#shen yuan is an NPC

[cerezatodd]

So, chapter 2 is up of my Shen Yuan and Baby Slime AU!

Shen Yuan and the Baby Slime, a.k.a. Xiao Zuan in a big city and a chance encounter.

Also, my idea of Shen Yuan:

[allpiesforourown]

okay elaboration on the npc shen yuan au

binghe is the protagonist of a harem collecting gacha game. he goes on a series of adventures with these women who join his party and they all have unique fighting skills.

since this is blatant gooner bait though, binghe is a huge mary stu and the only playable male character. any other guy is either a villain or dies. but the thing is even though the plot sucks ass, the open world setting is GORGEOUS and the world building is amazing. the monsters you fight? chef's kiss

so shen yuan obviously transmigrates into the game as an npc who only appears at the beginning of the story. it was supposed to be like this

shen yuan: i am an old man whose knees are too weak to go into the forest can you gather this herb for this old man?

binghe: i'm back with the herbs and while i was there i had a vision i need to go on a journey and save the princess

shen yuan: well im just a simple villager, i don't know about that, but off you go!

instead it went like this

binghe: i'm back with that herb you wanted! can i help in any other way?

shen yuan: ....surely you have something else to do?

binghe: nope!

shen yuan: .... a certain woman to save???

binghe: can i live here with you

[drawing-kitty-ckristal]

So i had this idea for NPC SY with a braid and it got out of hand...

Sadly u guys will never know cuz i cant write lol

[happypeachsludgeflower]

SVSSS BRAINWAVE JUST HIT! I HAD A THOUGHT ™

An average modern person transmitigates into SVSSS. Mind you, I specifically mean SVSSS and not PIDW. That’s right, our protagonist awakens to find themselves as a NPC in the world of Scum Villain Self Saving System. And they think to themselves upon waking up, “Oh, I’m an NPC in a xianxia novel with a happy ending! Cool!!” and goes about their life being a background nerd geeking out about plants, and monsters, and cultivation in general, and neat flying swords.

But this is a world of sex pollen and wife plots and unfortunately the cure for a lot of diseases is duel cultivation with a heavenly demon, and we all know who that demon is going to end up marrying, so it’s best to mess around with meta cultivation knowledge and prep for the worst case scenario, and honestly, they may as well solve some of the minor issues in the plot while their at it, so they invent some new cultivation techniques from some of those nifty svsss fanfictions they read while alive (I’m specifically thinking of this fic’s explanation of duel cultivation and cauldrons, but other weird cultivation methods could be used from other fanfics and xianxia books), so they can tidy up some things.

For instance, is it really necessary for Zhuzhi-lang to be stuck as a weird snake creature for nearly twenty years? Is it really needed for Yue Qingyuan to have crippled cultivation due to his sword?? Does Tianlang Jun have to be stuck under a mountain and then escape only to slowly die in a decomposing body??

They know they can’t change everything without the system interfering, but small nudges should help right? After all, they’re just a background NPC and Shen Yuan will show up eventually and everyone will fall in love with him and no one will even notice the NPC’s existence even if they had noticed something was up during their miraculous healing and salvation spree.

So they go about fixing those things. They catch Zhuzhi-lang unawares and feed him a sun and dew mushroom seed while he’s confused and do some funky cultivation shenanigans and pat him on the head cause he’s really such a cute weird snake creature and give him some vague warning about not trusting in laws and then fucks off to somewhere else.

I’m still caught up on Metagaming’s concept of duel cultivation transactions where you give and take—like taking something from someone’s cultivation, not just power, and returning something else—and keep getting stuck in a brainrot loop of the NPC taking some bloodmite powers from Zhuzhi-lang when they gave him a fully humanoid form that’s not reliant on Tianlang Jun. So my main idea for how the NPC plots to hold Yue Qingyuan in place is feeding him lesser bloodmites (not full ones because they only took a minor ability and can only hold someone for a few minutes before the bloodmites die), while they hold Yue Qingyuan still long enough to draw some ritual to heal his soul and separate it from Xuan Su. But honestly, I’m sure other ideas could apply here too. My Metagaming brainrot is just too strong right now to think of any.

