#so yqy ends up taking care of him

[lbhslefttiddie]

there are a lot of rumours around the origin of Shen Yuan, the Sect Leader's favourite disciple--the most popular theory is that he is actually the Sect Leader's son, though its has escaped no one's notice the name and features he shares with Qing Jing's Peak Lord...

[magicpotatothoughts]

I NEVER REALLY UNDERSTOOD LUO BINGHE UNTIL NOW

Holy shit I was so swayed by SQQ’s POV that I honestly never truly understood LBH’s intentions until I read this line In Ch 2 (SVSSS Seven Seas)/Ch 13 at the demonic evasion arc:

When a person is affected with Without a Cure, starting from their wound, their spiritual flow becomes disconnected. This schism slowly spreads to their entire body. In the end, not only does their spiritual qi coagulate and stagnate, so does their blood."

So then when in Ch 6 (SVSSS SS)/Ch 34, LBH fed SQQ his blood and subsequently used his blood to seemingly "torment" SQQ during the water prison arc, all of this got me thinking....

What if everything LBH did with his demonic blood this entire time was to save SQQ from Without a Cure?

Like yes, he probably did have other intentions such as tracking him, making SQQ horrified at the fact that he has demon blood inside him when he hated demons so much but I honestly think the main reason LBH forced SQQ to drink his blood, and I would even go further as to say that his main motivation when he trained under Meng Mo, was not to become the “strongest” in the general sense but to heal SQQ. Hear me out. The first thought white lotus LBH has when SQQ got poisoned in Ch2/13 was

the demons had harmed his teacher to the point that he might be crippled—he might even lose his life. And all because of him.

LBH probably was a direct witness to how a whole team of Cang Qiong mountain peak lords needed to revolve around SQQ, with Mu Qingfang constantly providing prescriptions and LQG clearing his meridians and probably YQY hovering around SQQ dying with worries, to maintain his health post the SHL -demon evasion, he must have felt absolutely terrible about it! And that guilt literally haunted our bing-pup like he never once stopped thinking about it; no wonder he offered himself to take care of everything including the nutrition of SQQ's food, snaccs, water, small-big errands, and even wanted to pick that "Snow something Lotus" flower for Shizun! Without a Cure affecting SQQ was on LBH's mind ever since he was 15 and for all 3 years he was in the Endless Abyss.

This is absolutely evident when black lotus LBH returned and started to chase SQQ, SQQ's inner monologue was cursing how Without a Cure is stagnating his ability to coordinate and run, I am certain that LBH was not blind to just how much SQQ was struggling with that poison in his body. My theory was further confirmed when LBH finally caught up to SQQ:

“While Shen Qingqiu was still in the midst of confusion, Luo Binghe flipped his hand over. “You were infected?” .....“This hand of Shizun’s is plagued with misfortunes.”

Bruh, LBH may be giving the sadistic energy of an abandoned demonic child (thanks SQQ unreliable narrator) but here is clear evidence that the thing he was most worried about is SQQ's blood coagulating and him dying of demonic poison. What this tells me is that Without a Cure seemed to be activated and/or further exacerbated by other demonic poisons. LBH was also clearly still carrying the guilt of SQQ saving him with that hand! Following on immediately, what he did was 1) punch SQQ, then 2) says "An eye for an eye. Since Shizun sowed the seeds, he should reap the bitter fruit himself. Shizun should personally make up for himself" and 3) straight up fed SQQ his demonic blood.

White Lotus LBH never died. Both actions are for the benefit of SQQ, 1) I think he did this to get SQQ to cough up coagulated blood after SQQ was poisoned by that Jin Lan City sower and 3) LBH's quick return from Endless Abyss was so that he can feed Shizun his heavenly-blood to help cure him. I have reason to believe that LBH's demonic blood is the CURE to WITHOUT A CURE. Why else pay such specific attention to SQQ's hand out of literally any other body-part after a 3 year reunion?

But what I find most fascinating is 2) LBH’s words are nearly always laced with double meaning. “An eye for an eye” here isn’t necessarily just him blaming SQQ for kicking him and unlocking his demonic heritage but he wants to repay SQQ for taking on Without a Cure back then by giving him his demonic blood as a cure now. Another interpretation is that LBH deflected feeling the guilt of indirectly harming SQQ by verbally jabbing him. He tried to make SQQ feel guilty about tossing him into the Endless Abyss when he himself couldn't bare to think that his Shizun got hurt again on the same hand that saved him all those years ago. SQQ of course is an unreliable narrator and tricks us into thinking that LBH's actions matched his words when if we look closer, they're LITERALLY THE EXACT OPPOSITE.

Right after the reunion, SQQ "didn’t know how he made it back to the Jin Zi Weapons Shop," which has me believing that LBH must have been doing something to surpress SQQ's Without a Cure's effects with his demonic blood.

During the Water Prison arc, LBH seems like he is tormenting SQQ by demonic blood manipulation but if we really read carefully:

…strange sensation of something crawling inside his blood vessels....Luo Binghe said leisurely, “Spleen, kidneys, heart, lungs.” Though it wasn’t to the point of extraordinary anguish, it was still awful to suffer through.

Doesn't this sound like LBH trying to get the blood in SQQ flowing again to prevent coagulation after SQQ had been in presumably a seated position for a long time jailed in the Water prison? Once again, LBH's intentions behind his actions are the opposite of his words, he may be emotionally hurt by SQQ's silent response to him asking whether Shizun regrets kicking him down the Endless Abyss but his first and foremost concern is SQQ's health. This totally explains LBH's extremely low anger points! SQQ seemingly mistook LBH’s worry as anger! If SQQ asked the System for LBH's worrywart points, it would have been like ~the limit does not exist~. ��🤯🤯

Bruh, it’s so telling when Gongyi Xiao went to untie SQQ's immortal binding cables two days later when SQQ noted:

His spiritual energy was unmistakably back in operation and flowing smoothly. When he’d been imprisoned, he had been in the middle of a random Without a Cure flare-up, but after two days of being tied up by the immortal-binding cables, the poison had unexpectedly been suppressed again. Was this following the same principle as fighting fire with fire, or how two negatives make a positive?

No SQQ you oblivious gay, LBH was circulating your coagulating blood for you and suppressing the effects of your poison! We as readers can get so misled by SQQ constantly worrying about how Without a Cure randomly stops his spiritual powers that we forget about the actual main issue, blood stagnation and coagulation, which can absolutely kill him. Also, when SQQ escaped the Water Prison, LBH didn't try to manipulate the blood in SQQ's body because now he didn't need to, he’s done it already. He never wanted to do more than what was necessary for Shizun’s health. LBH tried to convince SQQ to come back when he could have used his powers. SQQ always had agency because LBH loves and respects him too much.

The next time SQQ got poisoned was by that sower who hid amongst the Huang Hua Palace disciples in Hua Yue city right before his self-detonation. He couldn't attack the sower with fire but then complained that it must have been Without a Cure that flared up again. Somehow, silly SQQ kept randomly getting himself poisoned so doesn’t it make sense that LBH keeps track of his Shizun so that his own demonic blood could notify him of any potential future SQQ demonic poisonings?

Bruh, the worrywart White-Lotus LBH never fucking died, SQQ ah SQQ you silly silly man. LBH has always been, even if he says hateful words, worried about you and your health and made it his top priority. What made LBH lose his mind though were

everytime LBH tries to save SQQ, SQQ thinks that he is using his demonic blood/demonic poison to do all these unfathomable things when using demonic poison is literally the last thing LBH would do because he has literal guilt trauma around it.

SQQ keeps calling LQG, GYX and literally anyone else to save him when LBH has been the one doing all the work.

Then we arrive at Xing Mo’s recoil exacerbating LBH’s insecurities.

