Scumegaverse where Shen Yuan transmigrated from a non omegaverse world. Shen Jiu had been taking heat suppressants which were fucking up his health, so once OOC restrictions lifted, Shen Yuan goes off them. Mu Qingfang advises he wait for his first big heat to pass before he goes into seclusion, which Shen Yuan is not exited to experience. After all, this will technically be his first heat. Heās scared. He knows this is the type of omegaverse where your mind remains mostly unchanged during hormonal cycles, but how much worse is his heat going to be after such long suppression? He doesnāt have anyone to help him through it, to tell him if something is wrongā no one he trusts at least.
Yue Qingyuan comes to check on him even after heās declared he wonāt be disturbed for a little while. Itās clear the sect leader wasnāt expecting Shen Qingqiu to be in heat, he tries to maintain a respectful distance as he asks Shen Yuan if he needs food, water, entertainment, a new blanket. Maybe itās his hormones talking but ohā¦ Shen Yuan misses his brothers. His Da-ge especially was 8 years older than him, he would always come visit Shen Yuan in the hospital, read to him, make sure he was okay. He was never weird about Shen Yuanās failing health, never made him feel like a burden.
He couldnāt tell you who made the first step, but Yue Qingyuan has very warm, solid arms. Heās stiff, scent even a little scared, but he follows when Shen Yuan drags him into the nest. His hold makes him feel small in a good way. He feels taken care of. As though theres no reason to worry about the system or his responsibilities, because Yue Qingyuan is there to make sure everything will be okay.
qijiu are out on a mission (mayhaps covertly arranged by yqy) when they stumble on a spirit that is able to possess cultivators through demonic techniques
sj is the one who gets targeted, since his meridians have a unique structure to them back when wyz tried to make him into a cauldron. in the middle of the fight, the spirit does something, and all of a sudden sj flinches back, and his eyes have a strange purple sheen to them
and yqy cannot turn his sword (neither xuan su nor a spare one) against him as possessed!sj attacks him, not even when he knows that sj is being controlled by the spirit. sj lunges at him, and muscle memory makes yqy bring up his spare swordā but he jerks back at the last second, redirecting the blade. overbalances ā and sj knocks him to the ground, and his hands are around yqy's neck since xiu ya refused to answer to an impostor
yqy really should do something ā anything ā both for his and sj's sake, but in that moment all he can do is sag in that hold, his mind blank save for the feeling of xiao jiu's hands upon him.
(because it really isn't such a bad way to die, hm? with xiao jiu touching him; arguably taking what he's due; with those elegant fingers pressed deep into his skin, firm in their staunch ā deserved ā cruelty)
(when yqy blacks out from the lack of air, sj finally wrenches back control since he also knows how to utilize demonic qi from wyz's teachings. he immediately channels qi into yqy's meridians ā all while his mind keeps replaying yqy's faint smile even when he was getting quite literally getting choken almost to death)
The attempt had been set to fail from the beginning. Perhaps if they had caught Shen Jiu while he was younger and still learning they would have had a chance. There were certainly plenty that he could think of that would be trapped successfully in this place.
Shen Jiu had patience however, and his captors had slipped. It had only taken a moment to strangle his visitor to death with the chains that they had bound him with. Then he stripped the body of everything that he could.
If there had been a second captor there, this could not have worked. It was why they had been able to hold him for months. It had taken time to alter the chains to restrain the qi of anyone it touched, not just him. Weeks of carefully scratching at the metal and carefully staining it with his blood. Encouraging it to work further towards its purpose was always going to be easier than trying to break its hold on his qi.
He stripped the body of everything it had and carefully unlocked the chains. Shen Jiu had plans. This chance had taken a long time, and he would not get another for yet another stretch if they caught him again. This could be done once, not twice. If he was captured again he would have to design yet another way to escape.
The best way to ensure this went as planned was to make sure there was no one left to hunt him. The first part: find the security array, and quietly flip it so no one could get in or out. His qi flowed through his body as he silently worked to rewrite the array. The longer he had before they realized something was wrong, the better.
Shen Jiu could fight, but he was not Liu Qingge. Knives in the back and a full set of arrays and talismans was by far his preference. He slowly filled the place with deadly traps as he walked up. Anyone who came after him would find they became his prey instead.
The first to find him died swiftly. The second he used as bait. The third Shen Qingqiu took his time with before starting to hunt in earnest.
It was important to not let them group together. Talismans to blind senses and make them lose track of each other were used heavily. Shen Jiu struck down each one one by one. A few tried to leave, only to learn just what Shen Jiu had done to the array meant to keep him from escaping.
Blood dripped from his clothes as he quietly finished up and left the building. He would need a fresh change of clothes. Keeping clean had not been a priority. Now though, a bath and fresh food would serve him well. Shen Jiu smiled quietly to himself as he walked out to freedom.
my favorite detail that shen jiu often went to the red pavilion seeking out companionship and safety and a biggggg part of it being the fact that it's mostly women that won't do harm or take advantage of him due to his personal circumstances and trauma that has irrevocably changed him and how he views the world. but also the fact that he chooses the brothel has a lot more to do with than just that!!!
one of the important thing is who his company was and a lot of it can be seen in shen jiu's past, the world building and the fact that brothels existed in it. brothels are usually known for physical intimacy reasons, but pleasure has more than one shade depending on who you are. courtesans and consorts were some of the most well respected, most educated and refined women - they were a big part of high society. courtesans weren't only limited to physical intimacy, but sometimes they had a choice to pursue other skills and further education in various other activities if they weren't keen on taking customers or "weren't attractive enough". Those other skills included playing go and/or shogi, performing tea ceremonies, playing traditional instruments, singing, dancing, fluent in poetry and literature, you name it, there's always a capable and well learned woman to entertain you with it. The higher rank a courtesan or consort has, the more money she makes for the brothel, the more choices she has i.e. choosing and rejecting customers, when she retires, etc.
