#I love how Johan was originally just

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - Boyfriend Era is a Go

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

NOV 2024 Week 2

Ongoing Series - Thai

Jack & Joker (Thai Mon IQIYI) ep 9 of 12 - I have to say it, the heist stuff is stupid and all the sidekicks are idiots to the point of annoyance. But Yin and War are truly stellar at these parts. And in general in these roles. Can’t knock 'em. It’s been a year of some very good kisses and this has to have been the best. So this show is top of the standings this week for that kiss alone. Like srs boys? I mean to say, BOYS! How dare. Breaking the internet like that.

Honestly, let's be clear, these two have had killer chemistry since the En of Love and we all expected great things. And now, here we sit, suffering great things from these kings. Thank you, Sirs, may we have another?

Love Sick 2024 (Thai Sun iQIYI) ep 8 of 15 - I'm chronicling my experience with 2024 as compared to 2014 here. The Per Win story arc never interested me in 2014 and I’m not enjoying it now either. But Mick and Ohm are better in 2024. Nong Mick is a standout character, and a brilliant glow up in this version and he’s a confident little shit (affectionate). The mains are good too, but Phun and Noh always were great characters, and these actors are quite good. Possibly better than the original. 

Kidnap (Fri YT) ep 10 of 12 - More bf era delightful diabetes. They are the best boyfriends and the cutest family in the entire world. No exceptions. Next week is definitely doom tho. 

Every You Every Me (Thai Mon Gaga) ep 5 of 10 - Talk about making consent and communication sexy! *fans self* Whoah! That was unexpectedly great. The blatancy of the lust in this one was fun too. And the general casual switch nature of the relationship = delightful.

I like the little acting course we're getting from these tw. They are both quite good. I’m not sure I really enjoy the stories that they’re telling, but I do like how they are telling them.

Fourever You (Thai Thurs YT) ep 6 of 16 - Hill is the premier torch carrier of this year. My goodness. He sure nursed that crush. While I really like this main couple, I’m happy to have some of the others start to creep into the narrative at this juncture. Alone HillTer are a bit intentionally miscommunicative and saccharine. But the screen-time distribution amongst couples seems a little strange. That said, couple 2? No thank you. I really don't like North as a character at all. I find him incredibly unappealing. Ordinarily I'd be on his side because....... blackmail trope renders Johan automatically a complete arse. But at least this is 2 unlikable characters being jerks to each other?

Perfect 10 Liners (Thai Sun YouTube?) ep 2 of 24 - Say it with me Thailand: negging is NOT romantic. Frankly, Arc is just an asshole and a bully with anger issues. But…… Yay cute sides! PondSand they funny. (Book, to me = never very funny. I don’t think comedy is his bailiwick. Look, comedy is HARD ya’ll and usually not in that way.) 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Our Youth AKA Miseinen: Mijukuna Oretachi wa Bukiyo ni Shinkochu (Japan Tues Gaga) ep 1 of 11 - They’re doing some interesting stuff with the framing (both filming style and narrative) that makes this extremely old-fashioned feeling (like Takumi-kun level). I keep saying that this year, but it feels like BL is doing a lot of rediscovering its roots right now. This one even had a goldfish. And abuse. (The two, oddly, often go hand-in-hand in JBL ) And overall...... it’s a bit weird. Which I don’t mind from Japan. Japanese BL can get weird in a good way. Oh I like it. Bully meats smart loaner, total opposites attract, both are lonely and broken and NEED each other, and all that.

See Your Love (Taiwan Weds Gaga) ep 4 of 13 - Oh dear, our poor little rich boy is very broken indeed. The sides are utterly ridiculous.

My Damn Business (Korea Sat YT) eps 6 of 7 - I don’t normally like a love triangle, but I kind of like this one since it gave our uke a bit more depth and agency. And charm, quite frankly. So far he’s been a very dower character.

Eccentric Romance (Korea Weds Viki) eps 9-10 of 12 - Okay boyfriend era is a go. Goodness but they sure are adorable. 

Teenager Judge (Vietnam Sat YT) ep 7 of ? - The slow burn is really very slow. To the point of frustration. But I'm still enjoying the show, just not as much as I was.

Love is Like a Poison AKA Doku Koi: Doku mo Sugireba Koi to Naru (Japan Tues Netflix?) 8 of 10 eps - Even Japan is going through a bf era rn I see. How unusual.

Love in the Air: Koi no Yokan (Japan Sat Gaga) ep 2 of 10 - I’m slightly less annoyed by this one than the original (but I was VERY annoyed by that). I think mame is being tempered by a few things:

There’s so much less time spent on the back-and-forth, because this is a much shorter show, so I have less time to be frustrated by it and the utter uselessness of 75% of these characters.

Also, there's that innate Japanese awkwardness of portrayal & social interaction, which makes the unpleasantness of the characters' behavior and touch more understandable.

This, in turn, is married to the natural kink factor of JBL.

There’s a clearer Dom sub from the get go with this version, makes the blackmailing a little bit more tolerable because it's clearly Play. (negotiated or not) Simply put, daddy wants his brat to beg. And honestly? So say we all.

On a completely different note, the wardrobe for this show is terrible. Like truly bad BAD.

Blue Canvas of Youthful Days (China Sun iQIYI) eps 3-4 - Well I guess that’s that disability dealt with. Meanwhile, competitive bullying art students? I am very amused. Zoo date was cute. This is unquestionably a BL (I’m even more scared now). Still, the gay boys dealing with the straight dude’s crush was truly hilarious. So much "our gay drama doesn’t have time for your het bullshit." Classy move, I smell some Taiwan in this show.

Let Free the Curse of Taekwondo (Korea Thurs Gaga) eps 4-8 end - I was reliably informed this has an HFN end so I decided to watch. Noble and self sacrificing with both of them taking the blame.

My thoughts are...... mixed.

High school student Do Hoe lives with his brutal father who runs a Taekwondo gym. When cheerful Ju Young arrives to train, they fall in love. An unexpected incident forces them apart, they reunite over a decade years later. Essentially this is a brilliant narrative about finding love at the worst possible time, surviving chronic abuse, and the way we process mental, emotional, and physical trauma overtime. Yes it’s also a romance, but that’s not primarily what this story is actually about. I can recognize its genius, but this type of narrative is not for me. I’m reminded of bittersweet painful shows like To My Star 2, or The On1y One, or even Not Me. Is this BL tangential or is it some other genre entirely? Am I questioning my own taste because I did not like its content, or because I do not like its genre? And if it’s not BL should I even render judgment? I think I have to lean into the way I approached some of those other shows, which is to say: it is not for me but I recognize that it is of an extremely high-quality that is certainly for someone else.

Recommended, but only if you like masochistic cinema. Under those circumstances 9/10

(but know that if i were rating for my personal taste? 7/10 I’m never re-watching this, and there is a small part of me that wishes I never had) 

It's airing but......

Love for Loves Sake got some kind of special supposed to air 11/9. Not sure what, why, or where. Only the rumor that it...... is. I'll believe it when I see it...... literally.

The Hidden Moon (Sat WeTV) 10 eps - I've been reliably told not to bother, so I won't.

Bad Guy My Boss (Thai Sun Gaga) 10 eps - I DNF'd at ep 7, I couldn't make it. I am weak. Life is hard enough right now, this show is making it harder. It’s not what I want from my entertainment.

Bad to Bed (Taiwan Sat YouTube) 10 eps - This is a little too low production value even for me. And just very very odd. DNF

In case you missed it

Uncle Unknown finished its run on YT. Censored Chinese BL with paralytically bad production levels. But certainly BL. Boys reunite after a break up only to discover one of them is the step-Uncle of the other. Much to my own shock and surprise I watched all 12 episodes of this. Fortunately, each episode is about 5 minutes long. Under those circumstances is it worth it? Maybe. It’s bad. But not offensive. So that's a win. And you know me, I love a weird take on the stepbrother’s trope and incest taboos. 5/20 watch it only if you have nothing better to do

Next Week Looks Like This:

Gosh there's a lot on right now.

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

November BL:

11/15 Caged Again (Thai Fri Gaga) 10 eps - Penguin escapes zoo by turning into a human. Gets trapped again and a panther falls in love with him.

11/17 Your Sky (Thai Sun iQIYI) 12 eps - A naive freshman and the campus’s popular senior agree to pretend to be a couple - but their fake deal begins to generate real feelings.

11/20 Winter Is Not The Death of Summer (Thai Weds YT) ?? eps - Criminals who meet in prison fall in love

11/20 The Heart Killers (Thai Weds YT iQIYI) 12 eps - Jojo directs FirstKhao & JoongDunk in an action romcom about assassin brothers (Khao & Joong) who meet a tattoo artist ex-booster (First) and a mechanic (Dunk). I'm highly amused that Joong plays the older brother to Khao and that we have a take on the Taming of the ShrewBL. I like that everyone is morally gray. This has all GMMTV's best chemistry in one BL and some fresh concepts that I've only seen tackled in m/m romance novels (check out Amy Lane's Racing for the Sun, thank me later). I'm excited. My only quibble is Jojo, I like his style but his characters can get unreliably messy so…... this gonna be interesting.

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

The insane level of his babygirl heart eyes.

Just, have mercy.

(last week)

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @sunflower-positiiivity @rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire @everlightly @renafire @mestizashinrin @bl-bam-beyond @small-dark-and-delicious @saezurumurmurs

[ophanum]

Can you do a crossover between NarutoXLookism? (Loving the crossovers). Where Kakashi after retiring as Hokage dies peacefully reincarnates in a new world and in a different time. He is the son of a powerful Japanese yakuza household and only heir. Kakashi still looks the same and has the same personality. Word quickly spreads that he is a genius in everything, (he is a child genius back in his world and graduating early and being #1). Especially in the martial arts and weapons. His abilities spread in the underground world and unbeatable record (compared to the ninjas and wars and even battling an alien rabbit ahem... Kaguya this is a breeze for him) that even Tom Lee and Manager Kim are wary of him. During his childhood he met Gun from the Yamazaki family, and Gun idolizes him even calling him big brother (Kakashi is older than Gun maybe 4-6yrs age gap). Kakashi treats him like a little brother. Gun is amazed at how Kakashi learns all the martial arts with just one look (Well he is Copy Ninja Kakashi and even without the sharingan he is still a badass especially since it's not draining his body anymore plus he is a genius). That's why Gun recognize this technique in Danile and Johan because he already saw it (although Kakashi does it far better). In fact, in this world Kakashi is the original holder of the title "White Ghost" (similar to his old title "White Fang"). Gun possess this title after Kakashi left Japan without a word. No one knows his location. In fact, our beloved mask ninja just doesn't want this lifestyle and heir responsibilities decided to ditch and become a teacher again (I love the teacher trope and I wonder why they're aren't any in Lookism). He applies at J-High, and loves teasing his students especially where they try to attempt to remove his mask. Kakashi is very protective of them since some of them reminds him of his students. He will meet Gun again where Gun has mix feelings (he doesn't know if he'll be angry or happy that he saw him again after leaving without a word). At the same time, Gun will be jealous if he sees Goo taking an interest in Kakashi (he feels like the blonde is stealing him away). While Kakashi will have a headache wishing why can't he ever have normal students or why is he always in charge of babysitting kids with emotional problems.

Feel free to shorten this, I really don't know how to summarize this request hehe.

7 YEARS - ! Naruto x Lookism

ft. Reincarnated! Kakashi Hatake x Lookism

"So I started writing songs, I started writing stories, something about the glory just always seemed to bore me." - 7 years by Lukas Graham

note: Sorry this is the latest I could be with a request! I had a long hiatus and I haven't got the time. I hope this covers up for the long wait!

Kakashi Hatake had lived many lives, but none quite like this one.

