#but because he has a big crush on sqq

[frogizz]

Luo Bingge is bisexual with a heavy preference for women, next topic

[oreganocactus]

i don't participate in any sort of svsss fandom stuff so my apologies if this has been said already but a HUGE part of the humor of that book comes from how it parodies typical isekai harem tropes and not just in the way you might think. there's the typical "wow so cheaply derived porn trope" humor but part of the humor is also in that despite LBH being the original protag, the book SVSSS itself features SQQ as the protagonist.....

ppl like to joke about SQQ's "harem" but the humor of the harem isn't just in that he has one at all (when normally that would be LBH's role), it's how every "member" of that harem fulfills a typical isekai harem role in an inverted way!!!!!!

most obvious example is LBH. he's an inversion in that he's originally intended to be an all-powerful demon king who's a housewife in SVSSS, but (imo) the humor in his "role" is that he's supposed to fulfill the trope of the young abused battle-hardened "demon" girl who longs for peace and housewifery and latches onto the older man who showed him kindness -- except instead of being a moe anime girl, he's an all-powerful protagonist-style power insert hero. so, not so much an inversion of "this demon king is actually a housewife??" and moreso "this housewife is actually a male demon king" (which might not sound like much of a difference at all, but it's moreso about how the MEN fulfill harem girl tropes and not the other way around.)

another example is YGY - set up as a "big brother" figure and clearly has history with SQQ. he's meant to fulfill the trope of the clingy "older sister" childhood friend who promises marriage to the protagonist and has clear history w/him but is insecure about his role because he's not as "appealing" as the other options. his humor as a "romance option" comes from 1. him being a man (you might notice this is the case for a lot of these LOL) and 2. actually, in fact, being immensely powerful - it's another inversion of the trope of the physically weak "starter" harem girl who agonizes over being unable to do more for her beloved childhood friend in their journey.

my favorite example: LQG is the most obvious "tsundere tomboy" trope ever. physically powerful, out of touch with her emotions, gets flustered and aggressive with her crush, focuses on getting stronger above all else yet somehow extraordinarily beautiful -- all of these are extremely obvious tropes assigned to this "tsundere tomboy" trope, with the humor lying in the contrast of LQG actually being a man. the succubus extra is hilarious not just because of the awkward situation and their reactions, but because it's an EXACT setup of an extremely common scene in isekai harem novels. the cold tsundere beauty gets affected by succubi, doesn't know what to do, goes to the protagonist for help - it's the exact kind of situation that would have the protagonist pushing her down and saying lines like "you shouldn't act like this - i'm a man too, don't you know?" and making her aware that she's a woman and "in danger" around him. it's funny because LQG is very much a man, and indeed SVSSS parodies this directly by having SQQ tell LQG that he's a man too, he'll understand if he needs to jerk off! no worries!

even ZZL falls into the trope of the typical beast-kin girl who's saved by the protagonist and falls into his harem, subverted by his loyalty to someone ELSE besides SQQ and nonchalance as he does it.

it's the main draw of the humor of the novel for me and i surprisingly feel like not enough people talk about just how much SVSSS really leans into being a parody of a harem-collecting isekai....

and if you're curious about my credentials for making this post: if you name a shitty isekai novel, i've almost definitely already read it all. i read too many midsekais. it's like an addiction.

[sunderwight]

With moshang I think I'm equally fond of the possibilities/concepts where either Shang Qinghua is ludicrously attractive to demons in a broad sense (but doesn't realize it), or, where Shang Qinghua is just some weird little gremlin and everyone else cannot wrap their head around why THE Mobei Jun is so smug about seducing this man.

Or a combination, where no demon in their right mind would ordinarily look at Shang Qinghua and perceive a sex icon, but because such a high-ranking demon has clearly done so, they go "well there must be SOMETHING going on there" and then look closer and before they know it they're on the slippery slope to being horny about a guy who could help file their taxes or arrange to have their clan base's faulty plumbing fixed.

Basically it's all good. Demons en mass going "yeah yeah big scary dudes who punch good are a dime a fucking dozen around here, but do you know how hot someone who can skillfully use an abacus is?" vs demons going "the ice king is a respectable ruler but he has garbage taste in men, we all just smile and politely nod while he insists the weird rat guy he fixated on as a teenager is a catch" vs demons going "I really don't see the appeal -- wait he did what? he killed how many guys at once with 1 trick? he betrayed WHOMST? and lived?! and he knows how to get my door to stop making horrible squeaky noises?! okay yeah figures the king would marry him" but every option is a winner.

I'm also a big fan of both Shen Qingqiu and Shang Qinghua being not very attractive to demons in general, but it also being really common for demons to get super weird about first crushes and fixate hard on them, so in that sense they are completely normal choices for a couple of high-level demons to marry. Like the demon populace can appreciate the emperor actually landing his hot teacher and the king successfully marrying his teenage sweetheart. It's an idealized fantasy in terms of the scenarios, even if the actual guys are just weird humans. Nearly every average demon has lifelong daydreams about successfully seducing their first crush, so regardless of who those crushes turned out to be it's still a power move for LBH and MBJ to actually succeed.

