Fic by fancywaffles

writings (mostly fire emblem three houses & sk8/matchablossom)

[fancy-waffles]

Willow Roots and Rivers

Summary:

It’s been six years since the Immortal Alliance Conference and the last time Zhan Yuan (the courtesan that Shen Yuan transmigrated into) has seen Luo Binghe. Since that time, Shen Yuan has created a good life for himself, which includes his cultivation partner Liu Qingge and the Twin Dahlia Garden, a brothel that focuses on dual cultivation. Not everything is perfect, Shen Yuan’s spiritual veins are still permanently damaged from being used as a cauldron, Liu Qingge is dealing with the resurgence of legendary monsters, and Luo Binghe is back—perhaps not quite the little sheep anymore after five years in the Endless Abyss. (or, courtesan shen yuan au, part two) Sequel to Symmetry in Bloom

Shen Yuan got home very late, unsurprised but disappointed not to see Liu Qingge there. An emergency requiring the War God was likely to take more than a few days. He hoped it didn’t take weeks. 

He lured Ghibli into the house so he could have something to snuggle with, sacrificing an old trinket he didn’t use anymore to its hidden mouth buried under that odd feeling black fur. Shen Yuan indulged himself for a while, snuggling up to Ghibli and pulling out a horrible book Mingyan had sent him. She had horrendous taste in literature, but he couldn’t stop reading it—there was always a small hope it would turn around and get better. 

An hour later and it still hadn’t. His candles were burning down and he was getting tired again, so Shen Yuan gave in and was about to get ready for bed when there was a soft knock at his door.

Ghibli softly snoozed on the pillows he’d thrown on the floor and none of Shen Yuan’s alert arrays had been set off. Shen Yuan still made sure he had his sword at hand before he went to open it. It was pretty late for—

A youth wearing black, shouldering a modest, unadorned longsword, his complexion as clear as jade, his eyes like two deep pools of cold starlight stood there.

“Yuan-ge,” Luo Binghe said, smiling. “Hello.” 

[fancy-waffles]

Chapter 2 now posted!

Liu Qingge is called in to face a legendary beast of myth, which leads to further complications when the origin of it is revealed. Meanwhile, Shen Yuan finally finds out how Luo Binghe is faring five years out of the Endless Abyss.

(or, liu qingge’s greatest enemy is a peak lord meeting and shen yuan and binghe play guilt ping pong)

Wan Qingyu held up a piece of parchment with an unfamiliar symbol on it. Most of the Peak Lords looked at in curiosity, but Shen Qingqiu had brought his fan down far enough to see a brief flash of an emotion on his face—Liu Qingge couldn’t examine it, because Shang Qinghua muttered, “holy shit,” under his breath, which distracted him.

“Are you certain that was the symbol?” Yue Qingyuan asked. 

“We’re in the process of trying to refine the bone now,” Zhong Qingzu said, grimly, “and it was much smaller, but this is the symbol.” 

The Peak Lords looked to Yue Qingyuan for explanation. He closed his eyes for a moment and then addressed them. “That is a zuiyin. A mark of sin. That specific symbol denotes a Heavenly Demon. I last saw it on Tianlang-jun.”

“Wouldn’t we have been notified if the seals were broken?” Qi Qingqi asked, amongst the immediate chatter at that revelation.

Yue Qingyuan nodded. “Even if Huan Hua Palace decided to keep the information, I have several markers that would have alerted me.” 

“If a talisman and array can be manipulated,” Wu Chang Peak Lord, Lai Qinglan said, steadily. “Then Huan Hua Palace and Tianlang-jun would be the ones with the ability to do so.”

“We must immediately send someone to Bai Lu Mountain and Huan Hua to confirm this,” Qi Qingqi said. 

Liu Qingge shifted in his seat. He knew there had been no demonic attacks in the forest surrounding that mountain for over two decades and the singular pathetic demonic creature (that Zhan Yuan had insisted on not killing) wasn’t any kind of threat. Still… “I’ll go.”

Shen Qingqiu scoffed. “Of course you will. Your dual cultivator lives there.” 

Liu Qingge stood up, his hand on his sword. He said ‘dual cultivator’ the same way he’d say much worse terms.

