#yqy would not take the truth well at all

[the-girl-with-too-many-ideas]

Unpopular opinion, If the story was told from Shen Jiu's perspective, svsss would be a horror and Shen Yuan the villain.

I mean, you're talking about someone who had little to no automony their entire childhood. Who was a slave and suffered unspeakable horrors at the hands of his master to the point of developing a fear of men. Who knows what it is like to have no control over your body or what happens to it.

So, to be not only kicked out of his body, but forced to watch as someone else occupies and uses it (arguably doing and becoming everything he was rumored to have been and done) would be viscerally horrific.

(This is why I firmly believe that YQY would take the Shen Yuan revelation badly. He was a slave too, and without a doubt, knows how much Shen Jiu valued his freedom and autonomy above everything else. He would be so horrified and devastated to learn that his Xiao Jiu was stripped of both again while he stood by and did nothing again.)

[phoenixcatch7]

I'd love a sv fic where Sqq and/or sqh are on a truth serum/lowered inhibition/babble spell or something and it gets to the topic of divinity and sqh immediately starts ranting about how he created the world and is the father of everyone etc and Sqq is unknowingly providing proof to a shocked and confused crowd by immediately interrupting to argue every point like 'you can't call EVERYONE of every generation your child it sounds like incest at this point' or 'and it would have been much better if you'd listened when I told you about that plot hole but NOOOO and now we've got the most illogical demon realm border ever'.

The nail in the coffin is when someone asks and Sqq is like 'yeah it's how we met I told you we came from the same hometown' and Yqy takes it to mean their past lives in the upper realm because he knows exactly what hometown Sqq did or did not grow up in but they're being truthful and that's the only explanation.

Just the whiplash of everyone taking it lightheartedly for a seemingly mild issue - someone being tipsy at best - but those two are so repressed and gossiping to each other and it all comes out in one of those 'felt like a good idea at the time' situations that they're actually the god-creators of the world (well. No ones entirely sure what sqq's role was but he seemed to have a lot of input).

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

@d-lissa

I am trying to word this as succinctly as possible but it's a lot, so please bear with me lol as I go through some of your points.

1: Shen Jiu probably had more grounds for the resentment he felt.

He did not. He kills the one who tortured and hurt him, as soon as he took his revenge he no longer should have used his hate of the past to continue spreading resentment and hurt to the one that tried to protect him (yes,failed but he was only a child much as Luo Binghe had been when taken by Shen Jiu). He continues to be the abuser he once killed along with being the oppressive Shizun that mocked and hurt Yue Qingyuan as a mirror.

2: Shen Jiu wasn't allowed to try his hand at redemption

Yet he did. He had many chances with the way that Yue Qingyuan gave him everything under the sun to supposedly make up for his transgression (in Shen Jiu's own mind).Yue Qingyuan extended his own openness and kindness almost while Shen Jiu stayed bitter and cruel all while belittling Yue Qingyuan as a weak coward. Shen Jiu simply didn't want to take these openings, choosing to stick to his own assumptions.

3: It's unfair to say that SJ refused to do something he never knew was an option.

I have no sympathy to extend to him because he still didn't need to be like that even without knowing YQY's own situation as well as it being a large point that he didn't care enough outside of himself to think of YQY's situation and lashed out all on his assumptions he deemed as fair. He had no right to know the extent of Yue Qingyuan's own trauma to forgive something that was not Yue Qingyuan's fault that Shen Jiu put upon him.

4: How wrong they had been in their assumptions.

4: Yue Qingyuan held no assumptions against Shen Jiu other than knowing exactly how he would react. Much like how Wei Wuxian thinks he never told Jiang Cheng the truth because he knew exactly how he was as a person. Neither are grateful to being protected and helped by the one they are jealous and hateful towards, the reveal of this truth would have been emotionally more hurtful for Wei Wuxian and Yue Qingyuan who died eventually out of the care they held for others (The Wens for Wei Wuxian, Shen Jiu for Yue Qingyuan). Yue Qingyuan's assumptions about Shen Jiu had unfortunately always been right despite everything he had done to try to make that change.

[greentrickster]

Thinking more about Yue Qingyuan and Tianlang-jun’s accidental cross-country roadtrip back to Cang Qiong. Since this is an SVSSS AU, let’s add a few hindrances to stretch it out into a nice long bonding exercise, shall we?

Hmmm... well, Tianlang-jun’s easy - he has to be super careful about how much power he uses, less he destroy his current body with demonic qi and be forced back into his usual body before it’s fully healed (which is taking a decent amount of time since it was, you know. Pixelation levels of messed up), so he’s being very, very careful not to do anything to compromise his current physical freedom.

And Yue Qingyuan... let’s say he had some sort of cursed item suppressing his qi when they were stuck in a room together, and he managed to force it off but it also disrupted the seal keeping his life force in the Xuan Su sword, so it’s leaking some now. The crack is currently pretty small, so the leak is minor, but any significant use of qi makes it bigger and the flow larger, so he has to be very, very careful how much he does. Circulating his qi, cleaning meridians, and smaller stuff is about all he’s good for cultivation-wise at the moment. Drawing his sword in this condition might actually kill him.

Tianlang-jun is not happy to hear that Yue Qingyuan’s got some weird cultivator sickness going on (before he learns The Truth(tm) ), and is fully expecting this rich young master to have no idea how to rough it. Thus it’s something of a shock to discover, hey, actually YQY’s better at it than he is. Tianlang-jun’s needed for his know-how about the demonic realm’s flora and fauna, and his plant body is still currently stronger, but YQY seriously knows how to make camp, find kindling, cook basic meals, heck, even how to start a fire without qi! And (and this is the scary part) he’s not even complaining about it! Why is the big, fancy, powerful sect leader not flinching about getting his pretty robes and pretty hair and expensive everything all messed up and having to rough it, huh?!?