And Tianlang Jun? Simple. Zhuzhi-lang’s got a humanoid form and can easily get the sun and dew mountain flowers for himself. They can’t stop the man from being imprisoned entirely. The system says no since Luo Binghe needs a dramatic entrance. So while they can’t stop the tragedy, they can put some pieces into play for an early escape, maybe a new plan to get him a better body once’s he’s back, and be a ferry for Su Xiyan’s body to revive her at some point as well.

It’s nice being an unnoticeable NPC, isn’t it? You can do whatever you want and no one’s going to know!!

Except. Someone does notice (as we all could have seen coming). And Shen Qingqiu is suspicious as fuck of this obnoxious Shidi because he notices everyone due to paranoid, and he’s even MORE suspicious of the mysterious character that healed Yue Qingyuan’s soul (and wasn’t that a doozy of a realization to have when Yue Qingyuan burst into his bamboo house one day freaking out because some disguised, powerful cultivator somehow did the impossible after ambushing him and holding him down as they healed his soul, and Shen Qingqiu is still reeling from learning that Yue Qingyuan’s SOUL was damaged trying to save Xiao Jiu and the stubborn asshole never told him because he apparently assumed Xiao Jiu knew there wasn’t a single universe where Qi ge didn’t try to come for him). And so yea, Shen Qingqiu is suspicious as all hell and starts snooping and plotting to catch the mysterious cultivator by combing through Cang Qiong because whoever it is has to have an in at the sect somewhere to know about Yue Qingyuan’s soul.

And that’s not even mentioning how suspicious Zhuzhi-lang and Tianlang Jun are now. They might not have realized what that strange cultivator did when they did it, or understood the cryptic in law mention, but they certainly have some suspicions now that Tianlang Jun was as imprisoned by in law like people, and Zhuzhi-lang kept his humanoid form just fine without Tianlang Jun, and now the hunt is ON for the mysterious benefactor, so they can repay the kindness and find out what the fuck is going on.

The NPC is, of course, oblivious to all of this going on and goes about their merry way thinking they’re being the Best ™ at being lowkey. They are SO good at being inconspicuous!! They deserve an award really!!

And then. Shen Qingqiu doesn’t qi deviate.

Shen Yuan doesn’t show up.

Oh shit, the NPC thinks to themselves as they begin to panic. They even check Shen Qingqiu out themselves to see if it’s Shen Yuan just being really good at acting. Maybe he was a better actor in the book than he gave himself credit for or something?? But no. That’s Shen Qingqiu all right. Shen Yuan is missing in action, and someone has to fix the plot of Cang Qiong is doomed.

Thus begins the NPC’s journey to try and unobtrusively fix PIDW’s child abuse problems (that they’re unaware are already fixed), save Liu Qingge from his qi deviation in Ling Xi Caves, make sure Luo Binghe doesn’t raze the sect to the ground someday and hopefully find him some sort of husband replacement to keep him under control when he does return, possibly dispose of the Huan Hua Palace Master at some point because he’s vile trash, and did I mention there are multiple man hunts for this poor oblivious dude currently on going??

And the most important question for them to solve? Where the fuck did Shen Yuan go??

Hmm I wonder where that man could have gone.

[diushek]

It starts out as a joke, but Shen Yuan and his good friend Airplane (who also writes his most hated novel and his favorite character) have this friendly afternoon in a cafe in which Shen Yuan spends all his time planning what Binghe's perfect wife would be like.

She has to be strong, independent, also powerful to be equal to Luo Binghe, but she needs to love him, to want him, to adore him. She doesn't have to be a damsel in distress- even better if she saves Luo Binghe sometime!! Intelligent and strategic, she would have every reason to be respected and loved even in the harem.

And it starts off as a joke, sure, but after developing everything into the character concept, well, Shen Yuan can only think that she is the perfect wife for Luo Binghe. And that just because of that Airplane will never will write her lol

And he... forget about that after all. It's just a silly idea that doesn't really grow. So when he transmigrates into PIDW in the body of a female strong rogue cultivator, the truth is that he doesn't make the automatic association. He just wants to get some plants so he can get his penis back and move on with his life and his bestiary.

