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ninapi · 1 year

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┊┊┊✧ ⁺ ⁺╚══ Wind Pillar ╝

Premise: A life without the demon corps was just meaningless. Living with a heavy survivor guilt can really eat someone from the inside. That was until a weak light arrived in the most unexpected way possible, breathing life back into his lungs, making him feel needed once more.

Word Count: 5081

Warning: spoilers, the story takes place after the manga’s original timeline.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Shinazugawa Sanemi was not the wind pillar anymore, he wasn’t Genya’s older brother anymore either. There was nobody left in this world that needed him.

After losing his family and dedicating his youth to demon hunting, losing the corps was the final blow for him.

Why was he the only one left?

He should have died if not with his family back in the day he should at least have died defending his brother’s life, Genya should be the one alive right now, not him.

What is the point of being alive when everything you care for was now gone?

He wasn’t particularly good at anything else besides demon hunting, getting a regular job and settling down was definitely not his style. He walked around the neighborhood he used to live in when his family was still alive, the thought of moving back into his old house crossed his mind, maybe do some renovations, hopefully he could drown in his good memories until time would come to give out his last breath.

But the house was now taken by an unknown family. A lot of people lost it all to demons and the destruction they brought with them, it wasn’t uncommon to see abandoned houses here and there, it made sense the house was deemed abandoned, they did leave to never come back.

He had nothing left, not even his old house.

Starting fresh could be encouraging to others, but for Sanemi it was torture.

None of the dojos he visited needed new instructors, majority of them were terrified by his looks alone, if a bunch of guys hitting each other for no apparent reason didn’t want him there what type of job was he supposed to get? It’s not like he was well mannered and literate like Tomioka or had a support network like Tanjiro. What’s the point of being the second strongest pillar if the demons were now all gone.

Sanemi’s lunch was now being given to stray ducks as he had no appetite whatsoever, feeding them was more productive than remaining in such a depressing head space, that’s when an orange rolled in between his feet. He didn’t think much of it, maybe someone dropped it while shopping, but then another orange came rolling next, and then three, making him look back in confusion.

A lone cart full of oranges was coming full speed down a hill with no one pushing it. He had to do something otherwise the villagers could get hurt, he saw small children playing around the area not long ago. Running towards it he was able to stop it before anything major happened, only a few oranges were lost, and the cart was still in good shape. A young woman came running in his direction panting for her life, “Thank you so much, good sir. My cart, it was so heavy, I lost control of it on my way home.”

Not trusting your current strength, he kept on holding the cart, still thinking of the kids running around and how exhausted you looked. “Were you heading down hill?”

“Not really, I was actually supposed to go up the hill behind us, but the cart was heavier than I expected, and it wouldn’t listen to me, so it rolled backwards.” Sanemi stared at said hill with a worrisome expression, that was no hill, that was a full-sized mountain. You were small, looked frail, pale even, little cuts and scars littering your hands. There was no way you could take the cart up that mountain, and it was not like he had anything else to do.

Somehow you reminded him of his mother and how they always needed to help her move heavy stuff around and reach tall places, wanting to help you came out naturally from his heart. “Lead the way.”

“Eh? It’s ok, don’t worry about me. I can take it!” your blushy surprised looking face caused him to scoff, turning the cart around and walking up the first hill. “Like hell you can. Now shut up and tell me where to go.”

“How can I tell you where to go if I shut up?” you were doing your best not to grin at his constipated looking scowl, but instead of teasing him further you just walked beside him in silence. The climb up to your house was steep, but he didn’t even sweat, before you noticed you were now at the entrance of your property, all over way too fast.

“Thank you, good sir. You can leave the cart there I will unload the oranges.” you ran into a small shed, bringing a cloth to wrap them up and bring them all inside. If the cart was heavy, the load was even worse. You couldn’t even lift them from the ground, causing Sanemi to heave a deep sigh. “Don’t you have a husband to help you? Or someone else like a father or brothers? There’s no way you can take all those fucking oranges inside unless you take one at a time and that would take a stupid amount of time.” He grabbed the load with one hand, swinging it over his shoulder like if it weighted nothing, waiting for you to open the door to your abode.

“I do not. My entire family was devoured by a wild beast while I was being treated in a hospice, far from here. Once I regained my strength back, they were all gone. My brother was the one who did all the heavy work around here, my mother and I would pick up the harvest and take care of the animals.” you had a pretty large farm, it wasn’t well tended now but it had several crops still growing and remains of what it used to be an area for livestock. “So, I do most of the work now that I’m alone.”

He knows how uncomfortable sympathetic comments are, so he doesn’t address the information gained, “Why do you even need so many oranges?” a loud thump could be heard as he set them on the kitchen floor, making the wooden floor tremble at the weight. “I was thinking of using them to make some marmalade and sell it at the markets, growing crops is harder than I thought, and I still need to eat, so had to figure something out.”

It was somewhat comforting for Sanemi hearing about the struggles of someone with a similar background. You both couldn’t protect your family, both had to worry about an uncertain future ahead of you. Both had things the other didn’t, but it felt good knowing he wasn’t the only one out there with similar problems.

“Do you like marmalade? I got some bread earlier, come sit down. Let me make you some tea, I still need to thank you for your kindness.” he nodded looking around for a place to sit down, the climb and the lack of food were starting to get to him, it sounded like a good idea.

He never thought making marmalade could be as complex, he had nothing better to do so he just looked at you from where he was sitting. Your hands were so small you needed both of them to stir the mix in the pot, it was amusing. The focus you were putting into making the treat, the tip of your tongue poking out passed your lips in concentration, it was all very eye catching. He’s always admire people that are good at cooking, always wanted to make delicious ohagi for himself, but he wasn’t the best with his hands unless it required brutish strength.

Once the marmalade was ready, you brought it to the small table in front of him, setting down a loaf of bread, a knife and two cups of steaming green tea.

Sanemi thinks back of the last time he was able to relax this way, sad thing really, he hadn’t ever since his mother left this world. Thinking of having afternoon tea without a worry in the world, it’s been over a decade since he had the luxury to do just that.

“Is it good? Do you like it? If you don’t, I can bring out something else.” the expectant look in your eyes made him contemplate what was in his mouth. It was sweet and very refreshing, he’s never had orange marmalade before so he couldn’t really compare it to any other, but he definitely didn’t hate it and wouldn’t mind eating some more. “It’s good, I’m sure it will sell well.” happy with his reply, you tried a bit yourself making mental notes of how to improve it even more.

Teacups were empty, plates clean, it was time for Sanemi to go back to wonder around town, maybe even try to find that one inn he heard about the day before. As he was getting up from his seat heavy rain came pouring down, a loud thunder making you jump. “When it rains this bad around here it takes a while for it to go away; would you like to stay for dinner? Um…sir?��

“Shinazugawa. Shinazugawa Sanemi.”

“Would you like to stay for dinner, Shinazugawa-san? I’m (Y/N) by the way.” he was starting to worry for your well being, you were deliberately letting an unknown man into your house and didn’t even know his name, that was not safe, even without demons around. “Tch, not like I have a choice.”

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The rain was just not stopping, dinner was done for, and it was pitch black outside, the mountain’s treacherous paths were not places to wonder around in a stormy night like this one, “Shinazugawa-san, how about you stay for the night? You can stay in my brother’s room; I can even lend you some of his clothing so you can take a bath.”

A bath, it’s been days since he took one of those, an alluring offer indeed, but somehow the way you were taking the situation didn’t sit right in his stomach, rage was now bubbling inside his chest at your disregard for your own safety.

“Are you dumb or what? Do you not see me as a man? Hell, you do know you shouldn’t bring men you don’t know into your house, right? Specially not at night.” his angry outburst made you giggle, closing the front door shut to make a statement. “You sound like my brother, he used to say things like that to my mother. I do know you though, you’re the very kind young man that helped a woman in need without asking anything in return, I even know your name now.”

“So what? Is not like I couldn’t just do something to you now that it’s dark, it’s just the two of us here in the mountain, no one would hear if something was to happen, nobody would come even if you screamed for help like a damn pig. Don’t do stupid things like that even if you think you know someone, you don’t know a fucking thing about me.” he was shouting at this point, his fists shacking. He was really a kind man, all he wanted was for you to understand how evil the world out there could be, to others it could be overwhelming to have a figure like him shouting so angrily at them but you could see he was just worried.

“I won’t do it again, Shinazugawa-san, I promise. Now please come with me, I will show you where the bath is.” your attitude and gentle smile were infuriating. All he could think of was how his sweet mother got beaten down by his own father and the men he would bring home sometimes for drinks. How she could barely defend her children and would always ended up hurt, how she had no chance whatsoever to fight stronger men. You wouldn’t be able to defend yourself either, you needed some sense put in that head of yours before it was too late.

He pinned you against the bathroom wall, one of his muscular thighs going in between your legs, rendering you useless against his grip, he was glaring down at you in a strangely attractive way triggering many things within you, except fear, “See how easy it is for me if I wanted to hurt your ass? Take me seriously dammit, take every man fucking seriously, you can’t trust someone you don’t know so easily, it will get you killed.” he let go off your wrists roughly, wanting you to learn your lesson, but one of your hands reached for his, “You have a blister. Let me bring a bandage so we can clean it, it was probably the cart, it tends to do that.”

“No, stop. Why are you acting this way? Are you out of your mind? I could have assaulted you just now, open your eyes woman!”

“But you didn’t. You had more than one chance to do as you pleased with me, but you didn’t. Instead, you ate my food, laughed at my jokes, helped me when no one else did. You are a kind man Shinazugawa-san, wether you want to accept it or not. I’m not stupid, I wouldn’t invite someone over to my house if it could do me some harm.”

Sanemi was speechless. You didn’t consider him dangerous? He couldn’t even get a decent job because everyone would look at him like the killer he is. If there was someone dangerous out there it was him, he could kill you without even trying, in seconds, painfully, he was the second strongest in a chain of the strongest people humanity had to offer. There was something off with your view of the world.

“Now, stay still, I’m going to clean it.” his hand has never been held that way before, of course he’s had his wounds tended to, he’s always needing some patching up after his many battles, but your touch was different, it was so gentle, he could feel how you were really worried about him, about his tiny blister hurting with your touch, like if he was as frail as you were. “You gotta make sure the wound is properly cleaned before you apply bandages, look at yourself, all those scars…I bet they were all so painful…you need proper care if you don’t want them to get infected or leave traces. You tell me to take care of myself but wouldn’t look in a mirror first.”

Nobody talks to him like that, specially not females. The girls of the butterfly state were always scared of him and just looking their way would make them run away. The only active women in his life were his mother and sisters, he never had time to mess around with girls or to get his wounds properly taken care of, there were demons out there that needed to be killed and that’s all that mattered to him back then.

“Are you seriously not afraid of me?”

You looked up into his eyes, staring at him in disbelief, his tone was a lot tamer now you could hear the honest confusion lacing his words, “Why would I? You look tough, that’s true. But I am nobody to judge others. My brother also had many scars from taking care of the farm, even several of his toes were missing from when he stepped on a saw by accident, you’re not the only one around with a couple of fingers missing in this violent era. People used to say he was scary, all big and full of scars, skin tanned by the long hours of working in the fields, but he was a gentle man, always took great care of me and my mother. You strike me as the same type, you don’t feel like someone who would hurt the weak, you feel more like someone that protects them.”

Sanemi was left speechless once more as you left for him to enjoy his bath, you made sure the water was warm enough from the outside, blowing on the fire constantly until you heard him come out. He’s never been able to relax this much, he knew demons weren’t a threat anymore but that didn’t only mean he was unemployed, he didn’t think of what that meant fully until now. No demons meant less danger, meant being able to take his time to live life, to breathe, to relax. It was a strange feeling, not having to worry about someone bursting the door open and slaughtering the woman outside, but it was a good kind of strange.

He felt awfully relaxed that night and after years of nightmares, he was finally able to sleep peacefully.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

It’s been three days and the rain just wouldn’t stop. Sanemi had helped you covering the crops so they wouldn’t die out in the rain but there was no sign of it stopping any time soon. It was typhoon season, and it was heavily hitting you this year.

Not only did he help with the crops, but the roof also had holes in it which you two didn’t notice until you woke up to a flooded floor, so he repaired it. Your front door wasn’t safe enough for his liking, so he used his extra time to take care of that as well. He didn’t even notice time was moving this fast and days had gone by. It wasn’t as bad having something to do, keep your mind busy and your body active, regular people life wasn’t as boring and dreadful as he originally thought it was.

There was so much to do around the house that he wondered how you’ve managed to live up here in the mountain by yourself all this time. He got to learn you’ve been living here all alone for a couple of years and you have been doing all you can to not let the farm fall, your determination was admirable and made him question his own future.

“Shinazugawa-san, I enjoy thoroughly having you here, but isn’t your family going to worry? It’s kind of been a while now.” the back of his neck was strangely hot, your comment taking him off guard. He enjoyed the simplicity of the last few days comparing it to the rest of his life, he’s never been able to just sit down and listen to the rain fall on the roof sipping on a hot cup of tea, but he didn’t know you were enjoying it just as much.

“I don’t have a family. They also got killed by a wild beast long time ago, the only brother I had left passed this year, so no, nobody is going to worry about me not returning home, I don’t even have a home.” the stoic look on his face while he was retailing his life tragedy worried you, it’s something he should feel sad for, but he didn’t look sad, he looked angry, and you could understand that feeling, your family was taken away from you in the very same way.

“I bet your brother looked like you.” he wasn’t expecting that, usually people get uncomfortable with the thought of having to empathize with something they can’t understand and start apologizing, but you did go through the same, you stirred the subject around like he usually does when facing the same situation and he was grateful. “Hm, he had less scars than me, was taller, dark hair. But he did kind of look like me.”

“I bet he was kind too.”

“He was.” you were now pouring more tea in his cup, admiring the heavy rainfall through your window. “My brother didn’t look like me at all, he was way kinder, very smart, had the prettiest face I’ve ever seen with beautiful large eyes.” this made Sanemi look at your face, it was difficult to imagine a big muscly guy that looked anything close to the delicate tiny woman in front of him, but then again, he used to see his mother in Genya all the time. “Sounds a lot like you.” blood was flowing at full speed to your cheeks, decorating your lovely face with tinges of reds.