Meanwhile Yue Qingyuan’s hardcore Shook because I think it would be fair to say that this is the first time he’s well and truly lost it since the Lingxi Caverns, because he has been Very Very Careful, and he’s just having A Day Of It. Setting up and camp and having to worry about food for once is almost a relief, because the memories it brings back are bad, but at least they’re familiar, so he’s clinging to that with both hands at the moment. Time to tie back sleeves, put away the hair crown, and put up his hair in a more sensible style. Also, to talk Tianlang-jun into letting Yue Qingyuan clear his meridians for him, he’s not having a guest of the sect drop dead on him just because they got kidnapped and traumatized and left on the run in the demon realm. They’re near the border, anyway, it’s fine.

(Yue Qingyuan has been looking himself in the mirror every day for at least forty years and going, ‘this is fine,’ like heck he’s going to stop now.)

Also they actually do have some supplies, because, brand-new headcanon that I just grew, Yue Qingyuan generally carries a qiankun pouch on him with some survival basics in it. Whenever he’s asked about it by other sect members, he just brushes it off with something along the lines of, “A good leader is always prepared,” but the real reason is to assuage the fears that growing up on the streets and in slavery leaves you with. Sect Leader Yue is a responsible grown-up who does not run away from his problems, but he’s ready to at a moment’s notice if necessary.

It’s not enough supplies for a situation like this, but it’s a start. They have fire-starting tools, some money, some food, too many knives, a few lengths of rope, a couple sets of more sensible clothes.

Tianlang-jun: ...why do you have so many knives?

Yue Qingyuan: They’re useful. You never know when you might need a knife for something.

Tianlang-jun: I mean, yeah, but this feels... excessive?

Yue Qingyuan: Junshang must be in a better mood, to be able to joke so. :)

Tianlang-jun: (stop being interesting and making me want to figure out your secrets, I don’t like you, I just want to fix you up a bit so I can bully you for helping stick me under a mountain, stop looking handsome in normal-person clothes-!!!!)

Yue Qingyuan: (reorganizing their inventory and carefully not paying attention to the fact that Tianlang-jun is wearing some of his clothes and looking kind of really good in them)

(Because confused, distrustful, confrontational, and thirsty is the SVSSS way! Also, I am fully prepared to peel back every layer of disguise Yue Qingyuan has created to reveal the scared, desperate street kid that’s still inside him, I don’t think I’ve ever really seen that done and I’ve suddenly discovered that it’s something I really want. If you can’t find the terrified child inside of you, how are you ever supposed to tell them they’re not alone anymore and you’re able to keep you both safe now?)

[taco-jellyfish]

Just me rambling on an idea for a fic I had, feel free to share your thoughts

- so

- basically, you ever wanted to read a fic where sqq just says screw it and leaves the peaks? Yea, we'll get there

- let's run with the idea that we could, maybe, possibly get to a point, after a lot of other points happening, when sqq and lbh could be called perhaps even friends

- don’t be mistaken , there will still be a shit ton of angst

- but we could get a cool, fun dynamic based on some similar trauma, the fucked up societal systems, and slowly healing from individual traumas in a healthier way than destroying everyone around you

- that goes for both, obviously

- things to adress - sqq and yqy past, get them to talk about it instead of just walking around the bush, which is not helping anyone and just adds to the misunderstandings and anger and whatnot

- also, I think that I'll take the angle that sqq didn't really want to be a teacher

- make no mistake, he knows all the things he has learned, he had worked hard to learn them and match the others, even excel, but they don’t really have classes on how to be a teacher, so

- the point being, yes, he knows his stuff, no, he does not know how to teach children, so you could say he just wings it how he thinks is best

- so he is like a fresh college graduate who was put to teach other students immediately

- he has at least three internas crises a week, not that he would ever share that

- are we going for a straight up crack or layered angst? you will never know until the last hypothetical word is written

- sqq is dealing with leading his peak, the other peak lords believing all the rumors and just being not great, and doing his best to ignore his own unresolved issues

- lbg shows up to study

- the tea ordeal goes a little differently

- and the rest of study years as well

- just, less ‘I hate you because I think you got luckier than I did when I was your age’ and more ‘I was not all that lucky and your past is not my fault’ ‘I recognize that, though I’m still bitter, but more at the society that didn’t help us than you personally’

- less comparing and projecting that leads to more hurt, more finding common ground, even if reluctantly

- have sqq be bitter about lbg having a mother and then he hits with ' first of all, I was adopted later in life, second of all, she is dead now thanks to the shitty family she served' 'oh'

- not quite friends, but they are somehow connected/can relate when they look past their masks and they recognise this, so they talk sometimes

- but would they talk completely openly? honey no, not just yet

- they also get a moment when lbg asks about sqq’s opinion on demons

- which is answered by that he doesn’t think that they are much worse that humans

- like, ‘shitzun, do you think all demons are evil?’ ‘read the human history books and compare them to what the demons have done’ ‘there are quie a few similarities’ ‘exactly’ - ‘so, no, not more that humans’

- conference shit happens

- they stand at the edge of the abyss, demon mark is glowing, no immediate danger, monsters around are dead, no one is around for now, but the peak lords are approaching

