#ZexalMonth

[popflythesky]

chaos! to send off @zexalmonth

[kixidust]

@zexalmonth B for Barian.

I have this headcanon (with raemanzu) that Nasch is like anodized metal (titanium?) so I had to actually figure out how to paint that effect and that took a lot longer than I thought it would, which is why this is late. I'm not sure how successful I was but I hope it kinda looks like that.

[zexalmonth]

Zexal Month 2023's coming up! From August 1st to the 31st, we’ll be celebrating our 7th Zexal Month! We're doing a Tarot theme!

All our prompts are based on the 23 Major Arcana! You can follow the written prompts or just draw something based on the actual arcana for the day!

For those who are with us for the first time, we have prompts with some suggestions attached to them. You can focus on characters, concepts or OCs, as long as it’s somehow Zexal related and we'll reblog it if it's tagged with #zexal month 2023. In addition to the daily prompts, we have a list of alternate prompts at the end of the list! We hope you have fun with it.

Week 1: Welcome to the Kingdom

1st: The Fool upright | Beginnings, innocence, spontaneity, a free spirit The king calls you all to introduce yourselves. Hello, fools! Who are you and how did you get into Zexal? 2nd: The Magician upright | Manifestation, resourcefulness, power, inspired action Duel monsters are the manifestation of the soul, so show us your favourite duel monster or card! Alternatively, show us your favourite Numbers Card! 3rd: The High Priestess upright | Intuition, sacred knowledge, the subconscious mind Music can do miraculous things to the subconscious mind. You can make something based on the soundtrack or themes/motifs you like. As a challenge, put on one of the Zexal soundtracks and try to make something before the song ends! Show it to us! 4th: The Empress upright | Femininity, beauty, nature, nurturing, abundance The empress summons you to talk about someone you truly care for. What makes your favourite character your favourite? If you have an OC, feel free to talk about them! Also, we love women, so if you want, show some female characters appreciation!

Week 2: Secrets of the Royal Court

7th- The Emperor upright | Authority, establishment, structure, a father figure All hail the barian emperors! Show us a piece about our favourite alien warlords and/or Don Thousand. You can also show us a non-barian Character as a Barian or something else Barian-related. Alternatively, an upright emperor also represents a father figure. Kazama? Faker? Tron? An OC or self-insert? Show us daddy issues something inspired by them! 8th- The Hierophant reversed | Personal beliefs, freedom, challenging the status quo The reversed hierophant means freedom and non-uniformity, so it’s dress up day! Put a Zexal character (or OC) in a new set of clothes they would/wouldn’t wear! Historically accurate clothes for Barians’ past lives? Mini skirt IV? Droite in her wrestler attire? Astral in a tutu? Just show us fashion!  9th- The Lovers upright | Love, harmony, relationships, values alignment, choices Time to spread the love! OTPs? OT3s? BROTPs? Character x Reader? Character x OC? The lovers card is all about ‘belonging’. What relationships do these characters have?    Draw us your ships, friendships or your favourite group of characters (Number’s Club, Sanyuushi, Arclights etc.) enjoying each others’ company. You can also show us the families of your favourite characters and create relatives for them if you prefer.  10th- The Chariot reversed | Self-discipline, opposition, lack of direction Sure, we have a “plot” but Zexal has lots of filler episodes and fun, zany detours! Show what sort of sports or hobbies the characters would get involved with in their spare time. 11th- Justice upright | Justice, fairness, truth, cause and effect, law Time to put a Zexal character on trial! What crimes are they charged for? What is the verdict? What is the punishment?  Feel free to get silly with this (Phoenix Wright, anyone?) or be as grim/morbid as you like. Will Vector finally pay for his transgressions? Up to you!

