#Got that last one from a comic I saw ages ago | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sweetnans · 1 month

Text

Pairing: f.reader/bakugo

t.warning: angst? war flashbacks and fluff

a/n: I'm sorry if I misspelled something. My hand hurts. Enjoy 💖

He be goddammed. Mina had asked specifically for a comic book to give Denki for his birthday, and none of the dumbasses on the squad have found it. So here he is, entering in the twelveth bookstore on his day off. Bakugo couldn't believe his position right now. The last time he had a day off was like ages ago, and now he has to find a stupid book for one of his friends.

He walked in with his usual scowl, looking for the labeled shelf with all the colorful spines highlighting above the bored ones.

The bookstore was empty. He was about to give up on his search when the building appeared on his way back home. It was a tiny store, cozy and brown. All shelves were made of wood, and the sitting area was no different. Brown chairs varnished with fluffy blankets on top. It was like a fairy forest magical paradise kind of shit. He liked the quietness.

"Hey, welcome! How may I help you?" The girl behind the desk spoke out of nothing, putting him in defense mode. He couldn't help it. He is a heroe, after all.

He saw the girl rising his hands in surrender with a comical smile on her face.

"Calm down, I'm only trying to help you," you said, putting your book down in a very slow movement.

"Shit, sorry" he apologized.

He couldn't help but notice how the smile on your face shifted to a weird look, scanning him from tip to toe.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" You tapped your chin while bending over your desk to have a better look on the man who was in front of you.

"Probably from the screen or magazines" He said nonchalantly. He was used to this kinda stuff.

"Mm yeah maybe" you were unsure about that. "So, what are you looking for?"

"Im looking for a comic book." He looked at you while you walked to the comics shelf, and he followed when he noticed that had no other information."It's a special edition, I haven't found it yet, and I'm starting to think that's not in stock"

"Just a few people have found this place, it's not even in the google map, so you have the odds to find it here, I like to keep my stock updated" you said, looking at him. God, where have you seen him? How could you forget such a guy like him?

While Bakugo kept searching the famous comic book on the giant shelf, you tried to search in your mind the sight of him.

"You told me that I could have seen you on magazines. Are you a hero, perhaps?"

Bakugo stopped his search in a bit. He wasn't full of himself like when he was younger, but it was difficult to believe that someone didn't recognize him.

"Yeah, I am"

The look on your face didn't change with realization like he expected. Your facade was even more puzzled than before.

You kept silent trying to think. You found Bakugo particularly special. He had features that weren't easy to forget, so why were you so confused?

"GOT IT!" The two of you screamed at the same time, sharing a look. Bakugo was confused, and you were extremely excited.

You two walked to the register, and he lent you the book he was holding.

"May I ask what you got?" He asked secretly, praying that you would give away the information.

"Oh yeah sorry, I remembered you" you scanned the code and put the book on a paper bag.

"Is that so?" Bakugo wasn't sure if you had like a dementia or a memory problem.

"Yeah" you simply said, "Also, you will love this book, it's so good" you said holding the bag to him after he paid.

"Have you read it?" He was curious. You didn't seem the type of girl fan of comics.

"Yes, I just did"

He would be amazed if he didn't live in society based on quirks. It was odd in the society working on a thing that wasn't related to the individual's quirk.

"How does it work?" Bakugo asked because he found that he liked the quietness your bookstore provided. He didn't want to leave.

"When I touch the book, I just know everything about it, the storyline, the plot, etcetera. It's pretty helpful. it works with people too, " you explained to him.

"That's pretty cool," he said, giving it a moment. "Wait, people? That would be pretty useful. Have you ever thought about working with the police? Or the Pro's?

You sighed with a smile on your face. He was getting used to your mannerisms.

"I worked with them for a while..." You intertwined your fingers above the counter. "When the war started, I was assigned to the special identification unit"

"I never heard of it." When the war started He was so busy fighting and being injured to notice anything else. "What was your job there?"

"I was in charge of the identification of dead and destroyed bodies"

Bakugo was shocked even if his face didn't give it away. You were about his age. He sympathized with you because he lived the same shit that you lived, the same trauma, watching people die and suffer in a different perspective.

"That's...-" He didn't know what to say.

"I know..., they pulled me out of the school to make me help them". It was raw, but the war made its havocs to everyone.

"So you were in the field..."

"Yeah, right after the heroes fought, we used to get the call and head to the battlefield"

"Why did you quit?"

You doubted. Maybe he wasn't ready for the upcoming truth...maybe he didn't even know what happened.

"You know, it all changed when I went to this battlefield. It was one of the last fights that occurred during the war. A lot of people were injured, some of them dead, some of them presumed to be dead...I was so excited when I remembered you because I never got the chance to thank you"

He was stunned. When you made a mention about him, his world stopped its rotation. You really knew him? Like outside the press?

"Thank me about what?" He asked curious.

"Your life vision," you said in a calm way. He didn't understand. "Fights and battles move out faster than you think, sometimes they're fighting in the sky, and then they're on the ground, so me and my team had to be quick following the main focus of them. I was looking for injured people to send them to the EMTs when I found you. I remember holding you in my arms. Your face was destroyed, and there was blood everywhere. I saw who you were, your failures, your accomplishments, your friends, your life, and it amazed me. You were just a kid fighting for the grown-up mistakes, but you liked it. You were devoted to your dreams. I never felt that while working with the police. " You stopped for a bit to breathe again. You couldn't look Bakugo to his eyes. "When I touch a corpse, I see everything in a gray hue, every memory fading away. It's sad. You were in my arms when that gray hue started to change to a bright and the most precious tone of orange and red, you were alive, I've never seen something like that before. I was, god, I didn't even know how to put it in words. I remember crying and thinking that it would be a chance for you to pursue your dreams. It wasn't over for you like it was for the other people I attended. Other colors started to appear as well. I felt your chest move again, and I took you to the EMTs. You were the most beautiful vision I saw during the war. You made me realize that i didn't want to watch other peoples crushed dreams. I wanted to live my own, you had your chance, I wanted a chance too, a chance far away from the sadness and catastrophe"

He kept himself quiet. For the first time in many years, he was out of words.

"This is head spinning, I don't know what to say." He was overwhelmed with everything you've said. He was well aware that someone must've saved him, but he never thought that he was presumed dead when it happened.

"Don't get me wrong, I feel like I did my duty as a citizen, and I'll do it again if they need me, but it was devastating touch those bodies and realize that there were people waiting for them at home or that they had kids that they never will be able to see grow up. I haven't done my peace with the war yet"

"I remember being carried to the ambulance. Was that you?" That was the first memory he had after he woke up. It was a blury one like those memories you don't know if they're real or not.

"Yeah, you were such a heavy lift. No offense, " you giggle a little.

"Not taken, how old were you?" Bakugo scratched the back of his neck, trying to assemble every piece of information.

"I was eighteen at that time. You were sixteen, i think, a major pain in the ass for what i saw. Before you woke up i was upset for you, the people you had around really loved you and cared about you, it was unfair and i started to feel guilty about the lives they would never be able to have, yours included"

"Dont be hard on yourself. It wasn't your fault. I was fighting for the grown-up mistakes, but you were definitely living the consequences of them"

The silence between you two was absolutely necessary. You dreamed about this day, you weren't looking forward to it, you didn't do your research or bother to look for him but it was happening. Bakugo couldn't piece the information right. You saved him. He didn't remember much of it, but he knew that someone, a girl, took him to the ambulance, but until a few hours ago, it was just a thought that appeared in his lonely nights. Now you were in front of him, sharing a crucial part of yourself and himself aligned.

"Fuck" That was the first thing he came up with. It was the perfect word to describe how he felt.

"Same," you said. You weren't sure how to feel either. You let it all out, and you were happy that He was alive. "Did you fulfill your dreams?"

He put a weird look that had you regretting your question.

"I'm the number two pro hero in Japan," You covered your face with your hands in absolute shame and laughed.

"I'm so sorry, I don't watch TV or anything." He smiled as well. Your laugh was contagious enough to make him smile. "I'm happy to see you alive"

You were cute. When he first saw you, he thought to himself that something, outside everything he had known, was pulling him to you, like an invisible string or something. You saved his life, and he didn't even attempt to find you sooner. He couldn't let you go.

"My friend's birthday is this saturday," he started. "I know it's not like a proper date or something, but if you don't have any plans or a boyfriend or something like-

Most of the time, he didn't get that nervous, but you were there, standing in front of him, looking at him with perfect eyes and trying to hide your smile.

"I'd love to," you answered before he could say anything else. He felt relieved for the interruption and for you saying yes.

"Good," he watched while you scribbled down your number in a paper.

You put the paper on his hand, and even though he was skeptical, most of the time, he would've swear that he felt a sort of electricity running up and down his spine.

"There you go," you said, batting slightly your lashes at him.

He felt weird. He didn't want this encounter to end. He wanted to tell you a lot of things. He wanted to vent about his life. He wanted to make you a part of him.

"Fuck the party" he muttered. "Are you free? Like right now? Let me buy you a coffee."

He was desperate.

"Let me think about it," you tapped your chin jokingly. "Help me close this thing, and I'm all yours"

The air that he was holding left his lungs. He didn't think that he was being impulsive with all this. He just knew that you were something that was meant to happen, but he never thought that he would have a second chance to meet you again.

#bnha bakugou #bakugou smut #bakugo smut #bakugo x reader #bakugo headcanons #mha bakugo katsuki #mha x reader #my hero academy fanfiction #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #bhna #katsuki bakugo x reader #bakugo katsuki

239 notes · View notes

deansapplepie · 3 months

Text

The Spitting Image | Part 3

Summary: Years passed since last time you saw your ex-boyfriend and father of your son. Fate decided the perfect moment for you to reconnect was after the end of the world.

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Reader

Warnings: smoking, mentions of underage drinking/smoking, Daryl need a bath, just that. This chapter is very chill. Minors do not interact.

Word Count: 3k

Part 2 Part 4

Main Masterlist

Series Masterlist

Early in the morning you were knocking on the door of the new residents of Alexandria. One hand occupied with a pie you wanted to give them, a bag on your shoulder carrying some things and just one hand to knock at the door. Soon, the ex deputy answered the door and even if some days ago he was threatening you, you had a warm smile to give him. “Good morning Rick!”

“Morning, er… hm… I’m gonna tell Daryl you are here.” He greeted you.

“Oh no, I’m not here to see him. Well… I could see him, but that’s not the reason I came here exactly.” You said, suddenly becoming aware that everyone there already knew at least a little about your history. You cleared your throat. “I brought pie.”

“Thanks, er… pie? Really?” The ex sheriff couldn’t believe you were really able of making a pie. When did you had time?

“Yes, I found some raspberries in the woods. I was saving it on the fridge for something special.” You said handing him the pie so he could take it.

“And you made pie for us? No I couldn’t accept it…” Rick tried to politely refuse, but was interrupted by Carol.

“Yes, we can. Didn’t you know it’s not polite to refuse a gift?” She told Rick and took the pie from your hand with a gentle smile. “Thank you for the warm welcome.”

“It’s no problem. Really. If any of you need anything…” you replied, Carol left to take the pie to the kitchen, then you turned to Rick again. “Also, I brought this…” you took a pink stuffed unicorn from the bag, “I found it on some run and when I looked at it today it reminded me of your little girl, so I brought it for her.”

“You shouldn’t have…” he said politely but took the plushie before Carol came again and told him off about education.

“Of course I should. Every little girl needs a unicorn.” You said grinning playfully. “Also, DJ sent this to your son. They’re his favorite and he thought that maybe Carl could enjoy it.” You handed some comics to the sheriff. “Maybe they could be friends. DJ doesn’t like the other kids here so much, he says they’re all a-s-s holes. Except Enid, she’s a nice girl.”

“Thanks. Carl used to love comics, I’m pretty sure he’ll appreciate.” He thanked. “The kid is a lone wolf, I see, just like Daryl…”

“Maybe… he’s a little too mature for his age, but still just a boy. I think he’s just waiting to find the right people he’d like to be around. Just like…” you were saying but suddenly stopped watching Daryl appearing in front of you. “Morning.” You gave him that wide smile that only two people in your life could get. “I brought some pie. Carol took it, you should eat.”

“Mornin’ “ he drawled.

“Can I have a word with you two?” You asked, you didn’t want to stay long and disturb the group’s peace, but you needed to advise them about something you had forgotten the day before with all the happenings.

“Yes, of course.” Rick answered.

“Inside? I think I can speak low enough so no one listens but…”

“Yeah, come inside.” Daryl said and Rick opened space so you could enter.

After the door was closed, the two men looked at you expectantly while you worked in your mind how you would say that without they freaking out.

“I know some of you already got jobs. So there’s something I want to advise you.” You took a breath before saying it. “Deanna and Reg are amazing people and you can trust them, even though I think they are too utopian and have an idea of the real world that’s not how it works anymore…”

“But…” Daryl said, there was always a but.

“But their kids are jerks. They’re part of the group that do runs and watch the perimeter, but they don’t know shit about it. They pretend they do, but they don’t. Some people already died working with them and despite they had told the whole story, something seems fishy for me. So… your people that are going to work with them, tell them to be careful. I know they’re probably better than them in everything but it’s good if they keep alert.” The two men observed you and you were afraid you had ruined things and they would want to leave, or that you spoke too much.

“Thanks for the advice. I appreciate it.” Rick told you and Daryl just nodded.

“It’s nothing. Really. If you need anything you can come to me.” You reassured again.

“Can we talk?” Daryl asked, he couldn’t stop thinking about DJ and how he was in the end of your conversation. So despite feeling he had no right to, he wanted to know about him.

“Yes, of course.” You replied.

You followed him to the porch and waited him start talking. You had no idea what he was going to say, but you were eager to listen.

“How’s the kid?” He asked directly. He wasn’t one to go around and around about something. He wanted to know how his son was.

“He’s good. He felt a little upset, but we talked. He didn’t need to know all of that. He thinks he’s an adult just because he is mature and the things he saw and had to do while we were on the road. But he’s just a kid.” You took a breath. “He wanted to make a good impression on you. He didn’t say it, but I know him. He tried to hide what he was feeling at the moment, but you and I know he couldn’t.”

“The kid punched me yesterday, and I have to say he’s strong. Why would he want to impress me?” He leaned on the column.

“You know why.” You answered. “Well, I better get going and look for something to do. You should try the pie and take a bath, we have hot water what are you waiting for?”

He grunted. No, he didn’t know why. He didn’t even know what he was doing. And… were he smelly? Of course he was, it had been so long on the road, with no shower… he was afraid of getting used to this place, but he also needed to. He had a son now, and he lived there.

DJ left the house and walked on Alexandria streets, in fact he said he was going to see if Carl liked the comics and wanted to hang out, but he was actually thinking about the stranger that was his father. He found him in front of the houses of the new comers, he had a cigar hanging from his mouth and worked on his crossbow and arrows.

“Hey old man.” DJ said, he felt strange. What should he say? Hey Daryl? Wassup Daryl? Wassup old man? None of those sounded correct.

Daryl looked from his lap and saw his son. “Hi Kid.” He answered cigarette still between his lips.

“I’m not a kid.”

“I ain’t old.”

DJ snorted at the remark. “Is it difficult to use one of those?” He pointed at the crossbow.

“ ‘s not easy, but with training one is capable of using it.” He put the crossbow to the side and took his cigarette from his lips blowing some smoke. “Do ya wanna learn?”

“Would you teach me?” The boy asked. He was excited with the possibility, but tried to make it seems like it was nothing.

“Yeah, but for that we need to go outside of the walls. Then, ya need to agree to obey me out there.” No way he was going to take the kid from safety if he was going to be rebellious and/or do stupid shit. And by his experience it could happen, Carl was a good kid, but he was all the time risking himself and making stupid things.

DJ scoffed at what he said. “Do you think I can’t handle myself out there?”

“Never said that.” Daryl made a pause. “But once we’re out there, ya’re my responsibility. I’m not bringing your dead ass back to your mom.”

DJ didn’t want to lose the battle against the mam, but he also didn’t know what else to say. So he sat by his side and tried to make conversation. “Can I have one?”

“One wha’?”

“A cigar.” DJ answered. ‘The audacity of the little shit,’ Daryl thought.

“Do ya wanna die?” Daryl asked. The young man scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“If you’re afraid to die, why are you smoking it?” He asked the man.

“Who said I was talking about the cigar? I’ll probably die for another reason.” He made a pause to swallow the smoke and then let it out. “Have you ever seen your mom mad? She’s all sweet, but when she’s pissed… She’s scaring.”

“Yeah, tell me about it.” He answered, his mom, you, was the best. But oh boy, could you be scaring when needed.

“I wouldn’t give ya one, regardless of that.” Said Daryl, the person that started drinking and smoking when he was younger than his son, but he didn’t want that for him, at least not while he could avoid it.

“Didn’t you take a shower yet?” DJ asked. It was obvious that he didn’t even passed close to the shower.

“Did yer mom told ya to come here and tell me to take one?” Daryl asked annoyed, he was the third person that day telling him to take a shower.

“Nah, but you clearly need one.” He said. “We have hot water. First thing I did after I arrived here was to take a long hot shower. You should too.”

Daryl grunted. It was everyone and the shower against him.

“Is Carl around? I came to see if he liked the comics?”

“No, I saw him with some other kids.” Daryl said finishing his cigar.

“Hope he’s not an asshole like the others.” DJ said, the other kids annoyed him so much. Ok, they were a little bit younger than him, but they were also stupid and weak.

“He’s not. I’ve been around him for a long time. I’d know if he was one.” He said and then pointed to the end of the street. “He went in that direction if ya wanna know him.”

Later that day you were at Aaron and Eric’s kitchen, you were cooking pasta. Deanna was throwing a party to welcome the newcomers, everybody was invited, but you were not going. It wasn’t your thing.

“Tell me Y/N/N, how are you feeling about having your ex here?” Eric threw the question at you sitting on the chair by the counter.

“I’m ok, I guess. I was super anxious at first, but now I’m just glad he took everything well and is interested on DJ.” You said adding some seasoning on the sauce.

“Just that?” Eric asked raising a brow.

“Yes, just that. Come on Eric, there were 17 years that I didn’t see him.” You turned to your friend.

The two of you were alone in the kitchen, Aaron had gone to take a bath and DJ was in the living room probably reading something. “But you still have eyes and a heart.”

“He’s still handsome, and I’m sure his still the same person. The age made him hotter and… did you take a look at those arms?” You said leaning on the counter.

“Just so you know, I’m listening everything from here! Please don’t say anything disgusting!” You listened DJ’s voice coming from the living room a d couldn’t help but giggle at it.

“Anyway, things are different now. And my priority is his and DJ’s relationship.” It was the truth. You couldn’t help and feel warm and bothered when you thought about him, but you had changed, he had changed.

Pretty much, you never let anyone in after him. Your priority had always been your son and you wouldn’t change it in any other way, but now you knew nothing about relationships and also would he want anything with you now? Could he feel anything after everything that happened? Could you?

Half an hour later you listened the front door opening and Aaron talking to someone, who could it be? You were setting the table and then you heard his delicious gruff voice. So apparently you would be having dinner together.

“Hi old man.” DJ said entering the dinning room.

“Hello Kid.” Daryl answered.

“I’m not a kid”

“I ain’t old”

“I thought you’d go to Deanna’s get together.” You said, a smirk on your face, you could almost listen to his answer in your head.

“Ya know me better than this. Not exactly my thing.” He answered and sat where Aaron showed him.

“Neither mine.” You said while setting the pasta at the table. Then you noticed he has taken a bath, he looked clean and smelled clean. “You took a shower…”

“After the third person telling me to take one, I decided to take it before I shoot someone.”

“I was the third person.” DJ observed.

“Shall we eat? Y/N did it.” Eric said taking his place at the table.

“I didn’t, I just helped. It’s totally Eric’s recipe.”

