Zhongxiao - Tumblr Posts
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
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)
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
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
![screenshot of zhongli from the 4.4. genshin impact lantern rite event. he's flying a kite as he says, "I fear it's almost too stable. It completely negates the pleasure of seeing one's kite sway with the wind. It's a bit of a shame."](https://64.media.tumblr.com/9000eae5b68dac4a4056ff78d4b3befc/3a4ef65759bab68d-98/s500x750/2a797dbfbe456d07f8d1231e3901ec48e44641e4.jpg)
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...
i still haven't moved on.
![a close-up screenshot of zhongli from the 4.4. genshin impact lantern rite event. he looks at xiao as he says: "while we're on the subject, i do wonder why she [hu tao] is so obsessed with using sesame oil in the preparation of mixed vegetable dishes for lantern rite... a recommendation from xiangling, perhaps? what do you think, xiao?"](https://64.media.tumblr.com/76a71e77e331091ceec3f30f266358b2/ddb7e0456674a672-57/s500x750/4e4abe456518e8ed3fe203abde255c5cfdf9dfca.jpg)
![a close-up screenshot of xiao from the 4.4. genshin impact lantern rite event. he looks at zhongli as he answers: "i've only met director hu a few times. i'm hardly the best person to ask..."](https://64.media.tumblr.com/ae9e3ae89ade4f94f549d4d542699525/ddb7e0456674a672-ff/s500x750/0c599511d494210a21ce8898dfc915a47bcc5606.jpg)
![a screenshot taken from the 4.4. genshin impact lantern rite event. it shows xiao and zhongli as they stand next to each other with their backs to the viewer. zhongli is looking up at the sky (at the kite he's flying). he says: "ah! and is that not a sign that you should visit wangsheng funeral parlor more often? it wouldn't hurt to grace the parlor with your presence now and again when you are otherwise unoccupied."](https://64.media.tumblr.com/e23b4cdffaaaa25dc703036c2af87700/ddb7e0456674a672-e4/s500x750/98de14ee11caf5cf2ed8b89c19fd62b14a76a9b6.jpg)
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!
![a screenshot of xiao from the 4.4. genshin impact lanterm rite event. it's a close-up of xiao with his eyes closed. he thinks to himself: "what is she [hu tao] doing here? i suppose it matters not. given her relationship with rex... with zhongli, i might as well go pay my respects."](https://64.media.tumblr.com/e146028ee1d2f2708c97b11089baa6bf/ddb7e0456674a672-a3/s500x750/6e00381eefd215a3063a23c05efe97fd3382be70.jpg)
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)
![Stricken By A Grief So Profound That He Cannot Fathom Processing It, He Lays At Night With The Exuvia,](https://64.media.tumblr.com/79f402106242f9488c55c795b3344ddd/7ca072b5a53a707e-72/s500x750/21077568592a53b63f7a1d5bd7acbd0ab3997256.png)
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
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)
![These Two Laufey Songs Remind Me Of Zhongxiao So Much!!!!](https://64.media.tumblr.com/1e2142e44c6427ed5c5f7742ee2ef325/c807d46ba805e432-8a/s640x960/fd6fcad3b32bbc77ebd84cd26d89c791e881a764.jpg)
![These Two Laufey Songs Remind Me Of Zhongxiao So Much!!!!](https://64.media.tumblr.com/6eb44d3af9489f66833b9b35d56d32f4/c807d46ba805e432-dc/s640x960/38019a4a8fe5b0d06a9f321dc749c95d965525ad.jpg)
these two laufey songs remind me of zhongxiao so much!!!!
![A Sketch Of Zhongxiao I Did, Might Finish It One Day Who Knows](https://64.media.tumblr.com/48bdfaa7f05e4e9cdef04ede6360cd9f/fd05db760ff67090-17/s500x750/fd3bddc9579dbcb7b34cbb37ab8e2ac93bc18c52.png)
a sketch of zhongxiao i did, might finish it one day who knows
*puts on big girl pants* WE NEED TO ADDRESS SOMETHING
ZHONGLI AND XIAO ARE NOT FATHER AND SON.
🚨🚨I REPEAT, ZHONGLI AND XIAO ARE NOT FATHER AND SON.🚨🚨
In the lore, Zhongli refers to Xiao as the ‘young adeptus of Guili Plains’, and Xiao refers to Zhongli as ‘My lord’. Nowhere does either Zhongli or Xiao mention ANY familial relationship. You may headcanon as you wish, though.
The reason I am such a devout Zhongxiao shipper is because of The Zhongxiao Alliance by Yellow_Canna on Ao3 and Tumblr. It has a beautiful depiction of how Morax saved Alatus from his previous master and renamed him Xiao.
FAIR WARNING: Contains smut and mpreg/eggpreg.
Anywayyyyyyy, that’s my rant about people being disrespectful in the comments of artists. This is the internet. If you don’t want to see something, swipe away. Don’t be a jerk because someone “violated your headcanon”. Be a decent human being.
Thank you, lovely Tumblr people. Shroomie OUT!