Modern Shen Twins AU

Modern Shen Twins AU

SJ teaches literature and reading at a 'prepare for university' level. He's evil, always gets tons of complaints, but the school can't argue with the results. (And systemic child abuse, tiger parents,etc, etc)

Well, his totally platonic 'roommate' Yue Qi gets in a bad car accident and SJ has to be a full time carer, but the school won't give him time off, so he calls in didi to cover for him at work.

(SY's main job is freelance consulting and he's gotten a lot of lucky big jobs so he's okay on money and can sub for a while)

Anyway, the school staff are fooled bc SY has listened to ge complain about them enough to aim enough spite and snark their way, but the students think they're having a stroke

Teacher Shen is suddenly treating them like his own precious puppies (though his marking standards and expectations are the same)

LBH is cooked in two days.

Day one, he thinks it's a trap.

Day two he gets a head pat and it's all over.

SV AU where LBH starts hyperfixating on studying divination so he can map out a calendar of auspicious days to marry SQQ

Once he thinks he has the technique down, he has to find SQQ's 8 characters, but even at 17 he's not quite confident enough to think he can either schmooze or break in to QD's file room, but he does think he can get into An Ding's back up storage.

He finds evidence of MBJ/SQH, but he doesn't have time for that besides feeling relief at another peak lord/demon lord couple. He has a wedding to plan.

While he didn't learn SJ was a slave, he realizes the file is incomplete because SQQ either doesn't know or deliberately hid it. Shizun is perfect so obviously he wouldn't hide something like that

Back to his divination studies.

He eventually gets a set of 8 characters he's satisfied with, but they can't be right. They put SQQ as only a few years older than him and that can't be right.

More divination studies. SQQ is getting worried LBH isn't taking the IAC seriously and thus will struggle in the Abyss. LBH just hides his divination studies and doubles up his work load. This is fine, he couldn't get more from the divination peak without people asking too many questions anyway

So while he's on a night hunt, he hurries through the mission and takes the extra time to consult with Madam Meiyin.

She, knowing he is instrumental to the fate of the world, though not the details, gives him some pointers and a few scrolls.

Once he's had time to go over everything and try the new techniques, he has a break through:

His shizun is not Shen Jiu.

Shizun Binghe would be so freaking mad that Shang Qinghua is friends with Shen Yuan.

Okay see the most dangerous think about Shang qinghua being shen yuans friend is that binghe doesn't understand the appeal. With mu qingfang he's always worried mqf will abuse his authority as a doctor to feel up shen yuans body, or he sees shen yuan praising Liu qingges fighting skills and nearly goes crazy.

But Shang qinghua is the only person shen yuan will be outwardly rude with. They share secret letters. They're from the same hometown, and sometimes talk in its unintelligible dialect. They say they've known each other for years. The way they're so obviously close but don't feign politeness makes binghe SO envious. That should be HIM and shen yuan bickering like an old married couple. He hates it.

Binghe: Shang qinghua is one of your spies isn't he

Mobei jun: yes

Binghe: interrogate him. Torture him if you must. We need to find out what "memes" are and why they make shen yuan laugh so easily-

Mobei: they're jokes

Binghe: YOU ALREADY KNOW!?

They're all ambushed on a night hunt and the bandit leader says he'll allow binghe to surrender. Binghe looks dead at shen yuan and says "nah I'd win." Shen yuan is choking screaming . It's so corny. He's so bad at this. The protagonist is like an old person trying to be relatable to the youth. Its terrible. It's amazing.

scumcum from twitter :))

truth serum / system reveal au where shen qingqiu gets hit with an uncloaking spell that reveals the system in the reflection of his eyes every time it pops up.

during one of his missions, in the treasure hoard of some dragon-like creature, he finds a golden, oval shaped hand mirror, its gaudy style more victorian based than anything (airplane you hack!), that doesn't seem to do anything when he looks into it. but when he does, it reveals the system's screen in his eyes.

he doesn't notice this, of course, because he can't see it, and the system, surprisingly, stays quiet.

the peak lords think he's cursed.

maybe mu qingfang is the first to notice, during the mandatory post mission check-up, when shen qingqiu is scrolling through his most recently accumulated points and mu qingfang can see the strange vividly-blue lines reflected in his pupils. it's gone when shen qingqiu blinks, like it was nothing but a trick of the light.

it comes out when yue qingyuan is visiting and, just as he's done laying out the plans for a new mission, shen qingqiu's eyes glaze over and a bright blue box takes over the whole of his iris. shen qingqiu goes quiet; the thing in his eyes moves, shifts, pulses for a second, like static worms crawling all over his pupils. then he blinks, and it's gone, and shen qingqiu accepts the mission that yue qingyuan was almost sure he would decline.

maybe there is an intervention, when the peak lords corner shen qingqiu at qian cao peak and try to figure out what's wrong, subjecting him to all kinds of treatments and curse-finding spells that turn up empty, they can't find anything.

of course, the silencing threat is still very much up and running. at first shen qingqiu was kind of confused by the whole ordeal, but when the peak lords start describing a "strange blue box", he realizes, with sickening suddenty, that they're describing the system. and he can't say anything.

this only makes everything worse, because their fellow peak lord now keeps evading every question and acts like he doesn't understand. liu qingge points right at his face and asks, "that blue box, what is it?" and shen qingqiu laughs nervously and starts talking about how bright the weather is and surely it's the sky and nothing to worry about!

even worse, during the intervention the system thought it was a good idea to start talking to him, so now even the peak lords who hadn't seen it and who might have been persuaded by light tricks and reflections, get a first row view that no, that definitely isn't a trick of the light.

they try to do the whole thing of "are you in danger, blink twice" but shen qingqiu can't even do that because it's still a direct admittance!

maybe eventually he starts saying vague confirmations that don't actually confirm anything, like "this master hears what you're saying", or maybe he goes with a classic "this master can neither confirm nor deny that." but the system starts warning him for that too and eventually he stops saying anything, which worries the others more.

luckily mu qingfang catches on that every time they ask a direct question about the box or shen qingqiu says anything vaguely confirming, it appears. it doesn't appear when they ask about curses or demons, so it must not see that as a threat.

for a little extra angst: maybe the peak lords keep pressuring him for answers, and at some point shen qingqiu gets fed up and snaps out something like, "why don't you understand that i'm not allowed to answer that!" the system counts this as a direct admittance, threatening it's existence. so it punishes. shen qingqiu has a qi deviation so bad it lasts two weeks and takes two people every day to cleanse his meridians. the system doesn't appear in that time. it doesn't appear for a long while after that, either. the peak lords stop asking, mainly because shen qingqiu will instantly leave the room if they do. they don't stop searching for a cure, though.

shang qinghua returns from a business trip and catches on the second someone mentions a blue box and forced silencing.

Rally dumb idea for a role reversal au wife plot gone wrong:

Shizun binghe and disciple shen yuan go to a town to investigate rumours about an evil spirit, but the town only allows married couples inside

Shen Yuan is super embarrassed but he knows how these situations go, and his shizun loves embarrassing him, so he sighs and says alright I'll dress up as a woman..

But binghe says no, wait. And imagines shen yuan in pretty women's clothing attracting the eyes of every man around... and decides he'll be the woman

Shen Yuan, thin and 5'6: hello I'm shen yuan and this *gestures to Binghe, muscled and 6'2* is my wife

The town guard: you guys didn't even make an effort.