#atem: you saw what happened when I used it and you STILL chose to use it?

[sennenpharaoh]

You have no one to blame but yourself Haga...

And you too, Rex.

[fang-and-feather]

Home

Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters

Ship: Atem/Malik/Yugi/OC

Prompt: Feeling at home

Summary: Malik feels confuse having to travel between Japan and Egypt and not knowing where and if he wants to settle. Atem tries to reassure him.

Malik was conflicted. It was difficult for him to live so far away from his partners. Their contact was mostly made of phone calls and messages, and even these were somewhat difficult on an international scale.

He really loved when they could travel and spend moments together. Like that Valentine’s morning, cuddling in the makeshift bed with his sleeping boyfriends at their girlfriend’s house - although he wished their girlfriend had stayed with them, instead of waking up earlier, but soon she would be back with breakfast in bed for the four of them, and she was the best cook among them, so he wouldn’t complain much - Malik felt at peace.

On the other hand, after everything that had happened, he wasn’t ready to be apart from his siblings for long, either, and he felt equally comfortable in Japan or Egypt, like it didn’t matter where he lived. Despite either bringing him memories of the past everyone insisted he’d better forget.

He thought of getting up and joining Amy in the kitchen to get away from his thoughts of the past, but it was hard to get himself out of the tangle of limbs that the three of them had ended up into without waking his boyfriends. Malik had barely moved when he felt the one at his back stir.

“Did Amy wake you?” Malik shivered upon hearing Atem’s husky voice by his ear.

Malik tried to turn around to face his boyfriend, but Yugi’s hold on him tightened. Atem chuckled.

“No. I woke up before her. Did I wake you?”

“I have been half awake since she left. What is bothering you?”

“Why do you think something is bothering me?”

“Because we never saw you wake up so early on your own when we’re together. Is it because you’re going back home tomorrow?”

At first Malik didn’t want to talk about it. But Atem would understand, right? He was, not only from another country, but from another time. And although most would argue he had no family to go back to because of that, he had been returned to them once, only to be brought back again but, after that, he made no effort to return again, and sometimes Malik had wondered if Atem resented Kaiba for prompting the accident that brought him back to life.

“Malik?” Atem called softly when the silence stretched, loosening his hold to prop himself up on one arm and peek at Malik’s face.

“Do you feel at home here?”

“Of course I do. Wherever I’m with someone I love, I am at home. Yugi taught me that. Do you feel at home?”

“I don’t know. I always felt the same, no matter where I was. In the beginning, everywhere bothered me, but it doesn’t anymore. But even though I’m comfortable everywhere, I’m never fully satisfied, would not only because I have to travel because I miss someone, I’m never satisfied with the place. Do you ever feel like this?”

“Sometimes, especially with the climate. I’m still not used to Domino’s winters. Maybe it is because I haven’t been here for more than a couple of years, at least in my own body, but sometimes I think I’ll never get used to it. There are also different customs of each country that I’m not used to either. But to me, Egypt isn’t very different from a foreign country either, because it is not the place it was in my time anymore.” Atem shifted back to lie down and embrace Malik from behind. “For now, it is okay for you to travel when you feel too bothered, though.”

“But I’ll have to choose, sometime.”

“And when that time comes, the four of us will do so together. And no matter what we chose, we are each other’s home, so we’ll be okay. Don’t you feel at home with us?”

Malik stayed in silence for a moment, not because he doubted his answer, but to enjoy the feeling of both his boyfriends’ holding him.

“There is no place I feel more at home.” He finally said, one hand holding Yugi closer, the other intertwining with one of Atem’s. “But…”

“You have another home with your siblings. That’s fine. We have as many homes as there are people we love. Sometimes we choose one to spend more time with, but that doesn’t invalidate the others.” Atem kissed the back of his neck. “Do you feel better?”

“A little. But I don’t have to worry about it right now. Amy will be here at any moment, and I just want to spend the day with you right now.”

Atem hummed in response, kissing him again. Before it could go too far, though, the door was pushed open and Amy came in, balancing a couple of trays with food.

“Boys, breakfast!” She called, cheerfully.

Yugi just grunted something in response, snuggling against Malik’s chest. Atem sat up and shook him.

“Yugi! Are you planning on sleeping all through Valentine’s?”

“But I’m comfortable here.” Yugi mumbled.

The other three laughed. Nothing unusual for a morning spent together. And Malik hoped these little things would never change.

[sennenpharaoh]

Atem couldn't even look at the Colonel as he explained. Couldn't even glance at him. Instead trying to wrap his head around the Colonel's reasoning... excuse... justification... whatever it was. However it didn't take long to get a reaction out of him when he heard about him climbing his way to the top... to prevent a second one from happening.

"Let me get this straight. If you stopped 'following orders', then you'd lose your chance to stop a second genocide? You 'carried out your orders', killed hundreds-- no, thousands of innocent lives... used their deaths as a stepping stone to climb to the top, just so you can find a way to stop a second one from happening? Is that what I'm hearing?!"

He stood up quickly, maybe a bit too quickly as the tv table shifted a little. Even though he was the smaller one, he looked down at the shaky Colonel still seated next to him. His face flared up with anger, his eyes trying to keep its focus on the other.

"What about the one that was right in front of you?! What about those people?! What makes them unworthy of being saved? Huh? Why did they have to die so you can find a way to prevent a second? Don't give me that 'following orders' nonsense, you put on that uniform, did you not?! You chose the path of a soldier, did you not?!" Anger and disdain filled his voice. A thought entered his mind as he shot his knee-jerk vitriol at the Colonel.

Those poor people... they didn't have a choice. But he did.

"You had this ideation of the military and your alchemy to save lives. Did that line of thinking ever falter before Ishval?" He wasn't even going to give the Colonel a chance to answer. "No? What about during? I saw the footage of what happened, you stopped and questioned it. You questioned the reason behind all that death. But you put those gloves back on and kept on killing." Atem brought a hand up close, and with a little bit of effort snapped his own fingers. Just once.

"Just like that. Thousands. Gone. All killed 'under orders' so you can make your way to the top to prevent a second. Good to know that they served their purpose so that you can work your way to the top, right Colonel? Good to know their sacrifices won't be in vain, right? That's right, I forgot. They were sacrificed! All for a damn stone!"

He made a move forward, but stopped himself to just wrap his arms around himself. He could feel himself shaking with... something. Anger? Pain? Sadness? Everything?

"You used the deaths of those people to get to where you are, and you still think that you'll protect everyone? What about them?! Who protected them?!" He couldn't stop himself, he said to himself that he'd need to get his thoughts out, no matter how ugly or horrible they were.

"The people of Ishval needed a Hero, but you are no Hero. A murderer of innocent people is no Hero."

Yeah, Roy knew that was going to be asked. He knew Atem wouldn't like the answer he was going to give him, but this was what he thought during the time, and he knew what being a soldier entailed, even though he dreaded it the entire time he was told to do it.

He takes a breath and swallows, before speaking up. "I did it because I was given the orders. If I had stopped I would lose a chance to be able to fix things. I needed to make my way to the top to stop a genocide like this from ever happening again. I know that sounds like a stupid excuse, and no it can't be justified, not after the many lives I have taken by my hands."

He knows that this was a tough pill to swallow for anyone in the room.

"My naivety got the better of me when I was a young teen, thinking I could save everyone and was going to be able to use my flame alchemy to protect people and save lives. That only ended in tragedy. I am the only flame alchemist that existed in my world and here too."

He's trying his best not to break down right here and there as he grits his teeth.

"People claimed me to be some hero of Ishval. That's a lie, I was no hero there. I was a failure." He obviously hated himself for the things he did, he would never forgive himself for those moments.

"There were a few times.. Where I would stay in my tent and feel remorse for the wrongs I was doing." He admits softly, his heart hurting. "I can't pretend like I didn't choose this path to work in the military. I did it to help those I love and care about, I did it to keep people safe, but all I did was cause nothing but tragedy there." He takes a shaky breath before continuing.

"I have no right to feel sorry for myself, even though I carry these regrets with me. I strive to do better, I strive to keep moving forward to try to find ways to make everyone's lives better, to keep them safe, and I'll die trying." He stares at Atem, his eyes filled with sadness and guilt.

"I thought, I thought our government was trying to save others. That was a lie, I was blind and naive to think what our country was doing was helping. I still chose this path, I still chose to commit mass murder. All because I wanted to find a way to make sure none of this ever happens again. The blood will always be stained on my hands." He states softly, "I will never forget... those that died because of me, and these nightmares will continue to stay with me for the rest of my life." Another shaky breath.

"...I will do what's right and keep trying to work my way to the top. It doesn't matter what world I am in, I will do it either way. I'll do everything humanly possible to protect the people I love, while in turn they protect the ones they love."

