#incomprehensible dream spiel

[blackbird0blog]

SI!Sasuke

Summary: The general consensus around Konoha was that Itachi had driven me into incomprehensible, blithering insanity. It was a wonderful excuse for my personality transplant before and after the massacre. Honestly, I was a little embarrassed for them. They called themselves ninja yet didn’t suspect Sasuke’s body had been taken over by an alien. I wasn’t exactly hiding it.

“My name is Uchiha Sasuke,” I intoned, crossing my fingers before me. “I don’t hate much, and I have a ton of things I like. What I have is not a dream because I will make it a reality.”

The wind tugged at my fringe, only my pins keeping the mess that was Sasuke’s hair contained.

“I will erase the existence of Truck-kun from the multiverse.”

Hatake Kakashi blinked, utterly baffled.

“What on earth is a Truck-kun?”

My two teammates groaned.

“Not this again.” “Ugh, now you’ve done it.”

I shook my head pityingly at their ignorance while my fists clenched at the thought of my ancient enemy.

“Truck-kun is a cross-dimensional being of immense power, capable of reaping the souls of innocent people and stuffing them into unsuspecting, tortured children’s bodies. It stalks the multiverse, creating transmigrators and self-inserts by the dozen, and relishes in causing grisly ends where your brains get spattered all over the tarmac.” I shuddered in haunting remembrance.

Kakashi was giving me a look I had become intimately familiar with these past five years. From the look in his one visible eye, I think I’d managed to impress him by vastly exceeding the level of crazy he was expecting. My two teammates were used to me after all our years in the academy together and merely sighed.

The general consensus around Konoha was that Itachi had driven me into incomprehensible, blithering insanity. It was a wonderful excuse for my personality transplant before and after the massacre. Honestly, I was a little embarrassed for them. They called themselves ninja yet didn’t suspect Sasuke’s body had been taken over by an alien. I wasn’t exactly hiding it.

Kakashi gave us the whole spiel about there being an extremely low pass rate and not eating, then vanished.  

I sighed as I was left alone with my two equally unimpressed teammates of Team Seven, glancing over at them.

“Ah, the world is probably doomed.”

Shikamaru didn’t even look away from the clouds while Ino shot me an exasperated look.

“I think you’ve gotten even crazier since graduating, Sasuke-kun.”

I nodded solemnly. “That’s very likely, Ino-chan. You see, I'd held out hope that the protagonist would eventually join us after undergoing secret, individual training, but it seems like I was too optimistic. I must now accept my role in this universe.

“Seeing as the main protagonist is missing, I have concluded that I have been isekai-ed here as his replacement into the secondary character of importance.”

My gaze was grim as I met Shikamaru’s stare.

“This does not bode well for the dimension.”

The Nara let out a noise of pure exasperation.

“You don’t bode well for the dimension,” he retorted. “Oh man, this is such a drag. Why did I get stuck on this team?”

I continued without a hitch.

“However, this is likely good for my continued survival since I’ve been promoted to the main character and have thus gained plot armour. This is also good for you since you’re now my teammates and have also been promoted from a supporting role to key characters. Congratulations.

“You’ll likely suffer a lot, but at least you’ll come out alive,” I continued, then paused, brows furrowing. “Unless you’ve been designated as a sacrifice to provide me with extra tragedy and angst.” I hummed contemplatively. “In that case, I apologise in advance for your impending gruesome demise.

“But that’s highly unlikely,” I concluded. “You’re far too important to the plot to get rid of, so both of you will get out fine. Just make sure to train hard, or else all the gods we’re going to fight will walk all over you.”

Both of them were watching me speculate with identical looks of incredulous disbelief.

“Why me?” Shikamaru asked pleadingly, casting his gaze to the skies.

Ino groaned miserably. “It’s too early in the day for all your crazy.”

I glanced at her oddly. “It’s mid-afternoon.”

“Exactly.”

Hmph. They’ll see. They’ll all see.

XXX

The bell test was…

Well. It was something.

I don’t know if it was because I was so obviously Not Sane, but Kakashi didn’t seem to have a very high opinion of my ninja skills. I would have been insulted had it not been so useful. I knew the whole point of this test was teamwork, but I was… curious. How good was I really? How did I measure up to an elite jounin?

I used this opportunity to find out.

“The test will end when the alarm goes off.” He set the clock down on the stump. “Ready? Begin!”

Ino and Shikamaru instantly scattered while I remained standing in front of him. Kakashi met my gaze, looking just as unimpressed as I felt.

“You’re supposed to be hiding you know,” he said sardonically.

“You’re not supposed to meet the eyes of an Uchiha you know,” I said back, equally as dry.

Behind my black contact lenses, red pinwheels spun and combined, and Kakashi jolted as reality changed.

The colour leached from the world and a burning red sun lit the endless skies above us.

I was pretty sure the real Sasuke didn’t have the Tsukuyomi, but he also hadn’t been predisposed to illusions in the first place. I was capable of far, far more subtlety than he was (I just didn't use it often), so having the same eyes as Itachi was no great surprise.

The world I dropped Kakashi into was a perfect replica of the real world, only colourless and bereft of all life. The forest was unnaturally silent, even the stream burbled along soundlessly and I had vanished altogether, not bothering to project my mental avatar.

Kakashi instantly brought his hand together. “Kai!”

I let him try all the genjutsu counters he liked. Then, when he finally realised none were working, I made the leaves rustle.

He spun in that direction, kunai coming out and very clearly on edge.

Despite myself, I felt my lips twitch.

“Ka-ka-shi.”

The whisper echoed from all around, a high-pitched child’s voice that was incredibly creepy. Kakashi’s shoulders tightened.

There was no sound, nothing that a human could register, and yet something resonated unnaturally through the world. The sensation lasted a good few seconds, and then vanished as suddenly as it came. The disappearance of that hair-raising feeling caused it to feel like the world was holding its breath in anticipation. Kakashi circled around, both eyes peeled wide.

A moment passed, and nothing happened. The silence stretched. And then –

A crack formed in sky, and before the horrified eyes of the onlooking ninja, the world broke.

Another crack, and then another, and soon the whole red evening sky looked like it was filled with shattered glass as more and more rifts in space-time appeared.

They came in droves, pouring out of the corridor between dimensions, shapeless and formless, more shadow than substance. Some dripped like ink down from the gaping mouths of darkness, others oozed out and yet more emerged with a smoke-like appearance, all entering the world with an icy, unforgiving presence that bore down on the area.

The temperature plunged.

The shadow creatures did not belong in this world, but they came now. Hundreds of them swarmed in the air, flickering in and out of existence, drifting harmlessly like black clouds.

Operating the illusion, I mentally nodded at my army of dementors, satisfied with the results. This would make a good test-run for future opponents.

Faced with a pack of hundreds of soul-sucking abominations, Kakashi ran.

Itachi preferred boring illusions, like replaying the massacre of our family and stabbing swords into people’s torsos over and over again. Itachi also liked to monologue about his abilities.

I didn’t bother with any of that and simply sent the dementors chasing after him, mist creeping through the black-and-white world as it got steadily colder. I allowed him to aim for the village but kept him circling through the training ground like a false-surroundings illusion. I popped a dementor up in front of him, watching as his happiness was literally sucked out, frowning when Kakashi stumbled.

It was very likely that the more experienced the ninja, the more they would be affected by the dementors. That meant this should work well against the Akatsuki. Excellent.

Because I didn’t want to put him into a coma and because I was starting to feel a bit sorry for him, I didn’t use the full three days allowed. I returned us back and Kakashi was released without further ado, colour pouring back into the world.

Kakashi shuddered violently, keened, then fell to his knees. I clutched at my eyes as they returned to black, feeling the stinging overuse of my sharingan.

I wasn’t concerned about the Mangekyo blindness. I had secured my spare pair of eyes the very day I had awoken, having requested my parents’ bodies and sealed Fugaku’s corpse away in a scroll to preserve him. Fugaku had had the Mangekyo, that much I remembered. He'd only ever told Itachi, hadn’t even told the rest of the clan, so there was no reason for anyone to think that Fugaku’s eyeballs were anything special, hence why I had no competition for them.

I was just waiting until I stopped growing and the eyeballs fit in my skull to transplant them.  

Crossing the clearing to where Kakashi had collapsed, I bent down then plucked the bells from his waist, cocking my head when he didn’t even stir. I prodded the man with my toes. “Oi. You still there, dude? I even held back, don’t tell me you’re in a coma already?”

Shikamaru and Ino emerged from the bushes and trees respectively, looking both deeply shocked and horrified.

“Did you just… kill Kakashi-sensei?” Ino asked tentatively.

I crossed my arms. “No.” It came out rather whiny. Ino released a high-pitched, stifled scream.

“Besides, even if I had, Kakashi did tell us to come at him with the intent to kill.”

Shikamaru sighed heavily. “Oh man. What a drag.”

