Can I ask your top 10 fav fics ever (from any fandom, if you don't mind)?

Also, just curious, is there a story behind your name "fushiglow "?

It's been a long time since I read any fic from a fandom other than JJK, so I can only think of JJK fic! Here are some that immediately come to mind (all SatoSugu to varying degrees), though I know I've missed a whole bunch off the list because this fandom is so talented:

yesterday in boldface by @chuuyasoup (any of their fic tbh)

The swallow builds its own indent. by No_Ir (any of their fic too)

愛のある場所; river of light (that brings me to you) by @yuzudetergent

coanda effect by @bunnieshoneys

the wine-dark sea (this body is not a home) by adlvnam

Split/Start by @ohsocyanide

Choke. by @valleykey

halley's comet

saturday night live by @wen-qings

Falling in love is easy. Admitting it is not. by @ellionwrites

As You Wish by @haha-funny-valentine

planetarium hypothesis (and the follow up) by @patrochlus

I will put a fic rec page/post together eventually! Also, no particular story behind the username — simply that greaterglow is my AO3 username and Megumi is my best boy. Hence, "fushiglow" which is a homophone for "Fushiguro" if you katakanise the word ♥

Just dropping by to sing your praises!

Split was the first stsg fic I read back when I was still lurking in the jjk fandom. I binge-read Split and Start over the course of a sunny bank holiday weekend and I was totally immersed in the world you’ve built for three days straight.

You're responsible to no small degree for the vice grip that stsg has on my brain these days, and I don’t know if I should thank you or curse you for that! However, other people should *definitely* curse you, because you set the bar incredibly high for everyone else. Thank you for being my first and for making it such a good one!

All jokes aside, reading the fic in the garden on that sunny weekend is a genuinely special memory. Ever since then, I’ve been coming back for the updates, intending to leave a comment every time. As a writer myself, I know how meaningful it is to receive encouragement from readers, so I’m really sorry it's taken me so long. However, if nothing else, I hope this serves as a reminder that there are people out there who hold your writing very close to their hearts, even if you never know they exist. On behalf of everyone who is enjoying your work in silence, thank you for writing this wonderful series!

I've pre-written some comments and I'm gonna go and post them *right now* — promise! Hope you're doing well and that you have a great weekend ♥

omg it's taken me ages to respond to this and i'm so SORRY for that, love!!!!! responses to comments are also incredibly slow but pls know that i treasure every word you bless my little fics with and i'm sending you five million forehead kisses as thanks for the love <3

the fact that not only was split your first jjk fic but that you have such beautifully detailed memories of reading it??? warms my heart waters my crops clears my skin and makes me weep with joy - i started writing fic again for myself, but i'm so happy and touched to know that it's become something much bigger than that.

thank you, thank you, thank you - i'm sending all the love in my heart your way for this delight of an ask and your beautiful comments.

I hope you're having the best weekend, love! you deserve it <3

The JJk fandom has some INCREDIBLE writers and artists and I just felt like showing a bit of love so here are some of my fave Satosugu fics!!!

Audience by @c-valentino

"Three years after the KFC breakup, Satoru caves and visits his old friend late at night with a problem. They are far from what they used to be, but when he hopes they might get a second chance after all, assassins show up to hunt down Suguru."

As you like it by planetarypedxng

"Ieiri Shoko has laid down the law: the three of them will hereafter hang out only at Geto’s place, because Geto is the perfect host, and because Shoko refuses to clean up after anyone, least of all men, and because Gojo’s room always disgustingly reeks of sex.

Gojo had laughed at that, a little too loudly, perhaps, and curiously did not have a single comment about it. What can he say? The truth? That he was still a virgin?"

Falling in love is easy. Admitting it is not. By @ellionwrites

"At 20 years old - sharing an apartment and joint Jujutsu missions - Geto and Gojo are inseparable. But it takes Geto going on a first date for them to start to figure out their feelings."

Two sorcerers chillin' in a hot tub (five feet apart cause they’re not gay) by @hollow-lime-green

"Geto Suguru has almost two decades of practice pretending not to see things that are clearly there, and Gojo Satoru has a well-documented history of being the most socially-stunted motherfucker alive.

That’s how they got here.

Love is in the hands by @thequeenofsarcaasm

That’s also why neither of them know where the hell they’re going with this."

To be a woman by @sadgreekboys

"After getting kicked from his home for being queer, Geto Suguru comes across his old best friend/first love, in a gay bar. He finds a new home in him."

close your eyes (nothing changed at all) by themoonisdead

"Satoru is the strongest. She is a woman. She is not meant to be those two things at the same time.

VIRGIN GETS WRECKED BY BEST FRIEND [FREE PORN VIDS] (18++) WATCH NOW!!!!! By Daisy__dupes

"That day in xx village, suguru makes a call" -what if Suguru had called Satoru for help that day?

Over the Threshold by @fushiglow

(Satoru gets hit with a sex curse and asks Suguru to help him!!!)

4AM by damiselart

"Larger than life K-pop idol, Satoru, approaches introverted record producer, Getō Suguru, to collaborate on his debut Japanese-language studio album. They both get more out of the experience than expected — for better and for worse."

