#sqh: i put you into this world - i can take you out of it

[disgracefulthings]

System: What is your biggest regret?

Shen Qingqiu: Pushing Binghe into the Abyss

Luo Binghe: Letting Shizun die

Mobei-Jun: Hurting Qinghua

Shang Qinghua: Having children

[sunderwight]

It's so good when Shen Qingqiu takes care of Luo Binghe. In canon and also in fics. I especially am in love with when he does his hair or helps him dress, it's just so pleasantly domestic. Also endearing whenever SQQ gets a bit fanboy-ish about it, because that's Luo Binghe and SQQ can dress him up in every cool or sexy outfit he has a face thick enough to pay someone to actually make!

I wonder if he ever shares this wisdom with Shang Qinghua. Like at some bitching session or other SQH is sighing a bit about how MBJ always wears like the same three outfits, and don't get him wrong they're all great outfits, but he noticed Luo Binghe flaunting yet another fresh look the other day and part of him really wants to see Mobei Jun in something different...

And then Shen Qingqiu is just like, you're the Lord of An Ding Peak, you handle the basic wardrobe necessities for an entire sect? Go pay someone to make cool/sexy outfits and literally put them on Mobei Jun yourself! You're married to the guy, aren't you?

Shang Qinghua is like "wait you can do that? I can do that? that's a thing that's allowed?" and Shen Qingqiu rolls his eyes and calls him a dumbass and points out that Airplane himself wrote about the intimacy of Luo Binghe's harem members dressing him and it being an even bigger deal for demons than humans, and Shang Qinghua cannot for the life of him remember this but it does sound sort of familiar. So off he goes to nervously sketch out some ideas for outfits, and then get told off by the seamstress he tries to commission for not having realistic ideas about how fabric works. But he does have Mobei Jun's measurements and after some discussion he gets a bunch of stuff that looks even better than his initial ideas, eventually, and then he just has to... give them to his king...

Shang Qinghua awkwardly presenting the topic to Mobei Jun like he's expecting to get a hard "no", but he blinks and his king is naked and standing expectantly in front of his fancy full-length mirror. Shang Qinghua has only ever helped Mobei Jun get dressed when he was injured in the past, and then usually only just putting his arms through some sleeves on an outer robe. They've undressed each other for sex, but putting the clothes on really is a different kind of intimacy. Especially an outfit that Shang Qinghua had specially made to suit Mobei Jun, to highlight the features he likes best about him. Striking blue and icy-white, with hints of An Ding's colors as accents, showing off his build to full effect, etc etc. Shang Qinghua layers each piece on and then does Mobei Jun's hair too, muttering quiet approval for how the look comes together while Mobei Jun preens under all the attention.

Of course, afterwards Mobei wants Shang Qinghua to dress him every day, which isn't always logistically feasible, and MBJ also intends to return the gesture.

Luo Binghe dresses Shen Qingqiu too of course, but Luo Binghe is aware both that other guys want his husband and also that Shen Qingqiu will refuse to go out in public if Binghe dresses him in anything revealing, even if he still lets him put it on, plus Luo Binghe was raised with human sensibilities about modesty. So all in all any "sexy" outfits are reserved for private time at home, and what he puts Shen Qingqiu in for daily wear is all stuff that is perfectly befitting a Qing Jing Peak Lord and scholar.

Mobei Jun doesn't have human modesty sensibilities and also doesn't see any reason why Qinghua shouldn't show off his own best assets while he's going about his day, so, Shang Qinghua is about to rue the hell out of a lot fashion-related world-building decisions he made a lifetime ago...

[elanorpam]

it's been way too long since i last did wildly self-indulgent fanart, so of course i did it for an SVSSS AU that doesn't even have any actual fanfiction written of it yet. but what can i say! it's a compelling scenario! Just check the original post for details!

here's a workplace doodle for his mess of an outfit, too:

Xin Mo is floating behind his back, wrapped in talismans. the collars are meant to be vaguely inspired on a flower bud.

Some notes i came up with for this version, copied straight from a month-old discord convo:

he may have protagonist halo now, but he's for sure not a stallion protagonist. he literally exchanged fates with his favorite person in the world in order to spare them a hellish trial-- that's romantic as fuck!! damn!! this is old CLAMP shoujo and no mistake!!

binghe may no longer be the protag, but he's still a half-heavenly demon. power-wise, heavenly demons can't be topped, and all the remaining heavenly demons are accounted for. so, SQQ can't be a heavenly demon, even in part.

HOWEVER, as a protagonist, there's a factor more important than power! it's the CHUUNI FACTOR. what's more CHUUNI™️ than being part demon?

one option is being part demon and part angel.

how would that even fucking work??????? IDK man, you can either pull from chinese folklore for fairies or heavenly beings or spirits, or you can blame Airplane and go "he accidentally implied the existence of christian elements by means of importing unexamined anime tropes"

Shen Jiu conveniently has a big fat blank on his parentage. We as fans can and have put whatever the hell we wanted there.

SQQ would jump into the abyss still under the impression SJ was a shallow villain. If his trip through the abyss involves recovering SJ's memories somehow, that sure would be fun times, huh?

so he awakens a mysterious ancestry and survives the abyss and takes Xin Mo, but he probably takes longer than Binghe did due to being squishier.

but Xin Mo isn't ACTUALLY his! so he papers it over with sealing talismans, and to battle the temptation to wield it he takes to wearing these longass sleeves. they're probably covered in talismans as well.

guessing Xiu Ya stayed behind to be mooned over by the clown trio in Cang Qiong. let's go full sparkle-sue here and say he's now fighting almost entirely via musical cultivation. i like swan-necked konghou harps so let's go with that, it'll look dope.

why is he barefoot? why WOULDN'T he be, is the question. fragile!! suffering!! dainty!! he's a shrinking flower, tormented by the weight of the One Sword To Rule Them All!!

also for extra pathos, his constant mental struggle against Xin Mo means he can't spare energy to front. it takes constant focus! he's still a bit in his delusional shit, but even when he's going "oh no, binghe is only latched throat-deep onto my dick because he's a good boy who's concerned about me and the danger i could pose by losing control" he'd probably… well, he'd probably say that out loud to anyone who asked. he's in a half-trance, mentally battling the crazy-making sword. lying is too much work.

Wouldn’t resisting Xin Mo’s influence be the mental and spiritual equivalent to training under 400x gravity or something? his wife-beam is going to be off the charts when he puts it down.

also also: who the hell dressed him like that? fucking shang qinghua, of course, after SQQ showed up in the northern palace to punish MBJ for hurting binghe in the conference. did the system explain shit to SQH? on the one hand, extremely funny if it updates him on the role change out of nowhere mid-alliance. on the other hand, extremely funny if he only finds out because Binghe is crying safely in Qing Jing while the scum villain apparently jumped into the abyss.

Here's another link to the original AU post! I've had it open on a tab all this time just so i could point to it when I was done, so make sure to check it out!

[kingdomaddiction]

I've been thinking in a Cumplane friendship idea.--

You see, everyone seems to believe SQQ and SQH can't stand each other. Quite the opposite, really. When it's only the two of them they don't feel the need to keep up the pretence. It's so easy to relax, to put the mask aside.

They aren't peak lords nor cultivators. They're just two dudes in their mid tweenties trying to survive in this forsaken world.

SY knows he might not be the kindest nor the most loving of friends, (he spent so many years alone in a cold, hospital room, he's not good at socializing) but he does care for Airplane. A lot. He will never say it out loud because it's embarrasing but that stupid author is his best friend.

So, that's why when the news of Qinghua's disappearance finally reach him (two weeks, it took two full weeks before someone decided to tell him--- )they absolutely destroys him.

