#during his stay in Khaenri'ah

[fancyfeathers]

Yandere Pierro loosing his darling in the fall of Khaenri'ah, he broke and felt broken for so many centuries. Then one day when he was in the carriage, riding through the capital city, the tsaritsa sitting across from him. He glances out the window as they ride pass a random shop and his heart stops. Behind the frosted glass of one of the businesses he sees a young woman addressing a customer with a kind smile, it was his darling. No it couldn’t be, she died centuries ago, she was gone, was it her reborn again?

The truth is it was her, not reborn again, but she tried her hand in faking her death during the destruction of the nation. Now that she bore the curse of immortality she traveled for a period, along with Dainsleif. Soon she became tired of that life so she settled for staying in a region for about ten or so years at a time before moving on. Now she found herself settling in the snowy nation again, getting a job, making temporary friends before she had to leave again.

Later that evening when she is walking to her small home, hands grab her and drag her along. She glanced up to see Fatui soldiers dragging her along, per orders of the Jester. She is tossed into a carriage and by the time she processes what it happening, a hand comes to touch her face and guide her to look up at the man she tried to escape…

They have five hundred years of lost time to make up for.

[baeshijima]

u know what would be a cool genshin fic idea? isekai/transmigrated reader, but instead of appearing within the general timeline, you come into the genshin world 500 years prior to the start of the storyline in khaenri'ah.

honestly it could be either a little before the cataclysm, giving enough time to delve into some relationship building + explore some world building with characters like dainsleif, traveller's sibling (which would probably be lumine bc i actually do like her as abyss sibling & aether as traveller), and npcs like halfdan (still crying over him to this day ;w;) and possibly the khaenri'ahn royal guards (assuming you either join them or have a good enough relationship with them), OR it could be you appear during the crisis, completely and utterly lost as to why you were brought amidst the chaos and bloodshed as you watch everything you barely knew about this nation crumble before your very eyes.

either route will still result in reader's existential crises and constant "why am i here? just to suffer?" monologues because really, who would be fine after going through that after coming from /our/ world? and not to mention you've had to endure the next 500 years wandering with no real set path because you don't know this world— this era of teyvat or of genshin. you're merely stuck, unable to die, and forced to live a life of uncertainty with no clear direction for you to go to.

despite it all, you've at least been able to see dain during this course. while your meetings pass far too quickly for your lonesome, and his solemn demeanour is something you're yet to be accustomed to after having been with him before the fall of khaenri'ah (assuming it's the route where you appear before the cataclysm), you're glad to see a familiar face every now and then. after the messy departure with the lumine who left for the abyss order, you've come to appreciate his quiet presence more and more each time.

and then you decide it might be time to settle. you soon realise it's difficult to do so when your lifespan has become far more than that of a human's — of a mortal's — and so you find yourself becoming used to staying in one place for a few years before setting off for the next. rinse and repeat. over and over. it's come to a point where you've witnessed the nations undergo various changes each time you visit. you know change is inevitable, and yet your heart stings each time you witness it; a testament to how the world is ever-changing, yet you're stuck in place as a bystander.

one thing you're grateful for, however, are the bonds you've established amid your back-and-forth over the centuries. from archons like zhongli and venti to long-life beings such as neuvillette and the adepti to regular mortals who have showed you kindness as if one of their own... you've grown to cherish those memories, often reminiscing them when the nights get too long and surroundings too quiet. it was difficult at first, and still is, but you've become used to the inevitable change and the passing of those you once knew.

and after 500 years, you find yourself face-to-face with one you haven't seen since before you appeared in this world; the protagonist of this world, and the one you eventually join in hopes of finally finding a means to an end, aether.

little side notes/extras:

from /our/ world, you would probably know the storyline from up to around current (5.0) or maybe a little after the fontaine aq conclusion. it gives a lot to work with, but you definitely won't remember a lot of the lore after so long other than some main events, especially since most of your knowledge is pretty irrelevant for the next 500 years,,,

i think it would be cool if you had an inteyvat on your person as a little homage of khaenri'ah, which may or may not invoke some opinions from certain characters (*cough* aether immediately being reminded of lumine and having an existential crisis *cough*)

post-cataclysm you would go through a, uhm, long phase of helplessness, wondering why you were even brought to this world so far back if you couldn't even make any contributions. it does eventually morph into a resolution to do what you can to help those you come across if it's within your capabilities, but the nightmares and helplessness come back every now and then as a reminder for what you can't do :D yippee :D

honestly i'm on the fence whether you would have a vision or some other type of abilities (think on the similar lines of aether/lumine's and dain's), but i think having some type of purification mechanic would be a must in your arsenal !! would definitely lead to some moments between you and characters like dain or zhongli who suffer from the erosion as you give them a slight reprieve from what rages within and corrodes them

a little self indulgent, but i'd like to think your first /proper/ meeting with zhongli happens during a lantern rite festival, wherein you're admiring the lanterns in the sky after making a wish of your own and he comes up from behind with "they're beautiful, wouldn't you say so?" and !!

also as for love interests, as much as i would love for human/mortal characters, a part of me feels like this story would be better suited for the immortal/long-life characters as love interests?? idk i feel like considering that 500 years is, well, a long time, the bonds you would have with them compared to characters like, say, alhaitham or diluc would be way too different ?? though i would definitely still add them as love interest bc i am a sucker for so many of the human characters ;w; it would also add to the angst and hurt/comfort ahahha...

anyway thank you for reading this massive brain dump of a fic bc i absolutely would put this as a long term project, and if u made it this far then i would like to say that dain solos—

[torgawl]

started thinking about "the pale princess and the six pygmies" again and realised the five unloyal pygmies match the sinners of khaenri'ah pretty well.

when the pale princess from the moonlight forest and the prince from the kingdom of light enter the kingdom of pygmies, one pygmy (deformed pygmy) asks her help to save his five brothers who were trapped under different circumstances in exchange for their loyalty to her. and so starts the journey of saving each of the five pygmies.

after saving all the pygmies, she took them to the kingdom of light as part of her people and the pygmies started serving both the princess and the prince. "but they were still heinous creatures from the land of night, and corruption flowed in their veins. as the days traveling to the kingdom of light grew long and dangerous, the root of evil would again blossom in their hearts". the pygmies then started plotting revenge and ended up poisoning the prince.

one of the pygmies though (deformed pygmy), was still loyal to the princess and felt guilty for the plan and so he spirited the prince's body away from his wicked brethren and took it to where the princess was staying. what he didn't know was that the night mother had already found the princess, who she emprisoned. before collapsing, transforming into a pile of sludge and worms, and leaving the pygmy to grieve, she proclaimed one prophecy: "in thousands of years time, my greatest foe will descend. he wields a sword that heralds the dawn and wears armor that can reflect the shining sunlight. he shall destroy my kingdom and bring the prince back to life. the princess will then be free from her eternal torment. until then, i fear not a single soul in the land of might, for nothing will bring an end to my kingdom except for the catastrophe foretold by the prophecy. as for you, the treacherous slave that poisoned his master… fate shall see that you get what you deserve". at last, the pygmy hid the body in a tree hole and walked off alone into the night, into a self-imposed exile.

what specifically caught my attention was the motives each of the five unloyal pygmies gave to betray the prince, which seem to mirror the five sinners of khaenri'ah. and i guess it's also relevant to add that alberich in "the ring of the nibelung" was, in fact, ruler of the dwarves. in this case, pygmies as an allegorical parallel could very well make sense to refer to the people of khaenri'ah.

to make a few of the connections i made between the sinners and the pygmies, i went into speculation and theory territory, so take what i'm saying with a grain of salt. but going into each of them:

hroptatyr means 'sage' in old norse and was one of the many names that odin went by. the one entity in khaenri'ah, who happens to parallel odin and a sage, simultaneously, and who also made use of power from beyond beyond the skies is non other than king irmin. he became "indisposed" during the cataclysm and didn't defend his kingdom, which led to anfortas taking his place as regent. this description of events very much matches what dainsleif told us about the sinners not fullfiling their role and being unable to protect the kingdom. it also adds some context as to why the only justification for why irmin wasn't able to rule at the time of the cataclysm was because he was "indisposed". king irmin is also known to only have one eye so his respective pygmy being "blind" is very fitting.

dain also refers to himself and the sinners as "the six of us". if the loyal pygmy from the book represents dain, this would make a lot of sense. i forgot to add before but the line about corruption flowing through the pygmies veins caught my eye as well as we know the sinners shared this sinful power between them and in "a drunkard's tale", wine is used as a metaphor for the abyss. the sinners are what led to the creation of the abyss order.

from the very little we know about vedrfolnir, he's able to foresee the future. the foolish pygmy envies the smart. pierro is one of theorised identities for "the visionary". besides his title being "the jester" which is pretty much another variation for fool, he has an interesting quote in the 'pale flame' set: "since my level of learning could not compare with the sages, i failed to earn the favor of the previous ruler". it implies he used to crave knowledge, like the pygmy, and it mentions irmin, who he served while he was still in khaenri'ah. pierro is also the one behind the fatui's plans, he seems to always plan ahead and all his goals end up being fullfiled even after many complications. he also possesses great historical knowledge, both abouth the future and past, as he seems to know about arlecchino's history despite being part of the later eclipse dynasty.

surtalogi "the foul" is the one behind "foul's legacy", a combat technique used by childe. he has ties to the abyss and much like childe's combat-hungry spirit, the timid pygmy desired to battle the prince.

the shrunken pygmy is the most straightforward one. rhinedottir is a practitioner of the art of khemia, probably the most proefficient one too. like the pygmy, her focus is on creating life through alchemy.

as for rerir's connection to the carefree pygmy, i placed him by process of elimination. we know nothing about them so i don't think it's possible to make a very factual connection but the pygmy's sentiment of wanting to avenge his situation seems silimar to the feeling behind title "avenger of solnari". despite solnari not having a very clear origin, it either stems from: 'solari', related to the sun; or 'solunar', pertaining to the rising and setting times of the sun and moon, phases of the moon, eclipses, etc. the princess and the prince in the book represent the moon and sun, respectively. and there's also the ties to the eclipse dynasty in khaenri'ah.

another parallel between the sinners is the primordial one and the four shades. but rather than representing each other, they work as counterparts: hroptatyr vs primordial one, vedrfolnir vs istaroth, rhinedottir vs the shade of life, rerir vs the shade of death (?) and surtalogi vs the shade of void (?).

not sure if there's a connection between each of the sumeru akademiya's cardinal sins and the pygmies since they're also six but they seem like sins commited by khaenri'ah either way:

"revering gods without acts of devotion" caught my attention because khaenri'ah is supposed to be a godless nation yet we see hilichurls around the thousand wind temple while also having banners with istaroth's symbol in their camps, as if they followed istaroth somehow. i have my thoughts about some of the other sins (like the human evolution one), istaroth being connected to khaenri'ah, her theorised identity as a moon sister and her possible ties to this book as the pale princess but i think i'll leave that to another day. i'm very sure other people made the connection between the pygmies and the sinners too, i am probably very late to the party but i just wanted to add my two cents on it and make a post with my current ideas on the identities of hroptatyr and vderfolnir. don't trust me, though!! the pygmy isn't the only fool, i'm just having fun thinking these possibilities. thanks for reading, if you did ahah

edit (23/08/24): i never came back to this post but i realised the identities can be easier to infer without speculation, since the names are clearly the opposite of their desires. the pygmy who wanted to see makes sense to be vedrfolnir, the visionary - blind pygmy. the foolish pygmy, the one who wanted to become smart is obviously hroptatyr (and here pierro makes a lot more sense, i know some people theorised pierro to be hroptatyr). the pygmy who wanted courage makes sense to be the timid pygmy, possibly rerir. rhinedottir is without doubt the shrunken pygmy which leaves us with surtalogi being the carefree pygmy. the carefree pygmy much like the deformed pygmy don't really have any desires, but the title "the foul" contrasts carefree really well. wanted to reiterate this since people keep relogging this post. i didn't really go to deep into the sinners either though i will leave here that the name khaenri'ah is possibly derived from an arabic phrase meaning "betrayer of winds" (خائن رياح) and the pygmies betrayed the pale princess and the light prince (represents the sun and gold - end goal of magnum opus) in the book. which leads us to istaroth, "the thousand winds of time". i said i wasn't going to go into it but i cannot stop myself from saying this because i wasn't clear earlier and i feel like this is cool. okay, bye!!

