#probably thinks liu qingge is possessed

[toomanyplotbunnies-sendhelp]

Hello and welcome to Day 18 of "Let's Explore My Plot Bunnies"

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone who celebrates it!

Just to be on theme with the day I am (briefly) stepping out of my downward spiral of zany MHA crossovers to talk about a little idea I had last month.

This is a SVSSS fic that takes place in the first decade after the Qing generation took over as Peak Lords, and the end game pairing will be LiuJiu.

This plot bunny doesn't have a title yet, so any suggestions are welcome.

Synopsis:

Liu Mingyan knew she should have kept her mouth shut.

This was supposed to be just another ordinary day where she (and her parents) were subjected to her older brother's rant about his fellow Peak Lord, Shen Qingqiu. Just more hours of Liu Qingge's raging about how 'Shen Qingqiu is so shameless' and how 'Shen Qingqiu is a cheater'. (At this point, her own mother heard more about the Qing Jing Peak Lord's affairs than her own son's - Liu Mingyan doesn't know if she should laugh or despair for her brother's remaining intelligence at that fact)

Just because her brother's ability to sit still and read a book is next to non-existent does not mean Liu Mingyan's is the same. Liu Mingyan is a cultured young maiden. She read books. All of her readings point out that her older brother's behavior towards the Qing Jing Peak Lord is the only thing shameless in their interactions.

Constantly challenging Shen Qingqiu to fights; yelling at him to get his attention; talking only about the Qing Jing Peak Lord whenever her older brother gets to visit home and always complaining about his behavior to their parents - all of these actions would paint Liu Qingge as an unsatisfied and abandoned wife rather than the Bai Zhan War God he is revered as. And, her brother is not even married to Lord Shen Qingqiu - a fact that is, in reality, the most shameless thing about her brother's behavior.

And Liu Mingyan cannot help but agree with what the books tell her. Her older brother's behavior is not that of somebody who hates the person they slander. If Mingyan remembers correctly, the books said this behavior is common with potential couples - "aggressive sexual frustration" was the terminology used, she remembers.

And yet, Mingyan can not find fault in Lord Shen Qingqiu's rejection and/or lack of interest in her brother. After all, her brother is an idiot. Lord Shen must be some kind of saint to be able to stand in the same room, breathe the same air, and even talk with her walking disaster of a brother after all the hurtful words he was given.

The worst part of this is that her brother remains painfully ignorant to the fact that he is very much head over hills in love with a person that Mingyan knows deserves far better than her idiotic brother.

So, really, Mingyan should have kept her mouth shut. And yet, her patience hit the wall months ago and she cannot stand to hear one more slander towards (the saint) Shen Qingqiu. Her mouth opens without her own will and utters the words that make Liu Qingge choke.

"Gege, you speak a lot about Lord Shen Qingqiu. Have you ever considered you fell in love with him?"

Liu Mingyan feels like she might end up hating her big mouth after this, but the sight of her older brother's reddening face is quite the spectacle for her to enjoy. (And it makes for good future blackmail material, too)

This fic shall feature:

Liu Mingyan - the cultured young maiden who should not have read the books she did, nor jumped at the conclusions she did. (and yet, we, the readers, still encourage her endeavors)

Liu Qingge - the closeted gay who just realized (read: self-manipulated himself into thinking) he is in love with the person he hates the most. He also has like 3 crises: 1. His "Gay Awakening" Crisis; 2. His "I am in love with SHEN QINGQIU" crisis; 3. His "I made my crush hate me" crisis (unsurprisingly all of them are about Shen Qingqiu)

Shen Qingqiu - the most normal person here (trauma aside) and the one that is the most bewildered by this development. Someone save his poor braincells for they can't keep up with Liu Qingge's 180 change in personality.

Liu Mingyan and Liu Qingge's parents - who are just glad that 1. their son will stop acting like a neglected wife and 2. their son will not end up dying alone like the idiot they know he is (they already have made plans for Liu Qingge and Shen Qingqiu's wedding)

So what do you think? Good? Bad? Let me know!

Honestly, this idea just started with a headcanon of cat!Liu Qingge, who brings all the prey to Shen Qingqiu just to prove he can provide for him. From there it grew into Liu Mingyan being so done with her brother's pinning ass but is not going to say something because her brother is not worthy of Shen Qingqiu until he grovels - she also agrees with her books, a good grovel is necessary and her brother is still an idiot so (the saint) Lord Shen Qingqiu mustn't be bothered by the likes of him. And then it settled at making Liu Mingyan the unwilling wing-woman of her brother's (awful) romance. I quite enjoyed this plot bunny, so there is a chance I might actually write it someday.

Hope you had a great day/night and that you take care of yourselves!

See you tomorrow,

-TooManyPlotBunnies-Send Help

[eyesforahead]

Mxtx x male reader

A cross over.

When a modern era young man transmigrated in PIDW that has crossovered with other Novel's such as MDZS & TGCF thing's are bound to be both fun & traumatizing!

-----

Name & Description are different but originally this was on my ao3 some things are arranged to suit it being an X reader. My ao3 is Elijah_Ezra.

TRANSLATION MAY NOT HE ACCURATE.

-- MAIN SHIPS WILL NOT HE CHANGED ( such as hualian , wangxian. )

-- SHEN YUAN IS NOT HERE.

shang qinghua is. I have favorite's.

-- Canon, what canon plot line?

-- Don't like, don't read.

-- Hate towards me or anyone is not tolerated.

-- This is a crossover.

-- A lot of spelling mistakes probably.

-- No upload schedule.

-- What Ships is reader in? I'm aiming for it to be a Liu Qingge X Reader however if this is not liked I take recommendations as well.

THIS IS PIDW TECHNICALLY NOT SVSSS.

• SHEN JIU'S PAST!!!!

• TW FOR THAT. PLEASE, STAY SAFE.

Shen (Name) groans and sighs before getting up from the chair to grab his sword Bǎohù

It was time for the Disciple selection..

He flew down and was immediately greeted by the peak lords he was well liked and loved unlike his elder brother Shen Jiu or also known as Shen Qingqiu.

That’s right he (Last name) ( First Name) , A lazy modern guy , died and transmigrated into PIDW not only that as an OC insert the scum villains younger brother!

Airplane , what kind of messed up tragic sad backstory did you need to give Jiu-Ge?!

Naturally they grew up together which meant his childhood sucked too!

Granted not that bad compared to him as that Qiu Jianluo took a very good liking to him and loved his naïve personality he was rarely beaten.

Which now knowing WHAT Qiu Jianluo liked and was thinking made him want to scream cry and rip off his skin to erase the feeling the skin that was touched by him.

What seemed liked innocent hugged were actually very much not innocent.

years later and after much trauma he became a peak lord!

So, that's that! Yippie hooray for you.

The (History of God's and Ghost's) "神与鬼的历史" (Shén yǔ guǐ de lìshǐ) peak lord!

It is the same ranking as Qing Jing Peak.

In this peak they learned about God’s and Ghost’s that are hidden and roaming around somewhere.

Their cultivation was communication with them.

Some Ghosts would occasionally help them when in need by lending them their strength.

In turn they would also help the ghost move on.

However, this is not safety assured as ghosts can be deceiving.

Shen (Name) would know himself, he’s half possessed by one called SYSTEM who forces him to do certain shit!

{ HOST, QIU JANLUO DID NOT NEED HIS DICK! }

Shen (Name) grimaces remembering that memory when the SYSTEM took control of his body and just chopped off someone’s dick.

‘ You didn’t need to use my body! ‘

{ D: Then, who else would SYSTEM posses? Your brother? No, thanks. }

‘ Die. ‘

{ SYSTEM will die when HOST 002 dies. }

Ah, right. Did he mention the author transmigrated with him?

Airplane Shooting towards the sky transmigrated into Shang Qinghua.

“ Didi, are you alright? You’re frowning. “ Shen Qingqiu asked snapping him out of his thoughts.

He hummed and looked towards the disciples hoping that today he will meet the protagonist Luo Binghe .

Yue QingYuan nodded at him and asked if he will choose a disciple.

Right, He himself rarely accepted new disciples they had to be specific and needed to be blessed or gained the attention of a god or ghost.

But as he looks down no one seems to have the veins that are gold or red.

Gold means a god has noticed them.

Glowing Gold means they have been blessed by one.

Red means a ghost has either noticed them or blessed them.

It was surprising to learn ghosts can bless people.

A ghost’s blessing boosts up your QI similar to the gods blessing but a ghost blessing also gives you luck while God’s give you some protection but not luck that would be on you!

Suddenly again he heard Liu Qingge and Shen Qingqiu fighting which is normal. However, they were fighting over a disciple.

He didn’t feel like getting involved and zoomed out before Shang Qinghua whispered to him.

‘ Bro, Go with Shen QIngqiu that’s Luo Binghe he took! ‘

he glared at Shang Qinghua for not telling him sooner and ran after Shen Jiu.

MEANWHILE…

SO, IT BEGINS TOUGHT A MAN WEARING SIMPLE WHITE ON A THRONE HIGH ABOVE WHERE NO ONE CAN REACH HIM.

THE man was beautiful with long brown hair and warm eyes.

The male wished he can help the poor soul yet, he is not allowed to interfere only drop some helpful information nothing more…

---

His peak was often described as a picturesque peak ( he was very proud of his peak ) adorned with tranquil ponds. The water is crystal clear, reflecting the beauty of the lily pads floating gracefully on the surface.

Koi fish gracefully glide through the water, their vibrant colors adding a touch of elegance.

The croaking of frogs adds a harmonious melody to the scene. The air is filled with the sweet fragrance of blooming flowers, and the sight of fluttering butterflies brings a sense of joy.

The overall ambiance feels inviting and pristine. Even the teachers and classes exude warmth and friendliness. It's a place where one can find solace and inspiration.

Near the peak lord's house you'll see a more beautiful building. The building is a shrine. Inside of it is a statue of the main god they learn about.

However, the statue isn't alone along with it is the God's husband.

The crown prince and also now heavenly emperor Xie Lian & his husband Crimson Rain Sought Flower Hua Cheng.

If you're lucky enough (or you're Shen (Name) ) you'll see silver butterflies flying around.

It make's a wonderful painting , silver Butterflies in the moonlight.

From the outside the shrine has an ornate and elaborate design, with intricate carvings.

Inside the shrine, you'll find a serene and reverent atmosphere. 

To the side inside the shrine is a long table where offerings and candle's are lit.

His peak is always calm and right now that's where he wants to be not in his olders brother bamboo house with tension so high he's surprised the kid Luo Binghe hasn't fainted.

' It's the tea scene where he pours hot boiling tea on him ' he thinks.

He wishes he can move from his brother's side yet he can't.

The tea is poured , the child gasps and the master leaves looking back once at his brother.

Shen (Name) immediately goes to the poor disciple.

He grabs the towel from the table and gently wipe away the hot tea.

"I'm sorry, please don't mind my brother."

The child looks up naive brown eyes shining at him.

"N-no shifu it was this Disciples fault."

The peak lord can't help how his heart melts.

Shen (Name) from the past hated this scene and didn't understand why Shen Qingqiu did this. The Shen (Name) who he is now understands.

Luo Binghe's eye's and hair are similiar to Qiu Jianluo.

The child's name make it even worse. Luo Binghe..Luo...

Ning Yingying didn't help either immediately calling him A-Luo...

... something Qiu Haitang used to call her brother Luo-Ge...

Still, it's no excuse to what happened to this child but he can be sympathetic.

He'll show him around himself and leave he can't be absent from his peak but he can visit his brother and this child.

Maybe, in the way he'll see his cute shidi Liu Qingge.

Dropping off Luo Binghe at his dorm's in which he knows he won't be staying there longer Shen (Name) leave's and goes to the shrine.

He needs some advice..

He knows the god probably won't respond but he'll feel his presence and that's enough.

