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enemyoflactose · 29 days

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I finished rewatching season 1 of Yu-Gi-Oh. My redemption arc is 1/5 complete. (I have to watch the dub because I don't wanna support Crunchyroll and I don't know where else to watch the sub)

My main thoughts are about voice acting since of all the arcs, Duelist Kingdom and Domino City side stories make me the least angry.

So to start off, a comparison between Dub and Sub acting and which voice I like more as of now.

Yami: His sub voice in season 1 is honestly so cute. He just sounds like he's having a constant blast.

His dub voice on the other hand, sounds so hot 🥵. And Dub Yami is what's keeping me from doing drugs.

Overall, I like both a lot. I do however think Dan just makes the character.

Little Yugi: similar thing as Yami, only his dub voice doesn't sound hot. Just cute. I love both voices and honestly can't pick between them.

Joey Wheeler: I like his dub voice more. That's where the personality is. His sub voice just sounds generic.

Tristan: For the first few episodes of the dub, Tristan has this really stupid voice that I just don't like, so for that alone I like his sub voice more.

But then from the Rex duel and onward it's Greg Abby, and then I like both his sub and dub voice.

Téa: I think I prefer her sub voice. Just a little less grating. (I still love you Téa)

Ryou: He sounds like Gachapoid in the sub 🥺. I love Gachapoid!

His british accent tho 😩

Yami Bakura: Gachapoid doesn't suit him unfortunately. I like his dub voice more.

Pegasus: stunning. Both of them. The performance is impeccable. But Dub Pegasus never said "Jesus Christ".

Seto Kaiba: a hard one. In the sub he screams so much, but in the dub he doesn't sound like he's one insult away from killing himself... I can't decide.

Mokuba: they both sound the same.

Mai: I think I prefer dub. Just sounds deeper idk.

Weevil: I love him and his voices.

Rex: I prefer his sub voice. Just less grating and he doesn't sound like he has bronchitis.

Everyone else: meh. Could go either way.

Now to talk about the characters, and if I relearned anything:

Téa's friendship speeches are so sweet and cheesey I can't believe people don't like them. She is always there for her friends and clearly cares so much. I will never forgive Téa bashers for what they did to her during the great Yaoi Revolution.

Joey isn't as stupid as I remember him being, just a beginner at Duel Monsters. Nothing wrong with that. He's trying. His utter determination to get that money for his sister's operation is seriously so heart warming. I love whenever he says "Time roulette go!"

Tristan threw a dead body at Satan. And grabbed Ryou's leg while climbing the tower because he was getting impatient.

Yugi being uncertain of Yami until the Bakura duel is crazy. Like he wasn't even having memory issues. Bro huh? He's also so supportive! Like baby boy was the one to suggest he and Yami fight PaniK for Mai. He told Yami not to attack Kaiba and send him falling to his death. He gave Joey Time Wizard! Yugi is a bro.

Yami is such a good friend. Helping Joey out with duels, got Mai her star chips back, freed both Mokuba and Kaiba's souls because Mokuba asked, tried getting pink shirt his star chips back, and never believing that Joey couldn't duel by himself.

Ryou was, certainly there. Honestly his impact doesn't really matter. He just explains Duel Monsters to Tristan and Téa whenever Yugi is dueling. His first appearance isn't even that impressive because instead of killing himself to save everyone like in the manga, Yami switches the places of Ryou and Yami Bakura. So even if he tries to help, someone else always helps way more.

Yami Bakura is so hot. I'd suck his dick if he asked. I also just love how his deck can not only do tarot readings, but is also really annoying to go up against. Like boy had 3 morphing jars, an electric lizard, a man eater bug, and change of heart. Those cards were fucking devastating back in the day. He also would have won that duel if he used Just Desserts one turn later, but oh well. Why did he lick the millennium eye tho? I get the tarot reading, but why did he lick the eye?

Mokuba. Oh sweet Mokuba. He just wants to help his brother, but he suffers so much.

Kaiba is awesome. He hacks into Industrial Illusions and causes a satellite to crash into an office. Killing people. He helps Yami win a duel. He rips a Blue Eyes. He annihilates with Crush Card Virus. My man uses Saggi the Dark Clown. His devotion to rescuing Mokuba is amazing and is really what has me start caring for him when I first watched the series 5 years ago. His comebacks and sheer distaste for the Yugi gang are fun and amazing to watch.

Pegasus, the star of season 1. He's in my top 5 favorite characters list. I absolutely love eccentric villains, especially when they love cartoons and are actually threatening. Pegasus is a beast. If we ignore his millennium eye for now, he's a fantastic and fun duelist! His deck is interesting and entertaining to watch, neither of his duels were boring, and the man is so funny. "Do I spin it like a top, or roll it like a ball!" I love him. He's also (so far) the only villain I feel genuine empathy towards. Y'all, I'm a sap. If a villain's reason is being evil because they lost their Significant other than I'm sorry I'm crying. My poor guy.

Grandpa: he trained Joey and Yugi, he gave Yugi his deck, he appeared in dream sequences to help Yugi beat his opponents, and he gave Yugi the puzzle. If this man didn't exist, Yu-Gi-Oh wouldn't happen.

Duke Devlin: I forgot how much I hated him when I first watched his dumbass Dungeon Dice Monster 4 episode showdown. He's so fucking mean.

Rebecca: not much to say other than I like her.

The duels:

Seto vs Yami (first duel of the series): a fantastic way to start off the series. Kaiba finds out Yugi's grandpa has the Blue Eyes White Dragon card he's been searching for, he steals it, rips it, and Yugi challenges him to a duel.

Yami takes control and is surprised by Kaiba's duel arena having the ability to make life-like holograms of the monsters on the cards.

The duel begins and for the entire thing, it's honestly pretty equal. Yami summons a monster, Kaiba destroys it. Kaiba summons a monster, Yami destroys it.

It's a back and forth kind of deal until Kaiba pulls out his own Blue Eyes White Dragon card, shocking Yami. He surprises Yami again by summoning another Blue Eyes, but then gets hit with swords of revealing light.

Kaiba summons Judge Man, and it gets Destroyed by the Dark Magician.

During this, Yugi is having his doubts about winning because of Kaiba's Blue Eyes and can't seem to draw cards. Especially when Kaiba summons his third Blue Eyes White Dragon and destroys the Dark Magician.

This leads into Yami and Yugi having an inter monologue with Grandpa about Exodia. How Exodia is split into pieces. Pieces like a puzzle.

Yami gains the courage to draw and he gets all five pieces of Exodia! Instantly winning the duel!

Kaiba is then given a mind crush and starts to question all his life choices.

Rex vs Weevil (half a duel): in this not really a duel, we are introduced to two characters. Since they have names they are obviously important to the plot.

The duel starts with Rex summoning King Rex and instantly getting vortexed. Then Weevil summons his Basic Insect and equips it with Insect Lazer Cannon. This lets him wipe out all of Rex's Life Points.

Weevil is then named Regional Champion, and Rex is the runner up.

Yugi vs Pegasus (second real duel): this is where we are introduced to Pegasus as a villain.

He makes Yugi duel him on a 15 min time lock.

During this duel, Pegasus is cheating. Not just with his millennium eye, but he's sending subliminal messages to Yami. It's not mentioned in the dub, but it still happens.

Yami finds out that duel monsters was created in ancient Egypt and Pegasus starts talking up a storm so he can waste time.

Pegasus wins the duel due to the time limit and steals Grandpa's soul.

Weevil vs Yami (the third duel): This duel was initiated because Weevil decided to be a little dick and threw Exodia off the ship to Duelist Kingdom.

Yami bets his deck and star chip, Weevil bets both his star chips.

The duel begins, and we find out about field power bonuses. Insects get lower from the forest, warriors get theirs from the meadow, dragons and winged beasts get theirs from the mountains, zombies get them from the wastelands, and fiends get theirs during night time.

Unfortunately, Yami doesn't get many bonuses.

During the duel, Weevil summons a full board of monsters. He gets mirror forced.

Then he plays his Petite Moth and Cocoon of Evolution combo. He gets Burning Landed.

He then summons his Great Moth. He gets Makiyued and Summoned Skulled.

This is a simple explanation of what happened, but Yami wasn't met without struggle.

A lot of his monsters that he summoned got destroyed. They usually only lasted one turn.

Anyways, Yami won and has three star chips. Joey steals Weevil's dueling glove.

Joey vs Mai (Duel 4): this is Joey's first duel! Hooray!

He doesn't understand that his land monsters can't attack flying monsters, and gets demolished.

Mai adds several equip spells and uses Elegant Egotist to multiply her Harpie lady card.

Joey finds out Mai is cheating with perfume.

Joey then summons Baby Dragon and the Time Wizard and uses them to win the duel.

He got a star chip and his first rival!

Mako vs Yami (duel 5): Yami duels Mako Tsunami.

Mako's monsters are in the water and can't be attacked.

Yami attacks the moon and then uses his Burning Land card.

Yami wins

Mokuba vs Yami (half duel): Mokuba is trying to keep Yami from dueling Pegasus because he wants to save his brother's company.

He loses the duel.

Yami vs Ghost Kaiba (duel 6): Kaiba jumped off a cliff and died. Now his ghost is dueling Yami.

He's psychology tormenting everyone except Tristan. Mokuba quickly became distraught.

Ghost Kaiba summons his Blue Eyes one at a time, and they all get destroyed.

The first one is destroyed by the real Kaiba because OH MY! He ain't dead! That's just some fat ass pretending to be Kaiba! (Or he's Kaiba's dark half)

The second Blue Eyes gets destroyed because Yami summoned Mystical Elf and Raised the Attack points of the Blue eyes he stole from the graveyard.

Yami wins the duel!

Mokuba got rekidnapped tho.

Joey vs Rex (duel 7): Rex is dueling Joey because he wants to duel Mai, but Mai will only duel him if he beats Joey.

Joey again gets his ass beat and is saved by Time Wizard.

His spoils are some chips and the Red Eyes Black Dragon!!!!

Yami Bakura vs Yami (duel 8): in this duel we are introduced to two new characters. Ryou Bakura and Yami Bakura.