“Sometimes I wish I was the one the beast ate instead of my brother, the farm needs him, he was so good with animals and with the people at the market too, everyone loved him, he was the best of the two of us, it’s a shame really.”

Sanemi was lost in your face, the way your eyes watered at the memory of your brother, the way a soft defeated smile crept on your face signalizing guilt, he felt understood in a very deep level, strangely. “Same. I did all I could to protect my brother, I wanted him to live a normal life, get a wife, have some kids. But he ended up following me around and dying before me anyways. All my efforts were completely useless. I should have died, not him.” his fists were now shaking against the coffee table, veins popping all around his body as a rush of anger and despair rushed through him at the thought of his dying baby brother.

“I’m sure he just wanted to be with his beloved older brother. I used to follow mine around as well, wanted him to teach me how to get milk from the cow and got myself a kick to the face, turns out they get quite stressed if you’re too excited.” the absurdity of it all felt like getting some sort of medication for the illness that consumed his heart, like a serum being injected into his blood stream, cooling his anger down.

“Dumbass.” the sound of your laughter brought new air into the house, a house that is rather quiet all the time was now loud, and it smelled like a proper home.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

After two stormy days more, the sun was finally out. There was a lot of work to do in the fields to fix the damage caused by the storm. Sanemi started working on it as soon as he woke up without even asking you, and it took you both all day, something you thought would take an hour ended up extending throughout the entire day.

He was better at this than he thought he would, you even ended up planting some pumpkin seeds you got from the market a while back upon his suggestion of adding different types off crops. The front of the farm looked like a proper one afterwards bringing a powerful sense of completion to the both of you. It was hard work, but teamwork does really make a difference. And you two made a good team.

The sun was setting, all there was left to do was water the crops and prepare dinner, fresh rice already cooking in a pot inside the house. “Maybe you can grow some berries and do your marmalade using them instead of having to buy oranges, growing orange trees seems like a pain in the ass and there are wild berries in the forest, should be easy to find some and bring them here.” you were giving it serious thought, you’ve never thought about changing the ingredients, you were just replicating the treat your mother used to do for you and your brother when you were little. Being so lost in your head doing ingredient calculations and noting ideas for the recipe, you didn’t see the frog that was comfortably resting on your foot. Once you did though, panic filled your insides, you hated frogs and would always stay as far away as possible from them.

“Shinazugawa-san…there’s…there’s a-“ you looked like you were about to faint so he walked closer to you, spotting the aggressor, “(Y/N) is just a stupid frog, move your foot, it’ll go away on its own.” you shook your head closing your eyes shut, you didn’t want to hurt the poor animal out of your own silly phobia.

Sanemi crouched down to your feet, grabbing the little troublemaker and took it over to the edge of the river near your property. When he came back you were still frozen in place, sweating. “It’s gone now.” You were ridiculous, it was just a tiny frog, you couldn’t even defend yourself against a frog, how were you going to defend yourself against the odds of life. You let out a long-held breath, taking his hands in yours as a token of appreciation, quickly forgetting the hose was in your hand and getting his face completely wet.

“(Y/N)….you little piece of shit….” his face was red, a deep snarl on his face. You threw the hose to the ground and ran for your life, laughing in the process. “I’m so sorry!! Kyaaaaa, how are you this fast!” one step of his was five of yours, he caught up to you in no time and the look on his face was a sight to behold.

He wasn’t angry, his wet hair was sticking onto his face, and he was laughing. He looked way younger this way and it made you feel relived to see he was having as much fun as you did these days. Your hand reached his face, caressing the droplets of water away, a loving smile gracing your lips. He wasn’t sure when things started heading in this direction but he’s never felt that way before and he didn’t hate it.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

There weren’t more excuses for Sanemi to linger around, the rain was gone, the farm cleaned up from the storm, even the marmalade was ready to be sold. He offered to help you with the cart since it was even heavier now that the load had increased.

The idea was for him to take you downtown and then leave and move on with his life, find a job and a place to stay.

But you didn’t even know how to build the display table in the market and then unloading the cart is faster between two people. Then an old lady asked him for three jars of marmalade and by mid afternoon he was still by your side selling your goods.

“Sir, could I convince you and your wife to trade two of your jars for one of my chickens? I don’t have any money left but I would really like to take some home for my kids.” His what- the cloth he was using to clean the table ended up on the floor at her statement, taking him off-guard, you also didn’t say anything to deny it. “What do you think, dear husband? I think it would be a good idea, we could look around and see if we can find her a mate and get eggs from them.” so you were seriously not just going to ignore it but also go along with it-

“Um, yeah. There’s some spare wood in the shed, I could use that to build them a house.” the lady was now handing him the cage with said chicken, waiting anxiously for the last two jars of goodness to be her own.

“You make such a lovely couple; I wish my husband was as understanding and loving as yours. Thank you, my children and I will be forever in your debt, my youngest is celebrating her birthday today, I wanted to bring something special home.” it somehow warmed both of your hearts, you both think of days when you had a large family and how much fun you had eating delicious treats with your siblings, children laughter filling out every corner. “Thank you for your kind words, we’ll take good care of your chicken. I hope you and the children have a lovely evening!” and just like that the marmalade was officially sold out.

“So where do you think we can find Mia’s future husband?” he wasn’t sure how or when you and him became a ‘we’ but he wasn’t mad at how it sounded like and the intentions behind it. “Did you just name the fucking chicken?” he was used to your silly antics by now but it was still very much amusing to him, your quiet giggles confirming he was right. “I saw someone selling some chickens by the entrance, let’s go see if they have one after cleaning up.”

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Time Skip~

It’s been ten years since Sanemi started coming to this market every morning. He still misses the fun days of demon hunting, but mostly he still misses his brother. Life wasn’t as good to Genya as it was to him, and he still felt guilty from living the life he wanted his brother to have.

Having a permanent stall in the market came with a lot of responsibilities and a lot of hard work, but his strength was put to good use by the smartest person he’s ever met.

“How much for the corn?” Sanemi, who was now cleaning the small worktable looked up to tend his first customer of the day. “If you take two you get one fr- Tomioka???” Giyuu was smirking at him from the other side of the table, a knowing look in his eyes. “That apron looks good on you, Shinazugawa.” Leaving the stall behind, he walked over to his old pillar mate, it’s been years since the last time they saw each other.

“Heard your stupid ass went to live with his old master like a sissy lost baby, near Tanjiro and the gang of brats.”

Some things never change.

“Yeah, it’s been a while, we didn’t even know you were still alive.” the conversation got cut short by a child clinging onto Sanemi’s leg, getting Giyuu’s attention. “Father, mother needs your help unloading the milk crates.”

Crouching down to his size, Giyuu stares into the child's eyes, lost in the memories of his lost friends, painful days of loss came right into his heart, “You look just like your uncle.” patting the child on the head, he smiled, the ghosts of his lost comrades shining behind the toddler. “I know, I was named Genma after uncle, but my hair is like this because of mother, the rest have father’s hair.” As if on cue you came out of the back with a baby tied to your back, an older looking boy than the one before him holding a sleeping girl in his arms. “Nemi, the milk!”

“I see you’ve been busy.” Sanemi’s face was red as a beet, making him grumble insults quietly for his child not to hear.

“I’ll do it in a second, come here, I want you to meet an old friend of mine.” this was the first time any of them had addressed the love-hate relationship they had in the past as friendship, but now being older they both agree that’s what it was. “Tomioka, this is my wife (Y/N)”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you…and your four children…” the smirk on his face was so sly nobody would notice it but Sanemi, it made him want to punch his guts like he would do back in the day when they were younger.

“Is that your wife over there, Tomioka-san? I see you also have a little one, take some of our milk, our kids love it!” The child looked just like him, it was an easy guess. You were doing your best to move around with a child on your back and a swell on your stomach, a promise of another youngster arriving soon. The woman behind Giyuu came holding his son and after a long chat and bunch of laughter they promised to go to your place for dinner soon.

Ten years ago Sanemi thought he had lost it all.

And he did.

But he made a silent promise to Genya after meeting you, he would live as long as he could, never waste the opportunity to live his brother gave him, never let his sacrifice be in vain, he would live for the both of them, he would bring life to this world and protect it the way he couldn’t protect his siblings, he would protect his family until his last breath and once that moment comes and he gets to see him again, he will have many stories to share as they embrace eternity together, as family.

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Tagged babes: @doumadono

Masterlist Bonus Chapter

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nightwolf14292 · 1 month

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Dick Grayson Canon Lore Stuff:

(TW for Batman stuff, like spoilers and mention of injury/death) Hello, I know very little about the canon Batfamily because I can't exactly just read all of the comics (there's way too many, and they're very expensive T-T) so instead I spent like an hour reading the entire Fandom . com entry on Dick Grayson, and this is pretty much my timeline of important events that I got from that (I'm typing this in hopes that it'll help me remember it).

Dick Grayson Canon Lore Stuff:

•From a very young age Dick Grayson was trained as an acrobat, hence his job as a performer in his family's circus act.

•When he was eight years old, he overheard a well known crime boss threaten the circus performers if he wasn't paid by the circus owner. The owner didn't pay him, and that night Dick witnessed his parents high wire snap, leading to both of their deaths. (He felt responsible for not warning them)

•He was put into a juvenile service system, because social services in Gotham were full. In this system he was often beat up by the others, which led to him eventually being put into a Catholic orphanage instead.

•Bruce Wayne adopted him, but Dick didn't want to replace his deceased dad with a 'stuck up' billionaire, plus he felt like Bruce didn't give him enough attention (Probably because Bruce was still dealing with the trauma of his own parents death and didn't like getting attached to people in case he lost them as well), so he snuck out in hopes of solving his parents murder himself.

•He met Batman, also investigating the murder, which led to him finding out that Batman and Bruce Wayne are the same person.

•They find the crime boss, but he 'dies of a heart attack' before he can be arrested.

•Since Bruce saw so much of himself in Dick, he asked the boy if he wanted to become his sidekick and Dick decided to name himself 'Robin' after what his mother used to call him.

•He was trained for six long, hard months before he was allowed to do any real missions, and he had to go through one full night eluding Batman without help before he was allowed to officially become Robin.

•For the first year or so Dick had a lot of fun with his job, and treated it as a fun adventure he and Bruce participated in together.

•That was until he had a fight with Two-Face, in which Batman and the DA were both stuck in nooses. Dick cut the rope around the DA with a Batarang, but Two-Face had crafted a double trap and this made the floor fall out so the DA landed in a pit of water in which he drowned. This was Dick's first time witnessing an on-the-job death which would serve to haunt him for years to come, plus he got himself a beating from Two-Face (Okay but like, wouldn't he have been like 9 or 10 max Jeezums- 😭🖐).

•Bruce temporarily 'fired' Dick, not wanting to see him get hurt any more.

•Dick served as Robin for a while longer, still working with Bruce and also forming his own Titans team.

•When Dick was 17 he got shot in his shoulder by the Joker, which prompted Bruce to officially fire him out of fear for his safety. Dick decided that he didn't need Batman anymore, plus he had some issues with the way Bruce did things, so he moved from Gotham to New York to be more involved with the Titans, and he dropped out of highschool.

•Bruce didn't really like this, and told Dick that if he was no longer going to work with him he would have to retire the Robin title. Dick left Wayne Manor afterwards, and handed over leadership of the Titans to Wondergirl.

•Unsure of himself and what he should do now, yet not wanting to give up crime fighting now that it was such a big part of his life, he went to find Superman. For a brief while Dick stayed with Superman, and Superman told him of a Krypton hero who had been known as Nightwing. Because of this time with Clark, Dick decided to finally become his own hero free of Batman. He named himself Nightwing after the Krypton hero, and made himself a costume based off of something his father once wore back in the circus.

•Now as Nightwing he helped lead the Titans, though his relationship with Starfire was worsening over time.

•Jason's death was a bit of a turning point in his character. Even though originally he hadn't seemed to like Jason (mainly because Jason acted as his replacement, and because of his not so great relationship with Bruce) Dick seemed to grow into a kinder/gentler person after the event.

•A while after this, Dick discovered that the mob boss who had killed his parents was not actually dead but was in a coma instead. Dick went looking for him, but witnessed him being gunned down before he had a chance to do anything for himself. Bruce claimed that he was worried that Dick would seek revenge for his parents death if he knew the truth, so he told the young boy that the mod boss was dead instead. Dick was obviously upset because of this, and his relationship with Bruce stayed strained.

•While he was still serving with the Titans, Tim Drake sought him out and asked him to return to being Robin (Because after Jason's death Bruce was going crazy without a Robin by his side), but Dick refused because of his bad relationship with Bruce and his enjoyment for his current job. He did help Tim become Robin, though.

•A lot of bad things happened with the Titans, people passed, people left, people changed, but Dick fought to stay the heart and center of the team through it all.

•Despite their strained relationship, Dick tried to impulsively marry Starfire, but the ceremony was interrupted, which eventually led to Starfire leaving and returning to her home planet.

•Bruce was brutally injured by Bane, but because his relationship with Dick was so bad and he didn't want to 'force' his son to return, he temporarily gave the Batman title to the not-so-stable Jean Paul Valley, with Tim there to help him out. Jean proved too unstable, however, and Dick returned to Gotham to help Tim deal with him. Dick decided to step away from the Titans to focus on Gotham, and the still healing Bruce asked him to be Batman until he was alright again which Dick agreed to.

•During his time acting as Batman, Dick built a great brotherly relationship with Tim. In addition, Bruce admitted that he hadn't originally asked Dick to act as Batman for him because he didn't want to force him to come back, and the two finally began to fix their relationship.

•Dick pretends to be a villain working under Deathstroke for a while, until Deathstroke betrays him and kills at least 100,000 people with a bomb. Dick tries to find and help any survivors, but is unable to because of the radiation which weighs heavily on his mind. He also proposes to Barbara Gordon around this time.

