#the reputation of shen qingqiu original

[deikshen]

Shen Yuan who maintains the reputation of the Scum Villain and says, oh well, going to a brothel can't be the worst thing in the world, and meets a group of laughing friends who care about him, how does he feel after the qi deviation, if it is true that he lost his memory...

They accompany him with music, play cards, drink rice wine and do skincare. They gossip to him, massage his tense shoulders, rant about the other peak lords and noble idiots, they tell midnight secrets in drunken voices, and he relaxes. He sleeps among a bunch of slightly drunk prostitutes in a comfortable bed full of pillows and silks, all happy, like a strange group of friends who have reunited after a long time.

After that night, the now Shen Qingqiu is completely relaxed and in a pleasant mood, and continues to visit every so often. Not too often; once a month, on very stressful days, twice a month. People judge him and Shen Qingqiu remains dignified, because, he is really not doing anything wrong! Fuck you all!

The System gives him points in character. Good for that!

(Luo Binghe drinks vinegar as if there were no water enough in the world. Oh poor boy.)

[scumvillainess]

imo, the only reason why shen qingqiu (sj) would ever be okay with someone proposing to him/asking him out in public is because while it is a pretty embarrassing thing to happen to him it would be even more embarrassing for the person who is proposing/asking him out because they could potentially get rejected in a really humiliating way and it would be a wasted effort, lol.

[sunderwight]

Thinking about how lucky it is that Shen Qingqiu (SY version) never gave Luo Binghe the wrong impression that he wanted a harem.

Like imagine they've having a conversation and Shen Qingqiu makes some offhanded comment about a harem is all well and good, but he thinks it should definitely be of a manageable size, hint hint, with individuals who get along harmoniously and support their primary spouse, hint hint, and marrying almost everyone you hook up with is just bad form because it's inevitably going to cause friction and it'd be nearly impossible to properly look after that many extra spouses, hint hint.

Luo Binghe picks up on the hints but draws the entirely incorrect conclusions. Combined with his previous inquiries into what kinds of women his shizun likes (SQQ, not wanting to ever be seen as LBH's potential romantic rival and eager to free himself of the original's lecherous reputation: I have no interest in any women whatsoever!) and some subtle inquiries about when a person should settle down (SQQ, with unexamined anxiety at the prospect of his dear disciple heading out into the world: not too soon! a man should establish himself well and figure out what he likes first, and take his time!), Luo Binghe concludes that his master has been biding his time and is building up to constructing a reasonably-sized harem of malewives.

Because apparently, Shizun believes that a man in a position of significant power should inevitably want such things. And disciple Binghe isn't thinking of "a position of significant power" as "effective god-emperor of the whole world", his current ideas of such things are more along the lines of "peak lord" really. Also why should Shen Qingqiu make so many comments about how Luo Binghe must surely be anxious to start taking lovers or daydreaming about having a billion wives unless he just thinks that's the standard for everyone? Because that's what he wants?

It was chaotic enough when just one of these guys was bracing himself for the inevitable harem-building, but if Binghe also expected he was going to have to supply Shen Qingqiu with a stable of other men, hoo boy. Binghe telling himself that he's fine with it. As long as he's first wife, Shizun can have others. Getting particularly vicious towards new guys Shen Qingqiu meets, like okay he's resigned himself to Liu Qingge, and probably maybe also Yue Qingyuan, and in those cases definitely having to fight them tooth and nail for primary spouse position (his plan is to become the undisputed master of the domestic sphere and thereby outrank them on that front, even if he can't beat their peak lord credentials), but anyone else is someone he can potentially chase off and Shizun will still have his reasonably-sized harem. If Gongyi Xiao wants into the harem he's going to have to earn it, and he's getting bottom of the pecking order!

Binghe, after they finally get together, trying to have frank discussions about the inevitable harem. Shen Qingqiu putting on a brave face because he, of course, thinks Binghe's talking about his own harem. Getting confused as to why Liu Qingge is suddenly factoring into the conversation. Then reaching entirely the wrong conclusion because oh right, Binghe is gay now and Liu Qingge is extremely pretty. Makes sense! Definitely not what Binghe means but it makes sense!

Actually this would be a hilarious way for bingliushen OT3 to happen. Just a complete comedy of errors where bingqiu are both trying to secure Liu Qingge for each other without ever concretely establishing that either of them wants him, even though they think they have.

[masteri-0]

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)

[sun-and-moon-mushroom]

AU where Shen Qingqiu (original flavour) has a qi deviation and (maybe because the System interferes and tries to transmigrate SY into his body but fails?) something goes really weird and he wakes up to his twelve year old self lying next to him.

Obviously, he can’t actually tell anyone that Shen Jiu is his younger self. He’s not exactly sure how it works and what would happen to him if SJ died, and he remembers what he was like at that age, and it would really damage his reputation if everyone else did too. So, SJ gets introduced as his nephew who has come to learn cultivation under him. Obvious nepotism? Sure, but might as well take advantage of those assumptions people have about him to hide the truth. Who’s going to question him, YQY?

So, SJ becomes a disciple while still being pretty confused as to how he got into a cultivation sect and where Qi-ge is. He gets into a fight with Ming Fan almost immediately, which naturally results in him recruiting LBH (currently 13/14) as his minion, since MF already took the rest. (LBH calls him shixiong even though he really should be shidi). They become pretty close quickly, although it’s still something of a transactional relationship with LBH telling him stuff about how the sect works and helping him work on his writing/reading, while in exchange, SJ fights of the bullies for him because he doesn’t have to worry about getting thrown out.

