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dornishsphinx · 5 years ago

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Jiang Cheng vs Shen Qingqiu (Jiu)

Ahhh, a meanness for a meanness, I see :3 Let’s see, purple JiuJiu or teal JiuJiu… ooof this is gonna get long while I struggle with choosing lmao.

Jiang Cheng was the first MXTX character I properly loved while growing to love them even more as time went on, compared to other MDZS characters I loved at first who I’ve grown… sick of constantly seeing, if not actually disliking them. (It’s overexposure to your dull presence in the present storyline and half of MDZS fan content seeming to be Gusu-based post-canon domesticity, WWX, I promise. I’ll always consider you an interesting character before MXY got involved.) Meanwhile, finally reaching the lategame reveals about Shen Jiu as opposed to vague, MTLed spoilers heard from other people is the most excited I’ve been to read a character’s backstory in like… forever.

It’s a lot easier to get to grips with Shen Jiu as a character, since actual chapters involving him are 2 main chapters and an enclosed series of extras which condense his life into a very short, if fascinating to parallel with the wider story, space, while Jiang Cheng’s appearances are spread more thinly across a far longer novel and period of seen and unseen time (which I have not… finished, which impacts my ability to enjoy the character.) I feel like it’s a bit unfair to give it to Shen Jiu, since Shen Jiu does have the ‘easier to parse’ element, or Jiang Cheng, because I don’t have the proper context for him. There’s no way I can properly understand of the MDZS characters without having read the whole novel.

On that note, I will judge them anyway! The two of them occupy the same narrative role, foil to the love interest, the big vestige of the past confronted by the protagonist at the end (which, again, for Jiang Cheng, I have not yet actually read in proper context.) Let’s just get out the way that Lan Wangji is… not one of my top five, while that I do immensely care about Luo Binghe, but that both Jiang Cheng and Shen Jiu fulfil the role juxtaposing well.

Jiang Cheng isn’t a child abuser, despite what annoying people say, while Shen Jiu undeniably is. Shen Jiu is an example of the cycle of abuse and all his attempts at becoming and being better being thrown back in his face, and on many occasions causing him extreme pain and degradation. Luo Binghe is himself, but with a touch better circumstances, and that’s enough to make Shen Jiu wildly despite him. Meanwhile, Jiang Cheng does his best to help raise Jin Ling well, all his threats being empty, and actively shelters and confers more privilege than is actually fair onto him (the nets. I’m talking about the nets.)

Jiang Cheng is someone born into privilege who had to claw it back from nothing, but was seen by others as having the right to do so due to his family background. Shen Jiu is someone who had the least privilege possible as a slave, who clawed his way up from nothing to also becoming a peak lord. Shen Jiu's revenge is personal and is used to cast him down; Jiang Cheng's is for his family, and he uses it to pull himself back up. They’re both solitary figures, with Jiang Cheng being excluded by every other major sect leader in the region deciding to become a Triumvirate, and Shen Jiu being despised enough by most other peak lords that they cheer his ‘amnesia’, which really is his death. Their brother figures abandon them, and they wallow in bitterness over it for years before their last small token is given over (the forgiveness that takes the form of telling Yue Qingyuan to leave, Chenqing to Wei Wuxian.

They are extremely similar. The main differences are that one isn’t a child abuser, and that the other was born into privilege. One gets the chance to go on living and the chance to change and have his life improve for the better. The other is torn out of the story where everyone else gets the chance to become better people, who always believed things would turn out badly and that he was a terrible person and all his attempts to do good were meaningless (and yet did some anyway, such as with Liu Qingge, which did indeed backfire.)

While you can argue that he got what was coming in PIDW, as Shen Jiu actually said himself in the extras, Shen Jiu’s life in SV is so much more unfair than Jiang Cheng’s. They’re both interesting characters, but Shen Jiu never had a chance at successfully breaking out of the cycle with his mindset and the results of his actions, and was then just killed off for the sake of someone using his body (which, with his backstory of being called an animal, and ��goods” and then his new, v privileged passenger also thinking of him as less than human and also “goods”… Well, realising that he is a person and wishing he could return, and that everything might be okay if he did is the apotheosis of Shen Yuan’s character development, so it’s not like it’s a meaningless thing. But still.

They’re both very similar, and very interesting and well-rounded characters. But for the sheer unfairness of his SV fate, I’m giving it to Shen Jiu. Though Jiang Cheng gets kudos for… not abusing children so badly that when they’re all-powerful demon lords, they still try to protect themselves from you when injured. (Even if it is a commentary on masters being really shitty to their students in xianxia novels.) …Maybe closer to a tie then.

(Sidenote since it doesn’t really fit the character vs character vibe: I feel kinda bad about my relationship to MDZS, since it feels like I got really tired of it before I got the chance to finish the novel, when I was… really excited and attached to it in the period immediately after the end of the first donghua, while I got really, really invested in SVSSS and actually reached the end of it. Maybe it’s that I keep getting slapped in the face with content because it’s become such a large fandom (...the idol stans, so many...), maybe it’s that all the new adaptions that make me feel like I’m falling behind in a race rather than actually Enjoying What I’m Reading, maybe it’s because certain subsections within the later MXTX novels fandom tend to be really shitty about the one MXTX novel I haven’t had to force myself to keep on reading and actually go back to on a regular basis… idk, I wanna take a step back and re-evaluate and actually get to grips with the story, but things keep moving too fast for me to be able to do so. Maybe that’s why I’ve ended up really hating a lot of elements from it when normally I feel like I’m fairly chill with stories…)

#hmmm i feel like i'd be in danger actually putting the fandom in the tags so #jiang cheng #shen jiu #scum villain

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neoblogcrying · 6 years ago

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“Let’s play a game” pt.2

Yeah… I ended up writing the next part a lot sooner than expected because I had a lot going on today—and I wanted to write to vent my stress out. I didn’t have the mood to write anything else so here we are! Hope you enjoy the read!

The System Temp chose ��HARD MODE’ and this was met with high praise, from System moderator #1. The other moderators were not as happy.

You win some, and you lose some.

“System Temp, be on standby.” A mechanical voice sounded overhead. A light illuminated down, onto a couch that was situated in front of a big Television screen. The couch was soft and plush to the touch with colorful, fluffy pillows.

Elevator music started playing in the background as distant sounds of people talking could be heard over the music. Perhaps the music was being played to drown out the conversation between the System moderators. It was hard to make out any words, but there were a few words that stood out:

‘Anoying,’ ‘Troublesome,’ ‘Scum,’ ‘So pitiful,’ and ‘So complicated.’

The Television screen was dark as it wasn’t powered on. Most likely, it would turn on the moment they finished…doing whatever it was that they were doing.

KEEEEN!

That was the sound of an intercom system turning on.

“Hey! Watch it! You’re doing that on purpose, #3!”

“Oh, am I? You’ve already messed up the background history this much, does it even matter at this point?”

“You make it sound as if it’s my fault. I’m not the one who chose Hard Mode. I simply suggested it as an option. It doesn’t mean it had to be chosen.”

“Both of you stop it. #3, get your finger off the intercom.”

Beep.

After that, no other words could be heard. The calming elevator music was the only thing that could be heard. It must have been boring for the System Temp to sit there with no one else to keep them company. At least a conversational partner would have been nice to have.

The room the System Temp was in had 4 walls, all pure white in color. There were no plants to decorate the room, no windows to allow in light, and there weren’t any decorative paintings to serve as a relief for the eyes!

It was a wonder how this room was lit up when there weren’t any light fixtures. Maybe the walls themselves glowed?

KEEEEN----

“Hey hey, he’s rioting.”

“Ahhh~ Transmigrators are always so willful! Give him a taste of karma, that’ll shut him up for now. They need to realize if they don’t listen to us, they’ll only suffer.”

Beep.

Whether or not someone had turned on the intercom on purposefully for the System Temp to hear that was anyone’s guess. Maybe it was a pure coincidence, or maybe they wanted to give a warning that any acts of rebellion would be met with ‘karma’.

All one could do was sit on the couch and wait… and wait… and wait. Being left alone allowed for thoughts to run rampant.

For what reason were they chosen? Is this a kidnapping? Is this Hell? Did they die? Can they even return home?

[Answer: Once you lead the game to a successful end, you will be returned home. The System Moderators were bored and enlisted you to help curb their boredom. Do your best, System Temp. Good luck on going home soon.]

A mechanical voice rang inside their head, promptly giving them the answer, but it wasn’t necessarily the answer they wanted to hear.

The elevator music suddenly cut out and the Television screen lit up without warning.

An energetic voice rang out from a mysterious source. It was hard to tell where the voice was coming from.

Welcome to the System Moderated Life Simulation game! You are our first contestant, congratulations! It’s a huge honor being able to play through the trial run, wouldn’t you know?

I know, I know, you must be overwhelmed by how honored you are. We went as far as to choose you who already knows the series: ‘Proud Immortal Demon’s way’ so you don’t need a refresher course on the main characters. Feel free to thank us for our consideration later.

To explain once more, this game will progress by pausing at random points to ask you questions. Your answers will lead characters down different paths. If you choose all the wrong answers, it may result in death! If you choose all the right answers, they will live, maybe even find love!

Will you lead Luo Binghe down the original harem route? Maybe you’ll have Shen Qingqiu fall in love with someone else.

Speaking of Shen Qingqiu, there is a surprise!

For choosing Hard Mode… you get an extra character to control! This character is… the original Shen Qingqiu! That’s right, you heard me right. The ORIGINAL.

The Shen Qingqiu that’s in a relationship with Luo Binghe… is actually a transmigrator! Unlike you, he was migrated into the novel, while you are a System temp! You have the better deal, really.

Look, when we reversed time, we kept him and adjusted the background story. We wiped out his memory, so he won’t remember his previous adventures as he’ll think he just transmigrated into a child’s body.

He must grow along with this story for a second time and you get to watch and control their fate with your decisions!

No pressure though.

Hm? Tell you the background story? That’s no fun (for us) if we tell you right away! You need to unlock that yourself! If you’re lucky, one of the characters may trigger a flashback event for you!

It’s time for our break so I’ll stop the introduction phase here. You seem like a smart cookie, so we’re sure you’ll figure out the rest on your own! Good luck!

It was dead silent as the System Moderators went on their break, leaving the System Temp alone. The Television screen flashed, and the scenery changed.

The opening scene was of Shen Qingqiu laying in bed with Yue Qingyuan sitting next to him patiently. “Ah… you’re awake Xiao-Yuan. How are you feeling? You collapsed suddenly with a high fever. Xiao-Jiu has gone out in your place.” Yue Qingyuan explained solemnly. “Some of the disciples witnessed Xiao-Jiu coming to retrieve you, and by this point, I’m sure the secret is out.”

‘Shen Qingqiu’ was a fake name that the two twin brothers have made for themselves. Shen Jiu was the original scummy goods, while Shen Yuan was the transmigrator who the plot changed to accommodate.

Slowly, Shen Yuan sat up with much difficulty, feeling his burning forehead with his clammy hand. He felt horrible forcing Shen Jiu to take his place. The two of them made up one Shen Qingqiu and they usually alternated who had the pleasure of acting the part of a Peak Master.

Shen Jiu had been playing the part for a long time now as Shen Yuan was busy cultivating to catch up to his elder twin brother. Shen Yuan went into the cultivation world later than Shen Jiu did and so it took time for him to play catch up, even with Shen Jiu taking things slower for his sake.

He’d never admit to it, but he did try to slow down his pace so his brother could catch up to him. Once they both had the same cultivation, Shen Yuan could resume playing the teacher role.

Unfortunately, he was born with a weaker body and he was prone to getting sick. That was the reason why his cultivation speed was much slower than Shen Jiu’s, but he never got mad at his younger twin over this.

In fact, Shen Yuan seemed to be the only one that Shen Jiu could be considered ‘soft’ towards.

Just when he finally caught up, he collapsed. This would’ve been the perfect time for Shen Jiu to study more on the demon kind, but Shen Yuan ruined it.

Just as he was feeling upset over this, the door quickly opened. “What’s wrong? Were you bullied?” The stern voice of his elder brother interrupted his thoughts.

Shen Yuan shook his head, looking miserable. “I’m sorry brother, I fell ill at a bad time. I’m so useless to have caused you trouble again… even though I vowed to help you.”

A sigh.

Not giving Yue Qingyuan the cold shoulder, Shen Jiu did give him some acknowledgement in the form of a head nod. Though he had many misgivings towards him, he was the reason why the two brothers could be together like this. He had to give him some merit for that.

With his fan, he smacked the top of Shen Yuan’s head. “Ridiculous. Who dares call you useless? Tell me and I will send them to hell thrice over.”

The reason why Shen Yuan fell ill was because of how hard he was pushing himself to cultivate. With his knowledge as a transmigrator, he knew that his elder brother was bullying the protagonist! He has a death wish!

Don’t you know you’ll turn into a human stick if you continue down this route!? This needs to be fixed!

Even with him imploring Shen Jiu to be kinder to Luo Binghe, it didn’t amount to much. The elder brother would apply his own flawed logic to Shen Yuan’s words.

For example:

‘Instead of beating him within a half inch of his life, I will beat him within 5 inches of his life.’

‘Instead of beating him, throwing him into the shed with no food or water, I’ll beat him him up and throw him into the shed with food!’

‘I want to kill him right this instant, but I’ll settle for having Ming Fan beat him up while I watch.’

This was his definition of ‘being nicer.’

Can you imagine Shen Yuan’s feeling of exasperation?

“You only need to focus on getting better. This Master will take care of things just fine.”

There’s no way things are going to be ‘just fine’ with the way you bully the protagonist! “…Brother… how is… Luo Binghe?” Shen Yuan asked cautiously, being sure to monitor Shen Jiu’s facial expressions carefully.

The other scowled at the sound of the name. Why his younger brother was so obsessed with that trash, he couldn’t understand. He was just trash, but he always defended him. ANNOYING!

Covering his face with his fan, he turned to look at Yue Qingyuan. It was implicitly understood that he wished to ignore the question.

That was enough for Shen Yuan to know that ‘Shen Qingqiu’ had bullied Luo Binghe once again. Can you please consider the feelings of your younger brother who will need to do damage control in your stead?

“Thank you for taking care of Shen Yuan. Since he’s awake, you should leave now. I can take it from here.” He didn’t want to be with Yue Qingyuan any longer than was necessary.

It didn’t matter what pitiful looks you gave him, he still hadn’t forgiven you for breaking your promise.

Casting a quick side glance at Shen Yuan, Yue Qingyuan smiled gently at Shen Jiu. “It was no problem at all, Shen Qinqiu. Seeing as he’s stabilized, I shall take my leave soon, but not before discussing something with you both.”

The two of them acted as one person. When one person was the public face, the other rested and hit the books, ingesting all the information they could.

Since Shen Jiu acted as ‘Shen Qinqiu’ the most, his personality was what everyone saw, which meant Shen Yuan had to adapt to this personality when he was the public face.

He was very intelligent, and he had the acting prowess of a God. Even though he was easily frightened, tender hearted, and sarcastic, he acted like a proper Peak Master when he was out as ‘Shen Qinqiu’.

He always adjusted his own personality to match his older brother’s, who was the main face of Shen Qingqiu. His skills in acting were so good, even Yue Qingyuan had a hard time telling them apart most times!

Now that the secret is out, they had to discuss on how to move going forward.

“I would suggest that Shen Qingqiu takes the title of Peak Lord while Shen Yuan acts as the second in command. It’s too late to hide the truth from your peak disciples anymore. I’ve prevented them from spreading the truth to other peaks, but you can’t continue on as you have before.”

There was truth in what he said, but they’d acted the part as one entity for so many years, it was hard to break the habit.

Nothing would have to change if they gave the excuse that there was so much work to do that one always had to stay behind. As they were identical twins, no one would be able to tell the two apart.

