#genshin bonanus

[occasional-xiao]

Spider

[silvkey]

showing the full art of xiaoae☀

[crowboye]

Leaving this here so i never have to look at it again be who you are for your pride

(Original under cut)

[cerucerus]

Sketches inspired by Of Gods and Men by TravellingYen (Chapters 42-48) (+ the new Zhongli comfy PJ set)

Twt link

[mythysmultiverse]

If I had a nickel for every media where I fixated on a legendary group of 5 people who gave their lives/minds for a greater purpose, of which only one remains as he was, I'd have 2 nickels. Which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice.

[daily-yaksha-doodle]

day 110- late account anniversary post

[iwasthewind]

I'm so mad about this year's lantern rite lmao. It was centred around Menogias, the Geo Yaksha. Xiao's dead comrade and close friend. His official title was General Kapisas. He's based off Sun Wukong.

And there was nothing about him exept for a few random lines? Barely anything? I don't understand why. This was what Xianyun said about him- completely randomly- and then went back to talking about something else???

"He possessed a singular talent for clothing designs. He had an exquisite eye for not just fabric selection and colour pairing, but also for what accessories could best accentuate a garment's overall styling." (Dialogue one.)

"At a gathering of adepti, Bonanus (hydro Yaksha. She and Menogias went mad with Karmic Debt and killed each other. She and the Pyro Yaksha, Indarius, were presumably close friends. Bonanus' official title was General Chizapus and she seemed to be a gentle person.) once complained in secret to the ladies in attendance that the skirt Menogias made for her was too long and impractical, lamenting that it would only hinder her in battle." (Dialogue two.)

"However, when one asked Menogias his opinion, he remarked that the train of the skirt would serve to enhance her adeptal countenance by exemplifying a certain elegance. Menogias was that type of person. When it came to topics relating to garments and accessories, not even Rex Lapis could best his stubbornness." (Dialogue three.)

AND THAT'S IT?? Menogias designed Zhongli's outfits. Menogias fought in the archon war and was one of the Yakshas that sealed Guizhong away when she passed. He was one of the central figures in Xiao's life and Xiao grieved him terribly after he died. His death along with his siblings' deaths impacts Xiao till this day. He was like a brother to Xiao. Xiao talks in a quest (I don't remember which, sorry) about how Menogias once mentioned wanting to live a peaceful mortal's life-but in the end Menogias lost his sanity for the sake of his nation and his people and killed his sister, someone he held very, very dear. It's tragic. It's heartbreaking. His karmic debt took over his mind and destroyed someone he wanted to protect and live a mortal's life with. Menogias is such a wonderful character? When I saw in the livestream that the main lantern was Menogias, I gasped and sat up. Yaksha lore?! Menogias centric lantern rite?! Instead we dealt with Gaming's fucking family problems. Why couldn't that have been a sub-plot? Why didn't they use Gaming's stubbornness and passion as a parallel to MENOGIAS' stubbornness, passion and ferocity of both mind and body? Why???? Zero stars, I'm admittedly biased as fuck. I love the Yakshas and I wanted Yaksha lore- and this isn't like a "ugh I didn't get what I wanted" thing it's a "this year's lantern rite had so much potential that was absolutely wasted"

Like sure, the Xianyun-Shenhe convo was comedy gold, Gaming running to his dad and hugging him was sweet, but? Couldn't that have been a sub-plot? Menogias was this year's Mingxiao lantern. I don't care if they executed it badly and just brought him up via long winded exposition- the fact that barely anyone knows about Menogias is so sad and it could genuinely have made for such a good story? The fact that Xiao didn't even attend a festival more or less dedicated to him and his family? When "Lantern Rite Festival is a festival celebrated every year, on the day of the first full moon to commemorate heroes of the past."

I wish Xiao could have at least seen the Mingxiao lantern from afar. I wonder how he would have reacted to watch the people he protects honour someone he loved so much. Would he have cried? Could we have gotten a scene where an adeptus comforts Xiao? That was his brother.

