#binghe is a character that i treasure

[popqorn]

a gift for @shizunitis

[zykamiliah]

shen yuan likes yue qingyuan, the post

i've documented 19 moments featuring sy!shen qingqiu's feelings for yue qingyuan with the express purpose of showing those who think that sy!sqq doesn't like yqy that they are factually WRONG

this is a long one so buckle up, grab a snack, get a drink, etc etc

number one

as it's the usual with shen qingqiu, the first thing he notices in a man is whether he's handsome or not. and here you go: the first thing he sees upon waking up from getting isekai-ed is a handsome, elegant young man looking at him with concern. we do know how shen qingqiu likes that look on pretty men (he likes it a lot)

i also want to point out that yue qingyuan is the first pidw character shen yuan meets. he's already linked to him, not only because he's shen qingqiu's martial sibling, but he's also intrinsically tied to shen yuan's rebirth, to the moment he opens his eyes to the pidw world for the first time. keep this in mind.

number two

upon getting up to date on wtf happened to him and learning his new identity, the second thing shen qingqiu does is worry about yue qingyuan's fate. he doesn't even know him yet and is already giving him the blorbo treatment. why is that? oh, maybe because he likes him???

do you know how many characters shen yuan was "rather fond of"??? not that many i tell you. he's only derailed from worrying about whether he'll cause yue qingyuan's death because the system gives him a little sneak peek of the human stick scene.

so up to this point sy!shen qingqiu has characterized yue qingyuan as a brother type, an amicable, elegant and handsome man, a bleeding heart, too good for this world.

number three

now we add 'considerate' to the many praises shen qingqiu extols on yue qingyuan. the man has to be really busy with all the sect leader work he has to do and yet he makes time to visit shen qingqiu regularly. we know why yue qingyuan does that, but shen qingqiu won't learn about qijiu's backstory until much later, and right now it doesn't matter. the fact remains: shen qingqiu is grateful to the point of tears to have yue qingyuan. even if he doesn't talk about it, we can theorize that he feels a bit lonely: he's a stranger in a new world, like a newborn baby. he may be obsessed with luo binghe but at this point of the story he still hasn't got time to bond with him. so the person shen qingqiu first latches on immediately after his transmigration is yue qingyuan.

number four

"how dare that scumbag shen jiu not treat his shixiong like the god he is, with the kindness and respect he deserves? well i'm not the same, so i WILL treat yue qingyuan better!"

(it's the intention what counts, okay? we know he kind of fuck ups a few times and gives yqy much stress)

also love how shen qingqiu says "brotherly covenant", he really values familial bonds, and he'll come to treasure his bonds with all his martial siblings really quickly.

also, may i point out that shen qingqiu decides to be a good shidi for yue qingyuan and treat him well without any "ulterior motives"? it's not even tied to his survival. he's a kind person by nature, yes, but he doesn't even try to convince the reader that he's going to be a good martial sibling for selfish reasons, which was the case with liu qingge. he just up and decides that yue qingyuan deserves his respect and consideration. he officially adopts yue qingyuan as his big brother.

number five

"at home in the atmosphere of brotherly love", do i need to say more? yue qingyuan makes him feel at home in this new world, he's comfortable around him. his presence soothes shen qingqiu.

number six

furthermore, yue qingyuan reminds him of the brothers of his first life, but the sorrow he feels for losing them is overpowered by a "comforting sense of warmth" so great it makes him feel cheerful. this is the scene where yue qingyuan welcomes him back upon his arrival from the skinner demon incident. in that scene, the first thing they do is smile at each other. shen qingqiu is happy to see him.

he's surprised when yue qingyuan takes his wrist to examine his spiritual circulation, but when he notices what yue qingyuan is doing he instantly relaxes. yue qingyuan's touch doesn't bother him at all.

see how yue qingyuan's presence is often linked to feelings of comfort, warmth, home, brotherly love, joyfulness? keep this in mind too. don't you dare to forget it.

number seven

this is post-demon invasion, while they are discussing the effects of without a cure. shen qingqiu is making good on his word of treating yue qingyuan better than his predecessor, by tamping down yqy's tendency to blame himself for everything.

"i understand that yue qingyuan is genuinely worried about me, unlike SOME PEOPLE, so i have to reassure him in case he decides to be more stressed than normal"

bonus: 7.5

("the three of them" refers to shen qingqiu, mu qingfang and yue qingyuan)

i want to quote this part too, because i can, and because this scene in the donghua was 100% faithful to the novel. just another reminder that shen qingqiu likes martial siblings.

number eight

now we're coming to the siblings-coded moments

exhibit one: "oh oh i figured it out so i'll say it before you do"

i want to point out that shen qingqiu says "obviously", because from his POV yue qingyuan only does things for a good reason. shen qingqiu idolizes him.

number nine

siblings-coded moments exhibit two: "i know how to make you let me do what i want"

we've jumped 3 years, this is the prelude to jinlan arc, and this is how their relationship has evolved. shen qingqiu knows what he has to say for yue qingyuan to allow him to go to jinlan. this is a method he's used the past, of course, because this isn't the first mission he went on after getting poisoned or after the IAC.

+bonus: 9.5 yqy being a mother hen

(this is the day after lbh chased him around jinlan)

number ten

shen qingqiu has just been accused of abusing his disciple, consorting with demons, murder, and being demonic cultivator wu yanzi's disciple. yue qingyuan almost starts a fight right there and there because they want to take his shidi away, but shen qingqiu stops him and his other martial siblings before it can escalate.

he gives yue qingyuan a deep bow. we've already established he respects yue qingyuan a great deal. he's ashamed that he's caused yue qingyuan so much trouble and grief, because he really cares about him, and his opinion of him, and he genuinely didn't want to be like the original who made yue qingyuan suffer a lot. shen qingqiu cares about his sect, about his martial siblings, and about yue qingyuan to the point that he GIVES HIMSELF UP to be imprisoned.

this is plot relevant! remember it, because shen qingqiu only feels ashamed and guilty when he thinks he has wronged the people he loves!

on that note:

number eleven

(this is when luo binghe is laying siege to qiong ding to recover sqq's stolen body and sqq, in the mushroom body, sees his sect siblings for the first time after five years)

number twelve, AKA THE ULTIMATE QUOTE

"the one who placed first" YOU HEAR THAT? YUE QINGYUAN IS THE PERSON HE ADMIRES AND REVERES THE MOST. AND NOT BECAUSE HE LOVED SHEN QINGQIU, IT'S NOT AN ADMIRATION BORN OF A SELFISH FEELING. it's because yue qingyuan is The Protector. THE BLEEDING HEART. he admires his kindness, his self-sacrificing nature, and even if shen qingqiu doesn't know, this are traits they have in common.

number thirteen

siblings-coded exhibit 3: when your other little brother tattles on you to your older brother and you're planning revenge

Remaining seated, Yue Qingyuan looked at him. “A lot of nonsense you’ve stirred up these days,” he said mildly. “Are you done?” Yue Qingyuan had never assumed such a severe attitude when speaking to him before, even going so far as to use a word like “nonsense.” This was already the equivalent of a flogging. It seemed that Liu Qingge had badmouthed him quite thoroughly. Shen Qingqiu swore that one day he’d steal Cheng Luan and use it to chop all the pork hock in all the kitchens of the Twelve Peaks. He’d chop until the oily sheen smothered all its sword glares!

so yue qingyuan being mad at you feels like the equivalent of a flogging. i get you sqq. like when my mom or my brother are mad at me i really feel like crying. anyway. it's hilarious that sqq is planning on stealing chen luan because liu qingge allegedly tattled on him to yue qingyuan.

it's obvious that shen qingqiu recognizes yue qingyuan as a figure of authority in his life, he respects him and as i said before, he cares about what yue qingyuan thinks of him.

number fourteen

we know that shen qingqiu's unconscious actions say a lot about him as a person, and the fact that he unconsciously took a step towards yue qingyuan speaks volumes. he's practically wavering between following yue qingyuan or staying with luo binghe.

this will not be the first time he hesitates to go with luo binghe on the face of yue qingyuan's request/order to stay with him. and in this case, he does stay with cang qiong because the situation has gotten pretty bad.