“What about some wine?” Aaron came back with a bottle of the liquid.

You all sat around the table, pasta on your plates and wine in your glasses. DJ tried to convince you that he could take a little, but you’d not allow him, as long as you could. The boy could only try and hope one day the miracle would happen and you’d allow him to get a taste.

“Daryl told he’s going to teach me how to use the crossbow.” The boy drank from his juice.

“Did I?” Daryl answered mouth half full. “You never told me if ya would obey me out of the walls.”

The teenager rolled his eyes. “I know how to hold myself well.”

“If you want to learn, you need to do it on his therms.” You said sipping on your wine.

You all finished eating, chatting and savoring the food. You always had a good time with Aaron and Eric, when you first arrived at Alexandria they were very friendly and helped you to settle, soon you became friends and it had been that way since that time.

After dinner you cleaned the table, did the dishes and cleaned the kitchen. While that Aaron, Daryl and your boy disappeared to the garage. When you finished, you decided it was time to head home, you went to the garage and found them around a bike.

“DJ, Dear… it’s time to go home.” You called him from the garage door.

“Mom, can I learn how to ride a bike?” The boy asked, eyes sparkling.

“You’re eager to learn a lot of things. Don’t you think?” You crossed your arms and leaned on the door.

“Daryl said he could teach me.”

“If yer mom gave you permission.” The archer completed:

“This bike doesn’t seem ready for me, are you going to repair it?” You asked the man.

“Yeah, it need some repairs.”

“I gave him the bike, and there’s also some parts that I collected. Think he’ll make a great job with this one.” Aaron observed.

“Can DJ help with the bike?” You asked, him offering to teach him things were something, but you knew he had always been reserved, appreciating some time alone. You wanted the two of them to bond, but you didn’t know if doing absolutely everything together was the best choice.

“ ‘f course. Wouldn’t offer to teach him things if it wasn’t.”

“Ok. First learn some mechanics, help with the bike and also learn about cars. Then I may allow you to ride a bike.” You gave the conditions.

“Come on! I already drive cars and I know some mechanics about it.” The teen protested.

“Believe me, you can still learn a lot more. Take it or leave it.” That was your final offer and he knew better than to refuse it.

“Fine…” he finally agreed.

“Ok, let’s go home.” You said one more time.

The boy left the room with Aaron to get a borrowed book, leaving you and Daryl alone. You approached him, your hand on the bike seat.

“If he’s being too much, you can say no. You know?” You said, looking at his face.

He looked back at you, with something in his eyes that you couldn’t read. “He’s not. I’m trying to figure him out, know him. I…”

He had no idea what he was doing, he thought a good start was getting to know the boy. But would him be able to be a father to him? One thing was dealing with other people kids, like Judith or Carl, but for him it was as if he had given birth to a 17 year old baby and didn’t know what to do with it.

“You’re doing good, I was just worried about you…”

“I don’t know what I’m doing.” He confessed. “I dun wanna disappoint any of you.”

“I didn’t know too. When all happened.” You said. “But with time, I figured out. I cried, I get despaired, I did mistakes… but I loved, I laughed, I learned… it’s not easy but you’ll experience all of that. If you ever need to vent, or an advice… you can come and find me.”

“Thanks.” He was thanking you for way more than just supporting him.

Wanna be added to my tag list? Let me know. (Please tell me if you want to be tagged on everything or just specific series) Everything Taglist: @lilyevanstan1325

The Spitting Image Taglist: @minaxcarter @carlyi @daryldixmedown @argentinian-witch @xmaeyonaiise @poetryhazel @blackvelveteen1339 @queenmizuki @crashlyrose @the1eyedmonster16 @jasminocano @sm4-rty @duckybird101 @bigbaldheadname @she-could-never @snailss @maggie-atwood @abbiesxox @slutcoresblog @yondus-girl @akanecchiisblog

Some of you I wasn’t able to tag, I’m sorry :(

#daryl dixon #the walking dead #the walking dead daryl #twd #twd daryl #daryl x reader #daryl fanfiction #daryl x y/n #deansapplepie #the spitting image series #the walking dead daryl dixon #imagine daryl #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon fanfic #daryl #daryl twd #daryl x you #daryl x female reader #daryl imagines

240 notes · View notes

meimi-haneoka · 7 months

Text

Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Chapter 79: Comments + JP-ENG translation differences

Welcome back to our monthly appointment, CCS fans! This chapter comes right after this month's full moon, the Hunter Moon! (lol yes I will feature the name of the relative full moon till the end of the story). And speaking of the end of the story, I will start this analysis and translation post from the end of the chapter, where I found the confirmation to the rumour that had been going on for hours before the official release on Comic Days:

yes, dear readers, this is not a drill, Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Arc will end with chapter 80, after 7 years of serialization! 🎉✨ When *the last chapter* is announced, there's no turning back! No more sudden announcements of extensions! 🥹 But at the moment of writing this post, no mentions have been given about any "epilogue" or extra chapters that might be serialized in the upcoming months leading to the big release of volume 16 on April 1st!

On the translation side, I have to sigh in relief because no major misunderstandings happened in the ENG version, just some minor inaccuracies! I was kinda scared because this chapter is pretty important and complex in itself.

And let me say that what happened in this chapter 79 definitely marks the end of the climax, so I can totally see it ending in next chapter. The chapter tackled some very important thematics regarding the presence of "evil" in this series, that I will talk about extensively in my analysis.

The announcement today made me already a bit nostalgic and sad, but I want to strive hard to accompany myself and all of you towards the end of this arc with excitement and a smile, therefore I won't let myself be prey of the sadness yet and introduce you immediately to the gif of this month, because there's a lot we need to talk about and analyze and we can't waste time!!

This is entirely dedicated to our protagonist and heroine Sakura-chan, because damn, she really slayed this chapter!!! Under the cut to see what miracles she made happen!

The Color Page

My dear readers, after years of countless pleas on my social media, after being let down month after month, CLAMP FINALLY GRANTED ME A COLOR PAGE SOLELY DEDICATED TO KAITO AND AKIHO TOGETHER ON THE SECOND-TO-LAST CHAPTER!! Yaaaay!! Excuse me while I celebrate this event here in my little corner, especially after having a rough month! 🎉🎉🎉 I hope my followers thought of me when they saw it? Like "finally she'll stop asking for it" (breaking news, I'll keep asking for more even after the series is over) 😂 It took them 79 chapters to do so and honestly I'm laughing because....yes, I admit it, I expected another vibe for such an important color page coming after such an important emotional scene in chapter 78, but honestly the first thing I thought when I saw it was "....they had to wait 79 chapters for this? 😧" 😂because it's very very "regular", I think it would've been ok for this to come out long ago. LOL I'm being brutally honest here, I hope no one gets offended, especially because that pet peeve aside, OF COURSE I love this precious color page to bits, and I know under its "normalcy", its got a very important meaning to the both of them.

Akiho and Kaito are depicted together clearly during one of their travels....but the question is, is this from the past? Or the near future? I'd daresay they look the same age they are now, so this might probably be a foreshadowing for the future...? They'll keep travelling the world? But seeing the content of the chapter, this might also be just a call-back to their memories together and everything that they experienced during those travels, tightening their bond. Travelling the world is, after all, really their thing, their element. I really like Kaito's expression, with his usual smile that almost turns into a smirk, he gives off a vibe of being finally free to express his emotions. He looks carefree, and that's really something for him. Akiho, on the other hand, is always so much more expressive than him and you can literally feel the joy and excitement emanating from her delighted expression. Travelling with him makes her happy, so yes, should this be what awaits them in the finale, it's fine by me as long as they're happy (I'm rooting for the other option though, the "stay in Tomoeda with your newfound support network" route).

But as you know, I always have to analyze the color pages a bit deeper, especially when they're about these two. And since I had to keep myself distracted, I made a bit of research. Other than the "travelling" vibe, this illustration gives off also kind of a "vintage" vibe (which is another strong element to Akiho and Kaito). It seems Akiho is dressed in a sleeveless coat with cape and wearing a bonnet fully inspired by those worn by children in the second half of the 1800s, in the Victorian era.

(pic courtesy of Etsy) This is a model from 1896, for example. When I pinpointed the period, I immediately thought "uh, the Victorian era is also the period when Alice in Wonderland came out", although that was more towards the 1860s. I found it really interesting and a nice touch for this illustration with a retro flavor (the suitcase and purse also look kinda vintage).

But another thing that immediately caught my eyes were those cute birds landing on Kaito's shoulder and Akiho's bonnet. I immediately tried to look what kind of birds they are, and it seems like they could really be eastern bluebirds, typical of North America. Searching further, I found out that in several cultures bluebirds are harbinger of happiness and symbols of hope. I couldn't honestly have thought for a more fitting symbolism, for these two. Especially cause birds often are associated with an imagery of freedom, and this is something else that these two need, after being hunted by evil people for so long. They really do look free, in this color page. Also, the presence of the birds in this color page immediately brought me back to the color page of chapter 62, where we can see baby Kaito in a wintery setting, sitting on a lamppost, extending his little hand to a swallow coming to him. Swallows are a symbol of hope and bring a message of "spring is coming", and continuing from that message of hope, of "spring is coming for you too", we can finally see here in chapter 79 our Kaito with his true happiness, symbolized literally by the birds most associated with happiness. Another thing that caught my eyes is of course the lily depicted on the cover of the book Akiho is holding, a nice callback to Akiho's mother and Kaito's torment, Lilie. She's always going to be with them ❤️

The Japanese editorial text over the picture is an excerpt of what Momo was musing to herself in chapter 39, while imagining to talk to Kaito: "You traveled with her, and spent time together with her". I think CLAMP chose to feature this line to indicate an important thing that will be restored at the end of this chapter.

Everyone Is Doing Their Best

The chapter starts with a panel showing some light coming off Yukito's house, and we find out that even Touya fainted, exhausted by the effort to keep time stopped as much as possible. Ruby Moon is cradling his head on her lap trying to assist him and "recharge" his magical power, in hope to be able to maintain time "stopped" a bit more. In fact, if you notice, the "black covering" that symbolizes the time-stopping spell isn't completely destroyed yet, but only riddled with "holes", an indication that the spell is still somehow active, even if feebly. I imagine this might "slow down" the attacks, which are still coming but probably not at full speed like they would if the spell came undone completely. I have to point out immediately a mild inaccuracy in the ENG version, that I want to specify in order to dispel extreme theories before they're born: no, Ruby Moon didn't give up all of her powers to Touya, the verb used here is simply 補える, "can replenish (your magic)", not "give all".

Touya doesn't lose his sense of humor even in a dire situation like this, and comments sarcastically "What are you, a battery?", a clear recall to the whole "batteries" matter that came out in the un-rewritten world. Touya isn't supposed to remember about that, and he probably doesn't, but this is just a way from CLAMP to show that even in a situation where memories have been rewritten, some things will be unconsciously said again, because they're just meant to happen.

Ruby Moon calls for assistance from her "brother" Spinel Sun (love how even in these true forms, she still calls him "Suppy"), whom rejects the appellative of "battery" but agrees to give her a hand with "recharging" Touya to keep the spell up a bit longer. Everyone looks outside, only one thought in their minds, which is voiced clearly by a serious Tomoyo: "Sakura and everyone else are fighting with all they've got". I have to point out a typo here in the Japanese version (nothing serious, it can happen and will be surely fixed in the tankobon version): Tomoyo calls Sakura "Sakura-san". I loved the "sparkles" around Tomoyo's eyes, as if indicating that her extraordinary intuition is "at work" and just telling her that, even if they can't see them because they're quite far away, Sakura and the others are doing whatever they can to stop these attacks. And the fact they can see the attacks, but not their friends and their condition, must be really hard to witness, for all of them. But no worries, there's Touya nii-chan who's always ready to lighten the mood even in this challenging situation, joking that "If they don't get back before the curfew, they won't be getting their snacks tomorrow!". Here the ENG adds "squirt" to make Touya refer specifically to Sakura, but truth to be told, in the JP there's no subject, so he might be referring to everyone. It's amazing how he's able to keep his spirit up and be sarcastic even in this situation....he really believes in his little sister so much!

I'll Make Them Forget About You

Back where our heroes are, the attacks keep coming relentlessly, countered by Syaoran, Yue and Kero in tandem. Sakura reflects on the fact that the only transparent Cards she's got left are these two she's holding in her hands (Time and Rewind) and Flight. This statement leads me to believe that when Record transformed into that crystal that entered her, that meant that the Card completed its duty and disappeared inside of her. But Sakura isn't worried at all, because she knows that she can create more Cards. Yessss, this development that I've been anticipating since quite some time is finally here! ✨🎉 Sakura seems to finally have a concrete plan, but before proceeding, she needs to ascertain something. She asks directly to Kaito: "The people who are using these spells were trying to hurt you, right?". Kaito, with a pensive face, answers affirmatively.

But it's when Sakura asks again "Were they trying to hurt Akiho too?" that his expression turns really painful, the background after him portraying well his raging emotions and, while Mokona-sensei chose to leave Akiho hidden by Kaito's black wings in the previous panels, now she finally shows how both she and Kaito are holding onto eachother, while our boy answers with a "...Yes" dripping with sorrow. It really squeezed my heart with pain, this scene. Because as long as Sakura was asking about him, his expression was pensive but almost as if it's something he's used to, that didn't shake him too much. But when Sakura mentions Akiho, god, that wrecked him. Any mention, any reminescence of what those bastards did to her and how they were chasing after her to put their filthy hands on her again wrecks him even now, and it's like Mokona with her visual skills is showing how Kaito seems to be holding Akiho a little bit tighter, while he answers Sakura's question. I also have to point out something that I had noticed already from last chapter, but a panel tricked me into believing I was just seeing things: CLAMP here use a dark screentone for Kaito's eyes, that he never had before (actually, no other character in CCS got this effect in their eyes). This effect will be used on him for the entire chapter.

And it seems like it's the very same screentone that was used for the dragon. I think this might be an indication that the wings aren't the only reminescence of his dragon appearance!

Sakura shows once again an incredible empathy that allows her to go right to the heart of the issue without investigating much. If Kaito rewrote an entire world, and if it's true that Akiho in the previous world didn't have all the love and familiar support she's got now, it means that she was probably in danger too. And seeing as these people are attacking them now because they freed Kaito from his "punishment", Sakura doesn't really need much to make 2+2 and understand the situation. Sakura believes in Akiho, therefore she believes in Kaito too, and knows that if he came to this point it's because they were in a desperate and dangerous situation.

Showing an incredible insight, Sakura shocks both Kaito and Akiho by asking:

Sakura, JP: "In that case, can I make those people forget about you both?"

Because our girl needs to make sure that the plan she came up with won't have any undesired consequences. But most importantly, she needs to have their consent. She reiterates this once again, actually she will make sure to ask Kaito and Akiho's consent 3 times in total. She says: JP, lit. "If going back to before the world was rewritten will put you through hardships once again, then, can I just make them forget?" Kaito is even more shocked, because he finally understands Sakura's intent. A generous, selfless intent born from a loving heart. Our girl wants to make sure that these two will be safe and sound once she fixes this situation. She can't take risks, because their happiness is all she's really caring for right now. And in his shocked expression, I can also see some kind of "omg YES, PLEASE" vibe. Because probably, having those terrible people forgetting all about them is everything he ever wished, but couldn't achieve. And I think it's really funny how we berated Kaito so much in the past chapters for making Akiho and the others forget facts that happened before and forgetting about him, but here Sakura just takes "inspiration" from him and actually decides to use that same "trick" in the right way. Because it's not fair that it should be them, the abused people, to forget about their most important person, in order to achieve a happy life for at least one of them. It isn't fair and it isn't right that Kaito was driven into making all the mess that he made, pushed by desperation. The abusers, that clan and Association of magicians, should be the ones forgetting.

But this is Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card's finale, and Sakura definitely hasn't finished with being amazing yet, she actually just started. Her very strong power at this point allows her not only to see things that were difficult before, but also to connect the dots more easily thanks to that renowned instinct that I've always talked to you about, and that she learned to finally listen to.

As if she were seeing through him with X-rays, she confidently affirms that there's a book inside of him, a white book where you can inscribe magic on. And she also knows that that same book was inside Akiho, once. I guess this might be even coming from past memories of the unrewritten world (do you remember when, before the play started, Sakura said that she could feel something inside Akiho?). Akiho of course is shocked to hear that, and from her expression you can almost feel the chill that went down her spine in that moment. Sakura affirms that this book knows both Akiho and Kaito (thanks to the fact that it was inside both of them - something that I've always found painfully heartbreaking but also quite moving, for my ship), and it's got a very strong power inside of it. These will be two crucial things for Sakura's plan. In fact, our heroine is hellbent in attempting something pretty arduous: utilizing that artifact's power to create a new Card. For impartiality, I have to point out that the ENG added (completely on their whim) a "you, her special person" that isn't there in the JP version! Of course it's all the better for me, since they repeat (finally with the right adjective) that Kaito is Akiho's special person, but it's kinda funny that they messed it up so much in the previous chapters, and now they're adding it where there isn't any mention of it!

Sakura will be using a tool that knows the both of them, therefore she is sure that her plan will succeed, because the Card will know what it will need to erase. Sakura asks for Kaito and Akiho's agreement one last time. After hearing how those people wanted to hurt them both and even implanted the same magical artifact inside of her, Akiho is quite resolute and doesn't have any doubt: on with the wiping off! It doesn't matter who those people are, they've tried to harm her most important person and her too, so she doesn't really seem to give a damn about proceeding with this plan. Kaito, on the other hand, seems to be giving a more lackluster affirmative reply, but it's not that he's uncertain: he's just still riddled with guilt for all the mess that he's done, and he's probably realizing that now Sakura will need to put herself on the line in order to fix this and protect both of them, hence his sad face.

Still surfing the confidence wave, Sakura guesses that once those people have forgotten about Akiho and Kaito, then the magic arrows will stop too, and Kaito confirms that: forgetting about the person who had the Seal of D enforced on him will be equal to "undo" both the activation of the Seal itself (when Kaito removed the book from Akiho) and also the rescission of it (what Sakura did when she freed Kaito from the cage). This will therefore stop the arrows too, because the Seal wouldn't have been triggered in the first place. However, Kaito warns her that, although time is still barely "stopped" (because the time-stopping spell is still weakly on), it's necessary an enormous amount of power in order to do what Sakura wants to do. I have to point out another inaccuracy in the ENG translation in this part, which makes Kaito say "before things could get worse" and I have the feeling they misunderstood the word 辛うじて, "barely" or "narrowly", which is also written with the kanji of 辛い, "hard" or "tough". So Kaito isn't saying "before things could get worse" but actually meaning "although time is barely stopped".

Sakura doesn't seem to be scared by Kaito's warning, and activates her wand without a second thought, and immediately we can see that her task wil NOT be easy, as she can feel the strain almost right away.

Here we go with another inaccuracy of the ENG translation:

Sakura, ENG: "Great book, please show yourself! My power alone won't be enough...!" Sakura, JP: "The book....doesn't want to come out. (it's too difficult to pull it out) with just my power..."

Basically, Sakura isn't begging the book to "show itself", she's actually actively trying to pull it out of Kaito, and she's aware that it's opposing a lot of resistance, and her power alone isn't enough to take this damn book out. Sakura refuses to give up, because everyone else is doing their best too. Yes, everyone else.

And that's when CLAMP decided to bring us a big surprise for this finale.

A pair of hands seem to be appearing next to Sakura's, as if a spirit is hugging her from behind. We can see the famous fan that we learned to recognize so well ever since her first appearance in Movie 1. Sakura feels immediately the same magical power of Syaoran surrounding her, and with her instinct she finally recognizes her: it's Syaoran's mother, YELAN!!! We can see her, sweating and all, in her sacred chinese pavilion, lending her power to help in this difficult task.

