#if no one will appreciate sqh then i will have to make them | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

rarepears · 1 year

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This is the Shen Jiu marries an Arabian prince and gets super into astronomy anon, but I just thought of like.

So, the Arabs do a lot as merchants. Which would probably put them mainly in contact with Shang Qinghua.

It makes me wonder if transmigrator!SQH ended up negotiating a contract with the besotted prince and went "I CAN GET MY POOR LITTLE MEOW MEOW OUT OF HERE AND STOP FEELING LIKE SHIT OVER HOW HIS STORY ENDED!!!!" and proceeded to immediately do everything in his power to make that marriage happen because while he has zero confidence that dropping Shen Jiu in the lap of someone who adores him unconditionally will fix him now or ever, it definitely can't make things worse, and will in fact go a very long way to preventing things getting worse.

Also makes me think of SQH eventually being like the only one Shen Jiu kept in contact with, because yes he's annoying and pitiful, but when he was pulling the "marry Shen Jiu to besotted foreign royalty" bandwagon, it wasn't because he wanted to get rid of him, it was because Shang Qinghua wanted Shen Jiu to be around people who liked and would appreciate him, rather than stuck rotting in Harem Drama Hell. Maybe initially they only kept in contact for trade agreement reasons (which was ostensibly the purpose of this marriage) but SQH always made sure to a) bring some of Shen Jiu's favorites from home, b) genuinely make sure he was okay, and c) check and make sure that his husband was still besotted. Maybe Shen Jiu discovered SQH had a "smuggle my scariest shixiong to......... Eh I'll figure it out" plan in the event of Shen Jiu being mistreated? Or one of his least favorite courtiers says something snide and before Shen Jiu can get a word out Shang Qinghua says something that makes the man cry with fear. Idk how they get to the point of "spiritually you are siblings" but I am having visions of Shang Qinghua and Shen Jiu drinking anachronistic coffee (bc this is Airplane's novel ofc it is) over tanghulu and red bean paste buns and not mentioning the peak lords even once. Just chatting about trade and SJ running the kingdom with his husband and fabric and cool knives. Possibly with a side of Shen Yuan being a prince (adoption? Magic? Who knows) and SQH being his favorite uncle.

.......I wonder if SQH warns Shen Jiu that Binghe is coming/keeps him updated on demonic happenings.

.................wasn't OG Rat Qinghua supposed to get murdered by MBJ for betraying him.

Oh no.

NOW I am going down rabbit holes of Moshang typical violent misunderstandings and lack of communication, except this time SQH is the adoptive younger brother of an Arabian queen, and oh God the court intrigue and politics and drama you could pull with that. Esp if Shen Jiu eventually just. Yoinks SQH. "If this ice king wants to keep you around then he's welcome to start fucking acting like it."

And ofc Shen Jiu's husband won't say shit besides "oh we gotta welcome my brother in law appropriately! Make sure he has clothes and nice rooms etc etc" because he's also familiar with the little merchant/logistics lord who is absolutely wide eyed fluffy hamster levels of ADORABLE (bc I firmly believe SQH is the cutest little thing second to nothing but White Lotus Binghe, and also oblivious to this) and correctly thinks that having SQH's spymaster/logistics capabilities working for them is a good thing.

So SQH gets a break, gets to wear some super pretty clothes, gets to never have to worry about freezing to death, or getting injured accidentally or otherwise, etc etc. The courtiers, especially the scientifically inclined ones, adore him, partly bc he's cheating using modern knowledge. But he tells such wonderful stories! And he runs things so efficiently!

The Queen is sharp and brilliant, beautiful and vicious when provoked. His younger brother is just as intelligent, but is absolutely adorable, skilled at organization and he tells the *best* stories.

(please I just want Shang Qinghua to get so much of the appreciation he craves that he doesn't even know what to do with it)

MBJ and LBH are both sulking in the demon realm bc Shen Jiu is forcing them to think about what they've done and use their words.

......ok now I want "disillusioned but naive" Binghe and "learned but foolish" Shen Yuan to get a romance. They both learn that life and the world isn't what they thought it was together. Shen Jiu is furious but Binghe has taken every bit of his running a kingdom advice to heart and is truly genuinely doing everything right. Finding out the beast refuses to so much as hold hands with A-Yuan until Shen Jiu has approved of him would, once upon a time, have caused him to double down on disapproval. Now- with his doting husband who looks thoughtfully at the pair and says, with the look on his face that means he's thinking of their own relationship, "maybe we should give him the chance to disappoint us first. Something tells me he's not going to,"- Shen Jiu sighs heavily and sets about making a true good faith attempt to finding out if Binghe and a-Yuan are suited to each other.

(the main reason he does so is because his a-Yuan loves monsters, and Binghe will be able to take him to see as many as he wants while still being single mindedly focused on keeping him safe.)

YES YES YES!

EVERYTHING IS A BIG FUCKING RED YES!

SOMEONE MAKE THIS INTO A 100K FIC BECAUSE THIS IS PERFECTION!

[More in #Shen Jiu is forced into an arranged marriage to an Arabian Prince AU]

#shang qinghua #shen yuan #svsss #svsss ideas #svsss au #the scum villain's self saving system #mxtx #shen qingqiu #shen jiu #yue qingyuan #luo binghe #Shen Jiu is forced into an arranged marriage to an Arabian Prince AU

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symphonyofsilence · 4 months

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Fanfics ideas, cause you love MXTX works. MDZS characters will be besties with who (in your opinions) if they were in other universe, with characters from TGCF & SVSSS ? Please pick at least 3 characters from each series. Hope my questions are not confusing.....

Nie Huaisang would have been a big fan of Liu Mingiyan and Liu Mingyian would have appreciated NHS's collection of... educational books so she could write more exciting and diverse Smuts. Shang Qinghua would have found his way in and NHS & he would definitely get along very well. Shi Qingxuan & NHS would get along like a house on fire. (Though SQX would not get a word of what was said among NHS, LMY, & SQH he would enjoy the vibes & be happy to be there) And WWX naturally would belong to this group and bring JC with him. I don't know, maybe SQX, much like how happy he was to find a Ming-Xiong, and mess with General Nanyang would have been happy to meet Jiang Cheng, whether Jiang-Xiong felt the same or not? Or maybe not? Like... he apparently hadn't tried to make friends with Fengqing so maybe he wouldn't try to make friends with JC either (even if he did I think it wouldn't have been an especially deep relationship between them. It would be more like NHS's and JC's) WWX, SQX, and SQH would drag in LWJ, HX, & Mobei-Jun with them. Those three would absolutely say nothing and make no friends. Mobei-Jun (despite WWX and SQX's many attempts) and LWJ (despite SQX's many attempts) would stare in a dead inside way and He Xuan would eat. (Shen Qingqiu would have loved to join them but Liu Mingiyan would turn strangely quiet against NHS's questions when SQQ was around, so...)

I'd love to see Xue Yang, Qi Rong, and Sha Hualing interact! I believe They would get along very well. I'd love to see them take care of Guzi together, too! (Guzi would end up taking care of them.)

(Then Sha Hualing and Xuan Ji would inevitably cross paths and have a nice girl in-bathroom talk wherein Sha Hualing would try to knock some sense into Xuan Ji and tell her to know your worth, girl and it would result in Xuan Ji going you know what?! Maybe you're right maybe I SHOULD let go. To which Sha Hualing would answer WHAT?! NO WAY! KICK HIS A$$!!)

One lotus root pork soup from Jiang Yanli would work wonders for Shen Jiu (who needs an older sister). And I think JYL, since she apparently likes to surround herself with tsunderes would be fond of him, too. Shen Jiu might have crossed paths with fellow street rat A-Qing. The hissing cats would bond and form the deepest, and strongest frenemy relationship and stick together. Then Shen Jiu would inevitably end up meeting Xiao Xingchen. This group would fix him. Before breaking him even worse because of the whole...you know,... Yi City Arc. Then he'd be adopted by Yushi Huang or Baoshan Senren. Maybe Yushi Huang could promote A-Qing to godhood. their combination with Pei Su, Ban Yue, and Pei Ming could have been interesting.

Teenage Mu Qing-gege would also probably know A-Qing, Shen Jiu, and Yue Qinguuan. and occasionally give them food and keep an eye on them. This combo-minus YQY- might have also occasionally bitched about others with each other. (So the god adopting Shen Jiu and promoting A-Qing to godhood could be MQ, too)

Jiang Yanli would flourish if she could join Yushi Huang and have a peaceful positive maternal figure who cherished her talents and calm demeanor. JYL, Ban Yue, and Pei Xu would have helped each other. she would also enjoy interacting with SQX, and Xie Lian. and SQX would like her very much. She might have also had a soft spot for Mu Qing and looked out for him and what he didn't say.

Wei Wuxian and Hua Cheng would get into passive-aggressive rivalry in talent, sass, fashion, batshit theories and ideals, and sass. they would greatly enjoy their rivalry though. Maybe through Hua Cheng, WWX would meet He Xuan, too, and enjoy annoying him. He might form a very forced, very one-sided friendship with He Xuan, Which after a while of WWX imposing himself on him, HX might or might not come to miss in WWX's absence.

Ling Wen and Jin Guangyao would have a pleasant talk over tea about how incompetent everyone else is and how they have to do everything around here. Then slowly, they'd be joined by Yin Yu, Zhuzhi-lang, and Shang Qinghua. And then This talk would then turn into a union.

Wen Qing and Mu Qing would meet each other while healing others and they'd start to be mean judgemental bitches together. They have kind hearts. They save everyone's lives, but they also shoot death glares at everyone & bitch about everyone while doing it.

Wen Qing might have also befriended Ling Wen. She might have been recruited by Qi Qinqi.

Lan Xichen, Yue Qingyuan, Yushi Huang, and Xie Lian could drink tea together and have a pleasant conversation without an actual word that would lead to any personal knowledge about them being exchanged. Though any two combinations of this group could have a vague and not very revealing but definitely insightful conversation with each other.

I know Liu Qingge, Jiang Cheng, and Mu Qing are a popular combo of hissing cats. But these 3 could stay together in one room for centuries and do not utter a word to each other or make any other attempt at human connection. Xie Lian though, a certified bitch- specialist might want to befriend Jiang Cheng, Shen Jiu, and Liu Qingge.

Literally anyone could befriend Shen Qingqiu (Shen Yuan, obviously) . Especially the cloud recesses trio, especially Jiang Cheng. Jin Zixuan would have benefitted greatly from befriending SQQ. (Or maybe not. Who knows.)

Xie Lian and Xiao Xingchen would have a very pleasant short chat. A-qing and Xue Yang would also love the other Daozhang. This would result in A-Qing wanting to protect the Daozhang from mean strangers and Xue Yang wanting to torment Daozhang as a sign of his gratitude for his exemplary manners towards Xue Yang. Luckily XL wouldn't stick around this long.

The Juniors would look up to Liu Qingge and would love to be his disciples. (Especially JL who feels life LQG kinda has a similar attitude to his Jiujiu and reminds him of his jiujiu) they would get into- hopefully- friendly rivalries with Shen Qingqiu's disciples, especially Ning Yingying and Ming Fan. In time those two would join the Junior group as well.

Jin Ling would follow Feng Xin around because AN ARCHERY GOD! And since the juniors stick together, so would the three others. And since Fengqing are always together, the two southern gods would acquire a band of ducklings.

Qi Qingqi would immediately recruit Mianmian. Pei Ming would try to hit on Qi Qingqi and immediately realize his mistake. They'd eventually befriend each other and Qi Qingqi would gain a place among The Three Tumors. That would lead to Qi Qingqi meeting Ban Yue and recruiting her, too.

After Ling Wen recruited Jin Guangyao as a god to help her do paperwork, JGY would find a solid place for himself in The Three Tumors, too.

(Mostly SVSSS/TGCF interactions:

Tianlang-Jun, with his interest in polyamorous dramas, would follow 3Zun dramas intensely. Pei Ming would get curious about what he's observing like a soap opera and join him in watching that trashfire. they'd have a great time eating popcorn and doing commentaries together, and then Tianlang-Jun would pull an uno-reverse on Pei Ming by giving him advice on how to court Yushi Huang.

Jian Lan has big maternal instincts, and Luo Binghe is above all, a baby. So Jian Lan would become LBH's new ghost mama and Shen Qingqiu would get along splendidly with his new ghost mother-in-law.)

#asks #mdzs #svsss #tgcf

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analviel · 11 months

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No hate, I do appreciate them since I learn new things, but I'm also baffled by people who try to fit SVSSS as.... historically accurate.

I'm.... not even sure how that works. Since xianxia itself is fantasy - wuxia would make sense of course.

For my part I just slap on that it's in a distant past, where the earth is mostly pangea shaped, with one culture from real world cropping up here and another here, and they just..... mix. Interact.

Like, for the sake of the genre itself I'd say it's mostly chinese, mostly chinese writing system, which is easy enough since as it so happens, it's the root of a number of other writing systems. Literally just think ATLA, the way they mixed real life culture with fantasy and not let that hold them back.

Oh hey convenient space to put my 'headcanon races if they were transmigrated in our modern era'. SJ and SQH I'd put as chinese, YQY and QQQ korean, LQG japanese, and MQF vietnamese, WQW thai, mostly because I have this AU I play with where they are reincarnated in modern world but have faint recollection of their old lives as CQMS Peak Lords (this would be after the happenings in my universe AU where SJ, rather than dying of heartbreak after seeing Xuan Su sword shards escapes instead this and yes, spoiler alert they stil die bcs I'm all for the whole 'if I can't ascend with you all then I guess let's just all die'), and I keep playing with this scene of SJ living in a compound with YQY (imagine SJ waking up going 'Qi-ge, Qi-ge, gege I want breakfast' and YQY humming indulgently while cooking on the stove💗💗💗💗💘💘💘 (I mean not really relevant AS MUCH but just note I imagine them as brothers brothers here) and they have it for rent at first but when they meet the other PL and realize the truth of their memories, they have it reserved only for their martial siblings. And live together like a group of really chill friends that are low key keeping a pulse on the underground cultivation world that is concealed from the public

Yes, SJ does annoy LQG for rent even if it's not yet time to pay. He just likes being annoying okay, let him be annoying.

..... My posts are losing any sense of order these days. Like I know I should stay at least on one topic on one post but whatever.

#Shen jiu #svsss #Shen qingqiu #Yue qingyuan #liu qingge #qi qingqi #mu qingfang #shang qinghua #wei qingwei #Modern world reincarnation #And I write

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tcfactory · 4 months

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Do you wanna talk more about og! Moshang? You seem to wanna talk about og! Moshang (not blaming you, they are a very good flavor of interesting) (about your stick-mobei au or in general. Pretty please both)

Okay, so. First of all og!SQH is a very competent sneaky snake of a man and by the time he meets young MBJ he's already an inner disciple - one getting walled by people with more family contacts with him, but hey, still doing fine in this scheming business. He's not in the doomed party of outer disciples, he's the one who is sent to check what the fuck is taking them so long. He finds the injured MBJ a day or two later, after discovering that the outer disciples are all dead, and startles the injured demon into teleporting them both somewhere. He recognizes the merit of making an alliance with MBJ (partially motivated by not knowing for sure if he can take MBJ in a fight or not) so in exchange for treating the demon's injury he will help him become peak lord.

They don't really interact all that closely while SQH is still with the Sect, because he has the good sense to establish proper boundaries so they are not discovered, but they begrudgingly respect each other. SQH gives good information, MBJ pulls off the attack on the Immortal Alliance Conference without a hitch (doesn't feel the need to oversee it personally because he's doesn't feel terribly worried about SQH's safety) and things go on in more or less a normal vein. SQH has already internalized that on An Ding, disciples will just assassinate each other and die in random horrible ways because that's just life, so he's not outwardly broken up about losing disciples. HHP are desperately pointing fingers all over the place to save face, so his 'aberrant' reaction gets scrutinized until he has to flee and join MBJ full time.

og!MBJ isn't as secure in his position because og!SQH is not Airplane to hand him all the plot devices laying around, but he has an appreciation for SQH so he keeps him around in a right hand man/personal retainer/personal servant capacity because that's how he can keep him safe the best and SQH absolutely resents him for this, actually. He fought really hard to be a peak lord and now he's a demon prince's glorified butler!

Still, over time they are slowly getting to know and trust each other and grow to have an appreciation for the other (they fall into bed every now and then, no strings attached except for all the strings they have wrapped around each other already because for MBJ SQH is the safest option and SQH doesn't have anyone else willing and he's pent up, all right?) - might even develop into a proper relationship given a few more decades if not for LBH. LBH who comes out the Abyss waving around Xin Mo, who's too powerful for MBJ to fight without his ancestral power, LBH who looks at SQH and sees red at the reminder of CQMS. He tolerates SQH while it suits him, while he can use his information to get his hands on SQQ, but when SQQ is safely strung up in the dungeons and he has a solid political backing by having HHP wrapped around his fingers? SQH has to go.

What better test for MBJ's loyalty than ask him to break his favorite toy? SQH dies or they both die, it matters little to LBH. And this is just my personal hc, but I like the thought that LBH loses MBJ even if SQH dies. MBJ rationalizes it to himself, but he was more attached than he realized and only his oaths hold him there, loyal shadow at LBH's side.

NOW for that Mobei-stick AU.

In a way, MBJ is rescued into an already existing support network, a framework that has already helped someone who (although to a lesser degree) has suffered through much of what he has. They need to make adjustments, definitely, but they already went through much of this with SQQ and the end result is traumatized but mostly stable SQQ in a situationship with YQY and LQG (though for this I think I prefer YQY and SQQ as brothers and LQG as the suitor slowly realizing that he was mistaken about SQQ and falling in love despite his injuries).

…And guess who forgot that LQG is supposed to be dead for PIDW, so let’s call that an early divergence - LQG clashes with MBJ a few times bc LQG is trying to get SQH and SQQ back from the demons and it’s through him that MBJ learns that YQY will fight the very world for SQQ’s safety if he has to. Must be nice having family who look out for you like that, he thinks. I can use this to keep SQH safe.

But all the support networks are for nothing if MBJ doesn’t have the motivation to get better. He already reached a level of detachment from the world while in captivity, he could pass on without regrets - and I have Thoughts about Airplane’s god!MBJ (essentially an ascended heavenly demon) visiting him a few times to make certain he endured, even if he never recognized himself in this primordial god of the night skies, so he might even be eligible for ascension too if they meddled enough. SQH becomes his guiding star, his anchor to the world - in his mind he already repaid every debt and wiped every slate clean, he had no expectations for any rescue or aid, so he has complicated feelings about SQH coming for him after all. If anything, he thought they would put him out of his misery if they ever overcome LBH. So at least at first he has no other motivation for working on his recovery than to cause SQH less stress, because SQH took it upon himself to see him back to his position as northern heir because he thinks he owes MBJ a life debt.

On the other side, SQH always chafed against how much power MBJ had over him, but now that the tables have turned he Does Not Like this. Not at all. Get back on your feet and start bossing him around again, you shithead, he doesn’t like being in your debt. MBJ insists there is no debt, but of course there is, otherwise why would SQH bother with such a stupid demon!!! Don’t you dare imply that he cares because he does not!!! (He’s in so much denial.)

It’s a weird situation where MBJ cares about SQH’s emotions first and only finds his own eventually along the way (and it’s a glacially slow slide from ‘this is my safe person I cherish them a lot’ to a point where he rediscovers his infatuation and falls in love and he’s independent enough that SQH accepts that it’s a feeling MBJ had before and it isn’t just a side effect of their current situation.)

SQH first really does think he’s here for that life debt, but he stays after MBJ starts becoming independent again - which is, physically speaking, far earlier than anyone expects because LGJ gets him a scroll with an ancient technique to form limbs from black ice. MBJ kinda withholds the information that he can do this for a while because 1. he doesn’t want to invalidate the work the humans are putting into his prosthetics and 2. said prosthetics (armored shells forged to go around the bones of his limbs that LBH kept as a trophy) are less energy-intensive to use so he prefers them to the ice - and makes up excuse after excuse so he doesn’t have to face his emotions about MBJ as long as possible.

Like. The whole thing is much too slow and drawn out for me to ever write in full - maybe I could do some oneshots from various points in the timeline though… - but the end state is very much Peak Lord SQH (who has somehow reformed his reputation along the way) and his husband MBJ ( he turns down the throne in favor of one of LGJ’s sons who doesn’t turn out to be a good-for-nothing after all, because the Peak Lords are ascending sometime in the next century and after all he went through, MBJ is allowed to be a little sticky and join SQH, as a treat).

#Mobei-stick AU #long post #tc writes

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ben-wisehart · 1 year

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hi! do you ever feel like the bingqiu fandom is binghe biased? like a lot of the time its giving.. “wow binghe is our little precious bun who deserves the world and more! ..oh and stinky neet loser sqq is so blessed to have him lul” it feels unfair towards sqq :( it makes me sad hes no ones fave but thats okay like whatever right? but even when its bingqiu hes treated like an afterthought. like we have binghe fans criticising sqq for not doing more, sj fans are frankly delusional, sqh fans think hes “too mean” to their precious hamster, liushen fans only like him bc hes a good hole/dick for lqg (obligatory “not all men” lol) idk i only follow a handful of svsss twt accs because no one seems to like him, he feels either tolerated or treated as a gag character lol 🥹

i just dislike a lot of fanon bingqiu i think? i read all the books before hopping on twitter and i see some absolute rancid takes on there like the woobification of Shaun(tm) qinghua and jiumei.. which is easy enough to avoid tbf so whatever floats their boat idc. but when i follow bingqiu accs, it feels like OC x OC rather than ~bingqiu~ if that makes sense? like i LOVE the manipulative crybaby domtop x flustered thin face subby pillow princess they have going on!! and fanon bingqiu is just.. not it? and obv id never send hate or anything (i just block and keep it moving) but it makes it kinda sucky when the fandom is already teeny tiny and a large chunk of the fandom isnt what i envisioned/expected i guess which is so odd! when they essentially erase canon!! if it’s like some queerbaity ship or whatever, people can characterise them however they want but its like CANON how they act/are in bed/etc and its all taken away!!! idk im probably just whining sorry 😭

(i included all my thoughts here sorry for the spam!!)

hey, thanks for stopping by!! I definitely know what you mean with regards to SQQ, but I will assure you that there are very much still plenty of dedicated "sqq mains" out there. My sphere of influence on twitter is heavily biased toward people for whom sqq is their favourite character, so maybe I'm not getting a representative sample of the fandom overall, but he's definitely a very well loved character and has more than his fair share of people who do him justice in their writing and for whom he's their primary blorbo!! I remember posting this on reddit a while back and more than half of the responses (though admittedly a small sample size) had him as their fave. So, I don't think he's without appreciation!

But with that said, I do get where you’re coming from. I’m not gonna talk about readers who take his actions in bad faith and actively dislike him (HOW??), but as you’ve said, even among people who do like him, we don’t always understand him as well as we could. Most fans do get on some level that he’s an unreliable narrator, but it’s still very common for people to take him at face value and completely miss his depth. He’s a funny little guy with amusing narration, but he’s also kind and selfless, and he’s also smart and witty, and obnoxious and annoying, and frankly pretty insensitive, and deeply, deeply traumatised—and a million other things! He has layers.

I think all popular characters in fandom will inevitably start getting boiled down to a few key traits. And as somebody who’s been writing fic for 15 years, it’s really hard not to let your own biases colour your portrayal? I absolutely do it with SQQ!! I focus on his kinder, warmer aspects and downplay his flaws, I’ll readily admit that. We all get drawn to a favourite character for a certain trait, and that trait becomes the grit around which our interpretations form. If you’re somebody that likes silly characters, you’re going to write SQQ and dial his silliness up to eleven. If you like kind characters, you’ll write SQQ with emphasis on his kindness. None of these traits are OOC in and of themselves, but if you start to only read fanfic and don’t revisit the source material, you can get lost in what’s popular and forget all the depth that actually made them interesting in the first place. And once you’ve grown attached to a particular version of the characters in your head, it can be really hard to let go of it. I don’t really know where I’m going with this, but I'll add that I think protagonists are just particularly prone to this happening because they're usually the one the audience relates to most.

Idk if any of that really addresses the stuff you were talking about. You mentioned dom top Binghe/pillow princess sqq and to be honest I’m kind of reluctant to talk about this in depth because I’ve received negative comments in the past for supposedly being anti-bottom Binghe, when all I’ve ever said on this matter is that I think it’s a bit weird to insist that “I’m scared of hurting you so I might as well let you do it” is proof that Binghe is canonically a bottom. The fact that someone found that statement so threatening to their view of the characters that they would go to my ao3 page, click on the first fic they saw that happened to feature bottom SQQ and leave their holier-than-thou anonymous opinion there is just bizarre to me.

To be honest tho, it tends to be Binghe characterisation that puts me off moreso than Shen Qingqiu. The only SQQ characterisation that truly bothers me is when people write him as willing to hurt Binghe, or willing to do anything with underage Binghe, but there is a LOT of Binghe stuff that I’m sensitive too. Idk if you read this thread of mine but like, even my friends whom I love make “Binghe stalking/imprisoning/"atticwifing" SQQ” jokes and these bother me way more than any random stranger saying SQQ would get off on spanking Binghe.

And like, it’s kind of hard because objectively, Binghe is a very dark character, so it doesn't feel particularly OOC to say he would do those things, but it's about framing. It bothers me when the emphasis is on how fucked up he is and not how hard he's trying, because it implies a level of futility that I just don’t think is there in canon. To me the beauty of him is in how much doing right by SQQ doesn't come naturally to him, but he ultimately decides to do it anyway because he wants SQQ to be happy. (I feel it needs to be said that I don't mean this in a judgy "if you write dark Binghe you don't understand him and are a bad person" way. Just that I myself can't handle that, and I strongly disagree if you think it's where Bingqiu's relationship is headed).

but idk, I've found my corner and I'm very happy here. I actually don't read fic as often as you'd think, mostly because I am sooooo picky, so I totally get where you're coming from :) but the fandom is still decently sized and very diverse, so there are always going to be at least a few people who share your feelings, if you can find them!

#svsss meta #anonymous #askbox #thank you for sharing your thoughts!! im sorry it took ages to reply #and that I mostly went on a tangent. again. idk what I'm saying half the time

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the-owl-tree · 2 years

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About Tigerheartstar, he did literally threaten RiverClan lives unless they surrendered. He held Duskfur down and asked her how many of her clanmates lives it was worth giving up until RiverClan submitted to him. At the gathering Icewing was the only RiverClan cat to say that RiverClan is doing well, but she’s his favored cat, he’s made her leader and she doesn’t oppose his takeover as much as the other RiverClan cats. Also he is being written super consistently this guy has just always been like this, look at SqH, TS and in Raging Storm just as the more prominent examples. He’s a fascinating and very consistent character but not one I like on a personal level but respect from a writing standpoint. He always believes he is in the right, and he will always justify whatever actions he does. He’s not necessarily a good person but he fully believes he is. How they’re writing him in this arc is extremely consistent with his previous characterisation and I have absolutely no problem believing this is the kind of thing he would do. No matter how good his intentions may have been he did forcefully take away the independence of an entire clan. You don’t go with almost all your warriors to RiverClan at the crack of dawn if you don’t expect a fight.

will not argue on squilf's hope or raging storm as i've not read the first one and i barely remember avos' second half, i am sorry....my memory is garbage :(

there's no real point where tigerheartstar explicitly threatens their lives, the only real mention of that is from duskfur (you know. the one who instigated the fight). she put her clanmates in danger by starting that fight, i've already pointed out that frostpaw was about to get mothwing to talk to him.

here's the fight, i think it's intentionally left vague (and to further the stupid fucking "tigerheartstar like tigerstar? oh nooo!" conflict they insist on keeping up) whether or not he'd actually kill her. i get where you're coming from though but i'd say duskfur's "i'd rather die than receive help" is annoying so therefore im afraid i have to support tigerheartstar here.

considering they uh attacked him, i think him bringing his clan was a smart choice. tigerheartstar and his clan was the most affected when tc started to go off the rails, makes sense to me he'd want to prepare (especially since the clans love to fight each other. him bring his warriors feels like a smart choice considering the entire nature of their society but that's less canon and more me thoughts).

then in the preview, he does exactly what he promised them and leaves.

he's not there to take over, he's there to help, and while i absolutely agree that people can disagree about exactly how helpful he was, i think it's unfair to treat him as the sole reason the whole thing went down so violently (or, in much poorer taste when discussing cat books, refer to it as "colonization" or "imperialism" words have meaning).

as for icewing, i will save thoughts on that until the book comes out. i want to see her in action as a temp leader before getting ahead of myself, i get your point with her though!

i think you're right that he may not totally be in the right with his actions but i stand by my point. riverclan attacked first and tigerheartstar left as soon as he helped. considering the fact that he spent the last arc having to pick up thunderclan's pieces and this arc lost a kit because of riverclan's mismanagement, i think his actions are understandable imo. Still, the arc is early and we have yet to see what'll happen.

ty for the ask, i appreciate your thoughts!! im so sorry if this is rambly and there are errors or it is incomprehensible at points. im sleepy.

#asc spoilers #deer rambles #i think in the grander scheme of the clans #i find “reject help and die of nationalistic pride” very annoying #tigerheartstar actually saying “fuck you guys can we help each other” is refreshing #and i get why ppl dont like him attacking or forcing it #but....rc shot first :3c

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vermillioncrown · 3 years

Note

This might be easier, remember the college au you wrote a little of? What if everyone there woke up with past memories?

not really easier but i appreciate the sentiment. have this whole thing of nonsense as a reward.

(transmigrators are on their third lives, reverse transmigrators are on their second lives.)

(we're just gonna stick with the canon characters i've already written in the college au)

(wangxian ot3 shippers, eat your heart out)

the dreamnightmare was so fantastic so disturbing that sy wakes late and nearly ends up missing his bus. he barely makes it, rushing towards the pre-lecture meeting spot where zyx should have a warm latte waiting for him.

he finds her lying on the dirt (as usual). she's dressed in her gremlin uniform, worn when she pulls an all-nighter (as usual). she... has a cigarette burning away between her lips (unusual).

"bad night?" sy tentatively asks.

"something i dreamt i was a butterfly, something something, am i a butterfly," zyx mumbles, thousand yard stare up into the canopy of the trees.

okay, then - a Strange Dream. his dream was fucking weird, but zyx's dreams were Cinematic Weird. Inception Weird. sometimes, he wishes she'd just ghostwrite for sqh with that imagination of hers.

zyx is usually down to talk about them. today, however, she doesn't start rambling about the details even as he waits patiently.

finally, sy plucks the cigarette from her mouth and stomps it out. "'now i do not know whether i was then a man dreaming i was a butterfly; or whether i am now a butterfly, dreaming i am a man'," he corrects. "zhuangzi."

"persona," she weakly insists.

"you banana-weeb-trash," sy rolls his eyes, "c'mon. we'll be late for lecture"

she becomes more present as they walk towards the lecture hall. whatever; if she wants to say something she'll eventually say it. sy needs to quickly drink his coffee and put it out of his mind. it's not like he'll let his own weird trashy isekai nightmare get in the way of respectfully interacting with his peers.

sy reaches class and immediately, disrespectfully stares. stares at lbh, a junior that is always early, always sits behind sy's seat, and always seems to have a smile on his face. it's a smile today, too, but one that seems too focused on his person.

sy feels his face start to heat up. he flashes a quick smile and turns to look elsewhere. his eyes (disrespectfully) lands on his other junior lqg. disrespectful, because he can't look away from how his (pretty) classmate stares at him. intently, with turbulent thoughts behind his face.

"shen -"

"- you!" and abruptly, lbh and lqg start punching each other in the lecture hall

what the fuck.

zyx stops walking and leans on his arm. "uh. huh... i was kidding when i said they were probably part of some fight club," zyx gives the duo a dispassionate look. "i love being right."

by the time her controls lecture rolls around, zyx is too fucking Done to give a shit about any dreams, no matter how mind-bendy and weird. did dream-zyx help her solve the homework? no? then she's not welcome in the real world.

(actually, zyx realizes and crosses out an erroneous line of work, that mistake seems so obvious now -)

"- hey! yunxun!"

she looks up. it's wei fucking wuxian, hovering over her desk with that shit-eating smile. fuck him, she's had nastier dreams with uglier people - 'you're not special wwx!'

"can i... help you?"

his smile turns awkward.

"well..., um, you know - since we're in this class and mechatronics together, i was wondering if you want to study with me?"

every word out of wwx makes her feel like she's being held hostage. study what? he's basically top of the class - does he want a complimentary blowjob or something?

"do you need tutoring money?" she tries deflecting as a joke. zyx is aware it comes off meaner than she wanted it to, but - she can already see how studying together will go. wwx, non-stop talking and solving everything. her, lead-tongued and in tears when she gets home.

"you want me to tutor you?" wwx perks up, before freezing and laughing awkwardly, "i mean, i don't think you need tutoring, but -"

"- i don't need tutoring," she deadpans.

fuck. all of their classmates are just... staring now. zyx resolutely turns back to her homework and notes, willing wwx to just go away.

he does not. unfortunately for her, he decides on one last attempt to annoy her and succeeds.

"hair like snow, your parting is a beautiful sorrow, who is moved by my incense -" he starts whisper-singing, hands braced on her desk and leaning in.

'fuck! nhs's karaoke invitation last week was a fucking mistake!!'

zyx slams her notebook shut and stands up. shorter than him by nearly a head, that doesn't stop her from glaring up and baring her teeth. "if you wanted to embarrass me, you could have just stuck with grades."

fuck it, she's not in the mood for learning anything. zyx grabs her bag and shoves her notebook in, barely remembering to toss her homework onto the lectern before stomping out of the room.

zyx's time smashing her list of angsty emo song covers on the piano comes to an abrupt end with a knock. she turns, dreading and knowing whatwho she'll find.

the indomitable lan wangjihot violin asshole glares at her through the window pane of the practice room door.

'fuck, man - don't you have class?! go to school!' zyx is completely aware that she's a huge hypocrite.

it's like god knows she had disrespectful dreams of her classmates, and is now punishing her. so rude - dreams are dreams, life is life.

she can't delay opening the door any longer. zyx finishes packing up and walks over to yet another mortifying social interaction.

"... hi? um. room's free, if you..." her voice fades as she elicits no response, facial or verbal.

finally, his glare changes. "zhu yunxun."

her fucking heart drops straight into hell the moment he says her name. he knows her name?!?! he remembers her?!!?!?

worse - a hot violin asshole doppelganger pops into the doorframe, smiling like the good twin to the original's evil.

(okay, she knows he's not evil, but he's kinda not... he's evil because she doesn't like how he makes her feel, okay?)

"wangji, is this the acquaintance that you wanted for your accompaniment?"

"mhm."

"hi, i'm lan xichen, wangji's brother - it's nice to meet you," smile-y (but no less evil) violin doppelganger holds out a hand. "you're not a music major, right? i haven't seen you around."

"hi, uh. zhu yunxun." zyx thanks the fucking merciful goddess that she is trained to autopilot crush hands in a handshake - can't compete with the sweaty engineering boys otherwise (never mind that she's basically a sweaty engineering boy). "i'm in the engineering department."

"you play as an extra-curricular, then?"

'no, i don't play at all! i don't know how to play!' all she has is five years of her uncle teaching her random shit. she can't say that for fear of her life, with frowny hot violin asshole glaring down at her and smile-y hot violin(?) asshole just... expecting down at her.

("what's a recital?" she remembers asking in class, when questioned about her piano lessons. holy fuck. time travel and go put her past self out of her misery, please.)

"Ah... hahah yeah, it's all just for fun... hey, sorry - i'm actually running late for a group meeting" she quickly darts between the two brothers, waving behind her as she runs down the hall. "nice meeting you!" she yells back.

sqh has been missing for a week. sy and zyx have noted it, but aren't too concerned (he texted a cryptic emoji missive, which they interpreted as 'mostly ok', which, okay). he gets in writing benders and squirrels away often enough. it's only by the 10th day mark that they need to drag sqh to air out in the sun.

besides, the two of them have other concerns.

"you're looking crustier than usual," sy says as his warm and polite greeting towards a dear friend.

"dude, fuck you." zyx takes an obnoxious slurp of her iced coffee. "i don't wanna hear it from sir gucci eyebags"

they both look rather worse for the wear. sy knows what he's dealing with - a strange feeling of being hunted. watched. the odd moods of some of his classmates. lqg's stares ('can he read minds? fuck, man - it's not gay if it's in a dream!'). constant lbh encounters, seeing him play frisbee on the quad and ripping off his shirt ('how the fuck did he know the shape of him??' he can't help but look downwards, like the call of the void, and - NO -).

but zyx? she's been working weirder hours than usual. and hasn't wanted to indulge in her typical hangouts or habits. "did you fail a project? a midterm?" skipping the gym (probably for her own good, sy thinks, looking at her husk-like countenance).

"no!" defensive, but likely not a lie from her expression. "... people are just... being annoying. i literally have to sneak into the comp lab at midnight to get anything done. dance practice location also needs to change - so a lot of running ragged scouting and asking for permission"

sy nods along, thumbing through forums on his phone. "this week has been a special kind of shit." he feels agitated, unable to focus on what would normally be an enjoyable distraction.

"for real -"

she freezes.

"what?" sy turns to her, but a second later zyx shoves her drink and laptop bag into his arms and fucking sprints away.

"oh, come on! your laptop weighs, like, a million pounds!"

two guys, one in the lead, rush past sy and give chase.

"what the fuck."

wwx wakes. the whir of his ceiling fan cuts through the fog of his dream. was it a dream? a full life, friends and family, love and war, suffering and pain, eventual happiness -

of course it's a dream. ha, why else would his acoustics lecture find its way into a perfectly fantastic xianxia -

wait.

he spends the next two hours on a wikipedia binge. more than thirty tabs open, all four corners of the screen filled with different windows. taylor series expansion, sure. controllability and observability, fine.

stability modes of aircraft? ... it makes sense, but wwx doesn't remember learning it. and yet... the equations of motion and the stability derivatives - they aren't - they're familiar.

calculus of variations - he was hoping to take that course next semester after he overheard zyx gush about it to her friend. the principles don't make complete sense, not at the moment. but the equations, the fundamentals... he knows them. his dream told him.

wwx knows he's brilliant by all standards, but this is beyond believable.

the third hour is spent humming different tunes into his phone. he knows them, but the dream-addled part of him needs to confirm, because what if - just what if -

fa ru xue, by jay chou.

try me, by foxwedding (this one took a while, without lyrics, the melody obscured by loud ocean waves, liberties taken with a guqin arrangement, but undoubtedly it was this song).

the other ones, he scours the internet.

and finds nothing.

in a daze, he grabs his flute out of its case and plays.

lwj wakes. it isn't unusual to get up before dawn. he hears the mourning doves coo outside, but today, his heartbeat is faster than their calm, morning cadence.

dreams were odd, and lwj's were vivid and seared into his memory. the emotional weight behind this particular one was overwhelmingly heavy. he feels each exhale, trying to steady himself, come out of him like a barely-contained sob.

eventually, the day must be met. lwj gets ready and heads to campus.

aural lessons, he suffers through. advanced theory feels stifling - he barely tolerates what the professor lectures.

for his general education course in art history, wwx's presence feels less provoking and more calming today.

"lan wangji!" his former dormmate calls out. "look, i drew you!"

it's meant to be a teasing doodle, one with wwx escaping lwj's strictness by burying him under a pile of textbooks. doodle lwj triggers the avalanche via tripwire.

lwj from a week ago would have burned with indignance at being teased, secret pleasure from wwx's attention, embarrassment from having his unruly feelings exposed, frustration at the lack of ability to comport himself as he desires.

lwj today feels nothing but mirth and fondness. it's like something untangled the messy knot of sentiment inside him, making it clear and obvious. there is no conflict, nothing to feel frustrated over.

"do i survive?"

wwx blinks. "uh - haha, lan-er-gege you're so strong, a few books can't bring you down!"

evening orchestra rehearsal comes. breaktime is lax, with the conductor too busy arguing the music director about the piece for this year. it seems that likely, the music director will have the final say and their lineup will change, so no one is eager to commit to something that's temporary.

wwx continues to sound out the half-remember melodies from his dreams. one of them, he hears the oboist hum along as he walks by (that was lwj's brother, wasn't it?) but it was so fleeting, wwx thinks he imagined it.

that one was harder to remember. he switches to the other melody. it elates him to figure out the development, everything slotting into place, that he is joined by strings on his second repeat and doesn't notice until he's halfway through.

wwx looks up and sees lwj slowly lowering his violin. before he can say anything, the conductor barks at everyone to return to their seats and resume rehearsal.

for lwj, coming to terms with the state of matters is not turbulent. there are midweek dinners at his uncle's residence, the man being a collector of fine traditional instruments. lwj has never learned anything besides the violin, unlike his brother - no amount of cajoling or demand was able to turn him from single-minded focus.

is it a surprise that touching the guqin on display felt like homecoming, even as the strings catch strangely on his violinist calluses? his left hand taps with confidence, right hand plucks, and a clear harmonic rings out.

is it a dream? is it not a dream?

wwx idly marks up his notes as he waits for the lecture hall to fill. a head of pink hair catches his attention.

it has to be a dream, he decides, watching zyx slouch her way towards her preferred seat. a dream with his prickly classmate in a prominent role, differing in every way but their names -

and wwx finds himself automatically moving to sit behind her as usual.

as usual. and it is - he can almost see the ghost of dream-zyx superimposed over this zyx, scrawling away at their notes. the same expression of pensive concentration.

he finds himself leaning over her desk, words spilling from his mouth. and when she gives him the look of dismissal, the memory in his brain desperately claws its way out, demanding he keep her from turning away -

well. blunt, cutting, and needing the last word. bravery when pushed. determined, demanding on oneself, proud. clever.

like two pitches slowly matching frequency, the dissonance in his mind dissipates.

it hurts. the echo of the same rejection happening, even dampened through an entire lifespan - the sting of it feels sharp and real.

it is her. a zyx less burdened with propriety, responsibility, able to run as she pleases and act unrestrained... and she runs from him.

"i... didn't say anything offensive, did i, wangji?" lxc asks tentatively.

he didn't. the same cycle of kindness, slowly leaking out until all lwj can see is her back. he remembers when they were children. he remembers when they were in freshman year. quiet discussions in the library. different teas, until she found by some hidden criteria the one to continue sharing with him.

somehow, in some manner, zyx has again found something lacking about him. in their first life, this old hurt was packed away, bygones as bygones.

who has overturned the cupboard of past lives, indeed.

"lan zhan."

lwj stops. wwx is standing at the bus stop, moonlight overhead. the two of them stayed late tonight, voluntold by the conductor to clean up for being distracted all rehearsal.

how could lwj be anything but distracted? he knows. he knows. wei ying is right there, in the same room. laughing the same way, same clever fingers on his flute, identical vivacious behavior.

"wei ying."

silence, before wwx breaks into the biggest grin possible to contain on his face. "lan-er-gege!" he sprints and leaps at lwj.

what is thousands of dollars, extrinsic in value, compared to lifespans of love? lwj drops his violin case and catches wwx in his arms.

"lan-er-gege, when did you know?"

"rehearsal. the 13th."

"wait. how???"

"figure it out yourself."

"i found her," lwj admits. it comes out like a shameful confession.

wwx huffs in amusement. "she doesn't like you much, either, huh?" he stretches in his seat. "you know, lan zhan..."

"... if she really hated you, hated me, there's nothing stopping this zyx from kicking us in the nuts."

lwj can't help but let out a small mirthful sigh. "i suppose."

"if she's the same, and she is - zyx has always been a stubborn mule that needs prodding and convincing."

they spend more time together, after that. but as if to make up for the sudden fill of lwj in his life, zyx seems to slip away like a ghost. if not for the fact that she answered the professor calling out names to return exams, wwx would have thought he made her up.

and of course, lwj's stubborn, stalwart faith that she is here.

it is pure chance that they see her walking down the quad path with one of her friends. the two are casual and close, reminding wwx of other-zyx and their relationship with that peacock.

this zyx lets exhaustion show on her face. lets herself be sloppy. feels safe, secure, and free enough to let her inner self show. objectively, it's not as beautiful and gilded as the comportment in that dream-like life.

it's something that wwx of both lives hunted for with persistence.

and it is habit of both lives - when zyx runs, wwx is riled into pursuit. how can he resist, when she keeps making such incredulous and hilarious expressions?

wwx starts running on instinct. "lan zhan! chase!" he doesn't have to look behind to know that lwj follows.

'fuck fuck fuck i shouldn't have quit track!!' zyx lambasts herself as she runs down the school arboretum path. fuck ticks, she's saving her life here - zyx cuts across the bushes to the other side of the grounds.

sigh. wow. okay, maybe she shouldn't have run because who would have thought those two would start chasing like velociraptors?? fuck, have some composure, assholes!

two figures leap out and tackle her into the river just as she started to catch her breath.

"- fUCK!"

#zyx au's #RT au #oblivious university #mdzyx #svzyx #Anonymous #inquiry #if anyone is wondering: sqh/mbj get their shit together within three days and are too busy sucking face to give a shit about their friends #sy is too busy dealing himself psychic damage for his cringey smutty isekai fantasy to actually pay attention to lbh and lqg #zyx (me) is prone to having really vivid dreams to the point where they just roll with it #wwx figures it out through wangxian.mp3/drunken dream (ch11 dbd) and bc he knows a bunch of stuff he shouldn't but dbd-zyx ends up teaching #lwj quietly accepts it through wangxian.mp3 and the guqin. always a romantic and faithful to the core #the final hurdle is convincing zyx that they're not fucking crazy #they as in wangxian and they as in zyx #(also in this modern life mdzs does not exist)#(also also yes i used to smoke and yes i've quit and yes it's awful for your health)#real talk: in 2015-16 i had this long-ass series of dreams with continuity and whatever about exo bc my friend was obsessed #through peripheral absorption exo funneled into my dreams and whenever i had an update on this dream fanfic #i'd narrate it to my friend #this friend and i both have dreams like this and when we lived together #it was common for me to either crawl into her bed upon waking or her booting my bf out our bed to start talking about last night's dream #(undergrad me was fucking grimey: sports bra + hoodie + basketball shorts + socks + sandals; a real fuckboy)#(it's because i didn't have to attend meetings with people who decide my livelihood yet)

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midnyghtmadnes · 3 years

Text

Thoughts

So... I finished SVSSS. Gonna just stream out my thoughts. Will be long cause I wanna cover all my final opinions. Then I’ll shut up about it lol.

So, all in all, the novel was enjoyable and fun. Definitely can't say I have the same emotional investment in the characters as I do in MDZS though, except SY, he's my favorite.

To start, I guess this is where fanfics will come into play, but I want more SY and Airplane interactions. They're the only two that can truly understand the other's situation and I think that’d make for a lot of interesting and fun interactions. Though at the same time it's also funny how they have that understanding but their current relationship is basically just like, not a love-hate relationship. But a.. somewhat camaraderie I'll help ya out maybe if you need it-but I also don't particularly like you, relationship. Still, I am falling onto the Cucumberplane wagon (not in a shippy way though).

As for MBJ and Airplane.. I just wish the novel went into the status of their relationship after everything that happened. SQH was constantly stressed out by him and seemed to have had his share of beatings from MBJ. I saw shipping stuff with them as I was reading it and I was like.. ehhhh? At that point the only connection I knew was that MBJ was the one who was supposed to kill him, so I was like ?? Where did that come from. By the end of the extras, I wanna say I'm on board with it lol, but I just wish we saw more.

Tianlang-Jun and Zhuzhi-Lang... :( I love them and am really sad for them. And yes, I do constantly forget that ZZL killed Gongyi Xiao (who I liked a lot), but come on. He's snek Wen Ning and you can't tell me otherwise. I also actually like Shen Jiu's character. Which is kinda funny thinking about it, cause for example I know many ppl find JGY to be a sympathetic villain, and while I can understand, I still hate him lol. But SJ, who feels very similar to JGY in some ways, I find him really interesting and want to explore him more (that's what fanfics are for ayyy). Funny how all the antagonists of this story caught my eye lol. I didn't care for any of the villains in MDZS in terms of nuance (not that they were poorly written, but they just weren't the Type™ I fall for). But SV managed to get me to want to know more about all of them.

Bingqiu final assessment.... complete indifference. It wasn't as terrible as it could've been, and the extras did make it better, but idk. I flipped flopped a lot as I was reading regarding whether I was okay with it. The 50s chapters, no. Then it got better. Then chapter 80 happened and I was just.... it was genuinely painful getting through that chapter lol. I was constantly pausing and just.. collecting myself. Then the extras and I was like, hmmm it seems.. ok I guess. But I still think it's not the healthiest relationship. You can’t tell me his spiel in chapter 79 isn’t still a total guilt trip. Xin Mo exacerbates his negative emotions, it doesn’t make them up. He’s also constantly jealous even in the extras, making comments of suspicion on the slightest things and just wanting SQQ’s attention for himself. His whole world revolves around SY, and that’s just not a healthy thing for any relationship. It’s undeniably obsessive, and while I don’t see LBH acting on his jealousy, I think that’s only because “it’d make Shizun sad” and not because it goes against his morality. I think LBM is just as capable of doing messed up stuff (murder, torture, etc.) as LBG.

I also just feel like there's something that just doesn't connect between SY in the whole novel, and SY in the extras. By chapter 78 he still did not seem particularly reciprocative of LBH's advances. And even within the extras he's very no-touchy and anti-PDA. He tends to refuse LBH’s requests for intimate moments (until the crocodile tears guilt him into doing what LBH wants) and overall is easily embarrassed, like he's not confident in this relationship. I think at the least more lines of buildup should’ve been added, particularly in moments where it was just the two of them.

And you know what also kinda bugs me about it? I dislike how much the story pushed on that SY was confidently straight since birth. If you want to convince me that the initially ‘straight’/uninterested character ends up falling for another guy, just don’t push it so hard in my face contradicting that. Wei Ying flirted with girls, cool yeah. But the novel never gave the impression he was completely closed off to the idea. With how WY is written, I can totally see him being bi. But SY is more like, well I somehow ended up raising the ML as gay but hey that’s not so bad I guess, at the last minute. I can't say I ship LiuShen either, but I can definitely see the appeal when the canon alternative may easily not float your boat. Nothing beats Wangxian in my heart though 💕

As I expected, am sad with how the relationship with Cang Qiong Mountain ended up. I mean I guess it wasn't necessarily on bad terms, but basically his other disciples are left without their shizun and the sect's whole familial relationship is scattered. I guess it's because I appreciate Wangxian staying in the Cloud Recesses, having this space of theirs and the Jingshi that they can call home. I read the fanfics that have LWJ making WY a lotus pond out front and just their beautiful domestic post-canon life. I love that they can go out night hunting with the juniors. They can go out and travel, just the two of them, when they want. They could retire one day if they wanted. But they'll also always have a family to come back to. LQR begrudgingly accepting WY in time. The bread and butter that is Yunmeng bros reconciliation. Bingqiu.. doesn't really have anything like that. For instance, Liu Qingge and LBH are on terms that I don't feel could ever be recuperated the way WWX and JC could. I don't think Bingqiu could ever stay at CQM in complete comfort. So that's just a little sad.

Also is it just me who, when reading, would always imagine TLJ with short hair, even tho nobody ever has short hair in these novels lol.

Anyway lol, I think that about covers everything I can think of. If you got this far, you the real one ✌🏼

#svsss #scumbag villain #scumbag self saving system #shen qingqiu #luo binghe #liu qingge #shen jiu #yue qingyuan #luo bingmei #zhuzhi lang #tianlang jun #mobei jun #shang qinghua

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cat-in-a-basement · 3 years

Text

Main Character Opinion Piece

Ah, opinions. That old chestnut. I do want to get back to sharing thoughts on this cursed series but sometimes lack Motivation (trademark pending). So here’s a list below of the main characters in the main book series and how I would rank them.

Note: aVoS and DotC are excluded because I have not read them yet. I don’t want to give thoughts on something I have limited knowledge of.

Hollyleaf: 9/10. The perfect storm of everything I like combined with a dynamic story and complex character. She's not perfectly consistent and I recognize those faults but no other warriors character captivates me in how strong a presence she has.

Squirrelflight: 8.5/10. What I like about her is her growth from annoying apprentice to headstrong warrior. I love she doesn't filter her thoughts and she'll break rules and the societal norm to do what's right. She's selfless, compassionate and complex, and really, really needs a break.

Ivypool: 8/10. I do believe rereading my opinion on Ivypool might lower since she's underutilized in OotS. But more so I love the idea of Ivypool, what she could have been. And that concept colors my perception of her in an ideal world where that happened.

Rootspring: 7/10. Rootspring is very good, until he isn't. Like Feathertail he's very likeable when he's taking on an active role as Rootpaw, but when he becomes a warrior he loses some of the dynamic-ness and personality he had as an apprentice. Come TPoNS, he's become a window reacting without any flair of the personality he once had.

Dovewing: 6.5/10. I used to dislike Dovewing, finding her hard to read about in OotS because she acted like a child (as children are want to do). While now I've grown to appreciate her more, she doesn't leave a big impact on me. I don't have a lot of investment in her character, and so I am indifferent to her in the books.

Jayfeather: 6.5/10. Jayfeather I have complex feelings about, because while I do think he's a good character, I for the life of me cannot make myself like him as a person (er, cat). I have settled on indifference towards him because he has settled into his role as gruff medicine cat and I just sort of mentally check out.

Firestar: 5/10. Firestar...is a warm bowl of soup. Not bad, not amazing, but it fills the belly. I don't gravitate towards him as a character because he's a very safe, very mild character who acts as the typical hero in a young adult/children's novel. I can't say I hate him, but I don't particularly care for him either.

Bristlefrost: 4.5/10. Bristlefrost being so low here is a crime I'll never forgive. She started out so strong, with sound character development, hopes, dreams, ambitions. But it unraveled so quickly, with some of the worst character regression I have ever seen. We need to be going up, not down!

Leafpool: 4/10. Leafpool never started out strong for me, but I actively began to dislike her after how she treated her apprentice/son, and especially after her actions in Leafpool's Wish. She's selfish and bitter all without the intrigue that would bring. I find it hard to accept what the books say as her being a gentle and kind figure when she doesn't act like it in my books.

Lionblaze: 3/10. Lionblaze in PoT was angry hot head guy. Okay, not as good as his siblings but not offensive. Lionblaze in OoTS does nothing but mope over Cinderheart or act as a window. Boring, lazy. Where did his personality go? It's like an incline where he somehow keeps getting worse. By TBC he's at the worst he's ever been and even with his shitty behavior he is continually rewarded for it. You want to get on BC's bad side? Be terrible with no intricacy and get rewarded for it.

Shadowsight: 3/10. Of the three PoVs for TBC, Shadowpaw had been the weakest for me. But it became apparent the writers really wanted him to suffer, even is the injury was literally falling off a cliff. What is so infuriating about Shadowsight is he actively warps the story so he can be painted in a sympathetic light and he does not grow, he does not learn, we're expected to watch him suffer and go 'yep that's a character.' It's especially awful he warps other characters around him for the sake of his suffering.

Bramblestar: How did we get from sweet, brave, dynamic Bramblepaw...to this. As Bramblepaw he was good, very good. He had a great arc denouncing his father and teaching Firestar to not judge him for his father's crimes. Bramblepaw is a 7/10.

But Brambleclaw completely regressed in character to suddenly need his father's approval, and was a moron who didn't listen to Squirrelflight’s concerns 'hey, uh, your brother is kind of evil', and — oh, found it difficult to decide whether or not to kill his leader and commit treason. Firestar should have not made him deputy. I imagine Bramblepaw wouldn't want to be deputy after that if he was still that same character. But no, he gets rewarded for his character regression and idiocy. 2/10.

Bramblestar? He went from idiot rewarded for bad ideas to emotionally abusive partner. His cold shoulder to Squirrel in OotS is manipulative, his actions in SqH are disgusting and gaslighting, and to top it off, the narrative treats him as a good and kindly high king when he clearly has not earned it at all! GOD, I hate Bramblestar. 1/10.

Stormfur: 1/10. By all rights, Stormfur shouldn’t be considered a main character here. But he is so very bad I felt it was my civil duty to include him. If there's one thing worse than being actively shitty, it's doing nothing at all. Stormfur is a dead fish and even then the dead fish probably has more personality. He's the lowest because I cannot think of a single good thing about his character or story. He's bland and boring, does absolutely nothing and gets rewarded for it.

#warrior cats #warriors #hollyleaf #squirrelflight #ivypool #rootspring #dovewing #jayfeather #firestar #bristlefrost #leafpool #lionblaze #shadowsight #bramblestar #stormfur #swearing

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spockandawe · 4 years

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Than you so much, spockandawe for answering my ask. Do you mind if I ask a few questions again?

Who is your favorite main couple in mxtx novels (wangxian or hualian or bingqiu)? And why?

Who are your fav side couple (don't have to be canon) in mxtx novels (in each of the 3 novels)? And why?

Sorry if you have answered the questions before...

No worries whatsoever! I love talking about fandom things like this :D

Hmmm. I think... I'm going to have to go with hualian as my favorite main couple. It's a really tight race with bingqiu, but the metaphor I've used before is that svsss hits me like I'm eating a bag of doritos, where shh yes okay i know it's lighter on nutritional content than I want it to be, but i can't stop eating and if you try to take it away I will FIGHT YOU-- But tgcf in general and hualian in particular are like a big fancy dinner, and no matter how much i LIKE my doritos, I still have to admit that a real dinner has more substance to it.

I think that a big element of it really is mxtx developing as a writer, and that it's unrealistic to expect a novel she wrote when she was barely an adult to compare to where she is now, and by any standard, tgcf is ambitious as HELL, but that's not all there is to it. I think that for me in particular, there something about the difference between Luo Binghe falling in love as a teenager and achieving love in his mid-twenties and Hua Cheng falling in love comparably young and staying devoted and steadfast without any external support for eight hundred years. I can conceptualize the passage of eight years, but trying to picture eight HUNDRED years of that kind of single-minded adoration just leaves me reeling. And it opens the door to intense gestures of devotion that bingqiu just never had TIME for, like the statues.

There's also something for both these ships that doesn't wangxian doesn't have as much of (which knocked it out of the running ssfdf) and that's that regardless of gong/shou dynamics, there is an intensely submissive element to way that Luo Binghe and Hua Cheng love. And like... that really, really does it for me. And looking at it now, i think that's the real final deciding factor in tipping me in favor of hualian. Luo Binghe begs Shen Qingqiu to choose him, using any and all methods at his disposal. He's 200% down to be as shameless as it takes to get what he wants, and I love it.

But I just DIE at the way Hua Cheng is ready to tie himself into knots to avoid inconveniencing Xie Lian in any way. He's the ruler of a city and lives in a lavish palace, but is completely down to stay in puqi shrine because that's what Xie Lian wants. Xie Lian is part of a heavenly contingent that invades his city, and steals his prisoner and bURNS HIS HOUSE DOWN, and Hua Cheng is furious........ because when Xie Lian consciously decided to jump in front of Hua Cheng's sword, he got hit with Hua Cheng's sword. And it mean I SCREAMED in Mount Tong'lu, when after so much dedication and service, Hua Cheng decides NOT to remove the paralyzing talisman from Xie Lian's body! It makes me appreciate the depths of how much he's FEELING when we see his self-control finally waver! When we get to see those little moments of fear! I can't exactly say that choosing hualian over bingqiu was an EASY choice, but it was the CLEAR choice for me, hahaha

And my favorite side ship....