“Shizun, look at what I’ve become. Am I strong enough? Do you know how I spent those years within the Endless Abyss? For three years underground, at all times and all moments, my mind thought only of Shizun. I wondered why Shizun would do this to me, why he refused to give me even a single chance to explain or plead my case.”

He did so much for Shizun’s health but never got a chance to explain why! And then when SQQ self-detonated, LBH thought:

Didn’t Shizun hate his blood more than anything? Wasn’t he unwilling to even be near him, to associate with him at all? So why, at the last moment, had he so gently helped to contain Luo Binghe’s mind, as tender as he had been in those years long past?

The blood here doesn't just have racist but literal connotations, LBH literally thought that SQQ hated the very demonic blood coursing through his veins, so that's why he kept forcing SQQ to drink it. LBH's every action, with me now looking back at all this evidence, is SO fricking justified. From his POV, isn't it more like SQQ is the constantly sick child throwing a tantrum about not wanting to drink bitter medicine? LBH, After all this effort of forcing himself to go through literal hell, training himself, chasing SQQ, imprisoning SQQ (LBH is giving Lan Wangji energy here) so that his Shizun can stop accidentally poisoning himself, SQQ somehow got put in harms way again but on top of that, died because of him. SQQ died whilst also restoring and reaffirming himself as the Shizun who had once been so good to him. 😭😭😭

All this absolute adds so much more weight as to why LBH was never ever going to let SQQ out of his sight ever again, as a corpse or alive, from that moment onwards.

[al3zthecat-blog]

I've seen takes about Shang Quinghua pressing the Return Home button (either on purpose or by accident) and I've also read takes where the System for some reason (a glitch or a new mission) sends both SY and SQH to the modern world. And they are great BUT.....

What if SQH pressed the Return Home option (I'm thinking on purpose, but you do you) and the System sent both back home.

Let's say that the System didn't give SY that option because he isn't user number 1 and it was up to user number 1 to make this choice. Only, because the System is such an asshole it conveniently disregarded to tell either SY or SQH this.

So SQH not knowing his choice would also affect SY (otherwise he would definitely use this to get SQQ to do as he says, like getting LBH to give him the best food 😂) decides that he will take his chances on the real world. I'm thinking that he does this in part because the System actually answered when he would wake up and told him that in the real world no time has happened or that he would go back before he spilled his ramen and electrocuted himself. The other part could be that he just panicked upon seeing LGY. Or maybe he never saw LGY and was able to explore and sightsee some of the wonders of the world he wrote about and decided that this was as good as it would get here, whereas now that he lived in a cultivation setting he had so much fucking material. He could even write the danmei version of PIDW thanks to Cucumber bro!

So he activates the return home function and proceeds to write SVSSS, only he changes the name of Peerless Cucumber to another dick joke to avoid getting sued, you know, just in case.

For his part SQQ/SY hears the System saying "Activating Return Home sequence in 3, 2, 1" and he proceeds to freak out, except of course he doesn't have time to properly freak out and/or say anything before everything goes black.

SY wakes up in the hospital, his sister found him passed out and proceed to call 110/120*. Because this is SY and he no longer can hear the System he proceeds to go in denial/repression. "Ah... It was all a dream of course" (and to be fair, this would be more of a normal reaction than how he immediately accepted he had transmigrated 😂).

Until some weeks/months/days!? (Knowing Airplane it was probably days) later, Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky starts publishing an spin off/AU of PIDW named SVSSS.

Meanwhile back on SVSSS world either (and because I love SJ and he deserves a happy ending and because YQY also deserves a happy ending and I want these two to reconcile 😭 and what are fanfics for if not to write happy endings for everyone!?!):

SQQ'S body goes into a Qi deviation and SJ wakes up (resuscitates? I'm thinking the System grabbed his soul while he was deviating and put it into storage so SY's soul could occupy the body). Obviously SJ proceeds to FREAK OUT and runs away to CQM sect.

SQQ'S body just stops working. One moment he is breathing and the next he is dead. Somewhere out there SJ wakes up in a plant body (at some point SQH tried to bring back his favorite scum villain and gifted YQY a mushroom plant body with some precise instructions to care for it without telling YQY exactly what the plant was, because he believed if someone could bring back SJ it would be his soulmate YQY, but in case he was wrong better not tell YQY why or what the plant he gifted him was for)

SQQ'S body basically becomes brain dead. Technically alive, but since there is no soul inside the body it is as good as dead (SJ comes back with a healthy plant body and reconciles with YQY in CQM)

In any of these scenarios LBH will freak out, obviously, but in the case of scenario 1 he would have no reason but to think that this like the first time SQQ lost his memories, only now he recuperated many of them and lost the ones that involve LBH. So I guess the best option for a BingYuan reunion would be to go for 2 or 3 because LBH would be looking for SQQ|SY soul not SQQ|SJ (who is alive and safe in CQM sect) but I don't really care for this pairing soooo 🤷🏻‍♀️

Upon crawling out of the earth, SJ encounters YQY who immediately knows that this is Xiao Jiu, he would have the confirmation of what he already knew, that the other SQQ was not SJ. He still has no explanation to what happened or how SQH was able to return SJ to him, but he is glad and thankful to SQH.

SQH who has disappeared. Literally, his body did a Thanos snap and became dust or simply glitched out. Because SQH was never from this world. He was born in this world and given the role of SQH but his body is technically not the one of the original but supplanted it. Similar to a changeling only it was the System and he did this from the womb.

I don't know how it would go from here, kind of a dealers choice, if you want Moshang and BingYuan(?) HEA or if CumPlane HEA in the modern world. Or happy ending for Airplane who now can dedicate time to write whatever he wants because he already has SVSSS written thanks to the System and while that sells he can concentrate in writing other things.

[10thmusemoon]

WIP Wednesday

Leading the poll was If you can't keep your own soulmate, stolen is fine.

In this fic, it's a completely normal peak lord meeting that is interrupted by a hole in reality ripping open and spitting out a limbless Shen Qingqiu(SJ). The SQQ of this world immediately goes to kill the doppelgänger only to be stopped by MQF and YQY who insist on healing the man and interrogating him for information.

When he wakes, SJ conducts his own intense interrogation to see if this is truly CQMS, the whole while his eyes keep shifting back to YQY. Both parties end up confirming that everyone is who they say they are and now suddenly there are two SQQ's on CQMS. And aside from the missing limbs, the other SQQ is notable for insisting that he's Yue-furen in his world.*

So now YQY has to deal with two SQQ's that want to kill each other, one of which is shameless about being all over him in public but rather shy in his affections in private, and the other that is suddenly on the verge of a qi deviation at all times.

SQQ of this world is drowning in vinegar and also plotting murder every time he hears the imposter call out for "Qi-ge." The metaphorical bricks are ready in his purse and he will not hesitate to attack a man that cannot defend himself for trying to take something that doesn't belong to him.

YQY gets to spoil and care for a XJ that wants him around, that miraculously shares their past and looks at him like he means something.

(*he was never yue-furen, pidw yqy still died, but he saw an opportunity to finally have what was always his and took it)

[rainbowpui]

"SJ abused many talented disciples"

But it wasn't mentioned anywhere other than SY's chapters and I dont trust SY's pov on SJ especially not when he thought that SJ SA-ed NYY,SJ was in love with QHT, killed LQG and helped LBH to kill YQY.