This changes after a while when SQQ notices how close they’re getting, and in an attempt to convince SJ to stop being friends with LBH, tells him what happened with Yue Qi (leaving out the fact that he’s YQY). This backfires by leading to their first proper bonding moment when LBH comforts him about it.

- meme time -

“This is my nephew. Please ignore him, he’s weird”

young!SJ: not sure if I actually have family or if this is a really weird kidnapping

SQQ: you’ve got to act like you’re a rich kid.

SJ: but that means I can’t bite people >:(

LBH: I can help shixiong learn to read 🥰

SJ after meeting LQG: bet you I can scam him

LBH: Shen-shixiong, no!

SJ: Shen-shixiong yes!

There are theories that SJ is SQQ and YQYs son and the reason their relationship is like it is is because YQY refused to raise him.

QHT: that’s him officer, that’s the one who murdered my family

The cultivator she’s speaking to: ma’am that’s a child

SQQ: just act normal and don’t embarrass me

SJ: ok starts gunning for future peak lord position

SQQ: wait not like that

[cumplanecrash]

1300 words and two days worth of writing on the Shizun Babies AU, following immediately off of prev. It's a huge chunk of Shen Jiu POV, but splitting it would have been awkward because a cetain benefactor likes to yap Li Xiaolang and Li Meiling are expies of characters from Cardcaptor Sakura, because when I picture short people, Syaoran is still the first person to come to mind lol

Shen Jiu was so tired.

He had been tired in the way that sat in his bones as he woke and seeped into his muscles through to his skin as sat up in his bed for a long time before he'd made a foolish wish, and he'd been content to sleep ever since. He thought, sometimes, that he'd been born tired, and he'd certainly died tired. It was the core of his soul.

It was impossible to sleep through the familiarly strange, monotone voice coming from nowhere.

[Loading... Loading...] Shen Jiu's old benefactor kept saying, interrupting the sleep it had granted him in the first place, back when he'd been on the verge of death, being told he wasn't allowed to die, and offered an ["Exciting Compromise Opportunity"]. He wasn't exactly sure he was happy to hear those anti-musical tones again.

[New Quest Available!

"Like Stealing Candy".

Objectives:

1. Do not allow NPCs to learn about any previously gained advantages from this System despite speech compelling curse. Currently 12/12.

2. Do not allow Protagonist "Luo Binghe" to learn about any previously gained advantages from this System despite speech compelling curse. Currently 1/1.

3. Do not allow NPCs to learn origins of Host "Shen Yuan | Shen Qingqiu". Currently 12/12.

4. Do not allow Protagonist "Luo Binghe" to learn origins of Host "Shen Yuan | Shen Qingqiu". Currently 1/1.

5. Figure out how to return to your adult self. Currently 0/1.

+1. Enjoy Five (5) or more heartwarming Unique Childhood Scenes! Currently 0/5. (Can Exceed for Extra Rewards.)

Rewards:

-Return to adult self.

-Optional scenes.

-Point bonuses and penalties multiplied by 10 until next major story event, "Endless Abyss and Endless Hatred, Subtitle TBA".

Penalties for Failure:

-Host "Shen Yuan | Shen Qingqiu" will be returned from whence he came.

-Host "Shen Jiu | Original Shen Qingqiu will receive a Reputation Point penalty of twice what Host "Shen Yuan | Shen Qingqiu" has managed to increase."]

"Noisy." Honestly, Shen Jiu only smacked the literal answer to his prayers because his 'benefactor' was too incorporeal to take the hit. "Xiao Jiu is trying to sleep."

[Host must complete the quest to return to the previous state. This System apologizes that Host was caught in the quest triggered by another Host.]

Ugh. Everything fell onto his shoulders, as usual. There were no competents, even in wish granting god-spirit-things.

Shen Jiu opened his eyes, staring into his own face if he was a particularly pampered child. The boy -- Shen Yuan, based on his own self address and the voice in his head -- stared at him with wide, fearful eyes, the oversized guan balanced on his small head leaning precariously to one side as he took in the situation. Really, what had he ever done to Shen Yuan, other than sleep?

Well, the first thing he'd done to him was smack him, and it was entirely possible the spirit was only as old as he'd taken over Shen Qingqiu's life for.

"Xiao Jiu apologizes to Gege," he said, contrite, and really, whoever had laid this curse on them? Stay fucking dead. 'Xiao Jiu', he hadn't been called that since his damn balls dropped, except by Zhangmen-shixiong when he was trying to get Shen Jiu to stop pushing him away for his own safety. Not by the whores whose time he paid handsomely for, not by the cultivators and nobles trying to cozy up to a man with no small political power, not even by any of the men he'd had to call 'Master'. What the fuck. 'Xiao Jiu'. Sure he looks small, but he still remembers being an adult.

'Gege' had been an entirely conscious choice. Let the children defer to the Shizun who had actually seen them excel, where Shen Jiu's techniques for success were apparently irreplicable. Also, he was maybe getting better rewards for being heartwarming? And The Beast, currently present, was apparently important enough for his benefactor's plans to be worthy of singling out, so worth it to start now.

