A au where Shen Yuan ends up in Qiu Jiangluo's body just as he's buying Xiao Jiu.
Yuan feels genuine pity for the child (he doesn't know he's a future villain). Shen nurses the child back to health, so he doesn't look like a walking skeleton. He teaches the boy literacy, math, and etiquette so he can grow into a worthy member of society. But... with each passing day, Yuan's sinful desire grows within him to keep Xiao Jiu for himself. To make him his own. To lock him in a golden cage so no one else can covet his Xiao Jiu. No, Shen Jiu.
just occurred to me that in all my Secret Omega S(J)QQ aus in which nyy is his daughter, it would be soooo destructive if he qi-deviated and actually deaged to 14ish, late Qiu-era.
he is stick-thin and dead-eyed. he's got bruises. also, seemingly unconnected, ning yingying has disappeared off the peak ! (lbh and ming fan are out in the background trying to figure out where the hell she's gone. the info makes its way to qqq and so she is also freaked out. did nyy push back against sqq's lech behavior and they hurt each other and the result was a qi deviation? who gives a shit about the man, where is his female disciple)
SJ won't allow mu qingfang to look at him bc he's a man (he does not say this). he stays on qian cao for a few days, wavering between following orders obediently (hatefully) (he does not hide it very well) and biting back.
shang qinghua comes in for something, sees SJ, and turns on his heel. he comes back three days later with yue qingyuan.
yqy takes one look and says that he must speak with SJ privately.
they allow it. they are frazzled and weirded out (it has become apparent that shen jiu was a slave, but also he's a completely unforgiving asshole and so treating him nicely is very, very difficult. they have so much whiplash. qqq still doesn't know what the hell is going on.)
they emerge from their meeting. shen jiu is acting very weird again (not that he has ever stopped). he won't touch yqy but he also won't stand more than three feet away from him. yqy seems fine with this. he isn't quite happy, but a sense of tension that they've never noticed is gone.
yqy tells mqf that SJ needs a richer diet. mqf tries to explain that that is not a good idea. he is already giving him the appropriate amount of food to recover from years of malnutrition, and anything richer would go badly.
yqy hesitates. he starts to explain, haltingly, that SJ needs it because--
SJ cuts him off sharply and tells him that he promised.
yqy grimaces and just tells mqf again that he needs more in his diet.
mqf agrees reluctantly. the worst that can happen is vomiting and discomfort. perhaps yqy knows something the rest of them don't.
the weeks draw on. SJ haunts Qiong Ding. he has learned that he is a peak lord in this future, and he insists on attending meetings, but he refuses to live on Qing Jing. he does not like ming fan or luo binghe, who have tried to talk with him (in the latter case, urged on by ming fan, who thinks that maybe feeling that old anger will fix shizun and find yingying).
qqq is going spare, because ning yingying has still not been found. qing jing is a strange place right now. people are losing trust in each other and in their master.
months pass, spring comes, and SJ does not stop wearing his many-layered winter robes. it's strange. yqy seems to be getting worried, and eventually it is he who breaks.
he brings SJ, asleep with a qi technique, to qian cao. he explains that SJ is pregnant.
mqf is horrified. he can connect the dots. this young slave who trusts nobody would never have wanted to have a child. he checks SJ over. it's late in the game, but he will do his best to terminate the pregnancy if it is desired.
you cannot, yue qingyuan says with a pained expression.
but surely he would want it gone, mqf argues. they just need to wake him up and ask him--
you cannot, yqy says again, rubbing a hand across his face. his missing disciple, it's her. he has already lived this. we cannot fix it. if we try, and he returns to himself later and she is gone...
mqf has seen many, many torments. he has lost friends and disciples. somehow, having to sit back and witness this feels like one of the worst.
After Shen Yuan transmigrates, the system needs to do something with Shen Jiu’s soul, so it ends up turning it into a doll. Doll!Jiu can’t move or talk or do anything, but he’s sentient, and he looks just like Shen Jiu, down to the tiny Xiu Ya (just like… a slightly cartoony cloth version of him). For a long time Doll!Jiu lives in the bushes of Qing Jing, only getting moved by particularly stiff breezes. One such breeze eventually blows him into view of a scenic path— one a rather dejected Yue Qingyuan is meandering down (Shen Yuan was being nice to him at tea ☹️). He spots Doll!Jiu and picks him up immediately, wondering why someone would go through all the trouble to make such a cute little thing and then abandon it. He brings Doll!Jiu back to Qiong Ding, initially feeling guilty of potentially stealing a child’s toy, as well as possessing an object Shen Qingqiu would probably be creeped out by. The feeling doesn’t last long as he washes Doll!Jiu, stitches him back together, and tears up one of his own robes to make new doll clothes for him. Doll!Jiu gives him insane cute aggression, and he keeps him on his home office desk. Every time he feels stressed (all the time) he leans over to kiss Doll!Jiu’s little head. He starts talking to the doll, telling it about his day and his worries. He names it Xiao Xiao Jiu.
Doll!Jiu doesn’t know how to feel about everything he’s learning. He doesn’t know how to feel about the affection Qi-ge still has for him, or the suspicion that lingers in Qi-ge about the imposter. As the years go on, Doll!Jiu find himself very grateful he’s no longer Shen Qingqiu, judging only by what Yue Qingyuan tells him. When the human Shen Qingqiu dies, Yue Qingyuan starts carrying Doll!Jiu around with him, pressed over his heart. He can’t see anything, but he can hear. He can hear when Qi-ge finally explains himself. The ragged breaths Qi-ge takes through a throat full of blood. The silence of Qi-ge’s room on Qian Cao. The stuttering sobs in the Lingxi caves as Qi-ge is forced to recover. The way he begs.
Whether by virtue of the ambient qi he’s gathered over the years or sheer force of will to come back, Doll!Jiu cultivates a human form. For the first time in decades, he finally holds Qi-ge.
unpopular take but every time I've seen someone complain that shen jiu fans call his narrative "woman-coded" it turns out to be jealousy that their own fave isn't seen the same? like i'm sorry but there's a reason shen jiu is seen as very relatable to his (mostly female, mostly SA victim) fans. neither shen yuan, liu qingge, yue qingyuan, and especially luo binghe (not even bingmei. he's feminine/effeminate which is different) or any other male character in svsss can be called "female-coded" or argued to have a transfeminine narrative (not that you Need canon subtext to do that).
and i don't even really think his narrative is particularly "female-coded" (yes he has his autonomy stripped away and his body disrespected by various men but it's because he's a slave, his body and autonomy are also disregarded by qht, a woman) i just think he could easily be read as a trans woman!
QQQ: What are you talking about?! We can literally see a whole group of ghosts clinging to him with the bare eye!
WQW: I tested him with every sword, he’s not—
LQG: Well if he’s not possessed then what is this?
YQY: Don’t worry Xiao-Jiu, I’m sure we’ll figure out how to fix this….
SQQ: Do NOT call me—
MQF: Hey hey hey let’s all stay calm… please…
SQQ: I am calm.
MQF: Shen shixiong—
YQY: Xiao-Jiu—
QQQ: And what’s up with you, ah? You can barely keep your babbling mouth shut most of the time and all of a sudden you’re quiet as a mouse.
All eyes turned to Shang Qinghua. All of them carried expectant gazes like he could magically fix this bizarre situation. A very strange group of ghosts had made their way onto Cang Qiong Mountain. They were neither malicious nor resentful; actually they didn’t really do anything but stick to Shen Qingqiu. It was truly a strange sight to behold. They were almost entirely white in color, faces distorted or gone entirely, bodies far too small and dressed in the simplest of garments.
They looked like children who had died before they even understood the concepts of life and death and their identities. Well, they looked like that because that’s exactly what they were.
SQQ: You do know something don’t you? Spit it out already, you rat!
SQH: Ah— that— so I— Shen Shixiong, they’re harmless I promise!
YQY: Shang shidi, if you know how to resolve this…
SQH: Oh no. No no no. Let’s just— let’s just wait and see? They really are harmless so—
SQQ: What the hell is that supposed to mean? Just wait and see?
MQF: Shang shidi, please.
SQH: how about we don’t…
LQG, QQQ & SQQ: Shang Qinghua!
SQH: Okay, look. You won’t like what I know about them and it doesn’t really help to get rid of them anyway so how about we—
SQQ: Spit. It. Out.
SQH: Okay okay okay but you gotta promise to not kill me!
SQQ: …
SQH: Promise!
SQQ: Urgh I promise. Now talk.
SQH: Well, okay, so… I can’t— I don’t really remember what they’re called right now but… I have actually, unfortunately encountered them before. They really are harmless. These ghosts they… stem from children who died very young. Like really young. Usually in slow, brutal ways… torture, assault, those things…. All they really do is cling to each other for comfort and flow from place to place.
The room stayed quiet for a moment.
SQQ: And? Why are they sticking to me?
SQH: That— I— You really don’t want me to say it, Shixiong…
If a gaze could kill.
SQH: Allright, fine. Don’t blame me. Sometimes… they’ll consider living people one of their own and kling to them. Only difference being, the living person survived the kinds of things that killed them…
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