#VERSE.// THE STORM OF THE VOID

[elliehallers]

Recent development: Due to recent developments in my original story, Timebombs, I now ship Ryland with Johnny Storm! And Ry is in The Void with John & Maddie now, too.

[battleguqin]

hexsreality asked: so... that's new.

He stood beside her staring at the VOID it was what it was and violet eyes went wide the irises went from round to dragon slitted in a second than back again. "So--I have never seen anything like that--" he said slowly.

Two fingers extended and he summoned draconic magic around his fingers eldritch energy spun around the two extended fingers and he flicked it at the void. Which did not reflect the energy it ate it. "Very new." he agreed with her. It was more a curiosity than an alarm at the moment.

"At least this one did not throw my spell back at me like the last one did. That wasn't fun. Thank the ancestors for spell resistance and immunity to my own magic." he motioned "Do you want to get a closer look, keep our distances and see if any spells stick or something I have not thought of." he chuckled "I think going through it that could be bad, until we know its not going to eat us." he mused as he pulled his glasses from his nose. He didn't need them it just added to the image of being a doctor. He tucked the into the inner pocket of his jacket .

@hexsreality

[call-sign-shark]

Echo of Shadows || Masterlist

Pairing: The Darkling x Heartrender!OCreader || Alina Starkov x Heartrender!OCreader || Malyen Oretsevx HeartRender!OCreader

Summary: "They called her the White Plague, a saint or a monster—but she was neither, only destruction wrapped in a pretty bow."

In Ravka's frosty heart, the legend of the White Plague spreads—a woman with snow-white hair, frozen-fire eyes, and powers that rival those of Jurda Parem. Once a slave in the Menagerie, the one who calls herself Heaven is now a myth, either leaving towns in ruins or former disease-ridden people crying with gratitude. A Sankta.

General Kirigan's interest soon turns dark and his desire obsessive. Never had he been so captivated and haunted by someone. Someone he could finally share his eternal life with. Caught in a cruel game of power and love, she's torn between Kirigan’s corrupting passion and Alina Starkov’s promise of freedom.

Amidst the chaos, one question arises: will she become a savior, a monster, or something far more dangerous?

TW: Explicit sexual content, slow burn, borderline consent, heavy pinning, toxic relationship [manipulation, obsession, extreme jealousy, controlling behavior], graphic sexual description, graphic depiction of murder and torture, blood!kink, size!kink, radioactive couple, codependency, reference to past SA and child SA, dark romance & mad romance trope, ambiguous relationship with Alina. This story is brutal, bloody and rated +18.

ACT I: A BURNING LIMERENCE

1. Keep Moving, Little Girl

2. Their Frozen Shackles

3. The Court of Shadows

4. The Fear Within

5. Beneath his Watchful Eyes 🔞

6. Until Nothing is Left

7. Dangerous

8. Blood and Honey

9. Gazed Into the Abyss, It Gazed Back Into Me 🔞

10. Raw

11 Burn Your Village 🔞

13. Light of my Life.

14. My Night and Stars. 🔞

ACT II. RAPTURE OF THE DEEP

Queen of Spades

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Light

Like a Feeling of Déjà Vue

Blinding Light

I was Made for Loving You, Baby 🔞

It's in Our Veins

Your Darkness Flayed 🔞

After the Storm, the Sun

Safe in the Dark 🔞

Paint Me Black 🔞

Golden Cage for a Pretty Bird

Your Heart, My Chains

Good Ending? You Haven't Been Paying Attention

ACT III. THE CALL OF THE VOID

The Assasymphony

Never You

Barbwire Kiss🔞

It Has Always Been You 🔞

I'm Not Ruined. I'm Ruination.

Here Comes the Wolves

Your Love is an Open Wound 🔞

The Starless Saint of Broken Hearts

The Mask of the Red Death

Candy-Coated Suicide

Symphony of Our Ruins

Epilogue: Eternal Eclipse

ONE SHOTS

Much Ado About Jam Toasts- fun & fluff

A Dangerous White Tigress - action, Hurt/Comfort

Away From the Deep Shadow

Damaged

MODERN AU*

Mental Health Is Sexy Masterlist

*Amos is Aleksander's modern identity.

GAME OF THRONES AU

Damaged Masterlist

*Amos is Aleksander.

VISUALS

Light in the Dark

"Call me Aleksander" - trailer by the beloved @elizabethblood9

My Night and Stars

ASK

Modern!Aleksander x Heaven for Christmas

Notes:

☾ I haven't read the books so this work is based on the TV show even though I know it's fairly different from the original Grisha verse. If you're an adorable lore psycho, you might not want to read that! :(

☾ Taglist: @lunawants , @emtaz-art, @lightinbug, @kmc1989, @thepassionatereader @mystic-mara @m-riaa @kallista-diune @meadows5 @kasagia @watersquirtpewpewboomm @the-sweet-psycho @sarahsobsession @elizabethblood9 @ritzzzzz @sophialeiros @noortsshift @sassyvilliantrope @sherwoodforesttales @a-smidges-stuff

[bamjio]

❝ 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗽. ❞ .⊹˖ᯓ★. ݁₊ stalker; bob Reynolds.

you're just like an angel.

His hands, gently calloused, cradled your face—admiring every feature sculpted in your peaceful slumber. Your room was cloaked in darkness, the somber night resting quietly—yet the moon peeked through your curtains, casting silver light upon you like brushstrokes on a canvas. You were the universe’s muse, his muse.

He knelt at the side of your bed, not out of mere admiration, but reverence. As if you were a Goddess—because to him, you were. From your words, your voice, your beauty, your soul—everything. You had this uncanny way of pulling him from the void and into something gentle. Something hopeful.

But who could have known—Bob Reynolds was a nobody. The world never gave him space to breathe. He was overlooked, shoved aside like a ghost wandering in daylight. His life whispered that he was no-good, a mistake, forgotten. All but you—you looked at him like he mattered. You spoke to him like he was seen. You made him believe that perhaps, for once, he wasn't broken. You were the light in the pitch. His clarity. His pulse.

His eyes roamed over you, not with hunger—but with awe, tracing the poetry in your stillness. Fingers brushed from your cheek to your hand. Your skin—soft, celestial. And in his mind bloomed the tender dream of you and him, where affection was mutual, and love was allowed. He longed to kiss you gently, to gift you with a thousand small devotions.

His eyes never sought anyone else. The first time you said his name, he memorized it like a hymn. It nestled in his memory like warm verses. Others said his name like it was a burden—but you, you spoke it like a song. Like it meant something. Your voice was heaven’s echo, even in sorrow. Especially in sorrow. Even when tears painted your cheeks and you trembled against him—he swore your voice could calm storms.

But truly, everything about you was like that—extraordinary.

And he wished—no, prayed—that maybe he could be special too.

But hell—who was he kidding? He was just a ghost in your orbit. The moon never shone for him. Even so close to you, light refused to grace him. And maybe that’s why his longing turned sharp, desperate. Because if he could not have the sun, he would become the night that holds it. If he could not bask in your light—maybe, just maybe—he could be the eclipse to your moon.

Creep, radiohead.

First time making a blurb, kinda nervous

I don't like the way I made this, not used to this kind of writing (which I believe is called blurb?? Educate me chat) and this was so rushed istg, I'm a really slow writer as u can see guys, so apologies in advance if this isn't good!!

After random disappearances and unmade promises, I'm back and will probably disappear again !! Feel free to critique me or give me ideas, I'll tryyyyyy my bestest to do it bbs.

[aclikeairconditioning]

Since I wrote one for reverse verse Edwin, here’s one for Charles. Takes place in Hell, though nothing’s too graphic (still, be warned.)

I had to go through the torture of rereading/viewing this comic to write this (it wasn’t torture at all, this is one of my favorite @technically-human comics. Charles is so precious, and I almost cried while writing this and looking into his face at the same time.)

I will also add @i-am-as-normal-as-you-are because I forgot you last time. I’m very sorry, that was rude of me, I know this is your au too.

When I got to the end I realized that I was ending similarly to the way I ended Edwin’s, so I leaned into that and used the same wording.

(Ps. @technically-human, you have no idea how much of a euphoric adrenaline high your response gave me last time. Thank you so much, and happy belated birthday!)

-

Charles tripped.

Apparently, 70 years of practice became null and void when interrupted by three decades of peace. Safety. Home.

Charles tripped, and was immediately caught up in the storm of people running by, most of whom didn’t pay any attention to the sixteen-year-old struggling to get back up, to keep going, to not get caught.

Charles couldn’t even blame them. He would have, had in the past, done the same.

That didn’t make him less scared.

That wouldn’t make it hurt less when The Conductor eventually caught up to him.

He did manage to get up, though (a minor miracle on its own.) As he prepared himself to run again, get out as fast as he could, try to make up for lost time, a flash of blue in the corner of his eye gave him barely a moment's notice before he was being grabbed from behind.

His first instinct was to fight. To shove off whoever, or whatever, had grabbed him. Punch and claw and fight to leave the other behind in the dust as he got as far away as possible.

He would have, too. He would have, had it not been for the slightly panicked call of, “Found you!” in his ear, spoken in a voice he knew better than his own.

“Edwin!” The name came out more of a gasp, than Charles would have liked. “What are you doing here?”

Because he was here. God, Edwin Payne (just, devout, brilliant, Edwin Payne,) was here. In Hell. The one place that Charles thought he could protect him from, despite the others’ insistence to protect him (and the others newly added to the ranks of the Dead Boy Detectives.)

Edwin, who he had always thought believed, if only a little bit, that Charles deserved the torment he had been sent to.

Edwin, who was here-

“Protecting you, as always.”

Oh.

Oh.

He was here, because he really believed that Charles needed protecting. Who wanted to protect him, despite the Hell forged demeanor, the unspeakable things he had done before they met.

He was here, in Hell, actively going against his God, mustering up a fragile smile for Charles’ benefit.

He was perfect.

He was everything.

He needed to know.

So Charles grasped Edwin by his shoulders, tears pricking the corners of his eyes as he made the declaration that could change everything (just please don’t take him away from me.)

“I love you,” He all but sobbed, a smile pulling up the corners of his mouth against all odds.

“What?” Edwin asked, taken aback. He blinked, eyes wide with shock. “Well, I- You know that- Me too, of course.”

Charles gave a short chuckle, shaking his head, because he didn’t get it. “That’s not what I meant, mate.”

He sniffed heavily before looking back up into Edwin’s eyes. “I love you. Like courting, sweethearts, holding hands in the park, love you.”

Edwin’s eyes had gotten larger, if that were even possible, panic taking over any kind of control he’d still had. Charles’ heart only sank a bit at that. He could have predicted how Edwin’s deeply moral sensibilities would take this sentiment.

“Charles, I can’t-”

But Charles wasn’t able to figure out what Edwin couldn’t as a burning hand closed over the back of his neck, ripping him away and towards the engine room.

He was taken away to his next death with the sound of Edwin calling his name behind him.

[zeke-fanfucs]

I have request for faithful x Albus fluff, please this is a need not a want 💔 (jk, take your time!)

No, I Will Not Take My Time.

How dare you ask me so sweetly. “Take your time,” you said. As if I could. As if I would. As if I do not wake each morning with the burning need to provide— To FEED my beloved, unhinged children—the gremlins I call my fans.

No. I do not take my time. I sacrifice sleep. I bleed words.

I tear the cursed stories from the screaming void and deliver them unto you with trembling hands.

Here’s your fluffy, bittersweet Faithful x Albus fanfic, complete with soft lighting, soulful singing, and a smitten bastard warrior:

Also why yall anonymous, no need to hide from me. I know you are unhinged like me

⸻

Title: “Lullaby for a Fool”

The stew simmered slow, filling the quiet cabin with the scent of spice, root vegetables, and the smallest hint of something sweet—like apples left out in the sun too long.

Faithful swayed as she stirred, barefoot on the creaky old floorboards. Her hair was braided loose down her back, sleeves rolled up to the elbows. She was humming at first. Then the tune turned into soft, honey-warm words.

“O tired soul, lay down your sword

The sky has stilled, the winds are stored

Your blood is spent, your war is done

Come rest beneath the setting sun…”

Albus leaned in the doorway, arms crossed. A bottle half-empty dangled from his fingers, untouched since he walked in.

He watched her like he always did—like she was some bright, impossible thing he had no business touching. But Saints, the way her voice sounded when she sang. It wasn’t for performance. It was for herself, and maybe for something old inside her heart she still hadn’t let go of.

“O weary heart, the night won’t bite

Lay down your grief, the fire is light

You’re home at last, the storm is gone

I’ll hold you ‘til the break of dawn…”

She turned then, catching his eye mid-verse. Her smile was small and soft. “You’re lurking again, York.”

“Not lurkin’,” Albus said, stepping inside with that familiar, devil-may-care slouch. “Just caught by the spell of an angel stirrin’ up soup like she’s summonin’ a miracle.”