[fictionescapism]

Fanfic Rec #141 Liǔ Qīnggē/Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū (The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System)

the art of courtship by antimonia Shen Qingqiu accepts his courtship, and Liu Qingge feels like the world is his. His breath catches in his throat, and he wonders what he's done to deserve this miracle. Liu Qingge will do right by Shen Qingqiu. There is no gift he cannot bring, no beast he cannot hunt for Shen Qingqiu. He will prove to everyone that Shen Qingqiu has chosen a partner that he can proudly stand by.

i know you'll be waiting for me by AkikoFumi When Shen Qingqiu wakes up, it's with a skull-splitting headache. He immediately and wholly regrets every single one of his life decisions that have led him to this point, but, whatever. He'll just have a quiet day in bed! Shen Qingqiu heaves a sigh, rolls over - and promptly freezes. He's not alone in his bed. It bears repeating: he is not alone in his bed!! [Shen Qingqiu gets wifeplotted into the future, where he and Liu Qingge are happily married!]

The Woes of Growing Pains by CheckersXIV No one has ever had a successful time acclimating to transmigration. At least, that's what Shen Yuan tells himself after he accidentally breaks The System. It doesn't help that he wakes up as a teenage disciple inside of the bane of his existence- Proud Immortal Demon Way. He's trying to take precautions to avoid all the death flags that this stupid villain's body of his is going to get him into, but some other disciple really seems to have it out for him...

Of Treadmills and Tenderness by demoncow97 Shen Yuan could confidently say that the new gym he'd joined (against his will) was not his scene. He had no idea what he was doing, couldn't do any exercise without feeling like he was going to die, and was probably going to get beat up by the unfairly good looking employee who kept glaring at him. Sadly, Shen Yuan knew he had to stick with it for a little longer. And who knows, maybe he'd even find a reason to stay?

Cultivate: Slow Life on a Monster-Infested Mountain by NeonGhostCat When trying to transfer Shen Yuan from the real world to Proud Immortal Demon Way, the System runs into an error. The transfer is not complete. Shen Yuan is dropped off at the foot of a mountain aware of two things:  he's in the story, and the Shen Qingqiu of this world is not only aware but thinks he tried to possess his body — and he's PISSED. Shen Yuan tries to opt out and live a simple life on what locals tell him is a monster-infested mountain no one in their right mind would bother with. Sounds like a great hiding spot! (TL;DR: Stardew Scum Villain Valley Mountain.)

[rarepears]

SQQ returns from his secret mission just in time to see NYY completing a supposed marriage ceremony between LBH and his parrot, because at that point they're convinced that the only way to break this demon curse is true love's kiss, but (being young) they don't think you can kiss until your marriaged - and LBH is already parrot married they think, so they just need to finish it out.

Oh dear, there's a lot of things I need to address.

Okay, clearly with this set up, Luo Binghe is still under the impression that the parrot is Shizun...

Luo Binghe somehow thinks that he should MARRY his shizun. He's absolutely ready to "sacrifice" himself to marry and then kiss his shizun. Gotta save his shizun's honor and take responsibility for his actiosn after all!

And Ning Yingying is somehow... okay with this? I mean, sure she's silly. But she, who has so much faith in her teacher, she who believes in the best and just LOVES Shen Qingqiu, she thinks that her teacher will be... HAPPY??? With such a marriage? With even a freaking marriage? That Luo Binghe, a kid, would be his one true love?

She wouldn't ship Shen Qingqiu with anyone else? Not even Liu Qingge or Yue Qingyuan? I bet the other disciples would and do.

There's no way that Ning Yingying, so spoiled and privy to so many special privileges and probably the soft side of Shen Jiu, isn't aware that Shen Jiu has an emotional support parrot. If anything, she gets roped into this situation by Luo Binghe with a "I need help to get married to a parrot" and Ning Yingying doesn't bother asking for details or thinking much about the situation.

She isn't aware that Luo Binghe thinks that he turned shizun into a parrot.

But now here's the question. How would a young slip of a girl like Ning Yingying even know how to conduct a marriage? Why would she even follow along, especially when this is between Luo Binghe and a parrot? Why does she not even find this whole situation weird? Especially when this is Shen Qingqiu's most prized possession and marriage (normally) requires the approval of the bride and grooms' parents (or the closest approximation of one)?

The answer is obvious: the birb has a harem of husbandos and waifus. Shen Yuan has so MANY in his harem that Shen Jiu really doesn't give a fuck who's in the harem.

In fact, it might just be a Thing for Qing Jing disciples to watch the bird get wedded to another person - and the highest honor is being allowed to officiate and organize one of Shen Yuan's marriage. Ning Yingying, as Shen Jiu's favorite, has had the privileges of running one of them.

But in what world is a kid considered an appropriate... bride? Groom? Well, if the bird has been married to the weirdest things and beings...

(It's through no fault of Shen Yuan, of course. It's just that his obsessions and interests have been misinterpreted to be a bird falling in love rather that just a bird's inner nerd shining out.)

[More in the #shen qingqiu has an emotional support parrot and hijinks happen au]

[thesirencat]

I think that I’ve never explained how I choose each animal for my svsss animal!au, right? It’s actually a sum of many factors, but I’ll try to summarize it. These are not set in stone btw, everyone has their own headcanons, I’m just talking about mine.

Shen Yuan (Cat): 

Used to have a lazy lifestyle as the third son of a wealthy family and does the same as he turns into a peak lord.

Stubborn to the point where it gets silly.

Little gremlin that likes to tease people.

I like cats.  

Liu Qingge (White Tiger): 

Obvious cat behavior in gifting dead animals and strange things he finds outside the sect.

Strong personality that prefers solitude most of the time, but can also be very awkward and cute.

The White tiger is a righteous beast that is known as the God of War and was often displayed in military banners in china.

The Whiter Tiger protects the dead against demons.

Their colors match.

I like cats.

Shen Jiu (Fox):

Foxes are often seen as evil/cunning but they are actually very cute creatures, just like SJ.

Foxes are intelligent, smart, and wise creatures, just like the scholar who is also a military strategist for CQMS.

SJ is described as having sharp/sly eyes, which also are used to describe fox-like characters in general media.

There is a common saying that foxes like sweet things, and after SJ craves a tanghulu in the extras, I headcanon him as having a sweet tooth too.

I like foxes.

Yue Qingyuan (Asian Black Bear):

A strong animal and apex predator that also has a warm, cute and friendly appearance once it isn’t threatened.[Canonically the strongest character in the PIDW, only defeated by foul and deceitful means in a moment of crisis.]

I headcanon YQY as being within what we call ‘heroic stature’, which means he is tall and muscular. 

No, he isn’t a bear because of the gay stereotype.

Their colors match.

Shang Qinghua (Raccoon):

Stays up all night to write his novels and probably has heavy bags under his eyes.

Cute, but is a tiny killing machine if threatened. [Try to bully one to see what happens.]

Only eats trash food if left alone in a big city.

Looks dumb but is actually very smart.

Mu Qingfang (Snake):

The snake is used as a symbol for medicine in many places and as a doctor/healer/physician, it is natural to think of him as one.

I secretly think he and zzl would make a nice ship.

Qi Qingqi (Secretary bird):

An extremely beautiful bird, but is also a deadly predator that should not be underestimated by their looks. [Seriously, go search for this bird].

I like birds.

Wei Qingwei (Falcon):  

Always vigilant to any kind of suspicious behavior that could mean that someone had been possessed by a demon, Celts thought of them as an omen to being careful and keeping your eyes open to possible dangers.

I like birds.

All in all, I like animals and think they are cute, even the most dangerous ones ☺

[greentrickster]

I am living for your Binghe househusband au, and now I’m imagining a future side story where Tatsu and Masa get brought into the SVSSS world through Contrived Plot Reasons. Masa would definitely freak out, but I can’t decide if learning that there’s an alternate world where demons and magic are real would faze Tatsu? Either way, they’re both glad for him after learning that he’s happily living his best life thanks to what they taught him!

^U^ Thank-you so much! I agree, Masa would freak so hard, especially since Binghe's got access to his cultivation and all his demonic powers here! Just imagine - landing in this weird new place surrounded by people who look like they're from a fantasy Cdrama, and then you hear a familiar voice, what a relief, it's Binghe! And he comes dashing up, wearing clothes like these other people but with a black inner layer rather than white, and he's got on an apron and shades, and it's Binghe, good ol' familiar li'l bro Binghe... who has pointy ears and fangs and when he takes his shades off his eyes are red now, and then he sees Masa freaking out he just... changes back to how he looked when he was spending time with him and Boss Tatsu. Ah-haha, what?

Meanwhile Binghe's so excited to see Tatsu-sensei and introduce him to Shizun and Binghe's new friends and look, Sensei, I'm not married yet, but I'm keeping house, please inspect my work! Also, um. Let’s get Tatsu-sensei and aniki some different clothes, I know you’re perfectly suitable for going out in public where you live, but you’re half naked here.

Tatsu probably gets checked for possession, curses, sealed powers, and the like a million times, all the while Binghe tries over and over to convince everyone that no, really, Tatsu-sensei is just Like That, he’s fully human and not cursed or a cultivator or anything, he’s just... like that. Really. It took Binghe awhile to figure it out, too. Beyond that... I dunno, I have the feeling that Tatsu would externally roll with all this while internally going ??? and worrying about how Miku’s doing while he’s he’s here. Is she eating all right, she’s not spending too much of the household budget on games is she, did he shake out the futon before he left...?

Meanwhile Masa... oh Masa. (climbs onto a stack of books to be tall enough, puts hands on his shoulders, and stares into his eyes) I’m sorry, you’re a fun character and an okay guy, but you are not smart, and SVSSS is going to take one look at you and slap you upside the head with six different wife plots. This is a man who’s going to learn about duel cultivation before he goes home, not even because I’m trying to start anything, but because I know in my heart that this is what would happen to him here.

On the plus side, he is proud that his li’l bro’s doing so well for himself and is apparently part of one of the biggest, most successful organizations around. And Masa never really got why Binghe was so into this Shizun guy, and he still kinda doesn’t, but (from Masa’s perspective) Binghe’s well on his way to being the wife of the second in command of this group, and that’s nothing to sneeze at, so good for him. And hey, Binghe’s got some some subordinates (Mobei-jun, Liu Qingge, and Sha Hualing) of his own that seem pretty tough, congrats!

Binghe: They’re my friends, aniki.

Masa: Then how come they do what you say?

Binghe: (trying to think of a polite way to say ‘I’m the smart one of the guys and Sha Hualing only really listens if she thinks it’s funny’)

Meanwhile Tatsu’s off learning xianxia laundry techniques and subtly getting tested for demonic possession again.

Thanks for the ask!

[callowyn]

20 Questions for Writers

Tagged by @oakashandwillow

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 42...the perfect number

2. What's your total AO3 word count? just shy of 500k which is an insane number

3. What fandoms do you write for? >_> look. is the top fandom on my ao3 page supernatural: yes. am I still actively posting spn fic: technically also yes. but the incoherent scum villain tweets that don't make it onto ao3 are where my heart truly lies rn

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

#1 and #2 are the double header of Cumplane (Pairing), an in-universe meta for @cleromancy's threadfic, and Cumplane Forums AU, an archive of @flightlesscrowkids's communal threadfic that I shamelessly enabled. #5 on the list is also a scum villain chatfic, It's Fine Cause I'm Wearing Cat Ears, where shen yuan is still insane on the modern internet but this time binghe and liu qingge are there. thank you cucumber stans for your support and good taste.

#3 is my untamed big bang from these nettles, alms which I cowrote with @zorrosuchil (chengxian, but also wangxian and a lil tiny bit zhanchengxian, much to jiang cheng's disgruntlement).

#4 is my pacific rim reverse bang Our Blood in the Machinery in which raleigh becket is possessed, but joke's on you, he's into that shit.

