#jounouchi has 2 hands for a reason!

[mediocredoots]

Since you guys wanna know ( lol 1 person ) Lemmie tell you about my crackship between jou otogi & marik

ofc it all started because I liked irateshipping & snareshipping separately but thought wait a minute why not mix them both together! Big brained moment I know. Their dynamics work well separately or all together ( plus im a sucker for enemies to friends to lover plotlines and hurt/comfort stuff and those 3 fit for that kind of stuff )

Both Ryuji & Marik sought out revenge for different reasons ofc but ultimately chose to use Jounouchi as a tool to exact said revenge. horrible i know but that's where the juiciness starts lmao. Do not judge me for liking a lil toxicity in my ships 😂 sometimes that's where it may start but the end results get far better with more growth and understanding!! Yet after their attempts at revenge doesn't pan out I know the both of them feel guilt over their actions esp towards using Jou. Which leads to them slowly moving over their difficulties in the past to becoming friends.

Not only do the 3 belong in the bad dad who hurt me club it's because of that similarity that they're able to understand one another in a special light that most other's wouldn't get. it may take jounouchi time to forgive either one of them but he isn't one to hold a grudge over someone who was willing to change. BUT once they're all in a comfortable spot relationship wise i can only imagine the goofiness that would ensue between the 3.

Ryuji seems to be a thrill seeker with his reckless driving and what not, Marik is pretty reckless on his bike, & guess who else just throws themselves in harms way jounouchi. I fear for all of their safety on a road trip lol. I just think they'd have a lot of sweetness & fun together.

Jounouchi deserves 2 twinks that love him. I will allow it!

[sage-nebula]

Top 5 Jounouchi moments

5.) “I’ll never give up on myself, or on you! So you don’t give up either, okay, Yuugi?”

There’s a whole lot more to this scene than just that line, but basically: during Death-T, when they’re locked in the falling block room but before the blocks start to fall, Yuugi has a minor freakout because he thinks it’s his fault that everyone is stuck inside there with him. In return, Jounouchi has a minor freakout because he’s upset that Yuugi is blaming himself. And that’s all well and good, but what makes this scene stand out for Jounouchi is that he ends up opening up to Yuugi (and Honda and Anzu, since they were also present) about how much he used to absolutely hate himself but how that changed when he met Yuugi and returned the piece of the Puzzle he stole. This is significant in a couple ways:

One, Death-T happens smack in the middle of the school arc, and so it’s still fairly early in the series. When the manga starts, Jounouchi is chock full of toxic masculinity that informs his behavior and choices, and part of that toxic masculinity is a refusal to be vulnerable with others, or to show any kind of sensitivity. See: how he didn’t want to admit that he believed in fortune telling in chapter . . . four, I think it was, and so he blamed them going to see the fortune teller on Anzu rather than admit that he was the one who wanted them all to go. But here, he’s opening up and revealing vulnerabilities about himself. He’s admitting that he used to absolutely hate who he was, that he took his self-hatred out on Yuugi, and that he started to like himself for the very first time when he returned the piece of the Puzzle he stole. He’s being vulnerable in front of his friends, which is something that he absolutely would not have done at the start of the manga. It’s a significant point of growth for his character.

Two, it’s also significant because the reason he’s doing it is not for himself, but rather for Yuugi, which is something consistent with Jounouchi’s character throughout the manga. Jounouchi is incredibly selfless and would quite literally die for those he loves. Here he’s vulnerable not because he wants the others to know that he has had horrific self-esteem throughout his life, but rather because he wants to show Yuugi just how important Yuugi is to him and make it plain that Jounouchi himself is better off because he has Yuugi in his life. He makes sure that Yuugi knows that Jounouchi will always believe in him and always be there for him and presses Yuugi to acknowledge the same. This is especially poignant considering the next chapter, wherein Yuugi tells Jounouchi and Anzu about Atem, and Jounouchi once again reaffirms that he will always consider Yuugi his best friend, no matter what other spirit resides in him (or the Puzzle as the case may be). It’s just a really beautiful moment.

4.) If you tell Jounouchi he’s going to die, he will face an Egyptian God and walk backwards into life.

Sure, he “lost” the duel. (“Lost” being in quotation marks because if they weren’t playing with holograms the attack would have counted and he would have won.) But the fact remains that Jounouchi Katsuya played a Shadow Game against an Egyptian God and not only tanked the hit, but even though he did die, that death was temporary. A direct attack from an Egyptian God during a Shadow Game only managed to kill him temporarily. He spent, what, a handful of hours in that hospital bed, tops? A handful of hours and he was back on his feet like nothing ever happened. And it’s not even like this was some random-ass Shadow Game either. This particular Shadow Game delivered direct damage to his body / life force with every Life Point he lost. He took hit, after hit, after hit, with the finishing blow being the fires of Ra and he still managed to survive. Like, yes, he died for a little while. For a couple hours. But then he woke up and was fine. And he’s not like other characters in this series, who are reincarnations of ancient Egyptian mages or who have Millennium Items backing them up. Nope, he’s just a punk from the wrong side of the tracks who is too goddamn stubborn and determined to live to be killed. Whether gang leaders (Hirutani), professional serial killers (Chopperman), revenge-driven Millennium Item wielders (Malik), or actual gods (Ra), no one can kill Jounouchi Katsuya for long, and that’s goddamn amazing.

3.) Throwing Hirutani off the roof and out of his life.

Okay, listen. We all know that I love the Trash King Bitch himself and that I do wish that he had come back later on in the manga, even though he wouldn’t have any interest in Duel Monsters and so it wouldn’t make much sense for him to be involved in those arcs. Despite this, though, I have to say that I do love how his part in the story wrapped up for Jounouchi. When we first saw Hirutani, Jounouchi (understandably) had to be saved by Atem. He didn’t get to settle things with Hirutani on his own terms. So when Hirutani comes back in chapters 48/49, Jounouchi gets a chance to settle the score and close the book on that part of his life for good, for himself. Yes, at first he’s put into a bit of a jam when HIrutani has Yuugi literally hanged by the Millennium Puzzle, but Jounouchi manages to save him, and then—with Yuugi’s encouragement—is able to tell Hirutani to go screw himself when Hirutani suggests that Yuugi will be safe so long as Jounouchi complies with what he wants (which Jounouchi did consider, until Yuugi spoke up and said that would never happen, giving Jounouchi the strength to agree). But even without my own Wishshipping bias, the entire fight on the roof was just [chef’s kiss]. Hirutani reminiscing about their past in an attempt to sway Jounouchi’s feelings, Jounouchi winning the fight despite Hirutani throwing glass in his eyes, and then finally, knocking Hirutani off the roof of the warehouse. It was a way to win the fight, yes, but it was also symbolic. He knocked Hirutani off the roof and out of his life. He closed the door on that relationship for good, and it was a very poignant and important moment for him that often gets overlooked.

2.) “Yuugi, I will stand with you on the edge of the River Styx . . . but I won’t let you cross over!”

Everything about the scene where Jounouchi saves Yuugi from the Black Crown fire is just . . . [chef’s kiss] Let me count the ways in which this scene is incredible:

1.) Jounouchi realizes pretty quickly that Yuugi will not leave that raging inferno without putting the Puzzle back together and freeing it from the table. He just won’t. And instead of continuing to fight with him about it, Jounouchi quickly takes control of the situation and tells everyone else to get the hell out while he stays behind to help Yuugi. Once everyone else is out of harm’s way, Jounouchi calmly stands there amongst the raging flames and thinks the above line. He’s literally willing to stand at the edge of death with Yuugi, no matter how bad the flames or the smoke is, but he’s equally as determined to make sure that Yuugi lives. But even setting aside my Wishshipping bias (again), I feel that this is such an incredible display of Jounouchi’s character, particularly in contrast to how horribly the anime liked to portray him. Jounouchi quickly analyzed the situation, took command of the others there and got them to safety, and then held his composure in the middle of an inferno while he watched over Yuugi. He thinks quickly on his feet, he’s decisive, he’s strong, and he’s resilient, and this scene showed all of those qualities beautifully.

2.) Jounouchi is the one who figures out how to free the Puzzle after Yuugi has put it back together (and Yuugi has passed out). Although Atem does manage to psychically connect with Jounouchi while Jounouchi is trying to pry Yuugi’s fingers off the Puzzle, in the manga all he says is Jounouchi’s name; Jounouchi is the one who spots the pipe and uses it as a wrench against the table to free the Puzzle from where it was stuck, declaring loudly that they were not going to die in that fire as he did so. Again, he’s resourceful and thinks quickly on his feet. Any characterization of Jounouchi as stupid just because he has bad grades and his mouth runs before his brain catches up sometimes is flat out wrong, as proven by this scene here.

3.) And finally, that scene where he carries Yuugi out of the flames . . . absolutely beautiful, a masterful work of art, 10/10, even better in the fully colored version of the manga. He holds Yuugi in a bridal carry and gets him out of that burning building, making good on his word to not let Yuugi die there. Absolutely immaculate. [chef’s kiss]

1.) Sacrificing himself to save Yuugi at the pier.

Anyone who didn’t see this coming just does not know me at all, but yeah, the pier duel is my absolute favorite part of the manga for so many reasons, and again, I feel like I have to count the ways here:

1.) First of all, it is impossible to talk about this without talking about how Jounouchi managed to break the Millennium Rod’s power over him. As stated above, Jounouchi is just a boy from a broken home. He doesn’t have an Ancient Egyptian preincarnation, he doesn’t have magic powers, he doesn’t have a magical artifact. All he has to his name is ¥600 and unmitigated gall. And yet, despite practically anyone casting him aside as unremarkable, he and he alone managed to completely break the power the Millennium Rod held over him, through nothing but sheer determination. This is, again, not talked about very much, despite it being one of (if not the) most remarkable feats in the entire manga canon. No other character managed anything even remotely close to this. But although the Rod held Jounouchi for a time, just like Ra’s attack, the effect only lasted for a handful of hours. Jounouchi throws off the chokehold of dark magic in a handful of hours like it’s nothing. His audacity is unparalleled and I love him for it so much.

2.) Jounouchi’s connection with the Red-Eyes Black Dragon is never explained, but it’s extremely present both here and when he comes back to life later on (which in-universe is like two days later, tops, because so much happens in so little time in YGO), but it’s still worth remarking upon. In this particular instance, Red-Eyes was on Yuugi’s side of the field. The duel was over. There was absolutely no reason for Red-Eyes to react or listen to Jounouchi at all. But when Jounouchi called for her, her eyes flared to life and she attacked him as he requested before her hologram vanished. That moment will always stick out to me, particularly since we don’t know why Red-Eyes has such a connection to Jounouchi, but she very obviously does in a way that we see with only a few other humans and monsters in the series. 

3.) Jounouchi Tarzan-swinging across the pier on the chain of his handcuff and swiping Yuugi’s key before they’re both dragged into the ocean is just an admirable feat of athleticism and dexterity that is just [chef’s kiss]. Sure, he doesn’t have enough time to unlock Yuugi before the anchor drops, but he has enough time to grab Yuugi’s key, and considering how tiny that key was and how deep the box that held it was, that’s still pretty impressive.

4.) And finally, the big one . . . although Jounouchi’s self-esteem definitely got better after he befriended Yuugi, there’s a huge difference between “better” and “good”. Jounouchi doesn’t give up, he refuses to go down without swinging, he doesn’t take kindly to others putting him down. But while Jounouchi doesn’t take insults from others lying down, that doesn’t stop him from insulting himself or from feeling very badly about himself and his own capabilities. He’s very quick to blame himself for things entirely beyond his control, and to feel that those failures are a result of his own inadequacies. For example, he blamed himself for Shizuka being afraid to remove her bandages, saying that it was his fault and that he wasn’t good enough to give her the courage that she needed. This was the entire reason why he entered Battle City: so that he could give her the courage she needed. (And then he stays in Battle City to fight Malik and help Yuugi, but that’s a digression.)

The reason why this is important is because part of feeling like you’re inadequate, like you’re responsible for whatever goes wrong, like you’re a screw-up who will never be good enough, is also feeling like you’re not really deserving of the love or respect of other people. Again, it seems a bit paradoxical to say that’s the case with Jounouchi given how he’ll talk himself up when it comes to certain subjects and how he doesn’t stand for others belittling him, but a.) his bravado is often false, and b.) just because he won’t let others bully him doesn’t mean he won’t bully himself. When it comes to Jounouchi’s loved ones, he puts them on a pedestal and therefore, on some level, sees them as being better than him. Shizuka and Yuugi can do no wrong, so whatever goes wrong in their lives is probably his fault somehow, whether it’s because he caused it or because he can’t fix it. And he always needs to be better, to be deserving of the love they give him. He needs to earn it, you know? (In his eyes, at least; you know they wouldn’t agree with that.)

All of this is relevant because Yuugi telling Jounouchi that he loves him here just . . . shakes Jounouchi to his core. As Yuugi is giving his little speech, Jounouchi actually tells him to stop, not only because he can tell what’s likely going to happen after (because after all, Yuugi said that he wanted to buy enough time to say what he wanted to say), but also because hearing that someone loves him, and loves him so strongly, is basically earth-shattering for him. To be clear, in Japanese culture people don’t really say “I love you” to each other. Culturally, it’s just not a thing at all to tell your friends that you love them. Even married couples very rarely say it. It’s like a “you might say it on your death bed” kind of thing. The word that Yuugi used, too, is incredibly strong; “daisuki” is basically “head exploding levels of love and affection.” There’s a reason why, in stories like this, it’s usually reserved for dramatic confessions of love. But setting my Wishshipping bias aside once again, I’m not bringing this up to make an argument of how much this comes across as a romantic confession (though it does), but rather to explain just how strongly that would affect Jounouchi. To hear Yuugi say “I love you” using a word as strong as “daisuki” . . . I doubt he was able to even fully process how that made him feel until days later, much less in the minute he had before Yuugi’s life points hit zero and the anchor dropped. For someone who feels as if he’s never been good enough, for someone who has to deal with the fact that his own parents don’t love him . . . being told that someone he cherishes and holds so highly does love him is beyond profound.

But then, to build on that — the anchor drops, they’re dragged under the ocean waves, Jounouchi frees Yuugi from the cuff. He apologizes . . . and then he says thank you with a soft smile on his face. Jounouchi knows he’s going to die (although he is going to try to use the key on his own cuff just in case), but he’s still thanking Yuugi while smiling. He’s thanking Yuugi for loving him. He is, indirectly, saying that he loves Yuugi, too. And he smiles as Yuugi’s eyes open a little, because if nothing else he wants Yuugi’s last image of him to be one of him smiling in gratitude and love.

Excuse me while I go cry at this beautiful and poignant moment. 

(But also yes, the entire scene really does come off as a romantic confession, especially in the original Japanese, and especially when you compare it to romantic confessions in other manga aimed at the same demographic, and if one of them was a girl there wouldn’t even be a question about whether it was romantic or not, thank you and goodnight.)

