#why is my top post one where I’m dragging Kaiba???

[chimerickat]

I posted 252 times in 2021

90 posts created (36%)

162 posts reblogged (64%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 1.8 posts.

I added 55 tags in 2021

#seto kaiba - 19 posts

#kaiba seto - 15 posts

#reader insert - 4 posts

#dragonsilk - 3 posts

#writing prompts - 3 posts

#kaiba - 3 posts

#seto kaiba reader insert - 2 posts

#second person fanfic - 2 posts

#seto kaiba/reader - 2 posts

#the best intentions - 2 posts

Longest Tag: 118 characters

#this particular fic has been getting comments basically in despair that it’s abandoned and i’m very over the dramatics

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

How morally gray would you rate Kaiba? He definitely isn't a good person, but he's a rather interesting character and as someone who took a liking to Kaiba to a degree, I'm interested in your opinion!!

I was sifting through my asks, and I could've sworn I answered this one! ): Sorry anon!

For the upfront tl;dr: I categorize him a chaotic neutral.

Seto Kaiba is not a bad person, anymore. I think we have to separate pre-mind crush Kaiba from post-mind crush Kaiba. Canon seems to say that the rebuilding of his mind stomped all the twisted evil out of him. So let me just toss the Gozaburo years out the window and not comment on them. (That Kaiba, despite stopping the manufacturing of war weapons, was willing to murder people to acquire cards for a game so I think we can agree he was a bad man.)

I think he's still willing to do bad things for the right reasons. Those right reasons might just be that he's doing what's best for himself and Mokuba and damn everyone else, but for him, that's the right reason. Seto Kaiba is not a selfless man.

But being selfish doesn't make him a monster, in my opinion. Nobody has ever looked out for him before so to an extent his selfishness makes sense. (Mokuba doesn't count because he's a child and can't look out for Kaiba the way an adult/peer could.)

I think he probably does do a lot of good things still. I would like to think he's not like our modern douche gazillionaires who are hoarding more money than they could ever spend in their lifetime. If Seto Kaiba doesn't pay taxes, it's because he owns the city and puts his money directly into improvement projects. (Which, yes, includes cameras throughout the city for "security" purposes, but also repaving the streets so his cars don't get damaged. And ok sure he installed duel arenas in all of the parks, but he upgraded the parks at the same time so they wouldn't look shabby next to the arenas...)

He also invests in children. To me, he seems like the type to believe that children are ultimately innocent. I'd wager he owns apartments that are fair housing to help prevent homelessness, especially child homelessness. Kaiba Corp. likely participates in "re-entry to the workforce" type training. In Kaiba's opinion, talent can come from anywhere so he ought to look for the best everywhere.

And to Kaiba, investing money in his city, his community, is justifiable because it helps him keep power. Power is more important than money. Power can help you make money. Power keeps you independent and ensures you never have to rely on others ever again. (At least, that's what he tells himself each time he spends money on Domino.)

But don't look at all the good things he's doing and think that he's a good man, because if it's between the city and Mokuba's happiness, he'll nuke the city for Mokuba.

18 notes • Posted 2021-11-03 04:50:43 GMT

#4

Hi! This question may seem out of the blue, but what's the thing you like the most about Kaiba?

I could wax poetic about Kaiba all day long, but I suppose that's what the majority of my fanfiction is!

Ultimately, I love his perseverance. I think I may have been initially drawn to him because even though he's a little bit broken by circumstance, he still manages to keep going. He manages to secure a better life for himself and Mokuba. He changes and restructures a whole company to be what he wants. Heck, he decides to spit in death's face in the end.

Seto Kaiba can do anything, but it's the fact that he does do what he wants no matter how difficult the battle that appeals to me. Giving up is easy, but it would never, ever occur to Kaiba to quit at anything.

20 notes • Posted 2021-07-21 05:15:42 GMT

#3

I missed Valentine’s Day. :( Lol. I was in the hospital all day. (Baby boy born about a week early on 2/13 but we had labor complications so they kept us for 48 hours to observe. Luckily no further complications.)

Anyway, I am exhausted and delirious and may be super inactive (or weirdly active at 4am as I try not to pass out and squish the baby sleeping on my chest). (I don’t know how women do this pregnancy and newborn thing more than once. xD) Just an FYI for everyone.

22 notes • Posted 2021-02-17 12:07:25 GMT

#2

You really needed to start reading legal documents and contracts before you signed them.


If you had read the documents, you wouldn’t have found yourself in this situation. You would have realized what he meant by signing your life away. You would have said, “No thanks,” and walked away.


But you didn’t read the legal documents, and you did sign those contracts, and now, you were screwed.


Seto Kaiba/Reader Read here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/637805/chapters/1155753

26 notes • Posted 2021-05-20 07:32:42 GMT

#1

Seto Kaiba would buy his significant other the worst clothing. I mean just look at that ridiculous padding on his trench coats. As much as we love him, his mullet is terrible. 

His taste is questionable at best. Fight me. ;)

28 notes • Posted 2021-02-04 04:37:53 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[ladyyatexel]

I Finished A Manga

And watched a movie. Once again tucked under a read more for your comfort and convenience and existing likely only for the entertainment of myself and @anthropwashere

what the fuck

My impression of the final arc of the manga is that the author had to find a way to best wrap every dumb thing he'd ever come up with in several layers of plastic wrap in order to appear as though it was one whole. Since it's plastic wrap, eventually you can't tell what it's holding together anymore, how many pieces there are, etc, but if you start unravelling, you are left with Holy Fuck What On Earth Was That. This is weirdly also not a criticism, I guess. If I had to retcon everything I'd done for ten years with the knowledge that the old stuff was already public and printed in thousands of books, I'd have to make a saran wrapped pretzel with an ankh on it too.

