#i want to see megumi again

[voxofthevoid]

I kind of feel like this *can't* mean Megumi is dead, because wowie. If he gets basically off-screened with absolutely zero resistance or death scene immediately after Gojo dies with "no ragrats :D" that's just next level bad writing for so many reasons.

I absolutely agree it'd be bad writing and just straight-up bullshit, but I'm no longer sure that's enough to make it...not happen, ya know?

I don't think it's 100% certain that Sukuna assuming his OG form means Megumi's gone for good, but the evidence so far does heavily favor that interpretation. In Chapter 199, the Angel states that her rationale for wanting to purge the incarnated players is that most of them will suppress and destroy the host's consciousness when they take over, consciously or otherwise.*

Suppression seems reversible. Destruction is another matter. Given how JJK keeps emphasizing the link between the body and the mind, plus their unity, I've assumed that the physical form changing to match the incarnated sorcerer indicates that the host soul is destroyed. Two elements in the narrative also support this: the Yorozu-Tsumiki affair and Sukuna retaining Megumi's appearance until now.

If Tsumiki had been utterly lost from the moment Yorozu incarnated, there wouldn't have been much of a point in Sukuna killing her using Megumi's body and CT. But since Yorozu retained Tsumiki's appearance, the implication seems to be that Tsumiki's soul was still there, suppressed, leading to Megumi's despair when Sukuna kills her.

Sukuna retaining Megumi's body reads similarly. The in-universe explanation may be a mix of practical and psychological—more the former, probably, since Sukuna is Sukuna. He needs the body to use the Ten Shadows and thus counter Satoru. At the narrative level, it leaves saving Megumi as an option for us readers and the other characters, and we know that, at least at the beginning, Satoru was trying to do that. Now that Sukuna no longer needs Megumi's CT (and most of the shinigami are gone anyway), he's back in his true form. Following the above line of logic, it means Megumi's gone.

But these are more inferences than concrete facts. As far I know/remember, it's never been explicitly stated that the vessel's appearance changing indicates their soul is destroyed. That said, I do think these are strong enough implications that negating them would read as a retcon.

This then leads to a situation where (i) if this isn't the case and Megumi can be restored somehow from Sukuna's OG form, it's bad writing, and (ii) if this is the case, and Megumi really is gone without any meaningful resistance, it's bad writing. This particular facet of the narrative is fucked anyway...along with many others, as we saw recently.

There's the secret third option that Megumi is buried inside Sukuna (heh) and will resist but ultimately die, but it'll still be in line with point (i) in terms of the writing, though more satisfying overall.

I think the best indicator of whether or not Megumi's still kicking is seeing if Sukuna can still use the Ten Shadows in this form. It should tell us whether the body and the CT engraved in it are still Megumi's or if Sukuna has wholly supplanted both.

*I'm going by the TCB translation since I can't access the Viz ones online and don't have this volume in print. Feel free to correct me if the official translation or the original Japanese adds further nuance.

(Also, "no ragrats :D" got a laugh out of me. We stay salty 🤝)

[hinamie]

fire nation festival wear aka a blatant excuse for me to push atla clothing design conventions to the absolute Limit

jjk atla!au with @philosophiums

[keii]

Ride 'em cowboy! Outlaw Toji! AU

[httpxxg]

idc gojo literally gave birth to megumi 🫶 they both have the same giddy and cute smile 💟

[rosemaryreality]

Random poll because i was curious about other people's headcanons about Yuuji's feelings. Personally I'm inclined towards either chapter 143 or Yuuji realizing he loved Megumi just as (or after) he lost him (temporarily. He will be back), because i like the angst of it. But idk, what are your thoughts?

[polysyndetonaddictsupportgroup]

“He sleeps against his father’s chest, and he does not stir.

Yuuta’s never seen Sensei look at anyone the way he looks at Megumi right now.”

OH MY GODDDDDDUGHHHHH THIS PEAK. I honestly teared up reading this bit. You can feel the love emanating from so many characters in your writing within this chapter, I find it so so moving. Thank you so much for sharing your writing!!!

I actually really like the kind of messiness of this moment because Gojo’s conflicted about that moment in a lot of the same ways that Tsumiki was conflicted about comforting her brother.

Earlier, Yuuta had said that Megumi seemed happier when Tsumiki was around. And Tsumiki had replied that she felt conflicted about comforting him, because she knows how private he normally is. She wanted to be there to comfort him, but she was worried it was just one more thing done to him that he didn’t want.

Gojo is feeling a lot of the same.