Before the duel, the gang and Ryou are talking about their favorite cards (important). Then Ryou challenges Yugi to a duel, Yami Bakura appears, takes them to the Shadow Realm, puts the squads souls in their favorite cards, then tries to steal the puzzle.

Yami challenges Yami Bakura to a duel and when he summons the Cyber Commander, he finds out that all of his have had their souls placed inside their favorite cards.

Tristan dies to the white magical hat or some shit and Joey Flame Swordsman gets summoned. Then Tristan Cyber Commander gets resurrected, then Yugi Dark Magician gets summoned, then Téa Magician of Faith gets places face down. (She's a flip monster)

Throughout this whole ass duel Yami and the gang are getting their ass handed to them.

Yami gets Morphing Jared like 3 times, had Man Eater Bug eat Joey, had Just Desserts taking life points from him, and Yami Bakura was looking at him like

(𓁹‿ 𓁹)

The whole time.

Anyway, Yami Bakura plays the Change of Heart card and we get to see Ryou in a dress.

We get to see Ryou in another dress because he betrays Yami Bakura and takes control of his Lady of Faith and tells Yugi to attack him.

Yami then thinks about how Yami Bakura took the souls of his friends out of their bodies and put them in the cards and then wonders if he can do the same. He can he does.

We then see Yami Bakura in a dress but he doesn't slay as hard as Ryou.

Yami Bakura is defeated but he took a page out of William Afton's book because he comes back instantly.

Yami vs PaniK (duel 9): This duel starts immediately after Mai gets defeated by PaniK.

Yugi calls this fucking giant of a man a bully, PaniK tries to kill him with fire, and the duel starts.

PaniK is hiding in the dark and Yami calls him a pussy multiple times.

PaniK sure is a duelist. He loses his temper easily and doesn't think about the opponent's strategy. This Leads his Reaper of The Cards to get caught in a Magic Circle (I can't remember the name) and destroyed by his monster.

PaniK gets Swords of Revealing Lighted and his Castle of Dark Illusions has its floatation ring knocked off. His monsters get destroyed and he loses.

Mai got her star chips back :D

Joey vs Kaiba (duel 10? Does this one even count?): the entire duel is Joey getting annihilated. He loses. Badly.

And Kaiba gets insulted.

Joey vs Bonz (duel 11): This duel happened because Joey got kidnapped.

We also get introduced to Bonz, Sid, Zygor, and Bandit Keith.

Bandit Keith used to be the intercontinental champion, and he hates Pegasus.

Bonz is just a little guy who doesn't really like Bandit Keith, but he wants to duel with his zombie cards. Keith is helping him out. So they just gotta work together.

Sid and Zygor are Bonz's friends. They're just kinda there.

During this duel, they are in a cave and Joey is getting scared because Bonz is ugly (no he's not 😤) and zombies are spooky.

Joey is managing pretty alright for the first half because Keith keeps making Bonz play not zombies and they keep getting destroyed.

However, Keith wanted this. Because he put a Call of the Haunted in Bonz's deck. This means that Bonz can bring his monsters back from the graveyard as zombies, they're indestructible, get stronger each time they come back, and they keep destroying Joey's monsters.

Bonz then summons his Pumpking and makes his zombies stronger, but it gets destroyed by the Red Eyes Black Dragon.

Then Red Eyes gets destroyed by ways I don't remember.

Now all Joey has left is his Battle Warrior and Sword and Shield.

He summons Battle Warrior , uses Sword and Shield, wins the duel!

The Yugi gang are now trapped in a cave and Bonz and his friends get their shit rocked by Bandit Keith.

Joey and Yami vs the Paradox brothers (duel 12): Ryou leads the gang here.

We meet the Paradox brothers. A pair of eccentric twins who can't shut up and keep rhyming.

The duel is a tag duel. Meaning they take turns, if one opponent loses all of their life points that team loses, and they can help each other out.

The duel is in a maze. Each card can move up a space for as many levels as it is.

Beaver Warrior gets destroyed instantly by the Wall Shadow, which gets destroyed by KUNAI WITH CHAIN.

Some other shit happen, Yami and Joey gotta face some tank and a worm and spider.

Don't know what happened to the tank, the spider got stabbed with Mystic Box, and the worm had something something Magical Hats.

Gate Guardian is a thing and Yami says it's in the class of Exodia even tho it's not an instant win. (Shout out Gate Guardian for getting support 😔✊)

Yami and Joey won the duel with Black Skull Dragon and make it out of the maze with some coins.

Yami vs Kaiba ( Duel 13): this duel starts after Pegasus told Kaiba that dueling him was a privilege, not a right.

Yami and Kaiba duel with the new Duel Disk system. They're using the advanced rules, that's why it's one monster at a time.

With the duel system, you can recall your monsters and replace them with a different one.

Yami falls for the Crush Card Virus trap and can now only use weak monsters.

He makes his Kuriboh wall, and Kaiba summons his Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon to try and get past it. He doesn't.

Yami then uses his stupid fucking arrow card that I can never remember the name of because it's so stupid and dumb to fuse his Mammoth Graveyard to the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon.

The dragon starts to decay, Kaiba has a panic attack and threatens to kill himself, Yami says "Bet", Yugi stops him, Kaiba wins.

Téa vs Mai ( duel 14): Téa wants to get Yugi his star chips back and challenges Mai to a duel.

During this duel Téa summons a bunch of wimpy cards like Petite Angel and most of them get destroyed by Mai's Harpie Lady.

Mai has a bunch of equip spells on her Harpie and Téa Wabokued her once.

Shining Friendship gets summoned, gets an equip spell, and Téa activates De-spell to remove Mai's equips.

Mai surrenders and Téa gives Yugi some chips.

Pegasus vs Kaiba (duel 15): in this duel Kaiba is trying to get his brother back.

Kaiba tries to get Pegasus to use his new Duel Disk system, but it doesn't go well.

The duel begins and Kaiba destroys some of Pegasus's monsters, but then Pegasus steals a Blue eyes and turns it into an Ugly Ass Toon.

Kaiba starts losing.

We learn that toon monsters are hard to destroy because they hide in a book.

Also Kaiba falls for his own Crush Card Virus trap and loses.

Mai vs Yami (duel 16): I'm pretty sure Yami was originally being sexist, but I watched the dub so Yugi is the one actually doing most of the dueling here. He doesn't want Mai getting hurt.

Yugi and Yami keep falling for the stupid Mirror Wall thing and their monsters keep getting wrecked.

Then we see Harpies Pet Dragon.

Yugi Mind Controls it and puts it on a catapult to destroy the Mirror Wall (shit looked epic).

Harpies Pet Dragon comes back and we get three Harpie Ladies.

Yugi let's Yami help and they do the Black Luster Soldier ritual and win.

Joey vs Bandit Keith (duel 17): I love this duel.

Joey gets his entry card stolen and Mai gives him hers, so wholesome.

During the duel Joey is fucking shit up. He's doing so good.

Then Keith starts cheating. But Joey prevails.

He uses trap hole, kunai with chain, time wizard, baby dragon, red eyes black metal dragon, and time machine!

Bandit Keith is using Machines and everyone is wondering why. Like bro, machines are a good monster type with a lotta cards.

Anyway Keith is pulling cards out of his wrist band, tries to use Shield and Sword to wipe out Joey, it doesn't work, Keith loses.

Then Keith tries to say that Joey didn't use his own tournament entry card, but Joey shuts that down

Then Keith gets accused of cheating and is sent falling to not at all death.

Yami vs Joey (duel 18): we have to sit through a long ass montage.

Joey throws some cards away, Yami wonders why.

Yami falls for a few traps, then Joey falls for some traps, this whole time Ryou is explaining the birth of the universe to Téa while Tristan kinda stares off into space.

Joey uses his last Time Wizard of the season to bring out his Thousand Dragon, but Yami planned this.

Yami's Dark Magician has become the Dark Sage and he uses Makiyu to stop Joey's attack and wipe out Joey's life points.

Yami wins and I cried the first time I saw this duel.

Pegasus vs Yami (duel 19): the final duel of the arc.

Pegasus tells Yami that if he wins he gets whatever he wants, but if Pegasus wins he gets his soul and the puzzle.

Yami says he wants Mokuba, Kaiba, and Grandpa's souls to be released and Pegasus says "Damn I thought you hated Kaiba", but Yami just doing that for Mokuba.

The duel starts, and Yami is immediately having trouble. He can't destroy the rooms and the Gorgon's Eye is keeping him from defending.

Pegasus also turned Summoned Skull into a toon and it's being creepy.

Yami keeps getting his mind read and Yugi comes in like "what if we switch places?" And Yami says they should.

This gives Pegasus some trouble. It gives him so much trouble that the toon world gets destroyed and he takes the duel to the Shadow Realm.

Yugi dies.

The Yugi gang feel this and send him some good vibes.

This means Pegasus still can't read Yami's mind.

Pegasus does some shit with Relinquish and Yami tries his Kuriboh stunt and his Magician of Black Chaos is there.

Yami wins and gets the souls back.

Pegasus does like 10 minutes later.

Other shit that happened that was interesting/Important:

During the Pegasus and Yami duel, Tristan and Yami Bakura go off on an adventure to find Mokuba's body. This leads to the ring getting thrown in the forest.

The ring goes back to Ryou because love or something.

In the sub Mai offered Rex anything he wanted during their first encounter. This was changed in the dub.

We still don't know how Ryou snuck in the ship to Duelist Kingdom.

Shadi doesn't even try to find Yami Bakura. He just goes to one person (Yugi) and gives up.

I'll never forgive 4kids for editing out Yami Bakura sexily licking the Millennium Eye.

If Joey had a Magic Jammer he would have won his duel with Yami.

Domino City side stories:

Rebecca's cool. I like her.

Rebecca vs Yami (duel 20): this duel happened because Grandpa got accused of stealing Rebecca's Blue Eyes White Dragon card.

Rebecca's strategy is also pretty good for the time. Her deck is centered around milling cards to power up her Shadow Goul, and she uses cards like Witch of the Black Forest and Sangan to do this.

During the duel Grandpa is having flashbacks because he had a duel go exactly like this. We find out Rebecca is the granddaughter of Grandpa's friend, Arthur.

Yugi drew Soul Release, but didn't use it because... I don't know. We find out that's how the duel between Arthur and Grandpa ended.

