#satoru’s selflessness is selfish in a sense

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

Considering the analysis you made about Satoru and Suguru's selfishness, do you think that in a scenario where both are interested in the same person, Satoru would step aside because he would feel that Suguru could make you happier than him?

I DO ... I GENUINELY DO …..

this might be a hot take i’m not sure…. but i do very much think that any ‘competitions of love’ between satoru and suguru would end with satoru respectfully yielding. like. let’s say they’re in high school and bickering over their shared crush — they’re gonna try to woo you, gonna try to show each other up, but i think that the moment their feelings for you become a little more “real” satoru will be the one taking a step back. partially because it scares him a little, mostly because he’d prefer to see you and suguru happy than just being happy with you alone .

this is a little snippet from an ohshc va interview lmao but i think it fits the bill so i’m leaving it here…

“i think kyoya is very much in love with tamaki and with haruhi. he’s very much in love with the both of them. and i think it matures to a point where he would much prefer to see the both of them together than him with either one. because they make more sense together than he makes with anybody else.”

[everythingseasoning]

love, forever?

vampire! Suguru Geto x reader x vampire! Satoru Gojo

Tags: Morality, and selfishness vs selflessness themes. // Vampire! Suguru and Satoru, who are vampire hunters that protect humans from evil ones. // Blooming rivalry between Satoru & reader for Suguru’s attention. // AU characters. Satoru is clingier and more emotional than his canon self. Suguru despises the strong (vampires) for hurting the weak (humans). // New vampire lore ;). // Angst. Suguru battling his inner demons, trying to do good despite his vampire nature and urges. // Reader has multiple targets on her back (Naoya appearance!) // Both Suguru and Satoru fall for reader. // Eventual smut in later chapters. //

Chapter Warnings: College party drinking, Reader slaps Satoru, Mentions of blood and feeding, Reader falls in a ditch (LOL), Suggestiveness, MDNI

Chapter Word Count: ~4.3k (it’s worth it!)

NOTE: even if you you saw the teaser already, or any edit of the teaser, please read this chapter, as I’ve edited it a lot, and added in more juicy dialogue & scenes ;)

Ch. 01 | Living Haunted

The drink is nothing short of young and dumb, the blend of tooth-rottingly sweet flavors hitting your taste buds as you stare holes into Suguru’s back. You can see the sculpture of his muscles and beautiful bones through his tight tee, your ex’s sculpted body turned away from you. He’s speaking to a girl you had heard about— the life of all parties, pretty, smart, and fun. You could see that she might be his type. Green jealousy explodes in your chest, along with a poisonous, deep sense of insecurity. The horrible feelings move through your body. Was he moving on already? Did you really mean so little to him? Would she be the one to make him stay?

You take another swig from the plastic blue cup, hoping the painful twisting motion of your heart would be soon dulled. Coca Cola, sherbet, and yakult alcohol would be your poison of the night, you think, swallowing down the concoction as tears prick your eyes. 

“Another one of those people who drinks their troubles away?” 

The voice amidst the bass and booming music causes you to turn, your eyes meeting striking blue ones. Snowy hair rests soft and thick on his head, your heart skipping a beat when you see such a beautiful stranger. 

If you were being honest, you weren’t in the mood to talk to somebody else— not when your heart was still tied right onto Suguru’s. You love Suguru, you really do. The recent past haunts your every waking moment. And even in your dreams, he’s there, chuckling as you braid his hair, the nonfiction book he’s been reading facedown in his lap as your fingers thread his silky locks; He’s watching you with a fond smile as you run ahead of him in the campus garden, jumping amongst the flowers; The warmth and sturdiness of his hands against your face as the two of you kiss— his soft, supple lips meeting yours in that familiar dance and tangle. In your dreams he’s still yours. You both made up. In your dreams, things are warm and right. 

When you wake up in an empty bed, with an aching heart, it just feels cruel. The light slipped away again. You thought you had it. You had your dream come true only to realize it was just that— a fleeting dream. There’s no respite from the memory of all his adoration, thoughtful gestures, all the times you’d stare mesmerized as he sat focused, his eyebrows pinched as he worked… The way he felt when you were wrapped in his embrace, your face buried in his sturdy chest— that feeling of being cared for— 

You missed him bad, with every fiber of your being. 

Suguru is still all you can think about. You’re at this damned college party because, even a month after he’d broken up with you, all you wanted was to be close to him, to see him. It’s pathetic. Knowing he’d be here, knowing you’d be tearing your heart open again, the wound freshly cut back open— and you still came here. How many times had you stalked his social media despite having been removed from his following? 

“Cat got your tongue?” The beautiful stranger breaks you out of your thoughts, forcing a reply. 

“No—” you start to say, raising your voice. It’s just barely audible over the clamor of the party. 

“Really?” He butts in, raising an eyebrow. “‘Cause it seems like there’s some hard evidence against your statement.” His small smile is as unconventional as it is disarming. 

“And you are?” 

“Satoru Gojo, if you haven’t heard about me already. I go here, don’t you know?”

You roll your eyes, scoffing. “And why would I know of you?” 

Satoru just tilts his head ever so slightly, his smile unwavering as he replies, “Your head is under a rock, is what I heard you say.”

Confusion flits across your face before your mouth falls open slightly, a feigned look of offense stretched on your features. You feel like ignoring this pesky person. You glance away for a second, in search of Suguru’s back— the spot he’d been standing in holds a different person, somebody you don’t know, somebody you’re not at all interested in. You frown, scanning the crowd.

Satoru waves a hand in front of your face. You look up at him, annoyed.

“Why are you talking to me?”

“What? Need a reason to talk to a pretty girl?” 

“That’s an overused line,” You shout back, the music so loud you can barely hear yourself. Your attention shifts away from the snowy haired man back to the sea of party goers. You desperately search the throng of buzzing chaos. No sign of Suguru. Just dancing, mingling, kissing, drinking, the typical activities going on under the strobe lights. Fuck.

Suguru, where did you go? Please… Your heart feels like it’s a rock in your stomach. Please don’t tell me you’re fucking her right now in somebody’s bedroom. It’s not my business— but I can’t stand the thought of it—

Satoru chuckles, and you look back at him, unable to hide your expression of pain. You’re about to excuse yourself to find a bathroom to cry in, when he speaks again.

“You’re right. How should I flirt, hm? Wanna coach me? It’ll lift your blues, too,” His smirk would’ve had you folding had you not ever met Suguru. But you did cross paths with the raven-haired man— collided and intertwined, more like— and now nobody compares to him. Nobody would ever be him. 

“Not really. Excuse me,” you begin to say, before turning slightly, about to slip away—

“Suguru is my best friend,” he says. 

You freeze, whipping around now to face Satoru.

“He told me about you— first time he ever told me about anyone, actually. Suguru said you were somebody he actually loved.” Satoru’s cheeky expression has been wiped off, replaced with one of aloof nonchalance and detachment. It’s almost eerie, but your focus isn’t on that.

You’re at a loss for words, eyes caught on Satoru’s, hanging onto everything he says like maybe, just maybe, it means that Suguru wants you back.

“He’s had his fair share of flings and hookups, after all.” Satoru teases, smirking again, bending down to your level.

“I thought I was losing my best friend to a weakling.” His breath is surprisingly chilly against your face. “Turns out you were never the one. Sucks that you couldn’t make him stay.” You feel everything shatter. “Sucks for you, I mean,” Satoru finishes. He leaves out the part where he gloats about being the one Suguru has always admired, and stuck with. 

You’re shocked, mouth hanging open. You’re hurt. You’re aching in confusion about what wasn’t good enough about you. You’re angry and betrayed— all the feelings clash like giant waves crashing against one another inside your heart. 

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” 

Satoru grins, shrugging. “It means what it means. But I’m curious,” he says, leaning closer, his pearly teeth glinting red under the strobe lights, “What is it about you that had Suguru caught up on ya?” His lips graze your cheek, his voice in your ear, “I don’t get it.”

You slap him before you can realize what you’re doing. Violence is not the answer, but this time, it sure as hell felt like it. Your fingers sting, your panicked thoughts a running train. Did I just? Oh my god! I didn’t— I fucking did—

“I— I’m sorry—” you stammer quickly, eyes wide in shock at your own actions. Satoru is eerily emotionless, staring down at you with those startling ocean eyes. You shiver despite the heat of the stuffy, overcrowded room. 

