For @zhongliologist! This ended up being a psuedo-fic, inspired by the Met in NYC and my very rusty art history knowledge! Longer than intended, everything is under the cut.
- While the date location might seem a little boring at first compared to the adventures the two of you have been having, you know you’re in for a treat.
- After all, Zhongli has been around for millennia and he knows his stuff; a museum would be right up his alley.
- The place is huge. Columns rising from floor to ceiling, a second story balcony overlooking the foyer. And the staircase, grand and imposing, above which you could just see the top of a painting that made the paintings at Dawn Winery look miniscule.
- Here, the admission price is suggested but can pay what you want to. Before either of you can determine that, you’re waved inside with just a second glance at the tall man.
- Such a moment is quickly explained that he’s simply well-connected for his historical consulting and contributions. But that doesn’t explain the awe that crosses some faces.
- Once inside the exhibitions, Zhongli has a predetermined path; while he might be open to wandering, there’s a reason for his order, you quickly realize.
- He takes you through the early history of Teyvat, of a time that even he has a hard time recalling. Primitive Visions, dormant and sealed in special cases, sat alongside pottery, textiles, writing, and jewelry. In some cases, there were even figures, wrapped tight in linen and preserved for eternity. Zhongli explains this wasn’t the tradition in every culture; given that Visions could never be destroyed, many thought the same of mortals, that would return one day to walk with their loved ones.
- Sculptures began to change the further on you went, crudely carved giving way to highly stylized creations, interpretations of human and Adepti forms. Symbols changed, and along with them, the word meanings.
- All the while, Zhongli regales you with context and stories, making a note of occasional mistakes or misinterpretations. Some names were familiar along the way; Vannessa, Decarabian, Dvalin, Durin, and others.
- It is not until you reach the final room on the first floor that his voice loses a bit of the usual cadence and it takes a moment for you to realize why.
- This space is dedicated to the Archon War; the pivotal change in Teyvat’s culture and history. Octagonal in shape, with a second floor below, you can’t help but wonder if the Spiral Abyss was any kind of inspiration for the layout and narrative being portrayed.
- Zhongli’s face gives away nothing, stoic and impartial as always, but you squeeze his hand when he reaches for you. Instead of informing you on the nuances of each piece, he murmurs one or two things he remembers. A helmet belonging to a commander who served to protect Liyue. The remnants of a building he used to visit with Barbados. A ring that once belonged to an Archon who passed fighting for their people. A cage of stone that he used to capture cold and clammy parasites that plagued his people.
- “Entire individuals summed up into single remnants. So many see the relic but I remember the hand that held it.”
- This moment passes when he smiles and asks about breaking for an early lunch. There’s still so much to see and you’ll need the energy.
- Once you begin the trek up the grand staircase, Zhongli’s excitement returns threefold and he has yet to truly release your hand. On this floor is everything from after the Archon War, broken into time period and region; he points to paintings and sculptures, compares the differences in hands and folds of fabric. Occasionally, he’ll remark that while it’s close, the painting was likely finished by an apprentice, not the artist himself.
- “Rex Lapis was present in many different ways,” he explains, pointing to a pair of portraits, eerily similar.
- A nobleman and a woman, both with long dark hair with golden ends, and striking amber eyes…
- Zhongli does not elaborate further.
- There are discussions on pigment composition, painting techniques, sculpture material, acquisitions, and more. In some instances, the differences between regional styles are obvious, even if the content is almost the same. Archons depicted in varying colors and hues or poses, paler skin and harsh landscapes in the Sneznhayan works; warmer tones and brighter colors in pieces from Sumeru and Natlan; bright cheeks and outrageous costumes for those from Fontaine.
- More than once, he stops altogether to observe a work, murmuring that it’s not quite as he recalled it, that the didactic text next to it isn’t quite right despite his very hand on authenticating it. It frustrates him, only noticeable in a twitch of his eyebrow or the long stare he takes before walking away.
- Those moments pass quickly and by the time you reach the modern era, the divide is now far more obvious. Liyue is depicted as prosperous; Fontaine’s imagery full of fleeting moments in life; Sneznhaya never leaving behind the golden backgrounds and idolatry.
- The date ends with finding your favorite pieces and telling the other what drew you to it.
- Zhongli’s choice is something that, at first glance, is just a sculpture or painting of someone doing a mundane task. Doing their hair, a mirror balancing on their knee; the carving of a dragon for a masthead; a fleeting scene of a market, Visions dotted throughout.
- “Someone thought it important to capture their passion this way. It was important to them that they did so and did so without the thought of legacy, of wondering what future generations would think. There is no ego, but rather the love for the subject and what it represented to them…”
- Zhongli is both impressed and delighted with your choice; it gives him a peek into your mind and the kind of things you enjoy, what you value.
- With a gentle smile and a kiss to the forehead, he thanks you for coming with him. It meant a lot to not only relive certain memories but to experience them with you by his side.