#luo jiahui

[airplanetxt]

Luo Family from PINTWILF by @tossawary

[tossawary]

Posting about my reread like this in an attempt to help me remember some of these small details... I am quite bad at remembering things from the beginning of a book by the end of it, partially because small, easily overlooked details often become far more meaningful and therefore memorable on the reread.

Some quotes and thoughts on Binghe's birth + adoption, Tianlang-Jun, Su Xiyan, and the poor, unnamed washerwoman:

"Immediately after birth, Luo Binghe was abandoned by his parents, swaddled in white cloth, and put in a wooden basin that was lowered into the Luo River. This occurred on the coldest days of the year, and it was only thanks to fishermen pulling him out of the water that he didn't freeze to death as a baby. Because he'd been drifting along the Luo in the season when it was choked with thin ice, he was given the name Luo Binghe.

Luo Binghe spent his early years wandering the streets, hungry and cold - a dreary childhood. A washerwoman who worked for a wealthy family took pity on him, and since he had no children of her own, she adopted and raised him as her own. Mother and son were poor, and they suffered much humiliation at the hands of their rich patrons." - Chapter 1, pages 9-10

"As it turned out, Luo Binghe had been born to the Demon Realm's Saintly Ruler and a woman of the Human Realm; within his veins flowed the blood of the ancient, heaven-fallen demons as well as that of the human race. His father, Tianlang-Jun, had been sealed beneath a great mountain, trapped for all eternity. His birth mother had been a disciple from a righteous cultivation sect, but shortly following Tianlang-Jun's dealing, she had been expelled on suspicion of having secret ties to demons. She had died from a postpartum hemorrhage after giving birth to Luo Binghe, but prior to her death, she had set her son adrift from the lonely ship she'd birthed him on. It was the only way she had been able to give Luo Binghe a chance to survive." - Chapter 1, page 11

I view a lot of these small details as somewhat flexible, with the different levels of unreliable narration going on. We are being told these things by Shen Yuan, who may be misremembering these details (as any reader, myself definitely included, does), and who read them as told by Airplane, who may have retconned prior details as he came up with new ideas, forgotten small details as he wrote millions of words, or was just lying in the narration for later reveals that never came to fruition. Shen Yuan may have also been reading dialogue between characters who also didn't know what they were talking about or were lying to each other.

So, I can do what I want with a lot of this, I feel! Shen Yuan doesn't necessarily know what he's talking about here. (More details will be revealed later on, I remember, and I will be looking out for them.)

Interesting things to remember here! Tianlang-Jun was apparently probably sealed during the winter, maybe late autumn at the earliest, which was probably unpleasant for snake demon Zhuzhi-Lang. I'm currently imagining Tianlang-Jun leaving his nephew to essentially hibernate somewhere to avoid the weather, promising to stay out of trouble (actually planning to meet up with Su Xiyan), and then just not coming back.

Su Xiyan apparently gave birth to Binghe on a ship! That's interesting. I had forgotten that detail if I ever took note of it.

I knew that the book implies here that Binghe was found by the washerwoman a little later into his childhood, but I'd forgotten the fishermen detail. I usually intentionally ignore this and just go with the washerwoman finding Binghe (which is what the animated show did, I think), because if Binghe was honestly "immediately" abandoned by Su Xiyan, then he would have been a newborn! Someone HAD to have been looking after him. This is one of my pet peeves in fiction: Binghe HAD to have been breastfed by someone OR this world must have an equivalent to baby formula for him to survive. (This is the main reason I conceptualized Luo Jiahui in PINTWILF as a young woman who had recently had a stillbirth, just so she could breastfeed this newborn baby.)

It's possible that Binghe had a series of caretakers who fell through before his adoption, leading to brief periods on the streets as a young child, and/or he did a lot of "wandering the streets" begging and scavenging AFTER his adoption by an extremely poor woman (and the sentences there are just a little out of order). Even if demon baby Binghe COULD survive on other food somehow, newborns can't... walk... or crawl... or lift their heads.

If I have to stick to what's written here as closely as possible, then I would go with the following interpretation: newborn Binghe being found by fishermen, who take him to town to see if anyone has lost or abandoned a child, or if anyone is willing to take one in. The only person to agree is this washerwoman. People in town possibly donate some means (baby formula equivalent, kinky plot device plant that kickstarts lactation) to feed this baby or cruelly tell the washerwoman the baby will die. Possibly, the washerwoman goes deeply into debt asking these rich patrons for the means to feed this baby. As Binghe grows up, he spends a lot of time on the streets, begging and scavenging to help his extremely poor adoptive mother. End mostly canonical interpretation.

