Parting Opus: The Conjouring of Atonomous Oeuvre

Act II: A Sign

"Big brother Albedo? What's a fanworks?"

"It's when fans of some form of media put their own spin on it. For example, drawing their favorite character purchasing Wonder bread."

"What's with people and Wonder bread?"

"The answer eludes me."

Albedo and Klee walked down the streets of Liyue Harbor, following the tear stained notations Donna put on their map.

"It should be around here... there it is." A reasonably sized kiosk with the sign "Guhua Fanworks" was situated amongst the other pre established businesses on the dock. From where they stood they could see Xingqiu and Chongyun manning the stand, and around it were quite a few people partaking in the goods this new service had to offer.

Amongst this crowd were none other than... the Liyue Qixing?

"Oh my, something even I haven't thought of." Ningguang was nose deep into some gold foiled booklet.

"Indeed. If the thing you value most is mora, and the previous second thing, the Jade Chamber, is no longer here, it only makes sense that your next most important thing would be none other than Morax himself. It all falls in place perfectly!" Zhongli was close next to the Tianquan of the Liyue Qixing.

"Kiss me, you beast!"

"But I have not a mora to my name."

"It's the canon logic that counts~ Besides, I like wearing the pants in relationships." The two shared a passionate joining of mouths as Albedo straight face-ingly covered Klee's eyes.

"Xingqiu, I'm glad you found an outlet for your frustrations, but what is this? I thought you hated fanfiction."

"Hate? Hahaha, no. By the way, have you read the sign?"

"What sign?"

"That one right there." Xingqiu pointed to a small sign on the kiosk that read "No overcooked strawberry poptarts allowed".

"I drew it!" chimed in Chongyun from behind the counter.

"I have no idea where you even got that insult from, but I'm not a poptart. If anything, I'm a piece of chalk."

"We still don't know what the lore means by that, but that's besides the point. This humble establishment is no place for someone of your pedigree."

"That funky water boy is using confusing words that Klee doesn't understand." Klee said as she began to flip through a book titled "Dandelion Hero: Forbidden Love of Knight and Night".

"And what do you mean by that?" Albedo questioned as Xingqiu smirked arrogantly.

"You know what I mean, poptart boy."

"What even is a poptart???"

"Albedo, we both know you are the biggest braniest of them all. But you fail to use that phat thinker for what's really important."

"... And that would be?"

"OVER ANALYZING FICTION OR IN OUR CASE FICTION AND REALITY!!!"

"Did you just miss all my voice lines about trying to find the truth of this world? And 'in our case'?"

"You don't need a claymore to break the fourth wall! I have created an outlet for those who use every inch of their mind to come to reasonable conclusions based on the canon! No nonsensical relationships based on eye contact. No headcanon based on people projecting their loneliness onto JPEGs and polygons. No fights over which character is superior. Only healthy, levelheaded discussions. Yes. This is utopia! This is peace! This is the future of fan culture! Natural selection will deem us superior! And while you weasels claw out each other's throats over insignificant banter, WE WILL TRANSCEND AND-... Chongyun, where did Albedo go?"

"Uh, he went off with that kid in red."

Xingqiu clenched his tiny fists at his waist, intentionally replicating the Arthur meme, but since Arthur doesn't exist in this world it is now the Xingqiu meme. Deal with it.

* * *

Klee, being very little, was able to absorb the energy of those around her, so she was filled with Guhau Fanworks' customers' vibes that came from their ideals of social justice, political correctness, and the need to be right 24/7. Klee didn't know what any of that meant, but she didn't like it.

"Why were you in such a hurry to leave, Klee?"

"Big brother, Albedo. You should make your own shop."

"...?"

"That place was no fun at all. Why do so many people go there?" Klee's voice was absolutely perplexed.

"Well," Albedo pondered Klee's idea for a moment. "It isn't right to judge people for their beliefs. Obviously they have their reasons, even if they are not known to us. I'm sure even we have things we disagree on. We simply haven't reached that stage in our relationship's development. I'm sure once you're older we can have deep discussions about every which thing. The difference is how you handle it... Yes, it is strange; Xingqiu's reaction to that fanfic was definitely on the extreme side. Though I don't like nor want to make assumptions about his upbringing to explain his feelings, I do find it weird that despite being such an outgoing boy he is dead set on making sure works of fiction make canonical sense. We have both encountered the honorary knight, no? They are a traveler of worlds which goes against nearly everything we as a society believed was possible. There are so many worlds, not just our own to discover. Who's to say that there is a "wrong way" to consume and distribute media? Who's to say there is even a right? There is no good or bad, only what your mind makes of it. I'm sure many of his devoted readers could use content found in that book to not only justify but make "logical" sense of that relationship, let alone the fic itself. There may be countless worlds where another Xingqiu wrote that same story but those two do get together. How would Xingqiu react then? If it's canon in that realm could he even object? Or would he fight his own self for the sake of upholding his ideals in this world? What if ever internal conflict is just us clashing with ourselves in a different reality? And with that thought, worlds... are they truly worlds? Dimensions? Or are they perhaps just different planets, and the twins made portals to travel through space? Or maybe they have simply traveled through time? I believe I've heard the honorary knight mention something about a "smart phone", but at the time I paid it no mind. What was its function? How has Teyvat not developed such an item with the power of manipulating elemental energy on our side? Hmmmm, what secrets are there to unearth-"

"Hey there Albedo!" Kaeya landed his donkey in front of the two blondes. "You sure can chat up a storm all by yourself.

"What do you mean? Klee is right here."

"Klee retained none of that!" she said with her smile wide and bright across her face. "But... it doesn't seem very fun. Calling big brother a pooptart isn't nice at all! You should make a place where anyone can go without getting yelled at!"

"So, chief alchemist of the Knights of Favonius, will you do it?"

Albedo pondered to himself for just a moment more before making contact with Kaeya's eye.

"Yes. I'll do it."