I dislike Kaiba even more now! This arc did not help my feelings about him in the slightest, especially since he was basically a cop.

also gonna go with a hard No on the Blue Eyes White Dragon Plot Device Woman, no no no yikes, what the Fuck

I think if even One Person had said, 'wow the monsters in our souls look like nothing from our world' then how mismatched they were from the trappings of Allegedly Egypt would not have been so jarring for me

Egyptian names filtered through Japanese filtered through English, hooboy

Appreciated actually being able to read the Pharaoh's name before he yelled it out.

"The mummy is playing the game with us." I'm sorry, w hat

Playing card game as the NPCs in table top RPG of a dead king's memories on top of a diorama made by Satan's landlord body because he likes making models and his dad owns a museum while an ancient pendant hangs like a disco ball designed to project realistic versions of ancient mythology soul fighting Satan in a trenchcoat and changing but also not changing the fabric of reality maybe????

Everyone's father has the same goatee, and I think 80% of the fathers we know about get murdered (by their own children!), so now I'm left with wonderings about the author's father as well as his shoe collection.

I don't. I don't think we needed Zorc, or really any of the extra souls in the Ring? I feel like the rage of the sole survivor of a concentrated slaughter/genocide could have been enough and more interesting.

Got the eerie feeling I was supposed to be sympathizing with or relating to the Pharaoh and his Priests, but I was firmly on the side of 'revenge on society for melting the bodies of everyone I've ever known down into magical jewelry' man. I mean, he's part of the Bakura Cinematic Universe, so of course I'm biased, I guess, but I was sitting there like, "Why are you booing him? He's right!" the whole time. I guess dragging the king's father's corpse across the floor was a dick move and is probably why we needed to extra manhunt for this dude, but I feel like I could have been spared like a dozen pages of indecipherable monster explosions if someone had just been like 'fuck, hold the ancient egyptian phone, we maybe owe this dude some airing of grievances, the mass murder was bad form'

speaking of the phone, Ancient Egyptian Bound Book was what made me put it down for several minutes. After everything else I endured, that it was not a fucking scroll of papyrus just shattered what will power I had to continue pretending it was Egypt. Not the dragons, or the stupid hair, or 'why are we all trying to murder the war orphan who is justifiably pissed as fuck', the Book.

Walk Walk Fashion Baby. Everyone wearing cute fucking slippers and excessive amounts of rad ankle bracelets and pinkie rings. Yeah, I'll take that, you all look cute as hell at least from the knees down.

Pharaoh trying to get out of a bad situation by appealing to Yami Bakura's commitment to staying in character while RPing, thank you, what a good. Movie stuff , that is, the Dark Side of What The Fuck Is Happening Movie:

I'm glad Yugi grew up, look at him go! He got taller to fit all his new confidence in himself. Also, Fashion. We love a choker and black shirt.

Many people got to Fashion! Love alternate wardrobe options.

Kaiba continues to Get Worse??????? I understand that he's a fan favorite, I just think whatever makes him appealing to everyone else makes me want to see him get punched in the throat. So every time I felt like the narrative and the visuals wanted me to think he'd gotten more badass, I was yelling "WHY" at the screen. He just seems like a tyrant dictator with too much money. That is everyone else's speed just like mine is homicidal revenge and dead things, I guess.

I suffered from not understanding who or why the fuck until like the last ten minutes, despite the thoroughness of my immersion in this weirdly specific hell for two weeks. Also, despite saying it was a manga continuation, it clearly was banking on you knowing more shit about the anime/real life card game than I ever knew, so I spent a long time either confused about what the fucking stakes were with Aigami/Diva (...why did he even need two names???? what purpose did that serve???) or bored as hell (Kaibaaaaaa).

Yay, Bakura for like five minutes, though. Even though the narrative and everyone in it only cares about him as plot vessel. He comes back from another dimension in the middle of a fucking stadium and no one is like 'shit, dude, what happened over there?' We are focused on the card game. The last thing he was doing was breaking the fuck down over things he'd blacked out, but Yugi is playing a cardgame while Kaiba insults him at the presentation of the new iPhone, so fuck off I guess. His voice actress getting some time to do Evil Laugh is always appreciated, though.

Bakura didn't even get to express a generic post gradation goal like everyone else, why do you guys even hang out with him or take him anywhere then

I feel like vinegar about this.

Mokuba being voiced by a 77 year old lady is just fantastic news to me. Also, his haircut and suit, yes, good for him. Cute.

why was it a movie about another new rando though, just make a movie developing the cast you already have, why do we keep adding more tragic orphans

just to kill them, usually

Yu-Gi-Oh: where orphans and fathers with goatees go to die.

[dungeondicedivaarchieve]

I need to talk about this scene.

Long post under the cut. 

You know when you’re just shitposting with a friend and it takes you down a rabbit hole that ends with you writing an analysis of a scene from Yu-Gi-Oh? Or are you normal? 

Well that’s how I got here. I was chatting with one @kaibacorpbros​ about the scene where Otogi goads Honda into fighting him on the top of a blimp. It’s been awhile since I watched the non-abridged version of this episode, so I went to re-watch it to see if it was as ridiculous as I remember. For the hell of it, I watched he dub and the sub version... and noticed something very interesting. 

--Sub-- 

Following the scene where Otogi, Honda, Yugi, Jonouchi, and Shizuka try to convince Kaiba to land the blimp so Ryou can get medical attention, Honda attempts to flirt with Shizuka and... Otogi does it better. Infuriated, Honda forcefully drags Otogi up to the top of the blimp to tell him off under the guise of looking for the millennium ring. (Thoughts on this for rp purposes coming after this.)

Otogi: I don’t think it’s here. Should we go somewhere else? 