Once the Copy Ninja of Konoha, the man who had seen wars, trained legends, and even held the title of Hokage, Kakashi thought he'd earned a quiet retirement. But life had other plans. He’d died peacefully, yes, but instead of reuniting with his comrades in the afterlife, he’d found himself in a new world—reborn as the heir to a powerful yakuza family in Japan.

He didn’t stay long in the household; despite his family’s immense influence, he had no interest in the criminal empire his father had built. After all, he’d seen too many shadows, fought too many battles, to find any joy in such a lifestyle. But he didn’t waste his abilities, either. He became a child prodigy in martial arts and weaponry, mastering techniques and disciplines with the same ease he once copied jutsus in Konoha. The underground world soon whispered his name—the White Ghost, the unbeatable genius of the underground, who could learn anything with a single look.

Yet none of it really mattered to him. So one day, Kakashi vanished, leaving no trace of his whereabouts.

But this world wasn’t without its curiosities. He met Gun, a sharp young fighter from the Yamazaki family, and they bonded over a shared love of martial arts. Kakashi became something of a mentor to him, even as a boy. Gun admired him deeply, calling him “big brother,” and was constantly amazed by Kakashi’s ability to master any style without a single spar. Kakashi chuckled, ruffling Gun’s hair, encouraging him with advice and showing him techniques Gun couldn’t find anywhere else. For the first time, Kakashi thought that maybe this new world wasn’t so bad.

Then one day, he left without a word.

Kakashi strolled down the hallways of J-High with his usual lazy gait, wearing his standard black mask and one eye half-lidded with an expression of perpetual boredom. His students had quickly learned he was no ordinary teacher. In fact, they didn’t know what to think of him. He was distant, playful, occasionally a little too cryptic, and seemed to know things no normal teacher should. The students couldn’t help but wonder who their mysterious, masked teacher truly was.

Some of them—Daniel, Zack, Vasco, and even Jiho—couldn’t help but notice the odd feeling they got around him, as if he was hiding something. He was always there with calm advice, an encouraging word, and a quick hand to ruffle their hair or give a comforting shoulder pat. Kakashi loved teasing them, especially when they tried (and inevitably failed) to remove his mask.

Today, he sat perched on the edge of his desk, thumbing through a novel as his students huddled together in the back, clearly plotting something.

“He never takes it off, does he?” Vasco whispered, eyeing Kakashi’s mask.

“Maybe he’s hiding something under there,” Daniel muttered, curiosity sparking in his eyes.

With a lazy glance up, Kakashi grinned beneath his mask. “You know, you’re welcome to try, but I’ve never lost this game before.”

His students groaned, but they still looked at him with that sense of awe and respect Kakashi knew well. They reminded him of his old students, and without realizing it, he’d become protective of them.

Kakashi’s calm routine at J-High was soon interrupted. One day, while he was preparing for another laid-back afternoon of teasing his students and sipping his tea, a familiar figure strode into the school—Gun.

Gun hadn’t seen his “big brother” in years, and as soon as he’d caught wind that the elusive White Ghost had resurfaced, he’d tracked Kakashi down. As he entered the classroom, Kakashi looked up, tilting his head with that signature half-smile.

“Gun,” he said, voice calm as ever, as if they’d only seen each other yesterday.

Gun’s eyes narrowed, emotions swirling beneath the surface. He hadn’t known whether to be angry or relieved, so instead, he simply replied, “Kakashi.”

The students stared, shocked and wide-eyed at the man standing before them. Gun, their Gun, had a connection to their teacher?

“What are you doing here?” Gun finally asked, struggling to keep his voice even.

“Teaching,” Kakashi replied, amusement glinting in his eye. “I thought it’d be nice to go back to simpler work after everything.”

“After everything?” Gun’s voice tightened. “You left without a word, and now you’re here teaching... high school?”

“Yes, it’s quite relaxing. Well, at least until the day you decided to drop in unannounced.” Kakashi glanced over at his students, who were utterly speechless. “Why don’t you introduce yourself to the class, Gun? They’ll be delighted to know I have family in town.”

Gun clenched his jaw, glaring at him. “You’re impossible, Kakashi.”

Meanwhile, the students huddled, whispering furiously. “Wait, so our teacher is, like, a legend in the underground?”

“Doesn’t this make him the original ‘White Ghost’ Gun always talks about?” Zack muttered, wide-eyed.

As the day wore on, Kakashi and Gun fell into a rhythm, with Gun oscillating between frustration and admiration, as he always had around Kakashi. But a new source of tension emerged when Goo arrived, immediately intrigued by the mysterious “White Ghost” he’d heard so much about.

Gun bristled as Goo openly admired Kakashi’s calm, enigmatic nature, even offering him his share of a particularly high-profile job. “You don’t want it? Come on, White Ghost, you’d make an amazing team with me,” Goo said, eyeing Kakashi with a wicked grin.

“Sorry, not interested,” Kakashi replied, smiling lazily. “I have enough trouble with my students.”

Gun could only watch, half-exasperated, half-amused, as Kakashi kept his usual indifferent charm. But a part of him still felt that familiar sense of awe and respect. Seeing Kakashi back in his life brought back memories, and despite his anger at Kakashi’s sudden departure all those years ago, he couldn’t deny the relief at seeing him again. Still, he wasn’t going to let Goo get too close.

In the end, Kakashi settled back into his routine, humorously balancing the world of J-High’s chaotic students and his old life in the underground. He thought he’d left the shadows behind, but with Gun and Goo hovering around, things were bound to get more interesting.

One evening, after his students had gone home and the school halls were quiet, Kakashi looked over at Gun, who had stayed behind. Gun met his gaze, arms crossed.

“So,” Gun said, smirking, “are you ever going to tell me why you left?”

Kakashi shrugged, looking out the window with that usual calm demeanor. “Guess I just wanted something new. A quieter life. I’ve earned that, don’t you think?”

Gun sighed, but his expression softened just a bit. “Maybe. But don’t think for a second I’ll go easy on you just because we’re family.”

Kakashi grinned. “Wouldn’t have it any other way.”

--

After Kakashi’s return to Gun’s life—and his “disinterested” way of handling Goo’s advances—rumors started circulating around the underground. A mysterious, masked figure who easily rivaled Gun and Goo’s abilities had appeared, and the whispering was enough to make Goo curious beyond measure. To everyone’s surprise, Goo found himself quite taken with Kakashi’s aloof attitude and seamless skill.

It didn’t take long for Goo to start lingering around J-High.

Kakashi leaned against his desk, his attention fixed on a novel as his students filed out. A familiar, dramatic sigh filled the air, and he looked up to see Goo standing in the doorway, hands on his hips, sporting that ever-present smirk.

“Hey there, White Ghost,” Goo drawled, eyeing Kakashi up and down. “Isn’t it a shame to hide yourself away in a place like this?”

Kakashi barely glanced up from his book. “Hmm. I don’t find it particularly shameful, no.”

Undeterred, Goo strolled closer, leaning over Kakashi’s desk and dropping an elbow casually, eyeing the masked man with an eager grin. “Come on, wouldn’t you rather do something a bit more… exciting? I know a few gigs we could try out, see if you’re as good as they say.”

Kakashi tilted his head slightly, a knowing glint in his eye. “Oh? And what do they say?”

Goo grinned wider, eyes alight. “That you’re the guy Gun once idolized. The legendary White Ghost, the unbeatable martial artist… sounds like something I’d love to see for myself.” His tone dripped with challenge, his hands fidgeting, clearly itching for a fight.

Kakashi chuckled, flipping another page in his book. “It’s flattering, but I’m not interested in entertaining rumors. Besides,” he closed the book with a small smile beneath his mask, “babysitting teenagers keeps me plenty busy.”

Goo’s eyes lit up, a hint of competitive fire sparking there. “Babysitting, huh? I think I’d make a better partner than a bunch of kids, don’t you think?”

“Please, Goo,” a familiar voice interrupted, and Gun appeared in the doorway, arms crossed and a dark look in his eyes. “If anyone is Kakashi’s partner, it’s me.”

Goo’s grin only widened at the sight of Gun, always eager for a little rivalry. “Oh, come on, Gun. Maybe Kakashi wants something new. Someone more exciting, maybe?”

Gun’s jaw tightened, but Kakashi could see the subtle smirk playing at the corner of his lips. Gun wasn’t about to let Goo’s teasing get to him. “I don’t think you’d last a day with him,” Gun retorted. “Kakashi’s no ordinary fighter, Goo. Just because you’re interested doesn’t mean you can handle him.”

“Oh, really?” Goo taunted, leaning in even closer to Kakashi. “I’d love to see if that’s true. In fact, White Ghost,” he said, smirking at Kakashi, “I’d love to see what’s under that mask.”

Kakashi gave a resigned sigh, closing his book with a light flick. “Let’s get one thing clear,” he began, tone exasperated but amused. “Even if you tried, you’d never get this mask off. And besides, I don’t like choosing sides.”

Gun rolled his eyes, standing beside Kakashi with a casual air of possession. “He’s not going anywhere with you, Goo.”

“Oh, we’ll see about that,” Goo replied with a mischievous laugh. “The White Ghost and I are bound to run into each other in a less… academic setting sooner or later.”

Kakashi chuckled, amused by the ongoing sparring match between his two “admirers.” For all his nonchalance, he could see Gun’s faint irritation at Goo’s persistent presence. Kakashi had always been fond of Gun, who reminded him of a younger version of himself, but Goo was nothing if not persistent.

“Are we done here?” Kakashi asked, looking pointedly between them. “Because I have papers to grade.”

Goo grinned, tossing him a lazy salute. “Alright, alright, White Ghost. But don’t think you’ve seen the last of me.” He glanced back at Gun with a smirk. “Better keep an eye out if you’re so worried, Gun. The underground world has plenty of room for three of us.”

Gun scoffed, but Kakashi could see the faintest smile tugging at his lips. “Don’t overestimate yourself, Goo,” he replied coolly.

With a last, playful grin, Goo finally left, and Gun turned to Kakashi, irritation still simmering in his gaze. “You’re going to let him hang around, aren’t you?”

Kakashi shrugged. “I don’t choose who wanders into my classroom, Gun.” He leaned back in his chair, looking thoughtfully at his former “little brother.” “Besides, I can take care of myself.”

Gun frowned, shifting slightly, his pride and admiration for Kakashi battling with a trace of jealousy he couldn’t quite suppress. “You don’t know how persistent Goo can be.”

“Oh, I think I do,” Kakashi replied with a chuckle. “But if you’re so worried, Gun, why don’t you stick around?”

Gun looked at him, a flash of surprise crossing his usually impassive face, and he cleared his throat, glancing away. “Maybe I will.”

With a light chuckle, Kakashi picked up his book once more. For someone who had survived wars, rival clans, and even aliens, these two were proving to be some of his greatest sources of amusement. As he settled back, he couldn’t help but wonder how long he could maintain his peace at J-High with two of the underground’s most volatile men vying for his attention.

One thing was clear: life as a teacher was anything but ordinary.

[linkspooky]

Hello👋

Do you have an opinion or analysis of Johan from Yu-Gi-Oh GX?

I love his Character💕

My opinion on Johan is I love him lots. The only reason I didn't include him on my previous season 3 posts is that there's so much to talk about with Johan he basically requires his own post. Johan is just as important to Judai's development in season 3 as Yubel, both alchemically and thematically.

So let's embark on another long, long post for Johan and his role in the story.

The Golden Shadow

Before we deep dive into alchemy let's talk about Jung. Jung's theories of analytical psychology is heavily based on Alchemy so this is relevant, I promise. Freud and his contemporary Jung both pioneered the field of psychology together, however Jung went deeper and believed that re-occuring character archetypes and motifs in stories told us something about the human subconscious itself.

For Carl Cung, "the rediscovery of the principles of alchemy came to be an important part of my work as a pioneer of psychology". Jung linked the steps of alchemy several a process of turning lead into gold as a metaphor for individuation.

