#GX was so simple

[otomelavenderhaze]

Aside from og ygo, I do like gx better from all the other gens, just cuz Jaden was such lighthearted character, besides I remember all the plot of it, differently from 5d that I finished, but I don't remember everything, I have very especific memories of that one, like I remember the first season, I remember when it got dark, I vaguely remember the conclusion of it all, don't make me tell you whatever other characters aside of Yusei did cuz I can't tell ya - Yusei's rival is forgetable asf, I can't even.

But the OG was wild, I eated it all up and I remember every single season, I would watch it all again. Maybe I wouldn't watch again GX or 5ds, and I can't get around the new ones, whenever I start those, I get bored quickly.

[aberooski]

I know they're already trapped in cyberspace as it is, but I never understood why Sarina turned Syrus and Hassleberry into a dinosaur and a car as opposed to like, locking them up in there or actually putting them in danger? Like if you want the stakes to feel actually important to the duel like maybe I should actually have to worry about what will happen to them if Jaden and Aster lose...?

I dunno it doesn't really matter, like obviously it's entirely possible that the thing is just that they're just bait for Jaden so it doesn't really matter what she does with them because all she needs is to get Jaden and Aster there so she can test them in a duel so once they get there Sy and Hassleberry don't really matter anymore at that point. But I just think about this kinda stuff y'know? I'm a fanfic writer haha

[antihibikase-archive]

Thinking about that Zexal-inspired AU so. Talking about Slater's decks. <3

Slater initially runs a mixed WATER deck, centered around Umi and using mostly Aqua and Fish types.

A pretty basic WATER deck, using simple water effect monsters like Electric Jellyfish, Maiden of the Aqua, Aqua Spirit, Doom Kracken, and Star Boy. He also has Spiritual Water Art - Aoi, A Legendary Ocean, and Black Pendant. He has no set monster card as an ace, as his "ace" is the field spell of Umi itself.

This deck wasn't made by him, it was made by his brother, and just passed down to him, so he's not.. particularly good at utilizing it yet. Since Zexal is where the field spells and duels actually start hurting people directly, he has had a bad "habit" of nearly being eaten or attacked by his own monsters, as well as drowning in his own field. He has no spirit partners during this time.

After his old deck is taken away from him, he's given a new deck by Zinzolin, which is the Herald deck; LIGHT-attribute Fairy type monsters that look like angels with armor.

They focus on Ritual Summons, and while he doesn't stray too far from his archetype (he has multiple copies of each Herald light), he has a couple of supports like Manju, Clear Kuriboh, and multiple copies of Shining Angel and Honest. His ace is The Herald of Perfection.

Like certain cards in the YGO verse, they can become sentient and even take over the duelist- which was the case with Slater. As the cult within Team Plasma worshipped The Herald of Ultimateness, they used him as a personification of The Diviner of The Herald card, and he was unable to handle its power. As the Heralds are the angels he serves and are higher beings than him, he utilizes Astral Barrier to shield them from damage- by redirecting the damage to himself. His spirit partner is also The Herald of Perfection, though it's.. mostly quiet and hovering, just watching him. Its more or less the main reason he's been possessed and acting differently than Piper remembers him to be.

Post-Team Plasma, once he and Piper get out, they focus on deckbuilding instead of dueling for a bit. While Slater loved his original WATER deck, it wasn't really him- and though he is utterly terrified of the Herald deck now, he does like the playstyle of Fairies; so he leans towards making his own WATER attribute fairy deck, which leads him to the Cloudian archetype.

Cloudian archetypes focus on the fact they cannot be destroyed by battle; coupled with Sanctuary in The Sky and eventually, Spirit Barrier (a card Piper trades for his Astral Barrier), it keeps Slater safe during battle by minimizing the battle damage he receives, as well as keeps his monsters in the field. He uses mostly the same water supports as he did in his first deck, though like with the Heralds, he prefers not to stray too far from the Cloudians. His ace is Cloudian - Eye of the Typhoon, but his spirit partner and favorite card is Cloudian - Sheep Cloud.

[sylviareviar]

Duel Academy - @tophatz

Just as she was about to simply pass the student by, of course she had to be stopped in the hallway for the fifth time that day. Are you Sylvia Reviar? The one with Synchro Monsters? Are you the delinquent girl with pink hair and rainbow monsters? Are you the girl who talks to herself and rides on a motorcycle with glass ornaments attached to it?

For the record, those were approved by the Security Bureau in her time. It wasn't her fault she accidentally jumped into an old era. She knew Yusei had done it before, but getting back was in itself a difficult affair. How did he manage to do it? All her attempts to call for the Crimson Dragon fell on deaf ears so far.

She'd never gone to a school before. She saw movies and shows, and heard rumors about what schools were like. But when KaibaCorp sponsored her enrollment in Duel Academy, she hadn't expected their prestigious school to be built right next to an active volcano, for one thing, and for another, to be surrounded by dangerous uninhabited forests. Not to mention the dorm system was broken as hell, and the uniforms were absolute garbage. Not the Ra or Slifer ones, though-- those blazers seemed at least somewhat normal. No, what irked her the most was Obelisk, as well as the blatant hierarchy in what should've been an all-inclusive school. All in all, the whole island was atrocious, and she was getting sick of running laps around it and its students.

She took a deep breath and did her best to remain patient and amiable. Chances like this didn't come often, after all. Who knew the times of Old Domino City would have so much information to offer her? Egyptian Gods, Kings of Games, the history of Duel Monsters itself... The development of Synchro Monsters seemed to be a relatively new thing, since Zero Reverse must've occurred fifty years later at the very least, if the technological advances were anything to go by.

She'd garnered enough attention as it was. She ought to sate the student's curiosity and leave as quickly as she could. She was starting to get tired.

"...who's asking?"

Dammit. That's not the right response. Had Yusei rubbed off on her?

[femmeroi]

I'm almost done w this Majoime Zone blocker I just wanna do some quality adjustments still

This is a cry for help what do I do for the other FOUR zone blockers

Also under the cut is the Ojama Tokens (including Ojama Yaoi) I'm gonna add glitter n shiny shit to them when they're printed ↓

Im making custom Ojama tokens for locals and Woah these guys are fun to draw. Theyre so shape and so little while being so much all at once

[jess-jessitiz]

The thing about Yugioh GX is that this series is fresh off it's original run, and gives you Jaden. And you think, "Ah, this guy is gonna be similar to Yugi." And he seems, at the start, like a version of Yugi who can actually approach people and isn't cursed with Short. Seems cheerful and happy to make friends.

