#need some system advice

[the-star-cloud-collective]

system help

hey i need some advice so a alter in my partner system has been asking us recently if we wanted to watch their source so we watched like 3 episodes but we dont really like it,so i told them this and they admited that they hoped we would split a fitive of their source. I feel really hurt by this and have no idea how to respond to this, soes anyone have anytips on what to do

[mokeonn]

"But if college was free, then people would abuse that and get useless degrees" hell yeah I would! If I could go to college without debt I would make it my job to get a degree in every little thing that interested me. I'd get a doctorate in film studies. I'd have a bachelor's degree for every science I like. I'd try to learn at least 5 languages with varying results. I would learn something "useful" like coding and then follow it up with a ""useless"" degree like art history. I'd be the world record speed run holder for getting every degree possible.

But I can't afford college without going into massive debt, so instead I spent the last 5 years trying to figure out what I am passionate enough about to consider going into debt over, because unfortunately being passionate about everything is extremely expensive to pursue.

[sunderwight]

Bingqiu roleswap where disciple Shen Yuan knows he's gay, and figures out that he has a big huge crush on his handsome Shizun, but also concludes nearly at once that he's not going to be drawing Luo Binghe's eye any time soon. Firstly, Luo Binghe is notoriously straight. Secondly, even if he weren't, he wouldn't go for his scrawny untalented nerd of a disciple! Shen Yuan's not bad looking, not before or after transmigrating, but he's neither a beautiful nor a hot manly man, and he assumes if Luo Binghe were into dudes he'd be into the same kinds of twunks that Shen Yuan likes. Guys on his own level, etc etc.

Plus Luo Binghe hated the original disciple Shen, and only started to warm up to the transmigrated version after Shen Yuan got injured in front of him trying to stop the other disciples on the peak from killing a small animal. For some reason, Luo Binghe brought Shen Yuan medicine. He got even nicer after Shen Yuan distracted the skinner demon by trying to convince it to take his skin instead of Luo Binghe's, and then again when Shen Yuan successfully fought off a demon invader -- though initially when Luo Binghe volunteered him for that job, he thought it was an assassination attempt. His heart was in his throat when Luo Binghe nearly took a poisoned blow for him, but luckily he reacted more quickly and got hit by the thorns instead. His heavenly demon blood took care of the poison, and he managed to convince everyone that he narrowly avoided getting cut at all.

Shen Yuan's careful not to read anything into it when Luo Binghe finds out about his, erm, uncomfortable dormitory situation and moves him into the side room, or when he completely messes up trying to make dinner and Luo Binghe takes over cooking and bans him from the kitchen (he swears he's not actually that bad at cooking, he just never had to use a kitchen without a microwave or an electric hot plate before...)

After all, it's not like Luo Binghe is cooking for him, he's just making food he likes and letting Shen Yuan eat it too! Because he's nice! He's way nicer than the book gave him credit for being, see, clearly Shen Yuan was correct in signing up for his defense squad, "top ten worst villains of all time" his ass that poll was nonsense...

Unfortunately, though, the plot's still gotta plot. Shen Yuan is heartbroken when the Immortal Alliance Conference rolls around and his shizun stabs him and throws him down into the Endless Abyss. Heartbroken, but not surprised. After all, it was always going to go this way, wasn't it?

But at least, now that it's done, he has some agency in how he reacts to it. He's changed the story enough that he doesn't need to go get revenge. Maybe Luo Binghe's still the villain of his story, maybe that was inevitable, but some heroes let the villains get away. Don't they? It's all part of that noble, breaking the cycle of abuse type stuff. He can be that kind of hero. He can let it go. As long as he avoids Luo Binghe altogether, it should be fine, right? It's not like he's obligated to turn people into human sticks. He asked the system, he's definitely not!

