midnightshade

[midnightshade]

Wonderful! ♥︎

A Caged Lily

@dangorabbit08

"This artwork is dedicated to Dangorabbit, inspired by her powerful work A Caged Lily on ao3—a haunting exploration of a Muzan x Nezuko pairing that delves into the horrors of child marriage, trauma bonding, and the harrowing complexities of survival under a demon's control."

From Chapter 44 where Nezuko is recovering from a traumatic miscarriage.

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Rather Nezuko considered herself one of the lowest of the low. Why wouldn’t she? She’s committed the gravest of sins by betraying her family. She slept with the demon king after he killed them. How could she ever consider herself anyone of importance anymore?

The girl was drawn from her thoughts by something suddenly tickling her nose and obscuring her vision. Pink eyes went crossed-eyed to see what on earth was on her nose.

It was a butterfly. Nezuko couldn’t quite see what it looked like. It was too close to her face. The girl also felt one land on her hand. This was…interesting…"

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You cannot tell me Shinobu's pink hakamashita and hakama isn't the same as Kanao's in the final selection, handed-down clothes is peak siblingism actually

I know ufotable did this on purpose because official arts always respects her palette colours and choose any shade of purple for her, but no, they had to put her on the exact same two shades of pink as Kanao's

And if it's truly hers, it would be so cute how Kanao went to examine her demon slayer skills with her sisters' clothes and hair clip (and most probably the katana too). I love butterfly sisters so much

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I talk about it a little in this post and its various comments, but I think that the themes of life, death, and immortality that exist within KNY are genuinely some of the most interesting parts of the series at large. The most prominent and straightforward example of this exists within Muzan’s desperate quest for a perfect eternal life, which directly conflicts with Kagaya’s belief in the longevity of the human will. The former is concrete, physical, and simple where the latter remains abstract and very difficult to define.

It’s obviously displayed in Kagaya’s death scene;

But is also scattered throughout the manga in different moments — Sanemi’s first meeting with Kagaya is one of them, because it’s where Kagaya first mentions how little he thinks his life matters when he has an heir to continue aiding and leading the organization for him. He finds his eternity in the long standing effort his family (both biological and chosen) has made and will continue to make in freeing the world of the demonic blight. Which is a philosophy that he makes sure Muzan knows is followed by everyone who fights and lives or dies for the organization and its cause. The young men and women who didn’t pass Final Selection, the demon slayers on Mt. Natagumo, Rengoku, and so on so forth.

He dies knowing that he has a guaranteed legacy, and that Muzan’s inherent nature as a demon means he will never be allowed to do the same. Why do you think he becomes so angry when Kagaya mentions how his death means the death of all his demons too? He knows just as well as Kagaya does how limited he is. There is no one to avenge him or continue his work if he fails the way Kagaya and the Ubuyashiki have always had the Demon Slayer Corps. And even when the organization disbands, they have the certainty of a peaceful, demon-free future waiting for them. That is what they have all worked for, and the desire for tranquillity will always exist within humanity no matter who the enemy becomes.

Yorichii understood that very well… but his older twin brother, Michikatsu, could not fathom it.

He was utterly befuddled by Yorichii’s smile as he thought of the uncertain future, imagining a generation even stronger and more capable of saving lives than they were. He didn’t help the Sengoku Era demon slayers develop breathing styles or teach them or do anything because he wanted to be remembered — it was because he believed in the cause as earnestly and as fiercely as the old families who had followed it for centuries before him. By his own admission, Michikatsu had become a demon slayer out of insecurity and jealousy. He questions how his younger brother managed to leave so much more of himself behind when he was the one who became immortal, but he did this to himself.

He abandoned his wife and his children alongside his personal honor and his dreams and his cause and that’s why he can’t even begin to fathom Yorichii’s hopes for the future even when its manifestation is standing right in front of him;

Together, Yorichii and Michikatsu act as the second biggest philosophical contrast in KNY. They are the everlasting legacy of a man who could not care to leave one behind and the forgotten samurai who was utterly obsessed with the idea of having one, but didn’t know what that really meant. Tanjiro and Muichiro are also wonderful examples of this, because Tanjiro has absolutely no direct relation to Yorichii, and yet he effectively acts as his heir. On the other hand, Muichiro is explicitly noted to be Michikatu’s descendent by Kokushibo, but he is originally thought to be a Sun Breather’s descendant and rejects Kokushibo altogether. More than that, Kokushibo is the one who ultimately kills him.

Michikatsu literally and metaphorically kills any chance he has at having a legacy with his own hands, while Yorichii aids Tanjiro long after death.

It’s a beautifully painful contrast.

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I'd love to do further exploration on the topic. Perhaps a fic, but it would be more headcanon than anything since we have so little information about his marriage, his connections, and his feelings as a human.

I do wonder if he ever thought of them as a demon. Even just in passing.

He was genuinely pleased that his bloodline existed in Muichiro, so perhaps that was a lingering thread of guilt. The knowledge that, even though he left his family, a part of them – and his legacy – still existed.

I find myself thinking about Kokushibo and his family a lot. His wife and children, I mean.

Him abandoning them was wrong, but at the same time, I can't entirely blame him. It was clearly an arranged marriage and one that he wasn't happy in. Even though he described it as "peaceful", he also followed that up with "boring." For someone like Kokushibo, who's entire passion is swordsmanship and improving himself, I can see how that would ultimately lead to a feeling of discontent and listlessness.

However; my sympathy also extends naturally to his wife and children. Just like him, they were forced into a situation they also had little choice in. Kokushibo's wife was arranged to him, just as he was to her. The children didn't ask to be born. In the panel depicting Kokushibo leaving, it's easy to tell that they did love him. His wife looks devastated while his eldest tries to run after him, reaching out to grab his leg or his hand to keep him from leaving.

I see many discussions surrounding Kokushibo and his feelings towards his family, but ultimately I feel the situation is more complicated than one or the other. I don't think he hated them, nor do I think he truly loved them. He felt shackled, perhaps even resentful of his circumstances, but he did ultimately express regret at having abandoned them.

Kokushibo likely had more complicated feelings, perhaps more than he understood or was willing to admit. Having two children with a woman, one who was visibly devastated by his departure, and having his eldest child try to stop him from leaving seems to me like a pretty good indicator that, while he was with them, Kokushibo was a fairly good husband and father.

They loved him. I think Kokushibo had at least some fondness for them, too. Not enough to stay, not enough to consider his wife his "true love", but enough to treat them kindly while he was with them and to feel regret for his actions upon his death.

I do find myself wondering how his wife and children coped after his death. Financially they were probably fine, but emotionally is another thing. His wife probably had to live with the knowledge that the man she loved, or at least tried to love, didn't return the feelings. At least, not enough to prevent the final outcome.

His eldest would grow up with bittersweet memories and confused feelings. He would remember the excitement he'd felt when he was small and his father came back from his most recent mission, or the memories of Kokushibo holding him or promising to teach him how to wield a sword, all of that muddied by the pain and resentment of being left behind, of hearing his mother crying in despair.

His youngest would forever have a void in his heart. Never having had memories of his father, but longing to have known him and subsequently feeling guilty for longing for the man who abandoned them. Did they ever ask their mother or elder brother, or were they too scared to prod at old wounds?

Did they ever fully pick up the pieces? Did Kokushibo ever think of them, as a Slayer or as a Demon? I suppose we'll never know.

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Muzan's illness theory

So as we all know Muzan as a human was chronically ill the question is with what

I decided to spend my Sunday afternoon seeing what it could possibly be with what little info we have and the rabbit has a theory

Muzan could have had cystic fibrosis

Hear me out on why I believe so

On thing that is often associated with cystic fibrosis is general weakness. Muzan could barely walk as it was, at least when he was getting the knife to kill his doctor

It is rare but fetuses can die due to complications related to cystic fibrosis. Now of course Muzan lived but he was thought to be dead. That could be an indication in all honesty

Malnutrition and failure to thrive. Muzan is pretty scrawny as an adult and who's to say he wasn't stunted growing up. He probably couldn't eat that much

Shortness of breath. We all saw how winded Muzan was when he killed his doctor and that was probably a short walk

With the other diagnosis it is hard to gauge as we get so little with Muzan's backstory. But I do believe that it is possible that he does have cystic fibrosis from what we do know

Anyway thank you for listening to my ramblings

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wondering what the vibe is these days on here

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What the point of getting Eiffel towered is the men aren't gonna kiss :(

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We ask your questions anonymously so you don’t have to! Submissions are open on the 1st and 15th of the month.

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Let me try this

So let the wheel decide your Japanese first-person pronoun

Note: descriptions may be inaccurate.

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I just wanted to be you...

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kny be like "oh and btw the love was there and it changed everything. if u even care"

kny be like "the love was there. it didnt change anything. it didnt save anyone. there were just too many forces against it. but it still matters that the love was there"

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Kokushibo and Yoriichi having everything the other wanted, and yet Kokushibo forsake it all just to get nothing he actually wanted in the end.

Yoriichi simply wanting to live a peaceful life with his family, only to lose it all and be forced to become a swordsman.

Kokushibo, who had that peaceful life, could not be satisfied with it. He wanted to be the greatest samurai, and thus abandoned his family.

Kokushibo became a demon out of fear of death, fear of having nothing to leave behind. The true irony is that, even having kids, he did not leave a legacy. He struck down his only known surviving descendant and everything about him turned to ash.

No one will remember his name. No one will ever know Moon Breathing or likely ever even know Yoriichi had a twin brother once named Michikatsu.

Yoriichi, even without being able to have children, affected so many people's lives for the better and long after his death helped humanity claim victory over Muzan.

Kokushibo will be forgotten, never having attained anything, even in his long life, while Yoriichi once more attained everything he wanted: a legacy, and through that, immortality.

Yoriichi and Kokushibou are such good characters man. Keeps me coming back to Demon Slayer over and over. Just one brother, whose legacy lasted on for centuries, despite death, and another brother who could not leave anything behind.

And all their themes and motifs and parallels with characters like Muichiro and Tanjirou and Sanemi and Genya and Gyomei.... Insane how Gotouge wrote this within a third of a singular arc of KNY and yet encapsulates everything in the entire story all the way from Chapter 1 till the epilogue

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I don't think there are strong enough words in the English lexicon to explain how badly I want to run up on Kokushibo and Yoriichi's father and throttle him

Separating his own kids and then getting mad when they want to play with each other. They're twins you fucking idiot 😭 then he has the audacity to strike Kokushibo because he made Yoriichi feel like an actual human being. Man, fuck this guy.

Literally fucking responsible for giving both Yoriichi and Kokushibo low self-esteem and creating such a toxic, competitive environment that Kokushibo develops an inferiority complex because why fucking wouldn't he?

The moment he "fell from grace" in his father's eyes because Yoriichi showed more talent, he was literally tossed aside and suddenly he wasn't the chosen heir anymore, but a failure that was now going to be sent away like his brother initially was.

I wish he had lived long enough to see Kokushibo become a demon, because Kokushibo deserved to rip that man apart

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Courting between demons was always a messy affair. It was violent, bloody – a test for each other to show of their strength, to prove to the other that they deserved them.

Muzan was well aware of Kokushibo and Nakime's feelings for each other. His ability to read the minds of his underlings made it impossible for them to hide anything from him, though those two never would hope to. They were his most loyal, after all.

Perhaps that's why he allowed them the privilege to court each other properly. Attachments could be a weakness, but with those two, he found himself. . .curious, as to how they might proceed.

The entirety of the Infinity Castle shakes, breathing as if one giant monster under Nakime's control. Her Biwa rings through the endless space, a haunting dirge that would signal the end for most others.

Even Kokushibo, the strongest of the Kizuki, is put to the test in the face of Nakime's control of the space. Doors closing in his face to cut off his line of sight, entire rooms being thrown his way to crush him, sharpened roof tiles being sent as projectiles, etc.

It is a battle to get to Nakime, but when he does, he discards his sword and knocks her instrument aside. What follows is the most important part of the courtship.

It is customary for demons to keep whatever injuries they acquire during courtship, at least until after the courting has finished. The severity of the injuries portrays how serious they are about the relationship and how capable they are in battle.

Kokushibo is able to pin her down with ease, allowing his teeth to find her throat, ripping out chunks of flesh. Nakime is small, she has no hope of throwing him off, but it doesn't stop her from lashing out in kind.

Her hair coils around Kokushibo, tightening on his throat as the sharp ends embed themselves into his skin. As he pulls back, she lashes forward and bites one of his eyes out, ripping the optic nerve out with it as she hisses in triumph, having taken the one reading, "Upper."

The struggling continues just long enough for Kokushibo to nudge her thighs apart so he can slot himself between them. There's no hesitation as he forces him inside of her, plunging both of his cocks into her with savage precision.

Nakime struggles beneath him, caught between gasping in a mixture of pain and pleasure, and rending him further apart. Every buck of his hips tears her further apart, her cunt clenching and fluttering around the intrusion.

For a long while all that can be heard on the platform is a mixture of gasps and growls and the wet slap of bloodied flesh against flesh. As Kokushibo continues to saw into her, Nakime's growls begin to pitter off into small purrs.

Only then does the brutality begin to fade. Kokushibo's grip on her wrists loosens as he bends further over her.

Quite unlike the brutality displayed before, new instincts kick in. Kokushibo's bites gentle to teasing nips as he licks and kisses along Nakime's jaw and neck, earning pleased trills and hums from the small demon.

Only when they finish is the courting complete. After they are both satiated, they heal their injuries, content to spend time in each other's arms, enjoying the steady fall of adrenaline and the buzzing new sensation of a successful pair bond.

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