Thread by @vinaegir

#Zhongchi modern au where Zhongli occasionally watches his dear friends' children whenever they were busy or simply wanted a date night.

It was one such day when Yaoyao requested for Zhongli to put on a certain show that her mothers had shown her recently, one that apparently

Both her and Qiqi love.

Through a quick search and a push of the play button, Zhongli was introduced to the world of one "Captain Childe" and the angel- the young man who played him.

A snezhnayan show, "The Adventures of Captain Childe" followed the titular character

As he embarked every episode from his ship, the Celestial Navigator, to help with whatever dangers or troubles a small town named Snowvale always seem to attract.

("Does he always use a cannon to leave the ship?"
"Only if Childe needs to get to somewhere fast!"

"So...almost.. always")

The cast of the show seemed to mainly be comprised of human puppets, notable smaller in comparison to the two actual human characters, Childe, and the main villain of the Foul Legacy.

("Foul Legacy?"
"Yes! He's the ruler of the nearby forest,

The Abyssal Woods!"
"He's....cold and... darkness.."
"Yea, Qiqi! He's always trying to get the townspeople to do bad things!")

Zhongli had to admit, for a show directed at children, watching a man (a man with fluffy hair the color of a sunset in Liyue, eyes clear and deep

as the ocean his character has said to explored countless times, and a bright smile that seemed genuine even when directed at the felt faces of puppets-) preform feats of athleticism by running, jumping, flipping all around the sets to defeat the newest scheme of the villain was

rather impressive.

Even episodes that were rather about the importance of doing chores or keeping a promise, Zhongli could admit he enjoys, since Childe is always a delight to watch, energetic and kind, with just this side of mischief.

(And if he was thrilled to first

hear Childe join some ensemble of character in some different song that most episodes performed, if he later downloaded the ones where the man was the most prominent voice to listen to, that was for him to know and his dear friends to eventually also know and tease him about.)

Simply it was a decent show for children, perfectly suitable for Qiqi and Yaoyao that Zhongli could also appreciate, it never talked down to the audience, it was rather thrilling at times, such as when Foul Legacy had poisoned Snowvale's water supply and Childe had

To run and flip his way back to his ship in order to bring back a special artifact he found on one of his off screen journeys to purify the waters.

Zhongli could simply enjoy decent entertainment, no matter the genre, that's all.

Later Zhongli would deep research the actor behind "Captain Childe" and found that the man mostly went by his stage names, yes stage names plural.

Apparently not only was the man Childe but also had a separate and even more popular career as music sensation Tartaglia, mostly

Known for heavy snyths, fast beats and an aggressive tone but also dips into any kind of genre for musical inspiration.

The man had stated in various interviews that he likes to keep his two personas separate, to keep defending the dreams of the children that watches his show

and to allow his freedom to explore his musical career outside of a child friendly genre.

That didn't stop Zhongli from eagerly consuming the content from both alter egos, no he swallowed up all he could find from all sides of Childe's career... just as an appreciation of art.

Just out of an interest in a deeply talented and fascinating man that cracked something within Zhongli's usually steady chest, heart filled something soft and fluttering.

Zhongli just appreciates the skill of a multi-faceted man. Just that.

(Much later, when Guizhong mentions that her wife will be doing a collaboration as Streetward Rambler with Tartaglia, Zhongli would deny that he jumped at the chance to finally meet and even talk with the man Zhongli has been fixated on for the last few weeks.

But he definitely made sure to join Guizhong and Ping as they met Tartaglia for the project, Zhongli had to make sure to offer his support after all.

Even if his support turned out to be Zhongli offering to show Childe around Liyue as the man stayed to work on both

The collaboration and promote his show to a Liyuen audience.

Just something kind, like what Captain Childe would do.)

🐉end🦊

Just some notes about the show since I spent so long just thinking about it

-Heavily inspired by Lazytown, the water supply poisoning is from the original Lazytown stage play that was made before the actual show
-Childe also plays Foul Legacy, just with a mask and dramatic cape

-I replaced Sportacus futuristic blimp with a magic sea ship cause I think that fits Childe better
-Childe used to be an athlete that, for some reason, had to quit his career too soon and got caught in the music buisness basically by accident but made it big

-Mostly created the show for his little siblings but loves that other children also enjoy his character and look up to him

-Definitely has had a crossover special with another Children show host, Yoimiya

-Also yes! Guiping is yaoyaos parents

They introduced the show to her since Ping was going to be collaborating with Childe soon and thought her daughter would like it. They didn't expect Zhongli would also get wrapped up in it but supports him even if they laugh about it

End of notes basically 😮‍💨

Yes I created an entire lazytown actor au for one purpose... I simply think Childe as a children's performer would be so so cute, he'd be so good at it and Zhongli getting a crush on the snezhnayan version of Sportacus is fun to me

Self-indulgence😎