[alectoperdita]

Maybe it’s more than skin-deep | Masterpost & Photobook

Comfortable in our skin

Rating: Explicit Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters Pairings: Jounouchi Katsuya/Kaiba Seto, Minor Mazaki Anzu/Mutou Yuugi, Minor Rebecca Hopkins/Kaiba Mokuba, Past Jounouchi Katsuya/Kujaku Mai, Minor Kaiba Seto/Yami Yuugi Word Count: 66,462 Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Tags: Post-Canon, Post-Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dark Side of Dimensions, Aged-Up Character(s), Makeup, Emotional Constipation, Enemies to Lovers, Developing Relationship, Non-Explicit Card Games, Explicit Sexual Content, Hook-Up, Oral Sex, Anal Sex, Car Sex, Semi-Public Sex, Rough Sex, Power Dynamics, Dirty Talk, Name-Calling, Under-negotiated Kink, Barebacking, Comeplay, Dom/sub Undertones, Light Bondage, Aftercare, Sex in Space, Rimming, Spit As Lube, Come as Lube, Top Kaiba Seto

Kaiba is this close to walking away before the interview even begins—until the substitute makeup artist waltzes into the room. Jounouchi always had a unique talent for getting under Kaiba's skin, so it appears nothing (and everything) has changed in the eight years since they last saw each other.

Part 1 of the Maybe it's more than skin-deep series

Chapter 1

and our eyes are crossing paths across the room | there's only one thing left for us to do | you can touch me with slow hands | speed it up, baby, make me sweat - Body Say • Demi Lovato

Chapter 2

all in, baby, don't hold nothing back | wanna take control, ain't nothing wrong with that | say you likin' how I'm feelin' gotta tell me that | just put your skin, baby, on my skin - Skin • Rihanna

Chapter 3

you can dominate the game 'cause I'm tough | I don't play around that often, when I do, I'm a freak | so you'd better believe I like it rough - Flesh • Simon Curtis

Chapter 4

I wanna fuck you like an animal | I wanna feel you from the inside | I wanna fuck you like an animal | my whole existence is flawed | you get me closer to God - Closer • Nine Inch Nails

Chapter 5

a little bit dangerous | but baby, that's how I want it | a little less conversation | and a little more touch my body | 'cause I'm so into you - Into You • Ariana Grande

Chapter 6

everybody's waiting up to hear if I dare speak your name | put it deep beneath the track, like the hole you left in me | and everybody wants to know 'bout how it felt to hear you scream | they know you walk like you're a god, they can't believe I made you weak - Strange Love • Halsey

Chapter 7

I'm high, high, high, no one's got me quite like you | I want you all to myself | don't leave none for nobody else | I am an animal with you - Animal • Troye Sivan

Epilogue

and if in the moment I bite my lip | baby, in that moment, you'll know this is something bigger than us and beyond bliss | give me a reason to believe it - Love Me Harder • Ariana Grande & The Weeknd

Beyond brinkmanship

Rating: Explicit Word Count: 2,594 Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Tags: Fictober 2020, Post-Canon, Aged-Up Character(s), Established Relationship, Love Confessions, Emotional Constipation, Kaiba Seto Has Issues, Explicit Sexual Content, Porn with Feelings

I'm only honest when it rains | if I time it right, the thunder breaks | when I open my mouth | I wanna tell you but I don't know how - Neptune • Sleeping At Last

Home beside you

Rating: Explicit Word Count: 8,254 Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Tags: Fictober 2020, Post-Canon, Established Relationship, Vacation, Moving In Together, Happy Ending, Explicit Sexual Content, Top Kaiba Seto, Porn with Feelings, Anal Fingering, Edging, Dirty Talk, Barebacking, Anal Sex, Dom/sub Undertones, Name-Calling, Humiliation Kink, Praise Kink, Prostate Massage, Comeplay, Come Eating, Multiple Orgasms, Overstimulation

so come on now, strike the match, strike the match now | we're a perfect match, perfect somehow | we were meant for one another, come a little closer - Sia • Fire Meet Gasoline

Fic Playlist on Spotify

[mixelation]

kaiba for the ask meme?

Send me the name of a character and I will tell you my ______:

1: sexuality headcanon - CHILDREN'S CARD GAMES and people who are good at them

to give a real answer: kaiba is someone who really needs his partner to be extra supportive of his hobbies. like i don't think his partner necessarily needs to PLAY duel monsters but holy shit, they do need to be able to keep up in a conversation about it. i also think kaiba has such strong blinders to card games he'd be, like, confused about every other aspect of a relationship beyond "someone to listen to my ongoing rant on cards and says helpful things like 'breathe' occasionally." like he'd probably really appreciate his partner getting along with mokuba but he'd struggle to identify that this was a thing he likes instead of just, like, "i like this person...... for some reason?" i think he'd need some coaching to engage with more normal relationship stuff. like if you wanted a date night you'd have to explicitly tell him otherwise he's going to assume you're cool with sorting through cards all evening every evening. I do feel like he'd go along with what his partner wants (as long as they're willing to blatantly go HEY YOU HAVE TO DO THIS FOR ME NOW and aren't sensitive to him being incredibly blunt and frequently grumpy-- I don't think he'd be able to change his personality for you lol), including supporting them in their own obsessive hobbies.

while i can see him getting involved with someone he's already friends/rivals/socially not enemies with, i also don't think Kaiba needs or even really wants a romantic/sexual relationship at all, and I can't see him ever actively seeking one. so i guess i hc him as demi?

2: otp - atem!!

3: brotp - mokuba~ also i think a post-canon kaiba-yugi brotp would be cute

4: notp - not really? i guess i've always been pretty lukewarm to jounouchi/kaiba

5: first headcanon that pops into my head - within the world of YGO someone has absolutely worn a version of his trench coat to the met gala

6: one way in which I relate to this character - absolute dedication to yugioh

7: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character - kaiba does not get embarrassed. he spits in god's face.

8: cinnamon roll or problematic fave? he is...... deeply problematic. why did you fight someone's grandpa, kaiba

[sherry-l]

Why YGO Vrains is such an immeasurable disappointment: a list

First of all, I need to make it abundantly clear that Im a big fan of Vrains – I love Yusaku, Ryoken, Ai, Kusanagi... you see them very often on my dash. I fantasize about the ideal version of Vrains that’s written well, the Vrains that’s fully exploited its potentials, every night in my sleep. I wrote this list PRECISELY because I love Vrains. That’s why I got so frustrated with its cardinal writing issues (and production issues). It physically pains me to hear people calling Vrains the worst and most boring series of YGO – but the fact that I couldn’t argue against that because it’s true pains me more.

And now, an incomprehensive list of the faults of Yugioh Vrains.  

1.      What the fuck is wrong with the character designs (beside that of Yusaku and Ryoken???) Everyone looks aesthetically displeasing – characters in real life look incredibly boring they could easily drown in a crowd of background characters, but their avatars are OSTENTATIOUS. Seems like the character designer had no clue what “less is more” means – blue angel, soulburner, and Bohemann for example, look like they were immersed in a bucket of glue and then dumped into another bucket filled with random accessories.

(from a fan artist’s perspective…Im especially salty about takeru, akira, Kusanagi, and the Knights of Hanois’ designs…like, their designs don’t inspire me to draw. Their personalities might be interesting, but their looks lack the vibrant, enthusiastic energy that the 5Ds, Zexal, and Arc-V characters possess)

(imagine how many fanfics and fanarts of Kusanagi x Yusaku there would be had Kusanagi looked HALF as hot as Ryoken)

And don’t even get me started on the colour palette – whoever decided on the colours just cant make up their goddamn mind! Colour saturation is way off the charts, the range of colour is too wide the audience simply dont know where to focus.

2.      Forgotten plotlines. Yusaku’s link sense? Hanoi’s spy in SOL? The Queen and the rest of the chess pieces? Yusaku’s forgotten memories? The rest of the victims of the Lost Incident? Just to name a few. 

3.      Character relationships are weak to minimal to none. Bonds and friendships – the vital element in all previous YGO series – is practically non-existent in Vrains. Where’s the camaraderie between our main casts (Yusaku, Aoi, Soulburner, Ema, Onizuka, etc…)? They don’t feel like a team fighting the evil together. They’re completely separate individuals who don’t give a single fuck if one of their…acquaintance…dies in a battle. We don’t have heartwarming moments of friendship blossoming and consolidating. It’s honestly such a let down.

4.      Interesting and debatable topics thrown away. The conflict between artificial intelligence and humans could spark so many in-depth discussions, but then the writer just decided its all Lightening’s fault. No morally gray situations, no ambiguity between the line of good and evil. It’s just all Lightening and his petty jealousy… yeah.

Oh and if Ai lives on the world will blow up. Why? Do we have a concrete reason to back that statement? eh...

5.      Overall quality of the animation. I don’t know if its because the animation staff was short on time or low on budget, but for a megacorporation (konami cough cough) that makes billions every year, they certainly are capable of investing more in this anime series. I can count the number of episodes in which the characters don’t look wacky with a single hand.

6.      Character development, wasted potentials. Ryoken is the only character who received decent treatment. The rest of the Vrains cast are all disappointments. Original concepts are cool and promising – Yusaku, a victim of child abuse with PTSD, embarking on a journey to overcome his reclusiveness and learn to open up to people around him? HELL YEAH. Aoi, a teenage idol with depression developing into a more mature and responsible heroine who saves Link Vrains? IM ALL FOR IT.  Soulburner’s character arc is fine overall but personally I don’t feel like it’s expanded enough. Also, there’s the mistreatment of side characters like Onizuka, Ema, Akira, the list goes on. I got so furious just looking at these characters and remembering that they’re all wasted and sidelined.

7.      Incoherent/ random plotlines. IDK all episodes in season 1 (Hanoi’s arc) felt pretty consistent, focusing on a linear theme – Yusaku’s revenge on the Knights of Hanoi. But after that it felt like the writers gave up writing outlines and just wrote whatever he pleased/ considered more convenient for the sake of…a plot…that he had no idea which direction it was headed for. This is reflected in the amount of forgotten plotlines we listed previously.

8.      Weak villains. Kinda related to point 4. Bohemann, Lightening, Windy, and Haru are all one-dimensional, flat, predictable villains with the cliché goal of “destroying humanity cuz humans are dumb and Ais are superior”. Not likeable, not fun to watch, not morally gray (something I expect from well-written antagonists), they are just there to serve as symbol of evil for the protags to defeat.

Honourable mentions - what I personally want to see in Vrains, really. Very biased.

-        The familial interaction between Yusaku and Kusanagi? Brotherhood, perhaps? Without any mention of Yusaku’s parents, Kusanagi is the closest Yusaku has to a brother figure. I crave for some wholesome brotherly moments between these two.

-        More slice of life episodes please.

-        The friendship between Yusaku and Takeru. Please. Please. PLEASE. From the second opening we can see the animation staff CLEARLY intended for there to be a strong bond between Yusaku and Takeru – Takeru probably was written to serve as a Jounouchi/ Johan/ Crow sort of character. Yusaku and Takeru could bond over their trauma and overcome their PTSD together. AND IT WAS SO HEAVILY HINTED AT IN THE 2ND OP!!! fam what the fuck happened to that friendship, Im so robbed.

-        Yusaku and Ryoken’s duel or tag duel. These two haven’t duelled AT ALL since the first season ended. Isn’t Ryoken Yusaku’s official rival? Isn’t it Yugioh tradition for the protag and the rival to duel like, a trillion times? AND ISNT IT ALSO A YUGIOH TRADITION FOR THE PROTAG AND THE RIVAL TO TAG DUEL?????? The fact that Yusaku and Ryoken never had a tag duel haunts me every night in my worst nightmares afjw4ot9wgrk

-        Topologina Nabee

Thanks for coming to my ted talk, this marks the end of my rant on YGO VRAINS DISAPPOINTMENTS. Again, I harboured no malicious intent when I compiled the list – its more like a vent of frustration than actual criticism. I would pay billions to see a Vrains reboot or, if there exists an alternate universe where none of the writing/production issues above are present in Vrains, I would do a Kaiba and build a dimension travelling machine and immigrate there.

TLDR: wasted potentials. wAsTED PoTEntialS. WASTED POTENTIALS!!!!!!

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh Season Zero: Yuugi Gets a Tomagachi Pt 1

Hey you know what? Lets look at Zero again.

For those new here, I’m also going through Yugioh Season Zero, which is not the anime we got in the States, but the anime that came before it. It’s got all sorts of issues that 90′s anime tend to have, so, consider yourself warned.

You can read my recaps of just Season Zero by clicking on this link right here.

Anyway, it’s been kind of a while since I did one of these, and part of the reason is because I need to use a fandub in order to not have subs across the bottom. And that’s normally not a problem, but as you see in the corner of this next cap here, of the villain introduced this episode, this 3-Stooges-all-stuffed-into-one-body-suit-lookin guy, who has a realllllly weird tradition he does after beating people up,

We have an uhhhhh watermark situation in the bottom right hand corner. As an artist I have a hard time releasing anything with someone else’s watermark on it, but I have literally no other options, so forgive me, Team Millennium, you will probably never see this post because we’re a very smalltime blog. You can find their dubs on Youtube.

Anyway we’re here for pocket toys.

TAMAGACHIS. It’s been a hot minute since I’ve thought about Tamagachis.

(read more under the cap)

Mine are all gone now, I think I tossed them a year after I got them, the fad was pretty strong but short. Since most people got their Tomagachis second hand, (they were just impossible to buy because they were sold out everywhere), none of us had any freakin instructions so I had no idea at all how to use them and it died like 30 times. Usually several times a day.

Honestly Tamagachi’s are both the best and absolute worst child’s toy ever made.

And so Jounouchi’s going to go off about what a Tamagachi is (Tamagatchi? Eh doesn’t matter) but first lets just address the fact that...they’re in History class.

I mean....

...It had to happen eventually.

I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. I’m fine.

I’m just...

...

I’m fine.

Anyway, lets dive into Tamagachi (tomagachi?) physics. I think I spelled Tamagachi incorrectly in all of these caps and hell will freeze over before I fix them all.

These kids are WAY to old to be playing with a freakin Tamagachi, but I dunno, maybe it was different in Japan? My older brothers were playing with like Gameboys and the odd hacky sack during this time period. And then my one brother who refused to play video games that weren’t Basketball related got super into rapping into a mixer table (he is half deaf, he was v bad). That was it, that was their portable digital hobbies.

They saw my Tamagachis and were like...no thanks.

Anyway, the Yugioh Tamagachis have a little twist to them that no Tamagachi on earth has ever had the power to do. Like maybe this seems like pretty low tech to the babies out there who don’t remember these things, but listen--Tomagachis barely functioned. I don’t think they were capable of basic math. That is the only explanation to me at least of how they died so freakin often.

WOW Yugioh. I mean guaranteed, I would have been suuuuper into this when I was 10-11 but also...kind of WEIRD right?

And I mean, no worries, this is Yugioh, so not even Yuugi’s Tamagachi is going to score, but it’s not like they won’t try. TBH, Yuugi’s Tamagachi dates more than Yugi. Yuugi’s Tamagachi goes on more dates than Yugi has in 3 seasons.

Anyway, Jounouchi get’s rightfully scolded out.

And Honda is still a freakin weirdo, something I tend to forget every time I tune into Season Zero, much like this girl, who I also completely forget is a main character on this cast. Hi, Miho.

Of course, Anzu does bring up a good point...

...maybe Spanish is NEXT period?

Headcanon restored.

Miho seems entirely inept at life, to the point that she cannot both attend school and occasionally sweep up the feces of her pocket pet. She was kept up apparently all hours of the night, gazing at a little one inch screen and pressing one of three buttons.

