#final episode judai I guess I should say

[overobsessedfanboy23]

Someone: Judai-

Me:

[seqka711]

Ranking the six main boy/girl ships in Yu-Gi-Oh from best to worst!

Not all main girl ships are created equally, I'm afraid. Let's take a look at each ship and see what's up! (Except Sevens because as I mentioned in a previous post, I am way too far behind to comment on anything in that show.)

First up is Anzu and Yugi! And YES I do ship them! However, I don't ship Atem and Anzu. Anzu was friends with Yugi, and started to see him in a different light when Atem started showing up. However, those changing feelings also started to influence her feelings about Yugi as well. We saw that in Duelist Kingdom. Then in season 2 when she realizes they're two separate people, she gets really confused! Anzu doesn't know how to feel anymore! Then Atem and Yugi are both playing wingman for each other, so that's not helping matters. I don't really ship Atem and Anzu because Atem just doesn't seem super interested in their date. I know he had other things on his mind, but if they wanted me to ship it, now was the time to show off some chemistry and they didn't.

We saw in GX that Yugi grows up to look just like Atem and he also grows more confident over the course of the series. After the end of Duel Monsters, I think they're both too hurt by Atem's passing to be digging on each other. But, distance makes the heart grow fonder, and I feel like she's gonna come back from the states and have some heart-pounding feelings when she sees him again. And Yugi's feelings didn't change, they were just put on the back burner. So hopefully when they meet back up, sparks are gonna fly! At least, I hope so. <3

~

Next up is Asuka and Judai! When I watched their first duel, I was 100% on board with this ship. They were cute, they had great banter, it was a fair fight. I loved it! But over the course of the series, I started losing interest in their relationship, fast. By the end of season 2 I was pretty convinced they had abandoned Asuka x Judai for Asuka x Manjoume, and honestly, I was 100% on board with that, I love a good romcom couple and those two have dysfunctional romcom energy. Plus they had evil power couple vibes when they were running the Society of Light together, so I thought for sure they were gonna have Manjoume and Asuka be better friends post possession.

Then season 3 came a long and I was like "woah, they DID do that on purpose! I was right!" when we saw the Judai x Johan x Yubel love triangle they spent the entire season on. Asuka and Manjoume were of course relegated to background characters, as was everyone who wasn't a transfer student. And then the series ended with a pretty definitive Judai x Yubel ending and I was like "cool I like it".

But then season 4 made me question everything by making it clear that Asuka was still crushing on Judai?!?! Uhhh.... what? You haven't mentioned this crush in OVER TWO YEARS ASUKA. You've both changed so much! I thought the whole point was "she had a fleeting crush on him in year 1, but people change and so do our feelings"! I thought they had her fall out of love with him on purpose!! You're telling me the writers just wanted us to ASSUME she was still in love with him this whole time?!

I honestly love the whole "had a crush on him, now that I know him better, he's an amazing friend but I don't like him that way anymore" dynamic and they RUINED IT so bad. And for what? To say "well they fought the whole time, but now look! They can tag duel together!" Well, jokes on them, because a few episodes later Judai and Johan will show off some of the tightest teamwork in the show and I'll have to throw Asuka x Judai in the trash. </3`

~

Yusei x Aki!!!!!! AHHHHHH I LOVE THEM. Their first duel is very romantic in my opinion. Yusei lives to help people, and it's actually a flaw of his that he'll help people no matter the cost. Usually that's sort of a "who cares" flaw in a protagonist, but for Yusei, it adds a lot of depth to his character. The reason he helps people even at the cost of himself is because he feels enormously guilty due to his parents' involvement in Zero Reverse, and he feels like he owes the world (but especially Satellite) everything. Yusei tried to go to jail in Kiryu's stead, but failed, and I think that only compounded his guilt even more.

Then, when Yusei sees the chance to help Aki, he does it. He's scared of her, but he rallies his courage to face her so that he can help her. And it's only natural that Aki would fall hopelessly in love with him after he continually put himself at risk over and over again JUST to help her. I love the episode where she rescues him from being kidnapped and then accompanies him on a riding duel. I think it hits me harder because it reminds me of how much I want to drive a motorcycle but can't because of reasons I won't go into. But part of her desire to learn to riding duel is because she wants to feel the same things Yusei feels. And that's so cute!

