duckiemimi - Tumblr blog

[duckiemimi]

rather than gojo being the other side of the coin to toji, i think geto is the perfect opposite to toji, a one to one inversion. where geto is a sorcerer born from a non-sorcerer family, toji is a non-sorcerer born from a (big three) sorcerer family. while geto is relatively new to the inner-workings of jujutsu society (being young and enrolling in high school), toji was conceived in the caverns of its maw. while pre-defection geto was embraced with open arms and praised as half of the "strongest duo," toji was practically "a failure" since birth. which is why their battle in the HI arc is poetic, in a sense that two polar opposites are made to collide. in the end, while geto was sorely out-powered, they were both abject products of the society that bred them, casted out as "broken goods," not quite either or. and in the end, they both haunt the narrative every step of the way as painful reminders of the fault in the system.

[duckiemimi]

operation olive branch (click here for their tiktok and click here for their instagram) is a grassroots collective amplifying the campaigns of Palestinians who are trying to evacuate, get treatment, or rebuild their homes. here is their masterlist spreadsheet of families (click)!

please do look around and if you are able, please donate and reach out!

[duckiemimi]

i don't want to seem petty, but this is the meta that's eerily similar to a certain thread on twt right now! i want to make it clear to anyone that i don't mind collaborating on ideas and building on them together, but doing it like this is just plain distasteful. i would really, really appreciate credit, op! thanks!

this was commented a while ago on my tiktok (it was about this post), but it’s so good, it’s stayed on my mind ever since. i’ve been meaning to talk about this for a while!

on geto & empathy.

let’s address the likely reason why people tend to see geto in this empathic light and through this lens that almost absolves him from blame.

the hidden inventory arc, especially towards the end, was written in a way that humanized geto; we read his mind, we saw his thoughts and how he processed them, we shadowed him as he went through traumatic event after traumatic event. we were placed in his shoes as he ran through a never-ending marathon—essentially, we were him in his moments. we’re supposed to empathize with him.

it’s why at first hand, his defection might’ve seemed like a logical conclusion to us. it made sense. (unlike how it was for every other character in the story, and especially how it was for gojo—geto’s decision came to them all as a shock.) this is what makes him a well-written character and an overall excellent villain.

it’s also probably why geto is such a personal character to many people, but this intimate association doesn’t make him faultless. yes, he was a victim of circumstance, but so was everyone else in the story. geto was also a perpetrator who inflicted harm on other people: a genocidal cult leader who had his eyes set on the greater good, someone who disregarded the means for the end. “well-written,“ in my opinion, also means multifaceted, complex.

now let’s talk about geto pre defection.

geto is gojo’s foil. at first read, he’s supposed to contrast gojo in a way that highlights specific aspects of gojo’s character. (and vice versa, but this arc is also called “gojo’s past arc” for a reason; gojo is our main character in this part of the story, he is our point of reference.) geto serves as a comparison to gojo, but he also stands as his own character. where gojo failed to empathize with the “weak,” geto succeeded. but what was empathy to geto anyway?

empathy, in its colloquial connotation, is seen as a virtue. it’s a community-building tool and it’s inherently human. it’s how we contextualize our place in the world and our connection to other people. in broad construct, it’s a “good” quality to have, to be empathic—but not all forms of empathy are the same.

geto’s empathy towards the “weak” was, in a word, paternalistic—like how a father would interact with his children, or how a deity or a king would interact with their subjects. it stemmed from his arrogance and his “well-meaning” saviorism tendencies: in short, “i am better than you, therefore i know better than you. i know what’s best for you.” this is especially true in regards to his patronizing attitude towards non-sorcerers pre defection (and it extends post defection, too).

geto’s sense of duty as a sorcerer manifested in how he assumed responsibility, and to a lesser extent, authority over non-sorcerers. it’s a type of benevolent prejudice; these people are powerless and weak, therefore inferior to him, and so it’s his job to protect them, it’s his job to care. while he had good intentions, he saw them as “lack,” not as humans who were ultimately just different from him. he saw them as helpless victims of themselves; which, given his occupation at the time, was an apt contextualization, but within the bigger picture, it ironically dehumanized non-sorcerers. it was underhandedly condescending, whether he was conscious of it or not.

