Fanfic / A Pairing Of Souls

A Pairing of Souls is a Scumbag System fanfiction series written by Muzu on Archive of Our Own.

It doesn’t take five years for Shen Yuan’s backup body to mature, and when it does Shen Yuan emerges back into the world once more quickly realizing that nothing is as he expected or hoped it would be.

But Shen Yuan has a body to steal back and a promise to keep, and that leads him to do what he would like to avoid. At least, he has the (surprisingly helpful and actually not that much of a) scum villain on his side.

Contains the following tropes

• Always Someone Better: Both the Shen "twins" feel this towards each other — Shen Yuan muses that Shen Jiu rightfully earned the position of Peak Lord while Shen Jiu is painfully aware that Shen Yuan is much more personable than his prickly self.
• Annoying Younger Sibling: Shen Jiu and Shen Yuan just love bickering and wearing on each other's nerves.
• Big Brother Instinct: Shen Jiu develops this almost immediately for Shen Yuan, even if he's manifesting it by berating Shen Yuan for being a dumbass without any survival instincts. Inverted by Shen Yuan who's determined to bring Shen Jiu safe and alive back to Cang Qiong Mountain and is pretty unhappy with people badmouthing him.
• Color-Coded Eyes: Both Shen "twins" have green eyes. For Shen Jiu, it's showcasing his Green-Eyed Monster tendences while it underlines Shen Yuan's Flower Motifs.
• Cool and Unusual Punishment: Shen Yuan forces Shang Qinghua to reorganize the Huan Hua Palace's archives as a way to bully him.
• Death by Adaptation: In the original Proud Immortal Demon Way, Qiu Haitang became one of Luo Binghe's main wives. Here, Luo Binghe snaps her neck for assaulting and stabbing Shen Yuan with the intent to kill him.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Luo Binghe's Fatal Flaw according Shen Jiu who points how childish and immature it makes the half-demon.
• Do Wrong, Right: Shen Jiu is rather offended when Shen Yuan accuses him from sabotaging Luo Binghe's cultivation with the false manual. If he had really wanted to ruin his student's potential, he would have induced qi deviations instead of relying on luck.
• Family of Choice: Shen Jiu and Shen Yuan effortlessly settle into a sibling relationship, which contributes to convince everyone that they are biologically related twins.
• Flower Motifs: Shen Yuan has a new body thanks to the Moon and Sun Dew Flower, confesses he enjoys gardening and is very well-versed in botanical matters, has a wood spiritual root, his dreamscape takes the appearance of a flower garden and he becomes the new leader of the Huan Hua (Golden Flower) Palace.
• The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry: Male version with the Shen "twins". Shen Jiu firmly positions himself as the "smart one" with his ability to plan and to peg there's something romantic between Luo Binghe and Shen Yuan, while Shen Yuan is the "pretty one" who charms almost everyone he meets through his easygoing nature and his naivety. Subverted, however, as despite their sniping at one another, the two actually get along quite well.
• Gone Horribly Right: Shen Jiu admits he was such a hardass on Luo Binghe - who disgusted him by acting a victim in spite of his huge potential - in order to Teach Him Anger. This was a lesson learnt a bit too well in the original novel.
• Identical Stranger: Shen Yuan's new plant body basically is "Shen Qingqiu but twinkier" (quote Shang Qinghua). It helps him to sell the story that he's the Long-Lost Relative of the Qing Jing Peak Lord.
• Irony: Shen Yuan makes very clear he doesn't like the Huan Hua Palace. Guess who becomes the new Palace Master when the first installment ends?
• Long-Lost Relative: What Shen Yuan pretends to be to Shen Jiu. People eagerly believe the story due to the resemblance and their behaviour towards each other.
• Magic Kiss: How Shen Yuan puts Shen Jiu back in his body. Both of them find the experience nothing short of squicky.
• My Sister Is Off-Limits: Shen Jiu seethes over Luo Binghe's growing and very obvious lust for Shen Yuan. Rather a justified and well-intentioned example, as the half-demon in the first story is mentally unstable and far too immature to even consider a proper relationship with someone.
• Polar Opposite Twins: Shen Jiu is a bitterly cynical and overly harsh asshole with a startingly squishy center, while Shen Yuan is a rather naive and sheltered Nice Guy with a very well-hidden steel spine.
• Satellite Love Interest: After being thoroughly rejected by his Shizun, Luo Binghe decides to focus on becoming more than this trope and gaining an identity of his own — without renuncing his love for Shen Yuan, mind you.
• Secret Secret-Keeper: Yue Qingyuan was perfectly aware that "Shen Qingqiu" was another person entirely after his qi deviation because he was the one most familiar with Shen Jiu. He was forced to keep quiet after realizing his martial siblings would rather have the replacement.
• Sharing a Body: The first installment is all about Shen Jiu's soul piggybacking on Shen Yuan when the latter resurrects and how to give his body back to the former.
• Significant Wardrobe Shift: After becoming the new Palace Master, Shen Yuan is noted to wear gold and white.
• Something Only They Would Say: How Shen Jiu makes very clear he's well and truly back — by insulting Luo Binghe and Liu Qingge as "beast" and "brute", while he calls Yue Qingyuan Qi-ge.
• Superior Successor: After the extremely corrupt Old Palace Master and the rather neglectful Luo Binghe, Shen Yuan as the new leader of the Huan Hua Palace is extremely beloved for being sane, nice and efficient in his duties.
• Trauma Button:
  • Shen Yuan fainting after transferring his spiritual energy to Luo Binghe forces the half-demon to remember Shen Qingqiu self-detonating his golden core.
  • Shen Yuan expresses a lot of frustration when he's forced on bedrest, as he was ill in his previous life and hates to be powerless again.
• Twin Switch: How Shen Jiu decides to explain Shen Yuan hijacking his own body and acting as "Shen Qingqiu" instead of revealing the transmigration — weird things are known to happen when spiritual twins are involved, so an accidental possession is quite plausible. It works without a hitch.
• Twin Threesome Fantasy: As he warms up to his Shizun's "brother", Luo Binghe starts to dream about having both Shen Qingqiu and Shen Yuan reciprocating his affections. It doesn't last as he learns more about the Shens' peculiar situation.
• Unreliable Narrator: Luo Binghe tends to depict himself as a tragic victim no matter what. Shen Yuan muses it actually explains a lot of plotholes in the canon novel.
• Vine Whip: Shen Yuan's spiritual weapon winds up to be a whip named Ruoyi. Word of God is that it was supposed to be reminiscent of a vine to go with his plant motif.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Shen Yuan brutally calls out Luo Binghe on terrifying him in Jinlan City and refusing to apologize afterwards.

• Yandere:
  • Luo Binghe's utter refusal to deliver Shen Qingqiu's corpse to his Shizun's martial siblings and own "brother" is only the tip of the iceberg.
  • The Little Palace Mistress is not happy with Luo Binghe's persistent rejection of her, and ultimately plots to expose his dabbling into forbidden arts as retaliation.
  • Qin Wanyue secretly tried to murder Shen Yuan as she mistakenly thought Luo Binghe would turn to her for comfort.