koiifsh



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    sky's effluents by

    Fandoms: 呪術廻戦 | Jujutsu Kaisen (Manga), 呪術廻戦 | Jujutsu Kaisen (Anime)  

    17 Aug 2023

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    Summary

    For a while, Satoru forgets about Toji’s last words. Or more accurately, he doesn’t care enough to do anything about them. Then Suguru happens -- and suddenly not caring is not an option anymore.

    Nine years, two growing children, and one overgrown child. It’s a life Satoru never wanted, but only because it’s one he never dreamed he could have.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    51,929
    Chapters:
    7/7
    Comments:
    277
    Kudos:
    2,130
    Bookmarks:
    701
    Hits:
    40,952
    Bookmarked by koiifsh

    09 Jun 2026

    Bookmarker's Notes

    What's not to love about this story?
    The prose? Immaculate.
    The found family? Heartwarming and gut-wrenching.
    The subtle characterization of every character and the way each of their unhealthy coping mechanisms clashes and clicks together? Chef's kiss.

    I love how Gojo is very selfish and self-centered at the start and how he slowly grows way more attached than he initially intended. I love how in-character the way he cared for them at the start is: begrudgingly and only the bare minimum. He really did see them as burdens at the start, but that never stopped him from caring -- and that's what the children latched onto. I love watching that blossom into a heart-wrenching adoration for children he's coming to view as his own (not necessarily his own kids, but still something uniquely his).

    Normally, I'm not very invested in Tsumiki's character in Fushiguro found family fics because she's depicted as way too healthy and well-adjusted. I love how this fic flips that concept on its head, calling out that "well-adjustment" for what it is: a coping mechanism and a child forced to grow up too fast. I love how her "maturity" is a defense mechanism used to keep others at an arm's distance, because Tsumiki too struggles with abandonment. I love how Tsumiki, not Megumi, is able to see through Gojo's facade and read into his character, even if there are still aspects she can never understand as someone who lives in a completely different world from him. I love how as she grows older, she still feels so distant -- a young girl forced into a woman's role -- but her world has indeed grown with Satoru's influence. It breaks my heart to hear Tsumiki wonder if Megumi likes her at all mere scenes before her tragedy...

    And Megumi, my personal JJK bias. He plays a marginally smaller role in this fic because of how avoidant he is, but his quiet presence is still so felt and so real. Of course, Megumi's social stuntedness, abandonment issues, and avoidant prickliness would prevent him from expressing to his loved ones how much they really mean to him. I love how his deepest feelings are communicated in the little things: spying on Gojo's bedroom door, hanging the ugly winter coat, trying to take care of the bills to lighten Tsumiki's load when he thought Gojo left. You can tell Megumi loves them -- he just expresses it in safe, low-risk means that won't open him up to too much vulnerability, that won't leave him flayed and raw if he gets abandoned again. I feel like this is a detail a lot of the comments missed, but knowing a major contributing factor to Megumi showing interest in jujutsu at the start of his and Gojo's relationship is probably because he believes that's the only tether he has to the latter (and hence the only time he feels safe enough to express more emotions because jujutsu feels like a guarantor) really tugged at my heart strings. I love how Gojo is able to see through his prickliness in bits and pieces. All three of them are so uniquely perceptive and selectively blind in their own ways because they're all broken -- broken shards trying to make something whole by piecing themselves together. It's beautiful.

    There's so much more to this story that I can spend essays picking apart, but that would require me to go back and pore through each individual sentence -- because each word is so deliberate and rich with meaning. But I'm not even done with my first read yet, and these are just what stick out. (Holy shit, I'm only on chapter 3 of 7, and my heart is already aching this bad???)