Shen jiu was a scholar and an academic, he was known for being very introverted and unfriendly, always keeping to himself and not comfortable around a lot of other people, rarely got along with anyone on CQM. Despite that loneliness, no matter how carefully crafted it may be under the guise of protecting oneself, it is loneliness all the same. The red pavilion provided him with like minded company, women he could have genuine conversations with, women who were paid to cater to him, women who would meet him half way and make him feel understood even if it wasn't about his personal issues. He could discuss literature and poetry, music and tea ceremonies, everything he is known for. It was genuinely the perfect place for him. Shen jiu who provided physical labour and dealt with physical abuse his entire life as a CHILD, was finally able to seek out intellectual and emotional intimacy. A place he could have people listen to him, make him feel seen and understood for who he really is under all the unpleasantness.
Another big thing to note is that before he was bought by the Qiu family, he was essentially illiterate. Qiu Jianluo was the one who decided that he'd educate shen jiu in hopes that he'll become his brother in law, the thing that set shen jiu apart from his peers when he joined CQM was his literacy and how well read and spoken he was and ended up becoming his shizun's favorite. The irony of Shen Jiu's life is that everything he despised most about himself, are the very things that brought him the freedom of leaving shen jiu behind and becoming Shen Qingqiu. Both his Name and his life's purpose to immortality. One of the only reasons he could seek out that emotional and intellectual intimacy he wanted and to the extent he wanted, was because him being educated and literate made him capable of doing so. The worst person in his life made him capable and granted him freedom in the most unexpected ways and it kills him.
Furthermore, Shen jiu went from being an orphan and a begger to being sold off as a servant and then eventually married without his consent. I imagine a life of such misery is something only children in his situation can understand and women who are confined to brothels either because their families were broke and needed the money, were kidnapped and sold off, orphans who didn't have anywhere else to go or a means to make a living, or children of courtesans and consorts who grew up in brothels their entire lives. The only respectable way out of brothels was being sold off to the highest bidder of a courtesan's choosing. Who could relate to his life experiences better than all these lovely and smart women who were oppressed in all the same shades as shen jiu?
I love shen jiu, there's so much to his actions and to his character if we could look past the obvious. He's full of love but he doesn't know what to do with his hands and he doesn't know how to shape that love into something that could be understood and wanted by anyone else. There is an angry child inside him that never received love and never grew up, and when children are angry, they lash out.
Shen Jiu qi deviates into a younger version of himself- but not a cute little boy. He deviates back to the worst night if his life and Yue Qingyuan has to deal with a scrawny hysterical teenaged Shen Jiu who just murdered a bunch of people.
I have seen a few fics where Shen Jiu!Shen Qingqiu gets pollened into having kitty ears which gets him thoroughly embarrassed for a bit but I have yet to see one where it gets him straight up exposed
So he gets pollened and the other perk lord expect something like this:
24/7 just more obviously an asshole than usual
Meanwhile Shen Qingqiu actually:
Shen Qingqiu still keeps up his usual act, which has the other perk lords quite confused. Sick? Ok. He got pollened. But wdym scared? Scared of what?? And all the time???
Meanwhile Shen Qingqiu has no idea his new body parts are betraying him like that. His mask is perfect after all, nothing has changed. Except the damn ears refuse to participate in the performance.
After he defeats TLJ, YQY finds out that he could technically be the king as he did beat him in combat. He then sees SQQ upset ins ect all the rumors and hostility towards him.
YQY realizing that they don;t have to stay here, he technically could be king not as many responsibilities he'd be able to focus on SQQ without judgement, spoil him....treat him like an empress...
SQQ is very confused when YQY just walks up to him scoops him up and takes off to demon realm.
Cue emperor YQY and empress SQQ who terrifies the court while YQY looks at him with heart eyes.
Bonus:
YQY: Now xiao-Jiu can kill everyone he threatened to
Bonus Bonus: they find and end up raising LBH...who end sup stumbling onto SY imprinting instantly and following in his baba's footsteps scooping up SY and taking him back to demon realm. while SY is asking his system 'WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PLOT???'
Honestly what gets me about both versions of Binghe is the sheer level of entitlement.
I find it a delightful flaw in a villain, but a bit less so in a love interest, at least in his case (he ain't no Griffith).
It's part of why a lot of Shen Qingqiu come back fics rub me the wrong way, trying to make it he owes Binghe something. He doesn't.
Being very fucking blunt, what Luo Binghe suffers is pretty par for the course in the society we are shown. Bai Zhan disciples would probably call him a whiner and sadly be justified for it.
Hell, Shen Qingqiu and Yue Qingyuan's own suffering makes Binghe's pale in comparison, at least before the Abyss, which is his primary gripe in SVSSS.
Like, so you got made to do more chores and given a false manual, so what? The manual thing is especially overplayed imo, given that he's on the strategist peak, and it wouldn't be too surprising if that was a hazing thing even SJ had to deal with (makes sense, as a strategist needs to quickly parse out and eliminate false intel).
I honestly think Binghe is one of the most self-centered characters in the whole story, and he makes a fascinating contrast to not only Airplane, but characters I believe Airplane based on himself (SQQ and YQY in particular).
For all you can level at Shen Qingqiu, he wasn't stupid, and he certainly wasn't all that self-centered. He was more survival based if anything, and even then had a suicidal loyalty to Yue Qingyuan.
Speaking of Yue Qingyuan, I genuinely think he's what Binghe has convinced himself he is: the beleaguered hero suffering at the hands of a cruel world.
It isn't helped by him being one of like, four characters with a happy ending in SVSSS, either.
