Bingqiu roleswap where disciple Shen Yuan knows he's gay, and figures out that he has a big huge crush on his handsome Shizun, but also concludes nearly at once that he's not going to be drawing Luo Binghe's eye any time soon. Firstly, Luo Binghe is notoriously straight. Secondly, even if he weren't, he wouldn't go for his scrawny untalented nerd of a disciple! Shen Yuan's not bad looking, not before or after transmigrating, but he's neither a beautiful nor a hot manly man, and he assumes if Luo Binghe were into dudes he'd be into the same kinds of twunks that Shen Yuan likes. Guys on his own level, etc etc.
Plus Luo Binghe hated the original disciple Shen, and only started to warm up to the transmigrated version after Shen Yuan got injured in front of him trying to stop the other disciples on the peak from killing a small animal. For some reason, Luo Binghe brought Shen Yuan medicine. He got even nicer after Shen Yuan distracted the skinner demon by trying to convince it to take his skin instead of Luo Binghe's, and then again when Shen Yuan successfully fought off a demon invader -- though initially when Luo Binghe volunteered him for that job, he thought it was an assassination attempt. His heart was in his throat when Luo Binghe nearly took a poisoned blow for him, but luckily he reacted more quickly and got hit by the thorns instead. His heavenly demon blood took care of the poison, and he managed to convince everyone that he narrowly avoided getting cut at all.
Shen Yuan's careful not to read anything into it when Luo Binghe finds out about his, erm, uncomfortable dormitory situation and moves him into the side room, or when he completely messes up trying to make dinner and Luo Binghe takes over cooking and bans him from the kitchen (he swears he's not actually that bad at cooking, he just never had to use a kitchen without a microwave or an electric hot plate before...)
After all, it's not like Luo Binghe is cooking for him, he's just making food he likes and letting Shen Yuan eat it too! Because he's nice! He's way nicer than the book gave him credit for being, see, clearly Shen Yuan was correct in signing up for his defense squad, "top ten worst villains of all time" his ass that poll was nonsense...
Unfortunately, though, the plot's still gotta plot. Shen Yuan is heartbroken when the Immortal Alliance Conference rolls around and his shizun stabs him and throws him down into the Endless Abyss. Heartbroken, but not surprised. After all, it was always going to go this way, wasn't it?
But at least, now that it's done, he has some agency in how he reacts to it. He's changed the story enough that he doesn't need to go get revenge. Maybe Luo Binghe's still the villain of his story, maybe that was inevitable, but some heroes let the villains get away. Don't they? It's all part of that noble, breaking the cycle of abuse type stuff. He can be that kind of hero. He can let it go. As long as he avoids Luo Binghe altogether, it should be fine, right? It's not like he's obligated to turn people into human sticks. He asked the system, he's definitely not!
Technically he's not even required to conquer the demon realms. He just has to get out of the Abyss and the be sufficiently cool and/or tragic. Conquest is just one means of doing that, and not even Shen Yuan's preferred, since he doesn't exactly want to rule over anybody. Going around the demon realms beating up some jackasses and rescuing some damsels in distress and becoming sworn brothers with Shang Qinghua, one of the current demon kings, is suitable. He definitely doesn't want to marry any of the damsels he encounters (thank fuck the system lets him off the hook for that!)
But eventually he has to go back to the human world. Not only is it mandated by the system, but he also misses living there. The demonic realms are in many ways better than expected, plus a lot of the monsters are really cool, but he misses the weather and plants and the people he's more accustomed to being around.
He misses Qing Jing Peak, if he's being honest with himself. Shizun's cooking and the bamboo forest and the crisp mountain breezes, the comforts of home.
Not that he can actually go back there in specific. Of course not. If he did that, Luo Binghe would try to kill him, or else the system would try and make him kill Luo Binghe. Bad ideas all around. No, he can't go back to Qing Jing Peak, but he can go find someplace nicer than the demon realms at least. He just has to keep a low profile, which shouldn't be hard since the original goods did that even while actively scheming to kill his former master!
