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kaiowut99 · 1 year ago

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A Special Announcement~ | Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V Tag Force Special Re-Translation Project!

I've been itching to get around to posting about this for a few months now, but wanted to wait until I'd worked on enough for it, but also had the idea to create an announcement trailer to go with it for added good measure--after recording and editing clips for a couple weeks and leveling the audio last night, heremst we are! (For some clips, I forgot to turn off the PPSSPP emulator's DevMenu option so that shows up in the top-left, buuut I didn't feel like re-recording those, lmao.)

Details worth reading below the cut here, but tl;dr work has been in progress for over a year in between things, work will continue to be in progress for a while, and the release will happen when everything's ready, but stay tuned, fun's getting started etc etc~

So, I'm sure most of us are familiar with the as-yet-unlocalized-by-Konami TFSP, the seventh and last entry in the Tag Force series on the PSP that came out early in ARC-V's run (featuring the first five series which was a cool first), as well as the current translations out there originally worked on by the guys at XenoTranslations (omarrrio and ScrewTheRules/ClickClaxer01 at GBATemp handling the card and story/etc translations, respectively) and how there are... some issues with what's out there. Everything from the DM story mode being loaded with YGOTAS references (no shade to YGOTAS and much respect to LK/Martin for his ongoing work on it still making me laugh sometimes, ofc) to the off-the-cuff edginess of 2014-2015-era internet culture and the problematic (in some cases, derogatory) language that permeated it--though to its credit, some parts do have some level of translation attempted, but taken as a whole, it can definitely turn people off from giving the game a try and seeing what it brings to the table (which is still a good amount despite the corners Konami cut here/there compared to prior TF games).

I actually did attempt a translation of my own back in 2015 (if you've been following me for a long time, you might remember it lol), tackling the GX story text starting with Judai's heart events, but eventually put it on the backburner as I focused more on my GX subbing work and beginning to finalize everything (which I'm still doing). Sometime in 2022, a friend over on NeoArkCradle (the "anonymous YGO fan" in the opening screen) was poring over the story text and patching it up the best he could to remove the references and inaccuracies with more coherent work, and after a while of seeing what he was working with in the Discord, I was a bit blown away by just how inaccurate much of it was--so alongside him, and using the better tools available since then (including some really awesome work from both nzxth2 [who did a proper re-translation of 5D's TF6 not too long ago and was kind enough to release his tools for it] and our coding helper Xan1242 who we eventually reached out to for some help), I decided to *cracks knuckles* get involved and help give everything a more accurate and professional translation, much like I do with my GX subs, working directly off the Japanese text and files. I've been taking cracks at everything in between the GX episodes I've been finalizing going back to at least last January (and I'd used my little hiatus after finalizing GX Season 2's subs to really get at some other stuff throughout the game), starting with re-translating DM's story text but also properly translating other aspects of the game, from the character names (using the original Japanese names, including those of the TF-exclusive characters, partly since Konami made a whole mess of them in English TF1-5), in-duel dialogue, pack descriptions, and more to images with Japanese text (such as localizing the in-duel cut-in onomatopoeia as you see in the video above, or other little images throughout) using some Photoshop skills I've picked up. And it's been a joint effort, as said NAC friend and I have been bouncing off how we'd like to see this go between us to stay on the same page and all, while also checking with other translators there for second/third opinions as needed.

Our plan is to release two versions of a translation--one which uses the OCG [translated] card names in Story Mode, in-duel, and other text but not in the game's card system (mainly to deal with story-relevant notes like Osiris vs Slifer with the Gods or things like not-Utopia Hope being symbolic between Yuma and Astral, akin to how I do my GX subs), and one which uses the TCG card names in everything (like how the official subs go about it). While we're mostly working with the Japanese game files due to how the Xeno team went about decoding everything, we'll be using the card-system-related files from the fixed ISO provided by FLSGaming which fixed some issues that had been present there. And Xan has helped us with a plugin that will be used to apply our translations to the system files that were hard to edit otherwise (things like the character and recipe names, as well as the pack names pulled from for the Card Description screen), but more on how that'll work once this is ready for release, lol. At some point, I'd like to also look at HDifying textures and things, but that's definitely a bonus-level thing for after the main work here is done.

SO.

Currently, Story-Mode-wise, I've gone through everything up to Yusei's events--so Dark Yugi/Kaiba/Jounouchi/Ishizu/Mai in DM, Judai/Manjoume/Asuka/Misawa/Ryou in GX, and Yusei in 5D's have been fully retranslated, though I took initial cracks at Yuma and Yuya's events to get content for this video lol (I've also been intentionally holding off on as much ZEXAL as I can until I've properly watched the whole show so I have context). I haven't tackled overworld text yet, though (like pre-duel or the tournament-related text, which is all in the same file as all the story text). I've also been handling the in-duel dialogue as I go through the character stories, so also just up to Yusei, though I did take initial cracks at Aki's, Yuma and Shark's, and Yuya and Yuzu's for the video.

Other things tackled that were sprinkled into the video, along with some other notes:

Pack names and descriptions have been retranslated, though the descriptions may see minor edits closer to release for a little variety between worlds given the different characters at the shop. Character recipe names were also retranslated, with Yugipedia's translations for them used as an occasional second opinion, though ones based on pack names had to be abbreviated in spots.

Menu text, from the Options to Help screens and stuff in between, has been retranslated, as have in-duel text strings (so, you'll see a full "Activate Effect" instead of "Activate" or "Switch to Attack/Defense Position" instead of "Switch to ATK/DEF Position", etc--also fixed the "BATTELE PHASE" graphic typo, and NAC friend created a new translation for the "Turn Change" graphic for accuracy since ENG TF1-5 made that into "Next Player's Turn").

Database stuff, such as the Sound Test, Tutorials, Duel Missions, etc., have been retranslated closer to the Japanese text; originally I retranslated the Tutorial text via hex editor, with compromises done on quite a bit of it due to the space limits, but as Xan recently updated a text extractor tool of theirs to more cleanly pull out and reinsert that text, I've been going through and fleshing out those translations more (on my commutes to/from work mostly, to be productive lol).

As mentioned, I've been localizing/translating Japanese-text images throughout the game as I come across them, like with the in-duel onomatopoeia that come up during cut-ins or images in the shop/duel/etc screens using Japanese text, to make sure the game is fully translated.

The series logos, used during the title sequence and in the Series Select screens, were updated with translated fan edits shared on Deviantart (which we'll credit in the final release) for DM and GX, while the 5D's-ARC-V logos were edited to enlarge the "Yu-Gi-Oh!" text on them that was pretty hard to see originally.

The game's original opening sequence starts on an anti-piracy message before going into the Konami logo and then a "From Yu-Gi-Oh!..." screen before the opening animation for each series logo--the original team decided to use the first image to vent their frustration at Konami for not localizing this game, and while that's valid (to some extent), we thought we'd use the opportunity to dedicate this project to Kazuki Takahashi for inspiring our love for YGO and the place it's had in our hearts for all these years.

We'll be updating the names of cards that had TCG releases after the original patch was worked on/updated by FLSG to those corresponding names.

Xan has been working on many UI fixes for us to apply with this, among them 3-line dialogue box text as is used in the ENG TF1-5 games--once implemented for TFSP, I'll be going over everything to make full use of that extra space where needed, so things might not look as they do in the video by then.

Character bios will be worked on after I've done the story stuff, though I've taken initial cracks at it for Yuma and Yuya's bios for the video, along with translating the location/affiliation names ("Domino High School," "Satellite," etc).

Currently no release date is planned, as I'm working on this between my GX-finalizing work and actual IRL work, though we'll see how later this year looks as more work gets done--but as noted in the video, all things being equal, it will be released when everything is ready. I'll try to post regular updates or rambles now that this announcement's been made, lol, but do try not to constantly check in on a release date. 🙏🏽

All that said, I think that covers just about everything I wanted to put out there with this, lol. It's been fun to work on this so far and getting to see what I've re-translated in-game is definitely neat; looking forward to us being able to release everything when ready.

Stay tuned for more; the fun's just getting started!

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taruchinator · 3 months ago

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🐚 General Audiences

🐚 2.5k Words

🐚 Written for the @ygomerzine!

A few days prior as Jaden was out exploring beyond the coral reef, he'd come across a strange commotion relayed to him by the clownfish in the area. Apparently, a shipwreck had occurred that evening due to a powerful thunderstorm above water.

