#stsg thoughts

[lxmelle]

KFC breakup.

I’m seeing it from a slightly different perspective which is still kind of aligned with what my thoughts were over what Geto meant when he posed the question:

Are you Gojo Satoru therefore the Strongest? Or are you the Strongest therefore you’re Gojo Satoru?

Was this hinting at how he wanted Gojo to think about who he is, because he cannot be by his side anymore following his choice. Leaving him with this question.

He wished to push him away. Never asked him to leave with him despite needing strength to realise it. Was he intending for Gojo to remain as the Human Satoru, who was the Strongest?

Since he said, “if I were you, this foolish dream would not be impossible”. So he took on the role of what Gojo could’ve done, to do it to the best of his ability, knowing he probably wouldn’t be as strong, but was committed to anyway.

And tried to leave Satoru as the one who could retain humanity? (And he did, trying to realise Geto’s own dreams because Geto did model humanity for Gojo and he made it his own set of morals and philosophy - which he did fulfil as best as he could).

More context:

Spoiler for chapter 261:

I’ll loosely translate:

Yuta says don’t become a monster all on your own, please. Gojo turns much like Geto did in chapter 78.

He then recollects his memory of Geto when Yuta expressed this concern for him, he thought to himself that it was an impossibility to not become a monster on his own. He was left behind then (when Geto left) and then in the white panel, that he has to catch up to him.

I think there is a parallel with how he has decided to proceed with the plan to kill mercilessly. To opt for moral greyness for the sake of his students and their future. Even if it is a future without him.

This is paralleled with what Geto was trying to do. Protect Gojo. Keep him humane. Since, he opted to do what Yuki thought was crazy. Since, he opted to do what he told Gojo not to do at the hideout in retaliation for Riko’s death.

Chasing after Geto could possibly mean he wished to repent for not killing him then and there, but I think it’s more about what Yuta said and the futility of it, with the burden he now bore to fight Sukuna and protect by weatherproofing the future. He had made up his mind like Geto did. Even if he isn’t alive to see it. To try his best for an impossible dream.

He seemed to understand and think about Geto’s motives then, and wished to wield his strength as The Strongest with a solid purpose this time. He would do it to protect those he cared about. He would chase the same dream as Geto. To catch up to him and not be left alone, for this (meaning/purpose) was all he had of his best friend lover all along.

That’s my interpretation anyway. Thoughts?

[21milespastblue]

a snippet of something i'm working on, jjk fic that takes place sometime after hidden inventory but before premature death. stsg are fucking, but not in a "relationship." this is supposed to be toward the end

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"Is everything alright?"

that's what satoru would say if he didn't know suguru as well as he did. he didn't need to ask if everything was ok to know that they weren't and he didnt need to hear suguru deny that anything was wrong. its enough to just lay there next to suguru and feel his breathing, see the squint of his eyes toward the ceiling. he could see the light pallor on his face, literally see the shape of his soul shift and scoot, like it's trembling, scared.

satoru inches even closer to suguru. if he could, he would sink into suguru's skin, stitch them together at the epidermis. since he can't join them at the cellular level, he settles for his legs tangled in suguru's, one arm over his rising and falling chest and the other bent so it can careen through the soft locks of suguru's hair. he presses the gentlest kiss he can muster, resisting the urge to try to consume suguru whole, onto the skin where his neck and right ear.

suguru hitches himself deeper into satoru in response.

"What's this for?"

he wish he could bite into suguru sometimes, suck out whatever was worrying him or ailing him the same way he consumed curses. so much power, that satoru would readily give for and to suguru and there's still so little he can do in the face of the thing that nudges and rips at the edges of suguru's being. he gnaws suguru's neck.

"And that was for?"

"You think too much, suguru."

"Someone has to think enough for the both of us."

satoru's mind flashes; suguru's tone was hardly mocking, chock full of latent affection and an edge of sarcasm, but the images flood satoru's find before he can think. a body in his arms, people, warm bodies behind him; blade in his chest, suguru running toward him; a knife in his neck. the feeling of death, the novel feeling of lying in a pool of your own blood. then complete and utter bliss, apathy. suguru. suguru, suguru, suguru.

"...My immense contribution to thinking aside," suguru moves to pet satoru at the sound of his hurt tone, "...it's not a big deal, you know? You know you don't sleep always well, we both don't, and our techniques are--well." satoru nuzzles his head deeper into the crook of suguru's neck. he feels stupid all of the sudden, thoughts in his head that come out of his mouth even more jumbled.

he knows he can always rely on suguru, and suguru has always relied on him. it just felt pertinent in this moment, to say it with suguru next to him. suguru should know what he means, he knows him better than he does himself. he's his best friend.

suguru gives a low chuckle.

