#i am so tired from war

[riacte]

false and stress are so funny bc false is both extra nice and extra mean to her 😭 she's like HAHAHA stress you suck at everything btw i would explode into millions of tiny pieces if you leave me.

[fumifooms]

Marchil crumbs masterpost

Because I can and I will. Someone already made a tiny one way back but I lost it idk if it was here or on reddit… And we’re so small that we have no tag… I can’t credit you sorry marchil warrior you are not forgotten. I’ll definitely updating this whenever I find a new crumb. We’ve already reached the 30 pics cap part 2 coming soon. They do interact a ton I suppose. As always it’s not because I put moments on here that I’m saying they’re inherently romantic blablabla.

Part 2 - part 3 - part 4 - part 5 - part 6 - part 7

My vision: Unstoppable force vs immovable object. Corrupt (money) bitter divorcee and corrupt (magic) hopeless romantic. Emotional constipation vs emotional intelligence. Streets savvy vs prestigious academic. Girl with the longest lifespan possible who has trauma over loss x guy with the shortest lifespan who has trauma over past romance. They would take their romantic interest to the fricking grave.  Halfling vs elf. Emotionally distant vs clingy and needy… Not that Chilchuck doesn’t seek her attention plenty ngl. By all means they are so incompatible and yet their dynamic is so delightful, opposites certainly do attract if Kui’s to be believed because these two constantly drift towards each other.

To me they're the embodiment of "If we want the rewards of being loved we have to submit to the mortifying ordeal of being known". Oh actually that'd apply to Laios and Dunmeshi as a whole as well-

She’s his worst nightmare. Opening up to someone?? The audacity to ask that of him. She raises his blood pressure to dangerous levels. He would risk his life for her.

—

HIS WORST NIGHTMARE (what he needs). She's classified as a friend who won’t shut up btw Notice how on the dating sim chapter cover, the clicky hand is always on the choice he ended up choosing in canon except for two, Falin’s and Marcille’s. Meaning he may have hesitated on it, on telling her she was pretty? She’s front and center~

It’s notable that Marcille is the main victim of his teasing, he criticizes Laios and everyone plenty but teasing is done much more towards her than anyone else, and we can see that it is something he enjoys. Perhaps one of the things that put him in a good mood the most, besides alcohol and laughing at others in general lol. Here’s a post compiling a lot of that teasing: link

He often confronts her about things and teases/insults her but it's always without any real animosity, sometimes having problems with her actions but never disliking her.

She craves his approval? More likely than you think.

Chilchuck having a sparkly flustered Marcille on his mind and failing to pull her ponytail so she'd give him her attention the right way, then being devastated when she claps back lol. For as much as he teases her, she’s very much able to stand up for herself when it goes too far and to challenge him on some flaws he may have.

Marcille’s canon shapeshifter of Chilchuck is the most convincing one/last one standing! In which he was nicer because Marcille still had some trouble not seeing him as young and thus innocent. Which besides the whole age thing, her having an accurate but nicer version of Chilchuck in her mind is pretty flattering lol

In the earlier chapters they stick by each other the most, often sharing knowing glances and judging the other together. They share this complicity and "wow finally someone sane in this party" energy that none of the others have in quite that way. Comrades in disgust.

-----

He cannot escape her gossip, she will not rest until she knows all and has met his family and romanticized his life and relationships. She’s the one who pushes Chilchuck to be more open about himself the most. Which, we do also see her being jealous when Chilchuck opens up more to others instead of her, like pic below. Moreover, we see that she’s able to read him like a book to the point that it freaks him out!! Oh the horror of being known… Relationship goals, freak him out bc you understand him so well Oh can I just point out as well that they're the only ones who saw each other's succubus. Like wow knowing each other's most alluring form? Dayum