Arthur appears, says some shit, and we never see Rebecca again.

That dumbass game thing:

I wasn't paying attention to this because there weren't any actual duels and I didn't like this part.

Duke Devlin:

This bitch really gonna say Yugi cheats in his duels and steal all the girls. Bro.

Duke vs Joey (duel 21): Joey almost wins, But Duke does an ass pull and wins at 50 life points.

Duke vs Yami (Dungeon Dice Monsters): Duke doesn't explain shit because Yami is King Of Games and should know how to play a game he's never heard of.

Duke makes fun of Yami for not knowing how to play the game he never explained, gets angry when Yami figures stuff out, and is just an ass this whole game.

I wasn't really paying attention, until shit actually started to happen because there was just a whole lotta nothing.

Eventually both players have monsters on the field, some are doing magic, others are just standing there.

Orgoth the Relentless is certainly a thing. He gets beat by the Dark Magician.

Yami wins.

Other thoughts on the Domino City stories:

I laughed when Joey told Duke "I like ya game, just not you."

More characters gotta duel like Rebecca.

The existence of Adina is weird. If Kaiba made her, ಠ⁠_⁠ಠ. If the Big Five Made her, then fine I get it. Mokuba is like a damsel in distress. I just don't like it.

I hope you enjoy this long ass wall of text. My redemption is going steady. I have noticed no change other than being slightly more unhinged.

Imma do this every time I finish a season.

#yugioh #yami bakura #ryou bakura #personal post #weevil underwood #rex raptor #yami yugi #seto kaiba #mokuba kaiba #maximillion pegasus #mai valentine #bonz yugioh #my own redemption arc

18 notes · View notes

yuujoh · 5 months

Note

If you'd like for the ask meme: Mokuba for 4, 5, and 28 + Pegasus, and also Honda for 5 + 24 if you'd like. Thank you!

ohhhh! all my favorites, thank you! :-)

MOKUBA

4. Favorite Line:

Ohhhhh this is a really tough one! It's more than a line, but I adore the moment in the manga when after Death T, when he and Seto's goons are trying to beat up the gang and he puts a stop to it. His bristly little "That's Enough!" is so endearing to me. He doesn't want to seem kind or weak hearted, so he couches it in this "they won so there's no point in fighting" implication, but it was really that he truly just wanted the muscle to leave them alone! Similarly, the little expression on his face before he tries to leave without commenting on the fact that he saved Honda strikes me for the same reason.

5. Best personality trait

I think Mokuba's best personality trait is his resourcefulness. He is a really quick thinker and does his best to be helpful in a situation (swallowing the fake key in Duelist Kingdom, stealing the star chips to gain access to Pegasus, hiding information with the maid for Kaiba when he woke up, the way he cheats at Capmon, headbutting Diva when he jumps on the puzzle, etc etc). He's the younger Kaiba but it doesn't mean he should be discredited in any way!

28. How Mokuba feels about Pegasus

AHHHHH! GREAT ONE GREAT ONE! I think that to Mokuba, Pegasus is the absolute scummiest that scummy can get. He threatened the two singular things that Mokuba cares about: his brother and their company. (He was working overtime to give Pegasus a run for his money which I think is so absolutely courageous... he essentially spat in Pegasus's face when he swallowed that key. I don't think I'd have the guts.) I also think that to him, Pegasus is probably extremely scary. Not only does he not have a problem taking Mokuba from his own home and locking him up, he's been told by his brother, the strongest person he knows, that Pegasus is nigh invincible. And for Kaiba at least, this is objectively true. Seeing fear for someone in his brother has got to be a really uncomfortable feeling.

HONDA

5. Best Personality Trait

I think Honda's best personality trait is his kindness. He is always looking out for people. He cheers Jounouchi on and is sometimes a little mean, but he does it with the intent of protecting him and his feelings. He will go to bat for someone with zero expectation of reciprocation. (helping the Kaibas and going on a secret hunt for Shizuka, who he didn't even know about until a couple of months prior). I love that he feels deeply, too. when he cries when Jounouchi comes back and when he realizes that Atem remembers him... so cute!

24. Most annoying habit

I would say his helicopter parenting of Jounouchi! haha. His heart is in the right place, but I think sometimes in his effort to manage Jounouchi's expectations of a situation, he ends up kind of short changing him... if I'm remembering correctly, he does call himself out on this in Duelist Kingdom, though. In the anime, I'd have to go with whatever he has going on with Shizuka and lying about being good at duel monsters or whatever that was. One of the most infuriating subplots probably in the entire series. Why would you lie about that, king.

#I thought I'd hit post on this.... OOPS!#thank you so much! This was a lot of fun! :-)#beep beep #ask

15 notes · View notes

seekerbr · 6 months

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So, a while back i wrote some notes for a fanfic idea that I had, about Kaiba adopting Jaden when he was very little; there is a lot of fanart about it and a few fanfics too, but a lot of them focused on ships i don't care a lot about so i wanted to write my own take on it... the only problem being that i haven't watched a lot of GX yet, so I didn't feel that confident on writing it, also don't really have a lot of free time.

So i'm posting my notes on it here! Maybe i finish it someday, i don't know, but here it is:

Plot: Jaden Yuki is actually Seto Kaiba’s adopted son, probably named Jaden Kaiba. His biological parents died when he was very young, and Kaiba at the time wanted to adopt a child (he would not admit it out loud, but he was feeling a bit lonely after Mokuba grew up and started to study a lot more and go out with friends, and so decided to adopt someone).

His personality is still pretty similar to the original, very cheery, lazy and childish, but a little smarter since he studied a lot more when he was younger (not a lot though…).

His relationship with his father is a little… complicated. His father clearly loves him, and wants to protect Jaden of any problem that could happen. Jaden also loves his father, and thinks that he is super cool and talented. But Kaiba can be quite clueless about people’s emotions and needs sometimes, and Jaden is pretty reckless and energetic in a way that frustrates his father quite often.

He also wants him to inherit KaibaCorp one day, something that Jaden really does not want to do (he finds this kind of job very boring) and instead wants to become a professional duelist, and become the next king of games. I imagine that the stuff with Yubel happening with him during his childhood too, and I can’t imagine that Seto would want him to spend a lot of his time dueling after all that.

He met Yugi and friends quite a few times, usually on his birthdays. Kaiba did not invite them, of course, but Mokuba wanted the closest thing he had to friends to meet his son. Jaden loves Joey and Yugi, and imitates them a lot, something that annoys his father quite a bit.

(BTW, Yugi has retired from dueling, and now works making games and in his grandfather’s gameshop. He works for KaibaCorp, and can give advice to Kaiba and Mokuba on how to deal with some of Jaden’s emotions sometimes.)

Besides Yugi’s friends, he also probably met Pegasus before (though I doubt that his father ever told him about the bad things he did in the past), as well as Zigfried and Chazz’s brothers. In fact he probably met Chazz when he was younger, but he would not recognize Jaden now.

That’s because Jaden would not be recognizable as Kaiba’s son for the average person; for one, Kaiba decided to not put the spotlight on his son a lot, especially after his childhood, mostly by the insistence of Mokuba to give him a better life as a teen and also stop him from getting kidnapped a lot. He also usually changes Jaden’s hair with gel when they are together, so people won't really know him by his natural “Kuriboh hair” look.

He ends up going to Duel Academy after fighting with his father about his future, with him initially not wanting his son to go; he creates a fake last name (Yuki, inspired by Yugi) and never tells his friends, other students or teachers about the fact that Seto Kaiba is his father (maybe Shepard knows about it, Crowler definitely does not); his father also does not know initially, but Jaden tells him pretty early on and he begrudgingly accepts it. He calls his father on the phone sometimes, probably lies about being in Obelisk Blue. (maybe his father learns the truth later on, won't tell Jaden though.)

That means that when he helps people with their family problems (Syrus, Chumley, Chazz, Alexis… a lot of people actually) it feels very strange for him; he does not know how to solve the problems with his own father, and just wants to run away from his problems with him.

Eventually i guess Kaiba would finally visit his own school and finally discuss things with Jaden face to face, probably the two would fight about his choices for his future and the fact he's in Slifer. Jaden's friends would probaby be shocked to say the least

#yugioh #yugioh gx #jaden yuki #judai yuki #seto kaiba #fanfic #yeah it just ends there #these are literally just random things i imagine could happen in the fic #seekerbr's things

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kariweshi · 10 months

Text

Toonshipping headcanons

-Pegasus says to Kaiba ’’love’’ [only in private]. Also Kaiba-dear, Seto and dear.

-Kaiba says to Pegasus ‘’Max’’ but in their NSFW moments he calls Pegasus accidentally ‘’beautiful’’ and ‘’baby’’.

-Pegasus can be pretty clingy just like a cat purring in Seto’s ear nuzzing and hiding in his neck.

-Kaiba can get arousal in any situation.That means Pegasus is there.

-Kaiba is a jealous person.Whenever they go to formal events, parties, conferences, etc.If someone gets close to Pegasus, and it’s flirting openly.He will give that other person an icy gaze till the other person gets the hint.If that doesn’t work he will get close and scold that person.Because he doesn’t like drama.Pegasus would react to this interactions with a flirty smirk.

-Pegasus likes to give to Kaiba gifts in spontaneous moments to surprise him.Or at least try.These are blue eyes things limited edition that hasn’t go to store.Or gifts made especially for Kaiba.

-Kaiba is really extra in his gifts to Pegasus.

-They like to cuddle in silence.Kaiba face up holding his lover waist.And Pegasus in Kaiba’s chest, just enjoying each other company.

-Pegasus likes to see Kaiba.The problem? he does it with heart eyes , looking most likely to a hopeless in love guy.He does it all the time, he is not even conscious about it, he just do it.When Kaiba is explaining something to him or when Kaiba is focused and doesn’t notices.When he does, he finds it annoying and cheesy.But also a bit funny.Kinda used to Pegasus antics.

-Pegasus likes to draw Kaiba whenever it is possible, as long as Kaiba doesn’t notices.When he is working or even when he is sleeping.Those sharp cheeks and those stunning eyes are not going to draw itself.

-Kaiba likes to watch Pegasus while he is sleeping [not in a creepy way] but more like ‘’Wow.He does look beautiful when he shouts his mouth’’.

