#i see lumine and aether as their own person lol

[abyssruler]

Does that person know what 'Fanfiction' means? Cause why are they trying to prove that your simple brainrot makes no sense 💀 You know what makes no sense? How we cook food in genshin (like wdym I boiled eggs but it turns out fried??? 🤨)

it’s a fantasy game where people can harness the elements and they’re saying it makes no sense for the reader (the traveler) to be aether and lumine’s sibling XD anyway, gonna be deleting the comments in a few minutes cuz i don’t wanna deal with that sort of negativity on here

[thatdeadaquarius]

SAGAU / Isekai Genshin:

You can still use your characters! ... as in possessing them 👻

(all art by me down below, hope its decent lol - did it for u guys and myself i mean what )

Edit 9/7/23: 1,500+ NOTES??? BRO WHAT!! THABK YOU <3

Edit 12/24/23 + 4/5/24:

☆

My dumbass forgot to put this here .-.

Anywya this is a full length fanfic now ;)

PART 1 (you're here!) / Part 2

So.

You got sucked into a video game. 

Crazy, but it happens ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯

yknow how it issss

...you very quickly discover that unfortunately video game rules still apply...

which wouldn't normally be an issue! like, needing to use the bathroom in the middle of a fight? Nope! minor cuts and bruises like papercuts, only actual enemies or fall damage counting? hell yeah that'd be great (theoretically no chronic pains if you got that?? hmmmm unsure)

see the issue comes when you realize, you as a player, don't have a "character" that's all your own

there's aether/lumine yeah.. but bc the game's real now, they're their own people, and you didn't wake up to find yourself as a blonde twin...

the closest you can describe your form as is .. like a seelie?

or like the way ghosts look in game?

but a lot more "starry"

like your specterlike, but you look like you got filled up with stars and the milky way, maybe a reference of you being from another universe/world? (aether/lumine/dainsleif/khaenriah star symbol reference secret thEORY-)

but yah.

you also got just, white eyes.

like, not iris, not pupil. like your pupil and iris got erased

you gotta admit, at least you look really aesthetic now.

(u also got a little cape and hood on at all times, and you cant take it off to see your starrified hair >:/ ,very Blue Diamond-esque, look up Steven Universe, Blue Diamond if you dont know who im talking about)

so needless to say, as soon as you sort of glitched your way into existence you were HYPE

i mean ur ACTUALLY IN TEYVAT WITH THE BOYSSSS

...then you realize your a spooky-no-character-to-pilot-around-thus-no-character-model-body-for-you thingy

and that you cant touch stuff!! >:(

like wth!!!

thats just downright unfair.

so, you figure if you got no body to be.... you gotta find a new "character" to pilot >:)

...

I choose you, yellow fungi!

...

....

you're in the fucking woods (Sumeru somewhere obv, u knew that the moment you opened ur eyes),

what'd you expect?? an archon??

..wait a minute. can you possess an archon-

these kinda thoughts plague your first few days of irl genshin impact playing

a rishabold tiger? yep.

a sumpter beast? kinda slow and heavy feeling but yeah.

...you also try a ruin machine LOL

by far, the fungi and ruin machines are the best to possess, mostly because you can remain upright with those

(tho u did find some type of flying monkey that wasnt in game, but its like,, a real world and jungle now so that makes sense there'd be more complexity + stuff)

you do eventually think you should try and possess a person at this point... but ur kinda nervous 👉👈

its ur first time doin this okay nobody explained the basics to you youve been winging for a week now!

will your mind be replaced with theirs? it hasn't been so far with the creatures/bots

and as far as you can tell, they kinda just-

forget what happened or "wake up" after you possess them

(the tiger you were for a day looked confused as hell when it realized that there was a new pile of fruit next to it when it "woke up", it was your way of saying thank you to the animals of the jungle, u left them little piles of food you collected running around as them)

so THEORHETICALLY-

you should be good to go and possess a random poor eremite

... you figure you want to possess something human-like eventually even if you get a puppet body like wanderer/raiden so...

here goes nothing...

♤

so it's been 2 weeks since you've been forcefully yanked into teyvat, and by the second week, you were trying to possess eremites

which! worked out!

mostly..!

you kinda convinced the entirety of two eremite camps that a certain part one of sumeru's forests is hella haunted bc ppl keep "blacking out" and doing things they don't remember doing, yknow... like possesssion LMAO

they kinda ran off to escape you but, hey!

experiment #2: people possession, success!!

now you were kinda convinced of this when you realized no matter the angle the animals and machines of sumeru didnt react to you getting super close to them (you dont have to touch something to posses it, just look at it really, but you wanted to test limits, so you walked up to sumpter beasts and fungi and ruin machines)

but no one can see you.

you don't have a "character" most of the time, you can float and glide around the ground like scaramouche lol

you cant touch stuff bc of this, you cant smell stuff (u saw the eremites campfires & couldnt smell the smoke until you were them)

you cant eat stuff w/o a body, so.. it makes sense that the eremites and passing merchants, cant see you when you float around, trying to reorient yourself after 2 weeks of experimenting

:( ur only a lil sad about it... but mostly not bc lol u got possession powers so trade off u guess

the first time you see a vision-bearer you literally scream

LMAO

ur so lucky u cant be seen or heard

bc Collei would have def screamed back lol

needless to say u stalk the forest ranger- ALL DAY.

Collei goes on patrol around the woods? you go on a patrol.

collei goes to visit other forest rangers? you "visit" other forest rangers at base (lol u def possess a guy who was asleep on a bench nearby & wake up to go talk to Collei "in-person", poor guy was so worried he sleep walked/talked so hard he went to see Tighnari an hour later lmao)

welp, you decide this is your life now, follow Collei everywhere, talk one-sided to Collei until you can possess a forest ranger w/o it being suspicious (dont wanna turn the poor rangers into the terrified eremites from a week or two ago...)

then, after you get the courage and erase the paranoia that tighnari can just... somehow hear your ghostly bullshit-

u do the same to Tighnari (then Cyno when he visits! no u didnt squeal, so what, nobody can hear you- )

♧

Tighnari begins to get suspicious about 3 weeks into this routine.

he's been starting to collect and start a file on all the rangers or nearby villagers that've started randomly "blacking out/sleep walking" in the evenings usually

(u possess as close to nighttime as u can so it seems like sleepwalking)

So when Cyno comes back from a mission gone wrong,

having nearly been decapitated by a rogue flying ruin machine, only to black out and come to standing calmly 10 feet further than he remembered being 1 minute ago...

Tighnari's suspicions are confirmed, and he launches into researching this phenomenon.

his first thought is something like the aranara, but that doesn't account for the effect this thing is having on people

after all, what little forest spirit is strong enough to-

-control humans??

Tighnari begins to get the sense he's in over his head after he finds himself pushed into going into Sumeru City in order to collect more library books or ask around if the blackouts have spread to the city people

he answer is negative, on both accounts.

and he spends about one half of the day walking around, and the other reading up all he can on mythical creatures or ailments

Tighnari gives up for the day, and as he makes his way back to Ghandarvaville, he almost gets ambushed by some particularly nasty muggers

...and then he wakes up 20 feet away, his denro vision thrumming with power, full of worry and fondness for himself??, (just like Cyno said he felt happen to him..)

...Tighnari decides he needs reinforcements.

YOU GUYS-

UR LOCAL ZODIAC SIGN OBSESSED W/GENSHIN HIT A CHARACTER LIMIT ON A POST FINALLY. 😦

??? THIS WOULDVE BEEN LONGER BUT I BARELY GOT SPACE FOR THIS- I- EVEN THE QIQI POST DIDNT HIT LIMIT-

uh cya ig!!

Safe travels lmao,

💀♒️

♡the beloveds♡

@karmawonders / @0rah-s / @randomnatics / @glxssynarvi / @nexylaza / @genshin-impacts-me / @wholesomey-artist @revonie / @hat-on-a-cat / @takottai / @sickly-falling (?) / @iruiji

(Sorry about the late tag! I forgot to update my taglist before i posted this 💀 my bad guys)

Also if the people who got put there who i couldnt find a blog for see this, idk what went wrong ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ - maybe check and see if ur setting for "being able to be searched/looked up" is turned on?? Idk man

[cocoa-goat]

Distractions (The Khaenri'ahns x GN!reader)

Scenario: You haven’t been yourself lately, and they’ve noticed. So in order to cheer you up, they try to distract you by getting your mind off things. Whether it be a small pastime/errand or a walk to clear your head.

Featuring: Lumine, Aether, Dainsleif, Kaeya, & Albedo. (Plus a bonus character at the end lol)

Warning/s: Might be a tiny bit suggestive in Kaeya’s part, but it doesn’t really imply anything. Mostly just fluff ☁️

Lumine

> Lumine sees herself in you, so needless to say, she definitely has a soft spot that’s reserved for you alone.

> She’ll take you to her favorite places to cheer you up. If you want to talk to her about your problems along the way, you don’t even need to ask.

> If you’re silent, Lumine will simply ask you if you want to talk, but she won’t push you to do it.

> Maybe she’ll take you to a spot that’s good for stargazing, or take you to a place where there’s lots of crystalflies for you to watch flying about.

> If she could at least just witness a peaceful side of you and make you forget about all your hardships, even just for a little bit, she’ll be content.

> It does her heart good to know that you can begin healing yourself whenever you’re around her.

> In conclusion: Lumine best girl 💫

Aether

> Very worried boy

> Aether drops literally everything to tend to your aid. Like please relax, even Paimon’s more composed than you (T^T )

> Hugs for daysss 🫂🫂

> I think that physical touch is one of Aether’s love languages, so he doesn’t hesitate to run to you and give you one big heck of a hug the moment he sees you cry.

> Even if you don’t cry or say anything, he will still know that you’re sad. Either way he’ll just engulf you in his embrace, gently stroking your hair in the process.

> Please don’t refuse! His hugs are the best. Not too tight, not too loose, just right. 💕

> He’ll hold you for as long as you want him to. He’s not planning to let you go until your pain subsides and you’ve let all your discomforts out of your system.

> You don’t even need to say anything tbh, he understands you completely. You’re his other half, after all.

Dainsleif

> “Something’s clearly been bothering you,” Dainsleif is much more straightforward, but it’s not as if he’s forcing you into opening up. It was more of an encouragement since his tone indicated visible concern.

> And although he might not admit it, this little act of his was a small act of love for his you. He loves you too much to see you sad without telling him why.

> Dainsleif is a great listener. And you can’t tell me otherwise (◕‿◕♡)

> He’s basically just your therapist at this point; but he doesn’t really give much insight on his opinions about your problems, and that’s because he chooses to listen rather than to talk.

> He doesn’t presume to know how it feels to be in your shoes, because honestly, he doesn’t. That doesn’t entirely mean he won’t try, though! I feel as if he’s an ‘actions speak louder than words’ type of guy

> He’ll listen to you rant about whatever’s been bothering you, all the while maintaining a look of understanding on his face. However, if it’s a person that made you sad, well goodluck to them because they’re in for an earful. (Or a beating tbh)

Kaeya

> Husband material™

> Depending on the situation, Kaeya might approach you with a little teasing here and there.

> He’ll probably come up to you and just be like: “Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed. But I was there with you, wasn’t I? I don’t see the problem.”

> Anyways that’s besides the point 😭

> If Kaeya senses that you actually are upset, he won’t tease you; because like every other decent person, he knows how to read the room before approaching you. It’s just the bare minimum 🤷🏻‍♀️ 

> He’ll gently rub circles around your back as you vent to him. If you’re crying he’ll wipe a few stray tears away from your cheeks, the pain in his eyes mirroring your own. It hurts him to see you cry :((

> If there’s anything he can do to help you, he’d do it in a heartbeat. There’s nothing that he wouldn’t do for you, so he’d do everything in his power to see you smile again.

Albedo

> Albedo is a clever one. He catches on pretty quick, so he’ll know if you’re not feeling yourself in almost an instant.

> He doesn’t say anything because he doesn’t want to pry, but he does ask you if you want to go on a walk with him on the outskirts of Dragonspine. (He’ll also hand you his coat if you’re feeling cold)

> If you refuse, he feels as if he has no choice but to pry into your feelings. And he does, but he’s not forcing you. He’ll pry ever-so-gently for the sake of not overstepping your boundaries.