It's kinda why a story where the halo just flat out breaks early on would be fun to have, I think. Like, something about the seal destroys Binghe's potential to cultivate demonically and leaves his Heavenly Demon powers largely inert, thus the system just fucks off and we're left with this mediocre cultivator who isn't even singled out by MBJ.
Like, imagine a world where that happens and Shen Yuan is reversed out of there while Shen Qingqiu is tagged back in.
No Abyss, just an eternity of mediocrity under a Shizun who, with a fire lit under his ass, marries the sect leader and leaves Binghe in the dust.
I dunno, I just see all these fics punishing Shen Qingqiu for how he treated Binghe and it leaves a bad taste in my mouth and makes me go, "You know what, if Shen Qingqiu can get last unicorned and forced to live in a body he feels dying, why can't Binghe?"
Put that motherfucker in the drive-thru.
De-aging this, de-aging that; no one ever acknowledges that, in a scenario where Shen Qingqiu was de-aged surrounded by all his fellow peak lords, he would find himself surrounded by not only men but the type of rich masters who saw a slave like him as nothing but a plaything to humiliate and spit on at best and a punching bag to torture at worst, just like that wretched Qiu Jianluo; consequently he wouldāto her horrorārun to the only woman in the room, Qi Qingqi.
Okay but now imagine the whiplash at him hiding behind her like he's trying to make her a shield between him and the men. Imagine one of the other peak lords steps forward and for the first time they see the aloof and haughty cold-hearted scholar Shen QingQiu flinch at something and he grabs onto her skirts to try and hide behind her better
QQQ definitely has had disciples with similar behaviors. Who never leave the Peak without a solid Group. Helped mortals with similar behaviors when they dared approach her Fairies, never other cultivators, For A Reason. (Definitely something a women-only Peak includes in their training/studies. Their sect accepts disciples on Merit Despite Background! Even if many are still Biased. There's definitely been plenty of little ladies who ran there just like Qi-ge did. Whether they are all good at clocking it...)
She is shocked to see it in a miniaturized SQQ, but perhaps its a habit, an instinct, a reflex, to shift at least a little bit to better shield and hide whoever Reacts Like That. It was so quick and sudden!
Seeing/feeling the reaction to THAT. Little SJ calming slightly when he is better hidden from everyone else, or flinching when one of the Men try to peer around her, or start Shouting. Clinging less tightly when she steps back, herding him away from everyone else and closer to a wall perhaps, maybe leaning against her a little but breathing a little more calmly. Trembling even as he hides it desperately, she can still Feel it that close.
Yeah. All her hackles are up, Very Sus, but. She's not Stupid! Something is Very Very Off and she damn well wants to know What Is This Shit! What the fuck!
If nothing else, she's not gonna get answers by letting all these Stubborn Men crowd this petrified small being hiding behind her. Shoo! Back off!
Just asking his name would clue them in that at the very least he does not remember becoming Peak Lord, or even Head Disciple. Asking if he knows their names and not even getting their old personal ones puts it even further back.
But what would he even say to such questions when he only knows being a frightened young slave child? Only sees Fancy Masters around, asking him Questions, at least someone being Cranky/Mad/Hostile? The closest thing to servants present are Also Fancy! (Disciples) That doesn't help him figure out what's going on!
If QQQ asks, tho, he'd probably use very respectful lady-you-don't-know-but-is-Fancy sort of titles and such. Whether or not he feels safe, she's the safest person in the room, to him, so he's got the sense to automatically be nicer/polite. He's spitting mad at everyone else's existence right now, but being too vocal about that carelessly can get him Killed and he'd Know That.
If their Head Disciples are present or nearby, perhaps LMY has stepped closer already. For good or ill, that scrawny shrunken Peak Lord is clinging to her Shizun. Best be close to help in whichever direction this goes, hm? Having TWO jiejies essentially bracketing him? SJ is a bit wide eyed by now. Overwhelmed. This is Very Scary and A Lot!
Ofc, having LMY that close is gonna set off LQG even more. Man is NOT helping. Too cranky, too loud, too openly angy. But if anyone can tell him to Be Quieter and have it Work, its probably his baby sister. (Agreeing with his concerns or not, Gege is Not Helping!) Which. Earns some more wide eyed awe from baby SJ. Fancy Jiejies are maybe also Cranky BUT can and did make the Men back off and quiet down?! He'll put up with them being cranky and mean at him if they keep being so effective at keeping the Men away! He's scared and traumatized and a Survivor! Better sharp tongued cranky Jiejies than Men! Especially Fancy Masters!
Female servants, slaves, and even family members of Masters couldn't always do anything to help him, wouldn't risk it or even be Nice, but they generally didn't hurt him. So QQQ being harsh and cranky at first isn't entirely a shock or a dealbreaker, even if its less than thrilling. As long as she doesn't try to shove him back at the Men, even if she rips her skirts out of his hands and doesn't want him touching her... as long as she lets him stand with her between little SJ and the Masters he'll take it.
(And he definitely, DEFINITELY thinks YQY is Qi-ge's sperm donor or relative, not Qi-ge. So fancy and big and Healthy! Can't possibly be Qi-ge. Maybe if they could convince him he too is Older and Healthier and just got shrunk by an artifact he'd consider it. He'd agree that if Qi-ge is the Sect Boss of COURSE Xiao Jiu is his second, his strategist, the one most expected and positioned to argue with him and tell him when he's being an idiot. Its the only conceivable way Qi-ge being in charge of Anything would ever work! Qi-ge can be the Approachable Face but his Xiao Jiu is right at his back to make sure no Stupid happens! No backstabbing (of them)!)
About the last bit, I donāt think they would have a chance to even try and explain this to Shen Jiuāat least when it initially happens.
