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linkspooky · 2 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 · 10 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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cyberdragoninfinity · 13 days 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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kaiowut99 · 21 days 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.

#arc v #yugioh #ygo #ygo arc v #yugioh arc v #arc-v #yugioh arc-v #ygo arc-v #arcv #ygo arcv #yugioh arcv #project rambling #v much enjoyed how everything came out and hopefully it all sounds pretty good lol #also so so glad i had most of the BelieveXBelieve and OneStep subs I'd worked on that Jake759 on NAC prepped for me backed up on Drive #shame i forgot to also back up his Title Card subs bc he made them look really good but i think i did a pretty good job earlier for 2 hours #contemplated actually finishing that on-screen translation of those billboards early in the ep that i started way back but meh #should be fine as-is for this lol #though do want to work in my edit of that Strong Ishijima poster at least so that gets some use for now #Youtube

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gx-gameon · 7 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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spacebarbarianweird · 1 year ago

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Spawn! Astarion x Durge

So, if Durge denies Bhaal, they become immortal (Withers says Durge is alive while Withers is, and Withers is a god of death). Now, Astarion and Durge are an immortal couple, and death can't separate them.

But living with someone for a long time can be bothersome. Imagine a century, two centuries. They start to annoy each other and decide to take a break.

Each goes to live their own life. Astarion as a spawn, and Durge as Jergal's champion.

Another two centuries pass. Durge grows lonely (as does Astarion). Their hearts long for each other, but they have no idea where their lover is. This temporal break-up was painful, and they didn't agree on a time and place to meet again. Actually, they had been so fed up with each other, that sincerely decided not to meet ever again.

You are a monster hunter, known throughout Faerun for your successful endeavors against trolls, giants, dragons, vampires, and more. One day, you enter a tavern to get a quest, and one is available (and well-paid).

You need to find an extremely dangerous and powerful vampire called Astarion. Not to kill, just to locate his whereabouts.

The contractor looks friendly and kind, and they tell you how strong and unpredictable this Astarion is. You get a feeling that it's very personal, but it's not your job to criticize people who pay money.

You spend a few years searching and finally locate Astarion, far, far away. He is an undercover boss of a pirate freehold. Almost no one sees him, but he has been running this place for many decades. You wouldn't dare to attack him (since there is a horde of pirates on his side, and you suspect he isn't the only vampire there) so you return to the contractor with the news.

"Well, now you want us to kill him?"

"I want to come with you."

Again, it's weird. Why does this contractor want to come with you all this way? It's definetely something personal. They probably want to kill Astarion themselves, but why?

You keep hearing stories about his cruelty and manipulative techniques during the journey. But suddenly, you get a feeling that no one would speak this way about their sworn enemy.

You finally arrive at the place. You warn the contractor not to do anything strange and to wait until you finish with Astarion.

Then there he is, alone in the stairway with his best daggers. You feel the danger looming from him. The contractor takes a step, and you don't protest. It's going to be a duel.

"Tav!" the vampire yells. "Tav, is that truly you?"

And your contractor loses all their aura of power and secrecy, running to Astarion with open arms. They fall into each other's embrace, laughing and crying like young lovers.

You can only hear pieces of sentences: "I missed you" and "Where have you been all these years?"

Two immortals. Two immortal lovers. They parted two centuries ago, tired and angry with each other, but now their love and passion are reborn, and they feel the same way they did many years ago while hiding at the inn in Baldur's Gate.

"Well, will you pay us?" you reluctantly ask the contractor, who suddenly looks very young.

"Yeah, sure. You found my husband, so the contract is fulfilled," Durge stands on their feet. Astarion shrugs and throws you a bag of coins and jewels - a much more considerable sum than you were promised. "Take your money and leave; you did the job."

You and your companions look at Durge and Astarion as they hold each other's hands and discuss the centuries they spent apart.

Leaving the strange couple, you hear them giggling.

"Darling, please, don't hire monster hunters to find me next time."

"Just don't hide then."

"I missed you."

"I missed you too."

#astarion #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 astarion #astarion bg3 #astarion romance #bg3 #baldurs gate 3 #astarion x durge #spawn astarion #dark urge #astarion fic

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grailfinders · 8 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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heleniad · 5 months ago

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putting my own two cents out there: i feel like part of the reason why hector treated helen kindly was that he was a loyal, loving husband to andromache, and as a consequence, he did not see helen as a sexual object to be possessed but more as a human being. even menelaus had ulterior motives in coming to troy. he didn't come for helen because he loved her; he came at least partially because the loss of helen was an insult to his person and honor. nobody in the trojan war viewed helen purely as a person EXCEPT for hector and hecuba's wife priam. they saw beyond helen's beauty because helen's beauty did not distract them. in their eyes helen was no longer a 2 dimensional character to be demonized as some sort of siren monster but an actual, breathing, living human who did not deserve the hate so ruthlessly piled against her.

helen herself was a cunning woman who tried to keep priam's favor. she found power and agency in traditionally feminine activities; even in observation she tried to garner some agency. when priam questioned helen on the warriors from the battlefield, mentioning their stature and/or regality, helen made sure to echo exactly what he said. for example, when priam mentioned agamemnon's kingly nature helen made sure to confirm priam's assertion about agamemnon being king; when priam mentioned ajax being 'outstanding among the argives in height and broad shoulders', helen made sure to refer to ajax as 'huge ajax'. in priam's company, helen also made sure to deprecate herself to a large extent by calling herself dog-faced and deserving of death. she knew priam was probably her only hope in keeping herself safe within the walls of troy, and she acted upon this knowledge.

then, there were helen's actions in the odyssey. firstly, she drugged her guests with heartsease, which was a very cunning and strategic move by her, considering her reputation as a bitch-whore who contributed to countless deaths in the trojan war. secondly, in her recounts of the trojan war, she made sure to highlight how she had longed to go home and then how she had actively helped out odysseus when he sneaked into troy. ( also note here that she was the only one to uncover odysseus' disguise. ) in contrast, menelaus talked about how helen circled the trojan horse with the voices of the warriors' wives to lure the men out as a move against greece. this was an extremely cunning move and though helen's intent was ambiguous, i suspect it was because deiphobus was there & helen wanted to prove her allegiance to him in order to secure her own safety with the man. this trojan horse move, then, was a way to both make sure she would be safe for the remaining of her days in troy AND it was a move that could be very much countered by the greeks if they so wished. helen did NOT go around telling everyone that the trojan horse was a trap when she very much had the opportunity to, which suggests that this move was probably not because she wanted greece to lose but to secure her own safety with her new husband deiphobus.

this next part is not in the iliad or the odyssey but while we are on the topic of helen's agency, let's talk about how helen dropping her robe from her shoulders made menelaus drop his sword. in my opinion, helen very much knew what she was doing when she did that — it was a survival tactic and she was wielding her own beauty to her advantage. finally.

now despite all this, helen still suffered from the cruelty of the patriarchy. she was not even personally informed that the duel between menelaus and paris would be taking place — the duel that would determine the whole course of HER future. it was the goddess iris who had to convey the message to helen. many such cases of this are present in helen's life. she was as much a victim in the trojan war as she was an instigator. but let's also not forget that she was a woman who, despite everything, actively fought for her own agency.

#heleniad.txt #helen of sparta #helen of troy #ancient greek mythology #the iliad #hector of troy #priam #trojan war #trojan horse #menelaus #helen musings #thoughts #long post

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99problemsandallofthemarefandoms · 9 months ago

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Got another one for ya'll.

Mokuba has grown up and moved out. Idk what he does. I feel like the most probable thing he would do would be to start Kaiba corp. America after going to America for college so he can have a normal college life but for this story he stays in Japan.

He could be making indie games or something but he always makes sure to visit his brother. Not like every day but between every week or every other week.

Its been a bit since he moved out and Kaiba has been set in his ways of work, work, a bit of duel monsters and more work. He is certainly never unhappy to see his brother but Mokuba thinks he could use some fun in his life.

So Mokuba drags him out every other visit. One outing Kaiba reconnects with the Yugi gang and most importantly Joey.

So first meeting is nothing special. Mokuba goes back to his life and plans his next visit.

Over the course of the story it's just Mokuba walking in on snippets Kaiba's developing new life. Yugi and the gang have invaded and are playing DND in Kaiba's living room. Kaiba is forced to play or they will play a very bad knock off him in the game which is even more irritating than him having to play or him just not being home as he is out which is surprising as he usually goes straight home to work in the home office.

Eventually he walks in on Joey and Kaiba late afternoon sleep in weekend breakfast kiss over coffee.

"Mokuba I love you but you need to start calling ahead or learn to bloody knock." as Joey sneaks away to put some pants on as he is just in his boxers.

#puppyshipping #violetshipping #joukai #kaijou #fanfic #fic ideas to inspire writers with #fic idea

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rpking99 · 2 months ago

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Dancing Queen

Closed with @frogsonalotusleaf

Continued from here

The noise & the crowd definitely caught Seto’s attention & curiosity, causing him to walk into the arcade to see the cause of the commotion. He was surprised when he recognized who was dancing… and impressed. The wink & smile caught him off guard, too, probably just acknowledging he was there, but Kaiba stayed until she was done. He leaned forward on the back bar of the dance pad next to her. “I didn’t think you of all people would beat my high score.” He used to have the top place on every game all over the country, but he has long since abandoned the goal once he achieved it at the time. “I guess you’re competent at something after all.”

"I am a trained and confident dancer, Kaiba! And about to go pro! I'd think I am good at it! I don't act surprised that you're good at Duel Monsters now, do I?" Tea deapdanned simply with a sassy tone of voice, cocking her hips as she tapped herself dry with the towel "What is Mr Super Rich Billionare doing at a random arcade, anyway?"

#frogs on a lotus leaf

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starlightshadowsworld · 1 month ago

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Which yugioh series you watched and what do you think of each of them?

I’ve only finished GX and Arc V.

I love them both. I’d say GX is my favourite because I feel Arc v’s decision to make Zarc the big bad instead of Leo is so bizzare.

Along with his inconsistent characterisation. At one point he’s a normal happy kid that can hear the dragons. And next he’s a monster who purposely tried to kill destroy the world.

Arc V’s ending is just wiped from my brain.

Their both fun shows with interesting darker themes and while they can be messy at times their both s lot of fun.

And I love Yuya and Judai/Jaden very much as characters. I love a good ol good guy gets corrupted and is saved by the people he saved.

I love the journeys Judai/Jaden and Yuya go through and how their love for dueling is tested. I love the side characters, people like Shun/Shay and Johan/Jesse are really interesting

Lot of other characters really needed fleshing out tho…

Somehow both of these shows contain Edo/Aster Phoenix joining a cult.

My favourite arc in Arc V is probably the Friendship Cup and my favourite duel is probably Sora Vs Shun.

My favourite arc in GX is probably the Supreme King Arc and my favourite duel is probably Judai vs Professor Cobra.

I have watched like maybe partway through Yugioh 5ds and a wee bit of OG Yugioh. But that was years ago and I don’t remember em much so can’t really say.

#yugioh gx #yugioh arc v #jaden yuki #judai yuki #yuya sakaki

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mayhemchicken · 5 months ago

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From what I have seen, the only ones who kill a vampire in Varney are presented to be bad people?

it's...a bit more complicated than that. broadly: kind of? but the reasons why are fascinating.

in the first half of the story, varney is The Villain. the inciting incident of the plot is him breaking into the Bannerworth house and biting Flora Bannerworth, the only female character of note in this part of the story, and the rest of the plot is the Bannerworths struggling against his increasingly scooby-doo-villain-esque hijinks while they try to figure out how to get rid of him. he lies, he cheats, he steals, he insults them to their faces, he kidnaps flora's fiance, he (probably) commits forgery, he breaks into their house over and over again, he stages elaborate spooky theatrical effects to make himself seem creepier, and generally he is a huge pain in the ass. the bannerworths, at this point the story's heroic protagonists, want him gone by any means necessary. and they do try to kill him!

honorably, in a duel.

this is the distinction the story makes: not that it is Right or Wrong to kill a vampire, but that it matters how you do it. the bannerworths, Our Heroes, challenge varney to...let's see...at least three duels. (only one is ever actually carried out.) as far as the story is concerned, this is perfectly right and fair and honorable. nevermind the fact that varney is textually unable to be killed by bullets, as he'll simply come back to life the next time the moon shines on him, this is the Right And Proper way to go about killing a vampire. he is, after all, a gentleman, if a bloodsucking one.

by contrast, the local townsfolk are painted as very much In The Wrong when they go about trying to kill the vampire threat. james malcolm rymer hates the working class, and BOY does it show. enter the true villain of varney the vampire: The Mob. the first Mob shows up at the conclusion of henry bannerworth's duel with varney, henry having failed to kill the vampire because varney, to all appearances, simply resisted the bullet.

The Mob, showing up as they do on the heels of The Honorable Duel, are presented in sharp and deliberate contrast to the gentlemanly way of doing things. they are bloodthirsty, uneducated, and refuse to listen to reason, and are easily stirred up into committing disproportionate acts of violence. the bannerworths are horrified by the sight of them, and even though varney is their enemy and they just got done trying to kill him themselves, they agree that they ought to help varney by trying to drive the mob off, because Surely This Is Taking Things Too Far.

rymer's caricature of the frightened masses is illuminating of a lot of things about his mindset, but it's interesting to note the contrasts here. the approaches his human heroes take are ineffective, at times almost cartoonishly so, at addressing the threat they face. the actions of The Mob, on the other hand, are brutally, often horrifyingly, effective. The Mob gets shit done. often, it's the wrong shit; rymer goes out of his way to highlight the brutality of the actions committed by The Mob, contrasted to the heroes' ineffectual but noble waffling. impotent action, even inaction, is painted as the more virtuous approach - better to not accomplish your goals at all than to accomplish them rudely. protecting your family from a monster is honorable, but not if you're going to be so violent about it.

#varney posting #varney the vampire #this post was difficult to write because i have so much to say on this general subject #that is not on topic to the question #the way this story treats violence and fear and class divides and people's reactions to the supernatural are all so fascinating #im studying james malcolm rymer like a bug #perchance one might even say #a beetl[i am run over by a train]

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astoundingbeyondbelief · 1 year ago

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Kaiju Week in Review (November 19-25)

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters remains must-see kaiju TV with its third episode. The flashbacks revisit the U.S. attempt to kill Godzilla with an H-bomb in 1954, making a few retcons to the 2014 film that I think are largely for the better. This might be the Monsterverse Godzilla work that best understands it's adapting a Japanese story. There's also a delightful new critter who shows up at the end of the main story and will surely continue to be a threat in the next installment. On the human side of things, we're starting to see how Monarch became more and more obsessive about secrecy over the decades, paralleled with the infidelity at the heart of the story.

Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #2 delivers the Superman/Godzilla fight that's probably what people most wanted out of this crossover. I was surprised at how well Godzilla did, although it wasn't quite a clean victory. Camazotz's duel with the Bat-Family in Gotham City was more interesting, as bizarre as it is to see some of the most famous superheroes in the world taking on a Titan who's never even been in a movie before. Meanwhile, Scylla's in Central City and Behemoth's closing in on Themyscira. Odd choices considering Scylla's Greek name, but then I can't see her doing well against Wonder Woman.

youtube

As is New Generation Ultra Series tradition, Ultraman Blazar will be quickly followed by a movie (Tokyo Kaiju Showdown) released early next year (February 23). Most of these things are pretty forgettable, but director Kiyotaka Taguchi was also behind the Ultraman X movie, which I thought was one of the best ones. The plot:

A wave of kaiju emerges from an industrial zone, prompting Capitan Gento and the Special Kaiju Reaction Detachment (SKaRD) to engage in the relentless battle. Yet despite their efforts, the endless kaiju attack continues. Suspecting a link to Necromass Co., an advanced chemical company that researches kaiju corcasses and owns factories in the industrial zone, SKaRD rushes to the company’s CEO and renowned chemist, Dr. Mabuse. At Necromass Co.’s research facility, Dr. Mabuse explains the development of the damudoxin, a substance on the brink of achieving immortality. Meanwhile, Alien Damuno, who claims themselves as the “ruler of the universe” appears! Chaos ensues when damudoxin leaks from the destroyed tanks, consuming samples of kaiju carcasses and giving rise to the giant Gongilgan, the Demonic Carcass. Set in Tokyo, the capital of Japan, Ultraman Blazar and SKaRD clash in a showdown against the giant kaiju!

This year's Ultraman Decker movie was available to rent on Tsuburaya Imagination the same day it released in Japanese theaters, so I'd expect the same from the Blazar movie.

I'm typing this hours before I see Godzilla Minus One in IMAX. The date crept up on me, but I can feel every atom in my body vibrating right now, so yeah, almost time for the new Godzilla movie. High hopes with the reviews it's getting!

#kaiju week in review #godzilla #ultraman #ultraman blazar #monarch legacy of monsters #justice league vs. godzilla vs. kong #kaiju

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kaiowut99 · 8 months ago

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Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters GX Episode 1 Subbed (Finalized Re-Release)

(Original Finalized Release Post)

(Check out my Subbed!GX Stream Masterpost!)

TURN-1: Yugi's Successor

On his way to the Entrance Exams for the Duel Academia High School, Judai Yuki meets the legendary duelist Yugi Mutou and receives a card from him. Running late, Judai arrives at the venue and requests to take his exam, but Instructor Chronos sees Judai's exam as pointless given his lackluster score on the written exam. A duel begins between Judai and Chronos, and Chronos's rare Antique Gear Golem card uses its powerful 3000 ATK to damage Judai. His back against the wall, Judai hears the voice of a Monster--which turns out to belong to the card he received from Yugi, Winged Kuriboh...

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...I first posted the original finalized version of this episode almost 10 years ago??? Time is an illusion...

Fresh off the presses, it's a re-finalized version of my episode 1 subs! Well, probably re-re-re-re-finalized given my penchant for consistency and quality after previous revisions in the past 2-3 years, between fixing a handful of animation errors and terminology revisions... But this one merited a new post not so much for any updated translations, but because after casually skimming through this episode a while back, I noticed more animation errors, all card-related, that I'm now able to fix as I have for episodes since. You know the deal with this one, I'm sure; new kid on the block bumps into the Game King himself as he runs late for his Academia exam and manages to hit one of the school's best with his skills--literally. Fun opening episode to a fun series.

With this, I'm hoping to officially call this episode finalized for good, mainly because the kind of annoying thing about doing further revisions now is that, thanks to my solid-state drive (SSD) failing in October of 2022, I lost my personal copies of the episode scripts with the ATK/DEF counters I stylize and all, so it means I have to cut/stitch together different parts of the episode between the fixes I applied and the previous hardsub to account for the stat-counter subs or the eyecatch subs I started doing--since the softsub MKVs I release don't have those specific subs, they're easier to update. So I hopefully shouldn't be touching anything before episode 84 (the first one I finalized after getting a new drive) again and those can ideally be considered finalized for good. I'm hoping I can also give that title to 84-109 (where I currently am), but I'd like to think I didn't miss anything, lol.

Anyway, as mentioned, this revision applies several card-related fixes to the episode, some of which replicate fixes 4Kids did for the dub that I took a cue from. The fixes were added to the last DVDRip I released, subsequently made into a new softsub MKV, both of which will be up on NAC soon with the updated hardsub. List below the cut below as always, for the interested~ (Nice thing with some of these is that the frame rate was usually consistent, which meant that editing most panning shots and the occasional zoom shots were usually more of a breeze than later on, haha.)

Enjoy, folks; with this out of the way, since it's been about two weeks since 108 and 109 were finished up, I'll start setting up stuff for finalizing 110 while doing a little more TFSP work here/there before I fully start on 110 sometime next week. Stay tuned!

Fixes & Edits!

*The bolded edits below were applied back in 2021 and were added into the original release post; adding them here for completeness.

Applied a card back to an orange rectangle that was a face-down card during the panning shot of the Exam Duels going on over the episode’s opening narration as it fades to Chronos watching, repeating the edit as it pans back around again before fading to Manjoume and Ryou/Asuka watching.

As Misawa's exam proctor says that he stands no chance against his Super Defense Deck, the blank-art cards on his Disk for Big Shield Guardna and Gear Golem the Moving Fortress are reversed (the wider side for the effect box should be on the right). Fixed by applying proxies on them for a frame in AfterEffects, masking in the card outlines for blending, before taking that frame into Sony Vegas and zooming it out for the zoom shot here.

As Misawa's Ring of Destruction destroys Vorse Raider, we see the smoke rush onto the proctor's side of the field--and as we do, we can quickly see the blank-art Big Shield Guardna and Gear Golem cards on his Disk are again reversed before the smoke covers them. Fixed first in AfterEffects by slapping the proxies on for a frame, then in Vegas by taking that frame into and keyframing it to the rapid panning shot for most of its 17 frames. (Incidentally, throughout this scene, a different error happens in the dub, where aside from keeping the cards' orientation on the proctor's Disk incorrect, they also shuffle between Gear Golem and Big Shield Gardna being Normal or Effect Monsters--bit of an identity crisis!)

Fixed the error with Misawa’s LP dropping to zero after he uses Ring of Destruction to finish his Exam Duel; should have dropped to 1300.

After the proctor's LP drop to zero, he congratulates Misawa on his win, but the Gear Golem card on his Disk is reversed. Fixed first in AfterEffects by applying my proxy for a few frames, then taking one of those frames into Vegas to lightly keyframe as the shot pans left. (As a fun editing aside, I could tell 4Kids likely edited this in a similar way to how I did because as the cards fade out, you can briefly see some residue of Manjoume's hair outline on Big Shield Gardna's card which they didn't cover up; I definitely made sure I went the extra mile with redrawing the arena floor to cover that haha.)

After Misawa thanks the proctor, we zoom out to Manjoume in the stands as the Solid Vision fades out, but the cards under Big Shield Guardna and Gear Golem are--you guessed it--reversed. Fixed in a few ways, with the goal being to redo Big Shield Guardna and Gear Golem fading out--first, in Vegas, I took the first frame after they're gone and zoomed it into place at the start of the zoom, which let me cover up Gear Golem and most of Big Shield Guardna, but because Manjoume's hair moves upward as the shot zooms out, doing this means I couldn't fully cover it. So, I then took this first post-fadeout frame into Photoshop, where I used the Clone Tool to duplicate the arena floor and cover up the rest of Big Shield Guardna, reinserting it into Vegas and applying the zoom keyframes I did to the earlier frames to it--this lets my edited frame properly zoom out with the shot. Once done, I went into AfterEffects and applied the Big Shield and Gear Golem proxies onto the shot's first frame, masking them above the cards, then took that frame into Vegas to zoom out with the shot (rather easily, luckily, thanks to the frame rate note I mentioned up top), masked out Big Shield and Gear Golem and made them fade out into the edited frame in the layer below. With that set, all I had left was to go back and mask Manjoume's hair back above the edits for the duration of the fade, which was pretty easy, and boom goes the dynamite.

After Judai's duel with Chronos starts, he summons out Elemental Hero Featherman, but the card gets placed reversed on his Disk. Fixed in AfterEffects by applying a proxy first to one frame during the initial light zoom-out in the shot, taking the fixed frame into Vegas to re-zoom and hold once the zoom was over.

Chronos reacts to Featherman's summon, and as Featherman lands in front of Judai, his card on his Disk is reversed again, but also as the screen pans right, for a few frames as Judai moves to then place a card face-down, the shadow under his left leg goes from being more gray to black, turning back to gray once he stops moving. Fixed in AfterEffects first by placing a correctly facing proxy on his Disk for a frame, which I then took into Vegas and re-panned into the shot; while in Vegas, I then masked in the gray leg shadow over the black, masking in part of Featherman's ATK/DEF counter over the edit to blend it in.

In the next shot, as Judai ends his turn and their LP counters pop up, the Featherman card under him on the field is reversed; fixed in AfterEffects by slapping in a proxy, masking Featherman back in above it.

[cont below]

(10) After Chronos uses Confiscation, as he sends Judai's Revival of the Dead/Monster Reborn to his Cemetery, a few things happen: 1) the Featherman card on his field under him on the field is facing Chronos in Attack Mode, and 2) it's in the wrong Zone on Judai's Disk, as it should be in Monster Zone 3. I fixed this a few ways, first fixing the Featherman-on-field aspect in AfterEffects, applying a Defense-Mode proxy under Featherman and masking him and Judai back over it; I then took a cue from 4Kids and took the frame immediately after his Cemetery stops being lit up (but before Judai starts to move) and the frames as Judai moves into Photoshop, where I copied the empty Zone 1 into place over Zone 2, blending it in with some minor editing, and combined it with the AfterEffects edit I then did by applying a Featherman proxy in Defense Mode to Zone 3. After throwing everything into Vegas, I then applied some masking to a solid-white color layer to replicate the lights coming from Judai's Cemetery slot (helped by the fact that, luckily, the lights don't move). (The dub, for their part, only handled the Disk aspect, applying a weird light to cover up their Zone 2 edit while the Graveyard was lit up, leaving the Featherman card on the field as it originally was, OCG format and all lol.)

(11) Chronos activating Heavy Storm causes a huge storm of wind on the field, and as it gets to Judai's field, we see that the Defense-Mode Featherman card on the field under Featherman is reversed. Fixed first in AfterEffects, applying a proxy in a frame where most of the card was visible and masking Featherman back above it, then taking that frame into Vegas where I first redid the panning that happens, then I created a solid-color layer colored like the wind and applied some masking to replicate the gusts of wind that blow over the card.

(12) After Chronos summons his Wicked Lord Tokens and the crowd reacts, the smoke on the field from their summon simmers down, but the Featherman card under Featherman is reversed again. Fixed in AfterEffects by applying a correctly facing proxy and then masking Featherman back on top.

(13) After the commercial break, fixed the error with a Ra Yellow student’s miscolored jacket as he and the others watch Antique Gear Golem being summoned, thanks to thepalebride’s help.

(14) After crowd reaction to Antique Gear Golem being summoned, Asuka looks out onto the field and says she unfortunately heard the sound of the Academia's gates closing shut for Judai--as she does, we see that the blank-art card under Featherman is reversed. Fixed first in AfterEffects by applying a proxy under him in the first frame of the shot and masking him back on top, then taking that frame into Vegas where I re-panned it as the shot pans upward.

(15) After a brief blush, Judai summons out Winged Kuriboh, but he places it reversed on his Disk--and in the very next shot, it's correctly facing such that its name box is to our left. Fixed in AfterEffects by applying a proxy as he places it on his Disk, masking his fingers over it.

(16) After Antique Gear Golem destroys Winged Kuriboh and Judai tells Chronos that it reduces his damage to zero--to Asuka's shock--Judai takes Winged Kuriboh off his Disk and places it in his Cemetery slot in a quick shot, but the card is reversed again. Also fixed by 4Kids, I fixed this in AfterEffects by applying a proxy facing correctly in the frames in which Judai moves it.

(17) After summoning Flame Wingman, and after some taunting from Chronos, Judai activates an arena as heroic as he is in Skyscraper, but as he does so, Flame Wingman is missing from his Disk, as it should be in Zone 3. Fixed first in AfterEffects by applying a proxy (after finding the best-quality screenshot of Wingman's anime art and touching it up using an AI tool [I think I settled on Waifu]), fading it in as the scene fades from the Judai closeup to Judai about to swing his Disk around, and adding it as he does so, then applying a brightening and dimming as the Solid Vision lights go on around him. Once I did that, I went into Vegas and applied some masking on the little flickers that pop up over that zone to blend the edit in. (Side-Note: while dubifying the Skyscraper card in Judai's hand, 4Kids forgot to mask in his thumb over it, begging the question... how is Jaden holding that?)

(18) Fixed the blank Normal Monster card that should be Flame Wingman, both as Antique Gear Golem crashes onto Chronos and as the duel fades to an end.

#GX #yugioh #ygo #ygo gx #yugioh gx #yu-gi-oh gx #yu-gi-oh! gx #my subs #Judai Yuki #Chronos de Medici #ahh humble GX beginnings #[hopefully i'm not only just finalizing episode 180 in 2034...]#[Reblogs for visibility are always appreciated 🙂]

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