“Brother, I think we can accept this. No one can tell us apart, so I can take over as Shen Qinqiu, and you can take on my identity and study in solitude. With our secret being revealed, that means periodically, I can walk outside with you.” Shen Yuan displayed a gentle smile (that he knew Shen Jiu was secretly weak to) on his face.

For years, never have the two of them ever appeared under the sun at the same time. The only time they had together was in the private quarters of Shen Qingqiu.

“Hmph. Accepted.”

Yue Qingyuan slowly exhaled the breath he didn’t know he was holding. He honestly expected more resistance than this, but this worked out for the better. He would have to make the announcements soon.

“Do get better Shen Yuan. I’ll visit again at a later date. Look after your brother well, Shen Qingqiu. I’ll be taking my leave now.” He stood with no wasted movements and left the room.

Even though he preferred to refer to them as Xiao-Jiu and Xiao-Yuan, he knew that doing so in Shen Jiu’s presence would make him rave in anger, and that would only hurt the sickly Shen Yuan, so he refrained from doing so in the elder’s presence.

He so wanted to be able to refer to him as Xiao-Jiu again, but he wasn’t allowed to. He could only wait for the day Shen Jiu would allow it. So for now, he could only refer to him as Shen Qingqiu and his younger brother as Shen Yuan.

When it was just him and Shen Yuan, he liked to affectionately refer to him as Xiao-Yuan.

Shen Yuan, who had the milder personality, didn’t mind being referred to that way so he always accepted it. He never questioned why Yue Qingyuan changed the way he addressed him in the presence of his brother, because he had enough sense to realize there was some history between the two.

Not wanting to bring up bad memories, Shen Yuan never asked his brother what relationship he had with Yue Qingyuan and why he seemed so angry with him.

“Hurry up and sleep. I’ll bring you porridge later.”

Shen Yuan chuckled quietly and he laid back down.

He never knew that the original ‘scum’ goods had a kind bone in his body. This had to be information that was never revealed in the original novel, and Shen Yuan felt so bad for all the times he called for Shen Qinqiu to get castrated in the comments.

Forgive him brother, he never knew the truth! He knows his wrongs!

Admittedly, it was stifling to have Shen Jiu be so protective over him, but he could understand because as far as Shen Jiu knew, Shen Yuan was the only family he had left.

Hoping to use familial love to melt his icy heart slowly, Shen Jiu may learn to be less like a scum villain, and more like a respectable Peak Master.

DING!

The screen that was playing out like a drama froze in place.

It’s the first fate changer!

System temp, make your decision, which of the Shen brothers will you ‘Main’? Whoever you choose will be the brother you control most often. Choose wisely as this cannot be changed! Your choice will dictate how the rest of the story goes.

One brother has more death traps than the other.

[Main Shen Jiu or Shen Yuan?]

[Previous Segment] [Table of Contents] [Next Segment]

A/N: So yeah, click on the link to choose between Shen Yuan and Shen Jiu. You will still see both in the story, but one will have more ‘screen time’ so to speak if you main them. Whenever they are both in the same scene I will refer to them as Shen Jiu and Shen Yuan, but when only one is in scene, I will call them Shen Qinqiu because that’s the persona they’re acting as. Since the point of the game is to control other characters and not just Shen Qingqiu, it would give you too much of an advantage if I tell you which brother is acting as Shen Qingqiu at any given moment, so you will have to make an educated guess!

Hopefully this idea flies well with people? If not, I’ll just discard this experimental project. If it is received well, I’ll continue with it! Until next time!

#SVSSS #Scum Villain's Self-saving system #Scum Villain #Neo writes drabbles #SVSSSLifeSimProject #((I'm a lil nervous now because depending on who you choose to main it can get very dangerous))#((Idk I personally thought adding a Twin feature would be fun! Protective SJ in the house. Tis why this is hardmode lol))

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joyfulpoet · 6 years ago

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Handsome Brothers’ Daycare

Modern AU crossover where Lan Wangji collects all his queer brothers to help him run a daycare.