He seems calm at fisrt. Not truly procesing the news. LBG makes a few comments about something Mobei told him (you fucking knew and didn't tell me, how dare you, husband?! )

Gone, SQH? No, that's dumb. He couldn't be gone. He's a peak lord, he has responsabilities, a bunch of little ones to teach. He even takes care of the north. And most importantly why would he leave Mobei? It makes no sense, not fucking sense.

SQH wouldn't leave like that. He... he wouldn't leave SY behind.

He can feel sob building up in his throat. That... stupid, idiot--HACK AUTHOR!

His crying fit is so strong and sudden that sends LBG and his whole demon staff into a panic.

"Shizun?!" He says looking for visible injuries-

"Don't touch me!" He screams and LBG looks at him with hurt.

"Husband? Have... have this disciple done something wrong?"

SQQ just turns and walks to his chambers ordering LBG not to follow him. His husband is left feeling distressed and cries for very different reasons.

Later that night they talk. SQQ feeling tired and sad finally calls for his husband to comfort him. He explains to him why he is angry at him and LBG apologizes.

"This one thought you hated Shang-shibo and that Shizun wouldn't care about his dissapereance." He says in a small, careful voice. "Mobei jun came to the palace days ago to beg for help in his search... "

"You turned him away... " SY says, sounding very tired.

"Yes. But this husband will make it right, Shizun. I will find your friend for you, promise."

SY sighs and hugs his husband, hiding his face in his chest.

..

Idk 'm all over the place but the idea is that the system is glitching and took SQH and is kind of keeping him hostage? Like, in between worlds. Not the mordern universe, not PIDW.

I imagine LBG having a very hard time accepting his shizun worries and loves others and not just him (??? why??? I'm more than enough you need NO ONE else shizun). He's too possesive and would like very much just to lock his shizun away, but that would break him and he never wants to see him cry like that ever again. Even if that means he has to share his attention.

MBJ is very broken in this one fiding himself lost without SQH. they had just finally stablished their relationship so he's between angry and scared. Also his trust and loyalty to LBG has taken a blown since he refused to help him find his lover. Didn't he help LBG when everyone turned his back on him as he clinged to his dead shizun's body?

While they work together (before they can even figure out where sqh is) LBG slowly realizes he might have fucked up a bit and ??? misses Mobei ??? are they friends???!!

SY tries his fucking best to keep it together. Really, he loves Binghe but that man can be so dense.

They find where SQH is being kept. The place is like a limbo. Cold, and vast where no time passes. In order to get him back LBG, MBJ and SQQ work together to reforge Xin Mo and travel there. There's a cool fighting montage, tears, hugs and everyone is happy at the end

Yeah that's all i got so far. I'll be going back to work now--

[anachronismstellar]

Fucking hell this came to me in a dream.

SQQ (Sy), passing by another peak lord's place, seeing SQH coming out of the door:............. Airplane, if you're gonna do your walk of shame. Don't let me see it.

SQH, with hickeys on his neck and smell of sex, hands on his hips: 😏 you mean, 😏 walk of game.

FISHAIDHAODJA HE TOTALLY WOULD BE ALL SMUG the little shit

Bonus points if is Yue Qingyuan or Liu Qingge, omg can you imagine Cucumber-bro face??? Like-

He was walking to Yue Qingyuan's office, enjoying the morning sun. He missed his old life dearly, but where in the real planet earth would he breathe such pure air and be surrounded by so much green? When it wasn't about to end, this world could be beau-

Yellow robes rushed past him as Airplane was struggling to put on his boot, hair down in a rat's nest, and neck covered in-

Ah fucking hell.

"Airplane, really? Can't you even do a proper walk of shame? You're supposed to put your clothes before running, idiot!"

"Oh Cucumber-bro!" He paused before he fell face first in the dirt, taking the moment to fix his clothes and his hair. "Heh you call walk of shame, I call walk of game," he gave a pat on Shen Yuan's shoulder, with a wink.

Urgh, nevermind this world was disgusting and he hated it and even more he hated its author!!!

"By the way, if you wanna ask for that trip to see the black lotus flower, the time is now. You can thank me later~"

Urgh he didn't want to know.

But a happy Yue Qingyuan was a way more agreeable than a rightful Yue Qingyuan.

.... Ok sometimes Airplane wasn't so bad.

Sometimes.

[oh-no-its-bird]

sending this ask w the power of god (airport wifi) because my power is out but i NEED to say this abt sqh in naruto as huohou

sqh would be SO fucking paranoid. he doesn't even remember who becomes a missing nin or not and mixes up canon with fanon. "hmm yeah shisui becomes a missing nin right.....? hmm yes i should watch him Very closely." (shisui is suspicious of sqh watching him closely. what does he Want.) he also thinks madara and tobirama were in a situationship or something like that. or was it madara and hashirama...? wait, since when was sealing like THAT? (like always. everyone looks at him and it's like damn you must have failed the unit on sealing back at the academy.)

i think the system waking up sqh at night only to be jumpscared by the uchiha massacre notif is very funny but. hear me out. random late night ramen or grocery run instead or sumn like that. just chilling and all of a sudden oh FUCK.

YEAH EXACTLY

Houhua doesnt even know who Madara is, he read like a fucking quarter of Naruto before dropping it when he was in highschool, which was 2 lives and well over a few hundred years ago. He knows like, bare fucking bones about the start of Naruto and most of what he remembers is just bc of memes he'd see online that were funny enough to get imprinted in his mind

he got up to like, Sasuke defecting w Orochimaru maybe?

The system is helping out a little by giving him some vague list of "important characters" but then refuses to elaborate on what makes them important. Maybe when he meets people if they have narrative weight they'll glow in his eyes or smthn fun like that? Idk

Let his mangekyou, if he ever receives it, revolve around "seeing the strings of fate" or some shit and its basically an extension of the system where hes able to "see the future" but its just him being able to tell someones inherent narrative weight

I think he'd have a really fucking hard time ever manifesting it tho, just bc like. He's really old. And he's seen a lot of shit. And he's grown really fucking numb to most terrible things. And he's already putting up so many walls between him and "the residents of this world" or however he might see them. I think that it'd take a lot for him to become so genuinely attached to someone that losing them can manifest something like that, and he isn't emotionally available enough to get that attached in the first place

I want him to actually violently bash together naruto sealing and svsss sealing to create just like. An ungodly creation of power that no one but him understands how to work, I think it'd be fun

On one hand I am hearing u out but on the other hand I always found it interesting that, on the night of the massacre, somehow, some way, all of the Uchiha were accounted for in the compound. You're telling me not a single one was on duty? Not a single one was out on a mission? I always thought that was the most pointed "there's clearly something underhanded going on here from the governments half" bc that's so ridiculously convenient it's straight up stupid.

Anyways that's to say that to continue with that line of thought and also bc that was clearly planned somehow, Houhua would need to be in the compound

Then again theres probably shops n stuff in the compound that Houhua could have been going to, thats true

hmmm things to think about

Either way I think I like him not sleeping but like, laying down trying to sleep when it happens bc it also lets me flex the "this paranoid bastard has been going to sleep in fucking armor since Sasuke turned 8, that's wild"

[al3zthecat-blog]

I've seen takes about Shang Quinghua pressing the Return Home button (either on purpose or by accident) and I've also read takes where the System for some reason (a glitch or a new mission) sends both SY and SQH to the modern world. And they are great BUT.....

What if SQH pressed the Return Home option (I'm thinking on purpose, but you do you) and the System sent both back home.

Let's say that the System didn't give SY that option because he isn't user number 1 and it was up to user number 1 to make this choice. Only, because the System is such an asshole it conveniently disregarded to tell either SY or SQH this.