What a great, welcome surprise for this finale!! You might have heard me saying on Twitter that Clear Card is really a celebration of motherhood, with this constant presence of mothers and mother figures who try to help these kids growing up without removing their right to choose for themselves. And since Yelan is the only mother figure who can concretely help Sakura in this moment, with her immense power, I really loved to see how this woman didn't hesitate to assist her future daugher in law. For any SyaoSaku fan, this scene here is a huge thing. We have seen in the anime how Yelan doted on Sakura ever since she met her in Movie 1, even before her own son realized his feelings for this girl. Yelan and Sakura haven't met in the manga yet (and hello, CLAMP, now this is a good chance for letting that happen, after the madness is over), but the woman didn't hesitate a moment to lend her power. I can really imagine how along these two will get, in the future. ❤️

Sakura thanks her aloud, while her eyes show that she's really really tired. Yelan's assistance is finally effective in summoning the artifact book out of Kaito, and we see again those countless book pages that we saw both when Akiho used to go "berserk", and also in the most heartbreaking scene of chapter 70. Kaito, still holding onto a worried Akiho, seems to suffer physically from this removal, and I can't understand if it's because removing something magical from inside is naturally painful (we've been shown something like that before, Syaoran crouching to the ground in pain while the Sakura Cards were being removed from inside of him) OR if the removal of the artifact also triggered his poor health conditions in which we left him, before he disappeared in chapter 70.

Sakura tries with all she's got and finally manages to turn the artifact into its "true form": a book filled with countless of spells written in strange magic runes.

You have spotted it, right? ☝️ I haven't seen many fandom reactions yet, but I guess this "cameo" made more than one person scream: it's Fay D. Fluorite's tattoo, yes! This page of the "book" is probably describing the procedure to cast that tattoo (which was also a kind of "seal", if I remember correctly). So that spells exists in this CCS world too! 😅 The magic Sakura is weaving starts "working" on the book, literally removing the spells from its pages and turning them back to their original form of magical books (remember that the Squids used to say that they would inscribe "magic books" and their power onto Akiho?).

Then, solemnly, we hear probably for the last time ever the magical incantation that accompanied us in the beginning of the story, used by Sakura to secure the strange manifestations of power into a transparent Card:

ENG: "Force without master, heed the call of my Staff of Dreams and become my power! SECURE!"

The countless of books and all this tremendous amount of power get secured into the birth of a new Card: BLANK!!!

Blank got the human appearance of Akiho, but also the protective wings of Kaito. The girl is holding a book (of course, how perfect for her) which is the representation of the artifact that was inside both Kaito and Akiho. This card is really so meaningful for someone like me who loves Akiho and Kaito. It's representing them united in their suffering (the artifact) but also in the hope for a better future (Akiho is smiling and the Card will be used to grant them safety, away from their abusers). I've always imagined that one of the last Cards Sakura might have produced would have Akiho and Kaito's elements, and here it is.

Also, how AWESOME is that Sakura managed to dispose of that damn artifact and succeeded to use it for Kaito and Akiho's sake, and turned it against the monsters who created it??? HOW. AWESOME. IS. THAT!!!!

Producing the very first consciously created transparent Card sucked almost all of Sakura's power and strength, and she's close to fainting, under the terrified eyes of Akiho, who lets go of Kaito for a moment in a gesture of going towards her "sister". But Sakura isn't done yet, no. She can't give up yet because her job isn't done.

And I Will Make Them Remember About You

Sakura wants for Akiho and the people who care about her (the ENG decided to translate this with "the people SHE holds dear") to remember who Akiho really is. She wants basically to "undo" what the rewriting of the world caused on the people who know Akiho, making them believe that she was born into the Kinomoto family and that she was Sakura and Touya's sister.

After pondering for a while and discussing with my friends over at my Discord server, I decided I'm not gonna go out on a limb and assume things from this decision, because I definitely NEED to read the next chapter to see how much Sakura intends people to remember, with this move. It's really not clear at all, as of now.

Anyway, other translation inaccuracy incoming!

Sakura, ENG: "I'm going to make another new card for that...and I might not have the power to do it alone" Sakura, JP: "It might probably be really difficult to create one more new card with my power, right now..."

As you can see, the nuance is different, because Sakura in the JP addresses how it's almost impossible for her to create another new card in the situation she is in right now, exhausted and all.

That's why, very cleverly, she's going to do something different. (My gosh how proud I am of this girl!!)

Saying "But these two Cards will surely help me", Sakura skillfully manages to merge Time and Rewind to create a new Card, not from scratch (which requires more power) but using what she's already got: and that's how the REMIND Card is born!!! The name of the Card originated by just replacing the "W" of Rewind with the "M" of Time. Ingenious, isn't it???

And as the two Cards merge, they give us lots of flashbacks, like the "effect" used here resembles a lot the one that used to happen when Sakura was changing the Clow Cards into the Sakura Cards back in the old arcs, or how the merging of two Cards seems to also be a callback to how the "card without name" and the "Nothing" merged to create HOPE in the very last minutes of Movie 2! What a nostalgic trip down the memories lane!

And the appearance of this Card is even more touching, because it features Syaoran (with his current age) holding Nadeshiko's pendant watch. I found that so sweet, especially coupled with Yelan's assistance to Sakura in this chapter. Yelan associated with Sakura, and Syaoran associated with Nadeshiko. How sweet. And when you think that even Lilie, Akiho's mother, was associated with Kaito, you really can realize that this is some kind of "theme" that CLAMP seemed to be wanting to portray in this story.

I Can't Be On Everyone's Side

And now, the scene that I think is worth the whole chapter, but probably the whole Clear Card Arc in its entirety. As usual, with important scenes, I'll use the literal translation from Japanese:

Sakura, JP: "It might not be right that there'll be people who will forget things (after this), but....I can't be everyone's friend/ally/can't be on everyone's side. So I won't go back...but actually, along with the people important to me... I WANT TO GO ON"

Wow. Let that sink in.

Sakura, of Cardcaptor Sakura, just came to the realization and spelled out clearly that she cannot be on everyone's side. That she cannot be "everyone's friend", like in a cheesy fairytale.

And I really, really, want to thank CLAMP-sensei for this scene and this line because for a period, long time ago, I was worried that this story would go down the "let's be friends" or "let's show sympathy to them" route. But as the chapters continued and the things CLAMP told us about the Association and the Squids were more and more cruel, and they made me more and more sick, I started to realize that there was simply no way CLAMP could've had Sakura try to justify or compromise with them. Because when cruelty is real, there's no compromise to be made.

This scene also shows how Sakura realizes for the first time ever that in her world, contrary to what we all believed previously, evil exists. It might not touch her or her "entourage" directly (and she's really blessed for that), but it exists out there and it's hurting people, people who can also become really important to her. And she decides to not stand idly by, blessed as she is with the luck of not experiencing that evilness, but actually using whatever it is in her power to bring those suffering people to safety.

Sakura cannot fight those people on equal terms. She's just 13, and although her power is very strong, she's still inexperienced. Moreover, she cannot really bring herself to deny her current nature and use violence on other human beings. That's not Sakura. I want you guys to reflect on this because I know that one of the favorite things expected for this finale was to have a direct magical confrontation with the true villains of this arc, defeating them and restablishing the peace. And I am sincere when I say that I would've wished for the same too, because you know how much I love Kaito and Akiho, and how much I was disgusted to read about what they did to them. I've spread my "burn the squids" gifs all over the fandom. I wanted someone to vindicate them. But not here. Not in this manga. I realized that after the initial satisfaction, I would've probably felt like the series would've been "defiled". And that's exactly what happens when you answer to violence with more violence.

Sakura just could not go hunting those bastards down and defeat them in a magical battle. Because, powerful and corrupted in their greed as they are, the only way to "fix" this situation would've been to exterminate them. I just could not picture this story to cross that boundary, no matter how much the bar had already been raised well over what we initially thought.

So, if someone out there is disappointed by this outcome, I'm sorry for you, but it was just not meant to be and I'm actually really glad that this series kept true to its fundamental values. Of course it would, CLAMP really do care about this series and they know very well how far to push the plot, and when to actually stop.

So what is the role of Akiho's clan and the Magic Association in this story, especially considering that we never saw their faces at all? Talking with lots of fans in these years, especially Japanese, I've come to the conclusion that they are not in this story to fill the "villain that needs to be deafeated" role, but actually they're a representation of abusive families that smother and suffocate their children with expectations, completely disregarding those children's natural inclinations, and abuse them when they do not meet such expectations, but also the society as a whole, that looks at you only basing on how it can take advantage of you. Which is exactly what happened to Akiho and Kaito, driving them to very dark places. The absence of faces for those characters makes it possible for the readers to see the Squids and the Association as the representation of whatever environment they relate the most to. It can be family, society, school, workplace etc... It also helps us focusing on their actions, rather than their faces, and not attribute any prejudice to them (because of religion, race, skin color, or whatever other attribute they could have).

Seeing as the story treats them more like a concept, than an actual entity, it's basically impossible for Sakura to defeat them (and their great power is an indication of that impossibility). Just like in real life, darkness will always exist, along with light. Good and evil will always be side by side. It's bigger than any of us. Then, what can we do, in a situation like this? What Sakura is choosing to do, here, is not to confront directly with violence these people who are way out of her league, and not even to sit back and look, but actually finding a way to make them forget about her friends and keeping her friends safe, granting them the possibility of living a happy life, finally away from the darkness of the past, healing the wounds on their souls together with the people they love and who love them back. Because even if you've been abused in the past, you can still hope for a happy life.

The focus here is all on helping the abused people. And Sakura, in order to do that, is okay with coming to terms with the fact that she can't be on everyone's side, and she needs to choose. In the end, the thing that really matters the most is to GO ON with your most important people. Not going back to what is lost, but going forward. And I know that this is such a CLAMP theme, and I'm glad that they reiterated it in this arc. When I say that Clear Card brought Sakura so much more closer to what's usual for CLAMP, I mean this.

The panel with Sakura raising her staff and shouting she wants to go on is absolutely beautiful, with those wings growing so big and unleashing Sakura's power in a storm of cherry blossom petals.

Sakura is exhausted, she finally reached her limit by using her ultimate magic. As she faints, her eyes just make it in time to catch a glimpse of her prince, the love of her life grabbing tightly his girlfriend's hand, to not let her fall, while the watch of Remind and the book of Blank do their job in the background. And I really loved this spread too, because even if it's not a conventional romantic scene made of physical display of love, this in my opinion is even more powerful. Many were reminded of Tsubasa, but I was also reminded of the long time those two spent unable to touch one another, and this scene here seems like a catharsis for that hardship they went through. Syaoran will always catch Sakura everytime she falls, he will always be there to grab her hand, no matter if he can really touch her or not. Cause his love is stronger than any kind of impediment. He will always be by her side, no matter what. When she's exhausted by her heroine's duties, she knows that she can always count on him to support her.

And speaking of "always be by her side", I just can't avoid mentioning how Akiho and Kaito stayed "glued" to eachother for the entire duration of this chapter, protecting and supporting one another. Kaito, in particular, kept holding Akiho even as Sakura's magic was hurting him like hell, because it was extracting the book from him. Even in excruciating pain, he did not let go of Akiho, intent in protecting her and keeping her safe in his hold. Akiho let go of him just for a moment when she was scared out of her mind for Sakura, but went back to him when she saw that her "sister" was hellbent in completing her task no matter what. Kaito, as the good "moon boy" he is, is someone who shows his feelings through his actions rather than words, just like Syaoran. And his constant grip on Akiho in this chapter, such an opposite act compared to how he used to stop his hand everytime it started reaching out to her, told me all that I needed to know about him: she's his most important person, and he will never let go of her, ever again.

Sakura wakes up in her bed. The scene is a direct parallel with an almost identical scene in chapter 3, as you can see here:

Kero is next to her and is relieved to see her awake, so he goes to shout in the hallway, directed to Touya, that Sakura is finally awake. Sakura seems a bit surprised to see Kero talking so nonchalantly with her brother, and he tells her that he chatted with him back at Yukito's house, together with Suppy, so I guess now he finds it "natural" to talk to her brother too! 😂 I'm kinda glad to know that, I like this "change of relationship", compared to the old series (and it was also kinda long overdue).

Sakura opens the palm of her hands and she finds the Dream Key, still intact and all. She also asks about Remind and Blank, and Kero confirms to her that she was able to use them successfully! Sakura is absolutely delighted to hear that, and says "We were able to go on!"

And thaaaaaaat's how the second-to-last chapter of Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card ends! Solving a lot of the pending situations, but still leaving some secondary questions that will surely find a (more or less) detailed explanation in the final, next chapter. And well, we also have to prepare to not have ALL the answers to ALL the questions we might have. This is usual for CLAMP, and especially in their Spaces they never made it a secret that they love for their fans to wreck their brains over theories and imagining the characters' future after a series is over. They love for the fans to give their interpretations to things, they encourage that a lot (also because it creates more long-lasting engagement with their series).

Alas, I expect they'll leave something in particular to everyone's interpretation, but we'll see. 😅

Overall, I really loved this chapter and it was really emotional for me. I think it's fitting for a "climax". Sakura was ABSOLUTELY running the show and after this I dare anyone to say that she isn't the main character of her story. She pushed her limits, and even questioned her own morality in doing so. What a wonderful thing. She reminded me so much of Sakura-hime when she shooted all those monsters in order to take the precious egg, back in the Acid Tokyo arc of Tsubasa. She knew she was doing something bad, but her wish to do everything needed in order to "have him back" was stronger than anything else. And she made her own choice. Here, Sakura, on a smaller scale, made her own choice too.

Now, I hope in the last chapter we'll be granted the possibility to delve a bit more into Kaito and his thoughts, I need to see his character development, I need to see that he learned something from this. That he -at least- started to interrogate himself over the nature of his feelings for Akiho. I know it's reasonable to think that with him, things will take looooong time, but as least show me the signs. Because I need to know that Akiho will be truly happy with him (I know she will!), and she can only be if he's learned to be honest with himself. And learned what Lilie meant with the last conversation we saw between them.

Also, WHERE'S MOMO, I NEED TO SEE MOMO BEFORE THIS ENDS!!

Okay, this is probably the longest post I ever did but I think as the second-to-last chapter it deserved to have some big thematics explored in depth, because they're very important. I'm still pondering if I should divide the post of the final chapter in two because, in addition to even more pages, I expect there'll be soooooooooo much to talk about (cross your fingers with me that there won't be any translation mistake).

I also hope there'll be room for an epilogue or a couple of extra chapters, to help us coping with the separation in a more gradual way, cause after 7 years it's quite hard. I was curious to see the end, of course, but also not entirely ready to let this wonderful story go. I really, really enjoyed it and I say this from the bottom of my heart. I don't care what everyone else thinks, I can only be grateful to CLAMP for Clear Card Arc. 🙏

Chapter 80, along with all the tears that will come with it, is expected to be uploaded on November 29th on CLAMP's Youtube channel. Yes, it's less than a month away! I also expect some news about the anime (BLESS THE ANIME!! Something to cling onto when the manga is over 😭).

Well, see you at the end of November (please come to hold my hand cause I cannot do this alone, lol) !!!

#cardcaptor sakura #card captor sakura #ccsakura #clear card arc #ccs spoilers #sakura card captor #chapter 79 #sakura kinomoto #akiho shinomoto #yuna d. kaito #syaoran li #translation differences

121 notes · View notes

wheredidhiseyebrowsgo · 2 years

Note

I love your blog you’re amazing!! Do you know of any fics where Stiles and Derek don’t realise they’re dating? Like that either everyone just assumed they’re dating or that they acting like they are or they like get jealous without knowing why or they slip up and kiss and are like oh shit? Sorry if this doesn’t make sense I’m not sure how I’d phrase this to search for it 🖤

Thanks!

Is It Cool if I Hold Your Hand? by HalfFizzbin

(1/1 I 1,413 I General)

“So,” says Sheriff Stilinski, raising one eyebrow. “You decided not to play video games at Scott’s, after all?”

“Uh,” Stiles says. His eyes are wide and caught-out, and he’s got his arms wrapped around two giant tubs of popcorn. Beside him, Derek Hale—the same Derek Hale that the Sheriff last saw in his interrogation room—is handing a $20 bill to the cashier and clearly trying to appear as casual as possible. He fumbles the change three times before he gets it into his pocket, though, so it’s a lost cause.

Define "Dating" by raisesomehale

(6/6 I 7,850 I Teen)

“You and Derek text each other memes?” she sounds both surprised and delighted - but more surprised.

“Well,” Stiles says, “I send memes. Derek sent me a picture of a newspaper comic strip, once.”

Lydia says, “Oh my god.”

OR the 5 times people point out that Stiles might be dating Derek + the 1 time Derek tells Stiles they're dating himself.

Convenient by exclamation

(6/6 I 10,755 I Explicit)

Stiles knows what he is to Derek: convenient. He knows that Derek isn't looking for a relationship, just someone to have casual sex with. Which is why Stiles is so surprised to find Derek setting up a romantic dinner for Valentine's Day.

Something More by kaistrex (weishen)

(6/6 I 19,148 I Explicit)

“Derek, what’s going on?” Erica asks.

Derek hesitates to respond, trying to decide on the most concise way to tell the story without his disgust bleeding through. Marie beats him to it.

“After the Argents’ attack, we were the only pack who would give them shelter. As thanks, it was agreed my daughter would marry a member of the Hale pack when she came of age.”

“But Derek is no longer an option because a marriage pact can’t interfere with a pack’s hierarchy,” Lydia fills in, disbelief dripping from every word. “And now every other member of the pack is mated, you’ve finally come calling to sink your claws into Stiles.”

When Derek and Stiles stumbled into a friends with benefits relationship purely by accident, they weren’t expecting it would one day save their asses when a threat from Derek’s past comes knocking. All they need to do is pretend to really be in love to avoid an arranged marriage agreed to years ago with a pact of blood. Considering they hadn’t bothered setting up boundaries when the ‘benefits’ first started, it’s no surprise that the lines begin to blur and Derek’s eyes are eventually opened to a truth he hadn’t been ready to face.

It’s Not Pretend When It’s Real by isthatbloodonhisshirt (wasterella)

(1/1 I 32,741 I Teen)

“At least we got this far,” Stiles argued. “Could’ve been worse. For now, they know he’s taken by someone in the pack.”

“Mm hm,” Lydia said, giving him a look. “You realize that you are now going to have to pretend to date Derek, right?”

Stiles rolled his eyes. “Oh no, what a hardship. That sucks, boo hoo.” He motioned Derek emphatically. “He’s like, my best friend.”

“Hey!” Scott insisted.

“He’s like, my second best friend,” Stiles amended. “It’s fine, we’ll figure it out. Right?” He turned to grin at Derek, who was scowling at him.

Stiles and the Eight Groupons by pallidvixen

(10/10 I 60,013 I Teen)

The Sheriff goes a little crazy with Groupons. Derek helps Stiles recover from the aftermath of the sacrifice to the Nematon.

#teen wolf #sterek #stiles stilinski #derek hale #oblivious!derek #oblivious!stiles #anon

395 notes · View notes

plentyoffandoms · 4 months

Text

Main Masterlist ♡ AEW Masterlist ♡ Christian Cage Masterlist ♡ Adam Copeland Masterlist

Warnings: swearing.

Photos do not belong to me.

Just like all my other stories, this has not been proofread, but please enjoy.

Requested by anonymous. Hope you like it

WC: 1505

CHRISTIAN CAGE'S POV

Adam and I didn't plan on stopping anywhere else after we were done at the Niagara Falls Comic Con, but then we got a message from her.

"In the falls for a work thing. Want to meet up?" Him and I just looked at one another, trying to see what the other one wanted to do.

"We can't just ignore her." I said to him.

"I know, but the last time we saw her, we got in a fight and didn't talk for three months." Adam reminded me. I sighed, knowing he was right.

Him and I didn't fight over much, but her we did. Ever since we were kids.