“Hm.” 

It’s all he says. You open your mouth to speak again, blinking— 

And he’s gone. 

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

A swig of the liquor causes the liquid to slosh in the green bottle. 

“Thought you liked shy girls, Suguru?” Satoru pokes, a red handprint on his cheek. He’s kicked back on the couch outside the bathroom, grimacing when the alcohol hits his tongue. He’s spitting it out back into the bottle immediately. 

“I do,” Suguru replies calmly, a streak of lovely bare skin showing amidst the shaving cream on his face. He runs the razor back down, taking off more of the fluffy white foam. 

“Yeesh. Can’t believe we used to drink this shit,” Satoru sticks his tongue on dramatically, tossing the full glass of alcohol across the room. It lands right in the trash bin with a clang. “That’s where it belongs,” he huffs. 

“So?” Satoru prompts, kicking his feet up. “You realize she doesn’t fit your ideal type, right? Why’d you get with her for a whole year, then?”

“She was shy at first,” Suguru says softly, a glint of something like pain in his eyes. He catches Satoru’s gaze on him in the mirror and the glint disappears. Satoru notices, but says nothing, now peeling open a candy from its foil wrapper. 

“And I told you already, Satoru,” Suguru continues, sparing his friend an exasperated glance. “I love—d her.” A blip. A mistake so quickly covered that if it was anyone but Satoru, they’d have missed it.

Blue eyes pierce Suguru. 

“But it wasn’t going to work out. Love isn’t meant for us. You and I… We’re not meant to be with humans,” Suguru murmurs, looking at his face in the mirror. It was myth that vampires didn’t have reflections. They do. But there’s something the myths forgot. Some sort of change is written in a vampire’s eyes. There always has been, and always will be, some sort of difference from a person’s antecedent human form, and their new, evolved one, hidden in their eyes after they turn. Suguru touches his eyebags, dark and heavy. 

That’s not what changed. No. His warm, earthy brown eyes had turned purple the night Satoru turned him. He woke up with them, the day after everything changed. 

Suguru’s tired reflection stares back at him, rich amethyst irises shining like glossy, sharp stars in the mirror. He wishes he didn’t recognize them. Now he’s stuck dealing with people commenting on his “cool contacts,” for the rest of eternity. Suguru exhales deeply, softly, his still, dead heart aching.

“Being undead with a vital thirst for human blood will do that,” Satoru ho-hums, blissfully unaware of the insensitive nature of his obliviousness. 

Suguru is silent, continuing to shave. He grimaces at the knowing that his vampire instincts made him crave you dangerously, the one he loves, more than anything else. It was cursed, his very existence. He was turned into a walking, sentient, functioning monster. The blade knicks his skin. He curses quietly.

“So,” Satoru grunts with chocolate melting on his tongue, grateful that at least his cravings and delight in sweets didn’t change when they turned, “You don’t trust yourself to be around her without hurting her. But you were doing well for a year. What do you say changed?”

Suguru dabs at the blood dripping down his otherwise unmarked face. It would heal, his skin would be perfectly smooth again in a day, not a trace of his mistake, or scar, would remain. All wounds heal within 24 hours for vampires. It’s something Suguru was grateful for, considering his job of being a vampire slayer. 

“My urges got insatiable. Blood bags weren’t enough,” Suguru says curtly. Despite the battle of breaking up with you being long over, Suguru’s mind is a war zone. I couldn’t even look at her… without… needing to taste her blood. His fists clench on the marble sink. It got bad. I almost hurt her.

Satoru stares at his best friend, knowing that in this silence, his mind is a maelstrom. Suguru sees Satoru’s unflinching gaze, but remains quiet. He knows his friend won’t understand. 

But Satoru presses on anyway, nodding, looking bored. 

“Right. You can’t suppress your urges right now. That happened to me too. The second year is the hardest.” Satoru was the one who turned Suguru, after all, on that unwelcomed, fateful night. “It helps when you just feed on multiple pretty girls a night and compel them all to forget— You could’ve had both, you know. Her and human blood from others. You’re so mopey now.” Satoru’s callous remark piques Suguru’s irritation, a flame of anger burning in the raven-haired man’s chest.

“I won’t do that and be in a relationship.” 

“I saw you feeding on that random chick an hour ago. If you and I didn’t always ask for consent before feeding, I’d never have believed she would be okay with that,” Satoru’s eyes gleam playfully. Suguru doesn’t reply, and Satoru deflates. 

“You’re still grumpy. You move around like you’re actually dead, Suguru. You torture yourself by still caring about your ex. She’s nothing special. I don’t get it.” 

Ah. The truth comes out. Suguru’s eyebrows knit, his mouth pressed into a firm line as something dark flickers in his eyes. 

“Satoru, she has a name, and she’s worth something even if you can’t see it. Just shut up.”

“And what worth do you see in her?”

Suguru is silent for a moment. How could he convey the light and warmth that you were in his life? He’d died twice, once literally, once figuratively, and yet— you brought him back. “…She’s… good.”

“And?”

Suguru’s temper flares. “You just don’t get it, so will you just leave it?” He snarls, fangs involuntarily popping out. He curses silently in disgust at what he has become. 

“You’re such a grouch nowadays,” Satoru huffs, before popping another chocolate into his mouth. He gets up, stretching. 

“Well. I need to feed again.” 

“Be safe about it. And I’m not referring to your safety,” Suguru says sternly, his whole head turned to look at Satoru now, some white foam still on the man’s face. 

“Yeah, yeah, mom, I got it.” With that, Satoru pulls his black coat over his lean, muscled body, a wolfish grin on his face as he slips out the apartment door. Did he need the black coat? No. Not at all. Vampires don’t get cold. They’re already icy to the touch. But it helps him blend in, both with humans and the night. 

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

You’re intoxicated. It’s two AM and you’re stumbling around campus like a fucking idiot. 

Well how about that? Satoru spies you from across the quad, your movements sluggish and uncoordinated. 

He slips through the shadows. 

You nearly jump when a tall, dark figure appears before you, looming over you. 

Snowy hair shines in the lamplight, blue eyes flashing like glaciers, staring right at you. You swear they flash red for a second.

“You again?” You slur your words. You aren’t scared. He’s Suguru’s best friend, which means he by extension must be a good guy. Almost as if he hears your thoughts, Satoru grins. His teeth are brilliant, his canines shining ivory and glistening like expensive accessory jewels.

If Satoru was being honest, this was a chance to understand the enemy. The golden goal would be to get Suguru to forget about you and move on, so his best friend could finally look and be alive again, the two of them happily slaying the vampires that hurt humans— and this was the first step in his plan. 

“Hey,” he nearly purrs, slinking around you as you take a step forward— stumbling a bit— 

Cold fingers grip you firmly, holding you upright. Satoru: 1, gravity: 0. 

“You’re fucking making me freeze even more!” You retort, snapping at him as you yank your warm arm away from his cool grasp. You were more than tipsy, but you recalled his rudeness from earlier.

He lets you go and you teeter. “Just trying to help. You sure aren’t shy, huh?” Satoru remarks.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” You spit out, the question giving you both Deja vu.

“It means what it means,” Satoru grins. Deja-fucking-vu. You’re getting fed up now, huffing and mumbling under your alcohol-tinged breath, an insult that Satoru’s super hearing picks up on. He stifles a laugh. You keep walking. 

“Wait,” Satoru calls out. You don’t turn around or slow your snail-like pace. He strides up to you in two quick, lengthy steps. He bends, entering your vision, his teeth sharp and protruding from his close lipped smile. Were they always that long?

“I’m great at reading people. And as much as you want to deny it, your heart is beating faster around me.” He suppresses his urge to poke your ribcage, directly over the beating muscle. 

“Shut up,” you growl. 

“You could make me, you know.”

“There you go again with that cliche flirting,” you snort. 

“And here I am again, asking if you’re offering lessons. Though the better question would be if you’re even qualified to give them,” Satoru grins.

He keeps up with your sluggish pace as you try to make your way back to the dorms.

“What do you want from me? Don’t you think it’s weird to be flirting with your best friend’s ex?” 

You think this will shut him up. That, or he’ll have a lame excuse. But for the first time in this second conversation you’re having with him, his answer changes.