... which isn't easy when he accidentally saves the life of Emperor Luo Binghe. And oh gods, all the memories come flooding back. Yeah, WELL, he does fit certain stereotypes. But he's not a woman! He can't be a wife if he's not a woman! He can't be the perfect wife for Binghe if he is not a woman who can be a wife. Yet why does everything seem to align perfectly for him to fulfill that role!? Why is Luo Binghe so keen on giving him back his male body and making it clear that he accepts HUSBANDS in his harem!?

Poor boy, a journey of gender, sexuality, identity and discovery all in one. Someone give him an ibuprofen, he's going to need it.

[pretend-i-don-t-exist]

qijiuyuan but with sy and sj swapping bodies

it's going to be so horrible at first but it could go well after a while

sj is ofc the qing jing peak lord. sy is a qing jing teacher. they do not get along well

so now envision: sy who accidentally improves sj's reputation bc he's sy and utterly shite at acting like he does not care and also bc he will feel horribly guilty if he has to insult someone and just switches it to a compliment mid-sentence. everyone is so confused and tries to check sqq for possession. it shows that sqq is fine maybe a bit high on a cultivation breakthrough but he's gonna be fine

and: sj who desperately wanted to ruin sy's reputation by acting like a bitch but he's very weirded out by how everyone acts so nice and friendly to sy. he tries to act kind. this will go wrong, he thinks. every time he tries to choose good, to act kind, it just leads to his detriment. except. his kindness gets rewarded bc people like sy and they don't think the worst of him... and sj hates it bc it's unfair but he also can't just give it up

where does yqy fall in this? he's vibing in the bg fully aware that sy and sj swapped bodies and is covering up for them and enjoying sj's tentative kindness in sy's body and also liking the way the other peak lords appreciate sj more during meeting... then feeling horribly guilty for taking advantage of sj's predicament and sy himself... then it all comes crashing down

anyway this all ends with qijiuyuan swapping bodies every now and then to fuck with cang qiong as a whole

[mentallyunstablethembo]

I am back once again! :D

Ok so, an au where SY transmigrates, can be into SQQ or an npc, doesn't matter.

What does matter is that SY is angry and completely feral, he literally gives Bai Zhan a run for its money.

He's snarky, he's sassy, he can be an asshole and a true menace, he's also very much feral.

Everywhere he goes, shenanigans ensue! :D

Maybe he also has shenanigans with all the beasts

Beast peak sy? Maybe

Ngl tho, love me some npc SY, probably one of my fave tags 😂

[bloodyfries]

Something something Shen Yuan would have been accused/thought to be some kind of seer if he was born into the pidw instead of just placed in a adult body. You can't tell me he wouldn't just say stuff that he shouldn't know.

Unlike Shang Qinghua who probably used his information sparingly or at least discreetly

[shi-qingxuann]

I don’t think we talk about Shen Yuan introducing Binghe to video games enough. Imagine him introducing Binghe to Stardew Valley. Binghe would be living his best Trad-Wife Dreams while Shen Yuan does a majority of the work on the farm.

[fistfuloflightning]

You meet a cheerful stranger at an inn. Little do you know he’s been screwing with the System for years and he’s the reason your transmigration experience sucks.

Design for my rogue cultivator Shen Yuan

[strewwwberry]

Anti-fans are cucumber-bro

People who write ooc fanfiction of shizun are luo bingmei

People who hate but haven't read SVSSS are...

Svsss native haters aka...

NPC's??

People who haven't read SVSSS: it has necrophilia and pedophilia!

The fans: *tired* no. That is not correct. I see why you would get that impression but you are wrong. That didn't happen

People in the SVSSS canon who don't know LBH or SQQ well: Luo Binghe disgraced his master's corpse and his master preyed on his student!

Shang Qinghua: *tired* no. That is not correct. I see why you would get that impression but you are wrong. That didn't happen.

