assorted xiao headcanons
(some of this is sourced from my analysis of xiaos lore, so it might not make sense ^^)
- similar to a bird, xiao “imprints” though more literally. everytime he gains a strong bond / connection to someone a strand of his hair becomes their color! and once he loses that connection, the strand fades into a gray hue that slowly turns white. he had a strand for his old master, since he technically had a strong bond, though it wasnt positive. since he brought her teachings and since she had such a strong influence over him for such a long time, it took upwards of a century for the strand to fade completely to white. the behavior was similar to how birds might imprint on humans and then be sort of shunned by their true species, and the imprinting would never truely be gone. that is why his hair will never be fully teal again after imprinting. we still see traces of his old master in him today. the old yakshas would — affectionately— tease him endlessly, asking if he liked them. in return, xiao would scramble to hide the colorful strands as he found it “embarrassing”.
- adding onto the bird motifs, he would twitter or chirp when feeling happy, similar to how a cat would purr.
- xiaos blood is a tealish color, which mutes his skin color and tints it lightly blue.
- his handwriting is kind of shabby, considering he does not often write. its kinda scratchy and often splotched with ink droplets, but it used to be very loopy and pretty. before xiaos enslavement, he wrote ballads, most of which have been forgotten. he also used to have a beautiful singing voice, but it then became raspy from disuse over the years.
- the torture inflicted by his old master changed his body, not just littering it with scars but also causing physical alterations. he grew a sort of unicorn horn on his forehead, which zhongli later replaced with the purple gemstone we see on his head. xiao also grew fangs, which has gotten many people, especially children, into thinking that he is a vampire. the fact his skin is also muted from the teal blood does not help. he has to gnaw on various items to keep his fangs from getting too sharp, as xiao accidentally bites into his lip, causing it to bleed, drawing concern from anyone around him. another product that was created from the torture was sharpening xiaos fingers into natural claws, and tinting them black. he now wears gloves in an attempt to not hurt the people around him.
- xiao loved small animals (birds, bunnies, etc.) before his old master stripped him of his innocence and gentleness. he was particularly fond of butterflies, as when he feels happy / at peace, his karma manifests into small glowy butterflies instead of the normal dark wisps of smoke (2025 birthday art).
- would prefer cats over dogs, since theyre quieter and do not need as much as dogs. he is kind of like a cat once you think of it..🦭
- used to play the flute / the harp before his enslavement
- occasionally self harms to balance out all the damage he has caused, a few of the other adepti know about this and have tried to stop him multiple times to no avail
- xiaos insides glow so whenever he breaks a bone (happens more often than youd think) so it is PAINFULLY obvious whenever he has an injury and it irritates him so much since no matter how hard he tries to hide it its still extremely obvious. the other adeptis blood also has different properties (ganyus blood is ice cold, zibais blood used to be color changing before her three deadly selves fully came together)
- his wounds also leak miasma (dark wisps of teal) and is particularly prominent when he has a severe injury. this is the same thing that manifests from his karma
- his eyes and hair also glow, similar to the archons, albeit very dim. (i headcanon this to be because of the fact that xiao is probably much older than he looks to be, since his origins are shrouded in mystery. another theory also includes that xiao has his own celestial lineage, so that feeds into it aswell.) he can control their glowing, but cannot control his insides glowing.
- tattoo also would glow, probably something to do with either zhongli or his old master giving him it and it being infused with magical / elemental energy. the owners of wangshu in have had to use him as a flashlight several times during blackouts (products of monster attacks)
- running water calms the voices in his head
- the parts of his body are pretty sensitive, so his spice tolerance is kinda low. also explains his very good vision and almost constant vigilance.
