What’s This For?

"Keep up with me," as a challenge but an almost-affectionate one, like the same hand cupping his jaw didn't pull a variant apart piece by piece just minutes ago, didn't hook those same fingers into the meat of him and adore every scream she'd never make her Mark suffer.

She wasn't supposed to exist, doesn't exist in his world, and- why? Why is it only here, now, that every slam into the earth sends a shock up his spine, makes his teeth ache, his heart pound harder and harder until he's squirming under the grip on his throat and arching his back.

"Giving up already?" and yes, he is, he's giving in, he's done, he wants-

"Please."

Her smile shifting, a moment's consideration. "Aren't you polite? And you did hold up pretty decently...Tell you what. Curtain's closing, and no stage left for you to exit - if you promise to be a good boy, you can stay."

Stay - what other reason would a Viltrumite like her have for allowing him to remain, if it wasn't to use him? To make use of him, now he's proven he's worth breeding, and oh. He never considered the...draw of his neglected duty before.

"Please," on bloodied lips, the fractures in his jaw and cheekbone, the catch in each inhale as his lungs falter. Broken and wanting.

"Keep up with me," as a challenge but an almost-affectionate one, like the same hand cupping his jaw didn't pull a variant apart piece by piece just minutes ago, didn't hook those same fingers into the meat of him and adore every scream she'd never make her Mark suffer.

She wasn't supposed to exist, doesn't exist in his world, and- why? Why is it only here, now, that every slam into the earth sends a shock up his spine, makes his teeth ache, his heart pound harder and harder until he's squirming under the grip on his throat and arching his back.

"Giving up already?" and yes, he is, he's giving in, he's done, he wants-

"Please."

Her smile shifting, a moment's consideration. "Aren't you polite? And you did hold up pretty decently...Tell you what. Curtain's closing, and no stage left for you to exit - if you promise to be a good boy, you can stay."

Stay - what other reason would a Viltrumite like her have for allowing him to remain, if it wasn't to use him? To make use of him, now he's proven he's worth breeding, and oh. He never considered the...draw of his neglected duty before.

"Please," on bloodied lips, the fractures in his jaw and cheekbone, the catch in each inhale as his lungs falter. Broken and wanting.

Yeah, you had a clue that maybe you should be concerned when you spotted Invincible shifting rubble. But it’s been a few weeks since the Invincible War, and he’s been to plenty of cities, not just this one. Tends to flit between the worst effected.

So it was no major warning sign, just a catch at your attention as you worked with the small crew you’d been assigned to. With the world how it is, any work you can get was gratefully taken. And not many have the stomach for uncovering and clearing bodies, despite how good the pay is. Means you also get a roof over your head, instead of the refugee shelter, and-

Should’ve stayed in the damn shelter, huh.

Okay. Chances of dying? Sky high. Could run, but they’ll be levelling the city soon. Big ka-boom.

You don’t have powers, because fuck you that’s why, and there’s no handy dandy helicopter to hop a ride on. You also can’t pilot a helicopter, but that’s besides the point.

Invincible is straightening up, and you vaguely hear Conquest’s dissatisfaction with the lack of, y’know, his namesake. A few of the workers are backing off as they realise something’s up, and one lady tugs at your arm. They don’t know there’s no point in moving. They don’t know you’re all about to die.

Shit.

Alright, then. Hail Mary, full of fucking grace.

“I am Conquest, and I am your last chance of-”

“Did you say your name is Conquest?” you call out, jogging over. “The Conquest?”

Wow, dude is huge. Not helped by the hover he’s rocking, but that is one big beefy guy.

The gauntlet is a duller kind of metal than you thought it’d be, looks solid enough to casually shatter a building just by being dropped on it. The eye that turns to you is - and you hate to be cliche, but c’mon - screaming hardened killer, your sole hope in the faintest hint of bemusement in his expression.

“You’ve heard of me?”

“Of course I have.” You slow and hold a hand over heart to express utmost sincerity. Which you’re capable of. On a good day, probably. “Big fan. Biggest fan, in fact. I wish I could say I’ve followed your career since day one, but I wasn’t so lucky to be born at the start of your meteoric rise-”

“Are you-” Invincible cuts himself off, shifting so he’s partially in front of you and keeping a wary eye on Conquest. “You need to get out of here. You’re in danger.”

