#also zhongchi but like yeah

[ghostdoctor]

Midoriya, offhandedly: yeah I’ve really been into genshin lately 

monoma: fucking incel. 

also monoma, 5 minutes later: where do I buy a genshin impact cosplay. 

[pwurrz]

what was childe even in liyue to do like. other than be zhongli’s sugar daddy

[moonlightdoesgenshin]

Zhongchi angst is nice and all but have you considered

Them just being partners

Ajax not being used to unconditional love, because everyone in his past who has "loved" him has used him in one way or another, and Zhongli slowly helping him understand that he loves him no matter what, that he deserves comfort after his nightmares and gifts on his birthday, that he's worth more then his brute strength.

Zhongli having a rough day on the anniversary of Guizhong's death but trying to hide it, not wanting Ajax to see him like that, but Ajax breaking down his walls and making sure he knows that it's ok to be down, to grieve, to still not be "over it" no matter how long it's been. That yes, being stuck in the past is unhealthy, but so is forcing yourself to not think about it.

Their relationship is messy and complicated, yeah, but it also has the ability to be beautiful and loving.

I want more healthy relationship Zhongchi fics, damnit</3

(If anyone has fic recs pls gimme I need them)

[trashcanwithsprinkles]

I have come up with a question.

Who I'd your favorite Genshin character and why?

By reading your fics I can't tell if it's zhongli or childe.

zhongli by leaps and bounds actually

i do love childe don't get me wrong; i just love zhongli far more

as for why, i wouldn't know how to word it in a way that wouldn't take me any less than writing CN took me LMAO the reason why you might think childe is up there among my favorites (he is, he's just not as close to the top as you might think) i'd assume is probably because of the fics, yes? but the thing about the fics is while i've already mentioned i'm not exactly projecting onto childe nor, god forbid, using him as a self-insert for the author – i am more or less of the opinion that the way childe would love zhongli in a story would more often than not align quite well with the way i myself love zhongli as a character. (which is why i find bgtea's eoos and jouicifer's npc so interesting) so like- the reason why childe is usually the main pov character for my zhongchi fics is because i get to write how much i love zhongli as a concept via the lens of a character who would also love him in a similar fashion; only i also get to spice it up with childe's own character quirks, bc i think he's fascinating as well, just in a different direction. that might be why i've yet to write a zhongli pov zhongchi: not as easy to write about how much i love the character's concept if he himself is the pov, and i feel like zhongli's way of loving childe as a concept wouldn't be able to fill a fic the same way it does the other way around. not that he doesn't love him! i just haven't figured out how to write that pov for that long yet. if you're curious, i'd have to say my current favorites list goes kind of like this: zhongli way ahead of all the others, then wriothesley and neuvillette around the same realm, then navia, then kuki, then baizhu, then childe, and then like- in no particular order, furina, clorinde, diluc, jean, qiqi, xiao, xingqiu, chongyun, beidou, fischl, thoma, ayato, layla, yanfei, yaoyao, dehya, shenhe and most of the others. also to the side there'd be alhaitham, separate from the list, bc i love him but i also detest him in a particular way. i guess pity him is a better word, watching how the fandom treats him feels like taking physical dmg. if you're thinking of a particular artist like an outlier you're probably wrong, but i'm not going to point fingers bc why would i do that. (i do have a handful of characters i dislike but in the spirit of not being an asshole i'm just not going to list them)

anyway- yeah that's pretty much it;; maybe one day i'll make a zhongli pov zhongchi and it'd be a bit clearer what i mean by that, but you know me, i don't control the inspiration ToT

[localplaguenurse]

Hello friend from the country of maples. I have come asking for headcanons for the pants man because it is almost 4am and he is living in my brain rent free.

I would like to blame Hamilton the musical because I googled the difference between “My dearest Angelica,” and “My dearest, Angelica” and at first i thought “huh Morax would do this to wifey” and then a little throwaway like from a ZhongChi fanfic made me realize Pantalone would ALSO do this to his beloved and as the musical goes “consumed my waking days”

Oh my god Al Haitham would do this too.

Guess I’m not sleeping

Headcanons for pants? Headcanons for pants?

I love you, also go to bed pls.

Because you didn't specify what kind of headcanons I'm just gonna throw down whatever I got off the top of my head rn that I didn't include in the health headcanons. Also just fyi I flip flop between certain headcanons mostly because there isn't enough info about him at this very moment, so it's kinda like "what flavour of pants do I crave today?"

ANYWAYS pants time

For a while I headcanoned him as like 27-28 at the absolute youngest because the limited information we have about him gave me young hotshot entrepreneur "thirty under 30" vibes.

Like I can so clearly in a modern AU see his face plastered all over magazines about this young man who worked his ass off to go from rags to riches. (I'm thinking about Bruce Wayne in the opening from Arkham City. "It's billionaire, Vicki. Millionaires are so last year.")

He is unrecognizable from his youth counterpart today. He was this scrawny child, hair matted and tangled and perpetually dirty. Always had some bruises and cuts and scrapes, crooked teeth, the works. With all the money in his pocket, he's been able to afford top of the line medical care, dental treatments, expensive luxury soaps and shampoos, and only the finest of clothing. It's astounding but also horrifying to see how different the two are.

It's not necessarily his favourite food but his comfort foods are whatever super cheap fresh hot meals he could get his hands on. He still thinks back to the very first actually expensive meal he bought with his own money every now and again.

He would never admit this, of course. They'd all laugh at him if they found out he enjoyed peasant meals.

On occasion, though, he will remake one of these really cheap meals for a midnight snack.

He's not a bad cook, it's just all the meals he knows how to make are less about flavour and more about practicality/edibility. That said, though, he knows how to make a meal made from like five ingredients not only last for quite a while, but also taste really good.

Sugar daddy material, he would love nothing more than to spoil his darling rotten, HOWEVER he is not interested in someone only dating him for his money. He wants someone who will let him pamper them, but will also be there in the event everything falls apart and he once again has nothing.

Constantly has to remind everyone that the Northland Bank is SEPERATE from the Fatui. He needs everyone to know that the success of the bank is not because of the Fatui, it's because of him. Vice versa, while the bank's success may have gotten the attention of the Fatui, him becoming a harbinger is because he worked his ass off to get that position.

There is no information on his family or if he even has one, but you know how Lucio from The Arcana has that portrait of his mother all dressed up in regal attire, despite the fact he was raised in a tribe? I think Pantalone would have a bunch of portraits of his family all over his manor(s) sort of like that.

If he ever has kids, he would be so torn between spoiling them because he certainly has the money to do that, but he also cannot stand the snobby little brats of his business partners and does not want his children acting like that.

This is just really random but for some reason All Hail the Fishmen from Lisa The Painful gives me pants vibes and I cannot explain why

And... Yeah! That's it rn, unless you wanna hear about my oc/pants' knife wife Xue, or you have specific headcanons in mind.

[leviathansbiggestkinnie]

Genshin ships I hate strongly dislike (except I think I forgot some)

NO HATE TO ANYONE AJVEUGUWHW7EMWUVEUG

1. Yaeyato

I hate Yaeyato with my entire being

Also Candii (me) x Ayato is so much better /jj

2. Eimiko

Yeah

Aroace Yae and Ei >>>

3. Zhongchi

I just can't I'm sorry

4. Xiaoven

No

5. Arlefuri

NO

6. Neuvifuri

They look too much alike 😭😭

People always draw Furina like a child in Neuvifuri fanart

The shippers in general make me mad

7. Kaeluc

THEY'RE BROTHERS

8. Zhongxiao or whatever the fuck the ship name is

Why does this even exist

[tartigglez]

Childe 💛 :)

"ten-twenty"

・❥・HELLO THIS IS EIGHT YEARS LATE I AM SORRY I APOLOGISE SOZZLES

・❥・childe x gn!reader

・❥・0.6k

・❥・childe is, kinda a bitch? idk? i don't like the way i wrote him? uhhh, reader bopped into the fatui, zhongli gets a lil cameo bc why tf not (NO ZHONGCHI, NO.), banter? kinda crack, literally just d a n g e r ??? this is very hard to summarise, mention of injury, also for no apparent reason this feels very similar to this.

childe x 💛

the chasm had a horrid air. it was humid, but cold somehow, and you were -for lack of a better term- petrified. 

curse this risk-taking boyfriend of yours, first he’s convincing you, a liyuean, to join the fatui, and now he’s taking you somewhere every person in liyue is told not to go practically from the moment they are born!