He didn’t know how long he could hold the others off, and he absolutely couldn’t abandon this mess of a situation and escape with Luo Binghe. Yue Qingyuan and Liu Qingge had been brazen with their show of bias, and Wu Wang was already furious. Either Shen Qingqiu or Luo Binghe had to stay behind, or open conflict would erupt between Zhao Hua Monastery and Cang Qiong Mountain.

yue qingyuan and liu qingge just protected him in front of everyone, so he chooses to stay with them. shen qingqiu is incredibly loyal to them, and most importantly, he doesn't want cang qiong mountain to get into trouble because of him.

this is as good a moment to remind you all that in a lot of instances cqm = yqy in shen qingqiu's mind. obviously there is also the other peak lords and the disciples, but this is important. it isn't just because yqy is the sect leader. yue qingyuan was the first martial sibling he met, the one that welcomed him to the world of pidw and the one that kept him company those first days post-transmigration.

+ bonus: siblings coded exhibit 4:

yqy, out loud so others hear: you're grounded also yqy, whispering: let's have dinner and watch a movie once we get home, what do you want for dessert?

i can't stop laughing

+ bonus 2: parallelisms

(this moment is right after shen qingqiu has learned of shen jiu's past and woke up after being unconscious for 5 days)

When he next opened them, what filled his vision instead was a white bed curtain, its corners decorated with tassels. At the sudden change in scenery, Shen Qingqiu froze in place, surprised and unable to react—at least not before he heard Yue Qingyuan’s voice beside him. “Awake?” Shen Qingqiu mechanically blinked a couple times. His throat felt a bit dry, but he forced out his voice. “Zhangmen-shixiong.” (...) Shen Qingqiu awkwardly sat up. Suddenly, he thought this scene was a little familiar. The first time he’d woken in this world, Yue Qingyuan had also been at his bedside, watching over him.

number fifteen

so shen qingqiu knows he can get away with disobeying yue qingyuan and doing whatever he wants because yqy will forgive him anyway, and yet he chooses to respect yqy's decision and authority. of course he'll later convince yue qingyuan that he should allow him to go, like he's done many times before, but he won't deliberately disobey his zhangmen-shixiong.

so later, when they're on their way to maigu ridge, he tries to convince yqy that he must go with them. this is when yue qingyuan gets THIS CLOSE to locking him up in qiong ding hall.

now this is officially the only time yue qingyuan has done something remotely yandere-y adjacent. and not without reason! shen qingqiu died by self-detonation, then he returned after 5 years, then he was taken by a demon emperor, then he spent 5 days unconscious etc etc. he's admittedly very worried that shen qingqiu will die on him again, this time without a miraculous return. and the best thing? shen qingqiu doesn't know what to do. he didn't know whether to reach with his sword or not, whether to fight yue qingyuan on this or not. he wants to listen to yue qingyuan, but he also wants to go save the world.

and EVEN when he's finally allowed to go to Luo River, he hesitates again when he notices yue qingyuan may be struggling!

number sixteen

the reveal at maigu ridge's scene is really long, quoting it all would be a complete nightmare. so i'll just tell you to go read it because it reiterates some of the things i've already pointed out:

-shen qingqiu worrying about yue qingyuan

Thinking he was fine, Shen Qingqiu let go, but once he did, Yue Qingyuan didn’t remain standing for long before he unexpectedly collapsed again. Shen Qingqiu blanched with shock, then hurried to help him up again. “Zhangmen-shixiong? Zhangmen-shixiong?” After a brief examination, even with his superficial medical knowledge, he could tell that Yue Qingyuan’s current condition was horrible.

-shen qingqiu feeling guilty for causing yue qingyuan trouble

-shen qingqiu almost crying because of qijiu's tragic story and because it breaks his heart seeing yue qingyuan like this

number seventeen

i pointed out earlier that shen qingqiu idolizes yue qingyuan, and this is the first time he sees him so weak, which understandably makes him panic a lot. shen qingqiu thinks yue qingyuan is being talkative because he's dying, but shen qingqiu is having none of it

sobs shen qingqiu is so desperate to keep him alive.

+ bonus 3: yet again shen qingqiu's heart breaking for yue qingyuan

number eighteen

shen qingqiu, post-maigu ridge, wakes up, and upon remembering that he'd left zhangmen-shixiong in a pretty bad situation, he runs out of the lingxi caves in a panic.

you don't know how much this scene makes me feel

like, the moment luo binghe is out of the picture, yue qingyuan's safety becomes his main worry

then when he finally sees him, he's so happy that yqy is fine!

number nineteen: the goodbye scene

But even though he was the sect leader, Yue Qingyuan didn’t go with them. Instead, he stood in place, silently staring at Shen Qingqiu. For some reason, it became comparatively more awkward. As if testing the waters, Yue Qingyuan said, “Xiao-Jiu…” “Shixiong,” said Shen Qingqiu, “it’s Qingqiu.” Even though it would be too difficult to tell Yue Qingyuan the truth, Shen Qingqiu still hoped he could demonstrate the difference in other ways. Yue Qingyuan was stunned for a bit, then gave a small smile. “It’s Qingqiu. Qingqiu-shidi.”

i think this is the first time they've ever been awkward with each other. shen qingqiu says it would be difficult to tell him the truth, whether because the system won't allow him or because it'd be emotionally stressful for him to do so we don't know; but he still wants to mark the difference between the original and himself anyway, because he doesn't want to deceive yue qingyuan.

“What are your plans for the future?” asked Yue Qingyuan. “I have no plans for the time being,” said Shen Qingqiu. “First I’ll wait for Luo Binghe to return and see how he’s doing.” Yue Qingyuan smiled. “You truly adore that disciple.” Shen Qingqiu was searching for a way to answer when Yue Qingyuan said, “Shidi, Cang Qiong Mountain will forever be a place to which you can return whenever you tire of wandering the outside world.” These words were said with utmost sincerity and solemnity. Yue Qingyuan had always been this way. Whatever he promised, he would definitely deliver. And what he couldn’t deliver, he would endeavor to make up for, no matter the cost.

after learning of his past, after all that's happened, shen qingqiu's admiration remains unwavering. their relationship has become more complicated on account of the ghost that haunts it, but if anything, shen qingqiu's feelings for yue qingyuan have only deepened with this new understanding.

After assuming the role of this novel character, Shen Qingqiu had always refused to become the scum villain from the original work. He’d drawn a clear boundary between them and taken great pride in walking the opposite path. So never before had he felt such a powerful and impulsive thought: If only he really were Shen Jiu. If only that person could really hear these words.

but his heart still breaks for yue qingyuan and shen jiu and what they have lost.