5. Do you respond to comments? I try but unfortunately I often give myself the fake homework of needing to reply Meaningfully which means it simply does not happen

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? hmm probably the most it-didn't-have-to-be-this-way classic tragedy fic is The Dismemberment Song (the untamed, nieyao); the deadest dove is Jettison (pacific rim, hansens badtouch)

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? I was going to say Only Human but then I remembered the last chapter ends with one of the main characters announcing her imminent demise lmao so perhaps my cql fix-it of Waking / Rising

8. Do you get hate on fics? thankfully not, I don't think they get enough attention to have haters lmao

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? only for siblings

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? fandom fusions are my faaaaavorite to spitball. way back in the day I had grand plans for Merlispn which (as the name should make clear) was very silly

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? not to my knowledge but cambionverse did once get cited in an academic paper

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? funnily enough one of my smallest and least-viewed spn fics, Driftwood, was translated into chinese!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? nearly all of them in fact! shout out to @thegeminisage and our series Cambionverse which is old enough to be in middle school now

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? I am a multishipper til death do us part ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? fuckin. Envesseled lmfao. ON GOD WE WILL POST THE LAST FIVE CHAPTERS I JUST DON'T KNOW WHEN

16. What are your writing strengths? *eye* think my own jokes are very funny hahaha and I love to write banter & arguments

17. What are your writing weaknesses? I can brainstorm plots all day long but executing upon them is So Hard

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? as a monolingual it is something I would do very sparingly if at all, and only if there wasn't another way to convey the same tone/emotion

19. First fandom you wrote for? the first thing I ever posted to ao3 was The Quest for Camelot which is found poetry from the merlin fic finders comm. before livejournal I did post a few things to ff.net but they are going with me to the grave

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? listen. I understand why it deals psychic damage for my followers to see supernatural content in the year of our lord 20 whatever. but read Cambion those are my kids

[tossawary]

For whatever reason, my brain fed me a “Shen Yuan transmigrates in as Linguang-Jun” AU. Probably just as a one-shot thing to explore a SY & MBJ relationship. This happens when MBJ is an older child or a young teen, I think, so LGJ has done some shit, but the shitty relationship isn’t totally set in stone yet. SY panics, of course, because he has no idea how to be a demon. 

SY eventually settles on trying to make good with MBJ (within the limits of the OOC locks at first) so that Mobei-Jun doesn’t grow up to kill him. Young MBJ’s first reaction is that this is a trick of some kind, albeit an extremely confusing one. Young MBJ eventually witnesses something (SY utterly failing to use his demon powers while he’s still trying to figure them out) and it clicks for MBJ that his uncle has been possessed or replaced. 

MBJ eventually decides that his uncle has been permanently possessed by a dream demon or the like. Should he tell someone about this? Maybe! But he kind of likes this version of his shitty uncle better. This version of LGJ isn’t trying to kill him and, like, serves that bastard right getting his body stolen by an apparently incompetent dream demon. 

SY fakes it until he (kind of) makes it as a demon. LGJ has been scary enough over the years and has MBJ’s father’s protection, so SY doesn’t have to jockey for power too much. SY is also kind of good at playing elegant, handsome villains when he’s called upon to do so (SY could consider what this says about him as a person, but he’s not going to). SY is mostly left alone to study horrible monsters to his heart’s content. 

And also hang out with young Mobei-Jun. MBJ takes advantage of SY to, idk, get his hands on some family weapon locked up in a vault where kiddos can’t get it, like a child tricking their uncle into giving them car keys at twelve. Uncle-nephew trips consist of MBJ using this new LGJ!SY who wants to win his favor as a get-out-of-jail-free card. 

Shen Yuan: “MY darling nephew? Steal YOUR demon horse? Unlikely! How dare you make such an accusation!” 

Mobei-Jun: *absolutely did do that for kicks and is very curious to see how far he can take this before someone calls him on it*

Eventually, a teenage or young adult MBJ meets Shang Qinghua. He doesn’t tell SQH about the dream demon possessing his uncle, nor does he tell the dream demon possessing his uncle about SQH. At least, not until he overhears SQH use a word that MBJ has overheard SY use before, something like, “WTF.” And then MBJ is like, “What does that word mean?” 

Shang Qinghua: “My king-?! Oh, uh, nothing! Nothing, really!” 

Mobei-Jun: “I have heard this word before. I know it means something. What does this word mean?” 

Shang Qinghua: “...You’ve...? Wait, what?!” 

And then MBJ gets badgered into letting SQH meet the new Linguang-Jun. SQH does not play this subtle enough for MBJ not to have questions, so MBJ exits the room and then blatantly eavesdrops on the conversation because SQH and LGJ generally seem to forget about the extent of demon hearing. 

Shang Qinghua: “Proud Immortal Demon Way?” 

Linguang-Jun!SY: “...Another transmigrator?!!!” 

And Mobei-Jun is like, “Oh, Shang Qinghua is also a dream demon. This makes sense given the many strange things about him. I am very clever.” 

Just because, I really like the idea of MBJ actually being able to perceive transmigrators to some degree? Given his family’s bullshit about consuming and stealing power, he’s always on the lookout for possession (but he’s unfamiliar with humans, so it’s harder there). So, like, there’s Mobei-Jun and his two “dream demons” who are quite bad at pretending to be the powerful demon and the ordinary human they’re possessing. He’s cool with this. 

SY gets MBJ to treat SQH decently. Kind of accidentally, but still.

Anyway, I’m going to assume that #1 LBH fanboy Shen Yuan finds an excuse to go “check” on the poor young protagonist at some point. He badgers Shang Qinghua about how the kid is doing and SQH is like, “Oh, yeah, that kid is definitely being abused.” Shen Yuan talks himself into becoming a secret demonic patron and mentor, just to make sure that the protagonist doesn’t end up growing up to kill him, you know. 

LBH ends up taking a lot of away missions from the peak to stay away from SQQ, who is basically like, “Yes, fuck off. If you die, that’s fine.” And LBH keeps running into his “secret demonic patron and mentor”. And maybe being saved by SY several times. SY kind of digs the idea of being able to offer wise advice to the protagonist. That’s not a bad position, right? 

LBH falling in love with this mysterious and weirdly kind demon lord? It’s exactly as likely as you think. Age difference? No issue in LBH’s mind! 

(SY probably accidentally runs into Liu Qingge too, and saves and kind of seduces the man, of course. Liu Qingge makes it his mission to track this demon down because he is VERY ANGRY about this.) 

If SY can make SQQ into LBH’s type, then he can absolutely make LGJ into LBH’s type. When Shang Qinghua cottons on to this, he’s just like, “A handsome ice demon with villainous character design? My, uh, protagonist and I have very similar taste in men, I guess. Holy shit.” 

Mobei-Jun and Post-Abyss Luo Binghe face-off for Luo Binghe’s rights to court the totally oblivious “dream demon” possessing Mobei-Jun’s uncle. Because I like the idea of Mobei-Jun repeatedly giving the protagonist “impossible tasks” just to fuck with him and then being mildly surprised when LBH keeps succeeding, while LBH can’t bully MBJ because MBJ is SY’s “darling nephew” and LBH doesn’t want to upset SY. (Very smug MBJ face here.) 

Eventually Mobei-Jun is like, “Go conquer the Demon Realm, I guess?” So LBH spends the next 5 years or so doing that, sending SY many, many gifts and letters. While Mobei-Jun is like, “It won’t actually help him. Dream demons are very stupid and must be told directly of any romantic feelings.” 

Shang Qinghua: “Haha, I guess. Wait- dream demon?!” 

Mobei-Jun: “Oh, I forgot to tell you I knew.” 

Mobei-Jun’s face turns extremely judgmental. 

Mobei-Jun: “You really didn’t know that I know what you are?” 

Shang Qinghua: “...No...?!” 

[vodkassassin]

Ok let me set the scene: SQQ had grown used to his multiple layers of clothes, and it was never a problem untill the day he and (your closen love interest) decided it was time for papapa, que the twenty minutes of SQQ instructing how to carefully take off his each and every layer. The steamy vibes slowly disapear. The curtains close.

I know you wanted this to be steamy, cousin, but I slapped platonic cucumberplane onto it instead and it turned into a big Mess of Feelings instead of romantic comedy 😅 my bad! @overlordmoth

—

The first time Shen Yuan is forced to attend a inter-sect banquet is memorable, if nothing else. It doesn’t even have anything to do with the event itself, but what happened afterwards.

The food was alright. He’s been spoiled, he thinks, by his adorable disciple’s god-tier cooking, because though the organization committee had gone all out and hired the fanciest of catering staff, the food itself was… he wouldn't go so far as to call it disappointing, per say, but it had been a bit bland when he’d tried it. He finished off his meager plate of appetizers and resolved not to touch any other dish thereafter. He’ll just eat a meal when he gets back to his peak.

Luckily, inter-sect conferences aren’t a constant occurrence. They only happened once every few years, as a way for the many sects of xianxialand to share information and gossip. Shen Yuan has had two years now, to get used to being Peak Lord Shen Qingqiu, and he’s grateful for the extra time he was given to learn his character before he was forced to debut into such a public setting, where Shen Jiu has long-since created himself a reputation.

Much like the reputation amongst his own sect, everyone in the cultivation world seems to know how Shen Jiu had been. Tonight is the first time since his fever (and Shen Yuan’s transmigration) that Peak Lord Shen steps into the limelight and shows exactly how drastically he has changed in character.

It doesn’t go as terribly as he expected it to, honestly.

When he’d first entered the hall, the amount of stares that had immediately zeroed in on him and began dissecting his every movement was… overwhelming, in a way. Shen Yuan is used to stares. He has to be, just to walk around his own peak. His disciples are nosy, gossipy young masters and maidens. For all that they seem to admire and respect him, there is never a single moment when Shen Qingqiu does not feel their eyes following him as he walks from one classroom hall to the next.

The banquet is much the same. Instead of his disciples, however, these are matured (in a manner of speaking) cultivators of sects not his own. Which means Shen Qingqiu has to be on the lookout and watch his own back.

Or he would have had to, had his fellow transmigrator not been in attendance as well.

He supposed he’s lucky, that all the peak lords were required to attend this ridiculous party.

He spends the first ten minutes or so proving to these cultivators that, though Shen Qingqiu has obviously changed, his tongue is still just as acerbic and barbed as it had been before, perhaps even more creatively so now that he’s changed. It puts strained, polite smiles onto the faces of men and women who had approached him in attempts to size him up and find a hand hold for themselves.

Joke’s on them.

As pleased as he is to discover them just as easily taken down a peg or two as his own sect members, Shen Qingqiu grows exhausted of this game rather quickly. Once he sends the last cultivator away with their tail between their legs, he snaps his fan closed with a flick of his wrist and turns on his heel before the next can even think to approach him.

It’s out of character, apparently, for Shen Qingqiu to throw the towel in when the first hour hasn’t even passed. Raised eyebrows and confused eyes follow him as he steps off to the side and sidles up to where the only other millennial in this world is leaning against the far wall of the hall, cradling a cup of tea in his hands and staring at the floor likely in the hope that no one will come speak to him.

As much as he whines that he never gets as much attention as the other peak lords, Shang Qinghua always prefers the sidelines. All the better to remain unnoticed, that he may more efficiently observe their guests without them realizing that the An Ding peak lord’s eyes see far more than any of them could ever think.

When Shen Qingqiu leans his back against the wall beside him, Shang Qinghua gives a startled jolt. His tea sloshes in its cup, thankfully not spilling over, and he raises wide eyes to meet Shen Qingqiu’s look of ridicule.

“Ah….” For once, his friend seems lost for words, and Shen Qingqiu resists the urge to frown at him. “What’s up?”

“If I’m going to make it even a single hour in this party, much less the full ten it’s scheduled for, then I’m going to need someone to listen to me complain.” Shen Qingqiu begins succinctly. “As my bro, that’s your job.”

Strangely, Shang Qinghua seems to perk up at this. He swirls his tea around — and from the sharp scent that wafts upward to Shen Qingqiu’s nose, tea isn’t the only thing in that cup — and casts Shen Qingqiu a cheerful smile.

“A party isn’t a party until you’ve made fun of every single partygoer behind their back at least twice,” his fellow peak lord agrees.

Shen Qingqiu smirks at him.

He snaps open his fan to cover it when he hears a few murmurs of shock from the people who are still watching him like hawks for any sign of difference between him and Shen Jiu. It’s so fucking tiring.

Shang Qinghua huffs a quiet laugh and shoots him a look of sympathy.

“How many bodies do you think you can help me hide before someone notices that guests are beginning to disappear?” He asks nonchalantly, and his mouth curls into a more genuine smile behind the safety of his fan when Shang Qinghua’s shoulders start to shake with laughter.

“Don’t ask me that,” the slightly shorter man breathes out in mirth, eyes bright. “Between the two of us, we can absolutely make it happen. It’s best not to even tempt it.”

“As you say,” Shen Qingqiu sighs despondently, fluttering his fan before his face. It’s beginning to grow a little too warm even in the huge, cavernous banquet hall. That’s what happens when you shove an entire crowd of people into the same room together. It gets stuffy.