Part 1 | Part 2

~~~~ part 3

The man seated across from him at the cafe did look rather, unwell. He was so pale his skin was almost translucent; face thin, with dark smudges under the eyes. It was concerning. But Yue Qingyuan had insisted that his friend Shen Yuan was interested in the job and that his doctors had given the ok for him work again, as long as it wasn’t overly stressful.

Of the business tycoons that Lan WangJi had met before leaving the business world behind, Yue Qingyuan was a rare breed. He was more for quality over quantity; valuing getting the job done right even if it took an extra year to do it. This had at first earned him a lot of criticism from others, but as every job he handled went off without a hitch and none of them turned sour later. Many of those critics learned it was better to swallow their tongues then to bad mouth him. To say the least Lan WangJi had respect for the man.

But the fact that the job he needed to fill did require the person to be able to work with a bunch of rambunctious children left him a bit concerned. Lan WangJi looked back down at the resume. Shen Yuan did have experience from before his illness had surfaced and had work with young children before. So he would know what would be the best subjects to focus on.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Shen Yuan interrupted Lan WangJi’s thoughts. His voice was strong at least, nothing in it hinted at the possibility of the owner being ill. “I look like shit.”

He hadn’t planned to say anything to that extent to the man’s face. Lan Wangji merely nod at him to continue.

“I had hoped to wait a week before meeting with you, but Yue was very insistent that I meet with you as soon as possible. My doctor a few months back convinced me to try out a new treatment that should help keep me in better health in the long term. It’s just that I look like hell for a week right afterwards.”

Lan WangJi nodded in understanding before asking “Do these treatments happen frequently?”

Shen Yuan waved his hand as if he could shoo away the concern. “No no, only once every three to four months. I’ll only need a week to rest afterwards.”

This just made Lan WangJi more concerned. Yue Qingyuan did say his friend had a bad tendency to downplay his illness, believing himself a burden.

“Is there a reason you don’t want to go back to teaching high school again? You must miss it.”

The man across from him studied the top of their table where he’d been folding one of the napkins up like a fan. “The school I had work for had been a public one. Most of the kids were poor. A lot of them by the time they got to me were on their way to being delinquents. In their minds no one cared about them, so why should they? As their Shizun I did my best to let them know I cared, but . . .” A deep sadness etched his face. “I’ve always wondered if I’d met them sooner if things could be different.”

“Most of the looking after will be done by Brother Xie and I. You needing more time after treatments will not be a problem.”

Shen Yuan blinked a bit looking up. “Oh.” Tentatively he asked, “Does that mean you’re hiring me?”

Lan WangJi nodded, shuffling papers back into their folder. “I trust Yue Qingyuan judgement, and I want people who care.”

****

Lan WangJi was just starting to prepare lunch for the children when a large, slightly bewildered looking young man in a black hoody wondered in through the back door. He paused before looking about as if he’d lost something. His face crumpled up a bit, Lan WangJi was unsure if it was from sadness or anger.

“ . . . Can I help you?”

The young man jumped a bit, he seemingly hadn’t noticed the other person in the room.

“ . . . Shizun . . .” Was all he was able to mumble out.

They stared at each for awhile before Lan WangJi asked “Shen Yuan?”

Nod.

“He’s setting up for the lesson after nap-time.”

“ . . . oh? May I go see him?”

“ . . . No.”

“Why not?” There was hard edge underlining to the question.

Lan WangJi huffed as he went to check the rice. “There are children here.”

The young man blinked. “Why are there children?”

“This is a daycare.”

“Oh . . .” The young man nodded in understanding, then shifted about uncomfortably, clenching and unclenching his hands.

Since he hadn’t tried to leave the kitchen Lan WangJi decided for the time being he wasn’t a threat and went back to cooking. He was just starting to place the meat in the heated pan when there came a pained strangled sound from behind him.

“Elder Brother, do you even know how to cook?!”

Offended Lan Wangji turned to give him a reproached look. The food he made might be bland but it was at least edible. Brother Xie somehow always manage to charr everything to black bits; while Brother Shen only knew how to microwave food. Such was the life of bachelors from well off families. Though Brother Xie had the excuse of having not lived anywhere with a kitchen in some years. It also surprisingly stung when a three year old tells you your cooking is awful.

Ignoring the glare, the young man rolled up the sleeves of his hoodie before grabbing the cooking utensils from Lan WangJi’s hands.

“If you cook the meat like that it’ll get all tough. You want it soft.”

****

Sometime later Shen Yuan wandered into the kitchen to see about helping Brother Lan with the lunch. And found it a little more crowed then usual.

“What’s this? Did you hire a cook while I was a way Brother Lan?”

There was a clatter as the young man fumbled the rice spoon. Luckily no rice was lost in the process.

“ . . . Maybe.” Came the rumbled reply. “He seems to know you.”

“Does he?” He looked at the young man. There was something about his face that felt familiar. It was a very handsome face, still with a touch of boyish softness giving it a devilish charm. The half ponytail in his wavy hair gave him a slight wilded look. Where had he seen him before?

A blush had started to creep up the young man’s face while he fidgeted with the rice spoon.

“Has Shizun forgotten this student?”

Student?

“Oh! Little Luo Binghe! Though you’re not so little anymore!” Shen Yuan couldn’t help but grin at seeing his favorite student.

The last time he had seen this student he had been a gangly 17 year old who barely came up to his shoulder. What a surprise he grew up to be so tall and handsome! He was even taller then Brother Lan who was also very tall.

Luo Binghe face crumpled up, the corners of his eyebrows twitched. Did the boy have a stomach ache?

****

Everything was just too much for Luo Binghe. Here was his old Shizun, smiling as if he hadn’t just up and disappeared five years ago. Like he knew nothing of what happened afterwards. Anger clogged his throat while his heart felt like it was being strangled.

“Shizun,” he finally managed to scrape out while glowering down at the spoon, “where have you been all this time? Did you not think people would worry?”

The last bit was interrupted by Brother Lan.

“Sit down before you pass out.”

A weak voice protested with the sound of chair being pulled out, “Eh? I’m fine Brother Lan, I’m fine.”

Luo Binghe looked up as a pale Shen Yuan was gently pushed to sit.

“Is Shizun unwell?” The Shizun he remembered had always been healthy.

“I’m fine!” he exclaimed waving his hand as if to shoo the concern away. He’s face then turned a pale green nearly matching the shirt he wore. Slowly he bent forward to place his head between his knees.

“You were up editing for that friend of yours again.” Brother Lan stated.

There was an awkward silence before Shizun answered with a sheepish, “I couldn’t sleep.”

The other man huffed before turning to fill a glass with water and setting it on the table next to Shizun, still folded in half over his knees. A gruff “Rest” was muttered before he left the kitchen. An uncomfortable silence blanketed the room, only broken by the sound of the rice cooker beeping that it was done.

A quiet, muffled “I’m sorry.” came shortly after. Slowly Shen Yuan raised his head until he was able to sit up straight. “I had not wanted to worry anyone. I was very selfish that day when I choose not to return or to give a proper goodbye. I understand if you’re angry with this Shizun.”

The man before him wasn’t the same Shizun. He was too thin and pale. Luo Binghe had dreamed about returning the suffering he’d had after Shizun left. Make him understand the betrayal he felt those five years ago. But he hadn’t expected this, this shadow of a man. He felt his heart being pinched in sympathy. How could he rage at a man who looked as if a gust of wind would blow him over. It was just so unfair.

Before he could find anymore words to say Brother Lan returned with a much smaller man in tow.

“Brother Shen! I heard you nearly fainted again! Are you alright?” This new brother smiled comfortingly while gently petting Shen Yuan on the head. “Should we postpone your lesson for tomorrow? I can always take the older children with when I take the younger ones to the park to play.”

Shizun shook his head as he accepted a medication bottle that Brother Lan handed him. Shaking a few out he swallowed them with the water from early before answering.

“No I’ll be fine once I’ve rested, but thank you Brother Xie. Don’t glare at me like that Brother Lan, I’m just tired.”

Luo Binghe glanced at the brother in question. His face was still as stone as ever. He’d been in close proximity to him for almost an hour as he’d helped cook. The man had said very little both with his words and his face. But the feeling of closeness the two men had with his Shizun grated at him strangely.

“You should rest upstairs.” Said Brother Lan, “It will be quieter.” Shen Yuan looked as if he was going to argue when he said, “I will tell Yue.” A look of horror crossed Shizun’s face.

“That’s playing dirty!”

“Take better care and I would not have too.”

Then for the first time in his young life Luo Binghe saw Shizun pout.

****

The problem with Wei Wuxian isn’t that he’s not aware he’s queer. He’s well aware he’s a bi disaster. He just forgets he’s not the only one. And right now he’s in agony.

Those older sisters weren’t lying when they called this the Handsome Brothers’ Daycare. All the brothers here were definitely VERY handsome, and probably also very straight. Even the grumpy puppy in the back that glared at him from the doorway when he was talking to Brother Shen. That one was too young for his tastes though. Brother Shen wasn’t too bad. He seemed very gentle and had a good face despite looking like he might have been ill recently. It made Wei Wuxian want to wrap him up like a burrito and feed him soup.

There was another brother he’d yet to get a good look at as he was being dragged about by small children. He seem to be a small bean with a blinding smile. Wei Wuxian could image cuddling with him. Just the right size to tuck under his chin.

Right now though he was fighting hard not to tease the stone faced brother in front of him, typing away at the computer. The serious ones were Wei Wuxian’s favorite. They always reacted in one of two ways to his flirting. Either they would get flustered but be too polite to say anything, or they’d get angry and start yelling. But given that this stone face brother was the owner and Wei Wuxian REALLY needed someone to watch his son and nephew, he’d just have to keep his shamelessness to himself.

He wasn’t supposed to be work this morning. Him and his Shijie had an arrangement so that when one of them was working the other could watch both of their munchkins. But one of his part-time jobs had called him in a panic saying they really need him to come in. Being the bleed heart he was he agreed to if he could find someone to watch the kids. A lot of the other parents in his apartment complex however also had work. But one of the ladies took pity on him and told him to check out the daycare by the old park.

The prices were surprisingly reasonable, and the place, while not new looking, looked clean and inviting. The walls were painted with murals of clouds and mountains, almost making you believe you were in the heavens with the early morning sunlight streaming in through the big windows at the front of the building. Along the walls were shelves full of books and toys for the children to play with. The floor was littered with squishy bean bags and overly large pillows for siting or laying on. The preschool lessons had a small sectioned off area to the back with folding screens if the smaller children proved too distracting. Apparently there was even a vegetable garden out back where a small colony of bunnies lived that the kids could help care for.

Wei Wuxian was almost jealous. This was practically a small paradise for children. On top of that they got to play all day with all these handsome brothers and demand all the hugs they wanted! He was so distracted by the musings of his crooked little heart that he forgot that he had decided to behave himself.

“Lan Er Gege, you must have all the single moms fawning over you being so handsome.” Wei Ying gave him his most flirty smile awhile giving him a very obvious once over.

The man in question paused in his typing to turn his pale eyes to Wei Wuxian. He did look very good, with his shoulder length black hair tied back while wearing a well tailored, pale blue dress shirt with a slim white necktie. The tie, he observed had little cloud motifs embroidered in a marching thread color to his shirt, which he found rather cute. Neckties were also great for playing with.

To his utter disappointment though, Brother Lan did not react to his flirtation. The man merely blinked twice before turning back to the computer. What Wei Ying hadn’t noticed was that the lobs of Brother Lan’s ears had started to turn red.

Wei Wuxian was just thinking of his next attack when the small child in his arms started to squirm. When he’d left the apartment this morning to take A-Yuan and A-Ling to the daycare, A-Yuan had still been fast asleep. Instead of waking him Wei Wuxian decided to just carry him even though he was getting quite big for a three year old.

“Oh ho! Is someone finally waking up?” Wei Ying couldn’t keep the glee out his voice as his son sleepy blinked his eyes open. Since he couldn’t tease the stone faced brother he could tease this small child.

A-Yuan however was too well aquatinted with his Papa’s teasing and not awake enough to deal with it. With his tiny hands he patted at Wei Ying’s face that was definitely trying to blow him raspberries, while voicing a pitiful “ nooooo “ while looking about for an escape. He then spotted Brother Lan who looked both very serious and intimidating. Filled with hope he stretched his little arms out to him with a small “Eh!”

Lan Wangji’s brows lifted in surprise. Then hesitantly he reached across the counter. With a quiet “pardon me” he lifted A-Yuan out of Wei Wuxian’s arms. Then settled him above his right hip. A-Yuan safe from the teasing Papa, happily wrapped his little arms about his savior’s neck and went back to sleep.

Wei Ying felt too many things at once. He felt betrayed that his own child (well adopted child, but he’d still known A-Yuan since he was born) would choose someone over him. He was jealous that this brother got to snuggle with his son, A-Yuan was picky about who he snuggled with. And he was jealous that his son got to snuggle with this good looking brother. But also Wei Ying’s crooked little heart was being strangled by how cute this whole thing was. He wished that someone with a phone had been present to record this! Then he realized that his son just presented him with the perfect opportunity.

“Oh my goodness! this is just too cute! Could I take picture!” He was already pulling his phone out. Brother Lan at first seem not to hear, then blinked a few time. After a moment he nodded. Wei Wuxian snapped three pictures before the other man could say anything. With the morning light casting a soft glow on them it looked so wholesome, as if a father was holding his son before going off to work at the office. It was almost worth getting rejected to have this picture.

“Uncle Ying!” Came a tiny voice by his knee.

“Hmm” Wei Ying looked down at his other charge, his two year old nephew A-Ling. His nephew was pouting up at him while gripping his pant leg with one hand while holding a small dog plushie with the other.

“Hmmm? Do you want something A-Ling?” Wei Wuxian asked knowing full well what the toddler wanted. The two year old hadn’t taken well to having to share his Uncle Ying. The whole way here he had whined to be carried too. Now that A-Yuan had vacated to someone else’s arms he expected to be picked up. Sadly for him Uncle Ying’s crooked heart still wasn’t satisfied with its teasing.

A few things have changed since writing part one. A original I was going to have Lan Wangji like actually hire Luo Binghe, but now I think it’s going to be more of Luo Binghe just shows up to cook food and harass Shizun to take a fucking nap. For the most part Lan Wangji is fine with it as long as he’s not an actually threat to anyone and Shen Yuan doesn’t work himself to death.

I also changed A-Yuan’s age. In part 1 I said he was 2, but he’s suppose to be older the A-Ling, so I made his 3 and A-ling 2.

Anyway, just one brother left to introduce! I’m kind of excited to try writing Hua Cheng.

Also thank you again for all the likes and reblogs! It means a lot that people are enjoying this au!

Also drew these guys kissing the other day WeiLan | HuaXie LuoShen

#grandmaster of demonic cultivation #mo dao zu shi #heavens offical's blessing #tian guan ci fu #scum villian system #scum villain self-saving system #lan wangji #wei wuxian #xie lian #shen yuan #luo binghe #shen qingqiu #fan fiction #fanfic #writing #modern au #Handsome Brothers' Daycare

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elaemae · 15 days ago

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I wanna throttle somebody, there's way too goddamn many doomed yaois around here, WHY DID YOU HAVE BE ONE OF THEM QIJIU?!?!? EVEN IF ITS NOT ROMANTIC I DON'T GIVE A SHIT HOW COULD THEY DO THIS TO YOU— AKBRJFJDKDJSNDJDHFIRJSI *chokes on a chicken but lives*

Thinking about how happy everyone would be if Shen Jiu and Yue Qingyuan just had one mutual argument.

Like Shen Jiu crosses a line and Yue Qingyuan just snaps somehow and he yells at Shen Jiu and before he has the chance to apologise, Shen Jiu gets to yell at him along the lines of

"Oh? So you're finally tired of pretending to be nice to be? Have you finally realised you don't need to act so polite to street garbage you abandoned at the first chance to become some young master?"

And like everyone else is confused to what Shen Jiu means but Yue Qingyuan gets that look in his eyes as he realises how Shen Jiu sees himself and he just breaks down and tells him about why he couldn't get back in time and how he's sorry about never telling him but he didn't feel worthy and he's so sorry–

Shen Jiu cuts him off by delivering the most cleanest slap to ever be slapped before hugging Yue Qingyuan because damn it why are you so stupid and why didn't you just tell me this you bloody idiot I hate you I miss you

Anyway everyone then lived happily every after and the Extras never happened and QiJiu are happy

#svsss #mxtx svsss #shen jiu #original shen qingqiu #yue qingyuan #qijiu #me not coping because what do you mean they never get to reconcile #canon is lying to me #what do you mean Yue Qingyuan will go on with his life thinking he finally explained himself to 'Xiao Jiu'#what do mean Yue Qingyuan probably watched Shen Jiu take his final breathe and he'll never know #what do you mean Shen Jiu died thinking Yue Qingyuan abandoned him solely because he could #stop lying to me and show me the extra where Shen Jiu gets a plant body and gets to talk to Yue Qingyuan again #I hate you #< prev tags #But yeh this is my thought process everyday

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tossawary · 3 years ago

Note

I need to know more about “SVSSS - Baby Brother Liu Qingge” bc I love tiny and very deadly baby LQG

