#dokidokishipping

[doujinscans]

家庭教師カイトさん by げじ

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Please contact me if you wish to translate

[evilbalwan]

I suppose I want to t a l k, so we will go into the worst question possible; what do I think of popular Zexal ships?

If you want to know my opinion but I haven't included something, please ask me!

Keyshipping: it certainly used to be my favorite, as puzzleshipping girl, but the problem with this is, that aside for Sagrasso, neither Yuma or Astral are bickering with each other, actually arguing, they get big moments, but at the cost of their little ones and I find it very sad. Always soulmates, but leaning rather in no romance section. They're lowkey a reason why I got hooked on Zexal lol so sometimes I need to think about them

Sharkbaitshipping: it got amazing fanfiction and doujinshi, I'm truly in awe. That being said, without them, I wasn't that much into their canon relationship. I don't mind it, but it has been a while since I thought about it actively.

Foilshipping: um. You know. I'm kinda very foilshipping girl. Yuma and Vector got everything in there, c'mon! Very toxic yaoi, d e d i c a t i o n, angst, self sacrificing, 'I'll believe each word you say and do everything for you', I can't help but adore it.

Dokidokishipping: another of my personal favorites. Kaito's dedication to Yuma and actually dying for him is very important to me and I'm actually sad it's not more popular *sniffles*.

Hellsharkshipping: good! There is a lot going on, I love fanfictions for it, even if I don't rotate it in my head too much.

Stolenshipping: it's been a good while since i thought about them, but, you know, Yuma has two hands and Kaito and Shark should be busy with being his protector. Yuma always sleeps in the middle, no, I'm not listening to anything else.

Galaxymastershipping: There is a chance I could have liked it, if not for the fact, in terms of Kaito, I only see him with Yuma or crack options. Mizael doesn't cut it for me. I don't see it.

Dilateshipping: I'm not actually sure if it's a good name for them, but, um, Kaito x V. Big no. Even aside from my dokidoki feelings, they together have a divorced couple vibe which is something I've never been fond of and usually I avoid these like fire. Same case here.

Seraphshipping: I like it, but nothing more.

Aztecshipping: I'm very sorry, not my cup of tea.

[shifuto]

275-276/365

[blackfeatherdragon]

I'll Become Your Sword and the Shield to Protect You!: An Aztecshipping Manifesto

Happy III day! I wrote up an entire meta post explaining Aztecshipping and why it's good!

(Also available on Ao3 here)

The Basics

Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal is one of multiple spinoffs of the Yu-Gi-Oh anime series, produced by Studio Gallop from April 2011 to March 2014. The main character, one Yuma Tsukumo, is a thirteen year old boy who breaks from series tradition by starting the series with very, very little knowledge of how to play the central card game (Yugi, Yami Yugi, Judai, and Yusei all knew how at the start of their respective series), but ends up going through massive character growth to become able to more than hold his own through his interactions with the main cast and his teamwork with the amnesiac alien Astral. Basically, Yuma is a very determined guy who refuses to ever give up or admit defeat, pushes on with his special catchphrase 'kattobingu', but at the same time still misses his missing adventurer parents dearly, to the point of choosing to sleep on a hammock in the attic where the artifacts collected through their adventures are stored. His relationship with his older sister Akari is a bit rocky due to her barring Yuma from playing Duel Monsters at the start of the series, but it's clear they (and their grandmother/guardian Haru) do care about each other.

Once you get past the shock of the Zexal protagonist being a highly energetic but unskilled Duelist of a thirteen year old (especially if you choose to start Zexal right after finishing the previous spinoff Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds), he's actually a really fun protagonist to root for. You want Yuma to succeed and help Astral collect the Number cards needed to unlock Astral's missing memories. You want Yuma to find a way to save everyone in the final stretch, even characters like Vector, who tricked Yuma multiple times.

(That's a great protag right there.)

