#''why is this on the ygo blog'' well i have some things to say about gx and maybe some parts of doma maybe. is all.

[kujakumai]

The thing about stakes is that good character writing and tension management can make even mundane everyday conflicts like "Will little Susie make it home from school in time to watch her favorite TV show?!" into cataclysmic, life-or-death issues that the audience is deeply invested in. Bad character writing and bad pacing and tension management can make even "the entire earth and every human being on it is about to be murdered" into something boring and meaningless. Higher stakes ≠ more danger. High stakes = real emotional consequences for the audience.

[cosmic-pheonix]

Feeling bored and unmotivated in posting stuff (and probably in a need for some interaction with fellow moots/followers). Saw a post on Twitter on everyone sharing their cartoon crushes. (In case you missed it!)

I decided to be brave and share my fictional crushes! 😖🫡 Feel free to either agree or roast me! (Civically of course!) I'd love to see others fictional crushes and gush over them as well! So don't be shy in sharing them under the replies!

So to first start off...

Him💜

The 1st pic and GIF of him always does something to me (My god...)

Yami Yugi/Atem (Yu-Gi-Oh! DM/DSOD) | Main Crush - My first anime fictional crush 💜✨🌟 (and still is to this day! And has been recently the cause for all those self ship/self insert reblog posts on my other blog, as embarrassing as it sounds....) This man has inadvertently popped back into my brain all of sudden and slowly got me back to hyper fixating on YGO, (in the year of our lord saviour 2024), specifically for him 💜! There's really a plethora of reasons why I enjoy and appreciate him as a character (ie his personality, aura, kindness, complexity and flaws as a character, his voice - both in English and Japanese 😳 etc. - if anyone's interested maybe I might make a seperate post about it and share my headcanons for him perhaps)

2. Seto Kaiba (Yu-Gi-Oh! DM/DSOD) - Do I really need to say anything? 🤷🏾‍♀️ Same reasons applied as Yami/Atem really! The guy’s iconic, what can I say?

3. Dartz (Yu-Gi-Oh! DM) - Unpopular opinion/hot take but I think he’s pretty underrated as a villain (fuck him for making Yami Yugi cry + manipulating him and everyone else - Affectionately?? Just so my words don’t get twisted out of context, I’m appreciating him as a villain/character here, so don’t get it twisted). Is the story a hit or a miss or is it necessary? Can’t really say for sure, sorry🤷🏾‍♀️.

It’s been a long time I watched YGO, so go easy on me and take it with a grain of salt. All I will say honestly, is that I really like his design, him as a character (I think there’s a lot of missed potential that could’ve been explored more) and his voice (English preferably, Wayne Grayson’s performance as Dartz really did it for me! No hate towards the Japanese VA/Dub, just a preference towards his eng voice)

4. Pantalone (Genshin Impact) - Okay, so here’s the thing with him…If I happen to come across a guy with this much drip, charm and mysterious aura, with glasses to boot than I’m already sold! I haven’t played much Genshin in a long time, so I’m not sure what role he plays into the story. (I’d love to hear your thoughts and theories, though no spoilers please! 😊)

I’ve only seen snippets of clips and fanart of him and the fatui from here and there, but I hope he’s playable in the near future.

If Arlecchino (Father - MORE LIKE DADD-), can become playable in the future, then so can he (among other fatui members, aside from Childe).

5. Boothill (Honkai Star Rail) - I don't know about you guys, but ever since he's been leaked (and now recently added to the game have seen his character trailer - the way he just sauves and moonwalked like the smooth criminal he is did it for me!) I just adore him - Design, personality, voice everything! I love me a spunky, sassy rootin tootin space ranger cowboy that loves to cause havoc and chaos! (and serves cun-) I just think he’s neat! (Also is it just me or does his theme song in the character trailer sounded something you would hear in a freakin Ford Truck Commercial, his theme screams pure “America. Freedom, F yeah!” Vibes. PLEASE TELL ME I’M NOT THE ONLY ONE THAT THINKS THIS?! I JUST FIND IT FUNNY TO ME)

6. Miguel O'Hara (Across The Spiderverse) - Haven’t seen the movie yet (dw I plan to watch it but PLEASE NO SPOILERS!) but this man is everywhere and I don’t blame you! I’ve seen fanart/edits of him (especially ones whenever they show his fangs 😳👀) and honestly it’s on me because I been rewatching ColeyDoesThings video on him and it immediately got me back to start watching the spider verse movies (it’s on my to do list) So thanks Coley! (You should go check out her YouTube videos on everything fandom related, it’s great!)

UPDATE: Got another honourable mention! ✨⭐️

7. Lycaon (Zenless Zone Zero) - I’ve recently started playing ZZZ and so far it’s pretty fun! I’ve seen so many clips and fanart of this dude it’s not even funny. He’s pretty cool and got a nice design and voice. And that’s all I’m gonna say. I think this video on Twitter should speak for itself:

[stardustsynchro]

I found that GX edgelord ''Loli Supreme King'' whatever his name is again on WarmToast's content center and the dude just doesn't learn. Let me give you my two cents on YGO. The whole problem is opinions in the community. Everyone is about themselves when most anime fandoms are respected, but YGO's fandom just doesn't even understand how to cope and learn about their problems.

He claims 5D's wasn't perfect and mocks it while others roast him.

I feel like Yu-Gi-Oh GX was the reason this dude likes ''edgy'' stuff. But he goes hypocritical on others who like 5D's just because of ''plot-holes''. Most weebs like anime only for ''dark'' and ''edgy'' stuff, but not all shows can be what others tell them.

I bet most of them fall into the "weeb" category, because GX Season 4 was Japan-only, too (you can watch it on Crunchyroll, though).

But yeah, Season 4 does have some light-hearted moments before all the darker stuff kicks in. Plus, can I just say that I hate Nightshroud as the big bad? He got only two appearances in the show before Season 4, one when he dueled Jaden, and one when he & Atticus dueled Zane. Yubel, however, was foreshadowed since Season 1, and we even see one of her different forms in Season 2 (as a silhouette). Adding this to all the other things I mentioned, it’s pretty easy to understand why 4Kids/4K Media started dubbing the show a year late & ended up skipping Season 4 as a result.

Also, I hate the fact that 4K Media takes all the blame for what the Federal Communications Commission has them censor…

Other reasons why fandoms are divided by opinions are streaming sites and lack of promotion for shows, and others who hate it over any logic.

Which is an example of why fandoms never accept themselves.

The whole fandom is divided enough as it is. No one cares about your opinion Loli man. If you can't take 5D's seriously then don't bother watching it. This is started to turn like the early 2010s when the internet was enough bad and one wasn’t well critical.

There are a few factors 5D's is peak fiction for most people, but some don't like it. I prefer 5D's over modern anime or mainstream anime. This dude got rekt when I feel like he wasn't even listing to most people what they say about 5D's.

And most people who claim 5D'S wasn't planned well or say shit about its ratings in Japan that is a lie. 5D'S wasn't anyone's fault that the show had problems, but it was because it was good that most people started to not take YGO anymore seriously to the point Konami never again made good series.

So if you ever see people just avoid them or either roast them and report for trolling.

There is a reason I don't listen to Dylan from YGO Everything when the dude doesn't even understand how most fandoms love and hate a show on their own opinions and his or others tend to go out of hand.

To conclude this statement. I don't listen to mainstreamers or care about most modern anime tubers. I don't listen to some edgy-good-for-nothing GX fan who doesn't grow his age or thinks about what will say to him.

If my topic made zero sense because it wasn't well planned or had points to be tackled I don't even care about topics because my blog is everything that I post and make. There is a reason I don't f*cking care about GX post Season 2 anymore. I stop watching it mainly because the weebs killed with their opinions about ''dark'' and edgy''

[makeusfreefromthisfandom]

just sending some appreciation and good vibes to my people for the new year <3

kisses from me bc you all hold a very special place in my heart 💝

Also veryyy long post ahead I’m sorry I had to include everyone Aakklaksks 😭😭

@ominous-meme 🖤 sabah! You were my very first mutual on here I hope you know that! I can’t even begin on how excited I got when I found out you were a fellow desi girl and I will always appreciate you being there and advising me! <3 I love our street racing au! talks ! I’m glad I have someone to share ideas with <33

@weebsausage 🖤 dude omg!!! 😭😭😭 pls I literally forgot how we became moots I’m so sorry I have a tiny brain 😪 but I think we literally just messaged each other and started talking about free! ANYWAYS TYSM FOR PUTTING ME ON HXH I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU FOR THAT WTF ITS LIKE MY FAV ANIME EVER I HAVE BECOME HXH TRASH AJSJSJBS ❤️❤️ but other than that thank you for being a really great friend to me and I hope this year is nothing but good things for you <33

@dokifluffs 🖤 you were also one of my first moots on here! I honestly could not believe when you followed me back bc ur like my biggest inspo! 😭 you’re so precious omg I always look forward talking to you and get excited when I see a notif from you still! I hope the new year treats you well and brings good things in your life! Lots of love from me bae 🥰❤️

@syrenblubs 🖤 ah my most relatable person LOL. Omg syren ur my little bestie on here and I’m so glad we’re mutuals! I love our natsuya talks and OML THE C****** RAID! ALSJJSJSJSJJS AND DESI PARENTS AKSJJSNS. Just thank you for always interacting with me even tho I SUCK at responding 😭❤️❤️❤️ ilyyysmmmmmm

@linak 🖤 baby omg where do I even begin. Back when I had literally no one to talk to on here, you would be the one NEVER failing to send me a gm/gn message! You always bring a stupid smile to my face 😭 I’m so freaking glad that we are friends I literally cannot put into words!! Ty for always listening to me and letting me open up to you ❤️ love you always.

