imeeji_frontstage | Go Fish: Trauma Edition

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Go Fish: Trauma Edition

Who: Naughty little fishes
Where: Game Tower
When: Day 527

[So there you are, minding your own business on a completely normal day.]

[Then you blink —

[— and find yourself, and many other idols, in an unfamiliar room.]

[The room is large and round and made of glass, like a globe. ...No, like a fish bowl.]

[On the other side of the glass walls, you can see indistinct shapes moving around, but the glass distorts the light so much that anything farther than arm’s length is just vague smears of colors and shadow blending with your own reflection. But something is there. Possibly a lot of somethings. ]

[Two formless shapes approach the glass, and as they do, their images resolve into the shapes of a pair of twins, one grinning while the other pointedly looks away from his brother. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the one who actually looks cheerful about being here is the first to speak up:]

Guess what~? You’ve been chosen to play in our very first game. Isn’t that exciting?

[He throws his arms out theatrically.]

Especially after soooo many boring games. The audience is looking for excitement and thrills here! Why not take the chance to really cement yourself as the fan favorite while you have the chance? Heck, it might even fix your little... “problem.”

[There’s a beat of silence, and he moves to elbow his brother who shoots him a “hey what the hell?” look before reluctantly facing the gathered idols.]

...Make sure you protect yourselves. Otherwise...

[He just lets the thought trail off before looking away again. His brother leans on him, resting an elbow on his shoulder as though waiting for him to continue before finally giving up and shaking his head with a sigh.]

You heard him! Give this game all you’ve got - got it?

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There now. I'm alright, there's nothing you need to apologize for. Were you safe?

[ nodding ] We won. The blood on my hands is from beating on the glass.

Well, that's good then. I'm just happy you're not too badly hurt.

I’d rather have lost and not watched that.

Hm. I don't think I'd have liked watching it happen to you very much.

[Even with his feelings about the event strangely muted, he knows that much.]

[ looking at him oddly ] You’re weirdly upbeat about this.

I'm having difficulty feeling anything about the event at all. It may be a game effect?

[ She goes through a series of expressions, first looking pissed that he is denied the chance to feel his feelings about being tortured, then finally settling on mild relief. ]

I guess it's like that time I couldn't feel positive feelings, but the reverse. You seem able to still be happy, yes? And feel love?

[ that last one is said a bit timidly, taking away that comfort after such a horror show sounds worse than awful, and it would mess with her plans to spoil him rotten. ]

Edited 2023-01-29 15:49 (UTC)

Of course. I love you, my dear, and I'm grateful for your care.

[Smooches the top of her head.]

Good. Because you'll be getting so much care over the next few days that you'll be sick of it.

[ sniffle, this is not entirely for his benefit ]

Hard to imagine I could complain about being doted on by you.

[Even if he feels fine, really...]

[ yeah once this hits him it might be less than pretty, so she intends to be there. ]

As long as you're feeling okay, that's all I ask.

-- By the way. Zhongli seems to have a problem with taking me to Teyvat in a suitcase like I planned. He's pretty determined.

[ ]

I can tell that I would be very upset if I could feel that right now. I'm sorry, a suitcase?

[ god, another one? ]

What else are we supposed to do? You can't carry me, neither can Venti, and even if you could you can't cut my out of my chrysalis without me waking up and going on a rampage. Something portable just makes sense, and it has to be small enough to move easily.

Wouldn't a carriage be slightly less dehumanizing than stuffing you into a suitcase?

It's not dehumanizing. What's dehumanizing is waking up and being a destructive toddler, and drinking blood.

I don't care what I'm transported in since I won't even notice, so shouldn't it be my choice?

If you don't care, then please consider the feelings of those who would rather not treat you like an object.

-- Fine. What's your much better plan for something I can be inside for however long we're still here and you can get me across town, through the portal, and across Teyvat in? Bearing in mind mountains and tall grass all sorts of obstacles.

A carriage is good enough to make it into the portal, and I certainly have no plans to drag you all over Teyvat while you're asleep.

And how are you pulling this carriage?

Don't we have horses around? I seem to recall a horse live.

Edited 2023-01-29 19:31 (UTC)

[ HORRIFIED ]

You can't steal a horse for this. Also I'm pretty sure one of you has to store me in your dorm, which means it has to fit through doors.

...I don't want to inconvenience anyone by taking up a bunch of space and resources, either. If you insist, we'll make it a fancy case. I asked Causality to make something robotic, but I'm not sure if there's time.

Steal from who? The producers?

[you can always steal from production. it's always morally correct]

What about a wheelchair? Even Venti can push one of those.

The chrysalis needs something on all sides to grab onto. It'll fill whatever space it's in, so it has to be enclosed. The discussion between a case and a carriage is just a matter of size.

I've thought about this a lot.

Carriage then. For the feelings of those who love you, even if you don't see a difference.

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