#how to have a good university experience

[rosemaryhelenxo]

RHXO Tips - 6 Adventure Activities You Should Try At Least Once In Your Life

Embarking on an adventure is not just about thrills and excitement; it’s about opening up a world of possibilities. From a simple road trip to a bold leap into the unknown, adventures can be life-changing and transformative. More than just stories to tell, adventures can broaden your perspectives and offer opportunities to explore new cultures, cuisines, and activities.  Don’t wait for someday –…

[sparring-spirals]

imogen fumbling shit is just eternally good fodder for memes, alright. and its at least partly BECAUSE of how powerful she is. someone tripping while using a nerf gun? funny. someone dramatically hoisting up an outfit matchin heavy death laser gun and then immediately tripping and landing on their face? phenom. sometimes she goes "GROVEL" and the enemies grovel and we all go "oooooh" and "aaaahhh" and sometimes she just gets fully ignored and gets so huffy and petulant and ineffectually burns a cantrip just to be petty about it. sometimes she smites her enemies into dust with one move and renders a tree in half after threatening and other times she fucking. falls down a flight of stairs and accidentally sets everything on fire. fires a gun at her own team. loses all her hair. turns blue. etc.

Imogen lifts a humongous sand squid into the sky with her mind powers. Imogen is also falling out of a sky ship and landing on the desert sand far below and just. lying there. while her friend plays the flute in the background. epic hot failgirls NEED the HEIGHT to FAIL FROM. u gotta swing and miss sometimes!!! AND you gotta be REAL petty about it when u miss!!!! fucking fantastic.

[strawberrybabydog]

if we keep doing uwu soft little vampire and big strong dumb werewolf how are we going to ever break out of gender binary

if i see 1 more artist make the masculine/larger/stronger human partner into the werewolf im going to freak out

lycanthropy is about losing yourself. please i am begging you to make someone random, someone unequipped, into a werewolf. please. small scrawny werewolves who are weak and scared, feminine werewolves, werewolves who struggle with the idea of taking something's life (even another animal for food) werewolves who refuse to get dirty because they're averse. werewolves need more than 1 mental illness yall

its kind of a joke at the beginning but not really. make an insane jacked vampire and her petite femme werewife with braided patterned fur or something; make the vampire a seamstress who wont quit until her werewife has the perfect fitting dress for her new furry body. stop with the "oh this character is butch/masc, CLEARLY they would make a good werewolf" shut uuuuupp be a LITTLE more creative. come on!!! do you really think every single werewolf has a premium gym membership? quit drawing them like it !!!

[canisalbus]

Vasco and Machete are absolutely adorable, your style is so lovely and you draw the softest beds I’ve ever seen in any art ever

.

[all-too-unwell-13]

So you know how Lockwood and Lucy got white/grey streaks in both their hair after visiting the Other Side together in TCS??

Something about that reminds me a lot of Percy and Annabeth getting matching grey streaks in both of their hair after holding up the world in Titan's Curse. And like, not just the streaks in their hair, but also the experiences and the aftermath of them.

Like, I'm decently sure both Lockwood and Lucy and Percy and Annabeth were around the same age (I think Lockwood and Lucy were like 15, while Percy and Annabeth were 13-ish), but that's not really important.

Anyway, the matching grey/white streaks represent a traumatic event in each of their lives; for Percy and Annabeth, this was holding up Atlas' world (in Annabeth's case, for over 24 hours). And for Lockwood and Lucy, this was visiting the Other Side, which was, like Percy and Annabeth's situation, something that neither of them wanted to do but had to. (And idk if it's important or not, but in pjo, it's Percy taking the world from Annabeth to protect her, and in l&co, it's Lucy's spirit cape breaking, and Lockwood helping her under his to protect her. Not super important to what I'm saying, but just kind of a similarity.

Also!!! Both of them (percabeth and locklyle) bonded over these experiences; Lucy says multiple times in TCS that, after they go to the Other Side, even though her and Lockwood had always been close, they were closer now. Like there was something unspoken, an unspoken bond type of thing. She mentions them 'sharing looks' and how she learns to read his emotions better. Which, though they'd been close before and she'd been able to do that well already, this kind of supported and added to that.

