SPOILERS SXF CHAPTER 93 ❗❗❗
So, chapter 93. Starting with Anya scores...
THAT'S MY GIRL!!!! CONGRATULATIONS BABY!!! 🎉🎊🥳
(Let's take a moment to appreciate what a good and supportive friend Becky is too 💖)
As I expected Anya passed classical language (with a huge improvement!) but in the large, tedious walk on Hell that is school not everyone can get exceptional grades in every subject unless you're a Desmond apparently and Anya, as many people who preceded her and will come after her, failed math.
I have seen many people make theories about how certain older student who we shall discuss next could be her tutor. However, my theory is that she will receive help from Bill in the future
It makes more sense: both already know each other, Anya has more chances of Bill accepting or suggesting to help her than the-one-I-shall-name-later and overall Bill seems more communicative and better at socialising and explaining himself. Let's not forget he received a stella in math after all. So for me Bill seems like the most plausible option (maybe we will get jealous Damian with this friendship?)
Back at the Forgers residence the Authens pay a visit to congratulate Anya as well. When I read Sigmund's sentence about how rewarding is to have a payment for your hard work my mind automatically thought "But sometimes no matter how hard you try you don't get a reward. Sometimes the result is just not worth the effort" (I think many people has a canon event that reveals them that, specially when you're in highschool, middle school or college)
And right after thinking that he agreed with me lol. My mind really anticipates things before finishing a panel
Speaking of hard work and grades, I'm taking this chance to give my opinion: a system based on giving stars to those who have the highest grades while those who fail face the possibility of being expelled is awful. Not getting a star and comparing yourself to your peers already make horrors to your self esteem, imagine a child getting expelled for repeatedly fail a exam that may not be adapted to their needs (or getting many tonitrus for things your teachers disapprove of you but you didn't know it was wrong or for something about yourself you cannot control. For example a kid with ADHD unintentionally interrupting someone, disconnecting in the middle of a conversation or making noise with their leg when they stay still for too long. No need to go as far as talking about neurodivergent kids, look at that chapter where Anya got a tonitrus for not having a handkerchief. Who the fuck is punished for that when you're an adult anyway)
Enough of that, back to the chapter. Let's talk about what hyped me the most: Demetrius finally appearing on screen!
We already had crumbs of him before. Given Damian inferiority complex when comparing himself to him when he had talked about school and Twilight noticing his exams barely had any mistakes back in the chapter where Daybreak was welcomed to this world, him being a exceptional student when it comes to academics isn't surprising in the least.
Many say he's ugly and exactly like his father but I disagree. Donovan looks like a goddamn Frankenstein if Frankenstein was ugly, Demetrius take after his dead eyes look but he's pretty like Melinda. Not conventionally pretty like Damian or Melinda but kinda pretty. Like a zombie with sleep deprivation but in an endearing way. It's not his fault he's built like a Tim Burton or Don't Starve Together character... anyway I'm sure his appearance can grow up on you, hopefully (;´ ▾ `)
About the theories regarding this panel
It may be true something's going on, maybe he was really experimented on... But I can't stop thinking he was in that very moment "No thoughts, head empty" mode
I mean, he looks like a walking corpse in dire need of a proper nap, can you blame him if his thoughts are mainly focused on studies when Donovan probably spent time with him only for the sake of producing a good grades, not independent thinking machine as his heir? "He watch him study all the time."
I don't think it was necessary for a tragic incident to change Donovan and made him distant from his family. I suspect he has always been like that, perhaps even before having Demetrius, so it was less a traumatic big event and more the exhausting everyday life Demetrius has been having as far as he remembers of being supervised by his father in order to be the best at school and everything that turned him into the probably burnt out teenager he is.