-When Kaiba say ‘’i love you’’.Pegasus burst into happy tears, overexcited kissing every inch of Seto’s face saying ‘’i love you, too’’.

-Kaiba likes to kiss Pegasus hand.Which is pretty convenient for him.Because makes Pegasus shut up.

-The first time Pegasus make Kaiba laugh, he almost die for overload of cuteness and happiness.

-Pegasus loves to give eskimo kisses.Kaiba doesn’t like it.Too cheesy for him, he says.

#toonshipping #maximillion pegasus #pegasus j crawford #seto kaiba #rare ship #yugioh duel monsters #yugioh dm #yugioh #pegakai #kaiba x pegasus #they are my otp #they are my everything #otp

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summerpoison · 2 years

Note

KAIBA for the ship ask lol

Okay I tried hard to think of ships beside Pride lmao

My NOTP for them

Puppyshipping because I just truly can't see it. Like, I get the ahip mechanic but I don't think Kaiba has any respect for Joey whatsoever. I can see them become hate-friends over the years because they do have things in common

Also Kaiba and Pegasus for anything that goes beyond they annoy the fuck out of each other

My BROTP for them

I do see Kaiba and Isis becoming friends. Not necessarily bros but yk, bonding between business associates turned friendship over time.

Also Kaiba and Mokuba, but that doesn't count because they are actually brothers lmao

My OTP for them

P R I D E my love

My second choice pairing for them

I can't put pride twice, right? hshsjsjs

In all seriousness tho I see Stoicshipping having potential but it really depends on thr details, how Atem and how Kisara are portailed in the mix

My fluffy pairing for them

Hmmmm maybe Rival? But only like, they are coworkers fluff, not romantically.

My angsty pairing for them

Pride where DSOD doesn't have a happy end.

My favorite poly ship for them

Atem/Seto/Set or Atem/Yami Yugi/Seto

(shhhhh no it's not pride in disguise what are you talking about)

Flare can be nice but I have yet to read a story with them.

My weirdest pairing for them

Maybe not weird but I could see Seto and Tea having... good interactions together, same with Seto and Mai tbh

I will not lie, I have read Seto/BEWD and well, you'd have to go there but IF you'd go there I COULD see it, just, not my cuppa

#thank you <3 heheheh #there are only a few people I see working out with kaiba ngl

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catrose13 · 1 year

Text

Chapter 8 A Stranger in Paradise, this Chapters "Brought to You By" had so many good ones but I suppose if I had to pick just one it would be "They're Stupid Your Honor"

Yami giving getting lost in your thoughts new meaning

Oof pulling a push door

Tristan what are you teaching him!?

...Self-awareness about the weirdness of their hair

..."Making out with your lover"...Yami Téa's mentally referring to you guys as 2-in-1, I don't think she or Yugi minds

The past six months have been a trip for Yugi

...did Yugi have Depression? On top of all the bullying bullshit that was going on with him?

"Magical Hell Games" that is one name for them... possibly more accurate than Shadow Games

...Look at Yugi go! A Girlfriend and a Boyfriend all in one evening

"Girls. Boys. Bakura" A special gender just for them

Cards Against Humanity Duel Monsters

Fuck that Gym Teacher too

Having a conversation only to look out the window and realise your Partners Mind and Soul are Immense and Unfathomable

"Ah in the Intimacy you Hear my Fearful heart" "Nah dude that's a helicopter"

Oh dear he's still tipsy...

"Water does not crumple" Good to know

Well I'm glad one of them is confident...even if it is "unwarranted"

He's enjoying the freefalling... I don't think he's going to enjoy the landing part though

Well you jinxed yourself there Seto

"Little Calico man"....

...Seto are you beginning to have... stirrings?

Seto how many dog jokes are you going to make about Joey?

Honestly I'm unsure why they're surprised he has a tracker on his brother, all things considered it seems rather tame to me

Lol Seto's not the only brother to consider it either

...Seto is discovering undiscovered depths in both himself and Yugi

Téa's ready to beat his ass

Mai taking charge. She is the only Competant Adult around

Aww Seto's rediscovering his conscience

Bakura's inner DM taking notes from Seto's murder house

Ah Yugi uses Logic. It's Super Effective

The Thief!! "Sanguine Robed" Sanguine is a word for red!

Also he talks in Ren Faire!!!!

The Thief is Bound by Divine Providence to the House of Blackwood...Does he know the Rabbit?

"Devilry! Alchemy! Bullshit!" Brilliant

He's very Proud of himself isn't he?

...Is he negotiating with a Goddess? Negotiating and not getting Smote. Well done Thief King

"The Great Beast"

Op well at least this Spirit likes Bakura?

And knows things about Bakura's family

The Three Conspiracy Theorists are back...attempting to identify Ammit's species. Good luck boys

...Mokuba is too small to kick Pegasus' butt so he's going to have to satisfy himself with his shins

All that effort Seto put in to not swearing around him had now been proven useless

..."Mr Zbones" with a silent Z....Shadi...

The Iron Giant...I cried watching that movie, why would you remind me of it

...First the Foxes and now Ammit... I don't think there's going to be any marshmallows left on the island by the time they leave

...The Marshmallows count as sacrifices in her honour?

"A Very Strange River" that's one word for it

Aw Mokuba's making friends

And Shadi's learning that Pegasus is possibly not who he's looking for, or rather he is but Shadi thought he was looking for someone else

Mokuba is aware of how dumb people can be

The first time ever Shadi's phone has received a phone call

Aw Brotherly Reunion...via phone

Welp Seto need new pants

Bandit Keith impresses Yugi with his Sly and Sneaky Skills

Keith has very good instincts...If only the other people on the island shared even a hint of them

Seto is unaware that Yugi can and will removed Pegasus' soul from his body

Shadi demonstrating Dad Instincts

The Divorce

Mokuba sneaking more S'mores

...Oxford again...hmmm

Grandpa that is certainly a Subject Line

Thoth....New God just dropped

"The fun version of Obsession" hmm I think most people would call that a crush Seto

Joey is ...summarising? Goodness

Again Grandpa why are you adding crimes? Is it to annoy the people who actually did those crimes? To cover for them? For the lolz? WHY?!

...Chupacabra again

I'm glad he's aware that he deserved to be chased with a knife after that pun

I love that he has time to slip in how awesome and sexy he finds Mai's skill with first aid

"Téa's scary good at Duel monsters if you ever want to lose again"

"Bestie Committed A Clown Murder" I don't know why but I feel like that would be a hilarious therapy session

My question exactly Seto

Well he's displaying self preservation instincts for possibly the first time in this entire fic

Aw Mai protecting Baby Seto's innocence

Seto and Bakura are bonding...nice?

...Definitely a good thing they weren't friend before

Téa's goal is to Fist Fight a Ghost?

"YUGI IT'S TIME TO DUEL" No Seto it's time to sleep

Well done on making things accessible Seto!

Bakura... blood is important yes but not typically one of the things you list when someone is talking about good stuff that's red

...This scene caused me to make my first meme :

He unintentionally dyed his hair green. Poor boy

Yugi you really don't have grounds to call anyone's life weird

Aww Rex and Weevils 'Honeymoon'

"She's cute"... I'm sure many other people have thought that of Marik only to later regret it. Deeply.

"Funerary Potatoes"

Rex trying to remember which of the Ishtar's in adopted

Aww they're so loyal

So jealous... I wanna boop the snoot

Venomous animals are Marik's inspiration in life

Weevils so touched

Rex on the other hand is practical

Well Odions at least honest with himself

Poor Marik thinks his brothers still a virgin. Odion busy congratulating himself on his poker face

Seto trying so hard to deny his crush

Seto also trying to deny Yami's arrival?

"I wanna put you in my Virtual Reality Simulator" ...That's one way to proposition someone I guess, if you're a complete dork

"Two Yugi's per Yugi" I think that's about the same as Téa's 2-in-1 comment/thoughts

...Another god? Maybe Ammit? Or is it in fact a Chupacabra?

...Bakura are you Shakespeareanly flirting?

...The Thief flirts back...this could throw off my polycule ponderings

Shadi....The Thief just told Bakura to run from you

Did Shadi have something to do with the Parasite being in the Ring?

Well these two have almost instantly fallen into some sort of rapport

Bakura Ancient Egyptian Hellraiser... hmm I wonder who that could have been?

Lol The Thief's historical stories

Oh no, the Thief's been being digested since possibly before the Blackwoods got cursed by the Skull Bunny, he doesn't know!!

Well at least Bakura can somewhat catch him up, at least on what he knows

Albion! The one who Fucked Up!

OHHHH He's the Retrieval Specialist Anubis was talking about

Aw Romantic Chapter Art

#fanfiction #rereading #review-ish #tpofatgif #The Power of Friendship (And This Gun I Found!)#gallusrostromegalus #spoilers #YuGiOh #ygo #Chapter Eight

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smorgasbordofobsessions · 2 years

Text

liveblog: yugioh! ep143-149

ep143

kaiba built a whole fucking VIRTUAL WORLD for duel monsters

with a cute little8bit pixel animation to see the player on screen in the real world

"big brother, are you okay?"

he just got shocked with a lot of electricity in a pod so no he's not

and oh this is a ploy to get kaiba trapped in the virtual world so that his board can take over his company okay

you know, that might not be the worst or most underhanded thing a company board has ever done to its ceo/owner

kaiba has a tatue of the blue eyes white dragon at his personal lab cute

mokuba says he doesn't know much about the viruta game pods but then also says he knows the most about the virtual world

not necessarily contradictory statements but does make me wonder just how much he knows

again i just want to say that it's amazing that kaiba created all of this

did we not learn from the zombie duel on pegasus' island on how to defeat zombies

oh okay we did

gotta love npcs

how do you decide too cross a (virtual) desert without any resources

dude is speaking plain english

"guess my facial beard"

"the champion's a girl!"

yeah that was on the poster

ep144

these newatori chickens are like chocobos!

