#part 2 to “Xin Mo”

[buff-shizun]

Blackout

“That…was not how I imagined that would go.”

“Agreed,” Binghe groaned, face in his hands. He dared not look up, overwhelmed by just a glimpse of the world around him.

Truly, Xin Mo was not to be underestimated.

“I agree.” The Elder sighed. He cast a hand through ruffled hair- and when that wasn't soothing enough, to his beard with rough strokes.

“We were lucky it was inclined to play with you as a first reaction. Had that blade wanted to, it definitely could have left us both blithering idiots for the rest of our lives- however short that would be in this heaven forsaken realm.”

Binghe frowned and peered through his fingers. “You took damage as well?”

His question was met with a snort, “After the way it backhanded me into the fringes of your mind? I’m lucky my cultivation offset the brunt of that. Had I taken that hit directly, I might not have made it back for a while.”

Binghe shuddered. ‘A while’, in this hell, alone with just that dreaded sword? 

No. No, he couldn’t. Meng Mo can’t. As stubborn and ornery as the Elder Dream Demon could be, Binghe would gladly have ten of him squabbling around in his head than spend a single day alone with only that sword for company.

“‘Ornery’?! Kid, hundreds of demons out there would kill to have my expertise at hand!”

“As you always say,” Binghe mumbled dryly, the corner of his mouth quirking up.

“And I say for good reason! You-!” Realizing what he was doing, Meng Mo cut himself off with a blistering sigh. “Ah, forget it. Point is we got off easy. You, got off easy. If we hadn't planned this out beforehand, heavens know where we would be right now.”

“Where are you going with this?”

The Elder gestured to the cliffs and ravines jutting up, through, and splitting apart the once flat desert plains, scaring it horribly. “One good hit, kid. That's all it would take right now.” His hands drop almost violently down to his sides, “We need to train, harder than ever before. This can't happen again.”

Binghe frowned, “You know why I can't do that.”

“We’re going to have to find a way- don't you glare at me, boy! I know what I’m asking for!”

“Then why ask at all!” He snapped, hand gesturing out to his dreamscape. “This alone will take weeks to fix. Months, if I’m unlucky! I can barely sleep as it is!”

Meng Mo exploded, “You're just going to have to try!”

A tense silence passed between them. Binghe did not have to tell him what he thought of that, and the Elder did not have to say anything at all to show him how frustrated the situation made him too. They were both at risk here, after all.

“...look, kid, maybe- and this is a risky maybe- Xin Mo might be our solution here. It's a double edged sword by every meaning of the phrase, but it's already proven it finds you more useful alive and well than as a comatose flesh puppet. Take advantage of that. Give it more reasons to take care of you rather than just use you.”

Binghe's brows furrowed. “You’re suggesting I find a way to endear myself to possibly the most evil blade I've ever had the misfortune to cross paths with?”

“You’ve already got this far, why not give it a shot? Can’t hurt to try.”

He wanted to point out that it very well could hurt to try. It already had. The memory alone of those tortured moments before blissfully blacking out sent a quiver running up his limbs. Unwittingly, a cold sweat broke out along his neck, breath catching in his throat. 

He pushed the memory aside, though it did not go easily. He also wanted to point out that that's almost exactly what Meng Mo had said when they’d first heard of the sword, and he was not so desperate to take his chances now as he had been at the beginning of this awful quest; especially after learning what kind of hell his death could easily become should this new plan prove foolhardy. 

Once again though, Meng Mo knew exactly what he was thinking. He always knew what Binghe was thinking; and once again, Meng Mo did not have to say what both already knew. 

They didn't have any choice; they had to try.

[k0mmari]

SYSTEM! SHEN YUAN AU (Pt.2)

Pt.1

Im not done with this, so to the people that wanted more, here it is! I, fortunately or not, have thought way too much again, so once more this is going to be a very, very, VERY long post. If you guys have any ideas about this btw, please do share them! I really am just letting my mind wander a bit more than usual, so maybe someone else can have more structured thoughts than me lol. (Fair warning, there probably will be plot holes, so sorry in advance!)

Please read Pt.1 if you haven't, or this won't make any sense!

After SY warped away from his impromptu meeting with Binghe, the last place he would like to end up would be even deeper into the Endless Abyss, but according to his System, the next piece of the virus was here. While not happy, since his Personal System was (mostly) working as intended, SY managed to activate Ghost Mode and walk towards the next part without having to deal with any of the creatures down there. (He had to try very hard not to get distracted by the monsters, lest his supervisor thinks he also went missing.)

It takes considerably more time to find the virus this time, so much in fact, SY starts to recognize his surroundings from SQH's ramblings (not that he was interested or anything), and he feels a cold sense of dread running down his spine. There was no way he was that unlucky that the object that got corrupted this time was-

He was that unlocky. Lo and behold, after entering a run down ruin, SY is faced with the legendary Xin Mo, power so overwhelming it manifested as dark fire covering the blade. The only reason why SY wasn't immediately writhing on the ground from the sword's power was Ghost Mode, which he could not rely for too long, as his Personal System was displaying warning after warning about Possibility of Corruption and God Like Plot Point. It all meant that SY was on a timer, and if he took too long, the sword would start corrupting his System, which in turn could corrupt him.

Now, since this was a VERY important Plot Point, Luo Binghe had to find Xin Mo or else the plot would derail to an unfixable degree, SY couldn't just snip at it, which was a problem, since manual debugging took a considerably longer time! Still, he summons his Scissors and positions it so he can start at least trimming off the virus.

His plan immediately backfires however, as an ominous crack sounds through the air and he's suddenly pushed away from the sword by a gust of energy. A bit disoriented, he shakes his head and acesses the sit-

Xin Mo, the horrible sword it was, was apparently so OP that it seemed to detect the Scissors at the last second, and the thing attacked back! The metal of the Scissors was dark and broken where it came close to the sword, almost broken in half! Which, not good! It any other time, a pair of broken Debugging Sheers would be more or less fine, if not a major inconvinience (and pay deduction) for SY, but since he'd been warping all over the time for a while now, his Personal System's energy reserves were carefully rationed, and if he were to use a chunk to send the Scissors back for some emergency repair, he'd only have one chance to go back to HQ. Alone.

He couldn't delay it any longer, he desperately needed to find SQH and pray he still had some energy reserves left.

Setting his Personal System's next warp location to SQH's last known location, SY wouldn't have guessed in a million years that he would go back to Cang Qiong Mountain, but whatever; maybe SQH had wanted to start with fixing the bug on Binghe's pendant? Not that this was the right time since it was after Binghe fell into the Abyss, but SQH had never been good at warping. It takes a bit of wandering and going inside different buildings, but eventually his Personal System managed to get a dirrect ping on SQH's System, which sent a massive wave of relief rushing through SY, since it meant that SQH was still slive.

Though as to why he was at An Ding Peak, SY could only guess.

After a bit more wandering, SY enters on what seems to be a (very messy) office space, SY feels all the pieces coming together in his mind. Half sprawled across the table with piles of paper covering the entire table's surface lay the An Ding Peak Lord, which- was already weird, since wasn't this guy supposed to be an enemy of the Peak now? After the whole betrayal thing or whatever? But that would've been something to look into later, were it not for said Peak Lord casually scrolling through a Personal System screen. A Personal System that could only be used by the System's Maintanence Staff.

SY wastes no time in deactivating Ghost Mode, and when SQH's eyes snap to his, the man jumps so high from his chair he almost falls back. It's not a happy reunion by a longshot, since SY immediately jumped his friend co-worker and demanded an explaination, almost screaming about it was all his fault for doing shitty maintenence, and creating this shitty world if it's shitty OP sword which broke his Sheers? Do you know how expensive these are?? I know you do, cause the supervisor never lets you touch the good ones cause you keep cracking all the other pairs-

It takes a more or less one whole hour to calm down SY, but eventually the younger settled and lets SQH say his bit of the story: Apparently, in his messing around with the System's world creation program when he was trying to find the bug in his world, he'd accidentaly managed to get himself actually transmigrated to PIDW, though still with (limited) acess to his Personal System, which let him still send messages to their supervisor and pretend that everything was ok. He'd gotten so unlucky too! Out of all the people to accidentaly select, did it have to be the An Ding Peak Lord? Couldn't it have been Binghe? Or MBJ- (SQH cuts his lamenting when he notices SY's absolutely viscious death glare being stared right through his soul.)

Long story short, he'd initially did try to fix his blunder, but as more time passed and SQH's access to Maintenance priviledges went out one by one on his System, he eventually just... Started actually living there. In fact, he was living so well there that he dared say his life as Peak Lord was even better then when he was with the System! Of course, since he had been integrated as a 'character' now, he had his limitations, he actually managed to get to know his fellow peak lords! He knew the name of his character's family members and his disciples! He'd managed to build a life he never even thought he could have inside the System.

Sure, did he betray the Peak? Yes, yes he did. Were they all going to die in a few years time when Binghe came back from hell? Yeah, yeah they were, and he was immensely guilty and terrified, but! The plot could be changed! He already assumed someone from the System had popped up in the Conference, as when Binghe had recently made his alliance with MBJ, and had mentioned in passing this weird thing that had happened to him just before he fell into the Abyss.

