#inazuma genshin au

[kokomelt]

I think it's very obvious I'm a Genshin enjoyer, but also I must mention I'm an avid Inazuma Eleven enjoyer too, and I will never get over the fact we have a nation literally named "Inazuma" (I know it's because it's the Electro nation, but still...let me be unu) so...how come Inazuma Genshin AU isn't a thing?? It probably is but I haven't seen much about it. Genshin has an element system and so does Inazuma Eleven, Archons can equal to keshin right? Or maybe the Go coaches? Imagine Endou or Kidou as Archons–

Ahem...wait, you must be wondering (sadly, I think you're not), who's this random person? Howdy, I'm Coco/Mimi, and you are watching me yap and gnaw at this AU's messy concept because I can't write to help myself (because English isn't my first language, sorry) and I'm in no way cohesive nor make much sense most of the time while trying to explain stuff.

Now let's get back on track under the cut...

When I say Inazuma Eleven Genshin AU I don't mean that it should follow the original plot, because who could even be Aether and Lumine??? But conceptually the Visions, nations and Archons just click to me for Inazuma Eleven, somehow (and if it doesn't you'll have to pry this AU from my wimpy, damp hands)!! Besides, most hissatsus could be translated to elemental powers so they can keep them even in Genshin (some of them at least) and it'd still work.

Before I dive into this any further, for those fans of Inazuma who are unfamiliar with Genshin, if you're wondering how much of the lore/basics you need to know to understand this, don't worry, not much really...i think?. I won't say anything that's not like very well-known regarding Genshin and/or common knowledge about it, any other thing I'll try to badly explain it without losing the flow (this is a mess, so spoiler: that's not likely to happen, i'm so sorry).

For any fan of Genshin who ended up here without knowing much about Inazuma Eleven... I'm not going to tag this under the Genshin fandom, because without context of Inazuma Eleven this will be even more of a bigger wall of nonsensical text.

For the sake of making this somewhat understandable I'll separate it into different topics, it won't make it more organized but at least it would be split into parts so no one gets (more) lost + with cute pastel dividers to try and be aesthetic about it...

Also I can't promise this is spoiler free, I doubt it so if you don't want spoilers for Genshin and/or Inazuma Eleven I think you should stop here.

꒰ The General Plot of this AU kinda ꒱

As I mentioned above, I don't think this AU can or needs to follow the original plot for Genshin, at least not the one with Aether and Lumine because again, I don't know who could fit the role so let's just say this is an AU who only grabs the concepts of Genshin (set in Teyvat, 7 elements and nations, Archons, visions, The Abyss, etc) and throws Inazuma Eleven characters into the setting.

However, some things make sense to me and I think can be equated to certain events in Inazuma Eleven but tbh, I don't even know which timeline would this follow. For example, Fatui being akin to Teikoku, and Kageyama Reiji being the Cryo Archon could fit. But also the Fatui sound a lot like they could be the equivalent of Fifth Sector, and the SEEDs are the Harbingers.

That's why I say I have no idea really what timeline this could follow, personally when this nonsense came to me while daydreaming I thought of it being set on the Inazuma Eleven Go timeline because idk, in Genshin the first element the player gets is Anemo (wind), and who other than Tenma could be both a protagonist and had an Anemo vision? But I won't jump into the vision headcanons yet.

So I think if that's the case, maybe The Fatui were indeed the whole of Teikoku. Archons are deities, ok, but one can ascend to become an Archon, so my take on Kageyama Reiji being the Cryo Archon stays but...what if he died like what supposedly happened in Galaxy? Basically...Kageyama was the Archon, but died, and who could succeed him? Well, I was thinking Kidou could, therefore that would make him the new Cryo Archon on Tenma's timeline.

But if the Fifth Sector is like the Fatui (somewhat, it's just because they're the main "evil organization"), and Fifth Sector was something created by Goenji, why would he bring back a group that's so related to Archon!Kageyama?

Also the whole Aliea incident could be tied to the Abyss Order or something, because the Aliea Stone and the Abyss corrupt people.

So yeah, that's what I mean with "it should follow the original plot yet not exactly". But I'm not that meticulous to actually try and make this make sense.

I still support my version where this AU is set during the Go timeline, but that's because I'm biased towards Tenma (and because Endou as an Archon sounds fun to me).

꒰ Everyone has Japanese names + why I won't use the dub ones ꒱

As you may have noticed by now, I'm using exclusively the original japanese names, nor the dub ones. This part is mainly a quick explanation about why I would refer to them with those names in the rest of the post about the AU.

Even though in Genshin there are 7 Nations based on mash-ups of different cultures (Fontaine is France + England, if I recall correctly, but basically you get what I mean) and characters are named accordingly, I physically can't use (nor recall all) the dub names, so let's just assume that while everyone here will be referred with Japanese names, they may be from different nations.

But whoever decides to develop this whole idea can do whatever, I just ask you to please, throw the link to me so I can read/see it because I'd love to >3<

꒰ Genshin Elements vs Inazuma Elements ꒱

I'm not going to develop this much...I hope??

I'm just going to mention that Elements in Inazuma are a beautiful mess (Wind encapsulates Ice, and Wood element somehow is tied to Darkness and Space...and I don't even know why???), but honestly I don't see logic (not much at least) trying to give the characters the same element they have in the games.

How am I supposed to translate the fact Hikaru uses Wood element? Cryo? Dendro because it's literally Plant so Plant = Wood? But his hissatsus are clearly Darkness and/or Space themed so I don't see how that fits.

I have read countless theories regarding the criteria to give someone a certain Vision, most of them revolve around ambitions or desires strong enough that Celestia acknowledges the individual who has them. I like the theories though, and it somehow makes sense even if it's not something set in stone (yet), so I guess we can still follow it a bit. I'd explain any theory but some are lenghty to sum them up, at least I, myself, can't.

Now with Inazuma Eleven. It doesn't have a similar elemental assignation system (again, there's Wood encapsulates Music, Space, Darkness and so on, while Genshin has just plain Dendro element for Plant powers) so I can't really give them their exact element + I think some visions' descriptions fit some characters that coincidentally don't have that same element in the canon source.

Who are the Archons though? Once again, I don't know, this whole post is a big "I have this idea, is making me tweak and roll, but I have no clue on who is what or what is who." so yep.

At some point I thought Daisuke Endou could have done the same as Zhongli. He was the Geo Archon and faked his dead (like in Inazuma, you know?) but also the idea of Endou being a normal human and ascending to Archonhood sounds epic, because he was a normal guy on the Inazuma Eleven series but upon reaching Inazuma Eleven Go he's a whole icon for the rest of it, he's the basis of new Raimon and now Tenma carries the torch.

Yes, I don't know what to do to develop this, moving on to the following point to tackle...

꒰ Aliea Stone = Abyssal Power? and much more ꒱

This is going to be long because to address this I need to explain Genshin stuff to show how it makes some sort of connection (to little delulu me, at least).

First off what is 'The Abyss' aka 'The Void' and to some extent Khaenri'ah, because both are tied deeply.

The Abyss originated because Celestia destroyed Khaenri'ah, which was a former nation of Teyvat without a deity (because they didn't need one (?)). Also the Abyss wants to destroy and/or corrupt all the other nations (the main 7 Nations) in revenge.

But according to the wiki it refers to four different things too, which are interconnected. However, I'll use just two mainly when referring to it: The Abyss as one of the Three Realms and the region beneath (and beyond) Teyvat that's considered a different world entirely.

To sum it up badly, The Abyss I'm talking about was a nation but became what it is nowadays after its destruction.

Why do I relate it to the Aliea though? Because Abyss power is purple, or at least that's the main color we can see in the Abyss' Mages floating runes and most importantly: the upside down corrupted statue of The Seven.

The whole purple power that corrupts people it's very reminiscent to the Aliea Meteorite, who glows in purple and alters the mind of people who use its power (just look back at what it did to Kazemaru).

But I did mention The Abyss is considered part of 'The Three Realms'...well, this section isn't also called "and much more" for nothing, because I'll have to bring Desuta and Sein into this AU...

You may not remember them, but don't worry my sweet little jellyfish. So...remember when Inazuma Japan had a match against literal angels and devils because Haruna and Rika were abducted by them? Hope this has unlocked a few memories from that chapter.

The Three Realms in Genshin are basically The Human Realm, The Light Realm and The Void Realm.

In the past The Void and The Light existed opposite to each other until the Human Realm was created.

In any case, the point is that The Void Realm could be akin to Desuta and his team, the Makai Gundan Z. and The Light Realm would be Sein and his team. Because, you know, Dark Void vs Light dynamic.

Also we have the Abyss Order right? That should have its own equal thing but I couldn't come up with anything, at least not Inazuma Eleven related.

꒰ Genshin characters that remind me of Inazuma Eleven ones ꒱

For no particular reason, maybe vibes, maybe personality idk. This doesn't mean I'd give them the same visions, nation, and/or species but rather that I find parallelisms between them somehow.

However, my fish brain can't pinpoint all the similarities they have and it's not good at analyzing. Also, I'll be mentioning from most seasons (if needed, also Ares/Orion timeline).

Charlotte and Haruna. Yes, it's probably the camera/reporter thing they have going on.

Scaramouche/Kunikuzushi and Kariya. Trust issues, both are very cat-like and they are most likely sassy (Scaranation, please don't chase me down, I know he has a lot of depth, I just tried to be extremely concise about it)

If you prefer, I also consider Scaramouche could have parallelisms with Fudou.

Dottore/Capitano and Kageyama Reiji. It's the unapologetically evil guy vibe I guess.

Bennett and Endou. I feel like these two have an unyielding positivism, sometimes they can get overtaken by doubts about themselves but on the end, they're sweet guys that deserve happiness.

Alternatively, Bennett and Tachimukai also work.

Thoma and Taiyou. Both of them have very warm vibes, they're rays of sunshine but at the same time I think both know more than what they let on. Also it's canon that both are popular.

Sucrose and Hayami. It's the glasses indeed, but also both of them are intelligent individuals who seem kinda shy or easily flustered.

Keqing and Natsumi. It gets easily overshadowed in Go!, but we should always keep on mind that Natsumi is incredibly smart (didn't she solve a case that was left on the drawers by the police or something?). Also, they both have kind of a tsundere-like attitude.

Ningguang and Koumei. Both of them are elegant, powerful and smart women.

On a side note, we have our own iteration of Koumei in Genshin. Koumei is Kongming, aka Zhuge Liang, and Kokomi has a reference to Zhuge Liang in her constellation.

Also not a comparison in itself but dragons who can take human form exists in Teyvat. Hakuryuu being one would make sense.

Amber and Nae. Cute bunny-themed girls, spirited and extroverted. Amber is excellent at gliding, Nae was the best runner in the track team.

Dehya and Midori. Fiery, untamable and strong girls. Midori somehow fits Dehya's title "Flame-Mane".

Shenhe and Minori. Both of them seem cold at first, and have a serious deadpan expression. However, Shenhe has quite a temper and so does Minori when she's not being possessed by Potomuri.

Yaoyao and Shinsuke. Small and warm-hearted balls of sunshine, they care deeply about those around them.

Raiden Ei and Tatsuya/Hiroto Kiyama. Albeit not quite the same, their situations are similar in the fact they ended up taking the position of their respective siblings (because yes, I consider Tatsuya and Hiroto brothers), and physically look like them (I'm not taking into account how grown-up Hiroto Kira looks in Ares/Orion. Both Hiroto and Tatsuya looked a lot like each other when they were younger in the og series).

꒰ Some Vision Headcanons ꒱

I want to think if someone read through this was at least to get to this part. I won't say my Headcanons on who gets which Vision are permanent (I'm always willing to listen to suggestions or just read your own Headcanons), they are open to change if I reconsider some.

And as I said above, not all of the characters I'll mention have a Vision that matches their canon element in-game.

Also I'll be choosing some based on the theories regarding what criteria do the Archons follow to hand out the Visions. I'll explain it (badly and super simple) to make it more understandable.

Credits to this post because it's what made sense to me for the Vision's criteria. At the same time, since it's rather ambiguous it makes sorting them somewhat easier.

► Anemo: Had past failures, struggles or suffered from unspecified problems, maybe a loss of some kind. Hardworkers with a sense of duty who do –or prefer to do– their own thing and follow their own pace.

► Geo: Care and worry deeply about others. Could take the lead in certain specific situations based on their talents. Rather single-minded and/or simple-headed. Very committed to what they believe or want.

► Electro: Lonely people or they just have a small circle of interactions. Some of their life matters could be too important that they affect other's lives. Prone to awkwardness or second-guessing themselves. Sometimes quirky or just unique, they may have accomplished great deeds.