Unfortunately, I do have a certain headcanon that gets in the way of my shipping desires. I won't get into the whole headcanon, but I think Yusei might have ended up time travelling back in time to fix Zero Reverse and prevent Zone's future. And Aki wouldn't have come with him because we see her in the flashforward. Yusei is still giving her strength though. And I like to think that maybe a much older Yusei was able to help a much younger Aki control her powers and not enter a cult in the new timeline. And if my headcanon isn't true, then GET MARRIED AND HAVE BABIES GUYS. <3

~

On the one hand, I love Kotori x Yuma. They’re so adorable! Not only is Kotori surprisingly self-aware of her crush (usually the YGO girls love to deny it) but Yuma clearly treats her differently from the rest of his friends, even though he doesn’t know why (yet). Kotori’s confession at the end of the show is SO CUTE AND ADORABLE and Yuma accepts and I love it!

But… I can’t love it as much as I WANT to love it. Kotori’s character, especially in Zexal II is kind of boring. I liked her a lot in Zexal I actually. I thought it was fine to have a character not duel as long as she was doing something else. In season 1 she occasionally gets shit done. Or she’s there for comic relief like when she’s riding the duel coaster. Or arguing with Orbital 7. It wasn’t much, but it was something. In season 2, she’s a total non-entity. I thought the duel where she gets possessed was very funny, but I almost wish that her getting possessed by a Barian was played for drama rather than laughs.

I think what could have been cool is either a) after she can hear Astral, her and Astral team up for a duel or b) when watching Yuma she started to memorize his strategies. Or both. Or neither, just get this girl something to do BESIDES watch Yuma! In the end, my love for how adorable these two are is always somewhat soured by Kotori’s squandered potential. <3

~

Speaking of squandered potential, Yuzu and Yuya are next on the list. I love these two A TON! I’ll be perfectly honest and admit my biases here, I am NOT the biggest fan of Arc-V. The show had a lot of problems, and I’m harsher on it than most.

But one thing I really did like about the beginning of the show was Yuzu! She was independent, driven and her dueling was getting better as the show progressed. Just like Kotori, she became a non-entity in the latter seasons. However, I ship Yuya x Yuzu more than I ship Yuma x Kotori because Yuya was always keeping Yuzu in mind during the latter seasons. So it still felt like the ship was in focus, whereas with Kotori x Yuma, the ship kind of disappeared since more important things were going on. For Yuya, nothing was more important than getting Yuzu back, so really I had no choice BUT to ship it. How could I not? It was so sweet! She was his whole world! I wish we got more scenes with the two of them together though. Them never tag dueling is a crime against humanity. Also its total BS that only Yuya and Yuzu got to come back, but whatever, I guess. I was happy that the two of them reunited and even HAPPIER that the show was finally over. <3

~

Last and basically least, Yusaku x Aoi. Or Playmaker x Blue Maiden. I’ll be honest, I don’t ship this at all. The show doesn’t go through any effort to get us invested in their so-called “relationship” and if I had watched this show on its own, unaware of the series’ tropes, I wouldn’t have assumed they were a “ship” at all. With Judai x Asuka, I actually liked the fake out (at least until S4 when I wondered whether or not the fake out was actually on purpose or if the writers are just morons) but with Yusaku x Aoi I get frustrated because it wouldn’t have been that hard to GIVE them some chemistry. They’re both interesting characters, and I think Aoi and Yusaku could have had an interesting dynamic if Aoi had learned Playmaker’s identity a lot sooner.

What I think the show should have done was have Aoi discover Playmaker and Soulburner’s identity at the same time they discovered each other. Then have Aqua come into the fold a lot earlier. Trios are popular in fiction for a reason, and I think Yusaku, Takeru and Aoi would have been an excellent trio. Specifically, with both Yusaku and Aoi being so reserved, their relationship would be very understated. But that’s not a bad thing. It just means that the writers would have to put more focus on the little things. Like, maybe after a while of being friends, Yusaku sits next to her in class. That would be a small thing for other people, but for those two, that’s huge! I could also see there being a fun episode where Ai tries to trick them into going on a date but fails spectacularly. The two of them end up spending time together to foil the plan. That could be really cute! LITERALLY ANYTHING is better than NOTHING.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I don’t ship this because the writers thought they could get me to ship it just by having boy meets girl and then having them shake hands over a hundred episodes later. And no. I refuse. I need a LITTLE more than that, please and thank you. </3

~

That was a very long post! All in all, 4/6 ain’t bad at all! Or maybe it’s more like a 3.5 since I only gave Kotori and Yuma a small heart? It doesn’t really matter, I’m a multishipper. At my heart and soul, I’ll ship anything. Like I said I don’t ship Judai and Asuka, but I totally have shippy fanart of them on my phone, lol. It’s more like… which of these ships would I defend in court and which ships do I only like because I’m trash that’ll ship anything?

Oh, I guess I did title this as a ranking... Well, I'm sure you can figure out my most and least favourites by how much I used caps lock, so it should be fine.

Give me ANY Yu-Gi-Oh ship (straight, gay or in between) and I’ll dissect it like I did these six.

[kaiowut99]

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters GX Episode 64 Subbed (Finalized)

Shou VS Kenzan! A Passionate Duel for Big Bro

(Check out my Subbed!GX Stream Masterpost!)

While Judai is away from home, Shou and Tyranno Kenzan argue about which of them is Judai’s “little bro,” prompting a duel between the two in which their passion towards their Big Bro is at stake.  First, Dark Tyranno--Kenzan’s boss Monster--lands a direct attack on Shou.  Then, Shou uses his Cyber Summon Blaster Permanent Trap to chip away at Kenzan’s Life in 300-point chunks.  He also completes a defensive combo with Ambulance Rescueroid and Decoyroid...

Here’s a newly-finalized episode 64! This episode’s interesting because of the whole Shou/Kenzan dynamic getting fleshed out a bit, with the two coming to some level of understanding with each other as Kenzan maturely opts to throw the duel after realizing how dedicated and close Shou is to Judai.  We’ll get a bit more from them later, but it is nice that we close that out here.  Also, Fubuki’s being Fubuki much to Asuka’s chagrin, making us wonder how this season would pan out if he was still possessed, and we see a shirtless Judai in... Pharaoh-branded boxers that I’m surprised aren’t a real thing yet.

Now, in terms of footage fixes... I guess after two episodes of not having much to fix, 64 had quite a few to work with; I worked on 10 edits altogether, all card-related, and I’d originally picked out five I thought would be it before I backtracked for the others I’d noticed.  The animators didn’t play all their cards right here, lol.  List below the cut, as usual.  (For the ending Today’s Best Card segment, I also added a line in the card details for Ambulance Rescueroid’s Fusion Materials that the original didn’t include just to keep consistency; this line is used for future Fusion Monster showcases, so it looks like they might’ve just forgotten it in this one.)

Enjoy, folks! With this done, next time we’re revisiting a classic: Hell Kaiser Ryou’s debut episode~ I’ve been looking forward to this, and it should be fun to revisit.  Should have episode 65 done in 2-3 weeks, maybe sooner if ‘rona jab #2 doesn’t hit me too rough this Friday 4/30--fingers crossed!

Fixes!

As Shou tells Kenzan about his Tag Duel with Judai, Kenzan yells out of jealousy, and as he does so, we see the bottom of his deck on his Disk; in the first three frames it appears it’s a yellow rectangle, while it becomes a Fusion card after that.  So, I just applied my Fusion card proxy over the yellow rectangle, then masked the bottom of the Deck Holder and Kenzan’s hand over it, all in AfterEffects.

As Shou’s Submarineroid lands a direct attack on Kenzan, during the zoom-out of the impact, we see Shou’s Disk, which only has Submarineroid on it in his Disk’s second Monster Zone--problem is, he’s had Ambulanceroid in Defense Mode on Monster Zone #4 for a while.  So, I made an Ambulanceroid proxy in Photoshop to slap onto his Disk, then resized/moved it accordingly as the screen shook from the attack’s impact in AfterEffects.

After Kenzan takes damage from Submarineroid’s attack, Shou tells him that it switches to Defense Mode after--but while Ambulanceroid is now back on his Disk, it’s in Attack Mode.  To fix this, I just had to place my Ambulanceroid proxy in Defense Mode over the original card in AfterEffects for the four frames it’s visible in.