Anyways, eventually SY begrudgingly accepts SQH's decision to stay in PIDW, but he still had to help SY; and so they form a plan: SY was going to transfer some energy to SQH so he could temporarily get his acess to the full version of his Personal System and use his energy reserves to send SY's Sheers and get them fixed. SQH was also going to properly apologize to their supervisor for suddenly quitting without notice AND order some more energy stacks to be sent to SY's System. SY on the other hand had devises a plan to get closer to XIn Mo without the sword exploding his face off:

Infiltrate Demon Emperor Luo Binghe's palace as a lowly staff member and slowly debug the sword from the inside.

A perfect plan! What could go wrong?

SY selects to warp to a time where Binghe had Xin Mo mostly in control, so it is to no surprise he warps to a place were the Demonic Emperor's Palace is absolutely filled with women. Not the best situation, since a lot of people could and probably would be able to see him, but with that many harem members, it wasn't too much of a stretch to assume there was also a considerable number of staff, which, to SY's luck, there was! In fact, after he managed to activate a disguise for his clothes so they matched the rest of the servants, no one bat an eye on his presence; at most someone would inquire about his short hair, but other than that he was as noteable as a fly.

The first phase of his plan was already a success, so now he had to move on to reconnaissance which was mostly easy and the worst thing in his life. He was mostly looking for Binghe's quarters could be as he probably kept the sword close to him at all times, though with how big the palace was, his objective had gradually shifted to mapping out the labyrinth of halls as much as possible (SY was very glad that the System allowed him to create a map in real time or he might have gotten lost in the first five minutes). He walks so much he even manages to catch a few pieces of gossip, though the most interesting one by far being one about Binghe:

Apparently, a year ago, the Emperor had a qi deviation where, for a day, he seemed to have completely shifted his personality; he refused to touch any of his wives and kept screaming for his long dead Shizun. SY doesn't really remember that plot point, though his wondering is cut short when he hears people walking towards his direction. instinctively he his behind a dark corner, momentarily forgetting that he 'worked' at the palace now.

At list his bad luck was finally turning over as the Golden Protagonist himself walked past him with one of his wives hanging off his arm, looking just as cool as SY had always imagined. He had to snap himself out of his stuppor though, as two things caught his attention: First, Xin Mo was, predictably, strapped to his waist, still glitched but at least the virus seemed more or less contained, which gave SY a bit more time to work, though the other thing he noticed...

Hanging onto an old-looking braid laid SY's missing tassle that Binghe had found for him all the way back at the Conference.

What the hell was Luo Binghe doing wearing that old tassle at this day and age??

A few days passed and the Tassle Incident (as he called it) had to be set aside, as it seemed that passing as a servant also meant that other servants and even some wives expected SY to actually work. Not great, he sucked at cleaning and the other servants spared no words to make it clear to him, but it at least gave him something to do while he waited for his Scissors to arrive. SQH had sent him a few messages saying he'd gotten his part of the deal done, so now all SY could do was monitor Xin Mo's condition (from very far away), and occasionally manually debug some small virus pieces that had fallen from the sword, which luckily were easy enough to deal with that he didn't need to cut them off.

The only thing that was worrying him now is how... odd Luo Binghe seemed. Of course, he was supposed to be the pinnacle of the Cool Guy trope, so some edginess was to be expected, but Binghe didn't look just Edgy, he looked straight up depressed. There were bags under his eyes, and he barely seemed to tolerate the presence of 99% of his wives, and that damned braid with the damned tassle was still there-

Point is, Binghe acting so weird really threw SY through a loop, and he may have gotten a bit careless. At a random day when SY was carrying some dirty laundry another servant had just shoved at him, he had no prior warning before a voice sounded from behind him: "You seem to have dropped something."

He barely managed to shake off the violent sense of deja-vu that had sucker punched him in the face before he realized what was happening; Luo Binghe was talking to him. Directly to him. Shit- shit! Did he notice? Was Binghe doing a clever call back, spider-man style?? Was SY going to die????

SY shakily turns to Binghe, keeping his eyes locked onto the floor, bowing as much as possible that he still seemed respectful but the bag of clothes he had didn't all just fall to the floor. Thankfully Binghe didn't seem to mind, and simply put the fallen piece of clothing on top of the others and walked away. Though, just as SY was regaining his breath, Luo Binghe's voice stops him again. "You... Have we met before?"

SY trembles something about only being hired recently and not having the opportunity to formaly meet Junshang, and it seems to be a decent enough that Binghe just stares at him for a while longer before walking away. He really should grow out his hair if even the Emperor got weirded out like that...

Binghe started eyeing SY way more after that day. The protagonist would rarely speak directly to him, but SY could feel his gaze as if it were burning; though, since Binghe never said anything, SY just assumed that whatever Binghe's problem with him was, it was likely nothing to worry about.

In fact, it probably was because one of Binghe's wives had used SY is an impromptu act to try to get Binghe jealous (he just frowned, separated the two and walked away) and after that she had gotten infatuated with him, so she'd turned SY into her personal servant. Because of that SY saw Binghe at most two times a week instead of the 50% chnace of seeing his shadow once a week. Wow.

Because of this, as much as Binghe noticed SY, SY noticed Binghe as well, the protagonist seeming to get even more down as the days went. The tassle was still braided in his hair (SY worried it was just going to become a lock at this point), his eyebags never seemed to leave his eyes, and he was always muttering about... something. (SY managed to overhear something about 'fairness' and what Binghe actually wanted...?)

It all culminated at a seemingly random night. Most of the wives and servants had gone to sleep, only the more in-human women still hanging around, and SY, of course, but mostly it was because he wanted to see how close he could get to Binghe's quarters (aka Xin Mo) at night. Not that it was necessary, as when he was walking his attention was adruptly caught by the strangest sight: Luo binghe, sitting on one of the stone stair that lead to one of the many courtyards, being absolutely drenched in rain. The weirdest part was that a few servants and wives had also passed this place, and they all seemed like they didn't see Binghe, or didn't care.

Hating to see such an usually proud man (not that he'd seen much of that either) just soaking outside as if he'd just caught the love of his life cheating with another man, SY decided that at least he'd do a good job as a servant and take care of 'his Lord'. He grabs an umbrella from one of the adjacent rooms and slowly walks outside, covering Luo Binghe's form, not really caring if he was also getting soaked.

They stayed silent for who knows how long, but eventually, Binghe's eyes that had been laser focused on the horizon slowly blink once, as if coming out of a trance, and slowly move to SY's face, up to his hand holding the umbrella. "My Lord should get back inside. He'll get sick that way." SY half murmurs.

Binghe doesn't respond, though after a few seconds, his eyes seem to widen a bit and his breath comes out a little shaky. SY doesn't dare comment on it.

"Have we met before?" Luo Binghe asks again.

"...Yes." Shen Yuan says.

Binghe closes his eyes, and they stay like that for another hour.

Pt.3

[toffeecoco1]

@perpetualgrey's comment on this post

Ok my first instinct was to laugh, but then I realised you might be onto something???

Shen Yuan is LITERALLY an impostor, who’s more far more kind and beloved by Binghe than the original. The Guanyin pendant is a counterfeit, but it carries the love of Binghe’s mother and is far more precious than any real jade could ever be.

The heartbreak Binghe’s mother felt after realising that the Guanyin pendant was fake and she’d been tricked was part of what lead to the gradual decline of her health.¹ In wanting to do something kind for Binghe, she felt that she’d failed, and this led to her demise. What is Shen Qingqiu’s entire story, but trying to be kind to Binghe, feeling inadequate at this, and dying? (More than once!!)

Guanyin is a Bodhisattva associated with mercy, kindness, compassion and unconditional love. She is a patron of mothers, and is called upon in times of fear, uncertainty, and despair. The Bodhisattva she originated from is seen as a saviour, through whose grace even those with the most negative karma can achieve salvation. Even when she is not worshipped as a goddess, she is revered as the principle of love, compassion and mercy.² From wikipedia, “The act, thought and feeling of compassion and love is viewed as Guanyin. A merciful, compassionate, loving individual is said to be Guanyin.”²

The original Luo Binghe appears never to have lost his pendant. Shen Qingqiu tells us: “It was the only bit of warmth in Luo Binghe’s dark world, always by his side, and even in the future when he was at his darkest, it could summon up his last dregs of humanity.”¹ He also states that “it was Luo Binghe’s biggest berserk button.”¹

Our Luo Binghe does not cling to the pendant when he’s at his darkest: he clings to the love he has for his shizun and to memories of his kindness, and later, to the lifeless body of Shen Qingqiu himself. His biggest berserk button isn’t when people insult the pendant or his mother, or try to take it away; it’s Shen Qingqiu: when people insult him or try to take him away.

From the start, Shen Qingqiu expresses truly unconditional love for Binghe. He spends three years showing endless compassion and kindness, actions which feel insignificant to him but are more than enough to completely change Binghe’s life. He holds no blame or resentment for the things he fears Binghe will do to him; though he doesn’t want to be tortured, he forgives Binghe for it nonetheless, before it has even happened. He sacrifices himself to save Binghe as his mind is eaten away at by Xin Mo, when he believes that Binghe just slaughtered a hundred Huan Hua Disciples, when Binghe’s reckless use of the sword is putting countless more lives at risk.³

Shen Qingqiu is a counterfeit that is more precious than the original could ever be. For Binghe, he personifies kindness, compassion and unconditional love. His regrets over his treatment of Binghe lead to his temporary demise. Binghe clings to him in his darkest moments, and he is that which Binghe protects most fiercely.