[Luo Binghe] stood utterly alone, without a single person beside him. When the people walking past saw his face, their own faces filled with all sorts of expressions. Shen Qingqiu involuntarily ran forward a couple of steps, then turned his head to look at the person behind him. “Go on,” said Yue Qingyuan. He stood behind Shen Qingqiu, silent and with good grace. It was as if one was the past and the other the future.

this is the last interaction between shen qingqiu and yue qingyuan in the main novel. before leaving with luo binghe, he turns back and silently asks for yue qingyuan's permission, his approval.

it's like getting your family's blessing before running off with your paramour.

this is yue qingyuan to shen qingqiu: the person that stood by his side from the moment he was reborn into the world of proud immortal demon way, the steadfast, strong and reliable older brother that gave him a family and a place to call his, that has fought for and defended him against all his enemies to the detriment of his own reputation. shen qingqiu respects, admires and will try to do what yue qingyuan says, because he's the only authority figure shen qingqiu recognizes in this life. even if yue qingyuan's care was born out of his feelings for shen jiu, shen qingqiu can't stop caring for him, being grateful for his presence and the comfort it gave him throughout all these years. even after learning the truth, his only regret is that he can't bring shen jiu back so yue qingyuan and him can get some closure.

that's love, my dudes.

[svsss-fanon-exposed]

Exposing SVSSS Fanon: 15/∞

SHEN (YUAN) QINGQIU IS A MONSTER NERD

Rating: CANON

One of the most common character traits of Shen Yuan!Qingqiu is his fascination with the monsters and demonic beasts of PIDW. This portrayal is based in canon, as he is shown on multiple occasions to have a particular interest-- in fact, the monsters were the reason he decided to keep reading PIDW in the first place:

There was another important “it” factor. It was, in fact, the main element that had first compelled Shen Qingqiu to follow the novel until the end. The demonic beasts! ... As a cultivation novel, it was out-and-out filled with landmines, but as a monster handbook, it was pretty entertaining. (7 Seas, Ch. 4)

This passage implies that Shen Yuan found the monsters entertaining, and enjoyed them over most of the rest of the novel. However, he is often portrayed in fanworks as having an obsession, special interest, or hyperfixation on demonic beasts.

This also has basis in canon. A bit later on there is the following passage:

Shen Qingqiu wasn’t so pessimistic about his ability to handle demonic beasts. His confidence in his own cultivation and spiritual power aside, his interest in the demonic beasts of Proud Immortal Demon Way had far surpassed his interest in all those flavors of women. He might not have remembered where any given female protagonist liked to go stargazing with Luo Binghe after being slighted, and he sometimes was unable to match names to characters, but he definitely remembered every demonic beast’s attributes and weaknesses with exacting clarity! (7 Seas, Ch. 4)

Speaking from my own experiences, this certainly does sound like a hyperfixation. Remembering the variety of beasts, and perhaps even every single one, would be the same as a usual level of interest, but the fact that Shen Qingqiu had perfectly memorized every attribute of every beast in a novel several million words long certainly seems to fall more into hyperfixation territory.

When it came to Proud Immortal Demon Way’s demonic beasts, he’d really asked the right person. Shen Qingqiu spoke with great familiarity, like he was listing his family treasures. (7 Seas, Ch. 4)

Another instance here, where it shows just how highly he values his knowledge of PIDW's beasts and how familiar he is with them.

Of course, on some level, this knowledge of demonic beasts is expected of his position:

The walking demon encyclopedia—both the original and current flavor could definitively live up to this title. After all, there was that stack of records and ancient books in the back of Qing Jing Peak’s Bamboo House, the same ones that hundreds of generations of peak lords had to read in full before they were allowed to succeed the position. (7 Seas, Ch. 6)

But we must keep in mind that Shen Yuan was not originally the Qing Jing Peak Lord and had no intention on becoming the Qing Jing Peak Lord when he read PIDW-- and the knowledge he has originally comes from reading the novel, so he was not only learning all of this because it was required of his position. Where Shen Jiu might have learned these thing out of necessity, Shen Yuan did so out of passion and genuine interest from even before his transmigration.

This is further supported by a comparison with other readers of PIDW:

He could never have guessed that Shen Qingqiu’s interest in such strange creatures was equivalent to the average Zhongdian reader’s interest in the hundreds of flower-like maidens, each more beautiful than the last. (7 Seas, Ch. 5)

Now, I have noticed that fanworks will have a tendency to play up his obsession with demonic beasts-- while he definitely does have some form of hyperfixation with them, it is not as prevalent in the novel itself (at least, the events that we, the readers see).

My guess as to why this is? Well, it's simply because he is obsessed with the demonic beasts, but he is even more obsessed with Luo Binghe. It's just not as easy for him to admit that.

So in conclusion, Shen Qingqiu's internal monologue indicates that he has some level of obsession, special interest, or hyperfixation with PIDW's demonic beasts. Though it may not be quite as intense or all-encompassing as fanworks often portray it, it would still be perfectly in-line with his character to have him gushing (at least internally) over the beasts of the demon realm while traveling with Luo Binghe.

[minsarasarahair]

I feel like SVSSS should be a pre-requisite to reading MDZS and TGCF. SVSSS is about story, writer, reader and characters. It call out antis (Shen Yuan), show writer's struggles in their career (Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky) and to look deeply into characters whether they are antagonist, hero or side characters. (Luo Binghe, Shen Jiu, Ming Fan etc) SVSSS is basically telling you to treasure a book. Read SVSSS to develop a heart lol

[theladysunami]

I had the hilarious thought of an Bingqiu Aladdin AU, where Luo Binghe is the ‘Aladdin’ equivalent, while Shen Qingqiu is ‘Jafar.’

The idea of Binghe going through all the trouble to set himself up as a prince, not to impress whomever is stuck in the princess role, but to find and seduce Shen Qingqiu (who has been replaced by Shen Yuan), is just too funny!

For the background, I’m thinking that rather than writing a cultivation novel, Airplane wrote one heavily inspired by the ‘One Thousand and One Nights’ and other Middle Eastern folk tales.

In the “original” story, Luo Binghe starts out more or less like Aladdin in the classic non-Disneyfied tale. Binghe and his adoptive mother live in poverty until the sorcerer Shen Qingqiu arrives, lies about having some relation to Binghe’s birth family, and takes him on as an apprentice.

Rather than teaching him sincerely, Shen Qingqiu takes advantage of the boy’s innocence (and latent abilities) in order to steal and excavate powerful potions, artifacts, and so forth. For some added angst, perhaps he also lies to Binghe and says the things they acquire are necessary to aid his ailing mother’s health. Naturally the final artifact they seek is a lamp in a magic cave.

As one might expect, there is a great betrayal and Binghe is stuck with a labyrinthine magical cave system with only a lesser ring genie, Meng Mo, at his disposal. Unfortunately while Meng Mo is old and wise, his powers cannot free them from the caves. Binghe must undergo many trials, and unlock his unexpected half genie ancestry, in order to escape!

He then discovers the lamp he retrieved also has a genie (Mobei-Jun perhaps?), falls for the local princess, surpasses some minor difficulties to marry her, and ultimately becomes the next sultan.

With his new position he is able to lure out his old master and seek revenge! Or like in the Disney movie, the sorcerer character is fused with the sultan’s vizier, and Binghe gains revenge while seducing said princess.

Luo Binghe then moves on to ‘save’ still more beauties to add to his harem, all of whom have various ‘One Thousand and One Nights’ themed backstories and troubles.

Of course with Shen Yuan transmigrating into Shen Qingqiu, he promptly alters the course of the story by actually being an amazing mentor.

He only ever gets Luo Binghe’s help stealing artifacts that are in the hands of actual assholes, gives Binghe much better advice and magical support for all their treasure hunting missions, uses his vast knowledge of the novel’s rare plants, beasts, and artifacts to concoct real cures for both Binghe’s mother and others in need, and even manages to thwart quite a few of the harem member’s tragic backstories (Whoops)!

