CatLovelace

YOU

.....so. sucking up my embarrassment for a hot second-

YOU!

We're still calling this Operation: Shameless because I think that would be a hilarious System Assignment Name, but due to extenuating circumstances (me being an idiot) I am taking criticism and / or alternative thoughts.

But let us consider this as a wife plot. Some point before Maigu Ridge, maybe before Jin Lan if you want to spare a lot of characters some trauma.

In fact, I'm going to run with pre-Jin Lan.

Shen Qingqiu is in full widow mode, the System is getting a bit worried at this point, so wife plot time now that Binghe is out of the Abyss!

He decides to pick up a mirror Airplane glazed over in favor of more bad papapa, thinking it will help him since the full powers are never explained.

Sadly, it appears to be a dud, but it makes a decent travel mirror, and it's real glass, so he likes using it on the road.

Right before they go to Jin Lan, he gets hit with a wife plot, but it also doesn't seem to work? He's feeling a little friendlier, but he can't complain. This is the best he's felt since he had to push his little sheep. Mu Qingfang and Liu Qingge are just happy he seems a bit less depressed, even if his teasing is really trying poor LQG. He hasn't gone on a good rant since the Conference, even if he's a bit less composed.

Jin Lan is going down as normal, though he did get a bit too mean and may have called Binghe pretty to his face, but who can deny that the Protagonist is beautiful? Even a straight man would notice.

He's in his room, and uses the mirror to see more than just a close up of his face. The effect kicks in, and he is forced to have some Realizations about himself and where his tastes lie (men in general, but Binghe in particular). The thought of how gorgeous he grew up to be is now pinging around his head like the dvd logo. Wouldn't it be nice if he could avoid his fate by just, offering himself up to the Protagonist?

Conveniently for Shen Qingqiu, newly awakened to his sexuality, this is when Binghe rolls up to talk with his Shizun.

He's got a plan, but honestly that goes out the window when his Shizun starts calling him beautiful. Even the slightest hint of flirting is met with great enthusiasm.

At a Peak lord meeting there is a big argument over some rare beast and then LQG grunts and is like "I know who can help" and just leaves and doesn't explain anything. Then a few days later he's dragging in this guy so hot he makes LQG look like he got hit with the ugly stick. He is polite and excitedly explains all this stuff they needed to know like it's no sweat.

YQY asks if he'll stay in the sect for a little while so they can work together. SY agrees and from that point onwards is absolutely wifebeaming basically everyone who crosses his path. Rumor has it that WQW almost threw down with MQF over this guy. Xuan Su and An Ding have been active combat zones for days. Even that prissy bitch SQQ got mildly pink and covered his face with his fan!! Do you understand what this means?!

I think mostly Swing just...doesn't feel threatened by humans? he hides and slinks around more because he's a little creeper who just likes watching people. so it's not so much that he trusts Skully as he doesn't have any fear of what might happen if he couldn't, if that makes sense! (there's some overconfidence there -- he's still just a little Swing, so if the whole village went after him at once he probably wouldn't be in great shape, assuming they could catch him -- but he believes it, at least.)

really, the question is more about if Skully can trust him...

AO3 SCAM

There's been a number of people reporting over on the AO3 subreddit that they're getting messages like this posted in the comments shortly after posting new fics.

The AO3 team are NEVER going to try and contact you about TOS violations via the comment section (or about anything else for that matter)

Don't click any links. Report the accounts involved (which might claim to be things like "LucySupport"), delete the message and move on.

Here's a non-comprehensive overview of some of the red flags in this particular scam, so you can hopefully spot them next time and be a little safer.

Uncommon method of contact.

As already started: AO3 volunteers will never formally contact you through the comments. They already know your email address.

Uncommon reason for contact.

You posted a fic. That's what AO3 literally does, with very few restraints, and absolutely no automation. Other websites (Youtube, TikTok, etc) might ding you because you sneezed and it sounded a little too much like a banned word, but AO3 doesn't do that. If an AO3 volunteer contacts you, they'll tell you exactly what's going on.

Taking you to a secondary location.

This link is clearly hiding something (which, again, AO3 will not do), which is a bright red flag, but even if it looks like AO3, don't click. It's easy to hide a link inside a link, especially when mirror sites like https://archiveofourown.gay is legit.

Threat of action not in evidence.

Any time something says your account is or will be in danger/broken/locked/suspicious/etc and you see zero evidence, did absolutely nothing, that's a sign that something fishy is going on.

Sense of urgency.

I mean this with all my heart: absolutely no website will give you only two hours to take action on anything. If the tone of the thing makes you panic, that's because they want you to panic. Panicky people make bad choices in a hurry.

Okay Faerii, but now that I know what to look out for, I'm safe, right?

Lol no.

We're all human. We all click on things we shouldn't, even if approximately zero-point-one seconds later we regret it.

These types of scams probably don't want your AO3 account. They want things like your Amazon/Walmart/Target account. Basically: anywhere they can get money or goods fast and scram before the shop catches on. Some ways ways to protect yourself in case of an oops is

Use a unique password for absolutely. every. fucking. thing. Learn to love passphrases. Get a password locker. Google and Firefox both offer free ones. We're not hiding the smut from the FBI, so literally anything that will keep you from making ItWasHisSled1234 your password across fifty different sites is good enough.

Update your passwords regularly, especially after anything suspicious happens. Password lockers will also help with this.

Keep a separate fandom email address and use it for AO3. I mean it. This will protect you not just from people who hope your AO3 email & password are the same as your bank account's, but it also provides an extra level of freedom from loved ones. We've all heard tragic stories of people whose loved ones found their AO3 account and used access to their phone to get it deleted. (In case you need a nudge on #3, yes your school and/or employer can see every email you send or receive, and all it'll take is one overly explicit comment to drag you in for A Conversation.)

Related to 3, I strongly encourage learning how to be anonymous on the internet. Please. Please. Stop using your full name, mentioning your specific home town or identifying landmarks, and if you're under 18 shut up no you're not you're a 23 year old Fine Arts major from Kentuckleburg, Portlegon.

Multifactor authentication is your frenemy. Use it wherever you can and (I cannot stress this enough) do not get in the habit of unquestioningly accepting the login requests. That unexpected text message may save your bank account.

Lie your ass off on your security questions. Favorite color? Bald. Mother's Maiden Name? Chocolate. Street You Grew Up On? Lagrange Point 4. It doesn't matter if you're honest, just that you remember. Some higher tier password lockers will give you space for notes in case you need a reminder.

Get friendly with AO3's support methods. If something is really urgent, really weird, or you just want to be certain before ignoring it, ask. There's no shame in asking questions, and it's better to be sure than to take a risk.

Ning Yingying, initially reluctantly betrothed to him? Yeah she doesn't actually warm up to the idea of marrying him, even after they become friends, and still breaks off the engagement when he arranges the option for her instead of insisting that she's fallen in love with him.

Liu Mingyan and Sha Hualing fight over him? You'd think that would mean they both want him, but if he's not around they'll just pick another guy to fight over instead. He's starting to think it might not even be about the man at all!

Little Palace Mistress, stuck in her unwanted betrothal to Gongyi Xiao? Actually she warms up to her betrothed when Shen Yuan gets involved and ends up inviting him to the wedding, instead of dumping Gongyi Xiao to pine after him.

Qiu Haitang, who claims he's a dead-ringer for her long-lost fiance? Actually seems to genuinely not like him because of it! Not even in a tsundere way!

It's starting to hurt Shen Yuan's self-esteem a little, honestly. Not that he wants all these women necessarily but he knows the tropes, he can see quite plainly that he's in a situation where he should be building a harem, and yet for some reason it's just not coming together. The problem must be him, but he's also read/watched enough isekai to know that even some pretty rancid guys manage to accumulate harems. He doesn't think he's so bad that he should be failing this utterly! Is he?

this was going to be a reply to someone...before I realized I'd misunderstood the question. :') but here it is anyway!

wretched beginning, wretched end

My little headcanon is that they get together once in a while to make crafts with Xie Lian's scraps and some mysterious sea shells that keep showing up wherever Shi Qingxuan goes

Design for old Feng because I think they would still like to look cute once everything is settled 🥺