"Xiao Jiu doesn't need to apologize," said Shen Yuan, eyes widening almost immediately from the distressing softness he'd leveled at Shen Jiu. "Xiao Jiu surely had an unpleasant awaken-- A-Yuan would like to express how disconcerting it is to have his word choices twisted like this!!"

"That's the worst part!!" Shen Jiu agreed eagerly.

"Li-shijie, Li-shixiong," said a voice behind Shen Jiu, and oh, his Yingying had grown into every inch the calamitous beauty he'd known she would. If any of these dogs so much as breathed in her direction, he would bite their throats out. "If you brought spare robes, this shimei knows a shrinking spell that should get them close enough to get Shizun and Shizun into the carriage in the village."

Wait.

Shen Jiu hurried and pooled the fabric of their robes between their now separate bodies, blushing furiously.

"Can we not use the spell to shrink Shizun's own robes?" Asked Luo Binghe, with an acceptable level of professional courtesy. Spiteful boy, his attitude had just gotten worse and worse with each beating, but a few years of pampering had him acting almost well enough to have earned the privilege. Backwards assed teaching, but Shen Jiu couldn't deny the results when they stared him in the face.

Ning Yingying shook her head, and explained the thing Shen Jiu had needed to figure out the hard way during his own youth. "It pushes the fibers closer together, so it can only change things by perhaps a dozen cun at the absolute limit. Shizun's robes are, naturally, the longest available, and already have a high thread-count."

Cheap hemp robes could be shrunk that much, and made much softer as a result, but it had been decades since Shen Jiu had made use of that hack.

"Yingying-jiejie can surely find something even more appropriate back at the sect," Shen Jiu said, accepting the robes from Li Xiaolang. Shen Yuan could borrow from Li Meiling; he'd clearly been skirting the lines of feminity when he'd gotten dressed that day, and if he was a new spirit rudely bound to Shen Jiu's life already-in-progress, he deserved the chance to experiment.

Yingying smiled so kindly at him, Shen Jiu nearly burst into tears on the spot. The curse was partially to blame, for sure -- it was literally enforcing childlike mannerisms on them -- but also, it was just like her to smile at him even the rest of his disciples blatantly realized who he must be and grew suspicious. (Former disciples? Or was that only for when the disciple was kicked out, rather than the master abdicating?)

He couldn't even look at the clothes to distract himself, because Ning Yingying was gently taking them from his hands to work her spell.

"Make Shang-ge do it," said Shen Yuan flippantly. "It's not like he has anything better to do." Then Shen Yuan frowned. "A-Yuan did not mean to put respect on Shang-ge's name."

"Gege had better," Shen Jiu told him very seriously. "Or he'll replace all our inner robes with Fire-Spider silk again." It was so itchy and he'd had a performance that day, it was etched in Shen Jiu's memory forever.

"No," Shen Yuan said with appropriate shocked awe. "That's evil."

"Shang-ge can walk through walls," Shen Jiu told him seriously, accepting the re-sized robes back from Ning Yingying. "Xiao Jiu has seen it with his own eyes!"

"Nuh-uh," Shen Yuan said, handing over his own pile, before his eyes widened. "Oh, he totally can and I know how he does it."

"No way!" Shen Jiu exclaimed! "Xiao Jiu wants to know!"

"A-Yuan will tell Xiao Jiu when we're older," Shen Yuan denied, at the same time his old benefactor informed him [Trying to avert the major story event "Endless Abyss and Endless Hatred, Subtitle TBA" will result in a Punishment Protocol.]

Huh. Shang-shidi's mysterious means of youthful revenge apparently had something to do with the Endless Abyss? Worthy of investigation, but not in front of an audience.

Next

[zykamiliah]

So we know SQQ uses The Wives/The Women as a stand-in to talk around his attraction to Binghe, but another thing SQQ does is use the Original Shen Qingqiu as a way to talk around his own personality, (negative) emotions, and even self-esteem, either by contrasting himself against him, or by finding similarities. It makes a lot of sense, since he's inhabiting the body of the original, the person he needs to, to a certain point, imitate to survive.

From the very beginning, SQQ finds similarities between o!SQQ and him, and says he doesn't get why someone with reputation, good cultivation and the biggest sect backing him up would be so envious of other people's potential to the point of scheming against them. The Original Shen Qingqiu was not satisfied with the things he has and instead of idling his life away, like Shen Yuan in his previous life, he's digging his own grave.

When rummaging through the carriage interior, SQQ finds a lot of stuff that was frankly unnecessary to take on such a short trip, like "five or six different tea sets". And noting this, SQQ thinks,

No matter that in his past life he could have counted as a wealthy second-gen, he still hadn’t been this pointlessly indulgent in his pursuit of first-world affluenza, okay? (Chapter 1: Scum)

He's saying, "unlike him, i wasn't needlessly indulgent".

Another example is when he compares his own competency to that of O!SQQ. He does this a few times in the first volume.

The original Shen Qingqiu’s skill at facing down demons should have made this quest as easy as killing a chicken with a knife. Shamefully, the knife had failed to even hit the chicken. In seconds, Shen Qingqiu discovered something that made his mood even worse. (Chapter 2: Mission)

In other words, "unlike the original goods, I am so uncool right now". But the best thing about this part is that... it puts SQQ in a bad mood. I want to call attention to the fact that he feels shame for failing, for being being weak when he should be strong. Shame doesn't come out of nowhere.

