#people get on the fact that sy takes ‘too well’ to pidw

[mxtxfanatic]

Ever think about how the author of PIDW transmigrated into his most nothing character who only existed to push the protagonist on the “right” path to popularity before dying? Ever think about how he transmigrated into that character from their birth, completely deleting that person from existence, while his own existence as the creator of the world he now inhabits is so thoroughly erased that we readers only know his “real name” as the character’s name? How the only name he carries over from his first life is a shortened version of his innuendo pen name? As if his existence as a person is nothing next to being the author, which is only marginally less nothing by virtue of the job’s one purpose: to make sure a story is following the “right” path to popularity before dying to enshrine that fame/infamy amongst readers?

No? Just me? Ok…

[greenpanda-djg]

Airplane/Binghe Mobei/Cucumber Parralell

Just ignore me OR add if you're like me and just love the parralells/ships and everything that is peoples headcannon that Airplane based LBH on himself and likes ice cold beautys like mobei and cucumber etc.

SO

How is LGH and SQQ the same as Airplane/cucumber?

Okay, so your a writer you pour your heart and soul into writing something you genuinly liked and then when you show that to the world you get attacked by criticism. As an artist/writer not everyone will like your work so the scene where LBH in the tea ceremony is happy then gets dunked on. SQQ could represent the haters/his anti fans that no matter how much LBH TRIES its NEVER good enough for your harshest critic. And JUST LIKE antis and weirdos online who trash on peoples works that they poured their heart and soul into is usually projection! That the antis online are probably miserable [or like SY who read PIDW but completely missed the tones and made a ton of assumptions which lead to his downfall in the world]

I'm not sure if its a headcannon or fact that sqq vitriol was based on most of Cucumbers animosity towards PIDW.

And most have noticed how Shang Qinghua always wears a pleasent smile, acts pitiful on purpose, takes advantage of others and looks down on them pretty much too faced but is suprisingly strong has some similarities to LBH. And his dynamic with Mobei-Jun someone who hites Shang QInghua [Which to demons is a sign of affection JUST like how SQQ hits Binghe with his fan its endearment like a wife slapping her husbands shoulder]

How Mobei-Jun is the damsel in distress JUST like Sqq and both need rescuing by their pitiful husbands! and also how Mobei-Jun is always annoyed at SQH but then gets pissy when Shang Qinghua tries to leave same as Shen Qingqiu who is hot and cold then cries when LBH leaves him in the mausoleom-

Okay I'm saying that its the same ship in different FONTS.

Also one last thing is how funny how Shen Yuan is a typical online weirdo who cares more for a fictional character version and has more empathy for this cute white lotus whose had a troubling life.

Meanwhile theres SQH who ALSO had an awful upbringing how his shixiongs literally shoved SQH in front of a freaken DEMON who was the great Mobei-Jun and expected a small disciple to take him on may as well have sacrificed him! How he had his own system and tried to help SY when he could and yet it was never good enough the weird anti parasocial dynamic where SY would rather care for SQH fictional counterpart than the real thing thats right in front of him since most people online hold fictional characters with more priority than real people

ps. YES SQQ does care for SQH he let him lay low in the bamboo house and fed him Binghes food just like his relationship with Binghe and Mobei SQQ is hot and cold he will literally slap you and say he hates you one moment then wifebeams gives you food the next and tuck you into bed I'm just saying he can be BOTH or his journey through the story is that SQQ follows scripts. He's a pretender and thinks its a story the characters and people in this world and just that fiction. So it would make sense that he has this distance with even SQH and by finally treating the world as real by taking LBH emotions seriously and that his words do have an impact and can HURT him shows that he also applies this behaviour to everyone around him including SQH.

Anything else you guys want to add feel free.

[fandomspacenqueue]

Oh no worries at all about taking time to reply, life's been getting pretty busy for me too. I am definitely enjoying our discussion, so thank you for replying as well!

I have nothing more to add to your comment on LBH/Bingqiu vs Moshang except that I completely agree. We may be in the minority but we are definitely not alone.

And yes to what you said about Liujiu! I love that aspect of them, that they could've certainly forged a strong relationship under different circumstances that could've helped them both grow. But hmm, I will admit that my enjoyment of the ship is hindered just a little by how fans tend to treat YQY in response. I've certainly seen that accusation floating around, that YQY's attempts at protecting SJ are more harmful than helpful, but I can't seem to recall what it's specifically referring to exactly. I'll speculate on what I think people mean by it (with the disclaimer that I also haven't reread the novel in a while), but please correct me if you have better insight!

