#chaotic sy/sqq

[coffeesleep-ooc]

DNNNH but LiuShen

Recently I’ve been watching Dungeon no Naka no Hito and my brain decided ro just spam me with sv thoughts.

(beware spoilers for the anime btw!)

For ppl that hasn’t seen it, it’s an adventurer who tried to find her father in a dungeon only to end up being employed there by the administrator! She lives a lot of new experiences with this new job, like understanding a bit of how the dungeon works, that some monsters ate intelligent, why some monsters drop gems, the relationship between the dungeon and the outside world etc etc…and there’s even some hints of a potential relationship between the cute admin and the protagonist!

So i was thinking her ‘must be strong’ cold no friends personality - even though she is loyal to a fault and still tries her best to find her only family and better her fighting strength - would fit LQG quite well! And administrator-san who is apparently op as heck but happy and sweet and messy like nobody else fits SY!SQQ quite well!

So imagine:

LQG is initially wary bc he (she? him? she??? idk if i should make them girls, it would be cute either wayyyy, girls have their own charm but they work ao well as giya in denial too…) didn’t come here for this, and this pretty person leading him who knows where could always be a very elaborate illusion or trap of the dungeon. But then he actually fights him and its a whole thing that doesn’t let him sleep at night. It was that spectacular…and later on he becomes the only human companion to the administrator of the dungeon, they have other people and beings in there, but still it appears tha SQQ is quite lonely. Regardless, LQG lost and has to fulfill his end of their deal, so he works: he does stuff like move supplies, refill the dungeon’s chests, train in the shadows, and anything and everything SQQ can think of.

LQG doesn’t understand how SQQ can work with so many things around. SQQ is still dying of shame bc his new friend employee saw the surveillance room before he tidied everything up.

He also admires SQQ’s sense of duty and passion. He likes to see him smile and pretend that he isn’t tearfully hoping Liu Qingge won’t throw away the very unusable stuff he has accumulated, like the 100 holes umbrella (‘it will have an use’, he says, ‘it converts water in other random things of the same size of the hole’, he says. ‘Isn’t that cool???’ He also says). LQG likes to watch him pat the fax slime (mo idea where a word like fax came from, but the thing is useful at least) after it spits out documents, or excitedly play with low level monsters in the first floor.

He also likes to see WQW (the resident dwarf blacksmith) scold SQQ for delaying the patrols and forgetting to organize the administrator's room. It’s…entertaining to see his face contort trying not to pout.

LQG likes working in the dungeons with SQQ, with WQW and everyone else.

And SQQ? Well, SQQ is always there for LQG’s progress as a warrior now. He watches him growl and frown when he doesn’t understand something (most of the things related to monsters, magic and the dungeon itself), watches his eyes light up when there’s battle or training, watches him go into pensive modes when there’s something new he just learnt.

SQQ definitely doesn’t listen in secret as LQG tries to imitate the language of one monster they interviewed earlier that day. He does not struggle to silence his giggles when LQG unknowingly says something vulgar.

SQQ doesn’t smile when he watches LQG struggling but doing his best to accept whatever the dungeon throws at him. He is not looking at LQG barely managing to contain his excitement when talking of weapons with WQW and feeling fond. He is not…

Who is he kidding? SQQ is happy he has a…coworker now. He is happy he has a companion. Since the previous administrator left he has been… craving human contact maybe. Just maybe.

*

There is another scene in particular that i think would be extremely funny with these two. When they sit down to eat, imagine SQQ asking LQG why he (or she?) doesn’t eat anything aside from the basic bread and meat that he gets in the kitchen rations, and he says his big sister (almost parental figure) taught him that messing with cooking could kill him if he didn’t do it right.

then proceeds to tell SQQ of the time he tried to put salt in his soup, only to make it a disgusting mess that couldn’t be eaten and would surely kill him if he tried while SQQ (who also has mo idea of cooking) listens with horror

This is someone else’s cue to enter and say:

“You are really strong but don’t know anything of the world, do you? You are not supposed to throw in a huge rock of salt but grind it and use a little bit of the sand that rests.”

SQQ & LQG: Oh…

And then comes chef extraordinaire LBH to try and teach these two about cooking, stopping LQG feom making the ingredients paste, stopping SQQ from tasting the peeling of the onions, amongst other difficult things that make him end up in the floor looking at the ceiling with a lost gaze that speaks of the horrors

he does find top grade ingredients that make him salivate and put puppy eyes at SQQ

LQG has his world changed after one Hap-i mean…one Binghe meal!

*

Or alternatively! Shen Qingqiu has to go renew his contract with the new ruler of the nation and be able to be a self-ruling dungeon-town. He thinks this is too much work. So he asks LQG ro disguise himself as the actual dungeon admin and fight the king in his place! What does hw mean he’s not strong enough yet? Ofc he is! Believe this poor overworked administrator Liu-dada! He won’t let you be in danger anyways! (LQG is unimpressed)

there’s a problem tho, the king wants to win no matter what, so when the fight goes ro LQG’s side he secretly orders his strongest bodyguard to subdue the seemingly soft and weak young master that accompanies the “master of the dungeon” so he can make LQG surrender of his own volition. However, when he turns, the strongest man in the whole country is unconscious himself while SQQ rapidly stands up to cough awkwardly (yes, his eyes didn’t deceivw him, this young master was poking at his bodyguard and playing with his unconscious form). Lets say that the young king ends up fighting an angry LQG while SQQ tries to calm them both down.

when they finally renew the contract tho, SQQ asks if there’s any questions and the king says:

“i-if i may be so bold to say…you fought beautifully, I- this one is called Luo Binghe, could i ask for your name?”

SQQ: o.o

LQG: … ò.ó

SQQ: S…L…! I-I!!! MY NAME IS MU QINGFANG GOODBYE

SQQ was still breathing heavily after the transportation light dimmed inside the admin room.

