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lintsmut · 1 year ago

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How to Write a M/M Romance: Scum Villain's Bingqiu

Where Masculinity and Teacher/Student Intersect

Teacher Student Romance is the APPEAL, NOT a Plot Convenience

Easily the most problematic part about Scum Villain (beyond the dubcon papapa to save the world) is the teacher/student relationship baked into the main romance of the work—the one between Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe. Not only is it pervasive, it's not even brushed aside for the reader to forget about, the way the problematic aspects of other medias often are.

In fact, unlike the way age is brushed aside in fantasy dramas that have "teenage protagonists" for marketing reasons, such as The Vampire Diaries or Re:Zero, where the age is only there to draw in a teenage audience and otherwise the characters act like young adults, Scum Villain's Teacher x Student is purposely highlighted in a way that makes it clear that the dynamic is part of its main appeal.

For one, Luo Binghe's main form of address for his romantic partner is "Shizun," calling him teacher in a super respectful, almost worshipful way. This is the opposite of weakening the unbalanced dynamic. It's elevating the Teacher/Student power imbalance (in ways that make the reader suspect it's a kink thing for Luo Binghe LMAO).

For two, Shen Qingqiu is cognizant of how bad it looks to be called Shizun in a romantic context, feeling textually weirded out when it happens during romantic relations. Despite this, most of the ways he shows affection to Luo Binghe are very paternalistic (milf-coded), such as scolding him in fond exasperation or kissing him on the forehead like a father. In addition, Luo Binghe is specifically noted for not having older male authority figures in his life other than Shen Qingqiu, as his adopted mother was a single woman and his bio father could not care less about the son his late wife gave up her life for (seemingly for no reason, BUT I'll get to that in a different meta) (AND despite ample evidence that he CAN be a good father to Luo Binghe's cousin).

And while one aspect of it is that the Shizun/disciple dynamic is a genre-wide trope thanks to the influence of the early work, The Return of the Condor Heroes, wherein the Confucian taboo of the teacher/student romance is a source of tension and excitement within the novel, I wouldn't say that that's the whole of why Scum Villain (SVSSS) emphasizes the teacher/student romance.

Why are We Hot For Teacher: Return of the Condor Heroes vs Scum Villain

For one, within Return of the Condor Heroes, the romance is between a male student and a female teacher (because it's a het novel, lol), but SVSSS is a BL novel and wouldn't necessarily need to play into such tropes to create this "taboo"-evoking tension.

A lot of BL novels already play into the way being gay is marginalized or frowned upon to accomplish this, for instance, SVSSS's author's latter work, Mo Dao Zu Shi (MDZS) (The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation), wherein the main character has compulsory heterosexuality.

For two, the dynamics of the Return of the Condor Heroes is playing with heteronormative ideas about the roles of men and women in romance. It's notable that the student is the male lover, and the master is the female lover in this relationship, playing with non-traditional ideas about who is submissive and who is dominant—while simultaneously using it to reaffirm traditional pursuer/pursued dynamics.

This male pursuer/female pursued dichotomy is not usually explicitly stated within media as that can seem sexist and clunky, rather it is usually implicit and portrayed through various contrivances. Xiaolongnu is a "cold beauty" who therefore must remain pure/aloof, which is accentuated by her role as a teacher, and while she is "dominant" as the teacher setting the terms for their relationship, it's mostly to emphasize the lengths that Yang Guo, the student, would go to pursue her. He becomes extra romantic for pursuing her while accepting her lead on choices like separating for 16 years.

In addition, the teacher/student relationship is a contrivance that affirms society's implicit bias about gender by giving textual, non-gendered excuses for the man to pursue. In this case, it would be an abuse of a teacher's power for Xiaolongnu to make the first move. Thus, traditional gender dynamics where men are the ones pursuing women are reaffirmed without making clunky statements about gender, even through nontraditional dynamics like a teacher/student relationship where the woman is dominant.

But, again, SVSSS is a BL, so the two main characters are both men, meaning there is no societal answer on who should be pursuer and the pursued. However, it is notable that SVSSS does play with this same dynamic of "cold, aloof teacher" and student who would go to extreme lengths to pursue them, while also purposely describing Luo Binghe as the "peak of masculinity."

This is where we start getting into SVSSS's intersection between Masculinity and the teacher/student relationship.

Because while although Condor Heroes uses the teacher/student relationship to affirm the heteronormative dichotomy of the male pursuer/female pursued, SVSSS's usage of this dynamic is in service of satirically demonstrating the "acceptable" avenues of affection when living as a man (since there's no women, and they're both men lol).

Teacher/Student Romance as a Way to Escape Restrictive Masculine Gender Roles

Teacher/student dynamic is a huge aspect to SVSSS because it’s a way to escape the masculine gender roles critiqued within the work. This is on the face of it obvious. Shen Qingqiu lets Binghe act bizarrely clingy under the assumption that he’s merely taking care of a filial or needy child. The understanding that "masculine men have to be straight" and the understanding that "Binghe is the most manly person within the novel as the stallion protagonist" intersect to ensure that any affection between them is strictly platonic, which is a double edged sword.

Because Shen Qingqiu allows Binghe close to him with the reassurance that Binghe HAS to be straight (a surprisingly common way for straight men to interact), that means that as Binghe ages, his access to affection will also get cut off, since he's supposed to be aging out of the role of a clingy student and into the role of stallion protagonist.