On the topic of shipping, there are many different pairings involving Yuma in some way. The two most popular by far are Sharkbaitshipping (Yuma/Ryoga 'Shark' Kamishiro) and Keyshipping (Yuma/Astral), with Sharkbaitshipping holding 274 fics on Ao3 and Keyshipping holding 239 fics at the time of writing this. Other ships command varying degrees of popularity too, including Skyshipping (Yuma/Kotori, 45 fics), Seraphshipping (Yuma/Alit, 35 fics), Negativeshipping (Yuma/Vector, 169 fics), and Dokidokishipping (Yuma/Kaito, 144 fics). But there is one that is, in my mind, criminally rare: Aztecshipping, or Yuma/Michael 'III' Arclight. At the time this was written in March 2024, Aztecshipping had a mere 29 fics posted to Ao3. (30 fics if you include this!)

You explained who Yuma is, who is III?

I mean, if you're here you probably know who III is, buuut he's my special little blorbo and I'm posting this for III Day so I get to talk about him.

III (birth name: Michael Arclight) is the fifteen year old youngest son of the Arclight family, a group of four people who acted as one of the antagonist groups of the first half of the series. (The other three members being his older brothers IV and V, and his father Tron.) III is the nicest of the family and is seen to defuse arguments between his brothers, but at the same time has his own problems stemming from his broken family situation.

III is shown to be intensely and unwaveringly loyal to his family, displaying a willingness to both kill for the sake of those he cares about and die for their sake. In fact, during his Duel against Yuma, he deliberately goes out of his way to mentally break Yuma and kill Astral out of jealousy towards Yuma's healthier family and desperation to protect his own, only backing down from his desperate rage when a card he played (Final Prophecy) tried to punch a hole in reality to open a portal to the Barian World.

Tying into this, III puts up little resistance to his father's scheme to get revenge against Dr. Faker, often going along with all but the worst of his family's actions. He delivers a dangerous Number card to Shark at Tron's request, knowing that the card would try to control Shark, but later expresses discomfort when Tron performs a ritual to steal Haruto's power, due to the ritual causing pain to Haruto.

(Remember III's loyalty, it's a surprise tool that will help us later.)

Finally, III has a strong interest in ancient civilizations (with a dash of Ancient Aliens style conspiracies about out of place artifacts coming from other dimensions mixed in), much like how his father was once invested in researching interdimensional portals. This is also a surprise tool that will help us later.

The Ship Summary

To explain Aztecshipping, we have to go back to Yuma and III's fathers: Kazuma Tsukumo and Byron Arclight.

Byron was working with Dr. Faker and the explorer Kazuma on interdimensional portal research, and the three eventually went on a trip to uncover one of these portals. Unfortunately, Dr. Faker ended up betraying both Kazuma and Byron, sacrificing them to open the portal.

While Kazuma ended up trapped in the Astral World after this, Byron ended up stuck in the Barian World, and ultimately struck a deal with the Barians where he was granted power to get revenge against Dr. Faker in exchange for gathering Number cards for the Barians, and eventually returned to Earth as Tron.

As for their families that were left behind on Earth, the Tsukumos were able to stay relatively healthy, with Haru taking over as guardian to Yuma and Akari in the absence of Kazuma and his wife, the severely plot neglected Mirai. Yuma still missed his parents dearly, but his family remained functional.

The Arclights were not so lucky.

With no parents in the picture and oldest son Christopher too young to act as a guardian to his brothers/busy investigating what happened to his father while working for Dr. Faker as an assistant, both Michael and his second brother Thomas were left to an orphanage, only returning to their family when Tron came back and Christopher realized the truth. Tron reduced his sons to mere pawns in his revenge scheme, forcibly renaming Christopher, Thomas, and Michael as V, IV, and III respectively and granting them special crests to give them power, and subsequently allowed his family to fall to dysfunction as he obsessed over revenge.

In this way, Yuma and III are mirrors of each other, both losing their fathers in the same incident but reacting in opposite ways. Yuma is connected to the Astral World from the start with his friendship with Astral and his father's fate, while III is connected with the opposing Barian World due to Tron's deal and the fallout of it.