“Liu-shidi, Qingqiu-shidi, please,” Yue Qingyuan said, gently. “This is too important to… be side tracked.”

Liu Qingge sat down, but left his hand on Cheng Luan’s hilt. 

[naiad-r]

Beast Tamer Wife AU.

Shen Yuan transmigrates into a wife and starts fighting for Luo Binghe's favor. Not for the sex or the prestige or anything. Those are nice but not as nice as the beasts that Luo Binghe brings back sometimes. He needs those.

[fancy-waffles]

Plucked from the Garden

Bingyuan/Bingqiu | E

Summary:

Shen Yuan transmigrates as Zhan Yuan, a child raised in the Warm Red Pavilion. His first go at attempting Cang Qiong Mountain Sect trials is ruined by his being sold to another brothel. His full courtesan duties are expected of him by sixteen—he meets a young Luo Binghe just shy of that. They both make it to the Cang Qiong Mountain Sect trials and Zhan Yuan is accepted at Qing Jing Peak. It isn’t a bad life, but his past never quite seems to escape him. (or, divergent courtesan shen yuan au where he gets to be a disciple this time)

“It seems we have an unprecedented situation in candidate selection,” Yue Qingyuan said, kindly. “Two of our Peak Lords have made very strong insistence on taking Zhan Yuan as a disciple.”

“What?” Shen Yuan couldn’t help say and then snapped his mouth shut. He definitely looked like an idiot—he was dehydrated, sweaty, and not entirely sure he wasn’t hallucinating. 

The Bai Zhan War God and Scum Villain were fighting over him? 

Yue Qingyuan very nicely didn’t linger on the awkwardness. “As both Peak Lords are very… impassioned about their selection, we have decided that Zhan Yuan should choose which peak he thinks would suit him best.”

Shen Yuan was only sixteen, he couldn’t be having a stroke, right? Was that age dependent? Maybe it was an aneurism. 

Both Liu Qingge and Shen Qingqiu had moved so Shen Yuan could see them on opposite sides of Yue Qingyuan. They both looked expectant, like of course Shen Yuan was going to choose them.

What. The. Fuck.

[fancy-waffles]

Chapter 4 now posted!

A year later and the rumors about Zhan Yuan haven’t died down. This leads to nowhere good.

(or, shen yuan has shijies instead of jiejies now)

Being at Qian Cao Peak often enough also had the added benefit of running into Binghe. Thankfully, not because he was injured, but usually because one of his peakmates was. 

Shen Yuan had witnessed many times over the past year Liu Qingge and Mu Qingfang fighting over how many body parts were bleeding and whether or not it was an issue. It generally seemed like an issue. Liu Qingge only seemed to think it was a concern if one of them might fall off. 

“Hey, did you shoot up another cun?” Shen Yuan asked Luo Binghe one day while they watched Liu Qingge and Mu Qingfang argue about whether or not he needed observation for what was absolutely a concussion and definitely still bleeding. 

Luo Binghe stood up a little straighter. “Maybe.”

Shen Yuan laughed and nudged his shoulder. “At least I know they’re feeding you there.” 

Luo Binghe smiled and then shot a slightly despairing look in Liu Qingge’s direction. “Shizun goes on hunts once a month to bring back meat for the kitchens.” 

“Like, demonic and spiritual beast meat?” Shen Yuan asked.

Luo Binghe looked at him slyly. “Sometimes. The ones that can help with cultivation strengthening.” He sort of fiddled with Shen Yuan’s sleeve like a comfort habit he didn't seem to grow out of. “I can bring you some next time.”

“Oh, that’s going to go over great,” Shen Yuan said, smothering a laugh as he pictured it. “A Bai Zhan raid and I get a picnic.” 

“It doesn’t have to be a raid,” Luo Binghe said, “Shizun is teaching me some stealth tactics. It’s fair to practice them.”

“Mm,” Shen Yuan said, not convinced. “I don’t know if your shizun would want you practicing in the danger of my shizun.” He had been doing pretty well of keeping them separated so far and Shen Yuan was feeling a lot better about the future plot because of that.

He still hadn’t figured out the Immortal Alliance Conference and Endless Abyss bit, but that was years from now.

“Yuan-ge?” Luo Binghe asked.