When doing her theory about what happened between him and his wife, the pictures where her roleplaying as his wife, like literally with her being a half-foot like in the changeling chapters and the mini chilchuck for a baby lmaooo. Which I just now realized that means Marcille’s question about if his wife has blonde hair is valid, we technically don’t know if he already liked blondes or if it’s an acquired taste. Give me a sec to recover from that-

But yeah Marcille is so people-obsessed that she catalogues every little detail about someone, like how Chilchuck complains when he has to wait after someone… She notices things and takes them in stride even if they’re flaws. (In first page, it's the bottom row middle panel)

She wanted to sleep in his bed when Izutsumi was being clingy and she didn't want to sleep alone <3

Here he goes to her to either help her stay upright or comfort her… Uncharacteristic of him but very sweet. What are you gonna do if she collapses on you big guy, collapse along in a show of solidarity?

He's been shown to make sure Marcille stays safe a few times as well, like below. No I will not accept "she's the healer of the party" as a full explanation. He really does get an arc, from not wanting to be anywhere near the battlefield to sticking by his party members. Unlike Laios, Senshi and Izutsumi they both tend to hang in the back in battles, I love how they often strategize together as well.

The reverse is also sometimes true. Especially with how non-shy Marcille is with physical contact, interestingly she's way less delicate about saving others than him lol.

He’s the only one shown to flinch when she makes a noisein the bath which leads me to think he’s the one most flustered by the whole Marcille changing and bathing close by thing, it prob doesn’t help that he has great hearing but yeah, he seems to be hyperaware of her presence in those instances and overreacts.

"Come with me and braid my hair every day!" Meanwhile Chilchuck is fighting for his life holding her at an arm’s length

I can’t believe this is on his ADVENTURER’S BIBLE DESCRIPTION like that thing is one big paragraph about his whole character and you allotted that important limited space for this. Kui do you hear yourself

Part 2 here

[wistfulpoltergeist]

Hello, @lazerki and @msmarymarvel! Unfortunately, my old Sims were affected by the new Sims 4 updates. Many cc I used on them (such as sliders and presets) were broken and their creators no longer support this old content. I appreciate your love and attachment to these Sims, but alas they're gone. I'm so sorry if these news spoil your day, but I want to be honest with you. I don't feel like putting any more effort into these broken sims. I am, however, plan to share my other dolls using as little cc for them as possible. You can check out this page where I store my new sims for sharing. I will never ever delete them form download (even if their faces will melt into crap due another Sims 4 update :D). Stay safe!

[crispyjenkins]

(AC wip) The Savage Price of Piety

it's desmond's deathday and i wrote like. 9,000 more words to this wip (first two parts here) last week and i want to brag about it, so happy deathday you wet bastard (mostly gen but with a surprise rarepair, time travel/reincarnation, found family, william miles’ a+ parenting, accidental subterfuge, desmond goes by miles mostly, inspired by study of flight by @esamastation but with a twist!, only somewhat historically accurate swears by which i mean probably not at all but leonardo had some Opinions alright) have some (three) chronological but scattered bits of scenes

  “Oh,” Claudia says as soon as she opens the door, seeing Ezio’s rather wretched expression, “you’ve figured it out, then.”

  “You could have told me,” he growls, following her into the entryway and closing the door behind himself. 

  Claudia scoffs, spinning on heel to lead the way further into the building for the kitchens. “I had one conversation with the boy, brother, I was hardly sure of it myself. Wait,” she halts and points a finger at him accusingly, “how did you figure it out?”

  Ezio, quite graciously he thinks, ignores the subtle insult to his intelligence. Sighing, he pushes back his hood before their mother sees him with it on indoors, and runs a hand over his beard. “I had Leonardo visit.”

  Claudia’s face slackens, before twisting into a rage that has Ezio stepping away warily.

  But she punches the wall instead of her brother, a shouted “Gods damn it!” echoing in the narrow space. Then she spins on her heel and hollers further into the residential part of the bordello, “Mother! We forgot about Leonardo!”