"gee, i never liked parties"

"we need to find seto"

y'all have been on a whole journey to find him like don't worry the whole game is rigged to find him

how are we amazed that the girl decked out in a gown and finery is a princess

"on your shoulders rests the fate of my kingdom"

no biggie

also joey's manners ARE atrocious

"i look way too good to be sitting at home"

"you're okay, mai."

okay so the time wizard can reverse time and not just go forward, that's what i thought

it makes zero sense for kaib'a lab to have such shitty doors that they could get knocked down like no way? kaib would never leave his inventions so shoddily protected

dark magician, my beloved

but also don't hurt yugi because dark magician will kill you

oh wow how's it going yami

he onyl transformed because the fiary died

dark magigian hanging from the foot of a harpy's lady haha

"the lava pool of atonement"

"time for a trip to the recyle bin, phantom"

actually funny

"you know how i feel about yugi moto" -eyes emoji-

god i should rewatch megaman

ep145

oh wow 5000 ATK points

you know, yami could've also just told kaiba what the plan was and we could've avoided mokuba getting "killed"

oof 9000 ATK points that almost obscene

ep146

dungeon dice monsters

but "duke devlin" is also a high school student apparently

"why do i think this isn't gonna end well"

because it won't

oh wow yugi in casual clothes

"you don't have a snowball's chance in hades"

because saying "hell" was too bad a word

duke wants joey to dress up as a dog

there must be something about him that says "please treat me like a dog i like that"

this shit is humiliating though like ugh

oh wow yami in casual clothes nice

don't we know what just handing over a title doesn't actually mean anything since it wasn't earned?

ep147

"3 die" it's dice

we're playing a game that involves rolling dice and duke is saying that he doesn't think that yugi's the king of games

yeah shocking how the king of games doens't know how a brand new game works when the game literally came out the same day he learned about it who would've thought

and then learnign the rules by piecemeal?

but again, rolling dice - unless they're weighted- is a huge roll of chance anyways

i understand trsh talking but also like some of this shit is annoying to listen to

but what i want to know is what that third number is for? i know the ATK/DEF numbers but what's that third red number?

ugh i can't believe that yugi's using the help screen to hep him learn the rules of the game and the ablities of his monsters

and of coruse yugi can learn someting quickly when the game's already invented

coming up witht he ins and outs of the ideas isn't the same as just learning the idea later

"that cheat has taught himself how to defend"

why include a help screen then

ep149

dark magician <3

#yugioh #ygo #liveblog

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kujakumai · 3 years

Text

cleaned up old WIP, 2800 words, AU where Yami Bakura succeeds in switching hosts in DK and Mokuba makes friends with an evil ghost. Not going to be continued but it literally would not leave my brain alone until I finished it.

Things were not going according to plan.

The plan was to take control of a soulless puppet, an easy vessel incapable of interfering with his ends. He had the vessel, had accomplished that much, but he was not expecting the pharaoh and his little friends to succeed and convince Pegasus to give everyone their souls back. So now not only was there a second person in this body he had to keep suppressed, but now he was stuck impersonating a child, smiling through an awkward reunion and then placed onto a helicopter next to a gangly high school student who was watching him like a hawk.

The spirit-that-was-no-longer-Yami-Bakura knew that he was supposed to be Mokuba, but he did not remember the tall one's name. K-something. He had a stupid jacket and hardly took his eyes off him the entire ride, as if he thought his little brother was going to disappear in a puff of smoke when he wasn't looking. Annoying. Infuriating. Luckily it did not seem he wanted to talk, or at least accepted silence. No one expects recent kidnapping victims to say much, which was a boon. A little dazed, a little quiet, a little off, and no one really found it unusual.

They dropped off the pharaoh and his friends, and finally landed at a gaudy and ostentatious house so large it took him a second to realize it was a home at all, an absurd monument to decadence with grounds full of ugly topiaries. Wealth, then. Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad. He could work with this. The rich kid in the stupid coat quietly held his hand the entire walk up the driveway, until they entered a foyer just as gilded and obscene as the outside had been.

No, things were not going to plan, and playing grade-schooler was awkward and an insult to his dignity, and he was farther away from the other millennium items as he ever had been. He would have to grit his teeth through it until he could figure out the next step. In the meantime, perhaps, enjoy some amenities.

Richie rich sighed, relaxed his shoulders the moment they got inside. He looked at who he thought was his little brother and gave him a small, exhausted but genuine smile. He struggled with what to say next.

"Mokuba," he said, "I have to check on a few things in my office. See what kind of damage they did. Do you want to come with me?"

"No." Finally, a chance to be out of this idiot's sight.

This answer seemed to surprise him, a twitch of skepticism. "Will you be okay by yourself?"

He nodded. Keep answers short, when you're impersonating.

His face betrayed more skepticism, concern, and the tiniest hint of disappointment. As if rich kid himself was the one who was scared to be alone in his own house. He accepted the answer, though, to the spirit's relief.

Rich kid bent down and pulled him into a tight hug and ruffled his hair. "We'll get something special for dinner, okay? And ice cream."

"I do like ice cream." This was true. Ryou Bakura almost never bought ice cream, and when he did it was the stupid healthy kind that everyone knew shouldn't even really qualify as ice cream, which was another reason he was a terrible host. That and the fact that he was startlingly pale and had the upper body strength of a limp noodle and the personality of skim milk. This would be better, even if he had to deal with the abrupt drop in height.

Rich kid headed off towards the staircase with another tired but trying-to-be-reassuring smile, and it was then that the spirit of the ring felt an annoyance in the back of his brain. A presence. A scratching, biting, flailing presence, screeching mad, which he had been suppressing for a while now but finally broke through.

get out get out get out get out give it back its MINE get out

The host, awake. What a bother. More rambunctious than Bakura, then? No matter. He could handle a child.

that was MY hug and MY headpat and MY big brother and you can't have them he's been gone for ages and they're mine not yours get out get out get out

The spirit pushed back, ignored him. Shush. He had planned to hold this body alone, and he did not intend to go back to sharing. If you're good, I might let you have it back for a little while later.

shut up go away go away go away go AWAY

And then Mokuba Kaiba did something, something the spirit was not accustomed to or expecting at all, something which Ryou Bakura had never been willing or able to do. He shoved, violently, and the spirit of the ring was ripped out of control with some amount of panic.

"SETOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

Why you insolent little--

Seto Kaiba was not aware of the mental turf war happening over his little brothers body. What he did see was his brother scream his name and fall down, and the whole room echoed with a metal clatter as his briefcase fell on the floor and he ran towards him.

The ring had been discarded unceremoniously to a side table, and not-Bakura-and-not-Mokuba-either had no choice but to wait and observe, as a pediatrician on a sudden housecall shined lights in the boy's eyes and rich kid, who the spirit had since gleaned was named Seto Kaiba, looked on in worry.

"You said you heard a voice?" The doctor asked.

"Uh-huh. I think it lives in the necklace."

"You got that thing at Pegasus's house?" Kaiba asked, in disbelief.

"I don't remember. I was just wearing it when I woke up."

"What did the voice say?" the doctor continued, professionally ignoring any talk about magic necklaces.

"Not a lot. It was kind of mean."

"I see." She turned to Kaiba. "He's fine, physically. You might want a psychologist." and Seto Kaiba made what could politely be referred to as A Face. This was not what he wanted to hear, this was news that worried and annoyed him in equal measure, and to some degree was news he had half-expected.

"He's had a rough few months. I'll look into it." and she was dismissed, and Mokuba hopped down from the counter.

"Can we order pizza?" he asked, with big pleading eyes.

Kaiba watched him with dry amusement. "Mokuba, you can have anything you want from any restaurant in a forty mile radius."

"And I want pizza. Real pizza, from somewhere that doesn't also serve caviar."

"Cheap pizza?"

He nodded very seriously. "The grossest greasiest cheapest."

"I can do that. Anything else you want?"

Mokuba's eyes lit up, and soon he was dragging Kaiba by the hand towards somewhere else in the house. "I got to this really hard level in my game I can't get past and I wanted to see if you could beat it, and I found this really cool video I wanted to show you, and I got a really good report card you never saw, and--" and months worth of pent up requests were tumbling out rapid fire, and Kaiba was smiling with affection and some amount of relief.

Loud and clingy, then, was the normal and expected behavior. The spirit of the ring made note of this, as he lie abandoned.

The ring was still sitting on a side table, in Mokuba's bedroom, apparently because no one knew what to with it or thought it mattered much. This was a problem. The spirit couldn't do anything without a host, and now everyone was suspicious, these stupid rich people worried too much and paid too much attention.

He was forced to sit there all night, pondering about how he was going to get out of this mess, when at one or two in the morning he observed Mokuba wake up, and rub his eyes, and hop out of bed. He did not turn the light on, but he did check the time, and reach under his bed to retrieve what appeared to be a small backpack. He took it with him as he moved quietly towards the door, and the spirit saw his chance.

Hey, kid. He was near enough to speak into his head. Maybe this wasn't a dead end.

"You!" Mokuba stopped in his tracks and looked right at the ring.

Yes, me. This could be salvaged, he thought, concocting a plan. This was a child. Play friendly ghost and imaginary friend. Surely it would not be hard to weasel himself into the good graces of a sixth grader.

Mokuba glared at the ring with suspicion. "I don't think Seto believed me when I said you could talk, but I knew it." He picked it up delicately by the string to examine.

Where on earth are you going at this time of night?

Mokuba was the current host, technically, so there was a connection, and 11 year olds are not particularly used to or adept at hiding their own thoughts, especially inside their own heads. The answer, if not in words but in abstract concept, was provided instantly as it bubbled to mind. He was going to the kitchen, as he did once or twice a week, not their personal kitchen but the house staff kitchen, where he would move a chair to stand on the counter to reach the very back of the highest shelf of the third cupboard to the left, which was where one of the cleaning staff kept a pile of chocolate so he could cheat on his diet without his wife knowing, a fact Mokuba knew through surreptitious eavesdropping. Mokuba's end was to steal just enough of it that he wouldn't be noticed, and add it to a stash of snacks and other shiny trinkets currently hidden in the bottom of a pile of legos in his closet.

...You steal food to hide in your closet? Why would a child who lived in a three-story mansion need to steal?

Mokuba was only mildly perturbed by the fact that someone had just read his mind. He was mainly curious, now. "Our dad didn't like junk food, so I always took stuff to keep around." he explained, "I guess I don't really have to anymore, 'cuz Seto will let me have whatever I want, but--" he faltered, unable to finish or give a reason.