Technically he's not even required to conquer the demon realms. He just has to get out of the Abyss and the be sufficiently cool and/or tragic. Conquest is just one means of doing that, and not even Shen Yuan's preferred, since he doesn't exactly want to rule over anybody. Going around the demon realms beating up some jackasses and rescuing some damsels in distress and becoming sworn brothers with Shang Qinghua, one of the current demon kings, is suitable. He definitely doesn't want to marry any of the damsels he encounters (thank fuck the system lets him off the hook for that!)

But eventually he has to go back to the human world. Not only is it mandated by the system, but he also misses living there. The demonic realms are in many ways better than expected, plus a lot of the monsters are really cool, but he misses the weather and plants and the people he's more accustomed to being around.

He misses Qing Jing Peak, if he's being honest with himself. Shizun's cooking and the bamboo forest and the crisp mountain breezes, the comforts of home.

Not that he can actually go back there in specific. Of course not. If he did that, Luo Binghe would try to kill him, or else the system would try and make him kill Luo Binghe. Bad ideas all around. No, he can't go back to Qing Jing Peak, but he can go find someplace nicer than the demon realms at least. He just has to keep a low profile, which shouldn't be hard since the original goods did that even while actively scheming to kill his former master!

Except.

Everywhere he goes, suddenly Luo Binghe is also there?!

Good thing Shen Yuan thought to take a page out of the book of Luo Binghe's actual love interest, Liu Mingyan, and start wearing a veil. He just didn't want any randos who might have seen him at the Immortal Alliance Conference or on any of the other missions his shizun sent him on to recognize him. But one minute he's investigating a strange case in Jinlan City, and the next the streets are full of Huan Hua cultivators (Shen Yuan has no intention of joining them, that's the path the original took to getting revenge! He doesn't want revenge!), and then Luo Binghe and Sect Leader MBJ and Peak Lord SHL show up, and SY is ducking down alleys and hiding behind columns, just trying to stay out of the way until the lockdown on Jinlan lifts and he can leave.

Except...

Luo Binghe really isn't acting like himself?

He looks like he hasn't been eating or sleeping well. There are dark circles around his eyes, and something almost melancholy in his countenance. And he's dressed entirely in white, none of the usual Qing Jing greens and blues anywhere to be seen. Of even greater concern, he's being reckless. Shen Yuan can't stop himself from rushing out when he sees his former shizun get infected by a sower demon.

Luckily, it's been some years since the last time they saw one another. Shen Yuan's gained a few inches in height, so he's almost at eye-level with his old master now, and though he's still more slender than bulky he's picked up some totally new styles from training the demon realms. He doesn't move the same way he used to. With that, plus the veil, it's enough for him to quickly swallow back his words as he grabs Luo Binghe and quickly administers a cure for the sower infection.

Well, he has one of course. He wouldn't need it himself, heavenly demon blood and all, but his time running around playing hero in the demon realms meant he rescued a lot of humans from such fates. Which is hard to do if you don't have a cure to their afflictions, but between him and Shang Qinghua, sourcing such things was almost easy.

Luo Binghe looks at him like he's just seen a ghost. The other Cang Qiong sect members are alarmed by SY suddenly accosting one of their own and of course find him suspicious, so he runs away right after, and then he has to lose Sha Hualing's pursuit in the city.

But what else could he do? He manages to evade the system's attempts to railroad him into meeting Gongyi Xiao, avoids the rest of the Cang Qiong crowd, and drops some of the cure through the current Qian Cao peak lord's window to get the incident sorted out. Then he flees and puts a good amount of distance between himself, Jinlan City, and every righteous sect he can think of.

The only problem is that after this point, Luo Binghe is everywhere.

Any time Shen Yuan stays in one place for longer than a few days, Qing Jing disciples start turning up. Any time he takes a job hunting some cool-sounding monster or pursuing some interesting tome of knowledge, the better to satisfy the system, it seems like Luo Binghe has selected and gone after the exact same target! Which is especially annoying because back when SY was a disciple, Luo Binghe was always assigning him to do this stuff. Since when does his chronic homebody master have an interesting in six-tailed scorpion lemurs or ancient spiritual kilns?

What's weirder, though, are the rumors.

It seems like any time SY stops at some well-populated place and asks for the latest gossip, he has to hear about how the Qing Jing peak lord lost his beloved disciple during the Immortal Alliance Conference, and mourned like a widow, and now wanders the earth in search of solace for his grief. Seeking something, possibly even the ghost of his dear disciple.

What nonsense! Luo Binghe threw SY into the Abyss himself. He had to do it, it was the plot! And also his obligation as a righteous cultivator, confronted with a "dangerous" half-demon. Does it sting? Yes it stings! That's why SY wouldn't just forget it! Despite logically knowing it's pointless, is there some part of him that wishes his master would have chosen differently? That thinks he should have known that no matter what kind of power Shen Yuan had, he would never use it to hurt people recklessly, or harm innocents, or especially not harm... well. It's pointless, his blood condemned him, and if there is some part of Luo Binghe which regrets what happened, it's doubtless just that he unwittingly harbored a monster for so long.

Which is fine and Shen Yuan would leave it at that, if the guy would just let him!

But no. Instead he has to deal with Luo Binghe turning up and asking him questions, trying to get him to talk (SY has no hope of disguising his voice, if he says anything he's not even sure it won't crack as he comes perilously close to tears instead, so he just stays silent), and then asking for his name, asking if he's mute, asking about his background, his sect, his kin. Is his a righteous cultivator? Where did he get that sword? (NOT Xin Mo, thanks, he used that thing once and then tossed it back into the Abyss before the portal finished closing behind him -- he knows a poisoned chalice when he sees one, although knowing the plot twist about that sword from the novel sure helped.) Where did he learn those forms? Is he... does he have a safe place to go home to? Someone to tend his injuries? Make sure he eats his meals?

SY, of course, stays silent. But it's difficult. Not only because Luo Binghe asks, but because he still looks... bad. Sunken, sorrowful, desperate almost. Shen Yuan can't figure out if he knows or not. Maybe he's unsure, maybe he's looking for SY to give him a sign, so that he can figure him out and then flip a switch and try to finish the job he started.

That can't happen. If they fight, SY will win, and he doesn't want to hurt Luo Binghe.

But even if Luo Binghe's not a heavenly demon, he is a highly accomplished cultivator, and it seems he's got his own breaking points to reach. Eventually he corners SY and gets a hand on his veil, and for a moment SY is sure he's going to rip it off, see his face, and confront him all "I knew it was you, you twisted evil demon, you won't escape justice a second time" and he feels a deep, icy terror close around his lungs--

Luo Binghe lets go of the veil before he can lift it.

But then something even worse happens. Because Shen Yuan's handsome, peerless, noble master breaks down. He falls to his knees, begging forgiveness, sobbing, clutching at his head like he's being driven to madness.

It all spills out of him, then. How he pushed his own dearest disciple into the Abyss, which obviously SY already knew, but also how he was apparently qi-deviating the whole time, and his senses could not differentiate between one kind of demonic "threat" and another. How he realized what he'd done only after he regained his senses hours later, and rushed back to the place where the tear to the Abyss had opened, but could not find a way in after the one he lost. How he had betrayed and thrown away the only person who cared about him, and couldn't even explain that he hadn't intended to. How he would accept anything, any punishment, hatred, penance, or revenge, if only he could see his disciple's face once more.

SY is stunned.

Apparently, Luo Binghe hadn't rejected him for his demon blood?

Not only that, but beforehand, he seemed to have valued Shen Yuan a lot more than Shen Yuan would have credited.

Is it a trick? Is he lying? SY would have guessed so, would have assumed that Luo Binghe's plan was to lull him into complacency only to turn on him once he finally had confirmation. But somehow, he just... doesn't think this is an insincere display. His old master is too cool for this stuff! He has too much dignity to just throw it away on a scheme! There are other ways to get what he wants.

