"Sys how is your decent into fiber arts hell going"
Glad you asked. I have arrived at 'modern flax is Bullshit compared to what we had in historical textiles, the flax widely available for handspinning is basically the tow that would be discarded from textile creation and used with tar to caulk ships back in the day'
This naturally led me down a hole of 'why is the staple length of this stuff a bullshit 6 inches' and the answer is 'we have bred modern flax more for the oil than the fiber because cotton usurped the place of everyday textile thanks to slavery and the cotton gin'
Anyway, THIS led me to a rabbit hole that culminated in me finding flax seed bred for proper 30 inch tall plants for fiber, sold by some fellow minded nerds on a website that has not been updated since 1998 and you have to email them to buy anything.
I FAILED YOU ALL here is the site. You can also buy flax fiber from them. The PROPER shit, not the hot garbage ass tow fiber sold as flax top for handspinners.
'machine combing shortens the flax fibers by several inches'
This right here is part of why modern linen is a pale shadow of historical linen. Legitimately it cannot be properly replicated by machines. It HAS to be made by human hands if you want the best quality.
Lin Ling's guide to becoming an emotional support civilian [YANDERE EDITION]
(Credit goes to @kiraisrika for the idea)
In this world, Lin Ling can calm people down if they are within arm's length of him. He thought nothing of it until one day he saved the 15th hero, Nice, from suicide.
PART 1:
Lin Ling and Nice meet for the first time. Miss Juan is less than impressed
PART 2:
Lin Ling finally decided on what to do in this whole situation. Nice and he grew closer as a result.
PART 3:
Lin Ling meets the other people in Nice's life. Wreck is less than impressed.
PART 4:
???
LIN LING INTERVIEW
The streamer is an up-and-coming content creator on FOMO. Their newest series, ‘THE COMMON Q&A,’ consists of them interviewing Lin Ling in increasingly bizarre places.
Part 1:
The steamer and Lin Ling meet. Lin Ling is less than impressed
Part 2:
???
REQUESTED HEADCANONS:
[X] x [LIN LING] requested by inviflower and special thanks to cemeterydwd for translating!
(Part 2) [X] x [LIN LING] requested by inviflower
One-sided [ENLIGHTENER] x [LIN LING] requested by @kiraisrika
(Part 2) [ENLIGHTENER] x [LIN LING]
[YANDERE X] x [LIN LING]
[E-SOUL/ YANG CHENG] x [LIN LING]
[YANDERE X] x [LIN LING] x [YANDERE NICE] requested by @kiraisrika
[X] x [YANDERE LIN LING]
SPIN-OFFS/ONE-SHOTS:
Lin Ling's guide to becoming an emotional support civilian [BIRTHDAY EDITION!]
Twins in slavery together. Yuan dies but he is brought back to becoming a demon that likes to feed off of Unresolved Regrets.
It is not until shen jiu is a peak Lord when his disciples find a demon with his face. They meet each other again.
Or see. because Yuan can just tell his twin has become messed up. Yuan bails from the sect. Only to start showing up again when Binghi is accepted into the sect.
But then he sees Yue Qingyuan and ohh boy Shen Yuan decides that no he dose not want to feed of the ambiance of regrets between his brothers. So he decides the best way to help Binghe is to resolve the regret his brothers have.
He is still a Transmigrator thus once he finds Airplane in Shang Quinhua. They plot against the system that won't even let Shen Yuan introduces himself to the future demon lord.
Look, I don't know if you can tell, but I really like soulmate AUs, okay. Also, writing something exactly 500 words is more annoying than I thought it would be, but was a fun experiment.
Lightly inspired by this post.
Edit: there is a part 2 now!
Danny's parents were never concerned about the words on Danny’s wrist. Given their occupation, they thought Danny would meet someone while studying, or perhaps even lecturing on ghosts, or maybe as part of some other job in the future. Jazz has always been concerned about the words on Danny’s wrist. This is probably the normal reaction, given most people do not surround themselves with the dead.
Danny himself was concerned about it for a while. But then he died. The amount of death surrounding him at all times, what with his parents’ study of ghosts, practically tripled after that. And suddenly the words ‘Is he dead?’ were a lot less concerning. Because in his life, oftentimes the answer was yes.
Not that he was always around dead bodies or anything. But the company he kept did include a large amount of ghosts and other ectoplasmic beings, that while they were not dead, weren’t technically alive either.
So, Danny moved on with his life as normal. He knew what his words were, but was never actively listening for them. For a few years there he was barely hanging on to sanity, battling ghosts and trying to graduate high school.
Eventually, life calmed down. His parents, unfortunately, died in their own lab accident. Danny was in his senior year at the time, and Jazz took a semester off of college to help him graduate and get accepted at university himself. Then they shut the portal down and moved on from Amity Park.
Jazz went back to Yale. Danny, who did not make high enough grades for that, went to Gotham University. It was there that he discovered he actually really liked college. School was a lot easier when he wasn’t fighting for his life all the time, and this time he got to take classes he was actually interested in.
By the start of his second year, his life was looking up. He was majoring in mechanical engineering, and he loved all his science classes. He had a somewhat decent apartment, and was living without much worries on the money from selling his parents’ house. Gotham is not the best area, but it can be a really cheap place to live. And he didn’t see Sam, Tuck, or Jazz as often as any of them would like, but they were all happy where they were.
Which makes the current moment much more distressing than it would have been in his teenage years. As Danny looks at the now-dead body in front of him, then turns and presses his forehead into the alley wall. He’s seconds away from banging his head against it, but that would only give him a headache and would in no way help the current situation.
The vigilante standing across the alley, on the other side of the body, did not move for a solid minute upon rounding the corner onto the scene. Then he asks, in a voice distorted by tech, “Is he dead?”.
Look, I don't know if you can tell, but I really like soulmate AUs, okay. Also, writing something exactly 500 words is more annoying than I thought it would be, but was a fun experiment.
Lightly inspired by this post.
Danny's parents were never concerned about the words on Danny’s wrist. Given their occupation, they thought Danny would meet someone while studying, or perhaps even lecturing on ghosts, or maybe as part of some other job in the future. Jazz has always been concerned about the words on Danny’s wrist. This is probably the normal reaction, given most people do not surround themselves with the dead.
Danny himself was concerned about it for a while. But then he died. The amount of death surrounding him at all times, what with his parents’ study of ghosts, practically tripled after that. And suddenly the words ‘Is he dead?’ were a lot less concerning. Because in his life, oftentimes the answer was yes.
Not that he was always around dead bodies or anything. But the company he kept did include a large amount of ghosts and other ectoplasmic beings, that while they were not dead, weren’t technically alive either.
So, Danny moved on with his life as normal. He knew what his words were, but was never actively listening for them. For a few years there he was barely hanging on to sanity, battling ghosts and trying to graduate high school.
Eventually, life calmed down. His parents, unfortunately, died in their own lab accident. Danny was in his senior year at the time, and Jazz took a semester off of college to help him graduate and get accepted at university himself. Then they shut the portal down and moved on from Amity Park.
Jazz went back to Yale. Danny, who did not make high enough grades for that, went to Gotham University. It was there that he discovered he actually really liked college. School was a lot easier when he wasn’t fighting for his life all the time, and this time he got to take classes he was actually interested in.
By the start of his second year, his life was looking up. He was majoring in mechanical engineering, and he loved all his science classes. He had a somewhat decent apartment, and was living without much worries on the money from selling his parents’ house. Gotham is not the best area, but it can be a really cheap place to live. And he didn’t see Sam, Tuck, or Jazz as often as any of them would like, but they were all happy where they were.
Which makes the current moment much more distressing than it would have been in his teenage years. As Danny looks at the now-dead body in front of him, then turns and presses his forehead into the alley wall. He’s seconds away from banging his head against it, but that would only give him a headache and would in no way help the current situation.
The vigilante standing across the alley, on the other side of the body, did not move for a solid minute upon rounding the corner onto the scene. Then he asks, in a voice distorted by tech, “Is he dead?”.
I’m just imagining Danny doing this when Jason walks in and sees The Joker’s corpse. ^^^
——————
Danny doesn’t wanna deal with this. He’s trying to live a normal college life (though maybe it was a mistake to think Gotham could be normal in any way). Then he gets spooked by a crazy clown and punches the man on instinct, forgetting to control his strength. Though, in his defense, the man was stealthy enough to suddenly appear behind him and creepy enough to scare him, which his brain perceived as a ghost.
Then this guy shows up.
Danny very firmly does not respond, choosing to continue glaring at the wall in hopes that ignoring the situation will make it go away. A full minute passes, but it does not go away, and neither does the man.
“Is he dead?”
Oh. Ancients. Please no.
How is it possible to have this kind of luck? His soulmate’s first impression of him is of him killing somebody. Accident or no, that is probably the worst way to introduce himself. In fact, how does he even introduce himself in this situation? ‘Hey there soulmate! Nice to meet you! Sorry you had to see me kill that guy, totally an accident. Hey, maybe we can just forget this whole thing, yeah?‘
Danny sighs and gathers the courage to turn around and face the man behind him and— holy shit that’s the Red Hood. His soulmate is the Red FUCKING Hood. A crime-lord-vigilante-anti-hero is what the universe chose for him? Danny can practically hear Clockwork laughing at him.
“Yeah, I’m not a fan of clowns.”
——————
(Feel free to add on or tag someone who you know will. And off the top of my head I’ll add the few I can remember.
Thank you to KitKat for the addition, that gif is perfect! And I'll add bones' wonderful tags, because I've been following them forever and I can't believe they've even seen something of mine, much less interacted.
Danny shuffled his feet, unable to meet his eyes (or helmet in this case).
Red Hood, like the Waynes, is one of those people that if you lived in Gotham you at least had heard of them. If Danny's memory wasn't wrong, Red Hood had even been brought up as part of the out-of-state welcome seminar as one of the main crime lords they advised people to stay away from.
Crime Alley - where the Red Hood has his territory- is where Danny currently resides. (For all that the Fenton house and the ghost weapon business get him, he is still a college student trying to graduate without using loans.) So, he has heard about the Red Hood and his rules, and the bag full of severed heads, but it wasn't because of his rules that Danny somewhat respected the guy. It was his reputation.
The working girls he sometimes runs into at mart, talking amongst themselves and sharing stories about Hood saving them. The homeless kids talking about the items that started appearing since Hood took over the area. The trust he seems to have with the local vigilantes. It all points to Hood, for all that he is some sort of mob boss, has a good heart behind all his armor and muscles. (And boy, does he have muscles-)
"You going to give me a name? I want to know the name of the person who I now owe something to," Hood rudely interrupts Danny's thoughts.
"Uh-" Danny scrambles to answer.
On one hand -this is his soulmate and a person he believes to be a good guy.