•Dick recovers and Bruce asks him to join him and his current Robin in rediscovering his roots. Dick is hesitant, but Barbara insists that he helps, and suspends their engagement for the time being.

•Dick returns to the Titan's tower, because there's someone there pretending to be him. Turns out it's the revived Jason Todd!

•While on a case, he gets buried alive by a mysterious voice that tells him he's 'supposed to be dead'. He has a hard time finding work because he's in a cast, and is having some trouble due to his injuries.

•By this point his relationship with both Bruce and Tim have improved dramatically, and he's close with both of them.

•The Titans decide to reform their group.

•Okay I'm gonna try and put this as simply as possible… Bruce was targeted by a group called 'Black Glove', supposedly going insane and running away. Dick doesn't want Tim to have to deal with everything himself, so he returns. He gets kidnapped and drugged by the International Club of Villains and is scheduled for a lobotomy, but gets out of it because Bruce's 'insanity' was made up to expose the Black Glove. Batman fights with Doctor Hurt on a helicopter, but the helicopter explodes. Batman is fine and works with the Justice League, but then is seemingly killed in his confrontation with Darkseid. In his will, Bruce begs Dick not to become Batman. Because of his refusal to become Batman, someone else takes up the job instead, calling himself Batman but using lethal methods that Bruce would never allow. This 'Batman' is actually Jason Todd, who shoots Damian and almost kills Tim with a Batarang. Dick and Jason fight and Dick shoves Jason off of a speeding train, seemingly killing him though Jason says they'll 'Meet again soon'. Dick finally decides to become the official Batman, but refuses to make Tim his Robin because according to him, he sees Tim as his equal and not his sidekick. He instead makes Damian his new Robin, which of course pisses off Tim. Tim, believing Bruce to be alive, takes up Jason's old Red Robin mantle and goes searching for Bruce. Dick moves base because the Batcave reminds him too much of Bruce, and struggles because Damian is constantly reminding and taunting him over the fact that he will never truly be able to replace his father. When he next fights Jason, Jason remarks that if the Lazarus pit could revive him, it could revive Bruce too as he's being arrested.

There's quite a bit of stuff that happens in between here, most notably the death of a young boy called Baby D which influences Dick's future character, but since I've been typing for hours:

Thinking about what Jason said, Dick takes Bruce's body from his grave and takes him to the Lazarus Pit. While it does reanimate the corpse, the revived 'Bruce' is angry and violent. This is because it was never Bruce at all, it was actually a clone of him. This gives Dick, Damian, and Alfred a similar hope to Tim, that Bruce is actually still alive. Tim brings evidence that Bruce is actually lost in time, and after a bit of digging and more evidence finding, they manage to bring Bruce back.

•Dick finally becomes Nightwing again, now with red on his costume which reflects his darker and more grim outlook on life and humanity after his time as Batman.

•Nightwing gets stabbed on a mission.

•He also, on a different mission, momentarily dies but they manage to start his heart again.

•Dick puts down his Nightwing title for a while and becomes a secret agent for Bruce, but the wiki has no info on this.

•Dick goes back to being Nightwing, finally returning to his original black and blue suit instead of the black and red one. He reforms the titans, but after working with them for a bit, but ends up moving back to Blüdhaven soon after.

•Someone is sent to assassinate Dick, and he gets shot in the head. He manages to survive, though he has amnesia and for a brief while becomes 'Ric Grayson' until he gets his memories back. When Ric tries to restore his memories he is kidnapped by the Joker who brainwashes him into believing that he was the Joker's sidekick, though he's eventually rescued and gets his memories back. After this event, he officially rejoins the Batman Family as Nightwing.

•There's no info after this.

Extra fact: While not mentioned in the fandom wiki, Dick Grayson was r[😬]ed by a female villain named Tarantula. (As in yes, he has a nice ass, but he would canonically be very uncomfortable with how some parts of the fandom oversexualize him.)

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lyomeii · 1 year

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me, you and him

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ warnings: yandere themes, death, spoilers from the entire manhwa, manipulation, reader is implied to be taller than jiwon, someone drug the reader in the first timeline and much more.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥Hello may I request a yandere kang jiwon x reader (romantic) where reader was a childhood friend of jiwon and reader is the one always saved from bullies but she died from a accident( sumin poisoned reader) and when jiwon recairneted she decided to save reader while saving reader she fell in love(read obsessed) with reader! Bonus yandere yoo jihyuk who is obsessed with reader from high school Have a great day!^^

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ a/n: first request for marry my husband!!!!! 100% excited when writing it and i did have my fun while finished. hope u guys like it too.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ jiwon remembers how her young days were quite full of problems. mother left her and father to another man, dad work twice as hard and soomin, someone who she thought to be a friend, betrayed her and killed her with her husband.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ a life as bad like that was definitely one the main reason why she came back to the past, jiwon has to fixed everything and of course, to save the only person that was truly at her side, you.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ someone at school who grow up next to her and soomin, yet you only care about her than everyone else. gifting her little presents almost everyday, giving your jacket during rain and cold weather. those sweet moments passed unnoticed by jiwon, how stupid she was to not choose you? why she ended with min hwan instead?

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ those sweet moments she spend with you were unique, she introduced you to her work team and you befriend many of them quickly, even her supervisor, jihyuk seems to like you, he smiled seeing you! he never smiled to anyone. yet there was someone who didn’t like that at all.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ soomin hated the fact she never got your attention, you always prefer jiwon over her! and if she and min hwan wanted to become rich with jiwon’s money, then she have to dispose you faster as possible.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ one day, soomin called you over to the office, saying that jiwon wants to drink the coffee from your coffee shop and as expected, you got almost immediately to the office with a few coffee cups in hand. there, soomin put a drug on your drink while you distribute the others for everyone else.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ there was no effect immediately, she isn’t that dumb to make a mistake like that. you began feeling ill after your parents take a visit to met the coworkers of yours, baek eun-ho. they loved the boy so much and were glad to someone like him help you around, all of them looked so proud of you for having a business that none of them saw your pale face immediately.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ as your body fall over the ground, eun-no called the emergency, but it was too late. you died there and everyone you knew attended the funeral of yours. your parents were devastated about your death, they cried the entire day as jiwon hugged them and tried her best to console them.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ she thought to be a tragic event, but during her final moments of living originally, jiwon heard soomin’s whispering how pleasuring was to poisoning you with that drink. “ poor [name]. always had your side and yet, you fail to see how I ended their life with a drop of poison~”

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ when she comes back ten years in the past, jiwon has the plan to end her relationship with min hwan, expose soomin and save you. she can’t do the same mistake again, she needs you at her side and was a fool to not see how precious you are to her.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ as her plan goes on, jiwon hits on you. she takes you out to many places, such malls, bakery shores and art galleries. her hazel eyes enjoy watching you smile when you experience something new, those are moments she wants to keep in heart forever.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ the office knows how important you are to jiwon, some think that the two of you are dating and she doesn’t correct them, after all, she broken up with her cheating husband and has someone like you at her side, so everyone see the two of you as a perfect couple, well almost everyone.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ jihyuk is the only one who knows the true. he came back in time too and has knowledge that you died years later by poisoning, he attended you funereal and cries over your death.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ you don’t remember him, maybe by the fact he was older and in another class, yet you were know by the entire school. everyone knew you as sunshine back then, someone who was willing to help anytime, a smile on your face and by the many times you share your delicious food with everyone who asked.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ the day you gave him a piece of cake was the day his heart beat faster. jihyuk wanted to talk with after it, but seeing you between jiwon and soomin made him being more careful. he knew that both women had feelings for you, however your attention was solely focus on the first one.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ when you died, jihyuk hold back his tears during the funeral and kept himself in the cold manner everyone always saw him. he couldn’t believe, how someone like you could die in a cruel way? he hadn’t no proof, but felt that soomin and min hwan had something do with your death.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ when he came back in time, jihyuk saw another chance to make you his and not let you die either. he become quite closer to you, visiting your coffee shop to talk about everything that came in his mind and surprisingly, you remembered him from high school.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ “ oh wait! i remember you. you were the boy who loved eating my homemade cakes and sweeties!”

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ he wanted to disappear that moment, but when you gift him a piece of cake with a smile on the face, jihyuk eat it and his cheek went red. he didn’t manage to hide it, become a little joke of your.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ did he actually mind it? no. but seeing how much your attitude become when joking about the little blush of his cheeks makes his day, not to mention the moments he manages to hold your hand for mere seconds. jihyuk can’t wait to feel your touch again.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ yet he is no fool to know that jiwon is after you too. her eyes become lively whatever you are next to her, he heard the many rumors that you began dating her after the broke up from her former fiancé. when asked why you don’t correct anyone about the rumor, you just brush off, saying that everyone always speaks about it, but know that jiwon is only a friend of yours.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ that’s mean he still has a chance to make him yours. jihyuk isn’t letting her having you, he knows how much important you are to jiwon, however he can’t lose you again. someone or something gave him another chance to fix it and this time, he won’t let you go no matter how, especially with jiwon, he won’t let her have you.

@lyomeii stuff || don’t repost

#yandere headcanon #yandere imagine #yandere #yandere x reader #yandere x you #yandere male #yandere female #yandere manhwa #manhwa x reader #kang jiwon x reader #yandere kang jiwon #kang jiwon #kang ji won #marry my husband #marry my husband x reader #yandere marry my husband #yoo jihyuk x reader #yandere yoo jihyuk #yoo jihyuk

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crazyunsexycool · 3 months

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A love as sweet as honey

Prologue

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader

Word count: 2.6k

Warnings: Sad Steve, Crying Steve, Lottie being cute, not much else

A/N: Here we go!! This is set in the My Little Love universe The rest of the story will be updated once My Little Love is completed so there aren't any spoilers. Timeline wise this prologue happens during chapter 30 of My little love and characters from that series will play a part in this one.

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The tower loomed over the street. It glistened in the light of day, a beacon that called out to you. Everyone rushed around as you stared up at your new place of employment. With a deep breath you make your way into the building. It was odd to be in the middle of the city at the Avengers’ tower. The initial job offer mentioned working upstate at the compound. You had even started looking for a place closer to it. It didn’t matter either way to you as long as you had the job.

“Hello. It’s my first day and I was told to ask for Dr. Banner.” You told the receptionist that sat by the elevators.

“Name?”

“Y/N Y/L/N.”

She types your name into the computer.

“I need to see an identification.” She smiled and held her hand out as you dug through your bag.

She grabs it to verify your information and adds something in the system. Then she grabs the phone and calls someone down.

“You can wait to the side someone will be right with you.” She says as she hands you back your ID. “Have a great day and welcome to Stark Industries.”

You mutter a thanks and move to the side of her desk. She was much too chipper for your taste but maybe that was why she worked as a receptionist. There are not a lot of people around the lobby but there are a few guards dressed in full on armor. You’d been to the lobby of the tower in the past and it hadn’t been this empty before. As you wait for whoever is coming you can’t help but anxiously fiddle with your pearl necklace. The elevator dings open and out comes a man in a black suit, slightly curly but short hair. His facial hair frames his smile as he comes up to you.

“Dr. Y/L/N correct?” He asks as he stops in front of you.

“Depends on who you are?” You eyed him suspiciously.

He chuckles. “I’m Happy Hogan, head of security. Why don’t you follow me and I’ll get you all set up with the proper clearance and work ID. Then I’ll take you up to the lab. If you are in fact Dr. Y/L/N.”

“Lead the way.”

“Excited for your first day?” He asked as you got into the elevator. Not really bothered by your standoffish attitude.

“Yup.”

He nods. “Many people apply for those lab jobs but very few get it and even less get to be Banner’s assistant. You should feel proud about it.”

You give a tight lipped smile. In reality you were ecstatic about this job because word around town was that this position as Bruce Banner’s assistant had been vacant for close to a year. It wasn’t necessarily the work itself but the famous scientist had specific requirements when it came to an assistant. You still didn’t know what they were but you assumed you had whatever it was Bruce Banner needed.

Happy leads you into an office where he proceeds to hand you a temporary badge with the right clearance. Then he takes your picture for your actual badge. He goes over a few general safety protocols and procedures. Finally after what feels like an eternity Happy takes you up another few floors up to where the labs are.

“Good luck.” Happy says as he knocks on the office door.

“Dr. Y/L/N it's great to see you again.” Bruce says once he’s opened the door. He waves to Happy as he’s walking down the hallway. “Please come in.”

You follow him in and take a seat across from him, only his sleek black desk separates you. The office itself is very clean, the walls are so white they almost hurt your eyes and there are barely any knick knacks or photographs lying around.

“I’m very excited to be working with you.” Bruce says and gives you a small smile.

“Me too. It’s an honor to be working with you. Still can’t believe I’m here.”

“Well believe it. Your work was very impressive and I’m sure we’ll do great things. Now before I show you your office and work space do you have any questions?”

“No, I think everything was covered at orientation. But, I get an office?” You perked up. The thought of having a space just for yourself was thrilling.

“Of course, everyone needs a quiet place to work. It’s attached to a much smaller lab if you have other things you’d like to work on. I insisted on it. I wouldn’t want to limit your own work just because you work with me. And Tony loves to fund new ideas so keep that in mind.”

You nodded along but were about to burst at the seams that you had such an opportunity. Clearing your throat you ask, “so if there was something I wanted to work on, do I have to ask for permission or present any preliminary research or documents before I can work on it?”

“Nothing so formal. As long as we know what you’re working on and we’d both like updates on your progress from time to time. Also if you need someone to look over anything or bounce your ideas off of please don’t hesitate to come to us. Other than that you’re free to work on whatever you want. Any possible equipment or materials are at your disposal. But it can’t interfere with our work.”

“Absolutely not.” You shake your head.

Bruce smiled, seeing the excitement in your eyes. He stands and waves you to follow him. First he shows you to your office where you drop off your bags. Then he lets you look around the small lab that was meant just for you. You roam around and marvel at how well equipped it is even if it’s small. Finally Bruce takes you to his lab and you can’t hide how impressed you are. You don’t hide your eagerness to explore either. It’s like letting a kid roam around freely in a candy shop or toy store.