“i hate you, seriously” you whispered at him, holding on to his arm for dear life, clinging like a barnacle to one of the boats in the harbour. 

“no you don’t” he giggled, “listen, now that you’re in training, you gotta learn to cope with scary things. besides, i’m right here, y’know nothing that bad can happen with mighty harbinger number eleven by your side!” 

you reach up to his head, as if about to pull him in for a kiss, before your hand travels further than expected to his forehead, landing a flick fair in the middle of it. 

“HEY!” he exclaimed, rubbing over the afflicted area with his fingertips “i need that forehead for my backup modelling career!” 

“modelling career my butt, you can’t sit still for more than three seconds!” you glare at him, and he simply gazed back, an exaggerated pout presenting itself on his lips, looking like a lost puppy.

“don’t make that face at me chil-” he placed his fingertips over your lips, an interruption. his face was suddenly serious, eyebrows furrowed. “did you hear that?” he asked, removing his hand from your face, and you froze in place. he had keen senses, meaning that if he heard something, there was almost definitely something there. 

then you heard it too. a loud, mechanical noise, you thought it might’ve been a ruin guard at first, which would have been easy enough for you to take out, but no. it was something bigger, because the ground began to shake beneath the pair of you. 

“run! go!” he shouted to you, pointing to a passageway the two of you had previously travelled. 

“but-” 

“GO!" he announced, “i’ll find you when i know it’s safe” 

left with no choice, you darted for the passage, hoping he would be following behind. you were scared, so much more scared than when you came in.

after a couple of minutes of running, you found a small concave in the side of the tunnel. you collapsed down to the ground, attempting to catch your breath, damp air filling your lungs, almost more than the fear did. shortly after you heard footsteps, praying to rex lapis it was ajax. 

heavy breathing danced its way into your ears, puffs that could not be mistaken for anyone other than him. he was walking with a moderate pace, eyes searching for you. you gripped onto a rock nearby, pulling yourself to walk back out to the passage, meeting his stumbling figure, now hunched over. he wasn’t visibly injured, just looked tired.

“chi! are you okay?” you asked, placing your hands on his shoulders. he looked up, removing tousled auburn hair out of his eyes. 

“yeah, of course i'm okay!” he smiled brightly, a complete change of expression feigning his exhaustion.

“are you hurt? you crazy idiot! you have no sense of danger!” you searched him up and down for any sign of a scrape or cut as you berated him. “aren’t you afraid?”

“no, of course i’m not scared, but if you are, you can hold my hand” he wiggled his eyebrows at you, giggling.

you grip him by the shoulders once again, “be serious for a minute. did you fight?” you asked, the concern in your voice reaching a peak point. 

“no, i didn’t, but we should get out of here, if you’re really worried” he said, gripping your hand before continuing his route up the tunnel, but you stopped him, stepping in his way you wrap your arms around his waist, and bury your head in his chest.

“don’t do that again, idiot”

“i won’t, m’sorry” 

taglist: @lioria @celestetalkstoomuch

sfw masterlist

© tartigglez, 2023. do not copy, translate or repost

[soliloquics]

SHIPPING INFO. Answer the following for your muse(s) so people know how shipping works on your blog.

What’s your OTP for your Muse(s)?

i'm going to not yap and keep it to the muses on this blog of course,, in which case it'd be zhongchi, kavetham, wriolette, jingheng and also kind of jingren

What are you willing to RP when it comes to shipping?

i do not do toxic relationships in any shape, no non-con at all, i won't be rping any kind of abuse of any variety and i also don't particularly enjoy break-up rp, i'd rather do that stuff off-screen orz

other than that i'm fully fine with anything from the most mundane slide of life to nsfw

How large does the age gap have to be to make it uncomfortable?

any ages that are past the irl understanding, things in the thousands and such, set aside; no characters under twenty involved in any ships but other than that it fully depends tbh

Are you selective when shipping?

yes and no? i don't like shipping with people who have a million ships for their character and just for the sake of it, i don't like shipping because someone just likes characters or the writers just like writing together; i need ships that have actual chemistry ic that becomes apparent through rp

How far do steamy moments have to go before they’re considered NSFW?

oooof i think it gets sort of suggestive as soon as crotch stuff is involved or the shirts come off? proper nsfw as soon as things wander skin-level below the belt, i'd say.

Who are other muses you ship your muse with?

there's a few ships that i can sort of see, but again, i like to just find chemistry in roleplay, i usually just stick to having one or two ships that i completely hyperfocus on.

Does one have to ask to ship with you?

aaaah i actually find it kinda awkward? i like letting things develop ic, but it's fine if you feel like there's some chemistry and you want to chat to me about it, if it's more comfortable for you!

How often do you like to ship?

if it were up to me i'd write like probably 80% shipping no cap

Are you multiship?

yep yep, always separate verses, no cap on the amount

Are you ship obsessed or ship more-or-less?

definitely ship obsessed yeah. there's a lot of stuff i enjoy writing but i love writing ships the most by a far stretch.

What is your favorite ship in your current fandom?

definitely kavetham and wriolette for genshin and ratiorine for star rail... i am weak, obvious and i bet everyone knows this by now orz

Finally, how does one ship with you?

roleplay! send me stuff, flirt with the muse, whatever you feel like! i really don't like shipping 'dry', with no interactions beforehand. completely plotting things out beforehand is not really my jam

Tagged by: @reflective-muses

Tagging: @agcmbler @kushtibokt @batoushoujo @spurhill @papilio-anima @grislyintentions and literally anyone else TAG ME SO I CAN READ IT IF YOU DO IT.......................

[lunanoc]

Shipper tag game

tagged by @sunriseverse (thank you for tagging! <3)

What ship were you completely obsessed with when you were a teenager, but now you don't care about anymore?

uhh probably sakura/syaoran from cardcaptor sakura? very original i know i continue to be Very Basic. to be fair i was 13 and i’d just discovered what fanfic was so there’s that. now it’s more of a nostalgia thing? they’re cute but yeah not much else

Which ship would you consider your first one?

probably sakura/syaoran or link/zelda from the legend of zelda, again very basic but technically i discovered fandom through zelda forums so

Your first fanfic was about which couple?

still sakura/syaoran, and yes it was terrible because i was still like 13

Do you remember the first couple you saw fanart of?

i honestly have no idea but i’m going to assume it was probably link/zelda just because of the forums (i keep repeating the same two ships over and over rip)

Have you ever gotten into ship discourse?

no. not in a public setting anyway. i tend to keep to the ships i like and steer clear of the ones i don’t, and if for some reason i come across one i don’t like enough times that it starts to annoy me i’ll bitch about it in private because i’m a big believer that occasional bitching with your friend group is healthy, or at the very least while not tagging it/censoring it so it’s not going to end up somewhere the people who do ship it can see it

Did you use to have any NOTP or have one currently?

i don’t think i ever had genuine notps before dmbj really, at most 99% of the time it’s not really what i’d qualify as a notp, more just ships i don’t really care for? but i don’t have any strong feelings about them either way. dmbj fandom is particular for me in the sense certain spaces and people have pushed certain ships onto me enough directly or indirectly i just immediately get annoyed whenever those ships pop up so i avoid them like the plague now. i’m not going to say what they are (even if if you know me you probably have an idea) but they do exist

Who were the couple in the last fanfic you read?

pingxie from dmbj the brainrot is very real 😂 though for lack of food i mostly read chinese language fics these days (reminds me i should also make myself some more food one of these days too)

