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So I tried to get back into Yu-Gi-Oh!

The original manga still holds up just fine (great even) but I cannot stress enough how GARBAGE the game is these days. 90% of the time the only play that actually matters is the coin-toss to determine who goes first because if you go second the "game" consists of 5-10 minutes of watching the opponent play solitaire as they somehow use most of their cards on the first turn and they ALWAYS do a lockdown strategy so that by the time you get your turn you can't actually do anything because they have like 5 different negates ready to go and a full hand. It's ironic how everyone talks about how much "quicker" the game is compared to the original when I am over here dying of boredom because no one can ever finish a turn in less time than I can brew a cup of tea.

I have had a few standout moments (especially 1 time when I managed to beat someone's highly competitive Lightsworn-deck with Skull Servants) but these days the game is pretty much designed to avoid fun. And most players online are such shitty little brats too. On the rare occasions where you do get a good play that can win they fold immediately so you don't get to the cool part or even the rewards for finishing your combo.

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big shout out to alucard for not going down the classic vampire route of only having one love of his life and instead allowing himself to fall in love as many times as his immortal heart wanted

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Anzu thinks everyone’s life-or-death card game rivalries are very silly and overblown until she goes to NYC and becomes ensconced in an intense dance rivalry with who she insists is the most awful insufferable American girl that has ever lived and everyone has to hear her complain about her 24/7. Listen you guys just don’t understand she’s AWFUL. Anzu is a nice person. She loves making friends. It’s just that this chick seems utterly determined to piss her off. It’s driving her insane. 

They go to visit Anzu one time and finally meet her and she’s just…a nice girl who is nice to them? and thinks she and Anzu are good friends? Later when out of earshot Honda is the first one to utter the phrase “Oh my god, Anzu is the Kaiba” and they all agree to never speak of this concept again

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This is a much better "how to redeem Claudia" theory than 90% of the others I have seen which mostly boils down to: "Wouldn't it be cool if the Dragaang decided who deserves to live or die again and decided to be merciful?".

Also I like the idea of making the titular character more relevant to the actual themes of the story.

Crack Theory: Zym Will Be the One To Save Claudia

Sounds crazy right? But here me out, I may be huffing some major copium right now and it requires some other headcannons to come true but when you think about it... this could be a really cool thing for them to do.

Zym can talk now, which means he's gonna need to be a charatcer and do character things, what better way to do that then take a crack at saving Claudia and bringing a new perspective the others didn't? Picking up where they failed?

In order to be saved now, after all the damage that's been done to her, she's going to need two things in my eyes.

A lot of empathy. Those who try to save her need to have sympathy and empathy for her situation and while not agreeing with what she did, have the understanding of why she did them and what she's going through, and have the ability to be patient with her and help her when she's struggling. This is going to be hard for a lot of the cast. Rayla definitely can not do this because she just downright hates her (she spent the two year time jump trying to kill her) so she's out. The rest, their emphathy has been spent potentially after their failed attempts to save her, which were, not very successful for a variety of reasons i.e tricking her with a fake mom (diabolical) or straight up making her feel gaslit. (I'm referencing the "I think we have different bone feelings" it's important to note that I don't think Soren was gaslighting her because he truly believed in what he said, but to someone like her, it can come across as gaslighting.) Or not giving her the time of day, but that's not the point. The point is that the rest of the cast feels they've done all they can, even Soren feels that way, remember he begs Terry to let him kill her! While we don't know where Zym stands on this, we can start to sow some doubt in his mind about the dragaang's methods. This will not only help explain why Zym wants to try and take a crack at saving Claudia but also help develop him into his own character who isn't just Ezran 2.0. Maybe him and Ez can even have a disagreement over this at some point! Wouldn't it be cool to see an argument or a bit of a temporary falling out between these two? Zym has been shown to be extremely emphathetic so far, similar to Ezran and has a chance that he could feel like he could bring something new to the table that the gang hasn't tried before which I will get into later. (ANNNNDDDDD, if a certain headcannon holds true he might be perfect for the job)

A proper addressing of Xadia's crimes. Yes, she's definitely going to need this. What Xadia did in the past drives a lot of her character, maybe not as much as family but it's a huge motivator, and it must sting really hard when her own brother contradicts everything with "I don't have the same bone feelings". It could easily be going through her mind right now like "Are you crazy? after everything they did to us your just all lovey dovey with them? Like it just didn't happen?". Someone is going to need to acknowledge what happened, clearly and definitively and also apologize for it and deliver the promise that they will make sure it will never happen again. Now... who better to deliver this message to her than the literal King of The Dragons himself who literally has the power to make it never happen again? Could this cure her instantly? No, maybe not... Claudia is hurting badly and the scars run deep, but that could be the beginning to set off a chain reaction that Zym could help her through by instilling point 1.

Now, if a certain headcannon comes true which could make narrative sense, it would just make this all the more powerful. You know how Ezran is an empath with animals? Like he can basically talk to them to an extent and can also feel their pain (novelizations), what if Zym is the same, but for humans and elves. This is not entirely baseless either, other than providing cool symmetry it would also explain why Zym is able to communicate telepathically with Ezran to an extent. It's two empaths connecting to each other. If Zym has this power, he could potentially understand what Claudia feels on a deeper level then anyone else because he literally feels it too, and thus would easier be able to empathize with her making point 1 all the more plausible.

And on top of everything... I just feel it would be really sweet. I love Zym, I love Claudia and seeing Zym be a character by performing something so monumental and helping someone who clearly needs help would just be... kinda heartwarming to me if done correctly. That's why it's a crack theory at the end of the day. There's not hard evidence and it relies on some assumptions, but do I want it to happen? Absolutely?

But hey, if you disagree, that's fine too! :)

"But Claudia is pure evil and I want her to burn."

I disagree on that but to each their own, fine If you want that too I guess lmao.

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ref) official artwork

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do you think the Death-T tower still stands or has it been converted to normal theme park space. I mean there's no reason to waste the real estate, right? is it now a normal laser tag arena + haunted house with a roller coaster + [whatever kaiba converted the cube floor to] + capmon arena + dm arena. do you think Yugi and co. have ever been there or seen it advertised and been like "wait a second." do you think that every few years someone recommends replacing the capmon floor with a more popular attraction or a second duel monsters floor and every time Mokuba makes big sad eyes at his brother until he agrees to keep it open

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you guys will seriously believe anything on the Internet huh? you really think this amulet is controlling me? ive always had this aura. been sacrificing people since i could walk. this guy loves the suffering. i mean i love the suffering.

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#im just saying i think it would be really funny

hey does anybody know what Bakura did with these particular dice in his collection after we killed Yami Bakura finally definitely permanently for sure in 1998. do we know where they are. like i don't wanna worry anyone or anything but i'm just asking did anyone check

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'Revenge is bad' to YOU. i love when a character destroys everyone who wronged them. i love when they get to bite and maim and tear and rip and scratch and kill. Sorry ur catholic about it but i'm different

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When the card game is first introduced in the manga (as "magic and wizards") we are told its in-universe narrative/lore is that the players are wizards and the cards represent the spells they cast and the monsters they summon to fight (because, you know, its a magic the gathering parody) and sometimes I like to imagine that this is still true and apply it to modern yugioh archetypes. The wizards are now summoning virtual anime girl livestreamers

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they used to make smackable technology. you used to be able to hit your tv when it didn't work good.

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spin the wheel for a genre!

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my creative writing prof also HATES fantasy. as in if she asks for an example of symbolism in a book, and you give something from a fantasy novel, she’ll ask for an example from a “non-commercial book” instead.

I dunno man, people can have preferences, but the second you discount the artistic merit of sci fi and fantasy I stop taking your opinion seriously. and there’s such a big culture in Canada of only valuing literary fiction, to the point where one of our biggest authors, Margaret Atwood, refused for a while to classify her books as sci fi or fantasy. she said they were “speculative fiction”, which is entirely separate and very highbrow (sarcasm).

and I could go on about how Octavia Butler and Ursula Le Guin wrote books every bit as intellectual (and honestly, even more so) than their literary counterparts, but I am also an enjoyer of schlock!! I think there’s artistic merit in animorphs, and in isekais where a japanese schoolgirl reincarnates into a magical spider who has to level up like it’s a video game! it’s like with everything, you can’t draw a clean line that separates ‘art’ from ‘non-art’ or even ‘lesser art’, and pretending you can do so just makes you look ignorant and goofy. in my opinion.

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#the dragon prince#soren#claudia#i know soren says he doesnt know if he would have gone through with it#but the parallel is there

The difference between Soren not being in a position to take down Claudia at this current point in time but is now set in his ways of killing her.

vs Claudia being in a position where she is very much able to kill Soren (and Corvus) but chooses not to.

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Fantasian is now full of vampires.

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Just playing around with ideas