And then you sit with him a little longer and you think, "Ok, this Syrus character is actually more of a Yugi analog, so maybe he's more like Joey," in that he's not always picking up the social cues and thinks with his stomach. But the show's still like "this is the destiny guy"

And then when his friends are in trouble he's always cheering them on, so a little Tea in there. And he's just a really simple dork sometimes, so we can mix Tristan in there too.

And then season 3 happens and the show reveals he's actually most like Ryou Bakura.

[pico-farad]

This Time on Yu-Gi-Oh Vrains Analysis: How the Fuck Did Aoi's Writing Get Worse

Got sidetracked by GX Week, but I'm back to talk about Aoi again, because oh boy...

So for season 1, I'd heard the rumors of how they screwed her over, and they were mostly in line with the ways I expect Yugioh female characters to be failed by the writers. Overall I still liked Aoi and, while I found some decisions distasteful, I didn't think the actual quality of her writing was worse than other characters'.

Aoi's writing in season 2 is several times worse than it was in season 1. It's truly a disaster, amateurish and baffling, in a way that I think most viewers don't even consciously realize. And while it may not be the worst moment in Yugioh -- it is, in my opinion, the worst writing I've ever seen in Yugioh.

Anyway, that's how I wrote 4k words descending into Aoi madness. Enjoy!

---

Before I begin, a fair warning: I'm gonna say some harsh things in this post. Because being mean is funny, and I deserve it after what I just watched.

But I also want say up front that I don't think the Vrains writers are bad writers, and I still have respect for them. Writing for children's television is grueling work that I could never do, and there are many reasons why bad art is released into the world besides simple writing skill. Vrains clearly had a troubled production, and I have other suspicions about why it turned out the way it did. If there's interest, I think that could be its own post, too.

Also, I refer to the "writers" in this post when I criticize Vrains's storytelling, but to be clear, directors, producers, storyboarders, and others can have just as much influence over the show's story as writers, or even more so. I use the term writers for convenience's sake.

Without further ado...

⇀ Losing My Mind Immediately

Akira lets Aoi go into the restricted area, which nobody has ever returned from.

Ahem... WHO ARE YOU??? Why is Akira, overprotective onii-san numero uno, extremely willing to put his sister on house arrest for her own safety, has never given Aoi his permission to fight, suddenly letting her go off into a danger zone with a 0% survival rate, right after she lost to Spectre immediately in the Tower of Hanoi conflict.

Oh, so now you think she's capable? Why???

Not only that, they make Ghost Girl be the one to say it's too dangerous for her. What?? Ghost Girl is the one who encouraged Aoi to sneak out and into the danger zone in season 1. These are literally the last two characters who would say these things to Aoi.

Then, when they enter the restricted area, Aoi immediately gives up her emergency logout program to an NPC. Normally I'd brush this off. Naivety being used to emphasize female characters' moral virtuosity is passé, but it's not a big deal. It wouldn't be, if the next 30 seconds didn't make me completely go off the rails. This is the speech that is possibly the worst writing, line by line, that I have ever seen in Yugioh.

Roll the tape...

Aoi: Recent events have taught me that I'm still a child. I took on Hanoi for my brother, but look how that turned out. I troubled everyone, and they needed to save me. I was full of myself, thinking I can do anything on my own, but in truth, the world is full of people and we're all connected. Everyone saved me. So this time, I want to save everyone. I'll become stronger, so this time, I'll do everything I can!

Literally none of these sentences make sense... Half of them aren't even true. It reads like ChatGPT asked to write a shonen speech -- the facade of being inspiring, but ultimately empty and nonsensical.

"I took on Hanoi for my brother," This is blatantly false. She had a whole goddamn episode focused on why she decides to fight Hanoi, it's her duel with Baira, and it's specifically about how she's not doing this for her brother, she's not doing this for herself, she's doing this for everyone. If anything, she disregards her brother in order to fight Hanoi.

Blue Angel: I learned something from my duels. When people believe in you, you're fighting for everyone. So I will fight for everyone from now on!

Sound familiar? It's the same goddamn thing she's saying right now, "this time, I want to save everyone." Why are they framing this as Aoi having a new realization, having learned her lesson? What they demonstrate with this is that Aoi hasn't learned her lesson. The reason she lost to Spectre is because trying to save everyone includes trying to save him, and he takes advantage of her naivety.

Blue Angel: You're the same as me... When you were alone, you sought love, and Blue Angel's blue is the ultimate love! Blue Angel will descend into your heart, and save your soul! Spectre: Really? *bows mockingly* Please, then, save my soul!

Naively trying to save others is exactly what she's doing right now, by thoughtlessly giving away her emergency logout in a place that nobody has ever returned from. Her character has gone completely backwards. I said in my last post that losses are good because we get to see characters grow -- I stand by the opinion that they could have made the Spectre loss work -- but they've bungled it on three different levels. She loses horribly, then they retcon her reason for losing, in order to make her character regress.

Apparently, the real reason Aoi lost to Spectre, is because "she was full of herself, thinking she could do anything on her own." I'm so mad. First of all, Aoi clearly wasn't acting on her own and never thought she was, Go and Yusaku were both fighting Hanoi too. Why are they acting like Aoi lost because of hubris?

You know who thought he could do everything on his own? Yusaku. But clearly he didn't need to learn that "the world is full of people and we're all connected." He clearly believed the opposite, because he did everything by himself and tried to reject allyship at every turn and yet lo and behold, he hasn't lost a single duel.

"Everyone saved me. So this time, I want to save everyone." NO, LITERALLY ONE PERSON SOLO'D HANOI, AND EVERYONE ELSE DID JACK SHIT. This resolution that Aoi comes to not only regresses her character, but it makes no goddamn sense. Who is the everyone you're talking about, Aoi? Are they in the room with us right now?

