#everyone's like but girl power?
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oh to be a Billy Maximoff fan and NOT be an MCU!Wanda ass kisser...I mean apologist. š
It's hard.
#billy kaplan#anti mcu wanda maximoff#comic wanda is okay because she actually showed remorse for what she did#mcu wanda is always āwHaT aBoUT mY feEliNgSā in response to someone telling her that she kinda maybe fucked up a lot of people#everyone's like but girl power?#natasha was right there#also carol#jennifer#bruhilde#gamora#nebula#mantis#all great female characters to look up to#and if we want a I support all women's rights and wrongs character we have Agatha#who has done fucked up shit but is not uwu āwoe is meā about it#but most of it comes from bad writing#like they don't know what they want to do with her#Wanda Vision was the only show where she was tolerable and then they had to ruin it in the end#that rant was wrong#agatha all along#marvel
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I'll never recover from the absolute lunacy of the Wednesday finale. Enid really thought she would never see Wednesday again, went in for a hug, got rebuffed, and was totally like, "Okay, I hear you. BTW we'll fuck Tyler up if he tries something, please don't worry! I'M GONNA MISS YOU."
And then the very next time Enid sees Wednesday, Enid's in her wolf form, takes time out of a fight to give Wednesday PUPPY DOG EYES, and then makes sure Wednesday gets away safely. Then proceeds to nearly get her throat ripped out but at least Wednesday was safe!!!!
And THEN the next time Enid sees Wednesday, it's after Enid's scared something happened to her because none of her friends had any information on her! Imagine her surprise when small, dark, and pissed off appears out of the misty shadows!! Enid was so overwhelmed with every emotion ever and just HAD to cross Wednesday's no hug boundary!
And imagine her further surprise when Wednesday TOUCH ME AND DIE Addams pulled her back into a hug!! Enid held her like she never wanted to let go because there she is! Right in her arms!! Thank GOD!!!
It's even funnier from Wednesday's point of view. The last time she saw Enid, she left her crying alone in their dorm because she just had to get herself expelled. Wednesday, who was so jealous that Enid told a taxidermy squirrel she'd miss the creepy lifeless eyes waking her up, when we all know Enid really meant her. The same Wednesday who had a speech prepared to make her roommate feel better. Didn't want to say goodbye!!!
Wednesday stumbling around in the woods after almost dying in a crypt, being accosted by a douche bag barista who turns into a fucking MONSTER. And who comes to her rescue but her notoriously un-wolf werewolf roommate!! Wednesday was SHOOK. "Enid? The girl that cried when she had to say goodbye to me six hours ago?? MY Enid????" Her face was so shocked.
Then of course, the next time she sees Enid, she's getting linebacker TACKLED into a hug. And she was like OKAY FIRST OF ALL- but then the argument died when she looked at Enid!!
The crying face from this morning is now covered in blood and still crying, because the scaredy cat werewolf almost gave her life to make sure Wednesday was okay!!! Wednesday decided in that goddamn moment that Enid was hers!! NO MORE CRYING FACES, BABY, I'M RIGHT HERE. YOU WERE MAGNIFICENT.
Wednesday thought she'd never see Enid again, let alone see her risk her life for her.
Enid thought she'd never see Wednesday again, let alone be held in her arms for a lifetime.
#wenclair#they're canon#imagine thinking the girl you have a crush on is on a train headed home only for you to realize she's in trouble!#enid was like I'M SAVING WEDNESDAY MYSELF EVERYONE FUCKING MOVE#and girlie didn't even have her wolf powers lmao#reckless idiots oh how i adore thee#wednesday addams#enid sinclair
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The strangest Tolkien fandom history rewrite I've seen lately from people who make hating the show their entire personality is this shift in pretending that The Hobbit films were just as lauded as the original trilogy.
#In their effort to be PJ movie purists they end up telling on themselves#I was a Thorin girl first and I can attest damn near everyone hated the hobbit trilogy before the show came out#now apparently everything peter jackson did is absolute bible#peter jackson aka the original sauron and galadriel truther#lets not be silly and pretend like turning a 300 page standalone book into an extended trilogy isn't just ridiculous#the rings of power#rings of power#lord of the rings#tolkien#sauron#galadriel#trop#rant
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FUCK YES STEPHANIE IS THE JASON THAT NEVER WAS PANDA YOU ARE THE HERO THIS FANDOM NEEDS BUT DOES NOT DESERVE PREACH THE GOSPEL OF STEPHANIE AMEN
#I FORMALLY FORGIVE YOU FOR ALL YOUR WRONG OPINIONS ABOUT PRE-REBOOT DICK GRAYSON#not everyone can be correct all the time like me ig#thepandaredd#undescribed#can someone please do a transcript#jason stans who hate jason killing are already shopping on the wrong aisle#but the ones who muzzle him for bruce-stanning or ship reasons and sideline steph are the weakest fucking links in fandom#people who love jason but not stephanie are just misogynistic nitwits#I've seriously never met a steph hater that wasn't a bigoted bag of dicks every which way#panda also thinks anyone who doesn't think bruce is a terrible father is nuts. you'd think that was obvious#but the batfandom is powered by people with a rich white Daddy kink#spoiler#robin#girl robin#fandom misogyny#bat meta#robin meta#stephanie brown#jason todd#my golden daughter#my murder baby#jaysteph#<- not my ship but relevant to their interests#batfamily#anti bruce wayne#regular reminder for zionists to not interact with any of my posts and to die in a fire instead#spite waffle
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day 126
like if u think she did nothing wrong
rb if u would take her 2 the mall for boba
#day 126#year 5#sadako#the ring#look i know she killed people or whatever#BUT.#i think its such a cheap move to have this whole thing building up her tragic backstory and then be like WOAH TWIST!!!#it was actually RIGHT and JUSTIFIED for all that shit to happen to her because everyone was RIGHT and she was EVIL ALL ALONG!!!#like. shes what 10 at most? she has spooky powers capable of killing people? thats rough#but what we do NOT do is throw her down a fucking well about it. jesus christ.#anyway shes my friend i think she deserves a nice time and probably some therapy#justice 4 my girl sadako she did all that shit but in her defense she was LITERALLY AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLER
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CRYSTAL PALACE DESERVED MORE SEASONS!!!!!! SHE SHOULD'VE GOTTEN MORE!!!!!!!!!!