Immediately after #3, Shou sets three cards face-down to end his turn, but Ambulanceroid’s missing from his Disk again! I first placed my proxy in his fourth Monster Zone again in AfterEffects for one frame, then went into Sony Vegas, where I keyframed that one frame across 33 total frames to redo the slow zoom-out that happens, making sure the card and zone were properly placed.

Later, Kenzan uses Dyna Stamp to stamp out Shou’s Wonder Garage Trap, but he uses it to summon Drillroid; as he activates Cyber Summon Blaster’s effect accordingly, Drillroid’s missing on his Disk! Maybe they didn’t put it on because Drillroid’s about to get destroyed by Dark Tyranno anyway, but I figured it actually should be there--so I made a Drillroid proxy and then put it in his second Monster Zone in AfterEffects, moving it along as Shou moves his Disk.  Then, since I was there anyway, I did the same with Ambulanceroid, which was on Shou’s Disk as an orange rectangle, and placed the proxy above it. (The dub opted not to do this, but points to them for having Syrus use “Special Summon” explaining Wonder Garage--shame I have to take one for having him say “Special-Summon it to my hand” 🤦🏽‍♂️)

As Kenzan sacrifices Dark Tyranno to activate Revised Ultra Evolution Pill, Dark Tyranno is still on his Disk despite being taken off the field.  So, I opened Photoshop and blanked that Monster Zone.

As Kenzan thinks about using his last face-down card before Asuka calls out to a weakened sleep-deprived Shou to interrupt his thoughts, we see Shou stumbling a bit.  But on his Disk there, Decoyroid and Ambulanceroid have switched places; while Rescueroid’s correctly in Zone 3, Decoyroid’s in Monster Zone #4 when it should be in #2, and Ambulanceroid should be back in Zone #4 but it’s in Zone #2.  I made a Decoyroid proxy in Photoshop, then applied it and my Ambulanceroid proxy in AfterEffects to put them in their right spots, then moved/resized the cards accordingly as they moved with Shou and his Disk.  71 total frames here, and actually the first time I fully did one of these edits with AfterEffects, iirc; usually for a moving shot, I’d do a couple frames that I’d then keyframe/manipulate in Sony Vegas, lol--think it came out well!

A repeat of #7 happens as Ultimate Tyranno charges at Shou, Kenzan asking Shou if he’s mocking Judai by saying that dueling and being healthy are all he has going for him (which, where’s the lie)--luckily the simplest to fix, since Shou doesn’t move, so I just needed to slap the proxies on in the right spots.

As Shou talks about how Judai, despite being helpless at anything not dueling or being healthy, is working hard to get back to them, Decoyroid and Ambulanceroid are back in their spots--but they’re now reversed on his Disk, as their Defense-Mode cards should be turned such that the name and Attribute boxes point downward.  I had to first make a Rescueroid proxy to join the other two here, then I placed them properly one by one on his Disk in AfterEffects for the 40 frames they’re visible in.

As Kenzan decides to throw the duel and Shou realizes he won, he has Ambulance Rescueroid on his Disk where Ambulanceroid should be--it’s been a while since he de-fused it, after all.  I placed the Ambulanceroid proxy on for a few frames in AfterEffects, then keyframed/zoomed the frame after Shou stopped moving in Sony Vegas to redo the zoom for the last 15 frames it’s visible in.

[lazella]

Infinity Stone AU: PTSD is Hard to Heal From.

For all the tech that was found in the Avenger’s Tower, most of it bored Yusaku. He was already familiar with this level of technology, some of it was considered primitive compared to what he was used too. Not to mention that his time in the tower felt rather lonely. It was hard for him to connect with the other duelists due to their vastly different views on dueling. Meanwhile, the other members of the Avengers seemed to treat him as a small child which irked him. Ai could only provide so much company until Yusaku hit his patience limit to the Ignis’ behavior.

So for now he was searching for Tony Stark to discuss more ideas of how to use the Mind Stone outside of battle and hacking. The man made it very clear that there was no experimenting with the Infinity Stones without his supervision. After the incident where Yuya turned the whole tower into candy, he could see why.

Yusaku encountered Bruce Banner wondering the halls as he was, “Hey Bruce? Have you seen Tony?” He asked.

“He’s actually not here right now,” Bruce said, “He and Pepper are out on some sort of errand. Didn’t say when they would be back.”

“Oh…I see….” Yusaku began to walk away.

“The others are in the game room if you’re interested.” Bruce called out to him. “Tony got some new games since you all were getting bored.”

Yusaku just shrugged. Might as well wonder over and observe what has going on to stave off boredom.

“Hey Playmaker…can we actually talk and hang out with the others this time?” Ai asked.

“No.”

“But they’re the only interesting people to talk too!!!” Ai protested, “Come on…you can keep doing this emo social distancing act for long.”

“Three reasons….” Ai rolled his eyes as Yusaku began to fall into his habit, “One, our views on dueling are too vastly different. Two, our experiences are also vastly different. And three…they seem to have the ability to bring out topics and memories I do not wish to discuss.”

Ai watched from the Duel Disk wordlessly as Yusaku opened the door to the game room then froze.

Oh boy…Ai thought to himself…This is going to trigger an episode.

Inside the game room, Yuma, Yuya, and Judai were playing with VR headsets on. Yugi and Yusei were watching the game on a nearby screen which looked like some sort of rhythm game.

Yusei eventually noticed Yusaku’s presence, “Care to join us Yusaku?”

Yusaku gave no answer, he slammed the door shut and ran back to his room.

……………………………………………..

The loud bang of the door made everyone in the room freeze.

“What was that all about?” Judai asked removing the headset so he could see reality.

“Yusaku was just at the door.” Yusei explained, “But he looked very scared and ran off.”

Judai frowned, “Scared? Scared of what?”

“Not sure…” Yugi said, “And he’s probably not going to be sharing why anytime soon.”

“Why is he like that anyway?” Yuma asked, “He seems like he’s always afraid.”

“Remember that night when Tony woke us all up?” Yuya said, “We managed to find out that Yusaku was kidnapped when he was younger. But he didn’t say what exactly happened during that time.”

“And that something is still affecting him to this day….” Yusei frowned, “Should one of us go check on him?”

“I’ll do it…” Yugi volunteered, “I think he can relax around me. If I need back up I’ll let you all know.”

The group nodded as Yugi head off to go find Yusaku’s room. Going through the maze of hallways and rooms, Yugi finally arrived at his destination.

“Hey…it’s me…” Yugi knocked on the door, “Can I come in?”

The voice of Yusaku’s program buddy answered back.

“Hold on…let me quickly hack the system to unlock the door.”

The latch of the door clicked, allowing Yugi to enter the room. Yusaku was on his bed, head and arms resting on his knees. Ai was poking out of the duel disk that had been placed on the nightstand.

“Good luck getting anything out of him…” Ai said, “He’s going to be like this for a good while.”

“Do you know what set him off?” Yugi asked, “I really don’t want Yusaku to be fearful of just walking around the tower.”

Ai sighed, “It was the VR headsets.”

Yugi blinked, “The VR headsets? Why those of all things?”

“Honestly, it’s a long story that I really don’t feel like sharing right now.” Ai admitted, “Even then it’s not really my story to tell.”

“Well what can you tell me?” Yugi asked as he sat on the bed.

Ai rubbed his chin in though, “Yusaku has been through a lot and is not used to opening up to people. He didn’t like me at first and I had to grow on him.”

Yugi hummed as he tried to figure out what to do next. He had so little information to go on here and honestly Anzu was the one who gave the better reassuring speeches. Why could Yugi say in a situation like this?

A possible solution came in the poking sensation in his pocket followed by an orange glow. Yugi sighed, “I’m not going to do that…”

“Do what?” Surprisingly, Yusaku was the one who asked slightly uncurling from his ball.

“The Soul Stone can let me enter your Soul Room,” Yugi continued his explanation as he knows Yusaku would have no idea what he was talking about. “It’s a room that reflects who you are. Mine is full of toys and games since I enjoy playing and designing games myself. The other me…since he is missing his memories…his is a labyrinth that leads nowhere.”

“Are you going to use it?” Yusaku asked.

“Not without your permission of course…” Yugi said, “It felt like a huge invasion of privacy the first time it happened to me. But this Soul Stone acts like it has a mind of its own and we’ve had some close calls when it tries to activate when someone is in a poor mood.”

The two sat in silence for some time, both unsure how to go forward.

Aibou…let me handle this…

Are you sure other me?

I say I can give it a shot. It will be better than nothing.

Alright then…Yugi relinquished control to Yami who put a reassuring hand on Yusaku’s shoulder.

“Listen Yusaku…I’m not going to pretend that any of us can understand what you have been through. But you need to stop bottling it all up, it’s not healthy. We’ve all survived our experiences because we had others we can support us when it gets too much. Everyone here is worried about you so can you start letting us in?”

“I…” Yusaku curled back into his ball, “I don’t know how…”

“Maybe that’s why the Soul Stone was reacting.” Yami held up the orange stone, “But I will only use it if I have your permission. I am not going to violate your privacy to satisfy my curiosity. Do I have your permission?”

“Will I see what you see?” Yusaku asked.

“I don’t see why not.” Yami said.

“Then do it.”

“Alright…..” Yami gripped Yusaku’s hand in reassurance, “Let’s go.”

………………………………………………..

Yugi and Yami took a moment to take in their surroundings. They didn’t have any real expectations about what Yusaku’s Soul Room would look like but certainly not this.

If there were a few words they could use to describe what they were seeing, it was empty and broken. It was a simple room with wood paneling and flooring, but one corner looked like it had been torn away by some unseen force. Only an open void was visible through the destruction. Furniture was bare minimum as well. There was only an old desk with a broken computer on it.

“Is…is this supposed to reflect me?”

Yugi and Yami turned around and saw Yusaku looking around in shock, “Shouldn’t there be…more?”

“There should…” Yami admitted, “But in my opinion…your Soul Room looks damaged.”

Yusaku unconsciously put a hand to his chest and clenched, “Three things…the damage looks old…there’s nothing in here unique to me…and what is here is broken…”

“It doesn’t have to stay that way though…” Yugi tried to reassure the panicking boy, “You can change how things are. We just need to pick a starting point, no need to do everything at once.”

That seemed to calm Yusaku down, “I guess you’re right…but where?”

“Is there anyone that cares about you?” Yami asked, “I don’t think your life is as lonely as this room appears to be.”

Yusaku seemed to think a bit. Then proceeded into deep thought. Yami and Yugi waited anxiously to see if Yusaku could come up with any answer. Then the distinct sound of a computer booting up caught all of their attention. The once broken computer was now repaired and its monitor showed a picture of Yusaku standing in front of a food truck next to another man.

“I think that’s your answer Yusaku…” Yami said.

Yusaku nodded, “I think we can head back…”

Yami didn’t say anything and let the Soul Stone pull them back into reality. It was a small step, but it was still a step towards recovery.

[darkzorua100]

Well now that I’ve got my jokes I wanted to make out of the way, time for our regularly scheduled pain and suffering! Today’s special guest is Homura Takeru, better known as Soulburner, as we drive straight into his past! And my god, I really think we should be concerned about this kid when it comes to his mental stability after this whole thing is over with. The way I see it, there is going to be one of three outcomes from this. Takeru is either going to use this as an opportunity to grow and really start to get over his past, going to shut down like Jin has, or there is option three and option three is the snap. And the snap is the one I’m really worried about now because I’m really starting to think, after this episode with the amount of foreshadowing it had, that Takeru might actually have DID. 

I’ve seen someone talk about it in the past about Takeru having a second personality because of the Hanoi Project (honestly if one of these kids didn’t have DID that would be such a waste because in the context of this show’s plot, it makes perfect sense for one of these children to have develop it from their trauma), but I didn’t really think Takeru would be the one to have it. Out of all of them, I thought it would be the Water Child because of my Pisces Theory but now, foreshadowing or not, this episode got me wondering.

Before I get to that, let’s talk about Takeru’s character as a whole for a second. We knew before this episode from his duel against Go that he really didn’t give a sh*t about anything, related to himself anyway. But when it comes to other people, he won’t stand by and let anything bad happen to them. When he saw someone get bullied by these gang members, guess he wasn’t apart of a gang, instant “boy I will murder you and your whole family in your sleep” glare and they left with the leader saying that he was “dangerous” even though he didn’t actually do anything to them. Then when he heard that Kiku was in trouble, he immediately rushed on over to help her. But the thing I found really interesting was when his grandpa challenged him to a fight and out right kicked his ass, age has got nothing on this man, Takeru could have, and I quote from his grandpa, “he could’ve thrown me, but he hesitated.” with his grandma replying with “because Takeru is nice.”

Because Takeru is nice. He’s soft. Maybe to soft. 

And the thing is, he’s still like this. He might be starting to care more about himself but he still prioritizes his friends well being over his own. It is the whole reason why he’s in this situation in the first place! Because he pushed Playmaker out of the way! When push comes to shove, he might not actually be able to fight back with his full power. Never has it felt like Takeru was ever going to lose a duel, even when he was pushed into a corner, ignoring the Ignis plot armor, because it feels like he has never actually gone full out yet. It even shows in his dueling since he always starts out his turn by summoning Heatleo. It is a beater with a good effect when summoned but nothing to crazy. He has to have another Link Monster in there that he just don’t want to use in fear of hurting someone like how he was hurt is what I’m getting from this.

And boy was he hurt and wow, the title was literal. Takeru has such PSTD when it come to the card, Despair from the Dark, since it looks like it was the card that always caused him to lose during the Hanoi Project. This does make me wonder now if all the kids have their own monster that they lost to that they are afraid of. I’m now waiting for someone to summon something and watch as Yusaku’s PSTD is triggered. But yeah, anytime that thing comes to mind, Takeru just loses it and shuts down immediately and that’s when the consideration for him having DID really starts to kick in. He ends up dueling this one bully IN THE REAL WORLD MIND YOU (okay so we CAN duel in the real world. Thank you for clearing that up, Vrains, now explain to me why we didn’t get a RL Yusaku vs Ryoken duel again as the final for season 1?!) and the episode ends with Takeru having his PSTD triggered. We don’t know if he won or lost this duel because none of the bullies are speaking in next week’s episode so it doesn’t look like we will be seeing the conclusion to it but considering his reaction, and his reaction in the preview, he couldn’t have won. He was so out of it to have been able to duel properly and these bullies didn’t seem like the type to let Takeru off the hook even if he was having panic attack. However, I don’t think he lost either because if he lost, he would have had to become that guy’s servant and wouldn’t have been able to leave for Den City in that case. Someone had to have taken over for Takeru during that duel and if it was another personality, it makes sense why we wouldn’t be able to see the end of the duel next week. Because Takeru wasn’t the one to finish the duel and in turn, wouldn’t have the memories of it. 

We know from the preview that Blood Shepherd is going to summon Despair from the Dark which is going to trigger another panic attack from Takeru/Soulburner. Now if this also happens to trigger another personality in the process waits to be seen but if so, Blood Shepherd, you really f*cked up big time on this one. If I learned anything from Marik, Judai and Yuya, when there happens to be another persona inside someone’s body, it is best not to push their buttons since all of them have a tendency to murder when awaken. 

[peppermint-shamrock]

@bitterseaproduction asked for 001 for YGO, so I’m doing that here:

DM:

Favorite character: Yuugi, he’s such a precious young man.

Least Favorite character: Least favorite in terms of horrible person? Gozaburo, he’s just awful. Least favorite in terms of not compelling? Yami Bakura, he was such an underwhelming villain, didn’t really undergo development at all, can have most of his involvement removed without affecting things much, and is just generally boring.

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): Encourageshipping (and associated ships), Polarshipping, Blueshipping/Mizushipping, Crystalshipping/Stageshipping, Heartshipping

Character I find most attractive: Does it count if I say older Yuugi?

Character I would marry: Yuugi, of course!

Character I would be best friends with: Again, Yuugi - but of course the rest of the smiley face circle of friends would be great as well

a random thought: I hope the DSOD sub comes out soon.

An unpopular opinion: Aside from my opinion on Yami Bakura? Well, I’ve got an unpopular opinion regarding DSOD, but I don’t know if you’ve seen it so to avoid spoilers, I’ll skip that one, too (I’ll just say I didn’t like the resolution). I guess a somewhat unpopular opinion I have is that the manga isn’t strictly better than the anime - I think there’s a number of things that the manga did better, but also a number of things that the anime did better. Some people hold up the manga as so much better, but I don’t agree with that.

my canon OTP: Please define “canon”. Encourageshipping is canon in some directions (i.e., Anzu’s attraction to Atem is canon, Yuugi’s attraction to Anzu is canon, Word of God confirms Anzu would end up liking Yuugi), but not all...I don’t know that it counts if it’s one-sided. I’d argue Polar is canon in the anime. Mizu’s almost definitely canon, but some people would argue that. I can safely say I like Roseshipping though - no one can argue that that isn’t canon.

Non-canon OTP: If Encourage doesn’t count for canon, then Encourageshipping. At the very least, my way of encourageshipping (all three, peach, revo, and puzzle, all reciprocated) is non-canon. But it is a very pure and supportive ship. It should be canon, dammit.

most badass character: Jounouchi

pairing I am not a fan of: ...I’m sorry, but Prideshipping. I can see the appeal of it, and after watching DSOD, I can believe that Kaiba has romantic feelings for Atem. But I just can’t see Atem reciprocating them, nor do I think that a relationship could work out between them. Though they respect each other, there’d be too much conflict. I think Kaiba needs someone who can be more patient with him, still be able to put their foot down when he goes too far, but they do need to be a lot more patient than Atem is. It’s far from my least favorite pairing(that’s the more popular Kaiba pairing and I’m not getting into that right now), and in fact I can get behind it as a strictly one-sided relationship with unrequited feelings on Kaiba’s end, but this said “not a fan of” and not “hate”, so...

character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): In the anime, Jounouchi did get turned into a joke far too often. He wasn’t completely ruined, but that’s definitely something I think went wrong. But if we’re talking both manga and anime...honestly, I wish something more had been made of Shaadi - he had a lot of potential to be interesting.

favourite friendship: Yuugi and Jounouchi are the most canon brotp. I also just love the whole smiley face circle of friends friendship.

character I want to adopt or be adopted by: Can’t really think of any of them.

GX:

Favorite character: Fubuki

Least Favorite character: Amon, but of course no one likes him.

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): I’m not as familiar with the GX fandom, so I don’t know too many ship names, but I like proshipping(Edo/Ryo), Shou/BMG, Misawa/Tania, Soulshipping(Judai/Yubel), Fianceshipping(Judai/Asuka)

Character I find most attractive: Fubuki, to no surprise.

Character I would marry: You know, as much as I like Fubuki, I don’t think he’d be husband material...I think I’d go with O’Brien for this one.

Character I would be best friends with: Asuka

a random thought: I should probably rewatch GX...it’s been a while

An unpopular opinion: Again, not really familiar with the fandom, so I have no idea what a popular or unpopular opinion would be...

my canon OTP: Shou/BMG is definitely canon. Even if it’s silly.

Non-canon OTP: Proshipping.

most badass character: Ryo, I mean he really screwed himself up with the electroshock duels but you have to admit it’s pretty badass.

pairing I am not a fan of: Can’t think of anything off the top of my head.

character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): Honestly? I can’t think of any. It’s been a while, so I could be missing something obvious, but I remember GX doing a really good job with its characters.

favourite friendship: Judai and everyone

character I want to adopt or be adopted by: Can’t think of any.

Arc V:

Favorite character: Selena

Least Favorite character: There’s a lot of characters I don’t really care for, but least favorite is probably Eita, the know-it-all quiz-show kid.

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): Lustershipping, Emblemshipping, Appleshipping, Fruitshipping, Dartshipping

Character I find most attractive: Gongenzaka

Character I would marry: Yuugo

Character I would be best friends with: Yuuya

a random thought: I’m looking forward to the finale. Even if this last season has been pretty disappointing, I’m still hopeful for a good finish.

An unpopular opinion: Synchro Arc was pretty good, I liked it.

my canon OTP: Honestly, I don’t think anyone can argue that Appleshipping isn’t canon, so we’ll go with that.

Non-canon OTP: Lustershipping (I wish this was canon, but unfortunately Masumi stopped being relevant after 30 episodes)

most badass character: Gongenzaka

pairing I am not a fan of: Yuzu with anyone except Masumi or Yuuya. I’m normally quite a multishipper but with Yuzu, despite the ship bait interactions she gets with a whole lot of characters, I don’t like any ship with her except Luster and Fruit. They’re just off-putting to me. I especially am not fond of Bracelet and Serenade.

character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): We’d be here all night if I were to list them all. But right now, I’m really frustrated with what they’ve done to Himika. She was much more interesting as the cold, generally horrible person.

favourite friendship: Yuuya and Gongenzaka

character I want to adopt or be adopted by: I will adopt Reira and Reiji, please. They deserve better.