#Professor Cyrus Genshin

[the-fifth-rascal]

What if I said I had a dream about Professor Cyrus, Zaha Hadi and Sage Naphis being this one stupid friend group ever since they were kids 😭🙏

[evelynpr]

Cyrus having tragic old man yaoi with Bamoun, unresolved drama with Naphis, and playful competition with Zaha Hadi...truly the old bi man disaster I love that.

[isnt-it-pretty]

AU where Alhaitham is taken in by the Akademiya instead of his grandmother.

He's not the only child there. The other is a few years older- smaller, though-- with white hair and red eyes. Cyno is broken more than any child should be, but he refuses to let the researchers hurt Alhaitham the way they hurt him. He diverts their attention as much as he can, and Alhaitham hides behind him, afraid and cursing himself for not protecting Cyno. Instead, he does what he can to make it better after. He sits next to Cyno when the pain is too much. He reads books the Akademiya gives him to keep him quiet-- Cyno can't read, but Alhaitham can--, and he curls against Cyno's side as they both sleep through restless nights.

When the experiments finally end (in no small part due to Cyrus' actions), Cyrus holds out his hand to them both and offers them a home together. Neither of them trusts him at first. They're so used to being afraid and having only each other, but it's a home. It's safety and warmth with all the books either of them could dream of.

It isn't quite sweet and happy. Cyno struggles with the power of the spirit inside him and desperately wants to fit in with others, while Alhaitham finds it easier to disregard emotion. They argue, spats that end with harsh words and hurt feelings. But at night, when the nightmares come, they still find solace cuddled against each other.

Cyno goes to school first. He's older, and Alhaitham has no interest in it yet. The other students don't like him much-- he's too quiet, too different. But he has Lisa, one of his seniors who thinks her professor's sons are adorable, and a Kshahrewar boy named Kaveh.

It's Cyno who introduces Kaveh to Alhaitham, although it wasn't his intent. His life at school and home are kept carefully separate-- few people even know he's Professor Cyrus' son (Kaveh is one of them, and he knows of Alhaitham, but he's never met him.) One day Cyno is exhausted and in pain. Hermanubis pushes against his control, fraying his edges. Kaveh takes him home, and it's Alhaitham who answers the door, eyes wide with worry. He drops the book he was holding to help Cyno inside. It quickly morphs into scolding because why can't Cyno just take care of himself? He knows stress makes it worse-

Kaveh is smitten with his best friend's brother before the interaction is even finished.

It's a bit of a mess when Alhaitham eventually joins the Akademiya. Nobody is surprised when he decides on Haravatat, but it takes him out of Cyrus' reach. It's hard to protect him that way. It was more important with Cyno, who still bears the weight of Hermanubis and who the Akademiya still watches closely because of it (they're like vultures circling a corpse), but Alhaitham was a test subject too. At least Cyno has graduated and joined the matra, and Kaveh still has a year or two left in his own degree. They can all watch out for Alhaitham.

Then Alhaitham and Kaveh get into their argument, and Kaveh pulls away from Cyno just as much as Alhaitham. It hurts-- Kaveh is one of the few friends Cyno has, and Lisa is gone too. It puts pressure on Alhaitham and Cyno's relationship, because can't Alhaitham at least try to be kind? Alhaitham, just as hurt, although better at hiding it, argues back. Neither of them will ever be wanted; neither of them will ever belong. It's time they both give up trying to be something they're not. (It's the worst fight they've ever had and the longest they ever go without speaking.)

It's in the ensuing years that Cyno meets Tighnari. They become friends first, and then something more. He doesn't introduce Tighnari to his family for a long time, and-- similar to Kaveh-- when he does, it's because of an injury.

Cyno is the General Mahamatra. It's a dangerous position, and everybody in his life knows it. So, when he's severely injured on a mission, it isn't a surprise. Alhaitham and Cyrus wait in anxious silence when Tighnari hears the news and rushes over. Cyno is fine (relatively), but those few tense hours cement one thing: Alhaitham and Tighnari loathe each other. 

Alhaitham thinks that Cyno can-- and should-- do better than some amurta botany student. Tighnari thinks Alhaitham is stuck up and intolerable. Cyrus and Cyno think they're both idiots. Eventually, they find some common ground. They both care about Cyno and would both cut somebody down for hurting him. That's good enough. Besides, it means Cyno will stop coming to Alhaitham's door in the middle of the night, bloodied from a mission but refusing to see a doctor. He can go bother Tighnari instead, who has actual medical training.

When Kaveh builds The Palace of Alcazarzaray and finds nothing left afterwards, Alhaitham offers him a place to stay. Kaveh agrees under one condition-- don't tell Cyno what happened. It's a little complicated, considering Cyno tends to show up unannounced. Sometimes he's hurt, other times he's bored, or just wants to see Alhaitham. He walks in as Kaveh and Alhaitham eat breakfast one morning, visibly shocked to see Kaveh for the first time in years. Alhaitham meets his eyes and tells him, "Don't ask." So Cyno doesn't. He knows Alhaitham well enough that don't ask means don't ask. 

The Archon Quest is hell. Cyno disappears without saying goodbye-- he can't risk endangering his family, so only Tighnari knows what's happening. Alhaitham promises Cyrus that he'll find Cyno, and follows the trail of the Divine Knowledge Capsule because he hopes it will lead him to his brother. (He'll never admit to being afraid. He's supposed to be beyond that now-- an adult, not the small child hiding behind Cyno-- but what if the Akademiya was involved? What if Cyno is hurt or dead?)

There's no fight outside Aaru Village, just exasperation and some cutting words that neither of them takes seriously. They're long used to each other's bite, and it involves more eye rolling than not, but everybody else decides they must hate each other.

Alhaitham doesn't know that the Akademiya compiled information on Cyno, but he can still make an educated guess. Cyno is hurt in a way few others can notice (only Cyrus, Tighnari, and Kaveh, but none of them are there), but Alhaitham does, and it makes him furious at the Akademiya. Cyno hates Alhaitham's plan to rescue Nahida because it's dangerous. If it goes wrong, Alhaitham will be on the front line, but they both know the role they have to play. (Alhaitham refuses to hide behind Cyno again. Let him protect his brother for once.)

It's only after all is said and done, as they sit among their friends at Nilou's party, that everybody figures out that they're brothers. Nahida drops the information casually, mentioning, "you and your brother," to Cyno. The general consensus is, "You're WHAT?!"

Alhaitham and Cyno, unconcerned and speaking in exasperated unison, "We're adopted." 

[twilightstarr-zinnia]

Had the thought that since Cyrus was friends with Alhaitham's parents, he would have adopted him after they died if his grandmother hadn't. Still, Cyrus was there whenever his grandmother needed help with anything. He also offered support to Alhaitham after her death, but was pretty much ignored.

Years later, Cyno and Alhaitham are queerplatonic partners, and Cyrus is like, aha, this makes you my son in law. You cannot escape my paternal energy now.

[bloody-bee-tea]

Tiny Bee~k 2023 Day 6 - Ammunition

Surely, it’s Cyno’s birthday somewhere already, right?

Alhaitham is loath to admit it, but ever since he took up the position as Acting Grand Sage something between him and Cyno has changed. Alhaitham never thought himself the kind of person who cares what other people think about him but it’s been five days since Cyno looked him into the eyes and even longer since he was alone with him in the same office.

And it’s just not right.

They were on the best way of being friends—or something more if Alhaitham ever dared to hope—and now it feels as if Alhaitham doesn’t know Cyno at all.

He can’t say that he’s a fan of it at all.

Cyno is too professional to let whatever it is that’s bothering him impact their work, but it does grate on Alhaitham that he seems to hesitate whenever he steps into Alhaitham’s office and more than once Alhaitham watches him turn around and walk back out immediately when no one else was present only for Cyno to come back minutes later with someone else in tow.

As if Alhaitham would attack him. As if Cyno isn’t strong enough to stop whatever he thinks Alhaitham could do to him.

Alhaitham watches this two more days, hoping that maybe Cyno will snap out of whatever kind of mindset he has found himself in, but when he continues to avoid Alhaitham’s eyes, when he continues to avoid being alone with Alhaitham, he decides that he has to do something.

This is not viable in the long-run, not if they are supposed to bring change to Sumeru, and in all honesty Alhaitham has to admit that he’s not a fan of how much this distrust hurts him.

A confrontation is in order, Alhaitham thinks and only barely feels bad about forcing the issue. He still makes sure that someone else is in the office, if only to bring the faintest peace of mind to Cyno but it doesn’t seem to do much, especially when he motions for the secretary to close the door.

Cyno tenses as soon as he hears it and Alhaitham doesn’t like to see the barely concealed fear in his eyes.

“What is going on?” Cyno demands to know and Alhaitham sees how he flexes his hand as if he’s just barely holding back from summoning his spear.

