#yin et yang

[lobakartdesign]

(via Impression rigide « le soleil et la lune en yin et yang » par lobak)

[cherry-vennom]

Artist: Pool Paolini

[tomoleary]

Philippe Druillet "Yin et Yang des étoiles" Deux Têtes Illustration Originale (2011) Source

[mhaccunoval]

also like. if bill is a hare and harry is a wolf or other carnivore. the prey-predator symbolism

[art-vortex]

(via Coussin avec l'œuvre « "Duality Symbolized" » de l'artiste Art-Vortex-fr)

[aois-amaterasu-painting]

Interpreting the symbolism of the GazettE - Through Darkness to Enlightenment

The DOGMA cover is unconscious imagery. The Priestess in the eye of the storm. The only colors used are the alchemical ones (black, white, gold, red).

In Jungian psychology and alchemy Nigredo or blackness refers to the initial stage of the alchemical process, symbolizing the darkness, chaos, and dissolution that precede transformation and rebirth. It represents a state where the individual confronts their shadow aspects, unconscious fears, and repressed emotions. This stage is characterized by a sense of disintegration and descent into the abyss - depths of the psyche, where the old self must die.

The Nesthead is blackened out to signify that we are entering this 1st stage of the alchemical process. However, she is The Priestess who will come out of this transformative process as signified by her 7 pointed star crown. She (the soul) is surrendering to the darkness, knowing that she is immortal. To quote Ruki in Dogma - "The rite I must face is cloaked in darkness and isolation - Only there will truth be found" . Her right hand is dissolving the repressed trauma and the left has a tight grip on the demons (Solve et Coagula).

Moving on to the next image - it is the The Redefinition Tour cover art from right before the Dogma era. The Goddess of Death. The darkness is Feminine, the creator and destroyer. She oversees the Dark Night of the Soul process as the ruler of the Underworld. She is Yin. She is Izanami in Shinto, although this image is left quite ambiguous and could easily be seen as a death goddess of any other religion.

The Dogmatic Final poster. Skulls, crows, rot, decomposition and dying flowers all represent the alchemical Blackness stage. It is depression, isolation, pain, helplessness and despair. Choosing to embrace the Shadow - what is ugly, rotting, dying, unwanted and repressed. These are all common themes in Ruki's lyrics. A faceless priest represents the loss of identity while going through this sacred process. He serves as a mediator between God and the congregation. Ruki wore a priest's Stole throughout the whole Dogma era.

Dogma is the Dark Night of the Soul album. Heaviest sound, richest in symbolism. Ruki is both the priest conducting the purification and the one being purified.

Blemish lyrics: "I want to be reborn. Leave me alone. I had to stifle my cries when I caught sight of my own twisted shadow.[...]In darker dreams..(Help me) A goddess speaks to me.. and it seems.. (There’s no way).. I cannot see the light."

Let's analyze each symbol from the Dogma video separately:

(1) - starting from the bottom the Menorah is a symbol of universal enlightenment. Going up from that we have alchemical sulfur (evaporation, expansion, and dissolution), then the 4 elemental symbols, then Venus signifying the Anima (Jungian term) on the right. Simplified version of Bhavachakra mandala (which they use again while performing Wasteland live in the Dogmatic tour final) on the left. The Hexagrams in the center represent unification of the opposites (Light and Shadow, Yin & Yang). The blacked out face is the dissolution of identity (ego).

The image as a whole is reminiscent of the High Priestess in tarot (the Qabalistic path of Gimel, ruled by the Moon, which is the only light in the Dark Night). The black Pillar of Severity and white Pillar of Mercy behind him.

(2) - Light is Consciousness and Shadow is all that is repressed and unwanted. Unification of these opposites is the goal. Upside down triangle is Yin. I'm interpreting this as there can be no enlightenment with Greed. It matches well with the societal critiques Ruki often expresses with his lyrics.

(3) - In Buddhism there's a saying no mud - no lotus. It is a symbol of transmutation. The Moon is Albedo (whiteness)- the insights you gain when embracing and examining your Shadow. And the Orthodox cross at the top is a symbol of salvation and redemption in Christian mysticism. It represents the transformative power of Christ's (Sun) sacrifice and the possibility of spiritual rebirth and renewal for humanity. The vertical bar of the cross is sometimes interpreted as the axis mundi, or cosmic axis, which connects the earthly realm with the divine realm. It is the path of ascent from the material world to the spiritual world.

(4) - Is again the hexagram but with the Leviathan Cross in the center, which is another symbol for sulfur. Interestingly, it is put over the censer - the burning of incense is often associated with purification rituals in mysticism. The fragrant smoke is believed to cleanse the sacred space and purify the participants, preparing them for spiritual practices or encounters with the divine. Sulfur in alchemy represents the soul of all materials and living things. Sulfur is synonymous with consciousness and the expansion of thought. To the ancient alchemist, it’s properties are dryness, heat, masculinity, evaporation, expansion, and dissolution.

(5) - Around the circle we have symbols of different religions - starting with the top it's the Menorah, Hamsa hand, Shinto shrine, Ohm, something with the cross, Celtic and Scandinavian symbols and an 8pointed star. I would interpret this as saying all the different religions of the world have the same goal that is enlightenment.

Moving on.

The nest symbolism is interesting. The main character on the Dogma cover is called Nesthead and there is a lot of time spent showing the forming of a nest during Coda live. Coda lyrics: "If I have to forget my true self in order to seize the whiteness, then give me blackness deeper than anything. Beneath this patch of sky, flowers cover the soil where corpses sleep. The beautiful deformity proceeds towards the dazzling darkness, the end and the beginning."

Nests could symbolize the concept of home or refuge, creating a secure place in the living darkness. In Buddhism, the idea of finding refuge in the Three Jewels (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha) is central. Just as a bird seeks safety and shelter in its nest, Buddhists seek refuge in the teachings of the Buddha, the Dharma (the path to awakening), and the Sangha (community). Nests, being temporary structures built by birds for the purpose of nurturing their young, can symbolize impermanence and the transient nature of existence. In Buddhist teachings, impermanence (anicca) is one of the Three Marks of Existence, highlighting the fundamental nature of all conditioned phenomena to arise and pass away. Reflecting on it teaches about the importance of non-attachment, letting go of clinging to things that are ultimately fleeting. Nests are created through the efforts of birds gathering materials and constructing them meticulously. This could symbolize the interconnectedness of all beings and the importance of cooperation and collaboration. In Buddhism, the concept of interdependence (pratityasamutpada) underscores the idea that all phenomena are interconnected and dependent on each other for their existence. Buddhism emphasizes living in harmony with nature and cultivating respect and reverence for all living beings.

I interpret the Nesthead herself as Ruki's Anima (in Jungian psychology Anima is what guides a man through the wilderness of collective unconscious). It's rather obvious Ruki identifies himself with her because of the similarity of poses, clothing and the gorgeous gold armlets they both wear.

Moving on to the Dogmatic Final Live:

The Wasteland live visuals are very interesting. (Keep in mind it is played after Goddess and they had t-shirt merch saying "Goddess from the Wasteland").

Buddha is depicted headless which reminds me of the goddess Vajrayogini. Her severed head form (Ucheyma) represents the annihilation of the ego (remember the Dogma lyrics "I'll be a brain-dead god"?).

The many hands of the deity suggest it's ability to engage in multiple activities simultaneously for the benefit of sentient beings. This may include granting blessings, bestowing teachings, offering protection, and guiding others along the path. The Trishul (trident) represents the overcoming of the three poisons of ignorance, attachment, and aversion.

Vajrayogini is a personification of the cognitive function of the transformative power within consciousness. Her iconography symbolizes the transmutation of negative emotions and defilements into enlightened qualities, she is wisdom and compassion. She is associated with the transmission of esoteric teachings. Her color is blood red and her fire burns the Shadow. She is often depicted within a hexagram. Something that the GazettE also used during Sludgy Cult live:

Moving on to NINTH:

The Ninth cover is so fascinating because the veil makes me think of Binah, the pose and child makes me think of Mary & the Holy Ghost. But the scarlet colour screams Babalon.

Binah sephirah is the dark, receptive womb of creation, often associated with the color black, which symbolizes the hidden, formless potential from which all manifest reality emerges.

The veiled aspect of Binah is the concealment of divine mysteries and the incomprehensibility of the divine essence to human understanding. It suggests that the divine wisdom is veiled from ordinary perception and can only be understood through intuitive insight and spiritual revelation.

Babalon the Scarlet Woman in western esotericism is the Qabalistic path of Daleth (Translates to door, gate. This Path is the door by which the spirit enters the world. It is the third and final path to exist entirely above the Abyss (Da'at) in the realm of spirit). It is the path that connects Binah and Chokmah sephiroth (The 2 of them would be similar to Izanami and Izanagi in Shinto as the mother and father of all existence or Yin/Yang).

Daleth is also the Venusian Empress card in tarot. She is associated with fertility and pregnancy. Bab (as in Babalon or Babylon) in ancient Hebrew means Gate of God. This is the womb and Star Gate from which you are reborn as your true enlightened self (Rubedo/redness).

I always think Babylon's taboo is a reference to this. The "Ade due Damballa" chant repeated in that song is from Chucky and translates to: "Give me the power, I BEG OF YOU". I see it as asking Babalon to let you Cross the Abyss. However this is just my interpretation, the lyrics are quite obscure. But look at Ruki performing it live with the red laser to the heart. So reminiscent of the album cover art:

Moving on to MASS and Blinding Hope:

The doves. In Roman mythology, doves were sacred to Venus. The dove's association with Venus can symbolize the divine aspect of love, representing unconditional love, compassion, and harmony. In mystical traditions, love is often seen as a unifying force that connects all beings with the divine source.

Blinding Hope lyrics: "This darkness blinds out our eyes. Crying out for a change, we take all this hope and fight. Come back to the light"

Venus is linked with themes of transformation and renewal, particularly in her role as the Morning Star (lucifer or Lucy) heralding the dawn (coming out of the Abyss). The dove's symbolism of purity and renewal reflects the potential for spiritual rebirth and awakening.

The Mass cover is a dream-like collage of imagery from the collective unconscious. Many unconscious parts have been integrated - I interpret the panther as tamed instincts. The fire is burning the Shadow. Death goddess is still there, but no longer a central figure, instead of holding a severed head, her hands are in prayer position. The work of contemplating Maranasati ("mindfulness of death" in Buddhism) is done. The cube is from the DIM cover but it's empty and clear unlike back then, when it had someone trapped inside. Lyrics from DIM scene: "We chase away the crows that gather around us. Their squawking cries ceasing, until every one of them has fled. Our utopia is so twisted and distorted that we have to sew it back together before it unravels".

The upside down pyramid is recurring image since the Magnificent Malformed tour, it is another depiction of the Feminine Yin and the subconscious.

Nox is the primordial goddess of the Night in Roman mythology. Nox lyrics: "Chased by silence. The drowning answers are always beautiful. What is left behind. Lamenting over common asuras".

(Common asuras suggest a broad existential/spiritual lamentation over the universal experience of grappling with desires, attachments, and the inherent suffering of existence.)

There is calm and serenity in the Mass cover image - compared to the storm and heaviness of Dogma. It's still Night but there is a lot of light. It is no longer crows surrounding our vehicle but the peaceful doves. (Although the crows are still there). All the pieces are gathered (the Shadow emotions are transmuted and the knowledge is acquired). Now we just need to finish the alchemical process. The gas station (with it's sign being the only scarlet red thing in the picture (the Red goddess is fueling our journey forward)) is the last stop before arriving at the destination.

The red Mass Final poster makes me think of the path to Rubedo/Redness and the end of the individuation process. In Jung's words: "the Self...embraces ego-consciousness, shadow, anima, and collective unconscious in indeterminable extension. As a totality, the self is a coincidentia oppositorum; it is therefore bright and dark and yet neither"

Alchemy, individuation, enlightenment and crucifixion-rebirth of Christ ultimately mean the same thing.

The symbol of Self and the astrological Sun is a circle with a black dot in the center. The dot is the ego but the self encompasses it, as well as all the other elements, it is whole. The path towards this wholeness is a spiral.

Which brings me to Ruki's IG posts (some from as early as 2013):

(1) Spiral out - keep going. It's all individuation symbolism and alchemical colors. (2) Bowie was known for being really into Thelema, (where Babalon is the main goddess) especially during his most successful years. Ruki is a huge Bowie fan and has posted about him multiple times. Pic3 is from Black Moral Rad - again the Sun symbol in the center is for individuation, and at the bottom - The Sun and Moon are are opposites that need to be reunited. Pic4 is the Unkle - War Stories album cover. The most famous song on it is called Burn my Shadow, quite straightforwardly referring to Shadow as a Jungian term. (I really wanted to include these because I was listening a lot to both Bowie and this Unkle album during the time he was posting about them and the symbolism ties nicely to what I talked about earlier)

In the Mass tour final DVD teaser:

Pitch black night that we are moving through - doves heralding a new dawn - spiraling in Redness.

The Pale lyrics: "The dusk is disappearing, the shadow creaks in sorrow, until it disappears in my heart. The spinning night grows pale, as I embrace the meaning I’ve been looking for."

And finally the Mass Final DVD cover:

Pic 1 - A leap of faith. Releasing the need for control and surrendering to the divine, trusting the higher power. The circular red hue around the car and doves indicate the Goddess' presence. Water and sea represent the depths of the unconscious mind and its mysteries, as well as the interconnectedness of all life. The water where we are falling has a circular red spot which looks like the Japanese flag. The red in the Japanese flag is called "circle of the sun" so it's referencing both the journey to Self as well as foreshadowing the next album which we know will be heavily influenced by traditional Japanese culture. (They also had a huge Japanese flag during the live)

Falling lyrics: "To be reborn again, I’m gonna fall"

Part 2 - The Yin Yang Guitars Part 3 - 13 stairs, Dawn and reddening Part 4 - Babylon, the Red Goddess Part 5 - Alchemy & Mass

[kilfeur]

Mon ami a émit une théorie comme quoi Yugo risque d'être corrompu par le statis des nécromes. Et en soit, il serait pas loin de la vérité vu que dans le premier teaser de la saison 4. On voit Yugo créer une lame de wakfu mais aussi une lame de statis.

En revanche, il m'a aussi dit que le statis et le wakfu sont comme le yin et le yang. Ce qui veut dire que ce sont deux énergies qui s'opposent mais qui peuvent pas vivre l'un sans l'autre. Donc même si il y a des chances que Yugo se retrouve corrompu. Il peut tout aussi bien trouver l'équilibre entre le statis et le wakfu en lui et représenter l'équilibre entre ces deux énergies.

My friend theorized that Yugo might be corrupted by the statis of necromes. And in fact, he's not far from the truth, as in the first teaser for season 4. We see Yugo creating a wakfu blade as well as a statis blade. However, he also told me that statis and wakfu are like yin and yang. Which means they're two opposing energies that can't live without each other. So even if there's a chance that Yugo will end up corrupted. He can still find the balance between statis and wakfu within himself and represent the balance between these two energies.

[linkspooky]

Yu-Gi-Oh GX and Alchemy: The Nigredo

So Yu-Gi-Oh GX is the first successful Yu-Gi-Oh spinoff after the original manga and anime ended, and it began two trends, one a long line of anime spinoffs that would continue to make anime original stories revolving around the trading card game and two that each new anime would focus on a new method of special summoning.

When creating an all new Yu-Gi-Oh story with only some input from the original mangaka, Hikokubo Masashiro stated GX focusing on fusion summons was an idea the staff came up with. Hikokubo felt that polymerization and fusion summoning were rarely used during the duel monsters era, and felt that it was a very underutilized but incredibly interesting mechanic that was unique to Yu-Gi-Oh! When he proposed the idea to have the new summoning be fusion focused, Takahashi loved the idea and was extremely enthused by it.

Now the question before we even begin is why am I analyzing Yu-Gi-Oh? It's because it's a shonen anime and this is the blog where we overanalyze shonen.

Yu-Gi-Oh is literally no different from any anime with a power system, it's like Hunter x Hunter except instead of using an ovceromplicated nen system with a lot of rules, the characters instead play an overcomplicated card game with a lot of rules. The same way a character's nen is thematic and telling of their character in Hunter x Hunter, their cards and dueling style is thematic to them in Yu-Gi-Oh! If you can just get over the fact that it's kind of silly everyone's using cards to fight, it's the same as any other shonen anime. They're all using magic cards to fight each other with magic, the cards are a power system, and the power system means something in regards to the characters in a shonen anime.

By Yu-Gi-Oh GX using fusion as its focus summoning method (combining two or more monsters to summon one) it's also thematically about alchemy - specifically physical alchemy solve et Cogaula. Latin for dissolve and coagulate, the process in which through four elemental stage silver is refined into gold and a philosopher stone is created.

The main character of Yu-Gi-Oh GX is also on a journey to become an alchemist, and create the philosopher's stone / the elixirof life. He is also a duelist who uses an archetype known as the "elemental heroes" that fuses heroes based off the four elements (fire, earth, water, air) and also yin and yang (light and darkness) into different combinations to create stronger monster. A character who's strongest card at the end of the first season is called "Elemental HERO Elixir" and requires featherman (wind), burst lady (fire), clayman (earth), and bubbleman (water) to fuse together in order to summon. A character who's art depicts a man wearing gold armor surrounded by the four elements of the Yu-Gi-Oh cardgame in the background.

However, that's only in season 1 and Judai's journey stretches for four seasons. I only used elixir as an example to show that fusion and the elemental hero archetypes are both things that connect Judai to alchemy, and why his journey is to complete the four stages of alchemy and the creation of the philosopher's stone.

I'm also making this post for Kate who is the only person that will read it that Yu Gi Oh GX incorporates Alchemy research as well as A Song of Ice and Fire and RWBY. Because just as with those shows the formula of "Solve et coagula" is stuck to, though Yu Gi Oh GX uses "Fusion" as its main metaphor for dissolve et coagula.

Anyway, Yu Gi Oh GX has four seasons, with four main story arcs which follow the four stages of Alchemy to a T.

The Seven Star Saga: Nigredo

Society of Light Saga: Albedo

Dimmension World Saga (Citrinitas)

Darkness Saga: Rubedo (Red)

These four stages also proceed in order of four elements, which as I said is the same as the four elements of monster cards in Yu Gi Oh.

Fire

Water

Earth

Air

They also all correspond to four colors as long as we're getting the basics out of the way, because color symbolism is important to aclhemy too. These are:

Nigredo / Black

Abledo / White

Cintrinitas / Yellow

Rubedo / Red

For more proof that Alchemy is baked into the DNA of this show, here's a group shot of what are basically the main characters for opening two, and look what colors they are wearing.

Judai - Red / Black

Fubuki Tenjoin and Asuka Tenjoin - White

Manjoume - Black

Sho, Misawa, Kenzan - Yellow

There's also three main dorms Osiris red, Ra Yellow, Obelisk Blue and yes Obelisk Blue is Blue but the uniforms are Blue and White and they're even replaced by the white dorm in the second season. Characters even change what colors they are wearing to indicate progression in their arc, Fubuki is introduced to us as Darkness possessed by his inner darkness and then switches to an all-white uniform by season 2 nigredo -> albedo. Manjoume sheds his blue uniform for Black and stays in the Osiris Red dorm for three seasons after losing his elitism -> entering the nigerdo stage.

Most importanly though Judai our alchemist is the only character to wear red and black, as Red is the color of the philosopher's stone which is Judai's main goal but Judai like Manjoume also wears black underneath to signifiy he too is going through the nigredo stage. Judai is an alchemist attempting the great work of self, and he must start at stage one - Nigredo.

So, to begin with what is Nigredo?

The Alchemy of Darkness - Nigredo

In alchemy, nigredo, or blackness means putrefacation or decomposition. Many alchemist believe that as a first step in the pathway to the philosopher's stone all alehmical ingredients need to be cleansed and cooked into a uniform black mater. This is sometimes called "blacker than the blackest black>" Nigredo means putrefecation and decomposition.

It's ruled by the planet Saturn and connected to lead, which is ocnsidered to be the basest and most impure metal. Metaphysically, it is tied to the dragon and the destruction of the dragon, symbolized by decapitation and the skull of the raven.

This is an unpleasant and often violent process, because one must face one's darkest flaws. Because one 'reaps what ones sows" and noen gains likel only to what one loses accoring to the Laws of Isis spoken by the Angel Amnael, to change into a final nature one must destroy its flaws - and thus its whole property - so that it might be remade again. In a lab one must cook all components down to a uniform black matter, which takes no less than fourty days - or one year of high school.

Judai begins his journey wearing inverted colors, black school uniform on the outside and red on the inside. He also is marked in the first episode and season 2 as the Fool. Saio a character with the ability to see the future who plays a tarot themed deck, sees Judai as the fool, the wildcard in which fate can change.

The fool's journey, and the process of alchemy are similiar, they're both things Jung references for the development of the self. Tarot is season 2 territory so all you need to know right now is Judai is the fool in both senses of the word, he is at once innocent and ignorant. His innocence inspires people, and his ignorance causes problems, though that won't be highlighted until season 3. The fool is on a journey to gain wisdom, which is why Judai's first action in the anime is meeting up with a magician (Yugi, who's ace card is the black magician) who gives him guidance by giving him winged kuriboh.

The story of the Tarot is actually a paralel to the alchemist's journey, and the Fool--who begins his trek untouched by the world around him because he sees and understands nothing--is the fledgling alchemist, with his powers and potentials all untapped and unknown. This is a childlike figure in many ways, and the symbolism here is capable of being both that of innocent oblivion and the callous disregard that children (and Judai) are also so capable of. In fact Judai's entire character revolves around the dual faces of the fool, that innocence and ignorance can be the same thing, and that jUdai may not mean harm in his ignorance but that doesn't mean it's not harmful and his ignorance is why he needs to go on a quest for knowledge in the first place.

And Yu-Gi-Oh GX is primarily about Judai's journey. There are other characters who grow up besides Judai, but it is primarily about Judai going on a journey from childhood into adulthood. I will be mentioning other characters here, but when they change it's usually meant to reflect Judai in a way too.

Either way, Judai's role as the alchemist is indicated right away in his first duel, as he uses flame wingman - his favorite card a fusion monster that is specifically a fusion between man (featherman) and woman (burst lady) in order to cook crowler's antique gear soldier which is made of metal. This not only sets up the formula for how he'll win every major duel in the show, fuse weaker monsters into stronger mosnters. It also serves as some early, early foreshadowing for the appearance of the Rebis the fusion of man and woman that happens in the final stage of alchemy. The Rebis in this case being Yubel but that's season 3 territory.

Flame Wingmna's appearance is foreshadowing for Yubel, it's also pretty clearly a Rebis, it's a fusion of a featherman and burst lady, and it also has a dragon head appearaing on one of its arms. It's also the first succesful fusion / attempt at alchemy we see Judai perform in the show and it's what lets him win his first duel. It even appears in front of the moon because Judai played Skyscraper, switching the time in the duel from night to day.

However, alchemy doesn't just happen once. It's a process of continual refinement where the alchemist dissolves and coagulates over and over again in order to purify himself, the same way that Judai's entire sidedeck is countless different attempted fusions of his elemental hero monsters, each fusion serving a purpose in a different situation.

Chemical weddings, the union of opposite elements don't happen once in this show but over and over again. This is important to point out for all three seasons to show how much alchemy symbolism happens in this show and how much alchemy is a continual process.

The Stages of Alchemy

However, before continuing forward I need to say Yu Gi Oh GX is a pretty weirdly paced show, the first 100 episodes or so are setup for a dark deconstruction that happens in the next 90 after that. So Season 1 and Season 2 are both a lot of set up for both changes and alchemical processes that will happen mainly in Seasons 3 and 4. Which as I said, chemical weddings happen multiple times not just once and alchemy may have stages but it's not necessarily a strictly linear process. The series however does still follow the 4-part structure of alchemy and even makes specific references to medieval paintings which describe the alchemical processes.

There are also several allusions to the Splendor Solis - 22 illustrated plates which describe the alchemical process [source]

Which are divided into 4 groups like this:

4 introductory plates - they present the protagonists of the alchemical journey.

7 Parables - they describe the alchemical death and rebirth

7 flaks plates - they describe the alchemical process from a practical point of view

4 final plates - they describe the alchemical process from a spiritual point of view.

Seasons 1 and 2 being one long introduction for the second half of the anime, both include references to the four introductory plates. We'll be covering references to those two as we continue our journey into season 1.

I bring this up now because in episode 3 we are already at our first reference to Splendor Solis, Plate 4 the meeting of the king and the queen, the male and female, the yin and yang, the sun and the moon. The opposition of two equally matched forces, what most call the chemical wedding.

Judai and Asuka in the third episode duel each other over water with both of thme standing on boats. Asuka is the queen of the obelisk blues called that by several characters, and Judai not only quickly becomes the best male duelist in the school he's also on his journey to being a king in season 3. Judai's flame wingman (fire) actually clashes with her Cyber Blader (ice) during the duel atop the water.

Asuka primarily wears white, which is associated with Abledo. She is also associated with water and ice (she uses an ice deck when brainwashed by sartorius in season 2). In Jungian symbolism, the Albedo stage of alchemy is also tied to the union of anima and animus. There will be more time to cover this in my season 2 meta, but just as a starter Asuka in this episode is basically set up to be a female Judai, something compounded upon later in the season.

The basic premise of this episode is that Cronos puts a fake love note from Asuka to Judai in order to try luring Judai into a trap to visit the girl's dorm at night. When Sho gets lured by the trap, Asuka thinking very much like Judai does, doesn't see a potential romantic partner but a potential duel rival.

Asuka's true love isn't boys, but dueling itself much like Judai who for the first two seasons seems either oblivious or weirded out by women showing affection for him and who's primary method of making friends and connecting to people is by dueling others.

Judai and Asuka's first meeting isn't necessarily a romantic chemical wedding, because one happens in season 3 and it's with someone who's not Asuka - but it is still a union of opposites. Anima and Animus is something I plan to cover more in season 2 but basically Jung divides the psyche into two part, the feminine aspects of personality and the masculine aspects and makes the observation that most men aren't accustomed to their feminine side and vice versa. Men must therefore come into touch with their feminine side and integrate their feminine traits into their everyday life in order to become fully realized people.

Judai is basically dueling with the female version of himself, another person who loves dueling above everything else and uses it as a way of conencting with other,s and Asuka even pulls a Judai-like move, she threatens to get Judai and Sho expelled to extort a duel out of Judai because she wanted to size him up as a potential dueling rival.

Asuka also plays the role of the high priestess in the fool's journey, to Yugi's magician. As it's through his encounter with Asuka that Judai gains passive guidance for what his role will be in season 1 - as she's the one actively looking for her brother Fubuki which will lead Judai to the seven stars plotline. In fact, while Judai came to the anbadoned dorm because him and Sho were sharing scary stories, he sticks around and explores it deeper specifically because he heard Asuka make a mention that her brother went missing there.

This leads to the introduction of shadow duels - duels where characters bet their souls on the line and the consequence for losing is being consumed by darkness, otherwords a failure in alchemy.

The entirety of season one is basically one long pattern of Judai who only duels for fun and to connect to other people learning that there are darker sides to dueling (shadow games) and going through one long process of realizing that not everything is for fun and there are times you duel with your life on the line. Or at least, that's what he should be doing but a lot of Judai's development is stalled until season 3. However, that stage is still set up here.

Judai does not really grow a lot in season one, but we have other characters going through their own mini-alchemeical journeys in order to reflect Judai. For instance, each season Judai has a rival / foil that contests with him for the hero role. In season 1 it's Manjoume who thinks he's the one more set up to inherit the next king of games.

Manjoume goes through a pretty common arc for shonen characters. He's suddenly defeated by the appearance of a new rival, he loses all confidence in himself, he goes off somewhere else to train and then returns to defeat the rival that knocked him off his pedestal.

However, that usually happens to protagonists. Manjoume, a rival character, goes through more of a journey than the main character of his own show at least in season 1. Manjoume follows the nigredo formula pretty much to a T.

We see Manjoume break down completely. He loses to Judai even after getting cards from Crowler (his Dragon card is even killed by Judai) he then has a mental breakdown and tries to cheat against Misawa only to lose again and leave the school entirely. Even his deck goes through the process of dissolve and coagulate, as he has to get rid of his old deck and then find 40 new cards in the northern tundra and put together a new deck from scratch. He even returns to Duel Academy wearing black and purple after having gone through the process of breaking down entirely and reforming to signify his change in the nigredo stage.

This is the kind of arc and internal struggles you give your main character so we find their growth and journey compelling, but Judai's basically already a dueling prodigy he doesn't need to become stronger as a duelist. In fact Manojoume's internal insecurities are more at focus in this arc than the main character's too.

Judai is usually the character who duels the main boss, but in season 1 and 2 he rarely if ever feels the pressure to win the same way that Manjoume does in just this one duel with relatively little stakes. In fact if alchemy especially nigredo requires boiling and pressure in order to change the chemical composition of the metal that they're currently boiling, Manjoume is more emblematic of that chemical change -> heat and pressure allowing him to metamorphosize into a new person.

In fact Judai purposefully doesn't talk to Manjoume during this scene because he doesn't feel like there's anything he could say on an emotional level that would help him b/c Judai isn't really mature enough to understand that feeling of responsibility and pressure Manjoume is struggling under - he just tries to work it out in a duel instead.

Season 1 is all about Nigredo, about plunging into darkness but Manjoume who plunges into darkness to find himself and to an extent Asuka who journeys into the darkness to find her brother are the oens who actually experience a change while Judai remains a mostly static character. He is the impetus of change for both of these characters, but he doesn't really change himself just yet.

So Asuka has an exernal objective -> find Fubuki, and Manjoume has an internal flaw -> His insecurity and inferiority complex and both of them need to plunge into darkness in order to remedy these things. Judai doesn't have any objective at all, but because he comes into contact with Asuka and Manjoume he helps Asuka with her quest and Manjoume with his internal insecurity.

From early on Judai despite literaly fighting with a deck called the "Elemental Heroes" is more of a designated hero, then an actual hero. As I pointed out above other characters struggle with the kind of insecurities that protagonists usually struggle with. Judai doesn't need to learn to believe in himself or be a better duelist, he's already a dueling prodigy, that's Sho, and Manjoume's struggles. Asuka is the one who has a personal motivation to save someone because she wants to save her brother, Judai only helps because he wants to help Asuka. Judai is picked to fight once the seven stars start appearing not because he is the most heroic character, but because he is the best duelist.

It's not that Judai doesn't help when someone asks him for a helping hand. He always gives his help when asked for it, but otherwise he's an incredibly passive character who continually "only duels for fun" even when the stakes get higher. He only feels the pressure to win that Manjoume did for one episode after the gauntlet of Darkness Camula and even then it's immediately resolved with a duel against Kaibaman.

However, despite not having the things usual main character have, an outward objective, or an obvious internal flaw that he needs to fix or boil away in the alchemy sense he's still the central character of the show. Fubuki is Asuka's brother, and yet when he appears again it's Judai who duels him.

Yami no Game - Versus Darkness

The first instance of actual plot in this show happens in episode 29 (Yu Gi Oh is a well paced show / sarcasm) when Fubuki / Darkness appears as a member of the seven stars, to challenge Judai for his key, kidnapping his friends and holding them hostage in a volcano for an ante. This entire duel is steeped with alchemy symbolism and is to be honest one of my favorite in the series. It's also Judai's first real "yami no game" if one counts the duel at the dorm and the duel against Jinzo as warmups.

To recap from above, Nigredo is the first step of alchemy, it's usually associated with fire, the color black, and the death of a dragon. This duel takes place in a volcano. A volcano where dragons made of flame rise up from the lava, and Judai's opponent Darkness walks right out of the fire to face him.

Darkness not only hits all the symbols for the first stage of alchemy, his deck also corresponds to this stage. He's running a red eyes black dragon deck, a deck who's ace monster "Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon" gets stronger for every single monster in your graveyard. If Nigredo is initiated by the death of a dragon. They fight on what is basically a graveyard of dragons with dragon spirits constantly jumping out of the lava, the dead spirits empowering Red Eyes Darkness Dragon even further.

Red Eyes Darkness Dragon - Cannot be Normal Summoned/Set. Must be Special Summoned (from your hand) by Tributing 1 "Red-Eyes Black Dragon". Gains 300 ATK for each Dragon monster in your GY.

Fubuki arrives in practically a storm of fire, promising to melt everything away if Judai doesn't take things seriously. He even calls Judai half-hearted for not realizing what is at stake here. Once again he's applying heat and pressure to try to force a transformation inside of Judai.

It is the first and last time for awhile someone challenges Judai seriously on this level (as most of the seven star matches bar Camula get kind of silly after this) but it also incorporates the Nigredo and the Work of Self, 'if you cannot overcome the blackness and despair of your own self, you will be burned away'. The volcano, the dragon graveyard, red eyes darkness dragon all incorporate the image of the skull, the dragon and the fire which reduces one to black matter.

In a normal narrative this is where Judai would succumb to the pressure like Manjoume did and start to take things seriously, but once again Yu Gi Oh Gx is building up a three season long-con. The one who changes isn't Judai, but rather Fubuki who's internal darkness is purified by the end and we see him return to his usual self, though he'll call upon the darkness again in season 2 and then season 4 because purification isn't' a one and done process.

We're shown other characters around Judai changing, and Judai often being the impetus for that change, but we're not shown exactly why until all the way in episode 45 when Amnael decides to play his hand, because Yu-Gi-Oh Gx is a well paced show (sarcasm).

If we focus on the duels that develop Judai as a character it goes a little something like:

1st duel against crowler establishes his use of fusion

1st duel against asuka - chemical wedding / anima + animus

1st duel against zane - establishes relationship with sho

3 duels against Manjoume - Manjoume's arc

Judai vs Misawa - More for Misawa's arc because it teaches him that isntinct can win against obsessive thinking over strategy.

Judai's 3 shadow duels (vs Titan, vs. Jinzo, vs. the Gravekeepers)

Finally, vs. Darkness / Fubuki

The only duels that really are about Judai as a character are Yami no Games, the ones where Judai is forced to bet his life on the line in a duel because those are the duels that challenge his philosophy that dueling is just for fun and his desire to duel purely for his own entertainment. Basically every other duel that Judai gets into up until this point is for other characters not him, only the Yami no Games int true Nigredo fashion push Judai's arc along as he slowly realizes there are times where he needs to carry responsibility and weight on his shoulders and keep going.

When the pressure of dueling becomes too much for him after Darkness and Camula he does receive an alchemcial bath, in the form of a hotsprings episode where he gets to fight Kaibaman in a low stakes duel which relieves him of the pressure temporarily. Kaibaman is also dressed in white, and plays the blue eyes white dargon the counterpart to the red eyes black dragon.

The impetus for this episode is a dream where Judai sees himself losing against an unknown shadowy dragon, which causes both of his friends to burn away in fire while he's consumed by the darkness as a price for losing the yami no game.

In those last minutes too Judai's more concerned with his friends who are crying out for his help then he is for the fact that he himself is being consumed by the darkness. Something which will come back in season 3, because Seasons 1 and 2 are excellent at setup and foreshadowing if nothing else.

Foreshadowing because there is a scene where Judai's friends do burn away and he does sink into darkness, his nigrido and all his anxieties reflected in this dream here prove true but once again it happens in season 3.

Things that seem like they are neatly resolved in seasons 1 and 2 will always be called back to in Season 3. Judai goes through several mini arcs of "I need to take dueling more seriously" only to revert back to his usual carefree irresponsible attitude, because in seasons 1 and 2 the consequences for Judai not taking thing seriously and messing up aren't as severe as they'll eventually be.

Judai is called to in his Yami no Games plunge the depths of his own personal darkness, Daitokuji leads him to three shadow games to make him realize there are games where real life people can get hurt - Fubuki yells at the top of his lungs not to half-ass this duel or his friends will burn away into nothing. Judai is called to explore those depths of darkness... he just doesn't. Manjoume does, Fubuki does, Asuka does, even Sho and Ryo have an honest conversation about their relationship as brothers when Camula holds Sho hostage so Ryo will lose the duel.

I'd argue there are hints that Judai does have an inner darkness that he's refusing to examine all the way back in season 1 too, because the foreshadowing in this show is excellent. In episode 5 when they're all sharing ghost stories, Judai shares a story about how he thought he could hear the voices of his duel monsters when he was asleep.

Only for Judai to jokingly end the horror story by declaring that he didn't see a thing.

Those who have watched season 3 know that this is a bald-faced lie, because it was right around that age that Judai was given a haunted card by his father that put all of his friends into comas and made it so no one wanted to duel with him let alone be around him. Judai used to be able to see card spirits, until the traumatic incident of one dark card spirit made him cut off his ability to see them entirely. Judai tells Sho half the story, and then blows the rest off as a joke.

This scene is pretty clear season 3 foreshadowing, but also in a sense of alchemy, Judai is failing to confront the darkness here because he remains ignorant of his repressed childhood memory. He muses for a second on the fact that he can remember hearing card spirits when he was younger, but doesn't reflect on why he stopped hearing them because he's coping poorly with that traumatic childhood incident still. Which is why he is so stagnant because even when he's given opportunities too - he doesn't reflect on his past, or even reflect on who he is whatsoever.

This small detail of his backstory doesn't come until season 3 so technically I'm spoiling you, we're given no information at all in season 1 why Judai loves dueling so much and why it seems to be the only thing he cares about not because the writing is bad but because Judai himself never reflects on those things.

As Judai plunged into the world of Yami no Games, he could have reflected more seriously on these things, but he didn't because Judai is also more concerned with other people, and forced to duel to save other people first before himself.

Judai fails to commit nigredo, and this normally would result in reverse alchemy or even character stagnation but that doesn't happen until season 3 - mainly because in season 1 Judai has a mentor to sweep in and kind of fix his mistakes for him.

There's a whole bunch of duels in between this, but really Judai's next plot relevant duel is episode 44 the Seventh Shadow. When Daitokuji goes missing the gang goes out searching for him, only to find that he's facing Daitokuji as the alchemist Amnael and the sevenths star.

There's a billion alchemy references in this duel, because as I said Judai has only three really plot important alchemy duels this season the first being darkness, the second amnael, and the third Kagemaru and so all the symbolism is frontloaded into this one.

First off, Daitokuji carries around an emerald tablet for a millenium item gifted to him by Kagemaru and he also uses this symbol - which resembles the alchemy symbol for the sun, but also a traditional depiction of an ouroboros a snake eating itself.

The ouroboros a symbol that appeared in alcehmy in Graeco-roman egypt, the same era that the Amneal Story appears from. A symbol which ties to the sun, mercurius (hermes) and his caducous staff which contained a male and female snake interlaced.

In Egypt the sun went on a journey to the underworld every night, only to come back to the world of the living every morning. In the duel itself, Daitokuji is long dead, and Judai must in a way kill his mentor as apprentice in order to replace him as alchemist. Daitokuji also comes right back immediately as a ghost, because life and death are an eternal cycle like the ouroboros itself.

Daitokuji goes by the name of Amnael an angel who appeared before Isis to reveal the great mystery to her. Amnael becomes a lover to Isis and reveals the secret to her, but first makes her swear a mighty oath by "fire and water, like and darkness, by fire, water, air, and earth" and a variety of Greek and Egyptian Deities.

The great secret in question:

“So go then, my child, to a certain laborer named Achaab, and ask him what he has sown and what he has harvested, and you will learn from him that the man who sows wheat also harvests wheat, and the man who sows barley also harvests barley. For a nature rejoices another nature, and a nature conquers another nature.”

In other words the great secret of alchemy is that you reap what you sew. In other words alchemy, like chemical reactions is all about actions and consequences.

This also ties to the phrase "as above, so below" which is chanted constantly in the two episode duel against Daitokuji. A phrase which is on the emerald tablet, (borrowing this from Kate). The emerald tablet is also wielded by hermes, so once again, greco-roman / egyptian alchemy lore.

"That which is above is like to that which is below, and that which is below is like to that which is above."

Things in the macrocrosm are mirrored in the microcosm, or in other words BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO BE IN THE WORLD. You have to change yourself before you can change others. The personal change that an alchemist goes through in acquiring the philosopher's stone and finishing a chemical wedding will radiate out to the rest of the world.

This is the role that the master alchemist gives to his apprentice.

Amnael and Judai's duel is basically a crash course of alchemy for dummies. Amnael's card archetype the Alchemy Beasts uses a distillation to summon seven different alchemy beasts which resembles the seven step process of alchemy.

Aretos the time

Ekanos the Mercury

Leon the Lead

Moonface the Silver

Ouoroboros the Bronze

Salamandra the Steel

Golden Homonculus

Coincidentally the number seven shows up a lot this season. The seven stars are the duelists that the main characters have to face in yami no games, probably a reference to the fact that there are seven heavenly bodies in the ancient medieval world, saturn, jupite,r mars, venus, mercury, moon, and sun which also correspond with the seven steps of refining metal into gold listed above. Sun being gold, and again sun being associated with Judai.

While also using support spell cards that reference the nigrido, albedo and rubedo. Before finally using the Macro-cosmos card... which is again covered above changes on the microscale effect the macroscale.

All in the world originates from a single substance altered in various ways to form heaven and earth. Even the world of man known as the microcosmos and the world of the heavens known as the macrocosmos. So, humans and outerspace are connected?

Amnael then procees to push the sun through three phases, helios - the primordial sun, Helios - Duo Megistus, and Helios - tris magestius. The second stage being a reference to this.

Outside the building where this standard is housed are two men. Their body postures might suggest they are teacher and initiate. The master points to the standard, separated from them by swirling and overflowing waters. There is also a three-step platform leading up to the standard, possibly reflective of the tria prima which all alchemical substances are made from; Paracelsus defined these as Mercury (Spirit), Salt (Body), and Sulfur (Soul)

The master is teaching the student - there are two men, two suns, ad even two babboons in this piece. Sharing and art. Giving and taking. The teacher shares, and the student takes, indicative of the fact this is Daitokuji's final lesson.

In alchemy three suns also appear to show the three stages of aclehmy, the blakckun, white, sun and red sun. The black sun is considered important for the dissolution stage of alchemy. The man holding the flask contianing the golden liquid, made from the four elementsor rather Plate 2 is also referenced in this duel.

Daitokuji is the old man with the flask, the duel also concludes with an elixir created from the four elements of nature. Judai creates elemetal hero elixir by fusing four elemental heroes of different elements in his graveyard. After her reflects upon what he's gained in the past year at Duel Acamdey compared to what he didn't have before - friends.

At which finally Daitokuji elucidates why he chose Judai of all people as his chosen pupil.

"Alchemy 's ability to change all into gold is merely a superficial phenomenon. It's true aim is to change the hearts of people into purer, nobler things."

Judai as we'll find out in season 3 started out the story as a friendless loser, and his desire to connect to others through dueling, causes him to purify the people around him by enduring many trials and tribulations for their sakes.

Amnael is also the first to notice the potential of Judai, and that this potential lies within Judai's darkness. Though, even though Judai is pushed to do a little self reflection in this duel (admitting to himself that he was lonely before he came to duel academy and this is the first time in his life he's had friends) he doesn't actually look inside that darkness towards those repressed childhood memories we were looking at earlier.

If anything while Daitokuji's lesson is a short-term fix, like a bandage over Judai, it doesn't actually help him in the long-run. This is because the reason why Judai is succesful in this season is not really anything of Judai's doing, but because Daitokuji the master rigs it for him. Daitokuji is the one who prepares challenges to increase Judai's strength at dueling, Daitokuji is the one who hands Judai the emerald tablet that lets him make a philosopher's stone during his duel with Kagemaru, Daitokuji is the architect of most of the plot in season 1 and Judai just kind of passively follow his script. Judai is not the alchemist in the first season, he's the apprentice and basically he only makes his first step in his journey by consuming his master and that's in episode 45, when the season is 4/5ths of the way over.

Judai is the alchemist, he's supposed to change others by forming relationships with them the same way that he can fuse two monsters together to form a stronger monster. However, he also has to change himself in order for that to happen and Judai doesn't change through seasons 1 and 2 - he gets by in the short term but it costs him long term development.

Because the duels Judai gets into are always about other people and not about himself. Even the climactic duel of the season against Kagemaru, Judai barely knows who this guy is. Judai's not there by choice, Judai is there because Daitokuji set things up so that his student Judai would defeat Kagemaru the main villain.

Judai's not dueling for himself so we barely learn anything from these duels, and Judai still doesn't really take this duel seriously. The one small thing we get from him is this:

"I feel sorry for you, you can control all the powerful monsters you want, but if you're the one wiping out duel monsters... no one is going to see you as a friend. And that'd make you lonely right? Live as long as you want, but without friends around, it'd just be boring right?"

Which sounds like a pretty shallow statement, but is telling of Judai. Judai had no friends before coming to Duel Academy. Judai gained friends because he was a strong duelist, Sho looks up to him because he's a dueling prodigy like Ryo, Asuka befriended him as a duel rival first, Manjoume only views him as a rival, Ryo sees Judai as someone who's potential for growth surpasses him because Ryo being a perfectionist feels like his perfectionism is stagnant. Judai's only way to connect with people is through duel monsters, and the reason most of these people have an interest in him is because he's a dueling prodigy. Thus, Judai equates dueling with making friends, and believes he has to keep getting into duels like this for the sake of his friends rather than himself.

Judai only wants to duel for fun, but is put into situations where he has to duel with high stakes, because everyone relies on him as the best duelist around, and because he thinks the only reason he made friends in the first place is his skill as a duelist.

Thus, Judai even when forced into these stressful duels, will fall back on his whole "I'm just trying to have fun" thing in order to cope because he's not really here because he wants to but because other people have put him into this situation. Therefore, he doubles down on his own personal enjoyment to convince himself he's here because he wants to and so the pressure doesn't get to him the way he's seen it get to other people like Manjoume.

Judai goes through several trials that seem like Nigredo in season 1. He goes through yami no duels where his life are on the line, challenging his philosophy of only dueling thrilling opponents for fun. He's put through literal trial by fire twice, first by Darkness, then by Daitokuji, situations where he will literally burn away into ash if he doesn't perform. He even duels a Yami no Game with Kagemaru where he forges a philoopsher's stone to create 3 custom cards to win the duel - but once again that's not really Judai who forged it because Daitokuji did it for him.

Daitokuji argues that the true alchemy changes the hearts of other people into nobler, purer things which Judai has arguably done for his friends - but what about his own heart?

Other people around Judai change, and are changed by Judai, but Judai himself for the first two seasons does not change. Even in incredibly plot important duels, and I'm including season 2 as well, because in both cases Kagemaru and Saio Judai wasn't really facing himslf or even a reflection of himself. Kagemaru is Daitokuji's enemy and mess to clean up he passed onto Judai, and Saio is Edo's chilhood best friend who became a victim to the light of destruciton. In both cases Judai swept in to fix things because that's what Judai does, he fights others battles for them because he himself lacks either an internal or external reason to duel - and he doubts his abiltiy to make friends if he didn't go around fixing everyone's problems.

As Above, So Below

It is other characters who go through a Nigrido phase in Season 1. However - their Nigrido phases will be reflected in Season 3. These characters experiencing their own inner turmoils mirror the obstacles that Judai has to face ahead of him.

Asuka

Season 1: Judai helps Asuka searching for her brother who's disappeared into the darkness.

vs. Season 3: Judai travels into another dimmension to find Johan after he disappears from this world, only to find he's possessed the same way Fubuki is. Judai also blames himself for Johan's disappearance and takes on the burden to save him entrely by himself, like how Asuka leads the search for her brother.

Manjoume

Season 1: Manjoume is completely crushed by his responsibility to always win that his brother's force onto his shoulders.

vs.

Season 3: Judai being told to his face he wont' be able to win because he doesn't carry any burdens or serious responsibilities, because that's what drives people to try hard when they're pushed into a corner. Only for Johan to tell Judai that much like Manjoume is being pressured by both of his brothers, Judai has always had to carry everyone's hopes on his shoulders. When he cant carry them anymore, he has a breakdown that pretty much mirrors Manjoume's season one breakdown word for word.

But, even then I won. The others hope their hopes on me, and I won! But still...!! They're all gone. There really was something missing within me. But what is it? What was missing?

Sho

In season one: Judai basically becomes the replacement for Sho's brother, who he has a poor relationship with and Sho has to face his inferiority complex towards his brother head on.

vs.

In season three: Shoe becomes the trigger for Judai's growth when he rejects Judai entirely and stops calling him "aniki" being the last one to abandon him in the dark world when just about everything goes wrong.

But, I guess I thought wrong. Big bro you've just been dueling to satisfiy yourself. You're not my big bro (aniki). You're not my big bro (aniki).

Fubuki

Judai even becomes lost and faces his inner darkness like Fubuki does, the first person to appear before Judai and challenge him to a Yami no Game. Fubuki who was possessed by a dark version of himself who valued power above everything else and then got lost in that darkness.

Judai has no arc in season one, and instead helps other characters along in their arcs. However, Judai's inability to change himself or confront his own inner darkness bites him when two seasons later.

Judai's arc then reflects aspects of all of their arcs. Sho's afraid that his brother doesn't love or respect him because he's an inferior duelist to Ryo. Judai loses Sho's love and respect. Asuka has to go on a journey into a darkness to find her loved one and fears Fubuki may never return. Judai repeats that same journey for Johan. Manjoume's cracks under the pressure his brothers put onto him to always win because his family's love is very conditional. Judai finally cracks when he realizes a lot of his friendship was built on the very conditional fact that he had to always win duels for them and fight for other people's hopes and dreams and not his own. In season one Judai cleanses Fubuki's inner darkness, in season 3 Judai sinks into his own inner darkness that's been there and ignored all along, and so on.

The nigredo phase is about cleansing your own impurities, and Judai is presented to us like a pure shonen hero who doesn't need to be cleansed so he spends his entire time cleansing other people - only for it to turn out his heart turned out to be darker and more selfish than anyone expected.

[juvpartage]

C est entendu, les bons amants sont bons cuisiniers, vice et versa...

Ils savent mélanger les arômes et les saveurs, transformer un plat ordinaire en un met délicat et raffiné à consommer sans modération ni gestion d économat...

Ceux qui connaissent l art des voluptés, de l intrication harmonieuse du yin et du yang et des ses variantes, savent mêler les 5 sens, les 5 plaisirs qui conduisent au 6eme plus extatique...

Une vraie gastronomie pour ces gourmands de la vie charnelle et unique...

[honeyimissjoo]

CCs - link your favourite and/or most popular post from each month this year and tag CCs you love.

tagged by the talented & lovely @dreamaze. thank you for the tagging me, wings :) hope u dont mind that i stole your layout idea

tagging @eggheons @lunetual @nunutual @bearwoo @changkkyun @05-14 @we-called-monsta-for-a-reason @imcks @ye-xiu you're all really neat and wish i could gif like you thank you ily

I started giffing in 2023. It has been a fun and frustrating time filled with learning and tears. my laptop gets overheated easily for any given task much like me, but hope to make more this year and make more friends! i love you all. thanks for making 2023 fun when irl has been a dumpster fire ❤️🍉

January

❤️Popular: Kihyun's hand choreo in the Reason cb 🍉Favourite: Yamapi's ass-ets in alice in borderland. I kid you not this 1 gif took me 2 hours to make. I had to resize it so many times and ps kept crashing. i wanted to cry but his round 🍑 made me want to gif more loll

February

❤️Popular & 🍉Favourite: Hyungwon dissociating in public

March

❤️Popular: Shownu in Shoot Out era 🍉Favourite: POV Minhyuk giving us tiffany's ring his enlistment letter. Ididnt know how to do add a picture disappearing in ps so i made a video and then made a gif out of that vvideo 👍🏽

April

❤️Popular: totk trailer 🍉Favourite: shownu best leader for #shownureturns here i'm starting to learn how to add multiple gifs in one

May

❤️Popular: Link in Tingle outfit Best outfit in botw/totk btw 🍉Favourite: Jooheon living up to Hype Energy moniker. i think this is my best work and i cant ever top this

June

❤️Popular: Shownu superpowers 🍉Favourite: Changkyun Overdrive solo. Trying out different styles but my colouring was still not it

July

❤️Popular: Death Comes to Permberley proposal 🍉Favourite: NEWS - weeeeek. i made this for me and the 1 other news fan on tumblr

August

❤️Popular: Mignon "Please dont throw me away" 🍉Favourite: Slam Dunk Jooheon & Miyeon

September

❤️Popular: Mignon yin and yang 🍉Favourite: "Passion Passion Passion!!" by Lee Jooheon

October

❤️Popular & 🍉Favourite: Jooheon Bday set. i overworked this month and then went to japan and hk to spend all the money i earned so i didnt have the capcity to make gifs. what a time to be alive

November

❤️Popular: Showheon popo set 🍉Favourite: Minhyuk bday set. i was sick while making this lol fun times

December

❤️Popular: petition to add the horse move to mx choreography 🍉Favourite: Lee Sun Kyun in My Ahjusshi. am devastated by his passing. It was cruel how his business was in the news constantly. the media, the people who wont stop talking about him and his family, the women who extorted him are all to blame.

[atamascolily]

Lily liveblogs: Thunderbolt Fantasy 4x10

This episode is full of fanservice in the best way possible, by which I mean, Gen Urobuchi et al. know what I want and serve it up with style.

Bo Yang Hou tries to convince the Dong Li prince to help deal with the GIANT FUCKING HOLE TO THE DEMON REALM, but no luck, so he's like, "fine, we'll deal with it ourselves" and pulls all the Hu Yin Shi out of an upcoming ceremony, to the prince's shock

meanwhile, Shang et. al find the lotus macguffin sword and it's literally an air purifier, lmao - cleansing the area around of it of miasma and bringing life back to the wasteland.

(they are TOTALLY using this to return Lang Wu Yao to human form + healing the broken world by the end, aren't they)

Juan Can Yun continues training with baby Shang and unintentionally inspires his sword style...

...until a timer goes off, and Shang's like, "Welp, it's been fun, master, gotta go" and takes a scrying mirror back to the Void Junction....

... where he's just going around and studying with sword masters throughout time and space???

...and there's an old guy there who doesn't speak who we've never met before???

WHAT????

WHAT???

I have so many questions, but this season is so compressed we may never find out anything more but also, wtf??? Baby Shang is just living in the Void Junction now, using it like the Wood Between Worlds in Narnia??

no wonder Shang is so tired, he was a shounen protagonist who aged out of his demographic without losing the protagonist part

elsewhere: Bo Yang Hou leads a caravan of Hu Yin Shi (Jun Po's men from S3) with a cart chock full of macguffins, lol

Meanwhile, Lang is still cooking in his cocoon, and a pack of hanjiao show up and devour Ansarto's corpse.

Ling Ya waxes philosophical about how death comes to us all, even demons, and why can't they just go home and be happy. Unfortunately, Lang continues the ongoing trend of not listening to Ling Ya's advice.

The hanjiao turn to their next victims, and Ling Ya protects Lang by transforming into a human and using magical strings to murder him.

HUMAN LING YA, HUMAN LING YA, THIS IS NOT A DRILL

he even gets a character poem!!! something something power of friendship something something murder is sexy

also his VA drops the comic relief voice and goes to "sexy demon" so, A+ choice there

Lin-as-Mantis snitches on Wasp and Spider and Locust was like, "lol, so over that"

also he calls "Mantis" out as a fake, but doesn't give a shit as long as he does his job, hahaha

Locust comes out in person and they're joined by Azi and Xing Hai to go meet the demon king

... it's an evil version of Lin, wearing an outfit very similar to his Takarazuka stage one with all the feathers, and a demonic version of his pipe

both Lin and Xing Hai look like they're going to faint but for drastically different reasons

roll credits

ASDLKGJFLKDGJDLFKJGLKDFJGLKDFJGLKFJGLFKGLKFJGLFKDJG I don't even know where to start with this one

okay, yeah, actually, I do: I stand by my assertion that we didn't need Shang and Lin's backstories, and I think this particular twist is a little too convenient, but also: demon king Lin in that costume is one hell of a compelling counter-argument and the reveal (complete with the "Lin trolls someone" theme) was exquisite, 10/10, no notes.

I showed Silver the Takarazuka oufit a while back and their reaction was, "this needs to be in the show", and here it is as a dark evil goth version, and it's glorious

THE PIPE DESIGN THO

It's even got little bones, like a spine!!

so like, yeah, I have questions, but also this show's got my number and I am willing to go along with it, hahaha

if Xing Hai ends up marrying the demon king once she gets over the initial shock, I will laugh so hard

when I said Lin might end up being the villain this was not what I meant, lol, but I'll take it

you can tell this season got compacted because the pacing is on steroids (any ONE of these revelations would have been enough for a single episode) but once again, every time I think I've seen it all and this show can't possibly top itself ever again, it proves me wrong, and I'm so here for it

okay, the season's almost over, so here are some predictions

it will probably end on a cliffhanger, with the demon gods awakening and the resumption of the War of Fading Dusk

Someone is going to summon the demon god with the seals; my money is on Lang Wu Yao, because he thinks it will help him defeat Azi. It'll probably work, but at the cost of consuming anything left of Lang's humanity and transforming him into a demon god to lead the others in the assault on the human realm, because irony

.... unless our heroes can stop him in time and pull him back from the brink???? I hope so, but there's too much ominous foreshadowing for me to say for certain.

no matter what happens, it's going to be a wild ride and I'm so here for it

[artlimited]

Le yin et le Yang by Charles Alain Grosse https://www.artlimited.net/20805/art/photographie-le-yin-et-yang-divers-autre-abstrait/en/706276

[alioversus]

Non Uccidere il Pesce d'Oro

Julien Ash & Antonella Eye Porcelluzzi | Mahorka | 2024

1. Fin août, tard le soir, dans une zone balnéaire pas que jolie, qui bientôt se dépeuplera. Elle en a un grand souvenir d’autrefois, et d’autrement. Le temps transforme tout. Voilà. C'est la pleine lune. Sentiments contradictoires. Ou tout simplement l'un qui aimait plus que l'autre, ou plutôt l'une en l'occurrence. Retenir ou laisser partir, sempiternelle question. Retenir et soumettre, se rendre minable… Ou laisser partir — et mourir de tristesse sur une plage sale, couverte de cadavres de 8.6 et de 1664. 

2. Heureusement, elle pouvait compter sur l’anesthésie du clubbing, l’illusion de la résilience, l’hypertrophie de l’ego, sage, autonome, conquérant… Des projecteurs dansaient au-dessus d’eux qui dansaient, tantôt fous dans la lumière, tantôt dévastés dans la pénombre. Une sensualité trouble pour dernier filet. Le contact de deux ou trois corps inconnus. Et dans l’inconscient déjà le germe du regret futur. Les lieux de fête sont des lieux de blues. C’est dans ce genre d’endroit que vomissait Gainsbourg quand il oubliait de porter son masque. Miroirs et rasoirs dans les couloirs, les toilettes… Mieux vaudrait peut-être faire couler le sang. Plutôt flinguer son flair est le choix dominant. 

3. Dans l’enfance, dans son pays d’origine, les matinées étaient tendres, pétillantes, à peine perturbées par une brise ensoleillée. La vie n’était pas plus facile, mais avec le recul, on lui trouverait des côtés candides, sincères, authentiques… C’est parce que les gens de là-bas sont souvent morts à présent. Et parce que l’enfant qu’elle y était est morte également, d’une certaine façon. Elle y retournera un jour — pour y renaître encore une fois. 

4. Elle fait partie de ceux qui ont un sens décalé de la chronologie. Son passé et son présent se réinventent constamment, en fonction de sa qualité de conscience ; et il n'y a jamais de travestissement. Tu vas voir. Tu vas entendre. Cela ne sera pas logique, mais cela aura le poids de l’évidence. Cela résonne depuis un lointain trauma. Scie circulaire et ouroboros. Éros et Thanatos. Yin et Yang. Cela a le ton du reproche et celui de la proposition franche. Cela prendra le temps qu’il faut. Suspension, vibration : harmoniques… Ce qui reste dans le cœur et le cerveau, bien après qu’a cessé la parole. Et voici bientôt que s’ouvre un passage. Le coulissement obscur des grandes portes métalliques — d’un paradis ? Patience encore. Ça y est, les anges trinquent, incontinents : une ola de coupes dressées, hémoglobine dyonisiaque — en l’honneur de leurs faiseuses persécutées. Puis dans un grincement de plomb et d’airain, la nuit de l’Autre se recroqueville sur eux. 

5. Il existe une sonate au clair de lune, et nous voulons faire tout l’inverse, ou presque : une bourrée au soleil noir. Le moment n’est-il pas venu de faire basculer l’essence dans la structure, dans la sculpture — comme un poisson dans l’or ? Le moment de déverser l’Étoile condensée sur tous les réseaux ? Leur binaire pourrait devenir ternaire par notre seule volonté. Mais hélas, par derrière, au point limite de pénétration de l’interface, cette satanée nostalgie qui affleure… Comme un vinyle qui craque. Il nous faudrait être plusieurs. Mais comment éviter le délitement de ce qui se sépare ? Comment ne pas tuer le Poisson que l’on veut voir nager dans un métal en fusion ?

6. Révélé, un secret perd tout son pouvoir. L’important n’est pas ce qui est caché, ce qui est tu en soi, l’important n’est pas la clef du mystère, l’important est le souci de garder quelque chose, de le préserver, de le chérir — douloureusement. De la famille jusqu’à Dieu… Plutôt le silence qu’une lumière aveuglante. La blessure se chuchote, l’initiation se murmure, l’humilité se scande. 

7. La faute était nécessaire, c’est elle qui a permis de sauver son monde. Au petit matin, comme un second printemps, la liberté s'est mêlée aux scintillements de la Méditerranée. Sur le port, les pêcheurs installent leur marché. Elle sourit à la puissance qui la dépasse, physiquement et intellectuellement, mais qui la propulse vers la vie, de tout son cœur rassuré. Rinçage des pavés à l’eau claire. Odeur de marée. Aux mâts inébranlables ne flottent plus que des voiles de mariée.

[hurtbrokenheart]

Notre monde était régi par des règles bien à nous. Des règles que les personnes extérieures à notre bulle ne pouvait comprendre. Des règles implicites, non-dites, mais que nous connaissions. Notre équilibre était parfait, comme les deux phases du Yin et du Yang, nous nous complétions sans même avoir à nous parler. Là où j'étais la neige, il était le blizzard. Là où j'étais la tempête, il était l'ouragan. Et là où j'étais son amour, il était toute ma vie.

[mentosyoupi]

The key similarities between the double vajra and Chrollo's tattoo are in the overlapping geometric components. Starting with Chrollo's tattoo from the center moving outwards, it is composed of a [1] circle/point located at the bisecting diagonals of a [2] diamond, which then extend past the diamond to meet 4 perpendicular line segments making up a larger [3] square. On top of each little line segment is a [4] "petal," connecting the tips of which create the outer diamond. This is almost the exact composition of the double vajra (which is worth googling, because it's really a ritual object rather than a visual symbol, e.g. the yin/yang sign, so there's a decent amount of visual/morphological variation). There is a circle at the center, contained within a quadranted rectangle, from the 4 sides of which grow lotus-shaped prongs that form a larger diamond shape.

[1] The vajra is a ritual object of Tibetan buddhism, and we’ve seen Togashi incorporate plenty of buddhist imagery and symbols in HxH (Netero’s appearance and nen ability, the connection between nen power system in general with chakras/auras, et al.). The vajra is also present in Japanese traditions of buddhism, so it's almost certain that this is an object/image Togashi would be aware of.

[2] Togashi’s use of religious imagery is syncretic particularly in his depiction of Meteor City (Islamic architecture + Christian crucifix headstones + western astrological symbols, etc.) so I don’t see any conflict between him having a cross on his coat and a double vajra on his forehead. In fact, the incorporation of symbols from multiple faiths is perfectly consistent with who Chrollo is and how he sees himself. I've expanded on this point here.

[3] Several core concepts of Buddhism and Vajrayana Buddhism in particular are consistent with and help explain Chrollo’s characterization. One is the general Buddhist concept of nothingness, where the practitioner aims to achieve a state of “emptiness/nothingness” of self, otherwise described as a state of indestructibility. For Chrollo, we see that reflected in his inability to define himself independently from the spiders, his belief that he is "replaceable" within the structure of the troupe, and how Melody describes his heartbeat as that of one who's accepted or walks alongside death. It is the fundamental "emptiness," or replaceability of the head and each individual limb which makes both Chrollo himself invulnerable to Kurapika's threats when he's being held hostage, as well as what makes the eternally regenerative Spider "indestructible" as an entity (in theory, of course).

Then there are two things specific to Vajrayana, aka “lightning vehicle” Buddhism, that help us understand Chrollo’s motives and identity — one is the idea that the tantric practitioner can quickly transcend the cycle of suffering through “self visualization as the deity/buddha” — like how Chrollo recreates his own image in that of a religious savior, albeit an ostensibly Christian one. It also contextualizes his heavy-looking earrings that other fans have said make him look a bit like a buddha.

The other is the idea of using evil to fight evil — the Hevajra tantra states that “one knowing the nature of poison may dispel poison with poison,” which we see manifested through the Phantom troupe’s original plan of catching/deterring criminals by becoming even bigger criminals themselves.

I've heard people say that Meteor City is partly inspired by Manshiyat Naser (which I think is true), but India is the more interesting comparison for me. Meteor City is home to a dense, multiethnic and multicultural population, like how the Indian subcontinent is and historically has been incredibly religiously diverse, with significant minorities of buddhists, muslims/sufis, jains, sikhs, Christian Indians as you mentioned, etc., alongside the majority Hindu population. The faiths (Sufism and Buddhism especially, maybe others but that's beyond my personal knowledge) integrated many elements of Hindu/vedic culture, especially in art and imagery, resulting in a very hybridized practice and visual language.

Togashi's use of religious imagery for Chrollo is syncretic too — the sun and moon are placed on his hands like Christ's stigmata, but the sun and moon symbols themselves are probably inspired by vedic astrology. The cross on his back is St. Peter's cross, but the crossed buttons on his coat are not inverted, and are probably a different kind of cross. Chrollo and the spiders are like Christ and his apostles, but in the backstory when he first reveals his plan, the troupe members (minus Machi, but THAT analysis is for another thread) raise a single index finger to the sky in solidarity — an islamic symbol (Tawhid) for the indivisible oneness of God. He also wears heavy earrings in resemblance of a buddha, and has a buddhist symbol tattooed on his forehead. All of this is consistent with the portrayal of his character and nen ability — Chrollo can assume the appearance, perspectives and abilities of anyone and anything, but also nothing (in his original conception of the troupe, all members are individually replaceable, including himself, which is why he tells Kurapika he holds no value as a hostage).

I mildly regret how I titled this thread, because I don't mean to say that Chrollo's tattoo is absolutely not a cross because it is actually a Buddhist vajra — the symbols themselves are syncretic. Thus, the tattoo may very well be a cross, in the sense that one could describe the double vajra itself as a "type of cross."

[art-vortex]

(via Coussin avec l'œuvre « "Duality Symbolized" » de l'artiste Art-Vortex-fr)