This is even grafted onto the scum villain/protagonist dynamic, as exactly at the point where Binghe's on the cusp of becoming an adult, Shen Qingqiu is forced to be the opposite of affectionate and become the villain by throwing him down into Xianxia hell. Which, to him, means that he's killed his baby student and replaced him with a stallion protagonist out to take him out.

So when Binghe becomes an adult, he loses access to affection along two axises within Shen Qingqiu's mind. The first being that he's now vengeful stallion protagonist out to get him throwing him away, which is the explicit reason Shen Qingqiu rebuffs him. And the second being that he's now a straight adult man who isn't supposed to get affection from his old teacher, which is also a factor.

This loss and transformation into a protagonist causes him to become insane to almost comical proportions, indiscriminately killing people and so distraught that at any point he's liable to self-destruct—all because he's constantly being rebuffed when seeking affection from his teacher, who thinks he wants to take him out for throwing him into hell. It's notable that any time Shen Qingqiu rejects him, Binghe lashes out in an almost stoic anger, rather than with the vulnerable crybaby tears that Binghe used as a kid. All this is highlighting the consequences of toxically masculine gender roles—where a severe lack of emotional vulnerability creates only violence and status as ways to express yourself, leading to severe emotional issues.

Now this is where it gets to the satirical aspects. Because all that before is pretty angsty and not very funny, but Scum Villain is a comedic satire. This is because it's not from the perspective of Luo Binghe—it's from the perspective of Shen Qingqiu.

The Point of Scum Villain's Meta

To all of this, Shen Qingqiu is totally oblivious, as he is still under the impression that everything was platonic. Which I'd argue he SHOULD be, considering that Binghe was a young student in his care that he was only trying to groom into being nice, person not into a sexual relationship 💀💀. Now, the ethics of fiction about raising your spouse is a whole other issue outside of the scope of this discussion, but within the universe of Scum Villain, where we know his intentions, he gets the pass from me!

The reason Shen Qingqiu is oblivious is because one, as the most terminally online hater on the Internet, he's read about stallion protagonist Luo Binghe way before transmigrating into the story. And the Luo Binghe of the original story was a miserable sack of shit who got an unhappy ending despite being the peak of what masculinity "should" be.

A harem of women to show his virility, a stoic facade, and a constant stream of face slapping for hundreds and hundreds of chapters. He's an alpha male to the point of farce because Airplane needed to appeal to the lowest common denominator of teen boys on the internet—Andrew Tate's main demographic. It's not just a satire of YY novels—this, too, is part of Scum Villain's critique of toxic masculinity.

The second reason Shen Qingqiu is oblivious is because he's homophobic, sexist, heteronormative, etc. etc. etc. He was an INTERNET TROLL for a reason. And while people like to joke that he was a feminist king on the forums, I feel like it's more in line with the themes of the story to take him reading this schlock at face value because it's part of Scum Villain's trap! Anytime you feel like complaining about Scum Villain's hack writing, you're one meat bun away from an uno reverse card. The instant you start complaining, the author can hit you with a "Cucumber-bro calm down," and BOOM you're done! Never comment again!

And this is so effective because none of us want to be an un-self-aware, terminally online, trash-reading hater like him.

So, the satire of the novel is taking this kind of guy—both the Andrew Tates of the world and his basement dwelling followers—and wondering "Would gay sex fix them?" And the answer is YES, WHICH is HYSTERICAL to play straight in a romance like this. It's "Fellas, is it gay to like women?" but make it into an actual romance.

On a thematic level, being gay is indeed antithetical to a masculinity that upholds having sex with tons of women as the ideal, so it's doubly poignant for this closeted gay man to realize that the only thing he needed to do to live was to accept himself and the people around him by giving up his need to fit them into boxes—both on a meta "they're not fictional characters to him anymore" level, but also on a "toxic masculinity shouldn't define us" level.

Climaxing

The old Shen Qingqiu is dead. Long live Shen Qingqiu. Gay sex to save the world. Luo Binghe is back to his crybaby self. All is well in the world.

One thing I love about this teacher/student romance that it portrays Bingqiu afterwards as really happy and in love. Logically, nothing about that makes sense — 45 year old stepfather marries 25 year old stepdaughter from a bad home who idolized him, even while he acts like he's embarrassed to be around her and encourages her helplessness—but it makes perfect sense because it's a perfect marriage between all these different layers.

The "bird leaving the nest" conflict

Qingqiu is allowed to be affectionate with a scary adult Binghe because Binghe can be both a clingy student and an adult

2. The scum villain/protagonist conflict

Binghe never wanted to kill Shen Qingqiu, only to be loved by him.

3. The comphet conflict

Binghe never intended to go out and get a harem of women as a sign of masculine status, he just wants to be gay with Shen Qingqiu.

4. The "should I treat them like real people or fictional characters" transmigrator conflict—

Binghe is a real person separate from the character of Luo Binghe because he's no longer that unattainable masculine ideal—he's human and happier for it.

All solved with a student/teacher relationship in service of critiquing toxic masculinity. Now that's economical writing!

(I love the inclusion of the original Luo Binghe meeting them in the Extras, and that Luo Binghe is pretty evenly matched with him. I feel like the idea that someone "is automatically stronger with the power of love, and therefore that's why love is better" is pretty shallow, as it plays into the toxically masculine idea that strength is all that matters. Luo Binghe may not be stronger than the toxically masculine ideal version of himself, but he doesn't feel the need to be because he's happy the way he is. And his ideal self is jealous of him for that—not vice versa.)