“Why don’t you tell me?” Alhaitham gives back and leans back in his chair, refusing to take his eyes off Cyno, who does his utmost best to not meet his eyes. “Something has changed and I want you to explain to me what it is.”

“Not even asking, Acting Grand Sage? Are we at the stage of demands yet?”

Cyno’s voice is so scathing that it honestly takes Alhaitham aback. 

“Cyno, what is going on? Have I done something to attract your ire?”

It looks as if Cyno just barely manages to stop himself from sneering at Alhaitham but he can still detect that underlying frantic energy, as if Cyno expects an ambush at any moment now.

Cyno is afraid of him and Alhaitham doesn’t like it.

“Does it have something to do with my position?” Alhaitham hazards a guess and while he usually is so very smug when he hits the nail on the head the flinch Cyno gives at that makes his stomach drop.

“I don’t understand, Acting Grand Sage,” Cyno stiffly gives back and that’s something else Alhaitham has noticed. 

Cyno never refers to him by his name anymore. It’s always Acting Grand Sage these days and Alhaitham doesn’t like the distance it puts between them. 

Alhaitham thinks maybe he could look past all of this; he’s the last person to begrudge someone some work ethic, but since Alhaitham took up his position Cyno hasn’t been to their weekly dinner dates with Kaveh and Tighnari either, at least if he knows that Alhaitham is coming.

Kaveh has mentioned to Alhaitham that Cyno does show up when Alhaitham stays home and that is just too much.

“I think you do,” Alhaitham says and pins Cyno with a glare. “You’re avoiding me, at work and outside of it. Why?”

“I share with you what needs sharing, so I don’t know what you are talking about,” Cyno explains and Alhaitham fights the urge to push a hand through his hair. And maybe even give it a good tug.

“That’s not it, Cyno, and you know it. You haven’t looked me in the eyes even once since you stepped into this office. If my secretary weren’t here, I’m sure you would have fled by now. Help me understand.”

Cyno stays quiet, clearly not inclined to explain anything at all, but he also doesn’t leave and it gives Alhaitham a chance to muster him. Cyno seems tense, as if he’s going off into a fight and he holds himself stiff and rigid. Alhaitham thinks about all the things Cyno never says in this office, thinks about how carefully Cyno enounces every one of his words as if he wants to prevent any kind of misunderstanding and then he thinks of a book, detailing all of the General Mahamatra’s steps and quirks.

“It’s this position, isn’t it?” Alhaitham guesses, his voice barely above a whisper and it’s a testament to Cyno’s ears that he even hears him at all.

“Power corrupts, even the best,” is all Cyno says to that and at least it’s some kind of explanation. 

It doesn’t make sense to Alhaitham because he’s the Acting Grand Sage and he’ll leave this position behind as soon as he possibly can, but it’s at least a start.

“I see. Thank you for seeing me today, General Mahamatra,” he formally says and avoids his eyes when Cyno flinches again before he practically flees the office.

Alhaitham turns his gaze outside the window, thinking about everything he learned just now and wonders what kind of explanation that was. He is reasonably sure that he hasn’t changed a lot since he took up this position; he tries to stick to his convictions and do the best for Sumeru. He doesn’t understand where Cyno sees the corruption but then again, maybe he can’t. 

His mind wanders back to the file the previous Grand Sage kept on Cyno and he knows there’s only one person besides Cyno who can explain this to him.

It’s time Alhaitham goes to visit Cyrus.

~*~*~

Alhaitham has been knocking on Cyrus’s door for the last five minutes and at this point he has half a mind simply kicking the door in. He knows Cyrus is home because he doesn’t even try to hide the fact and Alhaitham distantly wonders if this is some kind of endurance test.

He seems to be right when he knocks again and finally gets a response.

“For the love of all the Seven, take a hint and leave me the hell alone,” Cyrus yells out and Alhaitham sighs.

He guesses the reports of Cyrus being eccentric don’t come from nothing.

“I’m here about Cyno,” Alhaitham gives back, believing that this is the only thing that will get Cyrus to open the door and he’s proven right when he yanks it open not even ten seconds later.

“Is he hurt?” Cyrus demands to know before he seems to realize just who is standing in front of him. “Acting Grand Sage Alhaitham. Things must be dire indeed, then,” he mutters, clearly worried so Alhaitham is quick to reassure him that Cyno is in no present danger.

“He is alright, doing paperwork in his office right now,” he tells him and he knows because he made sure that Cyno is occupied before he made his way to the Bimarstan.

“What do you want with me, then?” 

“I had hoped you might shed some light on a few of his recent behaviours for me.”

Cyrus narrows his eyes at Alhaitham.

“I know you’re supposed to be smart and from Haravatat and all of that so have you tried to talk to him?”

“I have indeed,” Alhaitham gives back and decides not to comment on the faint insult. He wants something from this man, after all. “He’s evasive and not very forthcoming with information. I’m sure you know how he can be.”

“I do, indeed,” Cyrus gives back and musters Alhaitham for a moment longer. “Fine, come in, then.”

“Thank you, Professor Cyrus,” Alhaitham politely says as he follows the man into his house.

“I am no longer teaching.”

“Ah, but that doesn’t stop one from being a professor, does it?” Alhaitham gives back because he knows damn well that Spantamad students still flock to him to ask questions whenever he ventures into the Akademiya.

“Fair,” Cyrus admits as he sits down on the couch. “Now tell me what is going on with Cyno.”

Alhaitham guesses the pleasantries are over and so he briefly outlines Cyno’s behaviour over the last few weeks and relays the conversation they had that prompted him to come here.

“I fail to see your confusion,” Cyrus says when Alhaitham falls silent. “He already told you. Power corrupts. And you are not stupid enough to not have come to your own correct conclusion. It’s because of the position you have now. I don’t know what more insight I could possibly give you on this.”

“But it makes no sense.” Alhaitham lets out a frustrated sigh. “I have demonstrated my commitment to Lord Kusanali and the General Mahamatra. It’s honestly insulting that Cyno could think I would harm him or this nation.”

“Surely you know the last Grand Sage’s position on the General Mahamatra?” Cyrus asks and Alhaitham remembers Azar’s disdain for Cyno with a shudder.

“Of course I do. I have seen the record they kept on him,” he gives back but Cyrus shakes his head.

“But clearly you don't know how bad it was. You never paid attention to him when you were still the Scribe. And Azar wasn't stupid enough to have everything recorded through the official channels.”

“What do you mean?” Alhaitham asks though he is sure that he’s not going to like the answer.

“What you saw are the ‘official’ records. Azar argued that it’s only sensible to keep records of everyone of prominence in Sumeru, therefore no one batted an eye at Cyno’s record. But there’s a second one. I’m sure by now you’ve found the hidden room in his office?”

Alhaitham had to wonder just how deeply involved Cyrus used to be with Azar to know about that room and it must show on his face because Cyrus laughs at him.

“Azar took me there when he first told me about Cyno. I guess he had hopes for me.”

“That you didn’t fulfil?”

“I took Cyno in as my adopted son and did not perform the experiments Azar so desperately wished for. Make an educated guess on how high he held me in his regards afterwards. I am sure there’s a record about me somewhere in that room as well.”

“There’s–another record about Cyno there?” Alhaitham asks and just the thought of what Azar might have written down, what he deems inappropriate for the public, makes his stomach churn.

“I would guess so. Things weren’t going well between Azar and Cyno. Cyno was being hindered at his work at every turn, and that was only on the good days. On the bad days he was met with outright hostility and threats. He didn’t come by his vigilance and sometimes plain out paranoia by having an easy time at work.”

Alhaitham had–clearly foolishly–believed that it was due to Cyno’s inherent nature that he was perfectly suited for the job as General Mahamatra. It never crossed his mind that that might not be the case.

“So it’s nothing against my person or what I did. It simply has to do with the position as Grand Sage, however temporary it might be.”

“You seem relieved,” Cyrus notes and Alhaitham is surprised to find that he is.

“I consider him my friend,” Alhaitham tells him, even though it feels as if that hardly explains everything. Going by the way too knowing glint in Cyrus’s eyes he knows it, too.

“Sure you do. Well, he hasn’t mentioned you much, he’s a very private person, that one, but he trusts you. I know at least that much.”

At that, Alhaitham scoffs. It’s clear to see just how much Cyno does not trust him; it’s in every twitch of his fingers when he enters Alhaitham’s office and when his eyes shift away from Alhaitham as if he can’t even bear to look at him, that hardly speaks of trust either.

“He does,” Cyrus says, clearly interpreting Alhaitham’s thoughts correctly. “He reports directly to Lord Kusanali now, right? He doesn’t have to report to you, not anymore. The fact that he is even trying—he wants to trust you and he’s doing everything he can but with his history—” Cyrus trails off here.

Alhaitham has to admit that it brings another new facet of this into light because he had never considered it like that. But what Cyrus says is true. Cyno no longer has to report to Alhaitham; sure it makes some things easier if Alhaitham hears about them directly but strictly speaking, Cyno only has to inform Lord Kusanali. What she does with the information then is out of Cyno’s hand.

