#it could be set up with him and kaiba being the reincarnations and having that ancient beef

[romanceddawn]

tbh im really liking this duel so far, and its a shame because i've heard that ryuji and yugi's rivalry gets ironed out and the story moves on at some point but man he is such a good rival set up for yugi, they make a good parallel to yami and kaiba

[kisaraslover]

How do you like to imagine the Millennium Arc would have go down has Takahashi not been been too sick to give Priest Seto and Kisara the story that they deserved? T.T

see, reason im not a writer but an artist is that i SUCK at writing probably. best i can do is analyze and ask the story reinforce its pressure points? like for Seto and Set as the reincarnating single soul the story has these recurring beats that act as bridges for his arc,

Brief happy childhood interrupted by tragedy

Followed by prodigal formative years rise to power UNDER an oppressive father figure

The years above resulting in The Iconic Seto Kaiba Personality, power obsessed, proud, self righteous, unbendable will, complete commitment to his status, cold, cruel, crass, uncaring, except for affection for exclusive people.

Death of the father figure

Set(o) in now unquestionable power position, Set having become a sad but fair ruler, Seto having been placed into the plot of DM for further tests of fates

Kisara is placed in the middle of this fated story in ancient Egypt, supposedly forever changing the fabric of his being by the very tangible and very powerful and FELT effect of her undying loyalty and submission always backing him up. with her established points of;

a life of oppression and exclusion because of something as inherent and simple as her looks (truly a test to the cruelty of mortals) (neatly drawing a line between her and Others, making her out to be otherworldly)

followed by her, presumably multiple times, losing control of her Ka and punishing said mortals when she herself is in mortal danger, to unknown extent, always outside her control or will, contrasting her from Set(o) who bends, if nothing else, his own self to his will relentlessly, Kisara is outside of her own control,

which would be followed by her confusion, guilt, anger, grief, regret, self-hate, unknown feelings around her Ka

the exception to how world treats her being Priest Set, even if with wrong intentions in the beginning, which in return catches her interest and takes away her breath

them being Forced by outside forces into a single unit, oppressive conditions taking the Priest right from where he stands, opposite of her, and placing him cleanly in front of her, protectively.

then, as the concluding beat for them both, now forever changed and linked by their connection, Kisara's uncontrollable power is placed under his control, and his unbendable, ruthless and cruel force of will, bends for her, established by the final "All I wanted was your light" not your power, not your death, you by my side, having been changed

We can more clearly see the picture. So far everything ive said is inferred from canon, but like ALL of it could stand to be reinforced by a writer that Cares about what happens to Kaiba or Kisara in the story. What could stand to be said again better, THE MOST would be their love connection, the last two points. As you see, im already plenty happy with the exposition of both characters it gives us believable grounds for "and in the end, hes forever the master of the power of a woman who he'd rather have by his side no power and its his single saving grace and its what she would choose to do in every life" the characters can believably fall into this conclusion.

the problem is HOW they fall into that. it was HURRIED. Kisara's dramatic personality and Set's dramatic personality, seen by the other, appreciated, FORCED into allyship and the growing affection of both sides. the plot could have been slowed down, if by nothing else then prolonging her prisoner status, giving them some alone time. things i would like explored like:

her thankfulness and his interest in her Ka morphing into genuine care. We needed to see his compassion and her loyalty grow. Could have so many moments....

theyre ALWAYS going to end in tragedy IN THAT LIFE so why not commit fully. he feels resentment his mother died the day he saved her. that same day is the shining most beautiful moment in kisaras life where a complete stranger showed her compassion. finding this out breaks his heart.

if she and him are, at the time of the story, two people whose fates are crossing or were they ALWAYS meant and created for each other: to explain, im curious if BEWD, whose power rivals gods, did have godly roots before becoming a Strictly worldly being made of 2 working parts, the mortal vessel and the Ka. Set and Seto both have blue eyes. doesnt seem like the work of a Ka.

is it sadder if they kiss or is it sadder if they dont. idk but im voting kiss

the themes of control and will and dominance and submission. HEAR ME OUT OK Kisara, let alone her life, even her own self and body is outside of her control, things outside of her control like her coloring make everyone elses reactions to her out of her control, spiralling and living a lost life, wandering and walking into the one man who is obsessively, relentlessly a Problem to fate itself by sheer force of will, who's single moment of gentleness towards her rewards both of them with her favor, therefore the dragons favor, therefore relative control of it for the first time, should have been shown and spelled out. she surrenders to him with such trust, which inspires good in him in return. its a breath of relief to both, her power out of her hands, finally listening to someone and him being gifted SUCH a loyalty from a woman, SUCH absolute surrender......jesus im getting lightheaded..

so in general as you can see 1-im not good at making up my own plot points and 2-the point of contention isnt how ancient mizushipping is handled, while it needed more time to cook, im p good at squeezing out of canon MANY interesting threads and implications, so the way its hurried is ultimately forgivable to me.

my problem is modern world writing around Seto, BEWD, Kisara. i think the writing was generally wack all around and especially callous to Kaiba, therefore resulting in inconsistent Kisara, basically erased for other than moments establishing his obsession w power and feeding his narcissistic characteristics which is so sad to me, as Kisara represents HIS melting and HIS softening and HIS light. the entire canon makes BEWD just his ally outside of some minor moments, which dont have lasting consequences.

and this ⬆ is all about Staying In Canon and how It Could Be Improved, with answers to Fuck Canon How To Make It Better? being infinite and very interesting.

[mahoushojoumonster]

A headcanon to consider:

As Mana served primarily under Pharaoh Set’s reign, she has a deep loyalty to him as well.

Theoretically if she liked Kaiba enough, she’d have no problems following his orders (with all her usual flair and sass) being that he is her Pharaoh’s reincarnation just the same as she does with Yuugi.

(Privately, she’s rather relieved that no one else has ever brought that up, because that could lead to a whole mess of problems)

She does tend to have a soft spot for him and his little brother in any case, so she is a little more agreeable to their oddities and requests than others might be (she finds the BEWD obsession cute).

[desultory-novice]

not to come here for the most niche thing in the universe,,,, but uh. shipping-wise, do you see anyone for Haltmann in any way? -glances at my list of at least 8 Haltmann ships lmao-

You wrote in! Yay!

Don't worry about questions that are a little niche, as long as they're SFW/general audiences, that is! Frankly, I feel like I've covered a lot of the general knowledge stuff already, so we might as well dig deeper on some character asks!

So, let's talk Haltmann's personal life!

(PS: This post is 90% fluffy/feel good stuff, so if you don’t like the characters involved, there’s almost guaranteed to be nothing here for you. I’d recommend just scrolling on by.)

I admit, I've got some fondness for Haltmann x Sectonia (1) which I think may be one of the more popular pairings for him?

I do think it's sad that, due to the characters' fates, the pairing sort of naturally lands itself in a "they met in hell" scenario. Although a reincarnation timeline for them isn't out of the question either!

(Though we've kind of already got a glimpse at the potential Kirby afterlife in that Morpho Knight novel, so it's not like you COULDN"T set a story there.)

I'm still working around to how I might treat a reincarnation scenario in any of my own works. Now, I tend to think they are both "canon dead" for different reasons, so I'd probably have to work around to different solutions to how they could both come back that would also support potential relationships. 

(I also ship Sectaranza after all! But if enough time passes by the time the Dream Stalk finally dies and Sectonia's soul is released and up for reincarnation, such that Taranza has either passed away or just moved on to the point that the two of them realize they're different people now, I can see it being an amicable decision to move on/support each other’s new lives on their part.

 .......Oh gosh, not to go on a mini-tangent, but I’m just personally kind uncomfortable with “I realized we’re toxic together and now we must never see each other again stories.” In fiction, that is. Obviously, you need to take care of your own life, what you’re capable of shouldering and what you should, and stories are a good way to teach life lessons, but...that’s just one that’s a little painful for me, personally. I’d really rather everything work out, if it can.)

For Max’s part in the coming back to life story... As far as we know, Star Dream still possesses his body. It’s an empty vessel now, but if Star Dream is keeping it preserved, then....maybe some kind of Kaiba from the Yugioh manga situation where Haltmann’s soul has not necessarily been completely destroyed, but the various bits and bytes of it have all been scattered, and need to be put back together piece by piece before he can return?

Anyway, it’s kind of sweet to imagine two people who are so very time-displaced from the world they know (and only they know each other’s darker histories) and finding a rock and familiarity in each other!

As for other stuff they have in common, I think it's a little cute that they clearly both enjoy the "finer things in life" and they'd be two who wouldn't even question each other's somewhat extravagant habits! 

Although Max feels very nouveux-riche(2) versus Sectonia's landed aristocracy vibes. So I see Max getting very excited about having a gajillion (unnecessary) tchotchkes, while Sectonia only sets her sights on one-of-a-kind artisan crafted treats. But then they both nod approvingly at the appeal of a fancy dinner out at a venue with great atmosphere and a positively stunning view!

(Who DOESN'T like food in the Kirby-verse?)

(1) I wanted to add, I think there's something surprisingly touching/sweet about this ship too when you pair it with certain gender headcanons for the two also? I mean... Sectonia IS a canon body-swapper who "used to look like Taranza." :quietly clutches trans-Sectonia headcanon: And Max has no known wife in the picture. Losing his daughter basically caused his whole life to fall apart, but no mention of a wife anywhere? ...Sus... Of course, maybe the whole Haltmann family was made in a factory or... maybe because they're both egg people AND aliens, they have some interesting biological options going on!

