You know, this is the part of the day that I look forward to the most. When I know there’s something bizarre out there, I just don’t know what it is. Like a grab bag of disturbing events.
Omg Hunxi! You’ve read SVSSS?! What did you think of it? What’s your opinion on Luo Binghe? It’s often looked down upon among the 3 novels, but I personally love it and it’s chaotic energy.
I mean, I've only read 2/3 of MXTX's novels, but I have a suspicion that SVSSS might be my favorite because the book is batshit insane and also so much fun
there's this manic energy to it that generates a heady mix of irreverence and intensity, slingshotting you from startled laughter to stunned silence and right back with the maximum amount of emotional whiplash possible
incidentally, this novel taught me more Chinese internet slang in <100 chapters than I've learned in my entire life
the best analogy I think I could make might be that... SVSSS kind of has the same energy as Bo Burnham's Inside? in that it is simultaneously a satire, a love letter, a deconstruction, and a reimagining of a genre (for Inside, Netflix comedy specials; for SVSSS, transmigration and stallion webnovels), while doing a really damn good job of its most direct purpose (being a rollicking good ride all the way down)
but sdlkfjsdlfkj Luo Binghe. oh man what a character
I feel like, no matter what long paragraphs or thematic complexity I can tease out of Luo Binghe and his characterization, his character arc and journey, no amount of words I write can beat @blackelement7's one-sentence summation of his character, which is: it's hard to be Luo Binghe
and really, much of SVSSS revolves around the deconstruction of narrative and character tropes--like, literally. (Shen Yuan as) Shen Qingqiu dismantles the ludicrously hackneyed and exaggerated plot of PIDW and accidentally puts it back together in a different shape just by, y'know, existing and being -- get ready for this -- a decent person
so Luo Binghe fits into this whole agenda by deconstructing a familiar archetype of the masculine, heroic protagonist--virile, undefeatable, hopelessly attractive, naturally talented, beloved of fate/happenstance/coincidence, unique and unlikely inheritor of multiple legacies, gifted with unrealistic sexual prowess. he has the tragic orphan origin story, the bitterly cruel and traumatic youth, then the vengeful return, the eventual violent triumph over those who had wronged him, his """happy""" ending of supreme power and supreme sexual satisfaction and supreme unbeatability
or at least, that's the original Luo Binghe
MXTX takes this larger-than-life legendary figure and shows us his hidden shadows, his deep insecurities, the flaws that have been expunged by the demands of readers and narrative (and oh boy does this book have things to say about the relationship between the author and the consumer). she takes the original Luo Binghe (and by extension, the entire stallion genre) gently by the hand and asks, have you found love?
I have a harem of hundreds of beautiful women, the original Luo Binghe replies.
have you found satisfaction? MXTX asks.
I rule the entire world, both human and demonic realms, he replies.
are you happy? MXTX asks, and cruelly, crucially--the original Luo Binghe cannot answer yes, and have that be true
MXTX takes every aspect of the original Luo Binghe and systematically subverts it: his virility is undercut by the fact that the person of his affections prefers Luo Binghe's younger, innocent self, not the virile, manly man that maidens ostensibly swoon over. Luo Binghe's undefeatability and ridiculous talents are undercut by the fact that no amount of strength, or power, or influence, will get him what he truly wants -- Shen Qingqiu's genuine love and affection. in the original PIDW, the goddamn trauma congo line that Luo Binghe gets put through only makes him stronger, laying the foundation of his eventual, triumphant, vengeful return. but in SVSSS, we see all the ways that Luo Binghe's trauma doesn't make him stronger -- in fact, leads him to incredible levels of insecurity and self-sabotage and self-hatred
MXTX, busily typing: no you haven't, you've fucked up a perfectly nice young man is what you've done. look at him, he's got enough trauma to cause the apocalypse
a lot of our understanding of Luo Binghe is filtered through the lens of Shen Qingqiu, who is one of the most unreliable narrators I've ever had the privilege of laughing at. much of Shen Qingqiu's character arc in the novel is coming to realize that the people around him -- Luo Binghe, yes, but also Yue Qingyuan, Liu Qingge, all the women previously dismissed as love interests, and even, eventually, Shen Jiu -- are actually people too, not just flat fictional characters, but individuals with agendas and feelings and unwritten histories of their own. Shen Qingqiu is so preoccupied (and rightfully so!) with his fate and foreknowledge of the plot that he fails to notice for a comically long time that the plot has changed on him while he was busy jumping to conclusions about what certain people must be thinking
but back to Luo Binghe. the novel takes Luo Binghe's intense traumas and fears -- abandonment, self-loathing, rejection and very real hurt -- and makes them matter. past suffering doesn't just build character to make you stronger in the future -- you have to come to terms with it first, gain closure, let the wound heal over before you can safely build upon it. and despite having loyal subordinates, despite having more love interests than he can shake a evil sword at, Luo Binghe has no one to truly, emotionally support him
all those people flocking around him, all those women (allegedly) trying to sleep with him, and Luo Binghe doesn't have a single friend
the original PIDW would have you believe that's indicative of his strength and independence, his ability to stand alone. a Man (TM). MXTX takes one look at that and calls bullshit
or, in other words:
PIDW: I've done it, I've crafted the ultimate male fantasy
MXTX, typing faster: no you haven't, you've subscribed to toxic masculinity is what you've done. you created a lonely, overpowered young man who only knows how to deal with his problems through violence. look at him, he's got abandonment issues and unhealthy masochistic tendencies
(masochism is fine! but someone needs to gently pull Luo Binghe back into the realm of kink rather than deliberate self-harm, and while we're at it someone please give this man a hug without also detonating at the same time)
SVSSS takes the unrealistic, overperfected model of an archetypal male protagonist and shows us all the ways this person (and this model) is broken. the text constantly cracks jokes about 'the protagonist halo,' but for much of the book, Luo Binghe is never allowed to be a person--he is always The Protagonist, the half-demon spawn, the existential threat to the human cultivation world, and Luo Binghe’s continual dehumanization breaks him. and guess what? the eventual resolution of the conflict comes from nothing more and nothing less than Shen Qingqiu showing kindness. was it messy and fraught as hell? you fucking bet it was. but was the underlying message of the entire story also as simple as "but the villain needs love too!" you fucking bet it was.
this is a running theme in MXTX’s writing--we see it prominently in both SVSSS and TGCF: the colossal, literally world-saving power of empathy, and kindness, and love, and forgiveness, and that, I think, is crucial for understanding and appreciating Luo Binghe as a character
imagine being lqq in qi rong’s lair and witnessing the boundless rage of crimson rain sought flower, scourge of heaven, terror of the three realms, being soothed by xie lian rubbing slow circles on his back and whispering softly
Funniest part about Robin Jason canonically going to heaven is that it implies either 1) Jason didn’t kill Felipe and Bruce completely blew up their relationship for no reason or 2) you’re allowed in heaven after killing someone as long as that someone really deserved it, which would then imply that heaven itself is on Jason’s side in the Jason vs Bruce conflict.
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