So SQH not knowing his choice would also affect SY (otherwise he would definitely use this to get SQQ to do as he says, like getting LBH to give him the best food 😂) decides that he will take his chances on the real world. I'm thinking that he does this in part because the System actually answered when he would wake up and told him that in the real world no time has happened or that he would go back before he spilled his ramen and electrocuted himself. The other part could be that he just panicked upon seeing LGY. Or maybe he never saw LGY and was able to explore and sightsee some of the wonders of the world he wrote about and decided that this was as good as it would get here, whereas now that he lived in a cultivation setting he had so much fucking material. He could even write the danmei version of PIDW thanks to Cucumber bro!

So he activates the return home function and proceeds to write SVSSS, only he changes the name of Peerless Cucumber to another dick joke to avoid getting sued, you know, just in case.

For his part SQQ/SY hears the System saying "Activating Return Home sequence in 3, 2, 1" and he proceeds to freak out, except of course he doesn't have time to properly freak out and/or say anything before everything goes black.

SY wakes up in the hospital, his sister found him passed out and proceed to call 110/120*. Because this is SY and he no longer can hear the System he proceeds to go in denial/repression. "Ah... It was all a dream of course" (and to be fair, this would be more of a normal reaction than how he immediately accepted he had transmigrated 😂).

Until some weeks/months/days!? (Knowing Airplane it was probably days) later, Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky starts publishing an spin off/AU of PIDW named SVSSS.

Meanwhile back on SVSSS world either (and because I love SJ and he deserves a happy ending and because YQY also deserves a happy ending and I want these two to reconcile 😭 and what are fanfics for if not to write happy endings for everyone!?!):

SQQ'S body goes into a Qi deviation and SJ wakes up (resuscitates? I'm thinking the System grabbed his soul while he was deviating and put it into storage so SY's soul could occupy the body). Obviously SJ proceeds to FREAK OUT and runs away to CQM sect.

SQQ'S body just stops working. One moment he is breathing and the next he is dead. Somewhere out there SJ wakes up in a plant body (at some point SQH tried to bring back his favorite scum villain and gifted YQY a mushroom plant body with some precise instructions to care for it without telling YQY exactly what the plant was, because he believed if someone could bring back SJ it would be his soulmate YQY, but in case he was wrong better not tell YQY why or what the plant he gifted him was for)

SQQ'S body basically becomes brain dead. Technically alive, but since there is no soul inside the body it is as good as dead (SJ comes back with a healthy plant body and reconciles with YQY in CQM)

In any of these scenarios LBH will freak out, obviously, but in the case of scenario 1 he would have no reason but to think that this like the first time SQQ lost his memories, only now he recuperated many of them and lost the ones that involve LBH. So I guess the best option for a BingYuan reunion would be to go for 2 or 3 because LBH would be looking for SQQ|SY soul not SQQ|SJ (who is alive and safe in CQM sect) but I don't really care for this pairing soooo 🤷🏻‍♀️

Upon crawling out of the earth, SJ encounters YQY who immediately knows that this is Xiao Jiu, he would have the confirmation of what he already knew, that the other SQQ was not SJ. He still has no explanation to what happened or how SQH was able to return SJ to him, but he is glad and thankful to SQH.

SQH who has disappeared. Literally, his body did a Thanos snap and became dust or simply glitched out. Because SQH was never from this world. He was born in this world and given the role of SQH but his body is technically not the one of the original but supplanted it. Similar to a changeling only it was the System and he did this from the womb.

I don't know how it would go from here, kind of a dealers choice, if you want Moshang and BingYuan(?) HEA or if CumPlane HEA in the modern world. Or happy ending for Airplane who now can dedicate time to write whatever he wants because he already has SVSSS written thanks to the System and while that sells he can concentrate in writing other things.

[kyogre-blue]

In a big rush, I've caught up to RDCH manhwa, up to chapter 92.

There's a lot that happened. As always, the pace is breakneck, haha. Anyway, there's a few points I wanted to note.

First, I appreciate the respect for just punching someone in the face. This is why I respect SQH the most as Lostbelt King, because at the end of LB3, they go to punch it out with Chaldea. Here, in chapter 85, Hugo punches it out with Taurus and it's great. And then, Libra also eventually resorts to just directly punching Lee Geon, which is hilarious.

Speaking of Libra, she's done a bang up job as a villain. Very funny that she stripped at the end to the same level as Lee Geon. Even her top! In general, I feel like... this manhwa really has a foot fetish. The guys always lose their shirts, sure, but they also lose everything below the knee too, only keeping their hulk modesty shorts. But you also get Yooha losing her boots, while her jeans are otherwise fine, so it feels like they just really wanted to get her barefoot lol (Speaking of Yooha, I wonder if they're going to circle back to the evil god in her arms, or if this is it and it'll be considered that she's gotten control of it.)

Speaking of Hugo, the first couple chapters after the manhwa restarted were quite rough, since it was more flashbacks of Suffering(tm). Hugo really lives a different genre than everyone else sometimes, rip. I do like how he goes wild against Taurus. He and Lee Geon are very similar sometimes. They can have a similar mean sense of humor, and occasionally Hugo enjoys battle in a similar way.

There were also some moments for Yooha, Steven, Kevin... feels like a fairly okay support cast, which I like. Though of course, Lee Geon is the only useful one, haha

That said, the big ending for the Libra arc felt pretty cohesive. I can't really complain about the direction.

There are several interesting points that were elucidated. First, Lee Geon's moral compass is sometimes a bit hard to pin down, but he pretty directly states what he is opposed to: disregarding "the safety of others." Everything else is whatever, but people shouldn't be put in danger meaninglessly.

(In my fanfic concept development, this would mean... you can tell he loses it if he puts innocent people in danger. But for additional consideration, Lee Geon is not at all shy about going to down on anyone who crosses him and directly threatens murder in the novel. So you could say him losing it would come from the direction of starting to see innocent people as having wronged him. Hehehe)

Second, there's an interesting... hm, undercurrent? that is introduced here. Steven says that he is willing to sacrifice "everything Leo has accumulated" because otherwise humanity will lose "everything they've accumulated" in bold text. At the same time, Libra tries to claim that this world belongs to the divine gods, while "Baron Helmet" said the same for the unknown civilization when they invaded. There's this concept of accumulating resources or taking them by force.

Third, they also bring up several times that "the weak don't even get the right to choose" and "only the strong get to ask questions," which... is certainly in line with a battle series, but... yeah. Yooha does angle Leo's ideal of the strong survive as "the strong have a duty to protect the weak," and in a sense, all the weak people "choose" Lee Geon, which you can interpret as flashback Steven being wrong. But still... it's all good to say that Ophiuchus respects those who are willing to put everything on the line to become stronger, but most people simply do not have the necessary potential or opportunity. All they can do is choose who to pray to, but this assumes that there is a good choice to begin with. It's all a kind of concept that I don't really like, though I won't say that it's incoherent or anything.

Anyway, all that said, the last chapter for now is really something. Ah, Lee Geon making that face, damn... We finally see him get a bit stripped down emotionally. Yes, give me that backstory to add to my Lee Geon microwave spinning.

[horsegirlwarcrimes]

just wanna make a little post because! someone left a very respectful comment on WINRN asking a bit about SQH's choices transition wise. the comment has since been deleted so im not gonna repeat it (if this was you and you were worried plz dont be! i dont mind at all!) and i dont want to embarrass or put pressure on the person, but i thought id write my thoughts on that out here 😊

putting this under a cut because it got long lol

SQH in WINRN is a trans man, and has identified that way since childhood in PIDW-verse. In the real world, he was never out and never socially or medically transition, and had a lot of internalized misogyny and transphobia (which is gonna be explored a bit later in the fic). However, PIDW is canonically a world with no homophobia, which I am taking to mean no transphobia as well!

