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neoblogcrying · 5 years

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Here is the next part! This will be up on AO3 as well very soon!

The System Temp chose ‘I was thinking about the other Peak Lords’!

“You sure struggled with this one.”

“Kept going between that one or giving the neutral answer. Looks like the Peak Lords won by a very thin margin.”

“Really kept #1 on her feet for this one!”

“I was actually hoping for the other option to win out in the end, to be honest.”

Unfamiliar voices could be heard this time around as more System Moderators came to watch ‘the show.’

It seemed with every passing poll question, the other System Moderators were becoming more and more involved with this game. At first, they acted as though they hadn’t a care and they were only there to keep System Moderator #1 in check, but they were slowly jumping on board with this game she created.

How many Moderators were on active duty? This wasn’t something that the Temp was allowed to know, but they wouldn’t be punished for guessing.

“Hey hey, focus. Let’s get started already, alright?”

Beep!

Shen Yuan blurted the first thing that came to mind, “I was thinking about the Peak Lords.”

“The Peak Lords?” Shen Jiu repeated with a look of suspicion on his face. For what reason did his brother have to think about those people? He would never say that he liked any of them (private or not), so hearing that his brother was thinking about them… it left a bad taste in his mouth, to be frank. “Why?”

Without skipping a beat, Shen Yuan answered with ease as if he was used to pulling answers out of nowhere—which he was. If you asked him, he’d tell you that he was a professional at making up answers.

“Sooner or later, the other peak lords will learn the truth about ‘Shen Qingqiu’. Our Peak disciples have learned the truth already, so we can’t keep it a secret forever.”

Yue Qingyuan promised to keep their secret safe for as long as he was able, and Mu QingFang sworn to secrecy (Yes, he was threatened to it). With the recent incident of Shen Yuan fainting, it resulted in their Peak disciples learning the surprising fact that there were two of their master.

Identical twins!

It was only a matter of time before the secret was revealed to the rest of the Cang Qiong Mountain Sect.

“And?”

If the matter gets revealed, that’s the end of what. What need is there to think about people who don’t even matter? Shen Jiu had an inferiority complex and he seemed to have a strong distaste over being around men.

Shocking as it may be, there was a barrier that not even Shen Yuan could cross, even if the two of them were close.

Not that Shen Yuan minded, because he wasn’t particularly the sort to be overly affectionate towards others anyways. If anything, Shen Jiu did lower his guard somewhat when the they were the only two in a room, but even that took years to build up.

Shen Yuan worked very hard to build their relationship up to this point, he’ll have you know.

Neither of the two brothers knew about the other’s past in detail, because they never asked each other for details. If you asked for details, you would have to offer details about your own life, and neither wanted that.

Shen Jiu loathed thinking about his days in the Qiu household, while Shen Yuan couldn’t tell Shen Jiu about his ‘true past’ for obvious reasons.

Over the many years since they’ve found each other, they’ve come to learn how to trust each other to a certain extent. (Shen Yuan trusted his brother, but Shen Jiu still had some reservations).

“I just wondered how they’d react. I haven’t been around them as much as you have, but I think they’re good people.” Shen Yuan truly appreciated all the Peak Lords as he knew about all of them from the original novel, and many of them were interesting characters.

It wasn’t like he could explain this fact to his brother, however.

Shen Jiu, looked unconvinced. Who of the Peak Lords were good people? None of them were. He didn’t like any of them! Rather, none of them liked him, and the feeling was mutual. (Yes, he was ignoring Yue Qingyuan’s existence here.)

“The Sect leader already knows about us so there is no wondering about how he’d react. Still, he’s a nice person, I think. He treats us well. I can tell you both have history with each other, but it seems strained. I won’t ask you about what kind of history you both have, but I hope you can resolve your issues one day.” If you do, maybe he won’t die in the future?

He was under the impression that since they’ve already changed the story so much by making Shen Qingqiu into a pair of twins, they should have the freedom to change other things as well?

[System: Be mindful to not stray too far from your character. If the readers are happy, we will not deduct points from you.]