“You said you were the dungeon’s slime.”

“S-shut up!”

“Wei Qingwei is going to yell at you.”

“I SAID SHUT UP!” (Insert very manly whines here)

LQG feels…annoyed. He doesn’t want SQQ to go away with some king that has no manners. He wants SQQ to stay with him for…for a long time. Mmm, he must be catching something to feel this bad, maybe he shouldn’t have pushed himself so far in training the day before.

The king tried to dins info on this MQF to invite him to dinner, he is still sighing hopefully, sadly that “MQF” has no idea he is losing an interesting meal. LQG finds out and is angry for a whole week for no reason, he wants to go fight the king asap! SQQ is confused.

*

Was also thinking about where SQH would fit in here bc i love cumplane way too much too, and that made me think of Qijiu as well, so this another idea came to the braincell.

L: “Wait, so your shizun is still alive?”

“yeah…the dungeon was his passion and everything, but he found his childhood sweetheart and eloped. I mean, I’m glad he didn’t have just the dungeon you know? But then, Qinghua also eloped! That b-p-person!”

LQG fondly ignored the softly said: “stupid pair of assholes leaving me here to manage their responsibilities!” He already knew that SQQ said that to hide his real feelings.

“and Qinghua was…?”

“oh,he was shizun’s other disciple, but his magic was less combat oriented i guess? So shizun made me his successor…An ice monster kidnapped Qinghua after shizun was gone for two years.”

“An ice monster did what?!”

“Willingly, he was willingly kidnapped to do paperwork and have his children.”

LQG was speechless.

SQQ snorted.

“Im just kidding, he went to become an advisor.”

*

MQF should be a slime.

Ik how it sounds but hear me out too. There’s this cool system in DNNNH (or maybe it should be DNH? Idk) where slimes are monsters of the dungeon that are just there and never attack you, but behind the scenes there’s a gigantic slime that is the “mother”, and the admin periodically cuts bits of the giant slime to produce smaller copies that act like lil cleaners of the place (they dissolve stuff) and qhen they lose most of their magic and become rlly tiny and get to join the mother again.

so, was thinking that MQF should be the head cleaner alime version! So he sends lil copies of himself to dissolve stuff and clean!!! But he sleeps a lot or eats ravenously things that fontain magic power to replwniah his energy so he has lass interaction with LQG and SQQ!

QQQ could be one of the dungeon bosses in a grumpy violet cat form maybe. Other peak lords could also be nom-human staff.

there’s human connections tho! Like the guild’s directors and adventurers that try hard to pass each floor… and the one cooking episode with soup…and fried veggies…

…now im also hungry

*

I theorize that the protag’s father accidentally fell into the demon’s world. So i imagine a big sister LMY happily writing the equivalent of bl after falling into that world lsndmsjsj.

her (or his? Gender bent thoughts attack again) works are so famous that they reach othwr worlds too!

and LQG finds one, he thinks ‘this is…somehow familiar?’ but he doesn’t know why!!!

SQQ finds the book and misunderstands tho. Rip.

“To think he would have this kind of tastes…well, one needs to have a hobby no?”

SQQ read da book, tears da book apart - metaphorically -. New hobby unlocked too!

*

I also think that the king could come to the doors of the dungeon after finding nothing ofthe mysterious MQF and oofer food to the beautiful and shy MQF.

LQG would be raging, SQQ running for his life and the rest of them wondering why the human king wants ro court a regular slime. Though he will certainly manage with food.

*

I may or may not add more to this if i get any ideas…

[sunderwight]

Thinking about how lucky it is that Shen Qingqiu (SY version) never gave Luo Binghe the wrong impression that he wanted a harem.

Like imagine they've having a conversation and Shen Qingqiu makes some offhanded comment about a harem is all well and good, but he thinks it should definitely be of a manageable size, hint hint, with individuals who get along harmoniously and support their primary spouse, hint hint, and marrying almost everyone you hook up with is just bad form because it's inevitably going to cause friction and it'd be nearly impossible to properly look after that many extra spouses, hint hint.

Luo Binghe picks up on the hints but draws the entirely incorrect conclusions. Combined with his previous inquiries into what kinds of women his shizun likes (SQQ, not wanting to ever be seen as LBH's potential romantic rival and eager to free himself of the original's lecherous reputation: I have no interest in any women whatsoever!) and some subtle inquiries about when a person should settle down (SQQ, with unexamined anxiety at the prospect of his dear disciple heading out into the world: not too soon! a man should establish himself well and figure out what he likes first, and take his time!), Luo Binghe concludes that his master has been biding his time and is building up to constructing a reasonably-sized harem of malewives.

Because apparently, Shizun believes that a man in a position of significant power should inevitably want such things. And disciple Binghe isn't thinking of "a position of significant power" as "effective god-emperor of the whole world", his current ideas of such things are more along the lines of "peak lord" really. Also why should Shen Qingqiu make so many comments about how Luo Binghe must surely be anxious to start taking lovers or daydreaming about having a billion wives unless he just thinks that's the standard for everyone? Because that's what he wants?

It was chaotic enough when just one of these guys was bracing himself for the inevitable harem-building, but if Binghe also expected he was going to have to supply Shen Qingqiu with a stable of other men, hoo boy. Binghe telling himself that he's fine with it. As long as he's first wife, Shizun can have others. Getting particularly vicious towards new guys Shen Qingqiu meets, like okay he's resigned himself to Liu Qingge, and probably maybe also Yue Qingyuan, and in those cases definitely having to fight them tooth and nail for primary spouse position (his plan is to become the undisputed master of the domestic sphere and thereby outrank them on that front, even if he can't beat their peak lord credentials), but anyone else is someone he can potentially chase off and Shizun will still have his reasonably-sized harem. If Gongyi Xiao wants into the harem he's going to have to earn it, and he's getting bottom of the pecking order!

