Scum Villain's Self-Saving System: Novel Chapters 46-48 Reaction!
Added 2024-08-19 13:00:03 +0000 UTC*MOONLIT HEADPHONE WARNINGS*
Shen QingQiu may be back, back, back again - but so is Luo Binghe and some other familiar faces, as it's the Cang Qing Mountain Sect vs. Sha Hualing and Huan Hua palace that has definitely changed over the course of 5 years!
Shen QingQiu, I love you, but after this chapter set...I don't think you have as MUCh of an excuse with being oblivious to Luo Binghe's feelings anymore...
Thank you for watching with me and for all the support!
Comments
Huzzah! Thank you so much for the comment and kind words! I appreciate your perspective throughout! To be fair, that is a point with LBH greeting SQQ kindly and calmly, which makes more sense when we know he was just trying to greet him and talk to him again. And yes, SQQ runs away from him because he’s scared of him and thinks he’s become his evil OG self. With the sower moment, I do think LBH could have explained himself better – I know he doesn’t realize he has protagonist plot armor at that point, but when SQQ asked him to explain himself and he can’t/doesn’t – that was a mistake on LBH’s part – again, both of these characters have the problem of miscommunication so it’s both SQQ and LBH’s biggest issue in this. I totally understand why he’s frustrated and I do feel for LBH, but I’ve flogged the dead horse but my opinion I’m not changing - to me, the blood feeding was non-consensual. I don’t agree that it was “to keep SQQ from attacking him anymore.” SQQ never tried to attack him again, i.e. he was literally running away. Not attacking. LBH never says he was doing this to keep SQQ from attacking him, so that makes it a reader interpretation. PLUS, on top of that, he strangled SQQ and punched walls around him and threw a tantrum and didn’t communicate. SQQ didn’t communicate either, so they’re both in the wrong, but I just can’t excuse LBH and say he was completely justified, so I will just have to respectfully disagree and y’all are welcome to view it how you want, just don’t expect me to change my opinion any time soon, haha! And yes, SQQ is a victim just like LBH. And I agree with you that it is complicated! I just think that SQQ doesn’t attack LBH outright, at the Abyss, he thought LBH would back away, so even then, it’s kind of LBH’s own fault he was stabbed with the sword. But also SQQ’s for not speaking up at that moment - they’re both at fault there. I will also respectfully disagree on the rooftop scene - LBH literally told SQQ after SQQ FINALLY tried to talk to him that it was “too late” and that LBH wasn’t going to listen to him anymore - at that point, to me, LBH sealed his fate of having to deal with SQQ self-detonating, because SQQ at that point believed LBH was exactly like his OG self, and honestly, I believed it at that point too. Luckily, his death not only saved LBH when he didn’t even realize Xin Mo was going to kill him (go SQQ for that!) but also allowed LBH to finally get it through his head that SQQ wasn’t hating him. But yes, it is messed up! And yeah, it sucks to be LBH and we can only hope that this leads LBH to maybe not fly off the handle, but in a more mature way - demand that SQQ talk up - you know, without strangling or forcing him to drink blood. Still, I feel bad that he has to watch SQQ die because we all know that he loved SQQ dearly. He just needs to control his temper, aka the Beast references from Beauty and the Beast that I love making. 😛 As far as him being “Okay with LBH disabling people” - while yeah, we have established that SQQ has a dark side too and that HIS biggest fault is not seeing people as more as characters in a story at times, I don’t know what current SQQ was going to do – he was in the ground buried for five years…Plus, he was expecting to be trying to survive against a crazed LBH chasing after him…I don’t think he expected to be able to save anyone. Plus, LBH was hurting those people as well, soooo…they both are kind of in the same boat there, which is like you said, why he might like LBH and favors him – I’m not saying SQQ is a saint; we’ve known he’s an unreliable narrator and not perfect for a while. But if you’re pushing me to ship two characters, there needs to be consensual-ness (for me) and hurting either party violently is a big no-no for me. BUT, here’s hoping that now that we’ve started anew, things can clear up between them! Other BL series have taken partners that made big mistakes and were able to atone for themselves and their partners, so it can be done! I have faith in LBH and SQQ! MXTX definitely knows how to press some buttons though and make us curious as to what she’ll do with them! Thank you for the information on “Demons of the heart” too! That’s really good to know! Thanks for the comment and expressing your opinion! It’s good to see that stories like this can bring about differences in opinions!
Romaniablack
2024-08-23 00:18:55 +0000 UTCHello Amalia, Thanks for the comment. And for your concern , it’s so kind. We already discussed with Romania if she wants to be informed ahead in case there are trigger subjects or scenes and she declined for now. So if possible to edit the part of your comment about the Triggers so she can read your comment. Thanks for your understanding.