“If I’m being honest,” he speaks in a rich, velvety, low voice, and you almost feel entranced, your feet stopping, your gaze resting on Satoru. “I’m doing this for him. And about what I want?” 

You sway in the chilly night breeze, barely registering anything but the sound of his voice. 

“I want to know you better,” he purrs. You’re breathless as he continues, his voice like a siren in your ear, “If you were sober, would you let me bite you?”

He pulls away, and you’re back to your senses in a second. You feel like slapping him again. You almost do, but your hand misses, causing you to stumble. 

“Too slow!” He cackles as you tumble onto the ground, your dress flying up.

You look absolutely humiliated, livid, and harmless from the ground, eyes narrowed in deep hatred for this weirdo. 

“Need a hand?” Satoru smirks, his tall, silhouetted form outlined in light from the lamp behind him. 

You push off the cold cement, ignoring him, fuming silently as you continue your drunken walk to the dorms. That typical pang of hunger hits Satoru out of the blue, impelling him to leave.

“I have to go now. See you around,” Satoru says, before disappearing, the need to find a sober person he can get consent from to feed on overpowering him. 

Suddenly the night is quiet again, save for the occasional rustle of leaves in the wind. You keep walking, not realizing that there are no longer lamps to light the way until you’re surrounded by darkness. You aren’t familiar with this part of campus, squinting to see the road sign to your right. You barely make out the words ‘Under Construction’ written in bold black letters, and you shiver as the cool breeze swings through the area. A snapping twig sounds behind you and your eyes widen, fear running through your intoxicated bloodstream. 

“Hello?” You call out. You hate to admit it, but you regret letting Satoru leave. Nobody answers.

You take another step into the darkness, speeding up your pace. Another snap of a twig, and you’re breaking out into a full blown run now— blood rushes through your ears—

Something catches your foot, and you tumble forward, falling down into a ditch, knocking out.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Satoru sighs contentedly, his eyes crossing as he swallows his last gulp of blood for the night. The woman is staring at the ceiling with a lovestruck look, the pleasure from the toxin in his fangs acting like a drug. He releases his lips from her skin, licking at the two puncture marks on her neck. 

“Fuck…” She mewls, leaning in to kiss Satoru. He lets her kiss him.

“Look at me,” Satoru commands gently, his voice taking on a different tone now— and she’s under his spell in an instant. 

“Forget this entire interaction. Forget that you ever saw me. Forget that I fed on you. Don’t question the slight tenderness in your neck tomorrow morning. Associate it with sleeping weirdly,” he murmurs, and she’s caught on his every word, nodding when he stops talking. 

“Good.”

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Satoru retraces his steps, walking on the road he last saw you on. His teeth have retracted, going back to a normal length, as they always do after he’s fed. Yeah, he may be selfish, jealous, and dislike you— but he’s not a villain. It’s late, you are intoxicated, and he still wants to make sure you’re okay. 

“She’s probably fast asleep back at her dorm. I’m just wasting my time,” he grumbles in the dark. But he just has this funny feeling, like something happened, and now he’s acting like some lovesick fool that worries and checks in on their lover. 

Blood. Satoru smells it, that familiar, rich, sharp scent that sends a rush of electricity through his body. Because he just fed, his brain doesn’t light up as it usually would, and he realizes that somebody is hurt— and that somebody is probably you. 

Satoru’s legs are a blur as he races towards the source—

He stands over a dirt edge, a hole in the path made by the ongoing construction. You lay in the ditch looking like a broken doll, effectively knocked out. There’s a gash on your arm and knee. 

“Fuck,” Satoru curses, quickly climbing down to get to you. He’s by your side in a flash, checking your pulse. It’s normal. He feels the tension in his body drain. You’re probably just passed out from the combination of alcohol and falling in a ditch. Satoru rolls his eyes, huffing, “Idiot,” as he scoops you up into his arms. 

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

He didn’t know what to do. Leave you in the hallway of the coed dorm? Drop you off at the 24/hour care station? He figured he should do the latter, and so he went. 

He dings the bell at the front desk, shifting to readjust your relaxed body. Ten seconds go by. During that time, Satoru finds himself staring at your face, a few smears of dirt on your skin. You breathe in and out, because you have to. It’s not like him and Suguru, who breathe to fake their normalness and blend in. They have no need for oxygen. Your lips look so soft. Your chest rising and falling gently, you look totally at peace, and Satoru is mesmerized. He gets lost in the rhythm of your breaths for a moment— the steady beat of your heart bringing about a peace and longing ache in his own lifeless one. He snaps out of his daze, and rings the bell again, huffing impatiently. Another ten seconds go by, and he starts to spam the bell. 

“Where are they?” He grumbles. Satoru slips behind the desk, frowning and pissy, looking into the back room. Nobody is there. 

“Seriously?” 

He can’t just leave you here when the door is unlocked and the place is unattended. Satoru curses under his breath again, looking down at your sleeping face, your body curled against his frame in his arms. 

“Guess Suguru has to confront his demons tonight,” Satoru sighs, not realizing the weight of the statement he’s just uttered.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Sweet, mouth-watering, the scent of a dream— it wafts through the hallway, into his room, and Suguru wakes up with a growling stomach. 

Human blood. One that smells absolutely ravishing. Suguru sits up, alert and awake, wondering if Satoru brought back somebody to share, somebody who wanted to be fed on and possibly fucked by the two of them. The raven-haired man stands up and tears open his door—

Satoru is hunched over a body on the couch. Suguru makes his way over, his fangs protruding, his amethyst eyes glinting with hunger—

Satoru finishes wiping the blood off your arm, the sight of the red cloth in his hand making Suguru freeze when he realizes Satoru brought back a hurt person.

“Satoru–” 

Satoru turns, standing up, and Suguru finally catches a glimpse of who is on their couch. If his heart was beating, it would have skipped a beat. 

Suguru’s eyes are wide, his mouth agape. You?

“Hey,” the snowy-haired vampire says. “Before you get pissed—!”

Suguru is crossing the living room in a flash, shoving Satoru up against the wall. Suguru’s head is ringing, swirling with hunger, anger, fear, grief, and shame. Something as seemingly small as the sight of you did that to him. 

“Did you fucking hurt her? I swear to god, if you so much as touched a hair on her head—” Suguru hisses before Satoru shoves his best friend back, scowling.

“Listen for a second! She was in a ditch when I found her, okay? By the construction site. I may not like this little pest of a weakling, but I didn’t hurt her,” Satoru retorts. Suguru backs off, clenching his fists so hard that it draws red blood of his own. His eyes burn holes into the floorboards. 

Satoru watches, a beat of silence passing before he speaks up, “Hey, Suguru. Just… just take a moment to get a hold of yourself. If you have to take a walk…”

What Satoru didn’t understand was how absolutely feral Suguru was for you, down to a chemical level. Bringing you around was enough to make Suguru’s head pound with a dizzying need to feast on you— but bringing you when you were bleeding? Suguru is feeling white hot need pulse throughout his body.

“She— she’s not supposed to be here—” Suguru manages to say, his voice strained. 

“Why–”

“She can’t be by me!” Suguru roars, looking up from the ground to meet Satoru’s shocked gaze. Suguru’s purple eyes are filled with a storm of anger and pain, and Satoru opens his mouth to apologize—

But Suguru is gone in a blink, the door to their apartment creaking as yellow light from the hallway spills in, falling on your face, painting you in a soft glow. 