The Yamanaka turned on him furiously. “A drag? Is that all you have to say!” her voice was shrill. “This is more than just a drag! We killed our sensei in a genin test!” she wailed, clutching her blonde hair hysterically.

Shikamaru winced at the noise. “We didn’t do anything.” He pointed at me. “He’s the one who’ll get in trouble, not us.”

“Oi!” I pouted at him and was summarily ignored.

“Oh no. This can’t be happening, this can’t be happening,” Ino chanted.  

On the ground, Kakashi groaned and began to stir.

“Oh, thank god!” Ino gasped, clutching her chest.

“Hah!” I said victoriously. “I knew I hadn’t sent him into a coma!”

Shikamaru groaned and placed his face in his hands. “Why me?”

XXX

Kakashi had managed to pick himself up and was leaning heavily against the stump by the time the alarm went off. Shikamaru slouched on the ground next to him while Ino sat primly, tugging nervously at her clothes. I sat next to her and opened the bento box Kakashi had brought, sniffing it appreciatively.

“What?” I said when they all stared at me like I was the most insensitive person in the world. “Genjutsu is hard work you know; I’m starving.”

Kakashi cleared his throat. “Sasuke,” he paused. “What the bloody hell was that?”

“Genjutsu,” I said slowly. Had I accidently turned Kakashi into a moron? That didn’t bode well for the future. “I just told you that.”

Kakashi stared back at me with one tired, unimpressed eye. “Normal genjutsu can be broken. That wasn’t normal genjutsu.”

“Well yeah. It’s my best one. But then you did tell us to come at you seriously, and I wasn’t expecting it to be so effective to be honest – that was the first time I’d ever used it outside of training.” For some reason, that didn’t seem to make Kakashi feel any better.

“You were never any good at illusions in the academy,” Shikamaru said accusingly to me.

I blinked. “Uh… I guess? But the academy is pretty crap, you know. They don’t even teach how to break out of genjutsu, never mind creating them. Of course, we did have Mizuki as our teacher – who I’m 99% sure is a traitor – but still, standards have seriously gone downhill. It’s no wonder five-year-olds can test out in a year, that place is a mess.”

Okay, so only one five-year-old had ever tested out, and if you weren’t a transmigrator in the body of an Uchiha, you would probably find the academy somewhat challenging. But hey, ninja; if you’re not cheating, you’re not doing it right.

“Mizuki-sensei is-” Ino spluttered. “No, never mind.” She held a palm up. “I don’t want to know.”

There was a long silence as they deeply regretted all their life choices that had brought them to this point, and I continued to eat my bento.

“So,” I said, cheeks bulging like a chipmunk. “We passed, right? I mean, even if I had been absolutely useless, you would’ve passed us anyway, so let’s skip to the celebration.”

They stared.

“I’m the last Uchiha – Itachi doesn’t count of course – so I was always going to pass, and you two are clan heirs so there’s no way you were going to fail.”

Kakashi sighed like his soul was coming out of him. “Well, Sasuke’s not wrong. And I did tell you to go all out, so I can’t even blame you for obeying my instructions. Welcome to Team Seven,” he said, tone as dry as kindling.

I threw my arms up in the air. “Whoo! Go Team Seven! Let’s train hard so we can fulfil our destined roles assigned to us by the multiverse and ensure the continued existence of this dimension!” I held my palm up for a high-five.

There was a long pause before Ino awkwardly high-fived me, forcing out a tremulous smile. I beamed in response.

Shikamaru looked to the skies for assistance, looking so done. “Why me?”

[lovestuckyhatemarvel]

Dear Billy: how did you end up with such a fucking stranglehold on this show? Rest in Pieces you fucking dweeb.

1.) These agents are terrible at talking to teenagers.

2.) I wanna brush Jonathan’s hair. Just because it looks like he hasn’t done it in a while.

3.) I am glad Max is admitting it as soon as she figures out that she’s cursed. I think everyone at this point is tired of the ‘got bit by a zombie and hides it’ shit. Like yeah, she hid headaches and shit, but those are normal trauma things.

4.) Yeah, you wield that lamp, Steve.

5.) I know it’s mostly for the audience but Dustin saying they have bigger problems and then looking at Max should be absolutely incomprehensible to Lucas at this point.

6.) Erica is painting a mini and I love her. Oh Jason is talking to her. Erica, kick Jason’s ass. But also, ERICA, DON’T FUCKING TELL PEOPLE THAT SHIT. GODDAMN IT.

7.) I adore Steve’s ‘a little humility’ line and then sitting down like that. Lmao

8.) Murray is right. You can’t be late to a ransom exchange. That’s kind of dire. Also, you’re in Alaska. They’re in California. What the fuck are you gonna do for your kids from here?

9.) I haven’t mentioned in a while that stranger things or Netflix or both filmed in a holocaust site and then turned it into a tourist airbnb. That’s fucked up, y’all.

10.) of course the boring feds are watching boring golf.

11.) Mike, you literally can’t even tell Will that you need to tell El that you love her. How are you gonna tell El that you love her?

12.) Jonathan’s got PLANS. PIZZA PLANS.

13.) Does Argyle give that pineapple spiel every time?

14.) Lucas, Steve, and Dustin are all idiots if they didn’t immediately recognize these as goodbye-I’m-dead-we-failed letters.

15.) since when does max know a good lawyer. Is it Saul Goodman?

16.) Robin can not walk in heels.

17.) Robin to the rescue with an infodump filled with some laws. It actually works. I’m in love with Robin. Does anyone else think Nancy fell just a tiny bit in love with her after that speech? Loved the low five, btw, babes.

18.) ???????????????????????? Ok Yuri.

19.) Actually I’ve done a rapid turnabout. I love Yuri. He’s a goofy little cartoon man.

20.) Hopper with a stick vs guard with a gun. Who will win? Obviously hopper. Oh god, not the gross foot again. And now the sequel, Hopper with a chain vs guard with a gun. Well, a guard with a gun and then a wrench and then a gun again. Damn that gun was loud.

21.) Hopper did you not put your shoe back on?

22.) THat fucking explosion was hilariously big.

23.) None of these Russians can. Aim for shit.

24.) Hey, kids, I know one of you is cursed, but could you wear your seatbelts?

25.) I love Max so much and I’m gonna rip Vecna apart just for hurting Max. But also why did her mom just kind of leave her there zoning out???

26.) Robin and Nancy are a dream team.

27.) oh they fully copied Silence of the Lambs for this shit. Lmao

28.) Is that Robert Englund? I recognize him from his voice and silhouette. Oh hell yeah it is him. Casting Freddy Krueger in a role like this is actually very fun. Also the way they did his makeup/prosthetics is once again way cooler and more interesting and dare I say creepier than literally all the Vecna corpses combined.

29.) [emotional, tender music playing] over Will and Mike’s little talk. Friends. Best friends. Sure.

30.) Oh damn. People with guns. Honestly this is too much stress to put a fun stoner under.

31.) Okay Hop has a bit to go to get to the fucking church. Oh nvm. He’s like, there already.

32.) This escape is brought to you by JIF’s creamy peanut butter. When you have a busted foot and are on the run from Russian guards, there’s only one type of peanut buttery goodness that will keep you going.

33.) HEY. DUFFER BROTHERS. IT’S NOT SHOCKING IF YOU HAVE EVERY SINGLE FUCKING PLAN IN THE SHOW GO TO SHIT.

34.) The timeline of this season is extra stupid.

35.) Flashback time. “This was a SPAWN OF SATAN!!!’ It killed a rabbit. Like yeah later it turns into hallucinations but at first it was literally just killing small animals. Virginia’s death is so fucking goofy. Oh, Victor Creel was a war criminal. Super not understanding why Henry Creel did all this shit.

36.) Oh, my girls have been found out.

37.) March 29, 1967 to July 4, 1985. Here lies a dipshit.

38.) Max, I love you, but this dream is a tiny bit stupid.

39.) I don’t think the Duffer Brothers have ever mourned someone they hated. Especially not a family member. If I ever rewrite this scene, I’m going in a very different direction.

40.) Steve’s Overprotective Dad Senses are tingling. And he’s RIGHT. Also, I just realized that their eyes don’t go white, they go milky. Their eyes aren’t even rolled back. They go milky and bloodshot for some reason.

41.) Can we talk about how Billy the Racist Shithead got to be in this show and come back way more than LITERALLY EVERY OTHER DEAD PERSON COMBINED? Fuck this douche.

42.) Okay I’m gonna be real with you, but if Billy turned into Vecna, I’d laugh my ass off.

43.) Robin is the one who figured out the music.

44.) I love the music thing but I think there should also be the option of beating Vecna if you just fucking forgive yourself.

45.) Me walking through Vecna’s nightmare mindscape: Hey, have you ever seen that one melting clocks painting? Fuckin’ wild, right? I think you’d be into it. Anyway, I’ve done worse to myself, you ABSOLUTE FUCKING AMATEUR.

46.) Like for real, have the Duffers ever truly hated themselves? Because these Vecna visions have been kind of tame in comparison.