  Horrified by his sister and concerned for his mother’s current mental state, Ezio reaches out to put a hand on Claudia’s arm, but he doesn’t get the chance before Maria de' Auditore is shouting right back, “God damn it!”

  Grumbling, Claudia stomps down the hall and leaves a very confused Ezio hurrying to follow; she ignores all his pleas for explanation until she’s stomped into the kitchen, where their mother is pouring two very large glasses of wine, with very little water to cut down the potency. She passes one to Claudia silently, and then they both drink, though luckily they aren’t attempting to down it all at once.

  “I can’t believe we forgot the Maestro,” their mother mutters to herself as she comes over to kiss Ezio on both cheeks, before shoving the still mostly-full glass into his hands.

  “Forgot him for what?” Ezio wants to know, clutching the glass like a mother clutches a babe.

  “To test if Miles really is an Auditore.” It’s said so flippantly, like it doesn’t affect Claudia at all, but she also collapses into one of two chairs at the little tea table under the largest window. Their mother takes the other, massaging her forehead and looking like she’s grieving their family all over again.

  It occurs to Ezio, as he moves to stand next to the table, that she probably is.

--

“It’s all up to you now, Seventeen.”

  Desmond opens his eyes to the dark of the dormitory, faint moonlight cutting over the floor between his bed and Nino’s, and he can’t bring himself to move — even to roll off his arm that is very much still asleep. 

  Clay still haunts him.

  Five hundred fucking years, and his current twenty-four besides, and that fucker still won’t leave him alone. If Desmond were not so familiar with what an actual Bleed feels like, he’d almost think Clay is stuck in his brain the same way as his ancestors. Thank fuck he stopped Bleeding Ezio’s memories and feelings, while still retaining much of the training.

  Fuck, time travel is so weird.

  Or, reincarnation? He’s not sure of much, but he’s sure he was dead, he’s sure he burned, and he’s sure that though his 15th century mother had affectionately called him [redacted], his name is Desmond Miles.

  Or just Miles, he supposes. Sue him, he panicked when Adele first approached him, and the best aliases are ones you know you’ll respond to, right? If only he’d have had the forethought to divorce himself from his... future family’s surname.

  It sounds different enough with an Italian accent that it hasn’t caused any problems, yet. Like making him flinch. Or snapping that he hasn’t been a Miles since he was sixteen.

  Granted, he still has no idea what he would go by instead. Altaïr and Conner would feel weird, while Sef or Darim are just a bit on the nose, and does he look like an Edward? Malik, maybe. His grandmother here, now, is actually from the Levant, so his skin is certainly dark enough that people wouldn’t be surprised by the name.

Except that feels almost akin to naming himself Leonardo.

--

  So instead, Leonardo spends every spare moment with his best friend, sometimes to brainstorm, sometimes to simply be there for him. It’s during one of these visits, he and Ezio once again observing the youngest assassins in the training ring, that he hears Miles laugh for the first time, and it’s as if ice water has been poured directly into his veins.

  Oh fuck. Oh Saints, oh Holy Father, oh fuck.

  “Leonardo?” Ezio asks quietly, head tilted towards him in concern, but Leonardo ignores him to stumble for the bannister to lean over it and stare down at Miles learning a little jig from Tullio, laughing all the while.

  He had only heard it once, truth be told, and it had been Salaí that had caused it, but even three years later, Leonardo remembers the laugh of Rodrigo Borgia’s sinister little shadow.

  Below, Miles doesn’t stop smiling, but his golden brown gaze yanks up towards Leonardo as if knowing his thoughts are about him. His eyes narrow, then widen slightly in realisation, and then he winces and looks away, which is all the confirmation Leonardo needs.

  Turning around, Leonardo grabs a confused Ezio by the arm and drags him from the training room, ignoring his protests until they find the nearest empty room.

  “Leonardo, what—?”

  “Romulus.”