> If you accept, however, he’s going to use the opportunity to try and distract you. And once you’re feeling better, that’s the moment he asks if you want to talk.

> Either way, Albedo’s always willing to listen to your troubles. He’ll even go out of his way to try and help you get rid of them. That’s just how much he cares for you <3

Bonus - Paimon

> She’d take you to Wanmin Restaurant for some slime tasting. And you can’t refuse

*cue happy Xiangling noises*

Notes: Thanks for reading!! (P.S, as I’m posting this, my teacher is currently grading my test and he’s definitely taking his time with it; which means I’m most likely gonna fail. I still hope you enjoyed though, until next time!)

[teachmenari]

Teach me! - y/n and company

Tighnari × GN reader

▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎

y/n l/n

Third year at the Akademiya University (or just Akademiya for short), you've settled in nicely after moving to Sumeru City two years ago, fleeing a bad relationship with your parents. Unfortunately, you picked the first major you could get your hands on to get here and so ended up with one containing a lot of math and science - which you could usually manage before this dreadful year...

Lumine and Aether

Second years at the Akademiya after a year at Teyvat University, Lumine and Aether are your best friends. You met them right after moving to Sumeru City and it's like you guys grew up together. Global communications majors, everyone knows them and someone always has a favor to ask them. They find it hard to say no.

Ayaka

Second year at the Akademiya and a fashion design major, she is the sweetest soul you ever met and always has your back. The twins introduced you and she has been part of the friend group ever since. Ever the optimist, she tries to get you to see the glass half full even when it's difficult. She has made everyone in the group custom clothes at least once and would've made even more if you hadn't stopped her before she got burnt out-

Kazuha

Second year at the Akademiya, biochem major. He's your roommate and the first person to make you feel at home in the new city. He's the one who introduced you to the twins. His Twitter account is dedicated to drama, and he can be a tad too nosy for his own good, but his blackmail folder has never failed you.

Xiao

Third year at the Akademiya, a philosophy major and Kazuha's childhood friend. It's almost impossible to get him to use his main for anything, but he will complain about the smallest things in the most angsty way on his priv. It's a small celebration everytime he does tweet on his main, and Childe buys everyone drinks. He bonded with you over shitty bio parents and is now one of your most loyal friends.

Yanfei

Second year at the Akademiya, Yanfei pursues a criminology major. She is the one to go to whenever you're in trouble with the law - and hypothetically would help you get away with murder if you feed her well enough. You both met at a party away from the group, where you pet the house dog together for three hours while chatting. She often has to be the voice of reason but prefers going along with whatever bit the group has going on.

Childe

The oldest of the group. He dropped out a year ago and has been selling spicy pics on his onlyfans, making bank in the process and earning himself the title of the group's sugar daddy. He often offers to pay for everyone, despite the rest of you insisting that he paid three times in a row and you want to treat him instead. While he can be childish (👁👁) he is still a really good therapist friend and can make you laugh easily when you're upset.

▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎

Teach me!

masterlist - sumeru gang

▪︎Synopsis ➤ You’ve been attending the Akademiya for some time now, but for some reason this year is harder than the others. You’re failing almost everything regarding math and science. Your biology teacher, Ms. Rukkhadevata, offers the help of Tighnari, her TA... Let’s just hope he’s nice.

a/n: I know the gang is not from sumeru but I wanted y/n to have a group of buddies already, so there you go lol ALSO I MESSED UP AYAKA'S ACCOUNT IS PUBLIC

[hematomes]

Hey! I'm the anon who talked about how the whole Traveller getting mad at Fontaine twins scenario got spread like wildfire on social media. Just call me Kina for now.

There's something I wanted to add but didn't because my rant was long:

While the twins (and Freminet) aren't bad people (as far as we know), I do find it hilarious that everyone is salty over Aether/Lumine getting angry when anybody, no matter how understanding, will feel very frustrated, conflicted and confused about learning that someone who's been so sincere towards you turns out to be apart of a dangerous group that's responsible for something going wrong in your journey.

Also, Diluc's allowed to hate the Fatui (for very good reason) but the Traveller? No, no, no. Their the protagonist, their supposed to be understanding and everyone's buddy. What a fucking bs reason to justify demonizing Traveller.

i got some insight from the other side and they gave some understandable argument, although it still didn't really make sense to me

from what i understood, the "problem" (for a small minority of people who whine about it, imo. the one side i could picture actually) lies in the inconsistency, specifically when you put the fontaine situation side by side with the one back in inazuma

i could see how it's mildly frustrating to have a main character that is inconsistent on a logical level: being harsh when faced with a lie vs forgiving a character that embodies fanservice (ei) in the blink of an eye despite the fact that she subjected her people to countless horrors and civil wars

to this i say, not unkindly: suck it up. the inazuma archon quest was a shit show, we are finally back on something that MAKES sense and to me personally, that's what matters. id rather keep with an unforgiving traveler that has seen too much now to be too kind (let's however not forget that they offered to be the attorney for the very same people that lied to them lol) and not on their guard. it's what i would call character development - just like how they're more wary when it comes to the archons, thanks to input they got from dainsleif (among other things, like the abyss twin's input for example)

maybe im optimistic in the sense that i have decided to ignore the mishaps and focus on what i enjoy, which is messy yet coherent travels and decisions. let the traveler change, make mistakes, whether that's intentional or due to past poor writing management. maybe im also sentimental, but i like seeing humanity in the character, pouring from the writers' very own: errors, mistakes, whatever

it doesn't make sense? does it absolutely has to? does it really not make sense? i disagree. i like where it's going, and you, like some of us, are providing solid reasons as to why it just works, despite how frustrating it may be to see the main character being insufferable to you. let's use that as a reminder that aether and lumine aren't actual self-inserts

[poppunkpie]

hii hello hiii can you tell more about your writing process? :3c what are the stages? are there any writing principles for your process? what's the most enjoyable thing? :3c

hello eldritch!! omg im so sorry for the delay in answering... lol i didn't expect work to suddenly be so busy lol but anyway!!

so there are two main ways that a fic idea comes together for me: a) it's the theme/thesis statement that comes to me first. this comes to me in a lot of different ways... it could be a line from a song or an excerpt from a poem or a similar adjacent theme i take from a different piece of media that i feel i can apply to a certain ship/character that i am brainrotting about at the moment. ex. my favorite and most recent example of this would be scaramouche x from under the cork tree by fall out boy (lol) the theme i put together there was rly just... that desperation of so badly wanting something to be completely about yourself for once (and almost narcissistically/unhealthily so) because you've never had anything at all. i just thought it's a very specific... almost manic feeling that i can definitely picture scara experiencing.

b) it's one very specific scene that comes to me, and from there, i try to fill in the blanks/puzzle pieces in the plot (with other scenes) of how everything builds up to that one scene. when i have all of that down, it becomes a little easier for me to fill in the blanks of what exactly happens/how the fic ends after that one scene.

most of the time, it's a combination of these two ways of idea-gathering for me... mostly it's the theme that comes first, but there are other times that it's the specific scenes that come first and when it's the latter, they don't really come together /thematically/ until i'm already somewhere in the middle of writing. this ideation process is what i consider most important because honestly... i really only have two stages in writing (lol) which are: ideation and then the writing itself. bc basically, the ideation is what gets the fic plot points down... and the writing is really just... me connecting those points/weaving those ideas together...

to put things more concretely, my ideation process is really just... a lot of listing things down and it is admittedly chaotic... it could be scene ideas (or a sequence of them) as simple as 'scara spots aether in the crowd' but bc im a mess it usually becomes a long bullet that also includes the unsaid implications in that said scene like so:

scara spots aether in the crowd looking back at him and he fixates on it bc it feels like for the first time, someone actually /sees/ and wants to look at him

ideas i list down could also be specific lines that i imagine a specific character saying or even a few dialogues of script between characters. there's also just lots of random stuff related to how i want to describe dynamics and characters i list down like 'heiscara friendship with lots of annoying smart banter' or 'scara is a skater in this one' or 'aether listens to taylor swift but lumine doesn't' (lol)' or 'scara is like [insert fall out boy song here]'

~ as for writing principles... ig i only rly have this in mind at the moment: balance out poetry and prose - uhh i dont think i ever write anything that doesn't end up with a motif that ties in with the theme... i like metaphors a lot bc i feel they help describe feelings more accurately... but i also try to make sure that these metaphors are just simple but clever enough?? uhh... i kinda think of writing metaphors as cracking a joke... if it's too cerebral, the punchline might not /punch/ lol but if it's too straightforward... it might not work in capturing a certain idea or feeling... as for my personal preference in my own writing... i like to phrase things bluntly while still making metaphors in that tone so its not cerebrally intimidating... err im not sure how to explain that more elaborately here lol uhh but heres one of my favorite more recent examples from something i wrote abt scara talking about ei:

She has acknowledged me in a way that she believes it's her sister who should be alive instead of me, as if I had taken the life of someone else simply by being born into the world. (I'm not a killer— or at least I wasn't born one, and as far as I know, the blood on my hands is usually my own.)

~ as for the most enjoyable thing about it... well i would say it's definitely writing metaphors lol and then making sure how that ties coherently and cleverly with the theme and the vibe of the ship dynamic/character i'm centering the fic on... i dont think i ever write without an overarching theme or a metaphor for this reason... even when i just want the characters to kiss... its corny but i always need the kiss to feel like its situated in the grander scheme of things and feelings skksks

[baeshijima]

Discovered your streamer au and sjjdjejw im in love with it its so cute and wholesome but i see albedo getting so much love what abt the others cmon

Like i cant believe there arent more characters like streamer!Scaramouche would be like those streamers who are really pro gamers but rage and hurl toxic insults a lot when frustrated but thats the reason why they are so popular. Then he gets in genshin starts insulting everyone (condescending) and… insult his fav character (endearing).

Streamer!Kaeya does a lot of voice acting in games and also has trolled as the voice of characters he voices in game and hes a kinda decent gamer. He has too many simps lmao. Flirts a lot but only gives the lovesick look to his fav character in genshin. Def hits up with their voice actor early on and thats why mihoyo gave them the wedding skins :pppp Mains his own characters (and fav character cus shipp) when he can cus its funny.

Diluc occasionally gets dragged into Kaeya’s streams and he gets super annoyed oof cus its nothing to do with him like bruh stop hes got his own shit to do. I see Diluc would be in the food/drinks part of twitch cus he is a bartender and mixes drinks. Can see him also being a food/drink connoisseur esp wine. Doesnt ever get into gaming lol cant do shit but u bet he gets into genshin only because he fell head over heels in love with fav character (and happened on kaeya’s streams too uwu). Blushy boi emotes then happens a lot lmao. Def gets teased by Kaeya (and gifted a body pillow. Actually now Im wondering abt all streamers getting body pillows of fav character dijdjejd)

Streamer!Aether and Lumine who both are gamer twins lmao with Aether the completionist, taking his time type and loves lore while Lumine the speedrunner, really skilled with gaming and does op shit. (Since in-game its canon that when the twins fight tgt Lumine is more aggressive and Aether is more defensive) Aether is one of those who makes complete walkthroughs of any games while Lumine has too many funny/insane pog compilations. Both main same fav character but use them different which has them arguing who uses them better which devolves to whos the better match lmao. Def one up each other when it comes to getting fav character in their banners hehe.

Streamer!Kazuha being those polite and wholesome traveler that explores places from all over the world. I can see him bringing attention to each local specialities by praising them and streaming it live. Sometimes streams games, particularly indie ones, he particularly enjoys whenever he has the wifi/connection available. Also a lore person and I can see him maining a fav character because of their personality and complex bg. Hes just soft for them sjdjdjjds

Streamer!Heizhou who games as well tho its mostly either puzzle/strategy heavy games or games with lots of interesting lore and mystery or both :3 Usually does incredibly out of the box yet genius tactics or solving that has ppl meme abt him being 100000iq. Also somehow accurately guesses the plot/answer most of the time. I can see him loving all the puzzle/riddles gameplay and lore in genshin. THEORYCRAFTER AS WELL. Another one who would be into fav character for personality and lore. Also is it weird that i see him potentially being like game theory channel?

