honestly? I'm shocked at how smoothly and well things turned out. It could have been worse, believe me. Well, apart from that, another thing that stuck with me was the writing. God, I could drown in this shit and I'd still be begging for more! MXTX has a writing style that is really extremely captivating and that doesn't let you go once it's got you! Even more so thanks to the fact that you can REALLY feel the development and growth of the relationships between the characters. Both with the main characters and the secondary ones. Some may not get much attention, but you'll definitely still feel captivated by them at some point. The comedy here is also pure gold! I remember losing my breath and choking up several times while reading... So, to sum up... Read it. READ SV AND JOIN ME IN THE CIRCLE OF PROTECTION FOR LUO BINGHE!!!

[waitineedaname]

20 questions for 20 writers!

tagged by @buffintruder thank you!!!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

89 ! that feels like a lot

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

355,274 which also feels like a lot!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

usually whatever I'm hyperfixating on at the time! right now it's mdzs/the untamed, but I've got some scum villain wips in the works

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Handsome Mystery Boy -- Skam soulmate AU

hot dilfs in your area (not clickbait!!1!) -- HLVRAI modern au

Strider Bros Feelings Jam -- Homestuck post-canon

Let's Get This Over With -- HLVRAI dream-sharing

The Secret Boyfriend -- TAZ Balance modern au

5. Do you respond to comments?

usually! it might take me a bit, but I usually try to respond, especially if it's a more recent fic. if it's an old fic or the comment is just, like, a string of heart emojis or something, I usually don't respond. doesn't mean the comment doesn't make me smile though!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

tbh I don't write a whole lot of angsty endings? even if it's an angsty fic, I try to end on at least a hopeful/bittersweet note, y'know? I guess the angstiest ending would be Frayed Seams because it's in the middle of the series and is giving context to the strained relationship between the Kageyama siblings. they do eventually begin to mend their relationship by the end of the series! just. not in this fic.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

this is once again rather hard because I mostly write happy endings! and I have a lot of short fics that are just. pure fluff. I guess if I'm looking for a fic that's long enough to Earn a happy ending, it would be a tie between Plant Their Hearts In Community Gardens or the sun in the summertime! I love how much Mob and Reigen's lives have improved by the end of the show <3

8. Do you get hate on fics?

not that comes to mind! I don't think I've ever gotten hate comments, so if people don't like my stuff they at least only complain about it somewhere I can't see it, which I appreciate

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

not really! I am usually a genfic writer lol though I have had wlwangxian robot sex on the brain lately for. reasons. and also I have a feeling some of my bingqiu fics are going to be like, scenes in the Middle of them having sex, because [gestures] bingqiu

10. Do you write crossovers?

I haven't done a whole lot of them, but I think the concept can be fun if executed properly! crossovers where the two casts meet don't generally appeal to me, but crossovers that function more like an au (characters from Series A in the universe of Series B) are more my speed. I have been pondering a svsss/hlvrai crossover....

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

god I hope not

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

yeah! I've had a couple fics translated into Russian, way long ago

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

not in a "we both were writing the fic in its entirety" way but I have written some aus and fics where I was bouncing ideas off friends so much that they might as well be a co-author. Let's Get This Over With would not exist without @neonlav's help

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

oh christ I have no idea. I'm a genfic person. bingqiu is doing something vile to my brain chemistry lately though

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

so many... so so many......... do not look in my google docs folder, there are too many untitled documents that have been abandoned........... I guess a more recent example would be a mdzs fic where wei wuxian is the juniors' camp counselor. I think the idea was v fun but I could not figure out where to take it. man I wish I was an artist so I didn't have to write plots for my silly little aus

16. What are your writing strengths?

dialogue! I love writing dialogue, especially when I feel like I really Get a character

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

fight scenes.... also pacing and figuring out how to end a fic, final lines are so hard

