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zvtara-was-never-canon · 3 months

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I believe Aang was right to end the war by sparing Ozai. But the only (imho) valid reason some people say he should have done it is because they wanted Aang to realize that pacifism is flawed.

I'm gonna disagree with you here, because a lot of the flaws fans talk about pacism and how ATLA in particular handles it as a concept are 99%:

1 - People being ignorant/racist and not knowing the difference between pacifist monks and "make love, not war" hippies.

2 - People being ignorant/racist and refusing to understand that there are different kinds of pacifism, even within the same cultures/people groups.

Aang is very clearly not the type of pacifist to go "You can NEVER react with ANY kind of violence towards someone else, even if it's to defend yourself/someone else" (which does exist, both IRL and in the show, just look at the owl spirit in "The Library").

We see him fight, and even be quite aggressive in said fights, in a lot of episodes. We also see he has no issues with invading the Fire Nation. More importantly, for the longest time the Avatar State was a result of him being pissed off enough at some kind of injustice that it makes him lose control, meaning he is very clearly affected by the horrors of war to the point of RAGE.

What makes him a pacifist is the way in which he doesn't WANT to lose control, doens't WANT go from aggressive to full on cruel, and, yes, wants to defeat his enemies, but not kill them.

And as I keep repeating, the show DOES make him question that last boundary he set for himself. He gets told by a past Avatar, who was also an air-nomad before anything, that, when there is such a large threat to everyone's life, including his own, he has to put aside his own spiritual needs and take a life - provided there isn't another option. But there was, so Aang took that, even after he decided that, yes, if there was no other way, he WOULD kill Ozai.

What people don't like is that Avatar, although questioning some types of pacifism, is far more interested in questioning the way people are WAY too eager to use violence to solve their issues, and, more importantly, expect someone else to get their hands bloody.

Fire Lord Sozin starts the war because he, according to himself at least, wants what's best for everyone and would like to share the Fire Nation's glory and great life with the other nations. He tries to do by invading foreign territories, killing his best friend, and commiting genocide. The fucker even has the dragons, an obvious Fire Nation symbol, to be hunted to extintion.

When Jet is angry at the Gaang for ruining his plan to free a village from the Fire Nation's control by blowing up a dam, Sokka asks "Who would be free? Everyone would be dead."

Zuko is banished because he spoke out against a Fire Nation higher-up's plan to use soldiers as fresh meat to bait the enemy into a more vulnerable position, thus assuring the nation's victory in that battle. He openly says "These men love and defend our nation, how can you betray them?"

When Zhao wants to kill the moon spirit, Iroh tries to stop him by pointing out that the Fire Nation needs the moon too (seriously, if it wasn't for Yue's sacrifice and Zhao's death, the Fire Nation would have had to create a word for "Big-ass wave that wrecks everything and kills people" like Japan did).

When Aang is deliberately trying to trigger the Avatar State because he doesn't want anyone else to die in the war, Katara, who had her life ruined by said war, is against it because while she opposes the Fire Nation, she cares about Aang and, in her own words, seeing him in so much pain and rage hurts her too. When Aang can't force himself to go nuclear, an Earth Kingdom ruler attacks Katara and makes both her and Aang, two very traumatized child soldiers, think he is going to kill her.

More importantly, when Ozai wants to burn down Earth Kingdom cities, he says "A new world will rise from the ashes, and I'll be supreme ruler of everything", to which Zuko concludes that, if they don't save the world before his dad takes over, there won't be a world to save.

And what does he say to Aang when he is about to kill him? "You're weak, just like your people. They didn't deserve to live in world, in my world."

Avatar does questions pacifism, and is critical of it on ocasion (again, watch "The Library"). But it's biggest theme is being critical of VIOLENCE, of resorting to it immediately without considering any other option and acting like it doesn't have long-lasting negative consequences, both to the person suffering it to the person inflicting it (see Azula's breakdown, Zuko's angry outburts only making him more miserable, Jeong Jeong growing to resent being a firebender, Zhao accidentally burning his own ships, etc)

The show is constantly highlighting that, yes, sacrifices need to be made for the greater good - but that CAN'T be normalized because it inevitably leads to a never-ending cicle of cruelty, as well as suffering to the one who has to do the dirty job (because lets not forget there's a big difference in how a soldier that is constantly in battle sees the war and how a king that just gives the orders but never goes into the actual combat sees the war).

The show embraces pacifism, despite knowing some versions of it are flawed, because the narratives themes are:

1 - EVERYONE is capable of great good and great evil

2 - No group has the right to impose it's own lifestyle onto others

3 - If everyone is either dead, mentally (and physically) scarred for life, or preparing to kill someone as revenge, then being killed by someone who wants to avenge that person, who will themselves be killed for revenge later, then the "greater good" you're sacrificing everything for doesn't actually exist because NO ONE will have a good life in a world that is stuck in the cicle of violence.

#pro aang #aang defense squad #aang deserved better #respect aang or die by my sword

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lxmelle · 1 month

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Thoughts/Ponderings/Musings on ch 236. About Gojo reaching Sukuna, his death, his relationships, etc.

I know there are people who really dislike the characterisation here, expressing that Gojo is likely far more kind and caring for his students, etc.

Gege and his infinite wisdom over his creation seems to like encouraging headcanon kaisen, lol. He certainly keeps things quite true to life and allows the reader to make their own conclusions.

It is not my place as a casual reader to judge his writing, and I will defend it inasmuch as I also had hoped for more: Just because it isn’t explicitly said, doesn’t mean those things we have seen about Gojo aren’t true. I agree that it is also a shame that more wasn’t or couldn’t be included in this chapter to either dispel or confirm, but that’s masterful writing in itself, I guess.

I take small refuge in my interpretation that this is a glimpse of a conversation; as in real life, we ease into conversations. I enjoyed the dynamics and overall tone. I like to remember that each expression was a decision made, and these details can hold a lot of weight in meaning.

