#bonz is so young and he gets treated so badly!

[browniesnivy]

My Long Essay on Bonz (+his relationship with Bandit Keith and treatment by the author)

This is going to seem really random, but I’ve been thinking a lot about Bonz and Bandit Keith lately. More specifically, I’ve been thinking about how fucked up their relationship is.

Bonz doesn’t have any canon metrics relating to age or height, but information from both the Japanese and American voice actors state that he is somewhere in between the age of 13 and 15 and is about 3′0 tall (or 91 cm) in height. The source I found also states that he “looks 40″ and I don’t know which voice actor said that and I want to call bullcrap, but I suppose it is information nonetheless. We also know from Duel Links that people are terrified of him based solely on his ghastly appearance, as seen when he tries to return Bella’s lost card and she runs away from him because she mistakes him for a genuine ghost. If I recall correctly, Joey made a similar mistake at the beginning of their graveyard duel. Additionally, when Bonz appears in the Duel World for the first time he is very nervous at the sight of all the duelists. This social anxiousness makes a lot of sense considering nobody is willing to give the poor boy a chance, even mistaking him for something unhuman, on what appears to be a regular basis. Even though he has incorporated his ghoulish physique into his interests and personality, it doesn’t seem to be something he can control as he gets very upset when Bella and Joey gang up on him in Duel Links based solely on how spooky he looks and infer thusly that he must be up to no good. This event even makes Bonz consider leaving the Duel World for good to save everyone (including himself) the grief of dealing with his appearance. What I’m trying to say is that Bonz has every reason in the world to be shy and have low self confidence. 

This is when Bandit Keith comes into the picture. Bonz, alongside Sid and Zygor, are accepted into Duelist Kingdom based on their dueling prowess, but nonetheless it seems their confidence is lacking as they are quick to accept Bandit Keith’s offer to take the younger duelists under his wing. Keith is a highly seeded duelist, so of course the three jump on the opportunity to learn a thing or two from him. Now let’s walk in Bonz’s shoes for a moment. Nobody has ever even given this kid the time of day, and suddenly a respected older man sees something in him and offers to help him finally do something spectacular. This could be the big break he’s been looking for: he could finally accomplish something despite his appearance and show the whole world his own worth. It isn’t surprising that Bonz agrees to this arrangement. Additionally, Bonz refers to Bandit Keith as “aniki” or “older brother” in the Japanese version. Keep in mind that this is the same title that Syrus uses to refer to Jaden in Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. Bonz puts Keith up on a pedestal and expects him to take care of him.

 As you all know, that doesn’t happen. Bandit Keith only intends to use his understudies as pawns and rob them of their star chips, and even before he does that he takes every opportunity to yell at and boss around the younger trio. The way Keith treats these three is obviously horrible, but the fact that they are at the same time to scared of his wrath and naively hopeful of getting their reward makes it all the more so. Through the entirety of Joey and Bonz’s graveyard duel, Keith makes sure Bonz knows he can’t make a single decent move on his own and that the only way for the boy to win is by taking his orders without question. He forces him to comply and doesn’t even take responsibility when the very moves he ordered fail, instead blaming Bonz for screwing up despite him following instructions to a tee. He beats down this poor child and makes him feel worthless so he can get his way, and when his plans ultimately fails and Bonz is defeated he wastes no time making sure he can still squeeze some usefulness out of him. Along with Sid and Zygor, Keith beats up and takes the Star Chips of the people he promised to help before entering the tournament finals himself. He leaves them alone in the forest with no help, throwing the chips in the air tauntingly while laughing at their ignorance. Bandit Keith took advantage of a weird-looking young boy with low self-esteem and used a message of hopefulness and his older and more experienced status to manipulate the kid for his own personal gain. 

After Duelist Kingdom, the dejected trio strike it out on their own. Unlike Bandit Keith, Sid and Zygor are older people who seem to actually have respect for Bonz’s above-average dueling ability. The three use some sneaky tactic to snatch themselves some locator cards, which is of course not honorable, but I can’t say I fault them to much. After all, Bonz at least is just a kid and their last experience with someone being successful involved fear-tactics and trickery, so I’d say if anything this is Bandit Keith’s lingering bad influence. Whatever the case, they certainly don’t deserve the treatment they get from Bakura when he comes slinking around their base of operations. Bakura challenges Bonz to a winner takes all duel, which Bonz accepts. In a terrifying shadow game, Bonz and his companions get their mortal souls sent to literal Hell (or the Shadow Realm depending on who you ask) after they lose to the Spirit of the Ring, and that’s the last we ever see of them in the show.

Up until the release of Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links, I’m pretty sure a fair number of the fanbase had presumed the trio dead, which I believe was the impression you were supposed to get before the change of plans nearly twenty years later. With this in mind, think of how fucked up this narrative would have been. The story of a child who gets lied to by a person in a position of authority before losing everything and then disappearing without a trace, doomed to wander the eternal depths of the underworld for basically no reason... just thinking about it is seriously bumming me out and is honestly burning my biscuits a bit. Sometimes I think Kazuki Takahashi just really hated kids, considering how many children are either treated as irredeemable pieces of shit despite being perfect young candidates for a life lesson and redemption arc like Weevil or are killed of and/or tortured for a few childlike mistakes like Bonz or Imori. When you look at a lot of Yugi’s classmates who are only seen in the manga, we see a list of frankly disgusting people who try to assault women and bully the weak and set people on fire. The list of horrible things that Yugi’s classmates have done goes on and on, and their mere existence proves to me that Kazuki Takahashi showed a severe lack of understanding or empathy for children. I’m not at all saying that those characters I just mentioned were worthy of redemption, I’m merely stating that the fact he would include characters like that who are so young in age is telling to the author’s character in my opinion. In relation to Bonz’s character, I feel like Takahashi’s treatment of the character was frankly disgraceful. Takahashi has a tendency to make character’s slimy looking and use that as an excuse to think bad things about them, so I doubt any nuance was spent on his characterization aside from being a whipped bitch for Keith to walk all over and a sneaky gremlin for Bakura to murder. It makes my blood boil a bit to be honest. 

Thank Ra for Duel Links, which allows Bonz the opportunity to get revenge on Bandit Keith as well as providing us with some more personality for the boy. He might still be scared of Yami Bakura (and rightfully so), but he’s learning to stand up for himself and preparing to show the world all he’s got! This ending makes me a lot happier then the frankly depressing one we received in canon, and it’s inclusion makes me equal parts warm and fuzzy inside and incredibly relieved. I’m glad Takahashi’s badly treated character was given an opportunity to be explored when put in the hands of the right people. 

I don’t really know what I’m trying to say by bringing all this up, but it’s been taking a toll on my mind for days now and I just really had to get it all off my chest. Bonz is such an underrated character, which really sucks because he has an such interesting dilemma and has so much room to grow as a character if he was featured in more fan-works. Duel Links shows us that he’s very well-intentioned, as shown when he tries to return Bella’s card and even throws in one of his favorite monsters for seemingly no reason other then being nice, while at the same time being really shy and doubtful of himself. Despite that, he is trying to build his confidence by toppling some old enemies, and I feel like that message is both universal and inspiring. Let’s show this boy a little bit more love!

In conclusion, Bonz is a good boy and Bandit Keith and Kazuki Takahashi are dicks.

[ritacaroline]

Bonz Fan Fiction Ch. 9

Record Shop Madness

After that hour or so of wonderful lovemaking, John asked Laurie if she would like to have a warm sudsy bath, in the huge tub he had in the large bathroom. “Yes, I would love that. Will you join me in there then ?” She said. He answered, “Well, I guess so. I haven’t ever been in the bath with a woman before. And it sounds really nice, as long as you’re ok with it. I don’t want to take up all your room, my love.”  “No, I don’t mind, I just thought it would be cozy.”

So he went in there and started the water. Lots of fluffy suds. He wore a bathrobe as he went into the kitchen and poured two nice glasses of wine and brought them into the bathroom on a low set table for them. He got in first, then she did, sitting between his legs with her back to him. Oh my God, did he love this. He couldn’t stop kissing the back of her neck and smoothing warm water against her sexy shoulders and upper arms, holding her hands with their fingers intertwined. He was in pure bliss with his love, right against himself. The smoothness of the soapy water was so sensuous and dreamy, Laurie was absolutely enthralled with the entire situation. They sipped on their drinks and leaned against each other, laughing softly and talking, saying sweet things to each other. He would kiss her at her earlobes and gently run his lips up and down her sexy neck, while she laughed. John said, “ What were the chances, that I would meet someone as lovely and sweet as you, that day we met in the record shop ? And that we both happened to be at the jazz section ?” 

“I have no idea, sweetheart. And that you asked me to go to that party, so quickly, not wasting a minute !” she answered. John replied, “ Well, I knew my window of opportunity was limited, at any moment you could’ve decided you were leaving. So, I knew I needed to ask you in the few seconds that I had the chance to. Just decided to take a chance.”    Laurie said, “ I’m so glad you asked. I found you to be very manly and I just loved your deep voice.”

“Who would’ve ever thought that, my girl ! Will wonders ever cease ?” They finished their wine and got out and dried off, feeling extremely peaceful. Laurie said, “Well, I’m just feeling so relaxed, I need to lay down for just a few minutes.” He said, “Sure love, do anything you like. I’ll stay right here near you, unless you want to be alone, that is.”  “Why on earth would I prefer to be alone, when I have a handsome hot sexy man right here, who would like to lay next to me ? And fresh out of the bath, as well ?” He laughed spontaneously at that, he genuinely found her to be so funny and entertaining.  They got under the covers of his bed, and truth be told, he had no interest in any rest.  He sort of planned to just hold her and let her rest, while he looked at her beautiful peaceful face. They had a lot of firm pillows under their heads. But once he had his arm under her neck and felt her soft skin, clean and fresh and smelling so beautifully, he couldn’t control his urges at all. He held her under her neck and his other hand massaging her waist, and he leaned to her mouth and just kissed her and kissed her, and could not get enough of her lips. He was relentless. And Laurie was feeling strike after strike of lightning throughout her center, due to his emotional caressing of her and his soft mouth and his lips adoring her. She strongly felt his feelings toward her. He was excellent at relaying his thoughts through his kisses and touches. He moved slowly and directly, no shocks, but directness. Soon he was extremely aroused and continued lighting fires inside her. He wanted to please her as best he could, so began nibbling and kissing her collar bone, then licking her breasts and nipples, with so much care and warmth. “Darling, your body feels like it was made for me, so soft, so perfect. I just can’t stop touching your delicious flesh.”  And she was melting against him, in his arms, he was magnificent. He made her feel like a young petite teenager again, tiny - relative to his large hands and rock hard biceps. She felt his hard shoulders and arms in delight, as she was burning for his love, for his touch. It was mind blowing. She was also kissing him tenderly at his chest and his stomach, and he was in glory as she adored him like that. He was so pleased that she was inclined to want to please him as well. He was under the impression that he should do all the kissing and caressing. But to be treated so caringly, as though he was the treasure, well.  He was beyond thrilled. He was loving the fact, that she was enthralled with his body, just as much as he felt towards her. It was new for him. And so well appreciated. He needed to be loved too. Not just by giving it out all the time. But to feel like he was a sexy desirable guy, himself. It was awesome to him. Soon he was kissing and licking her lovely soft female tummy and her hips. Kissing and nuzzling them and breathing his warm moist breath onto them. She was shaking with excitement from his enticing treatment toward her. Soon the blanket was off them and he was laying on his side in between her legs, kissing her knees and kissing her thighs. He was softly rubbing them and making all kinds of satisfied little sounds, as he worshipped her long legs. “Laur, your  legs are a dream come true to me. I’ve never seen such gorgeous sexy legs and I can’t believe I’m touching them and feeling them here right now. You’re the sexiest woman on earth.” And just continued kissing and rubbing his mouth along them. Massaging them over and over and up and down. And soon, he had kissed his way up to where they met her body and was licking the place where they met her inner thigh. And without any pause, he began to lick along the separation of her lower lips, and gently with his hands, he pushed her thighs further and further apart . And her head was spinning as he did this. She didn’t resist him at all, she was so loving his directness. She was absolutely on fire, and would really love for him to ease the  agony she felt for him. So, he did. He slid his tongue between the crease and opened them with his lips and tongue. He started licking her there, exactly where her most sensitive place was, and kept doing it. Over and over and over until she felt  like she needed to scream, or run away, or something, she couldn’t even think. Nor did she know what to say or do, except, she loved it and wanted him to never stop. Except to just let him do what he wanted to do so badly. He was making moaning noises as he continued. John was absolutely loving every second, being so intimate with her, touching her where he really hadn’t before. And he felt really privileged, that she would allow him to have his mouth right against the most private place of her body. He had one hand holding her inner thigh up and opened. And with his other hand, he held her hand, and intertwined his fingers with hers, as a sign of caring. That she could trust him and know he meant nothing but praise for her smoking hot body.  He was sliding his tongue a little bit into her opening , and a little more then. He was in complete rapture, thrilling with every little detail. He returned to the front of her sex, gently nibbling and sucking on her little nub, right between her lips. So divine, just what he was hoping to do for all these days.

She tried to keep calm, but it was soon impossible, energy was building, there was no place to go, no backing up. And suddenly, without her permission, an ocean poured over her and waves and waves of shaking muscle contractions overwhelmed her. She just trembled and moaned, John, John, please, . He was so thrilled with her reaction to his loving, he had a huge smile on and came up and kissed her mouth over and over and hugged her around her neck as she clung to him like he was a life preserver in the deep ocean. 

Go to next chapter (10)  https://ritacaroline.tumblr.com/post/183159882116/bonz-fan-fiction-ch-10