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I am not fluent enough in another language to pull off writing whole chunks of dialogue in another language! sometimes I'll use terminology from another language, especially if it doesn't translate well (like Japanese or Chinese honorifics and family terms) but otherwise I don't write in another language bc I would be too worried about it being incorrect

19. First fandom you wrote for?

it was, embarrassingly, for the since disgraced video game youtuber Cryaotic. in my defense, I was thirteen. the first fandom I posted fic for was for Hetalia, which is just as embarrassing. once again, my defense is that I was fourteen

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

I am genuinely so goddamn proud of Let's Get This Over With. I had so much fun writing it, there are some concepts in it that I'm really proud of, and I just really enjoyed writing for hlvrai. those character voices were fun to play with

I'll tag @patron-saints, @scribefindegil, @localdisasterisk, @thatneoncrisis, and @notedchampagne!

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

Just found your tumblr and idk why but I felt like telling you that I'm finishing the second volume of the English edition of svsss and so far I feel that I won't like SJ, I don't get liushen, I don't get LBH's hairdo and too muscular body, I don't get how there are people saying SY doesn't care about LBH... and a lot of popular takes I've seen the fandom having about it.

I think the reason I felt like telling you was actually because you're one of the few people I saw maybe not agreeing with those either? So I confess I feel a little frustrated about the fandom rn, lmao

Welcome anon!

I am... rather picky, to put it mildly about the SVSSS content I consume for its fandom.

I cannot stand many of the popular fanpairs (sorry luishen and cumplane stuff, but get that away from me... or tag it so I can block and remain happy with my day without wishing you can't ever be comfortable in bed again trying to fall asleep because I will curse you myself).

As well as much of the material for fics for Bingqiu and Moshang. It relies on shaving Shen Qingqiu's personality to have undue sympathy and self-esteem issues over "Shen Jiu" and his own existence where he just doesn't CARE if he became Shen Qinqiu because he was determined not to be a vile low empathy person to save his own skin (and Binghe but that OBVIOUSLY doesn't count cause of something something protag halo). Shen Qinghua is just as well made far softer than he actually is... when he is a little scummy rat man in the rain that you don't wanna touch ever. Come ON he made a hetporn harem novel!!! He is incel nerd without thinking he was the incel shut in nerd.

However I suppose my biggest pet-peeve is the way Luo Binghe is treated by fandom itself. I find something distasteful in the way it always makes Luo Binghe either pathetic or annoying to raise up other characters when from Shen Yuan's point of view, he is exasperatingly like a teen girl crying but very endeared to this. He never once hated or felt forced to do anything in regards to his own romance with Luo Binghe as HE was the one to step forward with making what they had no longer platonic as teacher and former student. He has a student kink, Luo Binghe has a teacher kink it is what it is, and they don't exactly care what others may think anymore. Given that Shen Qingqiu states himself if Luo Binghe was really unwelcomed he would follow him wherever. That doesn't sound as anything forced upon him other than anyone that tries to make him choose, at which point his choice is Luo Binghe. Yue Qingyuan at any rate, is the only one he seems to care about that blessing from, and he got it. Luo Binghe is a victim of several abuses over the years, to me, he's all those bits, good and difficult on paper.

Art is subjective and I could care less how it looks normally since I like it or not and can scroll on with my life if I don't or reblog what pretty art I think is pretty. I find the English art inserts endearing as it's very much reminiscent of late 90's and early 00's anime aesthetics. It fits for the world as a whole that PIDW was meant to be.

People will willfully put what is not there for fandom wants, I however, choose to ignore most of it, as I am vastly content with what the author has given me to play with in the playground of canon only.