To that end, Yuma and III initially opposed each other, their first significant interaction being a Tag Duel where Yuma (working with Kaito) Dueled III (working with IV) in a bid to rescue Kaito's younger brother Haruto after his kidnapping at the hands of the Arclights. However, it really wasn't long before III became curious about Yuma and his determination, going out of his way to break into the Tsukumo household to investigate (and was subsequently distracted by the artifacts in the attic/started infodumping about them to Yuma. Nerd.)

(This is actually likely where the ship name Aztecshipping comes from, between Yuma's idolization of his absent father and III's love for ancient civilizations/his favourite card being Chronomaly Aztec Mask Golem.)

Desperate to protect his family from being potentially opposed by Yuma and jealous of the actually functional Tsukumos after meeting them, III challenged Yuma to a Duel, in which he tormented Yuma and killed Astral, before attempting to sacrifice himself in a forced tie just to stop Yuma. The turning point came when one of III's cards, Final Prophecy, started trying to forcibly open a portal to the Barian World at the cost of ending the world, forcing III to share his crest power with Yuma to try to revive Astral and stop Final Prophecy's effect.

The plan was a long shot; there was no guarantee that Yuma would be able to take that amount of power. Yuma withstood it though, and with Astral back, managed to work together to defeat III and stop Final Prophecy. This was the true turning point of their relationship, as III recognized Yuma as his first and only friend and trusted him to be able to save his broken family.

Remember III's intense loyalty? Good, we're coming back to that now.

After this, III vanished from the plot for a while, eventually returning to protect Yuma from being menaced by the Barians Mr. Heartland and Semimaru by way of throwing a sword at Mr. Heartland and outright declaring that he would act as Yuma's 'sword and shield' before teaming up with Yuma to Duel Semimaru. In turn, Yuma trusted III to have his Number cards back, after III willingly gave them up to Yuma after their Duel some time earlier.

It seems that by now III's undying loyalty fully extended to Yuma, as he went out of his way to redirect an attack that would have hit Yuma and his monster to strike him instead, once again showcasing his willingness to sacrifice himself for those he cares about. After the Duel, which ended with III and Yuma working together to combine Yuma's 'Number 39: Utopia' and III's 'Number 6: Chronomaly Atlandis' to beat Semimaru, Yuma let III have the new Number card won off Semimaru: 'Number 3: Cicada King'.

III continued to stay with and protect Yuma after this, temporarily living in the Tsukumo household and sticking alongside Yuma at all times to fulfil this. To that end, III calls to mind a knight, someone willing to fight and die for the one he protects without thought for himself. III is also seen to become concerned for Yuma's mental state due to Astral seemingly dying at the hands of Black Mist several episodes prior, and after Yuma returns from a trip to the Astral World to find and bring back Astral, is relieved to see him again.

III sacrificing for Yuma came to a head when he and V went out of their way to stall several Barians to protect Yuma, Astral, and Kaito during the big Barian invasion. III knew going in that he would die doing this, but he didn't care, willingly sacrificing himself to save Yuma one more time.

Initially, III claimed to Yuma that he and V were going to confront the Barians to get revenge for IV's death earlier, saying that he'd grown sick of Yuma's optimism, but this was a lie meant to stop Yuma from following him. When it became clear that the brothers were fighting a losing match against the Barian Mizael, V opened a video link to Yuma to deliver a final message. III took the opportunity to apologize for lying, saying that Yuma was a true friend and say goodbye, before declaring that he'd be with Yuma in spirit as Mizael launched his final attack, killing both III and V.

This sacrifice caused Yuma to break down sobbing at being unable to stop it from happening due to traveling to track down the Barian leader Don Thousand.

Luckily, after the defeat of the Barians, everyone who died in the final invasion came back to life, III included. The final episode reveals that III enrolled in Yuma's middle school, somehow ending up in the same year as Yuma despite being two years older than him. III's literal final scene in the series has him declaring that he'll fight alongside Yuma anywhere, which again. Knight motifs.

Ship Dynamics

Yuma and III start off as enemies, facing off against each other as their goals and family situations clashed. However, it really isn't long before III starts viewing Yuma as a friend due to Yuma's unending determination and aid in preventing the end of the world via Final Prophecy, eventually even extending the loyalty once reserved for family out to Yuma. Once this shift happens, the dynamic changes to that of a knight protecting his charge with the power of his sword and his own life on the line, willing to die to see that charge safe.