the very root of his defection is this: he did not view non-sorcerers as equals to him in the first place. sure, plenty of other sorcerers also have this mindset, especially the very powerful ones, but geto made this the basis of his purpose, taking on the moral high ground by giving it meaning. after toji and after mimiko and nanako, he recontextualized and changed the meaning of what it meant to be powerful—but while his circumstances and his proximity to non-sorcerers changed (him revoking his empathy towards them), the patronizing way he viewed them (“monkeys” now) was constant; it was his pivot foot from charitable pity to resentment and hatred.

some things to consider: i assume geto was fairly new to the jujutsu scene in the hidden inventory arc, given his non-sorcerer family. i also assume he must’ve felt very alone prior to his enrollment, being the only one in his family to see cursed spirits, and possibly the only one in his childhood environment. this grand introduction to a some sort of a secret society must’ve felt special to him; it must’ve made him feel special, especially considering he was put on par with the kid who everyone thought was immensely powerful.

i can see why he thought himself better compared to the non-sorcerer background he grew up in. plus, it would be hard to not let your ego inflate when someone like gojo keeps referring to you as half of “the strongest duo.”

i also think that despite how black and white and consequential his outlook on life was before and after his defection, he probably still had his doubts and moments of wavering throughout his decade-long career as a curse user. i mean, he said it himself—his goal is only possible for one person only, and it’s not him. that could definitely be a factor, and it could also be some lingering sentimentality, too. he burned the bridge between him and his past and he just couldn’t risk the distance, but he probably thought of it sometimes.

i’ll end this post with a quote from him from the anime that made me really think. geto does care, but at such a young age, it was a juvenile and idealistic concept of “care.” had he stayed and grown up a little, worked through the trauma and organized with his fellow sorcerers (instead of assuming responsibility alone like he did, leaving to create a better future for sorcerers without including them in his plans), perhaps he could’ve made this a reality:

“survival of the weakest. that’s how a society should be. the weak help each other and discourage any who are too strong.”

[duckiemimi]

I think that I will catch up with jjk manga again when Sukuna is defeated...

*when the manga ends (because what else is there after sukuna's gone 😭 gege's not gonna be worldbuilding or writing plot anymore, i don't think,,,)

[duckiemimi]

as soft and embarrassing as this sounds, i put my heart and soul into my writing, my art, and my analyses—they're the most serious i am and i've been in this fandom. though you might not know me in real life, if you're ever curious about the type of person i am, what my values are, my love and grief, look no further than the core of my art and my written thoughts. i think i'm glad that i’ve got all the time in the world to think about words.

[duckiemimi]

the concept of residual/post-mortem nen reminds me so much of how sorcerers can potentially become vengeful curses if not killed with jujutsu, because both phenomena are triggered by the deceased's intense emotions that linger after death, though technically, jjk lore doesn't quite state that negative emotions or emotions at all play into sorcerers becoming curses, just that they need to be killed with jujutsu, but considering cursed spirits usually manifest from negative emotions that convert into leaking cursed energy, i'm going to lightly assume that it might affect the chances of a sorcerer becoming a curse, but i guess i'll have to reread hxh to properly understand and explain so yea

[duckiemimi]

i'm never logging back on twt, tell me why i just saw someone say i support naoya, twt is the trenches how do ppl survive there

[duckiemimi]

the whole honesty corner series is actually about comrade geto using his magic penis to turn billionaire gojo into a bourgeois class traitor

[duckiemimi]

the other day someone commented that they brought up pfam in their university class for a discussion on how fanfics depict love and that the class even went on to analyze it and oh wow i really don't know what to say that's absolutely bonkers thank you thank you thank you oh wow

[duckiemimi]

someone commented "the real horror here is that geto is straight /j" on pfam and honestly 😭 yea! i debated on making him do a gay reawakening and then i thought, "hm...which fits better? your loved one losing their memories and rediscovering (parts of) themselves, but not with you? or them becoming someone entirely different, making it apparent that you no longer fit in their life?" idk, i thought the latter had bite!