Currently, do you have any OTPs?

absolutely no one is shocked it is once again pingxie my beloveds who’ve had me in a chokehold for the past two years now atp i am literally here forever help

Is there any couple that, to this day, you are extremely mad about not getting together?

uhhh you know what i was going to say not really but actually. and it’s weird i have such strong feelings about this since i never hardcore shipped them anyway but ichigo/rukia from bleach i just refuse to perceive that is not the endgame

Is there any ship you used to dislike but now you think they are kind of interesting?

not really? if anything the closest i can think of is zhongchi/tartali from genshin that i initially didn’t really understand the appeal of but i got curious and ended up liking it. i’ve drifted away from it now because i don’t really enjoy the genshin fandom in general, and i don’t agree with a lot of the takes on them but that happened i guess

Do you have any ship that, in the past, would've been considered normal but now you would be cancelled over?

honestly i can’t really think of anything besides hopelight from ffxiii? and i guess kaeluc from genshin but i also don’t super actively ship those it’s more of a casual thing. oh wait i thought of this coming back but i kinda vaguely like ardyn/noctis from ffxv also casually but that is definitely cancellable over material oops

What is your favorite crack ship?

i don’t do crack ships really because i’m Very Basic and have zero imagination so i need substance to connect dots 😂

What is the couple you read the most fanfics about?

i can’t tell if this is past or present tense so i’ll just answer both. if it’s purely the amount over time it’s probably a toss up between destiel from spn and soukoku from bsd. if it’s currently what do i read about it’s pingxie

What do most of your ships usually have in common?

this is such a loaded question, weirdly a lot of them start off with differing degrees of antagonistic or challenging/playful relationship going on (on the surface anyway) and it progresses from there, and the care is both intense but not so easily expressed. there are clearly exceptions to this exhibit a: pingxie but those tend to pop up more for some reason. this is not discourse by any means but for example it’s why i preferred klance over sheith and that’s all i’ll say about voltron because that’s a can of worms i refuse to open ever again. what i’m saying is sometimes i wonder why i’m not a heihua person because on paper that’s what i should be and yet here i am with the old married couple 500k slowburn of a ship instead 😂

What you absolutely hate in a ship?

i wasn’t sure about what to put here but @sunriseverse is right, anything that fundamentally changes either of the characters for the sake of the ship or a trope. fanfic by nature is ooc to a degree anyway, but there’s a difference for me between when people make the effort to understand the characters and how they work/would work together, and when they either reduce them to two-dimensional cardboard cutouts for the sake of smashing them together, or make them out to be something they’re not. even more so when it then becomes the Universally Accepted Fanon Characterization

tagging @shaish, @tatchling, @tiesanjiaoshenanigans, @kelly42fox, @thatlittlemouse and uhhh honestly anyone else who wants to do it

[nuttytani]

Celestia's Cruel Thesis

Fandom: Genshin Impact

Pairing: Tartaglia | Childe x Zhongli

Premise: Childe gets isekai'd to a Liyue where Rex Lapis still rules over it.

A/N: I'm cross posting my works from ao3 to tumblr. Also, please check out this beautiful parallel world zhongchi art by @karininogo. This particular art lived rent free in my mind until it compelled me to write a fic about it + this is a multi chapter fic.

Fic is also available on my ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51194101/chapters/129353446

Chapter 1: Door to a new world

“Be careful, young man. I advise you not to accept any form of apparatus that measures time… Ah yes, particularly by someone in white. It will soon be the time for lantern rite after all, best avoid all bad omens at this time of the year,” the old man said weakly.

“That’s one strange superstition! But thanks, Luo Xiansheng, I’ll keep that in mind but I'm pretty sure that I won’t be receiving anything today,” Childe replied, chuckling to himself. The people of Liyue may have been freed from the rule of Adepti, however, their superstitions still remain. 

Oh, if only Childe could turn back time and slap himself, how wrong he was to ignore the wise words of the old man.

.

“Pay your respects! Yanwang Dijun has arrived, bow down to his imperial majesty!”

“Thousands of blessings to our lord!” the crowd yelled in excitement.  

“May you always protect our lands, oh almighty!” 

Sheesh, these people sure love their Archon huh? Childe watched warily, as he stood amongst the sea of Liyuens. He pulled at his white hooded robe closer, it was of Sumerian make, not that it mattered but the cotton was of good quality. Hopefully, his unassuming getup would help keep any suspicious eyes at bay…

When Luo Xiansheng had warned him about receiving gifts related to time and particularly by someone in white– he had not expected Paimon and the Traveller to drop by his office in Northland bank. And he definitely did not foresee them giving him an old hourglass. According to them, they found it in some mysterious domain in Mt. Hulao. 

He really shouldn’t have fiddled with that hourglass, at least not before getting it checked for traps and such. Well, most of the time, he would have done just that except, for some reason, he does– well did trust the Traveller. Though he is sure that it wasn’t her fault, neither did she know the consequences of using the hourglass. 

Ah, Lumine really needs to learn not to get her hands on every random thing she finds in obviously dangerous domains. 

.

Hmph, wretched fate he has. First it was the abyss and now he’s in some strange world where Zhongli– no, Rex Lapis, Morax, still rules over Liyue alongside the Adepti. Great, absolutely lovely! 

But, on a positive note, he isn’t even sure if it’s positive or at this point just… coping. He found out that the majority, if not all, of the people in the harbour were the same from his “world”. Like Iron tongue Tian telling his stories like always, Shitou selling his mine ores, that girl who always feeds the goldfish and Chef Mao, cooking as always alongside Xiangling. But none, not a single one of them recognise him. There is no such person as Tartaglia, Childe in this world. That he is sure of. He also figured that people don’t refer to the Archon as Rex Lapis, but as Yanwang Dijun. 

This Liyue may be similar in certain aspects but still has its differences from the one he’s used to.

Funnily enough, there’s Northland Bank, in its usual place operating like any other day, (which was very strange. Though, what hasn't been strange ever since yesterday?) but he’s too scared to take a peek. What point will it serve looking at his own people, who wouldn’t even know him? As if he can come knocking at their doors and say, “Hey! I’m Number 11 of the Fatui Harbingers, Tartaglia; code name Childe!” 

Super smooth. Yeah right. He’d get immediately kicked out for 1) disrespecting the organisation 2) telling blatant lies. Heck, he isn't even sure if Harbingers exist in this world. Hopefully not, he would loathe to look at his colleagues… probably ex colleagues now. Though he is adamant on that status to be temporary.

.

Childe and the locals have been waiting for a good half an hour now, though people have started cheering now, he wonders when “Yanwang Dijun” would arrive. Talk about punctuality! Standing around and doing nothing has made his appetite worse. He finished off all the grilled tiger fish he bought, and there’s not even an inch of space for him to move to buy a few more because of the crowd. 

Slowly, a single yellow petal landed on his nose– just when he tried to blow it away, another fell on his hair then his shoulder. Now it was raining thousands of petals. 

Before he knew it, the tanggu rang loudly thrice. With a flourish many officials emerged from behind a silken golden embroidered door. They arranged themselves in two orderly lines and bowed their heads like a puppet would.��

The people around him followed suit and bowed as well, while Childe in his confusion just stood there dumbstruck. Until some A-yi grabbed hold of his arm and whispered, “Such blatant rudeness! You may be a foreigner but the least you can do is respect our lord.” 

He quickly lowered his head down and replied to the A-yi in haste, “I’m sorry! Was a bit surprised, I have no ill intent, promise.”

That seemed to be the right answer, as the A-yi smiled back and nodded to herself and pointed discreetly upwards. “Keep your eyes and ears open, for he will be arriving any second now,” she spoke in a hushed tone. 

It was like a fever dream, Yujing Terrace was filled with excited cheers and words of worship but now it was deadly silent, except for the bated breaths of those around him. Childe included. There was something about the presence of divinity that brought about certain feelings– of what? He wasn't sure.