Individuation is essentially becoming one's self. Jung believed for a person to be whole, they had to integrate all the parts of their personality. His model divided personality into the the persona (the face / exteral world) shadow (the internal / the subcosnscious where everything's hidden), and the anima and animus made of feminine and masculine traits.

In a show like Yu-Gi-Oh GX, individuation is the process of growing up. Jung used alchemy as a metaphor for a developing person's ego maturing, each stage representing a different aspect of his divided conscious. Nigredo is where we become aware of our shadows, Albedo refers to the anima and animus, citrinatis is where sophia the wise old man or women appears, and rubedo is where the self becomes whole.

Johan however, represents two concepts I've left out. Sometimes alchemy is not four stages, but rather five.

The fifth stage is the Peacock's tail, which appears when a person receives a flash of inspiration. Unlike other stages of alchemy associated with color, Peacock's Tail is referred to as the prismatic stage, associated with the colors of the rainbow. The connection to Johan who's signature card is the Rainbow Dragon is obvious.

More on the prismatic phase in the second half of this power however. For now all you need to know that like the star card in Tarot, Johan is a dazzling light of inspiration that helps kickstart Judai's development. The way he does this is by giving Judai someone to aspire to be like.

If the process of aclhemy is to create gold and become your best self then Johan is the golden shadow, to Judai. His role in the story is to help guide Judai into being his best self.

While the shadow is made up of parts of ourselves we hide from others, sometimes these are positive qualities. For example, a character with low self-esteem like Sho Marufuji constantly put himself down and therefore he's never able to see his good qualities because all he ever focuses on is how he's lackluster in comparison to his brother.

If Yubel represents the worst of Judai's flaws that he must learn to accept so he can learn to love himself in spite of those flaws, Johan represents the best in Judai. While Judai has many flaws that are glossed over in the first two parts of the show, I'd also argue he doesn't experience any positive growth. He's entirely stagnant as a character, which is why I say the opening to season 3 and the immediate introduction of Johan is what kickstarts his development.

The banner image I used for this post is where Judai and Johan are doing the Yu-Jo pose, a card in the TCG that is a reference to the friendship between Yugi and Joey in the original series.

However, I would argue that their roles are flipped. In spite of being the main character Judai is Joey, and Johan is Yugi. It's Yugi who makes Judai develop into both a better friend and duelist as a result of their friendship, to the point where Judai almost became too codependent on him and had to learn to separate himself from Yugi and develop on his own in Battle City arc.

(Hint hint, Judai and Johan will follow almost this exact same arc).

Yugi is the light which guides Joey into betterig himself, and Johan is the light that guides Judai.

Judai and Johan from their first meeting, get the vague sense they've already met before. Since this is Yu-Gi-Oh the immediate assumptio would be they had some kind of relationship in a past life, but plot twist it's Yubel.

However, I think this red herring is still important because despite the constant comparisons Johan is more similar to Yubel, then they are to Judai.

Edo refers to them both as Duel-Bakas, Shou gets jealous that Judai and Johan spend constant time together after meeting, in everyone else's even probably Judai's they're the same but if you look at their actions as audience members they're quite different. The comparison between them shows the many ways in which Judai is lacking.

Johan is basically Judai, but better. Judai is put on a pedestal by all his friends and seen as a classic hot-blooded shonen protagonist. Johan however, is the one who has all the classic traits of a real shonen protagonist, including having a dream to aspire to, and also fighting to protect his friends.

These are the two most important traits established from basically the first episode with Johan.

Strong bonds

A reason to fight

Johan's personality is more complicated than that, but these two traits are the most important because they're things Judai is lacking in.

Judai is someone is defined by his friendless background, and had no friends until his first year of Duel Academy. Which is why it makes perfect sense that while Judai is in love with the idea of having friends, he doesn't quite understand what a healthy friendship looks like. Judai is also someone who lacks a reason for dueling and only cites he does it for fun and his own personal satisfaction.

Arguably Judai is forced into duels with greater stakes in seasons 1 and 2, but the key word there is forced. Judai is always pushed into those situations, either because his friends aren't strong enough to duel, or his friends actively expect them to fight their battles in their personal lives for him (cough, cough, Sho). In other words he duels for two reasons, either personal satisfaction, or carrying the burdens of others because that's the way he keeps his friends around him.

Judai is ruthlessly criticized for both of these in season 3, the stakes of dueling become too high and Judai just crumbles under the pressure of having to duel for everyone else. As a result his friendships which were never that stable to begin with fall apart.

Johan on the other hand has a goal on his own, and while he might be a tad overprotective of Judai he's also able to coordinate with the rest of the group. In fact when the whole school is teleported to the other dimmension, it's Johan who steps up to lead, while if you notice Judai's actions he splits off from the group repeatedly. Johan's actions are also the reason they are able to return home, because Judai was unable to do anything substantial to defeat Yubel.

One of Johan's first interactions with Judai is him pointing out how callous Judai can be towards his friend, something which others would usually brush aside.

Sho: Bro… I thought you would have something to say to me. Johan: He seems lost. I think he just wanted you to give him some advice. Judai: Sho will be fine.

More importantly Joha can notice these flaws about Judai and immediately point them out and confront them about him, while still remaining friends with him on the whole.

Johan is Judai's model for a positive friendship. In comparison the friendships he has with other people crumble because of inability for both sides to communicate.

When Judai and his friends travel together to another dimmesion, Judai is selfish in constantly disregarding others feelings and running ahead, and at points even lying to them and going against plans they all made together. However, Judai's friends are unable to confront him about these issues and instead mostly talk and complain among themselves behind his back. Judai might not have listened in his state of mind, but they don't even make the attempt.

In fact the friends who do try to confront Judai about his behavior are August and Jim, characters Judai has known just about as long as Johan in comparison to friends he's had for two years who don't feel comfortable having a basic confrontation with him.

Judai's friendships suffer from the fact that none of them are truly equal. Sho for example is the first person Judai meets on the island and the one who he's known the longest, but one of their first interactions is Judai expressig discomfort for the fact Sho calls him his older brother because he wants duelist to be equals and Sho just ignoring him and continuing to call him that.

Once again I believe there is problems on both ends, Judai is very selfish and has a tendency to be ignorant of other people's feelings. On the other hand, Judai's friends eventually get in the habit of expecting him to solve their problems because they've built up the idea of him in their minds as the group hero.

As I said the friendship crumbles from both ends in season 3, part of it is Judai being selfish and acting like he's the only person that matters, part of it is his friends ruthlessly criticizing him because he's failing to live up to the image they've constructed for themselves.

Judai's friendships are fundamentally unequal but Judai himself isn't aware of this because he has no idea what a healthy friendship looks like - until he meets Johan.

Johan is a character not introduced to us in season 3, and yet it's very understandable to the audience that Judai would become so obsessed with saving someone he's known for about a month, to the point where he risks the lives of friends he's known for two years. Because that month has given Judai his first taste of what true friendship is like, rather than the idea of friendship he's been chasing.

Johan is Judai's better half in a lot of ways. One example we're introduced to immediately upon his introduction is Johan's role as someone able to see duel spirits, and his strong relationship with his cards. Just as an example, all of Johan's cards regularly talk to him and Johan even refers to them as the closest thing he has to family.

Judai until that point had a spirit partner that doesn't talk, and his heroes and neo-spacians are more like allies. For Judai the Neo-Spacians are allies in his fight against the Light of Destructio, for Johan the Crystal Beasts are his family.

Johan is also far more experienced as someone who can see duel spirits, while Judai is actively repressing the memory of the fact he could see spirits much earlier in life, and of Yubel.

Before the characters even travel to another dimmension, Johans duel against the spirit hunter Giesse demonstrates how Judai is lacking in these two traits, strong bonds, and a reason to fight. It also demonstrates the difference between how Judai and Johan regard their spirit partners, and why Johan's relationship with his cards is better.

Shortly before the duel even begins Judai is pushed to the brink by his previous duel against the teacher. A duel that not only exhausted him, but also deeply disturbed him because the teacher called into question his lack of reason for dueling and Judai had no real response. When Judai questions himself he does something we don't often see him do, he goes to someone else for advice. J

udai basically never lets himself appear insecure or lost around friends who aren't named Johan. Judai even apologizes to Johan for asking something out of the blue, he's so unused to relying on others for emotional support of any kind.

Judai: Johan what have you been dueling for? See, it's about fun for me... Well, for the surprise and happiness too. I guess I do do it for the fun. Sorry, I guess I put you on the spot by asking out of nowhere. Johan: What's this about Judai? Judai: It's nothing. Johan: I suppose there is one goal I have. Johan: Even if someone doesn't have the power to see spirits, they can still form a bond with a spirit. That's why I do it for people like him.

Johan wants to be a bridge between humans and spirits. Not only is Johan a character defined by the strong bonds of friendship he forms, but his life's goal is also built around improving the bond between spirits ad humans.

Immediately afterwards, Judai gets up and struggles to duel against their next foe. However, this time Johan steps up to duel in Judai's place, which is also a drastic change from Judai's other friends. Unless they had a strong personal bond like Fubuki and Sho with Ryo, Judai has stepped up to handle all the major duels since Season 2. Judai even experiences anxiety over letting Johan go and duel in his place.

Johan is introduced to Giess the hunter, a spirit hunter who actively found a way to kill spirits. A character like that seems like Johan's obvious narrative foil. Giess even invites the comparison between the two of them, saying that Johan is obsession with getting his hands on Rainbow Dragon is similar to how he hunts spirits.

However, Giess works much better as a negative foil, or shadow of Judai. Which is why it makes sense Johan is the one who duels him, because he represents the best in Judai while Giess represents the worst.

Now the question is how could Giess possibly be compared to Judai? Yes, as I demonstrated above Judai is much more inexperienced with seeing spirits than Johan is but he's never actively malicious towards them the way Giess is.

Except, you know when he slaughters hundreds of duel spirits after turning into Haou the Supreme King.

Giesse has a final monologue upon his defeat, to explain why he does what he does and his cruelty towards spirits. Giesse who has probably been able to see spirits as long as Johan once formed a strong bond with a duel spirit, but he was separated from that spirit. The pain made him close his heart off to forming bonds with any other spirits.

After losing his duel spirit partner he came to conclude it was impossible for humans and duel spirits to get along, because the spirits are too pure hearted to understand humans.

Giesse foreshadows Judai's downfall and his actions as the supreme king. Giesse's start of darkness was being forcibly separated from his spirit partner. The entire conflict from Season 3 happens because Judai made the choice to send his childhood friend / spirit partner Yubel into space.

Ironically, despite Yubel beig corrupted by a force called the Light of Destruction, and having a very twisted, sadomasochistic view of love I think Giesse's words here describe why Judai and Yubel can't understand each other.

Yubel is in a way too pure hearted.

We're never given a reason why Yubel became so overprotective of Judai in childhood before they ever became corrupted by the Light of Destruction but we know one thing for sure.

Yubel has no understanding what they did was wrong. They saw themselves as doing their job of protecting Judai which they sacrificed their body for in the past life. They neither understand why Judai was upset by their actions, or why Judai was upset when people started avoiding him because for Yubel being alone with Judai was enough for them.

It makes sense that Yubel wouldn't understand that Judai wants to have friendships with other children his own age. After all Yubel is a spirit that can only be seen by Judai. For Yubel, there is only Judai, they can't communicate with others, they can't form other friendships. Which is extra tragic if you remember that Yubel wasn't born a duel spirit but a personhood, and gave up their very personhood for Judai.

Yubel is very pure-hearted in a way that's almost insidious, they are so straightforward about their love for Judai, and they exist solely for Judai's sake that they can't understand why Judai has room for other people in his life, because there's no one else for Yubel.

The conflict in season 3 comes from Judai's decision to abandon Yubel. Judai can't come to an understanding with Yubel because Yubel is too pure, being a duel spirit that only exists for Judai's sake.