On the other -this is a nice guy and for all that Danny knows he kills people, he also could have just accidentally killed one of his men. Danny didn't have time to see the man's face before he smashed it in by accident.
Wait- what was that about owing him?
"I-I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"
"You got bum ears or someth'n?" Hood asks, then signs while he speaks, "What's your name, Joker-slayer?"
"Danny and my ears are fine."
Hood does something that comes out weirdly through his voice modifier. (a chuckle?) "Pleasure meeting you, Danny." He says and then he slowly takes off his helmet. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Red Hood, but you can call me yours."
Danny stares down at his hand that his soulmate stole and then planted a kiss on. As Danny continue to stare in shock, Hood flipped his hand over and starts rubbing his leather glove-covered thumb over the words on his wrist.
"Now, want to tell me how it felt to be the one to kill the Joker? I've been trying to get him dead for years- I need all the details."
The Fenton/Masters Siblings and members of the Bat Family meet. One by one, they end up together while the rest of the family is oblivious that their partners are related to the others.
Danny Fenton gets a job as Bruce Wayne's secretary. After being gifted a coffee maker, he might actually go to the ends of the earth for this clumsy man.
Ships: Danny/Jason (Dead on Main)
Tumblr Posts:
Part 1 | Part 2
One-shots:
Demon Twins and Death
Summary:
In which the twins meet after one kills the other.
A Family of Rogues
Summary:
The Fentons/Masters move to Gotham. Everyone, except the Fentons, think they're future Rogues.
hm more heavenly demon!sy thoughts,,, i am invested
the system had an error bc sj's body and soul are still very much together bc he hasn't even experienced a single qi deviation yet, so it tries to find a good substitute to throw sy's soul in
when it can't find any, it decides to make a body that sy is most familiar with (it should be a human, but the system was impressed by sy's very passionate rants about lbh's heavenly demon abilities) so boom. heavenly demon sy
he wakes up in the endless abyss. the system has to hibernate bc the body has taken too much of its power so: here is sy, with an almost invincible body, alone in the endless abyss. oh, and he doesn't know about his heritage. all he knows is that he's in the abyss of pidw
ofc sy immediately geeks out over the demonic beasts and all the plants!!! look he could never visualize what a wyrm-mule looks like or how a porcupine-quail could possibly work, and now he gets to see them! irl!!
well not irl exactly, but if this isn't a very weird dream and he's really transmigrated into some background npc, then it's all well and good. his knowledge of the endless abyss should be enough to keep him safe
he does get very weird urges tho like wdym he's suddenly not squeamish with blood?? why is tearing off his arm now a good strategy to get out of the jaw of a black moon python rhinoceros??? sure his body weirdly could regenerate (tested and proven when he keeps tripping over roots that just keep popping up in his way somehow) but he should be a bit more against that, right?
he also gets the urge to bare his teeth when aggressive beasts crowd around him. his teeth are suspiciously pointy when he feels them, and somehow, the beasts are... intimidated? just like that? when he snarls at them. things also bend to his will for some reason? he was irritated with a swamp (he does not want to wade through that), and then the next time he looks back at it, it's gone???
the demons he came across are very polite, too. completely unlike his expectations. sy thinks he's lucky to meet civilized demons with human-like mannerisms, and does not notice that they're batshit terrified of this one heavenly demon conspiciously leaking out so much demonic qi that it's a miracle he hasn't passed out (which is even more scary bc that is a heck ton of qi)
then because sy is sy, he wifebeams the terrified demons. he talks so animatedly with them, asking questions about their customs without judgment! his smile is so pretty and charming! even in his dirty clothing and unkempt hair, he still looks like a beauty!
then sy takes a bath when he arrives at the demons' village and takes offer to wash up, notices his reflection, and promptly freaks out
is he tlj??? no, tlj does not look like this in pidw's official art, but demons can shapeshift, right? has he messed up the plot??? what date is it even?? is lbh even born yet?? is he lbh's grandfather?????
the demons are rightfully frightened but also worried when sy accidentally destroys a wall of the bath in his haste to get out and get some answers. luckily, this is the demon realm, or his tendency to wear only inner robes will be heavily scrutinized!
sy then plans to get into the human realm (he knows of a few ways) to change the plot! he can't possibly leave lbh to suffer like in pidw if he has the ability to change it...
except lbh is not even born yet.
he does meet tlj, and woooo the demon is so chill and has an entire library full of the worst novels sy has ever read in his entire life (still better than pidw). tlj seems like a sweetheart, how could he possibly wage a war against the human realm that led to his imprisonment? smth is fishy here!
(behind him, tlj kills an entire horde of demons for daring to plan to capture sy. sy is now his little brother. sy does not have the choice of refusing)
and so they travel to the human realm together. tlj immediately fucks off to the nearest bookstore, and sy would have loved to follow him except he has Seen the Plot. then he's suddenly trying to pass off as a wandering cultivator that forgot most of the human customs (very suspicious) bc he's spent most of the time researching plants and animals (ok, his infodumps make that believable) in front of cang qiong cultivators
and then cang qiong offers him to become a teacher in the beast taming peak bc why not (they heard of rumors of a kind wandering cultivator with incredibly accurate portrayals and info about demonic beasts, and also sy is acting Very Sus so they kinda want to keep an eye on him)
(tlj is laughing at him so hard he dislocates a shoulder)
look i just want sy to have the time of his life exploring the endless abyss without the system or the plot breathing down his neck and then i want to throw him into the most stressful situations of his life (coexisting with the disciple versions of the peak lords, and also not getting himself killed for being a heavenly demon, and also tlj's steadily increasing panic on how to court a cold human cultivator who could bodyslam him and throw him over her shoulder and walk off to the sunset)
So. AU when Shen Yuan transmigrates early, as an NPC and ends up as a disciple of the same generation as the PIDW peak lords… on Qing Jing. So of course, he’s been dreading the day when Shen Qingqiu shows up. Except… he doesn’t?
There’s Shen-shidi of course, but Shen Yuan is sure he can’t be Shen Qingqiu! He was so skinny when he joined the sect that Shen Yuan was really worried for his health! He gets embarrassed when accepting hugs! He even got bullied by some of the other disciples until Shen Yuan put a stop to it! No, Shen Jiu can’t possibly be Shen Qingqiu, it doesn’t make any sense. After all if he assumed anyone named ‘Shen’ was a candidate—
Shen Yuan considers it. Is it possible that he’s actually transmigrated as Shen Qingqiu and never realised it? He never had a system to tell him anything, after all. The original goods probably figured out whatever horrible thing Yue Qingyuan did to Shen Jiu that he keeps apologising for and used it to blackmail him!
(Shen Yuan doesn’t want to think what might have happened to Shen Jiu in PIDW if his theory is correct).
Au where Shen Yuan is a dragon with a giant cavern full of books and plays. It's enchanted and stuff so the cavern moves and shifts so it brings you to a section of the library with what you need/want. He occasionally lets people enter to read his books, but you aren't allowed to take them out no matter what. You are sometimes allowed to copy the information on your own scroll or book, but you need permission first.
He gets visited by Wu Yanzi and a young Shen Jiu. Wu Yanzi is looking for demonic cultivation manuals because Shen Yuan has almost one of each manual, encyclopedia, etc ever written.
He pays no mind since he doesn't really care if malicious people come in or not. He does passively keep an ear out just in case.
Wu Yanzi finds a cultivation manual that has everything he needed and could be sold for a lot of money since it was extremely rare and in pristine condition. He tries to sneak it into his bag, and the dragon just eats him. No warning. No heads up. No trumpets or fanfare. No foreboding messages to return the book. Just chomp.
Shen Jiu is taken aback because did his teacher just get eaten? JUST LIKE THAT?!
The dragon nudges the stolen book back into the shelf and looks at Shen Jiu. Shen Jiu is convinced he's going to die there. Except he doesn't get eaten or harmed. He gets gingerly picked up by the back of his robes and taken to the spiritual cultivation section of the library.
Shen Jiu gets plopped onto the floor and the dragon nudges a few beginner and cleansing cultivation manual to fall from the shelf for him and then promptly crawls back to its den.
Shen Jiu, who is instilled with the undescribable urge to scream "what the FUCK?!", instead sits down and starts reading and practicing because honest to god are you going to disobey a dragon that absolutely towers over you?
So when he's satisfied with his cultivation progress, he finally gets ready to leave. The dragon comes back only to put the books away from the shelves that were too far up for Shen Jiu to reach.
Shen Jiu thanks the dragon, which only gets him a huff in response, and because he hates to be in someone's debt (even if that someone is a dragon hundred of years his senior) he says he'll return with books to fill more shelves. He leaves soon after.
He manages to get the Qing Jing Peak Lord's attention during the Immortal Alliance Conference, which was his intention. He gets in a little late but his cultivation is practically caught up. He easily ranks up to head disciple.
During his time in Cang Qiong Shen Jiu jots down everything he learns. He writes down music he composes, discoveries he makes, talisman and array designs he creates, even poems he has written. His Shizun insists that he adds them to the Qing Jing library, and he does but he leaves polished copies of his work and excludes the very important parts.
Eventually when he's peak lord, he goes on an expedition by himself with the scrolls and books he's filled through the years. He finds the dragon's cavern and finally meets it after so long. He presents his life's work to the dragon, practically bearing his heart to it.
The dragon looks at him curiously and transforms into a human form. Shen Jiu watches as the dragon takes the bag from his hands and pulls out the first book, which had all the songs he made for the jiejies in the Warm Red Pavilion to preform.
The dragon say down and invited Shen Jiu to join him. He does and the dragon continues to go through everything while asking him questions about something he wrote or created. Sometimes they get off task and start talking about something else and both appreciate being able to talk to someone that understands classics or is good at debating.
By the time Shen Yuan finally finishes with everything Shen Jiu gave him, they have surprisingly clicked very well. Shen Yuan tells him he's going to make a section in his library for all his works, so he can bring more if he wished because Shen Yuan thought he was a genius that was just starting to shine.
Shen Jiu agrees to continue giving Shen Yuan his work if only to have an excuse to return. And that's how it became tradition that every once in a while the Qing Jing Peak Lord will go off the mountain with a stack of books for days on end and return to none of them.
Sometimes he would even have a strange man come to his peak. If the man visited, that meant Shen Qingqiu was going to be in a good mood, so obviously the kids always told him to stay or come back soon.
And also just as obviously, this is incredibly suspicious to the other peak lords. Cue Liu Qingge and Qi Qingqi pestering Shen Qingqiu and demanding to know what is the meaning of this. Also cue Shen Yuan misunderstanding and getting jealous and then realizing he has feelings for Shen Jiu (after a solid month(s) of denial).
So the next course of action is to keep Shen Jiu from Liu Qingge and Qi Qingqi because they're threats to Shen Yuan's time alone with Shen Jiu. Also he doesn't trust how Shen Jiu covers his face with his fan when they talk to him. Shen Jiu also covers his face when they both talk, so obviously that must mean something and he doesn't like it.