Bruce doesn’t waste much more time. He quickly hands you an official lab coat with Stark Labs embroidered on it as well as your name. Then he shows you what you’ll be working on first. The two of you fall into a very comfortable rhythm for the next few hours.

“Banner.” His name is called from the doorway and you look up from your station to see none other than Natasha Romanoff standing there. “We have a lead and we leave now. He’ll be needed.”

He, as in the Hulk. You forgot that Bruce turned into the Hulk with how quiet he is. Bruce nods but sighs as he takes his white lab coat off and hangs it. Then he turns to you.

“I’m off now but I sent instructions to your email for what to do next and Friday can also help you if needed. Friday, please introduce yourself.”

“Hello, Dr. Y/L/N. My name is Friday and I am at your disposal.”

“Hello Friday.” You say. “A.I?” You ask Bruce and he nods.

“She has access to absolutely everything so you can ask her for anything. Of course if you don’t have clearance she won’t give you the information. Now about the mission. I may be gone the rest of the afternoon and evening so make sure you just head home at a reasonable hour. Friday will make sure to lock up the lab and help you set up your own codes to give you access. If I’m not back tomorrow just keep working on what you are now or work on one of your own projects.” He informs you. “I know it’s a lot but-“

“I’m your assistant, this is what I signed up for.” You reassure him and he nods. “Good luck on your mission.”

He nods again and says a quick goodbye before leaving. You look around the empty lab and just take a moment to appreciate that you were actually at your dream job. It was incredible. After everything that you went through to finish school with no support and the previous jobs you had where you weren’t valued you finally got to where you wanted to be. You smiled to yourself and asked Friday if she could play music. She asked what you wanted to listen to and you gave her the name of your favorite artist. Music started playing through the room and you got back to work.

For the next few days you followed the same schedule. You’d get to work at around 8:00 am, look at the instructions that Bruce had left for you on that first day and stopped when you felt like it was time to do so. Most nights you’d leave by 7:00 or 8:00 pm. It was easy to lose track of time when you were doing something you loved.

Bruce was finally back a week later. There was a defeated and tired look on his face when he greeted you that morning. You weren’t good with comforting people so you weren’t sure if asking if he was ok was the right thing to do. He didn’t give you much of an opportunity because he just dove into work and explained that he would need your help with some kind of testing in about half an hour.

Sure enough the half hour went by quickly. It was punctuated by the arrival of a little girl to the lab. She had stunning blue eyes and black hair that both framed her face beautifully and accentuated her rosy cheeks. Next to her was a boy with similar beautiful eyes and shoulder length black hair. You assume that they’re siblings. Behind them were four people. An older man, a young woman with red hair whom you thought was part of the Avengers, Steve Rogers and Tony Stark himself.

“Mowning Buce.” The little girl greeted as she bounded over to your boss. She smiled up at him while hugging a pink teddy bear.

“Good morning Charlotte. How are you this morning?”

“Am kay.”

“That’s good.”

The corners of your lips quirked up at the interaction. Kids were sweet, you liked kids more than you did adults. They never seem to have ulterior motives and were innocently but brutally honest most of the time.

You felt eyes on you as Charlotte continued to talk with Bruce. When you look over you see the boy with his brows furrowed, trying to decide if you’re a friend or foe. You give him a small smile and look back over to Bruce. This time you see Charlotte looking over at you.

“Hi.” She says as she gets closer to you. “Is Buce new fwiend?” She points at you.

“Yes?” You look up at Bruce for help and he just nods. “My name is Y/N.”

“Y/N. Is cute.” She approves of your name and you smile. “Am Wottie an is bubba an gwandpa an Wanda an Tony an Steebie.” She points at everyone she mentioned.

“Hello.” You give an awkward wave.

“Is Avenguh?”

“Me an Avenger? No. I just work here in the lab.”

“Can be fwiend?.”

“Of course.” You nod and Charlotte smiles at you.

“Alright Charlotte are you ready?”

“Am weady Buce.” She moves back toward Bruce and takes his hand.

As everyone follows Bruce around you look in their direction only to find Steve Rogers looking your way now. He gives you a small grateful smile before walking away.

“Y/L/N, good to finally meet you in person.” Tony stands besides you. “Your work was really impressive, I’m sure you’ll fit right in.”

“Thank you for the opportunity.” You say first as you go from looking at him to the small group at the end of the room. “She seems sweet. If you don’t mind me asking why is she here?”

“Lottie can see the future. Her brother Henry can turn invisible. We run some tests just to make sure they’re hitting their regular growth milestones and that there are no underlying conditions we should worry about.”

“Oh.” Now you were intrigued.

“You’ll see her around here a lot. They live here, and their parents are on the team.” He gives you their names. “You seem to have the approval of our little social butterfly over there. She likes to roam around so don’t be surprised if she pops in for a visit.” Tony chuckles.

“What do you mean?”

“Trust me when I say that you’d know if she didn’t like you.”

You nod as you watch Bruce pick her up and set her down on an exam table. Tony excuses himself and joins the group. Moments later Bruce asks for your assistance. You’re mesmerized by the readings as it seems that Charlotte is having a vision.

You definitely loved your job.

You had just walked back into your office from a small break when you heard it. Someone was in your lab. If it were Bruce or even Tony, you’d be ok with it. But someone else poking around your things annoyed you beyond belief. The doors that connected your office to the lab slid open as you went to see who it was. There was a man with his back to you. His shoulders shaked lightly and you could hear some sniffling. You took a step back with the intention of leaving him alone but he turned his head to look over his shoulder. The moment he heard you he looked in your direction and he composed himself.

“I’m sorry. I thought this place was empty.” He says and turns around completely.

Steve Rogers was standing in your lab, crying. He didn’t seem the type to cry at all but even less to do so in a semi public place. You stand there awkwardly as you think about what to tell him but he beats you to it.

“I’m Steve. You must be Banner’s new assistant right?”

“Yeah, Y/N.”

“Sorry for this,” Steve looks sheepish at the fact that he had been caught by a stranger. “It’s been a couple of tough weeks. One of my best friends is missing. Her family is devastated.”

“You must be too.”

Steve nods, his eyes suddenly glued to the floor.

“I’m sorry. Is that what the missions are about? Dr. Banner has been pulled for a few of them.”

Steve nods again.

“I’m sure you’ll find her soon.” You murmur.

“I hope so.”

There was an awkward silence between the two of you. All you wanted to do was get back to your office. It was right behind you all you had to do was take one step back. It’s not like you were really good at comforting people.

“Steebie.” You could hear Charlotte walking through the hallway.

“I should go get her. It was nice to meet you.”

The sliding door behind Steve opens and in walks the charming little girl you met a few weeks earlier.

“There’s my best girl. C’mon.” Steve picks her up, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

“Oh hi.” Charlotte says when she sees you. “Is new fwiend, Steebie.”

“You’re just making friends all over the place, sweetheart. Can you say bye to Ms. Y/N.”

“Bye bye Ms. Y/N.”

“Bye Charlotte.”

Steve gives you a tight lipped smile and a small nod and starts to walk out. The little girl in his arms waves and smiles as the doors start to close.

You walk back into your office and blow out a breath. In all honesty that interaction wouldn’t be the weirdest thing you’ll ever witness while being employed by Stark Industries.

It would also be the first of many interactions that you would have with the blond haired, blue eyed super soldier.

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#A love as sweet as honey series #Steve Rogers x reader #dad!Steve Rogers x mom!reader #Captain America #Steve Rogers fluff #Steve Rogers angst #Steve Rogers smut #girl dad!Steve Rogers #Steve Rogers fic #Steve Rogers series #steve rogers x y/n #steve rogers x you

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jewishcissiekj · 2 months

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Since Asajj Ventress appeared in recent media and is set to appear in future shows and Star Wars content, I've seen a lot of people starting to read Dark Disciple. but besides that book, there are so many stories featuring Asajj over her 22 years of existence. So if you are looking for some recommendations and entry points to Asajj outside of the TV shows, here are some recommendations to get to know her a bit better, in both the Canon and Legends timelines:

(for anyone looking for a definitive list of everything she's ever been in, I also have that)

for anyone looking for just the list of recommendations without all my babbling, scroll down to the bottom, it'll be there.

Canon

Dooku: Jedi Lost Audiodrama - Script by Cavan Scott, preformed by full cast (also available in Script format) Starting off, this masterpiece. Telling the dual story of Asajj and Dooku, Jedi Lost is genuinely some of the best Star Wars content out there, in my opinion. Taking place early in The Clone Wars, it tells Asajj's journey battling her ghosts and uncovering her Master's history. It requires only the context of the prequels and The Clone Wars, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who likes the Prequels, Dooku, or Asajj.

Brotherhood - by Mike Chen Continuing with the book that serves as an introduction to Asajj in canon (chronologically), Brotherhood presents an interesting take on her first meetings with Anakin and Obi-Wan. She's far from the main character here, only supporting the book's plot as the villain and the initiator behind some of the troubles Obi-Wan faces on Cato Neimodia. This Asajj is more calculated, working behind the scenes while still facing off face to face against Obi-Wan and Anakin, and it uniquely handles her character. The book is a Clone Wars adventure taking place before and it requires only the movies' and TCW's context, once again. *While technically taking place after Hyperspace Stories #5, it contradicts that issue's events and makes more sense if it takes place before, so I listed it first (for more info on the contradictions you can go here)*

Star Wars: Hyperspace Stories #5 - Written by Amanda Deibert, with art by Riccardo Faccini (Variant cover by Cary Nord) Taking place shortly after Anakin's knighting, before The Clone Wars show, this is a short and interesting comic story for Asajj. While tying into an over-arching plot of the series, this issue stands alone well. Simply put, Asajj is sent to retrieve a mysterious item by Count Dooku and encounters Anakin and Obi-Wan in the process. It has fun art, fun dynamics, and it's really good.

Worthless - a short story from Stories of Jedi and Sith - written by Delilah S. Dawson with an illustration by Jake Bartok This one is not as set on the timeline, but we do know it takes place while Asajj is still working for Dooku. In short, without too many spoilers, Asajj falls into a pit and has to trust on a Clone Trooper's help to get out. The story is a part of an anthology, but it completely stand-alone on its own. If you can read it on its own, I recommend it, but the rest of the book is also very much worth it if you want to buy it for the story. Dawson captures a version of Asajj that rarely gets attention, before the Nightsisters, and manages to show her identity and tell a wonderful story without that tool that's often overly used (in my opinion).

Star Wars Adventures: Return to Vader's Castle #3 - Written by Cavan Scott with art by Francesco Francavilla & Nick Brokenshire Jumping forward in the Timeline, we have another Asajj story by Cavan Scott! It has Bounty Hunting, A baby Sarlacc, pretty art, fun coloring, and Asajj. So what's not to love? Like Hyperspace Stories, Return to Vader's Castle also has an over-arching plot, but that's 4 framing pages of Vaneé being a bitch and has no effect on the rest of it. Solid stuff. (it is also the source of the first picture in this post)

Sisters - a short comic story from the Age of Republic Special - written by Jody Houser with art by Carlos Gómez Next, we have a wonderful short story taking place just before The Clone Wars episode "To Catch a Jedi". In just a few pages, Jody Houser brings conflict and personality to Asajj's time on Coruscant. And there's gorgeous art.

Legends

While Legends, and especially the comics, have some of my favorite stories with Asajj, it's hard to recommend individual issues. They can be stand-alone but still connected and ingrained in the ongoing story of the comics. But I tried to hand-pick the best for introduction and knowledge of who Asajj is a character there. So I won't recommend the 12 issues she's in, I set myself the limit of sticking with the same number of recommendations I had for canon.

Star Wars: Republic: The New Face of War - 2-issue Comic arc - written by W. Haden Blackman with art by Tomás Giorello Although I'm assuming you all have at least a passing familiarity with Asajj's character, introductions are still important. And, yes, Asajj first appeared in a different comic and after a month or so in Clone Wars (2003), but chronologically, in-universe, this is her first appearance. The Face of War is comprised of issues #51 and #52 of the Star Wars: Republic comic series, and although Asajj is only in the last page of #51, it's necessary context. This one isn't a must for me, but it sets the ground for her. And it's good. Giorello's art brings a unique perspective to Asajj's character, and by that I mean it may not be to some people's taste. So take your pick with this one.

Star Wars: Republic #53 - written by W. Haden Blackman, with art by Brian Ching If the last one isn't a must, this one is. It is a stand-alone adventure, almost feeling like a (better) TCW episode. Obi-Wan is off to infiltrate a Techno Union base with a team of all-star legendary Jedi that are introduced, and everything goes wrong when they run into the Confederacy's best, Durge and Asajj Ventress. I say it's a must because it establishes the nature of the rivalry between Obi-Wan and Asajj, and gives us such a sense of who those people are. It also lays the foundations to my next comic recommendation.

Dark Heart - short story by August and Cynthia Hahn This one, a 1784-word story, originally published on Wizards.com as a part of The Living Force roleplaying campaign, is definitely not a must, but it's barely 2k words, just read it. In all seriousness though, it captures Asajj's essence and I just. love it. You can read it right now, that's the link in the name, it's up online for free legally. While it is a part of the RPG campaign, I read it individually and had no trouble at all.

The Cestus Deception - by Steven Barnes (The Japanese cover is prettier and has Asajj, ok?) Obi-Wan Kenobi and Kit Fisto head to the planet Ord Cestus to try and convince Ord Cestus's government to ally with The Republic. But under the surface, a mysterious scheme had developed and it gets messy. Never ask me to write a publisher's summary. Asajj is the villain of this one, and I don't have much to say about it, but it is good. Fair warning: it hasn't aged the best in my opinion, and not even in a politically correct sense, some of the descriptions and relationships were questionable at best. If you like Kit Fisto and political adventuring and Clone Wars fights and a mascarade ball, if I remember correctly, this one's for you. It's not much of a story for Asajj but it is a fun read.