“Yuan-shixiong,” Shen Yuan corrected, even though he didn’t actually care.

Luo Binghe knew that and ignored him. Usually he’d grin too, but he seemed serious. “Your shizun isn’t…expecting things is he?”

Apparently those rumors were so bad, a now twelve year old Luo Binghe was finding a way to covertly ask about them. Shen Yuan thought he was numb to it, but that actually pissed him off. 

“Shizun treats me like any other disciple,” Shen Yuan said, firmly. 

Luo Binghe seemed relieved. He opened his mouth to say something—probably apologize when Liu Qingge passed out and Mu Qingfang barely caught him in time.

“Can’t exactly get the last word this way, but I did tell you this would happen,” Mu Qingfang said, as Shen Yuan and Luo Binghe rushed over to help him get an unconscious Liu Qingge on the medical cot. 

“Hey, Binghe,” Shen Yuan asked, once there was no immediate concern about the Bai Zhan War God beyond him giving Mu Qingfang an ulcer. “You cook for Liu-shishu, right?” 

“Sometimes,” Luo Binghe said, almost a chirp. “He practices inedia or goes off mountain often.”

“Mention that to Mu-shishu sometime,” Shen Yuan said. Maybe there was some kind of herb Binghe could slip in that might prevent future qi deviations.

[diamondmiami1809]

Flirting in the court as always :)

How I dare not to draw mby’s nose ring when I voted for it?

I’ll never get tired of drawing them, like I read fanfics of liushen, zhushen, mushen, etc. and fanfics like this make fall in love again with bingqiu or in this case bingyuan.

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

And BONUS

It was supposed to be mbz and mobei dad, but mbz looks just like mby, anyways if you have read the fic you know of what scene I’m talking about

@confuzing

[supertaliart]

I desperately needed a break from the comics inks and thumbnails I’ve been doing so I gave myself a Liu Qingge as a treat. I think I like the black and white version more but I wanted to play around with some new brushes!

[fancy-waffles]

Fanon vs Canon SVSSS

(This is not me saying do not do these things, because actually most of the time I love the fanon ones and it works for whatever I’m reading. Also sometimes you want to just handwave the timeline to do your silly little thing. Some of these could potentially be translation nuances as well.)

Fanon: Meng Mo notices the strength of Luo Binghe during the demon invasion of Qiong Ding Peak and decides to get in there and be his tutor.

Canon: Sha Hualing thought Luo Binghe was hot and used an ancient demonic artifact to SHOOT him with Meng Mo AS THE BULLET

Fanon: Shen Yuan is the CEO of his parent’s company.

Canon: Airplane says he looks like a CEO when he gets dressed up.

Fanon: The Skinner Demon mission was Luo BInghe’s first mission in Proud Immortal Demon Way.

Canon: The Skinner Demon mission was “bonus” content and Shen Yuan as Shen Qingqiu had no idea what the fuck he was doing. (Possible interpretation, the mission happened, but OG!Luo Binghe didn’t get to do it so it wasn’t in PIDW).

Fanon: Jin Lan City and Sower demons always happens.

Canon: Jin Lan City is only infested with Sower demons if Shen Yuan as Shen Qingqiu helps Zhuzhi-lang which then resurrects Tianlang-jun, who was trying out a ~solution for the famine in the demon areas. This also means PIDW trial for OG!Shen Qingqiu is handled/set very differently.

Fanon: OG!Luo Binghe set Shen Jiu up with false accusations.

Canon: While we get more context that some of the accusations against OG!Shen Qingqiu are not so clear cut, the only thing outright proven wrong is the death of Liu Qingge which was accidental. Shen Jiu does visit brothels PROBABLY to sleep only. He ABSOLUTELY abused his disciples, especially Luo Binghe. He traveled with and killed Wu Yanzi. He did in fact kill Qiu Jianluo and burn down that house (they deserved it). There’s no evidence one way or another about improper advances against Ning Yingying so it’s open to interpretation, but it would be the only false accusation that was a straight up lie. There’s also zero indication that OG!Luo Binghe knew any of the additional context or else it would’ve been in PIDW and not something revealed to Shen Qingqiu during SVSSS.

Fanon: Bing-ge keeps the braid and wants to kidnap the good shizun.

