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linkspooky · 3 months ago

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DUEL VS. DUEL: Yubel and Judai vs Ai and Playmaker

If you haven't noticed YGO! often recycles different characters and plot ideas throughout its various spinoffs. There's usually a rival whose ace monster is a dragon, a best friend character to support the main character, there's almost always a guy like Bakura who has several things wrong with him. This isn't a criticism, I actually love the way that each spinoff builds off of all the other series while also remaining its own thing. There's a lot of meaning you can decipher from analyzing the intentional callbacks the authors put in to previous series so that's what we're going to do today.

Both GX and Vrains feature a third season where the protagonist's partner character becomes the main antagonist for the entire season, and manages to pick off the protagonist's friends one by one until they're all alone with the protag for the final duel. Both of these characters, Yubel and Ai aren't motivated by hate but rather a twisted form of love and the parallels between these two duels don't stop there.

Yubel and Yusaku: Love vs. Ai

The partner character appears in almost every YGO! series with the exception of 5DS and Sevens. It began with Yami Yugi, a second personality created inside Yugi who played took over and played games in Yugi's place and cursed everyone who offended him only to eventually build a partnership with Yugi that lasted for most of the series until Atem reclaimed his name and memories and became his own person again.

These partner characters usually assist in duels, and are either another personality existing inside the protagonist, or if they're external like Astral or Ai they still share a special link with the protagonist.

Yubel and Ai are unique because they are both partner characters who turn into major antagonists. They don't just share the role of antagonists there's also several similarities between the two of them, from motivation, their connection to the protagonist, and both characters being built around the concept of love. This is probably intentional because the scenario writer for all of Vrains also worked on large parts of GX and was the main scenario writer for Season 4.

To introduce both characters, Yubel is a Duel Spirit. They were originally a human child named Yubel who was the closest friend of the boy who would eventually grow up to be the Supreme King and reincarnate in the modern day as Judai Yuki. Yubel gave up their humanity and in a painful surgery became a hideous dragon with an impenetrable body in order to protect Judai.

Afterwards the boy who would eventually become the Supreme King swore eternal love to Yubel. Yubel's devotion followed Judai into the next life, where because Yubel gave up their humanity they reincarnated as a card spirit instead that only Judai could see. They used their considerable power to protect Judai from anyone they considered a threat, including other neighborhood kids who beat him in card games. Judai as a result became completely isolated. Which Yubel didn't mind because Judai was their entire world and they believed they should have been enough for Judai.

Judai decided to send Yubel's card away into space in the hopes that the space rays would calm Yubel's troubled soul, but instead Yubel became corrupted by a cosmic force known as THE LIGHT OF DESTRUCTION. Yubel endured ten years of torture and agony all along. At first they called out to Judai in his dreams, but his parents eventually forced Judai to go through a procedure that made him forget all memories of Yubel.

Alone and forgotten Yubel crashes down to earth and is torn to pieces. As an arm they parasitize several people until they gain enough power to reconstitute their body, and then dragon Judai and all his friends into another dimmension all as a part of their grand scheme to finally reunite with Judai and awaken his memories of the Supreme King.

Even though they were hurt by Judai, Yubel isn't motivated by revenge, but by love and a desire to be together with Judai and secure all of Judai's love for themselves. Yubel's twisted definition of love was formed when after crying for help one final time, they snapped and told themselves a lie in order to keep going. That ignoring Yubel, making them suffer, leaving them all alone it was just the way that Judai expressed his love. Yubel then becomes dedicated to showing that love in return and effectively dragging Judai down to their level.

Yubel: I was suffering as you came to forget about me… Yubel: It burns… It hurts…It’s killing me. But why? I love him so much. Why is Judai treating me like this? Yubel: And then it hit me. This is just a form of Judai’s love. Judai is hurting me and making me suffer because of his love for me. But you see, I couldn’t possibly forget about you in the time i’ve suffered. Yubel: So when I solved the riddle that you posed to me, I was delighted. And that fueled my decision. I would try to fill the entire twelve dimmensions with my love for you. Yubel: And once I did you would have to recognize my love for you, wouldn’t you?

Ai is also a character that's connected to Yusaku's childhood. Ai is an ignis, and artificial intelligence that was created by basically torturing six children by forcing them to duel over and over again and then scanning their brains and modeling six different AI off of the data.

The shadow ignis or AI quite literally came from Yusaku's brain, even though they don't meet until much later on in life. From the onset there's a lot of differences between Ai and Yubel's role as partners. Ai is Yusaku's partner for most of the series, and is effectively introduced as a stranger and has to build a bond fo trust with Yusaku over the first two seasons.

Whereas Yubel was Judai's best friend and favorite monster in childhood, but Judai has forgotten about Yubel in the first two seasons and when Yubel finally does appear again it's as an enemy. The bond between Yusaku and Ai forms and then falls apart, whereas both Yubel and Judai start out with their bond completely broken and over the course of season three they reunite and come back together.

Ai is motivated by first his own survival, and second the survival of all the other ignis who are currently being hunted by several human corporations, a group of hackers known as the knights of Hanoi, and one Ignis themselves known as Lightning who turned traitor to the other Ignis. Yusaki and Ai's shared goal is to find a way for the Ignis and Humans to co-exist without one of them trying to pre-emptively wipe out the other because of the danger both of them pose to each other.

Over the course of the story though, as one by one Ai loses his friends in the fellow Ignis who either die or are absorbed, he comes to obsess over Yusaku as his one remaining friend. Yubel and Judai's feelings for one another are a holdover from a previous lifetime they become estranged and reunite again, whereas Ai comes to love and obsess over Yusaku similiarly to Yubel does and it's precisely because of those obsessive and overprotective feelings he decides to terminate their relationship permanently.

Ai enacts a plan similiar to Yubel's to destroy Yusaku's friends one by one all while threatening the entire world. Yubel sought to fuse the dimmensions together, while AI wants to start the inevitable fight between the Ignis and Humanity on his terms.

While their role in the story and characters are similar, they're also contrasting opposites in many ways. Yubel started out as a human and gave up their humanity to become a duel spirit. Ai started out as an artificial intelligence, he thinks as an artificial intelligence who has trouble understanding humans, and while he becomes more humanlike all the time he's eventually hampered by his inability to think like a human. Yubel is also much older than Ai having lived two lifetimes with memories of both, whereas Ai is essentially a child, a fledgling sentient being who still doesn't understand many things about the world.

Their different levels of maturity really show in their understanding of the world around them, or rather Ai's naivete and lack of understanding. Both characters are built around the concept of love, with love for the protagonist as their main motivation but Yubel while twisted demonstrates a deep understanding of love.

Yubel is able to see inside the hearts of people and uses their intimate knowledge of their inner darkness in order to twist people according to their own desires. Yubel's actually a deeply empathic character able to understand people's feelings sometimes better than they understand themselves, they just use that empathic understanding for evil.

While their understanding of love sounds insane at times they're also able to make deep observations about not only people's relationships to each other but the darker nature of love. As much as we shy away from the idea of hurting the ones we love on purpose, there's a seed of truth in the fact that whether intentionally or unintentionally being close to someone means you will hurt them. That pain is a natural part of love. She's also able to suss out the unhealthy love and devotion shared between Amon and Echo quickly.

Yubel: I get it now… You weren’t in love with Echo. Yubel: No. You may have loved her just enough to clear the conditions in place for you to control Exodia. Yubel: But then, you didn’t truly love each other. Yubel: You were only unfairly hurting her, while you would stay unharmed. Yubel: You wouldn’t suffer. You wouldn’t be in pain.

Yubel also ultimately seeks a love between equals. As much as they frame themselves as Judai's protector, what they want is for Judai to be dragged down to their level so Judai will finally understand them.

Their entire plan revolved around isolating Judai until Judai understood the pain of suffering ten years alone in space that Yubel went through. When Judai snaps and becomes the Supreme King taking a similiar dark turn to Yubel, Yubel turns out to be right in the end. By the time they've reunited both Judai and Yubel have done terrible things and hurt the people they loved.

Yubel: So when I solved the riddle that you posed to me, I was delighted. And that fueled my decision. I would try to fill the entire twelve dimmensions with my love for you. Yubel: And once I did you would have to recognize my love for you, wouldn’t you? Yubel: That is why I sought to fill all those linked to you - your world - with both sadness and anguish. Yubel: ANd my line of thinking wasn’t wrong. Yubel: I mean you are right before my eyes, Judai.

Yubel operates on a principle of empathy and understanding through shared suffering. Whereas, I would argue while Ai cares about Yusaku they are not particularly empathic nor do they understand Yusaku. This is because Ai is practically a newborn existence naive to the world, and also as a computer with a computer brain fundamentally thinks differently.

However, I'd also argue that Ai also doesn't really want to try to change their thinking to bridge the gap between humans an AI. In despair they've completely given up on trying to understand humans. They also on some level don't want to change, because they arrogantly assume they know what's best for both them and Yusaku.

Ai has given into despair from losing their loved ones and suffering isolation just like Yubel, but I think a key difference is that everything Yubel does no matter how twisted is a desperate attempt to reunite with Judai, to understand Judai and be understood by them. Whereas, Ai doesn't want to try anymore.

Ai: Back then I would have done anything to save my friends. Yusaku: There's nothing you could have done there was no other way. AI: I know that. [...] Yusaku: Ai, you have the power to change this. Yusaku: As a special ignis you have the power to live with humans. Find a way to backtrack from this. AI: You trying to pull me back? AI: Thank you Playmaker, but you don't understand. I learned when everyone was gone that when you lose friends your heart breaks. AI: My heart was broken back then and I lost all self control. Yusaku: If losing a friend makes your heart break then are you trying to break my heart?

Not only does Ai not want to understand, but they also deliberately ignore Yusaku's feelings and personal autonomy. Yusaku is a kidnapped child who had a lot of their life robbed from them and manipulated they hate anyone who disrespects their free will but Ai walks all over it and disregards all of Yusaku's opinions. They do the one thing Yusaku asks them not to do, because Ai incorrectly assumes they know best.

They also don't really understand Yusaku on a fundamental level and as I said, they don't want to make the effort to bridge the gap either.

It seems kind of silly saying which one is worse, because both Yubel and Ai violate Judai and Yusaku's personal autonomy multiple times. They both act selfish and entitled towards the person they love. They both also intentionally hurt that person and then turn back around and claim it's protecting them. They both act incredibly possessive and try to manipulate their partner into doing what they want.

They both have the gall afterwards to claim they're doing so out of selfless devotion, downplaying any feelings of selfishness on their end. Both consider Yusaku and Judai's other friends to be targets in order to get at their partners. Both will inflict pain on the person they love and are so devoted to in service of getting what they want.

The only real difference is motivation because as I said, as controlling as Yubel is it's out of a desire to reunite and be equals. They're both in too much pain to express their love in any kind of healthy way, but Yubel at least wants things to be better whereas Ai has just given up. The fact that Yubel's themed around sharing pain too also makes them and Judai equals, whereas Ai is trying to have power over Yusaku and take Yusaku's decisions away in order to force Yusaku to do what he assumes is best.

That might be the most important difference between them. Whereas Yubel wanted to live together with Judai, Ai wanted to force Yusaku to kill him in order to avert a potential future where Yusaku dies trying to protect Ai. It's a motivation that turns one story into a love story, and the other into a tragedy.

Judai and Yusaku: Hero vs Anti-Hero

Judai and Yusaku are two characters who could not look to be any more different at first glance. Though they're both themed around heroism Judai starts as the fun loving kid who admires heroes and is always dueling to save others when his friends are in a fix. Yusaku is the loner anti-hero who is on a revenge quest all alone against the Knights of Hanoi.

Yusaku starts out unwilling to make friends and refusing help from others. Judai on the other hand is constantly surrounded by people. Though both of them are forced into the role of always dueling to protect others and carrying the responsibilies of other people on their shoulder. Often times it's forced upon them unwillingly and they have to take on too much responsibility.

Judai forms unhealthy relationships with people that are based on him always needing to clean up their messes and those same friendships eventually unravel. Whereas Yusaku spends three seasons learning to form healthier relationships with people, and the climax of the first season is even Yusaku developing from dueling for revenge to dueling to save his very first friend in Kogami.

Judai loves dueling and even duels exclusively for the fun of it, often in the first two seasons protecting others and facing the villains as an afterthought. Yusaku on the other hand hates dueling because of the trauma he was forced to undergo as a child and despite being the strongest duelist simply views dueling as a means to an end.

Perhaps the most interesting way to compare them is their opposite journeys. They're both commentaries on heroism. They both eventually gain alter egos that are really just emphasizing different traits of their personalities. The Supreme King is the embodiment of Judai's selfishness and his fixation on always winning and dueling for power. Yusaku is a socially withdrawn kid, and Playmaker his internet identity is the way he fights back against his abusers. He's also a strong willed, determined and active where Yusaku is almost entierly passive. They're both ultimately the same guy though, Supreme King is a part of Judai, Playmaker is Yusaku with more freedom to be himself online.

However, Judai starts out as a straightforward hero and goes on to be a dark deconstruction of the pure hearted hero. All of Judai's flaws that go unaddressed because people constantly put him on a pedestal eventually lead to his ruin. The pressure Judai is always under to win turns into an obsession with power.

Judai: Why? What did I do that was so wrong? I… I did the right thing! And yet… everyone keeps leaving me! What… What is wrong with me? Supreme King: Yuki Judai. To be willing to be evil to defeat evil. This world exemplfiies survival of the fittest. It must be ruled with power. Judai: Power? I don’t have that much power… Supreme King: You hold the Super Polymerization card in your hand. Defeat the spirits that stand against you. Breathe their lives into it and complete that card.

Judai also exists in a narrative that won't allow him to be a hero. GX deconstructs all kinds of heroism and self-sacrifice. Edo Phoenix's quest for revenge is called out as him being childish, and unwilling to grow up from the trauma he suffered as a child. Johan is the most straightforward hero, but his decision to sacrifice himself to protect Judai and everyone else is what starts Judai's breakdown. When Jim duels against the supreme king he declares he's not sacrificing him to save the world but rather trying to help a friend.

Judai's eventual character growth in choosing to fuse with Yubel isn't a sacrifice, but rather Judai finally growing up and taking responsibility for the way he hurt Yubel.

Yusaku on the other hand is on the journey from going from an anti-hero who fights for himself and his own personal revenge to becoming a more straightforward hero. I wouldn't say Yusaku's arc is more shallow in comparison just because it's not a dark deconstruction, rather it's exploring a different topic the responsibilities of being a hero.

His greatest moment of character growth in the first season is going from caring only about revenge, to dueling the pesron who saved him as a child because he wants to save his very first friend.

You could say Yusaku because he's not allowed to crumble is actually under more pressure than Judai is. He's almost forced into the role of a hero and not allowed to be selfish, while Judai from start to finish is a selfish character even if he grows up quite a bit over the course of the story.

Yusaku is also someone who from start to finish follows his own sense of unbending justice. Where, Judai doesn't have any consistent moral code. He's defined in the first two seasons of only dueling for the fun of it, and by Season 3 he's deeply troubled that he doesn't have a reason to duel like Johan does.

Following his own justice is actually deeply important to Yusaku, probably what he values the most actually. Since his life was thrown off by the Lost Incident he starts out deeply untrusting of others and even when he grows past that he hates people who try to influence him and insist they know what's best for him. It's what led him to not only be deeply offended by Zaizen telling Yusaku to back down and let him handle it, but also him refusing Zaizen's help.

This quality of Yusaku's also dovetails into my next point where we finally get to comparing the two duels.

A LOVE STORY vs. A TRAGEDY

The setup for the duel is identical in both cases. Yubel and Ai have eliminated almost all of Judai and Yusaku's friends and now they are on the endgame of their plans. Yusaku and Judai are both dueling against their former partners to stop them, and both partners refuse any attempts to work things out any other way and force a fight.

However, the motivations of each member going into these duels are so opposite that it makes a neat little foiling square.

Starting with Yubel their motivation for getting into the duel is simultaneously a desire to reunite and express their love for Judai, and a thinly veiled cry for help.

Judai: If you hated how I treated you, then you should have gotten revenge on me. Yubel: Hate? Revenge? What are you talking about? Didn't I tell you? I went to this trouble hoping it would make you happy, Judai. Judai: Make me happy? After my friends suffered by getting hurt and killed. Yubel: But that's love isn't it? Yubel: I wanted to torment you to share the depths of my love.

Yubel's plan is to both awaken Judai's memories of the supreme king by engineering his downfall, and also after taking his friends away one by one to fuse the dimmensions together so Judai and Yubel can be together forever with Yubel by his side protecting him. As Yubel defines their entire existence and worth by being Judai's protector and doesn't understand why Judai would ever reject their protection or need friends other than them.

Yubel: My every waking moment was for you. Yubel: I even got rid of everyone around you who tried to make you cry. Judai: Yubel. By doing that you hurt the friends I had around me. Judai: None of my close firends even wanted to duel with me. Yubel: You had me as a close friend, didn't you? All you had to do was focus only on me.

Yubel frames their actions as selfless while also acting out an entitlement that they're owed Judai's love for all of their devotion to him. They're also willing to hurt his closest friends, isolate him, and basically throw tantrums in order to get it.

When they come to the slow realization that Judai won't return their feelings, it leads to them breaking down slowly over the course of the duel. All of the lies they told themselves about the love between them and Judai slowly starts to unravel along with their mind.

The duel beings with Yubel actively enjoying all the pain Judai is inflicting upon them. When Judai activates the supreme king though, and starts dueling seriously to eliminate Yubel, it chips through Yubel's delusions and Yubel is no longer able to keep pretending that pain is love.

I couldn’t have lived with the heartache unless I felt that I was being loved…

Moving on to Ai, the primary difference between Yubel and Ai's motivation is that Yubel's plans are a thinly veiled cry for help while Ai refuses to accept any help.

Yusaku: Find a way to backtrack, Ai! Ai: I can't. Ai: Sorry, but there's no backtracking. Ai: Let's go, Playmaker!

Their desires are opposite too. Yubel's plan is to continue living with Judai, and Ai's plan amounts to forcing Yusaku to kill them.

Ai: If this attack gets through I lose. AI: Well, make up your mind already. AI: You came to get them back, right? AI: You're everyone's hope so you have to do it, even if I'm the opponent.

Yubel and Ai are both incredibly manipulative characters, and Ai in particular is holding all of Yusaku's friends hostage in order to make him do something he does not want to do and will hurt him beyond repair. He's also inflicting the same trauma the loss of all of his friends and the loss of an important friend the same way that Yubel wishes to make Judai suffer the same way they did by isolating them from all of their friends and pushing them off the edge to bring out their darkest emotions.

However, once again Yubel's manipulations are done with the intent of getting Judai to understand them whereas Ai no longer wants to try understanding Yusaku and presumes he knows best.

Ai: Back then I had to do whatever it takes to save my friends. Yusaku: There's nothing you could have done to save them. Ai: I know there wasn't. Yusaku: Ai, that simulation was lightning's trap. He knew if you saw it while in despair your heart would fall into darkness. So don't worry about it. Ai: I considered that possibility. Because he left it after he fought us. AI: So I redid my own simulation and ran it over and over. But the result wouldn't change.

Ai also chooses to trust simulations and the words of his enemy Lightning over the words of his own partner and the urging of Yusaku that they can try to take a third way out together. His basic inability to trust is what damns him, relying on controlling manipulation instead to coerce and eventually force Yusaku to do what he wants and what he has decided is best.

It shows in his plan to, Ai's conditions for the duel is that he'll either copy himself and spread the copies into all of the mass manufactured robots or Yusaku will have to stop him with his own hands at which point Ai's programming is terminated. Either way Ai dies. The only real way for Yusaku to save Ai is to convince him to stop the duel which Ai won't do.

Ai: Oh I didn't tell you. When my copies are created, as the final trigger my free will will be divided and given to them. Yusaku: What will happen to you? AI: My free will will be broken apart. AI: I'll be no more. If you win you'll retrieve everything I took and I'll be no more. Either way, I'll be no more. Yusaku: Ai, you're making me choose how you die?

He's stripped away all of Yusaku's choices. Yubel is stripping away Judai's choices to but once again it's out of a desire to be together with Judai while Ai is doing the opposite forcing Yusaku to be an enemy and end him with his own two hands.

Moving onto the process of the duel itself, the duel begins with both Yusaku and Judai trying to talk their partners down from dueling and finding some other way to settle this.

They fail but for opposite reasons. Judai because his pleas with Yubel are half hearted and done more in the spirit of lip-service. Judai fails because Yubel sees through his half hearted attempts. In their previous duel Yubel calls out the fact that Judai went to the ends of the earth to save Johan, but after subjecting Yubel to years of torture barely lifted a finger to reach out to them.

While Yusaku genuinely shows a desire to solve things with Ai with anything other than dueling, but Ai is the reason they have to fight. Ai is the one who forces Yusaku's hand. While Judai does not understand Yubel and does not empathize, Ai is the one who fails to understand Yusaku and how much pain forcing this conflict on him causes Yusaku. He also doesn't want to understand, while Yubel is at least self-aware of the fact that they are intentionally hurting Judai.

Yusaku's sincerity can be seen in how much he refuses to victim blame Ai, starting right away and continuing through the duel. Repeatedly over and over again Yusaku tries to reassure Ai that the guilt he's experiencing isn't his fault. Whereas, Judai victim blames Yubel continually. Yusaku is a character who values responsibility above all else, while Judai is avoiding personal responsibiltiy even though they're the ones who put Yubel in a situation where they were tortured.

Ai: As you know I got rid of my friends and ended up alone. There were only six of us but we foolishly hated each other. Yusaku: AI that's not your fault. AI: I know but it doesn't matter who's fault it is. I'm earth's last surviving human. And that fact won't change. Playmaker I sort of understand how you felt. Being alone is very painful. Yusaku: [...] I understand your sadness but don't let this fate sweep you away.

Whereas, Judai quickly resorts to victim blaming Yubel pretty quickly.

I made a lot of friends… And they all taught me something… real love is wide enough, large enough and deep enough to fill the universe. Your so-called love is only a conceited delusion.

There's also a distinct difference in both Yusaku and Judai's behavior throughout the duel. Most of the time it's Yubel iniating conversation with Judai because as I said by the time their second duel has started Judai has given up on understanding Yubel and dismisses them as crazy and beyond comprehension. Whereas Yusaku is the one who initiates most of the conversation with Ai.

Moving onto the duel part of duel it's interesting to note how different Yubel and Ai's dueling styles are. Yubel dominates almost any duel they're in. They toy with the likes of Ryo and Amon. Even when Judai duels them to a draw, the duel went exactly as Yubel planned because their true objective was to snatch away super polymerization from Judai's graveyard.

Yubel's boss monster is also unbeatable. It never takes damage, in fact most of the cards in Yubel's various decks don't take damage. Their ace monster for the sacred beast deck is a card that inflicts 10,000 damage once a turn. Advanced Darkness crystal beasts allows them to negate all damage done by sending a card to the graveyard. Even when judai manages to get Yubel off the field it simply upgrades into a stronger form.

Ai on the other hand duels on the ropes and duels very defensively, Yusaku at several points is about to go for game and end the duel in one hit and Ai only manages to barely avoid ending the duel early with a trap card or the like.

Yubel's main strategy is to prolong the duel until Judai is forced to pick Super Polymerization with spell chronicle. They want Judai to choose them and choose staying together with them by spell chronicle. Whereas at multiple points Ai continues to encourage Yusaku to crush them with everything they have.

Once again, one wants empathy, the other disregards Yusaku's will.

Yubel: My suffering becomes your suffering. Yubel: Such empathy... Yubel: Nightmare pain. It has us wrapped in the same anguish, and the same love.

Ai is forcing Yusaku's hand because once again, no matter the result Yusaku kills Ai. On the other hand, Yubel grows increasingly disturbed by Judai's lack of mercy.

Yubel: Oh my, you shouldn't be so heartless my dear judai. Judai: We can't protect what matters to us just by being kind. I'm prepared to fight for the friends I love to the end even if it becomes becoming a demon or the devil.

Judai also quickly abandons heroism for the power of the supreme king, whereas Ai practically forces Yusaku to choose being a hero and saving his friends. Judai prioritizes Johan and then the rest of his friends over Yubel, Yusaku doesn't want to choose and a horrible choice is forced upon him.

Yubel for their part is aware of Judai's hypocrisy, once again they demonstrate a deep understanding of Judai. Whereas, Ai doesn't understand Yusaku one bit, while at the same time claiming to know better.

AI: When it comes to memory and calculations we're far superior to humans. We can figure out humans' faults and contradictions. AI: That's why it's easy to become arrogant. With Ai's with free will it's in their nature. AI: Something awakened within me. They're not evil thoughts. But I wonder, in order for me to live why do I have to adapt to humans. AI: I feel differently from humans.

Ai continually urges Yusaku to choose his friends over him. He forces the choice where there should be done. On the other hand Yubel wants to be chosen over Judai's friends. Out of a sense of entitlement but also a fear of being abandoned again.

Yubel: The camraderie of yours with the neo-spacians will be of no use to you. And my love alone is much stronger. Yet even so you're saying that you'll choose friendships with the neo-spacians over my love. [...] Yubel: Judai so you want to drive me away at any cost. Do you and the neo-spacians find my love to be such a hindrance.

Once again, Ai remarks frequently that the loss of their friends made them give up all hope on continuing. Yubel on the other hand is capable of enduring almost anything. They're defined by their endurance and determination to hold on. When they burn up on re-entry they slowly piece themselves back together. When they're disintegrated after Johan's sacrifice, they take Johan's body and then slowly restore themselves once more. Judai duels them to a draw, that's yubel's plan all along and they take super poly. Judai destroys their boss monster, they just summon another one.

Ai on the other hand fundamentally believes free will in Ai's will lead to conflict and that future is inescapable, so they force Yusaku's hand in ending their existence.

AI: You said humans don't want sudden changes. AI: But I can't help my own changes. I may become someone like Bohman or Lightning so I want to vanish before that happens.

Ai has already reached their breaking point, whereas Yubel is slowly driven to their breaking point by Judai's lack of empathy throughout the duel. Yubel similiarly becomes suicidal like AI, but only after Judai continually insists that they're only dueling to destroy Yubel. Once again, while Ai's plan is to self-terminate for Yusaku's "sake" choosing to die while Judai lives on without them is something Yubel would never do.

At least, they might take a bullet for Judai, but they don't want to be alone and abandoned while Judai goes back to live on happily with all his other friends. Yubel wants to be chosen, Ai wants Yusaku to choose his friends. In fact, it's the idea that Yusaku wouldn't abandon him even if the war against Ai and Humans did happen that drives Ai's decision to die rather than let that happen.

AI: When I lived in the simulation I saw it. What my existence will lead to. You get dragged into it and perish. I can't choose that future.

Once again though, it's a decision Ai makes out of an inability to trust Yusaku. Also, if Yusaku wants to stay by Ai's side in spite of the danger it poses to him, that's Yusaku's choice. Ai may perceive himself as protecting Yusaku, but he's also disrespecting his autonomy.

It's also driven by a lack of understanding of what love and trust are. That's not entirely Ai's fault, he is in fact a newborn who recently lost every single one of his friends due to the conflict between humans and AI. It makes sense he'd have trouble trusting humans even the one that's been by his side all this time.

Whereas, Yubel wants Judai's understanding and breaks down when Judai continually denies it to them.

Yubel: Do you hate me that much? Yubel: I thought of this twelve-dimmension universe as a space for us together... so I tried to fill the universe with my love. But if you're calling on your friends and going to such lengths to get rid of me I no longer need to fill this universe with love. No, I no longer need this world. Let me put an end to this universe, to the void as well, and to our time together. Yubel: It was fun Judai, even those who helped lure you to me had dark, dark hearts. I feasted upon their hearts and waited for the reunion with you, my beloved. Yubel: I even invited you to that first dimmension. Well, I enjoyed that duel as well. Until he interfered. But I suppose you just weren't ready to accept my love back then. Yubel: I mean, the darkness in your heart, the supreme king was lying dormant. Yubel: Though I did have your friends help me. Which pulled out the darkness in your heart and ushered you this far. Yubel: I didn't think you were so hardheaded. You're the one at fault. If you can't grasp my love I don't need you. Or this universe. You can all just vanish into dust.

Judai needs to accept responsibility for both what he did to Yubel, and his own actions for the supreme king and how both him and Yubel can be pushed to do terrible things when they're alone and in pain. Part of the motivation for Judai's demonization of Yubel is he wants to keep playing the hero because the guilt of everything he did as the supreme king is crushing him and making him borderline suicidal.

On the other hand Ai is the one who's given up on trying to understand others. Yusaku is doing the best he can to both balance his feelings for Ai and desire to save him against his responsibility to save his other friends but he can't really be held personally responsible for Ai's actions. Whereas Judai on some level is responsible for Yubel's actions since he created the situation in the first place and continually chooses to abandon Yubel instead of trying to reach out to them.

Yubel is right to an extent that this situation is his fault and he never made any attempts to save them. Whereas, Ai is being manipulative when he forces Yusaku to make the choice to kill him putting all the responsibility on Yusaku's shoulders.

Which is why when the duels end in completely opposite fashions. Judai's way of taking responsibility is to fuse together with Yubel, whereas Yusaku refuses to fuse with Ai.

In Yusaku's case the refusal to fuse isn't turning down Ai's proposed third option, or a peaceful solution to the duel. After all, if Ai called off the duel right there Yusaku would accept it and work to forgive Ai for what he did to his friends. Even if they continue on as individuals it's not like Yusaku would leave Ai's side. In fact his reason for refusing Ai's offer to fuse is that he wants them to remain together as two individuals.

Fusion means two entirely different things in this context. Judai acknowledges there's a risk he may no longer exist after fusing with Yubel but like, they keep going on as two seperate individuals and consciousnesses even when they share the same body. Whereas in Ai's case, fusing with Yusaku would destroy both of them and give birth to a completely new being. Ai is using fusion as yet another method of self destruction, because he doesn't want to change himself and doesn't believe in the capacity to change himself.

Yusaku: Even if we become one, that's not the solution you're seeking. We only have one life. One consciousness. Yusaku: If I fuse, I won't be me and you won't be you.

Ai makes his choice out of his inability to face the future. He wants to self terminate, either by distributing his free will among copies or fusing with Yusaku to become someone else because he doesn't trust in his ability to grow and change. In fact he's avoiding having to change and grow up.

Yusaku: So living is a series of bonds! That's what life is. AI: So I have to do that forever? Yusaku: Yes. AI: That's a lot of work. And you can't do that unless you're strong. Yusaku: That's why people become stronger. And that occasionally leads to conflicts. But even if that happens we have to keep fighting. Keep searching for bonds even if there's no solution. AI: I was thinking too logically like an AI. Yusaku: You can't rush living. AI: But I don't want to keep fighting if there's no solution. Since I've lost the desire to fight I'll just vanish.

You could say that Yusaku's unbending nature and his responsibity as a hero made it so he couldn't fuse with Ai or throw the duel but like, there's only so much Yusaku could have done. He didn't give up trying to convince Ai at any point and it's not fair to put Ai's refusal to give up on their suicide plan on Yusaku.

It's also Ai's decision to activate TA.I. that made them lose the duel, so in the end Ai did self terminate. Even in the Yuma vs. Shark duel where Yuma is a character who will never sacrifice anyone even if the whole world is at stake, and kept throwing the duel and prolonging it to try to convince Shark, Yuma was unable to reach him in time. In both cases it's also Shark's decision to go all out for a final attack, and Yuma's decision to negate his own attack and not attack in the hopes fo reaching Shark that loses Shark the duel.

On the other hand, Judai's decision to fuse is him finally taking responsibility. Ai gave up on trying to change the future and himself whereas Judai's decision to fuse is him growing up from a child to an adult.

I also want to state I don't want to victim blame Ai for being suicidal, and not having the strength to go on. Not everyone does in that kind of situation, it's perfectly human (even though he's a robot).

Ai's story is also meant to be a tragedy. In tragedies characters succumb to their flaws instead of overcoming them. GX and VRAINS' third season are two entirely different genres of story, one is a love story where two traumatized people finally reunite and heal and Vrains is a tragedy where Yusaku can't save Ai.

Even then Vrains doesn't state that Ai doesn't deserve salvation, even if he chose to refuse help and didn't want to be saved. Yusaku's very last actions in the series are diving into the net to search for some remnant of Ai and it's implied after months of searching he's not stopping anytime soon. Even if Ai gave up on himself, Yusaku hasn't given up on Ai.

That's another thing even if Yusaku refused fusion with Ai, he still would have stayed by Ai's side. Ai literally simulated a thousand futures and Yusaku in every one of them stayed by Ai's side even if it led to his death. Yusaku still wishes to be with Ai and searches the net for Ai in the end of Vrains. He calls Ai the best partner even when Ai's in the process of breaking his heart.

So while both of these duels have very different endings, I'd say they both still advocate for forgiveness and love. Both duels are true to the message of YGO! that bonds are the most important thing and what give our life meaning - which I think is beautiful. People cannot live on their own and make bad choices when they're alone, but in the end it's bonds that save us.

"If there's no absolutes then what's left?"

"Bonds. Bonds between individuals. Bonds between one another. That's all there is. That also changes with time. A huge trigger can cause a huge change. Bonds may be severed but new bonds can also be formed. So living is a series of bonds. That's what life is."

Also as a final note on this post I'd like to thank @talaofthevalley their takes on Yusaku are all great and talking about Vrains meta with them really helped writing a lot of this post.

#ygo meta #yugioh gx #yu gi oh gx #yu gi oh vrains #yugioh vrains #yugioh #yu gi oh #yusaku fujiki #playmaker #ai #soulshipping #yubel #judai yuki #jaden yuki

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thezoraprince · 11 months ago

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Little Accidents - Link (BotW/TotK) x reader

“Hi! I was wondering if I could request Link (and Sidon too if you get the chance, separately) x reader where he accidentally hurts them. Like they’re fighting a monster and reader gets too close and he accidentally hits them with his sword or something. The boys would feel Sooo bad and probably be crying their poor eyes out more than the reader😭” - anon

both of these boys would be a mess, for SURE!!! Link would be so overwhelmed with guilt, and Sidon would be sobbing for well over a year.

i amy work on Sidon at a later date, but i HAD to write one for Link!! i don't get enough Link requests, so i was so excited to for this one!

i hope you enjoy!! <3

it’s a training day

you find yourselves just outside the home in Hateno

Link has taken it upon himself to help you master your sword skills

I mean, would he really let anyone else do it?

you both pick your swords

and then it’s time

he wants to go easy on you, but he knows you’re more skilled than you let on

he’s watched you fight before, and let’s just say you always impress him

the duel goes on

you block his every move with ease

it’s almost like you know his next move, as if you yourself choreographed this graceful dance

but in a twist of events, you step back and lose your balance, dropping your weapon… just as Link lunges forward

his sword slices your palm, and you gasp involuntarily

blood pours from your hand and onto your clothes

Link sword falls to the ground with a thud as he rushes to you

he quickly takes you to inside and sits you down at the table, not caring if blood stains the freshly washed tablecloth

it’s odd to see him this frantic, running around the home grabbing bandages and other medical supplies

he cleans your wound and begins to wrap it tightly

his eyes won’t meet yours

he’s scared; ashamed

“Link, it’s okay. It was an accident.”

after he’s finished wrapping your hand, he pulls you close

and once he has you in his arms, his emotions come in like a tidal wave

his grip is tight around you, scared to let you go

you try to reassure him that it’s okay

but he hurt you

and that hurt him

even if it was an accident

he manages to pull you closer, tears welling in his eyes as he nuzzles his face into the crook of your neck

you can feel his heart racing as he sobs

after a bit, you both walk up the stairs and lay down on the bed

he’s still holding you as close as he can

and he never wants to let you go

#link #link botw #link totk #botw x reader #tloz: botw x reader #loz: botw x reader #totk #totk x reader #the legend of zelda x reader #link x reader #link x reader headcanon #link x reader imagine

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miniscule-meow · 20 days ago

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Charlie and Felix: About as Well as Expected

Masterpost

Word Count: ~1.6k

Warnings: Minimal Real G/t, Swears

First Part | Last Part | Next Part

Felix steps into the classroom, catching Charlie’s eye. In that unspoken second, they both know that the other knows. Felix knows Charlie spoke to her brothers and he can surmise that she was probably told to stay away from him. Charlie knows that Felix figured out who her family was.

To her credit, Charlie smiles at him. Well, she tries to at least, it turns out closer to a polite grimace. Seeing that look on her face causes his heart to snag, to which he furrows his brow in response. None of this should affect him, she’s just some mundane. He really shouldn’t care about what she thinks of him. She can think he’s a monster, plenty of people do. It doesn’t matter. He brushes past her, going to sit in his normal spot towards the back of the room. If anything, he should be relieved that she won’t be pestering him anymore. He’ll just have to think of something to tell his coordinator. ‘Things didn’t really work out, but I’m making an effort to be more friendly with other mundanes here.’ Something like that should work.

It is, of course, right after he makes this decision that their professor assigns another group project. This time, as promised, they are allowed to choose their own partners.

Felix sees Charlie tense in her seat. Their other classmates are already moving around, pairing up with one another. This would be a good opportunity for him to meet someone new. This class is big enough, it’s likely that there’s someone in here that hasn’t heard the gossip about him. Honestly, most people at this college probably don’t know who or what he is, and even if they do know, they don’t really care. It’s just that the few that do know and care seem to be obnoxiously loud about it. He’s about to go and try his luck with some random classmate, when Charlie turns around. Their eyes meet again. She looks hesitant. Before he can think about how it’s a bad idea, he rises, striding over and taking the seat next to her.

“Beauregard,” He greets her, a quiet confirmation of what they already know.

“Hey,” she says, more reserved than she’s previously been. She busies herself with getting out her computer and her notebook.

“You know, I thought that with being the social butterfly that you are, you would have a line of people wanting to partner with you,” At this, she actually does grimace, mumbling something about not really being all that social. “Well, at any rate, you fine being stuck with me again?”

“Um. Yeah. Yeah, that’s… fine.” Her words are terse, she seems to be as uncomfortable as she is relieved that he’s here, talking to her.

“We can try it out your way this time,” he offers, keeping his tone light. “Go to lunch after this, and work on the project together?”

“Are you sorry?” She asks suddenly, her voice low, her eyes flicking to meet his, then darting away.

“No,” he says, after a brief moment of consideration. “Why should I be?”

“I mean, about my brothers?” She clarifies, just in case he didn’t know what she was talking about. He knew what she meant, and his answer is the same. No. He is not sorry, and he doesn’t regret it. So what if some of the etiquette was missing? The end result was the same as it would have been if he had challenged her brother to a proper duel. That fight is what finally made people take him seriously. He looks at her for a moment, knowing that she wants him to say yes and apologize. Instead, he just shrugs.

“No. I’m not sorry.”

“You- but you almost killed Mars,” he leans in, hissing the words in a hushed whisper.

“That’s a bit dramatic for what actually happened,” he says, resisting the urge to scratch at the scar on his right hand, a souvenir from the fight.

“He was down for months,” her expression slowly turning horrified as his lack of remorse colors the picture of him that her brothers put in her head. It doesn’t matter. He reminds himself

“That’s just- supers do that, okay?” He says, keeping his voice low. He doesn’t feel like he needs to explain himself to her, but he keeps talking anyway. “You fight, and you win. Or you don’t. I respect your brother, he’s strong as hell,” he admits easily, despite it being the first time that he’s said that out loud to anyone. “It was a good fight, I’m not sorry for winning.” He continues when she just stares at him, “I almost didn’t win. I might not get so lucky if I ever had to fight him again, which I don’t want to do, by the way.” Still, Charlie doesn’t break her silence. She just looks at him. Her hazel eyes aren’t holding accusations, but she looks at him with some kind of concern and a sadness that he doesn't know her well enough to discern any real meaning from. “Alright. Can you not look at me like that?” She tears her eyes away from him, frowning down at the desk instead. “What? Did you want me to lie?” He can’t stop the bitter edge from cutting into his tone.

Charlie stays quiet, rigidly still, just staring down at the desk in front of her. When she finally speaks again, her voice is quiet, and hollow, “Are you sure you’re not just talking to me, because it’ll piss off my brothers? Because I really don’t want to be in the middle of… all that.”

“It really feels like you think that I’m thinking about your brothers way more than I actually am. I’m not scheming, Charlie. I just want to hang out, get lunch, be friends, whatever. Believe it or not, I’m surprisingly capable of doing normal people shit.”

“Irregardless. My—”

“That’s not a word,” he says, scrunching his face.

“What?” She says, her momentum jolted enough that she finally brings her eyes to his again. The renewed eye contact gives him a warm victorious feeling inside.

“‘Irregardless,’ not a word.”

“That’s- yes it is. It just means the same thing as ‘regardless.’”

“Then why not use the word that’s actually a real word?” He asks, quirking his brow, a smirk pulling across his lips.

“I—” he chuckles as she makes an incredulous noise, flamed that he would nitpick her vocabulary in the middle of what she believes to be a serious conversation. “Either way,” she says, pointedly choosing a different phrase entirely, “my brother told me to stay away from you.”

“Which one?” He asks, unsurprised.

“Does it matter?”

“I’m just curious.”

“Jeremey,” she answers with a huff, Felix hums in response.

“Do you always let your brother tell you what to do?” His tone remains light and teasing.

“When I think he’s right,” she says, looking away from him.

This stops him. Any mirth from before drains from his eyes. His gaze hardening suddenly, he huffs a short laugh, but there’s no humor in it.

“I just- I know you hate, like, my whole family. Why would I be any different? I don’t want you to use me to hurt them, okay?”

“Do you really—” he bites back whatever retort he was going to say, a muscle tensing in his cheek at he grits his teeth. He shakes his head, cooling off some of his indignation.

He doesn’t owe her anything. He doesn’t need to defend himself. If she wants to imagine that he’s horrible and simply here to hurt everyone around him, that’s up to her.

Everyone wants everything to be his fault, and he’s so tired of it. He’s not perfect, but he’s valid in this. Her brother is fine. Everything is fine. It’s ridiculous that he’s even here at this school, when he hasn’t really done anything more than being better at using his ability than other supers. It isn’t fair.

Fucking mundanes.

Fucking Beauregards.

Fuck.

“Okay,” he says, his tone clipped and detached, despite the emotion quickly welling inside of him. “No to lunch then. I’ll take the first half of the questions this time, send me the doc whenever.” With that, he taps the desk and heads out of the classroom.

His thoughts are jumbled, his rage boiling inside of him. 'When I think he's right,' she said. He can only imagine the sort of things Jeremey would say about him, about how dangerous he is. Painting him to be some sort of terrible monstrosity. And she believed him.

Like he would ever go and hurt some defenseless mundane. He's been there, it sucked. Before he snapped into his ability, he lost every fight that came his way. And the fights never stopped coming his way. Everyone was so power hungry, hurting those weaker than them, just because they could. And if they weren't doing that, they sure as hell weren't doing anything to stop it.

But suddenly, when he's able to stand up for himself, he's the problem. He's the dangerous one.

Sure.

His emotions stoke the power inside of him, he feels it swell. The pressure builds, emanating out from what feels like the center of his bones. It tingles beneath the surface of his skin until his hands feel like they’re burning with pins and needles. It isn’t painful, but it’s not something that’s easy to ignore. His limbs ache with the desire to stretch out, and even though he steps out of the building into the bright afternoon, he begins to feel the creeping sensation of claustrophobia. Though, the only thing containing him is himself.

Replaying their conversation over in his mind, it honestly went about as well as he expected. He stomps his way to the clearing to go blow off some steam.

#Charlie and Felix #my writing #g/t #giant tiny #g/t writing #g/t stories #character and plot chapter not much real g/t #but i hope it's still interesting #it was interesting for me at least so i guess that's all that matters #charlie is not having a nice time honestly #don't worry this will get worse #felix pov #also yes felix cling to your flaws that is probably healthy #felix is just one of those characters that really likes to be YELLING inside my brain

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cyberdragoninfinity · 2 months ago

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man... just something about the word 'fun' and Yuri's use of it in this event making me think all of my little thoughts....

the way it's literally like the first thing out of his mouth when he arrives

When getting grilled about whether or not he's gonna start carding people again the only time he gives a concrete answer he also comments that he found something more fun to do instead

In fact in general there's really a sort of recurring theme with his conversations with the cast that he's lost interest in carding, not finding it fun anymore period.

(which combined with his sort of ongoing aimlessness i keep noticing here really got me thinking this fucked up red cabbage patch kid perhaps is dealing with some degree of depression. but that's it's own kettle of fish. (,: )

AND THEN! in his unlock dialogue, Yuri's main goal for being in duel links in the first place, he says it himself, is really truly just to have fun the way the other yuboys do.

and I feel like it's easy to immediately think "oh, god, okay, so his 'new way' of wanting to have fun is definitely going to have a body count, he's about to start doing war crimes all over duel links now" but then THIS is his voiceline for when he wins against the other yuboys (not even just yuya!! all three of them!!) and it's like OH..... OH MY GOD????!? OH.

this fucked up living weapon REALLY TRULY isn't scheming much of anything right now.... he just wants to have fun playing duel monsters.... AND NOW WITH THE LV. 2000 CUTSCENE THAT IDEA'S JUST REINFORCED ALL THE MORE

this kid's been spat back out into being an individual again (and truth be told doesnt seem to have much of an idea of what to do with himself over that) (and in fact probably didn't even intend for that to happen after yuya absorbed him,) he doesn't find any joy in old activities (FOR THE BEST<3), but for what really seems to be a true genuine moment he's getting to see and learn how to have simple pure love-of-the-game fun while dueling. and if i am being honest the other yuboys realizing that and being supportive is going to make me cry and sob for the next thousand years

like. maybe im wrong, maybe the epilogue scene will reveal this is one long Yuri Grift, but i genuinely do think that a really big theme of this event is supposed to be Yuri (re)discovering how to have fun again, really truly have fun, all the while still being his campy bitchy little self still cuz that's just the kind of person always he's gonna be. and im gonna be SO normal and not sniffly misty-eyed about it.

#ygo posting #gggguhh i have so much more to say about this event. but for now. gotta talk about 'fun'#also the way this fuckign duel links event does more and plays better with themes #that arc-v anime proper was trying to do and then ended up dropping down a mineshaft is making me INSANE.#YUYA'S DUELING ACTUALLY ORGANICALLY GETTING THROUGH TO SOMEONE. AND IT WAS YURI. WAAUGHHH #yuri arc v #duel links madness #dana's ygo bible study

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cressidagrey · 1 month ago

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Scrolling through Tumblr:

Gwynriels: Gwynriel this. Gwynriel that.

Elriels: Elriel this. Elriel that.

Sarah: *Watching everybody argue and hurt each other. Gives Koschei's sweet, unwanted and mistreated daughter to Azriel as a mate*

(You can't tell me that she isn't going to just give Az a new character as a mate just to fuck with everyone for being dicks to each other)

Love your writing! Excited for whatever is next! 😍��️

Tbh, it was that discourse on both “sides” of the fandom that made me first be like… “you know I don’t want either for Az” and then I read that bonus chapter and I just went full on scorched earth 😂

There is a very big gap between what I THINK will actually happen and what I would like to happen in canon lol

More beneath the cut:

Also can we please all keep it civil? Just because I personally think something is probably gonna happen, doesn’t mean I hate every other fic or person that ships it or think that all fanart is ugly etc. they are super talented artists and writers on both sides and I can totally see arguments for both ships.

I think it’s probably gonna end up being gwynriel/elucien (and a background vassa/jurian) mostly because of the following points:

(This is pure speculation, just for fun)

Next book is probably gonna be elucien, then there will be some kind of novella following vassa/jurian, and then gwynriel

That blood duel we have heard about? I am betting on that being Beron/Helion. Both die. Which makes Eris High Lord of Autumn and Lucien High Lord of Day

Sjm doesn’t really need to deal with the bonus chapter: it’s gonna be played as some kind of *oh Az choses his duty over his feelings and was to slow, so Lucien swooped in*…then we’ll get angsty Azriel in the next book and gwyn gets to pull him out of his brooding or something

Rhys gets to be the good guy: will Rhys need to deal with the consequences of his actions? Nope. Will he apologise to Azriel? No way in hell. Will I scream about it? YES.

(There will be a scene where Azriel thanks Rhys instead, and I’ll have a meltdown)

Is Nesta continued to be treated horrible and stuck in her prison, wait house? Probably also yes.

(Why do I think that this is gonna end with the prison and the monster within probably destroyed by Nesta and then her also choosing not to be high lady of the dusk court but instead be general of the valkyries?)

Will I read this book and probably hate it more than A court of Silver Flames? Yes

Also background Mor/Emerie just so that everybody gets paired of with somebody…is that ever going to be actually discussed? Probably not

#c answers

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kaiowut99 · 2 months ago

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youtube

Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V Episode 1 "Dub-Uncut" (ENG Dub w/ JP OST) WIP #1 | Ladies & Gentlemen!

Soooo, after plugging away at this little project for more than a year, I'm pretty sure, I think I'm just about done with it--a "dub-uncut" take on ARC-V episode 1's dub! Like when I worked on those 5D's "dub-uncut" episodes, I find that there's some potential in the 4K/KCM dubs, but overall it's hampered by the dub's music [which especially hurts for ARC-V given the awesome score by Kotaro Nakagawa], some writing choices, and other little oddities/cuts. (I also did plan on trying to sub ARC-V up until Crunchyroll took the wheel on that, and I did want to do something with the work I'd put into prepping the OP/EN for that, lol; I think I actually started this a little in early 2022 at some point, but due to my SSD dying on me in October of that year, I pretty much lost everything and had to dig through what little backups I did to not start from scratch (I had to restart this though). This has also been an ongoing idea, since I did do a dub-with-JP-OST take on episode 10's first 10-or-so minutes years back.

Of course, since working on that version of episode 10, we now have things like UltimateVocalRemover out there to help with things like this, as well as Duel Links or Cross Duel (RIP) for better/more accurate takes on different lines. So, after using UVR to isolate episode 1's audio in both versions, I got to work piecing the dub back together with the JP OST/SFX, using lines from later episodes and Duel Links as helpful to make the dialogue more in line with the original; I'd been chipping away at it mostly for the past year, but worked a bit more on finalizing it and leveling the audio over the past few months to get it off the backburner, lol, along with revamping my subs for BelieveXBelieve and One Step (which I'll be showing off separately).

For this clip, I made Gongenzaka properly say his Monsters' names while tributing them by pulling audio from 138's dub (and one other); Yuya's "Ladies & Gentlemen!" and "Quick-Play Hippo Carnival" lines are from DL, and I found an AI-voice-generating site that had the voice of the Narrator from Pokemon's dub, which I thought would fit for the Action Duel narration before the OP. [Also, yes, I will be correcting every instance of "Zuzu" to "Yuzu" using lines with "you" in them because why.]

Lemme know what you think! I'll likely post another couple progress videos while I apply some finishing touches, and I should probably be posting about the full thing in the next week or two.

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gx-gameon · 9 months ago

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Yugi raises Jaden part 9

Start - previous - next

Yugi and Seto took their places in the royal hall. Atem stood to the side close to where Yugi was. He wasn’t going to miss a moment of this duel.

People had started to gather, thinking Atem was dueling once more. They were excited to see their king and their gods fight once more. Yet when the crowd saw that it was Yugi dueling they started to murmur to each other.

Atem smirked. Soon his people will see the wonder that is his aibou.

They had determined that Yugi would start the duel. “Yugi!” Kaiba called. “Once I defeat you, I’ll beat the Pharaoh. You’ll both get to watch as I finally defeat your precious partner.” If Kaiba was anything it was dramatic.

“I’m not going to lose Kaiba. Not when I have a promise to keep.” Yugi had promise Mokuba and Jaden they would be home soon. And he intended to keep that promise.

“Duel!” They cried together in unison.

“I’ll start.” Yugi looked at the five cards in his hand. His eyes landed on one card in particular and knew exactly what he was going to do. “I set one monster face down, and I set one card face down. That will end my turn.”

“That’s your turn? You must have a pathetic hand.” Kaiba called. “Let me show you how it’s done! I’ll summon my Battle Ox in attack mode, and set two cards face down.” Yugi knew this combo. One of those cards was probably shrink and the other was Kaiba’s Crush Card trap card. He was trying to destroy Yugi’s deck. “Now go Battle Ox attack his face down monster.”

Battle Ox launched itself forward to attack and Yugi smirked as his face down revealed itself. Elemental Hero Clayman appeared, his 2000 defense easily blocking Axe Raiders 1700 attack.

Kaiba growled as he took the first damage of the duel, a mere 300 points. “That’s not one of your cards.” He observed narrowing his eyes at Yugi wondering what trickery this was. Did Yugi overhaul his deck in the time Kaiba was away?

Atem was also curious. He knew his aibou’s deck better than anyone. And while it wouldn’t surprise him if Yugi change up his deck in his absence, he was surprised by how different the card was.

Yugi smiled at Kaiba, “you’re right it’s not mine. This was a gift from Jaden. He wanted me to have a piece of his deck with me to protect me. And I intend to use it well.” He could see understanding flash across Kaiba’s face. He knew what it meant to receive such a card from a loved one.

Kaiba made a quick note of the monsters attack points. It was a mere 800 meaning the card would be spared from his Crush Cards effects. Good. Wait why was that good? Destroying that card would upset Yugi possibly leading him to make mistakes. He should be trying to destroy it at all cost. And yet…. No he needs to focus. He needs to beat Yugi and then he can defeat the Pharaoh.

“I end my turn.” Kaiba called already starting to plan his next move.

‘Alright’ Yugi thought. ‘If I attack and those face downs are his Crush Card combo then it will destroy my deck. So I need to bait him into attacking me.’ Yugi looked at his hand and knew what to do.

“I play Berry Magician Girl in attack mode.” Yugi played the baby magician as she fluttered on to the field. “Her special effect activates allowing me to add one Magician Girl from my deck to my hand.” Yugi added Kiwi Magician Girl to his hand. “I lay one card face down and end my turn.” Yugi says as he played mirror force face down.

“You’re not going to win this duel by playing cautiously.” Kaiba said as he drew his card. “I summon La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp, and I place one card face down. Now attack his Berry Magician Girl.” Kaiba waisted no time going to destroy Yugi’s weak monster.

“Now her special effect activates. When a monster attacks Berry Magician Girl she switches to defense mode and I can special summon a Magician Girl from my deck.” Yugi called as his Berry magician girl flew down to the field with her arms crossed over her chest. “Now come forth my Dark Magician Girl!” Yugi called as the blond spell caster appeared on his side of the field.

The crowd exploded in whispers and the Dark Magician Girl appeared shooting a wink to the crowed. They had never seen anyone besides Atem and Mana summon the spellcaster.

“Ya! That’s my ka Atem!” Mana cheered pumping her fist in the air before grabbing Atem’s arm and pointing at the Dark Magician Girl. “He still uses my Ka!” She was so excited her duel spirit was still helping Atem’s aibou. Atem smiled warmly at his childhood friend before turning his attention back to the duel.

“That’s not going to stop my attack!” Kaiba called as La Jinn attacked Berry Magician Girl. The small magician cried out as she was destroyed. “Now start your turn so I can end you.”

Yugi drew his card and thought of what to do next. Looking at his hand he had Apple Magician Girl and Lemon Magician Girl, he could get them both out on the field in the next move. But Kaiba was right. He wasn’t going to win if he kept playing cautiously. It was time to go on the attack.

“I summon Apple Magician Girl.” The dark haired magician appeared on the field. “Now go dark Magician Girl attack his La Jinn.” And with that the Dark Magician Girl launched her attack.

“Not so fast! I activate my Shrink Magic Card. This card cuts my monsters attack points by half. Now I activate my Crush Card Magic card.” Yugi had been right, Kaiba’s strategy was to destroy his deck. “Now when you destroy my monster any monsters you have with more than 1500 attack points are destroyed. Say goodbye to all the powerful monsters in your deck.” Kaiba laughed. He might have taken 1,100 points of damage but he had this duel in the bag.

Dark Magician Girl shrieked as she was destroyed. Yugi gritted his teeth as he discarded all of his powerful monsters from his deck. ‘Saw that coming.’ “I end my turn.”

“Now it’s my turn!” Kaiba called as he drew his card. “I play cost down. Now I sacrifices my Battle Ox to summon my Blue Eyes White Dragon!” Blue light exploded around Kaiba as his signature dragon swooped down from the sky, her roar echoed around them. “Say good bye to your Apple Magician Girl.”

“I don’t think so!” Yugi calls, “Her special effect activates. When you attack Apple Magician Girl I can summon another Magician Girl from my hand. So come forth Lemon Magician Girl!” The blond magician appeared with a flourish. “And your attack is cut in half.”

“That’s still not enough to keep you magician alive.” Kaiba called as blue eyes attacked.

“Maybe not but this will!” Yugi replied. “Activate trap Mirror Force!”

“No!” Kaiba called as his blue eyes white dragon was destroyed. “If you think you’ve gotten ride of my Blue Eyes you’re wrong. Now go monster reborn.” Kaiba activated his one remaining face down. His Blue Eyes came roaring back to the field. “Now destroy his Lemon Magician Girl!”

Lemons Magician Girl cried out as she was blown away by Blue Eyes. Yugi shouted as the attack landed close to him. These monsters were real and the blast was close. His life points dropped by 2,200 hundred points.

“Yugi! Are you alright!” Atem shouted. He trusted Yugi to win, but these attacks were real and his aibou could get hurt.

Yugi gritted his teeth as he straightened up. “I’m alright.”

“My turn is done. Now take your last move so I can finish you!” Kaiba called. All Yugi had on the field was one 1,200 attack point monster and a 2,000 defend point monster. He had destroyed all of Yugi’s powerful monsters. Yugi couldn’t win.

“My move.” Yugi called as he drew his card. He didn’t have a lot of moves he could make at this moment. But if he knew Kaiba he knew what he’d do next. Try to get his other two Blue Eyes on to the field. “I’ll switch Apple Magician Girl into defense mode and place one monster face down. That ends my turn.”

“That’s about all you can do with the pitiful monsters you have left.” Kaiba called as he drew his next card. “I play Card of Sanctity, now we both draw until we have six cards in our hands, not that it will help you much.” Kaiba drew his cards as did Yugi. Yugi kept a straight face as the card he needed ended up in his hand. Kaiba smirked, “I play polymerization, fusing the Blue Eyes on my field with the two Blue Eyes in my hand. Come forth my ultimate creature Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon!”

Two more dragons appeared on Kaiba’s side, but they didn’t stay for long as the three dragons fused together. The resulting three headed dragon roared menacingly at Yugi. “Now attack his face down monster!” Kaiba ordered.

“Not this time!” Yugi called, “I activate my face down, Block attack!” Yugi played the first card he placed face down, stopping Kaiba’s attack in its tracks.

“You can’t stall forever Yugi!” Kaiba called as his dragon landed next to him. “I end my turn.”

“I’m not stalling Kaiba!” Yugi said as he drew his last card. “You’ve actually given me my winning hand. I set four cards face down. And then I activate the spell defuse! Say goodbye to your ultimate dragon!” Yugi called as the fused dragon became three separate beasts once more.

“So what. There is nothing in your deck that can take down one of my dragons let alone all three.” Kaiba shouted as he looked at his three dragons. ‘What was Yugi planning?’

“That’s where you’re wrong! Now I sacrifice my Elemental Hero Clayman,” he had promised himself he would use his son’s card well and he couldn’t wait to tell him that his card helped him defeat Seto Kaiba, “and my Apple Magician Girl to summon my ultimate dragon. Come forth Gandora the Dragon of Destruction!”

The two monsters disappeared in a swirl of smoke. Darkness covered the field but then thousands of red glowing orbs lit the field revealing the body of Gandora. He roared as he entered the field, Kaiba’s blue eyes roaring in response.

“Oh no!” Kaiba realized this was the end.

“And now I pay half of my life points to activate his special ability! Gandora destroys all cards on the field and gets 300 attack points for each card he destroys.” Kaiba’s dragons screeched as they were destroyed. “Between your three dragons, my monster, my 4 spell and trap cards, and your Crush Card that’s 9 cards making Gandora’s attack points 2,700 and since you only have 2,600 life points this duel is over. Now go Gandora! Attack his life points directly!”

Gandora roared as he glowed a bright red, firing its attack at Kaiba. “No!” Kaiba called as his life points dropped to zero. It was over Yugi had won.

“Yugi!” Atem called as he ran forward to pull his aibou into a hug, picking him up and spinning around. He was so proud of his aibou. The crowd started cheering, for Yugi’s victory.

Kaiba kneeled in his spot. He lost. It was over. He couldn’t duel the Pharaoh again. Yet his eyes trailed to Yugi’s smiling face as he laughed while Atem spun him around. Seto hated losing, he couldn’t stand any perceived weakness. And yet looking at Yugi’s joy, this loss didn’t sting as bad.

He was about to stand up and congratulate Yugi on his victory, like the honorable duelist he was, when Mahad returned. “My Pharaoh this is far worse than we thought!”

The joy was instantly sucked from the room. Jaden was in danger.

I tried my best to make this duel like one from the show. I have played duel links for years so I have an idea of how the game should be played. There are some misplays in here but that’s for plot. I did my best to make all the moves legal with the exception of using the anime effect for Card of Sanctity. Hopefully I did a good job!

#jaden yuki #judai yuki #yugioh gx #yugi moto #yugi mutou #seto kaiba #dad yugi #atem #yami yugi #pharaoh atem #rivalshipping #gandora the dragon of destruction #blue eyes white dragon

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grailfinders · 9 months ago

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Grailfinders #337: Hai Bà Trưng

happy easter y’all, I hope you’re all enjoying your chocolate, eggs, chocolate eggs, and eggs in the shape of chocolate. we’re back at it again with a crisis, both a water monster crisis, and the fact that I can’t really spell the Trưng Sisters’ names right on this keyboard, so from this point on expect me to use the wrong kind of u.

spelling aside, the Trung sisters are a combo of Glory Paladin for their winning attitude and glowy weaponry, as well as an Echo Knight Fighter because… duh. there’s two of ‘em.

check out their build breakdown below the cut, or their characters sheet over here!

next up: “so what’s it like being split into a thousand consciousnesses?” “eh, it has its pros and Cons”

Ancestry & Background

the Trung sisters are probably human, unless you believe in that ascending to the heavens bit, but either way they’re close enough for it to work here. that means they get +1 Strength and +1 Charisma, as well as proficiency with Animal Handling for their elephants and the Ritual Caster feat to actually get those things. with this feat you get two first level wizard spells like Find Familiar and Comprehend Languages that you can ritual cast as many times as you like- the former one of your lil elephant friends, and the latter is the grail translating for you. you can even add new spells to your ritual book if you find them lying around in scrolls or other spell books, so keep an eye out!

also the Trung sisters are Nobles, so they get proficiency in History and Persuasion. if you took a shot every time we released one of these builds with a noble background the only thing that would save your liver is our update schedule. and again, we know noble is a big step down from king, but we do what we can.

Ability Scores

going off the standard array, Charisma should be your highest stat to start out with. it’s literally one of your abilities, and it makes all your paladin stuff extra juicy. second highest is your Strength, since you kill things with spears and swords. R.I.P., Infinitiger. your third highest stat has to be Intelligence since that’s how we qualify for ritual caster, and you definitely know your way around a battlefield. this means our Constitution is lower than I’d like again, but it’s okay for now. the real problem is your low Dexterity making your outfit choices a little difficult to work with, but at least that’s better than your Wisdom. half of you is too busy being a siscon to pay attention when they’re on watch, and you died because your underlings betrayed you. rough.