Judai also follows a similiar path to Giesse, when he loses Johan along with the rest of his friends Judai makes the decision to give up on the notion of love in order to gain power instead.

This is quickly followed by him killing duel spirits en masse, probably more than Giesse managed to kill in order to sacrifice them to forge a powerful card. When Johan is battling with Giesse he's literally battling a reflection of the worst part of Judai. Which sets up Johan's role in the series to guide him to his best self.

In summary Johan's relationships with his spirits are strong and healthy, Judai's relationships with Yubel is weak and unhealthy. In fact, Judai is helping achieve his dream of being the bridge between humans and spirits by essentially teaching Judai what strong bonds looks like.

Johan is also symbolically Judai's complementary half in a lot of ways. Each of the new transfer students plays a deck that embodies one elemental step of the stage of alchemy, August is fire / Nigredo, Amon is Water / Albedo, and James Crocodile Crook is Earth / Citrinitas. Johan is the only exception to this rule, because he plays the crystal beasts which are modeled after the seven colors of the rainbow.

Johan is light which puts him into the contrast with Judai who's both set up as the chosen one of the "gentle darkess" to fight the light of destruction, while at the same time someone corrupted by that very darkness into becoming Haou.

Which sets up Johan to contrast to be a pair with Judai. My friend Kaula or @nini-the-mirror pointed out to me we're shown two types of darkness, the destructive darkness embodied by nightshroud and the gentle darkness. While the light of destruction is set up as a destructive force in the universe, there's also Johan's light based crytal beasts, and rainbow dragon which cleanses away darkness. Fusing Rainbow Dragon with Neos purged Yubel from Johan's body, and when Judai was trapped in darkness illusion in Domino City and believed Johan to be Mr. T, it's Johan and the Crystal Beasts who purify him once again.

Johan's desire to be a bridge between spirits and humans, his northern heritage, and Rainbow Dragon all call to mind the Bifrost, a rainbow bridge which connected heaven ad earth.

The bifrost was a connection between the mortal world, and the realm of the gods, or the physical and the spiritual. Just as Johan is a mortal who can talk to spirits. Yu-Gi-Oh GX is also an anime heavily based off of alchemy concepts, and one of the central ones that's even said by Professor Daitokuji himself is: That which is above is like to that which is below, and that which is below is like to that which is above.

It's a phrase written on the Emerald Tablet, often shortened to "As above, so below." It means the mortal world effects the world of the cosmos, and the world of the cosmos effects the mortal world because everything is connected.

By wanting to stregthen the bonds between humans to spirits Johan is basically embodying this phrase. Judai's goal as the alchemist is to be the one to make changes in the mortal world that affect the cosmos. For example, his battles on earth against Saiou has a direct effect on stopping the Light of Destruction, but honestly again Johan serves his role a lot better than Judai.

Johan is in fact a character written around the concepts of bonds itself, the bonds of humans, the bonds between friends. Judai cares about these things too, he wants to be a good friend, but he has lots of flaws that stunts his growth and holds him back. His inability to integrate his shadow also presents him from being his best self (the golden shadow).

To quote my friend Psyche:

"The shadow is basically the storehouse of everything you don’t like about yourself. The things that others are but you could never allow yourself to be. But it’s also the storehouse of the alchemical gold."

Not only is Johan the best parts of Judai by being his golden shadow, he's also essentially Judai's goal. Judai wants to be like Johan.

If Johan gives Judai these things he's lacking, a healthy friendship, and a reason for fighting, then problem solved right? All Judai needs to do is marry Johan.

If you can't tell I was being sarcastic.

The Prismatic Phase

Alchemy is a process of refinement, of breaking down and forging into something stronger. However, when the metal starts out it's full of impurities that need to be hammered out. Alchemy is often used as a metaphor for both character growth and developing relationships in stories, after all if a character starts out perfect there's no story.

I said above multiple times Johan exists to demonstrate to Judai what a healthy friendship is to Judai. However, the attachment that Judai forms with Johan is anything but. Albeit for different reasons than the rest of his friends.

Johan is indeed someone who is set up as Judai's equal, and also strives to be his support rather than constantly relying on him for battles. Johan doesn't just exist to be a good friend to Judai however, he also demonstrates leadership skills Judai doesn't have when faced with a school full of hungry students teleported to another dimensions.

The problem is on Judai's end. Judai definitely needed a friend like Johan, because he's never experienced a friendship between equals before. However Judai as inexperienced as friendship as he is takes this openly supportive friend and starts using him as a crutch.

There's one scene in particular that demonstrates this problem. In the leadup to the cobra duel, Judai confided in Johan twice that he doesn't have any real reason for dueling and he's insecure about that fact. Cobra then criticizes Judai heavily once again for his irresponsible attitude.

Seeing Judai about to crack under the pressure, Johan takes the moment to encourage Judai by reminding him that he has in fact been carrying everyone's responsibilities on his shoulders all along.

Johan: "Why are you so scared Judai? You think there's nothing riding on you? Quit messing around. You've always had everyone's hopes on you. Anyone who's being counted on'll have people putting all their hopes on him. Isn't that what you're always burdened with. What will happen to us all if you lose?"

Well-meaning advice from Johan, but wrong for Judai for two reasons. The first is that Judai's reasons for fighting are something he has to think through for himself. That's how character development happens. Judai can't solve this inner conflict by having Johan just show up and drop the answer in his lap. He still hasn't thought about what he wants to be, he's just accepted Johan's words at face value.

The second is that Judai taking on other people's burdens is precisely the problem. Johan is such a self-reliant person he can give his support to other people without tiring himself out, but Judai can't. Johan wants to protect his friends. Judai duels for his friends because he's absolutely terrified of losing his friends, that's the difference.

Judai's not mature enough to handle other people's burdens and eventually the pressure gets to him and he completely cracks. Judai's just not mature enough to have a healthy relationship with Johan in general.

A relationship where being separated causes one person to have a complete emotional breakdown is not a healthy relationship.

In fact Judai completely ignoring all of his friends after a separating from Judai, and wanting to get him back ad being willing to sacrifice anything for that goal is a parallel to Yubel. Yubel is also someone who was separated from their best friend who they emotionally depended on, and stopped caring about anything but said friend, and was willing to sacrifice everything to reunite with them.

You could liken the disappearance of Johan, and the subsequent rising of Judai as the Supreme King as propelling him through the black phase of alchemy Nigredo, where the soul is brought to its lowest point and the worst flaws are revealed.

In the second sense, "the nigredo of the process of individuation on the other hand is a subjectively experienced process brought about by the subject's painful, growing awareness of his shadow aspects. It could be described as a moment of maximum despair, that is a prerequisite to personal development Here is "the darkest time, the time of despair, disillusionment, envious attacks...Nigredo, the blackening" [Source]

Johan's friendship is important to Judai, but his union with Johan doesn't actually fix any of Judai's problems and aggravates them in some ways. Judai doesn't even start improving as a character until after they seperate.

Johan isn't the rubedo the end result of alchemy, he's the pristmatic phase, the shining light of inspiration.

One metaphor I like to use for the Prismatic phase is the Star in the fool's journey. GX references Tarot and the fool's journey too, and like alchemy it's also a metaphor for personal growth. The fool (Judai) a person brimming with infinite potential, yet one who is also supremely ignorant, walking forward blind has to wise up to the wys of the world.

In the Fool's Journey the Star is a period of brief respite after the disaster of the tower. A beacon of hope and inspiration appears before him.

The Fool is suffused with a serene calm. The beautiful images on the Star (17) attest to this tranquility.Radiant stars shine in a cloudless sky serving as a beacon of hope and inspiration. The Fool is blessed with a trust that completely replaces the negative energies of the Devil. His faith in himself and the future is restored.

Doesn't this just describe Judai and Johan's first meeting to a T? Johan is supposed to be Judai's guiding light in the story ater all. However, the Star is immediately proceeded by the moon the card of illusions and self doubt.

Just like Judai becomes too reliant on Johan to provide him all the answers, the light of the star makes the fool vulnerable to the illusions of the moon.

What effect could spoil this perfect calm? Is there another challenge for the Fool? In fact, it is his bliss that makes him vulnerable to the illusions of the Moon (18). The Fool's joy is a feeling state. His positive emotions are not yet subject to mental clarity. In his dreamy condition, the Fool is susceptible to fantasy, distortion and a false picture of the truth.

Season 4 even invokes star and moon symbolism in regards to Judai and Johan in a negative light. Fujiwara looking into Johan's heart says that Johan's weakness is Judai himself.

He describes Johan's friendship and fixation on Judai as a moon eclipsing the sun. That's not two opposites balancing each other out that's one obscuring the other.

The season 3 version of their relationship is unhealthy and therefore needs to be broken apart and reformed. That's the process of alchemy, even if Yubel didn't kidnap Johan they probably would have broken apart some other way because Judai was too dependent on Johan.

It's also a violent process that includes Judai needing to duel Johan in a way where they are both inflicting pain on each other in order to purify Johan of Yubel's control. Yubel and Fujiwara both comment that underneath it all Johan desires a violent conflict with Judai. Which is probably something that would be explored more if Season 4 was longer. My interpretation however is that Johan being who he is, is kind of forced into the role of caretaker when Judai is involved as Judai is often in need of taking care of. That probably produces darker feelings for a change in their relationship.

The opposite of unions is a violent process that requires dissolving your previous self. The dictionary of Alchemical Imagery defines it as-

one of the central images of the opus alchymicum and a crucial operation in the creation of the philosopher’s stone.  The alchemists were ultimately concerned with the union of substances, the reconciliation of opposites. Through the ‘marriage’ of opposites the goal of the opus, the production of gold and its metaphysical equivalent was obtained. (p. 35)

Judai doesn't marry Johan, but they do have their friendship broken apart and reforged again and it's representative of the prismatic stage.

The Peacock's tail which Johan represents is also like the Star in tarot, a stage where a guiding light suddenly appears. One of the Spector Solis plates , Plate 16 - which depictins a Peacock in a flask is a good representation of this stage.

It is a plate of what else but unity.

The unity that began in plate fifteen is fully realized with the encapsulated animal’s transformation into a single-headed being. The peacock tail is a physical stage in alchemy, a brilliant flash of green which comes to signify that the alchemist is one the right path. It can also be recognized in spiritual/psychological alchemy as a flash of visions that come to the adept as they move through the phases of transformation.

The peacock doesn't just appear to guide the young alchemist through the phases of alchemy however, he also guides them spiritually.

 Plate sixteen embodies that process, the turning point where the adept reaches a new level of consciousness with a flash of the peacock’s tail. Consider the words spirit (i.e., the wine), spiritual, and inspiration. To inspire can mean to breath; it can also mean to transmit fervor. Spirit can be meditative, or evocative.

Who better to provide spiritual guidance to Judai then the person who's goal in life is to become the bridge between humans and spirits.

As the star's dazzling moment of inspiration is just temporary, the plate also emphasizes that the peacock's tail itself isn't the ed of the journey. One of the most significant symbols on the painting is the appearance of three people drinking wine and eating grapes. Three people = three stages of alchemy. As for the rest.

The key to the process of plate sixteen lies in the bottom left-hand corner, with the three people seated at a table, drinking wine and eating grapes. The process of this plate is fermentation. Grapes must be crushed and destroyed to create sweet intoxicating wine. The grapes are perfect as they are, but by destroying them we can make something higher, something that can alter consciousness.

Judai has a nice, comfortable, supportive friedship with Johan but he's the one receiving most of the support. By destroying that relationship, he's able to make a healthier one. Ironically it's the separation from Johan that teaches Judai how to exist apart from him.

In that sense Judai's character development revolves around two figures in season 3, two important relationships, Judai needs toto reunite with Yubel, and he needs to separate from Johan after quickly becoming too codependent.

