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linkspooky · 4 months ago

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SUKUNA, YOU ARE ME

Now that we're in the last few chapters of Jujutsu Kaisen it's time to do a deep dive into Yuji and Sukuna's relationship. Is what Yuji showing Sukuna here truly empathy? Does Sukuna's death and Yuji's attempt to reach out mean Sukuna was human all along? We'll discuss that, the parallels between this and Mahito, and what Sukuna's exit means for both himself and Yuji as characters underneath the cut.

I AM YOU

While this post is about the connection between Yuji and Sukuna, I'm going to say the majority of this post will be about Yuji. I stated this in a previous post, I don't believe Yuji's showing Sukuna empathy here. While his offer to let Sukuna live inside of him may be genuine, it doesn't come from a place of genuine understanding. Sukuna himself isn't written as a character to be understood or empathized with.

Look at the words Yuji said. "You are me." He's not saying he's like Sukuna, he's saying Sukuna is like him. He is projecting himself onto Sukuna. Everyone in the story does, even Kashimo and Gojo who both considers themselves the strongest of their time and who naturally should have been able to understand the isolation of being someone as incomprehensibly strong as Sukuna were just projecting their own personal experiences on them in the end.

Of course we could dig a little deeper on the topic.

How much can one person truly understand another? It doesn't have to be a curser, or a borderline incomprehensible deity like Sukuna. How much do you understand your own best friend?

Gojo mentions that he felt loved by everyone, but also that he was so beyond their understanding that they may as well have been plants in comparison to him.

Of course, Shoko herself says that Shoko was always right there next to Gojo trying to offer him support and Gojo just chose to keep her at an arm's length. Gojo also believed that only someone as equally as powerful as him like Sukuna could understand him. Only to find that Sukuna didn't care about Gojo's feelings of isolation at all, nor was he troubled by love in the least.

Gojo makes himself out to be someone so superior to other human beings that he's beyond their comprehension, but that's Sukuna. Gojo did feel understood once, by Geto in his youth. The thing was that Gojo assumed that Geto could understand him because they were both euqal in power level. However, years after the fact when Gojo has long surpassed Geto, their friendship remains exactly the same.

The one that Gojo pictures patting him on the back is adult Geto, not teenage Geto. The one who Gojo truly would have been satisfied by in the end was Geto, not Sukuna.

So maybe what makes Sukuna so impossible to understand by others is that same reason why Shoko can't be close to Geto. Sukuna can't be understood by others because he doesn't care to be understood by them.

Perhaps, understanding isn't the end all be all of human connection. Gojo accepted Geto, and he didn't accept Shoko. Maybe Shoko would have been able to understand Gojo if Gojo ever tried to be emotionally open with her the ever way he was with Geto then he might have felt understood.

Then there's Ryomen Sukuna who rejects love and every notion of humanity along with it.

Therefore empathy means nothing to Sukuna. Yuji's empathy in particular. No, Yuji's attempt to save Sukuna is more about himself than Sukuna. It's a reflection of a change of Yuji's state of mind that he's willing to accept living with a curse like Sukuna. That he'd even try to understand Sukuna. Curses that Yuji previously dismissed as not even being worth understanding.

The first time Yuji said these words was when Yuji tried to make an offer to Sukuna to let him take control of his body in order to heal Junpei, in order to be laughed at by Sukuna. It was the last time Yuji ever asked anything of Sukuna.

Remember, in the very beginning of the manga Sukuna seemed like a standard inner demon character like the nine tails, or hollow ichigo. Yuji even thinks he can use Sukuna to switch out to help fight for him like against the special grade cursed spirit. However, we and the audience quickly learns that not only is Sukuna not just some evil half of Yuji, or a convenient power up, he's an actively malevolent entity with a will that will do anything to escape.

When Yuji realizes that Mahito and Sukuna are both curses, he starts to see Sukuna as an enemy trapped within him. Something he's reminded of again and again, especially after the Shibuya Massacre. From that moment Sukuna and Mahito become like villainous foils to Yuji, the dark to his light, the enemy for him to kill.

Yuji defines Mahito and Sukuna as his opposites and his enemies By killing them, he also gives himself a role. It's Sukuna and Mahito's actions in taunting is the first time Yuji uses the language "kill" when dealing with curses.

Mahito compared himself to Yuji and by saying as a curse he mindlessly kills humans. The same way that Yuji as a sorcerer, mindlessly kills curses. They are on the opposite side of the same cycle with no end in sight.

Yuji decides to embrace this violent cycle because it at least gives him a role to play. If curses are the shadow of humanity, if they're a reflection of humanity then what exactly is you saying here?

Yuji says he is Mahito, and then immediately that he's going to kill Mahito. It's not a statement of self acceptance, or accepting your shadow, but rather a statement of self destruction. Even though Mahito is a chaotic evil curse who enjoys killing humans, Yuji's decision to throw away his humanity just for the sake of killing him isn't a healthy way.

When Mahito said "You are me" he was attempting to drag Yuji down to his level. Yuji then willfully descends to Mahito's level as long as it gives him the strength to kill Mahito. It's character regression on his part. Yuji once said he didn't want to kill because then the value of life might become vague to him.

In a way it did, because Yuji began to devalue his own life. Yuji wasn't able to see any meaning in his life besides a "role' that someone else assigned him. Not only was he willing to throw it away at the drop of a hat, but he also didn't feel like he had permission to live.

Unlike Yuta who actively sought affirmation from others, Yuji rejected that affirmation and tried to push everyone including people like Megumi and Choso away. They were right next to him, but Yuji became unable to accept their love and support.

Yuji is a strange paradox because he presents himself as an all-loving hero who just wants to save as many people as possible, but then you read his dialogue and he's like "I'm just a cog in the machine, I will continue to kill curses until one day I die. Then I'll just be replaced by another cog. There's no meaning at all to this sequence. Life is an endless nightmare."

I'm exaggerating, but underneath Yuji's sweet nature and goofing around, there's this very bleak attitude that his life means nothing except for the labor that he produces, and one day he'll be tossed aside and that's fine because it's what he deserves.

If Yuta seeks self-affirmation, then Yuji is seeking self-destruction. His self-loathing leads him to practically lay his head down on the chopping block and offer his neck up for execution by Higuruma's domain during the fight with Higuruma, even when Higuruma himself points out that Yuji isn't the one at fault because he wans't in control of his own body. Yuji will still take the blame, anything to punish himself further.

So, the words Yuji uses in his triumph against Mahito also signify the destruction of his own ego. That is what Yuji does when he adapts his cog mentality, he denies his own sense of self.

What Yuji experiences is basically a prolonged ego-death.

Ego death is a "complete loss of subjective self-identity".[1] The term is used in various intertwined contexts, with related meanings. The 19th-century philosopher and psychologist William James uses the synonymous term "self-surrender" and Jungian psychology uses the synonymous term psychic death, referring to a fundamental transformation of the psyche.

I brung up Ego-Death in the Jungian context, but in Yuji's case, resigning himself to being a cog is also an act of self-surrender. Yuji basically moves away from all of his previous ideals. He only sees himself as a tool to kill curses. Saving others, or helping guide others to a natural death, those things get put on the back burner as a tool doesn't need ideals.

He's abandoned all kinds of idealism and higher reasoning. In fact that is what Mahito wanted him to do, to abandon the higher reasoning that belongs to human beings and act on instinct like a curse. Mahito successfully pushed Yuji to abandon human reason and become an unthinking cog.

Jung defines the Ego-Death as the stripping away of everything else to revert to your natural self. According to Ventegodt and Merrick, the Jungian term "psychic death" is a synonym for "ego death":

In order to radically improve global quality of life, it seems necessary to have a fundamental transformation of the psyche. Such a shift in personality has been labeled an "ego death" in Buddhism or a psychic death by Jung, because it implies a shift back to the existential position of the natural self, i.e., living the true purpose of life.

Megumi also experiences an ego-death over the course of the manga that mirrors Yuji's own when Sukuna takes over his body, soaks his soul to bring Megumi near evil, and then kills Tsumiki. At this point both Yuji and Megumi both lose what were their reasons for fighting. The so-called "dignity obtained by human reason" is lost. After having those reasons stripped away from them and experiencing their ego-deaths both of them surrender control. Megumi becomes helpless and stops trying to fight Sukuna. While Yuji may not seem like he's given up on anything since he keeps trucking along, he too has given up on thinking for himself. Yuji has essentially given up as much as Megumi has, there's just less plot consequences for it.

Either way they are both brought to their lowest point by ego-death, in order to bring them to their lowest point, and make them experience a rebirth of sorts.

The persona in Jung is the face you show the outside world. it's one part of personality, with the other being the shadow. The shadow is the repressed part of peresonality. Just like curses are made up of repressed human emotions that leak out from our collective subconscious. Curses serve as the shadow of humanity collectively, especially Mahito who is made up of everything humans hate and fear about other humans. The physical embodiment of human cruelty.

However, a person can't live without their shadow. There's no such thing as a human without flaws after all, and you don't become a better person just by ignoring your own flaws. The kinds of people who are unaware of their own flaws tend to unconsciously repeat the same mistakes again and again and again.

Yuji despises curses as inhuman monsters that he can slaughter like they're enemies in a video game, but they're like... made of human vices. They are the product of humanity's emotions. Yuji's habit of only looking at the good makes him unaware of both his own shadow, his own shortcomings, and also the darker shades of grey in the world around him.

Megumi and Yuji both are characters who, need to be dragged down to the darkest point of the shadow and forced to confront their own flaws in order to learn about themselves. It's not a coincidence thaT Yuji who puts humanity on such a pedestal is a human and curse hybrid. That his older brother who's shown to be a source of overflowing unconditional love is also a human / curse hybrid, and who Yuji nearly killed because he blindly, obediently decided to kill curses. That Yuji killed two of his other curse / human hybrid brothers in spite of noticing they were different from other curses and had a family bond with each other.

It's not a coincidence that Yuji who puts humanity on such a pedestal devoured the corpses of all of his other brothers the same way that Sukuna ate his own twin in the womb to gain the power to defeat Sukuna.

Yuiji lacks a lot of self-awareness. That's why I've always said he doesn't quite live up to the "all-loving hero" he sees himself as. Savior is just a role that Yuji has adopted in order to give himself a purpose in life, but he falls short of that. The reason that he falls short is ironically that Yuji tries so hard to be superhuman, that he can't forgive himself for having basic human flaws.

It's why "Being a child is not a sin" is such a meaningful line coming from Nanami. In Yuji's eyes being a child is a sin. He constantly blames himself for not being able to hold the weight of the world on his shoulders, for not being able to save everyone by himself even though he's only been a jujutsu sorcerer for a few months.

It's why Yuji gets excited for a moment when Kusakabe mentions that Yuji is developing very fast by sorcerer standards, because he wants to be someone monstrously talented like Higuruma or Gojo - and why he immediately looks so disappointed when Kusakabe says it's not because Yuji is talented it's just because of Sukuna.

Yuji feels an overwhelming amount of responsibility and wants to be a special person who is strong enough to actually carry all that responsibility on his shoulders. That's why I say Yuji isn't a true all-loving hero, because it's more about Yuji's own feelings than the act of saving others. His guilt complex over Sukuna.

His desires to be someone special and meaningful. Yuji wants to be a good person who saves others because it gives YUJI and purpose and it gives YUJI a sense of fulfillment. If you've read Tokyo Ghoul it's like Kaneki's reason for participating in the Anteiku Raid. Not because he genuinely wanted to save others, but because he "was tired of not being able to do a thing."

(I'm keeping the meme panel because it's funny)-

Yuji wants to be strong and wants to be a savior because Yuji feels insecure in himself and loathes himself for his own weakness. However, this pushes Yuji farther away from his goal of saving others and making connections with other people so he can die surrounded by people BECAUSE people empathize with each other over their weaknesses.

Yuji wants to become someone strong and unbreakable who will never falter, never feel pain, and most of all never lose. He basically wants to become Satoru Gojo, but if Yuji were to ever rise to Gojo's level like that just by getting rid of all of his weaknesses he'd fundamentally lose his ability to connect with people the way Gojo and Sukuna have.

Yuji defines himself in strength, and suffering, and always overcoming, but then what is his heart for? He strives to become someone stronger than Gojo or Sukuna to protect his friends, but if he loses his heart that loves and cherishes those friends in the process then what even is the point?

Yuji walks a dangerous road from the culling games up until the Shinjuku incident, into nearly becoming like Mahito or Sukuna in his attempts to be stronger than them. I don't think he was ever in danger of going on a murder spree, but I do think he was risking becoming someone like Gojo.

Gojo made himself a tool for Jujutsu Society for the greater good and look what happened to him in the end. Not only did he die in the line of duty, his corpse was turned into a puppet to use as a weapon against the enemy. He made himself into a monster even when people like Yuta were begging Gojo not to. Yuji was on a similiar path of cutting off all the people who loved him and just becoming a person exploited in both life and death for the greater good.

So what stopped him?

Megumi.

YOU ARE ME.

A few people said that Yuji's abandoning the cog mentality suddenly happened too fast, or felt unearned but I think if you look at the culling games arc from higiruma's fight onwards as a whole it's actually a natural progression.

It all starts with Higuruma and Yuji's conversation:

Higuruma: "You're innocent. You didn't commit that crime." Yuji: "Even so, it's my fault." Higuruma: "Why?" Yuji: "...I see. Itaodri, there still may be a lot of people who are weak like you."

Yuji is someone who loevs humans, but puts humanity as a whole on a pedestal. He loves humanity but hates human weakness, especially his own weakness. Ironic because Higuruma is also someone who became jaded by having to work in the corrupt justice system and was forced to look at human ugliness day after day after day even though he wanted to be someone who valued people for their weaknesses.

Yuji doesn't learn to empathize with human weakness until Megumi's weaknesses are the one he's forced to confront. He doesn't abandon his notion of roles until he's robbed of his roles by Sukuna when Megumi becomes the possessed one instead of him.

Yuji is fine with being a sacrifice for the greater good, but he is not fine with sacrificing Megumi. By knowing exactly what Megumi is going through and wanting to save Megumi from Sukuna's possession, Yuji is in an odd way forced to empathize with himself. Like, it's a double standard on his part that's being challenged. Yuji blames himself for all the people he hurt as Sukuna, but he'd never blame Megumi for letting Sukuna kill tsumuki while possessing his body.

In his refusal to sacrifice Megumi for the greater good, even when Megumi is begging him to do so he rejects the common Ethos that sorcerer's are expendable cogs who are expected to sacrifice themselves and their comrades in the eternal fight against curses for the sake of public safety.

Yuji carries with him this grandiose notion of saving as many people as possible. However, when the option comes to make a sacrifice that would save hundreds of thousands of people from the merger by fighting to kill Megumi instead of save him from Sukuna's clutches Yuji can't do it. Even though Megumi at that point would be a completely willing sacrifice.

