#i need a custom svsss tag

[veliseraptor]

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

I am stressed, depressed, and holding off a mental breakdown but keeping it together so far! and distractions in the form of thinking about my villain beloveds help.

asdlskjadf oh man. so it’s not quite “all of them” but it is... “several.” no ranking here because rankings are hard, so here’s in no particular order my personal greatest antagonist hits from mxtx’s novels

(this post will contain hella spoilers just to let you guys know)

1. He Xuan. I just finished (well, for a given value of ‘just’) rereading the Black Water Arc again and ahhhhhhh. Ahhhhhhhhhhh. I love He Xuan so much, I love everything he chooses to do, I love the fact that he has a choice between revenge and a friendship he does seem to value and ultimately still chooses revenge, I love his cold anger, I love the part where he just fuckin...rips Shi Wudu’s head off with his bare hands, RIP Water Master but that was pretty badass.

But yeah, I think what most draws me toward him is that...pull, where you can see him trying to give Shi Qingxuan an out, and he’s not going to abandon his revenge, would never, but he will bend it just a little, or he would...but ultimately Shi Qingxuan fails the tests he gives them and that’s it.

Also “you called the wrong name” will probably live in my head, as they say, rent free, with lines from literature that stick with me.

2. Xue Yang. Obviously. I feel like...I don’t even know how to talk about him here without repeating myself. Love at first sight and I never looked back. It only got worse. There’s a whole lot of buttons that he’s hitting all at once and...god, idk, okay, I’ve written more fics about him in a year and change than I wrote in the entire Silmarillion fandom between 2009-2021, and some of those are long. It’s a lot.

3. Jin Guangyao. I feel like I don’t always talk enough about Jin Guangyao and that’s mostly because I feel like other people have said the things I’d want to say but better already? But...god, love him. He’s such a psychological mess of paranoia and anxiety and insecurity, he’s so up in his head, constantly thinking about three or four things at once, is he enjoying the experience? Not necessarily.

I’m always going to be a sucker for a clever schemer and Jin Guangyao’s got that going for him, and I also really enjoy a good juxtaposition between seeming fragility and insane endurance/ability to keep going well past the point it’s reasonable. His drive to escape his origins, to prove himself, to gain an approval that’s always going to be just out of reach...I’m love him. Very very much.

4. Shen Jiu. Does he count, considering he’s mostly SIr Not Appearing In This Novel with the exception of the extras? I’m counting him. It feels very silly and also very me that my favorite SVSSS character is this guy because like...he’s not even technically present in the novel proper as an actual person? Even Xiao Xingchen at least gets a corpse cameo.

Whatever, I’m counting him anyway. I was going to be like “I know he’s awful” but come on, this is a list of antagonists and I love characters dealing horribly with their trauma and also passing their trauma on to others in the worst way, and also characters who come to bad ends, and also characters who will see people thinking the worst of them and go “fine! sure! I will do nothing to correct these assumptions at all because fuck it, if people are going to hate me might as well go all in.”

5. Jun Wu. I know, I know! I feel like this is maybe the most unpopular of mine actually but I have a thing for...antagonists who are disappointed idealists who are now trying to ruin everyone else’s day/life to prove their point while at the same time (this is a read, but I think I can support it) wanting to be proved wrong, but also absolutely certain that they won’t. And his interactions with Xie Lian in book four as Bai Wuxiang are...well. they sure do hit a nail shaped like my character dynamic kinks right on the head

and I’ll talk about this more in my favorite TGCF moments answer that’s forthcoming (I’m just finishing the book first so I don’t forget anything!), but I also find the conclusion to his arc very satisfying in ways that I very seldom get in media.

honorable mentions: Ling Wen (honorable mention only because I don’t know that she actually counts, she’s only an ‘antagonist’ for a hot minute and she doesn’t actually do anything to our protagonists to seriously hurt them), Shen Qingqiu’s internalized homophobia (honestly probably the biggest antagonist of SVSSS, lbr), Xie Lian on a rampage, He Xuan’s skeleton fish.

I do also have a soft spot for Bingge even though we only see him for a hot minute. he’s just awful and a disaster and I love that for him.

are we counting Jiang Cheng as an antagonist? because I don’t but if we were he’d be on this list too.

honestly the only antagonists I actively dislike (as opposed to just find relatively uninteresting) are Jin Guangshan and Jin Zixun.

[melongumi]

predictably, having gotten stuck on chapter 90-something of mdzs for Reasons, I am now reading Heaven Official’s Blessing. it’s fine,,,

[fanfic-mania]

Chili (Childe x Zhongli) ongoing fics that are pure gold and their autors deserve an army hyping every chapter.

Enterily out of spite by Bgtea

Description: Based on SVSSS (don't need to have read it to understand it), Ajax reincarnates into Childe a detestable villain from Genshin Impact, a game he used to play. Knowing what his future awaits he tries his best to turn things around. Also he gets to meet his favourite character from the game Zhongli.

Notes: Big villainess manhwa vibres, really entertaining and amazing writting. The author has another amazing and completed Chili story that is an absolute must.

Lungs full of Roses by SecretlyACatLady

Description: Childe develops Hanahaki a disease that feeds on love the individual thinks it's unrequited and grows flowers in their lungs. Knowing that the Tsaritsa will surely turn of his family if she senses he has betrayed her for another Archon he runs to Monstad to plan. Zhongli follows shorty to try to rekindle their connection.

Notes: I love me some angst and romance shenanigans. Like the angst is heavy and just the way I like it, but you know happy ending tag. TW: references to suicide.

Set in Stone by seredemia

Description: Childe's letters are misinterpreted and now his family beliefs he's engaged. They are so happy for him they jump on the first ship to Liyue. Childe doesn't want to make them sad so he makes a contract with Zhongli to pretend to be his lover until they leave. The contract states neither party should fall in love.

Notes: Lots of UST ♡, Childe being a good big brother and his struggle between what he really wants. It's great.

Lifelong partners does not mean lifelong friends, Childe by RK7200

Description: Zhongli gives Childe a book about Liyue customs and tells him to read about marriage. Then proposes by chopsticks after confirming Childe knows what they mean. Catch? Childe read lifelong partners as friends and not husbands.

In which Childe does mental acrobatics to justify everything his crush does as platonic and Zhongli thinks his husband just has a ackward but endearing sense of humour.

Notes: Basically pure comedy and makes me laugh everytime. Real pick me up.

wrapped up in pure gold by beyondwinter

Description: Childe gets his hands on a rare stone Zhongli wanted. He makes it into a earing and gives it to him, as they symbolise a contract between two persons. Which they do but it's well known in Liyue the stone means marriage to which Zhongli accepts.

Notes: Basically another they are married but Childe doesn't know fic. This one is really interesting it has a lot of threads that I'm looking forward to read. Like it keeps building little threads that just keep me in it, amazing really. It has really good world building too.

[unforth]

Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all!). See if there are any patterns. Choose your favorite opening line. Then tag 10 of your favorite authors!

I was tagged by @slytherkins

The Grind (The Lost Romb Reboot): “Good Morning, and welcome to the Grind.”

Out of the Darkness (MDZS): Breathless, Wei Ying felt for a foothold beneath himself, found one, slipped down, nearly slipped in truth due to slick moisture coating the stone, sought another one...and his toes touched floor. 

In From the Cold (2ha): “Excuse me, Professor Chu?”

Like a Mirror of the Sun (TGCF): “Did you hear?”

Uncertain Proposals (MDZS): “Song Lan, look!”

To Kiss and Dream (SVSSS): I could kiss him right now...

The Ruby Awards (Guardian): Zhao Yunlan slammed the door behind himself and let a stifled exhale out into the darkness as stomps and cheers spoke to the crowd rushing past his hiding place. 

Santa, Baby (Yuri on Ice): Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree played loud and tinny through the piped in sound system.

Buds to Blooms (TGCF): The bell over the door rang and Xie Lian turned from the bouquet he was arranging, forcing his expression into a tired smile as he prepared to greet yet another customer. 

Scrumptious (Supernatural): Squatting on a rooftop, Benny looked down on the warren of alleyways shadowed by tall buildings on all sides.

A Helluva Town (MDZS): When cellist Lan Wangji is turned down after auditions with the Beijing Symphony Orchestra, the Chinese National Symphony Orchestra, the Shanghai Philharmonic and several other prominent Chinese classical music organizations, he reluctantly accepts he'll have to go abroad to work if he wants to be a professional musician.  (this is a narrative outline, not a story)

Admit (Supernatural): “Benny…” Cas turned to his boyfriend, admiring the twinkle in those lovely blue eyes. 

Flawed (Supernatural): Restless, Jimmy rolled over. 

Thirst (2ha): One night, after they’ve eaten dinner together and Mo Ran has walked Chu Wanning back to his rooms, is when Mo Ran finally cracks, pinning Chu Wanning down and fucking him long and hard and deep.  (This is a narrative outline, not a story)

Gene (TGCF): “Gege, here are the results.”

Explosion (MDZS): “The best view is from here,” Jiang Cheng explained, holding out a hand to help Nie Huaisang onto the roof beside him. 

Person (TGCF): A sigh released Shi Qingxuan’s tension and they slumped against the chill wall. 

One Way to Find Out (SVSSS): Setting his tea down, Shen Qingqiu raised his fan, spread it with a flick of his wrist, and stirred a faint breeze to blow over his face. 

Pervalicious (Supernatural): “Whelp, it’s official,” Dean said, picking up the remote and turning the TV off as Cas walked into the room. 

Need (TGCF): Omega Xie Lian is a popular celebrity and his obsessive fan - a stalker in a white crying/laughing mask - plots to trap him and drug him into heat and break him...all on a live stream. (this is a narrative outline, not a story)

Patterns, uh...I know I tend to start stories with dialog, since it’s a good way to jump right in, so I’m actually surprised that it looks like only about half start with dialog? I don’t really see any other patterns, idk.

Tagging, um... @ltleflrt @sweetlittlevampire @porcupine-girl @xantissa and anyone else who feels like it?