The three of them together even form an alchemical trio. Often works featuring alchemy symbolism will divide characters into three different roles, the soul (anima), the spirit (spiritus) and the body (corpus). Symbolic of three parts of one whole person. The main characters of a work are often symbolically marked as one of the three.

The classic symbolism of alchemy is the circle, the triangle representing soul spirit and body, the square that repreents the four elements, the small circle, and the man and woman which form the rebis.

The triangle is what we're talking about here, in terms of marking characters to Soul, Spirit and Body. Though, another variation is Mind, Heart, and Body.

Most commonly, authors mark their male protagonist, the Male Principle of the Work, as heart and their female protagonist, the Female Principle of the Work, as mind.  If they have a companion, he or it will be marked as Body.  If you look back at the Mundus Elementaris that I just posted you’ll see that Sun corresponds to Cor (heart) and Moon to Cerebrum (brain).   The characteristics of a “heart” character are pretty much what you’d expect: courage, self-sacrifice, occasional rashness and impulsivity.  The characteristics of a “mind” character are if anything even more obvious.  “Mind” characters are knowledgeable, book-smart, and sometimes overly cautious.  What about the Body character?  There isn’t one in every alchemy story, but when this does appear, the markers are predictable.  Body characters are focused on their bodily needs–they are hungry, thirsty, and, in adult stories, lusty.  And they are often fearful.  [SOURCE]

In this case in a slight difference from the norm, I'd argue that Judai is the heart, Yubel is the mind, and rather than body Johan represents spirit.

The three of them essentially make up the trio of Judai's two most important relationships. Judai is a part of other groups, because GX has a ensemble cast. In seasons 1 and 2 he mainly hangs out in a trio of Sho, Hayato and him, and in season 2 it's Sho, Kenzan and him. Season 4 kinds of marks Judai, Asuka, Sho and Manjoume as the most important students of the graduating class.

However, the characters that influence Judai the most are Yubel and Johan. Johan is the spiritual ispiration, while Yubel is first a challenge for Judai to wise up and grow up, and eventually settles down into a role of advisor like Astral or Yami Yugi.

The main character trio of Season 3 onward are essentially Judai, Johan and Yubel, and each are critical to each other's growth. All three also participate in the final duel against season 3's villain. Judai and Johan tag team darkness possessed Fujiwara, and Judai and Yubel fight nightshroud.

However, as I mentioned above the way these relationships develop Judai are opposites, one of them needs to unite, the other needs to split.

A lot of people draw parallels to Yubel and Ai, the ally turned final villain of Vrains. Ai is also motivated by love and a desire to protect Yusaku the main character and object of their affections. However, the greatest point of comparison is that the option of fusing themselves together, an obvious call back to super polymerization is brought up by Ai in order to be flatly turned down by Yusaku.

And you won't be you.

The parallel to Judai and Johan is not as obvious here, but think about it Judai is his absolute worst self when he's willing to sacrifice anything just for the chance of having Johan back

Okay but just look at how different the two are. Both Johan and Judai, when put in very similar situations (having to save someone), tell us what they’re willing to risk for that goal. They’re both very clear about that. Johan is willing to risk himself. Judai is willing to risk everything else. [Source]

Judai become so destructive in his path to get Johan back, including slaughterig duel spirits en masse, somethig the self appointed protect of duel spirits Johan would absolutely hate that you have to wonder if his desire to have Johan back is even about Johan.

Judai doesn't have much respect for Johan's agency as an individual. It's normal for Judai to be sad, or even to have survivor's guilt when he thinks Johan is dead because he sacrificed his life to save him.

However, Johan didn't sacrifice his life to save just Judai but everyone else. Johan also made the choice to sacrifice himself so Judai would be safe. Judai's response to that choice is to immediately throw not only himself but his friends into repeated danger in order to rescue Johan, and then when all hope is lost start hurting spirits.

Judai doesn't respect fact that Johan wouldn't be happy with Judai hurtig himself or others, especially spirits, because rescuing Johan was never about Johan, but Judai's own feelings of grief.

Juudai is a deeply flawed protagonist. He’s more selfish than any other protagonist this franchise has ever known. The way he goes after both after Johan in season three and O’Brien shows that he actually doesn’t care all that much for them as people. To him, they represent a concept: Victory, or at the very least atonement for his past actions. A convenient way to right what he did wrong.  That is not to say that he doesn’t like them as people - he does. But when the chips are down, what he ultimately wanted was a chance to redeem himself by saving them. [Source]

Yubel and Judai are opposites who need to be united and learn to live with each other. The crux of Judai and Johan's problem is that really they're so similiar that everyone, including Judai sort of sees them as the same perso. However, as stated above just underneath the surface they have a lot of differences that could lead them to an unhealthy relationship. Judai just like Ai needs to learn that Johan is a separate person from him.

Which is why Judai's greatest two character development moments with Johan come not from the moment where he fuses rainbow dragon with Neos for the first time to cleanse Judai's body from Yubel.

It's actually immediately afterwards, when Johan hands Judai his deck to face Yubel. While Judai also makes the decision to face Yubel alone.

The arc theoretically could have ended right there. Judai's objective was to save Johan, and Johan was saved. Except the real conflict of the arc was that Judai needed to learn to take responsibility for himself, instead of leaning on a convenient crutch like Johan.

In Yu-Gi-Oh a duelists deck is often referred to as their soul, so Johan is entrusting Judai with a lot. That simple action really shows Judai that Johan can support him even from a distance and the two don't need to be attached at the hip.

In the tag duel against Fujiwara, Johan makes a similiar decision of sacrificing himself in order to protect Judai. However, to show how much he's changed since season 3, this time Judai does't completely lose his mind over Johan's sacrifice and respects Johan's feelings instead. Johan doesn't want Judai to fall apart, he wants Judai to carry his feelings with him and finish the duel for both of them and that's what he does. Judai has learned now to accept support without completely turning Johan into a crutch.

Citriniatis is also the third stage of alchemy. Each Season of the four seasos Yu-Gi-Oh Gx represents one of the four stages of alchemy.

The third stage is often referred to as the stage where the light which appears in albedo starts to shine.

Seperation from Johan essentially kicked off Judai's blackening stage, waking up his shadow in the form of the supreme king and bringing light to his flaws. This passage in particular describes it as a "rising sun" and "bringing light to consciousness."

 In  most cases Jung himself expressed the work as having three stages. Still, citrinitas seems to fit better into a flow of growth and development, as well as mystical progress as the third stage. In the second stage, albedo, a light appears in the nigredo darkness, the light of an awakened soul which is symbolised as a moon (the feminine) shining in the darkness. The third stage, citrinitas, brings forth the light of the sun (the masculine), a light which magically transforms the shadowy and fearful subconscious into valuable consciousness. From the dark night of rubedo, to the pale morning light of albedo, the sun rises in citrinitas to the culmination of day in rubedo. [Source]

Johan is simulatenously a light which shines on Judai's worst flaws just by being his better self and showing how selfish Judai is in comparison, while at the same time he's also the light that guides Judai on the path of healing.

After all Judai's final action in Season 3 isn't to kill Yubel like the Supreme King, or like a hero would, but rather to reconcile with Yubel. That's a path Johan would have taken considering Johan's whole goal is to help lost spirits like Yubel repair their relationships with humans.

Judai's journey of atonement even takes a similiar path to Johan, and mirrors Johan's dream of becoming the bridge between humans ad spirits. Unlike the duel between Cobra and Judai though, I don't think in this case it's Judai relying on Johan to give him the answers in life.

This is because the two of them have entirely different reasons for wanting to help spirits. Johan wants to help spirits because the strong connections he feels with spirits, and the crystal beasts in particular give him the only sense of family he's ever known. It's also because of an encounter with a little boy who lost his Jerry Beans Man where he came to understand that even people who can't see card spirits still feel a strog bond with them.

Judai however has an entirely different motivation, his journey to help duels spirits is a journey of atonement. It's also one he's taking together with Yubel because they both have a lot to make up for and a lot of healing to do.

Judai also didn't start out Season 4 wantig to become the bridge between humans and spirits. In fact he spent most of season 4 sitting alone in his dorm being depressed and aimless. It's his confrontation with Fujiwara, and his act of helping Honest reunite with his spirit partner Fujiwara that gave Judai the idea that he could help heal other spirits too.

Following the motto of dissolve et coagula, dissolve and coagulate all the troubles and tribulations and even the separation of Season 3 was necessary for the much healthier bond between them in Season 4.

Judai doesn't even say goodbye to Johan at the end of the season, and he leaves without telling Johan where he's going, but essentially they are still walking the same path of uniting spirits and humans and it's a path Judai would have never found without Johan's help.

[mo-nee-ta]

The dual nature of Nina’s and Lo’s names

The first question I want to ask here is: is there a link between the names Anna (the name given to her first and the name Johan uses in the Prague arc) and Nina (the name her adoptive parents gave her and the one she wants to use)? 

According to Behind the Name, Nina is related to the Biblical Ioanna (Greek) and Iohanna (Latin) (which creates a nice parallel to Johan).

Anna, on the other hand, derives from the Hebrew Channah. Johanna and Anna share the same root, the Hebrew word chanan: to be gracious, to have mercy, to show favour.

So while the names share the same root, they’re not the same, just like Nina and Anna aren’t: Nina is the real girl champion (see Lolita, part II, chapter 20) who gets the chance to shape her own path, while Anna is merely a shadow of the real girl whose memories were stolen and whose path is decided for her.

Coming back for a moment to Nina and Iohanna: while Iohanna is the female form of Iohannes, it’s important to remember that Nina functions perfectly as a standalone name. She’s not a part of Johan; she’s a person of her own.

Let’s move to Lolita, where we see Dolores and Lolita, Humbert Humbert’s creation loosely based on Dolores. 

Lolita is the diminutive of Lola, which in turn is the diminutive of Dolores. Dolores means sorrows in Spanish; the source is the Spanish title of the Virgin Mary Nuestra Señora de los Dolores. 

As we can see, Lolita is closer to Dolores than Nina is to Anna; this doesn’t mean, however, that Dolores and Lolita are the same. 

It just means that by creating Lolita, HH begins the slow and painful process of murdering Dolores. Even when she manages to escape HH, her further fate is heavily influenced by what he’s done to her. 

HH is also the only one who controls how much of Dolores we’re allowed to see. 

Dolores is a clever girl with many interests (of course, everything here is dismissed by HH), but due to her life situation, she’s not able to continue her education. Compare this to Nina, who not only continues her studies but also changes her priorities; in the beginning, she wants to be a prosecutor (punishing people), and by the end, she wants to be a lawyer (helping people). 

Dolores is married young (at least not to someone twice her age!) and dies in childbirth, aged 17, under the name Mrs. Richard F. Schiller. Nina can continue her life without the obligatory male love interest by her side; there is no life-threatening pregnancy and she can keep her name. 

Side note: niña means little girl in Spanish; it fits the surface-level of Nina’s character perfectly, doesn’t it? But that’s not all: niña and Nina have different pronunciations.

Never trust the first impression.

Second side note: taking into account the origin of the name of one of literature’s most tragic characters, isn’t it ironic that many dictionaries define the word lolita like this?  

Cambridge dictionary:

Merriam-Webster:

[nthngtoseehere-blog]

15 Day BL Challenge part 3

Original post

#33: It’s toxic and I know it. Favourite toxic trope? (we don’t judge here)

Power imbalance

Boss/employee, senior/junior, "you owe me" or "I paid for you" type of thing.

Usually the story doesn't lean into it, like the boss/employee relationships in Jun & Jun, Be Loved in House, and Step By Step. But just the fact that if the boss was a different kind of person it could get messy is enough.

Kidnap is similar - Min doesn't use his position of power to make demands of Q, but he could.

The power imbalances in Fourever You and My Beautiful Man are more subtle, but still good.

In Fourever You, it feels like there's a combination of peer pressure plus Johan using his wealth and status to make demands, that could make it really difficult for North to turn him down if he wanted to.