I don't really remember (because it's been almost a year since I read Titan's Curse 😭), but I am decently sure Percy and Annabeth also bonded over this!!! They, obviously, had been close previously (just like Lockwood and Lucy), but this made them closer. Like now they had something special to kind of cement their friendship (and later on, relationship!!) but it also makes me think of, when Percy says in Chalice of the Gods, that he'd never thought of being with anyone else because he and Annabeth had had such shared experiences.

And it's also clear that, no matter if Lucy chooses to leave Lockwood and Co in previous books, (even though that comes before they go to the Other Side) she'll always find her way back to Lockwood (and George) because of their shared experiences.

Obviously, Percy and Annabeth have very traumatic shared experiences (not just what happened in the Titan's Curse, but also just going to Tartarus), but the same could be said for Lockwood and Lucy; take the Annabel Ward case - George wasn't there when the house burned down (though of course that wasn't his choice or his fault), and a few more cases.

So yeah, both Percy and Annabeth and Lockwood and Lucy get closer because of these horrible shared experiences, and the matching grey/white streaks in their hair is really only the beginning of the similarities between Percy and Annabeth and Lockwood and Lucy.

[puhpandas]

Decennial

(2,396 words)

Evan and Gregory, now age twenty-two, celebrate the tenth anniversary of their meeting in the comfort of their shared apartment.

Its already the afternoon when Evan meets Gregory at the couch in their shared apartment, smartphone in hand. Gregory glances up from whatever he was watching on TV, quickly grabbing the remote to pause the channel.

He doesn't even have a chance to greet him before he notices Evan's face. Worry quickly creases his brows, and he moves to get off of the couch. "Evan? Hey, what's wron--"

Evan tries to convey that everything's fine with no words. Because it's true. He just can't muster any up right now. When Gregory seems to understand enough, that's when Evan thrusts his phone into Gregory's line of sight.

Gregory shifts on the couch, taking the phone and studying the screen to no avail. Hes pulled up the calendar on his phone, the date reading March 4th, 2045. Gregorys brows furrow, then, "Uh. I dont understand."

Evan would have rolled his eyes if he weren't so emotional right now. He scoffs, tapping the screen and mumbling "The date. Look at the date."

It only takes another moment for Gregory to understand. Evan can almost see the gears turning in his friends head in the moments before he gasps sharply. "Oh!"

Gregory doesn't look away immediately, just taking it in as if it surpises him. "Its ten years since we met today."

Evan nods at that. A small smile stretching on his face when Gregory finally turns to look at him.

But he should know by now -really, it's been ten years after all- that Gregory knows him. Probably better than Evan himself.

"What's with that look?" Gregory questions, seemingly noticing how Evans smile doesnt quite reach his eyes. "You look sad."

Evan shakes his head immediately. "No-- that's not it." He replies, feeling a bit more fit to speak. "Its just..."

"Ten years?" Gregory prompts, and Evan nods. Gregory seems to get it. He sighs a bit, and Evan can tell hes not alone in reminiscing. "Jeez. Thats..."

"...A long time ago." "A big number." They say at the same time.

Evan joins Gregory on the couch, taking his phone back. Ten years. Ten years since he met Gregory. Ten years since Evan had been that little ball of anxiety. Ten years since the best thing that ever happened to him.

Nine years since their first holidays together. Eight years since they started high school. Four since they graduated. Three since they started college.

One year since they got their first apartment together.

Evan chuckles all of the sudden, loud as a jet engine in the seemingly silent room. "Do you remember what we always wanted to do as kids?"

Gregory only has to think for a moment. "You mean what we made a reality?"

"Yeah." Evan replies. "We got that apartment. Not exactly the college dorm we imagined, though."

"Psh. Are you kidding? Our apartment is way better than any dorm we could have gotten." Gregory scoffs. "We would have like. One room to our name, and we would have to share."

Its Evan's turn to scoff, this time. He smiles, the memories coming back easily. "You're acting like we didnt basically share your room when we were thirteen."

"You were always there." Gregory agrees, but Evan knows by now that Gregory doesn't mean it in a bad way. Never. That's one of the things that have changed since they met. Evan doesnt assume the worst first, and ask questions later anymore. "You got that right."

"Thank god we had Vanessa to tell us what to do." Evan says. "We would be lost without her."

Gregory snorts, shuffling on the couch. Evan glances over, and strangely, being here, in this moment, even though its nothing differnet from what he and Gregory do every day, reminds him so much of when he and Gregory would just hang out together on his bed. Drawing, watching videos, talking and laughing... all of it.

"Its a good thing she told us to get an apartment while we still could." Gregory says. "We would have burned down the entire dorm."

