#god emperor is bonkers

[animeisforanimation]

Dune x Trigun

Is it just me or are there zero (0) crossover fanfics?

And like, probably that’s reasonable as the two desert worlds overlap too much while the narratives do too little. However! If we look beyond the first two novels and delve into the God Emperor with sprinkles of Children the opportunities are infinite:

First of all: plant are derived from sand worms, so the two concepts overlap and mix together.

Vash and Knives are Ghanima and Leto II but with a sprinkle of Alia and Paul and also a twist: Knives DO merge with Vash during one of their confrontations

The rest of their fights / talks are in their mindscape

in his godhood Knives/Vash is not omnipotent, but has immense plant powers, the memories of ancestors get replaced with minds of Zazie (aka plants/worms) and Vash

let me eleborate: KNIVES AS LETO II A GIANT WORM GOD RULER OF THE UNIVERSE but there’s is still Vash in him slowly regaining control like a reverse of baron Vladimir changing Alia.

In trigun turms it’s Noah ark: Knivse’s body has shifted and Vash is under his control (for a time being)

Nicholas is Duncan. Ghola Duncan? Probably (here I can’t but think of Lenipes’ two Wolfwood aka Padre and his clone). Not sure if he should suffer from being a murder, from not being human, being a man out of time or all of the above altogether. God. They fall into each other perfectly!

Milly as knives’s bride Hwi (a perfect understanding person, sunshine incarnate but probably minus her disturbing birth and upbringing? Or at least toned down). She’d kinda be the one to wake Vash (sorry, Meryl, my love! It should be your role, but…)

Meryl is Siona. The Answer to all the questions. The woman so strong willed that she’ll never ever stop chasing the God.

Eye of Michael is Bene Gesserit. (What does it imply? The order is no longer only women? Or Trans Wolfwood and Livio? Dunno)

Roberto is Hvi’s dad whose name I don’t remember but who jumped out of the tower in the most impressive way.

Elindira is Moneo (does this make her Meryl’s parent? I guess? Just for the lol factor)

Legato is just there, I guess. Representing those who believe in the God.

Have you been honest, I love this idea. Am I going to write that? Not really. Maybe just eleborate on the plot? Maybe not even that. But I needed to get that out of my system.

PS - oh. I just realized I got my Knives/Milly into twins/Milly which is weird. But also there is Wolfwood/Meryl and of course Vashwood but Knives is there too (in Dune Leto is OBSESSED with Duncan. Revives the man times and times again even though he tries to kill him all the time)??? God that’s messy xD

[raina-at]

I think it's fascinating that Denis Villeneuve says he wants to make a movie out of Dune: Messiah, and then stop. It's a bit like if Star Wars had said after Empire Strikes Back: Yeah, that seems a good place to leave it.

[kylewalker-peters]

the thing about history is that they're literally all real people?!?!? like they all really existed?!?!?! and the length of time humans have existed on earth is a minuscule dot considering the history of the galaxy etc but a millennium is still a massively unfathomable time to us anyway and people were literally born MANY MILLENIA ago in a time that is, in many ways, utterly incomprehensible to us in 2024 but they were still real people that existed and we KNOW about them?!!?!? we have these little scraps of information that show they existed and things they did and they were literally REAL PEOPLE

[spaghettiandart]

Hello! I’m a recent follower, and I really love your Old Man Phil AU. I was wondering, does Phil ever realize that he was a racist, genocidal zealot who was going to be responsible for a *lot* of deaths on the Day of Unity? If so, how does he feel when he remembers? You don’t have to answer this if your ask box is super full, or if you just don’t want to.

Hey! Sorry for taking a while to get back to this post, it's been a while since I've watched TOH and my interest in the au has died down. But I have thought about how a possible reveal like this would go, though since the au was mostly for laughs (and so I could relentlessly bully Belos) I didn't put much in depth thought into it.

I do love to ramble, though, so let me ramble a bit about how I'd like to portray "the reveal" in the au

Since this is a early season 1 au, a LOT of things are obviously diverging from canon, too many to really write down right now. Thered be different events entirely from canon, things that occurred as a catalyst of either Belos's actions or the actions or people associated with him would either not occur at all or occur differently, so the timeline is definitely going to look a lot different.

That said, I think having Phil realize/remember who he was/is should happen around... maybe mid-to-late season 2? I mean like. I don't know how exactly itd go. Maybe he falls down another set of stairs, wakes up, and goes "HOLY SHIT" like right after

I feel like itd be a huge tonal whiplash. Also itd be like... okay, so memories do shape a person, and the new memories "Phil" forms shapes him. So I imagine if/when the old memories comes back, there's a definite conflict of priorities/moral values going on there. I mean I imagine inherently Belos/Philip is an incredibly selfish person with a list of crimes several miles long, BUT he also believes that everything he's doing is the right thing (for whom, whether it be himself or humanity or whatever season 3 revealed, is up in the air) even when he takes enjoyment from the suffering of others during the process (literally just count any of the times hes hurt someone else in the show) like hes so full of himself it physically hurts, so obviously he'd probably try to rationalize everything to himself. Because I imagine having the willpower to keep on doing shit like that for CENTURIES takes a BUNCH of rationalization and leaps of logic, especially since hes a zealot who grew up within heavily religious and I imagine almost cultish surroundings.

I imagine denial. HEAVY denial. Imagine one day you're just some old dude with a mildly shitty attitude and then the next day you wake up and remember your entire past life where you were a racist, genocidal, puritanical tyrant that had extended his own life by unnatural means and also killed his own brother and did WHAT with his body and also is planning to Literally Murder Everyone. What do you even do in that situation?

I dont think hed be able to look anyone in the eye at all after learning that. A) because these are people past-him wanted to MURDER, and B) because a very decent part of him, after having regained those memories, still feels the ingrained hate and vitriol it once had towards witches.

Its strange to think of where hed go from that point, because you'd have to take into account both his older personality and his newer personality and the morals, memories, relationships, etc both past him and current him had, since they'd all affect what hed do.

But basically: a whole mix of emotions including guilt (at the whole murder and being a terrible human being thing like seriously awful), rage (at losing his memories in the first place), even more rage (at having "played house" with witches and demons), denial, denial, and more denial.

[cyberdragoninfinity]

I loooooove reading your yugioh zexal thoughts, do you have a favorite piece of zexal symbolism?

AH THANK YOU!! 🥺 always means a lot when folks enjoy my yugioh chatter and ramblerants on whatever's got my brain in a vicegrip this time.... zexal is just sooo especially good for analyzing and thinking about they put SO much in that bad boy. So so many deliberate choices in there.

My FAAAAAVORITE piece of zexal symbolism is everything re: the Seven Barian Emperors paralleling the Seven Princes of Hell in demonology--I was really into classical demonology back in college and it was like getting long lost knowledge slammed back into my brain at mach speed. ESPECIALLY how it relates to Vector.

Like. It's pretty clear Vector's meant to invoke the demon Beelzebub, and it makes me absolutely insane. The way Beelzebub is deeply associated with flies/straight up known as the Lord of the Flies/occasionally considered leader of the "Order of the Flies" --> Mr. Heartland's fly motif and his acting under Vector's command. The way Beelzebub is often depicted as one of Lucifer's chief lieutenants, his second in command, a prince of Hell and sometimes even wielding more power than the Devil himself --> Vector acting as Don Thousand's second in command/his complex dynamic with Guy Who Is Effectively Alien Satan. The way Beelzebub is often associated with the sin of gluttony --> Vector's own gluttonous desire for power and blood and violence and chaos. THIS SHIT

It goes on and on and on!!! It's definitely the bit of symbolism that really opened my eyes to "oh my god it's Hell, it's Heaven and Hell and the Barians are demons" and I love it so much.

you almost have to wonder if Vector's bonkers expressive eyes could be linked to this 1863ish Beelzebub depiction...probably a stretch but still fun to think about ❤

[thebibliomancer]

The escalation of the Battle of Stone-in-the-Wood is so bonkers from the Skeksis point of view

Okay, so, a Gelfling stabbed the General. Alarming but he was screwing around. Jeer his ass off the battlefield and let’s get on with things

The battle is tougher than the Skeksis were expecting but more like trying to swat flies than feeling in any real danger.

Then Aughra explodes out of the Hunter. That’s pretty messed up but she’s basically god and they all thought the Hunter was dead until a couple minutes ago anyway.

They’re more annoyed that Aughra is back than scared.

But then a massive amount of reinforcements show up.

THEN a Gelfling reflects the Emperor’s darkening lightning back and blows up another Skeksis.

You know what, this has gotten too scary. Run awayyyyy!

[lollytea]

Also we've all written essays about how good Zeno's voice acting for Hunter is, because it's great, BUT CAN WE TALK ABOUT TATI GABRIELLE AS WILLOW THIS EPISODE??? THE FUCKING RANGE AND DEPTH OF EMOTION SHE PORTRAYED HERE!!! The effortless return to anxious s1 willow's voice but this time more raw and vulnerable bc this is a willow who isn't as used to the fear and self-hatred as she used to be and it's scary for her!! The heartbreaking voice crack when she says "I can't do this". Tati's done such a good job subtly making willow sound older as s2 progressed, and then plays with it so well here I just. AUGH! RAGRAGHRSGH BITING AND CLAWING SHE WAS SO GOOD!!!!

I LOVE TATI GABRIELLE'S WILLOW VOICE. I've always found it so distinct and adorable and cartoonishly plucky yet authentic and full of heart. I love that it's a little scratchy, a little crackly. I love that it's so high pitched that it sometimes cracks or squeaks when she gets emotional. I've got a pretty high pitched voice too and it does that occasionally, so I love to see it.

Her line delivery has always been so funny. It being so cutesy and silly sounding really adds to the comedy. ("Not if I never look down :)") However, it took a while before Tati was fully allowed to go bonkers in the booth. Nothing too crazy. Quirky best friend stuff. I mean they eventually let her loose on Inner Willow and she fucking snapped!!! So the amazing emotional range that she was capable of was always THERE, waiting to be utilized. But then they kinda had to set her aside for the rest of the season and a chunk of next one.

But she's gotten so many golden moments since then. Humor and this bright optimistic determination and uncertainty and passive aggressiveness and devastation and sweetness and ANGER. Some of my fave s2 line reads from her that have so much personality include:

"The real Emperor was society all along..."

"I can do this! .....right?" (Turns out this shit was foreshadowing, wow.)

"Still think we're pathetic? :)"

"I....thought I could be good at this..."

"I didn't want to draw attention to Luz and Eda.... :/"

"I don't WANT your protection!!! I want you to see who I really am!!!!"

"Thanks, Hunter..." (I remember somebody saying after LR aired that if huntlow isn't canon then somebody needs to inform Tati Gabrielle because why does she say his name Like That?)

"There's always a way to help. You just have to look for the right opportunity <3"

But GOD YEAH!!! She's so good in FTF!!!! I love that she brings such a broad range of emotions. Tenderness and tenacity!!! One minute she's cooing over grass and the next she's threatening to punch Belos through the face!!!! I love her!!!!

That bright chipper tone of hers that gradually begins to fall apart as she's hit with blow after blow.

The quiet warmth of the photograph scene, following by how her voice quakes with hurt and humiliation and her transparent attempts to play it off like it's fine. Her angry outburst at Boscha. The whoooooooole vine scene. Everything about it!!! She's so good!!!!

(I especially love the quivering "Hello...?" when she realizes that Hunter and Gus aren't with her anymore. It really does emphasize her feelings of isolation and terror at the belief that said isolation is HER OWN FAULT. UGGHH!!!)

TATI GABRIELLE!!!!!!!!

[vitanithepure]

I cannot for the life of me read the whole text on the banner which makes be objectively very sad. Found on Footfall and was a pain to get a clear shot without the camera going absolutely bonkers T_T

One [dares?] [not?] [doubt?]

the faith in the

God-Emperor.

For none can gain

insight into the

depth of his [???]

Ward off the thoughts

of [???] and

adhere to the

Imperial Creed.

[landoflustfulladies]

For a very quick summary, Exalted is a game heavily inspired by bronze age fantasy and various ancient myths. The players are the chosen of the mightiest gods called Exalted (hence the name), though instead of being Oops All Paladins, it's more like "you were suitably impressive so independent of loyalty I'm giving you the power to kick ass in my flavor". Given potential character inspirations for player characters include things like the Yellow Emperor and Sun Wukong, safe to say things can get bonkers in this game. I will share more absolute nonsense over time because it is so cool.

[lokiina]

I FINISHED THE GAME (BG3)

I'M GONNA- THERE'S BIG SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT. So if you don't wanna hear about end game stuff don't click it cuz I'll be 100% explaining my ending and adding some screenshots in there too. You have been warned.

Proceed with caution. Like Gale hiding behind Cas.

Kay omg. SO, I'm really curious now how other choices end up playing out cuz for the most part this was a fairly happy end. Not 100% happy, as some people didn't get important things but all things considered things went well.

BUT.

I chose to side with the Emperor for this play. I know it was kinda sus on whether or not he was lying and using you as a means to an end for his own selfish needs, but I decided to take the chance and just follow through with the things he wanted. (Except taking the fancy worm to evolve, I was too scared to do that.) I only used a small handful of the worms through my play, and it ended up not being a problem at the end. My boy was completely fine and cured of his brain worm problem.

also this happened while trying to confront the brain the first time. LMAO

Siding with the Emperor and putting complete trust in him involved giving him the nether stones and it did end with the Githyanki prince guy dying. Cuz in order to leave the prisim properly to help me with the fight he had to absorb his abilities.... which meant eating his brain....

RIP Prince guy. Sorry for that....

But after that unfortunate event he was able to adventure with me outside the prism and I could control him in all the fighting as an allied companion. So I had a crew of 5 running around instead of just 4.

BUT I ALSO LEARNED MY BABY OWLBEAR WAS OKAY. He had previously like.... vanished from my camp and I was pretty sure it was a bug. But the lil babu was all grown up! AND IN ARMOUR!

The allies became quite useful, you could call on a handful of people to come as allied game controlled characters in some of the fights cuz damn them end game fights didn't fuck around. They just swarmed you with enemies.

In the end moments I genuinely thought there was gonna be a moment when the Emperor was gonna pull some shit to like take control of everything himself but he never did. He genuinely just wanted the brain gone. So we were 100% on the same side and so giving him the stones and everything was not an error it worked out.

Now in the cut scenes following the destruction of the brain my game kinda shit itself and stopped loading textures so things started to look absolutely bonkers for me and was a lil hard to follow. I think it's cuz I had been playing for so long my poor lil baby system was struggling to keep up with all the stuff it was throwing at me so I had to save, close the game and relaunch in the middle of the end stuff. Lae'zel peaced out, she was obviously not vibing with the fate of the prince guy. Understandably so. She did thank me for everything else that was done tho. Astarion was really upsetting cuz he was all ready to party, and then the poor guy started to burn in the sun and had to book it. kfdjghdkfjgh and then Karlach. Oh GOD. My poor heart.

I almost fuckin cried fam. She was about to die, and Wyll bust in going NOT ON MY WATCH and the pair of them peaced out to Avernus to save her and kick ass together. I would have offered to go with them but I had a funky lil wizard to worry about too. But I knew with the two of them they'd be okay.

The Emperor was just content everyone was free he said he'd miss my boy and thanked me for trusting him when most people wouldn't have. dkjfghdkfg He's a pretty cool dude.

And then there's this guy. This loveable lil nerd.

SO LIKE CAS IS GOING TO WATERDEEP TO MARRY HIS WIZARD.

It's actually fucking cute as hell and very fitting. I hadn't given Casvius a surname at all cuz they;re hit and miss with Tieflings. Some have some some don't, it's often a reflection of whether or not they keep family ties or if they've grown up outside of human culture influence and the like. I had it head canoned that he basically grew up in the Baldur Gates streets without a family but like managed and turned out okay. But he didn't have a surname at all cuz he didn't know what family he came from and didn't really care to find out. He figures his parents fucked up and he was the first tiefling in their bloodline and they panicked abandoning him. It wasn't an uncommon thing to have happen so it's what he kinda adopted as his own scenario too.

BUT NOW, HE CAN HAVE ONE. He can go marry Gale and be Casvius Dekarios. A name he's happy with and more than glad to adopt as his own.

ANYWAY This fuckin game is brilliant, and I hope it wins game of the year. Fuck. It deserves it. The scope of this game is unreal and you can tell a lot of love was poured into making it.

I'm probs gonna remake this boy and play again later so I can go back through parts that had been previously bugged and patched after I had passed them.

[firespirited]

In other news my Dune fixation caused by some amazing tumblr meta writing has not been sated by watching the DUNCs.

I had a long pretty good post typed out after the first one and tumblr ate it:

here goes:

I considered it an alternate timeline (by the time we get the non-Alia and Chani choices of DUNC 2, we're definitely in a different version of this story - I like not knowing if Messiah will be much like the book, I like it if there's no escaping the plots set in motion). I had to repeat Alternate Timeline as a litany when there was no diplomatic party, no tweaking methhead bitchy Piter and Kynes didn't get That Moment with nature.

Was disappointed by the fact Paul isn't already tormented by potential futures at his first major fight wondering if dying might be the best way to avoid mass death and escape the machinations. To me, in that fight, he's chosen a path to the suffering of billions and justifies it and refines it later.

Lynch Dune remains fun because it's bonkers, this is fun too but definitely alternate timeline and neither are at all how I imagine it. Lynch seemed to nail the spirit of some of the characters better despite massive creative liberties with the plot details. It's its own weird and wonderful artefact.

Villeneuve remains the king of ovoid spaceships, mega landscapes and letting the fashion and sound designers get a great budget. I love the Chani additions, not canon and I don't care, it works!

The lack of Arabic complex concepts and more references to eastern religions was sorely lacking: flow has to be more than just a picture of moving sand, i wanted that cells interlinked within cells interlinked: galaxies and molecules and populations easter egg.

I also had a hope for DUNC 2 that it would show the whole universe as deeply religious, as in hardwired to give themselves over to a higher power even if that belief is atheism or eugenics. It didn't and I think that's really important context to properly understand what the story is saying. We've got political devotion bad and religious zealotry bad with both being culturally groomed into people but not the larger context of other "cults" that aren't explicitly about power but self-improvement or belonging or even service.

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

My silly pet theory is that the font is like that because we're probably never getting the two other "ones who bridge everything" of the trinity: sad worm god emperor and our man DUNC potadaho the ultimate renaissance man with a thousand lives. (As much as I'd love DUNC 8 2039: we're putting silver fox Momoa in situations again)

The dream will always be the cartoon/anime adaptation:

52 x 50-minute episodes that teeter wildly between dense political machinations, ecological exposition, that Bakshi LOTR trippy violence and even trippier visions interrupting action scenes, but most of all, near blasphemous levels of religious symbolism top to bottom, the Abramic sure, but the Buddhist, Hindu and Taoist. If they could add Paul getting a big dose of gender WTF: trill-style after being exposed to the water of life that would be amazing.

But yeah I need to get my hands on large print books - yeah yeah, the migraines will murder me regardless. I missed being in everyone's head. Like, the films are great a conveying scale but not how much it's an interpersonal drama first and foremost... for many of the side characters too.

[angelcloves]

thank u for the tag in this lil writing game @enchantedchocolatebars

1. What motivates you to write?

if i dont write ill just flat out go crazy it needs to get out of my brain

2. A line/short snippet of your writing that you are most proud of; if not, share a line from someone else's work that you love (just make sure to give credit

ive written so much and cant be bothered to pick a favorite line so heres an excerpt from burning bridges

“Camilla Myles, may I see you in the throne room?” The air was cold, but it dropped a few degrees chillier as the Emperor receded into his lofty throne room once more and soft chatter broke out amongst the scouts. They each spoke of Camilla, but none to Camilla. She stood paralyzed in the line for what felt like hours. She’d been a scout for two years without even a single warning on her record. She couldn’t imagine what she’d done to warrant being called straight to the throne room, but she didn’t want to keep the Emperor waiting. It never ended well for the Golden Guard when he made Belos wait.

3. Which OC makes you smile when you think/talk about them and what are they like?

all of them but lately ive had annie on the brainacle. shes cold and quiet but god she loves her friends more than anything even if shes just got the one and they end up with a major wedge driven between them for most of the story

4. Which process of writing do you enjoy the most?

planning! its the part i get to go absolutely bonkers during. im a huge fan of broad strokes so shaping things before i start real development hell is a super fun activity

5. Which part of writing do you think you're best at? (Stroke your own ego, it's okay)

ive always seen myself as a dialogue person from my time writing for stage but i think my foreshadowing has been getting better lately

6. What is something in the writeblr community that is most enjoyable?

im going to treat writeblr here as my mutual circle but god i love that we bounce ideas off of each other so often

7. A writing tool/device that helps you with writing (i.e. text-to-speech, a program, etc...)

comic sans

8. A piece of world-building that you like in your own story (it could be the magic system, a particular place, a law, etc...)

all of the hopper stuff honestly. it was funny how well it translated to the collector even before we knew what they were really made of

9. What piece of advice would you give to encourage others to write if they are having a rough patch?

try a different approach. sometimes it helps to make a major departure from your norm. pick up poetry or work under a set of constraints youve never given yourself before. it helps to come into something fresh yknow

10. Tag some people whose work you love/ have been your biggest supporters

the GANG

@blackyote

@emsprovisions

@sapphic--kiwi

@secretly-of-course

and also everyone else who i forgot because i know thats not all of you please dont take it personally im just scatterbrained this is for all of you

[alyjojo]

August 👨🏽‍🏫 2023 Monthly - Gemini

Whole of your energy: Knight of Cups

There is a lot of watery energy in this relationship, you both show up as the Cups pair, but they’re reversed, and you aren’t sure why. You’re taking the first step towards making amends, you’re apologizing and hoping to fix this separated energy between you, but it looks like this person is and has been playing games with your head, you’re getting increasingly pissed off by that. Because your intentions are very loving, whatever you’re doing is loving, sweet & romantic with Knight of Cups. You’re probably being passive aggressively punished by a water sign’s silent treatments, or that’s what I’m getting.

What’s going on in August:

The Devil rev:

Just being here shows there was some level of toxicity in the past between you and this person. You’ve apologized for your end, or you’re doing that now, but you could also feel like the tables have turned and it’s now this person up to some toxic bs with their emotional manipulations or overflowing tears, silent treatments, general confusion and purposeful fog they’re giving you within the connection. You want to make it better, but you do not speak telepathy, and can/do empathize while also not really understanding this person’s level of depth with these issues so…is this person even on your page anymore?

Ace of Cups:

This is a new start, you love this person and want to make things better. A fresh beginning, lessons learned and all that, Page of Cups here can be asking them out to a movie, a date of some kind. Your olive branch 🕊 is extended more than once throughout this reading, because you don’t want the relationship to end, but you do want to lay the old stuff to rest. You’re also not sure if they can because they’re giving you very little to go off of, except chaotic emotional energy that’s sporadic and hard to read.

8 Wands:

You’re taking action, asking them out, sending messages, trying to bypass their whole moody moon energy. Let’s go to an event, spontaneously, it looks fun. They will probably reject you with with 4 Cups here. There are at least two occasions in this reading where you’re making an effort with them and being shut down. I can’t see what you did, just that this dynamic makes you go bonkers, you’re an air sign and need communication THE most. But you’re dealing with a feeler/telepathic subtext type of person and neither of you are getting what you need from the other, but they’re not even trying, that’s the difference.

King of Cups:

This seems to be your energy as well as the Knight of Cups, an emotionally mature and loving sort of person, you’re willing to make the effort it takes to get this other person to open up and have a good time with you. They’re resisting. So you’re doing the only thing you can do, nothing. You’ve apologized for whatever they’re mad about, there’s been no progress, you’re going to stop trying. If you’re feeding some kind of manipulative joy in this person, that’s ending. I don’t really get that but even this reading doesn’t give off much from them, except what they’re giving to you…which isn’t much. This could be a silent treatment stand off that you don’t even want.

5 Pentacles:

I don’t see it going anywhere. You’re probably going to end up abandoning this situation. What other choice do you have? They don’t speak to you, they won’t go out with you, they don’t tell you what their problem is or let you in to even try to fix it! It’s a lose/lose for you, and they’re driving you crazy in the meantime. The solution is Wheel of Fortune & 9 Pentacles. “Giving it to God” as some like to say, you’re releasing any expectations or hope for a specific outcome, if it is then it is and if not okay see ya. 9 Pentacles shows you being in pre-Empress/Emperor energy where you’re secure in yourself and what you’ve got going on, with or without this person, you’re fine. It’s great energy to be in, you’re not going to let them drive you crazy for very long. That then puts the ball in their court if they want to try and contact you for Round 2 of this game, they know where you are.

Signs you may be dealing with:

Every sign, heavy Cancer/Pisces 💦 & Virgo

Oracles: ✨

38 Limits

Know that limiting attitudes are often formed as protective reactions to past events.

69 Precision

The desire to do things precisely is useful as long as it does not devolve into rigidity.

20 Healing Energy 🤕

Drawing this card guides you to work with energy on a healing level. Take a class, go and receive a Reiki healing, or just sit in meditation and concentrate on mindfulness. With the healing energy of Divine love, you do not have to “know” how to do anything. Just sit quietly, set your intention and let Spirit’s love fill you up. When you are living in a vibration of healing, you not only affect yourself, but those around you. Others then can connect with your energy and their vibrations can rise as a result. There is no force to this. This is basically how energy works. Your vibrational change will effect change in the ones you are close to. Alternately this card signifies healing is taking place within a relationship.

We enter into August as:

Shrinking Violet 😥

“I don’t trust my intuition.”

Are you retreating from a situation that could bring you success? We all abandon projects that seemingly lack merit. However, Shrinking Violet indicates you may not be trusting your intuition, which is mostly likely on target. Choose three people to ask advice from, then take their advice, throw it out the window and go with your gut. There is every indication you should complete the task at hand. Block yourself off from thoughts of what will happen at the completion stage. Stay the process, don’t worry about the ending, or results, don’t be frightened. Just continue on.

What is to be learned in August:

Rose Without Thorns 🌹:

“It is time to face my true feelings.”

You are most fortunate. As we mature, we learn that to enjoy the beauty of a rose, we must occasionally risk getting pricked by a thorn. You are not facing “the same situation”, this is the dawn of feelings being awakened and a new truth being born. You’re being presented with a different way to live. Trust you will know what to do. Stay open. Time changes us all if we’re lucky, it’s time to surrender and make the change. The best incentive to change is often love.

Red may be a lucky color ❤️

[tavina-writes]

Today I am thinking about the eternal blorbo, Huang Yaoshi from LOCH and just. God, what a guy. How could I ever possibly explain why I am so feral about him?

Especially thinking about these lines today:

Ouyang Feng said with a laugh, “Xiong-di left for the west this morning and took a rest at a schoolhouse. I heard this rotten scholar teach the students to be loyal ministers and filial sons. Xiong-di loathes hearing such things, so I killed this rotten scholar. You and I are the Eastern Heretic and the Western Poison, we both are of the same kind.” Then he let out a long laugh. Huang Yaoshi’s face changed, he said, “All my life, I always respect loyal ministers and filial sons.” Stooping down he dug a hole with his hand, buried that man’s head, and respectfully bowed three times. Ouyang Feng lost interest in him, but he laughed and said, “The Old Heretic Huang has enjoyed a false reputation, turns out he also adheres to propriety and etiquette.” Huang Yaoshi imposingly said, “Loyalty and being filial is integrity, it is not propriety and etiquette!”

The reason this sticks out to me SO MUCH is because. Well okay this is difficult to explain without going on 20 different tangents but:

1) Huang Yaoshi is heretical. He hates social customs, being polite, or bothering with people in general. He's downright rude to people about 99.5% of the time, and MOST of the time people simply have to put up with him because lolsob his martial arts are godly and his temper is horrible and he WILL kill you without blinking for being irritating to him.

BUT critically: 'loyalty and filial piety is integrity' and not propriety or etiquette. Being a loyal minister or a filial son is not a thing you are for show and what he HATES is people who do shit for show! Like his daughter, Huang Rong, Huang Yaoshi really admires and likes people who are genuinely committed to doing good even if he's PERSONALLY /hand wobble/ on how great being a good person is as a personal commitment.

2) This whole thing about 'loyal ministers and filial sons' things drives me INSANE in the context of HYS's backstory. Which is that his grandfather was a minister in the Song Government who defended General Yue Fei from being executed (this is widely considered unjust, both from a Chinese Folk History standpoint and inside the narrative of LOCH itself) and then Huang Yaoshi's grandfather was executed for speaking for Yue Fei in front of the emperor. After this, Huang Yaoshi's family was driven from their home in disgrace. Later, when he came of age, he refused to take the imperial exams and become a minister, he fought with his father and was disowned. This is how Huang Yaoshi ended up in the jianghu to begin with! He comes from a long lineage of rich (if slightly disgraced) literati. He clearly changed his name after he was disowned and left home -- 'yaoshi' means 'medicine teacher' and is NOT a real name you give your children lolsob. These experiences shaped his contempt for society and how he treats Huang Rong in the book (with all the love and attention and general acceptance of her character and life path that his father clearly never gave him.)

THIS is why I am so feral about that line.

He was never allowed to be either a loyal minister or a filial son.

AND YET, despite these experiences, some part of him still really respects people who want to be these things, who are these things, who can spend their time on this earth with integrity and honor.

There are of course, other reasons why I'm feral about him -- his horrible pathetic mental breakdowns, leaping to batshit conclusions, absolutely bonkers crimes, and depth of love for his spoiled conwoman princess have endeared him to me -- but this axis of cynicism and yet ADMIRATION for people who are NOT cynical. Just. yes.

[randomnameless]

I've seen more than a few stans comparing Supreme Leader to Alm and the whole "defeat the gods and make a future for humanity!!" thing. But did they forget that Valentia broke into different countries again, yet-another-red-emperor started yet-another-war, the world was almost destroyed by a human-made monster, and the people started worshipping Tiki (a lizard!!). Basically proving Duma's last words about humanity to be all true? I think they missed the point about Alm...

SoV is also a game that is all about telling something while showing the inverse, and Part 4 was the biggest blow.

You can't show Berkut - Berkut out of everyone - as an exemple of Duma ruining people and making them miserable, iirc, Berkut torched his wife of his own volition, sure, Duma asked for a sacrifice, but Berky could have refused, or idk, sacrificed anyone else (Fernand?) but nope, his wife was Bernie'd.

No gods forced Desaix to mount a coup, chop babies and burn the villa/house Celica was living in. But the entire spiel about the war starting because of the god's madness is, ugh, tiresome. Hell, Part 4 of SoV is actually completely bonkers, and sure Alm can't resent Rudy for Rudy's Master Plan (Tm) after his initial outburst, because grandpapa said no and we're supposed to feel very sad (TM) about Rudy - dad and uncle of the year.

(I'm so glad he only appeared as a seasonal in FEH, even if he is in a similar spot as Greil and Greil, just, cannot compare to Rudy).

Much like Ike fans often forget that Yune gave him her power to defeat Ashera, Alm didn't "slay" a god on his own, he was helped by Mila who wanted to put her brother's soul/mind to rest.

I don't really see SoV being all about making a future for Humanity, considering the Churches worshipping said gods are still alive and kicking in the end - and you noted it, Tiki exists in Archanea and will nap in Valentia in FE13.

But then, some devoted fans see Tru Piss as a route for "humanity" as you defeat gods, save that the lizard you're defeating is no god, merely god's daughter, and you're playing as the meatsuit who has god's consciousness and powers ! So it's not "defeat gods to make a world for humanity uwu", but "use god's powers to slaughter her own family and make a world for people who kept on deriding them as cruel beasts uwu".

The Archnea (and Jugdral!) games always had the same message - madness exists within some dragons, but a deeper evil lurks in the heart of men, or something like that.

Too bad FEH isn't interested in making engaging stories, because I'd die for a FB or any dialogue where Medeus, Loptyr and Duma look at Supreme Leader and high five each other, calling her a perfect example of what humanity has to offer. For each idiot like Marth or Eliwood, there is a Supreme Leader!

(not counting her number of alts lol)

[cyberdragoninfinity]

ok it’s time for dana to hoot and holler about zexal

finished ygo zexal for the first time last week and i absolutely adored it and am STILL thinking so much about it (as i will be probably for. a While now if my relationships with the other ygo spinoffs ive seen are any indication).....time again for me to do my little personal rambly yugioh series retrospective post as the brainworms truly start to set in. kattobingu feel the flow high five the sky build the overlay network let’s goooo!!!

more under the cut. a lot more lol. spoilers for a decade old anime, naturally

GOD. YEAH. THIS ONE MIGHT BE MY FAVORITE YUGIOH SERIES IVE SEEN YET. HOLY SHIT. 2021 Dana was really out here thinking Zexal looked kind of annoying (based on mild DL characters/plot osmosis) and not terribly interesting and I want to go back in time and shake her shoulders and say NO. NO YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND. ZEXAL FUCKING ROCKS. every yugioh has some degree of Danabait to it (probably because. watching Duel Monsters as a child was the catalyst to what Danabait even is lol) but JESUS MARY AND JOSEPH Zexal is like being hit by one nuclear bomb of shit genetically engineered in a lab to make me insane after another.

THE ART STYLE. OF ZEXAL, FOR ONE. makes me absolutely rabid animal bonkers--I LOVE seeing the way the ygo art style has been honed and developed and evolved over time. YGO influenced my art style more than I can articulate, and then zexal comes in swinging with the ygo art style at its Most Zany. The EXPRESSIONS in this show!!!!!!!!! Fucking rule!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A MASSIVE CHUNK OF THE CAST DOESNT HAVE MOUTHS HALF THE TIME AND YET STILL ARE SOME OF THE MOST EXPRESSIVE YGO GUYS EVER!!!! Constantly making expressions I LOVE to draw!!!! and oh my god the COLOR DIRECTION OF YUGIOH ZEXAL?!?!? genuinely absolutely phenomenal and one of my all time favorites i’ve seen in any cartoon, western or anime. you mean to tell me we got a lighting and color budget now??? we get yugioh scenes looking like this??!??

THE BEST. THE BEST. THE BEST. OBSESSED WITH IT. ABSORBING ZEXAL’S COLOR AND EXPRESSION PROWESS. STEALING ITS POWER.

ANYWAY as usual with my ygo watching i was primarily watching the dub (absolutely thrilled to have a Completed Yugioh Dub to watch for the first time since DM, MAN.) but I did end up watching...over half of Zexal II’s sub; stuff just gets so absolutely insane with the Barian Emperors that I desperately wanted every possible inch of their lore so I ended up watching both (sometimes back and forth at the same type like an unhinged wild animal) for the full picture. I like Zexal’s dub a lot!! its comedic timing is ON POINT, EXTREMELY FUNNY DUB. and really like..all of the main dub VAs are so, SO good (as they usually are.) There are a lot of bizarre things they cut though, a lot of childhood flashbacks and little character moments and the like. It’s a shame! I can only imagine a lot of them were cut to leave more room for ad time which. Sucks a bit 🥴A lot of duels do whip a lot harder in the sub too, especially in the back half..... still though, enjoyed my time with the dub. there’s a remarkable amount of stuff i am SHOCKED they actually did keep in?!??! The car crash that killed Shark’s parents is just straight up presented as is with like one or two small cuts. A LITTLE GIRL’S DEAD BODY IS SHOWN?? ON SCREEN??? ZEXAL DUB!! KIDS LOVE IT SO!!! MY GOD!!!

ok enough on that. some breakdowns/specific points like I usually do with these roundups:

Stuff I Didn’t Like: always get this one outta the way first. There really wasnt a whole lot I straight up disliked with this one!! It’s extremely solid all around. It does, of course, have some...Choices, being made, like. Girag’s lips. and. Girag’s backstory. Love the guy but oh my god why did they do that to him 😭Yugioh Racially Questionable moments ride again!!! At this point it’s just par for the course, definitely not the first time a ygo has. Done stuff like that. Ah well. Worth mentioning though.

What’s really a shame is that Zexal has some of the COOLEST, MOST FUN GIRL CHARACTERS, and time and time again they just dont do anything with them!!!!!!!!!!!! IT’S SO FRUSTRATING. i LOVE rio but the poor girl is fridged for literally 2/3s of the series!! She’s in the hospital like five times!!!! Rio and Anna and Tori and Dextra and Kari are all like, some of my favorite ygo gals YET but they have maybe 5 duels between them. Konami let your girls DUEL CHALLENGE. PLEASE.

hm what else. I guess also the final showdown with the series “Big Bad” was. uh. kind of let down lmao. But to be fair I was positively spoiled last series with the Z-one duel lol. Can’t win ‘em all. As cool as the concept of “the protag and rival team up to duel the Big Bad” is, and as cool as Don Thousands Entire toxic manipulative dynamic with the Barian Emperors is for like the Entire Rest of Zexal II is, they just....don’t. Do much with him for that last Donny T duel?? Would have loved more backstory elaboration or just like. Anything. It was over so soon and I was like “...that was it??” HDFHGSDFG thankfully the last two duels of zexal whip like hell so we bounce back!!

i also kind of wish don thousand kept his sick as hell demon armor form but c’est la vie i suppose. sad! well there’s other guys.

Favorite Season: I actually have no idea how Zexal is split up into seasons, so I guess Fav Arc would be a better term? Anyway I loved the World Duel Carnival Arc, I’m one of like 5 people who actually enjoy tournament arcs but i think theyre FUN and this one is a blast. There’s Arclight Family Agonies coming from every direction and there’s the INSANE DUEL ROLLER COASTER and Vetrix is bouncing around being a little freak, it’s GREAT

anyway and then Zexal II came in and grabbed me by the head and threw me into the drywall

LIKE. MY GOD. ZEXAL HAS THE FUCKING EMOTIONAL PACING OF MORAL OREL. YOU HIT Z2 AND SHIT STARTS GETTING REAL AND GOING HARD AS HELL AND IM OUT HERE GETTING MY BRAIN SCRAMBLED. I love like. All of the arcs of zexal II it’s hard to pick a favorite but I DO really like just that first third or so where the Barians are just starting to show up and the horrors haven’t quite begun and everything’s so silly and Ray Shadows is Very There. gives me gx season 1 vibes a little bit. it’s a delight.

Favorite Characters: oh right I should. talk about that. pained smile.

i joke about this a lot but usually every ygo series has like. A Character That’s My Actual Favorite, and A Character That Makes Me Absolutely Insane (syrus vs. zane, leo vs. aporia, etc.) but, uh. this time I GUESS THAT’S JUST. THE SAME CHARACTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SORRY. TO BE BASIC. BUT WHY DID THEY DO THAT TO ME. WHY DID THEY PUT A CHARACTER IN ZEXAL WHO ALREADY LOOKS LIKE MY ART STYLE. ALREADY LOOKS LIKE I DREW HIM. AND THEN MAKE HIM FUCKED UP AND SILLY AND A SAD LITTLE JACKASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ABSOLUTELY NEFARIOUS!!!!!!!!! 2021 dana had no CLUE they were hiding this fucker in the back of one of the ygo spinoffs. never could have predicted it. vector’s genuinely one of the best ygo characters of all time to me. what if a yugioh character had the most absolutely bonkers expressions youve ever seen and he was constantly doing little bits and acting like a little funnyman and then the devil fucking Kills Him. he’s perfect. the madness has only just begun to infect me i fear.

ANYWAY other than The Carrot in Question, I fucking love like...all of Zexal’s cast; I think this is the first time for any ygo where a series just didnt really have any characters I straight up Did Not Like. it’s such a solid, colorful cast that just checks so many boxes for my fav kinds of characters. I didn’t think I was gonna like Yuma but I ended up LOVING HIM!!!! I LOVE SEEING A YGO PROTAG THATS LIKE..ACTUALLY BAD AT THE GAME, THAT GROWS BETTER AND STRONGER OVER TIME BUT STAYS SO SILLY. I love what Zexal does to “traditional” yugioh character archetypes--Shark and Kite are both such cool rival characters and the shit they do with Shark especially?!?! NEVER COULD HAVE IMAGINED THEM DOING THAT. WITH A YUGIOH RIVAL. KAIBA COULD NEVER.

Narrowing down a top five fav Zexal guys is so hard, they really came in swinging with Catostrophic Families AND insane alien guys, but after pondering I think I’d have to say rn it’s Vector, Shark, Nistro (my fuckin  MAN!!!!!!!), Trey, and Alito. Immediate runnerup also being Tori. I fucking love Tori, new favorite main ygo girl. She bore witness to All That Shit and never folded. SHe’s Yuma’s FRIEND his CONFIDANT his EMOTIONAL SUPPORT!!!!! Absolute boss. Yuma would be dead in a ditch somewhere by episode 20 without her around.

Favorite Duel: BEEN GOING BACK AND FORTH ON THIS A LOT but I think my favorite duel was and still is the Trey vs. Yuma duel in zexal I, it’s just fantastic. The COLORS AND LIGHTING!!!!! The stakes!!! The SICK DUEL ARMOR!! Trey literally threatens a world-ending murder-suicide because he wants his family to be proud of him and well i’ll just explode into bits all up and down the road about it. Goes hard as hell. Trey and Yuma’s dynamic is one of my favs in Zexal but that’s it’s own post.

I also love all of Alito’s duels (especially the tag duel with Nistro, which is one of the most atrociously danabait duels ever (slash pos) and his last duel against yuma, which ALSO has some of the fucking coolest shots and lighting of any yugioh duel to me) and the last duel between Shark and Yuma. Shit rocks.

Zexal is also pretty unique to me in that it’s the first time i can really concretely say ive had favorite EPISODES as opposed to just favorite duels. There are so many episodes left and right that just make my fucking head explode. The BASEBALL DUEL FRIENDSHIP GAMES EPISODE. The EPISODE WHERE YUMA AND SHARK ARE IN THE HOSPITAL. The “VECTOR GETS STRAPPED INTO THE ALIEN GOD THRONE AND MR. HEARTLAND IS BEING INSANE AND THE ARCLIGHTS ARE IN A SUBMARINE AND ERAZOR IS GOING TO FUCKING KILL YUMA’S FRIENDS” episode. THE. UM. THE EPISODE WHERE THIS HAPPENS

^BROKE MY WHOLE DAMN BRAIN IN HALF. I AM STILL RECOVERING FROM THE DAMAGE zexal II comes in swinging with episodes that just knock your tits clean off and you LOVE to see it!!!!

Miscellaneous Other Zexal Gushing: IT’S JUST FUCKING GOOD!!!! THERE’S SO MUCH TO LOVE!!!!! I love the cast, I love Yuma and Astral’s dynamic and just how much love is there. I LOVE yuma’s friend group, they are SUCH perfect dweeby little middle schooler weird kids. I love the ways Zexal parallels Duel Monsters (and imo takes a lot of elements from DM and does them even better), I love Yuma’s grandma and Kari, ABSOLUTE REAL ONES!!! I fucking love Orbital 7. I love the Number cards and how theyre just completely thematically not related to each other at ALL (sometimes it’s a bug! sometimes it’s a guy! sometimes it’s an entire floating civilization!!!) I love the ABSOLUTELY BONKERS RELIGIOUS MOTIFS AND SYMBOLISM FLYING AROUND IN ANY AND ALL DIRECTIONS. THEY DID THAT FOR ME!!!!!!!!!!!!! ASTRAL CHRIST ALLEGORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And I just...adore how fundamentally Zexal is about kindness and hope and love, and also about how it’s so important to not lose yourself or your sense of fun as you grow up!! That theme absolutely EVISCERATED ME when gx came out swinging with it in its last season, and it’s GETTIN ME AGAIN HERE!!! IT’S ABOUT HAVING FUN!! IT’S ABOUT THE BONDS WE MAKE WITH OTHERS!!! IT’S ABOUT HOW CEASELESS KINDNESS CAN BE AN UNSTOPPABLE FORCE THAT MAKES EVEN THE IMMOVEABLE MOVEABLE. yuma has SO much joy and love and forgiveness in his body and it makes me WAIL.

Duel Monsters really ends on this note of “goodbye” with Atem leaving, and it works well for that story’s themes of grief. Meanwhile I think it’s very special that while Zexal also ends on a goodbye with Astral leaving, it feels so much more like a “see you later.”  That hanging note of “we’ll meet again.” It’s so sweet. The themes of past and future at play really just make you root for these kids and hope they grow up into the best versions of themselves.

Also it’s so fucking funny that like All of the Cast That Died and Went to Hell Came Back Except Mr. Heartland Who Definitely Died For Real. gay WRONGS.

God. what else. I’m sure I’ll think of 8352389 more things I love about Zexal immediately after I post this. It’s just that good. So thrilled I gave it a go. I love you Xyz Monsters I love you Dyson Sphere I love you Vector’s dub and sub voices I love you Duel Monster Based Off of the Titantic I love you Dr. Faker’s absolutely insane character design I love you Barian World I love you Arclight family I love you Zexal II Dub Opening Song That’s Sung By Bruno 5D’s VA I love you YUMA AND FRIENDS!!!!!!!!!!! ZEXAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

cant wait to port all these kids to the college AU. it’s already happening. I love them so much