#m1d : [chats] — everything that isn’t a formal post on my masterlist (bird xiao exceptions apply)
-> #m1d : [secrets] — stuff on the [chats] tag that is more writing and less chit chat.
#m1d : [masterlist] — mostly for my purposes, just a list of my masterlists !
#m1d : [sweethearts] — sweet anons!!!
#m1d : [welcome to hell] — a scuffed dnd-rip off based on going to hell. involved: @/creationsabyss, @/thelullabydiaries, stew, teddy, mushroom, and curse anons, and yours truly. fair warning, unfinished
#alternate!au — things relating to a mandela catalogue au of sagau. mostly drabbles
#the shining nikki saga — stuff related to shining nikki (yes i’m a GI blog no don’t ask)
-> #the dark side of dawn — stuff relating to red
-> #sailwind shadow — stuff relating to shade
#[ meteor showers ] — stuff relating to the 1k event, all of which can also be found on my masterlist
#bird!xiao shenanigans — what it says on the tin
-> #pari anon — informally holds all of the xiao stuff relating to pari!reader
all tags are tagged on this post for easy access, and if you’re on desktop type ‘/chrono’ at the end of the url on whatever tag you’re browsing to see it in the order it was posted so you don’t have to scroll.
IM JUMPING ON THIS MANDELA CATALOGE TRAIN HI TEDDY ANON HI MIDAS Ive watched a bit of the Mandela catalogue and watched some fanmade games
OKAY SO if the faith in the creator created the alternate (or the alternate just wanted to get in on all the free xp/power teyvat has) what if M.A.D and alternates spread through prayer/shrines?
LIKE IMAGINE THE CREATORS SHRINES SUDDENLY BEING TAKEN OVER MY WEIRD ENERGY AND THE POEPLE THAT VISIR THEM REGULARLY HAVE WEIRD ENCOUNTERS WITH PEOPLE THEY KNOW BUT JUST LOOK DIFFERENT.
and also like a second thing, lets say the main motive for the alternate!creator is to take down teyvat like strip it completely and maybe the best way to do that is so be a person of such high power and status literally the archons/vessels wouldn't even question you until they start feeling...weird around you. like their mind feels conflicted their body isn't listening to their commands
VENTI losses his voice after speaking with u, he starts coughing and takes break singing. ZHONGLI can't help but feel like he's eroding 10 times faster while speaking to you while kneeling to you. NAHIDA feels more encased and limited, she can't reach children's dreams as easily as she used to. and EI feels the same way she felt after her sister died, alone and angry. Because the alternate!creators presence doesn't just spread the sickness.
it's making the archons slowly lose their minds
while this is happening alternates slowly start taking over the real one, but very slowly no vision holders have been killed yet, just npcs, just Joel from dragonspine. just that child who always offers tricolor dango to Raiden. and one day jean notices that klee acting a bit weirder, she comes out of timeout strangely...quiet.
oh how I love the idea, that the children of teyvat are more vulnerable to alternates, not bc it's in the Mandela catalogue just bc I like it. bc people would be so hesitant about hurting children and alternates know this. they take advantage of it, it' crazy to see the apocalypse of a world begin through a child.
- 🍄 (this was so long lmao but I love like genshin crossovers sm, I've been thinking about the last of us x genshin and this just gives me sm serotonin) (I hope my ideas are bring something interesting to this conversation)
HI WELCOME
talk below :)
VERY interesting take. imma be straight up i can’t understand most of what you’re implying behind this but it FEELS big, it FEELS slow and insidious and like the archons are pawns who can’t recognize the board beneath them, feels like a slow rot from the inside out where the hosts aren’t even aware they’re ill.
i’m always partial to the “archons know something is Off about the creator but assume it’s nothing/their own sin/a trial of faith” but THIS?