(Anzu’s face trying to understand Miho)

Like I joke that I think Miho could easily be the super villain of this show but this episode she just pumps up the bastard like 200%.

(this is how I ended up with 2 Tamagachi’s, before I burned out and got rid of the little assholes)

So Honda, so horny he can barely think, decides to take care of this pocket pet because he’s pretty sure he can hightail it out of the country with Miho on a romantic trip to Sydney. It sort of makes me kinda miss when Yugioh was vague.

Sensing awkward romantic stuff, Yuugi gets the hell out of there, because weird stuff is happening in this bathroom with his friend, Haiyama, and while most people would leave the bathroom stuff alone, Yuugi has never been able to leave anything alone. Especially if it’s gross and riddled with collusion.

He finds out that Haiyama is giving money to the giant 3 Stooges guy who’s name is Kujiwara (Kujirada) or something like that. I’m hella bad at names and I had to look it up like four times. I’ll get the names spelled wrong like so, so many times.

All in all, the small little Haiyama is divying up money to the current class bully and Yuugi feels a very strong affinity with Haiyama because of it.

Sorry I just had to imagine for a hot minute what the Kaibas would bring to a bake sale.

Anyway, like, this is off topic but also on topic, bear with me, so you know how in Evangelion, they show up to class, and they’re like “weird that we’re in the same class with all the kids who man the robots, weird.” and it’s like “why do they all go to this class if they’re living in completely different parts of the city? Like this one kid is covered head to toe in bandages and then this other kid is the son of the head of the robot illuminati and this other kid lives in like a tent a lot of the time? Like wtf is this weird ass class?” and then, basically near the end of Evangelion you get this reveal (spoilers for a 20 year old anime, look away) that everyone in the class has been hand selected to be put inside of giant robots and that is why so many of them are just screwball beyond reason.

I feel like Yuugi might have a little bit of an Evangelion problem, because we’ve got this class of like maybe...20 students, and they all come from completely different walks of life in this city, and they’re all just a bucket of disturbing psychosis’. Like it is just so crazy that Anzu got completely possessed by Shadi, but this class is filled with so many assholes that no one noticed until she started choking Yuugi to death in the medical ward.

I’m just saying, I think Yuugi’s class was hand selected by the government for scary ulterior robot illuminati motives, and if I were to write a Yugioh spinoff, it would still be Marik’s Boat Time, but in the background of Marik’s Boat Time, these dumb asshole children would be finally forced by the government to use their inner asshole powers to mitigate WWIII against the space aliens (or WW IV, since I figured by that point Kaiba’s already pulled a III just by accident)

Anyway back to little Haiyama, who’s name I cannot spell right to save my life.

This part was real funny to me because when Yuugi went through this similar problem at the beginning of the series, he turned to a toy (or what he thought was a toy) in the Millennium Puzzle. Maybe in his mind, he’s giving Haiyama a gift to help him make friends like the Puzzle did with Yuugi. Thing is, uh.....this Tamagachi isn’t cursed with darkness or anything, so nice try Yuuge, this is a sort of pointless offering. It is nice, though.

Anyway, cute little Haiyama patiently takes the Tomagachi and walks the other way, as far as he can possibly get away, from Yuugi Muto.

DAMN, HONDA. THE BALLS ON THIS MAN.

This note is a note Honda wrote on like a permission slip, and then handed to a dude in class, to hand directly to Honda’s Spanish teacher.

How many jokes have I made that Tristan is the Mom Friend? Wow.

Anyway, this version of Tristan is about as bad at life as Miho is, so he’s going to just peace out in his bedroom playing a pretttttty boring Tomagachi game.

It really takes like just nothing at all for these kids to skip school, wow.

Anyways, they come across a rival game shop storefront, so Yuugi can’t help himself but admire the competition. Surprise, it’s just a different color of Tamagachi.

Before I can contemplate on why this one podunk shop in Domino is selling the only digital pet that is the best in the whole wide world, this happens.

So...that happens. That just happens.

And then we get this weird, very spooky sort of stalker footage of Kujirada, being developed on this amazing set of old timey software, check this out. Please admire how much 1999 is in these next frames.

This episode is particularly weird, but the whole thing with the photo taking is just...it is SO weird.

And like sorry to do this to you, but we’ll go over the rest of it in the next update, cuz this episode had a lot of stuff and so I made just so many caps but...holy hell this episode went completely off the rails. Like this first half is a whole lot of weird stuff but then the next half is just...there’s absolutely no way to predict the next half from the first half of events. It just goes completely wild.

Like this episode further proves my theory that everyone in this class has no choice but to destroy all life with giant mechs. There’s no other way. All of Yuugi’s classmates are here to end the world. Him included. This mess of a class.

[ygospamproduction]

Puzzleshipping please :D

xD Well, SINCE YOU ASKED. (thank you~)

General:

Rate the Ship -  Awful | Ew | No pics pls | I’m not comfortable | Alright | I like it! | Got Pics? | Let’s do it! | Why is this  not getting more attention?! | The OTP to rule all other OTPs 

I kind of just want to add a ‘It has taken my life in a stranglehold and will never give it back’ to this.

How long will they last? In feelings? Forever. Always. Eternally. All those other words the two throw around canonically (if for less shippy reasons). And if they have a chance to be a couple, that would last forever, too.

How quickly did/will they fall in love? I’ve tried to tackle that question via TDWC, but to generalize it, I think it would’ve been during the quiet, living their lives interim between the Pegasus arc, when they first learned to work together eye-to-eye, and the Otogi arc, when they started throwing around lines like ‘I’d die to see you again’ and ‘I want to be with you forever’ like confetti. I’m convinced that they bonded during that period.

How was their first kiss? Again, got a fic go-to for that, but for a norm in any situation…. emotional. Relieved. Thank goodness personified. Maybe a little How have we not been doing this forever thrown in. Just so emotional.

Wedding:

Who proposed? Got a thing for that, too! Although that one is less sound in my head– but the general substance is there. I think that in any ‘Atem stays’ fix-it ending, wanting to stay with Yuugi for life would be part of the stated package, so in that sense Atem proposes first, in spirit. But Yuugi is the one who I see suggesting making it ‘official’. So, it wouldn’t have quite the impact other proposals might, but that’s because the payoff is shared between Atem’s initial staying and the actual proposal. 

Who is the best man/men? If they had one, Jounouchi & Honda, hands down.

Who is the braid’s maid(s)? If they did have a third person/a lady, definitely Anzu.

Who did the most planning? Jounouchi… But probably really everyone else. You’ll see why below. xD

Who stressed the most? Nobody! 

How fancy was the ceremony?Back of a pickup truck | 2 | 3 | 4 | Normal Church Wedding | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Kate and William wish they were this big. 

So, I don’t think they’d really have a ceremony? Since they couldn’t legally hitch, and I think they’d consider their private promises all the formalization they need? But, that being said, when they make a point to gather the family and friends and announce it, their friends are like forget that, we’re celebrating somehow! And the group – led by Jounouchi – would make a point to throw together a very loud and emphatic get together reception where they celebrate the couple and eat food and say a lot of sweet stuff and there’s a lot of laughing and sweet tears and hugs. And the couple consider the day Yuugi asked and that reception itself both their anniversary. :) 

Who was specifically not invited to the wedding? Probably Kaiba, because Jounouchi led the planning (with all of the other inner circle doing a lot of the work). But he’d hear about it and show up anyways, all Maleficent style– but then Atem and Yuugi are happy he came, so that takes the wind out of his sails. xD

Sex:

Who is on top? Iiiiit depends what you mean by that word, but in the more traditional sense? Yuugi. But I think Yuugi likes to mix up the roles a lot, and sometimes he’d like Atem to be demonstrative in that role, so this is not a hard and fast rule.

Who is the one to instigate things? Again, usually Yuugi. And the way he instigates it is usually the tell for the topping mentioned above! If he tentatively starts himself, Atem knows he wants to top. If Yuugi just asks, he likely wants Atem to be in charge. Not that Atem universally rolls with it, (I have one idea that works directly with that) but it’s a nice, organic way to set the tone. Atem will sometimes start himself, though, if his emotions are ruling him, or if they decided ahead of time that they wanted to do something that day. Anticipation does wonders for the fellow.

How healthy is their sex life? Barely touch themselves let alone each other | 2 | 3 | 4 | Once a couple weeks, nothing overboard | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | They are humping each other on the couch right now

I think it’d fluctuate a lot. If they’re really busy or stressed over some project/homework/etc., they might not do anything for a month. At other times, they might go at it a few times a week. It really just depends where they are individually and what time allows. 

How kinky are they?  Straight missionary with the lights off | 2 | 3 | 4 | Might try some butt stuff and toys | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Don’t go into the sex dungeon without a horse’s head

I probably don’t think they get as kinky as some might, but I think they’re both creative and curious and trust one another with their out-there ideas, so they’d explore a lot of corners.

How long do they normally last? Varies, usually based on the tone of the act. If it’s emotionally charged or a sleepy tumble before they go to bed, it’s probably quick. If they’re making a conscious thing of being together/reveling in it, they’ll probably torture themselves in trying to drag it out– Yuugi by mixing up what they’re doing, Atem by sheer tension and denial. But Atem – partly because of this – does often last longer.

Do they make sure each person gets an equal amount of orgasms? Yuugi might end up with 1 or 2 more because of the lasting thing, and Atem being enthusiastic about the foreplay, but I don’t think they’d be prone to marathon acts, even on days off. They’d get through the heat of it, one would orgasm, then they’d focus on the other finishing (usually Yuugi, then Atem respectively), then they’d spend whatever extra time they have cuddling or talking or playing games. 

How rough are they in bed? Softer than a butterfly on the back of a bunny | 2 | 3 | 4 | The bed’s shaking and squeaking every time | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Their dirty talk is so vulgar it’d make Dwayne Johnson blush. Also, the wall’s so weak it could collapse the next time they do it.

They don’t treat each other like porcelain, but any roughness would likely be due to emotion or desperation, not an interest in being rough for its own sake. 

How much cuddling/snuggling do they do? - No touching after sex | 2 | 3 | 4 | A little spooning at night, or on the couch, but not in public | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | They snuggle and kiss more often than a teen couple on their fifth date to a pillow factory. 

They’re very much attached at the hip or wrapped around each other in private, but Yuugi needs some sort of mental stimulant to stay still for long periods.

Children:

How many children will they have naturally? …His name is Shogi. Born sometime in Yuugi & Atem’s late twenties or early thirties. And I could go into a post about this child alone, because man, is the concept vivid.  

How many children will they adopt? Well, since Shogi would be Yuugi’s biological son (with a surrogate), Atem would essentially adopt him. And if I follow my idea of Yuugi having a baby sister, then Menko would absolutely be underfoot with her Nii-san and Atem-nii during their twenties.

Who gets stuck with the most diapers? Atem, probably, since he’d wake up and be out of bed faster when Shogi cries. (Yuugi at first tries to undermine this behavior, but he’s just too slow.)

Who is the stricter parent? Difficult to say. I think they’d both be low maintenance, but Atem would be more the harsh lecturer when it’s called for, while Yuugi’s the ‘I’m not sad, I’m just disappointed’ calm type. 

Who stops the kid(s) from doing dangerous stunts after school? If it’s dangerous for rule breaking, I think Yuugi, but if it’s physically dangerous, both.

Who remembers to pack the lunch(es)? Atem usually gets up earlier, so him.

Who is the more loved parent? Literally both, like of course! But I will say, Atem does a really good job passing along his Yuugi adoration. Shogi has been given every example that Yuugi is the sun, and the best thing you can do in life is earn his smile.

Who is more likely to attend the PTA meetings? Atem’s usually the one who can respond to unexpected call-ins (assuming he’s in town), but they both attend every planned event they can, like festivals and such.

Who cried the most at graduation? Yuugi. It wasn’t a lot, but definitely a little. Atem was just as clearly moved, though.

Who is more likely to bail the child(ren) out of trouble with the law? Pft, Atem?! Of course?!?!

Cooking:

Who does the most cooking? Atem. (They joke that Atem handles the stove and Yuugi handles the toilet.)

Who is the most picky in their food choice? Atem, though you wouldn’t know it since he’s controlling the menu. xD

Who does the grocery shopping? They both do that. They sometimes even meet at the shop to get stuff and then go home together for the evening.

How often do they bake desserts? I don’t think they would much at all. Maybe for a special occasion or something. Usually they get store-bought or Bakura-made.

Are they more of a meat lover or a salad eater? MEAT. Fried and meat. But Atem picks up a lot of tricks for sliding in vegetables from Yuugi’s mother.

Who is more likely to surprise the other(s) with an anniversary dinner? Yuugi, actually. Atem would do the same, but he’s more likely to be open about doing it, where Yuugi is fond of blindsiding him more.

Who is more likely to suggest going out? Yuugi, but for the sake of the activity more than the meal– and secretly to give Atem a break.

Who is more likely to burn the house down accidentally while cooking? Atem early on, but if Yuugi’s trying one of his surprises and doesn’t ask Atem where something is or how to use something… oops.

Chores:

Who cleans the room? If it’s just clothes and stuff, they pick up after themselves. But Yuugi handles the proper cleaning.

Who is really against chores? They both have to stick to it consciously.

Who cleans up after the pets? If they do get one (probably a cat), Yuugi.

Who is more likely to sweep everything under the rug? Ahaha, Yuugi’s tempted sometimes.

Who stresses the most when guests are coming over? Assuming it’s not just their friends, Yuugi. He’s more likely to worry about fine details where Atem knows he’ll just bluff through any nerves over hiccups.

Who found a dollar between the couch cushions while cleaning? Yuugi.

Misc:

Who takes the longer showers/baths? Atem likes to lounge in the tub after a long day. And Yuugi might join him for periods, but he can’t stay still there for more than a few minutes.

Who takes the dog out for a walk? I don’t think they’d have a dog… unless Shogi manages to break them, perhaps. Then Shogi would be expected to as soon as he’s old enough, and they’d take turns until then.

How often do they decorate the room/house for the holidays? Not too often. I think they’d gather at the Mutous’ house for most occasions, so that’s where the decorating is focused. But they’d get a few little things here and there. 

What are their goals for the relationship? To enjoy their home life together as much as possible while wholly encouraging one another to strike out with their own ambitions. Which is why there may be periods throughout Shogi’s childhood where Yuugi’s with him more than Atem, or vice versa, as Atem travels Europe for two months for game tournaments/support, or Yuugi spends five nights a week holed up working on a game that’s being released that winter. They always make sure, though, that those extreme periods have a set end date, and they refuse to pick up one demanding project after the other. And they’re always on the look out for something they can share.

Who is most likely to sleep till noon? Yuugi, though if he was up that late, Atem was probably up right along with him. (Those crazy gamers and their one trap card debates.) But Atem’s the more difficult sleeper, so he’d just be up and sleep deprived, but refuse to disturb his partner.

Who plays the most pranks? Yuugi. xD He’s not bad about it, and sometimes Atem sees it as a challenge himself, but he will do light prod pranks to surprise or help Atem.

[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. 

[the-cryptographer]

Ettushipping for the ask!!!!