You glare at him. “I know, dude.” Yanking a smile back on, you look up at Conquest again. “It’s an honour to have our planet visited by such a legend. I assume you’re here for the takeover? This guy, uh-”

You step forward and pat Invincible’s back. Hard. For a human; this fucker can probably barely feel it. “As you can see, he’s been hard at work. Look how destroyed this city is! So many dead bodies. Ask anyone, and they’ll confirm Invincible is responsible. But it’s a work in progress. It’s his first time - he isn’t experienced like you, y’know? So, could we get an extension?”

Conquest is looking at you like you’re a very odd insect he’s never encountered before. Not great for gauging success, but you have absolutely nothing to lose at this stage.

“I’d also love to pick your brains, if you have a minute,” you add with- okay, maybe a bit more genuine curiosity, come the fuck on. “I know you must be a busy guy, high demand and all, but I have so many questions.”

“Such as?”

Wait, he’s humouring you? Oh. Cool. You drop your hand from Invincible’s tense back and step past him, wishing you had a notepad.

“Okay, what’s the coolest thing you’ve ever fought? And I don’t just mean the toughest battle. What actually shocked you, across all those planets? And who made your gauntlet? What’s it made of? Do you ever get that phantom limb sense, or are you used to it by now? What was it like growing up on Viltrum? Did you have siblings-”

“Enough,” he says, but he doesn’t look pissed as he lowers down until his feet are on the ground. Gooood sign? Like, he’s totally looming over you, but you yet live. Huzzah. “You’re human?”

“As far as I know.”

He hums, then looks over the top of your head at Invincible. You idly hope you’re not about to have something in common with another Robin in a superhero universe. The temptation to go directly for a good fight is pretty fucking obvious.

Ah, fuck it. Go big or go home.

“I’ve heard a lot about you, but no one ever mentioned how lovely your voice is,” you say, and his attention snaps back to you so fast it’s kind of hilarious. “Or how handsome you are. That scar really distinguishes you, I’ve gotta say, and that eye colour…I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Seriously, though. It’s a cool colour. Legit looks gold, and especially noticeably with the wide, startled look.

“What…What are you attempting to-”

You wince. “Was that too forward? Sorry, sorry. I’m a little overwhelmed, is all. Getting to meet the Conquest is very exciting. You must get this constantly, after all the amazing work you’ve done for the Empire. I’ll stop.”

“No.” He pauses, as if he didn’t fully mean to say that. But then he continues, “If there’s…no need for a correction here, I have the time to speak with you.”

…That worked?

Holy shit, that worked.

Wait. He’ll actually answer your questions? Awesome.

“Then I’ll make the most of it. How long do you have? Because I have a lot of questions, and I’m pretty sure I’ll come up with more- Hey, do you mind if we go somewhere we can sit down? I’m not a badass warrior like you; being on my feet all day is killer-”

-

“…What the fuck just happened?”

It was supposed to be over when your core collapsed, collided, ka-fucking-boomed.

(When you let it happen, simply watching until the end.)

For a while, it was over. Quiet for the first time in this long, unravelling existence.

Then, you were forced to open your eyes somewhere else.

You hover above the planet, your planet, and laugh. Earth. This is Earth, and yet it isn't. Because of you, it can't be. Already you're becoming a part of it - subsuming whatever sense a planet holds, when there's nothing quite like you out there. Already, you feel the molten spin of your new core, the iron-nickel at its centre.

Can't flip that coin, haha.

It feels...different. Real fucking different. You breathe in, and it settles on your tongue in a fine mist to your old home's easy acidity. This orbit is slower, consistent, a new tilt and a companion in the Moon's pull.

And all that life. You haven't felt anything close in a long time. Faint at the moment, only those truly yours standing out like bonfires against a blizzard, but it'll be a steady claiming - you feel that much already.

"Viltrum?" It's quiet, wondering.

Your eyes stay closed but you tilt your head in Thragg's direction, acknowledge him. Feel the rapid shift of air as he flies close, the vibrating intensity of his desire to reach out, even as respect and tradition keep his hand from making contact.

"You're...here."

"I am." And just about...ah. You feel the one who helped destroy you. Who unintentionally brought you back and in doing so, proved himself a Viltrumite. One of yours, now.

