#ic; barian emperor (mizael)

[duelheld]

powerofbarian said:

 ❛ you okay? caught you staring off into space again. ❜ // Kaito to Mizael?

dialogue prompts // accepting!

     was he? he didn’t want his rival of all people to catch him drifting off. blue eyes staring at him then away after, “i’m fine,” he replied as he paused for a moment. he highly respected kaito but, he didn’t know if he could have a casual conversation with him. he wasn’t exactly someone who could do it, but he was trying his best to. “you needn’t worry yourself of me,” letting out a small sigh after. “why, wish to duel me?”

[higuchimon]

[fanfic] On A Stormy Night

Nights spent in a PokeCenter could be almost anything - quiet or noisy, filled with friendly, teasing battles, or tense and nervous as people kept as far from one another as they could, not wanting to break the peace established there.  Tonight, however, everything was quiet, even though there were seven of them - a lot more if one counted the Pokemon - gathered there. 

Merag carefully ran her brush over her Vulpix's fur, making sure to get rid of every tangle.  Aurora preened under her touch, purring happily, and Merag gently petted her.  She knew that Aurora wouldn't be able to snuggle in her lap like this once she evolved into a Ninetails so she wanted to enjoy the experience while she could. 

Nasch sat on one of the couches, eyes closed, not quite snoring but clearly not exactly asleep either.  He didn't like to bring his Sharpedo out when they weren't close enough to water, so his Shui stayed tucked away in his Pokeball.  Nasch rolled it gently between his fingers when he thought no one was looking, and she'd heard him whisper to his partner more than once.  Nasch had a strong team of water types, but Shui the Sharpedo was his ace, the one he made a point to end most battles with. 

He wasn't the only one who couldn't have his partner out while they were inside.  Mizael would come back inside from being with his Druddigon Jinlong any moment now - and probably be as cross as a wet cat, since he hated his hair getting soaked in weather like this.  As far as Merag was concerned, that was his own fault that he hadn't invested in an umbrella.  She had.  He could do it.

Over in a corner were Alit and Gilag, sparring against their partners, Sawk and Throh.  Merag had heard that Alit spent at least a part of his day training against Sawk.  Alit might not be able to use official Pokemon moves, but that clearly didn't bother him for a second.  The same went for Gilag, who was almost as large and strong as Throh anyway.  Those two were very much alike. 

On a different sofa there rested Vector, with his Seviper coiled around him.  She thought she'd heard him call the giant snake "Shingetsu".  That was as good a name as any, she guessed.  He petted the giant head that rested on his chest, polishing the fangs carefully. 

Durbe stood near the door, a well-polished Pokeball in hand.  In all the years she'd known him, she'd never seen him release his partner Mach when it was wet outside, let alone the pouring mess that it was right now.  Frankly, given how hot Mach the Rapidash burned, she would bet more on him than on the rain, no matter what.  Getting Durbe to believe that wasn't going to happen any time soon, though.

He trained mostly Flying types, but Mach was his ace, and the first Pokemon that he'd ever had.  His eyes had glowed with warmth when Mach evolved into Rapidash.  He'd told Nasch once that when he rode Mach, and the beautiful creature raced along at a full gallop, it felt as if they were flying.  She'd never wanted that herself - she was satisfied to be an Ice-Type specialist - but if it gave her friend pleasure, then so be it.

"Has it let up out there?"  Nasch asked without opening his eyes.  Durbe shook his head - Which Nasch couldn't have possibly seen but he seemed to understand it happened regardless. 

"It doesn't look as if it's going to any time tonight,"  Durbe answered quietly, hand gripping tighter on Mach's Pokeball. "We might not be able to go anywhere until tomorrow."

"Oh, joy.  Just what I always wanted.  More time with you."  Vector snorted, rolling his eyes. 

"You're welcome to leave any time you like,"  Nasch pointed out, still not opening his eyes.  "Though I'd definitely regret not seeing you go up against Champion Kaito."

Vector smirked.  "You mean you'd regret seeing me beat him and take his place."

"No, I mean I'd regret not being there with popcorn when he stomps you into the dirt in the first two minutes,"  Nasch snapped back. Merag had heard variants of this exchange many times before over the last few months.  She didn't know who would get to Champion Kaito first, but it would be a fantastic battle no matter what.  She hadn't decided if she wanted to formally challenge him herself or if she'd just continue wandering with Aurora until she found somewhere to settle down for good. 

She'd given thought to heading up north, to where Marufuji Ryou had established his combination Steel/Ice Gym.  Perhaps she could apply for a position there as a Gym Trainer.  She wouldn't be surprised if Nasch established his own Water Gym at some point either.  It might be interesting to follow him for a while - though she did want to strike out on her own.

The future offered a lot of opportunities and she saw no reason to make any decisions right now. 

Durbe stepped back from the door to let Mizael in.  The blond shook water out of his head, his nose wrinkling.  He and Durbe were united in their dislike of water.  It was the source of many an ongoing verbal sparring match between them and Nasch.  They normally deferred to him in most things, but when it came to water, not so much.

"Dry off before you come over here!"  Vector shouted, throwing a towel at Mizael.  The dragon trainer caught it and glared at Vector.

"I'll dry off but I'm not coming over there,"  he snapped.  Vector snorted, getting comfortable once again with his Shingetsu. He made advances now and then that didn't involve Pokemon battles, and Mizael shook off every single one of them.  Merag approved of that.  Mizael could do so much better.

Outside, the rain continued to pour down from thick gray clouds.  It wouldn't clear up until morning, allowing them to continue on their way.  Another city and another Gym lay at the end of the road, and a Trainer's life was one on the road.

The End

Notes: Maybe one day I will write another fic in this AU for them. But that day is not today.

[baddyzarc]

Do you have any ideas on why the barians faces are just so........unique. Also what do you think happened to that prince boy that Alito(past life) was super into. What was his life like? Did he become a spirit in barian world? I've always wondered and since I know you as that person with obscure zexal knowledge, I wanted to know what you thought.

Thanks you, although my knowledge of zexal (and ygo in general tbh) is rather limited compared to a lot of people in the fanbase. Like, it’s only barians for some reason.

For their faces, I don’t get what you mean by uniqueness exactly?

Their head is based on their hair in human form, and they are distinctively humanoid in shape unlike Don Thousand or the fearsome which generally take on the “insect” approach. The only (arguably) humanoid is kurage’s, but even that takes inspiration from the jellyfish.

With the Emperors and their markings/mask, there’s a couple of things to note. 

I don’t think its that significant, but something I noticed is that the Emperors appeared in a certain order. I marked it with Sargasso because it sounded nice, but you could think of it as the beginning, middle, and end.

The first set of barians we get in full (as in their unhooded alien form) are Mizael, Alito, and Gilag in that order during the whatever arc. The next are Durbe then Vector revealed during the Sargasso Arc. Finally, we get Nasch and Merag during the Barian Onslaught Arc.

From here, you can catch a handful of similarities between each set. 

Like I said, it could be a coincidence that their designs debuted like this. But Mizael, Alito, and Gilag were revealed within 5 episodes of each other. After that, it takes another 8 eps to get to Durbe and Vector, then +25 to get to Nasch and Merag. This means we spend a large amount of time (if you were watching this live, or on a weekly basis instead of binging) with a specific idea of what the barians are exactly. 

Id’d argue that the first set is the most alien we get out of the Emperors. Humanoid, yes, but they’re mask make them feel distinctly less human. I think it’s because we get to know these character as humans first, so they’re barian appearance must be more different than the others or else it’ll create a dissonance. At this point of the narrative, the audience believes the barians are aliens. The past life stuff doesn’t appear until after the Sargasso Arc, so for the first 20-something episodes, Mizael, Alito, and Gilag (despite their behavior) must set up a more alien atmosphere than the others. 

So during Sargasso, we get Vector and Durbe. You can argue that Vector is more alien due to his wings and claws, but look at his face compared to the first set. With the pre-sargasso barians, their mask makes them look like >:l constantly. Just a big >:l the entire time. They’re always angry and intimidating, and the animators have to work hard to alter this expression.

The lack of a mask on Durbe and Vector allows them to be more versatile in their emotions, especially Vector who has the most expression out of them all. And as they get more versatile, they get “more human” per-say. 

It’s kinda a given that Durbe is one of the more bland designs in terms of the Emperors, but I think this works to his advantage. Durbe is the only barian we see as alien first, and then human. And as one of the last barian to be revealed, instead of something intimidating and threatening, we get this

That is something I would beat up and shove inside a locker, not something  expect to be the leader and supposed most-powerful of the Emperors. He’s non-threatening, kinda cute, and this idea sets up the Mythyrian Arc where the audience finds out that the aliens aren’t truly aliens. In fact, they were human.

While pre-sargasso sets them up as foreign and off-putting aliens, sargasso shifts their appearance towards humanity. 

Of course this means that Nasch and Merag have the most human traits out of the designs, and id argue yes-ish. When I said Durbe is bland, it doesn’t mean he’s not alien. He and Vector have a fair share of alien features in them. They’re pointed ears, the wings and claws on Vector, Durbe’s soulless and pupiless eyes, ect. They’re definitely alien, but not quite there.

Nasch and Merag, on the other hand, appear during the narrative when the audience knows what the barians are precisely. We KNOW that Shark and Rio are Nasch and Merag. Since we know they were human and they have nothing left to hide, they adapt the most traits of their human form. They don’t have claws or body deformations, and their “hair” is similar in shape and color to their human form. 

Like, I’m not saying it’s difficult to guess which barian is which human (people who haven’t watched zexal can easily align them) but in terms of similarities, Nasch and Meraq hit the most traits between human and barian. The only notable difference is they take on the dominant hair color for their antlers and have more exaggerated features + their crown. 

So in terms of why the Emperor’s are designed the way they are, my guess is that they were designed to be from order of appearance: more alien ---> less alien. 

This coincide with how the audience should treat them. In the beginning, they were framed as one-dimensional evil aliens who needed to be taken out. But the more the story progresses, this viewpoint becomes muddied. Do they really deserve to die if their goals are so human and their circumstance so unjust? Nasch and Merag look so much like their human counterparts because that’s how the audience known them for over a hundred episodes. Aside from the familiarity, if we truly believe the barians need to die, then our Rio and Ryouga must go with them. 

With their markings, some people said that Nasch’s markings look like tear tracts because hes a crybaby chicken man of his tragic past while Merag’s makes it looks like she has rosy cheeks (bc cold and ice y’kno). I dont’ have much of an explanation for Vector aside from appearing similar to Nasch, whom he envies for being the stronger Emperor. Durbe, idk. Looks like a cat

As for the prince, it’s unlikely that the writers had any story for him outside of his role with Alito in the past life.

However, it could be implied that the prince’s spirit reside within Alito’s Mythyrian Number and his role was to protect/restore Alito to his true self in the future.

That’s how I interpreted it, personally. 

[duelheld]

cxb3rxnd

  blue orbs stared around, he knew something was off. it wasn’t his dragon reacting to kaito’s, no, it was as if there was someone else around. though who? people were walking around by, he knew there was just one of them that stood out from the rest, but who?

  his arms folded, “...!” the glowing from his card was getting brighter, indicating the person was close. “you!” his feet darting over towards the dark haired lady, “...i sense you have a dragon.”