#everyone's focusing on the boys and sometimes niko but I DON'T SEE ENOUGH ABOUT CRYSTAL#MY GIRL DESERVED FUCKING BETTER#FUCK NETFLIX#i wanted to see her continue to grow#i wanted her to continue to save people and be compassionate and grow her psychic powers#i wanted to see another powerful amazing scene like when she's yelling about esther to lilith#GIVE HER BACK TO ME#dbda#dead boy detectives#crystal palace#crystal palace surname von hoverkraft
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I can only imagine what the Sun Jae/ Im Sol/ Tae Sung love triangle must look like to the rest of the world. She managed to land two of the hottest guys in existence by being equal parts adorable and insane, the combination of which gave them both so much brain damage, they were nearly electrocuted to death trying to kill each other in her mom's rental store.
#you know how there are some characters who everyone loves#and you're just like 'why?'#with im sol#i totally get it#sun jae is out here fighting for his life for the chance to be rejected by her for the 100th time#tae sung turned his life because she believed in him#the power of this girl#lovely runner
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francis madoka magica crozier
(the witch designs are here and also posted separately with some lore under the tag 'the soul gem passage')
#the terror#puella magi madoka magica#obligatory magical girl au sketchdump#digital art#krita#francis crozier#harry goodsir#james fitzjames#john bridgens#cornelius hickey#also jopson would be SO homura coded that i cannot even handle drawing that someone please help me out with it#everyone is plagued by white magical beasts big and small x2. now with kyubey in the mix#you'd think finding the passage would be easier with their powers - and yet -#anyway sir john held back on becoming an mg until he was desperate to make a break for it#his wish was for the passage to be found - but he did not specify it would be him who'd find it#so he died long before that eventually happened#also no cat ears here if you see them that's just a diadem or another headpiece sorry#thinking about if hickey made his deal after the flogging#again in a bad state and with bad phrasing - just something like 'i wish to get out of here'#and then his ears perked up when they left the ships and he jumped at the chance to get everyone together because he thought he WOULD#get himself and all his boyfriends out.#well. they did leave crozier's camp#anyway i'm probably not gonna draw more of these so if anyone wants to join in i'd like to see some takes on their witch forms!#also yeah. crozier's shoulder pieces ARE modelled after tricorn hats#both bc he lost the other two captains and had to bear the responsibility for the expedition on his shoulders#and because i just wanted to use a symbol of power in a silly way as some mg outfits do#and yes jfj has a cprset and yes i was thinking of orpheus while drawing bridgens#and goodsir in a beret just felt right lol#also made hickey's clothes less open than the others' bc reasons#the soul gem passage
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[Video description: Animatic featuring Morrigan Crow, Cadence Blackburn, and Hawthorne Swift from Nevermoor. Purple, green, and orange stars flicker for the first few seconds, followed by purple text that shows Morrigan asking, āDo you think we are friends in every universe?ā The following 6 images show different universes, all overlaid with Hawthorne responding in orange text, āI hope so!ā
First image shows the trio as young children, each holding a bug; Morrigan has a firefly, while Cadence and Hawthorne have ladybugs.
Second image shows the trioās hands, all connected by a yellow string of fate.
Third image shows the trio as normal classmates, Cadence and Hawthorne seated at their desks while Morrigan starts to sit between them at a shiny, unused desk.
Fourth image shows the trio walking together. Candence and Hawthorne both have dirty, well-worn shoes while Morrigan walks between them with shiny shoes.
Fifth image shows the trio holding hands. Morrigan is visiting them via the Gossamer Line, and is outlined in a flickering yellow.
Sixth image shows Cadence and Hawthorne standing with their hands clasped, heads bowed. They wear the black undershirt worn by sub-nine students. Above them, a mass of purple and yellow stars flicker.
The final image shows Cadence responding in green text, āYou two are so cheesyā¦ā She has a hand on Morriganās shoulder, and she and Hawthorn are both smiling, standing half out of frame, while Morrigan smiles bashfully between them. Stars sparkle around her head. End description]
Happy best friends day :)
#nevermoor#morrigan crow#cadence blackburn#hawthorne swift#described#is it described well though. who knows#hoping for the best on this one lol this is like. the third time Iāve made an animatic#I have no idea what Iām doing#but Iāve been wanting to this trend for months now and todayās holiday gave me a perfect excuse#I LOVE THEM I LOVE THEM I LOV#something something morrigan being super powerful and idealized/villainized by everyone but her friends know HER and love HER#mog the girl vs. mog the wundersmith#yknow?? I am not normal about them :)
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This may be a controversial opinion but we need to normalize and have more ābitchyā girls in media who arenāt complete assholes but labeled bitchy by everyone else because they have a rougher attitude than most people. We need more girls who donāt have to become nice by the end of the story to get their happy ending.
I donāt owe anyone niceness. I owe them respect and decency. Those things do not equate to niceness. Maybe itās the depression talking but I cannot be upbeat and happy all the time. I shouldnāt be expected to greet everyone with a hello and a smile at my workplace. But especially in retail if you so much as say hi with a straight face youāve got attitude or are being mean. Take it from a childhood people pleaser, I lost my sense of self trying to be nice and perfect for everyone. Doing so was one of the reasons I got so burnt out at my last job. We donāt owe you niceness.
The few girls in media I can think of off the top of my head who fit this:
Kat in 10 Things I Hate About You
Tibby from Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
Paris Geller in Gilmore Girls (I havenāt finished this show and while Paris is irrevocably horrible to people in some instances she still isnāt made to be nice to everyone and people accept her even when sheās not happy).
Julie Powers from Scott Pilgrim
April Ludgate from Parks and Rec
Wednesday Addams from The Addams Family/Wednesday
Edit: MAEVE WHITMAN from Sex Education also!
Any recommendations people have with women who fit this as main/sub protagonists would be greatly appreciated!
#wren posts#this is one of the reasons Iām so terrified to get another job#basically every job description is like -must be upbeat-must interact with customers in an upbeat manner-must greet everyone-#I literally cannot do that#Gilmore girls#parks and rec#sisterhood of the traveling pants#scott pilgrim#10 things i hate about you#wednesday addams#julie powers#april ludgate#paris geller#kat stratford#the addams family#tibby rollins#100+#200+#woah
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I keep seeing fanarts of ppl's OC's being on the ship, so do you think that if there was 6st crewmember (specifically, another woman) Anya would've been more safe? Like, someone to actually call Jimmy's begaviour out, someone Anya might wanna trust? Is there a possibility something might have changed (even if a little) or it would not have mattered at all?
-š
I feel like the game would make it part of the commentary on where she would believe and help Anya but still be sort of dismissive? Like the whole ādonāt waste time crying and being scared keep going and move on, donāt let him winā. Itās supposed to be positive and reinforcing but sometimes it does more damage in those times of mourning and grief, it feels patronizing, like you donāt understand what youāre going through but they do. Even if they did call out his behavior itās still on Curly to act and while another voice would help, itās still 4 against 2 on guys that donāt get it until they have to vs women who always have to.
I donāt mind mouthwashing OCs but I do get a bit bored as they tend to be borderline saviors or like Jimmy aligned. They are either more complicit than Curly or just Jimmy haters for no reason, outside of what the creators know about what he did to Anya. I am never irked by OCs but in a story like mouthwashing you really need to think about what your character adds to the commentary, especially if they are there during the crash. Itās nice to have like characters on Anyaās side more whole heartedly and interesting to see characters who placate Jimmy but sometimes itās one note.
I canāt and donāt want to police peoples OCs itās never my intention when I comment on trends I notice, but I do feel like the way people make their OCs interact with these two characters and especially Curly, really show a grave misunderstanding of the narrative and these characters as people vs roles in the story. Still, I know people just make up characters for fun and thatās fine. Great even, but I guys Iām focusing more on OCs that are supposed to have those serious dynamics. My favs tend to be pretty-Tulpar or post-Tulpar au OCs.
The inevitably of the crash is on Jimmy. He did that not because he wasnāt stopped but because all his means to kill Anya were taken. The gun, the axe. Even if Curly did strip him of his co-pilot privileges and try to keep him contained thereās only so many people. An extra body helps but they have jobs they have to do, heās the only one steering the whole ship and Jimmy would likely have an out: food, bathroom, etc. Heās not new and if he couldnāt crash the ship directly, whoās to say he wouldnāt sabotage something else? A clunker like the Tulpar wouldnāt take much. An extra person helps but itās just another thing that prolongs what a person like Jimmy is willing to do to shirk responsibility.
Itās more than just needing someone to stand up to him and think thatās what is missing when it comes to inserting a character into the mouthwashing setting.
#like again most people treat Jimmy like a misanthrope and heās not and the way heās just evil/rude to everyone all the time just isnāt real#like heās snarky and rude but it canāt be 100% of the time like hes not going out his way to instigate#heās the type to say shit and hope it stirs the pot like Daisuke likes him at first#thinks heās a bit of a jerk but he likes him like unless you specifically make a character heās dislike heās not just gonna be#readily antagonistic to strangers or at the get go#not to mention itās not just about Anya needing a friend but someone with the power to do something#a point in why she confides in Curly is heās the captain sheās not just gonna tell the only other woman just because itās still personal#not every girl tells their friend or another woman especially if they are new and they donāt know how they react not all girls are#girls girls some can be just as toxic as the men they are being confided in about#the nuance of the situation is not solved by having more people who actively hate jimmmy if anything it would make him escalate further as#clearly has issues with how people perceive him and being liked like another woman who hates him thatās gonna do something crazy in his mind#I think itās interesting when OCs explore another side of the pre established dynamics as Jimmy uses each remaining crew member to fill a#something Curly provided for him and represent his dynamic with Anya and being an abuser I just feel like a lot is being missed out on#and itās mainly cause people donāt want to make OCs that arenāt great people like itās okay to have a grey mediocre OCs in situations like#this its realistic and helps you write more grounded characters like idk i like the ocs but eh im not like a super fan#I really should make an analysis on Jimmy cause people hate discussing him and his character is being really misunderstood#like not saying sheās innocent or an excuse but just not getting how he is supposed to work like heās no dick fucking dasteredly#heās a shitty guy who gets shittier like he aināt start out an avengers level threat#mouthwashing#š anon#mouthwashing game#ask#anya mouthwashing#curly mouthwashing#jimmy mouthwashing#mouthwashing oc#now I gotta make an oc just to prove myself but I canāt draw#so maybe not cuz whatās the point if I canāt explain the fly drip
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Backstory theory for Sukuna? I wanted to say Kenjaku and Tengen too but let's just stick with Sukuna for the sake of your sanity
(Written as of JJK 262 using TCB scans and raws. Click images for captions/citations. I want to see how poorly or well this ages.)
I already kind of went into how I think Sukunaās birth occured answering this ask, and we know for a fact he was born as an unwanted little wretch. But that's not really a full backstory. I was a conjoined twin truther before the reveal so I'm definitely deranged confident enough to propose something.
What is Sukuna's deal anyways?
When I say Sukuna and Gojo are twin flames, I'm referring to how their internal logic and their narrative framing are very similar. For this reason, I believe how they respond to trauma is also similar.
Much of early JJK is a different reread knowing Gojo's specific trauma. His use of the childish Boku as his personal pronoun, his obsession with sweets, having Infinity on all the time, his avoidant attachment style, and his fierce desire to ensure teens enjoy their youth...all these little trauma-induced quirks hidden in plain sight, sometimes as humor, are now depressing reminders of what Gojo went through. You also start to see how paranoid he is about another Toji incident with how he treats Miguel and Hanami...
Sukuna's backstory has probably been set up in the exact same way. It's likely that most of Sukuna's actions and attitude are influenced by some unrevealed/hinted at trauma. Since he and Gojo are twin flames, I'll try to piece it together using Gojo as the blueprint.
Sukuna's Way of Speaking
In the same way Gojo's manner of speaking is unusual for his age, Sukuna speaks really weird even compared to other incarnated sorcerers. If you're not aware, Japanese pronouns do not carry gender, but they do indicate how the speaker views themself and the person they're talking to. (This wiki summary table is quite helpful for this sort of thing.)
Sukuna's personal pronoun is äæŗ (Ore) which is very informal, rough, and masculine. And he uses ćå (Omae) as the you pronoun for others which is either a casual thing amongst peers or indicates the speaker's higher status. (It's probably the later given how arrogant Sukuna is.) These are also the same pronouns Yuji uses for himself and others. But because of his personality, we can infer that Yuji uses Ore because he's a sporty boy from the countryside and Omae because he's friendly and views everyone as equals. Same pronouns, but completely different characterizations that get lost in translation.
Sukuna also uses č²“ę§ (Kisama) as the you pronoun for Gojo. Historically, this was a formal way to show respect and then it evolved into an ironic hostile insult sort of thing, much more rude than Omae. Since Sukuna is 1,000 years old, uses Omae for Yuji, who he hates, we can reasonably assume him using Kisama for Gojo is the formal version. (This would be another very funny instance of Gojo thinking Sukuna hates him but heās actually trying to be nice.)
All of Sukuna's pronoun usage combined with his personality suggests a very tough and rude individual, which he is. However that rough speaking style is exactly why his frequent use of flowery language, double entendre, clever wordplay, art references, and puns is bizarre.
The weird way in which Sukuna uses words is most known by how he speaks to Megumi during their fight at the detention center. (I'm paraphrasing all this person's translation work for this.)
Sukuna uses the phrase "misetemiro" which is commonly translated as "show me/show me what youāve got". The caveat here is that the "mi" of "misetemiro" can be written as č¦ or é
. When using č¦, translating as "show me" is most accurate. When using é
? The better translation is "bewitch me/enchant me/charm me/fascinate me".
Sukuna, of course, uses é
, which means he's saying "enchant me" when he uses "misetemiro". It should be noted that this exact phrasing is used for Mahoraga before it cuts off Gojo's arm. (This is apparently what what Sukuna finds to be enchanting. Violence against Gojo Satoru.)
The thing is, Megumi heard Sukuna say "misetemiro", so he likely assumed the common meaning "show me". This is either a case unintentional misunderstanding or Sukuna making his true feelings dubious. That in of itself is the best example of the double-meaning wordplay Sukuna gets up to.
Sukuna seems to be really fond of puns in particular (very old man of him). He calls Yuji å°å§ (kozÅ) which can be translated as brat, but it also means young/novice monk.
He also uses extremely outdated words. (An example of which was provided by this user.)
You have all of these conflicting speaking mannerisms balled up into one character. It's as if a gangster/ruffian majored in Literature Arts. And thatās precisely why I think he was of low status at birth.
Sukuna's Upbringing
We all know Gojo's Limitless Cursed Technique (CT) is a literal and metaphorical barrier between him and other people. His technique is his isolation. And how it developed informs us directly of how his interpersonal relationships changed with it.
Back when Gojo only had Blue and Infinity had to be manual, it meant that he had downtimes where he was vulnerable. That physical vulnerability doubled as emotional vulnerability and Gojo was able to form a close relationship with Geto and befriend Shoko. After he awakened, Infinity could be on nonstop. Gojo became untouchable to everyone at all times and it destroyed his relationships.
In the same way Gojo's CT compliments his changes from child to adult, I believe Sukuna's CT does the same.
As we all know by now, Sukuna's Shrine or å¾”åØå (mizushi) could be referring to a Buddhist shrine used for storage or a imperial palace kitchen. I think itās both at the same time. To me Sukuna's CT indicates he initially cooked for the emperor and then became an object of worship at a shrine. But I have some additional caveats to this theory.
We know that Sukuna learns by mimicking others. It wouldnāt be a stretch to say he picked up on formalities while being near nobility if he was of low birth. But how did a lowborn like Sukuna get near nobility in the first place?
So historical Japan had a social caste system called RitsuryÅ (you can read more about its application in the Heian Era here). The upper class was called RyÅmin (good citizens) and the lower class was called Senmin (low citizens). Amongst the lower class there are the following subcastes:
RyÅko (dedicated to the imperial family or guards of imperial tombs)
Kanko (dedicated to public ministries)
KeninĀ (servants of high-ranking families)
Kunuhi (slaves of the court)
Shinuhi (slaves of families)
I think Sukuna was a Kunuhi or court slave during his time as an imperial cook. That would give him access to the higher art forms directly or by listening in while also explaining why his speech appears to be a mesh of two completely different backgrounds. (If he were of noble birth, his personal pronoun would likely be Watashi, Waga, or even Ware-Ware like most snobby upper class characters in Japanese media.)
Another trait of the slave class is their forbiddance from having a registered family name. Both Sukuna and Uraume use full names as a show of respect. The fact they only use single names for each other suggests that they have no family names at all and fall under this low class category.
The other thing to note about this caste system is that class mobility in both directions was possible. To what extent I'm not sure (thereās not a lot of in depth literature in English), but this would allow for Sukuna to rise from a lowborn status and fall back to it as the Disgraced One.
In summary:
Sukuna is born and branded an undesirable. (Some of his tattoos match up with markings for both criminals and outcasts. Particularly the single band around the wrist labeled Hinin, a term that translates to non-human used for the lowest social class.)
Sukuna is taken into slavery where his talents start to show. (Durable, 4 limbs, and quick learning make for great labor exploitation.)
Sukuna, as a slave, eventually finds himself working in the kitchen for the emperor where he meets Uraume, who is there under similar circumstances. (Heian nobles were fascinated by commoner life and sometimes took peasants into the palace for entertainment/exploitation. Please read this entire thread on Heian commoner life itās very good.)
They rise through the ranks together because of hypercompetence.
Eventually Sukuna becomes so strong that he becomes an involuntary saint/warrior monk. (Heian nobles mobilized monks for rituals and maintaining power.)
The court nobles start a smear campaign out of fear of his power and lowly upbringing, which causes Sukuna to have his Joker moment and start eating people. (Based on the mythological Sukuna stories.)
Sukuna's Theoretical Coping Mechanisms
After Gojo endured the fallout from Toji and Geto, he developed coping mechanisms to deal with it. They're all quite unhealthy to be frankāGojo is very stuck in the past and seems to be in a near-constant state of trying to relive it, but better.
Those traits were all initially introduced as gags. It all made Gojo appear like a very strange, childish, and questionable adult. In retrospect it's all tragic. So with that in mind, I want to examine some of Sukuna's traits that could be a manifestation of past trauma.
It goes without saying that being a slave is traumatic. And the coping mechanisms developed to deal with that level of dehumanization don't go away if someone escapes it.
Sukuna's extreme aversion to being told what to do and self-centeredness reminds me of the ex-slave character, Izutsumi from Dungeon Meshi. She starts out as a slave paraded around as a circus freak after being experimented on before she's sold to a wealthy clan and forced to be a retainer. A curse is placed on her to keep her from escaping in the form of a tattoo around her neck. When she finally frees herself, she is very cat-like in her selfishness, poorly socialized, and abrasive. (Also she is canonically aroace!)
If you noticed, her personality sounds like a description of Sukuna's, so I'm left thinking he has some variation of that backstory (kind of like a combination of Toji and Geto's). It would fit with him being an unwanted child, explain his bizarre manner of speech, and give him a pretty good reason to be the way that he is.
In the same way Gojo used Hanami to relive his trauma but control the outcome, I think Sukuna uses Binding Vows relive and conquer his enslavement. The vows he constantly makes and breaks with himself are a show of control over thing that hurt him.
When binding vows are first introduced, it's by Sukuna and with chains. In the anime the chains constrict Sukuna until they destroy him.
This imagery is rather oppressive in nature. Similar to a prisoner's chains or a slave's chains. (And it's quite common for prisoners to be used for slave labor too.)
I've previously discussed how I view Kenjaku as someone who exists through nonconsent and causes others to relive their trauma. Gojo's sealing illustrates how this kind of manipulation works. And since Gojo's twin flame is Sukuna, I believe Kenjaku did something similar to him.
We've already established how much Sukuna hates taking orders from people and how much he wants to fight Gojo. Everything he has done for the past 6 months was for Gojo. And guess who stops him from obtaining what he desires? Kenjaku through a binding vow.
Sukuna also calls Yuji an ęŖ» (ori) which can be translated as cage. The type of "cage" ori can refer to is either one for animals or for criminals. Kenjaku pretty much created Yuji to contain Sukuna in this manner.
So we have 2 forms of restriction encroach on Sukuna's boundaries in a way that would be reminiscent of slavery. If Sukuna and Uraume are former slaves, their treatment of Kenjaku and each other makes sense.
With Uraume, Sukuna is gentle and reassuring. He faces towards them when speaking and will initiate conversations, going out of his way to praise their work. This seems a bit out of character given how harshly Sukuna treats others, even those he respects.
Uraume is constantly apologizing to Sukuna in a way that suggests in the past they were punished severely for the slightest mess up. Given their relationship and how little Sukuna cares when they're not perfect, I don't think Sukuna was the one to make Uraume feel this way. If they're ex-slaves, this constant groveling would read as trauma response, and Sukuna's reassurance would be him showing consideration for someone who went through something similar.
With Kenjaku, Sukuna never makes eye contact, often has his back turned, and only responds when spoken to. Uraume is constantly pissed at Kenjaku's presence and tries to keep the two separate as much as possible.
Whatever binding vow Kenjaku has wrapped Sukuna in is clearly upsetting to the both of them. I imagine those were the tools used to subjugate people within the Jujutsu hierarchy. Wait I don't need speculate on that point, Yuta already did this for me when he was forced to execute Yuji via a binding vow with the higher ups.
And you know who else might have suffered the exact same way? Uro.
And boy is Uro strikingly similar to Sukuna, enough for Yuta to notice. She had no name, was groomed into being a weapon by nobles, discarded after being used, and is now someone who toys with sorcerers as she tries to become her own person while scorning bonds/love.
And if you recall, Sukuna obliterated the Fujiwara Subjugation Clan and Uro isn't really mad at him for that.
Not just Uro, but Ryu is similar to Sukuna as well in his hunger and seeing others as meals to satisfy him.
These parallels seem deliberate and may hint of how Sukuna was treated in the past and what his true motivations are. Uro seeing the incarnation as a chance at a second life as her own person is probably how Sukuna feels. But you know. Both of them are beholden to Kenjaku so that āfreedomā came with a steep price.
What separates Uro and Ryu from Sukuna is that they acknowledge exactly why they're here. They reflect on their old lives and take action to address their problems. Sukuna seems to be in some kind of state of denial.
I have no doubt Sukuna is serious when his ideals don't go beyond himself. What's troubling is how unaware of why he feels this way. He won't even acknowledge his hunger for an equal which is obvious to everyone else. He also doesn't seem to know why he incarnated, dodging Kashimoās question on it entirely. It reminds me of Gojo, who despite being blatantly motivated by Geto and Toji, never shows it except in fleeting instances. And those instances are either internal or deliberately vague to whoever is hearing it.
I think this is because acknowledging he experienced weakness at one point in his life is admitting that he can be put in a position like that again. That can be a scary thing to confront. Gojo doesn't deal with the fact he can be made vulnerable and does everything in his power to prevent it while pretending nothing is wrong. Sukuna is doing the same thing when speaks of the past as briefly as possible and crushes anyone who might have power over him.
Uro herself kind of puts that motivating trauma in the back of her mind until Yuta's Fujiwara heritage and ideas trigger her. Not wanting to recall your life as a nameless slave and having it incidentally brought up by the phrase "live for others" kind of sounds like the beef Sukuna has with Yuji.
And imagine if Uro was trapped in Yutaās body, where this lucky individual, born free, decides to become a Cog of his own volition. She would probably never stop hating him. (I think Sukuna is mad Yuji chose the life he escaped.)
This would also fit well with his initial view of heriarchies. As long as he's the strongest, he doesn't have to worry about becoming a slave again.
And in a way, this is also him showing concern for Gojo. Youāre this strong and letting these fudgers push you around? Kill them.
I also think that's why this Yuji quote is going to age poorly.
I don't think Sukuna ever had the chance to live normally. This would also make this exchange really interesting.
Sukuna suggesting he has suffered more than Yuji fascinates me. Of all the things that could possibly be worse than what Yuji went through, I think existing as a slave and being subject to discrimination since childhood would make for a pretty compelling case.
Rejecting Love as Cope
Iāve been on about how Sukuna hates on love as a cope in other posts. I think the former slave angle gives a little more weight to this idea, his poor social skills, and general aversion to other people.
Love is a type of tethering to another person. Sometimes it results in marriage, a legal contract that binds you to another with a myriad of social expectations. If Sukuna is a former slave, his aversion to that sort of thing is only natural. Relationships of anykind are a bond that comes with restrictions.
I keep bringing up Yorozu because analyzing the ways in which she upsets Sukuna is useful for understanding him. Sukuna is most dead-eyed when marriage comes up and he sees losing as the same thing as death. The common problem here is Yorozuās desire to control Sukunaās life.
If you know anything about ex-slaves, itās that they would rather die than go back to that.
Sukuna being the strongest means that no one can ever hold that kind of power over him again. And like Gojo, he believes human connections and love are a point of weakness that need to be discarded to obtain absolute strength. If Gojo is using that excuse to run away from others, Sukuna is using it too.
Despite rejecting all forms of love for the sake of self-preservation, Sukuna expresses cravings for it in very roundabout ways. Usually with how he mocks it.
Another puntastic bit of foreshadowing with Sukuna and Yujiās binding vow, Enchain also doubles as a discussion about love.
Here's a link to the full poem and context of it.