Evan giggles at the thought. It wouldn't be the first time he and Gregory would make a mess in the kitchen. He still remembers how scared he was as a fourteen year old, when he had burned some of the food meant for Vanessa's 'Welcome Home' dinner Gregory insisted they make. The Fazbears house had stunk of char and smoke for days afterwards.

He was terrified at the time. If he had ever done anything like that at his old house...

He shakes that thought away. He does that often. Thinking back to his time alone with his father and brother. His biological ones. It's been a challenge, shutting down his brain when it tries to recall the memories.

Its another thing that's changed. As a kid, he knew nothing about helping himself and his anxiety. He didnt want to. He never saw himself as worthy of deserving relief, and it was so subconscious, little Evan never even realized it.

Now, it couldn't be more different. Hes never been healthier.

Who knew all it took was a best friend for life?

He looks over at Gregory. Who's still recounting some of their old childhood memories. Evan doesnt talk to Michael anymore. The damage he caused is too much to ignore. Evan... Evan doesnt want to see him anymore. Despite Michaels wake up call, it had been all too late. The damage had been done.

Michael missed his chance. Evan had decided that a long time ago. Maybe he should have had his change if heart earlier if he didnt want Evan to find the brother he always wanted in someone else.

Because that's what Gregory is. Its nothing new, they were having these revelations when they were only teenagers. Probably even earlier for Evan. But Evan never stops thinking about how much Gregory truly is his family.

That suprise and shock of the kindness hed received from Gregory from little Evan ten years ago is hard to shake when all hed been taught his whole life is how to hate himself. How he deserved to be treated badly, because if he hadn't been the way he was, he could have made himself worthy. A respectable man. Tough. An immovable rock. Real men dont show their emotions, or even experience them. Real men can defend themselves. Real men start to toughen up at the ripe age of twelve.

Evan is twenty two, now. So is Gregory. This life they'd built for themselves, with such a bright future... little Evan never would have even dreamed of. Little Evan had thought there was nothing there for him. Little Evan had thought there was no light at the end of the tunnel. That he had been doomed from the start. That his nature nipped his figure at the bud before it could begin.

This life theyve built for themselves. When Evan had ran to the Fazbears as soon as he'd turned eighteen with only a bag of clothes, a binder full of drawings, and yellow bear to his name. When he'd shared the room that felt like his own as well growing up with Gregory. When they'd spent those few months together until getting into the same college and choosing an apartment.

This life theyve built for themselves. That Evan would have only seen as a fantasy when he was eleven.

Theyve changed so much. It always shocks Evan every time he sees an old photo, or really remembers what it had been like pre-Gregory. Evan is growing out his hair, now. Before, all hed ever had was a months overgrown generic slickback. But he gets to choose now. Like how he paints his nails. Gregory has never really cared about his appearance, but he saw a photo of his Dad as a college student and immediately went to go replicate the blue streaks in his hair when it was time for himself to go off to college.

Evan almost laughs sometimes when he thinks about how much Gregory really is just an older version of who he was when he was twelve. He's different, like Evan is, but he's the same as well. A constant.

He knows hes the same, as well. Just with longer hair, bolder clothes, and the power of experimentation. Gregory has never been one to care much about his clothes, but to Evan, its everything. To be able to wear what he always wanted as a kid. To not be confined to whatever annual clothes his Father would buy him from the back to school section. Its freeing.

It's in that moment that he thinks back, really thinks back to his life pre-Gregory, and the contrast of the before and after.

It's all too much, in that moment. The memories and the sentiments and the nostalgia. In true Evan fashion, he cries about it.

Gregory has long since learned how to differentiate Evan's tears between his emotionality and a genuine issue. So when Evan begins wiping silent tears away, he just smiles one of those smiles he does, and pats him on the shoulder, pulling him in for a side hug.

Its digging a hole in Evan's chest, this feeling. It's not bad. But it's not exactly good either. It's some kind of a loss, but a hope as well. Remembering how much he loved back then. As much as he loves right now.

"I--" Evan stutters, sniffling. Gregory hands him one of the many boxes of tissues they always have on hand in their apartment. "It... It feels like we need to celebrate, somehow. I mean... ten years is big."

Evans mind floats to a cake. Or a two person party. Or a collaborated drawing. Evan's mind floats to many things. Many options. Ten years is big, right? Something that big needs a big party. Something big to commemorate it.

