#sent: astrididi

[cynicalmusings]

IMAGINE A MASQUERADE BALL WITH XIAO???

…see, you’ve done the very dangerous thing of reminding me of the 100 followers special continuation i was planning that includes xiao and heizou… and a little of my cinderella au with him, too. 

but i need to brainrot about this now.

thing is… we could go down the usual route of fantasy masquerade ball with big fancy chandeliers and a nice ballroom, but i feel like a spin could be put on it to make it more interesting.

namely, cyberpunk; a setting that i think fits xiao very well. (let me generate some ideas for a second…)

maybe this masquerade ball is inspired by old fragments of books and paintings uncovered in the wreckage of historical buildings, and a group of people are trying to resurrect it, just for fun. it’s likely nowhere as grande as the ‘proper’ ones, and takes place in some abandoned warehouse or the basement of a pub. the music is an electronic, bass-y version of some classical pieces, performed by a mini-orchestra of electric classical instruments. there are some asymmetrical make-shift chandeliers welded from old bits of metal hanging from the ceiling, sporting some LED light bulbs. 

people come wearing all sorts of clothing; most try to imitate the gowns and suits worn in the old days but with a spin of cyberpunk, with metal masks and hand gauntlets, while a few wear visors and their typical fashion.

xiao’s mask is no doubt based on his yaksha mask, put together with metal and cogs and some pieces of wood, and there are neon blue lights around the eye sockets, which mirror his original mask’s glowing eyes. the fangs are made of steel and bronze. 

the atmosphere is lively, although the location is quite dark. as they dance, people try to guess who the person behind the mask is. xiao prefers not to know. 

xiao is a really, really good dancer. he meets you in one of the dances, and you’re floored by his dancing. his movements are fluid and graceful, almost like water, and each step and twirl is precise, like he’s been doing this all his life. he’s actually quite courteous while dancing, too; he’s a guy who prefers actions over words, so it’s no wonder that he lets his dancing speak for itself. he finds it so much easier to carefully spin you around than start a conversation, in which he’s certain he would come across as brash.

meanwhile, you try your very best to figure out who this person is, and whether you’ve met him before, but his identity eludes you. you only spend a brief time together before the music changes and you’re both met with new partners, but somehow he still stands out to you the most. 

after the dance, the crowds disperse, and you try and look for him, absentmindedly taking off your mask because the dance is over. for a moment, you catch a glimpse of glowing blue in the crowd, meeting your eyes from behind a familiar metal mask. when you blink, he’s gone, and you don’t find him again afterwards.

(meanwhile, xiao probably just ducked behind some wall or pillar because he was not prepared for you to be so stunning behind that mask and needed a second to gather his thoughts.)

[lume-nosity]

Okay okay so I was wondering if you were to ship your mutuals with someone based on their personality who would you ship them with?

this is interesting. i’ll only do three because i can’t do everyone i’m sorry 😭

@astrididi x emu otori. aaaa astrid is just so nice frfr,,, the embodiment of sunshine might i say. i was going to put nilou but then emu struck me like a bullet and i went ‘hell, you know what, this suits better.’ i love their energy okay

@scarafrisbee x scaramouche. i’m sorry you didn’t get venti ✋😔 but anyways, ei kinnie to scaramouche kinnie much???? the whole ‘i’m a god’ thing she got going on in our conversations seals it for me. i know venti is a god too but listen. they mean ‘i’m a god’. in bold font. that is it, scara and kkri are in fact the same exact person there’s not much left for me to say on this

@furoidorichi x tengen uzui. this is a wild one i’m sure. because hear me out, those memes and wild shit she’s sent me via asks, makes me believe that those two would suit nicely. you can explore the des/peepy tag and you’ll see why. the vibes the two of them share are immaculate and ‘flashy’

[cynicalmusings]

WEBTOON CYNO WILL ALWAYS HAVE MY HEART

oh, definitely. he’s the og who was a scholar at the academia, situated in the desert…

i miss him sometimes.

[cynicalmusings]

HI I HAVE LIKE SO MANY XIAO BRAINROTS BC OF ME RECENTLY GETTING BIM SO HERE HAVE ONE OF MG DYNASTY AUS (i also posted another brainrot of him on mu page)

Perhaps during the archon war, as reader and the other yakshas were fighting different monsters , a mysterious portal had appeared sucking in the yakshas including reader teleporting them to our modern times but strangely enough they popped in at different timings (ex. 2013, 2016 etc) .

All of the yakshas memories of each other were gone but each of them kept of receiving dreams of their past life when in the dynasty era (courtesy of a certain dendro archon) , though all of them first pass it off as a dream they can't deny it made them slightly freak out with how familiar fighting was.

Of course, reader and yakshas met when they entered college. As the group finally reunites, would they be able to find out who really is the mastermind behind all of this?

Would Xiao and Reader finally confess their love for each other or would they fail to do that just like in their previous era?

Small holes in the story bc im still tryna figure sone things out 😭

this is a cool idea because it has so much potential for found family dynamics and deja vu between the characters; for example, somehow knowing their names despite never having met them before, recognising their face, being able to talk to each other like they’ve known each other for years…

and regarding xiao and the reader, no doubt it’s a sort of love-at-first-sight-but-i’m-sure-we’ve-met-somewhere-before interaction… like, you lock eyes randomly while passing through a hallway and both do a double take.

good things about being in the modern day is that the yakshas don’t have to worry about their karmic debt anymore, or days full of slaughter and bloody battle. however, everyone does get nightmares. graphic nightmares about being in a body that’s their own but not quite, and holding weapons and channelling magic that could never exist in real life but feel so right in their hands. soon after, they start sharing dreams, and find their classmates fighting alongside them. it’s probably these dreams that bring them together.

as disturbing as these nightmares may be, because they’re not real, it does mean that pursuing certain things— namely romance, in your and xiao’s cases— is much easier when you don’t have to worry about the other dying at any given moment. you probably skirt around each other for a while, both drawn in and put off by the familiarity you feel when around each other, but slowly allow yourselves to indulge in your feelings more and more…

also… modern au!xiao. i love him.

[cynicalmusings]

OKAY I SAW UR POST SBT HEIZOU BEING MISCGARACTERIZED AND I COULDNT AGREE MORE, LITERALLY HOYO NEEDS TO ADD HIS LIKE BACKGROUND IN MAIN STORY OR CUTSCENES BC LIKE WHO RLKY READS THE WIKI ESP IF FOR BACKSTORIES 😰 Idc what anyone says bc like heizou wld def be one if my favs like bro is so bf material tbh/hj

i know… like, i’ve seen him interpreted as much cockier and… less respectful than he (or at least i think he) is, if that makes sense? and, like… this is the same guy who leaves apologies for caught criminals’ families but not in person because he knows seeing him would make them upset? hello? i mean, yes, he’s a flirt, but that doesn’t immediately make him an asshole (again, this might not make sense, so apologies if that’s the case…)

to be fair, though, that, as you said, it is possible that some people might not know about these voicelines, since they are locked behind a friendship limit as well as being in the teapot, and some people might not have done his hangout or whole hangout, so it does make sense, but it’s still a little frustrating to see him mischaracterised…

i think this is partly because i see him as a character who breaks quite a few stereotypes— e.g. being a detective who cares about the people and not some mental ‘kick’, having insecurity but not going extreme with it (as in he’s not completely free of insecurity behind his confidence but also not consumed by said insecurity and using his confidence as a coping mechanism, which is a trend i’ve seen in quite a few characters), being genuinely kind and selfless despite having his smug moments; i could go on for a while.

basically, his character is so refreshing to me, and seeing him interpreted as a stereotype rubs me the wrong way.

…okay, so this sort of turned into a ramble… hope you enjoyed?

[cynicalmusings]

im addicted tp waffles help me BUT what is ur fav/dream breakfast (eg. pancakes)

my favourite breakfast… hmm…

probably avocado toast and almond croissants. not necessarily together. to be honest, i tend not to like food that’s quite sweet (waffles, pancakes and such) unless i’m really craving sugar, especially in the mornings. almond croissants are the exception because they are the food of the gods and that is fact.

[cynicalmusings]

RESPONDING TO KAROKE HEIZOU, HE'LL DO THOSE CHEESY COUPLE SONGS W YOU

oh, god… he would absolutely insist on singing ‘i want it that way’ and make melodramatic hand gestures towards you while he’s singing…