So we see that Gojo prefaces with something else and was responding rather specifically to Geto’s question regarding his fight, his end.

Geto, a natural conversationalist, who is said to be good at being at Gojo’s level, enquires about his fight - entering into neutral territory after Gojo expressed frustration and being stunned after his sudden arrival there.

Geto reads him / the atmosphere well and responds to tune the conversation to a level he can reach Gojo, despite possibly having a lot to say and catch up on himself. (Like, we never hear him talk about his family aside from confirming they escaped.)

He is showing respect for his friend. What do they have to rush for, anyway? I don’t think there is a specific afterlife if they chose to go south. Time may be infinite?

—

A lot more under the cut. Feel free to skim and apologies in advance for tangents. I hope it makes sense overall. I tried to make it as cohesive as possible despite being lengthy.

:: Beware the Word Vomit, overall reaching, meta, interpretations, some satosugu shipping, and general weaving and stringing of themes. ::

Disclaimer: I’m fully aware I may be wrong, as I am with many things, and you’re welcome to drop me any comments or thoughts.

One of the glaring issues was the “Sukuna glazing” as some fans called it. To see Gojo having regard for Sukuna’s strength doesn’t take anything away from Gojo imho, but I get it. What was all this reaching that Gojo was expressing? Surely that doesn’t that precedence? Of all things, is this what he’s regretting in what is possibly his last significant scene in the manga?

A part of me relates to this outrage, but then I try to bring myself down, because we are often kept out of what intimacies are exchanged between Gojo and significant ones (Geto, students, etc.) and we aren’t / haven’t been privy to many deep and elaborate reflections of Gojo or Geto. All we get are ellipses “...” and depictions of longing stares that don’t quite betray their honest thoughts.

So, within the context of the above, Geto asks directly and Gojo describes. Of course he’d want to know how Gojo experienced it. He’s always been the one who cared about how Gojo actually feels or experiences things. He might join in a bit of friendly ribbing, but Geto and Gojo communicate on another level with banter, etc. there’s a reason they’re each other’s best friend.

I also see an interpretation where it cycles back to love is the most twisted curse: it can save people, but it may hold you back from being the strongest. Love has been a theme since the origin story in jjk 0. Gojo’s love for his students and Megumi may or may not have affected their chances of success, but he nevertheless cares and bets on the future (students).

Geto has always been shown to be Gojo’s significant person - a safe person, if you will. Thematically, their designs are two parts of a whole. Their fates intertwine in so many ways, only to be separated ultimately to death.

Since, he’s described not feeling lonely anymore, through love for this students (his legacy and will) and even more now (for himself) that he was wrong about dying alone. He had wanted to find a way to bring Geto home (to jujutsu high [Geto’s theme song “come back home” given by Gege is all about this after all]) but despite all that’s happened, he is with him at the airport, and Gojo is satisfied enough with that, but won’t waste time not bridging gaps any longer -

Gojo is so very forthcoming with Geto in his adult years. Given the opportunity in jjk 0, he not only asks for his last wishes, but conveys his as well. He then speaks his heart in his conversation with Geto; he is candid, yet serious.

I’d like to think it’s infused with more emotion than he ever did in their early days. He confirms his feelings to Geto and confesses his desire to have had him there to send him off. More on this later.

In the original version of the manga, Gojo momentarily reverts back to the use of “ore” just once, before it becomes “boku” again - a shift had taken place in him due to what Geto said in the past. To demonstrate that in a few short panels is quite something too. People change; we evolve through the influence of significant others.

Gojo knows loneliness as he has learnt about love in its different forms. To really know it is perchance what Sukuna doesn’t, despite saying he does.

From this point of view, he says he is sorry for him, as he’s got empathy for Sukuna; that Sukuna couldn’t learn what he had wanted to convey, but perhaps the emphasis was more of a pity for him than feeling disappointed.

In a typical Gojo fashion, he captures it clumsily and makes it about strength in his speech, as if punches and skills thrown at each other could convey that it doesn’t have to be lonely and that they could understand each other - that having a peer would be interesting / satisfying - perhaps also seeking a sense of validation himself in Sukuna. It’s possibly also what prompts people like Nanami to call him out on the extreme emphasis on strength. But maybe that’s Gojo’s defence mechanism too, who knows. If Gojo had a love language, would it be fighting talk? Ha ha.

This reminds me of how Gojo was perhaps unintentionally condescending to Geto at the KFC breakup scene - it was the final nail in the coffin for Geto and he shut down completely, remarking the now infamous, “Are you Gojo Satoru because you’re the strongest or are you the strongest because you are Gojo Satoru?” But that’s by the by I guess. It wasn’t as if Sukuna was going in for therapy / love intervention with anyone, lol. Fighting was the conversation.

So moving on, what is Sukuna’s perspective and what could it be that Gojo wanted to convey, and presumably died trying? Looking at the next fight, he is asked directly about his perspective as the strongest in history who stands above the rest.

Sukuna. The pinnacle; the epitome of strength, solitude, and one who has cast away everything - seemingly peacefully - in favour of being formidable at the top. Revered and feared in equal measure.

He is so strong yet he doesn’t need anything the others facing off with him seem to yearn. The all want to reach him for their own reasons. Maybe like disciples chasing the Buddha. What is his message? Can I understand him, and he, me? And then, ourselves?

This fight was supposedly for himself too - but what was he yearning? Gojo at first glance appears to wish to defend himself, everyone, and save megumi. Mourn Geto too. From what we understand, he's been lonely, despite this improving over the past year (through his admission to Geto later on in the airport scene).

The mark of The Strongest has been left: As soon as Gojo became strong, Geto left. Geto didn’t love him for his strength - he had to leave; in part, because feeling out of place and left behind in the a shadow of a person who is now living by “the strongest, alone” hurt, making the ills of the world unbearable, as it tipped the balance greatly for him. He could not see beyond Gojo’s apparent selfless selfishness, and he did the same with his own version of it. He had to pave his own way and build another family & world - even if it was a shell of what he had with Gojo.