We started to notice girls around the age of 12/13, and since she was our best friend, it was only natural that we both developed a crush on her, hoping that in time the crush would go away.

But it never did.

For either of us.

He would find me flirting with her, or I would find him flirting with her. So we made pact when we were about 15 that we would never ask her out, and shit it was hard.

She went to band camp one summer and she came even more gorgeous if that was possible, but Adam and I weren't the only ones who noticed.

Many guys flocked to her, and she did her fair share of dating, as did him and I.

But as we got older, and him and I moved to the States, she was left alone. She found someone to love and they got married.

Adam and I were there to watch the woman we love, marry a man who we both knew didn't deserve her. So we both moved on and started families of our own.

Sadly, we also ended up in broken marriages, as did she. Her now ex-husband left her the moment he found out she couldn't have children, and they were trying for years. "Look, I'll message her to meet us at Skylon Tower. It would be good to see her." I said to Adam.

"Sure, pick probably the most romantic restaurant in all of the Falls, Jay."

"It is also the nicest, and besides, we don't know when we will be seeing her next." I said to him.

◆

Fuck, dinner was hard. You can tell she dressed up a bit, and she hugged us both. Neither one of us wanted to let her go until the other cleared their throat.

The three of us talked about our lives, and then we started to go down memory lane.

"You remember Kristi Ming's birthday party, Adam?" She asked after sipping her wine.

"Kristi Ming's party? Why don't I remember that?" I asked as I looked between the two of them.

"You had a cold, and your mom wouldn't let you go. Anyways, remember when we played seven minutes in heaven?" My eyes narrowed at Adam. He never told me that.

He cleared his throat, knowing I was looking at him. "I do. Why?"

"Remember how the door was barely closed and you were already kissing me. I heard from the other girls in the class that you were a good kisser, but damn you were."

I was staring daggers at him. I can't believe he never told me this. "Now, Jay, do you remember how, at the beginning of seventh grade, you were nervous about never kissing anyone?"

Fuck, I forgot all about this. I don't think I told Adam about this. Well, he is going to find out now. I nodded my head yes, but before she could say anything, Adam opened his mouth.

"You fucking kissed her Jay? And you didn't tell me?" I could tell he was angry, just like how I was only moments ago.

"Like how you didn't tell me about seven minutes in heaven, Adam."

She could feel the tension in the air. "Hey guys," but we didn't pay her no mind. "We made a pact, Jay, and you broke it."

"Oh, get off your high horse, Adam. This was before the pact." I raised my hand for the cheque.

"What pact?" Him and I looked at her.

"Just something from high school." I said, trying to play it off.

"If it involved me, I have every right to know." She placed her glass on the table. Him and I didn't talk. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and leaned back in her seat.

"I am waiting."

So Adam told her. How both him and I had a crush on her, but didn't want to ruin our friendships.

"And now?" She asked quietly.

"My feelings have never gone away. I still love you." I told her, staring into her eyes.

"I still love you, and that will never change." Adam said.

She stood suddenly, grabbing her stuff, saying she had to go. That she has to get some air.

We didn't chase after her, but the both of us were wondering if we have ruined our relationship for good with her.

I slammed my fist on the table, forcing Adam to look at me. "I say this from the bottom of my heart Adam, you're a fucking doughhead."

ADAM COPELAND'S POV

Jay and I didn't talk for a couple of days, but we had to Ohio for a show, and just as our luck would have it, our seats were next to one another on the plane.

We were in the air for roughly twenty minutes before he was the first to crack.

"I'm sorry. I should have told you about the kiss."

"And I should have told you about the party. I am sorry, man."

"I know, Adam. Have you heard from her? I haven't. " I shook my head no.

"I think we both fucked up this time."

"I couldn't agree more Jay." Feeling defeated, the two of us barely talked for the rest of the flight.

◆

We didn't hear from her for a couple of weeks, that was until she showed up at a show, in the front row. It almost brought us out of character, but we held it together.

That was until Jay rolled out of the ring, walked right up to her, and kissed her right there in front of everyone, and the cameras.

He moved out of the way just as I jumped off the ropes. I pushed him aside and smashed my mouth against hers, moaning into the kiss.

The crowd was cheering in what I can only imagine is confusion. I pulled away, and Jay and I finished the match.

Once we were, I told her our hotel and our room number.

We finished the night and raced to the hotel, and could see her sitting in the hotel lobby, bringing her up to Jay's room.

She had us sit down as she paced in front of us.

"I'm sorry for running out on you two in the Falls. I just couldn't wrap my head around the two of you confessing your love for me."

" We,"

"Let me get this out before I chicken out, Adam."

She took a deep breath and stopped pacing, finally facing us.

"I love you two as well. I mean, the both of you. I have since we were kids. I just didn't think you felt the same way."

"So where do we go from here?" Jay asked. She sat down across from us.

"I love you both. I can't decide between the two of you, and in today's world, we don't have to decide. I say the three of us are together in a relationship."

I was stunned, and I looked at Jay, who was looking at her.

"I am sorry, this was a bad idea." She went to stand up.

"I am game." I said, after thinking it over.

"If Adam is, I am."

"Great. Now we have to discuss a few things." She said, but I got on my knees in front of her.

"We can later. I have waited enough time to do this." I kissed her once more, her wrapping her arms around my neck, We deepened our kiss as I picked her up and carried her to the bed. Once she was on the bed, we finally broke our kiss, Jay kissed her, taking off her clothes.

Tag list: @lghockey @nicoleveno14 @legit9thlunaticwarrior @hooks-martin @wwenhlimagines @melissahausen @faerieofthenightcourt @tahiri-veyla @crowleysqueenofhell

◆

It has been six months since the three of us started a relationship. We bought a house together, four bedrooms. One room for each other is plus a spare.

We all go on dates together, but we each have nights with her.

We already knew we would never get legally married, as she said she could never pick one to marry.

Those closets to us knew. They found it weird in the beginning, but they have come to terms with it.

But Jay and I have decided to keep her out of the spotlight, knowing how people are.

We love her, and she loves us.

And no one will ever take her from us.

#aew #all elite wrestling #reader imagine #female reader #reader insert #christian cage x f/Reader x Adam copeland #christian cage imagine #adam copeland imagine #christian cage fic #adam copeland fic #christian cage x you #adam copeland x you #christian cage x f/Reader #adam copeland x f/Reader #christian cage x y/n #adam copeland x y/n #christian cage #adam copeland

26 notes · View notes

azucar-skull · 2 months

Text

Shedding some light on my situation:

Yesterday, I opened up emergency commissions out of the blue with a very brief explanation on the current crisis at home. As promised, here are some more details on the situation.

Last Thanksgiving, I got disowned by half of my family on my mother's side after I exposed my abusers for what they are. Ever since I got home, it's one thing after another.

Recovery (physically from injuries too), chronic illness diagnosis, Grandpa having a hospital emergency (where I had to clean up his blood), Green Eyed Mask going on hiatus due to stress, finally finishing GEM...then my dad broke the TV.

It was so unlike him to be shouting at my mom for no reason, in my gut, I knew there was a bigger picture.

Dad getting upset, my aunts and uncles coming to visit more often, telling everyone to not say "Happy birthday" to Grandpa because he's too far gone, my abuela bringing out Grandpa's antiques from his time in military.

Last week, I was let out of class early and arrived home to everyone huddled in the kitchen with paperwork. While no one was looking, I saw that the paperwork was for Grandpa's will.

My grandpa is now 88 years old, the youngest sibling in his immediate family. His older brothers and father died at war, his sister and mother of old age. It was a given that this year is his last, he'll be lucky if he makes it to July.

A long anticipated death causes stress on the entire family. I've noticed that my body is out of balance, sobbing at random intervals all day even if I'm feeling fine. It's messing up my sleep, appetite, even my fucking periods which were already a bitch in the first place.

I avoided telling you guys because art is what kept me going. I would hide in my room and draw all day, the rest of the world fading. That's all I do now, hide.

But everyone else in my family is suffering too. My dad broke the TV 2 months ago and home is falling apart by the day. My brother opted to stealing food from the grocery store and living off of chicken tenders and fries from the deli. Mom is never seen, absorbed in her own work as much as I am. The house is a mess, the fridge is empty, bills piling up, riding pay check to paycheck.

It's not that we are poor or losing financial stability (I think), if we were I could turn to my community college for help but I'm not eligible. It's the fact that everyone is so down and busy that we forget the basics like food, long overdue haircuts, doctor appointments, taking care of the dogs, etc.

It's an "every man for themselves" kind of situation. And as a disabled person, I'm unable to work a stable job. So that's why I opened commissions. Money that I can hold of my own should there be a situation like now where I had to buy food the second I got my first order.

But this also means I am going to be more busy taking care of myself and my family. Comic production will be delayed a bit, and I unfortunately can't say for sure if Feral Casey AU will be ready by the end of May.

All I ask is for your support and patience. Reblogging my commission post helps a lot more than you think. And thank you again for everything.

Commission Post

#azucar skull #emergency commissions #explained

14 notes · View notes

aghostrandom · 1 year

Text

W.I.T.C.H., interview with the creators

Some time ago, I made a post about "the original Elyon being a guardian," and since everyone was confused, I thought I'd translate the interview from which I read this information.

I don't know if someone else has already done it, but since I didn't find anything online, I decided to do it myself. I will translate the entire interview with the help of an online translator and a friend of mine.

Just remember that this interview was published in April 2021, marking 20 years since the release of the first volume.

Enjoy!

Here the original link in italian: https://heroica.it/w-i-t-c-h-20-anni-barbucci-canepa-intervista/

It is April 3, 2001 when Italian newsstands are hit by a small earthquake, which will soon transform into a hurricane...

The first issue of W.I.T.C.H. is released, a comic magazine that will shatter every sales record in a matter of months, embarking on a quest to conquer the world.

It all begins in Milan, at the headquarters of Walt Disney Company Italy, with an intuition of the then-director of the company's women's periodicals, Elisabetta Gnone, and the talent of two young artists, Alessandro Barbucci and Barbara Canepa, whom I have interviewed for you.

Interview with Alessandro Barbucci and Barbara Canepa

Let's start from the origins: How was W.I.T.C.H. born?

Alessandro Barbucci: It was 1997, Sailor Moon was still fresh in everyone's memory [the last series had been broadcast in Italy between March and May of that year, editor's note]. And then there were the Spice Girls...

"Sailor Moon was ironic, arrived at the right moment; the Spice Girls were five purely pop characters, worthy of a cartoon - during that period, we were big fans, we even went to see the movie in the cinema!" Alessandro revealed to me.

Elisabetta Gnone, who was then in charge of the women's periodicals at Walt Disney Company Italy, had a great intuition: she realized that there was a missing product for teenage girls, an audience segment that had never been considered by the major company before. When thinking about teenagers, one couldn't ignore what was happening in pop culture at that moment...

Barbara Canepa: During that period, a passionate fanbase for manga was beginning to take shape. it was clear how this new language was able to respond to the tastes and needs of teenagers - not just boys, but girls as well!

In fact, up until that moment, it was believed that girls didn't read comics. It was precisely with shoujo manga (like Sailor Moon, but not only) that this belief began to falter.

Canepa: Exactly. I had already been an avid manga reader since the days of Candy Candy: we're talking about 1986 when Mondadori released the first monthly editions at newsstands. I started reading my first manga at the age of 12, and at 16, I saw Akira (1988) for the first time in theaters. In fact, I was the one who got Alessandro passionate about this style, even though he already had some knowledge of it. We felt that the language of manga was the best way to visually "tell" this story.

Barbucci: Initially, I proposed girls in a steampunk, military style. I was a big fan of Tank Girl by Hewlett and Martin.

In my mind, Hay Lin had already existed for a long time: I had been drawing her since high school, but she was a punk with military boots," Alessandro revealed to me.

Elisabetta Gnone told me that the concept was considered too "masculine," so she proposed the idea of the five witches, which directly connected us to manga. Some people at Disney Italy were afraid that, given the theme, it would veer into Satanism, but their greatest fear was the manga-style big eyes!

Canepa: For them, it was inconceivable to publish a comic even vaguely inspired by manga, which at that time were their direct competitors in the market.

Barbucci: At one point, they considered investing in the relaunch of Daisy Duck by introducing our five characters as anthropomorphic animals. It was an attempt to somehow connect with the Disney universe.

Canepa: Yes, exactly. The project was called Daisy D. and it was intended for the monthly magazine Minnie Mag. The story featured Daisy Duck as a private investigator, accompanied by our W.I.T.C.H. characters, who in this version would have had snouts and gloves, just like Minnie and Mickey! I still have the first page done in watercolors, as we wanted to make it like the pages of Paperinik's Trip...

The scriptwriter, Ilaria Isaia, revealed to me that the inspiration for Daisy D. came from the success of "Minnie and the Magnificent Five," a story published in Minnie & Company in 1993. It featured Minnie in the role of an investigator, solving a mystery connected to five girls. Daisy D. wouldn't have been very different: "It revolved around Daisy Duck as an investigator, called by her friend to investigate mysterious events happening in a college attended by five students with magical powers," explains Ilaria.

Barbucci: Fortunately, nothing came of it.

Canepa: We were well aware that a story starring Daisy Duck wouldn't resonate with teenagers. We needed five normal girls that the readers could identify with...

Barbucci: So, the W.I.T.C.H. characters returned to being human.

For Will's design, Alessandro Barbucci Alessandro Barbucci was also inspired by "Alita" (1990) by Yukito Kishiro.

The graphic style of W.I.T.C.H., while drawing inspiration from manga, remains a hybrid of the West and the East. It doesn't stray too far from certain Disney characters, starting with Ariel from "The Little Mermaid" (1989).

Barbucci: I can tell a funny anecdote about this! As we mentioned, Disney Italy opposed W.I.T.C.H. in every way possible: they particularly disliked those manga-style big eyes. Together with Elisabetta Gnone, we came up with a game, a kind of bet with the top executives of Disney Italy. I drew a series of eyes, including manga characters, Disney characters, and our W.I.T.C.H. characters. Only the eyes were visible, nothing else. "Since you have so much to say about these manga eyes, guess which ones belong to the W.I.T.C.H. characters!" That was the bet: they could no longer complain. Well, they were wrong: they chose the eyes of Ariel from "The Little Mermaid" (1989), the protagonist of the Italian magazine of the same name, directed by Elisabetta herself, and successfully published by them for years. They didn't take it well...

Indeed, Ariel broke the Disney graphic conventions with the proportions of her face.

Barbucci: It was a "graphic shock," something that had never been seen in Disney until that moment. It was certainly a step towards manga aesthetics, with these very large eyes that we later found in the design of many subsequent characters, from Belle and Jasmine to Anna and Elsa.

We remember that you and Barbara worked on the magazine "The Little Mermaid" in the 1990s, just before W.I.T.C.H. started. In the covers drawn and colored by Barbara, I can already perceive some hints of manga style. Was it intentional?

Canepa: Absolutely yes! At that time, I bought Japanese magazines like Newtype and Animage to get inspiration. In one of the illustrations I made, there's Ariel with a straw hat: I think I took inspiration from an image of Nadia from "The Secret of Blue Water" (1990-91), or maybe from some other cover. The close-up of the face, as well as the fluttering leaves [like flowers in shoujo manga, editor's note], the pose of a model on the cover of a fashion magazine... it was all too innovative and "manga" for Disney Italy at that time, which often had something to say about my work! Even before W.I.T.C.H...

The scan on the left is taken from the website www.onlyshojo.com.

Walt Disney Company Italy didn't want anything to do with W.I.T.C.H., as we mentioned. What made them change their minds?

Barbucci: We worked on it secretly for at least a year, even at night. Then, finally, a ray of light... At the time, the main headquarters of Disney would send representatives around to other offices to find out what was being done in the rest of the world. Elisabetta was lucky to come across an American manager who was a big fan of Wicca. [Secretly from the top management, editor's note], she presented W.I.T.C.H. to him: he fell in love with it and financed the project, ordering Walt Disney Company Italy to proceed with its production.

Concept art created by Barbucci and Canepa between 1998 and 1999. Notice the homage to Minnie in the first illustration!

Images provided by W.I.T.C.H. Italia.

The project then gets underway. How did you divide the work?

Canepa: It's hard to say. Officially, Elisabetta wrote the plot, Alessandro created the character design, and I took care of the color and atmosphere. In reality, the three of us worked together on the concept, characters, and the world they would inhabit. We drew inspiration from our personal lives when creating these five girls. The city of the W.I.T.C.H., Heatherfield, is a mix between our hometown of Genoa and San Francisco, which we had visited together. Will shares my birthdate, while Elyon shares Alessandro's. At the time, I was a big fan of frogs, just like Will! Cornelia's cat is named Napoleon, just like mine - I also gave the same name to Elisabeth's cat, the protagonist of the first volume of END, the comic I created with Anna Merli. For Hay Lin's restaurant, we were inspired by a small Chinese "hole in the wall" where we often ate near our apartment in Milan... In short, W.I.T.C.H. was built and conceived based on our personal experiences: friends, memories from adolescence, and more.

Based on these characterizations, I created the character profiles that you can find in the first five issues of the magazine, as well as some internal editorials.

The character of Irma is inspired by Barbara Canepa in terms of design and personality, while Will is inspired by Elisabetta Gnone: with her, she shares an introverted personality and the detail of touching his hair when she is embarrassed.

Scans by poochieandotherfriends.it

Elisabetta chose the ethnicities and names of the girls, coming up with the acronym W.I.T.C.H., while Alessandro created the symbols of the Guardians. To draw the Heart of Kandrakar, Alessandro was inspired by a pendant, a unique piece that I was very attached to and still possess to this day!

Scans by poochieandotherfriends.it

Lastly, I'll reveal something you may not know: I was the one who designed the Witch's transformed costumes! I remember when Elisabetta jokingly scolded Alessandro, telling him to draw them less provocatively... (laughs). As for their everyday costumes, Alessandro created them, often drawing inspiration from his and our friends.

Scans by poochieandotherfriends.it

Another significant responsibility of ours was to form a team of artists who would work on W.I.T.C.H. alongside us. In fact, Alessandro and I couldn't have done it all by ourselves: W.I.T.C.H. was becoming a massive and important project, especially since it would be released on a monthly basis! Therefore, we conducted courses at the Disney Academy: Alessandro taught how to draw the Witch, while I taught manga techniques, coloring, and graphic design.

Scans by poochieandotherfriends.it

Did you encounter any other issues with Disney Italy during the production?

Canepa: There were some controversies, but at that point, the project was already underway. There were several delays, actually: the first issue was supposed to be released on Halloween in 2000. I remember that they criticized the covers: they didn't like the white background, and in the first cover, they didn't like the difference in proportions between Will and the others, which is another typical graphic characteristic of manga.

Barbucci and Canepa created the first five covers of W.I.T.C.H. and the corresponding chapter opening pin-ups.

You create the comic of the first issue: On the third page, there's a very intense panel with Will partially nude (without nipples); she appears like that later during the Sailor Moon-style transformation as well. These are not erotic images, but they certainly deviate from the Disney style. Did you face any issues regarding this?

Barbucci: Strangely, no. Maybe they had already given up at that point...

Scans by poochieandotherfriends.it

You left the project after the sixth issue. What happened?

Barbucci: The back and forth with Disney to bring W.I.T.C.H. to newsstands was incredibly exhausting. By the year 2000, we were drained from the continuous meetings, discussions, and delays... Moreover, both Elisabetta and we had realized our potential as authors. She was the first to leave: she left the world of magazines to fulfill her dream of becoming a novelist. And she succeeded greatly, as a few years later, she created the Fairy Oak series of novels, which sold millions of copies worldwide! Barbara and I were already in contact with various French and American publishers. In France, they allowed us to express ourselves artistically in a completely free way. It felt like a dream! There were so many things we wanted to talk about, things that weren't even proposable in Disney: sex, religion, politics... Sky Doll was born during this period. Furthermore, there were legal disagreements with Disney regarding the moral rights of the Witch characters. In short, after a few years with the multinational company, it was time for us to move on to other things. We needed a change of scenery!