Rereading this volume and noticing this few hints of his character and emotions really challenge the notion that SQQ/SY is just an easygoing person. There's a lot of mental gymnastics being performed so he doesn't have to confront his own emotions. If the unreliable narrator tells me he's easygoing, should I believe him? I am questioning everything he says until it's confirmed by his actions.

Now, going back to how he uses o!SQQ to talk about his own competency, and most important, how he feels about being competent, strong, etc.

Surrounded by the cheers of the sect’s disciples, Shen Qingqiu attained a complete victory in the first match.

At this moment, Shen Qingqiu realized why the original flavor had clung to being a poser like it was his lifeline—it was unbelievably satisfying. (Chapter 2: Mission)

Why is it so hard to say "being cool feels so so good"? Being admired, strong and capable is something he comes to enjoy, and I wonder about Shen Yuan, and what was his life like. Why does he have to use o!SQQ to open a sentence about why being "a poser" feels good. He won't say he himself is a bit of a poser, or that it feels good to be cool.

The original flavor pushed Luo Binghe onto the battlefield because he was shameless! He didn’t care about the sect’s reputation! He hated Luo Binghe to the bone, enough to want to vicariously torture him via the hands of demons!

The current Shen Qingqiu didn’t share any of those three motives! (Chapter 2: Mission)

SQQ is not shameless, in fact there's a lot of shame in him. He cares about the sect's reputation, even if he's been in PIDW for, what, a few months? And most of that time he spent it in a cave cultivating. I wonder why he latched himself to the sect so quickly? As if a part of him always wanted a place to belong to, be part of, play an important role, a place he could contribute to.

“Do you think that the burden of peak lord will be too heavy, Qingqiu?” asked Yue Qingyuan.

The original Shen Qingqiu would most likely have suspected that Yue Qingyuan was trying to undermine his authority or something of that sort. However, the current Shen Qingqiu knew that Yue Qingyuan was genuinely worried about him overworking himself and damaging his health(...) (Chapter 3: Favor Points)

He's saying: "unlike him, i don't misunderstand people", which is... clearly not the truth, but he doesn't know that. SQQ thinks he has a pretty good grasp about people's intentions and that he's good judge of character.

All that said, the quote that actually made me connect the dots about how SQQ invokes the original to talk around his own emotions is this one, when they're facing MBJ:

“Unusually inferior talent,” [Mobei-Jun] said. “Foundation and techniques inflexible. Leave.”

Shen Qingqiu said nothing.

He wasn’t some unmatched genius in the Human Realm, but his talent was still at least one in a thousand. And Cang Qiong Mountain’s foundation and techniques weren’t inflexible, they were orthodox! Mobei-Jun still described them as he would a pile of garbage. If the original Shen Qingqiu had heard this, he would have coughed up three liters of blood and run away crying to make a voodoo doll. (Chapter 4: Conference)

But wait, that first sentence kind of sounds familiar, doesn't it?

From early on, he’d known that even if he idled the rest of his life away, he’d never want for food. Perhaps due to this carefree upbringing, devoid of either competition or pressure, he came to believe that ranking in the top ten of a competition was good enough, so long as it had more than ten people. (Chapter 1: Scum)

He's saying "as long as I score among the best I don't have to be a top ranker". Like, if he's comparing himself to others, he won't feel bad because he's not at the bottom. He's average, and average is good, right? Like a "at least I passed the test, I don't need a top score" type of thinking. It feels like something he'd tell himself to feel better about his own performance.

The middle child, saying that as long as he has an average rank everything is fine? Hahaha. Yeah ok, Shen Yuan. (wtf are you hidinnnng)

But I want to draw your attention to this sentence

If the original Shen Qingqiu had heard this, he would have coughed up three liters of blood and run away crying to make a voodoo doll.

because it's so fascinating how SQQ is mentally incapable of admitting to himself that his pride has been hurt by MBJ's words. He feels insulted, and he channels that emotion by projecting his feelings on and picturing what the original would feel in that situation.

Oh, but zy, isn't this just SQQ's humorous running commentary on everything that happens to him? Maybe he's not really upset about what Mobei-Jun said about him having "unusually inferior talent".

Nope. He's really, really pissed off

Just as the sword array was about to come down like sheets of rain, Shen Qingqiu snarled within his heart.

I’ve done my best, but he still thinks I’m low-level trash, so what can I do?!

How loathsome! If I have to die, couldn’t it at least be in a better-looking way? After being stabbed with hundreds of black swords, I’m going to be a sieve! Who could bear to look?!

He SNARLED in his heart. MBJ didn't call him low-level trash, he did that himself. It pisses him off that he's going to die in such an uncool way that will leave him looking like an ugly bloody pulp.

Is this really a guy that doesn't care about his reputation or how he looks to others, that calls himself an "easygoing person"????

This is a guy that has had to repress every emotion related to his own pride and self-esteem. And this is something he was doing in his previous life. Again, what the fuck was going on with the Shen family?!

I don't think this is the way a man that is satisfied with his lot in life would think.

Shen Qingqiu was a man of few needs; he would have been satisfied just idling away to a ripe old age. In that way, it wouldn’t be that different from how his previous life had been going.

youre LIYING. I'm not going to trust anything you said about yourself EVER AGAIN. you were so satisfied to "idle your life away" you died from eating expired yogurt! you were clearly repressed and depressed and unhappy and pretending to be okay!