Binghe, after they finally get together, trying to have frank discussions about the inevitable harem. Shen Qingqiu putting on a brave face because he, of course, thinks Binghe's talking about his own harem. Getting confused as to why Liu Qingge is suddenly factoring into the conversation. Then reaching entirely the wrong conclusion because oh right, Binghe is gay now and Liu Qingge is extremely pretty. Makes sense! Definitely not what Binghe means but it makes sense!

Actually this would be a hilarious way for bingliushen OT3 to happen. Just a complete comedy of errors where bingqiu are both trying to secure Liu Qingge for each other without ever concretely establishing that either of them wants him, even though they think they have.

[koipalm]

HI YES HELLO HI HI HIHI HIHIHIHIHI. HI. SORRY, I'M TRYING TO PROCESS. YOUR. SY ASSISTANT AU. Hey. Hi. I'm in love with it. I'm in love with your au. I keep thinking of the hijinks that Shen Yuan gets into with the other peak lords. I'm sorry, but I'm going to ramble about it - if anything, it's all your fault for making such a brilliant AU. Shoot me down if I'm wrong about any headcanons I'm making about it, but teeheeheeehehehehehee. Okay, so first, thinking about Xian Shu peak. Because Shen Yuan is so irrevocably fruity that, when other guys could be being creepy over the girls upon the peak, Shen Yuan is just trying to stay upright and not pass out because of the ✨gay thoughts✨ that stop him from sleeping. The girls could even find him sweet in the way you see a dishevelled rat and go "awww!", whereas Qi Qingqi just occasionally nudges him with her foot to make sure he isn't dead. Next, next, Liu Mingyuan. The chaotic shipper herself. She sees Shen Yuan glancing at Liu Qingge occasionally and just cracks her knuckles like, "oh, this is is going to make a great book series" and, in typical fashion, starts writing everything. She, at one point, writes Shen Qingqiu as a love rival, which is something that Shang Qinghua holds over poor Shen Yuan's head forever. Liu Mingyuan is the kind of gal that has locked Shen Yuan and Liu Qingge in close quarters together just so she can make new writing about it later. Liu Qingge, who sees this pathetic blob of a man sometimes dragging himself around the different peaks (usually in spirit but, on a couple of very strange occasions, literally), has no idea where Shen Yuan came from. So, after asking his sister, he decides to ask the man himself - in what he thinks is a very normal fashion. Shen Yuan, however, sees Liu Qingge (terrifying Peak Lord of Bai Zhan) storming towards him and promptly cornering him, and just passes out. Hands down. After this, he is utterly baffled. When Mu Qingfang asks (read: scolds) about it during what can be described as a supply drop, Liu Qingge is treated to a lecture that is basically "Shen Yuan is like a little mouse whose heart will give out at any moment because he doesn't take care of himself." Liu Qingge listens and hears "Shen Qingqiu bad." It's not like he's actually trying to steal Shen Yuan in any sense of the word, he just likes the little mouse not looking ready to pass out (he would definitely force a cup of tea into the man before he lets him leave, because he's helping right? Toootally.) I did say I would ramble...I did say I would- (Sorry, I just love love love it)

thank u so much for liking it!! im actually really blown away that this many people like the au it was very simple when i thought abt it <3

& unfortunately (& i probably should have specified earlier my bad lol) shen yuan has a lot of fraught relationships with the other cang qiong cultivators! most won't say it to his face but plenty think he's putting on an act or scheming with sqq and because of how close he and sqq work he can't escape sqq's reputation in the sect. a lot of the disciples from xian shu peak actively despise him for working under sqq, while qi qingqi herself is suspicious but mostly ambivalent. liu mingyan is reserved because she eventually sees lqg and sy get along fine, and she would have a lot of fun with his stupid humor. lqg is ALSO mostly ambivalent to him bc of sqq but they grow closer together due to proximity. his whole confusion on sqq and sy's relationship would have to be a completely new post lawl

that being said shen yuan is actually fairly close to mu qingfang in a coworkers way in that mqf actively worries after his health but he's mostly unwilling to interfere in sy and sqq's relationship due to fear of retaliation. all in all i find it really fun to take the popular views on shen yuan and his relationships and make them more complicated SORRYY my bad i just think its really interesting ^^ it's not to say that he won't ever have friends its just that i think cang qiong mountain has a whole host of problems they should address and im having fun with it HAHA

[mmushinroom]

What if, transmigrated shen yuan and airplane are actually just modern day reincarnations of original goods. Since the author and most enthusiastic anti-fan were both unsatisfied with the story, the system dada decided: “ FU hypocrites. If you think so much of yourselves now, go back and clear ur BS… let’s see how you pathetic idiots will do this time. I won’t make it easy for you btw 😒” and yeeted them.

There are many instances that support this theory though (both in cannon and fannon)

OG SQQ died without a complete corpse and suffered too much so he born a sick man as Shen Yuan.

OG SQQ hated himself more than anyone (even LBG), so he dissociated himself and SY thought that OG scum villain deserved that fate. 

OG SQQ only had LBG for company in water prison until he died and LBG is the only one who came back for him even for revenge 😔. (Whether it is after endless abyss, after trial, and many more times to torture, LBG didn’t forget his Shizun). And this made SY/SQQ to appreciate him in SVSSS and as a protagonist. Also the fact that they both had mostly similar childhoods in PIDW, this time with additional knowledge of modern day standards and psychological healing SY overcame his envy. 

And Airplane was unknowingly so angry and unsatisfied with his previous life as rat SQH, he wrote the novel as an emotional outlet that later spiraled into a chaotic mess. Since MBJ was the person he looked up-to for promotion and benefits he mistook MBJ as his ideal type. It is also unbelievable that Airplane as an author, self inserted himself to a pathetic cannon fodder, instead of some cool character. It couldn’t be coincidence.

Etc.

Sorry for the long rant!