Isn't dragon jealousy great?
Eventually the peak lords find out about Shen Yuan and it was definitely a whole ordeal. Shen Yuan maybe threatened to burn Cang Qiong to the ground at some point, but the threat didn't go through so did it really happen?
Shen Jiu definitely knows about Shen Yuan's feelings for him and is absolutely fucking smug about it. Like who wouldn't want a highly intelligent dragon with a library that is any scholar's wet dream that INSTANTLY becomes a begging puppy when he wants your attention.
As far as Shen Jiu is concerned, he's winning at life.
I am going to create Heavenly Demon Lore purely to sate my thirst for heavenly demon!sy
It would be so funny like sy would likely be good at being a demon purely going with his knowledge of pidw, but he'd be very bad at it bc he doesn't want to kill people! humans or demons, he doesn't want to kill them! except he unintentionally and accidentally seduces a lot of them and somehow that's worse
he and tianlang-jun would be so good tho. they'll create a book club whete sy roasts the hell out of novels and tlj, very amused, will just egg him on. heavenly demon cousins, or brothers or smth
sy would be so bad at pretending to be a human, but in a good way??? like he has scarily accurate knowledge of the endless abyss and demonic beasts, but he did say he was a traveling scholar, so... his eyes also sometimes flash red when he's ranting about the latest romance book, but maybe it's just a trick of the light?
sy is v caring and clumsy and naïve, he can't possibly be a demon! except he is. he's so bad at pretending that it somehow turned 180⁰ and now everyone is scrambling to fool themselves into thinking that sy is just a Very Weird Human
tlj thinks it's hilarious, and so unfair. but hey, at least he's not gonna get trapped under a mountain anytime soon bc the old palace master is desperate to convince everyone that sy is a heavenly demon waiting for the perfect chance to get rid of all of them
So you know all those au's where sy finds sj as a child and raises him 'better' or something so sj never becomes sqq.
Well I propose a new take on this au, but this time we won't be kidnapping sj (he will still get to be 'better' or whatever)
We kidnap Ming Fan!
So just like before SY will not have any idea who he has kidnapped at first, to him it will just be some random kid being abused by his family (or some other equaling interesting and unknown tragic backstory). SY ends up stepping in, feeling bad for this poor kid and stepping in, un-knowingly becoming what would have been sj in this situation.
sy: Whats your name kid?
Mf: ...Ming Fan
sy: shit
Continuing, shen yuan will realize he took in the future scum-bully to the protagonist. he will freak out, but realize he can't just leave this kid alone. (Not that Ming fan would let this random weirdo abandon him anyway, he's already gone and gotten attached to this man who has shown him kindness. )
SY also is like;
"Well he isn't an annoying bully yet? I can fix him?"
And just adopt/kidnap's the boy.
but plot twist, what he doesn't know is that sj was originally looking for ming fan because ming fan's mother was one of the brothel jie jies, so now sy has the qing jing peak lord coming after him.
SJ: Give back my back the kid,
SY: He's mine now bastard!"
MF: "I don't even know who you are!!!"
Meanwhile, sqh is starting to realize that this world is changing without him affecting it, so he begins to think that Ming Fan is a transmigrator because he hasn't shown up on the peak yet.
So now sqh is also after Ming Fan.
SQH: "Its me airplane!"
MF: "What does that even mean!!"
sqh ended up running into sy eventually and found out he was a transmigrator. Only after he accidently revealed that tidbit to ming fan.
sy beating up sqh: You told him what!
sqh feeling worse: I'm sorry bro!!!
So ming fan now knows about transmigrators and his original role.
Mf crying: I did what. and ended up dying how.
sqh realizing: ..oh...oh shit.
sqh introduced his head disciple to ming fan soon after that because he felt so guilty and thought ming fan having a friend his age might make him happier.)
(I'm going to name sqh head disciple bai hehua because I can't think of any other names)
bhh: You brought me here to be friends with some random kid?
sqh: just talk to him alright!
mf (radiating sad cat energy): ...Hello
bhh: You will be my best friend forever.
(I love how most of us as a fandom agree that sqh's head disciple is a woman.)
So a couple years later binghe will end up on bai zhan peak. Because sj has still been running after sy the entire time so he didn't have time to abuse disciples or spite liu quingge.
Lqq: "Sect leader."
yqy: ?
lqg: "Sqq is possesed"
yqy: disappointed "shidi"
lbh would hate it though. He would end up 'blackining' much earlier because he would hate the bai zhan disciples so much.
The entire time this was happening, sy and ming fan were having brother bonding time, with ming fan learning his worth isn't defined by others and shen yuan learning that these are more than just characters and that sometimes just giving someone hugs as a kid can make a huge difference. (I really wanted to say he learned the consequences of his wife beam but I'm not going into that right now.)
mf: Yuan-ge what...what are you doing?
sy:...
sy: (silently crying) Its a hug, do you want me to stop?
mf:(someone who hasn't had a hug in his life.) NO!
Now, in the original au's I noticed that Sj usually stayed somewhat the same in the au's (in which he was sassy and possessive) but I don't know much about the original or svsss ming fan so I'm going to change him a little bit.
Ming Fan will be snarky and able to kill a man with only his words, but he's also going to be extremely sympathetic to others from sy influence. At this point he has also spent so long around SY and his wife-beam that he is immune to it, but instead he ends up getting his own, in a way...
Sy would also be more feral, from having spent years stuck in the freaky world that airplane made. His feral brother senses only got worse after he met ming fan because now he has a kid (teenager) to deal with so take his og feral energy and multiply it.
sj and sy currently at this point would have a reluctant co-parenting thing going on. So sj and sy would end up meeting so sj could help teach and check up on ming fan.
sy: why are you still here.
sj: someone has to make sure you're teaching this kid alright.
sy: (unwilling to admit he got attached to sj and mf)
sj: (unwilling to admit he got attached to sy and mf)
mf talking to sqh and bhh: so yeah, I have a dad and a brother now.
Also, sj would let mf come onto his peak, so he would get a reputation as the un-official head disciple of the peak. he and the rest of the sect wouldn't realize this though, because the qing jing disciples wouldn't want the other peaks to snatch away ming fan.
(you can't tell me ning yingying wouldn't inherit some of shen jiu's possessive habits, no way, this girl is feral)
Meanwhile liu quingge and his two disciples lbh and his head disciple Yang Yixuan (supposedly the name of his head disciple) are following after sj because lqg is suspicious of sj (in love) and his disciples were unwillingly brought along.
I love bingfan sue me. (I also really like it when ming fan and lqq's head disciple have something going on alright, I'm not sorry. )
They end up finding out about sy and mf, with lqg immediately jealous sy and sj have a better relationship than he has with sj.
Sj smiling at shen yuan
lqg: >:0
But while that is happening, ming fan and the disciples will end up fighting (because their bai zhan okay) and ming fan will be all sharp words and sharper knives with them (because they hurt his dad and brother) and will end up taking them down with extremely dirty fighting and dirtier words and both disciples or just lbh will end up in love with this random rogue cultivator disciple.
Ming fan using profanities that the likes of yyx and lbh have never heard, taking them down so hard they can't remember their names
lbh and yyx completely in love:
lbh: I saw him first
yyx immediately tackling him to the ground: not a chance!
sy watching from where he's fighting lqg: NO!
So, sy and ming fan end up escaping eventually, and sj berates all the bai zhan meddlers. lqg is still upset that sj doesn't smile at him like he smiles at sy, he has now vowed to kill sy. (The hate goes both ways, sy is feral.)
Then they all go back to the sect but lqg ends up telling the other peak lords about sy and ming fan and now they all think that sj went and had a child that he left with his brother (or husband in some peoples minds), but either way, they all agree that ming fan is sj's son.
sj: I feel immense stupidity
mf: you sure that isn't just yuan-ge
sy: hey!
So the rest of the peak lords decide they want to know what's up too, so they send their head disciples to find ming fan and ask (interrogate) him.
So now the rest of the head disciples (except sqh and his disciple) are on the chase.
the head disciples: why should we go and track down some random kid.
lbh with a smile: you absolutely shouldn't
yyx(straight faced) : please don't
the rest of the head disciples: hmmm, I think I've changed my mind
They all would end up running into him separately of course. Unaware that this person was who they were looking for until he was already gone and they had been wife beamed (lmy and some other's would just like the feral wet cat energy he gives off).
bhh (sqh's head disciple) spends the entire time stressing because he's her best friend not their boyfriend!
sqh: are you okay?
bhh gritting her teeth: ...yes
now normally people would say that shen jiu would be the overprotective parent who would be all possessive. I do think he would be. But since this is slightly a feral yuan au I propose that shen yuan is significantly worse about everything. Like the overprotective big brother he was always meant to be.
sj: lol my son is so amazing
sy beating off disciples with a stick: yeah
sj watching, slightly concerned but mostly amused: you okay?
Yeah, so shen yuan is feral, and shen jiu is having so much fun watching shen yuan freak out.
After this I had a couple more ideas but I can add those separately so for now I'll just add that the head disciples and the peak lords would end up trying to get ming fan and shen yuan to come to the sect both for different reasons. the peak lords because sj seems happier around them than he does around them (lqg still wants to challenge sy to a fight.) and the head disciples want to get ming fan to come to the sect because they like him better than all the other qing jing peak disciples.
head disciples and peak lords shaking hands: we can finally agree on something
shen yuan getting a bad feeling: I feel a disturbance in the force...
Anyway I will continue this, but I would love it if people sent me ideas in the comments. Fanfic recs too. :)
There was a huge battle going on, and they were all currently recouping in the WatchTower. They'd managed to win, for now, but they all knew it wouldn't last. So. Every single available Justice League member was summoned for the recoup to figure out a new battle plan.
It was during this that Superman spoke up.
"If we need more heavy hitters, I can call up my twin brother. See if he's free."
And well. That wasn't what any of the gathered had excepted Superman - famously the last Kryptonian - to say. Many would even like to say it was the least excepted thing to hear.
"Your.. twin brother?"
"Do you mean Conner? Superboy??"
"You have a TWIN??"
The questions continued to rain down, until Batman held up a hand to silence everyone.
"Explain."
Superman stared at Batman for a second, at the gathered for half a second longer, before finally starting to explain this new piece of information he'd unintentionally given. (In his defence, it was one he thought most already knew).
"Well, Jack's not my twin by blood, but we grew up together. If we want a heavy hitter, he's someone we want on our side. We used to crash through walls for fun."
The last comment he added as an afterthought, as reference to what kind of heavy hitter he meant, something for the more normal to understand.
Everyone looked to Batman then, who simply nodded.
"If he's available, bring him here. I trust your judgement on this man."
