[ID: A Thousand Autumns drawing. Shen Qiao with an cold/angered look has him arm slightly extended in front of Shiwu as if shielding him. Shiwu has most of his body hidden behind SQ with one hand coming up to clutch SQ's sleeve. He has a worried/saddened expression and a cut that is leaking blood on his cheek. End ID]
Please consider: single parent Shen Qiao taking care of toddler Shiwu and he's barely scraping by with the bills. One day while working at his shitty job a rich guy takes a liking to him (it's Yan Wushi. He's not just any rich guy. He's a Terrible rich guy)
Yan Wushi essentially hunts Shen Qiao down after that to semi forcibly make him his sugar baby. It freaks SQ out a lot at first, until they formally decide on an arrangement. No sugar daddy stuff just... seeing each other. Company for a lonely old guy.
Friends, dare Shen Qiao say.
Friends, where the older and unsettlingly handsome friend pays for everything and maybe sends too many gifts and maybe gives Shen Qiao a weekly allowance-
Not sugar daddy though, not at all.
It's keeping food on the table for Shiwu, so Shen Qiao can make it work. He can deal with taking embarrassing photos in the ""clothes"" Yan Wushi sends. He can tolerate the fancy dinners and the warm hand on his thigh after a glass of wine has him feeling a littler looser than normal. The way his stomach curls when Yan Wushi growls, "My A-Qiao," against the shell of his ear.
That's all fine. He's doing what he has to do and totally doesn't need to address the constant butterflies in his chest when he's around. Nor the way he nearly forgot the entire reason for doing this when his fingers were tangled up in YWS's hair, lost in the press of lips along his jawline, only thinking about how right it felt to have his hands on him-how badly he needed them to be everywhere.
How bad he needed to have morning coffee with him before Shiwu comes stumbling out bleary eyed. To banter with him over a glass of wine, glaring and biting back quips while silently admiring the hook of his sneer. To return from wherever the day took him to that rich laugh, warm sturdy arms that he can never keep away from his waist folding him against his chest; pulling him home. To know this touch and this presence every day in every way-
For those who don't know, I am reading Thousand Autumns for the first time and sharing my thoughts!
If you have not read it, there will be spoilers! Consider this a warning.
Also- if you want to follow along, I am aiming to post updates daily. You can find all the posts in the tag Bloopitynoot Reads Thousand Autumns. You can also check out the intro post for context on my read, BUT if you followed along with my SVSSS read, TGCF read, or DTBPF read, the rules and vibe are the same.
I used the pot today and it was a delicious cup of tea :D Still don't know what I'm drinking, but it was pretty and delicious.
I am not quite 100% on how to take good pictures of the tea pot with my shit apartment lights and lots of glare, I tried my best!
let's get into chapter 47!
I can't get a read on Chen Gong. I honestly don't know if this kid means well or not. p.251
Oh damn. Xiao Se. Of course Chuyi brings a person Shen Qiao does not want to run into here. p.253
I'm sob! The abbot, Zhu Lingquan, is fully ready to die for Shen Qiao. p.253
wtf. The entire squad showed up; Bai Rong and Yan Shou. p.255
Wait. This is actually really upsetting with Chuyi and the abbott. D: D: D: p.259
I'm a mess. "Shifu and Chuyi can never come back to life, right?" p.263
[I hate this chapter the most :(((((((((((]
Unrelated, but sort of related. I low want to know the origins of the 'coughing out stagnant blood'. I read about it often in cultivation novels, but find the idea of it difficult to parse. Like, if based irl or traditional medicine, coughing blood is a really not good???? p.267
"..they'd kill him just the same. Shifu chose to save you, just like I chose to save you." Shen Qiao really needed to hear this. p.267
My heart! Him teaching Shiwu <3 p.270
This sucked y'all.
This was one of the most upsetting chapters by far and I have a suspicion is just doesn't get better D:
The 2025 WIP Big Bang & WIP Reverse Bang Are Open For Sign-Ups!
Welcome to a new round! We're bringing back the OG WIP Big Bang, which is for finishing fic and getting art to go with it, and introducing the first full round of the WIP Reverse Bang, which is for finishing artwork and getting fic to go with it. All fandoms/ratings/ships are welcome, including original works!
Schedule
All times are by 11:59pm PST. Convert time zones.
Big Bang/Reverse Bang Sign-ups Begin- April 1st
Big Bang/Reverse Bang Sign-ups Close- May 21st
Big Bang/Reverse Bang Check In #1- May 22nd
Big Bang/Reverse Bang Check In #2- June 15th
Big Bang/Reverse Bang Snippets Due- July 1st
Big Bang Art Claims/Reverse Bang Fic Claims Begin- July 17th
Big Bang/Reverse Bang Check In #3- July 22nd
Big Bang/Reverse Bang Check In #4- August 6th
Big Bang/Reverse Bang Rough Drafts Due- August 15th
Big Bang/Reverse Bang Posting Claims Begin- August 23rd
Big Bang/Reverse Bang Posting Claims Ends- September 1st
Big Bang/Reverse Bang Final Drafts/Art & Fic Due- September 7th
Big Bang/Reverse Bang Posting Starts- September 8th
A while ago, a discussion on discord led to the question "how does Shen Qiao stay Good after All That", and the consensus seems to be that he's just that good actually. He's born with that Goodness Battery that doesn't run out. He's just Built Different.
And to me that sentiment conveys a very simplified reading of Qian Qiu/Thousand Autumns and its themes. It's a reading that categorizes characters into People Who Are Good and People Who Are Bad, with Shen Qiao being that singular, shiny example of incorruptible goodness. But Qian Qiu is a story that consistently shows that Goodness and Evilness are not inherent qualities; they are choices that characters make.
Time and again, Shen Qiao is confronted with choices: whether to take the easy way out and become as cruel as the world expects him to be, or to follow his own moral code and be ridiculed and scorned for his apparent naivete. Time and again Shen Qiao chooses the hard path because he was raised by a loving and righteous man and he cannot stand the thought of tarnishing his shizun's memory by choosing to do anything but good.
And slowly the novel shows you that Shen Qiao isn't the only one making that choice. Shiwu gives his meager food to his younger siblings even when he too is starving; Zhu Lengquan sacrifices himself to protect Shen Qiao and Shiwu; Zhao Chiying reveals the ugly truth of Bixia's decline even when the lie is far more palatable; Banna and her grandfather share their resources with Shen Qiao. More often than not, these noble acts yield very little reward: Shiwu's entire family perish in the famine anyway; Zhu Lennquan will never see the results of his sacrifice; Bixia is down to just eight members; Banna and her grandfather are traumatized by the ones tailing Shen Qiao.
However, it matters that they made these choices, because it shows that this story is not about one man who is Magically Good All Along. It's a story about people choosing kindness, choosing fairness, even when the world demands cruelty from them, and how that kindness does have an effect. Shen Qiao sharing his bing with Shiwu leads DIRECTLY to Shiwu saving him when he almost dies. Shen Qiao cries as he learns this because even when he has just been kicked to his lowest point, there's undeniable proof that kindness prevails.
By the time of the Sword Conference, it's clear that the world of Qian Qiu has experienced a sort of paradigm shift: Shen Qiao's resilience and goodness has made him an exemplary figure, but he could not have done this without every small act of kindness bestowed upon him along the way.
TL; DR: Shen Qiao is a compelling character not because he's just magically immune to evil, but because he's an example that kindness is a radical choice in the face of overwhelming apathy and cruelty.