[bijoumikhawal]

Okay I've read the main body of SVSSS. I think it's really good as a meta parody and gives some interesting insight into MXTX's mind- I think some of the criticism of her work is unfair and this book is a pretty good example in parts (the running commentary about misogyny in stallion novels is a lot more unambiguous than her accurately depicting misogyny in others wirks like MDZS, though I don't understand why the latter gets read as an indication of her as a person).

However I don't think it works well as a romance story. There are main two problems; one,that while all of MXTX's main characters are people that have gone through the wringer and lashed out on others because of it, sometimes in really grusome and reprehensible ways, we get to see who they are not just before it goes to shit, but after they've acted in a such a way and either by intentional choice or just the passing of time, behave in a kinder and more upright manner. SVSSS's main story ends right after LBH isn't being an antagonistic force driven to the pits. Additionally, LBH is (understandably) a very misanthropic character which makes the way you'd show him learning how to be a person not driven by grief, fear, and anger different.

The other point is SY/SQQ's internalized homophobia is handled in a way that distracts somewhat from his feelings for LBH, and this combines with a lot of the things taken as romantic by other characters being misinterpretions of his internal world. Some of the latter seems to be him bullshitting himself though- "I'm not crying because I'm facing down my beloved student who I've failed horribly and hates me before I off myself without knowing for sure if my contingency plan will work, the sun's just in my eyes", sure Jan. Given how WWX acts its clear that MXTX now knows how to balance internalized homophobia with the character falling in love even if he doesn't realize it, and TGCF doesn't really have internalized homophobia on the protagonists part as far as I've read, he's just a sworn virgin. (However one could argue HC had some issues when he was human depending on how you read the Land of the tender scene).

SVSSS is short compared to her other works, and while I'm not sure how one would do it, having us spend some time with LBH and SQQ after they've gotten rid of his evil sword and SQQ is helping him work through his misanthropy, desire for control, and abandonment issues would improve their relationship from a story perspective, especially because of how obsessive and unhealthy LBH has spent... 8 years of his life regarding SQQ. There's already a foundation with LBH taking SQQ back to his home peak to be taken care of after his near death experience and leaving alone when he gets chased off, and SQQ choosing to go with him with no pressure on him to do so other than LBH's wellbeing (which is no longer tied to things like the apocalypse). I just think there needs to be a bit more between that and what I'm reading in the extras so far.

And it is needed because of how much LBH's dark behavior was directed at SQQ. WWX's dark behavior wasn't so targeted, LWJ's had an instance of targeting but a large part of the novel has been about him doing his best to respect WWX's boundaries and not repeat his parents relationship. I'm not up to snuff on what happened after XL's first banishment yet so I'll keep quiet on that. LBH is so desperate for this one person's affection that he almost destroys the world to ensure he has no other choice but him (and they have terrible fuck or die sex that no one enjoys about it). Evil sword possession making him decide this was a good idea or no, to work as a satisfying romance story, you need to after of all that. Especially because the evil sword had the ability to push him that far because of how chaotic and wrecked his mental and spiritual state were. They're still wrecked.

[jingyi-ma-boi]

I’m going to join in on the fun, If you’ll allow me, cause it makes so much sense that SY is SJ reincarnated. Not only because of everything you’ve said, but also because of the enormous time span between one life and the other. Before re-entering the reincarnation wheel, SJ’s soul would have had to spend centuries atoning for his sins, receiving his due punishment in the different levels of Diyu (yes, he was already tortured in life, but that doesn’t count in Yan Wang’s book). Bingge’s search for his own kind Shizun alone makes for fantastic fanfic fodder.

Now, who’s the real God of timelines? Well, it makes perfect sense that as a disciple of Meng Mo, Bingge tampered with Airplane’s dream realm to ensure that he wrote PIDW. He’s an Immortal Demon, cross-realm Emperor. Of course he’s the God of timelines. There’s no other way. The question is how he gets to the point of becoming the System, right?

Scenario 1: He shows Airplane only crucial snippets of his life journey, allowing him to build on the idea with creative freedom.

This leaves room for ample divergence from Bingge’s actual past, meaning that PIDW is loosely based on his life (kinda like dramatized biopics and biographies) while being accurate enough that SY!SQQ acquires the leverage he has on SVSSS. The ‘creative freedom’ bit is relevant, cause it supports the fact that initially, Airplane had a totally different idea for the plot that gets sidetracked in favour of fan service.

Now this means that Bingge’s existence is totally independent from PIDW. Maybe Airplane’s original outline resembles more Bingge’s actual past. Maybe parts of the fan service are an exaggerated version of the snippets Aireplane got in his dreams. Either way, this Bingge that manipulates Airplane’s dreams is not a book character but a divine being capable of both, traveling among universes and creating his own as he wishes. Whatever it is that Airplane writes in the end, doesn’t affect him but the version of him that SY believes he knows. As long as it makes his kind Shizun bent on getting in his good graces, anything goes.

Airplane is a simple tool that Bingge rewards with the honor of allowing him to self-insert himself in the story and transmigrating in return for his service. In this scenario, Bingge could’ve chosen anyone to be Airplane (explaining why his ID is the only relevant information about his identity that we get in SVSSS), and his transmigration isn’t even necessary. But Bingge thinks that SY will appreciate having someone from his og timeline with him.

In this scenario, the Bingge vs Bingmei extra can either be Bingge traveling into the future unknowingly, a premonitory dream of his that he fixates on, or him accidentally jumping into the SVSSS universe before knowing it was his creation. Whatever it is, Bingge’s the one kickstarting the time-paradox.

Scenario 2. He shows Airplane small snippets of his life knowing that whatever he writes will directly affect Bingge’s existence.

Instead of granting him actual creative freedom, Bingge wants Airplane to think he possesses such freedom. He has the perfect plan: have the writer make some subtle but vital changes to PIDW and reap the benefits by going back to his own kind Shizun.

