#asterworks

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lisa appreciation time :) everybody appreciate lisa. Or Else

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add astral applesauce babey

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made a colleirose (idk their ship name i literally just made that up) phone bg :3

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im probably not going to leave this in but it's so fucking funny to me for some reason

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xingyun and albether phone bgs :) planning on making some more too

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Just Say It

Ayato / Thoma - Wordcount: 1315 - Warning: Parental Illness The Kamisato siblings’ father is on death’s door. A pall hangs over the whole Kamisato Estate, and Thoma feels that all he can do is make sure things are kept neat and tidy. Ayato worries about the future, and buries himself in work to avoid thinking about it - most of the time, anyway.

AO3 Link Full text under the read-more

The situation in the Kamisato household seems to be... difficult, Thoma thinks as he absentmindedly sweeps the floor of a back hallway in the Kamisato estate. He has only been working for them for three years, now, but in all that time he's never seen Eizou, the Yashiro Commissioner, so unwell. It's just after noon, and the entire estate seems to be shrouded in a fog, deadening any sound and encouraging its residents to do their work quietly, in their own rooms. It makes Thoma feel uneasy, and when he feels uneasy, he tends to clean, as he's doing now.

Thoma is so caught up in his own thoughts that he doesn't even hear the quiet footsteps approaching him from behind until the interloper announces himself.

"Ah, Thoma-kun, there you are. Do you have a moment?" Ayato's voice, always soft and gentle, still somehow makes Thoma jump a bit as he turns around to face the young Kamisato.

"Ayato? Is something wrong?" Thoma is more than fluent in the Inazuman language, but somehow he always stumbles over the proper honorific to address Ayato with.

Normally, he's able to use "-san" without anyone raising an eyebrow, but when he addresses Ayato as such, it somehow feels as though it saddens the other man. "-kun," he thinks, is out of the question, though that is how Ayato addresses him. "-dono," similarly, just feels wrong. And so, usually without thinking, he defaults to using no honorific, though he knows that with anyone else, that would be a terrible faux-pas - but Ayato seems to understand, and perhaps even enjoys the lack of formality.

Ayato shakes his head, long hair gently swaying side to side with the movement. "Not at all. I was just hoping to ask you something."

Curious, Thoma tilts his head. "What is it?"

"In my opinion," Ayato begins after taking a deep breath, the significance of which isn't lost on Thoma, "There is no chance that we won't find your father - it isn't a question of 'if' we'll find him, but rather 'when.' My question, Thoma, is... When we do find your father, what will you do?"

The housekeeper was taken off-guard. "...What?"

Ayato’s eyes are locked on him, and Thoma knows him well enough to know that he’s watching his expression closely as he speaks. "The whole reason you came to Inazuma in the first place is to find him, wasn’t it? Most of it, at least. But when we do find him... Do you plan to stay in Inazuma?"

Ah, Thoma thinks. So that's what Ayato was wondering about... "I... don't have a good answer for you yet, Ayato. To be honest, I haven't thought that far ahead... I will, though. And when I come up with an answer, I'll tell you."

Ayato smiles, and behind that smile, Thoma can feel a hint of sadness and weariness. "Thank you, Thoma-kun. Please take your time. If you want to talk more, I don't mind if you come visit me in my office."

Thoma can guess what answer Ayato is hoping for, and it's hard for him to resist the urge to say that, actually, he's made his decision now, and that he wants to stay. He knows, though, that that urge is borne not of his own certainty that this is what he wants, but from wanting to take a burden, however small, off of Ayato's shoulders.

If Thoma is here, then Ayato can have certainty that at least the estate will be kept in top shape. Thoma doesn't want to make such a large decision purely based off of one moment's feelings, and so, he decides, he'll mull it over. It does take a significant amount of restraint, however, to stop himself from reaching out and pulling Ayato into a tight hug.

He can only imagine how much stress Ayato is dealing with, and with that man's habit of rarely trusting anyone else, Thoma is sure that he must be buried not only under his own workload, but that of his sick father.

No matter how much he knows that rushing his decision would be bad for both himself and Ayato in the long run, he can't help but feel guilty as he watches Ayato walk away, as if him having his answer at the ready would have somehow saved Ayato all of this heartache and stress.

--Later--

By now, Thoma has swept every floor in the shared areas of the Kamisato estate, and even swept all the fallen leaves off the walkways outdoors. He still can't stop worrying about Ayato, and equally as much about Ayaka, Ayato's younger sister. With their father's illness, both siblings are no doubt under heightened stress, and Ayaka, having taken on their mother's workload after the older woman's passing, is currently in the thick of planning for the year's autumn and winter festivals.

