#this spawned from an art mistake I noticed in the manga

[mysaldate]

About chapter 183...

Manga spoilers for KnY under the cut, just need to rant for a bit.

And so the time has come for KnY to fall down the rabbit hole so many other shonen series did. And it’s a damn shame. Up until the current arc, while there were a few slip-ups, Kimetsu no Yaiba was an amazing series that had cunning and powerful villains, realistic (within limits of man-eating demons and magical fighting styles) obstacles to overcome, one that paid attention to injuries of its characters and made a great deal about showing us the limits to human power.

HOWEVER

Ever since the Infinity train arc, something has been a little... different. The Infinity train arc was what started the very very annoying trend of downplaying a villain that was accidentally made too strong rather than actually dealing with his power and coming up with clever ways to overcome them. Enmu is estabilished early on as an excellent strategist. He came up with a way to use his blood demon art so subtly not even a demon slayer hashira suspected a thing, he made human lackeys since he knew the slayers would never kill a human and he even fused with the train to be  hard to kill. All of this is excellent set-up for what could be an incredibly interesting fight. Except... it was not. Because rather than having to work out his plan, Enmu simply... made a slip of tongue? Let Tanjiro in on his plan? And completely forgot about Nezuko and didn’t notice when the other slayers woke up? A character smart enough to come up with such an amazing and smart plan? Yeah, something is off.

And let me tell you, it did NOT get better overall.

There were minor highlights. The Red-light district arc was beautifully crafted and the fight was won on a relativelly reasonable conditions (except for Uzui being totally overpowered but that’s something less irritating than what they’re doing now). The fight with Hantengu and Gyokko had several Mary-Sue moments but no downplaying on the villains’ side. The Pillar Training arc had no major fight but it was a really good way to show the growth of our characters. Even in the current arc, there were good moments. The fight with Akaza was very satisfying and enjoyable even and the conclusion to it was perfect. Sadly, everything else about this arc is not.

The premise here, again, is outrageously good. Being trapped in the Infinity Fortress with Muzan and all his Upper Moons is a beautiful concept that could’ve made for SO. DAMN. MUCH. of interesting fights, character-building moments and terrifyingly epic power show-downs. And instead, it just rings hollow.

The main issue with this arc is how awfully downplayed Muzan and most of his demons were. The author suddenly decided to ignore a lot of what has been estabilished about Muzan, Nakime and their abilities in particular. Of course, Douma, Kaigaku and Kokushibou also got downplayed horribly but really, what pissed me off the most was Muzan and Nakime suddenly losing or forgetting about their abilities.

Look, I love KnY and I love the good side – or parts of it anyway. Tanjiro is a near perfect character, the first protagonist ever to actually pull me in and get me to cheer for him. Nezuko is, after Makai ouji’s Sitri, first character meant to be cute and actually striking me as such. I even came to like Inosuke to a certain extent. Yushiro and Tamayo were one of my favourites the moment they first walked on screen. The hashiras are a little wacky and I still think some of them are just completely unneccesary or wasted potential and I still find Zenitsu horribly cringy and annoying but if there ever was a series where I wanted the protagonist to achieve their goal, it’s this one. And that’s another reason why I’m so dissatisfied with what I’m getting.

And chapter 183 is exceptionally bad for such a huge multitude of reasons.

First of all, there’s Yushiro making up a plan against Nakime. Nakime, as we’ve been shown multiple times, knows of everything that happens in the Infinity Fortress. She can transfer people she doesn’t even see and she can send multiple people to various locations at once. Yet, Yushiro was somehow able to come up with a plan, share it with Mitsuri and actually go through with it, all without her noticing. At all. Because she suddenly turned blind for that one spot of the Fortress or something. And even if Yushiro used his illussionary ability, he still had to share the plan with Mitsuri. So there should be no way she wasn’t aware.

That’s another thing as well. As far as we are aware, it was Nakime’s job to keep the slayers separated. Again, she knows of everything happening in there. She knew about the other Upper Moons getting to a disadvantage. She knew about them being close to dying. And yet, she did nothing to get them away or to move the slayers out of their presence, she couldn’t move her hand and play a note on her biwa and just send them all anywhere else? Anyone else feeling cheated yet? Well buckle up because it gets even worse.