Streamer bennett feels bad lmao I can see him being like a young boy streamer playing many games but whos well known for insanely bad luck. We talking like gacha games being utter crap experience, getting the weirdest af glitches that no one else gets, talks abt his encounters in life that make everyone go wow thats very very unlucky. Might be seen as annoying to some but his audiences find him endearing and support him :((( awww. His fav character is likely his emotional support character. (I add bennett here because hes one of the ones I really like and feel like he needs more love. Platonically of course)

Ok yea these are my ideas feel free to add on or disagree with any of them cus your post literally inspired me ajjdjdjjdjxjds sad I cant ask this as my alt blog trashcanfills my fandom blog cus tumblr sucks :/ but ah well

take it. take the series, the au and my money /lh

NO BUT I AGREE 10000000% ON UR HCS !!!!! PLS AETHER WOULD BE THE ONE TO GIVE CHARACTER BUILD GUIDS AND LUMINE DOING SOLO BOSS SPEEDRUNS OR SMTH 😭AND HEIZOU WOULD GO ON SUCH LONG TANGENTS ABOUT WHY HIS THEORY IS CORRECT AND DEBUNK EVERY OTHER THEORY 😭😭 bennett would just be made into a meme where if someone has bad gacha luck, they would mention how they pulled a bannett :((

kazuha the indie gamer so true !!! he would be so supportive of the smaller creators and promote their games so well his community already get the game once they see the title before he even plays 😩 scaramouche also gets made into memes like in .exe vids when they show a funny moment/low numbers and then hes just there. raging. screaming. flipping a table.

VA KAEYA SO TRUE SO TRUEEEE if he has voiced a playable character, he would create a separate party for him and character!reader with the team called “lovers shalala” aND YES !!! DILUC WOULD BE THE KING OF THE FOOD AND DRINK CATEGORY !! ngl its mainly bc he makes jabs at alcoholics while promoting the benefits of fruit juice and how its “like drinking without getting drunk”. blushy diluc emotes so true so true *bangs fist on table*

[jinkicake]

Just checked the calendar,,,, and scaramouche birthday is in 15 days🥲 I feel like he’s gunna pop up in my dreams or something I’m nervous bc albedo was just there; that’s my fault tho for falling asleep reading a fic where susbedo rails me and albedo is watching from behind the door of the KOF lab. I just remember looking up when I was struggling to stay alive and kicking eyes w him across the room and him going 🤫🤭 before I blacked out and woke up😭 12am if January 3rd he’s going to show up w ropes n chains n shit🫠 like he’s definitely the sadistic fuck to smile like the Cheshire Cat knowing that he has something over you😒 it’s his special day so he can fuck you in the shrine while yae can’t do shit to him (actually kazuha would also in the”being forced to watch the shogun play w you” scenario; love a man who’s been pushed into insanity) like he will make a huge pillow fort in the publishing house too and then fuck you right in the middle of it, like Ei is dumb asf but she’s way nicer than her shit puppet so when she hears the “poor defenseless traveler” has been taken and is being held hostage by her creation she’s like “oh no🥺🥺” so she rushes over there to help and use is like…. Something ain’t right here this feels like strap why is it completely empty. Then they get sucked into a mind realm of HIS own making. Ei becomes painfully aware of what day it is and they’re stuck listening to the screams of the traveler😔😔 more,deeper and faster; he would pull their hair and make them look they electro archon right in the face while making them swear allegiance to him as the true archon(which I would do without question lmao are you kidding? He’s way better than her and would have cherished Inazuma like she said nah you’re too nice I want everyone to be miserable 💕)can do nothing but sit back and watch him ruin the traveler and then begging for him to finish inside and to go deeper🤭 BONUS POINTS IF EI AND MAYBE MEIKO TOO WERE FOND OF THE TRAVELER AND DIDNT GET THE CHANCE TO TELL THEM!! I love unnecessary suffering it’s suck a great genre🥰 need to see her looking broken and helpless while he grins all crazy back at her is the ultimate revenge!! (Honestly same as abyss aether having you suck him off or ride him on his throne while lumine or whoever watches in shock☺️ he said I’m here to ruin everyone’s lives and he should!)

WHERE DO YOU FIND THESE FICS????? I need to read them too! I'm jealous of your dreams tbh...

naur youRE WRONGGG for putting that kazuha suffering into the air T T omg i dont think he could handle that tbh! he might just actually k!ll the puppet and then her creator! we all know he wants to- (with good reason-)

omgggg.... yes the unnecessary suffering is too good like that's what makes the 'fucking in front of the other person' so good like eeeek if miss miko had feelings for the traveler and came across them getting their guts rearranged by scara.... she would make it EVERYONE's problem... and she would probs k!ll the puppet like she wanted to do hundreds of years ago LOL

no bc abyss aether is superior like- he's a princeeee and he got to fuck around w pierro im jealous of him actually! not sure if i want to be him or with him!

[kiryoutann]

ALRIGHT BBY- I just came back from the recent chapter again! ANDDD! THIS IS STILL ANGST AFTER THAT WHOLE FLUFF FROM THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER

「 "All he did was follow you out of the room. You held out your hand for him to cup, but you didn't even give him a glance. Whatever expression he is now wearing, you don't want to know"」

PLEASE- THIS HURTS SO GOOD, this literally showed how much MC is in her denial for childe's sudden changes!! Poor our ginger tho, he's still a sad boy here 😞

THEN THERE'S THIS FLUFF BOY STILL TRYING TO PULL EVERYTHING BACK UP-

「 "Watch your step." Childe said to you as you two came down the stairs. 」

ONG, HE'S SO SWEET HERE. He's producing so much fluff here between himself and MC-

THEN THERE'S HIM TOO-

「 "If you please, may I dance with you?"」

AETHER PLEASE- Our boy is literally getting death stares by the ginger on the other side who got asked for a dance by Lumine💀

Please don't risk your own life lol Aether, the ginger will do anything in his power as long as he could keep MC by his side

BUT LUMINE MADE ME SO SAD PLEASE- LEMME MARRY HER RN *dramatic sobs*

「 "I despise how easily you forget me and how easily you forget the promises you've made to me, especially the one where you said you'd never fall in love with her." 」

「 Stop looking at me with pity in your eyes. All am I to you is a foolish woman who believes your promises only to see you fall in love with another woman, right 」

This two sentences really described both her and the time when MC just married to Childe, the angsty inside this sentence that's meant for two person hurts me so badly *sob again*

ALRIGHT NOW GIVE ZHONGLI HIS CHANCE TO DANCE WITH MC- I will not stand him suffering from this--

EHHEHEHEHHEHEH and there’s still more to come

i feel like i’m the meanest author EVER😭 but guys i cannot live without angst SO PLS HOLD ON OK I’LL BE SURE TO GIVE YOU A HAPPY ENDING hopefully

OUR BOY AETHER IS TOO BRAVE TO COME UP TO US AND ASK FOR A DANCE IN FRONT OF CHILDE. it’s shocking that he hasn’t commit any homicide-

AND LUMINE!! YES. this wouldn’t have happened if you choose us instead of him, lumine >:(((( but there’s still time so let us marry now💍

thanks for reading and giving me your thoughts!! HAVE A GREAAAT WEEK!

[thatdeadaquarius]

"Oh my gosh do you sound like a sim to them??"

Me trying to place myself in their shoes:

"Why the fuck do I sound like a villager in Animal Crossing-- ARE THEY HEARING ANIMALESE WHEN I SPEAK?!"

(A.k.a I saw the previous ask and thought wait a minute. Two different worlds. Languages so similar but so different....... We're basically speaking animalese in another game/world lmfao)

(Bonus: Creator!Reader knows this and takes full advantage as their payback. Traveller magically understands and speaks back causing further pyschic confusion. Pretty sure soke brains have been melted among linguistic students in Sumeru)

-Vine Boom

VINE BOOM MY BELOVED IM SO LATE TO ATTEND TO YOU!! :'(

It has been a minute and yet, you remain my love!! Thank you for your patience, have a little scenario as my thanks for that and submitting the cool idea <3

Me @ you: ♥ ( ॢᵕ n ᵕ (꒡ᵋ ꒡ღ) mwah! /p

this gif is just really cute thats why its here.

also i have very little to add so its short but only bc im ✨uncreative✨ atm and ur ask alone is funny enough lmao, so once again, a scenario bc vine booms just a genius all on their own ✨️

◇

😭so you mean 😭 as revenge 😭 for this awful deed 😭 done to your speech 😭 you just start EMBRACING IT 😭😭😭PLEAASEEE-

PLEASE the traveler understands it!! 💀

Also if anyone reads this im so sorry ive flooded the sagau tag with language shenanigans LMAO

◇

Ever since you realized that the entirety of Teyvat sounds like Sims to you, (and the subsequent awful reckoning that you sound the same to them 😭) 

You have finally mentally recovered enough courage, and desperately shoved any embarrassment deep into your soul, to try and think of what to do about it

♤

You quickly found that people had 3 types of reactions to your speech,

 

1. They try to understand the nonsense like you trying to understand their Simlish, it really doesnt work, you wish you could tell them to give up and just gesture at you instead:

(ALHAITHAM he keeps trying then giving up then trying again lol, Diluc, ZHONGLI, Sara, Albedo, Candace, Dehya she thinks she’s gonna get it THIS time she swears-, Eula, Gorou, GANYU she feels bad lmao, Jean, AYAKA, keqing, kuki, Nahida, ningguang, AETHER, Thoma, xinyan, XIAO)

◇

2. They act like you when you hear animal crossing characters speak 💀 you can see the “omg so cute” sparkle in their eyes:

(KAZUHA, kokomi, barbara, KAEYA, ZHONGLI again lol he tries to hide it but you can see the tiny smile everytime you walk over and start ranting at him bc ur bored, Faruzan, GOROU, AYATO, YAE MIKO, keqing, LISA, mika, mona, KLEE literally loves you and you can tell shes always trying to get you to say something lol, Ei (archon), Rosaria she always SMIRKS and ur just- 😳, CHILDE the little shit giggles at ur misery, LUMINE AND AETHER U CANT TRUST EITHER OF THEM- , THOMA, SCARAMOUCHE BUT HE’D NEVER ADMIT IT BUT HE ALWAYS IS OBVIOUSLY TRYING TO HIDE A TINY SMILE AND GOES A LITTLE PINK-!! SAME FOR XIAO LMAO)

◇

3. You know that tiktok audio thats like Isabella from Animal Crossing singing, and then someone’s like “uh-huh! YEAH! OKAY!!” yeah like that, but to you LMAO

(ITTO, Bennett, KAVEH, heizou, VENTI, Nilou she like nods after everything you say and makes sure you’re treated well in every conversation aw, qiqi, KLEE, Raiden (puppet) + Ei (archon), SHENHE no explanation needed, CYNO too, LUMINE, YELAN, yoimiya, yunjin)

♧

Alright i got tired sorry not everybody’s there lol^

So no matter the reaction, they all are a little bummed nobody can get you, 

…but then of. Fucking. Course. 

LUMINE/AETHER as ALWAYS get SPECIAL TREATMENT 

(there’s not a single person throughout all the nations, the archons, the allogenes, doesnt matter, who hasn’t felt a LITTLE pang of envy for this- bc as cute as you sound, goddamit they USED to understand you when you weren’t physically here, before you overcame the Universal Barrier AKA the computer screen lol)

AND THEY GET TO UNDERSTAND YOU.

The Sumeru linguistics department is grinding their teeth, Alhaitham straight up glares every time they translate for you lmao, Zhongli’s eye twitches at least once everytime they do so, Kazuha is literally trying to bribe them with cool places he’s seen that the traveler hasn’t so they’ll share the secret of how to understand you, Ningguang gets 10x chillier when they’re helping convos w/ you, Ei looks like she’s fucking pouting-

☆

Aether is just like 🤨?? For what?? I’m helping???

So confused he never gets what’s going on lol

✨

Lumine, on the other hand, is FULLY aware and smirks every time she’s so smug about it LMAO 

^ the embodiment of the cat surrounded by knives meme ^

☆

Ahhhh my exhibition is April 6th u guys!

May I finally rest in peace when that day comes 🪦

Cant wait to graduate and just have a regular job and not academia + deadlines 😭😫

Hope you guys have had a nice week or two!