There wasn't a reason, and Mokuba knew that. There was no need to sneak or stash or steal anymore, but he kept doing it, irrationally, for reasons that confused him, a complicated swirl of things a child could not name or understand but were very easy for the spirit to read. Fear; compulsion; habit; the illusion of safety; the sense that your life was precarious, unstable; a need to exert control over your surroundings. It was not the food or the stealing that mattered, but of the hiding, of having something they could not take away from him.

Mokuba didn't understand any of that, because he was 11 and 11 year olds don't understand why they do anything. He just knew he liked sweets and hated people telling him what to do and that having bags of chips and other people’s lost jewelry at the bottom of an old toybox made him feel better.

Can I come with you?

"No! You tried to take control of me!"

Yes, but you kicked me out, and you'd probably be able to do it again, so I would be stupid to try. I also like chocolate, you see, and it's very boring to be stuck here on your desk.

"Can you even eat? You're a necklace."

I can when I borrow a body.

"You tried to take over me so you could eat chocolate? I'm not stupid enough to believe that."

That and other things. I can't do very much at all, while stuck in the ring. No food, no sunshine, no running around. It's no fun to be without a body, which is why I am occasionally driven to steal one. Terribly sorry about that. he added, in his most pathetic-sounding tone, Please? I don't have anyone else to talk to.

Mokuba was hesitant, but clearly found the fact of his existence too interesting to ignore. "Fine." He picked up the ring and dropped it unceremoniously into his backpack, which had a dragon on it.

Not trust yet, but tolerance and curiosity. One step at a time.

You shouldn't go barefoot, you know. Socks will be quieter if you're trying not to get caught.

"I didn't ask you."

So Mokuba descended down the stairwell, in the dead quiet and dark of the Kaiba Mansion, with no flashlight because he knew it well enough to navigate blindfolded. The place was decadent in the ugly way rich people's houses were, luxury but without taste, soft carpets and gilded banisters.

Mokuba had not quite realized yet how to think at the ring, so he spoke in a low whisper. "What are you, anyway?"

A ghost. So much more complicated than that, but simple words were suitable for children.

"How'd you end up a ghost in a necklace?"

I died, and then someone put me in a necklace.

"That's not an answer." he followed up, "Do all dead people become ghosts?"

No. Just sometimes, maybe, if the way they died was especially violent or gruesome or terrible.

Mokuba frowned. He had caught on remarkably quickly to guarding his own head, but the spirit could tell he didn't like this answer.

This was delicate, but he risked a push. Was there someone you had in mind?

Mokuba said nothing. He reached the staff kitchen on the lowest floor, and opened the door, slow and careful. He was deciding whether to say anything, as he climbed up as quietly as he could and reached far into the back of the cupboard, scrabbling.

"Our dad killed himself last year. Jumped out a window." He finally said, hopping down with his spoils. He said this the same way one might dolefully report the milk had gone bad. Unfortunate but boring.

You don't sound very sad.

"Nah, he sucked. And he never liked me." he said, "Seto was really really upset though. He was pretending not to be, but I could tell." Now there were feelings there, big and weird and sad and clinging ones. For reasons the spirit could not discern, the simple phrase ‘Seto was upset’ carried with it more weight, a thousand million times more weight, than news of a father's tragic death by defenestration. "I hope he's not a ghost. I don't wanna see him again."

Probably not.

Mokuba sat down cross-legged on the kitchen floor, unwrapped candy in silver foil. "You really can't do anything from in the necklace? Like, ghost stuff? Make things float or anything?"

No. It is a bit like being trapped in a very small box.

Mokuba mulled this over for a little while. "If you wanted to borrow a body to do fun stuff, you could have just asked."

Really?

He nodded. "Not being able to eat chocolate sounds lame. It'd be mean to just leave you like that." He put one chocolate into his mouth and dumped the rest in the backpack, where they covered the ring unceremoniously. More indignities. "Not in front of my brother, though. And you have to give it back whenever I say so."

...I could agree to such a compromise. Your candy haul is impressive, by the way.

"Thanks!" He grinned, emanating genuine pride. No one had ever complimented him for stealing before.

Tragic, the work of great thieves. How the very best of it can never be bragged about, the most impressive of skills gone unnoticed by nature, how the very success of a perfect crime relies on keeping your mouth shut about it. An unappreciated art, where even mastery gains you no respect.

You don't care that this poor man has to go out and buy twice as much food to make up for what you steal?

"No, he's a jerk. One time when I was six they confiscated my gameboy, so I went to steal it back and he caught me and told my dad and I got in huge trouble. So every day for a week I snuck down here and moved his keys to a different place so he couldn't find them. They were all so mad at him for losing them all the time, and he thought he was crazy."

Why was your gameboy confiscated?

"Don't remember. I think I bit someone at school." he shrugged, "They probably deserved it, though."

Mokuba Kaiba. he said, I think you and I are going to be excellent friends.

"Okay. Do ghosts watch cartoons?"

#unsure if this is good enough to post to AO3 #but it was fun!

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lacie-crying-ruby · 2 years

Text

Manga Seto has a talk (fight) with Anime Seto.

Anime Seto proves superior and mocks himself with that

Atem watches in silent disappointment that his friend has nothing more to say to himself other than that he wasn't the best (ironically in its own sense).

Kisara and Mahad have a brief discussion about loyalty and the negative aspects of it.

Mahad: "Which one is yours now?"

Kisara: "Is there any difference?"

Mahad: "I don't envy you. You could just claim his life as yours. He would be fine with that for sure."

Kisara: "Are you telling me to kill him? Maybe I should go back into life and do the same with Yugi then?"

Mahad: "Yugi didn't break the aspects of space and time just because he was feeling petty."

Kisara: "That's why he still lives. No one but my wielder deserves to be that petty and get away with it. And if not for Seto's forgiving soul, the white-haired maniac who took his soul would be no longer already."

Mahad: "I don't look forward to deal with you for the rest of eternity."

Kisara: "Once Seto wins, I will be out of here."

Mahad: "An eternity, just as I feared."

Kisara: "I have no problem ripping you apart mage. I never liked your card anyway."

Mahad: "At least mine still has a personality. Yours is just straight up a stoic painting made without any love whatsoever. As if the creator had a headache while drafting it."

They go on. And on and on, continue to circle with nothing but their reflected hate/admiration/respect towards each other.

Atem has a few words with Seth (he is there too), is surprisingly pleased with all that is happening. Seth is not.

Seth: "I am so sorry. I'm too ashamed to even look at you right now."

Atem: "It's fine, it wouldn't be you any other way. Though when I look at them, I can't help but be proud how much you have grown in this lifetime you spent on earth."

Seth: "Stop teasing me, I'm not in a position in where I-"

Atem: "You are a pharaoh yourself Seth. You are in the position."

Seth: "Not this me I fear. The me who is pharaoh is in his own afterlife, hopefully resting in peace. A bittersweet thing if one is honest."

Atem: "Indeed, it is."

Seto A! and Seto M! go on with shouting at each other.

Mahad: "How did they even come here without getting their heart eaten?"

Kisara: "Tch, that's easy. I destroyed the scales, so the system broke and Seto could pass."

Mahad: "And how did the other Seto do it?"

A! Seto: "I hacked into it myself of course. I won't let such a thing as a doorkeeper keep me away from what is mine to claim after all. Now let's duel already!"

The doorkeeper is an actual god. Just to point that one out.

M! Seto: "You won't duel with him! I will!"

Atem: "How can I send them away again? It's obviously not their time to be here yet, I refuse to duel with someone as immature as them for the rest of eternity-"

A! Seto & M! Seto: "No one asked you!"

They go on. For a long while, they go on.

A! Seto: "I will fuse with you."

M! Seto: "This isn't GX yet."

A! Seto: "And you will never get to Gx! Because you will be dead!"

M! Seto: "The movie is my story! Mine!"

A! Seto: "It may have been yours on paper, but every action, every spoken line was me through and through. You are not even capable to maintain your character, so shut up already. I can be merciful. Or I could give you to my blue eyed white dragon, I'm sure she wanted to eat you."

Atem: "No one is going to be eaten here."

Mahad: "But why Atem? Let them do it-"

Atem: "Mahad, please don't."

Mahad: "My apologies."

The headache goes on too. But it also brings life into this golden palace, so he can't really complain if he is honest. It is annoying, but he has waited for it to be and it didn't disappoint in the least.

A! Seto: "Who is that clown next to you pharaoh?"

Atem: "My name is Atem."

A! Seto: "I know. I just don't care."

M! Seto: "No one asked you."

Seth: "I'm so sorry."

A! Seto: "Pegasus is still alive."

M! Seto: "Are you kidding me. Why did you leave him be? Did that time in a soul card make you dumb for some reason?"

A! Seto: "I didn't win the game. I would have lost everything on this day."

M! Seto: "But you didn't, so why didn't you get rid of Pegasus?"

A! Seto: "I forgot about him. Anyway, it is way more fun to see him alive than in a grave, because now I have the power to change that at will at any given moment."

M! Seto: "Fair enough."

Seth: "How do we get rid of that paradox?"

M! Seto: "Easy. Just die you two, I will be good on my own."

Atem: "No one is going to die here."

Mahad: "But wasn't that the whole point in the manga?"

Atem: "I am a god. What do I care about a manga writer?"

A! Seto: "I am Seto Kaiba. What do I care about a god? Let's duel already, Atem."

Atem: "You called me by my name!"

A! Seto: "And I couldn't care less. Let's duel."

Atem: "Very well then. Let's duel."

~...~

"Did you win, Ni-sama?"

"Of course I did, who do you take me for- don't cry Mokuba, I'm fine, everything turned out good."

"If you risk yourself one more time like this I'm killing you myself, you hear me?! I can't anymore, I'm sick of it, I'm-"

"Alright, no more, I swear. This was the last time."

And the last time it would be. He would let the other alone with the feeling of defeat for the rest of eternity after all, there was no need for him to feel like the loser anymore, not at all. It felt as if his scars were finally healed, would never return to him again. He would never let them return to him again.

