#it feels so good to have someone to go insane over them

[whoreiorcats]

That passage in the you you are where mark and Ricken get into a fight is another example of mark wanting to keep the grief of Gemma to himself.

How could some idiot like Ricken understand his pain or even share in it? Mark’s grief is so vast he can’t imagine how anyone could bear even a fraction of it. Mark can’t bear it (goes on to microdose on suicide)

But the truth is Ricken does feel it. Gemma was kind to him and indulgent in ways Mark certainly never was and might’ve been more so than his wife at times (when you live with someone you have to draw a line, lol)

I really think that anyone obsessing over severance rn should go and read/listen to The You You Are and I’m about to spoil the juiciest part of it so go!!!

Anyway, Ricken is trying to get a gift he gave Gemma before she died back from Mark and mark can’t find it. Mark blows up at Ricken and tells him that Gemma actually made fun of his gift, that the joy she received from it was at his expense. That “everyone laughs at you the second you walk out of the fucking room” Gemma included.

He’s trying to tarnish Ricken’s memory of Gemma severely and it works to some extent. Ricken recognizes that this mocking laughter will effectively be the last thing he ever “hears” from Gemma.

Ricken tries to make seem like he’s healed from this fight but it’s clearly stung him badly. The whole book is obviously Ricken processing his emotional wounds from childhood to today which actually makes the book an interesting read.

Mark wants people to have liked his wife less so he doesn’t have to think about or consider their pain in regards to her death. GOD mark is just such a good depiction of grief: it’s not beautiful or gentle or anything it’s ugly and it’s isolating. And I feel for them both in the end.

Also reading it from the perspective of Innie Mark will make you insane highly suggested!

[innerempire]

Peter who is Tony’s personal assistant - the only personal assistant who has actually stuck through him for more than two years. Prior to Peter, all of Tony’s past PA(s) were people who had resigned within 24 hours (and left in absolute tears) because they simply couldn’t cope with the stress.

Peter deals with everything; handling the older male’s hectic schedules, enduring crazy ex-partners and slighted flings who show up here and there and hey, he’s had coffee and juice, whatever-you-name it thrown in his face. Before anything even reaches Tony’s desk, be it an interview request or social invite, it’s strictly screened by Peter first.

He works round the clock basically. It’s high stress, but the monetary compensation is….Peter thinks he might be set for life if he keeps it up for another couple of years.

“So, remember, you’ve got that in-person interview with Ms Bellford at 6 today. I’ve screened all the questions, but I’ve got Happy on standby just in case she goes off script and-“

Tony frowns, “You’re not going to be there?”

“Uh-“ Peter glances up from his new yet-to-be-released Stark Industries-issued tablet. “I requested for time off for today a month and a half ago. You signed off on it.”

Tony has that particular look on his face which tells Peter that the older male doesn’t remember doing anything of that sort.

“Tony-“ Peter really can’t cancel because this is the third time he’s rescheduling this date with a guy he’s sort of hit it off with from a dating app four months ago. “I need to turn up for my date, because my social life is non-existent as it is.”

“…you don’t count being with me as socializing? Also, a date? First time I’m hearing of it.”

“You’re my boss - I have to socialize with you.”

“Ouch.”

“And it’s the first time I’m mentioning it because the previous two dates didn’t happen. But it needs to happen today because he seems somewhat decent.” Peter hopes so, at least.

Tony leans back in his chair, “Well, I hope Mr.Decent is taking you somewhere nice.”

“Mm, whatever is “nice” in my vocab would probably be “peasant-like” in yours.” Because Tony has ridiculously fancy taste. “I think it’s some fine-dining Korean restaurant in West Village.” Peter glances at his watch. “…and if I want to make a good first impression, I really need to leave.” He gives Tony an imploring look. “Uh, would it be too much to tell you not to call me if you don’t need me?”

Tony grins at Peter, teasing, “But I always need you.”

“Not this evening, you don’t.” Peter quips. “Anyway, behave, don’t terrorize the interviewer, please. She seens genuinely interested in the company’s progress, so - best behavior, please.”

“See, that’s why you need to be there. I’m always the best version of myself when you’re around.”

“Uh huh.” Peter deadpans. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Mr.Stark.”

- / -

“Uh…what do you mean it’s closed? I thought we made reservations.” Peter asks his date over the phone.

“Yeah, a month ago. But someone from the restaurant called me just now and said they’re closed because of a sudden emergency.”

Peter tries not to feel too bummed. He had been looking forward to dining at the restaurant since they made plans for it.

“Oh…then, should we go elsewhere?” Peter suggests.

“Well, it’s a Friday and anywhere else nice is probably fully booked out.”

Peter wonders if this third failed attempt at a date is the Universe’s way of telling him that things with this particular person is not meant to be. Look, he’s not insanely superstitious, but surely it means something?!

“…maybe next time?”

Both of them agree on next time, but Peter thinks there’s not going to be one. He sighs as he ends the call. Well, he could just order in and spend the night actually resting, but instead, Peter finds himself re-entering the office tower and making his way up to the topmost floor and back to his own personal office (truly a perk)

“Someone’s passionate about their job. What happened to a date with Mr.Decent?” Is the first thing that Tony asks when he pops in.

Peter simply sighs, and it’s then that he realizes Tony’s tie is slightly crooked. He gets out of his chair and closes the distance between them, nimble fingers adjusting the tie to sit nicely.

“The restaurant had to close all of a sudden. Last minute emergency.”

“A well-prepared man would have made back up plans.” Tony remains still as Peter fusses over him.

“I kinda thought so too.” Peter admits, hands sweeping along the lapels of his boss’s suit jacket. “It’s weird - I’m disappointed, but I’m not that disappointed?” He shrugs his shoulders.

“Well. I, for one, am glad.”

- / -

It’s Peter’s third year of overseeing that the Stark Expo runs smoothly, but it’s still as anxiety-inducing as ever. The moment Tony ends his speech, Peter heaves a sigh of relief, knowing that the most important aspect of the expo was over. Now, the attendees would be mingling and networking and Peter could finally enjoy a glass of wine. Or two.

“Can I assume that it’s finally safe to approach you?”

Peter lets out a laugh as he accepts the glass of red wine being handed to him, “Fashionably late as always, Quentin.”

“Mm, it’s on purpose really. I don’t really need to waste twenty minutes of my time listening to Stark stroke his own ego.”

Quentin Beck was one of their biggest competitors to date, and frankly, he was smart enough that it kept Tony on his toes.

“You look great.” Quentin comes in for a hug which Peter reciprocates. “It’s the third year of you handling Stark Expo, and my third time trying my luck at poaching you for myself.”

Peter had to give it to Quentin for his persistance, “Better luck next year.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Then…how about trying my luck for something non business related? Coffee, dinner?”

Peter grins up at Quentin, “Are you asking me out?” He can’t deny that that they’ve always engaged in flirty banter whenever they meet.

“Mm hmm, and I know there’s a conflict of interest somewhere, but I truly can’t bring myself to give a fuck.”

He nearly snorts the wine up his nose, playfully swatting Quentin on the shoulder. He’s giving the thought some consideration because Quentin is smart and a looker, and he’a older too, somewhere along Tony’s age, and that’s always a plus. But he doesn’t get to dwell on it much longer when Tony comes to join them.

