#he’s very well rounded and his flaws are so good because (like the others) they are ALSO his strengths

[turtleblogatlast]

I love Raph and haven’t said that enough so to be more specific I love that Raph is a soft boy who loves bear plushies, a gross boy who eats an assortment of things that are definitely better left alone, a smart boy who is more than capable of taking down villains through planning and fortitude alike, a strong boy who is dedicated to training his muscles and fighting prowess, a teenage boy who loves his brothers but is more than happy to tease and roughhouse with them, an angry boy who sometimes lets his anger take a hold of him to cover the fear, a gentle boy who is generous with hugs and affirmations to those he loves, a capable boy who takes on more than should ever be expected of a teenager, a good boy who just wants to be a hero and slowly comes to realize the cost of that duty, a good boy who has no reservations about putting himself in the way of harm coming to his family, a good boy who’s a great brother and son and person and deserves only the best the world has to offer.

[floralovebot]

oh i’m so curious to what flaws you think nabu has! or honestly just characterization/thoughts on nabu in general

AHH OF COURSE!!

Nabu doesn't have as many since we didn't get to spend as much time with him and Rainbow got rid of most of his flaws in s4 but there are a couple! More if you count the comics but since those are wildly different with Nabu, I'm definitely sticking with the show here.

Impulsive - I feel like this one gets evened out since he does actually have the skills to back it up, but Nabu is really impulsive! Him stalking Aisha, immediately jumping into every fight, and kind of just doing things without thinking about them first. Again, it doesn't usually end badly since he's a quick thinker, but every now and then it does.

Self-sacrificial - I don't need to explain this one... aljhgdla but it's true. We see this before his big sacrifice even! He's always the last one standing and he always fights till he can't anymore. Nabu refuses to give up, even when he's putting himself in danger. We also see this in how he interacts with the others - he's always putting them before himself.

Honestly... these are the only ones that come up consistently with him. There are other things that could be flaws (like him avoiding conflict with Aisha) but we just,, didn't get enough time with him. Plus again, Rainbow got rid of any flaws in s4 to make his death hit harder. But even in s3, Nabu is definitely one of the most self-aware and mature characters.

Nabu is soo interesting to me because, again, he's very self-aware and he knows if his actions are healthy or harmful for him or the people around him. He's still aware when he's doing something that isn't healthy. He knew that stalking Aisha was wrong. He knew that he needed to protect himself more. He knew that closing the abyss was a huge risk that could end his life. Contrary to a lot of the other characters, Nabu knows when he's doing something harmful. And while that awareness could be considered a flaw since he's willfully choosing to do things that he knows are Not Good, it also helps him since he knows when he Shouldn't be doing something. Emotionally and mentally, he's probably the healthiest main character.

[most-datable-datable-bracket]

ROUND 5 MATCH 4

Derek propaganda:

“Extreme hot take but Derek is the best OL1 love interest. He has the best and sweetest confession in the game. You play video games together. He seems reserved until you actually start dating and find out that he's actually just a gentleman who didn't want to be overly forward with someone he's not in a relationship with. He's a family man. You get to blatantly abuse your 'dating' privileges in front of his brothers. He's just so insanely sweet and caring and makes me wanna cry whenever I play his DLC.”

“- Impossible to dislike

- No, like, literally impossible. OL1 will allow you to be indifferent to it's two other LIs, Cove and Baxter but you actually can't pick that option for Derek. Game decided that You Will Be (at least) Friends With Derek

- This boy is so good!!!! He's a sweetheart and has your back in the best way and he's constantly doing his best to make sure the people around him (especially you) are happy

- This is also a complex flaw of his because he feels like he needs to be the best that he can be and to be worth something

- This both manifests in how he treats others (he's exceedingly well-mannered and does everything for others because he secretly hopes that someday someone will do the same for him) and his career prospects (he takes on excessive practice to get good at football/soccer so that he can potentially get a scholarship and become famous all so he can potenially feel like he's worth something. This is actually a major conflict in his Step 4)

- His DLC also has some of the best moments in the game

- He also has a family and they're also really good and you get to see a lot of them

- His dad is hilarious, his mom is gorgeous and their relationship is very cute

- Meanwhile, Derek's brothers are great. I wanna gush about them because I love them but also play Derek's DLC yourself!!! See how good they are for yourself!!!!

- I will say that these three have a really good relationship dynamic and the development it takes in the 10 years between when you first meet Jorge and Nico as little kids to Step 4 where they're adults (and a teenager, Nico is 16 in Step 4) is genuinely very well written

- If you're into the steamy stuff, Derek also has the best make-out session out of all of the boys

- He's also just. Very funny. This boy will invite you to a waterpark and then ask you if its a date so he knows whether or not it's ok to check you out in your swimsuit

- Or, if you aren't dating by that point (but you do want to to date him), the narration will note how he's trying so so hard not to check you out, he's just trying so so so hard

- Puppy dog face. Look at it. Tell me you can look at that face and not want to smooch him

- His confession is also the best, did I mention it's the best? Because it's absolutely the best one in the entire game

- He has a whole thing about having to confess to you on a ferris wheel and he's so committed to it that he actually avoided ferris wheels for a long time before this confession because he promised himself he'd do it the next time he went on one

- And then he went on one...and he literally doesn't confess when he does it because he lost track of time and he had to get off

- so he asks you to go on the ferris wheel with him again so he can actually confess this time

Just. Just vote for him!!!!”

“He's sweet, polite, and out-going and is always willing to put you first (sometimes too willing).”

“polite responsible jock u r NOT immune to this”

Asra propaganda:

“He GIVES AWAY HALF HIS HEART TO REVIVE YOU okay but like. He's the MCs roommate and they were together for a few years before the MC caught a plague and died and he obsesses over a way to bring them back before succeeding by making a deal with a god to trade half his heart for MC and betraying the emperor. And then when MC comes back but without any of their memories, he takes care of them and teaches them how to live all over again and he never asks for anything in return. On all the routes where you don't choose him he's really supportive and helps you out despite your history and overall he's just really nice and supportive of the MC and is their rock no matter what route you go down. Also he has a pet snake named Faust and I love her she's so <33 

Idk I just appreciate him so much”

"He gave you half his HEART!! He would literally go to hell and back for you!! He wants to take you on adventures all around the world—doesn’t matter where, as long as he’s by your side!! AND he’s nonbinary!!!"

[the-mandawhor1an]

Europa (Frankie Morales x afab!Reader)

ausa est quoque regia virgo nescia, quem premeret, tergo considere tauri, cum deus a terra siccoque a litore sensim falsa pedum primis vestigia ponit in undis;

the regal maiden even dared to climb atop the bull's back unaware of who she mounted, the god first from land and then from shore set treacherous footsteps toward the waves,  then he goes further and carries his prize across the wide ocean 

Summary: One of your friend’s bachelorette trip takes a sudden turn when a stranger makes advances at you. Prepare to be swept off your feet like in the old tales of the ancient world. 

Word count: 4k 

Warnings: 18+ content, MDNI! No one has a name but Frankie; Slightly dubcon; abduction but make it sexy; the cap stays on; non-explicit descriptions of sexual acts (it’s Frankie, you know what he’s known for); oral (f recieving); fingering; overstim; piv (be responsible and use protection!) 

A/N: This is my part for the Pedro Pantheon event hosted by @beskarandblasters – Kel has since left Tumblr but I finally found inspiration to write this, so I’m still publishing it. My ‘prompt’ was Frankie as Zeus and I  relatively quickly settled on the abduction of Europa. (The other idea was maybe writing about Hermes’s parents but that would be another Maia, haha) Idk, it felt like a nice story to ‘modernize’ and put Frankie in there. I’ve not specified if he actually is the god Zeus, but it can be interpreted, I guess. 

It’s my first time actually narrating sex, so be gentle in your criticism. It’s not proper smut, because I still struggle with being super explicit. Feels vulgar and every fiber of my being hates being vulgar. (more power to you if you can write that shit because you can bet your butts love reading it)

The jetski… I guess I have to blame YSD by @swiftispunk for that one 

The Latin part on top is from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The translation is not completely mine, unfortunately my Latin is close to nonexistent these days. 

divider made by @saradika-graphics 

and the biggest smooches to @janaispunk for beta'ing for me 💜💜💜💜

It's days like this that make you appreciate not having any ties that weigh you down. Sure, being single can be lonely, but at least you don't have to justify going on a 3 day Bachelorette trip with your friends to anyone. And you'll be the only one who doesn't have to worry about falling for a stranger at the beach. 

The four of you, all dressed in light, flowy dresses to cover your bikinis, arrive at the beach. The white sand is warm underneath your feet, sinking in with every step towards the beach bar. The air is fresh and filled with laughter as you approach the bar, the blue of the ocean slowly merging with the changing sky. Sundown is approaching, although you’ll probably have an hour or so of sunlight left. The bride to be orders the first round of drinks, colorful cocktails. The others talk about their relationships, what their partners are doing while you are out here in literal paradise. You drown out most of the noise, not wanting their discussion to ruin your mood, not interfering with their dialogue either. Part of you can't help feeling jealous, but the thought doesn't linger for too long, as a good looking stranger appears. 

He wears a light shirt and cream colored shorts, the only unusual sight is the navy blue cap that hides most of his what you assume to be dark brown hair. He is very tan, his skin speckled with freckles. A smile is plastered on his lips and you can't help but feel a little flustered when his brown eyes meet yours for a moment. He is gorgeous, like the gods had sculpted him with the utmost care to not make a single flaw. His eyes are dark, his nose prominent and his lips look plump and soft. His beard is well groomed, although one spot on his jawline is missing hair. Weirdly enough, the bald spot almost looks like a heart. 

“Looks like you’re having fun here, ladies. Any chance I can join?” he asks as he leans on the bar with one arm, facing your group. It should be obvious with your friend in all white, but she is willing to let the stranger in on the secret. 

“I’m getting married soon and I wanted to take a little trip with my friends.” She raises her hand to present her engagement ring, a relatively big diamond that sparkles in the slowly setting sun. 

“Oh, congratulations,” he replies with a genuine smile. “I hope he knows he’s a lucky guy.” His gaze wanders between all of the women, finally resting on you for just a moment too long to be accidental. “And your partners are fine with you girls going out for multiple days?” Again, his gaze is fixed on the bride, who gives off group leader vibes right now. And that’s when a mischievous grin forms on a few faces and suddenly all of them look at you. 

“Some of us didn’t need to talk to anyone about leaving for a few days,” your best friend says, giving the man incentive to flirt with you rather than her. You dart her a disapproving look, but now the handsome stranger fixates his attention to you. So much so that he actually switches his place to be closer to you. 

“Nice friends you got there, huh? I’m Frankie,” he takes a sip of his drink. His smile sure is contagious, having you practically beaming at him when you state your name. 

“They are the best. I was the first to start the ‘single forever’ jokes, I don’t mind the teasing,” you explain and take a sip of your cocktail. “What about you? You’re at the beach all by yourself.” He chuckles, a deep rumble that you can barely pick up audibly, but you feel the vibrations. 

“Waiting for my next victim, possibly.” You furrow your brows the same moment when he lifts his hands apologetically. “Sorry, it’s a joke. I live in the area and I just enjoy being here, especially around sunset. Maybe it’s a little rude of me to just approach a group of women clearly enjoying their time but I couldn’t help it.” His index circles the rim of his drink. It almost seems like he is in deep thought, or perhaps just nervous? 

You smile. Part of you wants to think he is nervous because of you. His interest in you is obvious. “How long have you been single?” 

“It’s been a while. I mean, I sometimes miss it, but … I enjoy not having to justify anything. I’m independent and I guess that’s what’s off-putting to so many men in the first place.” You shrug, it’s not like you miss your ex or anything. Sometimes it’s lonelier, yes, but, over all? You’re happy. 

“Sounds more like you’ve met the wrong men. If you ask me, that is.” Frankie takes another sip and mirrors your shrug. As much as you don’t want to agree, it does sound like he’s on to something there. 

“You’re probably right,” you finally confess with a sigh. Your friends never complain about their partners either, so maybe you’re just unlucky with your choice of men. 

“The sun is setting,” the bride interferes, just as you're about to ask Frankie if he'd be the right kind of man. You shoot him an apologetic look as the girls detach from the bar to head down to the shore. He smiles back at you and nods. You feel his gaze linger on you once again as you tread towards where the waves softly caress the light sand rhythmically. The setting sun paints the sky in the most beautiful shades of pink and orange and shifts to purple where it reflects on the water. It really feels like you’re in paradise, an otherworldly escape to mark the beginning of a new chapter in your friend’s life.

“Thank you for taking us here,” you start, resting one hand on her shoulder. The others join in until all of you are intertwined. 

“Of course,” she replies. ”All of you have been in my life for years. I wanted to make sure you know that I appreciate it. And I love y'all. So much. I know times were tough sometimes, and they might be when I turn into bridezilla,” she laughs, “but I know you'll always be there for me. All of you are my best friends and the best bridesmaids I could ever wish for.” A quiet sob escapes her lips as the whole group envelops her in a big hug. You exchange ‘I love you's and stay like this for a good minute. 

As the sun draws closer to the horizon, the saturation of the scenery changes drastically. You never thought you’d see a sunset like this ever, but here you are. 

“All that’s left is for our nun to find a man now,” Bestie intercepts, poking your side with her index. With your middle finger raised, you stick your tongue out towards her. “Frankie looked interested,” she adds. Of course she eavesdropped on your little conversation. Despite what you had told yourself before this trip, you can’t help it – you think about his soft smile, how his cheeks show a little shadow where dimples form. 

Your gaze scans over the horizon. Birds fly high in the sky and far in the distance are little spots moving on the water. You assume these to be boats, maybe even yachts, when a noise draws closer. At first it is low, almost like a mosquito whirr, just deeper, but as it gets louder you can identify it as an engine. A white jet ski appears in your peripheral. “Well, speak of the devil,” you hum as you recognize that same navy blue cap. 

“The beach is so large and yet you decide to come back and interrupt us once again,” you roll your eyes at him, a sheepish smile plastered on his face. How could anyone be mad at him? Somehow, he is like personified sunshine. Just… making you smile even if you didn’t want to. 

“I’m really sorry. But I have my reasons. No one this pretty should shed tears on one of the most beautiful beaches on this planet. It destroys the magic.” He grins as he dismounts from the jet ski. With an outstretched hand, he offers the girls to take little spins.

No one accepts the offer at first. That is until your best friend sits on the machine and draws small circles on the water, revving the engine whenever the back of the jet ski is pointed away from the group. The water that gets kicked up paints a rainbow against the colorful sky. Frankie stands beside you, taking the sight in just like you are. 

“Looks fun, huh?” he leans over and asks. You nod, but don’t turn your head away from the water. 

“It does.” 

“You should try it.” 

“I can’t. I’m … I’ve never been on one.” 

“It’s not that hard. Wouldn’t say like riding a bike but you’ll get used to it quickly.” Now you turn your head and watch him bite his lower lip, practically gnawing on it until he realizes you’re looking at him. “If you want to, you can hop on while I drive you around.” 

Originally you want to decline the offer, but you’ve never been one to make the best choices. “Alright. But don’t rev the engine like that. I will jump off,” you finally say with a nod towards your best friend, who has the time of her life. Something in the pit of your stomach warns you to be careful, but those warm, deep brown puppy eyes make you forget any walls you had put up. 

It's your turn and despite his offer, you sit in front. Frankie has no issue practically welding himself to your back to be able to touch the handlebar. The girls cheer from the shore as the engine starts and you slowly glide over the water. Maybe you should worry about not wearing a life jacket, but then again, you are in shallow water. 

Right? 

You're distracted by the sensation of him pressing into you, your back melting into his chest. The water is nice and just the right temperature, not too cold on your skin whenever a few drops land there after a turn. “See, it's not that bad,” Frankie hums from behind you, taking one of his hands from the handle to glide over your thigh. A shiver goes down your spine and you inhale audibly. 

As you turn back, a grin is plastered on his lips. You mirror the expression. “You were right. Not bad at all.” Your gaze lingers on his lips. He's so close, all you'd have to do is lean in and… 

“You want to go a little faster?” he asks, interrupting the mental image that had just formed in your mind. Soft lips on yours, his scruff scratching your skin gently. Burying your fingers in his hair. Fuck. Part of you wants to go all the way with him. 

With a nod you give him permission, holding onto the handle as well, just to make sure you won't fall off. Frankie shows you how to steer and accelerate, allowing you to try for yourself. His arms wrap around you while you take a few turns. It might be your mind playing tricks on you but you're almost certain he is grinding into you. Plus, you can't deny that you enjoy the sensation. 

“Feels good, doesn't it?” he whispers in your ear and leans down, placing a kiss on your shoulder. A little groan escapes him as he once again rolls his hips against your butt. 

“Frankie,” you hiss, but as one of his palms brushes over your thigh again, you turn silent. 

“Let's get out of the water, huh?” The purr in his words drives you mad, an ache forms in your core. 

Fueled by your reaction, Frankie continues to place soft kisses along your neck and shoulder. Completely distracted by the sensation of his lips on your skin, you don’t pay much attention to where you are going. 

It is, in fact, your friends’ voices calling your name that pull you back to reality, barely louder than a whisper over the roar of the engine underneath you. You turn your head, the shore behind you is so far away you can barely make out your friends in the distance. Not only that, the distance is increasing. You face Frankie as best as you can without completely letting go of the handle. 

“Frankie, what the actual fuck? This isn’t funny!” you scream at him. A normal conversation was off the table the moment he decided to take you out on the open ocean. The jet ski slows, the engine’s roar dying down to a low hum as you glide over the water with the leftover momentum. 

“I’m sorry,” he mumbles. His eyes avoid your death-stare, but as you try and dismount from the machine, he wraps both arms around your torso, effectively locking you into place. “Hey, relax. If you jump off you’re out in the open. Shore’s too far away for you to swim. I’m not going to hurt you, I promise.” 

“That’s very comforting while you’re pressing me into your chest.” You try to push away from him, to no avail. “Just take me back. Please.” 

“Can I show you something first?” 

Part of you wants to spit a ‘Fuck no’ into his stupid, pretty face but it’s like you’ve suddenly forgotten how to say no. Something in the softness of his gaze convinces you to at least try. If he wanted to hurt you, he would just do it, right? 

Right? 

 “You better make this worth the almost-heart attack I just had,” you finally grumble, your face turned forward. He places more kisses on your neck as the journey continues. 

A short travel later, you end up on another beach. The sand looks cleaner than the beach next to the bar, and it is suspiciously quiet. The sun has set, only the orange tint on the horizon remains. Frankie is not even an after thought as you walk over the beach towards the forest that presumably separates you from civilization. 

There, in the shade of large palm trees, you find a small hut. Fairy lights are attached to the roof, giving off soft, colorful light, inviting you to come closer. The door is open, so you set one foot inside. “Hello?” you call out and wait for an answer. Carefully you walk inside further and look around. 

The inside is dimly lit, warm yellow lightbulbs create an overly cozy atmosphere. The hut barely has more than a bed, a small bathroom and a tiny cooking corner. It shows no signs of any recent tenants, the bed looks freshly made, though. You see no phone to maybe figure out how to get back. 

You’ve wasted all your time being in awe of the little getaway house, as now Frankie appears in the doorway again. “I’m sorry for scaring you,” he apologizes. You scoff and cross your arms in front of your chest. That’s not enough. You shake your head. “You’ve abducted me, Frankie. What the actual fuck, are you going to murder me now?” 

Frankie tries to come closer, but you take a step back. He looks heartbroken at the realization that you are, in fact, scared of him. A little. 

“I don’t want to do anything,” he again pleads. A hand reaches out to you, touches your arm and you let it happen. “I will not hurt you. I might be an idiot but I’m not an asshole. I wanted to be alone with you and thought the jet ski would impress you.”

“And what an idiot you are. A normal person would just ask to be alone with someone, not kidnap them.” And he knows you’re right. Although the jet ski left an impression. It’s hard to deny that. 

“Would you have abandoned your friends for a stranger?” 

“Well, you’ll never find out.” 

He sighs in defeat. You let your guard down, even as he draws in closer until you’re standing chest to chest. Slowly you start to believe him not wanting to hurt you. “Do you want me to take you back?” he asks. His eyes are darting between your eyes and your lips. Your heart rate picks up. The sensation of his lips on your skin still drives you wild. 

“Yes, please.” You look up to him, into the chocolatey brown eyes of his. His lips curl up into a smile as a thought seems to materialize. 

“What?” 

“It’s such a shame.” 

“What is?” 

Now both of his hands are on your arms, the top of his fingers barely graze over your skin and cause goosebumps to form. “You have such beautiful eyes. It is a shame that all they’re full of right now is the anger you feel for me. It’s a shame that your soft and warm skin is covered in goosebumps due to my touch. And the biggest shame of all is that your lips quiver with rage when all I want to do is kiss them to show you how sorry I am.” 

That hits you like lightning. 

Your eyes widen but before you can properly react to anything he said, you feel the same soft lips you had felt on your neck, now on your own lips. He’s soft and careful at first, but as soon as your arms wrap around him, any regards are thrown out the window. A soft, breathy moan escapes your lips as he pulls you in closer, allowing you to feel the muscles underneath his shirt. 

“Allow me to make it up to you, beautiful,” he purrs against your lips. How could anyone resist? 

How can you? 

Instead of an answer, you catch his lips once again. Frankie takes that as a clear yes and pushes you into the wall behind you. Now that you're pinned, he lifts one of your legs by the knee. The kisses turn more heated as he grinds his pelvis into yours. 

The softest little curses escape his lips whenever they let go of yours. He's rock hard when he grinds against you. Fuck. The feeling drives you insane, even though you're still separated by various layers of fabric. Your body may not show it externally, but you feel the heat traveling to your core. Every little whine and moan that echoes in your ears makes your muscles contract, practically screaming for relief. It would pull you to your knees if you weren't pinned to the wall. 

Does he know what he does to you? How badly you suddenly crave him? 

Something sparkles in his eyes as they meet yours. His pupils are blown out, nothing more than pure darkness. And still there is this sparkle. 

Some time later you find yourself on the bed. The mattress is so soft it practically envelops you in a hug, as if you are embedded in a cloud. Your dress and bikini have long been discarded when Frankie kissed nearly every inch of the skin he exposed. Right now you should feel vulnerable, naked in a stranger's bed, but you don't. 

Perhaps you're incapable to see the situation for what it could have been, because the same man that took you here is currently deeply immersed in between your legs. How can you think straight when his grip is unmoving around your hips and he drinks you up like a man close to death from dehydration. The moans that vibrate against your core send shivers through your entire body. He ravishes in the sweetness of you, undeniably turned on by the noises he elicits from you. 

One thing bothers you, though. When you look down, hoping to meet his eyes, all you see is the visor of his cap. It is downright rude of him to obstruct your view like this. As you reach out to take the cap off of him, he protests with a low growl and pulls away. Again, the vibrations of his voice on your skin make you writhe, but he holds you where you are. “Frankie,” you whine. With a sigh he adjusts the cap so you can see his face, smiling at you softly. His skin glistens in the low, warm light. Without breaking eye contact, he dives back in, but this time a finger joins in in hopes to coax more noises out of you. He cocks an eyebrow when you moan softly. His eyes are completely dark with lust when he dares to try a second finger. 

It is too much. 

Your head falls back and your eyes roll into the back of your skull as you feel pleasure take over and you revel in pure ecstasy. There’s only one word on your tongue, his name over and over, like a prayer. You ride out the waves of your high as best as you can, but Frankie continues to touch you, feel you, taste you, and it is too much to handle. Before you can feel another orgasm build up, you grab hold of the arm that still pins you to the bed. 

“Frankie, please. That’s enough,” you plead with him. You look down to see him watching you intently. With one last kiss to your inner thigh, he lets go of you and crawls upward until he’s eye to eye. Half of his face sparkles, but now that little spark in his eyes is missing and the warmth has returned. The cap gets pulled down into its correct position and he plants soft kisses on your cheek. 

“If you want me to do something else, you’ll have to tell me.” He continues to pepper kisses all over your face. He lowers his body onto yours, allowing you to feel his weight and also how painfully hard he still is, turned on by your pleasure. “Tell me what you want, baby,” he purrs into your ear. 

“Fuck, Frankie, fuck me,” you gasp. 

And fuck you he does. Hours upon hours you two are one. Sometimes it’s you on top, but most of the time he hovers over you, relentlessly snapping into you while his lips capture yours. He whispers the filthiest things into your ears to drive you mad. “You feel so fucking good.” “You’re all mine.” “Just look at how beautiful you are when I fuck you.” “You’re so gorgeous when you cum, fuck.” 

When he is finally done, the sun is about to rise. The sky is changing colors once again when he plops down on the bed beside you. Both of you are spent, out of breath and sweaty, but nonetheless he pulls you into his chest and places soft kisses on your forehead. “Fuck,” he whispers and you can’t help it, you chuckle. “Would you have come with me if I asked you?” he wonders. As if that is of any importance now. 

“I don’t know,” you reply and kiss his jaw, specifically the little patch that looks like a heart. “All I know is that you won’t have to abduct me next time.” 

Gently, he catches your lips with his and kisses you again. “Next time?” There is hope in his voice and his eyes once again remind you of a puppy all of a sudden. 

“Stop pretending you don’t know that I enjoyed that,” you reply. Now it’s you who kisses him and places one hand on the back of his head. 

“Me too,” he whispers in return. 

“Where even are we?” you ask and turn around to look outside of the little hut, press your back and butt into him. The beach is close by and besides you and Frankie there was no sign of life all night long. “Doesn’t have a name… yet,” he says with a shrug. So this is his island but it doesn’t have a name? 

“It doesn’t have a name? Why not?” 

“Haven’t found one I liked.” Kisses are planted along your shoulder and neck. “Your name would be quite fitting, I think,” he adds. Either it’s the kisses or the night you two shared, but you like the idea. 

“Can’t deny that it sounded good when you said it over and over again.” Now you shrug and turn your head to look at him again. 

“Guess it’s official then,” he finally says with a wink. 

[dice-sociation]

AP Review: Reckless Attack - Main Campaign

Listen Here: https://www.recklessattack.com/episodes/

Quick info:

Audio Quality: High Quality and Edited, Effects, Music. Vibes: Lord of the Rings, Ghibli, Never Ending Story, Avatar the Last Airbender, Frogs Extras: Discord and Patreon rewards. System: 5e DnD Average Episode time: 1 hour Uploads 1 Episode per week. Campaign/ Show Length: Long Term Campaign Platforms: Podcast, Audio Only. Accessibility: Content Warnings Language available: English Diversity: AAPI/BIPOC Number of Episodes Review is based on: 100 (This is my first review so I decided to start with a Podcast I’m already caught up on) ** If you want the TLDR, scroll to the bottom of the post **

Why Reckless Attack?

I honestly believe that part of the draw of listening to people play a TTRPG is not just the story telling but an assurance that adults can somehow actually and consistently come together, in person, to pull off a full long term game. Reckless Attack is one such podcast. They are a small indie podcast with excellent audio quality and editing. 

But, why should you listen to another high fantasy podcast? Well, have you ever wanted to see what a post-apocalyptic High Fantasy world would look like? The deeper you delve into Reckless Attack, the deeper the lore gets, and we have barely scratched the surface a hundred episodes in. You’ll join the players as they explore a world recovering from an apocalyptic event, ripe with magic and unstable artifacts, an undead army, and frogs.

Starting The Pod

Right out the gate, the listeners are greeted by a Lord of the Rings style opening monologue, giving relevant history and context to the kind of place the characters live in. I personally get the feeling a lot of the world was established in a previous game or between the DM and players prior to the start of this campaign. If, as a listener, it feels like you're missing something, don't worry; you'll get a lot more context down the road, especially once the players make it to the city of Agmar (Episode 15). The first 15 episodes are a nice slow build up. 

Conveniently, the first recap episode covers Episode 1-14! (Though I really enjoyed the first 14 episodes, I know not everyone has the amount of listening time I have). If you are so inclined to start from the first episode, you'll get nicely eased into the characters and their relationships with one another before a lot of the bigger world building really starts to soar.

(My one caveat is that I listen to this podcast at 1.3-1.4 speed since the players and Nathan speak with a good amount of pauses, and that can be a little too slow for me.)

About the Team

Nathan, the DM for the main campaign, paints some amazing pictures of his homebrew world. He has a real talent for creating larger than life NPCs and Big Baddies for his players to interact with. They all have clear motivations, flaws, and personalities that truly rounds out the overall story. When it comes to plot, Nathan kept me on my toes with plot twists that would literally snap me out of whatever multitasking I was doing. And I must recognize how often Nathan opens the floor for the players to build parts of the story and describe longer stretches of downtime. Those moments are like the equivalent of cinematic montages to represent the passing of time.

The players, Sophie, Steve, David, and Jonathan, deliver wonderful descriptions and leave plenty of space for each other to speak, balanced with just the right amount of crosstalk. Each character has a very unique voice which is helpful for listeners (especially because David and Jonathan are twins and have similar voices).

Sophie plays Valeska Carter, the Human * Cleric. "Valeska is a young woman in search of answers. Like, compulsively."* I quickly fell in love with Val, an exhausted nerd who can never have enough notes and organization. If you're the kind of person who is always rescuing animals, you will love her too. 

Steve plays Selv Asterlin, the Dragonborn Monk. "Selv’s years at his town’s icy mountain monastery has trained not just his body, but also his mind and emotions. The large dragonborn seeks to be a peacemaker in conflicts, exuding strength, calm and serenity while straying away from violence and lethal force when possible."* But don't be fooled, Selv is often one for the occasional good prank, and I always appreciate Steve's references even when the rest of the group don't understand them. (I got you Steve) 

David plays Kascorin "Kass" Brightmane, the Dwarven Warlock. "Tomorrow (Kass leaves) this city for the Golden Tree adventuring guild, and in leaving this city, (He leaves his) friends, (his) family, and (his) comfortable life behind."* Kass is very grounded, serious, and focused, until he runs into tasty dried meats. Kass has all the charm of a warlock and the grit of a soldier. 

Jonathan plays Checkers, the Gung Druid, with his trusty pals Mango and Junior. "Joining the Golden Tree adventuring guild on a dare, Checkers and his frog pal Mango are here to prove that it’s better to find your own path than to follow someone else’s. After all, where’s the fun in looking before you leap?"* Checkers is a lot like the characters I personally play. Someone who doesn't stand around for too much planning and prefers to "leap" into action. In my very humble opinion, every group needs an instigator. 

I have also come to really admire the level of trust and respect the group has for one another. They handle both wonderful whimsical beats as well as solemn moments with great care (Episode 108 was magnificent.)

*Quoted from the official Reckless Attack website. You can find this and more at their website www.recklessattack.com. (Be aware, reading the available character sheets may contain spoilers)

About the World

Ryxia is built on a world where long ago, the Gods walked among mortals, but one day they left. As if in consequence, magic in this world seems to ebb and flow, and monsters roam the wilds. Until, the "second of Ryxia’s twin suns disappeared from the sky, the Ultragiants appeared, and the Pentarchy’s great capital city of Narhasur was turned into a smoldering crater." *

You can think of the Ultra Giants as the Titans of this world, being elemental and colossal. These Ultra Giants terrorized mortals until one day, the mortals managed to kill one " wielding their city’s Object of Focus… The object was destroyed, as was much of the army. But strangely, within days, the Ultragiants no longer stalked Ryxia."*

As the mortals re-emerged, they started to rebuild despite the incredible amount of monsters who now roam the lands. 

*Quoted from the official Reckless Attack website. You can find this and more at their website www.recklessattack.com. (Be aware, reading the available character sheets may contain spoilers)

Extras

Aside from the main campaign Nathan has his own series called Reckless A-Talk. This series Nathan or others on the team interview incredible people from all over the TTRPG space. Nathan's style of interviewing is mostly allowing his guest to speak more than he does, followed by the wonderful lightning round questions. I highly recommend listening to these (as a little treat) if you are interested in learning other perspectives and other aspects of the industry. 

Bonus one shots are another part of Reckless Attack, allowing the players to take the reigns.  They serve as fun filler for when you just can't wait for the next episode to drop. 

And if that's still not enough content for you, you can always subscribe to their Patreon for even more content, including the very relaxed Reckless A-Snack.

TLDR

High Fantasy world rebuilding the world after mortals were nearly wiped out.

Listeners will get a good feel of the world within the first 14 episodes. (IMO, the pacing starts to pick up after Episode 14)

Here are "Tale Til Now," recap episodes for those who want to catch up faster. (Episodes 1-14, 14-42, 42-66, 67-84)

Non Player Characters are larger than life, with clear motives and personalities.

The Dungeon Master and Players share a lot of world building and you can feel the love and trust they have for each other.

Recommended listening at 1.3x-1.5x speed if you are one of those people (you know who you are).

Find more details about the world and characters at www.recklessattack.com.

Lots of extra content for those who just need more, including; interviews, one-shots run by the players, and patreon bonus content. https://www.patreon.com/recklessattack/home

Do you have ideas or suggestions? Please feel free to comment!

Special thanks to Artax of Who's Taking Watch for helping with editing!

No Context Spoilers:

[twopoint99]

Possible spoilers if you haven’t already listened or read the book. Also, spoilers for The Horror of Dracula, 1958 and Bram Stoker’s Dracula, 1992.

One of my favorite things about @re-dracula is seeing the reactions of people whose main exposure to the story is through the many film adaptations. The differences in how the characters relate to one another are way too many to list from film to film. Even aside from the bizarre choices (Lucy as Mina’s sister-in-law - the Horror of Dracula, 1958, or Mina as the reincarnation of Dracula’s lost love - Bram Stoker’s Dracula, 1992) the most important difference between those adaptations and re - dracula is that these are fully rounded characters who clearly care about one another.

Jonathan adores Mina, Mina loves him, and loves Lucy. The suitor squad and Van Helsing genuinely cherish Lucy and it causes everyone palpable pain when they see her slipping away. When the group finally gets together in one place, they all acknowledge and respect the various strengths they each bring, and they hold one another up as needed.

None of the characters seem cast aside, as often happens in film adaptations. Even the 1992 film, which includes all three suitors, doesn’t manage to make them all seem like full personalities. They appear more as aspects of an individual, or as tropes. Lucy herself in the ‘92 movie is the complete opposite of her characterization in the novel. Her behavior in the film is anachronistic at best, and offensive at the least. It is a perfect illustration of the stupid and misogynistic attitude in horror that “wanton” women are punished.

Not only that, but it also completely changes the story and the dreadful implications of it. Lucy isn’t targeted because she’s “done something wrong” (quotes because I don’t believe expressing/exploring one’s sexuality is wrong, no matter what my favorite genre keeps telling me), she is targeted because she is convenient. Dracula wasn’t musing in between leaving his castle and reaching England that by golly, he couldn’t wait to terrorize Lucy Westenra! He saw an opportunity, like any other predator, and he took it.

Of course, we’ve seen that he is very willing to play with his food once he feels in control. He was very pleased to be able to torment Jonathan, yet another character who is often treated poorly in adaptations - in the 1958 version he’s so smug and patronizing toward what appears to be a terrified woman, that I was actively hoping for his death.

In contrast, the novel/Dracula Daily/re-dracula show us a sweet, earnest man, one who is gentle and loving. He, like Lucy, is a convenient victim, and like Lucy, is innocent.

The true horror is that terrible things can happen to anyone, and no amount of wealth, education, or simple good-heartedness, will act as a shield. There are no preventatives, and no one “deserves” the terrible things that happen. The real strength of the story isn’t in deciding which characters(usually women) are worthy of saving, an overly simplistic approach that many film adaptations take, some more subtly than others. The story resonates because in spite of the randomness of the horror, the people involved decide to do something about it.

These people are not always perfect or even heroic. Dr. Seward (who I really enjoy, and who is also often portrayed badly in adaptation) is not a safe person for his patients to be around. He is ableist, arrogant, patronizing, and definitely not handling his own mental health well. He is also loving, practical, loyal, and in many ways exceptionally tender-hearted. All of the cast is achingly good in their portrayals, but Johnny Sims’ interpretation of Seward has been revelatory. The man is flawed, but gosh darnit, he’s absolutely human. His pain is visceral, his awkwardness is utterly relatable, and his attempts to make things make sense is so hard to hear, because we want the awful things to be a puzzle with a logical solution, but we also know that there is no motivation for what is happening, it is all chance.

Mina herself questions why they need worry about Dracula, once he is gone from England. By this time she’s had a horrific experience with the count and understandably wants to be done with the whole thing. Earlier, however, she begins her work of compiling all the information available about Dracula, because she understands that something may need to be done, for the good of all.

She is afraid of losing her husband, she is afraid of what other horrors may wait, but she also is able to put that aside to continue to pursue stopping Dracula, so that there won’t be another victim, and so that Dracula himself might be saved from the horrific reality he’s experienced for so long.

I have been telling people ad nauseum that re-dracula is hands down the best adaptation of the novel I’ve ever encountered. It is because it is treated as a story about people, real people, with real connections to those around them, real flaws and strengths, who grow to share a bond. They swear to stop Dracula, not out of vengeance, as Jonathan can be forgiven for wanting, but out of love for those they have lost and those they may save.

[trianglesimpfordpines]

ok so like 2 people said they wanted to see the "ford is the most realistic genius" post and that's all the encouragement i need. i'm probably gonna sound pretty full-of-myself on this post but that's just how it be like sometimes.

a lot of the time, "intelligence" is assumed to mean "knows more things." fictional characters who are supposed to be geniuses typically just...miraculously Know information they have no real way of acquiring, anticipate events that cannot reasonably anticipated, or every other character just suddenly gets stupid when the genius character is around so that the "genius" character just doing the logical thing comes off as particularly smart.

so you have a character who supposedly has a really high iq, but in practice they may as well be psychic.

as someone who actually has an iq of 147 (bear with me, because this isn't a flexing post), being "really intelligent" does not mean Just Knowing Things. what it means is that someone who's "smart" (in the traditional sense) can process more information, draw more conclusions, and do so faster than most people. it also usually means being really good at rationalizing things. so if you're someone who's well-adjusted and well-informed, that can definitely look like knowing all the right answers...but if you're someone who's not well-adjusted or well-informed, it can, if anything, make you even wronger. you get better at rationalizing your mistakes and digging yourself in deeper. and heaven help you if you have paranoid tendencies, because it's that much harder to convince someone they're being irrational when they're on a whole 'nother level of finding information to back up their irrationality.

ford is a genius. he learns incredibly fast and thoroughly. but he's also constrained by the information he has available to him, and by his own biases and past trauma and people issues.

that one writing advice post that made the rounds saying that a character's biggest flaw is usually their biggest strength in the wrong situation is very true of people who are very intelligent. it's why, for example, you'll sometimes see doctors, academics, experts buy into conspiracy theories. it's not because they're stupid; it's because they're smart enough to recontextualize all their knowledge to support their biases and beliefs.

and so many people do not understand this because they still think of "intelligence" as "knowing & being right about everything." so you get people arguing that ford isn't really a genius, because he was wrong and he made mistakes. but in my opinion, the mistakes he makes make perfect sense because he's a genius. that kind of recklessness is exactly what you get when you combine abnormally high iq with ford's myriad of personal issues. you get someone who's great at rationalizing, great at taking in information, and great at finding surprisingly well-thought-out reasons why their paranoia and antisocial tendencies are totally just the rational response.

think of it this way; the smartest people alive in the medieval era believed in the miasma theory. they weren't too stupid to understand what bacteria and viruses are; they just didn't have the tools needed to observe them. so they came up with a theory based on the information they did know, wrote essays and papers about it, made medical practices based on it...and it was completely incorrect, because genius without correct information leads to spectacular and very well-thought-out mistakes.

anyway, all this to say, as someone who could nominally be considered a "genius" but has been hella wrong about a lot of things in my life, i think ford is an incredibly realistic take on what most "geniuses" are really like. impressive in the right situations, not so much in the wrong ones, and very much not magical beings capable of mysteriously knowing all the correct information because they're Just That Smart. and very much not immune to emotional and personal issues getting in the way.

thanks for coming to my "i-just-slept-for-20-hours-and-my-brain-is-a-bit-scrambled-right-now" ted talk

[saintsenara]

if you are still doing ship game, thoughts on jily?

thank you very much, anon - i am always taking questions both on romantic ships and on characters' platonic vibes, the more unhinged the better.

although jily can't really be described in those terms, not least because their narrative purpose in canon is to be little more than blank canvases onto which harry can project as he goes through his series-long character arc, shedding his initial hero worship of james when confronted with the reality of his father's behaviour in order of the phoenix and starting both to fully appreciate lily's centrality to the course his life is taking and to see his dad with nuance as a real and fully-rounded person, flaws and all.

this narrative role means that the glimpses we get of them in canon feel kind of superficial - their bantering during snape's worst memory is basically high-school-teen-movie level, the snapshots of their life under lockdown in deathly hallows lovely and bittersweet but also just colour to a storyline which is already all of those things.

and this is not to say that i find jily uninteresting as a ship - i completely reject the common anti-jily position that they didn't really like each other, that they had nothing in common, or that their backgrounds made them incompatible [i'll expand on this below, but while i do think that their respective blood statuses and the impact of these on their relationship are worth thinking about, i loathe fics which portray james as chafing against his marriage because, as a pureblood, he'd be more comfortable with someone 'of his own kind'. this is bullshit, and there's far, far too much of it in this fandom]. my views on one of james' most frequent non-lily partnerships are well known, and i share the outrage many jily fans have for the way lily in particular is treated in a subfandom increasingly dominated by rigid fanon which prioritises giving depth to male characters [even if those characters are, in essence, oc's] and slash relationships over exploring the canon female characters, partnered or not.

but i do also find that a lot of jily falls into the same trap as much of the hinny i dislike - that is, a tendency to present as a sunshine-and-roses fairytale a relationship which is much more interesting if the things which canon implies [and which can be reasonably inferred outside of canon scenes from a canon coherent engagement with the text] might have introduced an element of dysfunction into james and lily's partnership are taken into account.

the shadow of the war is obviously one of these things. what role lily actually plays in the resistance is something which preoccupies me [she is never mentioned in canon to have taken a combat role - and i find it considerably more plausible that any attempt voldemort made to recruit her was at snape's request and connected to her potions prowess] particularly because, as we see in the way her death is memorialised in deathly hallows, the series regards the defence of the integrity of the nuclear family as a key aim for the good guys. how does she interact with james and his wartime role when she's pregnant, nursing, or in hiding for the vast majority of her time in the order? how does she feel about her husband being a soldier if she's behind the scenes?

indeed, what role james [and sirius] plays in the order is also something i'm obsessed with thinking about - not least because so much of the inherent tragedy of the marauders' storyline is caused by the fact that james and sirius think they're fucking invincible and that their plans to keep the potters safe are foolproof. it's entirely reasonable to read james and sirius as being pretty gung-ho about being paramilitaries - and my headcanon is absolutely that more battled-hardened order members didn't like them very much [moody does not, after all, seem massively fond of sirius] - and lily seems affected by this too [she's not holding her wand either!], and what they thought they were doing as 1981 rolls around is compelling to me.

james and lily's divergent backgrounds is also something i'd like to see explored more in fandom - not, as i've said, in the dull 'james should have married a pureblood' way, but in a way which deals with the fact that their relationship follows wizarding norms. molly weasley can blame the war all she likes, but [although i doubt this was jkr's intention] the evidence of canon is that witches and wizards marry and have children extremely young as a social standard, that couples generally don't live together before marriage, that divorce doesn't seem to be common, and that married women tend not to work. lily - a mother at twenty and, therefore, presumably married at nineteen - is coming of age, then, in a magical world which thinks about gender very differently from the muggle world of the 1970s, and i think that tension is worth exploring.

[similarly, the way in which her marriage is self-protective - lily gains a pureblood name and the social cachet which comes with it at a time when she's in rising danger on account of her birth - is something i think it's worth looking at when considering the pairing.]

there are other flashes of dysfuntion which i adore thinking about in relation to jily - lily's relationship with the other marauders [you can pry the reading that sirius resents her for stealing the love of his life - and i certainly don't mean lupin - away from him from my cold, dead hands]; how much of his misbehaviour at school james conceals from her; the fact that lily becoming more overtly interested in james from her sixth year onward must have a little bit of attempting to make snape jealous mixed into it - and whenever i stumble upon them in fics i say oh ho like horace slughorn and kick my little feet in the air.

i care rather less about 'we're so hot and flawless and not doomed' as a trope.

but i do stan james for beefing with vernon dursley even though lily told him to behave. the man really is just that annoying.

[caeslxys]

I am SO fascinated to get your take on BH's reaction to Ludinus and Downfall.

*****SPOILERS FOR 102 BELOW*****

As someone who left Downfall with a very negative view of the gods, it's interesting to me that BHs (in particular Imogen) kept saying "but you're just like them" about Ludinus and then not realizing that she was saying that the gods are no better than Ludinus fucking Da'Leth. Yeah, Luda is a hyprocrite. Do you realize that the gods are no better? The GODS.

And BHs comparing themselves to the primes/betrayers as this "fucked-up family" completely ignores the power differential. "They're just little guys! We all make mistakes" but you're saying that about entities that can literally sling 9th levels every 6 seconds without using any resources.

Nothing that can feel and be motivated by loss, rage, fear, and revenge should have that much power. Respectfully.

Sorry this took me so long to answer! I’ve been letting my own thoughts simmer and rewatching the episode in pieces to grasp the Many Many different things that happened on my own because it was Quite A Lot and some of it (the delilah of it all, funnily enough) left me immediately with an overall sense of disappointment that I wanted to sift through before talking Thoughts so that I could determine analysis from bias lol. BUT. I DO HAVE THOUGHTS

Long answer under the read more, but tldr: Apart from Orym, Ashton, and Dorian (simultaneously the most and least surprising!) I don’t think we’ve gotten the full breadth of BH’s opinions at all. In part because this a topic of discussion that requires them actually, well, discussing it to form fully rounded opinions on but also, crucially, because they were expressing opinions and emotions in front of Ludinus. This is important, because Orym/Ashton/Dorian make the most sense to have no reason for holding their true thoughts back in front of either him or the party (obviously in Orym and Ashton’s case, but I’ll be honest in not considering what is now obvious—Dorian has no idea who this guy actually is! Of course he wasn’t opposed to raising his perspective!), whereas other characters—namely Imogen—have many more internal steps and hurdles to actually reaching a conclusion that must happen outside of Ludinus’ eye.

Alright. Long version.

I think it truly speaks to the characters that the ones who reacted the most immediately decisive were Orym—the one whose opinions wouldn’t have changed regardless of what was held within that orb (which. sigh)—Ashton—the punk, anti-authoritarian character who has had an established perspective of the gods and their power for quite some time, perspectives that were in many ways cemented in viewing this piece of history rather than dispelled—and Dorian—someone who, as mentioned earlier, has the least amount of context for who Ludinus is, but who also himself was raised in a comparatively high position of social power so as to understand exactly what Ludinus is saying about the gods’ misusing theirs.

And, of course, Imogen. I’ll admit: I was immediately shocked at her response, but in hindsight of course she responded the way she did. I have talked and gushed and wailed before at how deeply empathetic Imogen is, and how it is also her ultimate fatal flaw (demonstrated explicitly here), so of course her first thought was how she saw the feelings and motives behind the decisions made in downfall and not how it was also an extreme over-reach of power and influence. Of course she did. I think the only person she’s incapable of empathizing with is Delilah lmao.

And to that point: A lot of that seemed, on a rewatch and to me, posturing on her part. So much of Imogen is defined by her guilt and shame and self-loathing and its especially prevalent when she is playing leader—a role she is naturally very good at, but doubts constantly because she does not consider herself “good”. So, often, she does what she thinks others perceive as “good” and “right” and keeps her more complex thoughts to herself until she is in a safe space (often with Laudna), and projects who she thinks others need her to be in the moment.

Laudna, in the same vein, also shocked me that she didn’t push the breach of power here. But, again, she is also right next to Imogen in “bells hells characters most driven by/capable of empathy” (though hers is, unlike Imogen’s, often in conflict with her desires in really compelling ways) so on further reflection—and especially taking into consideration the massive amount of shame she is feeling from swordgate—of course she focused on the empathetic side of it all.

Ultimately we didn’t get much time at all for them to actually discuss and dissect their take-aways on all of downfall in a setting and context that would be free of bias and performance. If i’m honest, I think those conversations need to happen individually instead of in a group, though maybe Dorian’s inclusion and obvious clear decision on his stance being more in line with Ludinus’ may just be enough for Orym alone not to break the conversational thread again with his personal grief (and guilt, but that’s another post lol). I think their real opinions have yet to solidify even for themselves, and we’ll see them truly form in the coming episodes. The Delilah of it all notwithstanding.

Speaking of Orym’s refusal to think about anything—I think he and Imogen both are suffering from Predathos tunnel vision. Honestly I’d argue a good portion of fandom is as well. None of that conversation is ultimately about Predathos, it was about the gods and the role they play and the power they use or over-use or deserve. By focusing so intently on what we all already agree is the wrong and bad solution to this problem, we ignore the problem entirely. It’s one of my main issues with Orym’s stance this whole campaign. If we don’t ask what is to be done with the gods, and the campaign just wraps up with “we defeated the bad guys, yay!” well. What of the ruidusborn, who we know are treated unfairly and unkindly and who suffer through no fault of their own. What of the young vanguard members—the kids—who, also, are only guilty of caving to the idea of peace. What of Aeor, what of Ludinus—what of the cycle that birthed them both. To not engage with the questions being asked for hyperfixating on the Predathos of it all is to leave this campaign, in my opinion, on both a deeply unsatisfying but also deeply hopeless note. The cycle will continue. We may not see it—it may be another thousand, two thousand years before another Ludinus rises—but another Ludinus or Aeor or both will rise, because ultimately no change will have been implemented in the problems which resulted in them.

And—final note, promise—I was talking to a friend about this yesterday but when it comes down to acknowledging the societal implications of downfall, especially in Imogen’s case, I do think it’s going to have to be pointed out first. A lot of Bells Hells are characters who have suffered at the very hands they are trying to save, but also suffered in part and specifically due to a lack of access to knowledge about it all. It does not escape me that the very first scene of campaign three is Imogen attempting to gather knowledge on powers that have made her miserable for a decade and being unable to access them in a library due to her station. That is, to me, more and more becoming the underpinning theme of this campaign—especially as all Ludinus is doing in this moment with the Occultus Thalamus is displaying it; again, obviously Ludinus is wrong in his means (and arrogant in his assumptions that just because of his failures that no one else could find a solution) but this, specifically, the spreading of knowledge—that, I 100% find myself in agreeance with. So it’s not that they won’t understand what characters like Ashton and Dorian, both hyperaware of the implications of power here, are or will be saying. It’s that they literally do not know to think about it like that. Why would they. It has been intentionally kept from them.

Anyway I have no idea if that was uh. Sufficient Enough of an answer adksfjd at some point I just started yapping but! I’m intrigued, especially because of Dorian’s adamant belief, in what conclusions they’ll draw moving forward as the discussions truly begin! Hopefully! Hopefully they will discuss it!

[theofficialpresidentofmars]

feeling righteous anger on behalf of Laertes again

like he’s kind of a jerk to Ophelia at the start. but he’s also sort of right. and siblings are just Like That. they’ve only had each other and Polonius for their whole lives and goodness knows how many times they’ve come to each other to talk about Polonius behind his back or to cry on each other’s shoulder. or the teasing or inside jokes or Laertes trying to be the one to empathise with Ophelia being the only woman in the family because lord knows Polonius won’t.

when Laertes warns Ophelia to stay away from Hamlet, he expects her to ignore his warning. He’s not entirely opposed to the idea truthfully- the prince does seem to like her well enough. It’s not like he couldn’t see it working out. But he’s also both overprotective and filled with the brotherly need to remind her of how much he himself can get away with, and he knows what men are like, so he tells her to keep her distance. She laughs, and says she will in a tone that suggests she very much won’t.

When he leaves for France, after the occasional scarce letter from his father about the prince’s state, Laertes expects the worst upon his return.

except he thinks the worst is that he’ll come back to his heartbroken sister, crying in her bedroom, and she’ll tell him that he was right, and he’ll tell her that all men are jerks and arrant knaves and they all suck. and he’ll offer her a tissue and maybe a lighthearted jest at their father or the prince or men again or something to improve her mood and she’ll laugh, and eventually she’ll be okay.

When he learns his father is dead, something inside him goes numb. He tries to remember what he and Ophelia used to complain about, but he can't think of anything. Polonius was all they had, after all. And for all his flaws, Laertes loved him.

When he learns his father was murdered, he swears he'll have the head of the monster that killed him.

And when he gets back to Elsinore, when he hears of the circumstances surrounding his father's death and sees the state of his sister, he burns with an anger he never knew he was capable of.

When his sister's funeral is disrupted by the prince himself, claiming to grieve, claiming to have lost more than Laertes could even comprehend, Laertes finds his hands around his throat before he can even fully realise what's happening. How DARE he? How dare he put an end to what little service the king would allow to put his sister to rest? How dare he claim he ever loved her when his actions put her in the grave? How dare he pretend to have lost when he could not possibly understand what he put Laertes through? What he put Ophelia through?

It's only natural that less than two days later, he finds himself at the other end of a poisoned blade. A dirty play, Laertes knows, to stab at your opponent before the round starts, but Laertes is so beyond any sense of fairness or mercy by now. The prince is dead within the half hour, his sister and father revenged, justice served.

What he doesn't expect is the prince to take the blade out of his hands and return the blow. And as he bleeds, Laertes realises the fate he's resigned himself to.

What he doesn't expect is the look in the prince's eyes after his mother falls, holding her as she dies. It's a terrified, vulnerable, pained expression, the likes of which he's never seen on the prince. The kinds of emotion he was beginning to doubt the prince was capable of, even. But Laertes can see in his face that, strangely enough, they only seem to scratch the surface of some melancholy that runs bone-deep.

And of all things, Laertes can't help himself but be struck with a sense of empathy for the villain. He remembers how he felt after the death of his father. He knows how it feels to live without a mother.

He thinks of the desperation he himself felt to find out who was at fault, and he thinks about Claudius. He thinks about how quick Claudius was to encourage his vengeful plans. He thinks about how Claudius had the opportunity to stop his own wife from drinking poison, but said nothing. He thinks about how the prince acted towards Claudius in the time before he left the country. He thinks about how the prince was then, grieving over the death of his father.

Something starts to make sense.

There's not a full hour between them. Maybe, in these last moments, he won't be the only one avenged.

Laertes calls out to Hamlet and warns him of his fate, revealing Claudius' plan. Within less than a minute, the king is dead.

There never was enough time to get a further explanation from either party, but in the little time they had left, some understanding was had. Perhaps it was Laertes' empathy. Perhaps it was his realisations. Perhaps it was the dwindling clock, and the idea that he'd see his father and sister again soon.

He'd talk it out with Hamlet then. For now, his and his father's death did not come upon him, nor his on himself.

[asherloki]

NSFW alphabet with Sherlock

So the NSFW alphabet is also out! I hope you like it!

A-after care:- I believe Sherlock would kiss reader's whole face, and even pinch cheeks and all and ask "you okay?" With a pretty smile.

B-body part:- tough one because Sherlock isn't really into physical appearance, I guess he'll love all body parts of reader equally, with every flaws and perfection.

C-cum:- he likes to cum on pussy, you can't convince me otherwise, either in or if out then pussy or lower tummy of the reader for sure.

D-dirty secret:- ooohhh I think he has weakness for the faces and little sounds reader makes while he fucks hard, the helpless, pleased baby girl under him at his mercy.

E-experience :- I don't think he has much experience, he can be a virgin as well, but he's a fast learner so you know...

F-favourite position:- missionary hands down, he likes it classic, but he doesn't mind reader riding him either. Whatever it is has to be slow sensual and loving.

G-goofy:- oh he's very goody, he'd often make comments that can be funny or sexy, he likes to make reader laugh too. He's serious other times but not with reader atleast not during love making.

H- hair :- he's not well groomed all the time, the man drowns himself in work but maybe once in a blue moon he plans a romantic night for reader and that's when he likes to be well groomed.

I-intimacy :- as I said he's into missionary, he loves the intimacy. It's just reader and he. He can't have sex without love and trust. He's a man who has guards on. He'd only be intimate with reader because he only trusts and loves reader, whom, he knows won't take advantage of his vulnerability.

J-jack off:- I believe he watches porn to let his frustration off sometimes. But he does it rarely, he is into his works more.

K-kink:- I think he has praise kink, he likes to show off and likes to get compliments, also he likes to hear 'daddy' from the reader. So maybe age play. As he is the one to have the control.

L-location :- his bed ofcourse, but he can be very naughty, he'd love to fuck reader at her place, also his chair? Oh and against the bookshelf.

M-motivation :- reader wearing something that'd make her look elegant, nothing revealing, he's very much into respectful appearance and elegance so something beautiful that he'd die to touch her, readers whimpers and maybe a smirk by reader too, anything that he likes about reader.

N-no :- he dislikes BDSM, he hates to hurt the reader, he will never to anything extreme.

O-oral:- he likes to give and receive it both, that's it.

P-pace:- hmmmm, depends on how much time he and the reader has, if it's in the flat where no one will disturb them slow and sensual is his preference.

Q-quickie:- he doesn't gets much time off cases, and when he does he likes to have a slow sensual sex but there are times he would go for a quickie maybe most likely not. He doesn't have sex for the sake of having sex.

R-risk :- he likes risk in life but with reader he just wants a loving time, he may experiment with positions though, he would love to try something new (I have fascination for his handcuffs though).

S-stamina:- oh he will go for many rounds, as I said sometimes he doesn't have time off his cases but when he does he will go for rounds and rounds.

T-toys:- he may surprise reader with toys, and he'll love to try them.

U-unfair:- he's a little prankster boy, it's like after an argument he'll deny reader a good release just to punish her for being rude to him.

V-volume:- he's not loud but when he's close he can be loud.

W-wild card:- I think he'd praise reader after sex alot like "that's my princess" or maybe "you're beautiful".

X-xray:- he's probably big, but not that thinck, but who cares, when the man is this lovely.

Y-yearning:- he's not sexually driven, even in the least, since reader, he considered even having sex, but it's not his priority.

Z-zzz:- nah! This man has work, he'd cuddle reader to sleep then go out and take one of the cases that has been lying there.

[idontactuallywherepjs]

pt. 4

super fast can mean a couple days right?

I really liked the portion of the book that was just the boys traveling and Gilan teaching them.

Solidifying his role as the big brother.

He seemed both patient and stressed at the same time and y'know what? Fair.

I too would be really worried if I was babysitting a pair of sixteen year old boys, friends no less, who were not the most careful pair in a different country which seemed to have it's own mysterious disaster strike right as ours had just entered a war, and we needed their army so we all didn't die.

He hid a lot of his stress well though, he seemed very levelheaded during the tenser moments.

I really like Will. I like his character, I feel like he's decently well rounded and a good protagonist. He's probably my favorite character.

I really really like how annoying he is. I like that he trys to act like he knows more than he does when trying to impress both Halt and Gilan, and gets humbled both times. He made that same mistake about a year apart, and it should have been annoying because didn't he already learn this in the first book? Yes. Does he need to learn it again in this book? Also Yes. He's a kid whose trying to make a good impression on people he respects and show off to one of his friends and he fails spectacularly at it each time because he's young and learning and an apprentice.

One of his greatest strengths is his mind, and how smart he is. A flaw is that he doesn't want people to see he doesn't know something, a flaw that could be detrimental to being a Ranger.

He's learning this lesson multiple times without it being over done, and that makes him more likeable because it's such a real flaw, but not excessive and annoying.

I also really like the fact that while Horace and Will are close friends in this book, there were still a couple of rocky moments, because their relationship changed so recently. A lot of other stories would skip over any awkwardness in a relationship like this because it's not the focus anymore. Their friends now, it's a done deal right? NO. They had an argument and moved past it almost immediately because they're friends now but that doesn't erase the rest of their lives.

I was pulling my hair out when they started sparring though because guys you're not safely in familiar territory anymore and there's something weird going on.

I also really like that the two of them are freaking each other out about the situation more than they need to. Theyre kids. They're scared. It's great.

Will's love for Tug conquers all. Adorable. He loves Tug. He feels so bad he didn't listen when Tug warned him about the bandits. So sweet.

The bandits getting their asses beat.

Evanlyn you scared the life out of everyone, Welcome aboard.

Gilan trusting Will to lead and keep everyone is so sweet. He believes in Will and i just. My heart. They're brothers you're honor they love each other.

Gilan leaving the kids thinking they'll be safe is. This man is about to feel so guilty.

[true-illusion]

So, I finally got round to watching the new Doctor Who season.

I had lost interest since Clara became the companion and after Peter Capaldi was the Doctor. I only watched two episodes of Jodi Whitaker - the first episode and the one with John Barrowman and Jo Martin. I thought both episodes were rubbish. Plus, it took effort to find and download the show, so I stopped watching. I haven’t gotten round to the Tennant specials cos I thought they were just nostalgia bait.

So, I was very sceptical, going in to Ncuti Gatwa’s era. I worried it would be another snooze fest that was more interested in being PC and box-ticking than telling a good story. But I had nothing else to do, and it was on Disney, so I turned it on.

IT WAS SO GOOD. I binge watched the whole thing in two days.

I could definitely see Russell T. Davis’ hand in it. It felt like the Eccleston and Tennant era episodes. It was exciting and fun and funny, but not too silly. They made a social point without being too preachy. Ncuti Gatwa is growing on me - I think the binge watching format made it harder to sink in that, "yes, he’s the Doctor". But I’m getting there.

But, I think it was Ruby that carried the season. There were quite a few Rose-type moments. But she was different enough to be her own person. I liked Ruby overall. She was sweet, she felt genuine, and she was not forced into that “sassy/arrogant” characterisation. I was invested in her story.

Her mum was not bad - Jackie Tyler was still better, imo, cos though she had a heart of gold, she still had her flaws. Ruby’s mum was just too perfect. Gran was hilarious though. I want more scenes with Gran just waiting for someone to finally give her a cuppa.

[ALERT: SPOILERS AHEAD]

Some episodes were better than others. Episode 2 “The Devil’s Chord” was AMAZING; it is the episode I want to go back and rewatch. They should have incorporated “American Pie” into it at some point. Haha! Jinkx Monsoon as the Maestro was brilliant. It was so larger-than-life and over-the-top, it was fantastic. Only thing I hated was the twist song at the end. Cringe.

Episode 5 “Dot and Bubble” was also amazing because of how disturbing it was. How people cannot function - cannot look at the world, can't even walk - without the devices, how Lindy sacrificed Ricky to save herself, how they refused to let the Doctor save them in the end. It felt like a reflection of our society and the trajectory we could be on.

Episode 1 “Space Babies” was pretty lame. If I had seen that first instead of the Christmas episode, I might have not continued. The babies were just cringe, and the snot monster… ugh. Plus, with the space station and giving Ruby universal roaming which she immediately called her mum with - it was a bit too much like Eccleston’s Doctor and Rose’s first outing.

The Christmas episode itself also wasn’t great, but it introduced the characters and the season's central mystery well, and got me interested in them. The episode reminded me of Labyrinth. “Magic Dance” kept running through my head. The bad-luck goblins were funny. Unfortunately, this Goblin King is no David Bowie. Also, no sinister robot Santas or killer Christmas trees that were a staple of past Christmas specials. It irked me a bit that the entire season’s central mystery might have been solved if the Doctor had just went up to Ruby’s mother then. He knew she was looking for her mother. He knew they couldn’t go back cos he couldn’t cross his own timeline. So why didn’t he go to her?? (Ok, then there wouldn’t be drama for the rest of the season. Lol!)

Episode 3 “Boom” was also weak. It tried to deal with strong themes - war, family, faith. It introduced interesting technology. But the story itself doesn’t hold up too well. The way the war started and continued was just too far fetched. I thought it was cool that majority of the thing took place just in that one crater though.

Meanwhile, other episodes left question marks. Episode 4 “73 Yards” was good (I loved the Welsh landscape), but a bit too much of building up to something and then it’s an anticlimax. Eg the people at the pub building up to some horror movie scenario, and then it was just some delivery person at the door. Roger just running away and giving up politics just like that? Maybe I just wasn’t paying full attention, but it was a bit too timey-wimey and weird. What was it that the woman said to all those people to make them run away screaming? Was she really Ruby all along? Where was the Doctor all that time?

And episode 6 “Rogue”… silly story with the cosplaying aliens, but it was a nice bit of fun after “Dot and Bubble”. It made me laugh the way they kept referencing Bridgerton, and how the characters were all about the Drama, with a capital D. The resolution of Ruby pretending to be the Chuldur was very disappointing bait-and-switch. But I love Rogue. I want to see more of him. Why couldn’t he stay? He could be the new Captain Jack Harkness (not that anyone could replace Capt Jack Harkness). Rogue and the Doctor together was something special (and not just in the sexual way). I want him as another companion. But the way it ended, I don’t think we’d see him again.

I don’t have much to say about the last two finale episodes, “The Legend of Ruby Sunday” and “Empire of Death”. It was a rollercoaster. It was intense. It was a bit too “Bad Wolf”. There was a lot going on but I’m not really sure what was happening. I liked seeing Kate from UNIT and the old companion Mel. Kate’s “sign out” line made me emotional. Unfortunately, she didn’t stay dead in the end. I also never watched the old episodes with Sutekh, so I don’t think I got it. The scale of the destruction was just too big in this story. The Doctor just randomly going down to that planet to get the spoon… why? If Sutekh could track dead skin cells then why couldn’t he get to the Doctor instead of through Mel? And just conveniently, the DNA test law pops up. Did Ruby find her mother in the database or not? The end resolution with the magic rope and thingy felt, again, like more bait-and-switch. I was intrigued about the concept of how Ruby’s mother is not actually important except that they had placed importance on her, thereby imbuing her with more worth. But I don’t get why Sutekh couldn’t see her or why he cared. But again, maybe I wasn’t paying full attention. The end ending was sweet - how the Doctor didn’t think Ruby should go talk to her mother but Ruby did it anyway and it worked out well. And then more questions at the end. Who exactly is that neighbour woman?

I hope Ruby returns next season. Honestly, I watched this season more for her than for the Doctor. I'm glad I gave this season a chance. I’ll watch next season, for sure.

[most-datable-datable-bracket]

ROUND 4 MATCH 8

Derek propaganda:

“Extreme hot take but Derek is the best OL1 love interest. He has the best and sweetest confession in the game. You play video games together. He seems reserved until you actually start dating and find out that he's actually just a gentleman who didn't want to be overly forward with someone he's not in a relationship with. He's a family man. You get to blatantly abuse your 'dating' privileges in front of his brothers. He's just so insanely sweet and caring and makes me wanna cry whenever I play his DLC.”

“- Impossible to dislike

- No, like, literally impossible. OL1 will allow you to be indifferent to it's two other LIs, Cove and Baxter but you actually can't pick that option for Derek. Game decided that You Will Be (at least) Friends With Derek

- This boy is so good!!!! He's a sweetheart and has your back in the best way and he's constantly doing his best to make sure the people around him (especially you) are happy

- This is also a complex flaw of his because he feels like he needs to be the best that he can be and to be worth something

- This both manifests in how he treats others (he's exceedingly well-mannered and does everything for others because he secretly hopes that someday someone will do the same for him) and his career prospects (he takes on excessive practice to get good at football/soccer so that he can potentially get a scholarship and become famous all so he can potenially feel like he's worth something. This is actually a major conflict in his Step 4)

- His DLC also has some of the best moments in the game

- He also has a family and they're also really good and you get to see a lot of them

- His dad is hilarious, his mom is gorgeous and their relationship is very cute

- Meanwhile, Derek's brothers are great. I wanna gush about them because I love them but also play Derek's DLC yourself!!! See how good they are for yourself!!!!

- I will say that these three have a really good relationship dynamic and the development it takes in the 10 years between when you first meet Jorge and Nico as little kids to Step 4 where they're adults (and a teenager, Nico is 16 in Step 4) is genuinely very well written

- If you're into the steamy stuff, Derek also has the best make-out session out of all of the boys

- He's also just. Very funny. This boy will invite you to a waterpark and then ask you if its a date so he knows whether or not it's ok to check you out in your swimsuit

- Or, if you aren't dating by that point (but you do want to to date him), the narration will note how he's trying so so hard not to check you out, he's just trying so so so hard

- Puppy dog face. Look at it. Tell me you can look at that face and not want to smooch him

- His confession is also the best, did I mention it's the best? Because it's absolutely the best one in the entire game

- He has a whole thing about having to confess to you on a ferris wheel and he's so committed to it that he actually avoided ferris wheels for a long time before this confession because he promised himself he'd do it the next time he went on one

- And then he went on one...and he literally doesn't confess when he does it because he lost track of time and he had to get off

- so he asks you to go on the ferris wheel with him again so he can actually confess this time

Just. Just vote for him!!!!”

“He's sweet, polite, and out-going and is always willing to put you first (sometimes too willing).”

“polite responsible jock u r NOT immune to this”

Zen propaganda:

"Extremely handsome, HES A MUSICAL ACTOR FKFNKSNSJ, deep and relatable family trauma, He's genuinely a good person behind the vainness <3"

[sincerelyamee]

✨ Villain Sashisu AU because the world needs this - aka what happens when Gojo and Shoko run away with their mass-murderer boyfriend ✨

With a sizable stack of new identities and paperwork secured, the trio decides a celebratory round of drinks out on the balcony is well in order. Shoko and Geto happily pass a bottle of top-shelf vodka back and forth between them, savoring the slow burn as it travels down their throats.

Meanwhile, Gojo gleefully takes up his usual perch beside them, knees pulled up to his chest as he chugs away at an obnoxiously colorful fruity soda. Because for as powerful and seemingly indestructible as the great Gojo Satoru may be, the man has one fatal, crippling flaw:

He cannot have even a single sip of alcohol without immediately passing out in a listless, drooling heap – only to awaken hours later with a horrendous migraine rivaled only by the sheer devastation he inevitably unleashes upon those unfortunate enough to be near him in that fragile state.

Needless to say, nothing positive has ever come from witnessing Gojo attempt the hard stuff. A harsh lesson Geto and Shoko learned far too many times over the years.

Though despite his inability to partake in the debauched vice, Gojo seems perfectly content to alternate between shoveling down fistfuls of salty chips and taking noisy slurps from his radioactive-bright beverage. He never quite understood the allure of cigarettes and liquor anyway – those were always more of Shoko and Geto’s things than his.

What does trouble Gojo, however, is the mere prospect of being separated from his two closest people, even for a short while. In his simple yet stubborn psyche, he, Shoko, and Geto are a singular, unbreakable package deal.

So even if he can’t directly partake in their chosen indulgences, Gojo makes sure to indelibly insert himself into the mix regardless. Be it wedging his wiry frame between them on the couch, casually draping an arm around whichever set of shoulders is nearest, or pelting them both with a relentless stream of nonsensical jokes and conversation just for the sake of hearing his own voice.

He is present, dammit – an undeniable part of their dynamic whether the other two want him there or not… at least until they inevitably attempt to retreat to the sanctity of the restroom. Gojo learned the hard way that certain sacred thresholds simply cannot be breached without invoking the demonic, blinding fury of Shoko’s wrath.

But outside of that incredibly specific scenario, he remains their dedicated third wheel, as inseparable from their sides as his very shadows. The ridiculously boyish slurps and crunches from his collection of treats are only occasionally drowned out by a bark of sharp laughter or exaggerated imitation as Shoko and Geto slip further into warm inebriation over the balcony’s edge.

That is, until one or both of them inevitably tries to push away from the railing with flushed cheeks, undoubtedly intending to stumble off towards their respective bed for the evening… only to find resistance in the form of Gojo staunchly clinging to their arm or pant leg like a petulant toddler.

“Whoa, where d’you two think you’re goin, huh?” he whines around a mouthful of chips, otherworldly eyes comically wide with faux-hurt. “The fun’s just getting started!”

Whether they shove him off with good-natured exasperation or simply concede, allowing Gojo to trail behind them with a sulking slouch, the end result is ultimately the same. Tomorrow morning will inevitably find all three of them tangled in an unholy sprawl upon the largest available sleeping surface, hangovers be damned.

They are a packaged deal, after all – the three greatest villains against the world. And if Gojo has any say in it whatsoever, that’s exactly how they’ll remain until the bitter, punch-drunk end.

Read the whole fic on Ao3: A Family of Villains - A wacky villain origin story/Kinda a slice-of-life fic exploring the logistics of sashisu being the greatest villains in the jujutsu world while being 18, on the run, and raising 4 kids. Mostly fluff and humor of course.

[linkspooky]

Yu-Gi-Oh GX Season 2 - The Fool's Journey

This is an analysis of Yu Gi Oh Gx's season 2's use of Tarot, in regerence to the Fool's Journey, specifically in regards to our proverbial fool and favorite idiot Judai Yuki, and every other Tarot card referenced in this season. Of course, this requires coming through every season 2 episode to look at each individual card Saiou pulled from the deck or referenced so pardon me this is going to be a long one.

What is The Fool's Journey

The Fool’s Journey is a sequence of 22 cards, from 00 the fool and 21 the world. It’s meant to represent the journey of the proverbial fool, a blank slate defined by both naivete and ignorance in their personal growth. In other words the fool leaves on a journey...

...to grow from a child to an adult.

In this journey each card is symbolic for a stage, person or ecounter that the fool makes on his journey of personal growth, and the fool must weather all of them in the journey he can't skip the so-called "disaster" cards like "The Devil" or "The Tower" because part of life is coping with tragedy and loss. So the fool's journey is essentially twenty-two cards that represent different encounters, events, and people in a person's life as they grow up.

Judai is the focal character of Yu Gi Oh GX, and while other characters do matter the central focus of the anime is Judai growing from his "pure" childlike self into a fully grown, well-rounded adult.

The Tarot symbolism is most prominent in season 2, but I'd argue that much like the alchemical symbolism it permeates the whole show especially labeling Judai as the fool. Make no mistake from episode 1 on he's the fool, the very first thing he does in series is run into a magician (Yugi who's signature card is Black Magician) who gives him guidance (the second step of the Fool's Journey. I'm going to quote another post here who states it better than me.

In GX, Judai is, symbolically speaking, The Fool of the Tarot Deck, the Novice Alchemist — a person brimming with infinite potential, yet one who is also supremely ignorant, who walks forward with his eyes closed and often unknowingly causes harm in his great ignorance. In this, he is very much the embodiment of the faults we most commonly associate with teenagers — selfishness, recklessness, shallowness, a lack of dedication or empathy when it’s most needed. Like most people, he has good traits that work to balance out some of the above, but his narrative path through GX ends up being that of the flawed hero undone by his faults — and then that of the atoner, the repentant sinner. In his case, the mistakes of his teenage years are the catalyst for his growth from a boy into a man burdened with duty and purpose. 

Judai is a blank slate brimming with potential like the fool, and he's also an ignorant child who doesn't look before he leaps - and there are great consequences for his ignorance. Even in Season 2, a majority of the conflict could have been avoided with the Light if Judai was on the ball, instead of ignoring his friends for weeks after they were brainwashed. Judai is more often than not someone who has to be pushed into being a hero, not someone who voluntarily walks the path and this is something that lets the villains easily manipulate him. Especially in Season 2 where the main villain Saiou's gimmick is convincing the other characters that he's in control of their fate. Someone who doesn't grab the reigns, who doesn't try to control their life will see reality as something that happens to them rather than something they make with every single decision and those people are the kind who easy fall prey to Saiou's manipulations.

It's easy to see life as entirely out of your control if you don't take control. For Judai this manifests in two seasons worth of him resisting growing up and taking responsibility. As the fool he's not wise to the world and because of that, he's often caught guard by what's happening around him and the schemes of villains until it's almost too late.

The need for Judai's growth is especially emphasized in Season 3, where his "pure" nature that he's constantly praised for in the first two seasons becomes heavily criticized as a character flaw. However, the setup is present in Season 2. The first card that Saiou pulls for Judai is the fool, specifically after all of Judai's cards have gone blank and he leaves the academy. The fool is wandering in search of something, because the Fool is missing somethig. You don't leave to go on a journey if you're content and have everything you need at home.

We'll learn in Season 3 just what it is Judai is missing (*cough* Yubel *cough*) but this begs the question if Judai actually needed to reunite with Yubel. After all for the first two seasons Judai seemed to be managing fine without Yubel. In a jungian sense, yes he did because Judai in seasons 1 and 2 had yet to go through the process of individuation. It's the process by which one achieves psychic wholeness, similar to the fool's journey it's necessary for growing up and becoming one's own self.

Judai cannot continue to remain a child, nor can he remain "pure" because pure people don't exist in this world. Judai's pureness comes from a mix of innocence and ignorance, because he's quite literally forgotten some of the darker memories of his past (like Yubel quite literally sending all of his friends into comas until everyone became scared of him) and also from a refusal to "get smarter' or "grow up" on his end. For example does all of the trouble Judai faces in Season 3 come entirely from Yubel, or does Judai also struggle because behaviors that are okay when your first year of high school and still growing become less okay in your third year?

Judai's childish and pure heart that makes him the fool is both his greatest strength and weakness, his strength because he's optimistic, open to new experiences and generally trusting of people which makes him so easy to befriend. However it's a flaw when Judai's childishness turns into childlike selfishess, when his ignorance leads to him making foolish, impulsive decisions. Judai's downright refusal to think, about other people's feelings, about the consequences of his actions leads to great suffering later down the line. After all in the art of the Rider-Waite Tarot card, the Fool is taking the first step of their journey blithefully unaware that they're about to walk right off of a cliff.

So the Fool's Journey is something Judai must complete to grow up and complete his character arc, because the fool may be innocent, and pure of heart, but they're also empty and empty things need to be filled. Each of the cards Saiou pulls this season, are representative of Judai's journey throughout season 2 and some of these are going to be characters, because some of the cards represent people the fool encounters.

Destiny

Before I start breaking down every single tarot card that Saiou pulls, I also want to go into why Destiny is such a huge theme in season 2. There's Saiou's ability to see the future, the multiple tarot cards that are refereced, Saiou's entire deck archetype being based around the major arcana with "Arcana Force" monsters, Edo's obsession with Destiny, the "D-Heroes" or Destiny Hero Archetype that Edo plays which work around the concept of effects that manipulate time (such as sending a card two turns into the future, or flipping over a spell card on your deck to use next turn.)

This season isn't just a typical "there's no such thing as destiny, you can change your fate if you want to" story, because of the way it uses tarot symbolism / Jungian Symbolism. Basically the whole theme of Season 2 (and the leadup to Season 3) boils down to this quote.

“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will rule your life and you will call it Fate.” CG JUNG

The biggest example of this is Edo, who is also someone who desperately wants to believe in destiny, and that he's a person chosen for a great destiny at the beginning of the season.

Edo’s obsession with destiny comes from not wanting to confront his past and his inner wounded child. If he believes he’s a chosen hero on a quest for revenge, he doesn’t have to confront what DD pointed out that he’s still the grieving child who lost his father.

Since Edo ignores the unconscious, he is for most of the story a pawn in some way or another. He’s a pawn to Saio believing and following his prophecies, he’s a pawn to DD who killed his father never once suspecting him. 

Characters who ignore the unconscious, become pawns of Saiou / the Light. What this basically means is that if you are not aware of a flaw you have, you'll be sabotaged by it in some way. Problems don't usually go away by ignoring them after all as nice as that would be. In Jungian symbolism the shadow is made up of the flaws that you would rather ignore or not confront, and all other parts of the personality that you're not aware of. Confronting the shadow is necessary for individuation which is the same goal as the Fool's Journey. Saiou's strategy is to duel someone, exploit some subconscious flaw, Manjoume's inferiority complex towards Judai, The pressure Asuka feels to conform, Misawa's desire for validation and praise from his peers. Once he's exploited that flaw he brainwashes them with the light, because while being controlled they don't have to think about that flaw. Since they don't want to confront their flaw / shadow and it's easier to just keep o ignoring it then they become pawns to destiny.

Now, for the breakdown of every card that Saiou references this season.

53: Destiny Begins The Freshman Edo Phoenix

Pull #1: Death in Reverse

XII - Death I am Wary

Death doesn't mean literla death, but rather change. Dath means change. Death means change. Death means change. Means change.

However, Saiou pulls Death from the deck inverted. You have to have death to have rebirth. If it's inverted then it's stagnancy. It's refusing to acknowledge change, or in some cases it's refusing to grieve and because of that you're unable to move on or move forward.

The situation that Saiou pulls this in is during the middle of Edo's duel with Judai. A duel that Saiou set up, and then told Edo to lose, which Edo obeys because up until a certain point he's always done what Saiou's deck told him to do - because of his firm belief in destiny.

Death in reverse in this case is Edo - because his desire to belief in destiny comes from his refusal to grieve or move on from his father's death. If he believes that everything is predetermined and he's a chosen one, then he's not some sad orphaned kid, he's a hero with a great destiny ahead of him.

Edo is the one refusing to acknowledge death, and refusing to grieve, and therefore he's the one who is stagnating at the start of the story.

Pull #2: Chariot in Reverse

VII - The Chariot I am Driving

The chariot is the card of ambition, action, energy and most of all control. In the rider waite tarot the image is of a hero riding the chariot. However, in reverse it means a hesitation to grab onto the reigns and take control of your life.

This is once again in reference to Edo, who because of his belief in destiny leaves all the decision making up to Saiou. Edo who would normally be a very strong, ambitious, willfull individual is easily manipulated by Saiou because he refuses to take the reigns into his own hands.

The chariot in reverse can also sometimes mean chaos, as in someone who refuses to take control of his life in an "I do what I want" sort of way. In that case it could be referring to Judai, especially the way Judai's extremely self-centered egotism, only dueling for fun compares to how Edo who is always carrying massive burdens on his shoulders and believes a hero has to carry such things (in spire of the fact that Edo is essentially still a child, just a child playing at being an adult). Saiou says that a encounter with Judai is necessary for Edo's growth and that's true, because Edo just like Judai is still a child, but Judai's aware of that fact whereas Edo thinks he's an adult when he's not. Sometimes the first step to growth is taking a good long look in the mirror.

57: The Kaiser vs. Ed

Pull #1: The Chariot - Upright

I already elaborated on the Chariot's meaning above - but it's upright this time. There's an interesting line where Edo says he was going to win his first duel with Judai until Saiou ordered him to lose. Which implies that it's not destiny at play here, but rather Edo's belief in destiny which influences his choices.

The Chariot could also be a reference to Hell Kaiser Ryo. As the sense of loss and powerlessness in this episode that Kaiser experiences humiliates him enough that he has a full breakdown and becomes obsessed with achieving victory above everything else - much like the triumphant hero holding the reigns of the chariot.

Unlike other characters who fall prey to possession (Fubuki, Asuka, Manjoume, etc...) Ryo repeatedly emphasizes that he's not being possessed by darkness internal or otherwise, his apparent change in behavior is the result of his own decisions. Ryou for all of his flaws is much more of an adult than Edo who's being controlled for more than half of the season because of his belief than destiny, he takes responsibility for his own choices when others like Fubuki try to make excuses for him.

In that sense he embodies the chariot much more than Edo as it's the card of having both hands on the wheel. Though once again the chariot in reverse is the perfect card for Edo, because Saiou's trick is convincing people they're not in control of their destiny which is when he starts making all of your choices for you.

61 - Enter Saiou the Tarot Deck of Destiny

He is a duelist who is able to communicate deeply with Duel Spirits - or so my divinations tell me.

X - Wheel of Fortune: I am changing

Saiou pulls this card after Judai's deck has been bleached, when he's standing on the precipice to leave Duel Academy where he'll later have an encounter with the Neo-Spacians. He doesn't name the card, but it's clearly the Wheel of Fortune, he later pulled the card in association with Edo when he believed Edo was the one who could change his eventual fate.

Here Saiou pulls the card while ruminating on Judai's connection to the spirits. In context he believes the spirits are what's protecting him from the fool as pictured above. I went into great detail for how the fool represents Judai so let's skip that to stop from repeating myself and focus on the Wheel of Fortune.

The wheel of fortune is chaotic chance by the ordained power of gods and the celestial heavens/earth. It's also a card heavily associated with Alchemy.

“The Waite-Smith Wheel of Fortune is fourfold in construction, signaling all that is known in the world of matter: directions, elements, Kabbalistic worlds, fixed signs of the zodiac, etc. Spaced around the wheel’s rim is the divine name, , counterchanged with English letters. Most will instantly pick up the word TARO(T)—sometimes called the “book of fate.” But you might also see ROTA (“wheel”), ORAT (“speaks”), TORA (the law or “Torah”), and ATOR (“Hathor”). Alchemical glyphs adorn the axes of the circle. At the top, mercury’s symbol; at left, the salt symbol; at right, the sulfur symbol. These three are the tria prima of alchemy. The glyph at the bottom, though it resembles the Aquarius glyph, is more likely the alchemical sign for multiplication, a process by which the alchemical product becomes more voluminous. Or the four symbols may be elemental: mercury/air, sulfur/fire, salt/earth, wavy final glyph/water. Atop the Wheel is the enigmatic sphinx. Modern tarot scholars consider the yellow descending serpent to be monstrous Typhon and the red “devil” figure to be jackal-headed psychopomp Hermanubis. The Kerubic beasts from Ezekiel 10 occupy the card’s four corners; their books may be the Gospels: Lion[…]” Excerpt From Tarot Deciphered T. Susan Chang

The connection to divine aspect in this context is Judai's connection to the spirits. However, pulling the Fool right afterwards is interesting because it's the card of ignorance. Judai doesn't know why he's connected to the spirits because he's forgotten, both his childhood connection to Yubel and the fact he could see spirits long ago. This is a plot point that's foreshadowed three times, first Judai telling a scary story to his dormmates of when he used to hear spirits in his childhood, then in season 2 when he suddenly remembers entering the Kaiba Corp contest for the Neo-Spacians, that's only half the story though as in season 3 Judai begins to question when he first saw spirits until he finally remembers Yubel and sending them away on another satellite.

The last card he pulls is the hanged man which is a card tied directly to Manjoume. Manjoume is Judai's foil in a sense. Saiou even uses Manjuoume as a replacement head of the cult something he originally planned for Judai. Manjoume also primarily wears black, a color associated with Nigredo. Nigredo is the first stage of alchemy the where most of the impurities are boiled out until the alchemical mixture turns pitch black. Manjoume similiarly, is a character who carries around an inferiority complex and constantly battles with his low self-worth and the pressure to succeed unlike Judai who spends the first two seasons repressing all those feelings.

XII - The Hanged Man I am releasing.

Some people argue that Manjoume has no character arc past season 1, but I'd argue being the villain exploiting you with your worst insecurities and flaws is impressive character work because we learn a great deal about Manjoume here.

The hanged man is the card of surrender to outside forces, the card of taking time to contemplate, and also the card of self-proclaimed martyrdom.

There is more than one religion that speaks of a man hanged from a tree. Mithras in roman mythology, Odin from Norse, Jesus in Christianity, and Osiris from Egypt. This card is often interpreted as a representative of martyrdom - the more accurate word other than a martyr is sacrifice. One of my friends recently shared this with me: "Remember that surrender is an act of will. It is a choice to unclench one's fist and hang oneself upside down and stay there." Kitchen Table Tarot

The use of the word "Sacrifice" is ironic here, because Manjoume is basically used as a human sacrifice to become a vessel of the Light of Destruction.

Using the Hanged Man as the Self-Made Martyr is meaningful here too, because Kenzan proves that losing a duel to Saiou doesn't automatically result in brainwashing. My theory on what makes others fall prey to the light's influence is when they accept Saiou's words about their inner desires, essentially falling prey to their insecurities. The light is a relief in a way to those riddled by insecurities they don't have to to think about the things that worry them if they're brainwashed. If you think about it, Manjoume is exploited for his inferiority complex, Asuka is forced to conform into a more feminine role, and Misawa joins a cult to get validation from his peers after they start ignoring him.

The Hanged Man is all about the choice to hang oneself, and while Saiou is incredibly forceful including using the surrounding plant life to hang Manjoume the card ultimately implies it was Manjoume's choice ultimately because he kept judging himself on his ability to beat Judai instead of just looking at his own merits.

You have a rival that you wish to surpass. However, deep within your heart you have all but surrendered. That's not all, you even entice him with friendship in order to prolong your battle. Yes stagnation stemming from a failure to defeat Judai. You cannot continue like this. That said, you happened to pull he who hung in reverse. This foretells progress from stangation.

The choice to stop believing in his own cards and accept the cards that Saiou gave him was ultimately his own in that moment. As evidenced by the fact that Manjoume is able to throw off his own brainwashing later on and take the Ojamas back.

In the duel itself the hanged man arcana force card lands in reverse, and the meaning is exactly as Saiou states it, stagnation, but a stagnation you have to make the decision to pull yourself out of. "That said you happened to pull he who was hung in reverse. This foretells progress from stagnation. Yes - one can choose their destiny."

Of course the irony here is Manjoume's not really making the choice to escape stagnation here, because he's accepting Saiou's will over his own.

62 - A New E-Hero Neos!

This time a card falls out of Saiou's deck, which is something that happens in real life all the time actually when I'm doing readings. Which is a fun little detail the creators threw in. The card itself is death, it falls in a diagonal position ambiguous to whether or not it's upright or reverse which Saiou terms "rebirth if reversed, destruction if upright."

XIII - Death "I am Weary"

Saiou's reading of the card is a little weird. Death in Tarot is the card of Death and Rebirth in the sense of change. Destruction is more in the wheelhouse of the Tower.

Of course his reading could be referring to the necessity of letting things die, in order for change to occur, whether they be old ways, old ideas, etc. Death in reverse isn't rebirth though, but rather stagnancy and the resistance of destruction.

The definition of Death here does fit with the alchemy symbolism surrounding Judai's character. The main philosophy of alchemy is "Dissolve et Coagula" which basically means death and rebirth. A person is dissolved and reformed into a purer metal until eventually alchemical gold is formed. Judai is in fact a character that has been resisting death, because he spends basically two seasons a stagnant character and his immaturity as a result of his lack of growth is a big focus of season 3.

In the Fool's Journey the death tarot card is all about accepting both grief and death as inevitable facts of life.

The Fool now begins to eliminate old habits and tired approaches. He cuts out nonessentials because he appreciates the basics of life. He goes through endings as he puts the outgrown aspects of his life behind him. He process may seem like dying because it is the death (13) of his familiar self to allow for the growth of a new one.  Learntarot.com

Clinging to the familiar self is definitely a way to describe Judai. One of his biggest flaws is his tendency to settle into a comfortable status quo and take things for granted. Hence why he takes so long to try to save his friends from brainwashing in this season.

"It is the ego that sees itself as separate from life; because it is only a mask the ego does not wish to die. It wishes to make itself superior to the universe. If we accept death we will be able to live more fully. The ego never wants to release energy, it wants to hoard it more fully, as a result new energy cannot get in. " Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom: A book of Tarot

Jung even defines death of the ego as something necessary for growth.  In The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious (1959; 2nd ed., 1968), Jung characterized ego death (which he referred to as “psychic death”) as a fundamental reordering of the psyche with the liberating potential to reset human consciousness so that it might better align with the “natural” self. 

Which you know season 3 foreshadowing again, Judai accepts death in himself in quite a literal sense as the end of the season he dies and is reborn as a new being entirely.

I'm probably reading too much into it, but it's pretty clear Yubel was the plan at this point, considering both the season 1 Judai seeing spirits in his childhood, and the launching trading cards into space are both things that get added into Yubel's eventual backstory.

70 - Asuka Vs Manjoume White Thunder

The upright Hierophant! It refers to someone who will be of use. Could this mean that it is Judai Yuki and not Edo Phoenix that I need?

V - The Hierophant I am unlocking

In this scene Saiou directly states the card could be referring to either Edo or Judai. Sorry Asuka no card for you this episode (if I had to assign her a card it would be the high priestess passive, feminine inspiration who appears after the Magician she is basically the first friend Judai makes and one of his first duels when he comes to Duel Academy). The hierophant is also the masculine counterpart to the high priestess so that's more evidence for Asuka being subtly marked as the high priestess.

Saiou first pulled the Hierophant in the past shortly after meeting Edo, to show Edo his belief that Edo can be the one to change the terrible future he's predicted for himself.

The hierophant sits between two pillars wearing three robes - red blue, and white - and a three-tiered crown, both erepresenting the three worlds over which he rules (the ego, the id, and the supergo). In his left hand he holds the Papl Cross. He raises his right hand in a blessing, with one two fingers pointed to the Heavens and two to Earth. This represents the connction between man and the divine. While the crossed keys at the Hierophants feet represent the balance between the conscious and subconscious minds. Overall it's a card for a figure that appears and offers you guidance.

A card that is appropriate for Saiou who's conscious and subconscious minds are completely out of whack. The state of Saiou's possession is left a little bit ambiguous in the text. Saiou claims he's completely controlled by the Light of Desstruction, split into two entirely seperate halfs ala Marik and Dark Marik. His good half does in fact go to Edo and help him in the duel. However, the Light of Destruction claims that he is Saiou, and he's enacting Saiou's vengeance against a world that shunned and feared him for his powers. However, either way the fact that Saiou has divided himself into two distinct halves shows a serious imbalance in his conscious and subconscious he wishes Edo to help him fix.

Before the Hierophant kneels two followers. The hierophant's role is to pass down spiritual wisdom. That's likely the Judai part of the card.

I read something that likened the Hierophant to trickster gods. What's this? Coyote, Hermes, Fox, Loki - they take information that we can't quite wrap our heads around and make it discernible. The Trickster is the messenger between the gods and Man. Stealing fire, teaching us forbiddensecrets, giving us an apple. Joseph Sober called the Hierophant "He who shows the Sacred" in The Book of Oracles, or A Poet's Tarot.

If the Hierophant is linked to trickster gods as well then that's the Fool / Judai's role, also as the character who acts as the messenger between spirits and humans which is Judai's role as Edo can't see spirits. Linking both Judai and Edo to this card also foreshadows Judai's eventual role as someone who becomes a guide to help Duel Spirits and Humans coexist.

Judai is also much like Edo, someone who's conscious and subconscious minds are completely out of whack. All of Season 3 is a balancing act for the 3 parts of Judai's soul, Judai (Ego), Supreme King (Id) and Yubel (Superego). The entire duel between Edo and Saiou is basically setup for what Judai must do at the end of Season 3 when facing Yubel when it's time to find balance in his soul (and Yubel is definitely his soul).

Judai is the guide between spirits and humans, but he's still in the process of learning how to guide others something that takes him about four seasons because Judai is a slow learner.

73 - Kenzan VS Saiou! It's Dinosaur DNA, Don

Saiou starts the episode with a four card spread, card one wheel of fortune, card two the fool, card three the hierophant three cards we've already covered and four is The Strength which refers to Kenzan.

And what is this card that accompanies the Fool? The Strength... Power? A symbol of unwavering Power. Do I take this to mean this one might also affect my fate?

VII - The Strength I am graceful.

That sure is interesting card art for the Strength. For the most part Saiou's cards resemble the Rider Waite decks, a religious leader for the hierophant, a fool for the fool, a figure on a chariot pulled by a two-headed figure (as opposed to two lions), Death shows a figure of Death (in Rider-Waite it's the pale horseman but in other decks it's just the reaper himself) but the Strength Card is traditionally a woman in a white dress taming a lion. The white dress is purity, the infinity symbol atop her head an endless supply of strength, and the act of taming the lion itself is feminine energy controlling the lion a symbol of untamed beastly power. Saiou's card art looks like some sort of alien crawling out of the earth with a crumbling tower and the moon in the background.

It's most likely just a reference to Saiou's alien-like / eldtrich inspired Arcana Force cards, which mixes the major arcana with lovecraftian lore to reference the alien nature of the Light of Destruction as an unknowable force from outerspace tampering with earth. Since the Strength is about taming beastly power, the representative of powr isn't a lion, but rather an alien like the strange Alien force Saiou gets his power from - which makes sense as Kenzan is the first character we're shown able to conquer the light on his own.

As I stated above it's ambiguous whether the light is straight up mind control, or just a corruption. Saiou seems to be possessed as in there is an alien force in his body controlling his body like a puppet, but the Light itself claims some part of Saiou too wants destruction. It's different then the way Yubel possesses people, which is just quite literally using their body as a puppet. Johan isn't even inside of his body when Yubel possesses him he gets shoved into a card, Yubel / Johan isn't a reflection of any of Johan's desires or internal darkness. Yubel themselves are referred to as being corrupted by the light, but they're clearly not possessed their actions are their own no matter how twisted they may be. In that case the Light is more mental damage that comes from enduring painful torture for years on end.

In Duel Links, Yubel has an encounter with Saiou where Saiou detects the light's influence on Yubel and asks them to join in his mission only for Yubel to turn them down.

Saiou: Let us fill the universe with light together. Yubel: No. Saiou: What? Yubel: I don't care about the light. I don't care about you. I only care about Judai.

Which is evidence that the Light doesn't fully possess you so much as corrupt what's already there, Yubel already had an unhealthy fixation on Judai before this and the Light made it so Yubel and Judai were the only two people in the universe that mattered in Yubel's eyes.

The point of this long tangent is that this episode shows once again that people can resist the light. As Kenzan is the first person to successfully do it, he shows that losing a duel =/= possession. Misawa wasn't even going to lose his duel, the pressure to conform and join the cult with everyone else because he wanted to be recognized by his peers just made him lose on purpose.

The Light and season 2 as a whole is a reference to the Albedo or the Whitening phase of alchemy, the second stage where the metal has been cleansed of all impurities. Similiarly, the Light seems to work by promising to cleanse the characters who fall victims to it of their impure thoughts, ie their insecurities because while being brainwashed for the whole season more or less the characters brainwashed are succumbing to flaws that are a part of their arcs for the entire show.

Manjoume is constantly battling against his inferiority complex, which is both a springboard that motivates him to get stronger but also sabotages any self confidence he might build up for himself. Asuka is continually fighting the constant pressure of Duel Academy and sometimes even the people around her like Fubuki, telling her to conform to more a more feminine ideal, the conflict between perceived obligation to fill others expectations vs. doing what you want in life. Even Manjoume and Asuka's duel is Manjoume basically brainwashing her because his subconscious romantic feelings and longing towards her makes him want to brainwash her to being his queen at his sides -> forcing her to conform to femininity when previously she responded to his feelings by telling him she didn't have room for love in her life because her first love was dueling. Misawa presents himself as an island who only cares about dueling and intellectual pursuits, but both Tanya and the Light reveal how much he needs love in his life.

When Kenzan resists the light's brainwashing he claims it's because of his dinosaur DNA, but it's more than likely Kenzan himself - his upbeat nature means he doesn't have the same insecurities that Alexis, Manjoume and Misawa have. In season 3 when he's used as a part of the sacrifice ritual to create super polymerization he even says that he's never felt such strong hatred before. Not to say Kenzan's without flaws, he idolizes Judai way too much, but he's also achieved a peace with himself other characters haven't b/c he's tamed his wild side.

You could also tie Jim Crocodile Cook in Season 3 to the strength, because he's heavy foils with Kenzan, Kenzan uses dinosaurs and Jim uses fossils, they're both tied to earth, they both are good-natured guys who value friendship and loyalty above else. Jim also plays a big role in taming the beast when it comes to the fight against the Supreme King / Haou and Judai's inner darkness. Since the Shadow in a Jungian sense is composed of all the hidden parts of our personality, including the beastial instincts that are suppressed by the ego. Jim and Kenzan by embodying the strength card, display find a balance between the ego and the shadow that other characters lack.

The fact that Jim and Kenzan also both conquer this darkness / light respectively shows that in the end it is the character's choice to succumb. Judai when succumbing to the supreme king is SHADOW POSSESSED which is a Jungian term where unaware of our worst flaws we become essentially possessed by them and unknowingly keep committing the same mistakes.

As stated above until you make the unconscious conscious it will rule your life and you will call it fate. The same mistake every character who falls victim to Saiou makes, believing fate is something that happens to them because he called a few coin flips right in a duel rather than something they create with every single decision they make.

Supreme King Judai snaps and decides that nothing else matters except for power and that if he already lost four friends to it he might as well finish Super Polymerization. He's not being puppeteered or controlled though, Judai is falling prey to his worst instincts but it's still Judai making the decisions here. Which is the same for characters possessed by the Light, ultimately Manjoume, Alexis and Misawa have to throw off the shackles themselves. Which makes these possessions part of an arc and not just the characters being reduced to agenciless puppets for half a season (no that's the zombie thing in the third season.)

They key to doing this is embracing your wild instincts / your shadow and taming them rather than trying to repress them entirely. For Manjoume it's throwing his black coat back on and embracing the fact that he's a messy person full of pride and flaws (which is color symbolism b/c the black coat is Nigredo, but also just funny because he doesn't wash his coat), for Asuka it's embracing the fact that she doesn't fit the ideal of queen of obelisk or the stereotypical unemotional ice queen because she has too many fiery emotions (elemental symbolism and color symbolism). The light tries to rid you of your shadow, but you actually need your shadow to be a whole person b/c all those niggling little flaws are a part of who you are.

97 - He Appears! The Mysterious World Champ

"He's actually searching for his father. I understand how he feels. Every man sees his father as someone to surpass eventually. However, Ed had his father taken from him by a murderer. If he wants to surpass his late father, he will have to defeat that crimminal. That's what he believes. That's why he searches so fervently for an opponent to surpass in his father's place."

There's no tarot card pulled in this episode, but these two episodes take a right turn from Jung Territory right into FreudVille with the insanely oedipal speech the principal gives about Edo's relationship with his father.

Oedipus Rex is a play about many things, chiefly family ties and fate. Oedipus hears a prophecy about killing his father and bedding his mother, so in horror he leaves his home. On the highway to thebes he gets in an argument with a man and kills him on the side of the road. Then in Thebes he solves the Sphinx's riddle and is proclaimed a hero and a king for saving the city. He marries the recetnly widowed queen and has several children with her.

Years later a plague falls upon the city. He summons the prophet Tiresias to tell him who's behind the plague, and Tiresias the blind prophet tells him that he doesn't want to know the truth. Oedipus eventually discovers that he was adopted. That his birth parents heard the same prophecy that he would kill one and bed the other, and decided to leave him on a cliff to die - only for him to be saved. The man Oedipus killed on the side of the road was Laius, the former king and his father, and his wife Jocasta is actually his mother.

Oedipus is revealed to be the culprit of the plague in Thebes all along, because he unknowingly killed his father and bed his mother. Ironically, it's also Oedipus's attempts to defy his fate that lead him to committing the sin he was prophesized to do. Oedipus believes himself to be the hero trying to solve the plague in Thebes only to learn he's the very cause of the plague.

Freud believed Oedipus Rex to be a play that speaks to a fundamental truth of the human subconscious, and named the Oedipus Complex after the play. The Oedipus Complex is a Freudian Term that states a boy develops an unconscious infatuation towards his mother and simultaneously fears his father to be a rival.

Edo doesn't even have a mother so the incestuous interpretation doesn't really apply here. Freud can be interpreted another way though, basically the first relationship we ever experience is with our parents, and the relationship we have with our parents teaches us about all other relationships in life (google attachment styles / theory this is a well studied phenomenon).

The principal takes the heavily Freudian interpretation that Edo can't grow up because due to the fact that his father died early, he never surpassed his father as young boy's due. Edo is still stuck in this stage of immaturity where he views his father as a rival because his father was taken from him too early.

Edo also symbolically kills both his father and his adoptive father in defeating DD and killing the remains of his father's soul that was in Destiny Hero Blood-D! in order to finally grow up. Symbolically he's killing his father like Oedipus, but in actuality what he's doing is choosing to let go of the feelings of the past that controlled him for so long and move on. In order to grow up you have to symbolically kill your parents, or at least in childhood your parents have control of every aspect of your life and seem all knowing and part of growing up is separating from your parents, taking control of your life and making your own decision.

Edo is more closely tied to the fate aspect of Oedipus Rex, in the sense that Edo believes himself to be the hero of the story that is center to the narrative but is blinded to the truth all along. He is even at parts the villain of the story, because for so long he helps Saiou's machinations by willingly choosing to be his puppet because he wants to believe he's a chosen, destined hero so badly.

Much like Oedipus, Edo (oh my god... is that why he's named Edo) spends his entire arc searching for the culprit when the culprit has been right next to him all along. He even gets used as a part of the culprit's plan, because DD encouraged Edo to search for the person who stole Bloo-D in order to spy on the police investigation and make sure Edo didn't get close. Edo, like Oedipus believes himself to be the hero of the story.

But maybe, being chosen by fate isn't a good thing. Oedipus technically is a hero, but he's the hero of a tragedy. He's chosen by fate, but that fate means he's ultimately helpless and agenciless destined to commit a horrible disgusting act he doesn't want to do. All of his attempts to avert his fate and exert his free will just end up with him fulfilling that horrible fate instead.

Edo wants to believe in destiny because of his childish belief in heroes, and his need for heroes to exist because his father's killer went unpunished. He also copes with the reality of his father's death by creating a fictional narrative, he was the hero, his father's death is his tragic backstory, and one day he'll avenge his father and get revenge because that's how stories go. Once again though to be a character in a story is to have no agency, because characters don't have control the authors do. Characters are just tools of the narrative, just like how Edo spends so much of his arc a tool of Saiou, and DD.

When DD is justifying himself and his actions in killing Edo's father he sounds a lot like Edo, proclaiming himself one of the chosen ones.

DD:Self-interest? Not quite. I wanted to know whether or not I was the chosen one. Just look at history - all the greats who seized power would always commit some number of crimes. In killing your father, I became a great myself and I proved my status as the chosen one. Edo: You've lost your mind! DD: Edo, I wouldn't expect a commoner like you to understand. The path of a great is a unique one, after all - one devoid of laws and common sense.

DD's logic is a reflection of Ed's, and also Saiou's, as all three of them believe themselves to be chosen by a special destiny, and in all 3 cases it's actually a terrible thing to be a chosen one. DD is even split down the middle just like Saiou, and it's implied for all the victories Bloo-D brought him he might just be possessed by that card, an angenciless tool just like Saiou is to the light.

In Season 4 Saiou even succumbs to his flaws and turns against Judai because he can't stand to be powerless, and getting his powers to see the future back is in his eyes worth the possession it might bring too. All three of these characters want to believe in a fixed destiny because it makes them special, but by believing in fate they also give up their ability to make choices and become tools. Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will ruin your life and you will call it fate.

Even Saiou's narrative of gaining revenge for his father turns out to be unsatisfying in the end, after his long quest for revenge all he accomplishes is finding out his adoptive father never once cared for him all along, and he has to kill the last living memory of his real father. The revenge that he thought would bring him closure just rips the wound right back open. His narrative is proven false and Edo is shown not to be a hero as he imagined himself, but just a child who's failed to grow up, or grow past the day his father was killed.

100 - The Ultimate Arcana, The World

I've foreseen what my future will bring - my fate. THe sign that I've derived is destruction. The upright Devil card. Crime, injustice, temptation, restraint.... It implies them all.

XV - The Devil I am choosing.

Saiou pulls The Devil in a flashback in reference to himself and his future, right after pulling Hierophant in reference to Edo and his role in Saiou's future. We went over the Hierophant above so I'm just going to focus on the Devil.

Saiou's reading of the Devil is pretty much dead on, however, he leaves off a critical part that the man and woman who are chained to the devil in the Rider Waite card have loose chains around their necks that they could take off at any time. The Devil is the card of chaining yourself to your own worst habits.

Do you see how people are chained to this throne? Those are pretty thick chains and look fairly sturdy. Look at their necks, they could slip off at any time but they’re choosing not to. That’s what this is about. Who could create a better hell for us than ourselves? Who knows our weaknesses? Who knows how to make us feel low and dirty and worthless? Who is ready to exploit these vulnerabilities and hurt us at a moment’s notice? Yep. Ourselves. We don’t always chain ourselves without help, peer pressure, poor guidance from parents, but whatever your path is - at some point you have a choice to make. Do I wear this chain or not? Do I drink to excess? Do I hurt someone just because I can? This card is about chaining yourself to those things that pull you down. Why do we do things to ourselves? When does it become okay to verbally and emotionally abuse ourselves? I think it comes down to two things, fear and doubt. Fear that we’re not as good as everyone else, and the doubt that allows that fear to trickle in.  -Kitchen Table Tarot

It's almost characteristic of Saiou to leave out the part where the Devil is the card of chaining yourself down, because Saiou doesn't believe he has any freedom or choice in choosing his future. He paints himself as the helpless victim of fate, and that makes it easier for the Light of Destruction to control him. As I said before it's left really ambiguous if Saiou is 100% possessed or just corrupted like Yubel, but the Light of Destruction makes the case that on some subconscious level Saiou wants to lash out against the world for excluding him.

Saiou almost exhibits a learned helplessness in regards to his own fate. He doesn't fight back because the light has him totally convinced that he can't fight back. The light also tries to convince Saiou that his destructive impulses are Saiou's own destructive impulses. Unlike Yubel it's less clear - like Yubel is clearly painted as being in control, all of the schemes are Yubel's own designs, Yubel's feelings for Judai are so strong even the Light can't sway them.

Saiou is a mix between being corrupted by teh eldtrich madnezz and just having a powerful dark side ala Dark Marik that takes total control. In favor of the Eldtrich explanation we have the clear lovecraftian inspiration in Saiou, the Light of Destruction, and his deck the Arcana Force. Most particularly the Light is a clear reference to the Color Out of Space.

The color out of space is a short story where a meteorite crashes into a farm owned by Nahum. As a result of the meteor the crops grow large and abundant but are inedible. Thewell water all goes bad. The livestock start to mutate and die off, and their meat is inebile. One of his sons locks himself in the attic and dies, the other vanishes while retrieving water from the contaminated well. The wife then goes to the attic and mutates into a horrible indescribable form.

When Nahum is discovered dying he tells the others that the "color" that arrived on the meteorite is responsible. The color then pours out from the well and makes everything around it go mad, killing the trees, greying organic matter. The "color" itself is an alien entity that corrupts everything around it, much like the Light is described as evil space rays from a White Hole deep into space that corrupts everything it touches. Like the Light makes no sense but it's not supposed to make sense, it's just some weird, unknowable cosmic sense of corruption that twists everything it touches, something with no motivation or sense behind its actions much like alien colors pouring out of a meteorite.

The lovecraftian explanation for Saiou's corruption removes all agency from Saiou, it's not his fault he has just been touched by teh eldtrich lore.

The other explanation is that Devil, that Saiou willingly puts the chain around his neck, that his belief in a fixed future is makes him easy to possess and control. His actions in Season Four support this notion, because Saiou ends up wanting his powers back because of the sense of control that seeing the future was able to give him. The idea that you can control or know the future is a comforting notion to some people, while insecurity and uncertainty over the future is deeply uncomfortable.

There's a quote I love from Choujin X that perfectly describes this very human tendency.

Humans are creatures who tend to put faith in uncertain possibilities, and prophesies are troublesome because they make the possible seem probable.

In other words prophecies provide a false belief of certainty in an otherwise completely random world. Saiou is definitely a victim of this tendency because even his good half so to speak acts completely helpless in the face of the Light instead of fighting back, and it takes Edo's encouragement in order to do so. Edo goes from saying that he wants to hold an umbrella over Saiou's head, to realizing simply standing there in the rain together underneath an umbrella isn't enough, they need to keep walking forward too.

In other words it's Saiou himself who puts on the shackles, and it's Saiou himself with Judai and Edo's help who has to throw them off. When Saiou is liberated from possession he also loses his ability to see the future, the very thing that made him destiny's puppet in the first place.

The World is also referenced by the episode title. It's Saiou's ace Arcana Force card which he uses against Edo, (though his true ace is the Light Ruler which he wins the duel with).

XXI - The World I am Transforming

The world is the last step of the fool's journey. It's the card of self-realization and self-fulfillment. The world is typically depicted a woman standing in the cnter of a wreath, surrounded with four images four astrological signs. The Lion is Leo, the Bull is Taurus, the cherub is Aquarius, and the Eagle is scoprio. These four signs also represent the four elements of aclehym, an fire sign, earth sign, air sign and water sign respectively.

The world represents the final step of the fool's journey, a journey of self-discovery.

"I found this quote about the World and it always strikes me as perfect: "One does not conquer the world, one discovers it." Kitchen Table Tarot

It also symbolizes the final step of alchemy, which is to create gold, or in a Jungian sense to finish individuation.

What can we say of an understanding, a freedom and rapture beyond words? The unconscious known consciously, the outer-self unified with the forces of life, knowledge that is not knowledge at all but a constant ecstatic dance of being - they are all true and yet not true. The purpose of this card can be described as that of uniting ourslves with all thos things seen in trump 10 as the external vision, that is, fate, the workings of life, the element of existence. When the unity is acheived the symbols vanish, dissolved into a dancing spirit. Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom: A book of Tarot

The most important aspect of The World in this case is spiritual unity. Yu-Gi-Oh and its various spinoffs is after all, the friendship show about friendship. Though I'd argue that Yu-Gi-Oh surpasses the typical "solve everything with nakama speeches" of the Shonen Genre by showing that showing friendships can be conflict ridden, even trying at times, especially in Season 3 which shows the difficulty of trying to save a friend when they are in a self-destructive spiral. The difference between Yu-Gi-Oh! and other shonen manga is that it's themes of friendship are more solid because these friendships are continually tested and tried.

Friendship in this case also means an alchemical union, alchemy is symbolic of the bonds between people. In order to make a bond stronger it has to be broken and reforged again the same way that alchemy's chemical reactions melt down metals and reforge them as something purer.

The unity aspect of the world shows not only what Edo needs to do to reach Saiou, (The holding out the Umbrella under the rain metaphor) but also it foreshadows the union between Judai and Yubel in season 3. In both cases the solution is a union, and in both cases it's not an easy union because Saiou is in conflict with Edo, and Yubel is in conflict with Judai.

Afterwards Saiou has to reform his sense of self without his powers (something he struggles to do in season 4) and Juadi / Yubel has to reform themselves (once again his entire character arc in Season 4) after all the changes they've endured. The World is a card of transformation and once the transformation is complete there's nothing to do but go out into the world and face it, just like when children are finished growing into adults the final test is for them to leave their parents home and embark on a journey out into the world.

There we go every tarot reference in Yu Gi Oh - oh wait I forgot one. One last Tarot card for the road.

XI - The Justice I am balancing

Judai: I am going to save Ed - and you know that goes for the lives of everyone in the world, too! Saiou: Oh? Playing superhero are we?

In this conversation Saiou calls out Judai's decision to gamble with the fate of everyone else on earth, by trying to save Edo instead of just throwing the key into the ocean so Saiou can never get access to the satellite. It's a very selfish, and very Judai-like decision.

I'd say that this is again setup for Season 3 which goes more in-depth into Judai's tendency to make decisions like these, only looking at saving the person in front of him instead of the big picture. From a simple utilitarian perspective you should sacrifice Edo to save the rest of the humans on earth, but life is more complex than just the trolley problem.

There are some times when Judai's desire to save one person over the group is a bad thing, such as when his fixation on saving Johan leads to a situation where the rest of his friends get killed because of his self-centered thinking.

There are times when the characters admit they aren't trying to be a hero just save a friend, Jim Crocodile Cook and August O'Brien save Judai not because it's the heroic thing to do but because they want to help their friend - it's something they admit is selfish on their part. A lot of Season 3 is showing that heroes aren't just slaves to justice and right and wrong and they can often make selfish decisions, but also putting one person over the many isn't necessarily a bad thing.

The utilitarian thing to do would be to kill Saiou, to kill supreme king Judai and then later kill Yubel for the sake of the world, but is that really going to be the solution in the friendship anime about friendship? Especially in an anime that borrows so heavily from Jungian themes, in Jung the solution is not to kill your shadow but unite with it.

Invoking the Justice in this Situation basically symbolizes this conflict between saving your friends and saving the world. As I said Yu Gi Oh Gx doesn't really give a definite answer on the "Needs of the Few vs. the Needs of the Many" debate it just portrays it as something complciated.

I always thought that the Justice card was male, but then I did some research and found that it's based on Athena. If you look at the card, there is no water. This is a bit unusual for tarot cards, particularly in the major arcana. No water? No emotion. This card is about being critical and impartial. There is no room for empathy. Everything in this card is even. The roes are symmetrical, the pillars are parallel, and the sword held straight up balance the scales hanging straight down. She (justice) will start moving as soon as she makes her decision and will carry it out. Justice is about action. Also don't forget that she's holding a sword. The swords suit is about intellect. If you can imagine that Justice is holding the Ace of Swords, you can get an idea of the pragmatism that lives in this card. When this comes up in a reading you have to take all of your emotions out of the decisions you need to make.

Justice is primarily about two things, it's about removing emotion from the equation, and also about balance. Once again I think this is foreshadowing a later conflict, because for the first two seasons Judai makes all of his decisions with his emotions and that works out for him for the most part, until it doesn't.

Judai deciding to surrender the key to save Edo is a purely emotional decision on his part, he's not really weighing the life of Edo against the world he just wants to save Edo.

Judai's decision making is pretty biased but it's not entirely wrong either, like what's the point of calling yourself a hero if you don't even try to make an effort to save somebody in trouble right in front of you.

He's also following the concept of alchemy, as above, so below. That which is above is like to that which is below, and that which is below is like that which is above.

In other words decisions in the microcosmos (the world of humans) affect decisions in the macrocosmos (the heavens). This alchemical premise that the decisions you make in your everyday life ripples out to affect the world, because everything is connected, is woven into the show itself. Neos literally tells Judai that his duel against Saiou on earth, will also ripple out and effect the cosmos.

Judai's reasoning isn't entirely selfish, why can't he try to take a third option and save both Edo and the World?

Which is I think why we're invoking the justice here, Judai does in fact need to learn to remove his emotions and think pragmatically, he spends basically all of season 3 and 4 doing just that - but too much cold reason is just tipping the scales in the other direction. There's no such thing as a completely objective person, in the end Judai is a human being making a decision.

Jim, and later August's decision to save Judai when he becomes the Supreme King is a selfish one because they're putting Judai above the world, but they're also teenagers, and they admit that they're not being heroes of justice they're just kids who want to save their friend.

So the Justice here indicates the very balanced take on justice and heroism that the show gives us. People can't completely embody justice because they are biased unlike lady justice herself, however you can't compeletely decide things based on your emotions either because that will blind you to the consequences of your actions. Judai's selfish desire to save Johan and play hero in Season 3 hurts his friends because he only thinks of his own feelings, not the bigger picture or the feelings of his friends.

Honestly this whole concept of love vs. justice that GX is trying to balance reminds me of an anecdote I heard in church from my childhood where the priest was ruminating on god and faith and he basically said, that you can't have justice without love, because without love to guide it Justice becomes cold and unfeeling and basically becomes just about punishment.

That seems to me what GX is trying to tell us with Saiou, and then later Supreme King Haou, and Yubel's arcs. That yes all three of them did bad things, things that hurt other people. Justice demands that they be stopped, and that they face some sort of consequences for their actions. However, justice without any sort of love is just punishment.

Maybe Saiou, Judai and Yubel deserve punishment for their actions, they hurt a lot of people, but they themselves were hurt too. Killing them for the greater good is certainly an option, and maybe that is justice but there's no love in the action.

You could say that Yubel deserves to die for the sins they committed, but every soul lost that could have been saved is still a life lost.

Judai could have killed Saiou for the sake of the world, but because he saved Saiou, Edo spends the next two seasons selflessly helping Judai in thanks for Judai deciding to help his friend.

Jim and O'Brien could have killed Supreme King Judai for the greater good, but the decision to save Judai later saves Yubel as well because if Judai had died do you think anyone would have been left to stop Yubel?

Saving Yubel is also a part of Judai's own atonement arc because from Season 4 on, both him and Yubel are able to work together to help bring balance between humans and duel spirits.

Therefore the solution comes in finding the balance between love and justice.

In the friendship anime about friendship, helping your friends is a good thing and abandoning your friends is a bad thing.

In other words, I could have summarized this entire overly long post in one sentence. I wrote way too many words about the Card Games Anime TM but congratulations to all of you who read until the end - here's a cookie!