And in My Beautiful Man, Hira's hero worship and insistence on putting himself 'below' Kiyoi keeps them in a weird sort of self-propelled mutual codependency.

Then you have Bad Guy My Boss and The Novelist, where the bosses do use their positions to back up sexual demands. Different results, but still hawt.

Nuengdiao doesn't use his standing as boss to pressure Palm for sex in Never Let Me Go, but as a viewer, when they did sleep together, I couldn't help but think about how Palm always followed Nuengdiao's lead, and offered everything of himself as Nuengdiao's employee. I wondered whether he really wanted the intimacy, or if he was just going along with it and ended up happy about it.

We Are and My Stand-In use the 'ownership' trope differently, but it's great both ways. Phum is a total brat after Peem agrees to be his slave, but then he starts to feel bad and changes his behavior. And he never uses their agreement to make sexual demands. It’s a fun dynamic for a while.

My Stand-In, on the other hand, is just a bouquet of toxicity. When Ming buys Joe 2.0, he's awful about it. As I've said before, I loved it. I rarely like that level of toxicity, but in this case it was just *chef's kiss*

[lens-guy-art]

14 for Vester! >:3 11 and 26 for Vester, Scope and the camcorders (either the sibs or the subfaction as a whole, up to you)

14. Who's a character your OC cannot stand! It's on sight when they see them!

Hmmm, now that's gonna be a little hard considering Vester doesn't technically hate anyone but it would definitely be Corder lmao

11. What was your inspiration for your OC?

Vester - it all started because of a color palette for my 1st artwork of ST, I thought those colors are pretty. So there he is!!

But as for the inspiration behind his personality, I wanted to try writing a hotheaded character without it being too much and getting on my nerves. After writing more of his story in Discord, I came to love him more and more as he heals!!

-

Scope - Ever since I wore a labcoat back in the last lesson activity on General Physics, I imagined a nonchalant scientist who is really weird and chaotic. Like Hange from Attack on Titan and a mix of Shoko from Jujutsu Kaisen.

I was daydreaming "Man, there's gotta be a scientist who's interested in learning about skibs and info would help the Alliance in defeating them" and now here she is!! She's now more loved than before!!

-

Cammie - Her main inspiration was based on Milly Thompson from Trigun, who had a bubbly kind personality. Originally, she's supposed to be an archivist which is a little similar to Milly's job but now I decided they're a therapist that helps out people!!

-

Corder - I was inspired by Johan Liebert from Monster but in a "what-if he's part of the good guys" kind of way. But over time, they changed and diverted away from the main inspiration because of OC interactions and lore writings and I love it so much

-

Camcord Race - Okay, so originally it wasn't meant to be a race and it's just only Cammie but when I added Corder, I had to think on why is he like this and how do those camcorder heads exist within lore reasons.

Then I thought, "Huh.. why not a small subfaction from the cameramen but they kept themselves hidden and despise the cameras but they still help out in way?"

Also, they're inspired by Johan Liebert's childhood backstory!

[x0401x]

Hello, this ask is just for fun......

Top 5 (or top 3) Favorite female characters :

Top 5 (or top 3) Favorite male characters :

Top 5 Favorite animanga :

Animanga you are currently enjoying :

Animanga that exceeded all your expectations :

Top 3 Unpopular animanga you really love :

Favorite romance :

Favorite action animanga :

Favorite fantasy :

Favorite sci -fi :

Favorite drama :

Favorite comedy :

Top 3 Favorite anime movies :

Next in your watch list :

Next in your read list :

Top 3 Favorite antagonists:

Top 5 (or top 3) favorite ships (can be canon or non canon) :

Thanks if you want to answer....

This sure took me a while because, damn, I had to think a lot about each answer.

So, top 3 favorite females:

Sheryl Nome

Oikawa Tsurara

Kuchiki Rukia

Top 3 favorite males:

Gilbert Bougainvillea

Takigawa Masaki

Alphonse Elric

Top 5 Favorite animanga:

I can't really put them in the same category, so I'm gonna write down one of each.

Favorite anime movie: Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi

Favorite anime show: Heike Monogatari

Favorite manga: Tongari Boushi no Atelier

Favorite light novel: Violet Evergarden

Favorite regular novel: Mouryou no Hako

Animanga I'm currently enjoying (so far):

Yatagarasu

Hibike! Euphonium S3

Kaijuu 8-gou

Kuroshitsuji S4

Dungeon Meshi

Urusei Yatsura S2

Ookami to Koushinryou

Boku no Hero Academia S7

Tonari no Youkai-san

Bartender

Tadaima, Okaeri

Touken Ranbu Kai

Boukyaku Battery

Jii-san Baa-san Wakagaeru

The Fable

Seiyuu Radio no Uraomote

Now, I'm still waiting for some stuff to air, so this isn't a complete list. Also, the last title isn't exactly one that I'm super enjoying because it's butchering the original, but I'm sticking with it because I like the franchise. I recommend the manga instead of the anime.

Animanga that exceeded all my expectations

The only one I can think of is Suzumiya Haruhi. It didn't exceed all my expectations because they were high from the start, but goddamn. I despise the fact that I came into the show knowing only the memes and opening clip, thinking it was gonna be absolute weeb garbage (because back in the old days it was much easier to not run into spoilers and I'm not even sure if the novel was already being fantranslated at the time), only to find out that it actually fucking slaps. Can you imagine how pissed I was. That I couldn't hate this bullshit of a show. Also endless eight. That shit was traumatizing even though I caught on quick and skipped most of it.

Top 3 Unpopular animanga I really love

I won't say unpopular but these are definitely underrated.

Tsurune (I mean the novel; the anime doesn't deserve much recognition beyond the good animation and sound design, imo)

Nurarihyon no Mago (I know it's been over for more than a decade and the fandom is long dead, but it was temporarily revived by the recent new chapters, and it was criminally underrated in the west back when it was still being published)

Gangsta (used to be really popular when it was on-going, but the fandom lost its hype completely both in the west and in Japan after it entered hiatus because of the author's health)

Favorite romance: Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso

Favorite action animanga: can't possibly choose

Favorite fantasy: Tongari Boushi no Atelier

Favorite sci-fi: can't possibly choose

Favorite drama: Nana

Favorite comedy: Gintama (I know that comedy isn't the only genre this thing belongs to but comedy is the main one. And yes, I know the story is actually deep but it still takes a backseat to the comedy, narratologically speaking, and this shouldn't be looked down on. Fight me.)

Top 3 Favorite anime movies

I don't really have favorites in any particular order other than Sen to Chihiro, so here are a random few of my faves:

Kimi no Na wa

Senkou no Hathaway

Mononoke-hime

Next in your watch list: All the stuff from this season that hasn't yet come out.

Next in your read list: Nothing, actually. Just keeping up with the stuff I was already reading. Accepting recs!

Top 3 Favorite antagonists:

Johan Liebert

Griffith

Meruem

Top 5 (or top 3) favorite ships (can be canon or non canon):

Let's go with top 10 because I'm a professional shipper. By the way, number 1 is the one that set the bar for all the other ships and anything else is actually just sharing second place. These are really just a few from the top of my head, since I have at least one favorite ship for every fandom I'm in.

RikuTsura (Nura Rikuo/Tsurara)

HakuSen (Haku/Ogino Chihiro)

SakuShao (Kinomoto Sakura/Li Shaoran)

IchiRuki (Kurosaki Ichigo/Kuchiki Rukia)

HaruRin (Nanase Haruka/Matsuoka Rin)

GilVi (Gilbert Bougainvillea/Violet Evergarden)

SoMa (Soul Evans/Maka Albarn)

AruSheri (Saotome Alto/Sheryl Nome)

YuuVic (Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov)

SeiRicha (Nakata Seigi/Richard Ranashingha de Vulpian)

[aocello]

Assigning crew members as orchestra musicians based on vibes/lore my qualifications are having been in various music ensembles for like 7 years enjoy

allied

daniel: violin .. obviously .. he's the main character isn't he

zack: violin as well, it's flashy....in middle school he lost the concertmaster to johan and quit

jay: double bass...or timpani. deceptively subtle but can be extremely powerful

vasco: trombone, or tuba. something huge and powerful but not necessarily overbearing. NOT a trumpet bc the vibes are way different this is important

vin jin: french horn, for as much as it stands out it can be downright murderous when it wants to be

hudson: now this is a trumpetist. strong, flashy, yellow....

hostel

eli: cello!! my man can FUCK UP a dvorak/shostakovich piece but it's also warm, dependable...

warren: timpani. mighty warren chae is bursting the ear drums of the poor fuckers sitting in front of him

sally: viola, often overlooked but necessary harmonically to support the rest of the orchestra. also has such a rich warm tone when allowed to shine PLEASE GIVE HER MORE SCREENTIME FUCK

god dog

johan: violin originally, but he can play anything...i think some of his favourites are the clarinet and the flute. they sound beautiful but they have a very piercing tone, which reminds of martial arts like taekwondo (the guy loves his axe kicks)

big deal

jake: oboe........the orchestra tunes to it which parallels jakes leadership under big deal. also just as flashy as mma, requires a ton of skill

jerry: the other oboe player LOL he lets jake have first desk. or he plays english horn (the instrument the oboe doubles, like how flutes can play piccolo)

sinu: ....french horn? trumpet? he also just feels like the players i know. but lorewise he also plays oboe i guess

workers

samuel: bassoon, hear me out it's a double reeded instrument like the oboe. low, powerful, full n rich sound.......

eugene: conductor LOL

The guys

gun: man i don't even know... in the grand scheme of things he's probably a violinist actually

goo: trumpet. bright, flashy, but can have a killer sound. Theee most trumpet trumpetist to exist

[importantdestinydefendor]

My Thoughst about A Stepmother's Märchen

So it is @stepmarchen anniversary of their blog and we both talked in the comments about ASM (obv) and I brought up how I thought about some of the things in the story. And I though I just make an entire post about it!

So first off: I absolutly love the story and the art. But not every story is perfect and even those who love the series will have some nit-picks/"negativ" thoughts. I also want to preface - I am german (and actually a quarter Prussian but that doesn't really count now, doesn't it).

Now, let us start with some things I like about this story:

I love how complexe the characters are and how they fit the themes of the story. They are so well written - even the onse we hate or despise (*cough* Johan *cough*). We see some of their reasons but they are not excused. I can't wait to see more of the older characters backstorys! The setting is one we see a lot in mahwa (especially isekai/reincarnation) but it still feels fresh to me. It fits the overall vibe of the story a lot and we do travel from place to place and not stay in one location too long (except the Neuschwansteins estate ofc). The art really complements the story and I love how it is a well balanced mix between the manhwa style and a semi-realistic one.

And now my nit-picks:

My biggest gripes are the names that are not only used for places but for the characters. For example the name of the empire itself always catapultes me a little out of the story when I read it. In the story the place Shuri lives in is called "The Empire of Kaiserreich" as we all know. But the problem (for me) is here that the word "Kaiserreich" is already the german word used for empire. So it is basically "The Empire of Empire" which doesn't make much sense?? I know that the name Germany had for a long time is "Deutsches Kaiserreich" or "Kaiserreich of Germany" which consited of both Germany and Prussia. And thus Kaiserreich is also a name. But we also use it as a noun to talk about an empire so it feels a little weird. This is the most common complain I see so I don't want to hammer too much on it.