[duckiemimi]

idk why honesty corner is getting more engagement on ao3 but thank you 😭 speaking of which, i'm still working on a chapter 4 rewrite...i had a little writing hiatus from the end of 2023 to earlier this year so i haven't really been working on fics (just played with the idea of them really), but rest assured, halfway through honesty corner's rewrite i'll finish the last chapter of the last fic in the series! yea! thank you again!! <3

[duckiemimi]

three body problem cosmic horror sci-fi au where geto's brain goes out to space and all gojo has left of him is a star

[duckiemimi]

i fell into a little rabbit hole while reading bora chung's cursed bunny when i found the japanese proverb 「人ひとを呪のろわば穴あな二ふたつ」 ("hito o norowaba ana futatsu"), meaning "when you curse a man, [you dig] two graves" (click here for reference and click on the first link at the bottom for more context). it's a cautionary proverb about the consequences of cursing or invoking evil onto others, similar in a way to the english proverb "what goes around comes around."

i dug around some more (hah!) and found an article explaining the origins of the proverb (click on the second link at the bottom). do bear with my lacking skills when it comes to translating, but from what i understand, the proverb itself originated from the heian period. onmyoji (click on the third link at the bottom) were civil servants who practiced onmyodo, specializing in magic and divination. the article describes them using the kanji 呪術師 (third highlight in the left image), or jujutsushi, meaning sorcerer.

these onmyoji were responsible for calendar-related tasks and mystical duties such as divination, but the most interesting duty listed was protecting the capital from evil spirits, or 怨霊を (vengeful spirit) as the article cites, by cursing and killing the capital's opponents. now, this was a particularly dangerous task because they risked having that curse "returned" back to them in a counter-attack, killing them in the process, too—hence why one must prepare two graves when one resorts to "cursing" someone.

now that we've established the history of the proverb, it initially struck me as familiar because...

it's something geto mentioned when he came to the school to declare war! and...

later on when he says his last words to gojo!

given that the series takes some inspiration from onmyodo in the heian period (the golden age of jujutsu in the story), it's befitting that a proverb like this would make an appearance in the actual dialogue. in both instances, the proverb was relevant in geto's dialogue.

the article i referred to before also provided two example sentences related to the proverb, which when translated become:

"As there is a saying that if you curse people, there are two graves, hatred only produces unhappiness."

"I hate him so much. Even if you say that if you curse people, you will have two graves, I'm prepared for that."

as the geto fanatic that i am i find it interesting that both these phrases could align with geto's lines in volume 0. the first time geto references this proverb, it's when he says, "let's curse each other to our hearts' content." i've talked about this in my other posts (click here for one of them), that i've always believed that geto knew his pursuit of ideal was futile, or "impossible" as he explained to gojo in shinjuku. regardless of the outcome, this was the path he chose for himself, a path where he had to constantly pretend to the people around him that it was indeed possible.

referring to the proverb, the two graves here would be geto and the subject of his curse, non-sorcerers. his curse—his hatred—only led to his own unhappiness and his own demise. as it is, he failed his attack and the only grave there was his. he died unable to laugh from the bottom of his heart.

the second time geto references this proverb, it's when he says, "at least curse at me a little at the very end." he says this in an easy exasperation in response to gojo's omitted last words to him. he expects gojo to hate him or at least be angry with him, but instead gojo does not "curse" him the way he thought he'd be.

refering to the proverb, geto expects gojo to hate him so much, he'd curse him even if it might risk his own life to see geto dead. instead, gojo spares him—or rather, gojo says what he says honestly, without the disguise of anger or spite. the two graves here, at least in geto's mind, would be gojo and the subject of his curse, geto himself. ironically, despite the lack of "curse," there is still a grave for one body. in a more figurative sense, perhaps that alley is a teeming graveyard.

what an apt cautionary proverb for such a vengeful character.

links i couldn't hyperlink:

[duckiemimi]

i watched a video describing bad back form during deadlifts as an "energy leak" and it made me think of a world where sorcerers are just really, really good at deadlifts, great form and great technique, and that allows them to avoid energy leakage and maintain cursed energy flow, meaning their duty in society (read: the gym) is to spot people with bad form, meaning in an alternate universe geto was a gym bro who got fed up with constantly spotting people with bad form

[duckiemimi]

on the jujutsu mindset and power

what does it mean to be powerful?

in this post (click), i talked about how pre-defection geto operated from a place of arrogance, thinking himself better than non-sorcerers even before he defected. to expand on that, in reality most sorcerers think the same way to some degree.

(geto's case is particularly unique in that he grew up with non-sorcerer parents while having an extraordinary CT—and that later he set out to do what most sorcerers would only think of in moments of weakness. despite his background, his skills were impressive enough to earn him half of the moniker "the strongest duo," sharing the title with someone like gojo who was essentially born and bred for jujutsu. in any case, i did explore on why his background could have a lot to do with how he processed everything post-riko in that first post and a little here (click) and here, too (click)).

in chapter 74, we get some context on the time vessel association and subsequently, the history of jujutsu and how it came to be. it's said that tengen themself laid the moral foundation of modern-day jujutsu in the nara period (ad 710-784), just before the golden age of jujutsu in the heian period (ad 794-1185). despite tengen's efforts, a clash of ideas persisted between jujutsu and religion (Buddhism).

the most interesting part of the conversation here, though, is that the representative of the cult says that, "even jujutsu sorcerers who have authorization beyond normal rights for many things cannot lay hands on non-curse users," implying that historically, jujutsu sorcerers have always had more authority than non-curse users, curse users, and non-sorcerers, an authority etched in a set of agreed upon rules that ultimately developed into the modern jujutsu laws, which were established by the big three clans (click for more context).

aligned with tengen's teachings during the nara period, these rules serve as a ceiling of sorts, to disarm the power sorcerers could potentially wield against the powerless. but as we see with sukuna later on in the heian period, power can be more desirable than morality. as opposed to the famous "with great power, comes great responsibility" quote, something tengen seemed to push for, great power also comes with great arrogance, and the great lust to exercise it.

while modern jujutsu is considerably more "civil" and organized, the sentiment still lingers. the recent system centers around the concept of duty towards humanity, an obligation to protect those who cannot protect themselves from cursed spirits—or in other words, to protect the powerless. as geto once said in the anime, "survival of the weakest. that's how a society should be. the weak help each other and discourage any who are too strong."

even to its roots, the jujutsu education system instills a sense of responsibility in its young to use their powers for the benefit of society, but it's written there in fine-print: "you have power, and you have more of it than other people." we see how this manifests in two major ways, the first being an attitude of apathy (like student gojo, and to an equal or lesser extent, many other sorcerers), and the second being pride in purpose (like student geto). either way, both projections come from a place of "i am better than them, therefore ＿."

herein lies the cleverness of the jujutsu machine: the more powerful you are, the better you are as a sorcerer, thus the more you're put to work to serve its current purpose. for those who care, this acknowledgment of power becomes incentive—until it breaks them. unfortunately, with its lack of resources, the system eats its tail by exploiting its own sorcerers, who are also lacking in numbers. this is the cause of sorcerer resentment and it's what pushes them to leave or turn. after all, why does it seem like they are powerless when they've been taught all their lives that they are powerful?

the secretive nature of jujutsu makes matters worse because sorcerers do not receive direct feedback from the people they have a duty to protect, resulting in a lack of real emotional connection, of empathy. and it's here where arrogance thickens. non-sorcerers cannot give you validation for your work, and the system barely gives any, if at all. you need to have an overflowing reservoir of self-assurance to be able to get through your day to day as a sorcerer. you need to be at least a little bit arrogant to be a sorcerer. you need to believe you matter enough to make a difference, because if not you, then who?

since power is such a big theme in jjk, i do hope we get to see it punctuated in a nice conclusion by the end of the series. because really, what does it mean to be powerful when power isolates? what does power mean when you're alone?

[duckiemimi]

MIMI!!!! I MISSED YOU (also how do you use this site 💀💀💀)

VEN HIIIIIII OMG IT'S BEEN A WHILE (it's a learning curve here but it's fun!!!!)

[duckiemimi]

miyano knows what's up