Future events are admittedly verrry vague except a few hot spots, so we'll have to see how the drama plays out closer to the time lol.

I started out like 'okay maybe Thragg and Robin have met once, purely as an 'assess her right to live' and she barely passed. Then favourite child hilarity landed and while they haven't interacted a lot, there's more interaction baked into Robin shadowing general Kregg a lot as a kid, even if she was usually just a very quiet observing presence - and then proving herself as a soldier.

Next CO chapter does have Robin thinking on Thragg a bit, even if she really doesn't know the impression she made in full lol. Like she's the closest thing to a success story the Viltrumites have, with every initial expectation that she'd be a failure like every other attempted hybrid who never reached 'Viltrumite standards' before being killed off.

Your future is a betrayal of every ideal you were raised with, but at the same time, personifies many of those ideals with more dedication than some born on Viltrum itself. If strength is absolute, and the drive to become strong is the greatest calling there is, isn't the comparitive stagnation of the remainder so much starker with an example set by a lesser being?

(Me@ Viltrumite hang ups: i just think theyre neat :D)

Yuss I figure Kregg and his mom are the only related Viltrumites at the time to both make it through, but they haven't had much to do with each other lol. His birth was just a duty for her, and I like the idea of her being more into the exploratory side of the empire while he went the general route - up until the Scourge, when she had a lot more restraints on her movements and they had to prioritise maintaining the empire while still expanding/searching for viable planets.

The ages of characters in the show and comics are...so unclear lmao, I feel like the show messed up by making Nolan 'young' for the Scourge when I always had the impression he was meant to be a similar age to Kregg. But I've gone with the following ish (subject to possible amendments, and varying over AUs):

Argall's late rule: Thragg and Kregg are similar ages, so Robin's mom is a bit older but not by much (ie not Thaedus's age, and younger than Conquest and Thula who are in a similar generation-ish)

Argall is killed: civil war commences with more actual in-fighting than show (does the comic do this? possibly?) until Thragg emerges as the strongest and takes over (since it's more interesting if there's initial dissent/disagreement to make it all the more violent a dictatorship in backlash after)

The purge follows, justified by rooting out the weak/traitors, and also to solidify Thragg's control/a show of 'what Viltrum can become with him as grand regent' to reinforce loyalty.

At least a few hundred years pass - and to keep Nolan as being relatively young when Scourge happens, he can be born around then (even if I do also like the comic backstory of him volunteering to join/seeming to be pre-scourge as a soldier for a while also? Hmm).

Scourge time.

Post Scourge - remaining Viltrumites struggle to have kids, but a few crop up including Anissa and the two who're at Nolan's execution. At minimum 1000 years pass.

>100 years pre-CO - Robin is born, and her mom dies when the planet gets ka-boom'd

So YUP big gap between Kregg and Robin. She really is a Viltrumite bby. I think keeping records would make sense, but I've gone with a loooot of data being lost between Argall's death and the Scourge. Tho at least with only 50ish remaining (I assume it started at a higher number but whittled down over the post scourge centuries) they'd all know their closest family - and be unlikely to have anyone related xD

In the comic during the Thraxan Nolan-pick up, they do use medical tech on Nolan and Mark, so they aren't above using it at all (using it on Mark coming across as a show of good faith sort of deal, ish). I figure they see the value in it and steal the best advancements of any civilisation they come across, but the supremacy/drive for individual strength also means it's viewed as humiliating to need it.

...Which again factors into Robin's fave child factor, because she regenerates fast and also kinda just. assumed medical aid wasnt an option and Dealt With It lmao

Lol with void baby Robin I'd say power wins out over 'wtf is this'. But may also involve legit experimentation and how that could blow up in their faces, depending on how Robin's door-access is expressed.

Robin personifying Viltrum xD Robin just "omg I'm in a hetalia AU"

...On a more drama-horror angle tho-

It suits you, in some macabre form. For this to be what you are - a massacre writ large, repeated in war and in disease, and billions of corpses to finally show the truth of the thing you used to be before you became...this.

They brought you into existence, even if they never intended to. Viltrum, a walking cadaver with the blood staining the rims of your eyes, the white of your teeth. A fallen warrior in the wounds which open on your skin, over and over, and only sometimes have weeping flesh left to bare.

