#lbh deserves to win

[coffincoitus]

considering none of them actually swapped spit the only spn ship im willing to vote for is samdean bc at least they're siblings. also bc sex and violence is an episode that aired on tv

[verycharismaticdragon]

The guy yuri poll put me in a mood for some lesbingqiu... ah yes SQQ. Shes in a better place now (between LBH's titties)

(and ofc vote bingqiu. you know they deserve to win the whole tournament)

EDIT: updated with the link to the latest poll. Theyre in the finals!

[requindeterre]

Comedy of errors Bingjiu where SJ swaps into SY's body when he dies of qi deviation. It's weird but SJ does what he always does: survive, adapt, overcome. Shen Yuan's family is the biggest adjustment but it's...fine. More tolerable than the peak lords at least.

Years pass, he's thriving and has mellowed out a bit now. Amazing what getting out of a constant trauma state and modern heart demon healing can do for a man. But, his own nature keeps him waiting for the other shoe to drop. And it does -

- In the form of his now very adult former disciple directly into his path on his way home from the grocery. RIP to the once perfectly ripe tomatoes now crushed into pulp beneath a man who should have no idea who SJ is. He's annoyed but it should be easy to get rid of the beast.

Meanwhile, LBH's finally managed to squirm his way into a reality where he doesn't have to fight that cry baby for a nice Shizun thanks to a tip from the last iteration of the pair he came across. Finally, it's his turn.

LBH proceeds to try every trick in his playbook to try and win over "Shen Yuan" even if he does remind LBH more of his scum Shizun in personality than the various kind Shizuns he's come across.

It doesn't matter- every watered down version of himself got a kind shizun and this one is HIS. Hasn't he suffered more than any of them, doesn't he DESERVE to have that kindness and love after everything?

Of course, SJ won't give in easily. But, he's read through PIDW while acclimating and it seems a wiser plan to keep up the Shen Yuan charade than come clean and risk meeting the same fate as the SQQ in the novel.

He takes every opportunity to try and foist this sticky demon lord off onto someone else. He never threw anyone into the Abyss, why is this HIS problem. Sure, the constant meals are nice and maybe the not-so-little beast is growing on him like a fungus but- that means nothing.

Trying to keep LBH at a distance works for a while, a few months at least. How the beast is managing a prolonged stay in a new world isn't really SJ's problem given he never asked for this but, he finds himself thinking about it as autumn shifts to winter.

LBH adapted fairly quickly and it didn't take more than a few days for him to switch from formal robes to something more suitable for this world each time he popped up like a curly haired weasel millipede.

After following, clinging to really, SJ back to his apartment that first day, the beast was always popping up around meal times or when SJ left to run errands. It was invasive at first but has become routine.

Still, extended stays in SJ's private space would -not- do so each night LBH was politely bundled, or as close to SY's mannerisms as SJ could infer, out the door. But- SJ thought about it as the weather module on his phone announced another temperature drop.

Where had the little mongrel been staying? He didn't recall seeing a coat earlier in the day when he shuffled LBH out after their lunch. If the farce of Master Airplane's novel was correct, LBH would be more than capable of handling himself. But SJ thought about it.

Perhaps he'd been wearing SY's face for too long, he was clearly going soft in his old age. It was easy enough to ignore in the light of day until SY's meimei had to show up at the wrong time and point a spotlight directly at the issue.

[web-novel-polls]

MXTX Side Character Bracket

Side A - Opens Thursday, November 9th

Jin Ling vs. Daoist nuns triplets 

Jiang Yanli vs. Xue Yang 

Yin Yu vs. Xiao Xingchen 

Qin Wanyue vs. Bai Jing 

A-Qing vs. Mu Qingfang 

Ling Wen vs. Pei Ming 

Shang Qinghua vs. Wen Qing 

Bichen vs. Fairy 

Side B - Opens Sunday, November 12th

Ning Yingying vs. Su Xiyan

Mobei-jun vs. Zhuzhi-lang

LBH’s Harem vs. Jiang Cheng

Su She vs. Tianlang-jun

Quan Yizhen vs. Song Lan

Lan Xichen vs. Sha Hualing

Wen Ning vs. Gongyi Xiao

Mianmian vs. Six Balls

Special Addition - Shen Jiu vs. Liu Qingge

Polls will open at noon CST and will remain open for 1 week.

Tag: #mxtx side characters round 1

Characters & propaganda underneath the cut

Jin Ling from MDZS

Submission 1: He may be a brat, but he has a good heart and a friendly dog. He thinks he's the main character of a much less intense story which keeps almost getting him killed 

Submission 2: Bestest boy in the whole world. He's got a dog! A helicopter uncle! His dad's sword! Yeah he can be a little brat but he's SIXTEEN okay (or thirteen, or whatever, MXTX HELP) and he's got an incredible capacity for forgiveness. He's so good! 

Daoist nuns triplets from SVSSS

Submission: Authors of "Song of BingQiu" and the true culprits behind the ass wine extra. Stop crediting Liu Mingyan with their hard work! 

Jiang Yanli from MDZS

“Madam Jin. A-Xian is my younger brother. A humiliation to him is not something trivial to me.” - Drama

Elder Sister Syndrome in its highest form who is just trying to protect her loved ones despite having no talent in cultivation. 

Wiki Link

Xue Yang from MDZS

Submission: It's not that he's evil. He lacks empathy and he goes into a disassociative state and commits atrocities. 

Yin Yu from TGF

Submission: The guy of all time. The most average god ever. Someone give him a break. His face is so average that Xie Lian thought it was fake 

Xiao Xingchen from MDZS

No propaganda submitted

Originally a disciple of Baoshan Sanren, Xiao Xingchen left his home knowing he wouldn’t ever be allowed to return in the sole hopes of saving and helping others. He meets and befriends Song Lan, who later loses his eyes and home to Xue Yang. Xiao Xingchen begs Baoshan Sanren to give Song Lan his eyes, choosing to wander the world blind. Due to sacrificing his eyes, he’s unable to recognize Xue Yang, who tricks him into killing innocent people and later, Song Lan, the person he wanted to save the most. 

Wiki Link

Qin Wanyue from SVSSS

Submission: Scum Villain's wettest and most pathetic loser! Of course, she's so pathetic that she's constantly overshadowed by more bombastically pathetic characters, but I think she deserves her chance at recognition. 