47.) The montage of moments actually is very cute.

48.) I bet some freaks on ao3 have done weird tentacle porn about Vecna.

[dailycupofcreativitea]

Man I just woke up from a super vivid dream where I was trying to get Cell not to host the Cell games. We had so many conversations 🤔😳

Incomprehensible dream spiel:

I invited him to wedding party that a friend of mine was having (in real life, she got married about two years ago so idk why I dreamt about it) so that Cell could learn about connections between people and what not. We sorta chilled there for a while before he got bored and left. People at the party didn't seem to notice he was gone. I looked around to find Goku who told me he could sense that Cell left.

I went to find Cell rollerblading (?) and failing at it so I tried to show him how and he angrily gives up (though imo he was embarrassed) and says he only let someone convince him to do it because he was bored and I told him he can't kill anyone until the Cell games. 😂

He tries to fly away but I convince him to go back to the party so he can learn at least one thing about one person and maybe that'll change his mind. We go back, eat good food (he looks mildly annoyed but more subdued at this point because people are actually talking to him) and then at the end we sit and Goku and I ask him questions about what his body is made of 😂 He let us touch his arms surprisingly so he was super subdued lmao. His arms kinda felt like a basketball if it was smooth, so kinda like rubber? And the black part was kind of like glass so I asked him if he's made of chitin and he said "yes...well, not entirely." 🤔

He gets bored again so I tell him, "Hey, the party is winding down and getting kind of boring. You wanna give them a little entertainment? Maybe we could do a mini sparring thing in the middle. You could watch them spar each other too." That got him excited 😂 But he didn't want to go back. I think it's because he found one or two people he didn't mind talking to and didn't want to go back in fear of getting placated and forgetting that he wanted to kill everyone?

We both fly (yay I could fly! It was hard though) up to the sky and while watching the sun set, in a last minute bid to stop him from hosting the Cell games, tried to explain the small ways humans form connections and care about each other and what not. He was quiet so I added, "Okay fine, go ahead and kill, but if you're gonna kill then the first person I challenge you to kill is [friend he was interacting with the most at the party]. And I know you can't do it." And I saw his expression change cause I WAS RIGHT BITCH 😌

But he just said "We'll see about that", and then the dream ended 😳

[yostresswritinggirl]

The One The Bard Once Loved

NEW Vibe check (appropriate song to cry to while reading)

"The bard, the sprite, the archer. The trio of young dreamers that wish to witness the blue skies past the raging winds that lock their freedom. But those are more than mere dreams, for it requires the sacrifice of those you love, to grace the courage to fight a God. And Barbatos, poor Barbatos, sacrificed more than he wanted."

Pairings -> Venti x Fem!Reader x Bard (Gale)

Word Count -> 4,337

Theme -> Angst, Backstory, Long Fic

Series -> #Bonafide specials (100 followers event)

Warnings -> Spoilers to Venti's story, character death

"Oh little sprite, from whence beyond

Does thou reminiscent of a vagabond?

Curious to which it whisks upon

Trapped now in desolate, forlorn"

Venti the wind sprite had always been curious, the single whisk of air that always goes the opposite way, hanging behind from his fellow currents to be distracted by a curious thing. So it was no surprise to anyone that he had gone lost once more in their rounds swaying but when he'd not return, long ago has his current passed the nation of Mond. Yet there was no way he can fly by his family of winds, for he finds himself trapped within the walls of a grazing storm that cages the stone walls of the city, of winds that he could not control nor agitate.

No matter how hard he tries the wind does not part, and so little Venti was stuck inside brooding skies and angry blasts. No mere sprite can go against the mighty strength of an archon.

So he resigns to his fate and wanders in this new place. Of a city wide and barren, why dare the Decarabian hide such dwelling? And even with the raging howls of the walls of wind, Venti couldn't help but wonder the silence it traps within.

A tiny ball of white in an expanse of gray. The thought scares the little sprite enough to make him scurry for the smallest bit of sound he can decipher. The loneliness creeps into his core—

And his little body bumps into that of a soft material. "Oh! Goodness, one should not run off without looking like that-" the figure turns and finds itself face to face with a floating blob, deep blue eyes wide and mouth hangs with wonder. Venti recognizes this creature in one of his endeavors as the wind, a human being, the true wanderers of Teyvat. Yet what is one doing trapped? "Such a peculiar being! What could you be?"

Yet it is not frightened by Venti's rarity, well, given he is not the most frightening wonder in this continent this was no surprise.

The sprite did not mind being found out. No, no, quite the opposite honestly, as he flies closer to the young boy and hides in his upturned hood. Nuzzling against the junction in his neck as he expresses gratitude in the company and presence of another in this desolate world.

The young boy chuckles and it reminds him of a song. "Perhaps you do not understand what I spoke?" The sprite shakes its head and the ticklish spot is tickled again. "Or do you not know how to speak?" A nod. And another giggle.

Without another word, the human slips back into the alleys of winding yet thin roads before making his way inside what looks to be a cathedral of tall composition. Glass windows of the same length tinted in kaleidoscopic patterns of color. There is a light in them you would usually bask in during the 'outside world', but in here it replicates that of an oasies in the deserts of Sumeru.

Underneath the artificial haze it beams a seeming spotlight at a figure clad in a dark ebony cloak. Venti felt the vibrations of an elated gasp as the human rushed over with a smile and frantic waving.

"My fair muse, how you've brighten my day, bestowing your presence tonight!"

The cloak tenses before immediately relaxing, the 'muse' he speaks of turns with its loose hood falling as it bundled around the shoulders, and Venti the sprite couldn't help but gasp too at the sight!

Fair is lacking, no words can describe the essence of bloom and beauty at the beholder as you stood there almost sparkling, hair catching the twinkle of light. Your plum lips caught itself smiling yet your eyes twinkled double the amusement at the sight of the human before you, "Gale." You murmured with an undertone of annoyance as you trudged over, flicking the boy's forehead so suddenly he'd voiced his hurt loudly. "Where have you been?! You've never been late to our daily rendezvous, you had me worried-!"

"Oh, such a cutie when you worry!" The young boy, Gale, cupped your cheeks in the middle of your spiel as he softly pats it with his fingers. Venti had never seen such creature change colors as fast as you, not even a chameleon, or an octopus in hiding. "I've simply found a new companion while I was out and about!"

As if a spotlight was caught unto him this time, your blown eyes wandered to the sprite floating by your company's neck. And oddly he'd found the attention appreciated.

"Who is this? An elf?"

"Venti!" There was a distant jingle of imaginary bells in his squeak of a voice.

"It/You can talk?!"

(Y/N) Lawrence.

Gale the Bard.

Venti the El- Wind Sprite.

Gale was a bard that resides in the cathedral of Mondstadt, homeless and without blood and kin, the nuns had took him in and lead their choir in turn for their hospitality.

You, on the other hand, lived with a clan of hunters that once ruled the mountains and forests. But with the emergence of the inescapable walls of wind, your family had been on the forefront of the protection of the citizens.

There were a lot of struggles in communication between you two and the lil sprite. He only knows his name and how to copy words (not so fluently) so questions had to be foregone, teaching the little one took priority. And Gale being the weaver of words took it upon himself to teach him frequently as you had your duties and family to go to.

Venti would sometimes disappear for a majority of the time and you'd figured he finally found a way to pass through the winds without shredding himself among the blades of current. And then he'd pop back in to listen to the merry tunes Gale had come up with, both of them waiting for your return.

"Ah Venti, is she not a beauty? The youngest daughter of Lawrence, as divine as that of incense. Oh tell me those dotted eyes could see it too!" The little sprite eagerly nods as he follows the bard's stride across the aisles in the holy cathedral, once again barren of other souls except for them. Whenever his human friend finds time to muse, it would be most about the maiden he fancies, the muse of most of his songs. Venti had been captured by his delicate tunes and savory lines to the point that he too had been overly enticed by your grace when your presence shines.

Your strength, your smile, your laugh, your hair. Your gait, your poise, your eyes, your glare. You had caught their stares dozens of times in silence before and it was always up to you to put them back to present time.

Venti simply basked in your warming aura and indulges himself outwardly, often you'd find him dozing off on the crown of your head. And often times you'd find a little pout on Gale at such a sight that you had no choice but to tease. In those moments, the wind sprite knew he had come out triumphant.

The cathedral doors open as quickly as they had closed, your windswept and frantic form appearing from the storm outside. The two boys in your life immediately lit up on your appearance but you'd know most of it was directed at the numerous scrolls and books you currently cradle in your shivering arms.

You offered them a grin, one of victory, and you'd all cheered at your success.

Soon, your merry trio made its way to the second floor of the cathedral in front of a faraway hallway that looks over the vast floor of the first yet still had the glow from the looming illuminated glass windows. Beholden in front of you are illustrations of a world beyond, filled with colors and shine, a world you had only imagined from stories now pictured perfectly.