I always found the pendant’s role in the story to be almost lacking: it’s treated as such an important item to Binghe, yet in the end its return is almost anticlimactic. But perhaps this is because the role the pendant played in Bing-ge’s story has been overtaken by Shen Qingqiu. When he returns the pendant, Binghe is relieved and appreciative: but his joy seems to stem more from the fact that Shen Qingqiu held onto it and cherished him than from the pendant itself. The pendant doesn’t matter all that much to him anymore, at least not compared to how important it seems to have been in PIDW. Binghe doesn't need an object to symbolize love and kindness; he has a person to love, who loves him back.

In conclusion: Shizun was in fact the fake jade Guanyin pendant all along!

sources cited below :)

1. Seven Seas Volume 1, Chapter 1: Scum. Pages 40-41.

2. “Guanyin,” Wikipedia. There’s a lot more to her than what I mentioned here, she’s quite interesting.

3. Seven Seas Volume 2, Chapter 8: Death. Pages 154-156.

[morethanwonderful]

Introducing: The Which MXTX Character Was/Would Be Most Insufferable Online Tournament Bracket

Beginning the evening of August 23rd, 2024 (USA time), I’ll be running a tournament via tumblr polls to determine once and for all which Mo Xiang Tong Xiu web novel character was or would be most insufferable if given access to the internet.

FAQ:

Why this poll theme?

I thought it would be fun to run another big MXTX tournament bracket, since the bugpoll last year was a blast, and this was the funniest theme I could manage to think of.

Why isn't Shen Yuan/Shen Qingqiu in the bracket?

Given what we know about our dear Peerless Cucumber, I fear an SQQ sweep would be a foregone conclusion if I included him. Therefore, after the bracket finds a winner, I'll hold a bonus round and pit the winner against Shen Yuan to determine the true most internet-insufferable character.

What is wrong with you?

Yeah.

My goal is to hold one round per day every day for a week, but I'm contending with a full-time work schedule, so things may get slightly more stretched out than that. I'll also be splitting the first round into Round 1 Part 1 (the left side of the bracket) and Round 1 Part 2 (the right side of the bracket) to avoid spamming people's dashes with 32 separate polls in one day.

If you’d like to either search for or blacklist posts related to this event, all of mine will be tagged with “MXTX insufferapoll.”

The full list of matches is under the readmore here. Happy voting!

Round 1 Part 1:

Wen Chao vs Jin Guangshan

Quan Yizhen vs Mobei-jun

Mu Qingfang vs Ban Yue

Pei Xiu vs Jin Zixun

Xie Lian vs Jiang Yanli

Gongyi Xiao vs Lang Qianqiu

He Xuan vs Xue Yang

Lan Xichen vs Xiao Xingchen

Feng Xin vs Tianlang-jun

Wei Wuxian vs Liu Mingyan

Shi Qingxuan vs Nie Huaisang

Pei Ming vs Shang Qinghua

Jian Lan vs Qi Rong

Lan Wangji vs Song Lan

Nie Mingjue vs Liu Qingge

Mei Nianqing vs Lan Qiren

Round 1 Part 2:

Ling Wen vs Jin Guangyao

Sha Hualing vs Mo Xuanyu

Lang Ying (Present) vs Lan Sizhui

Bai Wuxiang vs Shen (Jiu) Qingqiu

Jiang Cheng vs Ning Yingying

Jin Ling vs Ming Fan

Mu Qing vs Luo "Mianmian" Qingyang

Yu Ziyuan vs Yue Qingyuan

Xuan Ji vs Qiu Haitang

A-Qing vs Yin Yu

Wen Ning vs Zhuzhi-lang

Luo Binghe vs Wang Lingjiao

Wen Qing vs Yushi Huang

Hua Cheng vs Su She

Jin Zixuan vs Shi Wudu

Ouyang Zizhen vs Lan Jingyi

Round 2:

Wen Chao vs Quan Yizhen

Mu Qingfang vs Jin Zixun

Xie Lian vs Lang Qianqiu

Xue Yang vs Xiao Xingchen

Tianlang-jun vs Wei Wuxian

Nie Huaisang vs Shang Qinghua

Qi Rong vs Lan Wangji

Nie Mingjue vs Lan Qiren

Jin Guangyao vs Sha Hualing

Lang Ying (Present) vs Shen (Jiu) Qingqiu

Jiang Cheng vs Jin Ling

Mu Qing vs Yu Ziyuan

Xuan Ji vs a-Qing

Zhuzhi-lang vs Luo Binghe

Wen Qing vs Su She

Shi Wudu vs Lan Jingyi

Round 3:

Wen Chao vs Jin Zixun

Lang Qianqiu vs Xue Yang

Tianlang-jun vs Shang Qinghua

Qi Rong vs Lan Qiren

Sha Hualing vs Shen (Jiu) Qingqiu

Jin Ling vs Mu Qing

Xuan Ji vs Luo Binghe

Su She vs Lan Jingyi

Quarterfinal:

Wen Chao vs Xue Yang

Tianlang-jun vs Qi Rong

Shen (Jiu) Qingqiu vs Jin Ling

Luo Binghe vs Su She

Semifinal:

Wen Chao vs Qi Rong

Shen (Jiu) Qingqiu vs Luo Binghe

Final:

Qi Rong vs Luo Binghe

Bonus:

Qi Rong vs Shen (Yuan) Qingqiu

[magicpotatothoughts]

SVSSS | The absolute GENIUS meanings behind the name Shen Yuan 沈垣

Ok so most of us already know the meaning of SY 'cause it's in the appendix of the official translation books but I was today years old when I realised just how much meaning MXTX embedded into this name. *spoilers ahead*

Level 1 Meta

Official translation of the word Yuan垣 means wall. But not just any wall, a wall that surrounds something else. It would be specifically used to describe city wall 城垣 or garden fence 花垣 would use this character. This is incredibly fitting for Shen Yuan because his whole story arc is his battle between his logical conscience for survival and his compassionate gut instinct to protect LBH, in other words, to surround and to shield LBH from harm. But this wall of protection functioned against Bingqiu psychologically because SY kept on making decisions without talking to LBH and decided a lot of things on his own. SVSSS is a novel about achieving that balance, to allow both partners to take agency and face life side by side.

Level 2 Meta

Normally, surnames don't have any meaning. Shen沈 is largely used as a name for things/people buttttttt it can also mean liquid or to pour. Guess what, Luo Binghe 洛冰河 means Luo frozen river. So it could be interpreted that Shen Yuan's entire job in the novel is to make LBH achieve his final crybaby form by getting the frozen river Luo to melt, to "pour".

Also, SY made himself melt as well in a way, his internalized homophobia potential toxic masculinity as well as his need to maintain a cool composure were also things he needed to overcome. We finally see him cry for real in the 3rd book, right after LBH scolds him out of anger and worry. Our protagonist learns to break his own walls down and show emotionally vulnerable parts of himself to LBH.

Level 3 Meta

Chinese characters are made up of radicals, meaning more complicated looking characters are made up of simpler characters (radicals) that give clues to their meaning and pronunciation.

Shen沈 is made up of the radicals:

氵 [ shuǐ ] water 💦

冘 [ yín ] can mean to move on OR doubtful of something/someone

The water radical氵💦 occurs in all three characters in Luo Binghe 洛冰河. This can mean that Shen has influence on Luo Binghe's development and overall life. It also reaffirms their compatibility as as couple. I mean let’s be honest, SQQ cries inwardly and LBH cries outwardly, they are both crybabies.

yín冘 perfect describes the base functionality of SY's character; he has a strong survival instinct but is also extremely doubtful of everyone's intentions, especially LBH's.

Yuan垣 is made up of the radicals:

土 [ tǔ ] soil, earth; items made of earth 🌎

亘 [ gèn ] to extend across (dimension/space), through; from 🚀

I find it so fucking funny that MXTX took the tǔ土 soil radical seriously and literally just had SY zombie-himself out of the dirt after 5 years. But it's also really poetic that it once again goes perfectly with LBH's name; the river and earth go hand-in-hand. no wonder LBH asked for Shizun's hand in marriage. 😳😳😳

gèn亘 perfectly describes SY as a transmigrator, someone who travelled across dimension and space. But also SY is really the ultimate sightseer of SVSSS, casually crossing between the human realm and demon realm while also going on road trips with SQH. It's honestly so fucking mint. But I'm here to point out to you how Xin Mo 心魔 LBH's sword (heart demon) is how LBH travels across dimension/space for the majority of the book.

Ultimately, Yuan垣 highlights the importance of finding a home in the people you love. Bingqiu both enjoy that sightseeing lifestyle but the book constantly has important relationship developments, smexy times and domestic Bingqiu set in the Bamboo House. Ultimately, no matter how far you travel, run or chase, you cannot get away from your problems. You need to extend and make effort in understanding and communicating with your SO 🚀 and work on feeling grounded 🌎 in your relationship together.

MXTX you freaking genius I-

[cleverstudentcheesecake]

Theory regarding the "System"

So I want all of you to listen really carefully.