Bai Jing / Brocade Immortal from TGCF

Submission: no 1 ling wen simp (just like me fr)

Wiki Link

A-Qing from MDZS

Propaganda: She's so smart. She tricked so many people into thinking she was blind for so long. Also, she was really kind and considerate. Like she didn't have to save all of those people from Xue Yang. Oh and she's an excellent judge of character and super brave. Really hope she wins, she's such a fun little genius girl 

"You piece of shit! Dream on! You don't deserve to call Daozhang unclean. You're just a pool of spittle! Daozhang must be the unluckiest man in the world to have met you! You're the only one who’s dirty! It's only a disgusting pool of spittle like you!" — A-Qing’s last words to Xue Yang

Mu Qingfang from SVSSS

Submission: Ppl tend to completely forget he has a mad scientist side (see Jinlan arc) and if he gets into the tournament I'll have a reason to bring it up. 

Ling Wen from TGCF

Submission: Girlboss. Did nothing wrong

One of the Three Tumors - three Heavenly Officials that have some of the worst reputations after Xie Lian (“the laughing stock of the three realms”) - and was accused of, like, killing a dude or smth but was accepted back into Heaven on the sole basis that she’s the only administratively competent god

Pei Ming from TGCF

One of the Three Tumors - three Heavenly Officials that have some of the worst reputations after Xie Lian (“the laughing stock of the three realms”) - due to his EXTENSIVE manwhore ways. Like, when the ghost mother of a fetus spirit claims her child is/was the child of a Heavenly Official, EVERYONE thinks it’s him. What can he say, his reputation precedes him 

Shang Qinghua / Airplane from SVSSS

Submission: He's a sidekick and he's so sidelined that despite creating the universe he's treated as an afterthought - doubly a side character! But also? So relateable. He would absolutely have been on tumblr in his first life, he gets so excited about his blorbo who treats him terribly (until they finally get a happy ending in the extras - also! he has to wait for the extras to get his happy ending! very side-character of him). He holds the fascinating position of being mostly irrelevant to the story and yet without him the themes would totally fail. He deserves a win on something for once, okay? 

Wen Qing from MDZS

Submission 1: Doctor, mad scientist, war criminal, protective big sister... she has the range!!

Submission 2: Wen Qing my beloved!! She did surgery on a grape. Mad genius for real. Also a loving sister with a very sharp tongue and maybe no sense of how far is too far. Can't wait for them to find her alive in a Koi Tower basement!

Submission 3: Justice for my girl!!!! 

Submission 4: She's bitchy and pragmatic and cares deeply and did an unprecedented operation (experimental and nonconsensual!), what's not to love? Also she deserved better. 

Bichen from MDZS

Lan Wangji’s sword

Submission: this sword has been through a lot…

Wiki Link 

Fairy from MDZS

Jin Ling’s dog that was gifted to him by Jin Guangyao 

Submission: The cutest, smartest, and goodest doggo! She's the one who led WangXian to the Nie sword tomb to save Jin Ling! and led Jiang Cheng to Guanyin Temple to save Jin Ling! and led Lan cultivators to the temple to help Lan Wangji and Lan Xichen (and Jin Ling!)

Wiki Link

Ning Yingying from SVSSS

Submission: Her glow-up in the SVSSS timeline is real! Instead of becoming Luo Binghe's childhood sweetheart, she roasts him for referring to her too familiarly. Love this for her. 

Su Xiyan from SVSSS

Girlboss

Wiki Link

Mobei-jun from SVSSS

Submission: He's a demon tsundere who doesn't realize his human boyfriend is scared and easily squishable. Got demoted from king to cabinet minister during a hostile takeover but is pretty chill about it. Huge boobs. 

Zhuzhi-lang from SVSSS

Submission 1: Snake boy my beloved

Submission 2: I love him

Luo Binghe’s Harem from SVSSS

Submission: Binghe's harem the whole collection all of them together an amalgamation of all the wives 

Jiang Cheng from MDZS

Submission 1: Extremely traumatized yet also somehow the most normal and functional by the end. Huge bitch but I (and at least one of the other characters) think he deserves to be even worse after everything he's been through

Submission 2: Simultaneously badass and the most cringefail man. Extremely funny and stylish but still manages to be very uncool. Cries a lot. Also he's lost a lot of tumblr polls—let's give him another shot! We definitely love him more than his dad did!

Submission 3: He's got mommy issues AND daddy issues. He loves his sister and his shige so much. He's traumatised and incredibly competent. He rebuilt his whole sect! He's an asshole (affectionate). He's purple! He's got the coolest weapon ever conceived. I'm so worried about his blood pressure basically all the time. 

Su Minshan / Su She from MDZS

Submission 1: Idk I just kinda like him

Submission 2: Look at him having his own life and grudges and friendships and priorities completely unrelated to the main characters! He was so right to curse Jin Zixun 

Tianlang-jun from SVSSS

Submission: Incredible character who does it like him 

Quan Yizhen from TGCF

Submission: He's a good boi and thinking about him makes me cry a lil'.

Literally only ascended to Heaven to follow his shixiong, hated it, and then his shixiong was cast out for trying to kill him. Also, the “revered-martial-artist-who-beats-up-his-supporters/subordinates-and-is-still-loved” trope

Song Lan from MDZS

No propaganda submitted 

Died to the one person he desperately wanted to apologize to (Xiao Xingchen), and when Xiao Xingchen, unable to recognize him due to giving Song Lan his eyes, killed him, Song Lan chose not to use his sword, knowing Xiao Xingchen would recognize it 

Wiki Link

Lan Xichen from MDZS

Submission: Pay your respects to the captain of the WangXian ship! Those idiots would keep pining for another 13282627 years if it weren't for him! 

Sha Hualing from SVSSS

Submission: Her cringefail losergirl swag has captivated me 

Wen Ning from MDZS

Submission emitted for potential character hate

Chose kindness again and again - sheltering Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng from the other Wens, sacrificing himself with his sister to save Wei Wuxian and the Wen Remnants - only to inadvertently/paritally cause Wei Wuxian’s downfall & the seige on the Burial Mounds with his own hands by killing Jin Zixuan (not of his own will, btw). Another tragic character who sacrificed and put himself at risk to protect people who died anyway 

Gongyi Xiao from SVSSS

Submission: He is such a Good Person who didn't deserve his fate :( 

Mianmian / Luo Qingyang from MDZS

Girlboss instantly shut down the misogynists in her clan by leaving without hesitation. Iconic work. 