► Dendro: Scholars or people oriented to knowledge. Good thinkers even in dire situations, sometimes creative. Some want to expand their field of knowledge and can get themselves in over their heads.

► Hydro: Highly specialize in certain skills or areas that others may not have or show. They're role models in what they do or strive to maintain it as such. Tend to weather their own hardships and seek excuses for it, wether they're self-sought hardships or not.

► Pyro: Ambitious people who will keep going even if others oppose them. This also applies to people who may hurt themselves in the process and fully acknowledge it, either for their own sake or because of others. Some keep people at arm's length, not always intentionally.

► Cryo: People who feel lost, specially after a life changing or impactful event on their lives. They may be stuck in the events of their past, so it influences what they live for or what they think they should do next. Some aspect of their life comes back or gets in the way of their goal.

I would also want to mention that while these may be criteria and I refer to them as such. I also believe the theory that says Archons will give out Visions based on each person's ambition/desire and of they support it. However, considering in this AU we don't have the same Archons and they may not have the same personalities as the originals, I decided to not follow that rule.

In addition, it is somewhat confirmed that it may not be that Visions follow a personality checklist to decide who should have which one. Apparently, Lisa's personality changed after receiving her Electro vision, and since it's always mentioned that stars guide the fates of Teyvat denizens (hence, constellations being a gameplay thing but also something important within Teyvat's beliefs, as shown with Mona being able to read people's lives/personalities on them), maybe Visions are also linked. Basically, we could conclude that Visions also shape someone's mind somehow, as mentioned in this post (which is rather old and doesn't feature Dendro, sadly). I recommend you also read the comments of that post to see further of my reasons for some of these headcanons.

But let's get into some Vision Headcanons, shall we? I'll try to be clean and make this in order but I don't know if I will be able to, and they're just a few because Inazuma has a lot a LOT of characters and I couldn't just think about every single one >.<

Tenma: I already said this but I'll also add it here because it's one of the Headcanons I refuse to change. Tenma gets Anemo vision just because wind is his thing, I always relate him to it regardless of wether it makes sense or not. I think he does fit the fact he's a hardworker but he goes at his own tempo, but what matters is the journey to reach any goal he has.

Taiyou: This boy gets a Pyro vision and you can't tell me that's unreasonable. He's the very definition of "will keep going even if it hurts him". Also going with the personality theory, I feel like Taiyou would take initiative of things (he's the captain of Arakumo after all) and openly expresses himself.

Kirino: I'd go for Electro vision for him, but this has a reason and that reason is Chrono Stone. Mainly the fact I thought it was very clear that Kirino has a tendency to doubt his actions or decisions, sometimes feeling like he's falling behind in regards of Shindou.

Shindou: I decided to give him Hydro, it makes sense to me and I think I can try to explain it. I wish the fact that he's a good pianist was brought up more in the anime, because it's one of the reasons I chose Hydro, since he comes off as your typical case of gifted child when it comes to music. I also think he's a role model to his teammates and strives to meet the expectations they may have about him.

Kurama: One of my fav characters, sadly we don't have much info about him but I tried my best to pick a vision for him. I ended up going for Cryo because of certain reasons. Kurama seems like a blunt person, but at the same time some episodes make me see him as someone who also doesn't expresses himself that much, like...he's not all that honest, but he's rather harsh in the process. Think of him like Diona or Eula, were they are fairly nice and caring but inevitably end up acting in a way that makes others perceive them as rude somehow, or just crabby (?).

Minaho: I'm bringing Minaho here just to at least mention Dendro (and because I like him a lot). Maybe he doesn't directly pursue knowledge but I have always perceived him as an extremely curious person that wants to uncover as much as he can, and that's somewhat tied to wanting to know. Also, owls are associated with wisdom and Minaho has an owl motif. I'm open to hearing thoughts about this though.

Akane: After considering it, I chose Anemo: for her. However, unlike Tenma, she's an Anemo: user not exactly because of accomplishing any journey or goal, but because I feel like she really does her own thing at her own pace and chooses that willingly. Most Anemo: users care more about the journey in itself, or have a recurring theme of freedom of choice. Akane overall expresses her interests very freely and doesn't seem to mind what others may think.

Goenji: Yet another one who getsPyro, because I feel like Goenji also has a bad tendency of being very stubborn and marching forward towards his own goals (mainly for other's sake) even if he gets hurt in the process. I think he'd definitely be a Diluc Case, were his personality doesn't exactly match the stereotype associated with most Pyro users (bubbly, energic and outgoing).

Endou: I would say he fits Geo, he has many of the traits mentioned on the theory. He's a very caring person overall even with rivals, I have always considered him simple-headed but with a clear goal and purpose somehow and it's commited to it. He's also a legit hardworker.

Kidou: He was hard to decide, and he's still one of the many I'll hear suggestions about. Anyways, I think he fits Cryo. AU wise he may have been a Cryo user even before meeting Kageyama Reiji and experiencing everything that entailed. I feel like Kidou works behind the scenes for strategies but that's an outloud secret somehow, he may come off like Shenhe or Rosaria at first because to me he has always seem a bit hard to approach, maybe the type of person you would define as stoic or something. Again, Kidou being a Cryo user isn't set in stone for me, I just wanted to make the break trio all have different elements.

Nosaka: I thought a bit about this but ultimately decided on Electro for him. Mainly, because Nosaka seems like unique in some sort of way, not only that but he has accomplished things to be able to stand out as "the tactical emperor" after all. Also, I feel like, despite how popular he may be, he has a small group of friends.

Fuyuka: I think Cryo is fitting for her, which is ironic considering that she lost her memories of her past, and Cryo users may be stuck in events from their past. However, Cryo users also have self-contradiction as a common theme. In Fuyuka's case I think her self-contradiction is the fact that the shocking event of her past shaped how she is now but at the same time she can't recall it. Also, she fits the stereotype of Cryo users being introverted.

And this concludes this long, messy, nonsensical but well-intended post, made with love but not much logic (and probably some grammar mistake I overlooked somewhere). If you reached this point, thank you very much for trying to pay attention and understand my chaotic rambling and Genshin fixation n.n ♡

This is just the outline of what I think this could develop into. I have messy headcanons that I couldn't really fit here nor wanted to as to not made this even longer, like races such as the Katzlein or Adepti, I may post them randomly, who knows? Keep in mind a lot of this was biased or subjective so not everything has factual points to support my ideas about it. In any case, my asks are always open if you want to throw in ideas or suggestions or just want to say anything at all.

[whispereons]

Oracle!Reader Part 25

Masterlist - Part 1, Part 24

Warning! My au is yandere and can detail gore. This chapter doesn't but previous chapters do.

The setting sun against the soft orange and yellows of the sky was a beautiful sight.

The hot wind cooled down into a warm breeze as people leisurely walked home, while others rushed to finish last minute tasks.

Inside Xinyue Kiosk, a fairly busy staff was running around as the weekend always brought more customers. 

The only room that didn't have staff running in and out of was a VIP seating set on the top floor. A beauty for sure, but no one other than the needed servers were allowed in.

Smoke was blown into the air between two imposing figures while waiters placed a variety of foods onto the wide circular table.

“You reported a successful mission, Yelan, and even got your payment.” Another inhale of tobacco through a pipe was followed with a lazy exhale. “Yet that Oracle still walks around without fear. I don't believe the revival of the deceased is possible just yet.”

Scoffing, Yelan popped another spicy appetizer into her mouth and let Ningguang wait for her answer.

“I said they were shot off a cliff and landed with a splatter on the ground. Should I have taken a picture with a Kamera as proof too?” 

Ningguang’s claw-like nails tapped on the table as she hummed contemplatively. “I assume you'll resume your hunt to finish the job?”

“My, how perceptive of the Tianquan to guess that I, who was severely injured and recently humiliated by a foreign smart mouth, wouldn't correct my mistake.”

The glowing blue dice in Yelan's hands shatters as the strings pull it apart. The hydro particles sharpen back into string as she lazily followed it with her eyes.

Her confident and unfazed demeanor wasn't suited to her beat up appearance. Bandages hidden beneath her clothing made it bulky in odd places, while her hand was stuck in a cast after it was crushed by the Geovishaps.

“That's good and all, but are you even physically fit to track them down? I know Dr. Baizhu refused you from his pharmacy, and he's the only one capable of healing you fast enough for this.” Ningguang paused to feed herself a few bites of Tianshu meat with her chopsticks. “Not to mention, The Oracle was the one who was healed by him instead.”

“I see you enjoy rubbing salt in my wounds.” Unperturbed by Ningguang’s taunts, Yelan crossed her legs as more hydro lines wrapped around the striking scratches on her arms that were left to heal on their own.

“Not that I'm surprised by that. You always did have a sadistic streak. My rare failures are the highlight of your day.” 

Pastel pink lips with a forming purple bruise at the corner were licked despite the pain as Yelan smiled. 

“But pain doesn't stop me, you know as well as I do that it only strengthens me further. And I've had more than enough days to regain my energy.”

Concluding the conversation, Yelan pushes herself off the chair and turns away, with the snow-white coat swaying behind her.

The clink of Ningguang’s cup being set on the table was enough for Yelan to slow down. To pause just in time to hear-

“I don't want you to kill The Oracle.”

Yelan came to a full stop at that.

She had tried to ignore how calm Ningguang was throughout the whole meeting. She had tried to brush off the amount of food Ningguang ordered. 

Furthermore, she even tried to not question Ningguang's change of vocabulary from calling Y/n ‘the faker’ to ‘the oracle’.

Ningguang only smiled politely, the exact way she knew Yelan despised, as the trinkets adorning the hydro user swayed.

“And no, this isn't a joke.” She never fucking thought it was a joke.

“You'll be able to keep your payment too.” She didn't want the damn payment.

Not a trace of fear could be seen in Ningguang’s maroon eyes that stared into emerald tones that never failed to invoke a chill in enemies.

The click of Yelan's heels were the only sound heard as the tassel attached to her collar bounced.

“Then why are you requesting me to stop my pursuit?” The white and gold of Ningguang's outfit clung to her body like second skin as she took her sweet time answering.

“I was a bit too hasty in my judgment. Something greater than us both showed me my error.”

Annoying.

That's how Yelan found Ningguang at times. 

Like she was greater than the rest. As if the Jade Chamber she spent her time in above everyone else placed her above in all other areas as well.

“Are you claiming that Y/N truly is the Oracle? Can the mighty words of the Tianquin prove that alone?”

“Careful Yelan, this kind of outburst isn't like you. I said it was greater than us both.”

Ningguang picked up her cup again and nursed it delicately.

“I simply want you to at least temporarily stop you until I'm sure of what to believe. This is just business, don't take-”

“Yes, yes, I already understand. Don't take it personally.” Yelan had already cooled down at this point.

There was no use in getting worked up over this. Although it was upsetting to find that she failed this job, if the employer no longer wanted it, then she wasn't going to push for it.

Pride and personal feelings should never get mixed up in this line of work, after all.

“I'll reach out to you at a later date for your next commission.” A server placed a piping plate of Cured Pork Dry Hotpot on the table, slipping Ningguang a piece of paper. “Just be sure to give Y/N the correct instructions on how to get here.”

Yelan ignored the Tianquan’s words as she walked to the door. “While I won't take any revenge on Y/N, do not expect me to come running back for this mission when they are inevitably shown to be a scam artist.”

The thought of Ningguang of all people being scammed is absurd. The two words just didn't belong together.

“I'm not one of your employees. You're just a commissioner at the end of the day. You seem to forget that fact.” Green eyes met red as both women masked their own faces with polite sarcasm.

“Don't take it personally.” The soft click of the door being shut left Ningguang in silence, with only the outside's bustle of activity to accompany her.

Amusement was clear on Ningguangs face as she took another long inhale of the pipe.

“Yelan never changes.”

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

You didn't have much time left.

The sun was beginning to get masked by incoming gray clouds that no one seemed to notice before now.

It was funny how the first droplets started to come down on the woman you were arguing with when you asked for the time.

A single request for the time devolved into an argument about how all foreigners were suspicious and that only Morax deserved the title of Archon.

It was typical that you ended up asking the local nut job for the time. What would she even be? Racist? Godist? Archonist? 

Maybe it’s ethnocentrism.

So you just blindly believed that the dinner must be soon and left to the restaurant after watching a stream of water single her out and dump her with water.

A shame you couldn't enjoy it with how your stomach was cramped up from the upcoming meeting with Ningguang. You haven't been this nervous since your first meeting with your boss back on Earth.

It made sense. Both people were powerful, mysterious and used people without a second thought. 

The chilly breeze slowed your heartbeat as Xinyue Kiosk came into view, approaching the stairs leading up to the entrance, you spotted a very familiar figure next to the waitress.

