#xinya

Bonus point if they're kindhearted, connected to shang de indirectly and live in a small apartment by themselves.

og pose:

ollie / sofia , xinya & han-lao , asim * cahaya for the oc relationships? :3

it's okay it took me forever to answer the first ask lmao but yOoUuUuUu got it my friend!!!

Ollie / Sofia, the two weed smoking girlfriends. I keep changing the circumstances of how they met every time I think about it, but I do know they were absolutely U-Haul Lesbians who moved in within like 2 weeks of knowing each other, because it was just that serious.

And it worked out! Wow! They have their cat son Marbles, they share a crappy city apartment, they have gay sex often, living the dream. Their wildly different family circumstances have definitely caused disagreements in the past, with Ollie's "fuck 'em" attitude when it comes to dealing with shitty (or even just passively ignorant) relatives versus Sofía trying to make them understand, maybe too much, but it worked for her parents, so surely it'll work on everyone! Ollie doesn't have much of a family anymore (not a blood family anyway), and she wants to keep her little queer found family as safe and happy as possible. Sofía grew up very close to her family, and even if they aren't perfect, and can be exhausting, she doesn't want to just give up on them because of that. They've learned to ask the "do you want advice or just to vent" question every time her family comes up, because otherwise it'll just be a mess.

Sofía has also thoroughly indoctrinated Ollie into her telenovela obsession. It's revenge for Ollie getting her hooked on anime. Symbiotic media relationship.

Xinya & Han-Lao have a very interesting friendship actually, because he's kind of the only person Xinya can be herself around. Around Jao, yeah, she's allowed to slip a little bit, but they're rarely alone, and it's still important for a queen's right hand to see her as someone worth respecting. Han-Lao is her spiritual guide, the high priest she appointed to lead her temple, and is supposed to be someone it's okay to confess all her secrets, doubts, fears, and struggles to. So he has... uh... a particularly difficult job lmao

Especially when Yu-Qi comes into the picture, and, like, everything about their entire faith is being unraveled before their eyes, she needs that solid presence very badly. He's also having A Time of it all, but is far more well-adjusted than she is, and can still offer guidance based on the lessons their faith is meant to teach, even if the literal text of it is untrue. He's spent his whole life studying and practicing and guiding the faithful, even under the worst circumstances, and he's not going to let himself falter now, when Xinya needs him most. I think he does absolutely think of her as a personal friend, not just "Her Greatness", and genuinely wants to help. In a fantasy world that has no xanax, at least there is ranting to your therapist friend.

I know when I created him, I said Han-Lao was actually a year younger than Xinya, but I might make him older to be more of a mentor type, or maybe a surrogate father figure of sorts since her actual dad is in a permanently grief-stricken state. Fun times.

Asim * Cahaya... well I told you about this already, but for the rest of you without direct access to my brain:

I intended for these two to be a straightforward romance, just with a slow ramp up and Complications, but after mulling it over, I can't see that working out long-term. Cahaya's entire thing is he saw Asim one (1) time and went "I need to have that nonbinary man" and cannot take a hint to save his life. Asim is completely unused to this kind of attention because a Speaker is required by social contract to be celibate until they retire, lest they be accused of preferential treatment. So he has no idea what to do with Cahaya, and also would rather go home actually? Asim would hate staying in the capital as some kind of prince consort, and Cahaya would absolutely not want to move to the swamps, so they are kind of fundamentally incompatible in a lot of ways.

I feel like the way it works out for both of them is a sort of "dating but we know its temporary and don't ever intend for it to be long-term" thing. Asim can just enjoy this without expectations, and Cahaya can have that nonbinary man, if only for a moment. The relationship itself may be romantic, sure, but their feelings? For each other? Less so. This is a romance with a negotiated endpoint, a finite love with zero expectations for it to be all encompassing or life-altering.

Which is why they get the asterisk relationship qualifier. They've got something going on that is abnormal <3