Artist, Writer & Vtuber ☆

── .✦ Another illustration drawn back in February of a gorgeous Genshin OC!! 💜🤍 My backlog of commission posts is still quite long, you see... 🤭

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At last he opened his eyes and for the first time in all the long years he had known him Xiao looked upon Zhongli, truly looked, and their eyes met, not in passing but in truth. “The loss of my kin is a wound I shall carry all my days. Their absence is a silence I have learned to live with, but never to fill. And the karmic burden I bore — yes, it was a torment beyond words. For millennia it consumed me, body and soul. But we Yakshas took the oath and made the contract knowing full well the cost it would demand. We entered the fray not for glory, nor even for reward, but because it was right. We bore our arms with pride in our duty. And the legacy we left behind is not something that can be measured. “I cannot resent you. You have saved me, more than once, from the slow unmaking of the soul. It was you who brought me to the Guili Assembly, who welcomed me when I bore naught but blood upon my hands. You accepted me as I was and never once sought to chain me. You honored my will and watched over me from afar with patience, not command. I believe I would have made the same choice, even had the world turned differently. The path of slaughter was all I knew, and I wished to use what strength I had to shield others, even if it meant walking the road of misery. But in your service, I found more than duty. “We lived in an age of chaos and ruin. So much was lost and so little time was given to weigh the cost of every act. The choices made then were not perfect but they were made in earnest and with what wisdom we had in that hour. Only from the vantage of the present can we see the paths behind us clearly. And from where I now stand with all that I have known, I cannot lay blame upon you. I do not resent you.” At those words Zhongli closed his eyes and a long breath escaped him and to Xiao it seemed as though a burden long held in silence had been released and the heart had finally eased. “There is something I have come to understand,” Xiao added. “True goodness is not the absence of error, nor the perfection of all choices. It lies in the will to do good for as long as we are able. Mistakes shall be made for such is the fate of all who choose and act. Experience may prove lacking and wisdom may falter. And the future, the true shape of it, lies beyond the grasp of even the greatest seers. “My own choices, too, have led to ruin. I have walked roads I now grieve, and innocent lives were lost by my doing. Yet I believe this: that true goodness is not lost, nor does it pass away. Though the end be marked by failure, it does not diminish what lies within you nor render you unworthy. Those who fell by my hand found cause to forgive me, and so too do I find cause to forgive you. Liyue names one like me its hero, so know that you are a hero to me.” “You have my gratitude, old friend,” said Zhongli, and the words, though simple, were the sincerest of all.

This chapter was the conclusion of Xiao's character development and, naturally, I had to bring closure to the relationship between him and Zhongli.

Xiao has idolized and idealized Zhongli since the day Morax saved him. He treated Morax as his new master. Everything Morax said was an order to be followed. Then in Lantern Rite 3.4 Xiao finally learns that Zhongli has always considered Xiao a friend, not a servant. Since then Xiao struggled to reshape his thoughts and feelings towards Zhongli, slowly learning to see him as a friend. Yet, still, he couldn't bring himself to see Zhongli as an equal... It was complicated.

But in Ch37, Zhongli and Xiao finally started having a more honest conversation, and Zhongli asked something he has always wanted to know: if somewhere in Xiao's heart there was anger or disappointment that Morax let the Yakshas die. That Morax led Xiao to immense suffering, that Xiao was denied of so many things.

I hoped to have these ready for Xiao's birthday yesterday, but hey I'm still close, just a day late 😖 ── .⟡

Once again, these are intended as fan packs for those who want to support my work and grab some nice treats for themselves! 🫶 I still appreciate every single like, reblog, comment or lovely tags you offer!!

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Although this is only being posted now, this particular illustration was the first Gnosia-infected Raqio I ever had the chance to draw so I'm very thankful for the opportunity!!