k i'm done working on this, so posting! i've been wanting to draw Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind fanart for aggeessss, specifically featuring Nausicaa and Kushana because I love them. I grew up with the film, but last year I finally went and read the manga and was surprised and pleased just how... different, and yet the same Kushana is in the manga version. they're such good foils to one another <3
Written as a part of @thesteambird's Secret Santa 2025 Event
xiao x readerr
↳ a quiet evening and careful hands
You pretend to wash the napa cabbage, even though it’s already spotless. The real work is watching him—memorizing the quiet confidence in the way his hands move, the smooth rotation of his wrist as the knife rises and falls in a steady rhythm. His forearms flex with each precise cut, deliberate and practiced.
You know his hands were once asked to do far crueler things than this, and you know he carries that knowledge with him into every quiet night. But here, in the soft hum of the kitchen and the clean simplicity of preparation, you let yourself believe this is what they’re meant for now.
No words pass in the quiet space between the two of you—just the sound of the running faucet and the rhythmic clicks of the knife against the cutting board. He finishes his assignment, and you finish pretending to wash the cabbage.
“Can you do the apples next?” you ask sheepishly. “I always make them wonky.”
He makes a disapproving sound but circles around the counter to retrieve the apples. He indulges you far more than he should. Every time. His brows furrow in concentration as he carves ears into the rabbit-shaped apple slices you insisted on having. Slice by precise slice, they make their way onto the plate like neat little rabbit soldiers reporting for duty.
“There. Done.” He sets the knife down with a soft clink. “Humans and their time-wasting rituals.”
You love it when he grumbles. It’s sweet—almost domestic, in its own defensive way. You pick up a slice and offer it to him, nudging it toward his mouth. He blinks, feigning confusion, but leans down anyway and takes a bite. You notice the corner of his lips lift at the taste as he finishes the rest of the slice.
You decide you like him like this—soft under the kitchen lights, in the ugly sweater you picked out, sleeves pushed up, pretending not to enjoy himself. You make a mental note to order a few more sweaters from your tailor in Mond. Maybe a pink one. It would clash terribly with his hair.
He surveys the surroundings and nods in approval. All the ingredients have been washed and prepped, the dishes and utensils set out, the dining room decorated with holiday knickknacks. The two of you did a spectacular job, and all that’s left is to wait for the guests to arrive.
Seeing there’s nothing left to be done, he turns back to you. “Remember—call my name if you need me,” he reminds you, in the same tone he always uses.
“Yes, yes. Adeptus Xiao,” you echo, rolling your eyes. “Nothing’s going to go wrong, worrywart. But if I accidentally start a fire when I turn on the hotpot burner, I’ll be sure to call you so you can come put it out for us.”
The corner of his mouth twitches—barely there—but it counts. He gives you a mildly unimpressed look that you cherish anyway. And then, like he always does, he flickers out of sight.
In the empty kitchen, the appliances hum a lonely, tuneless song. You glance at the plate of rabbit apples he worked so hard on.
“Maybe next time you’ll stay for hotpot,” you murmur to the empty air.
Word count: 585
banner art: BINAENG
For @ebi-samaaa
Words: 943
Character: Zhongli
For: @painom i hope you like it (T△T)~
“Many stories and tales of Liyue are, when studied closely, stories of people visited by their deity at some point — and the citizens of Liyue are most proud indeed of that history.”
Dusk was approaching as the sun began to disappear behind Mt. Aocang and Qingyun Peak. But you had no time to spare.
You were trudging past some ruins beyond Jueyun Karst, hoping to make it to Yaodie Valley faster. But your exhaustion was catching up to you, and it was slowing you down. Travelling from Liyue Harbor to Yilong Wharf on foot was no joke. But escaping the burden of being who you were, as a bankrupt merchant’s daughter, was far more pressing. Thus, you wanted to start anew. If you ever get on that ship heading to Fontaine, you vowed to never look back.
Reaching the peak of a small hill, you watched traces of the setting sun. Every step you took was one step away from Liyue. Your home, and everything you had ever known. The very thought of leaving made your heart stir with hesitation.
A gentle breeze carrying the faint aroma of burning sandbearer and something fragrant brought you back to earth. A little farther up, you saw smoke curling into the air.
Despite your aching feet, you rushed through the stone gates, following the smoke. You felt drawn to the scent.
It smelled like home.
Little did you know you would cross paths with the Lord of Geo, disguised, who was in a predicament of his own.
A figure in commoners’ clothes was hunched over the bushes yonder. Crystalflies fluttered over a patch of shrubs underneath a tree. A pot hung from a spit, gently rattling over a crackling fire surrounded by baskets of dried herbs, flowers, and a tea set.
The entire set-up felt cozy. Before you knew it, you collapsed on your knees, out of breath. When the figure turned, you were surprised to hear a young man asking, “You seem weary. Why not rest for a moment, with a cup of tea?”
It was not long before you found yourself huddled on a rock with a teacup in hand. You watched the young man tend to the fire with a stick.
“I’m trying to get the temperature right, you see. To get the right taste.” In the firelight, his eyes glinted like polished amber. “In a few minutes, this concoction of silk tree bark, jasmine, and glaze lilies will be ready. In the meantime…”
He spoke about tea as if he knew it all like the back of his hand. While most of it actually went over your head, you listened, immersed in his passion. You somehow felt at ease in his company. When the ripples settled after he poured you a cup, the full moon reflected on the tea’s surface.
Your heart had been heavy with the weight of your decision. After days of travel, you longed to speak. You had to ask someone.
The young man felt like safe company. Perhaps…
“Do you—” You cleared your throat. “Do you think leaving and starting over is the wrong choice?”
The young man looked up from the flames.
Everything came spilling out. Saving face as their family paraded around Liyue Harbor with the arrogance of having Mora was one thing. The final straw was overhearing your father beg an older businessman to take you as his fourth wife. In a whirlwind of emotions, you set out on your own after trading some of your prized possessions. And miraculously, after traveling alone, no harm ever came your way.
Yet Rex Lapis’ protection did nothing to strengthen your resolve about leaving. If anything, it was growing weaker. The creeping homesickness and self-doubt plagued you.
“There is nothing wrong with honoring contracts with oneself, especially if it is something we deem necessary in our circumstances. As long as no others were breached.” He smiled softly. “I cannot condemn you for doing what you think is best for yourself. But if you cannot move forward, I believe taking time to reflect and weigh the consequences would ease your conflicting feelings. ” You held onto his every word, hands shaking. The moon’s reflection rippled.
“It appears that you and I are at the same crossroads. I, too, contemplate leaving something behind.”
When he turned to look at you, his amber eyes were gleaming with a light you could not discern. There was melancholy, but there was also something else, among other things. Resolve. “Over time, I have grown weary. Old friends have gone, the worst of it has passed. There is finally peace. But I am not at ease if I stay. I believe I am no longer needed.”
“No, that’s not true at all!” You realized you raised your voice at this kind stranger, but at the moment, you didn’t care. “Everyone is worthy of living!”
The young man laughed, which confused you. It irked you a little, too. “Do not fret, I am not going anywhere.” He took a sip of his tea. “Silk tree bark. To ease the burden of one’s heart. Jasmine, to calm the nerves. And glaze lilies… to honor a friend.”
“I am truly grateful for your company tonight. It was as soothing as this cup of tea.” You told him, hoping your sincerity would reach him.
The young man looked up at the sky. “I pray we find peace in our choices. May… Rex Lapis guide us.” There was something coy about his smile.
In the morning, you would wake up and only find a glaze lily and a steaming pot of tea on the spot where the young man had been.
The summer hikaru died premise is so wild, like here’s the loneliest, saddest, sweetest little emo boy and here’s the monster who’s sole purpose is to make him laugh and keep him company, also it kills people, sorry about that.
yknow AI art has ruined an entire genre of painting to me, i saw one of those smooth anime-realism pieces and immidiately thought ''ugh, AI art'' until i noticed it was posted by an established deviantart user 6 years ago. like ive never been a huge fan of that genre but it looks like a pretty difficult style to master and i feel bad for the artists who specialized in anime-realism only to have their entire market jacked by people typing keywords into midjourney.
I have something to add to this. every single time I look up reference pictures, I get shitty ai generated bullshit. I've actually reached the point where I discovered that pasting this into google gives you a solid filter for 99% of the ai art. typing in -"word" will filter out all results with that word. I might end up making another one to filter out costumes and all that shit for better historical results when looking at outfits for my characters from various time periods.
if you don't put a space before it, it won't work so keep that in mind. if there are any I might have missed that are still coming up in your results, put them in tags. and I'll add them to the original post. if you see this and you end up using it, please reblog so more people, especially artists and charecter designers, are able to find it. Google is becoming rapidly unstable due to the influx of ai art, and it makes me incredibly sad, first of all, that my work as an artist is becoming rabidly obsolete. This is not worth it. Ai art is not worth it.
Here is the anti ai filter, note that this only works for image searches and only serves as a filter for art. due to the amount of ai writing concealed in media, I have no real way to create a filter for that. I hope this helps the art homies who are sick of this shit, and the people who just want to look at human art for a change:
tangentwithtanner
areudirty
2087