Airplane cannot know the entirety of Bingge’s life story cause he could either leave it as it is, or change things he shouldn’t. Enter time-traveling chaotic shenanigans where Bingge’s fuck-ups when trying to improve his own life cause the dreaded, unescapable canon events. This part would be so fun to write/read. Bingge trying to force Airplane to give him a kind Shizun, failing in the process, and discovering that he caused his own biggest tragedies trying to escape fate can be hilarious or angsty AF, hurt/no-comfort. Choose your fighter!

In the end, when he realizes he cannot change his past, Bingge has his big revelation and the gears of plan ‘become a System and make Shizun fall in love with me’ start running.

I could stop here and call it a day cause this is already long enough. BUT. HEAR ME OUT! How would it work if the actual God of timelines was Airplane? The same way he could be anyone as long as he knows how to write because we lack background information on him, Airplane can be a God because we lack background information on him.

Scenario 3. Bingge has an existential crisis and refuses to believe his life depends on the whims of a writer.

This is my personal favourite. Bingge stumbles upon SY and Airplane’s universe by accident, while looking for his kind Shizun. As a fictional character, he shouldn’t have been able to traverse universes outside of fiction. He breaks the 4th wall going down on a metaphysical rabbit hole à la Unamuno’s Mist, fighting his creator in a battle of wills.

During their tug-of-war, Bingge learns about SJ’s reincarnation into this universe’s SY. That gets him running. If this God who created them and the universe he calls PIDW, was able to influence the universe he lives in by overseeing SJ’s reincarnation, there should be a way for Bingge to exert that same power. He learns that SY’s passage through this other universe is a test to his atonement in Diyu and refuses to accept that the only way for him to enjoy life with his Shizun is hoping to reincarnate in the same time and place as him. This is not his place, no matter how much he wants to fight this hamster God for his Shizun. And neither is it SY’s. He’s glad his Shizun hasn’t gone through his past life’s torments, but he deserves power, recognition, immortality. He can only get that back in their own universe.

Next thing Airplane knows, he has fallen into Bingge’s trap —he’s forcibly thrown into PIDW, the pocket universe he’s been toying with, carrying out every experiment he couldn’t do in the actual universe he was assigned to reign over. Him being born as SQH and going through a whole life of tiresome trials is Bingge’s vengeance. SY’s transmigrating when LBH is already 15 instead of at an earlier point is just so he can make sure SQH doesn’t know where to look. That damn hamster would’ve noticed if SY transmigrated before that point. By the time he starts behaving OOC after a convenient Qi deviation, it can easily pass as SY’s soul being reincarnated where it belongs as a reward and an ultimate test to the strength of his atonement. Bingge’s no God, but he’s managed to best one.

When SQH finally realizes what’s going on, it’s too late for him to act. His System had been working just like it did when it helped him operate on Earth. He couldn’t have known it was the freaking demon he created. He doesn’t know until SY discovers him and he starts going on about his own System. Now he can only get close to SQQ in hopes that Bingge will spare him on account of being his Shizun’s bro, and bid his time to come up with his own plan. This also explains his grumpiness because bro you’ve turned this into a fucking danmei. He’s not complaining to SY, but to Bingge, cause he knows he’s in there listening. In the end, SQH stops caring because being Mobei Jun’s wife is more fun, and the prospects of what punishments might be waiting for him if he got out aren’t attractive.

Sometimes I wonder if Shen Yuan is Shen Jiu himself, just from a different timeline. Shen Yuan is what Shen Jiu could have been if he had the right upbringing — A Sharp, cutthroat nerd with a silver tongue.

People oftentimes forget that Shen Yuan is actually pretty smart when he is not freaking out or fanboy-ing. Maybe not going through the same sickening circumstances of the PIDW world never lead him to develop the wicked shrewdness of Shen Jiu but there are still some uncanny similarities.

Since, some people theorise that Shen Yuan used to be chronically ill in the modern universe, it forces me to think if Shen Jiu ever incurred severe soul damage from Bingge's torture that lead him to be reborn with a weak constitution in the modern universe. The only purpose of Shen Yuan's life could have been to atone for his sins and break the cycle of abuse in the PIDW universe. And everything was planned and settled by the superior being that is the "System" as it cut through and merged different realities and timelines.

It's a different kind of multiverse of madness.

[hunxi-after-hours]

Hunxi congrats with the progress on the QianQiu subs translation!!! 🥳 (I'm so excited!)

I also saw you read svsss, oh my! I loved your LBH meta! Can you also do one on SY!SQQ please? Would love to have your thoughts on this chaotic unreliable narrator! And also maybe the Bingqiu relationship from Shen Yuan's side?

ty, I'm so close to finishing the 《山河剑心》 subs that I can TASTE IT--

so I've been sitting on this ask for who knows how long because I’ve been trying to track down a single coherent thought about Shen Yuan!Shen Qingqiu in my brain and every time I think I've got a handle on his character I uncover something else, slippery bastard that he is (affectionate)