Childe dared to take a peek, and the moment he did, those bright cor lapis eyes looked down on the crowd. For a moment it felt like those very eyes looked directly at him. The same eyes Zhongli had at Northland Bank… While handing over his gnosis. He barely faced Childe during the entire meeting. As if he didn’t even exist. Not a single word from Zhongli even after several days. He felt his reality crumbling. Is this really his life right now? Perhaps this was all just a cruel joke played by the gods or a morbid dream that he needs to wake up from. 

But no, it’s real. 

He tried sleeping it off yesterday, hoping to miraculously wake up in the bed of his apartment. His disappointment was immeasurable when he woke on the steps of Heyu Tea House. Once morning came, he received looks of pity from people passing by. Tea master Liu Siu even gave him a few mora meat. He wasn’t poor by any means in this new Liyue, he still had 3 large pouches of mora on his person, but he definitely wasn’t going to reject free food. 

Number 1 priority for now would be to look for a place to stay. He wasn’t keen on being a bother for other businesses. 

.

“So, how can I talk personally with Rex– uhh…. Yanwang Dijun?” Childe inquired Lao Guai. He has lost count of the number of people he’s spoken to regarding this question. 

The people of Teyvat always say that the Archons and Celestia have the answers and solutions to all mortal problems, so surely, Yanwang Dijun can send him back to his original world? Or at least know a few ways on how to send him back.

“Yes of course but ah.. There is one issue…,” twirling his beard between his fingers, Lao Guai drawled on his words. 

“And that is?” Childe quirked his brow, he has a feeling where this is going. 

“Dear boy, it’s Mora! Obviously.”

.

A heavy pouch was dropped onto Lao Guai's lap. Seemingly satisfied, he started talking. And it was the same beat up words, as if reading from some script. 

Get an appointment from the Qixing. 

The damned wrinkly Lao Guai even dared to say, “the fastest way to personally meet with Yanwang Dijun is by becoming his…. bed warmer.” He waggled his brows and continued, “and if I do say so myself, you would scrub up quite nicely with proper clothes.”

Childe prayed for Raiden Shogun to strike this old fart down with her famed Musou no Hitotachi that very moment. But he really shouldn’t. After all, you should pay respect to your elders. 

“I am being serious, young lad,” Lao Guai added sweetly. 

Maybe except for this particular weirdo. 

.

“No, I cannot let you in,” Baiwen replied in a very exasperated manner. 

“Just a minute, please. I only need to speak with him!” he pleaded, growing increasingly desperate with every word and this damned lady was not making it any easier. The two of them were arguing for a good while now.

Childe was at his breaking point. It had been weeks of trying to schedule appointments with “Yanwang Dijun” but he was turned away with the same excuses each time. 

“His imperial majesty is currently busy.” 

“He’s occupied with another appointment.” 

“The Adepti are meeting with him.” 

“Yanwang Dijun is currently in a deep slumber.”

And they dared to say the last one while he saw the Archon walk lazily out of that overly embellished golden screen door. 

Baiwen grimaced, whatever professional facade she had on was crumpled and you could see the deep furrow between her dark eyebrows,“I simply cannot.” 

“Why not? At least give me a reason, and not one of those same reused excuses,” Childe snapped. He’s not going to back away this time. He’s had enough and today he will meet with Yanwang Dijun. 

Perhaps what he said struck a chord with her, Baiwen was glaring at him with what he assumed… disgust. 

“There is no way I’d let such a suspicious person enter Yiyan Temple. Look at your attire! What on Teyvat are you wearing?” with a huff of disapproval she turned away but not before haughtily adding, “and furthermore, his imperial majesty is an incredibly important and busy person, he has no time to converse with nobodies like you.” 

“Now please, be off before I personally call upon the Millelith and get you removed from these sacred grounds.” 

With a resounding smack, Baiwen closed the heavy auburn wooden door, in front of Childe’s face. The impact caused him to stumble backwards, almost falling to the ground. Did she really smack the door on his face? But more importantly, the entire time, the officials didn’t let him in because he looked like a suspicious person? What? These officials sure sit on their high horse and someone really needs to pull them down. 

“Bastards,” he grumbled under his breath, frustration starting to seep into his mind. For people who act all sweet and nice, they sure knew how to get under someone’s skin. These officials need some training in humility. Heck, even the fatui have better manners than them. 

The “attire” he wore was a loose plain grey cotton inazuman-style outerwear, with a tie lying on the side of his waist with some baggy black pants underneath it. He always wore the white hooded robe on top, to hide his bright hair, otherwise people would keep staring at him. The hooded robe however, didn’t work as well as he’d thought, the locals would steal sneaky glances at him every time he’d pass by. 

“Suspicious my ass, just say it’s because you’re too concerned about status and hierarchy.” He looked menacingly at the door. Childe stepped back, his body slumping in resignation while mumbling, “you could have saved me all the trouble by telling me the truth, from the start.”  

He kicked the ornate door. 

A beat of silence passed. 

He kicked it once more, now with more force. 

Another beat of silence.

“How irritating.” 

Right when he was about to give up, Childe took a glance upwards and saw a lithe hooded figure passing by the long corridor. At first, he thought it was just another official, but he saw those amber tinted locks of hair fluttering in the wind as the figure walked. 

That’s him. Must be him. 

Childe immediately braced himself. He slowly crouched and leapt against the solid ground, forcing his way over the tall door and onto the long yellow corridors. He landed right in front of the hooded figure, on his knees and one hand as support. There was a cracking sound, probably his poor joints. He really shouldn’t be doing such stunts, but desperate times call for desperate measures. 

The Millelith had their spears pointed towards him, but he didn’t care. Rising from his position, Childe grabbed the hooded figure’s robes and pulled him close. He looked straight into those cor lapis eyes, devoid of any emotion. 

“Zhongli! Do you recognise me? It’s Childe, Tartaglia,” panic laden on his every word, Childe pulls his own hood down to reveal his face. Those golden eyes slightly widen at the sudden actions. 

He took his chance, and continued, “Please you must help me, only you can send me back to my original world.” At some point, his hands ended up grabbing onto the slope of Zhongli’s shoulder, pulling him even closer. The brunet stared questioningly into his deep abyssal eyes, they were so so close, he could feel the warm breaths on his own lips.

Before he could say any more, the cold rod of a spear was digging into his adam’s apple, pushing him back. One, two, three.. No, Five spears were pointed towards his body. Locking his every move. 

“Stay away from his imperial majesty! Someone of your stature should not touch him so. How dare you get your filthy hands upon him,” the young Millelith who had his spear on Childe’s neck yelled, trying to pull him back from Yanwang Dijun, but his body was immovable, as if his feet were embedded onto the flooring. 

Childe didn’t care. Status and rules be damned. It was now or never. Uncaring of the throbbing pain on his throat, he pressed on and desperately resumed his plea, “I, the 11th of the Fatui harbingers, Tartaglia, personally sent by her majesty The Tsaritsa to wreak havoc in Liyue by releasing Osial from his confines. I played as the scum villain for a test orchestrated by you, to relinquish your duties as an archon and hand over your gnosis. So that you could live a life as a common mortal.”

Maybe the Archon will take pity on him and solve his problems. Maybe he’ll order for the spears to be put down, maybe he’ll ask for them to release Childe and just maybe he might recogni–

“Looks like he’s out of it, come on now, this isn’t a place to be role-playing. Take him away!” All the Millelith around him laughed like crazy, as if they heard some really funny joke.

But it wasn’t a joke. He wished it was. Or some fever dream he’d have to wake up from. If it was a dream, why wasn’t he awake yet? Why is he still in this strange world with cold faces? Why is it so that he misses the tedious act of doing paperwork for the bank? He misses the way Xiangling would holler at him to have lunch with Guoba by her side waving at him enthusiastically. He misses the annoying lectures of Ekaterina. He misses the bickering between Vlad and Nadia. He misses those weekly sparring sessions with Lumine. 