I posted about my theory of Shen Jiu and Shen Yuan being the same person just from different timelines on Tumblr. One of the user @6gmrnv3hin reblogged my post with their theory that the System is actually Bing-ge.

Okay, now hold on and let me clarify it.

It's a theory relating to time paradox and the multiverse of the SVSSS and PIDW universes.

Their theory is that after Bing-ge left the SVSSS universe, he went onto search for his own kind Shizun. He found the soul of Shen Jiu in Shen Yuan in a different timeline. So Bing-ge split his soul into 2 parts. One part become the superior entity "System" and the other part became our beloved Bing-mei creating the new timeline of SVSSS.

Now here comes the missing puzzle piece which I was finally able to piece out from all these.

Some people theorise that Airplane actually got visions of the PIDW world and hence wrote the story.

This could be the part of the paradox where Airplane wrote the story because the PIDW universe actually existed and the PIDW universe existed because Airplane wrote about it.

It could be the "System"(Bing-ge) orchestrated everything to give himself a happy ending. He planned the transmigration of Shen Jiu's soul in the form of Shen Yuan that has not yet been corrupted by trauma in the modern universe into the SVSSS universe.

As another of the user @optimisticmosquito said that the "System" did not let Shen Yuan transmigrate into the novel as a child because there was a high chance he would have got tainted by all the trauma and turn out to be like Shen Jiu. Hence, he transmigrated into the body of adult, well-acomplished Shen Qingqui. As the spoilt second generation rich kid, Shen Yuan never had to go through the struggles that Shen Jiu of the original timeline went through. This lead Shen Yuan to be much kinder and a much better teacher. Shen Yuan is everything Shen Jiu could never have been due to all the trauma shackling him.

The "System" (Bing-ge) compelled Shen Yuan to fix the mistakes of the PIDW universe and prevent the current SVSSS universe from getting destroyed by the hands of Binghe (Yes, I consider the PIDW universe to be a destroyed universe because of all the mess). This way both Shen Jiu and Bing-ge ended up atoning for the sins they committed in the original timeline.

This would clarify some of the doubts regarding why Bing-ge never returned to disturb the life of Bingqui when he had not 1 but 2 reality cutting swords. Sir was busy creating a completely different timeline.

This would further clarify why the "System" was hell bent on Bingmei finding Xin Mo because Bingge in future would require 2 reality cutting swords to create a new timeline.

It would also clarify the reason why the "System" was so pushy with the "small scenario pushers" and was so closely influenced by Binghe's moods. It did not even interfere when Xin Mo was broken and taken by Bing-ge.

This is because Binghe no longer required Xin Mo. In the SVSSS universe he finally has all the happiness he ever wanted. He no longer felt the need to conquer the 3 realms just to feel a tiny bit of satisfaction with his life. He no longer needed series of blood baths and hundreds of wives to feel validated. He discovered the truth about his birth parents and his father is still alive. The Can Qiong Sect is still intact and the human and demon realms haven't been merged. Even Mobei Jun is no longer alone and miserable in the SVSSS universe.

Bing-ge finally was successful in attaining his happiness in the form of Bing-mei and the "System".

The paradox is that the SVSSS universe existed because Bingge by mistake stumbled upon the SVSSS universe where he found about his kind Shizun and the kind Shizun exists in the SVSSS universe because Bing-ge of the future split himself into 2 and went onto create the SVSSS universe as the "System".

I hope I was able to clarify my thoughts and theories.

You can go check out my Tumblr post here:

[shizunitis]

Luo Binghe: Original Drafts Edition! Who and why?

“[…] in fact, in his original outline, Bing-gē hadn’t even had a romance plotline; he had been doomed to fade away, alone and unaging forever.” — The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System, Vol. 4 (Mo Xiang Tong Xiu)

The drafts version of Binghe! Not Bing-gē, nor Bing-mei, but a secret, third thing! (I’m partial to Bing-xióng (兄) myself, just for thematic cohesion. Bing-mei remains as he is: Shizun’s special glass-heart maiden.)

So! Who is this elusive, mythical Binghe we never got the chance to meet? What is he? How do I get to pick this one’s brains?

Why is he haunting me! What does he want! So much to think about.

Listen: I love my trash sons, both the racoon and wet dog variations, but I am curious about this handsome demon lord who did not bed thousands, and did not steal his shizun to lovingly coax him into a loving and respectful marriage. Alas, Airplane-bro, as is custom, has left me hanging.

The solitary quote above has been floating around my brainspace for months. Intermittently, I would look up at the sky and sigh a big sad dog sigh, and think of this lonely demon-man emperor who seems to be both perfectly representative of No-Shizunitis Suffering Binghe, and on the exact opposite end of the line. I have spent many a night trying to rearrange the blocks of both SVSSS and PIDW like a sad toddler with no plan but plenty of amorphous longing.

Thus, Bing-xiong. My beloved new toy.

We know he is left alone and unaging. This means that:

He does not marry even once. (Sorry, Other Bing Variants. This one came broken.)

He is not defeated, killed, or left to suffer his not-father’s fate of sulking under a mountain.

From 1) we can assume two more things! Xin Mo either gets fixed/doesn’t influence this Binghe the same way, or: Xin Mo is completely written off à la Airplane Retconning, making Binghe potentially even more individually powerful than his younger counterparts.

(Or he just. Takes people’s cultivation ad-infinitum. Interesting thought, but too straight-forward for my tastes. Airplane’s thoughts? Unknowable.)

From 2) we can also assume Binghe cannot die, is under the influence of the Protagonist Halo unto infinity, and will only be put out of his misery once the heat death of the universe deems it a worthwhile endeavour. Either that or the story ends, but. It tickles a miserable part of my brain pink to think Binghe will not be let off even then.

Anyway. Bing-xiong, of course, has the same source material to work off of. Up until the Abyss, and including it, the plotline should be if not the same, adjacent enough to be indistinguishable.

However. This means:

Bing-xiong never got coerced into sex by Qin Wanyue, thus not starting him on the path of sex-dependency/addiction, avoiding Bing-gē’s fate by virtue of the Butterfly Effect. (Read this post because it explains Bing-ge's whole thing better than a lot of things I've seen.)

Again, Xin Mo implications.

Alternate Universe Shenanigans make an appearance. (Shen Jiu’s fever and death was actually meant to happen, Bing-ge just got very, very unlucky and his Universe’s Yue Qingyuan very, very lucky. For a few years. Either that or there is a Shen Yuan for every Binghe! Again: sorry, Bing-ge. You need to find your own. Middle child issues…)

Once the drafts/original outline got lost, all bets are off and now the characters become real people, without narrative influence. This also has the very fucked up implication that Bing-ge is actually a result of exclusively external forces and would have never gone down that path if not forced onto it by Airplane’s unwitting hands. I do and do not love this version. Very Mo Ran-esque, if looked at from afar and squinting.

Other options I’m either too not-high to think, or too high to put together. (Cold medicine is insane?)

I am fascinated by this… Schrödinger’s Binghe. A jaded, lonely emperor left in the ashes of his world, gazing upon his own history and finding fucking nothing and no one. Metaphorically and, like, practically, if I’m understanding Airplane’s musings correctly. Isolated, cursed by his own blood in a completely new and fucked up way!

I need Airplane to speak with me for like, half an hour. This is paramount to my mental health, I’m losing my braincells by the hour.

What happened to this impervious, cocky, badass demon bastard lord to become so alone? How did it happen? Why did it not happen to the other two, or at least Bing-ge, who has had every horrible and shitty thing possible and impossible piled onto his head? What the fuck is up with Xin Mo? Why isn’t it eating away at Big Bro Luo? Or, worse: why is it eating away at him in such a way that instead of turning into a violent yet charismatic, horror-creature of a man, it turns him into the existential terror-fate I’ve contemplated and abhorred since I was seven?

Tianlang-jun as the final boss. Discovering Huan Hua Palace Master’s crimes, deceit and… stuff. Perhaps even uncovering Shen Jiu’s backstory.

Ooh! Worse! Or better? What if he finds out everything, after having followed Bing-gē’s path, and simply… gives up? A grown up Bing-ge, minus the marriage and surrogate-lover part(s).

(More unlikely than other options, but still there, I guess.)

Fucking insane of MXTX to do this to me, personally and specifically.

I can only speculate forever, I guess! Left… alone and pondering forever.

So. Not a Bing-ge, and not a Bing-mei. A Bing-xiong, if you will.

[danmei-confessions]

I truly think SVSSS deserves a revision more than any of MXTX's other novels.

I love the novel, yes, but it is poorly written. MXTX rushed the chapters after Bbingqiu's reunion due to using VIP lock for the first time and it makes the writing distinctly worse. I understand that she was young while writing it, which is the whole reason why it deserves a revision. The novel could have so much more potential than it currently does and it's no wonder that it's her least popular when even fans of her other novels choose to not read it due to being uninterested.

So much more story could be added, or just minor details. For example, we barely know anything about the 12 peaks all together, and unless you make up facts, there's practically nothing on their peak lords too. I see complaints about the SVSSS wiki being empty regarding the peak lords and I hate to say it, but that's NOT due to the moderators but rather pure lack of content. Hell, most of the facts that do existed were only in the light novel and not in the web novel at all. There's such little information it's really not shocking that the fandom runs on head-canons. In all 100 chapters of her novel, half of it in slightly plot, while the other is SQQ being... SQQ.

