#no wonder i fell in love with the geo element lol

[sunleaffe]

the whole guizhong reincarnation thing with ningguang really has me thinking and honestly it makes me lean towards the ningguang and zhongli pairing a lot. now im not the biggest fan of zhongli’s story (in terms of his current whereabouts and choices) BUT the idea of him leaving li yue in charge of his dead wife’s reincarnation scratches a particular itch in my brain.

theres a lot that kind of points to the theory of reincarnation with ningguang and some of the more notable ones that ive noticed are listed below. a spoiler warning is in effect so scroll at your own risk!

- she is extremely powerful for a geo user. a lot of geo character abilities revolve around construction (hence geo construction inc. being a meme), but this could fit in thematically of being a fallen god that is rebuilding what was lost to her. her shield (?) ability is different than other geo characters. zhongli literally creates a pillar, lumine/aether build...a more stout pillar, and albedo has a lotus elevator lol. but ningguangs is more functioning as a wall of protection while also not exactly being physical per say. it looks more like a transparent scroll when unrolled, sort of like transluscent magic at play.

- in the fight against osial, ningguang uses a lot of magic that does not look elemental based lol. it just looks like...pure magic. i wonder where she picked that up or if shes just naturally gifted in channeling magic like that. there were lots of symbols that did not look geo related in many of the cutscenes. but thats just my observation. 

- her ascension materials include glaze lillies which we all know zhongli will NOT shut up about. even if current glaze lillies aren’t the “real deal” as zhongli puts it, having them be her ascension materials is a big deal. im not entirely sure about the entire story revolving around them but i believe they carry a symbolic meaning of the wishes of people (i remember lumine had to sing to one to harvest it correctly or something). it seems to bear a lot of importance to zhongli and his past, and i may be remembering this incorrectly/it may be a fanmade fact but i believe rex lapis and guizhong led their people through fields of glaze lillies during the archon war. plus you can find all sorts of fanart of zhongli standing in a field of them lol.

- ningguang mentions having a dream where rex lapis came to her before she had to rally the qixing against osial in the last archon quest. idk if other archons do that or if zhongli regularly shows up in people’s dreams, but its a “hmm” moment considering zhongli did plan to leave the fight up to the adepti and the qixing. perhaps it was his way of passing on his duty to ningguang by visiting her in a dream to help her in her fight. not only that, he was close to guizhong. perhaps he is giving back what he feels was hers to begin with? part of li yue’s rule? who knows.

- a LOT of fanmade designs of guizhong mirror that of ningguang’s. this isnt like a “ahah its coming together” moment as much as the ones mentioned above but its a neat tidbit regardless

- ningguang started from nothing before becoming one of the richest if not richest person in li yue. her decision to sacrifice the jade chamber shows her selflessness and devotion to her people, qualities that guizhong most likely exhibited towards her own people before her tragic death. not only that, it fits thematically with the concept of archons, meaning that it was possible for humans themselves to ascend to celestia (though i think you have to be a vision bearer to be able to do that). assuming that all gods in ancient times started as nothing (such as venti being nothing but an elemental being) and had to earn their spot in celestia, then ningguangs path to success and rulership closely resembles it, albeit in more modern terms.

- zhongli definitely does know about ningguang and shows quite a lot of respect for her, even chiding people about not touching pieces of ningguang’s property after fragments of it fell from the sky after the fight against osial. okay, sorry, tangent time, but how does he know that stuff was part of her tea set? or is he just good at guessing everything lol? did he ever go to the jade chamber and have tea with ningguang? who knows.

and some of my personal reasons why i like the pairing:

- yes childe can be zhongli’s wallet but ningguang could be his vault 

- their color pallets match so well. its kind of like how chongyun and xingqiu’s match perfectly lol.

- they are both tall. you get a tall aunt and uncle. posh wine aunt and broke uncle vibes?

- the idea of them being intrigued by each other due to past lives and connections- im a sucker for that idea

- zhongli learning human connection while also still having a part of guizhong with him at all times?? exquisite

- its rare. im gonna be honest, some rarepairs just make me smile and i wish more people considered them. the only other one i can think of rn is scaramona (but mostly because their colors fit well together again).

wow this was long idk if anyone will read it but if you do, lmk your own thoughts on this reincarnation theory!! id love to hear them! and also please remember to be respectful! as with any fandom, i am aware that some are very steadfast in certain ships, but lets all let each other enjoy what we enjoy, thank you!

#ningguang #zhongli #genshin impact #zhongguang #zhongli x ningguang #guizhong #text #rex lapis