Venti would hover over the illustrations at random intervals and giddily point at some of those he recognized, squeaking incoherent noises yet reflecting happiness and familiarity. While you fancied with indulging the sprite in his incomprehensible stories, Gale sat beside you with adoring yet distant eyes upon the images laid before him. Looking through them, and projecting himself in such a world. The books of the outside world you'd stolen from your clan's sacred libraries will be the start of a spark of desire to be free. And with it the start of a new era.

"The true sky, and songs that cageless soar...

Were they not wishes worth fighting for?"

Long had you gone and abandoned your stolen goods for them to admire more, at least until the day your clan finally realized the missing materials in the vast expanse of the bookshelves they own. There was more to marvel at yet you feared if you linger longer, your sister would look for you and find your little crime all too soon.

Venti quietly watches the familiar illustration of a beach littered with creatures of the sea on its glittering sand before he'd lift his tiny head up, witnessing the intense stare his bard friend had on the scroll where lies an overgrown tree and a stone structure. The sprite noted he had not seen this one.

"How marvelous it would be, to celebrate the most joyous moments under this tree," Gale mumbled in a quiet lilt of longing in his voice, "Imagine (Y/N) and I, with you by my side, as I finally pluck the courage to get down on one knee." Venti bumbled in slight jealousy, buzzing in front of the bard that could only cast a laugh. "Oh hush, dear friend, is it not appropriate to take an arrow to the knee for an archer such as she?"

Yet even with his desire to be by your side, the little sprite knew that he would be there to support his friend for the happiness you two deserved. In a land where you are free. Still, Venti hopes his cuteness would be enough to prolong you just a little bit more.

Drunk in passion and dreams, the next day the bard was scheming. And when you'd come to his cathedral of a home, he finally poured out his plans to you with a Venti quipping with cheers on the side.

The Mondstadtian had predicted your hesitance, even your disapproval on the notion, and were ready to chip in to persuade you once more— yet you gave in. Immediately. The same fire burned in your eyes at the thought of being unshackled and caged from the world begging to be explored. Your sentiments together with the bard fueled the desire between you three, and through the brainpower of a trio of young minds, you had drawn your plans.

Gale aided by Venti would try and coerce with the Ragnvindr clan's leader, and you would work on convincing your eldest sister Amos for the help needed to coerce the whole Lawrence bloodline into the battle. You knew there was an undeniable hatred within her against Decarabian and you wanted her to fuel that fire once and for all, for one great cause.

And soon enough, the strings of fate had come into play, and the one who shall record this momentous history has taken its seat by the balcony of war. Only the last piece of the puzzle is left in this grandoise play—

"Gale, Venti, are you sure this is the right direction to the hideout? We're taking a route longer than usual, surely you're not making last minute pranks..."

Your bow smacks at your back as you made your way inside the dark closet. It was two cycles before the fated ambush would come and in your nerves you had not realized how amiss things had been for the others. You were more than ready even if your fingers were to tremble everytime it holds your bow and arrow, predictions of the war that shall come floats within the expanse of your mind.

In your limited vision, your bard friend and sprite shared a look that did not pass by you. The tension had only caused you to gulp in your nervousness, were you found out? Did the participants of the revolt suddenly back down? "There has been a change of plans, but worry not for history still pans. My Muse, it is best you stay to assure you will not be caught in the storm's disarray-"

A hand flew across the bard's pristine white skin and his dark ocean hues could not help but widen. Is he... telling you to not participate in the war?! What kind of— a sob left through your gritted teeth despite your best efforts, and you're not sure who was more broken between your friends upon the sight. "How could you, even think- Gale, you carry no arms but a lyre! And Venti still has no means to go against the Archon that controls the winds! What kind of absurd idea is this?!" In the middle of your rage, your friends had already wrapped you in their sentimental hug, expressing their own misery with free-flowing tears." I'm supposed to protect you... t-the three of us were supposed to lead the path of freedom..."

"You've always protected us, (Y/N). Now would be the best time... to return the favor," and as your friend stepped back to give a parting smile, your whole world suddenly engulfed in black as the door shut with a slam and a final lock.

"Gale! Venti! No, please no! Let me out! Don't do this, PLEASE!"

"Please hear us out, our dear (Y/N)," Gale leaned his forehead against the thick door that separates you two, shedding the last bit of tears he could muster before the end of an era. The desperation in your every bang against it, breaks apart a hole in his own heart, "For your own good, and your own future."

When Gale described love to the little Venti, the latter was certain that he felt the same way for you. Yet the human ever so jokingly laughed at how he was still too young to fully understand the implications of such words. But he desired just as much to protect you, to be by your side, and to see your smile. But the human was right for he did not truly understand the reasons WHY he felt like so...

So he asked instead, dear friend Gale of Tales, why have you come to cherish this human in devotion? And quite so the other was happy to indulge!

"It starts with young Mondstadt when the walls were young and the people still knew the tales and what they sang. I was a poor little bard with a broken lyre, when living alone was nothing but dire.

Without a home, without a bed, I was ready to starve to death. But an angel clad in white suddenly lead me to bright light. My muse had brought to me a cathedral, yes the one we are in now! And since then I've lived a proper choir life, always wondering how...

just how things would be without (Y/N), my angel? Continuing to live in the dark alleys, would I have been able? Even now I have yet to repay her act of kindness. But one day, for sure... " Perhaps, this act the young boy now follows, was the payment he had been waiting for.

How long you had stayed there, you had no clue but by the sounds of war cries and clashing steel had told you enough. You'd been there for too long.

Blessed with some luck that a crowbar had found its way in this janitor closet in a cathedral no less, you had immediately set out to join the battle: beyond the holy doors flames had lit up from the torches the revolt has carried, many bodies lay by the stone grounds of the city, some moving and struggling while some... you spare them not a second thought as you rushed past the stone pillars to where the heat of the war should be. If the battle plan had gone as it should then—

A hand gripped your arm with such force it had you cry out before you even registered you were being slammed to the floor. A shadow of a knight that serves the God of Storm looms over you with a glare blazing past his helmet. "You're one of them, I recognize that face! You're not winning today-" yet another blade suddenly pierced through his chest, and your shirt had been splattered when it was pulled. The now lifeless body falls past you and another replaces him.

"Sir Ragnvindr!" The knight shared the same shock and relief you wore before it steeled, immediately pulling you up and away from the on-going exchanges of blows. "Everyone- how's the war looking?"

"Men had fallen from the green-tipped arrows, but we are making progress," the redhead gestured to the tower where the greatest enemy lies, taking note of the cracks and crumbling structure, a sign of his coming doom. A very good sign. "Amos took it upon herself to climb the tower-"

"What?! That's beyond the plan, she- she could get herself killed!" You brought your own bow from your back at the mention of your sister archer, bringing the strings back with an arrow at the ready, your intention clear. The redhead had shown a glint of worry but his gaze had been resolved once again at the hope of freedom, and he leaves you to your chase as he fends off the guards that dare go after you.

You expertly evaded blows and parried kicks with your bow and arrow, yet no sign of the heads of the resistance had caught your sight. The longer you climbed, the more you feared for the worst. By 2/3 of the tower you had scaled you managed to poke your head out to see the scale of war. Of red and orange floated below as the razor winds felt more violent than it had been ever since you had been born within its impenetrable walls, even from this distance high up you could still hear the clash, the warmongers held up in the central square where all battles now takes place.

And within that chaos you managed to single out a lump of black and a dot of floating white. Miraculously, your scream had reached their faraway ears and looked up, just in time to see your aerial shots of support.

"(Y/N)?! What is she-!" His words had been cut with an arrow wheezed past his head to bring down a foe that had sneaked behind him. Right, battle. Many of the immediate threats had been neutralized and the resistance had found the upper ground thanks to the archer's barrage. "How-how is she up there!"

Another body had fallen next to him with a cut on its back, a certain knight rushing past him to hit another. "Watch your back, bard! Now's not the time to monologue, she's going to backup Amos."

You were too far to hear the horrified gasp and the fearful expression your two faithful friends adorned. But the ground you were on began to shake, and you know you had to go on. "Venti! Gale! Focus, I'll be there with you two soon!" You screamed at the top of your lungs in hopes that it will reach them before continuing your ascent to the most treacherous area you had to be in—

You barelled towards the woman with silver hair with a pace you've never seen and a strength you'd never thought you carried, exchanging the shot you felt lodge into your left side as you sent one right through the guard's neck. You fell on your bottom and clutched the wounded area, but kept it there, if not to make sure the blood does not pour if you were to take it out.

"Sister!" The familiar voice cradled you as gently as she could with a fear-stricken face. But you assured her that it had not hit anything major, the way her worry didn't dissipate seem to hide a kind of anguish she couldn't name. "We must get you to safety, the clerics- the clerics could-"

"I'm fine, I'm fine," you grunted as you pried yourself out of her grasp to prove your point, still able to keep your stance. You see Amos struggle from fatigue yet about to bite back, "We're so close, sister, any moment we linger is another body on the list of deaths." Painfully she'd bitten on her own tongue, finally relenting as you ascended the last few steps.

Normal arrows are nothing but toothpicks against the mighty God of Storms, the Anemo Archon, who easily flicked your futile attempts to graze him. And yet Decarabian was losing power just from fighting off not only your barrages but those even from below. His walls were thinning and his heart crumbles, from the thought of his once devoted followers turning back on him.

With one last strength the Lawrences gathered every piece of energy and power they could into their shot, and Decarabian looked at them with tired eyes and a raised hand. "Finally, I shall hold his gaze." The voice next to you spoke before your charged shot, swirling with beaming light flew past the sharp gale of wind and pierced through the God's core. Your ears had picked up on a violent crack before you were hit by the razor breeze upon the dying breath of the archon, sending you and Amos off the crumbling tower to free fall to your deaths.

In the edge of your peripherals the bleak gray walls of storms dissolved into rays of natural light, giving way to a hue of blue you had never seen before. As the wind wheezed past your ears, you smiled at the face of death—

When a jingle of little bells suddenly slowed your descension, and you were softly met with the hard floor on your back. With tired eyes you'd found yourself next to the pioneers of freedom, conscious and unconscious. You had felt Venti nudge your hand to those of another's limp ones, soft palms yet calloused fingers, you intertwined your hands with that of the bard's.

"We did it, we finally... did it..." A pulling force drains the consciousness from your mind and body in laboured breaths, and despite your protests to keep staring at the beautiful sight of the true sky, your eyelids were pulled shut by an unknown exhaustion.

Past their closed state, a flash of light was the last thing you had thought. Bruised and beaten, your warm hand did not register how the ones you clung to... did not squeeze back.

...

The next time (e/c) orbs flew open their eyes the world felt that of a lucid dream, with silk of the cleanest white donned their body, and the softest breeze of a sweet flower you had not smelt passes by you. Teal orbs looked down at you with a gentleness you've felt from the artificial light from the cathedral. Speaking of- your eyes unfocused shifted its gaze to the light blue skies.

"You're... awake." Your bard friend breathed out in disbelief and another emotion your brain can't quite place. The cotton of clouds float above in painted beauty, and you had pried your sight away from it almost painfully just to spare your companion a look.

"It's..." your throat grated and ached at the attempt, coming out so weak and breathless, "It's very beautiful... out here, free... Have- have you gone to explore?" Your face twisted in numbing pain from talking, and the bard started to quiver yet stood strong with a smile.

"I had, it's - it's just like how we imagined, even better than we've taken for granted," wet spots adorned your cheeks in short successions, you couldn't help but smile. "I only wish you were there to see it first hand, the flowers, the sunsets, the land-"

"Yet I fell asleep," you laughed in mirth yet there was no sound that escaped. The grip around you tightens as you loll your head to the side; there lays a new city kissed by the huge orb of light in the blue veil of a sky, lush green grass of health you've never seen before shone with a moistness on it, and around its glory lays a beauty of a moat that mirrors the one above. Beautiful, you whispered under your long-awaited breathe.

"The people of Mond had done their best to rebuild, for the promise of freedom they had not wilt," a hand on your cheek, flawless, urged your gaze once more to lay upon the bard. "We've devised a festival to celebrate named Ludi Harpastum. Tell me... my muse, will you accompany me in this new custom?"

A new breeze had lulled you in your ears once again to sleep, and a flash of fear had passed over your companion's features before it dissipated when you opened your eyes once more. A festival, you haven't heard that in years, "I would love to. But maybe... tomorrow..."

"Tomorrow."

"Mhm, I feel tired... the sun invites me to sleep, will you wait for me tomorrow?"

"T-Tomorrow."

"Good." Your eyes were covered by darkness again as you felt a pressure against your forehead. "It's... a date..." And your tired heart finally found peace, after battling for 15 days restlessly, desperately.

Venti picked you up from where you laid on his lap, setting you down on the grass bed besides the giant roots of the Windrise tree. Nearest your left, a stone plate carved with words you never dare see lies next to you. And for the first time in fifteen days, a God cries again.

¹The green-tipped arrows were coated with poison.

²Reader's bow is designed after the Raven's Bow.

³Gale is not the bard's official name but was used to avoid too many confusion.

⁴This had a different, more painful and hatred alternate ending where you hated Venti for taking Gale's form, but I changed it so I could rest my own heart.

*in honor of your contribution to Mondstadt's freedom, the maiden who throws the Harpastum is made for your grace.

@boxofteenageideas @creation-magician @your-local-venti-simp @indigodreamtime47

[solarpearl]

my heart & mind, too much a burden.

rex lapis, archon of liyue, once dreamt of love.

character: zhongli my beloved

content warnings: n/a

a/n: you dream of the moment you will meet your soulmate before you do. sorry this is short i might write a continuation if people want it..? i doubt it tho LOL

word count: like 550??

what’s playing: yeah i brought this back. gone by rosé.

zhongli

dreams are strange, and most of the time awful. whether it is falling down a chasm forever or the feeling of precarious balancing over an edge, your stomach churning with bile & whatever is down there. it was obvious that you were of the camp that loathed dreams. while some had dreams of love and fields and flowers, you were running from the snapping jaws of a creature-- of large that one look only spared you a look at it’s large swirling irises and gaping mouth, saliva dripping from yellow teeth before you took off, always flattering at the end of the tunnel where the light is. you’re grateful you manage to wake up just in time before the creature swallows you whole.

fate is stupid. destiny is stupid. there is nothing of the sort. archons, they say, bless you at your birth. archons, you think, can kiss your conscious hand and wave goodbye.

zhongli wonders whether his soulmate would appear by his statue this time around… afterall, he is rex lapis no more.

memories of a past life is bittersweet, almost fractured in his mind. cracks amongst a mirror that he can’t remember, that hazy taste on the tip of his tongue. when his hand presses into the crevices and smooth of the glass it cuts into his palm, bleeding sorrows and regret. when he stares and reminisces he sees himself-- yet not quite himself anymore. the edges are sharp and glinting, and for such a soft and wonderful feeling its ended with a cut, abrupt and snapped, toothed edges, polished sharp on karma and words.

this dream starts out as they always do. green rolling plains, surrounded by blue blooms and yearning morning dew. dusted with sunshine and blanketed in a soft sweet chill of breeze and cold. a hand touches your shoulder, and with a lurch you regard the man. golden eyes with irises ringed with white, its molten gaze staring into you. breath knocked out like a butterfly in a strong wind, you utter something, indescribable and incomprehensible. he speaks, a deep lull in his voice sending you catapulting over an imaginary edge. phantom chills, he whispers into your ears, laced with panic as you stumble and fall, dream shattering before your very eyes as you lurch from the bed, throwing off the blankets you’ve kicked over your feet.

reaching out, you feel the liyue breeze against your hand, it’s ticklish tendrils a reminder of reality-- no dreams, only strife and misery. choked breathes of a dream that lingers like the scent of flowers in the winter, fading as the breeze kills and muffles, taking the rest of memories and sweetness of petals and pollen away.

soulmates, you ponder, are the reckoning of a fate many wish to succumb to. but you’ve wrought fate over and over again, and you always will. the archons had neatly placed your fate before you, silver plated and paired with twenty knives. 

soulmates, something hisses, aren’t real.

soulmates, you agree, aren’t real.

a trick of the mind born of sleepless nights and suppressed romance. one too many romance novels fed into your mind like an endless spiel.

your spellbound soulmate drifts aimlessly at the foot of the archon you’ve denied, waiting and waiting in his love-like trance, impossibly kissing a ghostly image.

[zwei-the-penguin-with-a-pen]

‘Always’

Ruby Rose was beside herself with anticipation. She could hardly believe that this was happening. She was actually going to marry the love of her life. And no, it was not her weapon. She had wanted to marry Crescent Rose, but it wound up being too much hassle for just a conversation starter. She had a marriage license printed up that usually got people talking since she had a tech-savvy friend or two.

Today was the day that Ruby Rose would marry Weiss Schnee. Damn what Weiss's sorry excuse for a father had told them. Ruby could remember it like it was yesterday.

"Mister Schnee, I'm glad you took the time to meet with us... I just needed to tell you something. I wish to marry your daughter! She means the world to me!" Ruby had asked the horrible man. Why she'd felt the need to ask she could not remember. Perhaps it was some romanticized storybook sort of thing she'd read a bunch of times, the brave Huntsman asking the damsel's father for her hand.

That sounded like a pretty awful story, now that she thought back on it.

"I think you won't!" Schnee had told the both of them. Ruby nearly cried, but Weiss stepped in and defended their relationship.

"I don't believe you'll have a choice in the matter!" Weiss rebuked coldly.

"Excuse me?" The frosty creature asked. The conviction in Weiss's eyes seemed to startle him.

"I don't want any part of this company. You and little baby Whitley can have it and run it into the ground! I will be taking Ruby's name! I denounce the empty title of Schnee! It's never gotten me anything but pain before, anyway." Weiss insisted. Ruby was beyond proud of her for standing up for herself, for the both of them. She'd be sure to give her the extra special treatment when they got home later.

Weiss's father stood and began screaming at her, but Weiss shut him down.

"Do not presume that anything you say will sway me! You still have Shitley to save your precious company's face, what need do you have of me?" She continued, the frosty schmuck turning red and steaming. He raised his hand to strike Weiss, but the next he knew he was on his back. The blade of Crescent Rose rested just shy of his neck.

"I will kill you dead if you touch her, you monster!" Ruby reminded him. "She is not your property! She is a human, just like me! Not like you, though. You are no man, just a cowardly creature in a man's skin! So damn what you say! I'm gonna marry her anyway! And we're gonna have 43 adorable kids that may or may not be puppies!"

"Every chance you had at sounding menacing just flew out the window, Ruby!" Weiss complained, shaking her head at her little red slayer.

"I still have a scythe at his neck! Isn't that menacing enough?"

"You should probably let him up before he calls his security comes to collect us," Weiss suggested. Ruby slowly lifted her scythe away from the vile creature and folded it into its storage form.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll stay on your back until we're gone," Ruby commanded as she and Weiss made for the door.

"I'll disown you! I'll cut you off! You're not a Schnee anymore!" He tried fruitlessly to sway Weiss.

"I already said that! Besides, you can't really tell me that anyhow!" Weiss launched a glyph at him as he tried to jump to his feet. "You were never a Schnee in the first place!" She told him with icicles in her voice.

And they left that building and never returned... Right after Weiss vigorously kissed Ruby in one of Schnee's hallways. She thought they might actually do more than just kiss, but they figured that wouldn't be the best idea. Weiss had certainly been ravenous, though. Something about denouncing her father made her feel like a new person.

"Weiss, I'm so proud of you!" Ruby had told her when they finally made it back home. "But how are we going to have the giant, extravagant wedding you've been planning?"

"We don't need to have it! Just because I don't have Schnee money doesn't mean we can't have a nice wedding, Ruby. We can have a small outdoor ceremony at Taiyang's house. We can get done up all nice, I'll sweat off all my makeup and my hair will frizz up and I'll look all ratchet in front of all our friends. But I won't care how I look, because I'll be marrying the absolute love of my life, and there's nothing Jacquass Schnee and his blood money can do about it!" Weiss had answered. She waited for a response, but Ruby never gave one. Weiss looked at her, and Ruby had hearts in her eyes. Ruby GLOMPed Weiss.

"THAT'S THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING ANYONE'S EVER SAID TO ME! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH WEISS! YOU'RE MY FAVORITE!!"

"I love you too, Ruby. Now let's go rest. I'm tired. Maybe we can get even more tired..." The Nice Queen winked at Ruby, the red slayer nodding and grinning as they ran off toward the bedchamber.

And now, the day was finally here! Yang and the ladies from Team CFVY were helping Ruby prepare herself. Her scarlet dress and tuxedo jacket looked stunning, and Coco made certain her hair would be perfect. Velvet painted Ruby's nails and applied her makeup. Yang's Scroll kept ringing, taking calls about the reception preparations.

"I can't believe my baby sister's getting married!" Yang spazzed in between calls, hugging her sister tightly and making incomprehensible happy sounds.

"I won't be getting married if you crush me to death in here!" Ruby complained. Yang always had squeezed a bit too hard when she hugged.

"Anyway, I guess I'll go check up on Weiss's end of the party!" Yang told everyone as she zoomed out the door.

"YANG! Finally, someone sane!" Weiss cheered when Yang entered the room.

"I'm proud of you, Snowdrop! Fuck Jack Frost up in Atlas! I'll be your dad now!" Qrow was ranting, already a bit buzzed. Winter rolled her eyes at her wild husband.

"I'm sure you've told Winter that a time or two..." Weiss nicked. Qrow grinned while Winter's face fell. Her eyes shot at Weiss like daggers.

"As soon as your wedding night is through, I will kill you for that!" Winter joked, trying to act serious about her threat.

"Worth it! I won't be a Schnee anymore, and I'll die having just gotten laid!" Weiss returned, Winter and Qrow laughing loudly.

"You're all right, kid!" Qrow told her, hugging his soon to be niece!"

"All right, it looks like everything is in order! Let's get these broads married!" Yang cheered, and they all hustled away to begin.

Taiyang walked Ruby down the makeshift aisle, tearing up the entire time. "Dad, calm down! You did the same thing when Yang got married!" Ruby encouraged him. He took his place with the groom's party. Yang, Jaune, and Ren were Ruby's groomsmen, and the three of them congratulated her.

Weiss and Winter came next. Winter had the goofiest grin on her face the entire time, even more giddy than Yang to have her kid sister getting hitched.

Ghira and Kali oversaw the wedding. Kali tied the cords around each of the girls' hands, and Ghira did most of the speaking parts. He called for Ruby and Weiss's vows.

"Weiss, I'm not really good at the talking thing, obviously, but you're my most favorite conversation topic! You've been the voice of reason in my insanity for so many years now, and I can't wait for you to stop me from making even more completely irrational decisions! I love you, Weiss! You are my whole heart!" Ruby delivered nervously. Weiss could not control her urge to kiss Ruby right then.

"Now, now... there will be plenty of time for that in a moment, dear!" Ghira joked. Weiss yanked at her flowing white gown that was definitely made for someone much taller, hoping the grass wouldn't make it that dirty. She would probably slash the greater part of it to pieces anyway to make it into a nice cocktail dress, but she still wanted to look relatively pristine as she got married.

"Ruby,  you are the raucous soundtrack to my hopes and dreams! You're a tad in the crazy side, but a little crazy never hurt anyone before, I guess! Together we will slash at the darkness and stab the sky! You are the slayer of my demons, Ruby Rose, and I would be lost without you!" Weiss returned, Ruby's eyes turning to stars at the words.

"So, do I really have to go through the 'I Do' spiel?" Ghira asked, winking at the girls. Kali thought she would have to smack him. Yang and Blake presented the rings. Blake, Winter, Nora, and Pyrrha made up Weiss's crew of bridesmaids. Neptune had been on the list, but conflicting schedules had prevented him from making the scene.

"Alright, it looks like you two are finally married! You may kiss the bride! Or the bride may kiss the groom?" Ghira announced, keeping things interesting.

"Who cares who kisses who? Shut up and kiss already!" Kali demanded, the crowd laughing at her words. Ruby and Weiss kissed, and their witnesses all cheered for them.

The cakes Ren had prepared were positively perfect. Ruby's cake was an enormous cookie shaped like a scythe blade, and Weiss's looked like a shattered version of one of her glyphs. This symbolized her abandoning the Schnee name, and there was a nice slice through it, as though hacked apart by Crescent Rose.

Their reception was a raucous affair, what with Taiyang and Qrow being drunk and merry. Yang kept gawking at Blake in a tuxedo. Ruby and Weiss had a killer first dance together.

"I present to you, Ruby and Weiss Rose!" Qrow announced as the party rolled on, probably not entirely sure that it had started already.

Good job, Ruby and Weiss, and congratulations! You both deserve it! \/\/\/\/\/ \/\/\/\/\/ \/\/\/\/\/

Day Nineteen: Formal Wear

I PRESENT TO YOU THE WEDDING OF RUBY ROSE AND WEISS SCHNEE!!!

I’m really proud of writing a scene for Weiss to stand up to her father, and I’m really proud of Weiss in general. She’s become such an incredible character and I love her!

NOTE: I don’t exactly ship Qrow with Winter, I just REALLY wanted to use that joke. XD

But yeah, another wedding fic for your reading displeasure! WAHAHAH

[worldguardian]

fic: small kindnesses

fic summary and notes: Rosa does her best to keep existing after the horrorshow that was Endgame, and finds herself receiving help from an utterly unexpected place. Featuring Zaros being generous? Getting in Rosa’s good books? The two are probably one and the same to him.

this fic was inspired by a reread of Zaros’ dialogue from FoTG and how he comes shockingly close to treating the World Guardian with Actual Decency (inasmuch as Zaros ever treats anyone well). set some time after Endgame and the various fuckery therein, this sort of ended up as an introspective piece more than anything else.

also I wrote the first half of this on the plane ride to Fiji and the second half on the plane ride back (mostly at ten o’clock at night after a twenty-hour day), so it’s pretty disjointed.

I hope you enjoy!

Silence reigned in the temple, a thick, unyielding silence that lapsed only for the break of voices or footsteps. Marble walls and features bounced those sounds but just as quickly returned to undisturbed stillness. The walls were too solid, the doors too reinforced. A conversation could be happening in one room yet be inaudible in the next.

Down one of those branching, subterranean hallways, past a sturdily locked bedroom door, the World Guardian sat crumpled in a chair, head bowed. One hand covered her face and the other gripped the chair's arm, knuckles white and tendons raised in exertion. Her chest rose and fell with short, shaking breaths, yet her eyes remained defiantly open, staring steadfastly between her fingers to the tiled floor beneath.

Such were the only outward signs of her struggle, combined with her greyed cheeks and lighter frame. The trailing scars over her eye stood out livid black against the pale backdrop of her face.

All Rosa could feel now was an interminable pressure, a shackle around her entire being that inched itself tighter every time she breathed. Any time she shifted, the pressure reacted, lancing through her body and into every nerve. Every time, she felt them respond slower.

He wasn't actively wrenching control from her; no, today he was apparently content to squeeze until she had no room left save for that within her own mind - and not even that.

Rosa drew a shuddering breath and clenched her teeth for the fifth time that minute. This wasn't something she would even muster the energy to fight; control was still hers - for now - but she had no way to resist, as mobile as an animal within an ever-shrinking cage.

Not that she had the faintest idea how to retaliate in the first place. How did you shift your own soul?

One that's half torn out, no less, she thought bitterly to herself.

Stop whining. You're still conscious, aren't you, Rosa? It could be so much worse. I could make it so much worse.

A shiver wracked Rosa's form and she straightened up enough to wrap her arms around herself, fingers digging painfully into flesh.

That voice. Every day, that voice, that stilled her heart and scattered her mind with the merest word. And her own was so quiet against it; a wailing child to the inevitable darkness.

On a normal day it had taken everything she had not to curl up and shut down at that voice. Now, it was her perennial companion.

More than anything else Rosa was struck by the overwhelming desire to sleep, but she knew that it wouldn't be her who woke up afterward.

She dragged a hand over her face, glaring sullenly at nothing, when something else caught her attention.

She felt another pressure, though this one insinuated itself throughout the entire room, and didn't make her very essence ache. For the briefest of moments, she felt her binds twitch, followed by the suggestion of muffled anger.

Rosa.

And then, in the blink of an eye and so slowly that she barely saw it happen, He was there. The Empty Lord, towering over her, countenance and presence so undisturbed and unruffled that Rosa half-wondered that He hadn't always been there.

The fixtures and details of her room retreated subtly around Him; regardless of where she steered her gaze, Zaros remained the centre of her attention, more ineffably real than anything nearby Him.

Half from shock and half instinctively, Rosa stood up, leaning heavily on the chair's arm as a fresh wave of vertigo took her. She was never sure how to speak to Zaros, or even how to react to Him. Personal visits were not exactly a frequent occurrence. Part of her thought it might be appropriate to bow; a larger part of her scorned that idea but nonetheless quailed at the thought of open rudeness. She settled for standing as firm as she could and nodding... politely.

You owe me no greeting, Rosa. I would not ask it of you in any case.

"I-I... thank you. Why are y-you...?" Her voice trailed into uselessness. Questions felt too direct; silence felt too brazen.

Zaros lifted one gauntleted hand and waved it languidly, in one easy movement dismissing Rosa's apprehension, yet somehow heightening it all the more. His expression was as opaque as it always was - not just for the covered face, but in His voice and demeanor. Rosa could never confidently intuit a single clear emotion from His words, not until the moment that it shook the world around Him. So much of what He was was beyond her.

So why was He here now?

I see your struggle, World Guardian. In this moment especially, you are subjected to an unbearable trial - I can see clearly what Sliske is doing to you.

And yet, you persist. Faced with a challenge that would have felled so many others, you hold the strength not only to deny him but to stand before me.

Rosa blinked, her vision threatening to blur again but still stolidly fixed upon Zaros. If a solitary meeting was rare, then such... praise was rarer still. For a heartbeat she was back on Freneskae, in that sheltered border between her mind and His, once again shocked at how...

... gentle He was.

She said nothing, at a loss for any appropriate response in the first place. The air hung heavy around her, pressing her for a reply, but Zaros seemed, if not understanding, then at least unbothered.

I feel I owe you an apology, World Guardian. You are central to all things, my own intentions most of all, and as such you are under my protection.

Yet I failed to foresee what Sliske would do with the Siphon, despite my own experiences with it. Further still, I have taken few actions to help you as you are now.

You don't say, Rosa thought to herself, but not too vehemently. She was sure He could hear her, sometimes. Vaguely, she imagined she could feel the rough-hewn violet shard around her neck buzzing.

I have been remiss in my duties to this world, and of all who have had to suffer Sliske's machinations, you have been impacted most, Rosa.

Where had this spiel come from? Rosa couldn't tell whether it felt hollow or genuine. She blinked, head pounding. She'd been so distracted in the conversation that she'd failed to notice the creeping numbness clawing its way down her arm. She clenched that fist, wrenching some feeling out of it before taking a breath in readiness to speak. Zaros inclined His head towards her, mask's eight eyeslits unfathomably deep and inscrutable. The motion faltered Rosa, and He broke the pause.

A verbal apology from me at this time would hold no weight and be little more than an insult to you.

You are aware that there are limitations to what I can do in this situation. Guthix's blessing protects you against many things, but it also stymies my efforts. I would release you immediately were it not for Sliske twisting those wards to his own gain.

So, World Guardian, in this situation I ask your permission and yours alone:

Will you allow me to ease your pain, to the extent of my ability?

Rosa stared up at the robed figure in front of her, taller even than a mahjarrat, and any words she might have had fled her. Of all the things she'd been expecting today, the Empty Lord Himself coming to her aid was not among them. Once again her memories skittered back to Freneskae, in the midst of a melee that she frankly had no right surviving. The flash of a wicked blade, the crashing impact of primordial, untamed magic, and yet, none of it proved fatal. She was gouged her whole body over and covered in smouldering burns, but never fell.

That had been His doing. Rosa hadn't gone into that battle alone; though at the time it had terrified her to do so, she had accepted Zaros' help against the onslaught of newly-dreamed muspah. She'd had no delusions of victory under her own power.

And here they were again: tiny, shattered World Guardian offered the assistance of a god.

She had no apprehensions this time. Anything Zaros did to combat this would have been infinitely better than the methods she'd invent by herself.

She took a breath.

"Yes. I will. P-please-- help me." Her voice shook and she loathed it, but she was long past caring anything for how she appeared to others. She wanted nothing but an end to it.

I shall.

Zaros leaned in, narrowing the distance between them, and lifted His hands. Rosa tensed in nervousness and shock.

One metal-clad hand could have held her entire head, but here both were cupped feather-light to the sides of her face. Almost unthinkingly, Rosa sagged into that hold, exhaustion eating bone-deep.

Warmth seeped through her mind and her vision hued purple. For half a moment, the world around her vanished, and she was aware not only of her own consciousness, but Zaros', boundless and incomprehensible, looming from all angles.

Oddly, it was almost... soothing.

Sight returned to her, as did everything else. Zaros was once again straightened to His full height, observing her impassively.

Rosa shook herself, feeling the vestiges of Zaros' power leaving her, then - stopped.

Silence. Blessed silence. No insidious ache, no unbearable weight dampening her every action.

Her thoughts were her own again. There were suspicious gaps in between each thought, but his voice was absent from them. Stunned, Rosa merely stood where she was, rooted to the spot.

"Wh-what did you do?" she asked, voice wavering.

I encircled your soul in a barrier. I am unable to remove him, but with your consent I can act freely upon your soul. This is all I can do for you at this juncture, Rosa; you will not hear him and he cannot reach you, but I have not reduced his presence. He may still wrest control from you, but you are sheltered now.

Tears sprang to Rosa's eyes and she covered her mouth, relief so strong in her expression that it bordered on disbelief. Her shoulders shook and for a moment it was all she could do not to weep. She swallowed ungracefully and bowed, all prior reticence forgotten.

"Thank you."

Rest. Be with your family, World Guardian.

His only reply was a choked nod. Satisfied, or at the very least finished with His work, Zaros folded His arms and left. One second His image flickered as if underwater, transparent and monochrome, the next He was gone.

The room jerked abruptly into focus in His absence, and Rosa's head swam for a second. The presence of a god was overbearing enough with the energy that streamed off of them in waves, but Zaros took it one step further. There was something primally unnerving about Him.

Still. She was by no stretch of the imagination ungrateful.

Rosa exhaled heavily and turned back toward her chair, only to startle at the sound of knocking behind her. Taking a moment to still her heart, Rosa moved over and opened the door, fumbling on the lock briefly.

There, stately and imposing as ever, stood Azzanadra. In contrast to recent events, his expression was soft.

"Rosa... are you well?"

Rosa almost smiled at him. Her energy failed her at the last second, but she managed a teary nod, for once simply tired instead of harried to defeat.

Azzanadra smiled for her. Strong arms wrapped around her shoulders and she slumped against him, all pretence gone. He was warm, and safe, and she fitted against his chest perfectly.

"Then please... let us take this time together. I miss you. We all do."

------------

Thank you, Lord. She deeply needed a reprieve. I fear for her, mind and soul.

For now I can do little more than that. She must not be lost to this.

She is strong, but her will suffers dearly from this. She is truly grateful for what you have done for her.