But I digress. Gojo had strength but it wasn’t enough to reach Geto. He has been using his Strength as a teacher to foster a new generation, allies, in a bid to change the Jujutsu world in a different way to Geto. Yes, they shared a dream. (I hope this comes back into the picture with Geto's side fighting Sukuna too.)

He sees this curse taking shape - first with Yuji and then Megumi. I can’t imagine the outrage, and how it’s internalised by Gojo. He possibly dissociates to some degree, as one wouldn’t be able to function if they carried the weight of the world (in information and in sensation overload) all the time. He’s trained himself to be selective. So, nevertheless, there is a call to defend his title; he is also bored, wants to be a good example, and plays his part to assist with defeating Sukuna - tries to reach him but maybe it just wasn’t his message to relay. Gojo’s job was done here. He got what he wanted - a satisfying fight. More on this later.

We see the futility this far in reaching Sukuna across chapters. Responding to “love”… Harming those along the way carelessly, as he wanders simply proving his existence, as if that alone is enough to justify and bring it purpose. As a calamity or curse, he doesn’t need to consider what he is.

This is the extreme of what strength is - of what Gojo could have become. Perhaps if he wasn't so deeply touched by having someone complete him, so he could be a brat in his youth and actually trust someone to fall back on. And had he not suffered loss through Geto leaving, would've meant he never had to question himself or experience doubt or longing in his life, as he was gifted, was he not? Or was it actually a curse?

Is it meaningful to be the only one at the top of the mountain where nobody can even reach? What good does the embodiment of strength bring, if there is nobody to recognise that it is, no one to yield the power for to give it meaning, and no use for the sheer magnitude of what you can do to give it purpose?

Sukuna says he knows love and cast it away, finding it worthless, that he responds to others’ strength with love through besting them in a fight. He gets his “kicks” like Gojo did to some degree like in the theme song for Gojo by Aviccii:

(Oh, my, my) That's what I get for lovin' you

(Lie, lie, lie) You know I can't live without you

(Why, why, why?) And all the things you put me through

(Cry, cry, cry) 'Cause I'll get my kicks without you

Life must be pretty monochromatic as The Strongest. Rinse repeat until no one is left.

Following the loss of love, Gojo tried to find meaning and pass the time in ways befitting of him too. Everyone has to find a way to move on, right? But it doesn’t mean everyone feels fulfilled or healed. He drilled skills into his tempered body throughout the years of his existence; he wanted to showcase it all to Sukuna - the reason he fought and battled and trained and developed his incredible sense - his spirit that does so for himself (yes he does get kicks from it) but also for others - because Gojo is an evolved form of The Strongest. Maybe The Strongest 2.0 and Yuta is version 3.0. You get my drift.

Gojo is representing the sorcerers of the modern world. Whilst Gege likes to poke fun and say he is devoid of a personality; I’d say that isn’t it quite natural when your role in life has already been partially determined for you at birth? Further, as a “victim” of circumstance due to the setting, trauma and heavy reliance on Gojo to fulfil all sorcerer duties from a young age (esp after Geto left) can certainly leave you in a state of emotional arrested development.

To reiterate, Gojo, unlike Sukuna, DOES find meaning and purpose in his students. He wised up and found the sense in what he and Geto discussed, learning from the past and adopting certain philosophies that suited him.

But still, as the strongest, Gojo was lonely with the line drawn - as a human being (self/identity) hiding behind a living creature (of strength/facade); Gojo seemed to be saying through the blooming lotuses (flowers growing out of literal muddy waters - rich in religious and cultural sumbolism) that he loves everyone but despite that they couldn’t understand him, and him, them. This is the main interpretation that makes sense as Gojo is talking about himself, his allies (esp Megumi), even possibly Geto, but he is also talking about reaching Sukuna.

Considering the possible interpretations for who the lotuses symbolise... he less common one from my readings thus far would be Sukuna; but it kinda makes sense: Sukuna, who was born to unfavourable circumstances, and similar to Hakari who described the strong looking down at others as if they were dirt. And achieving so much like a rising from the ashes. We also see him glorified as the strongest of all time now.

And it reinforces the “unreachability” (made up a word here) and how it was an impossible task in the first place.

The message being: How can Gojo reach someone who does not want to be reached? This cycles back to what he said to Yaga when Geto left. He cannot save anyone who does not want to be saved by others.

If Sukuna was the lotus, and was a beautiful flower in strength that defied odds to bloom in the murky depths of dirt - he certainly isn’t pure as the flower symbolises, but he certainly is some kind of divinity. But I really don’t want to glorify Sukuna.

I prefer the interpretation of the lotus being Gojo or those around him, but narratively, it is simply possible he is describing several people’s parallels here with how solitude accompanies being strong. Sukuna is like the unreachable Enlightened One. Yet, he strangely doesn’t seem to have a solid sense of identity - there is no “I am the strongest” that Gojo embraces, not that this is anything to hinge one’s identity upon, as it is part of Gojo’s problem.

And yet this still brings us to what Gojo wanted to reach Sukuna with aside from a demonstration of his skills. Does Yuta have anything to add to this, as the next Gojo Satoru?

Yuta, if we can appeal to his character for parallels in messages, and if we can consider him The Strongest 3.0 asked Uro - don’t you have a lover or friends? Implying that if one fights so desperately for their own sake, it reaches a dead end fairly quickly. Just WHO are you fighting for, and doesn’t fighting for yourself get a little old after decades?

Even Toji (without his soul when ressurected) instinctively ended his rampage at the sight of what his reason for living was, his son, albeit he cared for Megumi in a very dodgy roundabout way, fearing his closeness would ruin / stain his son. I’m reminded here of how Geto’s body reacted to Gojo’s voice; momentarily seizing Kenjaku by the throat.