Who am I kidding, it's obvious who the "everyone" is, because as she says it, the clip that plays is Akira's manpain as Aoi gets turned into data. Because even in this moment that has nothing to do with Akira, the writers cannot resist bending Aoi's character to revolve around how much she loves her beloved onii-san, even though it makes no sense in this context of trying to save a random NPC. 

Frankly, the whole "everyone saved me" also makes no sense in the context of trying to save a random NPC. But like, even less sense than that, because the actual context of this "heartfelt" shonen speech is that she's trying to get Ghost Girl to give up her emergency logout button. Ghost Girl, established to be self-serving and willing to throw others under the bus to advance herself. Why does this speech convince her? It doesn't even have anything to do with her.

Great, so now not only have they botched Aoi's character, but for the rest of the show, Ghost Girl is stripped of the characteristics that actually made her engaging.

If they wanted Aoi to convince Ghost Girl to give up her escape program and become more selfless, it's simple. Have her say, "We saved you." Ghost Girl wouldn't be standing here right now, if Aoi and the others hadn't risked everything to save everyone.

There's more I could pick on about these 30 seconds, like how the writers aren't content with handing Aoi a humiliating loss, but they also make her act like she deserved to be "humbled" by that experience: "Recent events have taught me that I'm still a child," "I troubled everyone, and they needed to save me." It's like they're not content with infantilizing her in the narrative, they need to make sure she infantilizes herself.

Which brings me back to the point about Aoi's "hubris." Because what is implied by saying that Aoi lost because of hubris when nothing she said or did suggested that, is that it was hubris for Aoi to fight at all. It was hubris for Aoi, and the audience, to believe she could do anything. Which is just maddening.

And to top it all off, to add insult to indignity to injury to insanity, she finishes her speech by saying, "I'll become stronger! This time, I'll do everything I can!"

AND THEN. SHE LOSES. IN THE NEXT EPISODE.

This speech reads like a bad influencer apology. First they "admit" their mistake (that Blue Angel didn't do anything in the Hanoi fight), then they deflect and change the story about what actually happened (it's because she was being full of herself! That's definitely why she lost), and finally they promise to do better (don't worry, this season, Aoi will get stronger and get some wins!), but they don't.

I can talk more about how the writers give Aoi shallow girlboss speeches instead of actually demonstrating her strength in duels, but that will come when I talk about Blue Maiden. 

Right now... it's time to talk about Blue Girl vs. Soulburner.

⇀ What's in a re-introductory duel?

Something that's pretty standard in Yugioh is the concept of the season 2 "re-introductory duel." Think Shou's promotion duel in GX, the filter episodes that came before the World Grand Prix arc started, the Sector Security battle royale in Arc-V. They can be story-relevant, or completely filler, but the point is to re-familiarize you with the main supporting characters. If you look at the first 10 episodes of a Yugioh season 2, you'll generally see all the main supporting characters represented in a duel. And if they aren't, it may reveal something about how relevant they are to the writers (Misawa GX, Ruka 5D's, Yuzu Arc-V...)

Go gets his re-introductory duel against Soulburner, and though I have my issues with how they handled Go in Season 2, which I went into in my previous post, it succeeds in every way a re-introductory duel should. It addresses the transition of his character between seasons, sets up his conflict for this season, introduces his new cards, adds character to Soulburner, and establishes a dynamic between the two. Their opposition is natural, and if anything, the season fails to capitalize on how well this duel set things up.

Aoi's re-introductory duel... is also against Soulburner. And their opposition... uh...

Look, I'll be frank, there is only one reason for Soulburner to duel Aoi, his third duel already in 10 episodes: they are fast-tracking him into main character slot #2. I talked about this in the Soulburner analysis. 

Aoi and Soulburner have no reason to be fighting, this match-up is completely artificial. They went "well Aoi needs to get a re-introductory duel because that's the Yugioh formula, and Soulburner needs more screentime, so let's shove them together," regardless of how it doesn't make narrative sense. How do they do that?

Blue Girl: We came to find the Ignis. SOL-- I mean, my brother can help you. Soulburner: You don't understand. The Lost Incident made us suffer for a long time. SOL Technologies was partly responsible for that. Entrust our future to them? Thanks, but we'll solve our own problems. Blue Girl: *frowning* In that case, those Ignis originally belonged to SOL Technologies. Give them back. Soulburner: What?

This is completely out of character for her. She knows that they're victims of the Lost Incident, she knows what they've been through, and they've just told her they're trying to save someone whose consciousness was stolen. She just said that her motivation is saving people, specifically to pay back the people who saved her. Guess who the only person who saved you was, Aoi? It wasn't your onii-san.

It would've made more sense for Ghost Girl to duel Soulburner. She's the one who was established to be a self-serving bounty hunter in Season 1. Oh, but if you gave Ghost Girl a re-introductory duel, it might give off the wrong impression that she's relevant?

This duel doesn't even add anything to Soulburner's character either, the way that Soulburner vs. Go did.

What could they have done if they were actually thinking about Aoi?

How about Aoi vs. Akira? Akira tells her that if she can beat him in a duel, he'll believe that she's strong enough to go into the restricted zone. Or they could do Aoi vs. Ghost Girl -- same thing, Ghost Girl tells Akira that if Aoi wins, it proves she's equally capable of going on this mission.

Either of these would check all the boxes for a re-introductory duel. It's a memorable matchup, it re-establishes the personalities and (IN-CHARACTER) relationships of these three, and it addresses the transition between seasons -- we left off from Aoi's devastating loss, and this duel would bridge her into an upwards character arc in Season 2.

Of course, if they did that, they would have to make an upwards character arc for Aoi.

These two episodes have succeeded in the exact opposite of what a re-introductory episode is supposed to do. It's a garbage fire of bad writing. They regress her character, and call it progress. She's out of character, in order to be unsympathetic. They don't set up an arc for Aoi this season, because they haven't thought of one. They introduce new cards that never come back. But none of it matters anyway, because Aoi isn't actually important! We'll just make up something new the next time we're contractually obligated to give her a few episodes (but not too many, god forbid!)

I guess there's one part of her character they make consistent, which is making her lose in the worst ways possible.

⇀ Blue Girl vs. Soulburner

You know how in my last Aoi post, I said that it's good when characters lose duels, and that "X should have won that duel" is a comment that often misunderstands how outcomes are about narrative purpose rather than deck matchups?