Ah~ Thank you for asking about the OTP. I kind of figured I’d have nothing to say about it except repeating what I answered about polar and JouKai for the meme, but I shouldn’t have underestimated myself x_x  I also apologise, because it feels impossible for me to talk about them without talking about my fic project talking about writing fic instead of writing it so this might not be all that exciting mea culpa, but imma post - no obligation to pay attention to me - thankies~

when I started shipping it if I did:

In 2015, I was watching a lot ofygotas, feeling kind of bummed out, and looking through fanfiction. And I kindof had an ongoing interest in fmm and ffm polyships at this point, so I waslike, ‘okay, let’s smash my two favourite ships together and read all theMaiJouKai’.

A few minutes and some searchesaround the net later, I came to the tragic realisation that there /was/ noMaiJouKai. And then I was like, ‘fuck that. What has fandom spent the lastfifteen years doing then?’ and decided to write my own.

So I wrote a fic called On Public Relations and IndefiniteDefinitions which, instead of being the humorous longform fic I wanted toread, was some oneshot filled with Kaiba angsting about how he not only endedup with this moron, but he ended up with this moron that he’s kind of afraidwill leave him for Mai. It was also about the paparazzi, and the fact that Jouis Kaiba’s kind-of employee, and trying to understand where exactly we draw theline on somebody being a golddigger, and how to reconcile vastly differentlevels of income in a relationship. And, tbh, the fic is kind of shitty imo,but it still has some interesting ideas in it that are more or less ignored orunexplored so far as I’ve been able to see (and also it’s my humble fanficroots so I appreciate it for that).

I kind of dropped the fic and ran,and was going to just leave it at that. But then about a year later, due tomore ygotas and a sudden desire to revisit manga canon and watch the rest ofthe dub, I dropped back into the fandom and started revisting the ideas I’ddropped in my fic. I came to realise I really wanted to reuse the ship andbasic premise and try to write a fic where (1) Kaiba and Jou’s relationshipgoes from its approximate canon form with all the animosity to a romanceonscreen, (2) you’re given a lot of the factors commonly used to cause Mai& Jou to break-up except considered and explored in their own right in thecontext of Mai and Jou actually being invested in and feeling strongly for eachother, (3) Jou is working for Kaiba and the issues involved inemployee/employer relationships are laid out without an attempt to villainiseeither character, (4) wealth and poverty are not just having or not-havingmoney (something that could then easily be solved by Mai or Kaiba handing Jou acheck) but an entire relationship with money and employment and society andself-expectation and the cause of pretty severe cultural misunderstandings, (5)etc. etc. Yeah, this fic has way too many themes in it.  I mean, more than anything I wanted a ficabout Jounouchi’s entire existence postcanon – every single one of hisrelationships – and this ended up being a good way to do it. And, jeez, if thiswasn’t my OTP before I started planning LottoTicket, it definitely was after.

my thoughts:

idk, part of me is like, ‘you’rejust being really self-indulgent and forcing your two favourite ships into one,aren’t you?’ and then the other part of me is like, ‘but I don’t feel at alllike I’m forcing the characters to behave in any way that’s unnatural for them.I mean, I certainly commandeer the situational factors to make them moresusceptible to certain behaviour, but it doesn’t even feel very outlandish. Infact, the more I think about it, the more I think the ship as a whole couldease a lot of the individual tensions of its components.’

idk, I think the true answer is…both. It’s both indulgent and reasonable.

But I feel like I should say,insofar as my WIP is going, I’m not attempting to justify it as a ship thatwill last until everyone is dead, as much as I’m attempting to justify it assomething that helps brings stability to the characters during this ratherspecific period in their lives. I might eventually write something thatattempts to do more with the ship in the future, but I think those willdefinitely be more on the silly and fun and wholly indulgent side of things.

What makes me happy about them:

That Mai gets to travel and duel,Seto gets to have his company and its projects, and Jou doesn’t have to feel unsupportedand completely attention-starved in the meantime.

Also I’ve talked before about howSeto and Jou can pretty easily create a positive feedback loop for terriblebehaviour. I think having another person involved is one of the easiest ways tointercept that. It doesn’t have to be Mai, and it doesn’t have to be somebodyone or both of them are romantically involved with, but it does have to besomeone close enough to them, that they can witness the cause and effect oftheir behaviour on the emotional aspects of their relationship, and that Jouand Kaiba can’t just turn to and say, ‘buzz off, our relationship is our ownprivate business’. I think Mai and Jou, in different ways, both end upmediating quite a bit between Jou & Kaiba and Mai & Kaiba respectively.Kaiba less so for Jou & Mai, but I think, even in his presence, he canencourage Mai and Jou to consider when they’re being inattentive andunreasonable with each other respectively.

What makes me sad about them:

The amount of trickery I have to useto get them together, lol. I’ve tricked Seto into thinking Joey is gay andsingle. If he knew Joey was bi and had a girlfriend, I don’t think he’d beentertaining this idea for even a second. That’sright, Seto, let’s get you nice and overly invested ahead of time so you can’tdismiss the idea out of hand~

idk, everyone’s an insecure mess,but… even if I was writing for a more proper triad/threesome like miranova’settushipping, or battleshipping, or how I think most people talk aboutflareshipping, I imagine Seto at some point pitching a fit about how the othertwo like each other more than they like him. It is inevitable. It’s only amatter of how terrible the explosion is, and how well they manage to reassureeach other in the aftermath. So isn’t MaiJouKai as a V even worse because, ontop of all the personal insecurity, you’ve got a lot of societal messagingabout how you probably shouldn’t let yourself feel secure in letting your boyfriendsleep with someone else? idk, I see why Vs aren’t that popular in fandom.Before this I’d mostly shipped polyships where all the people were sexuallyinvolved. But I feel like, if you read a lot of OT3s, you realise how that mostof them are Vs on one level or another – it’s pretty naïve to think you’regoing to find two other people you feel equally strongly about in all theimportant™ ways, who are also going to feel equally strongly about you and eachother in those same important™ ways. Maybe it’s also naïve to think that aninequality in a sexual fashion is more profound than an inequality in anemotional one? I mean, /I/ think sexuality in relationships is one of thehigher ranked things in terms of profundity, but I don’t think everyone thinksso. Jou and Mai and Kaiba probably don’t agree with me or each other on thattopic – everyone has a different set of values, right? …I guess it makes me sadthat I don’t know whether or not they can make a poly relationship work incorrespondence with their expectations for a relationship – whether thoseexpectations are based on their own needs or on kind of a societalunderstanding of what a relationship should be – but maybe I shouldn’t say thatmakes me sad like that’s the end of the story either? When you are curious anddon’t know the answer – that’s a time when your mind is still open to newinformation and possibilities, right? You can let the characters bounce offeach other without an investment in the answer. That’s a fun place to writefrom.

things done in fanfic that annoy me & things I look for in fanfic:

lol, what fic? I liked Love Boat, although it’s more arrogantshipping than ettu.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other:

I think it’s pretty clear I ship allthe people with all the people at this point. Anyone can end up with anyone andI’d be comfortable with it if it was considered with care.

My happily ever after for them:

I feel like it came up in a memeonce, or as a response to a fic comment, or something of that nature. Jou andMai and Seto are at some sporting event for their kid. Jou and Mai are theembarrassingly loud and enthusiastic parents who are ready to fight anyone thatsays their kid isn’t the greatest. It’s a hot summer day and Seto is wearing aheavy jacket and shades and being incredibly unemotive. He’ll save hiscongratulations until the end, thanks.

That’s a happily ever after of sorts, right?

who is the big spoon/little spoon:

idk, about spoons, but sleepposition headcanon is that Seto and Mai both like sleeping in the middle whenall three of them share a bed. It is the warmest and most comforting spot. AndI’ve already said that Seto is always cold, and Mai likes feeling safelyenclosed.

(Oh, god, Seto probably starts a riotthe first time Mai wakes him up and teasingly tells him to move because he’spopping wood into her stomach/thigh. For a while he refuses to sleep near herat all. And then for a while he refuses to sleep near her except with his back facingher.)

what is their favorite non-sexual activity:

For all three of them together? Sleeping. That’s aboring one though, lol. I think they like going to tournaments together, eitherwhen somebody’s competing or none of them are.

I think more they like doing things just the two ofthem though. I answered for Jou and each of the others, but for Seto and Mai –they probably go to gallery openings or something, or get lunch and talk shopabout work and talk smack about everyone. Mai’s an easy guest for Seto to taketo business party type things too. She’s all the charm and he can just sit nextto her and lean into her shoulder and zone out while she’s socialising.

:’)  Thank you again~

[shinygoku]

Boy oh boy, I sure love Keith

...but why? Sometimes it’s really hard to round up feelings to put into orderly words, but it can be interesting to step back and look at results.

Why Keith in particular when no one is ever gonna displace Son Goku of #1 in my heart, or be a better written character than Zuko? I guess it’s partly as Keith is a new addition to my life, of sorts, and also other things I’m about to try and cover.

Oh, this is gonna have spoilers for the series so far, be warned.

And it’s rather on the long side, so under a Cut~! 😺✂

Part 1: The Superficial

What better place to start at than the beginning? And anyway, I may as well get this out of the way first: Keith caught my eye as he’s pretty and reminded me of the aforementioned Zuko. He’s a bishounen in his late teens with dark hair and associations with Fire and the colour red. I mean, this may’ve been partially on purpose, as even accounting for Keith being The Red Guy in the 80s version, he didn’t have the Fire Lion until VLD. There’s also the way both characters have swords, albeit different types, and Keith gets the option of using 2 swords in S2, like how Zuko’s blades are a twin set.

Anyway, the thing to take away from that paragrath is that being reminded of Zuko automatically made me feel more interested in Keith.

Part 2: The Secondhand Content

Unfortunately, I couldn’t watch Voltron, and I wasn’t all that interested when I had other shows to consume and games to play. For quite a while, the only indication I’d get of it were the odd posts from people I follow, which weren’t generally that helpful for someone who, like me, didn’t have context for the show, and lots of it was shipping. Eventually memes trickled through, as well, but they also weren’t that informative (what a shock!)

This wasn’t really enough to actually keep me interested, it just reminded me that Voltron was a thing people liked and it had that Zukolike dude in it.

Part 3: The Spark of Interest

Season 2 came and went, apparently, and I still didn’t really care. Except a couple of people I follow and trust had noticed. One of ‘em, Storm, didn’t write a whole lot about it, but it made me aware it was Current and New. I asked him but he confirmed that from what he’d seen, the Red Guy was pretty bland and only Looked like Zuko. I felt disappointed, like I’d bet on a poor horse or something, lol.

This didn’t motivate me to tune in, but @scrawlers started making a number of posts about Keith, and seeing as our common interest in Yugioh characters meant I had a good time reading the stuff written about Jounouchi from their posts, I got a lot more curious and more secondhand interest than ever before.

Part 4: Season One and Sitting Tight

So now I has much more reason to tune in. I had been spoiled, but only for broad things or things that were meaningless to me, having so little knowledge of the show.

To be really, brutally honest, I wasn’t really blown away by Season One. I felt a lot of the jokes fell flat and that large areas had been skipped over. Areas like characterization. The first episode had been fun, but I wanted them to stay on Earth a bit longer. I still want more Earth stuff, really, but I expect future eps to have flashbacks.

But the worst of all (to me) was that the only Episodes where Keith was interesting for more than a moment was the Pilot and then the 2 at the end. In the big middle chunk of the season I was finding it hard to list his characteristics that couldn’t just be grouped under a Vanilla Protagonist heading.

Part 5: Speeding up and Season 2

So yeah, First Episode aside, I couldn’t feel much for Keith until the last pair of episodes of the season. Things were finally getting more interesting, he went off on his own, in spite of the others warning against it and eventually gets in a fight which is a lot of fun to watch, as he puts up a good effort before having to skedaddle. In the next episode, he’s the only one to suggest not risking The One Superweapon in order to try and get Allura back, which I’m not saying is the right or wrong call, but it’s interesting as he’s trying to think of the Bigger Picture. Heck, the conflict in that scene is interesting too, as he doesn’t argue after the others chew him out, he just says his bit and clams up afters. Then later in the episode he’s pragmatic enough to try and attack Zarkon himself, finds out that won’t work, but keeps going anyway, essentially stalling for time even as he’s getting thrashed.

Like, suddenly I’m able to find seedlings of his characteristics growing! He’s a Determinator! He’s fighting for the Greater Good! He goes to pretty big and risky lengths to achieve his goals! Some of this is still Standard Shounen Hero type stuff, but starting to draw away from the mould and he feels less plain.

This is a nice setup for Season 2, and the first episode of that is one I really love.

Part 6: Shiro and Keith

I haven’t mentioned his relationship with everyone’s favourite Space Dad yet, though in this case it’s more Space Big Bro

Ok so, I’m gonna say right here that I looove the Broganes. Like, dang! What a marvellous brotp it is! I’m largely avoiding Shipping in this series at this point, but point me in the direction of some Quality Broganes Content and I’ll be delighted! I really, really want the series to go into some more depth and flashbacks for these two, and I’m very much for them to be Bros (adopted or otherwise) and all their interactions so far have been bright points that I like to bask in.

Anyway, onto S2E1. The part of the plot that was focused on them was sooo good, and while I liked the other threads in that ep, I still kinda feel that the segments should've been divided to 2 plots per episode, instead of 3 in one and then 1 plot for the entire next episode.

I think Across the Universe is super great for showing insight into the Broganes, like Shiro’s vulnerabilities and bleak humour, and Keith’s resourcefulness and urge to go help, but naturally the main points of that were boiled down to Keith being Shiro’s successor, what with Keith being able to pilot the Black Lion for a bit and more things that are left comparatively subtle.

The show has very heavily implied (as in, I’d be very shocked if they swerved away from this) that Shiro and Keith go back a fair bit. Keith tends to go off on his own, but will always listen to Shiro. He’s often hovering nearby in group shots and is quick to defend him, as in Season 1′s finale. This really wouldn’t work if he only Kind Of Knew Shiro from them having been in the same building, and a lot of jokes are made about Shiro having a Keith bias but they really do gel together and they clearly know each other well.

The point with that is that Shiro knows Keith’s got more to him than the show had really gone and shown at this point. Fortunately, the show steps it up and we get more precious details on Mullet Boy as it goes, and it backs up Shiro’s assessment. Episode 8 brings up the successor point, makes it a very clear point, and it’s only dropped because Keith doesn’t like to think about Bad Things happening to Shiro (same tbh). Still, one can’t dismiss S2E1′s conversation as being something brought on by Shiro’s bad state, as he reasserts the same things here! He points out Keith has gotta reel in his temper and work a few things out, but would otherwise do really good~

This section’s getting a bit long and rambly, I’ll progress

Part 7: Self Doubt

Yeah, if you want me to analyse Keith’s relationships with everyone, nnnot today! Sorry, I don’t consider myself to be a good enough meta writer to tackle that, especially seeing as this is already pretty long lmao

Ahem, back to the show. Once the gang’s reassembled, the plot starts to really propel itself into hyperdrive, so in quite a short space of time we’re given:

Keith recognises the mark on Ulaz’s blade, and later goes to check on his on knife in private. That episode has Keith also get cross at Allura with Shiro for the princess being so discriminative lol

Running away from Zarkon, who is somehow tracking ‘em and won’t leave them alone

Keith has a nightmare about being Galra and thinks ‘aw shit, what if that’s how Zarkon keeps teleporting behind us?’ Allura has similar thoughts, but without the Galra part so they run away together. Turns out that wasn’t either of ‘em, but they have some interesting awkward car conversation about The Galra and how Allura still thinks they’re the Orks of this verse (Chaotic Evil), though Keith does a good job at not getting too upset about this

SPACE MALL!! Also the Knife Keith has is super duper rare and valuable (Duh Nah!!)

Keith finds out at the end of the next episode that (Spoiler warning) He’s Part Saiyan Galra!!

This would be a nice place for the show to have had a bit of a breather, but instead it goes even more into Maximum Overdrive, but I’ll get to the other eps in a bit.

So the first half of S2 really likes to drop heavy hints about Galra!Keith. I’d like to say if I saw it coming or not, but I’d already been spoilered, wup waaah. I didn’t have the whole context, so it was still enjoyable! But I dunno how well they wrote it as I wasn’t fresh and unimpressioned as would probably have been intended. But they did hint at it in Season One, with the hand panel that Only Galra Tech could activate and Keith getting purple burns from the Sith Lightning. This S2 stuff really drives it home for that sweet, sweet reveal, but it was apparently a fond fan theory pre S2, so Good Job, writers.

And, y’know, the Galra thing wasn’t the only thing that had been teased at in S1, but elements of his personality, too! They’re much easier to locate with S2′s revolutions and heavy focus on him though, so I can’t really congratulate the Writers for that. It seems odd that he was so ignored and then so focused, though I get it’s hard to give even coverage to multiple characters and have an action-filled plot, but it’s quite the reversal. I really love the focus he gets in S2, though this does seem to come at the cost of some of the rest, which oughta be corrected in the next season/s. I’m gonna try and recap personality traits towards the end of this post, mind you.

So yes, back to the remainder of S2 (and the series at the time of writing, nooo)

The ep right after the Amazing S2E8 is also really good, already getting the wheels in motion of the fallout of Galra!Keith being established. Not only that, but Keith also slides pretty smoothly into a leader role here and continues to refuse to tar Galra with the same brush, opting to save the mysterious stranger and shrugging it off when they leave while stealing some loot. Keith seems to generally be really patient and easygoing considering what’s been going on, and Hunk goes from being vocally wary to warming right up and learning. It’s gooood.

Allura continues to be generally distrusting of all the Galra, and now that officially includes Keith, that means she freezes him out somewhat. Again, Keith’s response to this is interesting; he doesn’t get angry, instead he’s just quietly sad. It’s like he’s trying not to let it get in the way of all the other shit happening, but it’s obviously cutting pretty deep.

It may be partly this why Keith volunteers himself for a suicide mission, though there’s good technical reasons why he does as well, and we already know Keith isn’t all that idealistic and is willing to make sacrifices for the Greater Good. Eventually Allura comes to her senses and we get a heavy handed, but still quite sweet scene where she apologises.

Keith goes and does some cool stuff with Thace, the respect between ‘em is really cool but nnooooo, Thaaace--! And then, hoo boy, it’s time for the Finale

Part 8: Secret Blade Club and The Season Finale

You may have noticed I skated over most of The Blade of Marmora. Let’s fix that, shall we~?

Aw gosh, man, this episode...! It’s not as cute and funny as SPACE MALL, but I’d be crazy not to find S2E8 The Best. And the suit Keith’s in barely even factors into this choice lmao

But yeah, this episode goes above and beyond and certainly hammers things in. Things like: Keith will never give up. Keith longs to learn about himself and find out who he is. Keith cares so damn much about Shiro. Keith will still put the Greater Good above himself and may even, finally, fold his hand even when before he had utterly refused to quit.

And now... the last of the series (so far!) Blackout. Hoo boy

So the episode is pretty much a long fight scene, and it’s fun to watch, but damn does that end shot feel cheap-- but I’m not here to talk about that

So! Keith in this ep was really good for a nice, simple reason: He automatically took charge when Shiro was out of action. And everyone else listens! And it works, even if Shiro got magic’d to Another Dimension, or whatever.

Scrawlers made a post or 2 about it, but in the post-battle scene, Keith is the focus character, we see his running towards the Black Lion and he’s in the centre when The Gang is all in the cockpit. Symbolism~!

Also a post that’s around shows the first and last lines of the cast, and Keith’s are: “Shiro?!” and “SHIRO!?!”. owch D’:

Part 9: So, what’s Keith’s characteristics, again?

Man, this is long and a bit all over the dang place, ain’t it? Let’s recap Keith’s characteristics:

He’s one hell of a Determinator

Hot blooded and sometimes has a quick temper

But conversely, he’s capable of staying calm even when stressed

Socially awkward, very attached to his friends but doesn’t get some of the nuance associated

If you hurt one of his amigos, he’ll go right for your throat

He’s not as wide-eyed as most of the group, has suggested making sacrifices, taking hostages and often seems to disregard his own safety

He’s always working for the Greater Good

Likes the quiet, which might help explain how he could live on his own for a year in the middle of nowhere without going bananas

Has abandonment issues

Longs to know more about himself

Part 10: ShinyGoku, you didn’t really explain why you Love Keith, you just listed a lot of things haphazardly

It’s hard to really explain using words! Feelings don’t have a direct translation, haha.

In summation, I love the character he was eventually revealed to have!! I’ve said there’s crumbs to be found in S1, though I stand by that outside Ep 1 and the last 2 of S1, you really have to go through with a fine-toothed comb and a magnifying glass. Yeah, you see him get the most angry when Pidge wants out. Yes, you see the much-touted Bonding Moment bit™, but like, it’s really thanks to S2 that I can love him as much as I do

His character is interesting, and the part-Galra thing sure gives a lot of the issues and conflict more ground and ironically makes him lighten up a bit, but even without doing a Dragonball Z an playing the Alien card I do already like the traits listed, haha

Speaking of DB, I feel most Shounen Protagonists are influenced by Goku, as long as they came later. The original Golion was earlier than DB, of course, but Keith has a bit of a blend of playing some of the Goku traits straight and subverting others. I’m not saying this is intentional, but I find it Neat.

Keith Kogane is my Space Son, a Golden Boy from the Battlefield, and I dearly love him. He’s got cool depth and lots more potential! I can’t get enough of his interaction with Shiro! I’m hoping for more Bonding with the other characters (like Pidge! The Super Arm Brotp!!) and am very interested in where he’s gonna go next.

And he is indeed very pretty, lol

[prixmiumarchive]

Honda Isn’t Good Enough (Gen; Honda & Anzu)

Part 2 of a series of fics cheekily titled It’s Always Sunny in Domino City.

Honda Isn’t Good Enough

Characters: Honda Hiroto, Mazaki Anzu

Rating: T

Relationships: Honda Hiroto & Mazaki Anzu

On AO3 - the best place to read in my humble opinion.

Previous Installment: The Gang Graduated High School

An izakaya on an amber-glowing, rainy street, Domino City, still likely located in Japan

Another shift slowly comes to an end, and Hiroto Honda pushes along a cart that has one squeaky, stubborn wheel. First he goes along the bar and picks up the delicate, short and wide and tall and slender glasses, placing them in a special bin on top of the cart. Then he goes about being less and less cautious with each subsequent part of the job, cleaning up after another night of professionals, young and old, and their dates and coworkers finding a social life after work, away from home. The scent of the remnants of sake mixed with other kinds of alcohol burn at the inside of his nose and he inhales sharply, fighting the urge to sneeze.

Some of the other smells are considerably better – like the pleasant char of chicken on a skewer or delicate pieces of skirt steak in a black, sweet sauce. He isn’t about to steal table scraps, though. He is making a living, and if he wants some of it, he’ll make it and pay for it himself.

Somehow, the thought almost immediately puts him off his appetite. When he has almost finished cleaning up after the last round of customers, he takes a moment and leans with his back against a wall, just to the side of a door where there are no decorations or chairs blocking the way. He looks down along the length of the bar toward the door and down at the low tables across from it. It’s late and very nearly quiet on the street outside.

He’ll be back in school soon – going to college when no one would have ever expected it of him.

He just hopes it isn’t all some big, stupid mistake. It already seems like it might be. A place like this, doing a job like this, seems like the height of where he belongs. And yet, he wants more than that. He looks down and flexes his fingers, feeling a pull here and there where the skin has dried enough to nearly crack – water and dishsoap more a match than some people he has come to blows with.

- - -

An apartment complex on the economical side

On his way home, he is a little startled by the sight of a familiar silhouette outside his apartment. He lives on the third floor of an apartment building, and it’s still pretty bare. He doesn’t know many of his neighbors, and he has been working hard to make sure that he keeps his job once school starts. He has heard that it’s easier than the exams were, but he still doesn’t quite believe that someone isn’t going to show up one day and tell him he didn’t pass after all.

He hangs back just a little as he looks down at Anzu who has sat herself against the half-height wall that makes up the little exterior hallway that leads along the third floor. Her face is illuminated by the blue-white glow of her phone, and she appears to be concentrating on something with a slight furrow to her forehead. Honda’s mind races as he tries to figure out why she might be here so late at night. Most of the things that come to mind are pretty bad. Why wouldn’t she – they – call or text him instead?

He straightens his shoulders and walks along, treading carefully. Over the past couple of years, his life has been strange enough to warrant a certain kind of apprehension when approaching anything out of the ordinary.

“Anzu,” he says, warm and restrained into a whisper at once, making into something of an awkward wheeze. “Are you… are you hurt?” he asks, almost afraid to know the answer. Somehow, that seems like one of the most reasonable explanations for why she would come, alone, in the middle of the night in the first place.

Anzu looks up at him, pupils contracted in the eerie glow of her phone screen until, abruptly, she locks it and it goes black.

“I’m not hurt,” she assures him. “Why would you ask me that?” she asks as she pushes back a little against the retaining wall to her back and gets to her feet. She looks around behind herself and brushes her hand against the back of her skirt and jacket.

“I just figured if you were coming to  me , you know, specifically in the middle of the night that… maybe…”

Anzu makes a bit of a face at him, incredulous and a little cool around her eyes.

He lifts his hands, fingers spread apart a little – surrender.

“I don’t mean it in a creepy way,” he says. Her expression doesn’t immediately change. “... A pervy way?” he tries to correct himself.

“No. It’s just—” She shakes her head and runs her thumb underneath the strap of her bag that rests on her shoulder. She looks toward his door and seems to clear the expression away like he clears the floors of the izakaya at night.

“Wait,” Honda says with a slight widening of his eyes. His hands are up again, and he isn’t sure if he ever lowered them down completely. He feels a little bit numb and hot but only right at the back of his head. “You didn’t come here for a pervy reason, did you?”

“No!” Anzu says, pushing back against his shoulder hard. “I came over here to make sure you’re ready for next week,” she finally announces clearly and decisively. It’s a little loud for his neighbors, and he winces, but he sure wishes that she had said that in the first place. Then he wouldn’t look like as much of an idiot.

“Yeah, okay,” he says, still wincing as he fumbles for his keys and reaches down to unlock the door.

He glances back and forth just over the threshold as he kicks off his shoes in the appropriate spot. He hopes there’s nothing inside that a girl would judge him for. Not that there’s much in general.

Upon entering and kicking off her shoes, Anzu marches into the center of the singular room that makes up most of the apartment and looks at him expectantly.

“So… you wanted to make sure that I had school supplies in the middle of the night?” he asks.

“I couldn’t sleep,” Anzu replies. She steadies her bag against the front of her body and rifles through it, looking through papers she has apparently been carrying everywhere since they received them at their orientation meetings. They share a lot of the same classes for the first year, at least.

“You don’t think I can do it, do you?” Honda asks, figuring that it is the only reason she would worry enough to stay awake and make her way all the way from her parents’ to this side of town. He sighs and pushes himself up onto the counter next to his refrigerator.

“What?” Anzu replies – politely, he guesses.

“You don’t think I’m smart enough... I don’t blame you,” Honda admits, kicking his feet lightly. He looks at his dark socks at the way the material reflects the low light in tiny, silvery lines.

“It’s not that…” Anzu says, but he hears a hesitation in her voice that he figures is hard to explain any other way. He keeps watching the slow movement of his own feet. He only realizes that they had still been in the dark when Anzu goes over and switches on the one lamp he has set on his one, small desk/table/flat surface near his bedroll that’s still laid out in the corner. He blinks at her and the light. “I just… didn’t think you would be the one – the only one, I mean – I was getting ready to do this with,” she admits as she takes a few steps closer to him and the counter.

“You and me…” he muses, an echo as he thinks through what she must mean, frowning a little. He clears his throat as he takes another stab at it. “You… mean that Yugi and Jounouchi decided not to go,” he finally concludes.

“Yeah,” she replies softly, her gaze softening with it. She seems relieved that that he said it for her. He gets it. She probably feels a little less like she’s saying she’s disappointed that it’s him that way. Her shoulders drop, but he smiles against it.

“I surprised me too,” he says with some amount of weak, possibly ironic pride.

“I just always thought Yugi and I would…” Anzu says. She trails off, and Honda thinks she might be embarrassed. If she is, he doesn’t really get why. She knows what she wants, and everyone else knows what she wants. He figures that might actually be a nice feeling. He thinks about it for a moment. He tries to think of something to say to finish it for her.

“Do everything together?” he asks. It isn’t meant to be suggestive. Instead, it’s all-encompassing and with a little bit of cautious hope. She gives him another look, and he can see her searching more seriously. After a moment, she stopped looking like she might reach out and take a swipe at him.

“... Yeah,” she says. She looks back at his barren apartment, and he stops thinking so much that she’s looking for something to nitpick about his hardly necessary housekeeping. “Can I stay here tonight?” she asks.

Honda widens his eyes. He slides down from sitting atop his counter and his feet hit hard against the half of the apartment floor that’s covered in vinyl. He opens the refrigerator as casually as he can and snatches out a bottle of soda. He touches it against the side of his neck. It’s shockingly cold, but it is something to do with his hands.

“Sorry, Anzu. I’m… really sorry, but am I getting mixed signals here?” he asks. He swallows hard.

“No,” Anzu says. He thinks she’s aiming to give him the singular signal of giving him a heart attack when she drops her bag to the floor with her back to him and begins removing some part of her clothes. He exhales again when he realizes it was just a sweater. “I can sleep on the floor,” she says, mercifully oblivious to his crisis of faith. “You’ve got room,�� she remarks, a little dryly.

“... Yeah,” Honda agrees. “Yeah, I do,” he repeats. He feels almost a little giddy for a moment. “Why, though?” he asks when he remembers what an odd request it is and that he has the power to grant it.

Anzu starts to fold her sweater into a roll and slides down against the wall, more than an arm’s length away from his bedroll.

“No, you can… take that and I’ll take… the pillow?” Honda offers, walking quickly over to the bedroll and taking up his pillow by the corner of its case in compromise. Anzu pushes herself up again and gives him a skeptical look.

“You sure it’s clean enough? I don’t want to sleep in a week-old puddle of your drool,” she remarks.

“It’s clean!” he promises. “Besides, you’re the one who wanted to stay. I’m trying to be gentlemanly,” he explains with a soft touch to his chest.

“Okay,” she agrees, sitting down on the bedroll and twisting at her waist as she manipulates her sweater into a pillow of sorts. “... I just don’t want to go home,” she says.

Honda remembers his first suspicions that Anzu would only show up if there was something wrong - something a person like he was wired to be could fix. He shimmies down the wall with his pillow and hugs it for a second. He watches her and wonders if he should ask, but judging by the determined look on her face, he decides not to risk it.

“You can have the bathroom first if you want to,” he offers – still trying to be nice to her, gentlemanly or not. “You know, in case you have to do lady things.”

“Like what? Wash my face?” Anzu asks as she rifles through her bag.

“Yeah, lady things like that,” Honda agrees. He gets a sly smirk on his face. “You know, so it’ll be nice and clean when you drool on your sweater.”

Anzu rolls her eyes, and he isn’t sure if he sees a tightening of her little fist or a rude gesture as she closes the bathroom door behind her.

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh Season Zero: Yuugi Gets a Tomagachi Pt 2

So because I spent like...weeks away from Yugioh I recently decided to kinda review what was even going on in this show, and so, as I was quickly going through my own recaps this week while putting this Season Zero episode together, I was reminded about this observation I made so innocently so long ago.

I keep making jokes with this show and then the jokes end up being real. Like it just keeps happening, so I don’t know why I bother trying to dive so far into the hypothetical thinking “Yugioh would never possibly do this” but...I’ll keep trying.

So, lets see just how dangerous a Season Zero Tomagachi can be. (v bad)

So about 3-4 days have passed since Honda left school for maternity leave despite the fact he is a 14 yo biological male and was never pregnant. I’m glad he’s here to break gender norms and I’m glad that the teacher has just accepted this.

Anzu has decided it’s time for an intervention and thinks, “if I can talk sense into Yuugi occasionally, maybe I can talk some sense into this purple haired alien that we’re also friends with?”

Miho, I swear.

(read more under the cut)

Yuugi has decided to show off his digital pet, which looks a whole lot like the Olympics mascot from 1996.

Izzy. That was the name of the Olympics mascot from 1996. I got the stuffed animal of him for my birthday and that’s the only reason I remember this weird ass 90′s fact.

I do not like the weird bangs that are Tomagachi arms, and it says a lot about the volume of Yugi’s bangs that they could have tiny arms attached to all those little bangs and it would...match up.

Now I watched a dubbed version done by English voice actors (hence why I’m getting all these names wrong) and I figured, I may as well take you on the same journey I went through watching this episode, starting with the name of Yuugi’s pet here.

Some of you, who know every single thing about Yugioh, are right now like “oh girl, do you not even see how you’re getting played all over again? Do you not realize what you JUST walked into?” and don’t worry, we’ll get there. But first, I have to go through this entire episode. Don’t worry, I’ll address the elephant in the room shaped like “the Joshua Tree” but with bangs that are hands.

(if you are too young to know about the lore behind U+Me=Us, then please look it up and listen to their entire discography and know that we were so hardcore about U+Me=Us that, for a very little while, they topped TRL over Destiny’s Child and Britney Spears)

And so they decide to do the very awkward fusion thing where you slap the butts of these Tomagachis together, but Jounouchi’s tomagachi is way too tsundere to date.

Anyway, in walks this boyman who I think gets bigger and bigger every scene he is in, like Violet Beauregarde. I mean...the door is...only so big. One of y’all brought up in the comments (I think gingerninja) that his name means “whale” in Japanese. Indeed he is.

He decides to show us his shiny golden pet, and remember this is 1999, so here’s some...1999 technology alright.

Dear lord, never draw these nips again.

Just...never again.

This is just...

How is this the only post I’ve made in months that hasn’t been flagged?

...Anyways, Kujirada’s monster, instead of going on awkward play dates, just kind of devours whoever he goes up against in a battle. It’s sort of confusing though because like...the same process for battle is the same as for this weird social network/dating scene.

Like there was absolutely no battle system until just now, when this thing started eating other people’s little monsters.

RIP Johnny and Somomo, who we knew for like all of 4 seconds. Truly one of the most devastating blows of Yugioh lore to see the death of these little monster assholes that have consumed all the time that these kids should have spent studying/actually attending school.

And then, our hero arrives and he’s a freakin mess because he hasn’t slept in 3 days.

And I was fully expecting for Honda to also lose and gain a valuable lesson in how to better use his time. I was waiting for Yuugi to pull out his little pet and go through a whole transformation sequence right here and now. But, something impossible happened.

I can’t believe the episode is already over and it was Honda that won. You heard it here first, kids, always skip school for video games, the Yugioh way.

I mean...kudos to Honda, I guess. I’m just really surprised he won something. I mean, the last time I saw him play a game he full on died by being tossed into a pit of lava and then he got turned into a robotic monkey for like 12 episodes.

Haiyama, meanwhile, did not take this very well, since he was the one from the bathroom who was being coerced into giving money to Kujirada in order for Kujirada to buy the golden pet, who just lost within a day of buying it.

As Haiyama leaves, we kind of assume that Haiyama is about to get his ass kicked in, because he’s small and cute and wears glasses, and this is Yugioh Season Zero, and those are all the things required to get your ass kicked in.

When just...everything starts to get really, really weird.

Also, this happened,

And FYI whenever I do these Season Zero episodes, I also look into the other translations on Youtube and the one I looked at seems to have also noticed that the Warehouse situation in Yugioh has gotten a little bit out of hand.

Ah, I see what you did there, random Youtube guy. I mean I love the abandoned warehouse, personally, he’s a core actor in this show. But yes, I do see how it’s turning into a little tiny bit of a meme.

Hilariously, Kujirada makes sure to run directly past Yuugi on his way to the abandoned warehouse district while carrying this girl in a sack over his back.

It is the middle of the freakin day.

So you’ve probably guessed the main twist by now, mostly because of the lack of characters, but as Tristan comes to the end of this warehouse, out steps our very large 3 Stooges boy who keels over and is...entirely covered in bloody lashes????

For your consideration--Haiyama has the yellow glasses and this face type, yes? and Kujirada has the hair? You stick the two together and remove entirely the problematic whipping sequence and you have yourself a

Of course I say this and maybe Weevil is also in S0 and Haiyama is just his own type of nut.

With a whip for some reason. OMG why does this child have a bullwhip?

Also how on EARTH did he manage to get Miho all the way up there???

So Haiyama explains, while pulling out a photo album of just tons of people in it, a comically large photo album of people that I guess he just keeps in his butt pocket, that these were all the people who were doing dirty deeds for him in exchange for money. No idea how the hell Haiyama got all that money, but he likes to blow it all on what is essentially slavery because apparently once you get money from Haiyama, you’re stuck with Haiyama for life.

Like really there is so much gang imagery in this show, it’s like a big PSA of “Don’t Join a Gang, Kids! Or Your Classmate Will Whip You With a Bullwhip Until You Pass Out In an Abandoned Warehouse” and it’s like damn Yugioh fine, I wont, damn.

But like the whole murdery photo album was certainly something because uh--there were more people in there than Kujirada so it’s like...did they die? Did all those people die? Did you in fact murder all those people, Haiyama? Did you manage to kill all those people at age 14 like you’re some sort of Bakura? Like, it’s Yugioh, so I really am just assuming they died but like...can’t add it to the death count until they outright say, right?

And then Yuugi’s timing was pretty excellent.

colorist kinda messed up on Yuugi’s teeth here. It happens. Cartoons are hella hard to make so we’ll give it a pass.

The TRAJECTORY.

Haiyama then decides to point out to Honda that Miho is essentially using Honda like he uses Kujirada and that was...kind of cathartic for me, actually. Thank you, villain, for recognizing that this whole Miho obsession thing is uhhhh kind of wrong. I guess we’ll see if the fact that Haiyama pointed this out to Honda will actually stick or if Honda will forget it by next episode.

Although, in Miho’s defense, she may be too stupid to know that she’s actually using Honda. She may just be that stupid. I honestly can’t tell what her deal is at this time.

But then Haiyama decides to try and extend the great offer to Honda of being whipped and manipulated for the rest of his life in exchange for keeping Miho alive, which um. Wow Yugioh, this is a 14 year old kid. Wow, that’s some dark stuff wow, this basically serial murderer has just been hanging out in the back of their class for their what we assume is their whole lives, and NO ONE NOTICED?

Like again, this entire class is just...they gotta be plants. There’s gotta be at least 3 people in this class being made in test tubes underneath Domino by Gendo Ikari, there’s just no way they aren’t.

And what’s crazy about Zero vs the rest of Yugioh is that in Zero they just happened upon a freakin maniac. They didn’t like...search this guy out, or enter a contest that they knew was freakin cursed. No, they just wanted to play with a Tamagachi. That was it. Instead, they found out that their one classmate has been abusing their other classmate to the point of hospitalization for the past several years.

They just wanted to play with a Tomagachi.

After that, Yugi had a fun intro sequence into Yami Yugi where a beam of light expanded across his face from the middle and that was actually a very nice effect 10/10 I can’t actually cap the animation but you can trust me. For a low budget thing that this season appears to be, that was a nice low budget way to do a good effect.

(seriously, if Yuugi lived a normal life would he have ever known he was cursed? Would Pharaoh have ever woken up at all?)

Honda at this point passed out due to the constant whipping, which is very surprising because I’m so used to Tristan, who once threw Double Spike Mullet Man over his shoulders. Honda is kind of a weakling in comparison.

So, Yuugi looks down at this device with a little monster in it and is like “yo I have a great idea, lets make the monsters fight eachother” and so we got like...a Yugioh meets Pokemon aesthetic, and FYI Yuugi’s monster still has the weird hand bangs. It’s...it still looks like that.

And, turns out the kick that Jounouchi’s monster gave to Yuugi’s monster made Yuugi’s monster learn how to hate, enough to gain a new power.

...so, in the end, Yuugi spent a really long time making his monster just a very nice guy, and would have absolutely lost if Jounouchi’s tomagachi hadn’t kicked Yuugi’s tomagachi’s ass. I guess that’s symbolic.

PS never forget that these are Tomagachi’s with a 20-50 pixel screen.

and there you are, Haiyama eaten by his own Tamagachi.

Yuugi was like “and THAT’s why you don’t whip the people who are your pets. You treat your pets with love.” and it was like wtf that guy was devoured by his own Tamagachi.

And then you think about it a second later and it’s like “WTF YUUGI. Yuugi. That’s still not a very good message.” And like I figured...this is probably a translation error that they accidentally made Yugi seem like he was cool with using people so long as you’re nice about it, but it was in the other version I watched as well so I think the real desired meaning just...didn’t quite make it to the final draft. I hope.

Straight up, this episode would have scared me absolutely to death while I was still in the Tomagachi craze and feeling very guilty about not taking care of them. Like can you imagine just killing your Tamagachi over, and over when you’re 10 and then watching this episode? Like Gremlins did irreparable damage to me as a kid, can you imagine what this episode would have done?

This guy was devoured by a Tomagachi and Yuugi just watched.

Don’t worry, Miho says “momma” here so she is still about as blase towards Honda as ever.

They did pan down to show us that Haiyama is still alive after this whole event. Of course he’s...passed out so he’ll probably just end up in the hospital wing in Domino they’ve reserved for Yuugi’s classmates.

...Eaten by a tamagachi.

Now, a little bit of story time, in the process of putting these caps together, I figured well after the fact that I should, youknow, go and check on the spelling of all of these characters (because again, I watch the dub so I have no subs to tell me how things are spelled) and the sub version had omitted quite a bit of the episode, including the parts where Yuugi says his pet’s name.

...so I was like...is Yuugi’s pet named Yuutou or Yuutsu? And surprisingly enough, when I typed into Google “what is the name of Yugi’s tamagachi” ...

DAMN IT, YUGIOH.

HE REALLY DID CANONICALLY NAME HIS PET U2!

Freakin U2. SPELLED LIKE IT LOOKS LIKE.

That makes no freakin sense, whatsoever. Yuugi is the type of person who listens to weird grungy alternative from whatever local show his weird anti-establishment cousin tells him about and would just--I mean he has so many accessories and eyeliner, he does not put in his Mom’s CD of U2 and drift off, no, he puts in a burnt CD of early Radiohead while he spends 2 hours dying his bangs in the sink. There is no universe, let it be Season Zero or Season whatever where Yuugi acknowledges U2.

I can’t believe this is Canon.

I just...Wow. U2.

U2.

Y’all I am shook that Yuugi is a closet U2 fan.

FYI, I have been listening to U2 for the entire time I’ve typed this. I mean, Pride is a good jam.

Anyways, I know none of you that are too young to know 2gether looked this up when I mentioned it earlier, so here you go, one of the best worst songs ever made. In case you were wondering what I was busy doing as a young tween instead of having a Yugioh phase.

[lyralumina]

How about Kaiba for the ask thing?

Character: Seto Kaiba

1: sexuality headcanon

I actually headcanon Seto to be Bisexual.

2: otp

- BlueShipping  (Seto Kaiba and Kisara) This ship will always be number one within the fandom because the show sets it up. Not as nicely as it should be but that is because the season it was basically set up in was dealing with the writers tossing in a grand slew of ways to end off the series with no plot holes but that failed in the end. The season this was all set up in had little time to fully show anything between the two for example, the fact that Seto is a different person than Priest Seto is. That Kisara now has to deal with two Seto’s running around. Other than that, It’s a wonderful ship. - PuppyShipping/VioletShipping (Seto Kaiba and Jounouchi Katsuya)This ship has been with me since middle school. I started shipping it back then. I had to keep that secret tucked away because not a lot of people generally liked Yu-gi-oh! Or a ton of other animes, if you liked anime then you were simply outcasted and my performing arts ass could not let that be. Sure I openly stated that I was into anime but they left me alone pretty much, also I hid that well with my Sonic the Hedgehog phase. The show had countless times where Jounouchi and Seto interacted together, whether it be good or for bad but whatever the outcome was, the fandom just snatched up any moment the two had screen time together and took it from there. It’s a good ship but some things here and there make the pairing unhealthy.

- AzureShipping (Seto Kaiba and Anzu Mazaki) This ship was one of the first ships I ever had watching this show as a kid and I will ship this in hell thank you very much. As a kid I was far too busy shipping Yugi Muto and Yami Yugi (Atem) to even consider Yugi ever loving Anzu back, kid me was wild. As a kid I also really liked the ’ main female is in love with the bad guy ‘ trope so Seto and Anzu just took itself from there and quite honestly, I love this pairing so much. Sure it could never happen but I like to dream. Its a good ship but again some parts here and there would make this an unhealthy relationship.

3: brotp 

Mokuba Kaiba because, They are already extremely close, they are siblings after all. They love to get work done as soon as possible so that they can spend time together with such little time they have. Somedays are harder to do so since Seto is extremely busy going through mountains of paperwork and having to handle taxes and all that other stuff grown ups have to do. Seto actually taught Mokuba how to do taxes and how to write checks because the earlier he learns the better. For when they do hang out, They love to just play a game like chess and not have to stress as if their very lives are on the line. They also talk about future plans with no stress lurched on their shoulders, Seto will maybe once or twice crack a genuine smile to his younger brother. They have a nice cup of tea while they are at it. Mint and Rose hip are both of their favorites.

Anzu Mazaki because, She is the only one within Yugi’s friendship gang that he can tolerate well because unlike Jounouchi, she is well mannered and knows when enough is enough. She just has class while the other three boys don’t know when to put a cork in it. While they don’t ’ hang out ’ very often, they are on great terms with one another. Anzu is actually the runner up for when Seto has to bring a ’ date ’ or someone else to some formal event and with that being said, Seto has her cell phone number. They text and send each other things they would find interesting. Also another good reason as to why they have each others cell phone number is because Mokuba really likes to hang out with Anzu, she is like an older sister to Mokuba.

Yugi Muto because,Okay Yugi is also someone he can tolerate but to a certain extent, he will get cranky the second Yugi starts talking about friendship and then drone on about the ’ Heart of the cards ’. They still are on good terms with one another and yes, they have each others cell phone numbers, they text often rather than having to schedule meeting times since Seto is busy on his end and Yugi is busy on his end as well. Both have busy yet so different lives and they know that well. Yugi will sometimes send Seto a really weird meme that he does not understand and he has to ask Mokuba what does it mean and sometimes Mokuba is on the ground in a hysterical crying mess. The most recent one was the ‘ oh worm ‘ meme and Mokuba snorted as he was busy filing paper work in chronological order.

4: notp 

-There are people who do ship TabloidShipping, Seto Kaiba X Mokuba Kaiba as far as I am aware. Its incest and I am not up for that. I don’t know why people would ship that but- here we are in 2017 I guess.

-There is a ton of people within the fandom who ship PrideShipping, Seto Kaiba X Atem and I am not one of those people. Sorry you guys. Sure,

Some stuff may be cute and sappy like, “Oh Seto can teach Atem what the world has to offer.” “Atem and Seto vacationing in the after life without anything truly bothering them.” But I just cannot find it in myself to ship them together. 

5: first headcanon that pops into my head

Seto is a great dancer. He might not be on Anzu’s level of expertise but he knows quite a lot which surprises a lot of people, even his younger brother. Seto really loves ballroom dancing, he is a sucker for live jazz bands playing, the girl is in a flowy dress and the lights are dimmed down to really set the mood. He once went into detail about that to Mokuba and Mokuba was very surprised that he would like that, not that his brother did not have any class but he thought that his brother would not like dancing one bit. Other than that he also likes watching royal ballets. This is something both he and Anzu love talking about together over a nice hot cup of tea. Seto and Anzu do dance together on their free time if they can and to Anzu, Seto is an amazing partner, probably the best too. He’s really tall and knows what he is doing, he will even ask her if she is comfortable during a lift. If he feels he is harming her or even hears a slight hiss of pain from her he will get all antsy and tell her if she is alright and what can he do to lessen the pain. Anzu will laugh and say that she is fine but she will have to deal with ribcage or waist bruising for a while. Seto has a problem with soft gripping but Seto is afraid of dropping her. He has dropped her before and it scared him because one injury can actually hurt her professional dancing career. 

6: one way in which I relate to this character

The Blue Eyes White Dragon is my favorite monster/dragon of all time and nothing has come close to stealing its throne. My deck is favored to it and I currently have eight of them on my deck, which is either a good thing or a bad thing. I’m not sure but I just really love the BEWD. One of my nicknames back in elementary school was actually Seto Kaiba because I was one of the best duelists within the school and I was the only girl who even liked Yu-gi-oh!, everyone else were boys. I used to have a duel disk too and everyone knew I was ready to throw down 24/7 but then my Littlest Pet Shop phase happened.

7: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character

There is nothing that would make me embarrassed about liking Seto to be honest. A lot of the fandom really like Seto for who he is honestly. Some might not like him and that is fine no one is asking or forcing you to. I actually used to have a childhood crush on Seto back when I was a kid and no one honestly knew that, which was a good thing because that could have ruined my performing arts reputation within the blink of an eye. I valued my reputation more than my own self, I had things to manage and better things to do than love an old school anime, I had to dance, I had to run track, I had so much more to do. It was not about being bullied, it was about how you can strive and make it into the year books with fame and a good reputation. 

8: cinnamon roll or problematic fave? 

Both actually. Season 0 wise he was an evil boi who just wanted to rule the world and who also had green hair further more my nickname for him within Season 0 is long green onion boi.Duel Monsters wise : I LOVE HIM! THAT’S MY BOI WHO I WILL LOVE AND PROTECT WITH THE REST OF MY LIFE. I LOVE MY EXTRA BOI! Dark Side Of Dimensions wise : SETO YOU CAN’T JUST YEET YOURSELF INTO THE AFTERLIFE FOR ATEM LIKE THAT! WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS???

[lyralumina]

on those headcanons, im gonna be mildly predictable here and ask for mokuba

Character: Mokuba Kaiba 

1: sexuality headcanon

I actually headcanon Mokuba to be a Demisexual.

2: otp

I actually do not have an OTP with Mokuba sadly. The show had and or made sure that Mokuba was away from lovers quarrel. Mokuba was away from any romantic nonsense. There was no young female characters hitting on Mokuba and even so Mokuba was not interested on dating at all, he was like only ten. He had other things to worry about like for example, Kaiba Corp and making sure his family never breaks apart once again or else he would not be able to take it, he would shatter and that’s the last thing Seto, his older brother, would ever want. I am so sorry but I have nothing for Mokuba.

3: brotp 

Jounouchi Katsuya because, They would be so close together, like a second older brother for Mokuba. They would have rare prank wars waged with Seto being the poor victim of it. They would also play games, video games for that matter. Call of Duty, Mario and Sonic at the olympic games (London being both their go to) and Pokemon being their favorite games. Once Jounouchi was so desperate to complete the national dex and Mokuba had the one Pokemon he needed and in order for him to get it, He had to buy Mokuba a slurpee and next thing you know, Jounouchi is walking home with his national dex completed and suffering because he was going to use that money to buy dinner so Jounouchi had ramen noodles that night. Jounouchi snapchats Mokuba like all the time on stupid shit because where Jounouchi lives, it’s so fucking wild. Jounouchi practically lives in the “hood”.

Anzu Mazaki because, Mokuba likes to hang out with her. Anzu could be the older sister. They love to go to cafes together and chat about new things with a hot cup of tea. Things like how Kaiba Corp is starting to expand worldwide, Anzu listening on happily as Mokuba is so thrilled about it that he is forgetting that he is not alone, that she is having to watch him be so enthusiastic about it. Anzu would also teach Mokuba basic things like how to cook and clean for himself and nifty tips and tricks. They would also work out together if they have time, Yoga and cardio mostly. Last thing is that Anzu would absolutely help Mokuba with his homework if he is having any problems. He would ask Seto but he knows that he is too busy running as CEO of Kaiba Corp so he calls and texts Anzu that he is struggling with Algebra. She gladly helps him. Mokuba knows that Anzu is smart.

4: notp 

There are people who do ship TabloidShipping, Seto Kaiba X Mokuba Kaiba as far as I am aware. Its incest and I am not up for that. I don’t know why people would ship that but- here we are in 2017 I guess.

5: first headcanon that pops into my head

As most of you are aware, I do headcanon that Mokuba as transgirl, using She/He/They pronouns. I generally headcanon that Mokuba’s wardrobe is fairly mixed with both masculine clothing and feminine clothing. From suits to dresses. Mokuba has it all. Mokuba’s taste in fashion is much better than Seto’s as Seto has taste for simple things like suits and ties while Mokuba is more caught up with their generation of fashion trends. Hell even that one time he saw their big brother in that White suit, They wanted to burn that thing to the ground because god was it tacky, even for him. Mokuba owns quite a lot of amazing clothes but the top three things in his wardrobe are: 

-This leather jacket that basically yells out that Mokuba really loves flower embroidered clothing

-This black dress that makes Mokuba feel so pretty

-These boots that Seto bought for Mokuba for his 14th birthday because Seto knows how much Mokuba loves flower embroidered clothing

Combine all these three things and Mokuba has the best outfit the world has ever seen.

6: one way in which I relate to this character

We both have an older brother. I do not care for my older brother at all so I cannot relate so well with Mokuba because he would do anything to make his brother happy. I never cared about my family so well, I lost the care to love for them ages ago.

7: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character

There is nothing that would make me embarrassed about liking Mokuba. In fact, Mokuba Kaiba is my third favorite character in Duel Monsters, he even beat out Atem and Yugi for me. One thing that does make me feel rather riled up is the fact that the fandom (Facebook more so) is really clueless when it comes to how Mokuba is such an amazing character. They use the whole "but he gets kidnapped all the time” as a gag to make Mokuba seem worthless and that Mokuba should not even exist at all since he brings nothing to the table. That is a lie and I just stare at my screen with the world’s blankest face because it’s an everyday thing as far as it goes. Mokuba is so much more than the "damsel in distress” sure he got kidnapped from time to time but that is no reason to use that against his character, or better yet use that as a defining character trait. Trust me, they use the whole kidnapping thing as a character trait for him and its beyond me.  

8: cinnamon roll or problematic fave?

Both actually. Season 0 wise he was a little munchkin, you know that one episode of MPGIS where the little barbie doll is just like

“It was me! Mikayla Van Buren!““Jesus Christ, Is that a fucking gremlin?” “No. I’m a third grader!” “Whatever, just no one feed that fucking thing after midnight.” 

Thats Mokuba in Season 0 in a nutshell. I love him so much though. Duel Monsters wise : I LOVE HIM! THAT’S MY SON WHO I WILL LOVE AND PROTECT WITH THE REST OF MY LIFE. Dark Side Of Dimensions wise :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fsH1Rp_5bk 

[sage-nebula]

★ ☆ ☠ ♡ for Jounouchi?

★ Sad Headcanon:

In all honesty, Jounouchi has many, many reasons to be depressed. His dad has been an abusive alcoholic for about as long as Jounouchi can remember, and has been racking up gambling debts for just as long. In childhood his parents fought near constantly, and this only ceased when he was ten and his mother moved out, taking Shizuka with her but leaving Jounouchi behind with his father. After she left, when he was barely eleven (if he was eleven—he might have still been ten) he received a waver so that he could work part-time jobs (a paper route for sure—that’s canon—but I personally believe he has other ones here or there that he keeps on the down-low) so that he could make ends meet, given that his father is both unemployed and, as stated, a gambler. He fell into gang life in middle school, had a toxic / abusive friendship (“friendship”) with Hirutani during this time that followed him to high school, and even in high school it isn’t as if his problems have gone away. Hirutani stops being an issue, but his dad is still an abusive drunk. He’s still the sole breadwinner for their household. Shizuka is going blind and though he manages to win the prize money for her operation (in the manga, he and Atem never dueled; they mutually agreed he would take the prize money while Atem went after Pegasus), it was still hard. He was a sixteen-year-old boy who felt responsible for his little sister’s eyesight. There is a big problem with putting that kind of weight and responsibility on a teenager’s shoulders.

So Jounouchi has many reasons to be depressed, many reasons to angst … but the thing is, Jounouchi hates feeling sadness. And that might seem obvious, because no one likes being sad, but what I mean is that when Jounouchi is depressed, he tends to get angry along with that depression, because he hates the feeling of helplessness that sadness gives him, hates the feeling of weakness that it permeates him with. Jounouchi has felt powerless at many different points in his life. He was powerless as a small child to stop his dad from being an abusive drunk, powerless to stop his mother from abandoning him, powerless in the face of his father’s debts. He has always tried to not be powerless—he used his own body to protect Shizuka whenever their dad lashed out at her, for instance, and has worked part-time jobs to support the household and try to pay his father’s debts—but that doesn’t change the fact that, as a child / adolescent / teenager, he doesn’t have enough power to do very much against things like a massive gambling debt, no matter how much he tries. For him, sadness is attached to that sense of powerlessness; at least if he’s angry, that feels productive, like he can channel that anger into doing something about it. Depression, on the other hand, is despair; it’s spawned from a sense of helplessness and an inability to do anything to change the situation at hand. Crying over his mom abandoning him when he was ten didn’t bring her back. Feeling like he’s a worthless piece of trash (and we know that, in canon, he has felt this way—he straight up says in Death-T that he hated himself at the start of the manga, and we see continuing self-deprecation throughout Duelist Kingdom and the rest of the series that shows us that his self-esteem issues are not gone) didn’t do anything to stop him from being a worthless piece of trash (in his eyes), and that made him angry. Typically, even when Jounouchi falls prey to depression and sadness, there are always flashes of anger and bitterness there. Even in what I consider to be my magnum opus, Whispers in the Dark, while Jounouchi is understandably very depressed throughout the fic, he’s still bitter and angry at his situation (and especially Hirutani) as well. It’s not just that he’s sad and brooding; rather, even when his thoughts are spiraling to dark places, there’s still a lot of anger there to go with it. Loathing for himself, loathing for Hirutani … whatever the case, it’s not just that he’s sad. Rather, the fact that he’s so depressed just spurs his anger even more, because he hates feeling so weak.

So all in all, Jounouchi—particularly in canon—tries to actively fight feelings of sadness. He’d much rather take that sadness and find a reason to be pissed off about it, because to him, anger is more productive and it feels better to be angry than sad. Anger he can at least do something with, in his mind, even though he often ends up turning that anger on himself. Sadness is helplessness and weakness, and he hates feeling that way, and so he avoids it if he can. (Again, sometimes he can’t—and later in life he does have a period of depression when he’s refusing to allow himself to openly return Yuugi’s feelings because he feels like he’s not good enough for Yuugi, and that’s mostly just depression rather than anger—but for the most part, he actively resists being sad because he hates how that feels. If he has to feel a negative emotion, let him be pissed off. He doesn’t just want to be depressed. And yes, things do work out and he ends up allowing himself to openly return Yuugi’s feelings and they’re very happy together, but it’s a whole ordeal because he holds himself back for a long time, despite both Honda and Anzu telling him to go for it. It gets better, but it’s an ordeal at first.)

☆ Happy Headcanon:

Where Jounouchi hates feeling sadness, he loves feeling happy. Again, given his life circumstances, happiness has been hard to come by for quite some time. His home life was nothing cheerful, particularly after his mother took Shizuka away and abandoned him, and middle school—while it had its fun moments—wasn’t a basket of rainbows either. Yes, he met Honda in junior high and the two of them have a positive and good friendship (and hanging out with Honda was definitely among the brighter moments of middle school), but he also did a lot of things in junior high that he is not proud of and his relationship with Hirutani was, as mentioned, toxic. We actually see how miserable Jounouchi is at the very start of the manga, when high school has newly started for him; he scoffs at Yuugi’s idealism, and the idea that Yuugi has a treasure, and later confesses in Death-T that it wasn’t Yuugi that he hated at all, but rather himself. Jounouchi was depressed and angry and filled with self-loathing prior to befriending Yuugi, something not helped (I’m sure) by the fact that he repressed his nerdy interests in an effort to seem manly and fit in. (Because we see how much of a nerd he is in canon, how much he loves games and action figures, but he didn’t openly show this until befriending Yuugi.) But after befriending Yuugi, happiness is a lot easier to come by. Even though his home life and family situation both still suck, spending time with Yuugi allows Jounouchi to freely engage in his passions and interests without fear of judgment, and Yuugi himself is a confidant that Jounouchi trusts heart and soul. He’s at his happiest when the two of them are playing a game together, or watching anime together, or … er, watching “independent adult films” together (and Takahashi confirmed that they do watch porn together, jfc), or whatever else. Being with Yuugi makes it easy for Jounouchi to forget, even temporarily, the dark parts of his life. Jounouchi can fully be himself around Yuugi, and finds hope, inspiration, strength, and courage in Yuugi just as much as Yuugi finds it in him.

That totally not shippy (read: it’s shippy, I’ll own it) bit aside, it’s because Jounouchi has had plenty of times and reasons to not be happy that he actively tries to be happy. Jounouchi doesn’t take things for granted; he knows, perhaps better than some, that happiness is not guaranteed and should be cherished when he has it. He knows that it’s better to be happy than to give into misery, has learned now that hope is something worth having and optimism is not something to scoff at. He knows that there’s strength in joy, in friendship, and love. So even when it comes to little things, even if it’s something small and silly, if it makes him happy he chases it and doesn’t care what others think. He’s learned to have confidence in himself and to just unironically enjoy the things he enjoys. If it makes him happy, it’s good, and that’s that.

So with that said, things that make him happy are: Spending time with his friends (especially Yuugi, as mentioned); spending time with his little sister; playing games (both board and video); watching anime and reading manga; good music (his favorite band is Siam Shade); delicious food (as someone who lives in poverty it’s no wonder he pounces on good food when he can get it); putting together garage kits and models; riding his bike, exercising, or otherwise being active, and other things here or there. He cherishes all of these things and has no problem making that known.

☠ Angry / Violent Headcanon:

Oh boy.

As mentioned, Jounouchi prefers to be angry rather than sad. Anger is productive, anger makes him feel like he has some power or control that he can use to fight back against whatever is making him depressed. Having grown up in an abusive household, Jounouchi shows signs of C-PTSD (complex post-traumatic stress disorder) that are most apparent in his difficulties with emotional regulation. Jounouchi has a quick and hot temper; when he’s aggravated, he’s pissed, and he wastes no time in letting the irritant know it. He also, depending on the circumstances, wastes no time in getting violent over it. He straight up attacks the camera crew before asking questions in Vol. 1, Ch. 2, and as late as the Battle City arc wastes no time in beating the shit out of the two guys who punched Malik back when Jounouchi first met him (and thought Malik was a good guy who had helped Bakura). While in both cases he was being protective over someone (Yuugi in the first, Malik in the second), the fact remains that Jounouchi’s temper was sparked, and immediately ignited into a blaze of fire. Even setting aside acts of violence like that, we see that it’s not hard for him to snap or yell if he gets irritated, that it takes three of his friends to drag him off Kaiba in Duelist Kingdom (okay, that was violent again), that he has a very mercurial temperament and can go from reasonably content to snapping fairly quickly if someone provokes him. When Jounouchi feels things, he feels them very strongly, and this includes things like anger, which for him can spiral into violence due to the fact that he grew up in a household with an abusive father, and these things can embed themselves in a child’s psyche. Jounouchi saw violence and had it normalized growing up, and while he won’t hit girls (he hated when his father would hit his mother, and used his own body to defend Shizuka, and also—thanks to the toxic masculinity his father instilled in him—sees girls as not being as strong, physically, as guys and thus won’t hit or push them), he has absolutely no problems decking a guy in the face. We see this, time and again, in the series. To Jounouchi, violence can easily be a solution to a problem. Maybe there are better ways to handle it—Yuugi certainly thinks so—but punching a bastard in the face is definitely one of Jounouchi’s preferred methods for doing so, because this is what he learned growing up, this is what he internalized, and his temper can spark white-hot when he’s provoked.

(Note: None of this is to say that he has an out of control, violent temper, because he doesn’t. But his mercurial temperament does speak to difficulties with emotional regulation (particularly when he has outbursts, such as when he snapped that he could never trust Kaiba at the start of the Duelist Kingdom arc, and once again shouted at Bakura for even suggesting Kaiba could have some good in him at Pegasus’ castle). Jounouchi would never hit someone he cares about and fuck anyone who even suggests it. So believe me, I’m not saying Jounouchi can’t control his temper or that he would ever hit someone he loves, because he would not. He would never. Don’t get it twisted.)

With all of that said, Jounouchi has in the past used this tendency toward violence as a way of self-destruction and self-harm. Jounouchi hated himself at the start of the series / pre-canon, he routinely got into fights in junior high, and he was in Hirutani’s gang on top of that. We know, based on what we know of Jounouchi’s character and also from what others who knew him back then (Honda and Hirutani, namely) say about him, that Jounouchi picked most, if not all, of the fights he got into back then. Part of this was due to wanting some measure of control and power over his life, some way to feel better about himself and his situation. He’s “the best at fighting,” as he tells Bandit Keith in Duelist Kingdom after knocking him to the floor, and we can tell that this is not a lie, not something he’s making up. Jounouchi earned the right to think that about himself during all the fights he got into in junior high, due to the name he made for himself through those fights, and getting into fights that he could actually win for once did something to (in a twisted way) boost his self-esteem and make himself feel good about something. He might have been worthless trash, but at least this was something he was good at, at least this was something he could do. And even if he was bruised and aching by the time he dragged himself him, the other guys were always in worse shape, and at least these were fights he chose. It wasn’t like when his dad kicked him around. These fights were ones he wanted, ones he won, ones he had control over. These fights and this violence was something that he had power in. It was self-destruction, but it was controlled self-destruction, so he was far more comfortable with it.

And it was self-destruction. As I said, this is Jounouchi’s way of self-harming. Jounouchi doesn’t cut, doesn’t do drugs, and does not drink alcohol (I swear the idea of him drinking is so OoC, considering his father’s alcoholism broke their family apart, has helped drive them into debt, and spurs his abuse toward Jounouchi, so the mere idea that Jounouchi would drink and be anything remotely like his dad is beyond ridiculous), but he does pick fights that leave him bruised and bleeding. He fights, and fights, and fights until he’s so exhausted and hurt he can barely think anymore. The severity of this depends on how bad his circumstances are—it fluctuated in middle school, and doesn’t really happen in high school until the tail end of Whispers—but it’s definitely his self-destruction / self-harm method of choice. He gets himself into fights so that he can work through all the negativity within him through external violence that he both inflicts on others and that they inflict on him.

So to recap: Jounouchi prefers anger over sadness, has a quick and hot temper due to emotional regulation issues, would never hit someone he cares about but has no qualms about laying the smackdown on someone who deserves it (provided they’re male because, again, he won’t hit girls), and purposefully picks fights when he’s in a dark place mentally because that’s how he self-destructs / self-harms (and, in junior high, tried to make himself feel like he had some power and control in his life). That about sums it up.

♡ Romantic Headcanon:

For the longest time, Jounouchi is not much of a romantic, and isn’t interested in serious relationships. Part of this has to do with his parents’ failed marriage; their marriage was toxic for pretty much his entire childhood and ultimately fell apart, and while he knows that not everyone = his parents (and while he certainly is loath to be like either one of them, but especially loath to be anything remotely like his father), that sort of thing still sticks in a child’s psyche. Jounouchi doesn’t have any idealism or optimism toward the idea of romantic relationships, and as such he doesn’t even really entertain the idea of a serious, committed relationship until his early twenties (and even then, it’s just one specific committed relationship that he wants in his early twenties). Before then, in the time post-high school and before his one serious relationship, Jounouchi bounces from casual relationship to casual relationship. He dates around when he can and has fun. Even when some of the girls he dates want him to commit, he doesn’t because he just doesn’t feel that strongly about them (like, they’re hot, and they’re cool, and he likes them a lot, but he’s not in love with them and doesn’t want to commit, and some of them don’t take this very well), and doesn’t want a serious relationship. Casual relationships, without all the deep-seated romantic ties, are where it’s at for him.

This changes when he falls in love with—or rather, when he lets himself realize, accept, and embrace the fact that he has fallen in love with—Yuugi. Yuugi is the first (and only) person Jounouchi ever wants to spend the rest of his life with. While Jounouchi still isn’t fond of stuffy, fancy dates on the regular (and fortunately, neither is Yuugi), for the first time he actually cares about making an effort toward romance, rather than just seeing dates and the like as something he has to get through in order to get to more fun hangouts or make-outs. Christmas Eve is a romantic holiday in Japan (akin to our Valentine’s Day here in the west), and it’s after he and Yuugi enter into a romantic relationship that he actually cares about celebrating it for the first time in his life, and puts real care and effort into planning an awesome trip to Tokyo for himself and Yuugi to celebrate. (Note: They get together when they’re about 23/24, so yeah—early twenties.) Just as Yuugi gave him optimism and hope for life in general back when they became friends, Yuugi also reignites the hope and optimism toward love and romance that Jounouchi didn’t have beforehand. Jounouchi becomes serious about (romantic) love and becomes more romantic because he’s serious about Yuugi. Falling in love with Yuugi, and realizing and accepting those feelings, opened Jounouchi up to that and made him want and actively pursue a deep, serious relationship, rather than just the casual ones he had before.

As a final note on that, Jounouchi is biromantic/bisexual. Growing up he thought of himself as straight, largely due to the toxic masculinity he had instilled in him, but as he grew older, more comfortable with himself, and dropped the toxic masculinity he realized his attraction to men as well. He still has a preference toward women (as Yuugi, despite being panromantic/pansexual, does as well), but he is still bi nonetheless (and again, in a committed relationship with Yuugi, so). It just took him a while to realize that.

[the-cryptographer]

Bakura for the Character writing meme

Thank you for the ask :D

Ah, I haven’t written all that much of any of the Bakurae asof yet (I actually took a break to go write a TKB scene just so that I’d havesome frame of reference) but I think these tend to be my interpretations ofthem. (Also does not include interpretations for alternate headcanons in whichYami Bakura is not a separate entity but a distortion of Ryou’s personality andmemories brought forth by the Ring. Yes I have those.)

RYOU

1) He’s callous. Really, this is the first thing that came tomind and it’s already controversial™ The reason I think of this one first isnot because it cancels out nice, soft-spoken, thoughtful Ryou, but because it’sa characteristic that seems to get lost in nice, soft-spoken, thoughtful Ryouand is thus especially important to keep sight of. I think particularly of theway he carries around the Ring in the full understanding that it can possesshim and make him do terrible things. And I think of how he went along withMai’s prank on Jou after Battle City. And I think of the way he has MonsterWorld figurines of people that have been cruel to him lying on his shelf, andhow he must pass by them tormented by both his inability to free them, but alsohis inability to care about every single individual person trapped inside.

I consider it more or less canon that Ryou’s not exactly astuteor basking in high levels of emotional intelligence as per the above. But therest of this I’m more aware is speculative: I think Ryou is tired and defeatedand betrayed to the extent he can’t really manage to give much of a shit aboutanybody else. I don’t think he’s malicious by any means. I just think the Ringhas taken over his life so completely, and it’s terrifying and he’s hurting –he’s been hurting since his mother’s and sister’s death – and nobody’s steppingin to help him. And when he first met Yuugi and friends and they played theMonster World RPG together, Ryou thought he was saved. But once Yuugi andfriends left, the Ring Spirit was here and there and everywhere in Ryou’s mind.And Ryou felt resentful, because he expected this nightmare to be over but itwasn’t.

If you asked Ryou straight-out, if you addressed him in acapacity to appeal to his sound mind, of course Ryou doesn’t want to hurt anyone.Not at all. Not even himself. Butnobody asks him, and I think there’s an element of spite in the way he is,carrying the ring around in his bag. Or flitting in and out of consciousness andduring Y!Bakura’s and Malik’s plan, but refusing to raise any red flags for therest of the group because *throws up arms* fuck it! Since he has no controlover the outcome of his life, he might as well throw gasoline on the fire.

2) He’s nice and soft-spoken and thoughtful. The aforementioned contrastto the above :pI think he’s very indulgent with people too, when he can be. He’s not going tohold your mistakes against you.

3) I imagine he’s very stubborn about really odd things,lol~  Like, most of the time he’s superquiet and only speaks up to compliment you or to unsettle you slightly withweirdness. But if you say something ‘wrong’ about tabletop RPGs or fortunetelling or anything pertaining to his hobbies or field of study, suddenly you’rearguing with Satan’s debate team and you are wrong and he won’t stop until youcan fully understand how gd wrong you are. And finally you give up and justpretend to be swayed over to his side of the argument because you want thistorment to end. But he KNOWS. He knows you’re just pretending, and he’s side-eyingyou an hour later from the other side of the room.

4) That being said, he’s very calm and smart and level-headedwhen something doesn’t involve him. He is a good and fair mediator.

 THIEF KING BAKURA

1) He’s angry. Something that should theoreticallybe a temporary emotional state, but it’s kind of permanent where the Thief Kingis concerned. He is always angry. I’m pretty sure he’s motivated purely by angerjust about 99% of the time.

2) He’s rude. Yeah. Maybe that’s a strangething to pick out, but he is. And in a different way than the other characters.Consider Jounouchi, who is loud, prone to violating personal space (both in afriendly and intimidating way) and also he’s never said a proper sentence inkeigo in his life and probably never will. But by the time canon has startedJounouchi approaches most of the other characters with good intentions, but heretains his crude mannerisms and speech as a callback to his social background.I suspect, like most people who use non-preferred dialects, he’s clever enoughto be capable of speaking otherwise, but retains it as an expression ofpersonal identity. Consider it as a rather subtle and subconscious take-that atauthoritarian cultural norms.And consider Kaiba, who is also rude,but different. It strikes me how sub!Kaiba almost seems soft-spoken at times,between the manic intensity of his grandiose speeches. Kaiba’s well-spoken, andI’d say he makes a large attempt to appear collected. But he’s also derisiveand irreverent. Incapable of handing out a compliment or giving anybody abreak. He is mean. And he’s trying to be mean – very pointedly mean. He’s rudefor the purpose of hurting you, and he’s hurting you for the purpose of makingyou STAY THE FUCK AWAY!!

So I guess TKB is like the worst of both worlds?? lol, he’s rude for the sakeof seeming crass and unpolished and- no-he’s not one of you. You killed all the others he was like.But he’s still one of them, and hewon’t let you forget it! But he’s also rude for the sake of being the meanestpiece of shit he can possibly be. He is rude to be cruel. To show as much disrespect andvenom and disgust with you as he possibly can. He wants you to hurt.

3) He’s dramatic. Like, the most hammy. I’mgoing to go out on a limb and say he’s even more of a drama queen than Kaiba. I think I’ll put on fifty pieces of bling, drag a mummified corpse behind me, andstorm through the front gates of the palace on top of a giant snake person monsterscreaming ‘It’s time to partaaay!’ Pls take a chill pill, Bakura.

4) He’s impulsive. I’m pretty sure he cameup with that palace-storming plan in five minutes directly after robbing  Akhenamkhanen’s tomb. But probably you seethis more starkly in Y!Bakura bending his plans around Malik. So much thoughtwas put into this. Confronting Y!Malik was definitely a good idea and the workof a mastermind.

5) I think what Thief King Bakura is like outside of hisrevenge plot is kind of more ??? But I mostly imagine him being… lazy.His hobby is lying in the sun and napping and eating well. Every once in awhile he probably has this sudden !!! impulse to make something. To create. Butthe rest of the time he’s mostly just lazing about being sulky. He’s so sullenwhenever he manages not to be angry.Also for some reason I think he might like animals kind of secretly. He’s notsentimental enough not to butcher them, but he was very nice to Wooly the sheepwhile she was alive, and probably he feels a bit sad and misses her once she’sgone.

 Send me a character and I’ll pick out essential characteristics for them that I try to keep in mind while writing them~