LITERALLY SY is an unreliable narrator. he THINKS he knows everything about PIDW but most of what he thought at the beginning of the novel gets disproved. its... literally an important plot point that SY makes problems for himself bc hes too hung up on what he THINKS he knows about the characters. But like..... 99% of this is shown to be wrong....

in fact... realizing that almost everything he thought about sj is wrong.... is part of what makes him realize that what he has been thinking about LBH has been wrong too. why would we have to take his word from the START OF THE NOVEL about that when he discover he was wrong about everything else?

when sy wakes up all of sj's disciples were crowded around him worried and wanting for their shizun to wake up (except lbh). that.. doesnt exactly make me feel like they all hate him.

sy claims that sj was a lecher who lusted after his students..... but when we actually see sj's pov it turns out he isnt going to the brothels for sex but because thats the only place he can feel comfortable away from men bc of his trauma. we know its canon that he cares for nyy bc sy literally uses sj's care for her as a way to get around ooc and help lbh, but theres literally nothing to imply his affection is sexual in nature. sj saves qht and drags her away from the fire bc he feels indebted to her for being his only escape from the abuse by the other members of her household, not bc hes in love with her. even when saving her puts him in danger bc thats a loose end that can and does come back to bite him. tbh i cant say its canon that hes gay.... but he certainly doesnt seem to show any interest in women and gives "all of his loyalty" to another man and waits for him like a maiden waiting for her lover to return lol

we learn in the sqh extras that not only did sj not kill lqg in the caves but he tried to save him and just failed that time. we literally SEE sj save lqg on the mission with sqh and then get embarrassed and not even ask for credit for it.

sy blames sj for "killing yqy" but when we see the 79 extras.... he literally tries to push him away and tells him to leave when hes captured so that yqy stays safe and literally mentions that when he was FORCED BY LBH to write the letter he tried to make it obvious that its a trap. why is sj being blamed for lbh killing yqy just to hurt him???? sy CLAIMS to know everything about PIDW but literally the point mxtx is making by showing that sy is wrong about everything about sj.... is that maybe he doesnt know as much as he thinks... he thinks that lbh was the cause of the jinlani city plague as well and THAT is wrong too. (it was actually..... sy's fault. for releasing zzl.. OOPS.)

I dont care if he THOUGHT sj was like that at the start of the novel. hes not actually a reliable source!! esp at the start sj definitely DID abuse lbh. i dont think most sj stans will deny that or pretend that what he did was right. but.... we dont actually see him treat any other disciples poorly. if anything sy is the one making everyone else run laps and teaching them nothing to the point that sqh mentions that the disciples turn from "scholars" into "adhd children".... sy HIMSELF admits that its a good thing sj taught his students enough that they can basically run the sect on their own so that he can be lazy and do nothing and delegate to everyone else. i imagine that he might have been a bit strict as a teacher to the other students but thats not the same as abusing all of them. its literally just lbh he had an issue with

sometimes i feel like ppl didnt even read the same book when they take everything sy says at face value. hes a flawed character who is forced to rethink all the things he thought about BOTH sj AND lbh after witnessing sj's backstory makes him realize..... he cant actually assume he knows everything about these characters just bc he read PIDW. SQH himself admits that the sv universe is based on his rough draft, NOT on the dumbed down version that he was forced to write for the $$$ that sy ended up reading

somehow ppl can admit that sy was wrong about other characters but not about sj even when we see him proven wrong on screen??? its really strange... sj did SOME things wrong but not 99% of the shit ppl accuse him of

[fun-mxtx-polls]

Mingguang vs. Xuan Su

Mingguang propaganda:

Let's make some noise for Mingguang!

This sword is SO gay. It's named after the shipname of its wielder and his "best friend" because they were so close. When said wielder was betrayed by his king, he broke Mingguang rather than his principles, and ascended to godhod. Mingguang is understandably salty about this even about 800 years later, and has joined up with the jealous vengeful spirit of that former best friend to take its wielder down. Power move or what? (@thecrimsonrainthatseekstheflower)

Xuan Su propaganda:

Xuan Su means "Dark and solemn". Yue Qingyuan's sword, vitality important to his backstory. Its so strong that few cultivators can even stand when he pulls it out, even by a sliver. It drain's yqy's lifeforce in exchange for incredible amounts of power! It wasn't even drawn fully during the sealing of Tianlang-jun, and was instrumental to his defeat. Even pidw Bingge couldn't defeat him one-on-one!

i haven't been able to get 'Xuan Su is YQY's erectile dysfunction' out of my head for multiple days and I have one thing to say about it: it's SO funny, please let Xuan Su win so that this extremely powerful, OP, life ending sword can instead be known as YQY's limp dick. (submitted by @valiantbarnes)

Xuan Su is quite possibly the strongest sword on this list. It is so powerful that when Yue Qingyuan first got it, he was forced (via many broken bones) into secluded meditation in a cave for YEARS to prevent a deadly qi deviation, preventing him from saving Shen Jiu, destroying their relationship. And even once YQY grew to be the most powerful cultivator in the world (Bingge couldn't even kill him without an ambush) he still couldn't draw it without it sapping years off of his life every time. YQY had to carry two swords for his entire life because his first sword could and would kill him if given the chance.

Also, in PIDW, after Bingge killed YQY and Xuan Su shattered, Bingge used the shards to taunt Shen Qingqiu and SQQ swallows the shards to kill himself. Imagine swallowing the shards of a sword that belonged to your beloved childhood friend turned kind-of boss who missed you so much even when you were right there and for whom you feel so much bitterness and longing and yet cared for so much that news of his death is the only thing that could have broken you, even after years of horrific torture. The drama of that alone should win it some points, I think. (submitted by @slythavakna)

[lizhly-writes]

so ANYWAY, i say to you all without giving you any context at all, how many times do you think yue qingyuan can drop the ball on a date he's not very interested in but has to be on because his master told him so before he goes "ah. hmm. maybe i should do a better job of this before i get in trouble."

i was very much using "he's a shitty date" as a gag in that fic i wasn't planning on writing, but actually I think he would absolutely get in trouble for being a shitty date to his fiance. if i was his master, then he sure would be in trouble. like even if i was a shitty guy who didn't super care about the feelings of my student's fiance, i think i would still have to go "hey so i know you're in love with this other guy but you should at least have the courtesy to not chase him when you're on a date. chase him during your off time! date time is work time! do you know how bad it looks to your fiance's master that you keep doing this."

the whole engagement thing isn't out of love. it's to compliment each other's strengths. it's like a good working relationship sort of thing. love would ideally be there but we're in fantasy china who gives a shit. play around in whorehouses if you want. take a concubine for all i care. chase after that qing jing disciple if you really want to, good luck.

but by god, yue qingyuan, you're not supposed to blow up your working relationship. if your fiance ends up hating you do you know how bad this is. and your fiance is the supply guy, do you know how bad that can get if he decides to lose all your paperwork because he got offended?

in any case, yue qingyuan isn't trying to be a shitty date, he just gets distracted by sqq a lot. if sqq isn't there, he does fine! he's perfectly professional and polite and pleasant, like a head disciple of qiong ding SHOULD be.

which is the reason why i think i'm playing the shitty date thing a bit too hard? first of all, sqq shouldn't actually be there all the time. sqq has his own problems and his own shitty dates to deal with, he can't always crash yqy's dates. second of all, even if sqq was there all the time... surely yqy has at least some control NOT to go running off after him ALL the time?

so i'll say maybe... maybe yqy's first date IS a shitty date, but like he SHOULD be better after that. i would say there are a couple more shitty dates sprinkled in where he's distracted by sqq, but they should be spaced pretty far apart and not super seem like a constant thing?

it's just that, you know, it's sqh that's the other half of this shitty date and 1) he is uniquely positioned (being the creator god that he is) to see how and why yqy is pining after another guy and 2) he's kind of biased?? yqy made a bad impression on date 1 by running off after sqq! of course he's predisposed to thinking yqy is just a shitty date in general. like sure, maybe yqy didn't run after sqq THIS time, but that's because sqq isn't there. and even when sqq is there and yqy doesn't run after him, you can read how he wants to in his eyes.

so i guess that's how you get sqh thinking yqy is a shitty date without yqy being so egregious about how he's distracted by another man that yqy gets in trouble for it.

granted i think by now yqy also does have a reputation for trying to be super nice to sqq for no reason and some people have absolutely gone "CLEARLY HE'S IN LOVE WITH A MAN THAT ISN'T HIS FIANCE" but while sqh himself is exasperated by it, it isn't so popular a rumor that the peak lord of qiong ding would sit yqy down and say "hey, tell me honest, are you trying to piss off the supply guy. because rumors that you think your fiance is pathetic and inadequate and are desperately infatuated with some other man would absolutely piss off the supply guy."

