#🍵 | zl pulls up to qingce with his thrush like 'how do u do fellow elderlies'

[stoneharbor]

hc + 🐈 for a pet/animal-themed headcanon

[ for this ask meme ]

The origins of many of Liyue’s customs are the subject of much debate. Conflicting tales, oral tradition, and records lost to time make the path to the truth of Liyue’s traditions a difficult one. One such custom is the curious hobby of ‘bird walking.’ In the early hours of dawn, the gentle chirps of songbirds drift through the air as retirees gather along worn dirt paths, the handles of bamboo cages hanging from their hands. While many believe this practice was started by Liyue’s elites—noblemen wishing to flaunt their prized songbirds—its true origins are far more humble. In the harbor's early days, a strange young man was often seen wandering with a cage in hand, the melody of a hermit thrush following him. He was a far cry from the haughty nobles thought to be responsible for this tradition, a lanky young man in loose-fitting brown clothes, indistinguishable from any other commoner if not for his golden eyes. His thrush was just as plain, its feathers a simple brown and white, with black flecks dotting its chest—nothing like the brightly colored exotic birds kept by those in Yujing Terrace. Birdkeeping was common at this time, but no one had thought to bring their pets outdoors, much less stroll with them. Yet, there was something undeniably captivating about how the man's bird seemed to sing so sweetly in the soft light of the rising sun, that sonorous melody drifting on the wind as the harbor stirred to life...