Yuji has to abandon his cog mentality to save Megumi, because an unthinking cog wouldn't put Megumi's life over the lives of everyone in Shibuya. A cog, especially a sorcerer would kill that one kid in order to save thousands of lives. Heck, Kusakabe more conservative sorcerer even brings up that argument that everything would have been avoided if Yuji was executed to begin with.

In order to save Megumi, Yuji must also reclaim his own humanity. There's a reason that Nanami, and Nobara, die right before Yuji adopts his cog mentality. Nanami, the most ethical of the first grade sorcerers who tried to teach Yuji to value his own life because he was a child, and Nobara the only kid in the main trio who was a normal person are both representatives of Yuji's humanity.

After losing both Yuji becomes reckless, he stops valuing his own life. As I said far, far bove, Yuji never listened to the advice Nanami gave him that it wasn't a sin to be a child. Yuji has this entire time thought it was a sin just to be weak, just to need the help of other people, just to not be able to accomplish everything on his own.

After Yuji starts reconciling with his own humanity though, he regains his connections to both Nanami and Nobara. Nanami comes back symbolically in the form of Higuruma, someone Yuji tries to encourage to live instead of taking the same suicidal path that Yuji was bent on. Whereas, Nobara herself actually comes back from the dead in time to land the final blow, the same way she reminded Yuji of her presence and that she wasn't alone in the Mahito fight.

Yuji also regains these connections when he's processed the grief for both people. He remembers Nanami and what Nanami left him in a more positive light. In my interpretation the line "I am a sorcerer" refers to Yuji developing a more healthy version of being a sorcerer. That instead of Yuji seeing sorcerers as slaves who have to sacrifice themselves for the greater good like Geto did, Yuji can see the camraderie between sorcerers who fight and put their lives on the line together.

Either way, I think the moment Yuji truly reconciled with the grief of death is sadly enough with Choso's death. If you want proof that Yuji's revelation wasn't rushed, that he didn't skip from point a to point b, then it's right here.

Choso apologizes to Yuji for leaving him ahead of time, and Yuji tells him not to, because Choso was always by his side when he was at his lowest point and that brief time they had together was enough for him.

Yuji's relationships so far have been defined by his fear of losing people. He wants to have a natural death, he wants the other people around him to have good deaths, he doesn't want people to die too early. By focusing on the fear of losing people, he hasn't yet been able to enjoy the time that they were around. However, in this moment he realizes how much Choso meant to him, even if their relationship was brief, and even if it came to an end. Yuji learned you can still love someone even if you inevitably lose them.

This is when Yuji finally accepts mortality and fragility as a part of life.

This is also what Sukuna can't accept. That life is fragile. That life is weak. That life comes to an end. Sukuna's entire goal is to maximize pleasure and live as long as possible, and therefore he's rejected all of the unpleasant parts of reality. Sukuna doesn't want to live in the real world like a human being, he wants to exist only in the world of Jujutsu where he's a god.

This is what Yuji represents to Sukuna, The human vulnerability, and mundanity that he threw away, by literally cannabilizing his own twin and throwing away part of his soul. The part of his soul that Sukuna threw away was taken by Kenjaku, and used as a science experiment to create Yuji. Technically, Sukuna is Yuji's uncle but symbolically Yuji is the twin that Sukuna cast aside. Especially since in this world cursed energy treats identical twins like they are the same person.

Yuji for the longest time tried to do what Sukuna did. Tried to throw his own humanity away so he could be as strong as Sukuna. He literally even ate the corpses of his own brothers.

Yuji and Sukuna are symbolically twins, but Yuji learns to embrace the things that Sukuna threw away. Sukuna threw away his own soul's twin in order to grow strong. He became all powerful in the jujutsu world because he ate his twin and gained an extra pair of arms and a mouth. He's like if Maki chose to kill Mai instead of Mai sacrificing herself for Maki's sake.

Yuji chose companionship with others over power. Sukuna doesn't need others people to satisfy him, and Yuji begs Megumi to come back from the dead because his life would be lonely without him. Yuji doesn't have some noble reason for going this far for Megumi's sake. He's not saving Megumi for the greater good, but because his connection to Megumi is important to him. Because he doesn't want to go through life without Megumi.

Yuji loathes weakness like Sukuna. Yuji desires to be someone special like Sukuna. Yuji has a grandiose sense of self importance like Sukuna. Yuji desires power like Sukuna. Yuji looks down on weak people like Sukuna does, he just condescendingly wants to save them instead of Sukuna who just wants to stomp on them like ants.

Yuji is also literally Sukuna. He was created by an offshoot of his soul. The same way that Sukuna was born with a body perfect for Jujutsu, Yuji was born stronger than anyone his age, and develops at an extreme rate as a sorcerer BECAUSE he was Kenjaku's science project to make the perfect vessel for Sukuna.

They are totally twinsies in so many ways, the only difference in the end is that Yuji learns to value human connection. In Sukuna's book there is no meaning to life, except for the pleasures he pursues as an individual. Therefore Sukuna is the only real person that matters or even exists. The narrator says as much he alone is the honored one, all that exists is his pleasures and displeasures.

In Buberian terms Sukuna only experiences existence and I and It relationships.

Buber's main proposition is that we may address existence in two ways:

The attitude of the "I" towards an "It", towards an object that is separate in itself, which we either use or experience.

The attitude of the "I" towards "Thou", in a relationship in which the other is not separated by discrete bounds.

Sukuna is the "i" and everyone else is an "it." Sukuna is the only real person who exists, and everyone else is just an object for their amusement.

Whereas, Yuji experiences "I" and "Thou" relationships. Yuji learns to see other people as different from himself. Yuji appreciates people as separate entities. While Sukuna gets amusement from his life by treating other people like toys, for Yuji the value in his life comes from the people who have entered into his life in some form. He appreciates the relationships he's formed with people and the memories they've left behind, no matter how brief the time they spent together was.

This is why Yuji's words reach Megumi, because he respects that Megumi feels differently than he does. He doesn't tell Megumi to just suck it up and keep fighting because that's what Yuji would do. He understands that he's a different person than Megumi, and he can't say he understands the grief and pain Megumi is going through right now.

That's Yuji's big revelation, in just a few short months as a sorcerer he's met so many people who left an impact on him. Some of those relationships came to an end early, but that painful ending doesn't negate what they meant to him.

The few months he spent with Choso have value even if it's not the same as the one hudnred and fifty years Choso spent with the rest of his brothers, because Choso supported Yuji when he was at his lowest point. Yuji finally sees that what gave his life meaning was the memories he made with other people while they were alive together. Not the way that they died.

So Yuji is finally willing to let himself exist outside of a role.

That's what he's offering to Sukuna as well. Maybe not empathy or understanding, because if Yuji had truly learned empathy maybe Sukuna might have accepted his offer. No, Yuji is simply willing to offer Sukuna the chance to live alongside him.

Sukuna rejects bonds of all kinds and Yuji is now embracing them. Yuji no longer seeks to annihilate curses because they're a fundamental part of life. Yuji wants to live on with his curses and burdens. He's also willing to give Sukuna a chance to keep living too.

Even Yuji points out that both of them are totally twinsies. Sukuna was born as a curse because he devoured his twin brother in the womb. Yuji was born as a curse because he was created to be Sukuna's vessel. The only way that Yuji is the way that he is is because he was raised as a normal child by his grandfather. If Yuji hadn't then he would have turned out entirely different. It's the same way that Choso became human because of his love for his brothers, even though he was born as a curse human hybrid and tossed aside by Kenjaku as a failed experience.

Yuji acknowledges both his capacity to have turned out like Sukuna if not for his grandfather's sake. This time when he says You are me, he's not saying it to threaten and destroy the person he sees as his shadow. This time Yuji is trying to reconcile with his shadow. He's looking at the person who represents the absolute worst of humanity, and the things he hates about himself and is still willing to give them the chance to keep on living together with him.

When Yuji says "I am you, so I'll kill you" to Mahito, that signals his first step on the road to self destruction.

When Yuji says, "I am you, so I'll save you" to Sukuna, that signals his first step on the road to self-acceptance.

It's Yuji allowing himself for the first time to just exist as a normal person not as the hero of some epic story. He even gave Sukuna that chance too, to just continue living alongisde him, but sukuna rejected it to keep on living as a curse until the end.

So, while Yuji saying "You are me" to Sukuna isn't true empathy, it is Yuji learning to accept himself and his flaws. . Because if Yuji is willing to forgive someone like Sukuna, then perhaps he might just learn to forgive himself.

#yuji itadori #itafushi #megumi fushiguro #ryomen sukuna #jjk meta #jujutsu kaisen meta #jujutsu kaisen theory #jjk spoilers #jujutsu kaisen spoilers

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musicalmoritz · 2 months ago

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Thoughts on TBHK 120 :D ?

*deep sigh*

Fine, I’ll talk about chapter 120

How are we all doing tonight? Have you all eaten? Gotten those homework assignments in? Anyone else dealing with a massive headache? Anyone else drowning in sibling angst?

When I say this chapter destroyed me I do not mean standard TBHK angst. I mean life-altering fandom angst in which you can never be the same after that point. I’m talking The Death Cure page 250. I’m talking “I swear, Bill.” This chapter…holyyyy shit I need a drink

For a day, I thought it was time for my TBHK hyperfixation to peacefully fade away. I thought I could hop off the train and board the next trip, in which Wicked would take over my brain. Or maybe Interview with the Vampire would be my next stop. Would it finally be time for me to have a full blown Jujutsu Kaisen phase?? Apparently not

This chapter revamped my already thriving TBHK obsession and I am both living for it and dreading it because WHYYYYYYY did they have to come for the one thing that gets me more than anything???? Not the younger sibling dying, I can’t do this. Every post I see abt it feels like getting shot in the stomach. It’s the good kind of angst of course but omgggg it’s so painful. Teru has dedicated his entire life, arguably thrown his life away, to protect Kou. He has ruined his own future because he adores his younger siblings so much. And then he has to be the one to kill Kou in the end (yes I know Kou was already dead but shhhh still). He has to see his baby brother’s corpse at the bottom of a well, that image burned into his mind forever

Throughout every meal they had together, every walk to school in the morning, every mindless rant, every movie night, every petty argument, every trip to the store…do you think Teru ever thought it would come to this?? That one day his little brother would be no more and he would be the one to deliver the finishing blow?? Ughhh it pains me to talk about it. At least we got Aoi being an overprotective girlfriend to Nene. Yuri saves lives

I also love Akane’s development, how he made such a major decision and it had absolutely nothing to do with Aoi. I love how his social awareness has expanded throughout the manga, how he’s come to care about more than the girl he loves. He’s grown so much and I really wish more fans could look past their first impressions to see that…but it’s the rule of stubbornness, if you don’t want to see his growth then you won’t

Anyways the dynamic between the Minamoto siblings is my favorite part of the manga, and Teru and Kou are my favorite characters. It is so important to me to see a healthy, loving sibling dynamic portrayed in media, but I knew that couldn’t come without its share of conflict. It wouldn’t be realistic if things were perfect between them, and in a manga with high stakes like TBHK it wouldn’t be realistic if there weren’t a handful of fakeout deaths. Did not need to see the face Teru would make if he saw Kou’s dead body, but here we are. I am simultaneously eating this chapter up and suffering horribly. What a great day to be a masochist…

Thank you for the ask, I needed a place to dump all these thoughts out that wasn't limited to memes

#toilet bound hanako kun #tbhk #jibaku shounen hanako kun #jshk #ask #ask me anything #teru minamoto #kou minamoto #minamoto brothers #minamoto siblings #minamoto family #sibling angst

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aliensupersyn · 11 months ago

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Love, Isolation, and Heavenly Restrictions

"Love is worthless" Sukuna vs. "I don't have a heart" Maki.

NOTICE: This was written after the end of 251, weeks before 253's serialization.

TLDR: My case for why Maki will play a pivotal role in killing Sukuna, and showing how her character arc has led to this exact moment. In other words, she's gonna humble the King of Curses. Skip to section four if you don't care for a summary of their combined arcs. Here's the reddit thread if you're into that sort of thing.

I. Fate

Love and isolation have been major motifs throughout JuJutsu Kaisen, mainly concerning Sukuna and Gojo; both these characters satisfy a fateful premise in jujutsu: the existence of the strongest sorcerer of a generation or era. Sukuna, Kashimo, and Gojo all hold the title of "strongest sorcerer" for their respective eras, and for the sake of this post, I will call it a fateful role.

I say fate because Tengen and the omniscient narrator refer to fate as something real that connects certain roles throughout the different eras. For example, it has been Kenjaku's fate to be stopped by a six eyes user.

Toji's existence as an anomaly beyond the power of jujutsu allowed him to break the chains of fate and change the world. By killing the star plasma vessel, something fate was constantly protecting, he opened the doors for Kenjaku to complete his ludicrous plan of merging all Japanese citizens with Tengen.

II. Visual motifs between Toji, Maki, Gojo, and Sukuna

The main (obvious) connections between Toji and Maki:

While Naoya was an idiot, his comparison between Gojo and Toji was not random and should be acknowledged. He recognized the two of them as being the pinnacles of strength. Though, Naoya did not have the sense to understand what Toji and Gojo represented: jujutsu and the rejection of it. Naoya could never occupy the space that Toji and Gojo did. Not only due to his lack of power, but also because he doesn't have the same Heavenly Restriction that Toji and Maki share. Moreso, Toji and Maki represent the antithesis of the strongest sorcerer by being the strongest beings beyond jujutsu sorcery.

Toji, and Maki by extension, have been narratively connected to Gojo, who satisfies the fateful role of strongest sorcerer. Toji's connection to Gojo mirrors Maki's connection to Sukuna. The backstab in 251 seals this connection between the two pairs (will come back to this).

Gojo thinks of the last time he's ever feared loss, and remembers Toji. I believe Sukuna will have a similar moment where he fears loss by Maki's hands which will mirror this page.

Gege has left little crumbs throughout the story connecting Toji and Gojo, depicting Toji to be the antithesis to jujutsu, and finally connecting Toji and Maki. While that's commonly understood, I don't think enough people respect the fact that Toji, Gojo, and Maki's connection meets Sukuna in the end. Gege has tied all four of them together in the narrative, and that's sure to have some major payoff.

III. Love and Isolation

Yorozu, Kashimo, and Gojo all misunderstand Sukuna as being lonely, the latter two projecting their feelings of dejection onto him.

Gojo and Kashimo's sentiments were useless, as Sukuna completely rejects love and calls it worthless. He's not lonely because he's the strongest, he's the strongest because he's alone! Sukuna has evolved past being a human who needs love and he does only what satisfies his own desires. He eats what he wants, he kills what he wants, and he makes anything his own amusement if he wishes to. Sukuna represents a completely selfish outlook that takes and rarely gives. The only thing Sukuna gives is death, and even that he withholds from people who do not interest him.