The story you had in mind for W.I.T.C.H. was different from what we later read in the issues after your departure?

Canepa: Yes, it was darker, introspective, and more complex. It was a glimpse into teenage life presented through five very different girls. The plot had different layers of interpretation, including ecological aspects. It was certainly closer to manga in terms of themes: there was more focus on the girls' personal lives, their adolescent struggles. There wasn't a clear division between good and evil: the girls would be drawn to the Metaworld and tempted to join, crossing over to the other side of the barricade. Elyon would be the first to succumb, but they would all do so to some extent, even fighting against themselves.

Moreover, the Metaworld was a fascinating place, a natural paradise that was quite different from the medieval setting that Disney eventually created. At the heart of it all was the concept of growth and transformation, which is so dear to adolescence: the girls would have had the ability to transform into fantastic animals! Like teenagers who find themselves caught between childhood and adulthood, the W.i.t.c.h. would have been caught between two worlds, remaining trapped in one or the other, by choice or against their will. It wasn't always clear...

The W.I.T.C.H. transform into adult versions of themselves, adhering to the main theme of many majokko ("magical girl") anime.

Even Elyon, who in the version you have read is the princess of Meridian, was a very different character in our story. She was the Guardian of the Metaworld and had powers related to time, wild nature, and death. She would have tried to bring the other girls to the dark side and then redeem herself: in the last issue, she would have sacrificed herself to save the lives of her friends.

In W.I.T.C.H. #2, you can perceive some traces of the original Elyon, who at a certain point addresses the girls repeating, "Come to me, come to me..." as if trying to lead them to the dark side.

I transferred her main power, the ability to "bestow" death, to the protagonist of END, Elizabeth: with this character, I have done and will do everything that I couldn't do with Elyon, who was initially supposed to have white hair like her.

Barbucci: What was actually realized was a harmless mythology, closer to fairy tales and therefore to the Disney style. There is no mention of witches anymore... We would have focused on a more New Age aesthetic, with references to Wicca, which was very popular in those years.

After leaving W.I.T.C.H., you left Italy for France, from where you embarked on various successful projects, with Sky Doll first. It can be said that you found your dimension and creative freedom. Now that 20 years have passed, what is your relationship with W.I.T.C.H.?

Canepa: It's needless to say that the bond has always been very strong and still is today. It was our own creation for a long time: seeing it succeed worldwide brought joy, but also suffering because we felt disconnected from it.

Barbucci: It was a love-hate relationship, but I must say that it gave me the greatest satisfaction of my life: seeing dolls of the characters I drew being sold in supermarkets!

Some sketches made by Alessandro Barbucci at the beginning of 2021, to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of W.I.T.C.H.

Canepa: After twenty years, perhaps it can be said that we have made "peace" with what happened. The hardships we endured have now drifted away with the wind, and that's how it should be. Today, I can talk about W.I.T.C.H. with more tranquility, almost with tenderness. For many years, I didn't even want to face it. Initially, leaving Italy helped, but then W.I.T.C.H. reached France and the rest of the world. Over time, this forced me to look at it with more "serene" eyes, so to speak. If I hadn't left W.I.T.C.H., I would never have created Sky Doll and END, and perhaps I would have never become the director of a French series that, today, celebrates nearly 100 books 12 years after its creation. Destiny, then? I believe so. Fate wanted to take something away from me to give me something else. In hindsight, I truly believe there was a magical thread in all of this... or rather, a true witch's touch! There is a happy ending to it all: today, history reminds us that we are the true creators of W.I.T.C.H. The readers know it, and so do industry professionals. Even Disney, in the end, acknowledged us. Every now and then, Elisabetta, Alessandro, and I talk and, laughing, we say, "What if we got back together and remade W.I.T.C.H. in our own way?" In any case, this remains and will always be the most important project of my life. And to have touched so many hearts around the world... well, there's nothing more beautiful and satisfying. So, thank you all. I was happy to give you these five girls.

For Women's Day 2021, Barbucci drew again the famous pinup from the first issue, Halloween.

Current and Future Projects

Alessandro Barbucci His most recent work is "Le Sorelle Grémillet" where he returns to portraying teenage girls ("it's a bit like how I would have liked to create W.I.T.C.H. back then, but it wasn't possible"). Additionally, Alessandro continues to work on "EKHÖ" and other projects. Follow his Instagram and Facebook to stay updated!

Barbara Canepa For over 12 years, Barbara Canepa has been the editorial director of the Metamorphose series for the French publisher Group Delcourt, with over 100 published books. She has several projects in the works, including "MINA's Diary," where she will serve as the writer, while Isabella Mazzanti will handle the artwork and coloring. The work is a free interpretation of Stoker's Dracula, introducing a new way of conceiving vampires. For the past two years, she has been finishing the writing of 12 volumes of a new jeunesse series, "GREENWOOD," aimed at rediscovering and respecting nature to the fullest. Stay updated on her activities by following her on Instagram and Facebook!

#w.i.t.c.h.#interview #alessandro barbucci #barbara canepa #disney #witch #elyon escanor #will vandom #irma lair #taranee cook #cornelia hale #hay lin #end

62 notes · View notes

positivelybeastly · 4 months

Note

How do you feel about the X-Men just slaughtering human members of orchis?

"It pleases me more than you can imagine to see the others finally coming to their senses. Only so much can be accomplished with the spoken and written word - at some point, you eventually have to get your hands dirty. We have to strike first. If the humans are given the chance, there will be no first strike, only the last strike. It's what I'd do in their place."

Yeah, I don't love it, tbh.

Like, I get why it exists, I get why we got all those panels of Shadowkat jamming guns into people's heads with her phasing powers and all, but, like . . . okay, let me pull this stuff up.

So, like, I get it.

Something awful has happened to mutantkind, and everyone has their way of responding to that trauma. I get that. In-universe, it makes absolute sense that Kate would react like this. It's not like she hasn't killed before. And let's be real here, all the same logic arguments about killing vs. not killing in comic books apply here - if you let them go, they'll only hurt someone later; it sends a message that if you hurt mutants, you get hurt in return; Xavier's dream has been proven to be a load of old shit, Magneto had the right idea all along.

That's sure an argument that you can make.

In-universe, I get it.

But out of universe?

This is cheap. This has no bite, this has no weight to it, it's empty calories in my opinion. Why? Because it betrays a fundamental lack of imagination about ways to tell the X-Men story, and the fundamental limits of Western comic books, if you think about what it actually means.

Comic book heroes generally aren't meant to kill because they're paragons of moral behaviour. They exemplify a moral standard that we should all ascribe to. That's the Golden Age logic, right?

Except that the Joker. Right? So, this is a conversation to be had, and I think trying to apply a baseline logic to it is kinda pointless, because the morals and ethics of killing in a Batman story are so much more important and meaningful to the themes of that story than, say, in an X-Men story. Sometimes you need to kill the giant fucking robot, sometimes Trask just needs to fucking die, sometimes you gotta snap Cassandra Nova's neck.

That's - kind of a whole other argument, and not the one I'm interested in talking about right now. This isn't really about whether it's right or wrong for heroes to kill, I only bring this up as context to what I'm about to say, which IS.

This is cheap parlour tricks to get a FUCK YEAH moment out of the reader by Gerry Duggan because gratuitous violence is an easy way to get a pop out of a comic book audience.

There's some real great exchanges from Star Trek that I'm just going to shamelessly crib here, because I think they really exemplify my point, so here goes:

PICARD: Six years ago, they assimilated me into their collective. I had their cybernetic devices implanted throughout my body. I was linked to the hive mind, every trace of individuality erased. I was one of them. So you can imagine, my dear, I have a somewhat unique perspective on the Borg and I know how to fight them. Now if you will excuse me I have work to do. LILY: I am such an idiot. It's so simple. The Borg hurt you, and now you're going to hurt them back. PICARD: In my century we don't succumb to revenge. We have a more evolved sensibility. LILY: Bullshit! I saw the look on your face when you shot those Borg on the holodeck. You were almost enjoying it! PICARD: How dare you! LILY: Oh, come on, Captain. You're not the first man to get a thrill from murdering someone. I see it all the time! PICARD: Get out! LILY: Or what? You'll kill me, like you killed Ensign Lynch?! PICARD: There was no way to save him. LILY: You didn't even try. Where was your evolved sensibility then?!

I love that scene.

"It's so simple. The Borg hurt you, and now you're going to hurt them back."

It's that simple, huh?

O'BRIEN: Captain. PICARD: Chief. I wanted to talk to you. O'BRIEN: Anything I can do, sir, you know that. PICARD: Ben Maxwell. He must be quite a man. O'BRIEN: He's a rare one, all right. I count myself lucky, sir. I've served with the two finest Captains in Starfleet. PICARD: From your knowledge of the man, what has gone wrong? O'BRIEN: There's a reason for what he's doing. Those Cardassians were up to something, I'm sure of it. PICARD: When his family was killed, how did he take it? O'BRIEN: I'd say he took it well. Oh, I know he was broken up inside, who wouldn't be? But you'd never know it to see him. He never missed a minute's duty, always had a smile, a joke. PICARD: I see. O'BRIEN: He would never retaliate out of vengeance, no matter what that Cardassian says. They're up to something, sir. They're the ones you should be investigating, not Captain Maxwell. PICARD: You don't care for the Cardassians? O'BRIEN: I like them fine. It's just, well, I know them. You learn to watch your back when you're around those people. PICARD: Ben Maxwell has just sent more than six hundred of them to their deaths. O'BRIEN: I don't know what to say, sir, but he must have had his reasons. PICARD: I think when one has been angry for a very long time, one gets used to it. And it becomes comfortable, like old leather. And, finally, it becomes so familiar that one can't ever remember feeling any other way.

The Hellfire Gala Massacre was a cheap emotional trick to make X-fans mad, and an easy way to get easy pops whenever another X-Man kills a rando Orchis thug, because FUCK YEAH, FOR KRAKOA, and it's like . . . okay?

Is this not a betrayal of - and I'm going to stop you right there, because I'm not about to say what you think I'm going to say.

No, I'm not about to talk about the betrayal of ideals, or the betrayal of moral standards, or the betrayal of what Krakoa stood for.

Is this not a betrayal of the entire point of what made Orchis even remotely different as an X-Men enemy?

They were a scientific, sociologically active, legal avenue exploiting think tank that attacked on all fronts, and now, they're reduced to a wisecracking robot from the future and an army of disposable goons who might as well be wearing Hydra green or AIM yellow beekeeper suits.

Why?

Because that's easier to write. It's so much easier to write Shadowkat murdering a group of Orchis goons than it is to engage with Orchis on a higher level and deconstruct what prejudice looks like on a systematic, sociological level. This turns the so-called social conflict aspect of X-Men comics into just boring normal conflict.

Shadowkat killed a lot of Orchis, so now racism is over with! And, like, I get it, it's not a ton of fun to sit around and watch X-Men debate a load of racists, it's a superhero comic, you wanna see a guy hit another guy at some point, but it just feels like such a dumbing down of the more interesting, multi-faceted organisation that Orchis were presented to be.

There are so many instances of really thoughtful, socially minded commentary in Krakoan era, from Hellions to New Ayala's New Mutants to Unlimited, but this stuff, in the comic literally just called X-Men, which would make you think it's the most definitive statement of what the line of books is meant to be, it's just the most watered down, basic bitch, boring version of the conflict.

And it's not like I'm asking for Hickman or Morrison, I know that's not the wheelhouse we're operating in here, but it just feels kinda . . . lame, that the best imagery and way of showing oppression in 2024 is Sentinels flying through the sky with searchlights on their chests and comic book villains posturing over our heroes. I was hoping for something more intelligent and interesting.

But it is what it is.

#vinial453 #verse: each of us is a nest of lies #outofmuffins #blood tw #gore tw #body horror tw

13 notes · View notes

griffin-girl-r · 8 months

Text

Now it's her, but then was you (Part 3)

Created: 03.03.2023

Finished: 10.03.2023

Edited: 25.09.2023

Age: 15

Word count: 5,947

Warnings: Blood, Death, Miscarriage, Loss, Gubshot wound

Request: Yes (Wattpad user)

Pairing: Natasha Romanoff x Nikolai (Comic book character)

Part 2

—

One second.

~~~~~

16-year-old Natasha was anxiously waiting for her lover to show up at their meeting place.

Or better said, her fiancé whom she loved with all her heart.

"Natasha!" The boy that Natasha had been waiting for, called her with a wide grin on his face when he spotted her

"Nikolai!" Natasha shouted back with a smile as she ran into the boy's open arms

Nikolai kissed the red-headed girl with passion as he went a few days without seeing her.

He was a soldier in the Russian army.

Not by choice, that was clear.

He was taken away from his home by the government and forced to join the army to fight in a secret war they planned to start.

But now, he regrets nothing because, in this way, he got to meet his soulmate.

Natasha.

"How are you feeling?" The 17-year-old boy pulled away and cupped his finacée's face "I heard from one of the contacts I have in there that you have been feeling extremely sick for the past week since I saw you the last time."

"I'm okay." Natasha whispered "Don't worry."

"Don't lie to me, Tasha." The boy worriedly said "Have they done something to you?"

"Niko..." Natasha breathed out "Do you remember that night we spent together exactly a month ago after my birthday when you asked me to marry you?"

"How could I forget?" Nikolai nodded with a smile "One of the best days of my life."

"Well..." Natasha started as she looked down "I just found out that I'm pregnant, Niko." She quietly mumbled, unsure of the reaction her fiancé was going to have "4 weeks pregnant to be exact. The baby is yours."

Nikolai stared at young Natasha for a split moment as he processed the news he just heard in his shocked state.

"You-You're pregnant?" Nikolai stuttered "With my b-baby?"

Natasha nodded, still not daring to look up at Nikolai's face.

But instead of words, Natasha was pulled into a bone-crushing embrace as the tall boy pulled her head into his chest and kissed the top of it, over and over again.

Natasha was slightly taken aback by the sudden hug but wrapped her arms nonetheless around the boy's waist.

"That's wonderful." Nikolai sniffed, having a wide smile on his face and happy tears in his eyes "Oh, my Natasha, we are going to become parents. Do you know what that means? It means that we will finally be that family we dreamed about."

"You actually want this baby?" Natasha sniffed unsure as she pulled back from the hug "It comes with a lot of responsibility. You know, right?"

"Of course, I know. And my answer remains the same." Nikolai smiled "That's if you want to keep it too. You are the one who will carry it and go through all that pain of childbirth to bring this baby into the world, so if you say that you are not ready to go through all of this yet, I'm sure we could find a solution."

Natasha quickly nodded "I do want this child, Niko. I want it so much. This baby will mark a new beginning in our lives."

"Then I promise you that I will do everything I have to do, so I could get you out of that hell before our baby is born." The boy pressed a soft kiss on the girl's lips "I will be the man of this family and I'll protect you both. I'll find a way for us to escape somewhere they will never be able to find us. How about we go to the West? Settle there?"

"I'd love that so much." Natasha sniffed the happy tears away

"I hope we'll have a girl." Nikolai chuckled out of nowhere

"It's that so?" Natasha laughed "I thought that you would want our baby to be a boy. Well, you know, because you are a boy and most men wish to have a baby boy, not a girl."

"Not me." Nikolai shook his head "I want a baby girl that will be the spitting image of you. In this way, when we're old, I'll have a younger version of you and your beauty and kindness. You will forever stay young through our daughter, then through our granddaughter, and so on."

"Isn't it a little too early to think about grandkids?" The girl laughed

"Never!" Nikolai sternly stated with a smile "Grandkids will be a part of our life if we want to grow old together. But you know what I was thinking?"

"What?" Natasha softly smiled

"Let's not have just one daughter. Let's have 5 daughters. Maybe 6." Nikolai proposed "We can have 6 baby girls that look like you."

"You're really silly, Niko." Natasha laughed

"A silly man that is head over heels in love with you." The boy declared, bringing Natasha in for a kiss

The soon-to-be parents couldn't be happier.

Nothing could break this happiness they have.

"I love you." Nikolai whispered in Natasha's ear

~~~~~

Two seconds.

~~~~~

Natasha was sitting in her room now that she wasn't allowed to train anymore and the general gave direct orders for Natasha to be moved to a private room, given the fact that she was carrying his next best assassin.

It's been 2 days since she revealed to her boyfriend that they are expecting a baby and also 2 days since she saw him last.

She was missing him so dearly.

"Don't worry, my love." Natasha whispered as she placed her hand on her stomach "Daddy will come back to us soon. He is finding a way to get us out of here, so we could give you a normal life."

Natasha's little moment of peace was interrupted by the door of her new room being opened and four guards entered the room uninvited.

"Romanova." One of the guards said "You have to come with us." He pointed with his head to Natasha and 2 of the other guards rushed forward, grabbed Natasha by her arms, and pulled her onto her feet

"Why?" Natasha struggled to free herself "What is happening?"

"We don't know. The general's orders." The first guard explained as the other guards dragged Natasha away to Dreykov's office

Natasha was scared.

She couldn't understand what this was all about, until she was pushed inside Dreykov's office.

Natasha tripped and fell down on her knees, worry filling her mind that this could have hurt her baby.

"Welcome, Natasha." Dreykov dragged out with a smirk on his face "I hope you're ready for your surprise."

That's when Natasha looked up and noticed it.

It was a trail of blood that led from the door to Dreykov's feet where a pool of the said blood had already formed.

Natasha looked from the door to where that bloody trail was leading and she felt like her stomach made a flip when she saw whose blood was it.

It was the blood of her Nikolai who was now lying lifeless at Dreykov's feet as his body was covered in gunshot wounds.

"Niko!" Natasha shouted as she bolted up on her feet only to throw herself on her knees once again, but this time next to her lover's head

Natasha looked at the boy's pale face and at his skin which was starting to turn into a bluish color.

Hesitantly checking his pulse, the girl found none, much to her dread.

"Nikolai..." Natasha whispered as she gently cupped his face and shook it "Niko, please... Don't do this to me. To us." Tears flooded her eyes and she let them fall freely "This baby will need its dad. I need you, Nikolai. I can't do this alone. What will I tell our baby when they ask me about their dad?"

Natasha sniffed and grabbed the hand of her lover and placed it on her stomach, putting her own hand on top of his.

"Please stop playing and open your eyes, love. For me. For our baby." Natasha sobbed "Please!"

The girl bent down and placed a soft kiss on the now cold lips of the man who was going to be her husband one day. On the lips of the man who was the father of her baby.

Lips that Natasha knew they used to be warm, no matter how cold the weather was.

Nikolai's hand fell limp to the floor once Natasha let go of it.

And with Nikolai, a part of Natasha has died as well.

Now, their baby is the only thing Natasha clings to and the only thing she lives for.

Giving her baby the life she and Nikolai dreamed for it to have will be the only purpose in her life, besides loving that baby with all she has.

~~~~~

Three seconds.

~~~~~

"Hi, Niko." Natasha whispered as she knelt in front of Nikolai's grave "I have some news for you."

Natasha looked behind her at the 2 guards that had followed her, so she could visit the grave of her lover, then back down at the small bump of her stomach and she placed her hand on it.

"I just found out the gender of our baby this morning. They allowed me to have a check-up so they will make sure our baby is healthy." Natasha whispered as she rested her forehead on the gravestone "It's a baby girl, Niko, a girl. Just like you wanted from the beginning. We are going to be the parents of a beautiful baby girl." Natasha sniffed "Do not worry, my love. She is very strong, just like her dad. I promise you, Nikolai, that as soon as our daughter is born, I will escape with her. We will make you proud."

Natasha stood up, but not before placing one last kiss on the cold stone, as she walked back to the guards that were ready to lock her back up in her room.

But Natasha's happiness hasn't lasted for too long.

It was late at night, on the same day she visited the grave, after dinner, when she woke up screaming in pain.

Looking down, Natasha saw the pool of blood that had formed on her bed.

"No, please..." Natasha sobbed out in pain "Don't do this to me, Niko! Don't take her with you! I beg you! She's all I have left from you!"

20 minutes later, Natasha was emotionlessly staring at the ceiling in one of the Red Room's labs.

She just had a miscarriage.

She just lost the last part of Nikolai that she had.

But most importantly, she just lost her soul.

She lost her baby girl.

A baby that she will never be able to hold in her arms.

A baby that could have been, but never will be.

She lost her humanity.