Warning: copious unsolicited YQY apologism ahead XD

The main thing I think would be YQY's "cover up" of LQG's death. I think I've seen people argue that YQY should've investigated properly so that it would've cleared SJ's name. But, crucially, YQY himself thought there was a good chance that SJ really did kill LQG. And given SJ's prior reaction to LQG's accusation of attempted murder during the demon well incident, the chances of SJ not going "why should I bother defending myself if you all think I did it" are rather low, which doesn't exactly scream that he's innocent. Given that, there's no reason for YQY to believe that an investigation wouldn't result in SJ being condemned. And there's also no reason to think that YQY wouldn't have investigated to clear SJ's name if SJ himself wished it.

There's also the "YQY's dogged pursuit of SJ's attention even though SJ wants nothing to do with him makes other people think of SJ as ungrateful" angle. But...that's just YQY genuinely wanting to have a positive relationship with someone he cares about, which I would hesitate to call selfish. Is he meant to give that up because SJ's own reaction makes SJ look bad? Or the "YQY fails to suppress rumors of SJ being a lecher" angle, which again, SJ himself categorically refuses to debunk the rumors, so what more can YQY do besides tell people not to gossip when everyone knows about it already? How can YQY know that there's more to the story when SJ refuses to confide in him?

Just, I think for me it boils down to how much is YQY meant to take on faith alone? SJ gives him nothing to work with and in fact goes out of his way to let YQY specifically believe the worst of him because he spitefully thinks there's no point defending himself if even YQY assumes the worst. I can understand SJ's hurt by that...but it still does nothing good for SJ. How exactly is YQY meant to defend him more effectively when SJ gives literally no one any reason to think he's not exactly what they assume about him or worse? And sure, it can be said that YQY doesn't trust SJ in the end. But neither does SJ trust YQY, and in fact he believes the worst of YQY too. The miscommunication from YQY refusing to tell SJ why he "failed" to come back for him is on YQY, sure, but SJ didn't have to just assume malice either. And even if YQY is a sect leader, he can't force their martial siblings to defend SJ if they refuse to. He also can't exactly forsake the world to rescue and run away with SJ if SJ won't have him, but even still his own death in PIDW happens because in the end he still refuses to give up on SJ.

I just think it's a little unfair to unfavorably compare YQY's very real efforts to protect SJ with LQG's entirely hypothetical support of SJ. This is just my interpretation, but I personally don't believe that LQG's ride-or-die loyalty is purely due to SY saving his life, but more who SY!SQQ is as a person. And while it's certainly possible that he could've forged a similar relationship with SJ, it's also possible that LQG's loyalty to him could be affected by the conflict between LQG's honorable nature and SJ's nastier tendencies even if LQG had a better understanding of SJ and why he's the way he is.

But sorry for that long tangent. I appreciate the fic rec and will add it to my list! Thanks again for your reply! :)

one reason i think liu qingge has such great potential is that he's one of the only characters entirely free from the PIDM narrative. because he dies early in PIDM, sqq isn't coming into every conversation and interaction expecting lqg to adhere to a preconceived script. this allows sqq to actually see lqg as a person and for his words and actions to be taken at face value.

i just think this is great potential for sqq to still be completely oblivious or in denial about lbh and yqy's attentions (because he's so fixated on how bad/complicated PIDM!sqq's relationships are with them) whilst also catching wind of lqg's growing feelings for him because he isn't hampered by any preconceived notions of what they're dynamic "should" be.

so give me sqq noticing the way lqg's mannerism soften around him, how his gruffness changes, how he spends more time just having tea with sqq even after his meridians have been cleansed as they start to have civil conversation about sect business. recognising lqg's care in returning his fans; seeking common ground over their shared love of monster hunting (even if lqg just cares about fighting them, can he maybe smash them in such a way that shixiong can study them afterwards?) and discussions on cultivation techniques and the differences between bai zhan and qing jing styles.

sqq who is so just so grateful to have someone in his corner, someone he feels safe with, who he doesn't have to second guess during every conversation. someone who was never supposed to be around by this point in the narrative, and so is entirely shen qingqui's.

[tossawary]

I'm sorry this feels real weird, but I love PINTWILF a lot, and the fact that you really expanded on SQH's role and everything. And I really loved that you added the other unnamed peaks and melded them in, everything that you wrote about the peaks actually really fleshed them out and their roles. So what did you name the three other peaks, and what are their roles? I think I only really understand that Xi Jiao is an animal/beast peak?