Wiki Link

Six Balls from SVSSS

Submission: When he was born he weighed as much as six balls. Current ball number unknown.

[valorshwn]

also tolkien was a coward only naming one of faramir and eowyn’s at least four children 

[justletmereadmyfic]

Headcanon time

So just bc I just posted my fic, I want to try to more concisely (lmao, "concisely") explain my personal interpretation of how a Shang Qinghua/Original Shen Qingqiu relationship works/could work.

(This is just my interpretation of these characters in this AU scenario! It can change for other fics and situations!)

Let's start with our key players:

SQQ is not a good person and boy does he know it, but he has some standards, bitch please! He's supposed to be a righteous cultivator, after all; he's no beast. This translates to: abuse is totally fine–they probably deserved it and if not they should just get over it. But killing isn’t acceptable without a reason. Evidence: despite hating the guts of LBH and LQG, didn't kick LBH into the abyss until he found out he was a demon (that’s reason enough, natch), and only killed LQG out of self-defense. I know "not killing someone without a good reason" is a pretty low bar to clear for the side of the morally good, but that brings us to...

SQH, who knows for a fact that this world and the people in it are—or at least at one point were—fictional, fake, not real. He's lived there long enough to know that his fellow peak lords have thoughts and feelings and personalities. They aren't just acting out a script, and are (probably) real in every meaningful sense of the word.

But, duh—that's because they're important characters! Everyone else, not so much. The average background character has the personality, looks, and intelligence of a wooden post, and that's bc they were never supposed to be real people. We got a whole lot of NPCs here. He's of the opinion that if they weren’t a named character in the book, then they only exist to be cannon-fodder or set-dressing and it doesn't even count as murder to kill them.

So.

Stage 1: SQQ sees SQH getting disrespected, abused, etc., and as a former slave and having been in that situation himself, he is disgusted. With SQH. He doesn't have to invite it by being so pathetic! Yes, our man is a victim-blamer.

Stage 2: SQQ finds out SQH has a backbone after all, and thinks "Huh. Well, if it's just play-acting, I suppose it's an acceptable method of survival, even if I'd never stoop to it."

Stage 3: SQH likes mean and pretty men, and he likes seeing his work in the living, breathing flesh. SQQ likes being sincerely complimented.

Stage 4: Is it so unusual that, once you start spending more time with someone, you grow to like them more?

Stage 5: SQQ finally sees SQH's sociopathic tendencies in action, and realizes, "well, I thought I was bad at being a good person, but this is something else entirely."

Stage 6: Now with concrete proof that he is not the worst of the worst, by default, that means SQQ is at least a little good at being a good guy. Which means it's actually possible for him to be good. He never really believed that before, but now that he knows he can, he goes for it (well, -ish. This is SQQ. He's less outrageously awful).

Stage 7: SQQ likes SQH. The "be sticky, be pitiful" method works *shrug* and he's in too deep now to dump him just bc SQH wins the dubious honor of being worse than SQQ. So he's going to make it his life mission to redeem SQH as a person. And hey, saving the love of your life from eternal damnation, the way he inadvertently saved you, is pretty romantic, right?

In conclusion: They're probably super toxic, but they're happy.

[touchmycoat]

For your 679 fic (which btw is fantastic and painful), do you have headcanon about why LQG and SJ are so at odds? I definitely got vibes that SJ was jealous of YQY and LQG's relationship and it sounded like they spent a decent amount of time together even if it was just sparring.

THANK YOU MY DEAR <3 and hell yeah, what an absolutely juicy ask

SJ loves to front, right? He's a teeming cauldron of bad temper and insecurities—i'll need to review the canon content in the extras but maybe the first time LQG gets on his nerves is a public correction. I'm thinking something like, the Old Masters are holding a public forum of sorts and the Head Disciples are all there to learn and participate. The Qing Jing Peak Lord poses a dilemma and asks for SJ's solution, which is masterful and well-articulated. Before the Qing Jing Peak Lord can approve though, the Baizhan Peak Lord tosses the same question to LQG, who gives a more incisive, experienced response.

There's got to be class and privilege stuff all entwined, so the way SJ sees it, the posed dilemma was not something he could've possibly experienced, having been born on the streets. Nobody gives him a hard time for it or anything, but he still feels upstaged and mocked—就結下樑子了, and a grudge is born. He finds LQG arrogant, and thinks all LQG does is sit cushy in his privilege.

Then there's the competition/spar. The only thing SJ hates more than losing is losing in front of so many witnesses—again, nobody's really giving him shit for losing to the rising star of Baizhan, but he just doesn't think LQG deserves all those compliments and all that success! The only reason LQG's good at fighting is 'cause he was born into it after all; prodigies aren't born, they're paid for. If SJ had anything like LQG's 後台, he'd have no fucking competition at all. LQG embodies everything SJ hates and hates that he doesn't have, so gradually, everything he does in LQG's presence becomes barbed and pointed.

LQG's perspective, on the other hand, is this: he loves and lives for fighting, and as he's taking down senior after senior on Baizhan, there's another formidable opponent rising to the top of Qiong Ding. He's sparred with YQY and admires how in the arena, YQY's attention is completely fixed on improving himself. Other people get caught up in the winning and losing (cough SJ cough), and LQG does not care for that kind of attitude at all. And as he gets to know YQY, he likes YQY more and more. He admires YQY's social graces and how earnestly attentive YQY is toward fellow disciples. He loves and trusts this man for be his commander.

Then one day, SQQ shows up, and YQY...changes. LQG has said to YQY once or twice before that there's no need for all that patience, but now it's dialed up to eleven. All he sees is YQY's 苦口婆心 and SJ's 不領情, and he just doesn't understand why YQY is wasting all this time on someone so unappreciative.

Then SJ starts targeting him in particular—and LQG never meets a fight he doesn't swing a fist at. The rest is history.

But yeah, LQG and SJ are just a pair of vicious contrasts. LQG fights to win but doesn't let losing get to him (see: challenging and losing to LBH for five years), SJ will let one loss fester and hold a grudge about it for the rest of his life. LQG doesn't know betrayal and puts out his loyalty, SJ knows nothing but betrayal and jealously guards his loyalty. SJ hates losing face and resents the fact that losing face just doesn't seem to be something that happens to LQG. LQG hates petty, snide, passive-aggressive jabs (because why do all that when you can just have a straightforward fight) while SJ is 1) a foul-tempered mess, and 2) willing to use every tool at his disposal to survive.