On their own, these resolutions would probably still feel as creepy as Lolicon, but in the context of critiquing masculinity, it makes a lot more sense. Masculinity, I think, fascinates as a writing tool because there's a lot of mini tools baked-in its structure, like Shen Qingqiu's comedic plausible deniability thing, as well as assumptions about power.

For instance, since Binghe is quite literally the God-emperor of his world, it feels more like a kink thing for him to call Qingqiu Shizun, and not like he's actually less powerful than Shizun in their dynamic. His bouts of learned helplessness come off as traditionally feminine Sajiao, NOT like the learned behavior of creepy pick-me pedophilia. It's like a cat showing its belly, because we all know it's a murder machine showing its vulnerable side out of trust, not because it feels the need to degrade itself. So, while his behavior emphasizes the Teacher/Student imbalance, the reality is that he's doing it mostly for kinky reasons and that the two of them are on a pretty level playing field. It's extremely funny when people joke that he and Qingqiu are the same age due to all that time Qingqiu spent dead, because they are Not Wrong.

Problematic Kinks

Romance fiction is usually about ways to get certain needs met in ways that would never be possible in real life, which is why a lot of it is problematic. Virginity kink is not about real life virgins, but the idea that your partner is guaranteed to think you're competent in bed. Bodice ripper stories do not reflect the reality of getting raped, but is more about the idea of getting sexually satisfied with none of the shame of "being slutty" for desiring sex, since it was "against your will." Or they're about controlling the fear of getting raped within this safe romantic fantasy where everything turns out all right. Or various other things because kinks are personal.

Shen Qingqiu is the perfect example of this, where he functions as a great insert for female readers who might have shame around sexuality, since he's a "prude" without actually being one, hence his parallel with Xiaolongnu. Instead, he's just comedically under the misconception that he's straight or that Binghe's only platonically in love with his teacher—that's why he's always ashamed and putting on airs. It's a comedic/unrealistic version of comphet, so you don't gotta think about purity culture while reading your silly little stories.

And Luo Binghe is the self-insert fantasy of readers with daddy issues. His strict father who criticized him all the time actually secretly thought he was the bestest-westest, most handsomest boy in the whole wide world, and there was a secret understandable reason he had to be mean to him, and he secretly loves when he acts like a crybaby because that just means an excuse to pamper him.

And while in real life, many of these would be incredibly dysfunctional—within fiction, we can make these fantasies work anyway. If your romance manages to hit at one of these underlying desires in a fantastical way, you've got a hit with one audience of people! Whether that be by making them EVEN MORE dysfunctional (papapa to save the world) or by having them somehow communicate it out into a healthy dynamic (the extras, presumably).

All this to say, if you're a man frustrated with your love life, all you need is a gay, milf-y male teacher to ruin your life.

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lintsmut · 1 year ago

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Rip Binghe, you would’ve loved Warming Her Pearls by Carol Ann Duffy.

#bingqiu #svsss #warming her pearls #😏😏😏

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lintsmut · 1 year ago

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It’s only when Shen Yuan’s had Binghe for about 8 months that things get concerning. He guessed Binghe was about 16 when he first got him, but that was potentially off due to malnourishment. In reality, Binghe was probably closer to 17, and now that almost a year has passed, Binghe has seemingly matured into an adult—hybrids maturing at a much faster rate compared to humans.

He knows this now because Binghe keeps panting during their play-fights.

At first he thinks it’s the normal amount of panting you get from hybrids getting excited. Wrestling is one of the most stimulating activities for a bird demon like Binghe, not to mention that it is physically taxing like an exercise. But maybe Shen Yuan should’ve taken this as a sign, considering the musculature Binghe gained during his first few months of recovery ensured he never struggled with pinning Shen Yuan down anymore.

Despite this, he’d been blissfully unaware exactly how mature Binghe was, what the panting really meant, until Binghe tried to kiss him. That was unmistakable.

Most animals don’t kiss their mates, humans being the exception. Hybrids are finicky about sharing this trait, depending on hybrid species. Dog demons, for instance, have a tendency to lick. Parrot demons are one of the ones who do share kissing, the lip to lip contact resembling the way courting parrots share food with each other.

Binghe had been feeling especially restless that day, biting and nipping Shen Yuan’s fingers every time he’d try to groom or maneuver Binghe, until he felt well and truly fed up with him.

He wouldn’t even explain himself, the way he was happy to do once they’d settled in together, gaining a tight lipped set to his mouth that screamed defensive! Binghe was a truly vocal bird when it came down to it, happy to speak every one of his thoughts if it meant pleasing Shen Yuan—including his reasons for biting him.

Sometimes, it’s a “You startled me!” or a “Not right now,” but mostly they’re “Pay attention to me!” whines that accompany nibbles to Shen Yuan’s fingers, neck, or —memorably— his ear. Most pet owners are strict enforcers of the no-biting policy, but Shen Yuan finds that if the bites are light, then who is he to deny Binghe one of his instinctual communication methods, especially if he explained himself after? Warning bites are valid! Plus, he found it kind of cute, the way Binghe would lightly take some skin between his teeth when he wanted more attention, mouthing at his ears, a featherlight scrape of them insistent even when words failed, Binghe always careful not to hurt.

Not these ones, though. They stung like Binghe was going to break the skin any second now, on top of his already strange silence, and the instant he saw Binghe focusing in on his sensitive neck with his sharp canines, Shen Yuan decided Binghe needed to work off some of his aggression with some stimulation.

