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imagitory · 5 years

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could you talk aout violetshipping for the fandom ask,since you said you like it?

Totally!

When I started shipping them: Oh gosh, Jounouchi/Kaiba goes back a long way with me – I shipped them while the show was still on the air, which was from 2001-2002, so yeah, I would’ve been 11-12 years old.

My thoughts: When I was younger, violetshipping (or, as it was more commonly called then, “puppyshipping”) was incredibly popular in the fanfiction circles I frequented, largely because of the supposed “intense sexual tension” between Kaiba and Jounouchi (or Joey) in the show. A lot of the fandom for this ship resulted in very OOC characterization for both Jounouchi and especially Kaiba in order to make it work, but even with that, I enjoyed fanon!puppyshipping for what it was, largely because it reminded me of other “opposite ships” I liked at the time like Ron/Hermione. Fanon!puppyshipping from that time often took a lot of cues from Pride and Prejudice or Beauty and the Beast-type stories, making Jounouchi a little more forgiving, patient, and/or victimized by his abusive father and Kaiba a little more romantic, lonely, and/or damaged in order to more smoothly fit them together, and although I look back now and think that a lot of those stories kind of glossed over the interesting character development Jounouchi and Kaiba could respectively go through in order to get to the good stuff, I can’t be too cynical about it. A lot of that sort of fanfiction – including the stuff I wrote – were written by young authors who were still exploring plot, characterization, and sometimes even their own sexuality through their work, and as much as an author should learn to examine and critique their own writing so as to improve, there is nothing wrong with stepping stones. The same can likewise be said for the people who read and enjoyed those OOC stories too.

But okay, so that’s my past with Jounouchi/Kaiba, what about the present? Now I look at these two and think, “Wow – the original series dropped so much potential development for these two and their relationship, didn’t they?” We were so focused on playing card games and saving the world that a lot of characters and relationships didn’t grow as much as they could or even should have. We had so much time for Atem and Kaiba to duel alongside each other more than once, and for Jounouchi and Atem to duel alongside each other more than once, but when we had the chance for Jounouchi and Kaiba to team up (with Atem too, as luck would have it) in season 4, they got no substantive time to tag-team and work out how to win even with their opposing styles. Even though Jounouchi and Kaiba were both such strong characters and talented duelists, and even though Jounouchi grew so much both as a person and as a competitor, Kaiba’s opinion of him barely budges an inch even after five seasons of interactions. And instead of acknowledging Kaiba’s stubbornness – instead of showing how much Jounouchi has improved and lampshading how truly foolish Kaiba is for underestimating him at every turn – we have all of this build-up with these two antagonizing each other and not seeing eye-to-eye that leads up to nothing by the time the series finale rolls around, because everyone is so busy focusing on Atem getting his memory back and going to the after-life. Even if in the Atlantis arc, we’d gotten some pay-off where Kaiba acknowledges Jounouchi as a competitor and finally awards him begrudging respect or, contrariwise, Jounouchi singlehandedly saves the day, Kaiba is left on the sidelines stubbornly refusing to award him the respect due, and Jounouchi just basically decides “f*** you, then – I know my worth and that’s all that matters,” that would’ve been a great pay-off for what was set up.

But yeah, basically, I see Jounouchi/Kaiba as the culmination of two character arcs that the show didn’t deliver on. Both of them could learn something from each other, if they both learned to surmount their own pride. They have a lot in common – both having traumatic pasts with less-than-stellar father figures, both having a younger sibling that they would do anything for, both loving games and competition, both being determined, stubborn, proud, and passionate – but they also have contrasts that could encourage growth in both parties. So, in essence, Jounouchi/Kaiba as a love story would be about the beauty of potential.

What makes me happy about them: Their different types of intelligence – Kaiba being much more conventionally “smart” with his academic, logical-mathematical intelligence, and Jounouchi having a lot more interpersonal and bodily-kinesthetic intelligence. Also, the way they constantly butt heads – yes, I know, I just emphasized that the “sexual tension” isn’t exactly what makes me ship these two, and it’s not, but it doesn’t mean that their arguing doesn’t still make me laugh! I love good old-fashioned bantering. *eyes Han/Leia and Dimitri/Anya out the side of her eye*

What makes me sad about them: Again, how much more growth they could have gone through! I am glad that some post-series fics do actually take those roads not taken, though.

Things done in fanfic that annoys me: Although most of the OOC fandom depictions of Jounouchi and Kaiba don’t bother me that much overall, there are a few characterization choices I don’t like as much, and the big one is turning Jounouchi into a victim that needs to be “saved” by Kaiba. Yes, Jounouchi’s father is an alcoholic and a pretty awful parent, but Jounouchi has never been the sort to just sit around and passively wait for someone else to save him, even when he was in over his head. He’s a proud, resilient character, and making him a poor, helpless damsel in need of a rescue romance I just feel does him a bad service.

Things I look for in fanfic: ORGANIC CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT! I love Kaiba and Jounouchi learning from each other and evolving into better people. I love them clashing on things, awkwardly trying to patch things up, coming to grips with who they are as individuals and how they relate to each other – I love them facing their inner demons both on their own and together.

My wishlist: …Can Yu-Gi-Oh: Duel Monsters get one of those shiny reboots like Sailor Moon and Fruits Basket got, one that follows the manga a little closer, but still gives us the chance to maybe give these characters more dimension and development that they didn’t get in the original series or even in the manga? I love the new animation style they used for Dark Side of Dimensions!

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: LOL, ironically it’s the same person, as I also ship both Yugi/Jounouchi and Yugi/Kaiba! XD

My happily ever after for them: Jounouchi and Kaiba dueling each other with confident smiles on their faces, as romantic partners and true equals – Red Eyes and Blue Eyes – both not knowing who is going to win today, but being thrilled to find out.

Fandom Ask!

#ask me #fandom ask #yugioh #yu-gi-oh!#katsuya jounouchi #joey wheeler #seto kaiba #opinion #oh boy here i go #shipping #puppyshipping #violetshipping

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quillreflections · 5 years

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Title: Stadium Arcadium

Chapter: 3

Series: Yugioh Zexal

Pairing: Kite/reader

Stranger things have happened, both before and after noon.

A few days later, you're standing back in the- the laboratory, the experimental facility, whatever it is that they keep bringing Hart to. You've got your hands to the glass of the window and are gritting your teeth so hard that your jaw hurts. In front of you, Hart is on the other side of the glass, writhing as his own energy overwhelms him. Behind you, Nistro's positioned his very solid form in front of the door; they're not going to let you burst through again to stop this. They insist it'll be beneficial eventually.

As soon as Hart's "treatment" is over, Nistro steps aside and lets you go get the boy. You've only been employed here for a few days, but the situation already feels like it's emotionally ruining you; when you pick up Hart and he clings to you, sobs racking his tiny body, you're astonished at how small and frail he really is. How vulnerable.

On your way back towards the elevator, you pass Dextra emerging from the observation room. Your eyes meet.

". . . how can they do this to a child?" Your voice is quiet. Her stoic face softens at your concern.

"I'll admit, it takes a long time to stop. . . reacting badly. I know it's difficult to watch. But," she hesitates; Kite still hasn't explained anything to you, so she doesn't want to overstep her bounds, "if we don't do things like this to release that excess energy, it will build up, and he could end up very dangerous."

Your eyes wander down to the small child in your arms. After watching this, you definitely understand how he could be dangerous- but he's not malicious. You're sure of that now.

You just hum in response and take Hart upstairs.

☆☆☆☆☆

As you've come to expect after several days of this, Hart sleeps hard once you take him back to his room. You pull his covers up around him, and grab the one stuffed animal he owns- a small patchwork rabbit that looks about as old as he is- and lay it next to him.

You step quietly over to the door, although you're pretty sure the end of the world wouldn't wake him now, he's so exhausted; when you turn around to look at his room once more, you make note of how dark it is. The windows are already tinted, but he's also got light-blocking curtains and no nightlights. . .

It doesn't look like a child's room.

You shut the door silently.

Padding back out to the living room, you sink onto the couch with a heavy sigh. You stare out the window at the gorgeous view of Heartland City, but it doesn't register; your mind is intensely focused on the weight of what you've been witnessing.

Was treating Hart like this really going to help him eventually? It pained you to watch him going through that supposed treatment every day- and if it hurt you so badly, after only knowing this child for such a brief period of time, you could only imagine how Kite felt.

And Heartland. . . you'd always known the system as some kind of benign entity, even generous at points. Mr. Heartland himself had taken good care of your parents while they were under his employ, and he'd just helped you in such a tremendous way. . . seeing this brutality shook you in more ways you'd like to admit.

Your eyes slide shut as you think about your parents. Your mother, in the hospital. Your father, in prison. You wonder if he'd known about this.

You sigh again before opening your eyes and raising your head. Hart would sleep for hours, if not until Kite came home late this evening; nobody else ever came up just to check on how the two of you were doing, so you had the rest of the day to yourself.

Time to really get to work.

After checking in on Hart once more, to be sure he was asleep, you ducked into the elevator and activated your staff d-pad. It came with detailed maps of various official Heartland facilities; you pulled up the tower maps and examined them for a bit. You'd been in one of the security offices, that's where you'd spoken with Mr. Heartland; the testing room was a few floors above that; ah, listed twenty floors down from Tenjo's penthouse, exactly what you wanted. A records room.

As you input the room access code into the elevator control panel, you smile to yourself. This was just to satisfy your curiosity; you know, if information's being withheld, there's a reason for it. But still, human nature gnaws at you.

When the elevator doors whoosh open and you step out, second thoughts begin creeping up on you.

The records room isn't like the rest of the tower. Most of Heartland's official buildings are outfitted with the most advanced technology available, and streamlined and designed to be both visibly pleasing and effortless to use. But this. . .

In the dim light, you can see endless rows of shelves, extending far past the edge of your vision; they tower over your minuscule form, and seem so old that they might topple any moment, taking everything else with them. You run your hand over the wall by the entrance- no switches whatsoever. The only light you'll be getting comes from the old lamps, hanging dozens of feet above the floor. They seem older than you are, and they cast light in dim half-moons, leaving large portions of space in eerie darkness. When you take a single step, the noise echoes from one end of the room to the other, sounding like it travels forever.

Wow, are you really curious enough to go digging through all this?

You pull your d-pad back out, using the screen light to illuminate the immediate area. Pasted on the wall by the door is a list, presumably of each shelf and its contents. You run a finger down the list, not knowing what the hell you're even doing here.

"'Case number 82649-B?'" Half the list is jumbled terms like that. "Photonic technology? Xyz suppression?" You keep scanning. ". . . Tenjo! Tenjo, Hart; aisle 37-C." You mutter to yourself to break the soul-crushing silence and then start walking. Such good luck, there being an entire section on the kid in the first place you check! You can only hope it holds something useful.

Your d-pad screen glows a cold blue color, almost unnerving you further. Aisle 34. . . 35. . . there it is, 37! The reverberations of your footsteps sync up with the beating of your heart. The shelves are also labeled by subject. . . there it is, the section with Hart's name.

Approaching it, you realize how damn odd this is. You barely know the kid, and his brother hardly speaks to you either; why do you feel so driven to finding out what's going on? The only things on the shelf are a binder, stuffed full of so many papers that they're spilling out, and what looks like a scrapbook. You reach for the binder first.

They'd probably know somehow if you removed the materials from the room, so you sink down to the floor instead, and begin reading by the cold light of your d-pad. Maybe you can take pictures of these pages to read later. . .

When you open the binder, your heart sinks a bit. It's much more technical than you'd hoped for; you were looking for things in layman's terms, but this was clearly all very detailed scientific information. Not something you could understand in a day. You decide that taking pictures would be better, because then you could keep track of this to research later.

While flipping through and taking snapshots of everything, some very specific notations caught your eye. One set of pages discussed something about photons- hadn't there been a section for that further back in the archives? And scrawled here in the margins of notes on Xyz monsters were thoughts about antimatter, and different forms of energy- this stuff is wild.

Once you've checked that the pictures are clear enough to read, you replace the binder on the shelf, and then the scrapbook next to it catches your eye; your hand hovers over it, but you hesitate. It. . . feels more intrusive to look through a scrapbook than it does various medical reports and studies. You decide against it.

Since you'd come all the way down here, you feel compelled to explore a bit more- but the space is so absolutely eerie that you don't want to do it for long, lest something inexplicable crawl out of the dark. You quickly pace the aisles up and down on your way back to the entrance. A big section on extra deck research. . . these files are labelled as having been transferred from the Kaiba Corporation. . . one small section, at the bottom of a shelf, catches your eye. Even though that particular block is immersed in almost complete darkness, something is gleaming-? You kneel down to pick it up, and when you touch it, some kind of excitement begins pulsing through you.

It's a blank card. You turn it over in your hands; although there's nothing on the front, the back is printed with the typical Duel Monsters design, so you can also assume it's a defect card that someone dropped. Still, the energy rushing through you as you hold it in your hand- for whatever reason, you tuck it into your deckbox. Then your eyes wander to the notebooks the blank card had been sticking out of. These notebooks and files look much newer than everything else you've passed, and across their spines in large print is NUMBERS.

Math has never been your strong suit, but given the oddities of the records kept here, you decide to crack one of them open anyways.

It's not a math book. It's apparently research notes on specific Xyz monsters- your eyes roam the pages quickly, because you suddenly feel like you shouldn't be looking at this. Number cards? Possession? Real damage? Souls. . . ?

A chill runs through you, ice suddenly pulsing through your veins. Maybe you should take pictures of this too.

After that, you didn't feel like exploring anymore.

☆☆☆☆☆

It had been daylight when you went down to the archives, but as the elevator opens back into the top of the tower, you're greeted with the sight of Heartland's evening lights trying to outshine the stars. Had you really been down there that long?

Your stomach growls, reminding you that you haven't eaten yet. It's a bit late to make a full-on dinner, so you start assembling sandwiches instead. While you're working in the kitchen, you hear small feet stumbling into the room; you look over your shoulder, and there's Hart, rubbing his eyes as he climbs into his favorite chair. You smile at him.

"I'm glad to see you're awake, Hart! Are you. . . feeling alright now?"

He nods at you before looking out the window. You'd quickly learned that he didn't like talking about it. In his reflection, you can see his golden eyes narrow at something.

"My brother says you live on the other side of the wall."

You finish slicing the tomato and add a few pieces to the sandwich you've prepared for him. "I do! My family has always lived on the outer city." You set his sandwich on the table, and then take a seat across from him to dig into your own. Hart just stares at his food.

"I've never been on the other side of the wall." He looks up at you, and his gaze is, as always, troublingly un-childlike. "Are things different on that side?"

You shrug. "The biggest difference is that there's not that many city officials around; it's not like the outer city is some lawless mess, but you don't have twelve people breathing down your neck whenever you mix up the trash and recycling bins." You chuckle a bit, but Hart stays quiet.

From the living room, you hear the telling sound of the elevator's electronic whirring; sure enough, Kite steps into the kitchen after a moment, his stone face melting into a smile at the sight of his younger brother. He crosses the kitchen in a smooth motion, kneeling down next to the child.

"Hart! I'm glad I got to see you before you went to bed." His brother reaches out, and Kite scoops Hart up into his arms. Hart wraps his own arms around his brother in a hug.

"I'm glad you're home early, Kite. Will you look at my homework?"

As the two brothers get lost in one of their now-rare moments together, you smile to yourself and continue with your dinner. Kite may be cold to you, but it's nice to know he really does care for this child who's growing on you, too.

You wait around until after Kite has taken his brother back to bed. The older Tenjo returns to the kitchen a different man; he doesn't smile at you, and his eyes have hardened again. He does, however, accept the plate you hand him without complaint. It's a small victory, but a victory nonetheless.

He sits across from you at the table, and you sit quietly as he eats. He catches you staring at him.

". . . what do you want?"

You blush, not really sure how to ask. He seems like he'd say no to anything you ever suggested.

"I was thinking," you start carefully, folding your hands in your lap and trying to seem as respectful as possible. "Hart is still a growing boy, despite his. . . illness." Kite nods, so you continue.

"I don't think it's good for him to be so cooped up in here- the only change in scenery he gets is going with Dextra and Nistro, and that's not what a little boy needs. He needs to go out and play, Mr. Tenjo." Kite hasn't stopped you yet, so you take a deep breath before finally getting to the point.

"I'd like to take him outside soon."

To your surprise, Kite shrugs easily. "That's fine."

You stare at him for a moment, and he smirks a bit at your speechlessness. "You probably can't picture me ever not being like this, but Hart and I used to live out in the country." He reaches for his drink and takes a swig. "I agree with you, he needs the chance to be a child."

His eyes had softened for a moment, but when he looks back up at you, that emotion is buried. "I'll go with you, though. I can't just let you up and take my brother somewhere."

You nod in relief, having expected much tougher restrictions, if not an outright rejection. "I understand, Mr. Tenjo. Thank you for this opportunity."

Kite sighs. "Don't call me that. It sounds weird. But-" he interrupts your next sentence, "don't take that any other way, either. I still don't totally like this all. I just don't like that more."

You smile at him anyways.

"Thanks, Kite."

#Stadium Arcadium #yugioh #Zexal #kite tenjo

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steve0discusses · 5 years

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Yugioh S3 Ep 19: Seto and Mokuba are Turned Into Inanimate Objects...Again

Last we left off on the world’s most awkward family reunion, Moki was being used to take advantage of Seto again, which happens at least 2 times a season.

What’s kind of wild about this, is that everyone jumps to the conclusion that Seto is absolutely going to murder his little brother. Seto. The guy who 2 seasons ago was willing to absolutely jump off a ledge for his little brother.

And then suddenly, Duke makes his feelings known about just life in general at this point.

Duke in the background just spiraling deeper and deeper into his IDGAF apathy. And to be honest, Duke might not be fully aware of who Mokuba even is. It’s not like they’ve ever had a conversation, other than maybe “ah, you work for Pegasus, he locked me in a tower for weeks and then killed me by turning me into a little paper card and then tried to seize control of my company. Nice. Nice that he isn’t in jail.”

In fact, since Duke does work with Pegasus who probably is still doing his best to compete with/work with the Kaiba business...Duke actually has a lot to gain, business wise, by killing Mokuba. Like, I’m pretty sure Duke isn’t a mole but he could be. He has...a lot of motive, actually.

If bro hadn’t straight up told me that Duke isn’t a mole like I suspected, than I’d still be waiting for that other shoe to drop. But it won’t. A shame.

Anyways this shows up:

All I’m saying is that a black hole is an astronomical region in space and a dark hole is very often a butthole, but youknow...maybe that’s just a very particular English language thing that no one will ever teach you from a textbook and it just didn’t quite get translated over correctly. But yeah, in my eye, Noah's just up there holding up a sphincter. It’s very fitting, he is an asshole. Congrats, Noah Kaiba, you’ve found your card.

Meanwhile, Yugi is doing his very best to try and backseat, even if Kaiba instinctively slaps it out of his hands at every opportunity.

So I figured that he’d mention that both of these boys carry these card lockets around their necks with a little picture of the other brother inside--a little thing they carry for no other reason than to remember eachother. Which makes sense, because Kaiba forgets things SO OFTEN. The necklace around their necks is almost like those bracelets you wear to let police and medics know if you’re prone to narcolepsy--it even has a nice picture inside to indicate “please return this boy to this pictured person in case you find him wandering about completely lost.”

I kinda figured that necklace would be used at some point but nah, we’re gonna talk about cards. Which is fine, because we get to see this good drawing Mokuba made once.

Which, PS, it was sort of hard to pick up on the first time Kaiba talked about this period of his life, but this time when he talked about this incident it like...left quite a bit highly implied there by what Seto meant when he said Mokuba “saved me.” It’s some pretty heavy stuff that kind of gets blown over by the massive magic dragon that shows up in the next scene and then just flies Mokuba, who is wearing very cute fuzzy socks, up into the sky and into the moon like ET.

Nowadays they do this by hanging off of Helicopters, but flying on dangerous things to escape their horrible childhood has been their Fantasy for a very long time. These kids and their obsession with heights and dangerous ledges.

And apparently it was this moment in his youth that Seto decided he wanted to be “worthy enough to hold a Blue Eyes.” And like...I remember S1 Seto. That was the worthy Seto?

I guess “worthy enough” doesn’t really imply any sort of moral code, just if you have enough money and can like play cards pretty OK.

Anyways, it was a lot of new stuff applied to this card that I just only recently accepted as a GF and so it was like “All right show, I see what you’re doing, I guess we’re going to walk slowly out of the paper romance realm and into...some sort of card-honor brother realm.”

So, using the Blue Eyes, Kaiba destroys a bunch of Gradius ships, which Noah was like “These Gradius ships represent our Father’s company!” in case you’re a child and didn’t see the symbolism. And, along the way, he destroys what he thinks is Noah’s Game Master card but like...it’s this show, so apparently inside the Boat was another dude and the game is going to keep on going, fml.

Ah buckle up this...this is going to be a long one. This is going to be a lot more cards, huh?

Anyway, when I saw this card that is clearly based on a couple of Gods I was like “so um...isn’t that a...God card?” so I looked it up, also because it was BS and I was frustrated that it was even here after the boat thing ended, and this card is a...get this...a Fairy card.

Cuz it has wings? Like a Seraphim? Everything about this looks like a conglomeration of different Gods but--I guess since God Cards can only have the 4 God Cards, this is a...Fairy card. Interesting. That is a huge ass Fairy. Yugioh biology really eludes me.