[tantai-jin]

fic writer meme!

thank u rachel @fruitdaze for the tag!!! <3333333

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

23 since 2016 lmao,, i don't remember exactly how many i posted on lj from 2012-2015 but it wasn't a ton, probably 10-15 that were like 50k altogether

2. What's your total Ao3 word count?

124,765

3. What fandoms do you write for?

it's been all over the place since 2020 lol but p much only chinese media like danmei novels, movies, cdramas. used to write kpop rpf but prob won't return to that even tho i still like and follow many groups

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

给你给你 (yunfei)

换一世身份姓名; heaven to myself (canglan)

not-that-small talk (tell me honestly) (bts yoonkook LOL)

새벽 rush hour (yellow light, slow) (bts taegi LOL)

捡一个梦; reach for a dream (canglan)

5. Do you respond to comments?

i usually do, although i'm often quite late LOL i have a couple fics where i didn't reply to all the comments after a certain point and then i just stopped 😭 or if they are a guest user or only leave emojis as a comment then i don't reply? but ofc i see every comment

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

uhh i feel like the only thing i wrote that is complete and has an angsty ending is 捡一个梦; reach for a dream bc it was a missing scene from an angsty arc of the show. or lol jk same scenario applies to 余光 (remnants of light) bc it takes place before the end of yuwu and not in one of the happier moments

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

either 给你给你 or 换一世身份姓名; heaven to myself bc they're both disgustingly sweet and affectionate at the end

8. Do you get hate on fics?

nope! either i am writing for tiny ass fandoms or like, my fics don't get enough traction to attract haters LMAO

9. Do you write smut?

not a lot... the incomplete bingqiu au i posted has the most explicit scenes so far but i am still too shy writing it. i have to practice so that i can write more than 3 sentences of sex in a single day and actually finish the wips i started 😭

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you have written?

i have before! nothing crazy tho bc it was just kpop rpf and it would be like, two idols from the same company that have interacted multiple times! lmao. sometimes i think abt crossovers for cdramas that are relatively tame such as: two actors that have been in the same drama multiple times are reincaranted and those 2+ dramas are their different lives... but it's so niche in eng speaking fandom and i haven't fully written one out yet. also does it count as a crossover if u put characters from story A into the setting/setup for story B bc i do that a lot but i think that is fairly common at least for ppl to imagine

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

i don't think so... again, my fics do not get a lot of traction so i don't think it's likely lmaooo

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

i think there was an exo one translated into russian a long time ago but i don't even remember which one lolllll it might have been on my livejournal

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

not a whole fic yet but ive brainrotted a plethora of aus with friends before such as but not limited to mingqian actors au with lianzi (very intricate with multiple variations) and a Bunch of cdrama and yuwu stuff with another friend :')

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

i cannotttttt pick only one but ummm in the last yr-ish it's been a rotation of tantai jin/li susu + mingye/sang jiu from cyjm, mingqian from liu yao, xilian from yuwu (🤪)..... bingqiu from sv (always).... i should stop for now that's Tew Many. but i think once i finish spl, changgu will also be up there

15. What is a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

i feel like i'm cursing myself by typing this out but perhaps the bingqiu i posted one chapter of..... even if i could write all the p With p parts that i wanted to include, i was also a little stuck on the ending and idk if i would be able to write it in a way that doesn't feel like a cop out or just weak in general 😢 but i do like that au and i think my writing for it so far was p decent... so who knows...!

16. What are your writing strengths?

i think i am pretty good at dialogue that sounds 1. natural and 2. true to the characters! i try really hard to make imagery sound original(ish) and evocative, and to make a character's Yearning palpable

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

intricate plot, action, sex (takes me forever to write and haven't done it in as much detail as i would like to tbh)

18. Thoughts of writing dialogue in another language in fics?

i love it! i did it a little in my yunfei fic and instead of directly translating the line of chinese right there i just included the meaning in the next line of dialogue, like "what do you mean [thing they just said]" + i did it like that bc the tone of it just felt so much more natural to me in mandarin for that specific convo. not that it was something untranslatable (it wasn't) but it just felt comfier to me. i also like the thing ppl do where you can hover over the text and it will show the translation but idk how that html works HAHA someday i would like to give it a go