It’s not weird! I’m quite pleased with the sect logistics I’ve been writing in PINTWILF (from a humor angle, not a realism angle) and so I’m happy to talk about it. This is the order of peaks I’ve been using in PINTWILF: 

(1) Qiong Ding Peak - Peak Lord: Yue Qingyuan (Canon) 

Apparently they’re responsible for general affairs. I’ve always assumed they’re also responsible for dealing with other sects and politics, outside of peak-specific specialties where another peak lord has the authority to represent the sect. 

(2) Qing Jing Peak - Peak Lord: Shen Qingqiu (Canon) 

Peak of scholars and strategists. I assumed from there that they would also be responsible for a lot of library and archive-related duties, and that they would have some talisman and seal experts, etc., and that QJ and QD would be closely tied in many matters. 

(3) Wan Jian Peak - Peak Lord: Wei Qingwei (Canon) 

Peak of sword masters. I assumed that this meant both martial weapon specialists and sword smiths. I also assumed that this could be expanded to many kinds of metal work. Where WJ and AD meet is probably where a lot of non-weapon-related fabrication happens. 

(4) An Ding Peak - Peak Lord: Shang Qinghua (Canon, minus #?)

I’ve seen people put An Ding anywhere from 4th to 12th. I’m not sure that An Ding has a canonical number. I prefer An Ding being 4th because of 1) how closely Qiong Ding and An Ding’s work would be tied and the importance of logistics, but 2) mainly how funny I think it is if SQH is only three murders away from being the sect leader. 

SQH: “Wei Qingwei, you cannot die. The chances of Shen Qingqiu and Yue Qingyuan offing each other is too high for you to die on me. YOU’RE MY LAST LINE OF DEFENSE. DON’T MAKE ME BE SECT LEADER.” 

(5) Xian Shu Peak - Peak Lord: Qi Qingqi (Canon)

It’s unclear what specialties XS has, probably because it only existed in PIDW as the “hot lady peak” (and MXTX never actually expanded it post-transmigration). It’s never come up, but I kind of dig the idea of XS doing some textiles work, anything from weaving fine fabrics to rope-making. (Who makes stuff like Immortal Binding Cables? It could be Xian Shu.) 

(6) Xi Jiao Peak - Peak Lord: Tang Qingling (Non-Canon) 

Yes, this is an animal/beast peak, because I’ve seen it brought up in a few fics, and I thought it would be funny for SY to be entranced by the idea, only for SQH to go, “Bro, I hope you have the stomach for blood and literal shit, because that’s where they butcher monsters for parts and collect crap for fertilizer.” 

I also like the idea of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect having actual pipelines based on the specialties, which make it a very profitable and efficient sect. (Also, where are they getting their food? Do they have livestock? Do they buy it all from the surrounding towns and cities? Xi Jiao is me deciding that, yes, they have livestock.) Liu Qingge brings in a monster, it goes to Xi Jiao, then the parts go out again to Wan Jian, Qian Cao, Zui Xian, and others. to become armor, medicine, potions, etc.. Or maybe just to An Ding to sell. 

(7) Bai Zhan Peak - Peak Lord: Liu Qingge (Canon) 

They make people who fight good. 

(8) Qian Cao Peak - Peak Lord: Mu Qingfang (Canon) 

Trains healers and makes medicine. I assumed that they would grow as many of their own plants as they could and do a lot of plant breeding. Medicine could also be a great source of income for the sect (another reason why QC is one of Shang Qinghua’s favorite peaks). 

(9) Ku Xing Peak - Peak Lord: Wang Qingjie (Canon, minus # and peak lord) 

The peak name is canon, but I can’t remember if they have a canonical number and they don’t have a canonical peak lord. They’re all all-male peak with an ascetic lifestyle, living akin to monks. 

I think I decided that they specialized in talismans and the creation of other spiritual tools, including and as well as ceramics. So, they work closely with many of the other peaks, but especially An Ding in supplying other peaks. I can’t remember why I decided this. I think maybe I decided that Ku Xing might have a philosophy that “to create purifying objects, the maker must also be free from impurities”? Hence the ascetic lifestyle. 

I also thought it would be funny if Ku Xing and Qing Jing had a little bit of a rivalry going on. Shen Qingqiu makes very good talismans and Wang Qingjie is NOT angry about it (in the way of someone trying not to be angry). 