The banquet passes a little quicker than it would have otherwise, with Shang Qinghua by his side to exchange quite jokes and banter with. A particular, good-natured target for them both is Liu Qingge, who’s squirelled himself into a different corner of the hall with three jars of alcohol and whose grave glare is enough to chase off anyone who’d wish to speak with him. The poor man just isn’t built for socializing. At least it’s clear that there’s someone who’s having a worse time here than Shen Qingqiu is. It might be mean, but it makes him feel better nonetheless.

It’s nice to have someone who actually understands every meme and pop culture reference Shen Qingqiu slips into his mockery of the banquet guests. The only issue is having to smother his real, genuine laughter when Shang Qinghua comes back at him with something actually hilarious. It would surely rock the cultivation world to its very foundation if Peak Lord Shen Qingqiu burst into laughter in the middle of an inter-sect banquet for all to see.

Even with the allowances he’s slowly acquired for himself in the time since he disabled the OOC lock, his martial siblings would certainly send for Mu Qingfang to check him over.

Still, the comfortable atmosphere of mockery aside, several hours is still several hours, and by the time Shang Qinghua is down to the dregs of his seventh cup of tea (plus the obvious pick-me-up he adds to it), Shen Qingqiu is incredibly fucking done with this entire farce.

Opening his fan to conceal his face, he leans over slightly into his friend's space and quietly says, “You wanna blow this popsicle stand?”

The clear effort it takes Shang Qinghua not to wheeze is gratifying. “Are we even allowed to do that?”

“We’re peak lords,” Shen Qingqiu says, shrugging his shoulders lightly. “We can do whatever the fuck we want. And, speaking as a millennial — who’s going to stop us, really?”

Good thing they’d dissolved into speaking English three hours ago. If someone heard the cold, and graceful Lord Shen verbally curse then he’d probably be forced to undergo another test for possession with Wei Qingwei when they all got home. Annoying as hell, those things. They took hours and he wasn’t even allowed to read to pass the time!

“Point,” Shang Qinghua admits.

“Plus,” Shen Qingqiu raises his fan up a bit higher to hide his entire expression and makes a face. “I, uh…. need a favor, from you.”

Shang Qinghua blinks over the rim of his teacup at him. He stares at him for a long, wordless moment, and then his eyebrows shoot up.

“The peerless peak lord Shen,” he says lightly, mouth quirking, “needs help—?”

“Airplane.”

“—from little ol’ me?”

“Imma gut you,” Shen Yuan mutters, fan fluttering.

Shang Qinghua beams at him. He pushes up off the wall and steps over to the nearest table to set his now-empty cup on its surface.

“Yeah, okay,” the man says.

Appeased, yet miffed, Shen Qingqiu raises his chin up and snaps his fan closed sharply enough to make a noise. “Good.”

They leave. There’s a multitude of stares that follow in their wake, from both strangers and their own martial siblings across the hall, but neither of them pay them any mind, aside from the way Shang Qinghua’s shoulders raise defensively almost on instinct. A nervous habit that the man will probably never rid himself of.

Three minutes later, they’ve closed themselves away in Shen Qingqiu’s guest quarters of the venue — the conferences are to last for at least three days, minimum, so each sect has their own pavilion for the overnight stay — and Shen Qingqiu stands grumpily in the middle of the room while Shang Qinghua collapses against the bed and laughs himself silly.

“Y-You need me to—?” The man wheezes, one hand pressed over his mouth as tears prick the corners of his eyes, his other arm holding his side. “To—?”

“Yes, it’s very amusing,” Shen Qingqiu deadpans, eyebrow twitching. “And what a friend you are, to laugh in the face of my plight. What, do you expect me to ask anyone else? Who would you suggest? Yue Qingyuan? As if! Of course I need your help, idiot!”

“I’m sure Sect Leader would be very obliging if you were to ask,” Shang Qinghua giggles from where he’s curled up on top of the blankets. He waggles his eyebrows. “Very obliging.”

“You disgust me,” Shen Qingqiu sniffs. He tugs at the front of his robes, and casts his friend a helpless look. “Seriously, how am I suppose to get out of this — this death trap?!”

Because, for such a fancy and important occasion as an inter-sect conference opening banquet, the guests are of course expected to wear their most formal robes. And, in xianxialand, formal robes mean layers. Layer upon layer upon layer. And extra baubles on top of that, like multiple-section headpieces and jewelry and gauzy, sheer, bedazzled over robes.

Truly, the opulence and over-the-topness of the cultivation world never ceases to make Shen Qingqiu raise his brow.

“I get what you mean,” Shang Qinghua chortles. “Stop your bitching, bro, I know how to escape these things, no problem.”

He hops up from the bed and makes his way over, reaching for the outside clasps of the over robe without even asking first. Shen Qingqiu does mind, holding his arms out to give his friend better access. Honestly, there is never any dignity lost between the two of them, what with their modern sensibilities. Not that Shen Yuan ever had much dignity to begin with, being a lifetime recurring hospital patient in his last life. As Shen Qingqiu, peer immortal master that he is, however, he at least has to pretend he does.

With everyone other than Airplane, that is.

“Thanks,” he says, grumbling but grateful, as Shang Qinghua carefully but without ceremony shucks off his outer robe and the one underneath it.

The man steps closer after laying those out on the bed, and tugs at the ties of the belt that hold the next robe closed. After a series of finger gymnastics that Shen Qingqiu can’t really make head nor tails of, his friend reaches up and pulls the silk down from his shoulders and reaches a hand inside to pull at the smaller ties hidden within. Which is absolutely ridiculous. Shen Qingqiu had seriously felt like he was putting together a piece of IKEA furniture when he’d originally gotten dressed. Overly complicated, the instructions were all in Swedish, and it was nearly impossible to accomplish on one’s own. But, he‘d done it!

Dismantling it all, however, was another thing entirely, and he thanks whatever higher power there is, that Airplane is here to lend him that hand without any of the awkwardness that someone with ancient Chinese sensibilities would bring.

“Thank god these things are only like, twice a decade,” he groans, leaning back so his fellow transmigrator has easier access to free him of the next stifling layer. “If this body didn’t have that handy cultivation temperature regulation magic bullshit you came up with for that scene in chapter one-hundred twenty, I’d be sweating buckets right now. Next time I get an invitation to a banquet, I’m refusing, no matter how much Yue Qingyuan puppy-dog eyes at me”

Shang Qinghua directs an odd, slanting smile down at the belt he’s working free, nimble fingers pulling and tugging gently at the ties so they don’t accidentally tighten instead of loosen.

“Yeah,” he says, quiet. “... I’ve never been a fan of banquets either.”

Shen Qingqiu holds back a scoff. And then lets it free, because there’s nobody here but Shang Qinghua, who knows him and won’t ever begrudge him for showing actual emotion. “I can’t imagine anyone being wrapped up in thirty layers and expected to socialize with sharks for ten fucking hours and actually enjoying it.”

Shang Qinghua ducks his head down, smile disappearing. He tugs the ties free and reaches up to slip another layer off of Shen Qingqiu’s shoulders, but he keeps his eyes lowered. Shen Qingqiu pauses, frowning at him. Something’s off.

“...Airplane?”

“It’s not that,” Shang Qinghua shrugs helplessly, tugging at the ties of the next robe without much effort to pull them loose. There’s a slightly uncomfortable expression on his face that makes Shen Qingqiu frown deepen. “I actually don’t mind all the layers. My parents dressed me in hanfu all the time when I was a kid in my past life, so I was already used to it before I even transmigrated. The food at banquets is really good, too, and the socialization isn’t so bad once you look at it as just a political pissing contest. Banquets could be fun, really.”

“But they’re not,” Shen Qingqiu guesses, and reaches out to clasp his friends hands in his, pulling them away from his belt. They twitch in his hold, like Shang Qinghua wants to fidget, a nervous tick.

He’s only half dressed at this point, but right now he’s more concerned with the shuttering expression on Shang Qinghua’s face than anything else. “Not for you, at least. Why?”

Shang Qinghua glances nervously up at him from beneath his lashes, only to look back down again and grimace. “They’d be a lot of fun, if I wasn’t… me, I guess? Today is the first time I’ve actually enjoyed a banquet since I first started attending them as a head disciple.”

Shen Qingqiu presses his lips together as his friend lets out a mirthless, unamused laugh. He squeezes the hands he’s holding, and Shang Qinghua‘s shoulders droop.

“It was also the first time anyone’s actually stuck by me and actually talked to me, though, so,” the other finally glances up, an odd and fragile smile on his face as he chuckles weakly. His eyes are shining a bit damply, and Shen Qingqiu locks his teeth together when he sees it. “I guess it makes sense? Banquets are a lot more fun when you’re not, um… totally alone the entire time! Haha…. who knew, right…?”

Shen Qinghua shakes his head slowly. He ignores his state of undress and reaches out to draw his friend into his arms.

Sometimes, Shen Yuan wishes he’d transmigrated into Shen Jiu’s life earlier than he had. Sure, the cons far outweigh the pros, in such a situation, but at least his friend would have had someone in his corner for all the times that their martial family had snubbed him. Airplane may have brought the anxieties and insecurities of his past life along with him into this one, but Shen Yuan doesn’t doubt for a single second that in the decades that Airplane has been Shang Qinghua, they have been made much stronger (and oftentimes crippling) by the actions of the people who are suppose to stand by him and have his back.

It’s infuriating, when he lets himself think about it for too long, so usually he doesn’t. And then it smacks him right in the face, like now, and Shen Yuan feels nothing but bitter resentment toward those people who are supposedly his friend’s martial family.

Shang Qinghua makes a quietly surprised sound, but doesn’t protest. In fact, the other melts against him, hands coming up to grasp at the front of his robes, and he tucks his face into the junction between Shen Qingqiu’s shoulder and neck. He sucks in a slow, stuttering breath that makes him tremble, and Shen Qingqiu reaches up one hand to bury into the back of his friend’s hair, curling his fingers into the strands.

“It must’ve been extra rough when the original goods was still around,” he comments quietly.

Shang Qinghua shudders, and then nods his head against his shoulder. “H-He was a real jerk, but usually he was too busy verbally flaying all the guests from the other sects alive, to pay me much mind. Thankfully.” The An Ding lord lets out a wet chuckle.

Shen Qingqiu allows another frown to cinch at his brow as he pets his hand through his friend’s hair. “And none of the others ever…?”

“Why would they? I’m just — I’m just… An Ding.”

Shen Qingqiu tightens the arm that he has wound around Shang Qinghua’s waist, and his scowl depends when he feels his friend shake.

The door opens then, because of course it does. Someone peaks their head in, and who else is it going to be but Yue Qingyuan, looking for his precious Xiao Jiu, who apparently isn’t one to leave a banquet early when there are still guests left to verbally knock down several pegs and cripple the self esteem of?

The sect leader opens his mouth, and closes it. Shen Qingqiu watches impassively the journey of emotions the man’s face undergoes as he takes in the scene of a half dressed Xiao Jiu holding a trembling Shang Qinghua in his arms. Yue Qingyuan’s face is pale and there’s two splotches of bright red on both his cheeks. He looks both mortified and horrified in equal measure.

Shen Qingqiu wraps his arms tightly around the other transmigrator, holding the still-trembling Shang Qinghua to his chest, and narrows his eyes at the sect leader viciously.

“Leave,” he snaps. His best friend doesn’t deserve having anyone spying on this moment of real vulnerability.

Yue Qingyuan beats a hasty retreat. The door closes softly behind him.

Shang Qinghua gives one last shudder, before going lax in his arms, letting Shen Qingqiu hold him up with his strength alone. The An Ding peak lord reaches out his arms to wrap them around Shen Qingqiu and return the hug, clutching tightly at him.

“I’m really glad you’re here,” the man says, voice slightly choked, and Shen Qingqiu swallows thickly. It’s clear that Shang Qinghua is talking about more than just tonight’s banquet.

“Me too,” he says, and finds that he actually means it.

[akatsuki-shin]

Review: Scum Villain’s Self-saving System (SVSSS)

Notes:

(Very) long post ahead

Contains spoiler

This is my personal review and does not represent the entire audience, you are free to agree or not agree with what I’ve written here

Feel free to reply/send me a message if there are things you want to discuss

Summary:

SVSSS tells the story of Shen Yuan, an avid web novel reader - particularly the stallion genre - who died suddenly from food-related incident after having just finished reading a famous (yet controversial) web-novel "Proud Immortal Demon Way".