He started by lightly swiping Binghe’s bright red tail feathers, chuckling at all the bird dust that instantly flies off his feathers.

“Got your tail, Binghe,” he said, warm and challenging, and instantly Binghe was bobbing in anticipation.

He tried to pin those wings down next, and they were off, with Binghe flapping and repeating “Got your tail, Shizun!” as he swiped at Shen Yuan’s behind.

The flapping made it hard to get a grip, and soon Binghe was on top of him and pulling at his ponytail with his teeth as he struggled on the couch. Binghe’d made some panting sounds then, but Shen Yuan didn’t mind them as he whipped his ‘tail’ out from Binghe’s teeth and flipped onto his back as Binghe flapped up.

He’d used his calves to trap Binghe’s legs as Binghe straddled him, hands trapping the thighs where Binghe’s feathers lined his upper thighs and tail before they met his scaly lower talons or smooth waist, and Binghe panted harder then, presumably going to fly harder and escape, when he lets out an almost gravelly call Shen Yuan’d never heard before.

Shen Yuan could only be concerned for a second before Binghe was leaning down and taking his lips with his own, his wings enclosing their heads, warm breaths and Binghe’s happy pants suffusing the air between them.

Shen Yuan’s shocked still for longer than he’d like to admit, hands clenching and unclenching on the downy feathers of Binghe’s thighs and just letting Binghe curiously explore his mouth with that dry tongue, before he heard more than felt the tell-tale signs of Binghe trying to regurgitate his lunch.

Then, Shen Yuan was bucking him off and scrambling to sit up.

“Binghe!” he’d shouted, scandalized, his ‘Binghe-voice’ totally lost in his hysterics.

#cuckoo demon beast taming peak au #nsfw #ish #bingqiu #for the monster fuckers

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lintsmut · 1 year ago

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AU where Heavenly Demons are offshoots of incubi, feeding off of desire. One day he’s injured and he turns it up to a eleven around Shizun, and he feels so, so guilty about it, face tight and hot with tears “Shizun sorry, sorry, sorry, im sorry—“ as he greedily drinks his fill.

Binghe can’t stop himself. Even as he knows it’s wrong, he can't help but meet each of Shizun’s frenzied thrusts, groaning at the friction between their cocks sliding against each other, layers of wet silk in between. It’s too—too good

His lofty master has been laid bare, hard and desperately rutting against his student, even as his Shizun covers his face in shame. He feels like a demon then, like he’s committing a blackened betrayal, like he’s no better than the peak dog thirsting after his master.

The hands that wiped his tears away, that held him so gently are now brands on his hips, pinning him as his master insistently grinds against Binghe. His master’s cock heavy against his own, like a bull ramming the fevered point where they meet. Shizun’s damp face is against the crook of Binghe’s neck, and Binghe could hear every cracked whimper with invasive clarity, every breath humid and scalding against his collar, in time with the thrusts as Shizun rammed his hips into the ground. The heat is dizzying.

When he feels something wet drop onto his neck, he assumes it’s sweat. At first… until Shizun whines and pulls back, and then Binghe sees that it’s tears. Lightning fast, before he can react, Shizun is adjusting his hold so that he can grip both of them in one hand, and then Binghe is crying too because it’s so good.

“Shizun sorry, sorry, sorry, I’m sorry—“

#bingqiu #bing-cubus demon au #lol bad name maybe #incubus! binghe au #nsfw #svsss

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lintsmut · 1 year ago

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thinking about a beast peak SY AU, with him beast taming a fascinating cuckoo demon... pt1

pt2 here | part 3

Shen Yuan is a scientist studying the last cuckoo demon, who were hunted out of extinction due to confusion of them and changelings. Cuckoo being a HUGE misnomer (modern man shen yuan would just call them harpies). Demon also being a bit of a misnomer, since they're more akin to magical beasts.

"Cuckoo demons" and changelings very different things with similar concepts. Unlike changelings, who replace human children with their own children, cuckoo demons are more like actual birds.

They're like harpies, more specifically, in that they look human/bipedal demon. However, they’re not human-like in behavior like the changeling myths of fairies are. Again, magic beasts.

Perhaps they inspired that myth in PIDW as many cuckoo demons are well-known for managing to mimic human speech, like parrots and crows.

Shen Yuan could see how, if you saw a harpy covered up by shrubbery so only its human upper half was visible, and you heard it saying something like “help me” or something with proper words, you’d get burned when you get closer and realize it’s actually a terrifying bird creature with bird behaviors... And then start calling them cuckoos and making myths where they steal children and replace them with cuckoo babies.

Part of the problem is that even demons seemed to be under this misconception, which is part of why there's so much misinfo and part of how they went so extinct. Hunted on all sides. Truly a dodo bird situation. No one wants the possibility of be raising children that might not be theirs (no cuck-ing lol)

Unfortunately, this is the last cuckoo left, so he’s sort of forced to wing the raising aspect of this lil guy, raising him to be more human as if he were... raising a changeling. Wow this will definitely cause only more confusion about the changeling thing if he doesn’t explain it properly.

Now this cuckoo demon isn't full cuckoo demon, he's a hybrid. Half-cuckoo, half heavenly demon, so he's not fully bird-like in behavior, which will help a lot. He's still got a harpy body plan, though, with wings for arms and feathered thighs and digitigrade legs.

His fellow demon researcher, Shang Qinghua, was the one who found him and was raising him before, but he got into a tragic accident, which is why he's in Shen Yuan's care now, already approaching adolescence.

