#anima creatives | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

zstartrixxx · 2 months ago

Text

𝐃𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐘𝐒𝐔𝐒 𝐎𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐌𝐄

⁽ᵏᶦⁿᵈᵃ⁾ ᵛᵃᵐᵖᶦʳᵉ ᶠᵒˡᵏˡᵒʳᶦᶜꜝʳᵉᵐᵐᶦᶜᵏ ˣ ᶠᵉᵐꜝʳᵉᵃᵈᵉʳ

𝐌𝐀𝐘 𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐁𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒, 𝐄𝐌𝐌𝐀 𝐑𝐔𝐓𝐇 𝐑𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐋𝐄 & 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔 𝐈. 𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐋 𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋 • 𝐈𝐈. 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐇 • 𝐈𝐈𝐈. 𝐊𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐑

𝑺𝑼𝑴𝑨𝑹𝒀: Once, in a Dresden forest, Dionysus met you—or rather: you met the God of Intoxication. OR The night you whispered your secrets and surrendered your life into Remmick's hands. 𝑨𝑼𝑻𝑯𝑶𝑹'𝒔 𝑵𝑶𝑻𝑬𝒔: I’ve just been listening to ‘Ancestral Recall’ on loop, and this scene came to me—something abstract, almost like a creative writing experiment/study. 𝑾𝑨𝑹𝑵𝑰𝑵𝑮𝑺: +18, ADULT CONTENT. blood, kinda sexual suggestion, folkloric themes, some more grotesque descriptions. 𝑾𝑪: 1386 words (this one was really small, just like a study text really) for whoever is going to read it, a great read! <3 likes, reblogs and comments are greatly appreciated :)

𝖬𝖠𝖲𝖳𝖤𝖱𝖫𝖨𝖲𝖳

“ERIS: (Ἔρις) is the goddess of discord, strife, and conflict. She is known for sowing chaos and disharmony among gods and mortals alike.„

"dionysus once knew me, he found me on the bridge in dresden, naked with eris; stripped of adornment! he found me again in monte verita draped in aesthetic illusions" (ancestral recall, emma ruth rudle, thou).

"Let your hair down, please."

His voice was low, as if whispering a secret meant only for you—penetrating you with that hungry gaze, pupils dilated, lips parted to reveal needle-sharp fangs. You merely nodded, obedient to this god masquerading as a man.

His name felt alien to your ears—rolling off the roof of your mouth, clicking at the tip of your tongue, the color of iron-tinged blood. Remmick. You'd heard he was some noble wanderer who haunted Dresden during the Spring Solstice, always dressed as Dionysus—eyes glittering, razor-edged smile—forever seeking someone to share the night until dawn. The great mystery surrounding this man was that most of his guests for these "idyllic adventures" met curious fates. Once, a girl who had just turned nineteen simply appeared the following night, screaming for blood, completely out of her mind—they took her to a convent and had the poor wretch locked in solitary confinement ever since. Another, a virtuoso musician rumored to communicate with gods through his music, emerged that same night covered in wine and song, wandering off into the night's mist. He never returned to the city. So many other stories that could fill an illustrated codex, with the man depicted spitting fire, sporting bat ears and wings, a goat's tail and horns, and a malicious little grin on his face. Remmick held sway over everyone, always arriving at dusk and leaving before the first rays of light appeared on the horizon.

Your ears had caught whispers from the pious faithful that this man was a demon incarnated in human flesh; others inclined toward the occult believed him to be a sorcerer who had obtained the elixir of youth and needed to steal others' souls—preferably the young—to maintain his integrity; in doing so, he ended up inadvertently sucking out their essence, their anima. And for you, he would be your freedom from that life of suffering and misery—whatever he did to you would be worth it, so long as you could be liberated from the weight of a secret that tormented your conscience every morning when you woke, every night before you slept. That alone was enough to convince you to be there, in that clearing, in the heart of the dense forest, face to face with the magnificent Lord of the Flies, dressed as a strange Dionysus: his crown of dried flowers had more thorns than blossoms, his golden cup was engraved with serpents in high relief, and he wore only white trousers, his torso bare. Barefoot. A contemplative smile on his angular face.

As you let your hair down, leaving it in its natural state, you noticed him hissing some murmur in a strange tongue, unknown to your ears. But you didn't care—or pretended not to, with your desperate heart pounding against your chest, nearly breaking through your ribs, flesh, and skin to expose itself before him. Remmick spread his arms like a statue blessing all around it:

"Come to me, my goddess, and I shall embrace you eternally!"

Your bare feet began walking across dry leaves, broken branches, and damp earth toward him, while wolf howls could be heard in the distance and above your heads a Full Moon reigned with its silver light over your bodies. When you were near him, you smelled his scent more intensely: iron, honey, freshly turned earth, blood, and bitter wine. Remmick immediately cupped your face with his calloused hands, turning it so you'd face his red eyes—a light that came from the depths of his soul while the area around his eyes, nose, and mouth was consumed by darkness, making him look like a talking skull:

"With me, you may whisper your deepest secret."

"I—" Your mouth quivered, remembering things you wished to keep buried in the depths of your memories, feeling tears burning your eyes. Remmick made an expression of contemplation mixed with pity, raising his eyebrows, parting his lips further. He murmured, like an empty tomb echoing from the depths of a darkness you'd fear to face:

"You…? Tell me your secret."

You took a deep breath, closed your eyes to avoid looking at him as you let the words take control of your lips and the memories give life to those words:

"I killed someone."

"Who? Tell me your story." You slowly opened your eyes.

"It was to protect someone I cared deeply about. A horrible man was hurting them, so I poisoned him."

"My Eris—" he whispered, his thumbs crawling across your tear-stained face, smiling with strange pride: "—killing another isn't biblically acceptable, but this was self-defense, and I welcome you regardless of your sins. You creatures are so fragile and susceptible to momentary passions that you act without thinking. That's why I walk among you." His thumbs stopped at your lips. The bittersweet taste mixed with his skin seeped into your mouth.

Remmick then approached you, kissing your lips gently, as if wanting to swallow all your tears, all your pain into himself. His hands slithered down your shoulders, lowering the straps of your dress and exposing your breasts.

"Take off your clothes. And lie down, please."

Once again you obeyed the request, finishing removing your dress, kneeling before him, staring deeply into his eyes before lying on your back on the ground, feeling twigs prick your bare skin. You looked at him as if he truly were Dionysus before you, removing his trousers and crown, kneeling between your legs as he leaned over you, arms braced on either side of your head, his red gaze penetrating you. You weren't afraid. You felt the world around you was just that small bubble between you and this man, illuminated by the Moon, naked, where you'd confessed a heinous crime and he hadn't judged you.

Remmick moved closer to your neck, nuzzling it, inhaling your scent as if appreciating you:

"You need fear nothing more, my Eris, for I will free you from the burden you carry…" His right hand found your neck, caressing the soft skin, a trail of saliva—thick and whitish—beginning to drip from the corner of his lips: "Just kiss me once more."

You grabbed his back, digging your nails into his icy flesh, marble beneath your fingertips, dragging your hands up to his hair and pulling him in for another kiss. Only now your mouth filled with blood as his body undulated atop yours, nearly fusing with your flesh, becoming you. The blood flooding your mouth spilled out, smearing your chin, your neck, his lips and chin—yet he didn't mind. He licked your chin, sliding up to your neck where he scraped his fangs, drawing a desperate moan from you as you squeezed his waist tightly, pulling him against you so he could penetrate you. His teeth broke your delicate skin, blood bloomed from your neck straight into his mouth, and the world around you became a mixture of rending pain that pulled your soul outward, wetting the earth with your blood and his saliva, the gods above you dancing before your clouding vision as primal pleasure emerged at the edges of that tearing pain—that enveloped you and pushed you toward a precipice. Remmick kept dancing atop you—or within you?—your consciousness a thread between reality and waking dreams.

Blood.

Everything was now wet, sticky, noisy, grotesque.

Remmick finally ended his divine osculation, washed your soul with his lips, made your soul the dwelling place of his mouth—now he was the bearer of your most intimate and infamous secrets. With his mouth stained with blood, ruby eyes, and a smile of ecstasy, he rose up between your legs, your blood painting him from lips to pale chest, the silver moonlight radiating off him like a profane painting. He smiled in delight. You, naked, unadorned, lying and defiled by his fangs, felt strangely free.

Remmick was your profane Dionysus, your blood was the wine he drank, the celebration happened between your bodies that danced together, the theater of life and death performed by you two that night where lilies and birches would bloom the next day. Amid your body cradled by dry leaves, broken branches, damp earth, and now your sacred blood.

And he would find you again one night at Monte Verità, offering you a chalice of bitter wine and toasting the secret you now shared between you.

𝑭𝑶𝑶𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝑵𝑶𝑻𝑬𝑺: how they says: "and somehow this secret keeps on passing down to us / down to us / dionysus once knew me"

#[★] zstartrixxx #[⋆♱⋆] zstar fanfics #remmick fanfic #remmick × reader #remmick x reader #remmick x you #remmick × you #remmick sinners fanfic #remmick #jack o'connell fanfic #[🦇] zstar jack o'connell #[r] may our chambers be full zstartrrixx #Spotify

341 notes · View notes

rottenraccoons · 7 months ago

Note

This is probably a little weird to hear but I did feel represented (to a degree) as a chronically ill person in the descriptions of fractum anima, specifically in chapter 2, to the point of being a little triggering (absolutely not your fault!)

My question, if not too personal, is, where did you get inspiration for fractum anima?

Thank you for the wonderful game experience so far!

Oof, we're glad the game resonates with you but sorry about hitting some triggers.

Fractum anima came about as a result of a couple of needs we needed to fulfil in the story. In pre-production we made a couple of decisions and fractum anima became the answer to tie them all together.

We built the setting first and established it to be a Bad Place, which is fun for writing but gives us a problem because

We wanted the protagonist to be a character who is reasonably sensible. They wouldn't just wander under the mountain for kicks, so we needed a motivation for them and it could not require backstory elements like a family because

We wanted the protagonist to give the players lots of space to put their own creativity into, which meant keeping backstory to a minimum.

We didn't know Vesper was going to become the Ultimate Rizzler of Obscura during pre-production, so we wanted to make sure the player was given a motivation that would put them on Vesper's side.

Unrelated to previous, but the meta elements of Flamebait Dating Sim (one of the characters is aware of the fourth wall) were really fun to play with, and we wanted to play with them more without having to break the fourth wall.