But still, Cyno finds himself in Alhaitham’s office once a day, dutifully giving a report.

Alhaitham feels warm at the thought.

“Thank you for your insight. I will make sure to find that book you mentioned.”

“Yeah, you should make sure to check it out,” Cyrus says and then pauses in that characteristic manner that Cyno has, waiting for one of his jokes to hit. Alhaitham sighs inwardly. “You know? Check it out? Like a book in a library, because your office is located in the House of Daena.”

“I can clearly see the influence you had on Cyno,” Alhaitham deadpans and Cyrus only gives him a big grin.

“Don’t even pretend, you like it—and him—or you wouldn’t be here.”

Alhaitham can’t even deny it so he simply nods at Cyrus, who immediately goes serious again.

“If you truly do like him, then you should consider resigning. Cyno might be trying his hardest for you but years of abuse and constant distrust don’t evaporate over night. I’m not sure if he will ever manage to see past your position.”

“The Acting part of the title is not just for show,” Alhaitham informs him. “I fully intend to resign as soon as someone suitable is found.”

“Be prepared for him to be wary until that happens,” Cyrus advises him. “And now get out of here.”

“Thank you for your insight,” Alhaitham politely says again but Cyrus only waves him off.

“Yeah, yeah. You youngins never grow out of needing the help of your elders.”

“And that’s why you’re still a professor and always will be.” Cyrus offended huff is more than amusing to Alhaitham but he leaves before Cyrus can say something else.

He gave Alhaitham a lot to think about but one thing is clear: he’ll have to earn Cyno’s trust for as long as he’s the Acting Grand Sage, and Alhaitham knows exactly who can help him with that.

~*~*~

Alhaitham waits until Cyno is done giving his report, before he speaks.

“Cyno, I’d like to talk to you alone, if that is alright with you.”

He sees Cyno freeze up, sees how his eyes dart around the room and it pains Alhaitham to put him into that position but this is something best discussed in private. The secretaries are already noisy enough as it is.

“Sure,” Cyno says, his voice forcibly calm, but his clenched hands belie his tension.

“Thank you,” Alhaitham says and then louder “Everyone out!”

It takes everyone a minute to scramble out of the office but finally they are left alone. Cyno’s tension clearly rose a few notches in that time because it looks as if he’s shaking with barely suppressed nerves and not for the first time does Alhaitham wonder what horrible things Azar inflicted on Cyno to make him react that way.

“I found this in one of Azar’s secret stashes,” Alhaitham says as he puts a thin ledger on the table.

He only leaved through it to make sure that it is the one about Cyno, but didn’t dare to pay closer attention. This belongs to Cyno and as long as he doesn’t want to tell Alhaitham about it he doesn’t need to know.

Cyno goes white when he sees the book so he clearly knows what it is.

“You read it.”

It’s not a question, which makes Alhaitham doubt if Cyno does even have any trust at all in him but he pushes that thought away. The book clearly makes Cyno more emotional than he normally is and he’s not acting rationally.

“I didn’t,” Alhaitham firmly gives back. “I wouldn’t.”

Cyno looks at him doubtfully for a moment before he finally steps forward to take the book.

“I’m going to destroy it,” he says, disgust on his face as he leaves through the pages and Alhaitham nods.

“Do with it what you want. This though,” he says and slides a second ledger across the table, “you should keep.”

“What is this?” Cyno asks, narrowing his eyes at Alhaitham before they suddenly go wide in shock. “Is this—are you keeping a record as well?”

“No,” Alhaitham is quick to reassure him. “That is not about you. It’s about me.”

“About you,” Cyno mutters and finally picks the book up, quickly scanning the contents.

Alhaitham can tell the exact moment he understands what he’s holding because his face goes slack with surprise.

“What is this? Why would you give me this—ammunition against you?”

“It’s to reassure you. Everything that could ever tempt me into abusing my power is in there. If you should ever think that I am no longer acting according to the rules or that I no longer have Sumeru’s best interest in mind then you have enough evidence there to bring justice to me.”

“Why would you—” Cyno trails off, his eyes scanning the pages again.

“Because you don’t trust me. And I find that I don’t like that.” Alhaitham pauses and then decides to be honest. “Actually, I hate it. So I went to Lord Kusanali and had her read my mind. You’ll find that she signed this. And as the first page clearly states, you have my blanket permission to have her read my mind again, should you or she deem it necessary.”

“Alhaitham, this is not—” Cyno cuts himself off before he says something that’s clearly not true. “I want to trust you,” he then admits, his voice almost a whisper and Alhaitham nods.

“I know,” he reassures him. “And until I step back from this position, I hope this can give you at least some peace of mind.”

“You’re stepping back?”

“I handed my resignation to Lord Kusanali. As soon as someone is found both you and her deem capable enough, I will step back. I have no desire to stay Acting Grand Sage a moment longer than I absolutely have to. I know my word will hardly reassure you, but it’s the truth.”

“And hence this ledger,” Cyno mutters, leaving through it again.

He gets stuck on the last page and Alhaitham sighs.

“Lord Kusanali left a message for you. I didn’t read it.”

He read through the rest of the book, of course; most things that could tempt him, he knew about himself. A few were a surprise though and not something Alhaitham would have expected, though on deeper introspection they were of course completely correct.

Alhaitham hadn’t looked into the letter Nahida left for Cyno, but he can guess what it says. He had thought it already, after all.

Cyno opens the letter to read it and Alhaitham can tell that his hunch is correct by the way Cyno blushes. At least now he has confirmation that their Lord likes to meddle in these things.

“You didn’t read it?” Cyno asks once he’s done, hastily packing it away.

“I didn’t,” Alhaitham confirms. “Though of course I can guess to its contents. Those are my thoughts after all.”

“I didn’t know you think of me that way.”

Cyno shuffles on his feet, though now it’s clearly no longer out of nervousness, which is definitely preferable to before.

“It felt futile to mention it, seeing how things were going between us,” Alhaitham shrugs. “I am not resigning because of you, make no mistake there. I am simply not a person who wishes to be in power. But,” and here Alhaitham can’t help but to give Cyno a little smile, “I might be forcing the issue so that we can return to what we had before I took this position.”

“And then go from there?” Cyno guesses and he doesn’t seem half as opposed as Alhaitham had feared.

“If you wish.”

“I—want to. I’ve been trying. I know I can trust you, and I did before all of this, you’re right about this. But this position—what Azar did—”

“I understand,” Alhaitham says and then concedes when Cyno levels him with a look. “I am trying to understand,” Alhaitham corrects himself. “I know it must have been hard for you, especially the last year and while I don’t know the depths of it, it’s clear it affected you deeply. I almost want to apologize for taking on this position at all,” he admits and Cyno huffs.

“Someone needs to be in this position and for now you are the best choice. I want to apologize too, for not having better control of myself and driving you to do this.” He lifts the book in explanation and Alhaitham sighs.

“Cyno, if I weren’t in love with you, I wouldn’t have considered doing this. It’s not you who drove me to do this; it was my own, selfish wish to put you at ease, if even a little bit.”

Cyno seems completely caught off guard by the admission even though it has clearly already been stated in Nahida’s letter and it takes him a moment to get himself back under control.

“I want to try; I have been trying. And with this it should be better, but I can’t—” he cuts himself off, clearly frustrated with himself and Alhaitham nods, even though his heart hurts.

“I understand.”

Alhaitham had steeled himself for the possibility of this; it was the most likely outcome, after all. Hearing Cyno rejecting him like this though—it still hurt.

“No, I’m not saying no! It’s just—” Cyno takes a deep breath. “I can’t do dinner yet, not even together with Kaveh and Tighnari. That’s too—personal and I can’t allow you to be so close while you’re still in this position.”

Alhaitham has half a mind making the track to Gandharva Ville himself, to shake Azar until all the horrible things he did to Cyno come tumbling out before he gets the punishment he truly deserves but instead of doing that he takes a deep breath and forces himself to stay seated where he is.

“I want to try at work, though,” Cyno finally goes on and Alhaitham’s attention snaps back to him. “No more avoiding you and I won’t insist on having other people present.”

“That sounds acceptable,” Alhaitham agrees, though it still leaves him a little confused.

He can’t quite make out if this is a rejection of his feelings or not.

“And once you are back to being the Scribe we can try the other things.”

“Other things,” Alhaitham repeats, not quite understanding what Cyno means.

“Dinner. Dates.”

“Do not hand me any kinds of dried fruits,” Alhaitham says, almost on reflex, and it’s rewarded with a surprised, little smile on Cyno’s face.

“We will see about that,” Cyno teases him but then he grows serious once more. “But yes, Alhaitham, I want to try. I find myself with feelings for you as well.”

Cyno seems uncharacteristically shy as he says it and it makes a warm soft feeling spread in Alhaitham’s chest.