[theforbiddenpriestess]

When did you get into Vaseshipping and may you write a cute one-shot of them? ; u ;

I got into Vaseshipping ever since I saw Yugioh on Saturday mornings. I loved how Atem was this firm and well controlled individual who only cared about dueling but when he was around Mana, he just lost all his coolness and didn’t know how to act around her. I loved how Mana followed her master’s footsteps and became the new owner of the ring. How apart from Dark Magician, Atem also trusts Dark Magician Girl with all his life. Plus, out of everyone’s name, even his own, the only name that came so naturally to him in an instant the moment his eyes fell on, was her name. 

Her Legacy

In memory of Dan Green, his beloved wife, Michal Friedman, and their precious twins. They are always in my prayers. 

Mahad could only hold his tears back as the baby girl gazed at his eyes. 

They were aquamarine gems, just like her mother’s. 

“Hello Anippe.” 

The baby smiled softly at Mahad, making his heart melt. 

Shifting his eyes away from the baby, his attention landed to the cries and mourning of the people. 

Horns were heard and so were the marching footsteps of countless soldiers. 

“I promise you Mana, I will look after them,” Mahad vowed, cradling the baby closer to his chest. 

“I swear.” Mahad whispered as he heard his Pharaoh’s sobs finally echoing from down the hallway. 

—

FIVE YEARS LATER 

“She sure is Mana’s kid,” Isis spoke with a gentle smile. Mahad could only nod. 

Both he and Isis were sitting under the courtyard’s corridor shade. Watching how the young crown princess splashed her feet in the garden’s pond. 

The princess let out a sweet laugh as she tried picking up a toad from one of the many lily pads. 

That made Isis chuckle however, as she turned to Mahad she saw pain in his eyes. 

“Mahad,” she began but he only shook his head. He didn’t want to talk about it. Isis pressed her lips in a thin line and became silent once again. 

Seeing the princess have fun by herself in the pond, surrounded by countless flowers and under Ra’s sun, was enough to make Isis’s heart swell in pain. 

She was the splitting image of Mana, except she had blonde tips at the bottom of her brown hair, and a few strands of red hair. Otherwise, it was looking at Mana herself when she was younger. 

Isis could not imagine the pain Mahad felt everyday. He practically raised Mana at the princess’s age and now, instead of watching her raise her child, it was him. 

Mana had been so excited to become a mother, for her and Atem to raise a beautiful family, together. 

And when they had discovered she was pregnant, for this miracle to have happened, both the Queen and King were ecstatic. 

Why, out of all the people in the world did this tragedy occur to them? Instead of celebrating with joy across the land for the new arrival of the princess, all of Egypt mourned for the loss of their Queen. Why was Mana denied the chance to live to see and raise her daughter with Atem? 

“Enough sorrow.” 

Both Isis and Mahad turned around and stood up rapidly to bow before the Pharaoh. 

“Pharaoh,” both Isis and Mahad spoke at the same time but Atem held his hand to stop them. 

“It is alright you two, it is only us.” 

Atem smiled at the nervous expressions of Mahad and Isis before setting his gaze on the small figure on the pond. His eyes immediately filled with tender love and admiration. 

“I know,” he began, never leaving his gaze off his daughter, “it’s hard looking at her without thinking of Mana.” 

Isis sucked in a breath whereas Mahad stood still. 

“For the longest time, I was mad at the gods. Why did they forsake such a tragedy upon Mana. Why her? It wasn’t fair.” Atem smiled sadly, “I wanted to be selfish for once. To have my wife and best friend with me. I deserved it. I have done so much for Egypt, I deserved this one thing in my life, no?” 

Atem was silent for a moment. 

“But, when I look at Anippe everyday, tug her in at night, play with her, I can’t help but love Mana even more. She gave her life for her. I know, I just know she would do it all over again. Even if she knew she was bound to die, she would choose Anippe’s life over her’s every single time. As I would as well.” 

Closing his eyes, Atem continued, “Instead of looking at my daughter in melancholy and grief, I look at her with joy, love, and admiration. She is the last piece of Mana I have in this world. She is the home of my heart. Though she will never experience the love only Mana could ever offer... a mother’s love... I know with me by her side, she’ll never be alone. I just hope I can give her the same amount of love Mana was ready to give her.” 

Opening his eyes, he smiled at Mahad and Isis before he excused himself and walked towards the pond. 

Mahad smiled at the new scene before him. Atem was now swinging his daughter in his arms as he stood in the middle of the pond, soaked in water. Anippe giggled, exclaiming “I’m flying!” 

Isis smiled tenderly, watching her Pharaoh laugh as his daughter chased him around in the pond. 

“No no Anippe, you don’t use the lily pads like that.” Atem began as he crouched down before his daughter. 

“When your mother and I were young we would use them as hats.” He demonstrated as he placed a lily pad on his head. The princess burst out laughing before she chose a lily pad as a hat. 

“My lily flower is bigger than yours!” 

“Then I shall steal your flower!” he declared as he began chasing his daughter. 

Mahad laughed softly. Though Mana was not with them, they would never let her legacy and memories die. Anippe had every right to know just how wonderful her mother was. He would be damned to let her memories die. 

Seeing the Pharaoh carry the princess in his arms as he pointed at a lotus flower and explained to her why lotus flowers were Mana’s favorite flowers, Mahad couldn’t help but let tears stream down his eyes. Atem was doing a good job at keeping her memories alive. 

“Rest easy now Mana,” he whispered. 

“She is in good hands.” Isis whispered back. 

---

“Anippe” Ma’at spoke. 

“He sure is clever,” Ra chuckled as the rest of the gods turned to him. 

“Why? What does her name mean?” Serket asked. 

“Anippe means daughter of the nile.” Seshat replied. 

“Atem named his daughter Anippe as he and his wife Mana have many fond memories at the Nile river.” Anuket added with a tender smile. 

“Every time he’ll see her, call her name, or hear her name, it will only bring joyful memories.” Amun spoke with admiration as he gazed down at the Egyptian Pharaoh who walked alongside the Nile river. A group of guards and servants following a few yards behind.

And up on his shoulders, his daughter sat. She had her chin rested on his head.

She wore the most beautiful smile ever.

[atemgirl94]

Amazon pt. 2

Britt's POV:

To say I was worried about what was going to be happening was the least of my problems. I knew that with standing up as the new Amazon Queen. My mother said that we were not to mess with men unless needed. From what my mother did inform me about my father was he comes from another royal family and they are secretly married. I knew that meant quite a lot but also that I had to choose someone to help with keeping the bloodline going.

I don't even know anyone I could have that much trust with. I thought

Once alone with my mother, I took a breath to calm my nerves but I had questions. I wondered how she met dad and what happened. My mom placed a hand on my shoulder as we had time before my coronation. She gave me a comforting smile.

"You have questions." Mom said "how did you meet dad?" I asked "My father chose him for me, but I had the final say since I rose to Amazon Queen when I was your age." My mother said and I panicked for a minute thinking my dad chose some male prince for me. "Your father hasn't done that. He has more respect for you." My mother assured me

I wondered about what kind of man I would ever choose knowing as the next Queen I needed an heir to the throne. Now right away but I still needed an heir none the less. I closed my eyes as I knew that this was not going to be easy. I thought about who I knew that was a man or even around my age sadly the only person who came to mind was the Pharaoh's son also known as the current Pharaoh.

"Mom what happens to uninvited men?" I asked her "We lock them in a place and the women of our people decide what to do with them. Unless involved privately with one of us they eventually die." My mother said

I shivered at the thought of it knowing as the next Queen I had to figure out how to lead the people. It wasn't my best idea for this but  I knew it could be. If Only I was prepared for what was to come.

Atem's pov:

I was sitting on my throne my adviser telling me I needed to choose a Queen, a princess to marry so I can have an heir to the throne. I had met a few princesses but none of them ever seemed to interest me. I couldn't shake my thoughts that always went back to the Amazon Princess, I knew she would never be able to follow through with what her people needed unless I intervened. So I stood up from my throne and left.

"Pharaoh where are you going?" Shimon asked "To get the woman who will become my Queen." I said

I got my horse and headed to the forest, I remembered what my father used to tell me so I was heading that direction. I knew the risks but this was my choice. I wanted her..and no one else.

Britt's pov:

Everything was finished all I had to do now was go through the coronation as I was all prepared. I didn't have any bad thoughts or feelings as I went along with my family. I walked out where my people seen me. Everyone cheered and I smiled waving to them as I walked to the throne. My mother was still reigning Queen as she made a gesture for me to sit.

"Now is the Time to welcome our next Queen! Now we shall call my daughter Britt our Queen." My mother spoke as she removed her crown. She placed it on my head as I held my head high.

"Do you Britt, swear to uphold our traditions?"  My mother said "I swear." I said "Good, now you may start being our ru-"

Before my mom could finish we heard the sound of someone showing up and that's when I saw him. He was older but I knew who he was since those eyes were so familiar. I'd even seen his eyes in the dreams I had. I stood up from the throne looking directly at him remembering I was Queen now.

"what are you doing here?" I demanded

He merely walked forward my people let him through cause we couldn't punish him. This was my coronation and he was crashing it to be here. I kept my ground but he didn't stop and I was sure I had an idea what he was here for. My coronation signified I was going to need a male mate to have an heir one of royal blood.

"New Queen of the Amazons, I have come here to ask for your hand in marriage." Atem said

I was a bit taken back by his sudden proposal after he crashed my coronation of becoming Queen. I did admit he wasn't trying to take me from my people just being directly forward.

"What makes you think I would accept such a thing?" I asked him He smirked at me "We are both needing the others help. You wish to keep my people out of your area and I'm wanting to keep my people alive." He said as he stepped forward "You want to protect the Amazons but now that you're Queen you need a king in secret to help you provide an heir for your throne. Well Amazon Queen, I need an heir for my throne and an amazon is stronger than any normal princess." Suddenly he was right in front of me where I could back up but not much. "So will you accept?" He asked

//What do you think?//

[redrocx]

«Deutschland» English Translation

Artist: Rammstein

Album: Rammstein

Year: 2019

Requested by: Twitter poll

«Deutschland»

[original lyrics]

Du (Du hast, du hast, du hast, du hast) Hast viel geweint (Geweint, geweint, geweint, geweint) Im Geist getrennt (Getrennt, getrennt, getrennt, getrennt) Im Herz vereint (Vereint, vereint, vereint, vereint) Wir (Wir sind, wir sind, wir sind, wir sind) Sind schon sehr lang zusammen (Ihr seid, ihr seid, ihr seid, ihr seid) Dein Atem kalt (So kalt, so kalt, so kalt, so kalt) Das Herz in Flammen (So heiß, so heiß, so heiß, so heiß) Du (Du kannst, du kannst, du kannst, du kannst) Ich (Ich weiß, ich weiß, ich weiß, ich weiß) Wir (Wir sind, wir sind, wir sind, wir sind) Ihr (Ihr bleibt, ihr bleibt, ihr bleibt, ihr bleibt) (Deutschland) Mein Herz in Flammen Will dich lieben und verdammen (Deutschland) Dein Atem kalt So jung und doch so alt (Deutschland) Ich (Du hast, du hast, du hast, du hast) Ich will dich nie verlassen (Du weinst, du weinst, du weinst, du weinst) Man kann dich lieben (Du liebst, du liebst, du liebst, du liebst) Und will dich hassen (Du hasst, du hasst, du hasst, du hasst) Überheblich, überlegen Übernehmen, übergeben Überraschen, überfallen Deutschland, Deutschland über allen (Deutschland) Mein Herz in Flammen Will dich lieben und verdammen (Deutschland) Dein Atem kalt So jung und doch so alt (Deutschland) Deine Liebe Ist Fluch und Segen (Deutschland) Meine Liebe kann ich dir nicht geben (Deutschland) (Du) (Ich) (Wir) (Ihr) (Du) Übermächtig, überflüssig (Ich) Übermenschen, überdrüssig (Wir) Wer hoch steigt, der wird tief fallen (Ihr) Deutschland, Deutschland über allen (Deutschland) Dein Herz in Flammen Will dich lieben und verdammen (Deutschland) Mein Atem kalt So jung und doch so alt (Deutschland) Deine Liebe Ist Fluch und Segen (Deutschland) Meine Liebe kann ich dir nicht geben (Deutschland)

«Germany» [English translation]

You (You have, you have, you have, you have) Have cried a lot (Cried, cried, cried, cried) Separated in spirit (Separated, separated, separated, separated) United hearts1 (United, united, united, united) We (We are, we are, we are, we are) Have been together for very long2 (You are, you are, you are, you are) Your breath cold (So cold, so cold, so cold, so cold) The heart on fire (So  hot, so hot, so hot, so hot) You (You can, you can, you can, you can) I (I know, I know, I know, I know) We (We are, we are, we are, we are) You3 (You remain, you remain, you remain, you remain)4 (Germany) My heart on fire I want to love you and condemn you (Germany) Your breath cold So young and yet so old5 (Germany) I (You have, you have, you have, you have) I never want to leave you (You cry, you cry, you cry, you cry) One can love you (You love, you love, you love, you love) And one wants to hate you (You hate, you hate, you hate, you hate)6 Haughty, superior To take over, to hand over7 To surprise, to raid, Germany, Germany, above all else8 (Germany) My heart on fire I want to love you and condemn you (Germany) Your breath cold So young and yet so old (Germany) Your love Is a curse and a blessing (Germany) My love I can’t give to you (Germany) (You) (I) (We) (You) (You) Overpowering, unnecessary (I) Übermenschen9, weary (We) The higher you climb, the farther you fall10 (You) Germany, Germany, above all else (Germany) Your heart on fire I want to love you and condemn you (Germany) My breath cold So young and yet so old (Germany) Your love Is a curse and a blessing (Germany) My love I can’t give to you (Germany)

[Additional Notes]

1 The idea is that Germany united people in hearts, but the "people" part is ommited, which is why it sounds a bit weird in English (but I wanted to keep the original phrasing). 2 In German, the "we are" and "we have been together" parts are both formed by using the word "sind", which is an inflection of the verb "to be". In English, we have to use a different auxiliary verb, which is sadly why the connection is lost in the translation. (Since the chants in brackets are always picked up on the next line.) 3 this time, "you" is used in second person plural in German, same as 4 4 "bleiben" can mean different things, depending on the context. Since there's not a clear context given here, I decided to go with the English equivalent which sorta entails both meanings. "bleiben" can either be translated as "to stay" or to "remain", but "stay" suggests a more physical form of "bleiben", whereas "remain" can be more ambiugous, which I thought worked better here given the unclear context. 5 No translation note, it mostly concerns the meaning & understanding of the line. He says Germany is both old and young, which is referring to post World War 2 Germany. Obviously, Germany as a country has been around for centuries ("yet so old"), but Germany as we know it nowadays has only been established around 1990 with the German Reunification. That's why Till calls it "young" (aka present Germany is still young), when in fact, it's old already. 6 This is a pun in German pronunciation. "Du hast" (you have/you have got) and "du hasst" (you hate) are both pronounced the same way. Before, Till used the verb "have", but now he shifted to the word "hate", which creates kinda a pun in the German language. 7 Fun fact: "übergeben" can mean both "to hand over" or "to throw up". I don't think Till intended to create a pun, (however, it's possible), and "to hand over" makes more sense given the first part of the line. I just thought it was funny to mention it. 8 This part is a bit... tricky. In German, Till not only uses alliterations in this paragraph (these words all start with the prefix "über"), but he also makes the last two lines rhyme. Obviously, I couldn't keep the rhyme while translating, which is a shame, tbh. In the German lyrics, there's also no need to specify the word class of these words, but I felt for the third line in particular it was better to showcase that these words are both infinite verbs by adding the "to" accordingly to avoid confusion. 9 I decided to not translate "Übermenschen" for several reasons. First, it's also a widely known leanword in the English language. Second, and more importantly, by not translating the word, I felt that the context in which this word is used, is more clear. "Übermensch" is a philosophical concept that has been used and abused especially during the time of German National Socialism (or as people like to call it, Nazi Germany), and in context of the whole song, this is exactly what Till was aiming for when he chose that word. For those of you who have not come across this term, it means “superior human beings”. (Again, the alliterations in the paragraph are lost in the English translation.) 10 This line is an idiom both in the German and the English language, so I didn't really have to pick it apart too much. Though the English idiom/translation once again doesn't 100% communicate the meaning of this line. Translated more freely, Till says that whoever climbs high WILL (inevitably) fall hard. This again is a reference to the time of German NS. At last, I do want to put down a few general remarks, since especially when the song and music video first came out I saw a lot of controversy about it happening. Well, not controversy but misconception, so I thought to make a statement here. Neither the song nor the video glorify Nazis, National Socialism, the Holocaust or whatever other claims have been made. You'd assume that it's pretty damn obvious both in the lyrics and the video (they actually shoot Nazis in the head in the video -- it doesn't get clearer than that, imo), but apparently it still needs to be said. It's not even a song to celebrate Germany and to sing about how awesome it is. On multiple occassions, it refers to the very darkest parts of German history, and it even states "I can't give my love to you"; this song is about how difficult it is to actually love Germany for all the bad things in its (our) history. I'm not sure how much of a common knowledge this is, but Germans aren't really prone to celebrating or even showcasting their pride for their country, mostly in shame of what happened in the past, so no one would actually sing a song of praise about it -- except Nazis. But as I said, none of this pertains to Rammstein or this song. It is not a song of praise, it's a song of "I don't know whether to punch or kiss you", a song about an inner conflict, while the music video imo is even clearer about how much it is NOT a song of praise. Rammstein are not Nazis, they're probably the furthest thing from Nazis, they don't glorify or celebrate this country in any way with this song and video. I do hope the English translation will clarify as much, or if nothing else, this annotation will.

[shakespearerants]

My personal theory: They started taking the character seriously and THAT'S when shit hit the fan. Just compare Der Dunkle Fleck to Schwanensee. Boerne making jokes about how weird and pathetic he is vs Boerne thinking he can literally lead group therapy because he did what 2 semester of Psych 25 years ago? He really went from loveable idiot who jokes about how cool he is because everyone can see he's NOT to someone who unironically thinks he's God's gift for medicine.

Imo Münster Tatort comes in three phases: Original (up until Schwanensee): Cruel cop Thiel and pathetic wet cat Boerne, written with genuine nuance. See: Der Dunkle Fleck, Höllenfahrt, Krumme Hunde, Dreimal Schwarzer Kater, Das Zweite Gesicht especially. Then Boerne Retcon (Schwanensee to Väterchen Frost though you cool argue this starting at Fluch der Mumie. But Erkläre Chimäre is the last episode that kind of still fits phase 1 Boerne so I'm making the cut there): Thiel stays largely the same, maybe a little less overtly cruel, but Boerne suddenly gets absolutely retconned into someone who is absolutely full of himself. This is where they started taking an insecure character that saw himself as comic relief and instead of keeping that nuance just made him comic relief who takes himself seriously. Dont get me wrong Phase 1 Boerne was also an ass but not like THIS. See especially: Gott ist auch nur ein Mensch, Schwanensee, Feierstunde. There are MULTIPLE Episodes showing the supposed soft core Boerne has that do not make any sense considering...the previous characterization. Compare Dreimal Schwarzer Kater Boerne to Feierstunde Boerne. One of the only Episodes that make sense with 1st phase Boerne in mind is Lakritz. The writing in general gets a lot less three dimensional - compare side characters like Klemm and Nadeshda from Phase 1 to Phase 2. THEN we enter Phase 3 (Limbus to now): We don't need characterization anymore, because Münster Tatort has been running so long if we give the audience a few cue words they'll fill in the rest themselves. Both Boerne and Thiel are reduced to key word versions of their phase 1 characterizations. For Boerne they chose 'full of himself'. For Thiel they chose 'straight man'. That's literally it. The side characters are basically non existent anymore (tell me one thing you remember about Mirko, I dare you), actual plot is sacrificed for cool concepts and special effects (Limbus, Des Teufels Langer Atem and Propheteus especially). The concept of 'ständige Gegenwart' that was quite easy to ignore in the first episodes is now actively working against dramatic tension and character development - lest I remind you of the MULTIPLE episodes we have were the emotional payoff in the last 10 minutes is the almost ritualized change from Sie zu Du - nevermind that we have episodes from the previous phases were they almost swear blood brotherhood, sleep in the same bed, shower together and get fake married. Boernes previous self deprecating jokes habe now become things you hear you CDU voting uncle say at Sunday dinner. Because that's what a character whos only defining trait is 'full of himself' would say. Because that's what happens when you take a character that uses humor to cover up how out of place he feels and take his obvious jokes about how great he is seriously when you're writing the next episode.

That plus everything you said (though I don't know if I agree with you on your last point) is why, in my opinion, why Münster Tatort has become almost unwatchable.

tatort fans, I need your help

am currently writing a video about why boerne in later episodes is not as funny as before and my main reasons are as follows:

1. liefers doesn’t play him up anymore as this overdramatic kind of guy so his jokes don’t sound and look like jokes anymore but as something he truly believes in 

 2. boerne went from being the comic relief character to being the guy that follows thiel everywhere and sometimes has something funny to say but otherwise he is there to do what the story needs him to do

3. the jokes are not as harsh and scandalous as they once were

so now if you have any opinion on this, if you think I am missing something, if you completely agree with any of this, I would be very thankful if you could hit me up because I don’t feel comfortable writing a video like this and not talking to anybody beforehand. also I have not watched all of tatort münster (hurry up ard mediathek!!) so I really need another person to talk to, just so I can confirm that this is not just happening in the episodes I did see. thank you very much just for reading this lol <3

[lyralumina]

For the ask thing you reblogged, Kaiba or Mai!

I will do both because I cannot pick just one! Character(s): Seto Kaiba and Mai Kujaku First Impressions:Seto- “Oh! He’s really pretty…” Young me said as I looked away from the television, blushing bright red as Kaiba was actually my first anime/childhood crush and he made me spill my cereal that day because I gushed too hard. Such wild times. Mai- “Oh gosh she’s really pretty too! I like her hair its so curly and big!” Young me said as I pointed at her enthusiastically. Impressions Now: Seto- He may have problems that he needs to resolve and I sure hope they resolve but I still love him flaws and all. He has a special place in my heart and I want everyone to know that he is the reason I kept watching the show and his deck master is my favorite monster of all time. I owe my childhood to him. Thanks Kaiba. Mai- She deserved so much better than what the writers and show gave her. She is a woman who can kick ass and I love that about her. I wish she was in Dark Side Of Dimensions as a cameo of sorts but sadly she wasn’t there. Favorite Moment: Seto- There are a lot that I can list off but to save you from me droning on and on I will list just two: 1. This is from the Duelist of the Roses game but when Seto Rosenkruez gives the Rose Duelist the pendant/seal of the Yorkists as a parting gift is such a sentimental moment to me. I played the game as a child and I remember actually crying in front of my television because oh man did I enjoy that game so much. Rosenkruez is my favorite character from that game and I would die for him. (Also he states that if the Rose Duelist was ever in trouble, they could show that to the Seto in their era and Seto will help them out in any way he can because Rosenkruez is him from the past so imagine a younger version of you The Rose Duelist going up to Seto Kaiba in need of whatever and showing the pendant/seal. That’s what I always imagined as a kid and even today.)2. Seto during Season One as he is trying to rescue Mokuba from Pegasus and has that whole scene where he is talking to his self-programmed computer who has the voice and attitude of a hair salon stylist woman who just loves to talk gossip all day. Just him and that song ‘Now I’m Back’ playing is such a great moment because… Oh them… him and that computer AI? They’re friends. Mai-  Again I will list two because its only fair since I did it with Kaiba: 1. During Battle City where she was having her duel with Yami Marik literally scared me as a kid because oh man did she not deserve that trip to the shadow realm and to top it all off I remember I lost a friend around the time I saw that episode so it really hit me emotionally so thanks Season 2 and Yami Marik. 2. Season 4 came around and all the times she acted like a boss was always something great to see, she is the Dueling Queen of Duel Monsters within her Era after all. From her flipping her hair dramatically to her just riding on a motorcycle was just great. Ideas For A Story: Seto- I did state in a previous ask about a story idea I had for Anzu Mazaki but Seto does come into play with that idea.Mai- I do have an inside AU of mine which is an Idol AU. Mai in that Idol AU is the top designer to the costume/coord/clothing brand that Ryou Bakura and Marik use. She acts pretty much the same way as she does in canon but there are a few things I added into the fray for her: 1. She actually dropped out of High School due to receiving job offers to launch her brand she actually came up with and semi-launched within that time. She chose to quit her education and go forth with officially launching her brand and Ryou is the first to use her brand and then Marik came as the second one to use her brand. Mai will do anything to protect her brand and her users because she sacrificed so much to even start her brand. Do not dare use the fact that she sacrificed her education against her she will shatter because she wanted to graduate on stage and get her diploma so badly. 2. Mai is a world famous fashion designer who has had harsh criticism for her brand being too skimpy seeing as its a ‘sexy type’ brand and she is having high school boys adorn her clothing does not make it any better but if you dare talk shit to Mai then get ready to hear shit be thrown back by Jounouchi, Ryou, Marik, and Yugi. 3. Once Ryou and Marik graduate out of high school with their diploma’s, Mai actually does hire Marik as an apprentice for her brand. Unpopular Opinions: Seto-  I am going to be flat out honest but Seto graduated earlier than the rest of the cast. He did not bother to walk on stage, he just grabbed his diploma from Domino High and went back to work over at Kaiba Corporation as if nothing had happened but Isono did congratulate him on his ‘graduation’. You all have to pry that out of my dead cold hands.Mai-  Mai should have been with everyone else when Atem passed on into the afterlife. This was such a missed opportunity like come on guys. Favorite Relationships: Seto- 1. Azureshipping (Seto Kaiba and Anzu Mazaki) 2. Blueshipping (Seto Kaiba and Kisara) 3. Puppyshipping/Violetshipping (Seto Kaiba and Jounouchi Katsuya) 4. Rivalshipping (Seto Kaiba and Yugi Muto) 5. Trustshipping (Seto Kaiba and Ishizu Ishtar) Mai- 1. Polarshipping (Jounouchi Katsuya and Mai Kujaku) (Okay do not give me hate, they start dating when Jounouchi turns eighteen because yes I am aware that Mai is in her twenties and that Jounouchi is still in his teens so there you go.)2. Visionshipping (Mai Kujaku and Ishizu Ishtar) 3. Danceshipping (Mai Kujaku and Anzu Mazaki) Favorite Headcanons: Okay I am only doing one per character because this is getting long: Seto- Seto loves musicals and will do anything to see the ones that catch his attention. These are the following musicals that he does love with a burning passion: 1. Hamilton (Seto was there on opening night and sat front row and actually cried during such numbers like Burn, and Who Lives Who Dies Who Tells Your Story. Eliza is his favorite and you bet your ass he stood up to clap for the cast during their bows in which prompted everyone to stand up and do the same and he got to meet the cast backstage because he is freaking Seto Kaiba and he can do that. He got their autographs. If you wish for me to elaborate more on this please hit me up and I will do so.) 2. La La Land 3. Anastasia The Musical 4. Phantom Of The Opera 5. Spring Awakening Mai- After the dueling career, Mai becomes the a world famous fashion and makeup model. She actually is a huge social icon for women as she is not skinny and looks like the wind can just whisk her away. She looks like an average woman and that is something that many can look and see themselves as. Mai let the world know that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. 

[pr0gf0x-archiveseeya]

im finally watching dsod and just lemme pause to scream about the parts that hurt me the most and maybe some other things but mostly Pain (i id heavily as yugi and its hard for me to separate myself from him so fair warning that im using “i” for yugi in here??? ok to reblog as long as u dont try to invalidate me, i guess, but why would u wanna reblog this emotional mess)

ok so i have screenshots for some of these but not all bc this is rushed and im emotional

kaiba having the millennium puzzle in the opening scene

for the movie to start off on a note like that hurts me to my core. no one should have the puzzle. it makes me sad enough that even i, yugi, couldn't keep the puzzle, but if i did keep it, atem would never truly be at rest. and he was. he was at rest, finally. after 3000 years, his spirit finally was allowed to rest, but kaiba couldnt just let him rest??? kaiba please... let him rest

everyone has grown up so much but also stayed the same

i dont know, stuff like that always kills me and i dont really think its quite fair to compare the gang in the movie to the gang at the end of the series. because... yeah there was a period of time missing between those two but i feel like its better to compare the gang from the beginning of the series to the gang in the movie. like, uhh??? theyve all grown so much but it wasnt completely evident at the end of the series because it ended so?? kind of abruptly imho??? and just.... in thos movie you can FINALLY see how much everyone has grown after being affected by all of the stuff that happened in the ygo series- how much it changed them and how much they learned and i’m just so proud of everyone and their dreams. anzu is finally going to be a dancer and that makes me so happy. she’s wanted that ever since she was a little girl and she’s really going to do it. also, jhust????? i (yugi) am so tall??? but still the same. like i’m still the shortest but the animation style makes me look vaguely more like atem as i grow up and thats... oh my god

the walk home after getting my deck back

i’m much more familiar with the manga than the anime so i apologise if this next part is incorrect in terms of the anime but this line is really important. in the millennium world manga i often start to try and correct myself when i say “other me”. i say, “other me- i mean, the pharaoh-” when we learn atems real name, i do the same thing but with his real name (iirc) but when we’re on the boat to egypt i say that i understand that he’s a pharaoh, but until it’s all over- until he has to leave- i’m going to keep calling him the other me because that’s what he is to me. i think i make it pretty clear that in that last duel??? that that’s going to be the last time i ever call him by that nickname i have for him, but here i am, much later, and i still can’t shake the habit because even though he’s gone, i still consider himself a huge part of me because he helped me so much. he taught me so much. he helped me grow so much

kaiba’s “””duel””” with atem

first off, the obvious- he probably could have used any memory to test those systems but he specifically chose atem. he reprimands atem, saying “you left yugi behind and you vanished”. which is... wow. he probably is using anger towards atem “abandoning” me as an excuse to be mad so he feels like he has a reason other than revenge and being salty about missing him and never satisfyingly beating him but it... still means a lot to me. either way, he doesnt start his monologue off with "im gonna kick your ass" he starts with. "whyd you leave yugi behind and disappear".

jou in the dog suit

he became the furry he never wanted to be...... no but its... really nice that hes still working hard to make money, especially with his dream of wanting to be a pro duelist. like ok hes still kind of a goof and maybe a bit of a slacker but hell if he isn’t working hard for what he wants. also i like that ryuji/duke is in this scene!!!!! in the manga he stays a part of the main cast throughout the rest of the series after showing up (at least more than he does in the anime iirc) and i’m so glad that they show us all hanging out with him in the movie.

kaiba working so hard to get the millennium puzzle

he cant let atem go and its honestly heartbreaking. all of this time he’s been so crazy focused on bringing atem back and its so sad... especially because it doesnt seem as if hes been hanging around me (yugi) and my gang of friends since atem has been gone? and i feel like we could have helped him cope so much. me and kaiba could have grown so much closer by mourning atem together... also that exchange when kaiba says he’ll solve the puzzle and mokubas like “but it took yugi 8 years” kills me because kaiba just retorts with “thats because yugi has the brain of a child” and im autistic irl and i feel like yugi is autistic too and it was like jeez dont make fun of me for being autistic kaiba. and ngl i was really hoping that when kaiba found the puzzle hed just call me up like "yugi come solve this i found your treasure" but NOOOOOO 

kaiba’s duel with aigami

i believe its in this duel (and not his one with the memory of atem but i apologise if i’m wrong) where he says atems name. only once, but this stands out to me because throughout the whole course of the series, kaiba seemed to have such a difficult time differentiating between atem and yugi (meeee). at some points, it seemed like he thought of atem as yugi more than he thought of me as yugi (which hurt tbh) so for him to finally state that he sees the both of us as individuals is really powerful.

the fact that he can summon obilisk is obviously powerful too because it just,... continues to show how kaiba can’t let go and it breaks my heart

hanging out with friends!

it makes me eternally happy that throughout the whole movie, my gang of friends includes ryou. i always felt so bad in the main series because even though he was our friend, we were all kind of distant with him because of yami bakura. and a lot of the time it seemed like me and the others kind of did the same thing kaiba used to do with me and atem where sometimes it was hard to tell ryou and yami bakura apart, especially because yami bakura was so sneaky and kind of pretended to be ryou sometimes??? so it warms my heart to know that we can all be super close to him now with no worries. he’s no longer an outsider. he’s a part of our crew, we duel together, we die together. ryou deserves the world

sera approaching me (yugi)

when she tells me about everything and gives me the puzzle piece, its kind of the first time that it really sets in that this isnt over. its been about??? lets say a year and a half in dsod since the end of the original yugioh series. atem has been gone for that long. life has been “normal” again for that long. we’re all about to graduate. we’re all about to start our new lives. as mentioned earlier with me still calling atem “other me” i still haven’t been able to fully move on and be independent, no matter how much i want to and want to be. graduation is a chance for that. it’s new beginnings, so for all of this stuff to start up again right as we’re graduating... it’s so hard. i thought i was finally going to be given the chance to move on but it all comes crashing down on me that it’s not over, and then all of my friends get dragged into this mess again too and it’s like. i lowkey feel like it’s my fault. they shouldn’t have to go through this

jou seeing atem

i mean first of all just wow??? but also just... when we all split up to go look for bakura and its just me and jou left and jou stops me to tell me what he saw but then changes his mind... it breaks my heart. because he knows how hard this has been for me. he knows how close i was with atem and how much i missed him. he realises that crazy shit is happening again and he’s so hesitant. he knows how hard i’m trying to move on so he decides to keep it from me to protect me

my duel with aigami

kaiba goes to duel him first but i literally just yell kaiba’s name and tell him “this is my fight”. and i dont back down when kaiba says he wants to duel him first. i fight for it. i fight for my right to fight aigami first because i’m so determined to save bakura and finally prove myself. finally prove that i’m more than just atem, that i’m more than just his vessel and

i say im talking about bakura but at the same time especially with the determined spark in my eyes that vaguely resembles atem i feel like im kind of talking about him, too. i havent decided whether im going to finish the puzzle again or not, but in a way, i’m fighting for him in this duel too. i’m fighting to save him from the others- i’m fighing to prove myself to him, wherever he is, and to be given the choice of what to do with the puzzle because he?? was the other me. no one else should have to be involved with deciding his fate

and thats where ive stopped watching for now because i’m too emotional to watch any more and im probably gonna go to bed stay tuned for part two i guess

[nightfurylover31]

Yugi Muto: The Reincarnated Pharaoh

I truly believe that Yugi is Atem’s reincarnation. Now you could argue, “Atem was sealed inside the Millennium Puzzle, He couldn’t be reincarnated.” But really, stranger things have happened in the show. Either way, Atem technically died that day. Since he was the one who sealed his soul away, only “he” could reassemble it. Ishizu said Yugi was the modern day version of Atem in the dub, but I know that’s not quite proof enough. In case you need more convincing, I’ve set up a few points. (don’t worry, no spoilers from DSoD)

Physical Appearance One, the hair. Something like that doesn’t just happen, even in the Yugioh universe. It does crack me up when people point it out. Yugi’s is slightly different, but overall the same. But that’s just one point. In Dark Side of Dimensions, Yugi has gone through a big physical change. In the time since separating from Atem, Yugi has grown taller, his body is more tone, and even his eyes have become more angled. He is looking more like Atem. I would also like to point out Bakura doesn’t look exactly like his ancient counterpart as well. I think this change would fit his emotional growth. Yugi always lacked confidence, but being with his spirit partner taught him to be brave. However, he still relied on Atem a lot. He wanted to be just as strong as he is. Now that Atem’s soul has moved on, Yugi realizes he has to be strong on his own. He is now finally able to believe in his own strength. Thus his growth. There’s also their voices. In the flashbacks, Atem sounded like Yugi. And when we saw an older Yugi in GX, he sounded like Atem. Yes, I know. Same voice actor, but still.

Dark Magician From the very beginning of the series, we knew that the Dark Magician was Yugi’s favorite monster, long before we knew who this famous Spellcaster was. Yugi himself has a connection with this card, just like Kaiba does with his Blue Eyes. I can totally picture him getting excited about seeing that card for the first time. Yugi has been seen using Dark Magician without Atem around, even if it wasn’t every often. Remember back when he and Shadi were wandering in the puzzle labyrinth? They were about to be attacked by the Dark Magician, but Yugi managed to convince him they meant no harm. He listens to Yugi just like he listens to Atem. In the Legendary Heroes mini arc, when Yugi is about to be attack, the Dark Magician came to his rescue without being called. He saw Yugi was in trouble and reacted. Even if that bond isn’t as strong as the one with Atem, it’s still there.

Self-Sacrificing What I cannot emphasize enough is how both Yugi and Atem are willing to sacrifice themselves for others. Their friends mean more to them than anything else. Atem literally gave his life to stop Zorc in the past. Not to mention having all those angered spirits from Kul Elna enter his body for judgement which could have killed. And Yugi is no different. He can’t stand the thought of his friends getting hurt. He made the same play a few times himself, most notably for Joey and Atem. Yugi was willing to let himself be dragged into the ocean and have his soul taken rather than his two best friends suffer the same fate. These two really overwhelm you with feels!

Fear of Being Alone Yugi hardly had any friends before he solved the Millennium Puzzle, if any. He had been alone for so long. All he wanted was friends, but felt he could make any. Of all the things he could have wished for on the Puzzle, it was friends. As we have seen in later seasons, Atem also hates being alone as well. It was especially emphasized in the Doma arc. Watching his friends being taken away toke a great toll on him. Even in the past, the priests gave their lives for him. As he watched, even though he had no memories of them, it was hard for him to relive it.  

Yugi was chosen by the Puzzle, just like how the Ring chose Bakura to continue to carry the fragment of Zorc’s soul, though I bet some of the Thief King’s soul was in there too. Also, while Kaiba never possessed the Millennium Rod, it reacted to him because it was his in a previous life. The is why Yugi is able to carry Atem’s soul. It’s his ancient counterpart. And he calls the pharaoh “Other Me” in the original. Not just because he lives in his heart. So it kind of makes sense. I would like to also point out how the Legendary Knights looked nearly identical to their Chosen Duelist. Maybe it’s another past life thing? They were humans before, and so what if they had magic powers? They didn’t really die, so why should Atem not be reincarnated when he did?

Yes, everyone has their own opinion. You can still say I’m wrong, but we have never gotten an actual confirmation that this isn’t true. I will stand by my belief.

[evilkitten3]

Ad Nihilum, Chapter Four: Ab Existentia

AN: Not getting many reviews for this one… talk about discouraging! Still, this fandom (most fandoms, come to that) has always preferred shipping fics over anything else, and romance has never really been my genre. On top of that, Anzu is despised by a huge portion of the fanbase (as is generally the case with most major female characters in an anime where most fans are yaoi fangirls). Eh, it doesn't really matter, though – I'm relatively new to this fandom, and most people who read my stories are in the Fairy Tail fandom. So there's that too, I guess. Anyway, here's another chapter of this. I hope you enjoy it, I really hope you review it, and if you decide to tell all your friends about it, then that's… a bit weird, actually, but you do you. Kitty out.

Warnings: Disassociation, flashbacks, nightmares, possibly squicky imagery, Kaiba being Kaiba, suicidal thoughts, and your daily dose of existential identity crises

Chapter Four: Ab Existentia

Atem finds the drawing the next day, after he's gone through the morning ritual of coaxing the Thief out of his mind and back into reality. He picks it up carefully, squinting at the katakana on the side. Now that he's out of Yuugi's body, it's much more difficult to read Japanese characters. He can manage katakana and hiragana fairly well, but it takes him awhile with kanji. English, something Yuugi himself was still learning, had been lost to the former Pharoah entirely.

"A… tsu… ya…" he reads slowly.

"Ashiya," the Thief corrects him. Atem jumps slightly, not having heard the other ex-spirit reenter the room. It only takes him a moment to regain his composure.

"I thought this one was 'tsu'," he says, pointing to the second character.

"'Tsu' and 'shi' are almost identical in katakana," the Thief slips across the room, slipping a shirt on. He's been more active lately, Atem thinks absently, and then wonders whether or not that's a good thing.

"Why didn't you write it in hieroglyphics?" Atem asks. He realizes the answer a second later, and the Thief doesn't bother dignifying the stupid question with an answer, simply rolls his eyes. Peasant literacy, Atem remembers, wasn't really a thing back in Ancient Egypt. "She's beautiful," he says before he can stop himself.

"She was," the Thief replies calmly. "My– his sister's wife." Atem frowns.

"Yours," he objects. The Thief just shrugs. "Your sister married a woman?"

"Kul Elna didn't really care about gender," he says. "As far as we were concerned, people did what they did. My father fell in love with my mother after he saw her break up a bar fight by smashing a stool over someone's head, or so he said." Atem smiles slightly.

"She sounds like quite the woman," he muses. "Ah, not to say–"

"She would've liked you, I think," the Thief cuts him off, not really paying attention. Atem wonders whether the Thief realizes who he's talking to – this is the closest thing they've ever had to a civil conversation. "At least, as much as any dirt-poor peasant can like royalty. Always said royals spent too much time on their asses and not enough doing their damn jobs." Atem can't stop himself from smiling.

"I can't say I disagree," he admits. "A lot of things happened that shouldn't have. I couldn't have stopped all of them, but there were some things I certainly could have."

The Thief doesn't reply. When Atem turns to look at him, his eyes are a million miles away. The Pharaoh sets the drawing down on the nightstand as carefully as he can.

"I'll be back later," he tells him. If the Thief hears him, he doesn't show it. Atem keeps the image of the girl in the drawing – Ashiya – in his mind for the rest of the day.

***

In history class, Bakura zones out. The teacher isn't saying anything he doesn't already know, for once, so he just absently doodles. When he looks down at his notes, he realizes he's been writing in a completely different language.

בָּבֻרָ

He doesn't realize how fast his breath is coming until the teacher's panicked voice shakes him out of his thoughts. He looks up, tries to speak, and feels his knees buckle as the world around him fades to black.

***

The rest of the gang finds out what had happened to Bakura at lunch, courtesy of Otogi, who was in the same history class (as was Kaiba, but he hadn't shown up that day, for whatever reason).

"Did you know what set him off?" Jounouchi asks. Otogi just shrugs.

"If he fell asleep, he might've had a nightmare," Anzu says. Marik tenses. He knew that Bakura, like Marik and Yuugi, was having nightmares, but he was fairly certain no one else knew. Anzu catches his eye and shakes her head. "I guessed," she tells him, "but thanks for confirming." Marik bites his lip and looks down.

"I guess he didn't want to worry us," Honda says. A pointless endeavor, in his case – Honda always worried about Bakura.

"Officially, it was just lack of sleep," Yuugi reports, sitting down in between Marik and Anzu. "He went home early."

"Lack of sleep generally doesn't cause panic attacks," Otogi points out.

"They can cause hallucinations," Marik tells him. "Those can definitely cause panic attacks." And I should know says the look on his face. Otogi nods, thoughtfully.

"He could just be sick," Jounouchi says hopefully. Anzu rolls her eyes.

"Yeah, of course he could be, but when have things ever been that simple?" she frowns as her chopsticks break unevenly, before wrinkling her nose and getting over it.

"Normally?" Otogi says, grinning. "They usually are."

"Nothing about any of this is normal," Yuugi murmurs.

"Well, sure," Marik smirks, leaning back against a tree. "I mean, you hang out with a bunch of freaks, Yuugi; what did you think was gonna happen?" Jounouchi lunges for him, intent on giving him a noogie, and Marik ducks out of the way, sniggering. The rest of the group laughs.

"Not sure if you realized it, Marik, but you're part of that 'bunch of freaks'," Honda calls over Anzu's head. "No backing out now, buddy, you're already on the Christmas card." Marik freezes for a moment, before relaxing slightly.

"I don't celebrate Christmas," he says nonchalantly, examining his fingernails. "I was under the impression that it was a couples' holiday in Japan, though." He gasped dramatically, pressing his hands over his chest. "Honda-senpai! Are you trying to ask me out?" Honda chokes on his ramen, and Yuugi laughs so hard he falls into Anzu, knocking her bento out of her hand. Tako-shaped sausage spills onto the grass.

"Yuugi!" Jounouchi says, horrified. "Now you owe Anzu a new sausage!" Both Yuugi and Anzu turn red, and the rest of the conversation is spent cracking jokes and trying not to think about Bakura or the Thief or the dreams – memories – still plaguing almost half of their little group.

***

Isis doesn't know how to react to any of this – to her little brother helping Yuugi talk to the Pharaoh, to said duo resurrecting the Pharaoh, to the Thief being cast out of the shadows to balance Ma'at's scales. And now the Thief is staying at Yuugi's house, trapped somewhere between the realms of sanity and madness, in a body that – if Yuugi's theory was correct – was probably a worse fate than being devoured by Ahemait. The religious part of Isis reminds her that the gods knew what they were doing, but she can't help but feel more than a tad disgusted at their choice of punishment for the Thief.

Was it because he'd stolen from the dead or because he'd tried to destroy the world? Were the gods trying to punish the Thief King or the Spirit of the Millennium Ring? And most importantly, did it matter? Was this an actual punishment, or was it just spite? The fact that the line could get so blurred was cause for concern. For the first time in a while, Isis finds herself longing for the certainty she'd had when she bore the Millennium Tauk – but that was gone, long gone, and Isis knows well enough that there are some things mortals were never meant to know.

***

In the village of Kul Elna, there was an old woman named Bitya'a – an outsider, who'd come to live there when her granddaughter had fallen in love with the village chieftain's daughter – whose milky white eyes had forever been unseeing of the surrounding world. But there were whispers amongst the people of the village that Bitya'a saw more than anyone realized.

This woman, they said, this outsider – this woman whose eyes had never absorbed a glimmer of light – could See.

***

Seto Kaiba has missed so many days of school that there are teachers who are genuinely surprised to see him when he shows up to class. It had no effect on his grades, as the teen was a genius, and everyone understood that he had to put his company before his education. After all, Kaiba technically didn't need to go to school – he chose to. He wanted to learn (the way other people had; without collars and harsh words and a cold terror filling his lungs at the mere thought of failure). He probably could've tested out of all of his classes, should he choose to, but no one ever asked why.

Recently, however, the number of absences for Seto Kaiba on the attendance lists had shot up, which usually only happened when KaibaCorp was working on a new device (or an upgrade for the existing Duel Disk system) or when a soon-to-be-fired secretary accidentally made a mistake in scheduling a meeting. Teachers had learned not to ask, as the explanation was generally clipped, sarcastic, or so full of technobabble that it was nearly impossible to decipher.

This time, unbeknownst to the general public, the absences were entirely unrelated to business. Yuugi Mutou and his group of friends were, most likely, under the impression that Kaiba was preparing to challenge Atem to a duel – and assumption that, in fairness, there was a certain amount of truth in. But there was another reason for his absence, one that didn't necessarily relate to Duel Monsters (at least, not entirely).

Yuugi Mutou was the King of Games, and Kaiba had made it his life's goal to defeat him. Even after he learned that yes, Yuugi was indeed possessed by a Pharaoh, and yes, that Pharaoh was technically the one who'd won the title, his goal shouldn't have changed because Yuugi beat the Pharaoh. Yuugi was, undeniably, the King of Games, and Kaiba had challenged him for the title multiple times since the Ceremonial Duel.

But it wasn't the same. Kaiba wanted to be the best, and Yuugi currently was the best, so it only made sense for Kaiba to want to Duel him. And it would have, but Kaiba didn't want to Duel him. He wanted to Duel Atem. Perhaps "wanted" was the wrong word – he needed to Duel Atem. Atem was the one who had beaten him so many times, Atem was the one who had been willing to let Kaiba die in order to win, Atem was the one person in all the world who was truly a worthy opponent. The obsession was becoming a problem. Going to school felt almost like an act of masochism nowadays, because Yuugi was there and the Pharaoh wasn't.

And then, out of nowhere, Atem had returned. He'd come back to the world of the living, in his original body, and for a moment Kaiba had been foolish enough to hope that his return would calm the insane thoughts that ran through his head when he thought about Dueling his rival – thoughts that ranged from acceptable-yet-annoying to frighteningly dangerous. One time, he'd almost considered consulting a professional after the thought that maybe he could Duel Atem in the afterlife had crossed his mind (but that would cause problems for his business, so he simply pushed the thoughts to the back of his head and carried on).

And then there was the matter of how to handle all of this. Kaiba shut his eyes and rested his chin on his interlaced fingers, frowning. It would be easier, he thought to himself, to make a list.

Item the first: Atem was back, and Kaiba needed to Duel him. Easily solved – he simply had to approach and challenge him.

Item the second: Atem was back, and Kaiba had no idea how to challenge him at all. Problem – how to challenge an Ancient Egypt Pharaoh to a children's trading card game wasn't exactly something one could Google.

Item the third: Atem was back, and Kaiba needed to shove that thought aside and go back to school. Also easy – he knew how to compartmentalize his thoughts and feelings, and all he really needed to do was avoid the Dweeb Patrol™.

Item the fourth: Atem was back, and Mokuba was probably getting worried. This was a problem as well – he really couldn't fool his brother, especially not over something like this.

Item the fifth: Atem was back, and the words "Atem is back" were starting to preface every thought going through Kaiba's head. Easily solved – all he needed to do was challenge him to a Duel.

Kaiba groaned, rubbing his temples as he realized that his train of thought had not only fallen off the track, but was now trying to go in circles despite being overturned, badly dented, and probably also on fire. And so, Kaiba did what he always did when his brain was racing thirty thousand miles over the speed limit – he went back to work.

***

"Damned brat!" the old woman cuffs the child upside the head, scowling. "You think I don't know when there's a runt like you running around causing trouble?"

Wrinkled skin, sightless milky white eyes, a scowl that could petrify the gods themselves

"I don't approve of this arrangement," she'd grumbled, watching her granddaughter kiss the village chieftain's daughter. "They're too young for marriage. It won't lead to anything but disaster." Something in her sightless eyes glimmered, and told listeners that perhaps she didn't truly mean the words she spoke.

Too old to stay with the traders' caravans, too close to her only surviving relative to bear being parted from her

"Don't you know what happens to little brats who sneak around after dark? The gods will send scorpions after you!"

"Scorpions?"

"That's right. Enormous scorpions – twice the size of a caravan! Back inside with you, brat!"

Harsh words concealing good intentions, a proud nod at a great achievement, stories woven with such care that it was easy to forget they weren't real

"The caravans will not return."

"What did you See, grandmother?"

"…Never you mind, brat."

***

As the Thief's pencil details the worn scarf that covered the old woman's head, he wonders to himself if Bitya'a had known the true reason that the traders would never again set foot in Kul Elna. He likes to think she would've warned them all, but Bitya'a had been old and fatalistic and might have thought there was nothing to be done. She wouldn't necessarily have been wrong. But it's far more likely for the gods not to have shown her anything – to take away Kul Elna's one chance at survival.

The Thief wants to hate them for it – wants to scream and curse and break things and get back at them, but he can't. The bottomless pit of hatred that had welled up inside of him had only grown during the three thousand years he spent inside the Millennium Ring with Zorc, but it all seemed to have vanished upon his defeat.

He's tired, now. Too tired for vengeance or hatred or even grief. He just wants rest and he doesn't think he can ever forgive Yuugi and Marik for pulling him out of the blissful nothingness of wherever he'd been before. And Marik, that bastard, didn't even have the decency to let him go back.

He wishes he had enough strength left to hate them, but that only lasts a moment before the tattered souls of his people pull him back into his mind to remember all the things they no longer know how to remember on their own. His days are filled with the whispers of the dead and his nights with Yuugi, Marik, and Bakura dragging him through memories that aren't quite his but aren't not. He can't decide which he hates more.

AN: I'm gonna end this chapter here, since I think this is a pretty good stopping point. I'm tired… anyway, I've been working on a few more YGO fics, but I doubt I'll post any of them until this one is done. Shouldn't be too much longer – I'm pretty sure I know how I want it to end. Just gotta get there. Well, thanks for reading, let me know what you thought, and I'll see you later. Kitty out.

[atemgirl94]

Naga King pt. 11

Britt's pov:

After devouring everything on the servants brought I was content as I layed back. My child probably was appreciating my choice to eat for the both of us. For the last several days I'd been in pain but today that pain hadn't been a bother today. I felt an arm around me as I relaxed and looking up I already knew it was my husband.

"What?" I asked

"You already showed signs of a tail." Atem said My eyes widened "When was this?!" I asked "that day you passed out." Atem said, "Also your family should be here any time." I almost wanted to tense a bit but with going to grab my drink I chose to drink the drink. It felt wonderful against my throat and I knew this was what I needed was to indulge a bit in my food so I didn't over do it or lose this child. I didn't like the idea that those signs were already setting in. I knew when it was just us and he indulged my needs I was nothing but a submissive wife.

"How are you feeling?" Atem asked "Like I just slept peacefully and I feel full but well." I didn't want to mention my neediness.

I felt him pull me close and again I felt that mix of warm and cold coming off of him as he got close to my ear "Anything you need, it's my job as your husband to take care of all your needs during this time." Atem said

This close contact didn't help how I was feeling, my need to feel him close but in the intimate way was trying to take over. I wasn't going to let it after everything that had happened. I felt his hand rub down my side which felt so good on contact as I closed my eyes. My night gown covered me well to a degree with my slight baby bump.

I felt him moving his hand down but I had to stop him when I felt pain suddenly shoot through me and I cried out. He promised there wasn't any venom in the food I just ate so I knew he wasn't going to go back on his word. Atem held onto me close but I felt it happening again as I felt something behind me. I could see him looking down and smirking a bit.

This is what he wanted... I thought He was still close to my ear "this was the only way to protect you from those other Naga women who would love to destroy you and our child." He whispered as I felt him putting a kiss on my shoulder

The pain subsided but when I looked at my arm I saw my skin had a blue tent to it and I didn't know what to say. My power was clearly in control of what was going on. I wondered how much of my human form I'd have as I turned to face my husband only to be face to face with him. His hand rubbed my arm that had the show of discoloration and he smirked.

"You'll be a nile one like I am." He said

Part of me wanted to slap him but the other part wanted to kiss him so it was hard for me. My side who wanted to kiss him won as I pushed him on his back and kissed him on the lips. He kissed me back as my needs were getting the better of me. He put have picked up on it cause I felt him putting his hands on my legs moving up.

Things started to get heated between us and he I knew he planned to fulfill any needs I had build up. We got to the point he adjusted me beneath him and fully making out as I had to pull away when there was a knock on the door. His look of annoyance seemed to say a lot to me.

"What?!" Atem demanded

"My apologies Pharaoh, someone is here to see you." The servant said without opening the door.

"Tell them I am in a meeting with your Queen, I will talk with them when I am done." Atem said

"Y-Yes Pharaoh." The servant said leaving

Once he knew for sure he looked at me "Now then, back to what we were doing." Atem said as he captured my lips in a kiss again. I kissed him back knowing that this was better that he'd chose me over his meeting at the moment. Time passed and when we were done I was breathing heavily.

I felt him put a hand on my stomach and I put my hand over his as I knew there was concern with the child. He kissed my shoulder but I didn't know how long I would be carrying our child. I never knew what was going to happen since a Naga child might come earlier than a regular human child. He didn't seem concerned but I was.

"Your human family should be here soon, we should get you washed up." Atem said

I didn't even argue as he picked me up where a bath was already prepared and he walked in while holding me setting me down. I blushed a bit since we didn't share a bath but he didn't seem bothered as he took care of washing us both before I could do anything. I wanted to figure out what was going on and what was I doing mentally. My emotions were all over the place and I sighed a bit knowing that worrying about it wasn't going to help.

Just take things a little bit at a time. I thought

[atemgirl94]

the reaper and the demon pt. 5

I wish things were so easy to tell my husband that I didn't harbor my human life feelings. With my arrangement I could never be with the guard, my duty was here with my husband. I hated the fact that he wanted me to answer him but as I was silent I felt him pull me to him. His arms around me and it felt warm as I blushed yet it felt warm and...safe.

"I will fight to win your heart." Atem said

We were like this for awhile but then he took me to a room where Des was alone playing with mana. Mana noticed as she stood up and bowed to us before leaving. I questioned what he was going to do when I saw him look at me and push me forward.

"Go on." Atem said

"What?" I asked "Your grandfather doesn't know about him but you deserve to raise him." Atem said

I was shocked but I walked over picking him up again as I held him, a reminder of my human realm experience. My reaper body was a virgin but I knew that was probably not going to last. I also knew no one could know about Des or my trip to the human realm.

As he gets older, it will get harder for him to understand what is going on. I thought

I heard someone approaching as I knew who it was before he spoke. Atem put a hand on my shoulder and I looked at him. His eyes seemed concerned in a way I couldn't understand at the moment.

"I know what your thinking, how will you explain this to him." Atem said "Yes." I said "It will come to you in time. He is young, but only so many people know of your little adventure to the human plane." Atem said

We were there for awhile so I was able to take in what was going on. I noticed even though this child was not his, he still had a soft side to children. I felt something weird in my chest that I once felt the day I met Dante. I blushed slightly seeing he was well.

When it came time for bed, Dante took Des to put him to bed as I walked to my room. I was going to walk in when Atem had followed and turned me around. I blushed at the closeness. He smirked a bit knowing he hadn't taken my first kiss as a reaper.

"Are you going with me tomorrow night?" Atem asked

"I will go." I assured him

Atem seemed happy with my answer and kissed my hand. I knew he was going to do what he could to win me over but there was just the fact I wasn't so easy. Maybe he liked that or maybe there had to be a reason that all of this was happening. For Now I couldn't figure it out but went to bed.

As for the next day I spent time with Des before I had to give up and go to get ready. Kira was there as she chose out a dark blue almost black dress to wear and helped me get change. I sat looking at the mirror as she braided some of my hair but only some that was towards the back.

"Kira, how did you learn this?" I asked

"Some of the servants taught me, so you could look nice my lady. They said one of the servants would always do this with the late Queen when she was alive." Kira said

The late Queen, so Atem's mother. I've never even asked and I've been about myself. I thought

Kira finished doing my hair as I got up and left the room dressed appropriately since I was in the shadow realm. Bright colors don't always work well at these particular business meetings. Mana met me and she led me down to where he was waiting.

"Atem, Queen Britt is ready." Mana said as I stepped forward and he just starred.

"Why are you staring at me? Do I look weird?" I asked

I expected he'd say something as he got up and walked over to me. He took a strand of my hair and put it to his face as if smelling it. A reserved smile on his face as he kept his eyes on me. I never expected him to just stare but something was up.

"This dress suits you." Atem said "You used the stuff we have here to wash up." I blushed as I got my hair free "Did I smell?" I asked

"Oh no, you never did but seeing you blush is worth it." Atem said

Atem put his arm around me and led me out to a nearby carriage to be escorted as we got in. I noticed that the temperature couldn't be predicted well enough to figure it out glad I had something to keep warm on my arms. The journey was long and it was so quiet that I wasn't sure what to talk about.

"So how much farther?" I asked "We're almost there, why are you scared to be there with me?" Atem asked

"No." I said "I just know we've been traveling a long time."

Suddenly he moved by me "Do you hate me Britt?" Atem asked

"No, I don't hate you." I said "Do you like me?" Atem asked

"Huh?" I said looking at him as he put a hand on my cheek

"If I need help from you, you're the only person who can help me. Would you do anything to help me?" Atem asked as he was close

Do anything to help him? I wouldn't let him die but anything. I haven't even started wife duties. I never even been with him. I thought

"Britt, talk to me please. I just want to know do you like me?" Atem asked as his mouth was close to mine.

I didn't understand why he would ask such a thing when I was angry at him. I didn't hate him because hate was such a strong word. Still suddenly the carriage came to screeching halt and I was knocked on top of him. Our lips met with how close he was and for a brief moment while my eyes were closed I was kissing him. He was returning the kiss as he held me, my knees were on the sides of his legs and I lost myself in the moment that is until I heard the carriage door open which brought me back to my senses and I pulled away.

That didn't happen, I was making out with him like it was the most natural thing ever. I thought

"close that door for 2 more minutes." Atem said

The carriage driver did as he asked as he smirked up at me and I just glared a bit. I gasped a bit when I felt something rub against me and I realized with what happened he was turned on. I wasn't going to give him the privilege of taking me in a carriage within 2 minutes.

"No." I said

"I wouldn't dream of it here, I have to beat what Dante did for you." Atem said

"We sleep in two different rooms not the same room don't get any ideas." I said

Still he moved me and calmed himself before we got out of the carriage. I couldn't even think straight and remembered his question but I hadn't given him an answer. I didn't have an answer to give at the moment as we walked In. Atem kept hold of my hand and led me as we walked.

People seemed to be staring at us that I couldn't shake it. I knew I was Queen but that didn't mean people needed to stare. Then I remembered that I am a reaper and my husband is the king of the shadows. I looked out of the corner of my eye as my husband wasn't letting me out of his sight.

I hate parties like these but yet this atmosphere seems familiar like I've been here before. In all of my years as a reaper I don't remember. I thought

When we reached a certain area a man was standing there and greeted Atem. He bowed in respect infront of all of us and kept his head down.

"King Atem, Welcome." The man said as he stood up "it's been awhile, how are you? The host is waiting in the guest room, should I take you there now?"

Seriously? I thought as the man seemed to notice me

"Oh! The lady that's with you must be your wife, Queen Britt." The man said as Atem's hand left mine to go around me resting on my arm. "You're just as beautiful as the rumors say. It's such an honor for me to finally meet you."

Just how many people knew I post poned the wedding? I thought but smiled

"It's nice to meet you." I said and went to offer my hand for him to shake it only for Atem to grab my hand and pull me close.

Seriously? I can't even shake hands with someone. I thought