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a sketch of zhongxiao i did, might finish it one day who knows

no cus nanami and tomoe are the inbodyment of chaotic bi relationship

these two laufey songs remind me of zhongxiao so much!!!!

if any zhongxiao fic writers need beta reading, editing or advice, i'll be more than happy to help :) my insta is @/navycc_ (you can also ask for my email in DMs if that's easier)

繁华梦 // zhongxiao

stricken by a grief so profound that he cannot fathom processing it, he lays at night with the exuvia, hoping to devour this dream's lie and wake to a better tomorrow

ah just kill me, i love them so much lmao,,, my brain is still there in liyue that day

i still haven't moved on.

if we consider in the fact that hu tao didn't send zhongli to whangshu inn for sesame oil at last year's lantern rite, zhongli bringing this up a whole year later implies to me that he's curious if xiao has figured out that he's teasing him. but xiao hasn't seen through zhongli because he still holds zhongli in reverence.¹ xiao takes his every word seriously² because zhongli is still someone who should be listened to earnestly. xiao's "about zhongli" voiceline makes this very obvious. no matter what zhongli does, there must be a greater meaning to it all.

i can't believe that every zx interaction challenges the power imbalance of their previous relationship, as well as xiao's own view of it. hyv writers put their all into these two.

zhongli gently but firmly reminds xiao each lantern rite that he's no longer a god and shouldn't be addressed as such. last year, xiao still struggled with this. now, he corrected himself even though he was just thinking!

sure, he didn't drop the 'daren' but still a huge step forward.

¹aka world's slowest slow burn. they aren't even friends yet. well. in xiao's eyes at least

²last year, when zhongli teased him about how he should be the one referring to xiao by a formal title, xiao immediately shut it down ("heaven forbid!" hahaha)

like you guys understand, right? xiao is the sesame oil, xiao is the kite, zhongli goes around pointing at things and sighing because everything reminds him of his special guy

at the end of the day, no amount of master/servant, father/son interpretation of zhongxiao will ever come close to understand their relationship. lot of people criticize zhongli for "forcing" or even "manipulating" xiao out of his comfort zone¹, and i've always found it so peculiar that with this sentiment comes a certain degree of babying xiao—as if his story isn't about freedom, isn't about change. as if freedom could be attained without radical change.

as if the message isn't that, yes, change is disorienting and often feels like you're losing something (control, people, yourself) but you won't have to face it alone. even if the whole order of the world crumbles. even if those who you once knew change with the world, you can adjust, you can start anew. you will change, too.

in the age of gods and monsters, morax couldn't truly free xiao. as long as there were wars raging across the land, as long as xiao knew that he was needed, he was important, useful, he would never part, never rest.

maybe zhongli understood at some point that as long as morax exists, xiao will feel bounden, even if no debt can be so great that it cannot be paid off in a thousand years.²

and maybe that's why, in the age of humanity, zhongli's so persistent. he wants nothing more than to have xiao as his friend, his equal, but for that to happen without making the same mistakes from the past, xiao needs to come around on his own accord.³

i've seen people mention venti's line to dvalin about what does freedom mean when it is granted to you by a god, and i genuinely think that zhongxiao are the perfect example of this. and that they both suffer because of it.

¹ it's only comforting because it's what he knows. just because something is familiar, doesn't mean that it's good

² pulling this from xiao's 4th character story

³ so far, zhongli has proven to be too impatient. and to truly put my zhongxiao conspiracy hat on, he might be just a little nervous that xiao won't want the same things, won't see things the same way...

there are two wolves inside you. one wants to respect all headcanons. the other thinks it’s super weird that a relationship between a god and a demigod that has sworn undying loyalty to him can even be interpreted as familial

it came to my realization that 99% of my fandom related headaches would be cured if everyone understood this

gonna start calling zhongli xiao’s husband like people call him his dad. it has exactly the same amount of canon support and is way cooler and sexier

lantern rite cutscene my beloved

i love zhongxiao so much. i think it's such a beautiful ship and i take it upon myself to popularize and destigmatize it in this fandom 'cause it really does deserve the attention like other ships with them get (xiaolumi, zhongchi, xiaoven etc)

what if i put my life in your hands? what if i took your life in mine?

i fucking hate people who insist that zhongli and xiao are related when it's literally just a (might i add, weird) headcanon

people really be inventing problems: "they're father and son!" no they're not? "the age gap!" excuse me but last time i checked childe and zhongli have a bigger age gap and the only reason you don't find shipping them weird is because they're the same height??? but the height difference suddenly doesn't make a ship "look wrong" when it's venti and zhongli??? i'm tired of this fucking fandom for making me feel bad for shipping a literal normal ship

Abandoned Chinese Fishing Village Being Swallowed By Nature

Castles - art by Alan Lee (1984)

Yentl 1983

ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND 2004 dir. Michel Gondry

when madeline miller wrote “he is half of my soul, as the poets say" and when emily brontë wrote “do not leave me in this abyss! oh god it is unutterable! i cannot live without my life! i cannot live without my soul!" and when i started feeling this unspeakable longing for what seems to be a romantic connection just last night but my soul is whole in itself and seeks nothing more than the gentleness found in the presence of another.