He misses the feeling of those warm amber eyes looking at him with amusement. 

He misses his Liyue. 

Ah. 

He’s homesick, Childe realised. 

His thoughts were interrupted as he felt the Millelith dragging him away by his arms. His rock bottom reputation in this Liyue is ruined anyway, go big or go home.

“Please send me back to my world, can’t you gods solve everything?! Listen to this poor mortal’s troubles, I beg of you, send me back, Yanwang Dijun!” Childe kept yelling as he was dragged away by 2 Milleliths holding onto him. Both sighing at him.

“Quit your yapping, we get it! Just shut up and get outta here.” One of them smacked his head as the pair of them dragged his body down the corridor. 

“I’ll shut the fuck up if you release me. Send me back to my world! Unhand me! I’ll keep coming back if you don’t listen!” He struggled and trashed in their hold, craning his neck to look back at the stunned figure, now looking smaller and smaller as he was roughly taken away.

They kicked him out of the same red door. The damned heavy ornate door. He hopes that Zhon– Dijun somehow feels pity for him and does something, anything really. He contemplates and starts to aimlessly walk away from the temple. 

.

Meanwhile, Yanwang Dijun’s eyes followed the resigned boy’s figure move away from the entrance. How intriguing, he thought. He had never met such a strange human in his entire 6000 years of life. But his words did shock him. He was aware of the fact that different worlds do exist, though he never ventured deep into that knowledge so as not to stumble upon any forbidden knowledge, lest he caught the ire of Celestia. 

He is broken from his trance as Ninnguang, quietly speaks under her breath who was watching the entire scene unfold right behind him, “I wonder what that was… Weird fellow.”

“Your majesty, are you… Unharmed? Should I call for the healers?” Ganyu asks in concern, who was also next to Ninnguang. 

Very sweet of her to care for his health, however, it would be quite impossible for any mortal man to cause even a scratch on his face. “I’m quite fine, my child. Not to worry,” he says before a pause and inquires, “Ganyu, are you aware of any man named as… Childe or Tartaglia?”

Her blue hair whipped back and forth as she shook her head, “I’m afraid, I do not know, my lord. I have never heard of any one going by those peculiar names,” she replied, looking at him with confusion. 

“I see.” 

Peculiar name for a peculiar boy indeed. He does believe in this “Childe’s” story, contrary to the children surrounding him. After all, there is no one in this world, alive, who would know of his true name, Zhongli. 

It's been centuries since anyone called him by that name. Not even many of his immortal friends know about it. 

A small smile graced the Archon’s lips. Things were about to get interesting in his mundane life, it seemed.

Author’s Notes for Chapter 1

[1] Someone in white - The colour white is known as one of the unluckiest Chinese colours because it is associated with funerals.

[2] Apparatus that measures time - In China, it is considered inappropriate to give a clock to someone as it sounds similar to bidding farewell to them on their deathbed. This cultural belief associates giving someone a clock with sending them off to the afterlife.

[3] Luo 罗 - Common chinese last name.. it means: gauze, to collect, to gather, to catch, to sift

[4] Xiansheng - Mister (in this context)

[5] Yanwang Dijun - Rex Lapis’ name in CN

[6] Tanggu- Chinese drum

[7] A-yi - Middle aged lady/ aunt

[8] Lao Guai - Old Guai

[9] Guai (name) - Weirdo/strange (so basically the name Lao Guai means weirdo old man)

(A huge shout out to my fav jiejie helping me with the CN part of this fic, you’ve no idea how many times I badgered her for different ways of addressing people.)

[10] Baiwen - Ninnguang's secretary in genshin.

[11] Childe’s attire so this was the closest robes I could find to what I had in mind ( Which was more commoner like and roughed out in texture) but make it grey like his in-game uniform.

Though, in Karin san’s art he’s wearing super loose robes that expose his chest, which is covered by white bandages and is also wearing some dark choker with a little tassel in the middle. Karin san also mentions that Childe is partially cross dressing? Perhaps the attire he wore was a bit more on the feminine side shrugs. In that context, I do suppose Childe being refused to enter would make more sense. But I opted for the status/commoner/nobody route.

[12] So before you guys get confused with the constant switching between Childe saying: Rex Lapis, Yanwang Dijun or Zhongli. To summarise, he says yanwang dijun when he’s talking with people of this parallel world Liyue, but when it’s him thinking or talking to himself in his mind, he says Rex Lapis or Zhongli. Probably says Zhongli when he feels emotional or remembers stuff.

[13] Yiyan Temple - A huge yellow/golden building you will see in Yujing Terrace, people come to worship and give offerings to the Geo Archon here. You will see an NPC called Bu’yun (Jade chamber guide) right next to it in the game.

I decided to make Yiyan Temple as Dijun’s home/place of work because it made sense, even though initially I wrote Jade Chamber but… For that, Childe would need to learn how to fly because no way he could reach the sky from a jump…this isn’t a xianxia story :”D

[14] Isekai - I’ll be roughly explaining this because while writing this fic, I was confused if this was even isekai in the first place? So let’s break it down! Isekai itself basically means “another world” and there are two types of isekai (which I’ll explain soon) and the new world could be anything! From parallel worlds, fantasy world, a video game, a novel, you name it.

a) Isekai tensei = in which the protagonist is reincarnated into another world (that’s the literal translation btw) by… well dying xD cause of death is usually by our favourite!! Truck-kun!! If not, many other reasons e.g. choking on a dumpling, being murdered, falling down a 3 storey building, etc. So there’s actually a sub-genre of this particular isekai, in which, after death, the soul of the protagonist occupies the body of another living being from the new/other world. This is called transmigration. Though some people consider transmigration to be a separate type of isekai on its own.

b) Isekai ten’i = in which the protagonist is either summoned into the new world or is teleported to it (again, the literal translation) via some item or channel that connects it to the new world. In this type of isekai, the protagonists don’t die. It’s something like sneaking into your uncle’s wardrobe and walking into some snowy plains of narnia.

[15] NPCs - all of the side characters that are in this fic are all in game characters and NPCs. You’ll find them if you search them up. At first I thought linking the NPCs to genshin wiki would be cool but then my author’s note would become incredibly long…er than it already is TT I’m sorry.

Alright, my comrades, I hope my unnecessary rambling in the author’s notes wasn’t so boring. You will see me with another chapter… I already have the second chapter outlines, just need to write it out. But it's currently exam season and I've been busy so next update might be around late November. Check me out on my twitter / ao3 / wattpad if you're interested! I go by @nuttytani for all :DD

(also unsure if anyone actually wants to get tagged for this multi chapters fic, if you are interested, let me know!)

[cavalierious-whim]

We Loved With a Love That Was More Than Love (ZhongChi)

Part of 'Etched in Stone'.

After renewing their vows, Zhongli and Childe retire to their room for some lovemaking. Written for An Eternal Vow, A ZhongChi Wedding Zine.

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--

The day was long but the night is still young. 

Childe tugs Zhongli into their bedroom, the door snapping shut behind them. He pulls him close, smoothing his fingers across Zhongli’s shoulders with jittery hands, slipping one into the collar of his shirt.

“I thought we were retiring for the night,” says Zhongli, his voice tinkling with amusement.

Childe hums then, yanking that damned collar aside, thumbing over the length of Zhongli’s bone that peeks out from it. “I thought it was an obvious excuse to leave the reception early.” He pauses, grabbing Zhongli’s chin. “Don’t you want to celebrate our wedding night?”

“We’re already married,” says Zhongli, leaning close to nuzzle his neck. “Unless I’ve imagined the last several decades.” He inhales deeply before pressing a kiss there, and Childe feels the tingle of it down to his gut. 

“Are you enjoying teasing me?”

Zhongli smiles against his neck. “Yes,” he says, pulling back, his golden eyes glinting in the dark room. 