Somehow the bond between Gojo and Geto is marking its significance again, isn’t it? They all had reasons they fought for, and through the many evidences of these, we are allowed insight into recurring ones that may hold more significance than others. You know, like: my students are watching, let’s schedule it on the 24th of December.

These are important things to gojo, he is also showing Sukuna what he doesn’t have. He didn’t need to live like a cursed object for decades, etc and his significance doesn’t die when he does. Yes, a big part of Gojo had craved this “all out” but as he lives his life and engages in the battle, all the pieces of WHY, WHO, and WHAT he is wielding power for start to surface.

As the reader we are finding these Easter eggs along with him, because the narrator and Gojo don’t disclose this openly. Gojo has people modelling this for him throughout his short life, and he seems to be quick on the uptake, despite preaching about strength. Maybe he isn’t terribly aware, but he knows more than he lets on - Gojo had a persona.

We probably can say the same about the “I’d win” scene that pretty much foreshadowed his defeat. That kind of a Champion enters the ring without fighting talk?

The scene depicting him reflecting upon his first ever defeat showed him to be chasing a “high” of satisfaction from going all out and fulfilling the itch of Boredom and Loneliness that plagues the unimaginably strong. Pursuing and honing his skill, getting stronger and stronger, drew him further and further away from anything meaningful - ending up in a state where he never really gets the satisfying release he craves.

Like a runner who is only allowed to run at 5kmph for a short distance; an artist who isn’t able to paint their desired masterpiece; a singer whose voice can only whispered to an audience; the strongest weightlifter who can only utilise 20% of his max strength... How terribly dissatisfying.

How stifling it is to have such a limitation. And yes, his skill is limitless. How ironic indeed - the repression, the impotence strength imposes.

And while we are on skill/technique names, others have pointed out before - unlimited void? What a perfect description of what felt meaninglessness / existential emptiness is.

The underside of this however was how it also alluded to the possibility that he was going to experience another enlightenment - but of a final kind of his physical form. It implies he was tired from his isolation or that there was at least no remedy for it, and therefore his present sense of fulfilment was to engage in battle and enjoy it - although he recognised signs of defeat - it would be satisfying as he could go all out or die trying.

It would fulfill the purpose of his existence as The Strongest contender anyway. He, could be the victor, or the pawn, who plays his part in the universe. His reigning time as the champion needed to be defended with dignity anyway. It reminds me of his conversation with Megumi about death and being selfish.

I mean, that's just imbued with meaning there. A whole post needs to be dedicated to It, and I'm not the subject matter expert by a long mile. Gojo’s bottom line was that strength did define him; he was born with it.

Watching Megumi possibly minimise his worth and clip his wings without pursuing / living up to his potential may be a waste, as a person who inherited the skills that took their ancestors down. However, the selfish path may not be for everyone.

Other writers’ meta I’ve read seem to touch on this too - that Gojo unwittingly became a form of the old Jujutsu world himself due to being a product of it himself, but he did do his best by his students to inspire change. This, to me, speaks volumes about him entrusting them to live out their paths upon his passing - what could he do in death, anyway? He taught them the importance of accountability and his own version of the truth - that power and strength - living to your potential is certainly one way of living, and they can expect to die alone, so make the most of their youth!

We witnessed Gojo making preparations for the match, following setting the date on 24th December. How romantic of Geto, to try and either seek Rika in jjk 0 or die to Gojo’s hand - and then now, Gojo, who may mourn Geto again, or die trying on the same day. It begs the question: was he also secretly at peace with the possibility of dying to Sukuna? At not being the strongest? It seems that him being a pragmatist (or “resignation man” as Gege apparently once put it) he would find some peace, especially since he was Geto in the afterlife and could see that his soul wasn’t trapped in his physical body or something - their corpses could be left to the living and Shoko, which seems to be the faithful stance they both take in trusting the living to “carry on” their respective teachings.

Nevertheless, Gojo is trying to reach Megumi here. But as the incredibly gifted, talented, and strongest - albeit as cursed as it is to be afflicted with it all, Gojo may not empathise with the struggles of the weaker. It is reminiscent of how he approaches the battle with Sukuna in the first place. He was challenged and he accepted.

A sport. That's not to say he lost sight of the bigger picture - we saw Gojo making preparations for a possible reality where he does not return.

Unfortunately, his skills also lend towards fighting alone, unless they were back-to-back with him. (I still hold onto the belief he and Geto could be a dynamic duo). Which Sukuna also used against him in their match in order to not get hit. Gojo has never learnt what it would be like to fight with others and it's old-fashioned egoist rules about matches when viewing it as a sport rather than of survival. But, Gojo had changed enough to feel he could reach Sukuna and had desired to impart something - maybe to have significance or be regarded by an equal - once again - for this would be of utmost satisfaction for him to receive.

He had learnt a whole lot about things in his short life. He did well. In a final battle of 3 vs 1? Against Sukuna in the body of Megumi and the 10 shadows that his ancestors had died to? That’s already unprecedented. But strength aside, Gojo had reached many people and it’s time for him to pass on the baton and be where he wants to be, in the version of himself where he is the happiest.

Gojo admits to being wrong about dying alone, further listening to how Nanami and Haibara reflected on the former's death betting on the future seemed to solidify some kind of understanding for him.

That he didn’t have regrets either. He, too, fought for a purpose beyond seeing satisfaction of being strong; it just became evident as it surfaced to his awareness. With his six eyes, he couldn’t see everything. With limitless, he couldn’t reach it all either. Even if you have everything, you can’t do anything. It is not enough to just be strong. And Gojo wasn’t just strong in the end.

He may or may not have reached Sukuna, but maybe, just maybe, in being wrong about dying alone, the necessity for everyone to be both selfless and selfish, was enough for Gojo. To reach and arrive at: Acceptance.

Seems pretty good to me, to be at peace.

—

“The absolute strongest, the loneliness that follows, the one who will teach you about love is... “

Yorozu’s haunting words.

Gojo is not the strongest anymore

Gojo didn’t feel lonely anymore

The one who will teach has taught him about love is...