When your people leave you, there are so few left compared to your new crown and its steady, generous orbit. So few, and each kneel at your feet, and wait for your judgement.

You could kill them. It seems so...silly, to give you this right now, after you allowed their damnation to pass without comment.

You kill no one. Your fingers rest briefly on cheeks, on foreheads, on shoulders - and they'll feel the impression of each corpse they carried, each breath they took in the throws of sickness, each stubborn beat of their hearts.

For Viltrum. For you.

Thragg is the last to depart for the ships above. Your Grand Regent, once such a small, quiet thing in Argall's shadow, peering up at you with wide eyes. Now, he'd tower over you if he didn't also drop to his knees, and bow his head.

"We will return with a future to offer you," he vows, his determination raw and trembling now no other audience remains. "This will not be your end, Viltrum."

It's a pity he'll fail. When your core is destroyed so...unceremoniously, you don't imagine you'll survive as you are, either. You guess it's some kind of freedom, after being bound to this planet - becoming it, and its people.

You used to be something else. Did you make them more like you, at least a little?

-

Aaand I'm always good with a long yap lol, as I prove on my end xD But yeah if you wanna chop asks up if it covers a few different AUs/topics, that probably works best - just if I have an idea/answer for one part, but not all the rest, it's easier to respond!

And thank you!! It's a delight that something I thought was written in such a 'lmao yh this'll only appeal to me, but that's fine' way can actually be enjoyed by other people, and make it all a much more interactive fandom experience!

I'm fully the type who can happily fill up my scrivener doc with hundreds of thousands of words and just entertain myself that way, but I also really like getting to chat about Robin/the AUs/Invincible in general, and get inspired too with new directions/ideas!

Now.

“What the hell is this?” you mutter, looking around, and your vision is a bit…weird. Are you- you close one eye, and it’s a blackout in the already dim room, barely lit by a few distanced red lights to expose the walkway.

Do you only have one working eye? And you’re-

Oh, fuck. No way.

Guess that explains the fuzzy feeling of the moustache on your new face.

Well. Probably not the worst outcome to getting murked in an alleyway, but wow. The priest never covered off this possibility of an afterlife at Sunday mass.

You move, something goes crunch that isn’t you, and the world explodes.

Which would be more alarming if it actually…hurt? Like, you close your eyes again because it kinda stings, and follow the urge to go up - which sends you hurtling into a dark sky with a very manly yelp that sounds totally wrong in this voice.

“Ohhh-kay.” You stare down at the giant sinkhole in a desert. The Conquest storage unit, you assume. Not a very good one, was it? If the unexpected pilot switch-in can bust out by accident, the competency level is-

“And I’m naked,” you mumble, gaze diverted to your junk. You have a dick now. Not the most important part of the whole deal, but it’s certainly a change of pace.

Same for the lack of a right arm, and how totally jacked this body is, holy shit. You knew Conquest was huge but daaaamn. Shame you don’t have another person to compare against; for the first time in your life, you must tower over everyone. Is this karma? The good kind?

…Maybe not. You are designated for hardcore breathplay in a few episodes.

Despite only having one eye, you can definitely see a lot further, because you immediately spot incoming helicopters - though they keep a distance.

And you’re still flying, which is very cool, even if you aren’t exactly sure how the fuck you’re doing it. Just kinda went from ‘up up we go’ to ‘stay?? Here?? Please?’ and so far, it’s working!

You really want to do a loop, but now does not seem the time. You’d consider following the plot and shooting off into space if uh, you…knew where to go.

You don’t.

The mind transplant did not come with Conquest’s memories downloaded in. A damn shame; you’d have loved to pick his brains for all the wild shit he must’ve been through.

“Ain’t this a pickle,” you say to help get used to the new voice. Something whirring and metal flies over and- oh cool, a drone. You raise your only hand and wriggle your huge fingers in a wave.

And make a choice.

“Not bad, kid,” you say when he looks at you expectantly once you’re both back down in Earth’s atmosphere. You do have a TTD (thought transmission device, to the uninitiated, not to be mixed up with sight transmission device) but you have a very good reason to avoid using that.

One which pipes up the second you finish speaking.