This is a major culture shock, and one that WINRN's SQH definitely says he is totally cool with and has internalized, but I think he still has a lot of internalized fear rattling around inside, which definitely plays into his choices of how he treats his body.

That said, many trans people don't actually experience a ton of dysphoria when it comes to their secondary sexual characteristics 😊 I myself have a very complicated relationship with my physical sex, which I am pretty much just directly giving to SQH haha. It's definitely not representative of every, or even most, trans experiences, just my own that I want to explore a bit through SQH, especially how that overlaps with having biological children.

Not wanting to medically transition can have a lot of reasons outside of medical concerns or cost. It's a really permanent choice. For me, I'm always like 'okay, but what if I miss my boobs? or what if it just makes no difference for me?' I, like SQH, still spend time not passing for various reasons, and it is useful to be able to girl-code myself when needed, which I wouldn't be able to do as easily if I had medically transitioned.

Drawing from trans friends experiences, some people also just actively like their bodies the way they are! I have a close friend who likes their chest a lot, and actually feels more masc and confident when not binding. Different vibes for different folks :))

That said, unlike myself, I do think that WINRN!SQH does eventually medically transition. His choice not to is a combo of ambivalence towards his body and fear of rejection, so once he is more confident and settled he and MBJ find like. A gender change fruit lol. And because magic, he can always swap back if he wants hahaha.

It hasn't come up yet, but WINRN is also T4T Moshang! Mobei-jun is also a trans man who has made very different choices than SQH when it comes to his transition. He gets much less self-shame/dysphoria, and transitioned later but went right for medical transition. Growing up in PIDW-verse where it's not a big deal gives him a different perspective than SQH. He just like... cut his tits off and did an ice ritual and was all set 😂

ANYWAYS thats just my gender headcanons for this fic hahaha. thank you for reading if you got this far! and literally never worry about leaving comments or asks with questions on the gender stuff, im very comfy talking about it and very hard to offend ❤️

[mxtxmusings]

svsss characters as hozier songs

bingqiu weird mushroom time - in a week

and you haven’t moved an inch / such that i would not know / if you sleep always like this / the flesh calmly going cold

you cannot tell me this doesn’t give major binghe shizun is not dead i can bring him back vibes

this whole song is just essentially that entire arc

sqh literally complained about bingqiu being too cottagecore

what is more cottagecore than just rotting in the woods next to your lover

we lay here for years or for hours / your hand in my hand / so still and discreet / so long we become the flowers

mushroom sqq

honestly there’s no particular line that stands out to me

besides the refrain i’ll be home with you

i can already imagine the bamboo house

there’s just something so macabre but also tender about this song

PLUS IT’S A DUET

THIS SONG WAS LITERALLY MADE FOR THEM YOUR HONOUR

bingqiu post abyss - as it was

just as it was, baby / before the otherness came

and tell me if somehow / some of it remained / how long you would wait for me? / how long i’ve been away

the idea of a haggard hero who comes home and is greeted by their lover

and comforted by their unchanging love for them

it’s what binghe wishes he could have gotten after he fights his way out of the abyss

but strangely i think the hero coming home is actually shen qingqiu in some ways

lbh came home literally but it is sqq who realizes that he never changed

aka binghe is still a simp

i keep on putting bingqiu together

shang qinghua - be

when the man who gives the order / is born next time ‘round on the boat sent back

when i have no kind words left, love for you

be as you’ve always been (lover be good to me)

if this whole song doesn’t scream shang qinghua during the side stories

idk how to help you

there’s literally a part about when the master is crossed

he literally begs mobei jun to treat him better like idk how to tell you how obvious these parallels are

the energy is 100% different though

but i like that mobei-jun doesn’t magically change or feel different about sqh

turns out their dynamic is just weird as fuck

even jesus can’t take the wheel of their relationship

your honour they are simply incompetent and incapable of proper communication despite one of them being a demon general and the other one being god

mobei-jun - blood upon the snow

the world that hardens as the harsher winter holds / the parent forced to eat its young before it grows

it’s not my arms that will fail me / but this world takes more strength than it gave me

are you seeing the vision

i mean it’s pretty obvious from the cover art

and also the general vibes

the song talks a lot about the brutality of nature, of the world, and how difficult it is to survive

there is a sense of isolation in the song, as though it is better not to get close than to be hurt because that is all they have ever experienced

honestly felt like the whole situation with mobei-jun’s uncle and also his general distrust of people

liu qingge - shrike

i couldn’t utter my love when it counted / ah, but i’m singing like a bird ‘bout it now

this is more about blaming yourself for a breakup

even though that relationship wasn’t always positive, there were still good aspects to it that are missed

but in this case, i see it more as the regret of not even trying

also because i think lqg is incapable of winning i’m so sorry

you snooze you lose

not like he could compete against the protagonist but man didn’t even try

it may seem like i always bully him (which i do) but fun fact he is one of my favourites

bro literally fumbled so bad with sqq though i’m sorry how does he have negative rizz

yue qingyuan - foreigner’s god

she feels no control of her body / she feels no safety in my arms

you cannot tell me that this doesn’t feel like his relationship with both shen jiu and shen yuan

except not literally cheating but yknow

like the vibes are all there istg

i promise all of the pieces are there

i just can’t explain it

like he lost sj when he left him and then he loses him again after the qi deviation

it’s just hopelessly hanging onto somebody that you never had to begin with yknow

and i mean shen yuan is technically a foreigner…

tianlang-jun - jackie and wilson

looking up from a cigarette, and she’s already left / i start digging up the yard for what’s left of me and our little vignette

i think this song really depends on your interpretation of it!

i’ve seen people say it’s about a person who fell in love with this woman and begins to fantasize about a future with her only for her to not return their feelings

or they are disappointed by the idealized version of a woman they have created in their head, only to realize that they’re not interested in the real person

i think the first one is definitely more accurate to his situation with su xiyan but i could see the second one working too when he thinks that she betrayed him?

either way the naive love from this song felt like the right fit for our resident teenage girl stuck in a dilf demon’s body

[forgottenvice]

Vibrant

Newest chapter of my prompt fic Who serves Whom going to try and be good about posting here and there Shang Qinghua couldn't pinpoint the exact moment it started, but once he noticed it he couldn't stop noticing it.

Originally all of Mobei Jun's robes were duller blues, greys and blacks. In his brain he considered them quiet colours, very monochrome and stoic. Just like MBJ.

The change was subtle at first, the blues became richer the contrast more apparent, originally SQH thought the demon was just starting to grow into his role as future king. Nothing out of place, King's were supposed to dress opulently to display their power and prestige.

At least that's what he'd assumed until the demon showed up on An Ding wearing a hot pink under robe. It took Shang Qinghua some time to notice as Mobei Jun had materialized on his bed while he was busy finishing work on his desk.

That wasn't unusual, Mobei Jun seemed to enjoy lounging around Shang Qinghuas meagre disciple quarters. When he finally had time to look at the demon he had to do a double take.

He almost thought it was  a trick of the light, or maybe the system glitching. If this was a digital world maybe the shaders got corrupted or something. The vibrant fabric barely peeked out from beneath the rich blue overrobe, but it had been meticulously arranged.

It was clearly intentional and Shang Qinghua was baffled as to why.

It didn't help that the strips of pink were perfectly framing pale sculpted pectoral muscles that Shang Qinghua already had a hard time looking away from.