#yu gi oh #seto kaiba #ygo atem #Kisara #mahado #Seth #dark side of dimensions #yugioh #m9

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draconicmaw · 3 years

Note

OkAY I'LL BITE what is toonshipping and pls tell me about your sugar daddy AU!? (With toon in the title I assume it has to do with Pegasus in some way right??)

Lmao DEEJA, you are going to hate me!

Toonshipping is Pegasus and Kaiba 🤣 Pegasus would just be so annoying to Kaiba and... I love it...? Idk I just imagine it like a very overeager child trying to hug a very angry cat and I enjoy it so much (if the overeager child also had a sadistic streak, because he kind of likes it when the cat is mad...) There's just so much potential for shenanigans if they managed to work past the fact that Pegasus kidnapped his little brother... (TOUGH CHANCE! LMAO)

ANYWAYS, in this AU that never even happened! Why? 1) No Shadow Games, no Millennium Items. And 2) Seto and Mokuba were never adopted. Also, the characters are aged up. Mokuba is 15, Seto is 21, and Pegasus is 29. (The age gaps are based on the ages they are in the English dub: 11, 17, and 25, respectively.)

Seto is on the tail end of his college career. He is trying his damnedest to become a financially stable adult so that he can gain custody of Mokuba, who is in a foster home. Unlike Seto, Mokuba actually has had good luck with foster parents -- the ones he has now he's been with for several years, and they take good care of him and let Seto know that he's always welcome to visit, and even let him take Mokuba on some weekends to spend some time together. They would have legally adopted Mokuba already if it weren't for the fact that Seto has been trying so hard to get him back all these years (since he was 18, when he aged out of the system).

Seto is currently a full-time engineering student. He also works part-time at a high end restaurant and tutors for money under the table (he also does some shady stuff for the right price, like doing other people's homework and whatnot). Of course, he's top of his class, but he has very little friends since he's constantly working (or spending time with Mokuba when he isn't).

He's all sorts of traumatized from the horrors of the foster care system, and also from his first love interest (Atem) having DIED when he was still in high school. (This love was one-sided, but it still greatly shaped Seto as a person and kind of scarred him for life.)

Pegasus is a widower and old-money rich (though he has made a name for himself outside the context of his family). He's still not over his wife's death (I mean, who would be...?), but distracts himself with whatever fancies and whims catch his attention.

When he returns to Domino after some time away, he goes to his favorite restaurant and finds himself absolutely delighted by the sour and surly bartender, Seto.

Simply because of how he grew up in this AU, Seto despises old-money rich people. They did nothing to earn it; they're just a bunch of lazy, snobby trust-fund brats. But Pegasus also runs Industrial Illusions, a company where engineering students like himself would kill to get regular employment or even an internship.

Seto figures this to be the perfect way to get his foot in the door, through what Pegasus ends up asking of him is not quite what he bargained for.

Especially since Pegasus gets him to open up in ways that he never thought possible, and Pegasus himself finds Seto drawing him out from behind his facade. Though not without lots and lots of bickering, first.

Of course, there's tons more. I could yap about this AU idea all day. I really like it. It would let me explore both of these characters in ways I haven't before. (Also, in ways other people haven't seen to, yet.)

But, thank you for asking me to rant at you about it, Deeja! Very stimulating and cathartic lol

#toonshipping #i have a secret love for toonshipping #now not so secret #i know a lot of people don't like ships with distinct age gaps #but i find them interesting from a psychological and social perspective #i've really been wanting to write an age gap ship for some time now #just to explore it a little #i just haven't started writing this yet because i am not sure how i would want it to end #Sugar Daddy au #foster care system mentions

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verybadatcardgames · 11 months

Note

Sightshipping for 001?

Also answering for @over-roaming-waves, who was curious.

Sightshipping

when I started shipping it: Back in 2017, I started drafting a fic about their adventure in Egypt trying to hide the God Cards. It was really supposed to be a drama/humor fic about Isis having a constant headache and finding Pegasus to be an annoyance (because I personally found Pegasus to be an annoying character at the time), but as I kept writing, I really fell in love with both of the characters and imagining how their personalities would clash and complement one another

The adventure fic was up for a while, but I yanked it offline not long ago. The story is undergoing revisions and I want to redo it as a comic because I'm a masochist

my thoughts: Do you like to read novels?

I have so many thoughts, but for the sake of the ask, I will try to keep it short.

I really like the idea of them being so set in their plans pre-series and not really being amicable at the start, the both of them so committed to their pasts and their Items that it blinds them from seeing any alternatives from their personal life scripts. Then both their plans go up in flames (Pegasus loses Duelist Kingdom and Seto shows Isis the grim fate she believed in is not infallible), they both lose their Items, and with Atem crossing into the Afterlife, they're no longer tied into the Great Game. So now they have this freedom to explore the future and what the world has to offer, but there's also uncertainty and powerlessness in not being able to foresee what is coming, not knowing what other people are thinking, and not knowing what to do next.

And somewhere in there, I like imagining them going from business acquaintances to friends to lovers.

(also my constant daydream about Isis wanting to confess to Pegasus that she foresaw him getting the Eye ripped out of his head but didn't say anything back then because she didn't believe she could alter destiny with a warning but uh oh-oh no Seto proved you can change the future so she feels like utter crap that Pegasus nearly died and fears he won't want to talk to her again and the looming sense of dread and judgment haunts her; she's so scared he's gonna kick her to the curb when he learns she could have saved him so much grief if she had just said something

and she's so absorbed in the guilt of her past inaction that she doesn't realize Pegasus can plainly see she's torturing herself with all these thoughts so he reaches out and touches her hand and

ok I'll shut up)

What makes me happy about them: The possibilities--in the anime timeline. They're both alive and there is a chance something could happen. Daydreams and headcanons abound

What makes me sad about them: They stand in a room staring at each other for less than 10 seconds in the anime. Isis talks about wanting to "fulfill his wishes" offhandedly in the manga (by getting the God Cards back from her brother). The most dialogue we see exchanged between the two of them is in a GBA game

MY CROPS ARE THIRSTY AND I AM KEEPING THEM ALIVE WITH A NOVELTY SHOT GLASS

things done in fanfic that annoys me: Oh

Oh honey

There is not enough fanfic of this rarepair for that to be a thing

things I look for in fanfic: I dunno I have to look at my WIP folder

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: Isis with her job and intermittent dates with Aileen Rao; Pegasus sober with his art supplies and comics

My happily ever after for them: Married with 5 kids but one of them is a daughter biologically fathered by Seto Kaiba after Isis and Pegasus have a heated threesome with him in Marrakesh. Isis and Pegasus know the kid is Seto's, but they don't tell him because it would make things complicated, but Seto does eventually find out at his daughter's 13th birthday party. Seto punches Pegasus in the face and tells him he isn't surprised Pegasus could be that cruel but he can't believe Isis hid the truth from him, which leads to Isis' oldest daughter resenting her because she believes she was the product of an affair, even though she wasn't, but the fine details were not disclosed as Isis thinks the news that Pegasus isn't her biological father was already traumatic enough and she felt it wasn't appropriate to tell her teenage daughter she was conceived during a passionate threesome

Like it all works out in the end when all their kids are adults with their own lives and it gets better after a lot of shit hits the fan but that's my future/next gen "happily ever after" headcanon

who is the big spoon/little spoon: It switches, but I'd say Pegasus is the big spoon 70% of the time. He likes to hug Isis to his chest and doesn't want to let go because she is warm and comfy

And he has PTSD related to this

what is their favorite non-sexual activity: Morning, afternoon, and evening tea time--and movie night.

#ask #sightshipping #pegasus #maximillion pegasus #pegasus j crawford #isis ishtar #ishizu #ishtar #aileen rao #yugioh #ygo #dm #duel monsters #seto kaiba #headcanons #fanfic woes

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duelistkingdom · 3 years

Text

you’d come back to me

chapter nine: the same fool

[first chapter] [previous chapter] [master list] [next chapter] [read on ao3]

Summary: Seto Kaiba has been presumed dead for four years after the events of Dark Side of Dimensions. His return causes both unresolved feelings of grief to be brought to the surface and the past to be dragged right back up. In hopes of helping Seto move on and reintegrate back into society at large, Mokuba asks Yugi to work on Spherium II with Seto. Never one to leave a friend hanging, Yugi agrees. Over the course of the project, Seto and Yugi both come to terms with their mutual grief and grow towards a better understanding of each other.

Rating: T

Ships: Yugi Mutou/Seto Kaiba, Mokuba Kaiba/Rebecca Hopkins, Katusya Jonouchi/Mai Kujaku

Warnings: aged up characters, grief, references to suicide

consider supporting me on kofi / battle city tiers & above get first access to chapters!

Yugi was extremely stressed out. While Seto had certainly made progress in accepting that he was working in a team, other things were certainly still just as bad as the first day. Seto still seemed to be under the belief that everyone enjoyed working all hours of the night. It was even worse now that Seto had his own apartment. Last night, Yugi and Mokuba had to work together to drag Seto out of the office and deny him a key to Kaiba Corp so he could not just go in to work all hours of the night. They’d had to lecture Seto about the new Kaiba Corp bylaws.

Even worse, Spherium II’s development got held up by legal with Industrial Illusions filing an injunction. It seemed like the issue was that Pegasus now wanted to invest and was holding back the rights to use Duel Monster likeness until something was worked out. While Yugi was somewhat flattered that Pegasus believed in the project, he was very much irked that it meant that they needed to freeze progress until a deal was struck.

He’d complained to Anzu several times about the hold up in development and for the most part, Anzu was willing to listen to Yugi’s complaints. Last night, however, she reminded him that whenever he called, it was usually during the day and she had rehearsals. Jonouchi had long ago told him that he wanted to know nothing about Kaiba Corp inner workings and Honda generally passed out after work. Mokuba had asked Yugi to not tell his family about the inner workings of Kaiba Corp due to his father and grandfather running Kame Game and Yugi honored that.

He was prepared for another day of the same. However, Mokuba was actually waiting in Yugi’s office with dark circles under his eyes. “I’ve got great news, Yugi,” Mokuba said as he held up a manila envelope. “A deal was struck last night with Industrial Illusions last night to allow Industrial Illusions distribution rights. Even better? Pegasus agreed to let you use the agreed upon Duel Monsters likenesses for your game as part of an agreement for allowing him to invest in the project. Congratulations. Spherium II’s development can move forward again.”