(10) Zui Xian Peak - Peak Lord: Zhang Qingyan (Canon, minus # and peak lord) 

Again, the peak name is canon, but I can’t remember if they have a canonical number and they don’t have a canonical peak lord. This is the peak that apparently specializes in alcohol. 

So, I decided that they might as well be responsible for brewing other potions and solutions. Maybe they have people who specialize in alchemy. Qian Cao and Wan Jian and Xi Jiao (and nearly every other peak) probably do their own brewing of certain things, but it probably helps to have someone else dedicated to brewing on a large scale. Qian Cao grows the plants for a common medicine, then ships them to Zui Xian for mass-production, and the An Ding takes the result and sells it to all the nearby towns and cities. 

Zui Xian probably saves and makes Cang Qiong so much money. 

(11) Long Sheng Peak - Peak Lord: ??? (Non-Canon) 

This is a newer invention and I haven’t come up with a peak lord yet, but they’re named after “The Dragon’s Backbone” and they specialize in plants and agriculture. This is my “this is how the sect gets fed” peak, alongside Xi Jiao. 

Maybe they don’t grow all the sect’s food themselves, but they support and work with the surrounding towns and cities to make sure that the local harvests survive all of PIDW’s horrible plants and monsters. Sometimes you need cultivators who can tell you why this year’s harvest is haunted and what to do about it! Maybe Airplane invented the equivalent of magical locust swarms and didn’t think twice about it, so someone has to deal with that! Maybe they grow the materials for Xian Shu’s textiles work! 

They work closely with Xi Jiao, Qian Cao, Zui Xian, and An Ding. 

(12) ??? 

I haven’t actually named the last peak. I haven’t really seen a need to invent one yet and it’s kind of been a in-joke with myself. It’s fun to imagine people being like, “Cang Qiong has twelve peaks, right? What’s that last one called again? I can never remember what that last peak is called.” 

Notes: 

I imagine that most of the peaks’ specialties overlap in one way or another. An Ding, Zui Xian, Qian Cao, and Long Sheng each do some agricultural stuff, but Qian Cao and Long Sheng (especially LS) do most of it. And so on. 

Cang Qiong Mountain Sect also doesn’t have to do everything in-house. Shang Qinghua also has to make orders from other sects and merchants for stuff that Cang Qiong either can’t make or don’t have the space/time to make. I just like the idea that CQ is so powerful partly because they’re so independent. 

If I keep the details loose, I can get a lot of fun humor out of it. 

[baoshan-sanren]

I saw your post about svss and you pointed out a bunch of interesting things and it got me thinking... there are plenty of fics about og!lbh meeting sy( !sqq ) but what is your take on this? How do you think things would go down between them and what kind of relationship do you imagine they'd have? After Bingge vs Bingmei do you think og!lbh would wanna find his own Shizun (sy) / or would he try to take sy!sqq back? Thanks for this blog btw! It's an absolute danmei goldmine!

lmao I see a lot of those fics too but I’ve never read any bc I just can’t see LBG and SY together in any context that doesn’t involve making one (or both) of them extremely OOC. Mainly, I can’t see SY ever willingly remaining by LBG’s side. In the LBG vs LBM extras, the only pity he feels for LBG is solely caused by LBG’s physical resemblance to LBM, or the physical resemblance to the person SY actually cares for. I mean, there is no need to imagine how SY would react to being pursued/forced to exist alongside LBG because we already see it play out in SVSSS. Before SY finally realizes that the boy he raised turned out very different from PIDW LBH, he spends like a dozen chapters (if not more) trying to run away from him. And SVSSS LBH is no alternate dimension stranger either, but a man SY had raised himself, and knows better than he ever could have known PIDW LBH just from airplane’s shitty writing. 

I’m putting the rest under read more, bc idk if you thought I was kidding about writing essays about SVSSS (I wasn’t).

The LBG vs LBM extras are actually my fave extras. So many people start SVSSS expecting to get a romantic relationship between the two mains, but technically, this relationship only begins after the novel ends. SY even clearly states that the entire time they had spent in the Demon Realm post the events of the last chapter (not quite a month if I remember correctly?) they had not even as much as kissed. The fact that the first physical intimacy of sexual nature SY experiences post all the misunderstandings and misery of the novel is with LBG and not LBM (as well as the first time he is aroused by the activity) is a big deal for A LOT of reasons. The main being that SY enjoys himself only up to the point where he realizes the person kissing him is not LBM. 