Honda: There’s one thing I want to make perfectly clear. You’re too touchy feely with Shizuka. 

Otogi: That’s what you came up here to say? Honda, what’s your relationship with Shizuka? Are you her boyfriend?

Honda: Well, no...

Otogi: I’d understand if Jonouchi said that because he’s her brother, but you’re in no position to say that to me. 

Honda: Say what! 

Otogi: How I feel about Shizuka is none of your business. Instead of forcing me up here, why not tell Shizuka that you like her? But I know who’s going to win.

They then come to blows.

Now the dub. It starts the same, Tristan taking Duke up to arena to look for the ring; however...

Duke: There’s not a thing up here. Let’s move on. 

Tristan: Why don’t you stop complaining and look in that corner?

Duke: There’s nothing up here but hot air, and it’s all coming from you. 

Tristan: You’ve been a pain in my neck since the day we met you. It’s time for you to chill out and remember why we’re here. I’m telling you to lay off Serenity, Devlin, give the girl some space. 

Duke: Do you know what your problem is, Tristan? You’re afraid. You’re afraid that Serenity might like me instead of liking you.

Tristan: Huh? No I’m not.

Duke: It’s not my fault if the ladies can’t resist Duke Devlin. I guess I could turn the charm down.

Tristan: Don’t push me! 

Duke: But what do you expect? You’re not even a duelist. Just some wanna-be-cheerleader yelling from the sidelines, Go Yugi! Go Joey! It’s really kind of pathetic. Girls dig men of action. And you? Well, you’re no man of action. 

They come to blows. 

There’s some big differences here. 

1. In the dub, Tristan is genuinely looking for the ring, telling Duke to keep looking when Duke claims there is nothing here. Where in the original, the ring is an excuse to get Otogi alone. When Otogi says there’s nothing there and asks if they should look somewhere else, Honda starts with there’s one thing I’d like to make perfectly clear. He has no desire to look for the ring.

2. In the dub, Duke is the aggressor, throwing the hot air insult at Tristan, where in the original, Honda is the aggressor, accusing Otogi of being too friendly with Shizuka when Otogi asks where to look for the ring next.

3. The dub portrays Tristan as far more righteous, having him imply that they’re here to support their friends while they fight for the fate of the world and not to get dates (despite him also hitting on Serenity.) In the original... no such thing is said. He wants Otogi to leave Shizuka alone for Shizuka (and his) sake, no deeper purpose.

4. Duke is... waaaay more goading in the dub. He tears into Tristan while bragging about what a lady’s man he himself is. In the original, it’s really only his last line that’s goading, when he implies that he’s going to tell Shizuka that he likes her and that she will choose him. Prior to that, he is more or less just telling Honda off for white-knighting Shizuka. 

In conclusion: I feel like the dub is trying to play off Tristan as the good guy and Duke as the bad guy where the original was showing them on more of an even playing field of two teenage boys with a crush on a girl.

In the grand scheme of things, it’s not a huge deal, but it does give a huge disconnect between dubbers and subbers since dubbers will walk away from this scene thinking that Duke is a giant, pompous asshole, where subbers could come away feeling as if Otogi was rightfully calling a guy out.

Thanks for coming to my TEDTalk.

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S1 Ep28: Bakura Can Still Kill Everyone If He Really Wanted To

First off--my apostrophes work again! Many thanks to the tumblr staff who helped out and will never see this post. Now I can update without looking like my computer is encrypting itself as I go.

So guys, I’m all about weird TV and weird movies. I watched the entirety of Color of Pomegranates. I just want you to know that because when I say that “wow this got weird real fast” we are going by my metrics. It’s not as weird as Color of Pomegranates, because well...it has a plot that isn’t under four layers of symbolism and esoteric Armenian poetry, but whenever we have a Bakura episode, stuff just gets UNEXPECTED.

But first, the most wonderful thing has happened:

I mean kind of a weird choice to put some of these things together, but this was about .5 seconds of screen time, I’m just special and can pause to realllllly take it in. Mm.

(Read more under the cut for EVEN MORE FOOD)

Man!

MAN!

What did I do to deserve all this good anime food in the same episode as Bakura doing something completely nuts (again)?

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and we have to go back to cards, which for some reason is still the crux of this show...I think. This is still a show about cards, right? I’m no longer completely sure.

At the start of the season, Yugi was gifted these two cards as entrance tickets to the Island of Regret where they are now hanging out. These cards are how you collect your prizes if you win. The one with money is the prize of 3 million (or is it 300 million? It’s been a while since I’ve heard the number). The blank one is the chance to beat Pegasus. I assume your soul will go in the blank one after he beats you.

Youknow, it’s really a shame we never got to see the stats on Grandpa, Mokuba, and Seto cards. I don’t think they even had any. I mean, when Bakura turned his friends into cards, at least they had stats.

Anyways, some of our contestants have suddenly remembered that they actually have no right to this contest.

But, turns out Pegasus also has an interest in anime food, so he’s done something a little extra for...some reason.

DEAR LORD. I mean it’s not a real eyeball but think about the eye grease for a moment. Firstly, I don’t even know if you have to grease up a false eyeball and I want to look it up but I am too afraid. Secondly, now my mind is thinking of every unctuous substance that may or may not grease up a false eyeball. It does not pair well with pumpkin soup.

There’s eyeballs...in the soup...

This is when you go home. This is when you say “sorry Gramps, but...I am pretty sure that guy is a cannibal, I gotta goooooo.”

I mean, again, it’s not a real eyeball but freakin A are they having a weird halloween dinner party? Why would you do this? Why would you EVER put your own eyeball facsimiles in the soup? Is it like “eat my ass” but “eat my eyes” ?