[pearlywritings]

We met again

synopsis: as centuries went by, you grew to care for each other, not caring however to label your relationship anything except for 'companions'. Your paths didn't always converge, yet no matter what somehow you always end up together.

pairing: Dainsleif x fem!reader

tw: somewhat hurt/comfort, situationship/companionship, reader is a survival from Khaenri'ah and with a curse like Dain, initially was written during the Chasm release, so some things can be a little wrong lore-wise

word count: 4.5k+ words

author’s note: it was supposed to be the first part of the ex-lady-in-waiting AU for Dainsleif, which I planned all the way back in 2022 when the Chasm was released, but never actually finished the draft until now. I won't promise anything more of it (even though there were ideas), since my interest in the man is almost non-existent now, but it was fun to finilly let this one out.

Dainsleif coughed again, hand flying to press to his chest. Damn, that energy outburst did have a toll on him, a pretty bad one. He barely managed to hop around the stone fragments floating around the ruins, making his way out of them. It was hard to walk, legs slowly dragging him away from the upside down structures.

If he was to throw away all that bravado and reserved appearance he had put up to reassure the twin and Paimon, he was not okay at all. It was difficult to focus, vision blurry at times, breaths took some effort to push in and out of his aching chest and the burning sensation remained, if not intensified. His body screamed to stay near that fountain, to get that very much needed rest and relief from the curse, but he couldn't allow himself to, at least not for long. He needed to push forward, even with the smallest amount of energy remaining. At least to leave the Chasm - those dark splotches of something were not doing anything good to his already exhausted organism.

As he was about to leave the cave - above which the ruins were placed - to roam the endless routes of Chasm until he found the exit, he spotted a very much familiar figure just at the beginning of one of those routes. Even with his eyes veiled in haze he could never mistake you with anyone else.

You, who always managed to find him, no matter where he was or how much time passed between your meetings. It was truly a miracle, or it might've been fate, as you two shared the homeland and were among the ones with consciousness still.

Back then, when Khaenri'ah was existent, before the calamity occurred, he hardly encountered you. Maybe a handful of times, when you escorted the princess to watch the Royal Guards train - she found it fascinating but wasn't allowed to visit much. You were one of her ladies-in-waiting, but since there was always a group of young women you easily mixed with them, and the Captain didn't really pay attention to the bunch of giggling and fanning girls. Maybe it even annoyed him, just a little bit, having to clear his throat to call his own subordinates for discipline.

When the wrath of the Gods was cast upon his homeland, Dainsleif gave orders to protect the people as he himself rushed back to the Royal Palace. He didn't want to remember what happened there, he really would rather forget about it, but the curse of immortality that was cast upon him would never let him. That pain that he had been suffering with for five hundred years had never dulled, staying fresh and aching like a freshly torn wound.

It was not so long after he parted his ways with the first twin when he met you again. He couldn't tell the exact time of your first proper interaction, but it didn't really matter. When he bumped into you though, you both were in an equal state of shock. Right away it was impossible to say that something was wrong with you two, with a ridiculous amount of clothing you both wore, but the feeling of similarity striked. 

You sensed each other's curses, a shiver running down your spine and the twitch of his lips being the only things giving it out.

That first meeting was a bit awkward, he was not gonna lie. It was clear that there were too many questions each wanted to ask, but the lack of prior closeness to each other made it difficult. Eventually you settled on sharing your last memories of Khaenri'ah to figure some things out and on an understanding that now there were two people alike: cursed and homeless, as the doom had been brought both on you and your nation.

At first Dainsleif was very against the idea of you following him around: he was extremely aware of his mission and the last thing he wanted… well, at that time he wasn't sure if it was 'you getting in the way' or 'you getting hurt'. You were no fighter and from what he managed to figure out, in your wanderings you didn't try to learn how to defend yourself. Though, as time passed, he was surprised by how well-versed you were in other areas, such as cooking, treating wounds, earning money and many others he never paid attention to, too focused on pursuing his goal of stopping the Abyss Order.

But during your first meeting he couldn't help but think - and eventually tell outloud - how fragile you looked to him. You were simply a lady-in-waiting, you obviously hadn't been taught the things he had, and it was an issue. He had no idea how you managed to survive for so unbelievably long, but here you were, and it would've been better if you simply continued so, not mingling with his affairs.

Right then he learned that you could be quite persistent. It didn't show only in the way you called him out back then, but also in the inevitability of reunions, no matter how many times he tried to avoid you.

In the end, he gave up, didn't matter it took years to. After all, you had eternity to…live, or rather till the moment your souls are completely eroded.

He took it upon himself to teach you first defending and later on fighting, when you traveled together before your paths would part yet again.

You couldn't follow him to the portals (not like he'd ever let you, it was hard to admit, but you two developed a sense of more than an initial tolerating each other), so sometimes he had to leave you. Neither of you dwelled on it much, even if it could take a lot of time to meet again. The shortest was a couple of weeks, the longest once stretched to over a decade.

You didn't lose time meanwhile. That biggest break, for example, you had used to settle in Liyue to gain money and do some savings for the future - it was much nicer to book rooms in a guest house to spend the night than staying out in the wild. While neither of you minded the latter, the first still was better. You were very lucky that the currency and prices didn't change much over time, so now you had quite the savings still, occasionally taking commissions here and there.

As centuries went by, you grew to care for each other, not caring though to label your relationship anything except for 'companions'. You'd scold him, he'd huff in response. You'd patch him up and try to force him to rest, he'd shrug your attempts off the majority of times and carry on. You'd make a snarky remark about something, he'd let you hear a rare chuckle. You'd come and find him again and he'd go alongside you once more.

Just like now. Without muttering a word, you simply made your way to him, wrapping one arm around his waist and throwing the other over your shoulder - a motion you practiced to perfection and could do in your sleep. Dainsleif was silent too - he was too tired to try and explain anything. In fact he was at that point of exhaustion where he sent the chivalry out of the window and let his body weight gradually lean on you.

"Hold on for a little more, Dain, I'll get you out of here," was the only thing you said and he could simply nod, closing his eyes and entrusting you fully to lead the way.

Luckily, there were no obstacles, you managed to avoid them all. The only thing indicating something was wrong with the path was your arm squeezing tighter around his middle and the feeling of being lifted in the air and brought back to the ground when you took leaps. A couple of times he heard you mumble something under your breath about spotting Black Serpent Knights in the background, but that was all.

The sudden sunlight irritated him, closed eyes squeezed tighter, and he almost cursed. Hours underground made him sensitive to the bright shine cast from above and he wanted to crawl back to the darkness again. Not to mention his mind still chanted the mantra of returning to that miraculous fountain, where he could receive a sliver of peace.

But your body, pressed to his side, made its job to ground him and push some more to continue. Once out of the Chasm completely, you finally opened your mouth again, to let the words of encouragement wash over him. By your brief explanation he grasped that you had set up a camp not so far away from where you currently were and that you were taking him there to check on him and spend a night. Then there was something about him getting better, so you two could depart to a fitter place to stay, with actual rooms and beds. At the words of not letting him go this time his mind finally slipped into slumber.

The next couple of days were hard. Dainsleif was in and out of consciousness, however you never failed to be close whenever he was back in. Sometimes he spotted you sleeping, back just a little bit slouched and chin resting on your chest. He could see it rising and falling with some difficulty as well - it made him think if what had happened in the Chasm managed to reach you out there too and whether you were alright. At those times he let his gaze travel all over your face, noting the crease between your brows, the tight line of your lips, stray hair framing your face.

The Twilight Sword couldn't deny it - you were a beautiful woman. Even centuries of wandering didn't make you lose your grace and stature of a fair lady, suitable and trained to be near the heiress to the throne as a personal companion. It was almost saddening you didn't wear dresses and skirts anymore - for obvious reasons of course. Your body was fully clothed just like his, safe for your hands and face.

To think that a lovely creature like you fell victim to a cruel fate and the will of gods… How miserable.

You once told him that you stopped dwelling on what you'd become - the common people of your homeland were suffering much worse, completely losing their minds and reducing to creatures scared of their own reflection. He couldn't disagree with you, but he couldn't agree either - probably having a mind that could still erode was more horrific.

You had left that conversation at that, however. Now, still in a tent, you were holding a completely different argument.

"Dainsleif, if you are feeling better, we must use that renewed energy to go somewhere peaceful so we could rest properly, not to run off straight to the claws of the Abyss!"

"We will not, I will," oh how many times he saw you roll your eyes, rubbing your temples, it felt almost intimately familiar at this point.

"Listen, Captain, if you want to die then go ahead, but you are going to die if you go! A couple of weeks wouldn't do any harm. What can a bunch of losers do right after one of their grandest plans went south again.

'Captain' huh, you usually used that one when you were particularly annoyed with him. Next was the 'Twilight Sword', which indicated you pretty much wanted to spit venom at him. What a relief it didn't happen often, hearing you say his name was much more comforting.

"They can do everything," he argued, sitting on the ground in front of you and inspecting his cloak. "Their numbers are unknown. They should always be under the watch."

You sighed, readjusting your pose with a knee bent, elbow pressing to it and a fist supporting your cheek. Your star-like irises stared right at him and he knew you were quite disgruntled by his stubbornness.

"You are a soldier right? Even soldiers have their vacation leaves, why don't you consider this as one?"

Oh, that's another thing that became common, that very proving point of yours. He kept silent, having no desire to repeat the words he was always telling you and had said to the Traveler right before they parted. The notion 'vacation' didn't exist in his vocabulary.

You sighed again at the lack of response, redirecting your gaze outside. As he figured out, you had found an abandoned warehouse just where a current from the waterfall not so far from Liyue Harbour divided in two and traveled to the pools of the Lingju Pass and the Qingxu Pool. Just in case you had cleared the area and set the tent inside said building for better protection. The man had to admit, from the first few travels you shared your skills in everything regarding survival had gotten much better. He noted how it made him feel almost proud.

"Speaking of soldiers…" your voice caught his attention again, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Did you see the Black Serpent Knights down there? Or what's left of them, I mean. I spotted them a couple of times and thought that they would attack us, however they simply stared and let us go."

Were you trying to distract him from leaving or were you truly curious? In any case you deserved the synopsis of the events having occurred three days ago.

So he told you. About how he had exited the portal, how he had realized it was a whole network, how he had met Traveler and Paimon, how they had joined their forces and continued exploring the strange cave where you found him. He gave a detailed description of the upside down ruins and the Abyss plan but a brief summary of the effects the Abyss device had triggered and the toll it had on his body and everyone else Khaenri'ah related down there. 

"Oh, so that was why I suddenly felt so ghastly," ah, it was as he feared, you suffered it too, yet it seemed not to the same extent as those who were very close to the source.

"Don't tell me that was the reason you decided to check the Chasm."

"Yes, that was exactly the reason. Eight against two chances that if something abnormal happens, you are going to be there. See, I guessed again. And now I know that you are pretty battered for sure. You are not going to stand me up this time, we are going on a vacation."

He knew you meant it differently, but somehow your phrasing made him feel a little bit bashful. Maybe that little quiver of his heart was enough for you to persuade him to finally discuss the possibility of him willingly following you wherever your choice of spending that vacation was.

"I promise you, you'll love it," you were laying out the map with a happy smile on your face - the annoyance was replaced with excitement and the ex-knight couldn't believe him agreeing would make someone feel so giddy. It was kind of cute.

"So… where is that place?" he bent over the map when you motioned him to. His brows furrowed when he followed the direction of your forefinger.

"I apologize, but this is out of the question. It's almost on the other side of Liyue! How much time we'll waste on-"

"About 6-8 days," you interrupt him, "depending on how fast we move. No worries though, I've already done it and found two nice routes where we don't have to climb the mountains!"

He narrowed his eyes and glanced at you.

"You thought everything through, didn't you?"

"I sure did!" Damned Celestia above did you look proud, eyes shining and lips stretched in a victorious grin. "Not to mention I did some research, met with the Community Leader and got her permission to stay over whenever we'd like to. So," you tapped your finger on the location, "we are going and you have no way to get out of it. And if I spot an Abyss portal, conveniently appearing just for you to jump in, I swear, I'll tie you up with your own cape and drag away like a sack."