Having such a wonderful mentor (even if Shen Qingqiu is still technically a thief, a bit of a shit-talker, and clearly lied to Binghe’s mother about being a relative of Binghe’s birth parents), Luo Binghe naturally falls hopelessly in love with him.

Even when Shen Qingqiu traps him in the lamp’s cave, and he must escape through the labyrinth below, Binghe remains convinced it was either a genuine mistake and/or some sort of trial, and his affections aren’t deterred in the slightest. That Shen Qingqiu technically left him with Meng Mo’s ring and the very lamp they were after only serves as ‘proof’ of Shen Qingqiu’s secretly good intentions.

(I’m undecided if Binghe feels particularly silly for not realizing the lamp also had a genie until after he leaves the caves, or the caves further suppressed Mobie-Jun preventing his exit from the lamp).

For the latter Princess wooing portion of the story, I have a few options in mind. As I mentioned before, Airplane’s original version could borrow more from the Disney route, where the sorcerer character is also the vizier, or it could be more based on the original tale, where the sorcerer doesn’t return to the story until later. A third option that combines them both could also work.

For the more Disney-based version, with sorcerer vizier Shen Qingqiu, Yue Qingyuan would have to be the Sultan.

He and the original Shen Qingqiu have a dramatic past where prince Yue Qingyuan pulled a Jasmine and decided to run around town playing commoner and got himself kidnapped by slavers. He was only saved thanks to street rat Shen Jiu.

Alas, while he promised to reward Shen Jiu, Yue Qingyuan never managed to find the boy afterwards. Maybe for some added drama, Shen Jiu tried to contact Yue Qingyuan but his father (the previous Sultan) had the boy arrested and shipped off for his efforts!

When ‘Shen Qingqiu’ shows up later, of course Yue Qingyuan gives him a title and lets him do whatever he wants, out of guilt. Shen Qingqiu’s whole Jafar thing with the brainwashing staff still happens, but is probably unnecessary.

The Princess in this scenario would be Ning Yingying. Shen Qingqiu is rumored to be lusting after her, but in reality he only dotes on her as a father figure, and was actually trying to matchmake her with his apprentice and ward, Ming Fan.

For the version based more on the original tale, I think the role of Sultan would be more suited to the Old Palace Master.

It’s far easier to imagine the Old Palace Master being generally wealth obsessed, not to mention taking gifts from Binghe’s adoptive mother only to then ignore all the promises he made in receiving them.

The Princess would be the Little Palace Mistress. Her having the whole town shut down so she personally could use the public baths is also quite easy to see. Her would-be-fiancé, who is shamed but not killed by Binghe, would be Gongyi Xiao.

As in PIDW, this version of the Sultan has a past with Luo Binghe’s mother. Su Xiyan was a noble lady known to be the greatest beauty in all the land. The Palace Master sought to court and marry her, but she adamantly refused, running off with a powerful genie instead. (The Palace Master has perhaps grown a bit obsessed with capturing and enslaving genies as a result).

Both versions are fun in different ways, as the former allows for far more Shen Qingqiu villain shenanigans, while the latter would have a lot more of the Princess comically throwing herself at Binghe only to be ignored (something I struggle to see Ning Yingying doing). Of course, since Binghe is meant to have a harem anyway, there is no reason Airplane can’t have gone for both versions (to Peerless Cucumber’s great disdain).

For the combined version, Cang Qiong and Huan Hua are rival kingdoms that were actually one kingdom in the distant past.

(For some added gravitas, Yue Qingyuan, the Old Palace Master, and Su Xiyan can all be direct decedents of the final Sultan to rule before the kingdom was split in two. The original Luo Binghe marrying both sultans’ daughters, and uniting the kingdoms once again, could then be a matter of destiny).

In the original story Binghe would have won over the Little Palace Mistress and her father first, only for Shen Qingqiu to hear of his good fortune and steal away the magic lamp. Shen Qingqiu still uses a wish to snatch away Luo Binghe’s wife and palace, but rather than dying when Binghe recovers it, he manages to escape back to Cang Qiong.

As the Palace Master is still furious about the kidnapping incident, Binghe finds himself temporarily exiled until he can recover the escaped villain. Luo Binghe heads to Cang Qiong chasing after Shen Qingqiu and the roughly Disney based plot proceeds from there.

Now regardless of which way the original story went, Shen Yuan’s transmigration screws it up royally.

Thanks to Shen Qingqiu having accidentally seduced our dear protagonist, Luo Binghe doesn’t care to marry any princesses. The complete lack of princess seduction screws up the various lamp stealing plans found in the original book.

It’s not like Shen Qingqiu can trick Binghe’s wife, the Little Palace Mistress, into handing over the lamp if Binghe never actually marries her, nor can he have guards toss Binghe into the sea on the pretense of him “bothering” princess Yingying, when Binghe ignores her the whole time.

Shen Qingqiu does his best to create his own, improvised lamp stealing plans, but they seem to annoy Binghe more than anything. Luo Binghe very much prefer if Shen Qingqiu would direct all wishes to him personally. If he really must have the lamp, Binghe could be convinced to hand it over… as a wedding gift!

These are all my thoughts so far. If anyone else has their own ideas, or is inspired to make a proper fanfic along these lines, I’d be delighted to read it!

[sophia-sol]

I wrote a fic for the danmei fanworks exchange, and author reveals were today! Very exciting. I had so much fun writing this fic and I hope you enjoy it!

➤ a post-canon svsss fic from mobei-jun's pov

➤ featuring mbj's judgy opinions on: shang qinghua (the best), luo binghe (a neglectful emperor with baffling taste in husbands), shen qingqiu (weird but sqh likes him so it's good that sqq makes sqh happy), weird bird-themed demons (maybe they'll be fun to fight??), and romantic relationships (boring)

➤ meanwhile sqh/sqq/lbh are working on getting their shit together

➤ and the weird bird-themed demons just really! want! their secret special object back!

➤ (yes obviously the bird demons are modeled after a real bird species that lives in china. it was written by me.)

precious treasure (6015 words) by sophia_sol Chapters: 1/1 Fandom:人渣反派自救系统 - 墨香铜臭 | The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Luo Binghe/Shang Qinghua/Shen Yuan | Shen Qingqiu, Mobei-jun & Shang Qinghua Characters: Luo Binghe, Shang Qinghua, Shen Yuan | Shen Qingqiu, Mobei-jun Additional Tags: hints of mobing, could easily become moshangbingqiu in the future, I love how differently all four of them think about each other, writing this from mbj's pov was super fun, contains a fight scene with blood Series: Part 8 of soph's cnovel fics Summary: When Luo Binghe and his consort are away from their palace in the demonic realm, it falls to Mobei-Jun (and Shang Qinghua) to act on the emperor’s behalf. Somehow Luo Binghe's return doesn't free them from having to help with the annoying group of demons who are demanding an audience with the emperor.