You, Geto Suguru. It started with you, and it ends with you.

—

Yes, sound the alarm! It's satosugu brainrot headcanon.

Gojo seems to be saying, and I’ll phrase this as if he were speaking to Geto in his mind’s voice:

Yes, I was undeniably the strongest; until I wasn't. It was a fun fight. My students are my legacy; I trust them to take it from here too. They know they have the permission to be selfish. I trust that they have their own wisdom to know the difference; it is up to them now. I did my best to change the world that let us down in our youth; and fostered and shielded those under my care as best as I could with what I had. I think they had some good memories; I sought to give them a flavour of what we had, preserving the treasure that it was for us. I was never the teacher type, but I wanted to do something and clung onto a dream you and I shared.

I responded to others who loved me and surrounded me for my strength (living creature); but for me as a human, I am undeniably greedy and longed, pined for you (the only one who saw me: Satoru). You held the space as my one and only. I let you go back then in Shinjuku, and couldn’t let your body go when you died, and you came back as a puppet... I didn’t get to mourn you, but here we are: dying on the same date a year apart. Others still don’t quite get me (like Nanami and Haibara) but they understand the creature that is a part of me. They accept me; in itself, it’s enough, for a part of it is true.

As for the rest of me: you complete me with your understanding of me; parts of me that I don’t see or have forgotten. Just as unchanging as it was before, I’ve only ever needed you to satisfy me (and ease my solitude) ; no matter who filled the space around me, your absence spoke the loudest, because your presence alone would have been the most profound - I’d have felt satisfied / complete.

And yes, I am 100% romanticising here. Unashamedly!

—

A more pragmatic take would be:

He could be quite simply implying that he carried a guilt for the longest time and the one thing he couldn't achieve was to bring his best friend back home to Jujutsu High. I mean I adore Teacher AU and I'm totally open to this more shonen interpretation too.

The finale was as he entered the other land, in a dreamlike state, he sees Geto, remembers he’s tasked Shoko to tell Megumi, demonstrating he has infinite faith in the next generation to survive, and it’s sufficient, it seems, to have a death without regret.

We see Sukuna offering recognition of his skill and existence after he is slashed, laying on the floor, as it begins to snow. A small smirk appears that seems to also mirror the same on his expression in the cover of volume 26. Satisfaction. Gojo might’ve been a worthy opponent and reached Sukuna in that regard after all; maybe love was not his lesson to teach Sukuna. He has died a noble death befitting of a warrior to be surrounded by camellias.

Gojo Satoru passes onto the afterlife and heads south.

—

It’s controversial somehow; it is both enough, and leaves me wanting more. Here’s to hoping it’s not the last of Gojo (or Geto).

Maybe I did just want to dream a little. Thanks for reading if you made it this far. My tapestries tend to get quite complicated, and I wouldn’t blame anyone if they bailed!

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islandoforder · 1 month

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Hi just properly scrolled through your blog for the first time and wanted to ask a question:

Re: Riz should be class president post from over a week ago - why should it be Riz over Kristen now that the class president position has stakes? Is it because of Kristen’s inconsistent access to her spells in case she needed to defend herself? I’d love to hear more about your thought process regarding this - assuming your opinion hasn’t changed since making that post.

My thoughts personally are that character-wise, it makes more sense to me for Riz to be the one strategizing as the campaign manager, because he’s the one actually finding a lot of the traps the Rat Grinders have put out for them.

Whereas Kristen makes more sense to me as a candidate purely because of her charisma and good radar for social bs - her weakness, of course, being that she’s a bit of a wild card in her choices regarding the campaign. But at the same time, she’s been able to get away with wearing a soggy salsa hat in front of the entire student body and still maintain some chance for the candidacy.

Obviously, I’m ignoring the more mechanical aspects of this comparison. If that’s what you were referring to in your original post idk then. I’m still wrapping my head around how Riz rolls so well now, level 10 dnd shit is way over my head.

Sorry if this was long, I just wanted to express my thoughts as well as hear yours! Idk how far away we are from getting back to the campaign to class president, who knows what happens after they get back from fallinel!

hi! sorry this is such a late reply, i've been away and i wanted to watch the new ep before i started posting about anything d20 in case of unintentional spoilers haha

so i think part of it is that, imho, brennan intended the class president arc to be riz's:

kipperlily is a rogue, v type a, and a narrative foil to riz, and this would have directly pitted them against one another

riz needed extra credit things for his college app, like being involved in student govt/being student president

there's also something about kipperlily being fundamentally riz but richer

kristen's arc was clearly always going to be about cassandra, trying to regain her favour, or increase her popularity, or resurrect her

nara is the kristen foil this season (once again, kristen but richer)

everyone has like an individual arc this season except for riz, bc his was supposed to be student president

beyond all of this, i don't actually think kristen is able to take the student president stuff too seriously - every time she tries, she ends up doing a bit instead, at the steel workers union, at the middle school, even at the party. i actually think if riz was the candidate, he would manage himself, in the same way that fabian wanted to be the party house and arranges that himself, and adaine needed a job and worked on and got that herself. so like i agree that he's the best campaign manager, but that doesn't preclude him from being the best candidate as well??

also, frankly, a lot of the good social graces kristen has had this year are from riz putting in the hard work - him joining all the clubs and making those connections, him taking stress to give her more popularity, his own popularity, etc.

like i'm enjoying the silliness of kristen's campaign, but i'm kind of with sklonda on this - riz would be a better candidate, and it is to some degree a shame that he's putting this much effort into running a campaign for someone else. if they legit need the student body president bc they'll become proxy headmaster, then i think a more serious campaign with riz at the helm and finally having his time in the spotlight is not a bad idea!!

#elijahtries #chatting away #riz gukgak #brian murphy #kristen applebees #ally beardsley #dimension 20 #d20 #fantasy high junior year #fantasy high #fhjy #like i'm def enjoying this unhinged and not always logical campaign but it does make more sense to be riz on a couple of diff levels i thin #it's too late now i'm p sure #but he does deserve it!!#kipperlilly copperkettle #brennan lee mulligan

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nalyra-dreaming · 1 month

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Hi,I hope we are not too annoyed with all our questions.