Because now we get to Muzan. And, yeah, remember the Demon Moons meetings? Remember that he can just snatch anyone’s head off, both lethally and non-lethally? Yeah, good thing you do because he doesn’t! Does this affect only demons? He still could’ve killed Yushiro ON THE SPOT. Does it only affect demons created by him? Still cool, he could’ve snatched Nakime’s head off without killing her and take Yushiro’s seal off her eye. But no, instead he’s not gonna do anything of that. He’s gonna mind-fight Yushiro inside her head and then he’s gonna kill her. And not even immediatelly kill like he killed Mukago or Kamanue or Rokuro, no, he will let her die slowly so Yushiro can keep using her power.

Remember when he pumped his blood into people by shoving a finger or a hand through their head? Well, good thing you do, because, yes you guessed it, HE DOESN’T. He scratched Tanjiro’s eye out and he that’s it. This is the demon who’s supposedly the most powerful demon EVER. And the most damage he’s done so far is scratch Tanjiro’s eye.

Remember when he could grab anyone from anywhere in the Fortress like he did with Wakuraba? Well, he doesn’t remember that either. He doesn’t NEED Nakime to access any place in the Fortress. He can get in and out as he pleases without needing her biwa AT ALL. He has more control over the place than Nakime herself. But guess what, we’re going to ignore all of that because if we actually stuck with the abilities estabilished for him, our heroes might need to think before they act and come up with clever plans and maybe there might even be some ACTUAL loss!

You know, not just a supporting character-type of loss! You know, like a loss of a character we really, whole-heartedly care about! A character we were given enough time to come to like and enjoy and support! A character we saw grow and get developed! How horrible!

Let it be known now that while the Infinity Fortress arc blessed me with countless (actually there’s somewhere below 500, I counted) pictures of my sweetheart Douma and gave me the TamaYushi angst I longed for, I still find it to be the worst arc KnY has had so far.

Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe all of this is a part of Muzan’s masterplan. Maybe he’s actually far more cunning and terrifying that we thought and we’re yet to see his true potential. But I seriously doubt that.

If anything like this is revealed, if we get to see any sort of reasoning for why nobody seems to have a brain anymore, I will gladly take this rant back and apologize but I kind of don’t feel like that will happen. This whole arc feels incredibly rushed and like the author just wants to be done with this series. It’s no longer the gem it was when it started and you can’t feel the love poured into every frame like it used to be. It’s just meeting the similar end as DGM.

How ironic that when I saw the first episode, my first initial thought was “Oh, this is just DGM for the new generation!” Now it seems KnY will meet the same fate, downplaying its villains, disregarding the rules it estabilished in its own universe, boring its creator and disappointing the more demanding parts of its audience.

To put it as simply as possible, there is no way the Demon Slayer Corps should be getting off this easily and there is no way Muzan and all his demons would be this stupid if they have already survived for long long centuries. Muzan doesn’t need Nakime and he doesn’t need his twelve demon Moons, he did just fine before he got them. So him suddenly forgetting about his powers and options is especially disheartening and irritating. At this point, we can only hope the creator realizes this and makes SOME effort to fix these mistakes otherwise, well, there goes another great series, ruined and corrupted by nothing but the bad writing and the author not knowing how to (or not bothering to, pick your favourite) make smart plans without disregarding their own characters’ abilities and parts of what makes them what they are. Muzan was written as an extremely powerful enemy, a cunning master of all things evil, a nightmare in human (or demon) form, something ancient and terrifying and able to spawn centuries of troubles for everyone around without ever – except for the one time – losing the upper hand. And that one time, he was STILL able to make it out alive and well.

Well, this was one extremely long rant and if you’ve read this far, kudos and a cookie to you. I may be expecting too much of a shonen series but am I really? Is it too much to ask for keeping some damn consistency at least in your characters if you can’t even be bothered to research for your timeline properly? The more I look into the Infinity Fortress arc, the more sudden plotholes and mistakes I find and the sadder it all gets. It’s like the author no longer has the strength to keep up the high quality series they started and if that’s actually the case, maybe a hiatus would be a better option than forcing themselves to continue and possibly ruin their entire franchise with a rushed and plothole-filled event.