“Then lets hope we find someone suitable soon, so I can leave this dreaded chair behind me,” Alhaitham says and is rewarded with another smile.

“That sounds like a plan.”

[cluescorner]

OH MY FUCKING GOD CYRUS AND CYNO HAVE THE SAME SENSE OF HUMOR IM GOING TO CRY

Best question: Did Cyno get it from Cyrus? Or did Cyno tell so many bad jokes that Cyrus decided that he needed to be supportive of his son and so HE started telling them? I think it’s option one, but option two is so fucking funny. You adopt this traumatized kid who is housing a spirit within his body and it’s very fucking bad, but that dumbass kid starts making the worst jokes you’ve ever heard with more confidence than you’ve ever heard him speak with before and you just...decide they’re funny now. Because this kid is making them 24/7 and if he thinks you don’t like them he’s probably going to be sad for the rest of your life so now you’re just...stuck making bad jokes and then poorly explaining them for the rest of your life.

[st-rayy]

your general cyno headcanons?

Cyno Head-Canons (in general)

Firstly, sorry this took so long but I wanted to play and inhale all the lore from Lupus Aureus Chapter 2 before I share my Cyno head-canons to not say things that dont make any sense with his lore (or to repeat stuff that his lore already confirmed) Secondly, omg, I never thought somebody would actually request head-canons but I'm happy somebody did. I don't know where to start but :3 Thirdly, I'd like to add that things mentioned here are NOT canon. Head-Canons are what one imagines to be "canon" for a character/series but is not (obviously some head-canons can become reality if it is later confirmed by the creators but that chance is soooo low, so don't see this as anything canon even if most of it might be based on canon in-game events)

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I'll throw some minor and short points at you before I go into detail about some Head-Canons I have... >-<

vvv

Cyno's a complete workaholic and nobody can stop him

Cyrus and Cyno act like "Student and Professor" when in public but they call each other "Dad/Father" and "Son" in private

When Cyno is stressed out he'd chew on his nails or pull on the skin of his lips without even noticing

He can swim, but he dislikes water if it's too deep for him to stand in safely

Cyno, at least once in his life, encouraged Collei to do something plainly stupid

If he fears something, it's Tighnari's or Cyrus' wrath

If he ever ecountered the deepest emotional low ever, he'd cut off his hair to cope with it

He's a calm drunk: If he's drunk, he's completely quiet, just minds his own business and gets really sleepy

Taj is like an uncle to him; when Taj had died, it hit Cyno harder than one would think and he cried in his room and at Taj's grave on ungodly hours so nobody would see

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Now, I present to you things I think about at 3AM when I can't sleep:

Cyno is Collei's father figure / adoptive father Cyno adopted Collei at some point, in my opinion. He takes care of her, visits her and I'm sure she means a lot to him as well. For everybody that hasn't read the official Genshin Impact Manga: Cyno was the one to seal the Archon Residue in Collei and took her to Sumeru so she could fullfil her dream to cure Eleazar. They also have a lot in common and I think Cyno sees a younger version of himself in Collei and he's so proud of her to see her grow and live her life.

Cyno was bullied as a kid Knowing that Cyno grew up in the Academiya after Cyrus took him in and that scholars don't think all too good about people from the desert, I think Cyno received a lot of mean comments during his time as a scholar. Canonically, the matra are also not treated kindly by the scholars, but since Cyno is an adult now and seemingly unbothered, even fancies what the scholars say, he just learnt how to deal with the comments...

Lisa and Candace are "big sister" figures to Cyno Cyno and Lisa seem to be very close, especially with their connection to Cyrus. I like to think that Cyno sees Lisa as his older sister and she also sees him as her younger brother, mostly taken from how they interact with each other in the official Genshin Impact Manga, Lisa trusts him and Cyrus from the Academiya the most. Candace meanwhile just acts overly sisterly towards him, she worries about him, looks after him and scolds him if he does something reckless. They just give off "big sister-young brother" vibes from how they've behaved around each other during the Sumeru Archon Quest and the Lupus Aureus Acts.

Cyno has Lichtenberg Scars on his arms If you don't know what Lichtenberg Scars are: Those scars are inflicted by lightening strikes and look like tree branches. Hermanubis himself also had Electro powers or powers that inflicted lightening, therefore I also think that this applies to both Cyno and Sethos

Childhood Trauma This is the point where I bring up the things Collei and Cyno have in common. Both were sold or given away to somebody by their parents; Collei was given away to the Fatui and Cyno was sold to the Temple of Silence as vessle. They've both been used for experiments and most likely endured painful experiences + they were severly sick in their childhood as Collei suffered from Eleazar and it's symptoms while Cyno suffered headaches, fevers and probably some minor injuries he can't remember. As Cyno said himself that not everybody could probably endure what he and Sethos had to go through, I believe he meant both physical and mental pain which explains why he lost so much memory from the time at the Temple - it was his mind, perhaps even Hermanubis, protecting Cyno from the upleasant and traumatic events he endured during that time (that is called "dissociative amnesia"). I also believe that little Cyno (and Sethos) must've been terrified during that time and it mustve been hard for older Cyno still, probably even after Cyrus took him to the academiya.

Cynari (Cyno x Tighnari, yes, the ship, skip this if you want <3) Inhales - I don't think I need to explain that canonically speaking Cyno and Tighnari have multiple times described themselves as their best friends. No, you dont have to like the ship and nor do you have to agree with the ship since it is NOT CANON, hoyoverse can't and won't put any same sex romantic relationships or general romantic relationships between playable characters into their games anyway for obvious reasons, the most they will do is hint at them like they do with Xingqiu and Chongyun or Ningguang and Beidou (the characters are written that way to leave us imagining, not to confirm anything). However, I'd like to think that they are in a loving relationship because of their chemistry and that both act as Collei's parents (Dads). I know this means nothing, but the way they worry for each other, care for each other, act towards each other and think about each other simply fuels my brain with "Look at those two idiots being in love".

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Honestly, I just wrote my mind because general head-canons take up a lot of my mind and I feel the need to explain myself so people understand what I mean or where I'm coming from ;-; So, sorry for the wall of text, ehe.....

ERM!!! I'm free to discuss things in the replies or dms if you want!!

[isnt-it-pretty]

Awwww! Especially if Cyno was still a child or teenager when it happened.

Big sister Nahida who is very protective of Cyno despite being even shorter than him. Cyrus and his two tiny children, who are exponentially more powerful than him but who he would still tear the world apart for.

@isnt-it-pretty thanks for making me realize the joys of parent cyrus, so what do you think of him adopting Nahida too?

What if sometime after adopting Cyno, Cyrus was appointed as a Sage (maybe a plot by some of the other sages to see if they could get custody of Cyno by placing a bigger target on Cyrus back?)

Anyway, the plan backfired spectacularly, because Cyrus would never give up on protecting his kid. And he also found out about Nahida's imprisonment.

Long story short, he managed to work alongside the matra (Taj) and the corps of thirty and other eremites to dethrone the Sages.

Now he is Cyrus, Acting Grand Sage, father of two extremely powerful kids. Nahida and Cyno are siblings, with Taj as their uncle.

[the-man-with-many-faces]

Hey, the internet is an interesting place, isn't it? The epitome of the good, the bad and the ugly.

Whats up! I'm Surya!

(This is an OC ask blog. Surya's 15 and a sumeru character, 5 star, and a pyro vision)

(Now for the backstory of how I created him. I'm a decently prominent user on hoyolab with 300+ followers (idk how) and somehow became a huge part of this online friend group that made a lot of genshin ocs and ship content and I love them so so much)

(so naturally I created a ship child of my own. Surya's the adopted son of Layla and Nilou (a rarepair I enjoy shipping) and I created a backstory and voicelines for him and everything)

(a lot of things are still in development and I encourage any and all interactions! But there are some guidlines)

(1. don't be toxic

2. Any ships are allowed but if something makes me uncomfortable (like I said Surya's fifteen (and I am a minor) so I won't respond to anything NSFW and anything that makes me uncomfortable in general)

3. May not respond to DMs.

AND THATS ALL

SILLINESS IS ENCOURAGED :)

Now for the voicelines!

Hello - Well, if it isn’t the all powerful nomad himself! I’m Surya, the adoptive son of the genius Rtawahist student Layla and Nilou, the greatest dancer of all of Teyvat! I’m not one for brute violence, but if you need someone for acting tips and psychological warfare, I’m your guy! 

