#Villain Arc or Redemption Arc? I'm torn! I just ask that we SEE it no more time-skip cuts! 😤

[yeyeliz]

villainous breakdown in ✨full color✨- love to see it

sketch dump under the cut

[psychewritesbs]

Unpopular opinion in the fandom right now, but I don't think Megumi becoming a villain is, if at all, plausible. It would be way too typical for Gege and very obvious.

I don't think he'll get out unscathed either and that a corruption arc is likely to happen, but in jjk's case this 'corruption' may be interpreted as the need to confront the worst version of one's self in order to reach completion. Kind of like a union of opposites (like how he got Totality after white divine dog got killed).

Don't know how Gege will do it but Megumi's upcoming arc might just make him the best character this series has to offer, and he's pretty much already on the way there.

Dear anon, I want you to know you are EVIL* for inducing the brain rot. Your cunning took you to the top of the ask queue. I have things I should be prioritizing, and yet here we are--me gladly taking the bait you so generously placed in my inbox lol.

You see, the thing is... yeah, my agenda is that I want to see Megumi go feral and do feral Megumi-things and be a menace. To whom? I'm torn 50/50 on whether I want him to be so distraught that he turns against everyone, including Sukuna, or whether I want him to shred Sukuna to pieces only. There's absolutely no denying that. But I suspect you might be right and I had already thought something similar might be the case.

I still think Megumi needs to take responsibility for himself, after all, him becoming or not becoming a "villain" and taking responsibility for himself are not mutually exclusive. But...

Evil*-induced word vomit under the cut.

... there's just something about Megumi right now that is asking for healing and self-acceptance and, yeah... other than the fact that Megumi going full on villain is an "obvious" outcome, a "cliché/obvious villain" arc feels kind of jarring rn if I'm honest. And while he could still become a "villain" and redeem himself (which is where I'd put my money--"corruption and redemption" arc)... idk anon.

I'm kind of with you actually? And at the same time I feel like being a "villain" in jjk is far more nuanced than just doing "#evil things".

Again. I want to see Megumi be selfish and go feral. But I really think right now the situation is calling for Megumi accepting everything he doesn't like about himself. Could he just loose his poop and go on a killing spree and then redeem himself? Sure.

I like the whole idea that someone you saved could hurt others. People have brought this up a lot recently.

But something that I can't quite put my finger on feels like you might be onto something.

Anyways, there's layers to your ask. Let's peel them back.

What if the corruption part of the arc was getting possessed by Sukuna?

Notice how the parallel between Toji and Megumi and them going on a path of carnage has to do with being "unconscious".

To be more specific, ever since Megumi got possessed I've been wondering whether the possession itself wasn't meant to be the corruption arc in question. As you say, "'corruption' may be interpreted as the need to confront the worst version of one's self in order to reach completion" and I couldn't agree more with you.

I wonder if Gege isn't telling us that Sukuna is what Megumi could be if only he got out of his own way. Tons of parallels to support this idea. But I think particularly relevant to this is that when we are "unconscious" to our potential and who we are, not only do we call what happens to us "fate", our sense of self is vulnerable to corruption from outside sources.

In Megumi's case, we're talking about Sukuna possessing his body because Megumi had a tendency to live for others and reject aspects of himself that he projected onto others. Cue that one panel showing "learned helplessness":

So... for a very long time I've been wondering whether getting possessed by a demonic force means his soul was corrupted.

Jacob's Ladder

Here I go talking about Jacob's Ladder again. Like... don't I have something better to talk about?

NO!

Guys. Seriously. Jacob's Ladder (1990) is... just do yourself a favor and go watch it and then watch videos analyzing it because I can't do the themes in it justice if I'm honest.

What I'll say about it for now is that this movie is a bit of a metaphor about the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Now, there are archetypal similarities between the stages of death according to the Tibetan Book of the Dead and Dante's Inferno in the Divine Comedy. This is relevant because Gege gave us two references to Dante's Inferno.

The first is that the purpose of the bath is "to be near evil" in the official translation.

But if I remember correctly, the Japanese raw uses the kanji for "beast" or something like that. Don't quote me on it. But the thing here is that at the very bottom of hell in the Divine Comedy, Dante meets the Devil.

