#all very very telling

[gohjuo]

GOJO'S DEEP CONNECTION TO BUDDHISM

      SIX ELEMENTS 

to first understand gojo's deep connection to buddhism, it's important to talk about esoteric buddhism and the six elements. very similar to china's five elements esoteric buddhism has the five elements as: earth, water, fire, air/wind, space/void. however, esoteric buddhism as one additional element the mind. gojo's powers involve space ( his manipulation of space itself and his domain expansion being called unlimited void ). gojo's journey to becoming the strongest was not complete until he opened his mind. as stated, by adding the sixth element the mind, it creates a unity between all five elements. if one lacks the sixth element, ordinary eyes see only the differientated forms/appearances.

          this ties in with the fact that gojo's eyes allow him to see things most people cannot see ( people's souls in colors, reading the flow of cursed energy, viewing of his opponent's cursed technique, object dection with or without cursed energy, & being able to see kilometers away ). it can also be said that being born as the six eyes user brought balance, a connection to how the mind element creates unity.

          SATORI

      in zen buddhism, this is the term for awakening in japanese zen buddhism. it means comprehension, understanding. the word is derived from the japanese verb satoru, who's first name is satoru? gojo's. to put it further, satori refers to an awakening or apprehension of the true nature of reality. it's used to describe an experience that can't be expressed via words. gojo goes through his enlightenment, his death, and never does he really talk about what he went through. he talks about an indescribable feeling, feelng the whole world, this connection to it and to feel everything happening, but if anyone were to ask him how he felt touching the core of cursed energy he would not be able to explain it properly. it is an experience he will never fully properly explain. 

    another way this ties into gojo is that his confrontation with toji, is something of an antagonistic one. in the way, that after the second fight he truly dislikes having a lack of control, he doesn't want to feel hepless, or be helpless with all the immense power that he has. gojo is forced to face the reality of defeat, the reality of having little control at all, and the fact that he didn't fully realize the capabilities of his powers. in the modern era of jujutsu, gojo is the standard.

          ALLUSIONS TO OTHER FIGURES IN BUDDHISM

VAIROCANA         part of the five great buddhas or the five tathāgatas, they are seen as the five representations of the adi-buddha ( aka the first buddha). vairocana is associated with the color white ( gojo's hair is white ), vairocana represents the element of space, which coincides with gojo's technique and ability manipulate space itself. the cardinal direction vairocana represents is the center and the season they represent is a transition. gojo could be considered a big transition in the way the jujutsu world operated as, again his birth balanced out the jujutsu world. it is also a big transition in being dubbed the strongest sorcerer of his era.

MARICI

       a goddess associated with the light and sun. alternatively, in japan she is also associated with light or mirage and was invoked to escape enemies. she has several depictions and in some she carries the lotus with her. in gojo's dream/death sequence, there is a drawing of a lotus flower. the lotus flower in buddhism represents purity, spiritual awakening, and faiththfulness. it also symbolizes rebirth ( which will be furthered tied down to another section ) and the implications of nanami and gojo's conversation hints at a rebirth of some sort.

        THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE FOUR DIRECTIONS

    in buddhism, there is great importance in north, east, south, and west. for this particular post i will be focusing on the two directions of north and south.

     "I ONCE ASKED MEI-SAN ABOUT WHERE I SHOULD LIVE. SHE SAID IF YOU'D LIKE TO BECOME SOMEONE NEW. GO NORTH."

        the north is considered a symbol of stability, a fixed goal that never wavers. it also represents unshakeable conviction. when your will is strong, you are under the protection of the guide of the north. when you become unstable, the grace of god pulls you in the right direction. it should be noted that gojo does say i see, gives a wave. in my opinion, it implicates that gojo has determined to go north. gojo is also the type of person who has a strong conviction, his will to ensure that the future of jujutsu sorcery can be on his level, to be strong enough to compete with himself, so that they never have to endure what he/geto went through. gojo is someone who will always aim higher to break the ceiling even if he is the ceiling. 

       alternatively, there is another direction that is mentioned in said chapter:

"IF YOU'D LIKE TO RETURN TO WHO YOU WERE, GO SOUTH." 

        the south is associated with death. it offers complete rest. when the body can no longer lead us down our path, the protector of the south, yama raja, lord of death, ensures we get rid of our vehicle ( the body )  and gives us a new one. the catch is that in general, we form attachments to our body, mind, and senses and we have a hard time of letting go. however, once someone does they will find that 'long sleep' is a restful. this line goes in hand with nanami who doesn't hesitate to go south, stuck in the past since he still had attachments to haibara, and in a sense yuji. but at the end of it he was able to let go.

[bereft-of-frogs]

There’s that post that’s like ‘everyone should get into a tiny niche fandom at least once’ fully agree, that was really fun -- but I would like to add that everyone should get into a fandom where their opinions run counter to major fanon because it really teaches you about sticking to your guns and trusting your interpretation of the text without having to rely on peer validation

because WHAT are people talking about sometimes

[myclericalromance]

i went to a tiny counterserve diner once and accidentally poured sugar instead of salt all over my hashbrowns and was eating them sadly anyways. the waitress took them away and started making me another one and I tried to protest, but she just snorted and said "we're not catholic here". now every time i'm doing something painful out of obligation i think about how that is not repenting, this body is not a catholic establishment, there is no nobility in suffering.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Hey now, Let her cook!

[hinamie]

I'll rip in hands and teeth and take a bite

[meziniart]

Ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves

[inkskinned]

probably time for this story i guess but when i was a kid there was a summer that my brother was really into making smoothies and milkshakes. part of this was that we didn't have AC and couldn't afford to run fans all day so it was kind of important to get good at making Cool Down Concoctions.

we also had a patch of mint, and he had two impressionable little sisters who had the attitude of "fuck it, might as well."

at one point, for fun, this 16 year old boy with a dream in his eye and scientific fervor in heart just wanted to see how far one could push the idea of "vanilla mint smoothie". how much vanilla extract and how much mint can go into a blender before it truly is inedible.

the answer is 3 cups of vanilla extract, 1/2 cup milk alternative, and about 50 sprigs (not leaves, whole spring) of mint. add ice and the courage of a child. idk, it was summer and we were bored.

the word i would use to describe the feeling of drinking it would maybe be "violent" or perhaps, like. "triangular." my nose felt pristine. inhaling following the first sip was like trying to sculpt a new face. i was ensconced in a mesh of horror. it was something beyond taste. for years after, i assumed those commercials that said "this is how it feels to chew five gum" were referencing the exact experience of this singular viscous smoothie.

what's worse is that we knew our mother would hate that we wasted so much vanilla extract. so we had to make it worth it. we had to actually finish the drink. it wasn't "wasting" it if we actually drank it, right? we huddled around outside in the blistering sun, gagging and passing around a single green potion, shivering with disgust. each sip was transcendent, but in a sort of non-euclidean way. i think this is where i lost my binary gender. it eroded certain parts of me in an acidic gut ecology collapse.

here's the thing about love and trust: the next day my brother made a different shake, and i drank it without complaint. it's been like 15 years. he's now a genuinely skilled cook. sometimes one of the three of us will fuck up in the kitchen or find something horrible or make a terrible smoothie mistake and then we pass it to each other, single potion bottle, and we say try it it's delicious. it always smells disgusting. and then, cerimonious, we drink it together. because that's what family does.

[bamsara]

I think that one thing people fail to understand is that unsolicited literary criticism coming from an online stranger who is reading with no knowledge of what the authors intended goal is, is not going to be received the same as say: the authors beta reader or friends who know what the authors intended goal and has the sufficient knowledge and input to help the author reach that desired outcome.

"But I'm only trying to be helpful" How do I know you have the knowledge and literary skill for you to be able to actaully do that when we don't know each other and you are essentially a stranger to me? Are you applying this criticism based out of personal biased experience and desire to see the story or characterization be driven in another direction or tweaked, or do you know the author's intentions for the character? If the story is incomplete, are you basing your criticism of a character on the incomplete narration with only partial information available of them or are you building up a report until the story's completion? Did the author provide you with the information needed to make a fully informed criticism?

Have you discussed with the author what their plans are or are you assuming them based off the narration, especially if the narration is proven or implied to be unreliable or missing key points of the plot? Are you unbiased enough to help them reach their desired outcome for the characters and story regardless of your personal feelings towards the characters/antagonists and setting? Can you handle being told your specific input isn't wanted because you're a reader and/or have no written anything relating to their genre or topic? Do you understand and respect that the author's personal experiences might influence their writing and make it different than how you would have done it personally? Do you understand if an author only wants input from a specific demographic relating to their story?

If it's for fanfiction or other hobby media, are you holding a free hobby to a professional standard? Are you trying to give criticism because you feel like the author has produced 'subpar job performance' of their fic? Are you viewing their work as a personal intimate outlet or something that must conform with mass media? Are you applying rules and guidelines when the fic is shared for simple sharing sake? Is your criticism worded appropriately and focused on the parts where the author has requested input on rather than a general dismissal and or disapproval?

Have you put yourself in a place where you assumed you have the input needed for the story to evolve better, or have you asked what the author needs and what they're having trouble with? Can you handle having your criticism rejected if the author decides their story doesn't need the change and not take it as a personal offense against your character? Are you crossing that boundary because you think you are doing the author a favor? Are you trying to be helpful, or do you just want to be?

I think sometimes when people hear authors go 'please don't give me unsolicited writing advice or criticism' they automatically chalk it up to 'this author doesn't want ANY constructive feedback on their stuff at all' and not "i already have trusted individuals who will help me with my writing goals and- hey i don't know you like that, please stop acting so overly familiar with me'

[seagiri]

can i be sad here for a moment

[feelingtheaster99]

It is completely in character for Percy to say he has some dumb questions, then ask incredibly valid questions that no one has brought up till now

[watchingwisteria]

listen there really was just something about how in the book, snow’s 3-page descent from hesitant lover boy to deluded mfer happens entirely in his mind. lucy gray gives him no indication whatsoever that she suspects him, that she’s going to leave or betray him. he’s just sitting quietly in the cabin waiting for her to return when that seed of calculated suspicion, which he has needed to survive the capitol, takes a hold of him and chokes the life out of any goodness left inside him. it really drives home your terror as a reader that “oh my god did he kill her? did she escape? what happened to her? why would he even think that?” in a way that when the movie had to adjust for visualization it lost some of that holy shit this guy has lost it emphasis.

[inumbrapugnabimus-maybe]

Four’s colors: standing there awkwardly

Legend: having a flashback to that one time he killed four colorful and identical dark links in the literal Palace of the Four Sword

Thanks for the request anon!

[abd-illustrates]

💖 Alchemy 💖

Finished art from this week’s video! Idek how long it’s been since I got the chance to sit down and do some fully rendered character art, but revisiting Alchemy for this one was SO refreshing! (Tho y’all’s kind comments on this vid have been even more so, tysm 💖)

[DO NOT EDIT OR REPOST TO OTHER SITES / ACCOUNTS] ♻️reblogs are lovely tho!♻️

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

HOT, SINGLE, UNSTUDIED SPONGES. 3000 NAUTICAL MILES AWAY. Come sail the distance and read Tiger Tiger!

[beybuniki]

they should go on a fishing trip pt.1

[danlous]

I feel like many people have a fundamental misconception of what unreliable narrator means. It's simply a narrative vehicle not a character flaw or a sign that the character is a bad person. There are also many different types of unreliable narrators in fiction. Being an unreliable narrator doesn't necessarily mean that the character is 'wrong', it definitely doesn't mean that they're wrong about everything even if some aspects in their story are inaccurate, and only some unreliable narrators actively and consciously lie. Stories that have unreliable narrators also tend to deal with perception and memory and they often don't even have one objective truth, just different versions. It reflects real life where we know human memory is highly unreliable and vague and people can interpret same events very differently