Making up fractum anima let us cover all five of those points in a tidy fashion. Which admittedly can feel a bit weird to lay out like that; it's a very utilitarian way of making a character. But honestly, I highly recommend trying this sort of process for making characters and plots; it's super interesting to see what kinds of answers can result from a list of requirements like this.

#obscura vn #rotten raccoons #asks #vesper (mc)#about us #(by which i mean our process)#lord help me i hope i used rizzler correctly

149 notes · View notes

the-art-of-witnessing-the-cosmos · 11 months ago

Text

Planets in 7th house.

The mirror of self

Sun in 7th house

🌻The personality with Sun in 7th house wishes to know itself, it's identity through the mirror of others. It deeply searches for its own identity, essence , value in the definitions , thoughts , feelings of others about them.

🌻It finds completion and true fulfillment in the company of its beloved .

🌻Can be very self sacrificing or can have ego issues . Balancing is the key. Do something creative everyday. So that you are more dependent on yourself.

🌻Looks for a radiant, confident , regal , creative partner , why ? Because he is looking for his unconscious part to become conscious in the material life.

Moon in the 7th House

💚Here the personality desires the reflection & experience of an instinctive , beautiful, intuitive , beautiful, feeling , emotionally intelligent, emotionally attuned , nurturing partner .

💚In her , he finds his reflection of his emotional needs , in her , he learns about his emotions , the care , devotion , emotional attunement he wishes to get is the unconscious reflection of his anima.

💚The unconscious childhood enactment with mother is wished for to reach a sense of completion within.

💚A tendency of neediness and codependence can form sometimes.

💚Moodiness and nourishment happen in waves.

💚Developing a consistent spiritual practice will help beautifully balance this placement.

💚Emotionally attuned soulful relationship can happen if the personality learns to focus his attention of himself, his beloved , his spiritual practice & stays loyal.

💚Moon related business will also bhi helpful.

Mercury in 7th house.

⭐The personality with mercury in 7th house desires a friendly beloved . The one who he can chatter with , funny batter , intellectual stimulation, discuss business ideas .

⭐He searches for a childlike , youthful, logical , analytical partner who can reflect his unconscious so that he feels complete fulfilled within & outside.

Mars in 7th house.

☘️Here the personality finds its vigour , assertiveness, competitive spirit becoming active in its close partnerships, within the company of the other.

☘️He looks for a courageous, bold , dynamic , athletic partner who wakes up or reflects his own courageous dynamic qualities . Thus a sense of completion and fulfillment is felt within & without.

☘️Can have some clashes with partners , but these can be resolved with understanding.

☘️Playing active sports with one's partner will also be helpful in making the use of this energy.

Saturn in 7th house.

🤍The personality with Saturn in 7th finds itself in a dilemma , to be close or far away , to open up or not .

🤍Close relationships have been marked away with restrictions and a sense of emotional coldness.

🤍The personality desires close soulful relationships but finds difficult to be vulnerable with its close partners.

🤍The personality in its earlier formative years is forced to grow up , restrict its inner child so as to act mature for the situations it is placed in to face , experience & deal with.

🤍Thus bringing up the courage to open up , be vulnerable , to let your inner child feel nourished & itself again , & to allow others to see yourself for your needs & desires too .

🤍To accept change & to grow together.

🤍Better relationships happen with time .

🤍Spiritual practice is deeply helpful.

🤍A responsible, mature , sensible , fair partner fills the mirror image . ⭐💗

Jupiter in 7th house.

✨Here the personality aspires to find a wise , guiding, spiritual, religious ,teaching presence in one's partnership.

✨A spiritual relationship where both can be themselves , grow & mature into their true selves.

✨Expansive relationships , soulful connections are searched for.

✨Guard against multiple relationships.

Venus in 7th house

💗The personality with Venus in the 7th house desires the romance , loving , sensual, beautiful experience of a true soul connection.

💗Balance , fairness , negotiation, a penchant for beauty & harmony within and also in relationships is desired .

💗Quality time spent , luxury , beauty , sensuality & heart to heart feelings are desired.

Rahu in 7th house.

💫Personality desires the excitement of close relationships, business avenues wealth . Partners of different origin , culture , background, of exotic origin find his attention. Choose your partners wisely.

💫Never let your close partners take advantage of your yielding nature. Do your spiritual practice.

Ketu in 7th house

☘️Personality is self focused this lifetime & is detached from close relationships , business etc.

☘️A spiritual meditative partner can be a good choice .

☘️Having a spiritual base to the relationships , marriage & business will help chanelise the energy towards its best use.

☘️Regular spiritual practice will also be beneficial.

DM for readings

#astrology #astro observations #astrology observations #counseling #vedic #vedic astro notes #astro notes #vedic astro observations #astrology blog #astrologer #sidereal zodiac #rohini nakshatra #planets #signs

366 notes · View notes

another-lost-mc · 6 months ago

Text

NAUGHTY OR MICE

FEATURING: Barbatos with Diavolo, Solomon and the Little Ds

SUMMARY: Barbatos feels pressure during the holiday season and takes it out on everyone else. With help from a certain meddling sorcerer, the Little Ds find a creative way to get some payback.

CONTENT/WARNINGS: Holiday humor and shenanigans. Barbatos-centric POV while Solomon and the Little Ds take advantage of Barbatos' fear of rats. Diavolo just wants everyone to embrace the holidays (with mixed results). The opening poem is taken in part from A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement Clark Moore. 1.9k words

A/N: This is a gift fic for Anima as part of the @obeymeholidayexchange! I'm finally getting around to posting it outside the Discord server. 👀

‘Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house, Not a creature was stirring, except for a mouse – It turns out that seven little demons have changed their shape, Magically disguised as the rodents you hate. Turn that frown upside down And indulge in some holiday cheer; Or else, you may find your steps haunted By a swarm of furry menaces you fear. It’s the season to be festive and merry So my dear Barbatos, consider this warning: Seven feisty rats will haunt your steps Until they wake at dawn on Christmas morning.

Barbatos stares at the paper in his hands, his expression flickering from confusion to annoyance to abject horror. Solomon’s familiar penmanship, scrawled across a piece of torn parchment, was left on the kitchen counter exactly where the butler would find it. Unsurprisingly, it was left in the same room Barbatos found him in earlier that day, standing at the stove and shaking an unfamiliar bottle of spice into what was supposed to be tonight’s stew dinner. Solomon was still clutching the wooden spoon, dripping liquid that had turned a nauseating shade of orange, and protesting Barbatos’ rough treatment as he was led by the arm through the castle towards the front door. He trusted that Solomon could find his own way out and cause mischief somewhere else, and he left the sorcerer alone in the entrance hall with a sticky-and-stained apron and a childish pout on his face.

The Christmas poem-turned-riddle is utterly ridiculous, and yet Barbatos is glad no one can see his shoulders tremble or the way his eyes dart around the room nervously as if he expects a small army of rats to launch at him in a flurry of whiskers and tails and needle-sharp teeth.

It wouldn’t be the first time Solomon has used magic to cause mischief, and apparently he felt emboldened to enlist the help of the Little Ds behind Barbatos’ back. He knows the lesser demons better than almost anyone else. They’re helpful and infuriating and charming and chaotic, each of them brimming with energy - the perfect embodiments of the sins they represent.

Normally their tricks and disobedience are mild annoyances, but as Barbatos pushes open the kitchen doors and peers into the hallway, scanning the floors for any signs of those familiar-shaped pests he loathes so much, he wonders if there’s some truth to the accusations laid out in Solomon’s poem.

Every holiday is cause to celebrate in the Devildom, but this year, Barbatos feels more pressure than usual to ensure that everything is perfect. The demon lords, the other realms and the exchange students representing them - he feels their eyes on his lord keenly, searching for any sign of imperfection, of weakness. He would do anything to ensure its success so that the Devildom, and his lord Diavolo, are given the praise and respect deserved.

There’s a series of small scritches against wood nearby, the nearly-silent pitter patter of tiny feet on the carpet runners that cover the hallway floor, followed by high-pitched chittering with the familiar cadence of the Little Ds’ mischievous giggles. Barbatos can feel eyes on him as he lifts his head high and stares ahead despite the urge to search high and low for those little pests. The castle is ancient and despite its updates and repairs over time, it’s full of nooks and crannies and hidden passageways - the Little D’s know most of them nearly as well as he does.

Would they spy on him, wedged between gaps in old, wooden baseboards that line the old stone walls?

Would they climb up and peer at him the shoulders of decorative suits of armor or the twisted figures carved from marble that line the halls?

It’s a small miracle he manages to get anything done at all. His messages to Solomon have gone ignored, his attempts at calling him ringing endlessly. He manages to salvage his lord’s dinner (after disposing of the awful stew Solomon tampered with). It seems that the Little Ds offered him a small mercy by avoiding the kitchen - the sight of a rat in the heart of the castle would surely send Barbatos into an early grave - but everywhere else he goes, he sees dark shapes in the corner of his vision.

His young master must surely know what Solomon has done by now, but as Diavolo eats his dinner in silence, sympathy and smugness at war in his gaze, he only offers Barbatos a good night and the hope that everyone will be in better spirits tomorrow.

By the time Barbatos reaches his bed chambers, he’s twitchy with anxiety. There’s a fine sheen of sweat on his brow and inside his supple leather gloves. For once, he’s sure he looks exactly how he feels: frustrated, unbalanced and disheveled.

Judging by the high-pitched squeaks that followed him here, this is exactly the sort of entertainment the Little Ds hoped to gain from this ridiculous farce.

He strips as quickly as he can and throws his dirty clothes carelessly into the hamper. He snuffs out the wall sconces that light his room as the levels of twisting staircases throw harsh, angular shadows across the walls and floor. Part of him wonders if it’s better to leave his room brightly lit, reducing the places they can hide. Another part of him wonders if darkness would be worse, where he won’t know for certain if each shifting shadows is simply a trick of the light or a foul demon-in-disguise rodent scurrying about in the dark. The room feels suffocating and his private sanctuary is disturbed by the unfamiliar presence of seven little troublemakers that seem to think this is sufficient punishment for his earlier behaviour.

But maybe, he reluctantly thinks, they have a point.