I have so many thoughts on the potential SVSSS has:

Despite it being mentioned that there are 'plenty of minor sects' we only hear the name of one.

Despite sects like Tian Yi or Zhao Hua being a part of the main 4, we know almost nothing about them, how they run, or their disciples/sect lead (literally the only named Tian Yi disciples are the 3 nuns). We also don't know their locations, what locations they control, or their history

The past events of SVSSS (before SY transmigrated) are so messy. Theres only 2 timelines I've found here on tumblr and even those are so different from each other. Theres no clear years compared to TGCF or MDZS and its so frustrating. This also leaves characters practically age-less (other than like. Binghe) unlike her other characters.

Almost none of the side-characters grow development with anyone other than Shen Qingqiu. I say 'almost' but I can not name any off the top of my head. There are characters that have/had such interesting relationships that were completely thrown out the window For The Plot. This is so.... disappointing, considering other character's relationships make up the plot! It's not only the MC!

Everything being rushed is heartbreaking, and with a re-write I think arcs such as the Holy Mausoleum, Jin Lan, Borderlands, etc could become SO much more interesting. Alongside that, the Mai Gu Ridge situation was blown off so fast?? Like, it was mentioned that the Endless Abyss was breaking through CCM, then just never mentioned again...

Power Scaling. Fights. Actual fights between people who aren't LGQ or LBH. We only really got NYY/LPM, MBJ/his uncle, and TLJ/LBH. Most of those were ALSO rushed.

The System's appearance was reduced LARGELY in the later chapters-almost like MXTX forgot about them. The whole first 2 volumes include The System so much, and its unique! functions! all for it to be disregarded and those functions to never be used other than the jade necklace.

Actually going into the wonderous world of PIDW that is claimed to have interesting weapons (only Xin Mo was shown), locations, plants (only Qingsi and that one thats too long for me to feel like typing shown), and creatures (only rly ZZL and Madam Meiyin shown).

That's all I really have right now. I'm not trying to be an anti of MXTX's other novels. I just think that SVSSS has so much potential that she could have brought out if she had chosen to revise it. I love TGCF and MDZS very much, they have great scaling, brought-out potential, and relationships that SVSSS so could have.

I do want to exclaim that out of all her 3 novels SVSSS has been my favorite for years. I genuinely feel upset that it was not the one picked despite how obvious it is that it has barely any NEW content. Or at the least, confirmed facts. In her QNA's most of the questions are purely MDZS/TGCF while there's maybe 2 SVSSS ones. Those few questions answered by her are literally lifelines for some fans. (Such as heights and Moshang) The novel could become popular just if the criticisms/potential of it were actually addressed. I'm not saying that casually but I am very sure of it as MXTX is a freakishly great writer and she COULD take the novel to the same heights as TGCF/MDZS if she truly wanted to.

.

[sayuricorner]

Scum Villain’s Self Saving System X Transformers Prime AU: Cybertronian!Original Shen Qingqiu in TFP: One-shot 1: An uneasy alliance

Warning: English is not my first language so sorry if it's confusing! ^^'

Warning 2 : This one-shots collection content references to: child slavery, child abuse, implied sexual assault, suicide, depression, abuse, toxic relationships, mental issues due to isolation, sexual references, “papapa” moments(possibly) ect…

Yep! You're not dreaming I am now writing one-shots for my SVSSS X TFP AU! ^^

For a long time I have a tons of ideas which were running around in my head so I decided to take the plunge and write some one-shots!

I just hope I got the characters's personalities right, especially Shen Jiu's, characters like him are hard to write! T_T

So let's start with the first one-shot which take place when Shen Jiu transmigrated in Transformers Prime!

------------------------------------------------------

He remembers it clearly…

The conference turned into a trial, the shadows of his past coming back to haunt him, the little beast’s return, the water prison, the endless pain, Qi-ge’s sword shards…

And then nothing…

This is where he was now trapped: an endless blackness of nothingness.

He can’t see anything, he can’t hear anything, touch anything, he could try to scream as loud as he wanted no sound could come out of his mouth.

All there was in this void, for the gods only knew how long, was him and his thoughts, his memories from back when he was alive, the memories of his sins, of his crimes, of all the lives which were lost because of him…

Clearly, this was his punishment, even in death a scum like him can’t get the peace of the reincarnation cycle.

Condemned to exist in an endless void, forced to remember how a monster he was over and over again… How fitting.

If only he hadn't survived the Qiu household… If only he hadn't been born at all…

Qiu Haitang wouldn’t have been filled with anger and vengeance…

Liu Qingge would still be alive…

The little beast wouldn’t have been killed and replaced by the monster because of the mistreatment…

Ning Yinying wouldn’t have been bewitched by the monster’s and Xin Mo’s influence…

Cang Qiong Mountain… His disciples… The other Peak Lords… They wouldn’t have died…

Yue Qingyuan… Qi-ge… He would still be alive…

Why?...

Why does he have to exist and ruin everything?

Why did he had to let his jealousy and rotten personality blind him? 

WHY?!

…Why did his existence have to be the source of so much pain?

Shen then noticed something, a light appearing in the void and growing bigger and bigger.

And before he could react at all ,Shen Jiu found himself wrapped and blinded by the light.

When he regained consciousness, Shen Jiu found himself in what seemed to be a forest and… Alive?

How? HOW?This doesn’t make any sense! Did he reincarnate? Then why does he remember his previous life? Was that another sick trick of the monster  to make him suffer even after having moved on to the next life?

To reincarnate but always remember his sins?

As Shen Jiu tried to find an explanation to his situation, he realized something.

For some reason, everything seemed “smaller”, VERY much smaller, it was like he was in the body of a giant.

And speaking of his body, Shen Jiu looked at his hands, much to his shock and horror, instead of seen human hands he was seeing long metallic claws.

“W-What?” Shen Jiu asked in disbelief, he then frantically looked at his, apparently, new body as much as he was able to since there was no sign of anything which would permit him to have a clear look.

To his stupor, his body was now of metal, some parts of his limbs now having sharp edges and his whole body was a mix of green, silver and black and he could feel two, apparently, long things glued on his back.

Shen Jiu was extremely confused, not only was he reincarnated with all his memories from his first life but he was also reincarnated as some sort of non-organic being of a kind he never saw before.

Just what was he reincarnated into? Some kind of weird metallic golem?

But as much as his brain was filled with thousands of questions, Shen Jiu quickly shaked his head to pull himself together.

Despite his “peculiar situation” it was not the time to ramble about it.

He was now in an unknown place with absolutely no knowledge of what or who he could find.

He needed to gather information about this world, to know how things works around here, he had to, to be able to survive in this new world.

For some reason, he has been given a second chance at life and Shen Jiu was not someone who wasted such an opportunity!

Even if he perfectly knew he didn't deserve it.

—-------------------------------------------------

So far, a lot of unexpected things had happened to Shen Jiu ever since he got his “second chance”.

After some times exploring his “new environment” he had spotted some other “golems of metal” like him and noticed that they seem to be able to transform into weirder metallic things to move or fly.

The most logical thing would have been to try to communicate with those creatures to learn more, but Shen Jiu decided against it.

His first life has been filled with nothing but pain, anyone he came in contact with ended up ruined because of his rotten existence one way or another and backstab and hurted him in return.

What made him think this vicious cycle wouldn't happen in this new life? Why would things be different?

For his survival and for others’s sake it was better that Shen Jiu stay away.

“-WHO ARE YOU? WHAT DO YOU WANT? WHO SEND YOU?”

So why did he end up in this situation?

All Shen Jiu had done was explore what seemed to be an abandoned fortress of metal he found while wandering around, hoping to find information or any kind of resources and the second he knew he got tackled by surprise by someone, who turned out to be one of those metallic golems. 

Unlike the other Golems he saw, this one seemed to be very similar to him but also with differences.

The golem’s figure was slender and sharper than his new form, he was gray and silver with a little bit of red and his red eyes(?) were looking at him in deep anger.

“-I said: Who are you? Who sent you?”

With the being becoming impatient, Shen Jiu decided it was better to respond before the golem lost his patience.

“-This one is called Shen Jiu! And as for your last question: nobody “send me there”, I came here on my own decision!” He explained cautiously “I didn’t expect to find anyone, much less another golem, though, I thought this place was abandoned!”

The “golem”’s eyes(?) went wide and its face morphed into a consterned expression.

“-Golem? GOLEM?!” The being loudly huffed in consternation and bewilderment as he quickly got off Shen Jiu.”I am Starscream! I am no mere golem! I am a Cybertronian! A Seeker! Just like you are!”

This made Shen Jiu even more confused.

“-Cybertronian?... Seekers? what’s that?” He asked as he slowly got up before quickly internally scolding himself.

Showing this kind of stupid ignorance show weakness and bring troubles, if he want to survive he can’t let his guard down.

As for the “Cybertronian” his question seem to had made its expression even more stunned in shock.

“-”What’s that?”?! That's what you are, you fool! Did your CPU got severely glitched for you not even knowing what our species's name is?”

Shen Jiu became tense at the “Cybertronian”’s outburst and just stared at him in silence, staying on guard for anything which could happen.