"Thank you."
Superman smiled and stepped away, already dialling this twin brother judging by his fiddling with his phone.
-
When Superman had said he had a twin brother that he used to crash through walls with, for fun, most thought 'Okay, we got a sort of clear picture of what to except now.'
Those who thought that was wrong. Jack Fenton was as big as Superman himself, built like a tank and loud as one as well. His excitement spread like an invisible force through everyone still gathered, his blue eyes shining. The only sort of 'suit' the man had was an orange hazmat suit and black goggles, gloves covering his huge hands.
"Supes! It's good to see you again!"
The man picked up Superman like he weighed nothing, squeezing the hero in a hug, which Superman returned without a second thought.
"Jack! Thank you for coming!"
"Oh you know I could never pass up a little fight with my brother! Are there ghosts too??"
"We don't know yet, but we'd appreciate your expertise on it!"
"The expert is my Danno-boy!"
This man, Jack, preened proudly, finally setting Superman back down on the ground though the two men continued to chat happily. At least until Batman cut in again.
"Superman, Jack Fenton. Focus."
"Right!"
Batman waited until everyone focused, and so continued on with the plan, now with added questions of how Jack could be of assistance.
-
(When the world later got to witness a man in bright orange hazmat suit and black goggles fighting alongside the Superman and Justice League? It's mild to save the media went wild, and even more so those from a strange small town Amity Park in the middle of Illinois...)
Okay but a big ghost threat gets out that even with Jack’s weapons him and his wife made (Batman and JLD have several questions about that for later) they’re loosing pretty badly.
So Jack finally just
*sigh* “I didn’t want to bother Danny cause he has a big test tomorrow”
And calls him up much to the confusion of the rest of the JL. Cause why is man calling his son he always talks about right now??? Does he think they’re gonna loose that badly or something???
But nope
They watch Jack make a call and a few seconds later a portal, magic users sense leads to the Infinite Realms??!!, opens up and a glowing teen steps out.
They get even more confused when Superman is just causally like
“Hey Dann-o sorry to interrupt your studying but think you could help us out a bit with one of yours?”
Cause THIS is your nephew/Jack’s son Danny!!!!
Danny takes one look at the entity the JL and JLD have barely made a dent in and just
“Vortex you jerk I’m souping you for a week!!!”
And just wraps up the fight they’d been fighting for hours within 20 mins tops
And Jack just scoops up this kid that is apparently his son in a big bear hug after the fight shouting
“THAT’S MY BOY!!!”
Superman joins and is just fondly ruffling Danny’s hair while the rest of the League is just standing there like 🧍♂️🧍🧍♀️
YOU!! YOU GET THIS SO WELL!! I AM KISSING YOU ON THE MOUTH PLATONICALLY!! OR HEADBUTTING YOU LIKE A CAT RUNNING UP TO YOU!! BONK BONK BONK BONK BONK!!!!!!
Based so very loosely on this glorious art by @nibbelraz
Airplane transmigrates into the youngest infant son of the Shang family (and God damn he deserves better than this System he is their god!! Daddy Airplane?? Heard of him?? These people should not be changing his damn diaper hello??)
Shang Qinghua is already a young disciple when he visits home and meets his little brother for the first time and does no one else see there is something... off about this kid?
He makes regular trips home afterwards, eventually using An Ding logistics to find reasons to be near his hometown more frequently (and really does no one else see this kid is weird?)
Bby!Airplane is just too smart. SQH is convinced he saw the kid make eye contact with him once when he caught him stealing a dumpling behind their mother's back and it was like looking into the eyes of a demon who'd gut him if he snitched and not a human toddler
It doesn't get better as Airplane gets older and SQH hears him muttering about 1. things he shouldn't know at all regarding the sect when he thinks SQH isn't listening and 2. absolute nonsense (what System has done you so wrong didi?? you are four??)
Before Airplane is old enough to reasonably join the sect, SQH brings him back to the mountain anyway. He is fairly certain his brother is a seer and if that's the case, he's keeping the little welp close at hand
Airplane infinitely regrets how much bullshit he made An Ding deal with to ""hand wave lazy writing"" (shut up peerless cucumber!! he was writing porn not project management!!) but even just watching SQH run himself ragged over the peak has bby him exhausted (no wonder he ratted y'all out to the king yeesh)
He spends his early years as a disciple just following SQH and sometimes nudging his gege into record shattering discoveries because SQH will pat his head when he realizes and take him down the mountain for noodles afterwards (gg easy)
Airplane is a proper disciple in his own right in his teens when his notes and his story get jumbled in a way that has him tripping into one of his shixiongs when he hears the rumors - Head Disciple SJ returned to the mountain with a little brother (record screech glass shattering huh???)
Meanwhile, Shen Yuan transmigrated into Shen Jiu's unnamed younger half-brother
After finding stability at the sect, Shen Jiu looks into his birth mother, knowing she sold him off when he was a child
What he finds in Airplane's unwritten notes is a Fantine-Cosette backstory where his mother, a courtesan, gave him away to a good family after he was born. She sent them regular payments to ensure his care, but only found out when she was pregnant with SY that they had sold SJ off and were pocketing her money
Unable to find SJ and unwilling to risk SY, she and the other courtesans raised SY within the brothel
SY transmigrates into the body of a child at his sick mother's bedside with a twisted sense of deja vu having just vacated his own deathbed
He doesn't know where he is, but if the orphan protagonist can make it to the sect, so can he right? (Transmigrator Halo? System? System why are you laughing??)
He's barely into his second teens when SJ finds him. It takes no time at all after learning the truth for SJ to demand SY's guardianship and whisk him back to Qing Ding (See System? He DOES have a Transmigrator Halo, even if it is attached to the scum villain)
SY is honestly shocked by how concerned(?) SJ is when packing his meager possessions. (No Jiu-ge (ew) no one has ever harmed him or touched him wtf would make you think they had?? He's baby??)
It takes some time for glaciers to melt and for SJ to let SY in, but SY was raised around kind jiejies who taught him to be better than their worst clients and SJ feels safe around this little brat in a way he can't explain (SJ has had SY for five minutes but if anything happens to him SJ is taking out the entire mountain and then himself)
YQY has NO idea how to react when SJ first returns with his brother, but he doesn't hesitate to smooth the way for SY's discipleship and watches from afar as SJ begins to finally let someone in, even if it's not him
SQH keeps telling Airplane he needs to work on his muttering to himself, that it's going to get him in trouble (bro you don't even know) but for once it's in his favor because SY overhears him just enough while YQY is sorting his shit out on arrival and suddenly they're just two spidermen pointing at each other on the peak
Cue the shenanigans of two hometown boys who have no bearing on the plot at all and are just along for the ride while their siblings handle the peaks. Anytime Qing Ding and An Ding need to work together on missions, these two volunteer and confuse the hell out of their martial siblings every step of the way
SJ does not trust the little logistics rat anywhere near his didi and glowers like an alley cat anytime Airplane is around (SQH is right, ofc. His brother IS weird and SJ does not trust it)
SQH meanwhile takes note of his weird didi's sudden and first friendship with SY and immediately starts keeping tabs on this kid because clearly Airplane's seerhood has steered him to SY for a reason, must keep note
The first time LQG makes any sort of fuss about SJ going to a brothel, SY forgets everything he's learned at the sect as Little Brother Mode™ activates to defend not only SJ but his jiejies too. (Fists are thrown. Hair is pulled. He might have bitten his shixiong, he can't say. He sort of blacked out for a minute there) Needless to say there isn't a second time and LQG has an hour long argument with his shizun about trying to poach SY for Bai Zhan peak while nursing a black eye (Airplane just side eying the GREMLIN that transmigrated here like bro wtf)
Before LBH even steps foot on the mountain, both their Systems ping about the incoming protagonist and it's not that they, you know, forgot about the story but they were distracted. Between finding each other and actually weirdly coming to care for these NPCs they... lost track of time
But the System pings and LBH enters the scene and SY refuses to let Airplane's work repeat itself (we're making your notes canon bro stfu and follow my lead. (what lead??? what plan??) I'm working on it!!)
It's a 50/50 crap shoot if SYs favoritism of bby!Binghe endears him to SJ or spikes up the resentment, but SY refuses to let harm come to LBH or for SJ to become the scum villain (someone is yelling, it might be SJ, it might be SY, it might be Binghe who doesn't want Shizun and Shixiong fighting over him)
On the other side of the plot, SQH is still a little snitch, even with his didi's visions guiding him to unprecedented success - but it's more than betraying the sect, more than wanting power and recognition. Seers are insanely powerful, highly sought after. Bringing Airplane to the sect protected him for awhile but SQH can't let him become a target. So when the OG meets MBJ, all his calculations come to a single unfortunate answer: throw your lot in with the biggest fish to protect Airplane (no one else can understand how weird his brother is because if they do his brother will end up dead)
Flash forward to when Airplane is squinting at his brother wearing fur collars year round, always running a little bit chilly for unknown reasons but refusing to see MQF about it. Airplane insists on SQH letting him check his meridians if he won't see MQF and SQH relents, puts his wrist in Airplane's hand, and squawks like a goddamn chicken when Airplane yanks his arm and tugs down his collar to reveal the mark of MBJ on his collarbone and SQH is once again met with that dead eyed 'bro do not fuck with me' stare
SQH does not question how Airplane knows, he just insists on Airplane staying far far away from MBJ (he might work for the demon, but he certainly does not trust him)
Of course Airplane defies all reason and knows the exact secret rendezvous point SQH uses (he did not suffer puberty twice to be denied seeing his most precious creation in the flesh, gege) and is spotted spying on the spy almost instantly by MBJ who is just holding him by his scruff and looking between a wide eyed Airplane and a barely-restrained-panicked peak lord like 'why oh why are there two of them'
Cue a full stand off between a demon and peak lord, ice knives at SQH's throat, a blade hovering at MBJ's heart, and Airplane just held like a kitten between them like fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck that SOMEHOW ends with MBJ rationalizing 'ah this weird mouse is important to my viper of a spy - if I want to keep the viper loyal, I will protect this mouse'
Which throws the Sheng brothers into a mess that neither of them know how to deal with. SQH thinks he needs to continue to be excessively useful to keep Airplane safe. Airplane can't let MBJ know he's his brother's best source or the demon might cut out the middle man. (Meanwhile somewhere MBJ just out here planning to court this weird little mouse to tie SQH's loyalties to him)
Whatever circumstances causes the Abyss plotline to trigger, SY 500% throws himself in after Binghe leaving SJ partially feral because his didi is in danger, Airplane CONCERNED, and SQH just casually like 'oh that's why my brother was interested in him, interesting' not at all realizing no, SY is likely just about to become his boss(-brother-in-law)'s boss's consort - whoops! whoops! whoops!
