#unhinged yugioh rambling

[anthurak]

Okay here’s a fun bit of off-the-cuff, unhinged rambling:

So I’ve been playing some Yugioh Duel Links lately, specifically the current Arc-V event focused on Rin and Lulu. And I noticed that Rin has some rather interesting dialogue when summoning both Clear Wing and Crystal Wing Synchro Dragons (for context, the ace-monsters of one of Arc-V’s Shonen-Protags; Yugo. For whom Rin is the plot-designated love-interest).

Stuff like; "I know you'd rather fight by my side than with Yugo!” for Clear Wing Dragon and “A monster this awesome is wasted on Yugo!” for Crystal Wing Dragon.

And not only is it rather interesting and frankly fun for a designated-shonen love-interest to be making comments like that, but she’s also not exactly wrong either…

For one, mechanically-speaking the Clear Wing dragons slot EXTREMELY well into Rin’s Windwitch archetype, which is very effective at getting out Level 7/8+ WIND Synchro monsters. To the point of even being a bit better at it, or at least a bit more reliable/consistent, than Yugo’s own Speedroid archetype.

And aesthetics-wise, the Windwitch’s whole motif is that of Icy Wind. And well…

Clear Wing Dragon, Crystal Wing Dragon, Crystal Clear Wing Dragon…

Sounds like something what would go quite well with an ICE motif, no? Certainly just as well as the ‘speed’ motif of Yugo’s Speedroids. Heck, those crystals on Crystal Wing Dragon look quite a bit like ice crystals, don’t they?

So! With all that in mind, combined with both the fact that Rin frankly deserves another badass ace monster after all the disrespectful shit her series put her through AND how the idea of a designated shonen love-interest making off with the protag’s best cards and possibly even making better use of them is frankly EXTREMELY FUN…

Yeah as far as I’m concerned, Clear Wing Synchro Dragon is Rin’s monster now whenever I play Duel Links and will have a permanent place in all of her decks.

And heck, while we’re at it let’s take this idea of Rin using Clear Wing Dragon a bit further and envision the story potential of this.

Consider if you will: An alternate version of Arc-V where Yugo is the one who gets damsel’ed and/or fridged, and RIN comes into possession of Clear Wing Synchro Dragon. To the point of even eventually becoming/revealed to be that dragon’s TRUE partner.

Sounds ludicrous, right? After all, Rin is one of the fragments/incarnations of Ray Akaba, who is basically the nemesis of the four Dimension Dragons.

But consider also: This would have made for a way more INTERESTING STORY for Arc-V!

Imagine a version of Arc-V where multiple character, mostly villains/antagonists, spend the show hyping up how the four Yu-boys are ‘destined’ to become one and recreate the terrible Zarc, and that the four bracelet girls are likewise ‘destined’ to become one and recreate Ray in order to stop him.

Only for multiple characters and events across the show to subvert and DEFY this so-called ‘destiny’.

Like say, some of both the ‘Zarc’ and ‘Ray’ fragments rejecting merging together on such a fundamental level that they CANNOT merge like what we saw in the anime?

Or one of the Yu-boys learning a summoning method that perhaps Zarc himself originally rejected? As in, RITUAL summoning.

Or one of Ray’s incarnations defying all conventional expectations and actually bonding with one of Zarc’s Dimensional Dragons, to the point of said dragon rejecting Zarc himself.

I don’t know about you, but that sounds WAY more interesting.

Also, because Clear Wing Dragon seems to be a girl dragon, I am definitely shipping her with Rin for the sake of underappreciated Yugioh yuri*. Heck, it’s a fragment of Ray in love with one of Zarc’s dragons so it’s basically an ‘enemies-to-lovers via reincarnation’ thing XD

--

*NO, not the smug Melvin-wannabe who SHOULD have gotten his ass kicked by Alexis Rhodes.

[countxcrimson]

Ryou smells like sugar cookies to me and I’m sick of not speaking my truth, ill even.

He’s pale like the cookie and his hair is white like the frosting, to me he just look like he smells like sugar cookies. He has sugar cookie energy.

Thank you for coming to my ted talk

[xerith-42]

You know the Yu-Gi-Oh rewatch is going good when you already have a pile of wips for your favorite ship growing, a loose collection of headcanons, and an extended bit about Bakura getting hit by a motorcycle

[aberooski]

I FOUND A LIST OF ME ASSIGNING THE GX CREW FIRE EMBLEM AWAKENING CLASSES I'D STARTED COMPILING WHEN I WAS PLAYING IT AGAIN IN MY DRAFTS THAT I FORGOT ABOUT!! DAMN I SHOULD FINISH THAT!! 😫

[s1g4]

One of my favorite decks in Yu-Gi-Oh is Libromancer. It's a super cool set of cards that's based around Manga archetypes.

So we've got this Shonen protagonist guy.

We've got his "guy in the chair."

Their friend, the magical girl.

And this guy who's there? He's a detective but like, has little connection in the lore.

And the whole thing is implied to be the Geek Boy fantasizing about his friends. Hence the name "Libromancer" (he's writing books about them). And the actual way they play is super cool!

It's all about looping summons of Geek Boy and Fireburst's civilian form (Pictured above) to continuously generate card advantage, with occasional appearances by the civilian versions of Doombroker and Mystigirl. So it's essentially two friends constantly transforming from their civilian forms into their battle forms. It's all really cute and plays out like an episode of your favorite anime.

And it's hot ass.

The deck is unplayable garbage and bricks constantly. Playing it pure and opening an exact 5 card hand, you can end on up to three interruptions, unless your opponent doesn't have a Kaiju or a board sweeper in hand, in which case it becomes up to 1 interruption.

So what ends up happening is that the deck becomes this guy turbo:

Because the Libromancers work quite well with him, for some reason.

Or you mix it with the Mikanko deck.

In either case, you're essentially playing the deck your splashing into your Libromancer deck but worse.

I don't know of other brews with them but I can't imagine it's much better.

I'm so sad Konami please let me play the anime fanfiction archetype.

[chaoscheebs]

#the bdsm article that's a lil too nosy starting to think Yugi's in a weird sex cult thing with Seto #no it's just cuz Yugi's locked himself inside the house to play 1000+ hours of Zelda

Seto realizes fairly quickly giving Yugi Breath of the Wild was a Big Mistake(tm), but at least no one's taking pictures of stubbly, casual-comfy Yugi but him at the moment, so he's still taking it as a win. 8|b

Everytime Yugi's not included in anything official, I cope by thinking Kaiba not Allowing Anyone to see how good his bf looks in photos and took all the pictures for himself 😂

Imagine it as them doing photoshoots and everytime Yugi poses to the camera, he looks perfect- so Kaiba's like "NEVER release it to the public" so now Kaiba got a room for only Yugi's picts- that not even us the audience could see

[cyberdragoninfinity]

ok it’s time for dana to hoot and holler about zexal

finished ygo zexal for the first time last week and i absolutely adored it and am STILL thinking so much about it (as i will be probably for. a While now if my relationships with the other ygo spinoffs ive seen are any indication).....time again for me to do my little personal rambly yugioh series retrospective post as the brainworms truly start to set in. kattobingu feel the flow high five the sky build the overlay network let’s goooo!!!

more under the cut. a lot more lol. spoilers for a decade old anime, naturally

GOD. YEAH. THIS ONE MIGHT BE MY FAVORITE YUGIOH SERIES IVE SEEN YET. HOLY SHIT. 2021 Dana was really out here thinking Zexal looked kind of annoying (based on mild DL characters/plot osmosis) and not terribly interesting and I want to go back in time and shake her shoulders and say NO. NO YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND. ZEXAL FUCKING ROCKS. every yugioh has some degree of Danabait to it (probably because. watching Duel Monsters as a child was the catalyst to what Danabait even is lol) but JESUS MARY AND JOSEPH Zexal is like being hit by one nuclear bomb of shit genetically engineered in a lab to make me insane after another.

THE ART STYLE. OF ZEXAL, FOR ONE. makes me absolutely rabid animal bonkers--I LOVE seeing the way the ygo art style has been honed and developed and evolved over time. YGO influenced my art style more than I can articulate, and then zexal comes in swinging with the ygo art style at its Most Zany. The EXPRESSIONS in this show!!!!!!!!! Fucking rule!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A MASSIVE CHUNK OF THE CAST DOESNT HAVE MOUTHS HALF THE TIME AND YET STILL ARE SOME OF THE MOST EXPRESSIVE YGO GUYS EVER!!!! Constantly making expressions I LOVE to draw!!!! and oh my god the COLOR DIRECTION OF YUGIOH ZEXAL?!?!? genuinely absolutely phenomenal and one of my all time favorites i’ve seen in any cartoon, western or anime. you mean to tell me we got a lighting and color budget now??? we get yugioh scenes looking like this??!??

THE BEST. THE BEST. THE BEST. OBSESSED WITH IT. ABSORBING ZEXAL’S COLOR AND EXPRESSION PROWESS. STEALING ITS POWER.

ANYWAY as usual with my ygo watching i was primarily watching the dub (absolutely thrilled to have a Completed Yugioh Dub to watch for the first time since DM, MAN.) but I did end up watching...over half of Zexal II’s sub; stuff just gets so absolutely insane with the Barian Emperors that I desperately wanted every possible inch of their lore so I ended up watching both (sometimes back and forth at the same type like an unhinged wild animal) for the full picture. I like Zexal’s dub a lot!! its comedic timing is ON POINT, EXTREMELY FUNNY DUB. and really like..all of the main dub VAs are so, SO good (as they usually are.) There are a lot of bizarre things they cut though, a lot of childhood flashbacks and little character moments and the like. It’s a shame! I can only imagine a lot of them were cut to leave more room for ad time which. Sucks a bit 🥴A lot of duels do whip a lot harder in the sub too, especially in the back half..... still though, enjoyed my time with the dub. there’s a remarkable amount of stuff i am SHOCKED they actually did keep in?!??! The car crash that killed Shark’s parents is just straight up presented as is with like one or two small cuts. A LITTLE GIRL’S DEAD BODY IS SHOWN?? ON SCREEN??? ZEXAL DUB!! KIDS LOVE IT SO!!! MY GOD!!!

ok enough on that. some breakdowns/specific points like I usually do with these roundups:

Stuff I Didn’t Like: always get this one outta the way first. There really wasnt a whole lot I straight up disliked with this one!! It’s extremely solid all around. It does, of course, have some...Choices, being made, like. Girag’s lips. and. Girag’s backstory. Love the guy but oh my god why did they do that to him 😭Yugioh Racially Questionable moments ride again!!! At this point it’s just par for the course, definitely not the first time a ygo has. Done stuff like that. Ah well. Worth mentioning though.

What’s really a shame is that Zexal has some of the COOLEST, MOST FUN GIRL CHARACTERS, and time and time again they just dont do anything with them!!!!!!!!!!!! IT’S SO FRUSTRATING. i LOVE rio but the poor girl is fridged for literally 2/3s of the series!! She’s in the hospital like five times!!!! Rio and Anna and Tori and Dextra and Kari are all like, some of my favorite ygo gals YET but they have maybe 5 duels between them. Konami let your girls DUEL CHALLENGE. PLEASE.

hm what else. I guess also the final showdown with the series “Big Bad” was. uh. kind of let down lmao. But to be fair I was positively spoiled last series with the Z-one duel lol. Can’t win ‘em all. As cool as the concept of “the protag and rival team up to duel the Big Bad” is, and as cool as Don Thousands Entire toxic manipulative dynamic with the Barian Emperors is for like the Entire Rest of Zexal II is, they just....don’t. Do much with him for that last Donny T duel?? Would have loved more backstory elaboration or just like. Anything. It was over so soon and I was like “...that was it??” HDFHGSDFG thankfully the last two duels of zexal whip like hell so we bounce back!!

i also kind of wish don thousand kept his sick as hell demon armor form but c’est la vie i suppose. sad! well there’s other guys.

Favorite Season: I actually have no idea how Zexal is split up into seasons, so I guess Fav Arc would be a better term? Anyway I loved the World Duel Carnival Arc, I’m one of like 5 people who actually enjoy tournament arcs but i think theyre FUN and this one is a blast. There’s Arclight Family Agonies coming from every direction and there’s the INSANE DUEL ROLLER COASTER and Vetrix is bouncing around being a little freak, it’s GREAT

anyway and then Zexal II came in and grabbed me by the head and threw me into the drywall

LIKE. MY GOD. ZEXAL HAS THE FUCKING EMOTIONAL PACING OF MORAL OREL. YOU HIT Z2 AND SHIT STARTS GETTING REAL AND GOING HARD AS HELL AND IM OUT HERE GETTING MY BRAIN SCRAMBLED. I love like. All of the arcs of zexal II it’s hard to pick a favorite but I DO really like just that first third or so where the Barians are just starting to show up and the horrors haven’t quite begun and everything’s so silly and Ray Shadows is Very There. gives me gx season 1 vibes a little bit. it’s a delight.

Favorite Characters: oh right I should. talk about that. pained smile.

i joke about this a lot but usually every ygo series has like. A Character That’s My Actual Favorite, and A Character That Makes Me Absolutely Insane (syrus vs. zane, leo vs. aporia, etc.) but, uh. this time I GUESS THAT’S JUST. THE SAME CHARACTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SORRY. TO BE BASIC. BUT WHY DID THEY DO THAT TO ME. WHY DID THEY PUT A CHARACTER IN ZEXAL WHO ALREADY LOOKS LIKE MY ART STYLE. ALREADY LOOKS LIKE I DREW HIM. AND THEN MAKE HIM FUCKED UP AND SILLY AND A SAD LITTLE JACKASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ABSOLUTELY NEFARIOUS!!!!!!!!! 2021 dana had no CLUE they were hiding this fucker in the back of one of the ygo spinoffs. never could have predicted it. vector’s genuinely one of the best ygo characters of all time to me. what if a yugioh character had the most absolutely bonkers expressions youve ever seen and he was constantly doing little bits and acting like a little funnyman and then the devil fucking Kills Him. he’s perfect. the madness has only just begun to infect me i fear.

ANYWAY other than The Carrot in Question, I fucking love like...all of Zexal’s cast; I think this is the first time for any ygo where a series just didnt really have any characters I straight up Did Not Like. it’s such a solid, colorful cast that just checks so many boxes for my fav kinds of characters. I didn’t think I was gonna like Yuma but I ended up LOVING HIM!!!! I LOVE SEEING A YGO PROTAG THATS LIKE..ACTUALLY BAD AT THE GAME, THAT GROWS BETTER AND STRONGER OVER TIME BUT STAYS SO SILLY. I love what Zexal does to “traditional” yugioh character archetypes--Shark and Kite are both such cool rival characters and the shit they do with Shark especially?!?! NEVER COULD HAVE IMAGINED THEM DOING THAT. WITH A YUGIOH RIVAL. KAIBA COULD NEVER.

Narrowing down a top five fav Zexal guys is so hard, they really came in swinging with Catostrophic Families AND insane alien guys, but after pondering I think I’d have to say rn it’s Vector, Shark, Nistro (my fuckin  MAN!!!!!!!), Trey, and Alito. Immediate runnerup also being Tori. I fucking love Tori, new favorite main ygo girl. She bore witness to All That Shit and never folded. SHe’s Yuma’s FRIEND his CONFIDANT his EMOTIONAL SUPPORT!!!!! Absolute boss. Yuma would be dead in a ditch somewhere by episode 20 without her around.

Favorite Duel: BEEN GOING BACK AND FORTH ON THIS A LOT but I think my favorite duel was and still is the Trey vs. Yuma duel in zexal I, it’s just fantastic. The COLORS AND LIGHTING!!!!! The stakes!!! The SICK DUEL ARMOR!! Trey literally threatens a world-ending murder-suicide because he wants his family to be proud of him and well i’ll just explode into bits all up and down the road about it. Goes hard as hell. Trey and Yuma’s dynamic is one of my favs in Zexal but that’s it’s own post.

I also love all of Alito’s duels (especially the tag duel with Nistro, which is one of the most atrociously danabait duels ever (slash pos) and his last duel against yuma, which ALSO has some of the fucking coolest shots and lighting of any yugioh duel to me) and the last duel between Shark and Yuma. Shit rocks.

Zexal is also pretty unique to me in that it’s the first time i can really concretely say ive had favorite EPISODES as opposed to just favorite duels. There are so many episodes left and right that just make my fucking head explode. The BASEBALL DUEL FRIENDSHIP GAMES EPISODE. The EPISODE WHERE YUMA AND SHARK ARE IN THE HOSPITAL. The “VECTOR GETS STRAPPED INTO THE ALIEN GOD THRONE AND MR. HEARTLAND IS BEING INSANE AND THE ARCLIGHTS ARE IN A SUBMARINE AND ERAZOR IS GOING TO FUCKING KILL YUMA’S FRIENDS” episode. THE. UM. THE EPISODE WHERE THIS HAPPENS

^BROKE MY WHOLE DAMN BRAIN IN HALF. I AM STILL RECOVERING FROM THE DAMAGE zexal II comes in swinging with episodes that just knock your tits clean off and you LOVE to see it!!!!

Miscellaneous Other Zexal Gushing: IT’S JUST FUCKING GOOD!!!! THERE’S SO MUCH TO LOVE!!!!! I love the cast, I love Yuma and Astral’s dynamic and just how much love is there. I LOVE yuma’s friend group, they are SUCH perfect dweeby little middle schooler weird kids. I love the ways Zexal parallels Duel Monsters (and imo takes a lot of elements from DM and does them even better), I love Yuma’s grandma and Kari, ABSOLUTE REAL ONES!!! I fucking love Orbital 7. I love the Number cards and how theyre just completely thematically not related to each other at ALL (sometimes it’s a bug! sometimes it’s a guy! sometimes it’s an entire floating civilization!!!) I love the ABSOLUTELY BONKERS RELIGIOUS MOTIFS AND SYMBOLISM FLYING AROUND IN ANY AND ALL DIRECTIONS. THEY DID THAT FOR ME!!!!!!!!!!!!! ASTRAL CHRIST ALLEGORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And I just...adore how fundamentally Zexal is about kindness and hope and love, and also about how it’s so important to not lose yourself or your sense of fun as you grow up!! That theme absolutely EVISCERATED ME when gx came out swinging with it in its last season, and it’s GETTIN ME AGAIN HERE!!! IT’S ABOUT HAVING FUN!! IT’S ABOUT THE BONDS WE MAKE WITH OTHERS!!! IT’S ABOUT HOW CEASELESS KINDNESS CAN BE AN UNSTOPPABLE FORCE THAT MAKES EVEN THE IMMOVEABLE MOVEABLE. yuma has SO much joy and love and forgiveness in his body and it makes me WAIL.

Duel Monsters really ends on this note of “goodbye” with Atem leaving, and it works well for that story’s themes of grief. Meanwhile I think it’s very special that while Zexal also ends on a goodbye with Astral leaving, it feels so much more like a “see you later.”  That hanging note of “we’ll meet again.” It’s so sweet. The themes of past and future at play really just make you root for these kids and hope they grow up into the best versions of themselves.

Also it’s so fucking funny that like All of the Cast That Died and Went to Hell Came Back Except Mr. Heartland Who Definitely Died For Real. gay WRONGS.

God. what else. I’m sure I’ll think of 8352389 more things I love about Zexal immediately after I post this. It’s just that good. So thrilled I gave it a go. I love you Xyz Monsters I love you Dyson Sphere I love you Vector’s dub and sub voices I love you Duel Monster Based Off of the Titantic I love you Dr. Faker’s absolutely insane character design I love you Barian World I love you Arclight family I love you Zexal II Dub Opening Song That’s Sung By Bruno 5D’s VA I love you YUMA AND FRIENDS!!!!!!!!!!! ZEXAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

cant wait to port all these kids to the college AU. it’s already happening. I love them so much

[god-impeaching-dj]

KANDI RAMBLES under the cut

Oh sweet jeasus.

Okay. So. Lots, too many perhaps. I have a folder on my phone with so many images. And sharing the list is for sure like taking a peek into my psyche. So not in order:

Sanganomia Kokomi (genshin): autistic fish

Arataki Itto (genshin): white haired himbo oni, S T R O N K

Beidou (genshin): alcoholic buff ass pirate woman, killed a sea serpent by herself

Seto Kaiba (yugioh): autistic bastard man, has a mullet and a bowl cut at the same time. Won a most pathetic man bracket on tumblr.

Ryou Bakura (yugioh): has very little screen time where he isn't possessed, lonely, white hair, has a fascination with the occult.

Jaden Yuki (yugioh): himbo, god luck haver, just goes fuckin crazy by the end of the show bro is unhinged

Lucifer (the devil is a part timer): neet, emo, comes in clutch when needed, short

Feferi Peixis (homestuck): baby girl baby, fish, terrifying actually

Dirk Strider (homestuck): autistic bastard. Brony. Gay tboy swag (derogatory)

Gamzee Makara (homestuck): clown, freak, stoner

there are way too many from kingdom hearts to list that's my comfort franchise

I ran out if images

[bluewavesofchange]

The guardians of the Pharaoh

The rise of a new darkness

I don't own Yugioh or it's characters

Warning for mild violence near the end.

Chapter 2

It had been a few days since the fire and Yugi was finally released from the hospital. There wasn’t any physical permanent damage however the emotional and mental damage was very evident. The Muto family took shifts staying with the teen, Masami would be there in the morning, grandpa in the afternoons and Lillian would take the night shift since she was the only one that seemed to be able to calm him when he had nightmares. He didn’t speak for a while due to his throat hurting from the smoke inhalation but eventually he started talking again, finally able to reveal what had happened.

Turns out it was Bandit Keith who had taken the puzzle and forced Yugi to duel him for possession of the item…while this confused his friends and family, Lillian had some sense of what was going on…Ishizu had once explained that in order for someone else to gain possession of a Millennium item, a duel would have to be played and whoever one would become the new host. And when Yugi had mentioned that Keith was being control by someone else, his sister started to suspect who was behind this.

Lillian gave Keith’s name to Seto and in turn he passed it on to the investigator. It didn’t take long for them to find the man wondering the back alleyways, rambling on about French people and America. Clearly he had lost his mind. Seto took Lillian police station to confront the man that nearly killed her brother, only to find the guy screaming and fighting off the cops trying to restrain him. She couldn’t get the name of the man that had controlled the washed out duellist but she already knew who it was just by seeing the purple robe Keith was dressed in.

Although she had never met Isizhu’s brother, she knew who Marik was; the leader of the rare hunters and the host of the Millennium rod. Her friend had mentioned that it had the ability to control people minds and drive them mad which was exactly what happened to Keith.

Lillian had had a few run-ins with these rare hunters in the past year as she had helped Ishizu protect one of the Egyptian God cards (her combat training hadn’t been just to protect herself.) She knew how dangerous these men were and how unhinged Ishizu’s brother could be. They hadn’t been able to track the guy down and he had gone quiet after obtaining the Winged Dragon of Ra but now it seemed he had resurfaced and had tried to take her brothers puzzle. Which meant that word must’ve gotten out that the Millennium puzzle had been completed…and that the spirit of the Pharaoh had been awoken.

She had wanted to keep her brother from all this nonsense for as long as possible, fearing for the dangers that lay ahead. But it seemed that destiny had other plans.

Yugi had become reclusive again, he trying to work through what happened. He felt so guilty for nearly losing the puzzle and Yami. He felt an ache in his heart just thinking what would’ve happened if his friends hadn’t gotten to him in time.

He didn’t talk much to his friends and family, locking himself in his room the moment he got home. He didn’t eat much either which was concerning his mother, grandpa and sister who all tried to help but none of them would ever understand what was going through his mind.

How do you explain to someone that you nearly lost someone that no one can see or even new they were there? How do explain to someone what it felt like to watch someone shatter your most beloved treasure that contained a someone close to your heart and then risking your own life just to ensure that he survived? How do you explain to someone what it’s like to have a part of your very soul ripped away from you?

He may have only known Yami for a short time but it felt like they had been in each other’s lives for years. He’d dare say that he was closer to the spirit than what he was to any of his other friends and even his family. Yami felt like he was a part of him and imagining his life without the spirit felt impossible. He nearly had a panic attack when he woke up in the hospital without his puzzle around his neck. He would have nightmares about the fire…he watched his puzzle melting surrounded by the heat of the flames, a voice screaming for help from inside only to realize it was his own and no one would save him.

Sometimes his sister would wake him from the night terrors, staying by his side time morning came. Other times the dreams would fade away as Yami pulled his soul into the puzzle, holding the scared teen and comforting him as he cried. Yugi felt like such a failure and was consumed by fear…because somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that this wasn’t the end and that more danger was to come.

Eventually after a few days Yugi’s nightmares seemed to calm down and the boy started interacting with his family again even if it was just a few brief words. Lillian wanted to help him though she didn’t know how and she wouldn’t have time to figure things out as the fate arrived one morning in Domino city that wouldn’t not only drag herself and Yugi into another mess but also Seto Kaiba.

It all started one late afternoon while Lillian was busy folding up laundry in the living room. Yugi had arrived home some time ago and was up in his room, grandpa was busy in the shop and Masami was at the hospital. The TV was playing in the background when a news report came up and Lillian was shocked when she saw Ishizu’s face appear on the screen. She stated that she was here in Domino to unveil an Egyptian exhibit. The Muto girl wasn’t happy about this, wondering what her Egyptian friend was up to. What she also wasn’t expecting was the wielder of the Millennium necklace to invite her boyfriend to a private viewing of the exhibit.

Lillian always knew that Seto had some kind of connection to the nameless pharaoh; after all an image of the tall teen was engraved in the stone tablet that portrayed said pharaoh. But she never thought he would be dragged into this. She quickly put on her shoes and grabbed her keys, rushing out of the house and got onto her bike, speeding away to the Museum.

Seto had arrived at the museum, not really sure why he decided to come. This Ishizu woman had said it would be worth his while. He would admit it was a good distraction from everything that had been going on. He had been spending more time at work since Lillian wasn’t around as much, choosing to rather spend time with her family. He wouldn’t admit that he was jealous because it wasn’t fair to her, her brother had nearly died and from what she had told him the teen wasn’t faring well. So it made sense that she would be spending more time with Yugi…

And unfortunately he never got his answer. He wanted to move forward in their relationship…he wanted her to be there every morning when he woke up, he wanted her there when he got home from work…since their first kiss and those fateful words of love were spoken between them he wanted her to be his and his alone. Was he obsessed or just possessive? Both were possible considering the person he was…but he knew what he felt for her was love…a deep unyielding love that made him want to act on his obsessive and possessive nature.

And that made a jealousy boil inside of him that he had to share her with the teen that had stolen his title as Nr. One ranked duellist in the world…true he had promised to duel Yugi fair and square, to make it an honourable duel, but a part of him still wanted nothing more than to regain his title and defeat the tri-coloured haired teen that was currently hogging Lillian’s attention. This part of him that wanted to be victorious and be the best…a part created by his step-father…a drive to be perfect to ensure he never got hurt again, to ensure he wouldn’t be humiliated again or have to endure someone standing over him and laughing at his failures.

On one hand he wanted to be the better man, the man Lillian believed him to be…the person he wanted to be…his true self…the person he was before Gozuburo had moulded into something else. But on the other hand he knew what power tasted like, what it was like to be on top and to be the best. He had defeated his father and taken his company and made it his own. He had taken what he wanted with no remorse and he relished in others defeat…and if he were being honest, he wanted it back for one reason and one reason alone…

Being defeated by Pegasus and being unable to save not only his little brother but also the girl he loved and then having to rely on someone else to do the task that he had failed to do was a slap in the face. Sure he was grateful but it was supposed to be him. He hated feeling useless and worst of all helpless.

All this just made him more confused. It felt like the two sides of his personalities were at war and he didn’t know what to do…and this only worsened when he met Ishizu…

She had showed him some stone tablets, one of them having a carving of a pharaoh that looked like Yugi and on the other side was a carving a priest that was supposed to be a past version of himself. And to make matters worse he somehow had a hallucination of this person in Egypt, using magic to draw monsters out of giant stones including his Blue eyes. This was ridiculous and utter nonsense.

He was about to leave when the Egyptian woman drew his attention to the 3 carvings at the top of the stone…the 3 Egyptian god monsters; Obelisk the Tormentor, Slifer the Sky Dragon and the Winged dragon of Ra. And apparently Pegasus had turned them into cards that he had to lock away because they were too dangerous. But they weren’t safe enough because they had been stolen by a group called the Rare hunters; shady people that stole rare cards and sold them to become rich. Ishizu suggested that if he hosted a massive tournament it would draw in the rare hunters and the holders of the Egyptian God cards…

This sounded like a good plan…not only could he launch his new duel disks but he could regain his title as the top duellist when he wins the tournament and if Yugi joined he could kill two birds with one stone…but a little voice was telling him that this was wrong…that he had made a promise and he couldn’t go back on his word…that it would break Lillian’s heart…

However his mind was made up for him when Ishizu handed him Obelisk the Tormentor. He could feel the power within the card, it flowed into his fingers, traveling up his arm and filled his body and seeped into his very soul. It fed his need for power and fuelled his desire to conquer his opponents. Yes, he could definitely beat Yugi with this card and take back his rightful place at the top.

Seto was leaving the building when Lillian arrived. She parked her bike and got off, taking her helmet off and setting it on the seat before making her way to her boyfriend. She was about to great him when she saw the god card in his hand, a sinking feeling fills her stomach, “Where did you get that?” she asked as Seto was surprised to see her. He looks down at Obelisk before slipping it into his pocket, “It was given to me. What does it matter to you?” he retorts, feeling a bit defensive.

Lillian frowned, where was this coming from? “Because nothing good comes from that card…from any of the god cards…”

“And how would you know? How do you know about them anyways?” it took a moment before Seto remembered that Lillian had spent a year in Egypt…had she known about these cards? Lillian is silent for a moment before sighing, “I can’t…say.” Seto rolled his eyes, “Right because your time in Egypt has to be such a secret.” He walked past her towards his limo.

Lillian was confused. Why was he acting this way? She walked after him, “What’s going on with you? Why are you acting like such a dick?” she was starting to test his patience, “Nothing, I just have a lot on my mind…including a tournament I have to plan.” He said, sounding almost smug.

“What tournament?” it took her a second to figure it out; if he had Obelisk that meant someone must’ve told him about the other two missing god cards (she could guess who that was.) and a tournament would draw out not only the rare hunters but their leader, Marik. Ishizu had put ideas into Seto’s head and manipulated him to do what she wanted...to fix her families issues. Lillian wasn’t going to allow this.

She grabbed his arm, stopping him, “Please tell me you’re not gonna do what I think you’re gonna do?” he turned to her, “If that’s to host a grand tournament so that I can attain the other god cards and reclaim what I lost, then yes.” He grinned before it faded when he saw the look on Lillian���s face, an expression of disappointment and concern…almost like pity, “Seto, you can’t. You don’t know what you’re getting into.”

“Oh and you do?” he pulled his arm free from her grip. “Seriously Seto, there are people that are after that card, dangerous people…people that have killed for this card. You can’t do this!” The CEO folded his arms across his chest, glaring down at the girl, his ego and need to succeed had overtaken the little voice in the back of his mind that was screaming at him to listen, “Of course I can and I will. Oh and you can extend an invitation to Yugi, I expect him to take part.”

Lillian’s concern turned to shock, “You can’t be serious! He’s still trying to cope with what happened to him and now you want him to take part in a stupid tournament to face blood thirsty men who work for a psychopath? Have you completely lost your mind?!” She yelled at him as a harsh breeze blows over the city as her anger started to rise. Seto raised his arm to protect his eyes from the wind before glaring at the raven haired girl, “He can make that choice for himself, and he doesn’t need you to make his decisions for him. Hell he was probably doing fine while you ran off to who knows where to find a guy that didn’t care about you enough and abandoned you the day you were born!”

“The f@#& is wrong with you?! This isn’t you!” thunder is heard in the distance, “Sorry to disappoint you but this is me! This has always been me! And I don’t need you or Mokuba or anyone else to tell me otherwise!” the CEO yelled as dark clouds slowly filled the sky. Lillian was seething with anger, she couldn’t believe he was acting this way, he wasn’t thinking straight and he was going to drag Yugi, himself and who knows who else into danger. “What about the promise you made to Yugi? You said you would give him an honourable duel. You gave him your word! I thought you were over this nonsense of wanting to be the best.”

“You don’t get it! I need to be the best, I can’t be second place!” he was seething was anger at this point as he was reaching his breaking point. She didn’t get it, no one did.

“For heaven’s sake no you don’t!” a bolt of lightning flashes through the sky, “You don’t need to be the best, not for your brother, not for me, not for anyone. It’s what you’re step father wanted and right now you’re acting just. Like. HIM!” Seto saw red when those words flooded his ears…images flooding through his mind, words, insults and a cruel laugh echoes in his ears. He saw his step father standing in front of him, smirking at the teen…the brunet wanted this to stop as he shook, raising his fist…

Another bolt cracks in the air as a second later Lillian is on the ground, slowly sitting up as she was held the side of her face, pain spreading through her cheek. It happened so fast, one second she was standing and the next she was on the ground. She looked up at Seto, he was breathing heavily as he had a nasty snarl on his face, his fists clenched at his sides.

He glared down at her…how dare she say such a thing to him! He wasn’t his step father! He wasn’t that monster that robbed him of his childhood and stole his innocence! He wasn’t—

His eyes met Lillian’s, seeing the tears forming in her eyes, the skin on her cheek bone starting to turn red beneath her trembling fingers. His breath caught in his throat, his eyes slowly widening as he comes to his senses. His anger quickly turning to dread as he realizes he had struck her…he had hit the girl he loved, he had let his anger and ego over take him and he laid his hand on the person that had been consoled him when his father had beaten him…he paled as he saw the fear in her eyes, a fear he knew all to well only this was worse because it was someone she loved that had hurt her.

He reached out towards her, wish to help her up and comfort her, “Lil I’m—“ she didn’t let him finish as she smacked his hand away and got up quickly, rushing to her bike, not bothering to put on her helmet as she started the engine and drove off as fast as she could. Thunder rumbled above the city as the first drops of rain fell over the town, Seto still standing where Lillian had left him…devastation setting in as the rain poured down, soaking the CEO as he stares in the direction his beloved took off in before looking down at his hands which were shaking, “What have I done?” he whispers to himself…

[zorcskhakis]

oh god i hope you're fine with me liking every post ever on this blog, i adore every headcanon you make and every au and theory and gah the yugioh brainrot is real and you've made it 1000% better. just wanted to drop by and say that i appreciate your contributions to my constant ryou and bakura and marik brainrot so much

AWWWWW ANON ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ It makes my day when ppl mass like my posts, seriously! I'm just glad my unhinged little ygo rambles are enjoyable to other people!

[itstimetodrew]

alright here goes I'm just gonna ramble about what I like for a really long time!! :)

I like the memes I've seen about no one hating Spider-Man more than his fans. As in, they want him to suffer constantly, it's never enough. Which like...true!! Same, I love the suffering!! That's the Appeal of his character, that he's put through hell and faces constant tragedy but keeps going for the sake of what's left.

And the movies (mostly the original trilogy tbh, like I'll still watch them All but I have obvious bias lol) fall perfectly into my usual ballpark of '90s-00s media designed to sell merchandise boys ages 6-11 but you can latch onto it and get emotional if you want, I guess'

I love the themes...

You should help people because you can, not because you will be rewarded in some way (you won't), or to earn some sort or karma to prevent future suffering (you will still suffer), or to remedy past failings (they will always be there).

Sometimes the ones hurting you are the ones closest to you. You always have the option to forgive them or offer a second chance, but you can't force them to take it. That change only comes from within.

You also don't have complete control over who you are because of others' perception of you or your designated role in society. I like the themes about agency...like it's cool that most of the super hero/villain characters are given their names instead of choosing them. It's a fun contrast, like you'll have these characters with carefully designed costumes and unshakable goals, but something as crucial as a name ends up designated by the wider population. And they don't even fight it! (If they try to, it's laughed off or ignored.) Peter himself also has a Lot of parallels or connections with each of the villains which showcases how small differences or factors which may be in your control or not lead to such different paths in life. Fascinating!!

But! My babygirl!! Ohh my babygirl... Mr. Dr. Norman Osborn aka Green Goblin my beloved... 😭 Like on paper he is Not a surprise favorite, I think. It's just because he's a Real Adult Man not an anime boy that's so funny lol

It's just weird because even though nearly all of my favorite characters are shitty in some way, there's still some nice qualities in there. After months of Intense Research I've realized he doesn't really have that. He just sucks!! Like we don't hear about a sad childhood or anything canonically so there's not that usual 'he's suffered a Lot, he used to be better, give him a break 🥺' defense for Bad characters. (Well we know some stuff from the early screenplays and novelizations but. Topics for another day.) And I think it's easier for fans to overlook fantastical bad actions, but he's shitty in a realistic way. Like sure Green Goblin explodes and stabs people for fun, but Norman is an elitist CEO who develops US military weaponry on top of being an emotionally neglectful father and leering at his son's girlfriend. Scarier of the two for some in that way. (I could talk about Norman and Harry for 3 days probably. They fascinate me and I have so many feelings.) I think the only redeeming factor he has is just showing he wants to change in the newest movie. I like that development, but also going to a black-and-white 'this self is Good and that one is Bad' misses some nuance I enjoyed from before. If we see him again I hope he at least struggles with the change and it's an uphill battle to not go back to old habits, because I just find it more interesting that way (remember, we love to see characters suffer)!

TBH 75% of it is the actor, too. Very good at being over-the-top, he's unhinged he's pathetic he's sooo cool!! So there's just this air of silly enjoyment in a lot of scenes, and Spider-Man in general hits that balance of being really goofy and ridiculous but you still feel the sincerity and tragedy in other parts (Yugioh also resides in this area for me lol). So yes...Willem Dafoe my cherished Actor...

I could write separate rambling essays on like 6 different characters so I shall stop myself but just know. I love these movies. And I think getting a live action old man babygirl fave builds character, actually. Diversifying my palette.

I am absolutely going to suffer and explode and die if I don't express spider-man movie feelings tonight so like idk. expect that later. tumblr is THE site for people who don't do well with character limits and can't be normal about media even if it's kinda Garbage

[anthurak]

You know I was just reminded up the one time Yugioh made a card archetype/set that was... just pure furry bait.

And then the localization team made the legitimately fucking brilliant decision to translate 'Skyfang Brigade' into 'Fur Hire' and just make start making all the fur-puns. To the point of actually subtly tweaking that normal card-wording that normally mentions archetypal cards as "a 'archetype-name' monster" (eg; "a 'Blue-Eyes' monster') so that these cards are always listed as "a monster 'Fur Hire'." Just for the pun.

Anyway, this card game is wild, wacky and fucking unhinged and I absolutely love it XD

[anthurak]

Do you ever just have just like… completely random idea associations to form something that is both totally bonkers and utterly awesome?

You see, over the past couple days there are two things of particular note that I have been doing:

A: Building a Yugioh deck in Master Duel that I have dubbed that ‘What if Alexis Rhodes actually got to be the awesome fucking badass she deserved to be’ deck.

It’s a mix of Cyber Angel, Herald and Drytron focused on getting out badass ritual monsters like Cyber Angel Vrash, Herald of Ultimateness and the giant Dyrtron mechanical space dragons. Basically the kind of deck Arc-V Alexis could probably use to pound Yuri, his dragon and his smug Melvin-wannabe ass face into the dirt.

B: Watching the Bowser vs. Eggman Death Battle episode a few times, and specifically doing a post on how I found the dynamics of Team Eggman through the fight particularly interesting.

So now, after having been idly listening to the battle music after having been playing this deck a bit, I have now found myself with a particular… vision in my head:

Alexis Rhodes, commanding an ARMY of Celestial Cyber Angels, Heavenly Fairy Heralds and Giant Mechanical Space Dragons. Specifically in an epic battle against Zarc and his gimmicky gaggle of extra-deck dragons.

As in, it’s barely even a ‘duel’. Like Alexis throws down the Drytron Fafnir field spell and just starts commanding her forces from her GIANT DRAGON SPACESHIP, which can also transform into a mech. And is also crewed by various faeries, lesser angels and Cyber Girls.

And it’s all Cyber Angels, Heralds and Drytrons battling with the Dimensional Dragons and their followers. The ‘lesser’ Drytron modules going up against an army of Supreme King Darkwurms, the Cyber Angels battling the various ‘Magicians’ of the Supreme King, the various Light Heralds flying around providing support, Drytron Meteonis Draconids and Quadrantids battling the Four Dimensional Dragons and Drytron Meteonis DAD ducking it out with Supreme King Z-ARC.

Which ends with Cyber Angel Vrash wiping out all the Extra Deck dragons, Herald of the Diviner combining all the heralds into Herald of Ultimateness and cheekily negating literally EVERYTHING Zarc does in response, Meteonis Draconids clearing out all of Zarc’s remaining Special Summoned monsters, Meteonis Quadrantids wiping all of Zarc’s spells and traps and a super-charged Drytron Meteonis DAD obliterating Supreme King Z-ARC.

And then like… I dunno, Alexis and her Cyber Girls pummel Zarc into the ground until he agrees to not be evil anymore? Or maybe just punt him into space and vaporize him with Fafnir.

Like, uh… I have no idea if I’m every actually going to DO anything with this idea. I just wanted to put it down and throw it out there.

[anthurak]

Okay so about a week ago, I did this somewhat unhinged ramble about ARC-V Alexis Rhodes getting a Cyber Angel/Herald/Drytron deck and generally getting to be the badass she deserved to be. Instead of being shackled with the fate of basically any cool girl in a shonen anime; getting nerfed to all hell and subsequently beaten by a massively plot-armored generic hero guy or edgy villain dude.

And as something of a follow-up/companion-piece to that, I have found myself doing something I frankly would never have seen myself doing two weeks ago:

Workshopping an alternate scenario for a Yugioh duel.

Sooo… here’s my version of how Alexis vs. Yuri in Yu-Gi-Oh ARC-V SHOULD have ended:

On her last turn after swiping Yuri’s Ancient Gear Reactor Dragon with Cyber Angel Natasha, instead of playing Fusion Destruction, Alexis sets two ominous facedown cards.

Yuri does his big, dramatic reveal that he plot-contrivanced GX’s most OP card; Super-Polymerization into his deck, steals back his Reactor Dragon and fuses it off to make Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem, just like he did originally.

At which point, Alexis reveals one of her facedowns…

Drytron Asterism, which Alexis activates by burning 1000 ATK off her Natasha (being a Ritual monster) to immediately blow up Yuri’s new Golem. Which also just so happens to be represented by a pair of mysterious, shadowy figures flying around in the sky above firing laser blasts into UAGG.

Though while Yuri might be questioning what just happened and what the hell a ‘Drytron’ is supposed to be, he is still able to use Ultimate AGG’s effect to bring out an original Ancient Gear Golem when it’s destroyed.

Which in turn is exactly when Alexis triggers her other facedown,

Drytron Meteor Shower, which immediately bounces Yuri’s AGG back into the deck, and happens to be represented by another mysterious figure flying high above raining down the meteor burst.

Thus begins Alexis’s reveal that Cyber Angels aren’t the ONLY Ritual monsters she’s packing, and the proper introduction of her new Drytron monsters. With Alexis spending her turn popping off a combo of cycling through multiple Drytron modules to get her ritual spell, materials and monster. All culminating with Alexis bringing out her new boss monster:

Drytron Meteonis Draconids.

Which Alexis has also powered up with Cyber Angel Idaten, showcasing just how well her new monsters synchronize with her existing Cyber Angels. While perhaps also subtly hinting at a third group of monsters she’s using when she negates a trap Yuri tries to counter with using Herald of Purple Light.

Now perhaps Yuri somehow managed to bring his Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem back, which while it might not be able to beat the now-5000 ATK Draconids, will at least soak up enough of the attack to let him survive to the next turn.

At which point right as she’s starting her Battle Phase, Alexis drops Limiter Removal.

And so, facing down a giant angry mechanical space dragon now sporting ten THOUSAND attack points, Yuri is now, for the first time in the show, completely FUCKING terrified.

In fact, Yuri is only saved by the timely arrival of the Obelisk Force and other elite Academy duelists to rescue Yuri and challenge Alexis. Yuri does manage to escape, but it is clear that Alexis was ABSOLUTELY the winner of this duel.

Speaking of Alexis, she is now facing down basically an ARMY of Ancient Gear Hunting Hound fusions and Chaos Ancient Gear Giants, buuuttt she still has her 10,000-ATK Drytron Meteonis Draconids. Which also has the ability to attack ALL of her opponents’ Special Summoned monsters.

So Alexis and her dragon proceed to utterly ANNHILATE the ENTIRE army of Academy duelists with ludicrous amounts of beam-spam.

Heck, even when the time limit for Limiter Removal runs out, Alexis is able to use the Machine Angel Ritual she played earlier to keep Draconids from being destroyed.

Thus, Alexis and her Ritual Monsters cement themselves as the true secret weapon of the heroes against all the increasingly ridiculous Extra Deck-focused nonsense of the villains, and probably even Zarc himself.

Meanwhile Yuri spends the rest of the show desperately trying to convince everyone, and himself that he isn’t completely fucking TERRIFIED of Alexis now.

[anthurak]

...You ever just find yourself hyperfixating super hard on this SUPER specific AU for what is basically ONE character for a show you haven't even watched but have absorbed quite a bit of via various bits of osmosis, to the point of coming up with entire alternate plot, narrative and emotional arcs for this character and even have whole scenes of hugely important moments clearly visualized in your mind and even though these ideas are still entirely disjointed you just can't put them down because goddammit this sounds SO FUCKING COOL in my head!

Anyway, that's where I'm currently at with this random 'What if Rin got Clear Wing Syncho Dragon?' AU for Yugioh Arc-V.

It's weird. And crazy. And fun.

No but seriously I've got this whole crazy sequence playing out in my head of taking place during an alternate final battle with Zarc where Rin rescues/purifies Clear Wing Synchro Dragon from Zarc's control via the power of love and friendship and ACCEL SYNCHRO SUMMONING set to 'Clear Mind'.

[aberooski]

Yellowcard really did just drop their first new music in 7 years and gave me one of the most Atticus-POV stormshipping coded choruses I have ever heard