Pyper

When Luo Binghe spots Shen Qingqiu in Jin Lang city he’s absolutely shocked to discover a mere 2 or 3 (how much was it) years left on Shizun’s counter. What had happened in the time he was gone? Did without a cure get worse? Was it something else?

Worried to pieces he hurries over to his master. Except once said master lays eyes upon him—while outwardly calm—his counter starts to glitch showing only minutes left, then seconds, then months, zero, seconds again and so on.

And Shen Qingqiu agrees, after all what use would it be to remain on his mountain, when Binghe will never return to him again? When these mountains will never again hear his laughter echo through them or be lightened by his smile. Luo Binghe died in the abyss and it is his fault. If his body can be used for peace he'll offer it willingly.

His sect siblings watch him go, expecting to hear of his death in only a few months. Shen Qingqiu's heart has been weakened by deep grief for too long, they do not expect him to survive the dangers of the demon realm. To want to survive them. (They had tried to negotiate, to reason with and then beg for the Emperor to choose something different but he refused to reconsider. So away Shen Qingqiu goes.)

When he gets there his husband does not greet him. There is no ceremony, no big reception, no official wedding, nothing. He is simply led to his rooms, guided by the maids of the palace.

The hallways are decorated in extravagant statues, paintings, finely crafted lamps. Shen Qingqiu finds it sickening to look at. How would Luo Binghe have decorated these halls, had he not failed him, had he been able to rise to his full power, to have survived?

He doesn't leave his room, ignoring the soft knocks at his door, the food that is delivered to him by his servants. He stares out at his private garten and refuses to eat. There's nothing to it. No sense.

The garden is flourished with the prettiest of flowers and fauna. Perfect bamboo stalks sprout from the ground, beautifully framing the little pond in the middle. Waterlilies coat the surface. He stares long at the still surface of the quiet water.

The Emperor visits him on what he thinks might be the third day, dressed in dark iridescent robes that flow behind him, giving him an ethereal look. Shen Qingqiu looks at him for a few seconds before his eyes fall back to the pond. He doesn't know what is expected of him and decides to wait him out.

"Does my husband not have anything to say to this Lord?" The man asks after a moment.

"This master was not aware that this arrangement included providing his husband entertainment." He replies in a dry sarcastic tone and does not care about how it might get him into trouble. What use, what use. Luo Binghe is dead. There is no more.

Suddenly he hates the Lord in front him, just a little. For taking him away from home, from the only place Luo Binghe will know where to find him — should he ever return. For having to leave Zheng Yang behind, the last piece of Binghe's soul he could still watch over.

The Lord, his husband now, is silent for a moment before he quietly asks, "What makes my husband unhappy? Tell this Lord, so he may fix it."

Shen Qingqiu is suddenly exhausted. "There is nothing wrong. My chambers are fine, thank you. This husband wishes to be alone."

He doesn't know how much time passes but some while after that his husband softly closes the door on his way out. A bamboo leave slowly falls to the ground. Shen Qingqiu watches and watches. Luo Binghe is dead. Someday that will make sense.

His husband continues to visit him day after day. Each time he brings more beautiful, more elaborate and more expensive gifts. Shen Qingqiu thanks him and sets them down on nearby tables and shelves, not once looking back at them.

(Luo Binghe despairs, what is he doing wrong?! What is wrong with Shizun, why won't he move or smile?! What happened!!)

But over the months Shen Qingqiu opens up more and more, and one day he tells his husband about the disciple he once had, who had lived with him, cooked for him and washed his clothes, whom he loved and cherished, and then killed. Unexpectedly his husband bursts out into tears.

"What's wrong? My Husband, what is wrong?!" He gently takes his husband's face into his hands, swiping at the flood of tears.

"Shen Qingqiu," he sobs, "what would you do, to have him back?"

"Anything," Shen Qingqiu answers immediately, "there's nothing I would not sacrifice, to hold my Binghe once more."

His husband cries and cries and Shen Qingqiu watches in confusion, as slowly his appearance starts to slip. Soft curls replace the shiny hair from before, his dark eyes lighten to a vibrant red and Shen Qingqiu stares as his husband turns into his former disciple.

credit to instagram user catrasluvbot via these posts: x / x / x / x / x / x

as with most pirates, it is asked for your own (and others') benefit that you save this media on a physical device; i.e. hard drives, DVDs, SD cards, etc. this way, it's yours forever and cannot be taken from you by a greedy streaming service.

EDIT SEPTEMBER (READ): please be warned that the first episode of season one is ~6GB compared to just a few hundred MB, probably related to the frame width being 3840x2160 instead of 1920x1080 like the rest. this may be a concern for some individuals due to storage space. i can confirm it is not malware as i have had it saved since the start of the year without affecting anything. if you need or prefer to find a smaller file size, i recommend skipping that one in the gdrive when going through it and torrenting just the single. ↓

EDIT OCTOBER (UPDATE): @grahminradarin has changed the file size of ep1 down to 800MB! here is the mega link for download. i can’t tell what the frame dimensions are but the quality appears to be the same.

A few weeks pass, with Whumpee slowly getting more comfortable with Caretaker as they learn that Caretaker won’t hurt them, even when they’ve made a big mistake (there was an incident with a spilt glass of juice). Once they start to believe Caretaker that they really are safe there, Whumpee remembers what Caretaker said about being allowed to touch them. Whumpee doesn’t do anything right away, but keeps thinking about those words, especially when they’re alone. Eventually, Whumpee starts inching closer to Caretaker when they’re sitting on the couch, until, after a few days of this, Whumpee finally works up the courage to lean against Caretaker as they’re watching a movie together. Caretaker is shocked, but determined not to do anything to scare Whumpee away. By the end of the movie, Whumpee is curled up in Caretaker’s lap crying quietly, and Caretaker’s arms are wrapped loosely around them.

But also, I raise you Shen Yuan shielding his twin from any interaction that could trigger him.

Shen Yuan seeing how much Shen Jiu hates being touched, so he becomes the tactile twin who is just always there, throwing an arm around the shoulders of their martial siblings. Shen Yuan who notices his A-Jiu's patience is wearing thin and draws all the attention to himself. Shen Yuan who happily greets any visitors and takes them on a walk around their peak so that Shen Jiu can remain in the bamboo house undisturbed. Shen Yuan who is so dramatic that nobody sees the slight shake of Shen Jiu's hands after something reminded him of their past.

Give me Shen Yuan who uses his inner hater to innocently and eloquently dismantle the confidence of anyone who dared insult his A-Jiu. Without blinking or tarnishing his own reputation.

Give me Shen Jiu whose hackles smooth with a sigh as soon as he's alone with Shen Yuan, and Shen Yuan whose smile falls once he doesn't have to perform anymore.

Give me Shen Yuan pleading with Shen Jiu to tell people what has really been going on with him, to explain the trips into town or anything really. Give me Shen Jiu saying he's tired and doesn't want to talk about it, and Shen Yuan staying silent as he plots revenge on his twin's behalf.

Give me Shen Yuan being the twin nobody gets past, the one commonly acknowledged as "the hurdle to get through if you want to talk to his twin" and doing it in a way that nobody notices until they're already back in their own home.

wretched beginning, wretched end