While Maki appears as being cold, she still cares for her friends. Even before her and Mai made up, she still showed love for her sister, but refused to belittle herself for the sake of their relationship. Maki represents a person who refuses to allow love to hold her back.

Even though Maki gained new powers after Mai's sacrifice, she still could not reach her full potential because she was modeling herself after sorcerers, which she can never be. Maki and Toji can see curses, but relying on her vision only held her back. Her last fight with Naoya was about her finally breaking away from jujutsu's holds and becoming free. First she cleansed her family tree, her namesake that literally connected her to jujutsu, then she freed herself from thinking like a sorcerer altogether.

Finally, she became a demonic fighter. While she appears cold, she still cares for others. She doesn't regret Mai's fate, but instead embraces it and their relationship. Maki's still a heartless fighter, but one who can express care and concern for her allies. She's selfish enough to refuse to allow others to hold her back, but loving enough to protect those she cares about. Sukuna similarly refuses to be held back by love, and therefore cannot be lonely. Maki exists somewhere in the same realm of being loveless, but not nearly as much as Sukuna.

While the two of them share a heartless attitude and a monstrous demeanor, they exist as complete opposite beings. Sukuna's the greatest and strongest model of jujutsu, and Maki's the absolute antithesis of sorcery. Both of them stand alone in their respective extremes, and again, are alone because they are the strongest. Maki's vision of curses, her last remaining connection to jujutsu was hindering her ability to grow stronger; she was blind to her own abilities because of sorcery. Gege makes it obvious that Toji and Maki break the rules of sorcery. Meaning, Maki will be Sukuna's downfall.

IV. Maki's Advantages Over Sukuna

Toji and Maki are the only two of their kind to ever exist. Therefore, Sukuna has never fought a being, a monster like Maki in his entire life. Megumi never found out about Toji or his abilities, so Sukuna still does not have a reference for Maki's abilities. He may be able to recount Megumi's fight against him, that's very limited information, especially because Toji was not full strength. Maki has the element of surprise.

Maki's backstab leaves many questions. The narrator specifies that Sukuna should have been able to sense a sorcerer performing the backstab, but he failed to sense Maki; she is not a sorcerer, but an anomaly, a monster who is not beholden to jujutsu or sorcery. Sukuna's lack of awareness could be because he's been weakened, but he's failed to notice Maki before.

Many people misinterpret this panel to be Sukuna surprised by Maki's aura, but I disagree and argue that he's shocked that he cannot sense her. Both Yuji and Sukuna are suprised by her sudden appearance. Due to Maki not having any cursed energy, Sukuna cannot sense her power and will be forced to rely on sight to find her. Yet, Maki needs neither sight nor cursed energy to fight curses. Maki senses the air's temperature and density, a sight only she possesses that gives her an advantage over curses.

Also, Sukuna sensed that Maki was a problem and thanked Uraume for possibly taking her out:

The top four seek to stop the merger and sever Megumi from Sukuna's body, and Maki possesses a sword that severs souls! Sukuna has been worn down until his cursed energy matched Yuta's, who's now number one since Gojo's died. Keep in mind that Gojo was worlds ahead of Yuta, so Sukuna's power has plummeted and he needs time to recover.

Sukuna's inner monologue in 250:

Maki has the Heavenly Restriction, the sword, the sight, and the timing needed to be able to face Sukuna and possibly even defeat him. Gojo, Kashimo, Higuruma, Yuta, and Yuji were all a means to an ends to weaken Sukuna until Maki could come and clean up (I'm exaggerating).

Maki's entire character arc has been about her clashing with Sukuna. Maki, the monstrous human w/o CE vs Sukuna, the monstrous once-sorcerer with the most CE. Their fight will be about both their ideals and powers. Is strength truly isolating? To what extent does the monster cast aside love? Can monstrous strength be used to protect others?

Edit:

Sukuna's domain may be the only one that works on her (and Kenjaku's but he's dead) because they don't have barrier mechanics. As pointed out by SwimmingStreet8981, "Sukuna showed that he cuts absolutely everything in his domain. He turned buildings to dust without even trying."

Either Gege restores Sukuna's domain to turn the battle once more, or the domain battle with Gojo was for the sake of the top 4 not having to worry about Sukuna's domain. I think the latter tbh.

Questions for their battle:

Now that Sukuna's down to two hands and one mouth, and Maki might be the fastest person in meta at this moment, how much deep shit is Sukuna in?

Will the soul splitting blade be the key to stop the merger? How does that even work against Sukuna?

#jjk #jujutsu kaisen #maki zenin #ryomen sukuna #gojo satoru #jjk yorozu #sukuna you wil PAY for what you did to Megumi #mark my wrods #jjk manga #jjk spoilers #jjk 251

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scribiel · 10 months ago

Text

The Sound of Love

Jujutsu Kaisen! Satoru Gojo x fem! reader tags: Satoru Gojo x fem! reader, angst, major character death, grief, a bit suggestive

Few months ago my friend asked me, “What do you think love sounds like?”. So I shook my head and replied, “Like love songs?”

But to think about it, Satoru, I think love sounds like:

First, it sounds like someone’s opening a melon soda can in the middle of movie night. Where I can hear you walking and opening the fridge; the clink sound from the can; and how satisfied you sound from the carbonated drink. It’s quite weird, for it’s late at night yet your eyes shine so bright; so little of light, yet so bright. That I think the stars would be jealous because I get so lost and captivated in your eyes more than I do in those stars.

Second, it sounds like the splattered water you always make whenever we are in the bathtub together. Your giggles and mine clash one another along with the water, making it sounds like a very childish activity. But whatever it is, it makes me at ease. A friend; a child; two grown adults who share responsibilities; whatever we are or we are like, as long as I am with you, I enjoy it most.

Third, it sounds like your whines. Your morning whines to be precise. You always protest that I got up a bit too early. You always say you don’t mind about the breakfast that’ll come a little too late. Yet not long after you —from behind— put your arms around me and rest your chin upon my shoulder, your stomach makes a sound.

Fourth, sometimes, it sounds like your snore, which you usually don’t snore, but whenever the day is too much for you; you do. Sometimes it wakes me up in the middle of the night. It’s not like I mind about it, because I can stare at the face that God took time in the making. Every curve is so divine.

Fifth, and most importantly, it sounds like a rhythm. Every now and then, we love doing it, like right now: I put my head upon your left chest, allowing me to feel the warmth from your body. I can hear the beeping sound from the air conditioner remote; you are lowering the room temperature.

“Do you really have to?”

You reply, “Yes. Because”—there’s a mischievous glint in your eyes— “with the low room temperature, we can cuddle without feeling hot way too early, that’ll lead into a short time of hugging each other. And I hate it.”

I can see the silver band around your ring finger, which brings a smile across my face and an ease of feelings all over my senses. So, I put my arm around your body. I can feel your arms around mine, pulling me closer.

As I melt into your embrace, I ask you, “Do you wanna know what the sound of love sounds like?”

Carelessly, you answer, “Like whenever we make love and our moanings are combined together?”

I laugh. “No,” —I put my palm on your chest, next to your beating heart— “it sounds like your heartbeat.”

Then the silence fills the room. You don’t give an immediate response. It must’ve been quite shocking for you to process. I think you are lost in your emotion, or my words have just given you an ick. But then you say, “Oh … Oh my God.”

I can feel your hold getting tighter as you say, “I don’t know what to say, but thank you.”

“I love you,” you say.

“I love you,” you repeat that. “I love you.��

But then I open my eyes. I feel the blanket wrapping around my body; pillows that I staked with each other earlier so I can sleep better; and I feel no heartbeat to hear, no arms to hold, and one beating heart but it’s blue and broken. I grab your ring—that now I put on as a pendant on my necklace— and put it in between my lips. The cold sensation helps me to grasp every memory, that I hope I won't forget, of you.

I remember we talked about a situation, more like my nightmare. We talked about what would happen if one of us died first. But I didn't know how the talk became revolving around you, your passing.

I insisted while standing, “I’ll follow you to the afterlife.”

You shook your head. “Don’t you dare. Move on. Live your life.”

I crossed my arms and said, “Even if that happened. I don’t think I would ever love someone else anymore.”

You, sitting on the sofa, pulled me by my waist closer. “You really mean that, don’t you?”

I wasn’t brave enough to look into your eyes. “Yes…?”

You put your arms around my waist then hugged me. I could feel the sadness from how firm you were holding me. "I … don't say that you’d never move on ... I understand that you will still love me, long after my passing. But that also means you'll miss the chances to find people who can love you just as much as I love you, people who will make you happy in ways I'm not sure I was able to make you happy too.”

Right now, I am ashamed of myself, because I can’t. I just can’t. I can’t allow myself to move on. Please forgive me, Satoru. I think I can continue my life, fill it with activities to kill some time until I see you again, but I don’t think I can love again. Because even if I do that, I’ll only lie to myself and put myself in misery, and second best is all I will ever know for the rest of my life. What If I kiss others, but my lips can only taste and remember the taste of your lips. What if he pulls me in, but I curse myself because it’s not your embrace that I’ll be in. What if it’s not you? How selfish of me, but I want you and only you, because it’s you, whom my heart calls for every night.

Satoru, sleep has become my favorite activity these past few weeks, because I can meet you in my dream. So come and visit me often, for I’ll be waiting.

I wish I could drift to dream and be with you again for a moment, but the sun has risen and my alarm will ring in a few minutes. Don’t worry, your ring will always be hanging from the chain around my neck. Don’t worry, I am doing fine, or that’s what I think.

But please, seriously, don’t worry. I may not be able to hear the sound of love any time soon, but I hope I can remember it for the rest of my time walking on earth.

#satoru gojo x reader #gojo satoru x reader #gojo angst #gojo satoru angst #satoru x you #gojo x you #jujutsu kaisen fanfic #jujutsu kaisen angst #jujutsu kaisen #gojo satoru #gojo satoru x female reader #jujutsu kaisen drabble

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ststsgsg · 6 months ago

Text

All of the Fic Recs I Have Received, PT. 2

tysm to: @kltar0 @itsthecityoftheflower @neighborhoodlum @sablegear0 @fadingbasketballgoopprune :D !!

SATOSUGU

tomorrows, and tomorrows by GibbousLunation

Rating: General Audiences

Archive Warning: Major Character Death

Category: M/M

Fandoms: 呪術廻戦 | Jujutsu Kaisen (Anime)呪術廻戦 | Jujutsu Kaisen (Manga)

Relationship: Getou Suguru/Gojo Satoru

Characters: Gojo Satoru, Getou Suguru, Ieiri Shoko

Additional Tags: Angst, Canonical Character Death, inherent tragedy of loving someone doomed by the narrative, Time Loop, Technically more time travel than a loop but, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Study, Gojo Satoru-centric, chapter 236 spoilers

Language: English

Stats: Published: 2023-12-18 Words: 12,576 Chapters: 1/1 Comments: 9 Kudos: 128 Bookmarks: 35 Hits: 1,408

Summary:

He’s supposed to end his tomorrows like this, in the dank dark ruins, with his best friend thinking he hates him. He’s supposed to hate him.

He crouches down. He knows what he’s supposed to say.

“Come with me,” he says instead, and it changes everything.

you are my eyes, i don’t need them tonight (cut ‘em out, cut ‘em out) by soitiswritten (hazyamethyst)

Rating: Explicit

Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Category: M/M

Fandoms: 呪術廻戦 | Jujutsu Kaisen (Anime), 呪術廻戦 | Jujutsu Kaisen (Manga)

Relationship: Getou Suguru/Gojo Satoru

Characters: Getou Suguru, Gojo Satoru

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Romance, Kissing, finding comfort in your one and only: the fic, Headaches & Migraines, Hurt/Comfort, Hurt Gojo Satoru, Touch-Starved Gojo Satoru, Soft Gojo Satoru, gojo and geto reflect on gojo’s power, gojo is hurt but geto helps, gojo’s true cause of death: close proximity to geto, he really has SO many thoughts on the matter, First Time, Frottage, Bottom Gojo Satoru, Top Getou Suguru, Misuse of Curses, it’s all quite tender (not PWP)+ a tiny bit of angst because it /is/ sg² hey, set sometime after the star plasma vessel arc but it’s vague at best

Language: English

Series: Part 1 of moonbow

Stats: Published: 2024-01-29 Words: 6,086 Chapters: 1/1 Comments: 8 Kudos: 107 Bookmarks: 18 Hits: 2,627

Summary:

His one and only, the half of his soul, how could it ever inspire shame? Inspire a need for space, averted eyes, inspire wrongness? He wasn't inadequate, not the status or the body parts, not his technique or strength. He was exactly fitting against him, was summer nights and starlit skies and the fresh mountain breeze. Satoru had no need for anyone else's approval, had no care for repercussions, as long as they got to keep each other exactly how they needed, he was set for life.

— or, a glimpse into Gojo Satoru's many, many feelings regarding Geto Suguru.

when it's over, you're the start (you're my head, you're my heart) by soitiswritten (hazyamethyst)

Rating: Mature

Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Category: M/M

Fandoms: 呪術廻戦 | Jujutsu Kaisen (Anime), 呪術廻戦 | Jujutsu Kaisen (Manga)

Relationships: Getou Suguru/Gojo Satoru, Fushiguro Megumi & Gojo Satoru

Characters: Gojo Satoru, Getou Suguru, Fushiguro Megumi, Itadori Yuuji, Kugisaki Nobara

Additional Tags: Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, Angst, Heavy Angst, Grief/Mourning, tons of yearning, gojo reflects on the past and what he perceives as his mistakes, heart-to-heart with megumi (he snuck his way into this fic even before jjk251), Soft Gojo Satoru, Hurt Gojo Satoru, set after suguru's death but before shibuya, rating is due to some graphic descriptions of blood and violence, also featuring slightly dark gojo satoru

Language: English

Series: Part 2 of moonbow

Stats: Published: 2024-03-09 Words: 5,790 Chapters: 1/1 Comments: 4 Kudos: 55 Bookmarks: 6 Hits: 858

Summary:

Today is no exception. His students peer up at him from their desks and he stifles the need to mimic their constipated, caught-in-the-middle-of-some-wrongdoing expressions. He’d normally engage but, for the time being, he let it go.

— or, Gojo Satoru's behavior turns strange on a certain date.