I only desire that this will bolster her resolve long enough for a solution to be found. Watch her, Azzanadra, and comfort her.

I will. She has spoken to me... she is warming to your presence, Lord. I believe you offer her a certain measure of... confidence that we cannot.

I am glad.

[irishcoffeeslushie]

Nobuta wo Produce review (excerpts) - II

Disclaimer: I didn’t write this, although I wish I had. Source.

The beauty of Nobuta wo Produce is that it doesn’t purport to be anything other than a high school drama, and that’s precisely what makes it so much more than just a high school drama. (Am I even getting my point across? Lol) What I’m trying to say is that the characters are every inch high school kids — no more, no less, neither dumbed down nor savvied up. But they speak from the heart because the writing keeps it all REAL and just lets the characters be themselves, be the thinking, feeling, self-aware teens that they are.

This drama explores the inner universe of adolescence, governed by its own whimsical vagaries and constant flux of emotions. And I love the judicious use of voice-overs as the main characters ponder such things as the future and the uncertainty of life. The dialogue is intelligent without being pseudo-intellectual, complex without being contrived (uh, Dawson’s Creek, anyone? man, talk about a series that tried too hard to be smart and deep and witty, but always felt like it was written by 40-year-olds *roll eyes*). The writing of NwP doesn’t try to be all these, it just IS. Just because the drama is about a bunch of high school kids doesn’t mean it has to be infantile and shallow, nor does it have to play at being implausibly grown-up.

The high school stereotypes are here in NwP, but with a distinctive Jdorama twist. True, the Class Clowns aka the Destiny Duo may not have the most gut-bustingly funny of spiels, but at least they never annoyed me, and always seemed to be having so much fun in their own little world — making funny puns, and punny fun. Beetlejuice Guy would be the closest thing to the resident Obsessive Basket Case, and adds a dash – just a dash! – of signature J-screwiness to the overall flavor of Class 2-B. Only Bando and the Bandettes are given the extreme treatment of all the 2-B students.

The grown-up characters are shown to NOT know all the answers to life, or possess the key to the Fount of Adult Wisdom. They’re mostly shown to be… big kids, really, just more beat-up around the edges and looking the worse for wear, maybe a little wiser and more jaded, and more accepting of the realities and disappointments of life. Hirayama the Tofu Guy (Takahashi Katsumi) provides a solid, comforting presence as Akira’s ever-obliging guardian — though not without his own share of regrets and hang-ups. Hirayama has an interesting dynamic not just with Akira, but with Akira’s volatile CEO father (Masu Takeshi). Both men take their stake in Akira’s upbringing quite seriously, but share an interesting “good cop, bad cop” approach to this responsibility. (LMAO @ the time both grown men bond while assembling the Nobuta keychains in Tofu Guy’s living room!)

I love how the Kiritani family feels like a real family — well, ¾ of a real family. And Nakajima Yuto as Shuji’s li’l bro Koji is the most perfect little boy you will ever lay eyes on… except that this was five years ago and he’s not so little anymore (heh heh). The scenes where the three Kiritani boys (small, medium and large) are just chillin’ at home — dad cooking dinner, Koji doing his homework, Shuji (with that topknot, lol!) patching up a torn sock — are always enjoyable to watch. Ditto the dynamic between Shuji and Koji — case in point: the moment the brothers share in the haunted house in Episode 3 is heartwarming without being hokey. It helps, of course, that Kame and Yuto (then a Johnny’s Jr. who also performed in the “Seishun Amigo” music video, poor kid, lol) share a wonderful on-screen chemistry.

The realism of Nobuta wo Produce doesn’t quite have the gritty, inner-city feel of, say, Dangerous Minds or Stand and Deliver, because there are offsetting moments of hyperreality (e.g. the horrific bullying, the vandalism/sabotage arc, the zany characters) as well as surrealism (e.g. the living spirits, the dream about Santa Claus, and the dream about Aoi) that all add flavor and character to the drama without overpowering its faithful depiction of Planet High School. This balancing act between hyperreal and surreal is a tricky line to tread: a production that exaggerates plot and characters will always feel facile despite any entertainment value (uh, Hana Kimi anyone?), while a drama that is too dependent on fantasy/dream elements can feel rarefied and thus run the risk of alienating the viewer.

The strength of NwP is that it doesn’t skew towards either extreme, but reaches a comfortable — yet dynamic — equilibrium, which is no small testament to the virtuosity of both writing and direction. The finished product retains its solid core of realistic narrative/character development and naturalistic technique, but is complemented by these pleasantly unexpected but contrasting touches of loopy Jdorama hyperbole and floaty phantasmagoria. This drama, ladies and gents, is pure magic realism at its working best.

… Such is the flipside of magic realism, this nebulous nexus of the strange, the dark, the frightening. The drama gives no explanation for the dream, and very wisely leaves it at that.

So, thanks to Nobuta wo Produce I will always, always, always hold Kame and Pi dear beyond words no matter what mess they’ve made — and continue to make — of their post-NwP career trajectories. Maki I remain fond of despite her lackluster performances in Hana Kimi and Kurosagi; I know I’ve been extra hard on her in my past reviews, but only because I think she’s capable of better things and hope a suitable film or TV project will eventually come her way. But my fondness for Maki is cosmically — cosmically I say!!! — eclipsed by all that I feel for Kamenashi of the pencil-thin brows, and Yamashita of the dead-fish stare. Now wait a minute, some of you might ask: How dare she even make that claim? Isn’t this E.G., who uses her blog to flay those boys alive as if there were no tomorrow? Isn’t she the harpy who likes to chain them to a rock and feast on their livers — again, and again, and again?

Er, yes on both counts. It’s haaard to explaiiiin, but the reason I rip these poor boys apart all the time is because I like to play with my food because they mean THIS MUCH to me. (Readers go, “Eeeehhh? Nandeee” *headscratch*) But see, such is the power of Shuji to Akira, that whatever Kame and Pi do in the years to come — whether as J-pop pinups warbling way off-key, or wannabe actors out to carve their own niche in the Leading Man Canon — I will be there to watch them, and love them in spite of it… maybe even because of it. Even if it makes my ears bleed, my eyeballs implode, and my spleen liquefy and dribble out the nearest body orifice (don’t ask which). I am their F-A-N, and their F-A-N for L-I-F-E — and all because of a pair of seventeen-year-old schoolboys who liked to bond over soy milk and take sunset bicycle rides together.

But I’m also the kind of fan who harbors no illusions about Kame and Pi’s dramatic abilities (for Pi, it’s the lack thereof haha); I’ve seen enough of their collective oeuvre (practically all of it, actually *blushes*) to know that Nobuta wo Produce is the best work they’ve ever done, or will ever get to do. (Like I said, that drama was puuure maaaagic!) Since NwP, each boy has made exactly ONE other drama I believe they can be proud of: Tatta Hitotsu no Koi for Kamenashi, and Proposal Daisakusen for Yamashita. (Never mind the rest; the rest are just the necessary evils you slog through to ultimately earn the title of “Kame/Pi Completist.” The reward? A 10-disc set of KAT-TUN+NEWS’ greatest hits. And a lifetime supply of cheap wine. *Kame fans remember Kami no Shizuku and promptly lapse into a coma* And one year’s subscription to AnAn. *Pi fans go: “YamaPi showah… chunyuu!”* Lulzzz)

Between the two, Kame is by far a more natural and versatile actor than his pink-loving seishun amigo; he does drama and comedy better than YummyPi my little Gummi Bear, who really can’t do much but… be himself. That’s why I’ve always thought that Yamashita Tomohisa’s best dramas — Lunch Queen, Stand UP!, and natch, NwP — worked so well because they just let him be his weird, spacey and endearing self — unlike the more recent ones which sucked the sweet, the warmth, the life out of the boy and left this… sleepwalking six-pack with deep-fried hair in his place.

And so, such has been my own “self-revelatory odyssey” that went from knowing nothing about these two boys a little over a year ago, to recoiling from the first photo of theirs (see above) that I came across (and it also made me go, “Egads, these kids look weeeiiirrrrd!” — sounds familiar? well hello-oo E.G.’s KimuTaku Space Odyssey, lol), to acquiring Nobuta wo Produce (I’d heard good things about this netizen hit, but left it on the back burner because of… said photo), to finally giving in and watching the damn drama. And just like my experience with Pride, the rest is history, my embarrassing (and at times, downright incomprehensible) Kame/Pi fangirly devotion lovingly smeared all over this blog. It’s too late to take it back, to act more dignified and unsullied by this dark, guilty pleasure of mine. But, hey — if Nobuta and Akira could live with their weird little selves, I suppose so can I.

And to end this review with the wise words of a Green Day song:

“Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go So make the best of this test, and don’t ask why It’s not a question, but a lesson learned in time It’s something unpredictable, but in the end it’s right. I hope you had the time of your life…”

To Shuji, Akira and Nobuta, I hope you had, and continue to have, the time of your life… because you sure as heck gave me mine.