Like. Megumi was never that kid that was very open or cuddly. He was never that kid that let you carry him, even when he was tiny. He’s Gojo’s baby boy and he has the disposition of a feral raccoon with a biting problem. Do not touch him.

Gojo knows for a fact that Megumi would never in a million years let Gojo pick him up and hold him had the circumstances been normal.

There’s this unique act of love in allowing yourself to be vulnerable around others. It’s an act of absolute trust, if you think about it. I’m already hurt; I trust you not to hurt me worse.

And I think that makes it significant that Megumi doesn’t have that relationship with anyone.

He doesn’t let himself be vulnerable around Gojo. He doesn’t let himself be vulnerable around Tsumiki. He closes himself off and hides weakness and now he just can’t anymore.

I think Gojo in particular was aware of how Megumi doesn’t let himself be vulnerable around even his family, because Gojo is better suited to notice when Megumi’s hurt. Tsumiki knows her brother best, but it’s hard to hide from Gojo’s eyes. He notices when something’s wrong with his kids, and Megumi in particular.

He missed it when Megumi was a kid. He doesn’t want to miss it again.

So he sees it when something’s wrong in megumi’s world. And he sees it when megumi doesn’t come to them with it. He knows that megumi wouldn’t have let him hold him like that had he not been so hurt.

I think that Megumi was never really that kid that let you hold him, growing up. Even at age five, he was horrifically independent and had a very firm boundary line set between himself and absolutely anyone else. Baby Megumi never let Gojo lug him around, despite how adorable and portable he was. He sure as hell wasn’t letting Gojo carry him when he hit his teen years.

So. You’ve got this kid. You love him. Earth-shattering type of love. Soul-rending love. Sun, moon, and stars. Real “burn the world to keep him warm” type shit. He’s your baby boy, even if he’d fucking strangle you if you said it.

He’s just been hurt in a way that fucking horrifying. The most profound violations you can imagine. He can barely open his own eyes, he’s that hurt.

It’s probably your fault.

Because the assholes who hurt him? Those people? They’ve hurt him before, and you didn’t kill them for it. It wasn’t because it was right for your kid. Killing them for his safety would have been what’s right for your kid. It was just. Politics. Not only that, but the lynchpin of their plan counted on you not calling him once while they were hurting him. They banked their fucking lives on you not calling him even once in a week that included his birthday.

And they were right.

So yeah.

It’s probably your fault.

But you can’t turn back time. He’s hurt, and you’ve got him now, and all you want to do is comfort him. He’s your little boy, and you almost fucking lost him, you almost had to fucking bury him, and you just want to hold him while he’s afraid. You want to hold him until he stops shaking. You want to fix this.

And, at the end of the day, you just can’t deny how much he’d fucking hate that.

But you do it anyway. Someone needs to hold him, and you make it you. And maybe that’s just one more time someone did something to your little boy’s body that he didn’t want.

So.

How the fuck do you live with yourself?

[herefortheships]

The lack of confirmation of Nobara's status leads me to believe Gege has something planned for her as the end of the Everyone vs Sukuna battle Aka the "Decisive Battle" draws to an end. This situation totally reminds me of the "Enchain" plot thread. It felt for a long stretch of the manga like Gege had even forgotten about the Enchain binding vow.

Except he hadn't.

The hush-hush around Nobara might be due to a similar situation. It might mean that she will be a key player to defeat Sukuna. OR she might be part of the conclusion of the story in a different way like bringing a ray of sunshine and hope to the fandom with just the confirmation of her survival, after Gege breaks our hearts one last time before the manga's end lol.

[tojiscrack]

You’re the fucking goat at writing I CANNOT emphasise this enough. The way the characters have matured (but still remain very, very dumb) is genius?? Mermaid is kind of a little creature in the earlier chapters, but little kids ARE like that. Idk when she and our hedgehog grew up but I feel kinda… proud of them?? Like I watched them grow up??

It’s like 6:15 where I am, I haven’t gone to bed and I have lectures later today but I don’t even care because staying up to reread your work was so worth.

Once again - you’re goat status!!

liar, liar masterlist here:

before i went to school this morning, i saw the notif for this ask and you dk how much strength it took me to resist clicking on it ‘cause it’d mean that i’d spend the next minute reading it, the next 3 mins re-reading it, the next 5 minutes giggling to myself about it, and then the next 10 minutes just writing up a response, which would result in me eventually skipping school 🌝

i should’ve read it anyway since my class got cancelled last minute and i ended up going for a walk around the neighbourhood ‘cause i was already ready 😐

so then i read it as i walked…

and let me tell you, the WHOLE time i was walking those 12,488 steps, listening to lana del rey’s chemtrails over the country club, i was giggling to myself about this message. like genuinely grinning like a psycho, the dog walkers were giving me weird looks 😭

‘like i watched them grow up??’ — stop cuz this is EXACTLY what i wanted to be emphasised as i was writing 🥹 you’re the first person to actually say this tho, and i’m glad u feel that way! 😫

subtle things like horrible vocabulary during kindergarten which improves slightly over the course of elementary school, and then the slight immaturity in middle school which slowly goes away entering high school for the first time, a completely different environment which is nerve-wracking, but mostly exciting (seeing as the seniors in their life would talk about how amazing their high school years were). it’s a coming-of-age kinda vibe i was going for, and if i managed to do that to the point where you feel the need to actually mention it to me in such a nice message, i’ve succeeded 😭💕 tysm!!

but girl omg, DON’T read this story on a day where you have to get up in the morning 🤨💘 i always have to reiterate this cuz i will NOT be liable for any bad grades my little liars get in their exams cuz they wanted to read this HEFTY, incomplete story instead of sleeping 😡

but ty anyway, your words mean sm to me, you have no idea. i’m about 6k words into the next chapter, and i still have a little more to go, but trust, it’ll probably be released either some time this week (most likely next week). i can’t wait to hear ur thoughts on it 💕 (and GO to sleep ml 😟)

[sinnbaddie]

JJK Spoilers (Chapter 143)

I love both of their reactions here for opposite reasons

With Megumi, he’s consistently taking responsibility of the consequences of Yuji being alive. He has no regrets about it because he knows Yuji to his core is a good person

So when Yuji says this, Megumi looks absolutely disgusted and angry with him. He knows firsthand Yuji would never willingly kill someone, he’s too kind for that. So he shares the responsibility that Yuji feels is weighing him down instead of telling him “it’s not your fault” because he knows he could never convince him otherwise, he tells him it’s their fault so Yuji can lean on him, so he knows he’s not alone in this

Yuji on the other hand believes vehemently that he’s the one to blame because he harbors Sukuna. He saw the aftermath when he reverted back. Which is why he looks so desperate here, he wants – needs to convince Megumi that he’s dangerous and being around him will get you killed. He doesn’t want anyone but especially Megumi to end up hurt or dead, which is why he’s trying so hard here to make him understand that

That’s why Megumi was so incredibly smart for telling Yuji to save him. He knew too well that arguing with him would be pointless. He gives him solutions, distractions so Yuji wouldn’t sit on if he deserves to die or not.

The way they view Megumi saving Yuji that day is fascinating.

Megumi sees him saving Itadori as a good thing. He saved a good person who can change the world for the better. Yuji sees Fushiguro saving him as a ticking time bomb of destruction. His existence now is going to make the world worse off

The relationship between these two is so well done because really, they work phenomenally together. They care deeply as well as respect one another, especially their opinions. However the angst and tragedy of their writing falls within their own view of themselves and how they view each other, but even then, it’s not because they hate the other, it stems from a place of caring and love.

Megumi not only saved Yuji’s life, but he gave him a purpose when he truly thought his existence was evil. It all boils down to protecting the other.

[megumi-fm]

.

[dyaz-stories]

With the latest chapter out, what are your thoughts on it? Other than how they mentioned Gojo. I remember hearing something about a faceless(hidden) character that kind of looks like Kenjaku/Geto at the end.

Spoiler-free opinion is that I generally enjoyed the chapter! It's very in line with what to expect from a shonen epilogue. That's what I thought we were going to get immediately post-Sukuna defeat, mostly because that's usually how that goes.

We're starting to close the curtains on the characters, we see that life goes on, what's changed, etc. It's cute, it's a sweet farewell to the characters. I don't care about some of the ones we see in the chapter, but I love most of them, so I'm happy about that! I'm still really upset with the way Gojo is handled, so I'm going to get a little more in depth with all that under the cut.

We conclude really quickly on Tengen but it's not super clear to me what's going on, nor do I care too much to be frank. We do see Gakuganji telling Utahime and Nitta 'not to worry' because they're still young, so that's a definite shift from the beginning of the manga — less urgency, less responsibility on their sole shoulders, the cycle is broken, all of that.

(peep the really cute panel of Noritoshi with his family — he wasn't my favorite but I thought that was sweet. He's no longer chained to his clan, yet another change from the beginning of the manga.)

Then we close a few plotines with characters I, honestly, didn't care for (the mangaka Hakari fought with, Yuuji's acquaintance who used to be a bully, the sumo/samurai that helped Maki have her awakening), but there is an interesting line about how they've gone public with the existence of curses.

So things have changed, and with the public knowing about it, maybe a future where humans learn to channel their cursed energy, like Yuki Tsukumo hoped for, is an option? There's hope.

(It is quite random since we hadn't heard about that before, but I can accept something like that because clearly a lot of weird stuff had happened and there needed to be some explanation for the non-sorcerers)

I like the Megumi and Angel interactions we get — she was always an interesting character to me and I wish we'd seen more of her. I also like the idea of characters deciding to help each other out. It seems that Megumi does it partially out of guilt, which I'm not a huge fan of, but supporting a character who's lost an arm in battle feels, again, like an evolution from the start of the manga. She's not going to be left to fend for herself like Geto was, and isn't that a great thing?

And I like that the chapter ends up with them taking up a new mission — we know that curses couldn't disappear, so life goes on. Yuuji goes back to helping people, like he's always wanted to do, and honestly I'm quite happy with that. There wasn't a permanent solution to curses unless people were willing to commit a genocide, but there were ways of making things easier. Because non-sorcerers know about curses, they can reach out directly to sorcerers before anyone dies (...well we'll see about that next chapter, but that's what it looks like), which should in turn limit curses' opportunity to get super strong undetected. Ijichi actually starts by talking about a "victim", but then we see everyone's okay and they take the cursed person to get a physical, so they should be fine. Lots of evolution shown in the chapter!

(the trio back togetherrrrr, they're so cute!)

Now, to the things I wasn't a fan of.

Like you said, there is something about Kenjaku. I don't know if you'd read this plotline, but there was this character, Fumihiko Takaba, who was this unfunny comedian. He's the one who fights Kenjaku and distracts him enough for Yuuta to kill him without too much of a struggle. Kenjaku has this whole thing about how this was the first time he'd had this much fun in centuries, being in a 'comedic duo' with that guy. Now it was a really weird couple of chapters, and it looks like he gets someone to join his duo. We don't see his face, but yeah, it looks like Kenjaku in Geto's body.

Now I don't think that's him but it is imo something about... idk, reincarnation, cosmisc alignment, whatever. I'm pretty indifferent to that — I didn't care about that guy nor about Kenjaku. However, to see both of them get a closure that I don't feel we've gotten for Gojo kills me. At this point I feel confident that Gege feels the airport scene was all the closure needed, and I just... yeah I just disagree.

The chapter actually opens on a gravestone — Tsumiki's. Shoko and Megumi are there, paying their respects. But we don't see a headstone for Gojo or a funeral of any king, which I'd been hoping for if it's because he's alive I'll eat literally all of my words but at this point I think there's a 0% chance of that

In fact, we're told that Shoko dealt with Tsumiki's remains, which were cremated. And then this.

...I'm just tired of this at this point. When I was reading the manga, I was talking to a friend and said that it didn't feel like anyone liked Gojo. People can have respect for him, admire him, hate him, etc. but it never felt like anyone liked him. Even the characters that I think would have had the better chance of having some reaction to him (Shoko, Yuuji, Yuta, Megumi), from what we see, just... didn't care for him that much, you know? [I think there are solid arguments against that and I know for sure that's not how I'm going to write them, but imo that is what we are seeing play out at the moment] So, in turn, it's making me feel silly for caring as much as I do. It just... feels like he never mattered. He's been erased from the narrative, and I hate it.

The scene ends with Shoko throwing away her cigarette. It probably has a lot of symbolical significance — we know that she stopped smoking in high school and picked it up again in Shibuya because she was nostalgic of her high school days.

I guess this means those days are fully behind her now. Because there's no one left.

[catgirlkirigiri]

I told you it wouldn’t just be satosugu next time I posted jjk furries. This time there are even more gay people :)

[tariah23]

Noooo…… first it’s Yuuta and Shoko, now they’re yo-yoing back around to Megumi.

[longagoitwastuesday]

I actually like the last chapter. I think the ideas are very good. I have my qualms on how some things were managed, as I always do, but I think shonen authors get tangled in the expectations of a shonen to the point it jeopardises their writing, often even when they're not lacking in skills

[humanitydiscarded]

owo??? new muse hours???????

[lavenderjewels]

(JJK 216)

smh sukuna is going to kill a gay man and a woman in one go