honeyteawrites

[honeyteawrites]

me sitting down with my tea and playlist, just to write 3 words on a blank document and calling it a day

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The Warmth of Dawn

Dimitri gender euphoria ficlet I wrote for fetransweek 2022 on twitter! happy birthday Mitya!! ｡ﾟ( ﾟ^∀^ﾟ)ﾟ｡

click here for the ao3 link! (whole ficlet posted below)

Dimitri always rises early. 

Even when he’s tormented at night by his own swirling psyche, Dimitri routinely wakes up to dawn spreading across the land. To him, it’s comforting to watch the sun burn away the remnants of last night’s moon. 

He wishes that the sun could scorch away his own anguish, but Faerghus mornings are always chilly. He would simply long for warmth to arrive. 

This morning, Dimitri avoids his own reflection. He’d come to detest how terribly long his hair was. Family and friends alike had always commented on how beautiful it was, but he dreamed of chopping it short. 

He quickly splashes his face with water to wake himself up. Dimitri shivers, even if the cold is almost welcoming. His untied hair falls into the sink and he pushes it back, accidentally catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror. Perhaps he shouldn’t have looked. 

His formerly bright gray-blue eyes were foggy, like a storm ready to erupt. Strands of long blond hair cling to his face as frigid water drips from his jaw. His lips curl into a snarl at the sight. 

The urge to cut his hair rises within him. This time, he was set on truly doing it. Dimitri rummages through a drawer and grabs a pair of scissors, nearly snapping the handles with his grip. His hands tremble as he messily snips away at his hair. His locks fall into the sink, golden as the light fills the room. 

Dimitri slams the now-dented scissors onto the sink when he’s done. He leans into the mirror and slowly looks himself over. Despite the look of his sharply uneven bangs, a wide smile spreads across his face. His laughter rings throughout the bathroom like birdsong. 

Dimitri feels like himself. 

This freedom alights him like nothing before. He rushes to go for a horseback ride. When he’s ready, he urges the horse to run so fast that he’s practically flying across Faerghus. The wind bites and his hair pricks his eyes, but he doesn’t care. The rush of joy coursing through him is enough. 

Sunlight peaks through the trees in a forest that he crosses, scattering across his face. He bursts into a clearing and sunlight bathes him in all its glory. Even if it’s just for a moment, Dimitri feels warmth in his heart once again.

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more stories where falling in love is a horrifying fate worse than death rather than a source of comfort and hope. more stories where love is understood as a terminal affliction.

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The Importance of "He lives rent free in each of our hearts"

No, I am not exaggerating when I am saying this joke has layers of subtext. What Cyno says in the Parade of Providence is not only a joke about the nature of Alhaitham in their friend group, but also a hint towards the evolution of Cyno and Alhaitham’s relationship. 

1- The Context

The first thing to note is the conversation that surrounds this joke. Previously, the conversation was:

Collei: That’s a good thing… It means you have integrity.

Kaveh: Thank you, oh my god, thank you… See, you get me Collei!

Kaveh: It’s a good thing Alhaitham isn’t here right now… He’d be quick to explain why you’re wrong.

Collei: Seems you always include him in the conversation, even when he isn’t here…

Tighnari: Yep. No dinner with Kaveh is complete without a few words about Alhaitham.

Now, the easy thing to latch onto is the fact that Kaveh apparently talks extensively about Alhaitham. However, let’s consider what else is said. Kaveh’s statement is certainly an insight into the nature of his and Alhaitham’s relationship- that being one of opposing forces, people who fundamentally do not mesh due to differences in experiences and worldview. 

Tighnari’s following statement is sarcastic, and is an obvious indication of the familiarity of this. Because of Kaveh and Alhaitham’s opposing natures, it is only natural that they clash. 

But how does this tie into what Cyno says? Well, Kaveh’s statement is antagonistic, meant to express his negative feelings towards Alhaitham by assuming that he’d say the worst about him. Tighnari’s is not positive either, but not exactly negative- simply, it’s exasperation towards the entire situation. However, what Cyno has to say is more positive, both that it’s a lighthearted joke, and that offers a glimpse at the much more friendly feelings that Cyno holds towards Alhaitham.

2- The Joke

Cyno: I sense that Alhaitham has in fact been here with us all along…

Kaveh: He’s here? Where!? Why didn’t you tell me?

Cyno: …He lives rent free in each of our hearts.

There’s a lot to unpack here. First to note, is that this is all too easy to brush off as a friendly joke. And on some level it is, which is in of itself, really telling. When Cyno and Alhaitham first fought in Aaru Village, neither… liked each other, let’s put it that way. But throughout the Sumeru Archon Quest, they clearly grew to respect one another’s characters and grew to form a partnership. The fact that Cyno can joke so easily about Alhaitham speaks to a major change in dynamic.

Now, the punchline. This is by far the most fascinating part to me. Saying someone or something “lives rent free in [your] head” is a common term on the internet now, and put in simplest terms, means you think about it a lot. But then, why heart? 