Except.
Everywhere he goes, suddenly Luo Binghe is also there?!
Good thing Shen Yuan thought to take a page out of the book of Luo Binghe's actual love interest, Liu Mingyan, and start wearing a veil. He just didn't want any randos who might have seen him at the Immortal Alliance Conference or on any of the other missions his shizun sent him on to recognize him. But one minute he's investigating a strange case in Jinlan City, and the next the streets are full of Huan Hua cultivators (Shen Yuan has no intention of joining them, that's the path the original took to getting revenge! He doesn't want revenge!), and then Luo Binghe and Sect Leader MBJ and Peak Lord SHL show up, and SY is ducking down alleys and hiding behind columns, just trying to stay out of the way until the lockdown on Jinlan lifts and he can leave.
Except...
Luo Binghe really isn't acting like himself?
He looks like he hasn't been eating or sleeping well. There are dark circles around his eyes, and something almost melancholy in his countenance. And he's dressed entirely in white, none of the usual Qing Jing greens and blues anywhere to be seen. Of even greater concern, he's being reckless. Shen Yuan can't stop himself from rushing out when he sees his former shizun get infected by a sower demon.
Luckily, it's been some years since the last time they saw one another. Shen Yuan's gained a few inches in height, so he's almost at eye-level with his old master now, and though he's still more slender than bulky he's picked up some totally new styles from training the demon realms. He doesn't move the same way he used to. With that, plus the veil, it's enough for him to quickly swallow back his words as he grabs Luo Binghe and quickly administers a cure for the sower infection.
Well, he has one of course. He wouldn't need it himself, heavenly demon blood and all, but his time running around playing hero in the demon realms meant he rescued a lot of humans from such fates. Which is hard to do if you don't have a cure to their afflictions, but between him and Shang Qinghua, sourcing such things was almost easy.
Luo Binghe looks at him like he's just seen a ghost. The other Cang Qiong sect members are alarmed by SY suddenly accosting one of their own and of course find him suspicious, so he runs away right after, and then he has to lose Sha Hualing's pursuit in the city.
But what else could he do? He manages to evade the system's attempts to railroad him into meeting Gongyi Xiao, avoids the rest of the Cang Qiong crowd, and drops some of the cure through the current Qian Cao peak lord's window to get the incident sorted out. Then he flees and puts a good amount of distance between himself, Jinlan City, and every righteous sect he can think of.
The only problem is that after this point, Luo Binghe is everywhere.
Any time Shen Yuan stays in one place for longer than a few days, Qing Jing disciples start turning up. Any time he takes a job hunting some cool-sounding monster or pursuing some interesting tome of knowledge, the better to satisfy the system, it seems like Luo Binghe has selected and gone after the exact same target! Which is especially annoying because back when SY was a disciple, Luo Binghe was always assigning him to do this stuff. Since when does his chronic homebody master have an interesting in six-tailed scorpion lemurs or ancient spiritual kilns?
What's weirder, though, are the rumors.
It seems like any time SY stops at some well-populated place and asks for the latest gossip, he has to hear about how the Qing Jing peak lord lost his beloved disciple during the Immortal Alliance Conference, and mourned like a widow, and now wanders the earth in search of solace for his grief. Seeking something, possibly even the ghost of his dear disciple.
What nonsense! Luo Binghe threw SY into the Abyss himself. He had to do it, it was the plot! And also his obligation as a righteous cultivator, confronted with a "dangerous" half-demon. Does it sting? Yes it stings! That's why SY wouldn't just forget it! Despite logically knowing it's pointless, is there some part of him that wishes his master would have chosen differently? That thinks he should have known that no matter what kind of power Shen Yuan had, he would never use it to hurt people recklessly, or harm innocents, or especially not harm... well. It's pointless, his blood condemned him, and if there is some part of Luo Binghe which regrets what happened, it's doubtless just that he unwittingly harbored a monster for so long.
Which is fine and Shen Yuan would leave it at that, if the guy would just let him!