[princessshikky]

Okay, this post has been a long time coming.

Basically, there is a huge amount of misconceptions about liujiu and their history, and it's very frustrating to see in arguments about canon, so. I'm here to clear Liu-shidi's reputation and browbeat SJ with a newspaper (affectionate).

There is a whooping total of 4 liujiu interaction scenes in SVSSS. In chronological order:

The first meeting occurs at an inter-peak competition, where SJ hates LQG at first glance. LQG wins a sparring and has an air of "matter-of-fact arrogance" about him, which only strengthens SJ's dislike. What's interesting is that next SJ ambushes LQG after the sparring and "uses every means" to attack him, as recounted by Yue Qingyuan. Which does nothing to endear SJ to LQG and makes LQG very understandaby wary of SJ.

The second meeting occurs in a brothel. Backstory: SJ stumbles upon a Baizhan disciple named Ji Jue on the street, they have a quarrel, SJ beats and seriously injures Ji Jue, then goes to a brothel. LQG hears about it and rushes to "teach SJ a lesson". Interestingly, nowhere in the text is it mentioned that SJ is injured in any way after his scuffle with LQG, even though the fight has apparently taken quite a while and LQG is a way better fighter than SJ.

The well mission. SJ, LQG and SQH are assigned to deal with some evil spirits in a remote village. Spirits fly out of an old well, one of them attempts to attack LQG from behind, SJ sees it and attacks the spirit, but accidentally brushes over LQG's shoulder, which LQG mistakes for an attempt to kill him. SQH tries to clear the misunderstanding, but SJ threatens him into silence. Again, LQG and SJ come to blows, but no injuries are mentioned.

The disciple acceptance ceremony. SJ and YQY are watching the potential recruits, LQG arrives, has a brief but civil conversation with YQY, SJ intervenes, LQG insults him and leaves.

That's it, folks! That's literally every liujiu interaction in canon! Now with this out of the way, let me disprove some of those fanons I see in liujiu fics every damn time I dare to open one.

LQG did not mistakenly believe SJ to be a son of a wealthy family. Nowhere in the book does LQG ever comment on SJ's origin. This is a fanon from "The Grand Unified Theory of Shen Qingqiu", which is a great fic, don't get me wrong, but god did it mess with people's perception!

In the same vein, LQG never accused SJ of being lazy. Ever. That was QQQ.

LQG wasn't unreasonable to immediately assume SJ was trying to kill him during the well assignment. Think of what LQG knows about SJ at this point: SJ is willing to ambush someone because of entirely stupid and petty reasons like a lost sparring; SJ is perfectly willing to seriously injure his fellow disciple (see: Ji Jue); SJ is constantly threatening to kill LQG (mentioned in the brothel scene); SJ is not above using dirty tricks to achieve his ends. Yes, the suspicion made SJ feel bad, which is perfectly understandable (poor SJ was just trying to help!), but it wasn't entirely baseless. LQG's conclusion was based on SJ's prior behavior.

Speaking of SJ's dirty tricks: no, when people mentioned SJ's penchant for dishonest means, they weren't talking about harmless tricks like qiankun buttons. SQH insinuates in canon that SJ wouldn't be above shanking LQG with a poisoned knife in the middle of a sparring (Airplane extra, when he watches LQG spar with SY!SQQ), and Ji Jue, someone who's fought SJ personally, seems to agree.

LQG did not condemn SJ's womanizing and/or his visits to the brothel. The only times when LQG comments on SQQ's private life in canon have to do with LBH and bingqiu. To put it simply: LQG did not give a damn about SJ allegedly spending time with sex workers. Nor did LQG constantly stalk SJ to try and catch him in a brothel. Nor did LQG ever lecture SJ about sex being bad for his cultivation (that was YQY, but no one ever remembers this bit).

Actually, it can be inferred that most of the time liujiu tried to ignore each other when forced to be in each other's presence. They only interact when they cannot avoid it/when SJ does (or seems to do) something so shitty LQG cannot ignore it. Or when SJ deliberately attracts LQG's attention.

Conversely, LQG did not constantly pursue SJ demanding a sparring with him. Not ever. I have no idea where this particular fanon stems from.

LQG did not gossip about SJ's private life. It is never mentioned in the book; however, it is said that several Baizhan disciples knew of SJ visiting a pleasure house. Any of them could've spread the rumour; or hell, it could've been someone else who saw SJ entering the place at a later date. Or the brothel workers may have shared the story with their other clients. It's never clearly stated, but there's no reason to believe LQG specifically was the one responsible for spreading this rumour. For one, YQY promises SJ that LQG would keep quiet about their skirmish. Also, it just isn't in character for LQG to gossip.

Just... every time people write liujiu, they go out of their way to completely erase SJ's shitty behavior, blaming all of the bad blood between them on LQG "misunderstanding" the poor innocent SJ. Oh, if only LQG knew the truth, he'd immediately recognise the error of his ways!.. Except no, actually, it's not how it is at all. And I'm so tired of the people constantly mistaking fanons for canon.

[tossawary]

"There was a very important reason Shen Yuan emphatically thought "fuck" at the sight of Yue Qingyuan. In the original work, Yue Qingyuan's death had been caused by his good shidi, Shen Qingqiu, okay?!