“Must you praise him?” Thragg says with utter disgust, and a heavy dose of resignation. “Your refusal to kill him is an inexcusable lapse in judgement, and will see our people brought to ruin. But to go so far as to-”

“You’re improving,” you add, and Mark does that thing where he tries not to grin too wide, scratches his cheek, and sort of kicks at the air. It’s very cute.

“I just, uh, did what you suggested. With the-” Mark throws a loose punch with a “ka-pow!”. He quickly winces, and drops his hand. “Anyway it was- it worked. Like you said.”

“If you continue to progress at this pace, you’ll succeed me soon,” you say purely for the surge of impotent rage. Has a metallic tang to it.

“This boy will never be worthy,” Thragg insists, which is a step above once again trying to convince you to murder Argall’s bloodline.

It was a real doozy when he found out thanks to being able to overhear a lot of your thoughts, though it was inevitable once you decided to dropkick that plotpoint into play to make use of it yourself. Dude can fucking rage.

He’s given you plenty of headaches since you transmigrated in, but you can’t really resent him for it. The whole bodysnatching is a fucked up situation no matter how much of an asshole the unwilling host is.

Mark grimaces. “‘Soon’ as in…Viltrumite years, right? ’Cause I’m really not in a rush. Seriously. And I’m definitely not ready - I’d have the job for like, a day, and I’d be calling you for help.”

Thragg huffs, giving you the impression of him crossing his arms. You mimic the position, since you’re not a total dick. You know it’s soothing for him when his intent matches reality.

“Awareness of his own lack of worth means little,” Thragg says, forever the critic. “Did I cower from the responsibility placed upon me? No. I saw what had to be done, and did not falter.”

And you took him not just over the finish line, but onto another racetrack entirely. One that doesn’t see its competitors shot in the head if they don’t win by a landslide.

“Your methods are crude and chaotic,” he says, but his voice - the mental standoff you’re both stuck in - loses its edge. “But I won't deny our people now…have a future I could not foresee.”

Yeah, you did throw a wildcard in there with an early Earth re-location (though not much earlier), allying with the GDA, and telling Mark Grayson his specific heritage. And what it could mean for the future of the Viltrum Empire, if he was willing to work with you.

It seemed a fun route to go, of the available options. You’re liking it so far. You get to pilot this OP maniac around and do whatever the fuck you want, within limits you set for yourself rather than have imposed on you. It’s a good time for all, and plenty distracting.

A sigh you feel against the backs of your molars. “Your motivations remain as juvenile as ever.”

“I don’t plan to hand over the reins any time soon,” you reassure them both before the pause can drag too long. One of the major challenges of a voice in you head, but so far, no one’s called you out.

Your LARP-ing skills are unbeatable.

Or you could say they’re-

“Do not.”

“Invincible,” you say, and Mark’s posture shifts to a more attentive one at the tone. “You will never be ‘ready’. No one can be when the future is never guaranteed, and our past offers little answer as to the direction we should take. We simply make do with that which survives, and learn from our mistakes. I survived. Viltrum survived. And now on Earth, we become more than our predecessors ever could have imagined for us.”

You glide closer, and grasp Mark’s shoulder. “You embody that change. But it remains my duty to ensure we don’t lose all we once were, and can still be.”

You smile, and feel it sit entirely differently on this face. If someone knew the you of before, and saw you now, would they feel even the slightest sting of recognition?

“An advantage of our kind is we don't need to be hasty. You’ll have your human life, as promised. All our people will.”

She looks the same as she did the last he saw her before he left for Earth. The tight braids in her hair, grey streaks welded through, and the old scar cutting across the corner of her mouth.

“I’d say they should liven it up, but really, this isn’t nearly miserable enough for a prison.”

He stands - body aching from the bruising, but he couldn’t remain on the floor. He feels…

He doesn’t know. So much has changed, but she hasn’t. She never really did. A constant from the day they met, dying and weakened, and her low voice over that time- It’ll never leave his mind, burned in by the Scourge.

Of course, she’d come to see him before the execution. Perhaps she’ll do it herself.

“Robin,” he greets, and even her name sounds different to him now. He thinks of the small birds, the red of their plumage, and he used to wonder at the coincidence. The contrast jarring, and a distasteful reminder of…

They were effective together, once. Enough to be paired on hundreds, thousands of missions. Enough to test each other, ensure neither softened over the centuries in the times when battles failed to challenge them. He thought he knew her best of all their people, and she knew him.