Bonus if the fact that both SQQ and SQH are peak lords from the same sect leads to a bunch of demon kids developing crushes on the other remaining, unattached peak lords, and chaos ensuing. Especially for Liu Qingge. I think it would be funny for him to gain a flock of teenage demons with crushes, whom he keeps trying to fight off, only to discover that beating them up does NOT discourage them at all (actually makes the crushes worse). Or Yue Qingyuan getting mobbed like he's a pop star any time he makes a diplomatic visit to the demon realms. Sha Hualing deciding that she's just waiting for Liu Mingyan to become a peak lord before they make things official, since That's Obviously How It's Done, or Qi Qingqi doing a head count one day and realizing she suddenly has a bunch of unfamiliar "guest" disciples who sigh at her a lot and have funny-colored eyes...

[cryingoverpalta]

Ok so I was thinking, what if PIDW wasn't a novel, but a drama available on streaming platforms? So when SY transmigrates into SQQ's body, he perceives everything around him just like the audience is seeing it on their screens: with the low-budget fighting scenes that had him obliterating his keyboard with bad reviews, the soundtrack (that is pretty well-done and he actually enjoys it, but that doesn't mean he likes to hear the same silly song every time something embarrassing happens to him), the landscapes that are obviously made with green screen… Even the fabrics of his costume look cheaper than they should, considering the status of his character. Also, for some reason, everything that should be off-screen in a normal filming set (be it cameras, directing staff, or make-up artists) looks like a blurry continuation of the background, making the whole transmigration thing even more nonsensical than it already is.

But nothing disturbes him more than the fact that, just like everything around him is made out of an artificial project, the people also look just like in a drama, because SY suddenly is surrounded by literal celebrities acting like they belong in the pages of a badly written xianxia novel. And ok, to be fair just this time, he's aware they are currently living in a xianxia setting, but his brain can't deal with this logic sometimes. Like, yes, Sha Hualing is a badass character and is always a pleasure to see her fighting choreography in first person, but SY can't take her seriously after seeing her face plastered on a big advertisement while waiting for the train home the other day. And don't even mention Liu Qingge, whom SY can't even look in the eye thanks to the sexy, shirtless photoshoot his actor was part of (that SY saw against his will, because he obviously wasn't searching for handsome shirtless men on the internet. The photos were everywhere; it was a matter of time for him, a chronically online nerd, to see them after going viral the way they did, thank you very much). God, he can't even stand his reflection without panicking a little over his new handsome face, wich also happens to be the face of the actor that always plays the most brutal villains, but is just a chill guy in real life—starring variety shows and giving autographs to the older ladies with a warm smile on his face; that kind of chill guy. If he's as trash as the villains he plays, SY will never know.

And the worst of it all is: Luo Binghe. It doesn't bother him too much at first; his white lotus era makes him look really young and sweet, even though there's an obvious layer of makeup covering his real age, and their feet are always blurry when they're together, probably hiding an uneven floor to make 15-year-old LBH look much shorter than him. But then the abyss happens (and GOD what a shitty green screen that was), three years pass in a literal blur, and the white lotus isn't a fake teenager anymore. And ok, SY can be straight, but he isn't blind; the actor was chosen as LBH for a reason. The man is gorgeous, with that strong jaw, intense eyes, and the height of a supermodel. AND he's talented; SY has seen his other roles and is a genuine fan of his work. So of course, he nails his acting as blackened LBH so much that SY is incapable of perceiving it as acting anymore.

Imagine his surprise when the show turns into a BL and he's suddenly kissing LBH with tongue and all! Sure, it has been a while since he can't see the man as anything other than LBH himself, but he still looks just like that handsome actor that even his little sister had a crush on at some point! What's with this nonsensical plot twist? Wasn't the stallion protagonist supposed to be papapaing the eleventh wife at this point of the plot? Hello?? System???!!!!!

The funny thing is: not even the papapa can escape from the blurry off-screen logic. Yes, SY knew the scenes were typical soft-porn with too much emphasis on doing close-ups of LBH's manly muscles and the wives soft, big chests (he went through a lot of those while watching the show, mind you), but he never thought their papapa would be just them being naked with poor illumination and blurred genitals. So SY never gets to see the Heavenly Pillar. But he feels it. Thoroughly. And for the first time in months, he wonders if it was just a PIDW thing or if the actor truly is talented in all areas of his life.

[retributory]

the funniest flavor of lesbingqiu to me is if binghe comes back from the abyss having done some soul-searching and deciding she's a girl, and sqq's reaction instead of I TURNED THE PROTAGONIST GAY!?!?!???!!!? is I TURNED THE PROTAGONIST INTO A GIRL!?!?!?!?!????!??!! because of this he decides it's actually okay for him to be attracted to binghe, it's perfectly normal, actually, since binghe was already perfect anyways and actually the reason he was attracted to binghe the whole time was because he could tell she was a girl (he's straight so anything that makes his dick hard is a woman). this would make the plot go slightly smoother until sqq also does some soul-searching and comes to the crushing conclusion she is neither straight nor a man and has to be comforted by crying into binghe's big naturals

[peerless-minty-cucumber]

SVSSS Liu Qingge is an ace icon in a porn logic plot. In this essay I will…

Okay so, I want to preface this with some clarifications. I'm going to assume most of yall know a baseline definition of asexuality as "when you don't experience sexual attraction." Without getting too into the nuance here, take note of the following:

Being asexual does not mean you hate sex. Some asexuals like sex. Some asexuals have sex.

Asexuals can get crushes and fall in love

Being asexual doesn't mean you have sexual trauma or are a prude or w/e

Also:

I am asexual and I think by online discourse logic that means I'm right about everything I say in this essay.

You're free to respectfully disagree honestly I'd love to hear other takes on this.

This headcanon contains a lot of projection. You've been warned.