And what a horrific death it was. Tens of thousands of arrows had pierced him until bit even his bones remained!

At this moment, the victim was facing his own "murderer" and showering him with concern. The pressure was immense.

On second glance, though, the story hadn't yet unfolded to that point. Yue Qingyuan was still in perfect health, meaning that at this point in time, Shen Qingqiu had yet to reveal himself as a hypocrite and his reputation was still pristine. Yue Qingyuan was a bleeding heart, nothing to be afraid of. Though his character ended up suffering quite a bit, during his read, Shen Yuan gas been rather fond of him."

Chapter 1, page 18.

This bit is quite funny to me. Yue Qingyuan goes on to reveal (to the readers, at least, I don't know if Shen Yuan knew Yue Qingyuan had any idea) that he knows Shen Qingqiu is at the very least probably being overly harsh with a disciple who may or may not be disrespectful and disobedient. (Yue Qingyuan went through this same system and was at one point scratching blood into the walls of a cave while his soul bled out, so he probably doesn't have a particularly modern view on these things, even if he might not personally particularly like corporeal punishment.)

Describing him as a "bleeding heart" here is SUCH a good piece of dramatic irony. That is indeed Yue Qingyuan's deal!

And the Qijiu Extras reveal that Yue Qingyuan has already seen Shen Qingqiu loot dead bodies and stab his crooked cultivation master in the back, it was how they reunited, sooooo... yeah, Yue Qingyuan does not see Shen Qingqiu as particularly pristine. Shen Yuan could be (and probably is) saying that Shen Qingqiu's greater reputation in the cultivation world is pristine, not necessarily that he thinks that Yue Qingyuan (or Cang Qiong as a whole) thinks Shen Qingqiu is "pristine". But it's still a funny turn of phrase, dramatically ironic, when we know that Yue Qingyuan would help Shen Qingqiu hide a body.

[reulaux]

Original Shen Qingqiu, trying to stop Luo Binghe's courting, unintentionally assigns him missions to become the Demon Emperor AU

Yue Qingyuan coming to save Shen Jiu from the Qiu successfully, or late but communicates about Xuan Su well enough, or whatever the reason but their relationship is good, so Shen Qingqiu isn't a bitter man, accepts Binghe into Qing Jing not out of spite of Liu Qingge but because Ning Yingying pleads him relentlessly, doesn't pour tea on Binghe's head because Shen Qingqiu has a brother even if he doesn't have a mother, doesn't abuse Binghe, and teaches him normally.

Starry eyed Binghe reveres Shen Qingqiu as his saviour who picks him up from dirt and gives him a new life.

Binghe's cultivation and skills are very good. Meng Mo still comes to teach him. In the Immortal Alliance Conference, Binghe is able to beat Black Moon Rhinoceros Pythons without his demonic seal broken. No one discovers he's a half demon. He's never thrown into the Endless Abyss, and never gets Xin Mo. Binghe's seal is much later broken quietly, privately, in a controlled environment with Meng Mo.

Binghe's romantic feelings towards his shizun are showing more and more. He doesn't cry and whine like in SVSSS because Shen Jiu isn't Shen Yuan and isn't weak to that kind of behaviours. Shen Jiu likes competency and intelligence so Binghe does missions in the ways that show off those quialities, subtly in normal people's eyes, but blatantly to Shen Qingqiu's sharp perception.

For quite a while, Shen Qingqiu is paranoid that a certain disciple is trying to untimely usurp his position before he ascends. Fortunately Binghe possibly notices and stops before where it encroaches on Shen Qingqiu's authorities and position. Shen Qingqiu relaxes marginally.

Nevertheless, Luo Binghe's displays are a bit too overbearing and annoying for Shen Qingqiu's liking, so he sends Binghe to more and more outrageous missions: to fight beasts more and more dangerous, to retrieve plants and treasures rarer and rarer, to go to locations farther and farther until they might as well be in the middle of the Demon Realm, to complete tasks more and more complex they might as well be like dissolving the centuries old feuds between demon clans, (as in Shen Qingqiu inevitably pushes Binghe to do things paralell to PIDW!Binghe does to become the Demon Emperor and unify realms,) hoping Luo Binghe will eventually fail or give up, but of course, Shen Qingqiu underestimates Luo Binghe's protagonist halo and tenacity.

Qing Jing Peak's reputation skyrockets, not that Shen Qingqiu is particularly thrilled.

When Yue Qingyuan comes for their usual tea, seeing Shen Qingqiu scowls as if trying to tackle a puzzle he can't solve, he asks, "Xiao Jiu, is there anything I can help you with?"

Shen Qingqiu sighs and answers, "Qi ge, deal with my head disciple for me. Give him a shovel talk or something."

[deikshen]

LET'S REFRAME THE SITUATION, Shen Yuan is angry about the reputation of the original goods and how it affects him, so he tries to do everything to clean it up!!!

But that ends up MAKING EVERYTHING WORSE, because Shen Qingqiu suddenly goes "to the city" (to the brothel) more often, and suddenly he has private classes with his female students, and suddenly everyone in the sect is judging him a lot more...

