iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Silver Stained Leaves @24-silver.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Ignore the sketchy anatomy and look into their yearning eyes #xiaoaether #aexiao

Xiao and Aether from Genshin impact. Xiao is lying on a bed while Aether sits on top of him. Aether is caressing Xiao's face, with his thumb on Xiao's lip.
The room is lit in a warm orange light, and an additional glow comes from Aether's wrist. They are wearing minimal versions of their regular in-game outfits.

Silver Stained Leaves @24-silver.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

I decided to make an alt account for my non-genshin stuff. It won't be themed around anything in particular but if you're interested in ocs (and sonic I suppose) then check it out <3

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Silver Stained Leaves @24-silver.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

Also I've been getting back into my original stories and characters so I'm considering posting them. Ik you guys are here for xiaoaether and they still have a place in my heart but the autistic hyperfixation has moved on so my xiaoaether stuff will come out a lot slower now

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Silver Stained Leaves @24-silver.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

Hi chat I found a really cool artist I'm obsessed with like look at these colours and shapes man. Wish I could do all that (No I don't believe he does genshin but you should check it out anyway!!)

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Silver Stained Leaves @24-silver.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

#xiaoaether #aexiao because once again I forgot and also I think ao3 immediately buried it ha.. It's very QPR if that's something you're interested in!

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Silver Stained Leaves @24-silver.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

New fic!! It's fairly short at only 1.8k words but it has lots of hand holding I promise archiveofourown.org/works/78146836

Screenshot of the recent fanfiction I posted on AO3. It is rated General and has Gen and M/M relationship types tagged.
Summary reads:
[A gentle hand skirts over Xiao's elbow, warm as it slides down his arm, fingers treading over his palm and threading between his own. It leaves a cold wake of pricked skin, saps all the warmth from Xiao's spine until he shivers.
He glances down, at their now interlocked hands, where Aether thumbs gently over his knuckles.
"They've started reconstructing a bathhouse nearby," Aether says, as though he isn't currently holding Xiao's pulse hostage.]

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Silver Stained Leaves @24-silver.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

I was a bit skeptical about Aether's new fit when I first saw the promo art but it's definitely growing on me now that I have it and see how it works with his animations Also the visual motifs from the other's regular outfit makes my heart hurt. Let the twins be happy

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Reposted by Silver Stained Leaves

Genshin Impact EN @genshinimpact-en.bsky.social · 27/12/2025

As Heaven and Earth Are Made Anew #GenshinImpact This outfit was once cherished by the other of two companions who set out on a journey together, in a past now as distant as a dream, as ephemeral as flickering lights. hoyo.link/8asrBGm4i

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Silver Stained Leaves @24-silver.bsky.social · 08/11/2025

What the hell??? Laila did an amazing job, and I think the parts they all sing together sounded really good. I may have passed out. Anemo boys my beloved <3 youtu.be/eBAKf10mshY?...

youtu.be

Anemo Boy’z - Your Idol (Lyric Video) Featuring Genshin VA’s

YouTube video by Patrick Pedraza

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Silver Stained Leaves @24-silver.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

Thinking abt rewriting arcanus extravagus...

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Silver Stained Leaves @24-silver.bsky.social · 24/10/2025

Yeah!!!!!!!! I love that his constellation is Rubedo to parallel Albedo in the alchemy process <3

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Silver Stained Leaves @24-silver.bsky.social · 18/10/2025

Silly fic about klee and xiao meeting <3 archiveofourown.org/works/72677711

Screenshot of my fanfiction.
Text reads:
A cloud of smoke piles over the islet as they wade awkwardly through waist-deep water. Even in the water, the strong tremor of the earth is enough to unbalance the both of them, prompting them into a frantic swim across the remaining water. Only a small mound separates them and the Spark Knight, yet it feels all too long since that earthquake when they finally breach the top of it. Aether can hear Albedo’s panicked voice even over the sound of his own laboured breathing. It’s too quiet.

The smoke settles.

The geovishap is already dead, and beside it, Klee stands eagerly with eyes sparkling up at another figure in the smoke.

“Wow, Mr. Adeptus! You’re really strong! Can you teach Klee how to do that one day?”

Screenshot of the ao3 listing for my fanfiction, accessible through the link in the post.
Title: Klee found a really weird looking lizard (and a friend!)
Author: 24SilverStainedLeaves (myself)
Rating: General audiences
Language: English
Word count: 2,954 (completed)

Summary reads:
Albedo and Aether go to save Liyue from Klee's explosive tendencies, only to find that she has single handedly killed a geovishap. Oh, and Xiao is here, too.