He doesn’t seem too pleased to see Quentin, startling Peter slightly be resting his hand against the dip of Peter’s back. As if staking his claim over his own personal assistant.

“Sorry to interrupt.” He doesn’t sound apologetic at all, and Peter’s instantly whisked away before he manages to get a word out to Quentin. “What is it? Do you need something, Mr.Stark?” Peter asks, absolutely confused once they’re quite a distance away from the crowd.

Tony eases his hold slightly around Peter’s waist,” There should really be laws about fraternizing with the enemy.”

“You’re exaggerating. You know how Quentin is.”

“Yes, and I don’t like it one bit of how he was looking at you.”

“…careful, Mr.Stark. Your jealousy’s showing.”

Peter waits for Tony to laugh, but it doesn’t come.

No way Tony Stark is jealous.

Peter doesn’t know what to do all of a sudden, not with his boss staring him down. He’s self-conscious of their proximity all of a sudden.

“Mr.Stark-“

“I don’t really take too well to sharing, both professionally and personally.”

- / -

[m-jelly]

Deadly deal

Levi x fem reader

Royal AU, magic, demon Levi, curses, romance, confident Levi.

The story idea might become a long one if liked...

You have a loving family and a good life, but after going to a royal tea party with other kids you start suffering from a sleep curse where you are often tired and will sleep in random places. As you grow older three men of great power, the king, grand mage and cardinal, are so obsessed with you and want to marry you that it drives you insane. Each time you sleep you meet a sweet kid that grows up with you. Your dreams with him when you're older become romantic and some rather heated. Soon things with the three men become too much and you pray for help and the man of your dreams appears, but he's a demon who's madly in love with you and willing to do anything for you.

Some suggestive themes.

Your hands were clasped so tightly and you did something you'd never done before, you prayed. Three men had gotten increasingly obsessed with you over the years and now you were an adult they wanted your hand in marriage, but your heart didn't belong to any of them.

"Someone." You pleaded quietly. "Anyone, please hear my prayers. Save me. Help me."

Hot air surged through the room and dragged you towards it. Your eyes opened wide as a portal tore open before you. An elegant hand reached out from the void with nails painted black. A muscular lean body made of divine nature hugged tightly with a black suit adorned with pieces of blue-like flames emerged. Your heart raced as familiar steel blue eyes locked with yours and his raven hair framed a kissable face. Two big horns stood proudly on his head that beautifully combed back.

It was Levi from your dreams and he was a demon.

He wrapped his fingers around your chin and yanked you up before placing his hand just above your bum as he held you against his warm body that smelt like a warm breeze rushing through a forest in spring.

Levi's voice was deep and seemed to vibrate your very soul. "I've been waiting so long to hold you like this in this world." He tilted his head. "Don't I get a hello kiss? You've done so much with me in the dream world."

Your eyes widened as your cheeks burned hot, he was right, you had done so much with this man in your world and now he was here and he was a demon. You pulled from his touch and hurried away.

Levi followed you. "I can help you. You just been to bond with me and accept me."

You looked back at him. "Bond?"

He eyed you. "We need to seal the deal."

Your mind filled with all the x-rated images of you and Levi in the dream world. "Pervert!"

He placed his hand on his chest. "Pervert? Me?" He walked closer to you as he tutted causing you to be cornered against the dresser and looking at your reflection in the mirror, you could see how handsome he was and how close he was. "Who was the one begging for more in our dream world?" He slipped his arm around you and pressed your pelvis as his other hand gripped your neck and lower jawline. "Look at you." He pressed his pelvis against your bum and you pushed back wanting to feel more. "You look delicious fighting your desires."

You shivered as his hot voice tickled your ear. "Le-Levi."

He dragged his lips up your cheek. "I can give you everything you want and need, just give in to temptation." He kissed your ear and nipped. "You already have my heart and soul." He tilted your head to the side before biting and sucking marks on your neck. His pants and gasps were right against your ear sparking memories of the dream world. He moaned your name. "Please."

You watched Levi as you panted and admired him. He was gripping and massaging you, his soft lips moving against your skin but it was the look in his eyes that had captured you. The pure look of love in his eyes was hypnotic, he was devoted to you in body and soul. The love he had for you was like no other, it was pure and deep. His eyes normally were harsh were just so soft for you.

Your soul and heart cried his name. No matter how much logic tried to fight there was no denying that you loved this man, well demon. You wanted him, needed him and were very willing. You reached back and tangled your fingers into his fluffy raven hair.

Levi turned you around, lifted you up and sat you on the dresser. "I can hear your soul." He pushed his hands up your thighs moving your dress up. "It's singing my name." He eyed your lips and leaned closer. "Say it."

"Levi."

He smirked. "Yes?"

You slipped your arms over his shoulders as you nibbled your lip. "I'm yours."

"Good girl."

He crashed his lips against yours and didn't give you much of a moment to get used to his warm soft lips because he bit your lip, and then his hot tongue was moving with yours. Your nails dragged across his back as a sweet taste filled your mouth. You moaned into the kiss as Levi yanked you against him, his pelvis rubbing yours.

Levi released your lips making you whimper for more. He kissed down your neck before reaching the top of your breast. He bit down hard and sucked causing a bonding mark. He dragged his tongue over the mark and eyed you to see you were desperate for more.

He pulled back and used his thumb to clean up your lipstick. "Sorted. We're now connected. I will dedicate my eternity to helping you. I'll make sure those three men stay away from you."

You panted a bit as you watched him pull away. You pouted hard as the aching between your legs was strong. "You."

He fixed his suit a bit. "What's wrong? Are you expecting something?"

You huffed and looked away. "Shut up."

He caressed your cheek as he smiled. "I really can't believe I get to be here like this with you. I have a lot of work to do. You won't see me for a while. Just stay safely here."

"But."

He tapped his forehead against yours and hushed you. "Trust me. Everything I'm doing is all for you."

"Okay."

He rubbed your cheek. "Aww, is the cute brat gonna miss me?"

You looked away. "If I admit it, it won't change anything."

Levi kissed you taking you by surprise. "I'll miss you too." Black and blue flames wrapped around him. "Wait for me."

It'd been so long since you'd seen Levi, it made your heart ache so much knowing he was apart from you. The only thing you got from him was letters talking about what he was doing. All you knew was he had entered the royal guards and was making a name for himself in the battle against the monsters, beasts and the people that controlled them.

The battles that would normally take years seemed to be reduced with Levi, an actual demon pretending to be a human, there to help them. He'd been so impressive that he'd worked his way up in the ranks and the battler was over after almost a year of Levi being there.

After it was announced the fighting was over the King, who was obsessed with you, had announced a ball in celebration and Levi would be the honoured guest and would be receiving a reward. Normally, you hated getting invites from the King but knowing Levi would be there excited you. Since he'd been gone your dreams about him haven't been like before.

Your wonderful parents and fantastic brothers were in pure shock when you asked if you could get a dress, you rarely asked them for anything. So, they all went overboard with inviting someone over to give you dresses because going out shopping might have been too much for you.

Even though you were rather sleepy, you managed to pick the perfect dress that hugged you in the right places and showed off your shoulders and chest. Everyone was shocked, including your best friend that you went for something rather mature, but you told them there was someone who held your heart and they helped you get the dress.

Your eldest brother escorted you to the ball while the other two took your best friend. You were nervous to see Levi again and if he held you in his heart still. The bonding mark on top of your breast was so bold that you assumed he longed for you.

The ball was as grand as possible with massive chandeliers that reflected light. Gold covered almost everything in view along with pearl and white marble. It was like the King was attempting to make that place look like the Gods would live. It wasn't to your taste, but you had to admire the hard work the palace staff put into making this ball perfect.

As soon as you had entered the three men obsessed with you were watching you. You were scared of each one for different reasons, but you were trying to be confident and strong. Clearly, your new dress had excited them, it wasn't for them it was for Levi.

When Levi entered the ball in his black suit and cape, all eyes were on him, he commanded attention. He strolled with confidence over to the King before he or his slimy friends could act on their plan to go for you. He took a knee and accepted his reward, land and the title of Duke. Riches were showered upon Levi, but as a demon, he didn't need that, he had all the money in the world.

Once the rewards were given, the King announced the start of the celebrations. Levi rushed over to you making your heart race. He softly said your name, took your hand and kissed the back of it. Your body burned for him.

You gulped hard. "Levi, or should I call you Duke now?"

He nipped your finger before standing. "Levi, only you may call me that." He pulled you against him and walked backwards. "You look incredible, my darling."

"I-I...th-thank you...I bought this just for you..."

He paused a moment and smiled. "I'm honoured. You look like a goddess. You are ravishing."

You whined a little as you felt overwhelmed. "You..."

Levi began dancing with you. "What about me?"

You locked eyes with him and saw the mischievous sparkle in his eyes. "Y-you? Oh...you...you look incredibly handsome."

He dipped you making you squeak. "Thank you." He gave the trio a side glance. "They look positively furious." He lifted you up into the air. "I like it."

You giggled as he twirled you around. "Levi."

He lowered you to your feet and softly said your name back at you. "Do you want something to drink?"

"I uh...sure."

He walked with you. "Am I making you nervous?" He leaned down and whispered to you. "After all we said in our letters and things we did in our dreams."

You shivered. "Stop teasing me."

"Sorry, my darling, I'll wait for us to be alone." He grabbed two drinks from a butler, handed one to you and smiled as your family and friend walked over. "Good evening."

You were in awe as Levi charmed the pants off your brothers, best friend and parents. He made sure he had his arm around you as he told them the two of you had been talking for a long time, while he was fighting you exchanged letters and you cared deeply for each other. Levi asked for your family's blessing to court you and they happily gave it with the hope he'd marry you.

You wobbled a bit as your curse started to take you, your tiredness taking over. "You're so impressive."

Levi scooped you up into his arms. "Your family and friends mean a lot to you. I meant it when I said you have my heart and soul. My kind don't lie." He looked down at you. "If they're important to you, they are to me. If they scare you and are bad, I will paint the walls with their blood."

You stared at him. "Saying all that with a smile is..."

"Devilish?"

You tapped the side your your head against his shoulder. "I'm too tired to fight you."

He carried you to his carriage and sat with you on his lap. "Sleep, let me look after you."

"Mm, you'll be expecting a reward for this, huh?"

"I wouldn't turn one down."

You whined. "I don't know what to give you."

He pinched your cheek. "There you go with the pervert thoughts again."

You huffed. "Levi!"

He chuckled. "All I need is your love for eternity."

You cuddled up to him. "Damn demon."

He leaned a bit and noticed you had gone shy. "Well?"

"You know very well you have that." You closed your eyes. "Tired."

He massaged his fingers in your hair. "Sleep. I'll be right here."

"Promise?"

He smiled at you, you were so cute it made his heart swell. "Promise."

To keep you and your family safe, Levi had been playing the long game with the trio. So far, his plan was working beautifully and you felt a lot safer with no fears. The gifts were still coming, but there was less than before and he even managed to intercept some perverted letters.

Levi would come over often and take you on many dates. He was smooth and charming in every way, but he never took things further than a kiss. You longed for more but Levi didn't do anything more because of the suffering the trio had put you through, this was different to the dream world.

It moved your heart to know that Levi was doing everything possible for you, he even spoiled you with gifts but you didn't have anything to offer except hugs, kisses and some gifts you could get when not on a bad health day.

You wanted to woo him. You wanted to have him. You wanted to feel him in this life. In the dream world, he'd take your virginity there, but in the real world, you were still a virgin. So, your demon lover got to take your virginity twice.

You were planning a surprise for him. You went to his mansion, said hello to his wonderful staff and made your way to Levi's bedroom. You explained you were staying the night, which you had done before. You let the maids bathe you before leaving you be.

You set up some candles, made sure the fire was lit and then pulled on a nightdress that was light pink and slightly see-through and rather short. You'd never worn something so short before and it is rather scandalous in this world.

You thought of how to lay on his black four-poster gothic bed, but you couldn't get it right. You tried the sofa next, but it was no use. You tried every pose possible, no matter what you did you felt silly and not sexy.

You flinched when the bedroom door closed. You gazed at the door to see Levi looking a bit tired. "Um."

He looked up and froze. His eyes dragged all over your body slowly as his heart began to race. He softly said your name as his pupils became blown. His horns slowly grew on his head as he growled in pure delight.

You let out a little squeak when the lock being turned on the door was louder than expected. "I uh...I wanted to surprise you." You shifted on the spot while you fiddled with your dress. "I just...I tried to be sexy, but I dunno how...I was going to pose for you." Your heart raced as he walked closer to you. "I just..." The tapping of his smart shoes on the floor made your body burn. "Well..." You looked up at him as he caressed your cheek and ran his hand up your waist. "Levi."

He lifted you and casually tossed you onto his bed. He dropped onto the bed and caught himself. He leaned over you, one hand tangled in your perfect hair as the other supported his weight. He had you perfectly captured below him. He lifted your hair and kissed it lovingly.

You gripped your fist in front of your chest. "Do I please you?"

Levi moaned your name. "Do you please me? You have no idea. You are like a goddess, sexy and cute all wrapped into one." He leaned down and dragged his tongue up from between your breasts to your neck. "I want to devour you."

You shivered under him. "I want that too."

@ladycheesington @levisbrat25 @nyxiieluna @li-anne @galactict3a @youre-ackermine @thebobaprincess @2moth-anon2 @cypidity @nbinairyn @bts-spnlvr12 @darkstarlight82 @emilyyyy-08 @levistealeaf @pelicanpizza @hideandgopeep @notgoodforlife @demonic-bird @searriously @anti-cupid @abiatackerman @minminroie

[welcometoteyvat]

finally typing up my late lantern rite thoughts (very long). overall 100/10 quest I love hu tao

The amount of Xingqiu's brother mentions were insane. Surely we'll see him either as an NPC soon, right? Right? /j Honestly here he sounded pretty competent, nothing like "a simpleton" like Xingqiu's troubles voiceline suggests hmm...