@croctears 🖤 vixxx ahhh!!! I’m so glad we became mutuals on this shitty app! You’re one of the highlights of my day and I love talking to you sm 😫 especially if it’s about Sou 😏😏 keep being amazing bae! Kisses mwuah mwuah 😽😽

@xakusa 🖤 Marty bby! 🥰 literally the only person I’m going to share my man natsu with 🙄 our conversations are always so RANDOM and out of nowhereeeee lollll but we also just go along with it and I love that! You are an angel and this year better be giving you what you deserve! Lots of love from my end 😽😽😽 kissies from me and natsuya <3

@cafelixie 🖤 I will keep saying this and I will never stop. YOU!!! ARE!!! THE!!! ACTUAL!!! DEFINITION!!! OF!!! PRECIOUS!!!! Need I say more? You’ve made my day countless times and I always look forward to seeing you in my messages/inbox!! Baby I freaking love you I really don’t know what else to say 😭❤️

@skippyskeppy 🖤 I will never forget the first time we interacted my Kisumi enthusiast 😙🤝 I love it sm whenever I see you pop into my inbox with a random hc about semi semi or Kisumi, Albert now too! You are an amazing person. A really amazing person. I hope you know that ❤️

@keeijiakaashi 🖤 I remember seeing your little comments under my posts before we became moots and OMGGGG YOU ARE SO CUTE AISJJSJSJS ALSO RIN ENTHUSIAST??? YES PLEASE!!! Tysm for always interacting with me and making yourself known as the ultimate sweetest person on my blog! Ilyyyyy ❤️❤️❤️

@animatedarchives 🖤 we have your fellow love of the kirishimas to thank for us becoming moots! You’re so cute soph omg 😫 I love how we literally have brainrots of the same characters LIKE MR GOJO LEECH SATORU!!! GET OUT OF MY HEAD OR PAY RENT!!! Ahh you’re irreplaceable soph! Never fail to make me smile like an idiot <33

@natsuya-enthusiast 🖤 how did we not become moots sooner wtf??? Do yk how alone I felt when I had no one to discuss my obsession of natsu with when I first made this blog 😪 AND THEN I REALIZED U WERE ONE OF MY FIRST FOLLOWERS???? ANYWAYS U ARE THE BIG SIS I NEVER HAD ALWAYS PULLING THROUGH W THAT LIFE ADVICE BAHAHAHA ilysm gaby wtf 😭😡😡😡❤️❤️❤️

@moonlitspring 🖤 do you even realize how happy I got when I realized there was another ACTIVE free! blog 😡😡 ajsjjsjs you are such an amazing writer and PERSON sky!!! You’ve been nothing but the sweetest and I hope we get to interact more this year and share our love of free! together <3

@ayumiko 🖤 laís you are such an angel! I absolutely adore both you and your edits/gifs smmm 🥰 you are so kind and I hope 2021 is also <333

@dalggina 🖤 omg??? YGO bae??? 😤😤 I thought literally everyone had forgotten ab it LOL THEN YOU CAME ALONG ❤️❤️ I’m really glad we interacted precious person! And I hope that you have a great year! ALSO YOU BETTER NOT STRESS YOURSELF OUT TOO MUCH FROM WORK OR IM MANIFESTING MR ATEM TO COME GET YOU 😡

@stormikujo 🖤 omg bby! We haven’t talked in awhile! I hope you are doing well! ❤️❤️❤️ ahhh I’m glad I got you into free otherwise we wouldn’t even have interacted 😫 I love talking to you stormi!! And I hope this year brings great things fro you! Lots of love ❤️❤️❤️

@aj-writes-here 🖤 omg hey girl 😼😼 you’re definitely one of the coolest people I’ve talked to on here for sure! Hope you’ve been enjoying hq and free! Your welcome for putting you on that simp train 😼 anyways, ilysm aj!! I really wish the best for you this year! Stay amazing as you always are, ily!! ❤️❤️

@attackonfics 🖤 wtf 😭😭 I don’t deserve you???? You’ve been nothing but the sweetest to me and also responsible for my unhealthy obsession with mr 5’2 angry gremlin >:(( jkjk but seriously, ty for the food 😌. ANYWAYS QUEEN I HOPE YOUVE BEEN TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF AND TREATING YOURSELF AS!!! YOU!!! SHOULD!!! VIRTUAL HUGS 😽😽 💝

@browsing-my-favourite-fandoms 🖤 Shizen! You are too good for this world! 😭 you are such a genuine person, you deserve nothing but happiness ❤️ I really hope that this year does that for you. I’ll keep checking in from time to time! Ilysm! ❤️

@inum4ki 🖤 sera...please...just invest in a personal guide or smth. Asksksknsjs n e wayzzz seeing you in my inbox is always so much fun! Sousuke really deserves more love and you are bringing it to the table hun 😤😤 also you’re a fellow inumaki enthusiast too??? Yes please. You deserve all the happy things in 2021 <3

@sneezefiction 🖤 Gracie!! I love how easy it is to get along with you! You are truly one of the best people I’ve met on this app and I’ll forever be grateful for our friendship <3 you give off such great vibes all the time omg giving you a huge virtual hug and here’s to more interactions this year! 🥰😽😽😽

@velvetfireworks 🖤 bbyyy!! 🥰 everytime we interact even if it’s not a whole lot, you’re always the sweetest what 😭 I love you and you’re writing so much omggg you are so talented!! I get super excited when I see myself get tagged in one of your stuff 😆 I hope we get to interact more in the future! Have a great New Years ❤️❤️❤️

@a8mine 🖤 stop being so mean to me 😡😡 !!!!!! ig ily anyways tho 🙄 you’re energy is honestly unmatched (in a good way!!) and it’s rare to meet people like that! You’re so funny omg and your random hcs and cursed discourses always have me dying 😭😭 you’re so cool hanna ily 😪✌️ <333

@giorvanna 🖤 ahh rena! Your blog and edits are *chefs kiss* I love our random semi brainrot sessions 🥰🥰 I hope we interact more in the future but in the meantime I’m sending you good vibes and lots of virtual hugs bc you deserve them queen ❤️❤️❤️

@seijohlogy 🖤 hey hey jaestar 🤩🤩 you are such a cool person??? Omg I’m so glad that we’re friends and randomly invade each other’s inboxes 😆 you are so kind! This year better be kind to you too or else 😡😡 I hope that after Ms rona decides to move her ass over, you get to go to Disneyland and take!! Me!!! With!! You!! Love you jae bae ❤️❤️

@prettysetterbaby 🖤 hey sexc 🤩🤩 no idea why you followed me but glad you did bc you are such a sweet and chaotic person!! I loveeeeee <333 I hope we get to interact more bc you are just genuinely such a fun person to interact with! Ilyyy

@datecho 🖤 yet another just genuinely sweet person! The world doesn’t deserve you! You’re so fun to interact with and a hottie??? omg shoto and kags better get off their asses rn and come get you or I will 🤩🤩 ly bae! have a great New Years! ❤️❤️

@miyasangel 🖤 we haven’t interacted much yet but ahaha talking about suna and sending my fanart to you is sm fun! Did I tell you that I also have a wip of Atsumu as a street racer? 😏 have a great year Arden bae! Kisses 😽

@aikk00 🖤 hi hi! We don’t interact on a daily or anything but when we do, omg!!! You are the most easy person to get along with 😭 you have such a good heart along with the talent???omg??? You are UNMATCHED babe! I hope this year brings you many more opportunities! Stay amazing love ❤️ ily and your art very much ❤️ I’m also still very embarrassed from fucking up the credits from last time. I’m so sorry bae 😭❤️❤️

@kurooskult 🖤 ma’am you might as well be the definition of bad bitch 😪🤝 ok but besides that, interacting with you is sm fun??? Like we don’t even have to be moots on your blog to feel just as included and loved! You are such a queen for that! Here’s to more mila x kuroo content in 2021 and he better be doing special for you as he should !!

It’s still the 31st here but THANK YOU ALL FOR MAKING MY COUPLE OF MONTHS ON HERE BEARABLE!!! This sounds like a goodbye post Oml-

I love you all very much. I suck at words, but I hope you know that. ❤️

[danieco]

Since you used to be in Naruto fandom I wanna hear your thoughts about this video : https://youtu.be/wNB05gdWRkI especially the point about shonen being written for young boys and how it’s false

Love your blog btw

Thank you so much, love your ask! :D Predictably, this one got away from me a bit, and then a lot. So to focus on the point you asked about:

It doesn’t surprise me at all that reader questionnaires show about half of shonen readers aren’t boys! Like that’s not a perfect methodology but it’s still interesting. I think it would be huge for the industry if creators actually acknowledged that support and wrote like they have more than just boys in their audience. I genuinely think it would raise the quality of stories for there not to be an assumption that half their characters don’t have to be realistic, believable, and interesting just like the male characters are. 

Regardless, I hate, hate, hate the idea that it’s perfectly fine for media made for boys to show oppressive caricatures of girls and women because guess what!! Everyone has to write girls and women like they’re actually people, because they are. It’s wild people think “but this is for boys” is a good reason to write awful female characters. I can’t wait for this assumption that boys and girls want and require totally separate kinds of media to die because a) it’s not true and b) not everyone is a boy or girl anyway!

Anyway you activated my trap card, “Rant About Sakura” so: 

Okay this is where I actually started answering and I start so out of left field I almost made it a separate post, but: 

So like everyone knows serialized storytelling often wasn’t written to form a cohesive whole. The most extreme examples are soap operas--if you nudge a character bit by bit (or have a sudden, shocking twist), eventually the hero is a villain and then maybe a hero again, maybe not, etc. etc. etc. This keeps things open-ended for more storytelling opportunities and hopefully the changes will keep fans interested. So a character needs to have enough consistency with past actions to be recognizable, but their traits, motivations, and even backstory are malleable for whatever the story currently needs. It’s a feature, not a bug. 

I think streaming now and having an entire franchise immediately available instead of weekly over the course of years are very different things, and it can be useful to think about that publication history. One thing I noticed reading Naruto over months instead of years is that there were definitely elements where, if I had last read certain parts like, five years ago instead of two months ago, I probably would have accepted a gentle retconning of events or a character’s sudden change in motivation (or like, reversal in character development), but because I had read that background recently, it didn’t work for me. Trying to make a character’s changes make sense is something that can be really fun in YGO but, maybe because I wasn’t actually in the fandom at the time or talking to anyone about it, I mostly found those inconsistencies annoying in Naruto. 

Another big reason why I probably didn’t like them is the changes didn’t have results I liked--which finally brings me back around to the actual ask, which is that what the creators did to Sakura’s character absolutely were unfair, but not quite the way this video puts it, imo. Tbh I found his insistence that Sakura is a boring, bad character no one can relate to really annoying, because some people, especially female fans, absolutely can. (Predictably, she’s one of my top faves.) Like, why say her calling out for Naruto was her defining moment in that arc? Why not her victory? Who decided all her defining moments were none of her achievements and only the times she needed help? Who decided, male fan on Youtube??? HUH?? Like I appreciate what I think he’s trying to do but... good grief. 

To be fair, I did like the way he acknowledged that healing is important, and it can still be sexist to make all your female characters healers at the same time. Professional fields with lots of women are devalued, just like in real life! 

I disagree that nothing motivates Sakura except her crush on Sasuke--this is explicitly not the case in the manga (I’ve seen some of the show, but I read the whole manga, so that’s what I’m going on.) I think it would be more accurate to say that Sakura’s character does get some cool development, but then instead of building on that, they can’t figure out (or don’t want to bother) doing something cool with her character anymore and partway through Shippuden go “Uuuuuh, well I guess she’s back into Sasuke now, despite that not really coming up for a long time (like years worth of publication time iirc), and her openly saying things to the contrary (including her no longer being interested in him, and what her true motivations now are).” I hated it because it was sacrificing Sakura’s character development for drama and to make Sasuke seem important in as many ways as possible. Barf. (Interestingly, the story sacrifices Lee’s development for the same reason. Go figure.) I could go on and on about how Sakura actually is wonderful in the story and also is totally disrespected by the narrative but I’ve tired myself out with my own outrage, so. 

Again thanks for the ask!! Anytime someone actually wants me to talk more about feminist issues my heart grows three sizes. I’m genuinely thankful and feel free to respond with any follow up you might have

[lunatic-fandom-space]

My Final Thoughts on Arc-V and What Im Going to do Next

Hey! I finished Arc-V a few hours ago and I have dome stuff to say.

First of all, the finale. Eh, I thought it was decent. Like, I loved episode 140 and thought it was a very good conclusion already, though it wouldve been nice to have a "where are they now" kinda episode. A little like the ending of the last episode of GX but extended since we had a lot of characters and all that. But instead we had these 8 episodes that made everything feel so weird and convoluted. I did like the actual final duel despite me not really liking Deklin.