Pegasus doesn’t get many guests and I can start to see why Kaiba hated him so damn much. Can you imagine working with this guy on a daily basis as the head of a large corporation while constantly getting pranked with his weird ass eyeballs?

Does it say “I open at the close?”

Why did they do -- what?!

This was all about a stupid bracket? What the hell, Yugioh?

The boys decide to throw caution to the wind about what may or may not be in this bizarre dinner that not even Pegasus wants to eat and they fully gorge themselves and get a real good food baby belly going.

I guess Yugi didn’t really eat because he is fully alert and his empty beacon eyes are still one of the most spooky things on this show.

Yugi decides to hand off his card to Joey right in the view of Bandit Keith, and Joey only takes it when Yugi convinces him that now they’d have twice the chance to beat Pegasus. I mean, not really, actually, but it was still a nice thing to say. Yugi is a kid of sooo many good intentions.

Mai goes to bed and says this actual line from the show.

Despite the fact that she’s so acidic about...eh...75% of the time, she really is the nicest person they have met on this horrible, terrible island. In fact, everyone is ready to tuck in to the most clearly haunted murder castle as if eyeballs weren’t just hanging out in their soup. What a bizarre heartwarming round of goodnights, as if there wasn’t clearly several people out to very much kill them living in the same castle as them.

This is how Agatha Christie novels start.

This episode does not actually dive into Joey’s gigantic donut dream, which is a shame.

Because this episode, it’s time for our B-team to shine.

I love the implication here that Tristan first knocked on Bakura’s door, woke him up with this and then Bakura clearly answered along the lines of “Bollucks, Tristan, I am not doing this right now” to which, Brakura dragged him down to Tea’s door in the hope that Tea would be at all reasonable.

Which backfired him in a major way because Tea and Tristan are desperate to chase some snipes and prove themselves useful.

I honestly can’t tell if Bakura even likes these guys. I mean, I get that they’re school friends but, this guy was introduced as totally murdering them and then getting magically “cured” with the same cure that failed on Seto Kaiba. The fact that this meek little fake-british accent can get so easily snowplowed by Tea and Tristan is never clearly just an act or just him getting snowplowed.

But, apparently there’s some part of him that is still that tiny little nice-side-of-Bakura, so dutifully, he decides to babysit, since the only other psychic they got around is currently having an eyeball-soup induced dream.

Back at the dueling arena, Tea decides to stand guard/do nothing as usual.

Tristan reveals why he has a grudge against Psychics.

Tristan’s character is pretty flat. It basically revolves around mothering everyone elses problems and pining about Serenity who is barely a character on this show. I always figured that Tristan was at least smarter than Joey and Yugi, who can be kind of...dumb, but it turns out Tristan is just as empty between the ears.

He gets completely fascinated by a beam of light shining through a window. Forget looking for cameras. Forget the fact that this room was full of Pegasus’ mooks, some of which were standing right behind Kaiba. Na. He’s gonna Sherlock Holmes straight to this window.

During Bakura’s desperate pleas to get these two assholes back to bed, Yugi is getting some crazy as hell conspiracy theories from Grandpa.

Oh, so he’s like a normal grandpa then? Once my Grandma told me that the entirety of San Fransisco would fall into the ocean during an Earthquake and she was EXTREMELY concerned about my safety (despite the fact I live inland, not in San Fransisco), so this dream Yugi’s having sounds like a pretty average dinner conversation with your Grandparents.

No one expects Bakura, not even the colorist.

And then for some reason they want Tea to go first in their climb up the tower although no reasonable girl in a mini skirt would do this in front of two boys.

Isn’t she a freakin dancer? Maybe she’s not as strong as Tristan but she’s certainly the best balanced of the two and could climb way easier because she’s lighter. And Bakura is clearly the weakest but, whatever.

Back in dreamland, Yugi’s grandpa join’s up with the other cards in card hell as if they’re some sort of Grandfather, asshole son, and ghost child card hell trinity

Oh yeah, I nearly forgot I was watching an anime for a second. Nothing like devilish blue fire to make you remember oh yeah, that’s a fine anime fire choice.

But rather than dwell too much on that artistic direction of blue fire, lets see if anything at all was inside of the red herring tower.

They’ve been slipping a picture of this chick all over the place. I’m surprised it took until now, when she’s like 15 feet tall, for them to finally notice “Hey maybe there’s something up with this random chick who is clearly a dead person Pegasus was close to”

Now I gotta get a little art nerdy on you for a moment because this storyboarder is really good at sneaking in people’s reactions right near the focal point without making them the focal point. This whole framing of Bakura’s tired face happens so quickly and I just want to spend a little moment for us to appreciate our storyboarder’s sense of humor.

Now, somehow. SOMEHOW things are going to get weirder.

Because with all this dream sequence stuff happening this looks like it’s a dream but I’m going to come out and say no, this is actually happening. They have, indeed, fallen into some tomb under the castle covered in Egyptian murals and people are chanting about sacrificing souls as offerings.

This happens SO QUICKLY.

THE HELL????

Like remember when I was like “How did all these skeletons get here? what’s up with these skeletons?” I didn’t actually really want them to tie up those loose ends but here we are.

So this has been going on this entire time!? For the past 28 episodes? When Kaiba was like “man Pegasus is the worst!” He didn’t feel like bringing up the crazy killer cult that was living under the island?

And to top it off, Bakura already knows what’s going down. He knows and is quickly getting more and more urgent to get away.

Oh, and PS, The cards we’ve been using these past 28 episodes are now giant stone tablets. Bakura mentioned once that the millennium ring was supposed to work alongside Duel Monsters. And he was like “but duel monsters is like ten years old so whatever” but it turns out that was a complete lie because there’s an ancient version that uses 10 foot tall tablets instead of cards. Their decks would be like 6000 lbs.