Not slowing down, you walk up the stairs as jade eyes lock onto you with malice on the verge of hatred. A tsk leaves Yelan’s lips before she turns back to the waitress while pointing at you. “This is the Tianquan’s guest. Lead them to the room.”

Nodding, the waitress waits for you as you move past Yelan who doesn’t spare you another glance. Just as you followed the waitress into the entrance, the rain began to pour without warning.

You just barely caught sight of Yelan slipping on the last step due to the rain as her wet hair stuck to her skin. The door closed before she could see your little smile at her ‘misfortune’. 

It was a shame that Teyvat couldn’t help you in more meaningful ways, but these minor instances weren’t taken for granted either.

Following the waitress past multiple tables, you looked around it curiously. Usually the game just cuts straight to the room, so you never got a good look at the restaurant itself. Most of them looked to be regular customers with tables near each other.

Farther in, you could see a shift in the layout and type of customers. Larger tables with big gaps as the customers wore fancy clothing clearly made of high quality silk and cotton. A table with blue hair caught your eye the most.

A bored looking Xingqiu sat next to an older man with navy blue hair. His hair was tied in the most pitiful ponytail you’ve ever seen, but at least his fancy suit looked nice.

It took you a bit but you finally remembered it as the skin from the 4.4 Lantern Rite event. You almost missed how Xingqui noticed your presence and excitedly waved at you before his father began to scold him.

Smiling apologetically, you gave a brief wave back before following the waitress up the stairs. Just how much further was Ningguang’s room? It couldn’t have been cheap, that's for sure…

It wouldn’t be that uncomfortable to walk all this way if people could stop staring at you. Half the restaurant had to be giving you a side eye harsh enough to kill as you walked by.

Stopping at a door the waitress pulled it open as thunder roared outside giving a brief flash of white behind the window frame. Licking your lips, you entered the room while the door shut behind you with a soft click.

“I’m glad to see you’ve made time to meet me, Y/n.” The voice of the source of your stress and anxiety was sweet, if not seductive. Moving your eyes from the fresh plates of food to Ningguang who sat at the head of the table, you smiled sharply.

“You make it sound like I had a choice in the matter.” Striding forward, you took a seat on the opposite side of the table and helped yourself to the food. If you were going to die, you’d rather it be quick and with no regrets.

“I apologize for any inconvenience my request may have caused you. I’m sure many people have wanted to speak to you after your unfortunate encounter with Yelan and Miss Shenhe.” Wow, she wasn’t even trying to be subtle.

Taking your sweet time to chew and swallow your food, you leave Ningguang waiting until finally opening your mouth. “Why don’t you skip the sarcastic pleasantries? I already know your true colors, do you think the Creator is as stupid as you are?”

Fuck being nice and polite. She wants to treat you like some dumb foreigner that has no clue on the connections she holds? Then she can handle you acting like the annoyed and irritated person you currently are.

The smiles you both wear are mirror images of each other, the slightest downward tick of her lips showing her displeasure was far too easy to mimic.

“Then that makes things easier for both of us. Do you know why I invited you here to speak with me, Y/n?”

Again, you leave her waiting for your answer as you pick a few more dishes and savor the flavors. The dishes were wonderful, no doubt about that but…

You missed the taste of the hotpot you shared with the Kamisato’s more.

“I had assumed it was an apology for sending Yelan on me like a bloodhound. But perhaps you were just after certain pieces of information that I might hold.” Your mind wandered back to Beidou who had spoken to Ningguang after you gave that prophecy to Beidou on the Crux.

Although it felt like ages ago, it’s been less than a month since you left the Crux. From what you could recall, the prophecy you gave the crew was that all the monsters, Leylines and other strange behaviors were due to the Creator returning. 

Thinking back on it, you did largely gloss over the details to avoid being caught in your lie. Maybe that’s why Ningguang wanted you alive? After all, your words couldn’t be taken lightly after what happened with the Geovishap hatchlings. But she did send Yelan after that incident so unless she was late on hearing the situation, which was frankly impossible, she must have got some new evidence-

“Well, not quite, but it’s related so why don’t you listen to me before casting any judgment?” As if she was anyone to talk but interrupting her wasn’t worth it. Not when you could potentially find something useful.

Ningguang barely touches the food as you scarf it down like a man starved. Instead, she takes a long sip of her tea, purposefully leaving you waiting. Talk about petty, you think to yourself sarcastically as she sets her cup down.

“Recently I had a very unusual dream, I’ve had it once before but in a much different context.” A plain soup is stirred lazily as she stares down at the rippling liquid, she looks pensive with eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly. “Rex Lapis appeared to me the night that Yelan reported a job completed. Now, isn’t that strange?”

You didn’t stop or slow down your chewing as your heart thundered in your chest. Zhongli really appeared in Ningguang’s dream again?! This had to have been what he was telling you earlier about thanking him.

Should you thank him with a smile or a slap for making things more complicated? It’d be easier to decide later.

With Ningguang’s expectant ruby eyes on you, you shrugged your shoulders with an easy smile. “Is it that strange? The Oracle of the Creator that we all worship had just been shot down by the orders of the Qixing that are from his own region. It would be an insult to the Creator to not step in.”

An amused hum leaves Ningguang as she listens to your words. Still not touching her soup, she set her utensils down to fold her hands. “Rex Lapis did not speak to me the first time he appeared to me. But this time he did, only saying one sentence. Can you guess what it is?”

The urge to roll your eyes at the predictable question was strong but your self-control was stronger. “It would be confirmation of me being the Oracle, of course. Anything else would be blasphemous.” 

“Do not be bewitched by novelties.”

The absurd and out of place words earned Ningguang your undivided attention. Your mouth opened to portray your shock and confusion, but your lips quirked to the side at the last moment in a disbelieving smile.

“Are you trying to say that, that sentence is what the Geo Archon said?”

“It is indeed.” Oh, you were going to smack Zhongli after this, screw the consequences! “I believe it’s safe to assume that he was talking about you.” A black gloved hand with gold claw like pieces attached were outstretched to you as she smiled down at you. 

“It’s just as you said, ‘It would be an insult to the Creator to not step in’ when someone is claiming to be connected to our All Mighty Creator only to be proven false. ‘Anything else would be blasphemous’ no?”

Wow, you were right to hate Ningguang. Her smile became as sharp as her nails as you relaxed back in your chair. You couldn’t give her anymore ammo. Any sign of hesitation, nervousness, or even a waiver of emotional instability is all she needed to corner you. 

In fact, this could all be a bluff! Zhongli truly believed you to be the Oracle, after all. Chances are that Ningguang altered Zhongli’s message to test you. Zhongli wouldn’t betray you, he wouldn’t…

Would he?

“And how am I supposed to blindly believe your words? After all, the first time Morax came to your dream you claimed that despite how much you wanted to tell him, you couldn’t say a single word.”

But it seems your reply was just a tad too late, as the heavy pounding of boots on wood flooring came from behind you. Pulling your eyes from blood-red ones to the Millelith guards now behind you, a hand grabs your hair and pushes you down.

The crack of the plates breaking and cutting into your jaw is only overshadowed by the food smearing your mask and skin. The humiliation is what really gets you riled up, but you swallow it down in favor of looking back to the modernized embodiment of mora herself.

“Is this really necessary? I wasn’t even getting up from my seat.” There’s a slight growl to your words that you don’t bother to mask as Ningguang lets her gaze move from you to the guards.

“They have a point. Release them, I only told you to use force if they display hostility.” Ningguang’s tone of voice is even, and not the usual professional kind. The soldier’s grip tightens for a brief, painful moment, before finally letting go and stepping back.

“My sincerest apologies for my misconduct, Lady Ningguang.” The soldier that touched you bowed to Ningguang as you glared at him. “But I implore you to take my reasoning into consideration.”

Pushing away the now destroyed dishes as a few servers cleaned up the mess, you listened halfheartedly to the soldier. “This person - no, this thing is the one responsible for the kidnapping and subsequent death of the most vulnerable children in this region.”

Blatantly, you sneered at the soldier while wiping off the food from your face. How dare he, a full-blown soldier no doubt trained to protect Liyue Harbor, accuse you of being the kidnapper when you were the one who saved them?!

Every soldier that you met when information gathering was more useless than the last!

Ningguang knew the truth, Xingqiu and Chongyun both told you how the Qixing were aware that you were the actual hero. Whipping your head to her, you stared at her to see just what answer she would give.

“Even still, disobeying my orders is enough cause for punishment. Return to the Ministry of Civil Affairs and have them send a different guard who can follow orders rather than emotions.”

The guard slumped at the scolding and glared bitterly at you, as you flipped him off in return. While watching him stomp away, you cursed Ningguang out internally.

She definitely knew the truth but was purposefully keeping her statements vague. Almost as if she was entertaining the idea of you being the one responsible. 

“I want you two to guard the door so Y/n doesn’t escape during this conversation. Do not make the same mistake as Zhenhai.”

It was her.

Ningguang’s the one who spread that rumor that’s messing up your reputation. You should have guessed it earlier. Only she could have the intelligence to figure out the truth, the connections to spread her lie, and the power to make it have a physical effect.

But why? What did she gain from it?

Lost in thoughts and possibilities, you didn’t notice how Ningguang observed you. Beige strands rest on her shoulders to flow down her back till the ashen tips pool on her seat. Yet the blood-red of her eyes shine with something akin to fascination as she watches your fingers thrum against the wooden table.

What a delight for the eyes.

The silence is interrupted by the door opening and fake cat ears come into view. A new soldier closes the door behind the Yueheng before standing guard as she takes a seat without asking.

“I hope I’m not too late. It seems my invitation to this crucial dinner got lost in the journey.” Keqing began with a pointed look at Ningguang.

Smiling, Ningguang greeted Keqing in a pleasant but professional manner. “What an unfortunate result. At least you were able to attend now, hm? They are bringing out golden shrimp balls soon too.”

Judging by the slight twitch in Keqing’s demeanor, you can tell that she was simultaneously both annoyed and grateful. What a shame, you could have used her annoyance towards Ningguang.

“A pleasure to meet you once again Y/n, Yun Jin was very thankful for your quick and efficient help.” Smiling once you’re addressed, you nod and squeeze your hands together under the table.

Yun Jin’s name still shot a vague feeling of displeasure through your body. And Keqing acting like it was nothing only further enhanced it.

“Her show was magnificent. I’m glad she was able to successfully perform that day.” Waiters and waitresses brought out some more drinks and refilled Ningguang’s tea without interrupting as you began to speak.

“Let’s not beat around the bush any longer. Keqing, you joined us here to help conclude whether I’m truly an Oracle or not, right?”

Ningguang watched coolly as Keqing’s smile relaxed into nothingness, while her stare became firm. “That is correct. But please, focus on what Ningguang brought up first concerning her dream gifted by Rex Lapis. I’ll be making my own judgment by the end of this dinner.”

Nodding, you shrug your shoulders and twirl your cup without looking at it. “That seems fair. The outcome will be the same regardless.” The confidence behind your eyes is shown in the way you smile and relax into your seat.

“Ningguang, you still haven’t answered my question as to why I should even believe your dream even happened and if so, whether those words are what Morax said. But I’ll let it go for now and focus on something else for the moment.”

Jabbing a thumb behind you at the silent guard, you speak with a mock curious tone. “Just why in the world are people assuming that I’m the one that kidnapped the children when I was the one who saved them?”

Magenta eyes meet red before both pairs turn to you. “And please don’t treat me like a fool.”  Resting your cheek on your palm, you sweetly spoke with a threat lingering in your words. “I already know that Ganyu couldn’t convince you both to think it was her who saved them.”

Ningguang sighs as if disappointed in your demeanor while setting her cup down. “The official details on the commission you took on are under wraps, just as the contract requires.” She looks down on you with her calm refusal as she finishes. “The Liyue Qixing isn’t responsible for what circulates and twists when it comes to word of mouth.”

You refuted her excuse just as fast. “I wasn’t asking the Qixing or the Tianqiuan. I was asking Ningguang.” Using your fingers, you begin to count the different instances of hostility.

“I’ve had people insult me, ignore me, discriminate against me, gossip behind my back and just as you saw before, even go as far as to be violent. If I went to Yanfei with this case against your personal guard Zhenhai I’m sure I could get a good settlement and put some bad light on you. Not anything serious, but surely annoying for you and the Qixing.”

Ningguang cleverly disguises her huff of irritation as her blowing steam off her tea, but you were just a little more observant than she gave you credit for.

“Should I even bring up how almost every medical equipment possible was either sold out or out of stock? The coincidence of it happening just as I was released from Bubu’s Pharmacy is a little too much to believe-”

“You’re still doing that Ningguang?” Keqing cuts you off accidentally to send an exasperated glare at Ningguang who only looked at her coldly in return. It seems you found something interesting to use. “It’s one thing to make my favorite dish out of stock, but it’s another to keep a medical necessity out of reach.”             

“So I was right to believe that this was also your doing Ningguang?” You said with a laugh as Keqing looked confusedly between you and Ningguang who nearly glowered at you. “You didn’t tell Keqing either? Isn’t that just swell, I’ll fill her in on it while you prepare your excuse.”

The way Ningguang bristled at your insult filled you with spiteful pleasure. Turning to Keqing who gave you a wary look, you began to explain with a smirk. “It seems, while I was being hunted down by Yelan under Ningguang’s orders, the high and mighty Tianquin took it upon herself to ruin my reputation with her lies. You do remember interrogating Ganyu about who rescued the kidnapped children?”

“Yes…” Keqing answers with a suspicious glare as the servers placed fresh food on the table. Just how many damn servings did Ningguang order? “How did you even know-ah it must have been those boys.”

Knowing exactly who Keqing was referring to, you just nod while piling more food onto your plate. “Well the rumor about me being the one to spread it was being perpetuated during my absence and truly came to a head when I finally returned to Liyue Harbor. I have a certain Lady Ningguang to thank for it.”  You sneered while pointing at her.

Keqing’s eyes widened as she listened to you, certain things must have been made clear to her too. “That explains why so many people came asking for an explanation on the Geovishap Hatchling incident.” Holding her chin with a pensive expression, she continued. “It also provides a good reasoning as to why you pushed me to give that public response even when our evidence was still shaky.”

… Why did you get a bad feeling at that?

Just what kind of statement was released? 

With a fixed forced smile you stare at Ningguang who frowns at you before chuckling. “There isn’t any more reasoning for me to stay silent on the matter. Calm yourself Keqing, you as well Y/n.”

Folding her hands on her lap, Ningguang stared you down as she began. “Yes, I did create and encourage the rumor of you being the true mastermind behind the kidnapping. You were already beginning to become well known by the people considering how close you are to certain people and due to the false prophesy you shared with Captain Beidou.”

“Not false, my prophecy is very much true-”

“And while I am happy to have the children saved, we can’t let you walk around spreading lies about your identity, position and relation to the Creator. Especially after the Geovishap Hatchling incident showing just dangerous you are.”

“I didn’t have anything to do with the hatchlings. I was just as stunned as everyone else.” It’s a weak argument with no evidence showing otherwise, but you couldn’t let them slap that offense on you.

“The statement released about you was connected to the hatchlings.” Keqing cut in with a grimace. “From what we can gather based off your past actions and achievements, you having the ability to puppeteer monsters is the most likely outcome, and we told the public as much.”

Shit.

They were so far off yet closer than anyone else.

“I can’t and didn’t command those Geovishaps. Even if I could, what would I gain from ordering them to do so? It puts suspicion on me. I have no motive, and it was defamation to single me out and slander me in such a way without evidence.”

Turning back to Ningguang you asked with clenched fists nearly trembling with anger. “You haven’t explained everything. What was your goal in mind with vilifying me? Just damaging my reputation is not reason enough to spend precious time and resources on me.”

The food was beginning to grow cold, but you didn’t have the appetite to eat anymore. Ningguang didn’t look at you, but the humor she previously had was nowhere to be found.

“It’s a shame that someone as sharp as you is using their skills for such sad and disappointing reasons.”

“There is nothing to be ashamed of by being the Creator’s Oracle, no matter what trial and tribulations I must face.” Wow, you even impressed yourself with how serious and authentic you sounded.

“So you say.” Lithe fingers took out her pipe and leisurely left you waiting as you stared at her. Only after blowing it into your face did she finish. “What do you think would have happened if the foreigner with such a charismatic presence was suddenly found dead after rescuing children? How do you think the public would have reacted?”

Mind racing at her words, the surrounding setting seemed to fade away as your ears only picked up on Ningguang’s words. 

“Now imagine they appear back in the city, injured but alive to tell the tale. Influential people and the like come to visit as their good deeds are spread within the city. A fresh face on the scene with information that even extended to knowing about private conversations I’ve had. How many people with grudges too high and old to handle alone would come, offering a helping hand, a mutual beneficial contract that could help the ‘wronged’ foreigner?”

“Haha… Hahaha!” You’re laughing before you know it. A hand on your mouth, grinning so wide that it could break your face in half. Keqing’s surprised expression as she eats and Ningguang’s stoic expression are barely processed as you keep laughing.

It’s all so funny.

It’s all so fucking absurd.

You weren’t even greatly physically impacted by the lies. It was more like drops of water into a bucket for you.

But that bucket was already on the verge of overflowing and there was no hole for you to drain the water.

The fact that Ningguang needed to lie and make such stupid leaps of logic to libel you just so that the aftermath of your death wasn’t a hassle was simultaneously hilarious and pitiful. Adding in the extra benefit of it forcing you into a corner where no one would be willing to help you was just that to her. 

An extra benefit.

Maybe normal people would fall for the lies and not want to associate with you, but people of higher status would know better. They could tell when someone is being purposefully lied about. It was like an invisible mark on you, telling everyone that trying to help you was making an enemy of Ningguang.

That would explain why Xingqiu and Chongyun were suddenly pulled away by their families. All to corner you to being forced to meet Ningguang, forced to accept whatever accusation she wants to slap on you.

“You really are a piece of shit.” You said with a grin once your laughing slowed to a stop. 

Ningguang really mustn’t have expected it as her face visibly contorted into shock and her pipe slipped from her fingers. It’s understandable.

Most people in your position would already be begging for mercy, but even those who had more pride and fight would just go on a tirade and rage. To any outsider, you were far too calm for your position.

Besides, who would ever dare disrespect the Tiantquian not only to her face but right in front of the Yuheng too?

“Since you finished saying your piece, I’ll begin saying mine too. It’s clear that you don’t want to see reason or the truth for what it is.” Standing up, you push your seat away as the guards suddenly come to attention. “Since you don’t want to admit that I’m the Oracle, why don’t we focus on Liyue as a whole?”

With hands behind your back, you casually walked around the table closer to Ningguang as she put her hand up to stop the guards. “Let’s start with the kidnapping case. Not only were the soldiers useless in almost every aspect, both within and outside the city, but they also can’t even distinguish petty problems from the serious ones.” 

Stopping behind Ningguang you looked straight at the guards as you asked. “What’s more important? Chasing down rouge kidnappers or chasing a musician without a permit?” Both soldiers opened their mouth to answer, but Ningguang stopped them with a wave.

“This has nothing to do with the topic on hand. Stop avoiding your own faults and sins, Y/n.” She raised her cup to her lips as she looked at you with a turn of her head.

“Oh, but it does. It has everything to do with all the points you brought up.” Your hand snatched the cup from her opposite side as she glared indignantly at you. Keqings muffled laughter only made you grin wider as you returned to your seat. “This city has a lot of problems, but I am not one of them.”

“The fact that no one was willing to help me aside from Xingqiu and Chongyun, who both know me to be the Oracle, truly says a lot on how you and the Qixing run this city.” Sitting back down, you place the cup in the middle of the table, just out of her reach.

“So how could I not find it insulting that I, the only person to accept this commission, the driving force behind the operation, ended up the one taking the blame for it all. All for what exactly? To corner me when you didn’t even have proper reasoning to corner me in the first place?”

“We have every right to-”

“Shut the fuck up.” You snapped with a clearly disgusted face. Ningguang wasn’t as shocked this time and sneered right back at you. Honestly, you envied Keqing the most, who was pleasantly eating the golden shrimp balls while watching you both.

“You heard multiple varying information about me and continuously chose to listen to the ones that painted me in the worst light possible. Yet instead of conducting your own investigation, instead of relying on chance encounters, you sent out Yelan to deal with me, basically leaving her to deal her own judgement on me.” Throwing your hands up in the air, you nearly yell at Ningguang. “Who the hell fed only the bad information on me! Did you even tell her about how Beidou vouched for me? Or about how Beisht listened to me?”

“Yelan has all the skills, qualifications, and experience necessary to do a thorough investigation and choose an accurate judgement. You’re free to take it up with her if you want to continue pleading your case.”

This wasn’t going anywhere. It was like talking to a brick wall. A very judgmental and snarky brick wall.

It seems you’ll have to resort to it after all.

“Yet out of all the crimes you could possibly pin me with, it’s the one on the case that I solely took on that you chose? Is it because you knew that no one in this damned city would give a shit about them? Because you knew that while no one wanted to take on the responsibility of acknowledging and helping the homeless, everyone would be more than happy to blame someone tangible for it?”

Ningguang faltered at that, it was brief but present.

“Or do you really hate your origins to that extent? Do you loathe the homeless that you once stood beside?”

Thunder roared outside as your words were spoken. The look on her face veered off the edge of hatred and into murder. The metaphorical slap your words provided weren’t to be taken lightly after all.

Perfect straight teeth dug into her lips as her nails dug into her hands, uncaring for how the blood stained her black gloves till even her gold pieces shined with it.

What a delight to behold.

“How dare you bring up this topic-”

If you can’t reach her level of perfection. 

“Spreading this level of nonsense, just how-”

Her level of composure.

“Do you feel no shame-”

 “Do you not feel any shame? I’m not the one who left and never looked back.”

Then you’d simply need to drag her down to yours.

“I have done no such thing!” The table shakes when Ningguang slams her hands down on it, making Keqing quickly lift her plate off as the more precarious plates fell off and shattered.

Grinning, you point and laugh at her, blatantly mocking her as she flushes with embarrassment. 

“You really are shameless, aren’t you? Floating around in your mobile home like a constant beacon of wealth and success. How do you think people feel when they see you up there? Do you think they look on with awe and envy?”

Standing up too, you rest your hands on the table to lean closer. “Or are you aware how all they can see is a symbol of the selfishness and a reminder of how mora can change a person?”

“It bothers you that no one even acknowledged how much of it sacrifice it was to you to give up the first Jade Chamber. Let alone be willing to do it again with its successor.” 

Ningguang’s shaky breath before she sits back down as you mirror her actions is as satisfying as you imagined it. Especially when she no longer focuses on the main topic to instead defend herself. “I’m not and will never be ashamed of my beginnings. I have always kept the past in my mind and actions.”

“Then why did it take an outsider like me to accept the commission to save a girl to save a whole group of homeless kids that we were what? Not missing? Not important enough for the Millelith to get involved in?”

“Should I even mention the underbelly of the docks? Where all the shady deals, vagrant and poverty-stricken people live?” Clapping slowly, you finish with a sarcastic tone. “I have to hand it to you, you really know how to hide them from the public.”

If you were completely honest, you knew Ningguang wasn’t that bad of a person. She was the epitome of a capitalist, and it wasn’t her responsibility to care for every homeless person in Liyue Harbor. 

Some people really did put themselves in their situations after all.

“There's nothing I can do for those who do not wish to be saved. Even if they aren't accepting of my help, I still do my part as the Tianquan to keep Liyue running for those who do want to accept my help.”

Food sitting forgotten on the table and Keqing discreetly ordering another plate of golden shrimp balls, not a soul dared to intervene in the growing argument between you and Ningguang.

“So by fixing the problem on the surface, your job is done? The ones who actually need help and want to better their lives are shoved in a corner to rot with the actual bad apples for the next Tianquian to deal with?”

“Twisting my words and shoving even more in my mouth to ‘win’ this argument isn’t the best idea.”

“Don’t get so offended Ningguang, all leaders are like you. Some even worse.” A few political figures from Earth flash in your mind as you speak. Sighing, you refocus back to Teyvat, knowing that your words would be too confusing if you tried to use anyone from Earth.

“Take the glorious Raiden Shogun or whatever other titles she uses.” Sarcasm coated your words as you spoke with a drawl. “Vagrants, the Nobushi and Kairagi are suffering from addictions, diseases and more without aid. Once well respected samurai that fell for one reason or another are left to suffer and commit crimes. Dying by their diseases, stealing from the poor and worse crimes are committed with the only outcomes being to die by the hands of defenders or by Tenryou soldiers.”

In your eyes, Inazuma was a mess. So many people died on the islands separate from Narukami Island. The vagrants were a constant and growing threat, most of the actual problems were solved by the traveler, yet the shogun picked a needless war that resulted in nothing but pain.

 Just how did this conversation derail from being about you being the oracle to this? It was tiring and at this point you nearly wanted to give in and just leave.

“Are you saying that you find Liyue better simply due to how it treats its people?” Ningguang asked, the slight smile on her face made you suspicious.

“Liyue isn’t better. Liyue is a standard, and Inazuma is just failing horribly in comparison. But who knows? Maybe in a few decades, it can compare to Sumeru who only recently got their God.”

“So what of the people in Inazuma? Are the Tri-Commision as bad as the Shogunate?”

“Despite the obvious bribery in both the Tenryou and Kanjou Comission, they do, do their damn job, The Yashiro Comission even goes above and beyond in comparison. They’re the reason Inazuma hasn’t lost its entire population.”

“So if you’re really the Oracle then how do you plan to help them?” Ningguang asks it in an analytical tone. As if she plans on judging your ‘plans’ when she’s the fucking Tianqiuan.

“I don’t need to make any plans. I don’t have a position in Teyvat.”  The retort comes with a little bite to your tone.

“You seem so certain that you’re the Oracle that I wanted to hear what your plans were for having that position.”

Did she believe that you made up this position for your own benefit? Well yes, yes you did, but certainly not for the financial benefit she seems to be imagining. “Let me straighten something out for you, Ningguang, Cause for as high and mighty you believe yourself to be, you don’t know everything. I’m not the traveler. My job isn’t to bend over backwards to do your job, it’s to prophecy about matters concerning the Creator. If the Creator told me about Liyue’s destruction and ordered me to stay silent, I would happily do so and watch every citizen drown without batting an eye, understand?”

Whatever reaction you were expecting didn’t happen as Ningguang began to laugh. But it wasn’t the mocking or condescending laughter she had before. Instead, she seemed truly amazed or even relieved.

“I understand now. I can now accept you as the Oracle by my own judgment, too.” 

The confusion and slight perturbation at her words must have been on your face as she slowed her laughter to a mere chuckle.

“I apologize for what I’m about to tell you. You remember the dream I had concerning Rex Lapis? Well, I may have twisted his words for my own cause.”

You were fucking right, but you couldn’t even enjoy it, since it took you nearly an hour to get to this point in the conversation.

“If you weren’t the Tianquin, you would be in some serious legal trouble Ningguang. I can name at least 3 different laws you almost broke.” Keqing surprisingly spoke up at this moment. Honestly, you had forgotten about her, not that she seemed to mind.

“You can scold Ningguang after she enlightens me to what his true message was. How much mora should I bet that he was confirming me as the oracle?” Ignoring the snark, Ningguang clears her throat before snapping her fingers and motioning to the dirty plates on the table. The workers took the plates away before she dramatically rested her elbows on the now cleared table.

“Not every bewitching novelty is meant to cause harm, some lead to everlasting contracts.”

Maybe you should still punch Zhongli, what kind of help was that supposed to be?! Couldn’t he be direct rather than poetic?!

“That message was vague but clear enough for me to link it to you. Thus, I decided to invite you here to see if you really did deserve the title of Oracle and whether we could trust you or not.”

What a load of bullshit-

“I agree with Ningguang on this. While many things seemed suspicious concerning you, this conversation was helpful for us to see your real motives and future actions.”

And of course Keqing had to agree with the smirking vixen, making you calmly nod in response. This whole dinner felt like a haze to you at least point. 

Not only did you have to prove that being an Oracle was real, attack Ningguang on several personal points and proceed with many, many leaps in logic. Just to find out, that she fucking knew the truth all along!

You weren’t even going to get compensation for all the troubles she caused, either.

It was clear to you why no one wanted to mess with Ningguang outside the usual bankruptcy. She was too annoying and petty as hell for anyone to want to deal with.

“I recognize that I did you a disservice by having Yelan investigate you before this dinner. For that, I do apologize and even have an offer for you.” 

If it wasn’t money or connections, you didn’t want it.

“I’ll provide you with monetary compensation as long as you give a detailed speech and answer questions about the Creator’s return in my ‘mobile home’ as you called it.”

“If you didn’t know or remember, my presence and journey here is supposed to be discreet-”

“How does 5 million mora sound to start?”

… Maybe Ningguang wasn’t that bad after all.

“When do I have to give this speech? If it’s just the members of the Qixing, I’ll do it, but not publicly.”

Distantly you can hear Keqing sigh as Ningguang smiled pleasantly at you but you couldn’t hear it over the imaginary clinking of mora coming into your bag.

Money is what forced you to accept Ningguang’s offer for dinner. Much like on Earth, money is power.

It's done, it's finished and I'm even more tired then before. My last chapter was when my semester was ending and my new chapter is just as my semester is going to start. Please blame my job, my bills and Sandrock for the reason behind why this one took so long. I've been writing small things, mostly on Wattpad since it's just easy, but I feel like my writing style is constantly changing. Or it's just me again. But whatever the case, I've just been doing that to not get too rusty. Ningguang is hard to write for, mostly in relation to the reader rather then with other people. Not sure why, it just feels that way. It was a struggle to end the conversation with her but ultimately it works. Ningguang is just too canonically powerful to not have the upper hand in every way. Even still this chapter was also hard to write because I had to use so much thinking and planning to keep things consistent not only to the game but also to the other chapters. My au isn't one of extreme violence so I'm aware that it's harder to become engaged or see how threatening this version of Teyvat is. Quick update before I post, I either will answer everything or nothing as my youngest cat might need to go into surgery soon. The little vacuum ate metal while I was at work and the vet already said that if he does get surgery he might not make it.

Taglists is open as always and hopefully won't be struck down by Tumblr! [Tumblr made some changes to the tagging system so I'm not sure if it's working like before. If your name is there and not in italics yet you weren't tagged then let me know.]

@vvyeislazzy, @nikqi, @the-dumber-scaramouche, @etherisy, @yourlocalstranger123, @ra404, @iruiji, @goldenglow149, @haru-tofuu, @lsleepysimpl, @bebobeboben, @yuyuzi-ling, @amidst-the-tempest, @resident-cryptid, @mxd1zzy, @mochicurls21, @nervouseaglelover, @thedevioussmirk, @yumuramma, @kwqsla, @undecidingfate, @ehjane, @game-savvy, @akiramirae, @liansh3ng, @fluffy-koalala, @formacoon, @sxftiebee, @khxii-i, @ursinaw, @chuuya-brainrot, @sweetbills, @kazuchaos, @snowfoxnix, @bluebelony, @shellofthewell, @pencil-of-ashes, @ghostlyintervention, @taiformaifoe, @goaudduck, @carminerin, @maddysflowers, @zenith-of-all-zenith, @crazydreamcat, @leafanonsforest, @grimreapersscythe, @leylanx, @sapphireknown, @help-whatdoimakemyusername

@zhonglisfruityass, @mer0n37, @victoria1676, @mochinessss, @sinnful-darling, @emilymikado, @pix-stuff, @esthelily, @luxie963, @emmbny, @starsofabundance, @kbar1013, @xxblackroses623xx, @chxrlxtteee, @aludicpoet, @yandematic, @atrcclovsxoxo, @0lshadyl0, @esthelily, @t-rex-red, @ck123, @steadybreadbluebird, @118gremlin, @stratonia, @time-shardz, @farelady-fate, @valeriele3, @francisnyx, @byakuren100, @waveto-earth, @flyingpansaurus, @silverstarred, @iamapotatoe, @ghosthii, @beloveddroplet, @uchihaeirin, @ibelieveinsleep, @idk098, @thefirstonetoeverlikemeback, @toramune, @haaaaaades, @horologiumwise, @melovaaaa, @alittletiredcry, @aphxdea, @atsukawolfcat, @desirabletravel, @pinkpainc, @eccedentesiast-sapphic, @yuyuzi-ling, @hyperfixationwhore

@juuuuuj101010, @avalordream, @kurayamioterasu, @tottybear, @koiikuno, @lynx-of-skies, @quacking-simp, @synthe4u, @kascar-chronicle, @hug4helios, @hug4helios, @silverstarred, @koiikuno, @ithoughtthinks, @remiivx, @lemonade7255, @melpomenelurks, @average-yandere-enjoyer, @mnhao, @fuji-sen, @altumsomnum, @hehothrowawayfae, @unofficialabortive, @magnum0pus2231, @xxnessinessiellexx, @multiliker, @intpessimistic, @kitsunelivesyet, @extremelytoastybread, @mercy-not-merci, @silvermoon617, @evaline-ethan, @fallintothechasm, @imgonnaeatthatglitter, @bunniotomia, @3noa3, @astro-stars, @beary-kalkus, @yourfavepookiebear, @original-person, @alexx197197

[v-albion]

your Leo design reminds me of Furina from genshin for some reason-?

I mean… I can see it

Also this probably also could count for @tmnt-fandom-family-reunion

Masterpost || Commission

[a-998h]

Hey! 🍉-Anon here! I’ll just make a quick SAGAU request!

If (Reader)’s culture resembled one of the Seven Nations? How would everyone react? Like I would think that the people and characters would constantly be boasting about it, and always showing off

And it would be worse if (Reader) showed favoritism to that one Nation, or characters that come from there or dress/act/etc similar to their culture

I think (Reader) would constantly ramble on about their culture, and days later the whole place is decorated in items remade by the characters to resemble their culture and make (Reader) more comfortable

And (Reader) always visits that Nation, and the always spends time with the Archons and other characters

That’s all I’ll write, so have a good day!

- 🍉ANON

Thanks for the request 🍉 ANON, I love hearing from you!

so, for those new to Genshin or haven't been in the fandom for a long time there is some important context about the nation's that I need to share.

Mondstadt is based on Germany

Liyue is based on ancient China

Inazuma is based on ancient Japan

Sumeru is a mix of ancient Egypt, India, Persia, and Mesopotamia

Fontaine is based on France

Natlan is is a mix of Pre-Columbian Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Oceania

Snezhnaya is theorized to be based on Russia.

The historians of Teyvat always debated over which nation/element came first. So, you having a culture similar to any of the seven nations would settle that debate. But then there wod be debate as to why that particular element was created first, so your culture closes one door and kicks another one down. You will be asked questions by said nosy scholars and historians, because merds will get answers even if it kills them.

The characters if that region would feel great pride in knowing that their nation and its element was supposedly the first to be made by you. The archons would handle the news with great maturity, and I'm kidding. The archon of that region you share a culture with would kind of brag about to the others in however way they see fit.

In order from most to least mature we have, Tsarita, Raiden, Nahida, Zhongli, Mavuika, Furina, and Venti.

Now, as humans in both Genshin and reality, we are more drawn to people we have a connection with. You favoring characters from. The region that shares a culture with you would be something you do unconsciously, not even seeing it as favoritism, but instead as connecting with those culturaly similar to yourself.

When it come the shrines, the one in what they consider your "home" nation, who be decorated upto the nines with traditional furniture, rugs, etc. In the other shrines, there would still be the culture of which ever nation it's in, but also some elements of decoration from the nation they assume is your "home".

Your rambles about your culture back home is what the nerds like to hear. Everyone sees your real life culture as an ancient culture that was the founding blocks for the nation that closely resembles it. The characters will let you ramble on, some take notes, some ask questions, and some don't understand but listen along anyway because they know it makes you feel better.

Your hang out days in your "home" nation is a real treat for the characters as you and them can bond over clothing, custooms, food, etc. The characters outside your culture will be more than happy to listen and follow you as you drag them around the city to show them your culture.

Overall, it makes Reader a little less homesick, gives characters more understanding on how to make you happy, and gives at least on archon bragging rights.

[ymechi]

Who is the real Creator?

Sorry this took so long I have so much to say but I have no idea where to start. I hope you guys are okay with how it ended and the decision I made. This is a yandere au but with Nahida it is platonic (and the rest of the underage characters).

-TW: cult au, yandere, impostor au, mentions of being hunted down, mentions of trauma, self harm (nothing major)

-Gn reader and darling (please tell me if I mess this up message me and I will fix it)

part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, this is part 5, part 6

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

Reader began to unpack their stuff, it was mostly clothes and books, everything else like cooking utensils was unnecessary as there were attendants who would handle stuff like cooking and cleaning. Reader guessed that was the perks of being an Archon.

The room was a bit of a mess the large doors were open and the boxes littered the floor with various trinkets and Readers personal belongings. 

One should not look down on how much stuff one can gather, even in a foreign world. Soon they would be able to write poems with how well their vocabulary had gotten.

Reader took out a shirt and folded it neatly putting it inside the nicely carved wardrobe. They felt a little out of place in the spacious and very fancy room. Yet there was a certain charm towards it, Reader especially loved the tall glass windows that let the sunlight in.

"I see you are already settling in."

"Oh, Nahida! I did not see you there, yeah I thought it was best to do it while I could."

"You know there are attendants if you ever need help, please don't feel too bad it's their job after all."

"Well if you put it that way. . . I guess I could use a hand with the rest of the clothes." 

Reader had underestimated how many clothes they had, it was boring to fold them and sort them all. They had bought most of their clothes and personal items as both Nahida and Reader did not know the extent of the tension that Darling's reveal would cause.

They looked through the boxes and one object caught Readers eye. It shined as the sun reflected on it. Reader took it out and observed it. This was a gift Darling had given them, it was a Fanoos that was intricately carved and made out of polished gold. The lantern's glass was made out of various colors in geometrical shapes. Overall it was very beautiful something Reader would like.

Speaking of. . .

"Nahida what will happen to Darling after. . . you know?"

Nahida watched the lantern that was in their hand without saying anything and then looked at Reader with a smile.

"It was decided that they would go to an isolated temple in Inazuma for their own safety. Even if they are innocent we can't be too careful what others might do."

Well, at least Darling would be safe there was no need to worry after all they had the Raiden shogun. Inazuma would be far away though.

They looked at the Fanoos, it would be pretty to add it near the nightstand. . . There was already a lamp there, so they decided to put it on a bookshelf instead.

"It looks very nice on the shelf there," said Nahida.

"Yeah, I am glad you think so too," replied Reader.

Reader saw a familiar hat figure silhouette from the open door. It was Wanderer as they had expected, curiously he was carrying several moving boxes as well.

"That is right I forgot to tell you Wanderer decided for extra security to move in here as well, I saw no reason to turn him down."

"O-oh but is it fine for him to just move like that because of me?"

Wanderer must have heard the conversation as he turned to look directly at them. He nodded toward Reader who gave him a small wave. After the status of Readers creator-hood was revealed Wanderer had taken to being polite to Reader but after some more nagging on their part, he had mellowed down a bit. He did tease them from time to time as was normal between them.

Reader hoped with time they could go back to the usual scowling Wanderer who did not hesitate to say what was on his mind.

However, that did make Reader ponder why he turned polite while Nahida stayed the same.

Reader must have been staring at Nahida as the Archon looked at them with a tilted head.

"I see you two are talking behind my back, not very nice I must say."

"We were just talking about your new living arrangements," she looked at Wanderer with an innocent look, "you know, it made their grace feel really bad."

Reader snorted at Nahida's jab at getting into Wanderer.

Wanderer looked surprised but sighed looking at Reader with a sincere expression they did not expect to get today.

"There is no need to concern yourself with that I chose to move out of my own violation, no one forced me to."

Reader gave an awkward smile and wrung their hands together.

"Alright, but I still feel bad-," Wanderer sighed at Reader, "let me finish! I feel bad so if you need any help come to me okay?"

Wanderer looked like he was about to turn down the offer until Nahida interjected.

"Actually since you both are moving in how about we all take a shopping trip to buy decorations, you can then ask Reader for advice on what to buy, two birds in one stone."

"A shopping trip sounds nice," Reader said and looked at Wanderer with hopeful eyes.

Wanderer closed his eyes and sighed.

"It seems you won't let this go, fine then let me put these stuff down and we can go down to the market."

Nahida and Reader looked at each other with a smile. It was going to be a fun trip.

.

.

.

The sunset this day was a bright crimson and was fading into orange at the horizon. There was no cloud in sight. the people were gathered near the central temple in Sumeru. One of the Creator's temples. Reader grimaced.

They adjusted their hood once again feeling nervous not to get caught. Wanderer held their hand more tightly and they gave a squeeze back feeling thankful.

Soon one of the heads of the religion came out near the podium.

The people were confused and some were curious but it was clear soon everyone would find out what the gathering was for.

Nahida stepped up as well, and she began to speak. Then the priest took over and Reader watched everyone's face turn to shock and outrage.

Impostor.

Reader clenched their jaw and held Wanderer's hand tighter. He did not flinch or let go.

Nahida and the priest calmed the people down in the end but there was still much tension left.

By the end of it Reader and Wanderer left the place.

.

.

.

They met Nahida outside of a meeting room. She looked exhausted and Reader's heart ached. With clumsy hands, they took out a juice bottle they had.

"You look tired, please take some."

Nahida gave a small smile and nodded.

"Thank you."

Her voice was small and a bit hoarse no doubt from all the talking. Once again Reader felt awful not being able to do anything, especially since Nahida was a dear friend.

"Please don't worry about me I am fine, as an Archon this is one of the many duties I must attend to," her face turned more serious looking at Reader, "I am afraid we are not done yet this is your turn now."

Reader's shoulders squared and they nodded. Right, it was their turn now. No more running away and this time they were not alone either. Reader looked at their friends and gave a reassuring smile.

Nahida smiled and nodded at them before turning and opening the door.

It wasn't as intimidating as they had imagined when they entered the room. It was decided for Reader's sake they would ask the acolyte and Archons who would be able to attend to come and not tell anything of the importance of the meeting. Naturally since the recent announcement from the church most would be busy, only those who had time would come and it would not be a large group. It was better for Reader to start off small Nahida had recommended and they agreed.

The Archon’s that were able to attend were unsurprisingly Venti and Zhongli. Yet most people in the room would be unaware of the importance of such figures.

As they entered Nahida stepped in front of them while Wanderer walked behind them, they felt rather safe this way.

The others who had arrived were Diluc, Lisa, Cyno, Kujo Sara and Chlorinde. Quite the cast had come. Now all of their eyes were on the trio but mostly on Reader as they stood in front.

Nahida stepped up to speak but Reader beat them to it putting a hand in front of her, all while still looking at their audience.

The sky outside was just as red there was an odd silence in the wind. The shadows on the acolytes' faces deepened and their eyes became glaring embers of accusation evident on their eyes.

Impostor.

They had thought a lot about what to say, and there were many words and accusations they wanted to scream at the top of their lungs until Reader's voice became hoarse and dry. Yet what were words when actions could speak louder?

They took out the same kitchen knife from before on that day from their pocket. They did not bother to look at their reactions. Reader took out their palm and cut it and watched as it bled a brilliant gold. They were still unused to the sight themselves and took a moment to admire it.

They heard a sharp breath. Before anyone could speak they threw the knife onto the table.

Reader then left the room.

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

Taglist: @resident-cryptid @probablynoposts @esthelily @mitsukashi @charming-mage @chaoticfivesworld @irisxiel @dulcedelechenginamo @yu-ulda @samohxt2-0 @pinkpainc @vianitry

[floofeh-purpi]

Oh wow .... This will be mah first request but here we are! (⁠ㆁ⁠ω⁠ㆁ⁠)

Will it be alright to request a sagau but the reader can time travel? (Feel free to ignore this 🥹 if you don't want to)

Like for an example , the time traveler reader / y/n somehow can time travel and is excellent when it gets to time , or would sometimes use time traveling to scare the sh-t out of others.

Feel free to use any character 🥹

"And thus, The Creator wreaked havoc across Teyvat."

SAGAU! Some GI characters x Creator! Gn! Reader

『Beloved fluffball/s mentioned below! 💜』

@justmare @mc-cos-charm @keirennyx @fantasticarcadefan @catratnap

☆

A/n: OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMUGOSH FIRST REQUEST OF THEM ALL GUYS AHHHHHHH—

Warnings: Swearing, spelling/potential grammar issues, you being like a certain arsonist from modstandt is a way, I went back into the shitty ass writing style I had because I thought it was funnier like that, Me being a giggleshitter while writing this, this shit is so fucking short please.

☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆

You were the Architect, the Prime Mover, the Original Sin and Salvation all rolled into one cosmic entity.

The Creator.

And man, were you bored. So fucking bored you invented time travel just to spice things up. Like, be for real, who needs hobbies when you can mess with time?

Being way too op was kinda lonely. Keyword: Kinda. but hey, at least you had good hair. So you decided to be a cosmic prankster.

You turned Venti's lyre into a kazoo, replaced Zhongli's tea with lava just kidding, or am I?, and swapped Diluc's wine for apple juice. Classic. But way too damn basic. In your opinion.

Watching your creations scramble to deal with your shenanigans was pure gold. Like that time you turned the entire cast of Liyue into chickens. It was— way too literally— a feather-filled fiasco, let me tell you.

Oh! Amnd don't even get me started on the time you turned the Sumeru Akademiya cinto a giant ball pit. Yeah, those scholars were not amused. But deep down, behind the cosmic joker facade, you actually kinda cared about your little creations.

So you'd leave them little gifts. Like that time you gave Jean an infinite supply of pizza Jean doesnt know what pizza is but found it good, or when you turned Childe's delusions into reality for like, five and a quarter half minutes.

After a while, even messing with time got old. So you decided to increase the chaos you oh-so loved. Like the little shit you are/jk. You conjured up a giant-ass, angry space hamster to terrorize Teyvat. Just for kicks. Your creations rose to the challenge, and you were like, "Damn, I raised 'em right."

Then you cutely vsnished into the cosmic void, probably to plan your next world domination, or maybe just to binge-watch reality TV. Who knows? Not even you, probably.

So there you have it, the life of a bored, op ass deity. It's not all rainbows and sunshine, but it's drfinitely got its perks.

☆

THANK YOU ANON FOR SAVING MY BOREDOM (Sleep deprivation is a little bitch) IM SORRY IF THIS IS SHORTER THAN AN AVERAGE HUMAN'S LIFE SPAN 😭🙌

Published: July 26, 2024. 8:50pm. (What do you mean 74 likes?)

I knew resorting back into my old weiting style would make me the giggleshitter I am temporarily.

[shalomniscient]

thinking about arranged marriage between kujou sara and kamisato!reader.......... sara, seeing for the first time what a family is really like when you both make the trip up to the kamisato estate. you make an effort to include her in your conversations, and though she’s a little awkward, she tries. takayuki had never allowed her to play with her adoptive siblings or any of the other kujou soldiers—roughly grabbing her by the arm so tightly she remembers tears stinging her eyes as he ranted to her about how she should not let such pointless things get in the way of her duty. but as she watches you mess around with your brother and lightheartedly tease your sister, she can’t help but think this is the furthest thing from pointless.

(an unfamiliar ache blooms in her chest; is this longing?)

sara, sharing a meal with someone for the first time. she’d been so, so isolated as a child, and even as a general, held to some impossible standard that no other mortal could reach. but you are her wife—her equal. so you sit next to her as you have breakfast, and you sit next to her again as you have dinner. you talk about the weather, about your brother, about your sister, about your work, and sara listens. she doesn’t hang on to each of your words; no, she cradles it tenderly against her chest, holds it in her battle-hardened hands and cherishes it.

(these are the words you only say to her. this is hers.)

sara who is so unbelievably touch-starved she doesn’t even realise it. her heart leaps into her throat the first time you take her hand in your own as you both stroll down the streets of hanamizaka on one of her rare days off—kamaji had to practically force her to take leave. you absently tug her along as you flit from shop to shop, and she waits patiently as you chat with ogura mio about new kimono designs. she sees your eyes linger on a dark purple, almost black silken cloth with golden highlights, and makes a mental note of it. the next morning she leaves the kujou estate before you wake, and heads straight to ogura’s shop to commission a kimono and yukata made from that very cloth. her coin purse ends up significantly lighter, but she can’t find it in herself to care.

(she pretends she doesn’t see the knowing look in ogura’s eye.)

sara being defended for the first time by you. harsh words and harsher hands are not unfamiliar to her—this is, after all, just how takayuki raised her. she has long since learned how to drown out the snide comments from the other nobles of the kujou clan who coveted her position or her prestige. she is used to it, really. but she can’t help the way her eyes widen by a fraction and her heart lurches in her chest again when you shoot an equally scathing response right back at the noble from over the rim of your teacup. she has been a protector for so, so long that she isn’t sure what to do with herself when you glance back at her, all while the noble fumes across the tatami mats. she just nods, and you offer her a smile, before commanding the nearby guards with all the authority of a general’s wife to remove the man from the premises.

(you squeeze her hand under the table and her throat tightens—is this what it’s like to matter?)

sara going to a festival for the first time with you. she’d only ever enjoyed these from the outskirts, watching the fireworks as a guard at her post instead of as a reveler. you bring her along hand in hand to try out all sorts of assorted street foods and festival games. the fireworks bloom in the sky like blazing flowers, and she watches as your hair tosses lightly in the wind. the light illuminates your face in hues of dancing gold, and for a moment she’s struck near senseless by the sight of you. you call her name, softly, and her heart trembles in her chest like a frightened bird. and then you kiss her, lips soft against her own and she’s melting into your touch. her wings burst out from her back, pulling a breathless giggle from you. sara blushes furiously, stammering out some excuse that you cut off by kissing her again.

(she doesn’t mind.)

[pastelspindash]

fated reunions

[tomiyeee]

nononono why did you make this why did you combine both of my biggest hyperfixations

why did you combine rottmnt and genshin impact

i am not joking that i teared up a little just by how overwhelmed i was (but in a good way)

i dont know what to say genuinely I dont know how to react??? thank you??? your art is so beautiful??? and detailed??? you're an inspiration??? please keep making more???

i have never felt more emotions thank you

dfjklsdjfkldkfj thank you so muchhhh!!! 😭😭😭 omg this is so nice! i'm having a lot of fun with this crossover so i'm very glad it made you happy :)

i've got more planned for it, i know i at least wanna try and finish designs for the four of them and i've had donnie and leo's designs in progress for a while now (i actually started both of them before mikey's, but mike's was the first one i finalized. favorite boy privileges and all that 🧡), but i needa redesign them cuz they look like shit ;-; have a lil peek of leo's current design tho!

[yuesya]

Land! Sweet, sweet land!

Lumine almost feels as if she could cry in this moment. She shouldn’t have chosen that merchant vessel over Beidou’s Alcor and experienced crew. At the time, the merchant’s ship was leaving sooner –two entire weeks before Beidou was planning to set sail– and Lumine had only wanted to reach Inazuma as soon as possible in order to continue her search for her brother.

They’d been hit by a storm, and the ship had capsized. Fortunately, there were enough emergency rowboats for all members on board, even if the merchant’s goods had been a complete loss to the ruthless waves. Less fortunately… it had been several long days of drifting at sea, and their dwindling supplies weren’t about to last much longer.

“We’ve made it, Lumine!” Paimon cheers. Lumine nods firmly. “We’re alive!”

Alive, and in desperate need of aid. Lumine and a few of the other stronger sailors set out to explore a bit and get a better idea of their surroundings. Hopefully they’d come across some friendly locals who’d be able to extend a helping hand, or at least be willing to just tell them where they’d washed up on–

Someone’s there.

Another person! Lumine quickens her footsteps, even as waterlogged as she is.

“Excuse me–!”

Paimon flies ahead of her, chasing the figure that she’d glimpsed. “Wait! Wait, please, we’re just hapless travelers who –ack!”

“Paimon?” Urgency quickens her footsteps, and Lumine hurries to reach her companion. “You…”

Her voice dies in her throat.

There’s a young girl standing amidst the trees, with blue-white hair that appears almost silver beneath the sunlight. Her clothing is in the distinct fashion of Inazuman dress, a mix of soft blue and lilac colors flowing down her body. It’s almost enough to make Lumine acutely self-conscious of her own waterlogged state and haphazard appearance from days of floating out at sea–

But there’s a dark purple cloth tied over the girl’s face, covering her eyes. A blindfold. The girl is blind.

Blind, and yet she’d moved so smoothly and confidently over the rough terrain. Lumine had barely managed to glimpse her earlier, and if it hadn’t been for her coloring standing out so starkly against the verdant backdrop of the trees, she would’ve thought that she’d imagined it all in her head.

The girl raises her hand –the hand that’s holding onto the back of Paimon’s dress, “Is it yours?”

Paimon squirms. “I’m not an ‘it!’”

“Yes, Paimon is my friend,” Lumine nods firmly –and belatedly realizes that the girl probably can’t even see it. Wait. Is she really blind? The way she moved, the way she seemed aware of everything around her… didn’t really seem like the motions of a blind person…

The girl wordlessly releases her grip on Paimon; Paimon immediately returns to Lumine’s side, casting the girl an unsettled, suspicious look.

“Um…” Best to just get to the point, probably. “Could you possibly point us towards where the nearest settlement is, please?”

“Head south,” the girl raises a pale hand, the one that’s not holding the basket of strange purple grass as she points towards the direction to their left. “Watatsumi’s Bourou Village isn’t far from here. You’ll find it easily once you reach and follow the road.”

“Thank you!” That’s probably the best news that Lumine has heard ever since the shipwreck. “We really appreciate it, miss…?”

The girl remains silent. Lumine trails off awkwardly.

“… Erm, what should I call you?” Lumine ends up asking sheepishly. The girl is certainly strange, but she doesn’t sense any ill will from her. And she’d helped give directions easily enough; Lumine would like to have a name for the person who’d given them assistance.

“… Gojo," the girl says. "Call me Gojo.”

[kokomelt]

More headcanons for the Inazuma Eleven Genshin AU but these are Hakuryuu centric because salty dragon boy deserves love and I love him u3u /p

Some of these are very heavy on Genshin's lore or stuff, I recommend looking up anything you feel curious about because I'm horrible at explaining stuff, unless you want it badly summarized >.<

I keep the idea of him being half-dragon

But he can't transform completely and if he does, he's like those chonky depictions of Morax as a plushie.

He's clearly ashamed of this so he prefers to say he can't control his dragon form at will.

Also I'll only place him in Liyue because his mixi-max is with Koumei and Koumei is Kongming aka Zhuge Liang.

Does this mean Taiyou would be in or from Liyue too, who knows? Most likely.

He's like Shenhe, he was took under an Adeptus' (probably Koumei) care and became an Adepti disciple.

Or like Ganyu if you prefer, were he was just raised by Adepti, he's already half-human so he's probably closer to be considered an Illuminated Beast.

In any case, he has lived for too long with the Adepti. But I don't think he's completely clueless to human interactions and society, he has been around them a few times, but he's still an "Adeptus" after all.

Unlike Ganyu, he's not that old and has never witnessed anything close to an Archon War, even if he's half-dragon he's still rather young.

I decided to give him a Pyro vision, mainly because he seems like the type who would take initiative (he has been captain, he clearly knows how to be in charge) and matters into his own hands. After that small exchange with Shuu in the movie I can see him also keeping some people at arm's length at first yet eventually fitting the Pyro user stereotype of being warm and expressing himself more openly.

+ his ambition probably was just simply wanting to be better than Tsurugi, but it became a core part of how he wants to improve in many aspects of his life and self.

His motivation is still Tsurugi just because... it's their thing, let them have a friendly rivalry.

Basically, Tsurugi was the main trigger for what he wants to do, but truth be told he was already competitive and just needed someone who could beat him so he gets riled up again to do things.

This also implies Tsurugi is implicitly, the reason he got a Vision, because the Pyro Archon liked his ambition to strive for improvement no matter what or how.

You may interpret their situationship in this AU however you want u3u

His constellation probably is somewhat like that of Kokomi.

I ignore weapons and so on because I speak of this AU like a setting for a story but not based on gameplay mechanics (because for example, Neuvilette is a Catalyst user but he literally seems to use his cane and summons a water ray that comes out of a circle or something in his charged attack, so I think the weapons are just a gameplay thing, not accurate to Teyvat's lore stuff), but if I were to give him one, it'd be a Sword.

I still don't know what the Fifths Sector equals to in this universe (please help someone, give me ideas or suggestions) so don't ask me about Eden nor how he met Tsurugi, I have no idea yet.

His relationship with Koumei is probably like that of Ganyu with Xianyun, but I personally see her more like his aunt.

Koumei brings up things that he did when he was younger and it makes him feel way too embarrassed, but he respects her too much to complain openly about it.

I'll bet half of my prymos on him slipping into calling her "auntie Koumei" in front of people he's not that close with probably Tenma and so on.

Since he has lived with the Adepti, he's very familiar with the Jueyun Karst. But I feel after a few years he prefers to be around Liyue Harbor.

Since he hangs around Liyue Harbor mostly, he has come across Storytellers and has gotten quite interested on them, so he sometimes just stays to listen to whatever they say. He prefers the ones that tell overdramatic and epic stories rather than realistic accurate ones.

Koumei is a strategist by heart, so I think she'd be into Board Games, which has influenced Hakuryuu a bit.

I feel he's inevitably into old fashioned ones like Liyue Millennial, but since he's competitive he'll try to win at anything really.

Do not let him play against Tsurugi, you wouldn't see the end of that until both of them get tired, and that's not likely to happen.

The wikia says he doesn't really like chocolate, but I'll go further and say he's generally not much into sweet flavors.

He doesn't like stuff like Rice Pudding or Almond Tofu (note: it's actually not tofu, just shaped like it) at all.

And about tofu, Liyue has a lot of dishes that have it, but I think he doesn't like it unless it's somewhat spicy or fried.

He'll eat something sweet for sure if it's a gift from a friend or...

He's neutral about dishes like Mint Salad and Minty Meat Rolls, but considering mint has such a "fresh" flavor he will eat those in few situations. I think he'd prefer the salad over the meat rolls.

I don't feel like Hakuryuu would be a fan of extremely spicy dishes either, just the right amount of spiciness is fine for him, don't overdo it.

Oh but he'll eat a bunch of Jueyun Chilis if it's a competition (with Tsurugi, probably) or something, and he'll regret it later. He's young so he can still do silly things sometimes, right?.

I also think he's not a very complicated over-the-top kinda person, so don't expect him to get "luxurious" dishes unless it's a special event like the Lantern Rite.

His favorite dish is probably Jade Parcels, he also likes Jewelry Soup because it's such a simple and homey dish.

Also, Grilled Tiger Fish, he likes it because it's easy and quick to make + it's small and easy to carry around.

But has he tried dishes from other Nations? Not exactly, but technically, yes.

He has only eaten some from Mondstadt because it's one of the closest nations to Liyue.

He tried Moon Pie at a festival and got surprised it was actually a meat pie.

But his favorite is probably the Northern Smoked Chicken, or simply the Chicken-Mushroom Skewer.

He wants to try the Mushroom Pizza, since he saw the recipe got to Inazuma too (I know I said not everything follows Genshin's canon 100%, but I just like how the Special Mushroom Pizza looks).

And at some point he has been able to try some of Inazuma's stuff too.

Someone brought him a bottle of Dango Milk and he couldn't finish the whole thing, it was too sweet and sticky.

He has also tried Omelette Rice, but in the end he prefers Onigiri, mainly because it's a "portable dish".

He got to taste some Bulle Fruits from Fontaine once, he doesn't dislike them.

I think he also got to try Snezhnaya's cooking at some point.

He hasn't tried any other foods from other Nations yet.

Pretty neutral about other region's dishes, but feels curious about Fontaine's ones because Kurosaki has told him about them.

He's not much into historical books at all, because he already knows half of it thanks to Koumei.

He used to be a fan of Legend of The Lone Sword for a long time until he read the 4th volume.

He still likes it but feels disappointed.

Now he reads Legend of the Shattered Halberd instead.

At some point he got the first volume of The Two Musketeers but didn't get as invested on it as he thought.

This was long, I did took my time because I like to think and add a lot of ideas as I go but I may have missed stuff, so anyone who has ideas, questions or requests for a certain character is welcome to write me, my DMs and asks are open n.n

Wil I eventually make headcanons for everyone in this AU? I'll try my best to, but I'll probably tackle my fav characters first in no particular order of preference.

But sadly there are some that I won't be able to write much about in case I headcanon them being from or having interactions with Natlan and/or Snezhnaya because those aren't out yet and we don't have much info regionally-speaking (dishes, books, activities. Only Childe has given us info) until they release. That's why I also mentioned I think Hakuryuu has tried some Snezhnaya's dishes but I didn't specify, because we don't know about that yet.

And as always, if someone reached this point or just stopped to read past the introduction, thank you! <3 I do this for fin but if someone out there finds it entertaining enough I'd feel glad.

[silverflqmes]

heyyyy, can i request a cute modern au fake dating prompt with kazuha where he’s the reader’s pretend boyfriend in order to get a free dessert at a restaurant? the reader is his close friend btw. in headcanons please!!

໒⦂ 𝐅𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐂𝐒.

note. hello anon! tysm for requesting, here is your modern au fake dating headcanons with the leaf sniffer himself, enjoy✨

genre. fluff + crack

kazuha kaedehara x gn!reader.

⌗ kazuha.. yk, he’s pretty easygoing, goes with the wind and all of that shit, so normally he’s down with whatever his best friend ( you ) may come up with

⌗ but when you come up to him and ask for him to pretend to be your boyfriend.. for a free dessert, that has his brow raising

⌗ “let me get this straight — you.. want me to be your boyfriend.” he would repeat, and you nod so he continues, “for a dessert..”

⌗ “and that’s so out of the ordinary how?” you would fire back, to which he would throw his hands up in defense.

⌗ to him it’s completely unheard of, but he knew your love for sweets, and wouldn’t want to deny you of what made you happy; he was your best friend after all, and he did have feelings already to begin with..

⌗ playing the role of a boyfriend was a once in a life time opportunity, and it maintains your friendship without you being weirded out by his feelings — it was a win win situation!

⌗ besides, who wouldn’t want free food???

⌗ “alright, alright.. i’ll be your boyfriend for this dessert of yours. what kind is it anyway, for you to get worked up this much?” he’d chuckle, loving the way your features would perk up. you were just too precious to him

⌗ “that’s just it — the menu is a mystery! but there are different options to choose from and whatever we pick is free! it’s an ideal situation if you ask me.”

⌗ and ideal it was.

⌗ the following day would be the day kazuha becomes your boyfriend.. for a free dessert

⌗ the minute you step out of the gates to your university, his mannerisms and attitude take a one-eighty as he reaches for your hand and steps closer to your side

⌗ it takes you by surprise, knowing your best friend to be rather respectful of space, not as touchy as he was being now — but you didn’t mind it, it sold the act after all

⌗ and it felt.. nice

⌗ but you couldn’t help the comment on your tongue. “initiating first, are we? seems like someone wants free dessert after all!”

⌗ a hum left his lips as he looked up at the sky. “something like that, i suppose. but i would think you’d want to convince the staff of your totally real relationship.”

⌗ the bickering jabs would continue all the way to your destination, where kazuha would open the door for you — though he’s done that before. he’s polite, after all.

⌗ says the whole “after you”, which just has you giggling and smiling upon entry.

⌗ the two of you are eventually seated and you ask for the couple’s special.

⌗ a kind employee would then explain the requirements to receive your free dessert, which came as a surprise to you.

⌗ in the ad online there was nothing on requirements, only to have a significant other — but it seemed the workers really wanted to put the both of you to the test..

⌗ it made sense, though. they couldn’t just give free desserts out for nothing — and surely many people would pretend to get free food!

⌗ there was no going back now.

⌗ and so you accept the challenge.. which is none other than the classic kiss of proof.

⌗ as fake couples would likely hesitate, and maybe even try to work around it.

⌗ kazuha stiffened at first, but was still determined to get you that dessert. cold feet would only decrease your chances at getting that dessert you wanted.

⌗ he looked into your eyes, searching your take on the criteria, and found you nodding just slightly — consent.

⌗ and so kazuha did what any boyfriend would have done as he leaned in to press a quick, yet gentle kiss on your lips.

⌗ they felt soft, against his own — his very first kiss, and with his best friend no less..

⌗ stuck in a daze, the two of you just stared at one another for a moment, processing your actions — the feelings a singular kiss stirred up..

⌗ until a plate of the dessert you’d ordered was placed between you.

⌗ “enjoy~!”

notes. i realize this is my first time writing something for kazuha so hopefully he wasn’t too ooc.. anyway hope you enjoyed and that i was able to fulfill what you wanted in your request<3

↳ return to main masterlist . request rules . send an ask

[stellas-et-abyssum-vincite]

Accidental Proposal ~ *Arataki Itto*

Summary: He loves you. He loves you so much he wants to marry you someday. Of course, as the two of you stargazing, he can't help but let it slip. Please say he didn't ruin the surprise!

Pairing: Arataki Itto X G/N!Reader

Genre: Fluffy Oneshot

Word Count: 1035

Warning: Arataki might be OOC?

Masterlist

It was paradise. Life with you was nothing short of pure perfection. You were considerate, charming, and cute. The perfect significant other, if Arataki does say so himself, and he does, all the time. He wouldn’t trade what the two of you had for the world. And he knew you felt the exact same way.

Currently, you are cuddling together, watching the night sky overhead. His arm is over your shoulders and you’re practically buried into his side. A blanket is pulled up to your shoulders and you look so peaceful and cute. He can’t keep his eyes off of you. Have you always looked this perfect? Is he just now seeing your true beauty? Could he fall in love with you even more than he already had?

“I can’t wait to marry you.”

The world stopped for what felt like an eternity. Arataki felt you freeze after those words and he couldn’t stop the awkward smile from slipping onto his face. He shouldn’t have said it. He should have kept his mouth shut. The others told him that he should make his marriage proposal to you romantic, and this wasn’t very romantic.

You sat up and attempted to look in his eyes. But Arataki wouldn’t look at you. He couldn’t. He was frustrated. Did he ruin the surprise? How can he salvage this? He knew he made a mistake, but perhaps it could be fixed? Maybe? He wasn’t sure.

“What,” You breathed, catching his attention. “What did you say?”

“Nothing.” He answered quickly, hoping he could backtrack easily out of the mess he made with a charming smile. “Nothing at all. Don’t worry about it.”

“No.” Your voice was firm and it made his smile falter. “No, what did you say? Please tell me what you said again.”

“I…” He stuttered. Could he say it again? It was an accident the first time. And now, you were looking at him like that and he was getting all tongue-tied, which wasn’t unusual when he was around you. But this wasn’t romantic at all! He told his gang he would sweep you off your feet when he told you he loved you and wanted to marry you. How could he fix this and make it up to you?

Gently, you touched his cheek and he all but melted under your touch, one of his hands coming up to hold it. “Arataki, did you mean it? Did you really mean that you want to marry me?”

He couldn’t lie to you. He’s never been able to before and he wasn’t about to start now. So he nodded, finally looking into your watery eyes.

“Yes, I do want to marry you.”

A small sob escaped you and, unable to watch you cry, Arataki wrapped you in his arms. This wasn’t how he planned to do this in the slightest. He had a whole big plan in mind, taking you to all your favorite spots in Inazuma before proposing here at home with the stars in the sky. He even had a ring. He was just waiting for the perfect day.

And now he went and messed it all up. How could he be so reckless and ruin it all? Did you even want to marry him? He hoped he could win you over with his sweet and thoughtful, albeit over the top proposal. But he opened his big mouth and now he just had to hope for the best. Although, now that he was thinking about it, he did do the second half of the proposal. You were under the stars at home and he asked you to marry him. But he didn’t have the ring! So it wasn’t really complete-

“Okay.”

He froze, his thoughts locking up at your words.

“What?”

You looked up at him with shining eyes and a loving smile. “Okay. I will marry you. I would love to marry you.”

An awkward laugh spilled from his lips before he could stop it. Scratching the back of his neck, he shook his head. “Can you please not answer me right now? This isn’t how I wanted to propose to you. I had this whole plan in place and everything! I want to do it right! I mean, you deserve a perfect proposal, not an accidental slip of the tongue. So, um, please don’t say yes right now. I shouldn’t have said anything. I’m sorry.”

You shook your head, placing your hands on his. “Don’t apologize! I don’t care about some big fancy proposal. All I care about is that it’s you who wants to be with me forever. I’m just surprised you asked me out of the blue like this. Surprised, but happy. I’m very, very, very happy, my love.”

“Really?” His smile became more genuine. “You’re not just saying that? You really want to marry me?”

Pressing a long, loving kiss to his lips, he melted into it. You didn’t really need to answer him. He could feel the love you had for him. He could understand that with the way your lips moved against his, it was your way of saying yes, you would marry him. And he let his worry melt away as you kissed. 

This was a happiness he never thought he’d ever get to experience. Which divine Archon looked at him and granted his wishes for this life? How had he gotten so lucky to find you and be with you? Who did he have to thank for how perfect his life had become in this very moment?

As you pulled away and Arataki looked you in the eyes, now as your fiance, he knew the answer. He would not question the good in his life. His life now was enough and he didn’t want to change it for the world, no matter what.

You pressed your forehead against his and whispered, “Does that answer your question, my love?”

He nuzzled his nose against yours. “Yes, my treasure. I love you so much, you have no idea.”

“I love you too, so very much.”

“But I’m still going to propose to you properly. I told the guys I would.”

You laughed. “I’ll make sure to act surprised.”

“Thank you.”

[heedmywarnings]

Shogun(s) P1(?)

co-ruling shogun & kuni archons au<<

--

"Logic over emotions, Kunizukushi."

The cold voice of the Raiden Shogun would make anyone shiver, along with cold, stoic gaze. However it was only her and her brother.

"I know, sister... this isn't my first duel," Kuni sighed rather loudly as he continued to sign a few papers, some even scattered carelessly on the floor.

Raiden raised a brow, "But you are not dueling? Ah, is this your way to propose a dueling against me?" She asked, preparing her spear.

"Ah! That's not what I me-!"

"Draw your weapon."

--

"I thought you both agreed on a duel? How did you both manage to tear of eachother's limb? Such ludicrousy..."

The voice sighed. Honestly, she sounds like a mother dealing with her two misbehaving children right now.

"Kunizukushi proposed the idea."

"No I didn't! You were already drawing your weapon!"

Raiden glared at her brother, but he returned it with an irritated scowl.

"You said duel-"

"And!? It was an idiom!!"

"What's an idiom?"

The voice sighed again, seemingly more frustrated than before.

"Enough with the both you. Kunizukushi, finish the paperwork. Raiden, like... do something with the people, I guess."

She scolded. Kuni and Raiden swore they could hear her muttering about them 'interrupting her connection to the heavenly principles.'

"Nuh uh! No way am I letting you with the people!"

Kuni raised his voice.

"But Raiden Ei said I can do whatever-"

Once, again, she was cut off.

"You do the paperwork, I'll watch over the people or something."

"Okay."

--

'That was actually... surprisingly easy? Normally she wouldn't accept anything that involves changing responsibilities.'

"Almighty Shogun! Almi- *huff...* Almighty Shogun!"

"General Kujou, who is that lunatic screaming my name?" Kuni asks, his kasa covering his face as he didn't bother to look up.

"It's... it's a resistance soldier!" General Kujou replied, her voice expression surprise.

"!?"

[mifeeey]

As some of you might know I'm working on a Sims 4 save file based on my Genshin Impact Au (Mid Garage Band 6reeze). So I have a question.

For more info: The essential builds are mostly finished but I'm curious

[justaghostingon]

The Cost of the Crown

An inazuma au, because canon has disappointed me, and moral conundrums are fun.

What if Kokomi knew about the delusions?

Think about it: Kokomi is a War general fighting a losing battle against undiscribeable odds. Her home doesn’t have the soil to maintain the kind of food her army needs, she needs every help she can get.

So when the Fatui approach with an offer of a weapon on par with a vision, she’d jump at the chance.

But Kokomi’s no fool. She knows the fatui are only allies for as long as their goals aline, and that doesn’t make them trustworthy. She tests one out on herself and clocks the energy drain right away.

Now an ordinary person would chuck the delusion in the other direction and run at that point, but not Kokomi. She’s desperate. She is very aware that she is fighting a war. And a bloody one at that. Most of her men are going to die. There’s no getting around it. Can she really give up any advantage, no matter how dangerous? Would it be better if her doomed could use that life to get in a few good punches with a delusion before they inevitably succumb?

She decides to test it out. From the fatui stationed nearby she knows some people can weild it longer than others. So she asks Gorou to gather several trusted men, and bring them to her tent.

She then lays down the truth to them, that delusions are dangerous, but could provide a boost in power. She asks them if they are willing to test them out. This is not a mission, she will not order them to risk their lives. It is completely up to them.

The trusted men accept, one of them being Teppei. They are warriors after all, and risking their lives is something they do every day.

Kokomi tries to be cautious. She limits the times each man can use a delusion. Keeps them under lock and key, personally monitors the men’s health to see that the drainage isn’t to bad.

She also asks the traveler, a known weilder of elemental power without a vision, to train the men, so they can master their use quickly and safely.

She tells the traveler of what delusions are and their risks, but she does not tell them she got them from the fatui. The fatui and the traveler share a grudge, and she does not want said grudge to cloud the travelers mind while they train her men.

For a little while, it works. The traveler fights side by side with teppei and the other delusion weilders, and they’re proud of how powerful their students have become

Then it all starts to go wrong.

Teppei starts rapidly aging after a battle, and despite the traveler immediately removing the delusion, it does no good, Teppei dies to quickly to be saved.

The traveler is devistated, wracked with guilt over their hand in Teppei’s fate. They break into Kokomi’s files looking for answers and discover the delusions are from the fatui

Angry, the traveler confronts Kokomi, who is equally devistated at Teppei’s fate. Blaming herself for making a bad call but…

This is war. Men die every day. Sometimes by the thousands. Teppei was one man. He died, but his actions in that battle saved hundreds.

No one knows that better then Kokomi. She’s a war general. Sending men to their deaths is a reality she must face every day.

She tells the traveler the hard truth. This isn’t a fairy tale, or an adventure story. The heroes don’t always succeed. And freedom is a price paid in the blood of soldiers.

Does she want to let the men continue to use the delusions? Of course not! But she gave that choice to the men who hold them. They knew the risks a delusion posed. She could order the men to give them back, she knows they’d listen to her. But as a general, she knows she cannot. Not over the fate of one man.

However, she does know the traveler can pull off miracles. She’s heard what they’ve done in Liyue and Mondstat. So she offers the traveler a deal, strictly off the books. She will confiscate the delusions, for now, If the traveler can successfully find a way to match the delusion’s power in battle.

As a war general, she can only give the traveler a couple of weeks to pull this off. But as the head shrine maiden of Watasumi, she begs the traveler to succeed.

Now the Traveler is doubly motivated. Both to avenge Teppei, who they trained, and to save the rest of Watasumi: from those who would throw their life away on delusions, to the gentle war general who despite everything, has not given up hope.