If we wanted to get a little wild, we could also go with the interpretation that Shen Yuan is incorrect when he uses the word "immediately". Either he misinterpreted something Airplane wrote, or a character relayed information incorrectly in PIDW, or the SVSSS just formed differently to Shen Yuan's impression based on very vague information that Airplane may not have been keeping consistent.

Maybe Su Xiyan actually lived for several months on this ship after giving birth, creating the seals and somehow managing to feed her newborn child (the poison that killed her is a problem with breastfeeding here, but idk, maybe heavenly demon babies can drink blood for all we know, which is something Su Xiyan would know but the washerwoman would not), before setting Binghe adrift. Binghe would be too young to remember this time with his birth mother. I'll have to see what Wu Chen from Zhao Hua Temple says when I get to his explanation of what happened to Su Xiyan in the third book.

[ailelie]

Fic Rec: pride is not the word I'm looking for by Tossawary

If it matters, the canon for this fic is The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System. You do not need to know this canon to enjoy this story. I know NOTHING of this canon beyond that it is about a transmigrator and I LOVED this story.

This is a very long story by a very considerate author who includes content warnings and optional spoilers via links to their tumblr. The spoilers are barebones and do not ruin any enjoyment.

Do you enjoy the following?

Women removed from the fridge

People being strong in different ways (Luo Jiahui's strength is her deep capacity for love and her willingness to stand by those she loves, even if it means going up against people others fear. I love her).

Character growth! (I hated the main character in the first few chapters. He is utterly spineless and cares little about the world beyond his own survival. But then, by building one single relationship, he starts to grow because he starts to care.)

A story centered on a found family sibling relationship. (Shang Qinghua and Luo Jiahui are the best siblings. They choose each other over and over again. Both have their own (slowburn) romances.

A well-plotted AU in which every deviation can be traced by to the transmigrator or the implications of the canon. (Even Luo Jiahui's age is eventually explained).

Relationships of various types that evolve, change, and grow.

Resolutions that happen when people communicate and trust each other. Conflicts when they don't.

Multiple interesting side characters. Even the most minor of characters have at least a quirk that makes them distinct from other people.

Plot holes get resolved! Stuff comes back! Things that seem unimportant early on return later as new threats or have new weight!

Transmigration stories

A world based on a shitty novel and forced to work when it wasn't designed to; aka very interesting worldbuilding

Then you need to read @tossawary's pride is not the word I'm looking for!!

Okay, an actual summary, though.

So, from what I understand, SVSS is a transmigration story in which a young man takes over the role of a major villain in the protagonist's youth. In the original novel, the protagonist became a demon emperor and had, like, 600 wives. In the new canon caused by transmigration, the protagonist falls for the villain. But lots of bad stuff still happens.

In this story, the author of the original harem novel gets transmigrated into a side character who works alongside the original villain. The author starts from birth in this world and is forced by the System (an unexplained entity that issues quests via pop-up screens and manages the world state) to assume the role and position of his character (he can't check out of the plot). The author assumes he can't really change canon and is only interested in his own survival.

However, he just has to go see his protagonist, Luo Binghe, as a baby. So he arranges vacation and goes. When he finds him, he realizes Luo Binghe's adoptive mother (a character he never even named, but is Luo Jiahui) is 19, living in a hovel, and selling her body to make ends meet. His long-dead conscience rises up and he decides he can't leave her like that, not when he's the one responsible for her misery.

He originally plans to just drop her off somewhere, let her pretend to be his sister-in-law, give her lots of money, and never interfere again.

But that doesn't really go according to plan at all. And from this one change, the world shifts for the better.

The two grow into a family. Luo Binghe goes from being his "protagonist son" to being his nephew. Shang Qinghua goes from seeing the world as only his creation to being his home and the people in it as real and vital as himself. Friendships, family, good deeds (even absentminded ones), and love triumph over everything.

This is such a good story. I just finished it and I want to go and start reading it again from the beginning--especially since I nearly put it down. Shang Qinghua is so very annoying at first.

Seriously. Go read it. You do not need any canon knowledge. The story itself and the fantastic author notes keep everything clear.