I have a 3k-ish Shang Qinghua POV that was supposed to be the introduction to this fic concept! So... ah... baby Liu Qingge does not appear in this, but you can see the setup for how an 8yo-ish Liu Qingge was supposed to be introduced. My hope is that this will someday become a "Shang Qinghua and Shen Jiu go on a mission with Baby Brother Liu Qingge" one shot.

-cut-

Shang Qinghua didn't really have the words to describe what it was like having Proud Immortal Demon Way's characters finally come into his second life.

He didn't have the words to describe a lot of his transmigration experience, honestly! His words had described a lot of this world already, haha, hadn't they? Sometimes a person just had to put up with it and keep going.

And then excuse himself later to go scream into a pillow! Many times!

At first, life was just him in a body that didn't fit and strange memories that slipped between his fingers like sand. His memories of a past life had settled eventually, the System finally came fully online, and his relationship with his second family was fully fucked forever. That was fine, though! That was fine! With some unsolicited prodding from his System, he left to go seek his fortune soon enough and he never had to talk to his character's birth parents or siblings again.

But Airplane Shooting Towards The Sky had never said much of anything about Shang Qinghua’s family or home village, besides saying that the man had dreamed of more than his mediocre origins, so everything had been unfamiliar and original and real. Getting to Cang Qiong Mountain Sect, which he had described in great detail, was a real headfuck. There were no words for the experience of recognizing things that he’d written in another life.

He saw the glistening rainbow bridge and the intimidating sect entrance and the majestic meeting hall on Qiong Ding, and he nearly screamed. He definitely squawked. His vision got really fuzzy for a minute there and he had to sit down on the ground before he fell over. What the fuck?! What the fuck?! He’d made a world! The System had really made a world out of his web-novel! He was really stuck in Proud Immortal Demon Way!

There were upsides and downsides to joining Cang Qiong Mountain Sect. Downsides included: the hard training, the harder workload, the dangerous missions, the disrespect towards An Ding Peak, and being surrounded by arrogant and foolish teenagers looking to look down on someone. It was really something else to look some of them in the eye and think, "Bro, I don’t know your name, but you kind of owe your existence to me. Could you stop being such a fucking asshole about leaving your chores for me to do?! Respect your father!"

Upsides included: actually becoming a cultivator (pretty cool, even though the work of cultivation sucked more often than not), better living accommodations and food, and actually getting to see some of the cooler places, plants, monsters, and magic that were a part of his world. Sure, carting a monster corpse brought in by Bai Zhan Peak to Xi Jiao Peak for butchering was smelly and heavy and altogether miserable, but seeing an impossible animal was still kind of incredible. If this unwilling Shang Qinghua could stop being pushed around and stepped on long enough to appreciate the upsides, he’d really appreciate it!

It was interesting and infuriating to log the differences between what he’d imagined, what he’d written, and what the System had created. What sort of author described every single object in every single room? Who had time for that? Who wanted to read that? The System had filled in all the living details of An Ding Peak - the Leisure Houses, the training grounds, the storehouses, the warehouses, the kitchens, the lesson halls, the leisure gardens, the farming fields, the livestock fields, the stables, the cart lot, the water supply, the sewage systems, and so on - so that people could actually live here. Airplane Shooting Towards The Sky as an author had done many things worthy of complaint and criticism, but wasting his readers’ time with sewage systems was not one of them!

The System had also filled in all the little details and decorations - the paintings on the walls of sect history, the detailing on the rooftops supposedly offering protections from dream demons, the chipped and faded paint of old storehouses that disciples would be tasked with replacing, the statues in the fields to scare off scavengers, the carvings on the doors meant to reduce resentful energy, the childish etchings of bored students the surface of the lesson hall desks, the old bench where the An Ding Peak Lord liked to sit and eat flatcakes - so that it really seemed like people had built this place and maintained it and added to it for generations.

Shang Qinghua had his quibbles here and there. Sometimes the System had made choices that he objected to! He would have done it differently if it had asked him, the author, to contribute. He really felt as though the System should have asked him to clarify the plot holes and the gaps in detail, instead of choosing precedence randomly or building off random implications taken way too literally.

Sometimes he found out that the System had built things out of throwaway lines that Shang Qinghua himself had completely forgotten about. It turned out that Ku Xing Peak made a lot of purification tools and containment vessels because Airplane had offhandedly mentioned that this was their specialty, and now Shang Qinghua had to cart around delicate ceramics to be sold to city merchants or other cultivation sects. He never would have dared to write that if he’d known that it would one day in another life be his job to do things like take inventory and chase down signatures for successful deliveries.

Places, items, and creatures were one thing, but logging the differences between the people he met and the characters he’d created was something else. At first it was okay, because he was surrounded by nameless An Ding Peak nobodies - his fellow disciples, their teachers, the hardworking managers and merchants, even the peak lord - none of them had ever mattered in Proud Immortal Demon Way. If Airplane had been the one to name any of them, he didn’t recognize the names or remember them.

Then he met Yue Qingyuan.

Wow, it was a worse headfuck than first arriving at Cang Qiong Mountain Sect, when Shang Qinghua finally realized that this was the young version of one of his actual characters. It took him a minute. As a lowly outer disciple, Shang Qinghua hadn’t received “Qinghua” as a name yet (his name was Houhua, not that anyone ever used it) and the future Yue Qingyuan was still called Yue Qi.

Shang Qinghua was fourteen at the time. Yue Qingyuan must have been around the same age, so he didn’t strike the tall and handsome figure of the sect leader Airplane had described. The boy was broad, but actually a little short. He had freckles. He had acne.

But he also had a warm smile that seemed to go all the way to his eyes when he offered to give Shang Qinghua directions to the right office on Qiong Ding. He had a steady hand when he helped Shang Qinghua up, after the An Ding disciple had suddenly tripped over nothing upon being introduced. Yue Qingyuan - Yue Qi - walked him to the right office and did his best to make small talk, friendly and kind even though Shang Qinghua was having difficulty stringing more than a few words together in his shock.

Even then, it was obvious that the boy was developing the calm surety and the social charm that would make him a greatly admired sect leader someday! It was all Shang Qinghua could do not to blurt out: “Holy shit, you’re REAL?!” Which would be closely followed by: “Hey, is Shen Qingqiu really real too?!” And then maybe closely followed by: “FUCK!!!”

As the years went by, Shang Qinghua met more of Proud Immortal Demon Way’s characters, and it was weird every time. None of them were exactly like he was expecting. He kept expecting… well… he kept expecting them to look like the fanart, like flawless character models, more or less. Instead, he kept getting… people.

Wei Qingwei, head disciple of the sword-focused Wan Jian Peak, was also shorter than he was expecting, kind of stout, with a wide face and a wider smile. Airplane Shooting Towards The Sky had apparently had the man crack a few jokes upon his rare appearances in the web-novel, usually during tense situations, as he was reminded by the System upon thinking to himself: “Why is this guy LIKE THIS?!” So, because of just a few lines, the real Wei Qingwei had a relentless sense of humor and loved telling jokes.

Upon their first meeting, when Shang Qinghua was fifteen and had been sent over to help renovate some Wan Jian dormitories, fifteen-year-old Wei Qingwei had pretended to fumble a sword and, using a packet of dye and a sleight of hand, made it look like he’d accidentally cut off his own hand at the wrist. Of course Shang Qinghua had screamed and panicked! Anyone would panic! But Wei Qingwei had laughed at him and said, “Got you! Shang-Shidi, the sword wasn’t even unsheathed!” Asshole!

Qi Qingqi, the head disciple of Xian Shu Peak, was much taller than he was expecting. Apparently Airplane had once described a group of some of the peak lords by saying something like: “Each one of them was like a giant to young Luo Binghe.” That group had included Qi Qingqi. The System apparently had taken that to mean that Qi Qingqi was of a height with the likes of Yue Qingyuan and Shen Qingqiu. Shang Qinghua discovered this adaptational choice when he was almost sixteen, when this giraffe-like girl came to An Ding Peak to complain about an order someone along the pipeline had dropped completely, and he accidentally found himself (still waiting on a really good growth spurt) eye-level with Qi Qingqi’s chest.

Airplane had apparently once said in Proud Immortal Demon Way that Qian Cao Peak Lord Mu Qingfang appeared a little older than his colleagues, by which he’d probably meant that the man was just tired or something, but this head disciple Mu Qingfang appeared to have ten years on all the other head disciples. Which was good! Shang Qinghua approved of their future head healer not being a teenager and having more training!

On the bad side of things, Airplane had also once said in Proud Immortal Demon Way that the Zui Xian Peak Lord Zhang Qingyan liked his drink too much. This was the peak specializing in alcohol, so it had seemed to make sense! It was supposed to be funny, if anything! Well, at sixteen, Shang Qinghua found out that the System had focused too much on the “too much” part of that statement and now the head disciple of Zui Xian Peak was pretty clearly a budding alcoholic. (Sometimes a cultivator’s constitution and ability to “cure” themselves just… made a person drink more. A lot more.) Which was… not good.

At seventeen, Shang Qinghua met Mobei-Jun.

He didn’t know where to get started with Mobei-Jun.

Somehow he’d… forgotten that Mobei-Jun had been originally based on Airplane’s idea of “the perfect man” and not the super pretty, muscular but slim-waisted protagonist type? The real Mobei-Jun was… tall… and big… and thick. Mobei-Jun’s intimidating features were… more striking than pretty. The first time Shang Qinghua had come back to his Leisure House and found this spoiled brat of an ice demon napping shirtless on his bed, and gotten an eyeful of all that heavy muscle and chest hair, he’d nearly knocked himself out on the doorframe trying to turn away before he had a heart attack.

Mobei-Jun really was going to be the death of him, holy shit.

Especially because this ice demon really was a spoiled brat! Airplane had described this character as being arrogant and apathetic, so now Shang Qinghua had to deal with a Mobei-Jun who took long baths and then carelessly dripped water all over the floor and all over fresh sheets! Who ate all of Shang Qinghua’s cooking and ungratefully only demanded more food, sprawled over furniture not really fit for someone of his size, and then watched Shang Qinghua like a fat tiger! Ahhh, this demon really was lucky he was handsome!

Mobei-Jun was also kind of violent, and mean, which was… well, it sucked.

Back to the sect that Shang Qinghua was now actively betraying, however, as far as he could see, there was still one future peak lord missing.

It wasn’t Shen Qingqiu, who Shang Qinghua had thought would be the last one to show up. Shen Qingqiu had shown up and had been advancing through the ranks of Qing Jing Peak before Shang Qinghua had even met Mobei-Jun, which meant that Yue Qingyuan had finally stopped looking like someone had torn out his soul. (Shang Qinghua had been forced to grit his teeth every time that someone mentioned how privileged that Yue Qingyuan was to have been granted that year of secluded cultivation in the Lingxi Caves at such a young age.)

No, of all the peak lords, it was Liu Qingge who Shang Qinghua had yet to meet.

After meeting Mobei-Jun and becoming an inner disciple, the System had given Shang Qinghua three years to make it to head disciple, probably because the deadline for a new generation of peak lords to ascend was fast approaching. He was working hard to achieve that! Not only did he have to sabotage the current favorite, but he had to make sure all his own training, missions, work, and research were as close to flawless as he could get it! All while keeping an intruding ice demon happy! He wasn’t totally sure that he was going to make it at this rate, even though he’d been here for years.

So it was a little concerning that Liu Qingge hadn't shown up yet. There was so much left to do. A world-state that had yet to be established. Liu Qingge had work to do here!

Liu Qingge and Shen Qingqiu still had to develop a hatred for each other as disciples that would extend to everyone believing that Shen Qingqiu had murdered Liu Qingge as peak lords, after all. Granted, all Liu Qingge really had to do was beat everyone else on Bai Zhan Peak up to obtain the position, and it wasn’t exactly hard to get Shen Qingqiu to develop a lifelong grudge, but the guy was still cutting it pretty close.

It was possible that Liu Qingge was already on Bai Zhan Peak and making good progress, but that he was just so solitary and focused on searching out the next big battle that Shang Qinghua had just never had the opportunity to meet him. Shang Qinghua did his best to avoid Bai Zhan Peak most of the time, honestly! He was curious about where Liu Qingge was, about what the man looked like, but he didn’t let himself sweat at not seeing the future war god, when he already had so many things to sweat about. The System had taken care of bringing in everyone else, so Shang Qinghua was sure that Liu Qingge would follow sooner or later.

Shang Qinghua’s first sign that something was wrong was that, on the day that Liu Qingge finally announced his existence by beating up everyone on Bai Zhan Peak, everyone was saying things like, “I can’t believe some kid managed to topple all of Bai Zhan like that!”

He… may or may not have ignored this sign.

To be fair to this poor writer-turned-disciple, though, he’d been up all night finishing some paperwork catastrophe the An Ding Peak Lord had thrown at him to fix, as some kind of “test” of his logistics skills. Upon hearing the latest gossip, Shang Qinghua thought, “Oh, finally?” And then his overtired brain collapsed from the effort of thinking two words together in a sentence, and all he could manage from there was to feel the intense need to go to bed at a maximum, static-y volume. No words. No more thinky thoughts. Just the need for speedy sleep.

He stumbled through the rest of his day and then passed out for 18 hours straight. In hindsight, this would have been the time when the gossip was at its hottest. He missed all of it.

When he woke up, everyone was still dealing with the aftermath of what had happened on Bai Zhan Peak, but the conversation had shifted more towards replacing Qian Cao Peak’s depleted supplies and the repairs to Bai Zhan’s training grounds. Liu Qingge was the name on everyone’s lips, still, but everyone knew the basic information now. Now, everyone was just exclaiming over and over again how unbelievably young (and pretty) he was to have bested every other disciple on the sect battle-focused peak. This didn't seem too strange.

The System probably would have based the War God's appearance on his sister, Liu Mingyan, a strong contender for the most beautiful woman in all of Proud Immortal Demon Way. Liu Qingge apparently being a very pretty boy fell neatly into line with all the other character design surprises that Shang Qinghua had gotten smacked with so far.

If Airplane had known that he'd be transmigrating into his novel, maybe there would have been even more handsome men! And everyone would have lived happily ever after and nothing bad would have happened ever, probably, but also there might be more sexy guys too.

TBC

#timetomakeanewwish #tossawary updates #tossawary svsss #shang qinghua #unrealistically young prodigy liu qingge au #ask tossawary

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thankchaosforspellcheck · 3 years ago

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In a Svsss princess tutu au the system would definitely be Drosselmeyer.

And i can see you thinking "but what about airpla-" and yes I KNOW why that would be your first thought but actually i think he would be somewhere between Autor (cant remember if i spelled that correctly) and fakir.

In canon hes the original writer & the world works based on his OG plans, sure, but the systems the ACTUAL one in control the second canon starts. The system is the one that decides not only to stick to the script but to also make everyone else stick to it as well while only changing a few things it didn't like.

And dont get me wrong, airplanes not exactly a great guy either. He genuinely liked his tragic conversation about the cycle of abuse turned actual story up until he went full sellout, and he still seemed to want to stick to the script to some degree, which is why i would stick Autor in there as part of his role.

However, he dislikes just enough of how the system is forcing him through things (and also is, once again, the actual OG writer) that i think he should also play some of Fakir's role. He hates and fears his power for what could- and HAS- happened, so now he needs to learn how to use it for the better (or at least for less bad reasons).

It's been difficult to place how everyone, but I think I've got a general idea of how it would work:

Airplane's plot in this is just a classic fairytale that he never got to finish before his house was struck by lightning, causing a fire that killed him and his editor, also destroying his original outline.

His latest chapter was just before the grand finale, right in the middle of the epic battle between the antagonist, the demon king Luo Binghe, and the hero, the brave prince Yue Qingyuan.

Because of this, they are both trapped in a constant battle until YQY finally has enough and, in a move of pure desperation, uses his sword to pierce his soul, causing it to shatter and meld to the broken pieces of a sword, using the power from this to seal LBH away.

However, this did not completely seal LBH, and in fact only sealed his demon side and his memories along with it, while also sealing off YQY's own memories as well.

(Airplane, centuries later after being reincarnated, swears he had no idea these characters were going to become real.

"I mean, come on bro!!! who PLANS for that!?! It was a basic-ass fairytale at that point, I hadn't even written out all this backstory yet!!!" He pleads with the cat currently trying to claw his face off.

The cat does not sympathize.)

Of course, because this is Airplane, this wasn't all that there was to it. If he had actually gotten to finish it, it would have gone on quite a bit longer than originally implied. Up to that point, it was a "basic-ass fairytale" with a few hints to a larger plot.

But that fight was supposed to be a turning point.

After Binghe won, there was supposed to be flashbacks from his point of view showing his Tragic Past(tm) and explaining that all of this could have been avoided if there were a single reasonable adult around for his formative years.