Xianyun hangs out with her children, Zhongli with Hu Tao, the Fontaine cast randomly drops in which was kind of nice to see since Furina (<333333) came along. Moon Carver and Mountain Shaper (I cannot believe they got NPC treatment, what the fuck) hung out but Xiao was alone until the traveller releases a lantern with him. On lantern rite. Which is a festival more or less meant to commemorate him. He got what, a minute of screen time?? Two? Three?

In Xianyun's story quest (and obviously this is a spoiler for her story quest) we see just how much the traveller misses their sibling, how desperately they want them back and how much they bottle up their feelings. Xiao must feel the same, right? I can't imagine how guilty he must feel or how much he must wonder what life would be like had they survived. It would even have tied in with Gaming's story- how much he'd want his family to accept him and be there with him on lantern rite. Why didn't we get something about these three? Why was there so much focus on a random four star (I'm sorry if you like Gaming, I love his playstyle but I really don't give a shit about the character).

I feel like they really just want people to pull for Gaming and Xianyun, I really can't explain why they (imo) fumbled this so bad. I expected so much after the Fontaine AQ but man this was so disappointing it literally killed by desire to keep playing the game. I'll just do my dailies and log off, HSR welcomes me with a much warmer embrace

[boy-above]

more sacrifice au! this time to show off heights. xiao is a bit taller than venti, which i know is sacrilege, but its because yaksha in this au are Very Big; xiao is still tiny for his species. bonanus here is the second shortest of xiao's yaksha family!

[sharowolet]

so happy to share this for xiao day!!! he can spend it with his siblings MWAH

[ID: digital drawing of the five yakshas. Top: bosacius with his four arms flexed and hands in fists, his back turned toward the viewer, and lightning surrounding him. Middle: bonanus with blobs of water around her; indarias with crossed arms and hands holding flames; menogias preparing to cast his stones. Bottom: xiao on one knee, right arm holding his spear, with a disconnected wind current around him. There are clouds separating each row.]

[fridayth13]

—it's a love story

↳ chongyun, fanan/bonanus, lyney, wriothesley, and la signora × reader (separately) (royalty au!)

↳ genre: fluff, hijinks, a bit of crack(chongyun), hurt/comfort(wriothesley and maybe lyney's too), fantasy elements(signora) | wordcount: 1.8k | warnings: reader being a bit presumptuous and assuming(fanan)

↳ notes: while writing i did realize that some of these scenarios could happen even without the medieval setting, but i think everyone needs to imagine their favorite characters in a royalty au. at least once. for the aesthetic

—chongyun

if anyone's ever watched gravity falls, think of that episode where dipper explores the northwest mansion with pacifica. it goes something like that

your family, as well as even the servants around the castle, grew wary of things that went bump in the night over the last few years

eventually, they called in an exorcist to get rid of anything with malicious intent

his name was chongyun— the best of the best in liyue

it was said even the most gruesome of evils steered clear of his presence. and when you first met, you thought it was no wonder

with his icy stare and his imposing ceremonial greatsword, he looked almost surreal as the ghosts themselves

you were tasked with representing your family. you and the exorcist were about the same age, so your parents thought it would help make him more comfortable

once you got to talk to him personally though, that assumption immediately fell flat on its face

as you went through the palace, his coldness didn't seem to waver, no matter how much you tried to lighten the mood. his tone when speaking (limited to one word replies and/or lengthy explanations about evil spirits) was clipped and entirely professional

it didn't take you long to resign to the fact that you were probably annoying him, and so you stopped

chongyun, however, was left stuck asking himself why you'd suddenly started acting so stiffly

as you forlornly inspected an ancient vase, he wondered if he should apologize for.. something? was he being too cold? he hoped not

though chongyun did worry that his long time crush on you would have him combust if he ever stood an inch too close

besides, he was on a job. professionalism, chongyun. professionalism

just ignore the unwanted whisper of the xingqiu devil on his shoulder urging him to talk to you

he could do that later

maybe. hopefully

his friend would have definitely been having a field day if he saw him now, fumbling over himself about whether or not to initiate a conversation

you, however, had absolutely no clue what chongyun was glaring at the wall about. the mural maybe? was that cursed? you sidled up to chongyun's side and voiced your question to him

if you knew him any better, you'd recognize the vague pink creeping up his cheeks