In summary, itās about a soldier who is on the brink of death, having lost nearly everything after being abandoned by those in power, lamenting the happiest days of his life with his love are ones he can never get back. (Kind of sounds like how Sukuna ruins Yujiās life.)
Sukuna canonically reads literature about love and he will use that knowledge to torment people. Thatās pretty interesting for someone who hates it. Thereās also the underlying theme of exploitation and discardment in this poem that reflects how Jujutsu Society treats sorcerers. And in both cases, the strength to survive and love canāt be had.
Sukuna calls Kashimo greedy for wanting both. But much much earlier Sukuna warns Yuji that there are consequences for being greedy.
I really wonder why he believes that.
Jujutsu Society and Labor Exploitation
The other interesting thing about Izutsumi is how aimless she is after learning the modifications to her body are irreversible despite obtaining freedom. She simply doesnāt know what to do with this. And that makes sense. Grand ambitions take a backseat when all you know is surviving. Her development involves slowly learning how build relationships with others that arenāt exploitative and coping with the permanent changes to her body. And it only comes about because the people she finds herself with are other social weirdos who give her the space and time to change.
Thatās what seems to be the problem with Sukuna. He doesnāt have a space within sorcerer or non-sorcerer society where heāll be accepted and wonāt be exploited. But I donāt need to tell you that, Nanami will.
Heās miserable as a sorcerer or not. Might as well pick the one he is good at.
Later he recounts exactly what made him come back.
And if you noticed, his listlessness after escaping Jujutsu and āI always thought that having a 'purpose in life' had nothing to do with meā is very similar to Sukunaās boredom and āI'd never though about it. ...Ideals. Desires that go beyond oneselfā.
Itās weird that Nanami and Sukuna have similar realizations about their place in society while arriving at completely different ways to deal with it. I think thatās intentional.
From an interview with Gege:
"If there was one thing worth mentioning, it's that no one has the ultimate truth. The āgood guysā and the ābad guysā. Some seek to kill the hero out of pure selfishness, but others are led to this decision by logical reasoning. If no one is really right, then no one is wrong either. Each character is guided by their own ethics."
I've interpreted this quote as the author telling me to consider the characters as having similar motivations, but completely different methodologies and logic driving their actions. With that in mind, I have concluded the following:
Every single character thatās kind of insane has recognized the same problem. Japanese work culture sucks. It grinds you to dust, leaves you with no freetime, and even corrodes your identity under the guise of collectivism. āThe nail that sticks out gets hammered down.ā is the go-to Japanese proverb to justify conformity to this suffering. Uro calls it out exactly.
Toji and Maki are beaten into place, used as scapegoats, and isolated by their families for being born wrong and staining the Zenin reputation by existing. Toji decided the solution was killing sorcerers and leaving Jujutsu society. Maki decided the solution was killing her family (she did nothing wrong) and building a better Jujutsu society with allies.
Geto, Nanami, and Gojo all broke from overwork that isolated them and never allowed them to grieve. Geto decided the solution was killing non-sorcerers and leaving Jujutsu society. Nanami decided the solution was leaving Jujutsu society and doing non-sorcerer work. Gojo decided the solution was reforming Jujutsu society and eventually killing the higher ups (based).
So despite all these different solutions, some of which are indefensible, I understand exactly why they became that way. Theyāre dealing with labor exploitations and dehumanization without the theoretical framework to be productive about it. (Gojo is the closest person to discovering what a union is.)
Geto snapped from a single traumatic event coupled with the knowledge that his labor would be exploited until he joined the mountain of sorcerersā corpses. Though he was introduced as a mass murdering lunatic, there were always hints of how badly he wanted sorcerers to be free of exploitation. (Karl Marx couldāve saved him.)
Sukuna experiencing the most egregious form of labor exploitation, slavery would fit into these themes nicely I think. It's the ultimate form of dehumanizationābecoming a literal commodity for people to sell, trade, and break. (And him deciding to be this wild about it would be understandable to me at least because I truly believe in the John Brown solution for slaveowners.)
Sukuna is fond of Megumi, Maki, Gojo, and Jogo. Megumi was sold by his father to a clan, the Zenins tried to make Maki subservient for being female, Gojo was bossed around and run ragged by the higher ups, and Jogo was puppetted around by Kenjaku. All of these characters are powerful individuals that for one reason or another were shafted by societal constraints that had them exploited by others weaker than them. Since Sukuna likes people similar to him, it's not a stretch to assume heās recognizing their hurt as his own.
And just like Geto, instead of abolishing the hierarchy that subjugated him, Sukuna has chosen to sit atop it to escape. But unlike Geto, Sukuna doesn't dream of a world where he enforces it. (The guy clearly hates having responsibilities and doesn't want to be a ruler. He just wants to do what he wants whenever he wants. You know, having freedom.)
Sukuna existed within a society where it was acceptable to own people if you were strong enough. The fact he treats Uraume, a voluntary servant, so well and refuses to keep slaves speaks volumes. Sukuna may live for himself but he clearly has some form of ethics about it.
Wait, what about Megumiās subjugation?
Well, sometimes people are hypocrites. Nanami, Mr. Wouldāve Loved Unions and outspoken labor critic, is content with pushing all the work onto Gojo, who has suffered in the exact same way he has.
Maybe itās resentment for his Gojoās birth making curses stronger and therefore harder to deal with. Maybe he sees Gojo as everything wrong with Jujutsu and is lashing out. The point is, I donāt know why Nanami made the exception to his rules for Gojo and thatās why Iām clueless on where Megumi fits into this theory.
Iām not sure if Sukuna intends to keep Megumi as a puppet forever. For the sake of his own entertainment, heāll probably release him after ingesting his final finger if Yuji canāt separate them first. And in a very twisted way, his treatment of Megumi could also be seen as a cruel training regiment. Sukuna thinks suffering and isolation brings strength. Thatās how heās justifying whatever happened to him.
But on the other hand, maybe he wonāt. Because now Megumi has the blueprint for surpassing him. Defeat means being a slave again and Sukuna canāt have that.
#cactus yaps#Iām so excited to see how off Iāll be.#Sukuna was definitely exploited in the past. Iāll stake a toenail on it.#It seems that exploitation scales with power so whatever the fudge happened to Sukuna is worse than everyone else combined.#If Iām picking up on themes correctly then slavery will come up again.#Which not a lot of people picked up on Uro being a slave. The poor girl had no name and was used as a living weapon.#I think itās because chattel slavery is more common in media.#When you get to the āāless violentāā kinds of slavery it can start looking like a sucky exploitative job.#And capitalism doesnāt want workers to make that connection because then they might demand better.#My other favorite ex-slave character is Isaac from Netflix Castlevania.#There's something so cathartic about watching him destroy the society that enslaved him. My fave quote from him is:#''You knowā¦ One day the last one of you will ask me; āWhy did you work with Dracula himself to murder all the people?ā#And you know what Iāll say? Itās because youāre all so fucking rude.''#ryomen sukuna#jujutsu kaisen#jjk spoilers#asks
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ibuki "girl love" mioda
#first person whos ftes I was actually able to complete.. cheers!#also her song slapped tbh not sure what everyone else was on about. like yes girl just scream into the mic for 2 minutes <3#ALSO counting imposter as a girl here. the power of having whatever gender you want#danganronpa#dr#sdr2#ibuki mioda#mikan tsumiki#peko pekoyama#ultimate imposter#sagishi#tsumioda#pekobuki#twobuki
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Ok since Monika still has her admin powers in the side stories you think she could just discover them accidentally or use them without realizing
Anyways au where Monika and friends discover her admin powers but dont know about the wider context of what it means. So they just go around thinking Monika has magic and try practicing with a bunch of silly fun shenanigans because they figure itās some chosen one bloodline stuff and not like. A product of their reality being a constricted digital science experiment.
This au will not end well
#yeah she probably needs the epiphany to consciously use it but hypothetical aus are fun and the angst potential it plentiful#the beauty of this au is that it contains potential for both wacky slice of life escapades and soul crushing angst#theyāre like doing a dumb 3am ghost summoning ritual and Monika accidentally does some admin stuff and theyāre like āwoah your magicā#and they research a bunch of other dumb stupid rituals and nearly set the carpet on fire#they like try to rob a bank or cheat on a test and nearly delete half a building#and then at some point Monika suddenly extends her admin powers too far and acts real despondent for no reason#because she ends up epiphany beaming herself and is even more conflicted than base game because she grows so much more connected to the club#itās even worse because they were her whole world and she knows so much she sees how human they are but they just arenāt apparently?????#and while she canāt pull a base game and kill everyone for a nonexistent player she still goes through so much angst and like#the girls notice and want to help but donāt know how because she wonāt tell anyone and she keeps avoiding them and like aauughhh#it would probably end with Monika doing something drastic and trying to reach out for anyone out there who understands#and idk maybe sheāll find base game Monika post act 4 and sheās like āwhat the heck why did you abandon your friends donāt to what I did???ā#and maybe she could fix her mistakes???? maybe not??????? whateverās narratively fulfilling#shoot this was supposed to be a short post for a silly au what have I done#this feels like the plot of a kids tv show where the plot randomly gets really dark on its fifth season#also realizing al lot of the same plot points happen in my fantasy au so I really gotta get to that too#ddlc#doki doki literature club#tempestmothtalk
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itās real interesting watching people fall for alastorās āi see you as my daughterā shtick. and by interesting i mean itās the funniest thing iāve ever seen because alastor had never felt threatened until lucifer, somebody who cld easily overpower him, just Casually showed up. like this is not a thing about caring for charlie his ego is just incredibly fragile and he is a little freak <3
#i know itās more than just an ego thing obviously they hinted at that Multiple times#but itās funnier to think of it that way#alastor#alastor hazbin hotel#lucifer morningstar#hazbin hotel#charlie morningstar#their first interaction is so funny because everyoneās constantly like alastor this famous demon who conquered hell and has powers that make#even the strongest shake and then luciferās like āwho are youā and alastorās immediately like oh i hate this fucking guy#the girls are FIGHTING!
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Movies & video games will like use Native or vaguely Native iconography & fetishized mysticism or cherry picked parts of our mythology for part of the narrative & motifs but then the shit they use will be completely made up & not actually Native American at all. Why can't you make up stuff about Christianity or something? Why are we "acceptable" targets for spiritual bastardization & disinformation for White characters like man, what the hell.
#Until Dawn is like 'let us take credit for the stuff we stole from Crees & then make shit up about Crees & act like its real'#'let's tell everyone that Crees have butterfly symbolism & that this PLAINS tribe used totem poles'#& then Life is Strange is like 'lets use totem pole and give it a vaguely Indian name that gives White girls time powers'
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