Look out for more posts after the 6th :>

Safe Travels,

💀♒️

♡the beloveds♡

@karmawonders / @0rah-s / @randomnatics / @glxssynarvi / @nexylaza / @genshin-impacts-me / @wholesomey-artist

Short one but hope its fun my beloved!! :)

[nomorefstogive]

"Actually, there are 15 stated, 13 in the Archives:

Qlipoth, the Preservation

Nanook, the Destruction

Aha, the Joy

IX, the Nihility

Yaoshi, the Fertility

Lan, the Hunt

Erudite, the Nous

[ ], the Arcane

Akivili, the Trailblazer [Presumed Dead]

Terminus, the End

Oroboros, the Voracity

Xipe, the Concord

Idrila, the Beauty [Deceased]

Tazzyronth, the Propagator [Deceased]

[ ], the Remembrance

Remembrance has 2 factions within the Archives but no mentions otherwise. Welt talks about the Aeon of Arcane in a dialogue."

I copied this from Reddit but here are the Aeons of Star Rail! Someone mentioned that Akivili are the Twins [Since Traveler=Trailblazer. They're literally the same just different timelines/Universes] who was trapped in Teyvat so that's why they're called dead [So Yeah Unknown God clapped an Aeon—]. Traveler [Personally prefers Lumine bc girlboss— But Star Rail Fem!MC is superior] coming back to Star Rail Universe to find Prime and slowly summons all Acolytes to Star Rail. They are getting used to the modern technology [Albedo is VIBING] and are trying so hard to find Prime.

Meanwhile, Prime is hiding from fellow Aeons since two are in a war and they're trying to recruit Prime. Also, they sensed Akivili coming back and knowing Akivili are The Twins/Traveler.

First, those names are epic as all hell.

Second, can we all just agree that whoever they are the Unknown God is completely terrifying in terms of the sheer power they have and just how casual they are about it, I mean it doesn't even look like they were trying when they fought the Travelers the first time. I like to imagine that they are some type of bodyguard or zealous enforcer to the Prime or Creator, and see the twins and jump to the conclusion that they are a threat and they need to be dealt with and quickly before they threaten their superior, and that the reason they don't show up again is because they are worried that they made a mistake and are going to get lectured by their superior/prime for screwing up. when all they want is to ask just why they jumped to that conclusion.

Actually, given that the Arcane one is not named and the Unknown God is just that, unknown, maybe they are the Aeon of Arcane or something like it, or perhaps something similar to it.

Also, we agree with you about Lumine being a girlboss, she is our Traveler and we will stand by her. Perhaps the Star Rail female mc can be her real form and Lumine is simply a form she took when she was traveling to avoid detection from her fellows because she and Aether are just trying to find their Prime and not get roped into some conflict.

Also, Albedo is having the time of his life while everyone else is trying to learn what this button does and why they should not touch it lol. Meanwhile the Prime is just trying to have a nice and quiet life without being dragged into a war and is wondering just why two of their fellows are leading a rather odd group in a search for them. Also, imagine that the reason the two Aeons are throwing down is because they are trying to prove that their way best serves the Prime or something like that and the Prime just doesn't want to upset them and is as such trying to be neutral in their dispute.

We will have to look into this game soon, these ideas are already quite interesting.

Once again, thank you for the information and for the idea, it sounds like a very good one and we are curious as to if you intend to use it in a work of your own? It sounds like it would be something very interesting to read.

Either way, stay safe and have a good night.

[autumn-foxfire]

Sorry I'm laughing but the second you mentioned harems I got violently yeeted to the era of "Ash betrayed fics where he returns as an edgy trainer and collects a harem of main and single episode females" it really is just a universal experience when a series mains a male protag lol. Do they do this in LoZ? I'm surprised to hear Lumine is more popular, but that checks out too. I have no idea what it is that makes the girl or boy more popular in any given series, but it always gets simplified to "waifu" and "blorbo" in Pokemon its just *hand-waves* too many different spin-offs and creators with their own stances that makes it confusing I think. It's difficult to see if there's meant to be some kind of gender balance or if the creators are trying to say something there on what they feel is/should be canon-leaning. It conflicts with previously released material because there's all this collaboration between the different creators + with how different the media feels each time, you end up wondering which is "for fan entertainment" and which is "secretly the intended game canon" that gets enforced when more canon material takes one side over the other. I think fans are always going to struggle with a lack of gender equality. Sometimes the girls are just too dang popular, and characters like Lucas, Victor, and Nate are the "Ken" of the Barbie/Pokemon franchise. It's joked about too, by TPC and fans. Sometimes everything leans towards the boys and the girls are stuck as the sidekick. But you know everyone has their own attachment to each generation, so something like alternating the protagonist every episode or second series like in the Special Animations - while nice imo - doesn't happen in other spin-offs like Masters. It'll never feel balanced to anyone because the balance comes using all the Gens as pieces of a whole, rather than a balance within the generation itself. Game canon is never addressed, until they drop the "hiding the protagonists face behind a Pidgey because ambiguity ~" and start writing actual Storylines for NPC Players. Hence: fandom canon protag conflict. People are naturally always going to look towards the majority evidence despite Pokemon's former ambiguous nature if most of any given material shows preference in any way. And we already have little to nothing to work with. It doesn't help that spin-off canons have proven to influence each other, so what message comes across in them matters a lot to fans. They don't feel like TPC just throwing a dart for diversity, but rather as deliberate choices.

OH MY GOD YOU JUST GAVE ME FLASHBACKS. I remember those days of exploring Pokemon fanfics and encountering so many Ash is betrayed so he becomes the master of the Pokemon Universe and is the leader of a harem who love him so much T-T

I really don't get the popularity to be honest, I feel like the same ones who did that with Ash are the ones who are doing it with Aether (or are the same breed of people).

Genshin does something similar with the twin protagonists too, they will release content for Lumine (such as when they do birthday art for the playable characters and the protagonist twin that you use will be in the art too if you go to the event) however when it comes to their actual promotion of the game, she's forgotten in favor of her brother.

What's interesting about the creators of Genshin is that they have another game where you choose between a male and female protag but according to friends who play that game, it's the female protag who is favored by the company in promotional art. Seems to be like Pokemon media in that sense.

I know why they give you a choice, it's for players to choice to play as themselves if they want (well mostly as you're only giving two genders T-T). The characters, despite media attempting to give them a personality in some instances, they're blank enough to be self-inserts too.

With Pokemon I don't mind this fact as much as the character you play as don't have major lore behind them but it causes an issue in genshin where they can't pick between wanting the protag to be a self-insert of the player or their own character who is supposed to contribute to the story with their lore and personality.

[alatuslvr]

Genshin event

Character - Xiao/reader, traveler[aether or Lumine], Paimon, cloud retainer, Zhongli,

Note - welcome to part two of Xiao genshin event, please read the first one for better understanding, I also apologies if it look rushed

Tags - near death experience, playable au, gn!reader, blood, dying but not really, use of Xiao real name, happy ending 😔👎, Xiao curse at Zhongli one time and regret it later, kissing lol, ooc Xiao?

Taglist - @renamichii @midzuumi [i can't tag you sorry!]

Xiao

Genshin event: may light bring us back [lantern rite]

Starting off with a secret event that HoYoverse set up, if players want to get to the event banner, they have to meet certain someone to unlock the event. It also trigger character banner to unlock- featuring you. Reader. As the new 5*. In this case, the reader is electro and polearm user [and is using signature weapon when in burst mode, which is a scythe.]

Act Ⅲ

As the three reaches mountain Aocang, the traveler immediately made an offering and place it on the table, "Is this some kind of an offering..?" The traveler nodded, "If we didn't make an offering, she wouldn't even let us in!" Paimon explained, "I see.." [y/n] look to the ground and quickly shaking their head, "we should head inside, let's go."

Traveler knocked on the domain door and gently open it, [y/n] eyes scanning every island in the room, "One comes at the right time when needed, Traveler, I suggest you come and see me as soon as possible. One has something important to discuss and one will be the judges."

"She hasn't changed at all.." [y/n] whisper, they look relieved upon hearing the adepti voice.

After Traveler solving the puzzles

"ah! Traveler, Paimon! you two... Can go firsts, I have something I must to do before seeing her." "Huh? .. alright then..." Paimon hesitantly said, "let's go, traveler!" The two leave the [h/c] alone and go up into the floating island that cloud retainer in.

Shockingly found Xiao with his usual pose, "X-xiao?! What are you doing here?!" Paimon yelled, "...something has come up. I can't tell you yet." He looks away and sighs, Xiao look at traveler and Paimon, "I supposed to be the one who asks, why are you two here." "W-well, W-we help this person and-!" Xiao frowned, "just spit it out."

"They told us that they want to see cloud retainer..." Paimon said "Me? Hm, who is this person you're talking to? And where are they?" "W-well!" "I'm apologies if I took too long." [Y/n] casually walk to them, Xiao and cloud retainer takes a sharp breath.

"oh! It's been a long time, isn't it Xiao?" They smiled "Yún." Xiao said with venomous tone [Y/n] awkwardly chuckles, "Just call me by my real name Xiao, and cloud retainer, I have a lot to say." "And one does too. So let me start first." Xiao glared at traveler and Paimon, the two just look away in guilt.

"one has a lot to say too. [Y/n], how did you wake up from your slumber? We have tried everything but no results." [Y/n] look down, "that's... I'll explain it later." "Moving on. How do you feel after awakening again?" They look at their hands, "I feel ... Relief? But part of me feels uncomfortable." "I see."

"stop with the useless question, cloud retainer." "Mhhmp, I merely ask about their condition, it's good enough that—" "we don't talk about that anymore." Xiao glared cloud retainer, "one is still running away from the reality, and one has been awoken from their slumber. I suggest for [y/n] to not use your adepti power and rest." [Y/n] nodded "before I do, I need to explain everything to all of you at what happened back then."

"It was selfish of me for acting on my own... I have expected that in many ways, but.." [Y/n] stop, and look up with teary eyes, "back then, something is controlling me. I- I couldn't control myself." They clutched their clothes "you're being... Controlled?" Xiao ask, they nodded.

"I know the backup plans for something might have changed for the worst, and the moment table is flip, as soon I headed to the backup army's to tell everyone to move, my body... Froze." This is a piece of new information for everyone. "Do you still feel you are being controlled?" Cloud retainer ask, "... Now that you mention it.." [y/n] held their forehead, "I do feel something familiar. No. Very familiar is the right word."

"Does this relate to them suddenly collapsing because of using too much energy? I mean, it should be related right?" Paimon looks at [y/n], "when you said you're being controlled, I theories that you're sleeping against your will!" "For someone like you Paimon, you're pretty smart." Paimon pouted "this will be the last time Paimon tells you that Paimon is not stupid!!" And kick the air.

"But why now?" traveler asks, [y/n] look away, "..." Everyone is on deep thoughts, trying to connect everything, cloud retainer sigh, "there will be no answers if we all stayed in one place. Rejoice, you all should look for a clue. And one will tell everyone about this." Everyone agreed and nodded.

The four is now outside the domain, "[y/n]." They get startled by the sudden voice beside them, "yes Xiao?" They awkwardly smile, "We need to talk in private. You two can go ahead searching for any clue." Xiao grabs [y/n] wrist and teleport. "How are we supposed to find a clue when the person we're helping isn't here!?" Paimon shouted.

"ugh, they should be in wangshu inn... We should wait for [y/n] a bit until they finish talking to each other." Paimon crossed her arms, "In the meantime, we should check out the festival!" Paimon dragged Traveler with her to Liyue harbor.

[meet up in wangshu inn at 19:00]

[act Ⅲ finished, banner and event page unlock, player be able to make a wish, claim extra reward, and plays mini games.]

Act Ⅳ

[go to third floor]

"[y/n]! Xiao!" Paimon shouted, "hello Paimon, traveler." "..." Xiao looks away, "huh? What's up with him?" Paimon tilted her head, "oh, don't mind him..! He's just ... Um, not in the mood for now." Paimon looks at [y/n] "Isn't that just typical Xiao?" [Y/n] laugh, "I'm still here you know. Sigh, you guys should go already, me and [y/n] made a plan if something happens. Go."

"not even inviting us? Sheesh." Xiao didn't respond, [y/n] sigh, "let's go, this turnout event is burning Xiao out, we should leave him alone for the time being." The traveler nodded, "We should head to the forest where we found you there!"

As they arrived..

"everything looks normal..." Paimon commented, "we can't get a clue for just standing around." Traveler put [her/his] hands on [her/his] hips, Paimon nervously chuckled. "A-anyway! [Y/n], any progress?" She changed the subject.

"hm... A little." "Oh? Tell us!" [Y/n] got up from crouching and look around, "I noticed some of these flowers... Got corrupted at some point." They look at traveler, "I begin to think about you step one of them and crushed its energy." [Y/n] picked up a flower that has a dark aura surrounding them, "wait, a plant can get corrupted?" "Well, a plant is technically a living being."

"Paimon never thought of that..." "Neither everyone Paimon. Judging by it, it's a high level." "Do you think it will lead us to the person?" The traveler asked, "I'm not too sure yet, but, I'm sure we'll find a way." [Y/n] smiled.

"either way, we should be looking out for any clue, let's keep searching." They switch into a more professional one, [y/n] turn around and walk away from traveler and Paimon, "not even an instruction? Jeez." Paimon annoyed, "Paimon wants to give them an ugly nickname! How about..." "We're going to find nothing but cabbage Paimon."

Paimon whines, "ugh, now you say it.." she pouted. "I guess we look for a plant that looks odd!" And disappear within the air.

[find something odd]

"this Qingxin looks odd... Let's call [y/n]!" The traveler nodded, [y/n] was not far from them, they turn around, "hm? Got any clue?" [⊕ yes] [not yet...] "Great! I also found some. Let's see what you have."

Traveler leads [y/n] to the flower, they took a careful look at the Qingxin, "this one has more energy to it. Maybe we can use it to track the demon." They got up and look at the traveler, "thank you again for helping me." [Y/n] place their right hand to their chest, a sign of gratitude.

"It's no problem!" Traveler put [her/his] hands on [her/his] hips and smile. "Let's not waste time! Let's go!" Paimon said with enthusiasm. "But first, let's examine all of the clues that we got so far. First, I found a letter, it looks freshly made, I assume that this person planned this."

"yikes! Paimon suddenly doesn't want to go..." Paimon looks at the traveler, worried. "Second, I discover that my flowers bed is in the same condition as this Qingxin." Paimon and traveler's eyes widened, "but we didn't see any black smoke coming out from them!" Traveler nodded.

"at first, yes. I don't know how did it go purified..." [Y/n] paused, Paimon notice something, "wait, did you say purify?" Paimon asks, "ah yes. I did say that. What's wrong?" [Y/n] answered Paimon curiosity, "Uhh, Traveler, maybe you did purify those flowers. Just like dvalin tears!" [Y/n] surprised, "dvalin? Oh! Is it one of the four wind in mondstadt?" "Yeah! Wait, how did you know?" [Y/n] nervously chuckled, "that's for next times..."

[y/n] cleared their throat, "anyway, traveler, Paimon said that you purify dvalin corrupted tears, say. Can you do it to this Qingxin?" [Y/n] hands the flower to the traveler, [she/he] nodded. The flower got into traveler grips, it begin to float and the black smoke furiously left the flower.

[y/n] surprised, their mouth open, but the word doesn't leave from it. "I'm speechless traveler. I can't believe I found someone so.. gifted." [y/n] smiled, "I thank you again for helping me." "It's no problem!" Traveler nodded.

"With this, we should be able to track them, I'm sure it's not far away from here."

Traveler, Paimon, and [y/n] are on their way, while looking around, they make a small conversation, "say! You and Xiao made a plan, mind telling us?" Paimon asks, "I wouldn't mind to say it now but.." "but?" Paimon tilted her head, "someone is watching us." [Y/n] replied with a serious tone, Paimon yelped.

"w-where!?" [Y/n] sigh, "it's everywhere Paimon, I can give you two visuals, but I don't think they would appreciate it, hehe.." they nervously chuckle, [y/n] take a deep breath, "are you ready?" Traveler and Paimon nodded, "alright, here I go." [Y/n] lift their right hand, they mumbling ancient speech that seem to be a spell. Their right hand glowed dark purple.

"w-wait!!!" [Y/n] look at Paimon, they blink a couple of times, "a-arent you supposed to not use your power? M-maybe we should do this..." "Paimon, just say you didn't this." Traveler looks at Paimon with a frown face and half-lidded eyes.

[y/n] sigh again, "I suppose." They canceled the spell and bring down their hand. Shaking their head, "anyway, I finally got the location, there's a small trace of dark energy if you may call it that."

"what are we waiting for? Let's go and beat this monster!" Paimon happily says. [Y/n] couldn't help but chuckle at Paimon's optimistic speech.

The three continue to roam around the dark forest and stumble upon some kind of battle ring with a strange pattern going around it. "Is this the place? Doesn't look fancy at all." Paimon commented, "it's what they do to not look suspicious." [Y/n] explained as they step into the concrete, leaving traveler and Paimon, glancing in every direction. Trying to get familiar with the dark surroundings.

[Y/n] stop walking and sigh in disappointment, "maybe we're too late..." 'But this wind, this wind is the same as I experience at that time.' "uhhh, Paimon doesn't like it here..." Paimon flies behind the traveler for protection.

[y/n] stayed silent for a moment while thinking about the possibility, they turn around to look at the traveler, "Maybe we should go back and come here tomorrow, there's no need to rush after all." [Y/n] begin to walk back, and someone had decided to shows up now.

"[Y/n]! Behind you!." Traveler and Paimon screamed before the dark purple smoke could attack [y/n], Traveler runs to grab them and pulled [y/n] behind, using a sword to block the attack.

Ends up failing and got thrown away with [y/n], "Traveler! [Y/n]!" Paimon quickly glides towards them, "haha... Hahahahaha!!" The smoke revealed a huge dark moose, with purple veins and red eyes that glowed through the dark forest.

"Traveler! Wake up! Traveler!" Paimon continuously shakes the traveler's body, "This is bad, you two need to get out." "What about you?!" [Y/n] look down, to traveler who's laying on their lap, "I need to settle down this battle, between me, and him." They look at the monster.

"you can't do that!" "I'm sorry Paimon, take care [Lumine/Aether] for me." Paimon looks at [y/n] with terrified, she doesn't know what to do, "Xiao." He appeared in a second, and take a sharp breath, "are you alright?!" He quickly checks [y/n] by cupping their right cheek and turning it right and left.

"Xiao, I'm fine." They smiled, before quickly frowning, "please, bring the traveler to this man called baizhu that you mentioned." Xiao looks at the traveler, "what about you." They stayed silent, "[y/n] don't be stupid, you cannot defeat him-" "I can. And I will." They look at Xiao with determination.

"[y/n]. I- I cannot afford to lose you again. Not again." [Y/n] took Xiao's hands, cup it between their own and bring it to their forehead, "don't worry, I won't." [Y/n] carried the traveler's body to a near tree, Xiao and Paimon followed behind while eying the monster.

"I shall leave traveler here," "[y/n], it's too dangerous, you must not fight him." Xiao desperately warns them, he knows that it's useless for a time like this, especially when someone got injured because of them. He knows it all.

"what is going on here?!" The voice of cloud retainer echoed along with footsteps. "Cloud retainer! Zhongli!" Zhongli's reaction was furious, "you certainly not lying about Yún waking up."

"mhp! How dare you called me a liar." "It's not the time to argue!" Paimon yelled, "Lord Morax... It's good to see you again." [Y/n] look at him, smiled, "I must remind you all that this battle is only for me to do." They look at everyone before staying at Xiao, "I'm pretty sure that he doesn't want anyone to interrupt."

Xiao kissed his teeth and gritted them. "Xiao, The only thing we could do is give up" "No we fucking don't." He glared at Zhongli, before the man scolded Xiao, [y/n] got up from the ground, look at traveler once last time.

"This is goodbye, I suppose." They walk to the battle ring again, summoning their polearm and mask, covering half their face "[Y/n], Stop this instant!" Xiao caught up to them before he could grasp their wrist, a barrier was in the way.

"[y/n]!" Punching the invisible barrier, again and again, hoping it to break. "Finally... I've been waiting for too long." The dark moose complained, "now, shall we start?" [Y/n] didn't say a thing. "I take that as a yes."

Before he could attack, [y/n] set up a trap, instead of attacking the front, he instead attack the back, "why are you attacking the opposite of the enemy?" [Y/n] smirking, he sweatdropped, "you..."

[y/n] finally moved, run towards him and jump up in the air, as the moose attack with high energy, [y/n] disappear as it hits them, reappear behind him without any presence coming out and sneaky attack him.

The moose let out a grunt as he took massive damage, but not near enough to lead him to die. "Xiao, I'm sure they will be alright." Xiao keeps trying to break through the barrier, "I can't! I-I can't afford to lose them too!" Attacking the barrier with his polearm.

[defeat the enemy.]

"[Y/n]!!" sound was muffled to them, [Y/n] keep dodging the moose attack, before walk into his trap and get hit badly. Xiao screamed once again, it was very out of character for him. He doesn't want to be alone again, he doesn't want to wait for them to open their eyes for centuries again. Not again.

[y/n] silently gasping, and clutching their clothes, "Is that what you got? Only one hit. I thought I had already given you enough time." They cough up blood, "let's tu-turn that around shall w-we." [Y/n] lift their right hand, and snapped.

Creating an electro explosion, "heh, you know, explosion doesn't affect me–" [y/n] appeared behind him with their scythe and slashed his head.

'blood.' [y/n] taste blood, 'it tastes irony.' their cheeks clothes, covered in blood. The barrier deactivate, Xiao waste not a second to teleport to [y/n] before they fell off to the ground.

"Xiao.." they only see a silhouette for black, mind, and golden. [Y/n] couldn't tell if tears were dripping onto their face because of the warm blood. "Hey, Xiao... I did it." They smiled, "we need to bring them to their domain." "Cloud retainer... How is a traveler?" She sigh.

"you need to start worried about yourself, and [she/he] is fine, Morax is on his way to get [her/him] treated immediately." They let out a sigh of relief. Xiao tightens his grip on [y/n], "look like I'm going to stick around with you again, Alatus." [Y/n] smiled.

"don't leave me again." He buried his head onto their crookneck. "Now, let's go." Cloud retainer interrupts the two and tells them to move fast. Xiao teleported him and [Y/n] to their domain, which cloud retainer designed to have a lot of security.

At the platform, the two find a tree with the white leaf's in the corner of the platform, a flower bed, two tables on the side with books sitting on top and the side of it, and an empty table with two pillows as a chair, it was comforting.

Xiao gently places [y/n] to the flower bed, and watches their wounds healing slowly, "[y/n]..?" They hummed, "what is it?" He takes their hand, places it on his cheek, and brings his face close to [y/n]'s.

[Y/n] opened their eyes, feeling warm breath fanning their face, seeing Xiao's eyes lock to theirs, making [y/n] stop breathing. Speck of colors can be seen, [y/n] can easily count his eyelashes.

His hairs tickle [y/n], they didn't want to laugh to they closed their eyes. Xiao, who's misunderstood this, his face was burning red, before hesitantly tracing their lips with his gloved fingers.

Before crashing his lips with theirs. He has no experience with kissing let alone romance. He does see those mortals do this kind of thing. The kiss was sloppy, it was warm to say at least. Perfect comfort for both of them.

As Xiao pulled away, [Y/n] face was burning, their cheeks felt hot, [y/n] look away from Xiao. He decided to lay down beside [y/n], "don't say anything." Making [y/n] back facing him, he wrapped his arms around their waist and buried his head to [y/n] hairs.

"In the end, we will always be together, no matter what the cause is."

Xiao and [y/n] are on the top of a hill, watching the lantern together after [y/n] was insisted on watching it float away in the sky beautifully.

"oh yeah! The traveler also gives us two lanterns, I need to properly thanks [her/him].." while staring at the lanterns, "here!" They hand one of the lanterns to Xiao, before he hesitantly took it. "Oh come on! It's not like it is dangerous." [Y/n] teased, he grumbled and didn't say a thing.

[y/n] laugh, before stopping with a sigh, "let's make a wish and release it to the sky." "This is stupid." "I'm sure it didn't hurt us!" He sighs, "it doesn't give us any benefits." "Us huh.."

Xiao grumbles, "ugh, let's just start and stop talking." [Y/n] let out okay multiple times and stop teasing the yaksha.

They both look at their lantern in their hands making wishes. Before letting it fly together to the night sky, the two watch their lantern joining the rest. [Y/n] place their head to Xiao's shoulder and whisper...

"may the light bring us back again."

[mapleleafssss]

🎄Christmas Headcanons🎄

Characters: Albedo (ft. Klee), Barbara (ft. Jean), Venti, Lumine(ft. Aether), Kazuha

Modern AU, Romantic HC's

Summary: How is Christmas like with these characters? How do they spend it with you?

a/n: I feel like these are kinda plain so i'm sorry if they are. Also I meant to do Keqing in this but my family (my aunt) wanted to go out for Christmas dinner today so I don't think I'll be able to do 2 batches😭Sincerely sorry guys-

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas! Enjoy your day! <33

❄ Albedo

• Spending time with Albedo during Christmas will be very calming. A nice time to enjoy some hot chocolate!

• Of course, Klee would also be with you guys.

• Albedo would definitely get Klee a little Christmas dress because she practically begged him too.😭

• I think it would be cute to think that the three of you would sleep on the couch-- One holding Klee while the other holds their beloved <33

• The next morning, you would both wake up to Klee wanting to open her presents.

• Opening presents were quite calming for you and Albedo. (Klee just hyperventilating abt her presents in the background)

• He smiles at the gifts you get him like a lovestruck mf

• "Thanks, darling. <3" Then leans over to give you a kiss on your cheek. :)))

• When you're all done opening them, even more kissing comes along and by the end of the day, you'd be all flushed out from the kisses bc you made Albedo's Christmas this year sm better. <33

❄ Barbara

• She'd definitely be the Christmas tree decorator, and the tree would look very elegant, I feel.

• For Christmas, you'd come over to her sister's house (Jean's obvi) and celebrate. (Or the other way around)

• Her hot chocolate would be so good, like TOE CURLING. I just feel that Barbara would have her own hot chocolate recipe. :D

• Opening presents would be very touching when you both get eachother what you both want.

• "Aw... Thank you! I'm happy that you remember!" She'd say with rosy cheeks as she hugs it to her chest.

• Jean would be watching her love-stricken sister with a small smile, but would probably think it's cheesy or sum😭

• Lots of cuddles happen after opening all the presents. You'd definitely watch a Christmas movie afterwards and it's so calming. :)

❄ Venti

• ThisboywillgetyoumatchingonsiesandIstandmycase (This boy will get you matching onsies and I stand my case)

• Waking up on Christmas morning would involve Venti poking you on the cheek, trying to wake you up.

• "Y/n..! I wanna open presents with you! :((" He'd pout.

• When you finally wake up though, there's no doubt that he'll drag your a*s out of the bed and on the floor next to the tree.

• When he gets all his presents opened, he'll peck you with kisses all over your face while you were in the middle of unwrapping a present, stopping your hands.

• "V-Venti..!" "Alright, alright...😔"

• After cleaning up the wrapping paper, Venti would make some hot chocolate. Well, he's gonna make the ones from the store lol.

• I feel like he'd be the person to watch Home Alone, but while watching it, he'd fall asleep next to you. <33

❄ Lumine

• I love this girl sm that I think that she'd be the most fun to hang out with during Christmas-

• Do not take that personally tho😭

• Lumine will probably spend lots of money for your presents, and the same goes for Aether lmfaoo

• On Christmas day, it would be wild but not TOO wild if you know what I mean. Cause ur literally hanging out with siblings that ACTUALLY get along well🧍‍♀️

• Anyway, I hc that Lumine would be so confident about everything. Like- have you seen how SASSY she is in Xingqiu's Story quest???

• Don't bash me for this but she'd feel so much pride that she'll make the 'UvU' face when you open your gift from her.

• Live love Lumine during Christmas i love her sm

❄ Kazuha

• First thing on Christmas morning and you wake up with empty arms bruh🙄

• When you walk out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, you see a breakfast out there, themed with Christmas stuff.

• "Good morning, dear. Did you have a good sleep? I made special breakfast for us."

• After breakfast, you'd both start opening presents. I feel like Kazuha would probably get you some small, yet meaningful items for you. :)

• He's the man to gift you a picture frame of the both of you.

• Also, Kazuha is very ecstatic when you get something he really wanted, but doubted he'll ever get it. He's very happy that you remember, even if it was a small mention. <3

• As much as he likes going outside for a day, today he'll stay with his beloved. :)

[restlessfandoming]

"you, my enemy" (chilumi oneshot)

Lumine must assassinate the cruel king of Snezhnaya, Ajax.

//

i could see this being turned into a full fledged fic? but for now, here is the dollar store version LOL

[Masterlist] [AO3 Link]

"you, my enemy"

“I want you to kill the king of Snezhnaya.”

Lumine’s eyes flickered to her client. “King Ajax?”

“There is only one, is there not?” the hooded man responded.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You must have the wrong person,” she said. “I do run-of-the-mill jobs. I don’t murder kings.”

“I was told you were the only mercenary who could do it.”

Lumine slid out of the bar booth. “Find someone else who is insane enough to do that. I value my life.”

The man’s arm shot out, grabbing Lumine by the wrist. She would have sliced it clean off, had the man not taken off his hood.

He had an unmistakable hue of scarlet red hair, with equally fiery eyes to match.

“You’re Diluc,” Lumine said. “The son of the slain King Ragvindr.” It’s never a good idea to get involved with royals.

His face wavered at the mention of his father. “And who was the one who murdered him?”

“King Ajax,” she answered. “That sounds like your own quest for vengeance. Not mine.”

Diluc pulled her closer. “Magic,” he whispered.

Lumine’s blood ran cold. “Magic?” she echoed hollowly.

“I’ve been trying to find the right person to do this for a long time,” he told her. “I had to do my research.”

“What does magic have to do with this?” Lumine asked, trying to keep her voice even.

“You use magic,” Diluc stated. “That’s how you’ve completed every single one of your assignments perfectly.”

Magic had been banished long ago, a witch hunt massacring any and all magic users within the land of Teyvat. Each of the seven kingdoms had decreed it, agreeing that those with magic were too powerful—a threat to the people, all people.

Ever since, the rare few born with magical powers were forced to hide away their abilities for survival. I thought Aether and I hid it well enough.

“You do this, I won’t report you to the authorities,” Diluc continued.

“What about you?” Lumine hissed. “You’re supposed to be dead with the rest of your family.” She shook off his grip. “If I report you to King Ajax, there’s no doubt I’d get a hefty reward, more than you could ever give me for murdering him.”

He pursed his lips into a thin line. “If there’s any suspicion of a magic user, what sort of action do the authorities take?”

You’re killed on the spot—no questions asked. The kingdoms didn’t want to run any risk of magic users rising up, no matter how small of a threat.

“We would be executed at the same time,” Diluc said lowly.

Shit.

Lumine sat back down in the booth, sinking into the seat, gnawing on the side of her cheek. Then, she took a deep breath in.

“You’ll give me every single piece of Mora you have,” she demanded.

Diluc’s face visibly relaxed. “Of course.” He crossed his arms. “The hidden vaults of my family are all yours: every single jewel, Mora, artifact—when you complete the job.”

Lumine’s mouth nearly watered at the prospect of all the riches.

No, she wasn’t greedy. That amount of Mora meant she and her twin brother Aether could retire from this life, this life of scraping by with the money they made from bloody bounties and assassinations. It was the only job they could do, being abandoned as children, having to learn to fend for themselves.

This one job meant she and Aether could have quiet peace until the end of their days.

She held out her hand to Diluc.

“You have a deal.”

* * *

When Lumine arrives in Snezhnaya, she expects impoverished villages, famished citizens, and cold, desecrated lands—all while this merciless, vile king sat on his throne of bones and riches.

However, what she finds are bustling streets of business and cheerful citizens. Children played freely on the streets. The kingdom was thriving.

Is this king truly as evil as the stories say?

It hadn’t been long since King Ajax had begun his crusade of conquering the entirety of Teyvat. It had started with his brutal assassination of his own ruler at the time, the slaying of the late Tsaritsa, quickly followed by his claim to the throne. Then, he had taken over the small country of Mondstadt, and Liyue fell shortly after.

Any who opposed him would face the sharp end of a blade. The stories of him on the battlefield were whispers of blood soaked garments and a wicked smile as he slaughtered soldier after soldier with no remorse.

The image of this bloodthirsty monster faded as Lumine watched these citizens move around care free, as if they were unaware of the atrocities laying under their feet committed by their dear King Ajax.

Glancing up, she could see the distant looming monument, the grandiose castle of the king, looking over the land with a watchful stone eye.

She listened intently to the conversations around her, seeking any information about this Ajax, about how to get close enough to do her job.

She always wanted the most covert way, and now even more so. This was very much her highest profile case, and if she wasn’t careful, she could potentially start wars, with her murder being the first blood.

Perhaps the best way was to become some nondescript maid, someone’s whose presence and subsequent disappearance wouldn’t be questioned by any of the king’s allies. Perhaps as a chef? She could easily poison his food and silently slip away.

How she wished Aether was here with her. He was much more a strategist than she. Unfortunately, he had taken on a different job, far away in Inazuma. They would not see each other until both of their assignments were completed.

Lumine sighed, moving down the street, in search of a bar. Drunk bastards were always the best source of information: they didn’t know how to shut their mouths. In a bar, there were no figures too suspicious, and if there were, they would quickly be forgotten within a few pints of ale.

She pushed past vendors, until she was stopped by a brunette woman in a lavender robe.

“You are not from here,” she said with a breathy smile.

Singled out already? “I’ve only just recently moved here,” Lumine lied.

“Oh? For what reasons?” the woman pressed, her long eyelashes batting as she assessed Lumine head to toe. “Work?”

“No.” What was this woman’s motive? “I’ve heard Snezhnaya is a great country to live in.”

A content, pitched sigh. “Well, since you’ve just moved here, why don’t you come work for me? Outsiders earn a pretty penny.”

Lumine stared at her. “Who are you?”

The woman smiled. “I am Ying’er. I’m in charge of a local performance troupe.” She stepped closer, and Lumine could smell her flowery perfume. “I would love to have you join us.”

“No, thank you,” Lumine told her, inching away. Sounds like a cheap cover for a brothel. “I’m not in need of a job right now.”

Ying’er pouted, but stepped back. “Alright then, sweetie.” She leaned on the doorway of her shop. “I’ll be right here if you decide to come back,” she finished with a wink.

Lumine gave a curt nod before slinking away, back to her search for a bar. She pulled the hood of her cape over her head, sticking to the shadowed walls on her walk. Do I really stick out that much here?

In the distance, she heard the subtle pounding of a drum, and watched, astonished, as the crowded streets parted straight down the middle. An eerie silence filled the previously buzzing plaza. Something was coming.

All the citizens had their heads bowed—Lumine quickly followed suit.

The booming of the drums came closer, and she heard the thunderous marching of armored boots layered into the sound. She glanced up.

There was an entourage of armored soldiers, an assortment of glistening weapons at their sides, escorting a decorated golden carriage.

King Ajax.

What was this? Was there some sort of special occasion taking place?

Much easier to find than expected.

The carriage rolled past. Lumine strained to look at the window while still keeping her head bowed.

Unfortunately, the window was curtained, a velvety red cloth obscuring any view of the king. Lumine wrinkled her nose in disappointment; she had wanted to see what she was up against.

The terrifying rumors of King Ajax never told of what he looked like. Lumine imagined a beastly figure, one with dark shaggy hair and sharp teeth, bones all jutting out in the wrong directions, filleted with raw scars all over.

The carriage continued to move past.

Could she do it? Could she use her magic to take him out right now? There certainly was a large number of people around, and all of them would be suspects; all the easier for her to get away.

However, the guards could easily murder everyone in the plaza if a perpetrator wasn’t found. And, as Ying’er so blatantly pointed out, Lumine didn’t exactly fit in with the Snezhayan citizens.

She would just have to wait. Wait for a better opportunity. Wait to learn more about King Ajax. Wait to plan the best way to kill him.

There was a rustle of murmurs as the citizens returned to their activities, the royal carriage and its guards wheeling out of sight—the air more tense than before.

Taking in a deep breath, she resumed her search.

I need a drink.

* * *

Lumine sat in the corner booth as always, the seat in the bar that could overlook the entire establishment, the place where she could easily see who entered and exited the building.

She sipped at her mug of ale: not enough to become inebriated, but just enough to take some of her stress away. She still listened intently for any utterances about King Ajax.

She kept her eye on a man who was chugging pint after pint of alcohol, complaining about his job, his kids, his wife.

Maybe he’ll complain about his king as well.

“God, I miss Mondstadt,” the man sighed.

Lumine raised a brow. Someone from the conquered land of Mondstadt? He should definitely harbor some resentment for King Ajax.

“Careful there,” the bartender muttered. “The king will have your tongue if you speak ill of him.”

The drunkard scoffed. “The king ain’t here, is he? Too busy with his parties and parades to ever come to a hole-in-the-wall bar.”

The bartender shrugged, silently wiping a glass.

“C’mon,” the man continued. “You don’t think it’s weird how he always invites those performers to the castle? What a dramatic man.” A hiccup. “You think he beds all of them?”

“Probably. Lots of women would want to sleep with the king”

“See, King Ragvindr never did things like that.” He laid his head on the counter. “A modest man. Genuinely cared about his people.”

“King Ajax cares for us. He provides—he’s made Snezhnaya wealthier than ever.”

“Hmph. Is that why he murders people in cold blood? Remember that man that got executed in the street for not bowing to him?”

“Just listen to him, and you’ll be fine.”

Lumine slid out of her booth, making her way to the exit, to a certain brunette woman with a lavender robe.

He likes performers.

A plan started to bubble in her mind as she walked the streets to Ying’er’s shop.

She would slip into the castle with the performance troupe. She would feign illness, seemingly leaving early, when in actuality, she would hide until all the guests had left. King Ajax would retire for the night, alone—and that’s when she would strike.

Lumine smiled, just a bit, confidence coming to her now that she knew what to do.

Her and Aether’s life of freedom felt like a breath away.

* * *

“You’ve certainly improved quite a lot,” Ying’er said, sauntering into Lumine’s quarters.

Lumine set her lyre down. “Guess I’m a quick learner.”

It had been a few weeks since Lumine had arrived in Snezhnaya, and became one of Ying’er performers. She had decided to learn an instrument—the lyre—while staying with Ying’er and the rest of the performers at the hostess’ establishment. She preferred it over becoming a poet or dancer.

Ying’er was right: many people came to watch Lumine sit prettily on stage and play her lyre—her face painted with make-up, and her body adorned with beautiful robes and gowns.

All the while, Lumine anxiously awaited the king’s invitation to their performance troupe. He had invited different groups all over town, though not Ying’er’s yet.

Was this plan a failure? Where was that damned man’s invitation—

“Is that what I think it is?” Lumine asked, eyeing the embellished envelope in her boss’ hand.

Ying’er hummed in affirmation. “The king has finally invited our group to perform at a party tonight.”

Finally. “What an honor,” Lumine said with a smile.

“Very much so.” Ying’er put her hand under Lumine’s chin, examining her face. “Yes...I will have you dressed in our best garments and make-up.”

The woman smiled. “After all, you are our pretty little star.”

* * *

The carriage ride to the castle was filled with the girls’ giggles and whispers, how they wished for the king to whisk them away into a life of riches and royalty, to be his beloved first wife. Lumine kept a hand pressed against her leg—ensuring the dagger hidden under her heavy robes wouldn’t fall out.

She didn’t like to get messy with such a close ranged weapon—she would usually just use her magic from a distance—but she wasn’t going to take a chance if something were to go awry.

As they neared the castle, everyone burst into gasps, admiring the massive stone structure. The excitement doubled as the dozens of other carriages came into view as well.

This is going to be one very extravagant party.

Before she knew it, Lumine was sitting in the great hall, along with the rest of the party goers, awaiting the king’s arrival. She saw the empty throne at the very front of the room, raised on a marble platform, his rightful place above his subjects.

A fanfare of brass instruments blared. The king is here.

The room collectively stood, bowing their heads as the king’s personal guards filed in. Lumine quirked her head to look for King Ajax.

Oh.

The king was not a hideous looking beast at all.

In fact, he was quite the opposite.

He walked in, tall stature carrying an air of importance (and arrogance) on his shoulders with a billowing crimson red cloak, a broad grin plastered on his face. He was young, exactly around Lumine’s age.

He had reddish-brown hair framing his face, locks that glittered like gold in the light of the room, and his eyes were like vortexes—deep whirlpools of the bluest ocean water. All his features were sharp, upturned, like a cunning fox waiting contently to trap its prey.

She watched as he made his way up to his throne, a sickening anxiety spreading through her limbs.

Lumine had never killed anyone so close in age to her—it had always been older men and women. And, of course, she had never found herself attracted to her target.

“Please,” the king spoke, still grinning. “Have a seat.” As he sat on his throne, the rest of the room sat as well.

Lumine swallowed the lump in her throat. His voice was light, playful even.

Was that truly the murderous king of Snezhnaya?

“A toast, to you, my people,” he said, raising a golden goblet. “Let the festivities begin.”

Lumine gulped down her own glass of wine, then shook her head.

I’m here for a job. Not romance.

The room filled with chatter, and Ying’er motioned to Lumine and the rest of the musicians to the corner where they would be performing their music for the night.

Lumine gathered her lyre, shuffling towards her spot in her heavily layered robes. Her mouth was set in a taut line.

A momentary lapse in judgement.

As she played the first few notes, her eyes flickered to the king, who was busy greeting various nobles at his throne. She narrowed her eyes at him, at that sly, sly smile on his face.

It won’t happen again.

* * *

The night seemed to drag on forever. After what seemed like an eternity of playing music for the room—as other patrons ate and danced and conversed—the musicians were finally taking a break.

Lumine delightfully chewed through expensive meats and breads as various actors, dancers, and poets took the floor in front of King Ajax to present their pieces.

The king seemed to be entertained, joining on some of the performances himself.

That drunkard from the bar was right. King Ajax was quite dramatic, inserting himself into the spotlight whenever he so pleased. How pretentious.

The crowd clapped and cheered as another performance was brought to an end, an air of boisterous chatter resuming. Lumine swallowed her last piece of food, making her way to Ying’er.

Time to get started.

“Ying’er,” Lumine called to her boss, clenching her side. “I feel a bit sick.”

The brunette woman raised a brow. “You were looking quite well before.”

“Yes, it was very sudden,” Lumine responded, turning to the exit. “I think I will just head back now.”

“So soon, dear? We haven’t even introduced ourselves to the king yet.”

Lumine was already on her way out. “I’ll see you back at the shop.”

She slipped past the guards patrolling the halls, ducking into the nearest empty room, a storage closet of sorts. Perfect.

She hiked her long robes up, unsheathing her dagger, cutting away at the garments. Sorry, Ying’er. But I can’t fight in this. She threw the discarded fabric in a dark corner, where they would be forgotten about.

She slid the knife back into its sheath, and cracked the door open the tiniest bit—enough to watch the entrance into the great hall.

Now, all she had to do was wait.

* * *

Lumine would have fallen asleep had it not been for the two guards who stopped to converse right outside her door. Within a matter of seconds, Lumine had gone from sleepily nodding off to firmly clenching her weapon in her hand, nerves buzzing on high alert.

“That party dragged on forever,” one of the guards said. “I don’t know how King Ajax does it. Isn’t he exhausted every night?”

“Not sure. He seems to enjoy it.”

“He’s been gone a while now. Should we check on him?”

Lumine tightened her grasp on her dagger. He was gone?

“No. He likes to be alone at night. He’ll kill you if you interrupt him.”

“Oh...Should we just go to the other side of the castle then? So we don’t...interrupt him?”

“...Sounds like a good idea.”

The sound of their footsteps faded, and Lumine dared a peek out the door to scope out the hallway.

There were no other guards, and the boisterous sounds of the party were long gone.

Lumine slid out of the closet, sneaking down the hall, starting her search for King Ajax.

Sounds like he’s still here somewhere. Alone.

This job was getting easier and easier.

Too easy.

* * *

Please be in this room.

There was a great stone door before her, one she had come to after a mind-numbingly exhaustive search through the entirety of the large castle. She pushed on the door, as slowly and as quietly as possible, then looked in.

She nearly cried out in relief.

Sitting in the middle of the room was King Ajax, his back turned to her.

He was completely silent, unmoving, in this empty stone room. Was he asleep? No, it looked more like meditation.

Lumine slinked in, silently, conjuring the elemental energy of the wind in the room.

She would take every bit of air out of his body. Quick, quiet, no mess. It was the method she had always used.

She closed her eyes to focus, feeling the pull of air from his lungs.

He was going to die, and she was going to be free, free with her brother—

WHOOSH!

Lumine opened her eyes just in time to see Ajax rush towards her.

His hand wrapped around her throat, and he slammed her into the ground. All of the breath in her body hissed out of her, and she clawed at his hand.

“Who are you?” he growled.

She stopped prying at his hold, quickly yanking out her dagger, and slashing at his face.

He dodged, forcing him to loosen his grip on her.

She slashed again at his hand, throwing herself away from him as he recoiled in pain. She rubbed at her neck, gasping for breath. The king was looking at the gash across his fingers.

Shitshitshit.

Lumine quickly focused her energy on the earth below, trying to create shackles out of stone to hold him in place, or to just bury him alive.

The ropes of earth sprang out of the ground. His eyes flickered to the coils as they rushed for him.

Yes!

But then a swirling mass of water appeared, engulfing him, destroying the chains in the process.

What—?!

A sharp stream of water shot out from the bubble, coiling around Lumine before she could react. She was pulled to the ground, bound, and unable to move.

The bubble of water dissipated, and Ajax stepped out, eyes ablaze. He approached Lumine.

“Who are you?” he asked again, less angry, more inquisitive.

She strained against the chains of water, her elemental energy unable to rid them. She locked eyes with him. “You’re a magic user.”

He squatted next to her. “You are too,” he responded, the smallest ghost of a smile on his lips. He took her dagger into his hands, weighing it. “Now, why were you trying to kill me?”

Lumine bit her cheek. No, she couldn’t sell Diluc out; he could still get Aether killed.

“That’s how you conquered Mondstadt and Liyue so easily. You used magic,” she pushed, ignoring his question. “That’s forbidden.”

He barked out a laugh, wiping his bloodied hand on her robes. “And yet, here we are, two magic users in one room.” He pointed the dagger at Lumine’s neck. “Tell me why you were trying to kill me, before I make it only one. I won’t ask again.”

“You’re going to kill me anyway,” Lumine said. “I’m a magic user. That threatens your power, doesn’t it?”

Ajax studied her for a second, pulling the dagger back, just a bit. “True.” He tilted his head. “But I’ve never actually met another magic user before.”

She averted his intense gaze. “So what are you going to do? Keep me alive and experiment on me?”

“No.” He stood. “How about this...in exchange for sparing your life, you become my student.”

…

What?

“You mean learn magic from you?” Lumine glared at him. “How do you know I won’t kill you in the future?”

“You won’t,” he said. “This murder attempt? Wasn’t personal—you tried to kill me from a distance. Someone must have sent you.” He closed his eyes, squeezing the hilt of the dagger. After some shaking, it disintegrated into dust.

“Also, you can’t kill me,” he continued, opening his eyes. “You’re severely untrained. You saw how easily I subdued you.” A small smile. “All the more reason to learn from me.”

Maybe this was the gods taking mercy on Lumine. Ajax didn’t kill her right away; she had a chance to live, to get back home to Aether.

“What’s in it for you? This only seems to benefit me,” she said to Ajax.

He hummed, thinking. “A potentially powerful weapon,” he responded, eyes glinting.

Maybe, once she learned more magic, she could overtake him, and complete her job.

She locked eyes with him.

“You have a deal.”

The ghost of those words burned bitter on her tongue.

* * *

Lumine nearly died the next morning.

“You did what?!” she gasped out, after deathly choking on a part of her breakfast.

She was currently sitting across from Ajax in his elegant dining room, who had just informed her that he had announced their marriage.

He leaned back in his chair. “A random new woman living in the king’s castle? Bound to raise many rumors,” he said, nonchalant. “This way, there are no rumors, and we can train without being questioned.”

Lumine worried her lip. He has a point.

“I don’t—We don’t have to...do anything in public, do we?” she asked.

“No.” He smirked. “Unless you want to, pretty girl.”

She grimaced. “No, thank you.” Here for a job, not romance, she reminded herself, no matter how handsome this cocky bastard is. Not to mention, she still planned to kill him.

And so, Lumine’s days were filled with training, pretending to the servants and maids she was King Ajax’s fiancée. She was trapped, as Ajax reminded her many times that if she tried to leave, he would swiftly execute her.

She learned more about him, as much as she didn’t want to. She saw that he did really care for his people, and provided for them as best he could—though he wasn’t above using his power to strike down those in his way, whether it was an enemy or a citizen who simply disrespected his reign.

And that was ultimately what he wanted: power. To have power over everyone in the land of Teyvat. He had endless ambition—Lumine could credit him that much.

Some days, she caught herself imagining it as well: a world she could rule over, have everyone bend to her will, set the laws so people like her and Aether could live without fear, and be provided for. In some ways, she could relate to Ajax’s desires. In some ways, she could justify his methods.

It very much disgusted her, at first. But then, it was liberating. To have someone who could understand the darker sides to her being, understand the blood on her hands.

Even Aether could never fully understand her. How part of her was always glad to be given magical powers to defend herself and those she cared about. How part of her enjoyed her current situation.

After all, she was living lavishly, compared to the impoverished life she had before. She had every meal provided for, luxuriously, and a soft bed to lay in every night. No threat of the authorities finding out about her powers and murdering her.

Could she perhaps bring Aether here?

Ajax had spared her—was it too much of a stretch to believe he would spare her twin as well?

If Aether could be brought here, she wouldn’t have to kill Ajax. She wouldn’t have to kill perhaps the only person in Teyvat that knew who she truly was.

* * *

“If you found another magic user,” she asked Ajax over dinner, “would you train them as well?”

Ajax took a sip of wine from his goblet. “No.”

“...No?”

A small smile, a slight flash of his canines. “I can’t have my weapons outnumbering me, now can I?”

Lumine’s mouth went dry. “If you won’t train them...what would you do with them?”

“Kill them.” He set the cup down. “They would be a threat.”

“I’m not a threat?”

Ajax barked out a laugh. “No, Lumine. No, you are not.”

Ah.

So she and Aether couldn’t be together here. Aether was still in danger of being outed by Diluc.

“Why?” Ajax questioned. “Are you lonely here?”

“I’m trapped in your castle. What do you think?”

He rested his head on his hand. “My bed is open at night, if you’d like.”

Lumine drove her knife through her food. “You’re insufferable.”

“Oh, Lumine, it’s just banter,” he said, chuckling. “You don’t think we’re friends? I quite like your company.”

She pursed her lips, staying silent.

“You don’t have to lie to me.” Ajax stared right at her. “I see you while we train. You like it here. You like becoming more and more powerful.”

He leaned over the table. “You and I are very similar.” He smiled. “There’s a hunger in your eyes. You want exactly what I have.”

Lumine stood abruptly. “We are nothing alike,” she spat uselessly. He sees right through me.

“I told you, you don’t have to lie to me,” Ajax responded, sitting back in his chair. “We are already married. We could rule together—as partners.”

...What?

“I thought I was your weapon.” Her knuckles were white from clutching the edge of the table.

“Partner if you so choose.” His blue eyes narrowed slightly. “Weapon if not.”

What game is he playing? “There has to be some sort of catch.” He was essentially offering her his power as king, even if it was just partially.

“No catch,” he said. “Like I said, if you refuse, you’ll just continue your little life of entrapment, as my weapon.”

“One of these options is obviously better than the other.”

Ajax laughed, genuinely, his expression softening, just a bit. “I guess one is.”

She gave him a look, quizzical, before swiftly leaving the room, his proposal still hanging in the night.

As the guards escorted her back to her room, she played the conversation over and over again in her mind.

Would it be so bad? Would it be so bad as King Ajax’s consort, his companion through his crusade of Teyvat?

He was right: part of her deep down ached for that kind of power.

But joining Ajax meant sacrificing her dear brother.

The aching desire hissed, Is that a sacrifice you are going to make?

* * *

The castle’s stone floors were freezing on Lumine’s feet as she traversed through the halls barefoot. No shoes meant no sound. No sound meant she could surprise the guards, getting the upper hand to take them out. Already, there was a trail of dead guards behind her as she passed through the corridors, the air stripped from their lungs.

Her sheer white nightgown fluttered around her as she dashed about, and in the dim moonlight waning through the windows, she thought herself a ghost, an angel of death. She was on a path she could not stop.

She knew exactly where he was. After spending so many days trapped here, of course she knew where the king’s quarters were.

She knew him like clockwork: what days he would stay up in his study, what days he would retire to his chambers and when. She knew where his guards were, when they would switch patrols, when their protection would be the weakest.

And when it came time, she stood outside of his door, wavering on the spot slightly.

She shook her head, trying the door. Locked.

Taking a breath in, she rapped her knuckles on the hardwood.

She heard rustling beyond the heavy oak door, her heartbeat picking up. She would have to get in there quick, before he looked behind her and saw his guards missing.

The door swung open, a flash of anger on Ajax’s face until he saw who it was.

He gave her a closed-eye smile. “Ah, Lumine, to what do I owe the pleasure—”

Lumine stood on the tips of her toes, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, pulling him in for a kiss.

She could feel him go rigid under her touch. She walked him backwards, further into the room, closing the door behind her with her foot.

As the door shut, he broke away from her. “Are you accepting my proposal?” he whispered, his hands clutched around her arms.

Lumine nodded, going for another kiss, arms slinking around his shoulders. This time, he melted into her touch, pulling until he was under her on his bed.

He fell for it.

Pity crept into her heart. From the way he breathed her in, the way he held her in his arms, there was a softness she had never seen from him.

He loved her.

She was his weapon, and now, his greatest weakness.

“I’m sorry,” she said against his lips.

His eyes opened, those ocean eyes on her as she pulled the air from his lungs with ease.

You shouldn’t have trained me.

His hand reached for her throat, but went to his own as he gasped and choked.

She wrapped her own hands around his, pressing down. She slammed her eyes shut. She didn’t want to see his face.

He thrashed wildly, and she repeated I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’msorryimsorry over and over again until he went still under her.

…

…

...

She opened her eyes, the world blurry around her. She wiped away the tears pooling in her vision, and looked down at Ajax.

He was unmoving, eyes glazed over, arms limp at his side.

Lumine reached for his throat, hand shaking, fingers checking for a pulse.

He’s dead.

She scrambled off of him, crumbling into a ball on the floor.

I killed him.

Her breathing was uneven—she was the one gasping for breath now as uncontrollable sobs racked through her body.

I am so sorry, Ajax.

* * *

“Lumi?”

Lumine turned to see Aether looking at her with worry.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

A breeze rustled by. Lumine turned back to look over green fields that stretched as far as she could see.

“I’m okay,” she responded.

“Okay,” he repeated. He smiled a bit, pulling an envelope from his pocket. “Diluc’s hawk came this morning. He sends warm wishes to us both.”

After the assassination of King Ajax, Lumine decreed Snezhnaya a freed country, a country with no ruler, and returned the lands of Mondstadt and Liyue back to their rightful heirs. Diluc, now the restored king of Mondstadt, gave Lumine and Aether the riches he promised, and a home deep in the countryside for the peaceful life they so desperately wanted.

But sometimes Lumine had nightmares of Ajax.

She would be sitting next to him, on their thrones as the King and Queen of Snezhnaya. Sometimes, little princes and princesses of theirs would be running around as well.

They would have conjured all of Teyvat together.

They would have loved each other.

Lumine would wake up, tears in her eyes, heart heavy with desire for that life.

And then she would cry because her life would never be peaceful ever again.

[hematomes]

I saw your post about ppl losing their shiz about Kaeya fanart being “whitewashed” when it’s literally darker than he is in canon. I agree btw I love like basically all Kaeya art out there I love one eyepatch man.

anyhoo, I have a story. I once saw a tiktok about a kaeya art. it was specifically labeled “IN PROGRESS” or whatever so you knew the artist wasn’t done. it was a gorgeous piece of art btw. So far, the only thing that had been colored was his hair and some of his clothes.

pretty much everyone in the comments started harrasing her about how he was whitewashed and the artist had to be a white supremacist and i think someone said “see I knew everyone who played genshin was racist just delete the game at this point.”

i was just like 😳 wow jeez it’s literally IN PROGRESS the artist legit said so.

the artist eventually posted the final version (after having to delete the first video and deal with several threats) it did turn out beautiful, but on the comments there and on every post of theirs after people are lurkign in the comments bad-mouthing them.

as much as I definitely am for characters not being whitewashed (especially Kaeya bc I love him your honor) I think some people take it way too far when the person they’re yelling at literally just wanted to get people excited about their WIP.

hi! sorry im so late this issue became quite sensitive lol i had to work up the courage to come back to it. it's gonna be a bit long, but i really need to say all this

if there's one thing i noticed about the genshin community on tiktok and twitter, it's that there is a whole, whole lot of social justice warriors and overall it's extremely toxic. it's something that surprised me because the people i interact with on tumblr are all super sweet and not one bit toxic so? idk, tumblr is just a different breed i guess

your story is extremely saddening. everytime there's a kaeya fanart, people forget about the color theory and the artists' style and claim it's whitewashed and i genuinely don't understand why. if someone could explain it to me, am i missing something? im not an artist so perhaps im mistaken, idk, but i've never seen a fanart where kaeya was whitewashed.

the thing that pisses me off the most is that most of the time it's white ppl calling something whitewashed. i'm not saying you shouldn't call out racism if you see it just bc you're white, just that these people aren't even right - and often you see poc coming into the debate and explaining it's not whitewashed/saying it doesn't bother them. moreover, i've literally seen fanart of beidou as a black girl, which isn't representation in my opinion - beidou is already a poc, and asian people need at least as much representation as black people, so it's plain racism. same thing with kaeya, i've seen edits of him with stereotypical african features, and it's really sad that no one is calling this out but yelling about whitewashing as soon as he isn't the exact same color as the official arts. hell, someone even said "so what if it's darker? it's still whitewashing" and i??? am flabbergasted. whitewashing is absolutely disgusting, but ppl keep misunderstanding what it means and just using it to gratuitously harass artists.

now, don't get me wrong. i believe that you can draw whatever you want. but the thing is - if you get mad when someone draws kaeya white (if they really do, i mean), you can't just applaud someone else's that draws another character black. racism goes both ways, and it's bordering on fetishism. i, as a poc (mixed-race, caucasian + african), am extremely uncomfortable everytime i see this double-standard.

but anyway, the fact remains that sjw have plagued the genshin fandom. and it's not just about kaeya's skin color (we don't even know if he's really a poc - we know he's tan according to paimon, and i believe she called him "exotic"? so idk) but also about the ships. everytime i see a shippy tiktok, there's plenty of ppl out here saying it's wrong, claiming their own ship is the most canon. if i'm not mistaken, kaeluc is the one that gets the most hate, and i genuinely, once again, don't understand why.

i talked about them before and explained how it's not incest bc they really aren't brothers, but i swear every now and then i see people throwing death threats and slurs anytime someone hints at them. idk if you are familiar with the eng va's fandom, but sometimes they play among us together, aether's va does some livestreams where he invites different voice actors. but diluc's va is never there, and i was wondering why - recently i learned that it's because he retweet a fanart of kaeya and diluc fighting alongside each other (not even a shippy fanart, apparently) and people harassed him and excluded him from the fandom. and now the same thing is happening to griffin burns, childe's va, bc he retweeted (or liked, idk) a fanart of lumine and childe fighting or something and people called it pedophilia bc lumine would be a minor. i'm not even gonna dive into this bc the travelers are canonically like 30 times childe's age, but what i mean is - people are so full of hate and i can't fathom living like this?

the point is, i totally respect anyone who doesn't ship something i ship. i myself don't like certain ships - like zhongli/xiao, jean/diluc - but im not gonna harass ppl who do just because i can? that's messed up, i just don't get it. i wish the fandom wasn't that bad bc i really enjoy this game

anyway, im really disappointed but still grateful, bc my followers & people i've interacted with here have been nothing but sweet and respectful. i hope none of y'all come across the toxic side of the genshin fandom. stay safe y'all!