VKW Art Archive

This project meant a lot to me. I have an autoimmune condition that started in my early teens. I spent 10+ years trying to find answers and treatment, finally achieving almost 100% remission in the last 2-ish years. I went in with the mentality of “I will fix this; I must” and fully committed to making that happen. I signed myself up for studies. I worked hard to supplement any medical interventions with the recommended physical therapy and exercise plans. I know that part of it is luck. I responded well to a treatment that works. My disease hadn’t progressed far enough to do permanent damage. However, even if nothing I tried worked, I was never going to stop trying.

Muzan is one of very few fictional representations of illness that resonates with my experience. There was no miracle cure, and the journey to becoming healthy was difficult, complex, scary, and frustrating. But more importantly, the takeaway was not that you should accept your fate and learn to live a chronically ill life. Instead, it was that you shouldn’t give up hope. Muzan never conceded to his condition and never stopped fighting for a normal life, even when it seemed like there was nothing left to try. Yes, he ended up doing horrible things, but there’s something inspiring about his story that just clicks with me. I hope my art makes you see it too.

Some info about my OC:

Name: Asahi Saito

Pronouns: he/they

Profession: self taught chemist/pharmacist

chronically ill with a genetic blood disease that requires regular blood transfusions

parents pay for blood donors to keep him alive but are overprotective and doesn't really let him have a life

trying to come up with a cure for himself by because the doctors have run out of ideas (he's friends with his doctor and still calls them for advice sometimes though)

becomes a demon so he can live a full life

leading a research project to come up with a synthetic version of the compounds in the blue spider lily that give sunlight immunity