SJ's actions are coming out of his PTSD and unresolved resentments, while LQG has the luxury of not knowing why SJ has to act the way he does.

And I mean, I fucking love romance and misunderstanding tropes. LQG and YQY have standing spars, but one day, SJ (unknowingly) steals YQY for one session. People whisper about it, YQY doesn't explain it, LQG frowns about it, SJ gets defensive. YQY lends SJ his old sparring sword (an item of minor fame among the disciples due to Yue-shixiong's overwhelming strength), SJ refuses to use it, LQG grabs it during a spur-of-the-moment fight and ends up breaking it, YQY only sees it broken, SJ doesn't want to explain that LQG breaks it because that would sound like he gives a crap about YQY's feelings, YQY cancels on LQG to go on a long mission he hadn't wanted to take before, LQG misunderstands and thinks YQY is upset with him bc he'd broken something YQY had given to SJ (where YQY had never been upset at LQG before for broken stuff).

Anyways, the narrative rule is, LQG always misunderstands SJ's actions, assuming worst intent, and SJ always resents explaining himself, because why the fuck should he.

[winepresswrath]

In the end, does JC not deserve one person who is fully ride or die? My Man, Right or Wrong? WWX has LWJ and Wen Ning, jiggy has Su She! LBH and LWJ are honestly equal and opposite forces. Actually LBH is way more OP than him, he can kill Hanguang jun for making you sad whenever you like? JC eventually votes no because he doesn't want to make WWX sad but he likes that LBH would and also thinks Gusu is a terrible place to live. A living insult to his culinary skills

MXTX is out there saying ABSOLUTELY NOT or possibly saying she was already extremely merciful wrt the Jin Ling issue, what else could he want?

Part of the fun of Luo Binghe is that he can play on protagonist terms, which Jiang Cheng cannot, and so yes he can smugly beat Hanguang-Jun at everything including cooking. He can magically be a better guqin player than Lan Wangji but never actually do anything so annoying as attempt a serenade unless he is specifically demonstrating that he is better than someone Jiang Cheng hates. Generally I am very strongly opposed to letting Jiang Cheng win things but I think he'd be so confused and alarmed by his genre hopping suitor it actually works out.

[elencelebrindal]

Sorry if they're too many, you don't have to answer everything! What is your fave novel of the three? Favorite/least favorite character for each one? Favorite male/female character for each one (aside from you all-time fave)? Favorite canon ship? Favorite non-canon ship? Least favorite of them (and why)? Favorite tool/weapon in the three? They're so many, sorrysorrysorry!

Don’t worry, I love answering questions! There might be some spoilers here, so... be wary of them. 

Ok, let’s go in order:

1.

My favorite novel of the three is Tian Guan Ci Fu. When I read Mo Dao Zu Shi I told myself “okay, I don’t think anything could beat this”, and then TGCF came around. I think this novel is, in general, one of my favorite books of all time. Aside from the romance part of it (which is often what people mainly focus on when it comes to MXTX), I really loved the characters and the story is absolutely incredible. I ended up getting so involved in it that I read the entire thing + the extras in three days, subsequently read what was out of the manhua in... maybe two hours? and watched the entire donghua as soon as it came on Netflix in one sitting. The only time this happened to me before TGCF was with the Silmarillion. 

This tells a lot. 

2.

Favorite SVSSS character: Luo BingHe shares his first place with Shen QingQiu.

Least favorite SVSSS character: Immortal Master Lao Gongzhu of Huan Hua Palace. I cannot even begin to explain how disgusted I was by that character, I almost never hated anyone more than him. 

Favorite MDZS character: Wei WuXian. He’s been my favorite character from the beginning. His story follows exactly one of my favorite character dynamic, much like many other favorites of mine (from good to evil to neutral/somewhat good again, even if in this case WWX didn’t actually turn evil). I’m pretty sure the same can be said of almost everyone in my favorite list... oh well.

Least favorite MDZS character: it’s a tough choice between Su She, Wen Chao, and Jin ZiXun. I just... I disliked them so much. It’s not even hate, I just didn’t want to see them on screen. Maybe Wen Chao is the worst of them... yeah, he’s the worst. I could count Jiang Cheng in my least favorites as well, but my reasons for not liking him are way too complicated so I won’t insult him so much. 

Favorite TGCF character: Hua Cheng!!!!!!!

Least favorite TGCF character: I don’t have a least favorite character. 

3. 

Favorite SVSSS male character aside from LBH and SQQ: MoBei-Jun and LiuQingGe. I’m not troubling myself with trying to choose between them.

Favorite SVSSS female character: I used to be torn between Sha HuaLing and Liu MingYan, but SHL follows my general preferences way more so she wins. 

Favorite MDZS male character aside from WWX: Wen Ning. He deserves all the love in the world. All of it. Also I really love Nie MingJue and Xiao XingChen. 

Favorite MDZS female character: Jiang Yanli (because I fell in love with her gentle personality while watching The Untamed and I can’t bear myself to stop loving her). Wen Qing is right up there with her.

Favorite TGCF male character aside from HC: well, first of all Xie Lian. Second of all, Bai WuXiang and He Xuan.

Favorite TGCF female character: Ling Wen, but only because I don’t count Shi QingXuan as a fully fledged female (I am too in love with both forms to choose one side, sorry guys). 

4. (they’re all going to be the main ones, lol)

Favorite canon SVSSS ship: Shen QingQiu x Luo BingHe, though... MoBei-Jun x Shang QingHua is a really close second. 

Least favorite canon SVSSS ship: I don’t think I have one? I mean, there’s not much material to examine when it comes to canon pairings.

Favorite canon MDZS ship: Wei WuXian x Lan Wangji.

Least favorite canon MDZS ship: it’s not really a ship (I think, maybe it’s just me?) but whatever they tried to do with Jiang Cheng and Wen Qing in the drama doesn’t sit right with me. For reasons that are a bit more complicated than it seems, and that would need me explaining my opinion about JC first. 

Favorite canon TGCF ship: Hualian! Hualian! Hualian! Hua Cheng x Xie Lian is one of my all time favorite ships, in general. I stand by the statement “Hualian invented love”. 