Even if it is a lie, Shen Yuan is tired of running. He's the hero. He won't actually lose, and if it comes to it, it's still in his hands to decide if he wants to spare Luo Binghe or not (he does, of course he does, even if this whole spiel is an act). Plus he's got a backup plant body in one of Shang Qinghua's greenhouses if all goes to shit.

He takes the veil off himself.

Luo Binghe, teary-eyed, stares at him as if his face is the most beautiful he's ever seen.

Shen Yuan nearly puts the veil back on. His cheeks heat up. Dear Shizun, aren't you an immortal master? A noble peak lord? Isn't it your calling to vanquish demons? Get up off the dirty ground right this minute! Where did your dignity go? Shen Yuan did not spend all those nights doing the laundry to watch his teacher dirty his knees for no good reason!

There's a quaver in Luo Binghe's voice as he points out that Shen Yuan was terrible at doing laundry. Luo Binghe had to redo it the day after, all the time.

Shen Yuan chides at him that he should have made one of the other disciples do it then.

Luo Binghe just laughs, and stays on the ground, until finally Shen Yuan has to physically pull him up. Muttering about how he's being ridiculous, what's he crying for, why's he been moping so much, doesn't he know that handsome face should never look so bereft? Then he realizes what he's saying and shuts his mouth, but Luo Binghe just looks happy for the first time in years. Since the Abyss. How is it possible that SY, who actually had to slog through that awful place, can still smile more than Luo Binghe, who didn't?

They're standing so close. Holding on to one another. Almost as if... as if the scene's tone is... well...

Oh what the hell!

Shen Yuan closes the last little bit of distance between them, and kisses Luo Binghe.

[horsegirlwarcrimes]

Luo Binghe is miserable on Qing Jing Peak. 

“Again,” Shen Qingqiu says sharply. 

Luo Binghe, panting from exertion, moves through the sword form from the beginning. As he extends one leg behind him and raises his arms, he feels a sharp slap from Shen Qingqiu’s fan. 

“Shoulder’s down,” Shen Qingqiu snaps. 

Luo Binghe drops his shoulders. 

The next whap comes to the back of his knee. He yelps and stumbles to the dirt. 

“Your feet should be closer together, your knees bent more deeply. Again.” 

A quarter shichen later, and Luo Binghe is barely keeping his feet. He moves swiftly through the form, and this time he knows it’s done perfectly. 

Shen Qingqiu’s narrow gaze watches him intently. When Luo Binghe completes the progression of movements, he taps his fan against his palm. 

“Hm,” he says. “You’re slower on the uptake than Shang-shizhi, but it will do.” 

As he walks away to correct the other junior disciple’s forms, Luo Binghe does his best to strangle the hilt of his practice sword, imagining someone else’s neck in its place.

Unfortunately, that other neck looks exactly like his own. 

——

“You’ve gotten taller,” Ming Fan observes, grabbing Luo Binghe’s arm and pulling at his sleeve. “We’ll need to get you fitted with new robes soon.” The older boy clicks his tongue, frowning as though this was a personal inconvenience, like he would be the one sewing those robes himself.

Luo Binghe huffs, but he can’t help a small, proud smile. He has been growing, absolutely shooting up since coming to Cang Qiong and getting access to a steady supply of food. 

“I’ll take your new measurements later and send them to An Ding,” Ming Fan says, dropping his hand and crossing his arms.

“Yay!” Ning Yingying says, throwing an arm around his shoulders. “Xiao Binghe is getting bigger! Soon you might even be as tall as Binghe!” 

Luo Binghe’s eye twitches. 

——

Shang Binghe is the bane of Luo Binghe’s existence. 

Everywhere he goes in Cang Qiong it’s “Shang-shidi” this and "Shang-shizhi” that. “Oh, you look so much like Shang Binghe! Only not as stoic and handsome!” “Have you met Shang Binghe yet? You two look so alike! Last week he rescued three puppies from trees and produced a miracle cure from thin air for a plague in some far-off place! Isn’t that great?” And, especially, “Binghe? Don’t we have one of those already? And I thought he was… taller.” 

It is driving Luo Binghe insane. 

Shang Binghe, the head disciple on Bai Zhan Peak, is the same age as him. They have the same name. They have, Luo Binghe was dismayed to discover upon their formal introduction, the same face. Except that Shang Binghe is tall, strong, and popular. He has two living parents who love him—one of them is a Peak Lord, and rumour says the other is some important foreign trade contact. Everyone in the sect loves him. Even other sects call him a once-in-a-generation talent.  

“It’s just not fair,” Luo Binghe whines. 

“Cheer up, buddy,” Peak Lord Shang says. He pours Luo Binghe a cup of oolong and slides the tray of snacks towards him. Sulkily, Luo Binghe takes a few melon seeds and begins to pick at their shells. “Listen, you don’t want all that spotlight stuff! When everyone’s eyes are on you, that means you have to deal with all their expectations and worry if you’re living up to them and all that. Isn’t it better to be the unknown entity? Then you can do whatever you want! Enjoy your youth!” 

“I don’t want to enjoy my youth,” Luo Binghe mutters. “I want to be a great cultivator and grow four inches.”

(2/2)

[haleingstorm]

Does anyone have good recs for fics that explore platonic relationships between Peak Lords? That explores them overcoming misunderstandings and working as a unit? Like I understand that qing generation are perfectly happy beating the shit out of each other/badmouthing each other. But i fully believe under an outside threat they would come together. They may be a bastard but they're our bastard kind of thing

[nexus-nebulae]

kind of want to start a sideblog where we give system advice (specifically on how to gain functions/dispel disordered symptoms) but we have no clue what to call it

[clairie-the-fish-lady]

need some advice from systems with littles!

hello! im working with a buncha people on a server for littles to hang out and do stuff! does anyone have any idea on some fun activitys? currently there is liveastreams of fish, a few science videos, and the internet archives library for kids! i should get coloring pages but i dont know where to get them. anyone got any ideas?

thanks!

[kimberly-spirits13]

Do y'all have any advice on school supplies for college? I'm aware that if there's anything the professors really want us to have, they'll put it on a syllabus or something but I have no idea where to start other than some pens, pencils, calculator, and notebooks for classes (I like handwritten not computerized). Is there anything else you'd recommend?

Edit: also for communal showers, how do you store your dry clothes? I was thinking a shower caddy and then using a draw string bag or something to store new dry clothes

Update: thanks for the recommendations!

[bogkeep]

first week back at school and ahhhhhh everything is a little overwhelming currently

- my living space is full of boxes i have simply not had the energy to unpack at all.... hopefully this weekend (but i have also been invited to a Social Event so WE SHALL SEE)

- this school year is going to have So Much Important Stuff happening inbetween the many weeks of practice placement

- such as The Academic Text

- AND i need to finish the big project i was supposed to have finished ages ago

- our teacher this year speaks swedish with a very thick french accent and i speak norwegian with a dialect, we really struggle to understand one another but maybe hopefully that will change over time.... please...........

- i'm stressed about Stupid Bureaucracy Stuff

- and im so so sleepytired :(((

- and it's too humid and warm for comfort :(((((

AT LEAST I HAVE CUTE SOCKS

purchased in a distraught jetlag haze and subsidized by my travel insurance. they're my favourites now

[tweedfrog]

So much of life as someone with serious procrastination issues is realizing that doing part of something is better than doing none of something

[bhaalsdeepbat]

Keep thinking about the .00001% chance my Durge has a kid, and how impossible the circumstances would have to be, but also how both posh and feral a child raised by Durge and Astarion would be 😭

Like this baby is so good at using their baby charms to get everything they want but sometimes it's ridiculous shit like. You have this super spoiled child who is kind of a brat sometimes, but secretly a huge softy and is actually VERY well behaved for their parents & extended family...for the most part.

Sometimes a feral streak will hit them and they'll get the combination Dhampir/Bhaalspawn Zoomies. They're running around yelling about paving a path in corpses, Astarion is moving at top Vamp speed to keep up, Storm Sorc Durge flying over every which way trying to prevent shit from breaking/falling. But this is still just a child so at a certain point they overdo it and Astarion & Durge just fucking find them passed out with some squirrels they drained then slaughtered.

But also imagine the hunger this poor child would experience. Like they're the creation of two people with nearly uncontrollable appetites. The "Pets or food?" Dichotomy to an extreme. Living beings are literally their life source and their offering to the God whispering violence in their ear day in & day out. Cus you know Bhaal would be giving that little Bhaalspawn Special Attention. Cus he's petty af.

Like it would be so tragic, but could be such a good "resisting hunger & urges" story to explore esp with having to live their lives with both bc Dhampir Bhaalspawn baby wouldn't have Withers to take Bhaal's blood from them

[horsegirlwarcrimes]

In one of Shen Yuan’s earliest memories, he is lying in his mother’s lap. 

His mother’s lap is the site of many of his best memories of early childhood. Often, when they travelled, it was only the two of them—no companions, no roof over their heads, no beds to lie in. Just him and her, together, keeping each other warm. Her on a log by a fire, offering him a soft, safe place to sleep. 

On this occasion, though, they had stopped to see some of his mother’s friends, which meant that the air was warm and fragrant and there was soft, bright cloth everywhere, and even so, his mother still kept him close. She and her friends had been talking for some time, long enough that his energy waned after a day on the road, and he’d slumped over some time before and was drifting, hazy, in a place between dreams. Her hand petted his hair, which lured him deeper into the warm darkness of sleep. 

“—oing to settle down,” one of mother’s many friends was saying, her deep, rough voice pitched in annoyance. “Your debts are paid, your father is dead, and you’re a gorgeous young woman. Why don’t you find A-Yuan a father, and yourself a comfortable home?” 

“You know how I feel about marriage,” mother says. Her voice is a buzz against his back. 

“Then find a nice village and tell everyone you’re a widow. I guarantee some granny will be falling over herself to offer you a spare room. You have skills outside the flesh trade—you’re a good seamstress and have a keen mind for business. You can even read and write; heavens know I can’t!” 

“Chunchun is right, Wu-jie. A woman shouldn’t travel so much. How is Yuan’er ever going to make friends, moving all the time?” another of mother’s friends asks, her voice high and forcefully lilting. 

There is a shifting of fabrics. Shen Yuan is too tired to open his eyes and see what the women are communicating without words. 

The woman with the deep voice sighs. “You can’t run from ghosts forever.” 

“Not ghosts,” mother says. “I saw one on the road three days ago.” 

Shen Yuan drifts off before he can hear more, his mother’s hand passing through his hair as he curls up against her legs and begins to snore. The last thing he hears before sleep fully claims him is a distant, metallic ding.

(1/2)

[thecubes]

as if i dont have enough wips i get 1k words into a cavg guardian angels au ill probably also never finish 🥲👍

[yourbuerokrat2]

Picard trying to justify/defend his relationship with Q sounds to others, especially Guinan, like this

[bl00dh0rs3]

It is so fucking funny how someone telling me to do something is the fastest and easiest way to get me to want to Actively grind my life back to halt instead.

[osterby]

I did all this through registry edits, but this is a much more user friendly way to do that.

I got a laptop with Windows 11 for an IT course so I can get certified, and doing the first time device set-up for it made me want to commit unspeakable violence

Windows 11 should not exist, no one should use it for any reason, it puts ads in the file explorer and has made it so file searches are also web searches and this cannot be turned off except through registry editing. Whoever is responsible for those decisions should be killed, full stop.

Switch to linux, it's free and it's good.