[boundlss]

i love posting ooc things about my blog. here's my list of wanted canon connections for some of my canons

shiroe: NAOTSUGU. i can't stress this enough. my favorite dynamic especially in the novels, i'd sell all my organs and become lifeless for someone to write naotsugu. everyone else i could take or leave but naotsugu is forever. friend city.

kanami: KR, krusty, elias hackblade, coppelia, leonardo ... any of kanami's merry friends really.

hirari: literally anyone from rengoku ni warau. i don't like donten as much but i'd take those ones too.

seung-gil: jean-jacques leroy ... phichit chulanont would be fine too ...

roland: vanitas, astolfo, or olivier!!!

jim hawkins: long john silver :( but anyone from treasure planet, i'd take.

kazui: mikoto or shidou ideally, but also yuno and kotoko would not grant complaints!

kaito: meiko ... gakupo ...

longya: ANY of the vocaloids in The Band !!

gumi: luka, teto!

five pebbles: looks to the moon. can't stress that one enough.

the long quiet, the princess: eachother and the narrator. game only has three characters.

aalto: he's not an active muse until wuwa releases and i see him but any wuwa characters.

roche: VES!!!! and geralt!

cahir: angoulême! milva! dandelion! assire var anahid!

dandelion: cahir! milva! angoulême! essi daven! zoltan chivay!

milva: cahir! dandelion! angoulême! regis! iorveth!

isengrim: cahir! sigismund dijkstra!

tom sawyer, huck finn: eachother!

aradia: sollux, equius, vriska, dave

latula: mituna!!! kankri, porrim, aranea

feferi: eridan, sollux, nepeta, jade, karkat

jade: john, rose, jake, karkat

dirk: jake, jane, hal

shang qinghua: mobei-jun, shen qingqiu

shen qingqiu/sy: shang qinghua, liu qingge, yue qingyuan, luo binghe, zhuzhi-lang

luo binghe: shen qingqiu, mobei-jun

[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!

[phoenixtakaramono]

For the wip game, the untold tale ch6? I will not lie it is because im obsessed but also this chapter includes new characters probably so im also 👀👀👀

Ooh! Yes! Since you mentioned new characters….

Note, for The Untold Tale ch6, keep in mind this is from my notes so details are subject to change in the final draft, but here’s a snippet (and some context)! In this chapter I wish to avoid injecting OCs as much as possible unless strictly necessary and I think it’ll be fun learning some more cultural details via the storytelling medium Shen Yuan interacts with some actual gods and goddesses (placeholders) from Chinese mythology.

╰(*´︶`*)╯♡

(Spoiler alert down below!)

SNIPPET

Shen Miao was quiet.

Unlike themselves whose births were blessed by the Heavenly Dao, they as gods and celestial beings were far more selective with the moral quality of the mortals who they allowed into their homes. Only exceptional meritorious spirits were allowed to ascend to either the Silver Bridge—giving one access to a position in the Celestial Bureaucracy—or to the Golden Bridge—which allowed for rebirth in one of the upper realms of the Heavenly Realm.

“A man who’s arrogant from being pampered is destined to not last long,” she said. “Sān gē will toss him really quickly.”

(TUT, Ch6 Excerpt)

CONTEXT

*Sān gē - Third brother (referring to Shen Yuan)

In this chapter, Shen Yuan goes to meet the Heavenly Emperor. On the way, he will reunite with his “family members” in PIDW which the System has set for him a lá a direct side effect of his Protagonist’s Halo (if he hadn’t asked to become the deuteragonist, he wouldn’t have gotten this powerful background). One of them is his sister. I’d made a few posts about her here on tumblr and on twitter.

Shen Miao is the name I’m giving SY’s unnamed little sister, as an Easter Egg reference to the protagonist of The Rebirth of the Malicious Empress of Military Lineage. In this excerpt, after SY leaves, the family consults with one another about this demon lord Luo Binghe that their treasured family member (celestial fortuneteller/ warlord SY) is suddenly so protective over and supposedly having a fate that will change the Three Realms, and warlord Shen Miao makes this remark (about Bingge).

(Shen Yuan canonically has parents, 2 older brothers and 1 younger sister in SVSSS. Since we’re “bringing them” into this story they haven’t transmigrated; the celestial beings that are SY’s family in PIDW which he meets this chapter coincidentally share their same names and faces, I’m giving them the xianxia treatment in this AU and giving my own spin on them. To give you an idea of the two older brothers who were supposed to take over the family’s manufacturing business before SY transmigrated, here’s the vibe of one of them in the below GIF.)

Shen Yuan’s father, as we’ll come to find out, is the Heavenly Emperor. And his mother is the Heavenly Empress. Their entire family is a family of warlords. It’s the type of hidden family background we rag on protagonists for being too OP, haha, so I wanted to play into that since SY is LBH’s golden thigh in TUT and he also shares the same protagonist halo with LBH. This version of SY is supposed to be the perfect match for Bingge SO WE ARE GONNA HEAVILY LEAN INTO THAT and satirize a few tropes (esp. the Opposites Attract; it’s dramatic were a “forbidden romance” to spring up between a demon lord and celestial being, no? Hee hee.)

[namelessexistence]

It's not a fix-it If LBH doesn't have friends

Ok, so the tragedy of the Original Luo Binghe is how empty everything he have is. He is so unsatisfied he would jump at the first chance to marry his worst enemy, someone who abused him, If that man can truly love "Luo Binghe" (I Also have a theory that they're kinda soulmates, in a messed up way, because Airplane originally planned for them to get together, but that theory is a completly different matter).

The point is, Bingmei is happier and satisfied because he has something Bingge never had, a relationship he actually care about. And I don't mean that LBG never cared about any of his wives, specially NYY, but whathever affection he may feel for them was not enough to bring himself to build genuine relationships. No one really loves 600 people, that number is just ridiculus. But he's never satisfied, with all the wives, victories, glory and treasures.

I find It fascinating to compare both LBHs, he is really an interesting character. And, If I was to say everything I think about the tragedy of LBG, this post would be too long and stray too much from what I'm trying to say.

The point is that svsss is a fix-it for pidw, where LBH gets a meaningful relationship. Because of that, it was a wasted opportunity to not let him build meaningful relationships with other characters. It would show what LBG could have had, even in a world without SY, If he allowed himself to.

And there's potential everywhere to It. NYY was the first person after his mother to be nice to him.

He and LMY could bound over interest in romance and their habit of making things up in their minds. They're both dreamers (and they're both into weird s**, except that LMY doesnt want to participate)

QWY helped him when he got out of the Abyss. She projected a lot into him in SVSSS since he saved her right after her sister died, it's something to explore.

There's a lot of Enemies to Friends potential with MF, SHL and MBJ. I've seen him be friends with SHL and MBJ in some fics, but It never explores how they got there, since his first impression of SHL was her invading the Sect, causing destruction and then cheerfully pointing out that SQQ was poisoned and there was no cure. His first impression of MBJ was even worst.

And I only talked about svsss characters until now.l, but crossover brings even more possibilities.

The juniors of mdzs are precious. JL was the only one who didn't start already as an angel in the novel, but he gets better.

LJY likes romance stories, and OYZZ is a romantic as well.

JL is an orphan like LBH and LSZ, is not only an orphan, but raised by a loving parent with no blood ties without knowing anything about his biological family.

In short, we must give LBH some friends, he needs them. And the possibilities are very fun

[writing-frenzy]

Plz let Airplane be awesome- Fic Rec

So I have a hankering for our favorite disaster of an author plz and thx. I went searching, daydreaming, and sometimes down right spelunking for some of that good Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky character fics. Did I also find some good tasty Moshang on the journey? Yes and it was good.

So, here is a place for all the treasure I managed to collect. Hope You all enjoy!~

(And any recs for more goodness will be fully accepted, plz!)

A Well Wherein Serpents Are Coiled by Nighthaunting - I am poison / And you will drink me / And you should be so lucky

Shang Qinghua transmigrates into his own terrible novel as a baby. The fact that this seems to be a world based on his first draft, where things actually happened and the plot did matter, is less than comforting. Having a second chance is nice, but ending up as cannon fodder and dying offscreen are the last things he wants to do. The only way to avoid his 'canonical' fate is to do as the System demands and try to fix his mistakes from within the world he created. Somehow this ends up with a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed Luo Binghe as an An Ding Peak disciple, because writing about a kid being miserable and seeing a kid being miserable are apparently two entirely different skillsets.