—bonanus / fanan

you'd initially thought she was a.. strange choice to be assigned as your personal knight

to be honest, you used to think she was one of the nurses. you often saw her in the infirmary, her deep blue hair and pretty smile catching your eye quite easily

fanan's frame was slender, but with the way she carried herself, anyone might guess she was a member of the royal household like you

you couldn't imagine her in all that clunky armor, swinging a hefty sword against the other warriors. you had thought she was too soft-hearted for that

that was a misjudgement on your part

the first spar you witnessed her partake in was when she was training one of her subordinates

the first thing you were wrong about was her weapon— fanan didn't have a sword, no

she had two

long, elegant twin dao sword with carvings of the waves and ocean legends from the hilt to the iron of the blades. the metal was such a beautiful silver it could pass for blue under a certain light

the second thing you were wrong about?

fanan had no use for armor, apparently

she flowed as easily as water, practically dancing around her opponent in a blur of blue

her blades, the seafoam and her azure apparel, the current; she was a tsunami crashing into the tide

her opponent fell before a minute passed

"you've improved." yet she smiled at them, as sweet as ever

you had to hold yourself back from voicing your bafflement. improved? at this rate, you felt you might as well could have fired every other knight at the palace

"i noticed you stop to watch earlier."

it was only after fully checking in on her subordinate did she ask for your thoughts

"what did you think, your grace? was my performance to your liking?"

you could only blink at her

"y..your grace?"

"i—" you cleared your throat. "um.. yes. yes, it was. more than satisfactory, i think. you are quite skilled, sir bonanus"

then she beamed at your words

your heart fluttered

—lyney

in lyney's words, you were a noble of many treasures, and a bouquet of even brighter blossoms. you sometimes found his riveting manner of speech a bit difficult to understand, but that statement was thankfully not one of them

you thought the notion of having a jester was a bit silly. but you didn't have any other way to describe him either

you supposed magician worked well enough

to start, the court of fontaine was simply enamored with him. who wouldn't be?

a charming fellow from humble origins, rising up with nothing but the little mora in his pocket and the support of his family to keep him afloat. and he'd made it. in no time at all, he was a regular presence on the stage of the opera epiclese.

and while the court of fontaine was enraptured with the magician, lyney himself found himself enraptured by you

he didn't believe in love at first sight, but he knew when he was smitten

you came to every show. every night. he even caught a glimpse of your watching eyes during one of his smaller performances

the immediate night after, the opera's crowd was in complete shambles by the end of his tricks, when a single rainbow rose had been thrown into the crowd by his very hand

it had landed in your lap, just as planned

the look you shared that night was the talk of the entire kingdom for weeks

as for you.. well, he made you laugh. what else was there to say?

soon enough, lyney was giving out backstage passes (pass-es, he told lynette. but she saved him the trouble and requested you to come by herself)

you grew close quickly. lyney seemed like an easy person to get close to, after all. he was a devoted suitor as well; never passing up every opportunity to try and impress you or tell you how grateful he was to you for even looking his way

every performance after that concluded with a rainbow rose in your hand. sometimes even several

your visits to the house of the hearth (previously only for business) increased in number

so when the order came from father to get even closer to you and sleuth about your estate and properties, lyney's heart just about stopped in his chest