Also you die at the end of Ancient Duel Monsters, that part is different, too.

I have so many questions.

I mean you find out when you’re a kid that Ring around the rosies was actually about people dying of the plague and go “eh that’s sad” but it’s nothing like Ring around the Rosies killed people and made serial murderers into magical evil psychics.

I mean it’s never actually said, but there’s enough evidence here that I’d like to think Yugi was sleep running all over the castle during half this episode saying “grandpaaaazzzs” while Bandit Keith was like “OMG are any of them going to go to bed so I can finally steal their stuff?”

But back to the stuff that is actually not a dream and definitely happening. Pegasus pulls back his hood and decides to give them a quick Q and A before he outright kills them.

And so, Bakura, who has been playing dumb for...I dunno, 10+ episodes, who has been doing nothing spectacular and who has been clumsy and sort of a space cadet finally reveals that “yeah, that mind wipe did literally nothing, I’m a still an evil son of a bitch”

And they have a...shine off. Or something. It’s very hard to look directly at.

Thing is, from what we’ve learned, Pegasus is super duper powerful because he’s been killing people under here for many, many years. Every time he does a murder, his power grows. Which means...Bakura should be at a loss since he’s like 12 and...how many people can a 12 year old really murder?

Says a lot about your relationship if you can’t take 2 steps forward without getting Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind-ed 4 steps right back where you started.

Welp that’s it, guys! that’s Season 1! Bakura did it! He beat Pegasus! Why Bakura decided to retcon the REAL ending of Season 1 and just put everyone (including the villain) back as if it never happened is a little weird, but hey--at least I got through it. I did it. I recapped all of Yugioh Season 1. I’m proud of me!

Bakura will go back to playing dumb probably for another 10-15 episodes until he can steal that eyeball off of Pegasus. Apparently there wasn’t a good enough opportunity for eyeball theft when he was doing the weird laser show thing.

I assume somewhere, Pegasus is also sitting on his bed in his day clothes and thinking “the hell just happened?” but rather than look at one of his zillions of security cameras is like “well, that’s psychics!”

I’d like to think that Bandit Keith saw Bakura dragging Tea and Tristan’s bodies down the hall and they just nodded at eachother like “crazy evening, amiright?”

Also, a lot of this episode would have been different if any of these people locked their own doors. Like this, for instance, wouldn’t have been able to happen.

Then five minutes later the sun rose.

I mean it’s the only explanation for all the nuts stuff that went down last night.

Next week, on Yugioh:

Will Pegasus have a splitting headache for all of tomorrow and be wearing sunglasses the whole time? Will Pharaoh reveal that in his time off he got really into All My Children? Will they seriously go the third day without washing their clothes? These kids must SMELL.

The hell just HAPPENED?

[ygofanfics]

Pining For the Past

A/N: So I made a baby post of this, but I kinda wish that Yugi got to see AI!Yami, if nothing else than to have more angst. I always appreciate my ygo ships with a dash of angst.

Pairing: Puzzleshipping (mainly Yugi pining)

Warning: Pining (so much pining), mild angst

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh

Yugi was lost.

To be more specific, Yugi was lost inside of Kaiba's strange space station. For some reason, the CEO had invited him to visit, claiming that there was something that he wanted to show him. Which, if he was being honest, made him a bit apprehensive. The last time Kaiba had demanded his attention concerning something he had, the world had almost ended thanks to the evil in the Millennium Ring. And while Atem had made sure to take the Millennium Puzzle away with him, Yugi wouldn't put it past Kaiba to have found some way to teleport to some other dimension just to get it back.

It was almost strange, seeing how borderline-obsessed Kaiba had become over Atem. He was aware of how prideful the other male was, and how stubborn he had been about being him in a duel, but he never thought that he would pull his own head out from the sand to see that he and Atem had been two separate people.

Coming to a stop in the hall, Yugi let out a huff. All of the halls in the station looked alike, so he had no clue where he was walking. For all he knew, he probably had been walking around in circles. Growing frustrated, Yugi made his way to turn around and walk back when something caught his eye. Blinking, Yugi noticed a darkened window a little ways away from where he was standing. Every once and a while, he would see a bright flash of light, making him curious to go investigate.

When he reached the window, Yugi placed his hands onto the windows, squinting his eyes to try and see better. It took a few moments for another flash of light to shine, but once it did, he saw a familiar spiked hair style that made him stumble back, eye wide in shock.

“Yugi!”

Snapping his head, Yugi saw Kaiba storming towards him, irritated expression on his face. However, Yugi couldn't really find it in himself to care too much, given what he had just seen. It couldn't be what he thought it was. There was no way...He would have known if Atem had come back permanently...right?

“What do you think you're doing running around without Mokuba or myself-”

“How long has Atem been here?” Yugi asked, cutting Kaiba's rant off. A look of shock came across Kaiba's face before the CEO schooled his expression, eyes narrowing dangerously. The look put Yugi on guard immediately and he straightened himself, hands gripping tight by his side.

“I swear Kaiba, if you made Atem come back just to satisfy some childish rivalry, I'll-”

Kaiba let out a harsh laugh, looking down at him as though he was some idiot. It made Yugi's blood boil and for the first time, he actually contemplated doing something that he was sure to regret. It wasn't some joke! With the amount of time Atem spent stuck in the Millennium Puzzle, and then stuck inside of his body, he deserved to spend several lifetimes in the afterlife in peace. It had annoyed him when he had heard that Kaiba had tried to bring back the past the first time, but he had let it go because he had been longing to see Atem as well, as selfish as that made him feel. But after getting to see Atem, he had finally put his longing to peace.