Shen Yuan is always searching for a way to expand the species, trying to find a mythical female cuckoo. You know, Rio the animated movie style lmao.

Cuckoo’s are hugely social creatures, even having regional calls he speculates, as Binghe is surprisingly good at mimicking him and even utilizing language the way humans think of it, with grammar, and not just as repetition, pointing to calls being learned and “cultural.” Though that could be more the heavenly demon blood.

Shen Yuan starts doing things like repeating other people’s sounds like Binghe does out of habit. “That’s right Binghe! Moo for cows and *redacted* for thousand boxed voice demons!”

Like if a dog “arf arf”s, he’ll try to learn how to mimic it, only to realize he’s just copied Sect Leader’s dog in front of him apropos of nothing. T_T It's not conscious for him anymore, it's automatic.

He's also got this enthusiastic "binghe voice" he does when he's training Binghe that he also accidentally uses on the Sect Leader. "Good job, Zhangmen-shixiong!"

Shen Yuan is an absolute boy scout at making bird song with his hands. Truly gifted at it, to the point of mimicking most birds. It's almost unbelievable how accurate it is.

It becomes ironic, as Binghe is being raised around humans. So rather than learn birdsong from other birds, he's learning it from Shen Yuan doing it with his hands and not his mouth lol. When Binghe starts using his own hands to make the sounds, Shen Yuan's like "no!!! use your mouth" and eventually starts doing some reverse-ventriloquy thing where he makes the sounds but tries to do it where Binghe can't see his hands

Binghe's silent at first, only mimicking the sounds of his rattling cage. Shen Yuan wonders if Airplane bro was abusing his bird or something, or maybe if the people transporting Binghe to him after Airplane died were abusive. Either way, he starts out with birdcalls (the nostalgic mourning dove) and Binghe eventually repeating them.

Binghe's got this "learning" face that Shen Yuan finds endlessly endearing. Binghe's not very emotive facially beyond that (excepting maybe some extreme situations). Shen Yuan kind of learns to stop masking and just lets his face stay blank around Binghe as well, so while Shen Yuan has an extremely exaggerated, enthusiastic voice, like a Kindergarten teacher, his face is totally deadpan the whole time.

What's unsettling is that at one point, I think Binghe relaxes around Shen Yuan, and he starts making sounds from his time before Shen Yuan.

Which means Shen Yuan can hear the sounds of his dead best friend.

He never stopped to think about how unsettling that would be until it happens... and he hears Airplane's voice for the first time in months coming from the pet bird who survived him.

Binghe starts revealing himself to be so similar to Airplane, at least in his dynamic with Shen Yuan. He's pathetic and cries and whimpers to get his way. He knows modern slang and memes. He's the goofball to Shen Yuan's straight man. It was less obvious when he was just mimicking Shen Yuan's voice to speak, but it's a cold shock realization when he speaks with Shang Qinghua's voice and the whole picture comes together.

Of course he's like Qinghua—he was raised by him. But it's still unsettling, like Qinghua's undying.

It reminds Shen Yuan of the first months after the accident, when he was still seeing/hearing Qinghua around the corner.

I want this to be kind of a "The Summer that Hikaru Died" situation. Qinghua and Shen Yuan had this weird intimacy. This electricity from knowing they were the only two people who understood each other as transmigrators. I imagine this is a "they both transmigrated at birth" situation, so they kinda grew up together, and there's this wistfulness where they wished they'd met in the modern world before they died and were brought here.

I don't think Shen Yuan would've been able to put that into words until after Shang Qinghua died, and then after he died, it would've felt like he was perverting his best friend's memory. So he just doesn't think about it.

Until Binghe comes along. But it's all wrong.

Because while Binghe acts like he remembers the modern world, he doesn't. He never lived it. He's just mimicking Shang Qinghua the way he mimics Shen Yuan's inadequate, hand-whistle imitations of cuckoo bird songs.

It's only then does Shen Yuan feel the absence of Shang Qinghua, the weight of what he's doing to Binghe, what he's failing to do, and what Binghe has been robbed of.

The last cuckoo.

THE SMUT for you monster fuckers

He guessed Binghe was about 15 developmentally when he first got him, but that was potentially off due to malnourishment. In reality, Binghe was probably closer to 17, and now that almost a year has passed, Binghe has seemingly matured into an adult—hybrids maturing at almost more than double the rate compared to humans.

Once Binghe hits adolescence in stride, he starts making these sounds. Like he’s got something caught in his throat. Weird panting. Shen Yuan’s very confused, until he realizes that parrots make that sound bc they’re trying to throw up food for their mate, and instantly becomes so grossed and mortified at the same time he flees.

After a certain point, whenever they’re playfighting, he has to put Binghe into “timeout” for getting “too excited" ie threatening to throw up. From then on, he decides he’s teaching Binghe human sex education in an extremely embarrassed way.

He used to be able to pet Binghe all he wanted. His feathers were quite soft. Unfortunately, once a cuckoo hits adolescence, the feathered areas become erogenous zones, especially in grooming, and now Binghe gets “excited” whenever he pets him. Dilemma. To pat or not to pat.

He sticks to hair only.

I want to highlight this maternal/paternal/scientific/nonchalant or SOMETHING way that Shen Yuan will say the “you’re getting too excited” thing. Like Binghe’s a dog getting scolded. Like it goes from mortified squawks to "come now Binghe, you know you can't do that." He also accidentally does use this voice on the sect leader when he's being a simp around Shen Jiu.