On a slightly related note, you know what would be the one thing that would make me drop my jaw to the floor? A plottwist of unseen scale. Something on par with literally everything since the Infinity Train arc being STILL just a dream. Something on par with “Muzan” as he is now being actually the new Upper Five while the real Muzan stands back and enjoys the show. Something on par with this “Muzan” being just an illussion or a projection of something, or someone, who’s been in the Fortress this whole time while the real Muzan heads over to Urokodaki’s place to devour Nezuko. Or something even crazier. If you have any ideas, damn hit me with them, I want to hear all you have to say and feed this little flame of hope that this series is not yet entirely lost!

#kny #kimetsu no yaiba #kimetsu manga #kimetsu no yaiba spoiler #chapter 183 spoilers #infinity fortress spoilers

[archive-of-fics]

Flustered - Uta

You walk into the lecture hall at exactly seven for class, quite deprived of sleep, as per usual. So, naturally, you don’t notice the impossibly beautiful man that stands beside your professor until he begins stripping. For the briefest moment, your under-oxygenated brain wonders why the hell was there a stripper in the fucking lecture hall. Then, your train of thought briefly wanders to what strippers do exactly, aside – of course – from stripping. Fan service? Lap dances? Are strippers even a thing anymore? But then you remember that you’re a fricking fine arts student, and that this is figure drawing class, and that seeing hot naked strangers isn’t that big of a deal. Nice. Trying to avoid the general vicinity of the model, you scurry right into your seat which is smack in the middle of the front row. Mother of shit. After a series of doing brief facepalms, you begin to set up your workspace. Only when your professor tells the class to begin do you feel your heart flutter in your chest. Nonetheless, you ignore your raging hormones, and attempt to begin. The moment you glance at the man’s porcelain white skin, though, you find yourself looking away almost immediately. The flutter in your chest is gone and is replaced by its violent trashing. Jesus Christ, what the everglubbing fuck is happening to you? You professor notices that you have yet to begin your sketch, as opposed to every single other person in the room. He sends you a soul-murdering glare that makes you realize that you’d rather get over yourself and your uncontrollable hormones than to displease this probably-spawn-of-satan-himself professor, so you stop asking Jesus what the crap is wrong with you and begin to make your rough sketch. Metaphorically flaming face notwithstanding, you manage to finish the outline of what was supposed to be the model. You think. Probably. Hopefully. Oh God, you’re fucked. With your frustration increasing with each passing second, you force yourself to actually take a look at the model more than two motherfucking seconds. As if on cue, though, his red orbs catch yours. The last thing you see before retreating back to the safety behind your canvas was how a hint of amusement plays across the features of his face before immediately shifting back to his previous deadpanned expression. Nope. Instantaneously, an explosion goes off in your head, and in a span of a second you find yourself all kinds of confused, flustered and terrified. Before you could register your own actions, you’re already standing up. Most of the class looks at you in mixed curiosity and surprise. Your professor, though, had obvious annoyance etched across his face. Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. You have to think of something quick. Then, you make a ‘C’ shape with your hand, gesturing that you have to go to the comfort room. The moment your professor nods in reply, you’re already halfway out the room. For a long while, you pace around the hallway, cursing yourself for being such a bullshit shojo manga character. Out of all the feelings that bubbled in your chest, frustration was by far the strongest. Why couldn’t you do this? Aren’t you supposed to be some big-shot artist someday? How can you achieve that when you can’t even look at a naked man? Seriously, what the actual fuck, self? Without really thinking about it you slam your hear right into the vending machine, earning a shit ton of curious looks. “Pent up sexual frustration much?” you recognize the voice almost immediately. Your most ‘beloved’ seatmate smiles at you as she passes by. “Stfu.” You let your eyes trail back to the room, seeing everyone from your class walk through the double doors. “Break?” You ask her. “Yup. Are you gonna eat lunch or what?” “Nah.” You think for a moment. “I think I’ll try to save my output.” She narrows her eyes at you, “It looks great, okay? Let’s eat.” “I’m serious,” you say with finality. She lets it slide with a shrug, and in no time she’s gone in the mass of passing people. You head back to the room, only to find it completely deserted. Finally, you feel yourself relax, especially as you sat down on your chair. You adjust the canvas stand before resuming your