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bloopitynoot · 9 months ago

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Reading SVSSS: Chapter 9

For those who don't know, I am reading SVSSS for the first time and sharing my thoughts!

If you have not read it, there will be spoilers! Consider this a warning.

Also- if you want to follow along, I am aiming to post updates daily. You can find all the posts in the tag bloopitynoot reads SVSSS. You can also check out the intro post for context on my read.

I feel so weird sitting here in the morning reading this, this has been my night-time routine for 8 chapters!

In all honesty the fic I was reading this morning just wasn't it/my brain kept coming back to my boy Shen Qingqiu, so here I am 8am on a Sunday heading into the Borderlands.

My teas are for evening- so this morning, hazelnut coffee!

ah, okay, intro to this chapter. I have been wondering how the afterlife works in this series. I hope we find out more than "the border of human and demons realms" p167

JK lol this is a physical place and not an afterlife p168

oh gosh, this is quite a mess! (Re: the political upheaval within the Cang Qiong Mountain sect as well as vs others) I kind of want to know what the side quest Shang Qinghua went on in the demon realm. p169

Oh baby Luo Binghe keeping Shen Qingqiu's corpse :( p169

okay but he also took Mo Qingfang with him so maybe they were trying to figure out a way to bring Shen Qngqiu back? p170

I would have loved to be privy to the Tea that Lu Liu was about to spill about his theories of Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu ahaha but instead we got a knock on the door interrupting p171

who is this newcomer??? Wait who's the second one?? The anticipation!! pp172-173

wait. "what year is it?" New character or??? p174

I fucking cant. Yes it is Shen Qinqgiu. but also the dramatic flair is too much RE: "faking your death is overdone, I must therefore actually die :)" p174

omg SQQ had a backup body made from the mushrooms! This is so wild. This was definitely Shang Qinghua's side quest for sure. p175

omg I can't stop laughing. What is with MXTX killing the leads and then twinkifying their new bodies. p176

it's been FIVE YEARS?!?!?!?!? p177. Oh damn, bless that he has an abundance of spiritual energy now!

He really told them his name was peerless cucumber- oh my. p178. Can we talk about how they then immediately stated he was a bottom with the Peerless "chrysanthemum, crown, flower.."p178

The hypocrite lol "It is wrong for you to profit from their misfortune" after he literally stole all the clothes on his back and a fancy fan for fun (and cultivating, but let's be real mostly fun). p180

why does everything just come back to SQQ just fantasizing about Luo Binghe's dick? We went from SQQ ranting about demon naming conventions to what he would call Luo Binghe's actual dick LOL p181

HEAVENLY PILLAR-JUN - pls end me XD stooop. p182

Meanwhile we have these demons sweating because they think this man is incredibly powerful and very unstable as SQQ laughs maniacally then slaps himself. p182 I really don't think they are wrong TBH.

oh no! I need to now what Liu Mingyan has been doing in the badlands! p184

but also SQQ assuming that Liu Mingyan is Luo BInghe's wife.

OOOOOO Sha Hualing is back! p185 I like love her as a villain, but hate her as a character. She's in a weird place for me, but I appreciate her LOL

Who the heck is this youth? p186

Jesus christ. the fact that in this moment SQQ hates Sha Hualing's nails- not because there is a kid about to get slice and diced, but because in the novel she uses them to tear up Luo BInghe's back when they fuck. I cannot with this man *face palm* p187

okay we have a name for this young master- Yang Yixuan, and this little baby is Liu Qingge's disciple! p188

learning about how Luo Binghe's cultivation works with his need to basically dual cultivate to level himself out has me officially believing that the system basically allowed SQQ to build the ideal body for Luo Binghe. he definitely has the excess spiritual power LOL p190

This interaction with Sha Hualing and Liu Mingyan tho...I really love Liu Mingyan! Wait- oh no! Not her clawing her face!!! p194

okay she did not get her face clawed

Well, my theory about SQQ building the perfect bod has more merit with the nuns now out of the picture. p197

Holy shit. he actually is strong enough to break through immortal binding cables!! p199

NOW he notices the script change LOL p201 "Shen Qingqiu had certainly never planned to fill in the gap they left behind himself. He had that old feeling of having accidentally picked up the wrong script- it made him vaguely suspicious that the scam of a System was still around"

Dang! he broke the net too! p201

and we have a small appearance by Luo Binghe!!!

Yay! I am so excited i've missed the system, glad it's back. even though it seems kind of broken lol p203

Well "peerless xiangsheng" and "senior peerless" are certainly better than peerless cucumber LOL p205

oh my. Well I mean, he's not entirely wrong is he? Re: Lu Liu's epic tale of the tragic one-sided love between Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu. (and this is the Tea I wanted at the beginning of the chapter, I am so happy about it). pp206-207

oh my sweet summer child "Those details aren't the slightest bit reliable, okay? 'The Truth' your sister! Even if I had no girl to fondle for twenty years, no matter how wretched I became, I wouldn't get so desperate that I'd get gay with a guy! Let alone get gay with the male lead!" p212

This Chapter LOL

This was definitely a needed pick up after we had that wretched death. But now I am so curious! I need to know how this turns into their weird but epic love story. When do these two collide??? What happens next???? (do not answer any of these questions LOL no spoilers, but I am very excited to read on).

#bloopitynoot reads svsss #svsss spoilers #mxtx svsss #svsss #shen qingqiu #scum villain #this chapter brought me so much joy #im glad our boy shen qingqiu got to level up #his power is insane though

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sophia-sol · 5 months ago

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my fannish writing year in review

Number of words written

37,632 words in published works

Number of works published

I published 13 works! a total of 10 fics, plus one each of podfic, zine, and ao3 site skin.

Fandoms you wrote for

Surprising nobody:

The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System

Heaven Official’s Blessing

The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation

Work you are most proud of regardless of kudos/hits

Most proud…..I think that would be Habitat, Behaviour. Writing explicit sex is still relatively new for me and that is the fic with absolutely the most sexual content in it, and I'm really proud of how I managed to integrate it into the fic!

(It also does happen to be the fic with the most hits/kudos, but I decided which work I am most proud of before checking that, lol.)

Work with the most hits

Habitat, Behaviour. It's focused on the main canon ship and is mostly about sex, so that doesn't surprise me!

Work that got more feedback than you expected

five excerpts from a saltwater aquarium hobbyist discord! A short humour piece that's mostly gen which is focused on a secondary character and a bunch of OCs, and the ship only interact very briefly. And an unusual focus for a modern au. But I successfully tapped into the vibes that many people are familiar with in forums for a super specific niche hobby, even if the hobby itself is unfamiliar, and I think that resonated with a lot of people!

Favourite title you used

Practicum and Applied Theory! It's about Binghe in the abyss after his formal education ends :)

Ship you wrote the most

Bingqiu! With two whole fics to their name! Writing a variety of ships, characters, and fandoms is enrichment in my habitat.

Favourite ship you wrote

Ling Wen and whatever she has going on with Pei Ming

Work that was the quickest to write

Ling Wen Ships: RANKED! took me the least amount of time to compose the text, but then I hand-wrote it into a zine and scanned it and edited the scans to look decent and figured out where to post the images and how to embed them in ao3…..

saltwater aquarium discord is a very short fic, but I spent SO much time researching saltwater aquariums so I'd be able to incorporate fun details! (And also because it was interesting.)

It's definitely one of those two works, but I could not tell you which one I did faster.

Work that took the longest to write

Revelations From A Layover Flight. It's a longer fic, and I'm not a speedy writer, so it took me….hm. something like 2 months to write, iirc?

Longest work

Revelations From A Layover Flight, at 7,167 words. Longest fic I have ever published in my life! very exciting.

Shortest work

Ling Wen Ships: RANKED! (a one-page zine)

WIPs you are taking with you into this year

checks notes Oh. Uh. There's 10 wip files in my folder. That's a lot! I may or may not end up working on all of them, but I definitely want to get back to my Mo Xuanyu fic. I spent a lot of time working on it earlier in 2024 and I’d love to be able to finish it. Also, Jingyi fic is the one I’m currently working on! having fun with that one!

Favourite character to write

Shang Qinghua pov is SO fun. So, like, self-aware yet avoidant and oblivious at the same time, and completely unwilling to take ANYTHING seriously if he can get away with it. I love him, he's terrible <3

Character who gave you the most trouble writing

Wei Wuxian! He's the reason I had to set aside Mo Xuanyu wip; the structure requires half the scenes to be from WWX's pov and I did not feel up to it. But now I'm nearing the end of a second read of MDZS, a close read, and feel more confident that I understand him as a character, so I'm hoping I will be able to get back to him soon.

One pairing you want to explore this year

I'm gonna be innovative and daring and write wangxian :)

Work with the most comments

five excerpts from a saltwater aquarium hobbyist discord! Love to see it, tbh.

Gifts you wrote

I participated in two exchanges and wrote two gifts: precious treasure for Danmei Fanworks Exchange, and Practicum and Applied Theory for MXTX Remix Exchange. Both were great fun!

Favourite work you wrote

My most recent baby is always my current favourite! Because it's the one I most recently spent ages immersing myself in, so I'm still all caught up in it a bit. So right now that's Revelations From A Layover Flight. And I truly love it SO much!!! But I think if I try to take a step back and answer more seriously, it might be Artifice and Affectation. I love Ling Wen and her pov on everything, and using her to take a look at the genderness of so much of heaven was really satisfying! Though it also might be bodies, talking, because I just love so much the kind of vibes I was able to create within it, with its focus on sensory experiences!

Work you’re least proud of

None of them. :) Even the works I feel didn’t turn out quite as well as I’d hoped, or not quite as well as other works, I am still proud of, because I WROTE them! And posted them! I spent so many years writing nothing at all, or only writing one or two very short fics at most, so every fic I write is an accomplishment I am proud of. And in 2024, I published the most words I ever have in a single year, and I’ve been writing fic for decades! And I learned things in the writing, and had fun along with it. So I am proud.

How you grew as a writer last year

I finally managed to get to a place where it can feel easy and natural to write fics that are longer than 1-2k words! It used to feel impossible, and now I can just DO it. This is such exciting growth for me!

Also I have grown a lot in my dialogue skills, and am no longer intimidated to write characters talking to each other, the way I used to be, which really opens up a lot in terms of the kinds of fic I can write.

How you hope to grow this year

Would love to improve my plotting skills! Definitely not a skill that comes naturally to me, lol. But as I continue to throw myself at writing projects that excite me, I keep practicing all the skills that writing uses, and I will get there!

#year in review #sophpost #writing #writer meme

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mar-of-musing · 1 year ago

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Challenge: Make a poll with five six of your all time favourite characters, and then tag five people to do the same. See which character is everyone's favourite. I am gathering the strike out was from @pharawee who tagged me. I'm pretending it does exist. (Thank you for the tag </Shy>) Good Boys Edition? Sounds like fun.

Again with the difficulty of so many good bois out there (and also good gorls.... We need more good thems tho. Petition for more good thems!) Tagging: @wardog-of-the-endless EKEKEKE.. @fuckyeah-itme @scattered-stardust You don't have to do it ; o;. I just.. yep.

#Need more good thems in the world #Tag Game #6 Good Bois #All but 2 are from BLs lmao #I guess it's obvious what I watch the most of #There are so many others I could have put..#Voted: Arm. Sorry everyone else..#Oh and Kazehaya: Preferably Acted by Miura Haruma but I enjoyed the series too #Just the movie is my fave Live Action I have ever watched #I mean his original manga/anime character applies as well cause he's great #RIP Haruma bby.

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captainkirkk · 5 years ago

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✩ WEEKLY FIC ROUND-UP ✩

A collection of fics I’ve read (/reread) and thoroughly enjoyed in the past week-ish from all kinds of fandoms and genres.

BNHA

a glimpse of tomorrow (looking back) by achievingelysium

Subject: Aldera Time Capsule Ceremony Forwarded Message— This year marks ten years for the Aldera Middle School graduating class of 20XX.

To celebrate, we would like to invite pro heroes Kingpin and Deku, Aldera alumni, to participate in a public time-capsule opening. We are incredibly proud to have helped them on their journeys to becoming heroes, and would be most honored to receive them as guests and for them to speak at the ceremony.

[...]

"Well," Deku says, leaning over to turn the monitor towards him. His eyes flick over the contents of the email one more time. "If they haven't changed, then I guess we could return the favor."

For the two of them, it's an opportunity.

A look into Bakugou and Midoriya's past—through a future neither of them imagined—as pro heroes, agency partners, and friends.

(Written for NWA: Prompts for All Event.)

never knew daylight could be so violent by lanestreets

Tsunagu is just about to ask what she’s talking about, exactly, when the feathers strewn around them suddenly take flight again, rushing towards the jacket on the ground in front of them. When Tsunagu looks down to watch them convene on the crumpled garment, he is shocked to find a small child sticking his head out from underneath the collar. The boy looks as confused as Tsunagu feels.

Or the one where Hawks is de-aged, secrets come to light, and Best Jeanist may or may not be planning the downfall of the Hero Commission.

The Umbrella Academy

Ghost Math by pinstripedJackalope

Number Five needs a new hobby now that the apocalypse is off. He decides to help Klaus--and in turn maybe he'll help himself.

ATLA

Scriven Me Softly by SensationalSunburst

“It’s a piece of history,” He argued and she was, as always, shocked at the rolling gravel that flowed quietly from his mouth, “We must preserve it.” And Mae, who’d spent hours scrubbing the ghost of bloodied fingerprints from her brushes and days willing the scratch of pen to paper to drown out the sound of the Fire Princess's wailing; had looked at the child clutching ruined parchment to his chest and suddenly understood like a punch to the jaw why Prince Iroh had to be physically restrained from murdering his brother in cold blood.

Or: The early days of Firelord Zuko's reign as described by Royal Stenographer Mae.

Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System

The An Ding Peak Lord's Holy Cheat Sheet by JerichoJaspersJeromeJr

There's a dozen basic things that Shang Qinghua should know but somehow doesn't. There's a hundred mysterious secrets that Shang Qinghua knows even when he shouldn't. There's a thousand profound mysteries that Shang Qinghua knows even when no mortal should.

Mobei-jun has noted it all.

so you have a bad day by tagteamme

Shang Qinghua is not stupid.

It does not take a genius to know what it means when you ask a servant where your lord has left to and they readily supply the name of an exclusive brothel in between the two realms. Especially when it's after your utterly disastrous first time together.

So he goes away for a bit to clear his head. And promptly gets kidnapped.

Untamed

The Fire Lapping Up the Creek by notevenyou (+ podfic)

Wei Wuxian travels to Lanling for his nephew’s one-month celebration alone, without Wen Ning.

Lan Wangji lives with the consequences.

Saw My Life in a Stranger's Face by timetoboldlygo

Lan Wangji had long since stopped thinking of Wei Wuxian's body as Mo Xuanyu's. He grew used to all the ways it was different and the same from the last. But slowly, surely, now that they were comfortable, Wei Wuxian's face had begun to change again. The lines of his jaw became a slightly smudged drawing. Not all together unfamiliar, just enough that Lan Wangji second-guessed his own memory. There was one night Lan Wangji came home to find Wei Wuxian's eyes had changed color. He woke one morning and was taller, his silhouette stretching and growing like a shadow cast against the wall.

His smile was the same. The way he pouted, and slept in, the way he kissed. His terrible jokes. Lan Wangji would get used to a new face too if the husband was still the same.

(Or, the one where Wei Wuxian's face begins to change to look like his original body. It isn't easy on anyone. But it isn't so bad, either.)

The Mandalorian

A Source of Warmth by CoffeeQuill

Just this time, he thinks, as he turns and adjusts himself to lay down again. He lets the kid tuck into his side, and once again he closes his eyes.

And opens them again, because the kid has squirmed up higher and is pushing himself right beneath Dyn’s arm, almost trying to bury himself in his armpit, and he stares at the kid. “What are you—“ he starts.

Then sees the kid give a violent shiver.

I have acquired a child. by stingrcy

How can I ensure its welfare without having it become attached to me? Thank you. 🗨 17 comments ➦ Share 🠷 Save 🛇 Hide ⚑ Report

(The r/Parenting AU some people wondered about but technically did not ask for.)

#my posts #weekly fic round up #fic recs #long post #bnha recs #atla recs #tua recs #svsss recs #untamed recs #sw recs

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elencelebrindal · 4 years ago

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If I'm not mistaken you've now read/watched the three mxtx works and WoH. How would you rank them following personal preference? Which main couple did you like the most? Favorite plot twists in all four?

Yep, I did. I still have to read Faraway Wanderers though. Can't wait to.

This came out to be quite a long post, so I'll put it under the read more thingy.

Now, how would I rank them?

I'll have Tian Guan Ci Fu at the top, no doubts. It's my absolute favorite among all these four, and will probably remain my favorite even after I finally get to read the huge thing that's 2ha. It's the perfect balance of a story with no characters left unexplained (except for the minor ones and RIP Hua Cheng's backstory, why did mxtx rob us so much), of characters being unique all in different ways, and of a romance that, while being absolutely the main focus of the novel, is not overwhelming. For me, an aro/ace person, the romance written in TGCF is so good that it made even me stupidly happy. I don't get such big smiles on my face while reading my own romantic content.

This is the ONLY novel I've ever read that doesn't have a single character I hate in it. Only one, maybe two at most, that I dislike. That's it. Everyone's good. Everyone.

Then I'll definitely have Word of Honor. Just like TGCF, it's a really good balance between an interesting story (I was literally squirming in my seat while impatiently waiting for things to be revealed, enjoying every second of it) and a subtle romance that was still obvious enough to make me wonder what the hell happened with censorship in this drama. Not that I'm complaining though.

Almost all the characters are incredibly good. They have depth to them, all the main ones have either a satisfying backstory or a beautifully crafted development.

And this is it for the ranking. I wrote way more than I should have, but oh well.

After that, it's a tie between Mo Dao Zu Shi and Scum Villain. I don't want to favor one over the other, because I genuinely like them the same. Scum Villain is really underrated, and while I understand it somewhat, it's really unfair.

MDZS (and The Untamed) has a story that draws you to it, especially if you (like me) have an obsession with all things dark and spooky and terrifying like the demonic cultivation in this, like the whole mystery they have to solve with body parts leading them to the solution. The drama, as good as it was, really didn't do justice to the spook factor of using dismembered parts of a corpse to move around.

SVSSS is straight up weird, literally an isekai but make it Chinese. I think the best part of it is Shen Yuan panicking and cussing everyone out every time something happens around him, though... I really loved the story and the way it played out. I especially liked how the novel kept mentioning Proud Immortal Demon Way and compared the events of that book to the events that were happening in that book's world.

But why do I prefer Word of Honor to them? Well, it's simple. There's some aspects of the romance that don't resonate well with me.

WangXian is a beautiful couple, and they deserve all the happiness in the world (they have a canonic son!!!!!!!!), but Wei WuXian's initial obliviousness made me really uncomfortable at times. Not because he didn't know Lan WangJi was in love with him (the fool! thank goodness for Guanyin Temple), but because he kept teasing Lan WangJi about it while the latter was drunk. I mean, I get it. If you don't know, you don't realize what you're doing. But as a person that easily suffers from people making fun of me behind my back... it kinds struck a nerve. I still love them to pieces, though, they're so good together.

BingQiu, well... this is a rollercoaster of a couple. Again, I absolutely love them together, but some parts come off almost as scenes where consent is thrown to the wind. As a reader you know Shen QingQiu is willing and in love (gods, they married each other, I'd be a fool to say the opposite), but there should be a limit to how many times a willing person should say "No" in such a novel. This is mostly me being my aro/ace self, though. I don't really understand what goes on in the world of intimacy between people because I (literally) don't give a fuck, so I'm probably reading too much where there's too little. Don't take this as me not liking BingQiu, I'm in love with them and I desperately need more content.

Favorite plot twists, eh? Okay, big SPOILER ALERT from here onwards. And I mean it. BIG. SPOILER. ALERT.

Now, which main couple did I like the most?

Hualian. I don't even need to think about it. Bonus point because they're both out of their minds and the extras show it.

I said it before, and I'll say it again. I never have smiles so big and goofy in front of anything else, not even my own stuff. Hualian genuinely makes me happy.

Stop reading if you haven't finished all four of these, please.

...

Okay, here I go.

WoH:

Wen KeXing faking his death and telling basically everyone but Zhou ZiShu.

The villain being Zhao Jing; I was actually fooled and thought the main bastard of the series was Gao Chong.

Episode 35, and I'm not saying anything else. Although, as soon as that son of a bitch put his hands on Cao Weining's face like that, I genuinely knew what was going to happen.

The hairpin being the key for the armory. That was so stunning I had to pause the episode for a second and take a walk around the house.

MDZS:

Jin GuangYao being the villain. And being an amazing villain, on top of that.

Nie Huaisang. Fuck's sake, that man fooled the entire fandom just like that. I don't think many people realized he was the one behind everything.

The golden core transplant reveal. I'm sure that more experienced readers and viewers (aka people that had read/watched a ton more cultivation world stuff) had hints of it, but when I watched The Untamed I never read/watched anything remotely close to this genre. It hit me like a brick and I sat in front of the screen in shock.

SVSSS:

Shang QingHua being Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky. It's such a silly thing, but it made me pause for a good five minutes. I wasn't expecting it in the slightest.

The whole thing with the Old Palace Master. The man belongs to the dumpster he never got thrown into.

Tianlang-Jun not actually being the villain. Poor demon, he just wanted to continue with the questionable hobby of reading porn and daydreaming about Shen QingQiu's relationships.

I think I had another one, but it's late and I'm probably forgetting it.

TGCF:

Oh boy, where do I belong? Ah yes, the entirety of book 4. Took me out on the spot.

Jun Wu being Bai WuXiang completely blew me away. That was probably the biggest plot twist in the history of plot twists.

Also, Ling Wen knowing, and her being the creator of the Brocade Immortal.

Fu Yao and Nan Feng being Feng Xin and Mu Qing. For some reason, even if it's kinda obvious when you take a good look at them, it never clicked before being revealed.

On the same note, Ming Yi being He Xuan, and the Earth Master being actually dead. What a ride that arc has been for me.

One of the most important details, however... I got it myself. The ring Hua Cheng gives to Xie Lian. I see so many people saying that they didn't expect the ring to be his ashes, but I did something I generally can't stop myself from doing. I guessed something tremendously important by accident, something I do with many many books so I can ruin the experience for myself. I was literally sitting down, taking a break from reading (I devoured TGCF in 3 days, I needed that break lol), and all of a sudden this goddamn revelation descend upon me like the holy spirit, completely out of the blue. I just sat up, looked at the screen, and went "the ring is is fucking ashes, isn't it?", and completely ruined the surprise for myself.

And this is it.

If there's more I forgot (probably) I don't know. For now, this is my answer. Way too long, as always.

#word of honor #woh #tian guan ci fu #tgcf #heaven official's blessing #svsss #scum villain #mo dao zu shi #the untamed #grandmaster of demonic cultivation #danmei #mdzs

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bookofjin · 4 years ago

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Rise of Sixteen States: 300

(Zhao Xin rebels)

7 February 300 – 25 January 301

(Jin's 1st Year of Yongkang)

Summer, 4thMonth, guisi [7 May], the King of Liang, Rong, and the King of Zhao, Lun, falsely decreed the demotion of Empress Jia to be a commoner. The Minister of Works, Zhang Hua, and the Supervisor of the Masters of Writing, Pei Wei, were both murdered. Palace Attendant Jia Mi and his faction with several tens of people were all executed.

On jiawu,[8 May], Lun falsely decreed a great amnesty, himself to be Chancellor of the State and Commander-in-Chief of All Armies in the Centre and Outside and like Xuan and Wen assisted in the old affairs of Wei.

(Li Te)

1stYear of Yongkang [300 AD], a decree summoned the Inspector of Yi, province, Zhao Xin, to become Great Prolonger of Autumn, and moved the Interior Clerk of Chengdu, Geng Teng, to be Inspector of Yi province and General of Smashing Charges, and follow the clothes and pendants worn by Xin. Xin was Empress Jia's relative by marriage, and when he heard the summons was very afraid.

Earlier, Xin considered Jin's government to be declining, and the Stars of Zhao's Yellow Divinations said “The one whose star is yellow will be King.” Xin thereupon secretly held close disloyal plans and had aspirations of the Liu clan for cutting away and occupying. The lands of Shu had defiles on all sides, and could be used to secure oneself. He therefore poured out the granary stores, to succour and provide for the drifting people, and so gather the heart of the multitudes. Li Te's partisans and kind were all people of Baxi, they and Xin were of the same commandery, and they led many brave and strong. Xin treated them lavishly and considered them as claws and teeth. For that reason Te and others assembled a multitude, and concentrated on robbing and thieving. The people of Shu suffered from them.

Teng several times covertly petitioned:

The drifting people are tough and simple minded, and the people of Shu are weak and timid. Guest and host being unable to regulate each other will surely be the base for chaos. [We] ought to move them back to their original lands. [If we] do not, grant them the narrow passes of the eastern three commanderies. Observe their feelings and attitudes, and do not gradually allow it to grow, otherwise [I] fear the calamities of Qin and Yong will collect in Liang# and Yi.

He also told:

The granaries and storehouses are empty and exhausted, they have nothing with which to respond to the urgencies of spear-points of and arrowheads. Certainly this will add to the sagely court's worries over western concerns.

Xin heard and detested him.

(According to HYGZ2, the “eastern three commanderies” refers to Weixing, Shangyong, and Xincheng, located east of Hanzhong.)

At the time Chengdu was seated in the lesser city, and Yi province was seated in the greater city. Xin was still in the greater city and had not yet departed. The province had received the written decree, and had already dispatched civil and military officials, more than a thousand people, to go and welcome Teng. Teng, since Xin and not yet set out from the province, was at the commandery. Xin summoned Li Xiang's partisans Luo An, Wang Li, and others to take Teng by force, and kill those who had passed on the decree. They where greatly defeated at Xuanhua precinct in Guanghan.

Teng discussed his intention to enter the provincial city. The Board of Merit [official] Chen Xun remonstrated, saying:

Now province and commandery both administer troops, the enmity and discord is deepening daily. To enter the city will surely be a great disaster, It is not as good as calmly lodging in the lesser city, to observe their alterations, and call to arms the various counties to combine villages for protection, and so prepare against the Di of Qin. Chen of the Western Yi is going to arrive, [we] should wait for him. If [we] do not, [we] can withdraw to stay in Jianwei, and go west and cross at Jiangyuan to forestall irregularities.

Teng did not follow.

Winter, 12thMonth [28 December 300 – 25 January 301], Teng led the multitudes to enter the province, and ascend the western gate. Xin dispatched a close intimate, Dai Mao, to attack Teng. Mao told him and then left. Xin again dispatched troops to chastise Teng. Teng's army was defeated, he threw himself off the lesser city and died.

A functionary, Zuo Xiong, carried Teng's son Qi, and relied on a commoner, Song Ning, to hide them. Xin offered as reward a thousand gold, but Ning did not set out. Xin soon after was defeated, and he managed to escape.

The commandery functionaries all ran away and fled, only Chen Xun bound himself and went to Xin, requesting mourning for Teng's death. Xin [found him] right-principled and did not kill him. Xun and a Board of Households official, Chang Chang, together prepared the coffin and tomb, and buried him.

Xin again dispatched troops to confront the Colonel of the Western Yi, Chen Zong. Zong arrived at Jiangyang, and heard Xin had disloyal aspirations. The Master of Accounts, Zhao Mo, advanced to say:

Now province and commandery, are not in concord, surely this will birth a great disaster. However by taking quick action, our office have troops of critical importance. Assist the compliant and chastise the disobedient, and nothing will happen.

Zong increasingly clung to the road, slowing and halting. Hence when he arrived at Yufu Ford in Nan'an, he and Xin's army met each other. Mo made clear to Zong:

Scatter wealth and goods, and recruit soldiers to resist in battle. If we overcome the provincial army, then the province can be gained. If we do not overcome, follow the currents and withdraw, there surely will be no harm.

Zong was not able to again, and said:

Zhao of Yi province was furious at Marquis Geng, and for that reason killed him. He and I have no enmity, how could it be like this?

Mo said:

Now when the province has launched an affair, they surely will establish dominance. Even if we do not fight, we will have no gains.

He talked until tears flowed down. Zong did not listen, and the multitudes slackened. Zong escaped into the grass. Mo put on Zong's clothes, and grappled and fought. Xin's troops killed Mo, and saw he was not Zong, they then searched and looked for Zong, and killed him.

(JS004: 12thMonth [28 December 300 – 25 January 301], a broom star seen in the east. The Inspector of Yi province, Zhao Xin, and Li Xiang, a drifting person of Luoyang [sic], murdered the Interior Clerk of Chengdu, Geng Sheng, the Grand Warden of Jianwei, Li Mi, the Grand Warden of Minshan, Hou Gu, and the Colonel of the Western Yi, Chen Zong. They seized Chengdu in rebellion.)

Xin declared himself Great Commander-in-Chief, Great General, and Shepherd of Yi province. He used the Prefect of Wuyang, Du Shu of Shu commandery, the Separate Carriage Zhang Can, Zhang Gui of Baxi, the Marshal of the Western Yi, Gong Ni, the Prefect of Jiangyuan, Fei Yuan of Jianwei and others as Senior Clerks of Left and Right, Marshal, and Army Advisors. He moved the Grand Warden of Jianwei, Li Xiang, to be General who Daunts the Bandits. He summoned the Prefect of Linqiong, Xu Yan of Fuling, to be Commander of the Serrated Gates. He summoned the various kingly officials, and nobody dared not to go. He also used the Grand Warden of Guanghan, Zhang Wei, the Grand Warden of Minshan, Yang Bin, and the Prefect of Chengdu, Fei Li, as Army Libationers.

At the time Xiang, his younger brothers Liu and Xiang#, his brother-in-law Li Han, Ren Hui of Tianshui, Shangguan Jing [also of Tianshui], Li Pan of Fufeng, Fei Tuo of Shiping, the Di [leaders] Fu Cheng, Wei Bo, Dong Sheng, and others were at the northern gate with 4 000 cavalry.

Xin sent Xiang to block the northern road. Xiang had long standing as Good Commander of Eastern Qiang and was aware of army deployment. He did not employ banners and flag, but raised a lance to make them move in squads. He beheaded people among his section subordinates who had not followed instructions, and the section columns became respectful. Xin detested his uniform orderliness, and wished to kill him but had not yet talked about it.

Senior Clerk Du Shu and Marshal Zhang Can talked to Xin, saying:

The Transmittals state “the Five Greats do not stay at the border”. The General raising troops has begun this way, readily dispatching Li Xiang to hold strong troops at the outside, [I] humbly venture to be puzzled by it. Moreover he is not of our kin and kind, and his heart is surely different. To turn around the halberd and hand it over to [another] person, [I] venture is not possible, and desire the General plan for it.

Xin with composed features said:

The Dignitaries' words precisely fit my thoughts, and can be spoken of as “The one who raised me up is Shang.” This is Heaven sending the Dignitaries to complete my affairs.

(Du Shu is quoting the Zuo zhuan, and Zhao Xin the Analects.)

It happened that Xiang was at the gates, and requested to see Xin. Xin was greatly pleased, and pulled in Xiang to see him. Xiang wished to observe Xin's thoughts and aims, and bowed twice, advanced and said:

Now the Central States are in great chaos, and are again without mainstays and support-ropes. The house of Jin will not be able to flourish again. Your Enlightened Excellency's Way puts together Heaven and Earth, your potency is delimiting their eaves. The affairs of Tang and Wu are truly happening in the present. [You] ought to respond to the Heaven-given time, obey the hearts of the people, help the hundred families among the mud and soot, and cause the beings' feelings to know where to revert to. Then Under Heaven can be settled, not only Yong# and Shu and that is all.

Xin angrily said:

How are these proper words for a subject!

He ordered Shu and others to debate it. Hence Shu and others sent up that Xiang was greatly disobedient and did not follow the Way. Xin therefore killed him, and his sons, nephews and clansmen, more than thirty people.

(HYGZ08: Xiang recommended he declare the great title of Han. Xiang's section subordinates were unrestrained and agitated, Xin and others were hostile to him. Thereupon at a meeting they beheaded Xiang, and his older brother's son Hong and others, more than ten people.)

Xin worried Te and others would make difficulties, and dispatched a person to explain to them saying:

Xiang had improper words, and the response to his crime reached death. It does not extend to his brothers.

He also instructed them to be supervising commanders, and to calm and comfort their multitudes, and returned to Te Xiang's body. That night, Te and Liu thoroughly dispersed the multitudes and returned to Mianzhu. Xin dispatched the former Prefect of Yinping, Zhang Heng, Sheng Qian, and Fei Shu to go and soothe and take them in. All were killed by Te.

The Commander of the Serrated Gates, Xu Yan, sought to be Army Overseer of Badong. Du Shu and Zhang Can firmly held it was not allowable. Yan was angry, and at the provincial postern gate, blade in hand, killed Shu and Can. Shu and Can's left and right then killed Yan. All were Xin's belly and heart.

Li Xiang, courtesy name Xuanxu, was Te's third younger brother. As young he gained a reputation due to his ardent spirit. He served the commandery as Supervisor of Couriers and Master of Accounts, in both cases he was commended by the officials. 4thYear of Yongkang [294 AD], he was examined as Filial and Upright, but did not go. Later, since he was good at riding and shooting, he was recommended as Good Commander, but likewise did not go.

The province considered Xiang's talents to combine both the civil and martial, and recommended him as Flowering Marvel. He firmly refused due to illness. Province and commandery did not listen, and so his name was sent up and made known. The Army Protector of the Centre urgently summoned him, he could not avoid and responded to it. He was designated Cavalry Supervisor of the Centre Army. With bow and horse he was practised and nimble, his bodily strength was beyond other people. At the time opinion compared him to Wen Yang.

Since Luoyang was soon to be in chaos, he claimed illness and left office. He by nature was dutiful and gallant, and fond of helping people with their difficulties. The province's factions strove to adhere to him.

He and the drifting people of the Six Commanderies escaped from difficulties to Liang# and Yi. On the roads and paths there were those who were straving or ill. Xiang regularly kept watch over and protected them, and grieved and cared for them. He aided and provided for the destitute and poor, and greatly gathered the hearts of the multitudes.

When he arrived in Shu, Zhao Xin deeply esteemed him. He discussed the principles of war with him, nothing he did not praise as good. Always when speaking about him to his friends, he said:

Li Xuanxu is perhaps the Guan and Zhang of these times.

When he was about to have disloyal aspirations, he entrusted him with duties of heart and spine, and therefore petitioned for Xiang to be Supervisor of Private Troops. He sent him to summoned and unite the strong and brave of the Six Commanderies, they reached more than ten thousand people.

Due to his merit in chastising rebellious Qiang, he petitioned for Qiang to be General who Daunts the Bandits, to make use of red banners and curved canopy, be ennobled Marquis of Yangquan Precinct, and be bestowed a million cash and fifty-four horses. On the day of his execution, nobody among the gentlemen and myriads of the Six Commanderies did not fell tears for him. At the time he was aged fifty-five.

#r16s

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svsssartreblogs · 4 years ago

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1,000 Post Tag Round Up!

Phew, it’s taken me about 2 months to get to 1,000 posts on this art blog, but we’re finally there! If you follow either mdzsartreblogs or tgcfartreblogs, you’ve probably seen my round up posts there - I do a round up every 1,000 posts as a way to fix any tagging mistakes I’ve made and because I like playing with data. :D This is the first of these posts for SVSSS, and it’s ABOUT DAMN TIME!

Some bookkeeping...

This blog as 288 followers, which is awesome. SVSSS is the smallest of the MXTX fandoms, and I’m so happy that this blog is starting to serve as a way for people who create art and share it on Tumblr can connect with fans of the series and help spread their work around - building up a core of people in a smaller fandom can be so so hard, ya know? Please do keep spreading the word!

Need anything specific tagged? Trigger warnings, squicks, preferences, just something you’re curious about, anything? Please feel free to let me know! You can see a list of which tags I currently use, as always, in the pinned post.

If you’re an artist in the fandom, and you want to make sure I see your work, note that I check the #svsss tag daily (but not any of the other many tags people use for this fandom...stuff is just way too scattered) for new works, or you can contact me directly either by @ my personal account (unforth - tags to this account don’t register, sigh) or by dming me the new work, and I’ll add it to the queue.

Thank you everyone for following this blog, and artists, thank you so much for your creations! <3

-unforth

And now, let’s see some breakdowns on tag usage! This is my least heavily moderated blog, which means it has the fewest tags, but I still have a few things I keep track of...

(read more)

Ten Most Commonly Reblogged Characters: there’s art of 24 different characters on this blog so far, though tagging can get a little funny cause I consider different versions of the same character (ie, Shen Qingqiu vs. Shen Jiu vs. Shen Yuan) as one character - I tag Shen Qingqiu, the others are “character attributes” instead of “characters.” In a fandom where, say, Shen Jiu is definitely distinct from Shen Yuan, that can get a little muddled, but it’s the choice I made. Anyway, characters!

Shen Qingqiu (583 works)

Luo Binghe (457 works)

Shang Qinghua (241 works)

Mobei Jun (235 works)

Liu Qingge (154 works)

Yue Qingyuan (57 works)

Sha Hualing (29 works)

The System (18 works)

Liu Mingyan (18 works)

Zhuzhi Lang (15 works)

Ning Yingying (15 works)

Five Most Commonly Reblogged Ships and Platonic Relationships: this fandom doesn’t seem too big on multishipping - the two canon ships are by far the most popular - but there are still a few other ships out there, most with only one or two works. I did make exceptions to the “versions of characters” thing that I described in the previous list - if an artist has specified Bingjiu as opposed to Bingqiu, or Yueshen as opposed to Qijiu, etc., I’ve tagged appropriately.

Bingqiu (320 works)

Moshang (197 works)

Liushen (74 works)

Mingling (8 works)

Shen Qingqiu and Shen Jiu are Brothers (6 works)

Ten Most Commonly Reblogged Artists: finding artists who focus on this fandom has been a challenge but I’ve finally gotten a solid few and it’s definitely helping me keep the queue stocked. So far, 366 artists have at least one work reblogged to this blog. Note that the below list isn’t a popularity ranking, it’s simply an indicator of prolificness and frequency of reblogging.

tossawary (18 works)

teiichans (18 works)

gothariete (18 works)

epsea (18 works)

selpuku (15 works)

hijohshiki-roc (15 works)

saysong91 (14 works)

ineffableboyfriends (14 works)

nicht-vobla (13 works)

agexp (12 works)

Ten Most Commonly Used Other Tags: as I mentioned, this blog is pretty lightly moderated so there’s not too many other things I tag. Here are few, though...

comic (219 works)

laughs (174 works)

chibi (77 works)

mo dao zu shi (71 works)

tian guan ci fu (61 works)

shen jiu (59 works)

wei wuxian (57 works)

modern au (57 works)

lemon (56 works)

fantasy au (53 works)

#mod post #tag wrangling

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tossawary · 4 years ago

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Because my brain does NOT stop even when I’m grounded, today my brain told me, “Hey, I figured out how to make a Hobbit Fusion AU work.” And I was like, “Great! We’re working, though.” And my brain was like, “I’ve figured out how to make it a Pre-Canon Canon Divergence AU for Moshang.”

And I was like, “...I’m listening.”

The Hobbit is another one of my Comfort Media and it got brought up when I was asking about that, but I was feeling kind of “eh” about mixing Tolkien mythology with SVSSS. I mean, the mental picture of Dwarf Mobei-Jun is extremely funny and Shang Qinghua would make a great hobbit! But that interpretation felt a little too direct for my AU tastes.

So, hm, now I have another potential Big Bang contender. My love for The Hobbit is very, VERY strong and looking at my current outline, I have to be like, “Yeah, this could be 50,000 words, no problem.”

It’s a very good outline!

After saving Mobei-Jun, Shang Qinghua bailed A.S.A.P. because he honestly thought Mobei-Jun was going to kill him. He psyched himself out of sticking around before Mobei-Jun woke up. Mobei-Jun didn’t get enough information to track Shang Qinghua down.

Shang Qinghua (who isn’t SQH because he isn’t the Peak Lord) decides that he can’t fucking take it anymore and bails from Cang Qiong Mountain Sect too. The System objects, but also falls into line when Airplane shrieks at it. Airplane is going to go become a humble merchant and inventor and there’s nothing anyone can do to stop him!

It turns out that Shang Qinghua’s presence or help was actually crucial to stop some Emperor of the Abyss from taking over the Ice Palace and the Northern Desert. Airplane is like, “Oh, yeah, I remember… offhandedly writing something about that happening in the past off-screen?” It was one of those things that he just threw in there because it sounded really cool, and it gave Mobei-Jun another reason to “owe” Shang Qinghua and not kill him immediately, but he never got to elaborate on it because he was too busy writing stallion novel bullshit.

So, borrowing the lore from my “Horns” one-shot, an extremely powerful Emperor of the Abyss escaped the Eternal Abyss. This is some devouring horror being from the depths of the abyss, which ate everything in its vicinity in the abyss itself and crawled into the Demon Realm to eat more things. The Emperor of the Abyss was attracted to Mobei-Jun’s father. They fought. Mobei-Jun’s father should have won, but didn’t, because he was too fucked up (thanks to his own hedonism or something) to fight properly. What an asshole.

Mobei-Jun’s father was killed and devoured by the Emperor of the Abyss, which has made it… exponentially powerful. It’s now… basically a calamity. The desolation that it leaves in its wake across the Northern Desert is unspeakable. Mobei-Jun and his family, their allied clans, and pretty much all demons in the Northern Desert have had to flee.

Mobei-Jun is currently essentially a “guest” of the Sha Clan. He’s homeless. He’s lost the power of his ancestors. He’s a “king” without a kingdom. It’s humiliating. He needs to kill the abyssal creature to retrieve: his title, his ancestors’ power, and his kingdom.

While working for other demon clans to support his family and people, Mobei-Jun crosses paths with Airplane. Airplane has become a relatively successful merchant and inventor, and he calls himself Shang Houhua. He lives a very comfortable life and does his best to ignore anything resembling the plot. He’s pretty successful at ignoring the plot.

Mobei-Jun is never in a good mood these days, but he’s especially pissed off to see that human who abandoned him all those years ago. Airplane tries to argue that Mobei-Jun told him to fuck off, but Mobei-Jun is too angry. Airplane makes lots of offers in an effort to get Mobei-Jun to spare his life, one of which ends up being a claim that he can help Mobei-Jun kill the Emperor of the Abyss and make him a king again. Mobei-Jun pauses, now even more pissed off than before, and Airplane just starts babbling desperately to save his own skin.

Mobei-Jun was already forming a company to take on a Quest for the Northern Desert - in the hopes of slaying the Emperor of the Abyss and retaking his homeland. Part of the issue has been that forming the company is difficult. Mobei-Jun wants people who are loyal to HIM and ONLY to him. He won’t owe anyone else anything or promise them pieces of his homeland.

(Airplane is like, “Bro, I don’t know if you can afford to be so picky, but okay.”)

So Mobei-Jun is like… “I still want to kill you, but fine, you can come on our quest and help us.”

So Airplane ends up on the Quest for the Northern Desert, led by his very angry future murderer the “king without a kingdom” Mobei-Jun, to fight the calamitous Emperor of the Abyss who killed Mobei-Jun’s father. Fuck.

Some details beyond this opening premise:

Airplane and Mobei-Jun fall in love over the course of the quest, obviously. They have their own hijinks like each chapter of The Hobbit (equivalents to the trolls, to Rivendell, to Goblintown, to Beorn, to Mirkwood, and to Laketown, etc.).

Oh, damn, I just realized that making a pre-fall Tianlang-Jun and Zhuzhi-Lang the Beorn equivalents would be so fucking funny.

The Emperor of the Abyss is a horrifying Smaug equivalent. It can totally talk because Airplane having a conversation with a draconian horror sounds incredible. I would love to have Airplane outwit the Emperor of the Abyss in some fashion.

Mobei-Jun and Airplane somehow manage to successfully kill the Emperor of the Abyss together. Like, together. Probably using some plot device whipped up or some clever plan devised by Airplane on his feet. Mobei-Jun trusts Airplane at a crucial moment and it all works out. Airplane actually gets Mobei-Jun his kingdom back.

I’m tempted to just skip over the Ring and not having a Ring equivalent. BUT if I made this into a longfic instead of a one-shot, I would have a Ring equivalent (if it was a one-shot, I would ditch the Ring equivalent). I think I would make Xin Mo the One Ring equivalent. During the Goblintown equivalent event, Airplane falls either into the Eternal Abyss or into Bing-Ge’s dimension, where he proceeds to successfully take up Xin Mo because he knows the trick and portal himself out of the Eternal Abyss, or he proceeds to outwit Bing-Ge in some fashion and uses the Xin Mo sword to portal himself back to the right dimension.

So then Airplane is stuck with this super powerful sword that he doesn’t want to use again because he KNOWS that it will fuck him up. He KNOWS that it will FUCK HIM UP. So Airplane has to go through the rest of the quest ignoring the temptation of the Xin Mo sword that he is absolutely not supposed to have and can’t possibly let anyone else have.

(Oh, man, imagining the influence of Xin Mo giving Airplane extra horny thoughts about Mobei-Jun on the rest of the quest is very funny. Like, Airplane was already hot for Mobei-Jun, but now it’s worse and he might never have a normal thought ever again.)

Bagginshield Movie Hug when Airplane turns up again, for sure. Mobei-Jun thought he was dead. Mobei-Jun smiles and everything, until he remembers to frown again.

I’m feeling like I don’t want Airplane to use Xin Mo to help defeat the Emperor of the Abyss, but it makes sense if he does. Him not using it doesn’t make much sense. I do like the idea of Airplane dealing the killing blow and Mobei-Jun’s pride being hurt by Airplane being the one to kill it. I also like the idea of Mobei-Jun being a little smitten by Airplane just… loyally handing him his kingdom and restoring the power of his ancestors. I also really like the idea of Airplane just… not having some super powerful plot device up his sleeve on the quest.

Like, instead of Airplane’s Author God knowledge totally setting him up to deal with this thing no problem, Airplane had NO FUCKING PLAN when he set out with Mobei-Jun. He was talking completely out of his ass when he said he knew how to help Mobei-Jun. That this all worked out at all is almost completely due to luck and improvisation.

That feels MUCH more true to both Shang Qinghua and to Bilbo Baggins. Lucky lads of fast-talking, complaining, lying, not knowing what the fuck is really going on, thirsting after kings with tragic backstories, and somehow not dying despite winging it all the time.

Instead of goldsickness, Mobei-Jun is forced to deal with some side-effects of consuming the Emperor of the Abyss to regain the power of his ancestors. (Demon cannibalism rituals. Yeah.) He starts acting really scary and out-of-character and forceful, until Airplane loses his nerve and runs away. Maybe under the influence of the late Emperor of the Abyss, Mobei-Jun actually tries to kill him? I could see Mobei-Jun trying to kill Airplane for the Xin Mo sword which dealt the finishing blow on the Emperor of the Abyss.

(I need a better name for this thing. If I can’t come up with something that actually sounds good, I might just call it “The Calamity”, but that’s giving me BOTW vibes so I don’t like it. Maybe I’d call it “The Desolation” or something? Ehhhh, I don’t really like that either.)

I want to have a Battle of the Five Armies equivalent, if only so Tianlang-Jun and Zhuzhi-Lang can swoop in as benevolent helpers as the Beorn equivalents. Currently, I’m seeing three options. 1) The orc army equivalent are neighboring demon lords who want to strike while the new Mobei-Jun is getting established. 2) The orc army equivalent is Linguang-Jun trying to kill his nephew and take power at the last minute. 3) The orc army equivalent is Bing-Ge here with an army and he’s pissed off and wants his sword back.

On one hand, 1 and 2 would be SO MUCH EASIER to pull off. I could be really lazy about the whole thing. On the other hand, 3 would be much fresher (more surprising and links back to the Xin Mo element), more challenging and the idea of pre-fall Tianlang-Jun facing off with Bing-Ge delights me. Kick his ass, Tianlang-Jun!

(Su Xiyan gets involved? My brain says YES. Kick his ass, Su Xiyan!)

Also, I was sad about there being no Fili and Kili equivalents, because Mobei-Jun has no friends, and I’ll have to make up a company pretty much from scratch. (Sha Hualing is too young and Luo Binghe hasn’t been born yet.) BUT then I was like, “Where’s Linguang-Jun in all this?” And I would absolutely have Linguang-Jun be a part of Mobei-Jun’s Company. Instead of nephews, Mobei-Jun has a sketchy uncle who might be trying to kill him. Keeping Linguang-Jun out of it might be easier, but actually doing some character-building with him sounds fun and challenging, and I’d rather limit the number of OCs if possible.

Mobei-Jun manages to shake off the goldsickness equivalent somehow, probably through “the power of love” (and/or straight-up “dual cultivation” with Airplane?). Moshang makes up while Mobei-Jun is apparently mortally wounded from fighting Bing-Ge and Airplane thinks this is all his fault. But Mobei-Jun doesn’t die! It’s all good!

It’d be pretty funny if there was a “Returning to the Shire” equivalent where Airplane leaves because he thinks Mobei-Jun hates him now and never wants to see him again. So then Mobei-Jun has to track his man down like, “Get back here and marry me. (Also I am so sorry for trying to kill you. Please forgive me. I hate myself so much for that.)”

And they all live happily ever after!

Holy shit, this wasn’t in Proud Immortal Demon Way.

#svsss hobbit fusion au #tossawary updates #tossawary svsss #moshang #mobei jun #shang qinghua #comfort media fusion aus #fic ideas

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thelonglazyworm · 6 years ago

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THIS! Glad to see the PV looking nicely decent. =D This is a PV of a new donghua in the making base on a chinese BL novel, 我开动物园那些年 (Those Years I Opened A Zoo) by 拉棉花糖的兔子 La Mian Hua Tand De Tu Zi (whose author name translated to “The Rabbit That Pulls Candy Floss”). Our favourite versatile Voice Actor Ah Jie (Ye Xiu from The King’s Avatar, Wei Wuxian from Mo Dao Zu Shi) is in this, playing Lu Ya (the guy at the end of this PV with a red stripe of hair). And the main character is Duan Jiaze played by Su Shang Qin (Qiao Yifan from The King’s Avatar, Jin Ling in Mo Dao Zu Shi). On the bright side, the novel is being translated by rhexia, for people who might be interested. ^_^ https://rrrrhexiatranslation.com/those-years-i-operated-a-zoo/

PV English translation Duan Jiaze (narration): People usually say, when heaven closes a door, they will open a window for you. Duan Jiaze: Ten million!? Soliciter: But Mr Duan Gen left it all in the form of a zoo. Duan Jiaze: So I am inheriting a zoo? Voice: Welcome and thank you for joining the Ling Xiao project. Our project aims to help young and promising entrepreneur from the three worlds with their start up ventures. Duan Jiaze: What? Entrepreneur? Voice: Do you want to download our Ling Xiao app? Duan Jiaze: No! Voice: There is no objection from the user. Breach of contract shall result in punishment by Five Lightning Strikes (heavenly punishment). Duan Jiaze: What in the world did I sign up for? Duan Jiaze (narration): To think that an unemployed graduate like me now owns a zoo… Lu Ya: So you are Duan Jiaze. I am Lu Ya. Ling Xiao project sent me here, as animal. Duan Jiaze: Ani..animal!? Novel Summary: Originally broke and poor, Duan Jiaze inherited a private zoo upon graduation. With the signing of a binding contract, he welcomed Luya (the legendary three legged crow), Daji (the legendary nine tail fox), Bai Suzhen (the legendary white snake), black bear spirit and other “animals”. Henceforth, he would worry to the point of dreaming about customer count. From then on, the first zoo to implement a rating advisory appeared; no one under 21 years old is allowed to visit Lu Ya.

Since then, ancient demons, beasts and monks are passionately stirred up. … … Years later at a company annual meeting, Duan Jiaze and Lu Ya doing a stand up comedy… Duan Jiaze: Lu Ya never ever went to elementary school and had wandered about jobless for hundred thousands of years. Finally, he found a job at Ling You Zoo, as an animal. Luya: ……

#我开动物园那些年 #拉棉花糖的兔子 #Those Years I Opened a Zoo #donghua #official PV #chinese bl novel #danmei #since no one is talking about it i shall make it my mission to drag as many ppl in as possible #i doubt donghua will be bl #but hopefully they will stay true to the novel #also wtf tumblr where is the line break and keep reading #and why can't i post this through mobile app??

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mirai-eats · 6 years ago

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Rewind and Start Over:: Noon

Bingqiu, rated M, 5,120 words, part 2/5, Incomplete

Angst, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, re-transmigration, Angst with a Happy Ending, Rating May Change

Modern science is so good it kept a dead man alive.

Shen Yuan is dragged forward but his feet are stubbornly digging in the ground. Luo Binghe is running as fast as he can to catch up.

- Binghe's perspective of Shen Qingqiu dropping dead back to life.

read on AO3

He promised. He promised he wouldn’t leave Luo Binghe ever again. Shizun said he would stay with him forever!

It fell away with the shatter of a broken teacup and a sharp inhale, his last gasp of air, from Shizun’s chest as his eyes rolled back and he collapsed in a heap on the other side of the low table. Luo Binghe cried out his name and lurched forward, the tea set shaking from the sudden movement. He shakily pulled Shen Qingqiu up in his arms, completely limp and not a trace of life left in his body. It was as if he’d fallen from the tower all over again- an empty kite with a hole in its wing with no cultivation or soul to give it flight.

Shen Qingqiu remained beautiful even in death, his layers of robes fanned out like he was a fallen flower, his hair loose from the impact of his fall and slipped from his silver and jade crown, a lock tracing his temple and the pale ribbons trailing his inky black hair like a green river in volcanic meadows. Luo Binghe gently lifted him, his name spilling from his lips and tears falling from his eyes stained the pale face already losing its shades of life and gave away to a deathly grey. There was no pulse, the warmth dripped away with each drop of a crystalline tear. No flutter of his eyelashes, no gentle rise and fall to his chest.

Luo Binghe worked quickly to preserve Shizun’s body all the while his mind scrambled to find a solution. There has to be a reason behind him suddenly dropping dead, something must have pulled the soul away. He promised! Something beyond his control had reached in and snatched Shen Qingqiu’s soul out from his body- the real body this time! He wouldn’t break a promise! Last time it was his useless father that had to pull Shen Qingqiu back to his real body from the Dew Seed body. There was no powerful demon to pull him away so suddenly, he was one of the most powerful demon lords there was absolutely no one who would dare to mess with him!

After pouring his spiritual energy into Shen Qingqiu and arranging him comfortably on the bed, he dropped the silken drapes to hide him away and set off toward Cang Qiong Mountain.

---

Even after digging through the whole of the mountain and threatening every Peak Lord and every disciple, he came up with nothing. No one knew anything and was shocked to learn of his sudden passing. He didn’t believe a word.

A scurrying mouse caught his attention and he chased after it.

---

“I don’t know anything!” Shang Qinghua squeaked in fright, the wall behind him blown in from the sudden force of Luo Binghe’s fist. He was trapped by Luo Binghe’s leering form, shivering under his glare. “I’m just as shocked as you are!”

“But you had a different look on your face when I told everyone,” Luo Binghe sneered. “You looked confused. Did you do something?”

“Nothing, nothing!” Shang Qinghua shrank deeper into his collar. “How-how about this. Leave me alone, but! I have an idea of how to get him back.”

“Talk,” Luo Binghe spat, eyes on fire.

“I have a hypothesis that his soul might… might have been sucked off somewhere far away,” Shang Qinghua stuttered. “You can easily go traipsing through the human and demon realms with your demon and human blood, but-but this might be beyond our reach. Don’t ask how! It’s an untested theory!”

“Who did this?” He drove his fist deeper into the wall by Shang Qinghua’s head. He whimpered pathetically.

“I don’t know!” He cried out. “But give me time, I’ll think of something to help Cu- Shen Shixiong out!”

Luo Binghe stepped back, a couple of crumpled rocks fell to the ground from the wall. “I’m going to continue physically searching. I’ll be back, for now, you must think of something before I return.”

With a flourish of his black robes he left. Shang Qinghua’s legs gave out and he slumped to the floor with a mutter of “scary, too scary!” under his breath.

---

Nothing. He searched every crevice of the mortal and demon realm, shouted to the heaven’s to give him back. There wasn’t a whisper of his soul anywhere. He dug through holes in the mountains, swam down to the deepest parts of the lakes, turned over every rock and leaf in the world and there was no Shizun.

He returned to Shen Qingqiu in his demon palace, resting in their grand bed and shielded away from prying eyes. He was stripped to his under robes, bathed in soft jasmine flowers, and his hair was brushed daily by Luo Binghe. It was always silky and knot-free. The long locks were braided loosely and he would lay him on his back and pull the silken blankets up to keep the chill off. His body was well preserved by Luo Binghe’s own spiritual energy as he did during the five year period of his death and for the first time in years, he went searching for humans with high spiritual power to help balance out his clashing demonic and spiritual energies. Every night, no matter how far away he searched, he always came back to lay next to Shen Qingqiu, curled up next to him under the blankets and cried real, hot tears onto his lukewarm chest, kiss each finger, bury his face into the junction of his neck and inhale the subtly sweet scent of jasmine flowers, tea leaves, and something that’s so distinctly Shizun.

Every morning he’d rise before the sun, press a kiss on Shen Qingqie’s forehead as he always didoes to his demon mark, fills him with more spiritual energy, and disappear to find him.

---

He reappeared to harass Shang Qinghua over half a year later.

“You need to reforge Xin Mo,” Shang Qinghua said. “But you’ll need to do more. As you might have found, Shen Qingqiu is nowhere on either world and the heavens have not sent a sign yet that he is with them. No soul has responded to inquiry, not unless he was split apart beyond anything recognizable, he must have been pulled far away.” His eyes shifted. He wasn’t telling Luo Binghe something. “But we can’t be certain. Try your alternate Bingge’s world and see if he’s been sucked in first.”

“That’s exactly what I’m planning. What will it take to reforge?”

To mine the steel of an immortal mountain, forge it in the fires of a mountain of blood, and slaughter a hundred thousand demons to stain the blade black with its malice. For at least one moon cycle it needs to be embedded in a corpse, preferably a full thirteen moon cycles but they were pressed for time.

“It won’t be as powerful, but it should be enough” Shang Qinghua finished.

Luo Binghe set off to start. How long it would take, he didn’t know. Shang Qinghua said it would take at least three years. He will do it in one.

—-

The cloying darkness of the mine was nothing compared to the anguish in his heart, the burning flames of the bloody mountain were nothing but an added flame to his determination. His hands were bloody and raw, his skin dry and filthy- almost like he was back in the Endless Abyss again.

Every night, he returned to bathe and curl up by his Shen Qingqiu, filled him with spiritual energy, then rose in the morning to take a human or two brimming with fresh spiritual energy and balance out his demonic energy. He wouldn’t have cared if the demonic energy laid waste to his body, but the flash of Shen Qingqiu behind his closed lids- laying stripped and raw and bloody from his uncontrolled hands would always send a shudder of fear deep in his heart. No matter the torment, how easy it would be to let go, he refused to fall for Shizun’s sake.

—-

The new sword was forged in record time (Xin Mo 2 is what he called it) and after a brief reprieve to rest at Shen Qingqiu’s side, kissed his naked cheek, wrapped his arms around his slim waist, and buried his head into his slender neck. He left at the break of dawn drained of spiritual energy and brimming with demonic energy.

First, he tracked down Luo Bingge’s world and traipsed through his cursed realm. It was colder here with Shen Qingqiu’s blood staining the soil. He crashed through the doors of Luo Bingge’s demon palace and found him in the arms of three wives.

“Get out,” he pointed his sword toward the three unfamiliar women. They quickly gathered their clothes and fled from the ominous blade, his ominous gaze.

“I thought you destroyed your sword,” Luo Bingge snarled. He lounged back on the large bed, uncaring of his nudity. He was exactly like Luo Binghe, minus his the scar on his chest and hand, the faithless look in his cold eyes, a cutting edge to his words.

“I did, but I needed it again.” He pointed the blade to Luo Bingge. “Where’s Shizun?”

Luo Bingge arched his brow. “He’s not with you? I only have the remains of mine, do you wish to see him?”

The bloody, lifeless hunk of flesh Luo Bingge kept preserved in his dungeons could not be Shen Qingqiu, the blood soaking the walls and floors and ceiling were not his Shen Qingqiu’s. He felt a whiplash of cold strike through his heart at the thought of and Shen Qingqiu suffering a fate like that, limbless, half-blind, wholly mad, completely shattered even in death. Sometimes, the corpse swinging listlessly from the chain would haunt the deepest recesses of his dreams.

“No. I need mine.”

Luo Bingge spread his arms in welcome. “Feel free to search my realm, turn over every stone and leaf, to find him. But know you are wasting your time.”

With a flourish of his robes, Luo Binghe turned on his heel and marched out of the bedchamber and proceeded to search.

This time it went faster with the help of his demon sword, stopping to flood his system with this realm’s cultivator’s spiritual energy then returned every night to put every drop into Shen Qingqiu.

When he dug through the last mountain, he laid on his back and stared up at the bleak, grey clouds and let his tears drip down to his hairline.

---

He broke through Cang Qiong Mountain’s barriers with ease and kicked down Shen Qinghua’s private chamber’s doors down. A startled screech met his ears followed by a rough thump on the bamboo floors. Luo Binghe went around the private screen to find Shang Qinghua half out the bed, his robes pulled open, and Mo Beijun sitting up next to him, blinking the last remnants of sleep from his eyes. He gave Luo Binghe a short bow of his head and pulled Shang Qinghua up off the floor.

“Can’t you knock? Politely wait outside until I let you in?” Shang Qinghua hissed, pulling his thin robes tightly over his chest. Mo Beijun’s hands were still resting firmly on his waist.

“Good morning to you, too,” Luo Binghe greeted. “Xin Mo 2 is done.”

“Xin Mo 2…” Shang Qinghua muttered, a look of disbelief crossing his features. “Okay, okay let me get dressed and we can discuss what to do next.”

Not long later, Luo Binghe sat with Mo Beijun at Shang Qinghua’s low tea table where he served them fresh tea and snacks. Xin Mo 2 laid across the table, it’s blade an obsidian black, a pale, green jade was mounted in the hilt.

“Interesting touch,” Shang Qinghua noted.

Luo Binghe nodded. “For Shizun.”

“We should test to see if we can reach him in the first place. Have you tried opening a portal yet?” Shang Qinghua asked.

“How do you think I got here?”

“Ah, makes sense. Okay, and you’ve checked Luo Bingge’s realm?”

Luo Binghe nodded darkly. “Get on with it, what else can I do?”

“Since it might be such a far reach, you might not be able to reach him. Here, I thought we could use this to help. Mo Beijun brought this back from the demon realm we might at least be able to use this to catch a glimpse of where he may be at before you go jumping into any portals.” Shang Qinghua stood and bustled to the back of his house, emerging a moment later with a large, smooth obsidian disk. It was about the size of the tabletop, the surface polished to a glossy reflection where even after he cleared off the table and placed it in the middle, his fingerprints dissolved on the surface before their eyes. It didn’t radiate malicious energy as most things from the demon realm would, but a sort of calming threat as if it can strike if striked first.

“Luo Binghe, can you slash the surface with, uh, Xin Mo 2?” He asked him.

Luo Binghe nodded and stood. In one fluid movement, he drew his sword, cut the starless surface, and sheathed it.

The slash in the middle where it was precisely cut seemed to suck in light, the polish surface that had their faces reflected around a moment ago swallowed by the expanding black hole until they were looking down a dark hole carved through the wooden table. They leaned forward, breaths held to catch a glimpse, a sound, of anything.

After a moment of nothing, Shang Qinghua piped up. “You focused on Shen Qingqiu specifically, right?”

“What else would I be thinking of?” It’s not like he could have anything on his mind but Shen Qingqiu.

“I have another hypothesis,” Shang Qinghua stood. “Try again, but let me hold the sword, too.”

Luo Binghe grasper the hilt and pulled it away from Shang Qinghua’s outstretched hand. “No.”

“Do you have any ideas?” Shang Qinghua snapped, a moment of boldness. There was a tilt to his tone, an unfamiliar accent Luo Binghe here crop up when Shang Qinghua thought he was out of earshot with Shen Qingqiu. “I don’t like this either but… ah, I really hope I’m wrong, please Binghe let me try just once?”

He kind of didn’t want Shang Qinghua’s hands anywhere near him or his sword, but he pushed that away and hesitantly held out Xin Mo 2. For Shizun, he told himself. Shang Qinghua’s clammy hand wrapped around his and together they raised the sword and slashed the obsidian mirror.

Like the first time, a black void spread across the surface, but then there were blinding lines of green accompanied by a high pitched, repetitive noise. Shang Qinghua next to him choked on a gasp, a barely heard “oh fuck.” muttered under his breath.

“How did you do that?” Luo Binghe asked. “Why were you able to open a portal to him, and yet I, his own husband, wasn’t?”

Shang Qinghua didn’t answer right away, his eyes glazed over, a similar look She Qingqiu would have sometimes. Mo Beijun watched Luo Binghe and Shang Qinghua with sharp eyes, not caring for the mirror at all. It took a moment before Shang Qinghua responded, blinking himself back down to the present.

“How do I start- uh, I guess with the most obvious, no use tiptoeing around it anymore,” Shang Qingqiu straightened up, his eyes focused on the trailing green lines. “Shen Qinqiu and I transmigrated into this world together. I was hoping my assumptions were incorrect because as being the creator of this world I could come up with a way to get him back, but by the looks of it he was pulled back to where we came from. I have no jurisdiction over there.”

No one spoke, the repetitive noise from the mirror echoed in the chamber.

Surprisingly, Mo Beijun broke the silence first. “Are you a god?”

“Oh my god no, no? Uh, well, yes maybe?” Shang Qinghua was flustered. “I’m a writer back in our realm. This is a story I wrote to pay the bills. I… I died due to unforeseeable circumstances and transmigrated into this world a long time ago at the beginnings of Shang Qinghua’s life. Cucumber bro was a devoted reader who also passed away, a heart thing or whatever. Remember back, what was it, I think twelve, thirteen years ago? When Shen Qingqiu suffered from qi deviation and was changed, losing his memories and his nasty personality?”

Luo Binghe’s heart pounded in his chest, trying to absorb this new knowledge as calmly as he could. This person, this not-Shizun who is Shizun but there hasn’t been a Shizun in many years is the one he’s so thankful for.

Shang Qinghua continued. “This realm’s Shen Qingqiu passed away and as Cucumber bro died cursing my novel, his soul was plopped into his body and told to fix the story if he thinks it’s so terrible.” He turned to Luo Binghe, his accent tilting once again to something he used privately with Shen Qingqiu. “The Luo Bingge you met who tried to take Cucumber bro, that’s the original Luo Binghe I wrote. All because Cucumber bro swore to hug your thigh and treat you better, the whole course of the story changed from my daring stallion novel to this BL. Isn’t that crazy? So many people are alive now all because Cucumber bro took the reigns of this story and changed it for the better.

“Aaah, I originally wanted to write a BL, but it’s not what my readers wanted!” He flopped back down to the ground with a sigh, the harsh green light emanating from the obsidian mirror throwing shadows across his face. “I needed money, I hope you understand but seeing the original scum villain making the protagonist fall in love with him, even I didn’t see that coming!”

“Protagonist?” Luo Binghe finally spoke up. “Scum villain?”

“Yes, you.” He pointed up to Luo Binghe’s looming figure. “You’re the ultimate protagonist! And now Cucumber bro went and made you gay on accident. I’m not terribly mad, but there’s still so much fanservice we’re missing out on!”

“Why did you write such a shitty protagonist the first time around?” The thought of Luo Bingge being his original counterpart made him sick to his stomach.

Shang Qinghua gasped, clutching his chest. “I’ll have you know that despite hating the work as a whole your husband adored the protagonist!”

At that moment the high pitched sound stopped and the green light faded, putting their conversation to a halt. They all leaned forward with their heads crowded around the obsidian mirror as the green lights fizzled away and replaced by a dark room.

Luo Binghe held his breath afraid it might shatter the surface. The room was barely lit, shrouded dark except for lines of pale light striping the edge of the bed and floor. Everything looked weird, too square and smooth. There was a person on the bed, curled up improperly with an arm thrown up, a pale hand knocked against the headboard and a tuft of dark hair were the only things visible.

“Your world is ugly,” Luo Binghe noted, examining what he could see of the smooth walls with glossy portraits hanging from them, the simple furniture all had items he couldn’t figure out what was for. Clothes, at least he assumed so, were spilling out of a basket in the corner and draped across a chair, piled at the foot of the bed, even on the bed. This is most certainly his Shizun’s room, and that must be Shizun asleep.

“Our world is practical, now hush let’s see if he’s gonna wake up,” Shang Qinghua said. As if roused by them, the figure in the bed shifted, rolled over and stretched. He reached over and grappled something on the side table, a smooth, black item that was rectangular and sleek like the obsidian mirror and brought it under the blankets with him.

“A scrying mirror?” He asked.

“Not quite,” said Shang Qinghua

They watched as the figure shifted again and pulled himself up. This man was not Shen Qingqiu, his face too slender and his cheeks too low, the brows and nose broader and his lower lip was fuller to an almost natural pout, but Luo Binghe suddenly recognized those features as to that of the Dew Seed body Shen Qingqiu hid himself in, the features on that one only a 40% match to his body but the other 60% was unmistakably this.

The difference was the short hair. It made Luo Binghe want to weep, especially how it stuck up flat on one side and was a tangled mess on the other. The not Shizun, yawned widely, uncaring for his posture as he slouched down and rubbed his eyes and face hard to wake himself up more. The clothes he wore were unusual, the sleeves short, only reaching to his elbows, and there was no tie to indicate how he got in it.

Not Shizun rolled himself out of the bed, shuffling papers and books that were tucked in the folds of the blankets into a pile and stood with a stretch. Luo Binghe choked and pushed Mo Beijun, turning to Shang Qinghua to do the same but he already had his eyes closed and turned away with a shout of “I’m not looking!” Not Shizun didn’t have anything on his legs! His legs were completely bare, save for the little piece of garment hanging from his hips that barely passed the tops of his thighs. Luo Binghe wanted to cover his eyes for Shizun’s privacy, but also he couldn’t help take in the figure

Shen Qingqiu was slender like a steel-blade, but this Not Shizun (he will never call him Cucumber bro) was paper-thin as if the slightest breeze would send him tumbling. The ends of his hair barely traced his nape and his skin was pale to the point it was almost sickly. Not Shizun leaned over the side table again and put a weird contraption on his face, blinking blurrily into the clear glass and stumbled out the room, most likely to freshen up.

“I think,” Shang Qinghua started. “We were able to locate him only because I have a link to this world too.” He didn’t meet anyone’s eyes through his whole explanation, his gaze firmly fixed on the shapes of the furniture, a melancholic notes to his words. “You should be able to just jump right in and get him back but how will you do that?”

“What do you mean?”

“He has two bodies and one soul,” Shang Qinghua pointed out. “He can’t easily leave his current body without dying again, and Shen Qingqiu is only preserved due to you dutifully replenishing him with spiritual energy. How will you get him back? And consider this.” Shang Qinghua straightened up, an unusually sharp look in his eye. “Will he want to? This is how he lived, everything he knew, until a little over ten years ago he suddenly died and was thrown into a whole other culture and told to survive. He lost his friends and family, everything he worked at and was blessedly given another chance of life but not his life. Now he’s back somehow and he’s clearly making strives to live life to his fullest. Look.”

He pointed to the mirror and Not Shizun was back pulling on clothes that covered his legs and arms, but they were so form-fitting they left nothing to the imagination! His socks barely covered his feet and he watched him roll up the leg of his pants a little, revealing tantalizing ankles. The papers and books he had piled up at the foot of his bed were put into a strange bag and with a strange sound, he sealed it shut, tucking the obsidian rectangle into a pocket at his side. His hair was smoothed down (except when he turned, there was a stubborn cowlick on the back of his head), his face flushed with wakefulness, and he left the room.

“I’ll… we can figure it out once I see him.” There was a moment of silence, the sounds of Not Shizun moving around in another room. “I need to see him at least and if he doesn’t…” he couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence.

There was a loud clacking sound from Not Shizun’s end followed by the deafening sound of a door shutting, muted clicks concluded his exit.

“I’m heading over.” With a solid location finally set, trying to hold back his hands from quivering, he raised Xin Mo 2 and slashed open another portal, one that will link to the little, messy bedroom viewed in the obsidian mirror. The image in the mirror dissolved without Xin Mo 2’s energy directed into it.

“Wait!” Shang Qinghua stopped him. “Promise me you won’t leave the room until Cucumber bro comes back! Don’t go running after him you might cause a scene just- just wait there in the bedroom until he returns.”

Luo Binghe harumphed and stuck his foot through the portal. “No promises,” he said and lept through.

---

The room was cool, cluttered with unfamiliar items yet done familiarly, like when Luo Binghe first moved into the bamboo house and found out despite his immortal exterior, his Shizun was a mess.

At first, he politely sat by the bed on his knees facing the door, ready to greet his Not Shizun the moment he came home. He watched the light grow brighter through the weird window covers, strips of white that only allowed light in like prison bars. The golden lines moved across the bed, a hum came from outside the window, people moving around above him, below, to the sides.

Curiosity finally got the better of him and he stood to explore the room. Everything was blocky, made of strangely smooth, cool material that wasn’t wood sometimes but lighter, sometimes hollow. The weird white bars on the windows could wiggle. He peeked outside and was met with a textured wall, down below was a grey ground framed with sparse grass between the narrow alley. He turned to further explore the room.

Everything was strange. Books bound in hard casings lined the towering bookshelf, stacked on the floor and dresser. God statues and portraits hung on the walls in vibrant, glossy colors. Clear cups with gunks of something stuck to its sides made Luo Binghe’s nose twitch.

The room was strangely stuffy, outside sounds muted by the hard walls and floors. There was an uncomfortable itch to his neck. Guilt ate at him for snooping around his Shizun’s room and he quickly shuffled back to his spot and knelt on the weirdly soft ground, back straight as a blade and eyes trained on the door with a guard dog concentration.

---

The sun trailed across the room, a peak of a muted blue sky from the pains of glass was the only sense of time he could gather. He could wait, he waited for three years, he waited for five more, and after finally- finally - receiving his Shizun’s affections, he had to wait another year. Determination was the only thing leaving him from straying too far into an aimless wander, but it was still an aimless path he carved himself. Now here the aimlessness was coming to an end and all he had to do was be patient, very patient.

Luo Binghe was a generally neat person and his Shizun was not, but here it felt like he had given up on even trying to keep anything somewhat orderly. It’s fine, it’s one of Shen Qingqiu’s cute traits that only he has the pleasure of knowing about, but a mess like this with the undertone of something rotting in the air mixed with dust and dirty clothes, he couldn’t take it. After sitting diligently on his knees for a few incense sticks time he sprung to his feet and started a mad dash to clean. He easily found the source of the rotting smells (a bowl of something with green fuzz starting to stick to the bottom, a cup with a handle with black stains on the bottom and rim, and a few crushed metal cylinders that read it was energy drink on the sides) and didn’t hesitate to throw them in the can by the door with more trash in it. He gathered all the clothes on the bed and set to sorting out the clean from the dirty based on smell (and if he stuck his nose into a soft coat to take a really good sniff of this new smell he could associate his shizun with, who would know but him?), and gathered the remaining books and stray papers back onto the bookshelf.

It was in the middle of neatly cramming the clean clothes in the wardrobe did he here the distinctive click from the doors opening. He froze, wanting to run out and greet the Not Shizun and yet unsure if the rule applied to him staying in the bedroom only or the entire house. Not wanting to cross any lines and realizing he wasn’t done, he quickly went back to trying to put away the rest of the clothes, dumping the dirty remnants into the wicker basket already packed full. He rolled to the ground and started picking up anything he could, accidentally bumping into the bookcase and one of his god statues came tumbling down. With a suppressed curse on his lips, he brushed her off and gently placed her back up, along with the snapped off arm and did a quick prayer for forgiveness.

He bodily slid back to the ground to his knees by the bed facing the door, trying to adjust his robes to make him look less disheveled. Quiet footsteps were approaching the door slowly, his Shizun was back! He’s almost here! He gripped his clammy hands to his pants in anticipation almost vibrating on the spot.

A sudden clatter and painful, hollow-sounding thunk echoed outside the door instead. Panicked, Luo Binghe lurched to his feet and in two long strides opened the door to find-

The Not-Shizun from the obsidian mirror, sitting upon the ground, one hand holding some weird contraption and the other held up on the narrow wall. The weird lenses he wore had slid down the bridge of his nose to reveal his wide, frightened eyes and his hair was tousled much more than when he’d originally left. With a shaking hand, he pushed it back up to his eyes and the fright turned to shock.

“Binghe?!”

#scum villain self saving system #scum villain #svsss #bingqiu #luo binghe #shen qingqiu #shen yuan #mxtx #fic #shen yeet #m writing the last chapter now but progress was slowed due to uh finals but im gonna have it all done in 2-3 weeks #uwu #forgot to post it here oop #the rating is uh pribably gonna b E thats why its taking me so long to finish oop

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freshdotdaily · 6 years ago

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I wrote this blog post in 2012 but tumblr deleted it. It was called sumn like, “My main critique w/ Talib Kweli” I wasn't allowed to listen to rap or any secular music growing up. My mom did me a grave disservice in that regard. So appropriately when I came into age I began sneaking all the music I could. I liked hip-hop and wanted as much of it as possible. The first record that I got that informally changed everything for me was Arrested Development's "Arrested Development 3 years 5 months 2 days". Probably because A) It was non-violent hip-hop I could RELATE to & B) After being raised by a Puerto Rican mother I had little to no real Knowledge of Cultural self.The next albums that followed after I devoured that album were Fugees "The Score" and Busta Rhymes "When Disaster Strikes" it'd be a little while before I was able to get my hands on any new cd after those two, so I had those 3 albums for a good year or two in heavy rotation along w/ Future Flavors on Hot 97 to keep me current. I was writing my raps pretty regularly around this time and I'd graduated from performing gospel raps at my churches Youth Night to nervously performing at little local open mic spoken word poetry nights w/ my friend Jason.The next album I got my hands on was "Mos Def & Talib Kweli are BlackStar".

That album changed EVERYTHING for me. As far as I was concerned I never needed another rap album. This was the penultimate affirmation of all the things I'd come to feel were true about myself and hip-hop and my culture. Mos was the Charismatic emcee who was forever on beat and in pocket w/ his flow and Talib was the well-read, technical lyricist. I immediate began trying to become an amalgam of them both in one emcee since I felt they so aptly represented what I felt. Reflection Eternal's "Train of Thought" album dropped and blew my head clean off my shoulders. The beats, man. Kweli was at his apex w/ that album. Raps + beats + Brooklyn being well represented. Oh, and let us not forget the Ecko advertisements. I wore Ecko exclusively for about a year and change. I mean footwear to underwear at one point. Talk about artists being brands and marketing alignment & etc. I bought Triple 5 Soul because that's apparently what Mos Def wore, right? I bought & read Ntozake Shange's "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf" because Kweli made a reference to it. I read Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye" because Kweli made a reference to it. I mean, this is what hip-hop, good hip-hop anyway is supposed to do, right? Spark discussion, open minds, create thought and growth, etc. I felt like I was a part of that MOVEMENT. Rawkus. The Okayplayer board. The Spitkicker site. SoulQuarians. I had all the albums from everybody. Probably TMI, but I lost my virginity in 1999, while Pharoahe Monche's "The Light" was playing in the background for some reason. smh. For crying out loud, Black Star's "Respiration" is the top song in my top five favorite songs of all time.

It gets deep, nigga. (c) Kendrick Lamar

As my writing progressed and evolved and I found my own voice eventually through trial and error, Mos Def's "Black on Both Sides" dropped. While "Train of Thought" was still my favorite of the two albums, Mos's charisma eclipsed Kweli and he became my favorite of the two emcees. I judge rappers work against their own previous work instead of their peers, because that's fair to do artistically. So I'd never pit Mos & Kwelis work against each other because that's like arguing about which is more delicious of a fruit, apples or oranges? Two different fruits altogether, bruh. Also, at this point, I'd moved out my moms house, put out my 1st album, discovered early Eminem and Canibus and had a blossoming cd collection. Not to mention my attention was being held by a burgeoning Kanye.When Kweli's solo project "Quality" dropped, it hit me kinda like "meh". Gone was the signature Hi-Tek sound. I mean, Tek had joints on there but it wasn't the same. Dj Quick? Dj Quick is a mothafuckin' legend, sure. But his relevance at the time? Nah. Especially to a n00b EAST COAST hip-hopper as myself, it was baffling. The general consensus was Kweli used his first truly solo debut to attempt a move toward a more mainstream sound. It received some mainstream attention thanks to the West-produced single "Get By" which peaked at #77 on the Billboard Hot 100. That was Kweli's lifesaver. That album would've drowned otherwise. I did like the Kweli/Kanye connection that seemed mutually beneficial for both of them. It seemed to be going well even got him a Hov shout out on "The Black Album", in which Jay-Z rapped: "If skills sold, truth be told/I'd probably be, lyrically, Talib Kweli". Then the Strugglesome "The Beautiful Struggle" album dropped and I wanted to like it, but it too, hit me like "meh". The Neptunes, Just Blaze and Kanye couldn't save that album. The album failed to cross over into the mainstream and suffered a critical backlash. For example, Britt Robson of The Washington Post said: "Struggle" was a "frequently awkward, too-obvious bid to exploit the commercial buzz Jay-Z created." Mos was trying his hand at rock music w/ Black Jack Johnson and dropped "The New Danger" to my disappointment. By this point I'd bought Common's "Like Water For Chocolate" and it made him instantly my new favorite emcee. I went and bought "Resurrection" and "One day it'll all make sense" in the same day and consumed those albums daily.In listening, I noticed Kweli's aging. His attempts to remain relevant by looking around him and seeing what was popular and trying to compete. I was willing to overlook his stuffing a thousand syllables into a bar and over usage of the word "like" in every rap song w/ semi-obscure literary references (that I dug, actually). I was willing to overlook the preachy tone his raps somewhat took. I was still BUYING Kweli's music. Brooklyn. over. everything, my nigga. I downloaded '"Liberation" and wasn't mad at that at all. Kweli and Madlib? Dope. I stopped there. There was too much disappointment for me to continue. I wished he'd maintained his aesthetic. Emcees like Kweli and Fat Joe will always look around and try to emulate to maintain relevance. I'm sure there's more money and more opportunity in it, but you lose that core fanbase for the possibility of a bigger, newer fanbase who's not familiar with your older work and doesn't love you the same as a fan. Whereas an artist like Ghostface or DOOM will continue to do what they do in their lane and gain cult followings. Mos learned this the hard way. It wasn't until "The Ecstatic" (and stepping the live show up by giving people what they came to see) that heads began fucking w/ him again.Eardrum? Nope. Finally, a new Reflection Eternal album? With post G-Unit Hi-Tek? It was a little too late. I bought it & reluctantly handed my money over. I'd lost my will to be be a Kweli fan. Gutter Rainbows? Nope. Idle Warship? Hell no.

Did Kweli become wack? nah, he's still nice. I feel like it's the same problem Nas had with putting out 2 great albums out the gate and then trying to maintain relevance in a changing musical environment where the consumers are getting younger and the music is warping to accommodate. It took Nas about 10 albums to figure out how to get BACK to his original formula.I ask myself often if my critiques on Kweli came about because I rap and hold him in my influences. You know how you get older and realize your parents weren't the geniuses you thought them to be as a child? Once I figured out my stride and perfected how I wanted to rap and write, I think I began flaw finding. Flaw finding is both my nature as a virgo and my right as a consumer & fan. The power to critique constructively is also my right as a fellow artist. The biggest iniquities were the syllable cramming at the expense of flowing on-beat to get a point out as well as beat choices. But overall, I wanted that vibe back. I wanted that hi-Tek, Geology and Shawn J. Period vibe back from when I found myself as a young man and emcee. In 2013 Kweli is dropping "Prisoner of Conscious" a title derived from Talib's constant labeling as a "conscious rapper" and based on Nigerian reggae artist Majek Fashek's album "Prisoner of Conscience." I plan on purchasing it via an experiment. I'm gonna download all the albums of his I missed and see if there's been any hints or glimmers of what I've been missing that could lead up to this being his "Life is Good" album. Based on that, hopefully I can "experience dedication" and "move something", before it's "too late" for him to "get by".-F.Daily

It’s 2019 and I think Kweli is super important to raps annals and history. Albeit his hubris and righteous stances especially on social media mixed w/ distasteful personal stories I’ve heard + how he handled ReS’s music issues have rubbed me all the wrong way. I still think there’s really some slivers of relevancy for Kweli in the current hip-hop climate. I think he’s in tune with the culture and good for hip-hop and an important voice in socio-political justice for the advancement of people of color. Ionno how good the music is for me personally anymore, but I’ll always have Reflection Eternal.

content sourced from Talib Kweli's wiki page

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