HuihuiDreams

There are so many ways to approach this topic, but today I want to focus on one in particular: we never get to see the story from Yue Qingyuan's perspective. As a result, it's much harder for readers to truly empathize with him.

Most of SVSSS is told from Shen Yuan's point of view. The Qijiu Extra is told from Shen Jiu's perspective, and Shang Qinghua even gets his own POV in the extras. Because we're allowed inside their heads, it's easy to understand their motivations, trauma, fears, and the reasoning behind their actions, even when those actions aren't morally righteous.

Shen Jiu, in particular, has done many regrettable things throughout his life, yet we know enough about his experiences that we still feel love and compassion for him. We even judge other characters as though they should know the same things we do. For example, that Shen Jiu didn't ambush Liu Qingge during their mission, or that he wasn't actually sleeping with women at the Warm Red Pavilion. But how are Liu Qingge or Yue Qingyuan supposed to know any of that when the story explicitly tells us that Shen Jiu refused to explain himself? At best, we tend to say, "They wouldn't have believed him anyway." But that's Shen Jiu's belief. The text never actually confirms that they would have refused to believe him.

Likewise, we find it much easier to excuse the bad behaviour of characters whose perspectives we share. We readily accept that Shen Yuan has to deceive Luo Binghe because otherwise the System will kill him. But is that really true after he unlocks the OOC restriction? Or is he ultimately more afraid of telling LBH the truth than he is of the System?

Similarly, we often treat Shang Qinghua's betrayal of his sect, which leads to the deaths and injuries of countless Cang Qiong Mountain disciples, as comedic because we know he was coerced by the System and never wanted any part in it. Qi Qingqi, however, doesn't have the benefit of that perspective, and she's understandably not amused.

But what about Yue Qingyuan?

We have remarkably little official text telling us how he thinks or what he actually went through. We know the broad strokes of his story: he was a beggar, he was close to Shen Jiu, he rescued Fifteen, which resulted in Shen Jiu being sold, later became the head disciple of Qiong Ding Peak, suffered qi deviation, and never explained himself.

But why? How? What happened during those missing years? What was going through his mind when he finally returned? Why did he choose to remain silent?

The story gives us the facts, but almost none of Yue Qingyuan's internal perspective. Unlike Shen Yuan, Shen Jiu, or Shang Qinghua, we're never invited into his head. We can only judge him from the outside. Something as simple as "Why did Yue Qingyuan rescue Fifteen?" can be interpreted in a dozen different ways.

Personally, I see it as a consequence of parentification. Even though Yue Qi was only a child himself, the younger children looked up to him, and he gradually came to see their safety as his responsibility. From that perspective, rescuing Fifteen wasn't about heroism or proving himself; it was simply something he felt he had to do.

But I've seen plenty of far less charitable interpretations:

He was working for the slave traders and only stepped in because the "merchandise" was at risk.

He wanted to play the leader out of vanity.

He was just a naïve little white lotus who didn't know his own limits.

And so on.

The point isn't that my interpretation is necessarily the correct one. It's that the text gives us so little insight into Yue Qingyuan's inner thoughts that readers inevitably fill in the blanks themselves.

And if you don't particularly like a character to begin with—which is understandable, since many readers adore SJ and see YQY as the source of his suffering—it's very easy to fill in those blanks with the least charitable interpretation possible. I've even seen Yue Qingyuan bashing go so far as to claim that he never intended to go back for Shen Jiu at all, or that if he truly wanted to rescue him, he would have simply sent another disciple in his place when he himself couldn't leave the mountain.

...Which leads into a whole other discussion about all the plot holes and inconsistencies surrounding YQY's backstory. But this essay is way too long already, and I've run out of steam for the time being. 🫠

Polite guy has very bad no good decade before getting sucked dry in an unfun unsafe unsexy way by his sword defending something that won’t exist for much longer

Shen Jiu never explains:

Why he sleeps at the Warm Red Pavilion.

That he was saving Liu Qingge, rather than ambushing him, during their mission with Shang Qinghua.

That he never intended to kill Liu Qingge in Lingxi Cave.

How deeply Yue Qingyuan's lack of explanation hurt him.

That he still cares.

Shen Yuan never explains:

That he isn't the original Shen Qingqiu.

That he genuinely cares about Luo Binghe.

That pushing Luo Binghe into the Endless Abyss was not what he wanted.

The truth about the System or his identity.

Luo Binghe is equally terrible at explaining himself:

Instead of saying, "I don't want revenge," "I just want you to stay with me," or "I'm terrified you'll leave," he imprisons Shen Qingqiu, manipulates situations, cries, acts possessive, gets jealous, and lashes out. From Shen Yuan's perspective, these all look like the actions of the PIDW revenge protagonist, so he spends years assuming Luo Binghe still intends to kill him.

WE WON SCUMMIES I'm So proud. how wonderous it is to see the sect leaders womb flourish. I've got 1 more chapter left in this fic. My irl life just got so busy almost immediately after the polls ended. I'm so proud of you guys. I'm so proud of our guys for getting this man pregnant. Next year we make Tianlang-Jun win- Tehmeep

HDHDHD I’m in the same boat LOL,,, my work life got so busy right after the polls 😭😭 BUT CONGRATULATIONS YUE QII ON UR PREGNANCY

I saw someone doing a fanon vs. canon comparison for SVSSS and feel like I need to do one for Yue Qingyuan’s appearance.

Fanon:

Hairy old man, an entire head taller than Shen Qingqiu with big eyebrows and boobas.

Canon:

Yue Qingyuan’s official height: 187cm, Shen Qingqiu’s official height: 184cm = 3cm difference.

In chapter 1, Shen Yuan describes Yue Qingyuan as “一名身着玄端的俊雅青年” (“a handsome and elegant young man wearing xuanduan robes”).

In the Qijiu extra story, Shen Jiu saw Yue Qingyuan in the water prison and thought, “人还是那张温和俊逸的脸” (“That person still wore the same gentle, handsome face.”)

…Xiao Jiu, you were in the frickin’ water prison and still had to think about YQY being handsome!! 😭