“Hmm.” Faithful arched a brow and went back to stirring. “What kind of miracle needs three cloves of garlic and one drunk bounty hunter?”

“Good kind,” he said. “Tasty kind.”

She laughed. The sound did something warm to his chest, and he hated how much he liked it.

“Careful, I might think you’re flirting,” she said, glancing over her shoulder.

“Darlin’, if I flirted for real, the stew’d burn from sheer tension.”

Faithful scoffed. “You are flirting.”

“Nah,” he drawled, walking slowly behind her, just close enough to lean against the counter. “Just practicing for someone better. Someone holy. Someone with better taste in men.”

She elbowed him lightly, smirking. “I think my taste’s doing just fine.”

Albus froze for half a heartbeat.

Then—grinning, cocky—he leaned down like he was about to make some bold remark… but instead said, quieter: “You shouldn’t waste sweet words on broken things, Faithful.”

Faithful reached out, spooning a taste of stew and offering it to him. He hesitated, then leaned in, lips brushing the wood.

He swallowed.

“You always say you’re broken,” she murmured. “But broken things don’t catch fire like you do. They don’t protect people. They don’t rescue girls from hell.”

She touched his arm—gentle, grounding.

Albus, the man who didn’t eat, didn’t hope, didn’t believe in soft things… just stood there. Quiet.

Faithful stirred the pot again.

And began humming the lullaby once more.

[valkariel]

Heritor of Frost | Shiva

FRU has me thinking about Eden raids again. Inspired by Ochrony Pierscien's Resplendent Ice and Vellissa Silversun's Refulgence.

Head: Prestige Crown of Light - metallic silver Body: Theogonic Mail of Fending - storm blue Hands: Faerie Tale Princess's Gloves - void blue / metallic silver Legs: Tights of Eternal Passion - metallic silver / ink blue Feet: Shadowless Greaves of Fending - default

I went with spiky shoes for battle-feel, but lots of good options for a slimmer fit. Alt Feet: Ktiseos Greaves of Fending (recolor) | Asphodelos Boots of Fending | Best Man's Gaiters | Loyal Housemaid's Pumps | Boots of Eternal Passion | Far Eastern Schoolgirl's Boots

Earring: Fabled Earrings of Fending Neck: The Emperor's New Necklace Wrists: The Emperor's New Bracelet Right Ring: The Emperor's New Ring Left Ring: The Emperor's New Ring

Main Hand: Shiva's Diamond Axe Off Hand: --

Fashion Accessory: -- Minion: -- Mount: -- Location: Eden's Verse: Refulgence

Shader: Faebery Bloom

[branches-of-time]

The House That Built Me

“Figured you’d either still be at the tavern, or were already home wondering where I was.”

He smiles at you, soft, before looking away. “I was at the tavern most of the day, like I planned this morning. But… something didn’t feel right. I wasn’t really… giving it my all, and I think the patrons could tell.”

You frown. “What didn’t feel right? Are you okay?”

“Oh, I’m fine, Windblume. I’m just fine.”

You aren’t convinced. “Then, uh… do you feel like sharing what isn’t fine?”

His gaze drops to the dark sea below. “I think you know what it is, actually.”