He thinks Binghe is in his spring phase due to all the panting. What he doesn’t realize is that cuckoo demons mate for life and are extremely territorial, so he thinks Shen Yuan is his mate since he’s part of his “tribe” to him. It’s not that he’s in a horny season, it’s that he’s horny for shen yuan. He’ll be horny until he’s 800 lol.

I think "The Last Cuckoo" moment will paradoxically be the moment where Shen Yuan lets Binghe do what he wants. It's a weird mixture of Binghe being Shang Qinghua but not really, so it's fine. Also a weird mixture of the guilt of Binghe being the last and raised so human. Parrots raised as pets are often alone because if you give them a mate, they become territorial and unsafe to own. But people feel so sad about this, like they're condemning these parrots to a life of loneliness. I think Shen Yuan would have guilt complex along these lines.

It's also like flying or birdcalls in that it's something of the original Cuckoo Demons that Shen Yuan would want to preserve/doesn't want to shame Binghe for, though I wouldn't have Binghe throw up lol, it'll be stuff like heavenly demon blood in Shen Yuan's food that Binghe cooks.

"use your mouth" lol

I think Binghe during all this is strangely nonchalant. You know, "my only father is shizun" style. I don't think he's at all interested in original cuckoo culture. Instead, only focusing on copying Shen Yuan and Airplane, and also being horny lol. Ignorance is bliss, perhaps.

Part 2 here

#cuckoo demon beast taming peak au #bingqiu #one-sided cumplane #nsfw

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lintsmut · 1 year ago

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Beast Taming Peak AU Pt 3

Part 1 | Part 2

Extra notes:

in this au, shen yuan did not read PIDW and therefore doesn't really learn about Airplane being the author, as he wouldn't recognize the handle and stuff like that.

I'm on the fence on whether or not Airplane would tell him, based on whether or not shen yuan could realize that he was living in a stupid papapa world.

If his obliviousness is too powerful, then he wouldn't notice that this is a papapa world, and therefore would love PIDW. I think Airplane would tell him in this circumstance. This increases the starry eyed infatuation (LMAO), increases the drama of him realizing that Shang Qinghua wasn't who he thought he was (lol he was a shitty papapa author, not a worldbuilding genius), and also the drama of Airplane's death. Nothing to rock your world like the death of its god. I do like this arc of realizing your first love was not ideal as you mature.

If he does realize that these are shitty papapa plot devices, then he'd hate PIDW and Airplane would never tell him lol. in this version, SY learns he's the author at the same time he learns that Airplane is the consort of Mobei Jun. HILARIOUS.

so PIDW in this verse is about a heavenly demon cuckoo hybrid, where Binghe seems human at first because he's being raised around humans and therefore his cuckoo blood mimics the humans, rather than because he's half human.

The cuckoo powers makes him really good at cold reading ladies and then acting out their personal fantasies

In the lore of this universe, SY is Airplane's soulmate. That's why he gets sucked into PIDW when he dies, not because of his blackpowder fan status lol.

His system is weaker and actually tied to Shang Qinghua, not Luo Binghe, and it's dormant when Airplane is off in the demon realm. I'd imagine that this new character, Peak Lord Shen Yuan, getting forced into the plot due to soulmate bullshit (the system is tired!!!) actually gives Shang Qinghua a lot more leeway from his system, leading him to inducting Luo Binghe on An Ding instead of letting him get abused on Qingjing like in PIDW.

Unfortunately, his author knowledge about cuckoo demons means that he subconsciously thinks of Binghe in IRL cuckoo-y ways, and that's why Binghe is a bird hybrid instead of a human when Shen Yuan first gets him.

yes, airplane finally gets to raise Binghe like a son. In fact, Binghe’s kind of like a Cumplane brainchild. Just like he is in SVSSS. How horrifying.

Binghe can't escape the scum villain shizun tho. As Binghe gets more and more bird traits, he becomes less a disciple and more like a peak freak, to Shang Qinghua's distress. Imagine getting bullied by AN DING of all peaks! How embarrassing. Shang Qinghua is mourning for his protagonist, maybe he shouldn’t have tried to save him from SJ…

Rather than pushing him into the abyss, the system is alright with Shang Qinghua just abandoning Binghe for the ice realm instead.

MBJ fake kills SQH to ensure their bases are all covered (on both sides, not only ensuring that they think he's dead, but also making it so that Shang Qinghua can't return bc his collusion with demons was outed), but only Binghe got close enough to see the theatrics.

Yes, Binghe's flashback and subsequent investigation is like this world's version of the Qiu Haitang trial arc. Binghe was not abused in transport, nor by Airplane (well, other than the faking death thing). he went nonverbal because he thought his shizun got merc-d by demons LOL and a bit of exclusion by other disciples for being a parrot

Without his shizun, and with these bird traits, his place on the peak became uncertain, so they gave him to the beast taming peak lol.

I imagine he despises Shang Qinghua after the reveal. "I have no Shizun, only Shen Yuan" lol He's grateful that Shang Qinghua's fake death at least got him on Shen Yuan's peak tho lol

airplane is the one who knew parrots threw up to show attraction lol so him

why does Luo Binghe fall in love with kind Beast Peak Shizun but not with Shang Qinghua, who was also a powerful cultivator who accepted him as a cuckoo and was good to him?

Shang Qinghua is cursed with the expectations of the author, unfortunately.

Shen Yuan, with zero experience with PIDW, has no clue Binghe is even the protagonist.