Forget everything I said. Aoi ABSOLUTELY should have won that duel holy shit. I just witnessed a goddamn crime.

So there is actually one more reason that Soulburner duels Aoi. It's that it's a good concept for a duel. Aoi should annihilate Soulburner. Go ahead with your 72 step Salamangreat combo I dare you. Go ahead and use Burning Draw I dare you. Everyone likes seeing how the underdog comes out of a pinch, and if I came out of the duel thinking, "Wow, I can't believe Soulburner pulled that off!" I could have forgiven it.

Ha ha... wow..... I can't believe Soulburner pulled that off......

I'm not usually that bothered by hyper specific made up anime cards, but what the fuck is that trap that negates effect damage under 300. Countering exactly 1) Skull Invitation 2) Ojama Trio 3) Every one of Aoi's cards. Yeah okay, fuck you Aoi.

And Aoi still should have won, if Soulburner didn't one-up Aoi's own Fusion Summon by Burning Draw YOLO topdecking a fucking Salamangreat Super Poly out of nowhere. Why??? Because the scripter couldn't think of a way out of the situation other than copying one of the strongest cards ever designed?? Fuck you Aoi.

Even Ghost Girl knows how robbed she was.

It's salt on the wound to cap off her "I'll get stronger speech" by having her lose a duel that was 99-1 in her favor. Soulburner deletes her life points in one attack, she screams and gets slammed into a cliff, and Soulburner stands over her and says, "Blue Girl, you're stronger than before."

Jesus, just look at that condescending framing.

Aoi doesn't show up again in a relevant capacity for 20 episodes, and doesn't have another duel for 30 -- that's a quarter of Vrains. Her last words as Soulburner stands over her are "You won because of the bond between a duelist and an AI?" before she passes out.

This, I suppose, is their weak attempt at introducing a plot for Aoi this season. It's... well... 

⇀ Aqua and Miyu

The Miyu backstory is lazy as hell.

I'm sorry to all the fans rooting for female characters and wlw ships, but this writing was unbelievably sloppy. Someone put "Aoi's childhood friend was a victim of the Lost Incident and that's how she gets the Water Ignis" into the show notes and then didn't think about it until it was time to write the episode.

Miyu is not a cardboard cutout. She's not cut from cardstock, both of those at least have structural integrity. Miyu has the character solidness of wet tissue. She's an NPC, a parody of a generic little girl. The only reason to care about her is if you buy into the cheap writing shortcut of damselling little girls, or you're a desperate lesbian. I'm sorry, lesbians.

They could have done anything to give Miyu an actual character, I'm not asking for a lot. Give her any kind of trait or interest -- maybe she loves the ocean and shows Aoi her collection of seashells, and she says they should go to the beach together one day but they never do. They could talk about idols, and maybe that's what inspires Aoi to later become one. They could talk about Duel Monsters, it's Yugioh for christsake. A playground duel would be adorable.

There's a million things they could have done that are more compelling than playing on the slide, but there's one that's so obvious it pains me.

The Blue Angel picture book. The one that Aoi said was her childhood treasure in the duel with Spectre, the one that motivated her to try and save him, a victim of the Lost Incident. The book that's an established part of her backstory, which made her take on the Blue Angel moniker. The book that's about a girl who is all alone until she makes friends and no longer has to cry blue tears.

Could it be more obvious? Have Miyu be the one who gave the book to Aoi. It's a backstory on a silver platter. If the writers cared about Aoi at all, if they didn't immediately forget every single thing about her the second they turn in the script for the contractually obligated Aoi episodes, they would know this. But they don't. Because even the Blue Angel picture book was clearly something they made up on the spot.

Imagine if Aoi's season 2 climax duel was vs. a controlled Miyu (à la Jin), the themes from the Spectre duel returned. Aoi questions if she really can save someone from the Lost Incident, or if it's just her own naivety, destined to be crushed over and over. But she breaks through, because this time it's her turn to save someone who's all alone. This is how you connect seasons 1 and 2, this is how you take a loss and turn it into a payoff. We can even get Spectre's perspective, he's there in the final fight.

But that's not what we get. Instead, they play on the slide, and then Miyu drops a ring down a drain, which I guess is what they think is a relatable cause of conflict for little girls. I can guarantee they would have come up with something more substantive if these were two male characters. And the pacing is just comically clunky. "Aoi-chan, look, it's my mother's ring! Isn't it pretty? Oh no, I dropped it! Wahhhhh!"

Aoi lies to Miyu's mom and says she's the one who dropped the ring, even though Miyu denies it vehemently, clearly crying and in great distress as her mother drags her away and never lets her see Aoi again.

This, we're told, is how Aoi "saved" Miyu.

Aqua: While she was imprisoned, you kept her strong, Aoi. No matter how many duels she lost, no matter how much pain she endured, even after her meals were reduced, she never broke and promised to escape. So she could see you again and apologize for that day.

.........APOLOGIZE FOR WHAT???

What the fuck kind of message is this supposed to be? Aqua is supposed to be the Ignis of TRUTH, why are she and Miyu glorifying Aoi's lie as some courageous, inspirational action, when clearly it did nothing but harm? I'm not crazy, am I? The obvious takeaway from this flashback is that even if you had good intentions lying to protect your friend, it caused miscommunication, distress, and led to their friendship breaking apart? Like, their lives would have been just fine if Aoi didn't lie, and Miyu learned a reasonable lesson about not being careless with other people's expensive objects?

This backstory is comically bad. Just imagine Miyu, going through kidnapping, starvation, and torture, sustained only by the thought that one day... she can tell the girl that she played on the slide with years ago... that she's so sorry... that her hand slipped when taking off a ring and it rolled into a drain 5 feet away.

The story would make more sense if it was me in the Lost Incident, and I was plagued by guilt over dumping Cheeto crumbs on Rachel from Pre-K, because at least I actually did something bad.

It's difficult to even articulate how much all these sloppy writing decisions compound on each other. Because they wasted Aoi's introductory episodes and didn't set up anything for her, she has no role in the story for 30 episodes. Because she was given nothing for 30 episodes, they have to shove an entire backstory for Aoi into one episode. Because they shoved the backstory into one episode, Miyu and Aoi's relationship with her are painfully rushed, generic, and flimsy. Because their relationship is so flimsy, this whole backstory, Aoi's motivation to fight, her entire season 2 plotline, is soulless garbage.

Aoi didn't remember Miyu until this episode. The writers didn't create Miyu until this episode. You cannot ask the audience to be invested in Aoi rescuing Miyu, when you don't even care enough to conceptualize her.

And this is the most damning conclusion of this post. The writers don't care about Miyu. And they don't care about Aoi. And they don't care if you care about them. You weren't meant to care about them.

Again, I'm not saying that the Vrains writers are bad writers, or they hate women. There are other factors to consider, like the specifics of gender relations in Japan, how Yugioh animes primarily exist to advertise trading cards to young boys, the fact that there has not been a single female writer on Yugioh since season 2 of GX. And obviously, Vrains had production issues, and every character suffered from flawed writing.

But my point is, Aoi suffered the most for it. 

⇀ Final Thoughts

There's a lot more that I could say about Aoi for the rest of the show. Like how she gets a magical girl transformation sequence, only to be irrelevant for 10 episodes again, and we have to wait that entire time to see her new deck. Then the duel, which really needed to be a two-episoder, is about Haru instead. The pointlessness of the Bohman duel. The pointlessness of Yusaku's "identity reveal" to Aoi. How they needed to have a third and fourth Akira manpain scene as Aoi is "taken away" from him, though I guess in that last one Aoi gets to have some girlpain too.

I did plan to talk about each of these duels, and more about how I would do an Aoi vs. Miyu conflict, but this post has gotten way out of hand already, and I've made the points I wanted to make.

I hope it was cathartic for everyone who was disappointed with Aoi, and perhaps gave language to people who were frustrated but unable to articulate why. I did some research into what other people have said about Aoi's character, such as this video by YugiohEverything, but I find that a lot of discourse in Yugioh is not very good at pinpointing why something works or doesn't work, and the actual skill of writing is oversimplified. This is especially true when it comes to Yugioh girls, and criticisms tend to fall back on losing duels or getting put in a coma, and while those can suck, they aren't the real problem.

In my last Aoi post I said "I'll just have to hope that they don't fumble whatever new thing they give her... but things tend to get bleaker for female Yugioh characters as the show goes on and whatever initial involvement they had in the story fizzles out," and this, I think, has been the real problem persistently for Yugioh girls. The writers are contractually obligated to come up with something when a series is first pitched, but when that period is up, or when concessions have to be made, the female characters are the first to be forgotten.

I just didn't think it would be this bad for Aoi.

Well. Expectations lowered.

---

First Aoi analysis

All Vrains season analysis

[shiranui7]

I really think that yugioh gx first season could have been way much better if they didn't use Jaden in every single duel. There were 7 key protectors and 7 Shadow riders but the side characters almost never had the chance to prove themselves. This is how I would have fixed it:

Evil Atticus vs Alexis. She wins.

Camula vs Zane. He loses to save Syrus but then he is avenged by Dr. Crowler, who fucking obliterates her since she hurt one of his students. (Yes, I'm still pissed at that duel, Crowler could have won in a single turn with the right cards but no, he is never allowed to win any important duels.)

Bastion vs Taniya. He wins.

Prof. Banner vs the ancient pharaoh. He wins.

Chazz's duel is ok since he wins.

Zane vs Titan. He wins.

Jaden vs Amnael. He wins and faces the final duel.

These duels would have made the outcome not so predictable, would have given all the key keepers an important role and also they would have helped mask Amnael's identity.

In the original episodes, they could have simple given all the keys to Jaden, since he never loses against the enemies (that's why I skipped most of his duels, too boring)

[pokemon-card-of-the-day]

Pokemon Card of the Day #3219: Ditto (Detective Pikachu)

Ditto was a pretty simple Pokemon. It was here to copy the opponent's attacks. This only worked if Ditto had the Energy to use said attack, but unlike some previous Pokemon it could do this even if Abilities were locked. This was the most obvious possible set-up for a match-up prone Pokemon, so it really had to be viewed in that context for anyone thinking of using it.

60 HP wasn't winning any awards. The Fighting Weakness even meant that any remaining Buzzwole would KO it, let alone the Pokemon actually being used more often. It did, at least, survive that one Volcanion attack if very little Fire Energy was in play. The Retreat Cost was 1. You'd almost never take advantage of it, but if Ditto was stuck starting you had this to fall back on.

Copy Anything technically only needed a Colorless Energy, but typically wanted a lot more. You got to choose 1 of your opponent's Pokemon's attacks and use it as this attack. The catch was that Ditto had to have the Energy attached in said attack's requirement and not just the single Energy for Copy Anything. This made Ditto only useful against decks of the same type as whatever you were running. The game had enough diversity that this was quite the risk, but if you could get Energy onto Ditto quickly there was still some use here. Fire was a pretty notable type for this due to having a few different good decks and some strong attacks to sometimes make use of.

Ditto was a Pokemon with a small role to play. It was best in a format where one type was getting a lot of play, providing a single Prize Pokemon to get a quick attack off that would normally be seen by only 2 or 3 Prize Pokemon. Said type had to have good acceleration in a single turn as well, so you were likely going with Fire or Psychic here with Fire having the most targets. Granted, said Fire decks rarely needed this, and you had to either leave Ditto on the Bench for a turn or pack Energy Switch to hit the bigger attacks on things like Reshiram & Charizard-GX, but there was at least a little use here. It was generally left out since it wasn't that big of a boost for a deck in type mirrors compared to how often it was useless, but if you expected the right sort of metagame it was worth keeping in mind.

[skellyflowers]

Smuggle me gently

AN: Time for two!!!! Thank you for all the love! Hope you enjoy.

II x Smuggler

“Alright crew, our next shipment is coming in today!” My boss shouts. “Tex, you and Sphinx are going to collect on the asteroid Xavis nothing less than 15,000 credits.”

Tex and Sphinx high five each other. Collecting is a simple task. Especially if Tex is the one doing it. Most people don’t want to fight when they see the Besalisk. However, collections are an entry level job. Sphinx only joined our group a few months ago.

“GX-5 you and Mora are repossessing a NCC-1717. Bring it to the Scrap yard and be sure to take out the shield generator.” Boss says before addressing me.

My usual partner is still recovering from any injury so I don’t expect much. IF I do leave it would probably be to drop off some information. Whatever, as long as I can get off the station for a little while.

“We got a special delivery. I need you, and the guy the client is sending to handle it.”

“What ‘guy’?” I ask. “What are we delivering that the client is so worried about that we need a ‘guy’ they hired separately?”

“Listen when you run blasters for the Hutts you don’t ask too many questions.”

“THE HUTTS!” What has he gotten us into?

Before I can argue more the station's proximity alert starts to blare. The bay doors open and a gunship lands. The ship looks like a Tantive IV. After the bay doors close the Boss and I head down to the bay. Tex and Sphinx joined after us.

The new ship’s loading bay door opens and a Mandalorian! He is in head to toe black armor with three red stripes across the face. He has a crest inlaid on his chest, it looks kinda like a bird. Once he is off the ship the boss walks up to him. Sphinx sits on top of a crate behind me.

“He is a little small for a Mandalorian.” Sphinx whispers to me.

I hit her with my elbow. I know that the boss is talking to the Mandalorian but I don’t know if he's paying attention to us. Last thing I want is to give him a reason to come back over some potential insult.

I see the boss waves me over when he is done talking. I slowly make my way over to them. I'm not excited to get close to the Mandalorian.

“Alright, he is going to move the shipment from his ship to our transport ship.” Boss explained. “After that you meet up with the client's contact, and drop off the package.”

The Mandalorian nods and turns back to his ship. I can see he had a rifle on his back. Boss hands me the key to the transport ship and we walk over to check the transport hull.

“I don't think I can do this.” I say.

“What do you mean? You're one of my best pilots. And you have the best people skills.”

“Ya, when I'm haggling a price or sweet talking a security guard. Not smuggling weapons!”

“This job is fast and pays a lot. You get this job done,  and we all can afford to take a long vacation. When was the last time you saw your parents?”

I turn away before I punch him in the face. I hate that he is using my family against me. He knows I have been wondering if I could get some time away. But I don’t want to be delivering guns to do so.

I sit in the cockpit to take a moment to calm myself down. After a few deep breaths I hear a voice in the hull. It's giving instructions so I assume it's my boss. So far the Mandalorian hasn't made so much as a peep. It's really off putting. 

As I walk back into the hull I see that the Mandalorian is there with my boss. There is a crate in the hull that wasn't there earlier. So that must be the shipment. 

I get the rendezvous coordinates from my boss. We are going to the fifth moon of Calcas. I better pack an atmosphere suit just in case. I don't know what to expect. 

When I'm finished packing I head to the ship. When I got to the cockpit my heart nearly launched out of my chest. In the co-pilot seat is the Mandalorian. He sits quietly with his arms crossed. His helmet tilts toward me when I yell in fright.

“I guess you're ready to go then?” I ask, trying to calm my heart.

He didn't answer, just like I expected. He did, however, nod his head. That is good enough for me. The sooner we leave the sooner we can get this over with.

The flight is smooth. Once we enter hyperspace we get to Calcas in a few hours. If anything it was a little boring. I'm not used to being around someone so quiet. I don't think he would have talked to me even if he wanted to. 

Once we get in range of Calcas I exited hyperspace. I did a scan of the moon we are meant to rendezvous on. It has a breathable atmosphere! Nice! Guess I wouldn’t need the suit.

A message came over my ship's comlink. As I expected it's the contact. The man on the other side gives exact coordinates for the drop off. We will find him in a crater. After a few minutes of looking we find the right crater. Just outside the crater I see a small drop ship. There they are.

The Mandalorian taps my shoulder. That was a surprise. When I look at him, he is pointing at the opposite side of the crater. I guess that is where he thinks I should land. I follow his silent advice and land on the opposite side of the cater.

As we go to meet the contact in between the two ships. I walk ahead of the shipment crate and the Mandalorian pushes it from behind. Once we are close enough I can see that the contacts are two Arkanian.

“That’s far enough. Back away from the case.” One says. “Degro, do a sweep.”

The Mandalorian moves the case between us. Then grabs my arm and pulls me behind him. 

“All clear Zendul.” 

“Alrighty, let's wrap this up.” says Zendul.

He walks up holding a data pad. I moved around the Mandalorian to see what was on it. The data pad is open to a camera. Both Arkanians stand next to the case. I guess they need a picture for their boss.

Once I take the picture the Arkanians head back to their dropship. Maybe my boss was right about this job. Not that I would tell him that. We are about 30 feet away from the ship when someone yells.

“WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU TWO THINK YOU’RE DOING? DID YOU THINK WE WOULDN’T NOTICE?”

What is he yelling about? And why are they running toward us?

“WHERE IS THE REST?”

“What are you talking about? What you got is what we have.”

“LIAR! YOU'RE TRYING TO DUPE US!!!!!” He takes out his blaster.

“Whoa! Let’s calm down.” I say. I hands up above my head.

Before I can attempt to deescalate the situation one of the Arkanians explodes! I hear the other Arkanian scream.

“Get back on your ship! Or the next one is for you!”

I look over my shoulder and see the voice and shot can from the Mandalorian! Not only did he just kill that guy but he also said something. He is holding a pulsar rifle. No wonder that guy just exploded! 

Once the other Arkanian was back on his dropship the Mandalorian walks over to me. He quickly circles me. Seeing that I'm ok he brings me back to our ship. He seats me in the copilot seat and starts to take off. On the flight back I want to say something to him. But honestly I'm still stunned.

“Why did you do that?” I finally asked, after what felt like an eternity.

“You had no reason to be treated like that. I didn’t like it.” He answered. “Also your boss is paying me a cut to make sure you are unharmed.”

“We’re splitting my credits with you?”

“No. I'm getting his cut.”

That also leaves me speechless. I know that the boss cares about us. He often calls us ‘one big happy family’. He really proved that, if what the Mandalorian says is true. I’ll ask later.

We make it back to the station in no time. After we land the Mandalorian pushes something into my hand. It’s a commlink.

“What’s this for?”

That’s my link. If any of those guys come around press the button. I'll come back and kill them for you.”

After that he stands up and exits the ship. When I get off the ship I see the Mandalorian talking to the boss. He also hands the Mando a small case. That must have been his cut. He then leaves without even a second glance. 

I wonder if I’ll see him again. I secretly hope that I will.

[teamghoulstudiosmx]

Monster High GX - Clawdeen wolf

Clawdeen Wolf is a werewolf. Sometime later, the Ghoul Hunter Agency became interested in her because she possesses the berserk mode, a form where she can release her werewolf powers.

At the moment he is studying at Monster High so he can finish his tuition.

It is recorded that this clawdeen can take advantage of her werewolf abilities, but she prefers not to use her powers and prefers to have a normal and simple life.

[redbullgivesyouwingedkuriboh]

Yu-Gi-Oh GX Characters ranked on how likely I would be to beat them in a physical fight

K some ground rules: Fisticuffs only and my personal feelings about the character do not matter.

let’s go

Blair Flanagan— listen most people would not kick a child but I would. I would be able to punt Blair into the fucking sun. what’s she gonna do? she’s tiny and she literally fights with love. kill em with kindness? wrong, that second grader is about to feel my wrath.

Zane Truesdale— I may be disabled but God hasn’t slapped my ass into a wheelchair yet. I’d knock him out of his chair and beat him over the head with it. i am allowed to do so because I am disabled. I will be taking no criticism at this time. on the other hand I think wheelchair jousting would be fucking hilarious (and I’d still beat Zane at it) but this is fisticuffs only. one good hit to the face and he’s down. maybe i get lucky and punch him hard enough in the chest that I straight up kill him.

Alexis Rhodes— I definitely could beat her in a fight. She probably bites but I bite harder. I’ve been wearing my retainer like a good kid and my teeth are straight and poised and ready to attack.

Dr. Crowler— We’ve seen Crowler in a skintight wetsuit multiple times and there is no muscle there. I will full nelson him into giving me an A. Also he has a major disadvantage that is Long Hair. yankin time.

Syrus Truesdale— I know I said I could beat up Blair because she’s tiny but Syrus could hold his own against me. He is a feral little fuck and contains a lot of repressed childhood anger that he would def let out in a physical fight. I’d still win, but barely.

Atticus Rhodes— canonically ripped but less ripped than everyone else on this list. one good kick to the nuts and it’d be over. he’s very sensitive. you wanna fight fair, atty? too bad it’s testicular torsion time

Chazz Princeton— not ripped but have you seen him beat the shit outta Ojama Yellow? He’d kick the stuffing out of me. also definitely tapping into his trauma. anyway he’d win because he’s a feral sewer rat that thrives off of yellow’s screams for mercy.

Jaden Yuki— this is where it got tough. Jaden is canonically a buff guy (pushed car up hill) but he’s also guilt ridden from literally killing his friends once. I still think he’d win because there is no way I am getting that slippery autistic lizard motherfucker in any kind of hold.

Adrian Gecko— okay now we’re getting into the real problems. everyone from here on out has canonical bulging ass muscles that I physically could not hold up against. sorry what was I saying? oh right adrian. he’d win. fuck you adrian. moving on.

Jesse Anderson— I’d have a maybe 10% chance of winning if I got close enough to purple nurple his ass. I’d try a nut kick but Jesse is way smarter than atticus and would show up wearing a cup. also buff as hell.

Jim Cook— I’d only have a chance because this is fisticuffs only and Shirley is not allowed in the fight. also Jim has a six-pack. he is 100% muscle and would whoop my ass with zero goddamn mercy.

Axel Brodie— can canonically hang upside down and still think clearly. I am not getting that man to pass out in any kind of chokehold. he would simple gaston-style flex and send me flying.

Tyranno Hassleberry— he got dino dna. I’d quit before we started.

[aberooski]

Very minor spoiler for the Mario crossover, literally the tiniest thing but I'm crying but also kicking my feet in the air and giggling over it.

At the end of the first chapter Toad tells the trio to follow him after Alexis asks for their help finding a way home. After some deliberation, Alexis follows and gestures for Chazz and Atty to follow. Atticus then obliges, thanking the Toads for their help and commenting how it was a pleasure to meet them and walks off after her, at which time he grabs Chazz by the hand and pulls him along after Alexis and Toad. Chazz just stares ahead at Atticus for a second as they follow and blushes, taken aback by the abrupt hand holding.

They also exchange a tiny bit of banter in which Atty comments that the Toads mistaking Chazz for a prince because of his last name is adorable, and proceeds to refer to Chazz in a teasing manner as "your highness" and Chazz is unamused and it's a cute silly moment 😊

And in what I have of the beginning of the second chapter, Chazz takes his hand away from Atty's to point at Merlon's house since the roof spins and that's not at all normal and he's very confused by it. In response, Atticus looks back at him, kinda low-key bummed that they're not holding hands anymore and quickly looks away before Chazz notices him looking.

[fanfic-lover-girl]

The Real Yugioh Best Friend Characters

Like how Seto Kaiba was the rival prototype, Joey or Jonouchi was the best friend prototype character.

I have seen debates in yugioh gx and yugioh zexal spaces about who is the true rival character (Chazz vs Ryo and Kaito vs Shark). But you don't really see the same debates for the best friend characters. So I want to give my opinion.

First, what are my main characteristics of a BF character?

The protag's soulmate. Someone who shares a deep emotional and/or spiritual connection with the protag. Their stories intertwine.

Someone who is always on the front lines with the protag. Whether in the form of tag duelling, giving tough love encouragement or being a hope to the protag in low points. Brothers in arms.

Someone who is very protective of the protag and vice versa. A friendship where both are willing to die for each other.

Simple enough I hope.

Yugioh DM - Joey Wheeler / Jonouchi Katsuya

No explanation here. No one even comes close to Joey in OG Yugioh.

Yugioh GX - Jesse Anderson / Johan Andersen

Syrus / Sho is meant to be the best friend character to Judai. But he fails on many levels. He is more of a cheerleader type than a true best friend. Syrus hardly helps Judai in anything - in fact, Syrus abandoned Judai in his lowest moment in season 3 (don't care if he was influenced by the curse, the curse only exaggerated existing feelings). It becomes even more laughable when he and that dino guy fight over Judai in season 2. Judai can't count on Syrus when his back is against the wall and if Syrus was more like Joey, Judai would not feel so overwhelmed with everyone depending on him 100%. The exchange students were better friends to Judai in season 3 than Syrus.

Unlike Johan. Judai and Johan are soulmates from day 1. They are equals and they both have a lot of similarities and Johan inspires Judai. When Johan goes missing, Judai's world crumbles and Judai is a madman trying to save him. Not to mention the battle royal with Fujiwara was epic. I did not fully watch GX so I don't know all the Johan and Judai moments but I understand why people ship these two together.

Johan is Judai's true BF, not Syrus.

Yugioh 5Ds - Bruno

I have not fully watched 5Ds but I know the general plotlines. I don't have much of an opinion here. Crow Hogan is supposed to be the best friend and Jack the rival. But I am not impressed much by the Crow and Yusei friendship. Maybe it's because of Crow's late introduction in season 1 and how it felt like Crow and Yusei parted ways before the season began. When I think of Crow, I mainly think of his domestic spats with Jack.

Yusei and Bruno had an instant connection and it was so cute how Yusei was able to geek out with someone. Bruno's death scene still makes me cry on the inside man. Seeing Yusei cry at the end is gut-wrenching :'(

I wish Yusei had a BF like Joey. My main issue with 5Ds is that Yusei is always the one giving - like with Aki and Kiryu. And Yusei's season 1 friends were completely forgotten in favour of the Signers. Yusei deserved better.

Yugioh Zexal - Reginald Kastle / Ryoga Kamishiro

Bronk is supposed to be the BF character. However, like Syrus, Bronk fails to live up to the role for similar reasons. His connection with Yuma lacks any deep impact.

But Shark...Shark is the best. Can I just pause and gush about how much I adore Shark? This dude is one of the best characters in Zexal. Shark is both rival and best friend and I love it! He's like Joey in that he starts off as a bully but Yuma saves him through friendship and camaraderie. Like Yuma did not chase after anyone the way he chased after Shark :'). And my boy Shark is so protective of Yuma. He lost his soul against Kaito, trying to protect Yuma's key. He protected Yuma in the Faker and Mizael fight, getting seriously injured. Shark has Yuma's back people. And the way how Yuma and Shark give each other hope in their lowest moments...oh I love these two so much! And then when Shark is revealed to be Nasch, a Barian, the emotional rollercoaster these two go on. Shark was there at Yuma's side to face Don Thousand and being Yuma's last antagonist was so beautiful. Shark and Yuma are soulmates and Bronk can't even compete.

Shark is Yuma's true BF, not Bronk. And I would argue that Shark is Yuma's true rival, not Kaito. But let's not get into that.

Ultimately, Joey and Shark are my favourite best friend characters. Every guy needs a bro like Joey or Shark in their life. And Bruno actually died for Yusei. The friendships in Yugioh are amazing, so good.

[loveletterworm]

when gamemaker releases their next monthly update (i have no idea when this is supposed to be.) they will apparently be allowing the "GX games" export (I think it's like webassembly or something i don't know these things) to be used for purposes outside of their dumb website which means it will be effectively a non-broken version of the html export...So I'm considering updating the that thing to use that when it's possible it's just kind of I'm not fully sure there would be a point, because that thing was so simple that it avoids even having issues with the html export by not bothering to do anything complicated...and that thing has kind of lost all of the steam it could possibly have. (and i'm not really in the mood to be Promoting Public Facing Projects right now i'm more in the mood to be doodling random bullshit fanart and not even bothering to post it...) it kind of seems like it'd just be overkill for no gain at all really

[seventhdoctor]

For the character ask meme: I'm curious what you think about Asuka!

For the anon who also asked Asuka: this is for you, too!

Why I like them/why I don’t

What really sticks out to me about Asuka is how she's straightforward, but also up for crime. When I was rewatching GX proper I was struck by her intro episode where she kidnaps Shou just to get Judai to duel her. You know, a thing that Judai would have done in a heartbeat anyway if she'd just asked directly. You didn't have to threaten a student's life, Asuka, but you did it anyway.

I don't say this to make fun of Asuka. I say this to point HOW QUICKLY she jumped to kidnapping as an option. This is our model honors student, folks!

And then of course there's her standing with the red dorm and against its demolition in season 2, not to mention that half her reason for coming to DA is to investigate a "step foot here and get expelled" location. I know she gets a pass for it when Judai and Shou face expulsion and it's kinda for elitist reasons, but I also like to think she went out there knowing, what are you doing to do? Expel me for investigating the disappearance of my brother, WHO YOU LOST?

I have mixed feelings about the fact that the end of the series has her decide to become a teacher, because season 2 has an episode all about how she's a passionate duelist who enjoys the fight. At the same time, as someone who ended up in education and who really related to Asuka's Darkness nightmares...I kind of feel it.

Also, rituals are cool. :> Asuka gets points in my book for that.

What I like about their appearance

Asuka's design is pretty simple, which is kind of nice. Shout-out to her gloves, adding a bit of duelist's flair and looking very nice in the Taiyou animation:

Do I prefer their dub names or original names?

Original, mostly by habit. I don't have anything against Alexis aside from the general implications of Westernizing names as localization, but GX sub names are just ingrained for me.

OTP

Asuka/dueling. She says it herself, folks.

NOTP

Judai/Asuka, just because so often it feels like obligatory main guy/main girl stuff when both have better options.

OT3

You know, I don't know any Asuka OT3s? The first pitch for an Asuka OT3 I get will be my favorite by default.

Favourite card they use

Cyber Tutu. I know I said I like her ritual monsters, but Cyber Tutu waltzing in to kick you directly in the face always kills me.

Favourite moment they were in

Picking up a sulking Judai by the collar like he's a misbehaving cat. Honestly iconic. Was it a direct solution to the problem? No. Was it still needed? Absolutely.

Least favourite moment

Can I just point to the entire episode with the poker player? Did we really need another rando suitor for Asuka? Did we learn anything about her that we didn't from previous episodes? Could we have an Asuka episode about something other than boys crushing on her???