Star Wars: Republic #60 - written by W. Haden Blackman with art by Tomás Giorello I have never ever not once said it but this right here is my favorite Asajj story of all time ever. It does require context, though, so here's it: after the battle of Jabiim, Alpha-17 (Legends Arc Trooper, you may have heard of him) and Obi-Wan (a staple in Asajj's stories, he needs to gtfo women's business) are blown up and declared dead. Turns out Asajj Ventress has been holding them in her castle on the planet Rattatak and this is the daring story of their escape. In this issue, Asajj's origin story is revealed, before the Nightsisters had anything to do with her. More than any other Legends issue, it differentiates greatly from anything you know about Asajj in TCW/Canon. She's a warlord, with armies at her beck and call, a military commander, And it's fun. Her origin story is told in this issue, and it's such a great story that shifted my understanding of her a lot. The art, once again, is by Giorello, keep it in mind.

Yoda: Dark Rendezvous - by Sean Stewart (Japanese cover, once again) Last but certainly not least, the Legends Clone Wars book I've heard the most positive reviews of, and was not disappointed in the slightest. It is as good as they say. The story doesn't focus on Asajj, and she isn't even the main antagonist, but she gets a meaningful role in it and has her place and her arc in the story. It's also my favorite approach to how Asajj would act when she has to deal with children. Worth the hype and an excellent book to read unrelated to Asajj.

Alright, that's all! I hope you check out at least one of these, they're all great. As said before, I also have a complete list of everything Asajj in chronological order. Feel free to ask me anything about the list and the things in it. I can also give a complete comic reading list for her, since it's a bit more than just the issues she appeared in. For anyone struggling with the accessibility of these recommendations, I have a hopefully comprehensive guide in the complete appearances post. And now just this list because I promised that:

Canon 1) Dooku: Jedi Lost Audiodrama - Script by Cavan Scott, preformed by full cast (also available in Script format) 2) Brotherhood - by Mike Chen 3) Star Wars: Hyperspace Stories #5 - Written by Amanda Deibert, with art by Riccardo Faccini (Variant cover by Cary Nord) 4) Worthless - a short story from Stories of Jedi and Sith - written by Delilah S. Dawson with an illustration by Jake Bartok 5) Star Wars Adventures: Return to Vader's Castle #3 - Written by Cavan Scott with art by Francesco Francavilla & Nick Brokenshire 6) Sisters - a short comic story from the Age of Republic Special - written by Jody Houser with art by Carlos Gómez

Legends 1) Star Wars: Republic: The New Face of War - 2-issue Comic arc (Star Wars: Republic #51-52) - written by W. Haden Blackman with art by Tomás Giorello 2) Star Wars: Republic #53 - written by W. Haden Blackman, with art by Brian Ching 3) Dark Heart - short story by August and Cynthia Hahn 4) The Cestus Deception - by Steven Barnes 5) Star Wars: Republic #60 - written by W. Haden Blackman with art by Tomás Giorello 6) Yoda: Dark Rendezvous - by Sean Stewart

tag list: @thechaoticfanartist @charmwasjess @metalatl @redsandspirit @slutshartsstuff @housepartyfortwo @karma-malfoy @thelivingforce

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miraclecereal · 9 months

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Walpurgis Rising Trailer Analysis

So this is basically my magical girl blog so I had to make this. I’ve loved pmmm for so long and I had a mini heart attack when I saw the trailer was out. Spoilers for pmmm, Rebellion, and the Wraith Arc ahead.

Here’s the trailer if you haven’t seen it already: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TGxyrO-27dQ&pp=ygULYW5pcGxleCB1c2E%3D

General Speculation:

So let’s start with everyone’s main speculation. Most people who watch the trailer believe that in this new world Homura created, she’s the one who created magical girls, which I also believe. In the beginning of the trailer Homura says:

“Can you accept the risks and responsibilities?”

Before she says this a phone can be heard ringing which comes from where her soul gem should be. This means that Kyubey is no longer in charge of wish granting and or choosing magical girls.

One thing that I find interesting is that the Clara Dolls (Homura’s familiars) call her “Akuma Sama” or “Devil” if you watched the trailer with the subtitles.

I believe this shows that Homura is taking the role of Kyubey. If magical girls are being chosen by Homura like we speculate, it means that they are literally making a deal with the “devil.”

Even in the Wraith Arc when things were significantly better there was still a cycle of hope and despair with magical girls still having the risk of getting their feelings eaten by wraiths. Homura’s world still needs despair in it, meaning that being meguca is still suffering. In fact, it might be Homura’s way of punishing Mami, Sayaka, and Kyoko.

Homura’s New World:

This versions of Homura’s world seems a lot more stable than Rebellion since it’s no longer a controlled environment. Homura has full control and self awareness of what she’s doing.

One of the shots we get of this new world is a shot of Madoka, Sayaka, and Hitomi presumably walking to school. They are surrounded by flowers with light shining down on them. I believe this is supposed to represent the world that Homura wanted to create for Madoka: A place that’s beautiful and carefree. Even in the trailer Homura says: “This world is for Madoka.”

Then we got shots of how Homura and the other magical girls might see the world. It looks heavily industrial with the sky being filled with reds and oranges.

This can show that Madoka is most likely in the dark about what’s really going on around her, at least in the beginning.

Magical girls (and their outfits)

If Homura is the one granting wishes and choosing magical girls, I believe that the change in outfits has to do with how Homura sees Mami, Sayaka, and Kyoko.

Mami’s new outfit is similar to her old one in a lot of ways but the change is most definitely noticeable. Her outfit looks a lot more free flowing and focused more on the fashionable aspect of magical girl outfits.

Homura has always seen Mami as the mature leader. Along with Madoka, she was the first magical she meant and in the other timelines she’s the one that coaches Homura and teaches her how to use her abilities. It’s even speculated that Homura chose guns as her weapon because of Mami.

It doesn’t look like Kyoko’s outfit changed that much. Her soul gem does look bigger but that could be intentional or just a design choice.

From I can see, it looks like there’s a black undershirt underneath the top piece of her outfit but that doesn’t give us much for symbolism.

If you look at her gloves it looks like Sayaka with the gold band around the edge. This could show her connection to Sayaka.

What’s most noticeable is her hair that still appears long but seems a lot more spiky. This could represent Homura seeing Kyoko as a tomboy and exaggerating that concept.

The reason why I think Kyoko’s outfit didn’t change much is because worked good together and that Homura sees her in a better light than she does Mami and Sayaka who she believes are constantly getting in her way. Kyoko was the one Homura went to when she needed a teammate: Wanting her to help with Walpurgisnacht in the original and Homura reaching out to her in Rebellion.

I saved Sayaka for last because she has a lot going on. The bandages on her face and her cape looking more like a coat looks like it could reflect her wish of healing Kyosuke and all the time he spent in the hospital. It also goes along with her ability of healing.

Sayaka is heavily covered up with the cape, bandages, long sleeve, and gloves. This could be seen as Sayaka disguising herself or hiding who she really is like in Rebellion.

If you have seen the concept movie trailer, Sayaka looks different but one similarity is having something cover her mouth. This could represent secrecy or Homura trying to silence Sayaka.

Homura has always had problems with Sayaka. Such as Sayaka accusing her of different things in different time lines such as working with Kyoko, trying to blow her up with bombs, and lying about magical girls turning into witches. In Rebellion, Sayaka was the one who called Homura out and actually stood a threat to her.

If Homura is making magical girls I feel like it’s possible she could be going out of her way to punish Sayaka which is really tragic. I think it’s obvious that Sayaka is my favorite character.

The New Magical Girl:

In the trailer we are shown what could potentially be a new magical girl.

This new magical girl is shown to wield Homura’s bow but also have abilities similar to Mami with what looks like red ribbons. Her outfit also looks similar to Homura’s but she has a light hair color in a ponytail.

My personal theory is that this magical girl represents Walpurgisnacht. Walpurgisnacht is an amalgamation of witches which could show why she’s seen using different weapons and abilities of other magical girls.

The trailer describes Walpurgisnacht as a “fool who goes around in circles” which represents both Homura and Madoka. Both of them were affected by karmic destiny as the clock kept turning. This new magical girl could be the aftermath of messing with karmic destiny.

Dang this is long. Maybe I’ll make a second part of this that focuses more on Kyubey, Madoka, and Homura.

#Pmmm #puella magi madoka magica #walpurgis no kaiten #walpurgisnacht rising #pmmm concept movie #madoka magica

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adora-but-ginger · 1 year

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Sparks Fly

pairing: joel miller x gn!reader

summary: joel and ellie find someone who isn’t too pleased with how them and joel’s last interaction went.

word count: around 2.1k

warnings: typical tlou violence and warnings (i’m comparing it to the game’s usual amount), angst that turns into fluff, slight tlou part one spoilers in terms of people mentioned, use of weapons and guns, swearing, joel getting frustrated because no one is letting him talk, ellie on her queen shit

masterlist

a/n: i love naming fics after taylor’s songs, they’re so fun! also don’t ask for a timeline because all i know is that it’s before the university but after bill, but oh my god i love this game so much, and the tv show is just *chefs kiss* so far. on my pedro pascal shit as usual, but i really like writing for joel! oh and i wrote this literally three hours ago and could not tell you what is going on. thank you for reading <3

should i make a part two?

one last thing! don’t repost my stories, if you do, i hope a clicker gets you, yes you, first :)

(credit to gif owner!)

Joel Miller was many things, but apologetic wasn’t one of them. So, when he felt the all too familiar whoosh of a bullet purposely landing in the dirt not even a foot beside him, he knew showing up was a mistake. If Tess hadn’t put that damned idea in his head to check in on you, he really wouldn’t have put another conscience thought in your direction.

You appeared in his unconscious mind much more than he’d like to admit though.

Snapping back to his current reality, he heard an all too familiar voice, albeit tinted with the age of surviving all these years, yell towards him and Ellie packed full of fury.

“Weapons on the ground and hands up now.” When no one moved, the voice reverberated again. “Now.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Ellie shot a look towards the older man, her face proving her to be more annoyed than anything.

“If I need to repeat myself again, the next shot won’t miss. Hands. Up.”

Setting his revolver on the ground, he closed his eyes as he slowly called your name in a hesitant greeting. Ellie snapped her head towards him again at his familiarity with you. “This is who Tess was talking about? Seriously?”

“Ellie--” Joel scolded, turning slowly to face you. His eyes moved from the dirt beneath him to meet your eyes, and that’s when he knew he really shouldn’t have come. You look a bit startled, a bit of anger rising beneath your gaze, as the realization of who you were talking to hit.

“Are my eyes deceiving me, or is that Joel Miller before me right now?” A scoff accompanied your words. Joel gritted his teeth, a deep sigh rumbling through him.

“Listen, I--” Your voice cut his off before he could even form a sentence.

“Give me one good reason why I don’t put a bullet between your eyes this very moment. I told you not to show your face to me again.”

Ellie flipped her hands over, eyes narrowing. “Joel what is going--”

“Ellie now is not the time.” His accent was cutting through thicker than usual, most likely due to the situation. “Tess told me to make sure you’re still alive and I figured, hell, we could use some help.”

He saw your eyes roll, but you holstered your gun anyways. “Last time I talked to her, I told her to leave me be.” Your head moved towards the teen. “Who’s she?”

Ellie spoke up before he had the chance to. “She is none of your business.”

“This is Ellie.” Joel lowered his arms back to his sides. “Listen, I know that we left each other on a lousy note, but--”

You cut him off again, cussing under your breath. “Considering it a ‘lousy note’ would be putting it mildly. Plus, it was not a mutual leaving.”

“Goddammit, can you stop interrupting me?” He closed his eyes in frustration, taking another breath to try to calm his nerves. “Can we discuss this inside somewhere? It took us too many infected to get here just for all of us to be out in the open like sitting ducks.”

“Who do you take me for? You know damn well that I of all people would keep this place guarded.” He saw you shift into a more casual stance, slouching on on leg, hostility still present in your glare towards him. “Yeah, follow me. But--” you raised your pointer finger towards the two. “Don’t go off the path. I’ve loaded this place with traps that took way too long to set up just for someone to carelessly set off.”

Walking behind you from a distance, Joel glanced around at the spot you had set up for yourself to live in. A nudge from Ellie brought his attention to her.

“What the fuck did you do to piss them off so much?”

He took a second before answering. “I got them caught in a FEDRA ambush, not knowingly of course, but they didn’t stick around long enough for any explanations.” He looked at the old ruins they were all passing by--barns ruined by the bombs that hit non-quarantined areas, cars overgrown with that copper-tinted rust, wire lined up as defenses on all four sides of them. If it weren’t for the green that came with nature reclaiming what was taken from her, this place, this planet, would be a wasteland.

Humans weren’t the only thing being destroyed.

“Were you in a relationship with them or something?” She smirked as she spoke.

“That’s not relevant information.”

Her smirk now fully forming into a grin, she continued with a chuckle. “Oh, you totally were!”

He grunted in response, quickly mumbling a “that’s none of your business” before quickening his steps to meet yours, partially to avoid any more questions, and partially to make sure you weren’t leading them to an untimely death.

As the trio strolled into the makeshift camp, Joel took another look at you. Age had done you well, and while he knew he was walking on ice thin as a sheet of paper, part of him was glad to see you.

He was never that good with emotions--he had a tendency to close most feelings out besides the consistent fear and anger that came with living in this time, and people knew that. He wasn’t good with understanding that people cared about him, or that he cared for others.

Not since Sarah at least.

But for the first time in longer than he could remember, he felt something other than those two feelings blossom when he talked to you. He didn’t have a name for what he felt, but his shitty reality got a little better whenever you were around, and that had to mean something, hadn’t it?

“I have some food in the kitchen if you two are hungry, down the hall to the left.” You called out, going to the right instead. He followed Ellie into the kitchen you had set up, her moving to rummage through anything she could find for the both of them. He was still lost in his own world, a world which was filled with nothing but memories of what life used to be.

It was the Ellie’s voice that brought him back to the current moment, a trend he had begun to notice.

“You think they’re beautiful.” Her words carried an sense of teasing around them.

Joel nearly choked on the air around him at her statement, the wind being knocked out of him just by her call out. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Except you do.” An accusatory finger pointed his way. “You get this...look in your eye that I can’t explain, but it’s the same look you get only when you see something beautiful. A sunset, a new weapon, them.” she smirked as she said the last part.