work. Then, you pick up a HB pen from your pencil holder, and begin to refine the lines you’ve made. Given that the model was no longer there, you draw based from memory as well as you can. It is fifteen minutes later when you find yourself actually satisfied with your work, although you have yet to draw most of the model’s tattoos. He had ink all over his skin after all. How could you expect to remember each intricate detail? Not a moment longer, you proceed to do some shading – dark enough to guide you later on, but light enough to erase in case you’ve made a mistake. You take note of the weightlessness of your hand, as opposed to earlier that morning. A small smile finds its way across your lips. “You’re good.” You freeze almost immediately, as the foreign voice reaches your ears. It is as though the world’s cadence ceases only to make way for those two, short words spoken with an ethereal tone. You turn to find the model, making his way from behind the room towards where you are situated. Realizing that you have to actually reply to people when they compliment you, you bow slightly before thanking him. His face betrays no expression, but his eyes convey his amusement well enough. “I’m Uta,” he utters with an invisible smile. “It’s nice to meet you,” you manage to say without tripping on your words. “My name’s [Name].” “Don’t mind me. Just continue,” he says with a gentle tone that contrasts the expression of his face. You let your eyes trail briefly to the black characters tattooed across the white skin of his neck, before turning away completely. Not long after, an uncomfortable silence (mostly just for you) surrounds the both of you. Naturally, you struggle to break it. “Uta-san?” “Hn.” “Are you a friend of the professor?” you ask as casually as possible. You hear him scoff slightly from behind, as he takes the seat next to yours. The decreased proximity doesn’t help with your heart’s increasing pace. Dildo fucking shitfest, this is so goddamned weird. As if drawing a naked man wasn’t weird enough, but now the man in question was now watching you draw him and all his sweet, sweet nakedness. “I met Nishiki-kun years ago during one of my exhibits via an acquaintance. We’ve been quite familiar with each other since.” Pleasant nonchalance is present in his voice. You hum in response. Your brain briefly entertains the idea that Uta was the professor’s trophy husband just because it was hilarious to think that your cold-hearted professor could actually love something.   “So you’re an artist too, Uta-san?” You try your best to minimize the shaking of your hand by shortening the strokes you made with the pencil. At one point, you try to shift your focus from your chagrin to the mixed traces of graphite and charcoal present all over your hand. “Yes. I make masks.” You pause briefly to turn to him. Something about his specialty fits him so well, you thought. A smile stretches across your lips as you say, “That seems very interesting.” “If you think so, then you should drop by my studio sometime, and maybe demonstrate your skill to me as I to you one-on-one?” he offers without a hint of effort. Did he just- A tsunami of words flood your mind, only to get stuck at the back of your throat. So there you sat still with your lips parted as though about to speak, and yet no sound escapes. But then, the door opens. Your classmates begin to enter consecutively, paying no mind to you and Uta. Wordlessly, he sends you a millisecond-smile before heading back to the pedestal. He strips once again. This time, though, the reason behind your blush is no longer because of his lack of clothes. Thankfully enough, you’re a lot calmer than earlier. You manage to finish most of the shading just as the professor says that everyone should just be adding the final touches.

So you did just that. You darken Uta’s tattoos, and you erase a few stray smudges. Then, you begin to blend the areas where it is sparse with chamois (for the larger areas) and a blending stump (for the smaller ones). You finish in the nick of time. "Pass your work one-by-one.” The professor sits on his table and glares at all of the students (as usual). You decide to let the crowd thin first before you even do as much as to stand.

Meanwhile, you begin to tidy up (and by tidy up, you mean to chuck all your pencils and other shit into your zip-lock case before throwing in in your bag as fast as you can.) Grabbing your bag, you also take your unnecessarily gigantic sketch pad and shove it to your seatmate. “I’m counting on you,” you salute to her, before speeding towards the door. Before you could reach the solitary exit, though, you bump against someone. Uta. For the briefest moment, you could have sworn his hand grazed yours. The piece of paper nestled between your fingers serves only to prove its occurrence. But when you look up, he’s already making his way back to the professor’s vicinity. Without another word you practically run out of the room, face ablaze, trying to steer your train of thought away from the series of numbers sprawled across the lightly crumpled piece of paper in your hand.

#Uta