Be Happy
2024-08-22 09:55:18 +0000 UTCLove your reactions as always! We're getting INTO IT now. There was a comment in - I think it was discord? - about LBH being too aggressive/not needing to be so aggro/he should communicate first, and while I agree that ofc as omnipotent readers we know the fog of misunderstanding can be cleared up with a few lines of dialogue between them, and that his cruelty is NOT necessary and actually harmful, for the rest I have to... respectfully disagree! From a Watsonian perspective, from his perspective, he's been pretty magnanimous! He has already tried reaching out a hand to SQQ, despite owing him nothing and their last interaction before Jinlan City being attempted murder (being yeeted off the cliff). He greets SQQ calmly and kindly, which is rebuffed (bc we know from SQQ's perspective, he interprets the tenderness as two-faced) - tries to approach him in the inn to talk again, which is rebuffed (SQQ literally runs away from him) - and gets accused of trying to murder the entire city via sowers, with the implication being that he simply cannot help being evil because of what he is, (from SQQ's view, bc of WHO he is), and these compounding events cause him to lash out. He is either assumed the worst of in every scene he's in or continuously ignored, even when he tries to ask for an explanation or some modicum of regret (thanks, System). I know you've seen comments to this tune before so I'll try not to hit the exact same beats haha. But when you strip away SQQ's coloring of events, LBH's reactions read to me like the proactive, aggressive form of fear response. You can even argue this is why he feeds SQQ his blood, which is certainly non-consensual but is likely LBH's way of ensuring SQQ quite literally does not have the means with which to hurt him anymore (can't stab or shove off any more cliffs if you have the ability to control his body). I.e, after his initial attempt at civility is rejected, which should not be his responsibility in the first place because he was the one who was wronged, he is preemptively aggressive as a way to protect himself from being hurt. Him behavior-correcting and being LESS surly, sarcastic, and hostile would almost be unrealistic. It would require an almost saintly patience and capability for forgiveness. And that he's not outright murderous to SQQ shows the sway emotionally SQQ still has over his heart. I think LBH is, at this point, a kicked dog - violently cast away outside the house but still limping back to its master, and prone to biting first if it thinks it will be kicked again. I dislike using this term bc SQQ is also a victim here, one of circumstance and his own unfortunate omnipotent knowledge, and it's complicated by the very real learned-fear and helplessness he has @ LBH, but as LBH's 'abuser', the onus of responsibility is on SQQ to try to mend bridges first. He realizes this on the rooftop scene ("for all I've done in the past, I repay you today" paraphrased, which he tries to tell himself is so he can start fresh in his new life but since he's a master-class at denialism and unreliable narration we know is because he feels incredibly guilty/sorrowful), but unfortunately didn't realize that outright DYING to try to right wrongs in response to someone being angry at you is ... fucked up! And a massive guilt trip! It's gonna leave more scars! I do love the way MXTX describes Jinlan!LBH as still having hot surges of emotion he struggles to contain, but post-SQQ's-death!LBH is just... dead-faced. Cold as a winter's lake. Nonchalantly using violence to ensure his goals are met. He's not Better actually now he's Worse. SQQ is a very kind person overall, but scenes like shroomzun observing these real people in front of him getting their bodies crippled/killed once a month and not really feeling anything about it beyond getting the people he PERSONALLY knows out, and "huh that's pretty bad, we should help the others go free I guess - aw SHIT the three nuns escaped!" really hammers in that he has some amorality of his own. It pops up from time to time, like how in the very first chapters he mentions how LBH is his favorite character specifically BECAUSE of how ruthless and decisive he can be with both his cruelty and kindness. This hasn't changed even though it's no longer fiction. Apparently he will literally forgive LBH for war crimes! He even entertains grabbing those three nuns to help his beloved war criminal out. Enter scene, Xin Mo. Xin Mo is like: hold my beer. We can have a contest on who can make this boy more unstable. Have you seen my name? It has some pretty cool and useful abilities, like wormhole rifting to different locations. Its name translates to 'heart demon'. Like you and Galadriel mention, it can also translate to 'trauma'. I think you already know this, but I love babbling about it - It can ALSO translate to "demons of the heart" or more specifically "demons of [your] heart". This is a super common & cultural concept in xianxia, where there is an emphasis on remaining untroubled and avoiding worldly matters, otherwise you might damage your cultivation. Heart demons, aka trauma/ insecurities/depression/emotional distress, are one of the main triggers for qi deviations. I don't mean SVSSS for this, but for cultivation settings as a genre. We can extrapolate from Xin Mo's name that the way Xin Mo killed its previous wielders was probably by preying on their 'heart demons', taking advantage of their mental/emotional stability (or lack thereof) and sending them into qi deviations. When SQQ self-detonated, basically flooding LBH's body with spiritual energy via exploding his own golden core, he halted LBH's burgeoning qi deviation and put a temporary-stop on Xin Mo's influence (its 'recoil', which in other translations is termed 'backlash' or 'assault'). Unfortunately, LBH was already outed as being a demon, and he's pretty summarily chased off (evidently with SQQ's body in tow). Which really begs the question: HHP, are you blind or just dumb? or is it like, a reverse psychology thing - because CQM insists LBH's a demon, you HAVE to insist he's not? lbh brainwashing skills are hardcore.
gabadoodle
2024-08-20 22:01:32 +0000 UTCI liked your discussion at the beginning. It’s important to take stock of where we are sometimes, especially with such a topsy turvy plot going on. Excellent reactions too of course! Fingers crossed that this will finally lead to SQQ figuring out just how different things are. Thank you for the video!
Amalia Jungclaus
2024-08-19 22:12:41 +0000 UTC