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Silver Stained Leaves @24-silver.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

[Shoutout] Y'all should check out this fic it's slow to update but the pining is so awesome and it deserves way more hits+kudos!! archiveofourown.org/works/626662... I couldn't find if the author had any socials but they're Noahshark206 on AO3 <3 #xiaoaether #xiaoaetherfanfic

Screenshot from the fanction "The Moon Makes You Seem Close (Tonight)" by Noahshark206 on AO3.

Text reads:
Xiao remembered the jolt of anxiety that shot through his body like a flash of lightning when the blond had shown up at his dorm, suitcases and a notice from the Dean in tow. This boy, Aether , had sheepishly explained that there simply weren’t any more empty rooms on campus and he promised he’d try his best not to intrude.

So there they were. Aether sat at their shared desk, noise canceling headset on and a team match of whatever game his Discord friends had settled on for the night booted up. In his defense he really wasn’t that loud, especially compared to the faint screams Xiao occasionally picked up when they were loud enough to breach the headset. But that didn’t keep his mere presence from being insanely distracting.

Xiao peered over his textbook at Aether, taking in the way his hands flew over his keyboard with expert timing, the focus in his golden eyes. The way his jawline flexed and his Adam's apple bobbed when he spoke.

Yeah… distracting.

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Silver Stained Leaves @24-silver.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

What do you MEAN the only option is "I'd like to take a photo of you, Xiao" ???

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Silver Stained Leaves @24-silver.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

And after 10k words I can finally add scraps of the fluff that made me want to write this fic in the first place #xiaoaether #aexiao

Screenshot of the second chapter of In Which He's a Witch and Where He's a Wolf, that I'm in the process of writing.
Text reads:
He doesn’t— yet. A soft anxiety dries, thickens his throat, heavies his limbs and lips if he should even have the thought. No matter how much his pin feathers itch and ache for fingers that aren't his own, he can’t ask. He won’t, even in the calmest moments when Aether rests his cheek on Xiao’s shoulder, when soft hair cascades into his lap, through his fingers. The few seconds that Aether had tucked into Xiao’s neck, nose brushing against loose tendons and breath washing upon collar bones like waves to a shore; he’d opened his mouth, moved his tongue and teeth in the way that says, I’d like to be preened, too, but all he had spoken was a noise that sounded complaining, and Aether drew away too soon.
These moments of warm have worn their ways into Xiao’s routine: He meets with the werewolf once in mornings quiet, after his master has paid a visit to the library but before Childe has arisen for breakfast, there is a sliver of silence in which Xiao peers past the curtain that separates Aether’s room, beckoned in by beaming smile; When evening meals dissolve into waning cognisance, Aether will instead invite himself to sit upon Xiao’s boundary’s floor and exchange concise words together with him.

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Silver Stained Leaves @24-silver.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

10k words now! Home stretch!! (I say but the last part is probably gonna be like 4k words haha...)

Screenshot of part of the second chapter of In Which He's a Witch, and Where He's a Wolf (my fanfiction on Archive of Our Own)
Text reads as follows:
Xiao curls away his fingers carefully. “I’ve read that werewolves require affection in their daily lives,” he begins, intently watches the singular nod he receives. Even with his talons hidden, the werewolf shows little trust in the hand before him. Maybe, it’s something deeper than the wounds razors could ever leave. “Shīfu… Zhongli, has remarked that you seem downcast as of late.”
The werewolf’s mouth pinches into a thin line, turning chin away at the almost-question. His tail curls forward, into his lap, ears flicking as he fidgets with fur, listening to Xiao’s quiet clarity.
“He tasked me to provide you with my company, that you’ve avoided Zhongli’s and Childe’s attempts to do the same. I am hardly kinder than they, I…” Xiao stares at his talons, sharp. “I’m not equipped to…” stares at his body, rigid. “I don’t know how…” his mind, unwilling. Untrusting of others, of himself. His knuckles blanch, fists in his lap and the sound of insects, of traitors, fill his ears.
Demon, they say, sin incarnate. Xiao listens.

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Silver Stained Leaves @24-silver.bsky.social · 14/07/2025

I posted a second chapter for a one-shot I wrote at the start of the year if anyone is interested <3 archiveofourown.org/works/625749... (English, 6k words, completed) #xiaoaether #aexiao

Screenshot of a fanfiction post on AO3 titled "Cicadas Sing for Summer Sunsets" written by me! The fic is rated for general audiences and has no archive warnings.
The summary reads as follows:
(Xiao likes all his smiles, but these ones especially so. They’re contagious, first tainting his stomach and making his limbs weightless, until even his mouth draws upward.
Aether’s smiles feel like gravity doesn’t matter anymore.

The words leave his mouth before he can even think.

“Have you ever kissed someone?”)

Screenshot of the first and main chapter of Cicadas Sing for Summer Sunsets.
Text reads as follows:
(Aether practically crashes atop his pack, uncaring as something makes a horrid crack beneath him. The sweat that glues the sides of his hair to his face like terrible fake sideburns doesn’t seem to bother him, either, as he wipes it off casually with the back of his hand. His chest dramatically rises then falls with a heavy sigh, and his eyes flutter as though he’s warding off sleep.

Xiao admonishes him under his breath. Louder, he says, “We should get our sleeping gear set up sooner rather than later. Lest one of us gets too comfortable and ends up with a crick in his neck come morning.”

“Yeah,” Aether sighs again, “that’s a pretty good idea. Someone is already developing a crick in his neck.”

“Would that someone be you?”

“No, not at all.”

Again, a twinge of a smile haunts Xiao’s lips, and it sort of settles his stomach. Sort of makes it worse, too. Sparing a look to Aether, who’s lethargically yanking his sleeping bag out of the iron grip the pack seems to have on it, Xiao is caught off guard by the easy smile he wears.

He might be able to stomach the extra food, after all.)

Screenshot from the second chapter (bonus chapter) of Cicadas Sing for Summer Sunsets. Text reads as follows:
(“Xiao and I kissed,” Aether mumbles.

Yoimiya stares at him, mouth falling open. Aether buries his face behind his fingers.

“Wow, so like… are you two dating now?” She asks, leaning in.

“I don’t know,” Aether sighs, he wants to melt into the beanbag but he can’t bring himself to un-hunch his posture. “No, I… I already like what we have. What we are. I don’t want things to… change…”

Yoimiya hums, tilting her head. “But you like him, don’t you.” She states, more than asks, gesturing to the red blooming over Aether’s cheeks knowingly.

She’s not wrong… Aether turns his cheeks further into his hands. “I’ve always liked him, he’s… he’s Xiao. He’s important to me.”)

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Silver Stained Leaves @24-silver.bsky.social · 02/07/2025

Current progress: hitting my head on the wall so writers block will leave me alone (9k words, hopefully more than halfway now...)

Screenshot of part of the second chapter for "In Which He's a Witch, and Where He's a Wolf" on AO3, reads:
Xiao flushes under his master’s casual optimism, propping his feet now up on the bench to curl his chin into his gathered knees, kneads at the wood to smooth his claws. “I do not see what is so apparent to you, but, if you demand it of me, I will do my utmost to fulfill your wishes.”
His master sighs again, moving to sit in Xiao’s gaze, upon the same bench Xiao cradles himself to. “I will never demand this, nor anything of you, Xiao. I do hope that your help thus far has been offered willingly, not forcibly…?”
Xiao turns his head to look the other way. “I have been, and am, willing. I owe you far too much to deny your requests.”
“Xiao—”
“I’ll do it,” he interrupts. “I will provide him my company. But I cannot promise he will like me any more than he does you, or Childe.”

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Silver Stained Leaves @24-silver.bsky.social · 11/05/2025

And then I work on the chapter more and it looks like it's only 1/4 done instead, sigh Let alone any of my other 5 active fics that I'm currently not motivated to work on,,

Screenshot reads:
But it is not a simple matter of clothes old and unfit for his body or taste, the ones which ride too far up his calves or squeeze his ribs too tight. They bear the smell that reminds him of his first days under his master’s wing, of cold mornings by the hearth and warm summers watching the storm tides. They hold crooked stitches besides perfected ones when his master had taught him to patch his clothes, when he was still learning the shape he filled in the world, that he was too broad to fit through cramped branches, too short to reach the footholds his master could. And his master had told him never to fret over such things, over blundering through brambles or mishandling his own talons, that all errors could be mended, and all scar tissue tells stories, not shames.

Some are stained with jueyun sauce that dripped off rich festival food that Xiao never quite stomached, when his master took him to Yilong Wharf to send off the year with lanterns sailing into a sea of stars. Others bear singes from the handheld firecrackers as they hailed in the next, as they watched lion dances and opera singers and Xiao had been too focused on the smoke he drew across the air to realise the embers were landing on him, too.

Each garment is loved and lived in, beloved and bearers of the childhood he reclaimed when he once believed it was lost entirely. Every piece is a proof of his master’s care, of his right to call this place, “home”.

To simply… forsake the clothes, as he once was by a family of blurry faces. To estrange the belonging woven into each and every one, all for a stranger?

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Silver Stained Leaves @24-silver.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

Procrastination so tempting and motivation so fleeting.. chapter is maybe like 30% done :(( here I was thinking it would be done by this month ha..

Sample of text from an upcoming chapter to my fic "In Which He is a Witch, and Where He is a Wolf".
Text reads as such: Half hidden behind curiosity-tilted ears, the werewolf's eyes narrow to the leaking rice flour, some of it sticking to his nose as he investigates. This one, he seems to say, with expecting paw lifted to the corner of the cold box that the flour leans against like a wounded traveller might to the stone soon to mark their grave. His tail practically wags, indifferent to the dire fate of the flour, if not completely enamoured with it.
Surely, he cannot mean to eat flour on its own? Xiao stares, stunned and too quickly souring when the wolf then points nose to oil, to assorted nuts and dried fruits that his master had purchased many weeks ago now. And the wolf turns back, the equivalent of a smile in the mild way his entire form vibrates.
“You want me to… cook?”
The wolf nods, emphatically even. Xiao curls his feet tighter at the mere thought. Anything beyond mere boiling, drawing upon brewery taught by his master, was bound to end horridly, in smokey flames wilder than those atop Childe’s head. The ingredients the wolf points to seem to be for some kind of dough, something too soft for sharp talons to kneed, yet the wolf stares at Xiao like he can, like it’s not even a question of ‘if’, but ‘when’. Head tilted slightly. Endearing, and Xiao clutches at his chest, frustrated.
“I… I cannot.”

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Silver Stained Leaves @24-silver.bsky.social · 18/04/2025

Considering I never post stuff on time, here's my birthday fic from last year archiveofourown.org/works/55459168 #xiaoaether #aexiao

Screenshot of the linked Archive of Our Own post. Language is English, word count is 2,133. The summary reads as such: "Xiao never sleeps. (He needs to, but he hates to admit it.) Xiao certainly never dreams. (For he has nightmares that haunt him even when he wakes.)
For a being such as him to have a sweet dream, let alone multiple… that would be merely impossible. (And yet, he deserves it so.)"

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Silver Stained Leaves @24-silver.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

#xiaoaether because I forgot... I'm so good at the social media

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Silver Stained Leaves @24-silver.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

Well, I posted the first chapter..! "In Which He is a Witch, and Where He is a Wolf" cur. 10k words archiveofourown.org/works/641398...

Screenshot of an Archive of Our Own work, named "In Which He is a Witch, and Where He is a Wolf", by user 24SilverStainedLeaves (me!). The fanfiction is rated for general audiences, and has an archive warning for major character death.

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Silver Stained Leaves @24-silver.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

Every once in a while I'll update this silly little marriage fic of mine "We'll make memories of sepia" archiveofourown.org/works/46145179 (This is still one of my fav scenes even tho it's a bit old now) #xiaoaether #aexiao

Texts reads as such:
Still, seeing that the poor duck is struggling to escape the grasp of an equally struggling Xiao, Aether almost believes he’s still dreaming.

“Xiao…?” Aether hesitantly asks between the offended quacks. “What is this?”

Xiao gives him an affronted look, readjusting his hold on the duck to stop it from slapping his face with its wings. “It’s a duck. Surely you know this.”

With a sigh, Aether tries again. “Yes I know what a duck is… why did you bring one home?”

“…I thought you would want one.”

Aether barely stops himself from giving an offended look of his own as his gaze flicks between Xiao and the duck Xiao brought home, trying to decide what in the stars Xiao means. After a long staring contest commentated by a plethora of quacks, Aether clears his throat and looks towards the kitchen that fills the centre of the mansion. “Like… for dinner?”

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Silver Stained Leaves @24-silver.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

Ao3 curse strikes another victim, woke up at 5am to see my car flooded :(

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Silver Stained Leaves @24-silver.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

Art for a fic I'm writing. I love fluffy Aether sm, he's supposed to be a werewolf in this au but I take creative liberties #xiaoaether #aexiao

Aether and Xiao sitting together, Xiao is leaning into Aether while Aether has his arm around Xiao's shoulder. Aether has wolf ears and a tail, and they both are wearing slightly altered version of their in-game outfits

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Silver Stained Leaves @24-silver.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

Idk how this app works and I've never used Twitter so uh how do I follow a hashtag or is that not a thing

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