(Tattoo artist Geto and model Gojo. Hot as fuck.)

Post-It Notes by monochromevelyn

"Shoko was sick of watching her two best friends pining for each other. Don't worry, she had a plan to move things in the right direction."

The Two-Headed Calf by malneiro

"Gojo gets a knock on his door late at night: Getou is sick and Mimiko and Nanako don't know who else to turn to."

Vows to Amida Butsu -

" Gojo has a great idea. Geto thinks his classmate should at least ask him cutely instead of just announcing his intent. Consent is important, after all."

and Long Bitter Autumn - both by Daphnerunning and Galiko

"Five years after his best friend left Jujutsu High to become an evil overlord, Gojo Satoru can't sleep. And there's not THAT much difference between a butt dial and a booty call, semantically speaking."

There are so many amazing satosugu fics and most of the writers listed here have multiple incredible fics but these are just some of my absolute faves!!!

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Thoughts on JJK chapter 248 (spoilers)

Yuji's attack with Higu's Executioner's Sword didn't work because Higuruma's CT faded in the last second. Our lawyer has seemingly died and Yuji is expectantly distraught but he fights on

In last chapter's poll I asked how this attack would go, and 60% said that it won't work but in the first hour of the poll the number had actually been reversed

@fushiglow had feared in the notes this exact scenario with the blow failing and Higuruma dying but I made the correct prediction here in saying that the good guys have their healers ready to save their fighters

One important note: Sukuna said that Higuruma is dead (like Gojo) but for Sukuna, defeat is the same thing as death as he said to Yorozu.

With this in mind + the presentation of the panels (Ui Ui and Kirara first shown in shadows as hype) + Sukuna mentioning Shoko + Nitta's CT makes it likely that Higuruma will survive.

Just like Gojo

The fight goes on with the reveal that Yuji can now use RCT. After seeing this and having defeated Higuruma, Sukuna spaces out much to Yuji's astonishment.

Sukuna then goes through an introspection that was difficult to follow along with the translation. The important thing though is that he had an introspection in the first place. The guy is gaining some depth to his character.

Remarkable here is that he explicitly mentions sharing a body with Yuji as something that connects them. This connection will be revisited in the future and it might be applied to Megumi as well but with the caveat that Megumi's soul had been suppressed the entire time they've been together but that might also not make a difference to Sukuna

We get a new rule: Megumi meaning Sukuna, has now full control of the merger as per Kenjaku. This was most likely the will someone else will inherit he spoke of during his last panel BUT

Kenjaku is not confirmed dead and we don't know what Yuta did to his head

I don't think anyone knows how Kenjaku transplants himself into a new body. If Yuta failed to crush his head, then we have the possibility that Kenjaku will manage to put his brain into a new body. I won't be surprised when a new person with stitches on their forehead appears in the future

We also have new possibilities on what Megumi's future will look like now that he has the key for the merger to his name. He could stop it from ever happening or he could start it depending on the mental condition he will have when he finally gains back control of his body

Yuta arrives with fake Rika and Sukuna himself calls her Queen. Next chapter we'll see how the themes of King and Queen will play against each other.

I was having further thoughts on piercing blood from last chapter. Sukuna thought that it was from Choso but what if it was Kamo instead? (using Choso's blood to fool Sukuna). Choso wasn't in this chapter and that would be a surprise for us readers

There was also a pixelated spoiler drop from a Japanese show concerning the editor of JJK. It was about next week's chapter having sth mind blowing in it.

Hi, I was looking for your Gojo/236 analysis post but I couldn't find it, I want to show it to people who keep misunderstanding Gojo in his fight against Sukuna and why Gege decided to offscreen... well you know 😭.

Maybe it was two separate posts?

(Btw your analyses are the best in this fandom ❤️)

Hi - thanks so much for the ask!

Ahhh, I'll have to disappoint you, though, because you might be misremembering 😅 (I don't have an analysis post on 236).

But! I'll use this opportunity to plug a few things:

I use #my jjk thoughts tag for both my serious meta analyses and also my jjk shitposts/jokes (so it's a fun mix!)

I use #other people's thoughts for reblogs of analyses I find interesting

And I'm not sure which specific post you're thinking of (sorry!!) but one of my very favorite people did a post on Gojo's characterization (and reader reactions) in 236 (Just go and follow @fushiglow already and consume all of their beautiful fic and art and meta)

...

Actually, I don't have much analysis on Gojo at all (which is interesting because I have a LOT of opinions on him.) I've made short posts about his relationship with Megumi and one relating to my strongly held belief that Gojo cares a lot about his students and their ability to be young and have fun. But maybe I'll have to set aside some time to write out some of my Gojo opinions. (Spoiler: he's flawed and complicated, but imo consistently unfairly treated in-universe and out.)

Most of my in-depth analysis has been on Geto's feelings about Gojo, because (for some reason) I tend to see a lot of people interpreting Geto as callous and unloving towards Gojo (especially in relation to how much Gojo loves Geto), and I really believe they both deeply love each other but experience and act on their love in very different ways. So that's been my soapbox issue again and again and again.