More about Surya (Part 1): You want to know my secret to acting? Heh, many people had asked me that exact same thing before… of course I haven’t told them anything. They’d use my context against me. But I’d have no problem telling you, travelers - Why? Because you’d have no use for it, of course. Even with as much as I trust you, I have suspicions that you would use anything you could to get what you wanted. I don’t even mean it as a bad thing. In fact, I rather admire you for it…

About Surya - Part II-

Heh, you’re not going to stop pestering me about this are you? Fine, fine. I’ll quit stalling. The reason I’m so good in acting is that the people who act a role are always told to know a character. When they play their part they always seem so related to a character. Their mothers, fathers, siblings, best friend, lover… but never the characters themselves. As an analogy, obviously. They convey the personality of a character fairly well so that it’s easier for the audience to distinguish between the characters and what makes them significant in the plot. These actors even understand the character’s lives, their struggle, their relationships… but its not enough. It’s NEVER enough. You need to BE the characters. No… no… EVEN THATS NOT ENOUGH! You need to become the very god who would have created and controlled every aspect of the character as if he existed in this very world! Heh, must''ve sounded a little off my rocker there, but no true artist has a right state of mind. I was always rather interested in psycology as a child, before I even got into acting. Even the slightest twitch of a muscle can speak volumes of a person, traveller.

More about Surya 3: Studies - Guhhh, I wish I took something OTHER than Spantamad for the Akademiya. There’s just so much to memorize! And I HATE HATE HATE memorizing! Maybe I should just get a split nocturnal personality myself that would do all my homework for me. But seriously, if I didn’t convince former grand sage Professor Cyrus to tutor me, I’d have been kicked out YEARS ago.

Chat: Lore and legends - Mythology is interesting, but it’s not my thing. Why bother or ponder something that may or may not be real? I mean, I can understand why people care and enjoy it, but it’s a pointless concept to me. It doesn’t even affect us and our lives!

Chat: Good and evil - How many people have you met on your travels so far at this point traveler? About hundreds? Vision bearers like us must’ve been the ones who’ve made an impact (a genshin impact) the most on you. Out of curiosity, have you ever met someone with absolutely pure intentions, or intentions for purely satirical joy? Heh, of course few of the only people with pure intentions were my parents. I do love them so. 

I’ve heard you had multiple encounters with the Fatui? Must’ve met a few of the Harbingers yourself with all the trouble you’ve caused, heh. Do you think they do the things they do out of purely evil purposes? Il Dottore? Okay, that’s fair enough, you’ve got me there.

Chat: Knowledge and wisdom - According to what I’ve studied in the Akademiya, the definition of knowledge is the fact or condition of knowing something with familiarity gained through experience or association. But our beloved lesser lord Kusanali is known as the archon of knowledge and wisdom. She was locked away when the Akademiya was corrupted by the former sages for a long time, wasn’t she? And got most of the wisdom she knows today by taking all of the dreams of the citizens of Sumeru. If so, if she hasn’t experienced things herself firsthand. So, can we really call her the archon of knowledge? I’m probably looking into this too much, amn’t I? Phew, sorry.

When it rains: Ahhh, the rain feels nice on my skin! I almost wanna burst into song and dance!

When thunder strikes: Agh! That sounds like a gunshot!….oh thank god. It's just thunder.

When it snows: It's pretty cold…hope my fingers don’t freeze and break off my hand.

When the sun is out: Whew, now it’s pretty hot! 

In the desert: The sun..is so hot….I’m gonna melt into a puddle in my shoes…AAAHHHH SCARABS!

Good morning: Do you have any sweets by any chance? I need some sugar to fully wake up now.

Good afternoon: The perfect time for multiple cups of Chai! And maybe psych people out just for fun, hehe.

Good night: Have a good rest, traveler. I’m just going to stay up a bit to study if you don’t mind.

About Surya: Psychology - Psychology is something I got into when I noticed amma’s nocturnal personality when I was a lot younger. Oh, sorry! I meant to say Layla, didn’t mean to confuse you there. I was curious about why she acted that way, was it out of free will or was it a mental disorder of some sort? Not that it was a bad thing, it was the only reason she managed to even complete some of her assignments in the first place! It’s something I apply to real life and my acting almost everyday. How do I do it? Tag along and maybe I can teach you.

About Surya: Morality (unlocked after Caeleste solem et lunam - Act 1) - Sigh, look traveler, I’m….aware the things I’ve done in the past were far from pardonable. But even then, you still helped me at my lowest point. Sometimes I get so into acting like someone else that I completely forget who I am and who I’m supposed to be. Hopefully my journey to find myself will help me realize who I really am.

About us: Mutual relations - Hey, um, about my moms….take care of them for me, alright? They’re definitely the strongest people I know, but I can’t help but worry for them, haha. 

About us: Unwinding - Genius Invocation time, haha! Who knows, maybe you’ll actually beat me! I do enjoy moments like these, where we don’t need to think about anything else other than the cards in our hands! 

Have I ever played against the General Mahamatra? I feel like he’d get too competitive and ruin the purpose of the game for me. And I’m…pretty sure he hates me.

About the vision - My pyro vision really adds that little ‘razzle dazzle’ to my performances! I kinda wish I got an electro one instead, but I’m not complaining! I’m not complaining.

Something to share - Y’know, the only reason why Professor Cyrus is tutoring me now is because I promised to analyze his rival Zaha Hadi’s cropping style for tomatoes! So he could get one up on her, hehe. It’s a little strange, but I desperately need the help.

About Layla - She along with Nilou had taken me in when I was just a baby! She was still studying in the Akademiya back then, so it was hard for her to balance all the work, but they somehow managed! And ‘other Layla’ is as much of a parental figure as normal Layla is, but they are definitely different in styles of….everything. Between her and Nilou, she’s the more logical one. I’ve got some math skills from her too! I don’t understand why she needs to work so hard, she’s one of the smartest people I know. Hahhh, such is the Akademiya. Making sure evry single cell in your body has knowledge.

About Nilou - Nilou was the more empathetic parent. I could talk to her about just anything in the world, and even if she doesn’t agree with me, she always tries her best to understand my point of view. People don’t usually realize how hard it could be to represent something that wasn’t connected to knowledge in the nation of wisdom, but she has managed to make a name for herself despite oppression from the Akademiya when it was corrupted. I hope I will be able to make her proud once I make a name for myself.

About Cyno - He…he isn’t here is he?! He kinda hates me. And by kinda, I mean REALLY hates me. The former General Mahamatra huh? He’s the person I have the hardest time figuring out. What gave him the determination to execute his idea of justice? Who says that it's even right? Granted, there really is no right or wrong, but you know what I mean, traveler. And the biggest question of all, how are he and the head forest ranger even as close as they are? It’s rather unlikely if you ask me. And I lied. The biggest question of all is why he tells those horrendous jokes of his?! If they’re told with the intention of making people feel more at ease around him, it's obviously not working. 

I told him my opinion personally at one point, and he forced me to sit down to listen to five of his best jokes. The man is terrifying, I’ll give him that.

About Wanderer - Wanderer? Who the hell is he….hat guy? Oh, Hat guy! The weird Inazuma exchange student! He’s in the Vahumuna darshan. He keeps to himself a lot, other than with that Akademiya errand boy he always eats lunch with. When I asked him about where in Inazuma he’s from, he got really defensive and told me to back off. Seems like he doesn’t want to talk about home. Homesickness, or wanting to get away from past memories there? 

About Tighnari - Hm, there’s nothing really strange about him. He’s mostly normal, and definitely one of the better research scientists I’ve seen. Definitely more ethical, as far as I’m concerned. Got quite the sharp tongue however, that’s certain. That’s gonna get him in a lot of trouble one day……what do you mean I better not let Cyno hear me say this?

Surya’s hobbies - I don’t even need to answer that question, do i? Acting and TCG!

Surya’s troubles - I’ve been told by many, MANY people that I’m way too honest. And a lot of people fear me about how much I observe people and how I know a lot of their secrets just by looking at them. I don’t exactly have many friends…but I don’t really need them. …..I’m glad you’re comfortable enough to hang around me though, traveler.

Favorite food - Do you wanna know a secret traveler? The best biryani….is from WEDDINGS. I’ve more than often found myself sneaking into other people’s weddings just for the biryani. Have I gotten caught? What do you think?

Least favorite food - I ABSOLUTELY DESPISE anything with alcohol. How do people even enjoy that stuff?! It’s bitter and gross. What do you mean wine can be sweet?! You’re lying!

Receiving a gift: 1 - Ah, I see you come bearing gifts!

Receiving a gift: 2 - Hmmm, not bad. I can work with this!

Receiving a gift: 3 - …….don’t take this personally but this is the most **** ***** **** ******* I’ve ever seen.

Birthday - TRAVELER! I heard it was your BIRTHDAY!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUUUUUUU..I’m kidding I’m not gonna sing, for now at least. May your birthday be full of good food, fun times with friends and happy memories! Here, I made a card for you! It’s nothing much…but I worked really hard on it! I heard you were still looking for your sibling. I’ve been inquiring about them when I’m not too busy. I do hope you end up finding them one day.

Feelings about ascension: Intro - Yeah! We’ve got the power!

Feelings about ascension: Building up - C’mon, no point stopping now!

Feelings about ascension: Climax - We’re almost there! It’s nearly showtime!

Feelings about ascension: Conclusion - You knew this was coming for a long time….I JUST WANNA BE PART OF YOUR SYMPHONYYYY.

Damn thats a lot

and last but not least

ART!!

THIS IS BY @punchesyou literally picasso reincarnated go follow her RN

I made this on picsrew (he looks 5 :( )

Ugly ahhh drawing by me :(

and that's it!

I'll be posting voicelines everyday cause I know y'all might not have time to read them all

love ya pookies! <3 )

[intogenshin]

Does it make sense: Lisa's letter to Cyrus

Genshin's writing doesn't seem interested in the logics behind their storylines on purpose, seeing how they put Fontaine in altitude to follow the imagery of fountains even though they knew the archon quest revolved around a flood —it would have made sense to put Fontaine in a hole instead, would have been logical for a flood to happen. But they didn't care, which is why we ended up with this

Which is to say, they dgaf about logic as long as they get to tell the story they want however they want it. And that's fine, we don't need to care either, but we do end up with a final product that we have to put together and fill in the holes for our own sake, if we so wish to.

Regardless of the author intentions, we can choose to make interpretations that give some sense to these questionable writing choices. Maybe the flood is upwards and in a block of water for a reason that makes sense in-universe, y'know, maybe primordial sea just work like that (after all what we saw had a weird shape too)

I'm not implying this is planned by the writers, cus I don't know, but interpreting the canon to shape up a more coherent story is valid as a fan is all.

So I know the writers of the game don't care much to match the story to the comic that was released earlier (and already had mistakes or unfinished designs) but there's still a story I need to put together for a character I like. Right.

These are the relevant events in the timeline I want to discuss:

Cyrus never discussed Cyno's past with him

Cyno remembered or researched enough to figure out most of it on his own (the proof: he commissioned his helmet, which is worn by Temple of Silence priests)

Lisa and Cyno discussed his past openly in Windblume

Lisa sends a letter to her professor about Collei's situation in the comic

In the comic, the knights find documentation in possession of the Fatui related to the incident of Crepus' death. Among the papers, Collei finds one about the experiments performed on her, but it's written in an ancient language.

Jean asks Lisa for help, but she can't read it either and sends the letter to her professor.

It is a bit weird that she's sending a request for Cyrus, the sage of Spantamad and not Haravatat, for an ancient language. I know this was supposed to establish her connection to Cyno when he shows up later instead of their professor, but that's not what we're doing here right now.

Lisa sent this letter about documents in an ancient language (that Cyno knows but Lisa, the Akademiya's best student in 200 years, doesn't) that depicted experiments to put archon residue (the remains of a god) within a child, she sent this letter to her professor who years before had taken part in experiments to put the fragment of a god in a child which he stole and brought into the city and then refused to tell anyone about it. She sent this letter to this man, and we know from Windblume that Lisa indeed does know about Cyno's past, so it makes sense that she asked for help with Collei's situation.

So the options are:

Cyrus told Lisa and Lisa told Cyno

Cyrus told Lisa, Cyno found out on his own and then shared it with Lisa who already knew

Cyno told Lisa, Cyrus never said a word

With 1 and 2, Lisa was told by Cyrus about Cyno's past and addressing the letter to him makes sense. With 3, Cyrus would still be avoiding the subject and it would be funny if she sent this to him, he probably had a heart attack thinking it was extortion from the Temple of Silence for a second.

Cyno doesn't resent him at all, he's only grateful, and Lisa doesn't seem to think anything bad about him either, so it's not likely she would send the letter to him with second intentions. Unless they found it funny.

From Windblume event:

Lisa: I suppose you're something of a mentor to her, aren't you? Now that I think about it, the two of you aren't so dissimilar. The power of Hermanubis once brought you great suffering. 

Cyno: That's all in the past now. Besides, Professor thankfully didn't treat me like a test subject for the priest's power like the higher-ups had hoped, even though I was a desert-dweller. 

Cyno: Instead, he gave me the tools I needed to lead the life I have today. He adopted me, educated me, taught me how to fit into society... I am very grateful to him. 

Lisa: You are very gifted, and sometimes that can become its own curse. But he has reason to be grateful to you, too — without you as his son-slash-student, he may never have changed his stubborn ways.

Cyrus had to watch Cyno show up in priest gear at some point, so he had to be aware Cyno knew more than what he was told. It's just something they didn't bring up to each other. (It might sound like something weird not to talk about, but realistically how many of us bring up pain that our parents or caretakers inflicted on us to them.. people usually just prioritize the relationship with their parents)

So Cyrus knows Cyno knows, he might assume Cyno has shared this information with Lisa as well. But Cyrus doesn't talk about it openly, so how did Cyno show up in Mondstadt in the comic?

The letter was for Cyrus, he awkwardly asked Cyno to handle it and made funny excuses about it in order not to address the issue directly

The letter was secretly for Cyno, Lisa just said it was for her professor

The letter was for Cyrus, but Cyno accidentally saw it and took the matter into his own hands

The letter was for Cyrus, but Cyno intercepted it because he spies his mail

Spying his mail honestly makes sense with the events of Cyno's sq 2 lol also maybe Cyno just spies his stuff to look for answers about his past. Maybe Cyrus just allows it because he knows it's fair. But also making something up on the spot sounds more like Cyrus.

Or maybe Cyrus always talked about Cyno's past with both, he just was vague about it, and none of this matters

From Windblume event:

Lisa: Oh dear, looks like you've seen right through me. But I was in no hurry. I knew we'd see each other sooner or later. 

Cyno: Yes. It's just as Professor Cyrus said — shared aspirations always have a way of bringing people into each other's orbit. 

Lisa: Hehe, he always has such a poetic way of wording things. I suppose that's the one respect in which I've taken after him, while in your case... 

Lisa: Yes, it's his wit and eccentricities that have left their mark on you. 

Cyno: Hmm. I'm not sure that describes me very aptly these days, given that I'm now the General Mahamatra. Still, if we're going to talk about ways with words, I think my deadpan humor is far superior than our professor's.

[primordialized]

( lee soohyuk, transmasc, he/him ) — amongst the faces lining the staff portrait wall, you recognize SION LEE, the thirty-five year old professor within the school. having spent five years as a member of the verum staff, students say that they’re reminiscent of warm calloused hands stained black with gunpowder and iron / an empty grave sitting upon the top of a hill overlooking the sea, abandoned but not forgotten / fluttering pages of an opened children storybook in the wind, covered in debris and stained with blood, never completed / burning the midnight oil searching for answers within stacks of books until the pitch black sky breaks into sepia-toned dawn. their unwavering and conscientious temperament brings color to these halls, but be warned, you may also find them to be taciturn and disillusioned. regardless, hopefully they’ll remain when it’s time for verum to open its doors again.

PROFILE.

FULL NAME Yohan Lim Sion Lee AGE thirty-five BIRTH DATE december 27th, 897 GENDER & PRONOUNS transmasculine & he/him ORIENTATION ace-spec RELATIONSHIP STATUS married

KHEMIA transmutation, specializing in weaponry engineering OCCUPATION professor of metallurgy @ verum academy CURRENT RESIDENCE cynefin, clwyd-isle

PARENTS Minkyu Lim (father, deceased); Eunmi Hwang (mother, deceased) SIBLINGS Siyeon Lim (younger sister, deceased) PARTNER Cyrus Mihalis (husband, alive) CHILDREN Ahri Lee (daughter, alive); Yuri Lee (daughter, alive)

HEIGHT 185 cm / 6’0’’ WEIGHT 70 kg / 154 lbs BUILD healthy, muscular and tall DISTINGUISHING MARKS small scars all over his hands, burn scar coiling around his left arm, standard lobe piercings, an upper lobe piercing on left ear

POSITIVES paternal, incisive, wistful NEUTRALS candid, persevering, realistic NEGATIVES reticent, self-sacrificial, dependent ASTROLOGICAL SIGN capricorn sun, cancer moon, virgo rising ENNEAGRAM the defender MBTI ISTP MORAL ALIGNMENT chaotic neutral TEMPERAMENT choleric-melancholic

FACECLAIM Lee Soohyuk CHARACTER INSPO Secretive Plotter (Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint), Alhaitham (Genshin Impact), Winry Rockbell (Fullmetal Alchemist), Kitagawa Yusuke (Persona 5)

SUMMARY.

his name is sion lee. thirty-five years of age. a professor of metallurgy at verum academy. if not caught teaching, he can usually be found in his own office buried nose-deep in a book about metallurgy or the human anatomy, or in the lab jotting down calculations upon the already full chalkboard. if you still can’t find him by the time the clock strikes 5 pm, try again tomorrow because he had already headed home to his husband and daughters. something to keep in mind, though; he doesn’t care for geniuses or prodigies—only hard work. joined verum as a part of the faculty five years ago despite having never studied there, though he claims to have been taught by a former professor as their apprentice. strangely enough he avoids anything relating to weaponry and would rather utilize his skills for communal purposes like engineering. most people only remembered him as the stranger who wandered into cynefin seven years ago, muttering gibberish about death and the sea before the local priest rescued and nursed him back to health. upon first glance might seem standoffish due to his quiet and intimidating exterior, but is actually helpful if you ask him. always looks deep in thought that one might think he is reflecting something beyond the grand scheme of things (spoiler: he’s thinking about going home already because he misses his family). can be quite blunt, but only because he thinks holding back on things will cause problems later. always jumps to the worst case scenario so he won’t ever be taken by surprise, and will not hesitate to state his less-than-hopeful view on the subject out loud even if it means lowering the morale of the group. also fiercely protective of those he considers as “his”.