Now character names (primarily first names since most of the last names ar derived of actual places). We have really good germanic names like Albrecht (love his nickname btw), Johan/Johannes, Heidi, Theobold, Ludovika, etc. But some names seem like a... weird choise for a germanic setting. (I am also not counting Latin names since that is were the German language originates from) Let's start with the Neuschwansteins and with Shuri. The name Shuri is not of german origin and feels a little out of place sometimes (I think one of it's origins is Japanese). Same goes for Jeremy, which is a british name and only got popular in Germany around the 1970s. Leon is of greek origin. The exttended family: The first two siblings of Johan are fine even though I am questining the use of Müller as a first name since it is commonly a surename derived from an occupation. Penceler is not that bad either but would usually be written with an s and is actually a surname as well which is a variant of the surname Hensler. Valentino is an italian name that got popular in the 2010s in Germany. Staff: (Next I wanted to do Roberto, but apperintly it is a german name??? The more you know, I guess.) Gwen is of welsh origin. (I do not remember the names of the knights working for Neuschwanstein)

Now the others I can remember. Royal Family: Most of them are fine but Letran seems to be a surname. And at first I thought their surname Baden Mismarck was a typo. (Can anyone tell my why ORKA and Spice&Kitty chose Mismarck and not Bismarck? Maybe to not cause confusion when searching fro the characters?) Church: Cardinal Richelieu is a french name and there actually was a man named Cardinal Richelieu, who also came to be known as "The Red Eminence". Nürnberger: Norra is a scandanavian name and a variation of Nora.

Onto appearances

Character design whise I can't really say much since it is indeed fanatsy and not trying to do real life acuracy. But it still bugs me a little that we have all these actually acurate haircolours but Shuri has to have pink hair? And Ludovika + Theobolt white? Like I understand why. And if you squint you could say that Shuri has really light red hair and Ludovika + Theobolt have really light blond hair. This is the tiniest nit-pick of all though. Most of my nit-picks are with the names. At least what they wear stays consistant all the time.

This is all from the top of my head. I saw on this reddit post that people discussed the different time periods that ASM consists off/takes insperation from. I am not a really good history buff so I can't really talk about the historical acuracy of the story (even though I do study art history and should know about some of these things oops-).

Reminder: I love this story and did not write this to hate on ORKA and Spice&Kitty. And most of the nit-picks are name related. I did research most of what I have written here while writing this and my appreciation and respect for them has grown immensely.

(On a side note: I fell very deeply for those whos culture has been missrepresented and against those stories, my nit-picks are just a fraction of the injusties these wonderful cultures get. So, authors and artists (myself included), do your reaserch and a proper one at that if you are unfamiliar with the cultur you want to write about or draw. Any culture. Even your own.)

[loopy777]

1/2 I got the paperback version too. I always wanted the hardcover version, but that one came with ridiculously high shipping costs D: Anyway, that's a vast collection you got there. There's some stuff I didn't even know existed, like the unofficial water tribe volumes. From a quick google search, it looks like a fancomic about Zhao? Was it popular back in the day? Then you have stuff I wouldn't have expected you to own, like the Zuko graphic novel, or as I like to call it, the atla manga xD

The 'Water Tribe' comic is, technically, a fan-comic about Zhao, but what distinguishes it is that it's written and drawn by a storyboard artist who actually worked on both AtLA and LoK, and did official comics for AtLA. It's been contradicted by Zhao's cameo in LoK, but the look and feel are IMO the closest you can get to the original animated series, so it goes on the shelf with my official Avatar comics.

I actually got it signed at the same time as the Zuko graphic novel, as Johane Matte and Benjamin Wilgus were sharing a table at NYCC. I had brought my own copy of Zuko's Story and purchased the Zhao comic there, but Wilgus got confused and thought I had purchased everything just then. So the original note hopes that I will enjoy it. But then Matte clarified the matter after I started walking away, so I was called back by Wilgus to get a post-script added with a correction to hoping I enjoyed it. So that's something unique.

Also, I forgot to mention before that Wilgus did a sketch of Cartoon Zuko in it, which is pretty much how everyone was treating the comic at the time- an AtLA prequel manga that for some reason had Zuko and Iroh drawn incorrectly but that's easy to ignore. XD

As for the manga itself, I think it has its ups and down, most of the ups being the bit with the Guru you're going to mention in your second part. It's not something I would recommend to anyone but the serious collector. ;)

Continued:

2/2 I remember liking the interactions between Zuko and the guru in that one. But the thing that surprised me the most was your signed copy of the comics. You mean to tell me that you willingly asked your archnemesis Gene Yang for his autograph? Are you truly Loopy777? xD Regarding the Avatar Legends game, can't you play with your brother? Or is he not an atla fan?

Hey, Yang was sharing the table with Hicks. I may not like his comics, but it would have been super awkward to just bring books for her to sign when most of the line had beloved copies of American Born Chinese with them! XD For the record, I think ABC lives up to the hype, and in fact I've loved all of Yang's original graphic novels that I've read. So I was able to have some pleasant conversations while waiting in that line.

However, one of the people waiting in line with me offered to get the rest of my Yang comics signed for me since she just had a couple of books for each author. I declined, saying I'd be happy just getting the first volumes signed since for me it's more about supporting the author and getting a nice thing for my collection. I did not say I didn't care that much about it that I wanted to bother someone else. XD

But yeah, here's the proof.

As for Avatar Legends, my brother and I find it hard to align our schedules enough for what would have to be a several-hour session, and he's never been much of a serious role-player. It would probably also be kind of weird just to play one-on-one, rather than in a group, as this system especially seems to be about collaborative storytelling. But yes, he's a fan of the original AtLA cartoon, although that hasn't extended to any of the expanded material or even LoK. For him, it's a show he enjoyed, not an obsession. Which is probably a much healthier mental state for this franchise. :P

[prettymediocrewizard]

ohh here's an ask!! do you think you'd change anything about monster's anime adaptation? if you could, what do you think you would do with it/want to be done if they had adapted it in 2024? stay safe!!

Ahh thank you Gully!! Also this is such a good question ohhhhh

First and foremost, I really loved the anime. I find there's a lot of charm to anime before 2010's (I have an extra soft spot for 90's animation, I need to watch more but aesthetically? Fave) so when Monster was made it feels like a perfect time, especially being able to have so many episodes instead of the binge season-lengths we get now.

I had to think about this for a bit, because honestly I love how it is. I also haven't finished reading the manga yet since I am incredibly slow at reading. BUT. If I was to change anything I would definitely love to see it in 16:9 ratio and push the cinematic moments that may not have been cut off due to that good ol' fashioned square framing.

And as it is, the anime and manga is pretty close to frame to frame, but I would love to see some more artistic elements added. For example I really enjoy the black background panels in the manga that really have you sit with the character's emotions. I find my favourite thing about modern anime is when they really pull out special and different techniques for intense moments (I'm thinking Mob Psycho for example). I think some of the moments where Nina and Johan's background flash and give hints to the reveal would be perfect places to incorporate these! REALLY push the psychological aspects through visuals!

Otherwise I think I would just make the episodes 45minutes long. I like 25min eps but the tone of Monster would fit longer runtimes imo! Everything else I would want to keep.. VA's (I've only watched the sub for now), music, and of course KEEP the art as close to Urasawa's like it was (maybe make Grimmer a little lankier like in the manga hehe).

Also my hot take I think people might disagree with is I think that Monster would make a decent live-action show with the right casting and direction. I know there was supposed to be one but it was axed. BUT the story and the direction feel very live action to me. I definitely would always love the anime the most but it's interesting to think how much the direction could realistically be translated to live action.

Sorry this got super long winded!! I feel like a lot of my changes come from a place of working in animation (albeit, not in action or drama) so I love the original for what it is and would just push aspects of it to realllyyy sell the tone of the manga and give room to breathe to what might have been cut off!

Thank you for this ask!!

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - 2024 is Ending, Not With A Bang But With A Whimper

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

Dec 2024 Week 4

Ongoing Series - Thai

Your Sky AKA How to Train Your Seme (Sun iQIYI) ep 6 of 12 - Oh they are so fucking cute. Lee maybe the best brother wingman ever in BL. He is so entirely on Fah’s side. And we get sweet soft first kisses with permission asked. Yeah!

Stupid phone call!

ThamePo (Fri YT) ep 3 of 12 - Not gonna lie, hard call over whether this should take the top spot this week. I adore this show.

This lead pair is absolutely stunning. I love that the story is about external drama with others, not manufactured drama or miscommunication between the leads. In fact, the romance that we see developing is one characterized by careful attention, gentleness, and patience. They enjoy each other‘s company in a restful calming way. We are watching them become each other’s safe space. Neither of them realizing how much they needed that from the world. I hope the conflict stays external and they get to evolve as a couple while narrative tension stays external.

Love Sick 2024 (Sun iQIYI) ep 15 end - i’m quite pleased that they kept most of the stuff in the forest. And I actually like that they swapped it around so that this was the end of the series. I think it makes for a better more solid ending. I'm disappointed that 10 years on and PhunNoh still don't get to have a decent kiss. Since I think the new pair would’ve done fine with it. In the end I think neither Love Sick really come out on top. They’re both represent their time although this new one was oddly nostalgic.

I chronicaled my experience with 2024 as compared to 2014 here including ep-by-ep recaps and ratings, as well as a summary judgement over all. Spoiler...... all that work and it was, ultimately, a draw. I guess 10 years a not all THAT much has changed in Thail BL. Therefore this Love Sick gets the same as the original, 7/10 

The Heart Killers (Weds Gaga) ep 6 of 12 - I love the tension and the slow rollout of the secret being revealed. It’s really beautifully done. Joong is knocking his role out of the park, I have to say. He’s kind of stealing this show for me. Also I loved the foreshadowing of drawing the make up tears on his face and then, of course, us knowing that there will be tears from Fidel in this episode once he knows The Truth. Very nice, boyos.

Fourever You (Thurs YT) ep 13 of 16 - I think i love Arthirt best in the world. love seeing someone more an arse than Johan. To Johan. Also, by all means take Ngern's shirt off. We all being all kinds of respectful on this side of the screen. Pinky promise.

Caged Again (Fri Gaga) ep 8 of 10 - Adorable date and sweet kisses. But NGL this episode was a bit boring for me.

Perfect 10 Liners (Sun YT) ep 9 of 24 - I think that I like ForceBook best when they are just being casual long-term boyfriends together. You know, chwill chwill sabai sabai. I see Santa is back in his "punk ass little brother" role. Suits him well enough. But I have to say that Junior is absolutely stealing this show. He’s truly stellar. Meanwhile, what an adorable hug and meet cute. I enjoyed the ending of this episode. I admit, I’m not sold on the new pair, but I’m more willing to give them a chance now then I was when this was first announced.

Secret Love 60-81 end - what a very odd show. But I forgive a lot for pining semes and the stepbrother trope. 7/10

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Our Youth AKA Miseinen: Mijukuna Oretachi wa Bukiyo ni Shinkochu (Japan Tues Gaga) ep 8 of 11 - oh its so painful. No one does this level of suffering like Japan. Just press that bruise and feel the sticky sweet ache.

See Your Love (Taiwan Weds Gaga) ep 11 of 13 - it is all very important and absolutely adorable but where Sean just kind gestures desperately at the bed and Shao Peng muscles him into it was absolutely fantastic. All the picking up and tossign arroudn and smily fun kissing in the shower. It'll all just GREAT. Also, THAT pregnancy line was epic. 

Eternal Butler (Taiwan Fri Gaga) eps 3 of 12 - It's actually quite sweet. Tonally quite odd, and definitely jarring when pitted agains the rest of the end of year offerings, but I think I like it? I don’t know where it’s going. Or what it’s doing. And I don’t entirely trust it. Because of the production house track record. But I am enjoying it. Also, the horny herb drug is back. This is a seriously old trope. Like 1970s old romance trope.

Teenager Judge (Vietnam Sat YT) ep 13 of ? - I'm bored.

It's airing but......

Spare Me Your Mercy (Thurs iQIYI) finished it's run. I don't know what to do. Reviews are all over the damn place. Do I watch?

Be Moon - Falling for my enemy's son (China YT) movie from HBD Studio. I can't find it. You?

