#or until angels come and save him idk I don't remember how the rest of it goes

[triflesandparsnips]

I always saw Izzy's "still it's a nice room, lots of possibilities" bit as Izzy thinking about what he'd do with the space once Stede is dead (now that he's gotten Ed to recommit to the plan) and trying to be a dramatic, menacing villain about it but failing because he's not very good at being a dramatic, menacing villain.

Don't get me wrong-- there are lots of things it could be, and that's definitely one of them.

But he could also be

off his stride because he didn't intend to be in there before Stede

off his stride because he did intend to be in there before Stede but didn't think Stede would, like, not even notice someone else was in the room already

off his stride because he didn't consider any kind of opening line to actually catch Stede's attention, what the fuck Bonnet

off his stride because maybe he did consider an opening line and it was a fucking neutral inquiry about the day's activity like a normal person and he's in the cabin because Stede is weird and lets all sorts of people in his cabin pretty regularly so one of them was rude first and it wasn't Izzy

or maybe this was entirely intentional on his part and this is him trying to transition naturally toward getting Stede to go through with the fuckery and apparently his idea of "natural" conversation is to compliment a room's general size and scope

or failing all that maybe it's not a natural transition for him but he's determined to be an upperclass version of polite to actively encourage Stede to do the fuckery (which we all know to be villainous but Stede doesn't)-- and it's fascinating to see that it's not until Stede tells Izzy to piss off that Izzy's mannerisms break down and he calls drops the politeness in favor of calling Stede a little shit

It's the thing where there are SO MANY possibilities. And until we know what's really up (assuming we ever know), they could all be true! SCHRODINGER'S CHARACTERIZATIONS. Delicious.

[hermitw]

Ok I have learned about Momotaro! Previously I thought it was just a game styled similarly to monopoly - but it's folklore, too. And that explains a lot about the dog, pheasant, etc - the last comedy performance during kenjaku vs takaba. It feels so obvious in hindsight smh

What I've learned is based on this 9-minute storytelling and this 41-minute version of momotaro.

So an old woman is washing her clothes when she sees this giant peach in the water. She can't reach it, but remembers a song from her youth, something about the near water being sweet and the distant water is bitter, and her song lures the peach to her feet.

She (Akiko) is brings it home, and when her husband (yoshi) arrives they're excited to eat it (they are poor), but when they get the knife the peach opens on its own. This lil angel-ass naked boy comes out like, don't be afraid, you've been praying for a child and I'm from heaven uwu.

They're so excited to have a child that they seem to forget about the peach, but when the juice splashed on akiko's face it tasted good so idk maybe they got to eat too.

Anyway they treat this kid well and name him Momotaro - son of the peach. When he turns 15 he asks for their blessing to take a long hero's journey to an island in the northeastern sea, where Oni (like demons from the underworld who come up to claim souls, they're all unique, they capture and eat people, sounds a lot like curses in jjk) are. His parents let him go bc he's momotaro, he's probably safe from demons since he's from heaven, right? Though at first they're like, bro how dare you leave your aging parents. But he's like, it's cool I was born to do this plus I'm gonna bring home some mad loot do not worry.

So they give him rice cakes and he peaces out. Rests under a willow tree when this dog like, Rahhhh Rahhhh, give me all the rice cake or a kill you! Until he's like... Oh shit my bad. You're momotaro. Let me to with you.

A monkey and a pheasant also ask to join momotaro, and he agrees, but the dog has jealousy issues and they have to separate him from the bird for quite some time.

They get on a boat, the animals are scared bc the sea is stormy but Momotaro's like, how are you going to defeat the oni if you're afraid of the ocean? They're like, nooo don't abandon us and finally get along with each other.

The demon island seems like a mirage, but they make it eventually, looking for a way in to the castle. That's the pheasants job, to give them a blueprint. Bird says, hey demons break off ur horns in submission and they're like, nahhhhhh lolol.

They find some damsels weeping and trying to wash their clothes, but the blood won't come out. Momotaro's like, what's up I'm here to save you can I have directions pls. And they show him into a small door. (it's also noted that one of these girls spent the night being whipped in a dungeon after refusing to join the demon lord in bed).