Oh man, I have no idea how I'm going to explain this, but...... moshang. I just. I love them.

And see, I don't think mxtx even did that great of a job writing them, or at least she didn't spend enough energy addressing the whole 'hmm, casual violence as a display of affection does not actually work with humans, aight' thing. There's still more... fear than I would like at the end of canon, when I think a quick abrupt turnaround for mbj would have legit been appropriate, and if anyone can recognize the difference between his appearance and his actual thoughts, it should be sqh

But also.... this relationship hits so many of my buttons, even if mxtx kind of like, set the microwave timer, and fan creators had to come along and actually hit START.

The shameful truth........ (afdhfj not actually shameful) is that if I had to pick one mxtx character and be like 'it me', i would have a hard time justifying anyone but shang qinghua. The last time i reread the extras and saw the bit about how mbj's cold face was a gift from shang qinghua to his favorite character, I was legit like 'YES, QUEEN!' And in a transmigration story like this, an author being loved by their own character is just THE most indulgent, wonderful thing!

And as far as canon plot goes, one, I VERY much want to write some actual in-depth thoughts about mbj's trauma and baggage from being imprisoned by huan hua palace when he was just a toddler, and realizing that his dad was... not going to protect him from his uncle. I want to pore over that lingering fear and lack of trust, and a gradual swooning over one of the most nonthreatening men around, and terrible (mutual) communication skills leading to a near-fatal falling out and a miracle save. I want to scream about how he puts ALL his faith in shang qinghua to protect him from his uncle, the bogeyman of his youth, and COMPLETELY neglects to warn or inform shang qinghua in any way, and shang qinghua loses like ten years of his life to the stress, but manages to pull it off in the end.

This ship DOES embody some of the things I like most about wangxian, especially the part where two people of intensely different temperaments still manage to build up a deep understanding. Now, wangxian gets messy in large part thanks to external forced, while these two manage to fail at everything, starting with basic communication, all on their own, but like.... I like dumbassery..... these two endear themselves to me XD

#i need all of the moshang wedding aus out there please and thank #i literally cannot consume too many #spock replies #long post/#svsss #tgcf

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sophia-sol · 6 months

Text

Recs round-up for the month of March, 2024! This month below the cut we have:

1 Nirvana in Fire fanwork

2 TGCF fanworks

3 CQL/MDZS fanworks

5 SVSSS fanworks

1 academic article on the gendering of trans voices

2 short stories

1 novella

1 Nirvana in Fire fanwork:

Go Forward Slowly, by burnt_oranges

a post-canon jingyan/mei changsu nif fic in which jingyan discovers that mcs survived after all…and never let jingyan know.

jingyan is uh. not handling it well, the loneliness and responsibility of being emperor. and this only makes it worse!

anyway it's a venue for lots of real good angst, and I definitely cried at one point!

I also really appreciate the use it makes of various secondary characters who are also important figures in jingyan's life

many feels. I love these characters. there IS a happy ending.

31k words in length

2 TGCF fanworks:

Never Look Away, by dkwilliams

hualian fanvid of the TGCF donghua set to Vienna Teng's "Never Look Away"

ahhhhh it's just very feelings!!!!

audio is song-only

youtube video includes lyric captions

3:16 in length

Ten Feet Behind, by thetrickisnotminding

tgcf quanyin canon divergence au where quan yizhen finds the coffin containing the guoshi fangxin

a fun look at a different way for xie lian and hua cheng to meet again, and for quan yizhen and yin yu to meet again!

9k words in length

3 CQL/MDZS fanworks:

in the tall weeds, by cordial

sangyao fic set during the qinghe era of jgy’s life

a look at trans man meng yao and his experience of his gender, and nie huaisang experimenting with transfemininity

a beautiful look at the complexities of identity, the precarity of position, and the connection between jgy and nhs

1k words in length

A Good Fit, by nirejseki

canon divergence fic where young Meng Yao goes to the Lan Sect to learn cultivation as a guest, instead of trying to be accepted into Jin

I had a lot of fun with the route this fix-it took!

and I enjoyed that it included friendship between Meng Yao and Su She <3

5k words in length

Practical Mythology, by metisket

a fun cute look at a cql wangxian time travel fixit au, where wwx is the alarming immortal who fixed the burial mounds and will grant wishes to deserving people, and lwj meets him for the first time at 8 years old and decides he'll marry him

I enjoyed the look at how this au has changed things for all sorts of different people across the cultivation world, and the ways in which wwx both is indeed extremely powerful and also is someone who still has his blind spots and emotional vulnerabilities

lots of different povs throughout the fic which is fun too!

17k words in length

5 SVSSS fanworks:

Oversharing is Caring, by Prudabaga

bingqiu fic where during the trial in jinlan city, sqq is given a truth serum that comes with a side of lowered inhibitions

nobody is prepared for the kinds of truths sqq wants to share (thoughtful and detailed list of who's hottest)

or, tbh, for the truths that come out by the wayside

funny and cute

4k words in length

Sweet Dreams Are Made of This, Prudabaga

another bingqiu fic about the jinlan city encounter going differently, this time because lbh has visited sqq's dreams

and sqq has a Totally Very Straight Of Himself tendency to have sexy dreams about lbh

hard for lbh to believe that sqq wants nothing to do with him after that! (he's still very confused tho)

love this for them

26k words in length

right from the start, I gave you my heart, by nex_et_nox

sqq is hit by an obedience curse! uh oh, it's time for the mission to jinlan city!

fun sqq & sqh interaction, and sqq's first meeting with lbh post-abyss going very differently than in svsss

sqq absolutely out here making his own life harder on a regular basis

lots of fun with this trope!

11k words in length

cleanse your life of me, by ambrorussa

svsss au where sy transmigrates into yqy instead of sqq

the fic is in two parts: first, from sy!yqy's pov as he tries to change events within the parameters the system allows him, and then the second from og!sqq's pov follows where the first part left off, with sqq trying to deal with the fact that yqy is so different now from the one he remembers.

the two parts are different in tone and both excellent, both really fitting the kind of character and person the pov character is, and what it is they want the most. I loved it!

endgame ships: liushen & qijiu

11k words in length

Scenario: Fix-It Fic, by lettered

bingqiu fic where due to System shenanigans sqq travels back in time to when he first encountered lbh in jinlan city post-abyss

sqq does his best to make things go differently this time, within the parameters of the genre "h/c fic" which the system tells him he is now in

I'm just! so delighted by so much about this fic!

and I love how the fic plays metatextually with its own fourth wall in ways I haven't really seen much in svsss fic before!

fic is a WIP; as of my initial rec on mastodon there are 14k words; satisfying to read as is

1 academic article:

"Transgender voices: Insights on identity, embodiment, and the gender of the voice" (2018, Language and Linguistics Compass)

this free-to-read academic article is an overview of the features of a voice that lead people to read that voice as a particular gender

it pushes back against the traditional view of male vs female voices, of pitch being the main deciding factor in gendering voices, and of a voice's gender being immutable

it's a pretty accessible read, IMO!

16 pages in length; 12 pages if you discount the list of references

2 short stories:

The Three Thousand, Four Hundred Twenty-Third Law of Robotics, by Adam-Troy Castro

really more of a prose poem than a standard short story

about the experience of being a robot given unfair orders under unbreakable laws

a satisfying read and I loved the structure

2k words in length

Afflictions of the New Age, by Katherine Ewell

A sci-fi short story about an elderly woman hundreds of years old, making use of every life extending treatment she can, but her grasp on time and on memory is no longer good

Focuses on her relationship with her family, with her home aide, with her fear of death, with her experience of the confusion of past and present

Evocative melancholy wistful tone, really effective!

At the end of the story I'm left with many questions, but in a good way

4k words in length

1 novella:

On the English Approach to the Study of History, by E. Saxey

huh, in the end I'm not entirely convinced I LIKE this novella but it's odd and compelling and interesting for sure

about the academic study of history in a context where a very specific subset of people have access to a very specific subset of historical figures to ask them directly about what they remember

asking questions about who's an insider vs an outsider in academic study, about the values of different approaches to history

ultimately I think it turned too much into a story about the fantastical elements in the narrative and didn't engage as deeply with the themes as I thought it would at the beginning

but it's still a very interesting and well done story and I'm glad I read it!

22k words in length

#sophpost #recs #rec #fic rec #monthly recs

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