Both of the Kamisato siblings have inherited from their parents a habit of overworking themselves, and in Ayaka's case that bad habit always rears its head just after the summer festival season.

Eventually, having swept all that there is to sweep (and then some more) within the Kamisato estate, Thoma sighs as he puts his broom away. It's been four hours since the last time he saw Ayato, and the last time he saw Ayaka was at breakfast - Ayato, however, had not been at breakfast with them, nor at lunch. As a matter of fact, Thoma hasn't seen Ayato at any meal in several days.

Ayaka is in Inazuma City for the day, Thoma recalls, so it's perfectly normal to have not seen her at lunch, but as for Ayato... Well, Thoma knows that he's prone to ignoring the necessity of such trivial matters as food and water when he's busy.

As such, Thoma decides to bring a small meal and some water to Ayato - he knows that Ayato hates eating in his office, due to the risk of sullying his paperwork, but if he doesn't want to eat in his office, then he'll just have to eat somewhere else.

Small bento and canteen of water in hand, Thoma knocks softly on the door of Ayato's office. The malaise over the whole residence still hasn't abated, and it makes the dainty little knocks seem like claps of thunder to Thoma's ears.

"Come in," he hears Ayato's voice call wearily from the other side of the door, and he enters, careful not to drop the bento or canteen as he turns the doorknob with one hand.

Stepping into the room, he says, "I noticed that I didn't see you at lunch, so I brought you a bento--"

Halfway through his sentence, Thoma's heart skips a beat. Ayato is slumped over his desk, face buried in his crossed arms. Did he even answer the door in his sleep?  "Ayato?! Are you alright?"

Hearing Thoma's voice seems to wake Ayato up a bit, and he mumbles, "Hm? Thoma-kun?" He sits up and turns to face the other man.

"A-Ayato... You, um, have ink on your face..."

"Oh? I do?" Ayato laughs quietly, "I must have fallen asleep at my desk... Oh dear, I hope I didn't smear these papers..."

"I think... that's not the main issue, Ayato. Have you gotten  any  sleep lately?"

"I have, indeed," Ayato says mirthfully as he stands up, his back cracking audibly. "Just now, in fact."

Thoma has to fight back an annoyed sigh. "Ayato..."

"Thoma-kun, I'll rest properly once I finish this batch of paperwork. For now, though, do you think you could help me wash this ink off my face?" He flashes a small, weary smile.

Thoma sighs deeply. "Alright... Just promise me that after we clean your face, you'll eat this bento." He holds up the bento for emphasis before carefully sitting it in a clear spot on a table next to Ayato's desk.

Ayato laughs again. "Alright - I promise."

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Time For Tea

Jean / Lisa - Wordcount: 1025 - No Warnings Lisa always worries about Jean’s overworking tendencies, and wishes her partner would spend just a bit more time with her...

AO3 Link Full text under the read-more

When Lisa pushed open the door to Jean’s office, the Acting Grand Master was so engrossed in the mountain of paperwork before her that she didn’t even notice. She took a moment to look over Jean’s face - while she looked fine at a distance, to the trained eye (Lisa, who spent hours admiring her whenever she could) the messy hair and dark under-eye bags were a clear giveaway. Jean hadn’t been taking care of herself well enough, instead opting to spend all her time on fixing other people’s problems while leaving her own needs unattended; that’s where Lisa came in.

“Jean~,” she called softly as she crossed the room. The teacups and teapot she was carrying rattled slightly on their tray as she pushed a pile of papers off to the side and sat them down.

Jean looked surprised, having clearly not noticed Lisa until she spoke. “Lisa,” she said with a tiny smile as the librarian gently brushed a stray tuft of hair off her face and tucked it behind her ear. Her eyes looked so tired, and it was hard for Lisa not to wonder just how long she had been working without so much as a break to stand up and stretch.

“I brought you tea, love. Why don’t you take a break and chat with me for a moment?”

Jean’s eyebrows furrowed. “I would love to, but… All this paperwork…”

“Oh? Are you worried about spilling the tea and staining the papers? We can move to the other table instead,” Lisa teased, but Jean just sighed.

“You know exactly what I mean, Lisa…”

“Well, how much do you have left to do? I’m getting lonely without you, you know,” Lisa said with a smile. It wasn’t solely an excuse, either - she sorely missed falling asleep next to Jean, and waking up clinging on to her was the next best thing. But, of course, she was also worried - she knew firsthand what it was like to live life chipping away at endless stacks of work, never quite getting finished with it before the next lot got dropped on her desk, and she wouldn’t wish that on her worst enemy, let alone her far-too-meticulous lover.

“Mm… Well, these ones are all done,” Jean said, gesturing to several stacks to the right side of the desk, which made up about two-thirds of the mass of paper on her desk. “The rest of them haven’t even been started yet, other than the ones I’m working on right now. I really shouldn’t have let them pile up like this…”

Lisa picked up the biggest stack - being the librarian of the Knights of Favonius, she was no stranger to carrying around huge amounts of paper. “...What are you doing?” Jean said with suspicion in her voice. Lisa just laughed.

“Moving them out of the way for tea, of course. Why don’t you help me? It’s not good to sit at a desk for so long without moving around.” As Lisa carried the pile of papers over to the table, Jean thought it over for a moment and then sighed before standing up, her chair slightly scraping against the floor.

“Alright… It’ll be good to have more space to spread out, anyway.”

“There’s the spirit,” Lisa said mirthfully, as she picked up another stack of paper and Jean picked up her first.

It didn’t take long for the two of them to move all the finished piles over to the other table, and once they were done Jean took a second to reach her arms up over her head and stretch. Her back cracked painfully and she immediately decided that was enough stretching for the day, letting her arms fall back down to her sides.

Lisa relaxed against a table, sighing dramatically. “Oh, dear, I may never recover…”

“Please don’t even joke about that,” Jean said quietly, a little frown on her face.

Looking up at her, Lisa raised an eyebrow. “Worried about me, love?”

Jean walked over to her and embraced her gently, running a hand through her long, silky hair. “No more than usual, but still…”

The librarian rested her head against Jean’s shoulder. “There’s no need to be - I make sure to take care of myself, and not push myself too hard. You, on the other hand…”

Jean sighed. “I know, but… There’s just so much to do…”

“And, hopefully, many more days to do it.” Lisa wrapped her own arms around Jean, “But if you keep on like this, it won’t end well… Trust me, I’ve seen it with my own eyes. The amount of paperwork required as a student of the Akademiya would be enough to even make your head spin. And that’s just the paperwork.” She laughed quietly.

“I can guess,” Jean winced. “And… I do know that. But I can’t just let people down… If the Grand Master returned to find everything a mess, what would I do then?”

“If, by some absolute misfortune, that did happen, I’m sure he would understand - but that’s not likely, you know. In fact, it’s probably more likely to happen if things keep going like this…”

“But what else can I  do, Lisa? Things need done, and although it would be nice to take my time, they would just keep piling up to the point where I’d never be finished.”

Lisa gently cupped a hand around Jean’s cheek, smiling at her. “Well, first of all, there’s a certain librarian who loves you dearly, and wishes you would let her help you with some things. Secondly, there’s a very personable cavalry captain who currently has no cavalry to captain, and who could likely be persuaded to handle some more hands-on things. Thirdly, and I know this is unpalatable, but some things… are not your job. If you really want to make sure they’re done, there are people who can help, but honestly, my love, I fail to see how many of these things are truly within the purview of the Knights. Also,” she said, pressing a brief kiss to Jean’s lips, “Our tea is getting cold, so let's sit down and relax for a while, hm?”

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A Scene Above Dihua Marsh

Xiao/Aether - Wordcount: 622 - No warnings

A late-night conversation between Aether and Xiao leads to the adeptus sharing more about his history than he had planned to.

Xiao stood on the balcony, facing away from Aether and instead looking out over Dihua Marsh. The cool, gentle night breeze wrapped around them like a chilled blanket, stirring up both their clothes and the golden leaves of the tree above.

Finally, after a long while, Xiao quietly spoke. "It's not safe for you to be around me. I shouldn't even be standing here."

Aether's golden-brown eyes narrowed. "And why not?"

The adeptus sighed deeply, leaning on the railing of the balcony. "I was designed to kill, Aether. Regardless of how you feel about me, that can't be changed."

"Designed by who, then?" The traveler stepped forward, just a little closer. Xiao turned his head to shoot him a warning glance, and was struck by how gentle his expression was. "I can't imagine Morax doing something like that," he continued.

Xiao shook his head. "No, not by him. For everything that's happened in his history as an archon, he would never do that." He paused, reluctant to say anything more - what good would sharing anything further do? After all, regardless of how either of them felt, this shouldn't continue. Even still, he felt compelled to explain himself just a little further. "... Before I became an adeptus, and before my lord became an archon, I served another god. Even after my lord defeated that god and saved me, I couldn't escape the consequences of what I'd done under his control."

While Xiao was speaking, Aether had somehow come even closer, standing beside him at the railing without the adeptus noticing. The traveler thought that was unusual - he was speaking to the vigilant yaksha, after all. "... You didn't want to do any of it, did you?" It was less of a question, and more of a statement.

"No. But that doesn't change the fact that I did, and it doesn't mean that I can ignore reality." Xiao looked away from both the scenery and his companion, focusing his eyes on the intricate whorls and streaks of the ancient wood that made up the railing.

"You say that, but... Despite all of that, I've never had the feeling that you weren't safe to be around. No matter if you were battling, or if we were just talking like this, I've never had the sense that I was in danger." Aether leaned against the railing too, looking out over a landscape that was much less familiar to him than it was to Xiao.

The adeptus scoffed. "... Maybe your sense of danger is broken."

Aether turned to look at him, but Xiao stubbornly refused to meet his gaze. "Or maybe yours is. My intuition hasn't been wrong yet, but you haven't given yours a chance."

"I haven't given mine a chance because I already know what will happen, and it's not something anyone wants." Xiao raised his voice slightly, irritated.

"How can you know for sure if you've never actually tested it?"

"I just *know*, Aether," Xiao snapped, but immediately found that he regretted it.

The two stood in silence for a while after that, the adeptus feeling too awkward to speak and the traveler hoping he would say something more.

"... I need to leave," Xiao eventually said. He stopped inspecting the woodgrain and turned to look at Aether. The traveler offered him a gentle smile, and he immediately averted his gaze again.

Aether's soft voice was almost a whisper as he replied, "Just think about it, okay?"

"... If you need help, call my name." And with that, the adeptus was gone, vanished into the air. Aether felt eyes on him for a moment longer, but stayed as he was, just for a little while.

After a minute or two, he whispered, "Thank you, Xiao. I will."

[Note from author: I might have a bit of a different concept about Xiao’s backstory than other people, I can’t remember what’s canon and what’s my own ideas anymore hehe... anyway I love them.

Maybe I’m not fully happy with this, but I’d rather just post it than keep it languishing in my files forever, never to be seen again, because I know I probably wouldn’t end up finishing it... ]

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i made a little qingxin patch to cover up a stain on one of my shirts :3

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about me (short version!):

hi! i'm aster [he/they]. i've been playing genshin since january 2021, and it's become one of my favorite games of all time purely by accident :)

i don't wanna make anyone uncomfortable, so i just want to make it clear that my posts are (unless otherwise specified) about the canon version of the characters, not about their teyvat-official counterparts! i don't want it to come across like i'm trying to be weird about it lol

new in-character posts will be on @chongyun-official! (blog mitosis happened, sorry for any trouble!)

tags & a note about my tagging system under the cut!

tags!

for my own works, please check the tag "#asterworks" !

my chatting tag is "#category 5 aster moment" ! if you don't wanna see my rambling, screaming, crying, etc. (i get it) you can just block it, i don't mind!

when reblogging, i try to tag every character mentioned/shown, as well as tagging for any ships. i may misidentify things sometimes, reading something as romantic when it's not intended to be or not realizing that something's supposed to be romantic - my bad! please feel free to point it out if you feel like it. i'd like for people to be able to reliably avoid characters/ships that they don't want to see!

obligatory "i am not associated with hoyoverse or any other company or organization, my actions and opinions are solely my own, etc etc." goes here

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hey bestiee (never talked to you in my life)

maybe consider tagging your ooc posts for filtering reasons? it's just that it's a bit jarring to see untagged ooc on my dash lol

if you don't want to you could just put ooc: or something before the text in the post or just put unrelated ooc stuff on a separate blog!! :D

(not trying to force you, sorry if this comes off as rude!! if it does i promise it isn't on purpose ^^,)

hello! ^w^

i actually already have a tag for that! the tag is "category 5 aster moment"; there's also a tag for the stuff i've made, "asterworks!"

also, unless they're on an in-character post, my tags are always ooc! (especially on art reblogs, i just like to yell :3)

(a little more explanation down here, if you wanna read it)

since this was originally just my genshin sideblog, i decided to continue using it as that, but with the addition of doing rp stuff!

my blog actually existed for like a year before i was invited to join the group, and i didn't make in-character posts before i joined (i chose the url to be silly around december of last year), which is why my blog is still formatted more like a personal genshin blog than a roleplay blog!

my most recent non-ic textpost was just intended as an explanation for why i haven't been interacting as much, sorry if it's annoying ;w;