Keep his perspective in mind: last thing he remembers heās a slave child and now he woke up surrounded by rich lords. He mustāve been sold! And he doesnāt remember anything in between so they probably drugged him for easier transportation; heās seen often enough how people completely black out from various substances in the back alleys behind brothels and bars.
Not to mention, given his paranoia (which i believe was already present in his childhood at least to some extent given how vigilant and snappy he was from the very beginning), he probably tends to catastrophise.
Jiu was his slave number, Qingqiu must be what these people renamed him as a marker of their property.
Everyone is screaming, laughing, staring, babbling, pointing, all around him. Even for someone as smart as Shen Jiu, that kind of situation is entirely overwhelming and overstimulating. Especially for a child. Heās basically been teleported into an overstimulation torment nexus. The chaos doesnāt allow him to properly assess the situation. All he can see is that all these rich lords are ogling him like an object, like a toy.
For this part I feel like Iām not familiar enough with his character but i imagine heād either bolt (and immediately regret it) since all his brain can compute in the moment is that heās not safe or heād shut down trying to process the onslaught of information.
Fight (of fight flight freeze or faun) may be his default response but those are levels of human stress response and this is a lot more than what he usually has to deal with. Again, overstimulation torment nexus.
Either way, whatever the men have to say is going in one ear and out the other, simply because itās too much to process immediately.
Now back to Qi Qingqi; she could explain the situation to him but his (re)actions have peaked her interest and drawn her attention.
That little gremlin may be Shen fucking Qingqiu overall but right now heās a perfect little window to her hated Shixiongās overly concealed past who also happens to spark mild concern of an all too familiar type. Heās clearly not comfortable with all the other Peak Lords so, as a dutiful sect sibling and the only viable option, she simply must step up and take him to stay on her peak for the time being as unbearably awful it may be! Mingyan play along. Besides, Shen Qingqiu is banned not Shen Jiu (I think? I donāt remember when he was banned but most probably past becoming peak lord so this should be correct).
Time for interrogation with quickly growing mixed feelings.
One scenario Iād find particularly interesting requires Shen Jiu to not have a clean cut off if his memories, itās a bit messier. Heās lacking some memories he should have based on the age his body regressed to and he has some that should be in the future from his perspective.
Now, sexual violence happens extraordinarily often between romantic partners. Qi Qingqi has too often encountered girls who stayed in abusive situations far too long hoping their partner would change only for them to one day up and leave never to be seen again.
Shen Jiu, in his confusion, would keep mentioning āQi-Geā and how they used to cuddle everyday. How it was very nice because of how much older and bigger āQi-Geā was. Very unfortunate word choice Ć la āØ miscommunication āØ.
Qi Qingqi doesnāt charge that his memory is all jumbled up. Sheās asking leading questions trying to get at a specific topic, doesnāt know anything about his past to cross reference, and Shen Jiu is a very good lier quickly covering up any discrepancies in order to not get into trouble.
Qi Qingqi builds up a very specific image of that āQi-Geā in her mind during her questioning.
And then Shen Jiu drops one āXiao-Jiuā.
Theres only one person who calls him Xiao-Jiu. One who Shen Qingqiu hates with a passion.
Uh oh, sect leader's gonna get murdered if the other peak lords don't stop her because the little bean is saying things in a way that can leave a very wrong impression. Well, oops, so sad, hopefully QingQi-jie will be able to make up for taking away Qi-ge from the bean
Qi Qingqi lying in bed at night, unable to meditate or sleep, thinking about all the behaviors and interactions sheās watched between the two over the years:
Aversion to touch,āXiao-Jiuā despite being told not to call him that 473 times and counting (she had a score board), expensive gifts, apologetic fake smiles, āIām sorryās, literal harassment with how often the sect leader stands on the otherās doorstep, the brothels (hypersexuality as a coping mechanism in response to SA????), the list is looong.
āIt all makes sense nowā (sheās wrong on every single train of thought)
She's going to be so protective by the time he turns back and he's going to have no idea how it happened but at least someone is on his side now even if his paranoia says that he absolutely can't trust it at all
Iād like to rope Mu Qingfan in onto this whole mess too. I think heād be the first to catch on to whatās happening. Heās seen this behavior in his own patients and heās definitely seen how Qi Qingqi gets with this type of patient.
I feel like heād get quite sad for a good bit, having his decade long suspicions confirmed
Or
Since they barely interacted during all their time as sect siblings, heād beat himself up over completely missing the signsāin part bc heās used to mostly seeing this in girls.
Either way the cinnamon roll gets soggy.
Meanwhile Liu Qingge in the background feeling like the entire mountain is playing soccer with his brain. What the hell is going on??
The literal ONLY thing keeping YQY from being More of a Constant Pest, desperately wanting to hover over Tiny Scared Xiao Jiu, is because its Xian Shu and even he is Not Allowed to just waltz in, short of an active demonic invasion.
No matter how busy he is, scrambling to keep Qing Jing covered and all his usual work too, keeping anyone from Catching On that wasn't already aware/entrusted with the Occurrence? He still would be Trying To Hover. So much waterworks. Xiao Jiu is so small! So cute! Qi-ge wants to cuddle him so bad! In a protective overbearing big bro-puppy way. He's way bigger than he was when SJ was that small the first time, it makes SJ even cuter and smaller looking!!!
(And it is very much the sort of thing to Keep Secretā vulnerability! Endangers the mini Peak Lord if enemies find out to target him! Endangers the Sect if someone tries to take advantage! That's not just any PL, that's the #2, the Strategist, the Scholar! Who tends to piss off nearly Everyone tbh. Secret Secret indeed!)
Absolutely none of that is Helping the Peak Of Jumping To Conclusions And Gossiping to actually connect the correct dots.