But he only goes to brothels because he found out about Shen Jiu's jiejie and how warm and gentle they are and he is making moves to give them better lives (getting them contracts with wealthy and important people, getting them jobs or proof of education...), and is also giving his young and vulnerable female students classes on how to be more independent and strong and not depend on marriages or men to demonstrate their power!!!

Well, but the reputation is there and he only makes it worse. Ah, so they say the road to hell is paved with good intentions...

Well, that's it!! Let the new Shen Qingqiu do what he can!

[idkman-ijustwannamakeatournament]

Round 1: Match 7

"Two Sides of the Same Coin"- Two things that are regarded as part of the same thing. Even if they're very different, they have at least one common thread that helps them fit into this trope.

Propaganda (under the cut):

Akira Kurusu and Goro Akechi

"Pitted against each other by a cruel god as his playthings. Both had their lives altered by the same man. They both have the power to summon more than one persona, but while Joker hs multiple and also a whole team of friends to support him, Akechi only has two and is alone. Akechi is the foil to all of the Phantom Thieves, him being the version of them that used the powers of their Persona to exact his revenge, instead of reforming the people they went after."

Original Shen Qingqiu (Shen Jiu) and Original Luo Binghe (Bingge):

"Shen Jiu and Luo Binghe portray the cycle of violence within the in-text novel Proud Immortal Demon Way. Shen Jiu was abused as a slave & unintentionally abandoned by the person he trusted most. He only escaped by burning the mansion down, killing all the men inside. He later joined Cang Qiong Mountain Sect but grew envious of Luo Binghe, who is overflowing with talent, since he, Shen Jiu, was unable to cultivate until later in life. He also gains a lecherous reputation due to his inability to sleep around men causing him to frequent brothels.

Luo Binghe joined Cang Qiong Mountain Sect as an orphan (abandoned by his birth parents & lost his adoptive mother). He excels even despite Shen Jiu's abuse, but once his Heavenly Demonic blood is revealed, Shen Jiu casts him into the Abyss, where he relies on a demonic sword to survive. When he returns, he gets brutal revenge on all those who wronged him, becoming Emperor of the world and forming a Harem with hundreds(?) of women.

However, both of them are unhappy! Neither of them form/keep meaningful relationships or are fulfilled with their lives. SVSSS's entire thesis revolves around nuture over nature - having someone treat you with kindness and not cruelty."

[amystarsmith]

Yue Qingyuan and Shen Qingqiu (SY) Drabble

Basically SY feels guilty about YQY calling him Xiao-Jiu

Word Count:720

Can be platonic or romantic!

“Xiao-Jiu.” The sect leader said calmly, beginning to address Shen Qingqiu. It was a calm afternoon, until it all suddenly blew up.

“Don’t call me that!!” The Qing Jing peak lord slammed his hand on the table, causing his own tea cup to tumble over. He didn’t care about the hot tea getting on his clothes or on his hands, he didn’t care about the cup shattering to the floor in an instant.

Yue Qingyuan looked startled, wincing when the cup broke. It was from one of the sets he had gifted the man, so seeing it destroyed hurt his heart a little. Shen Qingqiu didn’t seem to calm down all that much, his brows still furrowed.

Suddenly it hit him, there would be no reason for him to act like this. This was different then when Shen Jiu would tell the sect leader to shut up, a more raw feeling in his voice as he yelled.

Shen Yuan had tried to play his part well. Being cordial and nice to the people around him, trying to fix his body’s awful reputation.

But this felt so different.

Yue Qingyuan would constantly be calling him by a name that wasn’t his, a personal name that wasn’t his. The way the sect leader said it too was always so tender and warm.

He’d be looking at Shen Qingqiu as if he was the sunshine after a rainy day. Warm, ready to surround you and comfort you now that the clouds are gone.

It made Shen Yuan too uncomfortable. He wasn’t the one Yue Qingyuan had wanted to give that look.

It was meant for the original Shen Qingqiu, the irritable Shen Jiu.

The person Shen Yuan wasn’t.

“Don’t…. Don’t call me that, please.” His tone was changed as he said it a second time, sitting back down politely. He took his hand off of the table, ignoring the feeling of his wet and warm robe sticking to the wood.

The look Yue Qingyuan held now was… worry. Those sunshine filled eyes, warm and happy, were slightly glossy now, the man’s brows a little furrowed.

“Shen… Qingqiu.” The sect leader’s voice was soft, he was testing if that form of address was okay. The peak lord met his eyes, there was so much emotion that wasn’t usually behind them. “What’s wrong with me calling you that?”

It was a simple question, but to Shen Yuan it held too much weight. So many things could be said and asked about it, like that he wasn’t Shen Jiu and shouldn’t be called that.

But that would only bring more questions.

Shen Yuan breathed in shakily, remembering what the dreams he had showed him of Shen Jiu’s past.

His enslavement. How he had met Yue. How he acted to proud but in reality was just as scared as every other child there.

“Jiu isn’t a name.” Shen Qingqiu buried his nails into his robes, clenching down on the skin underneath it all. “It’s just a number. Slaves never got names.” Every word that left his throat felt bitter, like as it crawled from his mouth it left a burning trail. Shen Qingqiu felt his face get hot, the words struggling to make it out as he talked.

“I’m no longer a slave, Yue Qingyuan.” He made eye contact with the man, a fierce look in green eyes despite the tears welling up in them. “Saying such a title as my number is disrespectful and only brings bad thoughts.”

The look of the sect leader’s face changed. Thinking, accepting, looking at Shen Qingqiu with a look of pity.

Shen Yuan knew that Shen Jiu couldn’t stand that face.

“Okay… I understand. That makes a lot of sense.” Yue Qingyuan sighed, picking up a new cup and pouring tea for the man across from him.

“… if you must call me Xiao something, Yuan is a name I like. The wall version, not like yours meaning source…” he continued, ignoring how Yue Qingyuan stopped pouring tea.

“Xiao-Yuan.” The way the sect leader said it held so much weight, as if his name was the most important thing in the world.

“… Yue-Ge.” Was Shen Qingqiu’s informal reply, sipping on his tea as the sect leader beamed in front of him.

Maybe this new life won’t be so bad.

[redjayson]

WIP Big Bang Bragging Rights

Story Title: trouble man, don't get in my way Fandom: The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60441751/chapters/154288798 Summary:

Shortly after escaping the Endless Abyss and joining Huan Hua Palace, Luo Binghe is dismayed to learn that all his plans may come to nothing—Shizun is gone. Disappeared into the ether, not even a year after Luo Binghe’s fall. Luo Binghe refuses to take that as an answer, though. He’ll find Shizun. In the meantime, he’ll keep building his reputation as a righteous cultivator at Huan Hua Palace. He’ll deal with the demons under his command, all flocking to him to complain about the assassinations carried out against them in the past months. And he’ll deal with the masked servant of the Old Palace Master who has been foisted upon him: Hua Xunshun. or: the winter soldier shizun au

Warnings: Rape/Non-Con Characters: Shen Yuan | Shen Qingqiu, Lao Gongzhu | Old Palace Master, Luo Binghe Pairings: Luo Binghe/Shen Yuan | Shen Qingqiu, Lao Gongzhu | Old Palace Master/Shen Yuan | Shen Qingqiu When I Started: January 2024 How I Lost My Shit: This fic was originally supposed to be part of Febuwhump 2024, but it kept getting longer, darker, and more complex than I thought it would when I started it. I ended up backing away from it around the halfway point of what is now its full length and focused on other projects How I Finished My Shit: I had a nice long break from the fic but having a deadline to complete it for @wipbigbang was just what I needed to get myself over the finish line! I skipped over some of the parts that I was struggling with, wrote through the ending, and then went back to fill in the blanks. Admittedly, some of those blanks were filled at the last minute, because procrastination is the name of the game, but I'm very pleased to have it all finished and out in the world!

[sun-and-moon-mushroom]

AU where, at some point after Bingge gets thrown into the Abyss, SJ decides he’s had enough of the murder accusations and having to listen to teenage attempts to play music and wrote poetry, and decides to fuck off. He tells YQY he’s going into ‘seclusion’ for his cultivation and proceeds to change his clothes, hairstyle, and wear something that covers his face as he starts travelling around as a wandering cultivator under his original name (if asked if he’s related to that Shen, he just tells the truth — he’s an orphan who never knew his family). This eliminates at least 60% of his stress and anxiety since he’s actually able to relax without worrying about insults or keeping his reputation as a cold and elegant immortal master intact.

Time goes on, and eventually Bingge comes back. Hearing that SQQ is away, he figures he’ll just use the time to focus on gathering power and collecting evidence before he can take his revenge. Along the way, he ends up in a small town, where he ends up going to a brothel because Xin Mo is being annoying and he left his wives at home. He steps in the door and — is that Shen Qingqiu???

SJ doesn’t recognise this handsome stranger who’s uncommonly polite to prostitutes. It’s been years since he saw LBH and he was an underfed teenager then, no taller than him. Even the name wouldn’t jog his memory since it’s not like he ever used the little beast’s name outside of the occasional bit of paperwork. So, he invites him over for tea and they talk.

LBH is immediately convinced that this cannot be SQQ because he’s actually being nice to him. He invited him to sit down and have tea! He’s asking for his opinion on the music! He’s smiling! LBH is pretty sure SQQ would rather drop dead than smile at anyone, let alone him! He goes into conspiracy mode: is this a long lost relative? amnesia?? an alternate universe counterpart??? possession????

SJ now has to deal with this strange cultivator following him around, always ‘coincidentally’ visiting the same towns he does and offering to help him on night hunts… because LBH is too curious about this not-Shen-Qingqiu to leave him alone. Eventually, SJ decides the best way to get rid of this stranger is to become disliked by him, something he’s got plenty of experience with. Of course, his entire life story (who’s going to connect it to the Qing Jing peak lord anyway? and it feels surprisingly good to actually tell someone) is the perfect choice.

This has the opposite of the intended effect, as now they’re bonding over their mutually awful childhoods. SJ complains about how at least LBH had a mother, LBH points out that maybe it’s better to never have someone than loose them, and SJ brings up Yue Qi. LBH says he was abandoned in the Demon Realm, because the Endless Abyss is a bit unrealistic for an ordinary cultivator to escape, SQQ points out that he would probably have preferred the Demon Realm to the sect he ended up in, and LBH has to agree. LBH talks about his shitty master and SJ can’t help but compare him to Qiu Jianluo.

Bingge is Bingge, so of course this ends up with them in bed together. In a moment of passion, LBH accidentally calls him Shizun… and SJ realises, and immediately goes into crisis.