Yeah having infinite alternative universes where the same two people love each other no matter the world no matter the time is nice but have you considered dedicating your entire existence to find the only universe where your loved one is happy, even if they're going to hate you in that universe, even if you yourself have to die in that universe, because their happiness always came before everything else? Because you never mattered as long as they were happy? Have you considered it??????
“I’ll just write this short little fic”, the author says, not realising they’re doomed by the narrative
"would you still love your favorite character if they did [cruellest shit you've ever heard]?" baby you dont wanna know how far my love would go for that mf
your love for geto suguru is measured in bodies.
skin over muscle over bone, hands on knees, knees on the floor, cold. thirteen corpses, colder. tongue unmoving, eyes closed, blood still. frozen forever in a state of perfect decay.
to curse users, death is family. you know, intimately, the way it feels in your lungs, the way it settles like a fine dark dust at the end of a struggle. the stench sticks to the back of your throat and tells you that you are home.
suguru presses his face into your neck and breathes out.
you did your best, he says. you did so well.
(this is love returned.)
perhaps there was a time when you loved differently, in the way that he wanted, but you are not your past. you are your present, and this is your only gift. and he accepts it, arms wrapped around you like ribs around an unbeating heart.
your love for geto suguru is measured in bodies.
the first one was yours.
"he would not fucking say that" i say with disgust, but im not talking about characterization im talking about his, like, vocabulary
George Sand, from a letter to Gustave Flaubert written c. September 1871
anyone else a little peeved that toasters rely so much on jumpscares but are otherwise not very scary
So I recently got fully caught up with the JJK anime and am now on chapter 176 of the manga because I was bored. I basically went through a “wow I get it” moment when it comes to why people like this series so much.
While reading though, one thing I found interesting is that Gege-san seems to really like Nietschze. Nihilistic philosophy, especially passive vs active nihilism, comes up a lot in this series. You mainly see it in characters like Geto, Gojo, and very much with Mahito. The meaning of life or “the meaning of the soul” is a common question that comes up, with each character having their own views on the meaning of themselves and their place in life.
I’ve been liveblogging my experiences in a discord server and me and another person have real interesting conversations about how Geto seems to symbolize the passive nihilist, while Gojo is the active nihilist or the absurdist. Mahito is basically a twisted form of active nihilism.
The passive nihilist is a person of resignation, it is described as a person of weak will that views nihilism as the end to life and nothing beyond that. They often fall into violence or herd mentality in a scramble to give themselves some meaning or accept destruction. Nietzsche described it as “pessimistic Buddhism”.
The active nihilist is basically the exact opposite. Through the destruction of the meaning of life, they go in to construct new ones by their own will and ideal. They are free and of strong will and are often opposed to authority figures and find rebellion in their creative meanings of life.
I think this is a pretty good reflection of Geto, Gojo, and Mahito. Geto, who spiraled due to the shattering of his ideals and resorted to despair and destruction to find a new one. He became resigned from world, resigned from others. Gojo’s past ideals were also shattered, but through that he built a new one. He is completely absurd and humorous even in serious times, but he ultimately cares a lot about aiding the future generation and does so by rebelling against the higher ups of Jujutsu Society.
Mahito is an interesting case. His whole character is basically just a philosophical analysis of nihilism and the meaning of life and the soul. He is creature of free will to the most dangerous degree. That, since there is no meaning to life that means one has the free will to control other’s lives, or even take them away. He revels in the despair that he spreads, he fully believes that he has the free will to do so.
Now, the reason why there is probably so much “meaning of life” talk in this manga is because it has a lot of Buddhist imagery, so it’s possibly an analysis in Buddhist philosophy- but I still think that this manga can be viewed through the lens of nihilistic analysis!
I find manga that get philosophical like this so intriguing! I’m excited to continue reading.
What are your favourite tropes? Not just relationship, but character tropes, plot tropes? I love how you add them in your s/o posts!
Oh I love this question! I have so many! I will make an official post about tropes in the future, but right now I'll focus on my favourites! (thank you for this question omg)
𝑹𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒔:
𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐂𝐚𝐭 𝐱 𝐆𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫
I love this pairing because it's basically opposites attract, yin and yang, sun and moon. Two completely different people who can come together, despite their differences and decide that they love the energy of the other.
𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐃𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐃𝐮𝐨
When two characters share one brain cell and cause absolute chaos wherever they go. It's exciting and funny and entertaining.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐳 & 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚 𝐀𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐬
I love how devoted Gomez is to Morticia. He would do anything for her, anything at all. And that's why this has become a trope - so many books written by women now have the main male love interest act in similar ways to Gomez - absolute devotion.
𝐃𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐱 𝐎𝐡 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐈 𝐆𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐌𝐲 𝐃𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐬
When it's only one person who is a chaotic dumbass and the other is the voice of reason. Even when the dumbass character gets into the most trouble, their lover will rescue them no matter what.
𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒔:
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐭𝐢-𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐨 (morally grey)
I know this is a really popular choice, but there's something about a character who goes against the grain, who rebels, but deep down has a good heart.
𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐂𝐮𝐭𝐞
Pretty straight forward, double points if character is really innocent looking and seems like everything scares them.
𝐑𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬/𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲-𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬
We love a woman who knows what she believes in. Who cares about something so much that she is ready to risk it all to rebel.
𝐓𝐰𝐨 𝐃𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝, 𝐕𝐮𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐒𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐨 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐄𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐎𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐍𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭
Can be romantic, or just platonic. It also kinda ties in with the found family trope. I love the thought of two people caring so fiercely about the other that if anything happened they would go crazy.
𝐆𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐲 𝐎𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐆𝐮𝐲 𝐀𝐝𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐆𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐁𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲
I mean ... this is an easy one to love. But also it's really popular now. Which is completely fine with me. I guess it's my daddy issues coming into play?
𝑷𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒔:
𝐄𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬
I know! Another overdone trope, but god do I love it. The angst, the build-up, but knowing that they'll grow to love each other... just hits me in the best way. However, it has to be done right.
𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬
I know some people like the whole, 'I love you because I choose to', but there's something about soulmates that just ... AH .... tickles the right spots. It's like validation for their love.
𝐓𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐀 𝐖𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠
Okay so... the only time I've seen this be done is in Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End. It's during a fight scene and Will calls out to Barbossa to marry Elizabeth and him. It's one of my favourite scenes ever.
i loooooove giving my ocs perpetrator trauma. you hurt people, used and abused and destroyed them, and you will never wash out that stain. you will grow resentful of forgiveness because you refuse to forgive yourself. they don't know what you did like you do. you wear that knowledge like armor, like a sick badge of shameful pride. you can't cut off the hand that struck out and throw it away. you can't pull out your teeth and become something kinder, something more vulnerable.
‘From a swamp, evil, viscous,’ Osip Mandelstam (translated by A. S. Kline)
writer | character analysis| poems | opinion ✮ digital brain dumpster ✮
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