His eyes trailed up the demon’s form only to freeze when their eyes met. Mobei Jun was watching him intently and sweat began to bead at his temples. Shit did he notice Shang Qinghua staring?

He immediately jumped into grovelling mode.

"My King, what brings you to see this servant?"

"Can I not visit?" There seemed to be a hit of a smirk in Mobei jun's voice though it didn't appear on his face. Shang Qinghua was starting to feel dizzy with how his eyes kept darting back to that damn pink strip of cloth.

He'd thought he'd started to get the hang of handling Mobei Jun, but then the demon always turned around and did something to throw him off. How was he supposed to avoid death flags when Mobei Jun was so fickle?

He was pretty sure he spent the rest of the night unable to look the demon in the eye, mostly because his cleavage was RIGHT THERE!

He'd thought it might have been an anomaly, because the next time he was in the north Mobei Jun was back to blues and greys. He hoped it was an anomaly, Mobei Jun's father was still alive and if he drew too much attention to himself it could mean trouble. He already had enough to deal with regarding his uncle and any change could be perceived as a play for power.

Hell Shang Qinghua still had to hide most of the time he spent in the underground palace.

It wasn't until the end of the night when Mobei Jun was due to return Shang Qinghua to An Ding when it happened again. Mobei Jun unwound the bracers holding his sleeves tight. The loose fabric revealed a bright yellow lining that would have put most of Huan Hua to shame.

When Mobei Jun held his hand out for the cultivator, Shang Qinghua couldn't help but stare. He tilted his head wondering if Mobei's robes had always been lined, but no that wasn't right, he'd done laundry for the king often enough to no he'd never seen this particular robe.

"Qinghua?" RIGHT! Mobei Jun is waiting for him. He jumps immediately smacking his hand into Mobei Jun's and hoped he wasn't blushing. With how cool the breeze across it felt during teleportation he was probably wrong.

Thankfully Mobei Jun didn't mention it but when they reached An Ding. Shang Qinghua was ready to bolt to relieve his embarrassment but when he tried to dart away he felt stress on his shoulder causing him to fall back.

Mobei Jun hadn't let go of his hand.

"M-my King?" Predatory eyes bored into him, both of them standing deadly still. For a moment Shang Qinghua thought. this is it, he's finally going to kill me. reflexively he tensed.

Then, Mobei let go.

His heart was beating in his throat but before he could react the demon was gone in a swirl of shadow and ice. Seconds later his knees gave way and he slumped to the floor wondering why a change in demonic fashion had him so worked up.

But it kept happening, A splash of teal beneath a pleat, bright red boots, orange cuffs, a vibrant green ribbon. But he'd only ever spotted the colours when there was no one else around.

Which to be fair was most of their meetings; one didn't conduct espionage in front of the sect you might be betraying BUT every vibrant colour remained hidden until it was just the two of them and Shang Qinghua was getting dizzy trying to imagine what colour was going to pop up next and where.

He didn't ask though, Mobei Jun already had such a low opinion of him, he didn't want the demon to think he was stupid, or worse what if Mobei Jun was insulted by the question?

So instead he tortured himself trying (and failing) to not think about each pop of colour and what part of Mobei Jun it highlighted.

Until the day he was declared Peak lord.

It was a long day full of pomp and ceremony and frankly having planned most of it he spent half the time paranoid something might go wrong. Which it did, but he'd planned for that so in the end it had appeared pretty seamless.

Still Shang Qinghua was exhausted, so stepping into his new home as An Ding's peak lord, his only thought was of flopping down on the ridiculously comfortable bed. Even with everything working out, the ceremony and following celebration had gone late into the night, he was cold, tired and ready to sleep for a week.

Which was why he didn't see the seven foot demon lounging in his new bedroom until it was too late.

When he did notice he had to do a double take.

Mobei Jun was underdressed, MORE than usual and Shang Qinghua could only yelp. His entire torso was exposed revealing muscles that Shang Qinghua was certain did not actually exist in real life, but fuck real life, hot demon!

What Mobei Jun was wearing was brightly colored and ostentatious, draping blue and green fabrics attached to cuffs around bulging biceps, pants that had cut-outs r-rated movies would second guess and an oversized headdress that he couldn't help but compare to a peacock.

That's when it hit him. All of these brightly colored bits of fabric and the way Mobei Jun had been strutting around was EXACTLY like a peacock.

Something he may have mentioned once upon a time when PIDWs peacock analog interrupted one of their night time liaisons, then proceeded to ramble about the mating dances and colours of different species, and... and Mobei Jun had listened to him the whole time, and now was acting just like the courting birds.

But he couldn't be, could he?

"My... My King? Are you.... courting me?" Shang Qinghua tensed ready for the blow instead a cool hand cupped his face before curling around the back of his neck.

"Took you long enough, this king was worried he might have to learn how to dance."

[fixielixie]

fun and interesting takes have been happening on twitter as we all reread scum villain and the one that caught my eye is how the real villain in sv is luo binghe. before anyone accuses me of being a binghe hater, i am not i love him and all of his morally questionable and down right unethical actions. but... i think scum villain is a great example of how important perspective is for a novel, because if anyone else had been telling the story of scum villain, lbh would have been the big baddie and shen qingqiu would be him indulging, complacent husband. like lets all think for a moment what the events of scum villain would look like if say, liu qingge was the one telling the story. even just the way binghe acted once he got out of the endless abyss would have been much more sinister, bc lqg has no context for why lbh is acting this way, just that he has an extremely strong obsession with sqq. it only gets worse after sqq self destructs and lbh keeps the body. and even darker when the peak lords find out lbh has been crippling cultivators to quell the demonic backlash from his op sword. you can see where im going.

the fandom always half-jokes that scum villain is a tragedy concealed as a comedy because of the tone sqq tells the story in. but his perspective also warps not only the events but the characters too. shen qingqiu is The UnReliable Narrator, his attachment to lbh from when he was still in the modern world, that only grows stronger as he spends more time with him pre-abyss completely changes the light of which he views all of lbhs actions. in his mind, lbh can really do no wrong and the same goes for lbhs view of sqq. they work so well together because of their mutual obsession with one another, the knowledge that even at their absolute worse, their love for one another cannot be changed.

is it healthy? no. does it make for a great and engaging story? yes.

but without this context and no knowledge of the shared history (only sqh has this luxury... if u could call it that its probably more of a headache) that only they can really understand, of course binghe seems like the villain and in many ways he is. sqq will never see him as anything but a tragic hero, and will always be willing to overlook all of the horrible things lbh has done, in the same way lbh can forgive sqq for all of the suffering he put him through. but no one else has this luxury so the scum villain universe is left with a power couple that no one really understands but are too afraid to cross or be on the wrong side of. also sqq is too kind to everyone for ppl to really hate him so they reluctantly have to pretend like lbh isnt terrifying and a little evil to anyone who isnt sqq.

[tossawary]

"5 random facts about an Oc that you haven’t shared before. Pass it on once done!"

Thought it would be fun to hear about your OCs since they are all so vibrant.

Thank you for the question! I like talking about them, but I think you guys know most of the information I have about my OCs, since I mostly just make up their information as I need it for the story. But I can definitely collect some facts about them here, as a lot of the info is scattered across various commentary posts, and I think there are some "making of" facts about them I haven't shared yet.

I tend to use my OCs across fics if I can, but the interpretations change depending on the needs of the fic, in the same way that the interpretations of the canon characters change according to the needs of the fic. (Example: In PINTWILF, Liu Qingge has living, loving parents. In my Stardust AU, Liu Qingge is an orphan and raised Mingyan while living at Cang Qiong.)

I think I'll just go through my list of OCs and see what facts (new and old) about them pop into my mind.

My worldbuilding document is grouped by affiliation, so I guess we're starting with Cang Qiong and Qiong Ding Peak.

I once said that a some of my OCs in PINTWILF are loosely based on MDZS or other MXTX characters. Link to that post: https://tossawary.tumblr.com/post/645024544477822976/.

Xing Bao (PINTWILF), Yue Qingyuan's sixth assistant and favorite disciple, a former victim of the House of Rejuvenation, and the one who accidentally called YQY "Dad", is actually based on Yue Qingyuan himself. A genial disciple who took on responsibility and went through great hardship at a young age. Yue Qingyuan is getting to "make up" for his past by doing better for A-Bao than his master did for him.

Likewise, Fu Qiang of Qing Jing (Shen Qingqiu's "assassin" in PINTWILF) is in some ways a young Shen Qingqiu, though she's intensely private and not quite as hot-tempered. She came out of the House of Rejuvenation wanting a bloody revenge and Shen Qingqiu has helped her get that.

They take inspiration from Qijiu, but are their own people, in part because Qijiu have helped them avoid terrible fates.

Chen Xuan of An Ding Peak, also known as "Dumpling Thief's Friend" (PINTWILF), is actually a legacy disciple. Her mother is an An Ding cultivator, older than Shang Qinghua but still vaguely of the same "generation", named Chen Riling.

Chen Riling appears in my MDZS AU "Nothing to Me, Nothing to You", though she's roughly the same age as Shang Qinghua in that fic. Shang Qinghua in NTMNTY doesn't know this, but Chen Riling is supposed to be the future Madam Shang. The original Shang Qinghua in that AU was a Jin Guangyao Evil Uncle type and there is a fleeting mention in Airplane Bro's original story of a Madam Shang who also met a terrible fate before/after SQH was murdered by MBJ, but the transmigrated Airplane Bro has no intention of getting married and has not realized that the future Madam Shang Qinghua already exists in this world. Chen Riling already has a crush on Shang Qinghua. He is never going to notice until she asks him directly whether or not she ever has a chance with him.

(He's going to turn her down. She will get married to someone else and have Chen Xuan in the NTMNTY universe, and also have insight into the disastrous Moshang romance as one of SQH's friends and feel like she dodged a fucking bullet.)

Peng Hongpeng (PINTWILF), also known as "Spots", has no parents in his life and has fortunately or unfortunately latched on to Shang Qinghua as a parental figure. He looks up to and cares for Shang Qinghua very much, but he does carry some resentment for the things Shang Qinghua has put him through without recognizing him as he would like to be recognized.

Lin Wenjiao (PINTWILF), also known as "Dumpling Thief", is probably most likely to be the next peak lord at this point. Shang Qinghua has the final say, but peak politics do matter somewhat, and Peng Hongpeng's current entanglements with Shang Qinghua and the Demon Realm have made him slightly less popular than Lin Wenjiao on An Ding Peak. Lin Wenjiao has taken advantage of his absences to the Demon Realm, which he knows, and they're still friends.

Shao Jing (PINTWILF), Mu Qingfang's disciple on Qian Cao Peak, will probably not end up with Mobei Zhao. Sorry, guys! She really didn't enjoy her stint in the Demon Realm. Nor her breakup with Peng Hongpeng, even if she's the one who dumped him. She doesn't dislike Mobei Zhao, though. She just needs some time.

Granny Sun (PINTWILF) is the widow of a Cang Qiong cultivator, her late wife. Part of the reason she's so standoffish towards Shang Qinghua is that she's bitter about cultivators going off and dying for "glory" and then leaving people behind.

Tea Shop Auntie (PINTWILF), who wanted Jiahui to marry one of her sons, has a sister who is a sex worker at one of the places that Shen Qingqiu visits for some damn privacy. Tea Shop Auntie's sister saw Shang Qinghua and Luo Jiahui in their early days in Sanjiao Town, and told Shen Qingqiu immediately the next time she saw him.

Master Gao (PINTWILF), former master of the House of Rejuvenation, who was murdered by Elder Lady Xia's attendants, was to be Madam Hu's (PINTWILF) first husband. They are the scum villains from two different plot lines that got combined because of accidental implications on Airplane Bro's part. Master Gao is the asshole rich guy who harassed the protagonist's mother. Madam Hu, mistress of the House of Rejuvenation, was to be the evil stepmother of a Cinderella-type wife character, "the widow of the richest man in town" who married the wife character's father and may or may not have offed her first husband. If not for Shang Qinghua's actions causing a number of different For Want of a Nail changes, Madam Hu would have eventually murdered Master Gao.

Shi Chun (PINTWILF) is the late mother of the Little Palace Mistress. She was Su Xiyan's shimei and the one who ratted out Su Xiyan's pregnancy to the Old Palace Master, already pregnant at the time with the Old Palace Master's daughter. She was very much the Palace Master's "consolation prize" for not getting Su Xiyan. Her time as Palace Mistress did not last very long.

Fan Yuchen (PINTWILF) is very like Liu Qingge in temperament. He shocked everyone at Tian Yi Overlook when he suddenly announced he was going to marry Ding Lanfen because she was pregnant with his child (Bai Jianming's child). Like, before that, no one who knew him would have believed that this guy fucked.

Ding Lanfen's daughter (PINTWILF), the secret niece of the current Xifeng-Jun, is a little like Zhuzhi-Lang in that she didn't get "the perfect mix of both worlds" like Binghe did. She has some tiger-like features that are a little hard to hide sometimes, including a tail.

Mobei Zhao (PINTWILF) | Mobei Didi (Babe in the Woods) is Mobei-Jun's younger brother. I'm not sure yet, but I'm thinking half-brother, and I like to imagine the other half being some kind of water-type ice demon, like a selkie thing. Because I want to have Nanny Shang Qinghua forced to wrestle a slippery baby seal demon type thing into bathtime. In PINTWILF, Mobei Zhao does not know that he is Mobei-Jun's brother. Mobei-Jun gave him away and told everyone that he was dead in order to protect him from Linguang-Jun, and then never talked about it for the next twenty years or so.

Mobei-Jun's great-aunts are there because I was like, "WHERE ARE THE WOMEN?!" But also, like, "WHERE ARE ALL THE OLDER WOMEN IN FANTASY MEDIA?!" I didn't want to have to deal with Mobei-Jun's mother. Or potential wife character sisters. Also, I think it's funny if Meng Mo, the Elder Dream Demon, actually knows other older demons and there's a deeper history to the world.

Shuang Yun (PINTWILF), the wind demon always crashing into windows, Mobei Zhao's best friend, is very, very, very loosely inspired by Lan Xichen. Like, Xichen if he was stripped of all his responsibilities and a little bit drunk (Shuang Yun isn't drunk, though, he's just like that). Shuang Yun runs into windows because he's really, really, really fast. Wind demons transform into this... wind-like being when they run and it takes them a while to build up speed, but it also takes them a while to slow down, and Shuang Yun starts slowing down later than he maybe should because he doesn't see anything wrong with just slamming into a wall and then reforming.

There was another demon OC very loosely based on Nie Mingjue, but he didn't end up making it into PINTWILF.

Bai Jianming (PINTWILF and NTMNTY), known in PINTWILF as "that dead Western Prince" and known in the MDZS AU as "that asshole who got all his limbs broken by Mobei-Jun"), is probably the person who is going to attack the Cloud Recesses in the MDZS AU when the war finally gets going. I know I said that Shang Qinghua was kind of Lan Xichen, Jin Guangyao, and Su She all at once in this AU, but overall, Shang Qinghua's character is actually positioned to be an evil Lan Qiren.

I would talk more about Xifeng-Jun and Elder Lady Xia, but those would probably include spoilers for an upcoming thing, so... you'll have to wait and see!

I think that's most of my prominent OCs? I know there are other OCs, but I don't think much information exists on any of them except what is already included in my fics. If I didn't cover an OC here, feel free to ask me about them at some point.

[masteri-0]

@arsonisticscholar I love ur brain, that reasoning makes like perfect sense holy shit. I made SY a juvenile dragon to fit the fanon(?) interpretation of a twenties!Shen Yuan, since dragons live way longer and probably develop slower. But, we can also have quick to mature dragons! Make SY a full fledged mama dragon already experienced in The Ways™ and has raised his own damn successful kids! Ah, his babies were absolute prodigies, already able to challenge him from such a young age!! They even managed to put aside their differences and team up to go at him, he's so proud and he spent his last moments making sure they knew that. And then he popped up here, in a peak full of kids, and decided that he did such a good job parenting his last batch that the universe wanted him to continue on. Will do!! He'll raise the best, most powerful younglings ever!!! What happened to the mom? No clue, mb they split with their fair share of dragonets to raise after they were done making them, who knows.

SQQ totally adopts the BZP disciples. Does he assume he and LQG are mates now and therefore share childrearing responsibilities? No idea. He feverently hopes the new younglings can influence his green batch to attack him as well, look at them doing such a good job trying to wound him! SQQ retaliates with delight and gets the reluctant respect of his blue batch of kids. Are they on the same page about what's going on? Oh, absolutely not. Too bad the Bai Zhan kiss gradually stops attacking him as much after awhile. SQQ freaks out and fusses over them, then morosely goes to find LQG to tell him he accidentally broke his kids. Hilarity ensues.

I wonder what would change with a fully adult and experienced SY. I imagine he'd be less goofy, for one. Or would he just get crackier and crackier OvO. Aged like fine wine, but it's the sanity. Food for thought, good food. Thinking about super proud mama Shen is so cute. Hmm but there's just naturally more funny shenanigans you cld write with a younger character too... Thoughts, thoughts...

Ohoho, he's a chomper. You have Proud, Aloof Immortal Shen, Peak Lord of Qing Jing, Second in Command of the Top Sect™ in the world, and he just... Chomped on his own Shidi. Are, are they a thing?? What is going on there...

Airplane has had to replace, so many brushes. Even before he knew why he was replacing them. He just assumed Shen-shixiong had another one of his tempers and snapped the brush in anger. But oh no, it was much worse. Or better? He has a transmigration buddy! But who was going to tell him dragons actually existed in his old world?!?!

Also, the reveal totally happened much sooner. SQQ isn't exactly subtle abt how he acts differently, and a single WTF while witnessing one of his Moments™ had SQH immediately caught. Once their identities were figured out, SQQ proceeds to try and chomp him, fan be damned, and oh, what sharp teeth you've got there, cucumberbro-

So dragons are more of spiritual beings, even being openly revered as beings of worship, a long time ago, before people lost faith and science became the explanation for the once supernatural happenings on Earth. But in the world of PIDW? That faith is still going strong in some parts. Anyw I digress. Point is, dragons have power on a more spiritual level, and they can absolutely take different forms, humans being one of them. The Shen family was one such example. A wealthy, well-established family full of eccentrics that went for long family vacations to the mountainsides or other natural habitats to enjoy the wilderness. On paper.

What this means is SY knows how to human (well that's debatable-), but he also needs to fuck off once in a while to destress and equilibrate. But he has kids now- he can't just leave them alone for long stretches of time! (He technically could, the peak is designed to function without too much need for the peak lord, as long as they plan things properly before they go, but SY is not only a first time parent of many, many very weak and squishy kids, but also first time dragon parent of many many weak squishy kids, sue him, he's overprotective). So, chomping, increased aggression to outsiders (never his sweet buns) amidst other things. (The Peak Lords breathe a sigh of relief(?) that he's finally acting more like himself(???), wait did he just bite-)

And being a spiritual being, SY's new immortal human shell is already gaining some draconic characteristics (he'll have to relearn his control over that real soon) and they definitely pop out more when he's stressed, agitated, or even just relaxed. Also yes, he cld tots transform into a dragon again once his form stabilized, that feature is an absolute must. Big noodle chomp coming right up. His martial siblings start noticing differences as time goes on, I estimate this change is relatively slow, and they don't meet often anyw, so it takes even longer for them to rlly find anything wrong. Confrontation... Not many ideas on when or how it happens, or how they even accept him... Hmm, I'd say maybe after IAC and around the incident w disciples mentioned previously. By that point his disciple-kids are all pretty darn loyal to him, and there's clearly been no damage to the sect even after so long... Also the canonical attraction beam strikes pure and true even as a dragon, it's just a given.

Don't know how that turned to worldbuilding... Lol. And once again my favourite reblog-taggers: @arsonisticscholar @howam-i-theparent

Is there a way to copy paste people's names? Rn I'm just manually typing. Anyw if the words don't flow well, I'm sleepy but refusing the call of the bed, so that might be why. Thoughts jumping everywhere...

Just had a sudden thought of Dragon!Shen Yuan (or any creature really) AU, where it was like a normal rite of passage for parents to raise their young (protectively, they're not jerks, just uh, very unsafe for human children, or just humans in general...), then throw them into some sort of extreme trial to prove their strength, when they're deemed ready. Oh, and it was normal, expected, even, to take a go at your parents and try to murder them as a proof of superiority, or smt like that. Doesn't mean they don't love each other! Dragons just have a different way of showing care, that's all. What's a lil play fighting?

Anyw, main point is, SY transmigrates into SQQ with this mentality. Sees his cute little sheep. Falls in love instantly and adopts him. But oh! Oh, the protagonist is so weak, so malnourished! He's gonna nurture him and make sure he's well taken care of! Such a scrawny little sheep can't possibly survive anything! Oh? What's that? He has to push the scrawny baby into the abyss? Well! Makes sense, but that's years into the future, and he has time to make sure they grow up big and strong yet! Cue all the canonical pampering.

I'd imagine during LBH's disciple days, he receives a lot more comments about him going out into the world, and there's less matchmaking from Shizun, since SY believes that girls will flock naturally to him if he's strong enough, so there's also more emphasis on his training, as well as the training of other disciples on the peak. I'm not sure how he'll react to Bai Zhan disciples. Does he comment on their strength and set off the QJP disciples, causing an interpeak war? Does he still hold the same annoyance for them and property damage?

By the time the IAC rolls around, SQQ has already sent his not so little white sheep all over to gain experience, and deemed him ready for his 'coming of age' (close to human adulthood too, he'll do fineee). There is far less tears and hesitation. When the time comes and LBH's seal is broken, SQQ feels the increase in power and the last of his worry dissipates. He basically just looks at his kid, nods, and chucks him in. Dusts off his hands and pats himself on the back. One child down, however many more to go. Oh, they grow up so fast... (Was LBH freaking out during this? Oh well, must be the nerves, he knew the feeling well. But he's read the book and knows what's going to happen. His kid will be okay, and he'll naturally gain confidence after surviving in there!... No one ever said dragons were GOOD at feelings ...)

Of course, it takes some time to adjust to the absence, but there's less grieving and freaking out over his impending doom. Sure, he's judging the original work a little. Limbless and hanging, really? SY much prefers a clean death, thank you. (How he died in his previous life is up to interpretation). But that's besides the point, his favourite is off on his trial, and it's about time to test a few of his other kiddos too (single dad to, uh, how many?)