Upon his wake, he discovered that he had been transmigrated into the world of that very novel, moreover into the body of the story's most-hated scum villain, Shen Qingqiu.

In his previous life, Shen Yuan had frequently criticized the "Proud Immortal Demon Way" and its author, "Airplane Shooting towards the Sky", for he found the web novel full of wasted potentials. Now having been sent to live in that novel's story, a mysterious system assigned him with a mission to fix the very plot he had been denouncing - and of course, to save himself from the tragic end of the original Shen Qingqiu, who was fated to be mutilated into a human stick by the story's protagonist, Luo Binghe, his own disciple.

STORY: 7/10

I personally have not read a lot of "isekai" stories. However, what makes SVSSS interesting to me, compared to most transmigration stories I've seen in the past, is because the main character was not thrown into a completely strange, unknown world, but rather into the universe of a novel he had been closely following up until the very last second of his life.

And what's more? He does not have complete freedom in modifying the story however he wants, but supervised by a mysterious system that will reward him for correct decisions, and punish him for wrong choices - with being deported to his original world as the ultimate punishment should his points fall below the set limit (a.k.a. he would really lose his life because he is already dead in his original world).

The fact that Shen Yuan, now living as Shen Qingqiu, possessing complete knowledge of the original story, yet still unable to foresee what butterfly effect his actions will cause to the plot and characters is perhaps the most appealing aspect of this novel.

Shen Qingqiu in his previous life was no different than us - a normal, modern young man from the 21st century. His thoughts and opinions on the situation, the way he reacts on certain matters, his internal monologues are all realistic and easily relatable. It feels as if I myself have partly become Shen Qingqiu, as well, looking at how the story progresses from a first person point of view, because if I were to be in his shoes, I would probably react in the exact same way as a modern person thrown into an ancient fantasy world.

Nevertheless, this "omniscient reader" point of view is not without a flaw. Although Shen Qingqiu himself is gradually blending in, accepting his new life in the ancient cultivation world and no longer seeing the other characters as mere "fictional characters", because his mindset is that of a modern man, I find it difficult for myself as the reader to perceive the world of SVSSS as an actual, stand-alone world. Until the very last page of the story, I still feel like I'm looking at a fictional world, feeling detached to the universe and characters because I'm not "living" in it.

Another aspect that I think could've been improved is the romance development between Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe. I have full confidence that post-story Shen Qingqiu loves Luo Binghe with all his heart, but I seriously have no idea when and how he reached that point.

In the first half of the story, upon having accepted his new life as Shen Qingqiu, his feeling towards Luo Binghe is more like fondness and endearment. Perhaps he does like the character Luo Binghe, and considering that he, along with the rest of the web novel's readers, hated the original Shen Qingqiu to the core, of course he wants to treat Luo Binghe and the other characters better (otherwise, how could he save himself from that nightmarish fate as a human stick).

Later on, he learns of his mistake, how he could've made better decisions, and tried to understand Luo Binghe better, redeeming himself. Perhaps his love towards Luo Binghe began to grow along this path, but I honestly don't see it being told to me, as the reader. All of a sudden he is willing enough to "offer" himself to calm the maddened Luo Binghe. He's been proclaiming himself as a straight man all this time and never once did I see him agreeing with himself that he is going to accept his feelings for Luo Binghe. When I read this later part, I feel like I've just jumped over a huge chunk of development. Because up until that point, Shen Qingqiu still only gives me the feeling of a teacher who adores and cares for a special disciple of his.

All in all, if I were to summarized the plot, I think SVSSS is an interesting, curious story. The fact that Shen Qingqiu was tasked to fix the original novel's flaws makes me want to continue reading for as long as I can. What change is he going to make? What effect will be caused and what chain of events will follow? Furthermore, if you're looking for comedy, then you've come to the right place. With an internet-literate modern man experiencing living in an ancient, fantasy novel, Shen Qingqiu's reactions will never be boring to see. Even the banters and exchanges between characters are so realistic to the point that it is almost possible to imagine them visually.

Also, BingQiu is cute, I take no criticism.

CHARACTERS: 6/10

The distribution of that overall score of "6" is actually as follows:

3 --> Shen Qingqiu

1 --> Shen Jiu

1 --> Luo Binghe + Yue Qingyuan

0.5 --> Liu Qingge

0.5 --> Everybody else

Notice that in the previous section, I barely talk about any other character than Shen Qingqiu? It's not just because he is the main character, but because the other characters are seriously that un-interesting. In fact, I regret to say that personally, I think the characters are this novel's weakest point.

Or to be more precise, the characters' depth.

Shen Qingqiu by himself is a great character. He is calm, logical, knows when and where to put his "omniscient reader" knowledge to good use. He is effortlessly hilarious even if he himself doesn't realize it, but at the same time, despite the mountain of curses he often uses, he is still a good person at heart. I think he is the sole reason that the story could remain interesting until the very end.

But sometimes he is a bit too ideal, almost always having the correct solution and/or countermeasure to every situation even if the plot has changed massively from the original web novel that he knows. Especially when it turns out that he has discovered a way to revive himself after self-destructing at Huayue City, it makes his initially heartbreaking sacrifice less......touching. Because it feels as if he's been scheming this to be freed from the current ordeal, maybe to escape the system, as well.

Furthermore, no matter how much of an expert he was of the "Proud Immortal Demon Way" universe, he still just passed away and was transmigrated into a foreign world. Although the system initially banned him from being OOC, other than some panicky internal monologue, there was almost no trace of him looking distraught when being faced with the unthinkable situation.

Plus, Shen Yuan was different from Airplane Shooting towards the Sky who, even if he were to return to his original world, would have nobody waiting for him. The description of his family was pretty clear. Not only he comes from a well-off household, his family seems to be quite a happy and harmonious one (especially how he used to dote on his younger sister). How come there is not one single moment when he thinks about the family he has left behind and simply carries on with his new life as if nothing happened?

Now Luo Binghe, the second main lead and the one paired with Shen Qingqiu.

Before he fell into the Eternal Abyss, his character actually seems pretty solid. But post-darkening, I don't know why I can't get a good grasp of his character.

The "clingy, crybaby boyfriend" aspect is pretty clear, no complaint there (although the moments of his crying feels too comical for me). Other than that, I don't really feel the "powerful Demon Lord" vibe from him.

Yes, there are descriptions of how powerful he is, how frightening he can be. But it's just not solid enough for me. I understand that he is supposed to be a character with unstable mental, but there are simply not enough part where he is shown to be a proper, powerful Demon Lord because he keeps breaking down each and every single time. The "glass heart maiden" aspect isn't bad, but when it's used in an overly comical way, the character simply loses the charm he's supposed to have.

Even Yue Qingyuan, who's only a minor character, had such a strong charm that slaps you with the biggest plot twist in the whole story when it was revealed (to us, the readers) who he actually is.

Ironically, the original Luo Binghe (Bing-ge) was able to present the character's true image and complexity even if he only appear in less than 10% of the entire story.

And even more ironically, the original Shen Qingqiu a.k.a. Shen Jiu, is probably the most complex character to have ever existed in there (and he only appears in, what, a couple of extra chapters).

(You know what? If MXTX just goes with the original Luo Binghe x Shen Qingqiu, including all of their complexity, I think the development, conflict, and resolution could've been more deep and complex - but yeah, it ain't gonna be "Scum Villain's Self Saving System)

Liu Qingge is okay and actually quite lovable. It's just that I feel it's too easy for him to appear anytime, anywhere there is a problem, as if he's some easy way out.

Other than those I've mentioned above, I literally don't have anything to comment on the other characters because... I don't even know if there's anything to comment. They really come and go just like that and leave no big impression on me.

TECHNICAL ASPECTS: 6/10

This here is basically just some technical things that were a bit unfortunate, because if only they were improved, the story could've been better.

1. The story is clearly written from Shen Qingqiu's point of view, but it will suddenly switch to Luo Binghe's inner thoughts every now and then, making it inconsistent.

2. Description of time and environment. Sometimes it's really difficult to tell in what kind of place the scene is happening, whether it was day or night, whether the characters still remain in the same place or have move elsewhere. Transition when switching locations is also not described enough.

3. As much as I love the story, I feel like it's progressing too fast without any significant crisis. It just ends like that with no massive ordeal or mystery to be solved. I think this is related to Shen Qingqiu's "omniscient reader" point of view because it makes me feel like "hmm yeah, it's just another part of the story, they're going to go through this just fine"

Still, I understand that this is MXTX's first novel. In fact, most of the aforementioned issues (including the characters) have undergone immense improvement in her second novel (MDZS), so I don't think I have anything to worry about.

OVERALL SCORE: 6.3/10

It's worth to read, really. If you just want to enjoy a cool, funny, and cute "isekai" story, I can definitely recommend this. But don't expect some deep philosophical shit, because half of this novel is made of shitpost (I shit you not).

Moral of the story though?

See how market demand kills content creators' freedom and creativity.

Airplane Shooting towards the Sky, the author of the controversial stallion "Proud Immortal Demon Way" literally told Shen Qingqiu at the final chapter of the main story:

He's actually written deep, aesthetic stories before, but they were all unpopular. Only when he wrote this harem novel full of fan-service - disregarding plot depth, plot holes, cheap characterizations - did he finally gain popularity and was able to obtain sufficient income to feed himself.

He was grateful to Shen Qingqiu for "messing" up the plot of his novel, changing it into how it is now, because it allows everything he originally wanted to write - but couldn't - to come true.

In previous chapters, he also said that he actually wanted to make the original Shen Qingqiu into a three-dimensional, more complex characters, but the netizens didn't appreciate it and were complaining instead. Hence he was forced to make the original Shen Qingqiu into a plain old scum villain with no redeeming quality at all - even though in his original script, this character has a complex background that causes his current known personality.

Shen Qingqiu and Shang Qinghua might be talking about it in their usual, funny bantering, but who dares to say that this isn't an issue being faced by almost all content creators in the whole world?

How many content creators have been forced to sacrifice the creativity value and quality of their work in order to satisfy the taste of majority?

How many content creators have been made to revise their works by editors in order to fit into a certain agenda or market trend?

Unless you're a massively popular creator or a powerful individual, chances are you will never have the chance to create a content you truly want to make for a living.

In any case, there may be other authors who are better than MXTX in this world, but I love her works because despite the fictional content, the comedy, the silliness, etc, there are still at least one aspect that reflects the situation of the real, current world, and when you realize it, the realization can be quite a slap to the face like "hey, wait a minute, she's right you know?" See less

[heterophobiclanwangji]

Stupid Sexy Shizun

(an unnecessarily long post about Shen QIngqiu, romantic storylines, and dangerous fanon)

I see a lot of varying characterizations for Shen Qingqiu, especially vis a vis his allure to the other (typically male) members of the cast. Frankly, I do think the entire thing is funnier if a lot of people are in love with Shen Qingqiu, who only really recognizes Luo Binghe (and even then only after nearly apocalyptic levels of drama), and I’m willing to believe that he is unwittingly attractive for the following reasons:

he unintentionally falls into suggestive situations (the Skinner incident with the immortal binding cables, the Huan Hua Palace Water Dungeon, also with immortal binding cables For Some Reason, the succubus incident with Liu Qingge, etc.)

he may fall into improper/informal forms of address (for example, calling Binghe by name the first time they meet, rather than Luo Binghe or any of the previous Shen Qingqiu’s, er, nicknames)

he doesn’t always understand physical boundaries the same way as other characters (yikes @ the scene in one of the extras where he gives Binghe spiritual energy via skin-to-skin contact and fails to understand how/why that would be inappropriate, and potentially the situation with Liu Qingge cleansing his meridians, although I have reservations about that)

he tends to objectify people, which makes more sense when you realize he’s evaluating them based on his understanding of their characters and function in the original plot and cataloging differences, but reads differently to people who don’t have that context (which is almost everyone) (he makes internal comments about how hot a lot of the characters are, and I feel like he stares at people, but I can’t remember a specific incident for this; in conversations, it comes up in lines like “even if something bad happens, it won’t happen to you,” or “I knew you would definitely win,” both spoken to Binghe--at this point Shen Qingqiu doesn’t know Binghe very well and still sees him as The Protagonist, but to Binghe they just seem like heartwarming moments of security and belief)

he has trouble enforcing platonic guidelines to his relationships due to his fundamental belief that no one would find him attractive, be it romantically or sexually, and therefore sees no reason to draw that distinction (not going to cite specific incidences for this, it’s more of a recurring combination of his low self-esteem and lack of self-awareness, which I may talk about later in another post).