Mxtx makes it a point to tell us that SY and LBM have terrible sex. For one, this is a fairly realistic scenario, flying in opposition to all the novels where the lead is somehow born with magical knowledge on how to provide mind-blowing sexual gratification under any circumstance. With the “protagonist's golden-halo” firmly in place, any other author would have made him a veritable sex god without any consideration for the fact that LBM wouldn’t know the first thing about kissing someone, let alone anything else. LBG, on the other hand, has the experience gained from his 300+ member harem. In the extra, it takes him literally no time to push SY’s buttons. I believe he even says something like “Why would you stay with him (LBM) when my technique is so much better?” For LBG, who clearly doesn’t understand that any relationship which purports itself to be based in affection or love does not require continuous application of sex in order to exist or remain stable, SY choosing to stay with LBM makes absolutely no sense. 

It always blows my mind when people talk about SVSSS like it’s perpetuating some “dangerous ideas” about sex and consent (but it does make me better understand why mxtx chooses to literally lead the readers by the hand through those same themes in TGCF, because they obviously didn’t get what she was saying in SVSSS). The number of narratives in which the bad guy is terrible at sex and the good guy is somehow a sex encyclopedia on two legs (and there are no realistic reasons for either scenario) are a dime a dozen in every genre, in every language. Mxtx steps back and says “no, actually, sex has nothing to fucking do with love, and the ability to receive/give pleasure has nothing to do with either goodness or villany” and then she gets lynched for it by people who have no reading comprehension. 

Literally the only thing LBG has going for him is that he can turn SY on in 0.5 seconds and that he physically resembles LBM. And while the latter does ping on SY’s radar, it only incites pity. He obviously does not give a shit for the former, because his relationship with LBM, his affection and love for LBM, his decision to marry LBM has literally nothing to do with sex. This actually might be healthiest aspect of their relationship, that all the groundwork, including the plethora of misunderstandings, was laid down before they had a mutually consensual sexual experience together. And it is a stark contrast to PIDW LBH’s relationship with sex which is unhealthy in a dozen different ways, and mainly transactional in nature, from being a means of obtaining loyalty, affection, or a sense of self-worth. 

So basically, a relationship between SY and LBG is, in my opinion, as unrealistic as airplane’s original PIDW plot. Although SY did admire PIDW LBH enough to read the entire atrocity of a novel (that literally ended up killing him), I think we’re all supposed to understand, without being told, that those things we admire in fiction are rarely ever things we’d be willing to experience in real life. 

[rarepears]

#can u imagine sj having to teach the prince on new classics and looking at his martial brothers and his twins name#in a romance story#when he’s seen and heard them talk nothing but sex scenes#and bad ones at that!#and yet these books are tasteful??#he keeps expecting them to be yellow books instead of some really good and intriguing romance with enough back stabbing for sj#sy meanwhile wanted 1 to get more airplane books 2 get that pidw money his peak needs expensive shit#do you think airplane and cucumber get drunk and thank themselves for how they changed the plot#imagine sj teaching Binghe or airplane doing taxes!#also since I assume airplane was discovered by SY earlier does this mean mbj and SY set negotiations between the realms earlier?#how many modern things do hallmaster airplane and peak lord cucumber pass on to unsuspecting disciples? (via @caranmerya)

Yes, the book that has Airplane and Shen Yuan's names on it is perfectly respectable SFW books... the smutty fanfiction spinoffs written by the famous duo "Heavenly Pillar shooting in the sky" and "peerless cucumber" that comes out only a week after the Qing Jing hallmaster and peaklord's creations hit the streets are the filthiest yellow books in the market and they sell better than even tanghulu in the capital (which says a lot because everyone knows how many Head Tutor Shen Jiu can eat in a day).

Shen Jiu is constantly surprised but is also very proud of how well his younger brother - yes he maintains that he must be the older twin - is doing; he's not pleased about the disgusting leecherous authors who keep writing unsanctioned filthy smut. Shen Jiu has tried hunting down the secret identities of these two authors, but they have hidden their tracks pretty well. Once he gets his hands on the people taking advantage of his brother's fame and reputation-

cough.

Naturally he will make sure to not get caught in the act.

Shen Jiu keeps himself purposefully oblivious to the fact that his brother and brother's friend could very well be writing the yellow books too.