Canon: Bing-ge impulsively asks Shen Yuan!Shen Qingqiu to come with him and then goes back to his own universe without much of a fuss.

Fanon: Liu Qingge hated Shen Jiu for no reason. Or Shen Jiu hated Liu Qingge only because he was jealous.

Canon: Liu Qingge was ambushed by Shen Jiu who was a big baby about losing the martial competition (he also was very jealous due to his interpretation of Liu Qingge's background and how easy everything must've been for him). There is at least one other occasion where he thinks Shen Jiu was trying to kill him (and Shen Jiu says he’s gonna kill him A LOT).

Also Liu Qingge is implied to have said rude shit before Yue Qingyuan got to the Warm Red Pavilion and absolutely says rude shit about Shen Jiu's cultivation issues during the Luo Binghe digging trial scene.

Fanon: The Warm Red Pavilion is near Cang Qiong Mountain Sect/in the village nearest the mountain.

Canon: It’s actually not near the mountain, the disciple that discovers Shen Jiu is on a remote mission and Shen Jiu/OG!Shen Qingqiu is smart enough to try and keep a low profile (minus beating the shit out of that disciple which is what sets off the Liu Qingge scene).

[fancy-waffles]

Willow Roots and Rivers

Summary:

It’s been six years since the Immortal Alliance Conference and the last time Zhan Yuan (the courtesan that Shen Yuan transmigrated into) has seen Luo Binghe. Since that time, Shen Yuan has created a good life for himself, which includes his cultivation partner Liu Qingge and the Twin Dahlia Garden, a brothel that focuses on dual cultivation. Not everything is perfect, Shen Yuan’s spiritual veins are still permanently damaged from being used as a cauldron, Liu Qingge is dealing with the resurgence of legendary monsters, and Luo Binghe is back—perhaps not quite the little sheep anymore after five years in the Endless Abyss. (or, courtesan shen yuan au, part two) Sequel to Symmetry in Bloom

Shen Yuan got home very late, unsurprised but disappointed not to see Liu Qingge there. An emergency requiring the War God was likely to take more than a few days. He hoped it didn’t take weeks. 

He lured Ghibli into the house so he could have something to snuggle with, sacrificing an old trinket he didn’t use anymore to its hidden mouth buried under that odd feeling black fur. Shen Yuan indulged himself for a while, snuggling up to Ghibli and pulling out a horrible book Mingyan had sent him. She had horrendous taste in literature, but he couldn’t stop reading it—there was always a small hope it would turn around and get better. 

An hour later and it still hadn’t. His candles were burning down and he was getting tired again, so Shen Yuan gave in and was about to get ready for bed when there was a soft knock at his door.

Ghibli softly snoozed on the pillows he’d thrown on the floor and none of Shen Yuan’s alert arrays had been set off. Shen Yuan still made sure he had his sword at hand before he went to open it. It was pretty late for—

A youth wearing black, shouldering a modest, unadorned longsword, his complexion as clear as jade, his eyes like two deep pools of cold starlight stood there.

“Yuan-ge,” Luo Binghe said, smiling. “Hello.” 

[maliinka]

gongyi xiaooo.... ♡

[fancy-waffles]

Plucked from the Garden

Bingyuan/Bingqiu | E

Summary:

Shen Yuan transmigrates as Zhan Yuan, a child raised in the Warm Red Pavilion. His first go at attempting Cang Qiong Mountain Sect trials is ruined by his being sold to another brothel. His full courtesan duties are expected of him by sixteen—he meets a young Luo Binghe just shy of that. They both make it to the Cang Qiong Mountain Sect trials and Zhan Yuan is accepted at Qing Jing Peak. It isn’t a bad life, but his past never quite seems to escape him. (or, divergent courtesan shen yuan au where he gets to be a disciple this time)

“It seems we have an unprecedented situation in candidate selection,” Yue Qingyuan said, kindly. “Two of our Peak Lords have made very strong insistence on taking Zhan Yuan as a disciple.”

“What?” Shen Yuan couldn’t help say and then snapped his mouth shut. He definitely looked like an idiot—he was dehydrated, sweaty, and not entirely sure he wasn’t hallucinating. 

The Bai Zhan War God and Scum Villain were fighting over him? 