Shen Qingqiu gains reputation as a sadistic (?) teacher that puts his disciples through dangerous missions seemingly without care, but unlike in the past, he seems to love the kids and dotes on them off-missions, so no one's really sure what's going on with... That. (He's still waiting for one of them, any of them, to try and kill him? Where's the bonding?? Was he not doing enough???)

So when LBH returns, things go uh, differently. SQQ is just here, waiting in anticipation, appreciating how his kid's all grown up, and seeing the scheme to unfold. Safe to say, people are confused. (Him, especially. What do you mean, his kid isn't trying to kill him?? Really, where did he go so wrong in parenting? None of his kids want to bond with him the proper way!!)

(I imagine SY being a better fighter than in canon due to literal trial of fire as a dragonet, and I'm not sure if he would've gotten hit with without a cure at all during the invasion in consideration of this)

[cursed-angelic-art]

Scumplane thoughts:

By the time Sqh reaches his late 20s in PIDW, it's already hit him that he's been alive longer here than he was in our world. These people and places, as familiar as they are to him, the author, are not his and are just as unfamiliar and real and alive in their own right as the people and places from his original world. Sqh may be a weaselly coward, (but is he, actually? Or does he just believe himself to be) but can he really let this story turn out the way it was supposed to?

He starts sending spies to Qing Jing, keeping tabs on sqq's behavior, well before Binghe even arrives. His working plan is to take Binghe as his own disciple, as much as the thought of screwing up frightens him, but he would also like to prevent any chance of sqq crossing the protagonist. Also, really, someone should be keeping an eye on this bastard! What an unsuitable teacher!

Shen Qingqiu, ornery man that he is, of course notices the frequency of An Ding Peak disciples showing up and following him, and....watching him. It's unsettling. He begins detaining and deterring people before, against his better judgment and desires, deciding to pay An Ding's lord a visit himself.

Over tea the interrogation begins. Shang Qinghua, flustered, spills tea all over himself, makes many bullshit excuses, and attempts to diffuse the situation by asking him to help with his (extremely awful, he's actually never touched the instrument) guqin playing. Shen Qingqiu, eyebrows twitching, considers killing this annoying shidi (empty threats, he'd never hurt a fellow peak lord....). Finally he loses his patience:

"Out with it! Why have you been spying on me. Did the sect leader put you up to this?"

He seethes..

Shang Qinghua has run out of excuses that won't get him injured or worse...."I just...think you're neat?" He tries.

Anyways, cue Shen Qingqiu arriving at the conclusion that An Ding's peak lord as an unfortunate and ill-concieved crush on him and has been spying on him for this reason. Cue Shang Qinghua attempting to leverage this miscommunication. Sqh can be just as sticky as Binghe when he wants to be. Besides, the closer he gets to Qing Jing's peak lord, the more he can do to prevent Binghe's blackening and revenge plot, right?

[a-sleepyblackcatyawning]

Edit: I’d initially posted this in the early AMs after waking up from a dream of this same scenario. I’ve only gotten back my computer so I’m putting this under a cut for convenience.

Summary: MBJ rescues LBG from the Abyss after a couple of days. SQH’s decades-long freak out intensifies. AKA: MBJ tries to posture for SQH; does a simp instead.

Shang Qinghua stared helplessly at everything. From the items that his king had asked him to get for him, to where Mobei Jun stood, a frown on his face, holding a wide eyed Luo Binghe by the scruff of his very dirty robes. He watched as Luo Binghe’s eyes traveled from himself to the Qing Jing Peak disciple uniform that Mobei Jun had randomly and nonsensically asked Shang Qinghua to retrieve, to a jade that detailed how to suppress demonic auras. Shang Qinghua had no idea what Mobei Jun had wanted with them then, and he still didn’t know what use Mobei Jun had for them now. Luo Binghe’s eyes watered.

Then, Mobei Jun dumped Luo Binghe at Shang Qinghua’s feet. “For you,” he said, as though that were an explanation.

“My king?” Shang Qinghua asked weakly and began to sweat-no mean feat when in the presence of an ice demon!-as Mobei Jun stared Shang Qinghua down.

As though it physically pained him to continue speaking, Mobei Jun explained, “You were worried for him.”

Shang Qinghua’s mind screeched to a halt. Wtf. Wtf! What’s happening? When did I say I was worried for Luo Binghe?? I mean sure, Cucumber-bro’s been going around like a grieving widow, and sure maybe Yue Qingyuan and Liu Qingge were fluttering around the place, unhappy at everything because Shen Qingqiu was unhappy. And sure, maybe Shang Qinghua was stressed because of all of that and because of how this one event really kickstarted the beginning of the end for his own character, and maybe he’d been a little preoccupied with this reminder of his outing as a traitor for Mobei Jun and death as a traitor to Mobei Jun. But! Shang Qinghua was sure he’d kept that to himself! There was absolutely no reason why his king would fetch the half-demon protagonist from the Endless Abyss.

“You’re muttering,” Mobei Jun said.

Shang Qinghua looked over an increasingly hysterical Luo Binghe, who didn’t seem blackened so much as engrimed. There was no Xin Mo. Shang Qinghua’s System was unhelpfully silent.

Bro, wtf! Bro, System-bro. You okay with this? You really okay with this?! If I do something to indicate that I’m happy with this, are you going to take points? You shouldn’t! I didn’t do this! This is not my fault!

“Disciple Luo, this master is pleased to see you alive! Cang Qiong Mountain Sect was worried!” Shang Qinghua greeted Luo Binghe brightly, as though an effusive welcome would be the metaphorical band aid for everything.

Two tear tracks cut through the dirt on Luo Binghe’s face. “This di-disciple greets Shang-shishu and is-is-is…” Luo Binghe’s words trailed off into hiccuping sobs.

Shang Qinghua dithered. Should he comfort him? He should comfort him, right? That’s what responsible, caring adults do, right? Ah, but don’t teens want to be independent? Wouldn’t this be embarrassing for a young adult? This was Shang Qinghua here! Not some peerless beauty! Not his Shizun or a lovely flower! Surely Luo Binghe wouldn’t want a-a hug or something from Shang Qinghua!

The decision was taken out of Shang Qinghua’s hands when Luo Binghe launched himself at him. Mobei Jun twitched violently in Shang Qinghua’s direction before he resettled in the background, like the world’s most handsome piece of scenery, when Shang Qinghua reached up to soothingly pat the now bawling teen on the back.

“I can go back?” Luo Binghe managed to get out between sobs.

Shang Qinghua’s eyes moved back to the items his king has demanded he retrieve days ago, and realization dawned. “Yes, we’ll get you back.”

——

YQY: I see. So the disciple SQQ-shidi was grieving for is actually half demon. Because I simp and don’t want to make Xiao Jiu sad, LBH can stay as a disciple in the sect. Shang-shidi was very resourceful to have that manual on hiding demonic auras.

SQH: Yes! Imagine that! And SQQ-shixiong had to push him into the Abyss to save him from being found out by cultivators during the Conference! It’s a good thing SQQ-shixiong has put a super duper, OP tracking charm on Luo Binghe so An Ding Peak could find him!

SQQ: It sure was very well thought out. I’m so glad such a tracking charm exists and isn’t a continuity error!

SQH: It sure does suck that Shixiong was terrible at communicating that he doesn’t despise LBH when he was panicking during the Conference! I’m so happy that all Shixiong was here to clarify things before miscommunication caused like an entire two volume’s worth of angst and resulted in at least two deaths! This Shidi is so very happy to be able to help like that!

LBH: I’m just so happy and grateful. I thought the person I loved hated me, but it turns out that isn’t the case! Shizun, I’ll follow you everywhere and protect you! Forever.