Now onto more general stuff:

Obviously the character design is amazing. I vibed with most of them, and by most of them, I mean pretty much any important character than isnt Deklin; I dislike him and I dislike his fashion choices. But other than that I loved it.

Then there are the characters themselves; I think theyre lovely! There are a lot of them and I did lose track of some of them a few times but overall I think they juggled them and their idividual plotlines and motivations very well. Also, I really appreciated that they mixed things up with the groups sometimes. I feel like a lot of shows with larger casts tend to do that thing where they just pair them up and then they stay in those specific groups for the whole time, so its nice that they tried with that. I also just really liked their dynamics, they were quite charming and very fun to watch.

The villains werent quite as good as in some of the other series but they were pretty alright. I liked the concept of Zarc and thought it was executed well. Just, all of the Yu-boi stuff was great, I loved it so much! Also Dragons, lots of dragons.

Some of the character arcs felt a bit rushed to me though, especially towards the end. I cant really explain why though, sorry.

Then another thing I quite appreciated were the different summoning types. I dont pay that much attention to the duels but it was nice seeing them again. Same goes for turbo dueling, it was very nice to see that return as well (altough I am still salty that we didnt get to see anyone duel on rollerskates).

But yeah, thats about it. Now lets discuss what Im going to do next cause I have it all planned out already.

Im currently watching RT's RWBY because I lurk around the RWBYcritics subreddit a lot and follow qujfe a few RWDE/RWBY critique blogs here on tumblr but now Im finally watching it! Im not going to live blog it though (atleast for now) but I will be uploading reviews of the individual volumes as Im watching the series so yeah. Obviously that means less YGO content for a while (which I assume most of you followed me for) but dont worry! The next thing I have planned is a rewatch of the entire YGO series, but this time in Japanese and German! The only main series I havent watched yet is Sevens because there doesnt seem to be an English dub available, so I thought 'might as well just rewatch it already'. I also havent seen any of the movies or that Capumon Chess series thats also there apparently, so I'll almost definitly live blog those. I cant guarantee a (n active) live blog of the Japanese and German dub yet seeing as I already know the mayor plot beats and characters and part of the fun is live blogging it when you dont know anything about it yet, but we'll see.

Im almost done watching the first volume of RWBY by now so prepare for a review later today or maybe tomorrow morning.

Thats all I have to say for now, thanks for reading!

[slifers-executive-writer]

My Thoughts on the Potential Personality of a Certain Pharaoh We Never Met

Hey guys...It’s been a while since I wrote something about YGO specifically and well since that is the main focus of this blog, I thought I’d create another discussion. 

This particular tidbit (more like a brain fart to be completely honest) is from scrolling through this website and other social media pages and therefore stumbling on the fandom making their theories and headcanons on what Atem’s true personality is. I think we have all seen the jokes on how we as a fandom like to write him off as this super gay, suave, smooth talking, prideful king. The counter argument I often see is that he is socially awkward, fumbling serial killer, with an identity crisis. All of these claims tend to be backed up by people recalling numerous amounts of the original source material from Mr. Takahashi, but sometimes I wonder what could have been. 

Popular headcanons asides (that means we are not using any ships and/or made up assumptions with no basis), let’s talk about this for a minute. What has Kazuki provided and what can we assume about Atem’s actual character. Despite being a 200+ episode anime, several movies, and over 30 volumes of manga, our favorite author has left a lot to be desired from this guy. Once we’ve discussed the material, I’ll make a personal evaluation of what Atem could have been like had we been able to meet him after he had retrieved all his memories.

Okay so perhaps the fandom is right about one thing, Atem started out as a borderline serial killer. Well, according to the manga, he has got quite a bit of red on his ledger with multiple violent injuries/deaths by his hands.

Right at the moment Atem’s spirit was reawakened by Yugi completing the Millennium Puzzle, we have an individual very determined to protect his vessel at any cost. Of course not without his own enjoyment in participating in his “Dark Games”. So we can tell Atem is very protective of Yugi, his group of friends, and generally any other innocent bystanders. We can argue he is a little over protective via his deadly methods but I guess it’s the thought that counts right?

Luckily for Atem’s victims, he stops his magically mind-fucking bullshit after the Duelist Kingdom arc. He never explains why he stops. Perhaps it has to do with his development as a character to not be as ruthless in an attempt to comfort Yugi.  

One attribute Atem does not lose throughout the series is when confronted with any sort of enemy, we see Atem is very confident in his abilities. Another thing the fandom got right is well... he is quite the smooth talker. Despite being from a completely different era, this guy always knows what to say to enemies and rivals alike. Not to mention his motivational speeches to his friends are always quite powerful. If anything I would almost consider Atem a bit of a life coach. He more or less helped raise Yugi and company into the individuals they become. 

Along with giving everyone their moments of support, Atem does a pretty good job blending in with modern society despite being locked up in his own head for thousands of years. I find some individuals, thinking Atem is a complete fumbling socially awkward dork and well, maybe not so much. Sure he has his moments, I think we can all look back on the ‘Date’ episode, but we have to look at which version we are watching/reading. For the sake of accuracy I tend to interpret the Japanese material as it is closest to the manga. As I said, Atem isn’t perfect, he can be very blunt to people when they ask him for an opinion (or telling people it’s the end of the world if he doesn’t win a card game), but I certainly wouldn’t consider him completely ‘socially awkward’ in general. 

But honestly that can be a whole other essay and I’m just talking about basic character traits overall. Now let us discuss some of Atem’s flaws.

So to make things easier, let us list the flaws as they appeared in both manga and anime:

When Shadi was first introduced to us (manga), we got a glimpse of seeing our favorite dark spirit sweat in the heat of a shadow game. It was revealed that Atem knew little of his true identity and sharing a Yugi’s body meant, that the two would share each others emotions. Moreover, this spirit had fears and doubts just like the rest of us.

As time passes we see more of Atem’s doubts emerge as he becomes more comfortable with Yugi and company, and therefore he expresses his confusion about his past. Where did he come from and who is he and such. This guy needs to have a sense of purpose and being Yugi’s guardian is fine, but at the end of the day, it would be best for him to become his own person.

There is another interaction in the manga (and in the Japanese version of the anime) that I found interesting. When Atem addresses this identity issue and whether his time on this plain is limited, Yugi kind pushes it off as something he doesn’t want to think about. The kid does it again (god I can’t remember exactly which arc this is, I wanna say DOMA), Atem mentions the issue and Yugi says “You can have my memories”. 

For fans of the pairing (to be honest I’m a boring canon-ish shipper so not my cup of tea, but I get it...this scene is pretty gay) this moment is viewed as tender love and care but I can’t help but notice a pattern and another character flaw. We have a guy with no memories of his own and having an identity crisis but every time he wants to discuss this issue, his best friend tends to push it away. I understand Yugi’s reasoning, that Atem is basically the catalyst for all the good things to happen in his life, but the constant ignoring of the problem for the first half of the series is borderline toxic. Furthermore, it shows Atem is a bit of an enabler when it comes to Yugi. Unlike Joey who loudly addresses the behavior to Atem’s face, Yugi finds comfort in it and for both of them it only makes the journey harder for them in moments of separation.

Just something I thought I’d bring up since I don’t see a lot of people talking about moments of toxicity in this friendship. Not that it is a bad thing, I find it quite interesting and realistic. Not all relationships with people are perfect.

Last by certainly not least, Atem’s biggest character flaw, is he is one prideful son of a bitch. Yes, I said it. He likes to complain a lot about his rival (Kaiba) about the characteristic when he is also guilty of it. It’s always duelist pride this and duelist pride that, when a lot of the times this bullshit is what almost gets people killed. Atem’s pride kind of ties in with the ruthlessness of his character, where in the ride to victory he sometimes forgets the people he defeats are still humans beings. Take the incident with Arkana, it took Yugi switching back to keep the guy from getting his legs cut off. (Move out the way Jigsaw, Atem is gunning for your spot.) 

But his pride works against him when individuals such as Yami Bakura and Dartz use their words to question his morality. What would Atem do just to obtain victory? While our hero tends to grow from these experiences and beat the bad guys in the end, it does not negate the fact that the pharaoh’s greatest strength also tends to be his greatest weakness.

Okay so I’ve gotten most of Atem’s characteristics down pat before he retrieves his memories. In summary here is a list of some of his qualities I’ve gathered from the source material.

PROS

-protective & caring nature

-generally is confident in his abilities

-good with his words, knowing when to pick someone up and put his enemies down

-Adapts to modern customs and his friends pretty well, especially for someone locked up in a pendant for so long

-easily takes a leadership role (probably a projection of his kingship past) although he is often humble about his status as pharaoh

-his pride keeps his head held high and rises above all challenges

CONS

-let’s be real the guy is incredibly blunt (this could be a pro or con depending on preference)

-can be an enabler to Yugi at times

-ruthless nature (let’s be real his kill count is like 5+ people in the manga, probably more)

-has an overall identity crisis

-tends to put others above himself, which at times can be toxic or detrimental to his character

-his own pride can be used against him, placing fear and doubt into his mind (DOMA was a great example of this)

I feel like every time Takahashi draws him in a new movie, he just adds more flair and muscles (not that I’m complaining)

So now we come to a head and the big question is what are we missing out on? Perhaps one of the reasons Yu-Gi-Oh DM has so much fanfiction and forums about it is the general sense of emptiness the ending of the series left behind. I think dub Tea put it best, (these are not the exact words, I’ve already spent an hour writing this) Atem was leaving us just as we were getting to know him. Finally a season where we get to see him as his own character, and honestly him fighting bad guys and dying for it, was not the way a lot of us would have wanted to see him go. Instead he comes back to duel Yugi but Atem feels so stiff and mysterious. The guy doesn’t even talk to the poor girl crying in front of him. This isn’t a guy who just wanted to up and leave from the get go. But now that he got the information he wanted, suddenly he just says fuck it and gives a thumbs up walking into the light? Nah. I’m sorry to say the Yu-Gi-Oh is not on my top list of anime endings, but it can be one of saddest. 

I often wonder time and time again, what would have Atem been like around his friends. Maybe he would have more of a sense of humor (like he was with Mana). Would he have more wisdom? Would he be more charming? These are just a few question I and many others have about our favorite pharaoh. But hey that’s what we have headcanons for right?

Now some of you may be wondering, especially as a fanfic writer, what are my own headcanons about Atem? As I mentioned before I guess you can say I’m boring, I prefer canon-ish ships and I try to keep my headcanons as much in line with the source material as I can. Of course I add a tad of my own flair to it so it isn’t completely the same. If anything I try to fix so of the errors I see in the original. 