So recently I reblogged this post that joked something along the lines of "We still don't know if Liu Qingge knows what sex is." And I thought that was a) hella funny and b) kinda true. Do I think he literally doesn't know what sex is? With that sister?? Yeah no I think he knows. But I imagine he doesn't really understand that sex is just kind of a big deal for most people and expected in typical relationships. I mean, I doubt sexual attraction really often discussed amongst cultivators anyway, so if one doesn't experience it, it a) wouldn't make one too much of an outsider and b) one would just assume this is the universal norm. In my reading of canon, he definitely has a crush on Shen Qingqiu, but I don't think he has the sexual attraction. To the contrary, I imagine that he finds the thought of sexual contact with his crush very unbecoming. Perhaps it even contributes to his dislike of Luo Binghe and the BingQiu relationship. I could even spin this into a whole thing where he could be coping with internalised homophobia because he doesn't want to have sex with men so it's fine, right? We know that in general, Shen Yuan is a pretty unreliable narrator when it comes to observing other characters' reactions. But I did find some of his thoughts about Liu Qingge during the Succubi extra very interesting. For those who don't know/recall - in this extra chapter, SQQ and LQG investigate a Succubus hideout and LQG gets affected by what is essentially an Aphrodisiac. SQQ notes that LQG is visibly distressed, but also shows absolutely no signs of desire to act on it in any way – almost as though he doesn't have experience with sexual desire. He's also clearly uncomfortable and angry with his body's reaction – not an uncommon reaction in (particularily sex-repulsed) asexuals experiencing libido. I really like to imagine an AU where LiuShen happened and they're just cute and cuddling and maybe get in a few kisses and after a few months Shen Qingqiu is like "… So are we gonna fuck or like…?" And LQG would be FLOORED because surely that's not a thing people actually do – right?! That's a thing for forbidden porn ballads and demons! I also like to imagine they actually try it and he ends up kinda liking it and unpacking his baggage but he still doesn't get the attraction.

Yall were seriously starving for this essay so I hope I at least kinda delivered. I felt like I had more to say about this but *gestures* stuff happened and my brain isn't super on top of things rn.

[gurggggleburgle]

Be me considering faking my death again because i fucked up didnt rememeber that worcester is fish sauce because 3 people i know with severe seafood allergies use it and thats cringe and deserves death:

And for the svsss musical that lives in my head rent free ok so the big opening number is an ensemble cast number where we establish Shang Qinghua as the narrator and name all the characters while explaining PIDW's plot so the audience can grasp what the context is but the key point is that the entire group number is comprised of chords meant to be songs in PIDW but actually foreshadow the songs in the play but the big one is that the old washer woman gets a full chord. This chord matches Resentment of Chunshan and is also used as a letif motif. The washer woman specifically sings the main theme as she gives Luo Binghe the jade pendant. It's her only appearance but that's fine. It's bit role where the actress can play 5 other roles on stage. A music motif right before bad things happen that reminds you the theme. There's a bit where you introduce the main harem girls with the punchline being as the play goes on it gets less and less relevant. It's a huge number and ends and then from the audience SY rises from the audience. Prior to this SQQ has been mentioned but not seen. He starts yelling and complaining about the show as he slowly gets on stage. He's not singing. This is important. The actors around him are singing. He's getting into a fight with Airplane- prop malfunction and they get crushed under a rock.

High note lights off.

The ending mirrors this opening only this time it's about what it's not. The opening is about what the play is this is about what the play is not. It's big gay group number with a Bingqiu duet focus. I almost have the opening done. Give a minute to ready the kazoo. I can hear the brass it's disco funk pop and it's wonderful

[jenyifer]

So bad news I may started writing a fic for SVSSS. Now will it be poly like my only friends fic? Ehhh??? Probably not *squints* maybe. 🤔 anyways thought I’d share incase there is already a fic like it or if people won’t enjoy it. Came up with the idea as I thought about how LBH is SQH’s self insert as an author it’s easier to put a lot of yourself into the main character. Yeah it’s an idealized sexy man meat mountain of a man but I think the chaotic clingy curly hair comes from Airplane. So I thought welll what if SQQ is an idealized version of an older student bully who was cold collected things Airplane had a big fat gay crush on which is why he wanted his self insert to be changed by SQQ and kill him.

So just a simple not so simple reversal. MBJ and LBH are friends irl. LBH unknowingly reads and simps for the universe MBJ writes in his free time. The plot of (yet to be named web novel) is more about demon emperor SQQ solving mystery’s and crisis by being intelligent and alluring he’s also overly powerful with his ally Northern King SQH who is chaotic and resourceful. Most people ship SQQ and SQH together even though the romance elements in the webnovel are few and far between and usually some unobtainable one night stands with the villain or tragic woman who will be killed the next day. LBH loves SQQ has all the merch. LBH finds out MBJ is the writer after he reads the latest chapter where SQH is cursed with demise under his skin making him weaken to be a shell of his demonic self. The dialogue between SQQ and SQH is creepily reminiscent of the conversation LBH had with MBJ when LBH had revealed he is dying because of late stage cancer. Of course SQQ is prepared to do anything to save his best friend sacrificing who he was because their friendship means more than the demon empire or SQQ’s morals. SQQ sacrifices his demonic energy to save his friend. Accompanying this chapter was an extra of a clumsy drawing saying this is what the ice king’s original drafts of the characters for the artists. LBH couldn’t help but notice how similar his characteristics are to SQH curly hair terribly thin and short while radiating power through his crazy expression and SQQ was tall and stoic and LBH is horrified to realize his best friend MBJ sees himself this way tall with straight hair with an aura of superiority. When LBH confronts MBJ about the webnovel MBJ who is normally silent and a shut in exclaims that of course it’s his novel. MBJ wanted to dream about a world where they could go out and have adventures together was that such an evil thing? LBH shouts that in this reality he’s going to die and what will MBJ do then. Everything shifts into a portal and they are brought into the webnovel. LBH a half Demon hiding his identity on one of the peaks a student under MBJ who is a peak lord. They decided if they are there they might as well find SQH and SQQ for plot reasons. Haha anyways idk if I can write something like that since… I have to work…. Also the cancer thing might be too real for me (I think it’s been 15 years since I lost a close friend to cancer) But I want to write it 😭