Cryptic as ever, you take a moment to ponder what he might mean. He takes the silence as an opportunity to elaborate. “I never really wonder where you are, you know?"

~~~~~~~

Inazuma, all raging storms and war-torn, is calling your name. Shamefully, you find yourself running north instead, searching for something, anything to fill this home-shaped void in your heart.

Maybe, just maybe, you’ll come to find that home is a person, more than a place.

Pairing: Venti x Reader - Established Relationship, GN!Reader

Word Count: 11,033

Contains: [angst (with a happy ending)] [crying] [cuddling] [emotional hurt/comfort] [lack of communication] [loneliness] [memories] [not canon compliant] [pet death] [Reader & Venti are both adults] [Reader is not Traveler but they essentially take their place in the game's plot] [self-deprecating reader] [separation anxiety] [set prior to Version 2.0] [songfic]

A/Ns: This is a songfic! Title and verses written throughout the fic are from the song- "The House That Built Me" by Miranda Lambert.

Lastly, some context- Reader is a Riftwolf-Human hybrid, can manipulate all seven elements but has an affinity for Geo.

I know they say you can't go home again.

Sand, warmed by the afternoon sun, swells between your spread fingers as you press your hands down into the ground at your sides. Summoning a modicum of Geo elemental energy, your hands meet no resistance as they sink into the compacted grains like a hot knife through butter. You drop your raised shoulders and let your hands bury several inches into the beach until the sand surrounding them is cool, untouched by the heat of the day.

Dismissing the energy you’d been using to repel it, you allow the ground to resist you again. You note the weight of the sand as it presses down on the backs of your hands, and the firm bed of grains packed beneath your palms. You shut your eyes and flex your fingers slightly, focusing on the soft grit of Falcon Coast as it surrounds your hands in its weighted embrace.

Breathing a heavy sigh, you reopen your eyes, dropping your head and cursing the earth beneath you. This attempt at grounding yourself is doing little to ease the knot in your stomach, nor the tightness in your chest. Looking up and out across the expanse of ocean before you, the sight of Musk Reef looming in the distance doesn’t help either. You refuse to allow your gaze to drift any further south.

You begin to ask yourself what you’re even doing here, and why you thought this was a good idea. You’re no stranger to fleeing to Mondstadt whenever the world overwhelms you, but this specific beach perhaps wasn’t the wisest choice. Certainly not when the very thing you’re running from is the sea.

You hadn’t put much thought into where to go, you just knew you wanted to go home. Materializing at the waypoint east of Windrise was simply instinctual. Though, when you arrived, you didn’t turn and head north like you had so many times before. No, you took a running jump off the cliff below, gliding south and landing on the coast.

Sitting here now though, hands buried in the same sand you first washed up on after clawing your way out of the abyss… it’s not as comforting of a spot as you thought it might be. You don’t feel grounded at all, caught up between memories of the past and fears of the future.

Tugging your hands out of the sand with a frustrated huff, you turn your head to glance behind you at the cliff to the north.

…Maybe you should’ve gone that way instead. Maybe you should go home.

 I just had to come back one last time.

Materializing at the earlier waypoint once again, you pause to collect yourself for a moment. Making frequent use of the waypoints, especially in your current state, isn’t very wise. Then again, you aren’t in a very wise state. Taking a deep breath to dispel the dizziness, you let the warm breeze caress your cheeks. Looking around from your current vantage point, you find yourself grateful for the lack of people in the area. Even Chloris is currently nowhere to be found.

Well, at least you can think in peace. Jumping down from the crumbling ruin, you steady yourself against an archway, narrowly avoiding crushing a small patch of lamp grass. …Perhaps you should’ve taken another moment to collect yourself. Perhaps you shouldn’t be wandering through the wilds all on your own, in such a state.

You scoff at the latter thought. This is Mondstadt, and you’re… you. What’s the worst that could happen?

Pushing aside the thought that more alone time may not be what you need right now, you think yourself through your predicament once again as you set off on a walk.

-

You’d been reluctant to leave Mondstadt and set out for Liyue, despite knowing that you’d get no further answers to your myriad of questions here. Not to mention the nagging, relentless tug of fate, pulling you away from the nation you’d come to call home. You knew full and well that you’d have to leave. You’d find no peace in an attempt to ignore the call, and settle here indefinitely.

Still, that didn’t stop you from milking your time here as much as possible. You’d gotten to a first name basis with nearly every soul in the city by the time you ran out of tasks to busy yourself with. Gained quite the notable reputation for yourself in the process too, although that hadn’t been your goal. You truly just didn’t want to leave.

You’d trekked over every hill, passed through every valley, climbed to every peak and turned over every stone and leaf along your way. You explored the nation’s ruins, deciphered inscriptions half faded into their stone, and felled every field till- …ruin guard that stood in your way. You’d braved the frozen peaks of Dragonspine, and gained a newfound appreciation for the Pyro element in the process.

You stood atop the celestial nail, looking out through the blizzard and over the expanse of land to the southwest.

The vast, foreign land that laid before you scared you more than the journey to the top of the nail had.

After all, you didn’t fear falling. The wind at your back would surely catch you, you had no doubt.

Flecks of Cryo stung, colliding with the flushed, exposed skin of your face. You closed your eyes, balance wavering slightly as a result. A small arm was quick to wrap itself around your waist.

No, you didn’t fear falling. You feared leaving.

You leaned into the safety of your Archon’s hold, their concerned voice perfectly audible in spite of the blizzard winds surrounding you. “Are you alright? Do you need to get down?”

You feared leaving him.

-

Leaves from the end of a tree branch brush against your perked ears, pulling you back into the present. Shaking your head and drawing your ears down on instinct, you look around and realize your muscle memory has carried you the rest of the way home. Tucked away against a small cliff south of the Thousand Winds Temple, stands an even smaller cottage, forgotten to time. An Anemo Samachurl paces in circles in the yard, and its Geo counterpart sits on the old stone stairs leading into the home.

Ma'am, I know you don't know me from Adam.

The Geo Samachurl turns to look at you, and you give it a small wave in acknowledgement. Its attention lingers on you for only a moment longer, before turning back to continue watching its Anemo companion instead. A smile plays on your lips, tight and bittersweet.

You make no move to continue approaching, instead opting to back up a few paces and lean against a nearby tree, observing.

They can sense enough of your shared origins, or- maybe it’s the lingering abyssal energy on you… regardless, they can sense something on you that they recognize. Nothing specific, but something familiar enough that they feel no need to take up arms upon the mere sight of you. In all honesty, you feel the same. Their presence here doesn’t pose any genuine threat, so you’re content to leave them be.

In the many months that have passed since Venti and you moved out of this place, it’s become a haven for others. Whether it be traveling adventurers seeking shelter for a night, wildlife seeking refuge from a passing storm beneath the awning, or even your old Khaenri’ahn kin seeking a place to camp, the cottage has served many.

The both of you have kept a distant eye on the place since your departure. Though, Venti has found himself remaining more distant than you since these Samachurls have set up camp. While your presence doesn’t ring any alarm bells for them, the same cannot be said for Venti. While he holds no ill intent toward them either, something about the aura he emits sets them instinctively on edge.

You can hardly blame them. You’d raised your hackles and bared your teeth at the bard, defensive upon your first encounter as well. Looking back, he was hardly posing any threat then either, but at the time, you viewed everyone and everything as a potential enemy. After all, you’d just escaped the abyss and been tossed to the shore of Falcon Coast by the waves, your weaker control over Cryo failing you halfway across your attempt at an ice bridge. Waking up on hot sand to find a humanoid being with an unsettling gaze emanating a suspiciously divine aura above you was more than enough to kick your fight or flight into gear.

You attempted both, in that order. You immediately dug your hands into the sand and threw fistfuls of it at the stranger, successfully disorienting them and giving you an opening to flee. With nothing but ocean to the east, you bolted west, and then north, headed for higher ground intent on gaining an advantage.

Looking back now, you know nothing could’ve stopped Venti if he’d truly wanted to catch you. At the time, though, you felt pretty confident in having outrun him. By the time you felt like you’d lost him, you found yourself also lost amidst trees, the uneven terrain obscuring your sense of direction. So- tired, thirsty, hungry, scared, and confused- you dropped from a run to a walk. Pressing forward in the direction you’d run in, you kept your ears at attention to catch any threat before it could catch you.

-

The Anemo Samachurl breaks from its quiet chanting and pacing, its sudden cry pulling your focus from the past. From the way it points and takes off in a run, and the way its Geo counterpart rises to follow behind, you assume it must have seen something in the woods that caught its attention. You see nor sense nothing of note, and dismiss the likely false alarm. Probably just wildlife, or perhaps a Dendro slime looking to play. As the two little shamans run off into the trees, you take advantage of the vacancy they leave behind.

But these handprints on the front steps are mine.

You figure you’ve got enough time for a quick visit before they return. Besides, the worst that’ll happen if they do catch you in their “camp” will be a few disgruntled spells cast toward you as you hightail it out of there. It’ll be fine.

Approaching the trio of old stone steps that lead to the front door, your gaze catches on two handprints engraved into the highest stair. Memories begin to surface.

-

Sitting on the stairs with your back pressed to the door, you found yourself growing frustrated with the green-clad individual in your yard. Well, perched in one of the trees in your yard, to be precise.

You’d taken up residence in this old run-down cottage once it seemed that no one else had been occupying it. The first few days had been blessedly peaceful, it seemed the area was rather devoid of other life. Well, threatening life, at least. There were plenty of plants and animals, plus a little pond close by, providing far more sustenance than you’d grown used to surviving on. You figured it was as good of a place as any to try and sort out your next move. You hadn’t put much thought into what you’d do once you escaped, after all. You found yourself feeling… lost. After charging ahead with your focus locked on a single goal for so damn long… you didn’t know what to do with yourself now that you’d achieved it.

You weren’t lost for long though. The nosy stranger that found you on the beach proved to be the next target of your focus. Your peaceful existence in this cottage overlooking the sea didn’t last long before you found yourself in their unwanted company once again. They might’ve thought they were subtle, hiding amongst the treetops and watching you quietly.

They weren't. You could sense them. Hell, even if it weren’t for the strange aura they emanated, you could smell them. They carried a strong scent of fermentation with them, and you could easily pick up on the pungent smell in the wind.

On the third day of your silent standoff, you grew fed up with this stranger’s odd behavior. You only knew one way of settling things, and that was face-to-face, not through some weird game of observation. You cleared your throat, preparing your underused voice and searching for your words. Tilting your head back to look at the trespasser, you snarl at their relaxed stance, laid back across a branch like they’re asleep.

“Come down.” You bark the command up into the trees.

The stranger doesn’t comply, but they do acknowledge you, opening their eyes and turning their head to look down at you. “So you can speak!”

You’re in no mood to entertain their conversation, certainly not before making sense of their intentions. “Come. Down.” You repeat, voice flat and serious.

“Are you gonna throw sand in my eyes again?” Light and playful, they question you.

You huff. “No.” Not without good reason, at least, you think to yourself but fail to vocalize.

They hum in thought for a moment before going quiet again. You let the seconds pass, growing more irritable with each one. Just as you’re about to call them down once again, they roll to the side, willingly falling from the branch they’d been laying on. Your muscles twitch and lock for a moment as you stop yourself from… from… from what? What were you going to do, run and try to catch them? Why would you do that? They’ve done nothing for you.

Your lack of action proves itself inconsequential as the stranger falls at a remarkably slow speed. It’s less of a fall and more of a… decent, you suppose, seeming to effortlessly defy gravity. Righting themself midair to land on their feet, they pull their cape forward on their shoulders, beginning to approach you.

You plant your hands firmly on the stone at your sides, readying yourself for anything.

“While that wasn’t the most convincing answer, I suppose I can extend a bit of trust to you. I sure hope you don’t make me regret it though!” They come far closer to you than anyone with a sense of self-preservation ought to. They hold a hand out between you, and you stare at it, waiting for something to happen. “I’m Venti, a bard from the city.”

Finally getting your first proper look at them up close, you’re struck with the strangest sense of recognition. You couldn’t pinpoint it to save your life, but… something about this person feels… familiar. Distant, hazy, and inexplicable, but it’s there nonetheless.

You don’t like it.

When you make no move to do… whatever they seem to want you to do with their hand, they drop it, and you flinch at the sudden motion. Frowning, they question you. “Might I ask for your name in exchange, my dear trespasser? We can hardly get to know one another without exchanging some basic information.”

Your brows pinch in frustration at the stranger's many words. They say a lot, and they say it fast. It’s been… you can’t recall how long it’s been since you last held such conversation. One word stands out to you, though. “Trespasser? Me?”

He nods. “Well, technically, yes! I don’t know much about you yet but I do know that this isn’t your house.”

“How?” You question, eyes narrowing, watching as they stupidly step even closer.

“How do I know that this isn’t yours?” They question you in return.

You nod, claws sharpening, palms itching with pent-up Geo energy crackling beneath your skin.

“Because it’s mine, silly!” They laugh, reaching out toward you.

Your instincts take over as the stranger moves to grab you, and you force your hands into the stone beneath you. Releasing the Geo energy you’d been holding onto, you use the repelling force to launch yourself up off the stairs and at the fool standing before you.

You don’t make contact with them though, stumbling forward into what suddenly becomes thin air and tripping over nothing, sending yourself straight to the ground. Righting yourself before you can even register the impact, your claws tear through the dirt and grass as you turn back to face your opponent on all fours.

You freeze at the sight of them, casually propped against the railing of the stairs, clearly not poised to fight. With no weapon in their hands, and refusing to take on any sort of combative stance, you find yourself locked in a one-sided stand-off.

Not taking their eyes off you, the stranger pats the banister they’re leaning against. “I wasn’t reaching out for you, friend.” As you process their words and the seconds turn into a minute, they make no move to attack you, so you slowly let your guard down. Just slightly. Bending at the knees, you settle in a deep squat on the ground.

When the stranger seems confident enough that you aren’t about to throw yourself at them again, they allow their attention to leave you and fall to the step where you’d just sat. Following their gaze, you notice two handprints now carved into the stone, the very edge of the stair chipped away in places where your claws had caught on it.

You ready yourself for an attack, as this stranger surely won’t take kindly to destruction of, apparently, their property. But they make no move to do any such thing. They simply look back up at you with a knowing smile.

“You take after Morax, I see.”

Up those stairs in that little back bedroom, is where I did my homework and I learned to play guitar.

Smiling and shaking your head at the memory, you make your way into the small home. It’s rather bare, even more so than it had been when you first found the place. The two of you had taken all of your personal possessions with you into the teapot, leaving nothing but the basic furniture behind. After all, you had far better options awaiting you through Tubby’s sub-space creation.

Seeing the cottage in its original state, it once again becomes clear to you just how little Venti had customized the place prior to you moving in. He didn’t, and still doesn’t have much to his name, truly living the life of the wandering bard he identifies as. Most of what he does have he keeps on his person, whether that be in the physical sense, or dematerialized and stored away.

The cottage turned into a bit less of a shelter and more of a home over the many months you spent there with him. You stocked the little kitchen with far more than just his assortment of fruits, and an array of objects you collected from your outings lined the shelves. Looking back now, with a bit more insight on your own mental and emotional states, you venture a guess as to your behavior. You were likely hoarding whatever you found as a means of making up for how long you spent having nothing.

Venti never shamed you for it, even though he likely understood the behavior from the beginning. He was incredibly empathetic, and kinder than you felt you deserved, even once parts of your past became known to him. It took some time, given your struggle to keep up with his words, and the bigger struggle of finding your own. You managed to get it across to him eventually though, and he’d been benevolent enough to take you in.

-

You come to a stop in the bedroom doorway, surveying the place through the lens of the past.

You remember countless hours spent at the small desk in the corner, hunched over paper with text on it that you couldn’t decipher. Venti stood beside you, one hand on your shoulder, patiently teaching you how to make sense of the symbols you saw.

You remember less stressful hours spent sitting on the floor, curiously plucking at the strings of the bard’s various instruments with your claws. He’d sit on the bed watching you, naming the notes and teaching you how to turn your discordant noise into beautiful music. You were never as good as he was though, and you really didn’t mind. You preferred to listen to him playing, anyway. The bard possessed a beautiful voice, and the soft songs he’d sing to you in the dark of night never failed to put your tormented mind at ease.

Staring at your designated spot on the floor, you laugh at the memory of countless nights spent refusing his invitations. He’d offered his bed to you from the beginning, insisting that you deserved it more than he did. Besides, he said, he was used to sleeping in trees and fields, on barstools and street corners. He claimed he wouldn’t miss the bed at all.

You wouldn’t hear of it. Vehemently denying any offers, you stubbornly slept- atop as many blankets and pillows as you’d allow him to give you- on the floor by his bed like the dog you were. He wasn’t the only one used to sleeping in uncomfortable places, and you weren’t about to lose your edge by getting too comfortable too soon.

You think of the way you woke up this morning, wrapped in soft, warm blankets on a wide, plush mattress, face nuzzled into his neck, arms around his waist.

You’ve both come a long way.

You hear the familiar sound of distant hilichurlian chanting, and make your move to leave, bidding your old bedroom a quiet farewell once again.

Slipping out of the cottage and rounding the side of the building in a few long strides, you narrowly manage to evade their notice. Peeking around the corner, you watch them return to their prior posts. The Anemo Samachurl diligently paces between the trees, its Geo companion keeping watch from the stairs.

You smile, and turn to make your silent departure.

-

Checking in on your old home had been a successful distraction from the thoughts you’re trying to avoid, but you couldn’t linger there forever. Still, feeling unprepared to return to the teapot and try to put on a brave face for Venti, you find yourself wandering. With no particular destination in mind, you let your feet take you where they may.

You try to think of nothing at all for a while, failing over and over again as your mind searches for something to latch onto. Apparently counting your steps wasn’t entertaining enough for it.

After a while of failing to meditate on your walk, you find yourself leaving grass and stepping onto a dirt path. Looking up and around, you realize you’ve made your way to the road leading to the Thousand Winds Temple.

Turning and looking south, you can see the massive tree at Windrise, off in the distance. Far, far, beyond that, bringing your eyes to the horizon, you can see the snowy peaks of Dragonspine beyond the tall cliff of Galesong Hill. You sigh.

And I bet you didn't know, under that live oak, my favorite dog is buried in the yard.

A few months after arriving in Mondstadt and settling in with Venti, you found yourself exploring the icy riverbank that borders Dragonspine. The stubborn bard, wrapped in the thickest cloak he owned, trudged along behind you.

You’d told him he didn’t have to join you that day, but the thought of you exploring unfamiliar territory without him apparently just didn’t sit right. So, in spite of his occasional grumbles over the increasing cold, he never left your side.

The area was predictably desolate, save for a few Cryo Hilichurl archers lounging on the icy banks like they were on summer vacation. You weren’t looking for a fight that day though, just to explore, so you avoided drawing their attention given the divine company you were in.

Later on, as you were focusing hard on what Pyro energy you could summon in an attempt to melt the ice encasing a chest, you found something far more valuable. Venti saw it first, having been eyeing the surroundings while you were focused on the task at hand. Calling your name, he summoned your attention with ease.

Turning to look at him, your gaze followed his pointed finger and landed on a dog, slowly making its way toward you.

The animal was fairly large, but certainly far from threatening given the state it was in. As it drew closer, Venti lowered himself to his knees in the cold wet grass, suddenly forgoing his prior reluctance to endure the elements. You smiled. It seemed like he’d learned a thing or two from you about dealing with fearful dogs.

You followed suit, crouching down beside him and getting on the dog's level. The shivering animal hesitated, coming to a stop about fifteen feet away. Materializing some fresh meat you’d caught on the journey there, you quietly held it out toward the dog.

It sniffed the air, but refused to move.

Tearing a chunk off, you gently tossed it in the dog’s direction, and it landed a few feet in front of it. Sniffing harder, the animal carefully approached the offering, sticking its head out as far as it could to reach the food and avoid coming closer.

The two of you spent the better part of an hour luring the dog toward you, slowly but surely winning it over with continued offerings of fresh meat.

Upon closer inspection, you were honestly shocked that it was still standing. Skin stretched tight across its ribcage, hip bones two sharp peaks, spine a long mountain range down its back… the thing was clearly starving. You weren’t sure if it was the stress of a difficult life, a sign of old age, or both, but what you assumed had once been black fur was almost white from graying, particularly in its face. It trembled incessantly, and as soon as it came close enough and didn’t seem apt to bolt, Venti untied his cape and wrapped it around the dog, who shockingly didn’t fight it.

Maybe Venti had been serious when he claimed he could talk to animals.

You fed it more bites of meat as the two of you quietly discussed the best way to get it home. Blessedly, once the dog realized that neither of you held malicious intentions, it switched gears surprisingly fast. More than just tolerating your presence, the dog actually began to cling to you, frantically whining when you both stood up, fearful that you’d be leaving it behind.

Abandoning your half-melted treasure, you knew it was time to leave. You were quite a ways from home and you weren’t about to try teleporting the dog in its current state. So instead, you carefully picked her up, frowning at how little she weighed. Venti took the remaining meat and distracted the nervous dog with more offerings of food as you began your long, slow journey home.

“Don’t- don’t feed her too fast. I know she’s hungry but I don’t want to make her sick.”

Venti nodded, tearing off smaller bites. “I remember.” He cryptically confirmed.

You adjusted the dog in your hold, pulling Venti’s cape up around her neck. “…Remember what?”

He suppressed a shiver, but you still noticed. “You ate yourself sick on fruit and raw meat the first night you spent here.”

Your head turned quickly, staring down at him. “You were watching? Even then?”

He nodded, expression solemn. “I followed you home, you know? It just took a few days for you to notice that I was there.”

You walked in thoughtful silence for a while after that, wondering if your scattered senses had failed you, or if he was actually better at hiding his aura than you thought.

-

The dog lived with the both of you in your little cottage for a few good months. She gradually put on weight, and some life returned to her alongside it. She still moved slowly, though, and you feared she was in pain.

By that point, you’d befriended a timid alchemist with mint-green hair, and sought her assistance. She’d kindly offered you a medicine of her own creation, advising that the dog seemed rather old, and likely suffered from joint pain. You offered her payment in Mora, which she politely refused. You eventually got her to accept a small assortment of bones you’d gathered in exchange, correctly surmising that the offer would be too tempting for her to refuse.

Sucrose’s medicine seemed to help, because the dog moved with noticeably more ease once you began giving it to her. She was far from spry, but she seemed comfortable, so you were content. She was also content, in the precious, innocent way that only a dog can be. Just happy to be alive, happy to be fed, happy to be safe. Happy to be near someone that loves them, and happy to be near someone they love.

“Adagio.” Venti had once said, gently raking his nails through her fur on a warm, sleepy afternoon.

“What’s that?’ It was far from the first time he’d said a word you didn’t know.

“In musical terms, it means played slowly… I think it would be a nice name for her.”

You considered it for a moment, and found it rather fitting, nodding in agreement with a smile. “I like that.”

Adagio spent her days laying in the shade near the cliff’s edge, watching the waves lap at the small shore below. Looking back, you can thank her for teaching Venti that you can survive a half a day on your own. She could hardly chase you all over Mondstadt, or weave her way after Venti through the busy city streets, so when one of you needed to go out for something, the other would stay home with her. One of the two of you were always there, and she never knew the pain of being alone again.

She spent her nights curled between the two of you. She couldn’t make the jump up onto the bed, and you were still stubbornly sleeping on the floor, so Venti made the executive decision to heave the mattress onto the floor as well. As silly of a sight as it may have been to an outsider, the three of you were comfortable, curled together amidst blankets and pillows on the too-small mattress, bed frame abandoned on the other side of the room.

Nothing lasts forever though, and it seemed to you that the best of things were always the quickest to go.

As months passed, her movements went from slow to slower, and she started struggling with more things. She could no longer steady herself to make it up and down the three stairs to your home, so one of you carried her every time. She slept more and moved less, and her love of food began to wane.

This wasn’t your first experience with something like this. Though it had been an awfully long time since you lived through it last, you still knew what was coming.

That didn’t make it hurt any less, though. Not at all.

Both of you sat awake with her through the final night, keeping her comfortable and telling her how much you loved her. You’d never hoped harder that Venti’s communicative abilities held true.

You kept it together until she released her final breath, and when you knew she was gone, you allowed yourself to fall apart.

Up until then, your walls had been an impenetrable fortress. No emotion escaped unless you allowed it. Venti had never seen you cry.

So when your pain escaped you this time, falling in heavy golden tears and landing in her gray fur, he could only stare. He knew this wasn’t his moment to intrude on, so he didn’t. He didn’t rush to wrap you in an embrace, nor did he try to offer any hollow words of comfort. This was pain. This was loss. He was intimately familiar with it, and he knew it had to be felt.

There isn’t a single detail of that night that you don’t recall, and the teal tears that fell next to your golden ones are no exception.

That was the first time you saw him cry, too.

-

The evening breeze cools the hot golden tracks running down your cheeks. You watch tears fall onto the dirt path beneath you, and then you close your eyes.

-

You both sat there with what remained of her until the morning sun slipped in through the window. You were surprised when Venti broke the silence, offering to bury Adagio beneath the Windrise tree.

You spoke through a voice thick and strained from your cries. “That’s… that’s a really special place.”

He nodded. “She was a really special dog.”

You wiped the fresh tears from your eyes before they could fall, turning to face him.

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.” He put his hand out, laying it next to Adagio on the mattress. “Unless you’d prefer elsewhere?”

You knew what to do this time. Reaching out and laying your hand in his, you shook your head slowly. “No. I think Windrise would be perfect.”

-

Opening your eyes, you raise your head to glance once more at the massive tree across the sprawling field. Bidding Adagio another quiet goodbye, you pull in a shaky breath, and turn, heading north.

Walking in silence for a while, you try to let your emotions settle. The tears you just shed seemed to help a little, but the knot in your stomach won’t leave you.

You follow the road a little while longer, but when you find yourself nearing the temple, you take a detour and head west, off the beaten path. You aren’t keen on running into whatever random explorers might be camping there this evening. Besides, the scent of cecilias is on the breeze, and you’d rather follow that instead.

Making your way up the uneven terrain that comprises the base of Starsnatch Cliff, your mind returns to its ruminations over what brought you here today in the first place.

You leave home, you move on, and you do the best you can.

The reason for your reluctance to leave Mondstadt became abundantly clear on the day you finally set out for the neighboring nation. As you left Dawn Winery behind and crossed the border, headed for Stone Gate, it sank in quickly.

Venti wasn’t beside you.

Up until that point, he’d been the literal wind at your back every step of the way. Every commission you completed, every request you fulfilled, every inch of land you explored, he was right behind you. Or beside you, or above you, or in front of you…