Okay okay what about Shen Yuan transmigrating into a demon, and living long enough pre plot to come to the conclusion that he is gay (Iām thinking 2 centuries). Heās generally a pretty peaceful plant demon who frequently trades his panacea herbs with humans for various human goods. This naturally leads him to cultivating (ha) a good relationship with Mu Qingfang, even if they have to keep it on the down low in the Jianhu. One day Liu Qingge sees evidence of a demon āstalkingā Mu Qingfang, so he hunts the demon down to kick his ass and keep the sectās healers safe. Shen Yuan beats him handily (heās had 2 centuries to collect power ups and mcguffins) and drags this puny pretty boy back to Mu Qingfang. Mu Qingfang is unbelievably pissed that Liu Qingge would attack one of the only reliable trade routes the sect has with the demon realm, potentially endangering his very lucrative friendship with a walking miracle cure. Reading Liu Qingge for absolute filth to such a degree that even Shen Yuan is impressed. Liu Qinggeās punishment? He has to go work with Shen Yuan for however long it takes to repair the damage to his stronghold.
Things progress as things usually progress. When Shen Yuan realizes he has a thing for this human, he tries to start courting him. When Liu Qingge realizes he has a thing for this demon, he reads up on demonic courtship rituals. Both of them believe their attempts are being shot down.
Shen Yuan tries to be a little gentleman with his flirting, but 200 years has also done very little to chip away at his thin face. Instead of directly talking to Liu Qingge, he leaves flowers in his room, writes him anonymous love poetry, and dresses extra scanty around him. Surely since Liu Qingge is such a hot blooded man, something will move him to action!! Donāt make Shen Yuan take the first step!!!
Liu Qingge does his best to find information on demonic courtshipās intricacies, but very little is written in mandarin. All heās able to parse is āIf you are the weaker party, attack your intended and wait for them to retaliate. If they donāt kill you, that means they like you back.ā So, every time he sees Shen Yuan, he clocks him in the fucking face. Surely since Shen Yuan is a demon lord, he will make the first step and bridenap Liu Qingge!! Donāt make him take the first step!!!
Guess who passed the last 3h brainstorming a MDZS au instead of sleeping when she already has too many unwritten fic ideas + original works + Wips??????
Yeah. It's me.
Now I'm soooooo intrigued by the ideas I came up with that I'm tempted to share and let writers work from this premise so buckle up because we've got an interesting ride coming up!
Also it is long.
Story concept is WWX dying at the siege but as he dies, his heritage and the mix of Yin Hu Fu and Burial Mounds corrupted yin ma'es his soul travel back in time.
Except! WWX is not a boy. Gasp. He was born a girl but his parents made a charm WWX hides under her clothes to look like a boy. And she died as a man.
Also! Wei Changze is descended from Huxian, a fox deity, that was bound due to manipulation to promise to serve the Jiang sect. Le gasp. Of course WWX does not know this yet.
But that's not all! Death is kinda weird so BM and its ghosts and creatures remember WWX and the lost future. And Wen King's soul, that was kinda bound to WWX because of how she gave him his consciousness back, comes back in time too! Cue angst from being dead to alive for poor bean baby.
As for WWX, it happens that she gets thrown at the time they get refused entry to Cloud recesses by the Lan. So, plan from angry, sad grieving, disappointed WWX who just saw the Wen Remnants die and her shidi leading the massacre though he didn't participate and also lead her to kill herself because she had nothing left to live for??????
Yeah. She's not staying. So with the excuse of fetching the invitation, near qi deviation WWX stops and. Ghost ladies appear! They remember! They tell her about guu jianjun aka Wen Ning coming back too! She wants out! So with a new resolve, she goes to Cayi town, ostentatiously fetches the invite, goes buying many things either ostensibly as WWX to stay in character and using illusions because apparently she learnt that between dying and having a panic attack with her ghost jiejies, to buy other things needed for her new life and identity.
Then she fakes her death via waterborne abyss and leaves Suibian behind. Again. Which is painful. And also symbolic of her completely breaking from the Jiang.
Because her promises to stay by Jiang Cheng's side died when he in turn betrayed her and lead the sects to her place and even more so when he skewered her on his sword before her death.
Because a huxian's word is sacred, promises are linked to their being. But in this life and at this point in time, WWX hadn't actually made a definite promise yet. So she wasn't as bound to the Jiang as she could have and thus no negative repercussions for her leaving.
Anyways! WWX goes to Burial Mounds, gets some money along the way as a wandering lady cultivator though she wear basic clothes and a weimao to hide her face for now.
In this au Yiling supervisory office is already a-go so Wen Ning manages to meet with her more quickly.
Also WWX got a bit more intelligent and asks ghosts of the BM if there's money and valuables waiting around, which, yeah because a lot of people got thrown throughout the centuries. So she's not broke!
The duo plots, they get Wen Qing in on the whole situation, she's uncomfy with their plans because. They're both grieving, super mad and vengeful af. Wen Ning has been going through it OK? And he's still gui jianjun according to the spirits which is weird because he's alive and also a yang cultivator wth? But yeah something weird happened what with WWX being huxian but they don't know that yet!!!!
They decide to say f* the Jianghu and assassinate the bad people.
Unfortunately Wen Ruohan is not possible at this point. But you know who IS? Wen Chao, his horrid lover ugh WLJ and the whoremaster of Jinlitai!!!!!
Plot plot plot... WC is murdered gruesomely in terrible horrible pain but it's ruled as a night hunt incident. Sad but who cares aside from WRH and WX?
As for the Yiling Wen, well, they get people moving and as the BM are slowly purified, even easier and more thoroughly than last lifetime, they build houses and such to hide from the war and everything.