What does she think of him now, revealed to be a traitor?

“Nolan.” The door shuts behind her, and she remains eye level with him - confident, relaxed. The last time he saw her, he was telling her about his mission.

She smiled, and said he’d fail.

It’s the same smile now. Knowing, but his time on Earth lets him recognise the affection to it. Before, he…didn’t see it. The fact she smiled so often was just another of her eccentricities.

Jason wakes up in the coffin and digs himself out with a belt buckle from his funeral suit. 

Batman Annual #25

Jason still retains the injuries from the crowbar and explosion, so he suffers from some pretty intense brain damage which has him stumbling around Gotham for twelve and a half miles, completely catatonic. Some people find him and take him to the hospital where he falls into a coma. 

Batman Annual #25

Jason stays in the coma for a year before he wakes up. Still relatively brain-dead, his instincts kick in and he escapes from the hospital.

Batman Annual #25

Then Jason spends a year (or five months, if you prefer the timeline established in Red Hood: The Lost Days) on the streets, running entirely on instinct from both his Robin training and from the years he spent on the streets before being adopted by Bruce. 

Batman Annual #25

Talia al Ghul gets word of Jason being alive and has him taken to the League of Assassins compound. He stays there for another year, still catatonic and running solely on instinct. His body is in perfect fighting shape, but his mind is mush. 

Batman Annual #25

To restore his mind, Talia dunks Jason in the Lazarus Pit, healing all of his injuries (and erasing all of his scars, according to RHATO). 

Batman Annual #25

Red Hood and the Outlaws (2016) #50

Jason spends further time with Talia, studying from a multitude of trainers Talia hires to prep Jason for when he confronts Bruce. We can assume this takes a year or so? It’s said that Jason spends more or less a month with each trainer, so I’m going with a year. Over this time, Jason hones his skills and stokes the fire of his resentment for Bruce not avenging him by killing Joker/replacing him with a new Robin. 

Red Hood: The Lost Days #2

Red Hood: The Lost Days #4

Then there’s that weird thing where Jason and Talia sleep together, but we’re ignoring that. Jason takes off for Gotham to go beat up his dad. He meets up with Hush and teams up with him in exchange for telling him Batman’s identity. This is a moment fans tend to get confused about: Jason was there for the 2003 Hush storyline. Yes, Clayface was pretending to be Jason, but only for the end of the fight with Bruce. Everything before that was all Jason. He kidnapped Tim, confronted and fought Bruce, and then fled, leaving Bruce to assume that the whole thing was a ruse and Jason was still dead. However, Bruce knew from this point on that Jason’s grave was empty and his body was missing. 

Batman #618

Jason lies low in Gotham for a bit before the Under the Hood storyline starts in 2004, which I assume is anywhere from six months to a year in canon? It’s unclear exactly how long the gap is, but Hush happened a year prior in real time, so I’m working around that. It’s finally revealed to everyone that Jason is back from the dead, he confronts Bruce, tries to kill the Joker, etc. And the rest is history. 

Batman #648

Okay. So. The Heian period, simply put, was a time of cultural flourishing and beautiful pastimes, the origins of a lot of Japanese style aesthetics, and a romantic courtly like of romancing everybody else in the court. This is assuming, of course, that you were at the very, very, very, very top of society. Otherwise, the vast majority of people were poor and sick and starving and ew, in young Muzan’s world, we do not wish to associate with that. In the Heian court, Kyoto basically is the whole cultural world. Even though there were other cities that could rival Kyoto, the emperor was there, so it was essentially the cultural center of the country. The nobles who lived there got money from owning land in far-flung provinces, but actually having to live in those provinces? What a drag! Having to live away from Kyoto for work, even if it wasn’t an official banishment, often felt like a punishment to the nobles and their families who were used to the social scene at court. And, like affluent courts around the world throughout history, understanding all the intricacies of style and “Heian Rumors” was key to having social clout, and popularity was power. And yeah, nobles would be vicious to each other. While clan dynamics and history are complex and not something I’m getting into here (I don’t consider myself well-versed in it enough), the Fujiwara clan is a BIG DEAL.  Basically, in Heian times, children were typically raised in their mother’s home, thereby heavily influenced by their mother’s clan, so besides a young man’s parents, his in-laws also would had been hugely influential in his life, as they will have a long-felt influence on his progeny. The Emperors typically married Fujiwara daughters. This, in addition to other positions of influence of the Fujiwara clan members usually held with influence over the Emperor, means that politically, there was no messing with them. Now, just because I say Muzan might had been a Fujiwara clan member, I don’t necessarily mean a member of the main branch of the family. Often, due to inheritance management, different branches of various noble clans might be given different surnames. The Fujiwara clan does have different branches, some of which did go one to have close ties with the imperial family even after the fall of their power at the end of the Heian period and all the way through the Taisho, and some branches carry some impressive family legacies but otherwise live like normal or high-class common folk in modern-day. (I know one such Ojousama from a renamed Fujiwara branch; she’s a sweetheart and never brings it up herself but every time I hear other people say things about her family, I’m like, dang.) We can venture from Muzan’s likely expensive medical treatment, multiple marriages (meaning other clans sought to be connected with his family even by marrying their daughters to a sick man), and even preparation for cremation as a baby that he was of a very, very high status. 

Being the sick son of a prominent family may have warped his personality in multiple ways: first, he was probably already used to a culture of popularity equated political power. We see in Muzan’s dealings with humans in the Taisho period that he can be exceedingly charming to get what he wants (a psychopath trait, haha), so he was probably pretty aware of the complex ways of socialites in the court. But, even being aware of that, it probably frustrated him to no end that he was too sick to take part in the social pastimes where he’d gain clout. It’s also possible that he was a bit of a bargain husband for his wives’ families who were seeking to a make ties with his family, as they must not had been politically useful enough to be married off to other powerful matches. This may be some of why he was so ruthless to them, for he never saw them as useful to him in the first place. This probably got a bit worse once he became a demon. Now to be lewd, but he probably got more vigorous in his pursuit of more powerful lovers, and knew how to slay the women’s hearts as he liked (you know, popular Heian pastime, everybody had lots of lovers, it was the norm, though political marriages and legitimate children were still important). That new sense of power probably went to his head. But, ultimately, he must had been limited in clout since he couldn’t take part in any daytime activities, thereby limiting his access to more powerful spheres of influence. His reputation from having grown up sickly must had followed him too. It’s anyone’s guess how much affection his parents had for him and how happy they were about his health at first, and if and when they might had noticed his changes. He was a full-fledged adult by the time he turned into a demon, so who knows how closely they even associated with him. They likely had healthier children who they devoted more care and attention to, and invested more family resources in while assuming Muzan would probably die young.

Who knows what the final straw was in Muzan leaving court? Was it frustration at not being able to walk in daylight that made him flee to the Kanto area in pursuit of the blue spider lily (from near where the doctor lived) long before Kanto became politically affluent? Or was it the rumors at court about how he didn’t age, and that he was eating people?

Of note, a lot of the early legends of demons in Japanese culture take place in the Heian period.

In his book “Japanese History of Demon Slayers,” retired Shizuoka University professor Tetsuo Owada capitalized on the success of Kimetsu no Yaiba to dive into a lot of ties between the series and what it may pay homage to throughout Japanese history and culture. While this was published last September and a handful of his theories have been disproven by the second fanbook published last February, and while I think a lot of his theories are stretching a little too far to make strong connections, it’s still deeply, deeply interesting stuff. He goes into some specific comparisons of demons, like Minamoto-no-Raiko and his posse of four big bad warriors taking on the Tsuchigumo (giant spider demon) terrorizing the mountains north of Kyoto harkening to the case of Rui’s family (and, ding ding ding, this was the primary focus of the official Kabuki/Kimetsu crossover last November), as well as takes little questions left in canon and dives into them a bit deeper. One such question is, why were wisteria lethal to demons? According to Prof. Owada’s research, there is no historical basis for this. Some of the talk online is that: 1. Wisteria are in fact poisonous, and consuming too much of them would cause vomiting and diarrhea (though I’ve also seen people make jam out of them because of the fragrance, so, like???) 2. Beans are thrown around at Setsubun to ward off demons (like so, Feat. Muzan and Kimetsu Beans), and wisteria are of the bean family 3. Wisteria like sunlight, so perhaps like Nichirin, they soak up some of the sun’s properties that are lethal to demons 4. In the language of flowers (Hanakotoba), wisteria symbolize kindness, welcomeness, refusing to leave someone’s side, being drunk with love, being straightforward and truthful, not losing the humanity in one’s heart, thereby containing a lot of meaning contrary to the conduct of demons Interesting, but some of its kind of a stretch. While still finding it a stretch to apply it to wisteria being poisonous to demons, Prof. Owada goes on to say that since ancient times, while the wisteria has some negative connotations of how it was sometimes written with characters meaning “doesn’t heal” (不治) and growing downward with smaller and smaller flowers like symbolize the slow downfall of a family line, it conversely also carries positive connotations of longevity and flourishing family due to the fact that its vines grow upward.