Yue Qingyuan very nicely didn’t linger on the awkwardness. “As both Peak Lords are very… impassioned about their selection, we have decided that Zhan Yuan should choose which peak he thinks would suit him best.”

Shen Yuan was only sixteen, he couldn’t be having a stroke, right? Was that age dependent? Maybe it was an aneurism. 

Both Liu Qingge and Shen Qingqiu had moved so Shen Yuan could see them on opposite sides of Yue Qingyuan. They both looked expectant, like of course Shen Yuan was going to choose them.

What. The. Fuck.

[fancy-waffles]

Chapter 3 now posted!

Shen Yuan explores being a Qing Jing Peak disciple and the bullies don't really bother him when the alternative is going back to the brothel and also losing the sweet ass Qing Jing library. Now he's just gotta convince Bunhe to stop taking their legs out.

Of course there were downsides to Bai Zhan Peak.

“They don't have a library?” Shen Yuan balked. 

Luo Binghe made a face. “No, but the Hall Masters have books and they’re teaching anyone who doesn’t know how to read and write.” He pouted a little. “I haven’t gotten any better at anything Yuan-ge showed me.”

Shen Yuan laughed. “That’s fine.” He didn’t think playing the guqin was exactly the martial peak’s style. “When we can visit other peaks, I’ll show you what I learned and you can teach me how to withstand your hugs.”

He really missed the way Luo Binghe’s eyes brightened when he smiled like that. It had been a month and Shen Yuan felt like he was settling in fine, but this was the first time it felt… permanent. Like it could be home. 

“Why are they attacking us anyway?” Shen Yuan asked, as a particularly loud yell carried through the bamboo.

“Bai Zhan Peak tests other peaks’ preparedness,” Luo Binghe said.

Shen Yuan ruffled Luo Binghe’s hair. “That kinda seems like they don’t have enough to do where they are.”

Luo Binghe shrugged, but still leaned in to the affection like a pleased cat. He didn’t seem all that interested in joining his peakmates. “Shizun said it’s a tradition.”

That didn’t really sanction it. It was a shame there wasn’t a xianxia equivalent of paintball guns. Shen Yuan suspected they could really make a splash in this environment. He’d need to suggest competitive snowball fights once winter came.

He was about to ask Binghe some follow-up questions when a couple of Shen Yuan’s fellows came around the corner. Mo Rong and Liao Ju—two of the more annoying bullies. He’d seen them congregating with Ming Fan, who didn’t seem to be participating in the shit talking, even if he wasn’t actively pushing back on it.

“Of course, Zhan-shidi is trading favors with Bai Zhan,” Mo Rong said with a sneer. “Any currency will bend you over, huh?”

Shen Yuan was about to tell him how uninspiring that insult was and also make sure he was not implying anything about Binghe who was eleven, when Luo Binghe did some quick maneuver and kicked Mo Rong’s legs out from under him.

[fancy-waffles]

i finished my first draft of my symmetry in bloom sequel so ofc i am missing liushen already and was daydreaming about the au where sy makes the FIRST trials at thirteen like he was supposed to (zhi-jie gets to be a comfortable concubine--SY eventually learns xianxia DNA testing to confirm she's def his birth mom and not his sister)

and SQQ and LQG are younger so they fist fight obvi instead of just argue and meanwhile MQF is like hmm that boy seems industrious and also I GUESS I'll be busy putting hello kitty bandaids on my martial brothers again later so yo yank that kid -- and SY completely oblivious to two peak lords elbowing each other in the face trots off to Qian Cao (possibly YQY shows up later and is like well you see... um Xiao Jiu wanted him and MQF is like he already had tea and correctly identified four my plants, no takebacks)

so the premise would basically be liushen hurt/comfort because LQG is an idiot and would just meet SY a bunch while injured over the years

meanwhile, when SY is sixteen and bunhe shows up, he tries to help! first he checks on him during a herb delivery for SQQ and very kindly tries to be like hey why don't you take him to another peak if you don't like teaching him? and SQQ gets pissy and probably threatens him idk -- and SY stomps off and is grumpy so he does the only thing he can think of and places some healing salve in the woodshed secretly