(P.S. If you find the post you're looking for, I'd love to see it! Send it to me? 💛)

Just left a comment on the new chapter (incredible, as always) and I have follow-up questions that I hope you don't mind answering!!!

I saw you mention in a reply to someone else that you want the opportunity to go off about the scene where Suguru is crying — so this is me giving you the authorisation to do that! I mentioned in my comment how surprising and refreshing it is that Suguru openly recognises that he and Satoru are in love with each other, but couldn't work out if that's why he's crying or whether it's like sorrow for what Satoru is doing to himself or something else entirely? Please tell us everything you're itching to say about this scene, I'm *begging* you!!

Also, I'm desperate to know what Satoru thought when he saw Suguru. As writers, I know we make the choice *not* to show things for deliberate reasons and I love the narrative distance you maintain from young Satoru — it's a beautiful parallel to canon. THAT SAID do you have any intentions to write a scene from his POV at any point or will it all be retrospective? I just wanna know what went through his head in that moment 😭

Lastly, no kiss and confession until the end of the chapter... So exactly *what* were the two of them doing in those hotel rooms this whole chapter???? 👀

Thank you in advance!! Grateful for anything you share with us ♥

i just saw your comment eeeeee but ill reply to that later,,, ive had a huge influx of attention on ao3 so iv been clearing my inbox out bc its! quite! overwhelming!

ooohhh my god that scene. first: suguru's not crying bc hes jealous (mostly, anyway). of course, there's a level of jealousy that comes into play, since he definitely feels a little jealous. but most of it isnt to do with that. there's worry for satoru, because he's not being particularly careful about covering his sexuality, and that comes with a whole host of problems in their sport: lost sponsorships, scandal, etc. there's confusion, too, like why is his friend deliberately doing this and putting himself in harm's way for seemingly no reason, and why is he so calm about putting himself in these situations. then there's the guilt about feeling all of this: if satoru's happy, he shouldn't care, and why does he even care so much? Oh, and he's drunk and watching satoru do actual, genuine, hard drugs. yeah, its just a whole tangle of emotions he doesn't know how to deal with, and even less so when he was drunk. he just feels guilt, envy, and sadness all at once and he's SO poorly equipped to deal with it.

if you mean in the past, post-crying scene, satoru never saw suguru outside the club. its not explicitly mentioned, but in my head, yuki picked him up and took him back to the hotel. Choso went back in by himself to punch give a talking to the mechanic, and sent satoru back to shoko. so yeah, satoru doesn't know suguru even saw him with this guy!

they weren't doing anything apart from talking, teehee. they're just silly little guys.

thank you for your comments and asks tumblr user fushiglow i love you endlessly.

Do you think Gege can confirm Saturo and Suguru's relationship, will he say they loved each other or will he make a moment of them at the end of the mangá

In short, I wouldn't be surprised if Gege doesn't confirm any kind of romantic relationship between Satoru and Suguru, but if it's going to happen, I think it'll happen at the end of the manga like you suggest. I actually have a lot of thoughts on this topic, so buckle up! Unfortunately, artists rarely get the creative freedom to tell the story they want to in exactly the way they want to. Homophobic attitudes still persist and it's highly possible that Gege Akutami's superiors won't risk sales by sanctioning the unambiguous depiction of a romantic relationship between two male characters. However, they would potentially deem it more permissible at the end of the manga when it's less likely to have a significant impact on profits. It sucks, but it's the unfortunate reality of the situation.

However, I think there's an argument that Gege censored Gojō's last words to Getō as a way of reclaiming control of the narrative for himself. Jujutsu Kaisen often depicts a clash between traditional attitudes and more progressive thinking, and Gojō embodies that more than anyone else in the series.

He openly criticises the higher ups that maintain the status quo, but recognises that he can't force change by taking drastic action alone. Therefore, he settles for creating a sea change slowly, playing by the rules to achieve his goals, bending them but never breaking them — and I think that's what Gege did with Jujutsu Kaisen 0.

Let's imagine that Gege wanted to tell the tragic love story between Gojō Satoru and Getō Suguru but knew he'd never be able to get it published in a mainstream shōnen manga anthology. Instead, he includes it as an intriguing B-plot in a tale about a boy and a girl cursed by love, deliberately creating heavy parallels with the main story.

By doing that, he avoids having to address the exact nature of the relationship between the characters in the B-plot, because they're not the main characters. However, even though he can't explicitly address the nature of the relationship, he ensures that readers understand the gravity of it by including a scene where Satoru utters something to Suguru at the emotional climax of the volume while keeping the actual words he says a secret.

It's clear to the reader from the way Suguru responds and the context of the scenes surrounding it that there is love between these two characters — it's just the type of love that's up for debate, but that's where I think it's really smart. Rather than having his work censored by editors, Gege censored it himself. By doing so, he generated a fascination with the scene among readers, perhaps drawing more attention to the relationship than if he'd included Satoru's words for everyone to see. To this day, the nature of their relationship remains one of the hottest points of discussion in the Jujutsu Kaisen fandom, and I think that speaks for itself.

So, Gege is Gojō, playing within the confines of the rules to achieve his goals, bending them but never breaking them, creating slow, meaningful change that way. But that's just my hypothesis!

Truthfully, I'm OK with their relationship remaining unconfirmed because of everything I've just said. For me, the relationship is compelling because it's implied in tiny, beautiful ways but never confirmed. I don't think it's queerbaiting because it's never been the main selling point of Jujutsu Kaisen, and Getō was already dead when the events of the main story began, so most of the relationship development is done retroactively through Hidden Inventory in order to further Gojō's story.

As I already explored in my pre-236 analysis of Gojō, until very recently Gege kept Gojō at a distance from everyone as a way of demonstrating his isolation. By keeping his eyes covered up and his cursed technique active, no one can get close to Gojō. We don't get to know how he's feeling or what he's thinking, but characters and readers still make a lot of incorrect assumptions about him — more on that here. For his relationship with Getō to be yet another thing that people speculate about, saying with absolute certainty that it's one thing or another, is kind of beautiful to me.

Of course, I'm not going to be upset if Gege *does* confirm their relationship before the end of the manga — if only because it'll shut down a certain section of the fandom that insists shippers are merely projecting romantic implications onto the subtext, as though it's possible to neatly place relationships between friends and relationships between lovers into entirely separate boxes.

Having said that, as the reaction to 236 shows, not even Gojō directly telling us how he feels is enough to prevent people from thinking they know better — so maybe even official confirmation wouldn't be enough to convince some people!

That really shouldn't matter anyway. Something I've really enjoyed over the last year is seeing more and more people come around to the idea that perhaps Gojō and Getō *were* more than friends after all, especially those people who would usually criticise others for 'ruining shōnen' with shipping. That's the slow sea change I'm talking about!

Thanks for the question, I really enjoyed thinking about this ♥

I wonder what would happen if Saturo hadn't killed Suguru would he be expelled or banned from the jujutsu school?

The higher ups would only be shooting themselves in the foot by doing so. I don't think they'd risk someone as powerful as Gojō becoming a curse user by alienating him like that. Plus, although they don't see it this way, they *really* need him on their side because he's their strongest weapon against the 'wave of power' that's approaching — until his students are strong enough to take it on themselves.

The relationship between Gojō and the higher ups is incredibly fraught. They despise him because he actively works to undermine the status quo, but they're powerless to stop him from doing so. He despises them because they needlessly throw away lives, but he knows that forcing compliance through fear won't achieve anything in the long run. So, they're in a stalemate until Gojō can build up 'strong and intelligent allies'.

Because of his overwhelming strength, Gojō can afford to only carry out orders that he wants to. That includes refusing to kill Getō, despite the execution order. I think Gojō only takes on so many missions to protect his students — hence why the higher ups go out of their way to distract Gojō so they can send the first years to the juvenile detention centre and, hopefully, their deaths.

If Gojō just decided not to bother exorcising curses any more, can you imagine how many more students would die like Haibara every year? Gojō is almost the one man army preventing the prospective 'pile of corpses' that drove Getō into becoming a curse user. The mayhem that breaks out after he's sealed in the Prison Realm is evidence of that — exactly like Ino predicts!

So, on the one hand, I can't actually imagine they'd choose to banish him and, on the other hand, I can't imagine he'd pay the order any heed even if they did. Everything we've seen suggests that Gojō could have found and killed Getō at any time, so I think they could have already banished him on those grounds if that was what they wanted to do. It just isn't convenient for them — but having him trapped and powerless inside the Prison Realm is, which is why they put all those measures in place to *keep* him in there.

Although your question is based on a hypothetical, I also want to add that I personally don't think there was any scenario where Gojō wouldn't kill Getō at the end of Jujutsu Kaisen 0. As much as I love fic and art which explores an alternate timeline where Getō is welcomed back to jujutsu society, it could never happen and Gojō knew that. I think his decision to kill Getō was entirely his own in the end, and it comes down to two reasons:

1. He didn't want anyone else to do it

Getō was heavily injured and there was a risk that someone else would find him and finish him off if Gojō let him go. There's a popular headcanon that anyone else killing Getō is an unthinkable idea to both of them, and while I like playing with that idea, I actually don't think Gojō wanted to be the one to kill Getō at all — because of the below panel:

I think it really comes down to the fact that Gojō would allow Getō far more dignity in death than anyone else who found him, aside from perhaps Yaga, Shōko, Nanami etc. We already know he went out of his way to prevent Shōko from having to deal with Getō's body, so I can see Gojō coming to the self-sacrificing conclusion that he's the only person who can execute Getō, both for Getō's sake and for the sake of their friends and allies.

2. Gojō couldn't look away from his crimes any longer

More importantly, I think Getō finally went far enough that Gojō could no longer justify turning a blind eye to his actions. While Gojō *is* more morally grey than most characters in Jujutsu Kaisen, the one thing he always seeks to protect is youth. I think he probably resigned himself to the fact he could no longer avoid the issue as soon as Getō declared war, knowing the death and destruction he would cause.

Because of that, I've always thought there's more nuance to Gojō's words here than simply an expression of long-standing trust in his best friend:

I think Gojō *did* trust Getō not to kill young sorcerers, but does that excuse what he did to Gojō's students? To Maki especially? I don't think so, and I actually don't think Gojō does either.