19. First fandom you wrote for?

exo.......... lmao

20. Favorite fic you have written?

overall i think it would be typhoon season (my incomplete but not abandoned cisswap girls ximang in hk) ! i had it fermenting in my brain for like 8 months before i wrote it, which meant i had figured a lot of the stuff for the beginning out and it was much easier to write than normal since i was not deliberating so much in the moment. i think the pacing for it was good and the reveals of backstory were placed well, and i think i adapted the characters well too even if it's only a first chapter and they haven't done a lot yet. i wanna write them again but it's been rly hard for me to think abt that specific au for many months lol. i also think my recent yzy gegedidi fic had a lot of yummy scenes even if i see some flaws in some parts of the fic's progression... but i spent enough time on it already so i will not go and fix it anymore 😌 peace

i think all my writer friends were tagged already...... this tagline (like a bloodline) will end with me

[veliseraptor]

for the ship or don't ship meme: BingQiu? (Though I could probably venture a guess, based on your response to BingJiu...)

this is a weird one because it's sort of like...I ship it but my feelings about it are not particularly strong? which is in keeping with a lot of my Scum Villain experience, where I have a lot more fascination with it for what it is doing as a narrative than I have attachment to the characters or relationship dynamics as they exist in text.

with the exception of Bingjiu and Mingling. those ones have got me.

but I'd say I ship BingQiu more than I don't ship it, so!

What made you ship it?

Honestly I don't think I really did have strong feelings about shipping it (not strong feelings about not shipping it, just a general lack of feelings about the relationship as a whole) until this most recent reread when I became more aware of the contrast between this:

and this:

oh boy, Shen Yuan.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

Honestly I think my favorite thing about this ship is the...reverse power dynamic, if that makes sense? Like, Shen Qingqiu is set up as the bottom which in a lot of cases = subordinate in the relationship, and Luo Binghe is this towering intense super powerful heavenly demon who could destroy the world, but Luo Binghe lives on Shen Qingqiu's word and while that is in no wise healthy (Binghe! get some self esteem please) who is here for the healthy, not me.

I just love the fact that Luo Binghe is, objectively, an enormous demon wolf who could crush bone but as far as he's concerned he is Shen Qingqiu's lapdog. It's great.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I think the fact that I'm just less invested in it than I am in...other things about SVSSS as a work (again, the character I'm really invested in is Sir Not Appearing In This Book, and as far as main story goes I'm most interested in the way it's playing with trope and genre in webnovel communities, and the more I learn about those communities the more I love that), probably would count as an unpopular opinion. But it's not like I don't like the ship. I think I mostly just don't have strong enough feelings to have opinions that are unpopular about it.

Floating happily along on a sea of "just interested enough to get the warm fuzzies thinking about it, not passionate enough to start having problems."

[truly-morgan]

[Kinktober 2021: Wax Play (18+)]

BingQiu | Scum Villain Self-Saving System 27-10-2021

Day 26: [Wax Play] / F̷i̷s̷t̷i̷n̷g̷ / M̷e̷n̷o̷p̷h̷i̷l̷i̷a̷

Luo Binghe is a curious man and when he overhears his husband and Shang Qinghua talking about wax play, he wants to know what it is about.

====

“I did not expect for cucumber bro to know about wax play” Shang Qinghua laughed, catching Luo Binghe attention as he was getting back to their bamboo house. “What a kinky one you are” sqh teased him.

Shen Qingqiu rolled his eyes a bit, drinking his tea, “I read your trash novel, I learned some, but I stumble onto that one younger, I... got curious... tried once and ended up burning myself” sqq admitted. Not a good experience.

“Shizun did things without me?! And with someone else?!” lbh suddenly said as he came in, looking at his husband rather hurt. Sqq nearly choked on his tea, not expecting for his husband to have heard them talk about it.