The best, my heart will not move on, I am sinking with this story, it has consumed me and all I can say is ‘thank you, but can I go even deeper?’ like... it has the best world building I have ever seen for any SVSS fanfic, it is canon in my mind and I just end up loving An Ding Peak even more? like wow, I did not know that was possible. Read the fic and the only regret you will have is that you have reached the last updated chapter so soon.

-

pride is not the word I'm looking for by Tossawary - A Pre-Canon Canon Divergence fic. Shang Qinghua goes to take a self-indulgent peek at his baby protagonist son and gets a kick to the shrivelled heart for his troubles. Ahhh~! He gave up on changing canon or preventing character deaths years ago! What is he doing, helping his protagonist son's adoptive mother like this?

This story, this story, was one of the two to make me so damn hungry for all the Airplane!Shang Qinghua goodness. It leaves me wanting for more. (Also, give Airplane more family bonds and friendship, make our favorite little disaster feel things.)

-

it must follow, as the night the day by Tossawary - Airplane Bro transmigrates into his own web-novel only to find out that the System messed up his world! Shang Qinghua is a demon in this world! All the characters supposed to be humans are demons in this world! And all the characters supposed to be demons are...?Moshang's first meeting in a Role Reversal AU.

Look, if I mention their first one, of course I have to mention the amazing Role Reversal au; I can’t not miss this beautiful piece of Demon!Airplane awkwardness of being hot for the icy cultivator who could easily gut him in a second. it is so good, I love.

-

The An Ding Peak Lord's Holy Cheat Sheet by JerichoJaspersJeromeJr - There's a dozen basic things that Shang Qinghua should know but somehow doesn't. There's a hundred mysterious secrets that Shang Qinghua knows even when he shouldn't. There's a thousand profound mysteries that Shang Qinghua knows even when no mortal should. Mobei-jun has noted it all.

*Cackles* Kneel before our mighty god Airplane!  

-

Keep Your Friends Close by HeavenlyDusk -  The one where Shang Qinghua and Scum Villain Shen Qingqiu become friends, except neither of them really know what friendship actually is.

This series, by all good fiction is so damn great! I live for this disaster friendship of Shen Jiu and Airplane (and only shit, I shouldn’t laugh, but cockblocking Shen Jiu is not something I expected, but Gives me a mighty need, even if he made it his mission for Moshang to never happen.)

-

The Eye of the Emperor by fishpoets -  The attention of Great Lord Luo Binghe is not something to be coveted.

Now, this is Mobei-Jun’s POV in this one-shot, but just how soft he is with his hubby is so cute, and we get to see Shang Qinghua being a sneaky crafty and protective of his own hubby. for all of Luo Bingge’s threating aura, I can’t help but grin at how this couple, so determined to be there for each other, and ready to plot. 

-

A Political Match by tuesday - It was the day of Shang Qinghua’s wedding, and he was going to be sick.

So... BL author Shang Qinghua accidently seduced his fav character, Mobei-jun, the fic. my only regret is that there isn’t more.

-

unplanned by fencesit - Shang Qinghua doesn't mean to do it. Okay, okay, from the outside he totally gets how it looks purposeful. Definitely! It definitely looks like he planned it really carefully! Like, you can't just slip and whoops break someone out of Huan Hua Palace's Water Prison, you know?

:D Alternate first meeting and a tasty prison break? go get yo man my disaster fav.

-

Sea foam and grenades by Sunnystar - Long before the Peaks were known for their esteemed cultivation, An Ding had another title. [A world where Shang Qinghua goes off plot for his children disciples.]

Ow, oww, owwww owwwwwww ouch! be prepared to have your heart pickled before your eyes, before it is roasted over an open fire and then promptly eaten before you. and with the left over crumbs of it left over, still find no, you have not had enough, you need to make sure your tear ducts are still existing after all... Just, make sure you mind the tags with this story, because it gets dark, bits of fluff seen here and there to at least trick you into thinking there is still a light hanging around. it is a lot to take in, but oh man are the emotions delicious even as I have to take breaks from this story because of all the feeling I have to face.

---

So, there ya have it; might have more added in the future, but for now, I at least wanted these up. Part Duo Here~

And feel free to add more, I am always up for more of our boi!

[veliseraptor]

If you don't mind me asking, who are your favorite MXTX characters (top 5 from each novel)? I'm sorry if you've answered this question before.

so this got. long. to nobody’s surprise probably. 

Scum Villain Self-Saving System

I feel like this is the novel where I have the fewest characters I really have strong feelings about? Which is not to say that I don’t love the characters! I just haven’t latched onto as many of them in the same way that I have with the other two. So there’s really only two that I wanted to list here.

1. Shen Jiu. Like, okay, this is one of those “didn’t see this coming but hoo boy should I have seen this coming” things where I’m like. Oh, did you say “emotionally dysfunctional misanthropic character shaped by abuse, incapable of communication, full of self-loathing, unlikeable and ultimately destroyed by his own actions? well will you look at that I have adopted a new character.”

Didn’t see it coming but ultimately very predictable! thanks, extras, for doing this to me and making me constantly in my feelings being sad about Shen Jiu kind of never having had a chance. Like, he did, but also he didn’t.

And I just have a big Thing for characters who kind of ruin their own lives.

2. Luo Binghe. He is a Mess and a bundle of issues and I love him. I mean - abandonment issues! deep insecurity! temperamental and emotionally unstable! a love interest...okay not quite made for me but still definitely a delight because he’s such a disaster. And I am here for both canon Binghe who is less...awful, and PIDW!Binghe who is patently awful and you can still see...how he got there, and the disaster living underneath. I just really love a hot mess.

Also all credit to Liu Mingyan for living her erotica writing dream, though.

Heaven Official’s Blessing

1. Hua Cheng. The smooth, suave ghost king who is constantly screaming on the inside and has a concerningly low level of self-worth independent of what he can be to the object of his devotion? Sign me up. I love Hua Cheng because he’s like. Ruthless, competent, powerful, and also in certain very specific places deeply insecure and certain of his worthlessness and monstrosity. He’s got such a delightful flair for the dramatic, and he’s honestly hilarious, and at the same time a deeply traumatized wreck badly in need of self-actualization. Love him, want good things for him.

2. Xie Lian. It’s funny because Xie Lian is one of those characters who feels...against type, for me? In some ways? But I love him so much. He’s just...augh. His profound kindness, his deep guilt and self-hatred/doubt, the downward spiral of his history and then how he manages to come back from the edge, but just barely. He’s in some ways painfully self-aware but also in this very skewed way where he doesn’t - can’t - see himself clearly. He’s just...augh. He’s a sweetheart but in this very deliberate, thoughtful way where it’s a choice he’s made after being ground down and losing everything. Flower in one hand and sword in the other, balanced in between. A treasure.

3. He Xuan. You give me a ghost driven by single-minded determination and an elaborate revenge plot that takes centuries to set up, getting attached to one of the objects of that revenge that he’s determined to take down, and going through with the incredibly precise and cruel revenge plot anyway? Oh, yeah. What do you expect from me? Even if the skeleton fish and everything weren’t so Aesthetic I would love He Xuan, but the messiness of their relationship to Shi Qingxuan is really what sells me.

4. Shi Qingxuan. Again kind of a “against type” pick for me! But...augh. I love them. I love them and their ebullience that feels like a very thin mask over a lot of insecurity and a desperate need to be liked and a holdover from the childhood spent living in fear. I love them for how quickly and eagerly they adopt Xie Lian as a friend, and how they continue to defend him from basically day one forward. They’re good.