[color-coded-bear]

SVSSS/Hotel Del Luna AU

I've been in the mood to rewatch Hotel Del Luna, so now I'm thinking about a Hotel Del Luna/Scum Villain AU

Hotel owner Luo Binghe (Bingge flavored) cursed to run the hotel over a thousand years ago in order to atone for his sins. And new general manager Shen Yuan who has to work for LBH after his parent's made a deal with him when SY was a kid.

This is a very new AU so I haven't figured out who the hotel staff would be.

Right now I'm thinking maybe Liu Mingyan would be one? I'm not sure what her exact reasoning for sticking around after death would be, but it'd obviously be in relation to her brother. Or maybe it'd be Liu Qingge sticking around for reasons relating to LMY, I dunno yet.

i think MQF would be a fun one to have stick around as one of the ghost staff. Maybe he'd be there for a similar reason as the bartender from the original drama.

I think yqy would also make for a good member of the ghost staff, but I'm not too sure aboutt it because of how SJ/SQQ would fit in the AU (Unrelated note, but i think SJ/SQQ would also make a very good candidate for hotel owner. Maybe that concept would make for its own AU)

I think LBH's backstory would play out pretty similarly to how it was in pidw; A newly orphaned boy becoming the disciple of a great scholar/cultivator in hopes of making his late mother proud and instead having his hopes and dreams crushed and his life made a living hell. Then being cast aside to die, surviving, getting stronger, and gaining power, before returning for revenge on his old Shizun, etc. You know how it goes. Except it all eventually crashes down around him, and now alone and not knowing what else to do, goes out in search of the hotel of the moon that he heard about once a long time ago and then getting cursed.

As for reincarnations from his past life, iI'm not yet sure who all it will be, but right now I'm thinking;

Ning YingYing, the reincarnation of his first wife and shijie, who was the only person who was kind to him whilst under his old shizun. NYY's previous incarnation had once been one of lbh's wives (maybe. for now atleast) and had died in whatever events transpired that lead to lbh losing everything

Ming Fan, as the reincarnation of the shixiong who was one of his main tormentors during that same time. MF's previous incarnation was killed by LBH himself when he went back for his revenge, as he does in PIDW

I'm on the fence on whether SQQ's reincarnation will make an appearance, but I do want an angst moment like in the drama (if I'm remembering it correctly atleast) where LBH almost mistakes SY as SQQ's reincarnation and nearly becomes an evil spirit about it.

Random detail from the drama that I am utilizing for this AU: LBH is a big fan of a particular celebrity (famous chef perhaps?), and in the AU it's because that particular celebrity is the reincarnation of his washerwoman mother.

[piosplayhouse]

Big strides for Seven Balls. He's grown!! When I opened the game sqq was breastfeeding him on the street with her fucked up boobs (for some reason this skin mod I'm using for her is broken on the chest and I have no idea why) and then proceeded to go inside and drop him on the floor.

He inherited his mother's eyes and his other mother's swag. As you can see his only trait is wiggly, which I think is ideal for a bingqiu baby

Mobei Jun came by to help with the kid and also for bingqiu to admire her boobs. Fun fact I accidentally made her the hottest character in game so now every other sim that meets her has a crush on her, which I'm not fixing because it feels right. I downloaded a really pretty skin for her and did some appearance touch-ups as well, so she's pretty gorgeous

Here's my households as of now:

[mahkaria]

SY transmigrates early (and destroys SQH’s sanity in the process)

After a truly dreadful childhood with YQY which he swears he’ll strangle Airplane shooting toward the sky for (I can’t believe how long it took me to understand it was a sexual innuendo), SY arrives to Cang Qiong Mountain. He goes to Qing Jing, gets a fanclub which he absolutely doesn’t know about (what’s new?) and starts cultivating which is the coolest thing ever. So what if he set a few things on fire? He has to test all those cool spells. 

------------  Truth be told, it takes SQH an awful lot of time to notice the scum villain isn’t acting as he should. Can you blame him? Cucumber-bro is a hurricane locked in 5’1” tall body. He will smile at you at first and then murder you if he sees you annoy one of his shimei. 

It’s only when he hears him comment on (criticize) someone’s writing that he realizes: “Wait I actually know this guy.”. He talks to him about it and promptly gets punched in the face which...fair. 

Yet, despite anything, SY doesn’t try to avoid him after this. Quite the contrary in fact. They stick together to the point that even YQY comes to see him one day and asks what his intentions are toward his “precious little brother”. SQH : “Bro, you turned a nice guy into a yandere-big-brother-type.” 

SY *sipping his tea* : Accidents happen. (One day, when true An Ding Peak member wants to show their superiority over him which is a very nice way to say bullying, SY jumps into a fight to save him. SQH definitely doesn’t get a small crush on him because of this.)