Shang Qinghua wrote Binghe to suffer and then become a dissatisfied alpha male with hundreds of wives. you can see the problem there lol

In this AU, Shen Yuan in this AU manages to swerve the awkward "go flirt with Yingying" phase or the creepiness of hugging a kid's golden thigh, but Shang Qinghua can't say the same lol. Expectations of greatness lay heavy, especially on a cuckoo.

the original binghe has a lot of cuckoo imagery already.

the false jade pendant being a metaphor, not only for the fake shizun being more meaningful to him than the original goods.

But also that he's pretending to be a jade-faced cultivator in this nest of baby cultivators, while actually being a demon in sheep's clothing.

i love the fact that the fake jade also represents his adopted mother (not his "real" mother but still just as meaningful). Wouldn't that be lessened by making her a bio mom? In the end, she's a fellow cuckoo demon who realized a baby cuckoo needed a nest after cuckoo su xiyan died.

cuckoos also never meet their real parents. They only ever know their foster parent. I think that's pretty poignant, especially in regards to Binghe.

In this AU Su Xiyan adopted human cultivator culture but fell in love with Tianlang Jun. I don’t think anybody knew she was a cuckoo.

im unsure of the fate of heavenly demons or tianlang jun in this au, or if he's even binghe's father. Though I'd imagine changelings are an bandaid solution to the lack of Heavenly Demons problem.

If you couldn’t already tell, the Heavenly Demon aspect to Luo Binghe is less prominent because he doesn’t actually have innate heavenly demon powers. He’s a cuckoo mimicking heavenly demon powers.

Instead of a seal, SU Xiyan placed some sort of birthright detector on him to ensure that maybe Tianlang Jun or Zhuzhi Lang could learn that he was their son when it was safer. This was a gamble based on the idea that TLJ would survive or escape and recover in time to be able to parent for Binghe’s adolescence, which obviously didn’t pan out.

The birthright acts with a secondary purpose. Because Binghe would probably be adopted by a weak demon/human, that means he wouldn’t have any connection to Heavenly Demon culture/powers. Unacceptable for a cuckoo mom. So the birthright is there to make people think he’s a heavenly demon, therefore molding him to have Heavenly Demon powers. So it’d be first activated in any fight against a sufficiently powerful demon as a defense mechanism. I’m still torn on whether or not his birthright activated and is known on the Peaks in this AU or if Shen Yuan discovers that he’s heavenly demon through SQH’s notes and keeps it a secret.

The first probably means SY is the one to save him, which is more romantic. The second means that their relationship has more secrets, which is more illicit.

A lot of inexplicable monsters in legends are actually the result of cuckoos getting ostracized and then gossiped about. Like imagine if in MDZS, Wei Wuxian was a cuckoo. When he became the Yiling Laozu, he’d actually shift over time to look and have the powers of his hideous, scam portraits. XD

Part of the exclusion towards cuckoos is that cuckoos are a weird form of magical creature where ALL children are born as cuckoos. There’s no “hybrid” “half demon half cuckoo,” just full cuckoo. I’m also debating if this is a chance thing. Like 1 in 4 children will be a cuckoo while the other 3 will be full heavenly demons. This will contribute to the “raising somebody else’s child” myth and the “cuckoo chicks pushing real eggs out of the nest” imagery.

The first makes Xiyan not telling TLJ more sensible. Demon culture is finicky about line of succession. The second is more tragic. Like maybe she was cut off before she could do so or maybe she didn’t trust TLJ as much as he thought she did.

cuckoos craving acceptance but constantly putting up a mask. now that's people pleaser feels. T-T but that's also what being a student is like. you're mimicking those around you and molding yourself to those expectations.

my experiences with neurodivergence and masking probably created A LOT of this AU. Once again tracking with the idea that Shizun is the authority figure in our life we wished we had, he's like the perfect ideal of one learning how to accommodate you.

Also fascinating considering the tumblr theory that changelings myths are actually explanations for neurodivergent children. Also echolalia and parrots. Also the petplay/getting condescended to aspect of being neurodivergent… hmm how psychosexual

#cuckoo demon beast taming peak au #one-sided cumplane #bingqiu

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lintsmut · 1 year ago

Text

Beast Taming Peak AU Pt 2

part 1 here | part 3

one day, Binghe opens his mouth, and he recreates the soundscape of Airplane's death. It's horrifying listening to it, but it also reopens the investigation into Airplane's death. Because it doesn't sound like an accident. It sounds like murder.

I imagine it'd be triggered by a similar event happening. Like maybe Airplane was lost during an Immortal Alliance Conference, and Binghe is triggered during the next alliance conference.

he's reliving the moment

Airplane is revealed to be a spy for demons and apparently killed by the very demons he colluded with.

Shen Yuan, despite the betrayal, wants to avenge his martial brother and begins to hunt down the killer with Binghe.

The killer… Mobei Jun. lol you know where this is going.

Yup, they track Mobei Jun down to the ice palace, where it's revealed that Airplane is alive and well, just the consort of the north now. he never told his sect because he was afraid of getting killed for colluding with demons lol.

Shen yuan, who had accepted that Airplane was hiding a lot of things from him on the revenge quest, is okay with this. It should be a bigger deal, considering the intimacy he thought he had with Airplane, like no secrets between fellow transmigrators. Like "you were cheating on me, bro???" But after the mourning and the guilt over perverting his memory and the reveal of betrayal, i think he's just relieved, especially since he has a truly close relationship with binghe now, so it's not as big a deal that Airplane was "cheating" with Mobei Jun.

Airplane also reveals that… harpy cuckoo demons don't exist. Shen Yuan got the order wrong. CHANGELINGS are real, and cuckoo demons are indeed PIDW's version of changelings. The harpy depiction of cuckoos are the ones that are the myth! The myth started from people trying to demonize cuckoo demons as less than human/less than demon beasts (because they replace human/demon children).

Shen Yuan had to reverse engineer all his Binghe info from Airplane's care notes he inherited after his death, but obviously it wasn't an exact science, especially because he did not read PIDW.

So Shen Yuan thought cuckoos were like harpies, aka dumb bird beasts with human torsos. In reality, cuckoos are not dumb beasts, they're intelligent creatures that adapt to whatever culture they find themselves in, and mold themselves to the expectations of those around them. That's how these PIDW changelings work, mimicry and meeting expectations (NOT acting like deceitful fae creatures as they are in real world myth).

Since Shen Yuan expected a bird hybrid, he got a bird hybrid lol.

With some thought, Shen Yuan realizes he's still incensed on Binghe's behalf. Just because they indeed ARE changelings, that still doesn't justify the hunting of Cuckoo Demons. Just like how Heavenly Demons shouldn't have been so thoroughly hunted by cultivators, even if they are dangerously powerful.

Female Cuckoo demons were hard to find because he was looking for harpy ladies lol. The reality is that cuckoos are still around, you just don't realize because they blend in wherever they are. They don't look like harpies. They're often the best example of whatever specimen society they've assimilated into.

One of the main things that differentiate cuckoo from their adopted species are the mating habits.

There are two things they prioritize—viability and acceptance.

Heavenly demons, for instance, were highly sought after as mates because they're a powerful form to imitate and arrogant enough not to look for impostors, but as of late are unpopular due to the strides of Cultivators in eradicating them. So cultivators are now the new trend, even if they're considered more risky with all the "demon detecting" artifacts.

The second aspect is acceptance of a cuckoo. One of the paradoxes of their existence is that while they do everything in their power to act like one of their adopted species, they secretly crave a mate who they can let their guard down around. Someone who'd accept them as a cuckoo.

But that second aspect is rare, especially among demons because of the idea that you're replacing your potentially ice demon offspring with cuckoo demon kids instead. For instance, if your cuckoo offspring get kidnapped (as is demon culture) by weaker demons, they become those weak demons through cuckoo survival instinct, and that's a total headache for ice demon line of succession. And like, A TON of humans are barely okay with adopted family, much less having demon children.

Cuckoos don't usually mate/live with each other because they're characterized by mimicry. A copy of a copy of a copy is uncanny. It's the stagnation of being trapped in tradition because everyone is trying to conform to an ever narrowing ideal.

Binghe's relationship with his cuckoo washerwoman adopted mother was a tenuous, if beautiful, relationship. Like two people from plato's cave desperately playing house based on what they've seen of families on the shadows on the wall.

Part of why Binghe decided Shen Yuan was mate material is that while Shen Yuan starts off with his own expectations of Binghe (harpy), he's also totally open to adjusting them for Binghe.

It's a unique mindset to have, created by his unique personality as a beast peak researcher. His belief that he's trying to raise a harpy (wrong) but also knowing that he's not the expert on what a cuckoo demon is (true), and therefore is willing to supplement with his own experiences when he's struggling (giving Binghe the structure he needs) while still deferring ultimately to Binghe's lead on who Binghe should be (accepting the cuckoo). It's a push/pull of acceptance that would be addicting for cuckoos.

For instance, he LOVED when Binghe mimicked things or mimicked him. Baby cuckoos suck ass at subtle mimicry, so they often get bullied for being copycats until they're more skilled at doing it. Binghe was bullied on Airplane's peak, to the point of silence. So it's really electrifying to come to the beast peak and get praised for what comes naturally to him and for what he was bullied for before.

This also recontextualizes Shen Yuan's "The Last Cuckoo" moment. It's the moment where Shen Yuan first starts truly understanding this weird grey zone Binghe lives in, but also gives into it.

It seems disturbing/hedonistic at the moment of it, like he's giving into all his worst impulses with the flimsiest of excuses. Luo Binghe is Shang Qinghua, but he's not, because he's gay and interested in Shen Yuan. It's not really a desecration of their friendship, right? Binghe is a wild cuckoo demon, but he's not, because he's also been raised to feel like a modern human. It's not really monsterfucking, right? It's fine that he's doing this because... because... he shouldn't let Binghe's instincts struggle as the last lonely cuckoo!

In the context of the rest of this story, though, it's not him giving into his worst impulses, but actually him heading in the right direction to care for Binghe the way he needs it.

Much like how his instincts scream that he can't be gay. Or how some parents are viscerally against medicating their children who need it. Sometimes these impending feelings of doom/degeneracy are WRONG.

In the case of cuckoo demons, their existence is a doomed zone in their society—shunned on all sides for perceived deception as copycats. Yet, Shen Yuan learns to revel in this aspect of Binghe, the way he copies without actually becoming—the part Binghe has always desperately needed someone to love.

He isn't perverting Shang Qinghua or Cuckoo culture, he's loving Binghe and partaking in Cuckoo culture, despite a society that would never encourage that.

(Don't try this in real life, kids! Cuckoo Demons for taboo fun only exist in this au XD)

#cuckoo demon beast taming peak au #one-sided cumplane #bingqiu

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