After a few seconds of silence the being spoke.

“-You... you actually really have no idea what I'm talking about?” the named Starscream asked him, now calmer but his voice was filled with suspicion.

“-This one... does not understand any of your words!” Shen Jiu said formally in wariness.

Starscream narrowed his eyes at him.

“-Hmmmm… What did you say your designation was?”

“-... Shen Jiu!”

“-”Shen Jiu”... That sounds like a fleshling name. But you're clearly not organic. But you also don’t seem to even know that you’re a Cybertronian…”

Starscream circled slowly around Shen Jiu without taking his eyes(?) like a hawk stalking a prey, looking at Shen Jiu’s appearance.

“-Though I don’t remember having seen a Seeker quite like you before… Those green optics… I never saw a Cybertronian with such color… And your frame…”

Shen Jiu tensed even more at the tone in the “Cybertronian”’s voice and the look in his “optics” which send shivers down his spine.

he saw that kind of look before, in his first life, back when he was just “little nine” and the slavers thought they would “sell him for a good price”, back when Qiu Jianluo put his hands on him in ways even more disgusting and hurtful way than any of his beatings could have done, back when he was Wu Yanzi’s disciple and some of his former “master”’s “acquaintances” would look at him with hungry eyes when he began to become older, back when he was a Qin Jing Peak disciple before his scummy reputation started when some of the other male disciples were whispering about his “peerless beauty”...

… Back when he was locked up in the water prison and Luo Binghe have done those “things” to him…

Whether as a “Cybertronian” or a human, Shen Jiu had no desire for such attention, especially from men! Thank. You. Very. Much!

Starscream seemed to have noticed his growing discomfort as the “Seeker” quickly regained his composure.

“-Hum-hum… Anyway… Now if I may ask, where do you come from? I can guess that since you’re completely oblivious to what a Cybertronian is, Cybertron doesn’t ring any bells to you?”

The former Peak Lord shaked his head.

“-Nothing! Let’s just say this one came from somewhere very… Very far away!”

“-I see, You don't know what you are, or seemingly anything about our kind, yet you're undeniably a Cybertronian, and a Seeker at that. And you’re apparently very far away “from home” and are most likely lost…”

He paused for a moment, seeming to reflect before a smirk appeared on his face.

“-Well, “Shen Jiu”!” Starscream started slyly. “In that case, perhaps we could help each other? How about we make an alliance?”

“-An alliance?” Shen Jiu asked suspiciously.

“-Yes, an alliance! You see, our kind is capable to transform as means of transport, which is only possible thanks to a mechanism called a “T-cog” which also permits us to scan alt modes and as well to use weapons! Due to “unfortunate circumstances” I lost my T-cog which made me defenseless and, by doing so, put me in a very bad position! So here’s what I propose: You help me survive and find ressources, which will also be beneficial for the both of us, and in return, I'll teach you everything you need to know about being a Cybertronian and a Seeker. What do you say?”

Shen Jiu stared at Starscream in hesitation, he shouldn’t accept, this was too good to be true, everything about this Starscream was screaming “untrustworthy”!

No one he ever interacted with ended up trustworthy, at one point they all end up stabbing him in the back and be his downfall and even if it’s wasn’t the case right from the start, with his rotten being the risks that Shen Jiu end up ruining him like he had done to many before.

He can’t take a risk.

But at the same time, he was in an unknown land, in a new body he doesn’t understand nor knows how it’s work meaning that even if he is very careful, his lack of knowledge on his environment and body will most likely put him in very dangerous situations and destroy his efforts to survive. Having someone to teach him everything he need to knows about his new form and this world would guarantee him bigger chances of survival.

In other words, his options were extremely limited.

*Sight*

Guess he had no other choice.

“-This one... accepts your proposal, Starscream.”

“-Excellent!” The Seeker answered, smirking, as he extended a hand.”I believe this partnership will be beneficial for the both of us!”

Shen Jiu stared at the hand, hesitant, before letting a soft sigh.

He nodded slightly and with still a lot of wariness he took the hand.

The deal was sealed.

[rarepears]

(Transmigrator Xin Mo: Part 2)

Xin Mo thought things had been going rather good so far. Its wielder had finally left the Endless Abyss and was beginning to learn how to use its power properly. It wasn’t even effecting his qi much, since it suspected that was part of the reason things went so poorly the first time around. It had interfered a few times though, as its wielder seemed to have picked up an unfortunate tendency to attract women this time around, rather than being sure of his one true love. A bit of pushing from sexual attraction to murderous rage (the two emotions were surprisingly closely linked in this wielder) and they were dealt with.

Xin Mo, new to self-awareness, had found itself daydreaming a lot, rather than merely awaiting the next taste of blood or rush of dual cultivation. It dreamt of a world where it was accepted as a spiritual sword, a blade that cultivators would aspire to wield but only be able to take up if they proved themselves worthy… rather than it being forced to accept just any wielder with sufficient strength that happened to come across the site where the last one died. Maybe they’d even let it keep eating souls, like that Xuan Su sword… lucky thing, Xin Mo thought with newfound jealousy — no one called it evil!

Due to this daydreaming, it missed out on where exactly its wielder was headed, right up until its blade struck against a spear of ice. Quickly pushing out its awareness, Xin Mo found its wielder in battle with a familiar ice demon. It remembered this one, even if its wielders anger was not as great as it was the first time it had watched his battle — odd, considering that this version of him seemed to be much angrier in general. The ice demon would become a valuable ally for its wielder, it remembered that much… perhaps it could help? But how?

It got an idea a moment later, when its wielder was sent flying down a set of icy stairs, and for a moment, among the anger he was feeling at the ice demon coldly looking down on him and preparing to attack… there was a flash of attraction. Xin Mo wavered for a moment, but it had recently discovered that for humans and demons alike, romance and sex could be separate things. And it remembered clearly the disaster his wielders first time had been before… wouldn’t some experience help?

Making the decision, it took hold of that spark of attraction and magnified it as much as it could.

-

Mobei-Jun looked down at the half-demon who had dared to challenge him. He’d shown promise in the fight so far, but was still weak enough to be thrown around with relative ease by someone of his strength. There was something in his eyes though… a burning determination to succeed no matter what that he could admire.

As the half-demon looked up at him, he saw something surprising — a flush appear across his face. He’d assumed that this was a challenge for authority, to prove his strength, or perhaps the half-demons rumoured cultivation background pushing him to fight the demons he’d been raised to hate, but with that look on his face, Mobei-Jun began to suspect he was more familiar with demonic culture than expected.

Could this fight between the two of them… be courting?

I love this so much like you can't believe. May I order 500k more words of this AU please and thank you.

Man, I have the Feels for Xin Mo. Forced to accept every trash wielder while there's Xuan Su allowed to snack on souls like it's an open buffet :' )

LOL Mobei Jun thinks this is courting!! But how will his feeling(?) for Shang Qinghua compare?

[More in #Xin Mo transmigrates into PIDW and decides to make BingJiu canon AU]

[fallloverfic]

TGCF donghua Season 2, Episode 10 thoughts

This episode T-T T-T T-T T-T. Spoilers for the show and the book below. CW reference to suicide.

The dude being racist to An Le looks vaguely like a love child of Feng Xin and Nie Mingjue (the donghua version) roflmao. Animators have made little references to The Scum Villain's Self Saving System this season so I would not be surprised if someone snuck in a reference to the Mo Dao Zu Shi donghua, too lol And this is similar enough to at least one Meng Yao + Nie Mingjue scene that I can see why they'd do it here.

So the Xianle goons licking their lips is because, I imagine, whatever was in that pouch Qi Rong brought An Le infected them or maybe it was these actual soldiers or something. Makes it less mmm... Strange. Having seen recordings of an attempted assault on a principal government building with government officials inside and what bloodthirsty folks bent on literal murder of said officials get up to around that, I mean I guess it's not that..... strange......

Someone here let me know that the servant/friend is the same official from S02E01 who ran past Xie Lian to help Lang Qianqiu, which makes sense! I totally forgot he showed up then and wondered after S02E07 if he was An Le acting funny (though by the end of S02E09 he is clearly not). He does show up in the novel in that S02E01 scene, but he's not named so far as I can tell, and I don't think we see him in Yong'an flashbacks like we do here. It's neat to see the development of this side character, and how some officials reward people who support them in life (besides Xie Lian and Yin Yu).

Xie Lian seeing the guy nervously looking for Lang Qianqiu and then being like: -sigh- young love is such a trial. You should spend more time studying the blade!

Oh shit, we get a preview of Xie Lian's parents' suicide. Wow. Will we get the donghua that far please T-T

I'm just in love with Fangxin's cape. It's so beautiful trailing behind him.

I'm sorry but An Le screaming in the same way Nakahara Chuuya does whenever he's mid-Corruption in Bungo Stray Dogs made me laugh so hard roflmao Unexpected (and likely unintentional) cameo lol

Imma keep saying it, the animation in this episode is really good. The fight scene is wonderful. When they go back to Qi Rong cackling is good. The show is just pretty.

Qi Rong: "Why is everyone here so fond of crying!"

This man is tired. Can't you do a little mass murder and gloating in peace? Honestly. Hard times.