WWX and WN do not actually want what happened to the Wen sect to happen again, so they have to plot and plot and plot some more on how to save them from annihilation.
Same for the Jiang, though with no WC the chances of massacre is lowered a bit. And they have to do something about Wen Zhuliu but if they do now it'll be suspicious so they plan and plot and wait on that front.
They infiltrate Lanling, chat with some female ghosts from there,are even more disgusted at jgs and make him and some depraved elders die painful, long, un dignified deaths.
In the Cloud Recesses, things are different with no WWX. No easy friendship with NHS and so the poor boy is left feeling kind of lonely because none of the other heirs like him and he's still grieving his father who died last year and Da-ge having to be sect leader and kind of drowning in his responsibilities.
Weirdly enough, a tentative and weird friendship forms with LWJ even though they never got along during childhood and their brothers are BFF (or more, to be seen)
Jiang Cheng is grieving his brother and does not know how to cope. But here he is removed from the toxicity of his home and the Lan are empathetic enough to help him work through the loss in their weird way. It helps.
But!!!! Jin Zixuan still insults JYL, there's a fight, JC hits him, engagement broken. And barely a month later the news of his father's death and the peacock has to leave and become a sect leader at 17 (yes I aged him up a tiny bit).
Also Su She dies here because no WWX to save him.
Not going to get into it because it's 2am and I'm not awake enough to get into all the themes, but one of my focus points is going to give the female cast agency and let the be BAMF because they deserve it.
So the Jiang siblings a reunited after a year but things are bad. The parents are honestly ugh and after the supposed death of WWX it's worse. Cue bitterness and anger from the duo and JC and JYL kinda mature together in the intervening months before the Wen conference.
Burning of CR happens buuuuut they manage to save the books! How? Because they got warnings far in advance and worried, LXC copied as many books as possible and hid them way earlier and in a way that could not be exploited by one Meng Yao.
He was right. Canon fleeing and LWJ being brought for indoctrination. Buuuuut no WEN Chao means less obnoxiousness and no Xuanwu yay! How do they leave though? Well... You see... Nhs kinda heard stuff gossiping and met one Xiao WeiLian (Xiao like the Dawn of XXC, WeiLian for precious lotus, her actual given courtesy name by her parents that she kinda remembers because the girl is getting healed OK???? And some of her bad memory shtick is due to trauma linked to her time in the streets but also her parents' memories' treatment in LP and shed been having dreams and that was one that was clear as day, plus it's written behind her illusion charm pendant and she never examined it?????)
So the chaotic gremlin duo forms and WWX plots and manages to create an opportunity for the hostages to flee, but that take linger than in og timeline because no Xuanwu opportunities.
And it's already dead anyways. And WWX is purifying the sword and no Yin Hu Fu will exist.
You know what. I actually am stopping here for now but I'll explain more tomorrow. When I've slept.
Because the Huxian thing isn't the only supernatural creature element hohoho!
OK I'm less dead and my mind a bit less of a mess so let's continue this Au shall we?
Soooo. Some canon events still happen, because the Jianghu as a whole didn't change without WWX there duh.
So Lotus Pier is burned. And the Sun shot campaign begins.
Before that time, WWX now called Xiao WeiLian continues to plot ways to kill WRH with her entourage.
In the meantime, they continue going through their kill list of Wen officials and elders that just need to go according to Wen Ning and ghosts they meet in Qishan.
They also continue rescuing people. At this point mainly in Qishan and where minor sects were attacked.
They get a mix of cultivators wishing to desert the Wen army, those who had their core melted, civilians that have nowhere to go, a lot of them being old or women who suffered the indignities of war, alongside a gaggle of children. Wielian also has a tendency to save any street child she meets in her outings.
Xue Yang is among them but timeline hasn't been thought out yet and haven't thought deeply about how he goes from vengeful chaos gremlin sociopath to protective violent chaos gremlin that loves his jiejie.
LXC still meets Meng Yao BTW. And he is hidden by him. But in this timeline, Meng Yao doesn't join the Nie because WeiLian and Wen Ning have decided that since he's probably not going to join the Jin since his father is dead and madam Jin has way more power they're going to make use of his amazing capabilities in a better environment for him.
So the terrifying friendship of Meng Yao, WeiLian and Wen Qing begins.
He joins them easily but kinda worried still in the mounds and quickly his genius joins that of the two ladies.
Just as he does, WeiLian chooses to go kill Wen Zhuliu. She does it quickly and cleanly. It's clearly an assassination and the Wen realize it and begin to get slightly worried.
Then Lotus Pier happens. But differently since the Wen are slightly less confident so soon after the core melting hand that was supposed to join them is very dead.
Again WeiLian doesn't actually want the Jiang massacre to happen so she sent them warnings.
But YZY and JFM are too sure their great sect won't be attacked. They're both bamboozled and not ready.
But at this time, we still have JYL and JC who are still grieving their brother and they do not want to lose anyone else, so in secret, they created contingencies with elders they knew they could trust, disciples from their generation and younger and the civilians, who all trust them more than they do their zongzhu tbh.
Many adult cultivators are still killed and both YZY and JFM are either crippled or killed. Haven't thought about it. But I still want JC to become sect leader and have zidian.
In the two years preceding this event, there's also been weird things happening to the Jiang siblings. It started with JYL coming often to the water. She's a mediocre cultivator, barely has a golden core. But it feels like the water speaks to her and it is soothing.
JC on the other hand, only starts to have weird things happen to him when he comes back. It's nothing at first. Just when his anger gets the better of him, there's a faint ozone smell in the air. But as he stays in Lotus Pier more before the indoctrination, it gets harder to ignore, because sometimes it seems like when he loses his temper, his eyes seem to glow purple and small sparkles form on his fingers. But he doesn't have time to think about it.
On the other hand, weird things are also happening to the Lan brothers too. After the burning of his home, the death of his father and of many of his clan, LWJ feels as if something deep in himself is awakening. He is deeply angry at the Wen and the injustice, but he's also starting to see something is amiss in his clan. The elders... Some of them he has witnessed using the rules for un righteous reasons. He is conflicted. He does not yet realize that each time his anger surges inside him, his eyes glow golden.
LXC himself, having to flee his home to protect many of its treasures and be safe himself, is deeply upset. The Wen destroyed his home, the library which houses centuries of knowledge the whole of the Jianghu can benefit from, his didi was taken, apparently injured according to news he manages to gather in his travels. And the other sects are doing nothing.
It is deeply unjust and LXC is feeling uncharacteristically bitter. So he goes from minor sect to minor sect. Those who are most scared and in danger from the Wen. He knows Nie Mingjue will not let this stand, is going to get ready for war, and LXC is resolved to help as much as he is able. And when he resurfaces in Qinghe, it is with an army behind him and a glint in his eyes.
The Nie though. NHS is seeing everything unfold. He sees quickly that war is approaching whether he wants it or not. He knows his brother, with his sense of justice, his anger and hatred at WRH and the Wen as a whole, will fight and probably lead the armies as he's the most qualified for it.
He wants his Da-ge safe. He wants his family, his clan, his sect safe. But they cannot be as long as WRH lives. So he plots.
He has already met WeiLian too. And he knows she's doing something which is cemented when she helps them leave indoctrination. So he seeks her out and they start a spy network.
He refuses too to leave his brother alone and gets way more invested in the war effort as a logistics coordinator but also for the war strategy. Because his mind is sharp. He's not a military genius like his brother, but his perspective gives the SSC decisive wins.
Since wen Chao is dead and many high ranking Wen are being assassinated, WRH forces Wen Xu to stay in Qishan. He refuses to lose his last son. He is more careful with the war effort and the odds are not as strongly in their favour as it could have been.
The Jiang are more numerous and the Jin under JZX join the campaign completely.
And in the shadows, learning more and more about her abilities as she learns from the Burial Mounds' spirits that she has Huxian ancestry, WeiLian makes her moves.
It has been decided by the plotting committee that the Wen should survive. Wen Xu is a good candidate as zongzhu because even though he is filial, if his father dies, he will care more about his people surviving than pride. He is deeply pragmatic and an actually great general. He's also strong enough and stubborn enough to have a chance at succeeding in their plans.
It's up to nhs to make his brother see that annihilation is not the answer and dishonorable. Meng Yao's is to do the same for LXC which is way easier and make nhs very cranky and pouty.
WeiLian's job, during the campaign, is to save as many people and relocate them as possible. They can't take everyone in the mounds at this point so she only brings children and those who really really need the safe space, usually women who have be raped by cultivators of either camp and those that have been too crippled to survive without help and don't have it.
She also goes from battleground to battleground and purifies the land with ChengQing and helps the spirits of the killed to rest.
Which of course gets her a title. BĒ'Ć n-JÅ«n, lord of the red spider lily. And yes she gets a masculine title because the people who see her... They don't actually know what gender she is because she's tall and usually comes at night and they mainly see her from afar with red mist surrounding her. The title is because when she puts the dead to rest, red spider lilies will bloom here and there. Also the symbolism of the flower being associated with death and the motif being embroidered on her YLL styled robes.
Just imagine a female version of the YLL. Nearly as tall, very imposing, cuttingly beautiful with those vivid silver eyes that glow like the moon when working with purified yin but also red when working with resentment.
When in the mounds and not plotting, ma girl is purifying the resentment from the mounds and it is extremely effective now that her celestial blood is finally awakening and her core is still there.
War happens differently in this timeline of course but the odds are very even. Both sides are way more careful and with the Jiang being more numerous it's honestly kinda scary because they are the best archers ever and they practice guerrilla warfare wonderfully. They are vicious and powerful and JC gets his title quickly. Because his lightning powers are strengthening exponentially as time goes on and the more he uses zidian.
Nmj is also like the scariest opponent ever. No-one can touch him and his powerful everything.
LXC and LWJ are also powerhouses of their own, decimating enemies with elegance seemingly no effort on their parts and helping the fronts they join tremendously. Hanguang Jun gets his title too.
The Jin, as they are more numerous, unfortunately create friction. Which is not cool but what do you expect from a pit of viper that is their sect. Even with a better zongzhu it's not possible to cleanse the rot and he's still young and sooooooooo freaking oblivious.
And here is the interesting World-building bits I've got and you probably noticed coming up!
The og four great sects (sans Jin) are all descended from celestial beings. Le gasp!
They barely have any attributes at the beginning of the story, the only one being Wen Ruohan himself with his red eyes and tremendous fire power.
The Wen are descended from the three legged golden crow, associated with the sun and fire.
The Lan from the Long, the golden dragon giving them the golden eyes, associated with air and in this with cosmic authority which will make sense when we get into the nitty gritty of the Lan sect hohoho.
The Jiang are descended from the jiaoren, which explains their ties with the water and how they are such strong swimmers and all that. Buuut I'm adding some fun because ma bb Jiang Cheng also has lightning powers, which he inherited from the Meishan Yu who, even though not a great sect is a very old clan and thus also descended from a supernatural creature, the leishou.
The Nie have Xiezhi in their ancestry explaining their overwhelming physical power and large qi reserves, as well as their very righteous mindset. At some point in their evolution as a sect, they have corrupted their cultivation style with absorbing resentment in their sabers from beasts they slay, leading the most powerful members to fatal qi deviations.
And the Jin, you might ask? Hohoho. I wanted them to be separate from the main great sects and thought long about it because their everything reeks of ambitious nouveau riche with their everything being gold and ostentatious and being canonically greedy snakes.
And then I thought, you know what would be funny? If their everything being so grand and ostentatious being there to hide their inferiority complex.
And thus, I decided they're just plain humans. And that contrary to the founding sects, they would have become a great sect only like two centuries ago with the power of gold.
Idk it's funny to me.
Then we also have our huxian Wei family, which is actually a divine!!!!! Being. Not just celestial or supernatural. Actually divine. Because huxians are fox deities from my research, contrary to the more terrestrial huli jing of all kinds.
This distinction is also important because the Jiang sect, centuries ago, through manipulation and gaslighting, managed to bound a divine creature to serve them through binding promises that have to be renewed every generation.
And the sect leaders of every generation know it and have continued to bind a family with divine roots to their sect.
Which of course culminates to Wei Changze managing to leave the sect with his wife. Buuuuut since he made the promise himself, and bound himself, he is aware of the repercussions it might have on him and his health, because a huxian promise is bound to their very being.
He learnt of his ancestry either by accident or because Xiao Meihua, titled Cangse sanren, found out because she's a chaos gremlin.
Now I'm not yet sure about the whole how and what and such of all this but you get the barebones of my ideas.
Also the fact the Jiang bound descendants of a deity will have consequences on the sect. Because that's a big no no.
Which consequences? Idk yet. But JFM and the elders who knew and kept at it will feel it. Hence why I like the idea of JFM being too crippled after the attack from the Wen to lead the sect.
Also he never tells his children of this piece of info because he doesn't trust them not to free WWX. And he doesn't tell YZY either because she wouldn't listen anyways.
Yeah JFM is not great in my au. But he's also not great in canon either soooooo.
Coming back to the supernatural elements. They'll have an impact on the plot but u can't be bothered to explain yet sorry.
But here I'll leave some themes!
De construction of generational abuse of power and filial piety
Vengeance and healing trauma, be it generational or personal
Female rage is going to be something of a recurring theme lol
Sliding into that, misogyny and how it affects the place of the female characters in a patriarchal setting, as well as the rise of female characters reclaiming their own power and agency and provoking? Not the right word but questioning the status quo. I know in canon the theme is more that of social caste with the gentry vs lower classes buuuuut I prefer this lol.
Orthodox vs. Righteousness vs. Reality. Not all is black and white and it's also an important theme I'd like to explore, with our morally grey characters that we love (MY, NHS, WWX) opening the eyes of those seeing the world in black and white (NLJ, LXC, LWJ).
There's also a motif of water and the fluidity of identity. As a direct one, the Jiang associated with water (JYL is a calm lake that runs deep with treacherous currents vs JC being a violent river giving life to its shores vs WWX being the mist and rain that bring renewal) but also when it comes to gender identity (WWX and huxian ancestry coming to play, NHS being a genderfliud king,...) and sexual orientation (the Nie being like super open to everything basically, with polyamory being a thing as well as all the sexualities ever with our pan king NHS, probably demisexual Nmj because I decided so, the Jiang being fluid like the waters the live from vs. The rigidity brought by yzy stifling basically everything ever and no I do not like that woman's character even if she's a badass OK?, and many more things I kinda don't want to explain)
How to navigate a new world order post war with the great sects having their supernatural roots coming to light, purging of the old and renewal (Lan sect shenanigans, political landscape duh, purification of Burial Mounds)
And also the themes of immortality and divinity because I love deity WWX and I want her to ascend when she has purified the mounds. Also Baoshan sanren but idk yet how to have her a part of this probably monster of an au.
More fun stuff! The different friend group aka the clubs lol.
The elder sibling club: LXC, NMJ and JYL friendship agenda. Add in Wen Qing later because she can
The plotter gang: NHS, WQ Meng Yao and WWX. They're terrifying and two OF them are chaotic Gremlins.
The badass leader gang: LXC, NMJ and JC are scary OK? And they deserve to be friends. I imagine the elders will adopt JC as their didi because I said so.
The didi gang: JC, LWJ, NHS. They deserve to plot against their elder siblings.
Character agenda:
Let JYL being terrifying. Please. I want her to weaponize her disappointed stare to bully people in the camps. And you know the meme of "hold my flower" before calmly and politely eviscerating people. Please.
Not so evil mastermind NHS but make him also the biggest drama queen. As he deserves. Oh, you annoyed someone nhs likes? Be prepared for living through hell and not knowing how you got there loool.
Petty bitch LWJ. Let my boy be the pettiest person ever. Make it subtle. Make it bring felt. "You're not qualified to talk to me" but make it worse. Aside from the Lan and his friends, no-one realizes they're being repeatedly insulted but feel like they are but they can't really tell and it's confusing. Make LWJ look through people and ignore them or staring dead at them until they feel so uncomfy they leave the chat.
Mischievous elder brothers LXC and Nmj. They are Gremlins in their own right but you don't see it because they have responsibilities and they are stressed. But let them tease their younger brothers. And being menaces, NMJ with his very dry delivery and LXC with a lovely smile on his face. People won't know what hit them.
let WWX feel his feelings and stop hiding behind his silly persona. Make him traumatized, make him realize what happened to him, make him more serious, vengeful but also calmer, disdainful and suspicious of the sects.
Wen Ning, my precious bean, is going through itā¢ļø. Let him process his trauma, being all weird about being alive again. Wth is happening to me? As he's still considered gui jianjun by the BM's spirits. Let him be a supportive lovely presence for his family and friends, but also let him go off at some point. He deserves to go a bit feral.
OK I think I'm done with the word vomit for now. Still have relationships to talk about be they romantic or platonic.
Also have to come back to politics because duh and something something human greed.
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