"Now, you're thinking too much, satoru. Stop spouting obvious things, close your eyes, and go to sleep."

satoru wretches his way out of the suguru and sits up now, invigorated. suguru can hear the sly smile on his face, imagines the wry lines of mouth pulled upward, can feel them when he leans down and kisses him on the forehead. his fingers rake over the sides of suguru's face. for the first time in weeks, suguru is totally and fully submerged with satoru's bedtime ritual for him and he smiles for it.

no being pulled away, passing out from pure exhaustion, no emergency missions, or miles between them.

satoru continues his raking with tender hands; "i'm not sleeping until you sleep. and i'll talk about obvious things however i please."

satoru can still feel, see, something that gnaws at suguru's soul, but it's not trembling anymore, not anxious, the perimeter reverberating, as if humming. he decides to push it aside, content to have suguru in his hands (he's had him in his hands all night, he just can't ever stop asking for more), to talk him to sleep. he hopes that suguru can feel everything, he means everything he feels for him through his hands, hear it in the soft fondness of his voice, the things he would never say, that are embarrassing and weird, even for two teenage boys who are fucking without cause or reason. he hopes he felt it when he was inside him earlier, when they were kissing, the second their eyes met upon their reunion after several weeks. some part of him insists suguru will always know, but another part worries that suguru for all his attentiveness, principles, and poise, still misses things. satoru can't say the most important thing of all.

fingers rake again.

"Where did we leave off last time? I was telling you about the new digidestined! now, like I said before, these new kids don't know half of the shit Tai and the other ones went through-"

"What about the Digimon Emperor?"

"I got ahead of myself last time, I really shouldn't have told you about him, didn't even explain the new cast--ah, what the fuck, so Ken, crap, I mean, the "Digimon Emperor" lives-"

[irafook]

Baby sorcerers

[justrustandstardust]

how can people say stsg isn’t canon when actual official art shows gojo about to gleefully slap geto’s cheeks so hard he sends him flying into space

[rombitzy]

flexible!

[madarasfloofyhair]

the gojo getou storyline makes me unhinged for so many reasons. it's told totally out of order. you meet getou's corpse first, then watch gojo kill him in the film after getou's gone insane, and then you see their friendship. that friendship that's just two teenagers and all it's fun chaos and conflicting ideals. then. toji happens. and both of them during this period were SO CLOSE to being the only ones who understood each other. so close to being able to see through one another-- "you haven't released your technique yet, have you? you've not slept either, and I bet you're not gonna sleep tonight either-" and "suguru... have you lose weight?" and yet their friendship, the trust between them, "after all, we're the strongest", was splitting at the seams the more what they could individually tolerate changed. gojo had awakening by himself, accepted himself as THE strongest, felt a little untouchable and so able to change things, was choosing teaching and facing the elders-- and getou's conflicting ideals and sacrifices in all his comparative powerlessness as missions by himself piled up sent him spiraling. the dam breaks and getou takes his own route and so becomes a wound gojo would hold onto for the rest of his life. a pain that would be weaponised against him. it's feels like such a flip from adult gojo being seemingly too cool, uncaring and childish, when in fact it's getou who treats their past friendship as some trivial teenage stuff, while gojo holds onto everything with deep regret, and later with deep betrayal at seeing getou's corpse used this way.

[epickiya722]

Wait, wait, wait... this seems familiar... hold on... no! NO! Don't tell me!

*sighs*

What if I just punch a wall? What if I cried my eyes out? What if I just punch a wall while crying my eyes out?

[rk-tmblr]

And I said “take my body, use it as you need”, because the only one I wanted to be buried with didn't have a grave, so why should I?

-Gojo Satoru/Geto Suguru

[redrocketpanda]

Something that has been driving me insane about the credits are these sections with the fish so please bear with me whilst I do a mini deep dive (hehe) into fish discourse because YO, we need to talk about these fish!

Notice how at the beginning of the credits we actually have two white fish swimming along beside one another; one with bright turquoise eyes and the other with black.

A little while later the fish begin to circle each other and a droplet falls into the water between them. As the disturbance ripples out from the center, one of the fish dives deeper into the water and changes its colour to black; symbolizing Geto's change and descent into darkness

Then we have this heartbreakingly beautiful moment with Gojo and Geto:

I cannot stop thinking about how long Gojo watches the black fish for as it swims across the screen, whereas Geto's eyes are lowered the moment the white fish appears and he closes them as it swims past.

