Which Platforms Host The Best Zhongli X Diluc Fanfiction Stories?

Definitely need to mention Archive of Our Own for this ship. The tagging system means you can get super specific – if you want just the angst, just the hurt/comfort, just the accidental marriage trope some writer dreamed up, it's all there. The quality varies wildly, of course, you'll sift through a lot of 'and then they kissed' fics, but when you find authors who really dig into their complicated history from the 'Genshin Impact' lore, the payoff is huge. Some treat Kaeya's loyalty crisis and Diluc's grief with this devastating weight that the game only hints at. Honestly, the best deep cuts I've found aren't even on the big archives sometimes. Tumblr blogs that have been running for years, where someone will write a 5k thread about them sharing a drink after a long mission, or a Twitter thread that's just headcanons about Diluc secretly keeping Kaeya's old cavalry captain insignia. It's fragmented, but the raw emotion in those little snippets often hits harder than a perfectly plotted 20-chapter epic. Wattpad has a younger vibe overall, but I've stumbled upon a few gems there that played with modern AUs in really fun ways, like making them rival bartenders. My bookmark folder is a mess of links from all over. It's less about one platform being 'the best' and more about following the writers you like as they migrate or cross-post.

Honestly, I've found that the 'best' collection really depends on what you're looking for, and I'm not even sure a single platform nails it. For sheer volume and variety, you can't beat Archive of Our Own. That tagging system is a godsend when you're trying to filter for specific dynamics—whether you want something canon-compliant or a wildly divergent AU. I've spent way too many nights scrolling there. But here's my contrarian take: I think some of the most memorable Zhongli/Aether fics I've read actually came from smaller, fandom-specific Tumblr blogs or even Twitter threads before they got compiled elsewhere. There's a rawness and immediacy to those that sometimes gets polished out when they're moved to bigger archives. The downside is obviously discovery; it's a total pain to hunt them down again after the fact. My bookmark folder is a chaotic mess of dead links because of that. If you're after a more curated experience, some Discord servers for Genshin shipping are fantastic. The moderation tends to be tighter, and you get more community interaction—authors will drop snippets or take prompts. It feels less like shouting into the void. Wattpad's algorithm surfaces some surprisingly decent stuff for this ship too, though you have to wade through a lot of... let's call it enthusiastic first drafts. I tend to bounce between AO3 for completed longfics and Discord for the in-progress, chatty stuff.

I stumbled onto most of my favorite Zhongli/Diluc slow-burns through a specific tag combination on AO3. Try searching 'Zhongli/Diluc' or 'Morax/Diluc' paired with 'Slow Burn' as an additional tag. Filtering by kudos or bookmarks usually surfaces the classics. There's this one called 'Of Contracts and Coalescence' that absolutely ruined me for a week—the author spends like 20 chapters just on them navigating post-Liyue business negotiations and shared trauma before a single thought about romance even flickers. Don't sleep on the 'Modern AU' tag either. Some writers transplant them into corporate or academic rival settings where the animosity-to-reluctant-partners arc feels incredibly organic. The 'Archon of Nothing' series does a post-canon thing where Diluc travels to Liyue that's just... chef's kiss. Patience is key with this ship; the good stuff tends to be novel-length.

First place I'd check is Archive of Our Own, without a doubt. The tagging system over there is just unbeatable for finding exactly what you want, especially for niche dynamics within a pairing. You can sort by kudos or comments to find the real standout stories. I've found some amazing slow-burn character studies there that really get into the aftermath of the Archon War and their shared history. A lot of people sleep on Twitter threads and commissioned fics, though. Some of the most inventive, out-of-character takes I've read on their relationship came from an artist's thread that evolved into a full narrative. It's more ephemeral and harder to search, but the creativity can be wild. I'd also lurk on specific Genshin Discord servers. They often have dedicated fanfiction channels where writers post WIPs or snippets you won't find anywhere else. The feedback is immediate, which shapes the stories in a really interesting way.