I think it's possible to read his words about 'trust' from a purely pragmatic standpoint. Gojō is an incredible tactician and I actually think he played on Getō's weakness here, sending his own students to certain defeat on the basis that he *trusted* Getō not to finish them off. He trusted that Getō's desire to create a world of sorcerers would prevent him from needlessly killing his students — and he was right!

That doesn't make his actions any less uncomfortable to think about, which is why Getō implies Gojō is cruel — despite the fact that *he's* the one who beat up a bunch of kids lol. I don't think reading it this way takes away from the feeling between the two of them, but I think it's important not to overlook the ability to be cold and calculating in either of them.

From a less practical point of view, I think Gojō making the decision to kill Getō is a painful metaphor for Gojō finally choosing to 'free' himself of the 'curse' called Getō Suguru. I've talked before about how Gege Akutami parallels Gojō and Getō with Yūta and Rika and this is perhaps the biggest parallel — both Gojō and Yūta make an active choice to 'free' themselves of the curses of their pasts (bearing in mind that it was written before the main series which calls that into question on Gojō's behalf at least).

I went a little (a lot) off course, but I hope you don't mind! Jujutsu Kaisen has such fantastic politics and I wanted to paint the full picture in my answer! Thanks for the question ♥

If JJK characters were in Non- Curse world, what would their job be if not become Jujutsu Sorcerer (in your opinion)? Why? Please pick your top 5 fav characters...

I love you for asking this, anon ♥ It's an opportunity to wax lyrical about something I've given a great deal of thought! These are my instinctive answers, although I could make arguments for a number of other professions for each of them depending on the life choices they made in this hypothetical non-curse world — but we don't need to get into that! So, here I go (in no particular order):

Yūta is an emergency paediatric surgeon

When he was young, he made the decision to become a trauma surgeon after losing his childhood friend in a car accident. He spent some time in hospital as a child and he knows what a scary place it can be for children, so he always does his best to make his patients smile when he's checking in on their progress.

He's brilliant at what he does — a once in a generation talent — but that doesn't mean he can save everyone. It's heartbreaking work on a good day, but when he's been at work for approaching 30 hours and he feels like he wants out, he looks at the photo of Rika in his locker and finds the strength to go on.

Kenjaku is a performer

If the average Japanese human enjoys at least 80 rotations around the sun, why waste them by playing the same role every time? That's Kenjaku's outlook on life — which is why they chose to go into acting. However, they quickly became bored by other people's narrow view of the world, dissatisfied by the limits of everyone else's imagination.

Nowadays, Kenjaku marches to the beat of their own drum in a one-person show. There are more than ten roles available, all of them played by Kenjaku — who is also the writer, producer, and director. Critics can't decide whether it's madness or sheer brilliance.

Megumi is a vet

He's grumpy with humans, especially if they're irresponsible pet owners. However, he's soft as anything with the animals, and his regular clients trust him implicitly with their beloved furry family members — because it's obvious how much they love him.

Megumi is really good at his job, but he's guilty of taking his work home with him and finds it difficult not to get emotionally attached to the animals he's treating, even after years in the profession. Although he'd never hesitate to make difficult decisions, the unique ethical dilemmas his job presents take a toll on his wellbeing — especially when human cruelty or indifference come into play.

Suguru is a school teacher

Teaching is neither recognised nor appreciated by most people. However, although Suguru had the brains to follow his friends into their highly respected fields, he couldn't imagine anything more rewarding than doing his part to ensure that the next generation have an easier time of things than he did at the same age.

He tries to be the person he needed when he was at school: a pillar of support for struggling children who have no one else on their side. Unfortunately, the school system seems determined to hurt the very children it's supposed to support, and some of the parents go out of their way to undermine any positive developments he makes with their child — not to mention the terrible pay and working conditions!

Satoru is a physicist

But he could have done anything he put his mind to. In fact, that's the only thing Satoru ever really found difficult in life: choosing one path to follow. Sometimes, he wishes he'd become a musician or a historian or an athlete, but in the end, nothing captured his imagination quite like the limitless bounds of the universe.

He's younger than most of his peers in the field, and his revolutionary ideas (alongside his casual disregard for traditional academic hierarchies) get him in trouble more often than not. However, he's a certified genius, and popular with the media, too. He's doing a lot to improve the image of physicists among the general public — which translates to more funding for research. That keeps them out of his hair, most of the time at least!

-

These are too obvious, but I thought I'd mention them anyway:

Yūji is a firefighter who remembers the names and faces of every single person he couldn't save.

Shōko is a pathologist who devotes herself to improving the diagnosis and treatment of disease, often at the expense of her own health and wellbeing.

Because they're *also* huge nerds, I imagine Sukuna and Yuki as physicists in slightly different fields to Gojō:*

Yuki is a brilliant mind, but she doesn't live up to her potential because she hates the oppressive nature of academia. In fact, she vocally criticises it and goes out of her way to undermine it, to the chagrin of all the old stuffy professors who try to discredit her at every opportunity.

Sukuna, like Gojō, is a genius who's fascinated by what he doesn't know, shaking up the field with his cutting edge (lol) ideas. I like to imagine the pair of them getting into heated arguments at conferences, though they both have enormous (albeit grudging) respect for each other.

*As long as Sukuna is, you know, ~normal~ in this hypothetical non-curse world. Otherwise, he'd be a chef that moonlights as a sadistic serial killer lol.

-

Thank you for the extremely fun question, I had the time of my life! I hope you enjoy my answers ♥

ily glo 😚😚😚😚😚💕💞💕💘💕💓💕💕💓💘💕💓💕💕💓💓💕💓💕💓💞💓💕💓💕💞💘

ILY MORE 🫵 i thought i had followed you last night!! as an apology, take this EXTRA SPECIAL TREAT just for you 💫

Getō clicked his tongue. ‘I have no intention of arguing with you.’ ‘And I have no intention of fighting you, so where does that leave us?’ Master Gojō grinned, extending a palm towards the darksider and beckoning for the holocron with a crook of his fingers. ‘Hand it over, Suguru.’ Suguru? If Megumi had been entirely discombobulated by that, nothing could have prepared him for what happened next. The darksider’s lips quirked and, when he spoke again, his voice was so disgustingly soft and so disgustingly fond that Megumi couldn’t reconcile it with the hulking shadow of a man before him. ‘Always so demanding, Satoru.’ Suddenly, the rumours about Master Gojō started to make more sense. In the shock of it all, Megumi somehow found his voice. ‘Wait, you two—’ Two pairs of eyes landed on the Padawan and Megumi suddenly realised that the attention of what were almost certainly the two most powerful force users in the galaxy was entirely on him. He squirmed, voice faltering slightly when he found the courage to finish his question. ‘You two know each other?’ ‘We know each other,’ Master Gojō replied simply — but his lips twitched at the same time Getō looked away with an honest to stars blush on his cheeks. Between the pair of them, it was all too suspicious for Megumi not to narrow his eyes. ‘Know each other how?’ The look the two men exchanged spoke volumes — and Megumi’s fear evaporated like morning dew on Yavin IV. ‘Oh, for kriff’s sake,’ he muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose hard enough to break it. There was no point trying to reason with a darksider, so he directed his ire at Master Gojō instead. ‘That’s a serious violation of the Jedi code!’ There is no passion, there is serenity. He repeated it like a chant in his mind — because the shit-eating grin the Jedi Master shot his way made Megumi want to take out his blaster. ‘You gonna tell on me, Megumi?

Vague spoilers for beyond where the anime is

JJK seems to try to be very ambiguous in a lot of its themes and which side of those themes it prioritizes as "the right side." This is done very much with the theme of selfishness versus selflessness. Where it seems that being selfish is the right choice, but every once in a while there will be something that complicates that reading. But I also think that JJK almost comes off as anti-cleverness/intelligence in some of its fights.

It is strange because Gege takes a lot of inspiration from HxH, and in that intelligence is extremely prized as the only way a character can defeat an opponent that is beyond them on a power-scaling level.

In JJK, first you have Toji defeat Gojo due to intelligence and planning. This is a point for intelligence.

But, like in the moment with Jogo deciding not to get into a domain expansion battle with Sukuna, or in Kashimo's fight with Hakari, where he views taking the clever and intelligent way to outlast his domain as cowardice, the narrative is seeming to view taking the pragmatic and intelligent way to win a battle rather than going all out and believing in your power, almost derisively.

You also have the fact that because the narrative mostly focuses on Gojo's students, none of these characters are actually "weak." They are Gojo's students BECAUSE they have strong techniques and altogether there is not really a character in JJK that relies on his intelligence so wholly to the degree that it is the defining advantage they have.

It is interesting because like many thing in JJK, it seems to subvert the typical tropes of its genre.

Anyway, feel free to ignore all of this if I'm not making any sense.

I definitely agree that Gege is keeping the answer to "Which approach is the winning approach?" ambiguous at the moment, but I do think (hope!) we'll arrive at a definitive answer to that question before the series is over.

However, I have to disagree that JJK derides intelligence and tactics in its fights. In the examples you gave, Jogo and Kashimo both lose as a result of their choices not to take the smarter option, so it objectively wasn't the right thing to do! Additionally, while it's true that Megumi has a strong technique, he's an extremely tactical fighter and I think it's his biggest asset.

In fact, I think Megumi as a character exemplifies the conflict you're describing! His lack of belief in his own strength is his biggest barrier to reaching the heights he's capable of, but he's fought multiple opponents with more strength and experience than him and won through employing tactical intellect — his Wiki page has a great section on this!

I also think the Fraudkuna memes were a result of Sukuna fighting strategically and tactically to gain an advantage over Gojō. Could Sukuna have won without the Ten Shadows? We'll never know! However, he didn't feel the need to fight "fairly" and go all out and earn his win on pure strength alone. Sukuna took the most sensible option available to him and reaped the rewards of that choice.

In fact, throughout the series, Sukuna has played the long game and it's worked in his favour every single time so far. He's a jujutsu nerd who is constantly seeking to grow his strength through acquiring more knowledge. Similarly, although Gojō was "blessed" with a powerful technique from birth, it's implied he's honed his skills to reach heights that no other Six Eyes user has reached.

I think Sukuna is doomed to lose this fight eventually, and I do think that his downfall could be a result of underestimating the strength of sheer willpower brought about by the intensity of love that Yūji feels for his friends. Through JJK 0, Gege has already set a precedent for "the power of love" being the key to defeating a stronger opponent, which seems a little like an "asspull" at first glance. However, it works within the mechanics he's established in the wider universe.

I wrote a long meta about this back in September, but almost everything about the power system in JJK comes down to binding vows. It's all about risk and reward, give and take, gain and loss — and that's how Yūta wins in JJK 0. He offers himself as a sacrifice in exchange for the strength he needs to defeat Getō: risking everything he is for the reward of winning, giving his own life in order to take Getō's, gaining the win but losing his life.

Of course, Yūta got lucky on this occasion because Rika didn't hold him to his end of the binding vow. However, it isn't an "asspull" because it stands up within the established mechanics of binding vows — and, after Rika's soul was released from the curse, Yūta wouldn't be able to use this same tactic to dodge death again.

So, in conclusion, I don't think you're wrong to say that going all out and believing in your strength can override intelligent fighting and lead to a win. I also think this is the ideology that the Heian era sorcerers demonstrate during the Culling Game — I'm thinking of Uro suggesting that Sukuna's "overwhelming sense of self" is what makes him an unbeatable "calamity". However, I think characters have been wrong many, many times in JJK and we can't always take their word as fact! Since the start of the Gojō vs Sukuna fight, we're seeing that self-belief and intelligence aren't in opposition. In fact, I'd argue that it's his abundance of both that have propelled Sukuna to such great heights.

Thank you for the food for thought, I really enjoyed thinking about this! ♥️

P.S. This got me thinking about how JJK is actually subversive in the way that it never suggests one way is right and the other is wrong — it's always about the execution! For example, I've seen some people suggest that JJK takes an anti-individualist, pro-collectivist stance, but I largely disagree. Gojō is at his strongest when he's alone, but he also relies on "weak" allies where it benefits him — think about how he asks Utahime to help him with the investigation, never mind the "boost" she and other allies provide to him at the start of his fight with Sukuna!

I'd argue that JJK never says one or the other (individualism vs collectivism, selfishness vs selflessness, self-belief vs tactics etc.) is correct, it demonstrates that the best sorcerers always find a balance between the two elements!

Hello, fushi. This one song called Orpheus by Vincent Lima has been giving me major stsg vibes and I had to tell you about it. It's also just a really good song.

I would say thank you for sharing this with me, anon, but you hurt me today 🥲 I'm kidding, I've seen a lot of chatter online about Orpheus/Gojō parallels recently, so I can totally see the SatoSugu vibes in this!

Now, please excuse me while I go and stare out of the window for 3-5 business days...

Here's the anon that talked about a limiter in music and it's connection to Gojo's story a couple of days ago. Firstly, I'm really glad that you found such joy in that previous ask and I'm really really glad that you followed your instinct and implemented into the story so artfully.

'In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two (or more) musical lines which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour.'

Once again, you did the unthinkable and produced a chapter that so beautifully wevaes the title of the chapter into it. Had me stopping several times to think things over and even throwing my phone across the room.

For me the summary of the chapter and the definition set in it showcased how they both may be brilliant on their own, both distinguished in their own work and dedicated, yet when they come together they create something more beautiful, an harmony that's so characteristically them that it's unique. How 'me' and 'you' becomes 'us' (because of course they'd be the only ones capable of making a lead single from scratch within days). Also what really struck me was the comparison of them to binary stars and how even that connects to the definition of counterpoint, since the stars may from far away appear as one, yet upon closer look they are distinguished, independent, but still caught in an everlasting dance, dependent upon each other's gravitational pull to continue it.

In regards to that, i absolutely loved how when Suguru almost played into the restraining role of the industry by deciding to morph 'blue' into something that was unrecognisable, yet easy to enjoy by the public, he immediately backtracked and comforted him, highlighting exactly why he's just far too perfect of a counterpart for the singer. He doesn't limit him, instead he helps him reach his limits, even broadening those limits, until they literally are limitless. And I just love how this is shown with how Suguru pushes Satoru for the perfect recording, even if he doesn't get it. He's willing to ruffle Satoru's feathers if it means getting him to be even better, more perfect than he already is. And the way Satoru's love for Suguru and the literally fiery passion between them seems to reawaken the passion for music within Suguru? (I'm far too curious about what had happened to the dear producer 7 years ago)

And gods...them being all domestic and soft? Sweet to one another and Suguru giving Satoru the love he had been given by his mother so generously, openly and earnestly, as if it came naturally. I'm not tearing up, not at all..

Generally, this whole chapter is a work of art and it just cements how they're meant for each other.

Thank you and sorry for rambling!

COME OFF ANON AND BE MY FRIEND PLEASE 🙏 I am obviously kidding, I entirely respect your choice to remain anonymous but god... I want to kiss your brain!

Once again, you had me screaming the place down because you interpreted this exactly the way I intended, even making the connection to the binary stars. I literally want to shout this analysis from the rooftops, because it's spot on!

I always knew I wanted to bring the idea of counterpoint into play at this point and wondered how I could signpost the theme to readers without putting it in the text itself. Honestly, shout out to @bunnieshoneys for the chapter title idea! I love how their choice of title in coanda effect sets the tone for the chapter ahead so, realising that I'd already set some precedent with limiting in the introduction, it seemed like the obvious choice (side note: I'm damn proud of 'prosody' for chapter six 👀). I didn't even set out to marry counterpoint to the binary stars; they were two separate metaphors that naturally evolved together over time — and isn't that just perfect?

~insert unwieldy thoughts about subtext being subconscious to some degree for both writer and reader~

I alluded to this before, but it's difficult to find the balance between being too heavy-handed and too hands-off with my metaphors. In the end, I try to trust my gut and trust the reader — and you continually bolster my faith in my instincts! I assume you did this on purpose, but I got extremely excited by the fact that you described Suguru as the perfect 'counterpart', literally personifying him as a musical line that complements Satoru's. God, this means everything!

You're probably my ideal reader, so please NEVER apologise for rambling! I'm incredibly grateful to have you along for the ride ♥️ If you pop into my inbox again (god, I hope you do!), I'd love to know if you have any kind of background in music yourself because your grasp of counterpoint in particular intrigues me! I hope that's not rude, it's one of those things where I'm too familiar with these concepts to imagine how easy or difficult they are to grasp from scratch... I just want to know your brain, anon!

By the way, the part about Suguru's mother was such a lovely change of pace for me, so I'm really glad you enjoyed that. Actually, I'm just really glad you're enjoying the fic in general, thank you so much again for everything!

It's like 3 am and I should be studying for the chemistry exam I have in a couple hours but my mind is far too preoccupied with the way you have weaved the definition of limiting in music (I think that's how it's called? Basically the definition in the first chapter) through the whole story. It really brings to life how the industry's trying to limit Gojo, and truly anyone who isn't fit for the public's taste into something palatable, easy to consume and pay for. And I absolutely love the fact that throughout the story there is the main theme of breaking away from the rules and the threshold (like the title), and I absolutely love how the title so beautifully encompasses everything one can find in the story.

Gods I love it and my mind is a mess right now but the story has me actually gnawing at the walls, either from the intricacies of the story, to how the characters act (which may I say are so beautifully crafted).

I just love it, thank you truly for creating it!!!

I LOVE YOU, ANON, YOU GET IT YOU GET IT 😭

I need you to know how loud I screamed when I saw this in my inbox, I have been waiting for this exact message since the day I published the first chapter!!

I thought long and hard about how to define limiting clearly at the start of the fic, but even so, I admit I've wondered at times whether this overarching metaphor is too esoteric. However, the purpose and mechanism of a limiter in music production (combined with the easter eggs about the infinite ratio and, obviously, "limitless") was too perfect for Gojo's character and the exact story I'm trying to tell, so I decided to trust my instincts.

I'm incredibly glad I did, because I have nothing to add — you encapsulated exactly what I'm doing with this metaphor in such a neat and succinct manner, and that gives me a lot of faith that I must be doing something right! I can't possibly articulate how wonderful this was to read, you have made my entire year ♥️ Thank you for making your way to my asks to share all of these kind words with me, I really hope to hear from you again in the future — I'm so keen to hear more about your interpretations! Really glad you're enjoying the fic too, thank you thank you thank you!!

I’ve fell in love with your rendition of satosugu in your fic over the threshold and I was wondering if you have any fic recs that depict them the same exact way (with satoru being a little shit and suguru having none of it)?? Thank u <33

Sorry for the delay in responding to this, I know this dynamic isn't uncommon in SatoSugu fic but I couldn't think of anything with the same super silly dynamic off the top of my head. Truth be told, I tend to read pretty angsty stuff myself, which is probably why I ended up writing a fic which is funny and fluffy instead! If I think of anything, I'll reblog this post with some recs and I'll also get round to making a fic rec page/post eventually.

In the meantime, I just gave some SatoSugu fic recs in response to another question (though I'm not sure any of those fit the brief), but the amazing @wacuoms has also made some lifesaving fic rec threads on Twitter (part one and part two) which I honestly credit as the gateway to discovering some of my all-time favourite SatoSugu fics. I promise I'm not just saying that because they included my fic in the second one *blushes*

I felt bad holding off from replying to this any longer, so I'm sorry I don't have anything substantial to offer in response to your question! Like I say, if I find anything, I'll come back to this post. Thank you so much for your kind words, by the way — I'm so happy you love the way I write these goofballs ♥

coming in here to give some advice and that is to NOT listen to spring day by bts while thinking about satosugu (especially from satoru’s perspective) a little bit too hard because it made me cry and it might make u cry too

SatoSugu and seasonal imagery were made for each other so... yeah, you're absolutely right 🥲

With his eyes and his hair and his birthday, Gojo is already winter coded to me, but this is especially true after Suguru leaves. Suguru with his Setsubun birthday on the cusp of spring and his name containing the kanji for summer — it's like when he leaves, he takes Gojo's spring and summer with him... Blue Spring indeed...

Thanks for the cry this Friday morning! You warned me, to be fair ♥️