Oh yeah, you were persistent indeed. Sometimes Dainsleif thought that maybe helping you to train to the state of physical power you now possessed was a mistake. But at the same time it really amused the blond - the way you could handle him and boss him around at times was definitely much better than having to look after an obedient and weak court girl.

This time, he thought, maybe he must give in. After all, you'd been putting up with him for so long without much complaint (save for times when you argued about his health or small meaningless quarrels about this and that), giving you a green light was the least he could do. Besides, you put effort into your deed, made sure that you and him could take a break to restore your energy and spend time together…

Ah, the last thought was probably undue, especially in the context Dainsleif imagined. Heaving a sigh, he took a moment to clear his mind, weigh all prons and cons, and finally give you his verdict.

"Alright… we will go to the Qingce Village for that 'vacation' thing."

"Finally."

The only word Dainsleif could describe the scenery before his eyes was peaceful.

Squirrels chasing each other in the grass, boars rubbing their sides against the trunks of the trees, paying little attention to you two, finches jumping across the roads and redbill pelicans watching over the fishermen to find a perfect moment to strike and steal fish. A soft tune played on the flute had been accompanying you ever since you had set foot in the village, and the man couldn’t help but watch you somewhat fondly when you started walking two steps ahead of him to have room for an impromptu little dance.

Aside from the evident content etched in your features, he noted the grace of your steps, the echoes of the long-forgotten movements incorporated in your dance. It almost felt that, should you put on a dress and take his hand, you’d be back in the ballrooms of the royal palace, twirling to the music of the orchestra. But he didn’t dare to reach his hand - dancing was never his strongest suit.

Not like either of you really danced much at the events back then.

Eventually, passing the fields and many cute-looking houses, you led him up the road, ending at the big pavilion. There, in the middle of the vast space, an old-looking woman stood. Her wrinkled face brightened upon spotting your two approaching figures.

“Ah, young miss, you are back.”

“Good afternoon, Granny Ruoxin!” You beam with a smile - another useful skill Dainsleif had lost along the way of his travels. “May you and your village stay prosperous.”

“Thank you, dear. I’m happy to see you again - the villagers still remember you fondly for all the good deeds you did when we were in need of help,” she slowly walked closer to you and gently patted your hand, to which you nodded, while your companion could only stare at you. Just how long ago did you start planning your stay here if you had already gotten in favor of this village’s people?

Then the old woman directed her attention at him. For a second Dainsleif tensed up, awareness striking him - his uniform was…old-fashioned if not weird. But then he immediately remembered how you forced him to change into a more suitable clothes you’d gotten him beforehand, dressed his arm in bandage just to be safe and covered the mask on his face with the grown blonde hair. A sigh of relief quietly rustled between his lips.

“And that’s, I assume, the man you were talking about when we were discussing your possible vacation here? You have quite a husband, my dear.”

Here it goes again, and no matter how often it happened the Twilight Sword was never mentally prepared. On the surface though he was as stoic as ever - if people assumed you were a couple, you simply went with that assumption. Long ago you came to have a mutual understanding and thus agreement that it’d help to save mora (getting one room instead of two, discounts for couples, etc). Besides citizens, but mostly elderly villagers would fawn over you two, loving the presence of two cute and polite young(-looking) visitors, who wouldn’t be against helping around in exchange for a place to stay or something else.

It appeared this time it was going to be the case as well.

“Ah, yes, let me introduce you two. This,” you gestured at the woman, “is Granny Ruoxin, she is the Community Leader of the Qingce Village. And this is,” you stepped closer to wrap your arm around the man’s, and he had to summon his willpower not to shiver from the intimate contact,” as you’ve guessed correctly, my lovely husband, Daniel.”

“I see, I see,” she nodded with a soft smile, which made her wrinkles even more pronounced, “It is nice to finally meet you, Daniel.”

As you carefully nudged his side with an elbow and gave a “be polite” kind of look, Dainsleif did his best to muster a small courteous smile - more a quirk of the lips.

“The feeling is mutual, lady.”

The following evening was spent settling in the house of the miller of the village - a sweet middle-aged woman who was informed beforehand and gladly offered you quite the spacious room she held specifically for guests. Being left to your own devices, you and Dainsleif put your things away in a wardrobe first, and then, checking the closed window and door, you pushed the man to sit onto the bed to check on the state of his wounds. At this point, he didn’t even try to protest - silently letting you lift his shirt, even using his own hand to hold the hem to his throat while you were treating the almost healed patches of damaged tissue. When, after finishing up, you offered him to catch some sleep while you’d be out assessing the changes that might’ve occurred since your last visit, to which he shook his head strongly. If you were out of the house - so would he. You understood where it came from - left alone on unfamiliar territory with people who could ask quite many questions nearby - you’d too rather be close to a person who knew how to deal with all that. It’s just, that in that situation you were that very person.

And so you left on your journey to explore. You had had time to tell him a little about the village during your trip, so Dainsleif wasn’t completely clueless - yet seeing everything with his own eyes was still the best way to gather information about the place and its inhabitants. He soon came to realize that the place seemed to be a retirement spot for the elderly, who were enjoying the slow running of their lives, tending to the terraced fields, which he couldn’t recall seeing anywhere before, and watching over their grandchildren, whom - according to your explanation - parents sent off on a small vacation away from the city.

He mostly kept quiet if someone stopped you in your tracks and engaged in a small conversation, only occasionally nodding or giving one word answers. You almost found it charming how he unintentionally took a step closer to you when it happened and gave you a wary glance, clearly not sure what to do with himself. You had no idea what he was like back in Khaenri’ah, but even then you doubted he had been a social butterfly, and was even less so now.

“Ascetic,” you smirked, when the elderly couple who’d stopped you to offer a snack resumed their walk up into the village. The way he rolled his one visible eye and huffed didn’t escape you and only lifted your mood more. Dainsleif could argue that he was a reserved man all he wanted, it didn’t change the fact that over time he grew prone to your teasing remarks and tended to give you reactions a ‘reserved man’ would hardly give.

It was nice.

After a couple of hours loitering around not the biggest village in the world, you climbed a small, more or less secluded mountain and, perfectly hidden from the village people beneath, settled down on the grass-filled patch to marvel at the stunning view ahead of you. It would be some time before the sun began to settle, so you had an opportunity to enjoy the beauty of the mountains and hills, blooming flower fields, simply dressed people moving around, followed by dogs or lazily chewing domestic animals. A gentle breeze was rustling the grass blades below and even more so where you two sat, adding to the serene atmosphere. Caressing your faces it was playing with the man’s blonde hair - dirty at the moment, and you made a mental note of making him wash head to toe now that you had a place to stay for a while. 

Sensing your gaze, Dainsleif turned to look at you, putting an arm behind to support his body. That made you aware that you were staring at him, and by the small smirk tugging at his lips, you were hit with realization - probably just a tiny bit your stare was longing.

Damn the happiness of seeing the idiot alive after a whole year of no news from each other.

“So…” you cleared your throat, forcing yourself not to look away, “your thoughts on the place?”

Before giving you a proper answer, Dainsleif hummed, breaking eye contact to look around once more (you immediately forced the air stuck in your chest out). After a couple more seconds, the sapphire eyes returned to you.

“Still think this ‘vacation’ is pointless.” 

At that you sighed, not entirely surprised, yet still feeling slightly dejected. It was wishful thinking to assume that a stubborn man like your companion would find the idea pleasing - but he wasn’t running away yet and that was something worth a small internal celebration. Which you might have already had a couple of times. In your head.

Suddenly something bumped your knee, and a glance to the side left you with widened eyes - Dainsleif had shifted from his previous spot closer to you, now with two hands firmly planted behind him to lean on and your knees touching. His gaze was directed right ahead.

“But the place is…agreeable. Especially since I am here with you.”

And just like that the scenery got so much brighter as his words were washing over your very being. He appreciated your company, and, looking back at how guarded he used to be with you, the notion warmed your heart, sending pleasant tingles through your body.

“Yeah…” you nodded, - more to yourself than to him, - and a grin returned to your face as you mirrored the way he was sitting to turn your face to the kind rays of the sun. “I like it here with you too.”

You did not see that, but Dainsleif broke into a small smile - the first in a long time.

[carpbread0]

NPC Life is the best

(Genshin Impact x gn reader - sagau)

(Second person)

part.2 —> part 3 —> part 4

———————————————————————

Startled by the alchemist’s sudden appearance you let out a small yelp of surprise.

“Holy god.. you scared the living daylights out of me” you say while putting your hand on your heart to show your sincerity.

“I apologize, traveler. I couldn’t help but be.. captivated, by your appearance. Is it alright if I sketch you?” He says looking at your with a blank expression despite telling you of his interest in your appearance.

“S-sure.. can I at least get your name?” You inquire. Of course you know who he was, he’s Albedo! For gods sake your heart rate spiked the moment you saw him creep up on you. The fake surprise was to make it seem like you didn’t notice him at all. It was better this way.

“My name is Albedo, chief alchemist of the knights of favonius. It’s a pleasure meeting you, and what’s your name traveler?” He gently asks as he pulls out his sketch pad.

“My name is y/n, might i ask how long your sketch will take? I’m kinda in a rush.” You sheepishly smile at him. Of course you’re in a rush. In a rush to get away from him!

“It’ll only take 10 minutes. While my drawing cannot capture your full.. essence, it’s better than forgetting such a unique appearance.” He says smoothly a little proud of himself for managing to stall a little more time with you. Truthfully, he could’ve finish a sketch of you in 3 minutes if he wanted to, but there was something about you that made him want to selfishly keep you to himself.

Blushing a bit from his complements you stay completely still for him to finish his sketch while glancing away from him every now and then to get rid of your flustered expression.

striking a conversation with albedo was surprisingly easy, during the ten minutes he managed to find out what your favorite foods were and what type of flowers you adored. He was quite the smooth talker. Ten times as smooth as his teapot dialogue.

as the ten minutes quickly pass albedo gives the sketch of you the final touches. “I’m finished. Would you like to see the results?” He inquires a little hopeful that you’d be willing to see the fruits of his effort.

“Of course!” You smile at him gleefully. You’ve never gotten a portrait of yourself before so it was a bit thrilling to see how someone drew you, nonetheless the great albedo himself!

Turning his sketch pad he shows a picture like drawing of you, your eyes and smile jarringly similar to the reflection you saw of yourself on the glass pains of little shops you’d walk by.

“It’s lovely. It’s almost like staring in the mirror!” You complement your worries of spending to much time with him out the window as your now distracted by his magnificent sketch.

“I’m glad you think so Y/n.” He gently says, his stomach feeling little flutters here and there from your sweet words. He almost felt.. human in a sense. Something he never thought he’d feel as a creation made of chalk.

“If it ever occurs, maybe once you’re free. We could perhaps go for a meal? You’re quite an interesting person and I’d like to get to know you better.” He says calmly despite his nervousness of being rejected.

“Oh, uh sure. Maybe once I’m free” you repeat to him with a kind smile. Although you know it’s not the best idea to get tangled with albedo especially since he’s a creation of someone from Khaenri'ah you couldn’t help but feel a little guilty if you declined his offer.

“I really must go now Albedo. It was nice getting to meet you.” You say to him with sincerity as you get up from the bench stretching a little from how long you were sitting.

“It was nice meeting you as well, Y/n.” Albedo says and waves as you start to walk down the steps to the town square. Unknown to you, Albedo couldn’t help but feel a little upset of your quick leave as he watches you disappear into the crowd.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

as you began to walk back out into crowds you realize it’s almost 5 pm. You sure took your time walking up to the cathedral.

You usually would eat dinner at this time so your stomach began to grumble a bit. Noticing your stomach’s little cry of hunger you decided to stop by good hunter and get a sweet madam to go. while waiting, you decided to brainstorm where to stay for the night, cause your sure as hell not sleeping in the open where anyone could cut you and see your blood.

mm.. maybe angle’s share? There is an extra room for drunkards willing to pay to stay for the night.. but that would mean you would have to get a drink. Maybe they serve grape juice! It’s been your favorite since you were 5. Yea, maybe staying in angle share’s is a good idea after all!

standing up from your seat, you go up to the counter and pay for your take out. let’s head to the tavern!

————————————————————————

Carp bread- feels way shorter than my usual brain poops but I’m like about to fall asleep and I’m pretty sure the next part I make will be a heft chunk bec of diluc whshhwhwhwhwhwhwh 👍😼

[selfaware-bungou-stray-dogs]

Self-Aware! BSD x SAGAU Imposter AU Crossover ideas. ADA Edition

Previous posts: [I] [II ] [IV] [V] [VI] [VII] [VIII] [IX]

🐯 Turns out, Nakajima Atsushi's ability had an interesting quirk. It makes tigers see Atsushi as one of them. Moreover, Atsushi is viewed as the dominant tiger. So, Atsushi can command tigers. He will order Rishboland Tigers to attack people, that hunt you down during Imposter Hunt. Will also bring you Rishboland Tigers cubs to play and cuddle.

📒 Kunikida Doppo will always stay near you. He will take care of you and insists on following the schedule. It actually helps you, because, you didn't have a peaceful routine when you were in Teyvat.

🩺 Yosano using her ability, so captured people of Teyvat can be punished again and again. She helps others during questioning.

Always near you, checking your health. Will buy you pretty clothes.

��️ Junchirou Tanizaki will use his ability to slowly drew people, who hunted you insane. Will create special illusions for you (favorite place, person). Will cook anything you want.

👩🏻 Naomi Tanizaki will be a spy. Will gather intel on 'Creator', on Teyvat people. Will keep you company, bringing gossip.

🍵 Kirako Haruno will be another spy. Will make you green tea.

🛏️ Turns out, Tayama Katai's ability works on Ruin machines of Khaenri'ah and King Deshret's mechanisms. Katai will make them attack capitals. It actually makes Teyvat people question the power of 'Creator'. If they can be overpowered by 'Imposter's' follower, are they really all-powerful?

🐄 Kenji Miyazawa is kept away from Teyvat. There is a possibility, that he will go on a rampage the moment he got there. Instead, he stays near you. He Will offer to do some gardening together.

🐰 Kyouka Izumi is also staying close to you. She is waiting for the right time to strike. She will ask Kouyou and Verlaine for more combat lessons. 

🕵🏻 Ranpo Edogawa makes a name for himself in Teyvat. After he became famous as a detective, he will start framing people. He will frame Ninguang for tax invasion, Kamisato siblings for slavery and Childe for murder.

Watch mystery TV series with you. Will share his candies with you. Will try to make you smile.

👘🗡️ Fukuzawa Yukichi became full-time bodyguard for you. Will drink tea with you and play with tiger cubs Atsushi brought. If needed, Fukuzawa will become an assassin again.

🪢🦀 Dazai Osamu is using all his intelligence to destroy Teyvat nations. He is planning to choke 'Creator' with his own hands. 

He will stay close to you. Dazai will tell you jokes, will cuddle with you and do anything he can, to make you smile.

______

Tag list: @withered-blossoms

[ktsumu]

three ticks and i’m home.

pairing: dainsleif x fem!reader, 4.2k words

summary: gods are never innocent; neither are godless men.

(or: a timeline of dainsleif's grief through the life of his broken watch, one that ticks backwards and the one you fixed, first.)

note: someone tell me to stop reading his lore and i will. beware for plot holes because genshin is nuts. crossposted to ao3 also!

content: major character death, destruction, angst, talk of children, you're a clocksmith, angst with like a sprinkle of fluff in one scene, a lot of worldbuilding regarding khaenri'ah + the cataclysm

Five years before.

Dainsleif is a serious guy.

He needs to be — it’s a must-have quality for a Commander. He smiles at children that look up to him, doesn’t leave bars with women who want to. His schedule is so tight that some say it wears a corset, or at least his friends do. He takes his job with the pride of a boy who grew up watching the soldiers march, a boy who now leads them.

Dainsleif runs a tight schedule.

That is, until his watch breaks, and disorder comes soon after.

He complains in the bunks for twenty minutes that night about the chaos his time regulates until one of his friends recommends an old friend, a clocksmith in the heart of the city. 

( “Get a digital one while you’re there. That thing’s ancient.”

“People are allowed to like old things, Halfdan.”

“Not things that break like that.” )

Dainsleif visits you the next day, setting the metal watch on your counter with his arms crossed. His brows tug together and his expression is more wary than it is expectant.

“Can you fix it?” he asks.

You look it over, rubbing your thumb over rust. “Who’s it from?”

“Can you fix it?”

You set the watch back down, looking back up at him with a little grin.

“For a price, Commander.”

Dainsleif swallows, rolling his shoulders back and digging out his wallet.

It takes you four hours to fix his ancient watch, and you even get the rust off of the band for him. You clasp it back around his wrist and tell him to get back to work when he tries to thank you, standing around for way too long. When he leaves, you set aside and refund his money.

15 years since the Cataclysm

“What do you mean you can’t fix it?”

“They call us horologists, sir. Not magicians.”

Dainsleif huffs, leaning on the counter and shaking his head. “My friend recommended you,” he says, pleads. “He said you can fix anything. Even this. Did you try?”

“I—”

“Try.”

The watchmaker tilts his head, an unsure look on his face. Dainslef’s shoulders fall. “Please,” he whispers. “Try.”

The man purses his lips, sighing, and extends a hand. His fingers wriggle.

“For a price.”

Dainsleif takes out his wallet and pays him double what he paid you — the watch takes four days to fix, and he doesn’t remove the rust. Dainsleif collects it with haste.

“Sorry, couldn’t change the time,” he tells his client. “That thing will always run backwards.”

Dainsleif nods. “Oh.”

Four.

Your favourite day is Sunday.

Dainsleif allows himself one day to relax, one day that he’s mandated, and what day other than a day reserved for a god you never had would be a better fit? On Sundays, you stay in bed, under your linen sheets and against his chest. Neither of you move until absolutely necessary; sometimes hours, sometimes less.

“Breakfast soon?” he asks. 

“I thought maybe a little while longer.”

“That’s fine.”

“Ugh, I love it when you agree with me,” you tease, giggling when he scoffs. He agrees with you most of the time; you’re reasonable people. 

Dainsleif sighs, humming when you curl further into his side. He's a serious guy, but that doesn’t count on Sundays. Not during your beautiful, godless mornings. He raises an eyebrow at the vase on your dresser, “Those are new.”

“Hm?”

“Inteyvats,” he comments, “the flowers.”

“Is it so wrong of me to show some nationalism, Dain?”

He grins, shaking his head as you laugh. You laugh and it shakes your shoulders. You laugh and it shakes his chest. 

“I just didn’t know you liked them,” he says, “that’s all.”

You settle, humming against the cotton of his shirt. “I love them.”

“Do you?”

“Yeah,” you nod. “Maybe someday, we’ll have someone to use their name.”

He thinks for a moment, “A daughter?”

You tilt your head back so you can see him, to the point where it aches to hold yourself up like that. “Would that be so bad?”

Dainsleif thinks for a moment — you and a daughter. “No,” he says, “not at all.”

“That’s down the road, anyway,” you laugh. “You know what isn’t?”

“What?”

“Our anniversary,” you say, pressing a kiss to his jaw. “How do you want to celebrate it?”

Dainsleif thinks about your one year anniversary, lying in bed with you on a Sunday, talking about a family and the flower you’ll start it with. He thinks about how content he would be if you did nothing at all but this; lie against his side and kiss his jaw, talk about the daughter he hopes will look just like you. He doesn’t think he could ask for anything more.

“This is okay.”

“Mm, alright,” you say, your smile against his collarbone. “I love you.”

Dainsleif tilts his head so you can stay where you are. “I love you," he echoes, "I love how you speak our language.”

“Oh? What’s so special about it?”

He smiles to himself.

“Tell me you love me again.”

Fifty years since

The watch breaks again on what would’ve been your seventy-fifth birthday.

The smith Dainsleif found this time looks over the stuttering clock hands, the numbers written in something unintelligible to him. He tosses it in his hand, a curious look on his face. “Old watch, no?”

“Very. Could you restore it?”

“By ‘restore’ you mean…”

“Fix it to tell time,” he clarifies. “And to still tick backwards.”

The clocksmith looks up with curious eyes, one of his eyebrows quirking up. “You want me to fix it ... to be broken?”

“If you can.” 

He hesitates. “I’ll do my best.”

Dainsleif lets him swivel around in his chair, flicking a light on over his desk as he hunches over. The shop he operates out of is personal, messy — never Dainsleif’s style, but he can admit it is quaint. Quilts and sewn tapestries line the walls, textbooks from the Akademiya line a bookcase filled with papers; a frame hangs on the wall.

A painting of a flower; inteyvat.

“Excuse me,” Dainsleif coughs, “I can’t help but notice your painting.”

“Hm? Oh, the flower.”

“Yes — you know where it’s from?”

The smith hums a laugh, nodding. “Khaenri’ah hasn’t been gone long enough to forget it.”

Dainsleif swallows. “I was just surprised to see it, is all.”

“Most are,” he replies, his eyes not leaving the watch he works on. He rummages through his drawer for tweezers. “It was a gift for my daughter.”

“Your daughter?”

“Yes,” he replies, happily. “We named her after them.”

Dainsleif takes a deep breath.

Three.

When Dainsleif comes home from his shift, you’re sitting at the table with your chin resting in your hands.

“Good evening,” he greets, shrugging off his jacket and kicking off his boots. He doesn’t seem to notice that you don’t reply in the twenty or so seconds it takes to writhe out of his uniform, or that you don’t bother to even look in his direction at all. The only time he realizes that something in the room has shifted is when you move away from his kiss. “Hello?”

You grit your teeth.

Dainsleif crosses his arms, slowly rounding the table to face you from across it. “What is it?”

You look up at him, finally. “Where’s my blueprint, Dain?”

He blinks. “I — your what?”

“Don’t act dumb,” you say with a pointed finger, your head shaking. Your body might as well be, too. “My analog blueprints, digital ones — they’re all gone and guess who is the only one I trusted enough to tell?”

He opens his mouth, closes it. “It wasn’t me,”

“Who else was it, then?” you shout, standing up to try and match his height. “Who? Tell me, Dainsleif, who else could it have been?”

He swallows, pulling one of your dining table chairs out. It squeals against the floor like it hates him just as much as you do. “Sit, please.”

“You know what I think, Dain?”

“Sit down, please.”

“I think you stole them for the factories you Guards don’t tell anyone about,” you whisper, “the metal soldiers you make.”

“They’re field tillers,”

“Field tillers don’t have missiles in their chest,” you spit. The air thickens as you shake your head.

He gestures to the seat you once sat in, but you don’t bite. Not that easily, not ever.

“Lie to me again and I’m gone for good.”

Dainsleif swallows again, folding his hands and looking down at them. You’re scorned and he’s holding the heat; there is no explanation he can offer that makes this look any bit okay to either of you. He’s dug his grave — now, he lies in it, shovel at his side.

“Tell me,” you plead, “tell me what you’re making an army for.”

Dainsleif shakes his head.

“Gods don’t like godless men,” he says, so low you hardly hear him. So simple, like he's being reasonable.

You shake your own. “Godless men don’t even like themselves.”

His eyes meet yours.

“I want my designs back,” you tell him, more desperate than you let on. “Every page, every scribble, everything. And I don’t want anything made with them.”

Dainsleif takes a deep breath, his eyes averting themselves back down to the table. He doesn’t need to see your face anymore — not when he knows you’ll hate him once he tells you.

“You can’t.”

“You—”

“I can’t,” he says. “It’s too late.”

150 years since

“Wow, this watch is beat.”

“It is — can you fix it?”

This one is in Fontaine, the clocksmith is — she’s eclectic, a little disorganized like you were, with a scary love for crushed velvet by the look of her shop. There’s metal dust everywhere and things that don’t belong to clocks or watches, but someone swore up and down she knows her stuff. Knows it well, too. 

She looks back up at Dainsleif with a wink. “Got Mora?”

He tosses a pouch on the counter. “Anything you need.”

He doesn’t bother watching what she takes from it, instead opting to turn and watch the bustling streets outside. He’s fond of Fontaine, it’s full of life and running water — every shop is full from wall to wall.

The girl he’s trusting to fix his watch is trying to speak to him, but he’s not listening; all he can see is the eye of a Ruin Guard that hangs in the window of a pawn shop across the street; marked down to half value, less if you trade-in for credit. Dainsleif thinks about the lives those parts were worth almost two centuries ago. 

No one in Khaenri’ah was ever worth just a couple hundred coins. 

Two.

Taverns in Khaenri’ah have so many songs that they fill walls with the lyrics.

They are loud and they are lively — you know something’s wrong when you catch one quiet and half-empty. The windows all made of stained glass, rustic to contrast the world around them; taverns in Khaenri’ah are like a world of their own. In them, people dance like such.

You dance that way, yourself. Not with him, but it’s nice to watch you spin again.

Dainsleif watches you clutch someone’s shoulder; he doesn’t know who he is but he’s wearing his uniform, someone he leads. He thinks he remembers you saying that you made an exception for him — you don’t date ‘snobs from the Royal Guard.’

(Dainsleif has hope that, maybe, you still remember your pact and, maybe, you try to keep it now.)

The wooden floors groan beneath stomping feet and gliding boots, the room a whirlwind of exhausted workers and the select few from the Guard that deem little places like this worthy of their presence. 

He catches your eye for a second, only one, but your smile fades quick enough for your dancing partner to whisk you around again. A blur of your dress, and then, you’re grinning again.

Halfdan sets a drink down on the bar in front of him, kicking out the stool beside Dainsleif and sitting down. He follows his commander’s eyes and they land on you; they typically do on Friday nights.

“It’s alright,” Halfdan says, with a heavy-handed pat on his back. “Everyone has the one that got away.”

Dainsleif shakes his head, you laugh against his knight’s chest. “It’s different.”

“How so?”

“It does not matter, now, does it?”

“Mm, and yet, you’re still watching her.”

Dainsleif sips on the drink that was brought to him, turning to face the bar instead. Halfdan purses his lips, drumming his fingers on the table.

“You know,” Halfdan says, “I worry about the … field tillers.”

Dainsleif nods. “They’ll work.”

“Godless doesn’t mean we need to create our own, Captain,”

“You don’t know the things that I do,” Dainsleif cuts, harsh but not mean. “All of this has been discussed before. Let us make the orders, Halfdan, let yourself follow them.”

Halfdan hesitates.

“Captain Dainsleif,”

“Halfdan.”

“I apologize for overstepping,” he says, “but I’m just afraid of what will happen to us.”

Dainsleif rolls his shoulders back, nodding subtly. He clinks the bottom of his glass against the table.

“I am too,” he replies, tilting his head back and his glass up.

When he sets his glass back down, swallowing with a wince, he turns around. You’re the only one still on the floor, and you’re looking right at him.

500 years since

Dainsleif has spent his life figuring out where to drink. He finds that Mondstadt is the best place to.

The taverns there are quiet enough, and he isn’t bothered by anyone — they’re less lively than the ones way back when. It's a blessing that he isn’t haunted by the laughter, and a curse that he forgets what it sounds like. The tap beer is good, too. Mondstadt only serves you in bottles or chilled glasses.

But Dainsleif knows that no good comes after two in the morning, and nothing good comes from watching the Knights of Favonius pour in. 

(It’s a little too familiar; he’s watching his bloodied soldiers laugh and topple to the bar.)

Dainsleif leaves enough Mora to cover his tab and tip, and bolts for the door.

He makes a beeline through the center, cutting the body of the bar in two as these faces he recognizes comment on his attire. He knows he looks like a fish out of water, he feels like a fish out of water. Five hundred years spent in this place and he still feels hated — he’s sure the next five centuries won’t change.

He knocks shoulders with someone near the door: “Woah there, pretty small hallway this must be, huh?”

He’s about to apologize, too, maybe count it as his crooked form of atonement, until he looks the guy he hit in the eye. Yes, eye — there's only one showing. The other hides beneath an eye patch.

He’s looking at him, but somehow, he’s now looking at you.

He’s lost in them, his eyes, and this new guy seems to notice — judging by the way he’s dressed, Dain guesses he’s a captain. He clears his throat.

“I know you’re heading out, but maybe another drink wouldn’t hurt?”

Dainsleif panics, because now he’s trapped. He doesn’t see you until he sleeps — not until he’s locked in bed somewhere, until it doesn’t matter what he says because no one else is there to listen but you and him. He can’t see you here, and he can’t see him.

“Sorry, but I’m afraid that I'm in a rush. I apologize for hitting you.”

(He doesn’t get very far.)

The man takes his wrist, making him turn around. 

“Please?” he asks, but it’s not really begging. More like a proposition, probably. “I’m not sure how to say that in Khaenri’ahn.”

Dainsleif lets out a breath.

One.

It is your old day, Sunday , when Dainsleif enters your shop again, the broken watch on his wrist thrumming against his pulse point with every jerk of its hands.

The bell rings above your door and he’s almost surprised the door isn’t locked — he remembers unlocking it for you after he had to go, way back when. Kissing you goodbye, apologizing for holding up your business. You aren’t far, either; you come out with a smile that fades quicker than he likes to admit.

“Hi.”

“Hello,” he says, all too formal. He winces, almost. “Uh, it's broken again.”

“Of course it did. It’s ancient.”

He just sighs a laugh, nodding, undoing it from his wrist, from beneath his sleeve. “Yes, it is. Do you think you can fix it again?”

You glance between him and the watch. Him, and the watch. “Let me see it.”

“Of course,”

“Okay.”

You examine it with delicate fingers, screwing off the back of the body with a small driver, squinting at its insides. Dainsleif watches you.

“Dain, this thing isn’t gonna last long.”

“I don’t mind. I can pay double.”

“Why do you like this watch so much?” you laugh, dropping it on the counter and crossing your arms. “I mean, they don’t pay you enough for a digital?”

Dainsleif shakes his head. “I like this one.” He coughs. “You fixed it, first.”

“Yeah, and I’m shocked it still works.”

“You craft well.”

The two of you don’t speak for a moment; you dwell on the watch, its body pulled apart on the table. Your fingers pull at your threading jeans, and Dainsleif must see you mutilating your pants because he leans on the counter, lowers himself to you.

He lets you look at him for a moment. “What is it?”

“Nothing,”

“What is it?” he asks again, like it isn’t the second time.

You take a deep breath, tilting your head up.

“I’m sorry about your designs. Every day.” He shakes his head, looking in behind you. Your desk is still full of paper. “I will reap what I sow, and that’s the only comfort I can give you.”

“I know.” “I’m sorry. Endlessly, I am.”

You huff. “I’ve had better things since. It’s not what bugs me, Dain.”

“What is it, then, my dear?”

Your tongue pushes against your cheek, regretful hands reaching out to grip his own. It’s like you know you’re doing yourself no favours, but you’ve always been a masochist.

“Are we going to be okay?” you ask. “Not us. This place.”

He can tell you’ve been sitting with this thought alone, he’s just not sure how long. Since you brought up the field tillers? Since his last expedition? When was he last here, he’s not entirely sure.

His thumb wipes over your knuckles. He doesn’t tell you whether you’re going to be okay.

“I will protect you,” he whispers, “even in my dying breath.”

The second time he meets the Traveller is when they ask him.

“What happened to Khaenri’ah?”

ZERO.

There is little you can see in smoke and ash. What Dainsleif can see, it is blurry and most likely dead.

(He doesn’t want to think about what happens to those who live — simply surviving is not enough, they’ll seek retribution in the living, too.)

He feels guilty for saying it, but he was glad when the castle fell — relinquished of his sworn duty, free to run to where your shop lives. It came down in a blow of fire, the castle did; more than just four mighty walls, built of minerals made to last. He’s afraid to think of what happens to simpler stones.

(He runs like you stand a chance.)

He’s running in the opposite direction of other people — hell, he’s directing them out of there. Whatever is behind them is a lost cause, for him it’s a little hope. The havoc being brought down on this place is proof that they’re not allowed to have hope, but he promises it’ll be his last bit. He’s assuming they can hear him when he prays for it.

The windows of your shop are blown out. He ignores the sound of crunching glass because you’re screaming his name.

(You stop when you see him, swallowing it. He drops to his knees and says you’re allowed to yell, even when he’s there.)

“Dain,”

“Just breathe, hold on,” he breathes, chest pumping as he starts to heave the rubble off of you, the thick pillars that bar you from moving. He lifts one, another falls down. He lifts that one, and another, and another.

“Dainsleif.”

He’s still heaving, grunting now. Sweat lines his forehead and he’s coughing up soot he smelt ages ago.

“Dain,”

He’s crying.

“Dainsleif,” you spit, grabbing his wrist. You shake your head. “You’re hurting me.”

“I have to get you out,”

“To where?” you whisper, voice shaking. “Where are we going to go?”

Dainsleif doesn’t cry intentionally. His eyes are so wet that he can’t see clearly and they’re cleaning off his cheeks, but if tears were invisible you would never be able to tell.

You shake your head. “I’m not going to die in the street.”

“Don’t be so blunt, dear, please.”

“There is no other way to p-put it,” you say with a shiver, swallowing the hurt that threatens to spill out between your teeth; you smile instead. You feel weak already, even weaker in front of a commander. “Don’t cry about it,"

“I can’t stop it,” he chokes out, shaking his head. He cradles your head in his lap, brushes back your hair until his fingers get caught in knots. “There is nothing I can do.”

The weight of your life, his world, is in his lap, and he thinks about tomorrow. One, or both of you, will be dead, and yet that weight will still be there.

“There’s no one but the gods that could stop this, Dain,”

“I—”

“I love you,” you gasp, “I forgive you. I love you.”

“No.”

“Say it back, you stubborn, stubborn man,” you grit. 

(Dainsleif keels over you, and he says it back. He repeats it until he feels your grip on him loosen, until your head lulls the other way. He repeats it until he feels sick and out of breath, because he knows he will never say it again. He repeats it until he's about to gag.)

He remains in your shop for the next few hours, unmoving, leaned up against the front desk that amazingly still stands. He’s holding your hand.

Dainsleif waits for something. Probably a sentence, to death or otherwise. He waits here for a chance for the roof to cave in, or to be struck down by someone that finds him. He hopes the gods get to him. He hopes this shop still stands if they pry him out of it. He hopes they call him Atlas and tell him to hold it up.

“This watch is never gonna work.”

Dainsleif blinks at the man across the counter, who looks at him with raised eyebrows — probably in shock that he even thought it was fixable — and a condescending frown. “You are sure?”

“Dude, this wasn’t supposed to work the last time you had it fixed. This looks like it’s centuries old.”

“It…”

Is. He doesn’t finish that.

“It’s an heirloom,” he says instead. “It's impossible, then?”

“Uh, yeah. I’m pretty good at what I do, but this is … miracle talk. This should have been up-cycled three hundred years ago.”

“I see.”

The two men stand in silence for a moment, and the clocksmith brings a hand down on the watch.

When he strikes it, he knocks the last bits of air out of its lungs; the watch ticks a final one, two, three times, and Dainsleif hears laughter to his left.

He turns, and there you are.

You’re sitting on a bench, alive, breathing. You’re holding a popsicle and leaning back like you don’t have a care in the world. 

Dainsleif thinks of all the things you can say to him. That you blame him, that you love him, that you hate what he did. That you wish he could save everyone, that you wish he could’ve maybe saved you. That you’re thankful you died and never had to live as a curse. That you think of him, too.

(You don’t do any of that.) 

Instead, you smile, close-lipped and gentle. And you wave.

The watch stops after the third tick. He loses you in a blink for one second, and you’re gone.

“Can you hit it again?”

“When I tell you that was its last life, I really mean it. I’d guess it had ten of them.”

He swallows, nodding, staring down at his broken watch. He’ll never see you again, hear it tick three times and go back to your bed on Sunday, hear it tick three times and listen to you say you love him in his native tongue. He’ll never go home, but he’s glad he saw you one more time.

He’ll never go home, but he’s glad he saw it one more time. 

“So? You gonna try and bargain, or…?”

Dainsleif is staring at the bench you were just in; his fingers itch for it. If he has to spend the next lifetime looking at that bench, he’s going to do it alone, and he’s going to learn how to do it without you.

You deserve to rest — he was the one cursed to live forever, not you. You did not die in vain.

He turns back to the clocksmith, who honestly looks pretty bored of him by now.

“Can I sell the parts?”

[ghostofreach]

i almost took a bite out of my computer ur ragbros art is delicious (i love the way you personalise? them (for lack of better word), but also keep them recognisable)

thank you for the food 😋

(and uhhhh bc this is supposed to be for requests, do you have any headcanons about the ragnvindr/alberich mothers and fathers? i'd love to see crepus and kaeya's father in your eyes)

Hello!! Thank you so much for this wonderful comment!! (And sorry for disappearing off the planet for a few days…) It really means a lot omg im melting

And I do have headcannons about the parents!!! Though it mostly revolves around the mothers bc I think there could be some really interesting stuff going on there…

So!! Here!!

Crepus’s and Alžbeta’s (Elizabeth) relationship was extremely controversial within the Ragnvindr family. She was (a) a bit of a country bumpkin (b) poor and (c) Hailed from the southeast of mondstadt (aka mondstadt’s version of Eastern Europe and by default associated with snezhnaya and the fatui!!)

Due to this their marriage was mostly a secret, and not many people even know who she was and that she had a relationship with Crepus. Only a select few people know of Diluc’s Czechoslovakian* heritage.

Though she died when diluc was about 3-4, her language was passed on to diluc and kaeya through crepus, who had learned it out of love for her❤️

Her being a member of the Hexenzirkel is very interesting to me but I haven’t really been able to flesh it out😢

Diluc actually looks a lot more like his mother than his father, though you wouldn’t notice because they are both dead because his bright red hair is the only marker people need to identify him as a Ragnvindr

Crepus frequently dealt with snezhnayan diplomats and traders, to his despise, but knew the importance of speaking their language, and made sure both of his sons spoke it (though kaeya did not really pick it up, diluc spoke it well and had mastered it during his “trip”)

You will be disappointed to hear that I don’t have many headcannons for kaeyas parents but I have a few!! Mostly revolving around mom though bc I’m waiting for a bit more lore about his dad

Kaeyas parents both have abnormally pin straight hair, and this has proven to stand out against his peers and colleagues (for better or worse)

Kaeyas mother was very against him being sent out as a spy, but his father insisted

Livia disappeared after the events of Khaenri'ah, and is presumed dead, but it’s also very likely that she’s laying low somewhere, and ~might~ have involvements with the hexenzirkle

I hope you enjoyed my brainrot anon!! Always so lovely to get comments and questions like these I love explaining things/loredumping!! I’m probably gonna go in and do an actual design for both sets of parents so stay tuned for that!!

*I am aware that Czechoslovakia is not a country anymore!!! But since it’s not a country in this context (it’s a cultural/ethnic group) there’s no real reason for a split

[hibiscus-writing]

Child of Time AU

Genshin au, Ragbros centric featuring a little bit of Venti!

tldr: Kaeya is Istaroth's youngest son, and awakens his godly powers whilst staying with the Ragvindr's.

-Kaeya is the youngest son of Istaroth, the god of thousand winds and time, making him the younger brother of Barbatos and the thousand winds.

-Istaroth had a one night stand with Kaeya's father, resulting in Kaeya. Istaroth basically dumped Kaeya onto his father and fucked off after birth.

-Kaeya's father tried his best, here Kaeya was merely the king's cousin's child, barely royalty, to the point they don't even live in the castle, left barely scraping by.

-Kaeya's father didn't know of his royal side of the family, he is merely scraping by raising the son he adores but had no preparation before getting him.

-Kaeya's father is a single father, working quick jobs around Khaenri'ah to make due. Despite this, Kaeya's father wouldn't give up anything for Kaeya.

-Kaeya's father doesn't know that Istaroth was a god, as she had disguised herself as a mortal when meeting Kaeya's father and dropping him off.

-they make due for about a year before  Khaenri'ah’s collapse, where luckily, both Kaeya's father and Kaeya survive miraculously (Kaeya unconsciously awakening his godly powers to protect himself and his father). They didn't come out completely unsaved, as Kaeya's father was affected by the curse, doomed to be slowly transformed into an Abyssal being, however it is not instant like many other Khaenri'ahn’s.

-all the survivors create a base at the ruins of the castle, some of those survivors are the former royal family, who continue to take charge. 

-its survival of the fittest from here, Kaeya's father slowly but painfully morphs into a hilichurl, only staying fully conscious enough to see Kaeya, now 4, being chosen to be a spy and sent away to Mondstadt.

-from here, the events of canon basically got exactly the same, except one moment when Kaeya is 7

-when he was 7, he felt extremely Ill. Many were worried he wouldn't last another night, this broke Crepus's heart, barely leaving his side as healers tried and failed to identify the boy's illness.

-late into the night, when everyone else in the house is asleep, Crepus steps out of Kaeya's room to wet a cloth to cool the boy down, and when he enters the room, he's met with hundreds of the thought to be extinct wind wisps and Lord Barbatos looking over the boy.

-Crepus is flabbergasted, pausing before beginning to audibley pray and beg for Barbatos to cure Kaeya's illness.

-Barbatos laughs, pulling Crepus back onto his feet and explaining that Kaeya isn’t sick, his powers are simply fully awakening.

-still confused, Barbatos explains further, that Kaeya is his youngest sibling, and he’s been watching over him since he arrived in Mondstadt. Now that Kaeya’s powers are awakening, he’s here alongside the many wind sprite siblings to help teach Kaeya how to control his powers.

-Barbatos stays the whole night, helping Kaeya throughout the awakening.

-Kaeya grows peacock wings and a tail during this process, with the ends of some feathers trailing off into what looks to be a night sky full of stars.

-Kaeya was extremely confused and distressed when he woke up, scared of Barbatos especially. He trips over his wings, hides behind Crepus, ect.

-crepus sits down and explains to Kaeya what happened.

-this only confused Kaeya more, but he calmed down a little, he's still hiding behind Crepus when barbatos introduced himself.

-Kaeya’s still cautious, but allows himself to calm down a little. 

-the day begins to rise and Barbatos has to leave, but promises to return soon to help teach Kaeya. 

-this carries on for a couple years, with Barbatos arriving at night to teach Kaeya his godly abilities, and Crepus making sure it stays a secret whilst supporting him.

-everything that happens during Diluc’s 18th birthday happens, except Kaeya doesn’t get a vision. Before Diluc can serve his finishing move, Kaeya is whisked away. 

-Diluc runs off to do his whole revenge plot, and Kaeya wakes up in his godly form, his new scars turning into miniature galaxies flowing on his skin.

-Istaroth saved Kaeya before he could die. She might be distant and neglectful, but she doesn’t want to see Kaeya die.

-she tells him that now's as good a time as any to start his role as god of the sky. The real sky, not the fake sky Celestia put up.

-Istaroth shows Kaeya his new domain, showing him how to manipulate star dust to create living beings, control planets' gravitational pull, and more.

-it’s there Kaeya stays for years, with his only visitors being Barbatos and the wind wisps, his only remaining family.

-Kaeya often stares down at Teyvat, wondering how everyone is in his absence. He can't see anyone from above, and the questions he asks Barbatos doesn't quell his wonders.

-He misses everyone in Mondstadt dearly, however he knows he's gone too far to ever return, especially after his confession to Diluc, who ‘definitely told everyone by now’

-cut to modern day, a mysterious domain was discovered, and Jean asks the traveller to accompany her as she clears it out. Diluc tags along when the travellers ask them too.

-Diluc is slightly different in this au. Part of his dark knight hero shtick is trying to discover where Kaeya is, because once his mind cleared up, he realised how weird it was that Kaeya completely disappeared, and this got worse once he realised Kaeya was never found afterwards.

-when they enter this domain, the world shifts around them. The floor is replaced with a transparent floor, covered in fake stars and clouds, with a view of Teyvat underneath. Surrounding them is a lively, beautiful galaxy of stars, with swirls of colours and constellations littering the sky. 

-some constellations seem to come alive and move across the sky.

-The group are confronted by an stary outline of a peacock, calling itself Pavo. He says he is a part of the Pavo oculus constellation. He remarks that the group should be able to see some of it underneath the false sky, which confuses the group.

-when questioned, Pavo states that all of Teyvat is covered in a fake sky, put into place by Celestia, and where they are now is the outside layer of that fake sky to the real one.

-Diluc, Jean and the Traveller are left to navigate the border between Teyvat and the vastness of space, finding more clues to Kaeya’s disappearance.

[angstycrying]

I have about five or six or seven au for Kaeya-related fanfics in my head. The first one is his teapot. The second one, turning into Archon Khaenri'ah. The third one is about a researcher from Sumeru to the tune of the song "Kyu-kurarin."

There is a fourth one, about him turning into a child, but as far as I can tell, no one has had THAT idea yet. I'll tell you about it later.

The fifth one is about a maniac, and I’ll tell you about it now.

Something terrible happens in Mondstadt - a murder. While the knights are looking for the killer, a new corpse appears. And another. And so they have not just a killer, but a maniac - a serial killer who points to his victim by hanging her portrait in a place somehow connected with Diluc.

In short, Diluc has to cooperate with the Ordo Favonius to find the killer, clear the Ragnvindr name, protect Mondstadt, and punish the criminal. The relationship between Diluc and Kaeya is tense, but during the investigation, it begins to improve. But then a portrait of Kaeya is found on the door of Diluc's tavern. They catch the killer! They take him to the Knights' headquarters, where Jean interrogates him. Diluc still stays at his brother's house to look after him and finds a letter with the seal of the Fatui. While Kaeya is washing up, he reads it, and then gets angry - it's a letter from Tartaglia, and Diluc yells at Kaeya, accusing him of having connections with the people who caused Crepus's death. Kaeya tries to explain, but Diluc only gets angrier, and Kaeya asks him to calm down and not make hasty decisions. But Diluc says that restoring their brotherly bonds was a mistake and leaves, leaving Kaeya alone. He spends the night in the Angels' Share, and in the morning he still understands that he is guilty, and, even though he is afraid, he goes to apologize to his brother and ask to talk normally (the stress from the suddenly improved relationship and the fear of being betrayed played a cruel joke on him).

But Kaeya isn't home. His window is broken, there are signs of a fight in the apartment, and a second later, a wounded Jean runs in and says that the killer has escaped.

And then Diluc realizes that he left Kaeya when the killer announced that he wanted to kill Alberich.

And what will happen next, maybe we’ll find out someday! :3

[aroacenezhaanddainsleif]

What's Your Name?

a question he can't seem to answer.

For all the things Dainsleif remembers during the day Khaenri'ah fell- admittedly his clearest memories now, as everything else is exceedingly fuzzy- there is one mystery that still irks him.

There had been rubble, and screaming, and he had been racing through the castle to find the royal family, everything else incomprehensible in its cacophany. He had made it halfway down a castle hall before someone had shouted out "DAIN!" and stopped him in his tracks.

He no longer remembers their name, or their face, but he remembers the gritty hand that had grabbed his and the voice that had said "Dain, promise me that we'll find each other after this."

There hadn't been any time to talk, any time to explain the monsters and gods, or the fact they likely wouldn't survive, nor how they would even find each other after it was all over, but Dainsleif could hear the desperation in their voice. They were scared, and in some ways, so was he. So as both a knight, and a friend, he didn't hesitate to reach back out.

He remembers squeezing their hand. "...I promise."

And then he yelled at them to go, not having the time to watch them disappear into the rubble before he was on his way again.

...

"Who are you?"

The fire crackles loudly before him in the early evening, providing no answer to his pondering. The corruption on his arm pulses when Dain clutches the fabric of his cloak, staring down at the starry fabric.

"...Who were you? And why can I remember our promise, but not your name?"

Perhaps it's just another version of what haunts him- another duty he cannot fulfill.

His reverie is broken by quiet footsteps approaching from the left, voice flat but tinted with a note of concern. "Dain, what's wrong?"

Dainsleif sighs, straightening his shoulders and turning away from his companion, as if to evade the pity he might find in their golden eyes. "I..." He starts, then swallows.

"...I made a promise to find someone, once." He mutters, crossing his arms. "That is, presuming we both survived the day Khaenri'ah fell, but I fear it is a promise that will go unkept. I..." Why is his voice so laden with grief for someone he has all but forgotten? He clears his throat, trying to hide the way his voice cracks. "...I no longer even remember their name."

The blond outlander stays silent for a moment, lips pursed. Dain knows what they must be thinking: 'I hope I never break my promise to find my sibling.' He can't blame them, honestly- they surely have a better chance than he does.

Still, the outlander shares their condolences. "...I'm sorry, Dain." They offer sincerely, giving him a little awkward-yet-trying-to-be-comforting shoulder bump. His lips twitch at that, at least, letting out a small huff as he turns away from the fire.

"...It's of no matter. We should focus on finding food."

Even so, his fingers trace the small outline of an embroidered "D" at the bottom of his cloak, and maybe, someday, just maybe...

Someone with a gentle tone and starry eyes will take his hand again and say "I found you."

[mists-reading-nook]

[Letter Event!]

{Game and Cult AU! Creator's friend on discord makes a Mystery Flesh Pit Au which is it's own warning! Small caps warning too in my own ramblings after this ficlet}

{This blew up into a whole AU ahdgdyej, and to think I intended this to be shorter RIP}

-------------

(Through diligent work, day and night, Acolytes Faruzan and Layla can now boast that they've broken a wall between them and the Creator!

(And what's this? Something called Discord where the Creator seems to converse with others! Is that a fellow God they chat with?

(The news quickly spreads as do the messages the two Gods shared between one another. It seems somebody leaked the Divine Conversation for the world to see. It's unfair for knowledge of the Beloved Creator to be kept secret as after all! So what if Faruzan and Layla think otherwise?

(But it doesn't inspire jubilee or elation. The messages the deities speak to one another bring a fearful awe amongst the people.)

~*~☁️☁️☁️~*~

[Friend] I just realized that I've been raving about making a MFP!GI AU without you even knowing what the fuck MFP is 😭😭😭

[Friend] Anyways here's a video that tells you pretty much everything you need to know

[Friend] Mystery Flesh Pit National Park | Wendigoon

[Me] just finished the video and that is the most horrifying experience ever and i never want to go through it again

[Me] what are your aus

[Friend] Basically Teyvat is worse of. Why? Well Celestia is the same as always but it's the Archons—called Underworlds here—that are different. They aren't gods, heck Celestia detests them because they're Superorganisms.

[Friend] Because of the sheer fucking scale of these fleshscapes, each Nation has religions related to their own super organism. Khaenri'ah had it's own, which is also large enough to be underneath the whole of Teyvat called the Abyss, but prior to the Cataclysm, religion dies down plenty amongst Khaen's Government and starts to view the Abyss through a more scientific lense, a creature instead of a god, hence why Khaen is called Godless. Celestia didn't like the Abyss not being revered and being questioned.

[Friend] Anyways, despite the fact that whole religions are made around these flesh pits, the Seven couldn't give less of a crap about the people. They barely even notice them, they just breathe and eat and do normal living creature stuff. Yes, they could walk around, be worshipped like deities, but that'd be too much energy wasted and they're already given more than enough sacrifices or meals to be sustained in sleep.

[Friend] enough so that they may not even need to wake up to feast (which worshipers would interpret as their Gods being displeased, but they're just hungry and don't care about you) so they stay where they are.

[Friend] They're still as intelligent as they are in canon but only want to do the bare minimum to live for energy conservation)

[Friend] Anyways, no Gnoses. Instead the Seven Underworlds are imbued with their respective elements. Buer is full of plant life. Barbatos always releases howling winds from his mouth and is full of even more winds. Hydro is underwater and produce water itself, you get the idea.

[Friend] While Celestia hands out visions, holding the element of your nation's Underworld grants the most prestige.

[Friend] Why? It helps you navigate the Seven.

[Friend] example: Jean, with her Anemo vision, can resonate with Barbatos and get a feel for how to navigate him, get a bigger picture on the grand scale of things. The more skilled you are with a vision, the clearer that picture is. You can also get an idea of what the Underworld is feeling.

[Friend] heck, people run expeditions. During the rare moments the superorganisms open their mouths, people with resonating visions join parties that explore their Underworlds, and gather resources, from the native animals to bodily fluids to mining the fleshscapes themselves. Resonator's are essential to these teams!

[Friend] It varies from nation to nation and person to person what is and isn't okay to take from their gods. The spoils are seen as blessings and gifts.

[Friend] also resonance isn't all that good, if you go too deep into the connection with the Underworld, it's MIND, you risk being put into a trance of some sort, where the superorganisms compels you to stray from your team, go in deeper, and become a permanent part of the immune system, killing of anything from outside.

[Friend] So the Resonator holds prestige but someone always keeps an eye on them, lest they be lost forever.

[Friend] Why does Celestia keep the Seven and Abyss around? It keeps humanity busy, everyone is busy with pleasing these superorganisms, and thus do not have the time to rebel against Celestia or anything.

[Friend] also I decided just now that the flesh pits were once known as the Eight but after the Cataclysm it became the Seven with knowledge of the Abyss being forgotten over time, that's going to be a big fuck up on Celestia's part.

[Friend] anyways, amalgamations. Celestia killed off most of Khaenri'ah by destroying the physical area and pushed survivors into the Abyss. Trapped, most people died off to the dangers, others became amalgamations that take the place of abyss mages, hilichurls, etc. They're killed and used for resources in the Abyss and outside. It's seen as mercy killing given how much pain they're in, or die with their unstable bodies finally breaking.

[Friend] A lucky few people managed to survive the Abyss without being turned into amalgamations. That or they're amalgamations who aren't constantly in agony as their new bodies work perfectly fine by pure luck.

[Friend] Examples include Kaeya and his family who are still wholly humans. Dainsleif may look human but he's an amalgamation who won the lottery and became immortal. Or lost it depending on your viewpoint of immortality.

[Friend] when Tartaglia fell into the Abyss, he was forced to become an Amalgamation to survive. Think Foul Legacy with more body horror and permanent. He's still completely sane with his love for battle but his shitty parents kick him out due to his state and lied to his siblings about a terrible monster that killed big brother Ajax and tried to trick the family. The Fatui is quicker to pick him up here.

[Friend] Sidenote, on the EXTREMELY rare occasion that someone becomes an amalgamation who is perfectly fine—like they don't feel any pain with their body and it doesn't collapse in on itself— they're seen as blessed by whatever Underworld they got transformed in. They also get fused w/ their element if they were an allogene w/ their vision on hand during the amalgamation process.

[Friend] During the Cataclysm, all Underworlds except for Morax and Barbatos died thanks to the Abyss thrashing around, causing catastrophic earthquakes throughout Teyvat with the others caught in the crossfire. Celestia was real violent with shoving Khaenri'ah's people into the Abyss.

[Friend] Mondstadt and Liyue were fucked, sure, but the other nations with dead gods WITHERED for a good while. These nations were built around superorganisms which were now giant, rotting corpses. The ecosystem of Teyvat was fucked for a good while. Then came the new superorganisms that ate the remains of the dead Underworlds and took their place as the new gods for Teyvat.

[Friend] 500 years later Teyvat is still worse off than before the Cataclysm but it's very close to a full recovery.

[Friend] When it comes to groups like Tenryou Commission or the Fatui, they believe they're carrying out the will of their Underworlds, be it the Vision Hunt Decree or rebelling against Celestia. They believe their Gods want them to do this.

[Friend] Except the Underworlds don't want anything except to survive, to breathe, eat when hungry and sleep. They're ultimately uninvolved with human matters. (Another reason why Celestia doesn't exterminate them)

[Friend] I don't know why people think they hear the will of their Underworlds though. Anyways, this Teyvat is not a crueler world necessarily, but a more uncaring one, that sees humans are irrelevant, not worth a thought. The Underworlds don't want to live as gods or people with agendas. The Underworlds wants to continue to survive another day and keep on existing. Nothing more, nothing less.

[Friend] That's all I got but I'll keep you updated while I create.

[Friend] nvm nvm nvm I got more, all the animal hybrid people like the Adepti or Onis or ANYBODY with non-human traits are either survivors of the amalgamation process or descended from survivors.

[Me] Damn. Neat 👍

~*~☁️☁️☁️~*~

(When Layla and Faruzan got their hands on this "video" attached to the conversation? Only a select few, high standing individuals were permitted to view it's contents in a meeting.)

(How horrible, to grapple with the understanding there exists a version of Teyvat, that is apathetic to the people, where blessing are made up, and you can't even begin to understand the horrors your God speaks of.)

--------------------

{OR: The Creator and their friend ~traumatizes~ Teyvat on accident. They don't even know Genshin Impact is self aware}

{I cannot help but wonder what the national and individual reactions to the conversation would be. They prolly dunno what AU stands for but they would still grasp that the Creator's friend CREATED ANOTHER Teyvat worse off than theirs. And their OWN CREATOR THOUGH IT WAS NEAT????}

{As for reactions to the Mystery Flesh Pit Video??? 👀👀👀👀👀}

{Wait who would be present for the meeting?}

{Also to clarify on the Mystery Flesh Pit National Park | Wendigoon part, when the conversation was leaked to Teyvat, Faruzana and Layla only knew the video title and author, they couldn't watch or listen to it so people can only guess the context, giving even LESS perspective on the Friend's ramblings. Maybe people think it's a legitimate documentary on a real location? I mean they certainly think the Genshin Impact Flesh Pit Au is real.}

{After the leaks, security became tighter and the duo managed to gain access to the whole video. During a secure meeting with only a select group of people present, they watch the ENITRE video and take all the notes they can}

{Btw do not feel pressured to watch the whole video for this ask, you don't need to if you cannot or don't want to.}

Holy shit??? That's genuinely such a cool Au I'm genuinely obsessed. Idk what the flesh pit is,but I'm slightly scared to watch the video...

(More under cut)

As for who's present for the meeting,it's mostly government figures.

For Mondstat: Jean,Venti,Diluc (as from what I know, dawn winery is a rlly big money maker,and plus Diluc has that whole "darknight hero" thing)

For Liyue: Ningguang,Zhongli,Adeptus Xiao (and Yanfei,and Ganyu,as they are also adepti)

For Inazuma: The Raiden Shogun, BOTH Kamisato siblings,Yae Miko

For Sumeru: Nahida, Alhaitham

And for the nation's that haven't been released yet,it's mostly the same. Snezhnaya I'm not sure about attendance,however,some harbingers would be there as well as the cryo archon

Now,the reaction is mostly one of fear and respect. They consider this fellow God of yours a God of chaos,one that you are apparently good friends with. They gain a new respect for you as a God,and many holy texts are updated to include tales of your friend.

Honestly,many in attendance don't come out the same.

"AU" is now a more holy term,as it was used by you and your friend a bunch. Dispite not knowing what it means,many religious scholars consider it to be a term for different worlds the celestial Gods create.

Honestly this entire thing is highly interesting to me,and this Au is something I'd love to hear more about,as well as dive into how it would tie into sagau. This also got me thinking of how different AUs would tie into sagau,how certain characters would react to popular AUs like 5wirl.

[ilovejoll]

OKOK BIG DORIAN EXPLANATION SO UHHMM TO EXPLAIN THIS I ALSO NEED TO EXPLAIN HIS FAMILY KIND OF!!!

(disclaimer some of this is speculation. he was only in two scenes in this game let me breathe)

He has a mother (Rhinedottir) and four siblings we know of but im only talking about two of them: Durin and Albedo.

Rhinedottir is an Alchemist from Khaenri'ah (u probably know abt it but in short place the archons destoryed bc of celestia. rhinedottir is one of the sinners who lead to that)

She created life. she made lots of things but the ones we know of are elynas, golden wolflord, durin, dorian, and albedo.

