#(and like kaiba hes got three lol

[universestreasures]

Reiji decided to take over the blog aesthetics so enjoy new header, dash icon, and gif on the theme!

(also if any of my card game mutuals would like a card icon like the style of my dash icon to use for their card game muses, feel free to send me an ask and I'll gladly make one for you!)

[kisara-kaiba]

OKAY THE KINKY BLUES HAS ME INTRIGUED PLEAAASE HEAR ME OUT ON SUGGESTIONS/BRAINSTORMING/HOPES/DREAMS. alright so it cant be in Temptation, the kink requires its own pocket dimension, first of all. as the biggest fanboygirl of their cycle of dominance and submission im gonna start off with that. a really fun and naturally flowing dom-sub dynamic for them is born in ancient egypt. if set put her aside as his property and tried to experiment with her ka with slowly increasing pressure whilr kisara was like "this kind man who saved me twice feeds me and shelters me who cares if hes tying me down and writing spells on my skin lol" it goes apeshit from there. TWO-this can be from many modern aus with little work, basically an in love blueship that seemlessly slipped into a dom-sub dynamic consciously switching it up a lil. whether that has seto giving orders while tied up on his knees or kisara begging to tie him up would be..that would go BRRRR. THREE. biting kink. straight up. no notes. id be fine with a 400 word introspective of either of one of them watching the bite marks they left on the other and their feelings about it. id settle. itd be enough.

how we feeling. any of thesr sound desirable. wanna brainstorm more. ill come knocking at your door like an unhinged mormon. anyway wanna tell you regardless, absolutely no pressure what you may or may not end up writing i just wanted to yell at someone about kinky blues, have a great day

S C R E E C H I NG this is why ily blueshipping king you just get my vision <333 that ancient Egypt idea has got me going f e r a l just thinking about it and i’ve thought for so long that i should write some mizushipping at some point anyway so yesssss. also biting is uh. yes please.

anyway okay now you got me started so strap in because this is gonna be a long ramble. so i feel like there’s several points about how i imagine their dynamic that i have to unpack here (putting it under a cut bc length or if ppl are uncomfy with this stuff)

↓↓↓

i am unfortunately boring in the way that i’ll ultimately always wanna write Seto as the dominant one just bc of my own personal preferences. BUT that obv doesn’t mean Kisa wouldn’t have a fair amount of control over the situation, both bc a healthy dom/sub dynamic requires it in terms of consent and boundaries ofc, but also bc a) Seto is so extreme in his need for Kisara’s explicit permission to do basically anything to her (even the vanilla stuff) because he’s so painfully precious about her well-being and also constantly plagued by not feeling worthy of her and b) while i think Kisa wants to be dominated i think she also realllly enjoys the control of knowing she’s got Seto wrapped around her little finger and could make him do any depraved thing she wants to her just by looking at him in the right way. so yeah i think they both know who’s really in control behind the scenes lol

i’m also DYING to get into Seto’s inevitable mental struggle to reconcile his thoughts and feelings of “she is a perfect goddess and i’m a mere mortal unworthy of even looking at her let alone touch her” and “i’d die to protect her and if anyone hurts her i’ll fucking kill them” vs his desire to be the one who gets to take this perfect goddess and make her submit to him, kneel before him, own and control and ruin her perfectly (because if there’s one thing we all know about Seto Kaiba is that he’ll make sure the divine yields to him, and not the other way around). I guess the key things there is that he alone is allowed to hurt her and no one else.

On this note i do however think Seto would be so conflicted about physically hurting Kisa, even if she very clearly and explicitly wants him to, because he just struggles with being so overprotective of her and not wanting to see her injured or in pain. but this would also be delicious to write him being all conflicted due to the guilt of causing her pain vs the fact that doing so is super fucking hot and he can’t resist doing it, esp not when she’s literally begging him to. Taking all of his frustrations after a long day out on her more than willing body would be so cathartic and tempting but also associated with so much guilt and worry about getting too into it and going too far.

I also definitely see Kisa as being the more extreme of them, to the point where i can actually see her be just a little bit unhealthily masochistic because she doesn’t really value herself due to past trauma, giving her a self-destructive streak and kinda fucked-up notions along the lines of ultimately being deserving of pain and suffering, that someone hurting her equals caring about her and wanting her, and that the ultimate thing she can do to show someone that she really loves and trusts them is to just offer herself up completely to use and do whatever they want to, which Seto would have to try to handle and mitigate because he’s ultimately not gonna let her use him to actually really hurt herself (and you know it would also break his heart a thousand times over to realise just how little she values and cares about herself due to her fucked up past). But I could also write it kinda funny in that whole “sub suggesting increasingly violent/fucked up things while the dom goes ‘idk that’s scary’” lmao. I think Kisa is a bit annoyed that people (especially Seto) tend to see her as this fragile, porcelain flower and wants to prove that she is perfectly capable of taking a (consensual) beating.

Outside of strictly sexual stuff i can also see Kisa as very much an ‘everyday/domestic acts of service’ kinda sub who just wants to bring Seto his coffee when he’s working and a drink when he comes home from work and make sure to always wash and iron his clothes and put them out before he leaves in the morning, tying his tie before he leaves and untying it when he gets home and cooking and serving his meals for him (which tbh wouldn’t just be about her being submissive but also bc she just wants to make sure he actually takes care of himself with like, eating and taking coffee breaks bc you know that man doesn’t take care of himself if left unchecked). And I think this also ties in with her sense of self-worth being tied to being useful and helping others because she doesn’t really see herself as valuable unto herself, but also maybe acts of service is just kinda her “love language” too. i feel like this is the sort of thing i could maybe include in Temptation bc she’s already pretty much like this there, with to me pretty obvious undertones that her working as Seto’s assistant is definitely triggering a submissive side in her.

Temptation also has the whole thing with Seto secretly enjoying Kisa wearing her KaibaCorp pin while working because it marks her as his for the world to see, and I definitely feel like that’d be a thing for him too. Branding her, either by things like visible bite marks/hickeys that she’s not allowed to cover up or something like a discreet necklace that is actually a collar (although tbf, with the fashion we see in the Yugioh universe, would anyone even blink at a BDSM-style collar? Like Yugi’s already wearing fetish gear as his everyday clothes lmao). I mean, Seto’s already pretty big on putting his branding on literally everything, so Kisa would be no exception (also imagine the ridiculous extravagance and amount of money and care Seto would put into a collar for Kisa).

While I’m not really into the idea of Seto being submissive per se, I do think both he and Kisa could easily have praise kinks because they both crave validation in their own ways and for someone to telling them that they’re doing/being good (Seto wouldn’t admit that though, but if I allow for some submissiveness on his part I think being called a good boy could fix him). But with him as the dom it also totally tracks for him to make Kisa worship him and stroke his ego in that way. On that theme, however, I could also imagine him making her allow him to worship her as a kind of ‘punishment’ bc he knows she has a hard time accepting that but that it’s also something that’s good for her to hear.

Also I can totally see Kisa being a little bratty as a sub sometimes because she likes to talk back to Seto and be deliberately cheeky, disrespectful and provocative (both because she enjoys the control of getting him riled up and because she knows that the more she gets him worked up the more forceful and intense he’ll be about putting her back into place afterwards).

Okay so this turned into a fic-chapter length essay about this topic instead of actually writing the fic (bc *ofc* i’d do that) but please lmk what you think!!! (and hopefully i'll use your ideas + my rambling and turn in into fic eventually)

[loststarphounix]

im sorry for suddenly popping up in your inbox but i need to share this soudam idea AGHHHH

okay so

a glitch happens in the neo world program and gundham gets split into 3 versions of himself? one is his current avatar, one is him during hope's peak/despair arc, and one is his remnant of despair self-

and they all have a common interest : Kazuichi Souda

suggestive but:

( kazuichi secretly praying for his legs to still be working after this LMAO )

oh dang but like - I low key love this idea lol

kinda wanna make a one shot of this, but here’s what I got for it

break below cause def nsfw

Since they’re all Gundham, they all think that they’re the only one for Kazuichi, so I expect they’d fight a lot. Like, a lot a lot. To the point Sonia, Fuyuhiko and Hajime can’t take it anymore and they just corner Kaz to just pick one! But he doesn’t wanna cause he’s still fighting the “I’m not gay or bi its just guys are hot and maybe I wanna kiss them once” struggle ™️ so he’s dragging his feet but also scared of commitment because commitment is what made his mom vanish from his life.

But I can see Remnant Gundham just straight abducting him in the middle of the night and making him see all the benefits of choosing him, which makes the other two get in on and it devolves into a sorta orgy sort of train situation. They’d approach it about the same with slight variations:

I can completely see Kazuichi being so at their mercy - especially Remnant Gundham who in my headcanon is more hedonistic as his entropy and misanthropy is ramped to an 11, so he takes great liberties with Kazuichi’s body. His favorite position would definitely be one that keeps Kazuichi at his utter mercy - wet and gaping and incapable of doing anything on his own.

Hope’s Peak/Despair Arc Gundham is almost like our current avatar, but I’d say way mor socially inept if that’s possible? Way more a self proclaimed antagonist. Def thinks he’s the Kaiba to Kaz’s Joey or his Sasuake to his Naruto. He would be the softest at first, but gets demanding as they keep going. Kaz never disagrees anyway he’s too Simp to do so lol

Avatar Gundham I’m gonna say, is going to be a mix of these; after all, his NWP avatar was created with his previous personality from his school days. My headcanon for the whole NWP gang, is that the avatars are a mix of past and present, which would result in some minor (or major) shifts in personalities, habits and overall reactions to different situations. An organic consequence to removing the Enoshima brainwashing.

So Avatar Gundham would be a combination of both: sweet but wickedly cruel with his paramours comfort in mind! All three would def be into some form of BDSM and giving Kazuichi explicit instructions to follow. It also benefits Kazuichi, since canonically he has a thing for humiliation and orders; the real struggle would be to get him to stop begging, but they’d probably love that lol

In the end, he still can’t choose but hey, his dumbassery is endearing to them for some reason and the other two get sent back so it works out somehow!

of course that’s until the same glitch results in three Kazuichi’s but that’s a later problem.

[changeling-fae]

G, L, Y, U for the asks!

Thanks!

G - Have you ever had an OTP? If so, do you remember your first one? Who was in it?

Lol, boy, and how! I live and breathe otp’s. My very first otp was probably Seto Kaiba x Serenity Wheeler, from YuGiOh. They were the first fanfic I ever read on fanfiction.net, lol. First otp ship I ever contributed to fandom for was Sesshomaru x Kagome from Inuyasha, where I wrote my very first fics and did fanart.

Though if we want to get really cheeky, I could argue that my very first ship was the knife and the spoon, from cutlery and making them kiss as a tiny kiddo, lol.

L - Say something genuinely nice about a character who isn’t one of your faves. (Characters you’re neutral about are fair game, as are characters you merely dislike. Characters that you absolutely loathe with the fire of ten thousand suns are exempt, as there is no point in giving yourself an aneurysm over a character that you hate.)

Hmmm, this is weirdly tough for me, not the complimenting part, but because I have a weird metric of how I view characters. Hm, let’s go with… Mizora. I’m overall neutral on her but I appreciate her petty bitch energy. If I were a cambion, I’d like to be as ambitious as Raphael but in reality I’d be like Mizora and I do appreciate a good petty play. It’s the Gemini in me, lol.

U - Three favorite characters from three different fandoms, and why they’re your favorites.

I have many favorites but I’ll go with Harley Quinn from Batman, Grunkle Stan from Gravity Falls, and since brainrot be real, Raphael from BG3.

Harley Quinn has been a favorite character of mine since I was a kid watching Batman the Animated Series. I’ve always been a fan of theatrical aesthetics (circus, theatre, commedia dell’arte, etc) and she’s just such a fun character. I’ve really liked over the years how she’s waffled between villain and anti-hero and how she’s not a perfect victim. Also Harley Quinn x Poison Ivy is a top tier ship.

Grunkle Stan because one of my biggest weaknesses in fiction is a sad morally grey older man but who is also protective of his family. He’s fucked up in his life so many times but he keeps trying. I’m a sucker for that. But also he’s just a great character. He’s made me laugh and cry and honestly that’s just a good criteria for any character. I’ve 100% played the fanmade Grunkle dating simulator and no regrets or shame.

And speaking of morally grey, or in this case, completely terrible older men. Raphael, my beloved. I played BG3 in its EA days and the very first time he appeared I was smitten. His voice obviously but also he had my favorite introduction into the game (and still does). The fact that his devil transformation involved a snazzy belt and different shoes is what really sold him to me. He’s so stupidly extra and it calls to my theatre kid nature, lol. I do miss the EA days of him roasting our camp 5 sec after inviting himself.

All that being said, I just enjoy his character within the game too. I like that he’s obviously a villain but he’s chill with us. In part because he wants something from us but I like that it kinda transforms for him into a double obsession. Obviously, crown comes first but there’s something just so delightfully fun about him writing about our character in his journal (entry number 2 is the stuff ships are made of). That he’s a cringefail theatre kid with daddy issues while being thousands of years old is partly what makes him endearing. I loved finding his fanfiction in his house and I love how stupidly bad his hell domination plan is (you’re doing amazing sweetie).

And one other bonus to liking his character is I got to make new friends and moots in particular in his corner of the fandom. 💖

Y - What are your secondhand fandoms (i.e., fandoms you aren’t in personally but are tangentially familiar with because your friends/people on your dash are in them)?

Hm, I’d say currently, Helluva Boss, I’ve got a couple friends into that show. It’s certainly on my list of things to eventually sit down and watch but for now I see it through what my friends show me. Looks good though!

[cyberdragoninfinity]

What's the Duel Monsters cast doing in your college AU? Are they just regular people, or do they have some connection to the folks of not-Lawrence?

OK SO LIKE since the AU was conceived around when I was finishing GX, it's always from the getgo been spinoff focused, so the actual DM guys present are more few and far between than guys from the other series... theyre scattered and kind of just doing their own thing lol. Some characters of note:

-Joey works at Raising Canes with Claus. he is JUST some guy of all time

-i think I established kaiba and yugi are both like. established Names--KaibaCorp is a tech company (you KNOW kaibas annoying on twitter) and Yugi is a reclusive toby fox esque gamedev who made a moderately successful indie game :3

-pegasus is basically the same guy but hes like 52 and duel monsters is just a card game lol

-atem is definitely like the top ranked duel monsters player in the country, and hes from Not-Lawrence but usually really busy so he doesnt stop home ofter...hes still childhood friends with Mana and Mahad, who ARE more present in this AU. Mahad is some kind of history based TA at NLSU and Mana is a history major with a penchant for stage magic--she and Syrus eventually start dating :3 Mahad and Zane frequent the same rave warehouses lmao

-iirc at some point clark and i established that DOMA was a cult in Florida the three musketeers got out of and are just scattered around trying to get their lives together. I think Valon lives in NL?? His apartment is full of gundams

[ofthepuzzle]

『 send me a ship and i’ll tell you: accepting ! 』♚ Lemme just... -squeezes these in one post-

╰┈➤@kaibacorpbros said: Gotta drop Seto and Atem for that meme uwu

╰┈➤@devildukem said: Prideshipping

╰┈➤@coldazure said: who takes the longest to get ready? Kaiba or Atem?

Aha!✨ Ok now, the rest is under cut.

who hogs the duvet It’s a draw. It happens subconsciously, so it can’t be helped sometimes. There are three options. The one who sadly lost the blanket can just get up and grab an extra one. Option two is to deliberately hold onto the duvet hogger for warmth until they surrender and share it. Option three is just to accept it as it is. Until it gets too cold then maybe just somehow slide into the blanket as much as they can. Even if it’s just covering one arm.

who texts/rings to check how their day is going Draw. It’s just one or two message exchanges and that’s enough to know the other’s all fine. I don’t think they’d want to interrupt each other. I assume it won’t be necessary if they know where the other is.

who’s the most creative when it comes to gifts Kaiba wins. He’s inventive and the gifts he’d give would likely be his creations, unless he knows there’s something Atem may want that can be purchased. Atem in that aspect finds it a bit difficult to get Seto something when he knows he might already have it or can easily obtain it. He would pick for it to be something he makes from scratch so it’s more meaningful.

who gets up first in the morning Almost a draw but would pass it to Kaiba. A busy bee is a busy bee. He’s a workaholic, likely stays up late, and gets up early. Atem used to have a habit of ‘rising with the sun’ and that would be the only reason he gets up early. That habit would eventually break in Revival specifically.

who suggests new things in bed Oh lawd. Atem wins, I’d think. He sounds like he’d be more prone to voice what he desires more openly. Like playing uno in bed /shot.

who cries at movies Atem wins. Certified ex crybaby as a kid, I guess. He doesn’t cry as much when he’s older, though. But if that movie hits him in the feels he might sob a little. Kaiba’s so much more reserved. Doesn’t mean he wouldn’t sympathize with w/e is happening in the movie on the inside.

who gives unprompted massages I’ll put it as draw but leaning towards Atem. If one is visibly very tense and they just got to rest then I imagine the other could offer a massage. Atem would probably offer that more often when Seto is done with work.

who fusses over the other when they’re sick I’d say Kaiba. Not that Atem wouldn’t fuss but I can see Kaiba being sterner over it. This is what happens when Atem isn’t wearing a jacket when it’s windy. Should’ve seen it coming. And now he can't escape the medicine.

who gets jealous easiest The fandom depicts Kaiba as more jealous but I’ll call it a draw. Though, the way I see it is more of them being content in their position since they got nothing to worry about when they know by the end of the day they got each other.

who has the most embarrassing taste in music I don’t know— maybe Atem. He would probably listen to different genres that are on both ends of the spectrum to the point of confusing Seto lol.

who collects something unusual Define ‘unusual’. Can’t really think of what unusual stuff Kaiba would collect, or even Atem. Unless it’s already within the things we’ve seen which seems pretty normal for their standard. I’ll put this as a draw since you never know what they might be collecting—

who takes the longest to get ready They really are extra with their outfit choices but considering Atem has to style his hair and put on his jewelry then I’ll pick him. I imagine his hair takes a minimum of an hour to fix up and style.

who is the tidiest and organised I imagine it’s Seto. I believe he likes things to be arranged neatly and in order. Atem is a little more laid-back for that matter.

who gets most excited about the holidays Atem. He’s might be curious about the holidays so he’d be more invested. Kaiba wouldn’t get ‘ excited ‘ but would probably participate in them.

who is the big spoon/little spoon I can see this going both ways. It can also be a preference thing.

who gets most competitive when playing games and/or sports Lmao. Kaiba. And that riles Atem up so now he’s competitive too. Good lord, help these two.

who starts the most arguments It’s a draw. Tho Kaiba is more likely to strike a nerve that would make Atem bite back.

who suggests that they buy a pet Atem. Trade offer: I bring us a pet. You receive a… little companion. Trust me, it’s worth it--

what couple traditions they have … Does turning most anything into a game and whoever loses/wins does/gets something count? But that’s their tradition™

what tv shows they watch together Do they even watch TV— I mean. Something educational maybe. Until Atem wants to watch dumb cartoons. And Kaiba gets up from the couch as Atem is dissolving into laughter.

what other couple they hang out with You. You there. Think of a random other ship. Yes, that’s the other couple they hang out with now.

how they spend time together as a couple … Staring at each other and communicating through their gazes. Aside from that, in whatever way they want to. Gaming, just chilling in the same room while doing their own thing, building decks together, going somewhere together. There’s endless possibilities.

who made the first move It could go either way. Depending on who developes feelings first.

who brings flowers home It’s a draw. They treat each other whenever appropriate.

who is the best cook I wanna say it’s Kaiba since Atem would be clueless about kitchen appliances at first until he learns how to use them. He might have an idea or two through Yuugi’s knowledge but he’s never been the one to cook on them. And it just feels right for Seto to be better at cooking. I imagine he's cooked for Mokuba.

[smilepebble]

finished ygo season 4. so many thoughts. so so many thoughts

my god did this whole season feel like a big fanfic. so many plot holes, so much unexplained magic, so so so much convenience, most of which i could dismiss for the sake of moving the plot forward. one of the only things i couldn't leave be was dartz being like "oh yeah and my minions tragic backstories we're actually all caused by MEE >:3" because like. it takes away so much of the weight of his manipulation. like instead of seeking out people who were at their wits end, who in their moment of weakness could be easily manipulated, he just. chose three random guys who were "good at duel monsters"* and ruined their lives through almost impossible means?

*but the only one who was proven to be good at the game was vallan. raphael only had three cards for the longest time. we never even see kid allister play the game?? and why would he even want to if he thought that kaibacorp was responsible for his brothers death??? sorry side tangent

anyway it makes absolutely no sense to me why allister, vallan, and raphael's backstories couldn't have happened like they were originally presented as. like with allister, we spent like half of season 3 learning about how terrible gozaburo kaiba was, so it makes complete sense that he'd be responsible for killing allister's little brother. and it makes sense that raphael would just be the lone survivor of a cruise ship capsizing, and it holds more weight if dartz just found out he was on that island, or possibly only met him after he returned to civilization. vallan's backstory got almost completely censored by 4kids so i honestly don't remember it lol. but even still i remember thinking that dartz framing him was bullshit. like at some point this stopped being a commentary about cults and emotional manipulation and turned into the "how evil can we make dartz" show. (mai is pretty much the only character who made it out of this season with a character arc that at least somewhat made sense)

AND SPEAKING OF FUCKING CHARACTER ARCS how the hell did they mess up yami's character arc that badly??! like. there were so many points where i thought "oh i see the message they're going to say: everyone has negativity and dark parts to their personality, but that doesn't make us evil or unworthy of love. accepting your bad feelings as something that's a part of you will help you accept yourself" only for them to turn around and be like "humans good orichalchos evil yay friendship" and like. c'mon now yu-gi-oh i know you're better than this. (usually i think yu-gi-oh's reoccurring themes on friendship are pretty interesting but c'mon at the very end you just threw the word friendship in there and called it a day)

also when dartz tries to get yami to surrender 4kids photoshopped his eyes green and went ooooooo he's being mind controlled. like c'mon guys just let him have his character moment, yami is not immune to emotional manipulation. (tbh id say especially not yami that guy has a lot of emotions to work through i think)

ok but issues with the ending aside this season was kinda fun lol. it's so so horrifically ridiculous and it feels like the writers were just playing with the characters like action figures. and i love how snarky kaiba and joey were this season. well the infamous season 4 is behind me now and im terrified of what the final season will bring

[gallusrostromegalus]

The yami facts are *amazing! Can we has more but for kaiba?

Yami Facts for The Power Of Friendship (And This Gun I Found!)

These were harder becuase Seto Kaiba is kind of a fucking mess and most of his "fun" facts are really kind of Depressing lol.

Many People think Seto is ambidexterous because there are a lot of videos of him doing things like casually switching what hand he's writing with, or coming out with right and left-handed duel disks right off the bat, but that's incorrect. He's Ambisinister and they're BOTH his off-hand. He predominantly writes with his left hand out of spite.

Seto has a deep and honestly extremely reasonable fear of horses. Gozaboro signed him up for a bunch of "networking" hobbies so he could learn how to build social ties like a proper Bougie kid, and one of those thing was horseback riding. Unfortunately for Seto, his chernobyl-like background radiation anxiety means horses find his vibes absolutely rancid and they keep trying to Murder the shit out of him.

Seto fucking loves Mangoes. He loves a lot of salty-sour foods because while he did manage to get in the habit of "eight glasses of water a day" he's chronically short on electrolyes. He does not know that mangoes are not supposed to taste like that, and that he is allergic to them.

There is a character that will come up in the fic called "Debbie From Legal". She is the same Debbie as Debbie from Bowling For Soup's hit, 1985, but she is also the protagonist in Mary Chapin-Carpenter's He Thinks He'll Keep Her. Do NOT fuck with Debbie.

Seto has a Pilots Lisence, a Helicopter Lisence, a boating Lisence, but no Driver's Lisence. He does not like Traffic.

Seto has such a severe case of "Just Some Guy" syndrome that he can accidentally Clark Kent himself by taking off his ostentateous trenchcoat.

Seto hired the serial killer for Death-T by putting out a fucking want ad. He got back six promising candidates and hired them all for assorted projects. Five of them are just out-of-work actors who thought it was a movie gig and are refusing to drop the facade because holy shit a steady paycheck. The sixth actually is a serial killer, but also an out-of-work actor that thought this was a movie gig.

Seto personally knows a ton of celebrities from various publicity events, and some of them are things that very nearly qualify as 'friends' because he can talk to them for upwards of three minutes about some Hobby, but he doesn't actually now what they DO. He thinks Henry Cavill is maybe kind of famous for doing a youtube series on building your own PC for the masses because he recognized him in a thumbnail on the site once. Who Knows. Not Seto. He knows Henry because he once proposed that Seto purchase a tabletop miniatures company they both liked the product of, but hated the company, and that struck Seto as a good idea, actually, so it's on his to-do list, right after getting the Duel Monsters IP from pegasus so he can stop having to pay royalties every time he uses the Blue Eyes White Dragon imagery on something.

Seto's secret talent that even he doesn't know about (yet) is that he's actually great at keeping houseplants. Most people kill them by over-watering them, but he sort of forgets they exist until they look sad and then he dumps his coffee into them, which is the exact flavor of abuse most houseplants enjoy.

[vivinightingale]

Okay, so u've done a single Mom x Fatgum... But Imagine a single Mom x Seto Kaiba. He sees her during a tournament, thinking how beautiful she is (in his own tsundere way lol) and decides to get to know her more. He ends up falling for the Mom, and expecting him to run, the Mom introduces him to her daughter (who's a little shy at first, but warms up to him). The more time that passes, the deeper he falls in love with the Mom and begins treating the little one like he would his own daughter (namely spoiling her rotten) Mokuba loves the idea of being an Uncle and even helps watch over her whenever Seto and the Mom are both busy (often times the little one falls asleep in Seto's lap)

Ooooh BET!

Seto Kiba x Single Mom!Reader

Who knew going to a duel could change your life for the better?

Perusal there was an announcement when THE Seto Kiba was gonna duel or participate in tournament. Everyone in Domino city wanted to watch the matches, you included. So when you heard he was dueling you decided to attend since you didn't have to pick up your daughter till sometime later.

Luckily you got there early enough to snag a front row seat in the middle, so you could see the monsters and players so clearly. When the rest of the stadium filled up was when the match started.

The duel was between Seto Himself, and the Duel monster champion Yugi. It wasn't a title match, but you knew it was gonna be fun anyway. Little did you know the youngest CEO had his eyes on since he walked on to the field.

It was a close match between these legendary duelists, but in the end Yugi won the match. Seto seemed to be distracted by something in the crowd, but you couldn't quiet pin what it was till stopped by a staff member. They asked you to stay behind because Seto wanted to talk with you.

What did he want with you?? You weren't a duelist, just an ordinary mother?? Still you waited till the man himself, and all his bodyguard were approaching you. You grew nervous as he stood in front of you, but that was slowly fading when you got a better look at him.

His face was slightly red, body language nervouse, and all the while he tried to act like this was another business meeting. "I would like to discuss some...propositions to discuss with you."

You knew what he was getting at, so you giggled agreed leaving behind your number for him.

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Well that was months ago, now your currently in you living room getting your little girl ready to meet him. You never introduced the two, but never hid her existence either. You tend to wait till you've dated the guy awhile to determine if he is safe to bring around her.

You determined long ago that he was safe to bring around her, it was just fear for awhile. Fear that when the realization sets in that you DO in fact have a kid he would leave. You knew he wouldn't be like that considering he was always asking about her, but the fear still remained.

Even now as you untangle the last of her hair putting it into cute pigtails that fear remained. "Momma?" Rin whispered up to you successfully knocking you out of your head. "Yes my love?"

She stood up from her chair, her kuriboh plush in her tiny arms "is Mr.Kaiba nice?? He always seems angry on TV..." You gave her a reassuring smile as you held your hand for her to take "oh he is very nice! He treats momma so well." Rin gave you simple nod grabbing your hand still slightly nervous at meeting the "nice" stranger.

Seto had picked out a family friendly restaurant for the three of you. Thought in his own way he was excited to meet the little girl there was still a nervousness nawing at the back of his mind. He was never good with children despite having to raise his younger brother, so he was trying everything in the book to make sure she is comfortable.

When the two of arrived at the restaurant he was in awestruck. Not only did you look great, but your little girl looked exactly like you. You two were the perfect little family, and he never wanted to be apart of a family more then right now.

When the two of you got close you gave him the bright smile he adores as you introduce the two "Rin this is Seto Kaiba...Seto this is my daughter Rin." The two seemed to have a sort of stare off , before Rin shyed away behind your legs.

Seto stiffen slightly before clearing his throat. He kneeled down so that he looked less intimidating, and gave her a soft smile. "It's nice to meet you rin...your...mother has told me a lot about you." Rin looked up at you, then back at seto never budging from her hiding spot.

You placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him an apologetic smile. "She is a little shy at first. Let her warm up a bit." He nodded as he stood back up, and gently taking your hand leading the three of you into the restaurant.

The dinner was going really well, though your daughter didnt talk much she did hang on to Seto's every word when he talked about his duels. When he told stories of the fights him and joey would have your daughter would let out a giggle at the antics. Pride was clear in Seto's demeanor as she giggled. A smile forming on your face the scene in front of you. He would be such a good father in his own way.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

Man were you right. You and Seto have been together for two years since then, and he has done nothing but spoil and treat the two of you. Mokuba was even ecstatic at being an uncle that he spoils her more then Seto if that was even possible.

The two brothers even got the little girl into duel monsters. Dont get me wrong she knew what it was before, but they taught her how to play, and she would practice with them everyday. Seto even got her a Blue eyes plushie to replace the old kuriboh plush.

At first she take to the plush as much Seto had hoped, but one day as he was working in his office she came trotting in the blue eyes plush in hand as she crawled on to his lap for nap time. (You have tried multiple times not to disturbed him while he works, but he truly doesnt mind it's nice having her around.) He was smiling the whole time.

The biggest surprise was when she called him papa for the first time. The three of you went out shopping, your daughter in the middle holding both yours and his hands. When she tugged his sleeve, let go of your hand, and held her little arms to him "I'm tired papa...can you carry me??" Set didnt skip a beat as he picked up the girl "of course little one." You had to do a double take.

All in all Seto has been an amazing father to your little girl, and even better lover to you. You cant wait for the day the two of you give your daughter a sibling.

[shinayashipper]

Yugi has to go home but his ex Kaiba is now a big name ceo (he wasn't while they were dating in highschool) so he gets a fake bf to go with him named Atem. Turns out his ex still likes him, but he's also getting feelings for the kind man who really wants to take the fake out of fake dating. Which will he chose? (Cliche I know)

CW // Love Triangle

AAUUUOOOGHHHHH Anon I absolutely love cliche Frustrating love triangles 😂😂 especially between those three 😂😂

I AM: going to Elaborate on it, because I can't help myself <3

Yugi didn't even know what got him so worked up over wanting to impress his ex again that he had to ask Atem to be his Fake date, was it Jealousy? 😂 Maybe he wanted to make Kaiba feel Bad for what he did years ago. Yugi thought he's not the type to hold grudges but when it comes to Kaiba he always feels all sort of things that he never usually feel 😂 maybe he /wants/ Kaiba to Feel Bad seeing him perfectly Fine and perfectly Happy without him- But the thing is- Yugi is Not actually perfectly fine and happy 😂😂 And all his other dates after Kaiba never lasted long and never ends in a happy note.

And then comes Atem! A very good friend he met in uni probably. He cares so much to a fault and especially when it comes to Yugi. He always lends a helping hand for Yugi, whatever the trouble is. Yugi talks about his ex Kaiba often during drunken nights, Atem knows that Yugi hasn't properly moved on yet, that's why he's afraid to confess his feelings for him QwQ And then Yugi told him about Kaiba inviting him to this gala or something, and it surprises them both when Atem suggested that they attend together as partners- to Piss Kaiba Off, how's that? 😂 Yugi's all "Are you sure about this- You always help me all the time this is a little too much" and Atem knows he probably just dug his own grave with this but he's all "I don't mind, we probably don't know anyone in this party so no one will know. And don't you want to piss him off even just a little?" and then yeah BAM they're going for it 😂😂 They're going to be "partners" and makes Kaiba jealous in the party LOL

[kittonafoxgirl]

rules: tag a few people you want to know better; make a new post, don’t reblog!

thank you for tagging me @lowkeyanakin :D This was fun.

I did one of these not too long ago, but most of the questions on this one were different.

currently reading: Rhapsody in Blue by @kckenobi and like 50 other fanfics because I have the attention span of a goldfish cracker. 

last song: Tessa from Transformers: Age of Extinction. It makes for fabulous background music while reading fic.

last movie: Rogue One

last series: Still making my way through The Clone Wars. Slowly lol. 

sweet, spicy, or savory: sweet <3

coffee or tea: I don’t drink coffee, and I don’t drink much tea, but blueberry tea with absurd amounts of milk and sugar in it is my favorite.

three ships: I’m going to forgo ship names, because I only know the ship names for the Star Wars ones lol. Also, you’re getting four, because I'm indecisive. Obi-Wan x Anakin (Star Wars), Anakin x Padme (Star Wars), Joey x Kaiba (Yu-Gi-Oh), Prowl x Jazz (Transformers)

first ever ship: Well if we’re going back to before I even knew fanfiction existed, then it’s Misty x Ash (Pokemon). The first ship I read fanfiction for was probably Yusuke x Keiko (Yu Yu Hakusho)

currently working on: CORUCAFSS: Case no 9877882 (Jango Fett v. Jedi Order) [Podfic] Three chapters are posted and the fourth is already recorded and ready to go! 

favorite piece of clothing: hmm... I don’t currently have any clothing items I’m super in love with but I recently got a Mandelorian hoody that is very comfortable (and has Grogu on it, which is a definite plus, because he is pretty much the most adorable thing since Pikachu).

comfort food: Oreos. Way too many oreos. I dunno who wrote the suggested serving size, but show me someone who says they can stop at three oreos, and I will show you a liar. :P

favorite time of year: I like spring, when it actually acts like spring. Where I live it tends to vacillate between third winter and first summer... -.-

fav fanfiction:  This is a really hard question. There are soooo many amazing fics! I’ll mention two that helped get me super into the Star Wars fandom. 

Empire’s Son by blank101 (read on fanfic.net here)

Rated: T

Summary:  In the chaos of conflict as a Republic crumbles into an Empire, two babies are smuggled to safety to keep them safe from a Sith Emperor's attention. It will not be enough. Their lives take very different paths, one raised as the Alliance's New Hope, the other as the Empire's Son.

Status: Finished @ 374,229 words. 

Force of Many Sights by DAsObiQuiet (read on AO3 here)

Rated: T+

Summary:  Paved with good intentions or not, the road back from Hell is a difficult, slippery slope for those who choose to walk it as Anakin has. Sometimes second chances are harder than the first time around.

Status: This is a series not a singular fic and is in process @ 442,437 words. The first four parts are finished. 

no pressure tags ❤️: @delless03 @maximumsuckage @anakinsthot 

(apologies if you’ve already been tagged. Also if I didn't tag you and you want to do it, consider yourself tagged. I worry about bugging people if I tag them in a bunch of stuff.)

[kaibacorpintern]

yuugi and kaiba... platonic... maybe a lil angst like kaiba doesnt know how to have friends and yuugi just accepts him as he is and kaiba can be a kid for once.. for the minific prompt pls? :) thank u.. luv ur blog btw

just thought you should know that when i read this prompt i instantly turned into this and wrote almost 5,000 words. it’s a little angsty and about friendship, but it’s also about loneliness and food and depression, with a few jokes peppered in here and there. DSOD didn’t happen but atem is alive, because i say so. i want kaiba and yuugi to be friends so freakin’ bad.

long story short: i went nuts. thanks for the prompt!!

***

Every day, little by little, Kaiba looked greyer. The lines of his shoulders slouched. The hollows under his eyes deepened, like holes being dug in the dirt, on hands and knees; a slow, miserable burying. To hear him speak was worse. Yuugi heard his voice from thousands of miles away, like he was on a different continent, a different planet, and the light of every thought was crossing the staggering empty silence of space. It terrified Yuugi, to think of Kaiba as fading, that someone who raged with all the thrill and fury of a storm could slow down like this. But he was fading. 

“Hey. Are you alright? You seem down lately,” Yuugi tried, on one of the rare mornings where he caught him alone in the elevator, on his way up to the game design department. With no one else around, he usually felt emboldened to drop the act: not an employee with his boss, maintaining proper deference, but someone who’d known Kaiba for a very long time, and knew him like few others did.

The glass-walled elevator whirred as it rose. Kaiba stood there with his arms crossed, impassive, his back to Domino. The city streets unfurled below them.

“The elevator’s going up, Yuugi,” he said, after a full seven seconds of silence. A weak dismissal, by his standards, made even weaker by a toneless delivery.

“Sure. But - ”

With a polite ding, the elevator opened onto the game design floor. 

“You’re running late,” Kaiba said, nodding him pointedly out the door.

“Bro, I’m fifteen minutes early,” Yuugi said.

“Don’t fucking ‘bro’ me, ” Kaiba snarled, with all the sudden, twitching ferocity of a nervous dog. Yuugi smiled and slowly backed out of the elevator, his palms turned out, long enough to make his point: he'd come in peace. Kaiba frowned at him, bristling, until the elevator doors started to close. The last Yuugi saw of him, before they touched together, were a pair of blue eyes, their fiery energy winking out like a popped spark, falling shut with a sigh.

At his desk, Yuugi toyed with his phone for a good ten minutes, ignoring emails and his coworkers’ good mornings, his thumb hovering over Mokuba’s contact info as he rehearsed in his head. Hey, how’s Stanford? You enjoying your classes so far? Making friends? Of course you are. Great. Well, so, I’m calling because I’m worried about your brother - 

A call like that would put Mokuba on a plane within an hour, honestly. But maybe Mokuba would want to know. Maybe he shouldn’t. Maybe if he left his first quarter of college and returned to Japan, just because his brother had a few bad nights or something, Kaiba would punt Yuugi off the top of the building. 

Maybe Atem? The only person Kaiba ever “talked” to about anything, if  pummeling each other with card game holograms could be called a conversation. Which they did.

YUUGI What’s eating Kaiba? Is he alright?

He stared at his phone a while longer until remembering it was the middle of the night in Egypt. He put his phone away, put Kaiba out of mind, and got to work.

***

Atem texted back mid-afternoon.

ATEM I don’t know. Go find out

YUUGI Okay but i’m not you lol he won’t tell me. even with a duel

ATEM GO

ATEM FIND

ATEM OUT

YUUGI OKAY I'LL DO MY BEST

ATEM And tell that stuck-up bastard to answer his fucking phone one of these days

Odd. Kaiba never ignored Atem.

YUUGI I’m on it

He finished work late, packed up his things, and headed downstairs to the lobby, moving quickly to catch his train. He had most of a mind to save the Kaiba question for later, go home, and flop face-down on his bed until he roused himself enough to pick at leftovers. The elevated metro station was awash in a crisp dusk light, the navy purple night descending on the day’s final line of gold. His train was coming in three minutes; the next on the same line in thirty-four. He'd just made it.

If he stood at the far end of the platform, craning his neck, he could see the long strip of windows at the top of the KaibaCorp tower. Dark. Kaiba had gone home early. Yuugi frowned, biting his lip, as his train arrived. 

He let it go, jostled and swaying in the flood of people flowing in and out of the carriages. The next train took him far from home, flying with sleek electric ease through the glittering glassy black monoliths of the city, and into the leafy, overgrown estates beyond the far edge of town.

***

Kaiba's estate was a brisk walk from the last station on the line, along the side of a road without sidewalks, and through a tunnel of trees that laced their branches together over the road. By the time Yuugi got to the gates, his feet aching in his sneakers, night had fallen. The trees were thick with shadow and wind, whispering to each other in fairy tale voices. It was the kind of night that urged people into their homes, with the doors locked, away from the ancient things that lurked in the undergrowth, wild and forgotten and stronger for it. He was relieved to reach the gates, on the edge of the illumination around Kaiba's mansion, held in the center of the light like a toy castle in a snow globe.

The gatehouse was empty. A security camera peered down at him from the top of a wall, nestled in a thick swell of vines. Ignoring its glossy little eye, Yuugi studied the door in the wall beside the gates, pushing more vines aside to find the keypad. If he called ahead, the chances of Kaiba buzzing him in were next to nothing. They were next to nothing on a good day.

YUUGI do you know the key code for the door?

ATEM 445241474F4E#

ATEM that took me literally years to get

ATEM go around the back. he won’t open the front door

YUUGI you're the best <3

He tapped in the code, carefully. What if he got it wrong? Would a trapdoor open up below his feet? With his back to the quiet road, and the dense, rustling woods on the other side, he swallowed his laugh. 

The door opened with a faint click. Yuugi slipped through and began the long walk up the drive to the mansion, sneakers crunching the gravel underfoot. On either side of the drive,  the lawns were pristine, every petal of every flower and every leaf on every hedge perfectly in place, holding the poses nature’s hand had fixed them in with effortless ease. Somewhere across the grass, shrouded in the night, came the distant murmur of a fountain. 

The mansion itself was an ugly, graceless brick of a building, so rigid and square in its design that its position in the center of this wooded estate seemed an oppressive intrusion. Per Atem’s instructions, Yuugi skirted the front, with its twin dragon statues and Roman columns and imposing front door, and went around to the back, padding silently through the grass. Like the top of the tower, the windows were dark. Every glance through the glass, checking for life, made him feel like he was looking into the bottom of a well, deep and cold and watery, a tomb for hopeless wishing. 

At the back of the house was a large patio, with a view of the sprawling grounds, which rolled downwards in a gentle slope, all the way to a line of trees. There, the grounds gave themselves back to the wild. Even on a shivering night like this, it was easy to imagine what the patio was like in the full splendor of high summer, drenched in sunlight and everything shimmering in golden-white heat.

A thin light cast a hazy cloud onto the patio through a pair of sliding glass doors. Yuugi stopped, halfway across the patio, questioning himself for the nth time that night. And if he was overreacting? So what if Kaiba was in a mood? Kaiba was always in a fucking mood. Yuugi had no doubt Kaiba would thunder at him for a while over the arrogance, the audacity of his presumptions or something, and then throw him out by the scruff of the neck. Oh, god. The embarrassment burned in his face already. 

Yuugi firmly shoved his own feelings aside. He was a gamer - a gambler - by nature, and he’d learned enough over the years to bet on his  own instincts. He gamed it out, in his head, shuddering into the warmth of his jacket as the breeze rolled through him:

He checks on Kaiba, and everything is fine: he goes home feeling awkward and Kaiba avoids him at work for the next three weeks. Acceptable outcome.

He does not check on Kaiba, and everything is fine: he goes home, and the whole night gets written off as a weird, secret little adventure. Acceptable outcome.

He checks on Kaiba, and everything is not fine: unacceptable, but now someone knows. Acceptable outcome. 

He does not check on Kaiba, and everything is not fine: Unacceptable outcome.

He stole towards the sliding glass doors. They led into a glossy modern kitchen, as pristine as the grounds, and full of clean, gleaming surfaces. It was completely free of clutter like mail, or keys, or coffee mugs, or any of the other odds and ends that usually piled up over the course of normal days. A bowl of flowers sat on a kitchen table in a breakfast nook, starting to wilt. At the end of the kitchen island was a bowl of fruit. A still-life painting split in two. 

Sitting at the island, perched on a bar stool, was Kaiba, his head resting in his folded arms atop the counter. His face was mostly hidden in the crook of his elbow; through the limp tangle of his bangs, Yuugi saw his eyes were closed. His black leather satchel leaned against the leg of the bar stool. The rise of his back as he breathed was slow and subtle, the only thing that convinced Yuugi Kaiba had not turned to stone in his seat. Asleep?

No. 

A small blue light rose up from Kaiba's phone, lying on the counter. One hand slowly unfolded, silenced the call, and refolded itself. A gesture that made less than a ripple across the still water of this tableau.

Awake.

Lifelessly, doing nothing. Not even staring into space, but retreating into the space behind his eyelids, a space Yuugi knew intimately well: shallow and lukewarm and wordless, a space for letting hours and days drift by, uncounted. It had been a long time since he’d visited - not since he’d solved the Puzzle - but it was a space he never wanted to revisit. It was a space that stayed with you for the rest of your life, once you’d been there, and yet a space more distant than the farthest star in the universe, beyond the boundaries of both light and love. A place of perfect solitude. 

Quietly, carefully, Yuugi tried the handle of the sliding glass door and found it unlocked. He slid it open. 

Kaiba startled, pulling himself upright as though yanked by a puppet string on his neck. He turned to Yuugi, still and alert, not quite comprehending. As he understood who stood there, the pieces clicking into place, his eyes hardened in his pallid face, speechless, furious. 

“Before you say anything,” Yuugi said, as Kaiba opened his mouth, “I have a story. Let me tell you, and then you can kick me out.”

“This is my fucking house. I can kick you out whenever I damn well please,” Kaiba snapped.

“It’s more of a puzzle, actually. I don’t think you’ve ever solved this one,” Yuugi said. 

Kaiba looked at him sideways, now more confused and suspicious than alarmed.

“And if I solve it?” he said, because ah, yes, of course, stakes. Nothing ever for the joy of it.

“Bragging rights.”

“If I don’t?”

“Nothing happens,” Yuugi said. 

They stared at each other. Yuugi ventured a smile. Did he dare walk in? He was still standing on the threshold. 

“Fine,” Kaiba said, a word more like a sigh. “Come in and tell me your stupid puzzle.”

***

Every house has its own particular smell, its character, its self-contained story about those who call it home. Yuugi took off his shoes, setting them beside the glass door, and frowned. Kaiba's smelled like clean linens, a touch of dust, cool air. A muted smell with no character. He didn't know what he expected. Something else, something thick and wet and heady, like oncoming thunder, or concrete after rain.

On this side of the glass doors, the kitchen was even more exquisite, temptingly so. He knew, from his lusty late-night Internet searches, that the knives in the wooden block alone cost more than several thousand dollars. Untouched! He refused to let them go to waste. Such things were more beautiful when they were held and used and loved, doing what they were made for. And despite the marbled silence, the thin white lighting, this was a house, not a museum. Yuugi dropped his backpack on the floor next to an empty bar stool and turned to Kaiba, who was sitting upright, hands atop his thighs, watching him.

“Uh - do you have anything to eat? I haven’t eaten since lunch,” he said, slinging his jacket over his backpack.

“No. Every night I just plug in and recharge,” Kaiba said dryly. “I believe that’s called a fridge. Those have human food.”

Yuugi bit his tongue, hiding his smile as he went around to the other side of the island. At least Kaiba was still capable of snark. He opened the massive fridge - sparse offerings, sparsely touched - and rooted around, not quite sure what he was looking for between the limp carrots and slabs of smoked salmon. Only the cheese drawer yielded interesting spoils, unspoiled and exotically European.

“The pantry?” he said, nodding at the door next to the fridge. 

“Presumably.”

Yuugi found a loaf of sourdough bread on a shelf in the walk-in pantry - a fucking walk-in pantry! - and returned to the counter with his haul: the bread, the butter, a wedge of Gruyere, and a brick of Emmental. “I’m making a grilled cheese. You want one?”

“If it makes you happy,” Kaiba muttered.

“It does, yeah,” Yuugi said, unsheathing one of those glorious, mirror-polished knives from the wooden block. He rolled up his sleeves and attacked the cheeses with relish. “So - the puzzle goes like this. You’re fifteen years old. You’re small for your age, underweight, painfully shy. You get shoved around a lot at school. Before school, after school. Whenever, honestly. No one really sticks up for you, although you try to stick up for them, when you can, and no one really talks to you, because you live in your own little world. Your head’s always in the clouds, and you get really excited over a lot of things no one else really cares about.”

As he spoke, he unearthed a frying pan and set it on the gas stove, slicing off several pats of butter. As they melted, soft and yellow-white, he carved several slices off the loaf, shuddering with secretive pleasure at the fresh crunch of the crust. 

“Next time, just bring me your high school diary,” Kaiba said. 

Yuugi snorted, buttering the slices and laying them carefully into the pan, where they began to sizzle. He draped the slices of cheese on top. “So you can read everything I wrote about you? No thanks. Anyway. You have one friend, but she’s not always around - her family travels a lot for work. So here you are, a bullied, lonely little oddball, and one day someone gives you a gift. A puzzle.”

“A puzzle in a puzzle.” 

“Right,” Yuugi said, pressing down on the slices of bread with a spatula. The butter crackled and spat; a thick, warm smell wafted through the kitchen. “And if you make a wish on the puzzle, it grants your wish when you solve it. So you make your wish, and you solve your puzzle. You know the rest.”

He turned back to Kaiba. “Now I’m here in your kitchen, making you a grilled cheese. So. What did I wish for?”

To his credit, Kaiba was taking it seriously, offering no snide comments about magic or wishing, leaning forward with his arms folded again on the counter. Yuugi let him study him, eyes narrowed and thoughtful, knowing he was running back through all eight years of their shared history, doing the math. 

“Well, no one shoves you around any more,” Kaiba said. “Not even me, judging by the fact that I can’t even get you to leave my house. I should’ve known better than to try.”

“Ooh, a compliment. Thanks, I’ll treasure it forever,” Yuugi said, grinning, flipping the sandwiches. Melted cheese oozed from the sides. The bottom slices had toasted to a golden brown. His mouth watered. “Plates?”

“Up and to your left.”  

Yuugi opened the cabinets and, standing on tiptoe, eased out two matte black stoneware plates. Fancy.

“You wished for strength,” Kaiba said. 

Yuugi slid the grilled cheeses onto the plates and severed them in half with the spatula. 

“Nope,” he said, leaning across the island counter to set the steaming grilled cheese in front of Kaiba. The semantic point that his friends and his strength were one and the same seemed irrelevant. He was speaking to Kaiba. He needed to speak in Kaiba’s language. “Strength wouldn’t have solved anything for me.”

“You just said you were getting shoved around  - ”

“I wished for friends, Kaiba,” Yuugi said. “Yeah, I was tired of getting shoved around. But I was even more tired of being alone.”

“I - “ Kaiba cut himself off, pressing a sigh through his nose with a tight, pinched expression. Within seconds his face soured. “You make a wish on your magical little trinket, and you get just what you always wanted. How fucking fantastic for you - ”

“Don’t do the aggressive-aggressive thing, it’s not cute,” Yuugi said. “And don’t test me, either. You and I are way past that. Just look me in the face and tell me, honestly, you want me to leave.”

Kaiba turned that ferocious blue gaze on him, silent.

Yuugi waited, holding his gaze. 

Thin, languid tendrils of steam rose from their melting grilled cheeses and folded away.

“Don’t tell me you think of me as one of your magic wish friends?” Kaiba said.

“There’s nothing magical about our friendship, no,” Yuugi said, and to his delight Kaiba snorted with amusement. “Now eat, before it gets cold.”

***

They ate, the evening quiet of the kitchen magnifying every fried, crunchy bite. Yuugi had hoisted himself onto the bar stool next to Kaiba, congratulating himself on a well-made grilled cheese. He would’ve made it work even without the expensive knives.

"Don't tell Mokuba," Kaiba said, dabbing at crumbs on his plate with a greasy scrap of bread, "or Atem."

"Don't tell them what?" Yuugi said.

"How you found me. On hour six of staring at a wall.”

"I won't," Yuugi said.

"They don't need to worry about me. I can take care of myself," Kaiba insisted. 

"You can, but are you?" Yuugi said. 

"Mmh," Kaiba murmured, resting his elbows on the counter and his chin atop his laced hands. “Don’t tell them that, either.”

His eyes rolled sideways, his gaze drifting around the kitchen, through the arched doorway, through the rest of the house, where all the lights were off. Yuugi slid off his stool and selected two pears from the fruit bowl, heavy with ripeness, rinsing them in the sink.

“Did... something happen? Did you get in a fight?” he ventured. “Atem says you’re not answering his calls.”

“No. Nothing like that.”

“Then what?”

The kitchen swelled with silence.

"They left," Kaiba said finally, as Yuugi considered how to cut the pears. A basic wedge cut was too childish. "And I told them to go, enjoy it, make the most of it. They have their own lives to live. Mokuba must've asked me a thousand times if I'd be fine without him if he went to California, and I said yes, go, because I don't need him around. I'm fine. And there's no point in getting angry with someone for leaving if you don't need them in the first place."

The effort must've been massive, Yuugi realized, slicing into the pears, to keep the anger at bay. To dig into the wound and wrench the thing out whole, raw and throbbing, without duels or rubbled islands, and without the help of the people who loved him the most. No wonder he looked so exhausted, so limp; no wonder he was again sinking towards the counter, arms folding, his head dropping like there was a hand on the back of his neck, guiding him down with animal docility. 

“How long have you been feeling like this?” Yuugi said.

“What the hell do you know about it?” Kaiba said, semi-muffled by his elbow. 

“It feels like there’s this dark little pit in yourself that you can’t stop digging,” Yuugi said, “and when it’s deep enough, you’re gonna curl up and bury yourself at the bottom and sleep for a year. Right?”

Kaiba said nothing, heaving another sigh.

“Sit up. Eat this.” Yuugi thunked a plate of pear in front of Kaiba, each slice wafer-thin, almost translucent, dripping with light. Kaiba dutifully pulled himself up and removed several slices of pear, with jenga-like precision, careful not to damage Yuugi’s artful pinwheeling. “Well?”

“I always feel like this,” Kaiba said, a startling confession, all the more terrifying for the blithe, dismissive tone with which he confessed it. “So what if it’s a little worse than normal? I’ll find my way out of it.” 

Yuugi leaned over the counter, hands clasped atop it, business-like. 

“I have no doubt in your ability to get out of this,” he said. “But I don’t think you should do it alone. See, I don’t want you to leave, either.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“Yeah?” Yuugi said. “I challenge you to a duel. My deck’s in my backpack. I have some new strategies I’m dying to test, and you’re the only one who makes me really fight for it. How about it? Wanna duel?”

Kaiba exhaled, resting his elbow on the counter, his cheek against the back of his hand. He plucked out another pear slice, not eating it; instead just letting it dangle from his fingertips, watching a tiny pearl of water roll off the edge and break apart on the plate with monumental indifference. 

Watching him, Yuugi allowed himself a brief, private moment of grief, for Kaiba, knowing he wouldn’t want it, and he’d be insulted if he knew. To have your heart broken by what you love was one thing; to swing from love to hate was another; but to stand still and feel your love go, leaving nothing in the hollow it left behind, was the worst.

With a light flick, Kaiba released the slice of pear, his gaze drifting again. 

“No. I’m tired of fighting,” he said sullenly, so dull a sound that Yuugi sucked in a breath, two dueling thoughts colliding with concussive impact in his chest. Good, stop fighting, why don’t you finally get some rest, and the urge to grab him by the shoulders and shake him and shout no! keep fighting! I know you’re in there! 

Kaiba lifted his head, looking at Yuugi with an air of steeling himself. “Okay. What... what do you want from me?”

Yuugi almost laughed, but caught himself. No good things came from laughing in Kaiba’s face. 

“Other way around,” he said, drawing a circle in the air with his finger. “This is about what you want from me. Whatever you need. Whatever you want.”

Kaiba frowned, thinking.

“Do you seriously believe the magic of the Millennium Puzzle helped you make friends?” he said.

"Um. Well, it was more like a domino effect, you know? A chaos theory, butterfly hurricane kind of thing - “

“Magic had nothing to do with it. It was all you,” Kaiba said, with more heat and passion than he’d shown in weeks. “But you have to understand I’ll never be your ‘bro’ - ” couching the word in air quotes, a disdainful pair of twin finger twitches - “and I’m not one of your little pals, like Jounouchi, or whatever. That’s not who I am. That’s not how I do it.” 

“I know,” Yuugi said. “Listen - ”

“I don’t - ” Kaiba huffed and scowled at the counter, at his blurred, misty reflection. “I prefer to handle things on my own. I always have. I don’t - know how - ”

“Kaiba.” 

Kaiba looked up, shoulders stiffening, his face tight and stricken. 

“I know,” Yuugi said. He let that hang between them until Kaiba’s shoulders had eased out of their anxious coils. “Don’t worry. I’m not adding you to the group chat or anything. I don’t expect anything from you except the occasional bitchy comment, and maybe a good, boisterous laugh, from way deep down in your chest, like when you draw Blue-eyes in a duel. You know, the ‘I got you now, fucker’ laugh.”

Kaiba laughed - a laugh at half-power, lacking his usual trumpet blare of triumph, but a laugh nonetheless. “You are an oddball.”

“Birds of a feather,” Yuugi said smugly, and checked his phone. It was getting late. “Okay. I think I’ve bothered you enough for the night - ”

“You’re not bothering me. Are you taking the train back into the city?”

“Yeah.” 

“What line?”

“Red line,” Yuugi said, and was struck by an idea. "Why? Somewhere you wanna go?"

"I'm in the mood to get out of the house for a while," Kaiba said. "It's too fucking quiet in here without Mokuba."

Yuugi fixed him with a look. "Yeah, so one of the interns was telling me about a new arcade that just opened off the Ishibashi station. I was gonna go after work with the guys to check it out some time, but..."

He didn't even need to finish the thought. Despite his best effort to hide it, something hopeful had bloomed across Kaiba's face, rich and warm. It made Yuugi ache to see that look, and to wonder what he would've wished for at fifteen, freshly cast from the forge and still hard and brittle and white-hot with rage, burning everyone who touched him.

"Get your coat, let's go," Yuugi said, and Kaiba almost sprang off his bar stool. "Wait - finish the pear. I cut it fancy for you and everything."

Kaiba rapidly ate the pear. "The grilled cheese was excellent, by the way."

"Really?"

"Yes. If you come back and make me another, I'll make all the bitchy comments you want."

Yuugi laughed. "Deal."

***

ATEM did you talk to him? 

Yuugi leaned against the polished wooden edge of the pool table, his thoughts whirling in his head lazy and kaleidoscopic. He was halfway through his third beer. They'd gone through air hockey. The racing games. The shooting games. Foosball. Kaiba had spent fifteen minutes at the claw machine, winning a plush Kuriboh for a middle schooler and pressing it into her hands with a firm explanation of how the machines were rigged against her. 

Then they'd found the pool tables, in a dim little corner, the green felts shining like tropical islands in a shadowy red-brown sea under the hanging lights. Yuugi was still smarting from the whipping, which Kaiba had delivered with almost careless ease, drink in hand. 

"Yuugi. Look," he said, leaning over the table, aiming the pool cue at some bizarre constellation of pool balls, his long shadow falling across the felt. 

"Give me a sec," Yuugi said, and swiftly rescued Kaiba's sweating old-fashioned from the edge of the table.

YUUGI ya. now he's showing off

YUUGI trick shots at the pool table

ATEM so he's fine?

"You're not looking," Kaiba said, lifting his head. "Look."

"I'm looking," Yuugi said.

The cue moved smoothly between Kaiba's fingertips as he aligned his shot - sleek, frictionless, silent - with a quick, sharp thrust he sent the pool balls smashing into each other, cracking like lightning across the table and vanishing into the pockets. The last ball rolled towards the last pocket with slow, melodramatic flair, teetering over the lip, like it knew exactly who had struck it, and what kind of show it needed to put on. 

It dropped in, clattering into its fellows at the bottom of the pocket.

Kaiba laughed, triumphant, glowing with youthful glory, catching the victory by his hip with a yank of his fist.

YUUGI he will be

"Did you see?" Kaiba said, turning to Yuugi. The lines under his eyes were still there; the seams that held him together, pulling apart. Those would take some time to repair.

But for the moment he was radiating with energy, beaming, star-like in the dim electric gloom of the arcade. Not hidden in the blackness of space, but brighter for it. Despite it.

"I saw," Yuugi said.

[deejadabbles]

Crimson Portrait (Seto Kaiba x Reader)

So as I said in my drabble a couple days ago, I’m wanting to write some short fics to get back into the swing of things and I wanted to gift said drabbles to some mutual I adore. Next on my list is @ohyema​ the top Vampire and Yugioh enthusiast on this site! I’m sure you’ve all seen her amazing art floating around already, but in case not please check out her stuff (and reblog the heck outta it!), the way she colors her pieces and adds dramatic flair is something I aspire to tbh <3 

For this fic I decided to spread my proverbial wings and write Seto for a change (don’t get used to this though, Kaiba fans, I’m still not a Kaiba stan lol) and I hope you enjoy our dark, mysterious blood thirsty, CEO ;)

You gulped, eyes traveling up the metal and glass of the building as though counting each towering floor would make it any less intimidating. It wasn’t just the size, of course, it was the marble path spread out in front of the entry, it was the literal red carpet on the other side of doors- it was the gold etching and suited man around said doors! You found yourself clutching the portfolio case under your arm even tighter to your chest. Subtle lights brightened the edges of the building, though you were sure they were meant to make it shine like a beacon of wealth at night, rather than give it any cheer or levity. 

This was by far the fanciest place you had ever been and the doorman casting a glance at you made you tug at your clothes for probably the seventeenth time since heading here. The outfit was fine, you reminded yourself; professional, but simple. Nothing that would impede your movements and work, all while still being close enough to your true fashion to offer you some self assurance. And you needed every ounce of self assurance possible right now.

After taking in a long, deep breath and straightening your posture, you started for the door. Despite the high chance that he was suspicious of you, the doorman pulled on the finely crafted handle and allowed you entry with a polite bow, nothing less. You weren’t sure if you were supposed to acknowledge him, but you returned the silent respect automatically. Then again, it didn’t really matter if you broke etiquette, you weren’t the high-class that lived here anyway.

The lobby was just as fancy as the outside. Your shoes clicked on more marble floors, and rich colored walls wearing frames of fine art surrounded you. There was a large wooden desk to one side, and the receptionist behind it clocked you as a non-resident, because she instantly greeted you with a “can I help you, miss?”

“Um- yes! Yes, I’m here to visit Mr. Seto Kaiba?” you followed the claim with your name and silently praying that was all you needed. The only way you were getting passed the front desk was if Kaiba (or his assistant) left your name with the attendant.

With a polite smile plastered on her face, she nodded and typed something quick on a computer obscured by the large backing of the desk. “Ah yes, Mr. Kaiba is expecting you. Please take the center elevator, he’s on floor 40.”

She waved her hand to the other side of the lobby, where three elevators with doors as clean and reflective as new mirrors stood. You gave her a quick thank you before following her instructions. The inside of the elevators were just as polished, the metallic sides reflecting your image. 

As the floors passed by, you checked to make sure the journey here hadn’t ruffled your appearance any, tucking hairs back into place, swiping your hand over the pristine portfolio briefcase, tugging at your hems yet again. You almost jumped when the elevator dinged, announcing your arrival at the top floor. You waited a few heart beats, long enough to start worrying you had the wrong floor- until it finally slid open.

The apartment was dimly lit, all the ceiling lights set to a dull, intimate glow one might see in a fancy bar. Then a different wave of nerves overcome you, hopefully this guy didn’t have the wrong idea of what service you were providing. 

“Are you going to come in, or continue wasting my time?”

You did jump that time, especially with how impatient the deep rumble of a voice sounded. With hurried steps you entered the apartment and ventured down the short hallway, following the voice. The hallway quickly opened into an expansive room, a couch, coffee table, TV, and desk on one side, and a kitchen, breakfast bar, dining table, and wet bar on the other. On the living room side, where the desk’s back sat, there was a large floor-to-ceiling window, the curtains pulled back to reveal the spiderweb of city lights and life beyond. 

Of course, what really drew your attention was the man standing in front of the window.

He hadn’t turned from the view to look at you let alone greet you, hands tucked in his pockets as he watched the pulsing city life. He wore a white suit, with a blue button-up shirt and a dark blue tie, making for nice, clean lines for your portrait. Seto Kaiba. A household name in most countries, the secretive CEO of one of the biggest companies in the world who’s fame for innovation was only matched by his notorious hermit tendencies. He appeared on magazines often enough, but many pointed out that they were likely deliberate presentations to the world. Deliberate to alleviate rumors because, besides them, neither Kaiba nor his younger brother were ever seen out in public and even rather rarely in their own corporate buildings.

You weren’t exactly someone who bought into that celebrity gossip, but it was still rather surreal seeing him in person like this.

“You can set up on the other side of the desk,” he started, still not turning from the window. “This is the background I want, I expect you to be able to handle it considering the portraits on your online portfolio.”

You tried not to gulp, “Of course, but it may take me an extra session or two to get the details.”

“As long as it’s done before I return to Domino,” he answered in a drawl, then, finally turned to face you. He placed a slender hand on the back of the leather desk chair, and you quickly made yourself busy with setting up. 

You felt that nerve-wracking, almost burning sensation of eyes watching you, and you could just imagine the icy blue of the eyes, remembering how Kaiba’s gaze always pierced through the magazine covers and into the viewer. Instead of thinking of how hawk-like he was watching you, you focused on how challenging and fun it will be to capture that quality in your painting.

Once your blank canvas was set up and your tools were spread out, ready for use, you finally locked eyes with the man. “I’m ready when you are, Mr. Kaiba, please take whatever pose you feel most comfortable with.” You had to ignore the shiver that ran down your spine, especially when he held your gaze for a moment more before finally shifting his stance.

After some verbal redirecting so his pose looked the best and got the key parts of the cityscape behind him, you actually got started on the canvas. Tokyo Tower stood like a sentinel behind him, making for nice framing, and he was a natural at posing, of course choosing one that was strong and commanding to the onlookers. 

It was quiet as you worked, he wasn’t playing any music, nor offering any chitchat. It was only then that you realized just how alone you two were in the penthouse, didn’t rich dudes like him have platoons of bodyguards?

Within the free seconds you had between maping your piece, your mind wandered back to the rumors surrounding the Kaiba family and their reclusiveness. Tales of Kaiba insisting on specially tinted windows for all his buildings and never being seen in the light of day led to some interesting ones. Mostly conspiracies about him being the secret illegitimate son of royalty, and inheriting hemophilia from said parentage. Now, noting how pale he looked against the background of vibrant city lights, you could slightly understand buying into that rumor. 

Not only that, but, the more glances you took while working, the more you noticed just how...sickly the man looked. His cheeks were a bit sunken, made worse by the dark circles under his eyes And on top of that, there was a sore redness around his eyes that was seeming to get worse every time you peered passed your canvas. None of his magazine pictures ever showcased these...unwell qualities. He must just be tired, you decided, being a CEO likely didn’t allow for much sleep, and here he was posing for a portrait late at night.   

You were just finishing up his outline when you decided attempt conversation. If he didn’t like it he would just tell you to shut up, after all.

“I was actually pretty surprised when you hired me, most people don’t bother with traditional portraits any more.”

There was awhile of silence, where Kaiba’s eyes flickered towards you before staring off to the other side of the room again. Your were just taking the mental note not to try a conversation again, when-

“It was my brother’s idea. I always look ahead, and cut out traditions and old ways that no longer serve me. But, he made the point that there are some classics still worth something. Besides, improving things like canvas portraits with modern settings was appealing.”

You found yourself smiling and nodding along, “Yeah, I really like the idea of having the city in the background, it’ll make for a really unique piece!” 

After picking your next brush, you peered over to refresh your mental image of the scene, only to find him staring at you again. His expression was rather indecipherable, and though his eyes were almost hooded the rest of his features were as blank as an empty page. Your heart was practically beating in your ears as you stayed transfixed in his gaze, which you swore were actually hued in red now, instead of solid icy blue.

A sound similar to a squeak, and you finally broke the contact to flick your gaze down to the hand resting on the back of the desk chair. His fingers were a sickly white, seeming to have no blood in them as his nails dug into the leather with a grip so strong he might be on the verge of puncturing the fabric.

Feeling that nervous heat again you quickly averted your gaze back to the canvas, even going as far as to shuffle behind it just slightly as though you could hide.

That didn’t help, much like when you were setting up, you could feel his gaze burning into you. Maybe he was offended, upset that you stared back at him, but he had no right to judge considering he was staring first! Seriously what was with this guy?

You weren’t sure how much time passed after that, it felt like an eternity but you were sure it wasn’t much longer than a half hour or so. You only stole glances at him when you absolutely felt like you had to refresh your mental image of the scene before giving another stroke of the brush. You avoided any eye contact even then and managed to skim over his face only once, during which you noted any previous color in his cheeks had vanished completely, but that was beside the point. You were just telling your brain to stop conjuring up theory’s on why he looked so sick and biting your tongue to keep from asking if he was alright when-

“We’re done for the night, you can continue tomorrow.”

If the sudden dismissal wasn’t enough to snap your attention back to him, the heavy breath within the words was. Your eyes snapped up to Kaiba and before you even registered his movement you were jumping from a harsh thud! He had removed his hand from the chair so swiftly that it spun and thudded into the desk with enough force to crack furniture of a lesser quality. 

Now Kaiba was pacing around his desk, gaunt jaw clenched so tight he might very well chip a tooth. Not wanting to argue with someone who apparently had the mood swings of an angst-ridden teen, you planned to start packing up without a word. However, just as he passed the coffee table, Kaiba took in a sharp breath and doubled over so fast he barely caught himself on the glass top.

Empathy won in a heartbeat and before you could reconsider you were by his side saying a frantic, “Are you okay? Mr. Kaiba you look sick, should I call a-?”

The concerned questions died in your throat and so too did a scream when something too red and too luminous to be eyes flashed up at you. The next moment something was wrapping around the prison that held your words and scream. The third moment your back was slammed none too gently into a wall you could have sworn was half a room away and a body colder than any you had felt before was pressing into you.

Eyes wide, body held still with fear, all you could do was take in a few shallow breaths as Kaiba’s mouth hovered over your neck. One heart thundering in your ears, two heartbeats, three-

But nothing happened. 

The hand pressing into your clavicle hadn’t tightened, and the mouth hovering dangerously close had not moved in for the kill (proverbial or otherwise), rather, Kaiba’s body seemed to be as frozen as yours.

Or at least you thought it was. A moment later you finally registered that Kaiba was shaking. Not violently by any means, hell, it was barely notable, but he was definitely shaking, as if he was trying to keep sickly shivers from wracking his body. His other hand moved up to grip your upper arm then, and his fingers were tight but not quite painful as he held you there.

“I shouldn’t have kept our appointment.”

The words were so shocking to your reeling mind that you almost didn’t register them. They were said lowly, in something akin to a growl or rumble.

“I should have told you to get out the moment I-”

Something on the other side of the condo sounded, a ding you had heard when first arriving on the floor, and not a second later footsteps were thundering.

“Seto!”

The youthful voice almost snapped you back to your sense enough to move, maybe even break free of his hold, but in that same moment  you felt something sharp graze the skin of your neck as Kaiba’s face turned to meet the newcomer.

Thankfully your recovered control wasn’t needed, as the moment Kaiba locked sites on the newcomer, he released his hold on you. In a fearful blink as you recovered your balance, you saw Kaiba make his way across the room faster than any human possible could.

That’s when you saw who had intervened; Mokuba Kaiba, the youth of the Kaiba empire. He was looking pale and worried, looking between his brother and you as Seto snatching something out of his hands. 

You caught the sight of something encasing red as Seto tore the package open, but he halted long enough to growl another command, “You need to leave, now.”

Your legs were finally able to move again, when you caught site of something that confirmed the impossible theories running though your head: sharp, pearly fangs were flashing between Seto’s lips.

[cyberdragoninfinity]

i have... been thinking about ygo dm (as if im not always thinking about Yugioh Duel Monsters The Show The Anime The Lifestyle hghdfgd) and for the sake of having it written down somewhere i wanted to ramble about my fav duel from each season...

I have. Many Thoughts (under the cut lol)

SEASON ONE: Mai vs. Yugi (Eps 29-30) ((really?!??! it’s that early in the series???? omg....))

I love so much of duelist kingdom, i’ve talked about this before...but there’s genuinelly something so engaging and downright thrilling about Mai and Yugi’s quarterfinal match that I keep coming back to it. You got Mai just Kicking Ass, yugi fresh off of his Oh God Did Kaiba Almost Die Because of Me trauma, the drama between them, yami yugi desperately being like DUDE LET ME HELP YOU. It’s so cool seeing Yugi dueling by himself!! And, kind of sucking at it!!! By the end it’s like the first time that yugi’s really like “ok, there’s another guy inside my brain, and we need to work together w need to be on the same page” and it’s just so great seeing him and yami compromise because then you get to see that bloom more and more into the Inseparable Friendship you have by later seasons.

Again, also, I love Mai. I love getting to see Harpie’s Pet Dragon for the first time. She cares so much about these kids. I love when hr and yami yugi do a thumbs up at each other ;__; this duel is GOOD

Runner Up Favorite Duel: again hard to pick cuz there’s so many duels im soft on, but Pegasus vs. Kaiba (26-27) is also an absolute banger. Blue Eyes Toon Dragon my beloved. also it’s fun watching kaiba get fuckin owned HDFGHDFH

SEASON TWO: Joey vs. Yugi but Joey is being Very Mind Controlled by Marik (Eps 75-75)

AGAIN THIS SEASON IS SO HARD TO PICK A FAV FROM THERE’S SO MANY GREATEST HITS IN BATTLE CITY but at the end of the day i GOTTA go with Friends Til the End.... I watched this duel as a child and it stayed buried in my brain until this year when I was wonderfully, blessedly reminded of it.  Everything about this duel is just, perfect. The setting, the STAKES!!! (THAT FUCKIN ANCHOR!!!!) Joey battling Marik’s mind control and it’s emo and awesome!! YUGI PUTTIN THE PUZZLE ON HIM!! Marik being pissed off and on a boat the whole time!! Red Eyes being beat to shit and laying by Yugi’s side like an old dog before we get that kickass conclusion with Joey begging the dragon to attack him!! Kaiba crashing a helicopter into a crane!! SERENITY TAKING HER BANDAGES OFF AND LEAPING INTO THE OCEAN TO SAVE HER BROTHER HAS LIVED RENT FREE IN MY BRAIN FOR ALMOST TWENTY YEARS!!!!!!

GOD. THIS DUEL IS SO GOOD. i think this and my S4 fav duel are tied for like...my fav duels of the entire series. This one’s special.

Runner Up Favorite Duel: AGAIN REAL HARD TO PICK JUST ONE SECOND PLACE WINNER but i think it’s gotta be yami bakura vs. yami yugi (82-84), also just a fantastic duel wrt to setting, vibes, stakes, EVERYTHING. Dark Sanctuary is such an Evocative Yugioh Setting for me, and SLIFER WRAPPING AROUND THAT BIGASS BLIMP is like.... top 10 duel monsters moments for me for sure. That did something to my child brain.

SEASON THREE: Yami Yugi vs. Yami Marik (138-142)

battle city finals really Some of the Best Yugioh’s Ever Been, imo...my top fav has gotta be the final big duel though, it’s just so fucking cool. Yami Marik is just a blast to watch in all his duels, he makes some of his best expressions in this one 100%, and seeing regular Marik Defeat His Own Darkness still hits different. And you got all the God Cards on display!!!! Fuck yes!!! Also the end when kaiba blows up the fucking trash island and rides away on his stupid dragon jet is just *chef’s kiss* Fantastic. 

really any time yami marik does that thing where he fuses into ra it’s just cool as shit. i didnt appreciate this wacko enough as a kid, he’s great.

Runner Up Favorite Duel: All of the Big 5 Duels I’m Not Kidding. I WILL go to bat for the Virtual World arc ANY day. SPECIAL shoutout to Johnson vs. Joey (104-105) though; that one is ESPECIALLY a blast. It’s in a stupid courtroom!! Flame Swordsman is there, and he talks!! BAD LAWYER PUNS!!!!!! Simply delightful, I think they should have put even more fucked up businessmen in yugioh.

SEASON FOUR: Oricalchos!Rex and Weevil vs. Joey and Yami Yugi (ep 160-162)

Yeah this is the duel(s) that makes me go cuckoo bananas <3 This duel was so just...stand out impactful to me as a child it’s what led me to fall in love with Rex as a character and (through an elaborate domino effect series of events) put me on the path of the creative endeavors I work on today. These duels just make a switch in my brain go off .The crazy train framing, the Funny Comic Relief Guys suddenly being (at last for a moment) a legitimate, fucked up threat, The Trading Card That Makes You Evil on full display (cosigned by me, #1 Seal of Orichalcos lover), RED EYES BLACK DRAGON SWORD, THE ANIMATION KICKING SO MUCH ASS AT A FEW POINTS...god. I love it so much. Me watching rex raptor beg for his life while losing his soul in a card game: Oh This Will Stick With Me For Life

and, again, Weevil dueling on top of a moving train is just cool as shit. He’s so fucked up in that duel. Love that little bastard. You deserved to get pummeled tho

Runner Up Favorite Duel: Rafael vs. Yami Yugi (The First One) (eps.156-158).... I just love Rafael I think he’s fun lol. Also the pharaoh succumbing to The Seal still hits like a truck, it’s always So Much watching the protagonist lose and GOD he loses SO BIGLY with this one. I love evil!kuribabylon. I love that this duel canonly takes place in death valley, california. Season 4 my beloved idc what anyone says.

SEASON FIVE: Yugi vs. Yami Bakura (215-218)

yeah ok there’s really not that many duels in s5 huh (kc grand prix do not interact) and YES i do like the ceremonial duel a lot, but THIS DUEL IS MY S5 I THINK!!! i just really like seeing Yugi himself duel I think.... the stunts he pulls in this duel are fucking wild, Silent Swordsman is COOL, and also this is the duel where Yam Bakura gets attacked by Marshmallon so, like, that’s already top content.

GOD the animation is rough though........every night in my dreams i see you, baby (a remade season 5 of duel monsters with better animation)

Runner Up Favorite Duel: yeah, ok, gotta be the Ceremonial Duel (221-224). This duel makes me fuckin cry. Seeing Summoned Skull and Chimera the King of Mythical Beasts and all the old school s1 yugi deck guys again just makes me wail and sob. it’s good

[dxmichelle]

29 and 34, but 34 can't be an excerpt you've posted before! plus one random multiple of 5. >:3

29. Have you ever gone outside of your comfort zone for a fic? How did it turn out? Well, I started a Prideship one (you know the one), but I haven't really had a chance to work on it in a while so it's pretty low on the priority totem pole. Prideship *anything* is really out of my zone and I worry about butchering characterization a lot. [I'd rather hide in the Rivalship corner lol that's a lot easier for me .]

34. Copy and paste an excerpt you’re particularly fond of. From Spherium:

[Yugi] “You can just as well have a taco.”

[Kaiba] “I could just as well not.”

“Oh, but they’re so flavorful! Plenty of kick – you’d like it!” Yugi paused and frowned. “Or do you not do spicy food?”

“I never said I did or didn’t.”

“Oh. Awesome.” Yugi picked up the second taco and pushed the cardboard basket with the third one across the table. “Here you go then.”

Kaiba stared down at it. Then up at Yugi. Then back down at the taco. And finally, with a sigh, tugged the basket closer and carefully picked it up by the paper wrapping that was already starting to drip a mixture of sauce and grease off the edge.

He wrinkled his nose at it.

“It’s worth it, I promise,” said Yugi, “and besides, would I steer you wrong?”

Kaiba huffed, and after one final look of contempt at the mess in his hands, took a bite, and after chewing it for exactly three seconds made such a face that Yugi burst out laughing.

25. Have you ever daydreamed about side adventures/spin-offs from your fic? Tell us about them! I've already plotted out the ending to OLSSM, and some of the Nerdship shenanigan ficlets take place in the future. One of them (or 3 to be exact) are about an upcoming tournament that Pegasus and KC co-created where all of the main YGO cast gets together to compete. I've thought of having that sort of sequel out of the main fic. After the YGO kids help deal with wizard problems, what if the HP kids got to see a crazy card game tournament?

[fizzingwizard]

Episode 27! It’s a transitional episode and I have Thoughts but nothing major really happens until the very last second :P

Cap of the day!

You know what they saw about the megane shine... next season’s villain is Jou-senpai!!! you heard it here first!

More below!

GAWD I LOVE JOU

no but SERIOUSLY... so glad to have the rest of the team back. They really do make EVERYTHING better. Taichi and Yamato, yeah they’re cool, I love them, but they just don’t carry the show by themselves. And in a similar vein, the rest of the team needs Taichi and Yamato too. Otherwise they have no reason to be all dramatic and show off their cool sides.

(other than Koushirou of course who was just born Cool but it’s the kind of cool most people don’t recognize until you literally own the entire world Koushirou’s three steps from becoming Seto Kaiba except NICE)

ok back to business... last week we left off with the team finally reuniting and bringing Hikari along. For some reason the two groups both decide to stand in a straight line like two baseball teams about to shake hands. Leomon’s team still looks fricking ridiculous

Sooo jury’s out on how Taichi’s gonna react to Hikari! Yamato’s been so chill with having Takeru around, I started to wonder if we’re gonna see super over protective big bro Taichi instead this time! But for the most part he’s just surprised that she’s not surprised by the Digimon.

Hikari is creepy. lol. She’s very much the “cute little sister” type and this episode, at least, we didn’t see any kind of initiative from her, which is to be expected, I mean give the kid some time to adjust. We don’t see a lot of personality though either... I guess we can say she likes cute things, and she’s pretty darn calm... I don’t really like her voice though. It’s a perfectly fine little girl voice, but she always sounds like she’s about to doze off...

Obligatory “cutest couple” pic

The group then basically recaps what’s been happening in the human world recently. Which is all pretty important stuff. But for some reason Taichi and Yamato don’t fill them in on what they’ve gone through?? They have to explain Takeru and Patamon because well there’s a surprise but then they’re like “oh yeah Patamon’s the holy Digimon” and I’m like WHOA. DUDES. IT’S THE HOLY DIGIMON. THE THING Y’ALL RISKED YOUR NECKS FOR. Shouldn’t there be a little more interest, both in the telling and the hearing?? XD

Koushirou’s most excited to update their digivices.

Taichi: Why so blue, Agumon?

Agumon: I shouldn’t have had so many Hawaiian blue energy drinks... but how else did they expect me to fight non stop

Koushirou even has handy dandy charts and images to illustrate. He’s going to get hired somewhere and immediately promoted to CEO, by the CEO.

Patamon: “Hi! I’m the Holy Digimon! Bow before me!”

Jou introduces himself to Takeru and Hikari as the “leader” and tries to convert them to his religion (No-play-only-study-ism) to make them his first acolytes when he inevitably becomes the season’s true final villain. But Gomamon’s all over it.

Gomamon: “You can’t have acolytes until you master maniacal laughter, Jou, didn’t you read ‘Villainy for Dummies’ like I told you to??”

Agumon adorably walks right up to Hikari and asks her if she’s okay and if she feels scared. Hikari says “Agumon’s cute!” Taichi’s face is like “cute? cute?? he’s a dinosaur! dinosaurs are cool!” but he wisely says nothing because you cannot argue with girls about what we think is cute you just cannot

Then Hikari notices something even cuter! Patamon!

Hikari: So cute! I want ten!

Takeru: Sorry, he’s one of a kind and mine!

Hikari: *looks at him* So cute! I want ten!

Takeru: Wait... of me?

Hikari: (u3u)~♥ ﾁｭ

Takeru: (o///o)~♥

love at first sight???? lol

In a nod to the original series, we get a scene of Taichi asking Hikari if she has a Digivice and her being like “oh that thing, I filled it with catnip and gave it to Miko”

Taichi: No digivice! Well I guess this means there’s no way she’s a Chosen Child like us!

Agumon: Infallible logic

Meaning the Zurumon are on the move! this time to FREAKING NASA

Taichi: *most unimpressed voice possible NASA??

I thought hey, it’ll be fine, we’ll just have to fight some more... but

Nasa: *launches a rocket*

The internet:

it’s all just variations of people oh-no-ing in Japanese. A little further down someone just writes “Explosion” in English lol

Due to the weirdness in the digital world that is affecting the human world, a bunch of waterspouts appear in the ocean. Eldradimon’s like “oh bother”

he protec!

Mimi and Palmon rush to comfort each other with a hug.

Jou... immediately gets seasick.

Gomamon: So how’s that maniacal laughter coming along?

Jou: DON’T MAKE ME OPEN MY MOUTH

Awwwww. Point of interest.... Koushirou is barely larger than Hikari x’D

Leomon, for some reason, decides now we must part. He doesn’t think these kids can survive this storm and offers to protect them as they escape. The kids are powerful against evil monsters but weak to weather lol. I’m sure the actual logic in no way was “Now that the rest of the team is back from their pointless stint in the human world we no longer need Leomon to play back-up”

They don’t agree without an argument, but Leomon insists, because he believes the Chosen Children have other important things they are meant to do. We get a cool scene of everyone making their escapes. Sora takes Mimi with her

Taichi and Hikari join Koushirou

And Yamato and Takeru “join” Jou (but really Yamato’s the one calling the shots because Jou’s busy struggling not to pee his pants)

It’s just in the nick of time... before a giant whirlpool seemingly sucks Leomon and Eldradimon into the sea.

Taichi: Oh my god did they just DIE??

Kabuterimon: Don’t look back!

Taichi: I know... we have to respect their sacrifice...

Kabuterimon: Well, that and you might be scarred to see Leomon’s reenactment of Ariel at the bottom of Ursula’s whirlpool

Taichi: huh

(look I think I’m funny and that’s what counts)

Getting all split up like this made me think they were gonna end up split up for reals, but the team manages to stay together for now.

They arrive at a new continent covered in weird spikes! Yamato picks up his digivice like a walkie-talkie and says one word: “Taichi”

it amuses me that he could only bring himself to say “Yagami” for a good while in the beginning but then he finally started saying “Taichi” and now he just can’t stop!!

Anyway he’s alerting the others to the fact that some? of the spikes on the island are actually Tortomon about to attack them. Before going to join Greymon’s attack, Taichi flings Hikari at Koushirou “HERE PROTECT MY SISTER SINCE YOU HAVE NOTHING ELSE TO DO”

jk but seriously... why does Taichi need to be all up in the action? Until now I thought it was something they all had to do to help their partners, because they usually ride on them during battle, but this episode seemed to suggest that Taichi goes out of his way to do it even more than is maybe necessary. Which doesn’t exactly come as a surprise, but xD

Reason #1229345894 why the team is better when they’re all together: Mimi is hilarious and SORA HAS A GOSH DARN PERSONALITY. She DOES, folks. We hardly got to see it recently -____- this episode at least lets her react to the others. Ugggh. Irony of ironies, Sora needs more love.

It’s a stampede! Simba! NOOOOO!

Sooo... the battle with the Tortomon goes pretty well but then this guy called Groundramon or something appears and uh... starts to eat them... like it’s pretty visceral y’all o_o le eugh

Taichi is shocked and recalls last episode when he saw Seadramon power up and evolve after eating Ebidramon. He does not choose to mention the time he was eaten by Devimon. EH IT’LL BE FINE I’M SURE THAT WASN’T IMPORTANT ANYWAY

Greymon: Don’t get eaten.

Garurumon: lol same to you

The Agumon/Gabumon bromance is honestly one of the best things about this season. Not that we get a ton of it, but when we do we do I always feel like “yes, that’s Digimon, that’s it right there”

The Digimon rev up to face off with their cannibal and Groundramon quickly decides Ikakkakumon looks the most nutritious. He probably has lots of blubber and meat on him so I guess I’d go for Ikkakumon first too

Ikkakumon: Don’t eat me!

Jou: Wait don’t! He was teaching me how to be cool!!!

Taichi: Eat him! Eat him Groundramon! I can’t let Jou be the cool one!

Yamato: Are you two fighting to see who can reach peak villain status first?

Taichi/Jou: I’m naturally competitive

ka-boom!

Our heroes are blown back by. Takeru quickly runs to check on his big brother who seems to smack his head on a rock...

Yamato: It’s cool. I’m cool. The definition of cool. Ishida Yamato. That’s me.

Sora: Oh no, I think he’s got a concussion.

Takeru: No, that’s how oniichan is on a normal day.

The team starts to feel overwhelmed! That’s when a fire ignites in Taichi’s eyes and he announces the next siege!

Yamato: Taichi...

no but okay what even IS this moment. The episode goes out of its way to show us Yamato reacting to Taichi not giving up. This is a Thing. I don’t know what he’s feeling here - impressed? Happy that Taichi’s able to bring everyone together when they’re feeling defeated? Or is he also recalling how that same desire to never fail almost got him killed and his partner transformed into an evil evolution a few episodes ago?

So like I keep saying I don’t see why we had to split up the team for so long, and for now I stand by that. But one thing’s clear: the show wanted only Yamato around to witness what happened to Taichi. (I mean, Takeru was there too, but he’s a baby xP) And even Yamato doesn’t know everything - we don’t know how much he was actually conscious for. But I feel like, if there was any point to the separation at all, that was it. I hope so anyway. I like the idea of Yamato grappling with how to know when Taichi’s going too far while at the same time really valuing the way Taichi’s able to push them to victory.

Turns out Taichi’s new plan is... even bigger guns!

Pointed directly into Groundramon’s mouth!

Yamato: This is madness.

Taichi: No! This! Is! DIGIMON ADVENTURE:!!!!

Everyone attacks poor Groundramon in the mouth x’D im crying

The combined attacks seem to overload Groundramon and then MetalGreymon launches missiles down his throat, which cause these internal explosions. Uh, gross... like if there’s any time Jou should be puking it’s now

we won by being even more violent than normal! yay us!

Not that this means we get a break because Darknightmon chooses now to make his dramatic return!

They get blown back again

... but I love how adorably protective the big brothers are whenever it happens <3

Yamato and Taichi finally remember they never told the others much about what they’ve been up to recently, other than “we found the holy Digimon.” Now they add “and we found Darknightmon too.” Wow what a level of detail.

I honestly... expected Darknightmon to be interested in Hikari instead of Takeru xP It was a little too predictable so I was glad when he seems to go right for Takeru and Patamon after all.

Patamon, who’s recent hobby has been watching musicals, begins to sing:

Don’t ever kick a dog

because he’s just a pup!

You’d better run for cover

when the pup grows up!

Taichi: Uhh did he not see the part where Gavroche dies??

Yamato: He fell asleep before we got that far.

Angemon!!

Honestly... as a fan of 99 Adventure, Angemon there was SUCH a dramatic thing and... this isn’t. I know, I know, it’s a different show, we do things different in 2020... I just remember the excitement I felt about Angemon’s first apperance though. But, to be fair, although it takes a long time before his second appearance, once it happens Patamon always evolves to Angemon without all the fanfare and it’s just a normal evolution. So... yeah, this all makes sense xP

At least we end on a cliffhanger! What’s gonna happen?? Tune in next week!

So I guess I wasn’t that off about the team splitting up again, I was just wrong about when... next week it looks like they’ll be separated, which, although we just got everyone back together, I’m not upset about as long as each group gets focus. Now that they’re back in the digital world, there’s potential for stuff to happen. But it depends on the groups as well. I do sort of expect this is mainly a “put Taichi and Hikari” on their own maneuver.

Oh, was right about Darknightmon going for Hikari after all xP

My guess is... Angemon’s gonna fight but just not have recovered enough to stay in that form for long, and somehow that results in everyone separating... we’ll see. More importantly...

NANIMON!!!

My relationship with this guy is love-hate! I love to hate him x’D So I’m glad he’s back! Still want to see Piximon and Whamon the most but I’ll take it!