[goamu-blog]

The most hated ship in the svsss fandom is that between Shen Jiu and Luo Binghe, otherwise known as BingJiu or B9. BingJiu is my most favorite ship and the one that makes sense to me, my otp. And I will tell why. I ship SJ with LBH (and its unusual for me to only ship two characters with each other and no one else, guess thats how strongly I feel about them) because to me, they are best suited for each other.

First off, don't think SJ ever actually hated LBH or wanted him dead. It was always described as envy. We know SJ has deep self-hatred and carried his resentment for all his pain throughout his life and that SJ and LBH had similar backgrounds. But LBH had a mother and was at a good age to start cultivating. LBH had a similar past as SJ, but he had an opportunity to get everything SJ wanted. While SJ opportunity was wasted.

LBH reminded SJ of his past and his wasted opportunity. LBH was like looking into a mirror to SJ, and with SJ self hatred and resentment, he lashed out on LBH. It wasn't LBH that SJ hated but the reminder of his past and wasted potential. Don't think SJ really blamed LBH for how things turned out for SJ.

SJ is self-aware of how he treated LBH. He never deny, justify it or make excuses. He owns up to his actions and accepts the consequences. SJ knows that it's his fault things turned out the way that it did. Even the death of YQY is an extension of his(SJ) actions.

LBH turned out the way he did because of SJ, and SJ knows it and accepts the consequences. So I don't think SJ blamed LBH for everything that happened. It haunts me that SQH said the story was basicly reverted back to his original draft, with SJ and LBH getting a happy ending together.

Its so tragic because SJ just wanted to matter to one person and have them be by his side, and LBH was so ready to be that person, but by the time they met it was too late. SJ was too bitter and resentful, and LBH wasn't in a position to prove to SJ that he could be that person.

LBH would do whatever it takes to genuinely be with SJ, LBH wants a genuine relationship with SJ. And giving the chance, they could work out. Because again, SJ is self-aware to know that he is at fault for how things turned out, and he is likely exhausted and would want everything to stop.

SJ would be very suspicious at first, but given time and proper development, they could have a chance at happiness together. They are in a wrong place, wrong time, right person situation. If SJ was less resentful and let LBH in, they could have filled each other's voids like no one else.

If SJ and LBH were given a proper chance for healing, understanding, and reconciliation, they could have a wonderful relationship. Doubt SJ/LBH liked how theirs lives turned out, so if there is a chance to change it, they would take it.

Why I think they would be best suited for each other out of anyone else. They would have an understanding because of their similar past. They know how it feels to be unwanted and alone. Their innate personalities are inherently compatible and are the best match for each other.

Their morality are similar. LBH would be fine with all of SJ sides, both the good and the more conniving sides, and SJ would be fine with LBH darker sides. Having similar morality, they could understand and accept each other wholly, and not just tolerate but disapprove of same of their personality traits.

Their loyalty is also similar, in that when they think a person is worth their loyalty, they will go through great lengths for them. They also remember every good and bad deed done to them and repay it.

In a relationship, they could be frank and honest with each other if one of them reaches out. They can be playful with SJ sarcasm and LBH not backing down from a challenge. SJ would also not back down from LBH and match him. SJ needs someone who would never let him go and constantly show him that he is wanted and cared for, LBH is perfect for that.

SJ would also need a challenging person to match him and stand up to him. LBH needs someone who can match his devotion and be frank and honest with him, SJ is perfect for that.

They would have a very reciprocating and well-balanced relationship. Feels like if they work on and get comfortable in a relationship with each other, they would be able to honestly (sometimes brutally honest) and openly talk. Because neither of them are one to hold back opinions/feelings. They could have a very fun, passionate, devoted, and reciprocating relationship together.

They would both take initiative in that relationship. They can work and be serious when needed and be fine with more devious actions. They can also be casual, playful, and challenge each other together.

Shen Jiu and Luo Binghe just need to be given a proper chance to heal, reconcile, and understand each other. It would be very difficult and requires a lot of effort from them both, but that makes BingJiu so compelling. That despite everything, if they have a chance, they could overcome their past, have a better life, and find happiness with each other.

If BingJiu is given the chance they could have a beautiful relationship.

And if you want to read a fic that encapsulates what I talked about, read

How to Train Your Shen Qingqiu by tenmei_kj on ao3

https://archiveofourown.org/works/17724134/chapters/41814650

It feels like a continuation of the books and the closest thing to closure for Shen Jiu and Luo Binghe. It gives them everything they deserve.

[stardust-falling]

Hello.... Can I ask your top 5 (or top 3) favorite characters from SVSSS? And why you loved them? And your top 5 favorite moments from the series? Thanks if you want to answer....

Top 5 favorite characters:

1 - Shen Jiu 2/3 - Yue Qingyuan, Shen Yuan 4/5 - Luo Binghe, Gongyi Xiao

Honestly, it's super hard to decide my favorites, hence the 2/3, 4/5 here lmao. Depending on the meaning of "like" I really don't dislike any SV characters (obviously OPM, QJL, WYZ can go get fucked if we're talking about emotional affection/blorbofication, but I do still enjoy them in a meta sense for their roles in the story). But because SJ is both my favorite in terms of "I feel affection for this character and he is my little scrungly blorbo" as well as "I want to study him under a microscope like a bug" he gets the top spot easily.

Top five favorite moments is pretty hard too, since things are my favorite for different reasons... So I'll pick my favorite scenes for analysis, not necessarily for emotional reaction or attachment, in no particular order. Going under a cut because I rambled, as usual:

I really, really like the entire Holy Mausoleum arc, but I specifically like the part where SQQ and LBH are confronted by OPM and QHT. I feel like it's here that we can really see beneath the unreliable narrator and actually see that SQQ truly does love LBH back. Holy Mausoleum in general just says a lot about Bingqiu without saying it directly, and I do encourage everyone who thinks that SQQ doesn't actually love LBH back please reread that part while looking for it because damn, SQQ's narration tries to hide how much he actually cares for this boy.

Qijiu extras, the scene in the Lingxi caves. Between SJ's paranoid and irrational internal monologue that shows that despite everything, he really doesn't actually see himself as he is or as a legitimate peak lord, Yue Qingyuan's appearance at a critical moment to keep SJ from spiralling past the point of no return (contrasting this to his inability to return to Qiu Manor in time), the fact that even though they are not on good terms, YQY is still able to calm SJ down from qi deviation, and that SJ tolerates both his presence and his touch, it shows a lot that despite his paranoia and his hurt, a part of Shen Jiu still trusts Yue Qingyuan. The fact that it's revealed that they're in the very cave that YQY was trapped in with Xuan Su is just the icing on the cake... the truth is laid out before them, just a step from being revealed, but still isn't... I just think this scene really is so important to show how 79's relationship stands on a deep level, both the trust that is still there as well as the barriers.

