magicpotatothoughts

Ok so most of us already know the meaning of SY 'cause it's in the appendix of the official translation books but I was today years old when I realised just how much meaning MXTX embedded into this name. *spoilers ahead*

Level 1 Meta

Official translation of the word Yuan垣 means wall. But not just any wall, a wall that surrounds something else. It would be specifically used to describe city wall 城垣 or garden fence 花垣 would use this character. This is incredibly fitting for Shen Yuan because his whole story arc is his battle between his logical conscience for survival and his compassionate gut instinct to protect LBH, in other words, to surround and to shield LBH from harm. But this wall of protection functioned against Bingqiu psychologically because SY kept on making decisions without talking to LBH and decided a lot of things on his own. SVSSS is a novel about achieving that balance, to allow both partners to take agency and face life side by side.

Level 2 Meta

Normally, surnames don't have any meaning. Shen沈 is largely used as a name for things/people buttttttt it can also mean liquid or to pour. Guess what, Luo Binghe 洛冰河 means Luo frozen river. So it could be interpreted that Shen Yuan's entire job in the novel is to make LBH achieve his final crybaby form by getting the frozen river Luo to melt, to "pour".

Also, SY made himself melt as well in a way, his internalized homophobia potential toxic masculinity as well as his need to maintain a cool composure were also things he needed to overcome. We finally see him cry for real in the 3rd book, right after LBH scolds him out of anger and worry. Our protagonist learns to break his own walls down and show emotionally vulnerable parts of himself to LBH.

Level 3 Meta

Chinese characters are made up of radicals, meaning more complicated looking characters are made up of simpler characters (radicals) that give clues to their meaning and pronunciation.

Shen沈 is made up of the radicals:

氵 [ shuǐ ] water 💦

冘 [ yín ] can mean to move on OR doubtful of something/someone

The water radical氵💦 occurs in all three characters in Luo Binghe 洛冰河. This can mean that Shen has influence on Luo Binghe's development and overall life. It also reaffirms their compatibility as as couple. I mean let’s be honest, SQQ cries inwardly and LBH cries outwardly, they are both crybabies.

yín冘 perfect describes the base functionality of SY's character; he has a strong survival instinct but is also extremely doubtful of everyone's intentions, especially LBH's.

Yuan垣 is made up of the radicals:

土 [ tǔ ] soil, earth; items made of earth 🌎

亘 [ gèn ] to extend across (dimension/space), through; from 🚀

I find it so fucking funny that MXTX took the tǔ土 soil radical seriously and literally just had SY zombie-himself out of the dirt after 5 years. But it's also really poetic that it once again goes perfectly with LBH's name; the river and earth go hand-in-hand. no wonder LBH asked for Shizun's hand in marriage. 😳😳😳

gèn亘 perfectly describes SY as a transmigrator, someone who travelled across dimension and space. But also SY is really the ultimate sightseer of SVSSS, casually crossing between the human realm and demon realm while also going on road trips with SQH. It's honestly so fucking mint. But I'm here to point out to you how Xin Mo 心魔 LBH's sword (heart demon) is how LBH travels across dimension/space for the majority of the book.

Ultimately, Yuan垣 highlights the importance of finding a home in the people you love. Bingqiu both enjoy that sightseeing lifestyle but the book constantly has important relationship developments, smexy times and domestic Bingqiu set in the Bamboo House. Ultimately, no matter how far you travel, run or chase, you cannot get away from your problems. You need to extend and make effort in understanding and communicating with your SO 🚀 and work on feeling grounded 🌎 in your relationship together.

adding on!! 🙏

沈 [ shěn ] with the meaning of liquid:

ice (冰/bīng) is water in solid form

this can be interpreted as melting ice (冰/bīng) into water (水/shuǐ)

= shen yuan melting binghe's farce as "bingge" post-abyss (toxic masc) and allowing binghe to be vulnerable and cry (healthy masc)

冘 [ yín ] can also refer to:

shen yuan moving on from his previous life

shen yuan's doubts about his own feelings along with others' feelings

ie. he doesn't believe binghe could love him nor his own feelings for binghe

additionally, a positive reinterpretation could be shen yuan eventually moving on from his own doubts and accepting them

shen yuan without any intonations has multiple meanings: (this one is kind of a stretch but i still wanted to include it)

深渊 [ shēn yuān ] abyss/deep ・ a reference to the endless abyss (无尽深渊/wú jìn shēn yuān) ・ also an inevitable plot point

深远 [ shēn yuǎn ] far-reaching/profound; long-lasting ・ SY's actions had a significant impact and ended up changing the course of the story

申冤 [ shēn yuān ] right a wrong/to redress injustice ・ SJ!SQQ, ming fan and co. indirectly/directly caused injuries to LBH, SY!SQQ gave him medicine to treat those injuries ・ ming fan and co. took away LBH's jade pendant, SY!SQQ returns it ・ SJ!SQQ gave LBH a faulty cultivation manual, SY!SQQ replaces it with a proper one

Lan Zhan: I branded my chest with the Wen symbol

Luo Binghe: oh you guys gave yourselves those marks? L. *shows off chest scar* SHIZUN gave me this 😏

I keep seeing this meme today so I wanna make my own version!

¡Better late than never! Happy birthday to ShengQiQiu!!! 🥳👏🎉

And of course LuoBoinghe is going to spoil his chichun! ^>^)/

that meme but it’s bingliu

Like to half the peaks they completely understand his obsession and devotion. Like Yue Qingyuan and Liu Qingge are like "Understand the motivation but hate the methodology"

It's Shen Qingqiu who Cang Qiong thinks is weird and unhealthily obsessed with Binghe

Their view of events as evidence:

He mourned his favourite disciple to a point other found excessive

He refused to return his sword to the sword wall and instead made a sword mound behind his house where he would mourn at

He stopped eating

He stayed away from the peaks as much as possible

He was a shadow of his formal self

He called out for him or spoke as if he was still there before remembering and being depressed again

when his precious disciple came back he was seemingly complicit in ruining SQQ's reputation as well as imprisoning him and WORSE: didn't return to his side immediately

Shen Qingqiu then sacrificed himself for his precious disciple

Who is a half demon apparently!? So he was LYING to Shen Qingqiu as well!

And then the brat won't return the body??! Disgraceful! Supposedly dishonouring it too!

And then Shen Qingqiu returns back to life and every single time choses Luo Binghe over the sect over his own life even!

Luo Binghe makes the speech about how Shen Qingqiu will never choose him and everyone else is speechless because What! Is! The! Brat! Talking about!?!

And then immediately after recovering from whatever the fuck happened at that cluster fuck of a confrontation Shen Qingqiu immediately disappears to play house with his precious disciple! Because of course he did!

Like I don't think anyone thinks he groomed Binghe. Like it was clear he loved White Lotus Binghe but not like that but he was still undeniably Overly Attached

And Qing Jing Peak is like "you have no idea"

"Almost as good as Binghe" is the highest compliment their Shizun can give them and they all hate it

Shang Qinghua coming onto Qing Jing Peak and his reaction to how happy and well-adjusted everywhere is is very telling.

He wrote Shen Jiu as a very bad teacher. Sorry Shen Jiu you know I love you, but you're a terrible teacher.

Ning Yingying is actually the best example. She is supposed to be Shen Jiu's favorite but is stuck in continuous childhood. She's older than Binghe, who is 14 when we first meet him in SVSSS, but she was acting like a young girl rather than a teen. Then when her best friend dies, he does nothing about the despair she falls under. She doesn't eat enough, she doesn't sleep enough. She only recovers when Bingge shows up again.

But her best friend is different, he destroys everything, he destroys how she saw her beloved shizun by poisoning the fond memories she has of him. But he's her friend, he wouldn't lie to her. She retreats further into the persona that her friend had had to protect her mind from the horrors of reality.

If you recall MXTX mentioned something relevant when talking about the Little Palace Mistress. She loved GYX, but when Binghe turns up she chases after Binghe instead, and because of this, she becomes sharper, and less pleasant. Before she probably was just as bad as any spoiled princess with a whip. But afterwards she felt the guilt of having abandoned her beloved for something shinier and newer and became dangerous. As such she fought the cognitive dissonance with her whip and the pain of others.

Likewise, NYY pulls on her safe persona of the childish best friend forever.