[fairsweetlonging]

imagine an au where shen yuan transmigrates into a blank slate npc with very little system involvement, traveling around for a while until he's found by yue qingyuan and taken back to the sect because apparently shen qingqiu went missing around his transmigration period and shen yuan looks exactly like him, so it must be him, but then a few weeks later when he's just settled in on the peak and accepted his fate the real shen qingqiu shows up who was just on vacation and everyone forgot.

now there are two shen qingqiu's, one of whom is the real one and the other an amnesiac they gaslighted into believing he is shen qingqiu.

anyway—shen qingqiu has a new didi now!

[allpiesforourown]

Continuing on npc shen yuan

Shen Yuan: binghe you have to go on your fated adventure! There's so much cool stuff for you to do and find! You know you're destined to get Xin Mo, the most powerful weapon in the world that no one can fight against?

Binghe: but who will look after gege while I'm gone 🥺🥺 besides, why would I need to fight anyone?

*next day*

Shen yuan: Binghe, look! I asked my friend Liu Qingge to stay with me for a while! *links his arm with Qingge* He'll make sure I'm protected, he's so strong he's known as the War God around here!

Binghe:

Binghe rigidly turning to the door: Excuse me gege. I'll be right back. I have to go get Xin Mo. The most powerful weapon in the world. That no one can fight against.

Shen Yuan: ....the plan was a success but my instincts tell me I've made things much worse

[thesadisticsiren]

Shen Yuan is transmigration sillyputty. Observe.

AU where he transmigrates into a rogue cultivator? Love those. Demonic cultivator for some spice, secret cultivator, beast expert cultivator, and more!

Transmigrate into a no name desciple? It's good to expand on dynamics. Same age as the protagonist? His shidi? His shixong? Or is he among the Qing generation of disciples! Lots of options.

Into a pidw harem member? Why not? There's at least 300 of them, go nuts, make one up for kicks or pick a canonical name to play with! Canon's your oyster.

Into other existing characters? Of course, that just makes sense. Other peak lords, other cultivators, his students, whatever suits your fancy.

Into a random new npc somewhere in the world doing average stuff? We love the creativity. A young master, a scholar, sometimes a farmer.

Into a sword! Love it!! Xiu Ya, Xin Mo, or maybe he's a different artifact entirely!

Into a demon? Definitely, there's several. Noble demons, no name wife material demons, new never before seen kinds of demons.

Into a CAT!? WE GOT YOU. other animals too, but catzun is classic. Dragons are also up there.

Into a worm?!? We love him even as a worm.

Into a SYSTEM? IVE SEEN AT LEAST 2 OF THESE.

He's sillyputty. We throw him at transmigration concepts to see how he sticks.

[momxian]

AU where Shen Yuan gets transmigrated as an Original Character into the Demon Realm a few years before Bingge gets there. But even though he's not SQQ, he LOOKS like a near exact copy. So he figures that if he wants to survive he needs to make himself useful. First things first, he needs to know what the hell is going on, so he starts working with lower level demons setting himself up as someone necessary, and relatively important so he can figure out when in the plot they are. It's pretty easy, there's not much in the way of organization down here and despite everything he's not that bad an actor. It helps that SQJ's face is beautiful in every setting and he will quickly create a reputation of the stubborn beauty amongst the demon realm. It's around this time he starts wearing a veil to mask his resemblance to SQJ, but really it just adds to the mysterious allure aspect.

He utilizes his plot knowledge to get things ready for Binghe's arrival, tidying up the palace, setting up good staff, getting rid of some of the smaller villains that kidnap Ning Yingying and Liu Mingyan etc later. Actually a lot of smaller villains who kidnap, harass or belittle Bingge's harem. It's like every time he's running an errand he meets another piece of cannon fodder that will inevitably lead Bingge to another papapa scene. It's fine, by the time he's done with them (thank god this body doesn't have the same limitations as his old one) they follow him around with big demon puppy eyes and scramble to do chores and tasks for him.

By the time the Endless Abyss moment is set to happen, SY has thorough knowledge of the abyss and all of the special items tucked away in various locations across it. You can't be mad and murder someone who helped you through the torture torment evil maze of plot relevant trauma, right?

