Which 'ZhongChi' Fanfics Use Tv Tropes Tropes To Transform Canon Antagonism Into Devotion?

Finding something fresh in the 'Mo Dao Zu Shi' tag can be tough lately, it’s so flooded with similar stories. The tropes dominating right now seem to fall into a few camps. The post-canon, slice-of-life fluff is massive—think Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji navigating domestic life in the Cloud Recesses, maybe with a side of adopted A-Yuan shenanigans. It’s comfort food, pure and simple. Then there’s the opposite end: the dark, angsty ‘what if’ scenarios. What if Wei Wuxian’s resurrection went differently, or what if Lan Wangji was the one who fell from grace? These can be hit or miss, but when they nail the characters’ voices, the emotional payoff is brutal in the best way. I’m also seeing a lot of ‘Lan Wangji as a single dad’ AUs lately, which is a fun twist on the usual family dynamics. Honestly, my current favorite niche is ‘time travel fix-it’ fics where a character, often an older Wei Wuxian or even Lan Wangji, gets sent back to try and prevent the tragedy. The tension between foreknowledge and the paralysis of potentially making things worse is so compelling. It’s less about the trope itself and more about watching the characters grapple with impossible choices all over again.

I absolutely adore how fanfiction reimagines Tian Xu Ning's dynamics with the enemies-to-lovers trope. It's fascinating to see authors peel back the layers of hostility to reveal vulnerability underneath. Some fics paint their initial clashes as ideological—perhaps Tian sees Xu Ning as reckless, while Xu Ning views Tian as rigid. Over time, forced proximity or a shared mission forces them to confront their biases. The tension simmers into grudging respect, then something deeper. What stands out is the emotional realism. The best fics don’t rush the romance; they let resentment dissolve through small moments—a saved life, a whispered secret in the dark. I’ve read one where Tian nurses Xu Ning back to health after a betrayal from their own faction, and the way trust rebuilds is achingly slow but worth it. The trope thrives on 'show, don’t tell,' and when done right, it makes their eventual confession feel earned, not contrived.

Stumbled on this pairing kinda late, and honestly? The wealth dynamic is what pulls me in every time. It’s rarely about straightforward romance; it’s the friction between Zhongli’s ancient, weary elegance and Diluc’s fiery, self-imposed isolation. One trope I keep seeing is ‘Enemies to Colleagues to Lovers’—like, Zhongli needs some historical artifact Diluc owns for a rite, and Diluc is all ‘absolutely not’ until he’s forced to cooperate. The tension builds from there, super slow and meticulous. Another favorite is modern AU where Zhongli is a tired museum curator and Diluc runs the winery. They meet at some charity gala, and Diluc thinks Zhongli is just another pretentious academic until he sees the man’s genuine passion for preservation. It’s less about the flashy magic and more about two people who’ve shouldered too much finding quiet understanding. The fics that nail their shared weight of duty, the way they communicate through action instead of words, those are the ones I bookmark.

Hu Tao x Zhongli fics? They almost always circle back to that one dynamic: the lively, death-obsessed director slowly chipping away at the god's ancient, stoic exterior. It's the 'sunshine x grumpy' trope cranked up to eleven, but with a morbid twist that's perfect for them. You see a lot of 'found family' or 'domestic' AUs where Zhongli somehow ends up living with or working for the Funeral Parlor long-term. The trope of him learning to appreciate mortal life through her chaotic energy is a staple. It's a nice inversion—usually the immortal teaches the mortal, but here, Hu Tao's vibrant, fleeting humanity is the lesson. Then there's the angst. So much angst. The 'immortality angst' trope is front and center, with Hu Tao grappling with the fact that he'll watch her grow old and die. It gets heavy, but writers love exploring that bittersweet tension between her profession and his permanence. A more niche one I've seen is 'contract marriage' AUs for political or business reasons, which is hilarious given his literal history with contracts. It usually devolves into fluffy domesticity anyway, but the initial setup is always fun.

A lot of discussion around Hu Tao and Zhongli fiction orbits the dynamic shift between their canonical, mostly professional acquaintance and the sheer gravitational pull of their archetypal roles. You’ve got the funeral director and the ancient god of contracts and history—it’s a playground for juxtaposition. The most common route is exploring their shared connection to death and memory. Hu Tao, who treats the afterlife with cheerful irreverence, versus Zhongli, who carries the literal weight of millennia of loss. Fics that dig into that contrast are everywhere, often framed as quiet, introspective character studies. Maybe they share tea after a difficult funeral, and Zhongli reveals a sliver of grief for someone he knew centuries ago, leaving Hu Tao to reassemble her view of him. Then there’s the ‘found family’ or mentorship trope, which honestly feels more natural to me than forcing a romantic angle. Zhongli as this weary, retired archon secretly looking out for the eccentric, energetic director of his own funeral parlor has such a warm appeal. He becomes this silent guardian, maybe subtly guiding her away from dangers she’s unaware of, or providing obscure historical context for her unusual poetry. It’s less about dramatic plot and more about these small, accumulating moments of care that redefine their working relationship. I’ve also seen a surprising number of crossovers or AUs that transplant them into entirely different settings but preserve their core dynamic. Coffee shop AUs where Zhongli is a regular customer and Hu Tao is the relentlessly peppy barista. Fantasy AUs where she’s a necromancer apprentice and he’s the immortal king watching from the shadows. The tropes that stick are always the ones that highlight their contrasting energies—her chaotic life-affirming energy against his ordered, timeless solemnity. It’ s less about whether they fall in love and more about how two people who symbolize different facets of mortality somehow make each other feel more grounded, or more alive.

Really depends on what you're after, but I've noticed a few things tend to get the kudos absolutely flying. Forced proximity always hits hard with these two—like them being stuck together on a mission or a diplomatic trip gone wrong. It's such a good engine for all that delicious tension, the push-and-pull of duty versus... whatever's simmering under the surface. They're both such control freaks in their own ways, so taking that away is instant drama. And hurt/comfort, obviously. It's a classic for a reason. Childe getting injured protecting Zhongli, or Zhongli’s gnosis-loss aftermath stuff where Childe has to deal with the fallout. There’s something about seeing the unshakable Archon vulnerable and the fierce Harbinger playing caretaker that flips their dynamic in a way readers adore. It leans into that bedrock of devotion hiding under all the banter and betrayal. Angst with a happy ending is practically the default tag, though. You can't have Rex Lapis and a Fatui Harbinger without some serious emotional baggage to unpack. The best ones make the reconciliation feel earned, not just handed out.

The ones that get me every time are the 'enemies to co-parents' setups. I'm not even talking about canonical kids; I see a lot where they're forced to work together to protect a group of street orphans in Liyue Harbor or Mondstadt, and their utterly contrasting methods of care—Zhongli's ancient, structured wisdom versus Diluc's gruff but fiercely protective pragmatism—create this incredible friction. It's a slow dismantling of their public personas. The real trope isn't the romance hitting you over the head, it's the quiet moment where Diluc catches Zhongli explaining the history of a particular glaze lily to a child, and his whole 'suspicious outsider' facade just crumbles for a second. Another angle I adore is post-Archon War memory loss or identity shenanigans. What if Morax, before becoming Zhongli, had a forgotten encounter with a young, fiery-haired knight from Mondstadt during the war? The echoes are there in Diluc's relentless fight against darkness. A fic that plays with those buried threads, where Diluc's crusade feels familiar to Zhongli on a level he can't place, drives a specific kind of poignant ache. It’s less about flashy battles and more about the weight of centuries, and how someone who burns so brightly in a single lifetime can still leave a mark on a god.