Week 3: Into the Woods

14th- The Hermit upright | Soul-searching, introspection, being alone, inner guidance As you are banished into the woods for your hot takes, you’re able to reflect on a long-forgotten friend. Make something based on your favourite obscure or minor character. Give those one-shot duelists some love! 15th- The Wheel of Fortune upright | Good luck, life cycles, destiny, a turning point Let’s just put your favorite characters on a game show. Can you imagine a Family Feud with Arclights vs Tenjos? Does anyone get lucky?  What sort of entertainment (outside of card games) do you think you’d see in Heartland City? 16th- Strength upright | Strength, courage, persuasion, influence, compassion Fight! Fight! Fight! In a contest of pure strength, who would win? Who do you NOT want to face in hand-to-hand combat. Who would you duel? If you want to keep yourself out of the fight, show two characters in a fight/duel! Bonus points if they haven’t canonically fought before.  17th- The Hanged Man upright | Pause, surrender, letting go, new perspectives A change of perspective! Is there any character you didn't like at the start, but ended up loving, or vice versa? Who is it and why?  Alternatively, what relationships do you wish we saw? What interactions did Zexal deprive us from? 18th- Temperance upright | Balance, moderation, patience, purpose Sometimes, your friends get on your nerves and you have to be patient with them. But it’s really hard when they’re mostly middle schoolers. How do you think characters would spend a Boys/Girls’ Night Out? What about a slumber party instead?

Week 4: Exile

21st- The Devil reversed | Releasing limiting beliefs, exploring dark thoughts, detachment Show us your villains or your favourite character(s) as a villain. Does their deck change as well? 22nd- The Tower upright | Sudden change, upheaval, chaos, revelation, awakening Show us your favourite punching bag hurting emotionally (whether from a death, tragedy, breakup or something else), in physical agony, or just having a good cry. Zexal is no stranger to angst, after all (we got how many death montages at the end of the series?).  If there are triggers or graphic themes/visuals, remember to tag them! 23rd- The Moon reversed | Release of fear, repressed emotion, inner confusion Some parts of Zexal were confusing and some plot points were forgotten. What do you wish you could have seen MORE of? Alternatively, is there something you didn’t like in Zexal? What and why? Show us what you would have preferred/thought was interesting! Explore a scenario that could have drastically altered Zexal. e.g. What if Kaito died of space cancer at the end of season 1? 24th- The Star upright | Hope, faith, purpose, renewal, spirituality Let’s change the tone of this week. Zexal is full of mythology and spirituality. Show us some of your favourite themes/lore in the show!   25th- The Sun upright | Positivity, fun, warmth, success, vitality The sun represents warm feelings as much as it represents treasure/wealth. Give your favourite character a cursed weapon or treasure. How do they react? What do they do with it? If you want a challenge, grab an image of Yuma’s room and pick a treasure/object. Draw it and/or give it a story. III definitely would love to hear you talk about it! 

Week 5: Court of the Dead

28th- Death upright | Endings, change, transformation, transition How’s the future for Zexal characters? Show us what you think a Zexal character (or several) are doing post-series or how they look when they grow up? 29th- Judgement upright | Judgement, rebirth, inner calling, absolution Zexal ended a long time ago but it’s time to give it a bit of new life. It’s crossover day! How would a Zexal character look/act in the world of the fandom you're into now (or vice versa)? 30th- The World upright | Completion, integration, accomplishment, travel Scenery appreciation! (Tell us what’s your favorite location in Zexal). Alternatively, show us a location where the Zexal characters you like would go on vacation or for an adventure. 31st-  The Deck Summarise your Zexal Month 2023! What did you like? What didn’t you like? Any shout-outs you want to give?  

---------------------------------

Alternate prompts

As per usual, alternate prompts are meant for ANY day and you can do as many or as few alternate prompts as you like. I can’t stop you if you want to do prompt 10) thirty-one times during Zexal month. 

Holding back/recklessness

Manipulation/poor planning

Dreams/delusions

Age-swap/younger days

Insecurities 

Parallel worlds / Fused world

“But there is only one bed…”

“Can you explain why I have to bail you guys out of jail AGAIN?”

A heist!

Middle school/High school AU

Lunchtime shenanigans

Fantasy/Fairytale AU

Hygge: A very strong feeling of cosiness, of a special moment, alone or with friends, where you feel utterly content, secure, reassured, comforted, and even kinship if you’re among loved ones. 

Verschlimmbessern: To fix something but only make it worse

Backpfeifengesicht: A face badly in need of a fist.