He finds Bingge post fall and does his best to act callous and only vaguely helpful, leading Bingge in the right direction and away from the biggest threats. His goal is to be a helpful and forgettable NPC. Someone who, if he runs into him again, Bingge will have mercy for and be left alone. Despite his resemblance to SQJ. But what he doesn't take into account is A) in no version of this story is he capable of being that hands off and B) Bingge was just shown kindness for the first time in years by a mysterious and elusive beauty with brilliant eyes and an obvious intelligence.

Since this is Bingge and not Binghe, he doesn't immediately fall for SY, and is in fact wildly paranoid, terrified and angry about things in general. But every time something seems to go wrong in the abyss, instead of taking the hits and becoming the stallion protagonist, SY shows up to give him a magic item, or rushes in to protect him from fatal blows and on two separate occasions thoughtlessly petted Bingge's hair when he was injured, which rattled Bingge so bad that he almost died again fighting the next monster.

Shen Yuan is gone often enough that he still makes his way to the Demon Palace, collects Xin Mo and builds his harem, though it's smaller than it was originally. Mostly because SY had taken out the smaller villains and then because SY had interfered with Bingge's quests so often.

Obviously Shen Yuan has a soft spot for Bingge now but doesn't admit it. But he's satisfied he can slip away now without too much consequence, except no he can't. Bingge asks for him, to collect something for him. To ask him something about another demon. To just stare at him for a half hour with a vein about to pop in his forehead as he tried to see through the veil before huffing and sending him away again.

Since Bingge is obviously not going to let him slip away, and SY isn't sure if Bingge is going to kill him or not he desperately makes himself useful again. He takes care of Bingge's harem. That's a lot of housing and food and clothes to take care of! The girls fight often! He'll just slip into the mix and keep the peace until Bingge forgets about him. And in the meantime sometimes he tends to Bingge and he and Bingge have dinner together. And isn't it so cute how the stallion protagonist can blush when he compliments the dish? And once or twice he combs out Bingge's hair. And sometimes Bingge rubs the scowl from between Shen Yuan's brows and lets his finger outline his jaw over the silk of his veil when SY is tending to tedious business.

Yeah, I'm sure one of these days Bingge will let you slip away SY.

Anyway Bingge is just relieved that Shen Yuan has accepted that he's part of the harem now.

[diushek]

Shen Yuan concept without being a NEET just because my sister and I thought of this and lol we had a good time

So Shen Yuan is this rich kid and all, but he actually has this hobby that started taking up 80% of his free time: designing clothes. He started out as a cosmaker, can you blame him? Cosplays are so poor quality these days. And Shen Yuan is used to good quality clothes even if they are just simple t-shirts. So when he started realizing how pathetically expensive some cosplays were compared to their quality, he just... Well, he had to design his own!

Little by little, he evolved. And one day his wealthy family found him this job designing clothes for xianxia dramas, and Shen Yuan, a little delirious, accepted. It's okay! He designed a lot of sketches inspired by arts, historical research here and there, things that also looked nice and realistic. Shen Yuan enjoys his job almost as much as he enjoys criticizing each new PIDW chapter. How is it possible that they've been thirty chapters into that subplot and there have been more papapa scenes than a resolution?! Outrageous!

Shen Yuan designs a lot. He still works as a cosmaker, as he really enjoys doing embroidery. It's a time-consuming job, but he gets paid well and his cosplays are the best in the entire community. His family is happy that he has left his lonely life and has this job and this new business experience, they congratulate him on his new achievements, they urge him to enroll in some university fashion or clothing design.

Shen Yuan dismisses it. He misses his life as a NEET a little, but in reality on his days off he just plays around and does nothing, which is the same thing he does on his work days, except he embroiders and sews or draw on those work days. Days so busy, they are not.

So Airplane ends PIDW like absolute shit, Shen Yuan drowns and dies.

And he opens his eyes. Well, what the hell. It doesn't take long for him to discover that he transmigrated into an NPC. Tailored, apparently, because he's an no-name NPC apprentice to a spider demon seamstress!

He has a lot of knowledge about all of this, so it doesn't take him long to put it into practice. His teacher congratulates him and he makes a lot of sales. Soon, he gains a very good reputation. Maidens from other kingdoms come to Shen Yuan to design clothes for them for festivals, for dances, for family celebrations. Shen Yuan designs, sews, embroiders. It's not far from his old life, although he misses Project Sekai and caffeine a little.