As such, the brunet called on his best friends regarding this finding, and then set a date to go and take a closer look for any interesting human treasure left behind.

There was just one tiny detail Jaden had purposefully left out of their little excursion.

It was near the forbidden Shark territory.

Greetings friends, Alice here! ^^

I am back with my YGO agenda, and this time I bring something few peeps can resist—mermaids 🧜‍♀️ This was written for the “Into The Depths: A YGO MerZine”, and you KNOW I had to go for good old starshipping!

Please consider checking out the zine for free on Tumblr!

Long ago at the bottom of the sea,

Sharks and Merfolk lived in perfect harmony.

One brought food, the other brought peace,

the two races saw their numbers slowly increase.

But one fateful day had everything change,

when Sharks decided that they needed more,

be it food, land or reign, they didn't know.

The battle was fierce, with lives lost at sea,

no one saw a future in which they all lived in glee.

So after parting ways and never looking back,

the Merfolk would tell the story to their young ones as a warning,

“Never trust a Shark, for they will leave you mourning.”

“Come on guys, try to keep up!”

“S-Slow down, Jay!”

Three young mermen could be seen coursing through the trenches of the deep blue sea, each eager for the day ahead of them. But none more excited than Jaden—the brunet leading the pack who kept grinning from ear to ear.

A few days prior as he was out exploring beyond the coral reef, he'd come across a strange commotion relayed to him by the clownfish in the area. Apparently, a shipwreck had occurred that evening due to a powerful thunderstorm above water, leaving the large vessel at the bottom of the ocean for anyone to see.

As such, the brunet called on his best friends regarding this finding, and then set a date to go and take a closer look for any interesting human treasure left behind.

There was just one tiny detail Jaden had purposefully left out of their little excursion.

“Um… say, Sarge?” Hassleberry was catching up to the brunet with little to no effort, an eyebrow raised in curiosity as he took a glance at the route ahead. “Any reason we're swimming straight north?”

Jaden merely sent him a smirk over his shoulder without slowing down. “Cause that's where we're going, duh! The ship is just beyond the anemone ahead!”

“You don't mean—?”

“By shark territory!?” Syrus immediately came to a halt with eyes wide in what could only be described as pure terror. “Jay, I know you like to live on the edge but this is too much, even for you! You know we aren't allowed anywhere near there!”

Jaden had to suppress the sigh that wanted to escape his lips at that moment. He knew his friends would react this way, especially Syrus since he'd never been one to wander off on his own, at least not until meeting the brunet and having the oldest slowly try to get him out of his shell. Still, Jaden prided himself in having a keen sense for these kinds of explorations—if it was truly dangerous, he wouldn't be suggesting it.

Regardless, he decided to slow down enough for his companions to catch up, and turned to them with a sheepish grin. “Look, I know you guys are worried. But it's technically not in shark territory, it's just before the border. If we see any kind of trouble, we'll just swim the heck outta there! We're the fastest mermen of the colony, after all…”

The duo exchanged a look of skepticism for a moment, until Syrus broke the silence with a sigh of defeat. “I guess I'd be fine if I stayed outside the ship… standing guard and all…”

Jaden's grin widened significantly and he immediately went for a hug, spinning the boy around despite his squirming arms. “Syyyy! I knew you'd come around!”

“W-Whatever, let's just get this over with!”

Hassleberry snickered to the side and started poking at Syrus’ sides with a devilish smirk plastered all over. “I dunno, Sarge. I think he needs a little more convincin’.”

The blue haired merboy and the braided merman would continue to bicker and tease each other all the way to their destination, which only brought warmth to Jaden's chest. There was no one else he'd rather go facing the unknown with than them.

Eventually they reached the anemone fields with little to no effort, gliding across the water and feeling the slender tentacles tickling their tails in greeting. In the midst of it all was a large ship, covered in debris and wrapped around seaweed despite only being underwater for a few days, just like the clownfish had described.

Jaden picked up the pace and headed for the deck, already shouting over his shoulder for Hassleberry to hurry up. He heard an affirmative grunt, along with a separate smaller voice claiming he'd stay by the seaweed-covered bottom. And so, the duo headed into the lower chambers of the sunken vessel to see what it had in store for them.

It wasn't their first ship exploration—Jaden had gotten plenty of tips in the past for these sprinkled across their part of the ocean. This was however the largest one to date, which obviously had the brunet swimming back and forth in excitement at what they could possibly find down there. As they reached the sleeping quarters, he turned towards Hassleberry with a glint in his eye. “I go right, you go left?”

The braid-haired merman returned the look with a mischievous grin of his own. “You know it, Sarge! Will call if I find anything interesting!” And just like that, his friend disappeared from view and deeper into the craft.

Jaden headed his own way, looking at anything that may contain something interesting. First the walls, since sometimes they held strange yet fascinating contraptions that moved one way or the other; he liked to add those to his collections. Unfortunately so far no luck in that department.

Then came the famous ‘treasure chests’, or at least that's what Syrus called them—wooden boxes filled to the brim with nothing but shiny objects as far as the eye could see. The brunet rummaged through a few of them, but could only find the standard small golden circles and red sparkly things attached to pearls. Nothing he hadn't seen before.

“Come on, there's gotta be something interesting around here…” Jaden closed the lid of the final box with a thud which echoed around the empty halls. Despite another quick search, nothing stood out to him no matter how many stones he turned. Before he could go back and join his friend on the other side however, the brunet's ears perked at a peculiar sound.

Something like… a grunt?

He stayed silent and immobile for a few seconds; waiting. Then swam tentatively forward. “Hassleberry? Is that you?”

“U-Ugh!”

The sound of distress caused his eyes to widen and his resolve to settle. After following the source for a few twists and turns in the corridors, he arrived at a tiny room which he and his friends had dubbed ‘the special room’, since it always seemed to have the same things in it regardless of the ship—a large circle with pointy ends around it sticking out of the floor, and a couple of strings that sometimes made the ship do noises when you tugged them.

And the sight that greeted him was surprising.

Resting there in the middle of the room was another merman. He had spiky black hair with yellow streaks, tan colored skin, and a tail that was completely caught under pieces of rubble.

The raven turned his attention to Jaden once he realized he wasn't alone anymore. He widened his eyes in surprise, most likely not expecting anyone else to be in an area like this. The deep ocean blue eyes that stared back at him caused the brunet's heart to skip a beat. “H-Hello…”

Jaden snapped out of his trance and immediately headed closer, inspecting the problem up close. “H-Hey! What are you doing here? You okay?”

“I… I'm alright. It's just a bit heavy.” The other merman shifted under the brunet's gaze and seemed to try and wiggle his tail to emphasize his point. The planks didn't move whatsoever. “I was trying to get some fish out of here when the shipwreck happened and well… guess I got myself in a bad spot…”

“I'll say.” After giving him a quick look around, Jaden placed a firm grip on one of the corners of the fallen planks, beginning to tug with a few grunts. “I thought I was the only one crazy enough to get near these things. I'm Jaden, by the way!”

“Yusei…” The young merman's gaze flickered between Jaden and the rubble covering his tail, seeming slightly on edge for some reason. “I-I appreciate the help, but I think I can manage.”

Jaden let out a chuckle while the wooden structure slid to the side. One down, just a few more to go. “I'd say your squirming and groaning would beg to differ. I'm just gonna need your help to push the big stuff off ya.”

Yusei still seemed a bit uncomfortable, but complied regardless with a nod as he started pushing the largest pieces of debris with the brunet's help. It didn't take long for everything to be cleared out of the way, much to their relief. The raven was finally able to swim to a vertical position, sporting a smile that rivaled all shiny objects Jaden had seen on his adventures. “Thanks a lot! That would've taken forever on my own!”

A grin of his own suddenly spread across his cheeks. “Hey, no problem! Us explorers have to stick—”

That was when he noticed it.

Looking downwards and blinking a couple of times to make sure he wasn't seeing things, Jaden froze at the sight. It was something he should be familiar with: a tail. But this one was different—curved in the middle, pointy on each end, and even slightly chipped from possible battles the brunet didn't even want to imagine.

And as he turned upwards, it was only then he noticed the sharp teeth that greeted him in that previously innocent smile.

