#nicebonescomrade

Zhongli may consider himself the most devoted acolyte, but really it’s Xiao. As I wrote in my last fic, Xiao was the last one to feel the creator’s light and warmth before they left Teyvat, and he was the first one to sense it again when they arrived, regardless of whether they arrived in Liyue or not.

In my lore, the reason people want visions so badly is not just because of the powers they may get, but also because having a vision means you have a higher chance of the creator themselves noticing you. This is based on how all the playable characters have visions of some sort.

In this Teyvat, having a vision also brings you closer to the creator because, although the stars guide everyone's paths, only vision holders have their own personal constellations.

When the god (player) rolls constellations for a character in real life, the stars in a character’s constellation in the sky of Teyvat will glow visibly brighter. In my sagau, Xiao’s constellation is currently the brightest in the sky, and that is reflected in how his hair, eyes, and the markings under his clothes glow. (This is because, as of writing this, I have him at c5. I could’ve gotten him to c6 if I didn’t also roll 2 Qiqis and a Diluc during his first banner 😔. I WILL be getting his c6 during his rerun tho.)

OKAY SO I love, love, l o v e the thought of the creator bleeding gold, but I also love the imposter aus, and it doesn’t make much sense to have both of those together? Because they would totally notice if darling bled gold. SO what if instead, their blood fresh out of their body is red, but it doesn’t turn gold until it starts to dry?

With that said, imagine the archon’s horror when they finally track down the "imposter" only to find them laying in a pool of liquid gold, and they finally notice that the cuts and scars and bleeding wounds are drying gold? How horrified would the people be if they went to clean the imposter's filthy blood off the walls to prevent it from staining their cities any further, only to see their own terrified expressions reflected back at them in the gold?

Okay, so this is gonna be what, the third time I’ve mentioned Xiao? And my third sagau post, and he’s been in all three of them? But it doesn’t matter; he’s my favorite, and naturally, this au will be influenced by my experiences anyway- In my sagaus, unless it’s a version that specifically says otherwise, Xiao will ALWAYS recognize the creator. He was born with the creator’s warmth and light, he’s felt it for as long as he could remember, and he remembers it better than most. However, as I wrote about in my other post, there was a time he didn’t remember. There was a time where he couldn’t remember his god’s name, or even their existence. And the first thing he did after being freed from Osial’s control was relearning all the prayers he had forgotten and trying everything to remember the feeling of his god’s light. He spent so long relearning everything about his god that he couldn't forget them again. So no matter what, no matter how much all the other nations call darling an imposter, Xiao knows. He forgot you once, and he refuses to let it happen again.

The reason all the "monsters" in the game can recognize Darling as their god when the others can’t is because they’re more humble. The people of Teyvat, although recognizing their god is higher than them, are still very entitled. They believe that wealth and offerings, monuments and statues are what’s going to please the god. They expect their god to give them a grand show when they enter Teyvat, some sort of sight of gold and light or whatever. So when their creator, a being of kindness and humility, appears before them as a normal ass human, they refuse to accept it, and are quicker to call them an imposter than an actual god. The monsters don’t have this mindset. They (and xiao and the people of Khaenri'ah) know that the creator doesn’t care about wealth or who has the nicest shrine or altar or whatever. The creator doesn’t care if you call them by some fancy title, they just care that you welcome them with open arms and extend kindness to others where you can. So the monsters are a lot more chill about it. (Xiao’s a bit in the middle of both, although the reason he isn’t as chill about it as he used to be is not because of human influence, but rather due to the trauma he has endured and the belief that he has to earn his god’s forgiveness, as if it was his fault that what happened to him happened. I’ll probably make him another post for that alone lmao)

Wow this sure is turning into a Xiao post huh lmao. Anyway, when they (the other adepti and the yakshas) agreed to a contract with Morax, one of the points of the contract was that if the creator ever entered Teyvat, their orders were to be ranked above Morax’s. So even if what the creator asked them to do was in direct violation of the contract, they could still follow it through because it’s more important. HOWEVER, this was never an issue for Xiao. Xiao is not loyal to Morax, Liyue, or even the other yakshas. He is loyal to his god and his god alone. Nobody else will ever take precedence over them, and he will never swear his allegiance to another being, because it is only reserved for his god. Because of this, in my sagau, Xiao doesn’t have an official contract with Morax and just does what he asks if he feels like his god would appreciate it.

Speaking of Khaenri'ah, the people of Khaenri'ah did not have a god ruling directly over them, so they learned to develop technology themselves. They still revere the creator and hold them in higher regard than all other beings, of course, but they also see their lack of a ruling god as a gift. It was the creator's way of allowing them a chance to learn independence and to not over rely on higher powers to handle everything for them. Because of this, they recognize that the creator would not really care about huge, grand displays of worship but is rather more chill. After all, if the god of gods cared about extreme shows of worship, wouldn’t they take the chance to rule the nation without a god themselves instead of leaving them godless?