Mmm... hmm... that's a difficult question to answer! Honestly, I have a tough time with Xiao and Aether sometimes — I've moved it around my ship permissions a lot, which has probably given people weird mixed messages, and honestly I just moved it to "maybe" again because I don't know how I feel about it all over again, lmao...
I genuinely like the characters and I like them together and I usually don't dislike writing it, but the problem is that I tend to dislike the way that it's portrayed in fandom? I think that Xiaother content, somewhat broadly, tends to cast Aether as this sunshine angel who will fix Xiao's problems, and in turn simplifies Xiao to a protective boyfriend who will ferociously protect said angel, and I'm not really into that dynamic... There are a lot of people who act like the characters are a matched set and I just don't actually believe that, but I think they could be a cute ship with the right development... I think that Aether cares about Xiao very much and is attuned to his emotional needs, but their dynamic is just a lot more complicated than fans of the ship generally portray it. I don't know, some days I'm like, "yeah, I can make Aether kiss Xiao without asking questions about it," and other days (today is other days) I'm like, "but I want the emotional complexity of Xiao knowing that he has interpersonal problems and Aether understanding how to navigate them without expectations around trying or having to 'fix him,'" blah blah blah —
Anyway, you didn't ask for all of this... I'm also not saying this to sound insane or suggest that I don't like the ship... I just have such an "it's complicated" relationship with it that asking me what I want out of these two is like stepping on a weird landmine...
I think with Xiao I actually don't want to jump into anything shippy/smutty and would rather play out something more complex, like the "All Dolled Up" or "The First Sage of Buer" ideas on my wishlist, and then see where it goes from there... but if a longer engagement, particularly on my slow timetable, doesn't appeal to you, that's totally okay! I also topleveled into some of my old favorite memes like intimate bathing,insomnia, and rain if that suits you more.
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I genuinely like the characters and I like them together and I usually don't dislike writing it, but the problem is that I tend to dislike the way that it's portrayed in fandom? I think that Xiaother content, somewhat broadly, tends to cast Aether as this sunshine angel who will fix Xiao's problems, and in turn simplifies Xiao to a protective boyfriend who will ferociously protect said angel, and I'm not really into that dynamic... There are a lot of people who act like the characters are a matched set and I just don't actually believe that, but I think they could be a cute ship with the right development... I think that Aether cares about Xiao very much and is attuned to his emotional needs, but their dynamic is just a lot more complicated than fans of the ship generally portray it. I don't know, some days I'm like, "yeah, I can make Aether kiss Xiao without asking questions about it," and other days (today is other days) I'm like, "but I want the emotional complexity of Xiao knowing that he has interpersonal problems and Aether understanding how to navigate them without expectations around trying or having to 'fix him,'" blah blah blah —
Anyway, you didn't ask for all of this... I'm also not saying this to sound insane or suggest that I don't like the ship... I just have such an "it's complicated" relationship with it that asking me what I want out of these two is like stepping on a weird landmine...
I think with Xiao I actually don't want to jump into anything shippy/smutty and would rather play out something more complex, like the "All Dolled Up" or "The First Sage of Buer" ideas on my wishlist, and then see where it goes from there... but if a longer engagement, particularly on my slow timetable, doesn't appeal to you, that's totally okay! I also topleveled into some of my old favorite memes like intimate bathing, insomnia, and rain if that suits you more.