Shen Yuan mentally rolled his eyes as he cursed the fact that he had no privacy even in his own mind. The System was always monitoring his thoughts and popping in to comment randomly.

“No matter how you treat him, he takes your abuse with stride, and I think he genuinely cares about my well-being. He’s--- … So how about Qi Qingqi? Don’t you like her?” Shen Yuan suddenly changed the topic because he noticed how Shen Jiu’s mood was turning for the worse.

Talking about the Sect leader was borderline taboo between the two of them, and it was like a ticking time bomb. “What’s there to like? What do YOU like about her?” Shen Jiu’s eyes narrowed, wondering how his younger twin would answer this. Was it a superficial reason like her looks?

Do you want your older brother to start flirting with her in your stead?

From what Shen Yuan remembered reading from the novel, Qi Qingqi had a frank personality, and she was very headstrong. He personally liked that in characters, especially female characters. Women weren’t only wall flowers that were to be admired. He appreciated a good, strong, female character who could take charge!

“Don’t you admire her strong personality? She’s very admirable, I believe. I appreciate her frankness. I think she’ll be upset about it and have a fit over how we kept it a secret, but I think she’ll accept it easily after the fact. If we do our job properly, she’ll accept us, I think.”

Shen Jiu’s response was to wave his hand, signifying that he should move onto the next person.

Going through a mental list in his head, he went to talk about the next person. “Mu QingFan doesn’t count as he already knows our secret… but… you really need to stop calling him so often. He’s already so busy and you keep calling him to check up on me. I worry he’ll collapse from overworking one day.” These were his honest thoughts, because not only would Shen Jiu call for him often, so would Yue Qingyuan!

Give the guy a break, will you? What will you do if you make him overwork so much, he dies? Who will you count on to look after you then?

He’s not that weak, really! The two of them were like worried mother hens.

“That’s his problem to deal with, not ours.” Shen Jiu rolled his eyes, showing how he truly didn’t care about how tired Mu Qingfang was. If Shen Yuan was ill, he was going to have the best tending to him. “You have any complaints over him looking over you?”

“No, not at all. He’s a great conversational partner. We talk about various things, and he will occasionally visit with fruits. He cuts them for me as I’m resting. He tells me stories about what goes on beyond this room, and it’s pleasant.”

Even though Shen Yuan was trying to help build up Mu Qingfang’s image in Shen Jiu’s mind… his words had the opposite effect. Instead of feeling thankful for how well he took care of Shen Yuan, Shen Jiu was suspicious. Why was he so kind to Shen Yuan?

What reason was there? Was it that he was trying to steal Shen Yuan away from him? Trying to lure him away with sweet words and feeding him fruits?

A shiver ran down Shen Yuan’s spine as it felt like the temperature of the room dropped.

‘Brother, why are you so angry!?’

[System: Shen Jiu’s distrust for Mu Qingfang has grown by 50 pts. He believes Mu Qingfang is trying to steal his younger twin brother from him.]

EXCUSE ME!? Hello, system!? Let’s talk!?

How can I make Shen Jiu hate the other Peak Lords so much if he’s so irrational!? Is he jealous? Is that what it is? You damn bro-con! Let over people spoil your younger brother too!

Ugh… being spoiled by another man though… is there anyone more pitiful than Shen Yuan? OTL||||

Shen Yuan lamented in his head over how irrational this was. How did it come to this? What could have possibly made his brother dislike Mu Qingfang?? The doctor was being kind to him like an actual doctor should! Are you trying to say that cutting fruit is too domestic, and therefore, he’s flirting with him!?

Shen Jiu, is your IQ really that low?

“There’s Shang Qinghua—”

“Pass on him. He’s a useless pack mule.”

“…”

While it’s true that the peak is well known for constantly working for the rest of their lives, it’s not nice to call your fellow Peak Lord a pack mule, right? Though, knowing how he betrays their sect for the demon-kind, Shen Yuan buried his complaints in his heart.

“Liu Qingge—”

“Don’t talk about him. I’ll kill him one day.” Shen Jiu hissed, his irritation levels peaking to a new height. He was tapping his fan against his knee in annoyance, waiting for this topic to finish already. What good was it to talk about other Peak Lords?

They may be twins, but the way they thought about things were so different! Shen Yuan really was the ‘good twin’ here, and he was the ‘bad twin.’ He was the villainous type, while Shen Yuan was more of a saint who could only see the good in others.

The fact that he couldn’t see the world the way his brother did, it secretly made him nervous. Would their dissonance in their world views cause them to split apart? His brother was the only family he had left, and he didn’t want to lose that—the only good thing he had left in life.

If he really were to think deeply on his feelings, he’d realize the reason why he was so upset about this, was because of his insecurity and his feelings of jealousy. He didn’t want his brother to see how the other Peak Lords were better company than him and leave his side because of it.

No one liked him, and everyone betrayed his trust. His brother would be no different—but he wanted to put his faith in his brother. The one who found him, against all odds.

“Ge, Liu Qingge has great character. If you treat him well, he’ll return the favor. He’s Bai Zhan’s strong peak lord! If you ever come across any problems, he would protect you. He will never let a favor go unreturned. He has an honorable character and that’s hard to find. I’m willing to bet that he’d be mad, but after one punch, he’ll forgive us for lying!” Maybe instead of a punch it would be a stab? No no, that hurts more! Shen Yuan implores Liu Qingge to let them go with a punch instead!

Shen Jiu was mulling over Shen Yuan’s words about Liu Qingge:

He’s honorable (the exact opposite of the shameless Shen Jiu).

He had a great character (unlike the scummy Shen Jiu).

He will never let a favor go unreturned (while Shen Jiu would let no disservice so unreturned).

His self-loathing weighed heavy on his shoulders, and this heavy feeling transmitted through their emotional link and made Shen Yuan’s shoulders sink involuntarily. It became harder to breathe as Shen Jiu’s deep, dark feelings started to overwhelm him.

“Ge, don’t… you like any of the Peak Lords?” He hesitantly probed for an answer.

“None.” Shen Jiu’s curt reply was enough for Shen Yuan to know that Shen Jiu was reaching the limits of his patience.

Silence enveloped the two of them awkwardly and Shen Yuan found it hard to speak up again. From what emotions were being transmitted to him (which he mistakenly thought was him reading the mood of the room), Shen Jiu was mad, hurt, insecure, afraid, and frustrated.

It was hard to stop someone from being insecure or afraid, but he could only try his best. Don’t you know how hard he’s been trying to help Shen Jiu heal his heart? Do you think he enjoys acting like a child?

Really, how old is he to be hiding under the covers to avoid medicine? Shen Jiu enjoys the feeling of superiority, so he purposefully does this to give him a sense of superiority over him as the ‘elder brother’. He gives into Shen Jiu on many things to build his confidence, and to have him understand that Shen Yuan was loyal towards him.

No matter how much you distrust him or hurt him, he will always be by your side.

That’s what Shen Yuan wanted Shen Jiu to learn.

Slowly, he reached out to tug on Shen Jiu’s sleeve. “Want to guess who my favorite Peak Lord is?”

“Who? Perhaps you like Mu Qingfang the most as he spoils you? Liu Qingge is the HONORABLE one, unlike your brother. The Sect leader is powerful, well mannered, good-natured, and he treats you well. What is there about him to dislike? Go join their peaks if you like them so much!” As per usual, Shen Jiu snapped at Shen Yuan, but he always took it with stride. His scathing tone was hard to stomach in proximity.

A gentle smile snuck onto his face and he shook his head.

“My favorite Peak Lord is Shen Qingqiu, the one you play. You are the perfect model for what an immortal cultivator should look like. You diligently work and study for hours on end, cramming millions of pages worth of information into your head. No one pampers me and spoils me more than my favorite brother. You may have some personality flaws, but you balance me out. No one is perfect and that’s okay. Is it not enough that I love you? Even if the world turns against you, I, Shen Yuan, will always be by your side. If I ever annoy you, toss me aside. I won’t hate you for it.”

Admittedly, Shen Yuan hated Shen Jiu as a reader. He was the major contributor to the ‘castrate Shen Qingqiu’ driving force in the comments. Really, he apologizes for that. Don’t take his words to heart, dear Author!

However, once he transmigrated into the novel, he’d learned some things about his brother. He wasn’t a mindless canon fodder bent on chaos like everyone thought he was. He had depth, and he had his own fair share of insecurities. He was ambitious, but practical. He cared about others in his own way, and he simply wasn’t honest about his feelings.

He was human, like everyone else.

Even if he had his character flaws, Shen Jiu did try to treat Shen Yuan well in his own way. It showed in the way he would force Mu Qingfang to come watch over Shen Jiu. He’d always check up on him any chance he got.

He’d personally see to it that he ate good food, and he always gave Shen Yuan the comfier of the two pillows. It was small things like that helped Shen Yuan know that he was properly being considered by his brother.

“Ow!” Shen Jiu’s fan came crashing down onto the crown of Shen Yuan’s head. The older twin immediately turned away to face the opposite wall after he’d hit Shen Yuan’s head with his fan.

“Don’t talk nonsense and go to bed.”

“Okay…good night.” Shen Yuan faked a defeated attitude as he slowly slipped into his bed, hunched over in disappointment.

HA, you thought!

Everyone and their mother know that Shen Jiu felt embarrassed and so he forced Shen Yuan to go to bed!

Quiet graced them once more as Shen Yuan attempted to fall asleep, and Shen Jiu lost himself in his thoughts. It was so painfully obvious that Shen Yuan was trying to cheer him up, but it still warmed his heart to hear those words coming from his brother.

Knowing that Shen Yuan wanted to stay by his side until he was tossed away… not that it would ever happen, was heartwarming. Is this what familial love was like? Sticking with each other through thick or thin?

Shen Jiu is very protective of his things, and he takes good care of all his belongings. Shen Yuan, was his precious younger twin, and he wouldn’t give him up to anyone. Not without a fight, anyways.

Hear that, Mu Qingfang!?

He had to protect his brother from that man with evil intentions. Should he stick by his brother’s side more often? Was there anyone he could trust to watch over Shen Yuan?

‘If you ever come across any problems, he would protect you. He will never let a favor go unreturned.’

Maybe… there is a good reason to keep him alive… but it won’t stop him from trying to get in his way at any given moment! You never gave him face during the tournament all those years ago, so he will make sure you suffer for that transgression!

[System: Shen Jiu’s impression of Liu Qingge has increased by +10 points!]

Shen Yuan secretly smiled to himself. He didn’t know what happened to make this happen, but it’s a step in the right direction!

It was hard to tell how much time had passed, but enough went by for Shen Yuan to have truly fallen asleep. Shen Jiu gazed at the peaceful sleeping expression of his younger brother.

“Your Shen Qingqiu is my favorite too. Hurry up and get better so I can watch you play the part.”

It was amusing to see how his good-natured brother could act the part as the scummy Shen Qingqiu. Even if their personalities were nothing alike, they both shared an impeccable acting ability.

DING!

The screen stilled as someone pressed pause, freezing the characters in the game.

“Ah, did we forget to mention? …Whoops~! Sometimes we go for coffee breaks! Since we don’t want to miss a thing, we paused the game for you~! That said, wait until we come back. You’re okay with that, right? You are? Good!”

Obviously, they weren’t giving the System Temp a choice in the matter.

What else can they do if they weren’t in control of the TV? All that can be done is nod and wait until they come back.

“Oh, if you haven’t noticed already, there are refreshments and snacks for you to eat over there. Do help yourself.” Another voice spoke as lights turned on, to illuminate a room full of snacks and drinks to enjoy during the wait.

Don’t say they weren’t fair to you.

“Pssttt, you’ll want to be extra vigilant with the next segment! Don’t forget that we won’t tell you which of the Shen brothers is acting as Shen Qingqiu. You’ll have to figure that out on your own! Good luck! Take this break time to gather your thoughts!”

A helpful moderator graciously gave a warning to the System Temp, telling them to be prepared for the next segment.

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#Scum Villain #SVSSSLifeSimProject #Neo Writes Drabbles #((Phew i'm tired now))

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adhd-ahamilton · 7 years

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Okay but I keep thinking about ‘18th century but gay marriage’ and here’s my attempt at worldbuilding it Steampunk-style. Note that I’m not an expert so this is essentially Fantasy. Also note that I’m not trying to create an ideal world (I’m ace and aro spec so it wouldn’t be perfect for me), just an alternate one with 18th century gay marriage as the prompt.

So right from the beginning, let’s say modern America wasn’t first founded by Puritans. The settlers weren’t coming because of religious reasons at all. They were coming more for political reasons, wanting to set up their own societies based on their own rules. They’re still Christian of course, but early European settlements are united by shared beliefs about how to run communities etc. rather than a particular religious belief.

As in real life, for a while after, the prevailing belief is that all people are inherently bisexual and must resist the urge to have same-sex affairs the same way people resist the urge to lie or gamble. But in this world, in both America and Europe, this belief lasts longer and crashes into the growing ideas about the importance of strong same-gender friendships, influenced by writings of respected and admired Greek philosophers.

The extent to which this view permeates society varies wildly depending on the religious affirmation of the society - some Christian sects agree with it, while others insist that such urges must be resisted. But in this world, there’s little non-religious objection. Instead, those places where it’s accepted start to view it as normal and good for adolescents to have passionate romantic and erotic affairs with their friends before marriage. This is thought to firmly impress upon them the values of fraternity and equality, with this love viewed as representative of their love towards their fellow people in general, and with such friends supposed to encourage the best in one another and act as moral checks. People who do not engage in such affairs are begin to be viewed as antisocial and lacking in inherent brotherly love. And specifically, men who desire relationships with women but not men are sometimes viewed as being dominating people who have no interest in relationships unless they are the one in control. Naturally, due to the specific colonies that began it, in most places around America this becomes the standard way of thinking.

However, an issue pretty quickly presents itself: a lot of people end up in really good same-gender relationships that they don’t want to leave just to get married. At first this is viewed as mainly a childish thing, but as increasing numbers of people start just not getting married when they’re ‘supposed’ to, community authorities get nervous. Instead, an uneasy norm develops where it’s considered acceptable for these relationships (which are still viewed as inherently good) so continue on as affairs outside marriages. In some places, people speak of these things openly, and many marriages which are expressly loveless develop, but in other communities which place a higher emphasis on social etiquette and social standing (such as England), it becomes one of those things that everyone knows happens but which you aren’t meant to talk about.

Time goes on, and people start to congregate in cities more. Already because of the social acceptability of admitting such attractions, there had been some people openly disagreeing with the bisexual norm and declaring an attraction to only one gender or to no genders, but there generally hadn’t been enough for these views to get much traction. Once population density increases, these groups start to meet up and speak publicly. Although people within this non-bisexual group have different beliefs and there’s a fair bit of in-fighting and miscommunication between them, for the most part the general public views them together as people who are arguing for freedom from relationships, in a world where freedom of relationships is increasingly considered general common sense.

During this, there’s also an increasing norm that marriages ought to be based on love, rather than a business arrangement (for the lower classes, particularly farmers), or a diplomatic exchange (for the upper classes). This collides violently with the viewpoint about the inherent goodness of same-gender relationships, and certain groups start campaigning for same-gender marriage. However, this is till viewed by most people as a bad idea - passing on the family name is important, and in an age of high infant mortality, so is having as many children as possible. Although there are still some who avoid marriage altogether to be with their partner, and these people aren’t necessarily scorned, it’s viewed as something the community shouldn’t encourage.

But then, in America - and certain other countries - something else happens. The principles of civil liberty and freedom from tyranny increasingly become part of educated public discourse. An idea that has been gestating quietly for quite a while - the idea of privacy, and of the freedom to do what one wants within one’s own home - suddenly becomes an everyday topic of political conversation. And that’s when the idea of same-gender marriage actually becomes a legal possibility.

There are many arguments both for and against it. There are still certain religious communities that utilise social censure to punish those who enter these relationships and who highly resent the idea of having to legally grant them approval as marriages; however, these groups are increasingly demonised by more mainstream Christian groups, and regarded as backwards extremists. And, there’s still the matter of children and legacy: even those who promote the idea of marriage tend to agree there’s a need to promote those ideals. But, the pros side has good arguments as well. Some argue that current same-gender relationships tend to be too volatile because they don’t have the structure of a marriage, and the community would be better served by recognising those relationships legally. Others promote the rights of those people not attracted to different genders, arguing their civil liberties are being offended. Others agree that while first-born young men and women should be getting into proper marriages, that widows and widowers, and children of larger families where there is no need to pass on the family line, have no such obligations and should be allowed the right to marry whom they love. And, they argue, while child mortality is high, so is parent mortality, and where same-gender couples exist that’s a pretty convenient place for families to send nieces and nephews in need of a place they can be brought up with love.

In the end, only a small number of countries allow it. England is not one of them. And not every American colony does, either. But many do. And once the revolution really happens, there is an even stronger fervent patriotic push to legalise it in every state, as part of America’s formulation of its own non-English identity.

So, for Hamilton specifically, there’s really no need whatsoever for him to marry a woman - there are plenty of Hamiltons he’s closely related to, and even if his family did have feelings about it, they’re not exactly around to voice those opinions. Laurens... does feel a certain pressure, since he ended up with relatively few siblings (does he have many cousins? what is the Laurens extended family like???), and he’s clearly his father’s favourite. He even considered marrying Martha Manning after things went so badly with Francis, but when he realised she was genuinely falling for him, he backed off quickly. All-in-all, he’s never really tried to hide that he prefers men. When he announces his intention to marry Hamilton, Henry Laurens is annoyed, but not surprised, and by now actually knows Hamilton a little and respects him, so really John isn’t doing anything all that bad. (People his father’s age would probably disapprove, as part of a belief about respecting the family and parents in particular, but it’s hardly an uncommon thing to happen.)

Time goes on. As the 18th century becomes the 19th and we come to the Victorian era, in the Western world, the importance of the erotic connection in both same and different gender relationships is chipped away, as part of an increasing belief that passionate romances are unstable and selfish. Instead, it’s increasingly believed that the typical person is asexual, and should only have sex for reproductive purposes or possibly as a way of expressing intimacy and reaffirming a relationship. Instead, it’s simply held as good and normal for people to have intense relationships with friends and partners. As part of this greater concern for stability, however, any remaining norms regarding the acceptability of affairs vanish. Instead, structured and long-term relationships are praised among all others. If someone does not feel themselves capable of maintaining a different-gender marriage, it is expected that they would enter same-gender marriages. Families who try to push their children into different-gender marriages are disapproved of, as it’s viewed they’re putting their own personal desires for a legacy above the greater community good of stability.

Finally, in the late 19th century, we get the medicalisation that occurred in real life, but rather different. Instead, psychologists try to catalog the difference between ‘balanced’ men (who share equal interest between genders) and ‘unbalanced’ men (who prefer a particular gender). Men who prefer women are viewed as being controlling and confident, while men who prefer men are viewed as emotional care-takers (due to the long-standing tradition of same-gender couples taking in nieces and nephews). Aromantic men are viewed with some suspicion as being anti-social, but some psychologists insists that they are merely men who prioritise other things over relationships, and should perhaps be treated better by the wider community. Women aren’t studied nearly so deeply, but the kind of general impression is it goes along gender lines - women who prefer women are similar to men who prefer women, and vice versa.

Into the early 20th century, those identity categories increasingly become politically important, as groups stress the differences between them, and you get more people specifically identifying a a man who prefers men, as opposed to any other kind of non-bi. Sexual attraction becomes expected again, but to a lesser extent as asexuals increasingly speak up for themselves. With the World Wars, the importance of same-gender relationships is stressed again especially between men, but afterwards, the general consensus seems to be that there are many different orientations and that generally they should be respected.

#this is silly #but if steampunk fans can fudge technology to get steam-powered zeppelins and stuff #I can fudge social science to get this!#.#..#queer history #long post

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