Qi Rong: "You want your parents? I haven't gone asking for mine yet!"

Aw Qi Rong, babe...

Qi Rong got anime slashed. Who could have foreseen??? /end sarcasm

Xie Lian having a sad moment about Qi Rong, thinking he died. I'm wondering what the crying scene is from, or if that's something new. Qi Rong did cry I think in one flashback (I think where he's complaining about something) but this looked sadder? And less "spoiled".

Xie Lian sadly reaching out for Lang Qianqiu T-T

Xie Lian: "Is the truth so important? . . . What's the use of him knowing that? If I killed a few less people, would that make my reasons more justified?"

I really do love this so much. Just... sometimes the truth isn't important. Sometimes the truth is more painful/results in a worse outcome. Being bluntly honest isn't always the answer. You could argue that Xie Lian sacrificing himself isn't the answer either, and it's better overall that Lang Qianqiu knows things, but I love how this story brings up this idea, that maybe ignorance was better. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, and Xie Lian did still intentionally murder two people, as part of a cover-up.

Also, "You'd rather be right than be loved," is something I think about a lot from personal experience. It's not Hua Cheng's intention, but this kind of thinking can lead down that path so easily.

Hua Cheng really feeling that "fucked around and found out" part of this whole thing. Like I don't necessarily disagree with his goal here, and Xie Lian's plan is kind of well... imperfect (to put it lightly). But I do think this is a nice moment of Hua Cheng realizing that yes, he is Xie Lian's #1 fan, he is Xie Lian's strongest believer, and Xie Lian clearly cares deeply for him in return, but this does not mean that Hua Cheng understands Xie Lian perfectly, or knows all his thoughts (does Hua Cheng know a lot about him? Yes. But Xie Lian hides a lot of what he thinks, and has done so throughout his life). When thinking about Hua Cheng, I often think of Sosuke Aizen's line in Bleach chapter 170: "Admiration is the state furthest from understanding."

Unlike other people, Hua Cheng sets himself apart by not forcing his views on Xie Lian or trying to get Xie Lian to change to suit him, and he's realizing, "Oh shit, I fucked up with that here, didn't I," because in his quest for justice, to protect Xie Lian, he did just what he hates other people doing (to an extent, it's not nearly as bad as other folks). One thing I love so much about their relationship is how much they listen to each other, and learn from each other, and how Hua Cheng tries to see Xie Lian in ways other people don't. Even here, he's seeing Xie Lian (I really love that they focused so much on Hua Cheng's expressions here, even if he's not visually doing as much as Xie Lian, it's the little clear signs of upset that mean so much). He's not interrupting Xie Lian, he's not arguing his case (though to be fair, he already mostly has). He's trying to learn and be better. They recover from this because of that. And I love that about them.

Xie Lian: "I deserve whatever punishment I get and I can't die anyway. So why not put all the blame on me?"

T-T Crying in the club, folks. This man...

Xie Lian realizing he's being mean to Hua Cheng and apologizing got me T-T He's so scared of himself and what he's capable of - and incapable of, given all his work to try and save lives and mend old anger has come to naught, and he can't fix it. He always doubts himself before others. The scars of Bai Wuxiang are all over this episode, and Xie Lian himself, figuratively and literally. All this episode I cry T-T

Xie Lian's Chinese voice actor has done such a good job. Everyone is amazing (Qi Rong's VA doing amazing), but dang, he is phenomenal this episode. You can really feel Xie Lian's desperation and sorrow.

All in all the subs were also better this episode! They still call Qi Rong the "Green Immor" for some reason, but outside maybe one slightly awkward sentence, I think it was okay! But that doesn't necessarily mean anything cause they've been good and then got worse again lol

An excellent episode. Truly phenomenal. I think one of my favorites, particularly for this ending bit with Xie Lian and Hua Cheng talking to each other.

Other episode thoughts for season 2 (didn't start till episode 3):

S02E03

S02E04

S02E05

S02E06

S02E07

S02E08

S02E09

S02E10 (you are here)

S02E11

S02E12

[onlyzhuyilong]

The Volunteers part 2 cast for Chinese New Year: Li Xiang (Zhu YiLong) with his Father Li Mo Yin (Xin Bai Qing), & his little sister Li Xiao (Zhang Zi Feng).

[xiulric]

Hello!!!!!

I want to ask you too: What's your fav characters? And fics?

Also do you have a favourite part in the books?

Fav characters: Shen Yuan, Binghe, Liu Qingge, YQY, Ning Yingying <3 possibly in that order. But I have love in my heart for most of the character cast. I even have a soft spot for Su Xiyan, who barely appears in canon

As for favourite fanfics: It'll be under read more

https://archiveofourown.org/works/48752503/chapters/122981467 This one is possibly my #1 favourite scum villain fic.

It stars a Binghe that isn't fully blackened, but he's on the cusp of going down that path of no return. And Shen Yuan gets transmigrated to Gongyi Xiao instead of SQQ.

According to the author: " the goal here is to make falling in love such a stressful experience for LBH that he develops an ulcer " .

The author nails down Binghe's calculating, charismatic inner voice. It truly shows that Binghe's greatest weapon as the protagonist isn't xin mo, or his obsenely godly cultivation; his greatest weapon is his intelligence.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/49999318/chapters/126242992 12k words, so not SUPER long but it's absolutely one of my favourite SVSSS Fics bc it explores several things phenomenally: A) The personality differences between Shen Yuan and Shen Qingqiu, and who he's become after transmigrating and B) the complex tension between SY and LBH around book 2. This author exploits that tension in a satisfying way that keeps you hooked. ....also im just weak to the amnesia trope hehe

https://archiveofourown.org/works/40429575/chapters/101280702 VERY GOOD TOO. Bit of an au; Shen Yuan is born in SVSSS world, but he's a rogue cultivator who hides in dream realms. The fun thing about this one is that Shen Yuan makes Binghe fall for him with no sex, just the delicious bingge-to-bingmei pipeline. He partly does it by accident too which is hilarious

https://archiveofourown.org/works/47600038/chapters/119967685 Devastating in its delivery of angst, With a happy ending! This one had a chokehold on my soul and I COULD NOT put it down although beware this one deals with heavy themes like alcohol abuse and depression :")

but the character arcs were SO GOOD. It's pretty long so it'll keep you entertained for awhile

In a way it's hard seeing binghe and shen yuan be so depressed; but it also felt cathartic to me, knowing what depression's like. and the more you get to see of shen yuan, the more you kinda realize how his depression is justified and he's trying his best in his own way

[notacatyet]

Would you be willing to give spoilers for The Grand Unified Theory Of Shen Qingqiu?? I’ve heard fantastic things about it but the sheer length makes me nervous about starting it - who’s LBH’s love interest mentioned in the author’s note?? Does SY still feel like our lovable narrator even if he’s SJ?? When do SY and YQQ/LQG get together in the 600k+ word saga?? So many questions 😭 I reached out because I saw your post on having read and loved it, no worries if you don’t feel like answering!

I don’t mind answering! Although I don’t think the answer will actually be helpful. Also keep in mind that I’ve been reading this fic for years so some stuff might not be exact

1) This is a major spoiler but we don’t actually know yet who is Binghe’s romantic interest (as far as I remember). You see, about 1/3 in (before chapter 200 but pretty close to it iirc), when Binghe had the problems with Xin Mo, SQQ decided to deal with it differently than in canon… and somehow got sent back to his disciple days (he was already a head disciple but decades before he ascended to Peak Lord).

2) He IS certainly lovable but he’s not nearly as unhinged as Shen Yuan. Not to say he’s normal, he’s very much not, but you can feel how Shen Yuan and Shen Jiu got mixed. It also helps that the fic is not exclusively in his pov so we get to see things in a less unreliable way (for the most part)

3) that’s… a really complicated question and it depends on what your definition of “getting together” means. Out of the three Liu Qingge is the one that is the most emotionally intelligent (ironically enough) and the only one that actually sees the three of them as being together in the future (he imagines himself as Yue Qingyuan’s second husband, while Shen Qingqiu would be his first husband). Yue Qingyuan… has decided, in a really convoluted way, to sort of but not really try to be closer with Shen Qingqiu and while really enjoying Liu Qingge’s, he’s not planning on marrying him yet. He’s also not planning on marrying Shen Qingqiu, but at least he’s aware that there’s something there, even if it has 382883 layers. Shen Qingqiu is completely oblivious. So, for the most part, they are not together yet. But they are still very much in each other’s lives the whole story. They might get together in the second volume. Maybe.

Do tell if you have more questions! I am planning on re-reading the story soon but rn I’m just too busy to commit to it.

[morethanwonderful]

Introducing: The Which MXTX Character do You Most Want to Study Like a Little Bug Tournament Bracket

Starting February 20, 2023 (American time), I'll be running a tournament via tumblr polls to determine once and for all which Mo Xiang Tong Xiu webnovel character the fanbase most wants to study like a little bug.

FAQ:

What do you mean by "most want to study like a little bug"?

Which character makes you want to pick them up, put them in a glass jar, examine them with a little magnifying glass, and poke them with a stick to see how they react? Which character is so so small and pathetic and also truly deeply bizarre? If you don't get what I'm talking about, this poll may not be for you.

Why on earth are you doing sixty-four characters?