—wriothesley

you knew each other for as long as you could remember

he was just a random servant boy in the castle that liked keeping you company. you, in turn, had no complaints. he was fun, if not unpredictable, and a welcome interruption to the rigid palace routine

to him, you were like an angel. he called it the luck of the gods themselves that you wanted to play with him at all when they were kids

with the crown on your head as a halo, the cadence of your voice was your song. you always smelled so nice, and your hands were so soft. your smile, however, was the most stunning. the sight of it almost gave him a sense of pride, knowing that more often than not, it had appeared because of him

you were inseparable, and everyone hated it. especially your parents

it was almost ironic. of all the people to have figured out how the two of you felt about each other first, it had to be the ones that needed you apart the most

he didn't exactly help his own case, what with his smart mouth and knack for getting in trouble. it came as no surprise that he was at the receiving end of someone's scolding quite often. you just hadn't expected it to get so far

the trial went by you in a blur of whispers

"i always knew he was trouble" "what a dreadful child" "how unfortunate"

you couldn't sit still, practically leaning over the rail to look at him. you wanted to snap at your family gossiping behind you. you wanted to jump over the rail and run to your best friend. your only friend. you wanted to yell at him. you wanted to comfort him. you wanted to grab him by the hand and run off somewhere no one could catch you

and he wasn't even looking at you

if only you'd known what he was thinking in those moments. that the mere sight of you at the edge of his vision had him near tears

"i'll come back to you. i'll come back." he repeated to himself every night after that before he fell asleep, dreaming of you

years passed. wriothesley never forgot

now the duke of the fortress he was exiled to, he ran back to the overworld the first chance he had

as soon as he saw you on the streets of the city, he knew

and as soon as you caught sight of him, staring longingly after you across the street, you did too

—la signora

the signora lohefalter was a mysterious woman

the fair lady. an esteemed member of the snezhnayan court. from the way she dressed, the way she carried herself, the way she spoke, it could be said she was the very definition of the word 'luxuriant'.

between the two of you, it had started with a spark

on her end, a spark of interest

you were a bold one. whether you were a lowly servant, a fellow noble, or somewhere in between, you had a certain look in your eye. one of unyielding fire

it drew her in, this mirror of her own disposition

the court was often a rather desolate place to be. the people flew by and drifted off, colder than the wind. your heat was tantalizing to her. and eventually, she learned to crave your warmth

on your end however, the spark was rather literal

witchcraft was forbidden in all but written law. so when you caught the slightest lick of light escaping the signora's ungloved hands, you weren't quite sure what to do

she'd caught your gaze with an amused smile

"you look like you've seen a ghost, y/n."

not quite

it was an odd game of cat and mouse. it was as if the mouse bared fangs, and the cat was left to do nothing but scramble to catch it

it might take a while longer for her to accept her own feelings if you weren't a noble, or draped in finery from head to toe

but when she does, she claims the feelings with conviction. no matter how much longer it will take for the two of you to end your little game, it's clear what's going on to any outsider watching the two of you

maybe it wasn't so much that you wanted her caught. maybe you just wanted to know why. you've voiced this curiosity to her once, in one of your attempts to obtain a confession

she smiled again, in that coy, oh-so-innocent way that she did. she'd tell you, but.. well, you already knew, didn't you? what was there to tell?

and could you really blame her if she enjoyed the way you looked as you chased her down?

dividers from @clutteredfun

[shadowed-dancer]

I want Xiao to teach us more about the yakshas, but I want it like how he did it in 3.4 lantern rite. I don’t want insight into their lore and suffering, I want him to casually bring up the most random and trivial facts about them

Imagine the traveler is sitting there by the lake and Xiao’s like “this reminds me of how Bonanus would catch fish with her bare hands and then kept them in a hydro bubble as pets” and the traveler is like

[esmeblaze]

feeds you more yakshas content 

[silvkey]

just Menogias and his concern for the Yakshas outfits

[sgrimp]

[cerucerus]