��A shark…” How he couldn't sense it sooner was beyond him, but now that he'd seen it, his mind started to race to all possible scenarios. “I need to get Hassleberry and Syrus outta here! I could use the debris as a distraction. I mean, I dunno how much this guy knows about ship layout but if I'm lucky, I'll be able to outswim him with that. But by the time I get to the guys…”

Yusei's expression then shifted to one of confusion, probably by Jaden's abrupt silence, until his eyes widened in realization. He swam a little further back, raising both hands in an act of surrender. “Hey… I-I know how this looks, but I'm not gonna hurt you… I mean, as long as you don't hurt me, okay?”

Jaden was momentarily snapped out of his stupor by the comment, which caused him to raise his eyebrows and raise his arms in exasperation. He almost forgot he was talking to someone who could rip him to shreds if he wanted to. “M-Me hurting you?! With what? You're the one with teeth that can rip through flesh! All I've got is my witty charms and those can only get me so far!”

The raven then burst into laughter; so pure and innocent and filled with nothing but unapologetic joy that had Jaden's stomach doing flips in a way he'd never felt before. He didn't hate it…

“S-Sorry! I-I'm sorry! I'm not making fun of you, I swear!” Yusei held his sides while leaning against one of the damaged walls. “I-It's just… Well, we've heard a lot about your kind. But now that I'm seeing you in person you're not like that at all!”

“Same. I wouldn't have recognized you if not for the tail, but everyone back home says you guys are like these hideous underwater monsters… So it's not my fault I mistook you for a regular hot merman!” The words spilled out of his mouth before he could stop them—be it his usual blather mouth self or the panic still simmering inside him. Regardless, his face instantly felt hotter and the look Yusei was giving him was not helping.

It's not like he was lying, though.

His companion raised an eyebrow while giving Jaden a quick look down. A slight smirk made itself present on his lips, and the brunet couldn't stop the thoughts that formed in his head over how those sharp teeth somehow made him even sexier. “God I could really use a whirlpool to swallow me whole right now…”

“You're nothing like how they described either. Are all mermfolk this cute?” Yusei's head cocked to the side with a playful undertone. “Not to mention being brave enough to go into a sunken ship and help a complete stranger in the process.”

“W-Well, um, I—”

“Sarge! Where you at?”

Hassleberry's voice echoed into their chamber and Jaden instantly turned towards the direction of the door. Yusei's ears also perked in sudden alertness, but quickly de-escalated after seeing the merman's reaction. “He a friend of yours?”

“Yeah… My buds and I do this kinda stuff all the time. Nice little escape from boring everyday stuff.” The brunet turned towards Yusei with furrowed eyebrows. He was still grasping with the fact that a shark wasn't trying to eat him—how would his friends take it?

Almost sensing his doubt, the raven turned behind him and swam towards a broken window. An exit neither of them had considered before. He looked at Jaden with a small smile. “Guess this is where we part ways, then. Wouldn't want to give your friends a scare.”

“Maybe we can meet up again sometime!” Once again, the words left Jaden's mouth before he could stop them, but this time he didn't feel the need to take them back. His instincts hadn't warned him about any danger before meeting Yusei. And he was always one to rely on his instincts; they'd never stirred him wrong before.

Yusei's eyes widened in shock, most likely not expecting such a response. But then they shone with what could only be described as excitement with another smile painted across his face. Jaden had to get used to such blinding beauty. “I'd like that… maybe tomorrow?”

Jaden returned the smile and a little wave, too. “It's a date.”

Just like that, Yusei returned the wave and disappeared through the window without leaving a trace. It was almost as if he'd never been there.

Hassleberry burst through the entrance with enough force to knock against one of the walls. He let out a grunt while rubbing his head in pain. “Ugh… Sarge, this whole place was a bust. We should probably get back before Syrus thinks we got sucked into oblivion or somethin’”

“Sounds good. We'll have better luck next time…” Jaden smiled and gave the window one final look, eager for what tomorrow had in store.

“Hey, why you smilin’ all goofy lookin’?”

“A-Am not! Just move those fins!”

#my stories #yugioh gx #yugioh 5ds #ygo #starshipping #yusei x jaden #jaden x yusei

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blackfeatherdragon · 9 months ago

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YGO Zexal Keyswap AU (AKA an excuse for me to engage in Aztecshipping) (I only thought this out through the WDC arc and even then there's still gaps-)(thanks to my friend usagi for helping me fill in some of these gaps)

(This is a long infodump, look out-)

-While looking for the interdimensional portal, but before adding Kazuma to the team, Byron and Faker made a trip out to a hypothetical location where they thought it would be. Faker didn't find what he was looking for, but Byron did get the Emperor's Key, so that's neat.

-Upon returning home briefly to see his younger sons, Byron gave the Key to Michael, figuring he'd love this kind of artifact.

-(Michael did in fact love it. Little nerd.)

-Byron then returned to his research, and then vanished. Michael and Thomas then end up in the orphanage, with Michael safeguarding what items he has left to remember his father (The Aztec Mask Golem card and the Key).

-Flash forward a few years, Michael is thirteen now, and due to a chain of events I have not worked out yet, the Key is activated and Michael meets Astral.

-(Michael is overjoyed at the interdimensional alien tied to the Key, if a bit annoyed that Astral's amnesiac state means he can't tell him much.)

-Michael also already knows how to play Duel Monsters already, but Astral still tries to backseat duel.

-Insert some Number hunting at the orphanage here. Michael's 'starter' Number is Chronomaly Machu Mech, and the first one he gets off someone else is Shark Drake.

-Eventually, when Michael is fourteen, Christopher/V finally comes back to collect Michael and Thomas from the orphanage. After everyone is reunited at Heartland, Tron performs the rituals to place the crests on Thomas and Michael, then requests that Michael return the Key to him.

-Michael refuses, not willing to sacrifice Astral, and Thomas, realizing that his baby brother and his invisible alien friend aren't safe in this situation, creates an opportunity for Michael to flee by picking a fight with V.

-Michael flees with the Key, only to end up breaking down later because he's now completely separated from his family, so soon after he'd thought he'd have them all back.

-Enter the Tsukumos, who let Michael stay with them for a while while he sorts himself out. He and Yuma start making friends.

-Michael is also encouraged to start attending school due to his age, and he tests into the first year of junior high despite being old enough for second year. This means he's now in the same year as Shark and Rio. This won't be awkward-

--Oh, wait, the whole situation with Shark, Rio, and IV happens. Things get awkward with Shark and Michael having to share a class, especially since Michael can't ask his brother what happened.

-Michael also continues Number hunting, though he's now racing his own brothers and Kaito for Numbers.

-Meanwhile, Yuma has also been getting inexplicably better at duelling? Despite not having Astral to help him? Odd, but okay.

-We finally catch up to where the series would have started. Michael is now fifteen and in second year of junior high, and Yuma has started at junior high as a first year. Finally, Michael and Yuma can be at the same school-

-Yuma also starts getting a bit concerned about the Key and Astral, but doesn't say much about why.

-Number hunting continues. Kaito has a WTF moment when he realizes that the guy scrambling for Numbers is Chris's younger brother

-WDC starts! Michael gets himself entered just fine, Yuma is also remarkably on the ball with entering!

-Michael and IV have at least one run in, then late on the second day Yuma and Michael witness V kidnapping Haruto. Michael only admits that the kidnapper was Christopher before he uses his crest to warp back to the Arclight family hideout in hopes of talking them down.

-But...Yuma is here. Wasn't he with Kaito a moment ago?

-Yeah. About that. Tron didn't like losing a pawn when Michael fled, and decided to just manipulate a new pawn instead of deal with an unwilling participant. And wouldn't you know it, Yuma happened to lose his father to Faker's betrayal, desperately wants to duel, and is kind of gullible, so Tron decided he'd make a good enough target, so long as he doesn't find out about the depths of the plan.

-Yuma got to learn to duel, is promised he'd find out more about what happened to his father, pretty much everything he wanted. Tron also convinces Yuma that the Key is influencing Michael like what the Numbers do to most people, so Yuma is convinced that he needs to help Michael by getting the Key.

-(The only thing keeping Yuma from just grabbing the Key sooner is the fact that Michael keeps it physically on his person as much as humanly possible, a habit picked up in the orphanage since leaving your stuff laying around there was a good way to get your stuff stolen.)

-How did Yuma get there before Michael did? Turns out, Tron decided to crest Yuma too, on the promise that it would let him control Numbers safely and protect him from having his soul taken by people like Kaito. Which was true, but conveniently left out what would happen if he lost while controlling a Number.

