This was great, liked the insight it gave to Renji and Nel's wedding, and the bits with the priest and his granddaughter were funny!

WOW! This was wonderful. It was very funny indeed to see our characters from someone else's POV. I really liked the old man's assessment of everyone, and the way he found Grimmjow and Kenpachi more threatening than the "chimeras." I loved the subtext woven into the story: the lights recognizing the Spirit Queen and her consort, the relationship between Hiyori and Kenpachi, the trust built between the three or more species at the wedding.

Your story was sooo well-researched and you perfectly balanced cultural facts, rich setting details with humorous observations. The "what happened to the humans" backstory was included flawlessly and interestingly. I thought you did a great job with transitioning from a fun, enjoyable read to serious - the old man's mortality and upcoming war. By the end, I was no longer smiling, but had a knot of anticipation for the rest of the story.

A perfect interlude.

Carry on writing!