It was going to have grand themes revolving around the cycle of abuse and how the villain of your story might be the hero of someone else's and yadda yadda yadda.

Airplane regretted not being able to finish it a bit, but ultimately it wasn't that big of a deal.

His editor though?

Was furious.

Decades later, after years of plotting and planning and searching for the right "characters" to continue the "story" with, they finally come back from that strange place outside of the narrative as something... strange.

They've forgotten their name by now.

They've forgotten most of their life.

They do remember some things though.

They remember the rush they felt whenever they read another tragedy, each one crueler then the last.

They remember the awe that filled them when they discovered how The Prince and The Demon was actually going to end.

They remember the frustration of going through the mess on airplanes desk just to find that last page they needed to edit.

They remember his constant reminders that "I have a system!" that would come out of his mouth, to which they would snidely reply "Yes, and its me."

So that was what it called itself.

The System.

and it has found the perfect new character to get the story back on track.

----

Xiao-Yuan was a perfectly average cat, thank you very much.

He liked sunbathing, sleeping, and stealing food from the campus cafeteria (not that it was really stealing when it was left in a bowl specifically for him).

He did not like getting stuck in the woods at dusk after the fog roles in, but he had been chasing a particularly quick rodent and was distracted until it was too late.

He was not panicking, no sir. Cats do not panic. He just didn't want to find his own way out. So he decided to attract someone who would do it for him. by meowing.

loudly.

a lot.

And he was right! Someone did come!

(he might have been more crying then meowing at that point but shhh)

Warm, strong arms pick him up and a soft, if a bit vacant smile shines down at him. "ah, are you lost, little one?" The man asks. "I should take you back to campus. I've finished practicing out here anyways."

In that moment, a vague feeling of concern flashes across the little black cats mind. "He looks so... empty." Xiao-Yuan thinks "I wish I could do something to help that."

This feeling follows the cat as they walk to campus, even after he's safely set down, even when he's back in his favorite spot (a little spot with a pillow set up behind the water heater, carefully insulated by the cooks and students so he doesn't get burned) and well into a deep slumber.

---

Shen Yuan is a perfectly average student, thank you very much.

He's not fantastic at ballet, much more suited for lounging then intense exercise, but he's lithe and agile enough that he's a solid B+ student.

(Most of his issues come from the fact that he's much better at being lifted then doing lifts, and that is generally reserved for the girls in class.)

And yeah, he might have a bit of hero worship for Yue QIngyuan, but who doesn't in this school?

so if he's a perfectly normal student, with perfectly average grades...

...why the fuck is he suddenly a cat????

#scum villain self saving system #svsss au #svsss #princess tutu #princess tutu au #guess it would be PRINCE tutu for this one tho #god so many characters can fit the part of rue in this #and if that doesn't say something about svsss #I don't know what will

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tossawary · 4 years ago

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Chapter 29: “The Ringing Bells” of “pride is not the word I’m looking for” quotes and commentary. Not a full list of favorite quotes or full commentary.

It’s just been him, Yue Qingyuan, and the not-so-modest Qiong Ding entourage befitting Cang Qiong Mountain Sect’s leader. Shang Qinghua and Yue Qingyuan still haven’t talked about anything personal (Shang Qinghua kind of hopes they never will!), but putting up a united front and then putting up with other sects seems to have brought them closer together again.

If Shang Qinghua had given in to his idea of bringing a flask of emergency wine in his sleeve, they could have made a drinking game or something every time someone managed to “casually” mention that Zhao Hua Temple Sect’s barrier techniques were the best in the world. With that face Yue Qingyuan made after the third, ear-gouging hour of listening to a long line of Zhao Hua experts condescend to them about security measures that will surely stop invading demons in their tracks, Shang Qinghua would have bet the man could have been talked into it. Big Bro would have been down, he’s sure.

AN: There is something immensely amusing to me that Yue Qingyuan and Shang Qinghua of all people run this sect (like, sure, SQQ and WQW and the other peak lords do stuff too, but YQY and SQH seem to be the ones who actually deal with worldly affairs and interact with people). To me, they both have such “I don’t want to be here” energy. YQY would rather be thinking about his slow reconciliation with Shen Qingqiu, and SQH would rather be daydreaming about the sexy ice demon he’s been betraying the sect for for 20 years.

But nooo, they have to be responsible.

Yue Qingyuan nearly dying at the end of SVSSS to me had such... vibes of relief? This man is carrying SO MUCH stress over his position and his responsibilities and appearances, that his reaction to dying seems to be at least a little bit: “Oh, time to put everything down. I can give up. I don’t have to be the invincible sect leader above it all anymore. Thank goodness.” You can fit so much trauma and unhealthy ideation in this man!

Which is, I think, why this connection between SQH and YQY was a little inevitable in this story. They’re both carrying so much stress and trauma, and doing their best to not let anyone see it, so they really relate to each other but... in a way that’s kind of one-sided on both parts? Because SQH isn’t supposed to know shit about YQY’s past or pressures. And YQY doesn’t have the full picture of what SQH is dealing with at all. After their fight after SQQ died and SQH coming forward about their invasion, SQH and YQY are finally getting to have some more direct connection, but neither of them are willing to put their masks down yet. It goes against their natures and their perceived duties (as sect leader and a transmigrator/traitor) to honestly confide in each other.

YQY and SQH both kind of have a “I know better than you” thing going on here. Yue Qingyuan because he’s the sect leader and he’s been taught that he has to manage himself and everyone else. Shang Qinghua because he’s a transmigrator and also... the fallen creator god of this world?

Yue Qingyuan is apparently just as eager to make it home as Shang Qinghua is. Their travel pace puts them a full day ahead of schedule, and Yue Qingyuan courteously sends his youngest personal assistant ahead via flying sword to warn the sect.

“Shen-Shixiong and Wei-Shixiong will need time to hide the mess from all the parties they’ve been throwing in our absence,” Shang Qinghua jokes.

Yue Qingyuan looks at him with polite but concerned bemusement.

“Aha, never mind, I’ll just… go check the last report my head disciples sent me again.”

None of them are expecting the assistant, who flew off with all the energy and eagerness of youth, to return only a little over an hour later. The assistant is red in the face and panting for breath. He collapses in front of Yue Qingyuan.

“Shizun, I-! I turned back as soon as I saw- in the distance-! The sect was on fire! Qiong Ding Peak was on fire!”

Yue Qingyuan and Shang Qinghua exchange a look of shock. When Shang Qinghua joked at the beginning of their journey that the sect would probably set itself on fire without them there to do damage control, he really was only joking! He’s had way too much of the shit he says coming true on him!

AN: I don’t think I’ve mentioned this yet, but Yue Qingyuan’s youngest assistant is the kid that Shen Qingqiu shoved on him from the House of Rejuvenation mess. Qi Qingqi and Liu Qingge picked up Luo Fanli from that, Shen Qingqiu picked up Fu Qiang from that, and Yue Qingyuan got this kid.

He doesn’t have a name yet, but he’ll probably get one at some point. Probably in Part 4 when Shen Yuan and Fu Qiang’s story comes to the forefront.

“Shishu!”

Shang Qinghua turns and gets an armful of nephew. Binghe’s arms wrap around him with no care for the bandage around one of them and Binghe’s warm face is buried into his neck - he’s so tall now - to share his dirt stains.

Shang Qinghua has no idea what to do. He wants to hug his very huggable nephew, of course, but in front of so many people?! He can’t just shove Binghe away either! Luckily, Binghe seems to realize his mistake about two seconds after contact and launches away from Shang Qinghua, bowing deeply enough to hide his face completely.

“Apologies for tripping, Shishu!”

Shang Qinghua nearly laughs. “Ah, ah, it’s fine. It’s fine.”

This is probably one of the worst kept secrets in the sect, anyway.

AN: This is absolutely a reference to Binghe pulling this trick in SVSSS canon, only unlike SY, Shang Qinghua recognizes the excuse.

Luo Binghe clears his throat and intervenes before his friend can accidentally kill Shang Qinghua with kindness or something. “The demon saintess Sha Hualing and her followers attacked.”

“Oh,” Shang Qinghua says, relaxing a little.

“Is that all?” he thinks. “Phew! Earlier than I was expecting, but okay!”

AN: It’s very funny to me to have CQMS going, “Demon attack! Demon attack! Totally unexpected demon attack!” And Shang Qinghua going, “Shit, I think I put that down on my calendar wrong. Did I put that down on my calendar...?”

This apparently prompted Liu Mingyan and Luo Fanli to volunteer at the same time.

“They looked like they were going to argue over it, at first, or even fight over it,” Luo Binghe says. “Qi-Shigu and Liu-Shishu didn’t seem to want to let them fight, but they just ignored them and almost started a quick hand-game over who would get to fight. And then the demoness said… she said… she...”

“What?” Shang Qinghua asks.

Ning Yingying lifts her nose to the sky and declares, “She said: ‘If I get a say in this, I want to fight the pretty one in the veil, and not the old lady!’ So rude!”

“...Ah,” Shang Qinghua says again.

That explains the awkward grimace Binghe is making right now.

“Liu-Shijie and Luo-Shijie froze, then Luo-Shijie just looked at Shizun and Qi-Shigu and Liu-Shishu,” Ning Yingying continues. “ Snap! And then it was really quiet. And then Shizun said, ‘I’ll allow it.’ And Qi-Shigu and Liu-Shishu and even Liu-Shijie didn’t say anything.”

“Of course not! Shizun outranks them,” Ming Fan says.

As though that has ever honestly mattered to Liu Qingge or Qi Qingqi.

“So she got to fight the demoness,” Luo Binghe says, like it was a foregone conclusion that his stubborn auntie would get what she wanted. Who’s surprised about this? Not this long-suffering nephew!

AN: So, Sha Hualing made the “old lady” joke in front of 1) Qi Qingqi, Luo Fanli’s teacher who knows about her student’s past with the House of Rejuvenation, 2) Liu Mingyan, Luo Fanli’s friend who either knows about it or recognizes that LFL is touchy about her age, 3) Liu Qingge, LFL’s brother-in-law who also knows, and 4) Shen Qingqiu, who was THERE and that’s how they met.

So, there’s sort of a collective, “If we don’t let Luo Fanli try to beat the shit out of this demon girl, we will never hear the fucking end of it,” here.

Also, as soon as I made Luo Fanli into Liu Qingge’s apprentice of sorts, there was no way that she was NOT going to want to fight Sha Hualing, and it seemed a good way to shake things up from canon while also doing some stuff with the Fanli & Binghe relationship. I’m really trying to breathe new life into all the scenes that I’m redoing from SVSSS.

“She kicked that demoness’ ass!” Ning Yingying squeals.

“Ning Yingying!” Ming Fan hisses.

Shang Qinghua snorts. “Oh? Really?”

“It was rough,” Luo Binghe says, while Ning Yingying and Ming Fan both turn bright red realizing what she just said in front of a Peak Lord. Binghe, however, has totally heard Shang Qinghua say way worse than that. “The demoness was really good and really mean, and she kept getting up even after she got slammed into the ground, but eventually she got pinned and had to forfeit to keep her head. Fanli is still mostly in one piece. She’s over there right now with Mu-Shishu and Liu-Shishu.”

Shang Qinghua follows his nephew’s finger, then winces. His little sister-in-law looks pretty roughed up, her face is beginning to swell and she’s got a lot of claw marks, but she’s grinning up at Liu Qingge. Liu Qingge looks totally fine, besides some flecks of blood that must belong to other people, and is smiling down at her.

Mu Qingfang looks less than enthusiastic about all this as he treats Luo Fanli’s injuries of victory.

Aha, yeah, Liu Qingge is definitely the one explaining this to Luo Jiahui later.

AN: I really like building and having built up all these relationships. I like giving Binghe friends, even if they’re friends that he kind of runs rings around given his manipulative tendencies (NYY and MF rely on just grabbing him at this point and relying on sheer force of obliviousness/authority). I like giving Liu Qingge more connections in the form of Luo Fanli and Mu Qingfang too.

This cast is... so big at this point. I didn’t really expect this when I started.

Inside the cell is… a bloody demon girl who looks about fifteen-ish (sixteen-ish, maybe?), with dark hair in many braids, a sharp face and a sharper stare, and clothing that looks like it was made out of not nearly enough silk ribbons. Ah, wow, that’s way more skin than Shang Qinghua ever wanted to see of Sha Hualing. No jewelry at all, though, not even a belt. Not even boots or even slippers. Just lots of blood splatter.

Both Sha Hualing’s arms and legs have been restrained. She’s also been muzzled, though that doesn’t stop her from showing off her teeth in the least happy-looking smile anyone has ever smiled. There’s blood in Sha Hualing’s teeth! That’s blood there smeared around her mouth!

Qi Qingqi is in the cell too, utterly unimpressed, making sure that Sha Hualing is properly restrained and even treating an injury on the girl’s thigh. Demons are pretty tough, Sha Hualing would probably be fine, but Shang Qinghua supposes they can at least be a little kind toward the poor disciple who’ll have to mop the floors here later.

“So good of you to finally join us,” Shen Qingqiu says to Shang Qinghua. His voice is dry, as usual, but it might be missing its worst sharp edges? The man seems pleased at having caught himself a demon.

“Ah, I didn’t want to show up the sect leader with my speed,” Shang Qinghua replies.

That gets an amused look from Yue Qingyuan. “Let us speak elsewhere,” he says, politely admonishing everyone to shut up in front of their guest. “Qi-Shimei?”

“A moment,” Qi Qingqi says.

“Oh, don’t leave me all alooone,” Sha Hualing says, only slightly muffled by the muzzle, her eyes going wide and scared. “I’ll behave! This is really too much! These restraints are hurting me. Please… it’s making it hard for me to breathe, please…”

Qi Qingqi ignores her and finishes up her work.

Yue Qingyuan lets the Xian Shu Peak Lord out and then seals the cell behind her. Shang Qinghua is familiar with those seals and yeah, there’s very little chance Sha Hualing is getting out of there on her own. The demoness complains loudly about being left behind in a cold and lonely cell. Shang Qinghua can still hear her wailing as Yue Qingyuan instructs the guards on, mainly, not letting anyone in and not taking any of Sha Hualing’s bait no matter what lies she tells.

If anyone gets “seduced” by that teenage girl - a trick pulled many times by the wily Sha Hualing in Proud Immortal Demon Way - Shang Qinghua is going to be so disappointed. Surprised? Not really! But still… depressingly disappointed!

AN: It was... hm... important to me that none of the characters here actually sexualize Sha Hualing or disregard the fact that she’s very young to them. In his narration, Shang Qinghua mentions her skimpy clothes and the possibility of her seducing a guard, but it’s with the casual detachment of someone who was writing a stallion novel and knows the tropes.

I wanted to focus more on the fact that Sha Hualing is not just a “wife character”, but an extremely dangerous non-human individual and already a minor political player, if currently trying to play outside her league. She’s an enemy. Also, just because she is currently playing outside her league doesn’t mean that she’s not dangerous and shouldn’t be taken seriously.

All she needs is someone to get close and she will inflict life-long injuries.

I also wanted to use her here for some Mobei-Jun stuff, which I’ll talk about later when I get to the Mobei-Jun part.

“Shang-Shidi, do you recognize any of these materials?” Shen Qingqiu asks next, like he’s reading Shang Qinghua’s mind now! He looks so unimpressed by Shang Qinghua’s startle. “You are, after all, one of our experts on tracking down the source of such strange things.”

“Aha, off the top of my head? I couldn’t say! But… I would suspect part of this weapon came from the far north of the Demon Realm...”

Wei Qingwei finally looks up. “I would make the same guess,” he says, like a real bro. “If only this weapon hadn’t broken, we could have tested its limits of disruption! But our plans have been disrupted there… I’d like to see how something like this would go up against the different types of barriers out there.”

“Zhao Hua Temple’s barriers, perhaps?” Shen Qingqiu suggests.

Yue Qingyuan audibly sighs.

“Of course, they won’t wish to see proof that there are demon lords preparing to invade,” Shen Qingqiu says icily. “How remiss of me to forget that fact. What does it matter if a demon lord’s daughter was swinging around a previously unseen weapon like a child’s favorite new toy?”

AN: So, when I say that I want to breathe new life into the canon scenes that I’m redoing and reinterpreting, my goal for this one was to really... build up the upcoming Immortal Alliance Conference and actually connect Sha Hualing’s invasion to... well... anything.

In SVSSS, Sha Hualing’s invasion happening is just following PIDW events apparently, and SVSSS in my opinion isn’t... really too interested in PIDW worldbuilding or Sha Hualing’s character from the standpoint that this really is a real world now. It’s all about Shen Yuan reliving the PIDW plot.

So, if I’ve put 200,000+ words at this point into actually trying to establish that this is a real world, these are real people, there are real long-lasting politics and sect relations, that world elements aren’t just spawning into existence when the plot needs them and exist now, even if I’ve been doing so kind of as a joke because I think it’s funny to make Shang Qinghua deal with that, I wanted to actually try to place and connect Sha Hualing’s invasion to other story elements and place Sha Hualing’s character in relation to the others.

Here, Sha Hualing’s invasion is a spoiled and violent child looking to make herself look good and cause trouble, as it is in SVSSS, but here it’s emphasized that Sha Hualing really is 1) a child, 2) a demon lord’s child, and 3) a future demon lord herself. And Sha Hualing is showing off her family’s inventions in preparation for the Immortal Alliance Conference. This is a move that has consequences for her and for Cang Qiong Mountain Sect, and will continue to have consequences for her (partially indebted to MBJ’s clan) and for Cang Qing Mountain Sect (it makes them look bad in front of the other Great Sects).

“Aha, off the top of my head? I couldn’t say! But… I would suspect part of this weapon came from the far north of the Demon Realm...”

“Zhao Hua Temple’s barriers, perhaps?” Shen Qingqiu suggests.

Yue Qingyuan audibly sighs.