“Have you found anything to eat yet?” Changing the subject was his next best option. Ellie hadn’t known him for that long and already she was starting to read him like an open book. He could see her little celebration at her victory as she turned towards the cabinets. “Go see if you can find any supplies or anythin’ of the sorts after the grub, and no more talk about this.”

Taking one last look at the room, he went to go find you, which given the size of the establishment didn’t take very long. He could hear Ellie say “You like them!” in a sing-song manner as he left, and he opted to ignore her as he moved through the rooms.

When he walked into the space you were in and saw you, he took a second to notice what had changed over the years. He wasn’t sure if you noticed him yet and was thankful for bit of quiet if he was being honest. He knew back then that had the two of you met pre-outbreak, he damn near would’ve fallen for you in a heartbeat, and Tommy would’ve made fun of him for it for hours. The way you held yourself, your personality, how you made an effort to care about him, well, needless to say he would have made a move much sooner than he did.

You held his heart in the palm of your hand, and you didn’t even know it.

Your hair hadn’t changed much, but if he looked closely enough, he could see some gray speckling its usual colour. He shook his head as he realized that the girl was right about his feelings towards you.

Goddammit, Ellie.

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer.” His eyes widened at the fact that he’d been caught by you, who turned around to face him with an eyebrow raised. When he didn’t respond, you disappeared into a little room to the right, emerging moments later with a wet cloth, handing it to him. He was never a man of many words, and you always respected that. “You smell, wash your face a bit yeah?”

Taking it, a chuckle emitted from deep within him. “Good to see you haven’t changed much.” It felt good to feel the cool water on his face.

“Joel, why are you here, seriously?” The way you looked at him made an unusual flutter erupt from his heart, not that he would ever admit that out loud. The effect you had on him made him feel like a goddamned high-schooler.

“She’s important, Ellie is, and I need to get her to the fireflies.” You scoffed at the last part, and you rolled your eyes, sitting down at a little table near the little room’s entry, motioning him to do the same.

“You know the fireflies are full of it. What, is she the daughter of some big wig or somethin’ like that?”

He mirrored your scoff, slouching into the chair across from you. “Somethin’ like that. You just got to trust me on this one.”

You raised an eyebrow and just slightly tilted your head in response. “Remember what happened the last time I trusted you?”

He kept his mouth shut at that, a silence so loud that a clicker could walk through unalarmed, tension filling the air.

“I didn’t know that they were planning to sell you out, was just relaying information down the line.”

He watched you as you pushed up from your chair with another roll of your eyes, stretching in the process. “Yeah, well you did. It doesn’t bother me as much as it used to, but that was a real shitty thing you did to me there.”

He heard you take a deep breath at his lack of response.

“But I guess we’ve all done things we regret since the outbreak, so might as well let bygones be bygones, yeah? How about a fresh start?” When he met your gaze, he saw a brief whisp of a smile grace your features, going by so quick that he could have imagined it.

“Yeah, I’d like that.” He felt a weight he didn’t recognize leave his shoulders, and maybe that’s why he spoke what he did next. “You could come with us, you know, to deliver Ellie. God knows she gets tired of me sometimes, and I wouldn’t mind the company.” He couldn’t control the words leaving his mouth and didn’t even process what he said until he saw your contemplating face. His heart was beating faster, and he cursed himself for acting like a boy with a little crush.

“Plus, he thinks you’re beautiful!” A third voice rushed in, making the two others whirl to see Ellie standing in the door frame, eyes wide and locking with his almost as if he would stop her if she spoke any slower. Which he would’ve.

“Ellie, I swear to all things holy you--”

Your laugh makes his words die off, amusement echoing in its wake. “Always been the charmer, you have, Joel.” Walking to face him with the brunette behind you, you leaned in close to his ear before continuing. “A fresh start, right?” and then he felt it. You had placed a kiss right on his cheek, and a feeling he hadn’t felt since he saw you last rose within him. Looking at you with pupils slightly blown, he watched as you winked at him before heading towards Ellie. “So, he say anything else like that about me?”

Not many could break the exterior he placed as a barrier for himself--it took some people years to even get a kind response out of him. But not even an hour after running into you again, and he knew he was putty in your hands.

Joel Miller was many things, and in love (whether he would admit that to himself or not), was becoming one of them.

#the last of us #tlou part 1 #tlou spoilers #ellie williams #joel miller #joel miller x #joel miller x reader #joel miller fanfiction #pedro pascal #tlou fanfiction #joel miller x you

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comicaurora · 5 months

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Hi Red! I was curious if you've watched the new Yu Yu Hakusho live action, and if so, what your thoughts were on its pacing and handling of various plots. Personally I thought it did some very clever things and it genuinely pleasantly surprised me at a couple points, but at the same time the fact that it's only 5 episodes hurt its ability to do the story justice a bit.

Also I was rewatching the Dark Tournament arc of the anime today and wondering what it must've been like to watch when it originally aired, considering all the multi episode fights. Do you remember any of your thoughts at the time?

On an unrelated note, I'm really excited for arc 2 of Aurora!!!! Also sorry this is so ramble-y

I have watched it! For the most part, I really enjoyed it, although in pursuit of compressing everything down to five episodes it did a couple things I think definitely harmed the overall impact and characterization.

Spoilers below!

The first episode is I think nearly pitch-perfect. The visual design on the Spirit World is top-tier, and the choice to make everything that was a sacred artifact move like ferrofluid was a very clever bit of visual design. It's absolutely weird and original and I think it was a very fun way to spice up Fluffy Cloud Heaven.

Of all the things they sped through, I'm very glad they did not speed through the crucial characterization of Yusuke initially choosing to stay dead on the assumption that everyone is better off without him, and the show subsequently taking its time to show the wake, let Yusuke's mom and Keiko really feel their feelings, etcetera. The adaptation of the wake was, to my memory, almost 100% true to the anime version, including the gut-wrenching moments like Kuwabara starting off angry and then breaking down, and the toddler Yusuke saved not really understanding that he's dead. And I had no complaints about the parts of this arc that they did speed up - a lot of the timeline of the original show is training arcs and Yusuke having to prove himself, and I had almost no problem with them skipping over that. Yusuke not having to do any tasks before coming back to life is A-OK with me.

I also entirely lost my shit at The Dropkick.

And then the last bit of episode 1, where they have to deal with the possessed kid, was absolutely top tier. The way they make demonic possession look and feel in this show is truly horrific, and I loved the way they played it like a one-man zombie apocalypse. The fight choreography was also very impressive and I liked how much they used the environment. Also, letting Kuwabara fight this guy first was a very good way of making the power-scaling clear and establishing that Kuwabara is a fundamentally very decent person willing to punch above his weight class to try and help.

However, this episode did get me excited for something they ended up not doing, which was a bummer. The first thing we see in the show is a Makai insect, which in the anime are the tools of the villains in the Four Saint Beasts arc - at the climax of that storyline, Makai-insect-possessed students and faculty corner Keiko and Botan in the human world while Yusuke fights an increasingly desperate battle against Suzaku to try and stop him. If the full-on body horror zombie thing was what makai insect possession looked like, that scenario immediately seemed like it was going to be butt-clenchingly terrifying.

Of course, they ended up entirely sidestepping the Saint Beasts arc, which is understandable - narratively speaking its only real function is to let the four protagonists team-build after their contentious first meetings. It became clear pretty quickly that with the time they had, it wouldn't be worth it to go there. That said, I think they really could've used a little more team-building time - more on that later.

The first episode also pretty solidly established the tone they'd be taking for the rest of the show - much more dark, almost no comedy. Normally I find those sorts of adaptations pretty dour and joyless, but in this case I thought it helped make the stakes feel solid, and if anything it lined up better with the original premise of "the demon world is a truly horrifying place and its incursion into reality would be an absolute nightmarish apocalypse." I didn't mind that it felt like the stakes were real and the heroes fighting demons was really necessary.

The second episode made it pretty clear where they were going with the series adaptation. While it speeds through the intro of Goki, Kurama and Hiei, it also lets Yusuke's fight with Goki feel - again - extremely well-choreographed and tense. The choreography in this show is consistently very impressive, especially considering how often our heroes have to fight fully CGI bad guys - and this fight doesn't even have any dialogue in it, but it still makes it entirely clear what Yusuke is thinking at every point, which is very impressive, especially since he goes through an entire arc from "I don't need to figure out how to use the Spirit Gun" to "I desperately need the spirit gun to start working right the fuck now". They also handle Kurama's intro very well, making it very clear that he's cunning and kind of inscrutable but not necessarily malicious, and in the scene where Yusuke's tailing him it's pretty clear from the choreography that Kurama knows he's there and is very carefully waiting long enough for him to follow him without feeling like he's being lured, which is entirely in-character, and again a very impressive way to show characterization without any dialogue required. And of course the reveal that Kurama is in fact a Nice Boy who is trying to sacrifice himself to save his mom is real good, and letting Yusuke's past experience with seeing how his mom reacted to his death make him immediately ride or die for Kurama was a very solid bit of characterization - and adding Kuwabara to this subplot where he wasn't originally there helped balance out the characterization a little bit with an entirely justified naysayer pointing out "dude he's a demon maybe don't trust him immediately." It also helps get Kuwabara involved in the main story nice and quick, where he originally is a bit of a late arrival.

The part I was getting a little worried about at this point, and an element of the adaptation that I legitimately think is a detriment, was how they were handling Hiei. A huge part of what makes Hiei fun in the original series is that he is legitimately a huge bastard, and in his introduction is a full-blown bad guy who Yusuke very nearly dies fighting. Classic Hiei kidnapped Keiko and nearly turned her into a demon just to fuck with Yusuke. And what makes their relationship great is the team-building that happens in the Four Saint Beasts arc the adaptation is evidently skipping over, where Hiei is so baffled - and so touched - by Yusuke's completely unearned trust in him that he immediately becomes 100% ride or die for Yusuke and only Yusuke.

He's a vicious little asshole who takes himself very seriously and legitimately has the power to back up his grandstanding 90% of the time, and that's what makes him so fun to watch - those little slivers of characterization where he's goofy or baffled or vulnerable or lets himself be visibly impressed with one of his teammates, mixed with the moments where he's like "okay this has been fun but it's time to die now" and just one-shots the bad guy with another dangerous forbidden technique he picked up for shits and giggles.

So I was getting a little worried that the adaptation wasn't gonna let Hiei be, like. An actual asshole. Because what makes him fun as a character is that he is an asshole, he just also has a handful of sympathetic motivations and nice qualities that he usually doesn't own up to. And I ended up being right about that, which was a bummer, but again, the way they did it was a bit of extremely efficient streamlining. In the anime, Hiei's introduction is just him being a dick for no reason - then everyone has a team-building bonding arc with the Four Saint Beasts, and then Hiei is revealed to have a real heroic motivation hiding somewhere in there: rescuing his secret twin sister Yukina from a nasty human holding her prisoner.

So the adaptation basically just streamlined the entire rest of the show into that arc. Hiei's intro stealing the fancy knife? He's using it to get the Jagan Eye to look for Yukina. Hiei storming this compound full of humans? They're the ones holding Yukina prisoner. It's 100% sympathetic, he's just not willing to own up to that to anybody. Everything he does that's dubiously moral or kind of a dick move? It's actually fine, or he's being framed (like in the shot they perfectly remake from the anime where he kidnaps Keiko, except just kidding it's a shapeshifting bad guy framing him), or Yusuke's the one who attacks him in the first place.

And that's extremely efficient storytelling! It just makes Hiei kind of an antisocial dick and not even slightly a villain, which I think dramatically reduces how fun his character is - it just flattens him into a very standard-issue lancer archetype who refuses to express any sort of emotional or physical vulnerability to anyone, which is a fine character trope, it's just kind of more boring than the dickhead outdoor cat I was hoping for.

The same thing also happens to Genkai, who in the original series has dozens of episodes of screentime to show off how she is the best kind of mentor ever written - a dickhead mentor.

She's rude and snarky and a full-blown asshole, and she and Yusuke have a truly hilarious mentor-stydent dynamic because they're both assholes. And it's not until a good way into the Dark Tournament that we see them in a dynamic that's not just being assholes to each other - when Genkai consolidates all her power into a sporb for Yusuke to absorb, and he spends several episodes nearly dying about it. The fact that Genkai truly cares about him as her student - and the fact that he truly cares about her as his master - only comes out in this subplot, when she honestly believes she's fucked up and killed him and he goes beyond his limits to absorb the power she's given him. It's a beautiful moment of payoff after dozens of episodes of planting, and right after that happens, Genkai is killed.

So when the live-action show introduced Genkai, and after a good solid montage of training and anime-accurate fight scenes and some really good Kuwabara moments, she told Yusuke she had one final technique to give him, I said out loud "oh my god please don't speedrun this." And then they did. She gave Yusuke the sporb and he absorbed it immediately and painlessly, and then they left, and then she immediately gets killed.

My notes on that part were just

So I didn't like that part. Like Hiei, Genkai is such an effective character because her moments of vulnerability and non-assholeness are so rare, and the rest of the time she's an absolute goblin nightmare. Getting rid of that reduces her to another, much flatter trope, and killing her in the same episode she's introduced almost entirely removes the impact of the moment and just makes her another dead mentor. But again, this is episode 3 of 5. This isn't the writer's fault, this is the writers making a very hard decision on what they need to get into the plot if they're planning on speedrunning the entire Dark Tournament arc - which they are. The primary rule they seemed to use when adapting Yu Yu Hakusho is "if the heroes fought this bad guy more than once, no they didn't." So the first fight with the Toguro brothers is going to become the only fight with the Toguro brothers, and they need to speedrun the entire core plot of the Dark Tournament arc within the confines of Toguro's introduction in the Rescue Yukina arc.

And the thing is, hot take? I'm not mad about that. The Dark Tournament is an iconic moment in Shonen anime history, but like. it's a tournament arc. Like all tournament arcs, it goes on a very long time, a lot of it is extremely repetitive, and it eventually arrives at the foregone conclusion end state of "team protagonist vs team final boss". In a five-episode adaptation, you pick the smallest number of good fights with real stakes and you just use those. And that's what they do here. Kurama and Hiei both get little bottle-episode fights with their respective most plot-relevant opponents from the Dark Tournament, and they both get to show off their dangerous forbidden techniques.

And it slaps. It could've used more buildup for maximum punch, but again, five episodes. And frankly in the original they didn't get much buildup either, just "this is a thing I've been working on, hopefully I don't die about it."

And consistently, the fight choreography continues to be really good. The physicality of the actors is very solid and the way CGI attacks and opponents get worked into the choreography is so fluid it's sometimes hard to tell where the CGI ends. And considering the final boss is two full-CGI photorealistic bad guys, I think they do an incredibly good job making the fights feel real and solid.

Characterization-wise, since so much of the final episode is just a lot of fighting against a big damage sponge, there's not a ton of time for talking, but the choreography is, again, a standout. Even outside combat, the secondary characters get a lot of little moments to shine - even Damsel In Distress Du Jour Keiko gets to pull the "oh no, I, your valuable prisoner, am sick, please come into my cell within easy throttling range" trick and breaks herself and Yukina out, which slaps and makes the whole breakout feel like much more of a team effort, and it also lets Keiko and Yukina share some brief but extremely tender moments of characterization that does a lot to make them feel like well-rounded characters. And back in the main fight zone, the characters don't have much dialogue but show where they're at through how they move. Everyone is exhausted and beaten down and has already used their finishing moves, but Yusuke's in trouble, so it's time to scramble back up and tackle the bad guy. It's just such good choreo and such good acting that it makes me forgive a lot of the pacing struggles they're dealing with from boiling everything down to 5 episodes, and without dialogue - just through fight choreography - they manage to make me buy the teamwork dynamic they've thus far failed to establish due to speedrunning past all the stuff that's supposed to help them bond. This is the first part of the show that makes me believe that Hiei has any affection for the gang and any reason to fight alongside them beyond coincidence.

And they continued the trend of hitting all the major plot beats from the stuff they were speedrunning, which led to me counting down the minutes to the Kuwabara Fake-Dies To Motivate Yusuke moment.

The rest of the fight is pretty much just a shot-for-shot adaptation of the final stage of the Toguro bossfight, plus the added fun that it's the first time in the show Yusuke has actually yelled "spirit gun" out loud, which is neat. And it took every second of those five episodes, but in the closing scene they finally reached the group dynamic I was hoping for.

All things considered, given the parameters they had to work in, I think this is the best we could've possibly gotten in only five episodes. I would've probably preferred one where instead of cramming the entire dark tournament into three episodes they just left it alone and just did Rescue Yukina plus maybe the Saint Beasts, but if this is what we were getting, this was a very solid way to do it. I, at least, had an overall very good time, and have been thinking about rewatching it, which is wild since it's only been like three weeks since I watched it the first time. But yea, overall the pacing is wild but I think there was a lot of love and thought put into it, and it really shows.

#asks #not aurora #media recs

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mind-empty-just-fictional-people · 1 year

Text

birth plan

masterlist

summary: you’re pregnant with castiel’s baby… or is it babies?

pairing: castiel x female reader

rating: R for language

word count: 1.5k

warnings: pregnancy, language, medical inaccuracies i think (i’ve never been pregnant so i don’t think i describe the feeling well)

timeline: this is set in no particular season/episode but there are spoilers for the later seasons (certain characters).

author’s note: i’m basing this off a dream i had - before said dream i never even thought of cas this way at all (gotta love that subconscious, huh?) anyway, i couldn’t stop thinking of this dream so here’s a cas fic :)

when you found out you were pregnant with castiel’s baby you freaked out. not the expected ‘holy fuck there’s a living thing growing inside me’ but more like ‘holy fuck i’m gonna die in a few months cause there’s a tiny angel in my uterus’.

you cried while telling castiel, you were terrified. he assured you he wouldn’t let you die, he promised you would be okay and that the two of you could raise the baby together. if you did live, you had no clue how to raise a kid, or if you even wanted to. you had been raised a hunter and you hated it. when you were six your biggest fear was tornadoes but by the time you were seven your biggest fear was being torn apart by one of the monsters you had learned to fight.

castiel was so happy about the baby, so excited. he knew you would be a fantastic mother and he couldn’t wait to have a baby with you. he knew the baby would be loved unconditionally by so many people, too; you, him, dean, sam, jack, mary, and eileen - all of whom lived in the bunker.

as the months went by the pains grew almost unbearable. you took time away from hunting and had to stay in the bunker. castiel always made sure someone would be in the bunker with you (preferably not alone with jack, who tended to ask questions that scared you - “what if the baby is like me and you have to push a full sized person out” for example). most days cas would stay right next to you but on the rare occasion he needed to be on a hunt, you’d be alone with either eileen, mary, or one of the brothers (rowena visited a couple times, but that was more for trying to find some magical tylenol for the immense pain). you didn’t mind castiel going on hunts, in fact you wished he’d go on more so you wouldn’t feel like you were holding him back.

one morning you woke up and the pain was horrible - it felt like the baby was stabbing you from the inside. castiel tried healing you, but it was no use. the two of you decided an ultrasound was necessary.

“what?” you practically screamed, your eyes wide with fear.

“there must be some kind of mistake?” castiel knotted his brows and stared at the black and white screen in shock.

“no mistake, three heartbeats,” the doctor smiled slightly, wanting to make you feel better, but it obviously did nothing.

“cas i can’t push three kids out!” you whispered. he was holding your left hand in his and standing beside you, his right arm was draped over your shoulder. “cas- castiel i can’t! i- i’m not strong enough! i won’t!” tears were streaming down your face when you turned away from the screen and to the angel.

“could you give us a minute?” cas asked the doctor, she nodded and left. “honey it’s gonna be alright.”

“three baby angels, cas! three! how- how the fuck am i supposed to push three angels out of me, cas?” you were practically sobbing at this point. “i- i’m gonna die, aren’t i?”

“no! no you won’t! i promise you, i will not let you die,” he pulled you into his chest and rubbed your back lovingly. “i know this must be scary, triplets is- it’s gonna be painful.” he kissed the crown of your head.

“but three babies! i mean if i do, by some miracle, manage to give birth and survive, how are we gonna raise three kids, cas?” you wrapped your arms around his torso, pulling him as close to you as you could.

“well, we do have four adults and a nephilim excited to help,” he answered, causing you to laugh lightly. it’s true, you had all the support you could need.

cas drove the two of you back to the bunker and you were met with said four adults and nephilim immediately asking where you had been. the five of them were on a hunt and got back while you and cas were at the ob/gyn. you hadn’t left the bunker in months so they had assumed the worst.

you told them the news and they all reacted differently than you and cas. they were so excited, it made you realized they really wanted to help raise the kids. (infact, they had all began thinking of names and had cleaned out the room next to your’s and cas’ for the babies.)

castiel knew that your pregnancy wouldn’t last as long as a normal pregnancy so he wanted to come up with a birth plan. dean purchased new burner phones for each person that were never to be silenced or turned off and the only people who had the numbers were the seven of you. the second you went into labor, someone near you (or you, if you could) would call castiel immediately. if possible they would also notify the others.

another couple months or so went by. you were due any day now - but you had been due any day for over two weeks. you had gotten somewhat used to the pain and rowena had come up with a simple spell with some herbs that you’d mix with your tea every couple hours to help with the pain. garth had moved into the bunker temporarily - he was a trained doula after having to deliver werewolf pups. rowena moved in temporarily too, but that was more for moral support and pain management.

“cas you haven’t left the bunker in over a month! go on this hunt,” you assured him. it was a hunt close by and he was going to take jack with him.

“promise you won’t go into labor til i get back?”

“i won’t let these kiddos leave,” you smile, patting your stomach playfully. he gave you a peck on the lips before leaving with jack.

a couple hours in, you began getting long, sharp pains every few minutes. rowena was the one who recognized the pains as contractions.

“you’re going into labor, we need to get you to the birth room.” she took your your hand gently but you whipped it away.

“no, no i promised cas i’d wait for him,” you shook your head. “the babies are just gonna have to stay put for a whi- ah!” you scrunched your face in pain, holding your stomach.

“okay, we’ll get cas on the phone, we can pray for jack - they’ll be here before you know it,” she tried to reason with you and motioned you to follow her. you shook your head vigorously and didn’t move your feet, absolutely terrified of what was about to happen.

“holy shit,” your eyes widened, cloudy with tears. “my water- i think my water just broke!” you both looked down. “that’s- that’s broken water!”

“exactly hun, you’re going into labor you need to let me help you to the birth room, okay?”

“oh- okay,” you nodded and she helped you to the room. she called out that you were going into labor as she walked you over.

about a month ago the brothers and jack came home to the bunker with a hospital bed from the maternity ward. you didn’t ask how they got it, but you were grateful they did. everyone helped set up the room; towels, blankets, a mini freezer for ice chips, and just about anything you might need while in labor and giving birth.

sam and dean carefully helped you onto the bed. mary called cas and within seconds he and jack were in the room.

“cas!” you smiled, relieved to see him.

“hey, y/n, how are you?” he asked, rushing to your side and tightly holding your hand.

“i’m in pain, cas, i’m about to push three celestial beings out my vagina!” you said dryly.

“right, right, okay it’ll be okay, though,” he kissed your forehead. “you’re gonna be okay. jack’s here and he will keep you alive and well.”

“okay,” you whispered.

“time to start pushing, y/n,” garth announced.

within the hour you had pushed all three babies out. three identical baby boys; with cas’ piercing blue eyes and your winning smile. you were absolutely exhausted, but you were alive. you were holding one baby, cas was holding another, and garth was holding the third.

“so, what’re we naming the little guys?” cas asked, a huge smile on his face and his eyes not moving away from his new baby boy.

“this one’s sam,” you smiled down at the tiny being in your arms. “he’s the biggest.”

“then that makes this little guy dean, he’s a smallest,” cas laughed a little in response. dean would’ve been annoyed at the height joke but he was so honored you were naming a kid after him.

“what about this little guy?” garth asked.

“bobby,” you smiled.

no one went on any hunts for almost two weeks. they all stayed and helped with the babies. baby dean would be named dean jack y/l/n, baby sam would be named samuel charles y/l/n, and baby bobby would be named robert garth y/l/n.

#supernatural #castiel #dean winchester #sam winchester #jack kline #rowena macleod #garth fitzgerald iv #mary winchester #spn #spn fanfic #supernatural fanfiction #supernatural fluff #castiel fanfiction #castiel x reader #castiel comfort #castiel x pregnant reader #pregnant reader #by mind empty just fictional people #by jean

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emillyverse · 3 months

Text

Production stages of the Fan Comic of "The Wish Kingdom" !!!

(written by @annymation)

And as promised, here is the "schedule" I said I was putting together for the Comic fic production process.

In the end, this isn't really a "timeline", it's more like a list of what I'll do to build the comic. I want to make all the processes very clear and described to give you an idea of how it will be done and a small idea of how long it will take.

Remembering that I am a human being, not an AI to do things quickly, I have another life beyond networks and this project.

Besides the fact that none of us are being paid to do this comic (although I really wanted to, I'm not going to lie), all of this is being done on the basis of love, affection, positivity and adoration for the initial concepts dispensed by Disney, their classic films that really made that company grow and the main messages conveyed by Walt Disney while he was still alive: "If you can dream something, you can make it happen!" and "It's fun to do the impossible!"

So please be patient and kind to me and the entire team! I already love, adore and thank everyone willing to follow our project.

Well… Let's get started!

1- Rereading and Separating the text:

Starting today (02/26/2024) I will be re-reading Anny's fanfic, separating all of her text into scenes, highlighting the following points:

Atmosphere

Characters (designs made by @uva124)

Speeches and facial expressions - the message

Thus defining "who says what, how and in which place?"

Since I will be doing the setting art myself, as the story progresses, I would really appreciate a little help. I'm guessing if you're reading this you've probably already read The Kingdom of Wishes and consequently imagined the scenarios! If you find any images online that remind you of the locations of the scenes in your mind, you can send them to me as a reference! I'm always open to references for drawings!

2- Make the "Thumbnails"

I don't know what term foreigners use to define the thumbnails that make up the first drafts of comics, but here in Brazil, we call them "Doll", in reference to the fact that the sketches are a "test doll" for the comic strip .

Anyway, I digress! It is at this stage that I define the composition of the scenes through sketches. This is where I define what appears or not in the scene, what the scene will be focused on, how I will guide the reader's eye by the meaning of reading the scene, where the lines, the characters, their movements and others will be located… It's a planning phase on how to portray the scenes; the most complex I would say.

3- Review

Here I take a break for two days or three days at most, to relax and forget about the project for a bit. I come back with new energy and review everything that was done, ask for opinions and suggestions from the team, in short, I give a great evaluation and improvement in everything!

4 - Finalization and Publication

In this last step, I transform the sketches into final artwork using graphite pencils, colored pencils and pens that I have available.

When they are all finished, I will publish the comics here and on all my social networks!

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

Finally....

I would like to say that yes, I will be posting spoilers for all these stages, watch them at your own risk!

Remembering that English is not my native language, so I really hope everything was understandable! But if you have any questions, you can send questions to me or any member of the team!

And if you want to know a little more about my arts, you can check out my Instagram!

Kisses full of light and stars!

Let's work!!

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ninapi · 10 months

Text

▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄

┊┊┊✧ ⁺ ⁺╚══ Mist Pillar ╝

Premise: Soulmates come at unexpected times and places. Muichiro goes on his final mission, one that he would get to remember to his very last breath. A short lived love blooms with the worse possible timing.

Word count: 3286

Warning: Spoilers of the original manga timeline.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Chaos was the only accurate definition for the current situation.

The pillar training sessions were about to begin, they were all very much occupied revising their own itinerary, they didn’t count with much time and needed to show results as fast as possible.

A reckoning mission came around, the demons were gone and even if Oyakata-sama was sure it was due to Nezuko, he still wanted to be absolutely sure they weren’t a threat currently before hogging all the corps in the states for training.

Muichiro, who had already been given the green light for his training schedule was selected for this quick mission.

He was to walk around the nearby villages, get information, live among the people for a few days and make sure there were no occurrences that would require further investigation.

The first few days came without incidents. The villages were quiet, no rumors going around. Everyone continued living their lives without even noticing the lack of danger in the air. It was quite refreshing for Muichiro to think of a life that continued like this. Would it be possible for them to defeat evil? Would this become everyone’s reality at some point?

It was endearing.

He never thought of getting a normal life back. He lived for Oyakata-sama and his purpose, he lived to help the world become a better place. Recently he’s been delving with his own emotions and trying to understand other’s feelings. Remembering his past had also helped him see the beauty of life, the beauty of connecting with others. It was nothing but a dream but he hoped maybe one day he would get to experience what others do, a simple normal life, enjoy the pleasures of nature and grow up to be a better man.

The last village was now in sight when he decided to take a short break while in the woods, he got some snacks on the way out of the previous village for this very same reason. His mission was coming to an end and the battle of a lifetime was approaching sooner than expected, he needed to reflect in his future actions to prevail.

Ginko, his loyal crow, as usual kept him company on her time off. He thoroughly enjoyed her company, she was his first friend, even before Tanjiro came to his life.

He loved caressing her feathers, they were so soft, it had a calming effect on him, exactly what he needed for the current task.

Even if she talks a lot, Ginko knows when her master needs silence, she enjoyed his company regardless of the lack of conversation.

Muichiro was deep in a meditative state when his senses caught something behind him in the tree line. “Reveal yourself!” his hand was hovering over the hilt of his sword, ready to attack if needed.

But the one behind the trees wasn’t a demon, nor a threat, but a girl seemingly around his age who seemed to be picking mushrooms and was startled by his hostility.

“I mean no harm, I work for the inn downtown, came looking for mushrooms for supper.” the girl came closer, showing Muichiro her basket full of mother’s nature goodness.

His hand retreated, resting over one of his legs, Ginko nuzzling his hand as a result.

Your eyes were on her the entire time fascinated by the familiarity of the bird with the boy, it was a rare sight, crows aren’t usually this friendly.

“Excuse me young master, is that your bird? I’ve never seen one getting this close to a human before.”

“She’s Ginko, you can say she’s my bird.” the normally hostile bird wasn’t reacting in a negative way, making Muichiro question her, this was more than unusual.

“She’s beautiful. May I touch her? I’ve always wanted to caress a crow. They’re wonderful creatures, sadly I’ve never been this close to one before.” he wasn’t sure why were you this excited about seeing a bird up close, but truth was, it didn’t matter to him if you did or not.

“If she lets you.”

Ginko was over the moon, people just don’t tell her often enough how beautiful she is. Seeing this human girl fuss about her was boosting her ego to the roof. She fluffed her feathers out, batting her eyelashes at you as to give you permission to proceed.

Bowing your head to her as sign of respect, you reached over to caress her feathers gently, almost adoringly.

Muichiro was entranced by the whole interaction, it was almost ethereal looking, made him wonder if you were some sort of wood sprite posing as human, he does tend to be popular among the creatures of the forest after all. Your eyes glowed with the reflection of the sun, your skin flushed with excitement, a smile so bright it could leave a man blind, breathtaking, even for someone like him.

“You have a wonderful bird, young master. Thank you for your kindness, I’ve enjoyed my afternoon thanks to you. Do come to our Inn if you need a place to stay!” and just like that, you were gone.

Ginko’s never been this quiet before, it was starting to scare him a little bit. “Muichiro, she felt like you. Isn’t that weird?”

“What do you mean she felt like me? Like the way she was playing with your feathers?” tilting his head to the side he was doing his best to comprehend his feathered friend.

“No, like the energy coming out of her. It was bright, just like yours.” he hummed in thought, rerunning the scene in his head, there was nothing particularly similar between the two of you, Ginko was probably just getting old, how long do birds even live?

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The sun was about to set and finding lodging became a priority. He’s been walking around the village all the afternoon and wished nothing more than a bath and a warm meal. That’s when he remembered the girl from the mountain, he’s pretty sure she said something about an inn downtown, just what he needed.

It was fairly easy to find as it was the only lodging facility in town, it was large and full of people. This was the largest village in the list, and it had a very different ambiance than the rest he visited on previous days.

He was able to secure a room but headed straight for the dining hall, he needed to eat something first.

His eyes kept roaming around all the faces present in the hall. Majority were old men already drunk, even when the evening was just starting. The workers were all girls, and they were all wearing the same uniform as the girl he met earlier, making it even harder to recognize her in the crowd.

He didn’t even know why he was looking for you, he was able to find the inn without problems, is not like he needed your help for anything.

“Here’s the udon you ordered, sir. Please be careful, it’s very hot.” he has the hardest time remembering things, faces included, but that voice, somehow it rang a bell in his head right away.

“Mushroom girl.”

This caught your attention, looking up at the guest before you. “Oh! The friendly owner of the beautiful crow!”

Friendly? You though he was friendly? Was it because he let you touch his bird? He wasn’t sure but it felt like a compliment, and he couldn’t help but give you a little smile. It’s been happening often, and he doesn’t know how to control this new skill of his.

“My name is (Y/N), don’t hesitate to call me if you need anything, I will be around!” you returned his smile but yours was brighter, bigger, shiny even. It caught his eye once again, and he didn’t know why, kind of reminded him of Tanjiro’s, gentle, full of appreciation.

The noodles were great, he was full, and his stomach was content. But for an unknown reason he called you over when you passed by and ordered a second round.

This time you brought him some extra side dishes that he didn’t order. Leaning closer you whispered, “These are on the house, but don’t tell anybody.” you winked at him playfully before running to answer another customer’s call.

His smile remained like a stamp on his face while he ate the delicious treats. It was starting to hurt his face muscles, being stiff due to the lack of use, eating while smiling felt definitely odd.

“Can I have some more water, please?” he’s been waiting twenty minutes to ask for a refill, there were over six different girls tending the customers, yet he waited until you were in proximity to make the request.

Happily, you refilled his cup and offered him some tea, which he agreed on. It was a long night. He never expected to stay in the dinner hall for three hours, all he wanted was something quick to eat and pass out for the night.

Ginko was waiting for him on his bedroom window, stressed by how long it took for him to arrive. “I thought you were dead, Muichiro.”

“Sorry, I got distracted.” he plopped face down on his futon, contemplating life. He was acting weird, could it be the presence of a demon? Maybe he should stay for a couple more days to investigate further.

“Are you not going to take a bath?” he just grunted a reply before dozing off. It’s been a long day. Unwillingly, he kept on asking for more stuff to eat and his stomach ached with fullness, all he needed was sleep.

Funny enough, once he managed to cross the border to the dream realm, a beautiful soft smile made its way out and remained on his face for the entirety of his restful sleep.

Dreams of giant mushrooms with cute faces and quiet lovely cottages in the forest invading his dreams.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

After interrogating villagers all morning, Muichiro ended up in the same mountain he was at the day before, annoying Ginko to her limits. “Why are we here again? We checked this area yesterday.”

“I just wanted to take a break. I like it here, it's quiet.” The village was indeed loud, she couldn’t throw a snarky comment back, it was true, it was a lovely place.

It reminded him of his home, the mountain was similar to this, the same wildflowers grew among the grass. It brought memories of a better time, a time his mother, father and brother were still with him.

His mother used to show him how to thread flowers together and he would make beautiful crowns for her all the time as gifts when he was a little boy, it was a treasured memory for Muichiro.

Without noticing, his hands started making a crown on their own while he was swimming in his own memories not minding the real world.

You were on mushroom duty once more, so you quickly noticed the boy sitting in the middle of the flower field. It was a beautiful sight, he looked almost like a doll, effortlessly pretty. Then you heard wings flapping around, your happiness couldn’t be contained. “GINKO!” running towards the middle of the field, you were now facing Muichiro and his feathered friend.

He didn’t think he’d get to see you there, or so he tells himself, but he secretly knows he did it on purpose. The reason was still unknown to him though, it gave him the need to look for an excuse for his peace of mind.

“You come here every day?”

“Well not really, we take turns but the girl in charge of Thursday is sick.” you were trying to bring Ginko over to your lap instead, the bird complying with joy.

“Ginko really likes you, that’s odd. She usually just likes me.” this made you smile fondly at the bird; she was really sweet you wished they would stay in the village for a long time.

“Maybe we have something in common that makes her comfortable with me. Maybe is the hair? Or hmmm…not sure, maybe we went through something similar and give out the same type of vibe?” Ginko did say you felt like him, it intrigued him.

“Did you have a twin brother that was murdered by a beast?” he said this with a straight face, as fresh as a lettuce, causing you to bulge your eyes out in distress.

“What? No. Please tell me that didn’t happen to you-“ the bird nestled herself against your stomach, seeking comfort.

“It did, I thought that might be it. What about your parents? Did they die tragically?” the situation was escalating fast, sadness was creeping its way to your chest faster than a wildfire.

“I don’t know much about my parents. I was told they sold me off to the inn keeper, but I don’t remember much of my past, don’t really know why either.” this made Muichiro’s eyes bulge in turn, that was it, that’s why you felt like him.

“I had amnesia before too, it got better now though. If it helps, mine got cured after being trapped in a water prison to the brink of death, maybe you should try that.” your eyes watered at his words, he’s been through so much, this poor guy.

“Thanks, though I don’t think I want to remember the people that chose money over their own daughter.” you smiled at him, but this time your smile was different, it didn’t feel warm, it didn’t feel welcoming, it made an upset feeling bubble in his chest.

“Here, this is for you.” he handed you the flower crown he was mindlessly building. True, he wasn’t even aware of the fact that he was making one, but he was in a way thinking of you while making it. It was yours without a doubt.

“For me? Really?” the sad smile morphed into a magnificent bright happy one as you set it over your head. “How does it look? Does it suit me?” Muichiro just nodded, returning the smile. Much better, that was smile the he remembers.

“Can I have your name? I would like to remember it...” your cheeks were changing colors like a rainbow after a rain shower, your lashes seemingly growing longer as shyness overtakes you.

“Tokito Muichiro.”

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Muichiro has been staying in the same village for a week now, Ginko couldn’t be seen anywhere, and he knew what that meant. He was probably going to have to go back this very same day.

It’s not like he has anything to do there, there were clearly no demons around, it was a peaceful village, everyone knew each other, like a big family. Nothing like the place he was born in.

But there was something inside of him that tied him to the place, like if he really didn’t want to leave, it was inexplicable to him. He didn’t want to leave the inn, he was starting to blend in and the life of others became his every day. Meeting each other as many times as posible throughout the day became a priority for the both of you, even if it was unspoken it felt almost like a promise.

A promise he didn’t want to break, but he knew he couldn’t keep.

When Ginko arrived with Oyakata-sama’s orders to go back for pillar training, his chest felt heavy. He knew this was coming, is not like he could just move into a random village and get a life there, at least not yet. He had a purpose, responsibilities, people counted on him. He had to go back.

Making his way out of the village he heard something far away from him, he couldn’t hear it clearly, but it sounded like his name.

Looking up, he saw you running down the mountain as fast as you could, not stopping until you crashed against his chest. Panting heavily, your face was stained with tears, the heaviness in Muichiro’s chest grew ten times deeper in just a second.

“You’re leaving, aren’t you?” you looked sad, broken even.

“I have to go back to work. I overstayed.”

Fresh tears were adorning your face now, both of your hands bawling on his chest.

“You aren’t wearing the crown anymore.” you’ve been wearing it nonstop since he gave it to you, his attention span was short, the lack of flowers distracted him.

“I don’t want it to get ruined, I intend to keep it forever, so I am drying the flowers in my room.”

The heaviness in his chest turned to warmth, your words made him smile, he never thought someone would take such care of something made by him, it felt nice.

“Will I…ever…see you again?“ you were mumbling in between hiccups, trying your best to stop your tears.

“Can’t say for sure.” it wasn’t like he didn’t want to see you again, he just knew what was coming, it was unlikely at least for a long time.

You nodded in understanding, letting go of his uniform. “If you ever come back here, please stop by the inn. I would like to make a crown for you one day.” one of your hands reached over to his face, gently running your thumb along his cheek as if trying to memorize every single detail of him to perfection, a soft smile gracing your lips.

A crazy idea popped up in his head, “Do you want to come with me? I’m sure there’s something you could do where I live, maybe in the butterfly state, they’re all girls there. We could maybe do some crowns there and have some tea from time to time, I can even introduce you to my best friend, Tanjiro, I’m sure you two would get along. And you could help me take care of Ginko.”

For some reason he couldn’t stop talking, Ginko was definitely a bad influence, how do you even stop talking once you start?

But the look on your face was not what he was expecting, he was sure you would say yes, who would say no to meeting Tanjiro.

“Nothing would make me happier…but I can’t. I was sold to the inn keeper, remember? I can’t leave this place until I finish paying my worth.”

This was unexpected, he didn’t have any money, he wonders if maybe Oyakata-sama could buy your freedom. He’s the most respectable man he knows, he’s rich too, totally possible.

“I will get back for you, I promise.”

Your hand fell from his face, nodding weakly at his words. Somehow deep down in your heart you knew that wouldn’t happen.

“I will wait for you here then, for as long as it takes.”

Muichiro nodded in your direction before heading back home. He had a plan; he would talk with Oyakata-sama as soon as he arrives back at the state and everything would be fixed in no time.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

But things didn’t go according to plan. Oyakata-sama wasn’t feeling good, he couldn’t even grant audiences with his pillars any longer, his life span was coming to an end and couldn’t be bothered by others, he was told to wait and no longer after the battle that brought an end to his life came.

With his last breath he thinks of your smile when he gave you the flower crown, he thinks of the warmth of your hand against his face, thinks about how he was not able to keep his promise.

“I hope we meet again in another life….maybe then we can make flower crowns together.”

His last thoughts were plagued of you just before being received by his family in the afterlife. He did a good job, he helped defeating the strongest moon. This would help the others defeat Muzan, protect humanity.

This would keep you safe.

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