ladynightlark

[ladynightlark]

Hello, wonderful souls! 🤍🌍

I hope you're doing well. 🌿

Could you help me amplify my family's story and bring awareness to our struggle? 🙏🏻

💬 Please reblog my pinned post or consider donating just $5—your support could truly make a difference in saving lives amidst war and hardship.

Your kindness and voice matter more than you know. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! 🤍🌿

🕊️ @mosabsdr | Every share counts. 💫

If anyone is able to help/donate/spread the word, please do so.

Wishing you and your families the best.

[ladynightlark]

Hiiiiiiii!!!! I hope you're doing alright :) This is Whieskey, the user with the Kaigaku - Nezuko fanarts! You recently released chapter 28 and after a couple of months being completely out of the loop this immediately pulled me back into the CFLDF rabbit hole.

Because of that I made some art of how I thought some of the characters in the story looked like, I already drew Nezuko and Kaigaku before, but now the scope has increased lol

I tried my best to follow your descriptions, but I am no robot and might've made some assumptions on things... I hope I haven't made too big of a leap hahaha Anyways, I hope you have a great day/evening/night and I am already looking forward to chap 29! (ps. I know the Hashira lady on the top stares into your soul, but I was too lazy to fix it... If you zoom in it looks okay tho!)

OH MY GOSH WHIEKEY THIS IS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!

I LOVE all of the art you've done for CFLDF - seeing Nezuko and Kaigaku brings me so much joy!

BUT THIS?! EIGHT OF MY CHARACTERS??? FIVE OF WHICH ARE THE KAMABOKO SQUAD???

THIS is so so good and awesome and so many other positive feelings I can't find the words for aaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!

And the details??? These are insanely accurate to what I picture in my head when I was writing descriptions for them (also I LOVE that you did Nezuko in her Final Selection outfit - she looks so badass)!

I love love love them all, but my Female Hashira...whieskey, you NAILED that design! Her hair, her haori shawl, HER STRANGE EYES...I will admit, she is one of my top five favorite characters I have created for this AU, so seeing her brought to life literally brought me so much happiness and excitement!!!

Thank you thank you thank you so so so much for this, and for all of your other past fanart! You literally made my entire week, and I'm so excited to get back to writing. I will definitely include it at the end of the next chapter update, so thank you again for bringing me characters to life!!!

Have an amazing day!!!

[ladynightlark]

reblog if you have skilled writer friends and you're damn proud of them

[ladynightlark]

Chapter is up!

I’m having some trouble getting an official link, so you can find it here for now

Poll for CFLDF Chapter 28

Alright y’all, here’s the deal:

I know I’ve kept you all waiting for the next chapter for WAY too long (my apologies for that, I did not exact this hiatus to go so long), and at the moment, I’m hitting a bit of a slump.

I WILL get the chapter done by the end of April, but a part of me is hesitant about setting a date because I’m notorious about going past that because life gets busy and my motivation can wane at the worst times.

So, with that said…I’m considering posting half of the chapter within the next week or so.

My Google doc is already at 40 pages, and at this point, I’m about 3/4 done with the chapter. It’s already going to be really long, but the cut off might be a bit abrupt and I don’t want to hurt the pacing of the story with a sudden chapter cut.

Still, it might help give me the nudge I need to finish this chapter (and continue with the story that I’m already pretty behind on), so let me know what you guys think.

I know I say this all the time, but thank you all for your endless patience with me. I promise, I’m making sure I dedicate a little time each week to finishing this, and I WILL NOT abandon this story and will see it through to the end.

Hopefully, things will get back on track with updates for me once I get through these next few weeks.

Thank you guys again, and have a great day!

[ladynightlark]

Thank you for voting!

Chapter 28: Ignite and Flow, Part 1, will be posted later tonight!

Poll for CFLDF Chapter 28

Alright y’all, here’s the deal:

I know I’ve kept you all waiting for the next chapter for WAY too long (my apologies for that, I did not exact this hiatus to go so long), and at the moment, I’m hitting a bit of a slump.

I WILL get the chapter done by the end of April, but a part of me is hesitant about setting a date because I’m notorious about going past that because life gets busy and my motivation can wane at the worst times.