Yeah, Kaiba didn't get the same opportunity to meet with Atem. But he wasn't quite sure what the other male was hoping to get from bringing him back. Kaiba was always the kind of person who never except defeat. But if, for some reason, Kaiba was able to beat Atem, would that really stop the CEO? Would that really put the feud to rest?

Glaring at Kaiba, who continued to laugh, Yugi let out a rough breath before pinching the bridge of his nose. He needed to calm down. It would do no good to be too emotional over something like this. Watching as Kaiba ceased his laughing, the CEO crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Do you honestly believe that I could drag the Pharaoh from whatever world he prancing around in? Believe me, if I was able to reach him, I would not be here having this idiotic talk,” Kaiba said simply, walking past him towards the room where he had seen Atem.

“Kaiba-” Yugi started, irritation coming back twice as strong. Before he could say anything else though, Kaiba shot him a look.

“You are not to tell anyone what you see here.” Kaiba's tone left no room for debate, causing Yugi to shut his mouth.

Furrowing his eyebrows, Yugi scrunched his face up in discontent, but nodded his head in agreement. Kaiba continued to stare him down, almost as though he didn't believe him. But after a few moments, the eldest Kaiba turned to open the door, light filling the room as everything revved to life.

Yugi's eyes immediately moved over towards where he had seen Atem and stopped in the entrance, heart skipping a beat. Standing in the center of the room was Atem, seeming to be staring off into space. It looked as though he hadn't left at all, looking like he had back during Battle City. Just looking at him again made his chest tighten, although there was something in the back of his mind that was nagging at him. Something was off...

“Atem?” Yugi asked softly, flinching slightly as the other male turned to look at him. At once, red flags sounded in his head and he narrowed his eyes as he stared at Atem.

Something was definitely off.

“It's taken me several years to reach this point, but for some reason, there's something missing with him. That's why I called you here,” Kaiba said from across the room, seating himself in front of one of the many computers in the room.

Looking over his shoulder at Kaiba, Yugi let out a questioning noise. “What? What are you talking about Kaiba?”

“I'm sure you were able to pick out the differences between his AI and the Pharaoh. I would have expected that bare minimum from someone who claims that he's so close to him,” Kaiba said, not sparing him a glance as his fingers practically flew across the keyboard, inputting something into the computer.

“AI?” Glancing back towards Atem, Yugi stared at the being in front of him. Of course he had been able to tell that something was off. Other than the obvious lack of reaction, this being's appearance was still kind of...off. It was hard to really describe, especially since it wasn't entirely physical. But it was still creepily close to the Atem that he knew.

Reaching a hand out, Yugi's mouth tightened as his fingers went right through the AI. His eyes followed his hand and for the smallest moment he felt his throat tighten with emotion. Clearing his throat loudly, Yugi's eyes flickered upward slightly, starting as he locked eyes with the AI in front of him. At once, Yugi snatched his hand away, drawing a tiny smile from the AI.

“Aibou,” the AI said gently, moving slightly closer.

Yugi's eyes watered and he brought a hand up to his face at once, trying to keep his tears back. Why did this always have to happen to him. He had wanted nothing else than to reach out and hug the Atem in front of him, even thought it wasn't the Atem had he knew. But he always wanted to hightail it out of Kaiba's station and refuse to look back. He hated that he always let himself be placed into these situations.

“While the AI would probably be perfect in regular situations, there are still a few kinks that need to be worked out. If you are willing help out,” Kaiba added, leaning back in his chair.

Wiping the tears from his face, Yugi cut his eyes back over towards Kaiba. There was a gleam in Kaiba's eyes, one that he was very familiar with. It was the same gleam that would show up in his eyes sometimes, during those dark nights that he wanted nothing else than to scream at the top of his lungs. The tension in the room immediately grew tense and Yugi found it hard to breath in that moment. He should say no. There was no reason why he should let himself fall into this endless pit of pining and wishing, especially when had finally reached the top of the pit himself. He had finally been able to put everything behind him.

It wasn't healthy in the least, and that's why he was going to say no. He had to say no. He had to...He-

“What did you need me to do?” Yugi asked, stomach rolling as a smile came to Kaiba's face.

[the-cryptographer]

Here, I'll help get your ideas going about the rest of Lottery Ticket. Pick the most helpful? 001 for Polar OR Violet OR Ettushipping OR even Arrogantshipping, OR 002 for Mai OR Joey OR Seto??? (also I can't decide either lol)

Thank you for the ask  :D

Lotto Ticket’s pretty much planned out. I just need to stop making things difficult and write more, but-

mmm, I already answered 002 for Mai, and I talked a little teeny bit there about how I see her and Seto’s being bros. So… I answered 001 for JouKai and Polar. Under the cut because whining about Jou and Kaiba gets long in particular x_x

JouKai

when I started shipping it if I did:

Somewhere in the nebulous time between watching the show as akid and when I started first reading fanfic for this show, my subconsciousdecided this was the combination of characters to slot into ffnet’s searchengine.

my thoughts:

F- F- F- F- FOILS! It’s a ship of conflicting circumstanceand ideology. It’s super fun to watch them butt heads at every turn, until somethingmanages to break through.

I think- In the series itself, Jounouchi and Kaiba both, ina sense, have their worlds and eyes opened by Yuugi and Atem respectively.Yuugi opens Jou up to opportunity – the possibility that there are ways he cansucceed without having to be a bully and a thug, and that it’s okay for him tonurture the more kind and loving aspects of himself. Atem opens Kaiba up to theidea that there can be trust and opportunity and connection with other people,that there is a way that cooperation and friendship (and maybe even miracles)can happen. I guess I think Jounouchi and Kaiba’s relationship is a kind ofnext step? Jounouchi & Kaiba are far more dissimilar than Yuugi &Jounouchi and Kaiba & Atem – so the process of reconciling their worldviewsin a way that is made to accommodate one another, while allowing them to retaintheir differences, is one that is able to open their eyes further to grandbreadth of the world and its possibilities – that there are many ways to liveand to be and they only need choose what works for them.

Also they both really deeply understand what it is to be desperate. I don’t really think they’dbe able to empathise much with the particular circumstances of such desperation,but I think they could really begin to understand on a deep level that alldesperation looks the same and it’s ugly and brings out the worst in people. If they could come to have sympathy for each other and themselves it would be nice.

Also I’m addicted to the class background spin *gnashesteeth* Jou’s more prototypically lower class than Kaiba’s prototypically upperclass in a cultural sense, but it’s still fun as heck~

What makes me happy about them:

The process of them coming to respect one another. Theprocess of them learning not to hurt each other. The process of them learningto cut themselves a break and deciding that there’s no reason they shouldn’t eachbe allowed their own happiness and fulfilment.

What makes me sad about them:

They already have an established relationship based on beingreally cruel to each other, and it’s really hard to alter patterns of behaviourthat have already been established. I can easily see them making efforts torepair how they interact with one another, and then, in some moment whenthey’re both angry and under pressure, losing the traction they’d built up tothat point – slipping into old patterns of being really nasty and cruel, exceptworse because they would be armed with an amount of intimacy that meant theywould really /know/ how to make the other one hurt. I wouldn’t want them tostay together if they crossed that kind of line, but it makes me sad how easilyI think they could cross that line, especially within the span of the firstcouple of years they’re together. It makes me extra sad how easily I think they mightbe inclined to /purposefully/ cross those lines as a means of sabotaging a lovethey feel they don’t deserve.

Also, something that doesn’t make me sad so much as frustrates me in my attempts to write them: In the pre-DSoD world, or given a post-DSoD world where Atemisn’t able to be Seto’s continued outlet for duelling/interpersonal connection,it’s very, very easy for me toimagine Seto isolating himself to the point of potential fatality. Seto… couldbe very rigid about this… and I find Jounouchi uniquely capable of addressingthis problem. Given that Jounouchi has some pretense or motivation for hasslingSeto, I think Jounouchi would – and that becomes self-perpetuating as Jounouchiis met with resistance. The more barriers Seto puts up, the more Jounouchi seesthis as a challenge, and the more he takes a sadistic glee in tearing thosebarriers down. In some ways, I think you need somebody with Jounouchi’s levelof reckless, self-destructive persistence to break through to Seto. But, at the same time,Jounouchi’s not being nice when he does this. He’s being forceful. He’s beingdisrespectful of other people’s boundaries. He’s not doing it out of concernfor Seto (at least not at first). He just enjoys forcing Seto into situationswhere Seto is off-balance, so he can feel steady in comparison. He’s being a bully. So I’m kind of torn betweenwanting to say, ‘jfc, Jou, STOP!’, and ‘jfc, Jou, KEEP FUCKING GOING! You willrestrain Seto and physically drag him out of his comfort zone if you have to,bc Seto’s comfort zone is such a small stretch of barren land – it’s only amatter of time before he dies of starvation!’ Ugh, and as Jou does this, he’salso being met with Seto giving off terrible mixed signals and periodically beingreally, really terrible in an attempt to get Jou to buzz the fuck off, but it doesn’t work because Jou is a neglectbaby who doesn’t care if people hurt him so long as they’re paying attention tohim. And then Seto gets to be all relieved when Jou hasn’t given up on him evenafter he’s gone and stabbed Jou with a pen.So all around it feels like I’mrewarding them for behaving really, really terribly. But it feels so organic to me the way it’s happening - let me stew in thistrash a little bit longer, okay?

things done in fanfic that annoy me:

Everything.

Offthe top of my head – the narrative pushing the idea that either Jou or Kaiba isthe better person, or the idea that their power struggle can be resolved in theprocess of finding the winner, instead of abandoning the fight. Seme/uketropes. I think everyone at this point has acknowledged Seto calls Jou doggythings is an attempt to dehumanise him, so Seto using such terminology as a petname is really fucking gross.

things I look for in fanfic:

Sometimes I’m just in the mood to read something fluffy, butmost of the time I’m looking for fic that acknowledges that they are bothreally cruel to one another, and that that cruelty isn’t superficial. That theyare both angry and maladjusted as fuck, and they have very, very valid reasons to have beef with oneanother and, without reaching and reassessing the deep insecurities and beliefsthat cause that anger, any attempts they make to play nice and be kind aresuperficial af and unlikely to last.

(I mean… I think there’s value to thembeing able to indulge in a little kindness even superficially – certainly theycan’t spend the whole long, gruelling process of self-change being at eachother’s throats, it would be too exhausting. So I don’t mind reading about thembeing superficially kind, but it can’t be sold to me as being somehow deeperthan it is, you feel?)

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

As much as I’m SUPER invested in Kaiba and Jou having someset of postcanon foibles that allow them to better understand one another andgrow as individuals - yeah I’m okay with them ultimately ending up with other people.

For Jou – Mai. For Kaiba – either Isis or Atem. I likerivalshipping too, but jumping from Jou to Yuugi would definitely be the causeof upsetting dramas.

My happily ever after for them:

Theylearn to fucking chill a little

who is the big spoon/little spoon:

Once more – “Jou doesn’t so much spoon people as he wraps hislegs around their chest and awkwardly strangle-hugs their face like it’s astrange laying-down-on-your-side sleepy piggyback ride.”

It’s things like this that, at first, make Seto wonder whyhe puts up with Jou. But, as time goes on, he gives up on wondering because he’snever going to find the answer. (Or, rather, admit the answer to himself.)

…At least one of the answers is that Jou likes running hishands softly through Kaiba’s hair and soothing him to sleep by massaging hisforehead, and it’s very comforting.

what is their favorite non-sexual activity:

They both enjoy duelling to a certain extent, but I thinkKaiba finds duelling Jou much less fun and challenging than the other wayaround, so that mismatch probably discourages it from being their true go-toactivity. But Yuugi invites them over for game nights periodically, and it’sbecomes a kind of fun thing for both of them to do.

They kind of have different interests, so I imagine they’rethe kind of couple that does their own things and then reconvenes to sharestories or otherwise silently enjoy each other’s presence. Kaiba’s aworkaholic, so a lot of times he’s on his laptop in the evenings, while Jousits next to him reading manga, or watching TV shows with headphones in. Kaiba oftenstays at the office late too, and Jou will come over just to be a reassuringpresence. He brings a sleeping bag and something to do and camps out on thedivan. Jou has learned not to bother Kaiba, and Kaiba’s learned not to bebothered in a complementary fashion.

For a very long time, Seto proves to be kind of difficult todrag out for dates and the like with any regularity. But, as Seto ages andstarts trusting Mokuba with more Kaiba Corp responsibilities, he’ll have morefree time. Jou starts taking him out for walks – sometimes to really date-ishplaces like theme parks or the promenade or the aquarium, but a lot of timesthey just go to the park or on nature-lite hikes. Jou’s extremely chatty onthese walks and runs ahead to look at this or that and points things out toSeto. Jou kind of gets worked up because Kaiba’s really quiet and mostly justnods and doesn’t say much, and then Jou becomes worried he’s annoying Kaiba,and then he gets annoyed that he’s worried and resolves to be extra loud andannoying. Really though Kaiba’s not annoyed at all – he enjoys listening to Joutalk and enjoys watching Jou get really cheerful and excited about these walks– Kaiba’s just quiet. By this point they won’t be so incapable of propercommunication though so, within the span of a walk or two, either Seto willnotice Jou’s being angry about talking and pointing things out instead ofproperly cheerful and ask him why, or Jou will break and ask Seto if he’sannoyed and that’s why isn’t he talking, and then they’ll clear up theirmisunderstanding. Jou will feel kind of silly for worrying afterwards~

==

JouMai

when I started shipping it if I did:

I was shipping this in 2001, when I didn’t know whatshipping was. I don’t remember what about Duellist Kingdom convinced me… Butsomething in Duellist Kingdom convinced me!!!

my thoughts:

Oh, geez, I mean- They’re just so lovely!!! I think theirDuellist Kingdom repertoire convinces me more than their Battle City one does.The way Jounouchi convinced Mai to take the star chips from Yuugi and kind ofconvinces her they’re friends, and then the way Mai returns the favour when shegives Jou the entry card. I feel like it was a really strong base of give andtake that wasn’t borne out of some kind of attempt to return favours upon eachother, but to genuinely help one another. It’s just so sweet.

And I feel like they buzz at similar levels. They’re bothkind of high energy and outgoing. And they’re both kind of immature, but inways that can both cause conflict and complement each other.

Also, it is kind of important to me that, in canon, theyseem to react to each other in the realm of being attracted to one another.Something about how it’s presented in the series, with Jou immediately going ‘wow,’and Mai being both dismissive and smitten seems really honest to me.

What makes me happy about them:

When they can be honest with each other and really bask inhow much they are cherished.

What makes me sad about them:

I think they don’t have a very good grasp on when theteasing things they do and say become genuinely hurtful to other.

I think theymight never meet each other at the right time to make their romance work.

And, also, I think Mai’s highkey convinced there’s somethingwrong with her for being attracted to Jou, given he’s eight years younger andalso washed-out thug with no prospects. Which… I won’t say her tastes aren’tinteresting, or that she shouldn’t absolutely keep in mind that he’s still aminor during the series, but I think it’s just one of many data points that Maicherry picks to use as part of her thesis on why she is fundamentally flawedand unloveable, which is kind of – fuckingstop it, Mai.

things done in fanfic that annoy me:

Excepting a couple of key stories, a lot of JouMai fic seemsto blend together in my mind in one really indistinct blob. I’m not sure there’sanything that outright annoys me so much as a lot of things that haven’tinspired me. I’m sorry, I still haven’t read yours yet miranova~

things I look for in fanfic:

I’mnot really sure what to say except, ‘something unique’ or ‘something thoughtprovoking

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

Vivian for Mai. And pretty much anyone for Jou, but Yuugi andYuugi&Kaiba both come to mind. I’ll confess I flat out don’t want to readabout Jounouchi and Mai breaking up though. Even in passing, like, a throwawayline about how they dated once and it didn’t work out. In all the fics I’veread, I can only think of two that did this that I didn’t x-out of andneither one was JouKai

My happily ever after for them:

Maigets to have her career and make lots of moolah and live her life, and thenthey get together when they’re both older (Mai might even be pushing 40 at thatpoint, lol) and have lots of new exciting adventures together :)I think they’d want a kid or two but, even after the kids, Mai probably won’t be convinced on marriagefor another ten or twenty years, lol

who is the big spoon/little spoon:

Mai gets fed up with Jounouchi’s strangehold piggyback ride versionof spooning and takes over big spoon responsibilities… at least part of thetime. I think Mai likes feeling warm and surrounded, so she might curl upfacing him and he kind of curls in around her.

what is their favorite non-sexual activity:

Duelling and talking duel monsters, tbh. But I also thinkthey’re a very date-y couple. They’re always going places, whether it’s to themall or the movies or biking out to scenic kinds of places. Mai would like totake Jou on vacation abroad too~

I’ve talked about Jou and Mai going to the spa together too, but that might be overly indulgent of me~