Feedback of Your Thoughts, Comments, and Reblogs, are highly appreciated and honestly do help me write faster :)

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[envy-of-the-apple]

POLY! I JUST HAD TO POUR MY LOVE IN YOUR MOST RECENT WORK, INFINITE REWIND, HERE ON TUMBLR AS WELL. I FEEL LIKE COMMENTING IN AO3 IS NOT ENOUGH! I JUST LEFT A WALL OF TEXTX THERE BUT I FEEL LIKE I STILL HAVEN'T SAID ENOUGH OF WHAT I'M FEELING FOR THAT WORK FUCKING HELL DID YOU JUST DETHRONE SEM FOR MY FAVORITE SATORU FIC?!!! WHY ARE YOU FIGHTING YOURSELF WTFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF AAAAAHHHHH JUST KNOW THAT WHILE READING IT I THOUGHT IT WAS GONNA BE FULL ON ANGST AND I WAS FEELING SO SAD THAT THEY REALLY WONT SEE EACH OTHER AGAIN. IT WAS A ROLLER COASTER OF AN EMOTION THINKING IT WAS HIM WHO SAVED HER OR MAYBE HE FOUND A WAY TO FIND HER HIS FEELINGS EVEN WITHOUT KNOWING HER, BUT KNOWING STILL THE MOST INTIMATE THING YET SO LITTLE OF HER. AM I MAKING SENSE, TOLD YA I CANT THINK STRAIGHT

im so sorry for screaming, it's just too good. Oh my i love you

Satoru, our truly selfless and kind to a fault God. Goodness, he's too 😔😔😔😔 i wanna give him the biggest hug, he's precious he deserves everything

Your ask got through! I blushed and giggled the first time and the second time you sent this TYYYY

WAIT THAT WAS YOU????? AHHH BESTIE BESTIE THANK U FOR THAT WALL OF TEXT I LOVE YOU SO SO MUCH FOR IT I ALWAYS GET SO HAPPY WHENEVER YOU COMMENT ON MY FICS AND I HOPE YOU KNOW THAT:)))))

ughhhhh satoru being so selfless and giving isnt talked about ENOUGH. the fact that he chooses his students, the future, over his one and only i could write paragraphs and paragraphs and paragraphs about how much he loves and cares. Greeny had to give him permission to be selfish and to hurt. After being isolated from his friends, taking mission after mission, after the one who he saw as his closest companion say everything was fixed and there was no reason to keep coming back and see him anymore, could anyone even blame him for intentionally causing pain? Greeny certainly couldn't. (this is why its tagged unhealthy relationships but we allow that cuz we love gojo)

for the record infinite rewind would curb stomp SEM if they ever fought. it wouldn't even be a competition. its the superior fic:)

[fushiglow]

Who the hell is Gojō Satoru?

Some thoughts on his character in 236

Seeing everyone arguing about Gojō’s characterisation in 236 over the last week makes me realise just how good the chapter is, no matter how dissatisfied I am with Gojō's death.

When you're upset about something, it's hard to judge accurately whether something is 'bad' or whether you simply don't like it — and they are different things. Interestingly, 236 presented me with a conflict I've never experienced when following a story before. I'm really disappointed with the way Gege Akutami chose to end Gojō's story, but I think 236 will go down as one of the most beautiful chapters of Jujutsu Kaisen. In that sense, my feelings about the chapter after a week of sitting with it aren't too unrecognisable from my initial feelings — just with all of the big emotions that were colouring my judgment stripped away.

I think there *is* value in immediate reactions, and I think much of the initial outrage about the chapter was simply people grieving what was an intentionally shocking end to a beloved character. I hate that people tried to police social media reactions to the chapter, because I think everyone should be allowed to process their feelings in their own online space (as long as they don't bring harm to others, of course).

Aside from the outpouring of emotion, there have been countless arguments about 'who' Gojō was as a person in the end, and that doesn't sit right with me either. I think many artists would be disappointed to hear fans of their work insist that there is one 'proper' interpretation — because the value of sharing your art with the world is in how different people receive it based on their own experiences.

To me, that's Gojō Satoru as a character.

I know lots of people have already shared some variation of the post below (and everyone has moved on to 237 now anyway) but this was sitting in my drafts so I thought I may as well hit post before 237 is officially released!

Gege Akutami keeps Gojō at a distance from both the readers and the characters around him, making it deliberately difficult to know who he is as a person. Despite that, everyone in-universe and out has something to say about Gojō's character, but we've never really known how Gojō views himself until this chapter.

For maybe the first time in Jujutsu Kaisen, we get to deep dive into Gojō's interior world and hear his innermost thoughts when he's at his lowest and most vulnerable. As a result, something fascinating happened across the fandom.

Even when Gojō literally tells Getō that the 'wretchedness of isolation' is something he shares with Sukuna, that he gave everything he had so that Sukuna might understand him and be understood in turn, and that he knows not everyone will get it, some people called Gojō 'out of character' in 236.

And isn't that just so damn meta?!

Akutami loves challenging readers' assumptions through his characters, so while the chapter is shocking, it isn't really surprising. I'd even go as far as suggesting that the journey of emotions the reader experiences while reading 236 is the exact same journey Gojō is going on in-story.

The thing is, I've seen tons of people arguing about whether Gojō was selfless or selfish, whether he fought for the love of his students or for the love of the fight, whether he took strong young sorcerers under his wing from a place of care or simply as a means to an ends — but I think the point is that it's always been all of those things at once.

Because he's human, and humans contain multitudes.

I think we were meant to have our view of Gojō shaken by 236 — the same way Gojō's view of himself is challenged in this chapter. However, just because we can find some truth in Nanami's criticism of Gojō, doesn't mean that his interpretation of Gojō's character is the correct one — especially when it's entirely possible that what happens in the airport isn't even real.

Getō listens with empathy as Gojō confesses his self-doubt and regrets, the solitude of his strength, and the dehumanisation he experienced as the 'Strongest'. He even expresses jealousy when Gojō admits he had fun fighting someone strong enough to understand him. Then, only two pages after Gojō says, 'You can cherish a flower and help it bloom, but you don't ask it to understand you', Nanami appears and calls him a pervert for his approach to sorcery.

It's actually really funny.

Importantly, Nanami isn't exactly wrong for saying the enjoyment Gojō gets from fighting is a little disturbing (and, to be clear, I *adore* this about him) — it's just not the whole picture of Gojō Satoru.

Akutami actually gives us some lovely imagery to visually represent the gulf between those who understand the solitude of strength and those who don't — Gojō and Getō sit on one side of the bench while Nanami and Haibara sit on the other, with each duo facing in opposite directions.

I don't think Akutami is implying that either side is wrong or right — it's just two different perspectives. Nevertheless, Gojō is pictured side by side with someone who understands him, and back to back with someone who doesn't understand him but who cares for him all the same.

Recognising this, he pivots to asking Nanami about something they can both relate to and receives an important lesson in return. What Nanami means and what Gojō takes from it is deliberately ambiguous, like everything that's discussed inside the airport:

Could Sukuna have won without the Ten Shadows?

Who does the 'flower' represent: Gojō, the people around him, or both?

Did Gojō reach Sukuna like he hoped?

Why exactly is Getō jealous?

Does Gojō feel satisfied?

Is Nanami's assessment of Gojō's character correct?

What is the relevance of north and south?

Which direction did Gojō choose?

Is it all in Gojō's imagination or is it real?

Whether we'll receive answers to those questions remains to be seen, but I highly suspect that most of them don't even have a definitive answer.

Once again, it's just a matter of perspective, and I think that's Gojō's character in a nutshell. Whichever side of the bench you're sitting on, whatever you see in Gojō says more about you than it does about him — and that's exactly why it's so fascinating to see the fandom erupt into arguments about who's interpreting the character correctly.

I can honestly say I think the chapter is really beautiful even though I hate what happened to Gojō, and that's an entirely new experience for me. For that alone, Akutami has my praise. Whatever happens in the rest of the story will determine whether 236 becomes my favourite chapter in the whole of Jujutsu Kaisen — isn't that bizarre?

By the way, I found a really thoughtful post about some of the word choices in 236. The poster shared some really interesting insights across a series of posts and they convey the tone of the chapter really well. Well worth checking out!

[captainobis-stressball]

Gojo Satoru feels like a character who grew outside the boundaries of his intended role in the story. he became hugely popular, a phenomenon that no one, not even Gege, anticipated. There are multiple reasons for his widespread appeal, but ultimately, I think the most important aspect is how deeply he resonated with so many people in a sincere way.

He was created as the power ceiling, the strongest character. But his strength became a point of contention both in and outside the manga, and because of that, he had to be removed from the story more than once. It’s sad that, ultimately, he was treated like an obstacle; a hindrance to the narrative. and it’s heartbreaking that Gege had Gojo himself express that sentiment in the end, as if even Gojo believed he was an inconvenience.

There is something bittersweet about Gojo Satoru's character. We were constantly told that he was brash, arrogant, and annoying. everyone seemed to dislike him; there was condescension from other characters and even from Gege’s own words about how we should perceive him. and yet, despite all that was said, there was another layer to Gojo that could be seen—something that offered a different interpretation entirely. There was a gap between what was verbally stated about him and what his actions actually showed.