-o-o-o-o-

Let's just say that the world is now very aware of the kabedon and Qing Jing hallmasters keep proposing to remove all walls because all the horny little teenagers on the peak keep kabedon-ing each other (for fun but the hallmasters seeing the action all keep finding imaginary romantic undertones to it that don't exist)

[Follow #a shen twins au where shen yuan becomes the qing jing peak lord and shen jiu becomes an imperial tutor to the crown prince for more]

shen twins au where shen yuan is peak lord and shen jiu is imperial tutor:

luo binghe still gets kicked into the abyss. luo binghe still ends up making himself into an S-class demonic emperor. if luo binghe wants to be an effective enough demon lord to impress his shizun, he'll need the best teacher.

shen jiu, freshly kidnapped: !!!???!?!?!?!

luo binghe, looking at the man who is famous for being as vicious as he is intelligent and beautiful: shizun??????????

the crown prince, who is Very Much like luo binghe and uh. missing his future empress tutor: shizun!!!!!!

Man, that crown prince works as an excellent foil to Luo Binghe. He's what Luo Binghe could have been if his parents didn't die.

Since Shen Jiu and Shen Yuan occasionally switch places, it would be hilarious that every time that Luo Binghe goes to kidnap Shen Yuan (for a romantic outing among other things), he ends up kidnapping a Shen Jiu who's pretending to be Shen Yuan.

And like, at some point or another, Luo Binghe already knows about Shen Qingqiu having a twin, but he still can't tell the two apart beyond their clothes (hah!) so... he thinks all his romantic gestures aren't working and he gets more and more overboard.

Naturally. Shen Jiu doesn't tell his brother about anything; Shen Yuan the oblivious idiot also doesn't pick up hints from his fellow peak lords about the courtship...

Shen Yuan's first real courtship gesture from Luo Binghe thus ends up with his peak getting surrounded by an army of demons, him taken "hostage" to save his disciples (who are watching with great amusement at this roleplaying "barbarian kidnaps beautiful princess" trope), and wondering if he's about to get turned into a human stick for Luo Binghe's latest wife acquisition's amusement as he's dumped into some lavish bedroom full of red candles and redressed into the flimsiest of flimsy blood red robes, not realizing that he's the one going through the process of being wife-acquired.

(Oh, if only Shen Yuan realized that Luo Binghe was merely copying the actions of the male love interest of the latest bestselling book that Shen Yuan beta-read for Airplane-bro because SURELY that's what Shen Qingqiu would enjoy if he's got his name listed on the book as editor!?)

[Follow #a shen twins au where shen yuan becomes the qing jing peak lord and shen jiu becomes an imperial tutor to the crown prince for more]

[namelessexistence]

It’s been a while, those last days were not great to me, a loto f things happening in my personal life, but I’m back with the part 9 of 10 of my top 100 favorite characters

20 – Lucifer Morningstar (Lucifer)

The TV show. I haven’t read the comic, but I want to. I admit I wasn’t always happy with the direction the writers went with this character, specially when it comes to his relationship with Chloe, maybe I’ll write an essay about the show one day. I actually did this, but then the final season came, and I have to edit it taking this in consideration. Anyway, despite all my problems with the show, I coudn’t help but grow attached to this character.

19 – Tony Stark (MCU)

Does he have flaws? Yes. But he’s still the best written character of the franchise. The first Iron Man movie as well have a lot of flaws, but, character-wise, I love it.

18 – Raven (Teen Titans)

That cartoon was a vital part of my childhood, and I know it’s the same for a lot of people from my generation. Raven was my favorite since first season, but my love for her only grew as the show went on.

17 – Ciel Phantomhive (Kuroshitsuji)

If you never watched or read and are interested in checking the story (unlikely, I think the fandom is pretty much dead at this point), my advice is that you read the manga instead of watching the anime. I was young back then, when I first had contact with this story (trough the anime, unfortunally), and I swear I coudn understand why the fandom seemed so obssessed with Sebastian when Ciel was a far more interesting character

16 – Lucifenia Trinity (Evillious Chronicles)

Is it cheating putting three characters together? Well, I’m doing it anyway. I love them so much. I don’t really care about Elluka/Levia outside the Trinity. Of course, knowing her makes it more impactful to have her finding this weird family that was doomed from beginning. Swear An Oath On That Bridge is such a bittersweet song

15 – Zuko (Avatar The Last Airbender)

Praising Zuko’s character arc is already a cliche by now, but it’s not without a reason. I was really invested on this character as a preteen, and, to my endless frustration, though I managed to convince my friends to watch atla and they liked it, I was still the only one in the group who liked Zuko. There was even this girl who would always roleplay as Mai when we would play pretend, but she always found a way to not be in a relationship with Zuko.

