#Yugioh Duel Links

[viviraptor-art]

i'd like to formally thank duel links for this tag duel tournament in general, but ESPECIALLY for rex and téa having a fun interaction! what an interesting tag team o_O bonus:

[zeeohyi]

sleepy ceo and his blue eyes white dragon

[cyberdragoninfinity]

me: hey tag duel tournie what's up

yugioh duel links tag duel tournament: AI PEGASUS FULLY AWARE OF HIS OWN DEATH MOMENTS...2!

me: OH. OK.

[tiredgremlintime]

WE’RE SO FUCKING BACK YOU GUYS

[emiihoney-pots]

they're alive and digitized in duel links!

[talaofthevalley]

Making theories for a character unlock event in Duel Links sounds nuts but that's just the effect Yuri has on people.

So I had a thought earlier about Yuri's behaviour in this event, and I thought of something that sounds nuts but makes so much sense-

I think Yuri is parallel playing.

So we know how it works in Duel Links. In both the gameplay and in-game narrative, everything is decided by duels. You advance through stages by dueling, the characters can reach new areas and by extension other characters by dueling. And in the most common Yugioh logic, you make nice with people and become friends through dueling.

And what does Yuri keep repeating in this event?

Yuri is repeatedly asked if he's going to turn people into cards again, and he responds almost exactly the same everytime; with flippancy, disinterest, treating it as a thing he did for fun in the past but doesn't anymore. Because he's found something even more fun to spend his time. If he's completely honest can be debated, but it's the insistence he keeps repeating this with that makes me lean he's being truthful.

You play Duel Links to have fun. The running theme in Arc V is that dueling is to make people smile, to have fun. Yuri's definition of fun is very twisted, but this is unquestionably his tamest way of seeking entertainment. Even in his unlock dialouge, he talks about having as much fun as everyone else, and do as he likes here now and forever.

Yuri is doing the same thing all the other characters have done until now. He's just doing it in his own twisted way. But he appears to not have had any interest in other people until now, so what changed?

Well-

He fused with the others. Appeared to be genuinely at peace, to the point Yuya and Yuto ask if he's really returned to how he was before they became one. Yuri is notably different in his behaviour depending on if he's talking Yuya, Yuto or Yugo VS any other character. He's bantering with them, not just taunting them.

I think the Yuri we saw post-fusion, and the one during the show's run and the one we see in this event, really are one and the same, it's just different facets of Yuri's personality showing through.

We know Yuri hasn't had real friends before. He has a very warped view of people, and himself. His response to the other characters talking about Academia's wrongdoings, him kidnapping Rin and Ruri, makes that very obvious.

So say he does find people he likes, or enjoys being with. He wouldn't have any experience of how to bond or spend time with them if it wasn't with, say-

drumroll

Dueling.

Yuri is also extra excited to duel the other yuboys, even as his usual Yuri-ness leaks into it. Yuya especially, as the only person to have ever defeated him.

So. Parallel playing.

Yuri is doing the same thing as everyone else, like a cat bonding with their owner by doing the same thing they are. Because Yuri gets dueling, so that's an easy way to spend time with the people he found a sense of peace with.

[lavenderr-starrs]

How to cure depression: tap the teeny tiny yuya and drago bby on your screen

[number-1-kuaidul-fanboy]

How the Yuri event has been going for me so far:

[monelights]

THE BRACELET GIRLS.

↳ no credit is required ! i’m so happy that the bracelet girls get to finally meet each other in duel links.

[spiritsncrystals]

For her neutral special she uses G U N

[oddeyes588]

gOD I'm eating so well today... we're finally getting some good characterization for Ruri and Rin... hell, it's incredible that we're getting some characterization for them AT ALL. I'm gonna ramble about it.

Ruri. Oh Ruri... it's genuinely so funny seeing her complete contrast with Yuto and Shun, who have all the dark and broodiness that comes with being characters who've been sharpened by the harsh edges of war. Yuto is in a bit of a middle-ground compared to Shun, but Ruri sits on the complete opposite end of the spectrum to her brother.

She's very chill and sweet, in stark contrast to Shun's tendency for rage and violence. Hell, she's the only one of the Xyz Trio who ISN'T glaring constant daggers at Dennis. She's sympathetic, and this goes in line with what we already knew about her. Having received the same teachings from Yusho as Yuya, she's pacifistic and hates the violent dueling that destroyed her home, as it's not what dueling is meant to be.

While Yuto and Shun get understandably hardened in order to do what is necessary to survive, Ruri doesn't want to lose what she loved about her home, and as such tries to maintain it. It's not like she let everything that happened slide off her back, she still has fear for Academia, but she's readily sympathetic, and it's honestly very sweet to see. While Yuto and Shun are still trying to adjust into the process of healing, Ruri is ready to dive in headfirst, because that's exactly what she was waiting for the whole time.

Basically, for having seen the Horrors of War, Ruri is handling herself remarkably well.

And at last... Rin. Rin is hilarious in a few ways, but to start with a more serious note...

It truly does speak to how good of a place Heartland was versus how shit of a place the City was from the get-go, because out of the two, Rin is somehow the more traumatized one? Not that anyone can blame her, since she grew up in a Capitalist Dystopia where you can be arrested and sent to a "correctional facility" indefinitely for the crime of, uh, trespassing on the property of the rich. Oh, and at the age of 14, too! Rin is often scared and fully ready to choose violence over it. Honestly, the idea that Rin's automatic reaction to somebody lunging out at her is to drive her knee into their stomach makes way too much sense... and it really speaks as to how little brain cells Yugo has that he doesn't learn his lesson, and keeps trying to hug her out of nowhere.

But with that said... god I love Rin, actually. Despite Yugo's inability to learn why you don't suddenly glomp somebody, she's got exactly the amount of "he's an idiot, but he's MY idiot" energy that we expected... by which I mean she has an ABSURD amount of that energy. She cares about Yugo just as much as he cares about her, though she shows it via the very hilarious method of affectionately dragging him at every opportunity.

And it's actually so great. I love her. Anyways! It's also neat to see how her overall focus is actually on a much smaller scale compared to everyone else. Yuzu has—or rather, had—obviously she asks about her home, asks how the Synchro Dimension is doing... and she's happy to hear that it's finally on the right track. But while the other three girls are somewhat vested in the fate of the universe(s), the state of their home, etc... Rin seems to focus a lot harder on the fact that she missed the Friendship Cup on account of being kidnapped at the time.

And while yes, there's a hint of tragedy to that considering that the losers of that particular tournament are all sent to an underground work facility to be worked until they die...

...her being lowkey SUPER competitive is a delight.

[zeeohyi]

🏖️☀️🌊

[cyberdragoninfinity]

>every other character in duel links: it's my turn! i draw!

>dennis mcfield: ✨✨🤸‍♂️💃🌈😊 I DRAAAAWWWWWWW~~~~~~~ 🤩💃✨✨💞🎇🎆🥳🥳🥳✨✨✨🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈

[tiredgremlintime]

Sequel to this post! Happy Yu-boys reunion day everyone!

(sprite renders from: @/baddyzarc)

[emiihoney-pots]

im like trying so hard to get the specific frame for each sprite reference in duel links

totally normal to point a specific frame