As crazy as it sounds, I think what made Gojo so great is that this disconnect—the gap between how the narrative treated him with disdain and how his actions demonstrated sacrificial compassion—was, in a way, incidental. It’s this contrast that moved readers in a way that i don’t think the author even intended.

for instance, Gojo was so incredibly powerful, and yet he chose not to be tyrannical. Instead, he took a more humble approach—nurturing the next generation, protecting them, wanting them to keep their youth intact. He sacrificed so much of himself for others, and it’s sad that, in his pursuit of preserving the futures of his students, he never preserved anything for himself and ultimately died prematurely.

He blamed himself more than once when things went wrong. Even though he was often portrayed as egotistical, his actions spoke of a sense of responsibility and selflessness. He never wavered in his trust for his students, but it didn’t seem too reciprocal from them all. Gojo gave everything—his strength, his position, and ultimately, even his body—to the cause of protecting others. Even cleaning up the messes of others. when he could have easily walked away, leaving behind the screwed up jujutsu society and enjoying his life of luxury, he instead chose to stay and try to change things.

If he were truly selfish, he would have left. But instead, he remained, got sealed away, blamed himself for it, and then died trying to protect his students. even after his death, his body was used as a weapon for their sake. Gojo sacrificed up to the very end, even allowing the desecration of his own corpse. and despite all that, he still prepared final gestures for his students funny letters, maybe, but they showed a level of thoughtfulness and care.

In the end, this is all just my personal interpretation. Gege said once Gojo was a man of resignation. He accepted everything thrown at him without opposition. Gojo Satoru, to me, was: a powerful, selfless person whose compassion, often unrecognized, resonated with many in ways that perhaps even the author never intended. Thank you for reading my final post about Gojo.🩵

—beautifully written by @/ashinosedai on Twitter 🥺

[neonscandal]

I saw a video these days about jujutsu and I saw something that I never realized that Megumi is not a good person because he is willing to do anything for his sister, which makes him selfish and that he only saves those who he "deems" to be a good person and who qualify as a good person for him. his morality is very black and white just like geto. There's a line from him that is very realistic, especially today in the manga, that sorcerers are not heroes, an example saturo gojo.

Just Megumi dodging these harsh allegations.

You mean Megumi Fushiguro, son of Toji Fushiguro Satoru Gojo?? Character alignment wise, I oscillate between considering Megumi a True Neutral or more of a Lawful Neutral where "Lawful" is being applied generously.

Megumi is incredibly principled. The baseline for his evaluation of a person is distilled down to an observation that "I won't kill you so, in return, you shouldn't kill me." In a lookback at his days before Jujutsu High, we see that he is more than comfortable beating the brakes off of people who violate this basic tenet, even if they don't infringe upon it with him directly. Despite the rule as he lectures the delinquents, his application of it is very in line with Geto's ideology that the strong should protect the weak and keep the strong in check.

Geto considered all non-sorcerers to be weak against curses thus it was sorcerers' responsibilities to mind the herd. Megumi is a bit more discerning which is a reflection of his strength and perceived weakness compared to his peers. It also factors the flaws and inherent ability to be evil into his consideration. What set Geto astray was the fact that, as the strongest, he couldn't fathom the weak to be a threat. Based on Megumi's actions, those that deserve protection, like Tsumiki and Yuji, are those who are selfless and act on others' behalfs even to their own detriment. So, doing anything for Tsumiki, not even his blood relative, is a reflection of her purity of character. He's not one to cause harm to innocent people but does consider past harm as damnable offenses (like the truck driver who struck a kid in the juvenile detention center... who may or may not have been the driver who killed Rika Orimoto).

I think the big difference here is the fact that... Geto was a part of "The Strongest". Megumi is not. While he was great against non-powered up delinquents, people within jujutsu society remark that he's not good at hand to hand combat. Further, at this point in the anime, we now see that Megumi, at any indication that a fight was going poorly, either had a death wish or didn't see a way out that didn't involve summoning Mahoraga... even against Todo. EVEN AGAINST HARUTA. One could argue his morality is less to do with the idea of omnipotence as was the case with Geto and more to do with the fact that... he's not out here trying to die for someone who will later cause more harm to the world than he can cause good.

It's true, Megumi is aware that sorcerers are not heroes. In fact, he probably thinks those who are foolhardy and believing that they're helping people are especially laughable. Consider the fact that Megumi Fushiguro is a person who was bought and sold... twice... by sorcerers. He's got no choice in the matter as to the path he's on but he's got a tempered sense of reality that is informed by the fact that sorcerers die all the time, students and adults alike. He's just trying to make it out alive and with as much autonomy as he can and that informs an illusion of choice as to who is worth potentially dying for.

While his ideals definitely seem like they could lead him down a similar path to Geto, I think his motivation informed by a sense of self-preservation that he's willing to forego on principle differs greatly from Geto's perception that no harm would ever come to him at all. Geto experienced a foundational upset that altered his brain chemistry but Megumi is aware of his own weakness all the while and will still choose to fight. Please also remember the whole reason he even agreed to go with Gojo in the first place was to make sure Tsumiki wouldn't have a shitty life. He blindly chose a life fraught with peril so she wouldn't suffer at the hands of the Zenin. He, a child, essentially agreed to indentured servitude to protect her because, alone, he could not fend for her.

RE: Gojo as a hero... I am not so foolish as to say he is, but I am not uninformed to say he isn't either. He is simply flawed. Both in essence as a character and in the execution of his ideals. But consider the fact that, as The Strongest:

Gojo doesn't have to bend to the will of the elders that he disagrees with, he could simply kill them.

Gojo doesn't have to take missions just as Yuki Tsukumo refuses, he could let others continue to die in vain.

Gojo doesn't have to stick his neck out for Megumi, Yuta or Yuji, what matter are they to him when he has godlike strength?

None of the above would make him a villain to simply.. not participate in the rigamarole of jujutsu society because, with his strength, it's not like anyone could force him to. Doing the above also doesn't make him a hero; however, knowing that he could just go off and do whatever but he chooses the path of great resistance to cultivate abilities in others so as to better prepare them to be sorcerers and, as much as he can, protect them from the burden of their responsibilities. He's earnestly trying to improve facets of jujutsu society that he doesn't necessarily have to suffer because it's the right thing to do and it benefits kids who come up after him. In comparison to what he could be doing, he's trying to make a difference so the world doesn't lose another person like Geto to the reality of what it means to be a sorcerer.

In a broader sense, Gojo also meets the literal requirements of a hero as a literary device as he is a legendary figure seemingly born of divine descent and endowed with great strength and ability. This is just offset by him being canonically grating to like... everyone around him but Geto and just, generally, a silly, goofy lil guy 🤪✨

[ecargmura]

Wonderful Precure Episode 6 - Arguing With A Dog

Precure is no stranger to “argument” plot lines, whether it be between the MC and their partner or two members of the group. I’ve watched Hirogaru Sky (which I love) and the conflict between Sora and Mashiro was around Episode 5. Delicious Party’s conflict was mainly between Kokone and Ran and that was in Episode 9. Wonderful Precure’s conflict episode revolves around Iroha and Komugi and it’s quite an interesting take as Iroha is literally arguing with her dog.

Komugi’s upset because she can’t use the Friendly Wand and that her special leash is now gone because it became the wand. Iroha is a bit nonchalant about the situation. She’s like “Well, it can’t be helped,” and Komugi hates that. However, both sides aren’t wrong but they aren’t right either. I think it makes sense that Komugi can’t use the wand because she’s technically doing things out of selfishness while Iroha genuinely wants to help animals, hence selflessness. Komugi is selfish because she only wants to do things when it regards Iroha. She became a Precure because she wants to protect Iroha, but because she is a dog with attachment issues, it’s ultimately seen as immature and selfishness. I’m not criticizing Komugi’s actions precisely because she is a dog; animals aren’t really selfish or selfless in a sense—their behavior stems from survival instinct. Now that Komugi has become human, she has gained human qualities, which doesn’t really “improve” her right now as she has no idea what selfishness and selflessness are, most likely. She can talk. She can become a Precure. However, that doesn’t change the fact that she is still a dog. I do like that she’s written in a way that she doesn’t automatically become too human once she becomes a Precure and a human, but she still retains her dog-like intelligence.