Skinner demon confrontation, after they're captured. The irony of the first mission being to take down a demon that's literally wearing someone else's identity as their own is great. There's also Luo Binghe's sexual awakening upon seeing SQQ shirtless, which is honestly quite funny to me as an ace person. But my favorite thing, I think, is the way that SQQ sets up Die'er's defeat by using LBH as bait which, while it is successful due to the genre's conventions, also makes Luo Binghe's trust waver... it sort of sets the tone for the entire emotional conflict of the novel. Despite SQQ knowing that LBH will be fine, since it has all been decreed by plot, he underestimates how much it will hurt him-- and he's thinking about hurting LBH in terms of how it will affect SQQ himself later on, rather than LBH's own pain. Then, afterwards, SQQ leaves LBH behind to go into seclusion, he gives LBH the new manual but doesn't move him out of the woodshed, and there's no indication that Ming Fan's bullying stopped during that time either. When SQQ returns, he ends up sacrificing himself and taking the poisoned hit for LBH... in a way this all just parallels the actual plot of the novel in short-form and I think that's very, very neat.

The water prison arc-- everything from LBH's visit where he stops LPM from attacking SQQ, where SQQ refuses to answer LBH's question because of his inaccurate perception of the situation, LBH's volatile emotions in this sequence, Gongyi Xiao's assumptions that LBH had assaulted SQQ and SQQ's complete obliviousness to that possibility, plus just GYX being the best boy ever tbh, he doesn't deserve to live in this messed up book and certainly doesn't deserve to die. This sequence has so much about how inaccurate perceptions of situations can lead to wildly off-base interpretations and how a lack of proper communication can escalate a conflict where it really didn't need to escalate. The "perceptions and interpretations vs. reality" idea is another major theme in SV, and this sequence really showcases a lot of that in a clear way.

Maigu Ridge. This one's controversial. A lot of people have a lot of opinions about it and let me just make a disclaimer that I'm not including this one because I enjoyed reading it on an emotional level. Maigu Ridge is FUCKED UP!! It's a massively fucked up situation for all parties! It's uncomfortable, and definitely something that warrants a trigger warning before reading the book-- and yet, it's so interesting to analyze from a hypothetical standpoint because the situation is just so, so messy in terms of who gives consent and who doesn't-- and does anyone really have the option to consent here, since both parties are under the complete control of the narrative-- in terms of who hurts who, etc. There are a lot of little details to debate, and of course there's the instant, knee-jerk surface reaction that people get, which I can totally understand especially if you didn't go in expecting this sort of scene and ended up getting triggered by it, but once you start to peel back the layers you can actually find that this scene is way more complicated than 'one party as the aggressor/one party as the victim.' It's a deconstruction and subversion of tropes, but also a really interesting place to analyze themes of consent as a whole, and the effects on the individuals involved. For this, honestly, people just need to remember that these are fictional characters. It's not saying anything about IRL survivors, and I'm a major proponent of considering massively fucked up situations through a fictional lens in order to understand the shades of gray that may exist in similar but less-extreme situations in real life, without the possibility of your deliberations causing harm to any party since in the fictional scenario, since none of the characters are real (I can't even begin to tell you how much of my own trauma I've processed based on extreme fictional scenarios). But on the flip side, if the scene upsets you or triggers you, it's perfectly valid to dislike it! It's also perfectly valid for you to dislike the Bingqiu relationship because of it! It's not for everyone and I completely get that, but also, keep in mind that people analyzing the scene in different ways doesn't have anything to do with how they'd react to real-life situations. It's all about what works best for each person.

Anyway that last one got really long, just because I've seen so much knee-jerk reaction in fandom with it and tbh, I feel like I have to cover my bases these days.

A lot of people say that SVSSS is less well-written than MXTX's other books, and while it does have issues, I wouldn't say that the book isn't well-written. I have no idea how much of what I talked about in those scenes above is deliberately intentional storytelling and how much just sort of happened, but those are just some of the reasons that I really do think it's actually a very good book, genuinely, and not the only scenes at that, I just limited to five here.

I hope you enjoyed reading all my ramblings-- SVSSS brainrot is real and the hyperfixation is going strong haha.

[rarepears]

It's the astronomy anon! Hc that whenever anyone in the Shen-Shang family (because I didn't know until my last ask that I love "SQH is Shen Jiu's little brother, Shen Jiu is viciously overprotective and SQH is oblivious" but I'll die on that hill) gets lost/in trouble/both (Prince Shen Yuan cannot for the life of him stop tripping over wife plots and his parents are giving serious consideration to keeping him on house arrest in the palace for his safety, and probably would have already were it not for Shang Qinghua's great efforts to convince them this is a bad idea (hence SQH being Shen Yuan's favorite uncle)) all they have to do is follow the Shizun Star. Somehow doing so always gets them back home safely. Shen Jiu is GOING to die mad about how often they use this feature. Later. Right now he's trying to badger SQH into assassinating the little beast for falling in love with his son (when the fuck did a-Yuan even meet him????? AND WHY WASN'T HE INFORMED???). His husband keeps trying to convince him to "give their son's suitor a chance" but Shen Jiu is holding out against the betrayals coming from all sides.

Luo Binghe the demon emperor's response is to kidnap Ming Fan and Ning Yingying (which isn't hard because all he has to say is 'I found shizun' and they're clinging to him and demanding to be taken to him at once) and drop them in Shen Jiu's lap. Shen Yuan gains two new friends, one new boyfriend the queen very reluctantly approves of, and a front row seat to Liu Qingge showing up out of NOWHERE because he came back from his monster hunt and Shen Jiu had been married off to foreign royalty and had apparently taken Shang Qinghua with him???? And he wanted to know what the hell was going on. And now he's not leaving because Shang Qinghua got him addicted to coffee.

This is all chaotic enough, what with interdimensional courtships and shit, BEFORE the Old Palace Master shows up to try and fuck up the LBH/SY wedding planning by trying to put SJ on trial even though it'll start a war. He has no success at all (ie LBH stabs him about it, hands Huan Hua to Gongyi Xiao and Zhuzhi-lang who got married last summer, and that's that), and everything would be fine except for three things.

One: Shen Jiu has abruptly been reintroduced to his past and also the Peak Lords.

Two: Mobei-jun took the opportunity to kidnap Shang Qinghua, who was finally not in a desert and therefore accessible. He views this as stealing his human back. Shang Qinghua is having lots of emotions and all of them are fear. Shen Jiu is PISSED.

Three: Shen Jiu's husband somehow found out about YQY's whole thing with Xuan Su and is planning to consult his brother in law on ways to kidnap the man for his own good. He doesn't even particularly care if he gets a threesome out of this or just another sibling for his queen, but he's kind of started a collection of "husband's former coworkers who need therapy" and Liu Qingge keeps sulking about none of the relocated cultivators sparring with him so they might as well grab the Sect Leader while they're in town once they resolve this whole "ice king trying to steal my brother in law" thing.

End result: they all make it back home, Mobei-jun somehow gets Shen Jiu's permission to try courting Qinghua properly by human standards, Yue Qingyuan and Liu Qingge get some therapy, Ning Yingying and Ming Fan take them shopping for new clothes, and Shen Jiu's court is full of eye candy.

Hm, does Luo Binghe also know that there's a star that will pretty much always show where Shen Yuan is (because Shen Yuan is following the shizun star to get back home)? Imagine all the terrible words Shen Jiu will spat out when he learns that Luo Binghe also knows of that trick. So much for the Shizun star being the GPS/Shen Yuan tracker God.

Ming Fan and Ning Yingying most certainly know where Shen Qingqiu is - everyone knows where the Arabian country is located. Nah, the real issue is traveling there. Getting past the border safely, making it into the imperial court, and not getting caught during the months-long journey...

So when Luo Binghe shows up with some teleportation sword saying "get in loser, we're going to visit shizun", they immediately sign up for the field trip without doing more than rub two braincells together.

Damn, you're implying that Liu Qingge has been gone for many years - decades even - on some monster hunt if he's missed the whole hubbub of Shen Jiu getting whisked away for marriage, Luo Binghe becoming demon emperor, and Shen Yuan being born and growing old enough to get romanced. What did Liu Qingge even do - get such in some pocket dimension??? Got stuck in some "running away with the ball" plot with a demon looking to court him??? Tried faking his death so that his grandma would stop trying to set him up on blind dates???

Man, imagine the hell that Mobei Jun, an ice demon, is going through if he dares venture into the dessert. No wonder Shag Qinghua loves hanging out with his bro! Safe from any surprise visits from the Ice King - and thus this really is the perfect vacation spot where he can't be informed of this and that new disaster sparking up!

But also, imagine if Mobei Jun doesn't dare travel in desert landscape because the real reason he overheats is the fact that Shang Qinghua is just flaunting around in Such SHeer RoBes?!?!?! ALL THAT SKIN BEING SHOWN?!

Let's be real: Shen Jiu's hubby is a pragmatist. He's no saint who's going to have zero braincells if Shen Jiu flutters his eyelashes at him. (Plus Shen Jiu wouldn't like him so much if he were such a person.) He's more than happy to kidnap Yue Qingyuan, a prominent sect leader, for the political advantages it gives him in negotiating with China's imperial court (and the cultivation world). Many beneficial trade deals are negotiated in return for his "hostage" AKA a Yue Qingyuan who's happily sunbathing and being fed dates next to Empress Shen Qingqiu.

[More in #Shen Jiu is forced into an arranged marriage to an Arabian Prince AU]

[a-mere-dream]

how about instead of returning to the sect after finding the qiu manor in ashes, yqy runs off to become a dilf, pushing back his reunion with sqq by a number of years?

"Remember, parent-teacher meetings are tomorrow," Shang Qinghua said.

"Thanks for telling me, Shang-shidi," Shen Qingqiu ground out. "I never would have remembered it on my own."

A blatant lie, and they both knew it. Shen Qingqiu had been looking forward to this once-yearly event with all the enthusiasm of a man send to die.

In his opinion, it was one of the most asinine, useless, irritating days of the year; parents who thought to tell him how to do his job as Peak Lord, or those who came all the way to Cang Qiong Sect and then spend not a second asking after their child, instead choosing to spend their time trying to make Connections.

But no, Shen Qingqiu couldn’t just run off, because the Sect Leader never felt bad about levering their power to keep him on Qing Jing. "The shipments of paints will unfortunately be delayed, but if you make nice with the parents of that-and-that kid, I'm sure I can do something to help you," pah.

This year he had picked up three new disciples too. Siblings, though they did not look it. A moment of weakness; there had been something in the way they had been standing, that reminded him off... No matter.

*  *  *

He had been able to keep himself from spending time with the parents for most of the day simply by instructing his eldest disciples to lead them around while he stood to the side, loftily waving his fan and emanating an aura of You are not worthy enough to talk to me.

This did, unfortunately, bring with it the fact he couldn’t take out a book or sketching pad lest someone take that as an opportunity to strike up conversation with him. And so he had spent the day watching the people around him.

Most of it was a familiar sight; dolled-up men and women swanning around, flaunting their wealth and ignoring their children. Their robes cost as much as the yearly budget for paper, and that was without even speaking of the various trinkets they decorated themselves with.

One man stood out; his robes were old but well taken care of, patched up with so much care the stitching was near invisible. He hadn’t been able to do much about the washed-out colours, though.

He was surrounded by the three new disciples, each clamouring for his attention, pulling him to and fro to show him the best places on Qing Jing. He ooh'ed and ah'ed at all the right moments, an indulgent smile on his sun-worn but surprisingly youthful face.

He was holding something at his side; something thin and long, wrapped up in rags to obscure it from the world.

The girl--Wen Ming--pulled at his free arm, and without needing any more words, the man swooped her up to sit on his shoulder. He didn’t struggle in the least, acting like she weighed nothing at all.

Shen Qingqiu's eyes were drawn to his biceps without his consent.

... Strong.

The moment he noticed what he was doing, he hurriedly averted his eyes.

It was that moment, when he was silently berating himself, that the man chose to come up to meet him. His voice was a warm, low thing; combine it with the faintly familiar (and outrageously handsome) face he had, Shen Qingqiu was ashamed to admit he barely heard a word he said in favour of listening to the comforting rumble.

A sentence ended in an upward turn of his voice, snapping Shen Qingqiu out of his haze. "Could you repeat that question?"

The man smiled. "I was telling Master Shen how glad I was that Xiao Ming, Yuan'er, and Xiao Wei seemed to be doing well. I was wondering if next year I could be allowed to bring their siblings up to meet them? They miss them dearly."

Shen Qingqiu blinked. "More children?" slipped out of his mouth before he could stop himself.

Luckily the man didn’t take offense. "Yes," he said, sounding immeasurably fond. "Six permanent siblings, and a dozen or so that only stop by every once in a while."

Did this man have an addiction, or what?

... Shen Qingqiu was tempted to agree, if only because it'd be really funny to see those men and women having to deal with what he was fairly sure was a bunch of former street children.

Enter a comedy of errors where Shen Qingqiu refuses to admit he wasn’t listening when Yue Qi introduced himself

They converse through letters, somehow still not learning of the other’s identity, and grow fond of each other

One drunken night, Shen Qingqiu writes a letter where he proposes the man marries him so Shen Qingqiu doesn’t have to deal with raising the children anymore, so he can just teach higher level skills

Yue Qi agrees

It is only halfway during the wedding preparations that they realise who the other is

The children had figured it out before the two even met each other for the first time, but thought they just didn’t like to talk about it

[symphonyofsilence]

Fanfics ideas, cause you love MXTX works. MDZS characters will be besties with who (in your opinions) if they were in other universe, with characters from TGCF & SVSSS ? Please pick at least 3 characters from each series. Hope my questions are not confusing.....

Nie Huaisang would have been a big fan of Liu Mingiyan and Liu Mingyian would have appreciated NHS's collection of... educational books so she could write more exciting and diverse Smuts. Shang Qinghua would have found his way in and NHS & he would definitely get along very well. Shi Qingxuan & NHS would get along like a house on fire. (Though SQX would not get a word of what was said among NHS, LMY, & SQH he would enjoy the vibes & be happy to be there) And WWX naturally would belong to this group and bring JC with him. I don't know, maybe SQX, much like how happy he was to find a Ming-Xiong, and mess with General Nanyang would have been happy to meet Jiang Cheng, whether Jiang-Xiong felt the same or not? Or maybe not? Like... he apparently hadn't tried to make friends with Fengqing so maybe he wouldn't try to make friends with JC either (even if he did I think it wouldn't have been an especially deep relationship between them. It would be more like NHS's and JC's) WWX, SQX, and SQH would drag in LWJ, HX, & Mobei-Jun with them. Those three would absolutely say nothing and make no friends. Mobei-Jun (despite WWX and SQX's many attempts) and LWJ (despite SQX's many attempts) would stare in a dead inside way and He Xuan would eat. (Shen Qingqiu would have loved to join them but Liu Mingiyan would turn strangely quiet against NHS's questions when SQQ was around, so...)

I'd love to see Xue Yang, Qi Rong, and Sha Hualing interact! I believe They would get along very well. I'd love to see them take care of Guzi together, too! (Guzi would end up taking care of them.)

(Then Sha Hualing and Xuan Ji would inevitably cross paths and have a nice girl in-bathroom talk wherein Sha Hualing would try to knock some sense into Xuan Ji and tell her to know your worth, girl and it would result in Xuan Ji going you know what?! Maybe you're right maybe I SHOULD let go. To which Sha Hualing would answer WHAT?! NO WAY! KICK HIS A$$!!)

One lotus root pork soup from Jiang Yanli would work wonders for Shen Jiu (who needs an older sister). And I think JYL, since she apparently likes to surround herself with tsunderes would be fond of him, too. Shen Jiu might have crossed paths with fellow street rat A-Qing. The hissing cats would bond and form the deepest, and strongest frenemy relationship and stick together. Then Shen Jiu would inevitably end up meeting Xiao Xingchen. This group would fix him. Before breaking him even worse because of the whole...you know,... Yi City Arc. Then he'd be adopted by Yushi Huang or Baoshan Senren. Maybe Yushi Huang could promote A-Qing to godhood. their combination with Pei Su, Ban Yue, and Pei Ming could have been interesting.

Teenage Mu Qing-gege would also probably know A-Qing, Shen Jiu, and Yue Qinguuan. and occasionally give them food and keep an eye on them. This combo-minus YQY- might have also occasionally bitched about others with each other. (So the god adopting Shen Jiu and promoting A-Qing to godhood could be MQ, too)

Jiang Yanli would flourish if she could join Yushi Huang and have a peaceful positive maternal figure who cherished her talents and calm demeanor. JYL, Ban Yue, and Pei Xu would have helped each other. she would also enjoy interacting with SQX, and Xie Lian. and SQX would like her very much. She might have also had a soft spot for Mu Qing and looked out for him and what he didn't say.

Wei Wuxian and Hua Cheng would get into passive-aggressive rivalry in talent, sass, fashion, batshit theories and ideals, and sass. they would greatly enjoy their rivalry though. Maybe through Hua Cheng, WWX would meet He Xuan, too, and enjoy annoying him. He might form a very forced, very one-sided friendship with He Xuan, Which after a while of WWX imposing himself on him, HX might or might not come to miss in WWX's absence.

Ling Wen and Jin Guangyao would have a pleasant talk over tea about how incompetent everyone else is and how they have to do everything around here. Then slowly, they'd be joined by Yin Yu, Zhuzhi-lang, and Shang Qinghua. And then This talk would then turn into a union.

Wen Qing and Mu Qing would meet each other while healing others and they'd start to be mean judgemental bitches together. They have kind hearts. They save everyone's lives, but they also shoot death glares at everyone & bitch about everyone while doing it.

Wen Qing might have also befriended Ling Wen. She might have been recruited by Qi Qinqi.

Lan Xichen, Yue Qingyuan, Yushi Huang, and Xie Lian could drink tea together and have a pleasant conversation without an actual word that would lead to any personal knowledge about them being exchanged. Though any two combinations of this group could have a vague and not very revealing but definitely insightful conversation with each other.

I know Liu Qingge, Jiang Cheng, and Mu Qing are a popular combo of hissing cats. But these 3 could stay together in one room for centuries and do not utter a word to each other or make any other attempt at human connection. Xie Lian though, a certified bitch- specialist might want to befriend Jiang Cheng, Shen Jiu, and Liu Qingge.

Literally anyone could befriend Shen Qingqiu (Shen Yuan, obviously) . Especially the cloud recesses trio, especially Jiang Cheng. Jin Zixuan would have benefitted greatly from befriending SQQ. (Or maybe not. Who knows.)

Xie Lian and Xiao Xingchen would have a very pleasant short chat. A-qing and Xue Yang would also love the other Daozhang. This would result in A-Qing wanting to protect the Daozhang from mean strangers and Xue Yang wanting to torment Daozhang as a sign of his gratitude for his exemplary manners towards Xue Yang. Luckily XL wouldn't stick around this long.

The Juniors would look up to Liu Qingge and would love to be his disciples. (Especially JL who feels life LQG kinda has a similar attitude to his Jiujiu and reminds him of his jiujiu) they would get into- hopefully- friendly rivalries with Shen Qingqiu's disciples, especially Ning Yingying and Ming Fan. In time those two would join the Junior group as well.

Jin Ling would follow Feng Xin around because AN ARCHERY GOD! And since the juniors stick together, so would the three others. And since Fengqing are always together, the two southern gods would acquire a band of ducklings.

Qi Qingqi would immediately recruit Mianmian. Pei Ming would try to hit on Qi Qingqi and immediately realize his mistake. They'd eventually befriend each other and Qi Qingqi would gain a place among The Three Tumors. That would lead to Qi Qingqi meeting Ban Yue and recruiting her, too.

After Ling Wen recruited Jin Guangyao as a god to help her do paperwork, JGY would find a solid place for himself in The Three Tumors, too.

(Mostly SVSSS/TGCF interactions:

Tianlang-Jun, with his interest in polyamorous dramas, would follow 3Zun dramas intensely. Pei Ming would get curious about what he's observing like a soap opera and join him in watching that trashfire. they'd have a great time eating popcorn and doing commentaries together, and then Tianlang-Jun would pull an uno-reverse on Pei Ming by giving him advice on how to court Yushi Huang.

Jian Lan has big maternal instincts, and Luo Binghe is above all, a baby. So Jian Lan would become LBH's new ghost mama and Shen Qingqiu would get along splendidly with his new ghost mother-in-law.)

[zykamiliah]

There's a line from a Mili song that I feel encapsulates a lot of QiJiu. It's "You were right, the ones who gravitate towards self-sacrifice are the most, are the most selfish ghosts" from Dancing Ghost's Ball Jointed Darling. I think that SJ and YQY both want the other to live, even if it's without them. The difference is that SJ will lie to himself about that because he'd much prefer to keep YQY with him then not. YQY on the other hand is so used to taking on the weight of other's that he doesn't really see himself as having a use if he's not stuck being a pillar for others. He knows SJ wouldn't be happy carrying the weight with him so he keeps taking on more and more of SJ's actions as his own guilt in a twisted way of protecting him. SJ want's them to be equals and YQY want's to be SJ's shield no matter what it costs himself. SJ doesn't have the emotional knowledge to be able to actually accurately describe his own feelings I think, he's in such a base sense of paranoia that he can't trust anything that YQY or anyone else does for him. Sorry for the ramble, I just feel like both the lack of communication between them and WWX & JC is more complicated then other's think and it's not a matter of morality. They are all really complicated characters and I feel like reducing them to villain and hero doesn't do the story any favors.

setting aside the differences between qijiu and wwc and jc's relationship, i agree with you on this.

i think a big takeaway from mxtx's novels is that most characters can't be defined by binaries (with some exceptions): they are people making choices. sometimes those choices hurt people, and that's what you learn first: the bad choices. then mxtx shows you were the characters come from, and you can sympathize with them, yet still there is a point where the characters, regardless of their backstory, consciously take a path of hurting others (and themselves, inevitably) that's what actually condemned them. but the thing is, you can point to any moment of that backstory and say "see, if this had been different, maybe they wouldn't made that choice". they're tragic characters because their circumstances were unfortunate, and those circumstances doomed them to make terrible choices; then, at the same time, those were their conscious choices. they had agency.

you can see all that play out in qijiu and their messy, complicated relationship. one can understand why they made those choices, even if we disagree with them. even the most selfless action can turn selfish and vice versa. you can love someone and hurt them. you can love someone and lash out at them because there's unhappiness and anger inside you. and the worldview of people with self-worth issues tends to twist to fit those believes.

i think you mention something that's actually really important and that neither side of qijiu have the emotional knowledge to express themselves in another way; i'd add that they never had a chance to learn how to do it, and specially sj, who had two major bad influences in his life that he ended up emulating, consciously or not. i'd also add that in the "dog eats dog" world that's pidw, sj, someone who grew up in the streets, must have the belief of "survival of the fitness", and because his experiences, appearing weak or letting others step over him (from his point of view) feels like a threat to him. he's paranoid about losing, because losing means his way of surviving is threatened. in that context, someone that puts themselves in danger to protect him or back him becomes precious. sj may be power-hungry, petty, jealous, mean, aggressive and vitriolic, but he is steadfastly loyal to the ONLY person that has shown to care for him selfless and unconditionally; and he'll be like that in return. but after what he perceives as a betrayal, his feelings for yqy are complicated. he resents him but loves him, thus he doesn't know where he stands and the only thing he's sure about is that yqy feels guilty and indebted and he'll push and push to see how much yqy is willing to take for this debt he has to him.

i also think that yqy should have been harder on sj irt what sj did as a peak lord. more that trying to coax him, he should have put he foot down about what sj did to lbh and not just passively and sadly allow it to happen, no matter that sj had the authority over qjp. because of his guilt and his love and his pity for sj, he allowed what he shouldn't. even out of love and pity bad choices are made. he had a better grasp on what's right or wrong and that something like abusing disciples would eventually bite sj in the ass (Karma), so it wasn't as he didn't know. and this type of relationship is something that happens in real life, particularly in parent-child relationships where the parent pities the child to the point that they let the child do whatever they want and just apologize in their stead. in the long run it ends up hurting the child more.

but even yqy choices i can understand, because i know where yqy comes from. and i think that's the point: just understanding the big spectrum of human experience that can be expressed through this characters, understanding the characters and seeing things from their point of view. if mxtx didn't want us to see that, she would have done like airplane and just chop off the backstories.

i ended up rambling too haha :3

[ponderings-of-a-half-elf]

I've been planning this one SVSSS fic in my head for months now, and I HAVE to get it out cause I'm probably never going to write it.

It's basically just the events leading up to SY's transmigration/ SQQ leaving his body. In my mind, SQQ dies there. It's a tragedy in that way. Following the greek tragedy format, it's the fact that SJ can't let go, his loyalty, that's his downfall. He still cares about YQY against his better judgement, and it kills him. He just wants closure, and YQY *just won't give it to him.* All of these issues just keep building up, and SJ's mental health just gets worse. He's incredibly paranoid, plus his horrible PTSD keep him from actually forming connections with anyone besides the brothel ladies. He never defends himself because if *YQY* doesn't believe him, he knows nobody else will, so he doesn't bother. His pride is the only thing he views as belonging to him, so why would he ever ask people to believe him if he knows they never will?

The worst part is, it's SJ's *martial siblings* that contribute the most. LQG inadvertently depriving SJ of sleep and making his paranoia even worse, since he never feels safe, not when he knows LQG could show up at any time, and in SJ's mind is more the hostile and strong enough to kill him if he wanted to. And people always take LQG's side too, like SJ is in the wrong for defending himself and his peak.

It's just. Ugh. So much angst. Unhappy ending.

[tcfactory]

THATS MEANT TO BE A GOOD ASK BTW. I REALISED AS I SENT IT THAT IT MIGHT COME OFF AS RUDE AND SORRY BUT I MEANT I LOVE THAT HIS CHARACTER DEMANDS SUCH CONTROL OVER THINGS THAT EVEN THE WRITER GETS THE TREATMENT. it happens to me too so i like seeing it in others, again im so so sorry if that came off badly

You are fine! Didn't felt rude at all!

... Also it's just the truth that SQQ is getting the story all sorts of sidetracked. It's the reason why I don't usually start any story that feels like it will be big to begin with, because some characters just refuse to play nice with the outline and anything I plan will end up being Much Bigger in the end.

Like, I can restrain side plots (looking at you, cursed Bai Zhan library) but I'm remarkably bad at restraining little side arcs when they come from the characters.

So SQQ works himself into a qi-deviation over the reveal. YQY does something stupid and reckless to save him and that has consequences, due to the laws of the world I have set up in my outlines. Having to take care of his two unlucky shixiongs finally tips MQF over from collegue to friend to SQQ, so he takes up dealing with one of the consequences to the slave reveal that would have eventually became a conflict for SQQ to deal with.

Things connect and branch and one thing comes from another until it's this big rolling tapestry of interconnected people and events, which is just how I write, I guess. Probably wouldn't be as that fun in an original story, but for fanfic it kinda works.

[chaoticgoodlawyerwrites]

Preview for HSY chapter 6! After YQY's kidnapping!

~~~~~~~~~~

Oh. Oh, shit.

Shen Qingqiu would just ignore that little slip!

“The point is, there is no deal between us. Especially not that I would be your empress!”

“So you didn’t marry me of your own will?”

It felt like the entire Peak took a breath, and Shen Qingqiu realized this little melodrama was happening in front of everyone who cared enough that their Sect Leader was kidnapped to come to Qiong Ding Peak and aid the search effort. That included, by necessity, at least one representative of each Peak, and a good portion of Qing Jing. Oh, and most of Qiong Ding Peak, too, since they didn’t want to be seen as treasonous as their Shizun.

The Elixir of Truth was powerful, but Shen Qingqiu had some free will. “In dreams, yes.”

“You know my powers, Shen Qingqiu. And you know a dream is never just that with me.” He walked up to him and Shen Qingqiu didn’t understand why he was doing this. He couldn’t ask him, not with their communication spell long ended. “The blood exchange was binding.”

“I don’t carry your blood para…”

There was a slight but very present shifting of something in Shen Qingqiu’s body. It was light as he felt something brush against his lip from the inside. It was minuscule, but certainly there.

“I won’t steal you from your life here,” Luo Binghe said, staring at Shen Qingqiu’s pale face steadily. “I will not harm anyone here. And will not renounce my claim to being your Second Husband, or to you being my First Husband and Empress as soon as I can bring you to my court.”

“Second Husband!” Wei Qingwei shouted, coming forward, flushed and fuming. “Sect Leader Shen! Please explain!”

“He’s promised, isn’t he?” Luo Binghe said, not breaking eye contact with Shen Qingqiu. “To Prince Tianxuan-Jun. This is his world, not mine. But Shen Qingqiu is one I have crossed space and time to find; I won’t let a little treaty keep me from my soulmate, as confirmed by Madam Meiyin.”

…

“So disciple Luo Binghe. Is Prince Tianxuan-Jun.” Wei Qingwei said.

“The family resemblance is rather obvious,” Ning Yingying said under her breath. Which… yeah, that was true when you looked at the Emperor, Empress, and Luo Binghe together.

“Do you love me?” Luo Binghe asked him.

“Yes,” Shen Qingqiu answered. “And it’s complicated.”

“How so?”

“Binghe, you just killed the second in command of this sect!”

“He was in the middle of trying to assault you. I would have taken my time as he deserved, but your safety was my priority.”

“He did what.” Ning Yingying prompted darkly and okay, he didn’t really need that spread around.

“Yes, and I appreciate you for that,” Shen Qingqiu conceded. “But I haven’t agreed to marry you outside of dreams, let alone be your empress! And I need to talk to my first husband before I can take on a second!”

“You already have.” Shen Qingqiu startled as he looked at Tianlang-June’s severe expression from where he had backed up to stand beside his wife. Oh, it was never good when the emperor got serious. “Under demonic law, if you exchanged blood with the intent to marry, unless under clear duress, you’re married.”

“I knew,” Luo Binghe said, Zhuzhi-Lang slithering away to stop being a barrier between them. It felt like everyone had backed away from him, leaving him at the center of everything with Luo Binghe. “I knew that marriage would be binding here as long as my blood parasites took.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because you are the most important person in my life. And didi is the most important person in yours. There was no other way to make sure you stayed with me once he returned. And now you can’t escape me.”

This was so, so fucked up. But Shen Qingqiu heard the hurt in his voice, saw the need he had, and forgave him instantly, because he was Luo Binghe. “You didn’t need to do this.”

“Yes, I did. I’m not a good person, Qingqiu. I’ve had to take everything I’ve ever had; your hand in marriage is no different. I have schemed and manipulated and pushed you to this point. If that makes me the villain, then so be it.”