archons who lose their character, things they held dear falling to dust, their minds swallowed by the alternate and their separate realm of existence- OH WHAT IF;
WHAT IF: archons who’s subconscious knows that the ‘creator’ is wrong, who’s soul yearns for the true god, archons with a mind that begs them to find their god and pray to be delivered from this evil BUT they go to the alternate!creator(‘s shrine) INSTEAD
and the thing of spreading via shrines?? YOU GET IT.
like- from what i understand abt the mandela catalogue it’s an alternate version of a religion dominated by a fraud instead of the true god behind it, which maps DIREVTL to sagau. the shrines, prayers with the imposter in mind, it all feeds into the false god- only those with a more abstract sense of faith, maybe those that pray to “the one true god of gods,” or “may my actions extend the reign of the king of kings” truly delay the spread of the alternates, or are safer from them. any shrine carved with the alternate in mind is tainted, any prayers done in their name is tainted, it’s only those that pray for good harvest and clear skies that are safe from the sickness that has permeated every faith.
OR ppl like rosaria and keqing who have little respect for the gods (i think? idk i don’t know them that well-) and only say thanks for the effects of the creator, not their actions. people who don’t pray for their blessing, but for the knowledge to combat the disease spreading across the earth.
idk if this makes sense but i REALLY like the idea of like two opposing factions of religion, spearheaded by a difference in fundamentals. those who worship the archon’s themselves(i. e. the alternates /those they e influenced) or those who worship their blessings (i. e. things the true creator has allowed or promoted). people like jean having to learn to switch her prayers to strategic wisdom instead of divine guidance, kujou sara praying for safety and healing instead of asking her god to remove whatever ails the shogun.
finally, the part about children being more susceptible is so true and holds so much potential. albedo who asks the creator to save klee from whatever has taken grip of her soul, unwittingly handing her over to the alternates by giving them ‘permission’ to do so. draff, praying for dionas health, but addressing it to the false creator. even just younger people, people who don’t know better- people like bennett, who 100% prays for protection, accidentally walking right into the thing he’s afraid of.
i know that derailed from whatever point you made but like- i really like this concept. people who put their full faith into a god, children taught to always trust their creator over all others, people who don’t know what to do or what they want or need, people lost and asking for a compass, only to be led south. like it’s….. man.
I was watching wendigoons video on the Mandela catalogue and he recounts that in the 3rd or 1st episode you have a guy that has an encounter and his alternate in his house, the guy locks himself in his room and calls for help.
at first he calls the police and belives them when they tell him that help is on the way and that everything will be okay (no it won't)
when he realizes that they're not coming, what does he turn to? prayer
he begins to pray and repeat his prayers to god. we see in his note book that he turned completely to religion to save him.
for his god to save him.
but nobody came.
it is only then that he shoots himself and his alternate flashes into frame only then to show us his censored body.
something that we haven't discovered was the possibility of this disease to...take people away from their god. their one true source.
now all you gotta do is plug in one of your most devoted acolytes and watch them suffer.l, slowly losing their faith along with their mind.
I, myself am partial to zhongli
-🍄 (how's ur day going? I hope you got enough sleep <3 what if I make a home cooked meal for the dinner/p)
OK HI i’m gonna merge this ask and your other one into one post bc i don’t wanna flood dashes again
ok right off the bat i too am partial to zhongli so he’s my example!! ft. alternate! xiao and your other prompt
he’s holed up in his ‘hoard’ room, a rosary clutched to his chest as he kneels before his personal altar. he traces his claws around the beads in his hand, reciting prayers and trying to find comfort in the geo resonating in the room. jewels and precious stones, antiques hes collected over the years, everything he used to find comfort and solace in now buzzing uncomfortably beneath his skin.
the demon at his door beats, the frame rattling, carved wood- he’d polished it himself, he remembered wiping down the subtle gold inlays, the little notes of his element that were invisible to some but a beautiful reminder to him, now dented and scratched and ruined by the thing inside his home.
his heart picked up, in anger or fear he didn’t know.