AN: Me to myself: “...Is there canonical evidence that Mobei-Jun can read and write???” Because, like, the impression I get from this guy is that he basically raised himself and barely survived, so the System could interpret that to make an AU in which MBJ never learned to read or write.

Mobei-Jun can read and write in “pride is not the word I’m looking for”, Shang Qinghua is just exaggerating here because he’s a little miffed.

But it’s kind of tempting to write an AU now in which SQH realizes early-on in knowing MBJ that... his king can’t really read or write... his upbringing was so shitty and his father was so careless that MBJ never learned more than a few words that he picked up from context. That’s fucking horrifying. MBJ’s poor socialization and communication levels reach new heights!

“It’s just that something like that happened before, remember, Uncle?” Binghe presses. “With the skinner demon? That same light and that same warm, almost burning feeling! It was different this time - that weapon wasn’t going to hit me, I was blocking it; I know that I was blocking it the right way - but it’s too similar, isn’t it?”

“It’s… very similar,” Shang Qinghua agrees slowly.

“System?! Bro?! This is your fault!” he thinks. “Why the fuck are you leaving these explanations to me?! If you take points off me for any of this, you piece of shit, I’m going to find a way to strangle you, I swear! Preemptively: fuck off!”

Shang Qinghua lets himself visibly think about, trying to figure out what the fuck to say here. Binghe looks up at him like he’s trying to see into Shang Qinghua’s head to watch his thoughts come together. It’s a lot of pressure to put on a man all of a sudden! Binghe is too clever to be easily fooled by weak bullshit! How is a man supposed to come up with a decent lie under these circumstances?

“Well, ah, it’s happened when you’ve come into contact with demons who are trying to kill you, so it seems like it’s… some kind of unique reaction between that demonic energy and your spiritual energy,” Shang Qinghua says finally, because it’s better than explaining that there’s some shitty, no-good god-like being invested in a predestined plot. “Strange things happen sometimes in life-or-death situations, you know. Cultivators can accidentally pull off great feats sometimes when they’re desperate or panicked, without knowing how they did it.”

Binghe doesn’t look very reassured. Which makes sense, because a long-winded way of saying “I don’t know, it sounds like a freak accident to me” isn’t really reassuring.

AN: This, plus Sha Hualing’s invasion, is about Shang Qinghua’s coming up against the consequences of his choices. He can’t really have everything at once! He’s managed to have a lot all at once so far, but the time for Binghe’s demon reveal is coming closer, and Shang Qinghua is going to have to make some tough decisions and live with them. He’s going to have to deal with the people in his life having opinions on his tough decisions.

Shang Qinghua is trying to keep the System happy, with his eyes on the end goal of keeping Binghe out of the Abyss, which makes him unwilling to take certain risks deviating from the plot. But, if you’re looking at it from the perspective of someone who doesn’t know about the System or the plot, Shang Qinghua’s decision-making seems completely illogical.

Binghe is too clever not to at least notice that there’s some bullshit happening here. He doesn’t know what his uncle isn’t telling him, but Shang Qinghua isn’t the greatest bold-faced liar, so he knows there’s something.

At the end of the day, Shang Qinghua leaves his fellow Peak Lords (Shen Qingqiu, Qi Qingqi, Liu Qingge, and Tang Qingling) arguing in circles over cold trails (Yue Qingyuan is stuck refereeing, poor bastard). He returns to his Leisure House and finds a familiar ice demon lounging in his sitting room, eating some of his snacks.

“My king, did you help Sha Hualing escape?!” Shang Qinghua demands.

“She did not contribute,” Mobei-Jun answers.

Mobei-Jun looks good, like breaking in and out of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect last night was no trouble for him. Why would it be any trouble for him? He’s been doing it for years and years without getting caught, after all!

“How did you bypass the cell’s seals so cleanly?” Shang Qinghua wonders, as he puts some papers aside and kicks off his boots.

The cell doors hadn’t been ripped off its hinges, just… taken off like they were never attached… which combined with the ice-related injuries on the guards, plus the fact that the intruder slipped in like a shadow and left the same way, kind of gave the whole thing away.

Mobei-Jun raises his eyebrows. “You have shown me many such protections.”

“Ah… yeah… I guess I did do that.”

AN: Presenting Sha Hualing as I did: a dangerous and political figure even though she’s only a teenager, was also meant to reflect on Shang Qinghua’s relationship with Mobei-Jun. Mobei-Jun is the enemy. Mobei-Jun may be on Shang Qinghua’s side and his own side, but he is not on Cang Qiong Mountain Sect’s side and he has loyalties to people in direct opposition to Cang Qiong Mountain Sect.

Sha Hualing is, in many ways, Mobei-Jun’s people. He’s completely unfazed by her violence. To him, Sha Hualing’s behavior is normal and expected, if the foolishness and arrogance of someone trying to act grown-up. He is not human. He is from a completely different world to Shang Qinghua.

And their separate worlds are now colliding.

Shang Qinghua really can’t have everything he wants here. He’s a traitor and, realistically, he can’t expect that not to come out sooner or later. He’s making decisions for the sect (releasing SHL to prevent another demon invasion (and also to keep the plot on track)) that Yue Qingyuan might have agreed with if he knew the full picture of SQH’s spying (all he knows at the moment is that SQH has informants), but that YQY doesn’t know about and so can’t agree with, so SQH is acting beyond his authority letting MBJ break SHL out.

It’s a mess! It’s not sustainable! Shang Qinghua’s old character role and his new character role can’t continue to coexist like this.

Thinking of worrying unnecessarily, desperate to change the subject away from the looming plot, Shang Qinghua brings up the very important subject of Mobei-Jun possibly, maybe, if he has the time, letting him know when to expect him, when he’s going somewhere, and when he’ll be back. He’s brought this up before, though mostly in a “my king, this humble servant would really appreciate it if you at least learned to knock, but if that’s too much to ask, it’s fine, it’s really fine, never mind, forget I brought it up” kind of way.

He only realizes just how daring it sounds after he says it! He’s always kind of figured that the proud Mobei-Jun would take offense to the concept of being at Shang Qinghua’s beck and call in any way. Why would Mobei-Jun need to explain himself?

“Why?” Mobei-Jun even says.

“...Why?” Shang Qinghua repeats, kind of hoping that he wouldn't have to explain the things he asks for. Mobei-Jun said he could ask for things, but he has to explain himself too? That's really too much. “I didn’t get to see you at all while I was gone! I got back and I didn’t know when I’d get to see you again, my king.”

This gets him another random pinch to the cheek, but it also gets him another surprising kiss. Mobei-Jun is apparently not even a little bit offended by this request. So it’s fine! This one thing, at least, is really fine.

AN: But Mobei-Jun is also becoming one of SQH’s rocks in many ways! This relationship is new and exciting and comforting! Giving up or betraying Mobei-Jun is completely out of the question for Shang Qinghua.

I’m kind of fucking loving these secret forbidden romance vibes.

If Shang Qinghua asked, Mobei-Jun would whisk him away from everything right now, but he understands that Shang Qinghua needs to be here for his nephew, his sister-in-laws, and his students. With his father as king, Mobei-Jun doesn’t have the position or authority yet to make any kind of peace with CQMS. MBJ’s relationship with SQH could get him in deep shit with his father, with his uncle, and with other demon lords.

Shang Qinghua is a filthy traitor and he’s dragging MBJ down with him.

#tossawary commentary #tossawary svsss #pride is not the word

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tossawary · 4 years ago

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Chapter 28: “A Growing Family” of “pride is not the word I’m looking for” quotes and commentary. Not a full list of favorite quotes or full commentary.

The fact that Shen Qingqiu is waiting for them, just outside of Yue Qingyuan’s office, really doesn’t help the dread that Shang Qinghua is feeling here.

A stocky young woman is standing attentively beside the seated Peak Lord. This is that Fu Qiang character, one of Binghe’s favorite shijies on Qing Jing Peak, here to whisk Peerless Cucumber away for a one-to-one chat on the other transmigrator’s potential relationship to the House of Rejuvenation. Or maybe to give the kid a tutoring session on recovering memories from trauma or something! Shang Qinghua doesn’t know exactly, not having been invited to sit in.

“Shidi,” Shen Qingqiu greets coolly.

“Greetings, Shen-Shixiong,” Shang Qinghua returns, feeling sweaty already, but also weirdly giddy. He’s tempted to wink, but he’s pretty sure that would get him killed. “How are you? You look very well! Aha, how did those ‘other engagements’ go the other day? Meet with anyone? Have a good time?”

Over the top of his elegant fan, Shen Qingqiu immediately gives him a look that could probably kill a lesser man - or maybe a greater one, like someone who has more dignity and shame and whatever than Shang Qinghua does. Shang Qinghua doesn’t flinch. He assumes that the meeting with Yue Qingyuan went well! Which is great! Super great! If it had gone badly, he’s pretty sure that Shen Qingqiu wouldn’t even be setting foot on Qiong Ding Peak now - or at least would have been projecting “I’ll kill to get out of here and I’m mentally picking all my victims” hard enough to send all the Qiong Ding Peak disciples and cultivators off like panicked chickens.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Shen Qingqiu says, downright frosty now. “Shang-Shidi must have been paying too much attention to nonsense gossip again.”

“Ah, of course! Of course! My mistake, Shen-Shixiong! Please forgive me!”

Shang Qinghua looks to his fellow transmigrator next, to reintroduce them, only to find Shen Yuan making a very strange expression. Shen Yuan is looking between Shang Qinghua and Shen Qingqiu kind of like he’s never seen them before. His mouth is even a little open and everything. It takes the kid a few seconds to realize that he has two Peak Lords staring at him and to swallow the strange expression.

AN: Shen Yuan knows that 1) SQQ came to meet SQH personally immediately after their mission was over, 2) SQH stayed in bed the following day for a LONG time, and 3) SQH had a hickey on his neck.

So when Shang Qinghua makes a reference to the meeting that SQQ had with Yue Qingyuan, almost flirtatiously asking if Shen Qingqiu “met with anyone” and “had a good time”, Shen Yuan is going to draw his own conclusions.

Namely, that Shang Qinghua and Shen Qingqiu might be sleeping together.

After all, Shen Yuan doesn’t know about the YQY and SQQ backstory! Shen Yuan only knows that Shang Qinghua is weirdly friendly with PIDW’s most famous scum villain and that Shen Qingqiu apparently likes SQH enough not to be an asshole to Luo Binghe. Shang Qinghua kind of talks like they’re friend, so what if they’re... more than friends?!

Meanwhile, Shang Qinghua cannot fathom anyone EVER considering that he and SHEN QINGQIU might be lovers. It’s not an idea that he is in a position to have because what the fuck?!

I was tickled pink when I realized that things were in position to have the disciples think that Shangjiu is a thing. I was already planning on having them notice Shang Qinghua’s brand-new-relationship good mood. Shen Yuan may not notice when people are in love with HIM, but he did still read a twenty-million-word stallion web-novel, so he’s totally prepared to assume that secret affairs are happening for OTHER PEOPLE.

His fellow transmigrator hastily performs the appropriate greeting. Shen Qingqiu doesn’t reply beyond inclining his head, instead sweeping his eyes over Shen Yuan, who stands hilariously still like he’s facing down a predator, except for how the kid squints back a little at the Lord of Qing Jing Peak. Ha! That’s pretty fearless coming from someone still so unnerved by the man who would have Proud Immortal Demon Way’s most famous scum villain.

“Fu Qiang,” Shen Qingqiu says finally. “I have instructed Assistant Ma to set aside a private room for your discussion. You may take Disciple Shen there now.”

“Yes, Shizun.”

The other disciple gestures for Shen Yuan to follow and the other transmigrator hastily takes her up on that. As the disciples disappear, Shen Qingqiu rises and, without a word, leads Shang Qinghua into Yue Qingyuan’s office.

AN: It’s tempting to try and make Shen Qingqiu and Shen Yuan actually develop more of a relationship than “passing acquaintance”, but the thing is that I can’t see either of them really going for it without being forced or without a very serious push. They’re both so prickly.

Yue Qingyuan greets him in a friendly manner, like he’s genuinely pleased to see Shang Qinghua and happy to help. Shang Qinghua greets the man in the same way. It’s nice! It also kind of feels like they’re both pretending the past few months of awkwardness, resentment, and avoidance never happened.

AN: It felt a little more true to life and to the characters to have Shang Qinghua and Yue Qingyuan just... move forward instead of getting into their issues with each other and what apologies may be due.

It’s kind of like a mutual: “What if we didn’t talk about it?”

And they’re both like, “Oh, thank fuck.”

I think that if they both brew on it a bit more, they may eventually decide to try to assuage their respective anger or guilt by saying something, but right now they’re feeling raw and/or embarrassed, and don’t want to accidentally get into it again. So they’ll talk about work! They always have work to talk about! Work is more important than personal matters, so they’re just going to pretend everything is fine!

It’s not just the System who won’t let the Immortal Alliance Conference not happen! But, ahhh, Shang Qinghua can still dream of them actually managing to convince Zhao Hua Temple Sect and everyone else to call the whole thing off. He can dream!

Yue Qingyuan has this pained expression that says, “You’re not wrong, but I wish you were.” This guy knows what Shang Qinghua is talking about!

Shen Qingqiu has this expression that says something like, “I can only critique the accuracy of your assessment on the grounds that you may be giving our fellow cultivators too much credit in terms of common sense and cooperation. This annoys me immensely.”

“You have put a great deal of thought into this,” Yue Qingyuan says finally. “You received this news… when exactly… again?”

“Ah, yesterday morning?” Shang Qinghua answers.

“While in bed with a demon lord,” he doesn’t elaborate. Nope! Not elaborating!

“I know it’s not- I’ll try to get more information, but everyone is still in the planning stages, and it’s not easy getting any information!” Shang Qinghua says defensively. “But, even with that, I thought, ‘Ah, my shixiongs will probably want to know right away!’ Someone will need to tell Zhao Hua to take precautions, at least?”

Yue Qingyuan visibly regathers himself and says, “It is better to know these things as soon as possible. Thank you, Qinghua, for this forewarning.”

“He’s very good at knowing these things,” Shen Qingqiu agrees, but the man’s gaze is like a very sharp pin and Shang Qinghua is but a lowly insect under it. “When might you be expected to know more about this?”

“Ah, I’ll have to get in contact with… ah, some people I know.”

AN: Of course YQY and SQQ want to know more about where SQH is getting this information, but for all they know he might just have gotten a tip-off from one of his merchant contacts or someone in the black market. This has been brewing for a while between these demon lords and the cultivation sects. It’s really bad news, but it’s also not really that surprising.

According to the Airplane Extras, when MBJ and SQH meet, Airplane offhandedly mentions that Mobei-Jun’s clan and Huan Hua Palace Sect have a serious grudge from a conflict at a previous Immortal Alliance Conference. In PINTWILF, this conference is why the IACs got cancelled and had to be recently “revived”. The coming IAC is the 3rd since this revival.

Shang Qinghua has proven himself reliable enough by this point that YQY and SQQ will let him keep his informants close to his chest. Between SQH’s years of improved services (helped by actually getting his personal disciples to help him) and SQH’s interference in their personal issues, they do actually trust him.

So, yeah, they think he’s a squirmy little rat man.

But he’s THEIR squirmy little rat man who has come through in times of need. Also, SQQ, for all his glaring, might stab YQY if he started giving SQH a hard time about this. Sometimes a shidi just wants you to back the fuck off, YQY! Let him have his secrets! Even though SQQ absolutely wants to know SQH’s secrets and is on the verge of dying of curiosity.

I am VERY MUCH looking forward to them finding out that Shang Qinghua has a demon prince for a boyfriend. That’s going to be fun.

“I have also been… considering the advantages of lessons and between Peaks to encourage both cooperation and… survival skills,” Shen Qingqiu says next. “Rarely does one become a master of all disciplines - the Twelve Peaks allow for many of our sect to become specialists, masters of one art - but it seems unwise not to be learned in the basics of as many life-saving arts as one is able.”

“A diversity of learning can be very beneficial,” Yue Qingyuan agrees immediately.

“My disciple, Fu Qiang, has become a very adept medic over the years, though this was in the hopes of avoiding visiting Qian Cao Peak. The head disciples of An Ding, as I understand it, have sought to take special lessons from Qian Cao and Xian Shu to improve themselves."

“Ah, that explains how Hongpeng spied on Peerless Cucumber back when the little bro was still in Mu Qingfang’s clutches,” Shang Qinghua thinks. “And, ah, Shen Bro, I don’t know how to tell you this, but Wenjiao goes to Xian Shu Peak mostly to moon over pretty girls, especially my little sister-in-law.”

"There is also the example of Qi-Shimei’s most frustrating disciple, who must be routinely dragged away from Bai Zhan, but who has also apparently helped to improve her fellow Xian Shu disciples’ martial abilities.”

"Ah, that's one of putting Qi Qingqi letting Luo Fanli and Liu Mingyan fight each other in order to hopefully wear them both out," Shang Qinghua thinks.

“Even if demons should not attack, though only a limited number of our disciples will be attending the Immortal Alliance Conference, it would nevertheless be beneficial to ensure that all disciples across the sect are well-equipped to keep themselves alive until the specialists arrive,” Shen Qingqiu finishes. “Shang-Shidi, as one of the most well-connected leading members of our sect, the organization of such an initiative would be best left in your hands.”

AN: Okay, so I know that this is kind of a weird thing to be coming from Shen Qingqiu, but he’s grown a bit over the course of this fic! AND he’s totally coming at it from the perspective of: “I don’t have to cooperate or get along with anyone beyond what I’m doing now.”

So SQQ is like, “My disciples are stupid. We should have more field medics.”

And he’s like, “Some people’s disciples can’t fight for shit and we should make sure they know more self-defense.”

And he’s like, “Liu Qingge’s disciples are animals. Someone at least teach them how to protect other disciples and how to not bleed to death, because he won’t. That man doesn’t teach them anything.”