Body Swap/Soul swap

---------------------------------

As usual, feel free to do whichever prompts you like in whatever order you want. These prompts are a guideline, rather than a hard rule, and you can make art, write fanfiction, make amvs/animatics or just talk about it! Just do what you can manage! No need to do all of them if you don’t want to.

Also, we have a new mod on the team to join me and Iris. Welcome mod Fla!

We can't wait for this August to see what you share with the fandom! Please share this around and spread the Zexal love!

Love Mod Pyra

[voicesofchaos]

Zexal Month - The Fool

Simple introduction to start the month off. I feel like everybody knows me but I am VoicesOfChaos. I livestreamed Zexal as it aired towards the end of its run. Then livestreamed all of Arc-V. I write a lot of fanfictions. I watch Go Rush every week. I love (at least loved) the card game since the beginning. But now a days I obsessively play Duel Links and don’t really touch the TCG anymore. I have ran Yugioh panels at conventions for the past decade across the USA Midwest. Also started running the Yugioh cosplay photoshoot at Anime Central. Finally I’ll end this post with my Zexal cosplay. But I have also cosplayed Dark Signer Jack Atlas and the main protagonist Yugioh Rush Dawn Of The Battle Royale.

[larmegliamori]

Zexal Month: The Fool, Upright

@zexalmonth

Hello, everyone!

This Fool and new Mod of Zexal Month greets you.

I'm Flavia (Fla for short), a 24-year-old woman writing from Southern Italy. I got my Master's Degree in February and in October I'll be starting a post-grad Bibliotheconomy course, in order to fulfill my dream of becoming a librarian.

I've started watching Zexal when it first aired on local TV, during my teen years (I was fresh in high school), and in all those years I've been ebbing and flowing both towards the show and the fandom, both of which have been a source of constant comfort and have always helped me boost my creative side.

I've been taking part in Zexal Month since 2018, although I think most of my posts are lost since I lost my two previous blogs. I'll do my best as a mod, and I hope to be of service and meet your expectations!

[Some drawing-related rambling under the cut, feel free to ignore it]

For this year's first day of Zexal Month I wanted to do something special, so I've drawn myself as the Fool.

The shape of the tunic is taken from the Rider-Waite Deck's Fool depiction, same goes for the red plume in my hair and the golden belt. The motifs on the aforementioned tunic, though, were chosen from the free materials my drawing program offers out of resemblance with the Baton/Wand suit in both Tarots and Italian playing cards.

The pen and parchment in my hand are my own addition and are meant to symbolize my favorite hobbies (drawing, reading, writing).

Patterns on the background is meant to represent stained glass, while the white frame is a callback to actual playing card as well.

Hope you like this little piece!

[ruikamo]

It’s Zexal Month!

Today’s the first day of Zexal month and the promt asks us to introduce ourselves so... Hey everyone, I’m Mo! I’m looking foward to zexal month and looking at what everyone is posting! I want to do mostly fanarts, though I won’t have time to post everyday sadly. So, I’ll just pick my favourite prompts and do those!

I think I got into Zexal because it was broadcasted on TV in the afternoon... I didn’t really get what was going on but I definitly remember that I watched Quatro (sorry I’ll use the dub names ^^’) in some duel carnival duel. 

Zexal months timing is perfect for me because I’m actually rewatching it right know! 

Honestly it’s so cool how events like this keep a fandom alive, even though the series ended .... omg it ended almost nine years ago??? Anyways... I’m really happy that there are still people who are invested ^^

[wanderingeffigy]

@zexalmonth Day 5: Chaos

Bestowing strength

[sanchoyoscribbles]

@zexalmonth day 9: gate. I love a crossover prompt!!! instead of letting the characters interact I mostly just wanted to draw yuma and astral in cure star and cure milky's outfits tho. the color schemes... 🥺

I love the series where a blue alien partners up with a pink haired protag with the space theme. B) no, but actually these series do have a lot in common and I think anyone whose a fan of one of them should def check out the other!! 🌟

[popflytheskylart]

@zexalmonth B for Vector

[popflythesky]

@zexalmonth A for astral!!!

[kixidust]

@zexalmonth

Omg it's 11pm just under the wire here. A is for Astral!