Class Levels

1. Paladin 1: starting as a paladin gives you proficiency in Wisdom and Charisma saves, as well as Athletics and Insight. despite dumping their wisdom, the Trungs are good leaders and judges of character. paladins also start out with a Divine Sense, letting you pick out extraplanar creatures nearby. you learn their location and what they are, but not who they are. I don’t think the kons are extraplanar, but if they were that would make them so much easier to round up. also if they get chomped on by a fishman you can patch them up with Lay on Hands- you get five HP per day per paladin level, and you can touch someone as an action to either heal them or use five HP to cure a disease of theirs. real useful when you live on a deserted island with no casters.

2. Paladin 2: second level paladins get a Fighting Style, and while Defense would be the smarter choice for +1 AC your spear and sword are both one-handed weapons, so I’m getting the Dueling fighting style instead. that gives you +2 to the damage done with a one-handed weapon every time you hit with it! extra armor might protect you from some damage, but killing will protect you from all future damage!

you also learn Spells which you cast and prepare using your Charisma, but the only spell I really want at this point you’ll get permanently next level so I’ll cover it then. for now, you can also use your spell slots for some Divine Smites- burn a spell slot, deal extra radiant damage when you hit something, deal extra extra damage when you hit a demon or zombie.

3. Paladin 3: third level paladins have Divine Health, so now you can never get sick. anime characters don’t get sick unless they do, and if they do it’s plot related anyway so your DM probably won’t let you off the hook even if you have this.

more importantly, you are now fighting for the Glory of your people, so you get some oath spells! they’re always prepared and they don’t count against your prep limits- Guiding Bolt hits a guy and gives the next person to attack them advantage, and Heroism is the spell I was talking about in level two. with this spell, you can give a creature immunity to being frightened plus some bonus temporary HP every turn for up to a minute!

you also get two Channel Divinity options, and you can use one of those each short rest. you can either become a Peerless Athlete for ten minutes to make up for how spread out your stats are, or you can use an Inspiring Smite to give temporary HP to nearby creatures after you make a divine smite. both of these options use your bonus action, so you can squeeze them into your turns pretty easily right now.

4. Paladin 4: now that you can cast spells you can become an Eldritch Adept using your very first Ability Score Improvement- technically I should save you getting your Armor of Shadows for later to coincide with your third ascension but I’m not going to leave you at 10 AC for the whole dang build. now you can cast Mage Armor on yourself for free, adding 3 to your AC total while unarmored.

5. Paladin 5: fifth level paladins get an Extra Attack each action, so now you can hit twice a turn! I mean. there’s two of you, that tracks. you also get 2nd level spells, including your freebies Enhance Ability, again to overcome stat spread, and Magic Weapon, to make your weapons all glowy for your NP. they also get +1 all attack rolls and damage rolls.

you can also Find Steed now to give your elephant the boost it needs to be ridable! sure it’s still not elephant sized yet, but you can get it up to a warhorse, that’s pretty neat! also you can use Gentle Repose to keep those water monsters from doing their con-eating trick. they might not be undead, but it keeps them from getting up again so it’s close enough.

6. Fighter 1: we’ve got plenty of Trung now, so let’s work on the sister part. bouncing over to fightergives you a Fighting Style, which means we can take Defense after all! or Dueling if you were smart and took the AC first. speaking of AC, you also get a Second Wind once a short rest, letting you heal up as a bonus action!

7. Fighter 2: second level fighters get an Action Surge, so now you can make a second action with a second attack for a total of four in a single turn!

8. Fighter 3: third level fighters can become Echo Knights, letting them Manifest Echo as a bonus action. this creates a copy of you with better AC and 1 HP that you can move around the battlefield as you wish, as long as it stays within 30’ of you. you can attack from its position as well as your own, and you can even swap places with your sister as a bonus action too!

you can also Unleash Incarnation up to Constitution Modifier times a day, adding an extra echo attack to your attack action! right now that’s only once, but it’ll get better as we go.

thanks to the echo knight’s funky splitting, we can use buffing spells like Magic Weapon and it will improve both sisters’ weapons at the same time!

9. Fighter 4: fourth level fighters get another ASI, so grab the Slasher feat to round up your Strength score as well as protect the precious cons! once a turn you can slow down a creature you hit with slashing damage, and your critical hits force disadvantage on the attack rolls of whatever you sliced through! if you’re going to bring marshmallows to the front lines, it’s best to make sure they don’t die.

10. Fighter 5: fifth level fighters get… nothing! extra attacks don’t stack like that.

11. Fighter 6: as a consolation prize, sixth level fighters get a bonus ASI, so bump up that constitution for 11 points of health (remember that +1 each level is retroactive) and for more unleashed incarnations! now you can attack up to six times in a single turn! that would use up literally every spell slot you have right now, but you can!

12. Paladin 6: sixth level paladins have an Aura of Protection, so everyone around you gets a +3 bonus to all their saves! now your cons won’t get blown up by a fireball… as much. I’m sure a successful save would still get the cons knocked out though.

13. Paladin 7: seventh level glory paladins get an Aura of Alacrity, so everyone around you gets a movement speed boost. again, it’s keeping the cons out of harm’s way!

14. Paladin 8: at eighth level you get another ASI, so bump up your Strength for stronger attacks!

15. Paladin 9: ninth level paladins get third level spells, and you get Haste and Protection from Energy for free! I’m sure you could argue a D&D build would have to be perma-hasted to even stand a chance at keeping up with a servant, but really the only third level spell I want here is Elemental Weapon. in contrast to magical weapon, you still get a +1 bonus to attacking, but the bonus damage is a little stronger, and you can make that damage an elemental type like acid or fire. I’d use cold damage here for their demon slayer-esque water sword attacks. or you could use something like Crusader’s Mantle to give everyone around you mini-smites for up to a minute.

16. Paladin 10: at tenth level your natural leadership abilities give you an Aura of Courage, so nearby creatures can’t be frightened while you’re around. it’s a shame it only has a range of ten feet, that would’ve really come in handy while you were alive.

17. Paladin 11: I hope you like radiant damage, because an eleventh level paladin has an Improved Divine Smite, adding a d8 of the stuff to every melee attack you make. that basically doubles your damage output most of the time- there’s a lot of doubling going on in this build, almost like you’re two people or something.

18. Paladin 12: twelfth level paladins get one last ASI, so bump up that Constitution again to not die! not dying’s my favorite hobby, and I bet its yours too, we have so much in common.

19. Paladin 13: our last level of paladin gets you Compulsion and Freedom of Movement and a bunch of other spells but who cares because it also gets you Find Greater Steed, letting us finally have an elephant-sized elephant. well, actually a rhino-sized elephant but it’s waaay closer than a horse.

20. Fighter 7: our true final level is going back to fighter to become an Echo Avatar. now you can transfer your mind to your sister and basically play as her, with the max range of the echo increasing to 1,000 feet while you do so. this also doesn’t prevent you from switching places with her, so you can trivialize a lot of traps by just sending the more expendable sister ahead of you.

obviously I don’t think this level’s in character, but it’s at least slightly moreso than the next paladin level where you can break curses by touching people, so here it is.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

while I didn’t go over it much in the build itself, Paladin has some nice spells, and unless you’re super dedicated to playing in-character I highly recommend you look at the full spell list before committing to just using spell slots for smiting and elephants. also, ritual caster doesn’t look like much on the surface but if you play your cards right it gives you access to a ridiculous amount of Utility, giving you plenty to do outside of combat. with ritual caster you have access to spells no paladin would ever be able to cast like drawmij’s instant summons, and you can become the party’s communication hub with spells like Contact Other Plane or Skywrite.

you can attack way more in a single turn than a paladin really should be able to, which means you take the paladin’s burst damage potential and crank it all the way up to eleven! with action surge and unleash incarnation, you triple the number of attacks a paladin should ever be able to get, making you a burst damage machine. assuming a regular longsword with elemental weapon on it, you deal 6d8+36 slashing + 25d8 radiant + 6d4 cold, for an average of just under 200 damage in a single round.

I know this last one isn’t much, but. riding an elephant is so cool y’all, it gets its own section.

Cons:

pretty much all the damage you do is either radiant or physical, so the second you come across something that can handle those two your damage output is completely neutered. I really hope there aren’t any celestial monsters on the islands…

I know paladin spell slots are really, really good for smiting, but as written we aren’t using them for anything else. okay yeah there’s summoning elephants, but that’s still a very small part of what paladins can do- they’ve got plenty of healing spells and defensive buffs they can offer, and while that might not be in-character, it’s a smart tactical decision.

your AC is bad. but you can just wear heavy armor if you feel like it. yeah two of these are just “if you deliberately kneecap yourself, you play worse,” and I’m sorry, but paladin’s a good class, fighter’s a good class, they’re just two great tastes that taste great together. their biggest real weakness is a lack of area of effect spells, but that’s not super punchy, and even then you can slice through six guys like it’s nothing with the only area you’re really affecting being your sword!

#fgo #fate grand order #D&D 5e #DND #Trung Sisters #Hai Bà Trưng #ha

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