Gojo cannot bear to tear his eyes away, whilst Geto cannot bear to look

Throughout the credits, Gojo and Geto have been making their way towards each other through the pouring rain (or mostly sitting and waiting in Geto's case). At the end, they meet each other under a bridge and as they walk away together we see the fish a final time, swimming together again in a puddle formed by the heavy rain.

Geto walks on the left in the light, as the white fish swims close to his head, almost invisible in the brightness of the light. Whilst Gojo walks on the right in the shadow with the black fish swimming further away but still close by.

The fish speed after the two men before disappearing completely under the water just before the camera pans up and we watch as Gojo pulls Geto in for a hug as they walk away, before he's playfully shoved away by Geto.

There's a lot going on the credits (+ opening) that is absolutely killing me but man, these fish?! Breathtaking.

[junmeraki]

Constantly thinking about Gojo and when he loves someone he tries to make them smile and laugh as much as possible. His love language is a good fucking time. being a constant clown and a source of happiness for everyone but especially Suguru who always needed that levity the most

[niinnyu]

Rage (?)

+2 pages that didn't fit/were redundant but i liked them :)

[lxmelle]

Those letters for his students was like Gojo’s way of showing consideration for them.

That’s what Geto Suguru, the “Gojo translator”, would say to them, if he was there.

I mean, there was a reason they were best friends - Geto understood him the best. He helped him learn how to (and the importance of) connecting to others - how to not be lonely.

It was the same in the scene with Kuroi. Right before he shouted for Gojo over the time, he just instinctively knew how to connect with Gojo and helped others with sympathising with Gojo.

I didn’t play the JJK game but I think the undercurrent dynamics is similar. Their bond. The exclusivity. Love. The whole breakup was about their friendship. The change the new generation got was also due to the path forged by them. As it stands, Gojo is shown to be largely misunderstood and nobody aside from Yuta has shown much affection for Gojo. Maybe Yuji ... to some degree. But I digress.

Maybe it’s an unpopular opinion, but considering how Geto-centred Gojo’s GIGA Character book was, he was likely influenced by Geto’s strong protective love for his “family”.

It makes sense to me that Gojo thought it would be important to put the students’ minds at ease with any thoughts/questions about their family. Hence the letters to help tie up loose ends.

Megumi was shown to be thinking about his father, whin he assumed was out there somewhere. Even if he didn’t want to know, there is a subconscious level of unfinished business from thinking this. And to know that Gojo killed him, may have helped him realise that his sensei had his back all this while. He was worth protecting all this while. That chapter of his life can truly close.

And just how bloody typical of his sensei, who has no “delicate-ness” about him!

As a sensei, and as a person, Gojo always protected others from his own personal concerns. He and Geto both stubbornly lived & fought “alone” because this was just their belief as the burden of the strongest = to protect others. The line was drawn and Gojo only ever wanted Geto to understand him, hence his conversation in 236. Only ever needed Geto by his side: hence his only complex was Geto leaving him behind.

We see this in how Shoko felt distant from them both. Stating in her inner monologue how she could never love either of them, but she was there - insinuating what they had between them was not something she could give (love) but her friendship was there if only Gojo let her in. And we see it in how, when she tried to connect with Gojo post-unsealing, by including Geto’s body as someone to be retrieved, he was a bit taken aback, starting his sentence with a long pause “……...” and keeping it simple / not elaborating (だな - it’s like the equivalent of a “yeah” but implies agreement).

Also, the fact the students and others can joke and call him an idiot, etc. means he really hid it well. Gojo protected them all. (As a teacher and adult should, I guess.)

I’m reminded of this scene.

Geto helped Gojo empathise & “not bully the weak”, but to also consider what else may be important... even if they may not think so themselves.

Until they receive what they thought they didn’t want, only to realise it was what they needed after all.

Cuz… y’kow: people (especially children) don’t always know what they want or need.

Sometimes what you want isn’t what you need. What you need isn’t necessarily what you want.

Gojo & Geto lived through that too... didn’t they? On so many levels… wanting, needing, denying, losing, yearning. Carrying their burdens they had nobody to share with. Making decisions on their own. Giving to the other a piece of their heart. Sacrificing themselves. Accepting each others loneliness as their own. Thinking they were better off loving the other by being apart.

The painful lessons that shaped the way for the new world. Children given the protection from The Strongest Sorcerer of the Modern Era. Granted a world with fewer curses for 10 years due to the Strongest Curse User.

Children who had adults to guide, protect, and care for them.

Children who do not have to be killed for the mistakes of others, who were forced to commit sins, or for being born a certain way.

I think every single sorcerer who were adults helped the kids in some way. The layers and layers of this story is just... overwhelmingly beautiful.