But Gregory just hums, and lays eyes on the thick shelf of DVDs they have tucked by the wall right by their TV. "How about a movie night?"

Evan's about to interrupt, say something about the milestone, but Gregory continues. "Do you remember all our favorites as a kid?"

Evan stops himself short, almost scoffing, because of couse he does. How could he not, when he and Gregory had stayed up so many times to watch them together, alongside stifled giggles and ice cream straight out of the carton? "Of course I do."

Gregory gets off the couch, crouching by the bookshelf and picking out a select few movies. Evan catches the titles on the packaging from all the way were hes sitting. Every single one of them is special to him.

Gregory deposits the movies on their coffee table, three DVDs spilling out onto the glass surface. "Then I can't think of a better way to spend the night."

Despite Evan's attempts, he cant either. Despite watching these movies almost regularly with Gregory even now, opening the casing feels different in this moment. It feels special. Evan feels like hes thirteen again.

Before starting their marathon, they make a huge bowl of popcorn, pouring caramel on it just how they liked it as kids. As they continue to now. Evan gets the carton of ice cream out of the fridge, handing Gregory his spoon and taking his own.

All they need is a throw blanket and they're ready. It's the exact setup they've done for years. Starting ten years ago today. This tradition has lasted this long, and it will outlive the milestone.

It feels so familiar, Evan cant stop thinking. His emotions are dialed up to eleven tonight. It only increases when the sky darkens outside their windows. He remembers coming home from school with Gregory and just. Immediately piling onto his bed with snacks and pillows and turning the lights off before they'd dive into another movie. Only going to bed when Freddy forced them to.

Because that's what it was. Thats what it still is. Home. All Evan feels right now is home.

They laugh at all the same parts. They cry as well. They cheer. They point out the same things. Nothing has changed.

Sure, ten years is big. But Evan can't think of a better way of spending the anniversary than continuing to do what hes loved to do with Gregory throughout the years. This doesnt mark the end of an era, or a big change. It marks how long hes had the gift of his brother. His family. His real family. The fifteenth mark will, as well. So will the twentieth.

All the tenth mark says is hes had ten years worth of joy and growth. and He'll continue to do just that.

After the third movie, Evan takes a quick look at his phone. The numbers 12:03 look back at him from his lockscreen, a picture of him and Gregory. The date has switched to the 5th.

"You're my brother." Evan says suddenly to Gregory at the beginning of the fourth movie. Gregory pauses in stuffing his face with popcorn to look over at Evan's earnest face. "You know that?"

Gregory chuckles wetly. It seems Evan isn't alone in the sentimentality tonight. "Only since we were preteens."

Gregory pulls him into that same side hug he always does. "You're my family." Gregory tells him sincerely. "You always will be, too. Hell would freeze over before our family would ever say you aren't one of theirs."

Evan chuckles, eyes misty, because he knows its true. He can imagine his family's reactions so vividly. "I know."

They only sink further into the hug after that, the movie continuing on. Theyve long since stopped with the thank yous. Not since they got it through Evan's thick skull that they arent doing him a favor. They just love him.

It's in that moment that Evan realizes that tomorrow is another day. And there are more after that and after that. Theres more milestones to reach, more years to spend with his brother and their family, and he cant wait to experience them.

But right now, he's content continuing a ten year long tradition as a mundane celebration for a non-mundane achievement.

It's not mundane to him at all, anyway. It means the world to him.

Besides, he can't imagine a world where his family doesn't throw a suprise party for him when he and Gregory visit them tomorrow.

ao3 link

[lost-technology]

I woke up this morning from the weirdest this-fandom related dream ever. So, in my dream, Vash and Wolfwood were sitting by a campfire and griddle talking about weird meats. They had some weird meats with them, as in meats from different animals that they were planning on cooking and eating. Vash drew out a plastic wrapped package (vacuum pack, looked like my local store brand) that looked like a pork chop, but declared that it was, in fact, human meat. He'd gotten it from a little post-apocalyptic Noman's Land shop that specialised in such things. He said that, as a Plant, he wanted to try it to see if he was compatible for eating human. Dream!Vash? What the actual FUCK?!!! And so unwrapped it and put it on the griddle and creeped out Wolfwood, but Wolfwood understood. Something like that. And then I flashed back into my body. This entire scenario was one that I was writing as a fanfic on a public counter in some kind of cafeteria at an anime convention. Above it, appearing almost immediately, was a fancomic someone else did on the upright part of the counter that recounted the events of my fanfiction (a fancomic of my fanfiction) except that whoever did it made it more Vashwood than I had intended my story, ending it with Vash and Wolfwood kissing. At the same time, I was thinking "My fanfic doesn't deserve this, it's not that good. It's not like Sin Eaters by dragonofeternal, which has a similar theme done much better." Yes, I was literally thinking of a real fic I'd read in my dream! I commented aloud on the comic that "This is more Vashwood than I'd intended, but I'll take it." As in, it's not really my ship, no one that I see as canon, but I like people in fandom shipping whatever they like and I enjoy Vashwood when it's done well and makes sense, which it kinda did in this fancomic even though it was inspired by my fanfic, which hadn't gone in that direction. Cue some snotty twenty-something with blueish purple dyed long pigtails and a Goth look sitting around nearby looking at all of this informing me "Vashwood is canon." and I said "No it's not." And she argued that she'd read some very obscure comic where it was - and it turns out we had both, by then, shifted into Batman fandom and she was referencing some obscure storyline in which Batman and Robin had fucked like animals. I further argued that I was going by a very specific canon (ala, "Batman the Animated Series" - which was somehow Trigun now), but concededed that while I wasn't as much into the deep lore of the comics, that I wouldn't be surprised if Batman/Robn (Vash and Batman now? Huh?) was canon in some form. Brain.... what are you doing?

[craycraybluejay]

yes i am an adult male who loves high school dramas this is because i literally never experienced normal coming of age drama like ever and am disconnected from the collective experience of having a relatable peer group forever hope that helps

[itslookingback]

one of my favourite recent aromantic realisations is that i don't have to put labels on feelings and sort them into boxes. at all. especially if i feel like i'm forcing them into different categories just for the sake of categories.... it feels just so relieving not having to constantly question your relationships with people because you end up realising that whatever is happening now is good, and some relationships might go deeper and that's literally all it is. there is so much pressure to have romantic feelings in your life that you will make yourself uncomfortable just to have that experience. when actually you're not living life with a part missing, you have friends and connections and people to talk and laugh with. and while some people would like something more in their life it is still so much love already

[rosemaryhelenxo]

RHXO Tips - Top Hobbies You Can Try at Home This Summer!

Do you want to learn a new hobby? Maybe you just want to make sure that you are filling your time with positive activities rather than just sitting in front of the television all night. Either way, if you are ready to make a positive change then this is the guide for you. Learn Calligraphy Calligraphy is a fantastic activity for stress relief and you would be surprised at how much it can…

[bumblingbabooshka]

Rare Chakotay-Janeway-Tuvok moment: These three have got to get together and see a ball game or something.

[zukkaoru]

As someone who is disabled, I agree with the other anon, the way you write disability into the characters is very nice. It's done so casually, there isn't any judgemnet behind it, it isn't being done for the point of a pity plot, it's just... an extra detail. That feels very nice and refreshing. Thank you so much.

ahh thank you!! i do try to be careful with my depictions of disabilities and make a conscious effort to portray them as realistically disabling while also not going overboard into infantilization/savior plot/etc. so i'm very glad to hear that you think i'm doing it well <3

[alevolpe]

your hc on the tiaras being the eyes of serenity makes me wonder if you have any hc about the planetary symbols on the foreheads aside from it being the natural state

Mmh, let’s see. Not particularly I guess, if anything I think I’d take away stuff from canon.

Like in canon is implied that the symbol appears when a senshi “needs help” or “is willing to help”, I don’t have that, cause that would imply the symbols inherently being tied to the team rather than to the individual, or it could mean that the senshis are inherently born to be tied in a connection where they would need this type of almost instinctual communication engrained into their being in the first place.

The ladder isn’t an inherently bad idea and I think you could go very interesting places with it, but I just haven’t gotten that far.

That really cuts to the question of: what is a senshi? Why do they exit and what is their purpose? And I know we have an answer in canon, but I don’t particularly love it, so I’m reworking the whole structure from the ground up.

In the general sense though, the symbols just stand as a way of identifying if one is a senshi or not. A weird analogy I have for it is like the red markings on a black widow, tho in the senshis’ case it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re a threat and the symbols is a warning. The symbol just is, as far as we know, and it’s prob not as easy to understand as the red markings on a spider.

[soldier-poet-king]

I may be the meanest pettiest person on the whole entire planet (I am) but the concept of Catholic speed dating is the absolute worst thing I can think of and the whole "date while staying true to your values" vibe like. How do YOU know what my values are? I can't stand 99% of Catholics (and Christians broadly tbh. *Mr incredible voice: I'm not affiliated with you) and i would fistfight them in a heartbeat. The type of person drawn to the "marriage discernment" event is the exact type of person I want to AVOID at all costs.

Like yeah romance sounds nice and all, and I'm very good at just sitting here vaguely wishing for things, but I can barely form long term friendships with a significant intimate foundation. Even if I WERE to be in a relationship, the other party would almost certainly be non Catholic or be a bad Catholic like me and have to get cool with a lot of stuff real quick

[its-tortle]

thinking about history of man and how perfectly it encapsulates the patterns of romance and female loss throughout history. it references mythologies to show how women have always been the pining, desperate lovers while men have cast them aside and blamed them for the consequences of their love. there's no rewriting it. heartbreak is age old and universal. there was heartbreak inside the walls of jericho. but still it never feels that way. over and over, she loves him more than anyone ever has in the history of man.

[demonslayedher]

Do you think the Demon Slayer Corps' final selection process is a terrible and inefficient induction method?

I've seen this point made here or there, with good reasons about how it unnecessarily decreases the talent pool by killing or traumatizing its participants, or dropping them into fighting demons instead of acclimating them. As opposed to agreeing or disagreeing with a point already well-made, I'd like to take the harder route of playing alligator's advocate in defense of the Final Selection as an inseparable element from Kimetsu no Yaiba as a whole. This is based primarily on sketches of a scrapped precursor to KnY, and commentary from KnY’s first editor (both included in the first fanbook).

If we step back to 2014, Gotouge had won a prize for a very rough stand-alone story in a Meiji/Taisho-esque setting, with a strong one-armed swordsman blinded with scars across his face, and monsters who were like vampires in Japanese clothing. Oh, and Tamayo and Yushiro were in it too. This story was “Kagarigari” and it granted the 25-ish-year-old alligator with thick glasses the chance to become a profession mangaka with guidance from the Shounen Jump editorial staff. However, Gotouge’s attempts thereafter to create a serialized manga (“Rokkotsu-san”, “Haeniwa no Jiguzagu”, “Dontsukazaguruma”, published in a compilation at a later date) all failed to be green-lit for serialization and were limited to one-shot stories. If Gotouge wasn’t going to get a serialization green-lit in 2015, the alligator’s mangaka career would be over. There was some desperation to create something with impact, and alligator and editor together went back to the prize-winner rough piece “Kagarigari” for inspiration.

This was how "Kisatsu no Nagare" (Demon Killer Nagare) has born.

Sketches of the first three chapters were included in the first KnY fanbook, and ties to early elements of KnY were obvious; most of the worldbuilding was already there and even panels of an encounter with the Swamp Demon were practically reused later. However, it was a dark story which stressed how even if the Meiji government wanted to deny belief in old things like “demons” there were still those who hunted them, a secret society of swordsmen. Even if Meiji reforms wanted to leave it all behind, the common people who still were forced to acknowledge the existence of demons likewise had to face other darknesses of the world, like how the main character, Nagare, was abandoned because he was a powerless child in a large family and they needed to decrease the number of mouths to feed.

His future cultivator, Banda Sakonji, an old man with a wrinkled face in clear view, likewise does not sugarcoat that Nagare was abandoned, and he pushes this child left for three days in the snow to make a decision. Will he stay there and turn to bones? Will he go somewhere where orphans are cared for? Or will he join the old man, who will put him through hell but make him into the strongest of people?

Nagare makes the choice to go become strong, though he was warned of the suffering ahead. This theme of “cruelty” is still so deeply worked into the early worldbuilding of KnY that “Cruelty” is the name of its first volume, and the bleak desperation of fighting demons is a heavy element of KnN. It is only swordsmen who can be stoic enough to endure this hell who become strong enough to fight demons.

After years of training very similar to what Tanjiro underwent in KnY, Banda sends Nagare to the Final Selection, where he must survive seven days in order to be chosen as a member of the Demon Slayer Corp. He fights demons for the first time and sees the fruits of his training, but on the morning of the final full day, with one night to go, he comes across a boy who is dying. This boy isn’t afraid to die—he came into this knowing full well what he was in for—but he hates demons because they killed his family and cannot stand the idea of being eaten by them, thereby becoming a part of them and strengthening them. He begs desperately not to be left on the mountain for that to happen. Nagare agrees, but then a girl with a steely composition and subtle smile advises Nagare to leave him. After all, that dying boy is a Marechi, and his blood will summon a mob of starving demons to him for the extra strength he can give them. When Nagare says her how she can stand to not help him, she replies, “There’s no meaning in ‘selection’ if you had to be rescued, right?”

This is the level of cruelty which a harsh reality brewed in its own demon slayers, as it was probably thought that no one soft could survive and do any proper good against demons otherwise. Their abilities were so advanced that they not only had high expectations of themselves, but of each other, and the nuances of the rest of the side characters’ interactions are that they’re all numb to how much they see people of less than the highest talent drop like flies. It’s like they don’t even bother to acknowledge anyone who doesn’t have the basic skill to survive those seven days. As Banda waits anxiously outside the wisteria boundary to see if his pupil Nagare survives, the others in the organization—presumably cultivators, many covered with scars from their own demon slaying careers—make fun of him for being so anxious, as they all know to expect that hardly anyone ever makes it out. They’re callous because they’ve been through hell.

This story is set in the Meiji Era, and while it’s not KnY canon, it’s easy to imagine that the Demon Slayer Corp did have this mentality in the decades prior to Tanjiro joining. They were exceedingly talented swordsman who acknowledged unusual cruelty and suffering beyond what humans were capable of causing, and that required them to be more than any normal human warrior would ever be capable of, and that meant proving over and over that they can fight on a demon’s level.

At the end of Nagare’s Final Selection, he drags himself out with the crying, apologizing, dying Marechi boy on his back, but Nagare has lost the lower halves of both his legs (he’ll later use two black peg legs), the lower half of one arm (he later fights one-handed), and his eyes have been blinded by deep scratches across his face. Banda rushes to apply first aid while everyone tells him to give it up; that boy is a goner, and if demon blood got in the wounds, he’ll turn into a demon anyway (this still seems to have been the plan in Chapter 1 of KnY but was later retconned). Banda, too soft at his core and too caring for the orphan he raised, insists he’ll be fine and that Nagare is strong. Nagare, incensed at how they are making fun of Banda, screams back how Banda is amazing and that Nagare will prove that by becoming the strongest, a Pillar.

The whole episode illustrates how yes, being a demon slayer means going through hell.

We retained a lot of KnN; like I said, a lot of the world building was already there. Mt. Fujikasane, Kasugai-garasu, Marechi, "Akki Messatsu" carved into the blade, even the characters seem like proto designs for Urokodaki, Kanao, and Giyuu/Sabito. But the issue was that Gotouge was also facing a Final Selection of sorts; without surviving the first bumpy years of breaking into the manga industry, there would be no manga career. KnN was lacking something. Gotouge’s style and world building creativity was there, and had gotten the alligator further than many mangaka hopefuls ever get. However, as much as Gotouge wanted to show how strong someone with a core drive like Nagare could be, even though he was even more disabled now than in his first appearance in “Kagarigari,” he was lacking in the impact Gotouge needed to keep people following a story. This was why, on one phone call, the editor suggested changing to a different protagonist, asking if there were any other characters in the world who were more normal and relatable. The editor recalls the alligator saying, “well, there’s this one character, but I don’t know if he’s interesting,” and when asked to describe him, “he’s a boy who sells charcoal, and his sister got turned into a demon, so he joins the Demon Slayer Corp to try to heal her” and the editor’s immediate impression was like, ‘hello, that is THE protagonist, we had this protagonist all along!?’ and said, “Let’s go with that!! Normal is good!!”

Next thing you know, Kimetsu no Yaiba began serialization in February of 2016. The alligator survived the long Final Selection, but as a member of the Shounen Jump Corp with additional feedback from other editors and readers, as well as gobs more practice developing a story and characters, the alligator found a switch in Breath, it seems.

Tanjiro, for his innate positivity, not only changed the story and made it lighter, but changed the core of Gotouge’s style. I’ve seen it happen with other serialized manga too, where it might start with heavy themes and a “cool” style, but as readers and mangaka alike start falling in love with the characters, the sense of endearment overflows, and suddenly the “cool” has turned into “cute and indulgent and sometimes cool.” In this case, we can add “sometimes cruel,” as Tanjiro added such a sense of levity to the manga that something as cruel as the Final Selection, as well as other questionable Ubuyashiki decisions, feel out of place when juxtaposed against the sense of love and affection for one another which seems to permeate the Corp by the end of the manga.

However, we mustn’t forget that the Pillars have always been willing to put themselves through personal hell if it means being strong enough to fight on par with strong demons; that the Ubuyashiki clan has always been willing to do any drastic thing to achieve their nearby impossible goal of defeating Kibutsuji Muzan and eliminate all evil demons, and that the average Corp members have (almost) always accepted that they might die anytime but are willing to undergo anything to be able to eliminate demons.

You simply do not join the Corp without displaying a level of commitment, and that you can hold out on your own in extreme situations. While there may be some element of weeding people out without needing to give them the full tangible benefits of a Corp member, I think it is a matter of selecting swordsmen from among the many, many people who wish to devote their lives to the elimination of demons. It’s just reality that not many of them are going to have talent as swordsmen, and hopefully the high stakes of the Final Selection are a way of sending those not cut out for it down the path of being Kakushi or supporters in other ways. Kakushi, after all, may not be as directly helpful as swordmen, but they are just as necessary and just as committed. I’d like to think that many Kakushi started by trying to be swordsmen, but their cultivators stopped dissuaded them early on, never giving them permission to enter the Final Selection. It’s “Final” for a reason, the cultivators may be expected to stop those people without the necessary talent earlier on. They get paid stipends to care for their pupils and raise them well, so the Final Selection is just as much as test for them as well, and the stakes of the Final Selection hold them accountable for raising swordsmen who can endure hell. As much as they may wish to coddle them and relate to them for what they’ve already been through with how many of them are orphaned by demons, there is no room for softness. The cultivators need to be harsh enough to brace their pupils for the life they think they want, and want enough to be willing to lose it right away. They also need to be harsh enough to say “no” to children who clearly don’t have what it takes.

But this is a Corp of hotheads who passionately hate demons and want nothing more than to kill them with their own blades. If they insist on having a go at this career, then it may be safer to have them fail in a controlled environment rather than out among demons roaming free, who will get stronger for having eaten swordsmen powered by Breath. Considering the number of them who failed, that’s like damage control.

It’s not a perfect system, but it’s not a perfect Corp, and it’s not a perfect manga. Still, in order for the manga to survive to a point where it could improve, the stakes of the Final Selection had to be high enough to keep readers invested in Tanjiro’s abilities as a main character. It could had been very easy for the manga to be canceled in its infancy, and with the Hand Demon being the first Boss for Tanjiro to face off against, it had to carry emotional weight. By putting that cruelty of the Corp’s reality on full display, giving it names and faces, we get to enjoy a success that feels well-earned within the first eight chapters. The manga could had easily ended with Tanjiro entering the Corp and therefore having the hope of curing his sister, had it not had enough of an impact on the readers.

What’s important is that we got to see the strength of Tanjiro’s character when placed in a setting this cruel, and that was the impact that allowed the series to grow to what we know it today. It’s easy to look back and feel like Sabito and Makoto were so long ago, and that their deaths were unfairly orchestrated by a man who has no business running a organization of people willing to risk their lives on the regular, with nothing to show for it. That’s why Sanemi was rightfully angry at him, and Ubuyashiki agreed. I may be conveniently forgetting, but I can't recall Ubuyashiki defending the cruel realities of the Corp or making excuses for cruel realities, even if he feels sorry about it. Even Zenitsu has deep respect for what it means to be a Corp member, despite how much it terrifies him to have to be one. While there are the swordsmen only out to prove their strength and get recognition for it, and they’ve been there ever since Michikatsu’s time and probably before him as well, committing one’s life to the Corp requires the same level of commitment as surviving among demons for one week to prove one’s core abilities. With demons of that (usually) low level, a properly capable swordsman should be able to prove the worth of their extensive training, like Nagare and Tanjiro initially did. And, no matter how stoic they might all strive to be, undergoing it together does have a way of creating bonds, which is why Corp members are so mindful of having been “in the same batch.” As a universally recognized, shared experience, it gives everyone a base level of acknowledgement for one another’s skills, and a shared level of commitment to the same cause.

As a thematic element of the KnY story it falls into the background once Tanjiro finds his stride as a swordsman and the alligator finds a stride as a mangaka, but the Final Selection remains something to have overcome.