Perhaps he shouldn’t have scolded his young master earlier when he disappeared from his office without a word. Barbatos frowned at the stack of neglected paperwork and set off immediately to find his wayward lord. He eventually found Diavolo in one of the parlors, Number 3 and Number 7 dozing in his lap while he read them holiday story books from the human world. Lord Diavolo’s accusations that he was a “heartless Evengeezer Snooze” fell on deaf ears, and Barbatos ignored his young master’s complaints (and the whiny cries of the Little Ds that toppled unceremoniously from his lap) as he grudgingly returned to his office where his duties awaited him.

Perhaps he shouldn’t have thrown Solomon from the kitchen even if he was a culinary disaster in the marking, and perhaps he shouldn’t have thrown Number 6 from the kitchen after that. (Barbatos couldn’t fathom how hungry the little demon was, who was slurping Solomon’s stew concoction straight from the pot as if he would waste away without it.)

Perhaps he shouldn’t have accused Number 2 of attempting to steal the tree ornaments painted with flaky gold leaf and encrusted with sparkling gems. He asked Number 5 to keep an eye on things, but as Number 2 attempted to float away with an armful of priceless heirlooms, the other lesser demon was too distracted by his own reflection in a large glass bauble dangling off one of the branches. Number 2 fled the room with a shrill little scream as Number 5 followed, drifting away from the tree while sniffling sadly and whining it wasn’t his fault.

After separating Number 1 and Number 4 earlier that morning for arguing so fiercely that it nearly started a brawl in the dining room during breakfast, Barbatos could admit he was already at his wit’s end. The overwhelming stress of everything made him more irritable than usual and had clearly taken its toll.

Perhaps, in the spirit of this joyful holiday season, he owes them all a rare apology. His young master and even Solomon, but especially the Little Ds whose help and company he appreciates. He’ll do whatever it takes to reassure them that this sort of punishment won’t be needed ever again; one evening of rat-shaped ghosts haunting him is more than enough for him to learn his lesson.

Things will be better tomorrow, he promises himself desperately. Tonight, a hushed, “I’m sorry,” is all Barbatos can offer anyone that might be listening. He falls asleep not long after, comforted by the silence of his room rather than the squeaks and scratches he has grown to dread, and in the quiet peace marked by the Little Ds’ absence, it almost feels like forgiveness.

It’s early the next morning when Diavolo walks into the dining room where he prefers to take his private meals. Barbatos is nearly finished laying out a small but hearty breakfast. They aren’t expecting guests at the castle until the festive brunch planned for later in the morning, but Barbatos wants to make the most of the peace and quiet while it lasts - after the night he had, he’s grateful for it.

“I see the Little D’s are back to normal,” Diavolo says cheerfully as he takes his seat at the table. Even though Barbatos can easily serve him breakfast without assistance, the lesser demons are helping set the table or observing the butler work while others admire the glittering tree in the corner of the room.

“I think we’ve all learned a lesson from this,” Barbatos admits with a nod. “Personally, I thought last night was–”

“Fun?” Number 4 pipes up helpfully. Number 6, who’s staring at the tray of food with a hungry gleam, offers a toothy grin in agreement.

“That’s not quite the word I’d use,” Barbatos says slowly, “but it was certainly an experience I won’t soon forget.” He pours Diavolo a fragrant cup of coffee and watches the prince take a sip with a quiet hum. “Although I may speak to Solomon and the sorts of spells he casts on them in the future. It appears that Number 5 hasn’t turned back to normal yet.”

Slowly setting his porcelain cup back on its delicate saucer, Diavolo frowns as he follows Barbatos’ gaze. Underneath the elaborately decorated tree sits a dark grey rat, its face obscured by a large frosted glass bauble, staring at them both with its beady black eyes.

“That’s not Number 5,” Diavolo says slowly as his brows pinch in confusion, glancing uneasily between Barbatos and the grey rodent peering at them curiously from the lower branches of the tree. “It can’t be. I passed him in the hallway on my way here. He was arguing with one of the statues again.”

The warm, joyful ambience of the room shifts into something cold and uncertain as the prince’s words hang heavy in the air with a touch of foreboding apprehension. Barbatos’ body freezes and he suddenly can’t bring himself to look anywhere near that tree.

“But my lord, if it’s not Number 5 under the tree, then who–?”

Squeak!

Read More: Obey Me Masterlist

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me barbatos #obey me diavolo #obey me solomon #obey me little d #obey me fanfic #obey me holiday exchange

74 notes · View notes

tsukikonikushimi · 3 months ago

Text

Page 57 - Body Modification

MASTERLIST

BODY MODIFICATION FROM THE MINUTE TO THE EXTREME is a huge part of the Zaun aesthetic. The chem-barons are enthusiastic adherents, and each one of them is an illustration of imagination let loose. Characters like Vi, Jinx, and Finn have extensive, intricate tattoos. How could Vi's look be complete without her name inked on her cheek, after all? (Eagle-eyed fans will have noticed that the facial tattoo looks slightly different in the anima- tion test done by Fortiche, where it lacks the two horizontal bars.) Over the course of the show, she also acquired a large tattoo of cogs and machinery on her back. "We made, I don't know, twenty versions of that tattoo," Arnaud-Loris Baudry said, laughing. Illustrating how a seemingly minor (in the grand scheme of things) detail could take up a lot of work, Baudry elaborated on how one thing could lead to another, then another. "We were wondering who had done the big tattoo," he said. “Vi was in prison for years so we had to design a prison, and that was tricky because Piltover is supposed to be a city of progress — do they really put people in prison? Maybe only people from the undercity, and maybe they put them really far away, a bit like Alcatraz. We worked on the design of that prison and at some point, we were like. 'No, we have to embrace that it's not a progressive prison. We put the elevator in so it goes really deep. We were wondering what was the life of Vi in this prison, and we were preparing to have scenes with it. By working on that and on the tattoos, we found an idea that I think is based on a movie called Red Dragon, where the murderer has a big tattoo on his back."

The fan-favorite Sevika, who is associated with Silco and then with the chem-barons, is among the most flambovant examples of body modification gone wild on the show. According to Pascal Charrue, her prosthetic arm "stumped several designers" because, as he explains, "it was important that the arm not be anatomically correct." Finally, character/concept artist Victor Maury came up with a solution: "A forearm that was very blocky, very powerful, and motorized," Charrue said. "It didn't have a round shape but was very angular. And it incorporated a mishmash of styles-Art Nouveau, Nouve gothic-that was typical of Zaun." The prosthetic changed in Season 2, when Jinx built her a new one. "Sevika commissioned her first arm so it's a little more conventionalnal — even if it's pretty brutal and prompted a lot of hand-wringing over it — but the second one, she has to endure," Charrue explained. "She gets used to it because it's efficient, but it's not easy at first."

With a flourish both playful and macabre, the arm designed by Jinx even incorporates a slot machine — the arm's different configurations and effects depend on what the slot machine comes up with. As minor as it might seem, Sevika's prosthesis is a perfect example of Fortiche's attention to small parts that combine to create a rich whole: Not only is this visually creative, but the detail testifies to Jinx's boundless creativity.

apologies for the quality of the text 😔

TOP AND MIDDLE Concept art for Chem-baron Finn BOTTOM Texture model with Vi's full back tattoo

Finn's (chem-baron killed by Sevika) face, head and torso tattoos:

Vi's back tattoo

LEFT Concept designs for Sevika in Season 2 RUGHT AND BELOW Concept art for Chem-baron Smeech, including his modified arms

Sevika's arm design

Smeech's arm design

Smeech's design

RIGHT Unused versions of Sevika's prosthetic arm re-designed by Jinx

Sevika's design

Her side profile

Unused versions of her arm

And now, Jinx's doodles once again!

Mechanical arm (probably Smeech's)

Little animals (which the mechanical arms designs came from, I assume)

Maybe:

A fire-breathing cat?

A fire-breathing rhino

Something spiting out a spanner/wrench

Various doodles on the arms themselves

On the left side, around the mouth, which also is screaming "AAAAAAAA" and on the right side with arrows, zaps and x, followed by "HA".

She drew around the eyes on the left side and doodled some eyes on the right too. She made the spikes (?) give out electricity. And she drew lightning on the center. Probably a weapon to discharge electricity on poeple.

On this one she drew some lightning, and "CHOMP CHOMP!"

A small angry eyebrow in this one

Shedrew eyelashes on Smeech and added some commentary on his physical appearance: "UGLY HAHA"

She drew on Sevika's arm design, she gave her a little face and some smoke coming out of her mechanical arm.

She also doodled on her arm's eye and mouth

And finally, she added the "DING DING DING" sound of the slot machine on her arm, some other doodles here and there to delimite the pieces and added some blood (?) on the mouth that's holding Smeech's leg!

Thta's all for today! Have a nice weekend, I don't know if I will post tomorrow 😞 I'm a procrastinator after all (a highly motivated one this week apparently)

48 notes · View notes

call-me-chips · 29 days ago

Note

Could you make Headcanons for Class 1-A as Villains with Villain names if they were Pro Villains instead of Heroes? Just curious. (Cause Villain Shoto would be Awesome ngl.)

Took me way too long to get to this one lol

I went to answer it a while ago, but tumblr reset the page and deleted everything, so I left it out of frustration 😅

Finally answering it 🙏

Getting this out of the way first; the thing about both heroes and villains is that they use essentially the same naming practices. They both typically either use a name relating to their quirk or abilities, a stage name, just their name, or a combination of these

So for this reason, I think a good bit of the students' names would be the same if they became villains instead of heroes

That being said, here's what I came up with:

Aoyama can keep his I Cannot Stop Twinkling because he's extra like that (totally not because I can't think of a better one) I'm giving Mina back her Alien Queen title. That's the name she WOULD have chosen if Midnight wasn't such a butt. Also the reason Alien Queen was rejected by her was because it was already the name of a giant evil-looking monster, so I feel like it fits I'm giving Tsu the name Dendroby, named after the scientific name for the black and green poison dart frog (pls love this one i think it's cute loll) Iida's villain upbringing will likely determine which villain name he chooses. If his backstory involves Tensei falling to Stain, and many of his actions and motives are driven by a desire to avenge his brother, he would likely choose the name Ingenium in respect and honour for him. If his villain upbringing was brought upon by another factor, I could see him using something like Kickback, after one of his signature moves being a powerfully boosted kick Ochako can keep Uravity because it works and I don't see a reason to change it As much as it pains me, Ojirou is keeping Tailman because I can't think of another good name Now, Kaminari could keel Chargebolt, but Crackshot is another possibility Kirishima would likely still use Red Riot, still naming himself after the person who inspires him to be strong and fight for what he believes in Giving Kouda the name Wild Call because Anima makes no sense and Wild Call both sounds cool and fits his quirk and abilities Satou can keep Sugarman because it's self explanatory and I don't want to change it Can't think of anything for Shouji, so he can keep his Tentacole for now Wow, really lacking on creativity rn, but for Jirou I can think of possibly Vibrave, which kinda works Sero would keep Cellophane because the only other option I can think of is "Tapeman" and he deserves better than that Tokoyami will keep Tsukuyomi because it fits pretty well and sounds cool As much as I'd really like to give Shouto a cool villain name, I feel like he would likely just use his name, because I can't see him coming up with a name relating to either of his quirks (unless MAYBE if he took the Touya route and gave himself a new name to use as a villain name but that's unoriginal) (I'm sure there are better names, but I can't think rn lol) The only thing I could think of for Hagakure was Pretty Phantom Now Bakugou, irdc, I can't think of anything special for him other than the fandom-given name Ground Zero, so let's go with that lol I think Midoriya would still use Deku because it's a childhood nickname meaning something along the lines of "useless puppet", so I feel like him using the name would be a good motivator for him to prove that name wrong, especially if he hopes to get revenge against his now pro hero childhood bully Assigning Min*ta the name Sticky Balls because I can Giving Momo the name Phaena, based on Phanes, the God of creation in Greek mythology (or so google says) (Tho the name kinda has a double meaning, because the same is similar to one of the Charities worshipped in sparta, Phaenna) (or so google says) (idk i did like 15 minutes of research)

More apologies for being late, this was sent in on may 26th 😅😅😅 but it's here now so I can stop stressing about it lol

#mha #bnha #Mha headcanons #Mha au #Class 1a #Mha class 1a #Villain au #mha characters #my hero academia #boku no hero academia

18 notes · View notes

sino--69 · 26 days ago

Text

Fuck this

U guys get 0 context. Im just posting raw writing now.

The setting is interstellar. The mc is called "Kent".

Its bad. It has typos, barely iterated. But i havent posted in days. I have to do something

"What the—" says kent

Mumbling under his breath, jaw dropped, hunched,

"This is a mall? This?"

Yes kent, thats a mall,

Its as big as a colony,

Yet every inch of the floor has people standing on it

"What... Its as huge as a street"

HONKKKKKK

Came a sound behind kent,

Something was moving fast,

Kent turned back

"YOOO sorry"

A... "vehicle" brushed across him.

"Thats.. what is that?" Thought kent

As he stood in shock,

A vehicle thats really just a big tire with a seat inside

In a mall as big as a colony,

Bling wherever you can see,

As good staring into the sun.

Or rather smaller, but hundreds of them.

People scattered like ants,

The chatter? Unprecedented.

Wearing... "SUNGLASSES???" Shouted kent, a bit too loud,

Looking to his side,

No one heard, its just too loud for that.

Kent snaps his fingers,

As everything becomes more simplified

"God, this is gonna be draining"

(He has a ability which is his main ability. Its simplification. Thats it, Thats all it does, It makes things simple for him)

Soon, a puppet pops up,

Spring for legs and neck, Way too big head,

"Hello sir"

"He—" kent gets cut off

The puppet closes up, its neck streched,

"Hmmm you're not atuned"

He tilts his head, "Yet you're somehow okay... strange"

"Uh i" says kent

BOI—Oi—OING—the neck recoils back,

"Ill take you to a quieter place, where we'll atune you in! With the latest shatter-disks!

Please come, its straight ahead"

Kent takes a peek,

"...its a kilometre long—no, maybe more"

The puppet smiles

"Urban planning doesn't exist at the cosmic scale, what you're witnessing is already a miracle"

"Though u dont have to walk all the way, just 300 meters till the Uni-stand, where u can get your Uni-hicle, the one u almost got hit by"

"Hicle—short for vehicle? Also how do you—"

The puppet grips his hand

"Ow"

And springs forward, dragging kent along a rollercoaster ride,

Because thats what it was,

Shoulders hitting, feet stomped,

All could be avoided if u weren't sprinting,

But the puppet moved too fast, gripped too hard.

As kent's gait made a drunkard look sober

Kent wasnt exactly fond of this experience...

Jaw dropping how the biggest brands are reduced to a stall,

To how big this global market even is,

"So much Cash... Why dont people just retire to smaller planets" kent thought to himself,

As he got shoulder-slammed, feet stomped,

While drowning in neon.

Kent finally makes it to the "uni-stand",

The neon board tries too hard to be,

Like a ball boy in PE.

Its just a cycle stand, for uni-hicle—

"Why the name Uni-hicle?" Kent asked

"Dont ask, you dont wanna know"

And suddenly, the world tilts,

Or really, its kent getting carried,

Thrown in the Uni-hicle,

"WHA—wha—wait!"

The puppet takes kent's hand,

Too gently,

Kent having the suspicion of a parent seeing tissues and hand lotion side by side

PSSSST

"OW OW OW UR BURNING IT"

Said kent as the puppet grins,

The puppet leaves the hand, kent pulls it back immediately, squirming almost

"OW, you bitch!" as kent looks down on his hand...

There's a mark, with print, a bit too much.

"V I PEE" he sees under simplification

"Next time get a fucking ID" says the puppet

"A knight of laughter in the [placeholder] mall? What a sight to see!"

As he shuts the "door" which...

Makes up 1/3rd of the "Uni-hicle"s body.

"Sleek design" they call it,

"#futuristic"

Kent barely feels fine, but atleast the Uni-hicle wont drive itse—

VROOOOOOM

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" kent says,

(Profound)

As the autodrive does dodge civilians, while registering them as boxes, poles, banners...

Anything but people on the screen.

Kent hits the break!

it felt too smooth.

No it wasnt hydraulics.

The break isnt connected (temporarily. Hopefully.)

"FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK"

As kent tries to move the steering wheel,

Too smooth,

Autodrive.

But atleast there's OTT and adverts on the screen beside the ever increasing speedometer...

...

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" says kent

(Probably excited at the OTTs)

It goes over stairs,

As kent gets the POV of a shaker ball

His half-ass suspends in the air,

His leg somehow over the wheel,

His hands? Under his other-half-ass,

How? Dont ask.

But kent was getting use to it,

He was somehow gaining stance.

Surely—

Surely it wont just st—

SCREEEEEEEEEECH

Kent hits the—

PFOOOOOOOF

Air bag fills up the Uni-hicle,

Too hard,

The doors might just break.

"Mmmsbsksmmshsjmmm" mumbles kent

(Profound)

As he tries his best to stab the airbag.

He does burst it, after minute of shanking.

POP—except 10 decibels higher.

He gets out of the Uni-hicle,

Almost trips over, at every step.

His gait... You call that "gait"?

Breathing fast,

Still mumbling profound knowledge

("Fuck.. fuck.. fuck this. Fuck")

In front of him,

A grand hotel, which, is "grand" in size too

Like, 4 buildings compressed into 1

gold-yellow coloured, stylish, glamourous,

Less bling, kent sighed of relief

And a signage saying... "Kjg... No its.. wrjg... No.."

"What.. whats this language"

Kent snaps, Simplified.

"HQ? What?"

A man (finally not a puppet) came outside

"Welcome sir, you are our—"

BBBRRRRRSTTTT

Kent unloaded his gun on the Uni-hicle.

THUMP, It fell on its side,

Setting up in flames.

"What? Oh... Uh malfunction it ha—"

The man came forwards

Kent snapped his fingers

No intent to kill, showed 'simplification'

Or was he really an assasin,

"Assasin in a mall?"

"This isnt even a mall, this is something el—"

He holds kent's hand,

Inspects the mark,

As kent is frozen in place,

Back arched, on toes, gun in his hand but pointing downwards for some reason?

"Hmm. Please come with me"

...

"....Sir?"

"HUH what? What?" Kent says,

"Yeah u sure uh.. could u explain what the fuck this is"

"Sure. I will." He says "Just, step inside first"

Kent steps inside..

Less people, almost none.

Dimly lit. Huge hallways,

"half a street wide..." kent mumbles.

The man walks up behind the counter,

"Wohoo" he says

"I usually never stand here, haha."

"Anyways". He says, as kent proceeds to sit in the chair awkwardly. Which may be a bit too short.

"I apologise for the treatment u faced. The puppet u met is barthlos, a semi-hive mind—'army' if you will—of barthlos' that take care of the whole mall"

"You, Mr Kent"

He says, shuffling papers, adjusting the lamp,

Putting on glasses, branded, elite.

"Entered illegally—suits your reputation of ignoring laws u regard useless"

"Barthlos saw that you dont have the protective gear everyone does."

"You mean the sunglass—" kent almost asks

"—No! That's fashion!"

....

"Ehm, There's eye implants for regulars and special lenses for others.

You had none.

You know who else has none Mr Kent?"

"Uh bad guys?" Kent asks

"Yes bad g—ehm—tresspassers, theives" as he judges kent, enough to fry an egg.

"But they usually have custom implants.

You however. Had none....

Thats why you weren't tased right there.

But the fact that you even smuggled a gun? Jeez. Thats why barthlos was in a hurry"

Meanwhile kent squirming in his chair. It was definitely too short...

He wants to speak, He has nothing to speak.

"What do i ask... The weather?—no fuck no what is wrong with me?" Kent thinks to himself.

"Now we do have intel of your arrival Mr Kent"

"I... I think its master—wait is it mister for unmarried men too?"

The man raises an eyebrow. Oof.. a deadly look.

He looks back and forth, to kent and his papers,

"Welp since you're a child at heart as per Mr vinh's comment... Master kent it'll be"

"Haha.. ha... So... Uh can i meet this guy?" Kent asks, being forced to look up, neck flexed.

As he thinks to himself "God my neck hurts, my ass hurts, i need to collapse so bad..."

"Wha—"this guy"—???" the man chokes on air

"Ehm. Yes. Mr vinh. You mean Mr Vinh.

He's... Currently away doing stunts, you can calmly wait in your room"

"Oh, nice, is there a bathtub?" Kent asks

"Yes" The man says.

"No... Plot twist?" Kent squirms

"What?" The man repulsed "what—i didnt quite get your Miste—ehm..."

...a pause. A second too long

"Master keEA—AH!" said the man as a dove flew into his face,

And the lift's door closed

With a note on the chair, a masked shaped stamp on it

"Fuck your mall :3"

1 note · View note

cosmicjoke · 3 months ago

Note

Hello,

I just wanted to say how much I deeply venerate you and appreciate the numerous Banana Fish analyses you’ve made as they’ve genuinely altered how I view and accept the uncomfortable truths life brings. More notably, I adore how you incorporate themes of psychology, existentialism, and corruption. How you analyze the arduous life Ash endures and the severe child abuse that was consequential because of it without undermining it shows your fortitude as the Banana Fish fandom back then, now even, thrived off malarkey and total disregard for the themes the show actively emphasized. Despite your most prominent works being made years ago, they’re so timeless and undoubtedly lingered on the souls of others because of how valuable and intellectual your insights were as they brought truth to fruition.

While reading your infamous Wandering In Endless Night, I was fascinated by your ability to capture the daily horrors Ash faces at such a young age and how it inadvertently made the readers ponder about theodicy. Why do children get subjected to this and why do the handful of legal systems meant to help them rarely provide them with substantial aid or prevention? Why does this inexorable force of injustice and evilness somehow triumph over any higher power? Questions of that nature kept looming across my mind because of how brilliantly you tackled dark themes such as Child Sexual Abuse, Child Exploitation, and Physical Abuse, and your critiques of the American justice system are executed with such precision. That doesn’t just evoke thoughts, it demands thoughts and meaningful discussions as you write with conviction, especially regarding how cruel and arbitrary life is.

As children, we’re conditioned to believe this narrative that the good guys always win and the bad guys always face consequences throughout all the stories and media we consume as it’s left long-lasting impacts on the subconscious which is why so many people simply couldn’t handle Banana Fish. As a child, I was obsessed with Avatar The Last Airbender and loved its themes of human unity and resilience against unjust systemic systems, ones that especially resonated with me were the importance of loving relationships and healing from abuse through craving out your destiny. I’m using this as an example because both of these pieces of media present and execute heavy topics without rudiment and how I projected my hopes of the freedom and healing that Zuko attained at the end onto Ash because of similar they were despite knowing the inevitable. I remember you mentioning that you created Wandering in Endless Night because you wanted to provide a new insight into the complex nature of Ash’s character by crafting a fanfic of what his life was probably like before Banana Fish even started as the majority of people created fanfics of a life where he moves to Japan with Eiji or even just fanfics about Eiji’s grief after he dies.

I recently wrote a Jungian-Psychology-inspired essay comparing Ash Lynx and Zuko, focusing on how the absence of maternal figures shaped their weakened anima and emotional journeys. It touches on their relationships with Eiji and Katara as representations of the healing feminine archetype. I too wanted to bring some nuance and unique perspectives to the discussions you’ve cultivated. I poured a lot into this and would be honored if you gave it a look. No pressure at all—I just wanted to share it with someone whose work helped transfigure my own:

https://www.tumblr.com/lavendermatchaprincess/779778680645894144/why-zuko-and-ash-lynx-struggle-with-their-own?redirect

Thank you for sharing your creativity and intertwining it through deep psychological analyses of characters from vastly different genres!

With admiration, Kinzi

This is one of the nicest messages I've ever received. Honestly, I'm totally floored and honored by what you've said and by how much you think of my analyses and stories for "Banana Fish". "Banana Fish" remains, for me, one of the most important and powerful works I've ever read/watched, and I truly wish more people knew about it and appreciated it. When I wrote "Wandering in Endless Night", really, the most I could have asked and hoped for was for it to draw more people's attention to the work that inspired it. But knowing my story in and of itself was so inspiring to you means the world. Really, it remains the story I'm most proud of in terms of the topics it explores and the way I was able to execute it. I've heard from enough people about it, similar to you, that I feel pretty good in saying I did an okay job, and it was always important to me to remain true to the reality of "Banana Fish" itself, and its refusal to sugarcoat or placate or render more palatable the topics it was discussing and exploring. I know a lot of people in particular rage against that aspect of the story, and probably in turn would feel the same about my depiction of Ash's life pre-canon, but to me, it's that rawness and realness and refusal to soften the reality facing children in Ash's position that makes "Banana Fish" such a powerful and important story. I definitely didn't want to betray that. I feel like a lot of people in the "Banana Fish" fandom, as you point out, have a tendency to retreat into denial, either through writing stories that "fix" the ending, i.e. that have Ash survive, or by badmouthing Akimi Yoshida and accusing her of all manner of ridiculous things, just because they don't like that she ended Ash's story with his death.

But in my view, Ash dying was always vital to driving home the tragic reality of Ash's life. Without his death, the audience could never appreciate the scope of injustice and cruelty that defined his life, they could never appreciate or feel properly enraged at the unfairness of his life if he were somehow able to magically overcome it all and ride off into the sunset to live happily ever after. I feel like that's what people don't get about this story.

So with "Wandering In Endless Night", I tried to stay true to that spirit of bleak reality and to capture that sense of inevitable tragedy.

Ash's life was destroyed by the abuse he suffered, and I don't think it's wrong to acknowledge that. People always want to cling to this narrative that all things can be overcome. That all suffering and injustice and cruelty can be defeated. But while insisting on that narrative, it also pushes a frankly dangerous undermining of the seriousness of abuse, particularly, in the case of "Banana Fish", child sexual abuse, and the devastating consequences of it. By insisting that all forms of abuse, no matter how severe, can be overcome, that it doesn't have to destroy a person's life, we also insist that the abuse in question isn't really that bad. But it is. It is that bad. Ash is a character who demonstrates, unequivocally, that child abuse can and does destroy lives, and that if it's bad enough, there can even be cases where there's simply no coming back from it. I know people don't like to hear that, but it's the truth, and the reason I think it's such an important truth to acknowledge is because it's when we finally stop pretending otherwise and finally stop retreating into this fantasy that anything can be overcome with just some hard work and determination, or with enough support and love, that we can finally understand the gravity of child abuse, which in turn will spur us on to doing more to prevent it. If we acknowledge that not everyone who's suffered abuse can or will recover, that some of them will even die as a consequence of that abuse, then it gives us greater incentive in trying to stop the abuse from happening in the first place. It's pretending otherwise that basically gives us a pass and allows us to turn away when a child is being abused, because we can then tell ourselves that "it will be okay".

I think Ash's story makes so many people uncomfortable because he forces us to acknowledge that, no, it won't always be okay, and sometimes, oftentimes, people that suffer the way Ash did, end up dead. Ash's story forces us to acknowledge and accept the true tragedy of child abuse and the consequences wrought by it.

Anyway, that's basically what I was trying to highlight with my story, and also with all of my analyses posts on "Banana Fish". It was always important to me not to shy away or hide from the brutal reality of Ash's life, because to do so would be, in my mind, an insult to the pain he suffered, and which, by extension, real-life victims of child abuse suffer. I'm glad to know that it had its desired effect with some people, at least.

I'll definitely check out your essay! I'm not familiar with "The Last Airbender", though I've heard plenty about it! Maybe it will inspire me to give it a watch! Thank you so much again! I really can't tell you how much I appreciate your message and kind words. And hopefully, this in turn will inspire others to check out "Banana Fish", too.

#Banana Fish #Ash Lynx #asks #fanfiction #fanfic #meta #analysis #Akimi Yoshida

18 notes · View notes

linkspooky · 1 year ago

Text

Judai and Yubel's Chemical Wedding

A chemical wedding is central to many alchemy stories.

A chemical wedding is a reconciliation of opposites, often with the most significant character relationship to the protagonist. A relationship which destroys and then remakes them in the better version of themselves.

Jung said that relatioships are chemical reaction. If you have a reaction you can never return to your previous state of being. That's ultimately the role of a chemical wedding in a story. A relationship which is central to a character's development, and changes both parties.

Yubel isn't just important for Judai's character development, they're literally his other half and their union of opposites completes them both in an alchemical sense. Keep on reading below the cut for a lesson in alchemy symbolism.

Peter Pan's Missing Shadow

So, the story goes somewhere in the middle of developing season two the writers recognizing that Judai, would never be able to handle a Marik level antagonist. He lacked maturity compared to the previous series protagonist Atem. The concept of Yubel emerged to make Judai grow, because as he was, he wasn't enough.

Judai fits the archetype of the hot-blooded shonen protagonist almost perfectly in the first two seasons, but even in two seasons where he changes very little as a character the hints are there.

Sho immediately puts Judai on a pedestal, and soon so does everyone else. Judai is praised for his pure heart over, and over. The standards for Judai are set so high you begin to wonder what if Judai wasn't the person everyone sees him as?

At this point is it even Judai that his friends are seeing?

What does that do to a person's identity when everyone around you is love with the idea of you. When you're not seen as a person with flaws.

Judai doesn't grow but how can he, when he's not really allowed to make mistakes. When he's expected to always be cheerful, and always bounce back without help or support.

Judai is pure of heart, but is anybody really pure? The light always casts a shadow.

Jung pioneered a lot of analytical psychology theory. Jung divided the psyche into four parts, the persona which is how we externally engage with the world our public face, the animus and anima masculinity and femininity, and finally the shadow.

Complementary to Jung’s idea of the persona, which is “what oneself as well as others thinks one is” [CW9 para 221], the “shadow is that hidden, repressed, for the most part inferior and guilt-laden personality [...] that is his shadow does not consist only of morally reprehensible tendencies, but also displays a number of good qualities, such as normal instincts, appropriate reactions, realistic insights, creative impulses etc “

The shadow isn't made up of bad qualities, just what we are afraid to show others because of judgement. Hidden as it may be, the shadow is a fundamental part of your personality.

Jung had a deep interest in the shadow – its form and content – and in the process of assimilating “the thing a person has no wish to be” [CW16, para 470]. He saw quite clearly that failure to recognize, acknowledge and deal with shadow elements is often the root of problems in relationships.

Is a friendship with someone real if you're afraid to show any of your flaws?

Juda's never allowed to make mistakes around his friends. He's under constant pressure to fight their battles, to fear he might lose them if he loses.

Ryo, a foil and rival Judai suffers a complete breakdown after losing just one duel. Before that he spelled it out for Judai in the graudation duel, the "perfection" everyone expected limited his growth, until he finally fell apart. If one loss makes Ryo fall then how much farther does Judai who's under more pressure have to fall?

Judai hides his shadow from everyone, but the shadow isn't just a part of you. The shadow is you. You are your shadow. Which is why recognizing the shadow is a critical part of growth - and alchemy. As Jung once said, "The gold is in the dark. And one does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.”

Judai's in unable to grow up, because like Peter Pan is missing his shadow. It needs to be retrieved and sewn back to his feet. Until then, he's stunted and missing an important part of himself.

Judai is missing something important without his shadow. I'm not pulling this from thin air, it's directly stated by the text repeatedly.

Here.

Kouji Satou: We have something that you lack. Judai: That I lack? Kouji Satou: Yes the darkness of the heart that slumbers deep within a duelist. The burden that a duelist bears in his heart. Judai, you have none of that.

Here.

Cobra: You are certainly a talented duelist. But you have one fatal flaw. Judai: A fatal flaw? Cobra: Yes, your duels are superficial. Someone who fights with nothing on his shoulders, cannot recover once he loses his enjoyment. What a duelist carries on his shoulders will become the power that supports him when he’s up against the wall! Cobra: But you have nothing like that! Those who go through life without anything like that cannot possibly seize victory. Cobra: But I know that nothing I say will resonate with you… because you have nothing to lose but the match.

Even, by Judai himself.

Judai: They’re all… They’re all gone. There really was something missing in me. But what is it? What was missing? What should a duelist burden themselves with?

I often worry people will misinterpret Judai's ending with Yubel is unhealthy because he's "caving to the demands of a stalker."

Yubel's not a stalker, they're not even a real person. Judai's a character in a story, experiencing an arc about learning to accept and grow path his worst flaws. How could that arc end with throwing away Yubel, who represents the ugliness Judai tries to hide?

Yubel is Judai's shadow, run away from him just like Peter Pan. Yubel's more than just a cast-off shadow though, Yubel is Judai. A good example of two separate characters coded as each other's shadows in other literature is Katherine and Heathcliff, two characters designed specifically to be two halves of a whole. Katherine once said, "I am Heathcliff", or to be specific she said:

My great miseries in this world have been Heathcliff’s miseries, and I watched and felt each from the beginning: my great thought in living is himself. If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty strange: I should not seem a part of it [...] Nelly, I am Heathcliff! Katherine - Wuthering Heights

So these are two different topics, shadow as a literary foil, and shadow as an aspect of peresonaity in Jungian psychology, yubel is both.

Yubel is the archetypal shadow character, a character who challenges the main character by being their internalized flaws made external.

In a Jungian text when a character won't look at their shadow, they're often forced to look by being confronted with an externalized version of their shadow.

This is the first line of dialogue Yubel says that's not chanting Judai's name in episode 117 to Amon.

Yubel: My power is not especially great. But those with darkness in their hearts can unleash great power in me. Yubel: The pus welling out of your injured heart forms a second heart. I can see that other heart. The darkness in it. Yubel: That's right. That is the darkness of your heart. it's there, in the depths of your mind. Th scream of your other heart, born from your stagnant blood!

Yubel's go-to strategy with manipulation is to throw in a character's face the secrets they've been hiding to make them more liable to their will. Until Yubel can reconstitute their own body, they're forced to act entirely through others, possessing Cobra, then Martin, and finally Johan.

Yubel, the runaway shadow can't exist in this world without glueing themselves onto someone else. Can't be whole without Judai.

Yubel: You'll formally become king. Yubel: It must be great to have your wishes come true. But then, who's going to be happy for you? Yubel: Living in a way that suits you. The one who'd be most happy for you would be that "echo" woman that you loved, am I right? Yubel: But you went and let her die. You won't even be able to see her celebrate, isn't that a bit weird to you? Amon: Silence... Yubel: I know I couldn't stand it. A world without the one I love. It's because of Judai I can feel pain, angiush, and agony.

They say it over and over again, a world without the person you love, even a perfect one like Amon imagines, isn't worth living in.

Yubel: I wouldn't want to live in such a world! Yubel: The world is a place that you make alongside the one you love! What Judai and I make together... that will be the world!

It seems like a one-sided dependence on Yubel's part, but because Yubel is Judai's shadow, Judai cannot exist without them either.

Yubel was literally introduced into the story to spur Judai's character growth after two seasons of stagnation.

Judai seems better off without Yubel. Judai even suggests as much, that it might have been better for Yubel to die in that crater, than crawl back to Judai in their wounded and hateful state.

It seems that Yubel's reapperance triggered Judai's breakdown, and without it the breakdown never would have happend. However, there's two seasons of foreshadowing that JUdai is "missing something" without Yubel, which is why they can't grow or adapt to new circumstances. Judai needed to go through a death of his old self, a loss of innocence to become someone new, that's how alchemy works, that's how growing up works.

JUdai needed to reintegrate his shadow (Yubel) so he could become aware of his flaws, and while he does hit a low point, in the aftermath he can finally better himself.

The question is what flaws of Judai does Yubel reflect?

At first brush they seem as opposed to each other as hero and villain.

There's a tragic symmetry to the way both of them lived their lives for the past ten years. They began in the same place, Judai's childhood was just the two of them together. Then Yubel drove all of Judai's friends away, and Judai sent Yubel away in return.

Ten years go by and Judai attends Duel Academy and makes friends for the first time. He learns of his destiny was the one to protect Neo-Space and the Neo-Spacians led him their power helping awake within him the power of the gentle darkness. Judai spends almost two years almost always surrounded by people, alone in the center of a crowd.

At the same time Yubel has spent the past ten years alone in space, crying out for help from Judai. When they finally return to earth they ask for help one final time only to be met with silence. In that moment Yubel decides that silence is their answer, that abadoning Yubel, ignoring their screams of pain and forgetting them was all Judai's way of showing love.

Judai awakens his powers of the gentle darkness, whereas Yubel is corrupted by the light of destruction. Judai receives the help of everyone around them, Yubel only survives by manipulating several people to eventually crawl their way back to Judai.

They started at the same point, but by the time they meet again they're completely unrecognizable to each other.

As easy as it is to see them as villain and victim you can flip their roles too. As Judai is responsible for the chain of events that led to Yubel's torture, from Yubel's point of view they are the victim and Judai the villain.

It's unfair to hold a decsion they made when they were five against him. However, abandoning Yubel is a choice Judai continually makes, even after learning Yubel's undergone ten years of torture they were responsible for.

Judai: Yubel didn't come into being by coincidence. I made them who they are.

Judai continually ignores Yubel to search for Johan. However, he's not responsible for Johan. Johan made the choice to sacrifice himself. Wanting to save Johan isn't bad of course, but wanting Johan back is about what Johan represents to Judai not who he is as a person.

Yubel rightfully points out Judai will go so far to save Johan, but won't lift a finger to help them.

In fact Judai's obsession with Johan, is a narrative flaw (one Yubel reflects for the audience). It leads to his destruction.

Sho even calls him out, his willingness to sacrifice anyone, including his friends for Johan's sake. It's selfishness on his part. To quote this post:

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.

Yubel's obsessive pursuit of Judai to the destruction of everyone else, reflects Judai's obsessive pursuit of Johan destroying his friends.

To quote the above post again.

Yubel is a deeply selfish person as well. However, it’s a different kind of selfish. Yubel has exactly one priority: Juudai. Anyone or anything that isn’t Juudai doesn’t matter, and Yubel will go after Juudai no matter the situation and no matter the consequences.

They're both two deeply selfish people and Yubel is needed to cast a light of this selfish side of Judai. When the two of them are compared though the image blurs, Yubel doesn't have the right to take their pain out on Judai's friends, but Judai goes on to later do the same thing.

"But then that's the nature of love, isn't it? I wanted all that torment to convey the depth of my love."

Judai rightfully calls out Yubel's involvement of innocent people, but it's hypocrisy on his part. He doesn't have the moral high ground here. Yubel's suffering doesn't entitle them to take out said suffering on Judai's friends, but Judai also slaughtered innocents as the supreme king.

Judai framing Yubel's reaction as revenge is ignoring his own flaws and role in things. Sharing pain = understanding = empathy for Yubel. Yubel wants to be understood, but Judai wants to ignore his shadow.

Yubel's strategy is a kid of forced empathy - to drag Judai down to their level and make Judai understand the same pain so Judai will understand them.

I'm going to quote another post again, this post here.

In her desperation to grasp why she was being made to suffer if Judai loved her, it makes a certain amount of sense that she would latch on to the suffering itself as being something Judai wanted for her. (She knows and admits this isn’t true, btw, but it’s the only thing that allows her even a tenuous grip on sanity) Then, when she was in a position to meet him again, her own views on love would allow her to subconsciously justify making him suffer the same way because her pain had left their life experiences too disparate to form a meaningful connection once more. And the hilarious thing is that she was ultimately right? Yanking Judai down to her level is what allowed Judai to understand her in a way that was impossible before he had his own little fit of love-induced murder spree. I think what people sort of miss is that what Judai is reviling her and calling her an unfeeling monster near the beginning of their duel, he’s the one that’s wrong.

This symmetry they eventually reach where they both become perpetrators shows the biggest thing they share in common: trauma, and how they react to it.

Trauma comes to define both Judai and Yubel, but they react in different ways.

Yubel externalizes their trauma, the same trauma Judai hides internally. What Judai conceals, Yubel by acting out their grief on others reveals.

Yubel wears their heart on their sleeve for all intents and purposes. They will act out their pain on others, gleefully, sadistically so. Their entire philosophy of love revolves around the idea that intentionally inflicting pain as a show of love.

However, as stated above that's a coping mechanism. When Yubel says they want to share pain with Judai, it's not revenge, it's a desire for empathy and understanding. Yubel wraps themselves in a blanket of love, to endure years of torture they suffered alone.

Yubel can't just ask for Judai's love though, they demand it.

This too is Yubel shielding themselves, they're coping with their abandonment trauma. Yubel can endure any pain inflicted on them if they convince themselves that Judai still cares, they can crawl out of a crater if it might lead them back to Judai. If Judai rejects them however, they completely fall apart.

Judai too, is protecting himself from fears of abandonment.

Judai's coping method is opposite, he internalizes all his emotions. The pressure of having to constantly rescue his friends, his fears that he can't lose once, or else he'll lose everything. Judai hides it under a smile, and a fun loving attitude.

Judai even states point blank, the reason he always runs forward is because if he stops to think he won't be able to continue. Judai compartmentalizes everything, and it all starts to pile up so high that if he just can't process it.

Judai: I can’t just stay and wait. All this time I’ve run on instinct, never second-guessing myself. If I just stand still now… I’m sure I won’t be able to start running again. And I won’t be able to get to Johan.

Even Judai taking on his friend's burdens, is done out of a fear of being alone. In his backstory Yubel drove all his friends away and it doesn't seem like he made friends until he came to Duel Academia.

Yubel and Judai both spent a significant amount of time alone, and they both fear going back to that time.

When Judai takes on other's burdens, it's a way to protect himself. If he's constantly doing them favors, they have to stick around right? It's still a transactional relationship though, the same way Yubel thinks all of their love entitles them to Judai's love.

Judai's method is to internalize everything. That seems better than Yubel, because Judai's not hurting anybody right? Except Judai's owbmethod of coping turns out to be just as unhealthy as Yubel's.

Judai carries the weight of everyone on his shoulders until he can't.

Judai's fears of being abandoned become a reality.

It's telling that Judai's breaking point isn't Fubuki, Sho, Asuka and Manjoume's apparent deaths. He's deeply upset by it for sure, but what pushes him over the edge is Sho's rejection afterwards.

Judai's friends being taken away in circumstances out of his control is one thing, but the fact that Sho leaves him? That Sho sees the part of Judai's self that he's always been hiding and gives up on him. That rejection sends him spiraling, because all along Judai was driven by the same fear of rejection Yubel was.

When Judai reaches his breaking point, he externalizes all the trauma he held within. He starts sacrificing others for power, because he's convinced himself with his friends gone power is what he has left. Judai acts out that trauma on others, as Yubel does with Judai's friends.

In the end Yubel and Judai react the same way to being abandoned, they share the same flaws and the same fears.

Rejecting Yubel, villainizing them, despising them is an act of self-loathing for Judai. However, empathizing with them, understanding, trying to reach out a had to break the painful cycle between them - is Judai accepting himself.

Chemical Wedding

Judai and Yubel become their worst selves when they are alone, they walk parallel journeys in season 3 dragging down Judai to Yubel's level until at last they finally reunite.

This metaphorical union is a chemical wedding, of two opposites coming together. How Judai and Yubel's relationship changes throughout the narrative is vital to how they develop. Their bond develops each of their characters, until they integrate qualities of each other.

The final stage is called a wedding, it's not necessarily romantic but Yubel's 10,000 love confessions can certainly be interpreted that way.

Once again it's not really about what's healthy in a real life relatioship, it's a symbolic journey two characters take in a story. Yu-Gi-Oh Gx uses chemical weddings to develop the romantic relationship between Judai and Yubel.

(What about Bruno - I'll talk about him later next post. Please be patient, I can't cover everything in one post).

Here's another meta on the concept of chemical wedding's in general for a different show. The chemical wedding between Judai and Yubel is woven into the text in may ways.

The show is rife with direct references to alchemical imagery (references to medieval portraits, the solar king and the lunar queen)

A process of death ad rebirth they both undergo multiple times, until their last union where Judai says he might be destroyed by the attempt to fuse with super-poly but he doesn't mind).

The four elements are referenced in the clash between Judai and Yubel, Judai is fire and air - their favorite monster is flame wingman an air and fire hero combined. Yubel is water and earth, their entire deck has a plant motif).

The two of them literally fuse together into someone new. That act is what purifies Yubel's soul by uniting it with Judai, the process of alchemy is purifying metals until they forge gold.

Yubel is also literally a hermaphrodite, and by incorporating Yubel into themselves the two of them together become a hermaphroditic figure.

So that’s the role and importance of the chemical wedding. Pretty vague, right? But over the centuries the most common imagery has been a man and woman--often King Sol/Sulphur and Queen Luna/Mercury--1. standing together, 2. conjoined, or 3. combined into a hermaphroditic figure. -In the Dictionary of Alchemical Imagery, Lyndy Abraham definition of chemical wedding.

The basic formula of a chemical wedding is the union of opposites (Fire and water, air ad earth, sun and moon, light and dark), that union creating a "Rebis", a figure that is both male and female. Judai and Yubel's journey takes them on a path to uniting as one.

It's a violent sometimes dangerous process as in each step dissolve et coagula occurs, in order to forge your better self you have to let your old self dissolved, which is sometimes a violent even painful process.

It's why Chemical Weddings often take the form of violent conflict. A conflict that threatens to destroy both parties.

The first chemical wedding is usually somewhat violent, primitive even, whereas the second one signifies the creation of the stone. However, characters can have more than two weddings (Hamliet).

Yubel and Judai have three violent confrontations in Season 3, before their final union of opposites take place. The three weddings are the three steps in their journey. It's also a process where both experience several metaphorical deaths, before finally their two souls unite into something new (which is why the ship is called Soulshipping).

SOULSHIPPING WEDDINGS - STAGE ONE

Alchemy is a process of continual death and rebirth. Yubel and Judai both go through two symbolic deaths, (the second one they die together to reforge themselves into something new).

Yubel's first death takes place sometime during season 1 and 2. The satellite containing them finally crashes back to earth, and Yubel burns up upon re-entry. Putrefecation, or Nigredo is the first stage of alchemy a process of boiling away all impurities, and it's associated with the element of fire, and associated with the color black. Yubel's spirit form of a black dragon comes out to protect them, and that burns away too. Nigredo is often signified with the death of a dragon.

Yubel comes close to death, but their true death is metaphorical.

What Yubel truly experiences is the death of their old self, as the trauma they've endured makes someone new crawl out of the wreckage.

This is the moment onscreen where Yubel snaps and adopts their new philosophy of love, that love is sharing pain with someone else.

Yubel literally crawls out of earth, out of a crater that could have easily been the sight of their grave. However, their rebirth comes when Yubel reconstitutes themselves in time to meet Judai face to face a second time.

Yubel's true form is revealed then to be that of a rebis.

The head on the left is male, the wing attached to his side is red. The head on the right side is female; the wing attached to her side is white and in her hand she holds an egg. This figure is known as the Hermaphrodite, half man and half woman.

Yubel's design is a Rebis, split male and female down the middle. It's even implied in their backstory they were more masculine, and through an alchemical process to become a dragon altered their body to look as such, giving them several feminine traits.

Yubel as one boob and one pec, speaks in two voices a deep masculine one and a light feminine one, defaults to using masculine "ore", but plays a feminine role to comparison Judai's more straighforward masculinity, they even have their face split one side being drawn with eyelashes. The image above is the hermaphrodite and the dragon, Yubel is both.

Yubel can be a reference to the greek story of the hermaphodite or the concept of the Hindu god "Ardanareshwara" which translates to "Lord wo is half woman." Likely both, they have a third eye on their forehead in the place of a bindi in traditional depictions of that god.

Ardanareshwara is the embodiment of the union of male and female energies in the universe, as well as the sacredness of marriage and copulation. [Mythcrafts]

The Splender Solis pictured above are images from the ripley scroll, a in alchemy text. There are 22 plates total, but plates 5-11 are called the parallels they reference the process of death and rebirth.

The seven parables are:

Plate 5 - Miners excavating a hill

Plate 6 - Philosophers beside a tree

Plate 7 - The drowning king

Plate 8 - Resurrection out of the swamp

Plate 9 - Hermaphrodite with an egg

Plate 10 - Severing the head of the king

Plate 11 - The bath

Season 3 goes through all seven, quickly covering the first two plate 5 is mining the Rainbow Dragon out of the side of a mountain, Philosophers beside a tree is Johan's deck using crystal tree, and also Judai awakens after Austin snaps him from his Haou phase underneath a tree.

Judai and Yubel's parallel journeyes reference plates 7-11, #9 was already pictured above.) They both experience two deaths, two rebirths, before their final third union.

Yubel's second death occurs here, at the hands of another dragon (Rainbow dragon is involved).

The first chemical wedding is usually somewhat violent, as metals need to be melted down and reforged through multiple steps in order to create a purer metal.

Judai definitely doesn't want to unite with Yubel their first encounter, they're at each other's throats, in fact Yubel specifically states they want violence, to share as much pain with Judai as possible.

Yubel ends the first wedding literally dissolving gain right in front of Judai's eyes, only to reforge themselves with Johan's body.

Those are Yubel's two deaths, and Judai's two deaths happen in parallel.

SOULSHIPPING WEDDINGS - STAGE TWO

Yubel is the process of two people breaking down, and mixing until they acquire each other's traits. Yubel pushing Judai down the path of becoming the supreme king, so they can be reunited again is exactly that.

Yubel's plan is to force drag Judai down to their level, so they can be reunited, and at that point Judai having walked a similar path and taken on traits of their can understand them, they tell Judai as much.

So when I solved the riddle you posed I was delighted. ANd that fueled my decision. I would try to fill the entire twelve-dimmension universe with my love towards you, Judai. And once I did, you would have to recognize my loev wouldn't you? That's why I sought to fill all those linked to you, your world, with sadness and anguish. And my line of thinking wasn't wrong!

Judai has to go through a process of two deaths mirroring Yubel's own before he can reunite with them in their second wedding. Yubel even says, the first time they dueled didn't work out, because Judai hadn't awakened his darkness of the heart yet. Judai needed to take on Yubel's traits.

Judai's journey to Yubel is referenced by two Splender Solaris plates.

"The destruction of one thing is the birth of another " - Aristotle.

The plate depicts an old king drowning, and a new king being reborn at the same time.

The text describes to us how the old king was taken under, but then reborn the next day from the earth as the new king; the old king must die before the new king is born.

Judai's first death is his breakdown after Sho's rejection, he quite literally experiences a death or self, while at the same time rising up as the supreme king - but it's not a split personality or anything like that, merely an inversion. Judai once internalized their pain, now they externalize like Yubel. Yubel in acquiring darkness of the heart, Judai then begins to take on Yubel's traits, integrating facets of Yubel into themselves.

Within the stages of physical alchemy there is a set referred to as the drowning king; this is the dissolution step of the Nigredo process. This is when the alchemists would take their chemically calcified ashes and dissolve them into water.

Judai experiences the same Nigredo that Yubel does, as his old self dissolves away. Judai sinks into a mental landscape which is pictured as all black, while a new Judai the supreme king assumes his form out of the shadows. The new king has golden eyes, like the new king in the painting is dressed in gold.

This is where Judai begins taking on parts of Yubel, not only do they lash out at innocent people as Yubel does, don a plate of armor to protect themselves (Judai has black armor, Yubel has impenetrable scales).

It's also a direct parallel to Yubel's experiences. Judai is left alone by the friends who he thought would always take his side and sinks into darkness. Yubel spends years alone in what they call "a capsule of darkness" in space after Judai's abandonment, sinking into denial because Judai couldn't possibly treat them this way when they love them so much.

Judai dies and is replaced by the supreme king, but the supreme king is a just a temporary stage in his development.

In order for Judai to heal he needs to be dismembered first, the Supreme King's head is torn off in a reference to Splendor Solis: Plate 10, severing of the head of the king.

Alchemy is violent; the motto of Solve Et Coagula demands dissolution before rebuilding, tearing apart before putting back together. This idea applies to the material world as well as the spiritual realm; before the psyche can grow, it has to be ripped asunder.

The Supreme King is eventually stopped by Austin, they burn away in in fire, against a duelist with a flame deck, reduced to ash only to rise from the ash reborn like Yubel did out of the crater.

After the end of the duel, Judai's helmet is removed and thrown for all to see to signify the king's dismemberment.

Judai now struggles to become someone new, as he cannot return to his previous state of innocence, but can't keep continuing on as the Supreme King. When Yubel and Judai reunite again Judai has taken on so many of Yubel's traits, they are mirror images of one another.

The second stage of alchemy is albedo, the word is taken from ablutio - the washing away of impurities. When Yubel and Judai meet for a second time, Judai's only priority is to cleanse Johan of Yubel's body, literally through purifying Rainbow Dragon in order to return Johan to his body.

His action in the duel is to destroy the "advanced darkness" field spell which changes Johan's crystal beasts, into darkness crystal beasts. First Nigredo, then Albedo, the prima materia is boiled in a flask where all impurities rise to the surface and make a thick black material, and then those impurities are washed away.

Cleansing Johan's soul doesn't go as intended for Judai however, because the only result is that Yubel reconstitutes themselves for a second time and faces Judai again in their true body.

The cleansing turns from Rainbow Dragon from Black to White and both Yubel and Johan are purified into their true selves.At this point they've both experienced multiple deaths, they've both been torn apart and sewn back together again. However, they still have one stage to go.

The duel ends in a draw and they restart another duel facing each other this time, thus beginning the third and final wedding.

SOULSHIPPING WEDDINGS - STAGE THREE

The final wedding in a chemical wedding forges a philosopher's stone, and I bet you can't guess how this third wedding ends.

Everything so far has made use of the death and rebith imagery. Yubel and Judai grow closer each other through a violent union of opposites (extremely violent in this case ). They experience two metaphorical deaths as a part of their journey to finding each other.

Death and Rebith is a major theme in the last duel, before they both experience their final death together, to become a new being together.

As I said above they've experienced several violent deaths, Yubel is ripped to pieces until they're nothing more than an arm, Judai experiences an ego death and reforms as the supreme king, before the supreme king's armor is torn off him.

In the third duel Yubel's signature monster experiences two deaths, only to be reborn again into stronger forms, yubel terror incarnate, and yubel the ultimate nightmare.

Yubel starts as a one headed dragon, their second form has two heads, their third they fuse with the dragon becoming the third head representing the three stages of alchemy. In the picture above the red, white and blue signify those three stages as well.

Judai and Yubel are also positioned as the Solar King, and Lunar Queen in their duel, just as in the alchemy painting above.

The above image image is taken from is called Rosarium Philosophorum–which literally means “rose garden philosophy. In this case I believe the anime writers are deliberately reference the "rose garden philosophy" name b/c even Yusei and Aki in 5Ds have a similar duel in a Rose Garden that parallels this duel - representing their union of opposites too.

The final duel between Judai and Yubel takes place in a rose garden, intentionally so. Yubel uses two rose themed cards, and their method of attacking and sharing pain nightmare pain revolves around lashing out with a vine covered in rose thorns.

They're both entangled in the rose garden together, as Yubel says my suffering will become your suffering, Judai. Yubel isn't immune to pain they suffer alongside him, for Judai hurtng Yubel is an act of hurting himself. That's also a reference to the ouroboros, the snake biting it's own tail is a common symbol associated with initiating the alchemical process.

Judai has taken so many traits of Yubel at this point they are inseparably intertwined, there's no telling where Judai ends and Yubel begins so any damage Judai attempts to do is dealt to himself as well.

Standing together in the garden Judai assumes the role of the solar king, and Yubel the lunar queen.

Yubel's machinations were to make Judai ascend into a king, Judai is referred to as being like the sun by Sho drawing everyone in.

Bro... Bro, you're too selfish. Before now, I thought of you as the sun. Someone who gave others energy and made the impossible, possible.

Yubel is the moon which orbits around Judai. There's the time they spent in a literal satellite, floating in space among the stars to signify this. Yubel even drops a reference to the myth of Endymion. A story where Selene, the titan of the moon fell in love with a young boy and asked for them to fall asleep and stay young in their sleep forever so they could gave upon them lovingly as they slept.

I will take you to a distant dimmension, where no one will ever reach you. There I will watch over you as you sleep forever.

Once again Judai is fire, and Yubel is mainly plant themed. Judai assumes a masculine role, Yubel after transforming into a Rebis changed their body to take on feminine traits. Judai is the holder of the gentle darkness, Yubel is corrupted by the light of destruction which is engaged in a battle with the gentle darkness.

Theirs is a violent union of opposites, they are literally trying their best to kill each other.

Yubel frames themself as the selfless protector of Judai like a knight or servant, but their obvious desire is to stand together with Judai and be on the same level with him (hence dragging him down).

They spend a duel against Amon reviling him for how easy Amon could throw Echo away, because ultimately Amon is the king, and therefore Echo is beneath him. In fact Yubel was content to just sacrifice their body like Echo and serve as a protector in a previous life, until prince Judai offered Yubel their eternal love, giving something in return and elevating to them as equals.

So Yubel's primary goal is to be by his side, to be lunar queen to his solar king.

In order to accomplish this the art depicted above has to happen, they both have to dissolve, experience a death and become something new together.

Judai even explicitly tries very hard to kill Yubel, saying they'll use the power of the supreme king to erase them from the universe. Yubel similarly, rejected one too many times responds to violence with violence. Their union is inherently marked by violence. However, it's what brings them to a closer understanding of each other.

However, while violence brings them closer together, it eventually has to transform into a a union.

As they reach the final stages of the duel, Yubel states to Judai they finally understand that Judai has chosen to respond to all of their love with hate (once again union of opposites, love and hate). At the same time a wind begins to blow, elemental symbolism occurs as the wind and clouds appear in a process of "sublimation", and Judai's past is revealed to him, and he realizes his memory of his past life of the Supreme King.

Sublimate appears as a term for a mineral deposit, by analogy to the alchemical process: minerals in a vapor state, thrown up from the interior of the earth.

The introductory of the element of air also signifies Yubel and Judai moving from Citrinatis, the yellowing, signified by earth to Rubedo the final stage where the philosopher's stone is forged. Judai and Yubel's first duel takes place in a desert (earth), their second they climb high into the sky, and their third they climb even higher until they are standing above the clouds fighting in an arena of air.

Sublimation is a whole new experience of self and reality, both being redefined. Judai's reconciliation isn't just Yubel, it's with the three faces of himself Prince Judai, Regular Judai, and Haou / Supreme King. These memories lead to Judai's eventual decision, to propose a union. This union takes place as the last chemical wedding, which is also a real wedding in everything but name.

Their entire duel contains elements from both japanese and jewish weddings (the three phantasms that Yubel utilizes in the duel against amon are based off of three kabbalistic angels so the jewish symbolism has already been used before).

A traditional Jewish wedding starts with drawing up a marriage contract (Spell Chronicle), and the bride paying out a dowry (the five cards Yubel banishes at the start of the duel). The wedding must be observed by a minimum of two witnesses (Shou and Ojama Yellow). During the wedding the bride circles the groom seven times (Yubel makes 7 successful attacks on Judai between their 3 forms, all others were negated in some way). At the end of the ceremony, the groom presents the bride with a ring (Judai giving Yubel Super Fusion), and a glass is broken to the cry of “Mazel tov!” (the glass window breaking in Samejima’s office). Finally the ceremony isn’t considered complete until the bride and groom retire away from everyone to ... consumate the marriage (Judai and Yubel leaving together). Source [HERE]

Judai attempts to use super polymerization card to start the process of alchemy (fusing the 12 dimmensions - there are 12 steps to Alchemy). However, Judai announces that the two of them are going to fuse together.

Judai and Yubel's quite literal fusion into one being is the formation of a hermaphrodite. From the essay of "Get your Gender On, Jaden Yuki and Yubel",

Art historian Arturo Schwarz argues that “the Great Work is but a metaphor” in which alchemists don’t create a Rebis but become a metaphorical Rebis themselves, as Judai does over the course of the series. By joining his soul with Yubel’s through ��Super Polymerization,” he arguably becomes nonbinary like them. Even before literally fusing with Yubel, he gains “aurea apprehensio (golden awareness) of this marvelous reality: we are gods, because we all are man and woman at one and the same time.”

Hermaphordadites are a recurring symbol in a lot of greek mythology, the name comes from Hermaprhoditus a son of Hermes and aprhodite originally born male. A female nymph fell in love swam to him in a pool and wound herself tightly around his body and begged the gods to never tear them apart creating the co-joined male and female figure the hermaphrodite. The parallels to Yubel and Judai are present, especially in them becoming entangled in one another.

One origin story for humanity is also that human beings were originally two headed, four armed, and four legged beings, combination of men and women, men and men, and women and women. However, they were torn apart into two seperate beings, and forever doomed to go searching and be reunited with their second half.

When opposites are finally reconciled, the great hermaphrodite is formed. Judai even refers to this as an act of finally purifying the light's corruption from Yubel's soul by uniting it with the supreme king's soul. The union is a purifying process, and the end of Yubel and Judai's long journey of losing each other and finding each other again.

However, in order to be purified they have to both let their old selves die in order to form something new, the final death but one they experience together. Just like the painting of the dismemberment of the solar king and lunar queen, they need to be torn apart and sewn back together again.

I don't care.

Yubel is finally moved, and all the anger between them is washed away by tears as they're finally allowed to grieve (as death is central to alchemy, so is grief, both are parts of life).

To signify the end of this journey, Judai falls to earth the same way Yubel did at the start of their story. However, while Yubel was suffering, all alone, this time Judai and Yubel are together.

#yu gi oh gx #yu-gi-oh gx #judai yuki #yubel #soulshipping #yu gi oh gx meta #ygx meta #alchemy #jaden yuki #ygo meta

137 notes · View notes