So, with that said…I’m considering posting half of the chapter within the next week or so.

My Google doc is already at 40 pages, and at this point, I’m about 3/4 done with the chapter. It’s already going to be really long, but the cut off might be a bit abrupt and I don’t want to hurt the pacing of the story with a sudden chapter cut.

Still, it might help give me the nudge I need to finish this chapter (and continue with the story that I’m already pretty behind on), so let me know what you guys think.

I know I say this all the time, but thank you all for your endless patience with me. I promise, I’m making sure I dedicate a little time each week to finishing this, and I WILL NOT abandon this story and will see it through to the end.

Hopefully, things will get back on track with updates for me once I get through these next few weeks.

Thank you guys again, and have a great day!

[ladynightlark]

Poll for CFLDF Chapter 28

Alright y’all, here’s the deal:

I know I’ve kept you all waiting for the next chapter for WAY too long (my apologies for that, I did not exact this hiatus to go so long), and at the moment, I’m hitting a bit of a slump.

I WILL get the chapter done by the end of April, but a part of me is hesitant about setting a date because I’m notorious about going past that because life gets busy and my motivation can wane at the worst times.

So, with that said…I’m considering posting half of the chapter within the next week or so.

My Google doc is already at 40 pages, and at this point, I’m about 3/4 done with the chapter. It’s already going to be really long, but the cut off might be a bit abrupt and I don’t want to hurt the pacing of the story with a sudden chapter cut.

Still, it might help give me the nudge I need to finish this chapter (and continue with the story that I’m already pretty behind on), so let me know what you guys think.

I know I say this all the time, but thank you all for your endless patience with me. I promise, I’m making sure I dedicate a little time each week to finishing this, and I WILL NOT abandon this story and will see it through to the end.

Hopefully, things will get back on track with updates for me once I get through these next few weeks.

Thank you guys again, and have a great day!

[ladynightlark]

Nezuko let out a soft gasp, and looked at Tanjiro. His gaze remained unchanged, but his grip tightened. It was a small gesture, but it was all the encouragement she needed. You can depend on me now, Big Brother. I promise, I’ll protect you.  No matter what it takes.  With that, Nezuko took a deep breath, set a determined look on her face, and ran with Tanjiro away from everything they knew. Together, they took their first steps into the world of demons, and never looked back.

Thank you so so much @beddybites for this wonderful commission artwork of Nezuko and Tanjiro from my role-swap AU “Children of Fuchsia Light and Demon Fire.”

It turned out so beautifully and I’m so so happy with the final product!

(And be sure to check out their work on their blog - it’s absolutely amazing and never fails to brighten my day!)

[ladynightlark]

How CFLDF Murata Views:

Nezuko: I like her a lot! She's really nice and doesn't seem too insane like everyone else in the Corps. Though...she can be a little scary when she gets mad or annoyed with people. But overall, I think she's pretty cool!

Tanjiro: For a demon, I didn't expect him to be so...normal-ish? He's a little weird, though, but maybe that's just because he's...well, a demon. But I guess he's alright for the most part.

Senjuro: I like him! He's pretty cool and not as intense as the others. Honestly, after all the stories I've heard about his family, I expected him to be more intimidating and loud. But he's the total opposite (not that there's anything wrong with that!). I wish he had more confidence in himself, though - he's really nice. I wonder if this is what it's like to have a little brother...? (wait, don't tell him I said that!!!)

Genya: Oh my god, I HATE him! He's so MEAN and VIOLENT and AUGH! What is this guy's deal? And why is he always so mean to Senjuro? Thank god Nezuko can deal with him and keep this jerk in check! I don't think we'll ever be friends.

Urokodaki: Okay, so, initially, I didn't really like him. He was always strict with training and never made me feel good about myself, even when I did exactly what he said and succeeded. But after I hit my head, he became a little nicer, I guess. Honestly, considering every other cultivator I had barely gave me any real instruction beyond the basics, I'm glad I got to have him mentor me.

Tomi (Bento Lady): She's a really sweet old lady! She looked after me when I first came to the village (even though she totally didn't have to), and always made me good food! I hope I can pay her back for everything I owe her - she deserves it.