“No! I did it... alone” he said, unsure how to explain to lbh that it was in a time before he was even sqq, neither he nor sqh had had that discussion with the demons yet.

“What is this wax play then? If shizun likes it this disciple wants to do it too”. 

“I’ll be taking my leave,” sqh said, not exactly wanting to hear in all detail the way lbh wanted to fuck his best friend.

After an afternoon explaining what wax play is. And of course, lbh wanted to try the moment sqq mentioned he did had an interest in trying.

And this is how now lbh was kneeling in front of him, already down to his underrobes holding out some candles. And how could sqq say no to these puppy eyes. 

“Are you sure this wax I-”

“I asked Shua Hualing for wax that can be used safely because I knew Shizun wouldn’t accept if I didn’t bring proper wax” lbh explained earnestly, shuffling a bit closer to where sqq was sitting on the bed, now between his leg.

‘I am sorry shl for making him ask you about this’ sqq thought to himself, wondering how could his husband be this shameless and ask shl and mbj about things like this. 

At least he supposed they were indeed safe (not that some wax would have really hurt the /protagonist/).

Sqq sighed. He would lie if he said he was not interested in doing this actually. Especially that now lbh seemed more than interested. He hummed a bit, patting his lap.

Soon he had his lap full of his husband, undoing the little robes that were left on him, taking a red candle, observing it first.

“Shizun” lbh said a bit unable to keep himself in place correctly, stopping when he received a little kiss from his husband. He watched as sqq lit the candle, waiting for some wax to melt before letting so fall on his tight.

It was interesting feeling his legs contract around his lap, hearing him gasp in surprise despite expecting it, watching the wax solidify. “Are you alright?” sqq asked, lbh nodding, gently touching his hand to guide him to do it again, “Hand in the back” sqq softly ordered, hearing lbh whine despite still doing it.

So sqq went back to dropping wax, stopping when it seemed too much, watching with interest the way lbh muscle would contract under it, the way the bigger droplet would slide to the side before solidifying.

He was about to warn lbh again when he moved his hand, only to see him stop a droplet from falling on his clean robes. “Shizun shouldn’t get his robes dirty,” he said.

Sqq nodded at this, it would be troublesome to get them dirty (though he knew lbh would get them back to perfect after). 

He tapped lbh tight slightly to make him move, the demon lord kneeling on the bed as he watched him undress too, soon coming back to him fully naked.

He made lbh sit cross-legged on the bed, sitting in his lap too, going back to waxing him with interest, watching the pretty colours dropping down lbh torso, fingers smearing the still hot wax against him, enjoying the hot feeling.

He was about to apologise to lbh when a couple of droplets fell on his dick, only to hear him moan and grip his hips. He looked up curiously at his husband, kissing his forehead.

“Do you allow me to drop more on your cock” he asked, lbh looking up at him with teary eyes. “Yes,” he replied. 

It was fascinating how hard lbh got from the wax falling directly on his dick. He was truly a masochist and something in sqq was slowly blooming a bit more at this.

Then sqq jumped a bit when some wax dropped on him. Binghe hand quickly hovered about it, unsure what to do, looking worried about him.“I am alright” sqq said, hand a bit hesitant before dropping more on himself. It was actually enjoyable, not as burning as he tried in the past.

“Shizun looks pretty with wax on him” lbh complimented near his ear. Sqq smiled at this, it was pretty indeed.

Soon, they were both a mess of coloured wax, rutting against each other, sqq forgetting he had ordered lbh not to touch. He only stopped when they both came and a lot of the wax was already used, but also there was an already good amount of wax on lbh.

“You did so good today,” sqq said as he kissed lbh to stop his crying from feeling good, peeling off the wax (which was also fun to do). 

Maybe they should try again later, it is not as scary as the first time he did it.

====

(hopefully, I wrote it right, I think waxplay is also one of those kinks that are easier and prettier to draw than to write but the two others are just, really not my cup of tea and waxplay looks fun)

Original - AO3