Anyway, First thing Noah does as a fairy is destroy his younger brother who is also older than him, don’tthinkaboutit. He’s again sporting the poorly photoshopped glowing romper that the dub gave us in order to spare us.

Hey!

Question!

So when Noah’s wearing the game Master outfit, he’s ass naked underneath--but the Big 5 weren’t? Like wouldn’t the Big 5 have had the same issue of Noah here where they have no body, so whatever they’re wearing is just whatever they’re in?

Meaning that when they were all shoved in Tristan’s body wouldn’t they have just been 5 naked fat old guys hanging out like a European sauna?

Or is this just Noah’s preference? To be ass naked when no one’s looking? Because he’s been here all alone for 6 years, so why the hell not? Like, no one cares. No one’s looking. You can’t get splinters or whatever. Just let it all hang loose, man, it’s not even a real body.

Like, if you look closely, Noah only has ... one outfit he’s had here for 6 years. I’ve noticed this maybe more than most because...it’s not a great outfit. He had that same suit and shorts combo right after he woke up and got out of his jammies from the accident all those years ago. He also wore a space suit once, but that was a Birthday present from Dad and I haven't seen the suit since.

Did Noah recognize that People Are Coming and was like “oh dammit, dammit, I have to cover the goods” and just throw on literally the only thing in his closet? The office shorts combo from 6 years ago? Is that why? Is that the big secret of the baby boy suit shorts? That he, in reality, never really wears them?

Questions about nudity aside, out of freakin no where Noah just turns the Kaibas into this:

Noah spent like 20 episodes saying no one is ever allowed to cheat and then just flippin does this and is like “What? It’s almost legal enough.”

I mean, it’s not like there’s any official rules for Duel Monsters anyway but apparently you can just turn each other into statuary and it’s like...fine. That’s fine.

Also, fun fact, about Yugioh statues, they come with eyeliner built in.

So much dedication to the guyliner in this show, mad respect.

And yes, I have sort of thought that Moki’s been sporting a teeny tiny Adam Lambert line this whole time. Like most our cast, honestly. But not Joey. I feel like Joey would never have the patience to learn how to waterline.

I mean the Kaiba’s are essentially brain dead, yes? Their brain functions have been removed and uploaded to the cloud to never be downloaded back into their vegetable bodies? That counts enough for me.

Seto Kaiba just 2 corpses away from 169ing the Hell out of that death scene. A shame.

Bro was like “well at least this crying statue stuff is more like something that normally happens in a kid’s show.” and I was like “THIS? So this ever happened in Pokemon?” and bro was like “It did actually, Ash Ketchum was turned into stone and then cried as a rock statue, and then Pikachu hugged him to make him all better” And as you may be aware my bro is full of spicy headcanons so I’m not sure if that’s actually true but it was like

“Bro, was Ash Ketchum ever turned to stone because his abusive Father’s secret son, who has been turned into an evil computer, wants to kill his brother and then take over his body to run the Patriots from Metal Gear? That happened on Pokemon?” And Bro admitted “Ok, maybe not so much.”

Anyway, Pharaoh awakens to put a stop to this nonsense by bringing up the long list of things that Noah did just now that is absolutely cheating.

Anyway, this is Noah now.

He’s just this...huge 100 story tall person with very bored judgy eyes just floating in the sky with vaguely religious iconography going on and bunch of wings like that one character design that we all have in our portfolio. Yeah, you know the one. It’s this guy. We’ve all drawn this guy. Anyway, it’s going to be very hard to take him seriously when this guy has Noah’s voice.

Again, he is not, he is ass naked in there, though the dub did try and cover it up.

Anyway, next episode we get to basically start this entire duel over.

That’s nice. That’s nice of them to do to me. At least these kids finally got a chance to do some duel prep for the actual tourney they’re supposed to be doing later this season. Yeah. Remember that apocalypse? That’s still going on somehow. Maybe by the time they’ll get to it, most of the competitors will be dead?

Here’s a link to read the recaps in order from S1 Ep1

#yugioh #yu gi oh #episode recap #photo recap #S3 Ep19 #tw suicide #seto kaiba #noah kaiba #yugi muto #joey wheeler #duke devlin #Noah is now a giant 6 winged angel #The Kaibas are rock statues #unfortunately this time they are in a much harder to transport state #you can't put a statue into your pants pocket so rip

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cartoonus-maximus · 6 years

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Okay, here’s the skinny on my puzzleshipping/tendershipping/other shipping alpha/omega AU.

. .

Yugi: omega

Yugi struggles from being picked on and bullied by alphas at school, as well as being attracted to his alpha friend Anzu, who isn't interested in him. To make matters worse, Ushio, the alpha who owns the apartment block Yugi and his grandfather live in, has been raising their rent and threatening to kick them out if they can't pay in some way.

Needing the money, Yugi turns to Kisara, the older omega sister of Bakura, who teaches him how to strip and pole dance. She helps him get hired at the club she works at, entertaining alphas and making money off it. After a week, Yugi is able to pay off Ushio for the month. He continues to work at the club, dividing his time between working in the evening, doing his homework at night, going to school during the day, and making time to cheer Jou and Bakura on at the arena.

Yugi eventually meets his alpha, a wealthy young man named Atem. The two don't move in together immediately, instead settling into a routine of meeting each other after they've each finished their respective jobs, often working on their homework together.

. .

Atem: alpha

Atem comes from a wealthy family, and lives with his alpha father Aknamkanon, his omega sister Mana, his alpha brother-in-law (Mana's husband) Mahad, his alpha uncle Aknadin, his alpha cousin Seth, and Seth's omega wife Isis. All very wealthy and from good breeding. Seth and Isis are not natural mates but are married for money, but Mana and Mahad actually are natural mates.

Atem is engaged to Ryou, an omega from another high ranking family. While he likes the omega and can find nothing wrong with Ryou, he still wishes he could find his natural mate instead.

Atem is fascinated by how different the upper and lower classes live and sometimes dresses as a lower class alpha and mingles with the people of the lower class. Sometimes, he even enters the fighting arena, where he gets pitted against scrappers like Bakura or Jou or Malik or Marik. He always loses the fights (and the winning coins), but the adrenaline and the feeling of being in a physical fight are addictive.

He meets Yugi by chance at the arena one evening and is surprised to realize that this lower class omega really in his natural mate.

Atem is attending classes on history and politics at the local university.

. .

Anzu: “alpha”

Anzu is an omega with old-fashioned parents. Her father is an alpha who goes to work and her mother is an omega who stays home and takes care of the house. But Anzu wants to be more than what an omega can be, so she starts spraying herself to make herself smell like an alpha. Her parents don't know about the scenting, the jobs she takes, or her career plans, while no one outside the family knows her true alignment.

Anzu's facade falls apart when she meets her alpha, Seto Kaiba. She and Seto fight about how she should live her life. Anzu wants nothing more than to be independent and hates the idea of depending on her alpha for everything, while Seto is baffled and doesn't understand why an omega would want to handle herself so completely; despite her behavior, Anzu is still an omega and she still needs emotional support and affection, but those are things that Seto has no idea how to give; Seto wishes his omega could just be satisfied with good food and fancy gifts, since those are things he knows how to give, but that's the opposite of what Anzu wants from him.

. .

Seto Kaiba: alpha

Seto comes from an upper class family, along with his alpha brothers Noa and Mokuba, and has inherited the family business after their father's “unfortunate and unexpected” death. Seto is engaged to Vivian Wong, the omega daughter of a business associate; Seto doesn't personally one way or the other for his fiance, but agrees to the marriage because that means the Wong's family business will become his someday.

Before he can get married though, he has a chance encounter with Anzu Mazaki, a lower class alpha who he quickly realizes is both an omega and his natural mate. He backs out of the marriage to Vivian (and Noa is more than eager to fill in his place), and begins communicating with Mazaki.

Anzu continues to live with her family, refusing to drop her entire life and move in with Seto just because he's her alpha, and also ignores him whenever the two meet in public. Seto doesn't go out of his way for her, preferring to call her on the phone once every few weeks, coldly and impassionately inquiring about her health and such.

Eventually, Seto decides to make Anzu come work for him, arranging for her to get into a fairly high paid position in his company. This escalates to making Anzu move in with him, leading to a lot of loud arguments and frequent, angry bouts of sex.

. .

Jounouchi: alpha

Jou's parents split up when his omega mother got caught sleeping around with other alphas, and he misses his little omega sister.

Jou's father died awhile back, forcing Jou to drop out of school and look for work. He performs in the fighting arena as a brawler three evenings a week, and also works loading goods in a warehouse during weekday afternoons.

Jou meets his mate in the fighting arena, a woman named Mai “the Peacock,” who is his opponent. She is an omega who doesn't trust alphas, much in the same vein that he doesn't trust most omegas. His relationship with Mai is rocky, but they make it work, becoming tag team brawlers in the arena.

. .

Honda: alpha

Honda hasn't found his omega yet, despite being in his twenties, years after most alphas and omegas pair off. He takes care of his omega friend, Miho, who can't seem to find her alpha, helping her handle her loneliness and heat. Their relationship becomes physical, as they both need to ease how lonely they feel.

Things get complicated when they meet a young man named Otogi, who is both Honda's omega and Miho's alpha, to whom Honda feels no mental attraction. Honda has the natural desire to have sex with Otogi and get him pregnant, but, as far as attractions and personal preferences, Honda is drawn to Miho and isn't interested in Otogi at all.

. .

Otogi: omega/alpha (“zeta”)

Ryuji was born with both the equipment of an alpha and an omega and can easily fill both roles. He has the ability to bear children and experiences periods, like an omega, but he experiences ruts instead of heats, like an alpha. He experiences attraction to both alphas and omegas, but in different ways. He worries about what sort of mate he has and what his mate would think of him.

Otogi goes through life self-sufficient, but eventually meets his alpha … and his omega. Who are already together. Over time, he, Honda, and Miho develop a strange sort of three way relationship.

. .

Ryou: omega

Outfits while living with his father -

Black and blue yukata with images of water, clouds, rabbits, and moons, with a yellow and silver waist band. One of his cheeks has a rabbit painted on it, while the other has the phases of the moon. Silver eyeliner, thick black mascara, cotton candy blue eyeshadow, glittery blue lip gloss.

Teal kimono with white and silver and pink flowers clustered at the bottom, with a pink waist sash. Pink and white and silver flowers are painted along one side of his face, spreading from his cheek up to circle his eye, matching the pattern of his kimono. Pink lip gloss that forms a heart on his lips, and matching flowers in his hair, a lacy veil covering the top half of his head.

Outfit when living with Bakura and Kisara -

Soft flannel pants, fuzzy bunny slippers, an oversized sweater borrowed from Kisara, a T-shirt stolen from Bakura.

Ryou has a chance meeting with his alpha as a child and doesn't recognize or understand the sensations. When he meets Bakura again in years later, he can barely contain his glee and launches himself at the alpha scrapper.