Chapter 42 - An Encounter Beneath the Mountain

(Based on Chapter 42 of Of Gods and Men by TravellingYen)

(Twitter)

[rosaramaryllis]

'ꜱᴏᴍᴇᴏɴᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴡᴀᴛᴄʜ ᴍᴇ ᴅɪᴇ' ; a xiao x reader

synopsis ; alatus was a strong adeptus, having been one of the two yakshas to have survived karmic debt, along with the endless wars that came with time. however, even the one next to the strongest is not invincible.

summary ; basically y/n is the dendro yaksha and xiao has only opened up to them because they've gone through the same thing, losing all their comrades. y/n was his stone, but even a stone is not invincible.

word count: 1.5k

"alatus! come and celebrate the lantern rite with us!"

"no."

"come on, you do this every year!"

"still no."

"i'll bring almond tofu..?"

xiao begrudgingly sat at the table at mount hulao, eating his own plate of almond tofu whilst all his other fellow yakshas talked about nothing in particular, bosacius would sometimes brag about the monsters he had wrangled, indarias would help hand out food, bonanus chugged osmanthus wine (a benevolent gift from none other than rex lapis himself), menogias still refused to stop sewing. he was working on a suit familiar to his, the rest of them were in awe when he admitted it was for rex lapis himself.

"it certainly looks regal enough!"

then there was y/n, the dendro yaksha, general (name). while bosacius was official leader of the yakshas, appointed by rex lapis himself, y/n was the de-facto leader. they were basically the deputy, and loved for their motherly nature towards the other adepti. xiao often turned his nose up at them, why would anyone trust and treat others so nicely if they didn't even know each other?

"alatus, are you doing okay?"

the bustling atmosphere vanished in front of xiao's eyes, instead replaced by the tranquility of the wangshu inn, he stared into the starry night before turning to whoever had spoken.

"y/n."

he paused.

"thinking about bosacius and the others again?"

y/n asked, a sad smile on their face. it was always a pleasure to temporarily escape the reality of loneliness just to think of their fellow comrades.

however, every trip down memory lane wasn't always going to be a good one.

"y/n, alatus, i-i don't want to fight."

"indarias, stay strong, i don't want to either but-"

indarias screamed, letting out a bloodcurdling scream as hot tears ran down her face, her expression of pure agony and fear visible. she ran, far away from where alatus and y/n stood, they attempted to pursue her, but even more chaos would catch their attention before they could. alatus watched as y/n launched themselves up towards bonanus and menogias. he knew that the karmic debt had possessed them, and though his heart tightened, he knew that it was hopeless.

he never wanted to admit it though, and let y/n try.

"your worthless existence will be forgotten."

"as if a drunken insect like you wouldn't suffer the same fate as me."

their voices were now nothing but animalistic, they weren't yakshas anymore, but only monsters that plagued the battlefield. at the geo monster's comment, the hydro one let out a shrill screech of anger, launching herself forward and impaling the other. the geo monster wouldn't go down without a fight, and crystallized the other former yaksha, shattering her to pieces as he himself succumbed to his wounds and karmic debt.

a tear rolled down y/n's cheek, xiao standing atop bloodied corpses of monsters, his face holding a sombre expression. both of them prayed that bosacius would be alright.

and that prayer would go unanswered. years after that battle, bosacius had disappeared without a trace.

they had only discovered the truth recently, their now former deity filling y/n in after xiao's near-death experience.

in front of the traveler, the strange oni, yanfei, the ninja(?) and paimon, y/n put on a calm, composed face. they thanked the group for their assistance and providing closure for both them and xiao. however, the anemo user knew the truth, the tears that they shed, the vase that was broken as y/n yelled at xiao, who could do nothing but avert their gaze.