The floor is covered in slippery blood and these oni are eating human remains.

Momotaro gave the monkey a sword. (Maki?)

Some of the oni turn to ash, some stay alive after being cut in half.

The oni are defeated, and their leader breaks off his own horns and begs for his life. Momotaro's like, pls, u sinner. But he spares the demon lord his life bc that's clout, keeping a chained up oni (which feels reminiscent of a binding vow). So they steal some demon boats and return the prisoners back to their homes.

Momotaro's parents are grateful that they never have to work again, and even more to have their son back. It's never clear that heaven gave momotaro any special powers, except for being deified by animals who want to join him. It's more about his Naruto type personality.

What's interesting is that neither story (that I've heard at least, I'm sure there are more versions) mentions momotaro being conceived or the peach being eaten, like they joked about.

I think Yuuji might be momotaro - that explains kenjaku's joke. Not to mention he had an easy life, and an old parent (grandpa Itadori was like a father), and at 15 is suddenly like. I gotta be a hero. That's my role. I'm gonna go fight curses. And the first friend he makes is a dog.... Megumi's dogs were out that night.

However - there is also Tengen. The only character I recall identifying as "a granny". There's the speculation of Kenjaku and Tengen having a past relationship, or possibly even being Sukuna's parents or otherwise relatives / ancestors. Not to mention they both have CT which allow them immortality - so they could have definitely been an old man and an old women bumping uglies. So then, what was the peach?

I guess the peach was kenjaku's brain in Kaori's body. Even the "don't be afraid" bit fits here. And in the long version, the old couple had a moment of fear and suspicion, thinking that it was a cursed peach, that the boy was not real, that a witch had cursed them.

Kenjaku's joke of momotaro began with saying that his parents weren't around - we know what kind of parent he was, absent at best. Dad (Jin) wasn't around, and Ma (kenjaku) was busy.

What I don't understand is the bit where Kenjaku is deciding between returning the dog to its owner or protecting the monkey and dog at the demon island. The dog is named John, and not a Japanese breed (which only makes me think of the soldiers brought in for the culling game). The animals do have names in the momotaro story, but none are mentioned in jjk.

And - - there seems to be a difference between the folktale and the game.

Gojo implies that nothing is more exhausting than grinding through the video game of momotaro.

Kenjaku and Takaba are referencing the old story.

So what's the difference?

Momotaro is a tale to inspire kids to have this selfless, heroic, brave role model who encourages friendships and integrity.

Kenjaku, in his joke telling, revealed himself to have little integrity. Takaba was like, saving lives is obviously the priority! And kenjaku mused about a cancelation fee. Said the bird could handle it because of poo.

The game - I want to do more research before saying this with certainty, but it SEEMS very capitalist with its layout and its goals. Of all the games that we see Kenjaku play - life, mahjong, soccer, Momotaro hasn't been one of them (though idk what vid games he was playing).

Anyway, I think the turning of this tale of morality into the game could be a metaphor of jujutsu society. Sure, they're based on ethics... To a point. It's more important to follow the rules of the game, if you want to keep your life, than to actually do the right thing, or decide what that is for yourself.

And grinding to endgame by Jujutsu Society's demands... Was the most exhausting thing out there. Gojo got 3 hours of sleep in his schedule, he was always traveling, I dunno I gotta research the game and edit this later <3

Ok so to win the game, you have to be the richest player. You roll the dice to move the train, can choose to invest in a zoo, or a baseball team, etc. When someone reaches a goal, the player farthest from it gets haunted by the god of poverty and bad luck (who can steal your money or take your train where you don't want it to go) - which can transfer onto someone else.

Gojo as the richest, who invested in a baseball team... It seems like a theme.

Oh, and other characters in the game have those big eyes like... Like we've seen in ch. 270.

So. If Yuuji is Momotaro and Megumi is the animals? In ep 1, Megumi's like, give me the cursed object or your friends will die. And then he threatened Yuuji's life until Gojo spared it - Gojo being the honored one, could be heaven's blessing here.

Megumi's shikigami are obviously the dog(s), Nue has similar tasks to the pheasant, and the monkey idk. Could represent Maki or Yuuji's own reliance on cursed tools.

And in ch. 268, Megumi decides that to live for Yuuji is enough - which is how the animals felt, just wanting to be useful to the peach boy.

Edit as of ch. 271 (the final chapter)

I'm interpreting the big eyes to mean that the sorcerers are still a bit like momotetsu characters, playing into jujutsu headquarters' game - but it's fleeting, it's going away.

I THINK ch. 270 gave us more hints about Momotaro?

Momotaro is mentioned when Gojo speaks to Suguru in the hidden inventory arc. It also appears during Takaba's fight with Kenjaku.

Different translations of the same page - at first, I thought this was saying that Geto is a bit different from Kenjaku - that Takaba used his CT to revive Geto in attempt to have a comedy partner (rip Kenjaku's brain, but it's better to leave him in the afterlife).

In the later translation, it seems they're discussing the difference between jokes. I'm not fluent in Japanese but I wouldn't be surprised if this could be read with multiple meanings.

Why is momotaro only mentioned with Geto - or Kenjaku, in his body? I know that Kenjaku was more interested in playing video games than knowing what CT had occurred in awakened players in the culling games.

There's the satosugu ship, and there's the chemistry between Kenjaku and Takaba.

There's the joke about Momotaro's conception - eating a magic peach and bumping uglies.

Idk the significance yet...

At this point maybe I should watch gameplay of momotaro? Or beg the internet to add anything they know.

I just cannot believe this is a coincidence bc gege wrote this, you know? So what does it meeaannnnnnn.....

[genshins1mpact]

okay so i know i mentioned on here before that i have a bunch of dreams when i sleep and how i had that cute one with xiao & mingxiao before right?? 👀

forgot to share it sooner bc life but anyway i had a funny/cute dream with diluc the other day (i'll try to add a read more bc this got a lil long but it doesn't always work on mobile so i'll try & fix it asap if so!) but yeah this kinda turned into a whole fic of its own lol,,

☆ the dream itself is here, under the cut! ☆

basically, to not have to explain all the lore about my oc/self insert and all that again, the tldr of it is that i landed on teyvat similar to traveler but didn't really have anywhere to go so after gaining his trust and becoming close, diluc sort of just takes me in and lets me work at the tavern + lets me stay in a spare room at the winery. so yeah we often walk to/from work together if he's working at angel's share that day, and i guess everyone just assumes we're dating?? ...except for me, that is, who still thought he was in love with jean (bc of the whole stormterror thing).

one night, kaeya's been hanging out in the tavern all night, venti's already left or passed out or smth, and then once things close up, diluc and i get ready to head off, but apparently this is the first time kaeya's seen us head off together/in the same direction, and immediately decides to start teasing. he's all "ooh look at the two lovebirds, you've moved in together already? how'd you ask her out, i didn't know you two were a thing, congrats bro so glad she likes you back" kinda stuff and then i just start laughing and telling him to knock it off, wouldn't want jean to overhear and misunderstand. and they're both just like ......wait what? and i'm all "oh cause diluc likes jean right? i thought the were like an Unspoken Thing yknow??" and both stare at me as if i've grown like 3 heads and started doing a one-(wo)man barber shop quartet. lightbulb goes off in kaeya's head that i don't know jack shit & we're not a thing (yet) and diluc is just thinking like "i can't believe you're literally this oblivious, holy shit". hence kaeya's teasing The Sequel, where he just starts complimenting my uniform and says i look like a cute little maid or whatever and diluc is silently fuming behind me. he mutters something along the lines of "how oblivious can you possibly be?" and all but throws his coat/jacket over me to try and cover me "bc it's cold" (yeah yeah sure, jealous much? haha), then asks me how i never noticed how he felt about me. so i'm there having an earth teyvat-shattering moment of revelation that it WASN'T jean he liked, and that he didn't do all those nice things for me bc i'm friends with her, but because he liked...me????

kaeya smugly walks off with a little "you're welcome", after a his shenanigans, and i'm still trying to process things bc i'd never seen diluc that way, always assuming he'd liked someone else so i never really looked at him that way. we kind of quietly resume our walk back "home" and im clutching his jacket close to me, then we both try to speak at the same time, he tries to ask for my response/reaction and i was trying to ask for some time. he's kind of confused and almost looks hurt, but agrees to give me some time to think, since i explained the whole "not seeing him in that light" and didn't want to answer on a whim. that i didn't want to mistake gratitude for all he's done for me for affection and stuff so he was like hey good point i wouldn't want you to feel like i forced you into this, and no you're not gonna get kicked out/fired if you don't like me back, it's okay. diluc mentions having to be away for 2 weeks cause of a work trip and that i can respond then.

in the meantime, a bunch happened like a trip to liyue with aether & paimon, a whole girls' talk over tea with jean & lisa over the situation, and got my own lil serenitea pot so i potentially had the option of moving out now if i wanted to. i decided to my day off from the tavern to go out on a little adventure, just journey around and test out the teapot home and all that jazz. ran into noelle and we hung out/trained for awhile together and invited her in for for a tea break and stuff, like it was just really cute and fun. but apparently diluc came back a few days early and was freaking out when i was nowhere to be found, no one had any idea where i was, and was just really concerned something might happen to me. then noelle arrives through the gates and overhears him asking lisa stuff and goes all "oh she's over by (idk where i was maybe that bit of land between mond & liyue?) and he thanks her for the info and runs off to find me. he finds the teapot (somehow) on some rock but doesn't see me and i come back out of my lil abode bc someone outside kept saying my name and then i felt the teapot shake (he'd picked it up). cue a dramatic reunion in the rain bc when isn't it pouring and trying to kill me in teyvat in true romcom fashion i guess.

diluc is all "do you have any idea how worried i was about you? all alone out here? any of the abyss mages could have hurt you or taken you away or-" just rambles on and meanwhile im having this sort of Oh You're Back and I Think I'm Feeling Things realization (absence makes the heart grow fonder lol). so there's just this kind of strong, desperate hug moment and everything's quiet, save for the pouring rain and faroff occasional lightning strike. and i whispered something along the lines of "i think i'm in love with you" and his eyes widen before responding smth like "i think i'm in love with you too" with a fond smile, the first genuine huge smile i've ever seen on him (pls picture him like in the manga and not his in game ._. face PLS-🤣). cue another romcom cliche reunion hug + kiss scene in the rain, in which we take shelter from the rain inside the serenitea pot bc of how bad the storm kept getting.

(aether has tubby but i have chummy, kinda looks like the teapot salesman, and i usually just call her chums.) so we're greeted by chums who kind of is like staring daggers at diluc bc i showed up with a guest unannounced, drenched, and we're holding hands. she's overprotective in a very Mom Friend kind of way but she just means well. we change into some baggy share clothes i have and then i scrambled up something to eat (since we can apparently cook & forge in our lil pot i love that so much-) anyway so we decide to get some rest bc it's late and have the Oh No There Was Only One Bed conundrum until we agree to just share and sleep on opposite sides bc nbd right? i turned in my sleep and essentially was hugging his back whilst asleep, and he just turned over at some point and hugged me too, and booooiiii was this fire boy WARM, he felt like a personal heater and after all that rain, i slept like a log. diluc woke up before me cause he's used to an earlier schedule and slips out quietly to speak to chummy, asking if she knew where the supplies were cause he wanted to surprise me with breakfast (and man can he cook! goodbye kfc, hello good hunter). chummy is still kind of not vibing with him, until he apologizes for "intruding" and explains everything that's happened, to which chums kind of softens up and realizes he's sweet and just wants to do something nice, not go around raiding the house. woke up alone and went to look for the source of the smell, and kinda just clung to him, making diluc blush. don't remember too much more after the cooking thing though besides going for a stroll around my teapot layout, meeting all the pets that chill there, and kinda just having a relaxing day off together. the winery staff was probably freaking out wondering where we were, but we were just kinda in our own world (literally?), enjoying the peace before returning to all the chaos that is teyvat. cutest damn dream ❤