I'm still not sure I've got a handle on his character but this ask isn't going to write itself no matter how hopefully I stare at it, so here goes

some housekeeping! the first is that in this post, all iterations of "Shen Qingqiu" refer to Shen Yuan!Shen Qingqiu unless explicitly noted otherwise

the second is that I think that there's a distinct possibility that I am Overthinking Simple Things Again, especially because I firmly believe authors should be allowed to not think through Every Single Exhaustive Detail of Their Narrative, so like, it's very possible I'm reading far more into Shen Yuan/Shen Qingqiu's character than I should be, maybe he really is just as simple as a webnovel fan who gets transmigrated into his favorite love-to-hate textual disaster

but I gotta live up to my blog header (心怀杂念，字数无量), so buckle up, I guess we’re doing this

when scraping together the remnants of sentient thought in my brain for this ask, I tried to start with basic premises about Shen Qingqiu that I thought I could rely on. so, premise: Shen Qingqiu is an ordinary dude who gets transmigrated into a shitty webnovel and tries his best to survive

except he isn't, right? first of all, it's not just any webnovel -- it's a 600+ chapter disaster of a work that nevertheless has legions of rabid fans, that suckered him into caring about it somehow, that once perhaps held some potential for becoming Something Great but whose author summarily sold out for the hit count and the money. second of all, Shen Yuan isn’t just any reader, is he? he's PIDW's greatest anti-fan, bitterly dedicated to reading every single amateurish word while writing essays about how bad each new development is (never forget that Shen Yuan was so loud about this that Shang Qinghua, the literal author, recognized Shen Yuan’s web ID amidst thousands of comments). He's someone who continued reading this book for the plot when several hundred chapters ago it devolved into gratuitous PWP

so, not quite your average reader then. he’s also gifted with an exceptional memory (of the monster catalog, and what little plot there is), more investment in the characters than he'd like to admit (again -- he read all 600+ chapters for the plot), and genre/narrative savviness (he knows how these stories go, and more particularly how this story goes, and can therefore manipulate aspects of worldbuilding to his advantage)

and the more I thought about this, the more I couldn’t square the words “ordinary” and “Shen Yuan/Shen Qingqiu” in my head, because despite what his narration would imply (the only premise I honestly feel confident in truly declaring is that Shen Qingqiu is a comically unreliable narrator), he’s really quite exceptional in many ways

I touched on it briefly in this post, but again and again, what stands out to me about Shen Qingqiu is that, well -- he’s a decent person

I’m not sure ‘kind’ is the right word, or ‘compassionate,’ or ‘loyal,’ or ‘self-sacrificing,’ because it honestly feels a little silly to throw such Big, Dramatic Words at the insane roller coaster ride of SVSSS, a text which actively satirizes the romanticization of such virtues, but at the same time, all of those words can be used to describe Shen Qingqiu. He’d probably 疯狂吐槽 laugh at me for it, but I defy anyone to explain the entire 圣陵 uhh... demonic mausoleum? arc to me without using those words

and when it comes down to it, Shen Yuan/Shen Qingqiu is, well... decent. He’s not a grand, larger-than-life, self-sacrificing hero the way, say, Xie Lian is, but he also has a bottom line where he will put his foot down, so help him System, and we see him go to great lengths to do what he believes is right -- hell, not even the right thing, just the basic, decent, human thing to do

again (gesticulates wildly) the entire Demon Mausoleum arc; it’s particularly telling that chapter 60 ends with the line: “不过，还好，总算这次没坑了洛冰河。” / “Though, it was fine -- at least this time, he hadn’t screwed over Luo Binghe.” What’s fine? Oh, that’s right--the fact that he’s been severely injured and infected by yet another a crippling, parasitic magical plot device in defense of Luo Binghe. Shen Qingqiu just does this repeatedly throughout the narrative, downplays some truly incredible moments of selflessness/self-sacrifice with his unending internal sass, recasts any genuine emotion he might be having as frustrated exasperation at a terribly-written plot/badly-built world. but like. are we gonna talk about the fact that Shen Qingqiu is casually tortured multiple times throughout this webnovel or like--

again, the Demon Mausoleum arc is the gift that just keeps giving, here:

沈清秋自认倒霉，却不想别人也跟着倒霉，他一手捂着心口，勉力保持脸上表情不变：“阁下想怎么折腾我，请随意。如你所说，喝了这么多次，也该习惯了。可你若是要洛冰河的肉身，想都别想。”

Shen Qingqiu was resigned to his shit luck, but that didn’t mean he wanted other people to also suffer his shitty luck. He pressed one hand to his heart and barely managed to maintain the expression on his face: “Whatever torture you’d like to inflict on me, please feel free. Like you said, after drinking so much [demon blood], I should be used to it now. But don’t even think about taking Luo Binghe’s body.”

沈清秋生平最恨那种被作为要挟筹码的角色，想让他扮这种拖后腿的角色，还不如叫他去死。

Shen Qingqiu hated those characters who were held hostage the most; he’d rather die than play such a role.

(chapter 62)

sure, we have some characteristic Shen Qingqiu snarky genre commentary at the bottom there, but let’s not overlook the fact that Shen Qingqiu said to Tianlang-jun, the greatest archvillain that was never realized in the original PIDW (except that the real villain was the evil demonic sword we carried with us all along), do what you like to me, but don’t even think about touching Luo Binghe

and Shen Qingqiu is constantly doing this in his narration: he’ll do something that’s quite, y’know, good of him, and then immediately play it off as selfishness or survival. He’s being nice to Luo Binghe and Liu Qingge, Shen Qingqiu insists, not because he genuinely cares for them or whatever, but for his “future survival.” He then proceeds to be so nice to both of them that they both fall in love with him, and look, it may have happened off-screen but my dude, you’ve definitely gone above and beyond the call of duty/survival at that point

the narrative unequivocally rewards Shen Qingqiu for his kindness decency -- we joke that Shen Qingqiu transmigrated into a harem novel only to accidentally end up with a harem of his own, but he really did secure the loyalties of half a dozen characters simply by being, well, a decent guy. He saves doesn’t kill Liu Qingge and befriends him pretty much as an afterthought. As a result, Liu Qingge is ride or die for him for the rest of the book. Shen Qingqiu saves doesn’t kill Zhuzhi-lang, who eventually betrays Tianlang-jun for him. Shen Qingqiu is, uh... a reasonable authority figure in the vicinity of Gongyi Xiao, who then proceeds to betray his sect and break Shen Qingqiu out of prison. The Qingjing Peak disciples adore Shen Qingqiu (I’m not even counting the one that, y’know, really fucking adores him), and would gladly throw hands to defend his reputation. I’ll grant you that Yue Qingyuan’s loyalty to Shen Qingqiu was grandfathered in, but like. if you look at the narrative and the relationships that develop in it, Shen Qingqiu is basically a walking vortex of cordial acquaintanceship who suckers in anyone within a certain radius

is Shen Qingqiu nice? he’d deny it to hell and back, but he’s generally a decent guy and that makes him the hottest fucking ticket in this insane, insane webnovel

I think I’ve lost the thread of the plot here (me and Shen Qingqiu both, tbh) but you asked about bingqiu, so! (rolls up sleeves) let’s talk about bingqiu, I guess

the bingqiu relationship from Shen Qingqiu’s side, in one word, is this: indulgence. Shen Qingqiu begins in a caregiving position for Luo Binghe, and nurtures him, supports him, teaches him, shapes him. Shen Qingqiu also praises him, smiles at him, indulges him. Shen Qingqiu is constantly letting Luo Binghe do things -- cook for him, take care of responsibilities for him, pitch into his arms repeatedly -- such that, well, not to be like “Luo Binghe fell in love with Shen Qingqiu for his kindness,” but highkey, Luo Binghe wholeheartedly adores his shizun because here, for once, is someone who did not abandon him, who believes in him, who chose him over others

meanwhile, Shen Qingqiu is completely oblivious to his effect on Luo Binghe for a staggering amount of the novel, which plays right into Shen Qingqiu’s character arc over the course of SVSSS: simply put, taking responsibility for his own actions

trust me for a bit, I’m going to go on a bit of a tangent to explain how I got there but we’ll make it back, I promise:

we are given deliberately little of Shen Yuan's IRL backstory -- it’s kind of skimmed over with a quick “oh yes, he came from a rich family and didn’t do much with his life, don’t think too hard about it” -- but regardless of what inferences we might want to make about his family life or childhood, the one thing continues to strike me as absolutely key to understanding both Shen Yuan and Shen Yuan-as-Shen Qingqiu is this: in his previous life, Shen Yuan feels preeminently disposable

yes, we’re told that Shen Qingqiu has an almost supernatural capability for dealing with the new and insane shit the plot throws at him, but even with that, I can’t let go of the fact that Shen Qingqiu barely mourns his old life at all

to be fair, for Shen Qingqiu to moan and whine and angst about his own death and the family and friends he’s left behind would be, well, rather tedious and bothersome when all we, as readers, care for is the excitement of exploring a new world and the advancement of the plot, but even then, even making allowances for expectations of genre and reader preference, I think Shen Yuan’s lack of a vibrant life with emotional connections in his prior existence is both notable and significant

the phrase that he repeats, over and over, is that all he ever thought he would do is 混吃等死 to waste time, to eat, to wait for death. Shen Yuan is nobody, not someone with great ambitions or dreams, nor someone who will make waves or change the world. he’s the forgettable middle child of a vaguely rich family somewhere, and if he vanished off the face of the earth, it would not be worth a tragedy -- just a peculiar, tragicomic kind of embarrassment, an odd kind of ruefulness but no true sorrow

and so Shen Yuan carries this mindset of his own disposability, his own helplessness in the face of plot or fate or destiny or the protagonist halo, forward into Shen Qingqiu’s life. this is why it takes him so long to realize that the plot of PIDW has changed on him; even after he’s knocked the narrative off its axis by saving Liu Qingge, by being kind to Luo Binghe, by literally dying, Shen Qingqiu doesn’t quite believe that he’s actually effected change. he’s constantly reading the original novel’s end into his current present; he’s constantly superimposing the original Luo Binghe over the one standing before him

we see this also in his profoundly unreliable narration -- he constantly describes Yue Qingyuan and Liu Qingge as reliable bastions, as nothing more than NPCs, merely tools he intends to use for his own survival, but his own dreamscape betrays him. in chapter 41, we see that his nightmares are haunted by images of Liu Qingge’s death by qi deviation, Yue Qingyuan’s death by ten thousand arrows. “I don’t actually care about them,” Shen Qingqiu insists in his narration, while actually caring very deeply

(“I’m incredibly selfish and just out here to save my own skin,” Shen Qingqiu protests, while turning himself over to Luo Binghe in exchange for Cang Qiong’s safety)

and so, Shen Yuan’s character arc is this: coming to own the fact that 1) he does actually care, which means that 2) his actions are more than game mechanisms conducted at arms length with no real stakes, but real actions with real consequences on real people

and this, metatextually, reflects the journey of his relationship with PIDW as a whole (going from “what are you talking about, I hate this fucking novel” to “fine. FINE. I didn’t say it was good, I said I like it okay?!”) as well as the arc of his relationship with Shen Qingqiu, the body he wears, the identity he steals by accident and eventually grows into. by coming to accept his role as Shen Qingqiu, and therefore his place in this not-quite-PIDW-anymore canon, Shen Yuan is finally accepting the fact that this is now his life

and who is he in his life? indisposable

perhaps, for the first time, his actions effect change; the words he casually throws out are remembered, internalized, recited back at him years later. Shen Qingqiu is absolutely critical to the plot and to the development of the characters around him, and it takes him a while to realize this and come to terms with the fact that his actions have consequences, his words have effects, and that he has, for better or worse, had a direct hand into shaping Luo Binghe into who he is now today

this isn’t to say that it’s Shen Qingqiu’s fault that Luo Binghe is like this -- let’s not remove a character’s agency in developing themselves or an individual’s responsibility to be a decent person -- but Shen Qingqiu has helped make Luo Binghe who he is today, and the emotional turn of the novel occurs when he begins to accept that and take responsibility for it

so perhaps what I’m trying to say isn’t so much “Shen Qingqiu learns to take responsibility for his actions” as “Shen Yuan as Shen Qingqiu learns to take ownership over his life, his agency, his actions, and his effects on the world and the people around him,” which is how we get back to Luo Binghe

and the last thing I want to say about the bingqiu relationship in this post that apparently will not end is this: the book ends at their beginning. I mean this literally, in that the last chapter of this webnovel is titled “The Story’s Beginning” so like. it’s right there y’all

which is to say, all of bingqiu’s relationship development and negotiation, all of the messy tangled threads of resentment and forgiveness, all of the awkward tears and arguments and apologies and exploration happens after the book ends

bingqiu is not perfect. bingqiu is fraught as hell. bingqiu is a flaming clown car careening off the edge of an upside-down mountain peak that is being forcefully yoinked into this plane of existence as part of a hare-brained scheme to smash two realms together. bingqiu is composed of a vastly overpowered and deeply insecure former protagonist who has the ability to destroy entire worlds and a compulsive webnovel reader transmigrated into the questionably immortal body of his lover’s former abuser who snarks on reflex as a coping mechanism. all of which is to say--

it’s gonna take a hot second for these two disasters to work through things, okay

tl;dr Shen Qingqiu, you slippery bastard (affectionate), I hope you live happily ever after with the extremely clingy consequences of your actions

[plan-d-to-i]

Just tried to read a highly recommended svsss fic and the characterization was so off 🙃. I didn’t realize svsss was that complicated ?? Luo Binghe is not dumb or reckless. He’s brilliant & a strategic thinker. He runs everything for SY/SQQ. Then he impressively manages his affairs in the demon realm efficiently & expediently (SY/SQQ observes him in the deep dream extra). It’s only when he’s emotionally mired in SY/SQQ drama/love that he’s more impulsive & then later silly/sticky bc it benefits him to be that way. It’s the same weird mischaracterization Wei WuXian suffers from. They’re genius/ prodigies mate, stop amalgamating them into hopeless, senselessly chaotic, manic pixie dream girls w hero complexes.

[susuwatari-kompeito]

Gifmaker Appreciation Tag

I was tagged by the wonderful @baoshan-sanren for this blog! Thank you so much for the tag it means a lot to me. 💜 I love all your content, and I’m sending love and appreciation back at you! 

LINK A GIFSET…

Link a gifset you’re really proud of:

I am really proud of this Gu Xiang x Cao Weining gifset. It was the first time I used a moving ink overlay and my first time using song lyrics. Making it was really fun for me because I used lyrics from one of my favorite songs and it was a challenge choosing scenes and putting everything together. 

Link a gifset where you tried something new:

I’ll chose this Howl’s Moving Castle x Word of Honor gifset. It was my first time trying out the handwriting effect. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be, it was just tedious. 

Link a gifset that features your favourite character or celebrity:

My most favorite fictional character is Jiang Cheng, so I’ll share this Twin Prides set I made. I like him across all adaptations so I think its also fitting that I included some donghua scenes in that set.

I’ve giffed only one of my favorite celebrities, so I’ll share this set of Wang Yibo as Lan Wangji ft. Lan Xichen. (Liu Haikuan is also a great actor!) 

Link a gifset that you want more people to see:

I guess this Nirvana in Fire edit? (Caution NiF spoilers.) I think I’ve improved a lot since I made that set, but its one of my favorite scenes from the drama so I hold that set close to my heart.

Link a gifset that you had fun making:

This other Nirvana in Fire edit! I got the idea while rewatching the episode, and really wanted to make it. The execution didn’t turn out exactly how I wanted it to, but I liked working with the scenes. 

Link a gifset that you created as part of a meme, challenge, or series:

I’m currently working on a “50 days, 50 episodes” series for The Untamed. I know it’ll take me more than 50 days to complete it because of a couple breaks I took, but anyway, here is the most recent edit from that series. 

Link a gifset of yours that makes you smile:

I think I’m going to have to go with this Scumbag System edit. Its nothing fancy, but BingQiu is my current second-most favorite ship. So thinking about them makes me happy, and there’s something about SY!SQQ’s chaotic-ness that I love. 

Link a gifset that you made for someone else:

I made this Wei Wuxian + outfits set for @lethes! It was a fun challenge because I wanted to find a happy medium between showcasing both WWX’s robes and capturing fun/notable scenes. 

TAG SOMEONE WHO…

Tag someone who inspired you to start making gifs:

I started becoming more active on Tumblr in late 2020 ever since watching The Untamed but I was only a reblogger at that time. @mylastbraincql was one of the first CQL blogs I followed and I had always admired her gifs and really wanted to make some of my own.

Tag someone who makes great vibrant gifs:

@lan-xichens  @gusucloud @blinkplnk @sugarbabywenkexing @claudiablack @wuxien @surii @theyilinglaozus

Tag someone who makes great pale/pastel gifs:

@linglynz @fengqing @luoqingyanq @wanyinxichen @wangxiians @cloudylotus 

Tag someone who gifs for a fandom you love:

Everyone tagged here! 

Tag someone who uses text/typography really well in their gifsets:

@leonzhng @yibobibo @wendashanren @morifiinwe @rinielle 

Tag someone who motivates you to step up your game:

Honestly all the gifmakers that I reblog from and follow. Everyone is so creative in their own way that it motivates me to always improve.

Tag someone who you have taken inspiration from:

I’ve taken inspiration from many creators who I’ve already tagged above, but I want to give a mention to @purplexedhuman who helped me with a bunch of things that I wanted to try out.

Tag gif makers who you admire and appreciate! (Put as many people here as you want!):

@wangxianbunnydoodles @agendratum @stormbreaker @highwarlockkareena @nyx4 @lanzhanshands @xueyangs-pinky-finger @baek1nho @xiaodaozhang @inessencedevided @elysean @yiling-recesses @mieczyslaf @aheartfullofjolllly @wei-gege @sugardaddyahxu @xiaosean @sarawatsaraleo @sugarbabywenkexing @aowyn

I’m probably forgetting so many people, and I apologize. If you see this and want to do it, consider yourself tagged! <3