#which could be said for most of zyx's interactions if not for *situations*

[vermillioncrown]

How would zyx interact with vroomians Yan Ruizhi?

from what i understand about yan ruizhi as a character... the two of them wouldn’t interact if left in the same space. noble gases, inert to reactions. or more like, allergic to interactions

from the side-stories, we get insight into how yrz’s very distant and aloof in general (tho main story shows that it’s more like anxious avoidance, i think), and it takes unrelenting persistence to get close to him. zyx is not the type of person to go out their way to bother someone that doesn’t want to be bothered, especially if they don’t have something that zyx wants/needs.

and zyx is a bit socially deficient. the only person they’ve chosen to interact with outside of courtesy and obligation is jzx, and that was only because he was bullying a merchant making a mess in public. every other time, they would start conversation if it was appropriate for the current social environment and with the people of related standing, as appropriate.

i’m sure if forced to interact bc stuck in dire straits, zyx would be pragmatic about it. it’d be a workable team effort with respect coming from zyx’s end, at the very least. after that, zyx would be willing to expend one (1) effort each time they happen to encounter each other to greet yrz

as for how zyx would think of yrz - given what we know about yrz, it would likely be... - as strangers: there’s enough to notice on yrz’s mannerisms to immediately clock that something is off. - as acquaintances: aight guy. still weird, but innocuous enough. low effort, pleasant interactions aka not someone to 180* and avoid - as judging from knowing yrz’s personality more: no longer favorable. too passive for zyx’s taste, lacking chuan tong guan nian/传统观念/’traditional values & customs’ (or at least, the ability to adapt to them). willfully blind to their own detriment (which might be pot calling kettle black bahaha). too into books to the point it seems like he’s hiding behind them as a crutch. BUT... clever, well-spoken, witty, not lacking potential. which makes the rest of it more frustrating

none of this means that zyx isn’t willing to become friends w him. they’re aware that they have many faults, too--but there is enough similar and enough different that it would take extenuating circumstances to make them mesh on zyx’s side of things.

#what's the etiquette here aaa #i'm trying to answer honestly + objectively + in-character #to my defense (if needed) i've read bfiasc+ditf over 200 times and my ao3 history can prove it #so while i love reading about yrz #zyx would 80% chance have neutral-negative interactions w him #which could be said for most of zyx's interactions if not for *situations* #Anonymous #inquiry #opinionated verm #zyx au's

[vermillioncrown]

Can I infodump/brainstorm for a bit? It's over DBD. Mostly xichen because I crave his pov as much as hou-shifu.

So I don't know anything really about your personal headcanons on lxc so I'll be going off my own assumptions (aka there is no way mans isn't riddled with internal issues. no one is just perfect like that. especially with that fucked up family of his. yeah no. i call bullshit.).

The first interaction we see with lxc and zyx is the disaster gege crying fit. And then lxc keeps trying to approach while zyx bristles like a cat. I find it interesting that more than once lxc has said something towards them but then when trail off before correcting, it happens everytime he uses "I". Basically lxc keeps accidentally making things too personal and then has to rear back and figure out how casual he can be while still maintaining the polite aloofness (that was prob instilled into him since birth by the clan).

Also your lwj pov. One of the first impressions zyx gives him is that "wow someone chose me over my brother. this has never happened before. you chose me so I'll choose you." and then friend jealousy occurs (speaking of which, objectively the situation of lwj's jealousy is kinda funny. Have you ever been so jealous of your crush for making friends with your friend crush? But also kinda jealous of your friend crush for, well the same reason, but with your crush?)

Anyways (sorry this is turning into a rant), I feel like lxc is just as put off/surprised by zyx as basically all the characters they interact with are. Although he politely tries not to show it (god forbid people have emotions. Gusu Lan does not condone). So lxc heard (idk how much cuz he could have heard the whole piece but he said tail end but we don't know his pov) a part of the song zyx played for lwj. Comes up and immediately zyx starts crying and runs away.

Could lxc be jealous of lwj? He requests for zyx to play the same some they played for lwj and was denied (but hey! he got a duet out of it...which according to lwj pov he subtly showed it off "I wish you had heard it"). This has never happened before. No one's ever chosen the second jade over the first. lxc has grown up as the oldest which, regardless of the burden and responsibilities of it, means that he gets the most attention. And well oldest child syndrome is a thing right? so he's jealous of not being the first to receive attention. especially when zyx goes out of the way to avoid him, but they don't do the same to lwj.

That might explain why lxc is so adamant on being friends with zyx. lwj and zyx are basically same generation. with ancient china hierarchy, lxc has to work harder to get close with zyx (like with the honorifics). Or maybe he's tired of being put on a pedestal which is why he has that horrified expression when zyx uses ultra politeness, because this is a little kid doing the same as all those adults. although lxc is still a good big brother so he makes sure to help lwj with his friend crush (and romantic crush) situation because he wants his brother to be happy. Also I think it was refreshing to him (maybe) how zyx goes out of the way to (politely) avoid him. As the first jade of Lan, I can assume that he's usually approached by a lot of people. And he's constantly under purview of the public, clan, uncle, brother, etc. and HAS to be perfect (hello father who is in seclusion). Now there's someone who kinda just,,,doesn't care? Would rather not associate with him at all? How odd. (Kinda like wwx pov where his attention is caught by being clinically dissected and ignored). Also also, maybe he likes the bluntness of zyx? They are polite, yes, but then they also academically tore into him when given the opportunity and how many people would tell him to his face (and not in convoluted ancient china prose) where he went wrong and what he could improve on. Not many I suppose. Plus the whole teasing(?) almost kinda manipulative thing that happened at the third CR visit (and the part in an earlier chapter where he leads them to the music pavilion to segue into asking to be played that song). lxc has a dark side. i just KNOW it.

Something I don't really understand or have a hypothesis about yet though is when lxc reprimands zyx over lwj. I don't get his reaction to zyx saying they'll apologize? OKay so maybe lxc is so used to reading lwj microexpressions (which means that he can read zyx rbf pretty well too because no one is on lwj's level of stoic) that he forgets other people can't. So maybe it's surprising to realize that huh not everyone understand lwj's intentions like i do even though it seems pretty obvious? But there's something about the stuttering there that just doesn't fit that theory. At least not fully. But that's an oh well kinda thing because I'm sure we'll get more insight in an lxc pov.

i really like what you're saying. i really do. and i only wish i could have more me's to write for fun so we can get to lxc pov

most things have been nailed on the head (and i won't say which), and anything else will be in the pov bc i don't wanna spoil

but i guess if i write it decently enough, it's more about my portrayal and less of 'gotcha' surprise

#inquiry #Anonymous #on dbd #call this anon erlang shen #and make the jade emperor your uncle bc anon you Perceived #i just had to post this bc it was good and i hated sitting on it #four for anon - you go anon! #love it when readers tune into my frequency and receive my thoughts #when y'all catch me i ain't even mad #this ask needs no further commentary #but yeah we're seeing the face-off between two very different Oldest Siblings