Same with Melinda, being married to somebody you might not have even loved when you first got together, a man who doesn't try to understand others or seem capable of caring for anyone, a man who is not precisely publicly known for his kindness (remember Millie and Yor's boss when Donovan was brought up?)... Being married to that kind of person for years and then having kids with that person and have to keep being related to them for at least until your kids graduate sound like a miserable life indeed
The Desmond have a common theme going around that is understanding the world around them, or rather the lack of it. I can say for sure that Demetrius feeling overwhelmed simply with a bunch of kids and thinking he can't understand people have its roots in Donovan
• For Donovan is his narrow minded belief that nobody can't understand — therefore neither trust — each other because people is different; and as long as that phrase of "two people can't think the same" lives to the reality it finds itself in reaching a common ground is impossible.
• Donovan influenced Demetrius. Perhaps Demetrius doesn't share his father belief and that's not why he can't understand others, maybe it is because he was possibly deprived of a normal childhood where he could socialise with others of his age without his father expectations onto him.
Many academic gifted children reach a part of their lives where their habit is to think inside the box of "Good grades is all I'm good at or all I should care about; good grades = doing fine; it's all about what you can prove to those who expect something from you, not what you can prove to yourself to make you feel satisfied and happy".
When people who raised you condition you to act, live and think the way they wanted you to do is difficult to break and separate yourself from that. Plus he's going through the middle school phase, from personal experience that makes you x10 times angsty and complicated to understand yourself, much less everyone else.
• With Damian it is less discussed and pointed out because he's been able to have a relatively normal —if anything very neglected — childhood up to this point. He has friends, he acts like a kid of his age, his life doesn't revolve around his grades all the time... But that's the bare minimum of what a good childhood should be like.
It may be because of his age, but he doesn't see the bigger picture of his family. He can't see what is wrong with them (yet) because in his eyes nothing is wrong. Sure, he feels lonely and works hard for his dad to notice him, but that happens in many families right? He's not even in denial, he doesn't phantom the idea that what his family is, how they behave towards each other or towards him, isn't normal.
Don't make me start with how his future plans is following Donovan's footsteps in politics because he's trying that hard to approach him. He works hard at school because in his mind being like Demetrius or how he believes Donovan wants him to be would bring them closer, receive an understanding relationship from his dad when we know there might not be genuine affection between them from Donovan's side to start with.
He's teaching himself that love is conditioned by your "worth" or by whether you get to the expectations your loved ones have. That reminds me of what Sigmund told Anya because it sounds like a foretelling of Damian's life: [...] And one day you'll experience the frustration of realizing that hard work is not always rewarded. He doesn't many things and his age may explain it but it doesn't justify, if he continues thinking like that he'll have his hopes crushed and may turn out like Demetrius.
• As for Melinda, is difficult to talk about the point she stands in the understanding theme. Unlike her family she does seem able to understand people, perhaps because she wasn't raised like her kids have been. She's aware that her husband party made a lot of damage to their country, she seems aware and attentive to what surrounds her.
I don't think she cannot be understanding or perceptive, I think it's the other way around: the people she's surrounded by cannot understand her. Neither Yor, Anya, Damian, surely Demetrius and Donovan neither, her "friends" of the association she's in... Not even us can't understand the reason why she's so conflictive about Damian yet.
In just one appearance Donovan made his belief clear, thus giving us an idea of what type of feelings he has towards Damian. We can get so much of his character as a person with one chapter, but Melinda has appeared more than him and her true self is unknown. Donovan is reserved in a physical way, he isolates himself by not going outside and socialising, but he's not against the idea of explaining a stranger his stance in life. Melinda surrounds herself of people and listens to them but she keeps to herself.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to see more of Demetrius and the Desmonds. Hope we get more screen time of them, unless Endo has decided to drop such episode only to give us a one-shot chapter next and not elaborate further before introducing a complete different arc 💦
Although with what we have I'm already bought and entertained enough. Our favorite family is great but hooray for secondary characters being given depth and spotlight in this manga 🥳
See you next chapter reaction! If I made another one after other 25 full moons. I'm probably forgetting to talk about something...Oh well
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Maybe it's silly, but I can't get it out of my head - I really do love the potential that putting Gojo and Sukuna into the Death Parade world has.