[zexalmonth]

It’s raining, and you, an amateur adventurer, are caught in the midst of it. You thought that journeying through the mysterious jungle with your crew would have been easy. You had studied the layout. You had formulated a plan. You had stocked every single supply you would have ever possibly needed, bear spray included. And there’s no known bears wandering through this jungle.

Just your luck that you’ve been separated from your crew and forced to wander through this jungle alone in the torrential rain.

When a dark shadow of a building looms ahead, you rush towards it. The ruins of a great castle await you, overgrown with vines. Despite that, the castle is easy to enter and you make your way up the comfortably dry stairs. It’s oddly warm, as if the inhabitants have just left. Yet, from the tattered tapestries and abundance of flora growing throughout the stone walls, you know that this building has been abandoned for ages.

Reaching the top of the tower, you come upon a study with a storybook and a meticulously preserved tapestry. The storybook beckons you towards it, seemingly in pristine condition. Your hand lingers over the leatherbound cover. As the rain roars overhead, you open the book and the castle comes to life.

*****

Week 1: Welcome to the Kingdom

1st- The Fool upright | Beginnings, innocence, spontaneity, a free spirit

The king calls you all to introduce yourselves. Hello, fools! Who are you and how did you get into Zexal?

2nd- The Magician upright | Manifestation, resourcefulness, power, inspired action

Duel monsters are the manifestation of the soul, so show us your favourite duel monster or card! Alternatively, show us your favourite Numbers Card!

3rd- The High Priestess upright | Intuition, sacred knowledge, the subconscious mind Music can do miraculous things to the subconscious mind. You can make something based on the soundtrack or themes/motifs you like. As a challenge, put on one of the Zexal soundtracks and try to make something before the song ends! Show it to us!

4th- The Empress upright | Femininity, beauty, nature, nurturing, abundance The empress summons you to talk about someone you truly care for. What makes your favourite character your favourite? If you have an OC, feel free to talk about them!. Also, we love women, so if you want, show some female characters appreciation!

As per usual, the weekends are saved for catching up. Also, feel free to do some of the prompts or the prompts out of order. You can follow the written prompts or just draw something based on the actual arcana for the day! Our prompt list is just a guideline and not a ruleset. All of these prompts can be focused on characters, concepts or OCs, as long as it’s somehow Zexal related.

[voicesofchaos]

Zexal Month - The Emperor

I am going to be very simple for this one. To honor the Barian Emperors I am going to post more recent cards that everybody might not be aware of that pay tribute to them and have amazing art! I am showing restraint here and posting all of Shark's newer cards like N.As.H. Knight. @zexalweek

[giuliagt-art]

ZEXAL MONTH - DAY 2

Prompt: B for Barian

Finally here (a bit late at least in my timezone 😅)

For Day 2 I drew Vector since he's my favourite Barian Emperor and my absolute favourite character in the series (also my Yu-Gi-Oh! husbando 😍🤭) and ofc I added Don Thousand since he's pretty important for the lore of Barian and Zexal in general being basically the Devil himself 😈

Anyway, since I'm trying to get better at foreshortening, I drew Vector seen from below (so you can also admire his juicy thighs 😏) and thankfully I found a good reference for that 🙏

Tag: @zexalmonth

[astralhope]

@zexalmonth day 7:

E for Enemy

My favorite antagonist in Zexal is Number 96, absolutely Number 96. He is also my favorite character after Astral.

He is a chaotic force that only answers to himself, and I adore him.

He is a great foil to Astral, and I really like how, even if he is a sort of dark version of Astral, his design is still very recognizable: his expressions, his gestures, his voice are his own and very detached from Astral.

Every episode where he appears had become one of my favorites, and I will always be sad that he had appeared in so few episodes.

[wanderingeffigy]

@zexalmonth Day 1: Astral

Hello, I am Drampa. I stitched ZEXAL on the left side of my chest in mid 2023 and let it get infected since then. It is really close to my heart!!! Since June of 2024, I have joined this platform to share my love for it.

For the more crucial about-me: Favourite pizza topping: anchovies Favourite sandwich condiment: horseradish

I love resplendent things. I hope choosing to draw Astral (amongst a multitude of other things to come) for this month can maybe show you that. He is perfection!