however, some reasons I have seen in fandom that do not seem likely based on my understanding of the plot and characters (although I will be the first to admit that I do not remember every single detail of the novel or extras, and that Shen Qingqiu is not the most reliable narrator to start with) are as follows:

fan language (technically possible, no indications given in canon, and you cannot convince me that Mr. I-Named-This-Poison-With-No-Cure-Without-A-Cure, Great God Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky had the patience and wherewithal to research or create a comprehensive fan language)

owning and using slutty, slutty inner robes (this would require the cutthroat, inscrutable original Shen Qingqiu to own such robes in the first place, I don’t remember any canonical references to improper dress aside from instances where he has been disrobed--the Skinner incident, Huan Hua Palace Water Dungeon, and his QingSi treatment--, and Shen Qingqiu has a healthy paranoia about governing his appearances so people won’t realize he isn’t the original goods; yes, the Peak Lords suspect him of being possessed anyway, but to my knowledge their reasons centered around his personability and investment in his students rather than robes or hair ornamentation)

eating suggestive foods (this one is slightly debatable. again, he doesn’t see himself as someone people would find attractive, so I can’t discount the idea that he would inadvertently eat something in a suggestive manner. however, I saw someone have him request dishes involving aphrodisiacs, and I was like, WACK. He probably had a cataloged index of the different weird plants and monsters of PIDW before his transmigration and ranted excessively in the comments about all of the pointless precursors to papapa, up to and including creating different plants/animal organs that have the same or better effects and then yelled at Airplane for not keeping better track of his own inventions. This is the guy who saw Liu Qingge under the effects of succubus poison or whatever and immediately knocked him into a cold bath. you won’t catch him slipping that easily)

enabling Binghe to get away with suggestive/improper and sexualized behavior while he was still a teenaged disciple. I think this one really gets to me because that narrative of the virginal innocent Shizun and his perverted disciple is the exact view that the outside world has of their dynamic, as represented by the fragments of The Resentment of Chunshan that we see in the extras. People see Binghe as a depraved monster (he is a demon, after all) and make insinuations about his treatment of Shen Qingqiu’s corpse during the five years between his death and resurrection. For contrast, the crux of the novel is Shen Qingqiu realizing that Binghe is hurt and insecure and desperately begging to be loved. In the extras he even goes through some of Binghe’s memories and remarks about how, contrary to rumor, all Binghe did was keep his body from rotting while he searched for ways to revive him. I won’t say that Binghe wasn’t a teenage boy and never did what teenage boys do, but the extras showed us that Binghe would rather throw himself into a cold lake than act inappropriately towards his Shizun, and I can’t remember him making any sexual advances until after Shen Qingqiu came back to life. In canon, Binghe is ill-informed and generally bad at sex, which doesn’t speak to me like someone who was just waiting for the right moment to strike.

I will read a hundred fics about Shen Qingqiu inadvertently causing people to fall in love with him, but a lot of fanworks try to make it about a physical allure rather than his personality and the ways in which he feels comfortable interacting with other people. People respond to his kindness and his feelings of duty and honor, and it makes me feel cheated to see interpretations downplay characteristics of his actual personality, especially when it degrades the characters around him, too. Yue Qingyuan feels protective of him but generally listens when Shen Qingqiu tells him not to draw his sword, and in canon he gave Shen Qingqiu enough space that he was surprised by the extent of his grief when Binghe was in the Endless Abyss. Liu Qingge is also protective of Shen Qingqiu and is involved in getting Shen Qingqiu’s promise to remain with Cang Qiong Mountain Sect before the Maigu Ridge incident, but doesn’t stop him from leaving when he decides to go. Binghe makes some questionable choices, but his anger and insecurity are understandable even without the rampant communication failures and the influence of Xin Mo, and the end of the novel shows that Luo Binghe is willing to leave if that’s what Shen Qingqiu wants.

Sometimes fan interpretations get really intense about this, as if Yue Qingyuan, Liu Qingge, and Luo Binghe would catfight over Shen Qingqiu. Granted, Liu Qingge and Luo Binghe are willing to throw down at any given time, but the main romantic development comes from Shen Qingqiu treating other people with respect and receiving respect in return. While people do try to influence Shen QIngqiu’s decisions, the ultimate choice is his own.

One of the points of the novel is that people matter and their choices affect not only themselves but the people around them. I don’t care if Shen Qingqiu is some kind of accidental sex god, because his choices and especially his decision to care about other people give Yue Qingyuan, Liu Qingge, and Luo Binghe each something they didn’t have in the original storyline: Yue Qingyuan gets a chance to explain himself and his failures, and is relieved of his burden of caring for Shen Qingqiu; Liu Qingge gets to live and see his little sister grow up; and Luo Binghe gets to be loved and cared for.

As for Shen Qingqiu, he got to choose his own happy ending.

[xerrapin]

"bai zhan peak's lord is here. you're right in front of me but you intend to sacrifice yourself by surrendering your body to him?"

unintentional innuendo of liu qingge aside, this line has always brought me intolerable sadness every time i reread svsss. the only thing that comes to mind is, "they've done my boy qingge so dirty," and i've resolved to enumerate the reasons why

the way of address - lqg calls himself by title here, not by any possessive pronouns. this is important for a couple reasons;

(1) the bai zhan peak's lord, prior to sqq's "death", has been labeled as the undefeated war god and cang qiong sect's main offense. his power is no joke. it’s a reassurance, of cang qiong not holding back to help their fellow members;

(2) as we all know, he eventually gets described as "defeated in every battle" as opposed to his prev invincible title. but lqg has no regard for the rumors. and he has no regard for titles. he doesn't even care that lbh has thwarted him in every turn. even if his victory has no precedent, he's willing to stand by this fact and fight lbh once more;

(3) actually, what hurts me the most is this: if you think about it, lqg only got his label of being eternally "defeated" after sqq's death, because he kept fighting binghe and only binghe, who has plot armor so thick you'd need an excavator to dig through. and i think, lqg does know about the rumors. and i think, lqg hopes that sqq doesn’t. and i think, "bai zhan peak's lord is here," is a silent question all the same. "am i that powerless?" and it makes you want to hug him and say, "NO!! LBH IS JUST A FREAK OF NATURE!!! DW AH QING UR DOIN FINE HONEY"

"you're right in front of me but..." - ooh another piece of tasty fodder to dissect. it stands to reason that this can already be a prelude to some angsty romantic scene in an 80s anime but i digress. i'm just here to say it reinforces the whole "am i powerless" statement, and shows the vulnerability lqg must have felt. he's not speaking in terms of the sect now. this is purely done by lqg desires to. they've grown a friendship and i will never stop crying about it

"...you intend to sacrifice yourself..." - lqg remembers that sqq saved him from deviation. probably the only thing stopping him from strangling lil shen yuan. so for sqq to be in a position of peril and lqg can't return the favor? isn't that just a slap to the face?

"... by surrendering your body to him?" - and we have reached the killer line. when i first read it, i chuckled a bit. just trust this —dare i say it— tsundere war fanatic to phrase it in a way that launches an ambiguous air in the bg. but we have to remember lqg spent every waking day after sqq's death to retrieve his corpse. another slap in the face. something that lqg tried so hard to maintain, his goal every single time he opened his eyes—and sqq gives up? just like that? does he not trust that cang qiong sect will always have his back, even if they all get buried together?

i imagine his tone is quiet for the first sentence, then slowly rising to indignation. he's just in sheer disbelief. he hasn't even processed fully that sqq's alive lol. i think he's trying to rearrange the pieces of his aggrieved mind because the fact that sqq's alive and he hadn't thought to tell them... no matter what the reason is, can't he have dropped by?

and maybe, there's that anxiety in the back of his mind that he desperately does not want to uncover: sqq never reached out to them because they're of no help. cang qiong sect is too weak to face luo binghe, and they can only nod in assent as they have a last glimpse of the person they failed to save.

tbh my main otp will always be bingqiu, but i like reading liushen because our little lqg deserves to be happy

[babygray-dam]

Reading Challenge 2020 (5/50):

人渣反派自救系统 (The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System) by 墨香铜臭 (Mò Xiāng Tóngxiù)

Hey! You like BL cultivation novels, huh? How about a transmigration BL cultivation novel?

Shen Yuan, devoted hate-reader of the trashy web novel, “Proud Immortal Demon Way“, dies cursing the author and his shitty plot-hole-ridden story, only to reawaken as a character in the story. But he isn’t reborn as Luo Binghe, the half-demon, overpowered protagonist, ruler of all with a harem of hundreds of beautiful women. Shen Yuan is, instead, the protagonist’s old master, Shen Qingqui, the man who kickstarts the protagonist’s descent into depravity and conquest. He now must find a balance between fixing the shit story and staying alive.

By the end, I was hate-reading this.

And what I hated is the main pairing. I hated the ending and, as a direct result, hated the main love interest, Luo Binghe.

Which I think is probably a big deal breaker when it comes to romance novels, no matter what the orientation of the characters. If the premise of the romance doesn’t appeal, it just doesn’t appeal. And this romance did not appeal.

There are a lot of trashy tropes in BL, some that I can stomach and even enjoy. And I did like the main pairing 95% of the time. But the big ending. Where SQQ sacrifices his body. And then he stays with LBH? Didn’t come off as romantic so much as a fucking hostage situation. And this is the couple the story wants me to root for?

This coupling sucks.

That’s right. My dislike of this novel comes down to a shipping issue. LBH is violent and possessive and SQQ deserves better. #liushenrights

The meta-humor was interesting, how SQQ’s actions kept changing the story in the real world, but I have a feeling that sort of humor is part and parcel of a gamified transmigration story. The story was engaging and fun. And SQQ, while not an instant favorite, was a character that grew on me. He’s such an unreliable narrator, it was adorable and I just want good things for him.

Which is why I ship SQQ with battlebro Liu Qingge. Again, #liushenrights

Honestly, it wasn’t bad. I’ve definitely read worse.

[rarepears]

I feel like in the ghost SJ AU, LQG probably wouldn't tell SQQ that he knows he's not the original, since it's not good to tell possessing spirits you know they're up to something. Especially when your martial siblings don't believe you.

Additionally, I think LQG would want to get SJ his body back. Partially so that he stops annoying him, but mainly because SJ did technically save his life.

So I'm imagining SY thinking that he and LQG are such good friends because he follows him everywhere (LQG can't give SJ back his body if the imposter gets himself and the body killed doing something stupid) and he gives him lots of gifts (all artifacts meant to cure possession).

Shen Yuan is too oblivious to even think this, but the rest of Cang Qiong isn't. AKA everyone except Shen Yuan thinks that Liu Qingge has a crush on Shen Yuan.

Meanwhile Liu Qingge can't help but quirk his mouth into little smiles - because he's repressing the urge to cackle and laugh all very very loudly - at Shen Jiu's acerbic commentary that is all very funny when not being at the receiving end of it.

(Luo Binghe from behind a bush: HOW DARE SHISHU SMILE SO SOFTLY AT SHIZUN LIKE SO?! I'M SO GLAD SHIZUN HASN'T REALIZED THAT SHISHU IS TRYING TO COURT HIM!)

[grandmasterofwangxiancultivation]

94 You’re an idiot. I married an idiot.

okay, i know it’s supposed to be a drabble, but i went a bit overboard…? i hope it’s okay! i choose bingqiu for this prompt, it kinda fitted in my mind :3

Send me a number and i’ll write a drabble (or something longer)!

Rating: MaturePairing: BingqiuAdditional tags: canon universe, post-canon? sort of?Summary: In which Shen Qingqiu is sappy and he knows, Luo Binghe gets overprotective and Liu Qingge just wanted to help.

Read under the cut.