Ryou is from an upper class family and is engaged to Atem. He meekly agrees to the arrangement, but meets Bakura again by chance and dumb luck, recognizing Bakura immediately as his natural mate. He breaks off the engagement with Atem, angering his father, and instead moves in with Bakura and Kisara. His father is outraged that Ryou would throw away a good marriage simply because he's met his mate, and disowns him, leaving Ryou with no money and no inheritance.

Anzu helps Ryou get a job as a secretary at Kaiba's company, which doesn't pay as much as Bakura can win as a scrapper but supplies a much more reliable income as well as health benefits.

. .

Bakura: alpha

Bakura is a lower class alpha who dropped out of school awhile ago, choosing instead to hone his fighting prowess and becoming a professional scrapper at the fighting arena (winners get paid). He fights with and against other alphas, like Jou or Malik, and even omegas, like Mai or Marik, and they're all paid to put on a show for the audience.

Bakura met his natural mate by accident as a child and can't wait to meet him again. He meets Ryou by chance again and all but carries the omega off then and there.

When not sparring or scrapping, Bakura enjoys playing video games (sometimes against Jou or Yugi) and eating steamed dumplings. He lives with his sister, Kisara, in the same apartment block as Yugi and his grandfather, and often butts heads with the landlord Ushio.

. .

Kisara: omega

Kisara is Bakura's older sister, and she has practically raised him for the past several years. She doesn't expect to meet her natural mate at this point in her life, and is surprised when she sees Seth for the first time and her heart jumps.

Kisara works in a strip club as a pole dancer. She meets Seth when he takes Atem there to celebrate Atem's engagement to Ryou. Seth is already married, but, since his wife is already cheating on him with her mate, he doesn't see why he can't pursue his own.

. .

Malik: alpha

Malik is an alpha who fights at the arena. He often tag team fights with his omega mate, Marik. Malik is a brawler, while Marik is a scrapper. He and Marik perform under their “Evil Twin” personas.

. .

Marik: omega

Marik is an omega who fights at the arena. He often tag team fights alongside his alpha mate, Malik. The two share a few physical similarities, enough that people sometimes mistake them for brothers instead of mates, so they like to wear matching clothing and dye their hair similar colors, playing up the image and making a stage gimmick of it.

. .

Society -

The society is somewhat reminiscent of many modern countries. Buildings and architecture are very modern, with built in electricity and indoor plumbing. Vehicles and other technological devices are common, such as computers, televisions, and cell phones.

It isn't quite a first world experience, as there is less of a focus on luxury and more on necessity. Office jobs are considered cushy and are reserved for the upper class alphas, while lower level alphas do more physical sorts of jobs. Upper class omegas are allowed to get simple jobs or engage in activities that put them in the public eye, while lower class omegas are encouraged to stay home and raise children. Many workplaces won't even hire an omega, regardless of physical or academic qualifications.

Children of the upper class tend to be fairly well educated, and can choose to attend college or university from their teens and well into their thirties, where they can take classes about art, literature, history, politics, or anything else they desire. Lower class children are generally taught how to read and write and perform basic math by their parents at a young age, but may attend public school through their teens and into adulthood, where they are given crash courses in art, literature, history, etc., but are generally focused toward some sort of trade job or skill. Alphas who do not make it through high school often end up in the fighting arenas or in areas of unskilled labor.

Alphas and omegas are born with a natural mate, someone to whom they are bound at the soul. This doesn't make for perfect relationships necessarily, as mates can die before or after meeting each other, cheat on each other, or even grow to hate each other. They can also fall in love with another person to whom they are not mated. Most alphas and omegas meet their natural mate somewhere in their teens, leading to their marriage/mating and having children.

The people are split into four different types, split between two sexes (alpha and omega) and two genders (males and female).

Male alphas are generally tall and physically strong, their bodies producing large amounts of testosterone. Their bodies are built for physical combat and for spreading their seed. Male alphas are easily prone to anger but tend to be defensive and very protective of their omega mate and their children. Male alphas experience rut, a special hormonal cycle that can be triggered by their omega mate, during which time they are filled with the constant need for sex.

Female alphas, like their male counterparts, tend to be tall and strong and prone to aggression. While they still have wombs and a reasonable amount of estrogen, female alphas are capable both of getting pregnant and impregnating their omega mate. Female alphas will usually not choose to get pregnant, as their bodies are built more for combat and impregnating others, but they do possess the physical capability. A female alphas rut cycle is more closely tied to her period, but can also be triggered by their mate; because of the dual trigger, female alphas have the stereotype of being significantly more sexually active than their male counterparts.

Female omegas tend to be small, their bodies built with soft curves. They produce large amounts of estrogen, and are almost always ready and willing to be impregnated. Female omegas are generally fairly quiet and docile and motherly, their bodies built to bear children and their minds structured to rear children.

Male omegas are very much like their female counterparts, small and soft and round and filled with estrogen. Aside from a womb with which to bear children, male omegas also possess the physical ability to impregnate others, but usually don't get as much physical pleasure out of it as they get from being on the receiving end.

. .

Lower class -

Alphas experience rut and bouts of aggression, and tend to wear their hair short and their clothing loose and revealing. Ripped jeans, tank tops, tube tops, sports bras, wind breakers, boxers, and running pants are all common clothing choices among lower class alphas, both male and female. Alphas tend to be muscular, taking jobs with large amounts of physical labor. They tend to have strong, sharp teeth, and can grow their fingernails into claws if they choose. They often walk around barefoot if given the option. Alphas also tend to alter their bodies, getting tattoos and piercings and even filing their teeth, and are able to tolerate a great deal of pain.

Omegas experience both periods, during which they may avoid contact with their alpha mate, and heat, during which they are filled with the need and desire to get pregnant. Omegas often stay home, cooking, cleaning, and raising the children. Omegas usually prefer soft or warm clothing, such as sweaters, knee socks, cotton skirts, yoga pants, sweat pants, long sleeve T-shirts, vests, lingerie, bathrobes, fuzzy slippers, and anything else that provides physical comfort. Many omegas will also steal one or two of their alpha's shirts or jackets to wear, especially if the alpha's scent is on it. Omegas usually wear their hair long, and will also wear hats and makeup and jewelry.

Lower class alphas and omegas tend to marry their natural mate. Not always, but that is the general preference.

. .

Fighting arenas are places where lower class people go to watch and bet on alphas who fight each other for show. Think TV wrestling or non-fatal gladiator combat. The fighters mostly consist of alphas, but may also include omegas, all of whom tend to have a certain fighting style and stage persona. (Bakura is “the Demon,” Mai is “the Dancing Peacock,” etc.) During a fight, any non-fatal injury is allowed – the fighters are allowed to hit, punch, kick, knee, scratch, or even bite each other, so long as no one dies. The winners are paid a healthy amount of coin, but losers go home empty handed.

The two types of fighters are 'brawlers' and 'scrappers.' Brawlers tend to have a more specific style they use and may even use weapons in a match, such as bo staffs or wooden swords. Scrappers usually don't have specific styles, instead attacking with whatever strength and adrenaline their body possesses.

Jou, Mai, and Malik are all brawlers, while Bakura and Marik are scrappers.

. .

Upper class -

Wealthy alphas still tend to keep their hair cut short, but tend to wear expensive suits instead of active wear. They are generally quite lazy and overweight, but still strong enough to hold their own in a physical confrontation. Expensive suits, gowns, and pointy shoes are the customary uniform for alphas who come from money. Wealthy alphas usually work in business and politics, sitting at computers and desks in their office jobs, but some will opt for other jobs, such as teaching at universities (which pays exceptionally well) or even going into showbusiness with writing stories and acting in movies.

Wealthy omegas are similar to their alpha counterparts, often lazy and overweight, and generally wear elegant dresses, silk saris, and kimonos. Most wealthy omegas like to keep their long hair up in expensive pins, covered with silk head scarves and lacy veils, their faces painted with intricate images of flowers and butterflies. Wealthy omegas don't usually work, generally employing lower class omegas to raise their children for them while they sit around watching television or playing on their phone. Wealthy omegas may also opt to go into showbusiness, frequently starring as the beautiful love interest in movies. Essentially, wealthy omegas live a life of a trophy spouse.

Wealthy alphas and omegas are more likely to marry each other for wealth and power, whether they are mates or not. If one spouse leaves an unmated marriage for their mate, they won't be judged if the mate turns out to also be wealthy, but they will be sorely judged if the mate turns out to be from the lower class.

#uh boy here we go #all six pages of it #don't know what I'm gonna do with this but eh here it is #alpha/omega au

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nolifepoints · 7 years

Text

Battleshipping request for @mywaywardcupcake on the prompt “You don’t have to protect me.” This is a dragon/RPG-ish AU and it’s silly and indulgent, but I hope you enjoy~. No warnings, I don’t think.

Preview:

“I- I’m sorry. Kaiba... this is my friend.” Yuugi put himself between the two of them, arms spread wide. “Please, calm down, Jounouchi. He’s not going to hurt anyone.”

“I might,” said Kaiba, so softly that Yuugi almost didn’t hear. His sharp blue eyes bored into Jounouchi’s. Two silvery wings were folded behind his back, and his long tail nearly swept the ground. Delicate fins sprouted where his ears should have been, and a smattering of scales glistened on the backs of his hands, which sported long talons.

Jounouchi lowered his sword, but he didn’t sheathe it. He met Kaiba’s gaze with pure defiance.

“Well,” said Kaiba, finally looking away. “I never thought I’d see you again.”

Yuugi slipped away after twilight and entered the forest. He carried only an unlit lantern, though his dagger was strapped to his belt. Twenty minutes into his moonlight walk, a twig snapped behind him, and he froze. “You don’t have to protect me.”

“I kind of do. It’s my job, isn’t it? Now that you’re a healer...”

With a sigh, Yuugi said, “I don’t want it to be your job. I’m not anyone special. You’re my friend, Jounouchi.”

Jounouchi winked. “And that’s why I’m really here. Come on, this place is dangerous at night. Whatever you’re up to, it’s better not to be alone out here.”

Yuugi hadn’t planned to. That was the problem. He stared into the deep tangle of trees and hesitated. He needed to leave – now – before he risked chance of outsider contact.

He would understand. He’d have to.

Yet, something held him there. He glanced up at Jounouchi and frowned. There had never been any secrets before. Surely, if he could trust anyone... his hands curled into fists. “I want you to meet someone.”

“Someone… in the forest?” Jounouchi’s eyes widened, but he followed with a hand on the hilt of his sword. They traveled on, surrounded by the soft thrum of night insects, the sleepy calls of owls, the chirp of frogs. Once they were far enough from the edge of town, Yuugi lit his lantern. The moon was so bright they had hardly needed it, but the further one strayed into the forest, the thicker the trees and the rougher the path. No words passed between them until they reached the edge of a clearing.

Yuugi touched Jounouchi’s arm, and he nearly ran into Yuugi’s back. “Wait,” Yuugi whispered. “I’ll bring him.”

Yuugi strode into the brightly lit clearing and looked to the sky. The sound of rushing wind met Jounouchi’s ears, and a winged figure touched down in front of Yuugi. As soon as Jounouchi’s thoughts caught up with his eyes, he rushed into the clearing, sword drawn. “You!”

Yuugi spun around. “Jounouchi! No! It’s alright!”

“You,” said Jounouchi again. “What are you doing here?!”

Surprise flickered over Kaiba’s face, but his expression soon hardened. “I could ask you the same question!”

“I- I’m sorry. Kaiba... this is my friend.” Yuugi put himself between the two of them, arms spread wide. “Please, calm down, Jounouchi. He’s not going to hurt anyone.”

Jounouchi lowered his sword, but he didn’t sheathe it. He met Kaiba’s gaze with pure defiance.

“Well,” said Kaiba, finally looking away. “I never thought I’d see you again.”

Jounouchi flushed. “Don’t- he doesn’t-”

Yuugi’s brows furrowed. “You know each other?”

Kaiba snorted. “Playing with the humans. Typical!” A wicked grin crept onto his face. “It suits you.”

At this, Yuugi started. “Jounouchi?”

Jounouchi’s shoulders quivered. “I’m sorry, Yuugi.”

Yuugi started to speak, but he clasped a hand over his mouth as Jounouchi’s form shifted before him. It was still his friend – unmistakably – but jagged black wings and a thin, spiny tail emerged from his back. Two sharp horns jutted back from the crown of his head, and his eyes – those soft, brown, friendly eyes – now flashed crimson red. Jounouchi closed them and took a deep, shuddering breath. “I didn’t know how to tell you.”

Yuugi’s eyes fluttered, trying to reconcile the image of the dragon before him with the human who had been standing in his place just a moment before. “I guess we both had secrets,” he breathed.

“This is all very exciting, but I came here to meet with you, not him. What were you thinking, bringing a – human – to see me?” Kaiba said the word with delicious irony, looking directly at Jounouchi as he did.

Yuugi turned, frowning. “I decided he should know. He’s my best friend!”

“Evidently, you didn’t know him as well as you thought you did.” Kaiba folded his arms.

“I admit I’m… surprised, but… I’m sure he has a good reason! Jounouchi, you two...”

“We got… history,” Jounouchi said, flushing.

Kaiba scowled. “Ancient history.”

“Aww, come on, it wasn’t-” Jounouchi sighed. “I guess I do owe you an apology, even if you owe me a few thousand.”

“For letting me think you were dead? Why should I care? Looking at you now, you might as well have been.”

“Jounouchi?” Yuugi approached him. He flinched, uncertain, but Yuugi laid a hand on his shoulder, gentle as ever. “What happened?”

“It’s… a long story.” Jounouchi exhaled. “Kaiba. Do you have somewhere we can talk?”

Kaiba paused. “You carry him. He’s too heavy.”

“Huh?” Before Yuugi could say anything else, Kaiba took to the sky.

“Oh, hell. There he goes. Sorry, Yuugi.” Jounouchi leaped into the air, snatching Yuugi from the ground. Yuugi shrieked as they ascended, and Jounouchi apologized as often as his breath allowed, shouting over the whistling of the wind. His arms encircled Yuugi’s chest. “I’ve got you! Don’t worry, I’ve got you!”

It wasn’t a long flight, but by the time Jounouchi dropped Yuugi onto the floor of the mountain cave, he was puffing. Collapsing alongside Yuugi, he spat, “You fly too fast!”

“You fly too slow.” Kaiba disappeared into the cave’s depths.

Jounouchi growled. “When I’m carrying someone...”

Yuugi just lay there, staring up at the ceiling of the cave and panting.

Running a hand over his sweat-covered face, Jounouchi said, “I’m sorry. That asshole just loves leaving people behind.” A hint of bitterness surfaced in his voice.

As soon as they had both recovered their breath, they followed after Kaiba. There was a carved stone corridor connecting the outer cave to a much deeper, larger chamber. It was well lit, and Yuugi marveled at the furs and the tapestries. The air was chill, but it wasn’t damp, and it was furnished as well as any noble’s home.

“It’s about time,” said Kaiba, tapping his tail against the floor. He led them into another chamber, smaller and cozier, where they could sit on a mass of silken cushions and furs. Kaiba flicked his finger and lit the fireplace with an eerie flame, pale blue and smokeless. Yuugi leaned against Jounouchi, who blushed.

Jounouchi sighed, sinking back into the pillows. “I’m sorry, Yuugi. The story might have to wait. I’m exhausted, thanks to a certain someone.”

Kaiba sniffed. “It isn’t my fault you have no endurance.”

“I haven’t flown in a long time, okay?”

“That’s hardly my fault, either.”

“You know, in a roundabout way...”

“Don’t blame me for your weakness.”

“Yeah, well, if you hadn’t left me for dead-”

“I was injured,” said Kaiba, baring his teeth. “I couldn’t drag a probable carcass back home when I was about to bleed out myself!”

Jounouchi noticed Yuugi’s mounting panic and shook his head. “Stop, stop. Stop. I’m tired. Let’s not.”

“Maybe you should just get some rest,” said Yuugi, squeezing Jounouchi’s hand.

Jounouchi smiled down at him. “Thanks. Tell you everything in the morning. I promise.”

“No problem. I’m kind of… overwhelmed, myself.” Yuugi rubbed at his eyes.

Kaiba snorted. “So now I’m offering you shelter for the night?”

Jounouchi shrugged. “Unless you want to try and force me out.”

Kaiba was silent for a moment, though his tail flicked irritably. “It doesn’t matter. My plans for the night are already ruined.”

“Oh- that’s right.” Jounouchi blinked. “Yuugi, why were you meeting with him?”

Yuugi smiled, a flush creeping onto his face. “We were going to play a game.”

“How did you...”

“By chance. On one of the days I managed to slip out, I met him in the forest. He asked me why he shouldn’t kill me then and there, so I said that it would be more fun to play for it."

Jounouchi cast Kaiba a hard glare. “He asked that, huh?”

Kaiba rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t actually going to do it.”

Yuugi’s blush deepened. “Well, I took it seriously! It was… the only thing I could think to do.”

Jounouchi’s brows rose. “And?”

“And… I beat him at cards,” said Yuugi. “He wasn’t too happy about it, but he did let me go. He’s been challenging me to rematches every full moon since.”

Jounouchi smirked. “So you couldn’t beat the human, huh? Just couldn’t stand it.”

“Enough!” Kaiba’s tail lashed.

“You’re right. Let’s just… talk in the morning. Really talk.” He was looking at Kaiba now, a sudden softness in his eyes. Something far off.

Kaiba turned away and studied a tapestry on the wall. “Then I’ll retire.”

“Or you could stay,” Jounouchi said. He reclined in the pillows with Yuugi nestled into his side, already drifting into sleep. Kaiba eyed the two of them. “It’s alright.” He held out his arm.

Kaiba hesitated and dropped to Jounouchi’s side. Yuugi’s eyes flickered opened, and Kaiba froze – but Yuugi merely smiled and reached across Jounouchi. Reached for him. Kaiba paused. “I can’t sleep behind your wings, you know.”

“Right.” Jounouchi rubbed his chin. Normally, two dragons slept on their sides, facing one another, to allow for their wings. Suddenly, he grinned. “So don’t. Take the other side.”

“But Yuugi-”

“Doesn’t mind. Do you?” Jounouchi ruffled his hair.

“Not at all.” He flashed Kaiba a half-lidded grin.

Kaiba found himself obeying, settling into the pillows and pressing against Yuugi’s back. His tail curled across the others, and Jounouchi’s did the same, entwining itself around Kaiba’s. He willed the flame to go out, plunging them into darkness before they could see the redness in his face. They were a tangle of limbs, human and otherwise.

Jounouchi nudged Yuugi. “Not crushing you, are we? How do you feel?”

“Safe,” said Yuugi, breathing deep, chest and back expanding against their warmth.

Somehow, Kaiba felt it too. Safe – for the first time in a long, long time.

#battleshipping #Kaiba Seto #Jounouchi Katsuya #Mutou Yuugi #YuGiOh #nlp fic #mywaywardcupcake #battleship

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rainstormcolors · 8 years

Text

I wrote a short DSoD-based prideshipping fic (with an itty bitty drop of peachshipping), but I wouldn’t call it a romance story. It turns melancholy, I think.

I don’t know what I’m doing, but I guess I’ll post it. Thank you for reading if you choose to.

---

All Seto had left of his mother were memories of memories, scattered like a handful of fading grey stars. Once or twice, Mokuba had asked about her but Seto had nothing to give him. Seto remembered their father a little better, but it was as if those memories had the substance of a fairytale. Neither of his parents would ever know him. What he was. What he would become. That thought had crossed his mind a couple times, but he didn’t really care.

What Seto did remember was loneliness, and wondering why his mother and father had left him.

He remembered his uncle and grandmother telling him this was for his and Mokuba’s own good, and knowing even then they were lying to his face.

There was nothing left inside him to feel as he watched Gozaburo leap from the window to his death.

When did he start to feel things again?

His rival, his friend, the Other Yugi. Suddenly all the passion Seto felt had no place to go, and his head and his heart felt gelatinous.

He’d followed that man across three-thousand years and he’d followed that man to the desert.

The world was split between sand and sky and somehow it felt like another world as Yugi appeared from the temple without the Millennium Puzzle hung from his neck. The truth was Seto had arrived at the temple in time, but he didn’t enter. At that time, he couldn’t have answered why.

It was all a book with no ending, cut abruptly mid-paragraph, mid-sentence.

He told himself he didn’t care, but then in the night for no reason and at nothing he screamed, “Goddamn coward!”

Why did

Why am

It was an obsession. It wasn’t a dark hole but a red hemorrhage. The memory of that man’s face, his voice, the burning colors of his eyes. Like a phantom image every time Seto blinked.

The pod would split his consciousness from his body.

He didn’t care about the risks anymore. The neural signals were balanced and he couldn’t wait any longer. Through the monitor, Mokuba, his young brother, stared at him with concerned eyes.

Seto’s voice bellowed, “Duel dimension system activate!”

What even are you to me?

Atem.

The visits became a weekly ritual. It made it easier for Seto to control his emotions when he was there.

They stood together on the balcony---Seto and the Pharaoh---cupped by the palms of night, gazing across the ancient and candlelit city, the sky like a black ocean.

“Would you say you had a happy life or a sad one up until that point?” Seto asked him.

Atem thought for a moment and then said, “It was mostly happy, with bits of sadness here and there. When I try to remember it's like looking through a fogged window. But it gets clearer the longer I stay here.”

Atem went to sit on the ledge then, facing now towards the dark river. But his eyes remained focused on the man standing beside to him. “My father loved me. I know that very well. He fell ill when he discovered it took a genocide to create the seven Millennium Items, but I can't really remember it myself.” He shut his eyes, and his words were full of warmth. “I’m glad to know him again.”

“... Do they feel like your memories or someone else's?”

“There's no doubt they're mine. But those memories are thousands of years old and for a long time I had forgotten them. But… I feel like I’m home here. I do miss that world and Yugi and my friends, but I feel whole.”

Atem patted next to himself on the ledge, an invitation, and with clumsiness Seto sat. Together, they were quiet.

“Do you mind if I ask you something personal myself?” Atem said.

“Depends.”

“Can I ask you... what your original family name was?”

Seto didn't answer immediately, his face without emotion.

“You don't have to tell me if you don't want to.”

“It doesn't matter. That chapter of my life ended years ago. Those people abandoned Mokuba and me. I have nothing but contempt for that name now.”

“I understand.”

Seto held it for a moment, and then let it go. “... It was .”

Seto understood Atem could’ve found out the answer to this question by himself. Likewise, Seto hadn’t spoken the name in years. Abandoned Mokuba. There was a soft pinprick of pain inside those words.

“Thank you for telling me,” Atem said gently.

Speck by speck, Seto felt his mind slowly returning to his flesh from that paradise.

The way life would unspool like strange music from there, the way time ticked on with such methodic indifference. How every birthday and Christmas he’d be sent avalanches of cards and small gifts from children and fans, and it was a slow and heady realization: he was beloved. It was because he was the best, wasn’t it? No, there was something more innocent going on here.

Mokuba grew taller and took to drinking espresso.

And it was difficult to admit in a way, but Seto enjoyed his partnership with Yugi. Sometimes after working on a rare project together, they’d go and have a coffee. Yugi did most of the chatting, but Seto found it all oddly tolerable. And at some point they began to schedule the occasional coffee meeting without the precedent of work, and sometimes Seto would discover Jonouchi or Anzu had tagged along uninvited.

“So how’s Atem doing?”

Really what Yugi was asking was, “How are you both doing?”

He wasn’t surprised when he was invited to Yugi and Anzu’s wedding, but he was surprised when he was invited to Jonouchi’s and then later to Honda’s. For the latter two, he felt sending a card with a check inside was good enough.

Mokuba fell in love with a waitress at a restaurant he frequented. She was kind, loved books and the rain and she played a violin. They’d been dating for nearly two years when she broke it to him that she was pregnant and without hesitation, the next day Mokuba proposed to her. And it was this gesture that had Seto wondering if maybe he should propose to Atem.

And there was a time, before Mokuba had his son, when Seto met Yugi for coffee and Yugi was somber. There was no light or air in his voice. He stared into his cup as he said the words.

“Anzu had a miscarriage…”

Seto had no idea what to say, no idea what to do. And it baffled him beyond words when, as the two parted ways, Yugi told him softly with complete sincerity, “Thank you.”

Three years later Yugi and Anzu would have a healthy daughter, and as Anzu held her for the first time, for as exhausted and drugged as she was, she felt she never wanted that moment to end.

When Sugoroku Mutou died, the fractured pieces of his soul didn’t reunite. Instead Sugoroku went to be with his wife and family. That’s what Atem said, because somehow he knew. At the time, Seto was glad to know his identity wouldn’t be erased by fusing with that other guy. He didn’t think much else of it.

The moon was out in daytime, a lilac-silver hue. Sitting on a park bench, watching Yugi’s daughter try to push Mokuba’s son on the swing set. It was perhaps the most perfect scene Seto’d ever witnessed. It was the light of life.

Seto was fifty-six now. His trips to Atem’s afterlife were becoming harder on his body. How was it that Atem could look at him the same way now as when they were young? Atem was still so beautiful, all lovely skin, his eyes so alive and violet. It was when Seto hit his late twenties that a small piece of him felt filthy touching Atem’s still-young body.

Seto’d been having flu-like symptoms for a long while then. He had hid them as best he could, from others and from himself. When the truth came it punctured his lungs like a knife.

He sat with Atem on the bank of the river as the world turned indigo. The clouds were spectral, blue, and glassy. A sea bird skimmed the air.

“I have cancer.”

Atem stared at him silently, but Seto looked only to the water.

“The survival rate for the variety I have isn’t favorable. I waited too long.”

“Seto…”

Seto said what came next with a detached sharpness. “Do you know what chemotherapy actually is? They poison you, hoping it will kill the tumor before it kills you.”

Atem’s lips tightened. As he took Seto’s hand, Seto had to fight himself to not rip it away.

Children from across the world sent him get-well cards in rainbow-colored envelopes, but he was too numb to open a single one.

He was spilling: a shattered vase, shattered window, firing employees over nothing, deleting entire projects from his computer when one thing went wrong.

His body had betrayed him. He hated being this way, so weak and helpless. New symptoms arrived each time they switched out his chemotherapy. Mottled heat of nausea, a deep ache in every muscle. He felt his body falling apart, and it chilled him to his barest ether to realize he was absolutely terrified. He was terrified as it became more and more difficult to do the small everyday tasks. He was terrified as he knew Mokuba and Yugi were watching him fall apart. He was terrified he’d never see his husband again. To just pull himself out of bed left him wheezing for minutes, hacking up blots of blood-tinted phlegm.

Atem. Was this feeling anything like what he’d felt, that first time he died? There was no nobility in this.

Seto hadn’t been afraid of death before. He could have killed himself right then and have escaped such humiliating misery. But Mokuba’s family. And then Atem’s afterlife… was it also his afterlife? Both of them had noticed how closed off Atem’s world seemed from other spirits. Seto never did meet his parents there. They would never be anything more than ghosts spinning in his memories. But then he never really wanted to find his parents and he never tried. The person he did want to find was the person he’d been chasing from the start: his husband.

The doctors began feeding Seto a regiment of morphine and would pump the fluids from his lungs with a tube, which was always a piercingly painful process. He had to stop working for Kaiba Corporation. He wouldn’t take Yugi’s calls. He was so tired. It was at that point Seto made his decision.

Mokuba had brought Seto home from the hospital. Seto laid propped up in his bed, his lungs cleaned out and raw, and Mokuba sat in a chair beside him. The shadows of the room were blue.

“I don’t want to do this anymore,” Seto said in a fragile voice.

Mokuba, blank-faced, said nothing to this, an opalescent blade poured across his body from the slit in the window’s curtains.

“I need you to help me with something,” Seto continued.

Mokuba spoke gently. “What is it?”

“Bring me to the space station. If I can’t do it myself, help secure me in the pod.” He breathed in. “Please.”

There was a pause.

“Alright,” Mokuba said.

Seto realized if this worked, he might not see Mokuba or Yugi again. It felt familiar.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright.”

Seto almost added, “You deserved better,” but he held those words inside. Instead he said something else. It was something he’d realized a long time ago. “You were always the stronger one between us.”

There was the faintest flicker of a sad smile on Mokuba’s face.

The trip to the station’s base had been quiet. Seto watched the person Mokuba had grown into, memorized every detail he could. A memory floated to the surface, of the day Mokuba announced he was getting married and was going to be a father. And then another one, forty-seven years old. It was a memory of a sandbox.

They had to take the elevator up in shifts. Around them, everything was steel and cold, a grey luster. Mokuba helped to secure his brother inside the pod, a numbness in his fingertips. Seto heaved and hacked into his palm, leaving smears of dark slime.

“Thank you.”

Mokuba gave him a soft, “hmn.”

They stared at each other for a moment. Both sets of eyes were tired.

“Goodbye, Mokuba.”

Something painful stirred in Mokuba’s face, and then he said, “Good luck. Goodbye, Nii-sama.”

He thought of Atem. Atem’s beautiful spirit blazing like a flame inside the glow of his heart. Seto hadn’t been inside the pod since he began chemo, and he didn’t know if he would survive the journey this time. But he had to try. If he was going to spend eternity inside an afterlife, it had to be that afterlife. It had to be with him. This time, if he made it to that clear sparkling otherworld, he wouldn’t be coming back. His heart thumped like a drum the size of a mountain.

He launched the pod, and it was a pure crystalline light which took his hands and lead him somewhere.

#prideshipping #the darkside of dimensions #seto kaiba #fanfiction

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themillenniumscribe · 8 years

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Yu-Gi-Oh: Brilliancy (25)

Her name is Clarisa Swansea. She was born in Hong Kong to a wealthy yet loving family, a father, mother, and two older sisters. A competitive beast in women’s lacrosse with a pretty face to match, there was no mistaking that she was striving for greatness far beyond any expectations. But, when one accident took her family along with her mobility, her life took an intriguing turn into the world of chess.

Things were not looking good for Jounouchi. Clarisa could tell more by the sweat streaming down his face than the limited game mechanics she knew. However, it soon became clear that Malik had the upper hand, especially when his Magic Jammer thwarted the only defense Jounouchi had against his snake men.

“He really is hanging on by a thread…” Clarisa murmured, feeling her heart drop when the counter stopped at a measly 200 life points. Her head turned, opening her mouth to inquire about Jounouchi’s options but the disgruntled look on Kaiba’s face thwarted her attempts. He was certainly in no mood to cater to her questions.

“Honda, my brother really can’t win anymore?” Shizuka’s voice carried fairly well, much to Clarisa’s chagrin. She grimaced further when she heard Honda spluttering in an attempt to assure the red head that Jounouchi could still make it.

“It’s very unlikely.” Mai interrupted Honda’s stutters. “Shizuka, I told you this before. Dueling is a world of cruelty. Even if it’s your sibling fighting, you can’t turn your eyes away from this reality. But, at the very least, he can fight on until the very end.”

Clarisa couldn’t see Mai’s body language from where she was but she already decided she liked the practicality of her words.

Jounouchi was on his knees, a faint tremble through his frame. Feebly, his hand raised, inching closer to his Duel Disk with uncertain fingers.

“What is he doing?” Clarisa whispered to Mokuba, the younger Kaiba shrugging.

“Looks like he’s going to surrender.” Though she couldn’t get a good look at his face, Clarisa could feel the seething anger radiating from Kaiba.

“Jounouchi! I have something to tell you before you surrender!” The blonde boy stopped, his brown eyes slanting in Mai’s direction. Though Clarisa couldn’t see her, she could feel the strength radiating from her words.

“A winning duelist has to take responsibility!” She cried. “Those who lost to you…Insector Haga, Esper Roba, and Ryota Kajiki…If it was them fighting here in your place, what do you think they would do?”

Her words hit something in Jounouchi’s person. His eyes glazed over and Clarisa could see a small fire starting to spark within him once more.

“What would they think if they saw you like this? Of course, maybe you shouldn’t care about those who lost. But, you inherit the loser’s dreams along with your win!” Mai continued to press on, her voice becoming steady. “This is the fate of someone who wants to win. It is what makes a real Duelist who they are! If you don’t mind shaming them, place your hand on the deck!”

“You can do it, big brother!” Now, it was Shizuka’s turn. “You’ve worked so hard for yourself and for your friends!”

Jounouchi perked up, his eyes sparkling with hope.

“And for me as well!” It was faint but Clarisa could hear a crack in her voice. She imagined the girl’s eyes welling with tears. “If I didn’t have you by my side, I would have been too scared to have my surgery! I wouldn’t have been able to take off the bandages either! If I didn’t have you, I would still be wandering in darkness! You’ve continued to fight and you gave me the light I needed to live!”

Something about Shizuka’s words stung Clarisa in a place she had come to terms with long ago. Her heart ached and she could feel a slight sting at the edge of her eyes. She tried to push it to the back of her mind, lips turning inward to stifle the memory of those azure eyes.

But, her own memory came to a halt when she turned her attention to the opposing Duelist, Malik. He was just as lost in thought, his gaze turning up to face the moon while Shizuka continued her words of encouragement. Something didn’t sit right with Clarisa and her brow furrowed to reflect her state of mind.

“Jounouchi,” He called from across the field. “Will you answer one question for me before the end arrives?”

Jounouchi didn’t give a verbal reply but his pointed gaze was permission enough.

“What did you seek by fighting in this Battle City tournament?”

“…There’s someone I must fight no matter what!” He replied. “To keep my promise with him!”

The fire was growing faster now. Jounouchi’s confidence was returning.

“I’ve met all kinds of people on my journey to this point and I fought them! That’s enough of an answer!”

“Well, it certainly is an answer…” Clarisa chuckled from her seat. The more time she spent observing and interacting with Jounouchi, the more she started to like his spirit.

“Now, I got something to say to you!”

“Oh boy…” Her smile faded, hand coming up to pinch the bridge of her nose. Jounouchi stood up, his fighting spirit flaring.

“Take back that ‘before the end’ crap! I haven’t lost yet!” He snapped. “That’s right! If I lose here, what am I gonna tell the guys I fought who paved the path for me?! Every single one of them fought me until the very end without giving up!”

He was back in the duel, announcing the beginning of his turn and drawing. Clarisa couldn’t help but take a bit of pride in his returning confidence. That and she relished that Kaiba was more annoyed than usual by this particular underdog.

“But, there is nothing more you can do.” Malik replied cryptically. “Is having the courage to accept their loss not also a part of being a Duelist?”

“You can always accept defeat and decide to continue the fight.” Clarisa speaking up must have been shocking. She could feel more eyes than one locking onto her but the ones she focused on most were Malik’s amber orbs. Her blue-grey eyes flashed, a smirk curling on her peach colored lips.

“But, why bother?” Malik retorted, his gaze narrowing. “There’s nothing left to do. His defeat is eminent.”

“I find that hard to believe considering he still has cards to draw and life points to lose.” She replied quickly. “The least he could do is to pony up and see this through to the end.”

His silence unsettled her but what was more unsettling was his eyes. There was something genuine about his eyes, something painful and aching. This didn’t seem like the man who would force friends to duel each other to the death.

“Jounouchi!” Clarisa cried, turning her head to stare at him. “I’ve got some words of my own for you!”

He listened attentively.

“When I was in lacrosse, I was taught to assess my opponents right away to know if there was a chance of my team winning. Sometimes, it was clear the moment we walked onto the field that we were in a losing battle.” Her shoulders stiffened as she smiled wide. “But, despite those odds, we never threw a match. You never do because, despite the eminent defeat, the least you can do for your opponent is to make sure that you fight long and hard so they rightfully earn that win.”

She could see Jounouchi’s lips curling into a smile, which coaxed her own to brighten.

“Besides, even if your opponent takes you out, you always make sure to hit them hard enough to remember how painstaking it was for them to defeat you.” Her voice shifted, turning dark through her grin. “They may break your arm but they’ll remember their black eye.”

“Thanks, Risa.” He replied back, giving her a light salute with his fingers. Then, he turned on Malik.

“I may have a close to zero hope of winning but, like everyone said, I can’t just give up that easily! That’s not what a real Duelist is, the thing I’m aiming to become!” His brown eyes were burning, aiming in on Malik with a particularly hot intensity. “I’ll struggle down the path I’ve chosen with the deck I built!”

Jounouchi pressed on, effectively utilizing his turn to summon one of his powerful monsters to eliminate Malik’s pesky trap monsters and two more for a three monster assault on Malik’s life points. Yugi and his friends were over the moon, Clarisa catching a few of their cheers from where she sat. She glanced up at Kaiba, attempting to read what he was thinking. Most of what she received was horrible mocking.

“That was an impressive comeback, Jounouchi…” Malik croaked through his recovery. “Despite being almost out of Life Points, you showed your pride as a Duelist by standing up to me.”

“Mokuba,” Clarisa murmured quietly. “Remind me of Malik’s role in all of this?”

“I already told you, Risa.” He sighed. “He’s the leader of the Ghouls and is after Yugi and his friends.”

“And he’s the one who forced Jounouchi and Yugi to duel with an anchor on their ankles?”

“Yep.” Clarisa slanted her eyes.

“Are we sure that’s him?” Her skepticism must have piqued Mokuba’s interest. The boy was facing her with a scowl on his face.

“What do you mean?” He asked. “Of course it’s him.”

“Maybe it’s just me but compliments and forcing two teens to duel or face forcible drowning seems a bit paradoxical. Don’t you think?” Her words hung in the air for a moment and uncertainty seemed to grip Mokuba. His frown faded, hazel eyes brightening with the realization of Clarisa’s observation.

The duel continued, Jounouchi still maintaining the upper hand until Sealing Swords was placed on the field. Unable to attack, Jounouchi ended his next turn but not before summoning another powerful monster onto the field. Malik’s turn came, prompting him to lay down a card on the field. However, during his play, Clarisa noticed that something had changed in Malik’s demeanor.

He stuttered when he made his move, his fingers trembling lightly. Occasionally, he would glance to Yugi’s side of the stadium. Clarisa wasn’t sure if it was because he had a fondness of staring Yugi down or if there was someone over there that Malik was drawing strength from.

“That valuable card sure is wasted on a mere lab rat…” Kaiba’s remark snapped Clarisa back into attention. She looked up and saw that Jounouchi had brought out yet another really powerful monster. Though, this one looked even worse than the cybernetic giant he placed earlier.

“At least a lab rat has a use to gain more knowledge.” Clarisa retorted. “An asshole only spews shit.”

The glare that Clarisa received was well worth the insult. But, much to her disappointment, he didn’t dignify her with a reply. Mokuba, however, was choking back his shock by covering his mouth.

“Now then! The effects of Sealing Swords of Light disappear on my next turn!” Jounouchi declared, breaking up the impending spat between Kaiba and Clarisa. “But, you don’t have a single monster on the field! You’re history if I attack you with all three of my Monsters at once!”

“No, you will not be touching me with any of these Monsters.” Malik was firm, stoically staring Jounouchi down with a sickening determination. “So long as the card I placed in the ark remains in the Temple of the Royal Family’s alter, it shall not be harmed by the enemy’s attacks or magic card effects.”

“What?” Jounouchi looked startled.

“And I was simply using the Sealing Swords of Light as a way to buy time while I performed a ritual.” Malik extended his arms out in perfect showmanship. “The three cards I’ve gathered on the field hold the power to Summon the great guardian of the temple, protecting the sacred sealed card!”

Three card flips occurred in succession, releasing a chain reaction that summoned a most terrifying creature. A red and gold scorpion crept out from the purple mist, the individual sockets of exoskeleton shifting as its mouth widened to expose a myriad of sharp teeth.

“The Mystical Beast Selket exists to defend the sacred card sealed in the ark!” Malik roared.

“Sacred card?” Jounouchi choked. “So then, the card you sealed in that ark…”

“Yes! It’s the god card!” His deep voice bellowed over Jounouchi. “The Winged Dragon of Ra!”

A hologram flashed of a golden phoenix buried deep inside the altar above. Though it seemed much more delightful to the eye, Clarisa had a sinking feeling that this card was much more dangerous than the creepy looking scorpion on watch.

#yugioh #yugioh brilliancy #fanfic #clarisa swansea #seto kaiba #mokuba kaiba #mai valentine #mai kujaku #serenity wheeler #shizuka kawai #jounouchi katsuya #joey wheeler #yugi muto #yugi mutou #yugi moto #odion ishtar #Rishid Ishtar #Malik Ishtar #Marik Ishtar

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steve0discusses · 6 years

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Yugioh S2 Ep 29: Everything Explodes, Cranes Fall, Everyone Drowns, Kaiba Gets Real Freakin Weird(er)

Happy Halloween everyone, I’m waiting for the trick or treaters that will never arrive at my house on a hill without any streetlights. As an adult, it’s not really a thing to go party hopping on a Wednesday (I don’t even know why we celebrate Wednesday Halloweens, they’re the very worst ones), so, lets talk about a ghost story tonight and recap a very long episode of Yugioh.

Bro was just steeped in excitement for my reaction on this one, because this is his favorite episode, I guess, and he did tell me “listen, this is peak Yugioh. It’s all downhill from here” and I was like “when were we uphill? Have we not been launched rapidly downhill straight from a Sonic-the-Hedgehog-style spinner since this series has started, whisking Yugi’s Grandpa’s soul through a VCR tape? Isn’t watching this series spiral out of control the whole point?”

Anyway, he gave me fair warning and I’m still not quite sure what happened this episode.

I mean I know what happened, I was here, I watched it, I watched it again to cap it, wrote some copy, edited it over with bro a bit, talked it out...

I’m still not sure what happened this episode.

Again, I get WHAT happened...it’s more...I don’t get...the laws of physics? Or Why certain people did certain things or...this episode, but that’s OK because it splattered all over the wall into this Rorcshach Test...and I don't know if the writers even want to bother explaining it. I mean...why bother at this point? We’re watching Yugioh. The main character is 50-99% definitely a ghost, don’t think about it.

First off, Marik’s boat.

Not pictured here: this room of this boat only has three walls. Marik is facing a steep drop into the sea, meaning that if there’s an rain or any waves or whatever, it just crashes directly into this room. If anything picks up the boat and kinda slams it around a bit, you just fly right out of this room and right out the back. I don't get this boat. I don’t get how you keep this room clean and free of nasty ass seagulls.

I don’t like boats and I don’t spend too much time on boats, so if this is normal and natural boat behavior, my bad.

In case you forgot, Joey is about to murder Yugi.

Every character on this show has run out of ideas and is onto their very last wit.

It’s just a whole lot of everyone pointing a card-shaped gun at each other and themselves and just shouting at the top of their lungs.

(read more under the cut)

And then the show does a sweeping half-episode review of every duel you have seen so far that had a Joey cameo in it. I mean...I guess it works. But it kinda feels like one of those filler episodes of Friends where they couldn’t come up with new content so they just did a “remember this cool thing that happened last season? haha, this isn’t a real episode” and so initially I was like “bro, I dunno if this episode is going to be as weird as you say it is.”

And so Joey decided he’s not going to kill his friend, but don’t be fooled, he’s still going to punch out many more people in the episodes to come, I am absolutely sure of it.

This is the first time Yugi’s decided to attempt to mind wipe someone without using Pharaoh. Aw. Kind of sweet, look at him grow up to be just like his Ghost Dad.

PS I just realized this, but why didn’t Yugi just mind wipe Joey!? It’s been heavily implied that he already has so many times--this seems like the one time Joey would have been totally OK with it. If I had a Marik situation in my brain, I would have been like, yes, please use the pharaoh ghost to break my brain into pieces, I’ll figure that whole recovery situation later, but at least I won’t be a murderer.

But whatever, they’re going to do it without magic, although Friendship is also magic in this universe. But the semantics are better.

Yugi uses his millennium cell phone signals to face chat with Marik. Kind of. This was probably just a visual analogy. I never know with this show, although Pharoah really did do a Shadow-world face chat with Pegasus last season like it wasn’t any big deal. Twice.

This whole 4 episode arc was just Yugi realizing last minute that Marik was wasting everyone’s time.

And once Yugi’s baited Marik into killing him before the time runs out, Joey lit up with bolts of crazy ass electricity as the Power of Friendship mindwiped saved Joey.

Almost half this episode is when the clock is at 30 seconds. There comes a point when you have to explain why your clock got stuck. Anyways, lets see what else we can do in 30 seconds:

So what will be the plan of Seto Kaiba, boy genius? What is this great master plan of the boy who can hack any system, who has a computer installed into every piece of clothing he owns down to his dockers and socks? The boy who once hacked a satellite and used it to crash all of the digital security systems in North America?

Blue Eyes’ only effective form: as a vehicle for a real nasty papercut. This will the only time I’ll accept a Blue Eyes win as canon.

I did a lot of math last episode that I don’t want to do right now, but how hard do you have to throw a card to do that much damage, and how fast would Seto Kaiba’s baseball pitch be, and how fast is that compared to the baseball pitches of My Hero Academia? I mean we have the stats on all of these things.

It’s a good thing for every one else on this cast that Seto Kaiba has never figured out what dating is. He would destroy them. Of course this is me saying that anyone on this show knows what dating is. Which they don’t.

Also, off screen he threw himself at the mook who is prone on the bottom right corner there. Kaiba just went ape out of no where. He stood perfectly still for about 3 episodes and then he just completely lost his nut all for...Tea?

Because Mokuba’s like “We owe Tea a favor because she failed to climb a bunch of empty boxes?” Like uhhhh way to really awkwardly over-return that favorrrr

Like we have to address the elephant in the room here wearing about 9 belts on all four of his limbs and torso. Seto may have a God card now, but he’s so enamored by his dragon that he’s still in this awkward phase where he really wants to cosplay as his dragon literally all the time but he’s hoping he can pass it off as normal fashion and no one will notice. Kaiba is clearly more involved with his Blue Eyes than anyone else on this show is involved with any other card.

So, the hell is he doing risking his literally irreplaceable Blue Eyes that launched the events of the entire first season?

I’m sure the creators didn’t intend for this to happen. I’m sure they were like “and then he threw his Blue Eyes, because that would be funny!” but when you break this action down, it makes Seto Kaiba--who is supposed to be The Worst--outshine Yugi this episode.

Like first off--Tea? Yugi x Tea is supposed to be the flagship of the show. But Yugi’s kind of tied up right now, so instead, Seto saved her? That pairing just came out of nowhere. And I’ll be honest with you, Kaiba x Tea makes more sense to me than Yugi x Tea, and that is pretty wild that this show made me think about those two in any context.

I mean, it’s not going to happen, the writers would rather just toss a ton of explosions at it rather than leave any space for anyone to talk to each other and say “What the hell do you think you’re doing!? Did you just seriously do that?!” That conversation would have been absolutely hilarious, but it did not happen.

This crane blew up not once, but TWICE.

PS, we have more proof here that this chair was really just a kinky chair because um...look how easy it is to get out of that thing. This is not a real lock.

And second weird thing about Seto tossing his Blue Eyes...

This entire card arc was about Yugi giving away that puzzle to Joey as this beautiful symbol. Yugi said “Listen, Joey, I’ve known you forever, you’re my best friend and you are the sun and moon to me, have the most precious thing I own, even if you throw it into the ocean and destroy it”

But, then on the other side of the harbor Kaiba’s like “Listen, person who’s name I don’t recall, I don’t really know you, I don’t care about you at all, have the most precious thing I own, and I’ll just throw it out over the ocean myself, and on top of that--I’ll destroy one of my own helicopters, too.”

Makes Yugi’s sacrifice look real chump, I gotta be real. Again, I don’t think this was intentional on the writers part, but it sure is a thing that happened and is canon now.

And then no one thanks him. They thank Mokuba instead. No wonder Seto freakin hates them all so much.

And while I was watching, I was thinking “well, Seto’s doing all this because he needs to save Yugi to duel him later” much like Seto’s been trying to do for nearly 10 episodes, but that whole thing where Seto followed Yugi around and was like “I will be dueling you after this is over” is no longer a thing. He gave up on Yugi after saving Tea. No explanation.

You know it feels like every 20 episodes or so, Kaiba will do something real nice and then immediately run away from the situation and switch back to being a jerk again. He’s kind of like a reverse Bakura, but without the ability to force everyone to forget. He’ll be awkwardly hanging back here for the rest of the episode pretending like he doesn’t like these people while Yugi’s off being the worst on the other side of the harbor.

Remember, that Joey’s just snapped out of it, and a low flying helicopter caused a crane to freakin explode behind Yugi without any explanation. Twice. The crane exploded twice.

And then Yugi throws a fireball at himself before the timer hit zero.

I guess he had to do something to show up Seto Kaiba and the only other option left was death.

It was very tragic, and for once, Pharaoh wasn’t there to say anything. I guess the Pharaoh batteries have finally run out, and I’ll be real, the lack of Pharaoh in this episode does more to make this sad than if he was there saying how sad he was. It really is just Yugi there at that moment and we rarely get to see Yugi as just Yugi. I guess that was the way he wanted to be remembered rather than just a vessel for a ghost.

To be clear, this took like ten more minutes and the timer was at like 3 seconds for all of that but in context of the show, he died riiiight before both were tossed into the sea.

So this is exactly Seto and Mokuba S1, right? Like Seto was like “I will jump off his ledge to save my brother’s life!” and Pharaoh was like “WHAT TYPE OF ASSHOLE DOES THIS!?” ya, just checking.

So, ways to defeat Yugi Muto:

Threaten to kill yourself, Steal his stuff mid fight, Rock Paper Scissors, or threaten to kill Joey.

I just want to note that before Yugi tossed that fireball, he finally took the duel disk off. He was like “I gotta die, but I don’t want to die in that.”

Joey, who was very upset by Yugi’s brash decision, desperately looked for a way to save both of them did something that I don’t understand at all.

I’m not sure why the Red eyes attacked Joey (I guess it was a special skill?) But--the game’s over! You can’t lose after you’ve won! What even is the rules of this freakin game?

Whatever, it didn’t matter, Yugi absolutely cannot get hit by fireballs, it’s a real weakness for him. He is out for the count and cannot reach his own key.

Serenity, sensing her brother’s bravery, whisks off her bandages, and this is the first thing she sees.

Ya so.........

..........Yugi’s great wonderful sacrifice of his own life.....

....didn’t matter. Joey went in anyway.....

And that’s how Yugi got upstaged by Kaiba, yet again, in the same episode.

At least the person Kaiba successfully saved is here to start screaming at the ocean instead of like...swimming

In Joey’s defense, he was not there for the long, detailed explanation of how the key system works. He didn’t really know it wasn’t a one key fits all situation.

He’d be the smallest Whole Set in the world but the kid cannot sink. Like look at this. Look at how high this kid treads water without even trying. He’s got his armpits out of the water even. Should have given up the cards and gone to polo.

I love how we went through all that work to get Tristan here and he didn’t even do anything. He jumped in, pushed Yugi a little bit (who as I said before is a natural floater, it’s very impressive), and then Serenity did all the heavy lifting because I guess no one else on this show can swim?

Don’t they live in Japan? An Island? Isn’t it a requirement when you live on an island that gets tsunamis every so often that you must learn how to swim? Like I live in California that only has one coast and we learn how to swim real good. Like we learn all about rip tides and water safety, and we all end up doing the part-time lifeguarding job at least once.

Every single one of these people should be in the water and going after Joey, what is this bystander effect nonsense?

Hey so........she’s fully healed now?

RIP Kaiba x Tea, it was a very weird 2 minutes.

Which, if this guy ever dated, would probably be the tagline of all of his relationships.

Yes, this really was the moment Joey realized his sister could see. AFTER she dove in the ocean to pick him out.

This is real nitpicky but I just noticed the pier that Tea was gone is absent in all of these shots. Maybe they didn’t want to draw the aftermath of what happened to that crane.

Seto doing that anime thing where he’s hiding his eyes because he’s gettin freakin emotional in the back.

He’s all over the place this episode...I don’t know what happened.

And then to cap it off, they decided to watch a romantic sunset at the place where they got abducted, held in a warehouse, possessed by a cult, strapped to a bunch of bondage death devices, and then were nearly murdered at.

Also that ghost ship is still there and way spookier at night. Only Yugioh would be like “a perfect happy tapestry for friendship!”

Not only is Pharaoh still inexplicably here, but so is Kaiba. I guess he decided to hang out with them for like an hour until, at the first instance of Duke saying “CAN WE PLEASE JUST EAT DINNER LIKE NORMS!?” Seto very quickly spun on his heels and ran away as quickly as he could.

Ah, so the tourney continues tomorrow...it’s...this wasn’t the finale? Sure felt like it.

I just realized...the only thing you get is the chance to win a bunch of cards and just a title--a title that Yugi already owns, so if he hadn’t gone into the competition, then you’d have two people with the same title.

Like...is this entire tourney just a honeypot? But for cards? Is this whole tourney just a honeypot tourney?

Kaiba really is a cop.

Anyway, if you just got to these reviews, here’s a link to read them from Episode1 Season1, knock yourself out, it’s Halloween on a Wednesday, I know you’re not doing anything else.

#Yugioh #Yugioh recap #photo recap #S2 ep29 #yugi muto #seto kaiba #joey wheeler #tea gardner #serenity wheeler #mokuba #kaiba #marik ishtar #an exploding crane #an exploding helicopter #tristan taylor #weaponized card throwing #duke devlin

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