The second reference is a little more of a leap in logic but we see it in the presence of Urizen's compass in the panel showing us Jacob's Ladder. Urizen is a character by William Blake who represents "God" and "good" as "reason". Blake is also the author of a painting depicting the Biblical "Jacob's Ladder". At the top of Biblical Jacob's Ladder and after climbing out of the Inferno, there is "God".

Gege dropping these references is interesting because they go back to the idea of good vs. evil and jjk "villains". More on villains in a bit.

That said. I'm going to leave this here just for funsies:

Jacob: I was in hell... it's all pain. Louie: You ever read Meister Eckhart?... Ekhart saw hell too. You know what he said? He said the only thing that burns in hell is the part of you that won't let go of your life. Your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away. But they're not punishing you, he said. They're freeing your soul... so the way he sees it, if you're frightened of dying and you're holding on, you see devils tearing your life away. But if you've made your peace, then the devils are really angels freeing you from the earth. It's just a matter of how you look at it. That's all.

What does it mean to be a "villain" in jjk?

Last thing I will say about this evil* ramble is that "villain" and "evil" are used in a very interesting way in jjk. The Jacob's Ladder reference specifically is very interesting because, according to what I shared above, going through hell can set you free from reason and attachments.

And villains and evil in jjk simply means "following your desires without regard for others." Villains have no attachments to others and are therefore freer to be themselves than others who do. This is, of course, exaggerated and blown out of proportion in jjk:

Sukuna emphasizes why extreme individualism (lack of regard for others) as "evil" is "bad". But I think that what Gege is actually doing with his villains is criticizing the collectivistic mindset in Japan: or "there is nothing wrong with leaving your attachment to others behind, being selfish, and doing what you desire, as long as you live and let live".

Where Sukuna says "if you're in my way I'll kill you," Megumi says "I won't kill you, so please don't kill me."

ANYWAYS. All that to say... I still want to see Megumi be selfish in the pursuit of what he desires, however that looks like. If that makes him a "villain", then so be it. He's already a more nuanced "villain" than Sukuna anyways because he is neither "good" or "evil".

And I think that's because Sukuna is missing one key ingredient...

Megumi's heart

(source)

I think D and I had this conversation after chapter 248 dropped? Remember I mentioned Sukuna's body language and thought patterns are unequivocally Megumi? If I remember correctly this conversation is in regard to that.

I haven't seen/read HxH so I can't speak to what D is talking about, but something about it rings TRUE.

And this is when I realized that, while I want to see Megumi do the "villain" thing, it rings more true that the corruption arc is behind us and now it becomes about Megumi's healing.

Just the way I had a weird intuition about something ominous happening to Megumi way back when, I smell a blessing from a mile away. Or as you said, "Don't know how Gege will do it but Megumi's upcoming arc might just make him the best character this series has to offer, and he's pretty much already on the way there."

ANON. YOU ARE EVIL for sending me this but I love you all the more for it. Thank you! As per usual, hope this made sense? LOL if I rambled too much and wasn't able to justify my points, I blame it on you for encouraging the brain rot before I finished cooking.

[thewriterowl]

Miss owl, can I ask your opinion on the sequel trilogy?

"Unfortunately" I am one of those people who hated it.

But I don't judge, although I keep wondering how they managed to ruin something that was so beautiful.

I'm not sure where they're going, I mean The Mandalorian was spectacular but The Book of Boba Fett is letting me down a bit.

I'm seriously scared for the Obi Wan series, I think it's either going to be spectacular or it'll suck, with no middle ground.

My expectations are very high, I want them to explore Obi Wan's pain and the consequences that the collapse of the republic and Anakin's betrayal have had on him.

Above all, his main mission is to protect Luke so I hope to see that too.

I am...torn. Honestly.

I think the Force Awakens could've been a lot better (needed more Luke and the OG-Trio) but I honestly really enjoyed it. I thought Kylo Ren was interesting as this guy who had everything but turned out poisoned, that Rey was amazing and how she had nothing but turned out so good, that Finn was sweet and had such growth, that Poe was funny and bright and so talented, and that the chemistry between all felt really good and could grow into something great.

But the decision to change who Luke is, all to give an excuse to Kylo was where, I felt everything began to shift negatively. They wanted to make Kylo into a brooding anti-hero who needed a woman to forgive him to heal. They made Rey his redemption. All of a sudden, in the Last Jedi, the story was taken from Rey (and it even felt the story itself was taken from Luke and Anakin) and given to Kylo. They wanted him to become Star Wars' face and, by god, they were gonna shoehorn him in to make him appealing in anyway possible...and to do that, they had to erase everything they worked up to in Force Awakens.

Almost all the weak writing scenes that had to do with other characters could be tied back to this desperation to put Kylo in the forefront and put him intertwined with Rey as a love-interest. The Canto Bight, the random non-Ezra guy who never appeared again, the guy they were there to actually get, the animals, Luke's choices and his bitterness and willingness to kill, Rey's fawning and all of a sudden ease in the ability to turn soft when she was feral beforehand, Leia's movements, the resistances, the side-quests of Poe....it all comes back to this need to change everyone to build Kylo up.

Push Finn with Rose means he becomes a side character who now has a love-interest (and while I do think there is some layer of homophobia and racism, for sure, I also believe it was mainly cause people in charge were so horny for sad white-boy Kylo as a specific reason that was brought through by the horrendous issues the set had towards their POC cast) and is no longer in the way of Kylo's and Rey's affection. Get Poe looking like an idiot who is a playboy and he can just be a not-as-important-Han wannabe. Make Leia just do something sorta cool in space, but mostly just not be there (except for Kylo angst) and we got some girl power...it was like they were trying to check off all the Woke Stuff as limply and quickly as possible to get back to Kylo.

And it hurt them. We didn't get anything that was built up. We were just torn down because they wanted Kylo to sell so desperately.

It's one of the reasons I don't like Kylo Ren and it is for a very meta reason. I'm fine with bastard characters. I'm fine with villains. I'm fine with the idea that we take this spoiled kid who had love and turned terrible and maybe not get a redeeming arc. I'm fine with that. It's actually really interesting to make him more like that, this layered character who was tempted into hate when he had everything, than what they made him out to be.

That is why I have more faith in these shows.

I admit, Book of Boba has some pretty weak writing moments. There are choices that are lackluster and some choppy movements. But I feel like, overall, the show is giving us a shift and focus of Boba. This is about giving Boba to Temura. It's about giving him more character...but not necessarily redeeming him for the audience (cause he sorta didn't need it; he was on the villain side but he was always a gray character doing things for himself) but about him growing for himself. And I love that. I feel that we are going to have a decent show as a whole once it all comes together. Yeah, probably not the strongest of the SW shows, but it is by no means bad in terms of character damnation like the sequels are. Book of Boba may not be the hottest series, but it is not going to ruin Boba's character (knock on wood).

And I think the same for Obi-Wan. Do i hope it is a destroyer of worlds, knocks us back, hits us in the feels, lets us see more of Obi-Wan like we want him? You bet I do. But i am aware that it may not be amazing. But I feel confident that while the show may not be brilliant, they are gonna do the character right.

We can say all we want about those at the top of LucasFilm and Disney (and it should be said and they should be ripped into) but while they have their own weaknesses and problematic tendencies, Jon and Dave have shown their writing and guidance and respect of the characters in Star Wars (and for the fans) are loads better than others who were in charge during the sequels. They actually listened and they actually love Star Wars and these characters. So, I can see them slip on a story-line, yes, I cannot see them slipping on the characters.

Cause at the moment for these shows, Jon and Dave are involved. To me, it feels like they don't trust others to touch these projects. are they gonna make bad choices on writers and directors? Yeah, sadly, that will be the case from time to time, especially as they really get these SW-series rolling, but I feel like they are making themselves aware of the fans and are aware of what is wanted and they are keeping a close eye on the characters (and maybe at times that will make them blind to other weaknesses...but man, if I don't get another Luke fiasco I can forgive them for some story slip-ups...tho still peeved on the Tusken-choice).

So, that was a bit long...and I don't want to elevate Jon and Dave too much because, again, they have problems...but I do, still, have more trust in them and how they are overseeing the series than I do with anyone who was really involved and had control over the sequels.