He opens his own workshop almost a year later, with the goodwill of his demon teacher. She warns him of something: Shen Yuan is a thread woven to another soul. And soon, his soulmate will come for him.

Shen Yuan is a little nervous, but, oh well! A soulmate! If only!

He knows, for a fact, that that's impossible. They're in the disgusting world of PIDW, and at least half of the dresses he's made have been for Binghe's future wives. Some would even be torn apart without any care! What a waste of his time and effort!

He doesn't think about it too much. Shen Yuan just focuses on his work. He designs, sews, embroiders. He sleeps little but enjoys the smile on the faces of the Meimei's when they hug the pretty fabrics. It is, despite everything, a good life.

Then, Emperor Luo Binghe arrives at his door.

In person. Not with servants, not with a letter, not with an invitation. It is Emperor Luo Binghe who arrives at his door.

Of course Shen Yuan is going to make robes for the emperor! There's no need for him to ask or offer to pay for them! He's nervous and a little scared, but Luo Binghe is... well, he doesn't seem to have no kind of threatening aura or any kind of charm. He asks him for the designs of some robes and stays there while Shen Yuan makes the first sketches. Luo Binghe gives more directions, more corrections... And Shen Yuan discovers that Luo Binghe is requesting Qing Jing robes from him, if the fanarts are accurate. He tears off that sheet of paper, starts another sketch with Qing Jing's exact robes without uttering any words, leaving Luo Binghe speechless as well. Luo Binghe nods, correcting details of length and shape, not even asking or saying anything about designs of cultivators clothing, and Shen Yuan has to move on to the... er, awkward part. He has to almost strip Luo Binghe to take his measurements!

Ignore that part. His face is very red when he finishes, but he has the exact measurements of his back, his arms, the size of his fit, his length and width, everything necessary to work with the first molds.

Shen Yuan has no idea why Emperor Luo Binghe wants Qing Jing's robes. He won't ask either, he values his tongue very much. So, he just decides to continue his work like a good professional, embroidering every detail to perfection (he has done two Ning Yingying cosplays in the past, so, it was easy to him remember the embroidered patterns).

Maybe he makes it too perfect.

Luo Binghe is looming over him, his new robes on display, eyes red with fury, zuiyin shining on his forehead.

"Cang Qiong has been burned for more than two hundred years. How can a weak mortal like you recreate these patterns so perfectly?"

Shen Yuan has three options, honestly.

a) Tell him he's a transmigrator. He doesn't have any fucking System, and maybe telling him he's from another world will save him from his imminent death... But he highly doubts Luo Binghe will believe him.

b) Telling him that he's a reborn soul! That he may have worked for the sect in the past! It's not a bad idea, and it's actually quite common, isn't it? Some souls are reborn with some memories, huh, not bad...

c) Not saying anything and playing dumb.

Shen Yuan chooses to play dumb, only because he doesn't have enough brain cells and is so panicked that he can play the reborn.

"I don't know what Junshang is telling me! I just followed the directions and patterns in the design given by Jungshang!"

Luo Binghe does not strangle him. Makes things worse.

Luo Binghe carries him over his shoulder and carries him away. This is kidnapping?! Shen Yuan is being kidnapped from his own shop in broad daylight!? And obviously no one is going to stop him!!

And so, Luo Binghe simply puts him in a room somewhere in the palace, gives him some papers and many tools so he can draw and tells him to design something that he like. And he leaves.

... That is, a kind of test? Is Luo Binghe testing him in some way? Ah, he hopes his customers will be understanding. He's sorry for the delay in their dresses, but Emperor Luo Binghe has kidnapped this seamstress, but he hope to get back to business soon!!

(Luo Binghe is having the closest thing to astral travel. Why does that boy who looks like a young and sweet version of Shen Qingqiu know the patterns of Qing Jing so well? Is he his own "kind" Shen Qingqiu in this world? So why does he act like this and not like a haughty teacher? What should he do?

At least he brought him to his palace. He's not sure if he's the person he's looking for, but, well... he's not really going to let him out of his sight. Just in case.)