5. Mu Qing. What a mess!!! Love him. Mu Qing Has Rights and every reread I’ve done just underlines my feelings about this more. He’s so prickly, and so conscious of his status (or lack thereof); so determined to have independence, abrasive and temperamental and bad at expressing himself in ways intelligible to others. And he does the Thing that I love where when people think badly of him he’s like “OH SURE, WELL, I’LL LET YOU DO THAT AND NOT BOTHER TO CORRECT YOUR ASSUMPTIONS.” I don’t know why I like that, except that it’s the ‘oh you’re just going to tank your own life for the sake of your pride aren’t you’ thing. Anyway this isn’t making a lot of sense but. Mu Qing, y’all. He’s good and I want good things for him post-canon.

(with bonus mentions for: Feng Xin, Ling Wen, Banyue, Yin Yu, and Quan Yizhen, the last of whom I developed a sort of late-blooming dumb affection for.)

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation

I feel like I have a much stronger feelings about the CQL versions of the characters - have still only read the novel itself once, so these are mostly CQL verse versions by virtue of that...being the lion’s share of my experience. Always just feel like I need to establish that.

In pretty much the converse of what I said about SVSSS, this is the canon where I have, like. Deep fondness for almost every character. So I went ahead and added some of the extra spots I had leftover from the Scum Villain not top five and put them here instead. I can do that if I want.

1. Xue Yang. I mean, anyone who has followed me recently for any amount of time may have noticed this. I walked into this fandom and took one look at this gremlin and went “oh, that one is mine now” and haven’t really looked back other than brief fits of guilt that change absolutely nothing about my feelings. I Just Love Him, Xue Yang Has Some Murder Rights Actually. I just...love a disaster of this magnitude who ruins his own life because he doesn’t know how to not do that. That’s the good shit, you guys.

2. Jiang Cheng. Boy do I gravitate toward insecure younger siblings with abandonment issues who don’t know how to communicate their feelings, don’t I. There’s so much crunch in Jiang Cheng’s character, so much messiness and confusion and difficulty. He doesn’t make anything easy, for himself or others. I just love how...he loves so much and so hard and yet he has all this dysfunction that makes it so impossible for him to express that, most of the time. I mean, I have written multiple several-thousand-word odes to my Jiang Cheng feelings, I don’t know how to really talk about them here except how much I think about the fact that I do not think Jin Ling has never doubted that Jiang Cheng cares about and loves him and how much that’s what Jiang Cheng would’ve liked to have in his life - that certainty of being loved.

3. Wei Wuxian. I feel like I don’t talk about Wei Wuxian enough and I think that is mostly because I feel like everyone else has already said what I would say and said it better, but like. What a character! What a character written to tap into so many of my very favorite archetypes of like. Trauma! The intersection of selflessness and selfishness! Deep loyalty to those he cares about and a willingness to destroy people who get in his way! Determination and ingenuity! And like. The fact that he dies dramatically and tragically and then gets to come back and have his...not even redemption arc but something like that, sort of? v v v good. I get to have my cake and eat it too.

4. Xiao Xingchen. Like, okay, yes, I recognize we don’t get a whole lot of him in canon so I am building a lot of headcanon edifice on a very small foundation but so sue me. I mean - someone described Xie Lian in my inbox a while back as “Xiao Xingchen if Xiao Xingchen were the protagonist” and honestly in some ways I can see it? His determined kindness, his desire to do good in the face of being repeatedly punched in the face by the fact that his world is not kind, the way that he is weird in his own society, the absolute tragedy of his life’s arc. Xiao Xingchen deserves the world. But also I love thinking about his...imperfections, and the ways in which the idealization of him by the world around him is incredibly isolating and lonely, and I will always be in my feelings about characters with a public image and the isolation that can create - when you are less a person than a symbol.

5. Lan Xichen. Again one of those characters where I didn’t see it coming and he kind of snuck up on me but now I’m like. Oh Lan Xichen I want you to have nice things only! Someone give him a break from trying to shoulder sole responsibility for everything and the burden of being the only person who is willing to give people a shred of the benefit of the doubt! Like, fuck but he’s carrying so much, and trying so hard to bear it well and gracefully, and someone needs to wrap him in a shock blanket or something and give him a minute to breathe. And also remind him that it is okay to have boundaries.

6. Jin Guangyao. Are we surprised? I hope we’re not surprised. I feel like I should just link to this post since this thing has already gotten ridic long and I don’t need it to get...even longer.

7. Jin Ling. I really didn’t see this one coming but here I am in loving Jin Ling hours all the time. He’s just...I feel like I keep saying this, but he’s such a mess but he has a good heart and he’s trying and he’s just so...determined! He has so much to live up to and a big chip on his shoulder but he is a sweetheart deep down, he’s a brat for sure but he’s also such a kid who wants to think he’s not a kid but boy, is he. I love him very very much and I think he’s going to be all right, more or less, eventually.

but like. this is a thing where I’m very fuck I love everyone in this bar about it!!! as you can see picking top five was not even a thing I could do except that Jiang Cheng and Xue Yang are pretty solidly my two Babies with Wei Wuxian only a hair behind by virtue of me feeling like he doesn’t need my support as much.

[fiercestcorpse]

Hello! I have been reading your webnovel for the past two years, and have come to the conclusion you do not deserve to have Luo Binghe as your protagonist. He is my comfort character and seeing him in an environment not meant for him brings me anxiety, so I will be expecting a reply to this DM when you have him in the wood shed and ready to relinquish him to someone who will treasure him like he deserves.

[minsarasarahair]

Main Ships in You Yao (Are You OK)

SHIP #1: Lou Zhu & Zuo Yunqi (Medicine)

Meet Lou Zhu. He’s a rich businessman who serves the emperor as transmigrator(isekai people) detector by interviewing them because he himself is also one. He manage the most popular establishment in Da Liang, the Best Tower (Its like a shopping mall). He’s a neutral pacifist and quite a funny character with brains. In the martial arts circle, he offer his aid with his advance knowledge from his original world and is close friend with their leader. Despite Lou Zhu serving the emperor, the current emperor is anxious about transmigrators existence in his kingdom and the fact that Lou Zhu is loved by his people but Lou Zhu has no intention of going against the emperor until the conflict with Zuo Yunqi happened.

Zuo Yunqi is a native who deceived him by pretending as transmigrator in their first meeting. Zuo Yunqi is from the Pangmen sect that specialized in disguising and expert in poison. He want to stop his dad from taking an evil path and that made Lou Zhu involved in the conflicts. Lou Zhu feeling bad about the kid. He decided to took him in as his bodyguard but its not like he expect Zuo Yunqi to protect him seriously. Its actually just an excuse to protect the kid. He might be young but he’s a cool kid that can match with Lou Zhu’s clever mind. Its great to watch him grow from a naïve child to someone who became equal to Lou Zhu. They are the jaded main pair who face hardships together to survive.

They have age gap but their relationship in the novel and donghua is very subtle (If you only read the main story without the reunion extra, their relationship look so platonic tbh) but you get that they obviously treasure each other deeply like they love protecting each other or being around with each other in cute way. Its quite vague, confusing or ambiguous for others because its not your typical love story but I think that's their charm as a pair. Their relationship is too deep to be just platonic but its also not too romantic. Most of their moments together is a combination of fluff and angst or mostly its just hilarious. To put it simply, they have strong emotional connection that values loyalty, trust and company. We can also describe their relationship that they are "home" or "family" to each other. Sometimes relationships don't need label because its too unique to be called just romantic. Their dynamic is kinda similar to SVSS’s Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe (specifically before Luo Binghe fell into the ravine) or Gu Yun with Chang Geng before Chang Geng reached 20s (Sha Po Lang). Novel Spoilers! This pair explore more their romantic side in the reunion extra after 5 years. Zuo Yunqi is probably at his 23-24s and even when they finally reunited, Zuo Yunqi's concept of love is not seeing each other frequently as long as the one he love is living well.

SHIP #2: Zhou Rongqi & Li Ke (Poison)

Then we have Zhou Rongqi, also known as Prince Yu. His handsome and cold looks who rarely smile makes him standout from the rest. He planned to take revenge against his emperor brother because of the death of the people he treasure (mother, brother, friend). Also, somehow he’s surprisingly a transmigrator? Not a transmigrator from another world. But a transmigrator because he's stuck in a loop of his own life.

He was introduced like an antagonist in the beginning but he’s actually very soft inside especially to Li Ke, a cheerful transmigrator who reside in his deceased best friend’s body. He claimed Li Ke is his prisoner and ordered him to make poison for his revenge. Eventually, he start to show concern to Li Ke and questioned his revenge. Li Ke on the other hand is such a precious good guy who want to help Prince Yu away from taking the wrong path.

This pair is more well-received than the first one and serve as parallel to LouZuo love story. Their relationship is very angsty and somehow more romantic. Unfortunately, they got the bad ending because they lack the trust Lou Zhu and Zuo Yunqi has in their relationship. They have communication issues because Prince Yu's revenge got in the way to face Li Ke's sincere feelings. Their story is mostly centered on Prince Yu’s regret that he can’t be a good person for Li Ke even if he want to because he prioritize his revenge for the sake of getting justice for the deceased important people he treasure dearly and Li Ke's helplessness that he can't do anything to save his man. Prince Yu is not the best person but its easy to understand where he's coming from. Like why he saved Li Ke's life more than his own life? Their dynamic is kinda closer to Mo Dao Zu Shi’s Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian or Mobei Jun and Shang Qinghua from SVSS. A beautiful guy who looks cold but actually gentle and a bright funny talkative guy. Spoilers! But not really because Donghua 1st Ending credits already spoiled this! A character death happened but they are still together somehow because Prince Yu's soul was stuck in the sword Li Ke always carry as he travel around Da Liang. In a way, he's still watching over Li Ke.

[jin-guang-ow]

(sv anon) some spicy opinions for the meme: sqq doesnt love lbh romantically

I love this gif v sorry guys but it’s my fave atm

Agree!

Personally, I think the entirety of Scum Villain was uhhhh a little rushed idk? The ending didn’t quite strike me as fulfilling??? I pretty much just agree because I feel like I never had that AH-HA moment of like omg they’re totally in love with each other. Idk if it’s just because there was a lot more effort put into making it funny, so MXTX skipped that romance shit???

I don’t doubt for a second that he has amiable feelings for BingHe since he does seem to really care for him, but I never really got that “I see why Shizun has fallen for Binghe” moment? Do you guys know what I mean? Because it’s my very favorite part of romance anything!!! I get why BingHe loves Shizun (one of the first people to be v kind to him uhhh after the transmigration of course). Shizun really treasured BingHe, but it didn’t feel romantic. I feel that. I feel like the extras were much cuter than the actual story line. Again, I think there was just more effort into the funny HAHA NOW THE MC IS GAY THANKS TO STUPID SHIZUN than uhhh justifying Shizun actually loving BingHe haha.

Idk I really like MDZS and TGCF because they’re slowburn and you get all these small moments that slowly build up until the characters (pretty much just the MCs in this case) are like wooooahhhh I love that person!!!

Somehow the 6 chapters of MoShang made me believe they were v cute and could end up loving each other better than the 80+ chapters of BingBing chasing Shizun over and over and over again haha

Feel free to send me your MXTX Hot Takes and I’ll tell you if I agree or not (I probably agree honestly hahaha)

[boundlss]

wow !! so we are mutuals and you want to write with me !! what a presumptuous assumption i am making, but a delightful scenario for me to imagine !! in any case, i thought i'd make a post that was sort-of a very handy guide for if you ever want to send me a meme but aren't sure what muse to send it to !!

actually i'll disclaim for real that this is just for fun and i obviously never expect people to adhere to these sorts of things. frankly, activity levels are a lie on my blog---i'll answer anything for any muse at any time. don't quote me on this. but anyway, the real best way to interact is to interact with the muse(s) that YOU want the best. i promise i will not begrudge you for only being here for like 1-2 muses out of 68. i really promise.

but! in case some people are having trouble making up their minds and because i love to talk, here is a little fun helpful guide for every muse and how easy or complicated it is to interact with them!

p.s. if you have questions about how easy a specific single character is to interact with and what kind of muses specifically they would work best with. you can ask me at any time. please don't be shy because i am shy and that is not a good combination. you can even do it on anon i won't bite.

muses who don't require all that much plotting for initial interactions and are easy to get along with.

shirogane kei - log horizon. minagawa kanami - log horizon. nyanta - log horizon. roland fortis - vanitas no carte. ty lee - avatar: the last airbender. mukuhara kazui - milgram. yuezheng longya - vocaloid. dandelion - the witcher. latula pyrope - homestuck. jade harley - homestuck. mr. mistoffelees - cats. skimbleshanks - cats. mungojerrie - cats. rumpleteazer - cats. luminous - original character (log horizon). pleasant clemens - original character (clemens saga). ankita culathene - original character (d&d pc). phoenix fyre - original character (d&d pc). roy mayrana - original character (imiray). esisze rasruft - original character (imiray). nikodemas holloway - original character (imiray). finnegan twelve - original character (imiray).

muses who don't require much plotting for initial interactions but who are difficult to get along with.

lee seung-gil - yuri on ice!!! jim hawkins - treasure planet. sokka - avatar: the last airbender. striker - helluva boss. vernon roche - the witcher. isengrim faoiltiarna - the witcher. dirk strider - homestuck. vriska serket - homestuck. anton chekhov - original character (bungou stray dogs). leslaw - original character (the witcher). orion clemens - original character (clemens saga). henry clemens - original character (clemens saga). margaret clemens - original character (clemens saga). cyran azerrad kapral - original character (d&d pcs). yemevon - original character (d&d pcs). vesaithe hedmeni - original character (d&d pcs). feliks aasmae - original character (imiray).

muses who are easy to get along with but require heavy plotting for initial interactions.

abe no hirari - donten/rengoku ni warau. stolas - helluva boss. KAITO - vocaloid. GUMI - vocaloid. cahir mawr dyffryn aep ceallach - the witcher. aradia megido - homestuck. feferi peixes - homestuck. shang qinghua - scum villain's self saving system. shen qingqiu - scum villain's self saving system. munkustrap - cats. demeter - cats. benjamin clemens - original character (clemens saga). pamela clemens - original character (clemens saga). yanna lazaros - original character (imiray). kalypse - original character (imiray). dzenos - original character (imiray).

muses who are not easy to get along with and who require heavy plotting for initial interactions but i still love them.

jet - avatar: the last airbender. five pebbles - rain world. tom sawyer - mark twain. huckleberry finn - mark twain. luo binghe - scum villain's self saving system. no. 44 - original character (clemens saga). aurilis ayeva - original character (imiray). haven hadmatter - original character (imiray). choucherri - original character (imiray). maurissandre - original character (imiray). eliarin - original character (imiray).

it could not possibly be more complicated but i urge you to try anyway.

the long quiet - slay the princess. the princess - slay the princess.