A perfectly even bracket has to have 16, 32, or 64 starting contestants, and since there were 33 characters that I really wanted to include, I decided to Commit.

What is wrong with you?

Yeah.

If you'd like to either search for or blacklist posts related to this event, all of mine will be tagged with "MXTX bugpoll."

You can find the full list of matches under the readmore. Happy voting!

Since there's so many characters, I'll be splitting the first round into two days. Round 1 Part 1 (the left side of the bracket) will begin tomorrow (Monday), and Round 1 Part 2 (the right side) will be on Tuesday. We'll continue with one round per day from there.

Round 1 Part 1:

Yin Yu vs Gongyi Xiao

Luo Binghe (Bing-mei ver.) vs Quan Yizhen

Xuan Ji vs Mei Nianqing (Guoshi)

Luo Binghe (Bing-ge ver.) vs Pei Ming

Shen (Yuan) Qingqiu vs Shi Qingxuan

Jin Ling vs Lang Qianqiu

Ban Yue vs A-Qing

Liu Mingyan vs Lan Jingyi

Mobei-jun vs Lan Wangji

Zhuzhi-lang vs Su She

Bai Wuxiang vs Jiang Fengmian

Jin Zixuan vs Tianlang-jun

Qi Qingqi vs Lan Qiren

Su Xiyan vs Yu Ziyuan

Nie Mingjue vs Mu Qing

Jin Guangyao vs Pei Xiu

Round 1 Part 2:

Shen (Jiu) Qingqiu vs Mo Xuanyu

Ning Yingying vs Luo "Mianmian" Qingyang

Xiao Xingchen vs Xie Lian

Yue Qingyuan vs Lan Xichen

Ling Wen vs Shang Qinghua

Jian Lan vs Jiang Yanli

He Xuan vs Nie Huaisang

Wen Chao vs Jin Zixun

Wei Wuxian vs Xue Yang

Wen Qing vs Mu Qingfang

Sha Hualing vs Qi Rong

Song Lan vs Jiang Cheng

Liu Qingge vs Feng Xin

Hua Cheng vs Wen Ning

Ming Fan vs Lan Sizhui

Yushi Huang vs Shi Wudu

Round 2

Yin Yu vs Luo Binghe (Bing-mei ver.)

Mei Nianqing (Guoshi) vs Luo Binghe (Bing-ge ver.)

Shen (Yuan) Qingqiu vs Jin Ling

Ban Yue vs Liu Mingyan

Lan Wangji vs Zhuzhi-lang

Bai Wuxiang vs Tianlang-jun

Lan Qiren vs Yu Ziyuan

Mu Qing vs Jin Guangyao

Shen Jiu vs Ning Yingying

Xie Lian vs Yue Qingyuan

Shang Qinghua vs Jiang Yanli

Nie Huaisang vs Jin Zixun

Wei Wuxian vs Wen Qing

Qi Rong vs Jiang Cheng

Liu Qingge vs Hua Cheng

Lan Sizhui vs Shi Wudu

Round 3

Luo Binghe (Bing-mei ver.) vs Luo Binghe (Bing-ge ver.)

Shen (Yuan) Qingqiu vs Liu Mingyan

Zhuzhi-lang vs Tianlang-jun

Yu Ziyuan vs Jin Guangyao

Shen (Jiu) Qingqiu vs Xie Lian

Shang Qinghua vs Nie Huaisang

Wei Wuxian vs Jiang Cheng

Hua Cheng vs Lan Sizhui

Quarterfinal

Luo Binghe (Bing-mei ver.) vs Shen (Yuan) Qingqiu

Tianlang-jun vs Jin Guangyao

Shen (Jiu) Qingqiu vs Nie Huaisang

Jiang Cheng vs Hua Cheng

Semifinal

Shen (Yuan) Qingqiu vs Tianlang-jun

Nie Huaisang vs Jiang Cheng

The Final Round

Shen (Yuan) Qingqiu vs Nie Huaisang

[stiltonbasket]

Do you have a guide to all your OCs anywhere?

No, but there is one now. :) Brief note that these characters are from the TMAAF verse; minor, non-recurring OCs like Xiao Liuzi from travelers through the empty gate will not show up here. Also keep in mind that some characters, like Nie Yunhua and Nie Yunhai, have more significant roles in my modern verses and Tumblr AUs than in TMAAF.

Gusu Lan sect

1. Lan Xiaohui (Xiao-Yu). Wangxian's second child, born to a courtesan called Yang Xin in Yunmeng in 731.

2. Wei Shuilan, born in 736. Her parentage is completely unknown.

3. Wei Chunyang, Wangxian's only biological child, born to Wei Wuxian in 740. She is the reincarnated spirit of Jiang Yanli.

4. Lan Jueying, born in 735 to a pair of villagers who were killed by a yaoguai. After their deaths, she was adopted by Lan Xichen.

5. Lan Minghui, born in 731. He has one younger brother, and his mother is a nurse in the Baoshi. He and Xiao-Yu are best friends.

6. Lan Danhui, born in 730. A close friend of Xiao-Yu and Minghui.

7. Lan Fang, born in 736. He marries Wei Shuilan in 765, and they have four daughters and one son together.

Yunmeng Jiang sect

1. Yu Zhenhong. He is a couple of years younger than Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian, and the son of Yu Ziyuan's older half-brother. He currently serves as Jiang Cheng's deputy and possesses a highly dangerous weapon called Shuaixing, which takes the form of a spear that causes explosions when thrown.

2. Li Shuai. She is Lotus Pier's second deputy and Yu Zhenhong's wife. Her core was melted when Wen Chao attached Lotus Pier, so she carries a dagger instead of a sword and practices non-cultivating martial arts instead of the jiandao.

3. Yu Mei, born in 727 to Li Shuai and Yu Zhenhong.

4. Yu Jin, born in 729 to Li Shuai and Yu Zhenhong.

5. Yu Min, born in 731 to Li Shuai and Yu Zhenhong.

6. Yu Xihan, born in 714. Lotus Pier's current head disciple, and a first cousin once removed to Yu Zhenhong (though not to Jiang Cheng).

7. Zhao Suyin, born in 715. Lotus Pier's first ranking female disciple, and a lost descendant from the Xinjiang Zhao clan. She later marries Yu Xihan.

8. Xiao Yan. One of the younger disciples in the senior class. She later marries Jin Chan and becomes the mother of Jin Yun.

9. Luo Ming, Liu Feng, Dai Hualing, and Li Jiangshun. Other disciples in the senior class.

10. Pan Gaolin. The head physician at the Lufeng infirmary, who first earned notoriety when she destroyed an infant Jiang Yanli's cultivation root as part of a (successful) experimental procedure intended to make her lungs and stomach develop faster. As a young girl, she studied healing at the medical institute in Xinjiang Zhao with Yun Guimeng.

11. Lang Xiyan. She was originally a kitchen maid at Mo Manor, but she was expelled from Mo Village and came into Pan Gaolin's care in Yunmeng, where she became a healer. She is Lang Lihua's birth mother.

12. Lang Lihua, born in 732. Lang Xiyan's daughter and Jiang Cheng's stepdaughter.

13. Jiang Lianhua, born in 740 to Jiang Cheng and Jiang-furen.

14. Jiang Bohai, born in 743 to Jiang Cheng and Jiang-furen.

Qinghe Nie sect

1. Nie Shiyong. She is a tiger-shifter born in 715, and captured in 717 by Jin Guangyao after he invited her parents to the Jinlintai. Her parents were murdered, and Nie Shiyong was imprisoned for the next four years. Nie Huaisang rescued and adopted her in 721, though her existence was not publicly known until 733. She married Jin Ling in 739, and is the mother of several children with him.

2. Nie Zhuxi, born in 713. He is Nie Zonghui’s younger cousin and Nie Huaisang’s presumptive heir.

3. Nie Zhuyan, born in 729. Nie Zhuxi’s younger brother and Xiao-Yu’s husband.

4. Nie Yunhua and Nie Yunhai, minor wind and water gods born to Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue in 770, two years after Lan Xichen’s ascension to the heavenly court. They received the Nie name but are not part of the Nie sect, since they were born as gods and were never human.

5. Yun Guimeng (Healer Yun). She is the head physician at the Unclean Realm.

Lanling Jin sect

1. Jin Hong, born in 740. First son of Jin Ling and Nie Shiyong, and Wei Chunyang’s husband. He is the reincarnated spirit of Jin Zixuan. Note: He has many younger siblings, and only the first few have been named.

2. Jin Yun, born in 741 to Jin Chan and Xiao Yan. He is the reincarnated spirit of Jin Guangyao, and the head priest at the Lord Mercy temple in Yiling.

3. Jin Xiu, born in 742. First daughter of Jin Ling and Nie Shiyong, and Jin Ling’s heir.

4. Jin An, born in 743 to Jin Ling and Nie Shiyong.

5. Cao Nian, born in 739 to Luo Qingyang and her husband, Cao Tian. Younger brother to Little Mianmian.

Baling Ouyang sect

1. Ouyang Xingchen, born in 742 to Ouyang Zizhen and A-Qing. He has three unnamed younger sisters and one younger brother.

2. Yao Lan, born in 741. He was an orphan raised at a monastery near Baling, where he met Ouyang Xingchen in 760. The two married later that year.