misandrists (and childe) inc.

starters  /  prompts taken from various characters starring in the game   fire emblem : three houses .  feel free to change pronouns  /  tenses as necessary .

“  feel free to say hi whenever you like  ”

“  don’t hold back for my sake  ”

“  you think I’m so clumsy that I need someone to watch over me ?  ”

“  you act like you’re full of regret  ,  but I know you don’t really mean it  ”

“  you actually look more handsome to me with honesty on your face  ”

“  don’t be ashamed of crying  ”

“  could you keep quiet for a bit ?  ”

“  you’re actually kind of amazing  ”

“  do you mean to imply you have no intention of acting a bit more respectably ?  ”

“  stop acting so nonchalant about getting hurt or killed  ”

“  naive and uptight is no way to live your life  ”

“  you’d better watch that temper  ”

“  i am absolutely disinterested in spending any time with you  ”

“  your lack of self-awareness is deeply troubling  ”

“  I’ll just be straightforward about taking advantage of you  ”

“  when will you tire of challenging me in pointless competitions ?  ”

“  you expect me to believe that ?  ”

“  i’ve had enough of your foolish antics  ”

“  i wish you would not sneak up on me like that  ”

“  before you reprimand me  ,  take a moment to consider your own failings  ”

“  it is like hearing a snake sing an aria  ”

“  am I hearing a deathbed confession ?  ”

“  i never have any idea what you’re talking about  ”

“  don’t walk away when i’m talking to you  ”

“  you’ll be the death of me for sure  ”

“  i do not intend to die  ”

“  i can’t believe you put yourself at risk for my benefit  ”

“  i don’t think i’ve ever seen you smile  ”

“  i do not desire your gratitude  ”

“  you’re surprisingly strong for how slender you appear  ”

“  perhaps i was flustered needlessly  ”

“  i had forgotten how charmingly ethereal you can be  ”

“  you’re going a little overboard  ”

“  you have shaken me to my very core  ”

“  so this is what death is like  ”

“  if you get sick of me  ,  i’m sorry ahead of time  ”

“  i’m embarrassed just thinking about it  ”

“  you’re like a little brother to me  ”

“  spending the rest of my life with you doesn’t sound so bad  ”

“  if our roles were reversed  ,  I don’t think I’d be able to forgive you  ”

“  you actually hate me  ,  right ?  ”

“  you haven’t stabbed me yet  ”

“  i want to be more like you  ”

“  i actually envy the size of your heart  ”

“  i don’t think you can solve all your problems by throwing a few punches  ”

“  there aren’t a lot of people like you in the world  ”

“  sorry I’ve been so oblivious to your needs  ”

“  sometimes you just can’t afford to wait around for someone else to notice ”

“  yesterday’s enemy is today’s ally  ”

“  you have to abandon old feuds  ”

“  learn to protect yourself before trying to protect me  ”

“  i always trust that you’ve got my back  ”

“  if only people could be more like flowers  ”

“  if you promise not to resort to violence  ,  I’ll do whatever you want  ”

“  i can’t stand the sight of me either  ”

“  i would be even more impressed if you hadn’t been screaming the whole time  ”

“  i did what was necessary to get you to comply  ”

“  you have so much power in you  ,  just waiting to be unleashed  ”

My muse in a relationship ?s

Please include if you want answers for a particular verse or ship.

i. The sight of blood is a comfort. 

It leaks onto the ground from — he isn’t sure where, exactly, other than it’s from him, from his broken body, his battered body. Everything aches. Everything bleeds. He is skin and bones and blood.

His eyes squint at the pool of blood he’s been stewing in. The color is dark, almost black. But he knows it’s blood — recognizes it even when he can’t recall his name.

He remembers that Teyvat is vastly unexplored still. That much is apparent as he marvels at the untrimmed grass, the silence that hangs limp in the air. Consider a landscape painting — unblemished, untainted by humanity. It’s as if he had been rendered into one as an afterthought, or perhaps as a mistake.

He remembers that there currently exists three major nations — one of contracts, one of freedom, one of eternity. The boundaries are roughly definable. They’re further classified by element — geo, anemo, and electro respectively. Relations amongst them all are civil. Somewhat.

He remembers that density and altitude have an inverse relationship. The atmosphere thins — falters — the higher up you are, barely held together by gravity and its whims. He remembers the sensation of soaring, then of falling, even when he has yet to take flight. He remembers the connection, the way he felt bound to them, but he can’t remember his name, can’t remember where he’s from, can’t remember what he’s done to deserve lying on the ground he suddenly hated, bleeding.

ii. Six hundred years later, and his hands are still blood stained.

At first, he washes them almost obsessively. But whenever he looks down, he sees the blood under his nails, sees drops crusted on his fingers. No matter how hard he scrubs, the blood stays, the blood stays.

He invests in a pair of gloves — handmakes them, actually. They’re dark and sensible, and they do not reek of blood. And while he’s a creature of habit, he is also a fast learner … he’s careful never to go about his day without them on. In combat, in between snacks, in the midst of his meditation regimen, he tugs at the cuffs so that they cover his lower arms.

iii. There always seemed to be a woman loitering at the entrance of Wangshu Inn. 

Hair in an updo, bold eye makeup. A mile-long black dress, a nice one, an expensive one. He tells himself, she’s probably the companion of someone who lives here. He tells himself, this has nothing to do with me. He tells himself, stop looking.

But the woman in the black dress is familiar in all the ways he knows she shouldn’t be. The woman in the black dress is familiar in all the ways he can’t put a name to, not yet.

He prays they never meet, or at least not in her lifetime.

iv. “I have reason to believe that there is something wrong with me — with my brain.”

Zhongli stares at him. His eyes are large, dark. There are no bags under them, not like a human’s. His memories are hazy but he attests to bags weighing most of their eyes down like ink.

Wanmin Restaurant hums with quiet conversation. He clutches the roll of bread in his hand a little too tightly. It crumples into bits on his plate.

“I can … I can only remember some things,” he continues. “And even those things leave much to be desired.” He stares down at his ungloved hands — at the red skin around his nails, the blood he swears is still there. “May I ask you to heal me?” His gaze then shoots up, half hopeful.

“It is beyond my power to fix memories, especially in this body.” Zhongli retrieves his cup of osmanthus tea, the steam curling in the air. He dips his head to take a sip, eyes never leaving his. “Of course, I can check if there are any lingering injuries from…what happened to you. I can also pay the pharmacy a visit to see if there is any remedy there worth trying.” He pauses, perhaps for a beat too long. “But unfortunately, I don’t think it will amount to much. It’s most likely trauma.”

“Trauma affects the brain. If you heal my brain, you fix the trauma … right?”

Whatever hope had gleaned his eyes disappeared when Zhongli hesitated a second time. This time he doesn’t look up from his hands, not wishing to check if there is any change to the archon’s expression. Pity from him would be worse than any lasting brain damage.

v. The woman in the black dress waves him over today. 

He has to wonder how she’s able to see him from his rooftop perch, let alone acknowledge him. Bile rises in his throat as he descends onto the balcony below him. He balls both of his hands, fingers clenching a fistful of his gloves.

As he’s drawing away from the balcony, he sees her again … only closer this time.

Now, the woman is within earshot. Within reach.

His stomach drops. His throat dries.

Yet his fingers burn with an urgency. While he is unmoving, they are scheming and simmering — bent on shedding that damned fabric he’d clung onto like a lifeline.

The smile on her face does little to coax the twitch in his fingers. He blinks his eyes closed for one second, two seconds … his nails dig into the palms of his hands. At six seconds, he can feel a growing sharpness graze his skin.

With bated breath, he forces his eyes back open.

He looks up. 

The woman in the black dress is gone.

He looks back down.

There, in the palm of his hand — a rip spanning the fabric of his glove.

There, pooling at the rip and marring the exposed skin — a ripe red, a free flowing red,

TL;DR : While Xiao’s motives in being a guardian have evolved over the years, his duty to a person, or specific source, takes precedence over his duty to the collective, or a more general cause. This stands as a direct foil to Keqing’s sense of duty, which is just as unwavering, but is more inclined toward the bigger picture and the uncertain.

Truth be told, Xiao has developed a certain fondness for the mortal realm, particularly Liyue and its people, no matter that it’s something he may struggle to express. It’s part of the reason why he’s so stalwart in remaining there even after Rex Lapis’ “passing” and the other adepti’s desire to call it quits. 

However, it didn’t always start out this way. At the heart of it all, Xiao’s sense of duty stems from one sole source — a person, a god: Rex Lapis. He didn’t commit to his guardianship duties for the sake of the “greater good”, nor did he do so with the grand scheme of things in mind. His (gradually) softening feelings toward Liyue and humankind are but a byproduct of his years of service to Rex Lapis. In other words, Xiao’s sense of duty primarily comes from wanting to fulfill Rex Lapis’ wishes (out of obligation, out of gratitude … that’s arbitrary in this context), not Liyue’s wishes. It just so happens that Rex Lapis’ wishes revolve almost completely around Liyue.

This, for lack of a better term, “person over cause” - oriented sense of duty can be further exemplified in the years preceding Xiao’s encounter with Rex Lapis. During this time, Xiao was blackmailed into servitude by a malevolent deity. He reluctantly committed atrocious acts against other people, other countries, himself. This reluctance didn’t change the fact that his duty was to this deity, though (out of fear, out of naivety … also arbitrary in this context) and not a greater cause. What he did in his years of service to this deity (spreading darkness; destruction) is the complete opposite of his years of service to Rex Lapis (chasing out the darkness; salvation). 

It is then safe to assume that if Rex Lapis ever asked Xiao for help in destroying all of Liyue (which would never happen, in good conscience), Xiao would consider it strange and maybe even question himself, but ultimately, he’d concede. Person over cause. Xiao’s morality has no say in what he himself commits to, even if it eats away at him on the inside.

On the other hand, Keqing — who is just as dutiful and devoted — prioritizes her duty to a cause, something more vague and uncertain. Her sense of duty ultimately stems from a place rooted in morality and compassion. While she has the capacity to cherish people as individuals, at the end of the day, she will always put Liyue and its well-being over everything and everyone, including herself. Cause over person.

So as much as she has grown to respect Rex Lapis and certain elements of the divine, if he asked HER to help him destroy all of Liyue (which would, once again, never happen of his own volition), she would feel shocked and betrayed and act on those feelings accordingly. Her duty is to her country, not to him.