BACKSTORY.

born as yohan lim in a city by the borders of clywd-isle, to a family full of scholars. father was a skilled healer, known for his community service and humanitarian acts. mother was an engineer employed by the town hall to help with local development. they both met during their education in verum. grandmother is a self-taught healer herself.

when the conflict first arrived at their hometown, it first took his parents with them, then his grandmother not long after. yohan was forced to become the sole caretaker of his then infant sister, siyeon, alongside an orphan that his grandmother took in few years prior named cyrus.

their survival mostly relied on moving from city to city, with yohan utilizing his bare minimum knowledge of transmutation to work odd jobs here and there. they lived on the streets or abandoned houses or even shelters and orphanages as they couldn’t afford rent. the only constant thing in his life was siyeon and cyrus, so yohan held onto them with everything he’s got, even if it means he had to work until the palm of his hands or the soles of his feet are bloody.

at eighteen, it was cyrus who got taken away from him, and yohan was then recruited by the military. the soldier had told him that it was an experimental program to create soldiers that can also produce weapons in the events of a war, spearheaded by a former professor hailing from verum. as they were promised food and shelter in the military, yohan agreed to join.

yohan himself became the professor’s apprentice, who claimed to have also taught his mother during her studies in verum. aside from khemia training, he was made to participate in standard military training such as survival skills and combat. his mentor deemed it necessary in order for yohan to understand how his weapons will be used in real battle situations.

ten years later he finds himself in talcelin, a prominent member of his ranks due to his skills and achievements. yet even then the sight of the battlefield still causes dread and guilt to keep him awake at night, especially knowing that his creations has caused innocent children like them to suffer. chose to turn a blind eye for his sister’s sake.

ironically enough, it was siyeon who begged him to leave the military with her after finding out the true nature of yohan’s job, which prompted his mentor to eventually assassinate her. clueless at first, yohan turned his grief into hatred for the enemy and continued his work, even participating actively as a soldier at battle. it wasn’t until his mentor got drunk and confessed to orchestrating siyeon’s death that yohan finally murdered the professor before escaping the military.

which finally brought him to cynefin after months of wandering aimlessly, looking for a sea to set siyeon’s belongings free before taking his own life, only to find a still alive cyrus instead. finding a reason to keep living once again, yohan chose to settle down with the younger man and form a family with the arrival of their twin daughters. hence the year 925 marked the death of yohan lim and the beginning of sion lee.

WANTED CONNECTIONS.

someone from his military days. maybe you were dispatched together once, or maybe you two only known each other from afar. either way sion isn’t very pleased to see a walking reminder of his old life… but maybe that’s exactly what he needs.

neighbors in cynefin. “you scratch my back and i’ll scratch yours” type of arrangement? you ask for help with mechanical/building related stuff and in return he receives a constant supply of pastries and homecooked meals? or they simply just enjoy each other’s company? or maybe the opposite; you can’t sleep because he kept tinkering with his husband’s prosthetics at night.

fellow professors in verum. the quiet ones who doesn’t mind his company while reading. the cheerful/easygoing ones that became his closest work friend. the ones that probably thought he standoffish until they interacted.

fellow staff in verum. librarians who had to keep reminding him to return the books he borrowed to the point of going on first-name basis. infirmary staffs who had to deal with his chemical burns during experiments. security who has to deal with his failed experiments.

students. those who genuinely like him. those who just wants a good grade. those who had always been considered as the rotten eggs but he thought has potential.

and more!! these are the ones i could recall at the top of my head atm so i’m most definitely open to discuss plots, etc. actually if you ever come up with something for our muse out of the blue just throw it at me bc i will love u for it.

[the-fifth-rascal]

ALSO THE CYNARI CONTENT WAS AMAZING

AND I FREAKING LOVE SETHOS MAN

But the best part

was Cyrus and Naphis' interactions

(Its not the best part but i actually love it too)

I'm not allowed to play Genshin until march next year, so I streamed Cyno's story quest two out of impulse

[whiskyarts]

FUCK who’s the Death teacher I think they were brothers and bald and emos together

Genshin npc lore has a lot going on, it’s terrifying, you can never hope to learn all the stupid lore

Malistare Drake, Cyrus' brother, was the death teacher! But after going crazy mad over his dead wife he destroyed the school grounds and went to take over the spiral, but his old assistant, Dworgyn, took over as the new death professor! With Malorn Ashthorn, another death student, as his apprentice (because Dworgyn is literally older than dirt, I'm surprised he hasn't keeled over yet). Then again, Alhazred is still kicking and he can barely stand up even with a cane. No wonder the balance school is underground. A strong gust of wind would actually kill that guy.

Time for wizard101 NPC lore

[isnt-it-pretty]

please only read this if you finished cyno’s story quest!

I absolutely loved the story quest and cyno’s dynamic with everyone else but cyrus left me a bit disappointed… not in his character overall but in his actions. he had good intentions but took cyno away from his origins, denied him answers when cyno asked (cyno said he asked many times about hermanubis and the temple and cyrus always avoided answering him) and since cyno suffered under hermanubis it would’ve been his right to know where it stems from since he couldn’t recall… cyrus probably did it to protect him but he cut cyno off from his culture and people. Bamoun and cyrus owe cyno and sethos a lot in my honest opinion and cyrus still kept avoiding answering cyno at the end of his quest (cyno even calls this out) which just shows me he didn’t learn anything at all from the events.

he also had the option to try and reach out to cyno’s biological parents because they might’ve given him away to provide a better life for him (but I have to say as a middle easterner I’m tired of this poor parents give their children away etc etc narrative we had the same with collei)

cyrus also didn’t feel responsible enough for sethos after taking everything away from him or even leaving him behind back then even he knew it’s bad for him.

cyno and sethos both suffered under the actions of cyrus and bamoun and deserve so so much better cyno is a perfect example of ethnic children being taken in by white people and having their cultures and roots taken away from them. not to mention we know that cyno did maybe have a better life in the akademiya but he was still surveilled and treated like a lab rat and discriminated and isolated until he met tighnari

sorry for this little rant. I still appreciate everything cyrus did for cyno but I think this is also an important part of his very flawed character and ideals. in the end of the quest it even felt like he was manipulating cyno by showing him the photos which he “miraculously” found again showing him “look who raised and took you in”

Sorry I just saw this! First, please never apologize for sending me long asks, I love them! Also congratulations anon, I successfully had to log onto tumblr on my PC to type out this response lol. This is... very long, longer than your ask. I'm so sorry, this is the first post I've made with my thoughts on the quest, so it's going to be a bit of a ramble in return and probably not totally coherent.

Okay, so, full disclosure, I am super white. I mean I look like Barbie sort of white. That means that I don't think I can have any constructive input on the trope (arguably cliché) of middle eastern and BIPOC+Asian characters giving away (or selling, in Cyno's case) their children, so I will definitely defer to your discomfort with the concept. It's definitely a pervasive trope (see: Collei, Dehya, Cyno) and not just in Genshin Impact. It's something that is absolutely worth bringing up and thinking about, and I bet most people didn't even consider it, so thank you for voicing it as something you've noticed! Because of this, I don't feel comfortable talking about whether or not Cyrus should have looked for Cyno's parents, because it's very wrapped up in the narrative vs the damage of the trope, which has a lot to dissect and would be better done by somebody more educated.

As for the quest, I think I've gotta split this into two parts to have my thoughts make sense. God this is so long.

-

First, as a basis, the whole thing with Hermanubis is actually so fucked up from the start even before we can get to Cyrus and Cyno. I mean Hermanubis was an advisor to King Deshret, right? (Also that was two-thousand years ago, but he only died five-hundred years ago? Did I misunderstand that? Was he immortal? The timeline in this game could use an entirely different post because between Cyno and the Hearth kids it makes zero sense, but ANYWAYS-). Presumably, having witnessed this, Hermanubis knows the danger of Forbidden Knowledge and fucking with things that should not be fucked with.

After the fall of Tulaytullah, the Temple of Silence moved to the rain forest but left due to corruption, right? So you'd think they would have agreed on the basic Cardinal Sins of the Akademiya. But now, four hundred years later, the Temple of Silence's attempt to ressurect Hermanubis breaks at least one of those sins (tampering with life and death), and arguably two more (interfering with human evolution and/or attempting the forbidden and fearing none.) I really can't imagine Hermanubis would be happy with their actions. This is like the Akademiya trying to ressurect Rukkadevata (and boy do I have a fic I want to write that digs into those parallels of Cyno and Nahida.)