Then the fated first meeting with Liu Qingge who at the moment looks more like a newly-born kitten than the fearsome War God arrives. Has he already told how terrifying Cucumber Bro is? Yes ? Well, he’d like to say it again. He knew already that this guy was fierce. Some authors liked to complain about how this “Expert reader” would make even the thickest faced person cry tears of agony. They couldn’t even ban him : he theoretically didn’t insult them nor say anything untrue ! 

All this to say that having gone through the scum villain’s upbringing didn’t soften him. Not. At. All. 

He beats any overly prideful person to the ground and looks like a model while  doing it. Each Young Master who thinks he can run away from his responsibilities ends up suffering. At the end, SY’s growing fanclub ends up gaining a new reluctant member. Now, SY can be seen followed by a Bai Zhan disciple who asks to fight him all day long. 

This isn’t good for SQH’s blood pressure. Like all passionate readers, SY loves experimenting with each aspect of the world he likes. A new cool spell ?  He has to learn it. A new creature with more teeth than should be possible? Let’s go see it. Stop screaming, bro, I’m sure it isn’t as dangerous as it seems. (They don’t talk about the first time he had manipulated a fan and destroyed a part of Qing Jing Peak. They don’t. Roofs are overrated anyway.) 

Liu (not yet) Qingge doesn’t help. To each of SY’s stupid ideas, he answers with an eager nod and by taking out his sword.  

SQH : aren’t you worried about the plot? Luo Binghe? Human-stick SQQ *who just discovered a new interesting beast or flower and wants to enjoy a healthy body* : We still have time. LQG *who doesn’t understand what SQH is saying* : Shixiong, there is Moon-shattering Lion there, let’s go fight it. 

It’s like wrestling with two hyperactives toddlers and SQH is so done with it. As if his king wasn’t enough, he has to deal with Shen “why should I care about my own life, let’s go see this giant monster over there” Yuan and Liu “I’m 13 but already have lost all my brain cells apart from those used to fight and watch Shixiong* Qingge. 

It’s exhausting. Unfortunately, he can’t seem to break away from them. The current peak lords seem to have the stupid misconception that SQH is a willing partner of those two’s insanity. It means that they all get paired in every.FREAKING. MISSION. 

By the time they are named head disciple, everyone knows of Cang Qiong’s earth shattering trio. It is a more literal name that SQH would like, Cucumber Bro really isn’t good at measuring out his strength. Liu Qingge doesn’t even try. 

The only person who understands is Mu Qingfan, the unlucky person who has to patch them up when they come back from their “adventures”. 

[chaoticgoodlawyerwrites]

Oh!!! I had a thought!!! Is one of the reasons contributing to why SQQ feels so bad about putting stuff in Binghe despite his age, because *he* has experience of just how crushing pressure can be, when you're unprepared to take it? Like you said before - Shen Yuan wouldn't have costars himself an adult when he became *Sect Leader* to the second most important peak! (Plus saddled with the task of keeping himself, and ideally others, alive when they should have died!)

I think that's definitely part of it. I know he was pretty flippant in canon about a lot of things as they were happening. But in making him go to therapy, I made him actually process the stress he's been under rather than making a joke about it then acting like everything is fine.

In this chapter, I also make him consider how he sees himself (not as a separate person from Shen Jiu but as *Shen Yuan*) and doesn't really consider himself worthy of love, let alone the type of all encompassing, unconditional love Binghe offers him. How can a stallion protagonist, his favorite character in his first life, his favorite person no matter his age in his second, see something in him that's worth loving, to the point that he would give up having a harem? For all that he disparaged Bingge's harem in PIDW, he still doesn't get that being with him is more than a worthy exchange for any version of Binghe.

That and their age difference really freaks him out. He admits he loves him, but he is NOT okay with himself for that, not really, not yet. The last thing he wants is for Binghe to feel like he doesn't have a choice when it comes to him. Long-term, 4.25 years isn't a big deal. But now? It very much is, especially considering the fact he's his teacher and he doesn't actually know how old his body is. He wants Binghe to enjoy being a disciple, a not-quite child, as much as possible, to every extent that was denied Bingge before the Abyss. The issue is that the last thing Binghe wants is any kind of space between them. We also deal with the consequences of Shen Yuan's discomfort about all this in this chapter a bit.

[it-goes-on]

There’s an elaborate bingliushen AU knocking around my head that I won’t write where

Shen Yuan and Shen Qingqiu are pop idol twins

SQQ has … just, so many issues (they were child stars! Bad things happened. As they are wont to do when your manager is an asshole and you firmly believe you’re the older sister who’s solely responsible for looking out for your younger (by ten minutes) sister

(She isn’t older, but they’re twins, who tf actually knows other than your humble author)

Anyway SQQ has unhealthy coping mechanisms galore and the weirdest relationship with the manager they picked up after their old manager … mysteriously disappeared ;) when they were in their late teens: YQY

YQY is wildly, unyieldingly in love with SQQ. He is also very quiet about it, on account of being an awkward nerd under his competent exterior and also because he is the weird horse girl to SQQ’s skittish, mean bastard horse of a personality

SY is literally just off doing her own thing most of the time when they’re not touring or getting ready to tour or recording or practicing

(She makes SQQ pretend to be her sometimes. Luo Binghe can always tell and she’s the only one)

Luo Binghe, through a series of comedic errors, becomes SY’s trainer after she gains five pounds between tours and realizes she Does Not Care enough to lose it again on her own

LBH is not a people person! She is usually a bodyguard. But when your celebrity crush of a decade asks you if you can help her diet and exercise, exercise alone together … in gyms and dance studios … her hair messy, sweaty, in her old rumpled workout sweats that no one else gets to see …

Luo Binghe is having the time of her little gay life

They don’t hook up

And then SY misses her terribly when she goes on tour again, and LBH convinces her to give a date a chance

They move in together before a month is up

Liu Qingge is a phenomenal stunt double and ends up at a lot of the awards ceremonies and mandatory parties that SY also has to attend

They’d been friendly for years (LQG has been pining for years) but they’re both introverts. They’d rather die than make an actual friendship at one of these things.

But Binghe loves to be the center of attention, threaten people who get too close to SY, and clear out a little bubble for SY to drink lazily and snark at the other attendees and chat with one or two people at a time

LQG becomes part of this bubble, for the above reasons

She and SY hit it off. She and LBH … don’t hate each other? SY doesn’t really Get their whole Deal, but they spend a lot of time together

LQG has a buzzcut and is So Fucking Butch and doesn’t wear a shirt or a bra around her house/casually. LBH and SY are Suffering. Someone help them, they’re so thirsty.

SY goes on tour again. LBH and LQG get closer, and closer, and LBH is The Way She Is, so she’s constantly insinuating that SY is into LQG, because it’s true and also because she tends to project her desires onto SY. It’s not a great life strategy but it’s a baby step toward her becoming more emotionally stable and expressive. Her therapist has a lot to say about it. Whatever.

SY comes back and oh no, LBH and LQG are so close! They don’t have dumb work schedules that keep them away for months, and a too-defensive, slavering hellhound of a sister, and they’re both So Hot, surely they’re better off together? 🥺

There are tears involved (binghe’s), and yelling (shen qingqiu), and a lot of morose staring (qingge) until someone realizes that maybe they should actually just explain big emotional concepts to the woman, formerly a child star, currently an adult idol, full-time public commodity and no-time person-in-therapy, who is missing The Potential Point

Shizun, you’ve heard of threesomes, now get ready for: a healthy, loving, mutually adoring polyamorous relationship

[princeofvelvet]

Hi zam! I saw a discussion on the bird app about what if LBH had a different Shizun than SQQ, would he fall in love with them just the same? And what a question man... I need answers and opinions, what do you think? One part of me thinks that LBH is so starved for love he'd probably easily fall for any Shizun who treated him with kindness but other part of me doesn't want to believe it since it'd kinda make his love for SY!SQQ real cheap.. wdyt?

Hookay. I have Thoughts but I want to get some stuff out of the way first, mainly the fact that these are simply My Thoughts as someone who exclusively likes BingQiu endgame, to the point where any ship where they aren’t together is a big squick. Other people will not see it this way! Other people might just want to have fun, or they don’t like BQ or they just wanna explore other relationships; this is all valid and good!! This isn’t me telling you why you should like them or to see things my way, this is only what I’ve come up with in regards to why I feel this way about them and why the mere existence of Other possibilities doesn’t threaten or cheapen my view of this ship.

Where I fear we might have a problem is when this argument *is* presented with the intention of cheapening BingQiu? Like, there’s a group of people who genuinely want to just multiship in peace, and there’s another group who already doesn’t feel BingQiu’s love is real and present this as a “gotcha!” to the shippers. I've said before, everyone reads a different, unique story even when the text is the same, and this view, while I think could be presented in a nicer way, is also A Way to see this ship.

Not trying to change anyone's mind here, just giving my take on it.

A bit of meta under the cut, don't read it if you're not into that!! You know who you are!!

The Point (at least for me) isn’t “Luo Binghe fell in love with the first person who showed him kindness”.

BingQiu is not a match made in heaven (bear with me here!), they’re not even from the same world! LBH is a romantic, SQQ is a realist. 

I think there’s a reason Bingge ended up with a thousand unfulfilling relationships and that is because the Romantic Ideal is to be constantly swept off your feet by someone who sees You and Only You, makes you feel Special and feels as strongly about you as you do them. Needless to say that is unrealistic, but if you have Romantic ideals then you might just end up chasing after that endlessly, toss aside the person who no longer makes you feel the Rush of infatuation and look for something new and shiny. The Realist point of view says love isn’t about who carves a thousand statues in your likeness (sorry hualian) but more about who takes care of you when you’re sick.

That is what Luo Binghe learns over the course of the novel. He starts out idolizing a version of Shen Qingqiu that *does not exist* (the Shizun who Always cared about him and had good reason to do the things he did -we know that not to be true for SJ-), and projects onto him his desires (I want Shizun to Only look at me, Why is Shizun *smiling* at others?, I’m going to blow up the world and everyone in it so it’s only Us), but in the end he learns that Shen Qingqiu does not have to stick to his ideal version for LBH to believe he *does* care about him, because despite everything he keeps saving LBH, because he picked up that jade pendant and saved it, because he keeps *choosing* him.

In the end, their love is quiet and honest, which I think is what makes it hard to understand both in-universe and irl (can't speak for anyone else but myself here. I did not care about BingQiu as much as I do now when I finished reading). It’s not “we’re perfect for each other, your flaws are virtues in my eyes”, it’s “I don’t like XYZ about you, and you don’t like ABC about me, let’s grow around it.” I’m confident it’s the kind of relationship that won’t crumble after 10 years when they cant stand each other because the honeymoon phase wore off five years ago, because they’re making a conscious decision to make it work, meeting in the middle and making their home there.

So to answer the subject of this ask, finally, would Luo Binghe get a crush on someone *else* (and maybe even get into a relationship) if he never met Shen Yuan? Probably! In the original novel he got thousands of them. Does this cheapen BingQiu’s relationship? In my eyes, not at all. Their relationship is the most stable and strong (for me), and it has nothing to do with how it started, because it had a rocky start, it has all to do with them using communication and patience to build their relationship in a way that makes them unique.

Personally I like scenarios where they meet in several different ways and at different times but still end up together, but that's a story for another day...

[eldritch-elrics]

svsss: the (not so) grand return of peerless cucumber

so a LOT happened in the chapters i read last night (44-49) and i have. SO many thoughts

not as many as i had right after i read but i really had to go to bed so i couldn’t write them all up.....

i put some reactions in individual posts but i’ll repeat them here!

first of all. shang qinghua. fucked off to the demon realm. like, good for him? but also. i want to see my boy

binghe keeping sqq’s body??? xue yang vibes OFF the charts

so I’M IN LOVE WITH THE MUSHROOM PLOT

i love how every so often sv will hit me with a twist that is SO up my alley that i just. lose it a little bit

HE MADE HIMSELF A CLONE BODY OUT OF MAGICAL MUSHROOMS AND TRANSPORTED HIS SOUL INTO IT.

i love mushroom shit and i love bodyswapping and. my god.

the fact that sqq has died twice and been forced to inhabit 3 different bodies??? wei wuxian wishes he were this cool

sidenote but the mental image of sqq doing radio calisthenics in the forest is really funny. or maybe it’s just funny to me because of the associations i have with this one time in japanese class?

sqq’s new body looking like a cross between shen yuan and shen qingqiu is really interesting and perhaps... symbolic....?

also hey does this mean he doesn’t have to deal with the cureless poison anymore. i assumed that it would be cured in his eventual sexytimes with binghe but hmmm i guess not!

the point where i really lost it was when he realized he was disconnected from the system. i know now that it wasn’t permanent but that was just so interesting, how much he hates it and wants it gone. which makes sense! even though it has helped him get out of bad spots at times, it’s a sign that he’s not really from this world. now i’m just really curious what’s gonna happen to the system at the end of the novel. maybe it’ll shut off once he achieves the “goal” it’s seemed to have set for him and gets together with lbh?

also i’m glad that sqq seems to have matured a little bit in terms of his people skills / problem solving skills? though uh. remains to be seen how he’ll act in front of binghe when binghe realizes who he is

it also seems like i was completely wrong about sqq’s motivations for sacrificing himself lol. lot more selfish than i thought? but it makes sense! fun twist

mxtx sure likes to have her protagonists execute plots that they don’t tell the reader about until after they happen lol (i’m thinking of the golden core transfer)

uhh back to plot reactions

love the running joke about peerless cucumber. also the demon names... six balls <3

also hold on a minute, peerless cucumber is a dick joke? lmao

thank you airplane for making it clear binghe has a big dick. absolutely vital character information

so i’ve said this before but sqq’s narration really CARRIES this novel. here i’m thinking specifically about his diatribe against sha hualing’s nails

shl is pretty fun. sexy evil lady!

sqq can turn his fan into a blade. nie huaisang get ON that smh

yang yixuan my beloved!

also HAHA i predicted that sqq’s super mushroom powers could help the xin mo thing and i was RIGHT

so sqq is just. SO invested in getting the plot back on track. like with all the harem members and stuff. it’s so funny because like bro. surely you’ve noticed by now that things are going very differently than in pidw. and also... you don’t WANT to go back on the pidw track bc that would kill you!!!

so the system reactivates when binghe turns up right? i am thinking about. the fact that when it tries to reboot it’s like “contacting customer service”

WHO IS CUSTOMER SERVICE.

it’s so interesting because like... obviously the whole system thing is so much bigger than just A Book? it’s even got airplane trapped inside it. and he’s the fucking author! who is running this thing? and for what purpose?

sqq listening in on the gossip about how lbh is DEFINITELY obsessively in love with him was SO funny. poor man

so binghe. he has become so COLD

i don’t like it :(

once more. my dude go to therapy.

wait also random but sqq has a beard now and for some reason that’s so funny to me

life at the palace seems terrible lmao no one is doing ok

smh, mxtx protags keep dying and staying dead for huge amounts of time and then coming back in different bodies

the fact that binghe’s happiest memories are training with sqq :(

THE FACT THAT BINGHE IS ABSOLUTELY SHIT AT KISSING

my god. that entire scene

went from “awwww headpats” to “AAAAAAAA”

the fact that the system congratulates him i’m sjkdhgjhsdhgjsds poor sqq.... didn’t ask for this shit.......

after 50 chapters, he’s finally realized he turned the male lead gay <3 say goodbye to all those funny oblivious moments!

i had to stop there because it was way too late at night but wow. we shall see how this relationship progresses

i can’t see it improving anytime soon but at least sqq knows lbh likes him now???

i had a LOT of thoughts last night but now i’m pretty much just like. i really need to see where it goes before i make any judgements on bingqiu

rn i’m not a big fan because 1. sqq is so wildly uncomfortable (understandable lol, even if lbh thinks it’s just a dream) and 2. lbh is very obsessive and that’s not really my favorite trope. but like it’s obviously not meant to be a healthy relationship, at least definitely not right now, and i do like some good fucked up romance! i’m excited to see the developments where sqq realizes what his real feelings are

i’m also fairly neutral on binghe as a character atm. his main personality traits seem to be “obsessed with sqq” and “trying not to die from evil sword qi poisoning” and i don’t find that all that compelling? between him and lwj i have to say that mxtx’s love interest characters are not really my favorite, though i wouldn’t say i dislike either of them.

furthermore i’m slightly concerned with how lbh’s “i’m the main character and i get what i want” attitude is gonna affect the romance. i know there’s some dubconny stuff later which i can’t say i’m excited for but i am excited to see how binghe’s character is gonna develop in general

my aspirations for bingqiu is that they’re both able to eventually break free of the expectations of the system

because, look at this from sqq’s pov. there’s this ai in your head that has, for literal years, been steering you towards a romance that you (at least outwardly) don’t want. isn’t that fucking terrifying? i love it. the system (at least how i see it) has been bending the established plot of the world in order to make this happen. it’s like fate but you can see the gears turning.

and even if sqq does end up liking lbh back, can you imagine the existential crisis of like. wondering if he really CHOSE to get with binghe or if he was somehow compelled to by the system which acts based on binghe’s emotions?

i think that would be so interesting

however what i think is Actually going to happen (based on that one time when airplane was like “hey cucumber, uh, is lbh just a character to you or is there more...”) is that sqq is gonna realize that he’s had a bit of a crush on binghe since reading pidw and is only just now dealing with his internalized homophobia. so him getting together with binghe has less strings attached

i think there’s some opportunity here for a commentary on the soulmate trope? because svsss is just so steeped in themes about agency and fate. i think that would be really cool but we’ll have to see. i feel like the ending is gonna be simpler and happier than i want it to be but obviously i cannot make any judgements yet! i’m just having Thoughts :)

so, i also read one of the extras (the one where he goes with lqg to battle succubi) because the translation i’m reading recommended it! it was pretty fun

sqq SO clueless. like i get it, he doesn’t think he’s into anything other than Pretty Cis Women, but. sqq we’ll work on this

also ASKING LQG IF HE’S A VIRGIN. sqq literally stop

(that was so funny though)

liu qingge ACE RIGHTS

actually lqg’s outburst in this chapter was kind of bizarre and can be explained in a few different ways i think?

i really like the idea of him being aroace. thinks true love doesn’t exist etc

i feel like the intended implication of lqg’s outburst is that he’s realized madame meiyin is referring to binghe and is like “holy shit no sqq can’t be with Him”

maybe lqg is just homophobic?

but i. also kind of wonder if lqg is gay and in love with sqq? and is just putting up the “such deep love doesn’t exist” thing because he really doesn’t want sqq to know

there was that whole line where the succubus was like “well you’re not his soulmate you don’t know” and it made me think

on the other hand i can’t really see lqg liking sqq that way; they seem to have more of a Bro Bond

then again lqg does keep fighting binghe for sqq’s sake

either headcanon is fun! i’d be excited for more insight into lqg in general i think

[justice4mxy]

lbh hl and lwj? 👀

hmmmm okay i rlly like the concept behind luo binghe as a character like.... big sexy dangerous demon lord who is also a total crybaby softie inside, especially since that softness is because he got a break from his abusive backstory and experienced kindness, is really good. and, he is damn sexy. unfortunately he has severe "entire life revolves around the central relationship" mxtx love interest syndrome, and since that central relationship sucks ass i can't really get into him as a character without being reminded of it. i like sqq a lot and you can make sqq content of him interacting with tons of other characters and never touch any bingqiu but it's way harder to do so for lbh bc he doesn't have a life outside his shizun smh. also i heard he did yanderey things @ sqq but also that it wasn't his fault because he was possessed by a demon sword? who knows not me bc all my knowledge is secondhand. the main takeaway is that bq is bad

hualian!!!! okay i rlly like hualian generally i think their interpersonal chemistry and flirting is super sweet and cute and their grand romantic gestures @ each other (well. mostly hua cheng @ xie lian) are really emotional and romantic when they don't start sounding too unhealthy (ten thousand statues...) but i really wish the interpersonal chemistry came before the grand romantic gestures so that it would actually be stuff like sacrificing yourself for someone you're genuinely in love with rather than sacrificing yourself for your celebrity crush and probably object of menthol illness-induced fixation. also obvs i really wish they met when they were the same age but i don't think it's nearly as bad as bingqiu for various reasons despite what i've seen some people claim. i wish hua cheng had a life outside of his love for xie lian. it's no wangxian but if i shut my brain off and just enjoy their interactions it's suuuuper cute. the dice throwing scene..... heart eyes

lan wangji!!!!! the running theme of this response has been mxtx love interests not having a life outside their crush and i am pleased to announce that lwj is the glorious exception. fucking love that guy. mr gay repression mr. so overwhelmed by this sudden and incomprehensible whirlwind of a love for a whirlwind of a boy who goes against everything he's ever been taught to stand for and yet represents everything he truly does stand for. his fucking, parents' backstory and the neglect and the being taught through that that love isn't something available to him and he's not allowed to ask questions about why someone he loved so much disappeared and, no doubt, the fear of replicating his father's mistakes. he's so good! he's so loving and passionate and righteous and funny under that cold exterior, microexpressions king! his kids love him!!! fuck the phoenix mountain kiss and the extras they go jarringly against everything his character stands for. i write most of my wangxian fics from his pov bc his mind space is so damn interesting to explore. love youuuuu mwah