In turn, Yuma seems rather okay with III protecting him despite their notable rough start. He allows III to live in his house for a time and even gives III's Number cards back and temporarily shares his school uniform with him just so that III isn't wearing the same clothes the whole time (this is before III joins Yuma's school, by the way). He's distraught when III (and V) sacrifices himself to hold off the Barians, breaking down in tears after watching the final blow.

It's not all III protecting and sacrificing for Yuma, either. They work together very well when Dueling Semimaru, coming up with a plan to join their monsters together via Chronomaly Atlandis's effect to stop Semimaru. Yuma also promises to help save III's family where III could not, seemingly genuinely forgiving III for his actions during their Duel against each other.

They also have a connection via their interests; Yuma idolizes his missing explorer father and has a number of ancient artifacts in his house, while III has a strong interest in ancient civilizations. It's not hard to imagine them working together on explorations and archaeology digs as they get older, helping and protecting each other as needed.

Tldr: Aztecshipping is a very cute ship with protector/protectee themes and two young nerds. They should be together.

References

-Yugipedia (Crossreferencing canon events and characters) -zexual-shippings (Various ship names) -Ao3 (Fic counts for various ships)

Specific episodes:

-Episodes 41-43: III and IV vs Yuma and Kaito. III starts to become curious about Yuma and his determination at the end of episode 43. -Episodes 46-49: III vs Yuma. III spends most of the Duel proper (47 to 49) tormenting Yuma and Astral, only coming out of his desperation and rage when he realizes what Final Prophecy is doing. III and Yuma work together to stop the effect of Final Prophecy in episode 49, followed by III admitting that Yuma is his first friend and asking him to save his family/giving up his Number cards to Yuma. Episode 46 also contains III nerding out over the artifacts in Yuma's attic. -Episodes 112-113: III and Yuma vs Semimaru. 112 has III throw a sword at Mr. Heartland to defend Yuma and state that he'll be Yuma's 'sword and shield'. Yuma also trusts III to have his Number cards back in 112, followed by trusting III to have the new Number card 'Number 3: Cicada King' in 113. -Episodes 114-116: III continues to stay with Yuma to protect and help him in Astral's absence, including staying over at Yuma's house and borrowing a school uniform from Yuma. III also becomes concerned for Yuma's mental state in the wake of Astral seemingly dying again. -Episodes 126-128: III and V vs Mizael. III claims he's sick of Yuma's optimism to stop Yuma from following him to the Duel, knowing that Yuma needed to go on while he and V stalled for time. III gets the chance to apologize for lying and say goodbye/that he'll be with Yuma in spirit right before dying to Mizael. -Episode 146: III is shown to have enrolled in Yuma's school and is in the same year as him despite being two years older. III later states that he'll fight alongside Yuma anywhere towards the end of the episode.

[theaviskullguy]

KAITO????

L;KHSdG;LOKJSDFHGL;JKDSFGH MY BOY MY BELOVED THE MAN WHO INDIRECTLY LED TO MY QUEER AWAKENINGS

Why I like them/why I don’t

I am the biggest fucking fan of characters with fucked up family relationships. and characters who are guard dogs. Kaito happens to be both. Off to a great start.

He has daddy issues, that's canon, but he fucking adores haruto. to the point where he sacrifices his health and morality (at least in the sub kinda). And he is very much a guard dog!! hes protective of hart and later his friends to a self-sacrificial degree. This motherfucker. hrm. i love him.

his voice in the english dub is also really fucking hot. there is no fucking way he wasnt a part of my gay awakening back when i thought i was a girl.

What I like about their appearance

Everything. like the man is Hot. that dramatic coat, the d-gazer tattoo... part of me wishes he got more than just a pallet swap with photon transformation but its fine hes still cute. I want to run my hand through his paintbrush hair.

Do I prefer their dub names or original names?

