I Have A Fraction Of A Braincell, And It Decided To Hyperfixate On Ming Fan, Which, Fair Enough. Hear

I have a fraction of a braincell, and it decided to hyperfixate on Ming Fan, which, fair enough. Hear me out:

Gongyi Xiao/Ming Fan

Now, this is a semipopular pairing for Ming Fan. Certainly not the MOST popular (considering Gongyi Xiao/Zhuzhi-Lang which I ADORE), but I feel like they would be good foils for each other.

After the whole bingqiu saving the world via papapa, it's now a period of purely reconstruction. Human and demon relations are turning out different, Huan Hua Palace is an absolute mess, and Gongyi Xiao doesn't entirely know where he fits in all of this. While it's undeniable of the Old Palace Master's crimes, he was still the authority figure, the one who GYX used to look up to. He used to be his father figure, his mentor, and the one who believed in him.

Until he didn't.

And although GYX is busy helping the Little Palace Mistress run Huan Hua, he's getting burnt out. He's questioning himself and his own judgement. It doesn't help that the two of them don't feel any attraction to each other and break off the relationship because goddamn, they're both shattered one way or another.

Huan Hua Palace needs a renewal. Not another dubious relationship.

Cang Qiong's got a different problem. Yes, two of their peak lords are dating demons. Yes, the QJP one is gone like half of the time. SOMEONE's gotta fill in that role. And that someone's Ming Fan. At the rate he's going, he's like 90% there. He just needs to wait for the next generation to ascend before having the full responsibilities and powers of a peak lord. So naturally, as a future peak lord and basically peak lord of the second highest peak, he's often sent for diplomacy, especially Huan Hua.

Insert meet cute. Or meet ugly. The problem is that they both see the other as a better version of themselves.

Ming Fan envies Gongyi Xiao because of his cultivation, his strength as not only a martial artist, but a leader determined to sift through the muck to truly make Huan Hua as golden as its treasury.

Gongyi Xiao looks up to Ming Fan, not only because the man's older and from Cang Qiong, the dude's basically a peak lord. He looks so put together, so reassured, so beautifully dangerous. Gongyi Xiao feels like a rock sinking in mud.

Regardless, the two of them meet, and maybe it's through joint missions, maybe it's through the endless diplomacy, maybe one of them is sent over to the other sect for an exchange for the time being, but whatever the case is, that picture perfect view of the other?

It's getting shattered. The window is getting shattered, and maybe, just maybe, the two of them like it that way.

Gongyi Xiao is not perfect. He is hard working, kind, tired, and so so real.

Ming Fan is not otherworldly. He is flawed, humorous, dedicated, and so so human.

The two of them fit in a way that they never knew before. And although they certainly aren't complete, they aren't alone.

The world may be a mess, but here in your arms, I feel loved.

Ming Fan did not consider himself to be a main character.

Let's be honest here, he was second in his family and overshadowed by both his older and younger siblings. He wouldn't inherit the family business, he wouldn't go and become the next influential scholar in the Capital. People could barely recognize him. It was, in short, a miracle he even got into Cang Qiong, much less Qing Jing Peak.

Which was the second peak.

He's not complaining. Ming Fan loves it much better than home, and for once, he's first in something. As the most senior of them all, he basically was in charge. He can control things now.

Except, as time goes on, he can't.

His Shizun changes completely from a qi deviation that he should've been able to prevent earlier. How, he has no idea, but surely there could've been something.

His youngest shidi outshines everyone and eventually becomes the reason for his Shizun's death before having the audacity to marry him.

All of a sudden, he sees everyone around him less and less as more paperwork is shoved to him on top of all his classes. Eventually, he basically becomes an unofficial peak lord before ascending to become the peak lord.

All because Ning Yingying didn't want to.

Was it out of pity? Was it out of boredom? Was it out of fear of what the title peak lord truly meant?

Ming Fan has officially become the very top of Qing Jing Peak. And it's lonely.

Ming Fan knew himself to be many things, but out of all things, he still considers himself a side character in his own life. He looks around at the house he inherits and spots a congratulatory bouquet before laughing. He's basically the baby's breath of bouquets.

It takes a few years to get used to being called Peak Lord instead of just Da-Shixiong. It takes a few years before he starts accepting disciples, it takes a few years before he fully embraces the role, and it's a few years before he meets Gongyi Xiao again.

The man's beautiful as always, and for some reason, Ming Fan still looks up to him as the person he ought to be. Strange how Gongyi Xiao thinks the exact same thing to Ming Fan.

They end up becoming accidental pen pals after a diplomacy meeting. One after another after another, before an entire shelf is dedicated to just Gongyi Xiao's letters.

Ming Fan, somehow, is in love. And he is torn apart when he is constantly reminded of the Little Palace Mistress always following behind Gongyi Xiao.

In any case, it takes a few years before Ming Fan finally messes up and confesses. He waits for a rejection only for arms to encircle his being and comfort his soul. Gongyi Xiao looks at him and he looks back, seeing themselves in the other's eyes.

It takes a few years before Ming Fan realizes that although he may be the baby's breath of bouquets, he is still beautiful when you look closely. All it takes is the right person and the right time. He may be second in many things, but in Gongyi Xiao's heart?

There is no other competition.

I think it's really interesting how pride is shown throughout Epic. Like with the conflict between ruthlessness and mercy, the idea of pride itself is also fought over within the musical. While it allows for the men to fight through the war (as seen in The Horse and the Infant) by showcasing how they aren't going to die laying down. Pride, in a sense, gives people the will to fight and in some cases, the self-dignity to stand up for what they believe in, it also provides the question of when is pride too much? For example, I feel like I can argue that the reason for Odysseus basically DOXING himself was due to his pride being wounded. Even though the cyclops would've had to think about that day regardless or not he knew Odysseus's real name, Ody still yelled out their name. Why? Because his pride was wounded for losing his men. This was an act of vengeance, the "aha, I have bested you" kind of moment. And Ody wanted the cyclops to know that. It could also be seen as an act of rebellion against Athena, because while Ody is still believing in mercy whenever possible, I kinda don't think Polites meant to spill out all your personal information like that. In either case, Ody is letting his pride take over his rational functions. Again, pride is mentioned in Thunderbringer, pretty obviously too. I mean, "Pride is a damsel in distress" is a pretty banger opener. As useful or hurtful pride can be, it's an impermanent thing. After all, pride can be stripped down once you "apply all the pressure". Additionally, when Zeus asks Ody to choose, it's pretty obvious that Zeus, Ody, and even us the listeners know who Ody is going to choose. Why? Because Ody has said it time and time again: the reason for his fighting, the reason he continues to draw on his well of pride, the reason he is still standing is solely from the desire to see his son and wife again. Yet that pride that keeps him going is also being stripped away as Zeus talks to him like a misbehaving child. Unlike in the Trojan War, in front of Zeus, pride is nothing. I might just be rambling, but I find it fascinating how many nuances there are in Epic. Can pride be a good thing? When can it be a good thing? And how much pride does it take to cause your downfall? If you're still reading this, thanks so much lol. 11 more days until the Wisdom Saga!!

'No Longer You' is such a good song and in this essay, I will Ok, but jokes aside, there's so many things I could pick apart about it. Like, the whole self-fulfilling prophecy?? Ody, dude, the 'man who is haunting' is you, we just can't tell you that for the plot. Literally. However, I also find it really interesting due to the chorus at the end. Cus like yes, we now know it's "Siren song, scylla throat, mutiny, lightning bolt, and poseidon! kill all the suitors for love", but when we were first listening to the song, we had no f-ing clue what they were saying. For all we knew at the time, it was random gibberish or just some nifty vocalizations. But now looking in hindsight, it seems a lot more obvious. And I think it's rather poetic, because isn't that the exact same thing that happens in all self-fulfilling prophecies? They were spelling out what the future was going to be like for Ody. Ody clearly is that man who is haunting. We just can't see it now.

As an experiencedTM danmei reader, I've come across many genres, and I feel like that the one genre that the SVSSS fandom needs to exploit is the interstellar genre. Why? Because it'd be fucking hilarious. Hear me out:

In the original work, Luo Binghe is - instead of part demon part human - is part zerg part human. Zerg, if you aren't familiar, is basically the interstellar genre's version of reallyyyyyy strong aliens, and depending on the author, can range from actual literal beasts to human-like creatures with insect features to just straight up humans with nice-ass wings, which can then have different degrees of autonomy due to this hivemind they've got with the Zerg Queen. Basically, nobody has any clue on what a proper Zerg should be, but nobody cares :D

In addition, these stories often have a human empire dedicated to fighting against these Zerg. This may include a main planet where the emperor lives and other planets with different nobles, territories, military bases, etc. It almost always has a research lab on the main planet that usually have some sort of dastardly scheme related to the main plot. On top of that, these empires are very militaristic, with mechas and combat and mental power and all sorts of interstellar travel

...

Do you see where this is going?

Once upon a time, Tianlang-Jun (perhaps the descendant from the Zerg Queen) and Su Xiyan (a researcher) fell in love with each other in the research facility. SXY was assigned to TLJ because the research facility wanted to know how to harness the Zerg Queen's power to once-and-for-all wipe out the Zerg race. However, once the two got together, they started to plot how to get out and along the way, LBH was conceived. OPM, the ex-head researcher got FURIOUS and badabing badaboom, you've got SXY on the run before sending LBH to another place to survive.

Fast forward a lot, LBH shows up at the Cang Qiong Military Academy, which is split up in different divisions under different commanders. For LBH, he goes to the Qing Jing division where he is led under General Shen Qingqiu, someone who often boasts of his own mental power and lies and takes other people's credit to get to the lofty position he is today.

When LBH is training, he starts standing out in unusual ways. His physical prowess is through the roof, but his mental power is abysmal, which is bad because that's kinda how you use mechas, and often, physical strength can be enhanced with mental power (kinda like cultivation). So LBH is bullied, harassed, etc, and all the while, SQQ is like "this dude is a beast/derogatory".

Insert a long few years, including a Zerg invasion with none other than Sha Hualing. You go, girl.

When the Empire's Military Academy Tournament (could not think up a name rn) shows up, he's sent to go and instead of being sent into the Abyss, he's sent through a wormhole to a Zerg-infested place, where he learns more and stuff. Wowee!

He comes back with revenge on humans and stuff and integrates both the humans and Zergs under his iron fist. The fight against the emperor takes up like a hundred chapters or whatever.

So that's the OG version. Now, let's insert a millenial mess that is SY as SQQ and see how he handles being in the military. He better put to use that military training Chinese kids are put through.

On the other hand, if you wanted to take a completely DIFFERENT direction, have LBH be a test subject in the lab and have SY transmigrate into a researcher. LBH was supposed to be a human weapon, designed from intentional breeding. SY, knowing LBH will break out and cutely demolish the human race, tries to befriend him, teaches him everything. LBH, despite being a weapon designed to destroy the Zerg race, falls in love. And then he breaks out. Cue drama and kidnapping.

Headcanon that Luo Bingge's birthday would be the day he left the Abyss, hear me out

Realistically, we have no idea when LBG's birthday is - and I'm pretty sure even he doesn't know exactly because he was, you know, sent down the Luo River for who-knows-exactly how long. The point is that birthdays are a touchy subject for him, because that implies that someone wanted to bring him into this world. His parents? Did they even want him? Why did they abandon him? Why did he have to grow up like this?

The only positive point is the washerwoman, but even then, that was the best part of his life. When she dies, a part of him dies too, and birthdays become an even more distant part because the only one who truly cared for him isn't even in this realm. Besides, when he comes along to QJP, he's probably thinking along the lines of "I've got no time for birthdays when I could be CULTIVATING"

And of course he gets bullied and everything, and the abyss is the last straw holding him sane. When he gets pushed into it, he gets the confirmation that indeed no one wants him. Even though there was NYY, she was still pampered by SQQ. And if anything, she might not want to see him like... this unless he gets powerful enough to EARN her love. (Aka Luo Bingge has self-esteem issues).

After all that hell in the abyss, when he comes out, he's no longer that white lotus, the one who believes in the good in everyone and that hard work will always pays off. No, he is now fully blackened and renewed with a new goal in mind: to make everyone pay and go down in history as a someone. He feels as if he found his true purpose in life, and god he is going to fulfill it. For once, he celebrates his birthday - not as the day of his physical birth, but of the person who he believes he must be and the person that was something he could never dream of. When Luo Bingge fell in the Abyss, Luo Binghe the sheep died and Luo Bingge, demon cultivator and tyrant, was born.

Also, it makes for a great tragic story when trying to wife up someone, and LBG fully intends on manipulating it to serve his purpose.

But sometimes, just sometimes, he dreams and thinks about the life before it. What would it be like if... if...? However, he promptly soon dismisses it because the past is the past. He cannot change it even if he wanted to. All he can do now is seek vengeance upon it.