Even for you, there is a tomorrow by CharmPoint

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Category: M/M

Fandoms: 呪術廻戦 | Jujutsu Kaisen (Manga), 呪術廻戦 | Jujutsu Kaisen (Anime)

Relationships: Getou Suguru/Gojo Satoru, Getou Suguru & Hasaba Mimiko & Hasaba Nanako

Characters: Getou Suguru, Gojo Satoru, Hasaba Mimiko, Hasaba Nanako, Fushiguro Megumi, Fushiguro Tsumiki

Additional Tags: Fix It, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, suguru's mental health and genocide problems, Found Family, happy end i prommy, gojo clan politics, Teacher Getou Suguru

Language: English

Stats: Published: 2023-12-31 Updated: 2024-06-30 Words: 31,928 Chapters: 8/13 Comments: 174 Kudos: 343 Bookmarks: 55 Hits: 5,402

Summary:

At the last possible second, Suguru stops himself from killing the villagers that had trapped the two little sorcerer girls. He calls Satoru instead. He brings them back to the school. He tries to continue his life.

But with the dark thoughts still swirling around his head and Satoru unable to admit that Suguru could ever do what he had almost done, will he be able to heal or will he end up walking down the same bloody road always predestined for him?

This Man is Human Too by SassyCephalopod

Rating: General Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Category: M/M

Fandoms: 呪術廻戦 | Jujutsu Kaisen (Anime), 呪術廻戦 | Jujutsu Kaisen (Manga)

Relationships: Getou Suguru/Gojo Satoru, Getou Suguru & Gojo Satoru

Characters: Getou Suguru, Gojo Satoru

Additional Tags: Canon Compliant, Pining, Mutual Pining, Christmas Eve, Angst and Feels, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Gojo Satoru Needs a Hug, sugusato tapdancing on the line between friendship and being excruciatingly in love

Language: English

Stats: Published: 2024-01-09 Words: 1,548 Chapters: 1/1 Comments: 3 Kudos: 60 Bookmarks: 10 Hits: 359

Summary:

Avert not your eyes - this man is human too: According to the main clan elders’ orders, if he ever saw Geto Suguru again, he would have to kill him. So Satoru, with his Six Eyes, with all his power and perception, never looked when it mattered.

authors:

SableGear0

Syriala

ITAFUSHI

Ballad of a Private Schooled Boy by ThroneofMist

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Category: M/M

Fandoms: 呪術廻戦 | Jujutsu Kaisen (Manga), 呪術廻戦 | Jujutsu Kaisen (Anime)

Relationships: Fushiguro Megumi/Itadori Yuuji, Fushiguro Megumi & Gojo Satoru

Characters: Fushiguro Megumi, Itadori Yuuji, Kugisaki Nobara, Gojo Satoru, Zenin Maki, Okkotsu Yuuta, Inumaki Toge, Panda (Jujutsu Kaisen), Ieiri Shoko, Yaga Masamichi, Jujutsu Kaisen Ensemble, Chousou (Jujutsu Kaisen)

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, First Kiss, First Meetings, Fluff, Domestic Fluff, Yuji never eats that stupid fucking finger, he's living his best himbo life, Fushiguro Megumi is Whipped, Megumi falls first, also falls stupidly hard, he wants his jock bf so bad, Parental Gojo Satoru, Kugisaki Nobara is a Good Friend, Minor Relationships, Fushiguro Megumi & Itadori Yuuji & Kugisaki Nobara Friendship, Megumi trying to pretend he's normal is crazy hard for him, he totally goes to a religious private school, We'll tag as we go, Angst, but because Megumi is a teenage boy, and less of the regular scheduled jjk angst, started exclusively as a itafushi fic, now we're deep into the Fushiguro Megumi character study, Choso looks after Yuuji arc, Gojo and Megumi need to use their words, they're both trying to say the same thing to each other and that thing is that THEY LOVE EACH OTHER, Megumi is so Olivia Rodrgio's Guts coded, no further questions at this point your honour, Yuuji point of view would be the Lover album inspired obviously, The plot of this fic has my readers just as stressed as Megumi lmao, Happy Ending

Language: English

Series: Part 1 of Godforsaken Adolescent

Stats: Published: 2023-10-18 Completed: 2024-06-14 Words: 146,620 Chapters: 15/15 Comments: 594 Kudos: 1,890 Bookmarks: 427 Hits: 46,196

Summary:

Fushiguro Megumi has pretty much accepted that his life isn't normal. Never has been, never will be. And he's fine with that. He can work with that.

But then he meets a boy who cannot see curses at all, but has the prettiest smile he's ever seen, and that makes Megumi think that maybe there's more to life than Jujutsu.

only human by cabins

Rating: General Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Category: M/M

Fandoms: 呪術廻戦 | Jujutsu Kaisen (Manga), 呪術廻戦 | Jujutsu Kaisen (Anime)

Relationship: Fushiguro Megumi/Itadori Yuuji

Characters: Fushiguro Megumi, Itadori Yuuji

Additional Tags: Love Confessions, Light Angst, Pining, Dorks in Love, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, inspired by 'we fell in love in October' by girl in red, they're awkward teens who are bad at feelings, Megumi thinks too much for his own good, Canon Compliant, Перевод на русский | Translation in Russian, 中文翻译 | Translation in Chinese

Language: English

Collections: stories that touched me, Comfort Fics ミ✭, Pieces that I'll hold close to my heart, scrumdiddlyumptious

Stats: Published: 2021-03-11 Words: 2,102 Chapters: 1/1 Comments: 217 Kudos: 5,100 Bookmarks: 935 Hits: 39,673

Summary:

“Fushiguro,” Itadori’s voice pulls him from his thoughts. He glances to his right and locks eyes with the other boy as he tugs the blanket draped over his shoulders closer. They’re sat together on the grass outside their dorms having snuck out long after curfew.

“What do you want to do after you graduate?”

PT. 1 | PT. 3

#jjk #jujutsu kaisen #jjk fic recs #jujutsu kaisen fic recs #satosugu #itafushi

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medea10 · 24 days ago

Text

The Year was 2024 and Oh What Fresh Hell Am I Living In?!

I know this is my yearly post where I’m supposed to be upbeat. But this year was such a pile of shit, I don’t think I can be upbeat. I never thought a year could possibly rival that of the devil’s butt-hole of 2005. I still can’t say it. 2005 is still a year I will despise from the depths of my soul due to the gravity of the situations I was in. But 2024 was just awful. And no, this has nothing to do with Trump being re-elected. That happened in November and I had a whole 10 months of other shit before that. Although that did not help. And yes, I will be waiting in the wings to give the biggest and smuggest “I told you so” when the time comes.

In 2024, sickness, depression, and death has plagued my inner circle for the majority of the year. I know one of those deaths I was expecting so I was prepared for it mentally. What I wasn’t prepared for was the sudden death of my youngest cat and the sudden death to a friend of over 30 years.

If I had a nickel for every time this year someone close to me died of Cardiac Arrest, I would have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice.

Not to mention the surgeries, the sinus infections, the endo pain…All of this and more has really taken a toll on what I love to do. There were a lot of anime that I watched this year and a lot that I didn’t have the energy to write about. I just absolutely gave up on writing. I watched shows like Bungo Stray Dogs, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Dandadan, and I am not writing a single review for those and more. Does this mean I’m going to stop writing reviews forever? Probably not. I’m just slowly trying to get back to normality. Okay, I think that’s enough kvetching from me.

If you’re unfamiliar with this post, every year I do my (so, so outdated) list of the anime and games I watched and played this year. And I’m very inclusive to everything I’ve watched. So, if I watched an anime and it came out seven years before I was even born, it counts. Okay, let’s hit it!

First Fandom of 2024: The Apothecary Diaries

I know this came out in Fall 2023, but I picked up the series at the beginning of the year while it was still airing. And from the very beginning, I couldn’t turn it off as I was captivated by Maomao’s tale. I’ll be honest, up until I watched this, I had no idea what an apothecary was. I’m dumb. Well, I certainly don’t have any more questions after watching this anime. It was fun watching Maomao progress throughout the series in her many roles she served in the palace. And I’m going to get a lot of hate when I say this. I liked the Apothecary Diaries better than Frieren. I am not even sorry.

Favorite Main Character of 2024: Hitori "Bocchi" Gotou from Bocchi the Rock

While I was close to choosing Maomao for this category, I did watch Bocchi the Rock this year and I can’t resist putting up another introvert who has a hard time communicating. Yeah, I can connect with Bocchi and understand how her mind works. I’ve been there. I can’t begin to tell you how many times I over-analyzed a situation involving communicating with friends or scenarios.

Favorite Villain of 2024: Galaxia from Sailor Moon Cosmos

I know I’m reliving watching Makoto Shishio on Rurouni Kenshin, but I cannot in good conscience sleep on Galaxia’s reign during the two-part Sailor Moon movies. There is no comparison between the Cosmos and Stars adaptation, Cosmos wins. Galaxia killed off Mamoru in front of Usagi. Not just him, but all of her friends and this girl is just wrecked. Galaxia is the strongest foe in the Sailor Moon universe. This woman can destroy single planets in no-time flat. She can zap anyone out of existence like they were nothing. Galaxia went to the trouble to mentally hurt Usagi by having her loved ones turn against her.

Favorite Video Game Character of 2024: Vivian from Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door

As I did not have a Nintendo Gamecube, I never played this game or had any idea of its existence. It came out when I was in college and the only console I had was the GBA SP. So, I never knew of this precious cinnamon roll. I want to protect them like they protected me. Vivian doesn’t deserve hate. In fact, next to baby Yoshi, I used Vivian the most out of all the other partners.

Favorite Video Game of 2024: …

Much like last year, I had an interesting time reliving old classics on the DS and 3DS. Had to play it while I could online. But then we had quite the influx of Mario games within the last 12 months. There was a Luigi game, a Peach game, another Mario/Luigi RPG, another Mario Party, and a remake to a fan favorite. I wound up playing three of these and even older versions of those three. The video games really helped me through this year. As with the previous entry, I gotta give it to…

Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door

Okay you Gamecubers, you were right. This was fun. I had fun.

Favorite Het Couple of 2024: Itsuomi Nagi x Yuki Itose from A Sign of Affection

Yuki is a precious cinnamon roll and I want nothing but the best for her. Itsuomi better treat her well. And that’s what we get with this series. A deaf girl meets a multi-lingual boy and the two hit it off. Itsuomi is always up for a challenge to learn a new language and culture, but has never learned sign language before. And Yuki, she just wants to expand her world as it just felt like it was mostly restraint.

Favorite Yuri Couple of 2024: Diana Barry x Anne Shirley from Akage no Anne (Anne of Green Gables)

Yeah, that’s the anime that I nodded at being seven years older than me. Now, I know this isn’t an actual ship, but please do bear with me with this. If you watched the original 1979 anime, you know why I would put this on the list. And for those waiting until April 2025 to see the new adaptation, you’ll see. Anne and Diana became fast friends and if they are ever apart, they are the most dramatic characters you will ever see. If their parents or guardians forbid them from seeing each other again, you would have thought they were going to go Romeo and Juliet on us.

Favorite Yaoi Couple of 2024: Adachi Kiyoshi x Yuuichi Kurosawa from Cherry Magic

Like there was any other Yaoi couple this year that could compete with this one. I mean, sure there could be others, but from what I watched, no way. You cannot compete with the ending we got from this. I was worried about this becoming another toxic relationship like some other yaoi ships I support. While this one was…borderline that, I give credit to Kurosawa for not doing what I thought he was going to do. His jealousy is another subject. But overall, seeing an office crush evolve into sudden romance and eventually marriage, it chokes you up inside a little.

Fandom That You Didn’t Expect to Get Into: Dragon Ball Daima

I will admit that the second it was announced we were getting another Dragon Ball series where Goku and the rest of the cast are turned into little children, my first thought was, “Fuck you! We’ve been through this before with Dragon Ball GT. No! Go back in the dumpster fire where you came from”. That was until I heard Akira Toriyama was actually involved unlike with GT. I unfortunately don’t know how it’ll go as Toriyama passed away earlier this year, but for now let’s just enjoy Daima for what it is. It wasn’t just Goku becoming a child, but everyone involved in the Majin Buu incident that’s turned into children. The characters Goku is traveling with, they’re a lot better than Pan and an essentially neutered Trunks.

Fandom That Made an Unexpected Comeback: Black Butler

All of my favorite Aniplex animes made a return this year. Hell, there were a lot of comebacks this year. But Black Butler was still my go-to for the year (along with Spice and Wolf). While I was hella skeptical when it came to the studio at the helm for this arc, they pulled it off. Despite the seven-year wait since the last project, it felt like less time once I started watching. Probably because Book of the Atlantic and Public School arc kinda dealing with the same thing.

Fandom That Inspired the Most Crack: Dandadan

I was this close to putting Mashle in this category, but a certain anime where a spirit known as “Turbo Granny” is after this kid’s nutsack. This anime is batshit and I love it. I’m going in thinking this is some wacky-ass shit that was conceived by Studio Trigger. On the contrary, it was done by Science SARU. That makes sense as Ayase looks like Tsubame from Keep Your Hands Off Eizoken. Same studio for both. Every episode I’m going through the motions. Mostly it’s, “What the fuck am I watching” or “Am I high” or “this is awesome, but totally fucked in the membrane”.

Last Fandom of 2024: Dandadan

Ranma ½ was almost going to get this spot due to my nostalgia for everything Rumic World. But, Dandadan is just too addicting let’s give it the final two spots on my usual list. I wasn’t sure what I was hopping into when I picked this up at the very last second, but I’m glad I did it. Who knew watching an anime about ghosts, aliens, demons, and the contents inside some kid’s boxers was going to get me to watch. Who are we kidding? I’m surprised I didn’t jump on this shit sooner. Also, episode 7 is a treasure. It didn’t kill me like everyone else, but it was a really good episode. Another also, the English dub is superb.

Okay, I’m going to take a page from my 2022 superlative and do some silly honors here. It’s only to lift up my spirits.

Best (real life) Cinnamon Roll of 2024: Jasmine Paolini

This girl is just the best. She’s black and Italian (like me). She’s 5’ 4” (like me). And she plays tennis…I don’t play tennis, but I’ll watch. She won the tennis doubles finals at the Olympics. She made it to the single finals at Wimbledon and Roland Garros. And you know what, she’s an all-around good sport and just the sweetest thing to come from Italy since gelato.

Video Game That Didn’t Deserve a 5/10: Mario and Luigi Brothership

It’s a plumber brother RPG game. You’ve played them before. You should know how the mechanics are going to be by now. And you should know how insane it is. Although, I feel like the conception of the game came from game designers staring at a wall for 9 days straight.

Funny NFL Moment: Andy Reid’s Mustache

I know everyone still memes Andy Reid and Travis Kelce at the Super Bowl. But I’m still going with the game a couple of weeks before that when Reid’s mustache formed icicles. I know it was a very chilly game and I got worried about the players on the field. That weather was dangerous. However, frozen snot-bubbles on Reid’s mustache is what I’m going to chuckle at. As if I needed any more reason to compare Andy Reid to The Walrus. Look at those two and tell me they aren’t identical.

A Song Everyone Should Stop Singing: Defying Gravity

I love the song, but it’s not for everyone. Stop trying. The song is out of your range.

Oh Just DIE Already of 2024: Velma

Uuuuugggggggghhhhhhhh.

A Pokemon Ship I Miss Gushing About: Contestshipping

You notice how I didn’t mention Pokemon in the list this year. Yeah, me neither. While I like Pokemon Horizons just fine, I don’t find myself being a total dork-a-doofus over every little thing like with the original Pokemon anime. And for no reason whatsoever, here’s Drew x May. I miss it. You miss it. We all miss it. It was totally canon. And if you haven’t watched Pokemon Advanced Generation to know what I’m talking about. Fuck you doing here? It’s been around for 20 years now. GO!

Best Dance Scene: Abbott Teachers Dancing to Will Smith

Holo’s dance from Spice and Wolf was a close one. But the teachers of Abbott dancing to Will Smith’s Wild Wild West just wins hands down.

Something That Sparks Joy: MeTV Toons

Thank you for existing.

Best Day of 2024: May 30th, 2024

If you know, you know. I also liked it because I ate some damn good pizza.

#anime #the apothecary diaries #bocchi the rock!#sailor moon cosmos #vivian #paper mario the thousand year door #cherry magic #anne of green gables #a sign of affection #black butler #dandadan #dragon ball daima #metv toons #abbott elementary #jasmine paolini #mario and luigi brothership #velma

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shewasverynice · 2 months ago

Text

Fandoms: 呪術廻戦 | Jujutsu Kaisen

⚠️ SPOILER HEAVY ⚠️

Major Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death

Full tags/warnings on Chapter links post

Major Characters: Original Character, Gojo Satoru, Geto Suguru, Ieiri Shoko, Yaga Masamichi, Nanami Kento, Haibara Yu, Tsukumo Yuki, Choso

‎‧₊˚✧ Chapter 12 ✧˚₊‧

"Your Majesty," the maid said with a bow, handing over a steaming mug of coffee. The queen gave her a subtle nod of appreciation, settling back into her cushy chair and sipping from the mug.

"Shall I change the channel for you, my lady?" One of the butlers asked, "Your show is on in five minutes."

"Yes, that would be lovely thank you Geto." The queen said, gesturing lazily with her free hand.

Satoru grumbled, flipping through the magazine Shoko had given him. He gently tore at the picture of some actor she was currently obsessed with, easing it out of the collage of photos and into the small pile he was collecting. This was, of course, revenge of some kind since she never forgot anything. Probably from some prank he pulled or something. This was bullshit.

"Happy birthday," he muttered to himself, dropping the glossy image into the others.

"Speaking of my birthday," Shoko said, sitting up straighter in her decorated chair, "Is it time to pick up the food?"

Suguru looked at his watch and nodded, "Yes, actually." He looked at Sarah and smiled, "Shall we?"

Sarah nodded, setting down the tray she'd been using, "Yeah, let's go!"

"No, no no no not without me!" Satoru said, scrambling to his feet. Both Sarah and Suguru shot him a gleeful sneer as they rushed out the door and slammed it behind them.

"Bastards," he muttered, then sighed and walked over to Shoko. He cleared his throat, "Is there anything I can get for you, ma'am?"

"No, not at the moment, Gojo." She said, tipping her head back with regal arrogance, "You may return to your photo collecting."

Satoru rolled his eyes, walking back over to plop back down in his spot. He picked up his scissors then paused and asked, "What are you even going to do with these?"

"Dunno," she said, lifting her hand and waving it in the air, "I just wanna look at him."

"Really?" He asked, narrowing his eyes, "He doesn't look all that impressive to me."

"He's alright," Shoko shrugged.

"Alright?!" Satoru snapped, scooping up the little pictures and holding them over her head over the back of the chair. He let them rain down on her and grumbled, "Then why am I doing all this work, huh?! Just because it's your birthday doesn't--"

"The second and third years," Shoko said, "After I told them off for wrecking Geto and Sarah's Halloween stuff they've been after me."

"Really?" Satoru asked, surprised, "Are they--"

"They started with saying Sarah and I sleep with you and Geto and that's why you like us weaklings," She continued, "But I shut that down too. Now it's... They're calling me useless again." He walked closer, watching her crumple up the little pictures in her hand before she gritted her teeth, "I dunno. It just pisses me off."

"I never knew that kind of thing bothered you," Satoru said slowly and a bit unsurely, "You always seem so chill." Shoko had never opened up to him before. Never. In his first life they talked and bitched about work and met up here and there, but it was never that deep. "You're far from useless! That's ridiculous!" He scoffed, "I mean you can--"

"It's because I don't like men," Shoko said suddenly.

Satoru was taken aback. I mean, well sure, he always suspected since Shoko didn't really date anyone in his past life, but he never felt it mattered. A lot of Sorcerers stayed single or just did a marriage of convenience to pass on their techniques. But he was still confused about one thing...

"How does that make you useless?" Satoru asked, still genuinely surprised about that part.

"Because I have a rare technique and I don't want to be with a man to pass it on," Shoko said with a little shrug, "Guess that pisses them off."

"Who gives a shit?" Satoru said, sitting down beside her on the floor, "Why do you let that bother you?"

She shrugged again, picking at her nails. "I guess it's just frustrating when they expect so much from you," she said quietly. "I just don't want to hear it anymore."

Satoru looked at the crumbled up pictures of that actor. "So you were gonna use these to try to hide it?"

Shoko nodded.

"I see," Satoru said, picking at the papers. Then he picked up his head and grinned at her, "So you want me to go sort them out or would you rather just get nasty with a woman really publicly? Get like, really nasty? And loud?"

"Pffff," Shoko tried not to laugh, but she couldn't resist. She flicked at his forehead and he took it, leaning closer with a lopsided smirk.

"Maybe out in the courtyard, just munching away?" He continued and she laughed, shoving him away with her foot.

"Don't be gross," she managed, then sighed. She looked at him and smiled, "Thanks, though. For listening."

"I'll still deal with the others if you want," Satoru said, leaning back on his palms and letting his head tip back, "I don't like them picking on my girls."

"Your girls, huh?" She chuckled, "Didn't realize I was that special."

"Of course you are," Satoru said dismissively, "You're my friend. I only got so many."

She tilted her head, then asked, "What do you think? Honestly."

"Hmm? About you being gay?" He asked, lifting his head.

"Yeah," she said, "And the whole... Just get married and make kids stuff. Do you think it's fair?"

"Well I don't really care if you're gay," Satoru said, then paused as he considered how to answer the second question. "On one hand I get why people do it, right? A marriage of convenience with a reasonable partnership worked out wouldn't be too bad as long as no one caught feelings," he said thoughtfully, "And the ladies at the Gojo estate always said at least they could love their children. Which... I guess is something even if they had to marry some cold bastard."

"But honestly," he rubbed the back of his neck, "That just seems miserable and looks like a lot of work, too. Why bother if it won't make you happy? There's no reason to do something that serious if you don't want to."

Shoko nodded, "Yeah. I feel the same way."

"Then fuck it," Satoru said, "Just do what you want and I'll back you up."

"I don't need you to back me up," she said with a small smile, "But I'm glad you would."

"Then what do you need?" He asked, lifting up his sunglasses, "I'm here. I can definitely help."

"Just knowing you're in my corner is enough," Shoko said. Then she smirked at him, "The same goes for you, you know?"

"Hmm?" He blinked, letting his sunglasses fall down onto his nose again.

"I'm in your corner too, Gojo." She said, rolling her eyes, "I'm not the strongest or whatever, but I'm still your friend."

Satoru stared at her for a beat before he smiled, "Yeah. You are, aren't you?" He said with a soft laugh, "Guess I just thought you didn't care."

"It's easier not to," she admitted, "But I guess you three have grown on me too much."

He reached over and pulled her into a bear hug, her feet and hands trying to push him off as he nuzzled his cheek into her hair. She laughed anyway and he mockingly cooed and managed to start prying him off. Eventually he let her go and grinned.

"Well, what do you wanna watch until the others come back?" He asked, "It's gonna take them a while, probably."

"My show is on," she said, "Wanna watch it with me? I know you don't like dramas but--"

"Nah, it's cool," he said, flipping the channels, "You gotta gimme the details though. I have no idea what's going on."

⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂ ⠂⠄⠄⠂☆

"We have returned!" Sarah triumphantly announced as she opened the door. She and Suguru marched over to the table. "Cake and your favorite dish--"

Suguru got down on the floor and placed down a stack of styrofoam takeout boxes. He lifted the lid on the top one and smirked at Shoko. The smell invaded the room, garlic and butter and shrimp.

"Yes!!" Shoko was practically salivating over the shrimp scampi. She'd demanded it a few days before her Birthday and when Satoru offered to call in and order it from a fancy restaurant she had been waiting.

She clapped her hands twice, sitting down once Satoru had rushed over a pillow for her to sit on. She smirked at him and he rolled his eyes. "I'll miss this tomorrow when my birthday is over," she said, then held out her hand and grinned when Sarah handed her a fork and Suguru served her a big plate of scampi.

The four of them decimated the scampi before Suguru placed the dessert carefully on the table. He and Sarah grinned when Shoko opened it and gasped at its contents. It was a beautiful fruit and cream tarte with cute little chocolate stars placed just right around it.

It didn't last long either.

Afterwards the four of them lounged around lazily, draped over cushions and chairs just watching Shoko's dramas and half-asleep. It was so cozy in her room by the little heater and the cold November air leaked in through the window just enough to tingle.

Satoru yawned a little then looked up at Shoko in her chair. "What kind of girls do you like, anyway?" He asked.

Suguru nearly spat out the coffee he was sipping.

"Yeah, what do you like?" Sarah asked, lifting her head off the pillow beneath her. She grinned then tapped Shoko's calf with her toes and said, "You were pretty into that upperclassmen from Kyoto, hmm?"

This time Satoru was surprised, sitting up straight with a huge open mouthed smile. It was so obvious! How had he never noticed it before?! That woman had always been so angry with him, but it made sense now!

"Utahime?!" He said, gripping her armrest, "You liked Utahime?!"

"I wouldn't call it like, I saw her once and--"

"She is pretty cute though," Sarah said slyly, "We could hit her up? Wanna go to Kyoto sometime?"

"We can get her number from someone there I bet," Satoru added, "Let's just go see her too! I bet she'd be happy to see you!"

Suguru stood up suddenly, placing his coffee cup down harder than he usually did. He didn't say anything even as the three of them stared at him. His lips parted for a moment, but instead he just walked out of Shoko's room without a word.

Sarah sucked through her teeth, grimacing as she looked away from the door again. "Oh... Right..." She mumbled.

Satoru and Shoko looked at her then each other.

"Oh." Satoru sighed as Shoko's face heated up.

"Did he... Not know you were gay?" Sarah asked quietly.

Shoko shook her head. "No. I never thought to bring it up."

"I'll go talk to him," Satoru said, pushing up on his arms.

"No," Shoko put her hand on his arm as she stood up, "I need to talk to him. This is something I should have done a while ago anyway."

Satoru and Sarah watched her leave. Satoru looked at her while she also stood and started to clean up the mess. "Guess we'll just let them sort that out," she said quietly, "Suguru is cool though. He'll understand."

"Yeah," Satoru said softly, "Yeah, he will."

That unnerving feeling settled into his heart as he got to work. A sour taste in his throat and a lump rising. Did it make him jealous? Bitter? Upset that Suguru liked someone else? That was unfair. Suguru didn't even know how he felt in the first place. Satoru didn't even know how he felt in the first place, either!

"Better for him to get rejected early," Sarah said, patting his shoulder, "It'll be easier for Suguru to move on now."

"Yeah?" Satoru asked, "You think so? Even if it hurts?"

"Well..." Sarah sighed, smiling just a little, "It's better than having to leave it unsaid and unanswered."

Shoko wandered down the hall, her steps naturally taking her to the patio. She’d seen Suguru disappear out there, and the soft evening glow seemed like the perfect moment to find him. As she stepped outside, she spotted him by the railing, hands in his sweater pockets and eyes fixed on the distant skyline. A quiet, steady presence against the fading light.

Shoko walked up beside him, and without a word, looked up, studying his profile. Suguru glanced over, surprised at first, then his face took on a shade of pink that caught her off guard. He looked back out at the horizon, his usual confidence softening as he hesitated, then finally said, “I… I’m sorry I never said anything before. About my feelings, I mean.” His voice was low, careful, as if testing his own words.

Shoko blinked, then gave him a small nod. “It’s okay,” she replied, her tone even, understanding. Taking a quiet breath, she moved closer, slipping her hand into his pocket to find his, a casual, warm gesture, but one that sent a jolt through him. He sucked in a small breath, though she felt it had little to do with her touch.

Suguru sighed softly, his shoulders relaxing just a bit, though his voice still held a vulnerability she wasn’t used to hearing. “I know… I know you don’t feel the same way. But I want to say it anyway.” He paused, gathering himself. “I like you, Shoko. You’re… you’re amazing, honestly. You’re brilliant and you work so hard, even when healing takes it all out of you.” He took a shaky breath, chuckling a little as if at his own words. “I know you don’t like me back, but… I’m glad I get to be your friend.”

Shoko felt a heaviness rise in her chest as his voice wavered, his words honest and open, something she hadn’t fully expected. She pressed her lips together, trying to blink away the sting of unshed tears, and swiped a hand quickly across her eyes before she looked back at him. “You know,” she said with a soft smirk, her voice trying to hold steady. “I think you’re a pretty good guy, even if you’re scum sometimes.”

That brought a laugh from him, genuine and light, his face relaxing as he shook his head. “Only sometimes, huh?”

They both went quiet after that, a comfortable silence falling between them as they leaned against the railing, watching the day fade. After a moment, Suguru glanced sideways, a hint of a teasing smile in his eyes. “So… did you actually like Utahime?”

Shoko chuckled, rolling her eyes. “Kind of,” she admitted with a shrug.

Suguru’s smile widened. “Good to know. Satoru and Sarah will never let that topic go now, you know.”

“Oh, I know,” Shoko sighed, a smile creeping onto her face as she imagined the relentless teasing that was sure to follow. But for now, it was just the two of them, and the fading daylight, and a quiet, simple understanding that felt… enough.

Satoru and Sarah had long since finished cleaning up the room when Shoko and Suguru returned. There was an awkward silence for a moment before Suguru sighed and said, "Well, I've been rejected." Sarah and Satoru ran up and hugged him and he nodded solemnly. "Sad, but true," he sighed dramatically.

"You alright?" Sarah asked and he patted her head.

"Yes, I'm alright," he said giving Shoko a little half-hearted smile.

"Alright, alright," she shook her head, "It's my birthday still. Let's get back to celebrating, yeah?"

"No more butler shit!" Satoru groaned, "It was funny for the first ten minutes but you got way too into it!"

"You offered!" She spat back, "It was your idea! Not my fault for enjoying it!"

Sarah let go of Suguru, giving him a little pat on the back. He smiled at her, then sighed once more. This wasn't his plan, but did he really have one? His feelings for Shoko had at least been pretty fresh and new, but the pain was still there. He sat back down in his spot by the table, watching Sarah shoving Satoru back from Shoko like a matador wrangling a bull. At least he could keep this. The bitter sting would fade soon enough, and he'd still have all of them and he always would.

⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂ ⠂⠄⠄⠂☆

It was warm in the classroom with the heat on, the kind of warm that makes your eyelids droop even if you got enough sleep. Satoru's chin was rested on his palm, his sunglasses already resting on the desk. Suguru had both hands on the desk, his back as straight as he could manage. He was fighting desperately to keep his eyes open, but his head was just too heavy. Shoko had long since given in, resting her forehead on her arms and just outright sleeping.

The manager teaching the class sighed, looking at the three of them. She placed down her notebook and smiled, "Well, the three of you seem to understand this theory anyway. Let's take a little break, yes?"

Satoru nodded, curving has back over the wooden chair behind him to get that good stretch in his upper back. Suguru stood up as soon as his brain registered what was going on and he patted his cheeks to try to wake himself up.

"Should we wake her up?" Satoru asked, nodding his head towards Shoko.

Suguru shook his head, "No, let's just let her sleep."

The manager announced that she would be back in a moment and left the cozy classroom. Suguru walked over to the window and slid it open just enough to get some cold winter air on his face. He blinked, shivering before he closed it again.

"Ugh, I know right?" Satoru agreed, "I'm strugglin' too."

"It's the heater," Suguru nodded his head towards the offending device, "It's making me so sleepy."

"Me too." Satoru stretched his arms up, groaning into it and bending back. He glanced over at Suguru as the two of them leaned against the wall by the window. Suguru was looking at Shoko with a gentle smile before he sighed and shook his head.

"I can't believe she's gay," Suguru said quietly, "I guess I should have known. Most girls are usually so easy to read, but she never really did anything to get our attention."

"You alright?" Satoru asked.

"Yes," Suguru said with a soft smile, "I'm fine. I suppose it has been easier to accept since she wouldn't be attracted to me anyway." He rubbed the back of his neck and mumbled, "It still hurts though if I'm being honest."

Satoru, the kind of man who always did the rejecting and had never been rejected, shrugged. "Yeah, seems like it's been pretty rough."

Suguru rolled his eyes then punched Satoru's arm lightly. "Thanks for that I guess."

Satoru grinned at him, "You're welcome." The grin faded as he looked at Shoko, watching her steady breathing and the twitch of her eyes behind her lids. Was she dreaming? He wondered, what kind of dreams did she have? He'd never wondered about his friends' dreams before, especially not the first time around.

"So, now what?" Satoru asked, tilting his head in thought, "What will you do now?"

"What do you mean?" Suguru asked, looking up from Shoko.

"Well, she doesn't like you, so what now?" Satoru clarified, "Who are you gonna try next?"

Suguru chuckled, "It's not that simple."

"Why not?" Satoru asked, "You could easily find another girl. They all really like you."

Suguru smirked, "Yes, they do, but it's not something I plan on taking advantage of."

"Fair enough," Satoru shrugged.

Satoru had his fair share of flings, especially after high school. Eager women and even a few men just to experience things. Sorcerers and non sorcerers too. Neither could provide "the feeling" he had chased after. Sure he could find a few sparks of something, but after a while they bored him. They always eventually would prove that they weren't interesting and he always let them go.

"I'm really surprised," Satoru said after a time.

"Hmm? By what?" Suguru looked at him again.

"Well, I just figured you'd get rejected and be cool again," he said with a shrug.

"It's only been a few days..." Suguru said, narrowing his eyes.

"Yeah, well it's not like a break-up or something," Satoru said, "I mean, it couldn't have been all that deep."

Suguru glared at him, crossing his arms, "Really?"

"Yeah, I mean... Whatever, right? It's just one girl," Satoru said with a shrug.

Wrong answer.

Suguru sighed heavily, then shook his head. "Satoru, that doesn't make it any less painful."

"I'm just sayin' it can't be all that bad," Satoru said, cocking his head, "Don't get all worked up."

"You sound like the old men you hate so much," Suguru spat, pushing off the wall, "How I felt about her wasn't something simple and childish."

Satoru blinked. He wasn't expecting Suguru to get so upset about something so simple. Especially about something that would be so inconsequential in less than a few months. But, then again, Suguru was actually a teenager. He couldn't possibly know that this stuff wouldn't really matter someday, right?

"I probably should be more used to this," Satoru muttered as Suguru started to walk out. He reached out and called, "Suguru, wait. I'm sorry."

Suguru stopped, turning back. He was still fuming, but he waited for Satoru to speak.

"I just... I don't really get this stuff, ya know?" Satoru said, "I just don't see the point in getting all invested in someone I could lose."

"Do you really think that?" Suguru asked quietly.

"Yeah," Satoru answered simply.

"That's really sad," Suguru said softly, and continued out of the room into the hall.

Satoru sighed. That probably could have gone better, but he didn't want to lie. He really did believe that, in the long run, being too close to someone would be dangerous. Plus, losing Suguru once had been such a huge tear in his heart that he never really had the time to heal. Even in his second life, he still felt that pain. Why would he want to have that happen again?

He ran a hand through his hair and sat down at his desk again. He let his head fall back, staring up at the ceiling and letting his thoughts wander again. Should he have been more sensitive? Suguru hadn't experienced such a painful loss, so of course he would be trying to fill his heart with something so fleeting.

But then again... Suguru could do it. Suguru could find someone to be close to. Suguru had it in him to be honest and let someone in. But how could he do that himself? What if he couldn't? Who would bother when there was a good chance he couldn't give himself wholly to them?

"Why you lookin' so sad in there?"

He looked up as soon as he heard her voice and immediately cracked up.

Sarah had her face pressed against the glass window, her nose pushed up and cheeks squished. She grinned at him, her cheeks red from the cold. She crossed her eyes when he looked at her and he got up and opened the window.

"That was a good look for you," he teased, leaning on the window sill.

"Thanks," she said, wrapping her white scarf around a little tighter, "It's fuckin' cold as shit out here."

"Yeah? Wanna come in?" He asked, holding out his hand for her.

"Nah, I'm good. I got shit to do," she said, looking over her shoulder, "I just wanted to see what had you all gloomy."

"Just thinkin' about things," he said with a shrug.

"Sad things?" She asked.

"Not sad for me," he snorted, "But sad to some people. It's kind of confusing."

"Oh, well you wanna talk about it?" She asked, resting her chin on her arm and leaning on the sill beside him.

He lifted up his sunglasses and put them on his forehead. For just a moment, he gathered his thoughts before he finally asked her, "Why do you all try so hard for something that has a good chance of hurting you?"

"Hmm? Oh, so you're still thinkin' about Geto?" She asked and he nodded. "Well... I guess it's because being in love is hella addictive! And we as humans crave companions."

"But you don't need to put it all on one person," he interjected.

"Well, yeah, that's true," she agreed, "But who says it has to just be one person? Friends are companions too. Sometimes closer than your own family!"

"But that's not something people are willing to get hurt for, right?" He asked.

"Of course they do," she said a little quieter, "I was ostracized pretty badly because I'm a weird little shit. I was friends with lots of shitty people just because I didn't want to be alone."

"How is that the same though?" He huffed, "Friends are easy compared to trying to get with someone romantically."

"That's true," she agreed, "But love comes in a lot of different ways and humans are greedy little goblins that want it all."

Satoru kept his eyes forward, watching the door as he finally asked, "So if someone just decided to swear off attachments to avoid the pain of losing others, what would you say?"

Sarah didn't answer right away, but he could feel her eyes on him. He heard her shift for a moment and braced himself for whatever she might say.

"I'd say that's a really depressing outlook," she said, "Because it's ridiculous." She grumbled, crossing her arms before she tried to explain herself, "It's like... If you don't have sad shit and break ups and crushes and stuff... You don't understand what it's like when you really fall in love or how much you love your friends or how important the little things are, right?"

He grinned at her, "Oh yeah? That's an interesting take."

"It's not an interesting take, it's a fact!" She huffed, swatting at his arm, "Don't be all..." She waved her arms around aimlessly, "Depressing!"

"It's not depressing," he grumbled, "It's like finding Nirvana or whatever, right? Just no attachments."

"You already have attachments, Buddah," she teased, "You think you're above that shit, but you're not. You are just as human as the rest of us."

He grinned at her, trying to pat her head and laughing as she slapped at his hand like usual. "Are you even listening to me?!" She huffed.

"Yeah," he said, his grin fading to something more gentle, "Yeah, I heard you."

⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂ ⠂⠄⠄⠂☆

Shoko spotted Suguru leaning against the train station wall, looking down at his phone. When he glanced up and saw her, he broke into a small, somewhat awkward smile. They were still navigating things after Suguru’s recent confession and her gentle rejection, but they were both trying. As she came up beside him, she asked, “So, have you figured out what you’re getting for Gojo’s birthday yet?”

Suguru nodded, tucking his phone back into his pocket. “Yeah, I’ve got a plan. And,” he added, pulling out a small piece of paper with a smirk, “I’ve got a note from Sarah for what she wants to get him, too.”

Shoko’s eyebrow quirked. “So... She’s ‘gone away’ again?”

He sighed, nodding, both of them exchanging a silent moment of frustration, but there was little they could do about it.

Suguru shook his head and gave her a gentle smile. “Let’s not dwell on it too much. We’re here, so let’s just enjoy it.”

Shoko chuckled, nodding as they boarded the train together. They found seats by the window, and the soft rocking of the train seemed to ease the last bits of awkwardness. Before long, they were deep in conversation about the latest issue of their favorite manga, tossing theories and laughing at the most ridiculous parts.

As the cityscape blurred by outside, Shoko casually mentioned, “Sarah still wants to do Thanksgiving.”

Suguru raised an eyebrow. “She’s still planning to cook it all by herself?”

“Yep,” Shoko replied, shaking her head. “But there’s no way I’m letting her go solo on that."

Suguru laughed, leaning back and imagining the chaos Sarah could cause in the kitchen. "She’s so clumsy, she’ll set the place on fire before she even finishes the turkey.”

Shoko grinned, picturing it. “True. But maybe between the four of us, we can pull it off. She’s excited for it, though, so I can’t really say no.”

Suguru nodded, a warm smile crossing his face. “Yeah… she’s got a way of making everything a holiday."

The train slowed as they approached their stop, and they both gathered their things. Stepping out into the busy street, Suguru tilted his head toward her. “Alright, where to first?”

“Somewhere that sells something for cocky assholes,” Shoko said dryly, her eyes sparkling with humor.

He grinned, falling into step beside her as they started down the street.

They continued down the sidewalk, the shop windows filled with tempting displays of electronics, fashion, and gadgets. Shoko occasionally pointed out a sleek watch or a pair of limited-edition sneakers, but Suguru shot down each suggestion with a shake of his head.

“Shoko,” he said, smirking a little, “this is Satoru we’re talking about. If he wanted any of this, he’d have bought it yesterday.”

She rolled her eyes but couldn’t argue with him. “Fine, you’ve got a point. So, what kind of ‘out-of-the-box’ thing do you have in mind, then?”

Suguru chuckled, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small, neatly folded note. “Actually, Sarah had some ideas. Here, take a look.”

He unfolded the paper and handed it to Shoko, who took one look and snorted, clapping her hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter. “You’re kidding,” she said, grinning wide, “Seriously?”

Suguru nodded, chuckling along with her. “Yeah, that was her top choice. She said he’d never expect it, and honestly… she’s probably right.”

“Of course he’d love it,” Shoko muttered, still shaking her head in amused disbelief.

They both stood there, sharing a knowing smile. It was exactly the kind of ridiculous, impractical, and oddly thoughtful thing that Satoru would treasure just because it came from one of them. It made perfect sense in a way only their little group would understand.

After a pause, Suguru said, “Alright, so we’ve got Sarah’s plan. What are we going to add to it?"

"C'mon, I know just the place," Shoko laughed, pointing ahead.

⤶ Prev Main Next ↪

#fanfiction #writing #a03 fanfic #jujutsu kaisen #jjk #gojo satoru #geto suguru #shoko ieiri #fix it fic #reincarnation fic

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callmesuggarcane · 3 months ago

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Gojo's death wasn't the problem

random ramblings on a Tuesday

Now that jjk is coming to an end id like to add that I don’t believe there’s anything that could be changed within the plot line of the story that would help to enhance the overall impact. Instead I would blame the timeline of each occurrence, that led to me feeling as though a few points were rushed through and major moments were anticlimactic—This includes Gojo’s death.

Although, given the chance to bring gojo back I would do it, simply because I enjoy him as a character, I wouldnt go as far as to say his death was menaingless simply because I appreciate the symbolism behind it whether that was gege’s intention or not.

First of all I want to bring chainsaw man into the equation to capture the feeling of major characters dying but ultimately feeling like a relevant means to an end, because the chapter treated each occurrence with the necessary emotions that such an action evokes no matter how fast it may seem, chainsaw man has been criticised for being slow, but im of the latter opinion as I appreciate the opportunity to dive deep into the psyche of each character, especially when its relevant to the story the author would like to convey, plus I gain unncessary attachments to series I love, which has made me re-read multiple mangas over and over again just because im obsessed with understanding the characters on a fundamental level. So future manga artists, feel free to expand (moving on).

Therefore it was anti-climactic for someone like Gojo that has made an impact in every sorcerers life to be tossed aside in a spontaneous opening—featuring him split in half. Especially considering the fact that within the fight Gege introduced concepts that weren’t previously established to demonstrate how ingenious and powerful gojo was, rivalling the strength of sukuna as he used his reverse curse energy to replace the cursed energy he used up. These principles were something that would’ve done better if we were given a chance to see each concept introduced in tandem.

The thing with Jujustu Kaisen is, the story that was being weaved had too many points that needed more depth, for something like demon slayer ( another death heavy story that made sense, although sad) the plot was much more simple and handled in a way that befitted the story, I can’t imagine any other way the story could’ve been stretched on, expect the other characters but that isn’t relevant to the plot which was saving nezuko, Nezuko was the goal and focus. The plot for Justusu was finding the fingers and containing sukuna in order to keep yuuji alive longer, so long as sukuna is conatined and yuuji remains alive, the job is getting done and I believe that had many opportunities for development of the world that was weaved, every character adds dimension to the story, as the depth of the sorcerer world led to many questions that would’ve served better with expansion. Another direct reference is Harry Potter although not a perfect example of a developed plot, imagine if harry found Voldemort two books in, and we didn’t have the plot lines before that. A true testament to the world gege was building was how, jujutsu took the world by storm, outside of gege’s beauty of course, it led to questions of how the world functioned. Were there sorcerers outside Japan, what are the family’s like, what kind of curses exist, is there a curse that could rival sukuna, and so on.

gojo was used even in death, and his only solace was his death.