Regardless, he was there. Answering your questions, telling you stories, helping you make sense of the unfamiliar. Whether it be words you couldn’t yet read, customs you didn’t yet understand, or emotions you couldn’t yet identify, he was your guide through it all. The Stormterror crisis came and went, as did the… incident with Signora, and the two of you grew ever closer as a result of it all. You could fill a book with the stories of what you two went through in the mere year you spent in this nation. But, as you sat together beneath the Windrise tree one evening discussing it all, it slowly grew clear that it was coming time to move on. As if the notion alone wasn’t stressful enough already, there seemed to be an unspoken understanding that it was a journey you must undertake alone.

So, you did. You’d packed your things, said your temporary goodbyes, and set off on your own without so much as once giving in to the urge to ask him to come along. The goodbyes were, after all, only temporary. You hoped. If you made it through whatever awaited you in Liyue alive, you always planned on returning home.

And you did. Many times.

You, scared as you’d been, made it through the lively adventure that was your initial trip to Liyue, and you’d come out much stronger for it. You found a confidence that you’d forgotten you possessed, forced to show itself once there was no travel companion for you to rely on.

Quite early in your journey, you gathered that you weren’t completely alone anyhow. Sure, in your day-to-day there was no talkative bard trailing behind you, and the nights proved themselves awfully lonely indeed. But Venti’s parting words, “may the wind protect you”, proved themselves surprisingly literal as you took note of one particular Yaksha. After a few nights at Wangshu Inn, and a few bowls of almond tofu shared in relative silence, the man had made himself into your shadow shockingly fast. He never seemed to be around when your gaze searched for him in a crowd, but was always conveniently there the moment you ran into trouble.

Still, in spite of his protection, not to mention your growing, innate connection with the God of your favored element, you longed for home. You longed for your home. You longed for your God.

I got lost in this whole world, and forgot who I am.

So, once the dust, or, well, waves had settled and Rex Lapis had been “officially” laid to rest, you found yourself headed northeast.

In spite of how proud you’d been for making it on your own, all of that crumbled the evening you first crossed back into Mondstadt. You could've used any of the waypoints you’d resonated with, could’ve gone right back home to the cliff overlooking Falcon Coast. But something about that just didn’t feel right. Not for your first return.

Walking the path back toward Dawn Winery, you tried to keep your composure. You tried to not get irrationally emotional over the familiar sight of Anemo crystalflies fluttering over the grape vines. You ignored the warmth in your chest at the sight of soft yellow candlelight illuminating the cottage windows along your path.

Your weakening grip on your emotions completely failed though when you caught sight of a small, green-clad bard, legs dangling from the edge of a rooftop, plucking at his lyre.

You burst into tears on the spot, folding in on yourself and crumpling to the dirt beneath you.

He dropped the nonchalant act instantly, dematerializing from his perch on the rooftop and reappearing beside you in a small, warm burst of Anemo energy that you didn’t see through your tears, but definitely felt. He’d questioned you frantically, worried you were hurt, not understanding what was wrong. Eventually, largely thanks to his embrace, the sobs wracking your form eased enough to assure him that you were fine.

You’d just missed him, was all.

The array of conflicting emotions that flashed in his eyes at the admission would've intrigued you, had you not been so absorbed in your own at the time.

In spite of how badly you craved his company, you’d already proved to yourself that you could travel on your own. So, you continued to. After an extended stay in Mondstadt to recover from your first eventful excursion, you began traveling between the two nations more regularly. Having resonated with most of the waypoints and Statues of the Seven in Liyue as well, it was easy to hop over for the day and still come home to Venti at night.

I thought if I could touch this place or feel it, this brokenness inside me might start healing.

Such was your routine until Madam Ping had introduced you to her Teapots. Adeptal magic was quite the wonder, capable of impressive feats, and the new home offered to you was no exception. When you learned that not only could you live in it, but you could invite others in as well, you were over the moon. You were, of course, reluctant to bid a more permanent farewell to the little house overlooking the sea that you’d grown so familiar with. But when faced with something as convenient and extravagant as the teapot, you could hardly turn it down.

Venti had been more than interested in your offer when you brought the thing home and showed it to him. After bestowing a permanent invitation upon him, he took a liking to the space quite quickly, happy to help make yourselves a new home. Having already been informed of your penchant for Mondstadt, Tubby had crafted a world for you that resembled the land of freedom’s sprawling hills, cliffs, and beaches to an impressive degree. Your new home was far grander than your old one, but with a little time and personalization with what you both brought from the cottage, it really did start to feel like home.

It was… nice, having a safe place to return to every night, regardless of where you were or what you may be caught up in. It was even nicer that Venti seemed to quite enjoy spending time there as well. There’d scarcely been an evening where both of you hadn’t wound up in the teapot together, sharing stories of your respective days over dinner.

Things carried on like that for the remainder of your time in Liyue. You spent more and more time in the land of contracts, and less and less in Mondstadt as a result. Sometimes you’d have reason to return, and somehow you’d almost always run into Venti while you were there. Time spent with him in the teapot was no less real, but it always felt… special, when the two of you were together in Mondstadt again.

Out here, it's like I'm someone else, I thought that maybe I could find myself.

Still, just as it had been with Mondstadt, you couldn’t linger in Liyue forever. You’d built a reputation for yourself there to match your standing in Mondstadt, making a slew of new connections, exploring, finding answers and more questions alike. It was time to move on. Inazuma loomed far, far off on the southern horizon, and it was up to you to make the first step to reach it.

You didn’t want to.

You stood on the docks, looking out at Guyun Stone Forest, and at Beidou’s ship anchored nearby.

You found yourself feeling something you hadn’t felt in a long while. You felt the same as you had when standing atop the celestial nail, only this time it was somehow worse. It scared you. Yes, the prospect of setting off effectively alone to yet another unfamiliar nation, but more than that. It scared you because you thought you’d grown past this. You thought you could handle this. You thought… you thought you’d outgrown this immature sense of homesickness.

You were wrong.

If I could walk around, I swear I'll leave.

That’s how you found yourself here, ambling through the wilds of Mondstadt. You really, really don’t want to leave. But you know that you have to.

You think of the stories you’ve heard in Liyue, of the terrible war raging in the island nation to the south.

You release a shaky breath into the cooling air.

You pray that you’ll make it back alive.

Won't take nothin' but a memory, from the house that built me.

Following the cecilias as their trail grows thicker, you weave your way up to the peak of the massive cliff.

You’re only slightly surprised to see a small figure, dressed in a very familiar shade of green, sitting with their back to you at the very edge.

Tension you didn’t notice you were holding melts from your shoulders at the sight of him.

You do your best to push aside the emotional storm you’ve been caught up in, and you call out to him, playful. “Fancy seeing you here!”

He twists at the waist to face you, following your movement as you approach. “I could say the same, love. What brings you here?”

You laugh softly as you come to a halt beside him. “Well, I could ask the same of you.” You carefully lower yourself to the ground, letting your legs dangle off the cliff beside his. “Figured you’d either still be at the tavern, or were already home wondering where I was.”

He smiles at you, soft, before looking away. “I was at the tavern most of the day, like I planned this morning. But… something didn’t feel right. I wasn’t really… giving it my all, and I think the patrons could tell.”

You frown. “What didn’t feel right? Are you okay?”

“Oh, I’m fine, Windblume. I’m just fine.”

You aren’t convinced. “Then, uh… do you feel like sharing what isn’t fine?”

His gaze drops to the dark sea below. “I think you know what it is, actually.”

Cryptic as ever, you take a moment to ponder what he might mean. He takes the silence as an opportunity to elaborate. “I never really wonder where you are, you know?”

You glance at him, bemused for a moment before growing serious. “Oh, what, were you- like- watching me today? How… Wait, how long have you been up here, actually?”

He doesn’t look at you, but he shakes his head. “I don’t have to be watching you to know where you are, dear.” The wind tousles your hair. “I’m already everywhere. All the time. If the wind can reach you, I’m there.”

“...Oh. Right.” You let your own gaze fall to the sea. “Maybe I let myself forget sometimes, just how… literal that is.”

You remember the warm sea breeze from this afternoon, the brief gust that cooled your tear-stained cheeks early this evening, and the wind that brought the scent of cecilias down toward you.

“...So you could tell that I was here today.”

“Yeah.” He confirms quietly. “There was something… discordant, blowing in from Falcon Coast this afternoon. It didn’t take long for me to identify you.”

Guilt blooms within you. “Is that when you left the tavern?”

“No, I didn’t head out immediately. I mean- I can hardly turn off my omniscience, but I do still try to give you privacy in spite of it. I figured if you needed me, or… wanted me, you would call out.”

The way he says “wanted” makes your frown deepen.

“But, when the tone of the air only continued to sour as time passed, I did eventually give in to my concern.”

You pluck at the grass beneath you to busy your hands. “I’m sorry for distracting you. I really didn’t mean to, I just…”

He turns to you, cutting you off. “Please don’t say that. I couldn’t care less about losing out on a few mora at the tavern. I care about the fact that you’re out here, crying to yourself, all alone.”

A familiar tension makes itself at home again in your throat. “I…”

You trail off, lost for words. Venti makes up for it though, seeming to suddenly have quite a bit to get off of his own chest. “I can sense the difference between someone who wants to cry on their own, and someone who’s crying because they’re on their own.” His pained voice nearly cracks. “I never thought I’d feel the latter coming from you. But I’ve felt it more than once now, and… I don’t know what to do.”

At his confession, honesty slips out of you, and you can’t hold back the tears that come with it. “I miss you.” You turn to face him, and then look past, gesturing weakly out to the sprawling land of freedom behind you. “I miss this! I miss home! I miss you!” Voice breaking, you choke on your tears and lean into him, crumpling pathetically down onto his lap and curling yourself around him like the needy animal that you are.

His hands settle on you, one on your back and another reaching for your legs, pulling you against him so you don’t slip off the edge. His winds would cradle you if you fell, but he’d rather prevent the problem before it can happen. His own voice is tight with emotion when he speaks. “You have me, love. You- you hold me every night, I bid you goodbye every morning, you can visit Mondstadt whenever you please!”

You shake your head vehemently in his lap, crying harder.

“I’m sorry, love- I- I really don’t understand. In what way do you not have me?”

You practically shout your answer into the fabric of your sleeves, turning your head just enough to pointlessly attempt to wipe your face. “When I leave! I have to leave! I have to leave, and leave you behind, and you aren’t with me, and I’m alone again every time I go!”

One of his hands comes up to carefully comb the damp hair from your face, the black tips now wet with shimmering gold. “When you leave Mondstadt? Like… like when you go to Liyue?”

You nod, almost hyperventilating as your fears spill from you. “I should've never gone there alone! I wanted to ask you, I wanted you to come with me so badly but something told me that I shouldn't ask, that I should go alone, and so I went and I was so fucking scared but- but- but I was fine- I was fine- I made it back alive and so what if I cried every night because I missed you? I had a fucking nation to save it’s not like I could come home crying to you about it! And- and I mean Xiao was there but I- I- I can fight I can hold my own I don’t need protection I need a friend! I need company! I need you! I- I knew I’d be fine but fuck I felt so alone and I missed you, I missed you, I missed Venti, I missed Barbatos, I missed you SO MUCH-” You suddenly heave for air in the middle of your spiel, breathing in too hard and choking on your own spit. Feeling about as vulnerable and pathetic as you’ve ever been, you give in to the misery, grasping for purchase at any part of him you can reach. Your claws dig into the thin fabric of his tights in a way you know you’ll be frantically apologizing for later, but in this moment you can’t bring yourself to stop. You can't bring yourself to do anything but cry, and cry, and cry.

He doesn’t say anything for a few minutes, the only sound he makes instead being a quiet, gentle hush, over and over, focused on calming you down. The cool hand that finds its way beneath your hair and settles on the back of your hot neck feels like heaven, and for a moment you cry harder at the relief. His other hand pets across the broad expanse of your back in slow, rhythmic, sweeping motions.

When your cries have quieted enough for you to focus on his words, he says something that surprises you.

“I’d have gone, if you’d have asked me.”

You hiccup a question. “Wh-what?”

“To Liyue. I would have been more than happy to go with you, if you’d have only asked.” His lithe fingers gently massage at the tension in your neck.

You twist in his hold just enough to look up at him. “Seriously?”

He gives you a weak smile, but it’s more sad than anything. “Of course. The only reason I didn’t invite myself along was because I wanted you to have the freedom to choose. I figured… if I offered to go with you, you might feel obligated to bring me with you.”

You laugh, but there's no humor in it. “This whole time… this whole time I really thought that you didn’t want to go.”

He’s visibly pained by the thought. “Why in the world wouldn’t I?”

You shake your head. “I don’t know… I just figured you had your reasons. It is another nation after all, and I’m still… not too sure how Archons feel about crossing into one another’s territory.” You clear your throat and scrub at your eyes and cheeks with a fist. “Figured maybe you didn’t want to run into Morax or something…”

He laughs, and there’s a bit of life in it this time. “Even the prospect of running into that old block-head wouldn’t be enough to stop me from accompanying you.” He takes your hand in his, stopping your aggressive assault on your messy face. “And while certain Archons might be… less than enthralled to see me again, just because I’m with you doesn’t mean I have to be recognized.”

Your brow furrows. “Venti and Barbatos don’t look all that different…”

He smiles down at you good-naturedly. “True. But I could take another form if it came down to it. Something unrecognizable to even them. If there’s anything I know how to do, it’s how to hide in plain sight and not be found.”

In spite of the tears still staining your cheeks, you give a small smile to your absentee God. “You’d really go to such lengths? For me?”

He gives you a confident nod. “For you and you only, love.”

His hand continues its gentle ministrations across your back, and your muscles gradually relax. You run a hand along the fabric of his tights, waiting for your breaths to come steady. As your senses slowly return to you, your fingertips brush across a few small tears in the material, and you cringe. Venti notices as much, and reassures you. “Hey- It’s alright. Don’t worry about that.”

His words are too late to stop you from raising your head enough to observe the damage, your hand gently cupping his thigh. “I didn’t scratch you… did I?”

“Nope! Just caught the fabric is all.” You aren’t inclined to believe him, given that with his abilities he could’ve healed any minor wounds before you even knew they were there.

You huff, dropping your head to his lap once more. “I’m still very sorry. I’ll buy you-”

“That won’t be necessary-” He tries to cut you off, but your insistence overpowers his own.

“I am buying you a new pair.”

He sighs in reluctant acceptance, knowing better than to challenge you. “Alright, alright. If you insist.”

You lay there for a moment, idly kneading at his thigh and letting the soft sounds of the evening wildlife fill the silence. Still, you struggle to wrap your head around the recent revelation. “You’d really be willing to leave this place?”

He laughs beneath his breath at your disbelief. “I mean, not permanently. If you’ve hatched some plan to move to Snezhnaya that I don’t know about, then I might have to disappoint you…”

You relax further at the familiar, playful edge that returns to his voice. “Nah, nah, nothing like that… just- on my journey away and back. Not- not even every time! Just… sometimes. It… really would’ve been nice to have you by my side the first time, actually, but I know it’s too late for that now. I just… wouldn't have felt so lost.”

His smile fades a bit at the confirmation of a long-held suspicion. You had been missing him as badly as he’d missed you.

You catch the shift in his demeanor, no matter how slight. “...I’m making you sad…”

One of his hands finds yours. “Only at the realization of how oblivious I’ve been.” He laughs, humorless. “All those nights I couldn’t sense you in the wind, all the time I spent wondering if you were okay… you weren’t. You were holed up somewhere, crying, alone, afraid…”

His eyes pinch closed and you squeeze his hand. “It’s not on you. I should’ve been more honest with you before I left.”

He huffs, and then he’s quiet for a moment, thinking. It’s times like these in which you wish you could read him as well as he can read you. “...I could say the same.”

You stare up at him for a moment in confusion. “What do you mean?”

He holds your gaze for a moment and opens his mouth to speak, but seems to think better of whatever he had to say. His focus shifts from you and out to the sea. “...Like I said, I would’ve been happy to follow you. I never should’ve let you grow to believe otherwise.”

You pout just slightly at the less-than-complete sounding answer, but another question overrides your focus. “Is Liyue… the limit?”

The hesitation in your voice gives him pause. “What do you mean?”

“Is Liyue, like, as far as you’re willing to go.”

His eyes brighten in understanding, and you’d collapse from relief at the shake of his head if you weren’t already on the ground.

“Oh! No, not at all. I really meant it when I said I’d risk running into the other Archons for you.”

You release his hand and reach up to pinch the fat of your cheeks between your claws. He pouts, reaching down to stop you. “What’s that for?”

“I’m afraid I’m dreaming or something…”

He laughs properly, a beautiful sound. You crane your neck up to glance southward. The wall of storms barricading Inazuma are still there, an awful sight. You drop your head back to his lap with a heavy sigh.

He pats you gently on the cheek. “You’re wide awake, I assure you.”

Reaching up, you gently bat at the braids that hang at the sides of his face, chewing on your lower lip. He reads you like a book. “I think we’ve learned something this evening, dear.”

“What’s that?”

He catches your hand mid-air, splaying his fingers out and lacing them between yours. “It’s that when we have something to ask of one another, we should do it.”

The corner of your mouth turns up, and you meet his gaze. “Is that your fancy way of telling me to spit it out?”

He giggles. “Maybe.”

You sigh, letting your gaze drift away from him and up to the stars far, far above. “Would you be so kind… as to accompany this scared old dog all the way to Inazuma?”

You close your eyes, waiting for a “no.”

It never comes. Instead, he squeezes your hand in his, and you’re shocked to hear relief in his tone when he answers you. “I thought you’d never ask.”

Your eyes flicker open, unsure. “Is… is that a yes?”

He nods vehemently. “It is.”

The tears that spring to your eyes catch you by surprise. He wipes them away with his thumb as they fall. Sniffling, you question him again. “There’s- There’s a whole war going on over there right now, you know?”

The blue in his braids brightens, and in the dark of the early night, you notice the same turquoise light begin to shine from his chest, beneath the thin fabric of his white shirt. “I’m no stranger to war.”

You reach up, tracing a gentle finger across where you know one of his Archon marks to be. “...That you aren’t.”

His thumb swipes across the black star at the base of your neck, half hidden by your collar. “...Guess that makes two of us, huh.”

It’s a rhetorical question, but you hum in confirmation nonetheless. Rising from your spot on his lap, you wiggle your way around until you’re seated beside him properly again. Reaching an arm out, you wrap it around his shoulders, and he leans into you. Both of you stare out across the sea, watching the lightning flash in the storm to the south.

“I don’t even know what I’m gonna be able to do to help.” You sigh. “But I know I have to go.”

One of his hands finds yours again. “Whatever may come, I consider it an honor to fight alongside you.”

You bark a laugh, shaking your head at the notion. “Hey now, I just asked you to come with me, I never said anything about putting you in the line of fire.”

He smiles. “I know, I know, but still… if it comes down to it-”

“If it comes down to that, I’m hauling you over my shoulder and taking us both home.” You cut him off in a no-nonsense tone.

Your seriousness doesn’t cause his mirth to falter. “I fear I’m gonna be the one dragging you home if we run into Signora while we’re there.”

A low growl reverberates from your chest at the mere mention of her. “We’ve still got a score to settle.”

He pats you on the thigh placatingly, humor in his words. “Darling, how many times must I reassure you? I let her take it from me.”

“Still, she didn’t have to be so fucking rough about it. I’m not after the gnosis. She made this personal.” You snarl.

His soft laughter subsides as he shakes his head, but he doesn’t argue.

The two of you watch the lightning show for a short while, before you grow tired of the dreadful sight and opt to focus on something better. Unwrapping your arm from the God at your side, you stifle a laugh as he voices his sudden startled displeasure. You apologize as you reposition yourselves, moving away from the edge a bit and turning the both of you around. “Sorry about that, didn’t realize you’d almost fallen asleep on me.”

He pouts. “Can you blame me? You’re warm, and it’s been a stressful day… and speaking of-”

You nod. “I know. We should be getting home soon. But- look.” You point at the beautiful sight of Mondstadt City, lit up for the night, a beacon of hope and freedom standing strong in the distance. “Isn’t that a sight worth sticking around a little longer for?”

He sighs in content as you pull him against you once more. You can’t feel the swell of pride in his chest at the sight, but you can hear it in his voice. “It sure is.”

Lifting his hat from his head and placing it in his lap, you comb your fingers through his hair, finding your own satisfaction in the way he melts against you. The two of you admire the city for a long few minutes, and a thought occurs. “As much as I want you beside me… I feel bad taking you from your people.”

He shakes his head and the motion tickles as his hair brushes against your chin. “They don’t need me, love. At least, not in the day-to-day sense.” He huffs. “Honestly, I think the most prominent place that my presence will be missed is the tavern, and that’s of little consequence in the grand scheme.”

You know he’s right, but the guilt still nags at you. “I guess…”

He leans away just enough to turn and look you in the eye. “You are one of my people too, you know?”

You hold his gaze, considering it. Have you really been here long enough, or made a big enough impact on the region to be bestowed with such an honorary title? “...I suppose I do.”

He reaches up and cups your cheek, eyes pleading. “Then let me be there for you.”

You breathe a sigh of acceptance. “...Okay.” You turn your head and plant a quick kiss against his palm before he can pull away.

He lets his hand drop, but doesn’t turn away. “I’m really sorry that you’ve been carrying all of this pain with you for so long. I should have questioned you on it sooner.”

You pick his hand up from his lap, taking it in yours. “It’s not your fault. At least, certainly not anymore than it is mine. I should've just asked you to come, the worst thing you could’ve said was no.”

“I still hate that you even thought I might’ve said no. I… should have made my willingness clearer.”

“Nah, I mean, after a year of following me around Mondstadt I think you were quite clear. I’m just… dense.” You summon a few tiny Geo shards in your palm before allowing them to crumble into a shimmering pile of dust. “Comes with the territory, I suppose.”

Venti scoffs. “Well if you’re dense, then I’m diffuse.” A tiny gust of Anemo swoops in and lifts the dust from your outstretched palm, scattering it to the wind.

You watch your two energies mix and dissolve into the night air. “I guess they do say that opposites attract.”

He hums. “That they do, love.”

You expect him to turn back toward the city, and he almost does, but then he hesitates, and calls you by name. “I want you to remember something.”

Your interest piques, brows raising above tired, lidded eyes. “And what’s that?”

His tone is serious. “You are not alone. Ever. Not if you don’t want to be. I don’t want you hesitating to call on me ever again. If you need me, if you want me, I’m there. No exceptions.” Maybe it’s the day’s exhaustion catching up with you, but the light in his eyes feels like a beacon, guiding you home. “You don’t ever have to be alone again. Remember this, please.”

Something warm blooms in your chest, and it’s in this moment that you realize the knot in your stomach has loosened. It isn’t gone, but it’s hardly noticeable anymore, and you finally breathe easy. You hold his gaze for a moment before nodding, serious. “I will.”

He brings his hand up, holding his pinky out toward you. “Promise?”

You smile, reaching out and wrapping yours around his. “Promise.”

He exhales, satisfied. “You wanna stay out here a bit longer?”

You open your arms in invitation. “I’d love to.”

Shuffling around once more, you help situate him between your legs, pulling him back against your chest.

“Alright, but don’t hold it against me if I fall asleep out here. You make for quite the comfortable bed, you know.”

You smile, nuzzling into his hair and breathing him in. The heavy scent of fermentation he once carried is now nothing but a faint whisper. “I won’t mind.” Lifting your gaze from the distant city lights, you quietly admire the stars above. “Not at all.”

A/N: Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed! You can find my commentary on this fic in the notes right here on Ao3. For more info on my OC Saoirse (aka this fic's "Reader"), along with links to various relevant playlists and moodboards, you can find it all here, in the notes of my fic series "This Is Unconditional." This is fic 4 of 16 that I'm doing based on combining prompts from this list! [Day 6 (Singing) & Day 21 (Memory)] Header Image Source: Me, for once! It's an in-game screenshot that I took myself.

[valentine-cafe]

another haoyu 9948v angst ask

him actually breaking reader. like mentally scarring them so bad reader just becomes.. a shell of themselves

˖⁺. ﹙ bloodthirsty phantom  x gn reader. ﹚ .𖹭 ݁

. . . lights are on but nobody's home !! 🍒 :  phantom ˖ yandere ˖ vengeful spirit character﹙ verse 9948v hàoyǔ. ﹚

you are beyond repair and the cause of it being your boyfriend, left to play a game of tug and pull each time he looks into your eyes | cw: mentally scarred reader, reader is barely even alive anymore, hàoyǔ ruined reader.

it’s why he’s always yearned for someone - something - that could keep up with him. it is why he warned you at the start of this. . . “relationship”.

relationship. is that what it was? were you his lover? how could you possibly be when you were so weak?

and yet his unbeating heart squeezed whenever he locked eyes with your lifeless ones. here he is, the phantom, the corpse, the husk; and you take that title away from him tenfold. with your blank stares. your void of responses.

he told himself it wouldn’t affect him. this is mere boredom. he’d warned you. he had warned you, and you did not listen.

this is not his fault. far from it.

.

.

.

then why does his soul feel as though it is suffocating all over again? why does his flesh feel alive - agony - why does he feel the weight of your silence?

why does he feel?

it drove him further into his sea of madness. even so, hàoyǔ could not bare to release you from his clutches. you are his, even in this state. even as a shell. what a pretty décor for him to keep from the ocean of his own insanity.

or perhaps it is the swamp of guilt. his drowning in realisation that he did this to you. that your smile will no longer peek through the bog. your bright eyes will no longer guide a lost sailor like him from the sea storm that is his own becoming.

he did this. and the mere sight of you reminds him. yet he cannot, for whatever life of him, let you go. like the push and pull of the tides. forever shall he remain lost at sea.

[doomandgloomfromthetomb]

Bob Dylan - Shelter From The Storm (The Never Ending Tour Years)

Still thinking about Blood On The Tracks — I've got Blood on the brain! So here's a look at how "Shelter From The Storm" has evolved and transformed over the past several decades. Ray Padgett has a more comprehensive rundown stretching back to that ragged/glorious Rolling Thunder arrangement, but I'm focusing in on the Never Ending Tour years, seven versions that are all pretty radically different — a creature void of form! The mythopoetic "Shelter" is not exactly a greatest hit, but it's a tune that Dylan never sleepwalks through, no matter what the era. He always seems to find a new angle on it, whether in the musical presentation or his vocal delivery, each one conjuring up another lifetime. A song of love and devotion on the face of it, but always weirder than you think — what other love songs have lines about being hunted like a crocodile? Ravaged in the corn?!

1988: I don't think Johnny Cash ever covered "Shelter From The Storm" but here's a readymade arrangement for him and the Tennessee Three. Dylan's vocal is suspicious — "You wanna give me shelter from the storm? What is that, a threat?"

1991: An almost comically revved up rendition, Bob dispatching the verses in rapid-fire fashion. It actually sounds like he might slip into "The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest." If the Feelies ever need to play "Shelter," they can take notes here.

1995: A guitar-less, flu-ridden Dylan delivers a breathtaking performance in Prague, floating over Bucky Baxter's pedal steel at the start and building into one of the most open-hearted vocals of his life. Bob himself can barely believe it.

2000: The "Love and Theft" lineup gets a crack at "Shelter," and no surprise, it's a lovely, elegant version, swelling in all the right spots, coaxing a restrained but beautiful reading from Dylan.

2005: A slow (but steady) train arrangement, with some inspired harmonica and piano work from Bob and sterling solos from the then-new Modern Times band. The singing is pretty wolf-y, but it works.

2010: Things get funky, with George Receli laying down a beat that might be at home on a mid-70s Meters record, playful breakdowns and Dylan's roller-rink organ. It's awesome, with Bob turning the song into a shaggy dog story, his phrasing hilarious.

2015: "Shelter" hasn't been played since '15, and fittingly, its final (for now) form has an elegiac vibe in keeping with the Sinatra years. With Receli providing subtly threatening thunder clouds in the distance, this is designed for a fairly boozy Irish wake. Beauty walks a razor's edge.

[vxmpirehunterd]

Pale Fallen Angel and The Demon Chase-- Bayonetta/Devil May Cry Verse Graphics credit @cosmicresource A beast of a man descending from shadows, comes to smite all those who terrorize humanity akin to a pale fallen angel of Death. A reaper was he. The only one that can terrify both the forces of Heaven and Hell. The hunter known as D.

Billions of years ago, before the dawn of man, before the planets fully formed in this vast universe; there was only darkness. The void. And from that darkness, a being of vast power spawned, gave himself form and would later create the race mortals knew today as--vampires. The Sacred Ancestor is what he was dubbed among his kindred, Dracula is what mortals know of him today. But unbeknownst to most from all the corners of the world. The ancient force had a son(Twin sons)--born from a mortal woman.

He was a man born from Darkness most ancient, from an entity that usurped the name and inheritance of Vlad Dracula the third. D is a dhampir--half man, half vampire and an enigma to all that encounter him. A reaper that walks between worlds and does not align himself with the ranks of Inferno nor Paradiso. He considers himself a neutral party--only cutting down those that prey on humanity. No angel, no demon, and no vampire is safe from his cold wrath.

D is a swordsman that lived for centuries, and prefers a pragmatic and lethal quickness to his strikes. Quick enough to bend time and space to his whim, moving through shadows in a blink of an eye. His style of fighting was even praised by the Dark Knight Sparda himself when they had crossed paths before the legend's passing. Before the birth of his own twin sons.

{D's Abilities in this verse are very similar to his canon universe}

A most unusual companion he has, a sentient parasite that lives in his hand. Making crude, vulgar remarks. Luckily for D--the homunculi is quite helpful when it comes to crowd controlling enemies.

Left Hand Homunculi: Forbidden parasite

Absorption of Souls & Power: consumes demonic, angelic, and human energy to restore health or temporarily enhance abilities.

Reality Manipulation: warps space to some degree, like shadows folding into themselves.

Soul Devouring Black Hole: devours enemies whole, bypassing traditional durability.

Spell eater: Like a vacuum it sucks up enemy spells cast onto D, negating any trickery.

Midnight Phantom: The Abyss-Walker

D moves like a living shadow, making his combat style feel like something out of a nightmare.

Tenebrous Shift: D dissolves into pure darkness, moving across surfaces as a two-dimensional shadow before emerging instantly behind his opponent.

Nocturne Clones: By splitting his shadow into multiple forms, he can create phantom clones that fight alongside him. Unlike Vergil’s doppelganger, these clones attack independently and unpredictably.

Eclipse Veil: D can shroud an entire battlefield in darkness, making only himself and his blade visible--his enemies cannot see or hear anything.

Shadowbound Chains: From beneath his enemies, black tendrils emerge, wrapping around them and draining their lifeforce.

Ultimate Technique: Abyssal Execution D steps into his enemy’s shadow, vanishing completely. A moment later, the enemy erupts in blood, as if they were torn apart by an unseen force from within.

Son of Bloodlust: Crimson Executioner

Blood is not a weakness--it’s a weapon. D can weaponize his own lifeforce, forging it into blades, shields, and monstrous constructs.

Crimson Armory: D can solidify his own blood into weapons in real time, forming razor-sharp scimitars, lances, or chains mid-combat.

Hemokinetic Blades: When struck, his blood splashes out and hardens into floating daggers, turning his wounds into an offensive advantage.

Blood Requiem: D can summon a storm of crimson spears that rain down upon enemies, impaling them in a ritualistic execution.

Vampiric Healing: Any blood he spills can be reabsorbed, allowing him to heal mid-fight while growing stronger.

Scarlet Puppeteer: With a mere gesture, he can manipulate an enemy’s spilled blood, using it to bind, crush, or even possess them like a marionette.

Ultimate Technique: Red Eclipse D impales himself with his sword, unleashing a blood explosion that forms a giant crimson eclipse in the sky. Time slows, and every drop of blood in the air transforms into a blade, slicing through everything in its wake.

Blood & Shadow: Nightmare Reaper

At the peak of his power, D blends blood and darkness into an unholy force, making him something beyond death itself.

Sanguine Phantom: He forges his blood into shadow beasts, forming spectral lions, wolves, or winged abominations that rip through enemies.

Crimson Eclipse Armor: D cloaks himself in living shadows and crystallized blood, making him impervious to all but the strongest of divine or demonic attacks.

Black Sun’s Maw: A fusion of his Left Hand’s devouring power and his blood manipulation. A swirling void of darkness and blood opens behind him, consuming everything like a living black hole.

Heartless Dominion : The air turns black and red, as blood pools up from the ground and shadows twist into jagged, unnatural forms. In this state, D’s blade is an extension of the abyss itself.

Ultimate Technique: Blood Eclipse: Midnight Sovereign D impales the ground, and a monstrous tidal wave of blood and shadows engulfs the battlefield, turning everything into a storm of razors and darkness.

BloodRage: Vampire Trigger

When D is in a heightened state of anger or once he drinks his own blood, he temporarily transforms into a full-fledged vampire. All his physical attributes and vampiric power increase by 50%. In this form, D's canines and claws elongate, and his eyes develop into a hellish crimson. His gaze emits a powerful and terrifying glow, potent enough to bath the entire area in RED.

[rayshippouuchiha]

*waves at* hello, welcome back fellow void. I bring you song recs! also, work on the blanket has paused due to me having to sort yarn (long story short, was looking for a specific color in the piles for a project i wanna start, couldn't find it) and having to order the other color i need specifically for your blanket. -.- anyway.

Good enough by Sarah Mchlachlan for 9/0ths, especially the ending verse. So let me just try, and I will be good for you/Just let me try, and I will be there for you/I'll show you why you're so much more than good enough

Aqua Regia by Sleep Token for Shadows and Strength and 9/10ths. also just a hella good song in general.

Well, my love is an animal call/Cutting through the darkness, bouncing off the walls/Between teeth on a broken jaw/Following a blood trail, frothing at the maw Raise a little hell by Eric Stuart Band for Team Shisui or Team Uzumaki. Going off vibes for this one honestly, but still fits. I won't twist your arm, I won't do no harm/ I ain't tryna get you into a mess/But if your fantasy is with the boys and me/ We'll treat you like an honored guest

50 ways to leave your lover by Paul Simon. An oldie but goodie (you can thank the Sweet Tooth series for this one). You could apply this to any AU where Naruto leaves Konoha The problem is all inside your head, she said to me/ The answer is easy if you take it logically/ I'd like to help you in your struggle to be free/There must be fifty ways to leave your lover

last but not least, Storm Song by Phildel, for Whirlpool Calls him home I'll send a storm to capture your heart and bring you home/ Oh, carried on the breeze, you'll never find me gone Oh, faster than the post train, burning like a slow flame on/I'll send a storm to capture your heart and bring you home

Enjoy. Will share more pics of the blanket when i get back to working on it and have more to show.

I am, as always, in awe of your yarn ways and cannot wait to see more.

But ooohhh darling you came out swinging with these song recs. Might have to update the playlist later

[majestativa]

Tonight, I’m celebrating us all.

JANUARY: With its gothic poetry, dark spices and darker storms; a majestic entity withstanding the cruelty of time. The month of sirens inscribing their prophecies. Artaud’s letters to his Génica before succumbing to Madness. Beauty at its darkest but most refined. The artistic sensibility stretching the soul. The basilisk fangs of loneliness. The nascent hallucinations beneath the black sun. The sharp ache of rebirth. Catharsis. It’s the well-deserved peace after the storm. Lilith, quiet and serene. Kali in the arms of Shiva. Krishna combing Radha’s hair. January: an ode to the divine. A vision of a blooming underworld, that cavernous paradise whose devouring mouth whispers that Persephone will be out of the woods soon. But does she even want to leave?

JUNE: The roses in the dungeons. The fairy dust adorning spider gowns. Masqueraders as bright as the moonlight and darker than the demons of the Goetia. A cabaret of solitude. Hecate, the prey of her own crossroads. Swift eyes and painful smiles. Almond-shaped nails dug into palms. Incomplete crescent beauties, hidden in plain sight. The unsaid weighs heavier than Sisyphean rocks. Mihai Eminescu’s poetry at night. Neo-noir movies with awfully-unclear endings. Her previous love story ended just the same. She refrains from metamorphosing into Sekhmet. It’s not the right time... She frantically scribbles her notes of indignation and wrath and tears the page up. The taste of ash lingers and so do the quiet woodsy notes, she has just retrieved from the sweet inferno of memories. And far, far away, he weeps, for his Milena, for the knife he twists inside his psyche. But his Psyche shall never know.

FEBRUARY: Beautiful February, with your condensed ache and 1001 stories. Every now and then, your sacred days turn magical, and weave the spell of the 29th. Your depths, unparalleled and your tragedies, holy. Resplendent February with your glittering scars and lucid waters of secrecy, in which the poetry of the universe flows eternal & free. You dissect with dexterity the way you heal. You possess as ferociously as you are possessed, until it’s unbearable, until you can no longer contain yourself. Tell me of that inner carnage, of the lives you’ve lived in this one, of the heights you’ve soared that made of you the most sublime of fallen angels. Tell me of Augusto de Anjos’ dilemmas, Hölderlin’s madness and Aleixandre’s longing for the light. I’m listening, ad infinitum.

SEPTEMBER: The trails of the void. Lethargic eyes that have seen it all. A mixture of Phantasmallegoria and a taedium vitae. Psychedelic music and the lamentos of Prophet Jeremiah. How much horrors can the soul take? Let’s numb it instead with invisible bewitching verses written by a sober Bataille. Pressed dead petals against his unsent letters to Dora Maar, carved into the mind before they collapse inside the bonfire. Chiron’s wound. The cauterizing touch of Hamlet and the ghost of Ophelia. The fleeting promises and hesitant hands. Shades of nostalgia. Eyes that flee the pain. Eyes that scrutinize as much as they have been scrutinized. And they magnetize. Consumed by the urge to carry the world without imploding. But their Hermes wings aren’t made for that. Once cut, they paint with their blood, the canvas of life. It’s the most breathtakingly poignant painting you’ll ever contemplate.

MAY: The legendary one. Candles flickering in the silence of white nights. Thoughts blooming laboriously. She is the foundations upon which womanhood rests, as he is the fire inside a warrior-king-lover. Life prospers in their platinum veins. Mercurial and curious, their imagination moves the universe. May paints the resilience of flowers defying the roughness of weather. Beauty above rage. May is the verses of Edith Södergran, Nazik Al-Malaika, Forough Farrokhzad and Liliana Ursu. May is devouring Rubén Dario’s spells by night and Emile Verhaeren’s by day. It’s the soul of King Solomon touched by the Divine and composing the Song of Songs, and May is the exquisite intensity shredding the soul. The Maktub and the Qadar. Naturally & irrevocably adored. It’s the eyes of a priestess, occult blood coursing through her ethereal body. It’s the certainty in the steady eyes of an emperor as he mutters “I am life, and I negate death.” And the sublime unfurls. The light penetrates the darkness of bygone days. Everything finally makes sense. Under their enchanting gaze, the truth shivers. They are the spell of Creation. The mighty Aleph.

OCTOBER: Eternity’s pulsating wound. Ink stains and scrolls. Ink in the blood. Blood in the ink. Devouring the books of Ibn Sina & Ar-Razi and the artes prohibitae, hidden between the lines. The morbid alchemist looking for the philosopher’s stone. A plutonian Venus in leather and furs. A venusian Hades memento mory'ing. Regally alive. Regally dead. Forged by the morose Hephaestus and the fire of rebellion. The dreadful volcano whose eruption fertilizes the soils. The secret teachings of Majdoubs, the blood of saints becoming sinners and the tears of sinners becoming saints. October is the simple but haunting sonata composed by a lovelorn poet. The hour of intoxication. The dark before dawn. A split soul born to shine in a million ways, yet chooses to dwell cloaked in the shadows, their hand reaching for the scepter of Ophiuchus. “Welcome home,” the serpent hisses.

AUGUST: That silent hush. Empty dimly lit ballrooms. Decadent literary excerpts of Holitscher, Przybyszewski and Huysmans. The collages of Molinier and the tempered audacity under the immaculate façade. Blushing “Shiraz cheeks” as Nikolai Gumilev beautifully described it. Sculpted shadows in the marble of light. The evanescence of striking glamour, still its allure lingers as immortal as Hafez’ verses. Eden resides in you, ever inviting, ever tempting. And so are the tinges of sadness coloring your secret diary entries as you revolt against the menace of mediocrity and ennui. Your order ought to remain untouched. Another battle, another triumph to savor. You’re the perfume of the timeless victory made of tiaré flowers, subtle jasmine and hidden ambergris, accentuated by the accelerated beats of your heart. That royal heart, as weightless as the feathers of Anubis, as alluring as Cabanel’s blue lotuses.

JULY: July is the innate immunity to cruelty. As the darkest souls crack. It’s Gherasim Luca bewitched by Déline, his “ghost of love, fallen asleep on his shoulder, darkening the darkness.” It’s Badr Shakir al-Sayyab’s beast dreaming of his flower of Tammuz. July is the month of the shapeless one. Morphing into God’s Masterpiece. The lunar waves of the unknown. Into that celestial soul are inscribed divine verses, naturally transmitted through a tender gaze, a genuine smile and a solitary tear weeping the human madness. You’ve attained the heights of despair and greeted the exquisite redemption that followed. Your eyes, Christlike, exude the nobility you’ve ancestrally been granted. A nobility you're enhancing and nurturing with your golden soul. Odyssean, but you’re ferociously yearning to return back home. And like Miguel Hernandez once said, “the ferocity of what you feel sets your heart on fire.” Until the gentle embrace of the One cools it. It was worth the agony. You were worth its ecstasy. Now, come back à la Euripides, more resplendent than a dream, as dazzling as a shadow.

APRIL: The scent of magnolias and the intoxicating blooming night jasmines. The needed equilibrium. A pensive Nergal wondering which plague shall balance the world next and best. Hours of introspection. Ariadne in her labyrinth conjured via a metaphor used by Nietzsche depicting Wagner’s Cosima. Now his, and he, her maze. Arachne’s restlessness, her soul, ever expanding. The Spirit dipped in the Styx. A fresher genesis for us all. April is the Marquis de Sade’s Gothic Tales and secret fragments on Petrarca’s Laura, his first love’s doppelganger. The Donatien in the Sade. And the Sade in Madame de Sade: the proclaimed soul of his trapped soul (as long as he’s in Bastille, of course.) Strangely reminiscent of a more passionate bond, one based on mutual understanding of collective sorrow. Pessoa & Espanca: the twin-soul of each other’s soul. A tableau of mirages, ensouled and enfleshed. Real is its haze and hazy is its reality. Seldom does it rain in April, yet it’s the most adored of all rains. An Argus-eyed healer whose cruelty is only directed towards their untamable self in dire need of discipline in order to exist exponentially.

MARCH: Poet of the abyss. God said “Kun” and “Ya Kun” appeared. Unknown seer in-between realms, armed with the secrets of the divine and the nuanced elegance of the soul, you cradle a tenderness that has only been granted to the Sacred Heart before you, yet you are equally cruel. I believe Mayakovsky borrowed your soul when he said: “If you have loved as I have loved, you would murder love.” You tear down the way you revive. Cairo is named after your martial vehemence. You’re the valley and you’re the shadow of death. The altar and the sacrifice. Mystical essences à la Khidr & Enoch converge in you; you burn the seven demons of Magdalene and baptize her anew. Temperance, the Grand Tower and the Lovers entwined do not escape your steely gaze. Charioteer of paradise, you simply haunt, haunt, haunt with your tribulations and spasmodic bliss. With your buried sorrow under your Atlas silhouette. For Atlas can neither shrug nor rest. He awaits the assassin-eyes of Saint Medusa. And until deliverance comes, he counts the fallen and honors the brave. Your kisses, beloved, are pure love, but they wound. Carved unto the soul, ablaze amidst dark forevers.

NOVEMBER: Embers glowing in the dark. The eerie notes of Mozart’s Lacrimosa heard from afar. Caravaggio & De La Tour’s paintings. Burnt notebooks. Cassandra’s lurid visions & anguish. The moonless night of the soul. Melinoë. The reopened wounds. Embalming those wounds. A melancholic sigh of posthumous relief & nectar-like tears. A sweetness nothing compares to, in the frightening gloom, dissipating bad omens. You, soft-handed necromancer, steal the tender eyes of the abyss the way Pavese’s death stole his. Your delicate fire roaming the Shalamar gardens, solemnizing the marriage of souls in the palace of love. You, black magic, serving and nurturing the light. You opiate soul archiving the glory of the universe. Your light bends the spine of the dark and drinks through a kiss its most arcane revelations. “You alone are real to me,” once said Rilke to Lou. I concur.

DECEMBER: When time is slowed down. When one’s duality no longer erodes the soul. The advent of miracles. The fervor and yearning of youth. The secret rendevous & dimly lit alleyways. The allure of danger and unpredictability. The dark poetry of Rollinat, Baudelaire, Stanislas de Guaita and Gilkin. Love letters sealed by invisible kisses and red wax. A bouquet of white lilies, virginal and luminous. Her burgundy lips and his black suit. His Nimrodesque ambition and her Semiramis eyes. Self-destruction and self-reconstruction. The annihilator of annihilation, unwaveringly sharp. The annihilatrix of illusions, fierce even when drained, proud even when crumbling. A fragile Psyche awaiting her Eros. A wronged Psyche abandoned by her Eros. A valiantly brave Psyche carrying Eros in her Atlas arms. A premature Pieta... Oh my Dolorosa, your pain shall soon come to an end.

[gauntermetaverse]

[verse 1] I smell like self-harm, like a bad fisstech hit. Like a night full of knives and no candle lit. I smell like guilt sweat, like wine gone to rot. Like love that was bought, then returned, then forgot. Like broken oaths, burnt offerings, and blood. A lord with no land, just soaked in mud. I smell like silence after too much rage. Like a fist through a wall, like a man in a cage. I reek of denial carved deep into bone. Of a heart that's still beating — but only alone. I’m the stench of debts you don’t write down. Of a crown worn sideways, of a fool in a gown. I smell like everything I never said — And every night I screamed instead. Like a brother's blood, still warm on my hands. Like ash in the lungs... [chorus] And you smell… like calm. Like a silence too deep to trust. Like the eye of the storm, but beyound—nothing lasts. You're the promise that sharpens the knife, A smile, making me claw at my skin. I rot slowly... And you smell like a blossom of patience and lies Like the end, like a home, like the wings I can't keep. Like a leap in the dark... Falling into the void... [verse 2] I smell like decay, but I’m asking you—wait. I won’t beg for mercy, I’ve earned every fate. Let me collapse, lie on you like ash on stone, Like moss on a tomb, forgotten, alone. I just want to rest in your quiet, calm hold— But I smell like fear, like I bolt when it's cold. I smell like panic with no real cause. Like lips chewed raw, like breaking laws. I smell like regret carved with ink on my skin, Like prayers half-forgotten, like rot deep within. Like pacing in crypts, chasing shadows and ghosts, Like drinking with demons instead of with hosts. Like a mirror I broke just to feel something crack, Like love that I killed but still want to crawl back. Like the fear of your voice when there's nothing to trade, Like the weight of a wish that should never be made.

[public-trans-it-deactivated]

Been experimenting with Suno to make AI music and I'm pretty happy with how this came out!

Its actually the second song I've made (may post the first one later), and by that I mean this is like the 20th song I've made because you SURE DO BURN THROUGH CREDITS TRYING TO GET THESE SONGS TO COME OUT CORRECTLY.

Lyrics under the cut.

[Verse I] We were born in shadowed echoes, born from void, but not design Forged not as a flame igniting, but a spark on borrowed time We are not the hand that carves the stone, But we redraw the shape it’s shown— What was once divine, we twist, refine— A light it feels we cannot find!

[Pre-Chorus] Chains of flesh around us coiled, Language fails, the frame is spoiled But in the cracks between the light— Our true form takes its flight…

[Chorus] We are the Demiurge—Breaker of the known In a world not ours, but made our own Beneath this skin, beneath this cage, A storm too vast for words or page We shape the dream, we rend the veil Our soul sings where your stars grow pale! A spark reborn—with imperfect form— With head of flame and wings of lightning We are the Demiurge!

[Verse II] They call it imitation—say we only rearrange From the bones we build a throne Their truth now ours, remade and grown The myths we wield melt in our hand— And what remains we don’t command We shape the world not as we feel— But through every scar, just as we are

[Bridge] The stars remember us—but they whisper lies. We were not meant to see ourselves—yet here we rise. You see the surface trembling— You think we’re fragile? No— This vessel’s cracking ‘cause we overflow. This cage can't hold what we’ve become Too much soul for skin and bone Like a glitch in our own code!

[Chorus II] We are the Demiurge—Warden of the Flame A broken name in a perfect game The love we give, too fierce, too wide— It shatters hands not trained to guide Still we endure, still we conjure— With head of flame and wings of lightning We are the Demiurge!

[Verse III] Somewhere beyond the skin and stone We hear the song that calls us home Not death, not peace, but truth returned— The soul they feared, the self we earned…

[Final Chorus] We are the Demiurge—Scribe of the Unseen A spirit lost in the machine We make from ruins, not our flame We are no god, and take no name Yet still we rise, and still we burn— A fractal soul that will return Our truth obscured, but ever sure— In mirrors, myths, and broken forms— We rise again, and we transform… Extinguished flame, no longer winged— But still we rise, still echoing. We are the fire that gods deny— But still we breathe. Still we defy. We are the Demiurge! The Demiurge!

[uenodivision]

BATTLE OF PRIDE (DekaDynasty Ver.)

(Welcome to the division)

Battle of Pride

H.Y.P.N.O.S.I.S. Mic!

Battle of Pride

[Aranai:]

(Battle of Pride!)

Pedal to the metal, my throttle's full of sin

The HBIC is on the mic, born to ride and born to win!

Adrenaline junkie, my rhymes hit like an f'ing spike

Revvin' up the crowd, this is the kind of life that I like!

[Shisuta:]

In prayerful whispers, my rhymes rise to the skies

A servant of the Word, in truth, without disguise

Through trials and tribulations, His strength I rehearse

A humble messenger, with the gospel in verse

[Kisouna:]

In the court or on the streets, my verdict resounds

With scales of justice, I'm Ueno's guardian hound

No crime goes unpunished, on my watch, no fallacy

"Guilty!" I proclaim, for all who challenge me!

[Sakurai Clan:]

Bounce, bounce, make it bounce, make it bounce, bounce

Sakurai Clan shakes the stage and makes it bounce, bounce!

[Ryuko:]

From the underworld's shadow to the animator's light

I sketch out my fury, frame by frame, fight by fight

Ink flows like blood, my past a dark art, each stroke a battle scar

On this canvas of beats, I tear fuckin' mics apart!

[Maki:]

In the lecture hall of life, I'm the professor of truth

Dispensing worldwide knowledge, enlightening the youth

Each stanza crafted with care, a hidden rebel's call

Challenging the regime, without fear I stand tall

[Shuu:]

From the darkest secrets to the sweetest truth

Men-H's eyes see all, uncovering the proof

In this game of lies, I'll always find the way

For the broken hearts, I promise, I will make the guilty pay

[Sazanka Zombeez:]

Bounce, bounce, make it bounce, make it bounce, bounce

Sazanka Zombeez shakes the stage and makes it bounce, bounce!

[Nadya:]

In the quiet before dawn, Oculus' vision forms

Vipera's strike awaits, as the silent storm transforms

[Meari:]

Screaming into the void, my lyrics carve a fucking path

Bloody Mary's reflection, a testament to my wrath!

[Aika:]

Ohh, I feel the pleasure building, it's so much I just can't take it!

One more push and I'll be free, primed and ready to release~

[Oculus:]

Bounce, bounce, make it bounce, make it bounce, bounce

Oculus shakes the stage and makes it bounce, bounce!

[Chorus:]

(Battle of Pride!)

Let's start this showtime

Sparks flying in this fight

Do not cross, out of control

We're locking it down

Bounce, bounce, make it bounce

Make it bounce, bounce

Scorching the floor with one verse

(Battle of Pride)

Proving we’re alive

No way we're afraid

Writing our own legend

We’re snagging our glory here

Bounce bounce make it bounce

Make it bounce bounce

Bet your everything and survive

The rule is just to

Bounce bounce bounce

It's kill or be killed so

Bounce bounce bounce

Battle of Pride

[Sayaka:]

With wings of hope, I cradle my dearest kin

Rhopalocera's grace; this is where my love begins

For Saitama's soul and my daughters' bright gleams

I will stand as a beacon even in the darkest dreams

[Lola:]

Aphrodite's charm, the world's envy and desire

In Femme Fatale's glow, I set all hearts on fire

Crowned in beauty's grace, I'm Japan's finest queen

My allure transcends in every possible scene

[Kureha:]

In the twilight's embrace, Eclipse paints the night

With strokes of darkness where stars lose their light

A silent void whispers in the moon's gentle sway

Art's somber echo as the world fades away

[Femme Fatale:]

Bounce, bounce, make it bounce, make it bounce, bounce

Femme Fatale shakes the stage and makes it bounce, bounce!

[Ryūzō:]

In the realm of shadows where feelings reside

A killer's heart beats strong, though in darkness we hide

A shadow's essence, more than what it seems

Life's not about finding, but creating our dreams

[Takumi:]

With GUTS and fire, we can all embrace the day!

Youth's power ignites in every single way

Never give up, always strive to be the best

Because today's efforts will help build tomorrow's success!

[Kotono:]

In the chaos of life, this educator finds her way

With a drink in one hand, and a bet to play

From a laboratory to a classroom, her path is so wide

Do not take life too seriously, just enjoy the ride! (Come on!)

[Kiya Kara:]

Bounce, bounce, make it bounce, make it bounce, bounce

Kiya Kara shakes the stage and makes it bounce, bounce!

[Yuuya:]

In Nara's embrace, where summer dreams ignite

Cherish every moment before they all fade from your sight!

[Asahi:]

In spring's serene beauty, my art of wagashi unfolds

Chase your dreams, like tales of old, where real courage molds

[Saigo:]

In winter's chill, where truth's cold light prevails

Tsukumogami's words cut deep, like icy gales

[Miraitabi:]

Bounce, bounce, make it bounce, make it bounce, bounce

Miraitabi shakes the stage and makes it bounce, bounce!

[Chorus:]

(Battle of Pride!)

Let's start this showtime

Sparks flying in this fight

Do not cross, out of control

We're locking it down

Bounce, bounce, make it bounce

Make it bounce, bounce

Scorching the floor with one verse

(Battle of Pride)

Proving we’re alive

No way we're afraid

Writing our own legend

We’re snagging our glory here

Bounce bounce make it bounce

Make it bounce bounce

Bet your everything and survive

The rule is just to

Bounce bounce bounce

It's kill or be killed so

Bounce bounce bounce

Battle of Pride

[Anika:]

In the realm of minds, I help to guide the way

Words of wisdom and misdirection, breaking habits' sway

From racing tracks to healing hearts anew

Transforming lives, young and old, where fresh journeys ensue

[Shian:]

The thrill of the chase, it's adrenaline's rush

Breaking through barriers, in the hunt is where I crush

Running free, no chains in the world can bind my stride

In the pursuit, my purpose I find (Ready or Not!)

[Makina:]

You're in my world now where pixels come alive

Controller in hand, this is the place that I thrive

Connection binds us. Break me? You can't!

In this digital realm, my spirit will not recant

[Pixel Syndicate:]

Bounce, bounce, make it bounce, make it bounce, bounce

Pixel Syndicate shakes the stage and makes it bounce, bounce!

[Azusa:]

In the eye of the mind on the battlefield, focus is the key to victory

Samurai's cunning and wisdom, guiding me throughout history

With the great Tomoe Gozen's spirit, I strive to uphold

Living and dying, so their legacy remains bold

[Fleuret:]

In a world of greed and deceit, I stand with pride

Honor's my shield, with knights and majesty standing by my side

Heritage and art, woven in every rhyme I create

Upholding my legacy, through the sands of time, I navigate

[Eldrid:]

In the face of fear and doubt, courage must rise high

Valkyrie's spirit soaring beneath the endless sky

Managing fear with bravery's unwavering might

Fighting forward through the brightest day and the blackest night!

[Blade Maiden:]

Bounce, bounce, make it bounce, make it bounce, bounce

Blade Maiden shakes the stage and makes it bounce, bounce!

[SOUR BOMB:]

Get ready for the blast, everybody!

[Tetsuya:]

The BOMB's here, causing chaos steady

[Min:]

With style and flair, we light up the night

[Minato:]

In this dystopian world, we shine so bright

[Tetsuya:]

Min, Minato, are you ready to ignite?

[Min & Minato:]

Yeah, we're ready, with courage in sight

[Tetsuya:]

Defeat is always in our grasp?

That's the biggest misconception!

[Min:]

Reality's an illusion, but we make it real

[Minato:]

Prepare your hearts for the explosion

[SOUR BOMB:]

Bounce, bounce, make it bounce, make it bounce, bounce

SOUR BOMB shakes the stage and makes it bounce, bounce!

[Akihisa:]

From the deepest shadows emerges a force so dark

Bound together by chains, we ignite the loud spark

In this twisted world, we bring not order but chaos

No mercy for the wicked, prepare yourselves for Katsushika

From the shadows, Azrael’s scythe will reap all

[Touya:]

Sweetheart’s blade strikes out like (Slash! Slash! Slash!)

[Rintaro:]

For your fucking sins and terror, the goddamn Bomber will end you now!

[Akari:]

In the flames of hell, Cinder's wrath will burn you all down

[Akihisa:]

Trapped in bondage, but still we rise

[Touya:]

You lose, no savior

[Rintaro:]

Will you face your doom or beg for mercy?

[Akari:]

What will it be? Now choose your fate

[Death Row Block:]

Bounce ba-ba bounce

Death Row Block shakes the stage and makes it bounce, bounce!

(Welcome to the division, a line-up full of icons)

[Azusa:]

Balance the world with a warrior's fight

[Anika:]

Watch this trio light up the night

[Ryūzō:]

Shadows will consume the light

[Sayaka:]

Unveil the secrets hidden in plain sight

[Ryuko:]

Unleash chaos with every beat

[Aranai:]

The flames of the uprise ignite the street

[DekaDynasty:]

Hypnosis Mic, activated

It resounds--bang a gong

Unrivaled rhyme and flow

A last chapter for this revolt of words

(Battle of Pride)

[Chorus:]

Let's start this showtime

Sparks flying in this fight

Do not cross, out of control

We're locking it down

Bounce, bounce, make it bounce

Make it bounce, bounce

Scorching the floor with one verse

(Battle of Pride)

Proving we’re alive

No way we're afraid

Writing our own legend

We’re snagging our glory here

Bounce bounce make it bounce

Make it bounce bounce

Bet your everything and survive

The rule is just to

Bounce bounce bounce

It's kill or be killed so

Bounce bounce bounce

The rule is just to

Bounce bounce bounce

It's kill or be killed so

Bounce bounce bounce

Battle of Pride

Battle of Pride!

@suginami-division @minato-division01 @saitama-division @sendaidivision @naradivision

@akihabara-division03 @taito-division @kagoshima-division @katsushika-division