(2) I don't know if this is a common headcanon or not, but I see Max as someone who started out very poor. Just, had good ideas, a good heart, dreamed big, but for a variety of reasons, could never find success with anything he did. Pre-Star Dream Max, though we never truly get to see him, gives off serious "goofy inventor dads who the rest of the neighborhood rolls their eyes at" vibes. (I think it's the laughter. While the laughter in his boss fight is meant to be kind of discordant, it's also so silly sounding that I always imagine him as a man who laughed - for real - a lot, pre-accident.)

Thus, he really did need Star Dream to take his dreams and turn them into a successful venture. Of course, everything went WRONG after that, but...

Another reason I see the Haltmanns as starting out poor is the "gift of the magi" vibes I get from Susie giving him the pocket watch, and him giving Susie the hairpin. It feels like, when you have just ONE gift from someone that you cherish above all else so much, you keep it on your person at ALL times, it was probably REALLy difficult for them to get you that one gift.

Anyway!

Now, in a magical happy-verse where everyone already lives, akin to the novels (or what I hope they might do in a potential game-accurate anime series) I also find Max x Hyness a bit adorable! The "Bad Dads." Only they miraculously chill each other out/cancel out each other's vices in a way no one can explain?! 

Now, while I think it’s a cute pairing, I don't actively ship Susie/Zan, as my Susie leans toward aroace and my Zan is not “uninterested” but one of those people who so focused on her job and her devotion and her list-of-one-hundred-and-eleven-things-she’s-got-to-keep-from-breaking-apart-including-herself-first that she's just going to forget to have a relationship and one day BAM!! Ten years have passed. But, I giggle guiltily when I think about their ship/friendship causing their two dads to meet. And get to talking. And....

(Let us not forget, Max has a keen interest in the Ancients and history as well! And with his being prone to bouts of heightened emotion when things go wrong, I get the feeling he'd be one of the few people to NOT shut down Hyness's anger and depression but rather sympathize with it and actually have the life experience to back it up! And poor awkward Hynes could probably use opinions from people who aren't his worshippers.)

Also, if you listen to their boss music back to back, they’re REALLy similar.

Bonus: Not a ship so much as a friendship, but I can also see Max getting along great with Chef Kawasaki. Maybe it's the fact that Max is an egg and Kawasaki is a sweet potato?? 

But going with the "nouveux riche" and "likes a nice dinner" headcanons up above, I see him as someone who could just appreciate the chef's cooking without a lot of boisterous fuss, like King Dedede might inevitably end up causing. (I think Kawasaki was supposed to be a BAD cook in the anime? I've never seen it, so I'm just going with the idea that he's a good cook here.)

...I had more to say here, but I fell asleep and can't remember the rest now. Anyway, it's an idea!

[himevampirechan]

WEEK OF REVO. Day 6, 7 and bonus 8

i´m sorry, i know it´s late (two weeks late) but this is what happens when you have so much work than you can´t sleep.

this is for the last days of @week-of-revo

enjoy!

DAY 6, 7, 8: SHADOWPLAY// PROPOSAL // COMFORT AFTER LONG

Pharaoh knew he was in a nightmare.

He didn´t know exactly how they had ended up in that situation. Minutes before he had been inside the world of his memories but falling, wounded and exhausted, into a precipice, he had opened his eyes to find himself the spectator of a shadow duel between the spirit of the grave robber and Anzu Mazaki.

He, desperate and confused, had shouted his friend's name but she had only smiled warmly at him; sitting in front of the dueling board: an inverted pyramid (with a setting identical to ancient Egypt), on which a pack of cards, a group of figures resembling the rest of her friends and an endless group of rotting arms holding her tightly by the legs and waist could be seen.

The pharaoh had watched with each turn, as the souls of the shadow realm appeared in greater numbers to pull the loser into the darkness.  He had struggled against the shackles on his legs and hands but it tightened with every movement. Yami had never seen Anzu fight like that before and, suddenly, the idea that the woman in front of him was not his Japanese friend surprised him.

As the fight continued, the words "Spell of Reincarnation" and "Engagement" were mentioned numerous times by Bakura but, to the pharaoh's surprise, Anzu responded to his shenanigans with her head held high and fiercely commanding the monsters within her board.

After a successful attack from the young woman, the shackles that held Yami disappeared leaving him free to run in her direction, however shortly before he reached her side, he felt his mind being flooded with a rapid sequence of memories that filled his eyes with tears:

There, just after falling off the cliff, a young woman had saved him. A woman who looked like Anzu but was not her: with reddish-brown hair and violet eyes, she had cared him and fed him gently unaware of his identity, bandaged his body with linen and healed his wounds with homemade ointments. The priests had found him shortly afterwards and had been brought to the palace. She, after proving to be no risk, had soon been considered a guest. They had fallen in love.

With the war against Zorg upon them, the losses began: with Mahado trapped and the city looted, the young pharaoh had feared losing her.  In a fit of rapture he confessed his feelings and the two had kissed with a mixture of adoration and fear. That same night Isis had tried to marry them but the final battle had taken place and his soul had been sealed inside the millennium puzzle.  

He was just a few steps away from reaching her, when the other part of his soul returned him to the world of memories. When Yugi, Jounnouchi and Honda had come to his side with the knowledge of his name, visibly upset by Anzu's disappearance, the pharaoh knew.

"She has always been my destiny." He thought, his hand firmly clutching the metal cartouche as he spoke aloud his distantly forgotten name.

In the realm of shadows, as the spirit of the millennium ring fell into the darkness, Anzu smiled in relief, her eyes filled with tears. They had won!       

The two had embraced tightly in the real world, and on the way to the temple where the ceremonial duel would take place, Anzu had told them the truth: Like Atem and Kaiba, the memories of her past life had awakened as they entered the world of memories.

Once Atem's soul had been sealed in the puzzle, Isis and Mana had cast a spell to help her to "reincarnate" into someone close to him, and it would end once the nameless pharaoh defeated Zorg and he could return home.

It was confusing for everyone to discover that Anzu's memories and, the supposed life she currently had, was only an illusion. Anzu and Yugi had cried for hours, holding each other, as the memories of their childhood together changed.

Jounnouchi, Honda and Bakura who had known the girl at school, shortly before Yugi put the puzzle together, wept bitterly as they realised the loss of her dream that would not be fulfilled and for which she had worked so hard. Atem watched from the puzzle with a heavy heart.

In silence, the Ishtar siblings and both Kaiba watched the desperate hugs shared in tears by the group of friends; with Mokuba sobbing sadly against his waist, not even Seto Kaiba was able to hide his discomfort at the realisation that the world they all knew had changed.

That same night, Anzu watched the starry sky as the boat sailed calmly on the river. With her eyes heavy from crying and her head confused between memories of the past and ilussions, she almost didn't hear the approaching footsteps.

"Anzu?" called a deep voice, turning she found Atem looking up at her from Yugi's violet eyes. She smiled reassuringly at him, turning her gaze back to the sky and sensing him approaching.

"Have you finished arranging your duel cards for tomorrow?" she asked in a whisper watching out of the corner of her eye as the young man stopped beside her.

"Aibou went to sleep, he's exhausted for crying so much" He said, as if answering a question not asked by her. They stood in silence for a few moments, feeling each other's presence and absorbing into their hearts the reality that, after centuries, they were together again. The young woman sighed sadly. 

"I'm sorry you had to go through all this," the pharaoh spoke slowly, struggling with the doubt of whether it was right to take her hand or to embrace her, "You should never have compromised your soul for me, if only..."

The gentle brush of a finger silenced him as it hovered over his lips. Atem watched her beautiful blue eyes with surprise, they were tear-filled but shone like stars in the night sky.

"I love you, Atem," she said, her voice tight with a smile on her lips.

Atem's heart skipped a beat, replaying the young woman's words in his head; they sounded familiar and strange at the same time. With a small smile, the duelist took Anzu´s hand that was over his mouth and without taking his eyes off her, he tenderly kissed her knuckles.   

"I love you, Tarikh," he whispered in an Egyptian they both understood that the rest of the world would never hear again. Tears spilled from her eyes and a sob escaped her throat.

They held each other tightly, in an attempt to console her loss and his reality. They whispered promises to each other in Japanese, the same promises they had failed to keep in their other life.

They told each other truths in Egyptian, about how relieved they were to finally understand why it had been so easy for both of them to fall in love in this strange new world as well.

They vowed never to be separated again no matter what the outcome of the duel in the morning would be.    

"Thank you for coming for me," he whispered, lifting her face with his thumb; staring at her and finding some comfort in the all too familiar image of her white skin. In this life, she was beautiful too. 

"You have always been my destiny," Anzu whispered, looking at him intently and leaning her head an inch closer to him. They kissed, in a meeting that was new and familiar. The moon shone down on them, just as it had centuries ago.       

[agirlinsearchof]

Kaiba!

A double meme special!

A: Kaiba will play any game if Mokuba asks him to play with him. Even games he himself wouldn’t enjoy normally.

B: There are actual jokes made in-universe about Kaiba and his consistent use of Blue-Eyes White Dragon in-universe, considering that he prints cards to support them, but he’s the only one who can use them! Not what you might think, though; the joke is that only his BEWDs are real, and the cards that support it are fake!

C: Any platonic or romantic relationships involving Kaiba could not happen until after DSOD. With Atem, it could happen pretty much as soon as Atem agreed to come back. With anyone else, it would take longer than that. With his emotionally-repressive childhood, if he were to care for someone, he would be completely oblivious to it, and he tends to push people away anyway. He probably would feel something he can only describe as a different kind of unpleasant (with regards to pushing them away) at first. After DSOD, he would be able to identify that he cared for that person (having had to come to terms with having cared about and then lost Atem, and the emotional fallout from that), only to push them away.

D: Kaiba wears long sleeves and pants all the time. Even in summer (and Japanese summers can get HOT!). He’ll concede to a short-sleeved button-up and slacks only when the temperatures get extreme.

And for the second meme:

First impression: Jackass. Why do people like him so much.

Impression now: He is a very complex character who is surprisingly interesting to analyze and interpret. Not touching most shipping fics with him, though, unless it’s Prideshipping, Rivalshipping, and thanks to a mutual of mine, Euroshipping of all things.

Favorite moment: Probably the moment in Battle City where Kaiba initially makes it seem like he won’t help Yugi/Atem find Jounouchi, but does it anyway. I think it shows that he’s grown as a character, that he’s willing to set aside his dislike of Jounouchi in order to help his rival-turned-potential-friend (not that he’ll admit to considering Yugi or Atem anything close to a friend, but actions speak louder than words~!).

Idea for a story: Kaiba coming to the realization that he cares enough for Atem to be willing to go to the afterlife. Really highlighting his thought process and how he deals with Atem being gone.

Unpopular opinion: I really do not see Blueshipping ever happening. Not even in an AU where Kisara reincarnated as a human and not a trading card. Her personality, from what we see, just seems too much the shy demure type for Kaiba, I think, to really take notice of, except in AUs that change the setting dramatically. This is probably also influenced by my dislike of the reincarnated lovers trope except as part of a hopeful epilogue in a story where the characters didn’t get together for whatever reason(s).

Favorite relationship: Probably his relationship with Atem! Platonic or otherwise, Kaiba’s whole character development can be attributed to Atem’s influence in his life, and I think could lead Kaiba into so many new possible directions! This is what I think makes their rivalry so interesting! Usually, in fiction, rivals are shown as motivating each other to improve at whatever it is that is Serious Business in that universe, but the concept of a rivalry that induces character development beyond skill improvement via the need to beat them is really fascinating to me! Introducing the shipping angle is neat, but even from a platonic perspective, this is one of the most complex fictional relationships I’ve seen!

Favorite headcanon: Kaiba persuades Atem to come back to the living world. The argument that truly cinches it for Atem is Kaiba saying “These people have been waiting for three thousand years for you. What’s another few decades to them? Meanwhile, are your friends even going to be guaranteed to find you in the afterlife?” He’d probably also mention that his friends never even got a chance to really know Atem properly, and Atem probably doesn’t even know his high priests properly (you cannot tell me a single Shadow Game is enough to know these people well enough to choose them over your friends!).

[khxpresh]

@ofthepuzzle​ has sent: 🛑🛑 for both

Send 🛑 and I will explain a way in which my muse is different from their canon counterpart.  [Accepting]

// Another big divergence for my Kaiba that comes my mind, involes his appearance. In the canon, it states that he has an uncanny resemblance to Set, and said appearance is used as a way to “sustain” the fact he is Set’s reincarnation. I’ve already stated multiple times that, Kaiba isn’t Set’s reincarnation, he has no real ties to him. But that’s not what I’m here to discuss.

Because my Seto is meant to look a lot more like Noah, rather than Set. Everyone around him, keep making the comparisons between him and Set (and in the case of some, insist on it), because no one (outside of those involved in the VW’s arc) are aware of Noah’s existence.

Seto first and foremost, was meant to become a vessel to his step-brother’s mind, and nothing else. Gozaburo was really invested in that idea for awhile, and he had no issues in changing Seto’s looks to fit in, with his actual son’s.

The reason why Seto never went back to his old looks, is because he doesn’t quite remember what he previously looked like. He doesn’t remember having a lot of hair, and styled in a similar way as Mokuba’s. He doesn’t remember he was a slightly chubby/healthier looking kid. And even if he did, Seto would never return to it, because in his eyes it is all so ugly and unpleasant to look at.

// Set is basically a blank slate, there is so little in canon about him that I could basically say how my entire portrayal of him is quite divergent. But anyway, I do have some divergence involving his first encounter with Kisara.

More precisely, what drove him to free her from those slave traders. Because contrary to what the canon tries to tell us, he didn’t do it out of goodwill or because he felt it was right. Slavery was commonplace for AE times, and despite Set at this point in his life, being just a commoner he wouldn’t be bothered by it.

I’m sure I’ve discussed this in an old post, but what drove Set to intervene this time around was most likely due to rivalry/animosity towards the people passing by. It’s not his animosity, rather it comes from the village he grew up in. I like to those traders were outsiders, and not welcomed in those lands. Set, who was quite young at the time but at an age he wanted to fit in with the older people, caught wind of the animosity and he saw it as his opportunity to prove his worth to them.

Unfortunately, this basically entails that the destruction of his village that followed it, was entirely his fault. Which is a detail, no one aside from him knows or even suspects. This also means that, Set was never destined to meet Kisara, itwas by sheer coincidence. Despite everything, Kisara still thinks he freed her out of his supposed kind heart.

[atemgirl94]

Pharaoh and reincarnated Queen’s adventures pt. 6

When they were back in Domino City, Britt stayed mostly in her room at the Motou's house. She went to school walking with Yugi but she did her best to ignore 'his' voice. For the most it seemed she was doing a good job at it but then things were getting to her. Tristan and Joey noticed during school Britt was a bit distant like something was bugging her.

"Hey, the girls stay at your place. Is everything ok over there?" Joey asked Yugi

"Yeah, for the most. Britt spends most of her time in her guest room." Yugi said

"Huh? I wonder why." Joey said

After school she walked with them home, she smiled a bit seeming to have things under control. When they made it home she heard Yugi calling her name.

"Britt, is everything alright?" Yugi asked

Britt turned around "Yeah Yugi. Everything is fine, I just need some space ok." She said

She went to take a shower after that because she didn't want to deal with many more questions. It felt good to let the water run on her skin as she closed her eyes.

"My Queen, why do you avoid it. Stop fighting it." She heard his voice

'why? Why do I want to stop fighting...I don't buy that I'm really this Queen.' She thought

While she was thinking about it all her thoughts went back to the almost kiss in the puzzle. A blush formed on her face knowing he could of kissed her right then but he didn't.

'it wouldn't of counted. It would have been in the puzzle not in the real world..but did I want him to kiss me?' She thought

Hathor was sitting in her own guest room thinking about the whole thing. How strange Britt had been since they'd returned. Just thinking of that guy holding her cousin like she was his made her mad. Hathor had always protected Britt from people who wanted to harm her and now it felt like someone was trying to take her place in Britt's protection.

"he won't take my cousin from me." She said under her breath.

Hathor, Bre, Nana and Britt had always known that a pharaoh would return. They'd known for years Britt was this reincarnated Queen and now it seemed as if the time had come for the Pharaoh to meet her again. Hathor knew Britt was stubborn she'd always said she didn't feel as if she was a Queen, especially not a reincarnated one. Now things seemed to be different, Hathor noticed Britt pulling her space away from Yugi.

Britt finished her shower then she went to her guest room after getting dressed. She layed down as she closed her eyes taking a brief nap, it may of only lasted thirty minutes to the hour as she had her usual dream about being called to come to him. She woke up when she heard a lot of commotion in the living room.

Going out to the room she seen the gang with Mokuba.

"What happened?" She asked

Mokuba gave them the load down about the Big 5 that worked for his brother how they changed his pod to capture him in the game.

"Please help save my brother." Mokuba asked Yugi

"Of course, lead the way." Yugi said

Britt mentally and internally figured it out but she set herself to go with the gang to help save Kaiba. Sure he wasn't her favorite person in the world and it seemed danger was going to come whether she wanted it to or not so saving Kaiba would be in best interest.

As they followed Mokuba and he led them to Kaiba's lab that had four pods. As they looked at the pods.

"So, whose going in?" Tristan asked

"I will." Britt, Joey and Yugi said

"I'm going too." Mokuba said

After that was decided each of them got in as they got their duel decks situated inside. Tristan did the work of uploading them to the virtual world and after that happened Tea and Tristan looked at all of them.

"looks like it worked." Tristan said

As the group looked around and then looked at each other, they noticed they were in some kind of forest. Britt and Yugi were looking at their dueling deck and the duel point counter.

"I'm glad I've got my dueling deck with me, but this duel point count makes me nervous." Yugi said

"Yeah me too." She said

Each of them knew what normally happened in a game when you lost a life but this wasn't that kind of game. As they kept walking they noticed they came across a graveyard.

"eh, do we have to go down there?" Britt asked

"Yes, so we can find my brother." Mokuba said

Britt was pretty freaked out the whole time knowing it was a graveyard then suddenly zombie duel monsters came from the ground.

Mokuba took the lead showing how to do the summoning and Yugi took the same motion.

"I summon the rude Kaiser!" Mokuba said

"And I summon the dark magician." Yugi said

"Attack" They said in unison

The zombies were destroyed but they came back and Britt feaked out but she was impressed by Yugi and Mokuba then Joey said he got them as she watched seeing him summon the flame swordsman. Joey was first to lose life points when he called an attack by using his flame swordsman.

After the Zombies were taken care of Joey looked at his life points seeing that they didn't go back up. This little bit of information made all of them realize they needed to be very careful.

As they made their way it wasn't long before they found a sprite, like they put in other games to help players so the four followed it coming across a village.

Once they went around the village, they were looking over different cards that had. They noticed cards in the village were worth points. As they looked at the points they earned they only got 5 points.

Yugi and Mokuba came up with ideas to ask people about Seto Kaiba. Searching every street and asking every virtual person they could find. Later they found out that kaiba was brought through to a mountain.

They tried crossing the desert and they went through a sandstorm. Only a sandtwister came in and took them back to the village making them back where they started.

A virtual villager started laughing "that ain't no way to be crossin' no desert." He said

"Wait you say you know how to cross it then?" Joey asked

The man made a referece to the Niwatori card that it was a desert crossing chicken.

"Thanks Mister, can you tell us where we can go to get a card?" Yugi asked

"I wish I could. But they can't be got they can only be won." He answered

'so a duel card we need to win?' Britt thought,

Virtual world or real world she felt someone watching her knowing too well who it was. Joey made a remark and the man answered.

"You said prized Bird? It sure is, especially around here." He said

Mokuba came up with the idea of looking at the card stands to see if they had it. After so many times of looking they came across a poster that said that the Niwatori card could be won in a fight against the champ.

The four went to the collseum to take a chance at going against the champ. Though the man in charge didn't seem too much interested and then he ate a fly by catching it with his tongue freaking them all out. Joey decided he was the one that was going to go up against the champ but as soon as they made it to the dueling arena and watched him, it wasn't long before they realized the champ was Mai.

Joey took his mask off "Mai." He said

When she recognized him she took her mask off and the others came over.

"Britt, Yugi, Mokuba? What are you doing here?" She asked

Yugi explained about the mission asked her about why she was there and she told them she was testing out this game for the big 5. So she used her Harpie ladie to get the niwatori card for them as they escaped.

Getting to the outskirt of the village, one of them summoned the card and three chickens appeared. Five Niwatori's appeared as they got on and rode them across the desert. There was a sand monster and not long after Joey used his red eyes to destroy it clearing the way and getting them to where they needed a temple.

Mokuba was first to run in and then Britt got off following with Yugi, Joey and Mai behind them. It was after that they came across a labyrinth that they made their way through but they heard a female scream.they were led by the sprite towards the women and then out of maze.

Later they were in a carriage, all of them were listening to her story hearing she was a princess, named Princess Adena. As they arrived at the palace

They were invited back to the palace with a lovely dinner made and it was during that dinner that Mokuba asked about his brother.

"well around this time each kingdom gives an offering. The far kingdom has gave theirs, a stranger that appeared." the princess said

"That's seto" Mokuba said.

The princess told them she was going to be the offering for her kingdom. It was later told to them that they could very well be the heros of legend. It wasn't very long that they each were given outfits to wear in traditional hero style.

Joey was given an outfit that seemed to be of a cavemans. Yugi was given one that seemed more of a knight while Mai was gave one of an amazon. The three of them waited to see what Britt would be wearing, at first she didn't want to come out due to everything happening in the real world.

"Come on Britt, it can't be bad." Mai said

Britt gave a sigh before removing the curtain and they seen her walk out, they had expected something like Mai's but they noticed the Princess had gave her something more of a royal attire that could be fought in.

Yugi smiled "You look great." Yugi said

Britt gave him a smile before she heard his voice. "Yes, My Queen, you do look great." She heard but ignored it.

They all ran outside to be ready to go. Joey used time wizard knowing it was a fifty fifty chance that it would send the ship they needed to get to the castle back in time or cost him his life points.

"let's hope this works" He said.

They watched as it did seem to work. After that everyone got on and it started to go to the floating castle. Eru tagged along to help them. Joey looked back at Britt

"Ain't that kinda royal? Didn't they have anything else?" He said.

"it's what they gave me. I didn't ask any questions.." Britt said

Joey said nothing more to her as he knew it wasn't his place.

Duel monsters came from the castle and went to attack. Each of them called out duel monsters to use. One of the duel monsters attacked Yugi but Eru got in the way.

"No Eru!" Yugi said and held the little pixie in his hands as it became digitized.

Tears fell and he had enough, Britt watched as Yugi turned into Yami. She tried her best not to stare knowing that they had bigger fish to fry over all this. Yami had good skill to help them out to get through.

When they had to let their ride go and get the rest of the way by using the duel monster. Yami grabbed a hold of Britt's arm and pulled her to him as the dark magician helped to the castle.

"hey, I have my Goddess. I could of used her." Britt said in trying to protest.

"I know." Yami said to her.

She looked at him for a second then looked away. She wasn't still buying the whole Queen stuff and she was resisting even now but she let it go knowing they had a mission to finish.

They fought their way until they reached the last level. They had to go up against the big five and their most powerful dragon. Each of them had dragons but Mokuba was the only one without a deck after he gave Seto his deck back.

When the big five tried to attack Mokuba Joey blocked it and it cost him all his life points.

"win this one for us." He said to his friends giving them a thumbs up.

The next one to be attacked was Mai making her life points drop down to zero then she was digitized. They tried to get rid of Seto Kaiba next but Mokuba pushed him out of the way.

It was now down to the three of them, but the big five didn't want to allow that for if any of them could win there'd be consequences. Debating who was next to be attacked wasn't no brainer as they knew Yami had a non-dragon type out but they wanted to get rid of another friend.

Britt looked at Yami "what do we do? Alone our monsters can't take it on." She said.

Yami nod as he tried to devise a plan, but with all the delay the big five took that chance to take out Britt's Goddess's pet Dragon with her life points. She fell to her knees seeing her dragon destroyed.

Yami rushed over to her seeing her be digitized. "It's over for me, it's up to you now. I'm So-" She didn't get to finish as her eyes widened, Yami had cut her off by doing exactly what he had wanted within the puzzle, which was kiss her.

"I'll get you back." Yami said as she disappeared and he was angry by then ready to defeat this to get everyone back.

Now it was up to Yami and Seto Kaiba, they fought strong and hard. By combining monsters they were able to defeat the dragon once and for all. With beating the game they were able to have all their friends back but also be able to return to their world. So when they six of them awoke from their pods they were able to all regroup. Mokuba was once again happy to have his brother back.

"thank you" He said to Yugi and the others.

After parting ways each of them went home, Britt questioned everything. She didn't understand why she'd let it happen when she had been trying to avoid him. Maybe it was because deep down she knew the truth. She knew she couldn't fight destiny or take control of it.

[jupitermelichios]

The thing I love about Yu-Gi-Oh, the reason I have rewatched it over and over even though I’m a full grown fucking adult, is that there is literally no joke you can make about the show that’s stupider than the show itself.

Haha, Kaiba’s so obsessed with the Blue Eyes White Dragon card it’s almost like he wants to fuck it? Psyche, Kaiba is obsessed because he’s the reincarnation of a man who literally fucked the actual dragon the card is based on.

Man, Pegasus is like what someone who’s never left Japan thinks Americans are like? He canonically throws himself wine, cheese and looney toons parties.

Tristan is such a pointless character, why’s he even there? Well duh, he’s there so he can get turned into robot monkey who can’t speak for most of a season and it doesn’t impact the story at all.

Jesus anime has so much filler in it. Well YGO’s here to show you how it’s done with an entire season where the characters go into a virtual reality game to fight Kaibacorp’s board of directors and it has zero to do with any of the actual plot which picks up again like nothing happened for the last two episodes of the season.

Some of the jokes are really tonally inappropriate? Yeah well Mai saw your tonally inappropriate and raises you ‘faking her own death in order to prank her love interest’

Actual plot points from this show include - a young child is marooned on a desert island so the pictures on his trading cards come to life and teach him how to make fire, two characters use trading cards to physically mannifest mech suits which they put on and punch each other, a woman in her 20s joins a demonic biker cult because a boy in highschool didn’t want to date her, an old man is hospitalised because he played a trading card game, the ghost of an ancient egyptian war lord is trapped in a magical necklace which is then picked up by a japanese highschool student who entirely coincidentally happens to have the exact same name as him -  this fact is never brought up, atlantis existed but was destroyed by trading cards, an evil clown sets up a trading card game where the loser gets their legs cut off by circular saws, and godzilla, if godzilla had a dick that was also a sepperate smaller godzilla, was trying to destroy pharonic egypt because they played to many trading card games. There’s no joke you could write that’s more ridiculous that the stuff that actually happens in this show.

Oh and if you’re watching the 4kids dub (which is the only correct way to watch the show, unless you have access to the Singapore dub) all the guns have been photoshopped out to be replaced with characters dramatically pointing at people, which never stops being funny.

There is literally nothing about this show I don’t love.

[suresha]

💞🎁💔💎 for Atem!

💞 = Does your muse believe in soulmates?

Up  until  he  met  Kaiba  and  Yugi,  it  was  all  bullshit  to  him,  but  these  days,  it’s  hard  for  him  to  shake  the  feeling  that  one  of  them  might  very  well  be  his  soulmate.  Of  course,  for  him,  soulmates  isn’t  about  someone  being  your  perfect  romantic  match.  It’s  much  deeper  than  that  for  him.  More  platonic  or  something.  Where  Yugi  is  concerned,  his  best  friend  is  almost  a  carbon  copy  of  him  in  some  form.  Had  Atem  stayed  dead,  Yugi  could  very  well  be  his  reincarnation  of  sorts  the  way  it’s  heavily  implied  Kaiba  might  be  Priest  Seto’s.  Yugi  was  the  one  who  awakened  his  soul  and  helped  reunite  him  with  his  family,  albiet  briefly  in  the  after  life.  Yugi  knew  him  so  well  so  it’s  hard  not  to  think  of  Yugi  sometimes  as  his  other  half.

On  the  other  hand,  one  could  argue  Kaiba  fills  that  role  instead.  The  two  of  them  duel  with  the  same  fervor  as  Atem  did  against  his  cousin  centuries  ago.  Set  and  Atem  were  friendly  rivals  in  the  same  manner  that  Kaiba  and  Atem  are  in  the  modern  era.  They  also  know  each  other  so  well  that  they  speak  with  their  cards  and  the  moves  they  make.  They  could  team  up  spontaneously  and  win  card  games  because  each  knows  how  the  other  thinks.  So  regardless  of  which  person  you  decide  to  view  as  his  soulmate,  he’d  probably  agree.

Mahad  gets  an  honorable  mention  here  the  man  served  Atem  until  he  died  for  him.  And  then  pledged  his  soul  to  him  for  an  eternity.  Mahad  is  always  there  to  protect  his  king.  He  transcends  time  for  his  pharaoh  so  yeah.  Take  your  pick.  I  don’t  think  there’s  really  a  wrong  answer  here.

🎁 = Does your muse become flattered to receive gifts?

Atem  knows  that  he  has  such  a  bad  attitude  that  when  he  gets  gifts,  he’s  usually  pretty  embarrassed.  He  hates  when  people  gift  him  things,  especially  in  the  modern  era  because  he  often  feels  undeserving.  So  it’s  not  that  he  doesn’t  like  gifts.  This  man  LOVES  expensive  jewels,  fresh  fruit,  high  fashion  in  general,  make up,  ect,  but  he’s  pretty  closed  off,  moody,  paranoid  these  days  so  he’d  probably  feel  guilty  about  accepting  a  gift,  especially  a  lavish  one  for  quite  a  while.  Smaller  gifts  he  may  not  fret  as  much  but  he  still  frets.  (  this  changes  a  bit  if  they’ve  been  together  a  while  but  still  depends  on  the  gift  )

💔 = Has your muse ever been heartbroken? If so, explain what happened.

Canon  wise,  no,  unless  you  count  Mahad  dying  in  front  of  him.  Mahad  probably  had  a  huge  crush  on  his  king  which  would  have  been  seen  a  taboo.  In  the  anime,  Mana  calls  Mahad  out  on  it  in  front  of  Atem.  We  don’t  really  know  how  Atem  felt  about  Mahad  but  I  think  it’s  pretty  obvious,  given  their  connection,  that  Mahad  was  special  to  him.  RP  wise,  LOLOLOL  yes.  Been  dumped  by  a  few  Bakuras,  abused  and  just... yeah.  He  doesn’t  have  much  luck  romantically  but  he’s  not  exactly  looking  either  since  he  knows  he’s  so  hard  to  deal  with  for  an  array  of  reasons.

💎 = What kind of gemstone would your muse prefer on their engagement or wedding ring?

LOL  If  Seto  Kaiba  is  forking  over  the  bill,  lots  of  fucking  diamonds.  Otherwise,  he’d  probably  be  okay  with  rubies  or  amethysts  even  though  he  finds  both  cliche  at  times.  He  wore  rubies  a  lot  as  pharaoh.  Amtheysts  too  since  they  match  his  eyes  but  honestly,  if  the  ring  is  designed  well,  I  doubt  he’d  complain  too  much  tbh.  It’s  the  thought  that  counts  and  these  days,  he’s  broke  af  anyway.  He’s  not  in  the  income  bracket  to  be  too  nitpicky.

▶ ☆ Headcanon Prompts ☆  Love and Romance || @kttcn

[kaibacxrps]

@miasmarp​ has sent: a bit of meta food: disagreements between set and seto

send me a topic to write a meta about my muse on [Accepting]

//Taking my Kaiba into consideration:

Honestly? There is very little that these two seem to be able to agree on, or even have in common. Kaiba was meant to be Set’s vessel and modern reincarnation, however he ended up turning out to be some sort of inverse/reverse of Set in so many aspects.

The biggest source of disagreement between them is, to no one’s surprise, how their views on the world clash with each other. Set’s is extremely outdated, heavily based on his faith, his ignorance about the new world shines a lot. And it is that ignorance, which drives him mad very quickly.

(Un)fortunately, Set shows up in Kaiba’s life a little too late and doesn’t stay long enough to truly get an understanding or even know much about him. Even though, they are sharing their minds/thoughts/knowledge. It doesn’t help that Seto also never had any interest, in talking much with Set in the first place.

// Compared to the Yami!Au

For the most part, the disagreements between him and Kaiba are the same ones as mentioned above (mainly religion). However in addition to these things, Set’s loyalty to Atem is another major driving force of discussions between the two of them.

Kaiba sees Set’s loyalty to the pharaoh as a hinderance, as something that blinds him. It makes him almost comparable to a dog of sorts (ironically).

Set’s duty in the modern world is to assist the pharaoh throughout his time in it, but he can’t do much about it due to how strong and firm hold of the body is. Swapping places with Seto, isn’t something as easy as compared to Yugi and Atem in his case.

There is an interesting disagreement between Set and Seto, within the BC arc. It has everything to do with Obelisk’s card:

As mentioned many times before: During Set’s reign as a pharaoh, he was taught how to summon and use the Gods kas. But he never used them, in one hand it wasn’t needed (kas straight up weren’t used or he could easily deal with the threat with his own kas), in the other it had to do with Set feeling like he wasn’t in the position to use them (it falls in line, with him feeling unworthy of the pharaoh title). So throughout BC’s arc, he is strongly against using the God card and he straight up never uses it in any of his duels.

Whereas Kaiba, he couldn’t care anyway less about the spirit’s concerns and beliefs. Obelisk is a powerful card and he will use it to his advantage. It was given to him, and he uses it without a single care.

Stepping away from duels and the main plot, and heading towards their personal life:

Set and Seto are often arguing, about how to raise Mokuba. Set was a father, but that doesn’t mean he is the most appropriate for that role due to his values being largerly outdated (Maybe giving a child wine and beer, isn’t the best thing to try in the 21st century Set. Also, Kaiba is 16 during DM and Set is still trying to drink alcohol drinks.).

This also includes stories and mythos Set shares with Mokuba, Seto tries to stop him from sharing the majority of those stories to his brother due to their content.

[shitatemdoes]

DSoD Analysis: The purpose of Kaiba’s tournament

People have been wondering since DSoD why Kaiba chose to duel the holographic fake Atem in a church. This got me thinking, too, and I believe that this has something to do with the tournament he is holding later.

First, let’s take a look at the stages Kaiba and Atem have dueled before:

They were always public, quite flashy even. People could attend the stage and witness their duel against each other. The only exception is the very first time they’ve met and dueled (inside the empty classroom) and the duel against holographic fake Atem (unless you count the KC scientists as spectators). Since Kaiba himself could decide how the stage for the Battle City duel, as well as the duel against holographic fake Atem should look like (due to Solid Vision), it is interesting to compare these two stages with each other:

- The Battle City duel is set inside the colosseum. Kaiba explains why he chose this setting: “We will fight the decisive battle in the name of fate! Like the ancient roman gladiators who fought with their lives for pride and freedom!” [ Side note: It’s interesting that Kaiba, who claims that he doesn’t hold any interest in the “lost honor of the past” chose a setting that is extremely famous for being a relic of the ancient past. ]

- The church in DSoD is now something completely different. A church isn’t a profane place meant for battle. A church symbolizes a sacred place where rituals are being held. The same an ancient temple symbolizes.

I think this already hints at what the tournament in DSoD is supposed to be (at least from Kaiba’s POV). But let’s think about the context of the tournament first:

- The tournament is inaugurated by Kaiba’s speech, which in itself, contains many deep meanings. After his speech Kaiba holds the puzzle up high -> [ shitatemdoes.tumblr.com/post/182192275589 ] and, somehow out of context from his entire speech alone, suddenly explains that the pharaoh is sealed inside: “The noble pharaoh is sealed inside this golden puzzle. But it’s missing a few pieces.”

- Besides Kaiba, the only other competitors in this tournament are Yugi and Aigami. A little bit too few people to determine who’s the strongest duelist.

- Both duelists, Yugi and Aigami, are only intended to participate, so that Kaiba can defeat and gain the last two puzzle pieces from them. Something that is actually unnecessary, because Kaiba could just take these last two puzzle pieces away from them. But still, he decides that those must be earned in a duel: “The world is focused on this stage. I will crush these powerful duelists that I have personally selected. [...] The remaining two pieces are in the hands of these two duelists. I’ll defeat them to prove that I’m the greatest.”

- Kaiba specifically designed a new Duel Disk for himself and for Atem. He gives Yugi the new Duel Disk, but also says later: “You’re not the opponent that I need to defeat”. This implies that the Duel Disk was not designed for Yugi, but for Atem and for him only. And that Yugi, in this moment, is just the place holder for it.

- During the duel special monsters like Gandora or Deep-Eyes White Dragon get summoned with a chant.

- The whole purpose of the tournament is to bring back or to “summon” Atem. No prize-money, no rare cards, no Duel King title, or anything else is gained during that.

This is not your common local neighborhood tournament, where you prove that you’re the best duelist and after that win the prize-money, get the Duel King title, the rarest cards or a two week holiday in Malibu. This time it’s not supposed to be like Duelist Kingdom or Battle City. It’s not only to promote the new Duel Disk, either. And Kaiba himself doesn’t act, doesn’t feel, like a simple tournament holder.

We have similiar circumstances during the Ceremonial Duel: Back then, Atem was the main reason this took place; he was the main subject of it. Yugi’s role was to send Atem to the afterlife, while Ishizu acted like a priestess, guiding the participants through the ceremony/ritual. Why of all people was Ishizu the one guiding the ceremony, even though not her, but Malik had been chosen as the successor of the Ishtar family’s legacy? This maybe stems from the fact that Ishizu, in her past life, was an actual priestess. And maybe, subconsciously, Ishizu takes the role of the priestess again.

Besides Ishizu there is another priest reincarnated to the modern world: Priest Seto. This becomes again clear throughout the movie by Kaiba’s actions and words: “I’m the one who was supposed to defeat Atem. Since I failed to do that, his ghost still haunts my mind to this day.” (because he also failed to do that as a priest back then), and then directly afterwards he’s able to summon Obelisk by detecting the pharaoh’s memories.

This is one of the reasons why Ishizu is so set to convince Kaiba of his past life as a priest, and why he holds the Battle City Tournament in the first place:

She’s talking about Kaiba ending the profane battles and turn them into sacred battles. Kaiba, subconsciously, already knows this during Battle City: (”Our road of battle goes farther than the eye can see”) and then he embraces this concept in DSoD (“Watch as our battle evolves!”)

Defeating Atem in a duel has become a sacred ritual necessary to be held for the former king to get send to the afterlife, and for the new king to truly inherit the throne or title (this is not just meant literally, but also symbolically). Hence Kaiba is so focused on defeating Atem, because he wants to have the Duel King title. Hence it was necessary for Yugi to defeat Atem in the Ceremonial Duel, so he could take his role as the new King Of Games.

If everyone is given a certain or symbolic role during these two duels (the Ceremonial Duel and the tournament in DSoD), then Atem is a spirit or deity, that is supposed to get called, summoned or banished. Yugi is a summoner or medium, who transmits between this being and other people. Ishizu and Kaiba are priests, who are responsible for the ceremony procedure. And the rest, all the people who watch the duels, are there as witness.

The DSoD tournament is (subconsciously from Kaiba’s POV) a sacred ritual/ceremony that’s being held to call upon Atem, or to summon him, and Kaiba (subconsciously) acts like the priest responsible for it.

This becomes even more apparent, if you look at the oppositional roles/dualism Kaiba and Atem inherit and represent:

- Kaiba is always associated with “Light” (BEWD is a Light monster), while Atem is associated with “Darkness” (Dark Magician is a Darkness monster)

- Before Pharaoh Atem died he gave Priest Seto his throne. Priest Seto then ruled as pharaoh after Atem. In the ancient Egyptian religion the deceased pharaoh becomes a god/takes the role of a god (Osiris) in the afterlife -> [ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osiris ]. [ Side note: This could be the reason why Atem obtained Osiris as his first God Card, and also summoned him as his last monster in the Ceremonial Duel before losing ]. Besides priests, pharaohs also back then participated in sacred rituals inside temples for their gods and their former rulers.

This is one of the reasons, why Kaiba becomes the ruler of Domino City after Atem leaves, because it’s supposed to symbolize just that. Kaiba rules as a king in the living world, while Atem rules as a king of the afterlife (dualism). Due to his “death”, Atem has become a god-like ruler now. And Kaiba, subconsciously, still feels the need to praise his former king - now turned god.

All of this gets emphasized by more subtle things: One of the tracks that plays during the duel between Kaiba and Yugi is called “The Nameless Pharaoh” -> [ youtube.com/watch?v=EOQqNGZi_O0 ]. This subtly implies that this duel is really just about Atem. The music that plays when Atem shows up to save the day is called “God’s Descent” -> [ youtube.com/watch?v=PX_io1khloY ] , this also subtly implies Atem’s now deity-like existence.

The tournament as a sacred ritual for a deity-like being to call upon/summon is also shown in the way some scenes are presented to us:

Because scenes like this:

Reminded me of this:

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S3 Ep 39: Tea Fight

Hey I just wandered into a random forum on the internet about the deaths that impacted you the most in a series, and I was in there faster than you can say “How many GRR Martin fans does it take to kill off a pregnant lightbulb in a random wedding episode″ (the answer is no one in this entire forum watched anything but anime) and then this one guy stood up in the back of this little internet forum and was just going off about how this one dude died in Yugioh GX and he turned off the TV and like didn’t want to even go back to the season until his students were like “no really, professor, please keep watching Yugioh GX” and he was like “WHAT’S EVEN THE POINT NOW” and it was like...really??? The series where nearly 200 people have died in just the first 3 seasons??? (which I didn’t comment, don’t worry, I just kinda lurked in stunned silence)

So like, lets talk more about Yugioh, which apparently has one of the roughest death scenes in any series that this random adult guy on the internet has ever watched. Course that was GX. I’m pretty sure I take so long on this show that I’ll probably still be recapping Season 3 of Yugioh when I’m dead and reincarnated into some cursed locket that a poor internet blogger wears around their neck.

Which would be shaped like a DVD set of Seaquest, S2. Like sometimes we talk about -sonas and we draw people and characters but what would your puzzle necklace -sona be? (remembering that is has to be cursed, heavy, awkward, and as inconveniently shaped as possible--you can’t just say Gucci or wtv) Because mine is the DVD collectors set of Seaquest, but only S2. Bro says that his is a Comic Sans version of Tolstoy’s War and Peace.

But I digress, so we start this episode knowing that Joey and Kaiba are dueling or whatever--but honestly none of this matters to me. Not at all. This doesn’t matter to anyone because for the first time ever, I finally get to see Tea try and punch out a God. Or a Ghost. Really hard to tell the difference between God and Ghost in this show.

And like, no one else will even witness this event because they’re too obsessed with Joey. So much so, that Yugi makes a staggering observation.

In the actual dialogue of the show, Pharaoh’s response to Yugi’s comment here was “HMMMMMMMmmmmMMHhmmmmmmmm”

and it’s like yeah, hard agree, Pharaoh, hard agree.

(read more under the cut)

Anyways, our very punchable God/Ghost character never came down from atop of Card Mess Mountain, and he’s just been sitting here on his perch trying really hard to just parse what exactly went down over the past few episodes.

Marik right now is me before I write every recap.

So he decides, well if the Rod did something for Kaiba, I guess it should do something for me, thus kind of proving that no one on Earth understands how to use this item anymore. I was kinda banking on the the fact that Marik’s Slightly-More-Evil-Possessed-Ghost-God-Entity-Person was kind of like the only guy who knows what’s going on with these gadgets outside of Bakura, but nah. Not even this guy knows. Now that Bakura’s temporarily vaporized, basically all that these millennium items are now are heavy paperweights that sometimes make your life just super inconvenient.

And I guess it can possess minds but wtv. Had Marik remembered that this rod can possess minds he would have had a much, much easier time in this episode. Of course, we haven’t really seen him possess anyone since Slightly-Better-Marik peaced out, so maybe that’s just something only Slightly-Better-Marik can do?

Ah. There it is.

What sweet catharsis.

She doesn’t actually punch him, which is kind of a shame, but because they can’t show Marik explode like a slo mo frozen giant gummy bear shot with a deer slug directly on screen, this episode is Tea-punch free.

Anyway, during this episode, the Millennium Puzzle develops a neat new trick--which is to set an alarm to remind Pharaoh to check up on his sort-of-not-really-girlfriend for once in his damn lifetime because this asshole will not do it otherwise because he is just waaaaay too busy thinking about cards.

And then it just finally dawns on Yugi that he boarded Murderzone island like 3 hours ago.

And, because this is Yugi, do you think he’ll tell everyone else what’s going on? Do you think he’ll step in and be like “woah woah stop the game for five seconds I just realized Tea might be in huge danger and we all should go and stop the murder.”

Do you think Yugi, for once in his entire life, will finally tell the entire truth to his friends who have constantly given him love and support and who just want Yugi to tell them the entire truth even once? Just ONCE?

That’s right, in an effort to be polite, he apologizes to Joey for ditching him and then books it without bothering anyone else.

The lengths Yugi will go to be as awkward as possible in order to not make anything awkward.

And then he just books it as fast as he can go and I guarantee that offscreen, everyone just kind of stopped what they were doing, looked at eachother, and Seto was like “Well, now why am I even playing?”

Anyway, atop the tall tall tower that takes like 15 minutes to get to the top of, Marik as Tea is very easily holding their own. And listen, Marik didn’t say any of the next lines in these caps but I can’t stop thinking about how freakin weird this would be for him. I’ve been kinda holding this in for a little while and youknow what? I have to talk about it for just a little bit. Just a little.

Like I usaully just erase any shipping stuff but just...give me a little second to just...touch on this subject. Just a little bit.

And while Marik thinking about dating is absolutely not canon, I’m just saying, going from tombkeeper to living within the body of not-Pharaoh’s-GF must have been a really crazy ride for Marik. Like, he starts out life learning literally everything about Pharaoh lore that is left over from the wastes of time. But, none of it--and I mean none of it--could have prepared him for the High School dating scene of “but should I text him more than twice a day or is that too much texting?” They don’t tell you how to do that in the Pharaoh brand card scriptures that they tattoo on your back with a hot knife in underground Pharaoh school.

Marik went from mole-person who has no human contact to just watching this whole weird thing unfold with Tea and Pharaoh giving eachother hoverhands-of-a-hoverhands hugs, and it must have been just completely wild for him. I’m not suggesting he remotely enjoyed it or didn’t enjoy it, but I’m just suggesting that the thought must have crossed his mind that this would be the last place he ever expected to end up when he picked up the Millennium Rod.

And it’s like, congrats, Marik, your soul went to hell and then you accidentally dated your own god.

I’m sure there’s plenty of fanfics about this already to fill in the gaps, so I won’t go too deep into this but man, Marik could have possessed anyone, and he possessed this girl.

Which again was probably because she’s strangely super strong because then Tea reveals that she could have done this the entire time.

LOOK AT THIS.

SHE DID THIS FROM STANDING. OLYMPIC GYMNASTS CAN’T DO THIS.

And then I guess Marik got sleepy after that much effort and just passed out.

And no one got to see it, Ishizu didn’t see it, Pharaoh didn’t see it.

Who’s here now, PS, Pharaoh finally showed up. That long as hell elevator must’ve stopped like 4 times on the way up for Roland who’s on his break, probably heating up the grill to talk to the other Kaiba Dad Stand-ins and have a Kaiba Dad Stand-In brunch where all they do is talk about sports, dark sunglasses, and if they should send Mokuba to UC Davis or Colorado State.

And so, seeing that Tea is passed out on the ground, Pharaoh jumps to conclusions and it very much looks like we’re gonna get a Millennium Item fight, which we haven’t yet seen Pharaoh even do.

Like, when you think about it, do either of these people even know what they are doing? Like Marik can at least fight a bunch of robots and one stationary computer monitor, but does Pharaoh have any idea that thing can shoot lasers?

Much like a bobcat making itself look really big to fight other bobcats, Pharaoh managed to poof up his hair big enough to spook Marik into actually stepping down. I guess Marik figured he’d have a better time with cards than lasers that neither of them know how to shoot in any general direction.

I gotta say, Pharaoh’s reaction to Marik secretly being in the body of his girlfriend was like “oh. Well we better go save him then before he dies.” and I do appreciate that. He seems secure enough in his own identity to not be bothered by this gender reversal he was not even aware of at the time. How I wish more boys on TV were more secure about that type of thing.

Like obviously this show that has no romance in it will never actually talk about sexuality but just enjoy this moment of zen where this possible lowhanging punchline could have happened and the writers room went “do we have to do the Family Guy/Friends thing?” and they were like “nah.” because Pharaoh canonically would not at all be bothered by this. At all.

Anyway, I’m kinda bummed that they didn’t extend Tea fight out for 3 episodes, but at least I got one Tea fight in before the end of the series.

I can’t believe she did a weird backflip thing off of a rail that was on a tower 300 ft in the air. I can’t believe that was the B plot of this episode.

And here’s a link to read these recaps in Chronological Order.

[princessdragon96]

Top 10 Yu-Gi-Oh ships

Happy Valentines day!  I think today would be fitting to share my favorite yugioh ships!  If you’ve been on here since the beginning, you already know what number one is, but nonetheless.  My top 10 yugioh ships.

10. Revolutionshipping (Yami x Anzu) - This, along with another ship on the list was my first Yu-Gi-Oh ship, and so it has a special place in my heart.  I don’t think Yami returns her feelings in canon, but to say that he doesn’t care about her at all is bullshit.  I like how these two have a close bond, and if Atem didn’t have to leave, and have some more time to spend together, I could see these two going from a friendship to a romance.

9. Sparkleshipping (Kisara x Mana) -  The first of my rarepairs, this ship has grown on me recently.  If these two ever met, I believe they would get along really well.  Mana’s cheerful attitude would help Kisara’s insecurities, as well as her compassion would help Kisara be more confident in herself.  Also, I don’t know about others, but having a dragon for a girlfriend would be awesome!

8. Thiefshipping (Marik x Bakura) - The abridged series, enough said.

7. Tendershipping (Ryou x Bakura) - I initially didn’t like this ship because of how Yami Bakura treats Ryou in canon.  However, the fandom has caused me to like fanon tendershipping.  In many of the fanfics I’ve read (mostly AUs), Bakura is this quiet and loner kind of guy, with Ryou giving him a chance at friendship, and letting Bakura’s heart open up.  Reading all these fanfics, as well as the fanart, have made me open my heart to this ship.

6. Peachshipping (Yugi x Anzu) - This was also my first Yugioh ship, so it has a special place in my heart.  When I was first watching Yugioh, I would always light up every time Yugi and Anzu had a moment together.  They were just so cute.  And they still are today.  Plus there were cute moments in Dsod, with Anzu elbowing Yugi, the high-five at the end (and seeing the two in HD animation).  I even have an OC for Yugi and Anzu’s daughter, Hikari.  Once Anzu becomes a famous dancer, there is a famous game developer waiting for her.

5. Mistakenshipping/Noviceshipping (Yugi x Mana) - This. Ship. Is… Adorable!!!  Just imagine, Yugi and Mana sitting under a shady tree in the palace garden, Mana showing off her magic tricks to Yugi, while Yugi shows Mana all the duel monster cards, including Dark Magician Girl.  These two have personalities that would go so well together.  I wish this ship was more popular, because it is an adorable ship with adorable characters.

4. Polarshipping (Jou x Mai) - This ship has a lot of wholesomeness.  I love how at the beginning, Mai and Jou were rivals and over time, they became friends, and now the care about each other so much.  Jou was devastated when Mai lost her duel, and stayed by her side as much a she could.  Oh, did I forget to mention that he PLACED HIMSELF IN FRONT OF AN EGYPTIAN GOD (THE STRONGEST ONE MIND YOU) TO PROTECT MAI, EVEN THOUGH SHE COULDN’T REMEMBER HIM INITIALLY.!? Moving onto Doma, there was so much Polarshipping angst, and it is awesome!  I hope Mai and Jou find each other again, they were made for each other.

3. Heartshipping (Yugi x Ryou) - This ship is 100% fluff.  Just imagine, Yugi and Ryou cuddling with a blanket wrapped around them.  Or how about the two giving each other hugs and kisses.  Both have a connection to the spirits of the past, and both have such kind hearts that will make even the darkest of monsters smile.  Overall, this ship is fluffy, and I will forever love these two together.

2. Blueshipping (Kisara x Kaiba) - I wish the Set and Kisara story wasn’t cancelled, but I understand why it couldn’t go on with Kazuki being sick.  But, I would still love for Kaiba to find someone that he would be happy with, besides Mokuba.  Kisara might live on in BEWD, but what if she got a modern reincarnation?  I feel like if Kaiba was with someone who shared a connection with Blue-Eyes, like Kisara did, he would be happy.  Kristina is my modern day Kisara, with a connection to Blue-Eyes.  You know, I would probably ship Kaiba with Blue-Eyes, itself, but having Kristina/Kisara around would also make him happy.

And 1.Puzzleshipping (Yugi x Yami) - This ship speaks for itself.  Yugi and Yami’s connection is the strongest that I have ever seen.  They feel each other’s feelings, they know exactly what the other is thinking, and they are always in each other’s heart.  These two love each other so much, and have shown many times the lengths they will go for each other.  Doma gave us a huge amount of puzzle angst, and the ending/final duel was one of the saddest endings in anime.  We all cheered when they got to see each other again in DSOD, and we hope they will meet again in the distant future.  There are the AUs where Atem stays, and he and Yugi start to date and become lovers.  What more can I say, this ship is flawless, and it is the best Yugioh ship!

[greed-the-dorkalicious]

What I assume Yugioh is about based on having seen like less than 20 episodes of it

Because I used to do this every time I started reading a new Jojo part, just to see how much I got right and how much I got wrong. I don’t think anything will ever top “Rohan Kishibe is a high schooler who draws Chris Hart-esque anime art and thinks he’s a pro mangaka and his stand, Killer Queens, is made of bees, but maybe this will at least be slightly amusing. (Also I know it’s kinda late for this but listen, they still haven’t even gotten to Yami’s backstory, I still have genuinely no fucking clue what the actual overall plot of Yugioh is)

Anyway so here are the characters

Yuugi Mutotutotototuto

No for real tho is it Moto or Mutou someone explain this to me please

Looks like he’s 10 but is actually 15 and very short, which is relatable

Sunshine goth

MY SON NOW.

So fucking nice and good and loves his friends

I think uh... I think he’s like mixed race and that’s why his hair is like that? Not that that makes literally any sense whatsoever but I feel like I remember someone saying something like that

I think he’s like the reincarnation of an ancient pharaoh, or maybe just his great-great-great-great-great-great-great-whatever-grandson

Was able to solve the Millennium Puzzle because of this and also probably because he’s good at games idk

The pure-hearted chosen one who can win every battle even if he’s at a disadvantage because he Believes in the Heart of the Cards. Still don’t know what the fuck that even means but I support him so much

Just a perfect boy

I’m willing to bet a large portion of the fandom thinks he’s a boring protagonist. I say this entirely based on the fact that he is a genuinely nice and optimistic person and god knows fandoms can’t handle characters who aren’t assholes

If you talk shit about Yugi I will show up at your house and eat all of your Yugioh cards. This is non-negotiable

Yami Yugi

The ghost of a pharaoh who was just Really Good At Games and maybe some sort of god or something idk. But I guess maybe he has amnesia?

His real name is Atem but nobody calls him that

Also my son now I love him so much I would die for him thanks

Anyway he lives in the Millennium Puzzle and occasionally possesses Yugi’s body and SOMEHOW this completely changes Yugi’s eye shape, makes his hair even MORE complicated and also makes him taller.

A fucking sadistic bitch

But like a good one though. Like I think he’s a good guy, he just needs to learn to Chill The Fuck Out For Once In His Goddamn Life. It’s ok though Yugi will teach him about the power of friendship and then it’ll be fine

Apparently kills people in the manga, which I guess would make him my legally allotted one (1) irredeemable murderboy I’m allowed to stan

Died tragically and violently after he... uh... he uh... he got framed for cheating at go? Anyway so that’s why his ghost lives in the Millennium Puzzle because I guess maybe he wants revenge or something??

In the most bizarre anti-bullying aesop I have EVER seen, whenever someone wrongs Yuugi or his friends Yami will show up and completely fucking eviscerate them

Just loves games so much, doesn’t matter what game it is or who he’s playing with or why, he will play any game anywhere anytime and will probably send someone into a coma in the process

In conclusion I’d die for him thanks for coming to my TED talk

Seto Kaiba

The antagonist, I guess

Had green hair but then they took it away. Why did they do that

Very mean, I do not like him. I guess he probably has a tragic backstory and Is Actually A Nice Guy Deep Down™ but I still don’t like him

Like a bazillionaire because he owns Kaibacorp. I have no idea what they do. Maybe they manufacture duel disks? Which are like these things you wear on your arm so you can put cards on it. Like a little table for your arm. I don’t know why this is necessary or special but everyone has one

Obsessed with Yami because he is So Good At Games that Kaiba thinks he’s his true rival or some shit idek

Technically could be compared to Akira Touya but I don’t want to because Akira is a very nice and good boy and Kaiba is at best an Ochi

Joey Jounouchi

Yugi’s bff and for some reason the only one of the Crewgi I ever hear anything about so I’m just going to assume this means he is plot relevant somehow

He is the delinquent who picks up stray kittens in the rain

Looks like an asshole but actually a decent dude

Has the exact same fucking backstory as Dio Brando, but like, isn’t an absolute garbage boy, unlike Dio

Was in a gang when he was a kid, a gang with yo-yos. Except in the manga it wasn’t yo-yos, I forgot what it was. Knives? Or maybe hockey sticks? Maybe hockey sticks with knives taped to them??

Trying his best

Chadhotep

That isn’t his real name. I forgot what his real name is. I tried really hard to remember it but I couldn’t so now his name is Chadhotep

An Egyptian priest, not sure if he’s somebody’s reincarnation or immortal or a time traveler or just a regular guy who has Been Doing This For Generations

Has the Millennium Key, which presumably goes to the Millennium Lock and grants the user the power of fucking Shugo Chara whatever

Not really sure who’s side he’s on tbh

I feel like... he’s what Avdol could have been if Araki had gone more for the “badass pyromancer Egyptian fortune teller” thing like he had in chapter 1 instead of him being a constantly distressed mom friend. Not that this is a criticism of Avdol!! I love Avdol so much, he’s perfect, however I feel like Chadhotep could be like... an alternate Avdol I guess

I think he’s like Knuckles but instead of guarding the Master Emerald he guards the Millennium Items?

Haven’t actually seen him in like 10 episodes since Yami like... fuckin... imprisoned him in his mind palace for all eternity or some shit, is he ok?

Mokona Modoki

Kaiba’s little brother?????????

How

I guess he has like an Emporio Alniño thing going on?

Why is he here. He’s a child. Tell him to go home

I bet he’s supposed to be like 5 and speaks like a 15 year old because nobody knows how to write kids. That or he only looks like he’s 5 and is actually like 14

I don’t know anything about him but Kaiba is a bad role model

Thief King Bakura

I don’t actually know much about this guy because he hasn’t showed up yet but I think he’s the other antagonist?

Presumably the ghost of Yami’s ancient political rival, lives in the... what even is that. The fucking like. The Millennium Tambourine I guess

You know in Death Note when it’s revealed that there’s a whole orphanage full of L clones training to become the next Batman or whatever? He looks like he escaped from there

Presumably wants to steal all the Millennium Items so he can summon Shenron or vore god or some shit. I don’t actually know what all the others are but I’m going to assume there are 7 in total because that’s how magic item sets in anime work

Ok I know I made a Knuckles joke already but this dude legit looks more like a Sonic character than absolutely anyone else so far

And that’s everything I know about Yugioh, thanks. In case it isn’t obvious I took benadryl today and I haven’t been more than 60% awake since then

[hiramiyugioh]

A thing I wrote almost a year ago but never uploaded because bleh, it was too short, rushed, unfinished and english is just my second language so I have no clue what I’m doing. If someone wants to pick up the rough idea and write it out, please go ahead~

3000 Years and 2 Dimensions

Set wasn't one to be easily impressed, but Atem managed to gain more than just his loyalty. They challenged, but also respected each other, forming a deep bond over the years.   “Promise me to take care, my pharaoh“, he said on that fateful day. But the odds were against them. Set held him, while Atem's eyes slowly fell close. Their hands connected, holding the millennium puzzle weakly between them. Atem had sealed the evil inside the puzzle, and with it, his own soul. A sorrowful growl escaped him while clinging to the lifeless body of his dear friend. He would see him again. If not in this lifetime, he'd wait for as long as it takes.

~ ~ ~

Set's soul wandered on earth for many years on. The circle of life had him reincarnate into countless bodies in various lands during different times.

It took three millennia of waiting. Three millennia for his soul to wander this world, following a feeling he couldn't quite grasp, couldn't quite determine what it was that he was longing for, looking for. It took 3000 years until their souls were destined to meet again. Finally freed of his sealing in the puzzle, the millennial curse had ended. Yami and Seto Kaiba, fate clashing them back together into a fierce battle, their string of fate pulling them close to each other again and again.

Seto Kaiba trusted no one, except his own brother. But this wild spirit fascinated him in his own intriguing way. That mysterious person that managed to see beneath his rough exterior  kept his mind on edge, pushing him in the right direction.  

It was a long way to the point where the young CEO was ready to listen to what the other one had to say. Not just hearing the words, but also accepting the meaning. He had learned to hold this wild spirit dear.

After many adventures, threatening challenges and bitter fights, Seto Kaiba made a friend, not that he would openly admit it. No one could deny that there was something that pulled Kaiba towards Yami.

But fate had other things in mind. The pharaoh who was now residing in another vessel, had his own destiny to fulfill. Without the knowledge of his friend, Yami departed into the afterlife.

It wasn't that he felt sad when he learned about Yami being gone. Even the usual anger that kept burning inside him had dissipated rather quickly. He overcame every hardship life threw at him. Not his parent's death, not the orphanage and not even Gozaburo's tyranny could stop him from striving towards his goals. He found a home, raised his little brother and after learning to accept his past, finally focused on his own future and dreams. Kaiba Land was a huge success, Solid Vision perfected by now, and his newest creation, the Duel Links system  had a promising future already.

But saying Seto Kaiba would be content with what he had would be naive. Because even if he tried hard, he couldn't deny that something was amiss. A certain challenge that made his blood boil in excitement. A certain feeling that only one person managed to provoke in him. Yami.

No... Atem.

It happened during one of his journeys through the virtual reality world of Duel Links. The vision of the Pharaoh flooded his mind, keeping him mesmerized. Ignoring the trembling in his limbs, he started reaching out, when a sudden tremor pulled him back violently.

Breathing heavily, heart beating frantically, Seto woke up, back in his virtual reality pod while Mokuba worriedly hurried to his side.

 In that moment Seto Kaiba knew what he had to do. Gathering the pieces of the shattered Millennium Puzzle, the young CEO was determined to bring Atem back.

 ~ ~ ~

Seto's eyes widened, unbelieving, teeth biting into his lips when he watched the last puzzle piece getting pushed into place by the former owner of it. Silence. Nothing happened. “He is gone“, Yugi whispered sadly. “He moved on to the afterlife“.... Anger and hurt flashed briefly through Seto's gaze. This was not an outcome he would accept. Never.

 Unknown to the two young duelists, an ancient soul watched the incidents taking place. He stayed close, sensing a darkness, yet another creature threatening  the balance of the world.

The sky suddenly faded into blood red, tinted with dark clouds. The grounds shook before the lights went off, wrapping the huge Duel Arena and all witnesses in darkness.

Kaiba instantly knew something went very wrong when a Monster emerged from the darkness, Millennium Ring clutched to it's front.

One bystander after the other collapsed to the floor, energy drained by the Monster making it's way over to the two Duelists.

Drawing one card after another, Kaiba called forth his faithful Dragons, battling together with Yugi at  his site, trying to eliminate the enemy's army of it's own monsters.  

They were fighting a losing battle, Kaiba had to grudgingly admit to himself. For every hit he endured, a bit more of his life energy was dragged out of him, pain streaking across his face.

When the final hit threatened to blow Yugi's life out of him, Kaiba didn't hesitate to sacrifice himself, knowing he was out of possibilities to turn the battle around.

Sinking to his knees, Seto tugged at the chain holding the Millennium Puzzle.

" him... Call him..." he whispered, holding up the ancient artifact, before collapsing unconsciously  to the ground.

 Kaiba didn't notice the golden light descending from the sky, crashing into the Puzzle like lightning striking a lonely tree. He didn't see the soul commanding mighty, ancient magic. He didn't witness Atem banishing the evil Monster into darkness for eternity.

  Seto blinked and slowly got on his feet again. The monster was beaten, as he expected. The souls of all the people in the arena returned to their rightful owner.

The young CEO knelt down, retrieving a small cube that lay secluded on the now again brightly shining glass floor.

All the puzzle pieces clicked into place. There was only one thing left to do.

 ~ ~ ~

 Kaiba let his gaze trail over the stunningly beautiful view of the earth outside the window once again. He was back on his space station. The Puzzle lay securely on the armrest of his VR pod. Next to it, another ancient artifact glowed in a soft orange light. Diva's cube was the last piece he needed to transcend dimensions.

Closing his eyes, a smile crossed his face, just before a bright golden light pulled his soul away.

  Crossing the desert, Kaiba made his way through the sand until he reached an ancient city. He knew the way like it was burned into his mind, secured somewhere deep in his soul. When Seto finally found his final destination, his steps echoed loudly through the huge palace hall.

Coming to a halt, he let his gaze drift over the figure sitting on the throne.  A soft smile crossed Atem's face when he finally took in the view of his long awaited guest.

 3000 Years. 3000 Years of waiting, fighting, longing, hurting, searching. 3000 years until their souls were finally reunited.

Seto still couldn't believe it when he felt the soft hair tickle his face after he wrapped his arms around the slim form of the young Pharaoh.

He had just reacted on instinct when Atem stood in front of him. He made his way over with big steps, roughly pulling the other one into his arms, making sure this was real. He was real. They were real.

 It took 3000 years and two dimensions. But he would do it again, over and over, until he found this soul and held him in his arms again.