[tossawary]

pride is not the word I'm looking for by Tossawary

Fandom: The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System

Relationship(s): Luò Bīnghé's Adoptive Mother & Shàng Qīnghuá, Luò Bīnghé & Shàng Qīnghuá, Mòběi-jūn/Shàng Qīnghuá, Shàng Qīnghuá & Everyone, Minor or Background Relationship(s) 

Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Luò Bīnghé's Adoptive Mother Lives, Shàng Qīnghuá Adopts Luò Bīnghé, Families of Choice, For Want of a Nail, Worldbuilding, Canon-Typical Violence, Angst and fluff and humor, Slow Build, Plot Twists, Fight Scenes, Character Development, Original Character(s), Friendship/Love, Brother-Sister Relationships, Uncle-Nephew Relationship, Mother-Son Relationship, Family Feels

Summary:

Shang Qinghua goes to take a self-indulgent peek at his baby protagonist son and gets a kick to the shrivelled heart for his troubles. He gave up on changing the story years ago! Yet he finds himself helping his protagonist son's adoptive mother anyway. Just this one change won't matter too much, right?

One little change leads to more. Shang Qinghua never meant to care, but he becomes invested in making sure that his new family survives the looming plot. With the changes to the world cascading around him, with his position as a traitor pulling him between his sect and a certain ice demon, and with the protagonist growing up so quickly, how is one displaced author meant to ensure that everything turns out all right?

A Pre-Canon to Canon Divergence story.

Wordcount: 408,000

Link to AO3

[tossawary]

Putting this here so I don’t forget: one of the extras I want to write for “pride is not the word I’m looking for” is Luo Jiahui’s ex showing up. Like, the guy she ran away from home for, who ditched her, this totally average scummy man who is a background character for a background character.

My dude, you cannot comprehend the number of extremely powerful people who now have very personal, permanent issue with you.

[tossawary]

pride is not the word I’m looking for [PODFIC] by Opalsong

PINTWILF is getting a podfic and it’s in progress, updating on Saturdays! A huge thank you to Opalsong for taking on such a project! ❤❤❤

Fandom: The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System

Relationship(s): Luò Bīnghé’s Adoptive Mother & Shàng Qīnghuá, Luò Bīnghé & Shàng Qīnghuá, Mòběi-jūn/Shàng Qīnghuá, Shàng Qīnghuá & Everyone, Minor or Background Relationship(s)

Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Luò Bīnghé’s Adoptive Mother Lives, Shàng Qīnghuá Adopts Luò Bīnghé, Families of Choice, For Want of a Nail, Worldbuilding, Canon-Typical Violence, Angst and fluff and humor, Slow Build, Plot Twists, Fight Scenes, Character Development, Original Character(s), Friendship/Love, Brother-Sister Relationships, Uncle-Nephew Relationship, Mother-Son Relationship, Family Feels

Summary:

Shang Qinghua goes to take a self-indulgent peek at his baby protagonist son and gets a kick to the shrivelled heart for his troubles. He gave up on changing the story years ago! Yet he finds himself helping his protagonist son’s adoptive mother anyway. Just this one change won’t matter too much, right?

One little change leads to more. Shang Qinghua never meant to care, but he becomes invested in making sure that his new family survives the looming plot. With the changes to the world cascading around him, with his position as a traitor pulling him between his sect and a certain ice demon, and with the protagonist growing up so quickly, how is one displaced author meant to ensure that everything turns out all right?

A Pre-Canon to Canon Divergence story.

Link to AO3.

[tossawary]

So hey! Just read your post wanting to make chubby cheeks demon baby artwork and it just so happens that's what I've been working on! As well as Luo Fanli and Luo Jiahui! I also made a second Jiahui for funsies cause I like her so much. Thank you for sharing all these wonderful ocs with us!

Oh, they’re so cute! Thank you so much for sharing these! I love the colors and expressions emphasizing the Luo sisters’ respective personalities. And Didi looks so perfectly pouty and uncooperative. I love the ears! <3 <3 <3

[tossawary]

First: Love your new fancy avatar Second: I reread PINTW and realized how much SQH played himself with the love pinch on the cheek! He did it to Luo Binghe first while Jiahui watched. Than she copies it and does it to him. He pinches her again while Mobei (maybe) watches. BUT he for sure sees it at the reintroduction dinner after which Mobei start pinching SQH. A pinching chain! I love it so much

Thank you!

And yes! I enjoy affection as a learned and practiced thing! It's one of my favorite things in stories when characters pick actions up from each other (positive actions or negative actions, but we're talking about positive actions here). It's something that really happens, for one thing! And it's one of those "show, don't tell" things that always hits for me personally, like, "Oh, you changed each other."