Shen Qingqiu knew that going through with that idea would eventually prove to be troublesome. He had considered it before leaving, of course, watching Luo Binghe fidget nervously in front of him when he told him he was needed elsewhere, away from Qing Jing Peak, together with Liu Qingge.

The idea of parting from his Shizun never appealed him, but knowing that Bai Zhan’s Peak Lord would accompany him… he didn’t like it. Convincing him  had been hard, and it took Shen Qingqiu a great deal of coaxing and indulging his disciple’s requests to let him set off for Lek Yuen City with Liu Qingge. Yulan Festival was still weeks apart but rich merchants and nobles won’t listen to reason until they knew they were well protected and ghost-proofed. Asking their Sect for help in the matter had been a preposterous move, but with a Demon Lord among their ranks Yue Qingyuan had wanted to keep everyone quiet and content.

Everyone but Shen Qingqiu. He was already quiet and content in his bamboo house, studying some plant’s side effect and experimenting around a bit, thank you very much! How come he was the only one available?!

Closing the door behind his back and moving a couple of steps into the room, he sighed. Another day away from his Peak was over, and all in all, he couldn’t deny that he had had fun, venturing in the market streets and strolling through the forest on the edge of the city.

(He had found lots of interesting items, and every time he turned to show them to Luo Binghe, he realised he was either alone or in the company of someone else. His discontentment was probably obvious, if the furrowed expression in Liu Qingge’s face had been anything to go by.)

He took off his outer robe, untied his hair, let his body ease in the calmness of the descending night, breathing in the silence and forcing his body to sit on the bed and pick up the hairbrush he left on the bedside table that morning.

Let his mind drift, to the previous night and those before it since he arrived there, and how odd the feeling that had pervaded him from that moment on was, like the impending silence waiting him once he found himself alone in that same room was far from being comforting and relaxing.

Maybe, he merely wasn’t accustomed to it anymore, with what living together with Luo Binghe had done to his humble routine. Maybe, he had started seeing his apprentice’s presence as part of his daily life at a far deeper level than he thought.

Or maybe, it was much simpler than that.

A hand brushed the object between his fingers away from his hold, and all his senses snapped in him like a bungee cord.

Shen Qingqiu tensed and his hand flew to his waist, only to remember that he didn’t have his fan when he came back -he probably displaced it somewhere at dinner, half sure Liu Qingge would eventually find it and give it back.

So he prepared to attack with his spiritual energy, but than the person in the room speak, and an intense wave of relaxation washed over him, taking him totally by surprise.

“Shizun.”

“…Binghe.”

It took him a while to formulate a reply, with his heart in his throat for the scare and his limbs trembling for the sudden rush of adrenaline.

That apprentice was crazy!! Demon Lord or not, you can’t sneak up your master’s back like this!! Do you want to have him killed?! Do you even know how to perform CPR?!?

He settled for something more intelligible while calming his racing heart. How could he not sense his presence in the room? When did Luo Binghe become so good at stealth operations?!

“What are you doing here?!”

There was a smile on Binghe’s face -Shen Qingqiu couldn’t see it, his back at him while he brushed his hair, treading his fingers between the locks a couple of times, but he could somehow feel it, especially when he opened his mouth.

“This disciple couldn’t handle solitude. He missed his Sizhun too much.”

Shen Qingqiu ignored how something constricted in his chest -how the longing in Binghe’s tone seemed to mirror that bitter feeling he had been fighting off for days. Instead, he sighed and turned, lifting his chin a bit to look at his apprentice, kneeling on his bed with placid demeanor, as if he was restraining himself. He recognised the glint in his dark irises right away.

Shen Qingqiu swallowed.

“Did this disciple scare his Husband?” Luo Binghe added, apologetic, leaning toward him without diverting his gaze from Shen Qingqiu’s eyes and lowering it only when he was too bent forward to manage it. His intention became clear only when his lips pressed lightly on his shoulder, nuzzling it a couple of seconds before withdrawing and fixing his robe -Shen Qingqiu hadn’t noticed his sleeve had slipped down. The action -the intimacy that gesture spoke of- almost made him blush.

And what was with that sudden title?! When had Binghe turned into a smooth, tricky charmer?!

He breathed deeply, thinly observing him, gradually aware of his tense posture, the way his hands tightened on his knees with Shen Qingqiu’s gaze carefully settled on him. He sighed again, fully knowing what the reason behind the impatient gleam in Luo Binghe’s wide eyes was. Could he even reject such a puppy face? He didn’t have his fan to help him dodge the upcoming attacks, so it was much more clever to store energy for when he will really need it.

(Binghe had really made him shameless, making him use the lack of a weapon as an excuse to cave in, for once, and reaching for his disciple’s face it almost looked like he was admitting that he had dearly missed this, too. Missed him.)

Shen Qingqiu patted his head, allowing himself to smile sublty when the young man closed his eyes and relaxed under his touch, trembling. He turned fully, placing himself on the bed in front of him, and every hunch on nervousness he had ever felt in moments like this assaulted him when a hand reached for his, trapping it against a cheek when Luo Binghe’s eyelids lifted again.

None of them spoke a word, and Shen Qingqiu gripped his disciple’s shoulder when Luo Binghe came for him, an arm sneaking around his waist as his lips reduced the space between them.

He kissed him like years had passed since the last time and his lips parted in response without excessive coaxing, a trilling news Luo Binghe welcomed with a moan. He pulled him in the same instant Shen Qingqiu pressed forward, legs caging the Demon Lord’s hips and breath stuck in his throat at the craved proximity.

Binghe’s fingers intertwined with his hair, forcing his head down, the palm of his other hand slipping under the robe and tracing every patch of skin he could find, possessively groping his back and waist as Shen Qingqiu quivered, overwhelmed, clinging to him and reluctantly giving in to his own body’s demand.

He unfastened the string that kept Binghe’s hair up, letting it fall untidily, scraping his nape in circular movements to dispel the remaining tension and drawing another groan from his apprentice, his hips snapping up in reflex and making Shen Qingqiu break of the kiss, hissing in pleasure at the friction. He panted, ashamed, forehead resting on Luo Binghe’s.

“Shizun’s body missed me too, this disciple is incredibly glad” he mused, murmuring against his lips and leaning forward to playfully bite one of them, distracting him.

Gleeful disciple, Shen Qingqiu wanted to smack the edge of his fan on his head once more, but he had to resort to his hands, ready to protest and ultimately gripping his shoulders again as Binghe’s palm brushed downward to tease his cock, hidden behind his slacks. He moaned in his ear, back arching, his body a shuddering net of burning nerves in his disciple’s hands.

Traitor! Was a bit of abstinence from sex all it took to reduce his body like this?! He felt betrayed, insulted, deceived!! Why didn’t the System place him somewhere easier to reason with?!

“Did Shizun? Did my Husband miss this foolish disciple, too?”

He couldn’t think, he couldn’t beat around the bush with Luo Binghe’s palms on him like that, pushing on all the right buttons and clashing their hips together to elicit whimper after whimper from him.

Binghe was losing his cool, Shizun’s reactions too good, too lovely and intoxicating for him to not do something about it. He almost had him under him, pressed on the mattress, when someone knocked at the door.

Both of them froze, their labored breathe the only thing causing noises in the room, aside from the occasional knocking and voice accompanying them.

“Shen Qingqiu? Are you awake?”

Luo Binghe’s hands fisted, arms closing around a vulnerable Shizun.

“Why is he here? It’s late. Why would he come to your room?” he hastily whispered, barely remaining calm enough not to shout at the door. Shen Qingqiu pulled away from him, moving backward to recover more quickly.

Shit. Okay, Liu Qinge was outside his room and Luo Binghe seemed ready to rip his head off, judging from the way he kept eyeing the direction where the other Peak Lord could come from at any given moment. The last thing he wanted was to cause a scene, perfectly knowing how it was living with those two emitting testosterone whenever they were in the same place. Moreover, Luo Binghe he, the Demon Lord, should be here!

“Hide” he managed to say under his breath, not looking in his direction to not gauge his current appearance. “Hide and don’t come out until he is gone.”

“No! I’m not leaving Shizun alone with him in the middle of the night! What if he touches Shizun-”

Another knock. Liu Qingge probably heard noises.

“Shen Qingqiu?”

“He won’t” he replied quickly, getting off of the bed and fixing his inner robe while for something to put on. “Now do as I say!” he hastened him, slipping into his outer robe before turning and promptly walking toward Luo Binghe, all the while saying out loud: “I’m awake! Let me put something on” in the general direction of the door.

“If he-”

“He won’t” Shen Qingqiu assured him again, pushing him under the bed and ordering him to stay quiet. Luo Binghe begrudgingly obeyed, frowning.

Shen Qingqiu straightened his clothes, breathing deeply and trying to dissipate the remaining fog caused by his and Binghe’s… previous activity. He ventured to the door, unceremoniously opening it and revealing his fellow Peak Lord’s garbled expression. He smiled apologetically to him, moving aside to invite him in, glancing nervously at his bed.

“What is Junior Brother doing here this late in the evening? Something happened?”

Liu Qingge looked around, frown deepening, before his eyes settled on the one who welcomed him. His lips thinned.

Shen Qingqiu had surely tried to make himself presentable, but when Liu Qingge came in, he had felt the strong impulse to look elsewhere. Bitten, plump, shiny lips and disarrayed hair and robe told him all he needed to know -the malevolent, familiar energy he had felt and its closeness to Shen Qingqiu finding its righteous cause at last.

Luo Binghe was there, no doubt. But where did he go? Did he hide? Liu Qingge found the situation ridiculous, as if he didn’t know what kind of relationship they had. They had never made a secret of it when it started, so why all this discretion now?

“Where you sleeping?”

“Almost” Shen Qingqiu swiftly retorted, hands hiding in his sleeves.

“You left your fan on the table while we were dining” he explained. A sound disturbed the quietness of the room and Shen Qingqiu coughed, hand flying up to cover his mouth, apologising with a half bow.

“Ah, that’s right, I noticed it before going to sleep, I’m sorry it inconvenienced Junior Brother to the point of coming here instead of resting in his room.”

But Liu Qingge, the almost burberous, chivalry Lord of Bai Zhan Peak, waved him off, telling him with that gesture he needn’t worry.

“It’s not a problem. You always lose it and we never know when it’ll come in handy, you should be more careful with your possessions” he admonished, eyebrow flying upward when the same sound from before followed.

“Yes, Junior Brother is completely right, this Lord is too forgetful! Thankfully Junior Brother always manages to help and return whatever possession of this Lord he finds” he commented rapidly, trying to keep his attention on him.

“Don’t count on it as if it’s something you’re giving for granted!” he protested, shaking his head immediately after when he didn’t even succeed in sounding truly irritated.

A hiss.

Liu Qingge handed him the fan.

“This Lord promises to be more careful” Shen Qingqiu reassured him, taking the object and tilting his head to the side to smile contrivedly, shifting his weight from one leg to the other continuously. Suddenly, Liu Qingge noticed a strange, colored item caught in his hair, something that looked like a feather, and he acted on impulse.

“You have something in your hair-”

“Uh? Where?”

“Here” he said, pointing at the red feather with his finger, but Shen Qinqiu kept missing the spot, so he intervened.

“Wait, let me-”

Like a hurricane, a shadow barged on them, wrapping Shen Qingqiu in protective arms and sneering menacingly at the intruder.

“Hands off! Don’t touch Shizun!” he roared, tightening his hold, fingers shielding Shen Qingqiu’s head and pinning it under his chin, eyes burning in anger and tempted to incinerate Liu Qingge’s raised arm.

He dropped it.

Shen Qingqiu hit his own forehead with an open palm, mumbling at Luo Binghe and to himself: “You’re an idiot. I married an idiot.”

Luo Binghe’s rage quelled, and the blush on his cheeks spoke of something entirely different.

“What did Shizun said?”

“That you’re an idiot! I told you to not come out!”

“No, after that! What did Shizun do to that idiot?” he persisted, eyes glinting again, holding Shen Qingqiu flush to his chest, and the Peak Lord’s frustration and embarrassment was so evident, irises ashamedly eyeing him and pleading him to do something or go away, that Liu Qingge cringed for him.

“I’m out of here” he just retorted, not wanting to witness anything his eyes weren’t ready for. He left the couple alone, returning to the room next to Shen Qingqiu’s and hoping the walls were thick enough to spare his ears.

[neoblogcrying]

Day 6: Myths(a)- Fairytale

@liushenweek

Note: There is mentions of death in this one so I would be cautious if you’re sensitive to that.

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“Look, Shidi, it’s a lantern shaped like a lantern plant.” How cute, to make a lantern look like a lantern plant. That’s just being a bit ‘extra’ wouldn’t you think?

Shen Qingqiu smiled as he recalled something in a novel he’s read in his past. It wasn’t ‘PIDW,’ mind you. He read other novels back in the day, he’d have you know.

Liu Qingge stopped in his steps to look at the lantern his shixiong pointed out. The craftsmanship of the lantern was impeccable. If not for the fact it was advertised as being a lantern, you’d think it was an actual lantern plant. Why someone would go through all that effort when the lantern won’t last long, was beyond him.

It looked so fragile, that it probably couldn’t handle being left out in a light rainfall. It would break apart, for sure. “It’s just a lantern.” He scoffed, not seeing what was so special about it.

Having expected this kind of a reaction, Shen Qingqiu could only smile bemusedly to himself. He was inspecting one of the lanterns curiously, noting that you were to place a candle in through the hole on top of what was supposed to be the fruit of the lantern plant. That’s how this lantern worked.

“This reminds me of a fairy tale I’d heard many years ago. The Lantern plants sometimes are heart shaped, and if you pray to a lantern plant for good luck with your love life, you wait for the fruit to ripen before you feed it to the person you love. If you do this, the lantern plant will grant your wish and your love will be mutual. A silly story, but it’s somewhat romantic, don’t you think, Shidi?”

“Ridiculous.” Both the story, and the lantern were ridiculous. Why get excited over the lantern when you wouldn’t be able to test out the fairy tale? There isn’t a fruit there to consume to test the theory—not that Liu Qingge would even give it the time of day.

He didn’t believe in such things like fairy tales. The only things he trusted were his sword, his strength, and Shen Qingqiu. “Do you believe in such a story?”

“No, not particularly, but I do think it’s an interesting story to tell. I believe the story starts with a man who fell in love with a woman who far outranked him, so he would never have a chance to pursue his love for her. He was but a lowly farmer while she was the daughter of the Lord of the City.” Shen Qingqiu was careful to watch Liu Qingge to see how interested he was in the story.

He was the one who claimed he didn’t care for the fortune telling, but he was the one most interested in what the Succubus had to say.

Liu Qingge was surprisingly more interested in listening to stories than one would believe. Case in point, he was listening intently even now, and so Shen Qingqiu continued to tell his story in a light-hearted manner.

“He put his heart into growing all sorts of plants, like flowers, fruits, and vegetables. His prized possessions were his lantern plants. The Fruits, when unripe, are poisonous—but they are safe to eat when they’re ripe. The fruit of the lantern fruit is small and tasteless, but he thought that the plants themselves were beautiful and so he continued to grow them. They’re very easy to raise, if you didn’t know. They will play a bigger role later…” He paused.

Yeah, he’s hooked. Don’t think he missed the way Liu Qingge took a step forward in order to listen closely to the story. It was so cute, the way he would easily get thrown into the pace of these sorts of stories. It was… a bit childish, but that’s what was cute about him.

“The daughter of the City Lord was adventurous and curious, so she would always walk around the city in search of new things. You could say she was unconventional in the way that she found the life of a commoner to be enviable. She was an illegitimate child born to a maid, and she longed for a life of freedom her mother used to tell her. She wanted a life of freedom. One day, she came across the farmer tending to his lantern plants. This is how they met.”

Reading between the lines, it’s because she was an illegitimate child born to a maid that she wanted to live a regular life, one where she wouldn’t get caught in the politics of higher society. She didn’t have to smile in the face of those who mocked her for her ‘humble’ origins.

“She would often sneak out of the estate to walk around the town, and she’d always make it a point to visit his farm. I suppose she appreciated his work ethic. He was kind and gentle towards her. Any questions she had; he had an answer to give. The love and care he gave all his plants were an exemplary example of a man with an honorable spirit. At least, that’s what the story says. I personally think it’s too contrived.”

Still, everyone had their own reasons for falling in love with someone, and what he liked in a person may be different from what the next person likes. He was probably a beauty or something, and she fell in love with his looks. Everything else was icing on the cake.

For instance,… Shen Qingqiu paused to stare at Liu Qingge.

“Continue.”

Right! Shen Qingqiu mentally shook his head, focusing on telling the story.

“Now, where was I? Right, so the young lady would visit the man frequently, almost on a daily basis. They had mutual love for each other, but the farmer was in denial. After all, how could he love her when their social statuses was so far from each other? To tend to his heavy heart, he would talk to his lantern plants on a daily basis about the love he felt for her. He could never tell her the truth. Somehow, the lantern plants started to change their shape to adapt a heart shape.” How romantic of a thought is it that the plants were so full of his words of love that they listened to that they changed their shape to reflect his feelings?

“The young miss was captivated by the heart shaped lantern plants, marveling at the miracle. Fascinated by this miracle, she visited daily to visit him and talk about what else changed about his precious lantern plants. Maybe, if the plants could change their shape, maybe their tasteless fruits changed as well? The two made a promise that when the fruits of the lantern plants ripened, they would taste the fruit to see if the taste changed.”

Of course, just when things were starting to get cute, things would have to change.

“Her father caught wind of her visits to the farmer and was enraged. This was because he’d arranged a political marriage for her, and he couldn’t have her refusing because of her feelings for the farmer. In the night, he paid a visit to the farmer and threatened to raze his land to the ground if he continued to seduce his daughter. What could the farmer do when she was visiting him out of her own discretion? Surely, she was in love with his lantern plants, not himself.”

No matter how much she loved plants, she wouldn’t make it a point to visit and talk to him daily if she didn’t like him, right? Of course, any sane person would reason that she loved the farmer as well as the lantern plants.

“Thinking that he was looking out for her future happiness, he turned her away the next morning. She would be happier living with someone who was of the same social standing as her, and not a lowly farmer like himself. Thinking he wasn’t in a good mood, she went home early that day to be told about the arranged marriage her father set for her. She immediately refused on the spot and ran back to the farmer to tell him what she heard. He told her that she should go back and go through with the arranged marriage. He didn’t love her, so she was wasting her time on him.”

Liu Qingge could not understand. Did he not love her? Why would he want to give her up to another person?

Where is his pride? What happened to having a good fight over the person you love? “I thought he loved her?”

“It’s because he loved her that he wanted her to live a stable and happy life. He told her a lie to push her away so she could live a happier life.” Thinking about it reasonably, Shen Qingqiu could understand the feelings of the farmer. It was too unreasonable to think that a pampered lady could be happy living a life of a commoner.

His shidi, thought differently. Was she not an eccentric sort who never looked down on the farmer and the way he lived his life? In fact, it seemed like she loved the way he lived his life, instead of being forced to smile for the sake of politics.

If it were him, simply being with the one he loved made him happy. He never thought about whether or not the other person what assets they had. No matter what was going on, Liu Qingge enjoyed every moment he shared with his Shixiong, even if it didn’t include fighting.

That was why he could relate to the feelings of the young lady, rather than the feelings of the farmer. Why give up so easily on his feelings? Liu Qingge would FIGHT in true Bai Zhan Peak fashion. He isn’t the Peak lord for nothing, after all!

“I don’t understand. Being with the one you love should be most important. If you feel unworthy, make yourself worthy. I’d fight anyone who got in my way.”

Liu-juju is laying down the law right now!

“How about I continue? She refused to believe his words, and she persistently visited him, but he would always turn her away. He was giving her the cold-shoulder, no matter how it pained him to do so. He would talk to his lantern plants about his feelings after she left. Speaking of his regret, his guilt, jealousy, etc. His lantern plants would listen and absorb it all. Seeing as she refused her arranged marriage and she continued to visit the farmer, her father was filled with rage. In the dead of night, he ordered for the farmer’s land to be lit aflame. The fire licked across his land, lighting the sky with it’s unforgiving heat. Smoke filled the air catching the attention of the city. It was too much for the city to put out, so the only option available to them was to sanction off the farmlands and create a barricade to prevent the fire from spreading and wait for the fire to die down on its own. The fire was intense, razing everything to the ground, leaving behind nothing but ash.

The farmer woke up to see his land ablaze, killing all his hard work. At that moment, he remembered the promise he made to the young lady, to create a sweet tasting lantern plant fruit, and gift it to her. Desperate, he ran to his lantern plants, ignoring the sweltering heat. He realized that the pain of the fire cracking underneath his feet, his scorched skin—none of that could compare to turning her away every day. Watching her dejectedly leave, it broke his heart. If anything, he wanted to protect his lantern plants.”

“He dies, right?” Liu Qingge chose this time to interrupt Shen Qingqiu’s story telling to ask this question. One would expect that a story of romance would have a happy ending, but this was not one of those stories. Liu Qingge wasn’t daft enough to think that the farmer would live to tell the tale.

Like he thought, the farmer unfortunately… dies. He solemnly shook his head.

It was more realistic for him to die in a fire, but that does contradict what is to come next.

“Yes, he died in that fire. He was found near his lantern plants. The daughter of the City Lord searched everywhere for him, hoping to find life… but everything was ash. All his beautiful flowers, the sweet fruits, or the delicious vegetables, all of them burnt to a crisp. His house was not spared, and it was burnt down. The last place she looked, was near his lantern plants. There he lay, grasping something close to his chest, as if it were an important treasure. Carefully, through her tears, she pried his fingers loose. She found he held a lone lantern plant fruit in his hands. Knowing that they were poisonous when unripe, she ingested the fruit, in hopes to join him. Alas, the fruit was ripe. The words of love the farmer spilled to his lantern plants on a daily basis flooded her mind, as if the lantern plants were trying their best to tell her the truth, his truth. The fruit had a bittersweet taste to it, contrasting their usually tasteless flavor. In the end, it’s said that she ran away from home in search of heart shaped lantern plants, so she could raise them in his honor. Maybe if she fills them with enough love, they’ll have that same bittersweet flavor she came to love.” Really, it wasn’t a happy story, but the ending was somewhat bittersweet.

Shen Qingqiu personally liked the story because it pricked at the heart. It was somewhat romantic that the lantern plants wanted to repay the love the farmer gave them by expressing the love he felt for the City Lord’s daughter for him.

The story was arranged in a way that while they both mutually loved each other, they couldn’t be together. This set up made it seem like they mutually pined for each other while knowing they couldn’t ever be together.

A very bittersweet story that came from a B-rated novel.  

Liu Qingge was silent until the stall merchant came out from the back. “Excuse me, do you sell real lantern plants here?” Liu Qingge asked the stall merchant that was selling the lanterns shaped like lantern plants.

He felt like buying one to honor the noble sacrifice of the farmer who risked his life to ensure that at least one part of the lantern plants they both loved so much would live on.

Shen Qingqiu was both curious and excited to hear him ask this question. For one, it showed that he was moved in some way by the fairy tale (from another novel he read years ago), and that there was someone he had feelings for. Isn’t this news of the century?

“You have someone to feed the fruit to, Liu-shidi?” Shen Qingqiu smelled a big scoop he could talk to Shang Qinghua about later, getting excited to hound the information out of Liu Qingge, no matter the cost.

“Would you eat it if I gave it to you?” He asked this simple question, but he was being sarcastic about it. He didn’t have to rely on a fruit to convey his feelings. He could do it himself! On his own time… and today is not that day.

OH. Shen Qingqiu was not expecting that kind of a response to his teasing words.

“Liu-Shidi… you don’t… have to resort to such methods.” Shen Qingqiu raised his hand slowly to interlock their fingers together. “Just tell it to me straight.”

“…”

He knows he doesn’t have to rely on fruits. He could say it himself, but it’s not that easy to do in practice. Everyone was watching them intently now, and he didn’t want to confess his feelings while being made into a spectacle.

“No, you can wait. I simply want to buy a lantern plant in honor of the farmer. I don’t need a plant to say to say how I feel about you.”

Don’t you realize you’ve essentially confessed already, Liu-shidi?

“… Liu-shidi. Then, how about this? We can both buy lantern plants.”

“Sure.”

The two bought lantern plants in honor of the farmer, hoping that the two met each other in heaven and could finally find their happiness.