I'm new to the fandom,and after watching the show I really thought that Loustat would be the popular ship.I know most people are multi-shipper here,but it's funny how Louis and Lestat are not popular together. It seems like you've been here longer than many of us (books and Tv show)from you observations do you see major differences between fans favorite in the show and the books?

Also,have you changed your opinion on a character because of the show?

Not really to the latter.

I think the show cast the characters perfectly, so they fit for me. :) I like this Louis more, if anything. They enhanced him (though they did enhance them all, imho).

We lucked out so badly.

As per Loustat... *sighs*

You have to understand that Lestat is seen by many as the big bad abuser ™, and nothing else. No matter how often cast, crew, writers and creators have said that we have seen only half the story, no matter how often errors in the tale have been pointed out, no matter how often I have dug out the episode insider with Rolin pointing out the "tinkering" even then... anyone who doubted Louis' tale in any kind of fashion was met with accusations of racism and slurs.

I'm not kidding. I wish I was. I still have comments on my fics that I left there, on purpose. I have the asks here. There are people who call themselves my "number one hate blog".

I don't want to rehash all that now.

But imagine trying to write coming from the books, knowing what will happen, seeing the "seeds" in the show (as Assad called it), reading the interviews, knowing the tale will shift... and being met with something like that.

And now imagine not having the book background, and being harassed on anon, or with comments. And not having the background to defend your ship.

And I don't even mean actual criticism here, if valid or not.

No, I mean harassment. Accusations, death threats. Comparisons to the KKK. Whole campaigns against me, and others. Not kidding. I put my rants into my bio if you're interested, lol.

This is the fandom where I started blocking in earnest, and I come from friggin' Hannibal.

A tale like this, with racial changes in a color-conscious way (which actually brought the difficult topics into play (and I love them for it!)), left hanging for 18 months... that didn't do the fandom any good.

And some of the comments in the podcast didn't do it any good either with the expectations it raised, and which will be now... well. Not wholly disappointed, but... some took that as gospel. When it's not. It will be a bit messy soon, and with what's to come wrt to Claudia, too.

Soooo... that is why Loustat isn't particularly popular right now.

That will change though.

Rolin, as well as Sam and Jacob keep repeating that this show is built around Loustat.

Loustat are at the heart. They are the heart.

The books start and end with them.

The show foreshadows their dance at the end.

I for one am continuing to write for them, even if I have currently hit a wall on my current fic, but I was mightily distracted by all the new content^^ (like everyone else I think^^).

I love that they are so complicated, and messy, and petty, and so, so IN LOVE.

Jacob called it that, too. "Petty and in love".

And they are.

PS: And no worries re asks :) I love talking to you guys^^

#Anonymous #asks #ask nalyra #amc iwtv #iwtv #amc interview with the vampire #interview with the vampire amc #iwtv amc #iwtv 2022 #interview with the vampire #lestat de lioncourt #louis de pointe du lac #loustat #fandom wank

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vidavalor · 4 months

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Hello dear,

Sweets are on me this time. Ginger hot chocolate?

Very interested in your opinion about this: What exactly do you think Crowley suddenly realizes after his conversation with Nina? It seems impossible to me that he realizes that he is in love…

♥️♥️♥️

Hi @margotmignard-blog! Hope you're having a good day today. :) Ginger hot chocolate!!! Do you know that I've somehow never had one of those? You've inspired me to try it this week. Thanks for the ask.

Imho, Crowley doesn't realize he's in love with Aziraphale when Nina's peppering him with questions about his and Aziraphale's relationship-- he's known that forever. He realizes he might want to consider again whether or not he should tell Aziraphale that he's in love with him using the whole real 'love' word itself here. That was actually what I think he was considering doing here, if Aziraphale had said yes to getting a glass and having a little date with him:

If you look at the scene with Nina and Crowley, Crowley actually admits to loving Aziraphale in which of her questions he chooses to respond to and how he responds, all of which proves he already knows he is at that point. In only really addressing the "bit on the side" bit, Crowley says that Aziraphale is "far too pure of heart" to be anybody's bit on the side, which is defending Aziraphale's honor from the accusation of him being willing to have an affair with someone in a committed relationship (very gentlemanly of Crowley :)) but is also at the same time admitting that he loves his pure of heart angel Aziraphale by describing him this way.

The irony of the conversation is that here's Crowley, right-- sweet, romantic Crowley-- who has spent the past week trying get Nina and Maggie together and doling out free love advice to everyone from Muriel to Shax lol and he and Aziraphale have been in love for millennia and use every word under the sun to describe what they are-- except for any of the words that Nina has just said... all of which are typical words for romantic relationships lol. In 2.06, Crowley is hesitating to say "couple" and turns into Merriam-Webster to speak around it-- "a team; a group of the two of us". Language is everything in Crowley and Aziraphale's insular world and it's not like they don't know how they feel about one another. They both know they're in love with one another. They use words around it because they've always been only a matter of time away from potentially losing one another forever.

That's even worse after S1 than it was before because at least back then they knew that they had "about 6,000 years" until Armageddon but after S1, Armageddon: Round Two could show up anytime. It could be tomorrow, it could be next month, it could be ten years later. They don't know. Their best source of information is Shax, who doesn't know that much and whom Crowley wisely doesn't really trust. It is hard to build a future when you're waiting for the world to end, right? Aziraphale is shown to be so on edge over it that his 1827 trauma has been triggered and he thinks every time he sees Crowley could be the last time he ever sees him-- but he's still terrified of just asking Crowley to stay because he's afraid to lose him if they were to get caught or when this all ends, which could be any day. So they're stuck running in neutral a little while trying to move forward together.

They're doing their bests by one another. Aziraphale's apology dance for his half of their argument in 2.01 is our car/our bookshop. It's to try to suggest that if they really want a life together, they both have to stop making unilateral decisions and make decisions together. During the week, to help Gabriel and Maggie, they both get pushed out onto Whickber Street a bit more and their relationship is reflected back to them by the shopkeepers. The Crowley and Nina "bit on the side" conversation, imo, causes Crowley to think about Aziraphale's our car/our bookshop moves during the week-- the way Aziraphale's really been trying hard to have it be their life and how he seems a little more ready for it than he has been in the past-- and it gives Crowley pause. Part of the humor of this moment is that Crowley can talk about love all day long when it's in reference to other people-- "just gotta get Nina to do the love thing with Maggie", asking Muriel if she's interested in learning more about "humans falling in love", etc.-- and enjoys doing so in front of Aziraphale as like a way of kind of skirting around the edges of the rules of their language and their relationship but get him considering again just saying "I love you" and this is about as far as he can get it out of his mouth lol:

He repeats "love" to himself a bit after Nina says "love lives" because he's struck by how easy it was for her to say it. Here he and Aziraphale are, in love for thousands of years, running around trying to matchmake the humans, and they've never said this. Crowley and Aziraphale are Earth's longest-running love affair. They are ridiculously old lol and so is their love but the coffee shop human in her late '30s has more experience with saying "I love you" than these two semi-immortal, supernatural beings who have been mad for one another since before the literal beginning of time do lol.

Cupid over here has never confessed he's in love before and Nina's words, plus the events of the week of S2-- namely, Aziraphale's actions during them-- lead him to think maybe he could and should make that fantasy into a reality. He's spent the week doling out solid love advice and matchmaking everyone else and now Nina is making him realize that he needed some himself as well.

Other people's love lives always seem more straightforward than our own is what Nina says and she's (rightly) shading Crowley a little bit for messing about in her and Maggie's love lives but she's also just expressing a bit of disappointment, in the sense that she really likes Crowley and Aziraphale's relationship. She wants what they have, which is why she was asking a million questions of Crowley. Ironically, Crowley and Aziraphale come up with plans to try to get Maggie and Nina together but what really does it is Nina just seeing them together and being like they are fucking adorable-- that's what I want. Both Crowley and Aziraphale are a little successful but fail at it a bit-- the vavoom is a partial success and so is the dance-- but it's really just *them* that helps Nina to see that it's Maggie that she wants.

Nina knows she's a Crowley and she's charmed by Crowley's faux-long-suffering thing with Aziraphale, how he follows him around and dotes on him, flirts with him, calls him "angel" and their sweet banter and how completely besotted they are with one another. Crowley's a snarky, jaded bastard like how Nina herself can be-- he radiates 'have been hurt, will bite, tread carefully'-- but he's also just as soft as Nina also really is underneath and she can tell that. She can see how he trusts Aziraphale enough that he's able to be unguarded with him, which is something Nina doesn't have with Lindsay but thinks she could have with Maggie. Nina can see the peace in it for Crowley that he himself expressed to Aziraphale earlier in S2 and she wants that for herself so she's asking Crowley a million questions to figure out how to emulate it. What are Crowley and Aziraphale? Nina needs to know because she thinks Maggie could be her Aziraphale and she feels a bit lost and needs a path. What she finds out is that Crowley doesn't have words she can understand for it.

It's not that he doesn't have words at all. He and Aziraphale have words-- have all the words but for the traditional ones. They love words. They mess around with language constantly and have for thousands of years, speaking a language that only they really speak. What is missing, though, are the words that they're afraid to say. What they said to each other at The Ritz at the end of S1 ("little bit of a good person"/"bastard worth knowing") was "I love you" in a roundabout way. Crowley has obliquely referred to himself and Aziraphale as humans in love but in an indirect way. Aziraphale has come just as close, maybe even closer-- he covertly referred to him and Crowley together as lovely in 1.01. But we know they haven't ever just said I'm in love with you or I love you because Crowley nearly hyperventilates just trying to say "couple" in 2.06 and admits that they've spent their existence pretending that they aren't one. Maybe a little less so "the last few years", as he says, but if Crowley can't say "couple", neither of them have ever called it "love" aloud directly before. That is what I think Crowley is thinking about when he repeats "love" to himself at the end of that conversation with Nina.

He thinks about how when he looked over at Aziraphale just a couple of days ago when he was doing that whole queer 'humans in love' dark joke about the police force that, even though Crowley was speaking to Muriel, was meant just for Aziraphale, that Aziraphale looked very into hearing Crowley refer-- even a little obliquely-- to their relationship in a way that aligned it with love.

That and Aziraphale's our car/our bookshop and everything the past week makes Crowley think maybe he should say the love thing and it's ridiculous in a way and he knows it, right? It's not like it's going to be breaking news to Aziraphale. They have been in love for thousands of years lol. They know it's love. They're long past any notion of wondering if it really is love in a way like the humans feel, if they're capable of it, all of that. All of that is bullshit anyway-- they've known all along, whether or not they were ready at different times to admit it to themselves. But saying it, when language is everything in their relationship, is still a huge deal and it's become even more of a thing since they've gone so long without doing so.

He and Aziraphale are both spooked a little by Gabriel showing up naked and memory-wiped-- it feels foreboding. If Gabriel can fall, the end of days seem to be circling closer again, so they're both going a little faster out of anxiety a bit so Crowley apparently decides he's going to tell Aziraphale right away and then has to think of how to do it. The next time we see Crowley-- minutes after the conversation with Nina-- he seems to have come up with a plan. He does always like a good plan. He'd probably rather do it in the bookshop but it takes a bit of the romance out of it to have to send Gabriel with a hot chocolate to his room for a bit for it lol and Crowley's thought of a better plan anyway-- Marguerite's.

They probably really do owe Justine the purchase of an expensive bottle of 1938 wine in exchange for her putting up with Aziraphale's French earlier lol but, more importantly, just look at the place, yeah? It's all romantic and lovely-- the ivy and the lights and the roses. It's French in the sense of their everything-French-is-romantic thing. It's a gorgeous little date spot and Crowley whistles Aziraphale over and tries for cool and does he want a glass? and Aziraphale, you absolute fool lol. You went for this place, closed, and The Metatron but you should have gone for it open, right here, and said yes to a glass and let Crowley tell you he's in love with you... The irony, of course, is that Aziraphale is working on his own romantic gesture in this moment and just doesn't want Crowley to know about it yet. The ball is really for Crowley-- the whole thing is to dance with Crowley. It's to take our car/our bookshop into we're having a ball.

Odds are solid that this Aziraphale above here was going to ask Crowley after the ball to stay and to stop leaving at night before everything went to hell and he went missing for the entire night and then the epic disaster that was the next morning happened but Crowley knows none of that back in the scene at Marguerite's and Aziraphale doesn't share it because he's planning for it to be later so the conversation at the restaurant goes quite differently.

Aziraphale not wanting to sit and have a glass of wine with Crowley leaves him disappointed. He makes such a pretty picture, though, and he looks upset, so Aziraphale does sit to talk with him. He tries to get Crowley to wait for him inside the bookshop and the "you like waiting inside" is both flirty and ridiculously married. It's a continuation of the bookshop-is-Aziraphale sexual innuendo but it's also like "sweetheart, why don't you go take a nap?" in tone, which makes the idea that Crowley is trying to confess love here all the darkly funnier as here's Aziraphale with a line that implies Crowley is just frequently in the bookshop when Aziraphale is out doing errands, etc., and they're all but living with one another now. They're married but forgot to say "I love you."

Crowley winds up telling Aziraphale that he was up all night with anxiety over Gabriel and that becomes the conversation topic, with Crowley still thinking about how maybe the timing isn't right for this after all-- maybe it's already too late-- because they're going to be distracted by Gabriel and Heaven and Hell and Armageddon and there might not be any 'after' after all of that. As they're talking, Crowley's dialogue (the way he talks about anxiety over Gabriel and then steers it towards the "smitten" flirting) indicates he might be thinking about the afternoon he wanted instead that maybe isn't really possible in the moment: Aziraphale sitting there, not having to look over his shoulder, having a glass of wine in the romantic restaurant with him, talking and flirting a bit and Crowley thinks that he could have gotten up the nerve to say it, if that had happened. You know he was rehearsing it in his head a little until he spotted Aziraphale and called him over. Instead, it lives underneath the flirtation when Aziraphale suggests he just talk to Gabriel and Crowley uses their love of wordplay and their language to set up the conversation so that Aziraphale will wind up saying "smitten" back to him.

'Smite' is in the same realm as 'wily' and 'thwart' in their language-- a word that has a dramatic, dark, religious meaning but also another, equal meaning related to love and/or sex. (Crowley, who totally wrote Aziraphale's entry in the guide to angels thing that Furfur had, wrote that Aziraphale was a known "demon-smiter", showing that the use of that word for them predates this scene in S2.) "To smite" is one of the rare verbs in English that has two, different past tenses, depending on which meaning of the word a person is using. Crowley flirts with Aziraphale by pretending that he can't remember the correct past tense of 'smite'-- but which one is correct depends entirely on the intended meaning.

"If Gabriel smites you, you've been... smited? smote?" Crowley starts.

'Smited' isn't a word at all and indicates that Crowley is flirting and does genuinely know the answer to the question. 'Smote' is the past tense of 'smite'-- if the intended meaning is in reference to being attacked with the righteous fury of an angel. Aziraphale teases Crowley in return by saying that the past tense of Gabriel smiting someone would be that his target is now "smitten, I believe"-- meaning, now a bit in love. This is both a play on the fact that Gabriel did try to smite both Crowley and Aziraphale in S1 but now it seems to have boomeranged back because, since the arrival of Jim, Gabriel is basically smitten with the two of them-- he's just a big marshmallow who hearts his new friends lol. It's also, though, really more of a joke on Crowley's unwillingness to try to talk with Gabriel, which Aziraphale has been trying to facilitate the whole week, because he knows that Crowley and Gabriel actually have a lot in common and could be good at helping one another through the similar traumas they've been through. He's joking that if Gabriel smites Crowley, as he tried to in S1, then the end result is that Crowley will wind up "smitten", not "smote", which is to gently tease Crowley about how Crowley is secretly big-hearted and warm and they both know he's going to wind up befriending Gabriel. It's also a joke on the fact that they both know that Crowley finds Gabriel attractive, which is part of the reason why Crowley takes the bottle of wine with him from the table when he goes to talk to Gabriel. Alcohol is sex in Ineffable Husbands Speak so if Aziraphale was going to leave Crowley to drink alone but now joke about how hot Crowley thinks Gabriel is while encouraging him to go to talk to him, then Crowley's taking the wine to Gabriel out of flirty spite lol. (And will drink it himself because he really just only has eyes for Aziraphale, as they both know.)

The end result of the wordplay set up, though, is one Aziraphale sees coming a mile away and indulges. He could have said "smote" but he knew Crowley was angling to hear "smitten", which is a word they've used to talk around how they feel about each other by using it in its Biblical euphemistic way while knowing they mean it in the "strongly attracted" definition. It's still not saying love, per se, and it's not the moment Crowley wanted but it was a sweet one anyway because Aziraphale's tone and expression indicated not just the teasing him over Gabriel but the fact that he is smitten with Crowley himself. It was meant to be Crowley telling Aziraphale that he's in love with him and it wound up being Aziraphale reminding Crowley of his feelings for him in their language.

In S3, though, you must allow him to tell you how ardently he admires and loves you, Aziraphale... (just with the second Pride & Prejudice proposal ending, please)...

#ineffable husbands #good omens #aziracrow #good omens meta #good omens 2 #crowley #aziraphale #good omens theory #crowley x aziraphale

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