Now, you might picked up at some point that the Japanese word for wisteria is “fuji.” Not to be confused with Mt. Fuji (that’s written differently), it IS the same fuji as in “Fujiwara”: 藤.

Prof. Owada goes on to explore the association with the use of Wisteria crests in Kimetsu no Yaiba, especially on the houses of supporters of the Demon Slayer Corp. His recurring thesis is that the pandemic is partly responsible for Kimetsu no Yaiba’s popularity since demon legends have long since had origins in epidemics, and he supposes the Wisteria crest has a protective effect on the houses, similar to a talisman used in a lot of real life rituals for warding off illness and then often displays in or on the entries of houses to protect the family every year (I have one such item gifted to me, it stays by my doorway, along with a couple sticks of charcoal (but the culture of charcoal is a post for some other day)). The talisman is in reference to a god of Hindu/Chinese origins being treated with hospitality by the So clan, so although other families perished in disaster/disease, he promised to always protect the So clan descendants, so the talisman says “Descendants of the So Clan” so that any household may try to claim that divine protection. The gratitude-exchange of hospitality and protection and sure sounds familiar! Prof. Owada isn’t done yet. While the crest design used in Kimetsu no Yaiba isn’t an actual family crest in in real life, there are lots and lots and lots of family crests that use a wisteria design and have the character for “wisteria” in the name. Any time you hear “—tou”, like Satou, Saitou, or even Gotou, you can typically assume it’s 藤. It’s very common nowadays, but the first family to be granted the use of this name was the Fujiwara clan, when one of the pre-Heian and very powerful emperors granted their clan head this surname, which was a major honor, and it marked the start of the Fujiwara clan’s political dominance (there was already influence leading up to this, but meh, we like clear-cut stuff to simply centuries of history, don’t we?). Furthermore, although we often think of the Fujiwara clan for their influence at court, and we might think of the Minamoto clan for warrior heroes who fought demons, Prof. Owada concludes his argument of wisteria’s protective influence by pointed out a long list of Heian period Fujiwara warriors who also were the heroes of demon slaying legends, stating that their name has also long been tied with demon slayer culture. SO!!! Let me go on with my theory here. Muzan is from the same family line as Ubuyashiki. At some point (I assume after Muzan is long gone from Kyoto), the family is told while their children keep dying, and they accept their mission to bring an end to Kibutsuji Muzan and clear this curse on their family line. My thought is that their ancestor was a full blood sibling of Muzan, one whom was more invested in than sickly Muzan. While perhaps already an off-shoot of the Fujiwara Clan and thereby not entitled to the same sorts of inheritance, they probably maintained close ties with them. But, as it was already not direct by that time, the other Fujiwara clan branches were not affected by this curse. To further spare the clan the effects of this curse, this was probably when that sickly branch took the name Ubuyashiki. (And yes, I have things to say about this name and its possible mythological origins which I find a highly, highly interesting connection. Prof. Owada supposes it is tied with Izumo Taisha Grand Shrine and that is why there are nine pillars, but as much as I love Izumo Taisha and its giant pillars I base my argument in separate Shinto (but also Izumo!) mythology and accept that there are not always supposed to be nine Pillars specifically and Gotouge simply chose that number based on the number of strokes in the kanji for ‘Hashira’ (柱) BUT I DIGRESS). So, the Ubuyashiki Clan is it’s own thing, but is sort of like a cousin to the other Fujiwara branches and thereby continues to enjoy Fujiwara support throughout the Heian period, like some of the Fujiwara warriors going out there and slaying some of Muzan’s early demon experiments, and using their influence to bring in other warriors to the demon slaying cause (pet