14 – Mulan (1998)

This movie was very importante to me. And I know that, when it comes to portraying chinese culture is not exactly... great, but it still have a lot of strenghts. I really like how the song Honor to Us All shows us Mulan’s personality trough scenes like her intefering in that game and giving back that little’s girl doll.

13 – Laurent of Vere (Captive Prince)

I normally like the complicated bastards, I already know that. No one has to tell me.

12 – Luo Binghe (Scum Villain Self Saving System)

And I’m talking about both Bingge and Bingmei. Two sides of the same coin. I just can’t resist the allure of his fear of abandoment and attachment issues. How Bingmei was so convinced near the end that SQQ would never chose him, that no one would ever choose him. How Bingge is so unhappy and so quick to try to take what Bingmei have, because as much as he mocks and look down on Bingmei, he knows that Bingmei is happier than he. That Bingmei has something he never achieved. The main difference between the two versions of Binghe is not their morality (because, let’s be honest, Bingmei is not that moral), but the fact that Bingmei is satisfied, while Bingge keeps on conquering and taking because it’s never enough. Someone once wrote that SVSSS is not about cycles of abuse, and it’s true (how could SY break a cycle he was never part of?), but PIDW is, and Binghe never realized that, and, as consequence, SY and the Other readers never realized as well. I really should do a whole post about LBH, this is getting too long, so I’ll move on.

11 – Jake Peralta (Brooklyn Nine-Nine)

He had a great character growth, but he was never a bad person to begin with. He was immature, and self-centered at times, but never purposefully cruel. I think he’s well written as well. I mean, he was basically raised by movies like Die Hard and had it as his inspiration, and that’s easy to notice in his behaviour. He’s not exactly the most complex character in this list, but I simply like him

[baoshan-sanren]

So thanks to your metas I've finally read SV in like 3 days and now I'm back with a question. Let's say if hypothetically SJ and YQY talked things out and by some miracle SJ wouldn't abuse LBH, do you think that LBH would fall in love with SJ as well given that he'd always thought his Shizun was beautiful, elegant and untouchable. Do you think his feelings would grow into something more with time? I'm living for your takes on blnovels. Thanks in advance

Idk if you can start with SJ not abusing LBH, I think you would have to start with Qiu Jianluo not abusing SJ, or maybe even earlier than that, before he was sold into the Qiu household by human traffickers. To me, there’s no conceivable way where the same SJ who walks away from the carnage at Qiu's Mansion with Wu Yanzi, and later enters the Cang Qiong Mountain, would turn out to be some type of kind and benevolent shizun on par with SY. We don’t get a lot of detailed descriptions of his time with Wu Yanzi, but there is no indication that he enters Cang Qiong Mountain with any intention to give up his festering resentments, regardless of whether YQY can give him a reasonable explanation for never returning or not. 

Look, SJ found himself in the shitty situation in Qiu household because he had been trying to protect YQY. That, on its own, shows he was not yet the heartless villain that the later events would forge him into. But this particular rant of his is also very telling:  

“Of course it’s all your fault! I blame you. We weren’t close with those newcomers, so what if we were stepped on a little? Why did you have to play hero! Are you afraid that people like us with such lowly lives can’t bear it?! If you hadn’t played hero, why would I have helped you? If I hadn’t helped you, how would I have provoked him, and how would that Qiu guy have ended up buying me?! If he hadn’t bought me, how would I have become like this?! Every two days I get beat up a little bit and every three days I get beat up a lot━he plays me like I’m a dog!”

SJ is very young here, but the difference between him and YQY is starkly obvious. MXTX makes use of this dynamic, this clash of personalities, in both SVSSS, MDZS, and TGCF. “Why did you have to play the hero” should be familiar line to readers of MDZS too, and despite some fan opinions, it’s just not... what the so called “good guy” in the narrative would think, let alone say out loud. (Btw, TGCF is the only one of MXTX’s novels in which we see this type of character actually grow and change with time). Right off the bat, we see this very young SJ as someone who only values (and is willing to protect) those of immediate importance to himself, while YQY, as the typical “hero” of the narrative, tries to protect everyone and ends up harming the person he cares about in the process. You will find these two personality types thrust in these types of situations in 90% of danmei (and wuxia/xianxia) stories for a reason. You are supposed to know that YQY will end the tortured hero and SJ will end the blackened villain, the only differences being other related plot lines and their eventual downfall/redemption. (Or in MDZS’s case, absolute stagnation, which flies in the face of typical development for someone like SJ and apparently, confuses a lot of readers as well).

The second part I think is important to mention about that little rant up there is that SJ is already a person who takes no responsibility for his actions. YQY had “acted the hero” so SJ was forced to act as well, therefore his action is YQY’s fault. He is very young at this point, so no one expects him to be a paradigm of magnanimity, but at the same time, he never grows and matures out of this way of thinking. So SJ who enters Cang Qiong Mountain is already proficient at holding resentments and shifting all the blame for his misfortunes to others. At that point, even if YQY had explained how his haste to cultivate quickly had resulted in a qi deviation and the subsequent confinement, there is no indication that SJ would have found him any less guilty for failing to return in a timely manner. (Don't forget that one of the last admonishments SJ gives to YQY before they part is to stop being so brash. YQY doesn’t listen, which results in qi deviation, which results in SJ being stuck in Qiu household for years. It’s unlikely that SJ would find YQY blameless).

However, if you go back further than all the misery and abuse SJ suffered at the hands of Qiu Jianluo and change things (perhaps the human traffickers sell him into a different, better household, etc) then his path would probably diverge too drastically to continue onto the trajectory towards the Cang Qiong Mountain. 

Basically, I see two paths where SJ does not end up the exact heartless scum villain he is in PIDW:

SJ escapes with YQY and they enter Cang Qiong Mountain together. From their earlier relationship, we can infer that SJ is prone to guilt-tripping YQY for his decisions, and seeing himself as the wronged party whenever the situation doesn’t go his way. Would YQY still end up the Sect Leader with SJ by his side? If YQY had never qi deviated and SJ had never started his cultivation so late, would there be a noticeable difference in their skills and strengths? If SJ was more powerful, would YQY not willingly cede the Sect Leader position? And if he didn’t do so, would SJ hold resentment for it? Would the same level of resentment between SJ and LQG still exist? 

YQY manages to go back for SJ before the slaughter at the Qiu Mansion. At that point, SJ had been suffering abuse by Qiu Jianluo for years. Would he blame YQY for not coming for him sooner? For the fact that YQY’s tardiness meant he started cultivating late and may never catch up? If SJ’s resentment is the same and YQY’s guilt is the same, would their relationship be any better? People seem to think that SJ would have held so much gratitude for YQY’s (attempted or otherwise) return that he would wipe the slate clean between them, but this is the same person who had blamed YQY’s heroics for his own situation in the first place. Does that seem like the kind of person who would just... feel so much gratitude to let everything else go? 

And since only that SJ, the one who had lived with Qiu Jianluo’s abuse, who had slaughtered all of Qiu Manor and was further twisted and warped by Wu Yanzi, since that SJ took LBH on as a disciple out of jealousy and resentment and spite, wouldn’t it make more sense that a less villainous SJ would not give LBH a second glance? Rather than being a better shizun, is it not more fitting that he would have allowed LBH to go where he is likely to have gone without SJ’s interference, which is Bai Zhan Peak? 

To me, any possible scenario where SJ (at the moment he is watching potential disciples digging holes) happens to be a better person, is a scenario in which LBH does not become his disciple. 

So no, I don’t see any possible scenario in which LBH falls in love with SJ. I believe that SJ was meant to be seen as flawed from the very beginning, from the moment he had blamed YQY for “playing the hero,” and I can’t imagine any twist of circumstances that would make him similar to the type of person (SY) that LBH would fall in love with. 

[thispatternismine]

#something something the complete lack of regard for creators of famous works #where in some people’s minds they only exist to create content to be consumed #but are not themselves real people #just a name on a page with no meaning or significance #something something #people get on the fact that sy takes ‘too well’ to pidw #but we know the man’s original name #we know the makeup of his family #we know his class status and that he didn’t go to college #we don’t even know sqh’s name #I don’t think HE knows his original name anymore

Ever think about how the author of PIDW transmigrated into his most nothing character who only existed to push the protagonist on the “right” path to popularity before dying? Ever think about how he transmigrated into that character from their birth, completely deleting that person from existence, while his own existence as the creator of the world he now inhabits is so thoroughly erased that we readers only know his “real name” as the character’s name? How the only name he carries over from his first life is a shortened version of his innuendo pen name? As if his existence as a person is nothing next to being the author, which is only marginally less nothing by virtue of the job’s one purpose: to make sure a story is following the “right” path to popularity before dying to enshrine that fame/infamy amongst readers?

No? Just me? Ok…