-In any case, Yuma, IV, and Michael all spend several minutes trying to convince each other to leave and back down before Kaito finally shows up via Orbital hangglider and forces a duel

-Insert Michael and Kaito VS IV and Yuma duel here. Yuma's signature Number is, of course, Hope.

-Duel ends, IV and Yuma flee, Haruto is returned with Yuma never being told what Tron wanted with Haruto in the first place. Tron claims his plan was simply to try and lure in Faker.

-Michael and Astral are horrified at finding out about Yuma, and end up sheltering with Shark for the night instead of returning to the Tsukumos. It's a good opportunity for Michael to talk to his classmate about what's happening/ask Shark about his interactions with IV and Yuma.

-(Shark got Leviathan Dragon instead of Shark Drake BTW. Michael still has Shark Drake, and IV was tasked with delivering Leviathan Dragon since Yuma wouldn't have wanted to hurt Shark.)

-The next day, Yuma contacts Michael and asks to talk. Talking turns into Yuma trying to get the Key in an attempt to save Michael from its assumed influence, which leads to a duel.

-Yuma finally tells Michael what Tron's been telling him and how he just wants to help/find out what happened to his father, Michael in turn tells Yuma the truth about what Tron wants/what the crest will do if Yuma loses while powerful Numbers are in play.

-They then find a way to loophole the duel's end so no one goes comatose, probably by having Yuma replace Hope with a Number not powerful enough to trip the crest.

-Flash forward a bit to the finals! Michael ends up having to face IV during the course of the finals, during which Tron taunts both of them at once. Michael wins, but is upset knowing his brother will go comatose.

-IV's last message to Michael before leaving is to tell him to keep going.

-IV: "Give Tron hell, Michael, Astral."

-Yuma saves Shark from Tron's influence as per canon, thus revealing that he's defected from Tron's side and knows what's truly up. (Tron's intention was for Shark to beat Yuma and let Yuma be cast aside once his role was done.)

-Michael and Yuma end up facing off one more time before the final. No playing around or loopholes this time, winner faces Tron and they both know it.

-Michael wins, and ends up crying as Yuma goes comatose as a result. However, Yuma does give Michael two new cards before slipping under: his signature monster, Hope, and Chronomaly Atlandis.

-Finally, Michael faces Tron and he's not happy. His brothers and Yuma are in comas, so many people have been hurt by Tron's scheming, and all Michael ever wanted was to have his family back.

-They duel. It's a mess, with Tron and Michael both giving their all, and culminates with Michael and Astral going Zexal.

-(Their Zexal form takes a lot of visual cues from Michael's gladiator outfit from the canon Yuma vs Michael duel, btw.)

-Michael wins, and when Faker takes all the Numbers, Michael attempts to save his father from being dragged in.

-Tron, realizing how far he's gone, releases all the affected souls and lets go of Michael, letting himself be dragged in to at least let Michael live.

-Seeing his father be taken away by Faker for a second time utterly breaks Michael. He decides to enact vengeance on Faker himself, storming off to the tower in a fit of rage, only to be intercepted by Yuma.

-After the breakdown plays out, the two decide to go in together to face Faker.

-Shark and Kaito end up turning up too, with the four all tag teaming against Faker.

-The gang wins, enter the second half of the series with the Barians. The only thing I have planned for the back half so far is Alito shows up and starts trying to flirt with Yuma, resulting in Michael getting jealous for 'some reason'. (He is oblivious to just how he feels about Yuma.)

#yugioh #ygo #yugioh zexal #iii arclight #michael arclight #yuma tsukumo #astral zexal #aztecshipping #keyswap au

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inkblackorchid · 5 months ago

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dunno if you've ever been asked, but what are your thoughts on z-one? He's one of my favorite final boss villains in YGO but I know (especially for a while) people didn't like him due to the fakeout of not being an evil Yusei.

Hey there! As a matter of fact, I have not been asked. I think Z-ONE's a fine antagonist, frankly. The setup to get to him takes a while, but the reveal when he finally shows up is pretty good where I'm concerned. (Of course, some things about him are plagued by the same plotholes as the entire WRGP—mostly, the scope of his "godlike" powers is very, very unclear. But since it adds a lot of pizzazz, I can usually overlook it.) Moreover, I think the initial reveal of his face—where it's unclear whether or not he's Yusei at first—is perfect, because it really throws you for a loop.

That said, I'm a bit in two minds about the identity thing. On one hand, I get why people wanted him to be Yusei, as in, the actual, real Yusei, who was simply pushed to his limits by a horrid, inescapable future. The sheer amount of angst would have been unparalleled. And it would have posed the very interesting question of just what it would take to push Yusei, our very own protagonist, that far. After all, he's the hero, he's the one preaching hope and friendship even when everyone else has given up on it already. Just the implications alone of a person like Yusei—Yusei—being pushed far enough to become the villain would have been downright cataclysmic. It would have sold the sheer hopelessness of the Meklord future like nothing else. So I get why people wanted it to be true, there's certainly potential there.

But at the same time... I'm not sure I can bring myself to see it. And a lot of that has to do with what canon presents us before the big reveal of Z-ONE's face already. First, there's the fact that it's Yusei. As I said, this is the guy who's all-in on loyalty, hope, and friendship even when nobody else is. It is arguably one of his, if not the defining trait he has. To topple that unwaveringness by implying even he could be pushed to give up on these things... I don't know if it might not have soured his character a bit in some people's eyes. Even if it might have been more realistic, even if it might have been human. Then, there's also the things we get about Z-ONE, as a character, before the reveal. And yes, I concede that's very little, but frankly? It's enough to make him feel like he absolutely couldn't be Yusei to me. Like yes, granted, the unavoidable future of despair™ would have probably changed his personality somewhat, but to that degree? Z-ONE acts nothing like Yusei to me. His tactics in manipulating Sherry, the way he speaks with Aporia during their duel, hell, the sodding Timelords he plays. I mean, sure, obviously they gave him a completely different deck so they could a.) sell more cards and so b.) the reveal could be delayed a little longer for more tension, but something about the idea that Yusei, had he actually been Z-ONE, would have completely abandoned his old deck, kept not even a single card, not even Stardust, or Speed Warrior, or Scrap-Iron Scarecrow, doesn't sit right with me. And that's obviously not touching on the timeline shenanigans that don't quite match up, because Z-ONE's ruined future is implied to be far away enough to exceed Yusei's own lifespan. (Now, if they had actually written Z-ONE to act more like Yusei, and to perhaps, damningly, have kept some of Yusei's cards, I might have been more on board with the idea.)

I don't know, I might be in the minority there, but I think Z-ONE was fine the way he was in canon. We got the shock moment of him possibly being Yusei without delving into either the emotional can of worms, nor the timeline nonsense can of worms that would have come with him actually being Yusei. Z-ONE is an excellent, end-of-show antagonist to me, with or without that extra angst. I don't usually like fakeouts that much, either, but this one, I'll happily tolerate. (Though I would argue the guy could have used just a smidgen more setup and would be even stronger if not for the nonsense worldbuilding of the Meklords. But everyone and their mother who knows my blog knows how I feel about the Meklords, worldbuilding-wise.)

#yugioh 5ds #yusei fudo #z-one #ask the orchid #*holds up z-one* I just think he's neat #tha dark signers still get me marginally more hyped #but I am self-aware enough to admit that's mostly because of aesthetics #I'm a sucker for the vengeful goth squad #that said z-one's a very good antagonist to end the show on #but yeah there you go!#orchid rambles

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kaibacorpintern · 1 year ago

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You can ignore this since this is a dumb nonsense question but I feel like you'd maybe have fun answers to this: what do the members of the cast of YGO make of "the curtains were blue"?

i love your questions!!

why are the curtains blue?

anzu: the curtains are blue because blue is the color of sadness, and the curtains are blue in the bedroom where the main character's father dies, and the author made the curtains blue to reflect the character's grief about it.

yuugi: well i think the curtains are blue because blue is the author's favorite color. it doesn't have to mean anything. it's not symbolizing any hidden repressed feelings of grief or anger or anything in the main character. the author just likes the color blue. everything is totally fine with the author and the character :)

atem, confidently: the curtains are blue because they represent the character's grief over his sister's death by car accident. [atem the character doesn't have a sister. his father is dying of cancer. did you even read the book?] of course i did. i read all 242 pages of it and i prepared diligently for this discussion, and i agree with aibou.

jounouchi, who also didn't read the book: the curtains are blue because the author picked a color at random. it doesn't mean shit dude. reading books for fun is for nerds anyway

honda, who wrote jounouchi's paper for him using anzu's notes: i dunno why the curtains are blue. the main character seems like a decent guy though. taking care of his dying father day in and day out, opening the curtains every morning and closing them every night. i think the curtains represent like, how ordinary and small compassion can be, it doesn't have to be grandiose or anything. i think the color blue is just a detail.

ryou: i forgot to read the book. i was reading the new release in my favorite fantasy series, The Prince of Fury and Ashes, Vol VII: Teriana'athuan G'aatar Returns. this one is especially important because the author is finally starting to explain how the magic system works, although there are still some glaring inconsistencies in why elves can perform fire magic but not lightning, and dwarves can perform stone magic but not sand? and i think Goriandr's redemption arc is a little shoddy towards the end but i think we'll really see the repercussions of his actions in Vol. VIII, although the author said on their blog that the TV series adaptation is taking up a lot of their time so i might just write some fanfiction for his redemption arc :) [ryou you can't submit your fanfiction for a grade] okay but have you read it?

kaiba: the curtains are blue because blue is the perfect color. beyond that, within the context of the narrative, the color blue represents nothing so much as the character's hopes, dreams, aspirations, in the same way that blue is the color of the sky, a common symbol for freedom liberation. the sky is an abstract space, untainted by the act of definition. the lack of definition is the glory of the sky. the fact that the author put the blue curtains in the bedroom where the character's father died inextricably links the character's aspirations to the death of their father [but kaiba, the curtains are navy blue, not sky blue] navy blue, the color of the ocean, which frequently represents the subconscious, the dreaming space, the unspoken impulses of the id -- those that, in the words of althusser, have yet to be called into being via language. the character has subconscious feelings about the death of his father that he is unable to articula --

mokuba: i also read the book, and i agree with niisama.

#intern memo #pegasus: the author; chose blue because he knew it would drive them to madness

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twisted-art-wounders · 4 months ago

Text

YGO AU: Breaking the Seal 20

Chapter 20 Connection

Yugi gets to know his fellow DOMA members and discovers their is more to them then meets the eye.

“Why do I gotta babysit?” Valon groaned as he walked side by side with his fellow swordsmen down the long hallway. “I'm no good with kids!”

“He's not a kid, He's 17.” Raphael answered.

“Whatever! Why do I gotta waste my time looking after Dartz's brat? That's not fair! What did I do to deserve this?” Valon covered his eyes with his free hand a frustrated grunt passing through his lips.

“Because we're not the ones who got injured on the job while trying to flirt with a blonde.” Alister teased “You're lucky Dartz is even giving you work to do after that tremendous blunder.”

“Oi, I was trying to recruit her! She's a strong duelist I can get her to join us! I just need a little more time…” Valon huffed making Alister chuckle before responding

“Valon, there's no woman on EARTH with that much time.”

They were returning from DOMA's main card room; Rex Raptor and Weevil Underwood were in there for about an hour preparing their new decks before they were instructed by Dartz to go and capture the souls of the Nameless Pharaoh and Joey Wheeler. With their powered up decks and using the Seal of Orichalcos they'd hoped it would be enough for them to finally beat the two chosen duelists. Both the bug and dino duelists were taken by one of Paradius' private limos to the train station so they could prepare to en act their plans.

Valon again grumbled to himself under his breath, before trying to change the subject.

“So…anyone else freaked out with the kid's power? I thought he was human not some kind of meta human or mutant…”

The other two looked down the hallway both remembering what they witnessed from the vessel; he emitted a monstrous amount of energy the likes of which none of them had seen before. Powerful enough it felt like the whole building was going to crumble around them.

“…You guys think he's Dartz's illegitimate kid? I mean he and Dartz seem to carry the same aura you know.” Valon looked at the other two hoping they were thinking the same thing.

“Pfft I doubt it. It's Dartz's were talking about can you imagine him having a child?” Alister shock his head but still paused for a moment before continuing.

“But I am a bit confused too, how could he have that kind of power? Did the Orichalcos grant it to him or was he hiding this power all along?” Alister looked to Raphael waiting form him to weigh his thoughts in.

Raphael closed his eyes and kept walking “There's no doubt he has a powerful soul, he broke the Orichalcos twice after all. Not to mention he's the chosen vessel of the Nameless Pharaoh…only a vessel with that amount of strength could hold the power the Nameless Pharaoh has.” The blonde man opened his eyes again and looked down the hallway as they passed by more closed doors all incidental to each other.

“Whatever Master Dartz has planned for him we need to make sure to follow his orders; You need to keep an eye on him Valon don't let him out of you're sight.”

“Yeah, last thing we need is for him to go critical on us and blow us all to kingdom come…” Alister added

“So I gotta keep the brat entertained huh?” Valon sighed “Great…how am I supposed to do that?”

Raphael started to recall his own childhood when his younger siblings Sonia and Julian were much smaller and would follow him everywhere he went. They always wanted to spend time with him when he wasn't in one of his private home school lessons or studying something related to that. He loved spending time with them and would always watch out for them when they'd play in the garden. Hide and seek was one of their favourites and he'd always pretend he couldn't find them right away just to keep the game going as long as possible. Their smiles and giggles would always bring warmth to his heart, a warmth he was now missing greatly in his life.

Alister on the other hand could recall his own childhood with his younger brother Mickey; before the war had broken out he was always asked by Mickey to hang out with him when he'd go spend time with his friends. Alister hated having to bring Mickey along with him but with their mother at work he had no choice. He'd sigh and roll his eyes when Mickey would always bring up his favourite hero; Dyna Dude it was embarrassing to have him always talking about that in front of his friends. He'd always wished he'd never have to bring him along anywhere again. Sadly he'd eventually get that wish…Alister touched the area in his jacket were he kept the final remains of Mikey's toy close to his heart.

“You'll be fine. He's a teenager he wont be much trouble.” Raphael spoke coldly trying to straighten his back as they stopped in front of the door.

“…Just do what Dartz's says and keep an eye on him.” Alister spoke with his usual tone but there was a hint of sadness to it that he tried to hide back.

Valon was a bit confused by both of their reactions, he felt they'd become a bit more emotional just now but since they both brushed it off he decided not press any further. He sighed and put his free hand behind the back of his head.

“Guess you two are right…”

Raphael pulled out his card and swiped it in the door before placing his hand on the black square scanner, once it beeped he reached for the handle and opened the door. He and Alister walked in first followed by Valon who kept his eyes shut as he entered. Both the blonde and red head had stopped and stared as their eyes scanned the room left to right; they saw the once pristine and cleaned room was now littered with cards on the floor, the cabinets all opened and riffled through it was like a hurricane had come through the place.

Valon had finally entered and opening his eyes he too got a look at the room.

“I mean how hard can it be-eeAHEGHA!!!” Valon screamed in shock grabbing his head with his free hand. “WTF HAPPENED IN HERE!?”

Just then they all saw Yugi walking back towards a table that sat in the other part of the room, in his hands was a small wooden box inside it was filled with the cards he'd just picked out. He had a very delighted expression on his face, he didn't even notice the other men had entered the room too focused on his treasure box of cards.

Valon hissed as he lowered his arm and pointed a finger at Yugi before screaming “YOU!”

The sudden noise made Yugi jump out of fear with a small yell before he finally took notice of the three older men who'd just entered the room. Two of them were still in shock at the mess while the third- the brunette was fuming in rage.

“You cheeky little shit! What the hell did you do to this place!?”

Yugi blinked confused at the accusation before he finally looked around and it hit him like a ton of bricks that he left the room in such a horrible state! Yugi's eyes widened when he realized this and looked back towards the brunette with a scared expression, instinctively he held up a hand and backed away a bit.

“OMG! I'-I'm sorry! I didn't even notice! I-I'll clean everything up I promise!” Yugi's meek persona once again surfaced as he felt the intimidation from the group hang over him, it was like he was back at school and cornered by bullies once again.

“You betta! Despite the accent mate I'm NOT Marry Bloody Poppin's! I'm not you're personal maid! And if you think I'm gonna clean up after ya I'm gonna give ya a spoon fulla my FIST! Hows that to help the medicine go down!?”

Valon's hand tightened into a fist to give extra emphasis on his threat, which worked since Yugi was feeling intimidated by the man. Finally the other swordsmen had come out of their initial shock and listened into Valon's ranting watching Yugi they could see he wasn't as confident as before, maybe because he was staring down much larger people then the two teens.

“I didn't mean to make a mess! I was gonna clean it up and I just got distracted and- okay no this isn't working. I'm making a horrible impression on you!” Yugi took in a deep breath and with one hand brushed his blonde fringe out of his face before changing his expression to more confident smile, he held out his hand in a gesture for greeting.

“Let's start over! Hi I'm Yusei- No! I mean I'm Yuya- No! I'm Yuki- No! I'm I'm Im-” Yugi was sweating with anxiety before his face had turned red from all of the previous wrong names he yelled out.

“I AM…so embarrassed…” Yugi sighed looking down and holding the box close to his chest with both hands now. How on earth could he forget his own name!? He was supposed to work with these people and now all they were gonna see was a scared child!

The swordsmen had watched him as he continued to ramble off names and slowly shrink back into himself. Valon and Alister had an unimpressed expression on their faces while Raphael kept his normally stone hearted look. He did notice Yugi's embarrassment, he looked like kid who had wanted to appear to be grown up in front of his peers but came off as childish. Recognizing this it did move his heart slightly since he'd experienced this kind of embarrassment before in his childhood and knew what Yugi must be feeling.

So he decided to break the ice so to speak, he cleared his throat getting everyone's attention before he spoke.

“Hello Embarrassed, I'm Raphael.”

His deadpanned expression mixed with his flat delivery caused everyone to be silent for a moment before Alister's frowned mouth curled upward into a slight grin he started to chuckle under his breath and had to turn away a bit. Valon tried to bite his lower lip to keep himself from laughing but failed tremendously as he burst out laughing. Raphael looked between the two of them and had a slight smile on his face, satisfied with the results he folded his arms and looked at Yugi.

Yugi was dumbfounded by how Raphael's words managed to get his fellow swordsmen to lighten up rather quickly. He wasn't really sure what to think of this, should he laugh too or- Finally Valon had gotten enough of grip on himself to wipe away a tear and breathe normally again.

“Raph! You always know how to bring the sunshine mate!” Valon looked down at Yugi with a neutral expression he put his good hand on his hip. “Relax kid, I ain't gonna smack ya but you are gonna clean this place up, right?”

Yugi blinked then nodded with a smile “O-Of course! I'm sorry again I should be more mindful of my actions. I mean we are gonna be working together. After all we are the four musketeers!” He raised a fist up looking to his fellow swordsmen again.

Alister and Raphael had the same neutral expression Valon had earlier but Valon rolled his eyes a bit with and added chuckle.

“Nice try kid but we all know there's only 3 Musketeers!”

“Uhh…actually there are four…” Yugi interjected, making Valon pout a bit and want to argue again only for Raphael to speak up.

“Actually he's right there were four of them. Athos, Aramis, Porthos, and D'Artagnan.”

This made Valon turn his head to the blonde and blinked confused “Wait are you serious?!”

Alister then rolled his eyes and crossed his arms looking at Valon “Someone clearly didn't read the book.”

Valon now turned to Alister and yelled “Wait it's a book!? I thought we was named after the candy bar!”

This made Alister glare at him in annoyance “Did you seriously think we named yourselves after the candy bars?”

“Well yeah there's three of them in a package there's three of us so it makes sense to me.” Valon folded his good arm, making Alsiter smack his face in embarrassment.

“You realize you JUST made the high school student look smarter then you right now right?” Alister grumbled through his hand.

Valon growled and shouted “Hey! you know not all of us is as well read as you!”

“Wouldn't kill ya to pick up a book once in while Val! Then maybe you'd stop embarrassing yourself.”

As the two continued to argue Raphael only rolled his eyes and let them go on, he knew it was the only way to really let them cool off so they'd be less likely to argue more later. Yugi watched on and as he did he couldn't help but see his old friends in the three men; this was how Joey and Tristan would act at times getting into arguments with each other normally leading to some kind of violence between the two, Tea would either end up having to step in to stop them or she'd just watch on with Yugi annoyed with their childishness.

Yugi couldn't help but smile as his mind drifted to those better times, finally he just started to giggle then was laughing out loud. As he did Valon and Alister stopped fighting as they heard Yugi laughing, soon all three of the swordsmen looked at Yugi confused as what had made him laugh this hard.

“Uhh… what's the joke kid?” Valon looked at Yugi who'd had also noticed them staring at him and managed to collect himself enough to answer.

“You guys are people…you're people…” Yugi smiled to them which brought on another confused expression from each of them.

“Yeah, we're are people.” Alister answered flatly. “What else would we be?” he folded his arms.

“Uh nothing…” Yugi sighed contently and turned around “I'm gonna start cleaning this mess.”

Yugi smiled and headed towards the table to put the box down then he began to pick up some of the cards on the ground closest to him. The three swordsmen looked between each other still confused about what had just happened. Valon giving a shrug before he headed towards the table to sit the other two following after him.

After Kaiba exploded about Yami Yugi's loss to Raphael during the video call the gang knew they would have to find a different method to get to Florida. They ultimately decided split up; Yami, Tea, Joey and Tristan would use a train to get to the airport, while Mai, Duke, Rebecca and Professor Hawkin's would drive into town to find another airport then meet each other there.

Everyone started packing up and getting themselves ready; Tea and Mai had mentioned they wanted a quick shower so they could change clothes for the trip. The Professor's RV had running water so he offered it to them along with the bed room for them to change. Mai offered Tea the shower first so she was in the shower while Mai instructed the boys to keep their distance and help move things into Duke's car again for the drive, and to help pack up her bike on the trailer hitch.

Yami Yugi had wondered outside and further into the desert away form his friends whom he didn't want to face right now. The sun was beating down hard as it getting closer to Noon, he stopped just past a few rocks and looked down at the ground. Only dust and rocks at his feet and stray lizard that had run by. His mind was still flooded with guilt not only because of what happened to Yugi but now the world was in danger because of his actions.

//What have I done? Now thanks to me he's gone…and if he is the key to stopping DOMA I just handed him over to them! Partner…how could I have done this to you…//

His mind drifted back to the duel, just when he was about to play the Seal of Orichalcos Yugi stopped him only for him to yell at him.

“This is my fight! This is my justice! My beliefs are on the line! And I don't need you butting into everything I do! Do you hear me!? Be quiet and stay out of this!”

He winced at his own words as they echoed in his memory; he longed to have his old memories back to know who he was in his past… but with this memory oh how he wished he could forget this one too. “I DONT NEED YOU!”

His gut sank even lower at that final staement the final thing he told Yugi before he played that awful card. The fear in Yugi's eyes… he did that to him. Tears started to threaten in the corner of his own eyes now. And even after he was so rotten Yugi still saved him! He always saved him from becoming his worse self but now- tears ran down his cheeks as he tried to scrub them away.

He felt weak and powerless…

“So you never did change did you?”

Yami blinked and turned around for the source of the voice, it was Mai standing with her arms crossed and a look of disappointment on her face. Yami didn't want to look her in the eyes right now so he looked at the ground again.

“I really had hoped you had changed since our duel in Duelist Kingdom. And I had believed it during Battle City. You grew up you changed and became even stronger as a duelist. You trusted yourself and you still kept your principles. But the Yugi I saw back there in that duel…That was the same scared and stubborn child I duel back in the finals.”

“Y-you don't understand. There was so much riding on that duel! I had to use the Seal it was-”

“It was the cowards way out! You were scared of losing so you decided any method was the best method even if it would cost you someone precious!” She yelled.

“I never thought he would-” Yami argued only to be shot down again.

“You knew what the other Yugi was like! You KNEW he'd never put you in danger! I think he'd starve himself before he'd let you go hungry! Face it you did this because you're a coward!” Mai pointed to him.

He hated that word he HATED it so much! It drove a dagger into his stomach and twisted it deeper inside the more he thought about it. She was right…he didn't need to play the card, if only he'd had Yugi's humility… if only he had listened to him! Why didn't he listen to him? Yami looked as if he was about to cry again, only to feel Mai put her hand on his shoulder.

He looked up at her and saw she'd softened her expression a bit and looked him directly in the eyes.

“You screwed up big time…but now is the REAL test for you. You can either sit here and wallow in your own pain and failure. Or you can find the strength to keep going you can find the strength to fight for him again.”

Mai took her hand off his shoulder and headed back towards her Jeep, Yami stood there and watched her leave before returning his gaze to the sands. He swallowed hard and turned around heading towards the trailer.

Yugi had taken off his long over coat and hung it on the back of one of the chairs while he cleaned up. He didn't realize just how much of mess he'd made until he had to perform his own personal game of 52 pick up but instead it was more like 5200 pick up. Luckily for him he was used to having to clean up loose cards not only that but cleaning up after kids in general. When they'd come to the store most times the kids would make mess of things and of course it was Yugi's job to clean up the mess afterwards. it was quite an annoyance for him but over time he'd gotten used to it and was much faster at tidying up.

After cleaning up the cards around him and placing them back in their cases in the proper order Yugi decided to sweep the floor a bit, a habit he picked up form his grandfather. As he swept up his fellow swordsmen sat at the rectangular table and watched him work. They didn't mind he was being extra cleanly no doubt a way to show he was sorry for the mess from earlier. And it meant they were spared from cleaning up before Dartz would come back and check in on them.

Valon decided to speak up first.

“You know I don't get why you went so nuts about the cards in here, don't your family own a card shop or somethin'?”

Yugi kept his sweeping momentum going while answering.

“Well first, it's a general game store not exclusively a card shop. Domino City has a few hobby and card shops but we focus on a variety of games. Even though Gramps prefers old school styled ones like chess, solitaire, etc. Second, this is like the biggest card collection I've ever seen in my life!”

Yugi gestured to the cabinets around them before going up to case to case and reading off the cards he'd just put back.

“I've never even heard of half of these cards before! “Nightmare Tri-Mirror” “Royal Decree” “Spirit Hunting” I swear Dartz must have the worlds best collection!”

Yugi sounded so excited when he was talking about cards it was like talking to someone about their special interest, once they get going they just get more excited and happy.

“We do have access to every card produced, Dartz would reserve only the best ones for us and himself of course. ” Raphael answered.

“Guess that makes us pretty lucky.” Yugi smiled before finally finishing his sweeping. “Which means I can make a really strong deck just like Dartz said.”

He put the broom away and went back to the table to pick up his card box. Instead of sitting at the table with the other's Yugi sat on the ground and started to sort through his cards; making piles for magic, trap and monsters. They all found it a bit odd Yugi would just sit on the ground and work but then again it's not like the ground wasn't clean.

As he started working Alister piped up curious.

“So what kind of deck will you build?”

Yugi paused for a bit thinking “Well I'm still brain storming a bit…I've always stuck to dark monsters but maybe I can try something different…”

“Well if you were looking to use the God cards you're outta luck kid. I don't think Dartz will be willing to part with them even for you.” Valon grinned a bit as he sat back in his chair he was hoping he got on Yugi's nerves just a bit since he was the type to tease people.

The air in the room had a sudden chill sweep across as Yugi paused what he was doing holding one single card in his hand. His hand shook a little as he bit down on his teeth hard trying to repress the anger that was building in him.

He huffed out

“Fine with me. I hope I NEVER see those miserable things again!” Yugi slapped the card down on the ground.

All three men looked down at Yugi confused by his answer, especially Valon.

“What's the matter kid? You was ready to fight us at 'fisty cuffs' to get them back the first night we met, now you're acting like their cursed or somefin'…oh shit they ain't actually cursed are they?” Valon sweated looking at the others before looking back at Yugi.

“No, they aren't 'cursed' but they might as well be…” Yugi paused again as his mind was starting to flood with memories of the events of the latest tournament. It started to over flow and this time he had no dam to try and hold himself back from speaking so he started to spill.

“Everyone thinks Battle City was some kind of cake walk for me since The Nameless Pharaoh gained all three of the God cards and won the title of Duel King. But every other duel was like life or death! A constant parade of one bad event after another like a waking nightmare!”

Raphael watched him carefully; he knew this kind of body language meant this was a touchy subject for Yugi, still a fresh wound not quite healed and still festering under the bandages. While he was curious he still understood the pain, so he didn't really want to press him more but Valon ever the curious sort asked for him.

“Whadda ya mean?”

Yugi was still he had both hands on the ground now as he stopped and tried to think of his answer, his heart was overflowing with emotions and his mind was trying to control them as best it could. He wasn't sure how to best answer so he decided to start from the beginning.

“You guys know who the 'Ghouls' are right?”

They did, they encountered them a few times in their line of work. Card thieves and counterfeiters who worked under a mysterious man only known as Marik, only recently they'd been disbanded due to Marik's change of heart.

“Like me Marik was chosen to hold a Millennium Item-the Millennium Rod; using it he could control people's minds and make them do what he wanted like some kind of twisted puppet master…And of course he had some kind of grudge against the Nameless Pharaoh meaning he held a grudge against me.”

“During Battle City he sent his goons after me; The first guy…I didn't know his name but he used an Exodia deck. Not bad once you figure it out and can counter him. But then the next guy was a Dark Magician user and some kind of illusionist? Archena. He was a BIG time cheater! He shackled our ankles to the ground, with giant buzz saws that would inch closer to our legs every time we'd lose life points and if you lose you'd get your legs sawed off and die bleeding to death!”

All three older men's eyes widened when they heard him talking about the buzz saw trap, they all exchanged a looked between each other before Yugi continued with his recount of Battle City. After that duel The Nameless Pharaoh had dueled a Mime named Strings who held the God card Slyfir the Sky Dragon and how they would have lost if Kaiba didn't show up to kept give them a confidence boost. But speaking of Kaiba.

“And you know you'd think Kaiba would be a little more thoughtful and hold a little sympathy about the fact a maniac was after my friends and they would be in serious life threatening danger but NOOOOO! It's just “We have to Duel Yugi!” “You can't run away from our fated Duel, Yugi!” Like are you SERIOUS RIGHT NOW!? I told his stubborn ass we didn't have time to fight and of course he has away to track Joey down for me. BUT I'm stuck having to hear him go on about 'fated fight' this and 'duel title' that! I wanted to smack him SO hard!”

Yugi rubbed his face hard just thinking about Kaiba's stubbornness and how it almost cost them a tag team duel that would have gotten them BOTH killed made him fume. Alister couldn't help but relate to Yugi's plight about Seto Kaiba, his rude and selfish attitude and how nothing else mattered as long as he got what he wanted.

Yugi's shoulders lowered again as now he had to recall his most painful memory from Battle City, his life or death duel against Joey…Marik used his mind control to brainwash his best friend and force them to fight with each other. One or none of them would survive if Marik had it his way, how could someone be so cruel? Forcing two people to fight in such a despicable manner…burning this pain forever into his heart. And why? because he was mad at the Nameless Pharaoh for something he wasn't even present for? He wasn't the one who killed Marik's father…Marik's dark self did that! And of course Shadi…Odion…even Ishizu was there! WHY! WHY didn't they tell him!?

All of this madness and pain could have been avoided if any of them had done something to stop Marik! But no they all sat back and allowed everything to happen! It didn't matter who got hurt right? As long as the Pharaoh could regain his memories…

“All of Millennium Items…They really do have evil in them…And HE'S part of it! Why did my friends have to suffer just because of him!?”

Yugi felt tears welling up in the corners of his eyes, he was angry not just angry he was furious! A great fury that caused the Seal of Orichalcos to appear on his forehead again. The more he thought about it the more it made sense one by one more people were hurt by this; Bakura was injured thanks to the spirit of his Ring working with Marik and he too was later sent into the shadows. Odion suffered from Ra's wrath for using a fake card given to him by Marik to trick them all into thinking he was the real one. Mai was tortured then trapped in a living nightmare as her mind was eaten by the darkness…and Joey…Joey died right in front of his eyes…

“Why…Why did everyone have to suffer just so he could regain his memories? Why does he get to step on all of us just so he can be 'King'?!”

Yugi grit his teeth hard as he felt the darkness start to surround him, he felt the power enter his body driving his anger which made the darkness grow stronger around him, the three swordsmen now witnessing his descent into darkness thanks to Orichalcos.

“…why did I give up my soul for him?” Yugi's tears fell down his cheek as he finally started to sob into his hands.

“When am I going to learn? When am I going to stop being so…stupid.”

As they all watched Yugi break down in front of them, collectively they each realized Yugi was just like each of them. Brutalized and used by a cruel world and left to suffer under a great deal of regret and pain. They all had found themselves in his shoes once and just like him Dartz had come and given them a chance to thrive and finally change the world with their own hands.

Raphael once again was the first one to act, he slowly got up and walked towards Yugi, getting down on his knees he came close to the boy to speak.

“You are not stupid.”

His words rang out and into Yugi's ears making him look up from his hands and turn his head to the more gentle look Raphael had on his face.

“You put your faith in the wrong person, everyone is capable of that. But now you know better…you're on the right side for once.”

“He's right, it's not you're fault the Nameless Pharaoh is corrupted by darkness. He's the one who hurt your friends not you.” Alister got up and stood beside Raphael crossing his arms but he also had an understanding look on his face.

“Exactly! And that prick has the balls to toss you unda the lore just so he can strut 'round and pretend to be you? I say you go and teach that faker a lesson! Show him and everyone else who the real Yugi Mutou is huh? ” Valon grinned getting up and giving a wink.

“We got yur back kid! After all we are the Four Musketeers right?”

Yugi, Raphael and Alister all blinked at Valon surprised by his answer, he then shrugged and said

“What can I say ? its starting the grow on me!”

Yugi looked at both Alister and Valon and wiped some of the tears away, he never thought these guys would be this kind to him. Yugi felt the Seal of Orichalcos leave his forehead, he then felt a very large hand on his shoulder. It was Raphael who once again offered a kind expression, it was hard believe a man so intimating could actually be so kind.

Yugi sighed and sniffled a bit collecting himself as he sat up straight and looked at each of his fellow swordsmen.

“Thank you…now I know that you have my back, I know I wont lose to him.”

#yugi mutou #DOMA Yugi #au #waking the dragons #breaking the seal #yugioh dm #yugioh #fan art #fan fic

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empressofthesunwriter · 4 months ago

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What I am doing wrong?

I actually sworve to not make a blog were a whine like a little bitch, but it seems like I have to.

I'm crying guys.

I'm crying really hard right now.

I give my all to write The Queen's Gambit: The Story and besides two people no one comments.

I don't want to sound arrogant, but I think my OC story is way better then other OCs story who have more clicks, likes and comments.

I check any day for a new fanfic in YU-GI-OH! and I only find trashy OCs FanFic.

And yet people love them and ignore mine.

I worked on Queen's Gambit since I first watched YGO as a little girl. It is my most dearest story and I still try to improve it, so....

What I'm doing wrong?

Why doesn't anybody like this story?

Please just someone give me an answer.

It can't be the grammar or something similar because I have seen stories written worse that get comments to no end.

SO WHAT IS WRONG?!

#ao3 writer #fanfic writing #fanfiction #fanfic #wattpad #fanfiction.net #ffn.net #archive of our own #quotev #writers on tumblr #female writers #ao3 author

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gramarye · 7 months ago

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speaking of my list of ygo by treatment of its female characters so far. its so insanely long well. sorry.

sevens : really good marvelous awesome. women are treated as equals in my honest onion and everyone rocks. i <3 yugioh sevens. i love you romin i love you rayne (WEIRDO!) i love you princess g i love you atachi mimi i love you asana i love you tiger etcetcetc I LOVE YOU YUGIOH SEVENS

gx: it's not Great with what it does with asuka and rei but it's somehow still less offensive than all of the other ygos below it in this list. asuka gets to be pretty cool and again, even tho there's several episodes about her being courted at least they let her come out on top whenever guys are trying to get to her and they never do weird sexual shit with her in a way that is as obvious as in the other yugiohs. YES THE BAR IS THAT LOW I THINK! SAD! and she gets as much as spotlight as say, chazz, kenzan, sho, or the likes. if you disagree btw you were not watching yugioh gx and should try to pay attention to women again. asuka is a really good fleshed character by gx standards. rei is also pretty fun, i love her, she has her little moments and she's Not limited to her love shtick, she has really fun beef and duel with chazz for example and has a neat role in s3 and all that. ALL THINGS CONSIDERED: ITS PRETTY NICE! they did an ok job! its very hobbyani and shounen but its not offensive w/ the women!

5d's: like.. it started off really good then they just kind of forget about aki. i will never let them live down the "benchwarmer" thing and guess what. THEY WON'T LET ME EITHER BECAUSE THEY MADE MERCH OF HER WITH THAT TITLE LIKE A YEAR AGO OR SO !!!! sherry is pretty cool though and oh i love carly. carly is good i just wish they didn't kinda ... roll back her progress with jack , it's like they had to make him hate her again for the haha funnies and because he couldn't be nice now in the 2nd half. idk. ruka is fine i just think its hilarious she has a kuriboh with huge ass girl eyelashes i will attach it to the bottom of this post. made sure we know this is a #GIRL kuriboh

DM: its like . okay. anzu doesn't do much i am sorry. i love her it's just that they let her have a few duels and that is it. the #og cheerleader. I LIKE HER! i just think they should let her do more. she has really good scenes outside dueling though and is very integral to the friend group and everything though so :) yayyyy anzu. mai is really good but remember when they. okay this is anime specific BUT I AM TALKING ABOUT THE ANIME SO !!! but remember when they kept her in a coma in like marik's special hell world for literally like 50 episodes. like. it was so fucking dire fifty whole episodes. Bad. AND THEN THEY MADE HER GET POSSESSED LITERALLY IN THE NEXT ARC? VILE. rebecca etc are all fine they werent there for super long but i like them. all in all it was OK wish there was more fleshing out. 5d's still did it better and had more memorable women more in the spotlight i fear. but 4 is not a bad ranking here DM is like alright not too offensive

zexal: ok its like... i don't think tori not dueling in itself is a Crime but it's sad they don't let her when she expresses in the anime wanting to duel . why not let her !!!! plus it'd tie really nicely with rio who i think rocks, but i do NOT understand why they had to have rio duel tetsuo who her only tie to was him having a crush on her when she was besties with kotori and it wouldve been a nice way to tie up their friendship and tori's desire to duel..anyway. CATHY AND ANNA ARE NICE its just that i feel like. anna rocks sooo hard but her whole character is wrapped up in her thing with yuma. they should've come up with another plot for her after i think taht would've been nice but it's not that big of a deal it's still pretty cool. train girl forever. also yuma's sister is cool <3 i think this is kind of a tie with DM actually . also they make at least one weird sexualizing skirt length joke with kotori so um. HOP OFF MY 13 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER AND STOP BEING WEIRD

vrains: AUTHORS NOTE I HAVENT FINISHED VRAINS YET but ive seen a good amount and my vrains oomfies concur with these ratings. blue angel gets into a coma within 10 episodes and is really good at getting her ass beat unfortunately. ghost gal is pretty cool but shes also out there getting her ass beat i think she only wins once like its so fucking dire out here they will NOT let these women win like they just take one L after the other. and theres really no other women there. um. its just kind of an L overall they just don't let the 2 cool women do anything. like gx only really had asuka and rei but at least they let them be cool and fun i DON'T SEE THAT HERE... love them both though. also shoutout to soulburner's npc girlfriend i think shes funny and im glad she exists

arc-v: literally im sorry i havent finished arc-v either but ALL MY ARC-V OOMFIES WHO ADORE THE SHOW CONCUR. IT'S SO BAD. ruri and rin are like barely characters. serena is cool yuzu is cool until she isn't and THEY HAVE HER LOSE TO AN ADULT MAN USING BDSM MONSTERS AND IMPLY BEING SEXUALLY GRATIFIED BY IT? ITS REALLY BAD. THAT EPISODE ALONE WAS SO BAD IT TOOK IT DOWN 50000 SPOTS IN THE LIST AND I HEARD IT ONLY GETS WORSE. LIKE ACTUALLY CRIMINALLY BAD. MADE ME GENUINELY UPSET. also asuka is there and shes kind of a girlboss until they kill her like really badly and in a humiliating manner. like. Okay. they build it up soo much just to let you down so terribly with the girls.

undecided: go rush its still ongoing but i have watched all 115 episodes so far or whatever and it was like based and epic and poggers in season 1 but um the treatment of the girlies has been going downhill. i have a lot of opinions. i dont know what to say about it. it just declined a lot for the most part. yuamu girlboss though they're kind of making some progress again. i need to give it a rewatch when it's done airing to sort my feelings on it.

addendum btw here is the #girl kuriboh ruka has in 5d's. kind of a slay

#tess talks #INSANELY LONG POST #SORRYYY. BUT ALSO FUNNY

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