So, here I am, on a serious Shang Qinghua/Airplane bro binge because sometimes you just crave a thing and can't let go, and I ended up getting inspired by these two posts :) Link and Link So here I go.
Edit: Forgor to set a link for part two, my bad.
Also, here is this poem that also inspired a thing and also gave the name for this AU~
`Beautiful Disaster~ By Nikita Gill
If he tastes like the rainfall,
Looks like a summer storm,
Fights for you like a forest fire;
he's a tornado of trouble.
(And you need to hold on to him and never ever let him go.)
So yeah, I took a look at that, and thought it actually fit both Shen Jiu and SQH/Airplane well, if in different ways. (Shen Jiu the tornado and Airplane bro the forest fire, but oh, how SJ fights like lightening in a storm, ready to burn everything away, while SQH is tricky like the wind, saving most of his energy for when it really matters until you can't see anything past the wails and talismans.)
So yeah, watch me stumble into a scumplane with Ghost!Shen Jiu :3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It starts ever so simply, Shen Jiu watching as that fake is so happily accepted, all the other Peak Lords seeming to rejoice at having them there, even the disciples pleased and ever so willing to bark for the man wearing his face, the little beast practically panting after him every step he takes.
It disgusts him, makes him grind his teeth, makes him want to scream, shout, curse like he hasn't since he was just a desperate slave, how many visit his former home, his sanctuary now a cage of bamboo and frustration, rage, and bitterness. Watches how Peak Lord after Peak Lord visits, each charmed, some slowly, some in less than a second, guests of all types and titles leaving yet obviously wanting to stay.
All except for one.
"Ha-hahaaa, hello Peak Lord Shen, I'm here to deliver the order forms for the new training instruments and inkstones." The An Ding Peak Lord, Shang Qinghua laughs weakly, even as the fake narrows eyes at him over his favored fan. Shen Jiu glares, wishing he could rip it to shreds, throw it away, burn it so that it is no longer being defiled by this body snatcher.
"You may leave them with my disciples, Ming Fan or Binghe can take care of it." is the dismissive response of this other, lesser fake goods, even as Shen Jiu wants to scream.
"These are my duties; these are the responsibilities of a Peak Lord, you cannot hand them off to mere children, much less the beast." The real Shen QingQiu wants to howl, but it only comes out as whispered words through clenched teeth, the ghost not able to open his mouth for the anger choking him.
"Ah, about that my fellow Peak Lord, these contents are not for the eyes of disciples, I'll need your seal of approval on them as well." Shang Qinghua seems to wince, sounding rather apologetic, but it is this refusal that gains Shen Jiu's attention, actually surprised to hear someone being reasonable since the switch happened.
(The first time he's seen anyone actually refuse his cuckoo of a replacement.)
And is just in time to see the cold, cutting calculation the supposedly 'apologetic' man hides with his bowed head, before it is gone just as fast as he raises it.
It is the start of his interest in Shang Qinghua, that man he considered a rat in life, only to show just how clever he is after Shen Jiu died.
Watches how the man sneakily tests the fake, teas for cleansing snuck in here and there, talismans deceptively hidden in paintings, vases of flowers that detect malevolent, demonic energies.
And even with none of it being triped, the Fake able to somehow breeze past all these tests, Shang Qinghua still watches, guarded and suspicious, without ever letting his cuckoo even suspect it.
It is... gratifying, even if it is from that rat, to know someone still does not trust in what they see, that they too judge the fake and decide to actually question it. It is more than what his own disciples have done.
(It is more than what his Qi-ge has given, still ever so tolerant, ravished as he is for any crumbs, he can fucking get like the dogs they were.)
Changes only happen after what is apparently a disastrous conference, with intriguing, if terrifying secrets coming to light.
"Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky!"
"Peerless Cumber?!"
Hearing their words, it brings in new consideration for his circumstances, makes his already yin filled core seem to freeze at just what he is hearing.
Some kind of fate that forces you into another's dead body, chains one to follow it with little hope for change, even forcing a literary god from the sounds of it to be reborn into a human, never actually expecting their words to come to life, just trying to live as it were like any other storyteller from the streets.
(Remembers how any damage he does is just as quickly erased, as if it has never happened, as if there isn't a resentful ghost clawing at the walls, ready to destroy any in its way at the first chance it gets.)
Shang Qinghua, or Airplane as it were, visits more after that, plotting and planning with his bodysnatcher, who while he still hates, would be willing to gut if possible (but... can understand, so painfully understand being forced and chained, even if he was lucky enough his Masters were very much mortal at least).
But while there are no longer any suspicions in those eyes (the calculations are of course still there), they are instead replaced by a... mournful quality?
?
"Rest in Peace, Shen-Shixiong." is said in the middle of the night one day, when his fake has long since slept, the words like a whisper in the wind. In his mind's eye, he can smell the incense of sandalwood and jasmine, with an offering of melon seeds beside it...
...!
oh...
... Not once, not since he has been stuck in his home, has he heard his Shang-Shidi call the imposter Shixiong...
For that night, Shen Jiu stares at one of the pictures on the walls of his bamboo house, keen eyes seeing the subtle symbols for mourning on it, a subtle 9 easily hidden among the strokes if one was not a master like himself, the rage a quiet thing tonight as he thinks.
-
And then, one day, seemingly normal for all it is a quiet day at his peak, Shen Jiu finds that whatever was trapping him, caging him, chaining him to his bamboo house turned prison is gone.
He doesn't miss his chance, out the door before his mind can catch up, before he fully realizes he has been freed. It is only once he is off his mountain, out from that sect, away from everyone, that Shen Jiu realizes he has a choice.
He can feel it, he can feel his body even with the distance he is, knows exactly which direction to go if he wants to reclaim it. And he could, he could do so rather easily he can tell, whatever link between it and chained binding his imposter had gone...
...But why should he?
Why should he? Why should he go back to all those so willing to trade him for his knock off, why should he go back to people who will only be disappointed in the return of the 'old Shen-QingQiu' even if it is the true one.
Why should he debase himself to go crawling back to people in a body even more wrecked then his Qi-Deviation left it, all wanting something he is not and will never be?
(Go to see that panting, drooling Beast, to the desperate, stalking Brute, to that disappointing, clinging to scraps and fakes Brother Sect Leader?
To see those calculating, distrusting, mournful brown eyes? As weak as he is now? Not worthy to even be called Shixiong.)
Shen Jiu pauses, turning aways from where he can feel his body, where all those lies and expectations are, into a different direction, where death calls and the yin energy beacons any foolish or ambitious or both to answer.
He can feel it in his distant bones, trembling in his ghostly yin qi running through his spiritual body, his other choice.
The Gates of the City of Gu are about to open.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's note:
*Me looking at Airplane, his trust issues, his knowledge of just how fucked up his story could be, thinking of alllllll those wife plots and the trickery* No way this man didn't try a few ways to see if Shen QingQiu was possessed by something or another; not that he doubts the all knowing sword, but yeah, he doubts the fucking sword.
Also, if anyone were to find out that Airplane was technically the creator god, I headcanon people would assume he was a literary god who either gained too much power on accident or some other gods decided to fuck around for shits and giggles because they could.
Also, Shen Jiu would be smart enough to figure out about the system, even if he doesn't know exactly what it is, the concept he understands fucking terrifies him; no way would he go back into his body giving the choice, being so weak from without a cure and whatever the fuck the imposter did to it to where he can go back. He'll take his fucking chances.
(Besides... his Shidi like demons well enough, why not a Calamity?) :3
:P so the gremlins for this AU won't let go it seems; fitting as I eat noodles I get the author man himself, along with his favorite hater.
:3
Edit: I almost forgor to put a link for part one
Here is another poem/quote thing :3
I'm beautifully broken,
perfectly imperfect,
beautiful in my flaws.
All together I am a Beautiful Disaster.
By Unknown
Again, this fits both SQH and SJ so much :3 This will be set kinda after the Moshang extras, just without the ship happening so far (because rebuilding trust and care, and loyalty takes time, Mobei being patient enough because SQH is worth it, with SQH learning he is indeed worth it, more than worthy.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Despite what most think of the An Ding Peak Lord, the glorified immortal secretary/janitor of the Cang Qiong Mountains never misses any time. He has more months, years plotted way in advance then anyone would dream, dates and times printed into his mind with an ever ticking constantly echoing his steps. He plans weeks ahead of anything he can afford to, considering people and patterns he has noticed, procuring orders before they were ever thought to be sent, knowing his martial siblings won't noticed the needed thing until it is too late.
But even he is not all knowing, author god he may be, so when things run out faster than he expected (Ah, embezzlement or incompetence, take your pick of what it could be! Maybe even both, it could be one of those days.) He takes days at a time to get these 'urgent' orders filled, replaced, fixed, or cared for to the best of his ability.
And he can assure you, that you will find no better than him when it comes to time and logistics; he has it down to the minutes it takes him to eat a bowl of noodles, to the seconds it takes to wipe the blood from his hands from yet another sad little assassination.
His days, like any An Ding Disciple, are numbered and ruled by the water, sand, and hands of a clock.
(Needless to say, Airplane sometimes thanks himself for his lazy writing, for example; that regular clocks do exist here, even if they are usually only for the holier-than-thou nobles/too rich to ever think types. It had been one of the first ever things he bought with his hefty Peak Lord allowance, and one of the few expenses he never regrets.)
No, Shang Qinghua never misses any time; he just chooses to skip inconveniences so that he could be spending his valuable time on things that actually do need his attention.
Of course, not like he'll ever let anyone know the difference.
"Liu-Shidi, there shouldn't be any meeting today? I'm pretty sure the next Peak Lord Meeting is when Peak Lord Shen comes to his Peak Next week?" Shang Qinghua whines, feeling the drag on his pale blue An Ding robes as the Ban Zhan War God drags him to the meeting that was in fact today, but knowing his transmigrator bro, will usually put off to next week because Yue Qingyuan is a fucking pushover.
(The man literally let Shang Qinghua back; sure yeah, probably until he at least trains a successor, but the pale blue robed Peak Lord would bet money it was partly because his head disciple terrifies all the other Peak Lords. Not that he can blame them, seeing as Bai Weizhe has finally forgiven him for leaving him behind; the young man's talent and temper is a legendary thing to witness, almost seems a shame he's wasting away at An Ding.)
"There's been a development; Mount Tonglu has settled." was the grim reply Liu Qingge gave, voice tense as his body was, never letting up his grip on his clothes, getting firmer in fact, as if ready for a runner.
"... oh... oh.. OH FUCK!" Shang Qinghua lets himself curse in English, digging through his sleeves for a paper-ah, the good talisman paper, good, good, and his lucky specialized pen he had made just so he could write everywhere, "We're gonna have to hold a conference with the other sects, aren't we? We'll-fuck, have to prepare relief efforts for the common folk, patrols will have to be bolstered and increased-Damnit! We'll have to get offerings ready for the Heavenly Officials just in case..." mumbling to himself, he sends his hastily written note to his Head Disciple as a paper plane, still muttering to himself as Liu Qingge continues to drag him forward to the meeting room, only dropping him once they get inside, knocking him from his stressed filled muttering.
Just to see all Peak Lords are in attendance, with a bonus Luo Binghe even right next to Cucumber bro all grim faced.
AH! Why is there so much work?! Mountain, why now of all times and places do you have to settle? Couldn't have done until Shang Qinghua died or somehow fucking ascended? But Shang Qinghua says nothing, just letting out a pathetic whimper to the disgust of a few of his fellow Peak Lords, though a few do give a sympathetic glance.
Heck, Fan Qingxue of the Alchemy Peak Shoushan and Yao Qingli of the farmers peak Dong Ye look like they want to join him in it; Ah yeah, those two ladies were the ones deathly afraid of ghosts. Since they've always been pretty cool and the ones who gave him the least shit to worry about besides Mu Qingfang, Shang Qinghua thinks he can spare some of his good calming teas and drinks...
Or they can just go straight for Zui Xian's harder spirits (ha).
"As I'm sure everyone knows why we are here, let us get down to business." After Zhangmen-shixiong cuts through his usual bullshit with that simple opening(surprise, surprise), the immortal carries on, "After all these centuries, Mount Tonglu settling bodes ill omens, with it's last settling the precursor to a plague and famine that almost wiped the mortal plane from existence." with those grim words spoken, the atmosphere gets chilling.
"If I recall Zhangmen-Shixiong, it took thousands of desperate prayers and many more offerings before the Heavens answered the call of the people, putting down the cause of it all; a Ghostly Calamity." Yi Qingyao, Peak Lord of the beast taming peak Yanlin, says as her pale, scarred hands reaching up to sooth the twittering little bird on her shoulder. "Will we have to once more rely on their power?" Will they answer us goes unsaid in her words.
While the Heavenly Officials have been quiet for a long time, it is obvious that they are still there, what with prayers still being answered and merits still being met; just more undercover, detective style really. At least, that's how Airplane had wrote it out in PIDW; had to get a few goddesses in the harem some way after all, and having the Heavens be like secret agents in his mind had been funny at the time.
(Though it does put into a new perspective the harem overthrow and everything; hmmm, feels like he should do another house cleaning around now, just in case...)
"As nothing has happened so far, it wouldn't due to try and summon those from higher plane when we don't even know what we will be up against; with no intel about the threat, we don't know if we will need a Martial or Spiritual God." Liu Qingge states, the war strategist coming out in full swing. "It would just be a waste of resources and manpower to offer without any knowledge, especially since we do not know how long the Calamity has had time to settle into their power."
"What do you mean time to settle?!" Fan Qingxue asks, alarm coloring her face even paler than before, hands clenched into her handkerchief; like this, she really does look like a dainty little princess, all big eyes and perfect brown hair, no one would think she would be a treasure hunter the like of Indiana Jones.
"From what is known, Mount Tonglu can be open for years, centuries at a time before the gates of the City of Gu Close, the true regulators of the mountain; it never settles, only until years after a Calamity is reborn does it finally rest, all its energy spent on the new, cruel rebirth." Sun Qingfu, Peak Lord of Ku Xing, answers her with a frown, his regular smile lines stressed from it as he does. "If I may ask, does anyone know just when the Gu City gates last opened?"
By the quiet that happens, the grim face of those who do know, it is not going to be an answer they like.
"... From what was found, it was almost eight years ago." was spoken ever so softly, Shang Qinghua feeling his own eyes widen as his mind does the math;
Almost eight years ago? When Cucumber-bro...
Here, the Ban Zhan War God seems to twitch, jaw clenching for a minute before it smooths away, all emotion erased as he turns to the resident Demon Lord.
Ah, while Shang Qinghua has an idea of just why Luo Binghe is here, sitting at the table with no one bothering to comment on it; considering the Demon Emperor's vast influence, and still in control over a certain, foretelling/divination talented sect, he inwardly pleads with his Shidi, hoping it will get through.
Please do not get into a fight here with the protagonist son! (May his Protag also not start anything please!)
"Has Huan Hua Palace managed to gleam any information about the upcoming Ghostly Calamity at all." Liu Qingge asks Luo Binghe, Acting Grand Disciple of Hua Hua Palace still, even being a Demon Lord as he is. (Though, his son is more of a figurehead then anything, what with Huan Hua needing all the help they can get, at least until they restore their reputation just enough to 'promote' another.)
"... From what the Divinators have said, not much has been managed to be gathered, something seemingly blocking their sights and tools." Luo Binghe says, before looking to the sect leader, a question seemingly in his eye, to which he gets a short nod.
"It seems that both Huan Hua Palace and our own Divination Division have been trying to qualify the Calamity coming to little ends; very few details have been gathered, but I'm sure you have received details of the same city?"
That gets a stark frown on his Protagonist's face, dark eyes flashing a gloomy red before he says those damming words. "Jinlan City."
Eight Years.
Jinlan City.
... Oh Fuck his life with a rusty spoon; this is not the fucking time for a god dammed plague/famine thing!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You two bit, sell-out hack of an author! How in the fuck could you leave out such important world building! Just for fucking sex plots!" is ranted when they're alone in the bamboo house on Qing Jing Peak, Luo Binghe being in high demand to work with the other sects as the current head of the golden cultivators. Damn, but is Shang Qinghua glad that's not his problem anymore, even if he feels a bit sorry for the Hua disciples he revived just to take over his paperwork duties.
(What, it's not like he could have used that plot device for himself, considering that the Sweet Dream Seven Petal Rose could only be used on righteous, young souls, both of which he is not. Gongyi Xiao and his little bunch are doing great last he checked, even if they now have a newfound hunger for spiritually dense rocks and plants; still a surprise to have that many good nuggets in such a gilded, slimy place like Huan Hua.)
"Hmmm, more focused on what could get me my rent money at the time, you know, like an adult." Shang Qinghua sasses back, looking over all the reports constantly being sent to him, signing something there, double checking there, burning that paper here. "And considering how Calamities need actual, real deal gods to handle their fucking business, I made the executive decision to just not include them into the story."
"Binghe wouldn't lose!"
"..."
"... No, he wouldn't! He the- He's your protagonist..." here Shang Qinghua looks over to his bro, being hit once more just how young the other actually is, green eyes wide as they take him in.
"Calamities were not named lightly bro; they earn that title through pain, agony, and a resentment that refuses to ever fucking die." Here, Airplane comes into full swing, rambles of a favored topic only an author can understand dumping out, "It was one of my favorite things to plot out in my original draft, I did so much research and writing for what I was going to have as a neutral recurring character for an arc or two here or there, someone who could make the Luo Binghe bow in respect. Calamities were a part of the whole for the reason pure blooded Heavenly Demons were wiped out." he explains, only for Shen Qingqiu to interrupt.
"Because very few Demons or Spiritual Creatures can affect ghosts, so that the protagonist could show off fancy cultivation tricks with his companions or wives." his green clad bro finishes, a death grip on his fan.
"Yeah, had to justify at times why my protag would bother leveling his human side, considering how op his demonic blood was. I figured ghost would be an even playground, while not effecting demons much, couldn't actually be effected that much in turn." Shang Qinghua shrugs, wincing at the pops and cracks as he does, before going right back to his paperwork; he really should have went back to his peak, he really would get more done, but with his favorite hater's memory, it would be worth the cutting into his time if it could jog his own memory of his story.
From what he wrote in Proud Immortal Demon Way, Mount Tonglu was only in one arc of his story, his son having to find the ghost of one of his favored wives to revive her, who ended up being sucked up into the mountain. Luo Binghe had to struggle hard, getting the aid of a sexy Ghostly Cultivator and a Demonic one to help him along the path to find the ghost of his wife. It was a race against time and enemies, ghosts who would rip anyone to shreds, and to ensure his ghostly wife wouldn't gather too much energy from the place so that she couldn't leave.
Thanks to his Sexy helpers, plot amor, and general bullshit plot devices, Luo Binghe saves his dear wife's ghost, revives her, and has some sexy papapa times with all three ladies from the adventure. (Though the two don't actually end up wifed to Luo Binghe from what he remembers.) But despite all the bullshit, Airplane remembers at the time he only wrote the group going as far as the second level, just in the mountain proper, and sure as hell nowhere near the really important parts; the ancient city of Wukong, and the Kiln that attracted all the ghosts in the first place. Otherwise, he would have had to write a fight scene that Luo Binghe could not win.
And couldn't pay his bills; so thus, Mount Tonglu and all its possibilities got shafted, just another plot thread left dangling among the many others he had in the wind, taunting his readers as it were.
One that gives context, but no longer any help with their situation.
After that bit of thoughtful silence, Cucumber bro begins to say something, only for a knock at the door to interrupt them.
"Shizun, apologies for interruption, but the Head Disciple from An Ding Peak is here." that sweet voice can only be from one of his sweetest characters, one Ning Yingying.
"Ah, you can just come on in Bai Weizhe, I don't think-ah!" Shang Qinghua calls, before sputtering as his bro proceeds to spit take all over him, "Gross, seriously gross bro."
All that gets is the stunned, incredulous gaze from his friend, before his rather stunning Head Disciple comes in, looking like he should be the Peak Lord honestly. Really, he makes the light blue and grey of the HD Uniform look like the highest fashion, with those highly noble features and crystal grey eyes. The young man is just missing a crown in that silky black hair, and bam, he'd look the part.
Well, then he'll get that look in those usually gentle eyes and then he'll look more like he should be the Ban Zhan or Qing Jing Peak Lord; just like now, a storm brewing clouds as he takes in the two Peak Lords before him, darkening as they look to his dripping Shizun.
"This disciple hopes he was not interrupting anything? There is unfortunately much work for Shizun to do, and so little time to do it." His disciple says, face perfectly bland even as he ignores any of the custom greetings one should do before their elders, especially those way above in seniority. Raising an eyebrow at his disciple, as while Shang Qinghua could let him get away with murder, decorum and manners are not something his disciples skip on, a tool he has trained them to practically weaponize.
But Bai Weizhe merely smiles like sugar won't melt in his mouth, completely transforming that handsome face into a truly devastating attack, his raging eyes the only give away. Hearing Cucumber bro choke beside him, Shang Qinghua makes to stand up, sighing once more.
"Ah well, just another storm to weather through, maybe if I'm lucky I can just hide away on my Peak or the Northern- I'm not lucky am I?" Shang starts hopefully, only to see the darkening of his disciple's eyes.
"...When the Divinatiors were divining into the future, they managed to find out one more thing." Here Weizhe's eyes flicker, looking down for a minute before back to him, the only sign he gives off he is worried, "When looking to see who would go to investigate, Long-Shigu only kept getting omens of death, no matter who was drawn from the lots..." Here, his disciple takes a deep breath, Shang Qinghua himself now worried for his student, putting a hand on their shoulder to ground them, calm them however he could (along with himself).
"It's only when Shizun's name was drawn to go that the omens lightened at all."
... Fuck, if Long Qingyu, the Zui Xian Peak Lord, the best Divination Master this side of the Jianghu that wasn't part of Huan Hua said so, then it was so...
Damn it to planes and noddles, but he's already missing his bed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I look at you, and I just love you, and it terrifies me. It terrifies me what I would do for you."
By Alexandra Bracken
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shen Yuan can fully admit, if only to himself, that he might just be, slightly, just ever so slightly, terrified.
Of course, he'll admit this too no one; despite how OOC the System has let him become, how it stays in 'standby mode', some habits have just become too ingrained at this point to change, forged as they were into his shield. It has been both a boon and a bane as it were in his day to day, keeping him together through most storms in his life, even if it's left him sopping wet afterwards.
But in the end, at least he still has someone to warm him up, a calm within that storm to rest his weary body for a time... Even if they truly aren't an actual escape from said storm.
"Shizun, is there anything you need? Anything I can do?" His Binghe fusses, those clear dark eyes of his not able to hide the tightening worry scrunching them, face still beautiful even as full of negativity as it is.
"Just be as ready as possible; we do not know what to expect, with assumptions being a foe that could blind us when we least expect them." Shen Qingqiu speaks, truly trying not to think about it, about just what kind of situation they are about to be walking into, the ruins of Jinlan City just a bit before them damningly, the Base Camp the Cultivation Sects pulled together to create rest less then a mile away in the distance.
'Oh, but how hard it is to not make any...' the transmigrator can't help but think, grimacing behind his fan as he can just notice the stares from others around them, some judgmental, other pitying, but all still obviously looking at them.
After all, eight years ago was the day he first 'died' in this world. Combined with the issues with the Sowers, then the resulting destruction of said city... it didn't paint the best of pictures.
As expected of a protagonist; even after the 'happy ever after', there was still no rest from possible story lines. (Shen Yuan honestly at times was just... tired of them. Didn't he and Binghe, especially his Binghe, deserve a rest?...
He'd rather be caught in a wife plot even at this point.)
"... A-Yuan?" was whispered rather lowly, right into his ear and behind his fan, so no one with advanced cultivation could hear or see what he was saying, "Is this some sort of... event?" His disciple asked, making his Shizun pause in his fanning for a moment, before returning, not even so much of a twitch on his face.
"...That has not made any signs of movement beyond what it has told me and your Shang-Shishu." Shen Yuan answers carefully, ignoring the brief twitch of disgust on his husband's face at the mention of the other man, "It has been quiet since a year ago." At least, from what Shang Qinghua has told him about his months long misadventure.
"... I see." there, just slightly, is a bit of relief in Luo Binghe's face, Shen Qingqiu unable to stop his own weary smile at the sight.
Despite everything, despite how he will never, ever tell his fellow transmigrator, he is grateful the man convinced him to tell Binghe as much as he could about their transmigration.
Even if it felt like a kick in the teeth at the time.
("... Bro." Shang Qinghua has a look in his eyes that makes Shen Yuan freeze, fully reminded, in that moment, in that time, that for all his fellow transmigrator plays around and whines, the man has earned his Peak Lord title, and all that it entails. "You know the tropes, the clinches, the story; what part of keeping all those secrets to yourself seems like a good idea?"
Here he couldn't help but bristle, "And in what story do you see a character actually talk about being from another world, hmm? What can I even say?!" He stops himself from going to hit the other with his fan, the urge stifled as he sees those brown eyes darken as they narrow.
"I've found that as long as I kept it vague, I can get the general idea of what happened across. I've experimented with My King and my Head Disciple, and the only time I was stopped was when I was about to mention the System directly. Otherwise I was good to go..." here the older man pauses, before he sighs even as Shen Yuan gaps, honestly stunned the other man actually tried something like that.
"Look, Shen Yuan, do you want your relationship with Binghe to work out?"
"!! Of course!"
"Then tell him; tell him before it is too late and you really become a foil for Yue Qi and his Shen Jiu." here, hearing his name and the mention of those two, Shen Yuan cannot help but pale, seeming to stop and stare at the bitter author god before him.
"Wha-"
"... Cucumber-bro, for all you remember about my stallion protagonist webnovel, you seem to always forget it's a tradegy at its core..." here the other man just looks so tired, staring into his teacup instead of directing those all too knowing earth colored eyes to him.
"And the promis of love was always meant to be Binghe's greatest weakness.")
"Ah, greeting from this Disciple to Shen-Shishu, Lord Luo." was greeted, Shen Qingqiu nearly jumping if he hadn't already noticed his husband was looking over, even if he did look stiffly over to the voice.
One Bai Weizhe stood there before them, not a hair out of place, his face neutral, calm and as if he probably wasn't plotting how to slit your throat in your sleep. Like he isn't secretly some powerhouse that could probably go toe-toe with Yue Qingyuan and even toy with the man if he felt like it.
"Ah, good day Bai-Shizhi, has everything been completed and set up?" Shen Qingqiu asks, fanning himself lightly, doing his best to pretend that this is just a regular disciple, that their is nothing wrong with them, that he is just a wrong word from breaking out into a cold sweat.
"Yes, this disciple was sent to gather all the participating Peak Lords coming from Cang Qiong Mountains; all preparations have been made, Long-Shigu and Huan Hua Palace saying soon will be the best time to enter the city. I'm sure that these Lords can find the way their themselves?" Shen Qingqiu nearly frowns at this subtle though pointed disrespect, having to gently tap his fan on his husband's shoulder before he can say anything.
"These Lords are capable of it, though it would do Shizhi well to remember their manners; I'm sure your Shifu has taught you better than that?" The Peak Lord comments, knowing if he doesn't say something, then Binghe will-
And while that face is still as calm as before, those eyes giving nothing away, there is something about that pause that says Shen Qingqiu has said the wrong thing.
"This disciple will keep it in mind, Shen-Shishu. Please pardon me, I must go and find the other Peak Lords joining the scouting force." With that, and a shallow boy just respectful enough, the young man hurries along, the pale blue and grey of his robes fluttering in the wind as he goes.
Outwardly, the Qing Jing Peak Lord seems as calm as can be, soothing his fussy husband as they walk over to the main tend of the Camp, not even flustered a bit by the altercation.
Inside on the other hand, Peerless Cucumber is just 'aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, Airplane of all villains you picked up, why him!? Why him as your HD?!'
Now, while Airplane Shooting Towards The Sky had made plenty of low IQ and forgettable villains in the story, it just meant that when he actually pulled out the good ones, he made them unforgettable. From the beloved 'Big Brother' Pan Shan, a villain only in protection of his family, to the literal 'Calamitous Beauty' Tan Xifeng, a woman so proud and strong she rather turn to ashes forever then be trapped in the Harem, Bai Weizhe was just as up there, the calm 'True Mastermind' in the name of revenge in PIDW.
In the set up, The Bai Family is a very high ranking Cultivation Family, just as high if not more so than the Liu family, said to be descended from heavenly beings, granted power and weapons of that level because of it. But over the years, with less and less powerful Cultivators coming from the family, the Bai Family head got desperate, making his son marry multiple women to try and birth a hopefully powerful heir. And seeing how much of a playboy the man was, with plenty of bastards beforehand, it wasn't too hard for the man to put out it seem. Of his many spawn, two ended up as wives to Bingge and of course a few becoming villains for the arc.
But Bai Weizhe, when first introduced, it shows one of his half-sisters, a future wife, trying to defend him from another of their siblings who were attempting to torture him. All throughout the arc's mystery, one learns more of the future wives alongside this weak bastard son of a maid and the Family Head's son, learning they were little more than a slave to the Family Head and his Son's whims.
Bai Weizhe had seemed like a helpful, if slightly talented npc, being more of an awkward emotional support then any seeming threat, even if things seemed ever so slightly off about him, most of which could probably be excused by just how abused he had been. In fact, many thought the man would become a little brother character, Binghe taking in the poor bastard son as a future assistant or something because of how intelligent he was (with rotten girls going even farther and saying he would become part of the harem.)
But when the plot twist was revealed, with it turning out the murders and almost complete alienation of the Bai Family was all his doing, daringly using the protagonist to do his dirty work for him... it had been as shocking as it was satisfying to the readers, some actually rereading the entire arc with eyes wide open to take in all those little clues and cues to the real monster hiding behind the mask.
But of course, Luo Binghe being Luo Binghe in Proud Immortal Demon Way, Th Bai Bastard meets his end and Bingge gets the Bai Family twins and some family treasure as a bonus... (Though, from debates and such, it actually has been argued that his death may have either been faked or the man had a back up prepared.
Knowing PIDW and all it's bullshit plot devices... he can see it, especially after meeting him.)
But coming to the tent, Shen Qingqiu pushes all thoughts aside, face grim as he looks over his fellow gathered Peak Lords.
Yue Qingyuan. Shang Qinghua. Mu Qingfang. Liu Qingge. Qi Qingqi. Himself and his husband.
"Both the best and worst team to send." Long Qingyu's bitter words spoken broke through the tents atmosphere, making everyone tense as she did. The Zui Xian Peak Lord took a gulp from her bottle, truly stressed if she was drinking in front of them, "I cannot say much, or do anything else but offer this one last advice; make sure you actually listen." she stresses, golden hair slipping from her messily made bun as she pushes it back even as she takes another swing of her drink, mismatched brown and green eyes closed as she does.
"Listen to what?" Liu Qingge asks, eyeing the woman as she finishes her drink with a mournful look.
"Just as I said; listen. Do not assume, do not judge, do think before you damn well speak-" Here she stops herself, teeth gritted as she breaths through them, before opening her eyes once more, "I can say no more, not unless I want the omens to darken even further. Just get ready to go." with that, the woman is gone as fast as she came in, closing the tent behind her with a loud snap.
Staring at everyone, meeting eyes with a few before looking to his Binghe, Shen Qingqiu starts to prepare himself, checking just in case for anything that could have been missed.
Come what may, he and the others will be as ready as they can be, going against the Calamity as they are.
It'll have to be enough.
(Oh, but they will never be ready, unknowing of the poisonous green eyes watching, waiting for them all this time.
They've waited long enough.)
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Author's note:
And here we have our favorite disaster bi's, Airplane and Cucumber-bro! Man, both are great characters, my bias being Airplane, but Shen Yuan is also such an interesting character to delve into, being one of the favs I both want to hug and just smack over the head :>
The second quote I found I feel can really seem to resonate with Shen Yuan, when our boy stops repressing and actually lets himself feel.
Also, while I like BingQiu... boi, does that relationship have issues, ones I really hope they did indeed talk through when they could (They have a fuck ton of time to do so, so here I had Airplane help and kick them into gear; nothing like be reminded of tropes and the fact that your hubby is a fucking Tragedy Protag. :> )
Anyways~
Airplane: *Revives a bunch of disciples because he does not want to deal with the paperwork* ... why are you looking at me like that, stop that, go back to your sect.
So many OCs this chapter, I'll just do a spot light for one because then this chapter will just be author's note. (not too mention how he kept worming his way everywhere, just smiling at me as he did.)
Bai Weizhe: Means Outgoing, great sage because I like it; little fun fact, how I have my OC Bai Weizhe: he was actually a high IQ Villain in PIDW, (think if Lan Zhan and Jin Guangyao had a baby, he'd be that baby :3 ) the bastard son of a great cultivation family where Luo Binghe was doing the 'acting like a pig to get the tiger' sort of deal. He was actually a genuine, hidden boss level threat for at least one-two arcs before he had to get fridged for papapa plot (tho.. more like a faked death, Airplane always had a soft spot for his villains after all :3). In fact, it was mentioned in Villainous monologue that he had went to join CQM sect, but due to sabotage by his family, never got the chance in PIDW.
In SVSSS, Airplane was still in the process of working on his 'applying by application' process to An Ding (because I love this headcannon, it gives me fucking life, I am still mad for losing the bookmark to the story that inspired it.) so he still picked disciples by the digging test for a while. He sees this one poor little guy digging despite looking like he's gonna pass out any minute, powering through it with sheer determination and spite, the other Peaks Lords and Disciples already dismissing them, thinking he has low cultivation/poor prospect.
Shang Qinghua though doesn't care about all that; he very much wants that determination (and spite, gotta respect it) He can use all he can get! *After the kid cleans up and gets the drugs out of his system, Shang Qinghua blinks, double takes* WTF when did I have a talent on my peak??
Bai Weizhe: *Smiles like butter won't melt in his mouth* I've always been here Shizun.
(Does Airplane remember him? lol nope, but Shen Yuan sure does :D)
Also, none of the An Ding disciples really 'care' about Shang Qinghua's betrayal (Anyone on An Ding? Oh, they've dreamed of much worse; so much worse~) :) They Just :) Are a bit Upset :) about being Left Behind. :) But its all good; their Shizun came back :)
(And if the sect knows whats good for it, he'll stay where he fucking belongs.)
Shen Yuan transmigrates/reincarnates waay before the plot even begins, as a somewhat rich second or third son of a merchant family (cliché or clasic background? You decide) not specially sick nor a priority for his family as he's not likely to inherit almost anything he is send to cultivate to a small sect. Because who else will want their unremarkable son?
Turns out ranting about poetry in the street with a vendor is a sure way to make someone important want their unremarkable son.
Enter the current Lord of Qing Jing who saw a gremlin with taste and opinions and immediately wanted him. Also the immediate moment when Shen Yuan finds out where exactly he was reborn in (pray for him). So Shen Yuan gets to join directly into QJP if he passes the other test and well, the story wont go on if he doesn't so let's say he does.
His dumbass tries to make everyone believe he's lazy to avoid work like he did back home but Aha! Shizun is on his bs so in no time he's made head disciple. Natural teacher, excellent memory and talented swordsman (This nerd got too excited by swords and practiced so much he now is the best of his generation and he desperately wants you to know he didn't want for this to happen) it's like he was made to lead QJP!
Side note: LQG will be made head disciple of BZP in a year or so, that's why SY is the generation's best, currently.
Here comes the boy! Absolutely traumatized feral kitten Shen Jiu gets into CQM and QJP out of season and with his general attitude immediately gets enemies everywhere. Not problem! Da-Shixiong will show you around and- Oh? You don't want Da-Shixiong to speak with you? Alright. Just remember to get to dinner and sleep well, goodnight!
And just like that you get an oblivious Shen Yuan respecting a hesitantly curious Shen Jiu who, in turn, decides that the best thing to do with this interest is to find blackmail on SY and take his place as head disciple.
Cue shenanigans and hijinks with stalker SJ and unsuspecting SY. And them getting closer by basically respecting SJ's space and time and being a decent human?! What?!
So like bonding with a cat. Slow, respectfully and with lots and lots of treats. Once Shen Yuan figured out Shen Jiu's weakness is just sweets it's all over. Now hes SJ's shixiong and no one else's. No, shut up A-Yuan, they are not worth our time.
Does he trust SY unconditionally? He's getting there. Nighthunts and being saved like a damsel in distress once in a while helps, even if he gets hissy and pretends to not like it. More so when SY immediately turns to him for both counsel on investigations and to make sure he's safe while in the hunts. Also Shixiong spends almost all his time helping him in fixing his cultivation and teaching him the arts, even when no one else would give a shit, so he gets extra points by being a good boy to his A-Jiu.
Shen Yuan? He thinks he's being a good bro and helping SJ fix whatever made him such an ass in PIDW. He doesn't know what happened before SJ went to CQM nor his past as a slave, only thought he looked like a feral cat and acted accordingly. And yes, calling him A-Jiu is absolutely necessary to that recovery.
In the middle of this SY tries to make contact with TLJ to help him either run away with SXY or take out the OPM so the tragedy doesn't happend. But shit hits the fan and SY gets outed as a demon sympathizer when the sealing under a mountain still happens but he tries to reason with the CQM's sect leader that the demon was innocent.
No one can prove that he was a traitor but under the added presure of public sentiment he's punished severely. Sect leader gives him two choices; He either leaves and retrieves a mega ultra rare mcguffin that'll take him 20 years to get or gets banished immediately and losses any standing he has with the sect.
In simple terms: Prove your loyalty with this very difficult quest or leave.
As a pseudo-compromise sect leader promised no one will take his place if he leaves for the quest nor will they banish SJ for being so close to a posible traitor. SY, naturally, accepts the quest with all the spite and grief of someone who failed his true quest of saving his best friend and the world too he supposes.
But QJP cannot be without a Head disciple nor a Peak Lord! Because plot twist, the lords are preparing to ascend in the next like 5 years. Sect leader knew this, and this is his way to force QJ's peak lord to appoint a different head disciple when SY is away anyways. If that happens SY will lose everything anyways, even if he comes back.
So the strategists get together and make a plan.
Shen Yuan will leave in his quest but before that he'll marry someone trusted that can be acting peak lord in his absence but will not usurp his place. Doble plot twist! That person is Shen Jiu because just as SJ got mellower with SY's influence so did SY get more paranoid. He only trust his dear shidi and no one else but oh how could he force his shidi into- Oh? You'll do it? Why do i have to be the wif-
And they marry in semi secret, taking a small moment for SJ to make him doble promise to come back for him and to give his own doble promise to wait for his return. SJ doesn't like this, not one bit. But this time he's safe, in a position of power and tentatively ready to trust again. He'd rather have his husband with him at least for their wedding night but oh well, they don't get that. They make arrangements for SY to send letters to the WRP so SJ can know how he's doing even if he can't receive any in exchange. It'll be a lonely 20 years.
Shen Yuan leaves and Shen Jiu gets appointed acting head disciple and then acting peak lord. With his silks and his husband's name as a shield (Qingqiu is SY's, but he can use it because they married) he rules QJP much more detached than in PIDW, almost completely ignoring the disciples. This is his A-Yuan's work after all and if he wants it done he better hurry and come do it himself. They've always joked that SY would teach while SJ would govern the peak, even before ever discussing marriage (It didn't matter that A-Yuan didn't know they would eventually get married. They would have regardless)
And Yue Qingyuan you didn't ask? He's in the background wanting to talk to Xiao-Jiu constantly but SJ doesn't need him nor want him. SY's therapy helped him let go if not forgive YQY, he's at the point where he can just ignore him. YQY on the other hand is guiltily ecstatic SY is out of the picture and Xiao-Jiu can be peak lord and rule at his side. Just like he wanted!
Like that 15 years pass. SJ still gets a reputation of going to brothels even if its to read his hubby's letters and sleep. And at this point all other peak lords either forgot he's technically just acting peak lord or never knew there was another Shen-Shixiong who should be peak lord instead.
At this point I'm not sure how to proceed. It'll have to be either:
a) Shen Yuan comes back during the demon invasion or
b) He comes when they are having a peak lord meeting for conveniences sake
Let's do invasion for dramatic purposes.
So you have a supremely pissed off SJ dealing with the demons and watching as the runt of his peak desperately tries to beat his opponent while making a mockery out of their QJP fighting style (LBH is actually doing pretty good, SJ is just Like That™) when suddenly a sword only he recognizes flies faster than a bullet to stop the defeated demon from attacking the little beast and the whole place falls into silence. SJ can hear his pulse in his ears, he almost can't breathe.
The disciples are looking at him for instructions but he can't think of anything as the most beautiful face he has ever seen slowly walks out of the trees into the improvised arena. His hair is finally long now, but not even close to well cared for. His clothes dusty and well worn but not threadbare nor stained with ink like it usually was in their disciple days. His A-Yuan is glorious as he makes the demons run like the pathetic bugs they are.
LQG has come too but there's not more fighting to be had, only a couple reunited at last. SJ sends decorum through the window and yanks his A-Yuan into a long awaited kiss in front of basically every disciple and an enraged and flustered LQG (Man is having the weirdest awakening)
SY is surprised at first but quickly reciprocates, finally at peace with his feelings. Because guess what, 15 years of pinning + letters that slowly become romantic without the fear of retribution will do just fine for him to admit he fell in love with his husband at some point. He was scared shitless of SJ reaction to him coming back and it was only that promise what made him go home regardless. A-Jiu can hate him, but he is NOT breaking that promise. He even made it 5 years earlier, isn't he such a good husband?
Later in the emergency meating LQG is still screaming at them for shameless and inmoral and how could this be the first thing Shen Yuan does when he comes back when they could've just spared
And everyone else (minus YQY, SQH and the beast peak lord) are just like What? Who's this? And SY looks at YQY disapprovingly (He knows YQY covets his wife and purposely didn't tell them) and explains he's the QJ peak lord and SJ as his husband has been ruling QJ in his stead for the past 15 years. And yes, that's why SJ is sitting in his lap.
When the whole story comes out everyone is more surprised to know they are married than the fact SY made the last sect leader so angry he was basically given a suicide mission (Not even YQY knew that) but don't worry! He has absolutely no inclination of taking his A-Jiu's position away. He'd rather teach his little disciples and let his wife to berate their martial siblings as is his right (Someone said they'll be happy having SY instead of SJ in meetings from now on and He Did Not Like That) So they'll share the name Qingqiu as QJ has two peak lords from now on.
Now if they'll excuse them they have a wedding night to finally enjoy.