~~~~~

Natasha opened her eyes.

You collapsed to the ground with a loud thud.

—

Natasha fell to her knees next to your head.

The rest of the world didn't matter to her anymore in those moments as she stared wide-eyed at your bleeding body lying limp on the floor.

This was giving her a deja-vú.

She hesitated for a second to get closer to you as she felt a wave of unbearable pain wash over her.

She knew this feeling. It wasn't the first time in her life that she felt like this.

She had experienced this kind of pain when she thought she had lost you in a miscarriage so many years ago.

She slowly came back to her senses after a few seconds of staring as realization set in of what was happening.

You were bleeding to your death and Natasha couldn't let that happen.

She had too many flashbacks of the possible outcomes of what could happen and she needed to act quickly.

For you, for Anna, and herself.

She and Anna couldn't lose you all over again.

"Baby?" Natasha tearfully called you as she gently shook your body hoping to get any reaction from you "Baby, please answer me! I beg you! I can't lose you all over again. Not again. This time I don't know if I will be able to make it without you." She cried "You can't just die! I need you. Anna needs her big sister. I won't let you die!"

And with one move, Natasha slid her arms under you and picked you up, desperately starting to run to get you some help.

"Help!" Natasha shouted as she burst inside the med bay almost taking down the door

Bruce, who was already assisting a few injured Avengers, looked up, only to see Natasha covered in the blood of her recently found older daughter while carrying her in her arms.

"Natasha?!" Bruce asked confused as he ran from Steve's side whose injuries he was assessing and started looking over you "What happened?! Where's Anna?"

"They shot her." Natasha cried "Anna it's currently being watched by Wanda. Please save my daughter. I just found her. I can't lose her."

"Give her to me." Bruce said as he extended his arms to take you from your mother who was reluctant to let go of you "We don't have time for games, Natasha. It's a gunshot wound to the chest. I need to take her into surgery right now or else we would not be able to save her. Please. We are losing precious time."

At the remainder that she could lose you, Natasha carefully placed you in Bruce's arms and stepped aside as he rushed inside a room with you in his arms while being followed by a few of the other doctors who were present there.

Once the door was closed and Natasha couldn't see you anymore, her knees gave up on her as she fell to the ground, heart-wrecking sobs coming out of her mouth.

Steve groaned as he stood up on his feed and crunched down beside his red-headed teammate.

"Steve?" Natasha cried out "I could lose her, Steve! I could lose my baby again. I barely just got her back. She can't leave me again because I know that if she does, this time it will be forever. There will be no her showing up in front of my doorstep alive and well."

"That won't happen, Nat." Steve rubbed her back as he already knew what Natasha was talking about, as Bruce had just a few minutes ago informed them of what was happening "I know because she is a strong girl. Just like her mother and she will survive this one as well."

"Steve, I failed my baby. I failed her, I failed Anna who is my little baby and I failed my Nikolai. I promised him I would protect our daughter at any cost and look where we are right now." Natasha sobbed "How could I ever gain their forgiveness after everything I let happen to them only because I wasn't capable enough to protect them?"

Steve opened his mouth to comfort Natasha but his ears picked up on the sound of small but quick footsteps, running toward them.

Natasha felt little arms wrapping around her neck as a little body hugged her as tight as it could.

"Don't cry, Mama." Anna whispered in her mother's ear as she rested her head on Natasha's shoulder "I don't like it when you cry."

"I'm sorry, baby girl." Natasha cried as she very tightly but carefully hugged her youngest daughter "Mama can't help it. She is really scared for your sister. I'm scared because Y/N/N was hurt very badly by the bad guys and I'm afraid that she won't be okay."

"Don't worry, Mama." Anna slightly pulled back and wiped Natasha's tears away with her palms "My sis promised me that she won't leave us ever again and I know that she wouldn't lie to us. She always keeps her promises." Anna innocently explained to Natasha trying to calm her mother down the best she could

~~~~~

"Y/N?" Anna asked as you both were eating some ice cream

"What is it, baby sis?" You asked, looking down at her while wiping your mouth with your hand

Ever since Anna asked you to be her big sister one week ago, you kept on calling her your baby sis and rarely called her by her name now.

"Now that you're here with me you won't leave, right?" Anna shily questioned "Because you're my big sis now."

"I promise to never ever leave you alone." You smiled and ruffed her hair "We're sisters forever."

Anna smiled and snuggled closer to your side.

She believes in your promise with all her heart.

~~~~~

Natasha didn't have the heart to tell Anna the real seriousness of the situation. She's still just a baby. Natasha knows that Anna won't fully understand what is happening to her. All Anna knew was that she just found out that she had an older sister who loved her to death and that every time they met for the first time, had kept her promises to her younger sister.

Natasha kept clinging to Anna as she tried to find some sort of comfort in holding her younger baby as her oldest baby is currently having a tough battle with her life.

Three hours later, Natasha was sitting in the waiting room in a chair and only a few of her friends were by her side as the rest were making sure that the compound was 100% safe and cleaned the mess that those intruders made.

Anna was soundly asleep without a worry, tucked safely in her mother's arms, as she was certain that her big sister would be just fine because that's what Y/N promised her.

Anna's positivity was the only thing keeping Natasha grounded in these moments when she felt like she was about to lose her mind from worry.

"Natasha?" Bruce's quiet voice pulled Natasha out of her mind

The woman quickly stood up on her feet as she waited for Bruce to give her some good news, being mindful that Anna was still asleep in her arms.

"We managed to save her." Bruce shily smiled "She is currently in one of the recovering rooms and we are keeping a close eye on her vitals but with care, time, and patience I'm very optimistic that she will recover in no time."

Natasha let out a breath she didn't know she was holding as the pressure she felt over her entire body, suddenly eased.

"Can I see her?" Natasha's voice filled up with hope as she gave Bruce a watery smile

"You can." Bruce nodded "I'll have to warn you first that she isn't looking in her best shape but as I previously said, she will look better with time. She is still asleep as we speak and I'd say that she could wake up somewhere in the next few hours, maybe even in a day but that is not to worry about. It's only normal."

"Thank you!" Natasha breathed out tearfully

"The good part about the spot where she was shot is that the bullet had missed her heart and important blood vessels by a few inches so there it's no risk of complications as she recovers. Yes, we will supervise her for the next 24 hours but that is just a formality, not a sign that something is wrong. Pain in the chest zone, headaches, or feeling of tightness in her chest are all normal symptoms after the surgery so do not worry. I have given her medicine to relieve the following pain but those symptoms will slowly disappear and in about 2 to 4 weeks she should be back up on her feet although she isn't allowed to train for at least the next 3 months and for the next month she has to take it easy. Is that clear?"

Natasha quickly nodded "Yes. Thank you once again, Bruce."

"I'm glad I could help." Bruce smiled "Now go inside."

"Can Anna come with me inside as well?" Natasha asked as she wasn't yet ready to let go of Anna

"Why not?!" Bruce shrugged "But as long as she doesn't mess up with the wires or anything else that her sister is attached to."

"She won't. I'll make sure she doesn't cause any trouble." Natasha nodded again "Thank you."

"Go now." Bruce stepped aside to allow Natasha to pass

"Do you want any of us to come with you inside?" Wanda worriedly asked

"No. It's okay." Natasha shook her head "I need some time alone with my girls."

Her girls.

It all felt so right.

She finally has her girls with her. Not just one of them. She can now share all the love she has inside her with the daughter she thought she lost as well.

Stepping inside the room where you were recovering, Natasha couldn't control the few lone tears that escaped her eyes at the sight of you.

It's true that in the past few months that you have been living with them she grew really attached to you, just like Anna did, without knowing why, given the fact that you were treating her so coldly, always keeping your distance from Natasha.

But now she understands everything.

She understands why you were so protective of Anna.

She understands why you were so cold and harsh towards her.

She understands why Anna felt an instant connection with you the first moment she laid her eyes on you.

And she now understands why she had felt that motherly urge to protect you and to keep trying to get closer to you.

If it had been anybody else, Natasha would have given up a long time ago in trying to get closer and befriend that person, but when it came to you, something inside her was screaming at her to keep trying to get you to open more towards her.

"Mama?" Anna sleepily mumbled as she stirred awake when Natasha sat down in a chair next to your bed

"Shh, sweetheart." Natasha quietly said as she started rubbing Anna's back up and down "You're okay. Mama is here. You don't have to worry."

"Y/N?" The small girl questioned in her sleepy state

"She is right here, baby." Natasha whispered "She is okay. She is just sleeping. Why don't you go back to sleep as well?"

"I wanna sleep next to Y/N." Anna mumbled more awake than before

"I don't think that is a good idea yet, baby. She is connected to some machines right now that are letting us know that she is okay while she's asleep and we don't want to mess up with them and potentially hurt Y/N, don't we?"

"I promise I'll be careful, Mama." Anna pleaded, looking up at her mother with the biggest puppy eyes she could muster "Please?!"

How could Natasha say 'no' to such big and beautiful eyes?

"Okay, fine." Natasha sighed "But we need to be really careful. Understood?"

"Yes, Mama!" Anna eagerly nodded

Natasha carefully laid Anna on the bed next to you, making sure to remind her once again to be careful around you and your sister gently snuggled closer to your side and fell back asleep.

Natasha leaned back in her chair as she watched over you and Anna and felt like she couldn't get enough of seeing you both together.

This was everything she ever wished for but, as always, thought she'd never have.

Natasha smiled.

You and Anna reminded Natasha of herself and Yelena when they were kids.

Natasha had the habit of accidentally hurting herself all the time and Yelena would just stay by Natasha's side while Melina was taking care of Natasha's wounds and after, her little sister would try everything to make Natasha smile and forget about the injury.

"I swear that, starting from right now, I will protect you both with everything that I am." Natasha whispered "I'll try my best and even more to be the best mother for you both and I'll try to make you open to me Y/N. I will be your mother too just like I wanted from the first moment I found out you were on the way. I will do everything that I can so we can become more than mother and daughter, more than teacher and student, we could become best friends, and partners in crime, and alongside Anna, we can become the best family ever. Loving, caring, happy and the list can go on and on. We will be the Romanoff trio. The 3 Romanoff girls that no one can stop from achieving their dream life. Mama loves you both so much, my girls. I promise that no one will ever be able to break us apart and keep us away from one another with lies." She stood up, bent over, and kissed Anastasia's head then yours "My sweet baby girls..." She whispered

"Mama?" A sleepy voice mumbled

At first, Natasha thought that Anna was the one to call for her but the voice sounded way more mature than Anna's little high-pitched voice.

"Mama?" The same voice whispered and Natasha looked from Anna's face to yours

As she did so, she found you looking directly at her face with a frown expression on your face.

Natasha swallowed down the tears that invaded her eyes in an instant at the realization that you had called her 'mama'. Something she was definitely not expecting to hear for a long time given the fact that she still needed to figure out a way in which she could make you listen to her entire story and get you to talk to her about your feelings as well over the revelation that she was your mother.

Natasha was hurt, angry, and sad over finding out that the daughter she thought she lost a very long time ago was kept away from her.

She could only guess that you were feeling confused, frustrated, and hurt that the woman you were raised to believe had abandoned you had, actually, never truly abandoned you.

That, while they lied to you that Natasha had abandoned you, they lied to Natasha as well about you being dead.

And all Natasha wanted was to make you forget all the lies, the pain, and the hurt and start to live a normal, happy, and full-of-love life where you knew that your mother and baby sister would always be there for you.

Whether you like it or not.

You are stuck with them now.

"Mama?" You called Natasha once again

"What did you just call me?" Natasha's voice waved filled with too many emotions and she frowned trying to keep her tears at bay

"Mama..." You breathed out once again and Natasha wasn't sure if you were entirely conscious of what you were saying given the meds you were on

"It's me..." Natasha cried out then sniffed "It's me, baby. I'm Mama. I am your Mama. Don't worry, baby girl, Mama is here. Everything will be okay. You will be okay. I'll make sure of it."

"Mama, hurts..." You quietly mumbled

"I know, baby. Mama knows, but the doctors have already given you medicine for it and very soon it will stop hurting." Natasha quietly explained as she stroked your hair out of your face "But look!" She gave you a soft smile "Mama is here. Your sister is here too. You will never again be alone. We're here now."

You slightly moved your head and spotted Anna peacefully sleeping, cuddled at your side, then looked back up at Natasha.

"Promise?" You whispered as your eyes started closing again

"I promise, baby girl. Mama promises." Natasha placed a gentle kiss on your forehead "Rest now, my love. You need your rest to get your strengths back. You need it. Mama and Anna will keep being here when you wake up after your nap, sweet girl."

And with your mother's reassuring words, you closed your eyes and fell into a peaceful slumber.

As soon as Natasha was sure that you were asleep she let her head fall on your shoulder and started sobbing.

She managed to keep it together only for as long as you were awake then she entirely lost it.

Hearing you call her 'mama' , just like it should have been from the very beginning if you weren't separated from her, was making Natasha's chest hurt from the amount of happiness that filled her heart.

She couldn't describe in words what it felt like when you called her like that but she can tell for sure that she wants to keep hearing you call her that for the rest of her life. She doesn't want to have to live without you for another second of her life.

You and Anna are now the center of her universe.

Her soul is finally complete again as the other half Natasha thought would forever stay dead came back to her at the most unexpected time in her life.

A few hours later, Natasha was cradling a now awake Anastasia in her arms, as the woman was quietly telling her daughter a story.

But the story was interrupted when you softly groaned, making known that you were now awake as your eyes slowly opened and you looked in the direction from where the voices were coming.

"Look who's awake." Natasha turned Anna around as she pointed to you with a smile on her face

"Sissy!" Anna cheerfully shouted and you groaned at the loud sound, making Anna immediately calm down "Sorry, sissy." The small girl quietly said

"It's okay..." You whispered "Why don't you come here and give me a hug so I could forgive you?" You smiled softly at her

Your little sister quickly moved from your mother's arms directly into yours as she very gently gave you a small hug.

"How are you feeling, Y/N?" Anna's small voice was filled with concern for your well-being as she sat crossed-legged on your bed

"I'm okay." You smiled "Don't you worry. With a little love from you, I will be better in no time and we can play and train together again very soon."

"I promise that I will look for the bad guys that hurt you and I will kick their butt!" Anna raised her chin and made you and Natasha share a laugh at her determination and innocence

"Thank you for doing it for me, baby sis." You giggled as you played along with Anna's game

Natasha was silently waiting for you to notice her presence as well and she knew by the way that you were trying to avoid her gaze that you hadn't yet forgiven her and that the previous moment from a few hours ago was nothing more than you being confused after the complicated surgery you had went through.

The oldest redhead sadly sighed and looked down at her feet.

How stupid could she be to believe that you had finally accepted her as your true mother?

"Mama?" You called and Natasha's breath hitched in her throat "Why are you standing there alone? Come here and give us a hug."

Natasha looked up at you tearfully as she rushed forward and brought you and Anna in a tight embrace. Both of you sighed happily once you were in her arms.

"My babies." Natasha cried as she pulled Anna closer to her and buried her nose in your hair, breathing in your scent that she felt like she couldn't get enough of

You smiled contently and Anna snuggled even further away in Natasha's arms as she enjoyed the new feeling of having her mother and her older sister by her side.

"Anna, baby..." Natasha hesitantly let go of you both "Why don't you go and tell Aunt Wanda to make you and Y/N her famous pancakes so we could celebrate that your sister is okay?"

"But, Mama..." Anna whined, not wanting to leave your side

"Anastasia." Natasha said more sternly

"Fine!" Anna rolled her eyes and jumped off the bed

"Aren't you a little bossy for a 6-year-old?" You asked with a giggle and Anna just turned around and ran out of the room to go find Wanda

You turned to look at Natasha only to find her already staring lovingly at you.

"Can we talk?" Natasha quietly questioned "But this time we'll be honest with one another. No lies and no hidden feelings."

"I think I'm ready to talk since we haven't got the chance to before we were attacked." You nodded

"I'm sorry." Natasha truthfully told you "I'm so sorry you had to go through everything that you did. This was not the life I wanted you to have and I swear that if I had known you were alive, I would have stopped at nothing to find you and bring you with me."

"I won't lie." You sighed "All my life I had asked myself if the reason why you abandoned me there was because I was a burden that kept you back or that you didn't want me because you haven't birthed me and that I was created in a lab where I developed inside those machines for so many months." You looked away from Natasha "But hearing your story now, seeing how you treat Anna, and putting together different pieces of information I've learned over time, had made me realize the truth. A truth that I wasn't yet ready to hear just because my pride, anger, and training wouldn't let me believe it." Turning your head again, you looked directly into her eyes "But now I believe you. I am not going to let the opportunity of having the best mother and little sister in the world pass by me just because I believed the lies of a manipulator more than the proofs that show me the real truth about my existence."

"I'll never understand how they managed to trick me back then but I promise you, my baby, that it will never happen again." Natasha took your hands in hers and started playing with them "Now that I have you back with me, you will never again be taken away from me. I love you so much, Y/N. I always did and I always will. No lie will ever be able to separate us."

"I think it's time to put the past behind us and look forward to a brighter future." You nodded "A happy future where we are together like the family we are. Just you, me, and Anna. We can do this together."

"Damn right, we can!" Natasha tearfully chuckled as she brought you in her arms once again "I know it will take time but we can overcome everything as long as we are together. Just me and my girls." She kissed the top of your head

And Natasha, as well as you, kept that promise of becoming a strong and inseparable family alongside Anna.

You could only be happy that everything you thought was right was actually wrong and not only that Natasha hadn't abandoned you, but she loved you with her entire heart.

Anna was happy to have that big sister she always wanted to have and to be surrounded by double the amount of love that was now coming from Natasha and you.

And about Natasha, she felt like she was living in a dream. She had two beautiful, healthy, and alive daughters, that loved her and had opened their hearts toward her.

After all this time and after everything that happened, the three Romanoff girls have finally got the family they always dreamed about.

#mama nat #natasha romanoff #natasha romanoff x daughter!reader #natasha x daughter!reader #natasha's child #natasha's kid #natasha romanoff x teen!reader #natasha x teen reader #natasha x baby!reader

24 notes · View notes

elvenbeard · 10 months

Text

2076

"I'm tellin' ya, mano, this is only the beginning! A few months down the line we're gonna be Night City legends!"

"I think before I wanna be a legend I'd just like to start feelin' like myself again..."

The day Vince was sacked in November of 2076 was the newest low point of his life. He'd lost everything, from a job he was good at, financial security, to what he'd assumed had been friends. Over the course of the year his health had been on a steady decline, mentally and physically. His first so harmonious, almost too-perfect relationship with an older coworker had found an abrupt and bitter ending filled with betrayal. Jenkins' paranoia and revenge fantasies reached new heights, and several particularly precarious operations went wrong in a row. To cope with the stress, silence his depression and anxieties, and be able to keep up with his coworkers-turned-competitors' performance, Vince turned to substance abuse over the course of his last 6 months at Arasaka.

In Jackie's eyes, the termination of Vince's contract couldn't come soon enough, seeing his friend spiral and lose himself in the corporate mud more and more with each passing day.

Like many times before - even though this one had been Vince's highest fall so far - Jackie helped him back to his feet. He and his mother took Vince in and kept him company through his withdrawal from both self- and corporate-administered drugs. Slowly but surely he got better.

From the first day they'd known, Jackie had always urged Vince to consider teaming up as mercs. Together they'd be one hell of a duo, muscle and tech, street-smarts and corporate education, guns and hacking. They'd make it far in Night City's underground world in no time, or so he thought.

By 2076, Jackie was a respected Solo, particularly in Heywood, but still far from achieving his dreams of becoming a legend - and really, those had always been Jackie's dreams alone. Sure, Vince wanted to leave an impact and be remembered, not just fade away into the shadows, but who didn't? Dying in a blaze of glory though, never reaching age 30, just for the money and fame, for doing other people's dirty work? He never saw the appeal... but also, so far he'd failed to find a satisfying middleground.

By mid-December 2076 Vince had somewhat recovered, had been clean for a little over a month, but his cash started to run dry. The next time Jackie asked him to accompany him on a job - just a small one, a little favor for a choomba, nothin' dangerous or dramatic - Vince gave in and tagged along. "Just this once," he told himself, simultaneously looking for other job opportunities. He even considered going back into the corporate world, a smaller company, something less exhausting than Counterintel, maybe media, or a lowly techie position like Jenkins had intended for him originally.

But the small job went well, was fun, even. Jackie's enthusiasm had always been infectuous. After everything he'd done for Vince, he didn't think it fair to continue saying no to him and to something that indeed worked out better than he could have ever imagined... He still had no intentions of dying young, or a legend, but as Jackie put it: would be a shame to let all that Arasaka training go to waste, so why not use it to do some good with it, help themselves and others in their lives?

Vince through the years (6/9)

The set above is basically the followup to this VP comic I did a while ago, the evening after V's and Jackie's first job together.

As mentioned, Vince was never eager to be a merc, and by early 2077 he simply treats it as one of his many previous part-time jobs: a way to keep a roof above his head, food on the table, and make use of his skills somehow. Maybe do some good, or at least leave a positive impact on a single person's life after 4 years of corporate scheming.

He is sort of picky with the gigs he takes, always weighs pros and cons. Sometimes he takes a gig he usually wouldn't out of sheer curiosity. But thievery and sabotage, even rescue missions, are really his favourite things to do because they come closest to what he did for Arasaka predominantly.

It really is easy money with his skills and knowledge, and also usually non-violent. I think that would be the main reason why he decides to go on with the Konpeki Plaza Heist with Jackie in the end, despite having a bad gut feeling. With the information they have it seems like something just down his alley, and he's very confident that he did his best in setting everything up. His biggest mistake is really putting so much trust in Dex doing his part for the preparation of the heist.

Vince is really used to his superiors just supplying him with all necessary info, no questions asked - both back at Arasaka and with the fixers he's worked with at that point, mainly Regina and Wakako. Both are thorough and reliable, do their work, hold nothing back that could be useful. He is also used to his team-members speaking up if they think something feels off. But I think T-Bug is in a similar boat as him, confident that all will go as planned, in her mind already in Cyprus. And Jackie, who just really really wants this to happen so badly, does not speak up despite potentially having a bad feeling.

So, even though Vince feels like all of it sounds too good to be true, everyone else involved being so confident and presenting themselves so competent, in combination with Jackie's aforementioned enthusiasm, convinces him that his own worries may be unjustified. He's overthinking, this can't go wrong, they were all really thorough, they can count on each other... right?

He'll learn the hardest way possible that on the street the saying "every man for himself" is even more prevalent than in the corporate world in the end.

(CW below for drug abuse talk!)

Little sidenote re: Vince's substance abuse. I often put great emphasis on the fact that he neither smokes nor drinks, one of the many reasons why Johnny pisses him off so much by doing both regardless and repeatedly whenever he's in control of his body later. Not smoking is really just Vince's personal preference here, but he actually wouldn't mind drinking now and then - his body is really just against him on this. He can't process alcohol well and just gets drunk and nauseous really quickly, even from "just a beer" or "just a glass of wine". So he avoids it, not for moral high ground reasons but more "I dont wanna puke my guts out and have a headache for three days" reasons.

Since drinking and smoking are off the table when it comes to numbing himself through his worst time at Arasaka, drugs are the next best thing. Initally it was just downers and sleeping pills, but when those started affecting his performance during daytime, he picked up neuroboosters and other performance enhacing stuff. It was a constant struggle to balance this drug-cocktail out, in combination with the canonical stress-blockers Corpo!V is on during the start of the game.

In short, by the time Vince is kicked out, he's a walking pharmacy and needs some time to readjust to a life without being constantly on something. He's doing his best to remain clean once he gets there... and he hates that taking pills is the one thing he can do to silence Johnny, cause it brings back a lot of bad memories and associations. It's probably one of the main reasons why he ends up talking to him more instead of just blocking him out like he used to block out everything else for a while. And even though he never fully trusts him, this way he at least gets to understand him better and gains his trust and understanding in return.

#cyberpunk 2077 #cp2077 #cp2077 vp #cyberpunk vp #corpo v #cyberpunk v #male v cyberpunk #jackie welles #johnny silverhand #vincent ezaki #my vp #hhhhh I'm on a roll with these #it's so much fun writing everything down after just really... thinking about it and not sharing #although I'm a bit scared of the final three posts cause... yeah xD #getting into 2077 and beyond territory #I think the next two are gonna be a bit on the shorter side #and the final one is gonna destroy me emotionally #looking foward to it XD

37 notes · View notes

stardustshimmer · 1 year

Text

Ok it's been all fun and games so far with the Dream Circus.

But now I've made an actual backstory + lore regarding the very first show the circus held.

If you don’t feel like reading it, just wait for the comic I’m planning on making.

Okay, without further ado, let me explain:

You know Funky, right? Well this is another clown that belongs to @hunterneedshisps5:

This is Chizuki. A 12 year old who’s a close friend of Funky’s.

Or was.

…..

About a year ago, Funky and Chizuki’s dream was to run the best circus in town together. Chizuki wanted to hold that circus in their hometown (which is unknown as of now). However, Funky was desperate to leave the town (for their own personal reasons) and hold the circus further away. Because the two disagreed with where they wanted their circus to be, they bickered with each other. At one point, the arguing got so severe that Funky packed their things and took a train away from home in anger, never to be seen again by Chizuki for a solid year.

When Funky hit age 13, they came across Dream Land. They fell in love with everything the little town had to offer, and the people who lived there welcomed them with open arms. It was so much nicer compared to their hometown. Right then, Funky knew that Dream Land was the place they were willing to start a circus in. But how could they pull it off?

A few days later, Funky came across Marx, who had told them about HIS dream of running a circus of his own. Funky used this as the opportunity to make an agreement with Marx, that way both of their goals would have been fulfilled. Together, they would co-run the circus, with Marx being the main host and Funky working behind the scenes.

With the help of Marx’s closest friends and the financial aid of the townspeople (I know I stated in Funky’s reference that THEY were the one to provide the funding, but I’ve decided to scrap that idea for the sake of this story), the Dream Circus tent was up and ready for action.

Now the next thing the two needed to do was recruit performers. Marx’s friends were willing to join and use whatever special talents they had. Around different areas of Popstar, posters advertising the circus needing clowns were put up, and they actually attracted people! Through many many interviews and auditions, the circus now had more than enough performers and helpers, and it seemed that they were all ready to begin practicing for their first show.

…..

About those posters… apparently the advertisements had reached Funky’s hometown, which is where Chizuki still lived. When Chizuki had come across one of these posters and saw her ex best friend’s name plastered on it next to someone else’s, she was LIVID. Funky was living their dream without her? And with some complete stranger??? She would NOT let that slide at all. She immediately got her things together and hopped on the next train to Dream Land. When she arrived, she marched straight to the big circus tent.

Chizuki didn’t want to be seen by Funky, so she snuck into the tent while no one was looking and hid underneath the bleachers. She secretly watched through the entire rehearsal, analyzing every act with a deep sorrow, knowing that SHE could have been a part of this lively group of clowns. After the rehearsal was over and the clowns had gone backstage, Chizuki stormed out of the tent. She just couldn’t believe that Funky would go behind her back and live out what was supposed to be their greatest desire.

She was blinded by jealousy. She took one last glance at the crumpled poster in her pocket. The first show would take place the next day. At first, Chizuki was simply going to stay away from it and forget about Funky, but the bubbling rage in her told her that she should instigate.

So Chizuki decided to sabotage the clowns’ acts. Every one of them.

…..

That night, when everyone had gone home and the tent was unoccupied, Chizuki went in and got to work. She messed with whatever props she could get her hands on, making any sort of tweaks that would cause them to be faulty. Once she felt like she’d done enough, she fled the scene without leaving any trace of her presence behind…

…..

Now it was the night of the show, and the tent was PACKED with audience members waiting to be blown away. After days and days of hard work and practice, the circus bunch was beyond excited to perform.

But little did they know that it would all go horribly wrong.

Each clown had managed to mess up mid-act due to their sabotaged props and such. This had resulted in many injuries, some being more severe than others. The more the audience watched, the less interest they had. Bit by bit, the filled stands grew empty. It was most likely that no one would be willing to attend the next show.

Funky was absolutely devastated by the failure of the circus. And who was to blame for it? Chizuki.

But that’s not what the rest of the clowns thought…

…..

All fingers had been pointed at Funky. THEY were the one doing all of the preparations and working behind the scenes after all. Funky swore on their own life that they did nothing. They told the group that they didn’t know the props were messed up. But everyone was against them. They all kicked Funky from the circus, stating that they can run it without them…

…..

Don’t worry, this was just a temporary split-up. Eventually, the real culprit was discovered and Funky had been forgiven. But at that time, Chizuki was crushing Funky’s dream out of pure spite.

A visual explanation of this will be provided whenever I can start up a comic.

If you’ve read this entire thing, thanks for taking the time to do so. I appreciate it :)

#kirby #kirby au #stardustshimmer’s dream circus #my art

21 notes · View notes

mousecolor · 1 year

Text

Anime I’ve Been Watching Recently (April 2023)

Giant Gorg

I’m a few episodes into this kids adventure show from the 80s and I’m obsessed with it. It’s got the typical genre crew: boy protag, girl, nerd, heavy, giant robot and dog mascot. The villain is an evil nepo baby trying to earn his billionaire inheritance by taking over a fictional island in the South Pacific for his family’s mega corporation. He is basically what the characters of Succession think they are.

This show also contains some pretty heinous racial caricature of Black people, to the extent I would be remiss not to bring it up. It’s mostly background characters, so far main characters with dark skin are depicted sensitively.

Here’s what I like about the show: the protagonists are constantly killing people. After the last few years of working in kids media and building a laundry list of pretty benign stuff I’m not allowed to depict in kids comics, (can’t show a kid prick their finger on a cactus, can’t show a kid use scissors that are too big, can’t show a mom greet a kid with a neutral expression, she has to be ecstatic) I have to admit I’m pretty jealous of a show where the protagonists get a tank and fire it at evil capitalists. I know this is kind of like being nostalgic for when gasoline had lead in it.

Gorg has also had a couple scenes that were genuinely creepy and scary. Those scenes usually are completely silent, something really rare in kids cartoons. I’m excited to see where Giant Gorg goes.

Kanon

I came across this while browsing and, based solely on the image above, I correctly deduced that it was based on an erotic visual novel from the 90s. I felt like a genius when I looked it up and saw I was right, then I felt ashamed I had amassed enough experience rubbing elbows with such media that i could identify it immediately. Is there a term for this? The skills we acquire by accident in pursuit of our hobbies?

Anyway this show is complete schlock based on an eroge and it still made me laugh out loud and cry actual tears.

I also got the feeling I got when I first read “Night on the Galactic Railroad” and other stories by Kenji Miyazawa in that I was realizing how many manga and anime had been influenced by his work. I had been encountering work inspired by, responding to, and reaching for his work for years, but I had never read the original text. Suddenly he was everywhere. Similarly, I realize now I’ve been encountering works responding to Kanon for ages now.

I was curious about how adapting a romance visual novel for a TV show would work out. Each girl gets her own pollen, slightly interwoven with all the others, and the show spends a few episodes introducing them all at once, then goes through each girl’s story line one by one. In a VN the storyline would culminate in a love confession and the couple getting together, but for a show that still has a few more girls for the protagonist to get close to, each storyline culminates in something akin to a love confession, then the girl gets conveniently removed from the story. Mostly they get put in the hospital.

I really like how the supernatural elements are introduced in the show, which is bit by bit, and then all at once. The girl with the most implausible, magical storyline is explored first, so the rest seem completely believable in comparison.

The show did become a little one-note in that all of the plot lines culminate with the girl (or someone close to her) being sick or injured. There are a million scenes of girls languishing in hospital beds or tending to someone doing the same. I don’t know what any of the sex scenes in the VN were like, but this almost felt more perverse. By the end of the show, almost the entire cast is in the hospital.

Anyway, I loved it!

Record of Lodoss War (OVA)

I first saw this years and years ago as a little kid. I got the DVDs from my local game rental place, which had a tiny rack of anime tapes and DVDs for rent. It was really fun to compare what the show actually is against my memories.

Anyway, this show looks great. At no point did the story or characters surprise me in any way. I loved looking at it but I was also enduring it.

30 notes · View notes

oliverreedmasterass · 1 year

Note

Cub Scouts Pinewood Derby Competition🤩

Oh my god Addison I am SO sorry for the wait, but thank you for the request!!

Sleek, Modern, Sexy

Words: 3.8k

Warnings: brief mention of a kinda nasty finger injury, the Blue Man Group

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

“Sam,” Josh’s voice shook over the phone. “We did it. We won a Grammy.”

Sam was taking a nap when his phone broke him out of his slumbers and, while he had at first been groggy, he immediately snapped awake.

“You’re kidding,” was all he could manage to say.

“For Best Rock Album. We actually won.”

Sam sprung to his feet and raked a hand through his long hair in disbelief. Their EP had beat Weezer, Ghost, Fall Out Boy, and Alice In Chains. It didn’t feel real. In fact, Sam hadn’t felt such a gratifying sense of victory since nine years earlier.

He was about a foot and a half shorter, his hair was clipped above his ears, and, at that point, he had only touched his dad’s bass a handful of times. Instead of playing music with his brothers, he spent his days flipping through Marvel comics and, more importantly, designing his car for the Cub Scouts Pinewood Derby.

Despite his young age, Sam had established himself as a kid with a serious eye for engineering. It was most likely due to his father, Kelly, encouraging him to watch various Discovery Channel programs with him, and coming home with Lego kits, telling Sam to “go ham.” Sam’s creativity, logical reasoning, and handiwork made him a triple threat when it came to building a small, wooden car to race against his fellow Cub Scouts. He could hardly focus in school because he was too busy drawing blueprints and testing various models, hypothesizing which would be the fastest, or most aerodynamic.

A week before the competition was supposed to happen, Sam was ready to put his car together. His older brothers, Jake and Josh, took interest in his project and trailed him into the garage as he gathered his tools.

“I made a car for my troop,” Josh shared with Sam, hoping to impart some wisdom on his younger brother.

“It was a lousy car,” Jake reminded Josh. “You placed in dead last because you glued your tires to a block of wood without checking to make sure that they rotated. The stupid thing sat at the starting line.”

Josh frowned at Jake. “The whole point of this competition is to learn from your mistakes.”

“I bought a Hot Wheels car ten minutes beforehand because I forgot to make one and got disqualified,” Jake told Sam. “So the bar isn’t too high if you want to impress Mom and Dad.”

“I just want to make something I’m proud of,” Sam answered with a shrug. “But also I’m pretty sure I can win this thing,” he added. “The people in my troop aren’t the brightest.”

“I guess things haven’t changed that much since we were there, huh Josh?” Jake nudged his twin in the ribs, which earned him a smack on the arm in return. He rubbed his forming bruise and motioned towards Sam’s journal. “Is that your plan?”

“Uh huh,” Sam answered. He set his block of wood down and handed Jake the book. He would never say it to them upfront, but Sam really did want to impress his older brothers with his car. Earning their respect meant the world to him, and the fact that they had taken interest in his work was filling his heart with joy.

Jake scanned over the various sketches of Sam’s car and raised his eyebrows.

“This is detailed, Sammy. You really have been working hard on this.”

Josh grabbed the notebook from Jake and studied it as well.

“There’s notes in here about aerodynamics. How do you know what that is?”

“Dad showed me a documentary about how planes fly a few weeks ago. I thought it might make my car go faster too, with physics and all.”

“Dad and his science documentaries,” Jake rolled his eyes. “So, can I help you with the saw?”

Sam felt bad, but he had a specific plan in mind that he knew Jake couldn’t pull off. Plus, his parents had made it very clear to Sam that he and his siblings weren’t allowed to touch anything sharp. After Jake had sliced the tip of Sam’s thumb off a few years earlier, all of the Kiszka siblings were barred from putting their hands on any knives, saws, or other items that could cut.

“I have to wait for Dad,” he sternly told Jake. The last thing he wanted was to get in trouble with his parents or, even worse, have Jake cut his thumb off again. That had hurt pretty bad.

Jake looked like he wanted to protest, but Josh put a hand on his shoulder to stop him, and then pointed up the stairs at the main level of their house.

“I’ll go and grab the old man now so we can get this thing started.”

Sam wasn’t sure that he liked how Josh was referring to his project as a group effort, but he decided to let it slide since he was grateful that Josh was following his parent’s orders. It was rare that his brothers listened to their parents, especially since they had entered their teenage years.

Josh bound up the rickety wooden steps and threw open the door leading into their kitchen, disappearing from sight while calling out for their dad. Sam and Jake stood in silence for a few beats, but then Jake cleared his throat.

“Your design really does look good. Like, a lot better than the stuff I saw when Josh and I did the competition.”

“We’ll see how it turns out,” Sam mumbled, his cheeks flushing. Jake seemed to be uncomfortable with the silence lingering between them because he moved across the garage to retrieve a soccer ball that was sitting around. Sam tried to focus his attention back on his blueprint while Jake started to juggle the ball, his sneakers squeaking against the pavement.

Josh came back down a few minutes later with Kelly in tow, and the two joined Sam’s side.

“You’re in charge here, kiddo,” Kelly told Sam. “You let me know what you need, and I’ll give you a hand. But you’re in the driver’s seat.” Kelly couldn’t help but chuckle at his pun. “What’s first?”

“We have to rough cut my design,” Sam regained some of his confidence. He liked the feeling of being in charge and, more than that, holding his dad and Josh’s attention. Jake, on the other hand, was too preoccupied with his soccer ball at the other end of the garage. Kelly grabbed the block of wood Sam had been given by his Scoutmaster.

“Shave it down a bit?”

“Yeah, a lot thinner,” Sam said. He reached for his sketches and held them up to his dad to inspect. Kelly’s eyes scanned over Sam’s pencil drawings and he broke out into a smile.

“Sounds good,” he said as he carefully set the notebook back down.

Kelly let Sam wear a pair of safety goggles while he used his saw on the wood and instructed Jake and Josh to stand at least ten feet back. Jake had joined their side the second he saw Kelly bust out the saw, and looked visibly disappointed that he couldn’t move closer to see his dad cut the wood. While Kelly got to work, Sam looked over his shoulder a few times and grinned at his older brothers, who were both standing on their toes trying to get a better view. Sam had a front row seat though, and he remembered that he was the one in charge. He put that authority into practice when he noticed that his dad was being conservative with how much he shaved off.

“I want it to be light,” Sam told his dad. “Take off more.”

“You got it,” Kelly grunted.

When he was done, Kelly presented Sam with his altered block, which was cut down to a thin rectangle. Sam cradled the wood in his small hands and studied it, picturing how it would look when it was done. He was still feeling confident that his design was going to win.