They shift around, Childe wrapping his arms around Zhongli’s neck, pressing against him until their bodies are flush. They’re both hard, obvious erections grinding against each other. Zhongli moans softly, closing the distance, kissing Childe with the sort of tenderness that only makes him yearn for more. 

Childe curls his fingers into Zhongli’s hair before pulling away. “Is that the best that you can do? Come on, we’ve just renewed our vows. Ravish me.” He drags a hand down to cup Zhongli’s cock, squeezing it lightly through his clothing.

Perhaps he shouldn’t poke the dragon, but his words and touch have the desired effect. Zhongli tilts his head to the side, watching him in a slightly predatory manner. The hands at Childe’s hips squeeze a little tighter, and his cock twitches in interest. 

“Oh, darling,” he says, his voice dipping low and dangerous, “don’t I ravish you every time?”

Yes, but that doesn’t stop Childe from asking for it time and time again. Childe lets Zhongli pull his shirt from his trousers, pulling at the buttons. It drops to the ground, quickly followed by the rest of his garments. Zhongli’s hand is warm against Childe’s cool skin as it presses against the small of his back. Then his fingers dip lower.

“You’re too slow,” says Childe. “Always taking your time.”

“Hm.” Zhongli hums against him, nipping at his neck, his teeth still blunt enough to not break the skin.

Childe walks backward until he falls against their bed unceremoniously. Zhongli stands there, tugging at his collar. “About time,” says Childe, spreading his legs to give Zhongli a proper view. “You still aren’t naked enough.”

Zhongli drops his shirt to the ground, revealing just how much he’s already lost his composure. Obsidian bleeds into pale skin at his shoulder joints, scales littering his skin like glittering tattoos. Gold pulses between them, and Childe swallows thickly, caught at the sight. 

“Stunned speechless,” says Zhongli as he stretches across the mattress. 

“I—I mean, yeah? Have you seen yourself?”

Zhongli smirks before leaning over him, pressed between Childe’s legs. “It never takes much with you.”

“Or you, judging by the sorry state you’re in.” 

Zhongli’s eyes go half-slitted, then, his pupils blown wide, hiding most of those well-loved golden irises. Childe drags a hand down his chest, thumbing over the muscle there as it makes its way south to where his trousers are tented. He squeezes Zhongli’s cock through the fabric, dragging a moan from his lips. Zhongli’s eyes shut tight, head hanging as he holds himself up with shaking arms. 

“Still not naked enough,” says Childe cheekily, slipping his fingers into Zhongli’s waistband. 

“Impatient,” says Zhongli, his face pressing against Childe’s neck, nipping at the soft skin there.

“Come on, fuck me already.” Childe tugs at his trousers again. 

Zhongli reaches down to grab his wrist. He pulls it to his mouth and presses a kiss to the sharp jut of the bone where it meets his palm. “I’d rather savor this,” he says softly, biting at the vein there. “Take my time to truly ravish you—”

Childe snorts at that. “Ravish,” he repeats, amused.

“Per your request just moments ago—”

Childe kisses him, cutting off his monologue. Zhongli immediately falls into it, moaning against Childe’s mouth. Childe licks across his lips, coaxing his husband’s mouth open with little effort. Zhongli’s hands paw at his own trousers the entire time, slipping them down and past the swell of his ass, trying to get them off without breaking contact.

Doesn’t work. Zhongli loses his balance and nearly falls off the bed, leaving Childe to laugh hysterically in the soft, silken sheets. “Shit,” murmurs Zhongli, so unlike himself, cursing under his breath as he tries to untangle himself from his clothing.

Childe laughs, watching him fondly from where he lays in the bed.

“Undignified,” murmurs Zhongli, his cheeks tinting pink, embarrassed. 

“Cute,” says Childe instead, reaching out. “Come here.”

Zhongli climbs back over him once he’s naked, boxing Childe in as he leans over. 

Childe sighs, dragging a hand across his shoulders and down his chest, feeling skin and scars and every dip and angle. “This is a surprise,” he says softly, nails just barely digging into Zhongli’s blackened skin, tracing the sparkling scales with a dragging touch.

“Is that why you were so speechless?” Zhongli’s gaze is warm as he regards him. “You are my husband,” he says, ducking low, pressing his face against Childe’s nape. A hand curls around his neck, combing through the hair there before ghosting over the scar that’s seared into Childe’s skin. “My mate. We recommitted ourselves tonight, and you are surprised by how that might affect me?”

“Zhongli—”

Zhongli nips at his skin, his teeth just barely sinking in, and suddenly Childe is thinking about other things than just his name. His cock twitches as he thinks about it, how much he loves this man, how much he craves to be consumed entirely by him. 

It has never wavered over the years. 

When Zhongli pulls back, he pauses. He pets through Childe’s hair, brushing his bangs back. “What are you thinking about?”

“That I love you.” It is simple. Childe says it plainly as he looks up at Zhongli from where he’s pressed into the sheets. “And that I need you to fuck me.”

Zhongli’s mouth curls into a grin as Geo swirls about them. “That can be arranged,” he says, dragging a hand down the hard line of Childe’s side. 

His touch is fevered and wanton. Impatient, even, unusual when compared to Zhongli’s usually calm and collected demeanor. Childe is used to lingering fingers and whispered praises into his ears. Zhongli always takes his time opening him up and treating him well, so the intensity of the way he moves is odd. 

But welcome. 

“Desperate?” asks Childe as Zhongli kisses his sternum, lapping at the space between his pecs. He moans when Zhongli kisses a nipple, swirling his tongue around the rosy bud. “That’s—oh.”

“I’ll take my time with you.” Zhongli won’t, not like this, not in the way he’d prefer. He’s all pretty words, but his fingers shake as they drag across Childe’s skin. Zhongli pulls Childe flush to him, grinding their cocks together—and Childe finally gets to see what he’s working with tonight. 

“Zhongli.”

It’s the inhuman cock, the one that pulses golden, slightly ridged, scaled, and tapered at the end. Zhongli is having a hard time keeping a hold of this shell of himself, parts of his older, more ancient side peeking through. He grunts against Childe’s neck, hiding the pink tinge of his cheeks. “I can’t—”

Childe reaches down, calloused fingers curling around Zhongli’s length. Zhongli bucks immediately, rutting against his palm, moaning as Childe spreads the slick that leaks from the tip. “Didn’t think I’d be treated to this tonight,” he says fondly, stroking him. 

Zhongli kisses him again, more like a clash this time, their teeth knocking together. They move against each other sloppily, passionately, as though their night might end at any moment. Childe groans as Zhongli cups his face, thumbing over the scruff that covers his jaw before tipping his face back for a better angle. 

Oh, his tongue; long and serpentine, begging for entrance—Childe’s lips slip open for Zhongli to explore his mouth. Childe moans, fingers sinking into the flesh of Zhongli’s arms, nails biting into his scales. 

“I love you,” says Childe, as they share breath. “Fuck, I love you, all of you, especially this—”

When Zhongli pulls back, his eyes glow golden in the dark room. He struggles to maintain his form and those old instincts that tug at him. “Zhongli,” starts Childe, but then he stops. He reaches out and smoothes his palms over those scales that glitter like golden lamplight in the dimness of their room. “Husband,” he says this time. “Mate,” he adds for good measure. 

There is no need to hide. Zhongli knows that which is why his form melts slightly, Geo swirling about the room as he shifts into something a little different. Longer-limbed by just a smidge, wider in the shoulders, horns and a tail—Childe smirks back with a knowing look. 

“The things you say,” murmurs Zhongli into the crook of his neck, nosing at it. 

“And what about what you say?” asks Childe. Zhongli pulls back just enough to watch him. “You repeated our vows. You—”

“If you can still talk, then I’m doing a bad job,” says Zhongli, sweeping his hand down the curve of Childe’s hip. “And if you can still think about earlier today, then I’m certainly not trying hard enough.” His teasing touch then dips low into the cleft between Childe’s asscheeks. 

Childe swallows thickly, his heart skipping a beat. “Come on, show me then. Make me lose my words.”

It is amazing how after all the years spent together this sort of thing never gets old. Zhongli’s touch is reverent and familiar, but it never feels old and antiquated. Childe arches against his fingers as they circle his hole, testing the give his rim. He moans as Zhongli slicks up the space, spreading the oil around until his finger sinks in, right to the knuckle.

Childe loves the delicious pleasure burn as Zhongli fucks him open with his hand. One finger, two, then three—all because he’s careful in his prep, spreading his hole wide, readying it for that addicting cock of his. 

“Zhongli,” whines Childe, rutting against him. Impatient. Dying from the wait. It’s been a long day, they said those loving words again, and he needs his husband in him like yesterday. 

Zhongli breathes in his scent. He nips at his collarbone and licks over his sweaty skin. Normally, Zhongli would tell him to be patient, but Childe feels the tenseness of his shoulders as he drags his fingers over them. Zhongli’s arm trembles as he holds himself up on it, and his fingers press into Childe quicker, sinking in deep. 

When he pulls them out, he spreads Childe’s asscheeks and looks. Zhongli thumbs over his loose, puffy rim, sliding through the slick oil, watching how the muscle clenches. 

“Thinking about it?” goads Childe, unable to stop himself. “How I’m still so tight around your cock? How good I’ll be for you?”

Zhongli watches him with a serpentine gaze, pupils narrowly slit. He blinks slowly before settling between Childe’s thighs properly. He slicks his draconic cock with the leftover oil and spit. Childe watches, eyes trained on the way Zhongli’s hand squeezes the head of his dick, differently shaped and all for the better. 

“Hush,” says Zhongli, pressing the tip of his length to Childe’s hole. His tail curls around Childe’s leg, hard scales rough against soft skin, pressing it back. Zhongli watches as the head of his cock slips in, hips pressing forward as he just sinks deeper and deeper, and deeper—

“Fuck,” hisses Childe. He always forgets just how intense Zhongli is like this, thick and full in his ass, bullying places that aren’t usually touched. How the ridges of Zhongli’s cock pull at his hole with delicious friction. Childe moans, his voice catching in his throat as he arches from the bed, his head tipping back. “Shit, I—Gods.”

Zhongli chuckles, nipping at his jaw with teeth a little too long. Fangs, thinks Childe. Zhongli knows how to use them, mouthing at his skin, leaving tiny, bruising pinpricks behind. “Mhmm,” hums Zhongli, nuzzling Childe’s thin excuse for a beard, more ginger scruff than anything else. “So tight, just like you said, and all for me.”

He doesn’t wait long to pull his hips back until only the tip is left, the swell of it dragging through Childe’s insides. Zhongli sets a steady pace as he fucks him, slamming back in with heavy, persistent thrusts. Childe cries out, calling his name. He keens, scrabbling against him, pulling Zhongli closer as his arms snake around his body. 

Zhongli sinks into the touch, melting against Childe. His breath puffs against Childe’s ear in a wet, warm cloud. He whispers things, the sorts of praise that would make most burn crimson-red in the face—but all that Childe does is clench tightly around his dick. 

“Archons,” he hisses, raising his hips to meet every thrust. “Oh, Zhongli. So, so, so—” Childe chokes on his words, biting at his lip. 

Zhongli grunts against him, burying his face in the nape of his neck. Childe’s fingers ghost over Zhongli’s spine—only to find hardened ridges of stone risen along the line of it. Zhongli whimpers then, hips stuttering when Childe pets over the bony, stone-like protrusions. His tail squeezes Childe’s leg tighter, pressing it wide and spread for him. 

Childe could watch him forever. Zhongli’s eyes are hazy and half-lidded, and his forked lolls from his mouth. He thrusts into him with an uneven pace, doing his best to keep some semblance of a grip on himself. But Childe has always been the sort to walk on the wild side. 

“More,” he says, curling his hand into Zhongli’s hair, tugging at the strands that sit at the base of his skull. “Give me more, Zhongli. Give me everything.”

“I—I…” Even Zhongli is at a loss for words, swept up in the heat of the moment. He moans, shifting the angle slightly until he’s fucking in deep, dragging across that bundle of nerves. Childe yelps—but not in pain, in surprise. In pleasure. He groans, pulling at Zhongli’s hair tighter, goading him on with filthy, debauched words. 

“I love you like this,” he says, his mouth pressed sweetly to Zhongli’s temple. They’re plastered together, Childe’s cock caught between them, leaking precome all over his stomach. “All your harsh edges, those stone-like corners that you try to hide from me—I want them, Zhongli.”

And he has them; Childe has always had them but he’s high on the fact that they’ve renewed their love. Everything they hold dear lays thick between them, suffocating the space nearly as much as Zhongli’s cock inside him. Childe feels it in his throat with every tug across his insides. How it settles into his guts with every down stroke, those ridges spreading him wide. 

“Ajax,” hisses Zhongli. “Ajax. I—”

“Shh,” he soothes with a chuckle, holding him close. They move together in a well-practiced dance, something they’ve memorized over the decades. 

“I love you,” says Zhongli then. His voice is quiet and low, the edges of it tinged with emotion. “Fuck, I love you. You’re all I want, all I’ll ever want. Mhmm, this—this right here. You, below me, taking me so well. So perfect, so perfect—”

He’s blabbing, lost in a ruddy haze as he slows his thrusts into a deep, grinding crawl. His cock twitches and Childe knows that he’s close. Zhongli keeps praising him, soft whispers against his ear, and Childe just pets through his hair as each word stokes the fire in his gut.

“Mate,” says Zhongli then, biting against his neck—not hard enough to bleed, but it’ll bruise. He claws at the back of Childe’s neck, nails sweeping over the old scar there. “My darling, darling—”

Childe doesn’t hear the rest. His cock twitches and the heat in his gut spreads as he tips over the edge. He clings to Zhongli, legs locked tightly around his waist. Zhongli pauses, sweeping a hand through Childe’s come, licking his fingers as though he’s savoring a delicacy.

It’s filthy. It’s divine when Zhongli bleeds into this middling form of his, just a taste of the Archon he once used to be. Childe moans because he loves it, loves him. “Zhongli,” he says softly, his tone punched as Zhongli grinds into him deep. “Morax,” he hisses, overstimulated and full to the brim.

Zhongli doesn’t expect it. His breath hitches and the next few thrusts come quickly, fevered in his pace. He bites at Childe’s collarbone, teeth sinking into the soft flesh as he finds his end too, filling Childe with his wet, sticky spend. 

Suddenly, the room is hot. A little too quiet. The air is heavy, but comfortable as they cling together in a sweaty lump. Zhongli finally pulls out, leaning back to watch the way that Childe’s hole struggles to close, his come leaking. He swipes a thumb through it and Childe’s throat goes dry at the glittering, golden slick. 

“You can’t tell me that’s all you have,” he says, his voice hoarse. They renewed their vows, a sort of remarriage when one thinks about it. It’s time to relive the honeymoon phase.

Zhongli’s expression shifts then, turning playful. When he rolls onto his back, Childe is tugged along, laughing as he tries to find his balance as he settles over him. And then, a soft kiss on Childe’s wedding ring, just the barest touch of Zhongli’s mouth. “My love for you, etched in stone,” he says, familiar words that always make Childe’s gut curl. 

“What about your lust?”

Zhongli’s smile shifts into a smirk and they lose themselves in each other all over again.

[pizzapasta23045]

I hate when specific shippers act all self-righteous about their ship not being fetishistic unlike the "enemy" ship.

Like, half the time neither of the ships are inherently fetishistic and the people just don't get that it's about how you ship the character not just the character you ship.

Like with Zhongchi and Chiscara, both of them are ships that can be written in a non-fetishistic way. But they can also be written so fucking terribly in terms of MLM rep but no, it's obviously just an issue of the ship being problematic be in itself.