Much remains to be seen now. I’m worried that Yuta will have to live in Gojo’s body and that Kenjaku’s eerie words of Yuta being “the next Gojo Satoru” will extend beyond that battle.

People on X seem to be speculating whether a world without curses will exist (going back to jjk 0 and Geto’s ideals). What of the barriers without tengen? Some question reality as we are being shown - is it an elaborate dream? Hm.

I hope for the plant/flower trio at least... Megumi and Yuji can use their shared tragedy as vessels who committed sins to bond and support one another. Nobara is a great buffer and heroine in her own right. Their dynamics are really amazing. Independent, yet so bonded.

I’d love to see Gojo & Geto at peace. I guess whatever happens, chapter 236 is a bit like salvation. And doesn’t Megumi’s smiling pic (above) look similar? If these two smiled as if they had no regrets , we can assume Megumi smiled sincerely upon receiving the letter, too.

As long as Gege doesn’t do anything to change it.

Please please don’t. They deserve a reward for their hard work and sacrifice!

[21milespastblue]

i need to draw stsg watching/playing digimon together............either satoru brainrotting aloud about digimon to suguru (me personified) or suguru being as srsly invested as satoru in digimon at some point

[waiting-for-a-sunny-day]

PLEASE LOOK at the way that Geto (pretends to) listen to Riko, but Gojo just blatantly stops paying attention and checks out Geto instead

WHYYYYY are you staring at him??? (We all know why)

[justrustandstardust]

my favourite thing about gojo and geto’s relationship is how it’s so breathtakingly intimate. it goes deeper than their matching names, the yin/yang symbolism, the dichotomous light/dark ideologies. it’s woven into the very fabric of their characters.

when you watch them together, there’s a pervasive sense that we, the viewer, are almost intruding. they’re always laughing at a joke we don’t understand, riling each other up in the way only they can, sharing the same frequency and making decisions without even needing to speak. we, as the audience, consistently have the feeling that we’re walking in on something that’s meant to be shared by two people alone.

it’s in how they refer to each other by their first name without honorifics, even after all these years. it’s the way geto and gojo are having one conversation with their mouths and another with their eyes when geto shows up to declare war. it’s the way geto can read gojo even when he’s blindfolded.

it’s the way we see gojo’s truest self around geto. it’s in how gojo knows how geto’s mind works after a decade. it’s in gojo’s demeanour completely changing around geto, dropping the lighthearted mask he maintains for everyone else.

there is no act more intimate than taking a life. there is no one else other than gojo that could’ve done it because there is no one else that shares the closeness begot by the act. gojo’s last words to geto are for him alone; not even the audience gets to know what transpired between them in geto’s final moments.

their connection is for them and them alone. and it is achingly beautiful.

[madarasfloofyhair]

I still can't get over stsg's introduction as a concept. gojo was built up to be isolatingly powerful, a league of his own: childish, annoying to all those close to him, hard to stand but respectable (aka nanami and utahime), a slippery guiding mentor, unruly and untamable, a whole force of his own and solely his own (the confidence, the disobedience to elders, the reputation, the fear and awe around him)---all introduced through yuuji's non-judgemental and curious lens. I think someone pointed ages ago out how- the closer someone is to gojo, the more tired they look inside. and that's why when they actually introduce the fact gojo had an actual, real friend- a best friend- you start to think, what? what kind of person would suit and match satoru gojo? who is this? who would make gojo feel equal? and it's somehow??? this obnoxiously moral guy?? filled with a kick of anger and buckets of tormented righteousness, and a witty (later turned bitter) benevolent streak. and you watch gojo watching him, always standing by him, watch him fit into place there like he couldn't see anything else. watch the in-sync laughter, the back-and-forth banter, watch them just be teenagers admist it - someway and somehow - same childish attitude, but younger, impressionable, and its like gojo's storing all his experiences with geto away in his mind. the discussions of who to protect-? gojo lives it out. the pain of geto's fall-? gojo carries it for the rest of his life, an aching open wound. it almost hurts that gojo's childish antics aren't complimented by geto's indulgent, light-hearted admonishing anymore. something you didn't realise was missing the whole time until now??? didn't realise "after all, I'm the strongest" used to be been "after all, we're the strongest". and in getting to know geto, you puzzle through how he was gojo's 'one and only': a guy who's personality comes off a bit controlling, a bit forceful, way too philosophical, clinically considerate- and somehow this really was gojo's best friend. they clashed over all their differences all their time together and yet even that was so important to them both, and you come to know it couldn't have been anyone else. this is who helped make gojo who he is. this is who was missing from him at the start.