The very basis for the experiment they did on Sethos and Cyno is so unethical and corrupt. This killed adults so they thought, hey! It's not going to kill the children, right? Lets do it on them despite the negative effects (headaches and fevers). Bamoun's children even volunteered Sethos, which, again, is so fucked up.

Narratively, the quest didn't focus on this at all. It was never framed as something negative or messed up like you'd think it would be? I imagine it's because they didn't want to paint Bamoun and Cyrus as bad people or Sethos as indoctrinated. (What's interesting to me is how differently some situation are treated vs others in different quests. Arguably, Wriothesley, Arlecchino, and Cyno have parts in common that are condemned to totally different extents depending on the character, but that could be it's own post too).

We can talk about Cyrus taking Cyno and whether or not that was a good decision (removing children from their culture is never a good thing but we'll get to that) but we also can't really get into it without first talking about how the entire thing was absolutely horrid and wrong from the start. We're starting the conversation about Cyrus from a remarkably low place.

Okay, onto Cyrus and the quest. I actually think it's okay that Cyrus is a flawed character. We already knew he was super strict when he was teaching Lisa and Cyno, and we knew he was into some unethical shit since we already knew he was part of the experiments on Cyno, albeit not to this extent. (Also Naphis knows all about this so what does that say about him? All the Sages are so sus, but, I mean, isn't that just government?)

Here's the thick of it. Was Cyrus taking Cyno to the rain forest a good decision? I don't know. We just don't know enough about why he left and took Cyno. The quest didn't frame the action one way or the other, nor did it give the reasons he left or Bamoun didn't go after him.

There's generally three ways to frame this. 1. Cyrus was a saviour for taking Cyno from an abusive environment. 2. Cyrus was awful and stole Cyno's power for himself. I don't think either of these make sense, since in either case, I think Bamoun would have gone after them. I think most likely is 3. There were conflicting needs.

The one I'm leaning towards right now is that The Temple of Silence was desperate and willing to push harder than they should, even if it was going to harm the children, so as an outsider with a different perspective and more objectivity, Cyrus stopped the experiment. He knew Sethos wasn't at risk of being harmed nearly as much as Cyno because Sethos had a family there already looking out for him. Cyno didn't. People care less about a child who isn't part of their community vs one who is. So he took the child who was far more likely to be harmed, and left. Taking Sethos would have been even worse than just taking Cyno, imo, since it would be taking Sethos away from his family, whereas Cyno was already taken from his family. Bamoun realized the same thing in hindsight, which is why he let Cyrus and Cyno go. But again, that's just a headcanon about what happened.

As for the rest of the problem. While as previously mentioned, I'm very white, I'm also Canadian (I promise this is relevant). A bit of Canadian history here for those who might not know, Canada once had something called Residential Schools. These were boarding school for indigenous children who were forcibly taken from their parents to be "educated." There was a lot of abuses in them and I cannot over represent the amount of damage it has done to the indigenous peoples of Canada and the country as a whole, but the main reason I bring it up here is because of the way the government tried to kill indigenous culture through their children. While I don't think this was Cyrus' intent at all, it is a real world example very close to my heart of the damage it does to children to be cut off from their cultures. We see it in fostering and adopting children as well. Indigenous foster children are best kept with indigenous foster families when at all possible. Foster parents are told to try their best to keep their foster children connected to their cultures in the home but that isn't always achieved, nor is there always even an effort made. Mixed race families often practice both cultures with their children because know how important it is.

The fact that Cyno was completely cut off from the desert is wrong, and it would have been very difficult for him to face the discrimination for being a race that he has no cultural connection to. It's something Cyrus absolutely should have done more about. I mean The Corps of Thirty are eremites even if they aren't from the desert! Cyrus could have reached out to them on Cyno's behalf to introduce him to people who share cultural aspects (young!Dehya and Cyno friendship anyone?). He could have taken Cyno to Aaru Village (young Candace and Cyno friendship?) or at least spent time in Caravan Ribat. The only reasons I can think he didn't is because he was trying to keep Cyno away from the Temple of Silence out of fear they'd come after him (well intentioned but still harmful), he didn't think about it (obliviously harmful), he didn't have the time (willfully neglectful).

Cyrus also absolutely should have told Cyno about The Temple of Silence and Hermanubis, especially when he got a little older (although I'm for raising children with that sort of knowledge. Secrets only hurt later). Assume best intentions, he was pprobably trying to protect Cyno, maybe because he wanted Cyno to find his own path instead of the one the Temple of Silence laid out for him, but I still think that was a mistake to keep it a secret.

Cyrus is a very flawed person, but so are a lot of parents. That doesn't mean that his actions were right or justified, but it does make him an interesting character. It also makes his relationship with Cyno interesting. Canonically, Cyno isn't angry. He's already struggled and come to terms with who he is and what his power means, but I still think he and Cyrus need to sit down and have a long conversation. Cyno deserves answers about Cyrus' motives and decisions and they need to talk about Cyrus trying to protect Cyno vs Cyno not needing that protection, ways Cyrus should have acted differently, etc. I'd love to see somebody explore it; it would be interesting to see since it's definitely overdue, but I don't think I could do it justice.

I don't think it's wrong of Cyno to forgive Cyrus. We as the outside observer can say, "whoa, that's fucked up," but I don't think Cyno is necessarily wrong in how he feels. Like I said, he's already dealt with a lot of this already and is remarkably resilient. I think the hardest part of all this for Cyno would probably be Sethos, because that's definitely going to be a ton of messy emotions, but that doesn't have to reflect on Cyrus. It could, of course, and if somebody wanted to write Cyno as being angry and fracturing their relationship, that would be a valid way to go, but like, idk, I know a lot of people who made really bad decisions when raising their kids, and their kids still forgave them. Not always, and being a parent doesn't mean somebody deserves forgiveness for their mistakes, but I think it shows how resilient Cyno is that he bounces back from this so well. It shows his strength in his how convictions and beliefs, which is really interesting when compared to characters like Sethos and Kaeya (and man are there a lot of similarities between Cyno and Kaeya).

I also don't think finding those photos was intended to be Cyrus manipulating Cyno, but I can see how it feels that way. Since the quest was about Cyno, it felt like a nice narrative way to tie it together by reflecting on Cyno's childhood with Cyrus, but I think it really depends on how you view the entire situation and whether you think Cyrus should have taken Cyno. It's definitely a valid take and something that's okay to feel uncomfortable about.

This is where people might disagree with me, but Cyno grew up loved. He had a lot of challenges and Cyrus made a lot of mistakes, and love doesn't fix how fucked up it all is (lots of adopted kids are loved and still hurt by not having a connection to their culture), but Cyno has already accepted all of this and ultimately, he has forgiven Cyrus for his mistakes. I think that's what the photos were trying to depict.

To me, the entire quest does a very good job of using Cyno and Sethos as foils of each other. They're both paying for the decisions of the people who raised them, and neither are right or wrong, just different. It shows Cyno's growth as a person vs Sethos who hasn't yet found his way. It shows that neither Cyrus or Bamuon made the right decisions, nor were they evil people. They were doing the best they could at the time, and they both fucked up, and now it's up to Sethos and Cyno to figure it out, but they both still love their family despite whatever mistakes were made.

I hope this rambling essay length response is satisfying lol

[twilightstarr-zinnia]

Throughout the day, he jotted down gift ideas, and was satisfied with the list he had by the time he left the Akademiya. There was only one problem--an item Alhaitham didn’t know the precise name of, nor where he could buy it, if it could even be found on this side of the Wall of Samiel. 

And that was what led him to a certain house at the quiet northeastern end of the city. With some reluctance, Alhaitham knocked, reminding himself that the conversation ought to be brief. 

“Ah, Alhaitham! I thought I might see you sooner or later. Here for some sage advice?” Cyrus beamed, thinking himself hilarious, with none of the deadpan charm his son possessed.

[seduced-by-a-fictional-character]

Famillial F/O's

Maternal Figures

Bouddica [FGO]

Irisviel [Fate Series]

Paternal Figures

Lancelot [FGO]

Auntie Figures

Beni-Enma [FGO]

Pearl [Steven Universe]

Uncle Figures

Moriarty [FGO]

Iskandar [Fate Zero]

Cyrus [Genshin Impact]

Professor Kukui [Pokémon Sun]

Kabu [Pokémon Sword]

Grandparent Figures

Mozus Trein [Twisted Wonderland]

First Hassan [FGO]

Sibling Figures

Hau [Pokémon Sun]

Ortho and Idia Shroud [Twisted Wonderland]

Cousin Figures

g

In-laws

Diluc Ragnvindr

Fankids

Morgan [FEA]

*Names bolded are literal family rather then a found family dynamic

*Names that are italicized are more of a loose connection