Least favorite canon TGCF ship: that weird bullshit the mortal realm like to do with Shi QingXuan and Shi Wudu. Poor guys. It’s canon only because their perverted followers say so. 

5.

Favorite non-canon SVSSS ship: I don’t think I have one...? Maybe ZhuZhi-Lang and TianLang-Jun, but I’m still way too confused about that. I know people ship a lot Liu QingGe and Shen QingQiu, but I never saw the appeal of it.

Least favorite non-canon SVSSS ship: again, don’t have one, mostly because I never delved too deeply in the world of non-canon SVSSS ships. 

Favorite non-canon MDZS ship: Xiao XingChen x Song Lan. It’s probably the pairing that makes the most sense (to me) out of everyone else. And it’s heartbreaking, so bonus points for that. 

Least favorite non-canon MDZS ship: Xiao XingChen x Xue Yang. [heavy spoiler alert] I absolutely HATE this pairing. I love Xue Yang, he’s an amazing villain, but this pairing is straight up abuse, no matter how you look at it. I am a sucker for angsty shit, but I really draw the line at the fucked up pairing that is this one. Xue Yang literally destroyed Xiao XingChen psychologically, lied to him for years, gaslighted him, forced him to kill innocent people, forced him to kill Song Lan, and then ended up ruining him so much that Xiao XingChen killed himself and destroyed his own soul. 

I have no idea why people love this pairing so much, but I genuinely hate it. There’s nothing redeeming about it. 

Another ship I don’t like is Jiang Cheng x Lan XiChen, but once again this has more convoluted reasons that revolve around JC, mainly. There’s also Lan XiChen x Jin GuangYao. Please, no. I really don’t like it. 

Favorite non-canon TGCF ship: Pei Ming x Shi Wudu and He Xuan x Shi QingXuan. We all know why beefleaf is important in our hearts, so let me explain something about Pei Ming and Shi Wudu; this pairing doesn’t mean I completely disregard everything else about Pei Ming. He’s our good old manwhore womanizer and I haven’t changed that (too much). But this pairing... in my headcanon, which is something I’m also going to write in my desperate attempt and being a good fanfic writer, Pei Ming fell in love with him so hard that he was like “okay, fine, there’s just you now, I’m done with sleeping around”. After Shi Wudu dies, Pei Ming keeps his word and doesn’t cheat on him for the reminder of his life. My own headcanon is the reason why this is my favorite non-canon ship. I stumbled into it my complete chance, but I genuinely love it. 

Least favorite non-canon TGCF ship: anything that has Xie Lian and Hua Cheng not with each other. I don’t like seeing them paired with anyone else. 

6.

Favorite SVSSS weapon/tool: Xin Mo and Xiu Ya. 

Favorite MDZS weapon/tool: Chenqing

Favorite TGCF weapon/tool: E-Ming and Fang Xin

If you want to ask anything else, feel free! My blog is mostly Saint Seiya, but I do write about other stuff if you ask me! ^ - ^

[crossdressingdeath]

lqg assumed that sj was rich, spoiled, lazy, lecherous, and ungrateful and didn't bother investigating or challenging those beliefs until sqq suddenly turned nice. there's an extra where sj, lqg, and sqh are on a night hunt and sj shoots a creature somewhere around lqg's shoulder, lqg assumes he was aiming at him, and he starts fighting sj instead and doesn't stop the fight to ask questions when sqh says "actually liu shidi, it isn't like that-" (he gets cut off by sj). it's also mentioned that he disapproved of sj using "tricks" to win but putting that aside, the fact that he's hailed as a righteous man means he's vehemently opposed to anything that's considered improper (also seen above). the cultivation world in sv is similar to mdzs, tlj got trapped under a mountain despite the fact that he hadn't harmed anyone. seeing how universally hated and widely mentioned the demon world is, wwx practicing demonic cultivation wouldn't be taken well by lqg /nm

SJ really isn’t the victim here, sorry. SJ gave LQG no reason to challenge his assumptions until he “suddenly turned nice”, if someone’s constantly a dick to you you’re not going to question beliefs about them that still seem to fit you. No one is obligated to figure out the rich inner lives of people who are dicks to them. He acted like a rich, spoiled, lazy, lecherous and ungrateful asshole; what reason did LQG have to think his beliefs were wrong? It wasn’t until SY took over that LQG was given proof that SQQ might be more than he appeared, and when that proof appears he very quickly changes his view of the guy! And the fact that LQG fully believed SJ would try to murder him for no reason says more about SJ than him, especially considering every cultivator in the setting was fully prepared to buy it after LQG’s death in PIDW; clearly their dynamic was such that that was fully believable, which suggests that SJ made it believable. Hell, I don’t think even YQY doubts it. Also you yourself have pointed out that SJ interrupts when people try to tell LQG the truth; SJ was deliberately keeping LQG’s impression of him as-is. And of course he disapproved of SJ using tricks to win, because SJ was cheating. Of course an honourable man would disapprove!

“He’s hailed as a righteous man so he’s vehemently opposed to anything considered improper.” Those two things do not lead into each other as neatly as you think they do. It is very much not that simple. LWJ exists, for one; he might be from a different novel but it’s the same author. That’s a clear example of a righteous man whose views on improper things change when he’s given reason to believe that those views are wrong when faced with a loved one doing what he’s been taught is evil, and LQG is very much cut from the same cloth. If he’s willing to accept LBH’s presence for SQQ’s sake, then he’d at least hear out his beloved disciple/surrogate son’s reasoning for using demonic cultivation. As for TLJ, I don’t remember the exact scenario (again, it’s been a while since I read SVSSS), but uh... “genuinely good and honourable man gets swept up in the crowd and kills someone who doesn’t deserve it because the mob included people he genuinely trusted and respected or at least had no reason to doubt” isn’t exactly unheard of in MXTX’s novels. Even if he was involved (I can’t remember if he was or not) it doesn’t mean he’s incapable of ever deciding that demonic cultivation isn’t inherently evil.

[delicioussshame]

LBH’s pov, about LiuShen, kind of. Caveat lector. Maybe don’t read if you’re feeling down. I blame my twitter followers (love you guys).

Even if he’s the one who let him go, he doesn’t think the sight of his shizun and Liu Qingge together will ever sit right by him.

Luo Binghe tried to stop calling Shen Yuan Shizun. He told himself that the one who should have been called such had died long ago.

He couldn’t do it. Even if he wasn’t the man Luo Binghe had always thought him to be, he still was the one who taught him cultivation. The one who took him in, who cared for him, who stayed by his side when everyone else rejected him.

He’s just not Shen Qingqiu. Shen Yuan’s real face is not placid like his mask used to be. The smiles Luo Binghe used to cherish so dearly, those that were almost all his and his only, are now displayed to the world daily, whenever Shen Yuan’s much more mercurial temper is soothed for a moment.

It seems so easy, to love a man like him. Someone more open with his affections. Someone who will share his thoughts liberally. Someone much more down to earth than his ethereal shizun, who always struck Luo Binghe as more immortal than man, almost too good to walk the earth amongst commoners.

He doesn’t know why he couldn’t do it. Why is it that that winning his own husband’s trust, to the point that he had decided to drop the disguise of Shen Qingqiu, one he had been wearing for most of Luo Binghe’s life, had not endeared him to his disciple, but instead had quieted his passion to embers? If you had asked Luo Binghe what could make him love his husband less, he would have laughed in your face before replying that nothing ever could, and yet… Shen Yuan is not the man he married. This is a fact Luo Binghe cannot deny. When he thought of his husband, he thought of an impossibly kind, perpetually impassive man, one who shied away from most gestures of affection and yet relished them. Not this boisterous man of dubious interests, whose manners could be less than perfect.

He had tried to reason with himself. Shen Yuan was the one who was good to him. He was the one Luo Binghe chose, all those years ago. So what if he was different than what Luo Binghe expected? Shen Yuan still cared.

It hadn’t worked. He found himself drifting away from the one he used to call his husband, unable to shake off the feeling that Shen Qingqiu had been stolen from him. He couldn’t get used to the changes, couldn’t stop himself from wishing he’d change back to the shizun of his youth.

He knows he wasn’t the only one struggling. Many of Shen Qingqiu’s other disciples found the situation disconcerting.

But others didn’t. Luo Binghe saw how little Liu Qingge cared, and how their relationship was barely affected. If anything, it progressed, as Shen Qingqiu filled the holes left by Luo Binghe detaching himself with others’ presences.

He realised there was nothing left to preserve when he noticed no jealousy at the sight. He, who had envied everyone who stole even a moment of Shen Qingqiu’s time away from him, now could not care less that his husband preferred to leave him behind.

He might even have felt some relief at the knowledge that he wouldn’t have to handle being around Shen Yuan, for now.

He still felt terrible when Shen Yuan’s expression fell, destroyed by Luo Binghe’s proclamation.

He’d accepted it just as Shizun would have, too. He’d closed himself off, nodded and left. He’d later helped Luo Binghe gather the few belongings of his he kept in the bamboo house and had let him go without shedding a tear.

He’d thought Shen Yuan might cry, but he hadn’t. How foreign to him he was, this new version of his husband.

There was a part of him that felt justified when he found out Liu Qingge had swept him and took his place. He’d always known the man had designs on his shizun. It was obvious.

Luo Binghe just hoped he would be good to Shen Yuan. Even if his real shizun wasn’t the man of Luo Binghe’s dreams, he was always there for him. He deserved the happiness Luo Binghe couldn’t provide him with.

Luo Binghe just doesn’t want to see it. Each besotted smile thrown Liu Qingge’s way is a reminder that what he made his life goal had always been an impossible dream, forever out of reach.

He turns away.

[angstysvsssthoughts]

LBH secretly meeting up with his original book wives (to do something for SQQ), but SQQ sees and despite being emotionally devastated, quietly accepts it because he knew all along that he wasn’t good enough for LBH; with SJ’s childhood memories and SY’s own life pre transmigration his self esteem is in pieces. He quietly vows to help LBH win the wives affection, even at the cost of his own marriage. Bonus: LBH figures out what SQQ is doing and thinks he isn’t wanted anymore

(If these weren't supposed to go together sorry)

But yeah! How could a little useless nerd who did nothing with his life and die of *food poisoning* ever be worthy of the most beautiful, talented man ever! He deserves more than a shitty selfish nerd in the body of a scum villain!

And Binghe should've known that his shizun only stayed with him out of pity and not love

[jessepinkmvn]

Why do you like the Ben x Keanu scenes so much? I saw your gifset for the Eastenders meme and I'm interested to know why they're your favourite because a lot of people don't really like Keanu hahah x

bcoh bOy anon let’s go 

right imma be talking about these scenes and i already know i’m gonna write way more than i should but lmao

okay so first of all, i love the writing. this whole episode had amazing writing but the e20 scenes stood out to me for some reason. it’s that type of dialogue that i really love - the snidey, witty, fast-paced back-and-forth that you don’t see very often (especially in soaps) because it’s not really how people talk. it’s really prevalent when they’re sat down and talking about how to treat louise - there literally isn’t a break in the entire conversation because they’re both snapping at each other. and it’s so good??? like that is how you keep a scene engaging, especially when it’s entirely dialogue: you make it sound like music. gAH danny even delivered it well???? that’s how you know it’s good LMAO

i love how layered the scenes are too. ben’s “because people get married all the time, for many different reasons”?? the look of alarm on ben’s face when keanu says “you’re jealous of her, ain’t you” like for a split second he thinks keanu knows about callum?? we stan?????

the personalities really shine through in these scenes too. yes! keanu actually has a personality in these scenes!!!!! ikr!!!!!!! ben’s such a prick to keanu throughout this whole episode but keanu tells us why with one little line in the middle of it all - “oh, poor ben, daddy doesn’t love me.” like that’s it!! that’s the reason ben’s doing all of this. he’s so bloody jealous of keanu and everything that keanu’s achieved whilst ben’s been away (hell he genuinely believes phil loves keanu more than him) and so he’s going to resort to what he knows best - attacking keanu at his weak points: he’s not a mitchell, he’s poor, etc. but then keanu doesn’t care! he bites back with “i’m a taylor, she’ll be a taylor”. it’s not until ben points out that they’ll be living on the run that it starts to bother him.

and then keanu hits a nerve with “if you really cared about your sister--” and ben gets so annoyed because oh my gOD it’s an essay in itself just how much ben loves his family but is just shit at showing it.

(also the whole speech ben gives keanu about how the taylors are trash and keanu’s dating the boss’ daughter just to get a seat at the table shows how warped ben’s idea is of the mitchell family and how he thinks they’re like the corleones of the square when really they’re just another fucked-up family and being brought up with phil constantly going on about the mitchells are superior has led him to genuinely believe it)

and then the final scene happens and yeah the punch-up is a bit 🙄 but it is a soap and honestly it felt like a really good climax to the build-up of the past scenes. and there’s still so much to get your teeth into because it’s in this scene when we finally get to see how the day has started to properly affect ben because he starts spouting all this about how love gets given and taken away (i choose to see this as mostly a reference to paul but you can’t ignore how he says this literally on callum’s wedding day). and keanu’s so opposed to it - the staunch difference between their two philosophies, ben’s pessimism and keanu’s old af i will provide for my family attitude - it’S SO GOOD IT’S SO GOOD I LOVE SOAP RIVALRIES THEY’RE SO DRAMATIC

keanu wins the fight too, which i actually kind of love bc lbh he deserves to, he’s in the right. i’m not Buzzed about ben getting beaten up again and it was at this point that it started to get silly but you can’t say it wasn’t undeserved. 

lmaoo i wrote so much but thank you anon! i am and will always be a slut for this dynamic and christmas is gonna murder me holy fuck i can’t wait to see ben’s reaction to realising he was right about keanu all along 

[bakugaykatsukii]

I Talk About Bakugou Because I'm Bored

Bakugou. He's best boy. My son.

No, actually, I'mma explain in as few words as possible why I absolutely adore his character.

Oops this got long.

Okay, so it's the first chapter/episode (I'll go off the anime because it's practically identical and more widespread) and it opens with Deku narrating. This is to establish an immediate connection between the audience and the main protagonist; it conveys how important Deku is. Plenty of shows do this so it's not really a big deal, just common practise. HOWEVER, the second character we hear speak is Bakugou, who is insulting Deku.

This is framed in a way that's supposed to make us dislike him, and continues all throughout the first episode. He's presented as a four year old trying to beat up our main character, and then his next scene is being ten years older and Still Trying To Beat Up Our Main Character. This makes him seem rotten to the core, as his character hasn't changed whatsoever in that time, and as an audience we know very little information about him.

On top of that, within this first episode he is deliberately made to have no redeeming qualities, nothing that could make him sympathetic in any way. The Sludge Villain fiasco isn't until ep2, and in this one he literally tells Deku to kill himself, reaching peak middle school bully. He destroys something the Main Protagonist clearly treasures and is privelaged in every conceivable way, even his (later obviously intense) desire to be a hero is simplified to monetary gain, with "I'll be even richer than All Might himself!!!" (or something to that effect). Later on I'd explain such a line to be a result of young Baku trying to quantify his future success, something he never mentions again after the Sludge Villain.

In these first twenty minutes of the anime, he's been absolutely dragged through the mud. Not only is he this arrogant, selfish, mean bully, he's also the sort of bully we can all relate to having, making him even more dislikable! It's so easy for an audience to write him off as irredeemable almost immediately.

But then comes ep2. Seasoned anime watchers likely brush over some small details, but the fact that the Sludge Villain attack happens when Bakugou is 14? Wow. At this point no one likes him, and to many people seeing this happen could come across as a sort of karmic punishment, deserving and therefore less sympathetic. And so Horikoshi succeeds in continuing to make him dislikable but also adding depth to this character who so clearly believed he was invincible.

However, any such depth is pretty much ignored by the audience. I've watched many reactions, and, at this point, due to Bakugou's sub par personality, most people don't care about what happened upon first viewing. To be fair, it's treated as background until Deku steps in and proves himself a hero, at which point he's promised a quirk and That's all anyone can think about.

(also there's some symbolism in this ep because Bakugou and Deku were both attacked by the Sludge Villain and saved by All Might, showing they are actually equals in character and have a lot in common.)

Anyway, so for the first few episodes no one gives two shits about Bakugou because he's meant to be dislikable. He's set up to be as bad as possible without needing to be arrested/never being redeemable. Yet, he's also not clearly set up to be redeemed whatsoever. Let me explain:

Quick break from bnha to head over to atla, Zuko is the perfect redemption arc. And some of that can be attributed to his presentation in the first few episodes: where he's portrayed as antagonistic but still honourable, and has a tragic past. He's the sort of character you know isn't actually bad at heart. But Bakugou hasn't got any tragic back story to speak of, and certainly isn't honourable, so we don't expect a redemption.

That's so interesting to me, because it basically means his character could go in any direction but most shounen fans expect him to be the typical rival. He's mean now and will be mean later, nbd. Will probably betray Deku in order to gain more power. That sort of stuff.

But, as the first season progresses, we're shown that Bakugou (on top of all of his anger issues and cruelty) is also so incredibly determined, to the point where it's harmful. A lot of people, even in season three, expect him to accept the LoV's offer, but as early as ep7 he's shown to be dedicated to being the best on his own. He utterly fails at pretending to be a villain, and doesn't manage to work with his "villain" teammate. When the USJ attack rolls around, he fights alongside Deku.

I feel like I've just word babbled for a while so here's a picture:

Isn't that adorable? Anyway, I continue.

Okay, recap: Bakugou is presented initially as bad and in no way sympathetic, but throughout season one some of his good qualities do get highlighted.

The Sports Festival is probably when I was most on edge about who my favourite character was. Todoroki vs Deku vs Bakugou was a whole internal debate. We all know who eventually won though. Point is, this is the first time Bakugou is supposed to seem likeable.

Like, yes, he helped out at the USJ, but he was still reckless and angry about it. In this arc his flaws stop seeming so antagonistic (even though he's now more at odds with 1-A than he's ever been) and are framed humorously; if you think about it, the only times you're not rooting for Bakugou in this whole arc is when you're laughing at his antics. He stops seeming like a massive unforgivable bully and becomes a secondary threat behind Todoroki, even though he ultimately wins the Festival.

One of the first things he does in the season is tell people messing with their class go away, albeit bluntly, and is then complimented for it by Kirishima, who is the nicest guy in the class! No longer are we supposed to necessarily dislike him, as he's being developed after all of season 1. Him saying "I'm gonna win" as his speach is expected by the audience and laughed at- absolutely nobody watching was scared he'd hurt Deku in some terrible way due to it.

The cavalry battle demonstrates that he can work in a team after some adjustment time, and he gets his own antagonist (Monoma) who we all root against! This makes us closer to his character, as in a way we have a common enemy.

Then obviously the single battles are super interesting, his one against Uraraka especially turning people to his side. Since Aizawa, who as an audience we trust after his actions at the USJ, backs up Bakugou's actions, we accept them as the right thing to have done. Especially since Bakugou later calls Uraraka "not fragile", demonstrating that he can respect people and actually isn't as discriminatory as his earlier actions against Deku might lead one to believe. Everything about this fight is pure gold.

The rest of his fights are also very interesting, so let me go off on a little tangent. He's the only person to 1) be uninjured by the end of the festival (he did win tho so...) and 2) he's the only person to win all of his fights by forcing his opponent into submission. He knocks out Uraraka and Kirishima, goes to knock out Tokoyami but has him give up instead and then knocks out Todoroki! His fights are so much more violent than the others, who are primarily trying to win by pushing their opponent out of the ring or by immobilising them, which could make him come across as more aggressive (which he is). But it actually works for his character considering the way he demonstrates respect is by giving his all, therefore in order to show he cares about these fights he has to go for absolutely decimating the person against him.

Also, interesting side note to all that, out of our main three festival contenders, Bakugou is the only one who actually needs to use the festival for its intended purpose: impressing scouts. Todoroki, as the son of Endeavour, is already known throughout the hero community as a promising young talent, and could even get the No2 hero to coach him if he so wished. Deku even says himself that he doesn't necessarily need to get scouted when All Might is already teaching him. Out of the three Bakugou has the most incentive to actually show off here, no guilt/baggage required.

Anyway blah Stain arc blah. Bakugou picks Jeanist to intern with, which many might think makes him shallow. Their quirks are in no way similar and their images are almost diametrically opposing, and Bakugou only chose him because he's such a highly ranked hero. However, I believe the creators crafted this pairing in order to convey how good of a future hero Bakugou promises to be. BJ, in these episodes, is all talk. He's such a superficial hero that, in order to rectify Bakugou's foul personality, he gives him a haircut. He demonstrates the arrogant nature that Stain hates so much. Meanwhile, Bakugou ignores him and is still arrogant in his own way, obviously, but not for anything other than his own pride. He, when you break it down, spends all of his time working towards a genuinely good goal, just to prove to himself that he's worthy- no desire for fans or fame in there, he wants success but isn't actually looking for any of the perks that come with it. This, imo, makes him better than BJ. Also, Bakugou never actually says he is working with BJ due to his rank and could be doing it because their quirks botha require so much time, practice and effort.

Okay, so, now for the final exams. This is where I decided he was my favourite. He works with Deku etc and proves to the audience that he can work with him and won't necessarily become a villain, plus All Might lets loose a little and proves he too can be violent and mean.

What I really love is about ep24 s2 is actually the bit that makes a lot of people chuckle: where Bakugou bites AM's hand. This kid has been giving his absolute all, putting every ounce of strength into beating his idol, because, lbh, his self worth depends on his success here, until he literally cannot raise his arms to punch anymore. And yet, he still refuses to go down, despite every odd against him. Something about that tenacity is just so incredible to me.

It's almost 1am, let's have another break, shall we?

Idk I thought it was funny when it came onto my dash.

Btw, it's now I wish I knew how to hide most of a post lololol.

Season three is just Baku's season, ngl. Like,,, so many of his Stans got their start here, and it's not hard to tell why. A big reason why Bakugou felt irredeemable was because he had no reason to be so mean, but the narrative makes up for that by then putting him through so many bad experiences.

There's been a million metas on why he's so perfect in this season, and this is already abhorrently long, but ah well.

Okay so he's captured by the League through no fault of his own. As the audience when we find out Bakugou is missing we immediately think he's done the dumb thing and gone off on his own, but it's quickly revealed that he's already been kidnapped. Tokoyami is also taken, cementing that the LoV are looking for kids with some villainous feature, but also showing that their perception of what makes a child villainous is skewed, since we know Tokoyami is good.

At the hideout Baku is entirely restrained and silent, so clearly against his will. If we remember every other time he's been restrained (so goddamn many) we'll think back to the Sludge Villain, finding out Deku had a quirk, after his *win* against Todoroki and his internship with BJ. In this way, it's obvious to tell that this is all a Bad experience for him, as those were all very negative times in his life. There's no way he'll join them.

None of the pros even consider it a possibility. Aizawa defends him against the press (and, once again, we like Aizawa! So we trust him) and none of his classmates think he could be evil, they're all primarily concerned for his safety. Even BJ, who insinuated that Baku could easily become a villain, doesn't appear to believe he'll turn down that path.

Also Baku is pretty cool when he fights of the villain like I'm ngl.

And then, when he sees All Might? And his face screws up? With his lip trembling? It's undercut with a joke but he's so obviously just a scared/relieved kid in that moment and it's gut wrenching to remember that.

It's really getting late and I'm at 11% here so speed round through the provisional licence exam.

He can tell Shindou is two faced

Even though he's blunt he's still got the instincts and smarts of a hero

The class looks up to him

Aizawa has a lot of favouritism for this child, y'all, how did I not notice this?

His failure here is intrinsic to his character growth as it means he hits absolute rock bottom and we can move onto:

Deku Vs Kacchan 2

Where to even start. The guilt and pain he experiences has made me tear up several times just from thinking about them, and that GODDAMN VOICE CRACK AS HE YELLS nope it hurts too bad.

It's sort of the culmination of every emotional issue Bakugou has exhibited throughout the series. He can't find self worth without constant praise and pressures himself to be unimaginably perfect, to a self destructive point. He has no support system in place to help him with these issues. His anger stops being repetitive/funny/annoying and is finally, clearly shown to be more damaging to himself than to anyone else, as he feels the only way he can deal with his stress and hurt is by lashing out at those who try to help him.

In this fight we also learn why Deku, even though he's Baku's victim, still looks up to him so much. And the whole dynamic is so perfect I might cry rn.

I am annoyed, though, that further than that Baku's mental health has been pretty much entirely ignored for 200 manga chapters. Probably my only complaint about him.

.

.

.

At an entirely selfish level, I can relate to Bakugou. Obviously I'm not a teenage boy with explosion powers who bullies people in order to feel any self worth, but the high standards for himself? The pain at any failures? Being told through childhood how great you are only for it to be torn away in your teens? That's all so painfully relatable to me, and so I feel an even deeper connection with his character.

One last picture to finish off: