#gojo and levi are the true two opposites of my personality

[cosmicjoke]

hey cosmic! usually i come to dms with this sort of thing but figured i’d leave it open today for everyone to see haha

i was thinking about levi and gojo today, the fact that both of them are the strongest in their respective universes. and about how they both have this side of them that deeply cares etc etc. but they also are soooo different when it comes to personalities. gojo loves being called the strongest whereas levi doesn’t seem to care for it, for example.

so my question to you is what do you think is they key similarities and the key differences between the two men? just thought it would be a fun topic since i was thinking about it today :)

Hey!

You know, that's really an interesting question, because as you said, Levi and Gojo really couldn't be more different in terms of personality. Whereas Levi is extremely calm and quiet and reserved, Gojo is just this manic ball of energy and enthusiasm, very outgoing and extroverted, whereas Levi is very withdrawn and introverted.

I imagine Gojo's hyperactive behavior would probably drive Levi up a wall, lol.

I think where they're the same is, obviously, the weight of expectations put on both of them for being "the strongest" in their respective universes. Both of them are expected by others to always take care of the problem, whatever it might be. To be the one to handle a situation if it gets out of hand or too much for anyone else. I think both of them have to deal with a certain sense of isolation in their strength. It naturally puts a wall between them and everyone else. They're expected never to break down or give in to anything. I think they both feel they have to be a pillar, a rock that others can cling to. A lot of Levi's reserve and Gojo's goofiness is a manifestation of them protecting their own feelings. I don't think either of them feels they can afford to let their emotions out, or to let others see how they're being hurt or affected by the events around them, because they're expected to be the backbone, to hold everyone else up, etc... So while their personalities are polar opposite to one another, it's interesting, because I think those traits in each of them are sort of rooted in the same thing. This need to be strong for everyone else. Gojo maintains that image of strength by acting like nothing bothers him, and Levi maintains it by simply not expressing himself outwardly at all, at least, not verbally. Of course, at key moments, we see the depth of their true feelings come through, and just how deeply they're impacted by everything.

I actually think Gojo's hyperactive, almost childish personality is more of an act, though, whereas I think Levi really is just naturally a very quiet, withdrawn person. I say that because Levi was always like that, even as a child, and no doubt those personality traits were exacerbated by where and how he grew up. But from what we see of Gojo as a child, he was very serious. He's never smiling or acting like a child in the flashbacks we get of him. But once he reaches high school, he's suddenly this extremely happy go lucky individual who acts very much like a child. I think Gojo's goofy personality is, in a lot of ways, him rebelling against the strict and stringent world he grew up in, and the expectations put on him from birth.

I think Levi's withdrawn and subdued personality is, in many ways, just who he is, but also in other ways, a result of the hardship of his life. Levi's reservedness comes across to me a lot of the time as actual depression. I wrote a post about how, rather than looking stoic, like people say of him all the time, Levi looks more sad to me than anything. I think a lot of his quietness and lack of expression comes from a place of deep hurt and sadness. I think he feels depressed a lot of the time, and it just manifests naturally in his body language and expressions. He looks beaten down a lot of the time, exhausted and worn out.

Basically, while I think Gojo has purposefully crafted this mask for himself to wear, this aloof, blase, flippant behavior, as a means of protecting his feelings, and also as a way of rebelling against the strict nature of the world he grew up in and the expectations put on him, I think Levi's lack of outward expression is more the result of having just lived a very hard life and it's left him a sad person, which manifests in a kind of subdued, almost resigned attitude. And while I think Gojo intentionally tries to make it seem as if he doesn't care, and intentionally acts like a child to sort of project that image, for Levi, it's not that he wants people to think he doesn't care, or isn't affected by things, it's more that Levi just grew up in such a hard environment and lost so much so early on that he doesn't feel like he can afford to be self-indulgent with his feelings, either for himself or anyone else. He can't afford to allow himself time to grieve or give in to his emotions, because other people might get hurt or die as a result, etc... He also doesn't want to become attached to others because of how much he's lost, and he knows he isn't capable of not caring. He tries to keep his distance because he knows he's susceptible to caring too much. He can't just detach himself emotionally from others, or have tunnel vision when it comes to the mission or whatever. If he loses someone, he knows it's going to hurt him a LOT. It's the kind of pain I think Levi would like to avoid if he could, but it's also testament to his selflessness, that despite not wanting to become attached or responsible for others because of how much he knows it will eventually hurt him, he still always ends up doing so anyway. He can't help it because that's just who he is. For as unsociable and unfriendly as Levi seems, I think he actually loves people deeply and is naturally drawn to them, and to forming relationships with them. I think that's obvious too in the fact that, at the end of the story, we see Levi with a new family unit in Gabi, Falco and Onyankopon.

Anyway, yeah, that was kind of a rambling answer. I hope it was at least somewhat coherent, haha.