Won't let go
is a For Want Of A Nail The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System: Ren Zha Fanpai Zijiu Xitong fanfic by HarperInk on Archive of Our Own.
Shang Hua's plan to escape his own An-Ding plotline results in the interruption of his favorite Demon Lord's backstory. Can he really just leave the young Mobei-Jun to suffer?
The answer is no. And if it means ruining the plot, well, his novel was crappy to begin with.
Contains the following tropes
- Adaptational Name Change: Since they meet before ascending to their canonical positions of power, our two lovebirds are known as Mo Bai and Shang Hua.
- Archnemesis Dad: Mo Bai started to hate his sire when the older demon let him believe he had killed Shang Hua, and the feeling was later reinforced by the current Mobei-jun's failure to be a decent father and ruler.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Mo Bai is slightly obsessed and desperate for the possibility to keep Shang Hua besides him, as the human is the only person to genuinely care about his well-being.
- Beneath Notice: Shang Hua often disguises himself as a lowly peon or worker in order to spy and collect information. Such disguises include a common farmer and a weak frost demon.
- Broken Pedestal: Shang Hua entirely loses his trust and admiration towards his senior sister Wang Yue and his shizun Su Zhanjin after learning they stole him away to Cang Qiong Mountain without bothering to tell him about the demons hunting for the Northern Prince's human friend, and have no intention whatsoever to let him leave the sect no matter his own intentions.
- Costume Porn: Mo Bai's royal garments are quite lavishly detailed.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Mo Bai's backstory is a complete trainwreck. His Evil Uncle not-so-secretly plots to kill him, his father is apparently indifferent to his suffering as long as it forges him into a worthy successor, and he's so paranoid about his servants turning against him he's doing his own cooking and cleaning.
- Evil Uncle: Linguang-jun first tried to murder his nephew by losing him in the human realm for a mob to kill. When it didn't work, he then used said nephew's fondness for his human friend to lure him into more than a few traps and apparently corrupts or kill any of said nephew's attendants.
- Geeky Turn-On: Mo Bai really enjoys spending hours researching and discussing geography and politics with Shang Hua.
- He Cleans Up Nicely: Inverted — Shang Hua appreciates Mo Bai in full princely regalia but finds the ice demon much more appealing in casual attire when he's not putting up a front.
- I Am Not Pretty: Both Mo Bai and Shang Hua suffer from this mindset. Mo Bai because his Strong Family Resemblance triggers his Daddy Issues, Shang Hua because he considers himself a Plain Jane in a world of mind-shattering beauties.
- In Spite of a Nail: Mo Bai still gets traumatized from visiting the human realm and Shang Hua still is recruited by An Ding Peak to become a cultivator.
- A Minor Kidroduction: The first three chapters introduce an eleven-year-old Shang Hua rescuing and briefly caring for the preteen Mo Bai, preparing the canon divergence.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Shang Hua is horrified when he shatters the priceless gem needed to open a secret library, in order to save Mo Bai's life. As said library contained information needed for Luo Binghe to ascend as a fully-realized Heavenly Demon, he potentially critically endangered the plotline — of course, since it's Proud Immortal Demon Way, it could be an amelioration...
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Mobei-jun and Linguang-jun in the original novel. It backfires on Shang Hua when he first crosses Linguang-jun and doesn't realize Mo Xiaohan is a huge threat instead of cannon fodder.
- Press-Ganged: Su Zhanjin ultimately forces Shang Hua to become his successor under pain to let the younger cultivator be "interrogated" by the other Peaks for his relationship with the Northern Demon Prince, potentially endangering Mo Bai. Shang Gua loses any shred of affection and respect for his Shizun as a consequence.
- Rescue Romance: Downplayed as preteen Mo Bai first meets Shang Hua when the older boy saves him from a human mob bent on hunting him. He's too young to think about romance but it nonetheless plants the seed of interest for the human.
- The Runaway: Eleven-year-old Shang Hua decides he's fed up with his neglectful and abusive second family and leaves in the night, which allows him to stumble upon little Mo Bai.
- Scenery Porn: The Northern Desert is gorgeous. Shang Hua almost geekgasms from looking at it.
- Shipper on Deck: Tianlang-jun is overjoyed to learn Mo Bai managed to find his human flame. Since dude canonically Thinks Like a Romance Novel, it's not so farfetched.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Mo Bai describes himself as a black-haired carbon copy of his father. It doesn't help with his buttload of Daddy Issues.
- Truth Serum: The Pained Beauty Thousand Truths Flower can be used as this, and Shang Hua makes Mo Bai reconsider killing him on the spot with his willingness to use it in order to prove he's not a spy to Linguang-jun.
- White Hair, Black Heart: Apparently a staple for the current Mo ruling generation.
- Linguang-jun is an Evil Uncle from epic proportions who has no qualms about threatening the staff. Shang Hua describes him as a Sephiroth reject.
- The current Mobei-jun is described as looking exactly like his son but with white hair, and is such of a neglectful parent and ruler that Mo Bai is eager to kill him.
- Worldbuilding: Shang Hua would have rather indulged into this than mindless porn, and relishes the opportunity to fully explore the Northern Desert culture and countryside.
- You Can't Fight Fate: No matter how much Shang Hua tries to avoid colluding with the Northern Demon Realm and becoming the An Ding Peak Lord, the plot always finds its way back to him. It's heavily depressing for the poor guy.
- Youthful Freckles: Shang Hua often complains about his, feeling they make him unattractive.