Well, the brain tends to symbolize rationality, thinking, and planning. If something lives rent free in your head, you think about it a lot. While the term is usually connected to a positive connotation, that what you are thinking of is something that makes you happy, it can easily dip into negativity. However, the heart is different. It tends to symbolize emotionality, love, and sometimes life. Cyno saying Alhaitham lives rent free in their hearts and not their heads creates deeper intimacy, making the statement very clearly personal. And tying back into the previous section, neither Kaveh nor Tighnari were expressing positive emotions about Alhaitham, making the statement seem out of place. But it makes much more sense when it is not taken as a mere joke; rather, it is an expression Cyno’s connection to Alhaitham. 

3- Conclusion

One final thing to note is that Alhaitham is not present when Cyno makes this joke. So, one, this could mean that this is an expression of emotionality that Cyno is comfortable making about Alhaitham, just not towards him, implying that he has come to terms with his feelings about Alhaitham but has not deciphered what Alhaitham feels about him. Two, the Traveler is unaware of their relationship, hence why the player doesn't pick up on anything, but everyone else is, and Cyno just wants to express that he loves his boyfriend very much.

In short, Cyno loves Alhaitham, even if no one else has anything good to say about him. 

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I ship this ship because:

I have eyes

I can see

I am the smartest person in the room

I receive divine revelations about them in the dead of night, alone in my chambers

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i like haino who are heart achingly in love soulmates who cannot live without one another but respond to questions about what the other person is like with a thumbs up and no elaboration

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i don’t see enough people making this cytham hc into fics and i absolutely adore it so-

be the fanfic you wish to see in the world {can be seen as 4ggravate, i seem to wheedle it into all my alhaitham thoughts}

“Tighnari.”

A pair of ebony ears flick, a wary pause follows.

“Cyno.” He knew that tone.

“Did you hear-”

“Cyno-”

“Did you hear about-”

“Cyno, please-”

“Did you hear about the elemental orb that asked a question?”

Their begging did nothing. Pained silence was all that answered the Mahamatra. Neither Kaveh or Tighnari were willing to appease him.

Alhaitham only raised a single eyebrow. Which was a feat in itself, really; getting him to look away from his novel.

Clearly, Cyno took that as a sign to continue.

“It was innocculous.”

Tighnari tugged his ears down with a drawn out groan. Kaveh thunked his head down on the table. Or finally passed out from alcohol consumption. Only Buer knew, honestly.

“See the joke is-”

Cyno trailed off, eyes catching on something. Someone.

…Someone was laughing. Muffled and breathy as it was, someone was actually laughing at Cyno’s joke. And it wasn’t a drunk Kaveh.

No, it was Alhaitham.

Tighnari slowly let go of his ears to face the Acting Grand Sage. Cyno was shocked {archons, now he’s affected} into a blissful silence, red in the face with his jaw on the floor.

“We’re all seeing the same thing, right?” Kaveh whispers, as if afraid to be too loud and ruin the moment. His head was still against the table, but turned towards the scribe in disbelief.

Alhaitham was laughing into his hand, snickers turning into chuckles which turned into a quiet wheezes against his knuckles.

“Uh huh…” Tighnari finally whispers back. He turns just in time to see Cyno giving himself a harsh pinch on the arm.

After a stifled wince, and a bit more staticky hair, Cyno opens his mouth again.

Alhaitham beats him to punch.

“Was it asking a Lesser Lord statue?” he asks, almost as if he didn’t want anyone to actually hear him. Cyno stands up, face set in what would be a scary look for anyone outside of the four.

“I’m gonna kiss him-”

He then proceeded to jump the table.

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i miss them so much no one gets it

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time for another foolish cyhaino comic script ✨

screenshot featuring Kaveh's unfortunate third-wheeling in the library 😔

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I feel like as opposed to either laughing at all of them or groaning alhaitham would thoughtfully rate every one of cyno’s jokes on a scale of 1-10

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one of the things i liked most about cytham was that most of the characters had something negative to say abt alhaitham but there's cyno like "yeah i trust him, he's reliable"

just... mwah, i love those two sm

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can’t stop thinking about how it u rly want to understand cyno/alhaitham u have to go through hours of quests. that’s so on brand of them

want to know what their thoughts are of each other? fantastic u gotta finish the whole aq + alhaitham’s sq 🔫 storygated ship fr

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Cytham is the ultimate "wouldn't it be funny if these two fucked" to "they have stolen my heart and altered my brain chemistry" pipeline ship.

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Fish romance between merfolk Cyno and human Haitham 💖 (one of my friends said to please stop with the “Just a Guy” thing for Hammy. no he is so normal and I love him/lh 😤)

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Government assigned obey me lore uquiz responses part 5!

link to the uquiz here

I suddenly remembered that I had a uquiz and decided to check on it lmao.

oh 🥺 I'm a big fan of seeing fanart of MC and the bros like this. Just the little chill moments in between the chaotic main story...

Valid. Imagine them hugging back with their arms and wings 😭

they would and I feel like Dia would actually suck at golfing

Luke only lets Simeon pat his head! He screams at Solomon if he tries to do the same thing.

🤝 LET'S GOOOOO

congrats on the obey me brainrot! I aspire to make most of my things silly, thank you.

OUGHHH 😭

quiz results if any of you were curious