Gojo has always been used, he’s always had a pedestal but he’s always had a target on his back, he had no choice but to be the best from birth, simply because he was born as gojo satoru and he had to become the gojo satoru we know now— the untouchable being— that came from his mortality, that came from the fact the untouchable being wasn’t truly untouchable. Not only was he a jujutsu sorcerer, that had a lower chance of living a full life, but he was the strongest sorcerer. it made sense that everyone would leave the hardest tasks to him, obviously the strongest can handle it, and he would come out unscathed. Unlike me, with my simple cursed technique. Irregardless of Gojo’s strength there was a disregard towards his life from the get go, was anyone truly worried about him, has anyone ever prayed for Gojo to come back safely. Who knows.

Not to mention how he found a comrade in Geto, whom he believed understood him on level no one could, but after his ascension that came from his first death, Gojo was finally alone…. from that point I believe his first death was his final death, Gojo became the perfect machine to the system.

Anyways, that’s why I believe gojo’s death wasn’t the problem in jujutsu rather it was a brilliant point that served to be expanded upon further and externalised in a poignant manner befitting of his tragic story.

In fact, Itadori, would’ve had the opportunity to go through a proper development arc that would’ve made use of the potential the characters kept insisting on, and the Shibuya arc would’ve happened much later in the series, it wouldve given us attachment, proper backstories, opportunities for development etc. Megumi is within the same predicament, and Nobara.

#jjk #gojo satoru #chainsaw man #fiction #anime and manga #manga

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runabout-river · 4 months ago

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I disagree that a sequel is necessary. While I see the potential for new storylines, the idea of introducing a completely new set of antagonists doesn’t appeal to me. Starting from scratch with villains can feel like a major challenge, and bringing back old ones would only lessen the impact of their original arcs. I don’t want to see previous antagonists resurrected, as it would feel forced and undermine the emotional weight of their defeats.

There's also the power vacuum left by the deaths of major characters, but that doesn’t automatically mean the story needs to continue. Sometimes, the best choice is to let things end naturally rather than create a new threat just to keep the series going.

Jujutsu Kaisen's ending might not be saved by a sequel. If Gege is tired of the universe, it could show in the quality of the continuation. Forcing a sequel when the creator might not be fully invested could result in something lackluster, and I’d hate to see the series lose what made it great in the first place. I also feel strongly about the need for Gege to rest, especially with the health concerns and breaks he had.

I prefer complete, well-rounded stories, and I’m concerned that a sequel would compromise that. In the end, I just don’t want a sequel to happen, as I believe Jujutsu Kaisen could have ended on a stronger note without needing to push the story further.

About the villains: would you say Sukuna's and Kenjaku's arcs are completely finished? Have they been used to their full potential?

Kenjaku eg. has a background connection with Yuji but no actual relationship with him in-story. There is no push and pull between those two and their past hasn't been dealt with either. Kenjaku also has no realtionship with Nobara and Megumi and only a small one with Gojo. As a villain he did much but his interpersonal connections were severly lacking except for Choso which was one-sided.

A potential sequel could present us the relationship and history with Kenjaku and Yuji that hadn't been dugged into until now. Not to forget Heian era history.

For Sukuna its a bit more complex. He had a deep relationship with Yuji and build one with Gojo during their fight. He showed a different side to him through his relationship with Uraume. But what was extremely missing and cut out in the end was a relationship with Megumi. Megumi's end to his own arc was also cut out.

In a potential JJK 2, Megumi dealing with Sukuna (in whatever form he would appear, a curse or trauma) would delve into that missing part of JJK which had existed since the Cursed Womb arc. What would also come from there is Sukuna's past and why he agreed to become cursed objects in the first place.

As a personal opinion, I would like new desaster curses eg a Death Curse. That would bring that curse-centred feeling back to JJK that was missing since Shibuya.

And of course, I wouldn't want a sequel that isn't made with passion either. If Gege has no desire or love for more stories of JJK (outside of maybe small chapters or light novels) than he shouldn't be forced to continue it. If he has health problems that's the same thing.

But just like me who simply assumes that Gege would love to continue the story, you assume that he wouldn't. But in reality we can't tell in any way what Gege thinks about this and if he even has a potentially bad health status. We get small glimpses of him, which is standard for mangaka, and there isn't much to go from there.

He said recently that he's happy the story ends. Yes, JJK will end with chapter 271. That's a statement of fact and can't necessarily be used to say a Part 2 won't come. In the past, sequel anouncements also took months if not years. We can't tell.

What I wanted to say at the end is, I don't think JJK is a well-rounded story. As it stands now, it has superflous plot elements that should've been trimmed down to make it a well-rounded story. Instead we had last chapter were we went through the fat so to speak and cut it off after the meat has already been cooked.

(Please don't roast me for my metaphor, I hate cooking)

There is a reason why "JJK Part 2" is a popular theory/demand and that's because there is room for one that most people have no problem seeing. I don't think that BHA and Demon Slayer had such big Part 2 feelings outside of a niche demand which always exists with all manga and anime that end.

So I don't think JJK would be pushed into more stories. I think it has the groundwork to build those naturally from everything the story has presented us during its run.

#jujutsu kaisen #jjk #sukuna #fushiguro megumi #yuji itadori #gojo satoru #ask #kenjaku #meta #gege akutami

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twilightstoned · 4 months ago

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ranking my top 15 anime i've watched so far

this is ranked by personal enjoyment NOT by what's objectively the best! so i can't be wrong! :) also i went from 10 to 15 bc I love too many now!

Honorable mentions: Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, The Promised Neverland (s1), and Your Lie in April

15. Wind Breaker

For me, the story is aight, but really I just think it's pure fun. The characters have cool designs and cool personalities plus the fights are fun! It's really that simple for me. The animation is sooo smooth for the fights and action.

14. Erased

The only reason why I don't consider this one a masterpiece is because I didn't love the ending. Everything leading up to that is a brilliant mystery thriller story. It's extremely addicting once you start. I think it does a brilliant job of getting you emotionally attached to the outcome. It's a short story that keeps you at the edge of your seat until it's done.

13. Neon Genesis Evangelion

This started out as a boring, old mecha anime for me and then the sudden dark shift to more psychological and philosophical issues of the characters made me fall in love. I still think about it a lot. This hit so deep it affected my own mental state after finishing it. Like damn, I related too hard. This is a classic for a reason, but it hits harder if you relate I'd say. The animation is such a vibe as well. So many shots I'd look at and be like "dang, I want to draw that" or "that'd be a sick gif" so yeah. Amazinggg animation. Amazing anime.

12. Cowboy Bebop

Cowboy Bebop was the first anime I ever liked. I was introduced to it by my cousin when I'd sleep over and we'd be watching Adult Swim all night together. I do hold some nostalgia for it, but also it holds up well in all aspects (story, animation, OST, characters). The animation in this show is probably my favorite in all anime. It's such a vibe. It's probably the anime I rewatch the most just because I always throw it on for the vibes. Plus, I love the sci fi setting.

11. Jujutsu Kaisen

I watched s1 of JJK like a couple of years ago and then watching S2 while I was sick in bed with the flu late last year is what got me into anime fully. I don't think JJK has the strongest story out there, but the characters being cool looking and likable plus the cool ass fights are why I adore this show. MAPPA really cooked with the fights. This is the first anime I had to read the manga ASAP after I finished the anime. Yeah, that's about it. It's just a really dope show with sick fights and sick characters.

10. 86 Eighty-Six

Okay, I've let this one sit in my mind for a few weeks before updating my rankings and it's absolutely gotta be top 10.

It's such an incredible story with a beautiful OST. This actually is one of the anime that hit the hardest/deepest emotionally for me in a similar manner to Attack on Titan. I find that funny because Hiroyuki Sawano made the OST for both. It's not just the music though, the story is impressively profound. It deals with topics such as government corruption, discrimination, racism, and war extremely well. I particularly loved the journey of Shin's reasoning to continue to fight and exist. Additionally, Major Milize's journey to make a difference and fight despite her privilege made for a great character arc. I think this has one of my all time favorite endings out of all media, it feels perfect after everything we experience each character go through. This really is an incredible story, one of the very best I've watched.

9. Death Note

I'm actually surprised at how much I enjoyed Death Note. Like, I know it's beloved by so many, but I had tried it years ago and dropped it (probs due to my undiagnosed ADHD at the time). Regardless, it's fuckin good. There's so much tension and scheming that kept me absolutely hooked. I love the psychological war between Light and L. L might be one of the best characters out there. The only reason why it isn't in my top 5 I'd say is because I don't love the ending. I think the stronger points were before a major thing happens that I think anyone that's watched knows what I'm talking about. With that said, I still had a good time watching the whole thing. If the ending had stuck then this could have easily been one of the GOATs and a masterpiece, but regardless, it's still very much worth watching and I still loved it.

8. Fruits Basket

I have a history w/ this story. I lowkey watched the early 00s version of this like way back in junior high maybe? or high school? I remember loving it, but not finishing it. I had forgotten most of the story over the years and forgotten it even existed for all these years. The only things I can remember from then is that the guys turned into zodiac animals for some reason and Tohru and Kyo had a thing going on.

So, watching the 2019 version this year was such a treat. The story really hits you in the feels. I LOVE that every single character is developed strongly. Tohru is the best girl. It's just such a wonderful story with both heartbreaking and heartwarming moments throughout. I truly love this show SO much. I think I binged the final season in one day. Tohru and Kyo's slow burn romance had me DYING for more moments each episode.

7. Nana

This show emotionally damaged me. With that said, I couldn't stop watching it. I love how it follows adults trying to get their lives together in Tokyo while also dealing with relationships and other drama. Nana and Hachi's relationship was beautifully haunting. Also, I definitely viewed this as comphet (but it's still good even if you view them as platonic soulmates). I mean, both Nanas confess their love for each other in various ways throughout the whole series. It's always about their need to be in each other's lives... and that's why it hurts even more. I wish we got a true ending and I wish we got more of the happy days! The characters and their relationships are what make this show special.

6. Serial Experiments Lain

This show can get a bit absurd with what's going on and that's exactly why I love it. Sometimes it doesn't even make sense at first and you're like "what the fuck?" and those head fuck moments give me life! I love the existential questions this show asks. The psychological deep dive of figuring out one's own existence. This show was ahead of its time when dealing with the way the internet would change the world. The wired leaking into real life is such a cool concept to explore. Idk, I still feel like I am comprehending this one and a rewatch will be necessary. It has me questioning my own life and for that, I have to say it's one of my favorites!

5. Frieren: Beyond Journey's End

Well, Frieren is #1 on My Anime List for a reason. I think the first season we got was perfect in literally every single aspect when it comes to anime. Frieren has my favorite modern animation and artstyle out of everything else I've watched. It's become my comfort show. It's hard to say much more than it's just perfect. The story, the OST, the world building, the characters, the animation. It's all perfect. It's a beautiful reminder to appreciate the people in your life and to live in the moment.

4. Haikyu!!

Who would have thought a show about playing volleyball would be THIS good? There are so many hyped moments that had me tearing up out of pure joy. I found myself cheering like I was watching a real live sports match ahahah. The volleyball aspect of this show is quite accurate. It's wonderful to see each player's hard work pay off throughout the seasons/matches. Haikyuu is brilliant at character development and character interactions. It's crazy how it gets you to even feel bad, root for, and even love the players on the opposing teams. I love my main boys at Karasuno so much more though. This show can cure depression. Especially if that depression is from your irl sports team -.- lmfao.

3. The Apothecary Diaries

Okay, it might be recency bias, but I'm surprised how much I LOVED this one immediately. Something clicked for me with it. Maomao is one of my favorite protagonists in any show ever - she absolutely makes this show. Of course, the animation, soundtrack, and story are excellent as well. I thought the humorous moments were well-timed and didn't overdo it. Plus, I usually think anime humor is cringe, but this show actually had very funny moments to me. I enjoyed the mysteries of each episode and couldn't stop binging until I finished. This is definitely one of those shows that I connected with on a personal level and for that, it's immediately one of my favorites. I loved getting to see such an incredible character, who is a woman in a patriarchal society, navigate said society by using her knowledge and skills while also helping her fellow women she crossed paths with. I love so much about Maomao's personality, I'd probably write way too much if I explained why. I'm so glad we're getting season 2 soon!

2. Steins; Gate

This is one of the best stories in anime. I also think that it is the best time traveling story I have ever watched. I know people say up until episode 12 is a slow burner, but I never thought it felt that way. I could just watch all the characters do weird science experiments and random shenanigans together for a whole season or two. Plus, the building up of the mystery and tension during the first half of the show is exquisite. It all pays off in the 2nd half when shit gets crazy. Seriously, this story gets so good it's *chefs kiss* Also, the ending is great and REWARDING after all the suffering Okabe goes through. (Even more after watching Steins; Gate 0!)

1. Attack on Titan

Watching Attack on Titan was one of the rare pieces of media where I started watching because of all the hype and it still exceeded my expectations. Before I started this show, I didn't even really think I'd like it because of the dumbest reasons: I didn't like the colors and the story seemed not interesting to me at all. AND OH MAN I WAS SO WRONG! I knew by the middle of s1 that I was watching something special tbf lol.

AoT is the only anime that no other anime can even touch when it comes to brilliance imo. I keep trying to find another tv show that hits as hard for me. This is one of THE greatest stories of all time. I truly wish I could erase my memory of this show and watch it again for the first time.

It has the craziest plot twists. There's so many mysteries throughout the first 3 seasons that kept me absolutely hooked. I love how it takes an even darker and realistic turn in s4 too. It's one of the rare shows where it keeps getting better and better as it goes on. Rewatches of this show are insane as well because of all the foreshadowing that you don't recognize the first time. And to top it all off, the OST by Hiroyuki Sawano is absolutely breathtaking. I seriously can't stop listening to itttt. This has genuinely become my favorite show of all time (sorry Arc*ne, I still love you). It's insane how invested I became in the story and its characters. I still think about it daily. It has some of the PEAK moments in fiction, especially in season 3 and 4. I never thought I'd actually cry watching anime until this one; there were many moments that had me bawling. I could go on and on about this show.

TLDR?: AoT is simply a 10/10 goddamn masterpiece that everyone should watch.

Okay... that's all. I think this list will most likely change as I watch more anime. I got a long watchlist still.

#this is me killing time until i clock out for work #updated: 11/19 with major shakeups hehe

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alieinthemorning · 1 year ago

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Fleeting Adolescence [Gojo Satoru]

Content: Major Character Death, Angst, AU: No Curses, Blood and Injury, Jujutsu Kaisen Manga Chapter 237 Spoilers

Pronouns: None

Reblogs: Let me know that you enjoy my work and want to see more, so don’t forget to like and reblog (and comment in the tags. I love seeing people’s rambles in the tags)!

Direct Continuation of: An Addition to Change

Red flashing and waving navy blue faded into the background as your gaze fell onto something shinning amongst it all.

You approached it, wading through navy bodies and hands that shot out to stop you. You would not be halted, you would reach your destination.

Black hair that usually shot out in every direction, spilled flatly against the pale forehead, soaked by the onslaught of rain. Usually vibrant violet eyes were now dull and stared beyond you. His usual dark ensemble of clothing was stained darker.

You reached your hands out, gently bringing his head into your lap. You wanted to say something. There were so many things that you wanted to say, but every time you tried to say something your brain stopped you. So you simply sat and stared into those once familiar violet eyes.

You don’t know how long you sat there, but eventually someone rested their hand on your shoulder.

“Satoru.” You whispered, pausing before looking up at him. “Where did I go wrong?”

You don’t know what kind of expression you were making, but it was enough for his jaw to drop and to take a stumble away from you.

Your gaze fell back into the violet.

Megumi was having a rough adolescence. You would consistently get calls from his school, detailing you about his latest fight and that he would be staying late as punishment. You simply apologized. There was no need to say that he wouldn’t do it again, because you knew that he would do it again. No need to make an ass of yourself.

You would wait for him to get home and confront him over dinner.

His answer was always the same: “I’m just doing what’s right.”

But was it really right when he was cracking jaws with his knuckles?

You decided to have Satoru try his hand at calming him, but that only seemed to aggravate him. Suddenly he wasn’t just beating up bullies and instead kids who “bothered him”. He wasn’t staying to himself anymore and instead began hanging around some upper classmen named Sukuna. He came home later and later, bloody and bruised.

You had your suspensions and they were confirmed when you stumbled upon Sukuna and his…friends while running errands. His friends called him by name and you quickly glanced in his direction. You didn’t need to stare because the arm and face tattoos were enough.

Sukuna was a gang leader

and Megumi was apart of that gang.

You and Satoru’s attempts to help guide him away from Sukuna’s gang only lead him further and further away from you and closer and closer to ruin.

You only wish you could have known just how deep ruin was for your dear Megumi.

"Satoru, where did I go wrong?”

One sentence that haunted him since it came from your mouth.

And when he looked at you.

You were crying, but your face was as blank as your gaze. Reminiscent of the violet ones that lay in the lifeless body in your lap.

He knew.

His worse fears had been realized.

Gojo Satoru was in fact not the strongest in the world. He was not a god who walked among men. He was human, he would die and the world would move on without him.

He sighed deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose while tightly closing his eyes.

“Is this how you felt, Suguru?”

All I can say is wait for the next chapter of JJK because

Ko-Fi | Commission | Masterlist

#alie ficlet #jjk x reader #jujutsu kaisen x reader #gojo satoru x reader #fushiguro megumi & reader #reader-insert #tw: character death #jjk 237

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izosdualpistols · 2 years ago

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Gojo Satoru and the Burden as the Strongest

Character analysis, S2 spoilers including recent chapters.

Unpopular opinion but I think it was only natural for Shoko to not be involved in Gojo and Geto's relationship as much. Before anyone says anything - I love Shoko. She's been through so much but it all went unnoticed which I am upset about. She will always be a part of the trio and nobody can convice me otherwise.

The whole arc was really centered and about Gojo. It's where we see his growth as a sorcerer and the heavy hearted resolution he makes.

Because the arc was revolved around Gojo, we obviously got information and story in correlation to his present self. Putting it simply, I'm really just stating the obvious - the arc is and was about Gojo's backstory.

Before I dive in deeper, let's put our background knowledge to use. Who is Gojo Satoru? Well, the strongest of course. But at what cost exactly? The cost of a normal childhood, a normal life, and so on.

To be the strongest is much more closer to a curse than a gift. Gojo was born with powerful abilities so people naturally came to praise him and burden him with their problems.

Gojo was basically their god. A title he didn't even ask for. As he grew up surrounded by all those people, weak people, he became to question his purpose for serving these people.

Why must he protect him? For what exactly? For who? - Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

To bear the title as the strongest means to bear the burden of millions. It means to face the world by yourself. No matter how many supporters you have, it's all blank. It's loneliness. Loneliness of knowing that no one else can truly empathize with you.

But that wasn't Gojo. At least it wasn't when Geto was by his side.

That's where Geto's role stands in Gojo's backstory. Another person who has the potential and can be the strongest alongside Gojo.

The reason Gojo is a teacher at Jujutsu high and continues to save lives has connection with Geto's beliefs when he was a sorcerer.

The belief of "Jujutsu sorcerers exist to protect the weak" that he pushed upon Gojo so much was effective; and we can see that through Megumi, one who was raised by Gojo.

Not only that, but because Gojo Satoru, the one who once said "It's alright, we're the strongest" - came to the realization that being the strongest wasn't enough. That some people (like Geto) are beyond saving - even with the most powerful abilities in the world.

Through this, and his final encounter with Geto, I'm sure he understood why Geto chose such path - which is why he strictly tells Megumi to become strong; strong enough to not fall behind.

Geto is a character that needs to feel needed. A character who wishes to be helpful - one of the reasons he served as a sorcerer without a large purpose; without his own goals.

When Gojo grew stronger, Geto soon realized Gojo didn't need him anymore. That Gojo is now able to complete missions by himself and without Geto's assistance.

This can be seen as one of the major reasons why Geto drifted away. Following the apparent "way of the world" blindly.

Wrapping this up - in a way, Geto can be seen as Gojo's "moral compass". He who guided the strongest sorcerer of morality. Which, personally, seems very difficult to do when you see the world of Jujutsu Kaisen through Geto's eyes after his downfall.

Imo, I think Geto's death triggered his obsession with people not being "left alone/behind".

Then here comes Shoko - who did stay. Who stayed next to Gojo, sharing the sadness when Geto died.

Both of these characters' feelings are valid. Nobody is wrong; though Gojo's might be taken to be more "selfish", I wholeheartedly believe that one can feel lonely even with everything in the world.

I'm not Gojo nor Shoko so I don't really have a say, but as a reader, I can confidently say that in different ways, they both perfectly portrayed loneliness.

Gojo's story was not only revolved around him, but also Geto - because he had that much of an impact to who he is now. The Gojo we are seeing today, Geto helped him become.

The ultimate truth is that though it may have not been much, Shoko served her role in Gojo's backstory completely.

It'd be nice to see her included in future chapters with Gojo - I have high hopes when Jujutsu Kaisen nears it's end. A scene with Shoko and Gojo at Geto's grave reminiscing the past together is not a want but a need.

I've reread some parts and I'm starting to question my choice of words but please keep in mind I have no intention of downgrading any character! Gojo, Geto, Shoko are my favorite trio and they have a really special place in my heart. I apologize if I sounded off? incorrect? one-sided etc. I'll probably have to reread throughly and fix some sentences.

#jujutsu kaisen #jjk #gojo satoru #geto suguru #shoko ieiri

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kafkaoftherubble · 1 year ago

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聊237有些群众的反应 // On some of the comments re: CH237

This post touches on Jujutsu Kaisen Chapter 237. It also touches on Buddhist philosophy and ideas.

Right. So seeing strawman arguments popping up since CH236 is to be expected.

There's one that pissed me off from the "My Country Mangaka, Right or Wrong" crowd, though. This one:

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Now. This is the sort of post I actually like reading, even if our opinions differ. I like seeing other people's interpretations of a work. I love meta, especially because it appeals to my compulsively analytical brain.

But one still gotta be aware that they are applying a very specific reading to excuse Gege's execution, right?

One still gotta be aware that this doesn't excuse nor explain glaring storytelling issues, right?

All of that paragraph merely justifies the need to have Gojo out of jujutsu society, which honestly? Most of us already agreed, mai brutha.

I personally predicted Gojo would be out because of his Buddha allegory—if he's enlightened, then he should be the last 6 Eyes user. "This is the last birth; there will be no more re-becoming."

Whether that means the only way for him to go out is death... that's already grounds for reasonable debate. I mean, if Yuki's dream of removing everyone's curse energy comes true, Satoru will still be the last 6 Eyes user. And he'll also get to be just Ken Gojo-Satoru-the Not-Weak-Not-Strong-Mortal-Dude. Hell, it even ties shits up in a neat thematic bow while cementing Yuki's (well-deserved) importance in the story.

Last but not least: "samsara" does NOT mean fate. Gosh, maybe the person who posted this was trying to explain it in ways they believed the "Western audience" would understand, but... that's a tad patronizing, don't you think?

Samsara does not mean fate. Buddhism itself is opposed to fatalism, as seen in its opposition to the Ājīvika school (which is one of the six Śramaṇa schools Buddhists debated way back then). Instead, Buddhists believe in causal determinism.

Ironically, the dude's explanation of "kaisen" as "cyclic" is itself a good proxy for the meaning of samsara. Samsara means "cycles of existence", and it's got nothing to do with fate. Nope, "karma" does not mean fate either. It doesn't even constitute fate in a Buddhist's conception (karma means "action").

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But this person has more takes, man. When met with a cheeky response saying they are "Gege's alt account", they have this to say:

Here's the part that starts to piss me off.

Do I think Jujutsu Kaisen has a lot of Buddhist motifs, philosophy, religious ideas, etc. baked into its backbone, to the point that some of them fly over non-Buddhists' heads? Yes.

Sure, I'm also not someone who studies Buddhist philosophy for my major (my major was my darling cognitive science). I simply read up on them for no reason beyond curiosity and intrigue. And agreement, sure. I agree with many of its tenets. Ya know, like when people agree with absurdism and Kantian ethics and stoicism and whatnot. It's actually why I'd die on the hill of Satoru being self-less. I simply think the concept of anatta flew over a large group of JJK enjoyers' heads, and that's fine. Those who get it explain them to those who don't. No big deal. Someday I'll talk about anatta and sunyata as concepts exemplified by Satoru, too.

Do I think there are Japanese cultural ideas flying over non-Japanese's heads? Yes, that's likely to be true.

I'm not Japanese. I'm just some person growing up in a Chinese-dominant family in a multicultural Southeast Asian society. Even then I'm quite sure I miss out on a lot of implied Japanese cultural phenomena when I consume their stories.

But how does any of that even translate to justifying shitty execution in this story, including Gojo's death? Are you saying Japanese people will lap this up because, to them, this is "not bad storytelling" but "a Japanese cultural thing lost in translation"?

Are you serious?

And what the hell is with that strawman of "Western audience"? "Killing Gojo is heresy because something something Gojo is God something perfect unkillable flawless"?

Yo, who the hell actually believes Gojo is "god"? All I see are people connecting Gojo with the Buddha himself, which is a legitimate connection anyway. I'm sure those who genuinely see Gojo as a god-in-flesh are a minority who probably, I don't know, take the story sideway to some hardcore fanon territory.

Most of us are not arguing against taking Gojo out because "the audience only knows Judeo-Christian ideas so this is heresy." Most of us are just arguing that the story hasn't been written well lately. Most of us are just pointing out Gege's lackluster-to-subpar execution and other storytelling issues.

Also, if we are supposed to argue this through the this-is-way-too-Buddhist-for-yall defense, then I would have loved it if this person pointed out what this "singularity" concept in Buddhism itself is.

Because as far as I know, there is no such thing as a constant in Buddhist philosophy. One of the Three Marks of Existence is deadass "Anicca" (impermanence). The point is "nothing is constant /permanent. Permanence is an illusion." The cycle of samsara itself changes constantly.

So how does Satoru being "a singularity" actually make sense in an argument hinging on Buddhist ideas?

Also, for someone who rags on others for missing out on Buddhist ideas, dude also made the mistake of taking Satoru's lack of reaction and remorse to Riko's death as "a trait of his sociopathy" much like one not familiar with Buddhism might.

No. It doesn't show sociopathy. Just as "rising above the cycle of hating your enemies" ain't some strange "juxtaposition" to Satoru's sociopathy either. These two traits are from the same source.

What that alludes to, sir/ma'am/dude, is simply "Upekkhā", or equanimity.

Believe it or not, even Buddhists are cautioned against mistaking "equanimity" with "apathy". Apathy is a "near enemy" in the sense that it superficially represents equanimity when it is not; the latter is related to "non-attachment" and "renunciation".

Apathy, meanwhile, occurs when one does not possess Right View.

This is what I meant when I said, yes, sometimes non-Buddhists may miss out or misunderstand. Hell, my best friend was raised in a very ardent East Asian/Chinese/Pure Land Buddhist family, and yet when I talked to her about equanimity, she thought it was the trait of a sociopath too. Really, 'tis not a crime to not get these things.

It is really irritating though if you actually act like what you say is end-all-be-all, okay?

Satoru didn't express anything when Riko died because it already happened—and there was no use being fixated on what had happened. This was fresh off his Awakening period, too, so Satoru was still in that weird state of jhāna or something, I don't know (Gege makes me doubt myself now). He's in an equanimity state, and therefore "hates no one". That's really it.

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Gosh, the fact that I'm actually quite passionate about debunking this Redditor's statement is surprising. Honestly I never even thought I'd ramble at length about JJK at all, because it's such a large fandom with so many galaxy brains who outclass me by lightyears!

I think I'm just irate when someone touches on something I know, and expresses this weird "I know Japanese. Do you?" superiority while straw-manning anyone who disagrees with them. Like man? Respectfully, fuck off.

Another Redditor did reply to them though:

FOR REAL, SOFT_PAY5834! GET 'EM!

...Anyway, this person's reply to Soft_Pay5834 deadass mixes some Japanese in their reply, because I suppose showing off you can write Japanese or something is a legit reinforcement to your arguments now. Wow. I'm really trying hard not to call them a "w_ _ a b _ _".

So yea. Can some people please stop straw-manning any critic as Gojo dick-riders already? Or use any other strawman, for that matter? Thanks.

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Thank you for reading my ramble. I know, it's a bit dense with a lot of links.... Hyah?

#I didn't dabble in Buddhism to argue with people!!! What happened?!#an argument over a fictional story is ironically very un-Buddhist hahahah. So yea I too get a big fat L #But I also think if I can at least provide some clarity every time someone starts to abuse the “culture” card because I have the knowledge.#I should. Besides #this is low-stakes shit. A debate with low stakes is better than one with real life high stakes.#jjk #jujutsu kaisen #jjk spoilers #jjk 237 #jjk leaks #jjk manga #gojo satoru #Kafka's Buddhism hammer to all nails

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