Iroha isn’t right or wrong in this situation either. Sure, her nonchalance towards the situation can be seen as an issue. However, Iroha is a human girl who loves animals and wants to understand them. However, that doesn’t mean she’ll always understand them. She may understand Choco’s fears of going to the vet, but that doesn’t mean she’ll understand Komugi’s situation; in fact, she’s viewing Komugi’s tantrums from a human to dog perspective. She’s a teenager, so she understands that things can be replaced. She has the awareness that Komugi lacks, but she doesn’t know that. I just hope that after their conflict gets resolved that Iroha gains some awareness about others; I think that’s what she lacks as a character. She doesn’t pay attention or listen to Mey Mey often and has to rely on Satoru for animal knowledge.

Other than the conflict between our main duo, Mayu gets some insight as she is revealed to have a dad who is a wildlife researcher. She seems to love him a lot as she was happy to have a video call with him. He seems understanding of his daughter as he understands that she has a hard time making friends but doesn’t say things like “Well, I hope you make friends” but says things like “You can stay as you are right now.” I have to say, Mayu’s parents are lookers. Her mom’s beautiful and her dad’s handsome. Though, this portion of the episode was mainly foreshadowing that the GaruGaru would be a lion. She’s also witnessing the change in behavior from animals when a GaruGaru emerges from the egg.

Satoru is really good support. He’s there to help Wonderful and Friendy understand that the former’s fears of the GaruGaru lion stems from animal instinct as lions are king of beasts and that smaller animals fear their presence out of instinct. I also really like how he puts Daifuku first. For example, it’s the first time Satoru takes Daifuku to where the GaruGaru is; before going to the scene, he was wondering what to do with him. He knew that Daifuku could get hurt if he brought him along, but he wasn’t too sure if he should leave him with the Inukais, but when Daifuku thumps as a sign that he wants to go, he takes him along. Their mutual understanding is a bit different from what Iroha and Komugi are going through, but it does make me wonder if this dynamic will be retained if Daifuku becomes a Precure.

I do like how the Kirarin Animals give the Precures different functions. Last episode, the rabbit gave Friendy rabbit eared headphones with hypersensitive hearing. This episode, the penguin gives her webbed feet that’s capable of sliding around like ice skating and boosting her speed. Since the lion has a gem, it means it is a Kirarin animal. I do wonder what powers it will give the Precures once its purified.

What do you think about the conflict? Are you on Komugi’s side? Iroha’s? Neither? Both? What do you think will happen next episode?

[bnhaobservation]

Sorry for the long wait! I hadn't forgotten, though and here I am!

More than the Hero who meddles in family business I would say Midoriya is the Hero who meddles regardless of social conventions... sometimes even regardless of the will of the people involved (see how he forced his way in Tomura's past... I'll save what I think about this for another post). His intentions are good and the message in the story is important (you shouldn't let things like social conventions stop you from helping people) but I think Horikoshi should have probably worked it a little better because Midoriya's meddling is very... extemporaneous... which fits with how he has the instinct to meddle and acts upon it but... in many circumstances in real life it wouldn't work.

Credits when it's due it can be that it's in regard to Japanese culture. People are taught they shouldn't meddle that meddling is rude because it's none of your business. Here comes Midoriya (and All Might) who claim meddling is a heroic instinct. Possibly a more pondering way which involves making plans and not just acting on instinct would feel too forward for Japanese readers.

(I'm not writing this as a critique to Midoriya, he's a device for Horikoshi to carry on his theme and so he's bound to respect some rules so while he's meant to be the reader's role model and therefore act in a way that's different from the norm, Horikoshi probably can't have him go too far from the norm... after all he's not meant to be Fujinuma Satoru from "Boku dake ga Inai Machi")

I also won't go into how Tenko was 'saved'. I know the drill because I've seen it in many other works, I know the phylosophy behind it but it's just too far from my culture to work for me.

Yes, undoubtedly Mirio was created to stand in contrapposition to Midoriya and they both present a situation worth discussing.

What's better, try to save Eri right then, something which might as well fail (Overhaul is super powerful) and compromise the future of the mission, or let her endure some more so that both the mission and Eri can be saved?

It's worth pondering over and the story seems to imply the right answer was to try to save Eri even though it could/would fail (at least Rock Lock scolds them for failing to do so, completely discounting the fact they could fail and die in the process).

Regarding Iida though... I wouldn't pick up that example because actually even Midoriya let him be until he was in Hosu, dealing with a Nomu attack, and accidentally overheard IIda has left his place next Manual. It's only in that moment he worries for Iida being after the Hero killer, otherwise he would have been the same as Aizawa and Shouto and everyone else.

Manual could have, of course, made the same leap as Midoriya and figure Iida could have been in troubles but, at that point, Manual had to deal with the Nomus as they were a priority.

I think you're up on something, in the sense that in the author's intentions Midoriya is supposed to be read as someone who's doing more than the others... but Iida's 'this has nothing to do with you' always felt off to me because he's basically telling Midoriya to let him AND NATIVE there to die. Of course he might be speaking like that to protect Midoriya (the Hero Killer is strong and Midoriya might end up being his third victim) but if that's not the reason he's disregarding Native's life. Him facing the Hero Killer might be his business but what about Native, which is also the reason why the Hero killer scolds him?

Overall I think the idea is more not about the whole 'family business' thing but about chosing if to be selfish or selfless. A real Hero saves. Iida should have prioritized Natives' life over his revenge, the fact he still wants revenge, even at the price of his own life and Native's is there to show Iida's failure to be a Hero in that moment, wherein Midoriya and Shouto prioritize saving Iida and Native's lives.

(On an unrelated sidenote... Stain apprecciates Midoriya only but Shouto too went there to save Iida and Native selflessly and didn't back out)

Regarding the League and the Villains in general the belief prior to the League seemed to be that who decides to become a Villain is just a rotten, evil person.

In the first chapter Kamui Wood criticizes the giant Villain saying that since he's using his Quirk illegally and committing a robbery he is pure evil. If that guy is pure evil, what is All for One?

So I've my doubts in regard to All Might thinking long and hard at how Villains can be evil but can also be born by people who's suffering, who's being abused, discriminated, rejected, taken advantage of, cut out by society.

In a way it was hilarious to see the Heteromorph march in protest toward the hospital and then, when all is said and done Heroes come up and say 'oh, now we heard you, sorry, we had no idea you had it bad...' which means nobody ever wondered why there's a high rate of Villains among Heteromorphs or just dismissed it as a problem within Heteromorphs having a low morality.

Of course part of the problem also lies in a culture of taboo and denial, the league is mostly based on the homeless people in Japan, a Japan that insists it doesn't have a homeless problem because they don't talk of such things... so the whole All Might system fails for people who became Villains because abused by society.

But back to this, undoubtedly BNHA message is to meddle when people need help, to not turn your eyes away with some filmsy excuse and undoubtedly BNHA does not escape to its society bias. It's actually a story that's deep into Japanese culture and mindsetting more than others are.

Sorry, it's not a very organized reply but I really wanted to give you a reply. My apologies if it came out poor.

Continuing the conversation with @bnhaobservation! From this post.

This might be a lot to pitch, but what you’re bringing up about Japanese society and the pressures for family business to be handled inside the family is, actually, a lot of what I think BNHA is about.

We can discuss its successes and failures at that, of course - and we ought to.

But I truly think Deku is the hero who meddles in family business.

—

Deku is the hero who saves everyone.

He goes in with that goal, but he finds himself needing to learn what it means. What does it mean to be the hero who saves everyone, and what does it take to be the hero who saves everyone?

……..By god I have some opinions about counting Tenko as “saved” “because Izuku saved his heart.” I. Mm. I don’t. I do not.

But here’s something important about how I analyze:

BNHA is a work that was written over a span of many years. So for example, there were YEARS during which the Shie Hassaikai arc existed as a piece of art without being impacted by the ending of BNHA. I have an interest in analyzing what that piece of art was, and what this piece of art is over its lifespan, not just what the whole can be interpreted as in retrospect.

—

To me “the hero who saves everyone” really has its moment in contrast to Lemillion.

The hero who knows he can’t save everyone, but figures he can save at least a million.

Lemillion is the hero of Doing As Much As I Can, While Understanding Acceptable Losses.

Lemillion is the hero that Izuku has spent years being criticized (by this fandom) for not being: “But Izuku needs to learn that he cannot save everyone.” “Izuku’s arc needs to finish with him really learning you can’t save everyone.” I have ALWAYS disagreed. Deku is not Lemillion.

This is first demonstrated when Overhaul uses Japanese social norms around there family to continue to abuse his daughter. Overhaul relies on the understanding that the family is not anyone else’s business, to keep Mirio and Izuku from causing a scene.

Lemillion lets him do it. Granted, it’s not because Mirio believes no abuse is happening. It’s because Mirio does not want to compromise the greater mission. But even then: allowing Eri to go back into an abusive situation, for even one more day, is something Lemillion decided in that moment was an acceptable loss. There were strategic advantages to sustaining the status quo, to not tipping Overhaul off to the investigation.

Deku does not behave the same way (until Lemillion has REPEATEDLY convinced him to). Deku is the hero who saves everyone even when it is socially awkward and unacceptable.

In many ways, Deku is the hero who meddles in family business.

—

It isn’t stated that way directly.

It begins with “It’s your quirk, not his.” Shoto invites Izuku’s understanding, but doesn’t invite Izuku’s opinion or meddling. Even so, this is the first baby step. It was WEIRD to fight his sports festival match like that. He wasn’t fighting in the way he was supposed to. He had the “wrong” priorities, in the eye of the Sports Festival, and its analogue to the Hero Billboard Chart. He’ll never be a high ranking hero if he conducts himself like this! the crowd says aghast. What is he thinking!

Then the hero killer arc begins.

There’s a scene where Aizawa reads Tenya’s internship application, which listed only one agency- notable only for the city it’s located in. And Aizawa says, “Don’t tell me…” And yet Aizawa does not so much as pull Tenya aside for a conversation, does not alert the parents.

Ochako is worried. Shoto sees himself in Tenya. They both let him go.

Tenya interns with the Normal Hero, Manual. Manual is characterized by a level of anxiety that is played up until it’s almost slapstick, but he is the Normal Hero because he handles the situation how a Normal Hero would, and how a Normal Hero “should.” He KNOWS Tenya is here for the hero killer. He… reminds Tenya of the law. He goes “hey, I noticed you might be about to do something bad. Please Don’t Be Bad. You’ll Get In Trouble.”

That’s all he does. “Hey, noticed you might be spiraling. Please remember to not be bad. Or else you’ll get in trouble. Oh my god that was mortifying, I’m so sorry, really just ignore me, we don’t have to talk about this I swear.”

But “you’ll get in trouble” doesn’t work as motivation if you don’t care what happens to you.

(A slight side note - )

(This is one of the ways the League were failed too. All Might fashioned the Symbol of Peace to be crime prevention via deterrent: for villains to know what’s coming to them if they do crime. This is one of the things he explains after the mall encounter. But why should Touya CARE that what he’s doing will get him in trouble? He’s suicidal anyway. Why should Himiko CARE that what she’s doing will get her in trouble? There’s nothing livable left for her. And so on.)

Izuku puzzles together that Tenya has run off to find the hero killer, and he meddles. He tells Tenya a line that has been translated a few ways: “Meddling where you don’t technically have to is the essence of being a hero,” “Sticking your nose in where you don’t have to is the essence of being a hero.”

I like the “sticking your nose in” interpretation, because I think it emphasizes the social inappropriateness of what Izuku is doing.

And when Tenya is begging Izuku to leave— at this point Tenya is on the ground, he does not believe he is going to win. He is not begging Izuku to let him kill Stain alone. He is begging Izuku to go and let him die— When Tenya is begging Izuku to leave, his argument is that this has nothing to do with Izuku, that this is Ingenium’s business. And Ingenium means family, to Tenya.

“I’m sorry if my brother or I worried you.” It’s family business.

Nana Shimura apologizes to Izuku that he’s dealing with her family business. One For All is, itself, family business. Kudou rescuing Yoichi is something AFO saw as a violation because AFO should OWN his brother!! That’s his property!! AFO can do whatever the hell he wants with his brother!! But Kudou meddles.

The story of OFA begins when a pregnant sex worker is left to give birth alone on the street.

—

I think one of the theses of BNHA is that: Expecting the family to carry itself alone is one of the greatest failures of society. Similarly, allowing isolation of the family unit enables abuse.

It starts us with the Todoroki and Iida families.

An example of a family whose dirty laundry has stayed out of the press, and how Enji managing to get by with that isolation is destroying everyone inside it.

And an example of a family that is genuinely not only privileged but functional, Tenya is loved by his family and loved by society— and still, the Normal Hero thing to do would have been to let him fall. Because Manual feels awkward sticking his nose in that. Because Aizawa didn’t stick his nose in that. Even when they saw it.

Tenya is allowed to stand back up again when he falls, unlike Twice, unlike Gentle, because the cops understand Tenya as a Good Boy, from a Good Family. I find Tenya is often an example of the level of privilege that everyone in the world SHOULD have. ….But of course. He only has that opportunity to stand up again because he is alive. And he only is alive because Deku meddled when everyone else looked away- somehow, even the Iida family would have failed to save its own second son.

Between what the hero Deku is to Shoto, Tenya, Eri, Yoichi, and at least hypothetically Nana…

Deku is the hero who sticks his nose into family business.

—

I hope folks will click through to your last reply because you included a lot of pertinent real world examples.

I wanted to conclude on a note about how I’m analyzing, not with the assumption that we aren’t on the same page though. It’s instead to just make sure it’s said out loud somewhere in here:

When a work is written by someone steeped in a society, it is prone to reproducing those societal biases. BNHA does NOT escape this.

However, the fact that an artist exists in a certain cultural context also means that, when they attempt social commentary, it will usually be commentary about the problems they understand to be prevalent within their own society. It’s gonna sound obvious to the point of being insulting, which is why I take such care to clarify that I bet we’re on the same page, but I’m talking about how Suzanne Collins wrote that Rue dies in the Hunger Games, and that is not because Collins is an American writer who believes the deaths of young Black girls is normal.

[vivacissimx]

Hi !whats your thoughts on suguru and satosugu ):

the ): at the end of this ask made me laff

Suguru is one of my favorite characters in JJK & one of the most emotionally complex ones to parse when you get past the obvious. It's so binary on it's face, Suguru being an outsider who comes into the insulated jujutsu society with a supercharged cursed technique, the only person to ever be on par with Satoru whose very birth was like a cataclysmic event, but oh no, he gets corrupted. His morals are so strong that they're inflexible—which of course turns out to be a massive problem—but also they're rooted in a really naïve, selfish place. Suguru's desire to protect normal people (seeing as he's "strong" and they're "weak") collapses in the face of his friends dying & Toji's assassination because his moral position was too rigid to give him space to grieve, to empathize. If the strong exist to protect the weak, and the strong die in that cause, then it was an honorable and justified death. However, his personal feelings of loss clash with that view & the curses that are killing his friends aren't even their fault—it's normal humans who (unknowingly) create them.

So Geto transitions into wanting to protect only those he chooses to care for instead. I think to a point he was able to accept that humans create curses, but when he saw baby MimiNana locked up by humans for having cursed techniques it just broke him, perhaps knowing then that there was no way to ever eradicate curses fully & stop the dying, that jujutsu sorcerers are actually the most vulnerable ones, being both on the frontlines of fighting curses & massively outnumbered. It's a lot of ego involved with Suguru's worldview, a lot of philosophical bullshit, but at his core he's probably much more selfishly motivated than he can comfortably admit to himself.

It's also so interesting how much Suguru hated his own cursed technique. Obviously the MC is Yuji, whose cursed technique is more like 'has Sukuna' which he can't truly utilize, but he adjusts to that much more successfully that Suguru does housing curses. He always goes for hand to hand combat as a first resort and with Kenjaku we see that there's a lot about his cursed technique that Suguru never even knew, probably due to his resentment of it. I think he was in desperate need of guidance during his school years and instead the school only cared about churning out soldiers. Thus we have a Suguru who never aged out of his very black-and-white thinking, just twisted himself into a knot around his beliefs / versus Satoru whose position was always more like 'I'm just doing this because I'm doing this, I'm not gonna take any huge moral responsibility onto myself just for being born' and he matures thanks to that breathing space. There's a selflessness in his carelessness.

Satosugu is delicious of course because it's impossible, Satoru's existence makes sense but Suguru's is more like a wild card the universe threw out. And Satoru's love for Suguru is the most human thing about him! He keeps looking for another equal in his students, but Geto is the only one who ever was (was, until he wasn't anymore). Whereas Suguru is going through life pretty much aware that Satoru is going to kill him one day according to the jujutsu society's laws, but he hasn't yet, and maybe he won't. It's called trust. Suguru is the one who goes back, who forces Satoru's hand.

At the end, they don't really need words but they share them anyway cause why not? It was a stolen luxury for love's sake. I think part of Suguru wanted to be punished. I also think Satoru thought of Suguru as belonging to him (his best friend, his equal, his to kill), and that we keep coming back to this singular selfishness for a reason.

[linkspooky]

top 5 jujutsu kaisen characters 🥳

1. Gojou Satoru - I Am The Strongest 

The most interesting thing about Gojou is how unique and overpowering a character Gojou is. I don’t just mean in the sense that he has physical strength, but that he’s also what they call a ‘force of personality’. Gojou is incredibly up front about who he is, and what he wants. He never hides a single thought in his head, he never is discreet, compromises to other people and backs off in any way. Gojou is the most self centered character in the manga. 

What makes his character unique is that Gojou’s self-centeredness is not necessarily portrayed as a bad thing. It’s neither good nor bad, Gojou is allowed to be who he is by the narrative. Gojou is a selfish prick, but he’s also self determined. He is someone who knows what he wants and does everything to the best of his abilities to work for what he wants. 

Gojou is so busy looking at the infinity other people might as well not exist. He’s someone who sees himself as fundamentally above other people. However, when you look past that in his actions you see that while Gojou has so much strength, he’s using almost all of that strength not for the sake of himself but others. What Gojou wants is a better world, and he’s mature enough to realize he can’t just get it by smashing everything with his own hands even if he’s powerful enough to do that. 

You get the sense that Gojou while distant from others is still trying to understand their feelings, and communicate his own feelings in his own way. 

2. Getou Suguru - You will obey me, you monkeys. 

Getou is so interesting because all of the traits that have driven him to extremism are traditionally heroic traits. Getou is empathic, he’s incredibly considerate of others and wants to save them, he believes in justice. Getou humanizes the people that he personally gets to know so much, cares so deeply, that when he loses them it’s like one of his own organs gets ripped out. It’s the same as losing an arm or a leg. 

It shows that individuals within the system are not necessarily the problem, because the reason Getou fell so far because he wanted to be human and care about human lives in a system like the Jujutsu sorcerers system that was so uttterly dehumanizing. 

Getou’s so empathic if he were to see everyone as human his brain would just break. So, he divides the world into humans, people he can save, and monkeys who he no longer cares whether they live or die. If anything, Getou would be a better person if he was a little less kind, a little less caring. Gojou is actually much more mentally healthy because he’s less selfless than Getou is.

3. Kokichi Muta

In a series where every character is trying to get strong, Kokichi already has all the power he needs and he hates it. I like how he’s allowed to be ugly and genuinely resentful for his circumstances in life. 

Nobody really empathizes with Mechamaru. Even Panda who might come close to understanding it, essentially tells him to just get over it and stop causing problems for others. It’s understandable why Mechamaru was driven into enough of a corner that he betrayed sorcery high school. Kokichi just can’t swallow down his resentment. He never wanted to be born, he never wanted to be a jujutsu sorcerer, but Jujutsu society uses him anyway, he’s not a puppeteer he’s more like a doll of an inherently broken system.

Yet, there’s something genuine in Kokichi. He really wants to love his friends and be able to stand on equal terms with them. Despite how much hatred he carries in his heart, he’s genuinely touched by just the smallest amount of kindness Miwa showed to him. At the end of the day what he feels is an inferiortiy and unworthiness.. He feels like he’s not good enough to stand with others because he was born this way, and feels like he needs to be fixed. When really Miwa would have accepted him for who he was all along and wanted to see the real him. 

It’s another demonstration of how much a failure of empathy an drive these characters to desperate circumstances. What Kokichi needed wasn’t to be told to stop making a fuss, it was to be accepted for who he was, the ugly, the unpleasant and to have someone notice that even though he’s technically doing bad things Kokichi is also deep down still a suffering child. 

4. Maki Zenin - “I would have hated myself”

Maki is fun because she was treated like a disposable extra for her family, and rather than craving acknowledgement from that family, or a place to belong she just went ‘Neat, I’m gonna burn down the whole family tree then.” 

Maki’s ambitions, her resentment towards others, her desire to pursue strength are all things that are validated about her character. She is someone who gets to choose the way she wants to live, and is fighting against her entire family for that right even if it means she has to destroy that family in the end. Maki is allowed to be as self determined as Gojou.

At the same time though, Maki’s choice to put strength above all else does not make her a person who is only ever strong and never vulnerable because she would be just as flat as a character. Maki’s choice has consequences, because by choosing to live for her own personal strength she also doesn’t choose Mai the one person who ever genuinely saw her as family. 

Their conflict reminds me a lot of Gamorra and Nebula which is one of my favorite conflicts of all time, because neither of their feelings are wrong. Maki is not wrong for wanting to choose her own survival. Mai is not wrong for feeling like her sister broke their promise and abandoned her. However at the same time their choices have consequences, Maki choosing herself means she can’t choose Mai and she’s sacrficing their connection. It’s one of the most beautifully illsutrated conflicts in the manga. 

5. Nanami Kento - “Growing up is the accumulation of little despairs”

I like Nanami because he’s the one reasonable adult in a world of mad people? That doesn’t sound like much saying he’s ‘the guy with common sense’ but in his arc he gets a lot of depth to his personality. 

Basically he wants to help other people, but he’s also mature enough to realize that helping others is going to be a net loss. That if he tries to help everyone the same way Itadori does, he’s going to lose over and over again. What’s so interesting about Nanami is he’s not so much someone completely selfless, as someone who is too decent of a person for his own good. Which causes him to continually choose to help others, not because he’s motivated by some great quest to save the world but because he can’t look away from trouble. 

Nanami’s salaryman-like serious persona becomes more and more of an act as you dwell on his character. It’s like he’s putting on a show that he’s not as mad as everybody else, that he’s still reasonable in this world. It’s done mostly for his own sake because Nanami is striving to remain a good person, in a world he’s well aware is not so good. You get the sense that deep down he’s a much kinder person, but he always forces himself to be strict because he believes he has to.

[talkngflowers-m]

❀ ` `  INBOX   @yeonban​​ ❝ you should play the hero more often. it suits you. ❞  criminal geto & gojo! uncharted    (  accepting !  )

               eyes  obscured  by  bandages  narrowed  at  the  remark..  interpreted  subliminal  statement  doing  nothing  but  kindling  a  childish  irritation  in  the  man’s  chest..  a  callback..  or  so  he  assumed..  to  his  past  (  and  on  occasion,  present  )  behaviors..  particularly  those  regarding  his  reckless  abandon  and  disinterest  concerning  selflessness..  there  were  no  such  thing  as  heroes..  this  much,  he  knew..  there  was  only  a  serendipitous  time  and  a  place..  saving  someone  from  another’s  selfish  actions  was  not  heroic..  especially  not  when  you  were  forced  to  do  it  by  non  other  than  your  best  friend..  the  thought  leaving  a  bitter  taste  in  his  mouth..

               forcing  a  smile,  he  tilted  his  head  while  perching  easily  on  the  top  of  some  steps..  a  hand  raised  to  scratch  at  his  chin  in  mock  thought..  the  irony  of  the  comment  still  frustrating  him..

❝  it’s  nice  to  know  you  got  a  sense  of  humor  since  the  last  time  we  met..  you're  looking  a  lot  less  constipated  than  you  used  to——  ❞

               this  anomaly..  he  assumed..  due  to  the  fact  he  was  much  happier  with  his  current  lifestyle..  a  concept  that's  reasoning  he  still  had  yet  to  grasp..  as  well  as  something  he  had  yet  to  finally  come  to  terms  with..  why..  the  question  would  forever  bother  him..  playing  on  repeat  in  his  head  whenever  he  wanted  it  the  least..  perpetually  unanswered..

               raising  himself  from  his  squatting  position,  satoru's  smile  fell  almost  effortlessly..

❝  anyways..  you  on  the  other  hand..  this  whole..  weird  evil  cult  shit  you're  into  now..  not  really  your  style..  ❞