- sqq notices them

- lbg is focusing on sqq

- they argue for a bit

- sqq holds lbg at the edge by the front of his robe

- ‘’Don’t you dare not survive!” or something along the lines, still not exactly nice, but clear enough that he doesn't want him dead

- we first see this from the outside perspective, i.e. what the peak lords saw

- we learn the truth gradually as time passes and both lbg and sqq reflect on what happened that day as they move forward on their own

- I think the whole thing with sewer demons getting blamed on sqq as well as qhaitang appearing and the whole thing turning into a sort of a trial is gonna happen

- to the surprise of everyone, lbg kind of… defends? sqq? like what is happening? and it also kind of works? because, again, surprisingly it seems to be the only constructive/least subjectively villainizing speech

- because he had snuck in to the prison where they held sqq prior the trial and their conversation left him with questions

- so he had run a little personal investigation on his own to answer some of them

- lbg then leaves to tend to his kingdom then

- where instead of a harem he is establishing more of a safe haven for those unwelcome elsewhere, and just trying to somehow make the thing work, like economically, and with some laws and shit

- obviously has help,we get shenanigans with mbj, sqh, sha hualing etc.

- meanwhile, sqq goes back to his peak

- while some (def more that in original, but maybe not as sy) students (mainly nyy) are happy he is back, and peak lords seem somewhat apologetic, it is still not… great

- as in, we kinda got one thing resolved, but in general, societal problems remain

- we also get an honest conversation with sqq and yqy when sqq snaps after one more ‘sorry’, which at least cleans the air somehow, but does not repair the relationship

- after that, sqq is just… fed up with it all

- and so one day not long after that conversation, he just leaves, to nowhere in particular

- running into lbg after a while

- they go to visit his kingdom, cause why not?

- we will figure out what happens after this point later

- maybe shenanigans, the peaks actually asking sqq for help, the doctor who audio ‘do you think I care for you so little that betraying me would make a difference?’ between sqq and yqy, referencing their past and their last conversation

anyway, this barely coherent string of thoughts is made just for fun, and it is very late where I am

[foralternateuniverses]

au in which SY transmigrates into a stallion novel based/heavily inspired in fairy tales: The Charming Demon Prince.

LBH is The Prince Charming, and all his wives are fairy tale princesses, the first being the Cinderella!NYY who was adopted by YQY and who's stepfather is SQQ, and his step brother is SY.

LBH was raised by the old washer woman who died when he was young, then he started working for NYY's family, where he was mistreated by SQQ before he was fired after an accident in which SY was harmed, he has some adventures before his cousin finds him and brings him back so he can take his rightfull place as the heir to the Demon Empire, then he return for his first wife

But

After transmigrating, SY discovers the truth about quite some things about the villain SQQ, for example, SY doesn't understand why SQQ is so Loyal to YQY, who, even though he indulges and lets SQQ basically do whatever with little to no consequences, let's his staff and other people disrespect and mistreat SQQ and SY.

Yet, even though they're both clearly unhappy there, SQQ refuses to leave, so SY has to make other Plans.

In an event, SY officially meets LQG, who was an important role, the elder brother of LMY, the princess of the story 'The Royal Swans/The Wild Swans'.

So SY decides to recruit him to their side to help them and also avoid him being turned into a swan, which would cause A lot of problems (like the decline of the Liu family)

At first, SQQ and LQG don't get along very well, but after LQG is convinced of becoming SY's swordart teacher he ends up interacting more and more with the father-son duo in and out of their house, which means that he Discovers a lot of things (like the way the house staff mistreat and disrespect them, except for their personal servant MF) and they start to get along better and better (and also falling in love)

But

SQQ is very much married to YQY, and it doesn't take long for rumors to arise (After already having rumors of SQQ forcing LQY to waste his sword-wielding talent by teaching his sickly and dumb son)

On the other hand, when LBH finally gets to the household as a servant, SY makes sure that they have a good relationship, which also keeps LBH from getting in Trouble with SQQ, which also means that LBH falls in love with SY, still, LBH has to leave and the plot must continue

Also revelant: SQQ's past: he is from unknown origins, was a servant of the Qius, married the young master QJL with whom he had a child and became a widow after A fire destroyed the house and killed almost everyone, before marrying YQY, (and the reason SQQ is so loyal to him is because YQY didn't keep secret the reason why he wasn't able to come for SJ)

This comes back to bite him in the ass when the Cinderella plot happens, but first by this time YQY is already out of the picture and it hasn't been long since he married LQG, who disappeared,

LQG, like destined, is turned into a swan and SQQ searches for him, after discovering what happened, he takes over LMY's duty and role, and begins silently knitting a Cloth made of nettle for LQG to weat and turn back into human,

All this is happening while the Cinderella ordeal is going on.

LBH goes to a 3-nights-long party made by HHP as a diplomat and Crown Prince, there, he keeps meeting the disguised SY (who inadvertently took over NYY's role)

But there seems to be another Cinderella at that party, a Cinderella who, on the third night, reveals herself to be QHT, the princess of the tale of 'The multicolored coat/The coat of many colors' and she wants to get 'justice'

She reveals SQQ's humble origins and accuses him of murdering her family, and SQQ can't defend himself, cuz he has to keep silent until he finishes the coat for LQG

LBH, LMY, NYY and other help SY investigate and do their best to defend SQQ and prove his innocence, they manage to gather evidence but SQQ has already been sent away to receive his death sentence.

SQQ keeps silently knitting

[mxtxsblog]

SJ wasn't a monster to LBH.