Durin is a giant dragon with toxic blood, and dorian/albedo are human. Rhinedottir made dorian as a prototype to albedo (before khaenriah fell also!! albedo was made after) for whatever reason she determined he was a failure, and fed him to durin. his brother. like any normal mother would yknow.

durin was later killed(?) by dvalin/stormterror after he went insane and destroyed mondstadt. he fell onto dragonspine and his bones are still there. Durin is NOT TECHNICALLY DEAD (thats very important) hes "slumbering"

Durins toxic blood, likely because hes coming back to life (WINK WINK) brought dorian back to life. Dorian, upon seeing albedo getting to live a happy, fufilling life, dorian became very jealous. however, he believed he couldnt just live his life now. he believed his only way was to kill and replace albedo (he hardly knows anything else.)

now, albedo does NOT live with rhinedottir. she left a while back thats a whole other thing this aint about her!!

so albedo and the traveler meet during some kind of event in the adventurers guild idrc abt this part it doesnt matter. but albedo finds his workshop RUINED. things are thrown around and his alchemy notes are missing. they go looking for the theif and narrow it down to a cave. albedo goes in, the traveler stays outside

dorian, disguised as albedo, shows up to talk to the traveler a while later. First thing he does weird is greets the traveler with just yes. (albedo doesnt do that!!! hes quite friendly!!!) and hes very awkward in the whole interaction. paimon and the traveler collected some starsilver and asked him if they should throw out the bad parts. he responds with a little rant that i know almost by heart so:

"Yes, the sorting process IS necessary. humans are such practical creatures. they only want those things that are good. once theyve found the difference between good and bad, they will NEVER stop comparing things in their minds"

so. a lot to unpack there even if it doesnt seem like it. First of all, he refers to humans seperate to himself. "but hes not human!" is a decent argument and yeah its true he was artificially created by alchemy but its also interesting because A) albedo refers to himsel as an "artificial human" and not inhuman as a whole. and B) rhinedottir is human. thats a very vital part of her and albedos character. this is a jab at rhinedottir as much as it is a representation of how he feels inferior. this is WHY he believes he cant live his own life.

On top of that, hes convinced rhinedottir is like all humans (generalizing them very quickly) so he believes they wouldnt accept him most likely. after this the traveler goes to find bennett when hes yelling and dorian leaves while theyre not looking.

i dont know if this is dorian or whoppy (we'll talk about him) but theres also a scene where this little kid (joel) is led away by a fake albedo and when eula confronts him, he attacks her and flees.

now there are three albedos: the real albedo, dorian disguised as albedo, and the fell flower.

In order to distract albedo, dorian uses the notes he stole + durins blood to create a whopperflower. not just a whopperflower, a whopperflower who can replicate albedos appearance. this whopperflower is the fake albedo you see for the rest of the event. at the end, the whopperflower attacks the event gang (traveler, paimon, amber, eula, and bennett.) and they fight him off. when hes about to attack again, albedo impales him and he turns into this thing

big whopperflower.

the traveler kills(? i think idk) him and they settle everything going on. but dorian is still alive. at the end, albedo pieces together that this is his brother (he doesnt say that exactly btw he doesnt rlly even consider durin his brother) and says that in dorians place, hed have done the same. and dorian is seen watching him from the top of the mountain. albedo draws his sword and thats where the cutscene ends and ur just left with the gameplay for primos.

now dorian is not confirmed dead (to ME hes in the fatui but yknow. OR THE ABYSS ORDER. dorian please join the abyss order we need you... i love you abyss order) and theres a lot that can be drawn from his general lore if you SQUINT. A LOT. its most likely that if dorian IS his name, he gave it to himself, as the golden wolflord (also discared altho not killed by rhinedottir like dorian) was never given a name. also the amount of interactions hes had with durin could imply he was somehwat not in his right mind (durin lore is complicated and would take a whole other rant but his toxic blood can corrupt ppl possibly)

i, of course, choose to believe that if durins blood had any effect, it was just making him bold. considering durin himself, under the effect of his own blood, had no idea he was hurting people.

IM OUT OF THINGS TO SAY THAT ARENT JUST HCS LIVE LAUGH LOVE DORIAN THANKS FOR COMING TO MY DORIAN TALK!!!!!!

OK. OMG. FIRST. THAT WAS ALOT TO READ WHICH I LOVE BECAUSE I LOOVEEE READIMG THWNKYOU SO MJCH FOR YHIS LING YUMMY DELICIOUS PARAGRAPH. A SECOND. OH.MY GOF? THIS SI FUCKIMG AWESOME? I LEGITIMATELY DONT REMEMBER SHIT ABOUT GENSHIN BUT THIS SIS SO GOOD LIVE LAUGH LOVE DORIAN. YOURE FAMOUS.DORIAN. UOURE FAMOUS. You’re the captain of explaining thqnkyou I will be putting this in my notes for later. <3

[reginrokkr]

𝐗𝐋𝐈𝐈. Despite the lingering mystery behind Dain's lack of corrosion physical-wise as well as his psyche being considerably sound if compared to Eide within less than a century since he was cursed, that is not to say that he isn't affected by the Abyss at all. In 「Requiem of the Echoing Depths」, he talks about how he can feel the curse permeating his entire being, becoming part of him and slowly but surely replacing him. While this is not what I want to address specifically, it's proof enough that despite what he carries (either an object or something more innate, within him) that gives him an immunity to some extent, he can be affected by the Abyss.

Which is the main point of this post, Abyss affliction and how it may alter someone's psyche with deeply-rooted fears as seen in the Natlan Interlude quest. Dain is known for being a down-to-earth and collected man who carries a tranquility in the face of dire situations that may seem unlikely coming from someone afflicted with this. However, while this may be true to some extent, it also serves as a shield to protect himself and the others from him.

✧ When addressing to others, Dain is mostly polite with others (in the JP voice acting which is what I'm using for him, his manner of speech is polite but antiquated in the sense that some of the words he uses, while meant to stay polite and formal, can be taken as him being rude instead due to the evolution of the language to the present) and keeps a healthy distance from the people without being insultingly distant. When he's established a deeper relationship with someone, he addresses them by their given name.

However, when he's been afflicted by the Abyss, despite being a rational individual, an irrational fear to lose said people arises (there can be many reasons for that even during Khaenri'ah, given that he comes from a prominent background and that he's also the Captain of the Black Serpent Knights) and as a result, he distances himself through his manner of speech. The warm tones he would use would grow more neutral and the occasional friendly approach he would have within his politeness and being usually distant to everyone will disappear, thus going back to the moment prior to growing a deeper connection with said individuals.

Post-Cataclysm, this accentuates more and it's more obvious that in moments that call for being together with someone, he would sooner be off on his own and reunite with the same person after they have rested to continue their current pursuit. This isn't without its logic: in keeping himself distant from others, he's protecting others from getting involved in undesirable situations that would be disadvantageous to them more than it'd be to himself due to his special circumstances.

✦ This also affects the physical contact he may have with people, more deeply-rooted post-Cataclysm than before, but still there. As before, an irrational fear that comes from the belief that having spent a prominent amount of time under the abyssal exposure would bring consequences to the other. So if before this fear arises he used to be more on the touchy side (friendly or romantic, it doesn't matter), his touches will be more calculated and if possible, he'll avoid them entirely.

Post-Cataclysm this grows substantially worse, specially when combined with the corruption he's facing for 500 years now. Having half of his body being akin to a monster doesn't help, neither does that his right hand is exactly just that despite his efforts at giving it a semblance of normalcy —mostly by trimming his nails, which tend to an exacerbated sharpening if left unattended for long enough—. Unlike before the Cataclysm where his touches would be more calculated and tense until through the efforts of the other person he realizes that nothing will happen if he continues touching as he did until then, in this time frame he wants to avoid completely physical touch. There is no physical touch unless strictly necessary (like carrying someone, pushing someone out of danger's way, etc.) before and after a deeper relationship is cemented, and for this case, it'll take him a lot of coaxing in order to chase away his hesitance and make him realize that nothing will happen if he does.

In both cases, he's fully aware of how both the curse and corruption work and that none of the aforementioned deeds will harm another. In fact, if he were to be asked for someone else, he would assure them as much. The problem comes when it's about him and, once again, it's nothing but an irrational fear born from the Abyss exacerbating a pre-existent deeply caring and empathetic nature he has.

Lastly, I want to quote something Dain says during Shenhe's miscellany that suits well with this headcanon and his feelings about this, which is a sad reality he has to face:

◜Even I myself do not relish the solitary life I lead.◞

[menstits]

this is a 100% slash gen question but how do you stay motivated to keep playing genshin after this long? i first got it back when it was still pretty new, around the second ever banner, and played it for a good year but the more things they kept adding the more overwhelmed it started to make me. i do miss it tho, so i wonder how you manage to still play it so consistantly

In all honesty for most of my time playing genshin i've been obsessed with a handful of early game characters (kaeya and his ugly brother and childe mostly, and they're still my faves) and largely didn't give a shit about everyone else, so up until like halfway through sumeru i was playing like. Waiting for kaeya/abyss and khaenri'ah related lores to drop mostly. Like in all honesty especially during inazuma it was dire i didn't give a shit about 90% of the cast and the environment was unpleasant to explore too 🧍‍♂️ but after getting past the samsara part of the sumeru archon quest i started getting genuinely more invested in the storyline. When i got to fontaine i expected it to be a bit of a filler region honestly but the writing quality has been steadily increasing after inazuma imo and the conflicts have become more engaging too... Like i think the main issue for me in inazuma was that they kept trying to get me to give a shit about some npc whereas several of the playable characters felt underutilized and their presence kinda pointless. From sumeru onwards they've started writing the playable cast as more fleshed out and interconnected to one another which is something that i was really missing from early game, and this is even more apparent in fontaine's writing too where everyone has some kind of beef going on with everyone else (it was really fun imo how everyone in mondstadt knows each other because it's a small town and i wasn't really hoping to see that degree of characters being all up in each other's business again in later regions so fontaine was a nice surprise in that regard).

As for your question honestly i think that. In order for genshin to be enjoyable at some point you have to allow yourself to not give a shit about whatever doesn't compel you and instead try to focus on what you do like, for example i kinda hate doing spiral abyss so I don't really touch it unless I'm pressed for primos and instead run around and explore a lot. For story quests i prioritize ones for characters I'm already invested in and leave others for whenever I don't have anything better to do. I'm an insane completionist about this game but it's genuinely fine to focus on the parts you personally find more engaging. I guess sumeru was annoying because long as fuck world quests gate the exploration of certain areas, but fontaine is MUCH better in that regard and the world quests feel much more manageable.

Also tbh i think the increasing relevance that khaenri'ah/abyss and celestia-related stuff has both in the world quests and in the main story along with more harbingers making on screen appearances also contributed to keeping my interest active because that's what I'm mostly invested in other than kaeya-centric stuff 👍

[winterlogysblog]

Kaeya Headcanons and Crack theories that might be borderline AUs

The Abyss Order are only prevalent in Mondstadt and not anywhere else and it's usually just Hilichurls and Abyss Mages that the knights (and Diluc) deals with. But little did they know that these factions are the low ranking ones and Kaeya actually deals with the much more dangerous part of the Abyss Order behind the scenes.

Kaeya's curse is sealed within a gem. At first, Kaeya's father wanted to relieve Kaeya of the curse because he's just a child during these times and he dosen't want his son to suffer, the curse cannot be broken so he thought of a way to transfer the curse inside a gem. During the process, Kaeya's father saw this as an opportunity for Kaeya to spy on Mondstadt. After all, Kaeya is already an adult trapped inside a body of a child.

Varka knows about Kaeya's secret. He's one of the first people Kaeya talked to after his fight with Diluc. Kaeya actually contemplated of leaving the knights and leaving city altogether because he dosen't want to bring harm to Mondstadt. He told Varka about his secret expecting Varka to be angry and throw him out of Mondstadt but Varka just smiled and laughed calling Kaeya a lousy spy for revealing his secret to two people in the same day. Varka vowed to protect his secret and accepted him despite all his secrets and lies.

Kaeya's title as Quartermaster is never truly official as this title to given to him by the other knights. After Varka left on his expedition, Jean became the Acting GrandMaster and Kaeya acts like her right-hand man, this became apparent to the other knights that they gave him the title of Quartermaster, the Pirate Captain's right-hand man. Kaeya loved it.

Teyvatan is actually Khaenri'ah's second language as there are people who are from the land of the Gods who decided to stay in Khaenri'ah. Kaeya is fluent in both but sometimes he would mix up his words and unconsciously speak in Khaenri'ahn. It freaks people out, Huffman almost had a heartattack because of it. (#BilingualStruggles)