Since theres no legal way to watch the sub and i havent been able to find it on the yar har har websites (i dont even know where to look, really), i grew up on the name kite. However, when i write him, Kaito is his full name, but Kite is a nickname (the same goes for hart! haruto is the full name, hart is the nickname)

OTP

i assume you're not counting selfshipping (if you are. me and kaito. absolutely 100%). oc ships its with my oc wynn, and canon ships? the galaxymastershippers are onto something. kaito and mizael are fucking insane i think theyve kissed Once

NOTP

Other than the obvious of kaito/haruto. kaito/yuma. i dont know why, i just. Do Not Like It. i get it, its a yugioh staple to ship the protag with the rival but i just. dont really understand dokidokishipping

OT3

I am not aware of any ot3s from zexal. however with arc v. yuto/shun/kaito. i dont know if that has a name, i just call them the xyzs trio, but its a concept ive rotated in my head a bit

Favourite card they use

I once traded an entire deck for one of his cards. I got this pack of 3 decks and i had a friend that didnt have a deck but got her hands on one of kaito's cards. my favorite one. so i asked "hey do you want one of my decks for that card", she said "yes", and i traded away an elemental HERO deck for Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon.

Favourite moment they were in

theres so many,,,, my top 3 i think is his entrance (fucking ICONIC.), the 3v1 verses Faker, and his moon duel with Mizael. However shoutout to that one scene and i cant remember which episode its from where we see him shirtless. When i tell you younger me was replaying that scene a lot. i mean it

Least favourite moment

i know i just said my favorite was the 3v1. but its also my least favorite from a dueling standpoint. Coolness factor its through the roof but like. faker thats not how 3v1s work. you might have the combined life point total but your 3 opponents dont share life points (if they did theyd also have 12000 i believe. i might be wrong dont quote me on this), and also. this is my biggest gripe,

WHY DO WE NOT SEE KAITOS PAINS AFTER THIS. Like he still uses Photon Transformation in the future so why the fuck do we not see him with chronic pain which, by all accounts, he should have!! even if its minor like showing a cane leaning against a wall or a heating pad. Come on. give me kaito with chronic pain its canon why dont you do shit with it.

Would I smooch, marry or kill them

im marrying that paintbrush twink. youre getting wedding invitations. other galax youre my best... person. i dont know if theres a gender neutral version for best man. it will be an autumn wedding and haruto is the flower boy

[meda-princess]

Calling Yuma/Kaito Photonshipping. A certified original fan moment

Sorry just seeing your tag for that doujin made me laugh

I kinda hate "dokidokishipping" xD it just sounds dumb to me. But go off fandom, you do you. ✨️

[anthyvarietyhour]

yeah… and this happened after they got chewed out for screenshotting a minors posts just to make fun of them because they were uncomfortable with dokidokishipping. (Shifuto posts nsfw. Stop interacting with kids you nasty.)

Their always bitching about how fiction is fiction, and while that may be true, you literally can’t be coming at kids for being uncomfortable at the weird porn you make of 11 year olds in a fandom MADE PREDOMINATELY OF KIDS 😭😭😭

Who is the guy you’re talking about? The one that made porn of the twins from 5ds?? Do tell me, I’d like to block

oh it’s shifuto lmao. I always knew people didn’t like them but I gave them the benefit of the doubt. After what happened last night, I don’t feel the most comfortable about people following them

[diamantrouge]

Yuma’s smile widens, if possible, from ear to ear. He nods, pulling Kaito towards himself, the two of them losing balance just enough to bump against each other. His hands end up on Yuma’s shoulders, foreheads nearly knocking against each other. There’s a flush to Yuma’s cheek he hadn’t noticed before, his hands on Kaito’s arms as a moment too long of silence falls over them.

If he rummages through all the things he hasn’t said, maybe he’ll find the right one. Or maybe he’ll settle for what’s most comfortable at the moment.

Silence is enough for now.

The tower watches over them once again, its silhouette both familiar and foreign against the night sky. It was sunset back then, and they crouched on the wood pavement of the tower, completely unbothered by the last few kids roaming around who maybe wanted to have a go at the slide, too. But their pinkies crossed and they looked each other in the eye — and he’d lie to himself if he said he wouldn’t do it again right now.

Kaito turns towards Yuma, whose eyes are transfixed on the tower, focused like he’s making a wish on it. It’s no star, though, but it’s better than nothing.

His hand slides closer to his. And if Yuma weaves his fingers with his and squeezes tight, he doesn’t point it out.

Perhaps, the Deities were right. Someday, through the aeons, they really managed to reach the same cloud of stardust again.

RheaLightning’s art for my project for @ygobigbang ^_^ read the complete work on AO3 if you want!

[pomeloye]

Trick or treat! 🎃

Gift for @rukuluc

[kaitobingu-daze]

(ง ื▿ ื)ว

[theglockwizard]

Kaito read somewhere that the best time of the year to confess is July. That gives him exactly 2 days to confess to Yuma https://archiveofourown.org/works/32990641

[doujinscans]

オレとお前は離れることはできない!? by 耳元で3回

Download Link

Please contact me if you wish to translate

[evilbalwan]

I'll always stand by the opinion that the most important person to Kaito, beside Haruto, by the end of Zexal is Yuma.

You can't make me believe anything else.

[drewricci]

[tachyon-transmigration]

I noticed you are a big fan of ZEXAL. I am too. I know you said you had a big list of ships for ZEXAL too. I know my favorite characters are Yuma, Astral, Shark, Kaito, III, IV, V, Fuya, Kotori, Rio, and Anna. I also have a big poly of ships for the guys (mainly any combination of Yuma, Shark, Kaito, Astral, III, IV, V and Fuya) and the girls the same (maily Kotori, Rio, Anna, and Cathy). Can you give more of your ZEXAL ships and characters and what you like about them?

Hello! Indeed I am, Zexal is one of my favorite animes ever! To answer your question, here’s a list of all the ships I like of Zexal and what I like about each one :)

Favorites:

Disqualifyshipping = IV and Shark have so much chemistry in my opinion and their dynamic is amazing to watch! They also served as means for each other’s development, which makes them even more appealing as a couple in my eyes ♡

Miseryshipping = I wish Mizael and Vector interacted more, because their interactions would’ve been so interesting to watch in my opinion! The idea of Vector teasing him and Mizael getting constantly annoyed by his behavior would’ve been so fun to watch xD Their dynamic would definitely intrigue me

Seraphshipping = Alito is literally gay for Yuma and their friendship/rivalry has been one of the best in the show, so I have loads of reasons to ship these two! ♡

Keyshipping = Yuma and Astral’s relationship has probably been the best one in Zexal: I love how they went from borderline not standing each other to sacrificing themselves for the other’s sake *^* Their bond is fantastic ♡

Galaxymastershipping = Kaito and Mizael are my favorite characters in Zexal and their rivalry has been super interesting and built up very well till their last duel, which was amazing to watch. Their interactions hyped me every single time and I love how their relationship developed through their duel on the moon ♡ A very nice and plausible ship in my opinion!

Sharkbaitshipping = Yuma and Shark are also one of the most developed relationships of the anime. The development of their relationship is exactly why I ship them: they went from being enemies/rivals to becoming good friends, up the point not even Shark turning into a Barian was able to severe their bond permanently ♡

Other ships I like are:

Skyshipping = Kotori has always been there for Yuma, and he clearly cares for her wellbeing too :) I think they’re cute together, they’d definitely work a couple :3 ♡

Dilateshipping = Love their teacher and student relationship ♡ Despite being quite similar, I think Kaito and Chris would work very well as a couple ♡

Barshipping = While I prefer their friendship, I think Alito and Gilag would also work as a couple :) I love their relationship!

Dokidokishipping = I kinda prefer them as simply rivals/friends, but since their relationship is very interesting, I wouldn’t mind Yuma and Kaito as a couple either :)

Challengeshipping = Same as above, I like their dynamic and I think they’d be a cool ship, although I prefer their friendship.

There’s probably more, but for now these are the main ones that come to my mind ✩ Thanks for asking!

[blngu19]

Somebody catch him!

Kaito: 

Shark:

vecter: