#luo binghe is not a fan of this turn of events

[sunderwight]

Bingqiu roleswap where disciple Shen Yuan knows he's gay, and figures out that he has a big huge crush on his handsome Shizun, but also concludes nearly at once that he's not going to be drawing Luo Binghe's eye any time soon. Firstly, Luo Binghe is notoriously straight. Secondly, even if he weren't, he wouldn't go for his scrawny untalented nerd of a disciple! Shen Yuan's not bad looking, not before or after transmigrating, but he's neither a beautiful nor a hot manly man, and he assumes if Luo Binghe were into dudes he'd be into the same kinds of twunks that Shen Yuan likes. Guys on his own level, etc etc.

Plus Luo Binghe hated the original disciple Shen, and only started to warm up to the transmigrated version after Shen Yuan got injured in front of him trying to stop the other disciples on the peak from killing a small animal. For some reason, Luo Binghe brought Shen Yuan medicine. He got even nicer after Shen Yuan distracted the skinner demon by trying to convince it to take his skin instead of Luo Binghe's, and then again when Shen Yuan successfully fought off a demon invader -- though initially when Luo Binghe volunteered him for that job, he thought it was an assassination attempt. His heart was in his throat when Luo Binghe nearly took a poisoned blow for him, but luckily he reacted more quickly and got hit by the thorns instead. His heavenly demon blood took care of the poison, and he managed to convince everyone that he narrowly avoided getting cut at all.

Shen Yuan's careful not to read anything into it when Luo Binghe finds out about his, erm, uncomfortable dormitory situation and moves him into the side room, or when he completely messes up trying to make dinner and Luo Binghe takes over cooking and bans him from the kitchen (he swears he's not actually that bad at cooking, he just never had to use a kitchen without a microwave or an electric hot plate before...)

After all, it's not like Luo Binghe is cooking for him, he's just making food he likes and letting Shen Yuan eat it too! Because he's nice! He's way nicer than the book gave him credit for being, see, clearly Shen Yuan was correct in signing up for his defense squad, "top ten worst villains of all time" his ass that poll was nonsense...

Unfortunately, though, the plot's still gotta plot. Shen Yuan is heartbroken when the Immortal Alliance Conference rolls around and his shizun stabs him and throws him down into the Endless Abyss. Heartbroken, but not surprised. After all, it was always going to go this way, wasn't it?

But at least, now that it's done, he has some agency in how he reacts to it. He's changed the story enough that he doesn't need to go get revenge. Maybe Luo Binghe's still the villain of his story, maybe that was inevitable, but some heroes let the villains get away. Don't they? It's all part of that noble, breaking the cycle of abuse type stuff. He can be that kind of hero. He can let it go. As long as he avoids Luo Binghe altogether, it should be fine, right? It's not like he's obligated to turn people into human sticks. He asked the system, he's definitely not!

Technically he's not even required to conquer the demon realms. He just has to get out of the Abyss and the be sufficiently cool and/or tragic. Conquest is just one means of doing that, and not even Shen Yuan's preferred, since he doesn't exactly want to rule over anybody. Going around the demon realms beating up some jackasses and rescuing some damsels in distress and becoming sworn brothers with Shang Qinghua, one of the current demon kings, is suitable. He definitely doesn't want to marry any of the damsels he encounters (thank fuck the system lets him off the hook for that!)

But eventually he has to go back to the human world. Not only is it mandated by the system, but he also misses living there. The demonic realms are in many ways better than expected, plus a lot of the monsters are really cool, but he misses the weather and plants and the people he's more accustomed to being around.

He misses Qing Jing Peak, if he's being honest with himself. Shizun's cooking and the bamboo forest and the crisp mountain breezes, the comforts of home.

Not that he can actually go back there in specific. Of course not. If he did that, Luo Binghe would try to kill him, or else the system would try and make him kill Luo Binghe. Bad ideas all around. No, he can't go back to Qing Jing Peak, but he can go find someplace nicer than the demon realms at least. He just has to keep a low profile, which shouldn't be hard since the original goods did that even while actively scheming to kill his former master!

Except.

Everywhere he goes, suddenly Luo Binghe is also there?!

Good thing Shen Yuan thought to take a page out of the book of Luo Binghe's actual love interest, Liu Mingyan, and start wearing a veil. He just didn't want any randos who might have seen him at the Immortal Alliance Conference or on any of the other missions his shizun sent him on to recognize him. But one minute he's investigating a strange case in Jinlan City, and the next the streets are full of Huan Hua cultivators (Shen Yuan has no intention of joining them, that's the path the original took to getting revenge! He doesn't want revenge!), and then Luo Binghe and Sect Leader MBJ and Peak Lord SHL show up, and SY is ducking down alleys and hiding behind columns, just trying to stay out of the way until the lockdown on Jinlan lifts and he can leave.

Except...

Luo Binghe really isn't acting like himself?

He looks like he hasn't been eating or sleeping well. There are dark circles around his eyes, and something almost melancholy in his countenance. And he's dressed entirely in white, none of the usual Qing Jing greens and blues anywhere to be seen. Of even greater concern, he's being reckless. Shen Yuan can't stop himself from rushing out when he sees his former shizun get infected by a sower demon.

Luckily, it's been some years since the last time they saw one another. Shen Yuan's gained a few inches in height, so he's almost at eye-level with his old master now, and though he's still more slender than bulky he's picked up some totally new styles from training the demon realms. He doesn't move the same way he used to. With that, plus the veil, it's enough for him to quickly swallow back his words as he grabs Luo Binghe and quickly administers a cure for the sower infection.

Well, he has one of course. He wouldn't need it himself, heavenly demon blood and all, but his time running around playing hero in the demon realms meant he rescued a lot of humans from such fates. Which is hard to do if you don't have a cure to their afflictions, but between him and Shang Qinghua, sourcing such things was almost easy.

Luo Binghe looks at him like he's just seen a ghost. The other Cang Qiong sect members are alarmed by SY suddenly accosting one of their own and of course find him suspicious, so he runs away right after, and then he has to lose Sha Hualing's pursuit in the city.

But what else could he do? He manages to evade the system's attempts to railroad him into meeting Gongyi Xiao, avoids the rest of the Cang Qiong crowd, and drops some of the cure through the current Qian Cao peak lord's window to get the incident sorted out. Then he flees and puts a good amount of distance between himself, Jinlan City, and every righteous sect he can think of.

The only problem is that after this point, Luo Binghe is everywhere.

Any time Shen Yuan stays in one place for longer than a few days, Qing Jing disciples start turning up. Any time he takes a job hunting some cool-sounding monster or pursuing some interesting tome of knowledge, the better to satisfy the system, it seems like Luo Binghe has selected and gone after the exact same target! Which is especially annoying because back when SY was a disciple, Luo Binghe was always assigning him to do this stuff. Since when does his chronic homebody master have an interesting in six-tailed scorpion lemurs or ancient spiritual kilns?

What's weirder, though, are the rumors.

It seems like any time SY stops at some well-populated place and asks for the latest gossip, he has to hear about how the Qing Jing peak lord lost his beloved disciple during the Immortal Alliance Conference, and mourned like a widow, and now wanders the earth in search of solace for his grief. Seeking something, possibly even the ghost of his dear disciple.

What nonsense! Luo Binghe threw SY into the Abyss himself. He had to do it, it was the plot! And also his obligation as a righteous cultivator, confronted with a "dangerous" half-demon. Does it sting? Yes it stings! That's why SY wouldn't just forget it! Despite logically knowing it's pointless, is there some part of him that wishes his master would have chosen differently? That thinks he should have known that no matter what kind of power Shen Yuan had, he would never use it to hurt people recklessly, or harm innocents, or especially not harm... well. It's pointless, his blood condemned him, and if there is some part of Luo Binghe which regrets what happened, it's doubtless just that he unwittingly harbored a monster for so long.

Which is fine and Shen Yuan would leave it at that, if the guy would just let him!

But no. Instead he has to deal with Luo Binghe turning up and asking him questions, trying to get him to talk (SY has no hope of disguising his voice, if he says anything he's not even sure it won't crack as he comes perilously close to tears instead, so he just stays silent), and then asking for his name, asking if he's mute, asking about his background, his sect, his kin. Is his a righteous cultivator? Where did he get that sword? (NOT Xin Mo, thanks, he used that thing once and then tossed it back into the Abyss before the portal finished closing behind him -- he knows a poisoned chalice when he sees one, although knowing the plot twist about that sword from the novel sure helped.) Where did he learn those forms? Is he... does he have a safe place to go home to? Someone to tend his injuries? Make sure he eats his meals?

SY, of course, stays silent. But it's difficult. Not only because Luo Binghe asks, but because he still looks... bad. Sunken, sorrowful, desperate almost. Shen Yuan can't figure out if he knows or not. Maybe he's unsure, maybe he's looking for SY to give him a sign, so that he can figure him out and then flip a switch and try to finish the job he started.

That can't happen. If they fight, SY will win, and he doesn't want to hurt Luo Binghe.

But even if Luo Binghe's not a heavenly demon, he is a highly accomplished cultivator, and it seems he's got his own breaking points to reach. Eventually he corners SY and gets a hand on his veil, and for a moment SY is sure he's going to rip it off, see his face, and confront him all "I knew it was you, you twisted evil demon, you won't escape justice a second time" and he feels a deep, icy terror close around his lungs--

Luo Binghe lets go of the veil before he can lift it.

But then something even worse happens. Because Shen Yuan's handsome, peerless, noble master breaks down. He falls to his knees, begging forgiveness, sobbing, clutching at his head like he's being driven to madness.

It all spills out of him, then. How he pushed his own dearest disciple into the Abyss, which obviously SY already knew, but also how he was apparently qi-deviating the whole time, and his senses could not differentiate between one kind of demonic "threat" and another. How he realized what he'd done only after he regained his senses hours later, and rushed back to the place where the tear to the Abyss had opened, but could not find a way in after the one he lost. How he had betrayed and thrown away the only person who cared about him, and couldn't even explain that he hadn't intended to. How he would accept anything, any punishment, hatred, penance, or revenge, if only he could see his disciple's face once more.

SY is stunned.

Apparently, Luo Binghe hadn't rejected him for his demon blood?

Not only that, but beforehand, he seemed to have valued Shen Yuan a lot more than Shen Yuan would have credited.

Is it a trick? Is he lying? SY would have guessed so, would have assumed that Luo Binghe's plan was to lull him into complacency only to turn on him once he finally had confirmation. But somehow, he just... doesn't think this is an insincere display. His old master is too cool for this stuff! He has too much dignity to just throw it away on a scheme! There are other ways to get what he wants.

Even if it is a lie, Shen Yuan is tired of running. He's the hero. He won't actually lose, and if it comes to it, it's still in his hands to decide if he wants to spare Luo Binghe or not (he does, of course he does, even if this whole spiel is an act). Plus he's got a backup plant body in one of Shang Qinghua's greenhouses if all goes to shit.

He takes the veil off himself.

Luo Binghe, teary-eyed, stares at him as if his face is the most beautiful he's ever seen.

Shen Yuan nearly puts the veil back on. His cheeks heat up. Dear Shizun, aren't you an immortal master? A noble peak lord? Isn't it your calling to vanquish demons? Get up off the dirty ground right this minute! Where did your dignity go? Shen Yuan did not spend all those nights doing the laundry to watch his teacher dirty his knees for no good reason!

There's a quaver in Luo Binghe's voice as he points out that Shen Yuan was terrible at doing laundry. Luo Binghe had to redo it the day after, all the time.

Shen Yuan chides at him that he should have made one of the other disciples do it then.

Luo Binghe just laughs, and stays on the ground, until finally Shen Yuan has to physically pull him up. Muttering about how he's being ridiculous, what's he crying for, why's he been moping so much, doesn't he know that handsome face should never look so bereft? Then he realizes what he's saying and shuts his mouth, but Luo Binghe just looks happy for the first time in years. Since the Abyss. How is it possible that SY, who actually had to slog through that awful place, can still smile more than Luo Binghe, who didn't?

They're standing so close. Holding on to one another. Almost as if... as if the scene's tone is... well...

Oh what the hell!

Shen Yuan closes the last little bit of distance between them, and kisses Luo Binghe.

[svsss-fanon-exposed]

Examining SVSSS Canon: 2/∞

THE PRE-CANON TIMELINE

This post will attempt to provide an answer to several questions, including the ages of some of the current peak lords, as well as a rough timeline of events in the extras relative to the current day. A simple, bullet-point timeline will be at the end of this post, with relevant quotes and analysis above.

The timeline of SVSSS isn't particularly easy to piece together, and many fans are unsure of things such as the ages of certain characters, or how long the current generation of peak lords has been in power. As a matter of fact, it seems like even Airplane himself doesn't have a set timeline in mind for the events of PIDW pre-LBH:

“Your ages?” To tell the truth, Shen Qingqiu didn’t really know the precise age of this body. He raised his head at Shang Qinghua. “Wouldn’t you know better than I do?” Shang Qinghua twirled the brush in his hand. He’d never thought about this question either, so he figured he might as well just say whatever. Therefore he randomly wrote a number down in a couple of strokes. (7 Seas, Ch. 31)

It would be easy enough to take this quote and call the timeline a mystery-- however, there are a surprising amount of clues in the text, enough to at least put together a decent idea of when things happened and how old certain characters are, depending on which theories and interpretations one ascribes to.

There are two particular facts which are our most important hints as to the pre-LBH timeline, upon which this entire analysis hinges.

First, we have the spacing of the Immortal Alliance Conferences:

After much difficulty, Luo Binghe managed to turn seventeen, at which point he finally participated in the event the cultivation world held once every four years: the Immortal Alliance Conference. (7 Seas, Ch. 1)

And next, we have the length of time since Shen Qingqiu began to cultivate:

Before, Shen Qingqiu had thought that this body’s qualifications were already incredible, to have formed a core in only ten or so years when he’d begun cultivation so late.  (7 Seas, Ch. 19)

Notably here, what is translated as "ten or so years" is 十几年， which is more accurately "ten and a few years." This means that at the time Shen Qingqiu formed a golden core, he had been at Cang Qiong Mountain for around 10-15 years, but likely no longer or shorter than that.

This tells us quite a bit already-- because we know that Shen Qingqiu only reached core formation after becoming peak lord, as well as after Luo Binghe had already become a disciple:

Luo Binghe was using the incorrect cultivation manual that Shen Qingqiu had handed him; he should have long since died bleeding from the seven apertures, his body rupturing down to his bones, skin, meridians, tendons, and flesh... Shen Qingqiu was filled with paranoia; he forever felt like everyone was secretly talking behind his back, discussing how he’d been unable to attain Core Formation even after this long.  (7 Seas, Ch. 24)

So this tells us that it could not have been any longer than around 15 years between Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe joining Cang Qiong Mountain, and was likely at least a few years less than that because it has already been awhile since Luo Binghe was given the fake manual, which likely occured shortly after he arrived, and Shen Qingqiu reaches core formation at some point after this scene.

This means that the Qing generation's ascenscion likely occured no more than ten years after Shen Qingqiu joined the sect-- putting the ages for Shen Qingqiu and Yue Qingyuan respectively at roughly twenty-six and twenty-nine when they became peak lords.

The timeline can be clarified further and expanded, however, due to the spacing of the IAC. We know that the IAC occured when Luo Binghe was seventeen, and that it occurs every four years-- meaning that there would have been IAC taking place also when he was thirteen, nine, five, one, and three years before he was born.

However, we also know that it had not actually been fourteen years since Luo Binghe's birth at the start of SVSSS.

In the translation, Luo Binghe says the following when Shen Qingqiu asks his age:

“This disciple is fourteen,” Luo Binghe obediently replied. (7 Seas, Ch. 1)

However, the original says:

洛冰河乖巧地道：“弟子虚岁十四。”

"虚岁" here would be better translated as "nominal age." In ancient times, a child was one year old on the day of their birth, and aged up by one year with each new year-- so if a child was born the day before the new year, then at two days old he would already be counted as two years old. Sometimes, this would be counted on the spring festival new year, but other times it would be counted on the winter solstice.

As for Luo Binghe's precise chronological age, that is up for some determination. We know roughly the time of year he was born:

Immediately after birth, Luo Binghe was abandoned by his parents, swaddled in white cloth, and put in a wooden basin that was lowered into the Luo River. This occurred on the coldest days of the year... (7 Seas, Ch. 1)

The "coldest days of the year" here is 数九寒天, which refers to the nine periods of nine days each following the winter solstice. The winter solstice typically occurs on December 20-21, meaning that Luo Binghe's birth date is somewhere between December 20-March 12. If nominal age is being counted by winter solstice in this world, then that makes him chronologically thirteen at the start of SVSSS, but if it is calculated by the spring festival, then he is chronologically either twelve or thirteen at the start of SVSSS, as the Chinese new year can fall anywhere between January 21 - February 21, meaning that LBH could have been born either before or after this time.

So, let's just say that LBH's chronological age, for the purposes here, is thirteen, and then adjust our IAC timeline as follows：

There was one when he was chronologically sixteen, twelve, eight, four, the year he was born, and four years before he was born.

Now, how does this help us determine a timeline?

Well, we have the following statement:

Yue Qingyuan’s knuckles slowly brushed along Xuan Su’s hilt. “I was able to meet Senior Su Xiyan once at an Immortal Alliance Conference, many years ago." (7 Seas, Ch. 18)

Because we know that Su Xiyan died when Luo Binghe was born, we know that this meeting could not have occured at any conferences after his birth. It also would be unlikely that they met the same year Luo Binghe was born, as Su Xiyan would likely already be dead at that point if LBH was born after the new year. So, the latest that Yue Qingyuan could have met Su Xiyan would be twenty years before Luo Binghe was thrown into the Abyss.

We now combine this with the earlier discussion of the ages of Shen Qingqiu and Yue Qingyuan, and here I will note the following:

Yue Qingyuan slowly said, “At age fifteen, I entered Qiong Ding Peak." (7 Seas, Ch. 21)

This puts Yue Qingyuan roughly three years older than Shen Jiu:

“When [Shen Jiu] was twelve years old, he was but a slave my family had purchased from traveling child traffickers. " (7 Seas, Ch. 6)

Shen Jiu joined Cang Qiong Mountain at sixteen:

Liu Qingge didn’t even grace him with a sideways glance. “But certainly more success than a nobody who only began proper cultivation at age sixteen.” (7 Seas, Ch. 19)

This happened most likely directly after reuniting with Yue Qingyuan at an Immortal Alliance Conference. This puts Yue Qingyuan's age at nineteen during that conference, at which point he is head disciple, and has already gained some fame. However, this reunion has to occur before Luo Binghe's birth, Su Xiyan's death, and Tianlang-jun's defeat. This is because at this point, Yue Qingyuan has only been in Cang Qiong Mountain for four years-- thus, this particular conference is almost certainly the first one he has taken part in, and likely the first one he has attended at all, since a brand-new disciple in early stages of training most likely wouldn't have gone, therefore if Tianlang-jun had already been sealed by this point, Yue Qingyuan would not have had the chance to meet Su Xiyan.

So, the latest Shen Qingqiu could have joined Cang Qiong Mountain, at age 16, is twenty years before the Abyss, which would put him at age thirty-six at the youngest at that time.

Now, what about additional conference cycles?

It's possible that the conference in which Yue Qingyuan met Su Xiyan and/or after which Shen Qingqiu joined CQM may have been the one before this-- but that would also add four additional years to the time SQQ had been cultivating.

The earliest that Luo Binghe could have joined CQM would be when he was a little over ten years old, as that is when his mother dies:

On the bed lay a haggard old woman. With great effort, she tried to prop herself up, but from beginning to end, she was unable to do so. A small figure rushed in from outside. A tender-faced Luo Binghe, only a little over ten years old, supported the woman. Around his neck hung that jade pendant. (7 Seas, Ch. 3)

Shen Qingqiu had not reached core formation when Luo Binghe joined the sect. This means that if the IAC where SQQ joined the sect was four years before Luo Binghe's birth, then by the time Luo Binghe joins the sect it has been about fourteen to fifteen years since SQQ began cultivating.

Adding an additional four years would bump that to eighteen to nineteen years, which exceeds the "ten and some" years that SQQ took to reach core formation.

In my opinion, this also tells me that LBH joined CQM when he was absolutely no older than ten or eleven, and likely went to join immediately after his mother's death, because pushing LBH's join date later would also stretch the timeline of SQQ's cultivation. Now, this part does not specify whether the ten years old is nominal age or chronological age-- but because LBH's age of seventeen at the conference is referenced to his nominal age of fourteen, with a distance between of three years, then I am considering all age-numbers to be nominal age rather than chronological. This only really matters in regards to Luo Binghe for this analysis, though, as his birth year is the only one which has bearing on the timeline in regards to Su Xiyan's status.

With all of this information, we can determine with good confidence that the conference in which Yue Qingyuan met Su Xiyan was the same conference during which he reunited with Shen Qingqiu, which occured four years before Luo Binghe was born and twenty years before the Endless Abyss.

So because of this, we actually do have a relatively precise timeline of characters' ages, as well as events in the cultivation world.

This short timeline is also supported by the fact that Ming Fan is the most senior of Shen Qingqiu's disciples, and he is only sixteen, about 2-3 years older than Luo Binghe:

A youth around sixteen years old, tall and thin, promptly ran in through the door. “This disciple is here. What instructions does Shifu have?” (7 Seas, Ch. 1)

Had the Qing generation ascended too many years prior to Luo Binghe's joining the sect, it would be strange that the most senior disciple of Shen Qingqiu's was only sixteen, as in xianxia a disciple typically will not "graduate" at a certain age or cultivation stage, meaning that older disciples will maintain their role well into adulthood.

As for the rest of the peak lords, we have little to no information regarding the ages of Wei Qingwei, Qi Qingqi, or Mu Qingfang. However, we do know that Liu Qingge is quite young, and joined the sect both at an optimal age and a significant length of time before Shen Qingqiu:

At this point, Liu Qingge’s formal ascension to Bai Zhan Peak Lord, too, had likely only happened a couple years ago. There was a visible air of immaturity about his features, his gaze fierce and sharp, and within his every action was a young man’s spirited vigor. (7 Seas, Ch. 19)

and

Therefore, even though he’d entered the sect quite some time after Liu Qingge, because Qing Jing Peak was ranked second—only below Qiong Ding Peak—while Bai Zhan Peak was ranked seventh, Liu Qingge still had to address Shen Qingqiu as “Shixiong,” if through gritted teeth. (7 Seas, Ch. 24)

So, Liu Qingge is likely a year or two younger than Shen Qingqiu, but not by too much, since they still behave very much like contemporaries as teenagers-- let's say that Liu Qingge is likely around 14-15 when Shen Qingqiu joins the sect at age 16.

The other peak lord we know a bit about the age of is Shang Qinghua:

The older-than-average outer disciple Shang Qinghua, who currently occupied a seventeen-year-old body, looked around in all directions as he trailed behind the main team, who were unloading goods from the ship onto the docks. (7 Seas, Ch. 26)

He is seventeen here, and an outer disciple of An Ding Peak. We can place this a bit more definitively on the timeline by the fact that Shen Qingqiu is already a head disciple at this point in time:

“What I don’t know is how Shen Qingqiu got chosen as head disciple after starting cultivation so late,” said another outer disciple who’d joined Cang Qiong Mountain at an older age, his expression sour. (7 Seas, Ch. 26)

Unfortunately, we cannot place the exact point in time where Shen Qingqiu became head disciple-- one possibility is that it couldn't have happened until after Tianlang-jun's defeat, which occured about four years after he joined the sect, since he did not participate in the battle. But that is a weak argument, since none of the current generation besides Yue Qingyuan participated in that battle:

Of the current peak lords, only Yue Qingyuan had participated in that battle, as the head disciple of Qiong Ding Peak. (7 Seas, Ch. 17)

If using this argument, then that would mean that aside from Yue Qingyuan, none of the other peak lords had been chosen as head disciples at that time-- while that is a possibility, I think that a more feasible explanation would be that Yue Qingyuan was an exception, and participated in the battle specifically because of his wielding Xuan Su.

One thing we can extrapolate, however, is that Shang Qinghua was most likely an inner disciple for at least three years before the Qing generation's ascension. This is because of the following:

One day, Shang Qinghua’s concise Great System delivered a new command: Become the An Ding Peak head disciple within three years. (7 Seas, Ch. 26)

Now, it is somewhat loose evidence, as there is nothing to say that "three years" means for certain that the ascension would occur three years from that point, but it does mean that it occured no earlier than that. By now, Shang Qinghua has already been an inner disciple for some time, long enough to have been assisted by Mobei-jun a few times and to have gone on several missions-- most likely around a few months to a year or so at minimum.

Of course, how long has passed between Shen Qingqiu joining the sect and this point? Well, since Shen Qingqiu is still described as a youth:

Shang Qinghua suddenly heard the tinkling of sword tassel pendants, and a youth wearing Qing Jing Peak’s uniform slowly approached him. (7 Seas, Ch. 26)

Because of this description, I would say that Shen Qingqiu is most likely between seventeen and his early twenties, since it isn't particularly likely that he would become head disciple in less than a year after joining the sect. Of course, within this age range, there is one important event that occurs-- the battle of Bai Lu mountain, which would have occured when Shen Qingqiu was twenty and Yue Qingyuan was twenty-three.

Now, this gets into more of a speculation than anything else-- just before this point, Mobei-jun attacked Huan Hua Palace and the An Ding Peak disciples. If the battle of Bai Lu Mountain had already occured, it would have happened no more than a few years earlier. We also know that there is a tentative truce between the demon realm and the cultivation world:

This suggestion was solid. For many years, the Human and Demon Realms had maintained an uneasy balance and had yet to drop the pretense of peace. Eliminating Sha Hualing and her mob wouldn’t be impossible, but it would likely light a fuse. The demons definitely wouldn’t let her death go unanswered, and it wouldn’t be worth it if they stirred up an even greater conflict. (7 Seas, Ch. 3)

I suspect that this pretense of peace was likely set in place after the battle of Bai Lu Mountain, when the demon realm had just lost their ruler.

Since just a short time had happened since the demons' defeat and a likely truce between the realms, I find it unlikely that Mobei-jun, a prominent member of demonic nobility, at this time would be actively antagonizing the cultivation world by attacking Huan Hua Palace and Cang Qiong Mountain. Now, of course, there is a potential alternate storyline that this is exactly what happened, and Mobei-jun went rogue as an act of lashing out, and that interpretation would be perfectly valid on its own.

Personally, though, I believe that Shang Qinghua's meeting with Mobei-jun occured before the battle of Bai Lu Mountain, while the cultivation world and demon world were in the tense state on the edge of war. This means that Shang Qinghua most likely became an inner disciple when Shen Qingqiu was around 17-19 years old.

With this information, we can determine some relative ages:

Yue Qingyuan is three years older than Shen Qingqiu, who is a little older than Liu Qingge. Because Shang Qinghua was seventeen when Shen Qingqiu was already head disciple, it is most likely that he is around Liu Qingge's age, give or take a few years, as it is not particularly likely (though potentially possible) for Shen Qingqiu to have gone from new disciple to head disciple in the space of a single year.

Aside from these four, there are no other ages that can be determined for the peak lords.

With all of this information, a fairly decent timeline can be created. Characters' ages will be listed with each notable year.

《 THE TIMELINE 》

*counted up to the start of SVSSS. If using this timeline, keep in mind that the earliest and latest notes for date ranges can overlap-- do not accidentally have a disciple join the sect before the current peak lords ascend, or have SQH become head disciple after ascension! Dates with ranges are colored green (earliest) and red (latest).

Earlier than -21 YR

LQG: <;10-11

(earliest) Liu Qingge joins Cang Qiong Mountain

-21 YR

LQG: 10-11, SQQ: 12, YQY: 15, QHT: <16, QJL: 16

Shen Jiu sold to Qiu Jianluo

Yue Qi joins Cang Qiong Mountain

--IAC--

-19 YR

LQG: 12-13, SQQ: 14, YQY: 17

(earliest*) Yue Qingyuan enters the Lingxi Caves with Xuan Su

-18 YR

LQG: 13-14, SQQ: 15, YQY: 18, QHT: <19, QJL: 19

(latest*) Yue Qingyuan enters the Lingxi Caves with Xuan Su

Shen Jiu kills Qiu Jianluo and burns down Qiu Manor

Shen Jiu becomes Wu Yanzi's disciple

(earliest*) Yue Qi leaves the Lingxi Caves

(earliest*) Yue Qi becomes head disciple

(latest) Liu Qingge joins Cang Qiong Mountain

-17 YR

LQG: 14-15, SQQ: 16, YQY: 19

(latest*) Yue Qi leaves the Lingxi Caves

(latest*) Yue Qi becomes head disciple

--IAC--

Yue Qingyuan meets Su Xiyan

Shen Jiu kills Wu Yanzi and joins Cang Qiong Mountain

-16 YR

LQG: 15-16, SQH: 15-17, SQQ: 17, YQY: 20

(earliest) Shen Qingqiu becomes Head Disciple

(earliest) Shang Qinghua meets Mobei-jun and becomes inner disciple at age 17

(earliest) Shang Qinghua receives the directive to become head disciple within three years

(earliest) Shang Qinghua becomes head disciple

-14 YR

MF: 2, LQG: 17-18, SQH: 17-19, SQQ: 19, YQY: 22

(latest) Shen Qingqiu becomes Head Disciple

(latest) Shang Qinghua meets Mobei-jun and becomes inner disciple at age 17

(earliest**) Su Xiyan imprisoned and subjected to torture in Water Prison

(earliest**) Battle of Bai Lu Mountain

(earliest**) Tianlang-jun Sealed

-13 YR

NYY: <1, LBH: 1, MF: 3, LQG: 18-19, SQH: 18-20, SQQ: 20, YQY: 23

(latest**) Su Xiyan imprisoned and subjected to torture in Water Prison

(latest**) Battle of Bai Lu Mountain

(latest**) Tianlang-jun Sealed

Luo Binghe is Born

Su Xiyan Dies

(earliest) Qing Generation ascend to become Peak Lords

--IAC--

-11 YR

NYY: 2-3, LBH: 3, MF: 5, LQG: 20-21, SQH: 20-22, SQQ: 22, YQY: 25

(earliest***) Ming Fan joins Qing Jing Peak under Shen Qingqiu

-9 YR

NYY: 4-5, LBH: 5, MF: 7, LQG: 22-23, SQH: 22-24, SQQ: 24, YQY: 27

--IAC--

-8 YR

NYY: 5-6, LBH: 6, MF: 8, LQG: 23-24, SQH: 23-25, SQQ: 25, YQY: 28

(latest) Shang Qinghua receives the directive to become head disciple within three years

(earliest***) Ning Yingying joins Qing Jing Peak under Shen Qingqiu

-5 YR

NYY: 8-9, LBH: 9, MF: 11, LQG: 27-28, SQH: 27-29, SQQ: 29, YQY: 32

--IAC--

(latest) Shang Qinghua becomes head disciple

(latest) Qing Generation ascend to become Peak Lords

(latest) Ming Fan joins Qing Jing Peak under Shen Qingqiu

-4 YR

NYY: 9-10, LBH: 10, MF: 12, LQG: 28-29, SQH: 28-30, SQQ: 30, YQY: 33

Luo Binghe's adoptive mother dies

(earliest) Luo Binghe joins Qing Jing Peak

(earliest) Shen Qingqiu reaches Core Formation

-3 YR

NYY: 10-11, LBH: 11, MF: 13, LQG: 29-30, SQH: 29-31, SQQ: 31, YQY: 34

(latest****) Ning Yingying joins Qing Jing Peak under Shen Qingqiu

(latest) Luo Binghe joins Qing Jing Peak

-2 YR

NYY: 11-12, LBH: 12, MF: 14, LQG: 30-31, SQH: 30-32, SQQ: 32, YQY: 35

(latest*****) Shen Qingqiu reaches Core Formation

-1 YR

NYY: 12-13, LBH: 13, MF: 15

--IAC--

Year 0

NYY: 13-14, LBH: 14, MF: 16

SVSSS Begins

-----

This timeline operates under the following conditions. For some of these conditions, alternatives are discussed in the post above-- if you wish to use any of the alternative calculations, then you're more than welcome to adjust the timeline as applicable for your own use!

"Years" are counted from the first day of the spring festival/Chinese new year, rather than January 1

All character ages are nominal ages, so they were born in the year they are counted as age "1"

Luo Binghe was born after the new year, and so his nominal age is only about one year higher than chronological.

Shang Qinghua met Mobei-jun before the battle of Bai Lu Mountain

The system's time limit for SQH does reference the time of the Qing generation's ascension

The Immortal Alliance Conference takes place roughly in the middle of the year. Based on the fact that it is warm enough for the disciples to dip their feet into a stream and find that pleasant, it would make sense for the IAC to occur in a warmer season (Ch. 4)

Further References and Footnotes:

*Yue Qi was in the Lingxi Caves for more than one year and Qiu Manor had already been destroyed by the time he got out (Ch. 21)

**The birth of Luo Binghe occured a few days after the battle of Bai Lu Mountain. Depending on when LBH was born, it could be at the end of year -13 or the first few days of year -12 (Ch. 21)

***We do not know the earliest a child can join Cang Qiong Mountain, even though the appropriate age for cultivation most likely cuts off somewhere around 15 (due to YQY joining at that age and no comments about him being "too old"). For the purposes of this timeline, I am setting the absolute youngest to age 5, but more realistically a disciple wouldn't join until age 8-10 at the earliest.

****It is unknown whether the only time that disciples can join Cang Qiong Mountain is during the recruitment trials. Therefore, there remains a possibility for Ning Yingying to have joined the sect in the same year as Luo Binghe, but at some point before the recruitment trials due to connections. This can potentially be supported by Shen Jiu joining after the IAC, but at the same time, it is not confirmed that SJ joined CQM immediately, or if he had to wait until the next recruitment trial, so there is no clear canon precedent-- nonetheless, it is still possible. Note that Ning Yingying can only join at this late point if Luo Binghe joins at age 11, and after her. The only hard requirement is that NYY joined at some point before LBH.

*****I have placed this as the absolute latest time SQQ could have formed a golden core because this puts him at having been cultivating for sixteen years. It is a bit of a stretch already , but I don't think that "ten and a few" years could really be any longer than this. It is also worth noting that by the time SQQ reaches core formation, every other peak lord has already done so, with Yue Qingyuan first, Liu Qingge and Qi Qingqi next, and Shang Qinghua most likely last (Ch. 24)

--

Please let me know if you notice any errors in calculation, formatting, or missing details! This was quite substantial so there's a good chance I may have missed something.

Some of the points in this analysis and timeline calculations were brainstormed with the help of @zykamiliah , @cum-villain , @furbygoblinxiv . Many thanks!

[bloopitynoot]

Reading SVSSS: Chapter 5

For those who don't know, I am reading SVSSS for the first time and sharing my thoughts!

If you have not read it, there will be spoilers! Consider this a warning.

Also- if you want to follow along, I am aiming to post updates daily. You can find all the posts in the tag bloopitynoot reads SVSSS. You can also check out the intro post for context on my read.

Back at my desk for chapter 5 today, but no Charlie; he has abandoned me :(Tea this evening is Lady Grey with some milk and sugar.

Can you all believe that this is the last chapter of book 1????!?!? One out of 4 done! Anyways- let's get into this short chapter:

OMG. I would have been so pissed if I was transmigrated somewhere and had to start as an infant with my entire adult brain. RIP those circumstances for Airplane (p 264)

Honestly though, I am so here for the argument between Shang Qinghua/Airplane & Shen Qingqiu/Shen Yuan. Fight it out! The fan/not fan and the author who has no idea what's happening LOL

okay but I stand with Shang Qinghua/Airplane -> Shen Yuan really does know a lot of the lore for someone who supposedly hates this book (p265)

Oh god airplane doesn't even know that shen qingqiu here was poisoned (p267)

(okay Re: not knowing about the poisoning- correction he does, I dont know why he was confused about the mushroom side quest though. If anyone has clarity about this comment pls!)

okay but what's this demon- it's kind of scary clever (p269)

the SASS of this system going through an update and only giving automated answers LOL (p270)

it's making me laugh that the actual author and creator of this world cannot recall a single side character's name XD (p272)

+1 to the party! We have Gongyi Xiao (p 275).

what's touching him?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?! (p278) that's terrifying!!!!!

Shen Qingqiu still over here missing his boy. Re: Gongyi Xiao not being as good as Luo BInghe at picking up Shen Qingqiu's subtle non verbal cues while fighting and shen qingqiu being upset by it (p280)

I swear if that slither creature snatches those mushrooms before shen qingqiu has a chance to snag them I will be so pissed on his behalf (p282)

All three of them: WTF is that?!?!?! Airplane side eyeing shen yuan: did I write that tho??? (p.284)

RE: snatching the mushrooms- I don't think it can touch the mushrooms(?)

OMG. Shen qingqiu just made mortal enemies with this fish snake man (p 287)

At this point I don't know if he is trying to gaslight himself. But no matter what, Shen Qingqiu is really convincing people he's a little unwell about losing Luo Binghe. He mentally tells himself he's fine but man is his behaviour wild. (p 289)

OOp. Airplane calling Shen Yuan out about his feelings regarding Luo Binghe 👀 (p 290) Which Shen Qingqiu completely fails to respond to.

That's it for book 1!!!!!

I am NOT ready for the next turn of events. That foreshadowing at the end with this mushroom plot! These mushrooms better survive or poor Shen Qingqiu is fucked.

I cannot wait to start book 2 tomorrow!!!

[gargoyleandgremlinpress]

Renegade 2023 Typeset Exchange: Achievement Unlocked by The Feels Whale

So for those of you following along with my @renegadepublishing typesetting exchange saga, I typeset a social media MDZS fic! Another MDZS fic! A pinch hit SVSS fic! Another shorter MDZS fic for the pinch hit (do it half-size, smaller is quicker, suuuure...) And then one more for @admiraltypress. Because I could.

I wasn't truly planning on doing this one. Not really. I'd sent off a request for permissions, hadn't heard back yet, and because it was a pinch hit, the timeline was pretty tight.

The typesets were due Monday. But Saturday night, I got a message back from @thefeelswhale! Sunday typeset speed run? Sunday typeset speed run!

Achievement Unlocked is a post-series SVSSS fic where Shen Yuan ends up back in his old body in our world, and Luo Binghe is pulled after him, and accosted by The System with a mission. Or, as the summary goes, "That one where Shen Yuan and Luo Binghe don’t realize they’re in a domestic fluff bonus chapter." This is fun. SO much fun, with some emotional depth that will sneak up on you, and a couple of plot twists that are delightfully bonkers as the source material.

This was a Big Bang fic, and I had a really lovely piece of fan art by Ataratah to include, and pulled the colour tones from there. Circuit board graphics are all public domain stock art, and the scene breaks are designed to mimic the typing dots in a text message. I am supremely happy with how this turned out, ESPECIALLY given the time crunch.

And that's how I ended up making five typesets for an event where I was only obligated to make one.

.... okay, technically, it's seven. Because I did the bound book exchange too, and made two books for that one. But I'll have actual physical book photos to share for that one soon, plus the saga of the Great Textblock Disaster of Late 2023. (It was all okay in the end!)

[bloomingapricots]

dream anon here, finally sending asks to the right @ (that's still so embarrassing ahh) I didn't really intend it to be a request lol, I just wanted to share a funny thing :D

the nyanjiu I mentioned was shen jiu being an actual cat (I think dream me was thinking about @/sanadamusio on Twitter's nyanjiu (here's one of the tweets: https://twitter.com/sanadamusio/status/1720319766345433167?t=h-BqdYeps3pTa8uOwIWYHQ&s=19)

as for binghe, I'm not quite sure, I think either would be quite funny, but maybe bingge living through the original pidw and then transported to this alternate universe that has sqq!reader (who has also lived through their own au version of pidw but gets transported back to before shit hits the fan)? imagine seeing your shizun as a cat and then this stranger is now your "shizun" lmao-

At least it was still the right person. And I follow that artist, it's a super cute comic. Poor Shang Qinghua, witnessing his martial sibling and LBH being dramatic with a cat. btw I was slapped with inspirations so have this 2,000 worddump

Alone in the Bamboo Grove

Updated here first at AO3

From Anon:

"peak lord reader, either a time traveller (lived through all of the events of pidw) or a transmigrator, nyan jiu as their pet (apparently normal for peak lords to just have pets), and transmigrator luo binghe"

Summary:

You awaken in an alleyway after saving your friend Shen Jiu. You are back in the past but things are different. Your Shidi is just an innocent cat now. And you are not the only one who went back.

The reader is called Dúzhě (读者) which means “reader”

Duzhe will have the surname Mò (墨) in the beginning and later have the surname Shen

Duzhe is referred to as neutrally as possible

Warning; Violence and death in the beginning, mention of torture,

One foot in front of the other. A trail of blood follows you as your back and sides throb and bleed from your stab wounds and slashes. You continued to endure, you need to see Shen Jiu at least once. From what you heard, you probably will accompany Shen Jiu to the afterlife as you doubt you will survive your wounds and your old friend has been tortured ruthlessly. You reach a door that you know in your heart that Shen Jiu is behind it. You slowly open that door and see a limbless body hanging. You slowly approach your limbless.

“Shen-” You were about to call for Shen Jiu until you felt pain in your right leg and you fell.

“Ah, an interloper has entered the palace,” A chilling voice stated behind you, the Demon Emperor Luo Binghe no doubt. Luo Binghe stepped around you to stand in front of you. “This disciple greets Hallmaster Mo,“

“Luo… Binghe,” You mumbled.

“Hallmaster Mo, won’t you greet this disciple back?” Luo Binghe slammed his foot on your back and you coughed out blood. Your vision began to blur which made shaky unfurl your left hand. Two talismans made by a demon named Zhuzhi-lang will teleport you and Shen Jiu out of the palace and he will also cause a distraction for Luo Binghe as a favor for helping him free the previous demon emperor Tianlang-jun. As Luo Binghe was about to speak you shaky launched a talisman to Shen Jiu and quickly teleported the two of you out the Luo Binghe’s palace.

“Master Mo!” Zhuzhi-lang called as he watched you and Shen Jiu land on the bed.

“...I think it’s time to part ways Zhuzhi-lang, thank you.” You curled around Shen Jiu. Zhuzhi-lang looked at you for a moment then turned to look away.

“Goodbye, Master Mo. I will make sure to burn your and Master Shen's bodies as well as hide your and Master Shen’s ashes from Emperor Luo Binghe,” Zhuzhi-lang said and before he left the room, he poured poison into your and Shen Jiu’s mouth. It will make you drowsy and pass away once you close your eyes. You shakily lay a hand on Shen Jiu's cheek and brush his hair away from his face.

“Shixiong apologized for being late, Jiu-er. Shixiong… Shixiong…….” You did not get to finish your thoughts as you drifted off.

Luo Binghe was never able to find you and Shen Jiu or your ashes as Zhuzhi-lang and Tianlang-jun hid them under the blue shining soul-sucking tree[1]. The tree eats any souls but pure demon souls, not even Luo Binghe can get close to the tree because of being a half-demon as the tree would start sucking on his human half.

—

You open your eyes and stare at your lap. You look around, you are in an alley and a child again.

“Meow,” A cat with white fur and familiar green eyes stared at you as they placed a paw on your leg. You quietly sobbed as you hugged the cat.

“Hahaha, I don’t know if this is a good or bad thing,” You hysterically cried in the alley for a while.

—

You heard a crash and shouts. You slowly got up with Nyan Jiu and walked toward the probably trouble. From where you stood, you witnessed a young Yue Qi being thrown and his friend being taken. Ah, the moment when Shen Jiu was taken to the Qiu family, you thought. You petted Nyan Jiu in your arms. But Shen Jiu no longer exists here. You slowly walked up to Yue Qi.

“Gege,” You mumbled.

“A-Zhe,” Yue Qi looked at you with watery eyes. You held out Nyan Jiu to him and he took Shen Jiu in his arms and cried into Nyan Jiu’s fur.

“We should go,” You look to where Cang Qiong Mountain is. “If you want to grow stronger, you must learn how to,” You heard Yue Qi sniff then get up. He hands you back Nyan Jiu and holds your left hand.

“Let’s go,” Yue Qi stated. A different beginning compared to the past, a missing person who will never be here in the present, and an unknown future is ahead of you.

—

“You, what is this one’s name,” Qing Jing Peak Lord asked. You paused in your digging and looked up, the Peak Lord was standing and staring in front of you. You looked down at where Nyan Jiu resting.

“This one is… Shen Duzhe,” You answered.

“From now on, Shen Duzhe is a disciple of Qing Jing Peak,”

—

“A-Zhe, I became the head disciple of Qiong Ding Peak,” Yue Qi announced over tea time. You smiled and cheered. You had thought Yue Qi would rush like in your previous life to save Qiu Jianluo’s victim but since the kid was not Shen Jiu, and you were pretty sure the kid was the brat that picked fights with Shen Jiu often, Yue Qi is progressing steadily and smoothly.

And since becoming a Qing Jing disciple, you can help but think that you have taken Shen Jiu’s place which was irrational as you were also a Qing Jing disciple in your previous life.

“Meow,” Nyan Jiu jumped on the table.

“Ah!” Yue Qi yelped in surprise. Nyan Jiu’s head softly bumped against your hand leading to you petting Nyan Jiu. Yue Qi smiled as he watched you pet Nyan Jiu “I’m glad Shigu allowed you to keep him,”

“Hm,” You nodded “Shizun even acknowledged Nyan Jiu as a disciple,”

“A-Zhe” Yue Qi laughed.

—

As you watched Yue Qi gets his courtesy name announced and received his hair crown. You cannot help but feel a little melancholy, remembering your previous life during this time. Shen Jiu felt validated but also unhappy.

“The new Peak Lord of Qing Jing Peak, Shen Qingqiu,” You elegantly walked up the stage and stood in front of your Shizun. You bowed to her then bowed to the other peak lords. You kneeled facing the crowd and stilted yourself as you Shizun undone your ponytail, combed your hair in a half-do, and attached a hair crown. You ended up dissociated through the whole ceremony and after the party.

“Meow,” Nyan Jiu rubbed his head against your leg after you slipped out from the party to stargaze. Nyan Jiu joined you on the rock you had chosen as your set. He curled in your lap as you silently cried your sorrows away.

—

“Shizun…” You voiced muffled by the table you were laying your head on. Your Shizun ascending was still upsetting a second time around. You felt Nyan Jiu curled around your head as you cried on your Shizun’s desk.

“Shen Jiu, a world without you is lonely,” You close your eyes as Nyan Jiu purrs making you drift off to sleep.

Yue Qi would later find you and carry you to your new bed in the bamboo house.

—

It is time to meet Luo Binghe. You stared subtly at the fluffy head of the future demon emperor.

“Shizun!” Ning Yingying called and waved as she walked up to you. “Yingying wants a Shidi or Shimei!” She stated. You hummed and turned to look at your junior brother next to you.

“Liu-shidi, which disciple is promising?” You asked. Even though you are Shen Qingqiu now, you are not Shen Jiu nor as jaded as he was. So your relationship with your martial arts siblings was heaps better compared to Shen Jiu’s. 

“That child with over there has a lot of potential, Shixiong,” Liu Qingge pointed to Luo Binghe. Of course, you thought. Look at Ning Yingying, tilt your head as a silent gesture to go to Luo Binghe. She smiled and nodded.

“Thank you, Sizhun!” She happily walked towards Luo Binghe and you followed her.

“Hello! I’m your Shijie, Ning Yingying. Qing Jing Peak Lord Shen Qingqiu has chosen you as their disciple,” Ning Yingying introduced herself and you to Luo Binghe. You immediately noticed that the slightly widened eye look was not one of innocent surprise but of unexpected change. You can see his dark eyes staring at you as he observes how different you are from Shen Jiu. You snapped your fan open to cover the bottom of your face.

“What is this one name?” You asked.

“This one is named Luo Binghe,” He replied after a moment. You closed your eyes and turned away from him.

“Ning Yingying, see to his accommodations and supplies,” You commended.

“Yes, Shizun,” Ning Yingying despite your multiple one-on-one etiquette lessons dragged Luo Binghe away.

–

Demon Emperor Luo Binghe opened his eyes to dirt and a shovel in his hands. He observed his small hands as he subconsciously started digging. He successfully went back in time. He can-

“Hello! I’m your Shijie, Ning Yingying. Qing Jing Peak Lord Shen Qingqiu has chosen you as their disciple,” The youthful voice of a young Ning Yingying greeted Luo Binghe. He looked at the young Ning Yingying but paused at the person next to her. Shen Qingqiu? he thought. However, the person next to Ning Yingying was what he remembered as a hallmaster who treated him neutrally. Luo Binghe does not know if he should be thankful or angry about that. Not his scummy Shen Qingqiu snapped open their fan, how familiar, and asked for his name.

“This one is named Luo Binghe,” Luo Binghe replied.

“Ning Yingying, see to his accommodations and supplies,” Shen Qingqiu commended after turning away from him. A slight fury rolled in his stomach but Ning Yingying dragged him away from Shen Qingqiu and his thoughts.

—

This timeline is so much different from Luo Binghe’s previous life.  Qing Jing Peak was a lot more friendly to Luo Binghe, he had his room with only one roommate, he was not bullied, and while Ming Fan was not head disciple, he was the one to run the male dormitory, he did not bully Luo Binghe. Ming Fan was far too busy for Luo Binghe to see him for most of the day.

The person who is called Shen Qingqiu was different from his Shen Qingqiu. The Shen Qingqiu here while cold was not as ruthless as his Shen Qingqiu. They did not pour tea on him like his scummy Sizhun. Their go-to harsh punishment was free labor for the village at the bottom of the mountain. Luo Binghe also noticed how kind this Shen Qingqiu was. He saw Shen Qingqiu in the kitchen one night cooking a large serving of egg soup, mumbling to themself about how his disciple needed to grow up strong and well.

Luo Binghe has mixed feelings. His scum of a Shizun is no longer here to pay for all the pain he inflicted on Luo Binghe but he now has a nice Shizun like that other Luo Binghe had. The Shen Qingqiu here may not be dotting but they cared. When Shen Qingqiu stumbled upon Luo Binghe out at night contemplating, they just signed and scolded him.

There was Shen Qingqiu’s cat who had his scum of  Shizun’s green eyes. Luo Binghe heard Shen Qingqiu call it Nyan Jiu and that cat hissed at him whenever saw him. He cannot do anything as the last person who maliciously messed with Shen Qingqiu’s cat, the merchant had misfortune after misfortune cast upon him.

—

As the Immortal Alliance Conference neared, you decided to confront Luo Binghe. You heard a knock on your door and you could feel the Qi was Luo Binghe’s.

“Come in,” You said. Luo Binghe slid open your door and closed it behind him after entering the room. A talisman slid out from your sleeve, flew past Luo Binghe without his knowledge, and attached itself to your front door.

“This Disciple Luo greets his Sizhun,” Luo Binghe bowed. You nodded in acknowledgment. He began preparing tea for your discussion.

“This master has entered Luo Binghe in the Immortal Alliance Conference, this master expects that their disciple won’t disappoint this master,” You started right after Luo Binghe poured you tea.

“Yes, Shizun,” Luo Binghe replied. You started at Luo Binghe for a moment, taking in the Luo Binghe who is your disciple as your next words would no doubt change him.

“So, how long has Junshang been here?” You asked.

“Shizun?” Luo Binghe question.

“Please, I was the second choice as Qing Jing's head disciple in the previous timeline, and now was Qing Jing’s head disciple, then became Qing Jing’s Peak Lord. You're not fooling me, Luo Binghe,” After your last words you moved as Luo Binghe launched at you. With a hand gesture, immortal binding cables sprung out from under your desk and tied up Luo Binghe.

“I should have expected that Shen Qingqiu would always be a scum,” Luo Binghe said. You silently stared at Luo Binghe as he struggled.

“And one who cannot love themself cannot love others,” You stated.

“...What?” Luo Binghe questioned as it was out of nowhere.

“The Shen Jiu and Luo Binghe who continued the cycle of abuse, out of blinding hatred of the world and self,” You sat on Luo Binghe, pulled out a vial, you forced him to drink it. It caused Luo Binghe to go to sleep and witness Shen Jiu’s past. Once more, you have helped Zhuzhi-lang and Tianlang-jun and in return will help you in your quest. Now you wait for Luo Binghe to wake up.

You carried Luo Binghe to your side room and laid him on the bed. Yo tucked him in and gently brushed his hair away from his face. Depending on how he reacted, information will be given to you via snake from another dream demon, you will either act as if you found Luo Binghe passed out from stress or you will try once more to wash away his heart demons.

“Can you let go Luo Binghe? Or will still walk of heart?” You mumbled to yourself.

“Meow,” Nyan Jiu jumped on the bed and went on your lap. You gently pet him as always.

“If you could talk you would call me a fool, Shidi,”

[1] Imagine a willow tree with black bark and blue glowing leaves.

[verycharismaticdragon]

He's a victim of needing to up the stakes, kinda.

Killing off a named but ultimately background character is a pretty typical move for that; compare to Qin Wanrong's death at the Immortal Alliance Conference being the first clue that the story is taking a turn into a more serious territory than a wacky parody it presented itself as up to then.

Now, why did MXTX need a blood sacrifice a named character death at this point in the story...

First is to do with relationship between Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu. Throughout the book, you may have noticed that while some of their conflict (litanalysis meaning) comes from within, a lot of it is circumstantial. It's as if every time they are at risk of having a normal conversation - and god forbid setting their misunderstanding(s) to rest - something happens to prevent them! Frustrating, right! Also clearly intentional, considering the meta-level of Luo Binghe being a protagonist. The world itself is preventing Luo Binghe (and by extension Shen Qingqiu) from having a normal one, because the protagonist is supposed to suffer and break blacken completely.

In this way, MXTX needed something to drive the wedge between Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu deeper. Something that would make Shen Qingqiu misunderstand Luo Binghe, again, and unintentionally hurt him by assuming he's evil, again. And thus drive Luo Binghe to be angry at SQQ, again. Because if he's not angry, he's liable to forgive SQQ - as that is ultimately what he wants. He wants SQQ to admit his wrongdoing/apologize, so that he can forgive him and they can make up. Ofc, the narrative will let him have anything but this.

Thus, a new event that SQQ will pin on Luo Binghe, and an impactful one, is needed. Killing off a named character with whom SQQ has a positive relationship will do that! And LBH not being the actual perpetrator also ties nicely into the thread of SQQ misunderstanding him based on his read of his 'character' (in the og novel).

Now, absolutely anyone killing GYX* would work as an inciting incident for all of the above. Hell, Mobei-jun has a canon grudge against Huan Hua, and the beginning of 'raising a worthy rival' arc with Luo Binghe! But MXTX is already setting up the TLJ&ZZL plotline, which will fill the PIDW plotholes (and satirize the stallion novels for failing to do that) of writing Su Xiyan off as nothing but a dead mother, TLJ's character not being used to its full potential, and ofc the never revealed perpetrator behind "scores of atrocities" (as mentioned in sy's ch1 rant). So, since she is already writing a mysterious death, with the only set in stone part being that Luo Binghe has nothing to do with - why not make it a characterization moment for the other team / Zhuzhi-lang in particular?

*of course, I'm saying Gongyi Xiao here because that's what happened, but in truth, it should be "any named character whose death would have meaning for SQQ". So why did it end up being GYX in particular?

Well, because it couldn't be anyone else.

At this point, the list of characters who fit the bill is pretty small: aside from Gongyi Xiao, it includes YQY, LQG, SQH, QQQ and MQF arguably, and then Ming Fan and Ning Yingying plus maybe Liu Mingyan.

YQY is out due to having an unresolved arc saved for later in the story. SQH is out due to being extremely important on the thematic level (and, depending on when MXTX decided that moshang was a thing, possibly due to that). QQQ and MQF didnt really have time to shine - and also, as a writer myself, I'm guessing MXTX was wary of possibly needing to write more background peak lords if she killed off any existing ones. NYY and LMY are still needed to stick it to the stallion novels and show them developing outside of Luo Binghe.

This leaves us with LQG, GYX, and Ming Fan. Liu Qingge can't be easily killed off, because his avoided death in the beginning is foreshadowing how the story in general will turn out: SY!SQQ just doing what he can to help, just being kind and decent, will change the course of the narrative. Killing LQG off here would devalue him being saved in the beginning, and facilitate some rather hopeless conclusions.

And between Ming Fan and Gongyi Xiao, GYX's death would have more impact on the reader due to MXTX taking time to build him up beforehand, as Ming Fan hasn't appeared much past his initial scenes as a bully. If MXTX used the three year timeskip to develop his character at least somewhat, he could be killed off instead, but... well, tbt, we dont know her planning horizon, given its a serialized novel. maybe by the time she realized someone had to get the ax, the only character near enough to Shen Qingqiu to be developed into a meanigful sacrifice was GYX. Or maybe she just didnt want to kill the only named QJP disciple besides NYY. Or maybe she chose GYX for the impact of 'character who was supposed to survive dies', similar to what she did with Qin Wanrong.....

Who knows, but yeah. these are my disorganized thoughts. hope something in here was helpful in some way.

so does anyone have an explanation (either watsonian or doylist either works) for why the fuck gongyi xiao got fridged and done dirty in SVSSS???

[binghebdaybash]

[ID: stylized colorful drawing of luo binghe from svsss surrounded by other cast memebers, all pale, east-asian humans in hanfu- with the exception of zhuzhi-lang, the snake demon with green tinted skin with scales and serpentine eyes. shen qingqiu is uncovering luo binghe's eyes, while ning yingying and tianlang-jun are popping confetti cones. other then them ther is ming fan with his arms crossed in front of his chest and we can see the back of liu mingyan's head. behinf them all are red ribbons stuck to the walls as decoration. the image has 2 pieces of text. top one says "today's the day!" in all caps, all text green with the exception of "the" which is red. bottom text says "happy b-day binghe!" in all caps. the text is red and "binghe!" has black shadow underneath./ end ID]

SUPRISE!!! turns out shizun has been planning a party all long.....

it's time to start the event! are you ready? remember to tag your submissions with #binghebdaybash2k21 or @ us!

art by @peacefulgun

[shinebrightlikeanarwhal]

Brain going brrr for Shen Jiu food today sosisosl

So hear me out, modern au. Shen Jiu doesn’t remember anything of their past live(s) and is a relatively famous internet chef. Like he has a PO Box and everything for his fans to send gifts or letters for him to personally read and tell them either what to do or that he’s proud, he never shows his face though, a deathly fear of being found, but by who? His young son, Ming Fan, is all but excited to be Shen Jiu’s direct bloodline in this life. Shen Qingqiu was always his father figure in the first life, but the second he got hurt or something and started caring for that nasty LBH.

Sometimes, Shen Jiu feels unsafe when out on the street and going about his day to day life. He doesn’t know why but certain faces of public figures terrify him. A little lady on the street selling hand made jewelry and staring at him like she’s seen a ghost makes him physically sick. God, he despises the face of this rather famous actor, Luo Bing-something?? He hates this confusing feeling that seemed to come of nowhere. That doesn’t stop them from trying to approach once they see him.

Women in fancy clothes and strong perfume dote on him and he practically melts in their arms. Confused on how they know his name but more than happy to chat about life. They seem happy for him, ecstatic even! Men in suits ranging from serious CEO to flashy idols would stop their cars and holler at him for his time of day. He despises men like that and gives them no acknowledgement while he continues on his way. If he’s lucky they have a tight schedule, if not they follow him to the grocery store and corner him in the frozen section while he picks out treats for his son. Two men have tried that and were met with a smack by popsicles. Social media was set a blaz when videos of this Luo Binghe and Liu Qingge cornered the same man on different days and tried harassing him. Of course their stans refused to believe it was their fault. It MUST be the pretty man minding his business throughout the proof on the grocery camera. The companies dared to contact him afterwards and SJ happily sent back his lawyers information and video proof of their ‘important persons’ harassment and stalking.

One was bold enough to publicly announce that they were looking for him at a political event. Broadcasted nationwide. Shen Jiu felt nothing but disdain for that Yue man. Who says “I’m looking for a man I haven’t seen since I was young and dumb.” During a political conference?? Just because you know it’s being broadcasted!? His fans during a livestream asked what he thought about it and he angrily said that Yue man was a fool! An absolute clown for thinking that wishing some guy that doesn’t even know him will come looking for him just because he said his name!

He never had a bad experience with women until one scowled at him and he instinctively scowled back. He had his son with him that day and was trying to not be hounded. But this woman continued to follow him and berate his clothing, his hair. He could handle scrutiny of himself but the moment she said anything about Ming Fan, be it his appearance or his mother, he drew the line. Wiping around to face this despicable woman and spitting the iciest response he could without scaring Ming Fan. He remembered seeing her on a magazine before. Some model or washed up actress. God help her when he posts the body cam footage his partner made him wear after the second Grocery store incident. She scoffed at him and just continued to point and jeer at him. Wondering if the others were only following him for his pretty face. Others?? The men that harassed him and the girls that scurried with their tail between their legs?? Shen Jiu is starting to think it’s time to move. He desperately wants to mind his business and live his life but they seem adamant on harassing him.

So he does! He announces it on a video after the fact so that they can’t find him even if they try to. Perks of dating a rich ceo, anonymity is quite easy with money!

Shen Jiu happily married his now hubby and they have many more kids with Ming Fan adoring them all. He refuses to be nice to this one lady at his school that tries to be friendly with him and will run crying to SJ, who remembers her as the jewelry stand girl, and he immediately has his son in a different class. Life going well for the man who was claimed to be evil in past lives, meanwhile the others are crumbling day by day now that he’s missing and they can’t seem to find him, no matter what. (NYY may have stalked him to the remote village but she wouldn’t tell the others. She can’t risk making Shizun hate her more). The ones that harassed her were publicly pitted by their companies and forced to apologize to him specifically. When word got out that Shen Jiu vanished it did NOT look good for them.. LBH had the wrath of his mother and LQG had a mother and grandmother to fear. QQQ was fired and black listed from the media. She would have just apologized if she had insulted the man himself, but following and insulting the child too? The media scorned her already shitty gossip personality. Any time she tried to get on tv they would turn on his and snicker about her cancellation. YQY lived lavishly, but lonely. He had a political marriage and no children. He refused to touch his wife. No matter what she would say all he could do is smile and apologize. Work wise things were going well. Since they didn’t have a punching bag to push everything on and the other politicians seemed to work smoothly despite disagreements, he had no real need to focus on work 24/7. But he did. He was always in his office scouring the internet for Xiao Jiu.

SY and SQH weren’t mentioned because they literally wouldn’t do anything different from usual. They wouldn’t even meet their past life husbands (LBH would think SY is a fan and just give his usual charm and leave. He’s already found SJ, this man is just a fake clearly). SQH wouldn’t have the chance to get MBJ, the neet writer would see him once and fumble his words. Probably earning a scoff as MBJ walked off to go meet his peer/partner. The two millennials would probably bond online over a story and get close. Maybe a failed relationship but remained friends.

TLDR; Everyone reincarnated and their lives fall apart if they don’t change their attitude towards SJ. SJ doesn’t remember them and just wants to raise his baby MF in peace. Jobs are lost and public relations are plummeting because these fools couldn’t find healthier ways to reconnect with SJ.

[phoenixtakaramono]

Character Design Thoughts for Shen Yuan & Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky in ‘The Untold Tale’

(This is a Follow Up to This Post)

Hello, @averydrearydiana! Loved reading through your tags! I’m excited that you’re excited! Since I’m also seeing comments on AO3 speculating about how our transmigrators are going to appear as in The Untold Tale, I might as well give my current thoughts and have this archived on tumblr for future reference.

A fun fact about TUT is that a lot of the imagery in the story is inspired by Chinese PVs and popular C-dramas and literature. Since TUT is conceived as a lovestory to SVSSS, one element that I’d wanted to incorporate is playful attempts at satirical genre deconstruction. With that comes with me playfully poking fun at some clichés or things I’ve noticed in Chinese works.

Shen Yuan’s Celestial Design

Before I talk about his mortal appearance, I have to give a lil context about his celestial design in the story. We already know what he looks like as the celestial fortuneteller in TUT’s cover art that I’ve already posted on tumblr. As everyone knows, I was heavily inspired by this Chinese PV:

(TUT ch1 - Excerpt)

Among the things I’ve noticed are the fictional characters with white hair. We have a whole subculture of fans liking male character designs with white hair in anime and animation. Taking that a step further, they’ve even shown up in C-dramas, i.e. Teng She from Love and Redemption (technically more blond than platinum white, but shhhhh, just let me have this), Dong Hua Dijun from Eternal Love of Dream aka Three Lives Three Worlds, Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms (rest assured, I’m aware of the source material’s controversy, but let’s not get into that here), etc. One of the tags for TUT is Opposites Attract. Luo Binghe’s color coordination is aligned with black and red mostly. Now, visually speaking, what’s the opposite of that?

The yin yang symbol.

Fun fact, besides black vs white, green (SY) is the complementary color of red (LBG) on the color wheel. Now taking everything I’ve said, to take it even one step further, my thought process at the time was, “why not go the extra mile then and just have SY be albino? Within context of the Heavenly Realm, that character design makes sense.” TUT is me subtly riffing off what I can (for the good ol’ meta humor), but making the content come across as a legitimate story experience. As Protagonist A and Protagonist B, LBG and SY have to look visually striking together. With all that said, let’s talk about....

(In reference to the original tumblr post)

Shen Yuan (Mortal)

I’ll keep some elements of his albinism from his celestial form (light sensitivity and pale skin mostly), but SY’s mortal form is essentially SY pre-transmigration but within context of the xianxia genre.

For his appearance, let’s just keep this Author’s Note^ and TUT’s summary in the back of our brains. This is the fanvid I was originally inspired by for SY’s mortal appearance:

(TUT Summary - Excerpt)

For what he wears, I’m currently feeling very heavily inspired by this PV:

His mortal appearance wouldn’t be considered as “strange” or “otherworldly” compared to the “ethereal fairy-like beauty” SY retains in the Heavenly Realm, but as a side-effect of the 【PROTAGONIST’S HALO】 and his +20 CHARISMA stat, he would still be considered attractive to people even when he takes on a mortal appearance. (Mainly, I like the idea of Bing gē taking large shots of vinegar seeing SY turning heads no matter which appearance SY takes on, and Luo Binghe glaring at these “insects” for even “daring to lay their unworthy eyes on his fated person.” The thought of it just makes me laugh.)

What I mean by how SY’s mortal form being very much based on how SY appeared pre-transmigration but in the xianxia genre context, I mean he’ll have his dark hair (but longer), a “scholarly air” (as a nod to his novelist background), dark eyes, and even his glasses technically (the divine monocle mentioned in ch3, which is also a subtle nod to Sha Po Lang and a riff on men wearing monocles in other Chinese works andit’salsoforeshadowingbutshhhh).

(TUT ch3 - Excerpt)

Shen Yuan originally was an author in his forties pre-transmigration, so I like the idea him having a mature air about him in the Cultivation World as well. So for both our Protagonist B’s celestial and mortal appearances, the idea is that you can look at him and immediately recognize him as a protagonist of the danmei setting. My only two prerequisites are that his appearance screams “hello, I’m Protagonist B” and that he appears in “scholarly” attire.

Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky (Mortal)

Keeping in mind the original tumblr post where I wrote my thoughts on who I’m transmigrating him as, currently I’m thinking it’s a combination of these two PVs for his mortal form:

As a nod to him being a successful novelist, I wanted him to also appear scholarly. A scholarly crown prince, if you will. For his attire, imagine all the C-drama clothing you’ve seen actors wear in period dramas, and you already have a good idea already of the direction I’m heading down.

As the prince of the cannon fodder emperor, I very much like the idea of Airplane perhaps having a baby face and brown hair (as a small nod to fanon!SQH from SVSSS) but with a great body (a huge source of inspiration are clothing worn by Prince Yu and Prince Jing of the three princes from the C-drama Nirvana in Fire). Since Airplane will also be able to select his Character Creation stats like Shen Yuan had, one thing I’m fairly certain is that he will max out his CONSTITUTION—because “game logic” and not wanting to die. (For those who don’t know, the CON stat in tabletop RPs essentially indicates a person’s overall health, wellbeing, and vigor checks...so him maxing it out is equivalent to him being as invulnerable as a cockroach. A high CON means overall healthiness, which means your character probably is full of energy and vitality, can heal rapidly, and will rarely get sick—if ever. Low CON usually means a higher susceptibility to sickness and disease, wounds that fester and linger, and a general fatigue would haunt you, etc.) Like how SY zeroed in on his CHA, Airplane would have prioritized +20 CON (+5 modifier), especially knowing the fate that’d await him as a prince and the vicious environment that is expected for palace intrigue plots (the harem is a big factor, with concubines and consorts and even the empress sabotaging each other—just to win the favor of one man). Against poison or whatnot which is a cliché in palace intrigue plots, rather than relying on luck, you typically stand a better chance of passing the CON check if you have a high modifier aiding your checks. He’s basically become impervious to illnesses, most poisons (probably being able to spring back quickly), and is considered the healthiest prince in all the mortal imperial line. <- This could be taken both seriously and humorously simultaneously.

Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky (Deity/ Celestial)

For Xiàng Tiān Dà Fēijī’s “actual divine body” that is currently asleep and won’t be awakened until Airplane completes his mortal trial to “regain his cultivation powers,” the face should obviously be similar but, as Xiàng Tiān Dà Fēijī, he would appear regal and dignified as a god of this world:

Imagine something along the lines of mortal Airplane as the man on the right, celestial Shen Yuan in the center, and deity/ celestial Airplane as the man on the left. I envision a respectable appearance that would knock the air out of Mobei jūn and make him recognize Airplane despite any visual dissimilarities, and in a way we have the Four Beauties of China: Luo Binghe, Shen Yuan, Mobei jūn, and Xiàng Tiān Dà Fēijī.

I will say I currently have an idea of making Airplane have “golden” eyes in both his celestial and mortal forms. (Spoiler alert: in my notes, I’d written down to give Airplane yellow eyes as an Easter egg to Yanxi Palace, I believe, where there was an episode where someone of the imperial harem schemed against the empress and almost had the newborn baby killed because that and the yellow skin was an inauspicious omen. We later find out through a timely intervention that the true reason was due to jaundice—because of the diet/ pregnancy cravings she ate for a period of time which resulted in her son’s symptoms. With Airplane’s high CON and another trope I’m bringing in which’ll have to do with the Medicine King’s Valley/ Valley of the Medicine King, his yellow eyes are the only side effect that lingered from that traumatic event which would have killed him had they gotten away with their scheme. A lot of palace dramas have to do with the vicious harem plots, so this would potentially be one such example.) The reason being that this is the identifying marker for MBJ to clue in that they’re the same man he will have loved. And I think that has romantic potential.

Misc.

Now addressing the other tags, yes, essentially speaking, Mobei jūn might just very well experience his very own Big Damn Reunion trope that Bing mèi had suffered from SVSSS. Poor MBJ. He’s in a tumultuous ride of his own with him considering Airplane as his own fated person, hahaha. But for the Moshang dynamic, I want him—a demon—to find himself taken with Airplane in his mortal guise—and subsequently his true celestial appearance once he finds out. I very much also want SY to jokingly snark to his fellow transmigrator-and-writing-colleague about him getting in a relationship with his own “creation” (MBJ). And Airplane would jokingly snark back about SY “ruining his ‘first son’ as well” (LBG). If you can read between the lines of that, then kudos. I’m glad to hear you’re looking forward to the palace intrigue.

I’m especially very happy to hear you’re looking forward to the descriptions! I personally love worldbuilding in the stories I consume I’m an interior designer and realtor irl, so I’m glad my love of house details and landscape, etc shows in TUT. For the pseudohistorical vibe, in the Mortal Realm, I will be referencing the Forbidden City of our Chinese history and a couple popular period C-dramas. Take the settings of period C-dramas like Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace, Yanxi Palace, and Nirvana in Fire as examples for what will be awaiting us when we finally meet Airplane in his mortal body. In the Heavenly Realm, the descriptions will be heavily referencing shows that contain aesthetics such as those of Ashes of Love, Love and Redemption, and Eternal Dream.

Take this with a grain of salt just in case I change my mind later on, but in the chapter when we meet Airplane for the first time, I probably won’t say which character he is in the first scene. I’ll give plenty of hints in the first scene so that you all can make your guesses before the big reveal, but I’m fairly confident you all or most of you will be able to pinpoint who he is among the cannon fodders. We’ll meet the emperor, who is discussing with his sons about the matter regarding the approaching calamity that is Luo Binghe. Then when we transition into the second scene, we’ll know exactly which “royal prince OC” it is that our beloved Airplane has transmigrated into, hahaha.

(*Keep in mind, for everything written above, some details are subject to change. Nothing is official until it appears in the story, or I’ve actually drawn my ideas out and posted online to both my tumblr and twitter. These are just my current thoughts.)

A goal of mine for TUT is to make the story widely accessible, meaning it doesn’t matter if the reader is new to the SVSSS fandom or aren’t familiar with the Easter egg references or meta jokes or subtext or even the Chinese culture, or even if English is not their first language. Having knowledge beforehand might help someone notice more hidden details in TUT, yes, but it is a humble wish of this writer for her esteemed readers to be able to dive into the story and get the enjoyable feeling like they’re reading a genuine danmei novel. It really makes me smile whenever I hear feedback that I am able to emulate that experience.

Very exciting developments indeed are in store!

[sunderwight]

Bingqiu "Marry Me" AU where mega pop idol Luo Binghe's third marriage is set to be a hugely public concert event, only shortly before the segment where he is actually supposed to get married, footage goes viral of his fiance Sha Hualing swapping spit with rival starlette Liu Mingyan.

So when Luo Binghe gets on stage, he decides to point out a random person from the crowd and marry that person instead.

He picks out math teacher Shen Yuan, who ostensibly only came to this concert because his meimei is a huge Sha Hualing fan and didn't want to go alone. (Lies -- he bought the tickets well in advance, and is a madly obsessed Binghe fanboy.)

OR

Wangxian "Marry Me" AU where idol princess Jiang Yanli is all set to marry corporately-arranged match Jin Zixuan in a big public event, except Jin Zixuan jilts her at the altar.

To cover it up and save his foster sister's identity, controversial rockstar Wei Wuxian "hijacks" the wedding and declares that actually this whole thing was a cover-up so that he could get gay-married to his secret lover and former rival from their teen years, Lan Wangji! Otherwise their management teams would stop them! Of course this is a lie, he's barely been able to speak to LWJ for the past ten years, but he's planning for Lan Wangji to turn him down in disgust and to be like 'oh no he broke up with me' and keep the gossip columns focused on that rather than Jiang Yanli's humiliation.

Except, then Lan Wangji gets on stage and uh... marries him?

OR

Hualian "Marry Me" AU where famous celebrity duo Xie Lian and Jun Wu are supposed to get married in a big public celebration/concert, only for someone backstage to film Jun Wu locked in a heated embrace with Xie Lian's own manager, Mei Nianqing.

Midway through dealing with this public reveal and trying to decide if he's still going to go through with the wedding or not, some of the hastily-erected scaffolding above the stage gives out, and Xie Lian ends up catching the (presumed) production worker who basically drops out of the sky and into his arms.

Taking it as a sign from the heavens, Xie Lian marries this random 'San Lang' instead. (San Lang is in fact a wanted criminal named Hua Cheng who broke into concert.)

[vodkassassin]

Are you still taking prompts? SVSSS with LQG as LBH's shizun lol

I think this one got away from me....

“You ruined him,” Shang Qinghua exclaims, aghast, the first time he sees Liu Qingge’s brand new, first and only disciple.

The Bai Zhan peak lord grunts, offended. “I’ve only had him for two months,” he objects. “I haven’t had time to ruin him.”

Two feet away from them, Shen Qingqiu pivots from where he has been, not holding a conversation with, but staring down an increasingly anxious Secr Leader Yue. He snaps open his fan and holds it before his face, raising an eyebrow at them. He’s been doing that a lot more than usual, recently, ever since the fever. Shang Qinghua has suspicions.

“Liu-shidi has been doing an exemplary job with his new disciple,” the lord of Qing Jing peak says, to the dismay of everyone around him.

Behind his back, two peak lords glumly hand over a handful of coins to a smug looking Qi Qingqi. Bets had been placed on how long the ‘amnesia’ Mu Qingfang had diagnosed Shen-shidi with would hold out before his cruel and acidic nature would once again come forth. Standing up for and complimenting the teaching skills of Liu Qingge was the absolute antithesis of that.

Shang Qinghua has so many suspicions.

“You’re just happy you don’t have that lunatic disciple tearing up your scholarly peak,” the peak lord of the brewery peak, who’s name Shang Qinghua continuously keeps forgetting despite knowing the man for nearly sixty years already.

Shen Qingqiu narrows a look at the man. His fan flutters. “Define ‘don’t’.”

Which is true! Despite having been chosen for Bai Zhan during the selection exams, thirteen year old Luo Binghe has been seen on Qing Jing peak far too often for it to be accidental. The boy just won’t stay away, and furthermore (in an odd twist of events that Shang Qinghua can’t make sense of) doggedly walks in the Qing Jing peak lord as often as circumstance will allow. It drives Shen Qingqiu visibly mad.

“Aren’t you glad,” Shang Qinghua begins, turning his face away as to avoid the suddenly simmering glare his fan-waving shixiong is pinning him with, “that you decided not to take him for your peak after all?”

“It’s not like I had a choice.” Shen Qingqiu sniffs, and then admits, “Truly, it must have been a warning from the gods. I thank them every day for stopping me from making that mistake.”

“Your qi deviation did hit you rather abruptly,” Mu Qingfang murmurs thoughtfully, standing shoulder to shoulder with a slightly richer Qi Qingqi. “There were barely any warning signs. Usually it takes a few days at least for the deviation to get that bad.”

“I’m counting it as divine intervention,” Shen Qingqiu says.

“He’s not that bad,” Liu Qingge tries. The rest of them turn to stare at him incredulously.

“Have you,” Shang Qinghua starts, voice high and stressed, “... have you seen the lumber count? The tree density of your peak has been bulldozed by thirty percent! In two months! Liu-shidi!”

Shen Qingqiu eyes him sharply, but steps back to allow Mu Qingfang to edge closer to him, supposedly in case another nervous breakdown is showing its face. C’mon, Mu-shidi! Shang Qinghua isn’t that delicate!

“What’s a bulldoze,” Liu Qingge asks flaty, and Shang Qinghua makes a small, desperate sound in his throat.

“If I have to file any more arboreal conservation reports in the next decade, I’m going to go to Bai Zhan peak and shave it clean of trees myself.” Shang Qinghua states.

Shen Qingqiu snorts. Actually snorts. The gathered peak lords stare at him in astonishment, and a few more coins exchange hands with a very pleased-looking Qi Qingqi.

“Bald Zhan peak,” the scholarly master mumbles under his breath, and Shang Qinghua abandons his nightmarish daydream of a towering stack of paperwork in order to break into wheezing laughter.

“This is too weird,” the brewery peak lord mutters, edging away from them all. “I’m going to go watch Liu-shixiong’s new disciple pulverize the ranks of his martial siblings.”

“I’ll go with you,” Yue Qingyuan quickly offers, and the two of them, joined by a few others, are fast to disappear.

[chaoticgoodlawyerwrites]

Finally started a writing blog! Hopefully this give me some incentive to update a bit more frequently... 😅

Fandom: Scum Villain

Ship: Bingqiu, background Moshang

Summary: When it was all said and done, Shen Qingqiu comforted himself that the end of the plot meant that, surely, all major events were out of the way. They were firmly in HEA territory and he could relax a little. Right? Right.

A year and a half into his marriage to the protagonist, he cursed himself for a fool when he woke next to a Luo Binghe from ten years in the past.

Meanwhile, a recently transmigrated Shen Yuan struggled to retain what little face he had when confronted with an overgrown, disturbingly gorgeous demon lord claiming to be his husband. Which is impossible, because he’s straight, the most hetero heterosexual to exist. System? A little help here??

Status: 6/7 Chapters Posted

Sequels: Yes! They will be mutually exclusive timelines (all with LBH and SQQ ending up together, but different ships) branching out from this story.

Excerpt below the break (from chapter 2).

He was kissing the protagonist.

Oh, what the fuck.

Before Shen Qingqiu could gather himself to pull away (because holy shit, what the fuck, what the fuck was he doing!), a loud noise made him jerk back abruptly with a gasp.

Luo Binghe seemed unconcerned with the commotion, eyes not leaving his face and fingers lightly stroking his cheek with such care that it made Shen Qingqiu almost want to believe the wild assertion that they were married. “So beautiful.”

“How–“ are you here was what he intended to say when his bedroom door was knocked off its hinges. He turned and saw Liu Qingge standing in the threshold, breaths heavy and eyes flicking between him and Luo Binghe.

He then realized what this looked like.

Shameless, he was so shameless! Shen Qingqiu groped at his dressing table blindly for a fan. To his surprise, Luo Binghe placed one gently in his hand. He shot him a grateful look in response only to immediately regret it.

Binghe! Why do you look so smug!

Oh, what the fuck.

“Liu-shishu,” Luo Binghe all but purred at his martial uncle. “Interesting that you’re here first. My money was on the Sect Leader.”

What?

“Get away from him,” Liu Qingge demanded, drawing Cheng Luan to Shen Qingqiu’s great alarm.

If there was one thing that could snap Shen Qingqiu back into a situation, it was a threat to the inner sanctum he had created in this insane world. “No, no! I don’t know what you think you’re doing, Liu-shidi, but you will not be fighting in my home!”

“I am removing an intruder.”

All formalities forgotten, Shen Qingqiu snapped. “It's my bedroom! You would think I would know better who is an intruder here than you!”

Both Shen Qingqiu and Liu Qingge blushed at his words. Even Luo Binge looked at him in pleased surprise before somehow radiating even more smugness towards the other Peak Lord.

He couldn’t take this anymore. He was at his limit. “Both of you! Get out! I need to think and I want to eat my breakfast in peace.”

“…”

“What’s that look?” Shen Qingqiu demanded.

“…You were going to eat that?”

Luo Binghe winced.

“What. Did you do. To my food.”

Liu Qingge looked at him like he had a few screws loose. “You really would have eaten food from this man?”

“It’s Binghe! I eat his food every day!”

“Did you miss the fact that he’s clearly not your teenage disciple or did he enchant you to forget?”

Luo Binghe scoffed. “First, you’re underestimating Shizun’s ability if you think he could be bespelled so easily. Second, I don’t need magic to distract my husband when a touch would do.”

“…”

Shen Qingqiu kicked them both out with all the dignity he could muster, which wasn’t much after Luo Binghe’s pronouncement. He was doing his best to pretend nothing was said because otherwise he felt his face would melt off, but that didn’t stop even Shen Qingqiu’s elegant body from going beet red. The shamelessness really was too much!!

Once his house was otherwise empty, Shen Qingqiu at his table (sans breakfast, damn you, Liu-shidi!) and buried his face in his hands. System? What the hell is happening?

[Thank you for contacting the System! Host is participating in the Special Event, “Back to the Future,” triggered by an alternate version of Host for his success in the mission “Marital Bliss!” Please enjoy your limited time with the alternate version of the Protagonist while you can!]

…

ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT I’M ACTUALLY MARRIED TO LUO BINGHE?!?

[Yes, the Host that triggered this Event has been married to the Protagonist for one year, five months, and eighteen days, and remains the Protagonist’s only intended spouse.]

O-oooh my god. Oh, My God! What the fuck, what the fuck. But I don’t like men!

[This System would like to convey the human emotion, “doubt.”]

[tossawary]

The game is over! The jig is up! MXTX Remix 2021 creators have been revealed! If you guessed right, congratulations, you found me! If you made a guess at all, thank you for playing and thank you so much for the cool new fic recs! Here are the details for sticker requests: 

TL;DR: The detailed info is mostly to help curb any anxiety. The summary of it is: “Send me an ask with 1-2 characters, a pose or concept, and let me know whether or not you want to remain anonymous.”

1) Send me an ask with the following information: 

Note: Your ask can’t be anonymous because I have to know who is sending it. 

- PLEASE INCLUDE: The character or relationship/pairing of your choice (so: two character limit) I’ve only read SVSSS and MDZS, but I will tentatively allow TGCF characters on the condition that you send me decent reference of the characters. 

- Optional: Reference for a specific preferred design of that character, which you can either include in the ask (if you know how to include images in asks) or link to me through Tumblr messenger. I will not copy anyone else’s fan design of that character or copy someone else’s art that reminds you of a character, but other people’s art can serve as a “I generally imagine this character as looking like this” inspiration reference. 

If it’s an easily accessible design, like, “Untamed Wei Wuxian” or “Donghua Liu Qingge”, you don’t have to send me a photo or a link to photo reference. If it’s just something like, “Luo Binghe, but with ram’s horns” or “Luo Binghe, but with SUPER curly hair, just SUPER curly”, then you can also just say it like that and don’t have to send me reference. 

Note: NOT optional for TGCF characters. TGCF characters need reference. 

- Optional: A concept for the sticker, suggesting a pose or an AU, like, “Sha Hualing in the Sailor Moon pose” or “Liu Mingyan in an Alphonse Mucha pose” or “Mobei-Jun holding Shang Qinghua transformed into a hamster” or “Lan Wangji with A-Yuan on his hip” or “Jin Guangyao Valentine’s Day Card”. 

If you don’t have any ideas for a pose or an AU, you can just say something like: “Character: Jiang Cheng. Pose: Surprise me.” 

- PLEASE INCLUDE: Whether you want me to @ you (or to just name you) when your request is fulfilled or if you’d prefer to remain anonymous. If you would prefer to remain anonymous, you can just finish off the ask with: “I’d like this to be an anonymous request, please!” 

When the sticker design is finished and posted to my Tumblr, I will reply privately to your ask to let you know that the request has been fulfilled. 

2) Limits on requests: 

- No sexual or suggestive poses. Affectionate poses like hugging or kissing or sleeping together are fine. Casual/non-sexual upper body nudity is fine (male or female or other, I just may have to blur it for Tumblr and send you the original privately), such as along the lines of outfit swaps and so on. I’m not drawing porn and I’m just personally not in the headspace for pin-up poses right now, so please lean it towards Safe For Work. 

- No graphic violence and no gore. I’m not making any Original Shen Qingqiu Human Stick stickers or anything, sorry. Undead characters like Wen Ning are fine. A request for “Fierce Corpse Wen Qing” would be fine. 

- No underage pairings. No incest. No assault/non-con requests like “This pairing kissing, but Character A is visibly not into it”. And so on and so forth. Let’s keep this more lighthearted, please, for my sake. 

- Animals are fine. A request for “Tianlang-Jun napping on Zhuzhi-Lang in snake form” or “Nie Huaisang and a songbird” would be fine. 

- Animalsonas, anthropomorphic animals, and “furry” stuff along those lines is also fine, so “Aggretsuko-style Shen Qingqiu” would be fine and “Mobei-Jun with polar bear features” would be fine. 

In the unlikely event that I cannot fulfill your particular request (it crosses a personal line that hadn’t occurred to me and that you couldn’t have foreseen), or if you send me a request that doesn’t respect these limits, I’ll just contact you and ask you to make another request. 

3) Other Stuff: 

- People have my permission to print off these sticker designs for themselves and their friends to stick on laptops or notebooks or the like, or to turn the sticker into a personal icon (with credit) or similar types of personal use. You do not have my permission to sell these sticker designs or to profit off them in any fashion. The drawings remain mine and the characters, of course, belong to neither of us. Just getting that out of the way. 

- When making the request, you understand that I get to the sticker request when I get to the sticker request. I have a limited number of hours in my day. I don’t foresee fulfilling these requests taking very long, but I’m not going to rush them all out as priority number one in my life. 

- I had such an excellent time with the MXTX Remix and with this guessing game, so I am leaning towards allowing all participants to make sticker requests at a later date, perhaps in a month or two months or so, when I will be hopefully less busy than I am now. For now, however, please only make a sticker request of me if you guessed correctly! 

Thank you! 

[writing-frenzy]

I Wouldn’t Risk It (SVSSS Fic)

Summery: In which one annoyed Shang Huan does not know why he puts up with a certain Demonic Cultivator- “I owe you.” ah, that’s right.

Warning: some Violence and blood, and cursing. All good things to be found in svsss canon~

(In which @hamelin-born is a terrible, wonderful enabler, thus this is how it came about.)

EDIT: Part of Wager verse, first Part HERE

----

“Welcome to- oh wait it’s you.” Shang Huan started to greet some incoming customers, only to give the pair that came in a flat look instead.

“Greetings Uncle Shang!” Cao Mei, an actually adorable raven haired girl, her purple eyes so dark one could almost think they were black if it weren’t for certain lighting here and there. Puberty was obviously treating her well, seeing she must have been 19 at least, was developing some curves, her baby fat also finally melted off. But despite this, Shang Huan was unmoved, as for one, he wasn’t a fucking pedo, and two, he could easily see that same matching intelligence and calculation she inherited from her grandfather’s own dark purple eyes.

As expected of Wife #45; not only a knock out beauty in the making, but even had more IQ points then most, along with a more developed character and backstory then a lot of his later wife plots.

Though, he could admit he was taken off guard with her story then most; the cause of that being one certain person-

“I see the place hasn’t burnt down yet; congratulations for that.” was huffed by said anomaly, making Shang Huan focus his deadpan face on the other.

“Thanks, my kitchen staff is always trying though.” and no sooner were the words spoken, then what sounded like multiple firecrackers going off in said kitchen... He could even swear he saw what looked like a blue firework of a bird fly out from there, before one of his handy golems ate it as it passed...

Closing his eyes, Shang Huan counted to three, before opening them once more; he would never be able to count as high as he really wanted, but time was rarely on his side, so three it was. Hazel eyes once more opening, Shang Huan was able to look at a source of many headaches, one Dark Poison Sect Leader, Cao Xiaowen, a true doting grandfather who still looked like he was only in his late 20s, his blood red hair peppered with black from all the resentful energy surrounding him, and greys from stress of life actually catching up with him.

And a character that was never in Proud Immortal Demon Way, but yet again from one of his other stories; a Demonic Sect Leader that had just been a random background character, just to flesh out that world a bit more. He had only named because while he could get away without naming the Sect the guy made, it wouldn’t make sense to have Cao Xiaowen be nameless, seeing as he had bullshited a whole bunch of techniques this infamous and well known demonic cultivator was supposed to have made...

Making a face at that smiling face before him, Shang Huan felt some regrets; just some more to add to his pile stashed in his closet and under his floorboards, but what can one do? Especially with a story that seems to make sure he can never forget any of them, always seeming to push willing to push cheery, willful mistakes into his face.

i.e. the Demonic Sect Leader before him.

But then again, to see these two characters, Cao Xiaowen and Cao Mei connect here, in this living world of PIDW and other mash ups, was honestly rather amazing, just with Demonic Cultivation and the same last names... It was as fascinating as it was paranoia inducing. Cao Mei had been just another revenge wife plot, the young woman wanting vengeance against her Mother for killing her loved family members along with trying to kill her... as well as to save her young baby brother, who their Mother was trying to mold into her perfect image of Sect Leader. The girl had only been able to survive for as long as she did because one of her dying relatives had sacrificed themselves, turning themselves into her Spirit Familiar and protecting her...

.... And as for Cao Xiaowen, when he had mentioned how he went down in his end in his own story verse, Airplane had only said that it was due to betrayal and sacrifice, that being the only ending he gave the character...

(How many other fucking throwaway lines does he have to worry about ohmygodwhyisthishislife-)  

“...So, why do you choose now to darken my doorway?” Shang Huan asked, the unspoken ‘I-know-you-hate-this-place-much-less-willing-to-bring-your-beloved-granddaughter-with-you.’ not said, but easily heard.

“... You would be glad to know, but I must now introduce you to Sect Leader of the Dark Poison Sect, Cao Meihui.” Cao Xiaowen introduced as he motioned to the young girl. Shang Huan stared for but a moment before closing his eyes once more, even as whispers broke out all around them in his place, from the gambling tables to even the bar and restaurant.

This time he allowed himself to count to 10, as a treat.

“Follow me this way, Elder Cao, Sect Leader Cao.” and with a simple hand motion, a few of his workers already getting things done, the Ruby Room already to entertain his ‘guests’. It didn’t take to long after all, with his standards and staff precision, but he needed to make sure there was nothing to spy on in this conversation.

Because oh, does he have a lot to say right now.

Once the door was closed and all the silences spells and talismans in place, Shang Huan rounded on the now sitting pair, letting his hands slam on the service table before him.

“Can you not?!” Shang Huan seethed, even as Cao Xiaowen grinned, his heir now leader beside him shifting ever so slightly beside him, smartly making some space between them.

“Why, Shang Huan, what ever do you mean?”

“You politic in my place again and I will make sure to show the world just how much I can beat you into the ground.” was practically growled, Cao Xiaowen smartly raising his hands in surrender as he did. “Why the hell did you even need to do that, didn’t you already get the stalker bitch killed and dispersed last year? I distinctly remember being there for the mad ramblings.” 

-Urgh- he never wanted that much TMI into someone’s deluded sexual fantasies, especially rounding around this who-me? Demonic Cultivator! Body stealing and marrying the guy’s son just to get a possible chance at him, and then killing him and half his family when she still couldn’t get what she wanted to spite him?

Shang Huan doesn’t move, but that still doesn’t mean he’s not fighting a shiver of repulsion at the thought. Seeing the way Cao Xiaowen grimaced at the reminder, Shang Huan was actually starting to feel in a better mood. 

“While she and most of her supporters are now gone, traces of those who still hold sympathies for her and her ideals still remain.” the man scowled, even as he took out a small sachet, handing the small plain back over as he did.

Hmmm, spicy roasted melon seeds; say what you will about the man, he did know his bribes at least.

“They’re also trying to push my little didi to be the next Sect Leader, even though he never wanted it in the first place!” Cao Meihui scowled in turn, taking out a beautiful, yet still deadly battle fan to fan herself. “Really, he has suffered enough under that woman’s ‘care’, he should be able to choose however he wishes to live in life!”

Shang Huan doesn’t even wince at those words, even as he thinks on the poor fate of canon fodder Cao Yun, a young boy desperate to leave his harsh home circumstances, even joining a certain Righteous Sect set to be doomed and destroyed, loosing his home once again and setting him in turn on a doomed quest to stop Luo Binghe...

Well, considering the boy had left home at 15, and had only just turned that this year, maybe that path could be prevented; there were still plenty of other Sects still up and running when his protagonist came into power, maybe he could join one of those?

Still though, maybe he should give the kid a transportation talisman for his birthday; you can never have too many of those after all.

“That still does not explain why you had to announce Young Mei right in front of my store.”

“Please, it’s the perfect place too; not many completely neutral places around anymore, what with Hua Hua Palace trying to police everyone and dragging the other Righteous Sects into it... Speaking of which, they haven’t bothered you after last time, have they?” Cao Xiaowen asks, with what looks like could be actual concern in his eyes.... Ha-

“I’m pretty sure they won’t forget my warding anytime soon; not to mention the rest of the towns folk’s farewells.” Shang Huan replies dryly, remembering just how all those golden pricks were beautifully thrown from his store, some of his staff even joining in on the beatdown the protection brought forth. If he remembers right, it soon became a whole town wide event to run them all out. 

And when you have a whole town seemingly a melting pot filled with Spiritual beings, humans, and demons, they definitely are going to have their wounds to lick.

“But again, my place is, as you said Neutral; so why are you bringing in politics here? Announcements of a new Sect Leader should be only at official events or places that one is already allied with after all.” The Owner of the Gilded Plane asks lightly, those hazel eyes taking on a deadly touch, like molten liquid gold is taking over bronze, a sunset of colors being the last of the sky you will ever see, easily to see it all reflected in the blade at his side.

(Ah, how terrifying, seeing the threat of Fortune’s Favored all out to bare, Dujin Xue at his side, the spirit weapon willing and bloodthirsty to take out any threat to its master.)

For a moment, all is silent, before finally, the red haired cultivator takes from his sleeves, a few boxes simple in their decorations and yet obviously of the finest Jade.

“I almost forgot; I have with me some of the finest of Blight and Poison Talismans with me, not to mention my newest creations; a Pipa made with Blood Drain White Wood and using heart strings of an abyssal creature, painted with curse residue.” Cao Xiaowen motions to an opened box with said black and purple instrument with white accents, truly a work of art and power, even unbound as it is, no master to really work those deadly strings just yet.

Another box is soon opened as well, revealing a twin pair of daggers, their blades white with a beautiful red handle for a hilt. “Not to mention these Ancient Necromancer’s Bone Daggers, recently uncovered in an old tomb, plenty of resentful energy and dark desires just waiting to be unveiled in any upcoming battle, madness in but a cut to be delivered...” the former Sect Leader says, a bit of sweat coming from his brow, those dark eyes uneasy even as he hides behind his bluster and charm. His granddaughter, Cao Meihui watches intently, her own dark eyes worried even as she is awed by her beloved grandfather’s work, and the man who can make him so nervous. 

The one Fortune’s Favored watches and listens, and waits, even as he is showcased all the wares most people would die to get their hands on, each item worth more then most lives to some.

“... I will give you a warning and you will be Marked for it; there will be no next time if you try and pull this stunt again, you hear me Xiaowen?” Shang Huan allows, eyes turning back into that warm and soft hazel, even as he sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose as he does. Well, at least he now has more good things in store for his gambling patrons, who will no doubt go crazy for these goods.

(Never noticing how the familial pair relax, a breath of relief taken for their own that this gambit actually worked, even if they are now Marked by all the staff.

Best behavior is a must for now at least.) 

-----+----- 

~15 Years ago~

Cao Xiaowen, once just regular Cao Xiao, was a man most would never dare cross; as a Demonic Cultivator, you wouldn’t even be able to escape through death. He had cultivated carefully along his chosen path, having no talent for what was Righteous roads, so turned down to darker paths and alleys to get what he wanted. He had been smart about it, and equally talented for Demonic Cultivation, becoming a Bounty Hunter to be able to hide just what practices he used.

Not only did it get him much needed gold, but the resentful energy and blood of the wicked were quiet useful on his path. Unlike other Demonic Cultivators that sought to take in the energies as fast as possible to form their Obsidian Cores, killing innocents, and eventually needing Cauldrons in the end to balance themselves and to go farther in their Cultivation, Cao Xiaowen went for a more steadfast pace.

He first started with crafting items of Resentful energy, talismans and amulets to get a better feel for the delicacies of the energy he chose to work with. With time and effort, along with plenty of meditation and blood on his hands, he found a cultivation path that suited him rather well, untraditional as it was for the usual brutal force most Demonic Cultivators usually went. His path was like a slow acting poison, letting the wicked energies ever so carefully, ever so gently gather into his meridians, building up a steady foundation before he ever focused on building his Core.

And the results for it were astounding; when compared to traditional Demonic Cultivators, not only could Cao Xiaowen hold his own with those stages above his own, he could beat even those whose Cultivation that was said to be an entire level above him. Not to mention just how devastating his spells and attacks were against those of the Righteous Sects.

It was no surprise that when he founded his own Sect, he had plenty of disciples to chose and pick from...But he wasn’t stupid.

He knew he had plenty of enemies all around him, some just jealous of his power, others hateful of just how he got it, being a Demonic Cultivator was a sin for some even if he only went after criminals. That he was a rather attractive even as his red hair was peppered black and grey, and even a few tigers acting like pigs to be fatten all came for him in the end. He knows people were waiting in the shadows, eager to take him down and steal everything he worked for, salivating over his abilities and life work...

Though despite it all, he never expected the betrayal to come so close to home.

“P-papa.” was stuttered out by his honestly rather adorable Granddaughter, the young four year old sobbing as she reached for him; his daughter in law smiling all the while even as she held one of his crafted knives to the little girl’s throat. He had to give it to her, not many women could still look so devastatingly beautiful, covered as they were in their husband’s blood. He never expected the raven haired woman to be so ruthless, honestly sure the woman loved his son.

Looks like he still has errors in his judgement, even at his age; taken off guard on what he though would be a simple material gathering mission, only to be crippled and threatened by a woman he thought he could trust even as she slit his beloved child’s throat before his eyes.

“You really shouldn’t have refused me all those years ago; this all could have been avoided if you had just agreed to be mine... oh well, too late for regrets.” The woman mourns softly, making Cao Xiaowen feel his brow crinkle, dark eyes confused.

But trying to parse the words of the mad woman was not something he had time for, seeing as his lovely little granddaughter was suddenly in his arms, the both of them finding themselves being pushed off a cliff, and into the Broken Jaw Ravine.

Using what remained of his spiritual energy in his blighted Obsidian Core, Cao Xiaowen was fully prepared to become his dear granddaughter’s Familiar Spirit to protect her...

When in the end, it turned out unnecessary; they ended up landing in a Spirit Capture Net. And judging by the pure color and Qi he could feel running through it, a high quality one at that. Feeling how it blocked him from using any of his spiritual energy and Qi, he looked to his darling dear grandchild, the (forcibly) retired Sect Leader couldn’t help but feel so relieved to see her shaken, but well at least in body.

And then he heard the cursing.

“What in the fuck you soggy old vulture of a corpse! Curses on your fucking clothing to never be nice and pristine, to always stub your toe on the corner, to be miserable even when you have your favorite food! Do you know how long it took to make that net?! Could you have fallen somewhere else? No, of course the skies would decide to shit on me with some young man in my beautifully crafted net! Probably jumped off for the heck of it knowing how fucking dumb most Demonic Cultivators are! ARRRHGGGG YOU DAMN WALNUT!” was practically ranted below them, a young brunet man yelling up at him, who couldn’t be more then in his 20′s. (Though rather impressively at the Peak of Core Formation from what he could sense.)

As it was, two pairs of dark eyes could only give the ranting rouge a wide eyed stare, even when, in the end, the young man let them down, hazel eyes narrowed in on them. He raised one brow at his child that was with him, but easily narrowed them back onto Cao Xiaowen’s own.

Ah, he could probably sense his power (use his weakness).

“So, this is how it is going to go down. I’ll help heal you and your kid, won’t even leave her in debt... tho your ass is mine; I say jump, you better do it and ask if this is high enough. You will owe me till the end of your day and then some, and in return I will benevolently help you out. You agree or should I leave you and the kid here for any unpleasant fates?” was the rather grumpy, if smartly given offer, Cao Xiaowen finding he can’t help but respect it, even as crudely as it was put. Looking down to his innocent little Cao Mei, the grandfather could only nod at the offer, no other recourse that could ensure his little gem a better chance at life.

And thus marked the first meeting between the terrible and powerful Dark Poison Sect Leader Cao Xiaowen, and the Rogue Cultivator Shang Huan, who would one day have a title even greater then his own.

Amazing really, how some things start (and others end).

-----

:D Here we are, another story from this verse; it was really fun! (even if I actually had to create a damn timeline to make sure everything was straight TTxTT)

Anyways, here is an ally of Airplane! Their relationship can be described as.

Shang Huan: Why do I put up with you again?

Cao Xiaowen: Because I have the best gifts bitch. *Inwardly sweaty*

But Also-

Cao Xiaowen: So... Demonic Cultivating involves a lot of... Dual Cultivating huh... And are those innocents being brutally murdered over there?

Rando: Yeah, ain’t it great? :D

Cao Xiaowen: ... *proceeds to make a cultivation path that involves as little Dual Cultivation as needed while also being one of the nicest ironically* Ah, that is better, better get more wicked blood~

These two were really fun to write together, and with PIDW, I can make as many ocs as I want~ So much to do, so much to play with~

Oh yeah, Shang Hua’s blade, Dujin Xue means Gilded Blood :3

Cao I picked for being a common last name, while Xiaowen means red skies. Mei means red gem, but for Meihui I liked the meaning of monstrous/demonic beauty~ As you can see, I had fun~ 

[dongjus-sparkle]

SVSSS Read through 📖

Chap 5 - Chap 15

SPOILERS OBVIOUSLY

Let's go!

■Chapter 5■

• Mission time!!

• "don’t you know you’re exactly like that mission-giving NPC?" 🤣

• Nice. Shen Qingqiu complained earlier about cultivators using horses and carriages when he was reviewing the book. It is a bit weird, but 🤷🏻‍♀️

• "Ming Fan was truly well-versed in being a piece of cannon fodder." His entire character so far.

• The Skinner. Sounds like an exciting arc is starting.

• Ohhhhhh loopholes in the system's OOC function. He's coming up with every workaround to be nice to Luo Binghe and everyone is SHOCKED.

• AND we already have Luo Binghe being like 'he's good to look at' 🤣

• -5 points for smILING?! Rude.

■Chapter 6■

• "He didn’t like looking at an old man in his sixties and a teenage girl fondling each other in front of him at all!" Good I'm not the only one.

• Of course Ning Yingying went missing. So far she just accidentally starts trouble over and over again.

• "Fuck, if there’s an Easy Mode why didn’t you say so earlier! Activate activate activate!" Honestly a mood.

• Get's knocked out just to be taunted by the system OOC: -50 Points.

•WHY IS HE NAKED.

■Chapter 7■

• Oh good not totally naked.

• Immediately guesses correctly who The Skinner is and then just waits for the classic boss narrative. I love Shen Qingqiu 😚

• Ohhh. The butterfly demon is clever! Using Shen Qingqiu as their next skin so that they can use the Xiu Ya Sword to make themselves stronger 👏 but then they just gave away the entire plan.

• Luo Binghe sees Shen Qingqiu half naked, vulnerable, and tied up 👀

• Please tell me there's a reason you're directing the Butterfly toward Luo Binghe with your weird roundabout complements~~

■Chapter 8■

• Exploits the systems rule that only Luo Binghe can't die, but then complains about what a cop out it will be for the reader 😅

• "...Just praised you and you said something stupid again. Please don’t talk about how to release your enemy"

• I forgot that he set the mission to easy mode!

• "Even if something does happen, nothing will happen to you.” hi. They're being cute again.

•Earning a whole bunch of points and disabling OOC function. Shen Qingqiu having free control, I sense chaos in the wind~

• He gave Luo Binghe the right cultivation methods. The best master. 💗

■Chap 9■

• Enters the spirit cave to find a way to cultivate, immediately had to deal with someone's Qi deviation.

• 'Congratulations! The system’s notice: Changed the scene ‘Liu Qingge’s death,’ the death and hatred values for the villain ‘Shen Qingqiu’ have decreased' OHHHHH he can change whole scenes and his character!

• Each of the peaks is know for their own thing thats cool. There is an Ascetic peak? And a Lovley Ladies peak 🤣🤣

• I love Shen Qingqiu being devastated by Liu Qingge not being a big tough guy.

• Every single person when Shen Qingqiu is being genuinely nice: 😱🧐

■Chapter 10■

• Shen Qingqiu sees Luo Binghe: oh good he's here! When he sees the leader of the demon invasion: "Don't your feet hurt?"

• I think I need to see some art of the Demon Saint Sha Hualing. Her description is mint. 💃🏻

• Here we go again with the making your character be less like scum. HUM. I wonder if that will change the plot...

■Chapter 11■

•Shen Qingqiu out here getting all fancy fighting the one armed demon with just his fan. God that's style.

• Luo Binghe being like 👀🤩💘

•OH NO NOT HIS COOL LEVEL 🤣

• She is so beautiful that she has to wear a veil all the time. Damn. Thats powerful.

•Shen Qingqiu then just fawns over both the future wives of Luo Binghe being in his presence. "The beauty of an Evil demon girl’s wild and unrestrained behavior can make him drunk; the Righteous saint girl wavering between abstinence and desire letting people’s hearts itch." Dramatic ass

■Chapter 12■

• Everyone thinks he's crazy for calling Binghe forward to fight. And they basically beg him to forfit so he doesn't die... but didn't we say earlier that the protagonist can't die.

• Binghe really takes it to heart every time Qingqiu says he believes he'll make it through.

• He's mad that Binghe didn't win even more cool points 😆

• The demon is so mad he lost and was shamed that he decides it would be a good idea to slight up attack Luo Binghe again. Demon logic.

• "These righteous and awe-inspiring words didn’t just make the demons speechless; in his heart, even Shen Qingqiu’s own old face turned dark red." And I'm sure broke Binghe's brain a little bit.

• Binghe literally: 🤩🤩😍 He saved me again, and be believes in me 💘

• AGAIN?

■Chapter 13■

•He can't stop himself from jumping in front of Luo Binghe again and again.......

• "In his mind and heart there was a string of scrolling fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck brushed all over the screen." Honestly I'd think the same id I was poisoned.

• Luo Binghe is PISSED.

• "Shizun, this disciple is willing to receive the attack in your stead.” 😵 "Since you know this injury is because of you, you should properly protect your own life!” ☠💀☠💀

• Liu Qingge is like, oh, you wanted to run away after attacking us unprompted. No.

• Improves his own role, then sees Binghe crying for him, immediately regrets his decision, passes out.

■Chapter 14■

•Luo Binghe watching his Shizun from as far away as possible is sad.

• Shen Qingqiu is just now seeing how much he's changed the story. And how the future events scare him. Whooo.

• "Luo Binghe immediately ran to the kitchen. The congee that he remade every hour these days finally came of use." 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯 Oh no. He's like fully committed.

• The flirting is RIDICULOUS. "Why don't I make you something new everyday" 😫

• Shen Qingqiu realizes that's his best pickup line in the original story, but being all, what a guy, why not!

• Him trying to get away with not pushing Luo Binghe into the Abyss.

•You're telling me that in the original book that having set with a half demon half great cultivator is the cure. And that that helps him level up?

■Chapter 15■

• Liu Qingge and Shen Qingqiu being brothers is cute. But even he thought that Qingqiu might be possessed

• Ming Fan is so mad hearing positive words about Luo Binghe from Shen Qingqiu that he throws a fit. Abd Binghe just accepts it. Hes the best boy.

•The name Dream Realm........ I wonder where this could possibly go!

[delicioussshame]

Still finishing old stuff. Have some reverse sex pollen.

Luo Binghe is crying and Shen Qingqiu can’t even comfort him. “Your husband isn’t mad. Mu-shidi said the effects would disappear by themselves in two weeks. We’ve been apart longer. It will be fine.”

Between sobs, Luo Binghe tries to speak. “It’s not the same! “

Of course it’s not the same, but they’ve been caught in much worse predicaments before. “Binghe is strong. He can handle it. Would it be easier on him if he returned to the demon realm and I remained at the sect by myself?”

“No! If I can’t even touch my husband, I at least want him by my side.”

“Then, this is where this master shall remain.”

Binghe reaches for him, and like all times before, he flinches in revulsion as soon as his hand brushes against Shen Qingqiu’s skin.

He starts crying even harder. “What if Shizun starts thinking I don’t love him anymore?”

Shen Qingqiu taps him with his fan. As long as their skin doesn’t touch, Binghe should be fine. “Where did he get the idea this master was this stupid? Luo Binghe has been poisoned. Of course I understand it’s not his fault.”

Luo Binghe sniffles. “Shizun doesn’t mind?”

Shen Qingqiu will never tell him he might be looking forward to two whole weeks of undisturbed rest. Sure, he’ll probably miss more casual forms of affection, but he’s pretty certain it won’t be anywhere near as hard for him as it will be for Luo Binghe. “I don’t. We’ll get through this.”

Luo Binghe wipes his eyes in a frustrated gesture. “If Shizun says so, it must be true.”

_____________

Shen Qingqiu never realised how often he actually touched his husband until he has to stop himself from doing it. Two days in, and the way Luo Binghe recoils when Shen Qingqiu forgets himself is already getting on his nerves.

It’s just that Shen Qingqiu always touched Luo Binghe. Redressing his clothes, arranging his hair, patting his shoulders. He always did it without thinking twice about it. He can’t remember how often he wiped tears off his weepy eyes.

Now all of this is forbidden to him.

It’s annoying.

_____________

Five days in, and Shen Qingqiu finds his gaze lingering on his husband. He has to shake himself away from his plush lips, his muscled frame, his large hands.

He’s being ridiculous and he knows it. Luo Binghe is the sticky one! It’s only been a few days. And his disciple is right here! He can talk with him whenever he wants. It should be more than enough.

He thought Luo Binghe would whine more. He thought he would keep on crying, lamenting that it’s a crime that he can’t have his husband. He thought Luo Binghe would be the one to snatch his hand back in dismay.

He was wrong. Luo Binghe is dealing with their situation much better than he expected. In fact, he seems content with their platonic cohabitation. He cooks for Shen Qingqiu like he always does, cleans around the house, chats with him happily.

Maybe he should have expected it. After all, his husband is the one whose desire for touch has been annihilated.

But surely he must feel lonely when he goes to bed in his childhood bedroom?

Shen Qingqiu does. His bed is cold without Luo Binghe to exude warmth.

He spends a lot of time cultivating.

_____________

There’s only two days left.

Shen Qingqiu can’t wait.

As much as it pains him to admit it, Luo Binghe trained him well. He’s used to sating the protagonist’s needs. He went so far as thinking about just… taking care of things quickly to help.

He didn’t, because he knows Luo Binghe would find out and tease him mercilessly after. Also, there’s two days left. He can take it.

Anyway, it wouldn’t help. Not really. Not when what Shen Qingqiu really misses is his husband.

_____________

One measly day before the poison is set to pass, Shang Qinghua shows up frazzled, carrying a message from Mobei-Jun demanding Luo Binghe’s urgent return to put down a revolt in the southern part of the realm.

Shen Qingqiu resolves to spend all his time until Luo Binghe returns filling out requests for funds, food, instruments, practise swords, ink and everything else he can think of to burrow Shang Qinghua under paperwork. If Shen Qingqiu is going to be separated from his husband, so can Airplane-bro. Let him taste how fun that is for himself.

_____________

Shen Qingqiu accepts Liu Qingge’s invite to go monster hunting without a second thought.

He needs to kill something.

_____________

“Shizun, I’m ba-“

At the moment, Shen Qingqiu couldn’t care less what Luo Binghe has to say. It can fucking wait until after he has reacquainted himself with the feel of his husband’s skin.

_____________

“Maybe I should get some of that poison for further use.”

Shen Qingqiu freezes. “No.” He’s not going through that hell again, not if he can help it.

“But Shizun was so affectionate after! It almost made up for all the time I couldn’t touch him.”

If Shen Qingqiu had any energy left, he would slap him. “Maybe it was simple for Binghe since he didn’t want to touch his husband, but not being able to slap some sense into his disciple wasn’t easy for this master.”

Luo Binghe straightens up beside him. “Shizun! How could you think that! Of course having to restrain myself was a challenge like no other. Even if I didn’t want to, I still wanted to.”

“Well, it didn’t look like it.”

Luo Binghe pulls Shen Qingqiu’s body into his. “Apologies to Shizun for having neglected him. Now that I am aware of how unpleasant this was for him, this disciple will make certain it never happens again, as long as Shizun promises the same to him. If I were the one Shizun couldn’t handle touching, I could never bear it with as much grace as he did.”

Shen Qingqiu has no desire for any version of this shitty event to happen again. “Fine. This master promises. Binghe has better keep his word.”

Luo Binghe turns Shen Qingqiu toward him and kisses him until the frown still lingering on his face fades. “Shizun apparently isn’t convinced his husband missed him.” His hand slides down the line of his back. “Can this disciple request permission to try and convince him otherwise?”

Encouraging Luo Binghe when he’s like this is the kind of choice that leads to Shen Qingqiu sequestering himself in his bed all day tomorrow. “You can try. It won’t be easy though.” It doesn’t matter much, since Binghe is back. His husband will relish the excuse to wait on him hand and foot.

“Thanking Shizun for his graciousness.”