And it's soooo like.... A lot of the time they just stop at appearance and go like "yeah chiscara is a bad ship because it's the fem x masc hetero-look-alike shit" when like 80% of the time Scara is characterized as the more masculine one personality wise and Childe as, frankly, a dumbass.

Also, you know?, Fem-looking gay people exist, trans people exist. But both of those can and are used to fetishize mlm ships and make mlm more palatable to straight audiences. Like both of those statements can coexist.

It's like people don't want to acknowledge this because, you know?, Then they'd have to use critical thinking when it comes to the way they ship things they actually like and can't just label the ship they don't like fetishistic.

[aetheternity]

What are some of your favorite and least favorite genshin ships?

My favorites are the ones I always end up posting I'm a huge

Xiaother/Aexiao (Xiao and Aether) Al Haitham/Cyno (Haino/Cytham) Beigguang (Beidou/Ningguang) Ittosara (Itto/Kujou Sara) Chilumi (Childe/Lumine) fan

For ships I just like though it'd be Jean/Diluc, Kazuha/Scaramouche, Aether/Scaramouche, Albedo/Aether, Kuki/Heizou, Bennett/Fischl, Albedo/Xingqiu, Chongyun/Hu Tao, Zhongli/Guizhong, Eula/Amber, Xingqiu/Xiangling and Gorou/Kokomi. I'm kinda starting to like Kaeya/Dainsleif too.

Ships I hate most people know: Any Venti ships outside of KazuVen (Cause Kazuha is the only character I could see working well with Venti and being good as his partner.)

I hate Cynonari so much it's so boring as a concept: friends to lovers is a lame trope.

I can't stand Xingqiu x Chongyun while I like their dynamic to a degree and I think the ship makes perfect sense I hate how the fandom has made their entire relationship "two gay twinks" 🤢 (They're not even twinks the definition of the word directly contradicts what the fandom keeps saying about them being underage not that I expect Genshin fans to read.)

Razor x Bennett another ship the fandom has ruined. The shippers are rude as hell and they never get called out. Their relationship feels like a friendship nothing about it screams gay.

Kavetham because it feels like the two of them aren't allowed to have their own characters without being called gay and it's exhausting.

Eimiko same reason as Xingyun honestly. Plus I find it hilarious how everyone will call Yayato an "illegal" ship because of the age gap and power imbalance as if Eimiko doesn't suffer from the same fate. Plus Yae was raised by Ei so.. interesting.

Jeanlisa terrible ship name/terrible fans.

Zhongchi most of the fans don't listen to the actual chinese fans when they say that Zhongli giving Childe chopsticks was not an act of love. Also I just think the ship only exists to sexualize both guys as much as possible.

Ittogorou I just ugh I hate this ship it's so overly sexualized like I like gay ships with an abundance of romantic tension. Plus it only exists because of one voiceline and an in game joke that isn't funny and reminds me of why I can't stand Yae.

And the ships I don't like/don't get [just as a sort of bonus]

Scaramona I'm pretty sure it's an enemies to lovers thing but I don't get it.. I know they had an event together I just don't get it..

KokoSara another enemies to lovers my favorite trope but they're so professional with each other I can't find it cute at all.

Alberose they have no chemistry 😐

Ganqing I just find them both so boring that I can't like any ship with either of them.

Zhongxiao I mean I see them as father and son but they're canonically not so yeah they have a good relationship but like.. it wouldn't be very healthy either way.. cause Xiao treats Zhongli as this always correct force above him and it's a little too imbalanced power wise.

Dainlumi I like the dynamic without liking the characters together.

And any ship where they have never had any in game conversations/ have no voicelines for each other. I don't get any of them Childe/Diluc, Jean/Ningguang, Thoma/Diluc all of those I don't get it.

I'm pretty sure after this no one ever has to ask me what ships I like and don't like again.😂

[faerociousbeast]

Zhongchi?

oh god.... i do hope you didnt send this hoping for a positive response bc i do Not. like this. i forgot its popular bc ive somehow managed to find mutuals who also do not like it.

i cant realllyy pinpoint why though... it might be a maturity thing? like childe feels too... yeah Young and zhongli is Old. im not saying this in hurhurhur its Problematic eww mortal x immortal as i literally enjoy some other mortal x immortal pairings myself, i just cant see it in a romantic light and honestly dont care for their dynamic in general! thank you

[trashcanwithsprinkles]

Do you have any Zhongli/Zhongchi fic recs? I haven’t found any that are nearly as good as yours 😔😔

funnily enough someone already asked this, but it was quite a while ago and tumblr is a mess to search old shit thru so here, this is the post this was asked during the ao3 crisis of- .......last year? i can't remember. either way, the post starts w me saying i don't have all the names and links but dw, after ao3 came back up i edited the post so you should see all authors and links in the recs.

i have to admit that for reasons unrelated to the fandom i haven't been reading many zhongchi fics as of late? so like- bear in mind i don't have an updated mental picture of any of the recs after the post was made. so if one went off the rails or if one of the WIPs finished, i'm not aware;; i also mention in the post that i'd add more recs if i had access to ao3 (which i didn't at the time bc it was down), and while that is true, it's been so long since i read any of them that i wouldn't be able to confidently reccomend them outside of 'i somewhat remember the plot and i remember liking it'. also i don't remember half of their names. so uh- yeah that's the list i think

[empressvika]

greetings

hey, this is vika. I think i did an intro on the bird app but this is tumbles so i’ll be reintroducing myself !

about the empress

yes, I am the empress. that's it. that's who i am.

ha, just kidding.

i'm a fanfic writer who started writing seriously (and a lot) in 2021 and hasn't looked back since. i have way too many drafts and too little works actually uploaded on the holy grail that is AO3.

you might've seen me on FFNet but pretend you didn't :)

i'm kinda antisocial and may come off as cold (hence, the winter empire thing) but I. Am. Just. Shy ! if you wanna interact, interact! i can't promise responding because most of the time i don't know what to say but know that i always appreciate it <3

ongoing projects

right now, I’m working on completely rewriting the two WiPs i had semi-abandoned. It’s My Life is Yours and Distance of Futures (From Mine to Yours). They’re both BKDK and I’m still outlining them.

Warning: to those who’ve read and subscribed to them on AO3, know that I’ll be orphaning them once I finish rewriting. I like to start on a clean slate and the new changes are definitely drastic enough to warrant a new fic entirely.

Progress report on them:

DoF - the rough outline is halfway done but I’ll be refining it a bit more. Not sure how long it’ll be but the chapter count might go for 20 with 4-6k each. Again, no promises there. The story is the same but very different as before so please look forward to it !!

MLY - Ah, yeah, I haven’t started on this at all lol I’ll start on the outline once I finish DoF’s outline.

writing habits

In my early shameful days, I used to do WiPs. I had no outlines to follow and just wrote like the damn wind. Now, I’m a changed person (ish).

I finish writing fics (that’s editing + beta reading) before uploading them on a schedule. This is why I’m technically ‘on a break’ most of the time.

That’s not to say that I’m always writing fanfics. I write original content too so my time is split because of that. What can I say? Writing is how I live.

my ships

BKDK hands-down is my muse. They’re what brought me back to writing and I’ve never looked back. They’re also the ship that has the most drafts in my computer haha

TDBK has also snared my heart several times. Gods, they’re adorable. My fav trope is a sugar daddy!tdrk and a broke hero!bkg

TDBKDK is something I haven’t written a lot for but there’s a lot of potential in it methinks. I don’t like dynamics where tdbk hate each other and bond over their like of dk though… let all three love each other dammit !!

Ehem, now for other fandoms & ships:

HP; Tomarry/Harrymort

TGCF; Hualian

Witcher; Geraskier

MDZS; Wangxian

Genshin; Zhongchi/Tartali

Bleach; GrimmIchi

One Piece; ZoLu

where else to find me

Twitter - sometimes i do threadfics here but I post them on AO3 afterwards as a series

AO3 - my main abode ✌️

between bkg’s pecs ahaha