"what- you were just going to leave me here? without anyone? without you?"

y/n had started to pull on their hair, threatening to rip it out. xiao watched, he stumbled forward. he was never good with feelings, that was y/n's department. they were there when he had his karmic debt episodes, they were there to make almond tofu and help to soothe his pain.

xiao wrapped his arms around the other, it was awkward for him, but as y/n sank to the floor, he did so with them. they sobbed while rare tears came from his eyes, as he whispered apologies.

they spent their days at dihua marsh, walking together and reminiscing. they fought side-by-side, always having each others' back. they collected what they could of their late yaksha friends. indarias' mask, that y/n found after the bloody war. the both of them weren't there to watch her life cease, but the mask was indication enough.

menogias' mask was intact, albeit chipped. bosacius' was retrieved in the chasm by xiao, though it threatened to crumble as time wore it down. bonanus' mask was.. shattered. it was almost impossible to piece it back together, but xiao remembered the nights that him and y/n stayed up, using the strongest glue they could find, provided by cloud retainer. guizhong had usually been the one they went to for contraptions, but alas, the archon war not only stole friends like the yaksha, but also gods alike. the goddess of dust was among one of the casualties.

the traveler was also a prominent figure in their lives, who helped convince xiao to go to the lantern rite. they had led him to a clearing in the forest, feigning a story about a danger they had uncovered. as the vine curtain was thrown aside, instead of a huge monster, there was a stone table, just like the one back then in that lantern rite, there were 6 seats, but only one yaksha was there. y/n sat patiently, smiling at xiao.

xiao glared back at the traveler and paimon, who whistled innocently and scampered away.

in front of the seats were items.

a pot of soup, wine, a token from the primordial geovishap, and a needle and a piece of golden cloth. xiao didn't even have to look twice to know who they belonged to. he assumed the seat with almond tofu in front of it was his seat.

he sat down awkwardly, the both of them sitting in silence for a bit before y/n spoke up.

"let's just pretend, for now."

pretending was hard, though. the silence that engulfed the table was palpable. never will the cheerful banter ever fill the sky again. never will bosacius boast, the wine will remain untouched, the food never distributed, none of menogias' creations ever be made from his skillful hands.

y/n doubled over, a sudden pain piercing through their senses. they clutched the table as xiao bent down next to them, helpless to try and aid his companion.

their vision went black.

xiao looked over to liyue harbour, at bubu pharmacy. he didn't believe in human medicine, but what option did he have at the moment? he hoped that that.. baizhong.. or baili person could help them.

xiao hoped that this was just a passing sickness, a lack of sleep, anything. it can't be.. karmic debt. it can't be. for his sake, y/n had to live, at least long enough to watch him die.

alatus clutched y/n's hand, staying by their side the whole night. zhongli had come to visit, and the grim silence was there. silence, damn it. damn the silence. though he insisted on being better working on his own, in the silence the night provided, y/n always provided just enough banter.

"alatus."

xiao didn't reply.

"spend your time well with them."

and with that, zhongli left. xiao couldn't handle being so weak in his presence anyways.

your end was coming.

and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

then it happened.

an awful scream rang out throughout dihua marsh, as a band of hilichurls fell at xiao and y/n's feet.

y/n clutched their head, collapsing to their knees. xiao stood opposite them, turning away. he knew what was happening. he naively wished it would never happen, but he was just refusing to acknowledge reality.

y/n morphed into a monster, their gentle hands becoming large claws, their eyes with a crazed rage in it, and their face. oh, their face. it was nowhere to be seen. xiao was strong, it would be no issue to execute his former companion.

but his arms trembled, a warm liquid making its presence known as it streamed down his cheeks.

with a skilled slash by his hands, the monster fell to the ground. xiao ran over, desperate. the karmic debt that morphed their body receded into the night. xiao slowly reached out, touching their cheek.

another legend was added into liyue's books for years to come, they say that once every two years, on a random night, you can hear the despairing melody of a bird as it mourned its beloved, as well as the cries of a man that accompanies the song.