bunhe is very confused, which does not get corrected and actually gets worse, because SY can't convince MQF that SQQ is being abusive to the point there needs to be intervention cos MQF can't fathom it, so he starts just checking on bunhe whenever he can in secret (he's picking herbs or some shit) and dropping off little things in the woodshed while bunhe is doing chores, including when he finds his jade pendant in some random tree while he's walking around since he knows who it belongs to

bunhe to ning yingying: shijie, i think qing jing peak has been blessed by a fairy spirit and it's CHOSEN ME ning yingying: *nods very seriously* a-luo we need to draw fanart

so the myth of the blessed QJP fairy spirit keeps growing unbeknownst to SY, who is still occasionally trying to get bunhe free, including inventing preventative care and convincing MQF all the disciples who have never been in should get checked out to be on the safe side (my disciple, what a genius! minus that idea about HIPPA)

and MQF after examining bunhe is like wtf does this BABY CHILD who is maybe twelve/thirteen have scars from whip marks, is STILL malnourished after years at the peak, and what the FUCK happened to your spiritual veins how are you still alive???

so he tries to get binghe outta there, and YQY is like a limp pancake and doesn't let him, cos SQQ knows someone has been trying to yank him and is digging his heels in (SY has spoken to Airplane who tries a couple of times to lure him to an ding)

MQF settles for throwing a fit until Binghe gets monthly check-ins on QCP to make sure he's doing okay which means SQQ has to treat him with the bare minimum of care and that'll have binghe ZOOMING obviously but he's SQQ so I'm sure he'll figure out ways to torment him out of spite--

during one visit when Binghe is old enough to advocate for himself MQF gently tries to convince him to leave QJP for another peak and Bunhe is like I CAN'T cos the QJP FAIRY SPIRIT might get MAD AT ME for being abandoned

possibly the challenge of physiological warfare against a stubborn shen yuan and also binghe somehow being less annoying to SQQ (maybe he stops being so deferential and goes more little shit direction and SQQ is like hmm I can work with this so you DON'T want to leave eh?)

and SY is oblivious this entire time and keeps sneaking candy into Bunhe's pockets after QCP until eventually Bunhe is convinced by NYY or SQQ or both to make a trap for the Fairy Spirit and it's Shen Yuan stuck in a net trap hanging off a tree being like what the hell guys

possibly this trap happens after shen yuan is convinced by shang qinghua to cosplay as the ghost of christmas past for shen qingqiu--he's got MQF's full supply of drugs he could do it pretty easily tbh

[tiloopadoo]

Shen Yuan: It's good to see you are getting along with my brother finally. I had always thought your rivalry was more two-sided, but if all it took was an apology, I suppose not.

Liu Qingge: It wasn't just an apology, he also has tried to be civil with me. That's why I am trying to be civil with him.

Shen Yuan: You really do just copy how people act towards you, don't you? I thought the phrase was 'Treat people the way you want to be treated' not the other way around.

Liu Qingge: I want to be treated with brute honesty, but turns out people don't like that. But everyone else understands it, so if they treat me the way they want to be treated, I know how to treat them, and I won't mess up as much. People have made talking to others unnecessarily complicated, but I have found a way to win at social interaction.

Shen Yuan: You would have loved an autism diagnosis.

Liu Qingge: Is this your way of saying you want one? I'll kill it for you once I find out what kind of beast it is.

[fancy-waffles]

another stupid bing-ge au idea

emperor bing-ge gets a prophecy that he needs an empress to truly gain happiness so he starts testing out the wives for the position, mostly in order--Yingying is a little too cheerful and nothing gets done cos she won't order anything of consequence as she doesn't want to bother anyone, Mingyan flat out refuses cos its too much work (or she makes citizens rpf her danmei book plots)

the less said about the twelve hours Sha Hualing was empress the better, related this is also why he does not try the little palace mistress out (she does not take that well)

qin wanyue seems overwhelmed, qin wanrong is easily distracted, qiu haitang is passable but then stops paying attention to anything remotely relevant and he runs into the issue that all his human wives don't give a fuck about the demons and his demon wives don't care about the humans and his etc wives have their own issues, like his tree spirit wife who can't understand the passage of time and either takes two seconds for a question asked during an audience or six hours

eventually everyone, including the wives is tired of this shit and bing-ge spends a while tracking down the source for the prophet who created this prophecy and it's this weird ass hermit guy who spends most of his day looking at different monsters and traveling through towns handing out herbs and shit for various minor ills and has an eclectic but good reputation among all the villagers

and bing-ge is like WTF is this and the hermit guy (shen yuan obviously) was misquoted by this ancient prophetic being he had NO IDEA was using him for anything (they sensed his otherworldly presence) and thought he was merely discussing fan theories like in the forums--SY gets really annoyed and was like "I DID NOT say that, I said, if Bing-ge wants to be truly happy he needs to find someone who will love and accept him and SHARE his burden, like an empress. I mean if I had to pick one of the wives, I'd go with liu mingyan she's clearly the best."

insert bing-ge following hermit nerd shen yuan around trying to figure out what the fuck is his deal and plotting revenge on how he wasted like an entire year on this shit and it almost fucked up his entire rule and meanwhile shen yuan is doing his usual head pat, ooo tell me about monsters and cool fights appreciation thing and wifebeaming the hell out of him

then bing-ge figures it out and is like hey out of curiosity what are your ideas for the 3 realms that an empress should do and shen yuan has thought extensively about this now that he's seen some of the world building in person and comes up with some TOP NOTCH ideas (including universal childcare) that bing-ge starts slowly testing out and people go bonkers for--and his ideas are for everyone not just humans or demons

bing-ge tries to bait him with terrible things he's done to get him to reject him but shen yuan is like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ pobody's nerfect and passing all the tests thinking about how cool it is he gets to explore the world and be friends with bing-ge

meanwhile bing-ge is getting official empress shit together and planning a wedding for him and shen yuan

shen yuan: ah this is so cool bing-ge asked me if i wanted to hang out with him forever! of course I would sheesh

[bauhin]

the Liu siblings have no sense of social propriety because of pretty privilege

[bauhin]

[tenowls]

wretched beginning, wretched end

[fancy-waffles]

Plucked from the Garden

Bingyuan/Bingqiu | E

Summary:

Shen Yuan transmigrates as Zhan Yuan, a child raised in the Warm Red Pavilion. His first go at attempting Cang Qiong Mountain Sect trials is ruined by his being sold to another brothel. His full courtesan duties are expected of him by sixteen—he meets a young Luo Binghe just shy of that. They both make it to the Cang Qiong Mountain Sect trials and Zhan Yuan is accepted at Qing Jing Peak. It isn’t a bad life, but his past never quite seems to escape him. (or, divergent courtesan shen yuan au where he gets to be a disciple this time)

“It seems we have an unprecedented situation in candidate selection,” Yue Qingyuan said, kindly. “Two of our Peak Lords have made very strong insistence on taking Zhan Yuan as a disciple.”

“What?” Shen Yuan couldn’t help say and then snapped his mouth shut. He definitely looked like an idiot—he was dehydrated, sweaty, and not entirely sure he wasn’t hallucinating. 

The Bai Zhan War God and Scum Villain were fighting over him? 

Yue Qingyuan very nicely didn’t linger on the awkwardness. “As both Peak Lords are very… impassioned about their selection, we have decided that Zhan Yuan should choose which peak he thinks would suit him best.”

Shen Yuan was only sixteen, he couldn’t be having a stroke, right? Was that age dependent? Maybe it was an aneurism. 

Both Liu Qingge and Shen Qingqiu had moved so Shen Yuan could see them on opposite sides of Yue Qingyuan. They both looked expectant, like of course Shen Yuan was going to choose them.

What. The. Fuck.

[fangirlingpuggle]

Very silly SVSSS thought I just had.

If SQQ trial had happened, TLJ would have not been able to resit the drama.

Just TLJ sitting there in crowd munching on melon seeds with a fake mustache.

YQY final looking away from his shidi on trial and noticing the should be sealed away demon emperor watching eyes sparkling int he same way LMY are.

Bonus

LMY is taking notes the entire trial. TLJ is reading over her shoulder.

[fancy-waffles]

reverse transmigration AU where Bing-ge ends up trying to find the god that made his life like this and ends up crashing with Airplane angrily making him write better "alternative routes" for himself, but they're terrible because it's all Luo Binghe self-insert fiction when he has zero self-awareness and Airplane doesn't want to die but he's also dying because ARTISTIC INTEGRITY (or at least, you know he's not even getting PAID for breaking it this time) -- and Peerless Cucumber is getting basically edged with NEW LUO BINGHE stories that start out interesting and then devolve into nonsense and somehow starts being meaner than normal in comments--however that doesn't get noticed immediately by either of them because he's always mean and a lot of the comments are ANNOYED because there's no papapa and adventuring in the ways they expect (and Airplane would like to say that it's HARD TO WRITE a smut scene while the POV character is angrily looking at you with murder eyes--except no wait, maybe he is into that actually and so at least one of them is good).

luo binghe eventually makes an account to argue with everyone in the comments, but cannot defeat peerless cucumber who is seriously concerned that airplane might have had a mental break with these new stories and starts paying for private DMs to harass and check on him, while at the same time arguing with Bing-ge's handle (which is like SupremeEmperorACTuALLYYES because all the other emperor variants were taken), because clearly whoever is writing Bing-ge's forum posts completely misunderstands the character and is focusing on the wrong things

so airplane is having multiple existential crises (because some of these ideas are not terrible, please let him write them out, bro-son!) and bing-ge is angry because every time he goes back to his dimension none of the changes airplane made are sticking (or they are but it all goes wrong and then that means peerless cucumber is RIGHT and that cannot stand) and shen yuan is wondering how insane he'd have to be to hire a private detective merely to find airplane and make sure he wasn't actively dying

[fancy-waffles]

Incredibly stupid addition:

One of the first stories Bing-ge forces Airplane to write is a Shizun untouched by cruelty. He of course tries to get his own RPF style Bingmei Shizun

(Bing-ge: And then he told me I was a good boy and he regretted all the cruelty and it wasn't my fault.

Airplane: dude I can't...

Bing-ge hovering Xin Mo above him.

Airplane: Right, right okay! Papapa with your teacher, got it)

Once he returns to his world to see if it worked, what happened instead was that one of his enemies used a ritual to awaken Bing-ge's greatest enemy but it went wrong and it was his enemy untouched by cruelty so it ends up being accidental baby acquisition Shen Jiu.

Bing-ge dumps the baby with like Ning Yingying or something and makes Airplane try again, starting fresh with like the most ridiculous Mary Sue OPP romance option ever (who he still is like but also make her brush my hair). That goes about as well as you think it would.

It's a whole monkey's paw thing basically.

Bing-ge tells Airplane to write him finding love in his harem (six thousand page angry comment from Peerless Cucumber that Airplane goes with Qin Wanyue instead of the OBVIOUS choice of Liu Mingyan--even though the choice was because she was a safer option to mess with and Bing-ge didn't want to brainwash his top three)--and so true love is found in his harem when LMY and SHL run off with each other, etc etc--the intent of the instructions go through but not the actual storylines

and OBVIOUSLY shen yuan figures out how to get airplane's information and texts him if he's okay (incredibly awkwardly) but before he can respond, bing-ge sees it and is like 'send the challenger your address' cos he wants to confront this VERY WRONG peerless cucumber

cue shen yuan showing up to real life luo binghe going, "nope!" and turning around -- which obviously would lead eventually to him finding out what they're doing and ALSO bullying airplane into writing new shit (he makes a chart with all they've tried so far and how it was affected in the PIDW world and airplane is amazed he's a bigger fucking nerd than he thought and Bing-ge makes him show him what a spreadsheet is)

it's not as funny if SY plays this game, because he'll be like well bring back the washerwoman if you want him to be happy but then it won't work in PIDW and now you got a perfectly good demon lord and you gave him depression! look what you did!

airplane potentially gets so annoyed with both of them in his apartment holding him at gunpoint basically to write what they think is better and ARGUING that he spite-writes an absurdly stupid new love interest that is basically Peerless Cucumber who gets transported into the world of PIDW and immediately swoons and loses all his bitchiness when exposed to the heavenly pillar

shen yuan finds out and is of course screaming at him for it

while bing-ge (who had been gently talked to re: depression and the washerwoman by the angry peerless cucumber and offered a nice bro-hug for comfort) is like wait a minute, let him cook