I imagine you had noticed that I have a new baby, Shen Jiu.

Yes, I binged all SVSSS (the animation, not yet all the book) and the character I devote myself to he’s the character who appears for roughly 10 seconds. This is art.

Never fear, I will return to Xue Yang rants soon.

But anyway. I love love love love SJ and he 100% deserved better and if you don’t love him, I suggest blocking me.

Because I love my precious hateful baby and no, I’m not gonna stop.

So, SJ is not just a misunderstood villain, is THE misunderstood villain. I mean, all of his crimes were false (aside from his cruelty against LBH)!!!

Killing his martial brother? He was trying to save him! (a man who despised, humiliated, hurt him)

Going to brothels? For being able to sleep, FFS!

And so go on.

In the end, he was innocent or had excusable circumstances.

So I really want to take every accusation against him with a grain of salt, because the truth was (incredibly!) different.

And with all those lies, it’s interesting that no other student said that he was cruel against them, too.

So, I present you my theory (and I consider this canon): SJ wasn't a monster to LBH.

Yes, he was cruel. Yes, he mistreated and humiliated him. No, he wasn't a monstrous abusive scum.

(really broken emotional English under the cut)

In MXTX's novels harsh and physical discipline is expected and well-tolerated. Yes, SJ was way crueler than the norm (YQY told him about it, after all), but I don't think it was anything similar to what SJ had to suffer as a slave (or the petty cruelty that Xue Yang).

Proofs:

1- No other abused students. Strange, if SJ was so cruel.

2- Ning Yingying wasn't disgusted by the situation, only annoyed by the cruelness of the other boys. She even told LBH to go to Shizun to ask for help. Yes, she could be naive, but she was not a stupid girl.

3- LBH wasn't crippled, nor killed. If SJ really wanted to do this, he had the opportunity to do it.

4- All the peaks lords hated the demons. I have no doubt every one of them would have tried to kill LBH during the reveal.

5- At the start of the series, LBH doesn't hate/despise his shizun, even if he's living in poor conditions. So they weren't so poor?

6- The list of sufferings the system makes at the start isn't monstrous.

I'm not saying that SJ was right in his treatment of LBH! He was wrong, he abused his power and he was unfair! It was terrible, calling him a beast, not doing anything about the bullying, using lots of physical discipline, all of this.

But he wasn't a monster. He wasn't. What LBH did to him was disproportionate retribution (and how!!! Even canon said every sin against him was multiplied by 1000!).

If the tragic backstory of our villain protagonist woobie destroyer of the world, evil overlord, is "my teacher was mean to me", it really sucks. Overlord LBH is a disgusting torturer, petty, cruel, power-hungry. I really can't understand because so many people consider him justified. In universe, I can see it: a parody of violent protagonists loved by the readers.

I like overlord LBH! I love the beast. I love reading fics in which he is a monster. But I would never consider him good.

In a fandom that loves to villainy JC because he killed demonic cultivators (a rumor? self-defense? etc.), I'm surprised people love overlord LBH without irony but I didn't really expect anything better.

So, why in the world is LBH so hungry for vengeance? Why does he want to hurt hurt hurt (years of torment, right?) SJ? Why didn't he kill SJ and the hell with it? (as WXX did with the Wens who destroyed his home and killed his sect?) Why did he want to hurt him in a very personal way, reducing him to his plaything?

And no mistakes, LBH doesn't care about the other supposed crimes. Or yes, he cares because they are the proof that SJ was evil, his ticket to get a SJ to abuse torment torture forever. His reassuring that there was nothing good, nothing to save about his man. His tool to destroy SJ's reputation (even if he did have a poor reputation, to begin with).

I think it was because LBH was obsessed with SJ. Has always been, will forever be. A visceral heartbreaking soulcrushing mindsplattering obsession. So everything not good (so, everything) that SJ did to LBH, for him it was a critical point, please multiply x1000.

His cruelty, his neglect, his indifference, for many others would have been not so serious, in the end. But LBH's obsession made them the worst.

You don't torture destroy abuse a man for years if you didn't care for him. Just kill him. And what about when LBH told SJ he killed YQY?

LBH wasn't satisfied. Because he realized that SJ didn't lack a heart, he just didn't care for HIM.

And the extra when he meets a new Shizun? His reaction is not "Sick! A version of that bastard is married to a version of me, this really sucks!" but "Yes, Shizun, love me, fuck me, come home with me, be mine forever". Years after his SJ died, we have to guess. And STILL he's stuck in his obsession.

So yeah. I don't buy that SJ was a monster, but yes, he was wrong and he had to be stopped. But what LBH did to him was terrible and uncalled for.

(I am skeptical about the fact that SJ ordered his students to bully LBH. I really don't buy it, I think he simply didn't care it happened and was very harsh with him. But this is off the point).

In the end, LBH didn't care about right or wrong, he just wanted to possess SJ, and if he couldn't have him as a lover or a human pet, he would have had him as a plaything. That's all.

I think that if SJ wasn't cruel to him, but just didn't care about him, LBH would have been obsessed as well, maybe he would have kept him as a human pet to molest to his heart desire.

In the end, sure there are parallels between LBH and SJ's cruel situations.

But SJ was way way worse. For once, he was a slave, he couldn't escape, meanwhile, LBH could decide to go away anytime (and he didn't). I think SJ wanted him to go away because LBH really viscerally disgusted him, and so he hoped to drive him away. But LBH never did (and Xiao Jiu would have loved to be in his shoes and just go away).

