#kenz reads ygo

[hopefulstarfire]

I love that they just instantly knew something was wrong. Like other kids probably write Joey off (something we actually do see frequently with other characters in this series, at least). But they see that he always makes the effort to get to school and he never misses a day. Academically, it does seem like he struggles, but he makes the effort every day to be there and try. His friends also know that he never gets sick. They pay attention and see what everyone else would simply shrug it off; they care enough to know this isn't who Joey is and something is definitely up. Even if their feeling was wrong, it probably would have meant a lot to know he had people who even bothered to care.

[hopefulstarfire]

Okay but no now I'm thinking about this. Because we know later contexts was that Joey wanted to help Yugi toughen up, because he knew he was a lonely kid in class that got picked on because he was smaller, always into his games, etc.

Joey was raised in a completely toxic environment. His Dad's an abusive drunk and he quickly had to take on the role of man of the house in order for both of them to survive. He was even the one that had to be responsible for his little sister while they still lived together, in order to protect her from their Dad and from their parents turbulent marriage.

Joey had to "toughen up" to survive living with his Dad. The lifestyle of paying off his fathers debts, dodging beatings or bottles being thrown at him, hell joining a gang in middle school, all took a toll on him. If he didn't "toughen up", the world would mow him down. He couldn't allow himself to show vulnerability or weakness. He couldn't cower back.

He saw that Yugi did and his first instinct is to get him to fight back. Because, in his experience, that's the only way to get through life. Even then, he couldn't fully stand to see someone else go through what he could have. He went about it the wrong way and Yugi opens up his eyes; you can find strength in more than just the physical kind. That kindness and loyalty are some of the biggest powers in the universe you can utilize. That you can do better and improve and allow yourself those vulnerable moments.

You don't have to be in fight mode. You can heal.

Joey claimed he was going to teach Yugi to be a man, but really, Yugi taught Joey how to be one. And Joey turned out to be one of the best.

Anyways I'm emotional over these characters a lot.

[hopefulstarfire]

A rare smiling Kaiba. Even if it's a fake smiling masking the Pain.

[hopefulstarfire]

I need more of Joey building things. That's an awesome little hobby.

[hopefulstarfire]

Joey is one of the biggest badasses and you cannot convince me otherwise. Also him using his promises to Yugi as a way to fight back. Fighting for his best bud in the universe. Poetic cinema right here. I love it.

[hopefulstarfire]

Joey: Yknow, why the fuck not. Today's already been so goddamn weird. Let's just slap a mummys hand on some shiny gold object. Why not.

[hopefulstarfire]

So two things

Kaiba being plagued by the memory of his loss so much that it caused a nightmare, when he very rarely ever sleeps due to restlessness and how absolutely haunted he looks by it, I just love kind of getting to look in on this and we truly get that first glimpse of something deeper under the surface and a hint of the trauma he has faced.

I cannot believe Yugi and Joey didn't climb out a fucking window or run like hell after Mokuba played Russian Roulette with their goddamn dinner. Who stays in the mansion of the weird rich kid that just tried to kill you. Who stays there and doesn't creep our the window. Why didn't you call Grandpa to come pick you up.

[hopefulstarfire]

Okay yknow. Seto didn't even need to kidnap that serial killer for Death T. His little brother's already out here acting like he's fucking Jigsaw

[hopefulstarfire]

Mokuba: appears

Yugi:

[hopefulstarfire]

GET HIM JOEY GET HIM!!!! KNOCK HIS ASS INTO NEZT TUESDAY!!

[hopefulstarfire]

POOR FUCKING TÉA SHE NEEDS A BREAK.

This poor girl has been kidnapped, stalked, and now was turned into a mindless doll for a shadow game and just woke up on a plank and the only person keeping her safe rn from this is a teenage boy on the side of the building trying his best.

And the zombies coming back. Who, last thing she remembers, she whacked the fuck out of him with a globe.

I'm gonna pay for these guys therapy. Or a vacation at least. Jesus.

[hopefulstarfire]

THEY'RE JUST SHOES. YOU CAN LITERALLY JUST GO TO WALMART AND GET A PAIR OF SNEAKERS CHEAP AND THEY'LL LAST YOU. WHO THE FUCK GOES TO THE EXTREME OF A SCORPION IN A SHOE TO SEE IF THEYRE WORTHY OF SNEAKERS. THEY BETTER BE MADE OUT OF SOLID GOLD AND THE TEARS OF HERMES.

[hopefulstarfire]

Shit, I mean, that's one way to use them. I wonder if they still used them like that after Atem got locked in the Puzzle or if that's when they hid all of them because I genuinely can't remember. Though I do remember they were originally created because of a war? At least in the anime. And then used them to guard the Pharaoh in general.

Even more fucked up that they made those items out of the souls of alleged tomb robbers, but I digress.

[hopefulstarfire]

All he's trying to do is protect Yugi and their friends from these jackasses bc he knows they'll hurt them and Joey can't risk that. He has to protect the only people in the world that have ever seemed to believe in him and care about him, with the only other person so far having been Serenity.

But GOD does it still hurt to see.

[hopefulstarfire]

There's something I really kind of enjoy seeing in this.

Our experiences with the Shadow Games thus far have only been Yami playing them. They're a bit more elaborate and kind of dramatic when you really look at them. He event taunts the other "player", rightfully so, but it's very intentional. There's always an air of confidence to him and you can get just a bit of mischief from his eyes. We tend to focus on the aspect that Yami is a spirit that's not to be fucked with, especially given how clever and protective he is. But the way he handles situations and Shadow Games also show that he's still a kid. He's still a teenager who, in life, had a ton of responsibility thrown onto him at an early age and sacrificed the rest of his life to be sealed into the Puzzle, so that one day he could fight against the Darkness again.

Shadi, on the other hand, is a grown man. While Yami was basically a teenager who spent 3,000/5,000 years locked away in an object in a tomb with no memory, Shadi got a chance to reach adulthood and maturity. While you can certainly feel the understandable anger that comes off from him in a situation like this, he remains calm and levelheaded. His expressions much harder to read, letting him keep an incredible poker face. His Shadow Game is simple and much more traditional. It doesn't have to be elaborate or over the top; it just has to be effective. The traditional aspect also plays very hand in hand with Shadis character as he's deeply connected to his roots in a Tombkeeper Clan, whereas Yami doesn't really have that connection yet and thus looks for newer games, more akin to what Yugi, his guide in navigating and understanding the modern world, would be familiar with.

[hopefulstarfire]

You know I wanna make the joke about "heh wrong Millennium Item there Yugi boy" but who knows maybe the Puzzle, on top of immense shadow magic and being able to grant a wish upon being solved, could also be the world's first GPS. It's not entirely out of the Realm of Possibility.