“I need to sand it now,” Sam announced. This brought Jake and Josh closer to him, looking expectant that they would be asked to lend a hand. Sam wanted to be in charge of smoothing out certain edges of his car because he had to be very particular about it all, but he also wanted to make his brothers happy. “You can sand the tires,” he tried to delegate the work. “That will cut down on the friction.”

That was more than enough to satisfy Jake and Josh since they happily accepted some sand paper from Kelly and grabbed Sam’s tires.

“I didn’t realize you were supposed to do this,” Sam overheard Josh telling Jake.

“It wouldn’t have mattered for your car, considering your tires didn’t even work.”

“No need to keep bringing that up.”

Sam kept his goggles on because they made him feel official, and he settled at his dad’s work bench to focus on his work. He reasoned that his car needed to be curved slightly in the front and have its corners be softened. He had read a lot of books at the library about the fastest cars on the planet, and a lot of them followed a similar structure. Sam grabbed his sandpaper and got to work, rubbing it carefully against the wood while biting his lip in deep concentration.

“I think we’ve got the tires in good shape,” Jake joined Sam’s side while he finished shaving down the front of his car. Sam let out a short huff because he didn’t want to be distracted from his work, but he turned to look back at Jake, who was holding out the four black tires in his hand with a satisfied grin. Sam grabbed one of the tires and held it up to the lightbulb screwed into the wall above their dad’s bench to inspect their work.

“Just a bit more sanding and then it should be good,” Sam said back to Jake.

“You’re kidding,” Jake’s smile dropped. “We spent like twenty minutes on those.”

“Friction will slow it down. I need this car to be as fast as possible.”

Jake took the tire back from Sam and turned back to return to Josh. “The sandpaper is gonna turn my hands to stumps pretty soon,” he grumbled under his breath.

Sam focused back on sanding the wood and, by the time Jake and Josh returned to his side holding out the tires again, he was happy with how the body of his car looked. It was pretty close to his drawings, which Kelly verified when he stuck his head back into the garage to check on their progress.

“This is gonna be a fast one,” he claimed as he twirled the car around in his hands. “I can tell.”

“Can you make some holes near the bottom for the axles and tires?” Sam asked his dad. “Oh, and also a few holes in the bottom for my weights?” Kelly inspected where Sam had penciled in for him to cut and brought the wood back to his workstation to use his loud drill. Within no time, the wood was back in Sam’s hands, and Kelly excused himself to get started on dinner upstairs.

Sam grinned down at his car and then snapped his head back up to look across at Jake and Josh.

“It’s time to decorate it.”

“What are you gonna do for the paint job?” Josh’s eyes were wide with interest.

“Flames?” Jake guessed. “The Batman logo?”

Sam shook his head. “I want it to be sleek, modern, and sexy.”

“Sexy?” Jake and Josh both gaped at their younger brother.

“You’re ten, what do you know about sexy?” Josh sounded genuinely concerned.

“I hear people call cars sexy,” Sam replied. That was really all he understood about the word. His response seemed to bring some relief to his brothers since they dropped the subject.

“So, sleek and modern, huh?” Jake asked Sam.

“I want it to be red and glossy,” Sam shared.

“Only red?” Josh checked in. “You could paint something else on it, you know.”

“I was gonna do a Spiderman design, but I think only red is better,” Sam replied. “It feels more, I don’t know, grown up.”

“I can grab you a Sharpie and you could write some stuff on it,” Josh suggested. “Like ‘Sam Kiszka rules’ and ‘I love my brothers.’”

“Ew, gross,” Jake made a face. “Don’t you dare write that on your car.”

Sam laughed at his brothers.

“I’m just gonna do red.”

Josh was hovering around Sam quite a bit while he retrieved a tube of red acrylic paint from their arts and crafts drawer, and he took the hint.

“Do you want to help me paint?” Sam asked Josh.

“Sure,” Josh tried to sound cool, though Sam could tell that he was secretly ecstatic.

They settled back in the garage and grabbed their paint brushes, both spreading the scarlet shade over the wood. Off to the side, Jake had snagged his own paintbrush and was carefully decorating the discarded pieces of wood that Kelly had cut off of the original block of wood with the Cool S. Sam and Josh covered the car in three hefty coats of paint before Sam decided that it was looking good. The color was bright and was certain to gather a lot of attention out on the track. To top it off, Sam added some gloss over the paint so it had a bit of a shine to it when it was held up to the light.

“What do you think?” Sam called over to Jake, who had started mindlessly painting on his bare arms so they were mostly blue. He let his brush drop back down onto the table in embarrassment, and squinted to look at Sam’s progress.

“Looking good!” he called back, giving a blue thumbs up.

Since they had to wait for the paint to dry, Jake and Josh excused themselves so they could find something else to do to keep themselves preoccupied that wasn’t watching paint dry. Sam overheard them scheming to paint Jake entirely blue so he could run around their neighborhood pretending to be a member of the Blue Man Group.

Sam took advantage of the peace and quiet and focused hard on aligning his axles and securing the tires. When he was satisfied, he glued the axles in place and then popped the tires on. He gave the car a light push across Kelly’s work bench and watched in delight as it moved in a straight line with ease.

“Nice,” Sam whispered to himself. And then he hustled upstairs to find his mom.

Karen was the self-proclaimed expert with the hot glue gun, which was what Sam needed to secure his metal into the back of his car to insure that it moved as fast as possible.

“MOOOOOOOOOOM!” Sam shouted from the kitchen.

“Yeah, Hun?” Karen’s voice was muffled from the other end of the house. Sam cradled his car in his arms to make sure it didn’t get damaged, and ran down the hallway to his parent’s room. There, he found Karen, laying on top of their Queen bed while flipping through Water For Elephants.

“Can you glue something for me?” Sam asked, out of breath.

“Is this your Pinewood Derby car?” Karen asked in intrigue, motioning for Sam to pass her his car so she could admire it. Sam excitedly handed it to her, hoping to receive more praise for his hard work. “Oh wow,” Karen breathed out. “This looks really good, Sammy. I love the color too.”

“Josh helped me paint it,” Sam said as he puffed out his chest in pride.

“That was nice of him,” Karen gave Sam a warm smile. “So what do you need me to glue?”

“I have these Tungsten balls that should fit in the holes Dad drilled to the bottom of the car in the back,” Sam explained quickly. “I need the hot glue gun to make sure that they stay in place.”

“Let me grab it,” Karen told Sam. He watched her mark her place in her book and stand from the bed to rummage through her closet for the hot glue gun. It had been a while since she had needed it; the kids weren’t doing art projects as much as they used to.

They moved to the kitchen where she could plug the glue gun in, and Sam stood on his step stool to watch his mom trap the metal inside the drilled holes with the hot glue. While they waited for it to harden, Sam watched an entirely blue Jake run around the front yard, waving his hands around and cackling loudly. Karen caught a glimpse of her son and shook her head in disbelief.

“What am I going to do with your brother?” she sighed.

They both watched as Josh ran behind Jake with the garden hose, trying to wash him off with an equally loud laugh.

Later that evening, the entire Kiszka family crowded in the living room to watch Sam test his design against the infamous Hot Wheel car that had gotten Jake disqualified three years earlier. On their homemade track, built out of old carboxes, Sam and a slightly less blue Jake held their cars at the starting line.

“On your marks,” Josh called, “Get set, go!”

Jake and Sam dropped their cars at the same time and watched in awe at the incredible speed that carried Sam’s car to the finish line in what felt like the blink of an eye. A few seconds later, Jake’s Hot Wheel clunked past the finish line. Sam’s grin was wide as he pictured his car winning the following weekend at the Derby in a similar fashion.

In what felt like no time, Sam was at the Frankenmuth Youth Center, carefully shielding his car model from any harm. His fellow Cub Scouts were crowding around the racetrack and playing with their cars on the gym floor, which Sam noted was ruining their tires.

He was standing off to the side, surrounded by his family, attempting to remain calm while he waited his turn for the competition. When the time finally came, Sam could feel his heart start to thunder in his chest.

You can do this, he thought down to his car. He hoped with all of his might that his car was going to win. The prize was a large trophy which was pretty cool, but Sam mostly wanted to prove to the other kids that he could make the best, fastest car out there.

He eyed his competitors and noted that their cars were too tall, too wide, too flimsy-looking, too chunky. In comparison his car looked like a part of the Indianapolis 500. Sam gingerly placed his car in its designated lane and then, per the Scoutmaster’s direction, took two steps away from the starting line.

C’mon, c’mon, c’mon, Sam silently prayed.

“Let’s go, Sam!” Josh called from the crowd.

Please, Sam tried one last time.

The bar holding the cars in place on their elevated slope was removed, and the cars sped down the track in a quick zip. The bright red color of Sam’s car definitely made it stand out against his competitors, and he had no trouble tracking it as it zoomed down the track at the front of the pack. The other cars felt like they were miles behind him. Sam started to imagine all of the bragging rights he would earn on the playground and could feel his stomach turn in glee. The Scoutmaster’s shrill whistle marking the end of the race brought Sam out of his daydream and, beaming wide, he waited to hear the announcement that his car had won. But, off in the distance, he saw the Scoutmaster holding a different car up.

Bradley, who was conveniently the Scoutmaster’s son, ran to join his dad with an excited whoop, dancing at the finish line with his winning car. Sam’s face dropped in shock. Bradley’s car hadn’t seemed like a threat to him when he studied the other cars in the race earlier, but there must have been something about his design that outshone Sam’s.

Sam could feel the excitement oozing out of him until he noticed that the Scoutmaster was holding up his car as well. He could just barely hear his gruff voice call out, “Second place!”

Even though Sam had been shooting for first place, second place got a trophy as well which was more than enough to keep him happy. He had never won anything in his life and had always dreamed of having something shiny to display on his bookcase, just like his siblings.

He sprinted to the finish line and had his winning car placed back in his hands, which he immediately lifted up in victory. Within seconds his family was by his side, clasping him on the back and congratulating him. That is, everyone but Josh.

“Don’t you think it’s a bit rigged that the Scoutmaster’s son won?” he asked with his brows furrowed.

“Joshua, not right now,” Karen told him.

“It just seems a little bit fixed,” Josh continued to argue.

Sam hadn’t considered that, but Josh did have a point.

“Bradley cheated!” he called out.

“No,” Kelly assured Sam, turning briefly to shoot Josh a glare. “He won fair and square. But you got second place which is so wonderful! You should be so proud of yourself.”

“They stole that win from you,” Josh whispered to Sam.

“Joshua,” Karen warned her son again. Josh took the hint and shuffled away from Sam.

Sam was ready to continue spewing conspiracies that the entire race was fixed, but he was quickly distracted when the Scoutmaster announced that they begin the award ceremony. While Sam continued to hold onto his car, he was handed a polished gold trophy that had “2nd Place” written on a plaque at the bottom. He could hear his family whoop and cheer for him loudly and, in that moment, Sam felt like he had accomplished something truly great for the first time. He always felt like he was living in the shadow of his older siblings but, finally, he could enjoy the limelight. He felt a new confidence growing in him as he realized he had won something that he was in charge of. It had been his design, not Jake’s, not Josh’s, not Ronnie’s, not his parent’s, his. He couldn’t be more proud.

After receiving the news from Josh about their Grammy, Sam felt transported back to his youth when he placed second at the Pinewood Derby Competition. Like nine years prior, his heart swelled with joy that he, Danny, and his brothers had come together to create something that was uniquely theirs, and found success along the way.

“We worked so hard for this,” Sam told Josh, his voice quivering as his emotions caught up to him.

“Nice to finally win first, right, Sammy?” Jake joined Josh, calling into the phone to Sam.

“It definitely is,” Sam laughed.

#gvf #greta van fleet #sam kiszka #jake kiszka #josh kiszka #danny wagner #gvf fanfiction #gvf fic #gvf fanfic #greta van fleet fanfiction #greta van fic #greta van fleet fanfic #pinewood derby #now I know how to make one of these cars....kinda lol

17 notes · View notes

cosplayinamerica · 1 year

Photo

Natty Cosplay began cosplaying about 10 years ago, and since then she’s fully embraced the fandom, and found her tribe amongst fellow cosplayers and friends who attend conventions in and around her home state of Florida. Like many of us her journey into cons, and cosplays, began with a push by friends to join them for a trip to a nearby anime con.

Natty recalled, “My friends already got tickets, and they were like “come on book your ticket. We’re going to MetroCon”. And I was like, “You’re right I should. I lived here this whole time, and I never went. It’s almost like I almost forgot, but they reminded me.”

It was at this convention where she debuted her first cosplay, as she tried out the world of anime conventions

“I just put together a little Poison Ivy cosplay by gluing on a bunch of leaves I had to a bodysuit, and you know we just walked around and had a great time,” Natty said. “I didn’t even delve so much into con culture. I just thought it was a place to shop really. I walked around the vendor area and saw so many booths, comics, and figures, and [other[ things.

As time went on, I found I had more space and time and resources and funds to get deeper into the hobby. That’s when I started being more consistent with it.”

She has continued to delve further into cosplay, and now has quite a variety of cosplays she considers her favorites.

Natty said, “My very favorite one is that first cow cosplay. I did that one for Holiday Matsuri, and we had a cow meet up with other people dressed as cows. That was really fun. We did some pictures, videos, and I passed out little cow treats like candy. That was really fun.”

Natty continued, “My second favorite one is from ‘The Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated!’The anime is not as popular, but I love it. I dressed up as the Demon Lord. I love that cosplay. She never speaks, and she just eats all the time. It’s such a cute character, and it’s a very funny show.

Lastly Natty mentioned her third favorite cosplay she cosplayed was “Katara from Avatar The Last Airbender.” Natty remarked, “I want to revisit that and get more props for it, but I really had fun in that cosplay too. I want to bring that to a con.”

Natty loved the camaraderie and togetherness she had experienced, and she really wanted to help others find that as well, so she developed her first app “Show Buddy.” Natty recalled, “I launched Show Buddy around 2018. That was to help people find friends to go to concerts and festivals together. I would basically make a listing and curate a bunch of events that were going on in the United States, and have a group chat attached to it so people could sign up, join the group chat for the event and message back and forth. I think it’s still on Google Play, but I had to take it down off the Apple App Store around 2020.

I pulled the app down due to the nature of things at the time, but it was really fun while it was up and running, and I did meet a few people while I was using the app at that time. So it was a great experience, and I might pursue something a little bit more updated in the future.”

Natty took away some key lessons from her experience creating Show Buddy that have informed her about friendship and social hangouts in this day and age.

Natty remarked, “I learned that for some reason, it’s a lot harder for people to make friends and find people with the same hobbies in this day and age. I think a lot of people don’t like going to events alone, and if they have a chance they would rather go with someone. Though there’s nothing wrong with going places alone, I think just that the social atmosphere of things is just really lonely now. And there’s definitely a demand for people that want to meet new people and make new friends while they’re traveling or going to an event.”

When asked if Natty thought this related to conventions too, she replied “Oh yeah, for sure. There’s definitely a demand for [connections] with cons too, especially with this type of group, [that can be] a little bit shy and feel they’re pushing themselves. They’re putting themselves out there, but maybe they don’t have a lot of experience going to places alone. So I can see that being a thing for cons too.”

Though many generations can of course struggle to find friendship and connections, I was wondering if this might be extra challenging for today’s youth.

“I think a lot of people [would] agree,” Natty said. “It feels like more pressure now because on social media, you want to show a really flashy life. You want to not see your truest self sometimes. You kind of put up a perfect snapshot of that moment on your social media compared to what really happened behind the scenes in real life. So I do think that it was a little bit freer back then. It was easier. It was more natural. People liked posting unedited pictures of what they did with their friends for the weekend, whereas now everyone’s maybe pushing a product or something.”

One aspect of cosplays and conventions that Natty really appreciates is how it’s a wonderful space to meet a wide variety of people.

At conventions for instance, Natty said “I’m meeting married couples, families, and kids. It’s interesting but of course cosplay is everyone. It’s all different ages. So it’s nice to meet other people. You sort of just find your tribe and where you fit in.”

Natty stumbled into another fandom that really took her into a new unfamiliar world she then fell in love with. Natty recalled, “When I was younger, I was always searching online for shows on websites that had them hosted free, and I was looking for something and I accidentally clicked on a Korean Drama (K-Drama). It kept coming up, so I was like “I’ll watch this”. And I was so invested. I was like, “Wow, my mind was blown!” I didn’t even know about this culture and this country until I started getting really into that K-Drama. The K-Drama was ‘My Girl’, by the way, [which is] super old, but I just fell in love with it.”

Natty really went full steam into her love of Korean culture afer that, and this accidental click would lead her to studying overseas.

Natty remarked, “I was so inspired. I was learning Korean, like very beginning Korean, and my college had a study abroad program for South Korea. So I did a summer abroad at Yonsei International Summer School. And I met so many different people. We had a great time. We were always hanging out together, and it was great.” Natty continued, “[I loved] learning so much about the culture and just a different way of life. It was way more advanced, and a lot more convenient.. It had its good and bad [qualities], but

I enjoyed all of it. And then I went with my Korean friend to see her family because she was visiting. They were just so kind and generous to me and they gave me so much fruit, which is very expensive. We had to carry this huge bag of fruit back to our dorm. It was like watermelon, strawberries, peaches, all sorts of things, and I was so happy and grateful for that.”

Natty made sure to capture her time over in Korea, and she actually turned this into an eBook for others interested in learning about the country and culture of Korea. “I made a journal for each day,” Natty said. “It’s kind of like a blog with a picture for that day and everything I did. I’m glad I did that because it was for all those three months, so it was really well documented.”

She’s considered revisiting it, and perhaps re-editing parts, and when considering that she revisited many of her entries.

Natty remarked, “I read it and I remembered things that I did that I completely forgot. I had my fortune told, which was very fun. I also went to Japan from South Korea for like three days with a few friends, and that was also so much fun.”

Though Natty missed a lot of what Korea offered when she returned, she has noticed how much the cultural landscape has changed here, and how so many international foods, products, and stores have come over to the U.S. Natty remarked, “Ten years ago when I came back from South Korea, I missed having Korean food and everything, but now I can get that at the tip of my fingers with DoorDash. That did not exist before. Now we have a lotte Mart and so much more coming. So I’m happy about that.” Similarly she’s seen the world of cosplay and fan conventions evolve too, and primarily for the better. Natty said, “I like how much the cosplay space has grown. Now I see all types of shapes and bodies and skin tones and hair textures. Cosplay doesn’t have to be exactly like the picture or the anime. You can make it however you like and be creative with it.”

Now about 10 years on into her fandom, Natty’s continuation with cosplays and conventions just makes sense for her. “It just feels so natural to keep doing this,” Natty remarked. “It’s fun, I love the social aspect, and I would rather be spending my money on that than bills and stuff. So I feel like if I’m working at least I should work for something I enjoy too. So I always make a point to try to get one cosplay item and that keeps me going. [Otherwise] I’m just working, but not enjoying myself.”

After slowing down her work on Show Buddy, she continued to embrace her side-hustle side, and she’s used her creativity to work on a new Exchange app. Natty explained, “It’s a listing website where you can post what services you offer in exchange for what service you’re looking for. For example, if you are a hairstylist and you’re looking for a makeup artist, you can post that and contact each other so that you don’t have to pay. You can just exchange that service. It’s kind of similar to Freecycle and other websites that do that. A lot of people do this already. I noticed a lot of people looking for things and they’ll offer their professional services, so I just wanted to make a website listing so that it’s all in one place and you don’t have to make a Facebook post or make a random post elsewhere looking for that.”

Like with cosplay, Natty has gained a lot through her creative efforts working on projects like Show Buddy and now her new Exchange website.

Natty said, “I love having a little side project. I work full-time for a Fintech company, but you know in my free time I do like to put out my websites and thoughts and apps and all of that. And there’s always a place for everything. You always have an audience for everything. It’s just finding the audience. That’s the hard part, but you know you should always do it because you never know what may come out of it.”

21 notes · View notes