Additionally, LBH was deeply obsessed with a man who was beautiful, elegant, interesting, but he didn't know almost anything about him. A sort of 1 d scum villain. If he had known the truth... I think this obsession would have multiplied (off cart, and it was already of the world). Because this wonderful broken man is even more interesting. I think he would have felt better to know he was in deep obsession with a so contradictory charming broken man. (So yes, all hail fics in which LBH discover the truth and it makes him even more obsessed).

To conclude: In the end, LBH became a monster, and SJ didn't.

To conclude 2: SJ suffered worse than LBH and went away saner (he wasn't, but LBH is worse).

[mahkaria]

SY transmigrates early (and destroys SQH’s sanity in the process)

After a truly dreadful childhood with YQY which he swears he’ll strangle Airplane shooting toward the sky for (I can’t believe how long it took me to understand it was a sexual innuendo), SY arrives to Cang Qiong Mountain. He goes to Qing Jing, gets a fanclub which he absolutely doesn’t know about (what’s new?) and starts cultivating which is the coolest thing ever. So what if he set a few things on fire? He has to test all those cool spells. 

------------  Truth be told, it takes SQH an awful lot of time to notice the scum villain isn’t acting as he should. Can you blame him? Cucumber-bro is a hurricane locked in 5’1” tall body. He will smile at you at first and then murder you if he sees you annoy one of his shimei. 

It’s only when he hears him comment on (criticize) someone’s writing that he realizes: “Wait I actually know this guy.”. He talks to him about it and promptly gets punched in the face which...fair. 

Yet, despite anything, SY doesn’t try to avoid him after this. Quite the contrary in fact. They stick together to the point that even YQY comes to see him one day and asks what his intentions are toward his “precious little brother”. SQH : “Bro, you turned a nice guy into a yandere-big-brother-type.” 

SY *sipping his tea* : Accidents happen. (One day, when true An Ding Peak member wants to show their superiority over him which is a very nice way to say bullying, SY jumps into a fight to save him. SQH definitely doesn’t get a small crush on him because of this.)

Then the fated first meeting with Liu Qingge who at the moment looks more like a newly-born kitten than the fearsome War God arrives. Has he already told how terrifying Cucumber Bro is? Yes ? Well, he’d like to say it again. He knew already that this guy was fierce. Some authors liked to complain about how this “Expert reader” would make even the thickest faced person cry tears of agony. They couldn’t even ban him : he theoretically didn’t insult them nor say anything untrue ! 

All this to say that having gone through the scum villain’s upbringing didn’t soften him. Not. At. All. 

He beats any overly prideful person to the ground and looks like a model while  doing it. Each Young Master who thinks he can run away from his responsibilities ends up suffering. At the end, SY’s growing fanclub ends up gaining a new reluctant member. Now, SY can be seen followed by a Bai Zhan disciple who asks to fight him all day long. 

This isn’t good for SQH’s blood pressure. Like all passionate readers, SY loves experimenting with each aspect of the world he likes. A new cool spell ?  He has to learn it. A new creature with more teeth than should be possible? Let’s go see it. Stop screaming, bro, I’m sure it isn’t as dangerous as it seems. (They don’t talk about the first time he had manipulated a fan and destroyed a part of Qing Jing Peak. They don’t. Roofs are overrated anyway.) 

Liu (not yet) Qingge doesn’t help. To each of SY’s stupid ideas, he answers with an eager nod and by taking out his sword.  

SQH : aren’t you worried about the plot? Luo Binghe? Human-stick SQQ *who just discovered a new interesting beast or flower and wants to enjoy a healthy body* : We still have time. LQG *who doesn’t understand what SQH is saying* : Shixiong, there is Moon-shattering Lion there, let’s go fight it. 

It’s like wrestling with two hyperactives toddlers and SQH is so done with it. As if his king wasn’t enough, he has to deal with Shen “why should I care about my own life, let’s go see this giant monster over there” Yuan and Liu “I’m 13 but already have lost all my brain cells apart from those used to fight and watch Shixiong* Qingge. 

It’s exhausting. Unfortunately, he can’t seem to break away from them. The current peak lords seem to have the stupid misconception that SQH is a willing partner of those two’s insanity. It means that they all get paired in every.FREAKING. MISSION. 

By the time they are named head disciple, everyone knows of Cang Qiong’s earth shattering trio. It is a more literal name that SQH would like, Cucumber Bro really isn’t good at measuring out his strength. Liu Qingge doesn’t even try. 

The only person who understands is Mu Qingfan, the unlucky person who has to patch them up when they come back from their “adventures”. 

[touchmycoat]

qijiu Second Exorcists AU

...the Heavenly Demons have come to destroy the Exorcists. Transmigrator SY!SQQ gets kidnapped/lured deep into some hidden chamber at the base of the Spirit Caves, and he finds there old members of the Alliance like those monk guys as well as YQY’s bloody corpse. Noah!LBH tells SQQ that he’s going to show his old mentor just how messed up and hypocritical the Exorcist Alliance is. He would destroy the Sects with the very thing they created, the thing they fear most and hates them in return.

YQY revives because that’s his claim to fame as an exorcist—the strongest immortal sword. SQQ tries to get his attention but his eyes are completely fixed on the body underneath the glass, sealed in the ground beneath him.

“Xiao Jiu...?”

With his dream demon powers, LBH opens up YQY’s memories. SQQ tries to help and also gets sucked in. There they witness the truth of the Alliance’s past, and who exactly YQY and “Xiao Jiu” are.

YQY’s earliest memory is climbing out of a pool of freezing water. The scientists call him Number Seven. There was a Number Five and a Number Six, but they were both destroyed only days after Seven met them. You, the scientists explain to Seven, have been given these special bodies thanks to us. You can withstand an incredible amount of damage. You are meant to be compatible with a spiritual weapon called an Innocence. We have to keep trying to synchronize you with the Innocence.

Eight doesn’t last so long either.

LBH and SQQ watch as YQY, for some reason, survive each attempt at an Innocence harmonization. He gets utterly decimated every time, limbs and bones flying everywhere, but somehow, there’s always just enough strength in him to knit his body back together. He smiles. He’s polite and gets along with people. He’s in a constant cycle of pain and bandages, and he goes and sits by the icy pools all the time, staring out at the water looking blank.

One inevitable day, Nine comes crawling out of the water. He’s small and scowls a lot. Seven is over the moon to have company and takes Nine under his wing. Nine is always hissing and glaring at people. He rejects everyone but Seven. He’s grumpy but he hovers close.

The two of them keep getting sent into the room with the Innocence. They die, over and over. Nine screams and cries about it sometimes, why, why, why do they have to live like this. Isn’t there any other way. Why them. Who were they. Why couldn’t they escape.

Meanwhile, Seven is having dreams. He’s seeing things he’s never actually seen in this life before. I think, Seven tells Nine, it might be my past life. Of course, Nine realizes. Why else would we be the special ones? We must have been dead or dying, and the weapons they keep trying to inject into us belong to our past selves.

The dreams are vague, but gives Seven a surname—Yue. He knows he is called Yue Something, and that there’s another surname just hovering in his memory, Shen. For some reason, this Shen person feels really important to him, but he doesn’t quite know why.

When he tells Nine, Nine grows jealous and wistful. So your name can be Yue Qi? What about me then, I don’t have a name.

Well you can be Shen Jiu then.

I thought the Shen surname belongs to Qi-ge’s most important person.

Xiao Jiu is my most important person.

...For now.

But still, Yue Qi can tell Shen Jiu’s happy with the surname. They continue living this way, until SJ’s whispering to YQ in excitement about getting his own dreams too.

The dreams, however, as they become more lucid, are making YQ sadder and sadder. On one particularly feverish day, after a bad synchronization, YQ sees what happened in full—his most important person, screaming and reaching for him as he’s dragged out of a house by his legs. He’s broken and bloody and dying but he keeps trying to crawl back to where that door’s slammed shut.

Go back, was everything he knew. I have to go back.

A demon appears overhead, grinning. The last thing YQ saw was its teeth.

Meanwhile, a feverish YQ’s body is falling apart. SJ overhears the scientists talking about terminating Seven before another bad reaction like Eight happens, and SJ figures no fucking way. He steals YQ’s body away, but is found halfway out. He throws YQ’s body out a nearby exit and dives back in himself to distract the scientists.

YQ wakes up disoriented but with the newfound clarity of mind to call his Innocence to him. Its name, he learns, is Xuan Su. He’s outside of the facility and can escape, but he decides to go back for Xiao Jiu.He’s got the Innocence now, so surely that’s enough for the experiment. Surely he can petition for SJ to be spared, or maybe they can be partnered together. Surely everything’s fine now.

YQ returns to a bloodbath. He finds almost every single scientist at the facility slaughtered, the room burning, and Xiao Jiu standing in the middle of all of it, covered in blood with an Innocence blade in hand.

Qi-ge, you’ve come back. But I have to kill you now.

YQ hurries to draw his blade to meet SJ’s onslaught. SJ, it turns out, has also regained his memories. His perspective on the matter is a lot worse than YQ’s though. Qi-ge, do you know what I saw? I saw myself begging them to let me live. That I could still be saved. They just had to give me the cure, and I could live and go save—

Go save...?

...forget it. Qi-ge, we have to die. I have to kill you. I won’t let you become a tool for the Alliance.

...No. Xiao Jiu, I can’t die. Memories regained, YQ has something to live for. He has to find his most important person. Please, nobody else has to die—

I’ve already killed all the others. Nobody else has to go through what we went through. There will be no more of our kind—

Xiao Jiu! Please! You’re scaring me, YQ wants to say. You’re more terrifying than any demon in our memories.

SJ seems to see the unspoken words in his eyes anyways. SJ goes cold, summons his sword. YQ’s hand is shaking.

You know I’m stronger than you, he whispers. I don’t want to kill you.

You don’t want to kill me but you also won’t let me kill you, SJ laughs bitterly. Qi-ge always has to lie about something.

They fight. As the facility comes crumbling down around them, YQ deals the killing blow. He looks up and sees the sky for the first time as SJ falls. It looks even bigger and emptier than in his memories.

The dream-memory ends. LBH and SQQ are booted out, and YQY staggers to his feet. SJ, underneath the glass, is waking up.

“Doesn’t Sect Leader Yue have questions for the Research Team?” LBH asks. “About the Third Exorcist project, perhaps? Where the seeds for their hybridization came from?”

YQY calmly calls for Xuan Su, SQQ sees his hand tremble just once.

“Cang Qiong will defend the Alliance,” YQY says. “No matter what it takes.”

“Qi-ge’s already killed me once, after all,” SJ says, standing up. His voice is rough from disuse. There’s a faint shape of a smile on his lips, but his eyes are cold. “What’s a second?”

They begin fighting. SQQ rushes to interrupt.

“Zhangmen Shixiong! Stop this!”

“I can’t,” is YQY’s grim answer. “Xiao Jiu is much stronger than before, and I know better than anyone how determined he can be. He won’t stop until I’m dead.”

SJ agrees. The fight escalates rapidly. SQQ turns his attention to SJ.

“But I don’t understand, why do you want to kill him so badly? Didn’t you grow up  together? Aren’t you his friend?”

“I was his friend,” SJ hisses. Meanwhile, YQY is drawing more and more of his life force to kill the rapidly regenerating SJ. “I tried to save him from precisely this fate, and look at him now—a dog of the Alliance. You want to find your most important person? Newsflash Qi-ge, he’s gone. He’s been dead and gone and he’s only a method for the Alliance to control you.”

“You’re wrong,” YQY says, and SJ frowns, hearing something in his tone. But the fight is continuing, and before he can ask, SQQ tries intervening. Annoyed, SJ turns an attack on SQQ, and YQY turns around and saves SQQ just in time.

At YQY’s shout of Shen-shidi! SJ’s eyes go wide.

“...No. No!“ All his vitriol is all of a sudden turned on SQQ, his attacks getting more vicious. “You filthy liar, you’re not him!”

“Xiao Jiu, calm down!” YQY shouts. “I never said it’s him!”

“But I know what you’re like, Qi-ge,” SJ spits, sounding more like he’s in pain than any of the previous times Xuan Su has split him apart. His eyes have gone red. “Such a caretaker, such a martyr. You always want to be saving someone, so will anybody do? Your most important person is not so important anymore? Qi-ge ran me through with his sword a thousand times just for any harlot he picks up off the street and gives that last name to—”

“Xiao Jiu!”

YQY’s hair had gone white, more and more of his soul being sublimated through Xuan Su as he cuts SJ down. But SJ is similarly relentless, reforming and regrowing his limbs, all the while shouting about how this is all Qi-ge’s fault, it’s only because of Qi-ge that he’s like this, that Qi-ge has to kill him, and they should just both die here already for the good of everybody.

Meanwhile, SQQ’s eyes find LBH, who’s been standing calmly aside all this time because his purpose has been achieved. Teeth gritted, SQQ tells LBH that fine, he gets it already, the Alliance has been responsible for a horrible thing. But LBH wants to show everybody the truth? Then let’s get the full truth out there. Show us what SJ knows.

LBH understands immediately, eyes widening just a little.

“Shizun suspects...?”

He considers it for long enough that SQQ is antsy on his feet.

“Luo Binghe! I said I believe you! Take out Shen Jiu’s memories and...and I’ll leave here with you.”

LBH’s gaze sharpens.

“Do you promise?”

“I do.”

After one last considering stare, LBH waves a hand. He begins pulling the memory out of SJ, but SJ seizes it, hiding it away instead. LBH frowns, but says that as long as SJ has a hold on it, he can’t show YQY. Meanwhile, he’s fulfilled his promise. Shizun should go with him now.

“No.” LBH opens a portal and SQQ’s mouth falls open. “Binghe! You—”

“Don’t go with him, Shen-shidi,” YQY says in a rush, pushing himself further into overdrive. SJ watches him with a furious, complicated expression. “I’ll—I’ll hurry up. I’ll be done here soon, just don’t—”

“You’ll go back,” SJ utters, voice shaking as he spits, “for everybody but me. You’ll destroy me twice to save your stupid world. That’s why I’m going to kill you.”

“Stop this.” SQQ gets out of LBH’s hold and intervenes once more. He barely blocks an attack from SJ. “Look, I know who you are! Why don’t you just tell him you’re—”

“Shut up!” Another attack, knocking SQQ to the side. LBH tries to block him but SQQ pushes him aside again, lunging back in. “You don’t know anything! He has to—one of us has to die. He needs to die. I’ll make sure of it if it’s the last thing I do.”

A bit dead-eyed, YQY throws his all into a final attack.

“Zhangmen Shixiong! Wake up!”

Xuan Su runs SQQ through and everything freezes. YQY snaps out of it and his eyes go wide.

“Shen—”

“Take,” SQQ says through gritted teeth, “a goddamn look at Shen Jiu’s face, Shixiong, and think.”

Numbly, YQY looks over and sees SJ glaring as usual. But he also finally sees the red in SJ’s eyes, the tear tracks on his cheeks.

“What won’t he tell you about what he remembers, hm?” SQQ is honestly kind of pissed at this point, ‘cause that sword in the gut hurts, alright? He’s been hiding the extent of the wound as best he could from LBH, but now he can’t hold himself upright anymore, slumping over. Demonic energy suddenly explodes around them. Jesus christ is this what period pain feels like. “Who is he that wants you dead before you find out his identity?!”

It doesn’t take much more for YQY to put the pieces together. He’s staring at SJ. He can’t breathe.

“You’re—”

“Qi-ge watch—”

LBH attacks, Xin Mo vicious and bloodthirsty as it tries to cleave YQY in half for hurting SQQ. SJ takes the blow instead, his Innocence shattering beneath the sword and an arm and a leg being chopped away. YQY catches him. SQQ works up the last of his energy to shove them both into the portal LBH has already opened, sealing it behind them.

“Shen—!”

“Go,” he tells YQY right before the portal closes. Neither of them look to be in a good state, but SJ in particular is literally falling apart, the demonic energy it had taken to revive him battered away by his fight with YQY. “Talk, before...”

The door closes.

They hit water.

YQ drags them both out and sits exhausted against a wall. SJ’s in his arms, but has buried his face in YQ’s shoulder and refuses to look up.

SJ’s tense and helplessly shaking, his body useless at this point. He’s waiting for...something.

He gets a soft kiss to the crown of his head, gentle but full of feeling. His eyes go wide and his head snaps up.

“You—”

“I’m so glad,” YQ says, crying and shaky but painfully earnest in his smile, “I found you. My most important person. I’ve finally found you.”

And SJ can’t take it anymore either, tears toppling out. He opens his mouth but no words come out, so YQ continues to talk.

“I was right. From the very beginning I was right to give you that surname, wasn’t I? It’s always been you. Qi-ge was a fool for not realizing. You were right in front of me and I—”

“This is why I didn’t want to tell you,” SJ blurts out, brows furrowing tightly at YQ’s fresh tears. “I knew you’d blame yourself, I knew—”

“I left you dead,” YQ chokes out, “for years. All while I went around traveling and eating and having fun—”

“Yeah, stupid Qi-ge. You should’ve just let me kill you.”

The tone comes out more panicky than appropriately grumpy, but YQ understands. He laughs—in pain but he laughs, clutching SJ closer.

“What now?” SJ murmurs. “Your Shidi’s closed the portal, it doesn’t look like anybody will come to get you. Are you waiting around to die with me or what?”

YQ pulls back, still smiling, and nods. For some reason, that makes SJ cry some more, gnashing his teeth at YQ’s chest. YQ’s lips find his forehead.

Somehow, whenever I leave, I never manage to make it back to you. So this time, I just won’t leave at all.

[tossawary]

You spoiled us so much with the last few chapters, so take all the time you need for the next update.

Thank you! Chapter 24 is fully outlined now as well, but it and Chapter 23 are both very busy chapters, so I’m not sure yet how much I’ll be able to get done for Chapter 23. Shang Qinghua has... so many relationships at this point. It’s like, “Ah, fuck, I have to continue to develop all of these. Shang Qinghua, you want to drop the ball on some of these relationships here, maybe??? GIVE A FELLOW HARD-WORKING AUTHOR A BREAK.” 

So Chapter 23 (”Seeing is Believing”) may become two chapters, as I try to tackle Shang Qinghua moving forward with the martial family (YQY, SQQ, MQF, QQQ, LQG’s reactions), dealing with the consequences of his truth-telling and slight breakdowns (Luo Jiahui), some heartwarming Uncle-Nephew scenes, The Problem of Shen Yuan, and also the “Death of the Author” quest. 

(Mobei-Jun won’t show up again until Chapter 24: “What You Want”. And that’s going to be... *searches how to write a meaningful speech for a man who doesn’t fucking talk with all the emotional competence of a brick wall* interesting. Spirit of Ms. Austen, help me.) 

Parts 3 and 4 of this fic have always been the most hazy to me - Part 4 especially. The end of Part 3 has to launch Part 4 and they’re both full of some stuff that I want to hit well and hard if possible. I would like to stick the landing here if possible. So, thank you for reassuring me! Patience and understanding is much appreciated! 

[touchmycoat]

Lev!anon: I'm rewatching the Tap Out Job and just adoring Eliot's enthusiasm for the sport as well as Eliot having Parker "demonstrate" on Hardison. I imagine LQG would have SY demonstrate on LBH, but LBH might just enjoy the grappling too much. And I'm just drooling at the idea of LQG getting beat down the way Eliot was. Why is LQG whump so enticing?? And then there's so much cuteness with Parker and Hardison in the Stork Job (I like how you turned out!).

LKSJNDFLKSD LBH GOING “choke me shizun >///<” AND SQQ BEING A LITTLE FLUSTERED ALL “binghe stop messing around” BUT KEEPING UP THE ARM BAR ANYWAY, AND BINGHE’S JUST HAVING THE TIME OF HIS LIFE

and yeah babe, me too...the inherent eroticism of letting the enemy beat the crap out of you because you trust your team leader to call all the shots...

lololol i’m realizing at this point that bingqiu need a whole backstory too. Yes the Stork Job!!!! both SQQ and LBH are orphans—that’s how they knew each other, they were placed in the same foster care situation? It lasted for a good while, and it was the only bright spot in baby!bing’s young life. Clearly they both turned to a life of crime, but SQQ did end up in a nice family’s care...Maybe that’s who YQY is????? Rich young master of the house (SQQ’s older foster brother) with a debilitating chronic condition. SJ’s the second older brother, also from foster care, doing a lot more shady shit. One of his jobs goes crashing and burning, YQY tries to help him out but they get completely screwed over. SJ goes to prison and YQY & SY are left destitute, both with shit health and healthcare. That’s why SY goes into hacking, picking up the fake name from SJ’s illegal work. He makes enough money to help YQY get back on his feet, and YQY’s been doing quiet little jobs while he waits for SJ to get back out of prison.

and LQG is...someone SY knew from school while he lived with YQ&SJ. I love me some liujiu so maybe there was a misunderstanding—LQG ends up hospitalized at the end of the situation that put SJ in prison, and all this time everyone, SY included, believes SJ sold LQG out. Turns out the truth is something more like SJ knew he had to take the fall, but he knows that if YQY and SY knew the truth—that SJ had been set up—they’d go after the bad guys and try to get revenge. LQG’s present ‘cause that’s what he does, so SJ non-fatally shoots him sdkjfnsdkf. LQG really did think SJ betrayed them all at first too, but got suspicious about it after a while. The truth all comes out during the 79 job tho...