But no. Instead he has to deal with Luo Binghe turning up and asking him questions, trying to get him to talk (SY has no hope of disguising his voice, if he says anything he's not even sure it won't crack as he comes perilously close to tears instead, so he just stays silent), and then asking for his name, asking if he's mute, asking about his background, his sect, his kin. Is his a righteous cultivator? Where did he get that sword? (NOT Xin Mo, thanks, he used that thing once and then tossed it back into the Abyss before the portal finished closing behind him -- he knows a poisoned chalice when he sees one, although knowing the plot twist about that sword from the novel sure helped.) Where did he learn those forms? Is he... does he have a safe place to go home to? Someone to tend his injuries? Make sure he eats his meals?
SY, of course, stays silent. But it's difficult. Not only because Luo Binghe asks, but because he still looks... bad. Sunken, sorrowful, desperate almost. Shen Yuan can't figure out if he knows or not. Maybe he's unsure, maybe he's looking for SY to give him a sign, so that he can figure him out and then flip a switch and try to finish the job he started.
That can't happen. If they fight, SY will win, and he doesn't want to hurt Luo Binghe.
But even if Luo Binghe's not a heavenly demon, he is a highly accomplished cultivator, and it seems he's got his own breaking points to reach. Eventually he corners SY and gets a hand on his veil, and for a moment SY is sure he's going to rip it off, see his face, and confront him all "I knew it was you, you twisted evil demon, you won't escape justice a second time" and he feels a deep, icy terror close around his lungs--
Luo Binghe lets go of the veil before he can lift it.
But then something even worse happens. Because Shen Yuan's handsome, peerless, noble master breaks down. He falls to his knees, begging forgiveness, sobbing, clutching at his head like he's being driven to madness.
It all spills out of him, then. How he pushed his own dearest disciple into the Abyss, which obviously SY already knew, but also how he was apparently qi-deviating the whole time, and his senses could not differentiate between one kind of demonic "threat" and another. How he realized what he'd done only after he regained his senses hours later, and rushed back to the place where the tear to the Abyss had opened, but could not find a way in after the one he lost. How he had betrayed and thrown away the only person who cared about him, and couldn't even explain that he hadn't intended to. How he would accept anything, any punishment, hatred, penance, or revenge, if only he could see his disciple's face once more.
SY is stunned.
Apparently, Luo Binghe hadn't rejected him for his demon blood?
Not only that, but beforehand, he seemed to have valued Shen Yuan a lot more than Shen Yuan would have credited.
Is it a trick? Is he lying? SY would have guessed so, would have assumed that Luo Binghe's plan was to lull him into complacency only to turn on him once he finally had confirmation. But somehow, he just... doesn't think this is an insincere display. His old master is too cool for this stuff! He has too much dignity to just throw it away on a scheme! There are other ways to get what he wants.
Even if it is a lie, Shen Yuan is tired of running. He's the hero. He won't actually lose, and if it comes to it, it's still in his hands to decide if he wants to spare Luo Binghe or not (he does, of course he does, even if this whole spiel is an act). Plus he's got a backup plant body in one of Shang Qinghua's greenhouses if all goes to shit.
He takes the veil off himself.
Luo Binghe, teary-eyed, stares at him as if his face is the most beautiful he's ever seen.
Shen Yuan nearly puts the veil back on. His cheeks heat up. Dear Shizun, aren't you an immortal master? A noble peak lord? Isn't it your calling to vanquish demons? Get up off the dirty ground right this minute! Where did your dignity go? Shen Yuan did not spend all those nights doing the laundry to watch his teacher dirty his knees for no good reason!
There's a quaver in Luo Binghe's voice as he points out that Shen Yuan was terrible at doing laundry. Luo Binghe had to redo it the day after, all the time.
Shen Yuan chides at him that he should have made one of the other disciples do it then.
Luo Binghe just laughs, and stays on the ground, until finally Shen Yuan has to physically pull him up. Muttering about how he's being ridiculous, what's he crying for, why's he been moping so much, doesn't he know that handsome face should never look so bereft? Then he realizes what he's saying and shuts his mouth, but Luo Binghe just looks happy for the first time in years. Since the Abyss. How is it possible that SY, who actually had to slog through that awful place, can still smile more than Luo Binghe, who didn't?
They're standing so close. Holding on to one another. Almost as if... as if the scene's tone is... well...
Oh what the hell!
Shen Yuan closes the last little bit of distance between them, and kisses Luo Binghe.
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A Different Look At This Scene
I know, what more could possibly be said about it? But let me try.
We've watch our boy intently, seen every flicker of sadness, fear, shame, rage, hatred... It's all beautiful. Now, let's savor Cazador's end from the bastard's perspective.
Convinced of His Own Power
His Sulkiness ain't scared yet. He's not in control, but he hasn't internalized that yet - Cazador has been a predator for so long, he doesn't remember what it feels like to be the prey. He's still, somehow, at least fractionally convinced of his own power.
"The spawn will never be free - he is my creation, now and for eternity!" Not his name - never his name. "The spawn."
Look at the supposed-to-be charming 'let's be reasonable' smile slipping and barely restrained rage taking over for a second. This is not a man who is used to restraining his anger for anyone. He is aching to be violent.
With a gentle movement of the dagger, Astarion reminding him who holds the power here. The agonized sadness and hurt on his face.
And Baron Bats-for-Brains continuing to treat him disrespectfully, talking down to him as though speaking rudely to a child.
...but watch his focus drift back to the dagger, though.
Back to Astarion. The righteous anger, the conviction, again that lean in we see in other shots where he wants to get his point across. He slaps his own trauma down, looks Lord Leech dead in the undead eyes and, in beautiful Astarion fashion, tells him I'm not yours.
"You might have made me what I am, but I am so much more than you created me to be."
He doesn't deny what he is - instead, he claims his own future for himself. Okay, back to the bastard.
The beautiful visual metaphor of silencing his abuser as the camera angle drags the tip of the blade across the Sneering Snivel's lips. I love it. Flawless. *chefs kiss* Thank you, Larian, it's so good.
"But I am grateful for one thing; you really showed me how to savor moments like this."
Something we know from what Astarion says about the Pompous Parasite is that Cazador liked to make it hurt; he liked the screams, he enjoyed the anticipation of the moment, drawing out the torturous seconds before the blow. Extracting noises he called music.
Astarion gives that torture of anticipation back to him in this moment and it's beautiful. Watch Sir Suck-a-Lot's eyes drift from Astarion's face to the dagger again, then that flicker of concern as he eyes it. We hate the f*cker, but he does have a good poker face when he wants to.
A moment for Astarion in his power before we go back to the bastard;
Finally, the F*cker's Fear
Finally some FEAR and realization on that hateful face. The weight of this all has sunk in now. He's lost control, he has no power, he's about to be stabbed many times, by someone he knows has a massive pile of very detailed and horrifically specific reasons to hate him.
He's fucked. He finally knows that.
Look at the Shadow Slitherer staring at the dagger, look at the fear position of his hands, the way he bows his head at the end, even before Astarion's hand is in his hair.
The Duke of Dracula's Dumpster has finally recognized his end.
Okay, first... let's just enjoy this for a moment. It's glorious, we love it... savor it. Someone should feel good from this. (...and it's not going to be Astarion.)
Enjoyed? Good. Alright, here we we go again.
Oh My God, The Eye Contact
Watch Astarion stare into his eyes as he raises the blade, the way he rips his gaze gack to savor the bastard's face as the second and third stabs get slammed in.
Pain on Marquis Mirthless's face, one agonized glance up at Astarion's face before his eyes shudder closed. The single plea for mercy; No! before he's stabbed 14 times.
The camera reminding us of the scars he put on Astarion, of why we're here... what Astarion's giving up by killing Cazador instead of ascending.
Controlling Him With His Hair
So I'm gonna guess that I'm not the only one in this thread with a little trauma... does that grab and yank look like re-enacted trauma to you? Because it does to me.
Something tells me Cazador knew it was coming, too. Good.
The Blade Flip
Just... appreciate it for a moment. He's fully in the throes of a very chaotic moment and has both the presence of mind and dexterity to show off. With a purpose
"I am so much more than you created me to be."
Flinging that in Count Cringeworthy's face while literally stabbing him to death. Flawless. Peak rogue behavior.
The message behind the flip, Cazador's twitching hands, Astarion's hand leaving his hair and the fury behind the next stabs.
The Escalation of Intensity
He changes his stance, sets his feet and rains down blows.
And they're still good, clean stabs. Look at the good rogue bladework he's taught himself, look at him put those stabs on a razor-straight plane going in and out. Maximum force on delivery, minimal effort on retrieval, really good and clearly practiced technique.
The way his hand mostly hovers over Cazador once he starts to fall. I don't think he wants to touch him again and honestly? I don't blame him. The dude was gross before and he's grosser now, all stabbed n bloody n shit.
The feral savagery of his face on those last few stabs. The ferocious hatred with which he pulls the blade free.
Seriously, that last scream and stab... look at everything in his eyes. The hatred, the two hundred years of trauma, the stolen life, the power he's rejecting, ...and, buried under everything else, the fear.
He had a plan coming into this; Ascendancy. That plan has come undone, he's set his feet on a new path and there is literally no going back.
The Realization
You can hear this gif, can't you? I want to give Neil a hug every time I listen to it, wondering what trauma was channeled into that moment. It's beautiful, it's poignant in a I had to reload the first time I heard it because I dropped my Steam deck, burst into tears and missed the rest of the scene way. It hurts.
The stagger back, the way he wrenches his eyes away from the body and stares at the ceiling. The look up of abject agony and almost disbelief that it's finally over... it's done.
The dazed wobble, falling brokenly to his knees.. catching himself on the bloodied hand still clutching the dagger. Looking at his bloody hand and the dagger. Apparently releasing it, because we don't see it in his hand again.
Here it is again, closer:
Recovering his balance, rising back to his knees... not ready to stand yet. Still stunned and dazed and waiting for the victorious and vindicated and triumphant feelings he's pretty sure are supposed to be happening right now to kick in.
His eyes turning to the bleeding out body of his former master. There's anguish, misery, the weight of so much trauma resting so heavily on his shoulders (and wasn't that supposed to be magically gone now?), watching Cazador twitch and bleed himself to death.
Has anyone ever wanted to comfort a fantasy character more than we did in this moment? Did it ruin anyone else's day that we couldn't comfort him early on? (updated this because apparently we can now?? I have no idea how I missed that. See you guys in a few days, haha, I know what I'll be doing)
Where he expected to find victory and celebration and triumph, he has found numbness and pain and loss. Loss of the power he gave up, loss of the illusion of safety he'd been clawing towards, loss of the idea of being free of the clawing hunger inside... loss of the hope that this death would bring him release from the torment inside.
But the death of a tormentor does not gift us with the death of the torment they perpetuated upon us. And so...
He weeps.
And we stand there. Until his siblings approach him first. Not with praise or comfort, no. They bring him their questions and needs. As, I'm guessing, they have always done to some degree.
Then there's the fucking pose. Kneeling, shoulders back, chin down, hands on thighs. Compare it to Cazador's almost matching pose earlier, as well as some of Astarion's comments about life under Cazador.
Then his siblings approach and has to put his armor on once more. Standing there half-naked, covered in blood, full of somehow both anguish and numbness, with the body of Cazador on the floor and both his found-family and forced-family about to meet for the first time.
As he has a thousand times before, he forces himself to be strong. Even though he has to struggle to get to his feet.
That little almost too-perfect smile. It’s practiced. Poised. The armor is back on.
Then he gets up, gets to his feet and carries on. As he always has. And for the same reason he always has.
Because he must.
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