-

[skymagpie]

I have thoughts about the opening of TWW as it stands now, it just doesn't work for me because it makes all of the involved characters look incompetent at best and straight up stupid at worst. You are telling me there was no serious council meeting to decide whether they should bring a city with civilians into uncharted territory without scouting ahead?

When Dalaran was ported during Legion it was out of necessity (as it was under attack) and then it housed some of the strongest people on Azeroth (the Class Hall representatives) while also reinforcing it's defenses. Sure they were going to port it anyway, but it happened now with little preparation because they were getting bombarded. In TWW Khadgar asks you to go help people nail shelves to the wall before teleporting. And everyone knows that Magni's vision showed a city burning at Khaz Algar. Does it never occur to anyone that maybe we are in danger bringing a city over without any prior knowledge of this location?

Also everyone keeps saying that this was done because there was no other choice, the citizens of Dalaran should've known what they are in for (dying apparently), Dalaran was used as a military base before, Xal'atath sabotaged it from within (where? lmao) and like all of this could've been fixed in one scene while also not making everyone look like an idiot.

Instead of the pointless Radiant Echoes quest, have the pre-patch event be Alleria leading hunting parties after Xal'atath that always lead to a dead end. Have Alleria literally be stressed and worn down over days and weeks so that she is too distracted to even suspect Xal'atath might be in Dalaran already. Use the repetitive gameplay aspect of the event to wear down the player too and give us that sense of pointless hunting that Alleria is also experiencing at this point.

Then have her attend a council meeting with Khadgar and the others, including Drenden, and have Thrall, Jaina, Anduin and Magni there too. Show us how tired Alleria is of this chase and have Khadgar comfort and encourage her that she is doing everything she can. Then have him voice his concerns about porting the city on a whim, Khadgar is as responsible for the lives of the people in Dalaran as the ones they try and help. Have the council disagree with this porting.

And then have Drenden stand up and say how even though he is new, he knows of how Dalaran stood against the Burning Legion and how the world needs them now and this is a sacrifice that must be made. Almost convince the player he is not Xal'atath. Have Xal'atath as Drenden address Khadgar directly and play into his heroism and goodness and cast any doubt aside about this porting before he makes the final call. Show us how Xal'atath sways the entire council to do this one decision on a whim. Even have Khadgar tell Drenden to secure the wards around the city.

This will just pay off so much in the scene between Xal'atath and Khadgar because you know she dogwalked him during that council meeting and played into his virtues and ultimately he now thinks its his fault he moved the city here and cost all those people their lives. Why not have him die with regrets? Feeling like a failure?

To top it off, in the scene where Drenden reveals himself as Xal'atath to Alleria, why have him just grin to her and act like Xal'atath in drag? Give him few more seconds of sounding like Drenden, tell Alleria that maybe she is just tired of all this hunting, put his hand on her shoulder and just have the realization that he is Xal'atath slowly sink in so that Xal'atath reveals herself once Alleria already knows.

Not saying this would be perfect, but just one scene like the council meeting could've established so much about these three characters and add more weight to the loss everyone suffers. Let them be human, let them have doubts and disagreements, show Xal'atath playing right into that and actually manipulating the stage and the council right under the players noses too.

[some-teeth-in-a-trench-coat]

Ok I'm done putting up with this and I'm done asking anonymously. Please tag your posts about the conflict between Israel and Palestine. All of them. Next time I see an unfiltered post I'm asking in DMs so hopefully people will actually see it and respond and I don't have to look at their unfiltered blog while I wait. And if that doesn't work I'm unfollowing no matter how long we've been mutuals.

If you try to put words in my mouth or claim this post is taking any specific stance on the issue I will block you.

[meduseld]

As someone from a country that was in fact enmeshed in a conflict with guerrilla warfare and kidnapping over literal decades: stop acting like this is a fandom debate and excusing whatever your "side" does. War crimes are war crimes and need to be called out, there is no justification for those. You can believe one side is justified or whatever, but do NOT excuse this shit. No one has clean hands in conflict

[ohfuckohfucknoplease]

So let's talk about Ukraine vs Palestine. While generally I hate when people bring it up, cuz I lost people in the Ukraine war and I lost my home, I STILL GET IT. Fuck, I really do. The glaring and blatant racism that exists even in the humanitarian sector is CRAZY. I work in humanitarian aid, and in case you didn't know, the humanitarian sector has 4 humanitarian principles that everyone in the sector has to adhere to, one of them being NEUTRALITY.

Well, wouldn't you know, one of humanitarian organizations I had the displeasure of working with has signed an open letter that dismissed the notion of being neutral in the Ukrainian war. They signed a letter that urged people to stop being neutral on the issue. And when this was brought up to higher ups (not some no name local organization, but an INTERNATIONAL COMPANY), they said IT'S FINE. It's their choice to not be neutral and we have to respect that.

Which is fucking crazy, because imagine if something like this was discussed in literally any other context? Like right now, Palestinian speakers are getting invited on TV only for the interviewer to jump on the person that was grieving just a moment ago about their lost family, asking if they condone Hamas. Holy shit, isn't it fucking crazy?

Ukrainians had a big platform to advocate for their cause, they had loud voices tell it as it was instead of what the propaganda said. That's just true. A lot of Ukrainians are proud of that. It's only possible because, YES UKRAINIANS (mostly) ARE WHITE. Geopolitically there's more to that but that's not the point of the post at all. The blue eyed blonde Ukrainian stereotype isn't true in reality but it's true in minds of westerners. And that's really all that matters to them.

Are Palestinians asked the same questions Ukrainians were? Why not? What is the difference? Ask yourself that question, and know that the right answer is that Ukrainians are (mostly) white and more palpable for the western audiences.

Anyway, I urge all Ukrainians to actually read about this issue from Palestinians, stop falling for stupid propaganda, stop trying to whitewash Israel as well. Same goes to every Ukraine sympathiser. And before anyone comes here and tells me I don't know anything about Ukrainian situation and war... I work in a humanitarian field in crisis analytics and data analysis, I am Ukrainian, I am from Donbas, I lost relatives and friends in the war and my home, so maybe I even know more than some of y'all.

[alchemiclee]

serious talk real quick, sorry about this,,,,,

I keep getting asks asking for help with gofunmes and stuff as you might see me post. do no have the capacity to research and see if it's real. am dealing with health and family and work and life and friend issues and severe burnout on top. just want to occasionally come here to look at some silly lil guys and art to get some feel-good brain hormones for a second or whatever brains do. made this as a place to disconnect from the world for a bit and focus on myself and what I like and need.

but also have a feel-bad brain problem where I feel like the worst person alive if I can't help EVERYONE ON EARTH and it's pointed out to me all the time that i dont help anyone enough. the first one I got I posted and said I can't do much to help but i'll share and hope my followers can help and the person sent another saying "you have to donate or i'll die" basically, like their and their family's life is all in MY hands alone when I can't even get my own life together. and that was such a Brain Feel Bad and caused severe anxiety and panic attack....because it reminds me of irl experiences of homeless people grabbing onto me and trying to drag me away screaming only I can save them and feed their dying starving children, god sent ME to them so it's my duty, when I literally couldn't do anything but dissociate and now have no memory of what happened after that or how i got out of their grips....so i've not been here as much as usual because I keep getting these asks now and it makes me so anxious every time and THAT MAKES ME FEEL LIKE A HORRIBLE PERSON. I know i'm horrible for not helping and instead getting severe anxiety when someone asks!!!! but idk how to stop it!! I can't even get the help I need and have been struggling alone for years!!!!

so I post these in case they're real and maybe one of my 5 active followers can help or something idk. it's all I can do even if it's useless. feel free to ignore them, that's up to you. i'm falling apart at the seams of my existence but war is worse than my dumb pointless problems and I can't help anyone so all I can do is publish asks and let other people maybe help if it's real. idk. let me just look at lil guys and art in peace i'm sorry i'm not abled and rich and useful 😭

is it ok to ignore these asks and leave them unanswered? or am I a bad person because i'm not helping and ignoring someone in need? since I don't have the spoons to research and verify every ask I get, is it better to ignore and not publish them to avoid a potential scam being posted and shared???? I don't know how this works but just saw a post saying many of them are scams preying on this horrible situation so you should always verify each one before sharing. but I cannot i'm sorry 😭😭😭😭 I know i'm a bad person for not being able to help and do this small thing, but i'm now worried i'm possibly causing harm unintentionally 😭😭 what do???

[nighttimescribbles]

It is finished. I am finished.

[dullahandyke]

Films good movies good banshees of inisherin was good

[roykleinberg]

if I had a nickel for every time I thought about Mission Day: May 14th in the last 24 hours I’d have two nickels. which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice

[batfamfixation]

Actually? Fuck all of the people trying to gatekeep comic book characters that exist in other media. Acting like people can only form opinions about characters based on the comics is bullshit. If someone likes the Teen Titans because of the TV show instead of taking the time to read the thousands of comics "required" to be a "real fan" of those characters, good for them. If someone likes the Young Justice or Justice League cartoons and wants to talk about their love of those characters, they should. If Batman from Batman the Animated Series is a person's favorite version of Batman and their comfort character, GOOD FOR THEM.

This need to gatekeep comic book characters that appear in other media is fucking gross. If someone loves Batman and says he's a great guy because of how he's depicted outside of modern comics, then they're not a "fake" Batman fan, they just love a version of Batman that you don't care about. The same goes for all of the other DC shows and movies. People are allowed to love versions of characters that exist outside of comics and call themselves a fan of that character.

Stop. Gatekeeping. Fictional. Characters

[anotherfandomtrash]

Soooooooo, out of curiosity I've tried to draw some girls from WaP by their actual descriptions from the book. The art itself without any text is under the cut

[twpsyn-who]

Talking a little bit about 'boycotting Eurovision' under Keep Reading, feel free to scroll down if is not what you want to see.

The most used argument on the matter of banning Israel from Eurovision is the fact that Russia got banned from Eurovision, which is the worst argument anyone could bring.

Kindly reminder that Russia didn't get banned because of the war with Ukraine. Russia got banned because many countries has threatened to withdraw from the competition. Sadly, that's a big difference.

Yes, the countries has threatened to withdraw because they support Ukraine and see Russia as the party in the wrong. That was their reason. EBU's reason for banning Russian was because those countries threatened to withdraw, not because the war was bad and Russia must be stopped.

This situation isn't the same. Why? Because many countries support Israel in their genocide. Because this time around Palestine is the party in the wrong. Because we're taught to believe that Israel isn't in the wrong here.**

Boycotting Eurovision won't work. There are people out there who don't know the truth and want to watch Eurovision. There are people out there who don't care and will watch Eurovision regardless of the situation. There are people out there who, despite having the facts, still don't see Israel as the bad guy in this situation and will watch Eurovision. Sadly, boycotting won't work unless everyone does it.

The only way Israel will get banned, in my opinion, is by going through the same thing as Russia. If other countries threatened to withdraw- and not any countries, but the ones investing the most in Eurovision, then yes. That will get Israel banned.

Otherwise? The only thing we do is hurt artists that don't deserve it. Artists who use Eurovision as a way to get more exposure and experience. Artists who deserve to be heard.

Don't vote for Israel's entry. Don't stream their song either. Heck, turn off the TV when is their turn to perform.

**This whole situation (the war, not Eurovision) isn't only black and white. Civilians die daily because of this, all of them from both sides. Innocent people who has no fault. Let's not forget that

[stardustdiiving]

I would read your zhongxiao codependent yuri Like, I do generally picture them as a vaguely father/son dynamic BUT THAT IS NOT CANON. It's just as much fun to view them through a romantic interpretation! Idk why people can't view the same characters in different kinds of relationships without being weird about it.

Anyway I love your vision and would love to hear more about it lakdjs

THANK U SO MUCH Im not sure if I’m gonna write zx in the future since I’ve tended to be shy about posting my stuff relating to them for over a yr now, but I did post this fic with them last year while trying to get a hold on how to write them (mind the tags it’s pure angst omg). I was too shy to tag it as ship since it didn’t feel shippy enough, which is kind of funny to me in hindsight bc I reread it and am like. Man I think only a zx shipper would write this NUFNVJVJV

Post got kind of lot Im gonna go on a tangent about them under the cut

Honestly my theory for why ppl r very set on the father/son interpretation is everyone’s immediate thought on to how to make the power imbalance between them seem less uncomfortable is to apply a parental interpretation to it. Which is fine ofc, I get it, but the way ppl push it as canon a lot kind of grates on me a little bc they’re usually incredibly passive aggressive and pushy even if u clearly designate ur post as ship OTL

Also not really a fan of the characterizations either since ppl tend to treat Xiao like a moody teenager Zhongli has to reel in (this is hilariously reminiscent of the post I made about how ppl handle scaramouche and nahida a bit ago haha). And idk I just feel kind of polarized about the headcanon overall bc I associate it with people being really uncomfortable and frustrating about zx

I just like how there’s sort of an imbalance to them, some zxs like them being more fluffy and functional but I sort of like it where it’s not like, entirely dysfunctional but I’m prioritizing a specific kind of character study over romance. This tends to be how a lot of my ships go ngl I just sometimes enjoy the intensity/intimacy of romantic feelings thrown into the mix if it makes it interesting but I’m not often interested in a lot of my ships following more standard romance plots(?) I guess? Unless it’s specific ones. Which sounds clinical when I put it like that but this is just bc I am very aromantic NHFBVJVJ

When I say codependency in zhongxiao honestly it’s sort of a theoretical(?) codependency—not sure how to word it? I think Xiao would be really fucked up if he didn’t have Zhongli in his life suddenly but I don’t think his relationship with getting attached to people invokes what people would majorly think of when they think of codependency in a ship I suppose. It’s moreso I just feel Xiao could be at his worst with dehumanizing himself in comparison to other people with Zhongli, because said mental state is driven by how he feels about debt, service, and duty which are very closely tied with devotion and how he would feel about someone he considers his god and leader, as well as someone who saved him

It’s fun this is paired with Zhongli who generally knows how to work with Xiao kind of understands the self destructive depth Xiao’s loyalty/devotion comes with. Also fun they have been around each other for a very long time and Xiao as one of the adepti is familiar with the past I think Zhongli appreciates having around. They work but it’s also a case where Zhongli is in such a position of power over Xiao its kind of very delicate situation that’s hard for both of them to navigate. Which is fun to explore. I esp love contrasting it with other Xiao pairings (actually i think i still have that xiaoven fic up on my ao3 where I tried to convey a specific interpretation of them in a similar exploration vein too)

I totally get why people wouldn’t like it (I feel a lot of my opinions on xiao ships just clash with a lot of fandom consensus so bad all the time And it’s just bc I’m like this I’m not even trying to be contrarian or anything. HELDINCJD) but I just tend to handle shipping in a specific way. It’s not I don’t enjoy fluffy or lighthearted zl and xiao stuff I actually enjoy it a lot I just like there being layers. This makes it feel more impactful when I think about how Zhongli looks out for Xiao in canon or how Xiao gets like textually flustered talking to him (lantern rite 2023 was so tailored to my tastes it’s not even funny)