“mooraax…” the thing drawled, a claw dragging over his hard work. everything he’d worked for, all of time he’d spent to perfect his collection, now turned to dust-
“morax?”
his breath hitched at the sound of xiao’s voice beyond the door.
it wasn’t him.
he’d watched him get taken, watched the dark, too-long fingers wrap around the last yaksha as he cried.
it wasn’t him.
the geo around the room seemed to taunt him, the resonance reminding him that even as a god, he couldn’t protect the one he’d come to see as family.
“why did you let me die?” ‘xiao’ asked, and zhongli squeezed his eyes shut.
it wasn’t real.
it wasn’t real.
the ancient jade dagger on the shelf to his right buzzed within his soul.
“why didn’t you save me?”
it wasn’t real.
his claws slipped and he smelled copper, the blood of a god spilling. he blinked, trying to wipe it off his rosary, only to lock on the beads.
his god… the creator…
would they create such demons?
“what did i do wrong, rex lapis?”
would his god allow such monstrosities?
“haven’t i followed you diligently?”
…was there a ever even a god to begin with?
the jade blade was lifted from the shelf.
‘xiao’ smiled, moving his hand to the doorknob, the smell of iron thick in the air.
so. it’s very funny because last night i kept on being late and not seeing new asks until AFTER i sent in more shit so i didn’t see the good nights until after going a little ham so i would like to apologize for that my bad
again i am here. being so so normal. did i write this instead of sleeping? maybe! brain demanded and kept feeding me lines so here we go. i am unsure of how to feel about my writing so um! quality may be a little. idk!!
It takes a while to limp your way into the throne room, your hands and shirt stained with blood from when a polearm caught your side - but the pain and exhaustion you feel is nothing compared to the white-hot terror thrumming just beneath your skin. You didn’t want it to be true, you tried so, so hard to ignore the obvious signs from when you heard of another wearing your face, but denial will get you nowhere. Not when you’ve seen your own face distort beyond what is physically possible, heard your own voice saying such horrible things to you that you almost wanted to die, just to make it stop.
The only thing moving you forward right now is… well, it’s not courage, that’s for sure. You’ve been chased across seven nations, characters you’d loved turning on you with a lust for blood, and yet the way your stomach drops with each step you take now feels more overpowering than any fear you might have felt before. You keep going. This world, these people are worth the risk.
Blood drips behind you as you practically drag yourself through the entrance of the throne room, leaving a blue and starry trail behind you. It’s not triumphant, it’s not grand - how can it be when you’re tired and scared and in pain? - but it’s the best you can do.
“Oh, you’re still here,” the imposter says, sounding sickeningly human compared to the way its voice crackled and distorted the last time you two spoke. It raises a hand in response to the acolytes drawing their weapons, prompting them to halt. “Shame. I really hoped I wouldn’t have to deal with you anymore.”
You would love to respond with something cool, something that would shock the disgust right out of everyone’s eyes, but the best you can manage is a weak:
“I know what you are.”
It’s not quite courage that drives you forward, but this mix of fear - pain - hatred is enough to force the next words out of your throat.
“You fucking alternate.”
AND THEN I WANTED TO DO MORE BUT I GOT SLEEPY. so there you go. sorry for flooding your inbox with my brainrot, sorry for everyone who has no idea what is going on. in my defense. um. i have no defense - teddy anon
teddy don’t you DARE say sorry for dropping into my inbox
also you are incredible at writing, that was beautiful. i love the idea of reader going to teyvat to escape the alternates but NOPE they followed and now it’s a weird mix of denial and hate and fear- and maybe alternate!creator stops, mask faltering for a moment as they wonder if the jig is up- but no, their loyal acolytes simply grip their weapons tighter, the room crackling with elemental energy, and they smile as they recognize who’s won.
“does it matter, if i’m the one who’s led them to victory?”
and it’s ok. i should be the one saying sorry to those who followed me for sagau and got like. doom protagonist reader vs mandela catalogue. in terms of defense i have no defense.
ALL OF UR "DERAILS" ARE COMPLETE GOLD IN MY EYES, I LOVE UR THOUGHTS AN IDEAS ABOUT THIS AU DONT EVER APOLOGIZE KING
and omg what u wrote about the corrupted!archons with their limited control and how they hold themself back how their mind and body are disconnected and how they want more of your light but the opacity is down and it feels like their wandering complete darkness with only alternate!creator
I also read this as the alternate creater is reader alternative btw
who do u think in this scenario would help the reader out, if where imagining this as an imposter reader scenario. I like to think that the wanderer or tighnari or maybe Lisa bc id feel like she'd read her books to figure out what's wrong with alternate!creator or why she feels like somethings off (thinking about that maybe alhaitham & cyno too)
speaking about this au, WHAT ABOUT THE TRAVELER AND PAIMON? I mean their the prime vessel so would they be fooled too? or would they help us? is this like a completely worse case scenario with no way out or is their any hope of saving teyvat and it's people?
- 🍄 (I'm sorry if I'm sending too much asks btw, also @ teddy anon sorry for taking ur prompt and running with it, I hope u get back here and talk more with us. also midas your ideas/writings are literally liquid gold their so good pls don't ever apologize for taking inspiration and thinking, I love everything you have brought into this conversation)
1) never apologize for sending asks this is the most fun i’ve had all week 2) rip teddy anon hope you enjoy how we’ve taken it 3) i will always apologize for thinking, it’s kinda my brand /hj
anyway:
i think that, as i said at… some point- that it depends on the fundamentals of the persons faith, at least in this au.
people like cyno, alhaitham, rosaria, candace….. maybe collei but definitely tighnari (don’t ask why there’s so many sumeru characters) are all people i can see praising and praying for the actions of their god. people who pray for the results and not the process, and people i think would be freest of the corruption and most likely to help the reader.
on the flip side, barbara, jean, nahida, and notably keqing would be lore susceptible. they pray for more direct things? almost? idk how to describe it but like- they’re more “please grant us wisdom” or “allow us the strength” or anything that directly relies on the alternate!god, and hence opening their heart to the alternates.
like i… i can’t put it into words quite well, but like- ningguang is one who prays for profits, ganyu is the one who prays for divine guidance, you know? and hence ganyu would fall quicker.
it’s obviously a spectrum, but those closer to the first groups side are more likely to break through and help the reader.
i think…. not solely for plot reasons, but definitely influenced enough by them that i’m mentioning it… kaeya falls solidly in the second group, whilst diluc is firmly in the first.
diluc is the one that prays for a good harvest, for high sales, for the patience to deal with the damned hard in his tavern. kaeya prays for strategic wisdom, for their guidance, for answers when he’s lost and confused and the acting grand master isn’t behaving like she should.
..hopefully that made at least some sense. i’m kinda just wingin it here.
re: the traveller…. i honestly think they’d be treated the same as the archons. if the archons are corrupted, they will be too if the archons are replaced, they will be too. due to the traveller’s relationship with both the archons and the creator, i think the alternate!creator’s hand is a bit forced there. same can be extended to paimon BUT you could have paimon escape since she can pop into a different dimension. and/or they can both live in the teapot as like. vigilantes. idk.
i think that if this were to be written (100% by somebody more knowledgeable about the catalogue than i am) then a pov from one of the archons would be incredibly necessary. either to showcase the sheer power the alternates hold, that they have replaced literal gods, or to shed light on why the archons act as they do, and maybe influence the reader(meta reader, not character reader) and their opinion on them. seeing a blank slate suddenly become full of life at the sight of their savior…. or the archons trapped in some cell, chained down and miserable, lamenting over their mistakes. how foolish they were to trust the one with eyes colder than iron and a grip nearly as strong. how foolish to pray when their soul cried to stop. how foolish, how foolish, how foolish.
and as they sit, maybe one of them begins to pray, unwillingly feeding into the beast that trapped them there.
“o holy creator, maker of light and extinguisher of darkness, the foundation of the earth… please, deliver us from this evil.”
" archons who lose their character, things they held dear falling to dust, their minds swallowed by the alternate and their separate realm of existence- OH WHAT If"
YOU SO REAL FOR THIS
you got pretty much exactly what I was trying to convey, I wanted the archons to lose their minds by praying/being near alternate creator and the children to be more susceptible/the first to fall in this apocalypse scenario
BUT ALSO THE SHIT U MENTIONED AT THE END, it's so good angst and sadness that I love. having people put there complete and utter trust in a lie and be corrupted by this incredibly horrific disgusting thing. that just keeps sucking away at them
but just how I love angst I love happy endings. so what about the reader descending down to teyvat? how would their presence respond to the cold darker place teyvat has turned into
but also if the reader couldn't escape their alternate in their reality, how would they go about surviving in teyvat? what would the alternate!archons do? what if the reader healed the broken spirits of the people? what if reader meets one of the archons and they just know, they know they've been played but that it's you who is their god
ooo just thoughts, let's just say I love this au, it has potential.
-🍄 (most of what I've been writing about isn't really in the Mandela catalogue I think, I'm mostly using it as a basis of my thought process so don't feel bad that you haven't seen it. I think where both pretty even on our understanding of the canonical Mandela catalogue, anyways ily take care)
mushroom welcome back my dear
as always, below the readmore :)
i’m reading this with the alternate!creator being readers alternate bc they’re the creator btw, so i imagine they’ve at least encountered one, even if they don’t remember it.
but alternate!archons meeting reader…
if we take that to mean the alternates of the archons, they both recognize you on sight and are either deathly afraid or insanely angry. you’re the one thing that can topple their empire, so they’re either afraid of you for it or pissed off at you. why would you ruin what they’ve built? can’t you see it’s perfect enough?
if we take that to mean corrupted archons being driven to the alternate!creator by their own twisted faith, then….. ough…
corrupted archons who don’t know why they feel so strongly for you, emotions they forgot they had resurfacing with a vengeance. they’re husks, empty shells of gods, puppets who don’t know anything but their ‘god’. their friends have left them and they don’t do anything without a given order, sitting in mental stasis until they’re called upon.
so you?
when you come in, and they feel, and they need, and they have urges and temptations and suddenly it’s as if they’re seeing color for the first time, the beautiful shade of your eyes drawing them back to a world they barely remember.
i can see it going two ways.
either the alternate’s hold on them forces their hand without their meaning to, and they have to watch as they destroy the one light in their life of shadow. their body is hateful when their mind is not, and they have to watch, stuck, as you run in fear, betrayal in your eyes.
or, they still have a semblance of control. they can hiss in a breath, reaching a hand for you, slowly and shaking as they reach, hand outstretched. the corruption within them hisses and seethes, yanking them back from the light, and the best they can do is repress the pull until you’re far enough away that they can scream.
they’re caught in a web they can’t control, strings pulling at their body and telling them to kill, to remove the brightness, and they don’t know whether to follow. they like you, they like the light you bring and how it feels as if everything will be okay, that they don’t have to worry, that they can close their eyes and rest.
the darkness says that your light is evil, that youre made of poison and full of knives. and it’s the only thing they know, so they listen.
I HAVE A WHOLE THING TYPED UP ABOUT MANDELA CATALOGUE AND I AM SO DELIGHTED THAT WE HAD THE SAME TRAIN OF THOUGHT ABT THE FAKE CREATOR BEING AN ALTERNATE. like first of all that is a goddamn jackpot of a situation for an alternate - a world of people who would do anything for their beloved creator, who would be so devastated if said creator were to be led to slaughter, especially by their own actions… and we know how good alternates are at imitating the divine. it’s almost unfair, how easy it is to convince everybody that you - unremarkable, perfectly human you - are the true imposter.
now there are tons of ways reader could die - maybe the false creator kills them personally, maybe it’s one of your acolytes, maybe… well, if you know the mandela catalogue, you know how it goes with alternates. there’s not enough room for the both of you.
(sorry midas you have let a monster into your home i am physically incapable of being normal abt online horror) - teddy anon
alternate!imposter is SUCH a thrilling idea i’m SO happy you brought this to my attention
talking beneath the readmore <3
ok quick disclaimer i’ve never directly watched the mandala catalogue directly for a variety of reasons, but i HAVE watched wendigoons trilogy about it, so.. idk keep that in mind
anyway. alternates.
they manifested through your device—whether you want reader to live within the mandela universe is honestly up to you, i could see the alternate manifesting as like a response to the unanswered prayers- OH or bc everybody keeps worshipping essentially an empty throne, and their faith makes them a new god? wait wait- ok so in mondstat’s archon quest venti essentially says that faith gives archons their power, so by having all that faith and nowhere to put it, it could manifest an alternate. or celestia does shit idk it’s up to you.
leading off that: alternate! imposter who physically cannot exist outside of the throne. they exist solely as a placeholder for faith, so- oh my god there’s NO ROOM FOR THE BOTH OF YOU I-
sorry. i am normal. i am 100% normal abt the mandela catalogue and the lore of genshin impact (2020). i am calm. i am normal.
im- maybe if the reader lives in the mandela universe their alternate realizes the absolute goldmine that is genshin, and goes there to spread the alternate disease or something. reader thinks they’re safe from the alternates but NO it’s in THEIR PHONE-
WHT IF READER GETS NOTIFICATIONS (prayers) ABOUT THE ALTERNATE SITUATION?
people in genshin start suffering from alternate encounters, M.A.D. is running rampant, vision holders are strong but the alternates are stronger- maybe the alternate allies with the abyss, two beings of separate planes coming together to take over teyvat, the traveller now fighting a copy of themself that taunts him about how it gets to be with their sibling, it is the better twin for never leaving their side, it is the one that deserves to survive.
“and we know how good alternates are at imitating the divine” TEDDY YOURE KILLING ME /ops
OR OR OR OR OR OR- the original alternate took over christianity right? (running off wendigoons analysis i might be wrong BUT) what if they took over the creators religion in the same way? the true creator was cast out, sent to earth, as the alternates took over teyvat from the VERY START?
ok so crackpot theory time: smthn smthn the mandela catalogue here on earth is like… teyvat/celestia/something trying to give us information about the situation on teyvat? like it’s here because we need to know about it if- when we descend to teyvat once more. the original alternate damaged us and hurt our ‘soul’ or whatever so we’ve been living out human lives for ever and ever, slowly healing by the ‘faith’ from out human connections. it isn’t as strong and would take literal billions of years, but what if the people in teyvat don’t worship the alternate!creator themself, but rather worship the title of the creator, i. e. the true creator, or you. this allows you to descend to teyvat at all without it being entirely ruined by the alternates.
^ don’t have much sense around that but i REALLY like it.
OH WHAT IF THE ALTERNATE!CREATOR HAD ALTERNATES OF THE ARCHONS ON THE THRONES???
obviously archons would see RIGHT through alternates- or at least have an inkling, or maybe they just have differing worldviews and the alternate!creator wants EVERYTHING in their grasp. and the extra faith in the archons, now the alternate!archons, will only strengthen them and their forces?
idk how the alternates would work exactly since they operate via technology in the og series, but maybe it’s via elemental power- oh or the gnoses??
like like visions— visions are “external foci” (says venti in the mondstat archon quest) so if you squint real hard and pray to the alternate!creator then maybe that can count? bc elemental sight is technically another version of the world colored only by elements so- oh and the leylines, or maybe even irmunsul? THE WITHERING? ELEAZAR?
guess who’s 100% Normal about this!! me!!!
i may have let a monster into my home, but what is one demon to another?
thank you. please return. i love you /p. hope that made at least a little bit of sense.