Winter Is Not The Death of Summer (Thai ???) - has been picked up to air on WeTV, or something? Criminals who meet in prison fall in love. I did find it on YouTube, initially un-subbed, then subs happened by which time I got distracted. It is very pulp but intriguing. For now it's to the wayside until someone tells me it landed safely. Occasionally Thai pulps want to be edgy and it's not a good look on them. But sometimes they do good.

The Renovation (Thai mini One31) 2 eps - Writer turns his blossoming romance with holiday resort owner into a novel. Is it worth tracking down? That is the question.

0.5D (Japan ????) 4 eps - Supposedly a now completed short. "Sales ace, Sada, has a secret that only his junior, Daiki, knows. He has pretended to have a gf for years, resulting in him being a virgin. But now Sada has fallen in love. Confused, Sada seeks advice from his junior." I sense another queer Cyrano De Bergerac. I can't find and it's got very poor reviews, so Imma stop looking. Info here.

It Ended But?

Blue Canvas of Youthful Days (China Sun Viki) paused at eps 9-10 of 12 - I have been told the ending is OK if not great. I just haven't been inspired to watch.

In Case You Missed it

I've started my end of year wraps. Here's the 2024 Trend Report. My best of year wards are still to come. Watch this space.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Final still to come in 2024:

12/29 Sangmin Dinneaw (Thai Sun iQIYI) ??eps - trailer Childhood friends (Thai & Korean) reunite after being apart for ten years. As the boys reconnect, their bond matures and feelings of romance develop.

2025 Line Up

BL Announced for 2025 - PART 1

BL Announced for 2025 - PART 2

20 BLs Announced for 2025 That I'm Really Excited About

GMMTV 2025 Line Up - My Totally Biased and Wildly Flawed Feels

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENT

BEST BOY. (Your Sky)

(last week)

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @sunflower-positiiivity @rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire @everlightly @renafire @mestizashinrin @bl-bam-beyond @small-dark-and-delicious @saezurumurmurs

[kuriboo]

talk about haou. do it. talk about my boy

I looooooooove Haou he rots my brain so much. I know GX doesn't have as tight of a hold on me right now with the Rush era trying to kill me. THIS GUY though is the reason I watched GX and got back into yugioh. THIS GUY. I love Haou.

Why I like them/why I don’t I am a simple man with simple tastes. I love to see a protag get corrupted. I love a good protag villain arc. And this guy? Boy does he deliver. If I had a nickel for every time a yugioh protag took part in a genocide, I would have two nickels. Which isn't a lot but it's WILD it happened TWICE, and this was the first guy to do it! What I like about their appearance I love the gold eyes, and the spikes are cool. Wow, that armor seems hard to move around in though! And it's probably really hot inside. I can't stop thinking about how uncomfortable he must be in there, but he looks so cool at the same time. Do I prefer their dub names or original names? Supreme King is a really badass name, but also doesn't really work as a name, you know? It's really more of a title. So I guess, by default, Haou? OTP Right now? Haou/Jaden. Honorable mentions: Haou/Yubel. Though Haou/SoL!Chazz is a guilty pleasure, but like, not one I actively seek out. NOTP Uhhhhhhhhh I can't think of anything OT3 Yubel/Haou/Dark Johan. Favourite card they use Sorry, I'm not very original

Favourite moment they were in His introduction, where just his sheer aura was enough to make Axel of all people run in fear. That's a hell of a first impression that always sticks with me. Least favourite moment I don't think this counts as 'least favorite', I just think there should've been moments where Haou and Jaden got to interact. Like. More than the one time. Would I fuck, marry or kill them

I would marry him, but he would kill me before I got the chance.

[seventhdoctor]

For the yugioh character ask meme: Supreme King Judai!

Oh boy is this an interesting one.

Why I like them/why I don’t I'll be honest, at first I didn't like him. Back in 2007 when I was experiencing GX through Photobucket screencaps and forum discussion, I was like "Wait. Why is Judai evil now. What's going on. I don't like this. Also the Evil Heroes look ugly."

[Haunted voice] I understand now.

Supreme King Judai says a lot about Judai Yuki, how he deals with his guilt and his fear and his trauma, and what he'll do to try and...feel safe? Regain control? I bet he'd like to know the end to that sentence, too. And I came back to GX after one of the worst periods of my life so uh, that part really got me when I was rewatching GX last year!

I love love love his little monologue about how "I won, and I kept winning, but still [all of this happened, I lost everything, etc.]" and how it parallels early S1 Manjoume. We heard that lesson and learned nothing! It says a lot about both Judai (who failed to internalize it) and the way he's treated (because yeah that feels emptier when everyone and their mother and even the bad guy is depending on you to beat the bad guy, SAIOU I SEE YOU WITH THAT SATELLITE KEY). I even appreciate the symbolism of the Evil Heroes: to defeat evil he did indeed become evil, and yet defeating evil makes you the hero doesn't it?

He also raises questions about Judai and his past life. Like...how did this guy:

...become this guy?

He came like this. Judai lost himself in the darkness of his heart and out came a side of himself buried underneath a life he doesn't remember, and this is how he came out. The little boy who made a tearful promise in response to another's self-sacrifice turned into a tyrant who believes power is the only way to achieve anything, and how did that happen?

Obviously this is a question that's driving me to write a 40k word prequel fanfic. Help.

What I like about their appearance

Hey, do you think those shoulder spikes were originally meant to match Yubel's? :'D But also, the cape. Of course in that black and gold armor, he's got a red cape.

If I can give voice acting a shout for appearance, KENN's work was amazing too. I recorded his debut monologue to show a friend who watched the dub and sometimes it's nice to revisit that clip because damn.

Do I prefer their dub names or original names? There really isn't much that isn't carried over from the original Judai -> Jaden change; Haou is just Supreme King. (I use Supreme King as a title and Haou to refer to the character but that is extremely a personal thing for my brain only.) As with Asuka I'm neutral on the name change here aside from being ehhhhh on localizing names to Western ones as a broad trend but that's for another kind of post entirely.

OTP What Haou are we talking about here. Probably with Yubel or Johan but it EXTREMELY depends on time point and circumstances.

NOTP IDK man. Any ship with him is probably a little fucked up but we enjoy that here.

OT3 See above.

Favourite card they use

CHOU YUUGOU

Favourite moment they were in

Definitely his debut in episode 136. That monologue about "In order to defeat evil, one must become evil" and "In this world with the rule of the jungle, one must rule with power" is iconic.

Least favourite moment

Is there a moment that qualifies? His scenes are bangers.

[suusoh]

𝐈 𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐑𝐎𝐑, 𝐈 𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐍

☽ About me

Suu/Susu/Suso ☽ 20s ☽ she/her ☽ contains yandere and dark content. MINORS DO NOT INTERACT (18+ only). ☽ check out the blog's roots!

♱ Navigation (masterlist in the works!)

♱ Johan Liebert (general johan tag: c.johan liebert) ♱ Nina Fortner (general nina tag: c.nina fortner) ♱ Anna Liebert (general anna tag: c.anna liebert) ♱ Recent work: johan saying why eating him alive is good for you, actually. ♱ Current fave: johan meeting nina's girlfriend, therefore his girlfriend now too. ♱ Why writing Johan as "ooc" or "accurately" kinda.... doesn't matter lol. It's just part of fandomming. If sigma males can use his character how they want, so can we.

☾ Rules

☾ Minors will be blocked ☾ I write for female readers (will try gender neutral soon) and only x readers. no character x character. ☾ I will not write dom/motherly/top readers (because I do not have experience with any of those and therefore I cannot do that type of reader justice noasfkadj sorry) ☾ I will not write overly specific readers (e.g. "can you write johan with a bubbly reader who is short but has severe depression but loves to sing and make art?") ☾ I will not write breeding ☾ pregnancy ☾ guro ☾ hard incest (meaning directly related) ☾ pegging ☾ vomit ☾ major age gaps (pining is ok. but no relationship.) ☾ race play ☾ scat ☾ If you want to ask me something that isn't in these rules, go ahead :-)! If I am uncomfortable with the request or ask, I will answer it and add it to my list of rules, I won't just ignore it. ☾ I understand not everyone is comfortable with what I write, so please if you are uncomfortable, do not read. Leave, you have free will my friend. Take care of your own mental health. ☾ Please do not use very specific ideas or concepts of mine for your own writing/use without crediting me or asking for permission. I'm okay with people getting inspo and writing fics/expanding on some of general concepts or ideas, but please try to tag/mention me like in a little ol' shoutout or reblog it with the original post containing the concept idea before doing so. If it's a specific concepts and idea originally created and found within this blog please ask me for permission first, and credit me by tagging me or linking to my blog. If you're not sure if it's considered general or specific, you may just ask via inbox or dm! anything is fine :^)!!!! mwah mwah.

⚚ Additional Info

⚚ Purely self-indulgent. I am writing with my delusions and hornyness. ⚚ Asks are open! feel free to brain rot with yours truly ( ˘ ³˘)♥︎ mwuah! ⚚ It takes me a while to get to asks, I swear I'm not ignoring it <3 ⚚ That being said, please do type in asks politely. Being rude or demanding may just discourage me from from answering with as much heart. ⚚ first time writing, english is not my first language.

[bekolxeram]

Sorry for the whining lately, I'm gonna talk about other unrelated things for a while to get out of the dead end that I seem to have drilled myself into.

Here's an absurdly ridiculous story from my past.

I've brought up here before that one of my best friends dated an absolute asshole for around 6 months.

The first time we talked was over text. My bestie mentioned that I majored in European Studies in college, so he kept making his girlfriend ask me questions, as he was a "fellow European history enjoyer". My field was more about modern politics in the EU and France, but fine, I was familiar with a basic level of historical background for context, so ask away. My bestie eventually got tired of constantly passing messages back and forth so she gave him my number for direct contact.

You know the kind of guys who would ask a woman to name 3 Joy Division songs after seeing her in an Unknown Pleasures T-shirt? Talking to asshole felt exactly like that, it was more a test. He would constantly cut me off and "correct my mistakes", when in fact I just didn't get to finish my sentence. He would also "educate" me on varies topics: military history of different empires, descriptions of ethnic groups that are all based on stereotypes, or Francisco Franco using his favorite club Real Madrid to oppress the people of Catalonia. (Yes, I've read Fear and Loathing in La Liga by Sid Lowe. This is a simplified myth, the real history is much more nuanced.)

Once, he asked me for French music recommendations. He was probably expecting accordions and Edith Piaf, but I just sent him some songs I was listening to at the time, you know, some rap, some electro-pop, some Stromae. (I might've done that intentionally because asshole refused to refer to anyone non-white as European.) One of them is J'aimerai by Johan Papaconstantino:

He told me he couldn't tell I would be interested in Algerian pop, so I said, "oh, it's actually Greek."

Oops. I shouldn't have brought up Greece. That man was obsessed with Greece, as you can imagine. He once asked me for my opinion on the North Macedonia name dispute just to write a 1000+ word essay about his love and admiration for his personal hero, Alexander the Great, and how the "Slavs misappropriate the name of Macedonia, they should come up with their own, of Slavic origin."

But it was too late, the conversation went like this:

Him: Wow, I never expected you to like Algerian pop.

Me: Oh, it's actually Greek.

Him: No, it's not.

Me: Uh... he's singing in French and Greek? I actually do listen to some Arabic pop if you're interested, I quite like this Lebanese band called Soap Kills.

Him: It's clearly Turkish. It's not real Greek music, it's the music the Turks forced upon the Greeks during years of subjugation! (Insert 3 hour rant about Greeks living under the Ottoman Empire.)

Me: Um... so you're familiar with Turkish music?

Him: Of course! I know the Turkish March.

The

Turkish

March

Me: You know Mozart is Austrian right?

Him: Well, it's Turkish style

This Turkish style?

Eeeh🤷🏻What do I know? I'm just a dumb woman.

Maybe he should educate me on this classical Turkish music extraordinaire: