#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.

[k0mmari]

Okay people, I need to talk about IDOL!Shen Yuan AU before I explode (aka slight Aggretsuko inspired office au…..)

I’ll try to make this short for once jdvfhbjdhbvdf, but basically SY has been (forcefully) made to work for his brother(SJ) in the family company, after SJ decided enough was enough, and SY was going to do something with his life besides rotting away in his bed whether he liked it or not. The thing is, he wasn’t (just) rotting in bed reading atrocious novels, but he also took some time to experiment with music as a hobby, and over time, he grew a small following.

Though, after he was dragged to work at SJ’s side, the ever boring of dealing with paperwork and staring at white walls was eating at him. It’s not like he struggled doing his job, in fact, he was quite good at it, but he wasted no effort to make it very clear that he did not like that he was there in the first place. So, in an act of rebellion and to just do SOMETHING other than feel every passing second of the day in a cubicle, he decided to work even harder in his music hobby. It eventually led to SJ finding out and sparing no words to say that SY needed to focus on his real job, which only made SY brat out even harder, even managing to find an alternative music club and booking a few performances.

It went great! More people showed up than he expected, and all went great, but since his health was still not the best, after that he basically spent a whole month crashed out, not being able to do any more performances and barely able to go to the office once a week.

Anyways, it all led to SY thinking he had proved SJ right that he couldn’t continue this life style, and even thinking about quitting it, but one day while he was scrolling on the comments on one of his MVs (aka a Fancy Lyric Video), one of the comments mentioned that SY was one of the most important influences for that person, and that it inspired them to start pursuing music. It was the first time he had received a comment of that nature, and it lit the fire of his motivation back up.

Some 2 years passed, SJ still kept SY at the office, but SY had reached a nice balance on his online music work and performances on that club, and as his popularity grew, his performances at that one club had almost turned into a whole event for his most dedicated fans. So, enter Luo Binghe:

He was that comment that SY had read, and he did want to try music after being a fan of SY’s for almost three years now, but due to his financial situation he desperately needed some other source of income first. Now, at his last year of college, he managed to get an internship onto the Shen family’s company, which was a huge step forward towards his dreams, unfortunately he just had to go under SJ, which as we all know, was never kind to Binghe, instead acting as if the boy should just give up the internship entirely. And Binghe did think about it, but it seemed as if the stars had aligned for Binghe at least once, and SJ, after getting a sudden influx of work, delegated Binghe to SY.

They got on quite well, and Binghe even grew to have a little crush on SY, but it was all going fine and great until one fateful day. The office was as boring as ever, and after SY let Binghe know they wouldn’t have to entertain any clients for the day, Binghe decided to work on his part while listening to some music of his favorite artist.

Binghe has an awful habit of listening to music worryingly loud, so when SY went to get him to explain his new task, he ended up listening to what Binghe was hearing: his own music, in fact, his newest song. He pondered telling Binghe about the coincidence, but decided that maybe would be overstepping some professional boundary, and instead told Binghe about his one music club SY had heard about…

Binghe, excited to get to know more places around the area (and maybe understanding what SY did in his free time), decided to go to the club the next week after work, and did not even think about checking who would be performing in the day he would visit. Imagine his surprise when he gets to the door of the music club and hears some awfully famíliar music, and after rushing to be as close to the stage as possible, besides being blinded by his favorite artist’s greatness, also noticed that, hey, the artist looked an awful lot like a certain coworker of his….

Anyways, shenanigans ensue, Binghe starts his own investigation on SY possibly being the artist, SY juggling his office life, music career, and SJ perhaps coming to accept his brother’s career, and even maybe revealing a bit about his own past with music performances.

That’s all I had for today, just wanted to release this into the world! If anyone wants to expand on this, or try their on take on it, feel more than free to! Here are some more doodles of the usual day at the office :)

[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!!!

[wizardinrhyme]

When Shizun sends him into the Abyss, Binghe remembers an important lesson about characters who fall off cliffs and acts accordingly

“Thus, when a character falls off a cliff or bridge - especially one over water – and no body is found, readers can be assured this character will reappear later. ESPECIALLY if another character comments that ‘no one could survive’ such a fall. And when they reappear, it will be with the perfect timing to either exact their revenge or save the ones who had been left mourning the character’s death.”

Shen Qingqiu snapped his fan shut, continuing his impassioned lecture to the disciples in his advanced literature class.

“In fact, if the one who fell was the main hero or villain you can be assured they will return with more power than ever before thanks to their absence. Such an event can easily turn into a major boon for them.”

“But Shizun,” Ning Yingying tilted her head inquisitively, “how do they survive?”

The peak lord waved his fan and shook his head. “Unimportant. The excitement of the character’s return is sufficient to overlook the improbability of events. Readers may speculate but ultimately they can forgive such gaps in knowledge so long as the story is sufficiently entertaining.”

“Mm. This disciple understands; thanking Shizun!”

~*~*~*~*~

Luo Binghe had often noticed the way Shizun would make decisions based on “what made narrative sense” or the way he would sometimes behave as if people were characters with set roles and behaviors. He’d thought it was perhaps the result of spending so much time thinking about such things both as a scholar and as a strategist. But here, at the edge of the Abyss with his master making some absurd dramatic speech and pointing Xiu Ya at him, he couldn’t help but think things had gone too far.

He had heard Shizun refer to himself as a villain before, but had dismissed it as a joke. Binghe had heard Shizun call him ‘the protagonist’ before but had never known what that meant- though he was beginning to suspect.

It was only Binghe and Shizun here at the edge of the cliff, and if one of them was going over the edge he’d make sure it was himself. Shizun may be confident that such a fall would only lead to good things, but this was real life and he would take no such risks with his teacher’s safety.

“This disciple understands, Shizun. I will return.” Then he fell backward, closing his eyes against the sudden fear on his master’s face and the hand that reached out to him. As the wind whistled past his ears he heard Shizun say:

“No one could survive that.”

~*~*~*~*~

Years later, when he sees Shizun in Jinlan City, he holds back. He stays out of sight until he finds the perfect opportunity to make his intentions clear.

“These charges are false!” He cries, ignoring the Old Palace Master’s glare. “What better witness than the disciple he supposedly abused?”

Shizun is staring at him, completely shocked and trying to hide it. Binghe is beside him in an instant, speaking in low tones.

“It’s okay, Shizun. I’m here to save you.”

[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!