Fuku (Bento Lady's Granddaughter: I can't tell if she likes me or not. One second, she's being snarky and kind of mean to me, and the next, she's sitting with me while I eat or follows me around to watch me do whatever work I can find. I think this is what it's like to have a little sister (BUT DON'T TELL HER I SAID THAT!!!). I hope she's not too mad at me for joining the Demon Slayers - I really do enjoy her company.

[ladynightlark]

Also, something that I forgot to mention in my previous message is that any dormant demon abilities Murata might have (like the Blur Spider Lily Eyes if it is a demonic ability) were awakened due to his near-death experience of almost drowning during training.

That I will confirm - Murata's training accident where he almost drowned triggered his frequent headaches, which were followed by his Blue Eyes ability happening in combat.

Unfortunately, he never remembers when the Blue Eyes happen. So Murata just thinks he gets constant migraines because of what happened and nothing else.

(We will get to see the accident next chapter, and you will find that things changed for Murata not just physically for him, but in regards to how his training was handled after that.)

[ladynightlark]

So first I'd like to say happy birthday to Murata.

Second, after reading through the most recent chapter preview, I've started to have the theory that Murata in your Swap AU might be a half-demon.

My reasons for this are that in the preview, Naho and Goto both have commented that Murata feels off. Second is his 'Eyes of the Blue Spider Lily' ability which sounds a bit like a blood demon art name (or could be a variation of Kanao's Vermillion eyes like someone commented on in the original chapter). Third, the last few sentences in the preview state that if he found out what/who he was, that "nothing would ever be the same again" and finding out you're half-demon seems to fit this predicted reaction. Also the statement saying "what" originally suggests a physical, biological difference which fits the theory, although the shift to "who" makes me think - if he is a half-demon - that he might be related to one of this AU's upper moons.

Those are just some of the observations I made due to the preview. Thank you for reading it. I hope you have a good evening.

That's definitely an interesting theory!

Next chapter will definitely be dropping some hints about what might be going on with Murata. It's bits and pieces right now, but over time, everything will start to come together.

(Though you might be on the right track suspecting that it might have something to do with a demon...)

And thank you! I hope you had a good night too!

[ladynightlark]

Ack! I forgot that the Murata ask day was yesterday

I think you’ve already talked a little bit about this, but what was the reason you choose Murata for the main cast as Zenitsu’s “role”?

This will probably get talked about in his backstory, but I’m very curious how he meet the bento girl and grandma from the Rengoku special? Will they show up?

Have a nice day!

No worries! You're right on time!

So, this is kind of an interesting story. Originally, in the earliest drafts/outlines for the CFLDF Kamaboko Squad, they were going to just be Nezuko, Senjuro, and Genya (the "Younger Sibling Squad/Trio"). So, by the role-swap logic, Senjuro was going to be the "Zenitsu" of the group.

But as I was planning character and story arcs, I realized I really wanted there to be a Water Breather in the Squad. Mainly because 1) Water Breathing felt like it would balance out the other fighting styles of the group best, 2) it felt like something was missing from the group dynamics for it to feel balanced, and 3) considering the canon Squad had a Water and Thunder Breather (to also balance their styles), I wanted to have that with Nezuko.

However, Murata wasn't my first pick. Originally, it was Aoi.

I really love Aoi, and I initially wanted to give her a chance for a bigger role in the series and to add another girl to the group. However, when I was trying to plan out how I wanted to handle her character and her arc throughout the story, I was struggling a bit. I felt like I kept alternating her personality between being like Senjuro (insecure and hesitant) and Genya (a bit short-tempered and standoffish). I felt like I wasn't doing her character the justice she deserved, and she wasn't feeling like she could be the "Zenitsu" or "Inosuke" of the group.

So how did I end up with Murata?

Well...I may have been looking for fanfics about Murata on a whim, and was disappointed when I found very little stories focused on him. He had been my favorite side character in Demon Slayer (I'm a sucker for reoccuring side characters), and I was hoping to get more content on him.

And then it hit me...What if I made him a main character in my story?

I played around with some details, got a basic story for him, and BAM! He was fitting in well with the group's dynamics, and he quickly became one of my favorite characters to write!

I think this was also when I started to stray from the strict role-swap rules of "character A swaps with character B, and vice versa, etc." Murata definitely fit the "Zenitsu" role better than Senjuro, but they both share traits with him to the point that they kind of share that role now. Plus, parts of his backstory have started to gain “Inosuke” elements, so you might start seeing that later in the story.

But Murata (like his breathing style, haha) brought a balance to the group that I think it desperately needed. He had enough fire to stand up to Genya, softness and insecurity to relate to Senjuro, and bravery and rationality to keep up with and support Nezuko. His personality was able to adapt easily to whoever he was interacting with, making him an important part of the group that allowed them to get along and know when to push each other.

Also (and this is going to come up later and be an important component to the aftermath of the Mugen Train Arc), one of the reasons I wanted another character like Murata was because I wanted someone to be Nezuko's "equal" (not in the shipping sense). Subtly, you can see that Nezuko is always looking after everyone, but in different ways. With Senjuro, she's constantly making sure he's okay and trying to encourage him to face things he thinks are scary. With Genya, she's chasing after and reprimanding him when he goes to far in order to keep him in check.

But with Murata, she's not really waiting for or chasing him - often, she just lets him make decisions on his own because she has (subconsciously) acknowledged that he's capable of taking care of himself (or attempts to). It's not shown much yet (because of how early we still are in the story), but like I said, this comes out more in the aftermath of Mugen Train and some of the Entertainment District Arc.

He's someone who's used to just blending into the background, but being dependable when necessary. Nezuko is similar to the latter, but constantly makes sure she's someone others can come to and doesn't try to burden them. So when the time comes, Murata will be important in helping Nezuko see that she can talk more openly with others about her problems.

(Oof sorry that was a bit long haha)

To answer your second question, we will see some of the bento girl and her grandmother, Fuku and Tomi, in the next chapter! Just...not as much as I hoped.

Murata's backstory is a little weird because there's technically two parts to it: his village backstory and his training backstory.

His village backstory centers around his life before becoming a Demon Slayer, which will involve Fuku and Tomi. As for his training backstory, that will focus on how Urokodaki trained Murata for Final Selection (along with some surprise guests).

I originally wanted to include all of it in the next chapter, but right, it's looking REALLY long, and his training backstory is fitting better with the flow of the action happening (plus, it's more relevant to Murata as he's fighting). So, a lot of the backstory will focus on his time training with Urokodaki and maybe one or two scenes from the village.

THAT BEING SAID, I am already making plans to do a more in-depth look into Murata's backstory in the one-shot series, so expect a chapter for each of his backstories!

(And thanks! Have a great day too!)

[ladynightlark]

Please Murata

hell yeah Murata deserves art

[ladynightlark]

Thank you to everyone who sent in asks!!!

If you’re still interested, feel free to send in more until the end of the weekend!!!

Happy Murata Day everyone!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MURATA!!!

Don’t forget to send in your questions, theories, headcanons, and well-wishes about canon and/or CFLDF Murata!!!

Also expect a bigger post from me about Murata either today or tomorrow!!!

Let’s make this a fun day about Murata!!!

[ladynightlark]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MURATA!!!

Don’t forget to send in your questions, theories, headcanons, and well-wishes about canon and/or CFLDF Murata!!!

Also expect a bigger post from me about Murata either today or tomorrow!!!

Let’s make this a fun day about Murata!!!

[ladynightlark]

CFLDF Chapter 28 Preview

“Hurry up!” the girl called from ahead, anxiously pulling at her green and white kimono and shuffling back a few steps. “We have to get to my sisters. They’re waiting for us!”

“Oh, right, sorry!” Senjuro ran back to her, missing the weird look the girl shot Murata again, like she was frustrated or annoyed at the distraction from their goal. By the time Senjuro reached her, she wasted no time reclaiming his hand and pulling him forward.

Again with this? Murata couldn’t help thinking as he sprinted to keep up with them. What is this kid’s deal?

Does she just not like strangers?

Then why is she latching onto Senjuro?

Maybe because he looks younger? Or…did it have something to do with what she said earlier? About us being Demon Hunters and him reassuring her about us not being them?

That still confused him, and before Murata could stop himself, he spoke up.

“Hey, so, what did you mean back there?”

“Huh?”

“You called us Demon Hunters earlier and freaked out, but…isn’t that just another name for Demon Slayers? Aren’t they basically the same thing?”

The girl’s grip on Senjuro’s hand tightened and her free hand tangled itself into the fabric of her kimono. Senjuro noticed and glanced back at Murata with hesitant concern.

~~~~~

“So…is any of that—?”

“Not really, no.”

“Oh thank god,” Murata breathed, running hand through his hair and scratching the back of his neck. “For a second there, I thought crazy tiger people went on a murder rampage or something.” He expected Senjuro to agree with him, but when all he got was silence and found a pensive look on the younger boy’s face, he felt a flash of dread. “Wait, there weren’t really—?”

“Hm? Oh, no no! Everything she said sounded like a really embellished version of the truth,” Senjuro clarified, waving off some of his concern. “I’m not quite sure where the tiger stuff came from, but the part about them being dangerous killers and fighting with each other is…kind of true.”

That…didn’t sound too good.

“Okay? Then…who were these guys?” Murata asked.

Senjuro fiddled with the straps of his backpack as he looked ahead, making sure the girl was still walking ahead out of earshot. Once he seemed sure of it, the boy went ahead.

“You were sort of right with what you said earlier, about them being another name for Demon Slayers. They were members of the Corps, but they often chose to identify themselves as Hunters, not Slayers,” Senjuro explained. “There’s a lot of history with that name now due to the choices they made, so it’s best not to use it, especially with older members of the Corps. It’s like how you’re not supposed to use Flame Breathing and Fire Breathing interchangeably, you know.”

Murata nodded, still completely confused.

But aren’t they basically the same thing, too?

~~~~~

“Hey, where did—Ow!”

“What! What happened?” Murata said, snapping back to reality at Senjuro’s voice. The boy had stopped a little further away and was holding his hand close to his chest.

“Weird…” he muttered.

“You okay?” Murata asked as he jogged over to the younger boy.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Senjuro gave his hand a weird look, then shook his head when he found no marks on it. “Something just pricked me, I guess.”

Great, more weird bugs to worry about.

Murata was about to comment just that, but something else immediately came to mind.

“Hey, what stinks here?” The older boy sniffed the air and cringed at the sudden, sour odor. He covered his nose with his sleeve when it lingered. “It smells like something died here.”

Senjuro made a face too, but before he could respond, his eyes drifted upward. “Ukogi? What’s wrong?”

Now that Murata was paying attention, he realized that the sparrow had been oddly silent since they had run into the little girl, remaining nestled in the flame-haired boy’s hair. Now, though, the tiny bird appeared to be trembling while making fearful, squeaky chirps at something behind them.

…Behind them?

Oh gods, no.

~~~~~

We just…need a plan. To find a way out of this mess before—

An ominous creak came from the wooden house, capturing the attention of the three demons and two humans. A disgusting noise like wet sludge being dumped on the ground grew in volume until a revolting, rotten smell wafted toward them.

“Big Brother Goto!” Naho exclaimed in delight.

Big Brother WHO?

~~~~~

“What about the other guy?”

Oh yeah, what about the other–WAIT THAT’S ME!

All eyes turned to Murata. That unsettling feeling telling him to GET THE HECK OUT OF HERE NOW was practically screaming at him. It didn’t help that the green butterfly girl and giant caterpillar gave him equally disgusted looks.

“I don’t like him,” Naho declared. “He’s like the others, but…creepy, for some reason.”

The caterpillar’s glowing gold eyes took him in, sharing the girl’s distrust of the teen. “Yeah, I see what you mean. There’s something wrong with this guy.”

What?!

“E-Excuse me?!” Murata sputtered, unsure whether he was more insulted or terrified of their opinion of him. “I’m the creepy one? There’s something wrong with me? You’re the freaks, here! Look at you! You’re a disgusting slug that reeks of vomit! And you—!”

Murata’s words died in his throat.

Huh?

~~~~~

“Again!” a stern voice ordered.

The teen turned toward the voice. Standing on the banks of the river was an old man wearing a cloud-patterned jinbei kimono and a red tengu mask. His arms were crossed, and he showed no signs of being concerned over the boy in front of him nearly drowning in the river.

This old bastard.

“I said again, Murata!” the old man repeated.

“J-Just g-give m-me a m-minute, M-M-Master,” Murata stuttered through chattering teeth. He wrapped his arms around his bare torso, but it did nothing to alleviate the cold assaulting him. “Also, s-show a l-little s-s-sympathy! I n-n-nearly d-drowned!”

Murata couldn’t tell what expression the old man was making, but something told him it was similar to the angry frown etched into the red mask over his master’s face.

“If I showed you sympathy for every ache and pain you received, you would grow overly-coddled.” The old man strode over to where the practice sword Murata had been swinging drifted to the shore. “Something your other trainers clearly instilled in you. I’m training you to be a swordsman, not a weak-willed man. Isn’t this what you wanted?”

Murata wanted to argue, but…he was right.

The whole reason he came to this old man in the first place was because every single trainer Murata had gone to barely put any effort into training him. Each one seemed to only specialized in a specific Water Breathing form, and once they thought Murata had done an ‘okay’ job of the technique, they kept trying to ship him off to Final Selection.

If it weren’t for the fact that he had the common sense to know that only being able to swing a sword one way was NOT going to be enough for any rational swordsman to survive a week in what was described to him as LITERAL HELL, Murata probably would have gone. And probably ended up dead!

It was only thanks to a letter sent to him from Ms. Tomi, telling him to look for a retired man named Sakonji Urokodaki, that he finally found a cultivator that was taking his training seriously.

He just didn’t expect the old man to be as strict as a general and to have him training until he was about to pass out!

~~~~~

Ever since the “Waterfall Incident,” Murata was…different.

No one, not even him, could quite place what it was about him that changed, but something did.

He became more aware of his surroundings, sensing when things were off and danger was near. Found a sudden spark when training that improved with time. Claimed that he could see the ‘remnants’ that demons left behind, making it easier to track or avoid them.

But the biggest change was the headaches.

They were persistent in the months that followed the accident, but overtime, they faded, only coming back whenever he was extremely stressed. Nothing too bad, in the grand scheme of things, but…strange.

And yet, almost every time Murata encountered a demon, they would come back with a fierce vengeance. Nothing made them go away, and it didn’t help that he was often preoccupied with trying to, you know, stay alive and all that.

There was nothing he could do but fight through it, causing the pain to swell and his eyes to feel close to bursting until…until…

Everything went blue, and every worry, doubt, and fear that clouded his mind just…went mute. Like a blanket was thrown over them, leaving Murata free to think and plan and see everything he was supposed to in order to win.

And he always, always won.

It was such a shame that whenever he ��woke up’ from these moments, Murata never remembered what had happened.

A real shame indeed.

Perhaps if he did, then he could have figured out what this all meant.

But to be honest, it would be best if he never did find out the reason for this strange phenomenon.

Because the moment he did, nothing would ever be the same again.

And Murata…well, he would learn exactly what who he was.

[ladynightlark]

Hey! So I decided to do a small fun thing.

I was planning some background stuff for my CFLDF characters, and wanted to focus on Murata (since he's going to have a lot more focus on him this next chapter - which is more than halfway done!). And I realized that he's one of the few characters in the main series without a confirmed birthday.

So I decided that (unofficially) his birthday in the AU will be March 14th!

So to celebrate that (and also my own birthday which is actually tomorrow), I will be answering some Murata-related questions!

So if you guys have questions or theories about CFLDF Murata, send them to me and I will answer them! Also, if you guys just want to share any headcanons, thoughts, or reasons why Murata is your favorite character (or just a character you like in general), send them in!

Also also, I will be posting a preview of the next chapter tomorrow (which will certaintly have some hints and bits and pieces about Murata's background and the demons he and Senjuro will be fighting), so be on the lookout for that!

Let's make March 14th a Murata Day!

[ladynightlark]

so I got into grad school today with my shitty 2.8 gpa and the moral of the story is reblog those good luck posts for the love of god