The little model animations were SOOOOOOOOOO GOOD. contributed a lot to the experience and made it feel so much more alive. hu tao's expressions especially, but also yun jin's expressions, and Xiangling's "come back, get over here and eat!!!!!1!1!!!" was also really fucking funny. they've been adding these small animations for a while but this event specifically had so many of them and the effort paid off <3

in a similar vein I'm impressed how smooth the animation/model actions were when Xiao put the sigil on us

hu tao lan yan and qiqi fill in the gap fic please

timaeus is kind of silly, also very funny he and ying'er still going strong 2 years later. he's literally learning liyue language for ying'er? genuinely his dedication is impressive. they should make events replayable because how will everyone who missed 3.5 windblume know why timaeus simps for someone a whole country over

we finally know what the fake chinese characters in all those liyue signs represent (kinda ig). I need to look over this part again

if hu tao&/xiangling or hu tao &/yun jin stocks on ao3 don't increase after this I will start biting. MY GIRLS T_T T_TT_T_T_T_T_T_T. bro the farewell section was so tender I enjoyed it greatly. Their relationships with each other got developed on screen.. yun jin and hu tao's banter especially was really cute and really shows us their relationship aside from the hints in their VOs

YUN JIN OPERATIC HILITUNE ON SCREEN. the fanvid of it from bilibili can finally rest, thanks for your service, canon got here 4 years later.

Yun Jin, having practiced the tao dou opera, MUST have known something correct?? or else she wouldn't have asked hu tao so many times to promise to come back, right? She trusts Hu Tao so much :'''' . if Hu Tao says she can handle it, Yun Jin knows there's no stopping her, and she will find a way, but it doesn't stop her from worrying nonetheless :''').

hu tao's death flags during part 2......

my agenda is speaking, but I wish Xingqiu and Hu Tao directly talked during the farewells section. something something chivalry and sacrifice. Hu Tao makes her peace with giving up everything to resolve the Tao Dou issue, but is Xingqiu at peace with losing a friend even tho its selfish of him to want her to stay? he has personal stakes in this please just let them talk a little

I'm really really glad they went through with the death, they showed Hu Tao's emotions, they showed her father and grandfather waving her off. I broke, she looked so tired but satisfied (thinking about her vision story, where she waited so long for her grandfather to never appear vs him visiting her for just a brief moment here)

my other favorite shot is when traveler pulls her out and she looks at them in muted surprise. she just looked so sad and fragile and in need of a hug :(((

the Themes (waves hands wildly). hu tao's father's lingering regrets were his fatal flaw, and so Hu Tao settles her affairs properly and steels herself before going to die. she leaves behind the plum blossom branch just like her grandfather left his hat.. genuinely what the hell. the parallels between her cutscene goodbye and her saying "happy lantern rite" kills me

the epilogue last year with the fontaine tourists was pretty fanservicey, and tbh the epilogue the year before was also somewhat fanservice to me, (liyue gang dinner and zhongli venti teasing) though I liked it better. However I think this epilogue was actually really good— the hanging out and the fluff felt natural, it fit with everything else and wasn't super sudden. Maybe this was because of all the setup that happened (Yun Jin and Xiangling's promises to Hu Tao, Xiao and Yelan's dynamic built up in Perilous Trails and their earlier exchange), so the payoff is good instead of forced. After the trials and danger they got put through, everyone gets a chance to relax, and I appreciate the slice of life after the main plot. also Yun Jin's opera was crazy good considering it was not a cutscene, the animation and camera angles really sold it

I thought the special guest was xiao again, like how LR 3.4 had him dragged to the harbor by Hu Tao.... xiaolan banter was also v good though.

THE ADEPTI. they're still watching over Liyue in their own way :') the affectionate bickering about hu tao's name :''''''''

I barely mentioned lan yan in this... her part was pretty minor ngl, her habit of learning everything about a person to the point of sounding a bit creepy is kind of fun though.

alright. fantastic quest absolutely no notes I got almost everything I ever wanted and I am so glad Hu Tao had such an incredible 2nd story quest. chongyun and shenhe exorcist lantern rite next year?

[beef-brisket]

The next night, Alastor arrived an hour before closing. He's never really taken the time to have a look at everything during the day. It was so strange seeing the halls packed with people.

He smiled up at Teddy, who seemed unbelievable on top of his horse. And it was strange seeing Rexy so still.

Walking through the halls, he eyes Adam and Lucifer's exhibits. The amount of people gathered around was insane.

As the visitors trickled out, Alastor walked to the locker room, and got his uniform on.

Zestial: Ah! There he is! Alastor!

Alastor jumped at the sudden loud voice, basically yelling in his ear. As he turned, he saw the three old security guards; Zestial, Velvette, and Valentino.

Alastor: Oh, hello, you three. What brings you here?

Velvette: Oh, just looking around~.

Valentino: Thought we'd check up on the new guard while we were here~.

Alastor looked betweent he three of them: Oh, well... everything's going well...

Zestial: Very good! Very good. And... the Pharaoh? You didn't let him out, did you?

Valentino: Yeah, papi~. We wouldn't want that.

Velvette: No, we wouldn't~.

Alastor wasn't sire what was going on, but he had a feeling he shouldn't reveal too much.

Alastor: No, the Pharaoh is still in his tomb... why?

Valentino: Why? He's been locked away for years, baby~. He's probably loco by now.

Velvette: I heard he used to eat people~. We wouldn't want that to happen, would we?

Zestial: No, we wouldn't. We'll, Alastor. We'll leave you to it. It's good to hear things are going so well.

After a few more minutes of pleasantries, the three ex guards finally left.

Alastor: About time... how odd.

The first place he went was to Vincent's exhibition. He was already out and checking his tablet.

Alastor: Vox!

Vincent spun around, a large smile on his face: Al! Good evening!

Alastor: Good evening. Everything okay?

Vincent sighed as Alastor stood next to him: Somethings wrong... I can feel it... each time I wake up, one of the slabs are moved... I don't understand... it shouldn't be happening... I just... if something happens to the tablet, none of us will be waking up...

Alastor: I'm sure your statues will keep it safe.

Vincent smiles up at his guards who bow to him.

Vincent: I know they will... but there are backways into every exhibition. If someone sneaks in... they may not even be able to see them before it's too late.

Alastor: You think someone is breaking in? Like who?

Vincent: I don't know... I'm not certain.

Alastor smiled and touched Vincent's hand: Would you like to join me on my rounds tonight? Might help you take your mind off it.

Vincent grabbed Alastor's hand, his thumb running over his knuckles: I'd like that a lot.

They walked out, leaving the tablet behind under the gaze of the six Anubis statues.

Too bad none of them could hear the click of a door behind the Pharaoh's tomb.

Oh! What about Night at the Museum Au?

Adam is the nighttime watch guard.

Lucifer is on display as a King of Egypt.

Man's about to fuck a dummy of a mummy 😂

But yes, I fucking love that movie. Adam would look great as a security guard!

But there's a part of me that wants him and Lucifer to be the miniature Roman and Cowboy 😂

[parameciam]

a friend i brainwashed convinced of reading dvawtk is now starting the novel and going insane over it. i'm so happy i finally have someone to actively scream at! we will be insane together! yes! literally this is a legendary moment for me XD

[trauma-bot]

sin eater

[thepersonperson]

Sukuna’s Loneliness Part 4 (Sukuna’s Negative Rizz)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 5

Some warnings before we start.

1) This analysis deals with sexual topics.

2) I will be mainly using the TCB scans because of their accessibility. Raws are from mangareader(.)to.

3) This was written as of JJK 262 266. (I'm just going to keep updating this until I stop finding things I should've noticed earlier.)

4) The raws broke me in ways you cannot possibly imagine.

(Click images for captions/citations.)

Fighting as Communication

Baki the Grappler. This is a manga where men destroy each other’s bodies as a test of strength. It’s poorly written but the art is terrifying and I love it so dearly. Between fights of extreme violence and body horror the characters eat. And that’s it. That’s the manga.

I bring Baki up because Gege is a huge fan of Fujimoto Tatsuki, the creator of Chainsawman. Fujimoto is a fan of Gege too, but more importantly, he is a huge fan of Itagaki Keisuke, the creator of Baki. (His daughter made Beastars btw.) In a way, this means Jujutsu Kaisen has been influenced by Baki. But that’s not a surprise, a lot of manga is.

Itagaki’s work is so massively influetial on Japanese media that it’s kind of hard to grasp since it’s not as popular overseas. When listening to interviews from various Japanese creators, Baki will often be cited as a major influence. And the thing is, you can tell when a creative has read Baki. There’s nothing quite like it. If you’ve read Baki and consume Chainsawman, you will see its bones everywhere. I feel the same about Jujutsu Kaisen.

The main antagonist in Baki is Yujiro Hanma. He is the strongest creature alive. So much so that he has no one to call a rival. He’s bored. He causes trouble. He kills his wife to motivate his son, Baki into becoming stronger. His son, Baki, who he grooms into becoming a fighter that might beat him in combat one day. Kind of sounds like Sukuna, right?

But that’s not my point here. My focus is how Baki doubles as a discussion about strength and manhood. It’s aggressively bisexual. Men love each other with their fists. Straight up the main character says having sex with women is the same thing as fighting men.

And it just doesn’t stop there. The homoerotic nature of the fights is never shyed away from. Here’s an example of my favorite.

He grabs his balls and compliments their size. That’s pretty gay, right? Well there’s this reanimated prehistoric caveman called Pickle that fights Baki’s brother Jack. And how do they fight? They kiss.

I didn’t call it a kiss. Itagaki did. I didn’t say they melded together. Itagaki did. This mangaka overtly calls attention to the homoerotic nature of men fighting men, and how men communicate their love for each other through violence. And yes, it’s sexual. Itagaki wants you to read it that way.

But sometimes he doesn’t want you to read it that way. Sometimes the fights are a dialogue, an emotional conversation. Like one between father and son.

Itagaki is a master of narrative framing. When he wants you to feel a certain way, you will feel it. He also tells his readers that there’s more to the fights than just fighting.

Those are the ideas that help me see the bones of Baki in other works. Men loving men with violence. Men communicating with men through violence. I see these ideas in Jujutsu Kaisen too.

Jujutsu Communication

I’ve gone over how Yuji commucates with other people on their own terms. And a lot of it is through fighting. A conversation without words, learning how someone works. Yuji is good at using fights as tool of communication.

But he’s not the one who tells you that there’s more to the fights than just fighting. Maki does in her spar with the sumo guy.

Just like Baki. Fighting is a means of communication. Gege has told you that there can be more to the fights than fighting. It's a tool used to understand the self and others.

With that in mind, I want to reexamine a particular fight under the lens of Baki rather than Umineko.

Sukuna vs Gojo

Baki tells you that homoerotic readings of its fights are intentional. If you ask me, this probably stems from historical stances on masculinity and homosexuality in ancient Japan. Men loved men and women differently, but both were ok. That’s how Baki can have a girlfriend and his gay fights. Peak bisexual optimization.

What does Jujutsu Kaisen have to do with this? Well it has been extremely queer friendly. We have a multidue of canonical trans characters, non-binary characters, and other flavors of queer characters not disparaged for their identities, Gojo Satoru included. It may not be stated outright, but Gojo and Geto do love each other in a gay way. The subtext is so persisent it’s basically text.

In other words, Gege has already told us, yes please have queer readings of this text. It’s the same way Baki tells you, yes this is straight up convoluded gay sex. So that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to reread the Sukuna and Gojo fight as some ridiculous mating display between two men who are fighting over can miscommunicate their intent the hardest.

Framed as Courtship

Let’s start with the framing. The pre-fight set up. How does text tell you queer readings are allowed?

Kenjaku does. It’s romantic. It’s a date. This reading has been made valid explicitly. And if there’s room for doubt because of the sarcasm? There’s still additional support for it.

We already know how badly in love Gojo is with Geto. The fight is on the 24th of December, the most romantic day in Japan. And in a fun little Geto parallel, who declared the start of war on this day, violence underlines this new romantic venture.

That doesn’t include Sukuna who recalls Yorozu’s words about teaching love in the context of marriage.

Gojo never heard that conversation which is why the next point is absolutely insane.

The outfit Gojo initially is in resembles that of a groom at a Shinto wedding.

Shinto weddings were implemented after the Heian era. Part of the ceremony includes a priest and a shrine maiden who respectively stand to the right and left of the altar. A purification ritual will occur, lead by the priest, to cleanse the shrine before vows are exchanged. Gakuganji is the priest and Utahime is the shrine maiden. To the right and left of Gojo respectively.

The bride at a Shinto wedding wears mainly white. After the 200% Hollow Purple cleanses the area, the dark shawl is removed and Sukuna remains in mostly white.

How interesting that this battle has been framed as one between groom and bride.

The thing is, marriage in the Heian era was far more lax. There were no major ceremonies. If a man was interested in marrying a woman, he would visit her for 3 nights after receiving approval from her father. Upon the passing of their 3rd night together, the family would have an informal celebration of their union in private. Even after marriage, multiple partners were allowed and sometimes encouraged.

Yorozu’s big celebration proposal to Sukuna and banning of concubines was quite improper by Heian standards. Though it is in line with modern marriages. If Sukuna did not consume any Shinto wedding literature, he probably didn’t recognize that Gojo was dressed as a groom.

But did Gojo dress this way for Sukuna intentionally? The Toji fit served an entirely different purpose. It’s the robes and pre-fight ceremony that catch my attention. So I propose the following:

1) Gojo dressed up as a groom to die and be wed with his one and only Geto in death.

2) Gojo dressed up as a groom in part as an offering to Sukuna. And because Sukuna is from the Heian era it went over his head entirely.

3) Gojo intended for both of these things at the same time and left who he would end up with to fate.

Regardless of what Gojo was going for here, it’s a visual cue combined with the knowledge of it being Dec 24th that encourages the reader to perhaps consider the fight as something other than just a fight. A date perhaps? Kenjaku made the connection and neither Gojo or Sukuna really denied it. Gojo gave the weak excuse of a death anniversary confusion. But much weirder, given how hostile he was to Yorozu, Sukuna did not object to the romantic framing in any capacity.

Am I reaching? Is this reading intentional?

When I start getting this confused by how a translated work wants me to read it, I try to refer to the original language text and anyone who knows it for missing context. Sometimes localizations add things that weren’t there or push readers towards one interpretation. So for the rest of this analysis, I’m going to be focusing on the raws.

I’m going to be honest. My Japanese fudging sucks. I can barely read kanji and can’t reliably translate anything. Feel free to correct me if I got something wrong. That being said, with what little I do know, I have discovered something interesting.

In this post I talked about how weird Sukuna’s manner of speech is. I focused on his you pronoun usage of お前 (Omae) for everyone else and 貴様 (Kisama) for Gojo since this is a strong indicator of how a character views their relationship to someone.

Here's a summary of the two points I made in that post:

1) Omae is informal and either a casual thing amongst peers or indicates the speaker's higher status. Since Sukuna is arrogant, we can reasonably assume he's talking down to people.

2) Kisama historically was a formal show of respect, but in modern times it is a hostile insult, much more rude than Omae. Since Sukuna is 1,000 years old and hates Yuji (who he uses Omae with), we can reasonably assume Sukuna was being friendly to Gojo when he used Kisama.

With that pronoun usage in mind, while examining the raws for the infamous “You Cleared My Skies” speech I found this:

Kisama. Sukuna is very happy and lavishing Gojo with praise. The assumption it was formal from the start seems to be correct. It's hard to read this any other way.

Though Japanese can easily be dubious in its interpretation, there are instances where context can cut off all other readings. I truly believe this one of those cases.

Now, to confirm Sukuna is still only treating Gojo this way I started looking at his you pronouns as he got excited post-Gojo death. Maki is the person he seems to admire the most.

He’s still just using Omae. What does that mean? Gojo is in his own fudging category for Sukuna and he has been there since the start of the manga. (For more on why this is significant, refer to this post.)

Wow ok. That’s pretty intense! We’ve got Gojo dressed up as a groom on December 24th and Sukuna treating Gojo different from anyone else. I read their fight again under the lens of explicit courtship and focused in on these specific panels.

Satisfaction. Now that’s a word that can easily carry a sexual connotation. Love as well. The parallel syntax fascinated me in English. So I decided to look at the raws and see how close they are.

Pretty much the same except for "the one who will teach you love" and "the one satisfying him now". Since the one being satisfied is Gojo by Sukuna, it really seems we can assume the one being taught love is Gojo by Sukuna.

Time to learn some Japanese again!

Kanji has multiple readings. Most have at least two. The Onyomi (Chinese) reading typically used for nouns and the Kunyomi (Japanese) reading typically used for verbs. (This is not always the case but it’s the basics.)

That’s probably why 満 is read as まん (man) when Gojo and Geto are talking about “satisfaction” using the On version and み (mi), the Kun version, when the narrator is talking about who “satisfies” who.

However 満 on its own does not mean satisfaction. It means full. To be filled. Or fullness. 足 (zoku) is added as a modifier after 満 to be read as satisfaction 満足 (manzoku). 足 usually means feet, but it can also mean to be sufficient. Manzoku therefore has a direct translation of being sufficiently full. It’s not a surprise a lot of food places in Japan use Manzoku in their names or advertising.

But what’s this? Why is this sentence written as 満たして or Mi(tashite) instead of 満足して or Manzoku(shite)? The addition of Zoku is what transforms Man into "satisfying". Without the Zoku, it’s just "fill". The means this sentence can be read as “The one filling him up now is—”

We’ve already established that the blank is Sukuna. The new problem is that he’s filling Gojo up. And boy, does that sound homoerotic to put it lightly. But perhaps I am reaching.

So I did what any sane person would do in this situation. I read hentai.

Surely if the phrase 満たして (mitashite) can carry a sexual connotation I will find it in hentai.

...

I immediately found a yaoi doujin called Fill me with your Big Love aka おっきな愛で満たして (Okkina Ai de Mitashite). Honestly, I found too many doujins about creampies specifically. (You have internet access verify this yourself.) When you search Manzokushite the results are much more in line with life satisfaction than sexual satisfaction. ...So Gege decided to use the more frisky phrasing.

Manzoku is also the name of an active sex toy manufacturer (I’m not linking them use a search engine.) and a discontinued adult entertainment news company. So the satisfaction Gojo and Geto talk about, along with Geto using 妬 (ya), the jealous kanji often used between lovers, is definitely probably carrying a sexual connotation too.

So, I’m not reaching. What the fudge did Gege mean by this?

Now that we've established that I am NOT reaching. What do we do with this information?

Well, we ruminate on the fight with the knowledge that Sukuna, of his own volition, decided to get Gojo off, probably.

I have forgiven Nanami for calling Gojo a pervert. If I watched someone bust a nut after being cut in half by his sworn enemy instead of saving the country, I too would be like what the fudge.

Anyways, the typical phrase used for an orgasm in Japanese is 行く(iku). It translates as to go. And yes it can mean to die, as in going to the other side. To die and go to heaven if you will. Which is what Gojo did with a big old smile on his face.

There’s also the term 心天 (tokoroten). It refers to a dish were a semi-opaque white substance is pushed through holes to create noodles. Literal translation using the kanji for heart 心 (kokoro) and the kanji for heaven 天 (ten). (Don’t ask me why them being smack together turns the Koroko into Tokoro. I don’t know.) Which in slang refers to prostate orgasms. This has nothing to do with this analysis I wanted to drop this fun fact in here. …And this image of Sukuna clutching his heart while looking at someone he sent to heaven.

(This is a reach but the idea of this being an elaborate gay pun amuses me greatly.)

I have another fun slang term: 賢者タイム (kenjataimu) which directly translates to sage 賢者 (kenja) time タイム (taimu). This refers to post-nut clarity sending someone into a meditative-like state.

Oh that’s a bit familiar. Sukuna was giving sagely advice to Kashimo and reflecting on satisfaction and love.

And what’s this? Mitashite has made a reappearance! Sukuna is saying “I’ve never thought about needing another person to fill me up.” Which 1. further supports the 'The one satisfying/filling him (Gojo) now is—Sukuna.' reading and 2. suggests Sukuna is a top suggests Sukuna really doesn’t have sexual interest in people. (Since the context of this convo is relationships and love.)

By the way. Acts of eating in Japanese can be modified to carry sexual meanings. It’s a bit more suggestive than English, but it carries over pretty well I think? 肉食系 (nikusokukei) refers to someone who aggresively pursues romantic or sexual relationships. Composed of the kanji 肉 (niku) for meat, 食 (ta) for eating, and 系 (kei) class. If you noticed, 食 isn’t usually read as Soku. It becomes Soku when paired with Niku for some reason. (I don’t know why someone please help me.) Side by side the kanji 肉食 (nikusoku) means meat-eater.

食 is still interesting on it’s own. The 食べる (taberu) reading is normal eating. The 食う(kuu) reading is an innuendo. It can mean to devour someone, like a cannibal, or devour someone sexually.

Sukuna has made it very clear that his eating of people is literal. There’s no innuendo. In fact, if you read into it, he’ll kill you (rip Yorozu and Kashimo).

Gojo, however, appears to be his sole exception to this rule. When Sukuna tells Kashimo not to spoil his pleasure he uses the kanji 興 (kyou). This of course can be directly translated as pleasure, but the Chinese reading of it can also indicate intense excitement or sexual arousal.

Sukuna is pretty good at double-entendre wordplay if his earlier stunts with the kanji for Enchain doubling as Megumi Activities if read a different way is anything to go by. He's a fan of Chinese literature. It's not a stretch to assume there's more going on here.

And if notoriously homophobic Reddit dudebros are posting things like this. Maybe there's a lot more merit to this reading than I can currently grasp.

I’m still pretty convinced Sukuna is aroace. That of course doesn’t bar him from pursuing romantic or sexual relationships. Sometimes there’s the one exception. Sometimes the desire to be with and please an allo partner allows for engagement of activities they aren’t into. Sometimes the actions are pursued without the emotional attachment because they physically feel good. There’s also the gray-scale and demi labels to consider.

With that in mind, I want to emphasize this all points to how important Gojo is to Sukuna regardless of sexuality. He tried to engage with and understand Gojo on terms he won’t for anyone else. And he’s been pursuing this connection relentlessly since the start of manga.

Sukuna’s Negative Rizz

Ok I established that reading the Sukuna vs Gojo fight as unhinged courtship is supported by the text. That doesn’t really say anything about Sukuna sucking at it.

But, my dear reader, that in of itself is proof of his negative rizz. I had to sit down. Learn about Heian era and Shinto wedding rituals, learn more Japanese, splice seemingly unrelated manga panels together, read hentai, and know that Gege is into yaoi to come to this conclusion. I had to rip every little shred of characterization and context apart and rearrange it into something comprehensible.

You know who can’t do that? Gojo.

As far as Gojo is concerned, Sukuna hates him. Kisama is an extremely hostile you pronoun in modern times. And if Gojo can’t tell Shoko (his closest friend after Geto) is stressed over him being used like a meat puppet by her visibly falling back on her addiction, he’s going to default to the assumption Sukuna hates him just as much as everyone else.

And Gojo does just that. He assumes he failed to reach Sukuna. Despite how often they did hand to hand combat and weaponized their knowledge of each other, Gojo believes they never had proper conversation through fighting. He dies not understanding Sukuna, convinced the other was not trying to communicate with him at all.

And if you recall, all of this fight occurred while Sukuna was wearing Megumi’s face. That boy is pretty much Gojo’s adopted child. From my experience, most single parents do not go looking for clones of their kids as partners.

If someone wore the skin of my family member I would assume they were trying to torment me. And torment Gojo Sukuna does. He draws attention to Megumi’s soul being used as collateral and attacks him with the 10 Shadows. We as the audience know this is all for the sake of getting past Infinity using his Shrine. Gojo doesn’t know that. He’s fighting an evil dude who is puppeting the body of his son for god knows what reason.

Seriously, Sukuna sucks at communicating intent.

In Part 3 of my examination of Sukuna’s loneliness, I said Dismantle is a tool Sukuna uses to understand. And that him upgrading it by making Gojo the center of his world was indicative of his desire to reach him. I also said his refusal to use it on Yorozu was him expressing how little interest he had in her.

Yorozu is pissed by this. She sees it as Sukuna rejecting her and I don’t think she’s wrong. Sukuna saved his special Cursed Technique (CT) for Gojo while turning Yorozu down. If we’re considering all the wedding imagery and references that started with Yorozu, I’m certainly allowed to read that as him saving himself for Gojo. (Think of how he lied to Gojo about being the first one he killed.)

There’s also the fact that Yorozu saw their battle as an expression love and lust—that the usage of CT is a type of foreplay under certain circumstances since it is an extension of the self. Combine that with the established premise that fighting is a type of a communication thanks to Maki vs Sumo Guy and you can start to see the courtship logic behind Sukuna’s treatment of Gojo.

If we are to read “The one who will teach you love is…Sukuna” there’s another adorable caveat. Yorozu uses the you pronoun あなた (Anata) for Sukuna.

It’s an informal you pronoun used by people learning Japanese. Native speakers try to avoid using it as it can come across as rude. But in the context of love? This is colloquially called the wife pronoun as its often used by a wife to her husband.

If you wanted to localize its usage in the way Yorozu means it, Anata might become “you, dear”. So here we have Sukuna dressed in white, like a bride to Gojo’s groom, thinking of him as Anata.

The problem is, Gojo doesn’t know that. Sukuna never bothered to open his mouth and say this was an act of love. Sure he told Kashimo in the most roundabout way possible, but Gojo was the one who needed to hear that. If a courtship is going to be this diabolically complicated, there has to be clear hints for the other party. JJK is not Umineko where there’s a witch that can revive the dead over and over until the idiot finally understands this was all for them.

Gojo also doesn’t have access to the kanji Sukuna uses to describe certain techinques or words. He hears the phonetics and runs with whatever best fits the context. This means there’s no way for him to catch the double-meaning unless he’s a certain type of lingust, which he is not. His manner of speech and personal interests don’t line up with the flowery language of the Heian Era. The types of written works Gojo is into are historical war politics from the Sengoku period (known for violence more than the fine arts), Shonen manga, and physics/math.

And what's this? According to CFYOW (the canon light novels): JJK Thorny Road at Dawn, Chapter 3 Asakusabashi Elegy, Gojo doesn't even like ancient poetry. You know, the thing Sukuna enjoys and tries to communicate with.

The Kokin Wakashu Gojo off-handedly disparages is a compilation of Hiean Era poetry known as Waka. This was the primary means of communication amongst the noble class and spiritual leaders at the time. And the thing is, this poetry is supposed to be read into. Down to the quality of stroke and paper, not just the kanji written. Especially for courtship.

It’s not that Gojo is stupid. He just doesn’t specialize in the studies that would give him a more critical ear to Sukuna's words. And Sukuna doesn’t seem to understand that no one in the modern era communicates like this anymore.

If you didn’t know, this is why Japanese characters introduce themselves they often describe what kanji their name is spelled with. Take for example: Satoru. He uses the kanji 悟 meaning enlightenment. This kanji can be read as Go instead of Satoru. Additionally, the name Satoru can be written in kanji as 聡 for smart, 智 for wisdom, 知 for knowledge, 了 for understanding, 哲 for philosophy, 聖 for virtuous, or 暁 for daybreak. That’s 8 different kanji possible if you hear the name Satoru.

This is why Sukuna’s wordplay for everything else can be easily missed by other characters. They hear the words and cannot read the kanji like us. Context decides what Sukuna means for them. And since Sukuna’s context for most is violence and insults, it’s very hard for them to think about his words in any other way.

And boy howdy does Gojo miss it. Sukuna straight up calls him his husband and it took me several rereads to catch it. While mocking Gojo for being unable to open his domain, Sukuna calls him "painfully ordinary". This is localized from the word 凡夫 (bonpu) which can also be translated as unenlightened. (A layered insult! Sukuna is pretty much saying Gojo's sorcery is so boring he shouldn't even call himself the Honored One.)

The thing is...Bonpu is comprised of the 2 kanji 凡 for mediocre, and 夫 for husband. (Please note that there are many other ways to call Gojo a ditz without using the kanji for husband.) And an update from the Replies: Turns out there's layers to the gayness too.

It's come full fudging circle. Gojo came dressed as a groom for a wedding and Sukuna thinks they're already married. The miscommunication is off the rails.

But wait! There's more...

Earlier I mentioned that the kanji for Enchain doubles as Megumi Activities. Let's break that down more. (Unfortunately the Twitter account of the person I referenced may or may not be nuked so here's this screenshot I've doctored.)

So we have the translation of Enchain from 契闊 (Keikatsu), which might be better localized as Separation.

This term comes from a Chinese poem about lovers who are husband and wife in The Book of Odes, Section I (Lessons from the States), Chapter 3 (The Odes of Bei), Poem 31 (Banging the Drum). (Here's a link to the full poem and context of it.)

In summary, it’s about a soldier who is on the brink of death, having lost nearly everything after being abandoned by those in power, lamenting the happiest days of his life with his love are ones he can never get back. (Hey that sounds just like what Sukuna did to Yuji!)

Keikatsu specifically comes from this passage:

“Our vow is beyond death and life”, I and you are together I always remembered. I will hold your hand, And together we grow old.

Too pitiful we are faraway apart, The distance separates us to meet again! Too miserable this takes forever, And it does not let us fulfill our vow!

Keikatsu is used to exemplify how the physical distance between the husband and wife prevents them from fulfilling their wedding vows. And that's just what Keikatsu/Enchain does to Yuji and Megumi, it causes painful separation neither of them wanted.

Keikatsu also tells Yuji exactly how Sukuna plans to do it. 契(kei)闊(katsu) can be written as 恵(kei)活(katsu). The kanji 恵 can be read as Kei or...Megumi. (It's the literal kanji used for his name.) The kanji 活 (katsu) can mean "activities", which is how we get Enchain=Megumi Activities.

A two for one special! Sukuna mocks Yuji for being so close with Megumi while telling him exactly how he's going to destroy their relationship.

It seems this has nothing to do with Gojo until you consider the 3rd possible reading from wordplay with 契闊 (Keikatsu). The kanji 契 when read as Kei refers to a promise, pledge or vow. When 契 read as Chigi? It can refer to sexual intercourse, especially between husband and wife.

So we have 契闊(keikatsu, separation), 恵(kei Megumi)活(katsu, activities), and 契(kei chigi, spousal sex)活(katsu, activities). It's no wonder he erased Yuji's memory of it.

Keep in mind, that when Sukuna uses Keikatsu, the only vow that he has made at this point is his promise to kill Gojo. He eventually does that using Megumi's body during a fight framed between groom and bride. And for reasons beyond their control, Sukuna and Gojo have been unable to fulfill that vow through lengthy separation.

Notes from poem "Banging the Drum" Sukuna references include the following:

"And during the operation, he lost his horse, which was a desperate situation (horses in ancient time carried soldier supply and weapons, are life companion for soldiers in advance or retreat), he lost his horse, his supply, maybe his armor and weapons, and the road he was facing that we may lose his life so he may never go back. In all these mess, he started searching, and somehow at this hopeless moment he started to revisit his happiest moment, when he together vowed in marriage ceremony with his wife, and he was even afraid that he might never see his love again."

"And His last statement for his true value is his home, his love, his fulfillment of his vow is his true duty. Hero's duty is to pursue love."

In Buddhism, which JJK is heavily influenced by, horses are a pretty big deal. Horses can represent the path to enlightenment, especially since The Buddha's horse is what takes him on this journey away from his wife and children. They separate in the end though, the horse dying of a broken heart.

Remember how Sukuna called Gojo unenlightened? He sort of guided Gojo to enlightenment using Mahoraga, whose Eight-Handed title is a reference to the Eightfold Path to be followed for enlightenment. Buddhist enlightenment is centered around liberation from suffering. (Just check the wiki entry to verify this.) Infinity was the source of Gojo's suffering and Sukuna cut right through it.

Sukuna has been running around with a broken heart for a good chunk of the post-Gojo fight. And if you take that into consideration with this poem and all the other symbolism, he's somehow a Buddha, a Bodhisattva, the dying husband, the widowed wife, and the heartbroken horse all at the same time. Not unlike his wordplay taking on every possible meaning at once.

But my point here is that Sukuna might’ve seen his fight with Gojo as consummation of their marriage. (There's probably a joke in here about the husband reaching climax while leaving his wife unsatisfied.) Remember in the wise words of Itagaki Keisuke, "Fighting and sex are exactly the same!"

In Conclusion?

This is possibly one of the most bizarre and elaborate expressions of love I have lost my mind over. Sukuna gave everything Gojo ever wanted from Jujutsu violently. He did it in such an unpleasant and cruel way that the target of his affection thought there was nothing between them. Sukuna also hid his intent under social norms that no longer exist. Unless Gojo happened to be into ancient literature, there was never a scenario where he would catch onto this. Sukuna's failure is critical on multiple levels.

It’s impressive. It really is. No one knows how Sukuna’s strange little brain works so he’s stuck being loner without anyone that fully understands him. (I’m still thinking about how Uraume didn’t know Sukuna was a twin for over 1,000 years.) He’d have to let people in and tell him outright, but he’s just like Gojo so I guess that’s never happening.

[spaciebabie]

IN THE BACK OF MY MIND....HER LIPS.....ARE ALWAYS THERE

[mad-hunts]

[selfinflictedgunshotwound]

my various mental issues make liking people so hard because i already put people on a pedestal to begin with if i genuinely like them so i am automatically laying myself at their feet like a dog but then i wrestle with the ego death of seeing that they're just a human being who is capable of being wrong and stupid and annoying me and it kind of makes me sick to my stomach not because i expect people to be perfect but because i know if i had like 5 minutes to sit down and talk to this person i would feel more secure in knowing where they stand on any given thing. but you aren't granted that when you just like some random guy who will never know you because you can't take the feeling of someone who could actually know you. or whatever.

[fettery-fetterie]

if i was an artist with budget i'd be able to draw the buildup and all. i am not an artist with budget tho. so 3 panels will do

Kinda suggestive/nsfw tags btw go there with caution

anyways i think i huave covid

[kavehayati]

I wish I could inject pasilyo into my brain so I can have permanent happiness

[kraviolis]

its crazy reading both bazza's and whippy's meta chats on their discords bcus bazza's is just "dundee is abusive & manipulative & trying to take back control of the club by turning barry against everyone & is poisoning our sweet boy barry" but then whippy's chat is just "dee's too fuckin stupid to manipulate anyone like that but the bbmc is even stupider for not realizing that"

[miserye]

never would i have thought in a million years that i would get close enough to my boss that he would ask me to house sit for him

[hauntingblue]

Rong ring rong raingo time

Zoro making that speech reminds me of ace and how he treated luffy at the start, maybe not because of the same reasons but zoro is calming chopper down bc he KNOWS luffy and the others (and him) would not let him be taken without trying everything they could... there is ko use for crying and zoro is repressed but of course he would not say he cares but he does so of course he tells him to shut up bc he can't handle how chopper makes him feel... Also Foxy taking chopper for being cute and not because he is a doctor and that if they first wanted chopper to join bc he was a doctor he ended up joining bc they really became friends....

Legendary find

Look at these losers... zoro's hair is blending with the grass akdbakjka

Lettuce and cheese... the Burger Brothers

Robin supports nami's wrongs ✊🏻

Chopper being cute again

He is so slow ❤️

Seeing robin become a luffy enabler in real time is such a joy

HE IS THE MAN!!! Robin seeing luffy say that and believing it because she thinks she is expendable.... look how surprised she is... I think it's not just because she's surprised luffy got up but bc she realizes he is including her in his fight... he is also doing this for her