(When two people die at the same time, they're sent to a mysterious bar where they're forced to compete against each other in a game with their lives on the line. Upon arrival, they don't remember dying. Who they were before, how they choose to play the game, and how they handle their returning memories of their life and death, all help an arbiter judge them, and decide whether their soul is to be reincarnated or sent to the void forever.)
And I love the idea of Gojo and Sukuna going through this together. They battle, as they do in canon, but manage to kill each other at the same time (is this realistic given how Sukuna was holding back? Maybe not, but for the sake of the plot, let's imagine.) Suddenly they're in this weird place. Neither of them of have any memory of how they got there or what they were doing prior to arriving. They don't remember dying, they don't remember fighting, as far as they know it isn't even December 24th yet.
What they do realize, very quickly, is they have no cursed energy, can't use their techniques, can't do anything. Gojo doesn't have his infinity, his six eyes-- it's gone. The internal humming of constant RCT on his brain isn't there. All he can see is what's right in front of him. Sukuna looks closer to how he did in his Heian days (minus the massive size and extra body parts), no longer in Megumi's body.
Neither will voice it, but it makes them feel vulnerable. Feel so incredibly mortal. Human.
They assume, maybe, that this place is someone's domain, something to rationalize how they've suddenly lost every ability they had as Jujutsu sorcerers. The bartender -- the arbiter whom can already see their memories and will soon be judging them -- tells them otherwise, once they've approached the counter. They're skeptical, especially since they're told that they won't be able to leave until they play a game, but they play along. What else are they going to do, right?
I don't know which arbiter would be selected to judge them. Realistically they'd be special cases given Sukuna's list of crimes throughout his life and the destruction they both caused during their fight, but the idea of it being Decim does make me chuckle. I imagine Sukuna taking a seat at the bar, taking one look at this guy (the white hair, the bright, bizarre blue eyes) and immediately commenting about him being related to Gojo.
And what game would they be made to play? I wouldn't want it to be anything too modern, nothing like an arcade game as to be a little more fair to Sukuna. Maybe one of the many traditional Japanese board games, something that forces them to sit down with each other and talk (aside from all the banter we already know will take place regardless), and use their brains to win rather than their brawn. Perhaps Shogi, which has been around in some form since the Heian era? But I also like them having something slightly more physical, something like archery. Or darts, or billiards, games we've already seen in the Death Parade universe.
But they're a competitive pair, and go all out no matter what they end up having to play. Let's consider this a warm up round for the real thing, one of them says. Cue the taunting, the banter. Despite them both trying to win, neither seem to be taking it too seriously. The arbiter eventually reveals to them that their lives, their souls, are in fact on the line.
They don't take that very seriously either. What, is the loser of this game going to die? Whatever this bartender plans to do, they can get out of this-- they're the strongest. Even while being stuck in this place and unable to use their cursed techniques, they don't doubt that, and have a shared moment of "Pfft, get a load of this guy, right?" between them. They don't realize it, but they're bonding. Laughing off the idea of their lives being at stake over a game.
This poor arbiter sighing, stuck with such an egotistical pair of customers.
It's about halfway through the game that the arbiter begins to activate some of their memories. Suddenly they're remembering significant moments in their lives. Gojo being placed on a pedestal since birth, his near-death experience against Toji, his entire history with Suguru, his youth, his students, being sealed, Kenjaku possessing Suguru's body... And Sukuna. His life during the Heian era, being unwanted, to his rise to power and infamy and legend, the feeling of being in a body again after Yuji ate his finger, his first fight with Gojo, taking in the modern world through Yuji's eyes, awaiting the moment he can take his true form once more.
It makes them talk, naturally. Not that either of them are the type to open and up and share their life story, but they voice the oddity when they're both inexplicably hit with memories out of the blue. The way each of them came into their powers is an interest to them both. Their relationship with relating to others (or not.) The solitude that comes with power. These conversations start to happen. They don't see eye to eye on everything, but understanding forms between them. Gojo feels like he's reaching him.
They're nearing the end of their game and they've been damn near tied throughout the entire thing.
Memory of their fight hits Sukuna first. Then Gojo. Their shared fates revealed simultaneously.
They're dead. They've been dead this whole time.
There's the initial shock, sure (and a dramatic "Seriously, I'm dead? This sucks!" from Gojo), but whatever either of them may be truly feeling about it, they hide it well. Instead, they talk about the fight. Would we expect anything else? Tease each other for their blunders, lightheartedly talk about what they could've, should've done differently to win... but most importantly, there's praise. They both proved themselves to the other by the end, after all. And where they are now, well, that tells them they really are equal, aren't they? That the title of the "The Strongest," briefly, truly belonged to two people at the same time.
The two strongest in history.
Sukuna, just barely, wins their game. By one move, one point. Gojo whines in protest, but it's all in jest, in good fun. He feels so relaxed, so light, despite just learning that he's died. They're both taking it surprisingly well. The arbiter is so much more used to seeing their customers become confused, distraught, angry, in denial.
Maybe it's because for Sukuna and Gojo, they can't imagine a more satisfying way to die, going out in a blaze of glory in one of the most exhilarating battles they've ever had.
"So what now?"
The arbiter explains how they were being judged, in order to determine if their souls would be reincarnated or sent to the void.
They both laugh, but Sukuna noticeably harder.
"There's no way you needed me to play this game in order to judge me."
And the arbiter admits that yes, he's right, his soul was doomed to be sent to the void since the moment he set foot in here, and that the game was more for determining Gojo's fate. Gojo jokingly asks if he "passed," but then that he doesn't want to know, wants to wait until it's time. Deep down, he thinks it could easily go either way.
Sukuna eyes the bar, asks the arbiter if there's time for a drink before they go. It's granted to them. Gojo waves it off, says he's not one for alcohol.
"Are you really turning down my offer to have a drink? You're dead, this might be the last thing you ever get to do."
"Is the great Sukuna warming up to me? Fine, I'll have a drink, since you want my company so bad."
And they do, and it's a sight no one could've ever expected: Gojo and Sukuna sitting side by side, having a drink together in the afterlife. They talk briefly of what must be going on back in the world of the living now that the both of them are gone, what it means for the plans each side of the conflict had, but they don't dwell on it much. It's all out of their hands now and Gojo, as always, has full faith in the strength of his students. Whatever's happening now, he has to believe they'll be okay.
He does wonder about Megumi, though. They both do. If they were somehow able to save him or if Sukuna's death meant his own end, too, and if he's in this tower somewhere being judged by someone else.
Eventually silence settles between them and Gojo finds himself looking down at the bar counter, hand loose around his glass.
"This was fun. I had fun."
He doesn't expect to find Sukuna looking at him, looking... amused? Content? Leaning on the counter, drink close to his lips.
"You were magnificent, Gojo Satoru. I won't forget you for as long as I live."
What a strange thing to see such sincerity in Sukuna's eyes, to see him smile. Gojo smiles too, grins, feels a twinge of something in him that almost feels like something he hasn't felt since his youth. But then he scoffs.
"Gee, thanks. It's not like you're already dead or anything."
They share another laugh.
It comes time for them to go. They each stand before their respective elevators, which each sport a different mask hanging above them, indicating their fates.
Gojo is to be reincarnated.
"Good luck in your next life. Use it to become something even more impressive than in your last."
"Yeah, and good luck in your eternal pit of nothingness, or whatever."
The elevator doors open.
"... You know, it's too bad you're not going up with me." Is that the direction reincarnated souls go? Up?
"Why's that?"
"I'm just starting to think we could've gotten along, in another life. Could've been friends."
Sukuna chuckles, grins to himself. "I've never cared about having friends."
"Maybe in that other life, you would've."
"Maybe."
They exchange one final look, one of respect, Gojo offering a final wave before they step inside their elevators and accept their fates. The doors close. Behind one, a soul's memories are being erased and is being sent back to start anew. Behind the other, a soul is being sent into a dark, endless void.
And both of those souls stand equally proud.
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