And he’s like, “Shang Qinghua, you do that. I don’t want to.”

Peerless Cucumber’s conversation with Shen Qingqiu’s disciple is long over, but apparently his fellow transmigrator didn’t just leave afterwards. Yue Qingyuan’s youngest assistant intercepts to politely point Shang Qinghua towards their waiting room. Shen Yuan is asleep in a chair, with one of his cultivation manuals open in his lap. Judging by his pose, Shang Qinghua is going to guess that the kid was trying some kind of meditation and ended up taking a nap by accident.

It happens to the best of them sometimes! Or at least to Shang Qinghua!

“Ah, I told you not to wait on me. Come on, bro, I don’t want to have to carry you back,” Shang Qinghua says, while jostling the kid awake. “You’re too big for that. My nephew is too big for that these days. Just because it would be nostalgic for me and just because I can doesn’t mean that I want to be carrying you around like a sack of vegetables.”

AN: If Shang Qinghua can haul Mobei-Jun around, then he could pick up Shen Yuan no problem. Also, this is the bit where I was like, “Wow, I have very much made SQH into SY’s dad here.”

Even SVSSS SQH gives me Uncle Vibes, to be honest. The man wants to pop into Bingqiu’s life, ask some nosy questions, be treated to a free meal (who doesn’t), tell some bad jokes, offer some terrible advice, complain about his workload, and then flounce off again with his boyfriend. SVSSS SQH seems to like being useful and appreciated and part of the group, but in a way where he’s not directly attached to anyone, you know? Give SVSSS SQH the benefits, but none of the responsibilities!

Shang Qinghua is kind of sick of this roundabout conversation and decides to bring out the big guns: a move taught to him by his extremely powerful sister-in-law, who has effortlessly defeated their resident War God. He knows the effectiveness of this technique personally, because Luo Jiahui has used it to defeat him many times. He puts on the best concerned face he has.

“Yuan,” he says seriously, looking the kid directly in the eye. “I’m not making jokes here about not skipping out on cultivating. It’s not always going to be fun - a lot of the time, it’s going to be pretty embarrassing and a little painful. Bro, I was an adult stuck in a teenage body, regularly getting my ass handed to me by actual teenagers. That was awful. But I really need you to keep doing it, even if you don’t become the next War God ready to challenge the protagonist, because I don’t want you to die. This shitty world isn’t safe. And if you want to be involved in these missions, then I need you to be able to carry yourself, or we’re both going to get trampled by some OP monster wandering out of an advanced chapter early instead of fixing anything here.”

Shen Yuan is having difficulty meeting his eyes. He keeps trying to force himself to look at Shang Qinghua and then looking away again automatically.

Shang Qinghua employs another of his sister-in-law’s immensely powerful techniques: he reaches out and puts a hand on the kid’s shoulder. “I will tell you stuff when I have stuff to tell you and when I can tell it to you. You’ve been super helpful, I’m going to need your help in the future, but I need you to be a little patient right now too.”

Shen Yuan nods. “...Fine.”

AN: Shang Qinghua: “I can’t believe that I’m tricking this person into thinking I’m a good person by being nice to them and looking after them and doing good things. I have learned this behavior for TRICKING PURPOSES only and have NOT accidentally adopted yet another kid.”

Shang Qinghua can’t answer the question right now! Leave a message!

He’s too busy replaying all the times he’s seen his nephew and his fellow transmigrator interact. Binghe did ask after Shen Yuan every time that he and Shang Qinghua talked, while the other transmigrator was on Qian Cao and after he came to An Ding, but… Shang Qinghua just thought his nephew was being polite and curious? Peerless Cucumber stands out! Binghe didn’t act too weirdly about it!

Luo Binghe is supposed to be a stallion protagonist with 600 wives!

Although… Shang Qinghua’s nephew has never really shown any interest in that kind of thing. Which Shang Qinghua has been pretty glad about! He doesn’t want to have 600 nieces-in-law! He also doesn’t want that for his nephew!

The protagonist of Proud Immortal Demon Way ’s harem was basically a snake pit of drama and desperation and decaying fantasies. For everyone who could read between the lines of empty papapa to see Airplane Shooting Towards The Sky’s tragic story of resentment and revenge, it wouldn’t be inaccurate to say the tyrannical, broken protagonist was like a black hole, dragging everyone else into orbit around this man who couldn’t really love anyone! You can take a blackened protagonist out of the Eternal Abyss, but you can’t take that abyss out of the blackened protagonist, right?

The original Luo Binghe didn’t take wives because he was in love. He took wives because he could! Because they were beautiful or powerful or useful! Because he pitied them! Because he liked being their savior! Because he didn't want anyone else to have them! Because he liked being an object of envy and desire and love! Because it was expected of him, as the man all the readers wanted to be, who was supposed to have everything a man could ever want!

“...Ah, there are… some implications there,” Airplane Shooting Towards The Sky realizes, remembering just how half-hearted most of that harem bullshit was. “Maybe a bent man wrote a kind of bent protagonist by accident? Who knows?”

“Da-Ge?” Fanli says. “Da-Ge, didn’t you know?”

AN: I’ve said this before, but there’s a meta argument to be made in regards to Luo Binghe and obligatory heterosexuality.

Also, from what I remember, Airplane didn’t actually seem to care too much about Luo Binghe being interested in Shen Yuan. In the Airplane Extras, Airplane says that in the original version of PIDW that he never got to write, Luo Binghe actually ended up totally alone at the end of the story. He was apparently planning a pretty downer ending for Luo Binghe. But Luo Binghe ended up getting a huge harem instead because that’s what the readers wanted!

So, my impression is, that when SVSSS Airplane first realizes that LBH is into men (and into SQQ specifically), he does a little bit of self-reflection and also reflection on PIDW, then just goes, “Huh. That makes... sense.”

“Though, aha, I can’t remember Shen-Shixiong ever really not being kind of angry at me and I’m not dead yet. I had to talk really fast sometimes, but I lived! Now go away.”

When Shang Qinghua looks up, all of his disciples are staring at him. They all look surprised, except for Shen Yuan, who looks embarrassed. Shang Qinghua would guess that someone cracked a dirty joke, but that doesn’t seem right.

"What?"

“...Shifu, how long have you known Shen-Shibo?” Chen Xuan asks.

“Since we were disciples? Ah, I think he hated me at first sight.”

“But you’re close now?” Lin Wenjiao blurts out.

“Closer, ” Shang Qinghua agrees warily. “Aha, don’t think that any of you can ask me for favors to do with Shen Qingqiu or Qing Jing Peak too! That’s not happening! Disciple Luo, Shen, get out of here before you give my disciples any more weird ideas.”

AN: Okay, so what happened is that as soon as Luo Fanli and Shang Qinghua left the room, Shen Yuan was like, “...Shang Qinghua and Shen Qingqiu are... very close? Are they...?”

And SQH’s disciples are like, “Holy shit, are you asking if SQH and SQQ are romantically involved?!” And SQH’s disciples laugh in SY’s face because that’s RIDICULOUS. Which makes SY really embarrassed and defensive! SQH’s disciples ask why he would EVER think a thing like that.

SY provides the evidence. It’s a reasonable conclusion!

And then SQH’s disciples are like, “...Holy shit?!”

And then SY is like, “Wait, maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned that.”

But it’s too late. SQH’s disciples are already putting all the evidence together and there is SO MUCH EVIDENCE of something going on there.

I know I refer to this ship as “Shangjiu”, but that’s mostly just to specify which Shen Qingqiu and I doubt that anyone in Cang Qiong Mountain Sect dares to call SQQ “Jiu” besides YQY. They’d probably actually end up calling it something along the lines of “The Premise” like original Star Trek: The Original Series Kirk/Spock shippers. (See Fanlore or something for more info on that.)

Again, SQH cannot... CONCEIVE of them conceiving this idea.

By the time that Mobei-Jun shows up at his Leisure House, Shang Qinghua is a little on the edge! Honestly, he’s kind of off the edge, dangling from a very thin branch just underneath the cliff’s edge, and that thin branch is making some very concerning noises! Sure, at least the demon lord isn’t late, but Shang Qinghua is suddenly reminded of just how intimidating Mobei-Jun looks! Also, he’s cleaned up his house and knows his sister-in-law knows he’s kind of a slob sometimes, but he’s so sure that she’s still going to judge his cleaning job! What if she blames Mobei-Jun for it? (She’d be right to blame him a little! The man can be kind of lazy and messy sometimes too!)

A cool hand at Shang Qinghua’s hip prevents him from walking around in circles, repositioning disobedient cushions and offending tables. Shang Qinghua looks up at Mobei-Jun, who moves his hand to where Shang Qinghua’s neck meets shoulder.

“Stop it,” Mobei-Jun says.

AN: It’s really funny thinking about how all of Mobei-Jun’s gentle and affectionate behaviors towards SQH are totally learned. This does not come naturally to the man. If SQH was having a panic attack, Mobei-Jun’s first (panicked) instinct would be to bark at him to stop it.

“It’s just… Jiahui is… it didn’t have to be this way for us? I would have just helped her get to safety and left her to live her life without me, but she didn’t let that happen, even though her family wasn’t any good either, so why would she want another one?” Shang Qinghua tries to explain. “She chose me? She looked out for me. She helped me understand a lot of things. Even though she probably could have picked anyone else. I don’t really know where I’d be right now if she didn’t? Ah, probably… not talking to or trusting anyone ever? You remember what things used to be like.”

“Yes.”

“I’ve never really liked any of the sisters I’ve had before very much,” Shang Qinghua admits. “Ah, but they didn’t like me either, so it worked. Anyway! It’s… important to me that things work out now because…”

“I don’t want to choose,” Shang Qinghua doesn’t say.

He clears his throat instead.

“Qinghua.”

Shang Qinghua forces himself to look up from his hands on Mobei-Jun’s collar.

“I am glad that you were not without someone to trust,” Mobei-Jun says, though it sounds like it takes effort. “Your sister has nothing to fear from me.”

Mobei-Jun has already made this promise, but it’s good to hear it again.

“Thank you, my king. I’ll, ah- I should go get her now.”

AN: Mobei-Jun is jealous. He is very, VERY jealous.

BUT Mobei-Jun can also see some parallels here. Luo Jiahui is to Shang Qinghua in many ways what Shang Qinghua is to him. Mobei-Jun understands the importance of this relationship and of this person. He understands that Jiahui and SQH’s relationship is not romantic, of course, and understands her to be the “head of the family”, so he has to force himself not to act on his jealousy.

I think that a part of Mobei-Jun might see jealousy as something very negative? Thinking about what I said about Mobei-Jun’s hang-ups surrounding consent and possessiveness possibly originating with his father being a wife-stealer, Mobei-Jun can’t act on his jealousy for the same reasons that he needs Shang Qinghua to make the first explicit moves. He wants Shang Qinghua to choose him and to choose him of his own free will.

So, he’s jealous when he hears about how LJH chose SQH and SQH chose LJH, but he can’t act on it because 1) he loves SQH and 2) he’s (possibly unconsciously) terrified of becoming his father and creating resentment that will ripple out into his family potentially for generations.

It’s so, so weird to see his human sister-in-law sitting across from a demon lord. Luo Jiahui is not a tall woman and her cultivation is very good these days, but she’s not a warrior. Seeing the height and width differences side-by-side make them really obvious! Mobei-Jun is at least twice Shang Qinghua’s sister-in-law’s size! He has to be easily twice her weight!

When Luo Jiahui puts food in front of Mobei-Jun, Shang Qinghua gets huge “I dare you to not eat my food” messages! It took a really long time before Mobei-Jun seemed to accept that Shang Qinghua really wouldn’t take every available opportunity to hand him poison. Thankfully, however, Mobei-Jun has eaten Luo Jiahui’s food before! Shang Qinghua has shared his sister-in-law's food with the demon lord! Shang Qinghua also communicated beforehand that Mobei-Jun has to eat the food. No matter what!

So, Mobei-Jun eats the food and Shang Qinghua breathes a sigh of relief. Mobei-Jun even goes so far as to tell Luo Jiahui that she’s a good cook (above and beyond social interaction! Also delivered kind of awkwardly!), which his sister-in-law accepts with thanks (and also maybe just a little bit as her rightful due).

Luo Jiahui already knows the basics of Mobei-Jun: that he’s an ice demon, the son of the Northern Demon King, and he’s going to be the next Northern Demon King. She already knows that he’s a warrior and that his time is mostly spent tending to his duties, usually on his father’s behalf. She even knows that demon families can be kind of violently competitive and that Mobei-Jun’s family is no exception.

So, when she finally decides to speak seriously, she says, “My brother is very important to me. I have told him that if he is happy, then I’m happy for him. He has told me that you are very important to him.”

AN: Mobei-Jun is going to hold that revelation close to his chest for WEEKS. Shang Qinghua said that Mobei-Jun is very important to him!

Juggling the tension of this scene was weird.

Because, like, Mobei-Jun is not a kind or a gentle or a good person. He’s disdainful of humanity. It’s kind of a mindfuck for him to be having a meal with a strange human who is not of the things he has been raised to respect.

Meanwhile, Luo Jiahui is fucking terrified of Mobei-Jun, dislikes him, and doesn’t want to like him. He’s a stranger who could destroy her family. He looks kind of monstrous. He acts strangely.

But they HAVE TO BE CIVIL to each other for Shang Qinghua’s sake.

So they are.

Mobei-Jun tries not to make any scary moves around the soft human.

Luo Jiahui tries to act like MBJ is a normal person and to be polite.

They are both very out of their depth.

“...Shang Qinghua saved my life,” Mobei-Jun says, which is the first time he’s spoken without someone else speaking to him first. “Many times, he has done this.”

Luo Jiahui sets down her teacup, listening expectantly.

“Even when I did not trust him, and he did not trust me, Qinghua has always provided shelter and safety,” Mobei-Jun says slowly, solemnly. “Medicine, when I have been injured. Direction, when I have been lost. Company and loyalty. This is rare.”

“Yes,” Luo Jiahui agrees.

“The trust I have put in him has never been betrayed.”

Shang Qinghua kind of feels like he’s overheating here - like maybe his heart is melting! Mobei-Jun as a character has always prized loyalty above all! “I had no fucking clue,” he thinks. “Honestly, how the FUCK did I have no fucking clue?! Hindsight is incredible!”

“I would not betray him,” Mobei-Jun says, looking to Shang Qinghua directly. “My life has been his since the day we met.”

Shang Qinghua tries not to melt even more. Mobei-Jun is supposed to be an ice demon! What the hell is this?! It’s unfair! It’s embarrassing! It’s too much!

“...Good,” Luo Jiahui says, determinedly. “I’m happy to hear that. My hard-working brother needs someone to appreciate and cherish him.”

“Yes.”

AN: Mobei-Jun is like, “Humans use words. I need to use words. I need to be direct about this because humans are bad at understanding things.”

And Luo Jiahui is like, “Oh my, you are very intense. Okay.”

Mobei-Jun nods. “I did not think a human would ever care for a demon child.”

Luo Jiahui frowns a little. “Oh?”

“I admire this,” Mobei-Jun amends, frowning back. “I do not know how humans are raised. It is good that your child has never had to doubt his safety here.”

“...Of course.”

“It is clear that your child is loved beyond his bloodline.”

“Of course,” Luo Jiahui insists, with an offended note in her voice. “When I found Binghe in that river, I didn’t know he was part demon, but I would have taken him in anyway! Whoever the parent is, whatever the parent has done, it’s never the baby’s fault. Even if a parent has done something wrong, then babies shouldn’t suffer for it. All children should be cherished.”

Luo Jiahui’s voice breaks a little, her eyes turning wet. Shang Qinghua fumbles for a handkerchief to offer his sister-in-law, which she accepts gratefully.

He wonders if she’s thinking about her stillborn baby. She doesn’t talk about her other baby very often, but she does sometimes. She told him once that she observes that day. It’s something that she insists on doing alone.

“...I was left in the human world as a young child,” Mobei-Jun says.

Shang Qinghua’s head snaps up. He knows that, but that’s because he wrote that. He has never, ever heard Mobei-Jun talk about it before.

“Oh, no,” Luo Jiahui says.

“I was nearly killed by humans,” Mobei-Jun informs them.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Luo Jiahui says.

“It was my uncle’s doing. He wishes to see me dead.” Mobei-Jun says this like it’s just another fact of life, not even an upsetting one, which kind of makes it one of the saddest fucking things that Shang Qinghua has ever heard the man say.

“That’s terrible,” Luo Jiahui says vehemently. “How rotten.”

Mobei-Jun blinks at her. His expression is still solemn, but the pause seems surprised.

Shang Qinghua almost wants to shrug. Yep, his sister-in-law is just like this!

“I have promised Qinghua that I will protect your son,” Mobei-Jun says to her. “I make you the same promise now.”

“...Thank you.”

AN: Mobei-Jun is like, “I understand you to be one of the rare humans who is not a piece of shit and who would have saved me as a child. I respect this. I don’t fucking understand it, but I understand you should be protected and that your child should be protected. I am doing this for Shang Qinghua and not because I have any personal issues surrounding the endangerment of demon children.”

Luo Jiahui is like, “Oh, he’s soft inside! He’ll protect my Binghe. Okay, I like him now. I didn’t want to, but anyone who basically professes to be willing to die for my child and my brother has my reluctant approval.”

Shang Qinghua can’t help it. The energy in here is so weird! He laughs.

“My king, have you had that all this time?”

Mobei-Jun doesn’t say anything, he just frowns.

“Clearly he was waiting to return it in person, Houhua,” Luo Jiahui admonishes. “It’s not his fault that you took so long introducing us or surely he would have returned it sooner. Don’t make it out to be impolite.”

Mobei-Jun gives Shang Qinghua’s sister-in-law an approving look.

AN: Mobei-Jun is like, “Oh, she’s smarter than Qinghua. Good. (Not that my Shang Qinghua isn’t very clever, but he’s an idiot.)”

And sometimes it’s just nice to take a minute to sit back, relax, and see his disciples daring their shidi, his fellow transmigrator, to chug the spiciest soup on the menu.

“Ah, kids,” Shang Qinghua says to Luo Jiahui.

Luo Jiahui is making a very concerned expression as her sisters, Shang Qinghua’s head disciples, and even Liu Mingyan chant: “Chug! Chug! Chug!” Yeah, he should probably stop them! But why would he? If anyone throws up from this, he’ll just appear out of nowhere to scare the shit out of all of them and then make them clean it up. It’s fine. He says as much to Luo Jiahui.