My headcanon for Atem (post memories): A lot of the qualities I mentioned before would most likely remain the same, if not positively amplified. He certainly wouldn’t be as ruthless as he used to be, the anime/manga has shown his growth from that. He would definitely still be very protective of those he cared about. Although I can’t help but think that after remembering his past, he would carry himself in a regal manner. Possibly even without him noticing because he was raised from birth to become a king. Considering the strong connection with his father, I can see the guy having a keen sense for family bonding, perhaps even wanting one of his own. It is traditional for pharaoh to want to pass on their legacy. I’m also sure we all like to think the guy would be incredibly charming, considering how he always seems to know exactly what to say. Although he would still be blunt with his statements, he isn’t one to lie or hold back. If you ask Atem a question you will get the truth and the honest truth. Pride and honesty are incredibly important to him. While he respects honesty, I can imagine he would like to keep personal matters to himself and not worry others. If anything he would rather stay quiet than create a lie. Lastly considering how humble he tends to be with the people around him and how he values everyone as equals, I can see Atem being very open-minded to try new things and explore various ideologies. He would not judge, or have prejudice. He would be accepting and encourage others to be who they are as long as they were good people.

 Okay so maybe he would be low-key nervous around pets lol.

Well, that was longer than I planned it to be, but thanks for reading all that if you did. Feel free to add to the conversation or blow up my inbox!

[relatablepicturesofyuugi]

yo, it’s reggie/modgoku/modreshef/etc i had too many aliases cause I was afraid of someone finding me from when i was a kid 

I felt like now would be as good a time as any to give an explanation of sorts since I’m on break from classes for a lil bit.

I became a mod to help Megan out when I was 19 and barely been back in school, as well as my home town, after a year away from home. I was bright eyed but still dealing with the side effects of a deep depression and trauma from an experience when I was 18 that I wouldn’t realize had shaken me to my core until years later. Megan had been a friend to me since I was a wee teenager, and we’d bonded over ygo so it felt like a fun thing to do to help her out. 

and it was fun at first. it was something to do when I wasn’t studying or when I should have been studying. It was a distraction during a lonely period where all I did was sit at the library so i didn’t have to go home. 

I won’t go into details, but a lot happened during this period where if it hadn’t been for this distraction, I’m not sure I would’ve been able to make it. There were a couple times I was couch hopping or trying not to hurt myself. At least I had a dumb card game show from the 90′s to make me smile at the end of the day, ya know?

But it wasn’t always fun. It got progressively less a joke and started to feel like a chore going through the activity. It didn’t help that a lot of ygo fans ranged from actively reblogging from known child porn artists to getting way too angry if you didn’t think certain versions of ygo were better than others. I won’t say I’m innocent because there were times where I’d also make fun of pretty much every version of ygo, which can be annoying for people who do genuinely love ygo. Some of them were popular bloggers and it’s some kind of whiplash when someone who’s an adult with 17k followers is vagueposting you and your main gimmick is posting dumb pictures of ygo. 

It got weird, too. A lot of people on here get really angry about...everything and aren’t good at giving anything the benefit of the doubt or trying to understand other perspectives. Which, ok, i can see where that’s ok in certain cases. But why do that with ygo? 

It stopped being fun altogether at a certain point. It sucked because I do love ygo and I love making fun of ygo because I’m the kind of person who makes fun of the things I love. If I can’t laugh at the things around me or myself, then what’s the point? 

I was getting closer to getting my degree, too, and the higher I went with school the more it pulled me out of what was a severe depression. I found myself and reasons to love who I am, and I took pride in the work I did. I was adopted by math and science professors everywhere I went, and it felt pretty good. I found out everyone in my field was a huge dork, so I felt at home. I could make fun of ygo with real people who laughed and didn’t take things so seriously. 

So i threw myself into it, and I fell in love with my field. I came a long way from the scared 19 year old who felt like a failure at life and had pretty much given up hope on myself to becoming a leading figure for coordinating stem events and building up a community college’s tutoring center. I was doing something things that actually started to matter, and I didn’t need to escape from my feelings as much anymore. Ygo internet drama became apparently clear to be a unhealthy coping mechanism that I had out grown.

It was a fun ride, though, all things considered. There were a lot of cool people who I hope get to a better place like I did if they haven’t already.

I’d like to thank some people who I can’t say enough how much I appreciated them for being positive forces (or not necessarily positive forces but I liked what they said and even tho some of them might’ve hated my guts I still think they were p cool) even when I was really going through the ringer, @millenniumpedant, @celepom, @nolifepoints, @heathermason, @leonleonhart, @lesbianmaikujaku and @arcadecryptid, @tomatorunning, @cattys-curiosities, @beeforce, @zombiekaiba, @azhdarcho, and a whole ton of other folks who I hope know who they are (a lot of anons, y’all were fun when you didn’t make it weird). 

Good luck and good bye! 

...not to say that i wont be on the internet, if anyone really wants to keep in touch feel free to send an ask for my personal, but i figured i was liked as a dumb mod on a dumb blog, it’s probably best to think of me that way rather than getting to know me outside of it :p 

[vrainsrewatch]

episode 19 thoughts

this is... the most screenshot heavy post i’ve made so far, lmao, so please bear with me. as i’ve said, this is one of my favorite duels, and there’s a lot that gets covered here. like, seriously, i haven’t written this post out yet but i can guarantee this will be my longest so far lmao.

the beginning of the episode starts off fairly standard, and mostly dueling:

i really do love the pacing of this duel. i was glued to the edge of my seat while watching these episodes. i remember it so clearly, too, because i’d been binge watching from episode 16 that day, and got to like, 24 by the time i stopped, lmao.

ai does a lot of cute/funny stuff this episode, to help break up some of the more dark tones of the rest of it, like this:

it really makes me miss hi in this form :( i really like his soltis form, don’t get me wrong, but i miss him on yusaku’s wrist lol. i would say when things were less angsty, but, well. lmao.

we very quickly get akira’s rad boss monster summoned out:

and seriously, i just love the animation for it. it’s so sick. the door, the fire, how it looms behind him at first.... aaaaaa. so cool.

and of course the classic:

the worst part about this line is it’s said so often (esp in arc v LOL) that i actually. have slipped up and said it in normal, day to day conversation before. my boyfriend looked at me for like a minute and gave me the deepest sigh i’ve ever heard the first time i did that pff.

also:

i couldn’t not screencap this, given what my blog is for LOL

every time something reminds me of that painful final duel, i have to screencap it and make you guys sad with me. if i have to be sad seeing all this stuff, knowing where their relationship goes and how the series ends, so do you.

also, though, i forgot how often this was brought up before the bohman duel lmao. it makes that theory look a lot more credible, so it’s cool that it had all these little hints towards it, even if it ultimately wasn’t true.

seriously, my heart. i don’t think i need to talk much about this scene to make y’all sad, but really. they went from this to i loved you. ugh, god, i’m so sad thinking about it lmao.

there is so much to talk about between akira and playmaker and even blue angel in this episode, so i guess we’ll start here.

it is hard to decide that you want to take control of your trauma and do something about it. it is not easy. to see yusaku fight for that right so thoroughly is incredible, and really, really validating.

more sadness! seriously, this is too much. this deck was created specifically for him by ai. i don’t like this anymore lmao

but even besides that, often times the protag’s decks mean a lot to them, obviously, but i love that it wasn’t built strictly by yusaku. his cards were literally made by ai, and i think that’s such a cool twist. 

but then, akira’s speech:

i talked last time about akira wanting to handle things himself, and i briefly touched on him thinking he knows best...

but i really admire how calm yusaku stays at that tbh. he gets angry, reasonably so imo, but he takes this so well. i know i was a much more volatile kid then he is, so respect lol

i’ve spoken at length already about akira, but i also want to talk again about how oblivious he is. he is so blinded by his own thoughts and feelings on the situation that he doesn’t stop to think about how yusaku might be feeling -- and worse, honestly, how his sister might be feeling.

it was why he was so visibly shocked when emma mentioned a few episodes ago that aoi wasn’t just a little kid anymore. it’s so clear that he still, at the moment, sees her as the six year old girl he swore to protect, and not the sixteen year old person she’s become. he doesn’t think about how she might be feeling towards his actions, or why she does what she does.

this is highlighted as early as episode 6 iirc, when he asks her why aren’t you happy? as much as i, personally, dislike his character, i can’t deny it’s very realistic and well written.

speaking of aoi:

i love how she’s written in this episode, too. but her entrance here is great, and i love how she stands up to him about this. it’s minor, but it’s still a good step. when she’s blue angel -- or blue girl, or blue maiden -- she feels comfortable doing that. at least a little, and it obviously grows throughout the series. i hope that transfers over to the real world for her, too.

and then, we finally get the full story:

i remember flinching when he started talking about it, remembering the shots of yusaku getting electrocuted from his duel with revolver.

i really love this. i said it last episode, but vrains handles yusaku’s trauma so realistically and it’s amazing.

i remember originally staring open mouthed at my tv screen while this part played. we got a bit of it from the other episode, but the full context truly shocked me. where’s that post that says “who thought this was an acceptable backstory to give to a card game protag” bc honestly??? YEAH

it’s still hard to watch. it’s still hard to see play out, even if it’s only fiction. even though i’ve seen these clips so many times, and written about them in detail a few times too. doesn’t matter lol. watching it in context actually still made my stomach drop.

which leads me to talk about reactions to this, actually:

the two that vrains focuses heavily on are blue angel’s and kusanagi’s, and they contrast really well here imo.

blue angel’s is a normal reaction. it’s horrified, both at the thought of it happening and at the fact that someone would actually do that to another person -- a six year old child, no less.

kusanagi’s is strained. he is angry hearing about this, thinking about jin. we’ve been told, and have seen in the last few episodes, how much the lost incident impacted kusanagi and his brother, but i really love that the show tells us that here, too, and shows the difference between hearing about a tragedy and being involved in some manner.

i did not expect it at all when first watching vrains, and honestly, it still impresses me how gracefully they handled it coming off of arc v (cough, shun i love you but really cough cough). no hate on arc v at all, it’s my third favorite ygo very close behind gx, but the difference between the two on how they handle these things is staggering.

this whole section makes me thing that ryoken talked to yusaku fairly often, after the first time. which is something i don’t see brought up often? but that’s so important imo. it meant that yusaku had someone encouraging him not just once or twice, but on the regular, but also it meant that ryoken was constantly risking himself to comfort that child. 

we don’t see too much of ryoken when he’s a kid, but we do see him scared and crying over the lost incident. the fact that he was able to talk calmly to this child so many times is really amazing. it also makes more sense as to why ryoken feels so guilty over calling the police -- he probably felt that maybe if he had just kept up his encouragement, the kids would’ve all gotten out okay and his father wouldn’t be in a coma. 

this was so powerful. it’s obvious, and i think anyone with half a brain would understand that the LI isn’t something that a kid would recover from easily, but i love this anyways. 

he wasn’t saved. and even if he was in body, it’s still something he and all the other victims will live with for the rest of their lives.

this also is something i don’t feel like people bring up enough, but does this mean that yusaku went around asking the kids at the hospital when he was rescued? it’s not hard to believe they were all put together, at least for a short amount of time, but it’s still something i feel like people overlook. 

i also love this, because it’s nice foreshadowing to how revolver feels. he’s not captured, not like yusaku and the lost kids were, but he is a prisoner. and just like ryoken saved yusaku, way back then, he is determined to repay the favor.

not just because of that, either. because that voice meant so much to him. because that voiced saved him. because that voice understood him, and was there for him in his hardest moments. god i love them.

i love this shot. it’s so dramatic, how the match the drum beats with flashes of everyone’s reactions.

but it drives home his point, and while i know most of akira’s development came through emma and aoi, i’m sure this helped, too. 

i’ve sung vrains praises this entire post, but i’ll do it again -- this is incredible. this is so realistic. it’s so well portrayed. and it’s really honest to god incredible that we got a protag in ygo who was shown going to therapy. 

ygo has always dealt with some pretty dark subject matter, and it’s never really been shy about showing it on screen. i’m not saying that at all. arc v obviously dealt with some pretty heavy stuff, and while i haven’t seen zexal (keep shaming me please) i know it does, too. 5ds obviously has the dark signer arc, and the later arcs concerning bruno and also yusei’s father, and gx has... well, it’s entire third and fourth season. 

but we see everyone healing via card games. we see those shows talk about these things, but kind of at the same time, skirt around the subject matter; or if they do go deep into it, they pull out (ie 5ds) or the characters don’t get resolved properly (ie arc v). 

idk where i was going with this but i just really love that this happened, this was shown on screen, and they stuck to yusaku’s character. they didn’t just... up and make his trauma and his world view disappear at the end. he has a bittersweet ending, but it suited him and his development. a lot of people were mad about it, and i get it -- i wanted him to be happy, too.

but that’s not always the case, and it’s really important to me that vrains doesn’t pretend it is.

anyways, though, i’m almost done with this episode i promise lmao. before the episode ends, we get this:

and i think it’s honestly kind of cruel that akira says this, after everything, and still maintains his point of handling it himself. he has heard, first hand now, how horrible the incident has scarred yusaku for life. and yet, he still is stubborn in refusing to relate or at the very least empathize.

what i mean by that, since we obviously see him attempt to last episode, is he refuses to look at it from someone’s else’s perspective or in a way that might make him uncomfortable. the way my boyfriend describes these kinds of people is that they “haven’t had their bubble popped”.

everyone has a bubble when they’re born, and that bubble shields you from realizing that the world is a cruel and hard place. even if you go through hardships, sometimes your bubble stays put, and you think that is the worst of what can happen. 

i’m explaining this very poorly, because i’m running on not much sleep and i’ve been typing about this episode for like, far, far too long, but essentially, he refuses to step out of his comfort zone and recognize, in playmaker’s case, that he doesn’t have a right to interfere and that playmaker’s desire to handle it himself is justified and helpful for his healing. and in aoi’s case, that just because he does a lot of good for her doesn’t automatically mean ignoring her for work and keeping her locked in their house is an okay trade off. and also that she’s not a child anymore -- she’s nearly an adult and she deserves to be treated as one. 

those thoughts seem to unsettle him. you can kind of see it in how detached he is after hearing all that come from playmaker. blue angel is visibly shaken up by what he’s said. akira doesn’t even flinch, because he’s not really listening right now. 

i’m glad he learns to, or at least learns how to start, later on.

anyways, i think that’s enough for this post lmao. this took forever to type up, so let’s hope i actually have time to cover up to 21 here today LOL. if you read all that, thank you for your time on my kind of dumb vrains thoughts :’)

[tastes-like-ciel]

I agree that Vrains likely isn't ending quite yet, but were you aware of the staff members tweeting out that they were finished with production? Two of them did so before deleting their tweets, including one very prominent story-boarder (idk the term sorry) who worked with Noh Gil-Bo on every episode for season 3, stating that 116 was his last episode. It IS a little sus and I totally understand why people are concerned.

Yes, actually. 

I follow quite a few of them and have seen the tweets myself, but none of them actually outright stated the show is ending soon (and in the one case where the episode number was mentioned, it could just be they decided to accept a different job opportunity). They have to produce episodes well in advance so for all we know, they’re talking about an episode months away. There’s really no way of knowing what they meant by the tweets timewise because we don’t know what episode they’re working on and I imagine the deleted ones were either because they caused a misunderstanding, they weren’t allowed to talk about it yet, or both. The whole thing is weird: from the vague tweets about production wrapping up to the lack of announcements from news blogs and official sources. I really want to believe they would announce something because otherwise, that’s a big slap in the face to the fans who have stuck with VRAINS for so long and the director has even apologized to fans for things in the past (back when we had a ton of recaps episodes). So taking that into account, I just don’t believe they’ll suddenly end it early without making an announcement about it first. 

I really do understand the concern because, like I said, it is weird. But there’s no hard evidence to prove it so I just can’t bring myself to believe this is it. It really wouldn’t make any sense for them to end it now. In fact, it’d hurt them. YGO is a tool for Konami to advertise cards, but they’re aware fans enjoy the characters and stories, too. Plus, the Playmaker figma is coming out in September, as well, and it seems like a very poor decision to end something you want to advertise stuff for. I know Konami doesn’t make the best decisions (see the whole thing with Kojima and then canceling Silent Hills, as an example), but it really would be a bad decision to end VRAINS without saying anything about it. Typically, viewers know when an anime is about to end and there’s just no way VRAINS can wrap everything up in four episodes. Playmaker and Ai’s duel is probably going to take up at least two episodes and then the fallout from whatever happens with it could take up a whole episode in itself. People expect Revolver and Playmaker to duel each other again and “settle things”, as Revolver promised they would do way earlier. I can’t imagine that will be done in one episode because it’s the protag and rival pair. They’d want to go all-out on a duel with them and one episode just isn’t enough.

It’s just really hard to believe they would go this route, knowing it’s going to hurt everyone in the long run. Again, I do understand the concern. I hope we get more information soon so we can prepare for whatever lies ahead (which is hopefully the originally expected show ending next year). Also, some news about the timeslot change would be nice.

[halchron]

* multimuse munday // accepting // @yumeiis

ah, sawah strikes again ! under a read more like always ^^

Which muse(s) is/are your favourite(s)?

top 4 have to be prompto, kuroo, ven, and hope !

Which muse(s) do you wish had more interactions?

hmmm, green or bartz ! or link

Name a muse you have written in the past. What was your favourite thing about this muse?

yosuke from p4, he was one of my first muses here ! I love how kind and caring he is, and how he becomes more confident as the game goes on !

Name a muse you wish to write in the future. What’s your favourite thing about this muse?

well, vaan’s been a muse I’ve wanted to pick up, and he’s very cheery and we all know that’s step 1 for laylacore muses lmao

How is your multimuse blog organised?

uhhh it’s not organized compared to some other’s I’ve seen yhtrgdfsdgtf. but all the muses have individual tags, so that makes things easier to find, as opposed to everything being in one big hc tag or smth

Do you have crossover verses for the muses on your blog?

um between my own muses, no ? but in general yeah I have a lot of them lmao.

Which of your muses deserves better?

in what sense jythtgfdrf. but generally hope, ventus, and ryuji, life really spit in their faces

Which of your muses do you most identify with? Why?

prompto ! I relate to a lot of his self image problems, and his role in the group / as a friend too. just without the whole sad backstory haha

If you could change the faceclaim for any of you muses, would you do it?

no because all of their faces are perfect !! 

Do you have any original characters on your multimuse? If so, tell us something more about them.

I don’t atm but I’ve always wanted to add some, but I’m too shy for that lol

How many muses are you currently writing?

16 and counting baby !

In how many fandoms are you currently active?

mmm I have a few muses in a few different fandoms, but the ones I’m most active in are the hq, kh, and ff fandoms I’d say

What is your favourite fandom to write in? Why?

probably the hq fandom bc while it is a little small, literally everyone I’ve met in it has been super wonderful and nice

What is a fandom you wish to write in one day?

I’d like to be more active in the fe or pokemon fandoms, but there’s too many crusties so I keep my distance lmao

What is a fandom you used to write in in the past?

I used to be in the ygo fandom for like. 2 seconds

What is your favourite thing when you decide to add a new muse to your blog/when you decide to make a new blog?

I like looking at all the art of them ! also starting threads with them !

Share an opinion you have about multimuse blogs.

they’re cool, but they’re not for everyone ! it’s also a little tough at times, juggling a lot of muses, but it’s also nice to have them all in one place so you’re not flooded with a bunch of single muse blogs

Does your multimuse blog have a theme? Do the muses on your blog have something in common?

I’ve come to notice that hearts seem to be a running theme ! and all but one of my muses are male, so ig that’s something they have in common !

What is the story or explanation behind your blog name?

it’s isolation + love smashed together ! it was left over from when this was an oc blog, and I didn’t change it bc it grew on me haha

Which muse(s) do you currently have most muse for?

kuroo and yams bc I saw some s4 art of hinata and kags and it made me loose my mind lmao, but also ven since I’m play bbs atm

Share a positive experience about multimuses you’ve had in the past.

in general, I love talking to muns about similar tastes we have, as well as rping with the same mun but with a bunch of different muses and see how different dynamics work !

List some of your favourite multimuse blogs.

I won’t @ them for their own sanity but you, vijekni, yikeen, theirwarmth, musetides, litteriae, theirpassion, faelot, and cynett to name a few !

Tag a multimuse blog and write some positivity about them (their blog, their muses, etc.)

well since you’re here, might as well talk about you ! you’re so chill and down to earth I always love talking to you !! you seem like just the type of person who I’d love to visit a cat cafe with and talk about anything and everything with or nothing at all ! you’re goals tbh !

[hyperdrivehearts]

Is the number ask thing still something you do? If so, 2, 15 and 18 please ^-^

QUESTIONS FOR THE MUN, REGARDING THE MUSE

(Always accepting these anon!! Seeing people ask me things (especially strangers on anon– it makes me happy that people are interested in my muses!!))

2. What made you decide to write this muse? 

Kalin and Yusei have always been my favorite 5ds characters, ever since it originally aired in Canada! There’s this channel called YTV (youth television) that had a Saturday morning bit called Crunch where you’d get your regular Saturday morning cartoons, and in the early afternoon some anime would air! It was always in this order: Beyblade Metal Fight, Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds, Pokemon Diamond & Pearl.) My parents were and are seperated, so I was only able to catch episodes every second week (I relied heavily on the previous episode recaps but it would mess me up when things would have repeats) had a very hard time remembering the name of 5Ds for some reason, and was never able to catch up online of missed episodes like I did for beyblade.

Because I never could catch up on what i missed, I didn’t get back into YGO as a whole until 2012, where I originally wrote Yusei on wattpad in my original Dark Signer AU. (He had a really cool old lady seer for a friend (who was supposed to be Carly’s grandma(??)) and I had a self insert OC who was Crow’s sister and was supposed to be Yuseis love interest (how how far I’ve come.) ANYWAYS what I’m getting at here, is that Yusei has been a muse of mine since like 2012.

I rewatched 5D’s in about…..2016?? Maybe later????And then again not long after I met Kasa ( @soulburnings ) on her Manjoume blog, and then Kasa made her Yu boys blog, and THEN HER CURRENT BLOG FOR TAKERU and it’s Kasa’s fault entirely for getting me back into YGO. Since Kalin and Yusei were my faves back then (What can I say?  I love batshit murderers and cool bro characters– I have terrible tast,) it only felt natural to gravitate back towards them.

TLDR: Blame Kasa. Ily Kasa.

15. Would you like your muse as a person if you met them in real life?

Yusei could get along with a fucking LAMP POST honestly. He’s friendly, understanding, a bro, and he’s very patient with people and always sees the best in them. I feel like he’d be a person you could spill tea to, and he’d never tell a soul.

Kalin on the other hand…. not so much. Enforcer!Kalin would have definitely been someone I could get along with, while Dark Signer!Kalin would, y’know, try to kill me as one does. My Present!Kalin and hell, even canon Present!Kalin, are not a) approachable, b) are very open c) they both have the habit of shoving people away. And like, I also self project onto Kalin A LOT, and something that not a lot of people seem to realize that if you met someone so similarly like you, ESPECIALLY in the negative aspects, you probably wouldn’t get along that well and butt heads.

18. What aspect of your muse’s personality is most important to you? What aspect of your muse’s personality do you think is most important to them? Is it the same? Why or why not? 

Unpopular opinion: the fandom likes to make Yusei seem like an “uwu good cinnamon roll boi who can do no harm uwuwu” so for me, personally, it’s very important to acknowledge that he has one hell of a petty attitude and temper. It’s established right from episode 1, where he revs his engine because his friends didnt realize he was back home in the subway– he doesn’t say anything (and the reaction of Tank, Nervin, Blitz and Rally implies that this is a regular occurrence with him.) Yusei has shown on multiple occassions that he isnt afraid to throw his disk down and knock sense into someone with his fists. He built another, and better duel runner, to go after Jack solely for his Stardust Dragon card– it wasn’t even a revenge plot, he just wanted what was rightfully his.

(Not to mention, he has one hell of a resting bitch face. He’s scowling so much, I don’t think he even realizes it.)

Despite all of this, from destroying duel disks and decks as an Enforcer, to he and Jack punching each other in the face, I think it’s equally important to know that even when Yusei is being a bit of a prick, he doesn’t hold onto negativity and resent– he essentially doesn’t hold any grudges. (However, he does hold onto grief and sadness, so much so that Luna picks it out while communicating with his duel spirits in the dub.) After he got Stardust back, while he was still rightfully peeved at Jack for his actions, Yusei forgave him and moved on.

Despite all of Yusei’s good qualities, and being an excellent friend, Yusei does have negativity inside of him and that part shouldn’t be ignored. People are not black and white.

As for what he values about himself: nothing. Yusei doesn’t really have an ego. He knows he’s good at dueling, he knows he’s good with technology and mechanics, but hes humble about both things. He doesn’t value one over the other. He loves his friends, and protecting them is second nature to him, but he believes that everyone needs to value the people they’re close to, so it’s not really a part of his personality that he finds the most important.

Honestly, if theres anything that he’d think that’s the most important to him, it’s his pride. I know that sounds selfish, especially when it’s in Yusei’s case, but when Kalin crushed his pride, it shook him to the core where Yusei felt as if he didn’t trust himself dueling. For him, I don’t think its a matter of honour as much as it is a matter of justice. He takes pride in his friends and family, he takes pride in being a Satellite, he takes pride in fighting for the right thing: it’s less about himself than it is about other people.

For Kalin, I’m going to solely focus on my portrayal bc fuck canon, but anyways, it’s his determination to keep fighting, to keep living and knowing that people can change. He probably valuse that part of himself too, but he’d never admit it.  Kalin has literately gone through hell and back, and has come out entirely traumatized, but he doesn’t let that trauma win.

(suicide mentions below.)

Kalin’s suffering from PTSD and depression, and he is suicidal, yet he never truly gives up (until he’s sent to the mines in Crash Town, really.) When he first arrived at Crash Town to die, he could have lost his duel on purpose, but he never did until Yusei showed up. I think a part of it is pride, not wanting to go down without a fight, but I don’t believe Kalin was only fighting other duelists– he was fighting himself and his right to live. He already offed himself in the Facility.

As someone who tried to commit suicide twice, it’s important that Kalin keeps on fighting through it. There’s going to be bad days, days where you can’t leave your bed, days where you let out a nice cry in a hot shower. Keeping yourself going, for any reason, is very important because things do get better. (Im not great, but im better, and so is Kalin.) If that reason is as small as needing to feed your cat, its a good reason to keep going. For Kalin, he wanted to see Yusei once more and then he’d be satisfied.

Kalin’s not perfect, he is an ass and he knows that, but he does want to be better so other things can get better for him and rebound off of each other. (I was a prick too when I was in that mental state.) Things get better, but you also need to take charge and make it better yourself and Kalin knows he can force light into the darkness he was wallowing in for nearly 4 years.

It’s not a personality point, but I’m sure Kalin is just happy to be alive.

[sakurarisen]

✔웃ツ[<3]

RP related mun memes!

✔ : What drew you to the character you currently play? What types of characters are you generally drawn to?

Sera is an OC born... Honestly, well over a decade ago. Probably close to 15 years ago, probably? I think what drew me to her in general and her character is her struggle with overcoming trauma and things that’ve happened to her, as well as trying to fit in - something I to this day struggle with myself. Sera is as warm, loyal, caring, and supportive as I try to be, but there’s just this inability to fit in among the general public, not for lack of trying, we both share, and I really do think that’s something that draws me to Sera. On top of that, she has one hell of a big heart and a kindness that’s refreshing to write, and I’ve always loved that about her. No matter how much she grows and changes, Sera’s kindness and genuineness never ceases and never changes, and it’s always amazing to write and see. <3

But to borrow from something I’ve heard now from more than one friend XD I’m usually pretty drawn to the characters who fill the ‘supportive best friend’ role, like Sera, Kunsel, Jessie... Even Cissnei, to a degree, falls into this role, and I write all of them but Jessie (who I’ve considered XD). The characters who aren’t so much on the protagonist level, but are ones with a strong voice who can go to the best friend protag and shake them out of a funk, or help pick them back up, even if it’s just to help lift their mood a bit and help them think of something else for an hour or two. The friend type who has your back no matter what, even if they’re going through their own personal hell. The partners and the companions, really; I don’t think I’d ever be able to write a convincing protagonist, especially when I love the characters who don’t have much to their name past being that close companion, for a lot of reasons.

웃 : An existing character you’ve played in the past that you miss?

You’re just saying this ‘cause I have an 8 mile long list of old af OCs XD Uh... I think I’m gonna say an old OC boy of mine for this, Caleb Harcourt. He’s a programmer and artist who keeps getting thrown into the magical and mystical against his will and man, all he wants is his dinner, not to question why the sky is orange and there’s a dragon coming out of the clouds and why in the world is this kid over here summoning a giant fireball monster, he’s going back to bed- XD Caleb is my kicked muse who gets thrown into just about anything and is usually the ‘normal’ one - No powers or magic or fighting skills to his name aside from street fighting if he needs to, just... A guy.

Bonus mention for one who IS coming back on another blog in the near future: Ice Hiwatari, a quiet guy who’s seriously lost and doesn’t know how to socialize since he’s kept himself fairly isolated for a lot of reasons. His (nick)name is the theme he’s given himself and what he tries to be: cool and collected as ice to keep himself safe and people out. Not to be a jerk, but just because he’s got so much going on in his life he has no idea how to handle it and he doesn’t want to drag people into his problems. Looking forward to writing him again <3

If we’re talking muses that’ve had/been on blogs? Aoi Sakazaki, my sassy af YGO GX and ARC-V OC who seems like an idiot at first glance, but give her a bit of time and she’s a loyal and fiercely protective friend who’s gonna go to bat for you and kick some teeth in. <3 She’s not the brightest when it comes to book smarts unless she feels like paying attention, but street smarts? Dueling? games and strategizing? Aforementioned teeth kicking? Random pig trivia, since they’re her favorite animals? She’s your girl! <3 As she’s previously been called - “ Aoi is always just Aoi. She’s just a weird-ass absolute.”

ツ : An OC you created that you are proud of?

Can I say Sera? Because by god I am proud of my girl. <3 She’s had a lot of growth in just this last year alone and I’m excited to see how she keeps growing, both in terms of here - her FF verses - and just being Sera in general. She’s come incredibly far from the girl I originally had for a muse all those years ago and only gotten stronger and kinder, and she’s doing the best she can - The most I can ask of her, and myself. She’s really come into her own and her muse has never been stronger, even as I myself deal with things slowing me down. Kind, soft, warm, friendly, supportive, hides things behind the most genuine smile and offered hand to help and refuses to pull anyone down when she can instead pick them back up, no matter the cost... A girl who is learning how to stand on and come into her own in ways she hasn’t been able to before this last year or so.

I am incredibly proud of Sera, moreso than I have ever been, and I love her. <3 I’m looking forward to seeing her grow even more~!

[ask-thebrothers-kaiba]

A long read, but --

/ I started feeling a little burnout muse-wise on both blogs, so I decided to go looking for some old YGO writings I have lying around. This one I found on my old (OLD) highschool laptop about one of my old-ish OCs Skyler, and a newer one I created last year, Cassandra. They’re both tied into the YGO universe, both of them working under Kaiba. 

Skyler’s role really isn’t that substantial; she’s just the receptionist in KC’s lobby (she interacts more with Yugi and Co when they stroll in from time to time). Cassandra I made specifically to be Seto’s personal assistant, because I wanted to test the boundaries of my theory that he’d be more willing to place his trust and respect in women -- to a similar level that he trusts Roland and the other guy whose name I can’t remember ( rip, I’m sorry :c ). I hope that isn’t too ~social justice~ for anyone, because that really isn’t the intent -- it was more something I noticed while watching the series, aka, Seto’s few-and-far-between interactions with women ( see Tea/Anzu as a prime example; I don’t count Ishizu however, because she not only tried to make him believe something which he viewed as completely fictitious, but she also became an important rival during Battle City, and we all know how he treats his rivals ). 

With that being said, I went ahead and threw Cassandra into the most uncomfortable and off-putting situation I could imagine in the beginning of the series: During Seto’s coma after his first duel with Yami Yugi. None of it’s truly canon to the tale, but I really enjoyed the outcome! And I hope you guys will, too, because I’m putting the whole thing under a cut. The very first part is obviously set further into the future than the rest of this story (I wanted to give myself the option of continuing it if I wanted to in-future). 

                                                                                                         “I feel as though I always understood – him, I mean. Mokuba has let little things slip here and there that have made me wonder. I don’t know if you have ever really listened, but I have.

               “Boys don’t just grow up into men like him, yaknow? He’s holding back something so old… No, no. It’s more like he’s holding it in. Pushing it away. Shoving it down where he thinks it belongs – do I make any sense to you?”

                 Sitting at the back of a newly-built Kaiba Corp. cafe, Yugi nodded, and responded with a tone so nostalgic that made Cassandra feel more at ease with her thoughts.

              “Believe me, I get it. I learned that a long time ago. He’s really something else.”  

“To expect the unexpected” is a phrase very familiar to those dealing in the world of corporate business. Anything and everything could go wrong with the wrong move, the wrong people – it was simply a matter of being prepared. In most situations, Cassandra would have been.  As a secretary and part-time assistant of the young man Kaiba Corp., she had earned her place outside the CEO’s headquarters, as well a relative amount of trust between herself and the president’s younger brother and their bodyguard, Roland. Most days, her tasks would be laid out for her the moment she arrived, and throughout the day’s latter hours they would all be finished, one after the other. Impossible scheduling, massive file maintenance, keeping a watchful eye on every new schemer about to enter her boss’s abode – all standard tasks she had learned to keep rhythm with. Something felt very atypical on a morning she came in early, however. Everyone seemed on edge and quiet, as if afraid speaking might trigger an assassination. Walking through the Kaiba Corporation lobby was now strange and unfamiliar to Cassandra; like uncharted territory. She carried herself onward toward an elevator across the room, but not a soul looked away from their duties except to glance at her as she passed, looking back to their tasks once she was out of range. Not even the receptionist, Skyler, seemed happy as she usually was. The woman uttered a quiet “Welcome to Kaiba Corp.” to the sound of closing doors, and that was that. Cassandra’s first guess – a quick, short-sighted one – might have been that the bad weather starting off their day was affecting to blame, but rather than sticking to that idea, she felt the need to ask what was going on. She’d heard nothing so far from anyone in the room, no one had bothered to call, she had no e-mails -- If something serious had happened, where was the news? Why was she the last to know? Skyler, as good an acquaintance as she was, hadn’t bothered to warned her beforehand either.

“Have I done something wrong? Have I been fired? I wish someone would just say something!”

Changing her course of direction, Cassandra went to Skyler’s desk, gently tapping her head to get her attention.

               “Skyler, did you not see me come in? What’s going on? What happened since yesterday?” She asked, growing concerned with each passing second.  She could feel the anxiety clawing at her back, reeling internally as it manifested in her voice. Skyler looked on at her in pity, as if she didn’t know what to say, but exhaled and attempted to answer anyway.

               “Something happened to mister Kaiba last night. He’s in the hospital, supposedly in a coma, but for some reason nobody knows why. You… Saw him in school yesterday, right? I took yesterday off, so I don’t know anything about his whereabouts.”

                 Cassandra nodded, although her memory of actually seeing him was vague. She and the young man in question were roughly the same age, but Cassandra had tested out of the tenth grade long before Kaiba’s sudden enrollment, making it difficult for her to have seen him there in person. She did hear of “some new rich kid” arriving in a limousine, however, so by putting two and two together, she guessed that must have been him.

               “Well,” Cassandra replied, “He came back here right after school that day – we arrived at the same time. But he left the building within the hour, school uniform and all – and he seemed so serious. Well, I mean; he’s always serious, but this was different. It kind of felt like… Rage.”

               “It? You mean he was angry?”

               “Oh! Yeah, that’s- that’s more what I meant. The air about him was really unpleasant at best, and I remember Mokuba insisting on going with him.”

               “Poor kid…  Anyway, all I’ve heard is that he ended up on the other side of town where a new Dueling Arena is being constructed. The one with the technology our company and Industrial Illusions have been putting their resources into. Mokuba called an ambulance from there, and we’ve been told to go about business as usual. We’re not allowed to say a word to anyone outside this building – it’s all very hush-hush. So, sorry for the lack of forewarning.” Skyler ended with a sigh, her fingers tracing a circle on her forehead.

               “Tensions are so high right now and we don’t even know what’s going on…”

               The woman’s skepticism was apparent, though this wasn’t to say she didn’t feel concerned. Kaiba may have been a harsh young man, brash and unrelenting with his employees, but he was well-respected. No one wanted to think about what it might mean for Seto to die, for not only the company’s sake, but for Mokuba’s. It was common knowledge that the CEO Kaiba was Mokuba’s legal guardian, but as far as familial connections, that’s as far as it all went. No one knew what might come of the younger boy, should his brother not pull through.

               Cassandra swallowed a dry lump in her throat and rubbed the tops of her hands.

               “So anyway, some schmucks called The Big Five will be running things in his stead, and I really don’t think mister Kaiba would agree with what they’re doing. I can’t say for sure, but… I don’t know. I don’t know either of the boys personally, but I can’t help but feel like something isn’t right.”

               By the tone of Skyler’s voice and the uncanny reversal of her usual mood, Cassandra had to agree.

               “Do you think I should… Try to contact Mokuba or something? I really want to know if he’s alright. I’m not deeply familiar with them either, but I do know how much he loves his brother, and I don’t know if he has anyone to go to. Except for Roland, maybe…”

               Cassandra was hesitant to take action despite having a strong urge to do so. She cared a great deal for both of the Kaiba brothers, but this was the CEO of Domino’s fastest growing corporation and his little brother she was dealing with. A different protocol was supposed to be taken with elites like them, but at the same time, Cassandra questioned what kind of person she would be if she let a little boy suffer in his time of need. Whether he be a middle-class citizen or the richest kid in the world, Mokuba was still just a child faced with the harsh reality of life and its worst outcome. It may not have been her job, or her place, but it was absolutely her duty to help a boy desperately in need of support. Or at least, that’s how she started to justify it in her head. Skyler’s input only served to strengthen her resolve.

               “I think that’s a fine idea. I wish I could to it myself, but Mokuba seems to trust you more than the rest of us. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re on Roland’s level by now. Or, you’re close, at least. Does mister Kaiba trust you at all?”

               “Oh, no, I’m not as close to them as you’re thinking. Mokuba likes me, sure, but he’s just a kid. I sneak him treats and keep him company when his brother is busy, but that’s the extent of it.” The humbleness of her tone belied what seemed to be an apparent truth to Skyler, but since she had no evidence, she decided to shrug the notion off.

               “Still, though. Mokuba needs help, and I think you’re the perfect person for the job. Now, go! Don’t waste anymore time! Oh, and you might want to prepare a statement in case word gets out. Or, I mean – I could try to do that for you? I’m not exactly qualified, but I could give it a shot.”

               Her sudden sudden burst of enthusiasm was enough to give Cassandra the kick she needed to get into gear. She thought about her friend’s offer a moment, but ultimately declined.

               “No, no, it’s fine. If this is all as “hush-hush” as you said, then whoever writes the statement will have to speak with the current higher-ups, and I’ll be where they are anyway. I’ll call Mokuba first and then talk to them, no big deal.”

               Except for the fact that it felt like a big deal. What anxiety felt like before, an unknowing and unseen dread, was now entirely anticipatory in nature. First the elevator. Then the stops. The people. The small-talk she hates when she’s thinking about bigger things – picking up the phone to finally make the call, not knowing what to expect on the other end. A flurry of thoughts, feelings, that too-familiar scratching at the back of her legs—

               “Take a deep breath, Cass. It’s just a phonecall. This isn’t anything you haven’t done before.”

               Skyler gave Cassandra one last eager smile, waving goodbye to her as she entered the elevator to the right of the desk. Once its doors shut, Cassandra pressed the button that would take her to the top floor, hoping- no, praying, that she wouldn’t get caught by too many stops. The building was quite large compared to the rest of the city, and held many more people than she thought it might need, and as such people coming in and out of elevators was no uncommon occurrence. She seemed to have luck in her favor, however, and had arrived to the designated floor almost in no time flat.

                Cassandra had reached her station with little interaction to hold her back. There was that one guy from the fifth floor nobody wanted to get stuck with, but that was the least of her concerns. The moment the doors in front of her opened up, she made a bee-line to her desk, promptly setting her work bag below it before sitting down. A conference room down the hall was open and buzzing with conversation – unusual for that time of day, but not shocking. “The Big Five” were apparently in charge for the time being, so she figured it must have been them in that room. Cassandra’s curiosity would normally have overwhelmed her if it weren’t for little Mokuba looming over her thoughts, though she had caught a quick glance of a man’s face through the doorway. She squinted her eyes as if trying to erase the interest of what was going on, looking to her bag to keep his gaze from turning to her. She then bent down, taking her cell phone out of the bag, sitting upright once more to find Mokuba’s contact. Although he wasn’t necessarily supposed to, the boy had given her his phone number and received hers in turn for emergencies (and emergency snacks). It was a rare thing to get a call from Mokuba, as Cassandra generally wasn’t far from him at any given time, but one situation did come up once where Roland was not available to pick him up from school, leaving Seto to hesitantly entrust her with getting Mokuba from there to the company building. His trust was well-placed, as he was nearly relieved to see, but an incident like that never came up again – Seto, of course, made sure of that. Secretly Cassandra wished it might happen again, as she enjoyed hearing about the boy’s day, how he couldn’t wait to show his big brother a good grade, how well he did on his last math test! It reminded her of her own brother – they were the same age, now that she thought about it.

               “Alright, alright, no more distractions. Should I call him with this phone, though? That would technically be talking on the job, and it isn’t allowed if I’m not on break. However…” She thought, setting her personal phone down in exchange for the one on her desk.

               “No one said I couldn’t use this phone to make an important personal call. Well, it’s probably still frowned upon, but I can at least cover for myself if I’m using this one. I’d be more suspicious with my cell.”

               That little dilemma now resolved, Cassandra quickly scrolled through the contacts list on her cell phone, wrote down the number elsewhere, placing the device back into her bag. Occasionally, she would glance up to see if anyone noticed this blatant violation of the rules, but as she thought, everyone else was so engrossed that not a soul saw what she did. She made it known to herself that this would not be happening again, in any case. Things gotten away with once may not so easily be gotten away with twice. Looking to the phone number she previously copied, Cassandra picked up the phone on her desk, dialed the number, waiting anxiously as the phone rang. She thought Mokuba might not pick up after the first five or so rings, and beginning to fear for the worst, Cassandra prepared herself for the onslaught of thoughts that would come to mind when she finally hung up the phone. Was Kaiba dying? Dead? Would he be in a coma forever? Would he need life support until he finally gave out? What about his projects? What could possibly have happened to put him into that situation, and what’s going to happen to Mokuba? Who will take care of him? He’s just a little boy. He’s just –

               “Hello?”

               Cassandra nearly shot out of her seat. In a fit of surprise she gasped, quickly placing her free hand atop her chest, forcing herself to be much quieter than her voice wanted her to be.

               “Mokuba! I’m so glad to hear from you. I – I heard what happened. Sort of. All I know is that your brother is in the hospital. Are you okay? Are you with him? Is Roland with you?”

               She didn’t mean to ask so much all at once, but her emotions were running on overload, worry being the chief among them. It took the boy a moment to process all of her questions, but eventually, he did answer.

               “Yeah, I’m fine, and Roland’s outside my brother’s room. We’re actually at home now. I didn’t think Seto would want to be in a hospital…”

               Mokuba seemed to trail off in a daze, as if tired from lack of sleep. He probably hadn’t slept all night, the poor boy.

               “Oh, Mokuba,” Cassandra chided, “I’m glad you’re at home, but you sound so exhausted. I know it must have been hard for you to sleep. Can you do me a favor, though?”

               From the other side she heard a distant yawn; Mokuba had pulled the phone away from himself in an attempt to hide the fact that he was tired.

               “I’m okay. I see Seto stay up all the time, I’ll be alright. But I really don’t feel like… Doing anything…”

               …

               “Oh, uh, a nurse is here to check up on Seto. I’m gonna – I’m gonna go.”

               Before Cassandra was given the chance to respond, the boy hung up. That was not what she hoped the conversation would be. She figured Mokuba might be tired regardless of how much sleep he got, but “I see Seto stay up all the time” concerned her. “Staying up” generally meant being awake for ungodly amounts of time – pulling all-nighters. It also implied that he did it purposefully, rather than because he simply couldn’t. It became apparent to Cassandra that this might be Mokuba’s way of coping – acting like his big brother in his absence, trying to form some kind of control over the situation he was in. Or, worse yet, trying to be much too responsible for Seto at this age. No nine-year-old should have to experience their sibling going into a coma, much less try to assume the responsibility of caretaker. The thought was sweet, serving to solidify Mokuba’s innate kindness in Cassandra’s mind, but its implications were far more negative. She figured she’d call Roland in a few hours to see if she could pry any information from him, or possibly ask if there was anything she could do to help. The Kaibas could be a tight-knit little pair, only allowing help from one or two people at any given time, but the Kaiba responsible for this closed-off method no longer had a say in the situation, and if all went well, Roland might step in and give her reign.

              Time had apparently passed much more quickly than Cassandra thought. She hadn’t paid a lick of attention to anything going on around herself during that call, and had only noticed a man standing in front of her after she set the phone down. Just as before, the sudden realization that a person was on the other side of her sent a sudden shock down her spine.

              “Oh my – ! I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you standing there. Very,” She cleared her throat, if only to give herself a few extra milliseconds to think, “Very important call. Was there…”

              She looked at the man’s face a little more closely, identifying him as the man she had laid her eyes upon in the conference room earlier.

               She felt her gut sink. Her heart was beating louder than she could even think.

              “ … Something you needed?”

so yeah i hope u like :DDDDD 

[sage-nebula]

I see what you’re saying, but counterpoint: Why? Why do folks need to admit that things they like are badly made?

Setting aside, for a moment, that “badly made” is subjective and that some people might genuinely disagree on what is or isn’t badly made — who are these people hurting, when they make posts expressing their love for how this series was written or that scene was filmed? Who are they hurting when they gush over this character’s development or this ship’s writing? Are they hurting those who disagree? Because if so, those people can easily use the block or blacklist options. Are they hurting themselves? They seem happy enough, and I haven’t heard of Bad Fandom Opinions putting anyone in the hospital, so I don’t think that’s the case, either. If someone makes posts on their own blog about This Thing They Like, talking about why they like it and how awesome they think it is . . . they’re not hurting anyone. And if they’re not hurting anyone, then I see no reason why they need change their behavior.

There is this attitude that has, I believe, sprung up in recent years where you’re expected to list out all the flaws of everything you like. To call something you love, whether it’s a series or a ship or a character, “garbage” is seen as cool or enlightened. If you’re not constantly talking about this bit of bad writing in a show you like, or this bit of bad gameplay in a game you enjoy, or how X developer is trash because Y reasons, then you’re a stan or a shill and you clearly don’t have critical thinking skills. But I don’t think that’s true. I think it’s exhausting to have to list out all the flaws in something you love before you’re allowed to talk about liking it. It makes me sad to look at something I love and degrade it with insults. It makes me feel like I’m joining the bullies who would mock me for something I enjoyed, which was admittedly a form of defense I used in middle school to keep my peers from knowing that I (gasp) still liked Pokémon and YGO. If I mock these things, then I’m one of them, they’ll think I’m not a loser and I’ll be safe. But bullies will be bullies regardless and we shouldn’t be afraid to show unabashed love for something, without needing to simultaneously tear it down. Yes, you can point out the flaws in something and still love it wholeheartedly — but you shouldn’t need to tear it apart every time you make a post about how much you love it. You should be able to say, “This thing rocks!” and have that be the end of it. Not every place is a place for critical discourse, and just because someone doesn’t make a long list detailing all the flaws in their favorite thing whenever they talk about it doesn’t mean they aren’t aware those flaws exist.

And on that note, as I said above, “Thing Is Badly Made” is subjective. Even if a large group of people agrees that Thing Is Bad, that’s still a subjective opinion. It’s just a popular subjective opinion. For instance, you and I have very different opinions on your favorite video game. You think it’s wonderful, and I think it's the opposite of wonderful. But my opinion is NOT any more correct or valid than yours is. I may think that all of the choices that went into the development of that game were poor ones, but you might conversely think they were wonderful ones, and that opinion is just as correct as mine . . . because it’s an opinion, and a video game is a piece of art, and different people are going to view art differently. And heck, over time, our opinions can change as well. When I was nineteen I thought Supernatural was well-written in the first five seasons at least, but now at thirty-one I look back at even season one’s writing and cringe. But does that mean that Supernatural is, objectively, poorly written garbage? No, because it’s art. And art is subjective. And people who think that the early seasons of Supernatural are still good aren’t wrong, nor do they need to qualify their gushy love posts with “I know it’s garbage” first before getting into the praise.

So, ultimately, I do understand what you’re saying. And I agree with the point of “it’s okay to love something you consider to be garbage,” because it is. But unless someone who Likes A Thing picks a fight with someone who Doesn’t Like A Thing and screams at them about why they should actually Like This Thing, I don’t think they need to qualify their posts with, “I know this Thing Is Bad,” even if Thing Is Bad is the popular subjective opinion. Maybe they genuinely, wholeheartedly believe Thing Is Good. Maybe their opinion of what good camerawork, or writing, or game design is genuinely differs from popular opinion. And maybe they already privately struggle enough with everyone saying Thing They Like is garbage, but they’re pretending they don’t by making positive posts instead, and being told, “your thing is garbage but you can still love it” doesn’t actually make them feel any better, because they don’t want to call this thing they love, that they don’t think is garbage, garbage.

Bottom line, if someone is attacking others for having a differing opinion on A Thing, then they need to stop and check their behavior. But if they’re just making gushy posts about how they think A Thing is amazing, then they should be allowed to do so without qualifiers. They’re not hurting anyone, and it’s easy enough to block them and move on if their opinions are bothersome.

There's some folks who really need to just admit The Thing They Like Is Badly Made.

Like. Some posts read like a fucking hostage being forced to try and convince people The Thing Is Well Made lmao

It's okay, you can stop trying to deny raging flaws in a thing and pretend they're masterfully crafted. Really.

You can love a thing with all your heart AND it can be badly made. The two are not mutually exclusive.

I have deeply enjoyed things that I would not recommend to anybody, things that are just undeniably bad. But I found them fun anyway, because something doesn't need to be super well made to be enjoyable.

It's okay to admit the thing you like sucks in terms of how its crafted, and you like it anyway because there's nothing wrong with that nor is it something to be ashamed of.

I know a lot of stuff says otherwise but that's BS. You can just embrace loving something that's just. Not Good

It's okay. Embrace it.

It's honestly a lot less stressful than trying to pretend away glaring flaws.

[pendulumprince]

Do you fail to remember how Yusei from 5Ds never lost or developed as a character? That "fall" you are theorizing that may happen to Yusaku might never come and he will just keep winning for the rest of the show like Yusei did. Not to mention the rest of the characters might just reset like it happened in Arc-V. I think you are putting too much expectations on Vrains that may never deliver

(In reference to this post.)

First off, you’re gonna have to cool it with that tone. It’s okay if you disagree with my points; it’s not okay for you to talk to me like I’m some sort of airhead.

I’m going to answer this question because I think this is a good opportunity to clear up some of these concerns for other people, but another condesending message won’t be tolerated. I can block anons just as easily as I can people who are off it.

Now to address your points:

“Do you fail to remember how Yuseu from 5Ds never lost or developed as a character?”

No, I haven’t forgotten. Yusei’s lack of character development is something that I’ve criticized since 5Ds ended, and in my opinion was a huge missed oppritunity. But while Yusei and Yusaku share a lot of similar traits, there are lots of ways in which they are massively different. Most notably?

Yusei had none of the glaring flaws that Yusaku has. 

And I’m talking flaws by YGO standards. Using duels as a tool for revenge has been condemned in every. Single. Spinoff. It’s the reason why Yusaku is such an outlier, because as a protag he’s obsessed with revenge while that’s a trait we typically see in rivals. And it’s always a flaw that has, in some way or another, been dealt with.

Similarly, giving into your anger has never been presented as a good thing. Yusaku is full of rage and resentment; it very nearly got him killed in episode 31, and it isn’t implausible to think it may hurt him in a more severe way in the future.

Why do I say that? Because protags being hurt by their own flaws has happened before. From what I know, Yuma’s overzealousness landed him into hot water plenty of times. If we’re talking anger, Judai and Yuya are perfect examples of the horrible things that happen when protags let their rage overcome them.

And I know, and I know: but Yusaku takes after Yusei, the one protag none of that ever happened to! But again, Yusei had no major character flaws. Yusaku’s started out as arguably the most flawed protagonist we’ve had. That’s shouldn’t be overlooked. The parallels aren’t absolute. 

“That ‘fall’ you are theorizing that may happen to Yusaku might never come and he will just keep winning for the rest of the show like Yusei did.”

The first half of your statement is right: Yusaku may never fall in the way I predicted in the above post. If he develops out of his obsession with revenge and stops stewing in his anger, then of course he’d never have to face the full magnitude of his unhealthy worldview. That’s fine! If it’s done well, I’ll happily accept it.

Now, if this happens does it mean he’ll never lose? Not necessarily. I’d even say doubtful. Because despite the parallels between them:

Yusei had no trauma that made the prospect of losing catastrophic to him on a personal level. Yusaku does.

I mean, really let that one sink in! Yusei didn’t like losing (as shown in his flashback loss against Jack) but he moved on. Playmaker is very likely to be triggered upon losing because of The Lost Incident. If you want to look at this through a more cynical lense, you could say Yusaku’s bound to lose simply for the (melo)drama that’s sure to ensue. 

Also, all of Playmaker’s lines about how his dueling “always wins”? Its been a while since I watched 5Ds, but from what I remember Yusei never made any bold, boastful statements like that. If you ask me, Playmaker doing this really sounds like he’s tempting fate.

“Not to mention the rest of the characters might just reset like it happened in Arc V.”

I’m not sure what you’re trying to say here. The only time I can remember the Arc V cast “resetting” was during that brief period when the Pendulum Dimension first formed, and everyone lost their memories. 

Other than that, most Arc V settings and characters ended quite differently from which they began. I count Arc V as having the best ending of all the spinoffs simply because the effects of the war were still noticeable at the end, lending greater gravity to the events of the war itself.

“I think you are putting too much expectations on Vrains that may never deliver.”

And I think I should put some sort of disclaimer on my blog that says, I always accept when one of my speculations/theories is wrong, and you should too!

Because it would be outrageously foolish of me to expect things to come out exactly as I would envision it. The writers and I come from wildly different backgrounds, and in consequence have different worldviews. So where they end up taking the story is, more often than not, going to differ from where I would take it. 

And that’s okay! As long as it’s written well, I’ll love Vrains just as much as I do the other spinoffs. It’s also a bit early to lose faith in it imo, since we’re probably only ¼th of the way in. I tend to hold off on criticism for any show until we get to the latter half, when there’s less time to clarify things/course correct. I’ll criticize Vrains if and when I deem it appropriate, but only then.

Frankly, it sounds like you’re frustrated with the franchise as a whole. That’s okay, you’re entitled to feel the way you want to feel. And I’m entitled to see things differently.

Let’s leave it at that. Have a good one, anon.