Songs that reminded me of KNY dynamics and possible writing prompts, PT1
If anyone is interested in taking any songfic opportunities, here you go!
This post has manga spoilers. And, all of these prompts are angst, whoops. (This list is not limited to romantic dynamics, either—just dynamics that are interesting to touch on.)
Hakuji x Koyuki — "Stay Close" by SYML (Hakuji-centric)
"I know mourning is mourning and we heal differently / Right now it’s all I see" (Describes Hakuji falling back into his habits of violence after losing loved ones, with mourning being "all [he sees]" instead of finding true peace.)
"I want to keep you forever my love" (He says after her marriage proposal, and says once again as her pulse slows until it's nothing under his fingers.)
"I need somebody to save me" (Koyuki saved Hakuji from a life of ruthless violence, while Hakuji saved Koyuki from a life of loneliness and sickness.)
"If there’s no cure and there’s no medicine / Do we count the days until the end?" (No cure for the poison, no medicine for his father, and life is seeming to become more colorless and bleak.
Counting was the only thing Hakuji learned with his lack of education: the days left, money needed, grams of medicine needed, rations of food, punches thrown, hairpins needed to keep up his lover's hair...)
This song (literally all the lyrics, but I can't fit all of them in here) can also be applied to most of Hakuji's relationships, considering how tragic his past is.
Giyuu x Shinobu — "Take me Apart" by SYML (Giyuu-centric)
"Looking to start a war" (referring to the war of Humankind/Demon Corps vs Demons) "Wondering how it ends"
"I'm lucky he was a friend" (It's the only sentence that Giyuu can fully say about Sabito when confiding in Shinobu. She understands. As a slayer, she is someone who truly understands.)
"Take me apart and I'll flow like water" (A part of Giyuu's internal monologue, thinking about Shinobu's curiosity of him and her eagerness to pick him apart, while also insinuating his forced disconnect from the past and how he "floats above himself.")
These lyrics can apply to the canon also. They fit for a hypothetical scene about the aftermath of the war and Giyuu's perspective on being a survivor and the majority of the Corps' deaths.
Ruka x Shinjuro — "Lost On You" by LP (Shinjuro-centric)
"Burnin' like embers, falling tender / Long before the days of no surrender years ago" (The disease was prolonged, reducing his lover to a dying bonfire. Shinjuro knew what would happen, his children knew, and he could only hope that it wasn't as painful for Ruka to know as it was for him.
He knew he would never surrender to demon, but he couldn't have prepared for such a human circumstance to make him surrender his title as a Hashira.)
"So smoke 'em if you got 'em 'cause it's going down / All I ever wanted was you" (Her willpower remained strong and fiery until the end, but his own was made into a rapidly thinning smoke.)
"I'll never get to heaven 'cause I don't know how / Let's raise a glass or two" (His grief only came out as aggression. The way he treated his, her children was unworthy of forgiveness. Before he knew it, a few moderate glasses of sake increased to the whole bottle.)
My interpretation slightly deviates from the more accurate meaning of the song, but it still captures Shinjuro's full awareness of the inevitability of his wife's death and "end" of their relationship.
Kyojuro & Senjuro — "I Feel It in the Wind" by Smith & Thell (Switching perspectives)
"If you can find a drop in a drying sea / You'll find light in the darkest creeks" (Kyojuro always supplies his baby brother with happy words, acting as the source of light for their mostly dark, empty home.)
"You told me / I feel it in the wind my dear / The sun is gonna reappear / Good days are gonna come along / Hold on" (Hold on a little longer, is what Kyojuro used to say to Senjuro during harder times. The same words fall from Senjuro's lips as he weeps over Kyojuro, who lies overwhelmingly silent with endless injuries.)
"I feel it coming, the tide is turning / I feel it coming, you just got to wait and believe" (The tide is turning against the demons, they will surely meet their downfall, and you will live without needing to encounter any, Kyojuro insists, to both himself, and his brother weeping over him.)
This song wholly embraces the dynamic of Kyojuro always feeding Senjuro optimism during disheartening moments. Senjuro remembers every word, because any one could be his last.
Genya & Sanemi — "Once in A Dream" by In the City (Sanemi-centric)
"I can't stop, I can't break, I carry the weight for you" (The Hashira can't stop until the last of his family is able to live in a world free of demons. The weight of being made into a demon-killing machine is nothing.)
"It’s the loneliest road, road I know, I know, I know" (Sanemi knows this most of all as he pushes Genya away, but Genya dying to demon because of him would be even lonelier. It is lonelier, he finds out.)
"When I’m awake, I hide all our chains so you aren’t afraid" (The older brother pretends, has been pretending ever since they were little, that Genya had nothing to be afraid of as long as he was there.
His promise of protection used to mean that they would always stay together. Now—knowing his blood attracts demons left and right—it meant that he had to act more like their father to get Genya away from danger; if Sanemi was the scariest thing there was, then anywhere away from him would seem safer, because it was safer.)
I know you expected "Brother" by Kodaline for the Shinazugawa brothers... open books, all of you. (My fingers still ache from restraining myself from typing and using that song.)
Summary: Things Ruka said when she thought Shinjuro was sleeping. (Shinjuro/Ruka)
For @postazamostaza 💕👏
READ ON AO3 - where there’s a bonus drabble 😉
The door to their bedroom snaps shut.
Shinjuro stands at the entrance of their bedroom, blood-splattered and red-eyed, sword nowhere to be seen. Ruka only spares him a glance, before returning to her duties—watching the torches dance.
“You’re late,” is what she finally says. Firelight flickers over her face, casting it in shadows. “The neighbors will talk.”
“Let them gossip.” Shinjuro tosses off his haori. His uniform follows. “I don’t care.”
Ruka hears the rustle of a light yukata, and feels the futon dip beside her.
“We don’t have neighbors,” she flatly says. It was a joke. Shinjuro responds with a huff, throwing a comforter over himself.
She knows it to mean, not now. This is fine. She is patient where he is not; icy when he boils; steady where he fumbles. She can wait a thousand years if need be, for the perfect time, and place, and mood.
Only, they don’t have a thousand years. Not a hundred. Not even a measly ten.
“Shameful,” Ruka tuts. A hand covers her stomach, protectively.
Shinjuro’s brow pinches.
Slowly, the fire wanes, cracking into ash. Then, with a gasp of smoke, it vanishes—out like a match.
I followed literally two seconds ago but have a request SHINJURO!!! Shinjuro before tragedy, silly Illy little younger Shinjuro whom had purpose in life and light in his eyes 🥺 perhaps even Shinruka I adore them
GRRRRRRR SHINRUKA 👹👹👹👹👹👹👹👹
Had these on my drabbles for a while so here it is!! I know its very few sketches and stuff but I like em 😭🫶