“They’re old enough to know better,” she says, but she looks fond now. “Their shifu should have taught them better manners, hm?”

“Hey! Only… four of those are mine.”

AN: Friends for Shen Yuan! Friends for Shen Yuan!

Also SQH being like, “Oh, fuck, I really have too many kids.”

Luo Jiahui sighs wistfully. “It is nice having children in here again, even big ones who are supposed to be adults now. I’m so proud of how Binghe has grown, but I miss when he was little. I miss when I could pick him up and carry him around. Uncle Han’s daughter brought her new baby in yesterday. He was so cute!”

“Aha, don’t steal a baby to fill the empty nest, please!”

Luo Jiahui swats him. “I wouldn’t do something like that!” she insists, cheeks flushing pink.

AN: Baby?! Baby for Luo Jiahui and Liu Qingge?! Maybe!

#tossawary commentary #tossawary svsss #pride is not the word

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tossawary · 4 years ago

Text

Some random favorite lines (with commentary) of Chapter 22: “The World Moved” of “pride is not the word I’m looking for” because I’m doing a re-read. Not a full list or full commentary.

AN: I had no idea what to name this chapter at first. I try not to make my chapter titles spoiler-y. This one seemed to nicely invoke the idea of aftershocks, given the blow-ups with both Yue Qingyuan and Mobei-Jun.

Shang Qinghua is standing in the gardens outside of Qian Cao Peak’s main healing halls, just outside the main healing halls. He has no idea how he got here.

This is fucked up for a number of reasons.

Shang Qinghua isn’t the sort of person who ends up in strange locations without remembering how he got there. Sometimes he ends up in strange locations without remembering why he went there, sure; sometimes he ends up in strange locations because a hectic day-in-day-out emergency took him on a slippery path with too many stops to keep straight, sure. But he’s not really a “black out somewhere and wake up somewhere else” kind of bro. He’s, at worst, a “fall asleep in the sitting room and wake up fuzzily in the bedroom, ah, must have woken up at some point” kind of person.

AN: Someone asked me if there was any MBJ involvement in “wake up fuzzily in the bedroom” and... yeah, that’s kind of what I was going for. I have a great and terrible weakness for soft Moshang moments.

“Yue-Shibo wishes to see you at once,” she says.

“Cool.”

“...Pardon?”

“Oh, ah, I mean, sure. I’ll be there,” Shang Qinghua says, clearing his throat, then clearing his throat again, and getting to his feet. Standing feels like a real accomplishment right now. “Where is he now?”

AN: Shang Qinghua is having a Time. He is having a Time right now. Everyone is lucky that Shang Qinghua didn’t just fall back entirely into curse words and slang. Shang Qinghua as a character to me gives off the vibe of someone who can essentially just say things like, “Oh, lmao, bro.”

Shang Qinghua registers the sect leader’s orders to his underlings kind of distantly, caught up in staring at the unconscious other transmigrator.

【 CHARACTER PROFILE UPDATED: Shen Yuan.】

He’s not alone anymore.

Holy shit, he really doesn’t know how to feel about this.

AN: Can you... imagine... spending like 40+ years on another planet, essentially, which has never heard of your world and is missing a great deal of features from your world and can’t be talked about at all... and then another person from your world shows up? No one else in this world can understand what you’re going through, mostly because you can’t talk about it to anyone else.

Wild.

“There wasn- there might not have been a later!” Shang Qinghua cries in frustration, knowing just how close they came to there not being a later. “What ‘perfect time’ is there for these kinds of things? It was never not going to hurt him or you! But living like this is worse! You had nothing stopping you from saying anything you wanted! You have no one telling you how to live your life! Controlling what you can or can’t say! At any time, you could have decided you didn’t want to live this way anymore and that you didn’t want to cause the person you care about any more pain because you were too ashamed to admit your mistakes!”

Shang Qinghua has no idea how much sway the System has over people’s behaviors here, honestly, but he’s thinking not much if any! At least before it pulled another update on him! The System apparently couldn’t make Shen Qingqiu act like a total scum villain to the protagonist if the man decided he wanted to be more than that - and apparently he did! Just like the System couldn’t make Airplane Shooting Towards The Sky behave like the original Shang Qinghua!

It had to trick him into “putting the story back on track”!

What fucking excuse does Yue Qingyuan have for any of this?

AN: Shang Qinghua is aaaaangry. He didn’t want to get involved in any of this. He’s so envious of Yue Qingyuan’s comparative freedom here. Definitely one of those “I didn’t even KNOW how fucking angry I was about this” moments.

“Oh, what are you going to do?” Shang Qinghua demands of the man. “Fire me?”

Yue Qingyuan is clearly super unimpressed by this comeback.

Shang Qinghua can’t totally believe he just said it.

AN: SVSSS Shang Qinghua didn’t get fired somehow.

Shang Qinghua is so angry he can barely breathe with it. It comes out in the upending of a chair, the overturning of an end table, and then a dish shattering against a wall when the first two aren’t satisfying enough. It turns out that seeing the broken ceramic on the floor isn’t satisfying either! It doesn’t change anything!

Except now the dish is broken. It is so, so much easier to break something than to make anything and Shang Qinghua is ready to scream over it.

Millions of words! Years of his life! Years of both lives!

Shang Qinghua collapses onto the nearest upright piece of furniture in his sitting room and puts his head in his hands again. “Is the System finally getting rid of me?” he thinks, feeling like he’s going to break into a million pieces next maybe. Might just throw himself against the wall next! See how it goes! “Bro, is this it? Have you had enough of my bullshit? Enough of me changing the story? Are you replacing ME not because I’m too unstable to exist in this world too?”

They’re not good thoughts.

AN: This breakdown was SO overdue.

“Shang Qinghua, I am not going to hurt you,” the man grits out.

He doesn’t take another step forward, but the anger in the air sends Shang Qinghua another step backwards anyway! What a statement! What a promise! He laughs, unwillingly and unconvincingly.

“I know, my king, I know!” he lies. “It’s just- it’s- I’ve been having- well, you have before.”

AN: The key to Moshang in the Airplane Extras is the inevitable outburst and the fact that Airplane just straight-up leaves Mobei-Jun after everything and he’s not wrong to do it. They’re so messed up. I love them.

“My king, I… I need to be alone right now,” Shang Qinghua says hoarsely. “Please go away.”

Mobei-Jun still doesn't move.

"Please," Shang Qinghua repeats.

AN: I can’t remember what chapter this was or who I said it to, but I said to someone at some point that the key to SQH’s heart is listening to him.

“I made some pretty bad mistakes today,” Shang Qinghua confesses to her.

“That’s okay,” Luo Jiahui says easily.

“Oh?”

“We’ll fix them.”

“Ah, really? That’s a relief,” Shang Qinghua says. “I’m so glad I have you.”

His voice breaks on the last word. He can’t hide that.

AN: How much SQH means that last statement hurts in the best way.

This is… this is manageable. It’s just two new missions and another transmigrator. And then maybe another mission after that. He can handle new and weird missions. He can handle this Peerless Cucumber kid.

This is still his world, isn’t it? Even if it’s not his story anymore, he lives here!

He changed everything once! He can change it again if he has to! If the System wants him dead, it’ll have to catch him first! And he can do a little grovelling to fix everything he messed up today all by himself. Dignity? What dignity? Pride? What pride? Airplane Shooting Towards The Sky sold those things in another life! Yue Qingyuan and Mobei-Jun will have no choice but to forgive him for everything he said under stress just to get him to shut the fuck up!

Everything is going to be fine.

AN: SQH is like: “Okay, I can do this! I can do this! Just got to keep moving! I can do this if I keep moving! If I stop moving, I die, so keep moving!”

LJH and LQG: “Please go see a doctor for stress.”

#tossawary svsss #pride is not the word #tossawary commentary

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tossawary · 4 years ago

Text

Some random favorite lines (with commentary) of Chapter 23: “Swallowing Your Heart” of “pride is not the word I’m looking for” because I’m doing a re-read. Not a full list or full commentary.

Liu Qingge shoves him off his sword.

Plot twist! Betrayal! Shang Qinghua doesn’t have time to get over his shock at such an attack before Liu Qingge has caught the riderless sword in one hand and caught the swordless rider over his shoulder.

The Bai Zhan Peak War God flies on to Qian Cao Peak with his new cargo.

Shang Qinghua slaps the man on the back and wheezes.

“Have you done that move before?!” he demands, because that was so fucking smooth it’s offensive. It really does offend him! He’s super offended right now!

“Mingyan,” Liu Qingge says, like this explains everything. “And Fanli.”

It kind of does explain everything.

AN: That LQG effortlessly manhandled SQH in the same way that he manhandles his sister. This is how LQG shows affection. LMY is not a fan of it either.

“Ming Fan is a good sparring partner,” Binghe says as part of his tirade, like he’s confessing something. “But he needs sooooo many compliments to soothe his pride. ‘Oh, I knocked Shixiong over because he’s such a good teacher! Thank you, Shixiong, for helping me practice this move. Shixiong, I really admire how you don’t let the little things bother you because you’re so confident and skilled.’ I think he’s getting better now, but it’s still tiring sometimes. Uncle, some people really can’t take even a well-meaning criticism without falling apart.”

AN: This conversation was definitely a jab at Shang Qinghua relationship with Mobei-Jun, but it also extends to Yue Qingyuan and Shen Qingqiu.

Binghe says that he also heard some Qiong Ding Peak people are here now, but he doesn’t know what they’re doing. Beyond that, not that much has apparently happened while Shang Qinghua was sleeping the day away! Liu Qingge came by, probably to report to his scheming wife, who was yet again totally and embarrassingly correct about Shang Qinghua’s state of being. Chen Xuan, whom Binghe embarrassingly correctly identified as Disciple Dumpling Thief’s Friend, dropped by, but only to say not to worry about the day-in-day-out of An Ding Peak.

AN: Binghe knows Shang Qinghua’s nicknames for his favorite disciples.

Binghe curls up with his arms around and his head resting on Shang Qinghua’s stomach, while Shang Qinghua rubs his protagonist son’s back.

AN: Either of these characters getting unconditional platonic affection is SO UNUSUAL that it hurts. People need hugs at all ages!

The kindest option here might be the demon lord coming back sometime in the next few days and pretending the entire interaction never happened. Shang Qinghua will tell the man that it was a human thing, some kind of nervous fit, and beg forgiveness for his lapse in presentation! Well, he probably should, except… he doesn’t really want to do that. He doesn’t really want to go, “My king, my apologies for the mess! Let me, ah, let me just swallow all of those words I threw out there, just chew them back up, gulp them down into some vital organ to rot there forever, so we can never talk about them ever again.”

Mobei-Jun seems to still be his Mobei-Jun, looking at that confrontation in hindsight, and not… not any other Mobei-Jun. People in general seem to have stayed the same, besides Peerless Cucumber being fitted into the picture as some mysterious intruder. All those years of service and loyalty and companionship Shang Qinghua remembers with Mobei-Jun haven’t vanished on him. “All current achievements have been preserved” and all that!

So, part of him wants to go, “So! Those things I said! What about them, huh? Do you have anything to say to any of that, my king? Anything at all?”

AN: Shang Qinghua wants to OPEN UP and he can’t make himself take that step when his nephew’s life is on the line. MBJ has not made himself explicitly safe yet. Unspoken understandings can only go so far here.

“Was it something really bad?” Luo Fanli presses, leaning back along his desk until she’s practically lying down on it.

Not in a sexy pose or anything, just in a put-upon flop, kind of like a tired child finding the oasis of a department store furniture display during a too-long shopping trip or a toddler denied candy pouting on the floor of the grocery store. His little sister-in-law is not greatly concerned with dignity, much to her sister’s dismay and the eternal frustration of Qi Qingqi. She says life is too short for it.

“No one died.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, it means that everyone lived through it,” Shang Qinghua explains.

AN: Shang Qinghua’s relationship with Luo Fanli is fun. I’m looking forward to putting Luo Fanli in a room with Shen Yuan. SY needs friends. Luo Fanli @ Shen Yuan: “Idk, he’s a weirdo, but he’s uncle-shaped, right?”

Except when Shang Qinghua opens the soup container, it’s still completely full. None of his disciples - who are very, very good at acting like they’ve never been fed ever in their life - have helped themselves to even a taste. It’s a big pot! There’s plenty to go around! More than Shang Qinghua could reasonably eat by himself! And yet…

His disciples have been way too nice to him lately. He feels like he should be checking his pockets for whatever they stole from him when he wasn’t looking. Did the System replace his bratty disciples with good alternate universe ones?! He hates it, thanks!

AN: This is SUCH a low standard... and yet...! It’s very funny to me how much his disciples not stealing food from a sick man says here.

SQH: “Why are all my disciples such sticky-fingered brats?!”

LJH: “Because you think it’s funny.”

SQH: “Oh, yeah.”

Wow, Peerless Cucumber doesn’t seem pleased to see him! Shang Qinghua hasn’t suffered a glare that venomous since… well, Shen Qingqiu, maybe? Okay, so maybe the switch would have worked a little bit! But Shang Qinghua is still glad it didn’t happen, even if the System fucked up the rest of reality (somehow, Shang Qinghua still hasn’t figured out how exactly) out of revenge for its own shitty choices falling through.

“Where have you been?” Peerless Cucumber demands.

“Busy?” Shang Qinghua answers, coming closer but not sitting down. “Look, the System just rewrote bits of reality on me because of your fumbled arrival tipping some invisible scales and it has not been forthcoming about the changes. I had things to check on and things have been a bit political. I sent you a message.”

“That message said a lot of nothing,” Peerless Cucumber says, but with less venom.

“Aha, yeah. Well, I’m here now.”

Peerless Cucumber looks frustrated, but finally scoots over so that Shang Qinghua can sit beside him on the bench. Shang Qinghua gingerly sits, giving the kid space.

Shang Qinghua is being super calm for the other transmigrator right now! He’s very calm here! The calmest!

AN: SY really is a scared kid putting up a front. Which works out, because SQH is a dad here (and thinks SY’s insults are mostly just funny).

Out of the corner of his eye, Shang Qinghua can see a Qian Cao Peak cultivator standing impatiently by the Qiong Ding Peak guard. And… someone bouncing on their toes in a Qing Jing Peak uniform? Speak of the half-demon future tyrant of this world!

“Looks like we’ll have to continue this later,” Shang Qinghua says.

“My assisted meditation appointment,” Peerless Cucumber confirms glumly, looking as though he’s never experienced inner peace in his life and has no intention of willingly doing so.

AN: I took SY as genuinely having a knack for cultivating and that’s the interpretation I’m using for this fic, especially since I gave the Original Shen Qingqiu health problems that nearly killed him. In an earlier chapter, Mu Qingfang mentions needing to “replace Shen Qingqiu’s entire cultivation system”, which I planted for Shen Yuan getting a free, extremely stable highly developed cultivation system as part of his transmigration later.

I mean, Shen Yuan manages to weather Liu Qingge’s qi deviation, a great deal of stress, Without-A-Cure, and etc., and he’s remarkably stable through most of it. So I’m leaning towards “a little bit of System assistance” here. The System was going to replace both Shen Qingqiu and SQQ’s unstable cultivation system out for Shen Yuan and a more stable cultivation system.

SQQ still has a cultivation system. If he didn’t, it would have been mentioned by now. SQQ is repeatedly stated to be improving well in this chapter. I think Mu Qingfang would have noticed if SQQ didn’t have cultivation anymore.

“Then wouldn’t you be Luo-Shixiong to me?” Peerless Cucumber suggests wryly to the protagonist, who is both about five years younger than him and still shorter. (Mu Qingfang said that their guest seems to believe that he’s newly twenty. Whether or not the kid is editing his age up or down, Shang Qinghua has decided that he’s just not going to fucking think about this fact.)

“Uh,” Luo Binghe says, looking stunned and then to Shang Qinghua for help. Ha, he’s flustered, which doesn’t happen often. That’s adorable.. “...Maybe?”

Shang Qinghua snorts and remains unhelpful. Ning Yingying is actually about a year younger than Luo Binghe is, Shang Qinghua knows, but she’s been a member of the sect for significantly longer. Binghe might have some shidi and shimei soon with the next entrance test and he’s been very excited about that, but he clearly doesn’t know what to do with a “shidi” closer to his young auntie’s age than his own. Kind of weird seniors and juniors are just part of the sect experience, nephew! Get used to it!

“Thank you, regardless,” Peerless Cucumber says.

“Of course,” Binghe agrees quickly.

AN: SQH is probably going to look back on this moment and go, “Hmm.”

‘You’re very resourceful,” his sister-in-law says slyly.

“I am very resourceful,” Shang Qinghua allows, and in a fit of affection reaches up to pinch Luo Jiahui’s cheek like she’s Binghe. “And I have the world’s wisest and least bossy sister-in-law, too! How fortunate I am!”

Luo Jiahui slaps his hand away with a giggle, turning slightly pink.

“At least you know it!” she says.

AN: I’ve been wanting to make SQH pinch someone’s cheek for ages now.

“...You looked very scared that night,” Luo Jiahui says finally. “It might have seemed worse to you than it was. If your demon can’t be understanding of one bad night, then it’s… I don’t know if there’s a way forward with him at all.” She fixes a determined expression and says, “If any offers are retracted then we’ll manage just fine without him. We’ll tell Qingge and he’ll help. And so will Fanli. Our family won’t fall apart so easily. Hua-Ge doesn’t have to take care of everything and be everything at once to everyone.”

AN: LJH channeling some “dump him! dump him! dump him!” energy.

Shang Qinghua has never been able to picture cutting ties after all this time. What would he even say? “My king, I think our arrangement has come to an end. I promised to serve you for the rest of my life, but that was when I didn’t think my life was worth very much.” He can’t see that going over well! It’s never really been an option, anyway, since Luo Binghe can’t not unlock his demonic powers and go to the Demon Realm. The System won’t have it.

AN: If SQH said that to MBJ, that would be a one-hit KO, probably.

Break the man’s heart, why don’t you?

#tossawary svsss #pride is not the word #tossawary commentary

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