Yugi gave a sigh of relief before laughing as he took the envelope from Mokuba. “That’s awesome ,” he said, taking a swig of his coffee as the envelope opened in his hands. Yugi took a brief scan of the agreement. It seems Mokuba had been right - Yugi had nothing to worry about. “Really glad you could get Pegasus to agree to allow me to put Dark Magician in.”

“Hey, it’s no problem,” Mokuba said. “I’ve already told Seto that the project’s able to go forward again. He should be in his office already.”

There was no doubt in Yugi’s mind that Seto was, indeed, already in his office. Seto liked to get to work as early as he was allowed and work as late as he could. He was certain that if he and Mokuba hadn’t set strict boundaries on how long Seto could stay in office, Seto would actually stay as long as he could. “Alright,” Yugi said as he tossed the folder onto his desk with the rest of the paperwork that he needed to go through. “I’ll go chat with Seto in a bit, then. Thanks for making this work, Mokuba.”

He went to turn on his computer, mostly because he knew he’d have an inbox full of emails if the deal was made last night. It’d be better to actually take care of it now rather than wait too long. Plenty of questions to be answered too, he noted as he looked at the first email from one of the team members. He’d also found quite a few more tournaments begging him to participate and he sighed. Yugi didn’t like disappointing these organizers but there was little point in competing. He wound up agreeing to another exhibition duel against Seto, however.

And well, he was certain that he’d like to see if Seto had managed to grasp the current meta at all over the past year. It hit Yugi hard when he realized that it really had been a year since Seto crashed back into their lives. Strange, Yugi thought. It didn’t feel like a year. His phone buzzed with a text from Seto, asking him what the hold up was. Yugi was about to reply when a message from saggithedarkclown buzzed in soon after. It took a Yugi a minute but there was something odd about the two messages side by side. He tried to piece together why the two messages next to each other would seem so odd and it hit him like a train. The texting style was identical.

Much like Kaiba, saggithedarkclown was stiff and just a bit too formal and a stickler for grammar. Surely this had to be a coincidence, right? Seto couldn’t be the only person in the world to type that way, after all. Instead of responding right away to Seto, Yugi sent a few messages to saggithedarkclown about the questions they’d had on his previous duel. They were about the final combo that had ended the duel and wanted to know exactly how he pulled it off. Eventually, he finally texted Seto back that he was heading over to his office now.

Yugi was not surprised when he entered Seto’s office to find him looking annoyed already. Seto was easily irritated but he supposed this time he could let it slide. He was, after all, late. “You’re late,” Seto said sharply. “We should’ve gotten started two hours ago. What were you doing that took you so long?”

“Had a few emails to the team to respond to,” Yugi said with a shrug as he moved to stand behind Seto’s chair to examine exactly what Seto had been working on. His hand came to rest on the back of Seto’s chair and Yugi noted that Seto seemed to stiffen. Still tense around him, then. “What do you have for me today?”

Surprisingly, it took Seto a moment to respond. “I saw that Pegasus has allowed us to use the likeness of some Duel Monsters,” he said, sounding even more formal than usual. “So I started to see how the program would handle it.”

“Oh, of course,” Yugi said, not all surprised that Kaiba would immediately zero in on that. He supposed if anyone could handle figuring out how to render them in Spherium II’s graphics, it would be Seto. He was the one who invented Solid Vision, after all. “I’m guessing you’ve already got an idea how to make it work?”

“Of course,” Seto said stiffly as he pulled up the specs to show Yugi. “What kind of idiot do you take me for?”

“Excellent,” Yugi said as he glanced over what Kaiba had managed to do in the past two hours and was somewhat stunned to see it was already almost fully functional. Kaiba was, of course, nothing short of obsessive when it came to a project. “How about I take you out for lunch to celebrate then?”

He’d been trying for the past few weeks already to put Anzu’s advice into motion. Every time he had offered, Kaiba rebuffed him. He was expecting Kaiba to refuse again. What he did not expect was Seto to somehow manage to find a way to get even more tense . How did Seto manage to find new ways to tense up? Yugi should probably mention to Mokuba that Seto could use a day off. “Er,” Seto finally said after a moment. “I suppose that would be fine.”

“Awesome,” Yugi said, distracted now that he’d finally managed to get Seto to agree to at least lunch. He wondered if saggithedarkclown had responded while he was busy with Seto. “I’ll see you again at lunchtime, then.”

Seto was still trying to relax an hour later. He was fixated on how casually Yugi had put his hand on the back of his chair. How was he supposed to actually go to lunch with Yugi without looking like an idiot? He’d already forgotten he had the counterpoint that they were still considered rivals by the general public. That was, after all, how he’d managed to worm out of all the other invites that Yugi had extended.. Might dampen the excitement for the upcoming exhibition match. Too bad he’d thought of the excuse just a little too late and besides, he’d have a counterpoint against the argument anyway.

He shouldn’t care this much, anyway. It was just a lunch between two coworkers working on the same project. Kaiba had been blowing it off for too long. It was inevitable that he’d wind up having to go out with someone from the team. He shouldn’t put too much thought into it. Yugi probably thought he was just being friendly.

Now why did that bother Seto? Surely he could logic his way out of this emotion. It wasn’t like Yugi was acting any differently than he’d ever had. Wasn’t that what Seto wanted? For Yugi to act the way he used to around him? It was just frustratingly confusing to not fully understand why he couldn’t just relax around Yugi. It was just lunch between coworkers. That’s all it was. He could do lunch, after all. How many business lunches had Seto done before? This was no different.

Just because Yugi was younger than most of the businessmen Seto had dealt with when he was CEO doesn’t mean that Seto had to lose his mind over it. Embarrassingly, the details of last night’s dreams of Yugi started to stir up again. He tried to push that aside. He didn’t have time to get embarrassed over dreams he could not control at work . He was at work . He was supposed to be professional, not lose his entire head. He jumped when Mokuba entered his office. “Mokuba,” he said sharply. “What is it?”

That was more rude than Seto intended. Mokuba did not seem to react to this, however. It was probably because Mokuba knew Seto well enough to not get offended when he was rude. “Just wanted to let you know that the due date on those models isn’t until next month,” Mokuba said, looking concerned as ever. “You don’t have to push yourself to get them all done today.”

“Is that all,” Seto asked, turning back to his computer. He knew the deadlines on the project. He’d fought with Yugi about them. As far as Seto was concerned, they were too spread out. Surely they could streamline it. Yugi had argued that the rest of the team didn’t want to work around the clock on the project and get locked out of leaving the building. He still didn’t see Yugi’s point. “I know when the deadline is. I’ll still have them done before then.”

Mokuba sighed. “Please tell me you’re at least going to get lunch today.”

An explanation for why Yugi might have asked Seto to lunch just arrived, hadn’t it? Of course. Mokuba probably had asked Yugi to babysit Seto, the same way Mokuba had forced Seto onto this project with Yugi. “Did you put Yugi up to ask me to go to lunch, then?”

“No,” Mokuba said, a shocked expression on his face that disappeared as quickly as it appeared. That was enough to assure Seto that he hadn’t lied. It did, however, open up new questions. “But you should go. It’d be good for you to find common ground.”

For a second, Seto started immediately wondering why Yugi would do such a thing on his own accord. Seto couldn’t help but overthink every possible motive that Yugi possibly could have. He spent too much time with Yugi taking up focus. Kaiba was sick of how often he thought about Yugi but he couldn’t seem to stop. “I already agreed,” Seto said with a shrug as he stared at his screen. “You don’t have to worry. I’ll eat lunch today.”

“Good,” Mokuba said and Seto felt a little bit guilty over how happy Mokuba sounded at this response. Seto knew that this meant that he shouldn’t be skipping lunch as often as he did. However, it wasn’t like this was a new behavior of his. Had Mokuba always been worried about Seto skipping lunch? He didn’t dare ask. “Alright. I’ll get out of your hair so you can get back to work.”

Seto was stunned to discover that Yugi had a car and that he would rather drive it to lunch than let Isono drive them. Seto had folded his arms across his chest, staring at the window as he noted all the ways Domino City was different than it was five years ago. He’d mostly gotten used to the changes but there was still that strange feeling about how much he’d truly missed. “Where are you taking me anyway,” Seto said finally, breaking the silence in the car.

“Burger World,” Yugi responded. “Another location reopened.”

“That place that a guy was set on fire at,” Seto asked in alarm. “Aren’t you worried about the type of people that hang out at a place like that?”

A brief flash of something crossed Yugi’s face before it settled into a slight smirk. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about getting set on fire there,” Yugi said, as if sharing a private joke with himself. Seto didn’t understand how Yugi could be so lighthearted about someone getting set on fire. “Besides, no one’s been set on fire in Burger World in seven years. I wouldn’t worry about it.”

It was true that the incident had to have been seven years ago now but that didn’t change that someone had gotten set on fire at one of their locations. “I think I have the right to be worried when I might get set on fire,” Seto said. “Especially when you seem to think it’s funny .”

“No one’s going to set you on fire, Kaiba,” Yugi said, sounding somewhat exasperated. “Why would anyone set you on fire, anyway?”

“Why would anyone set someone on fire,” Kaiba countered. “Why do you think it’s so funny, anyway?”

The smile vanished from Yugi’s face. Suddenly, Seto irrationally wished he could shove the words back in his mouth. Which ones? Whatever the ones were that made Yugi stop smiling. He felt like there was something he was missing. “It’s not, I guess,” Yugi said softly, not revealing anything. “Just… made me think of someone, is all.”

“Oh,” Seto said, still just as confused as ever. He wanted to know why Yugi had stopped smiling but he couldn’t bring himself to ask. “You really don’t think we’d get set on fire there?”

“No,” Yugi said as he turned into the parking lot of the restaurant. Seto was unsurprised to note that it was mostly empty. He was actually surprised that Burger World was even still open after that bout of negative press. Then again, the same could be said for Kaiba Corp after Death-T. Kaiba pushed the memory out of his mind. “There’s no risk of getting set on fire. C’mon. Let’s go eat.”

Seto was still doubtful but he did tell Mokuba he would actually go eat with Yugi. And it wasn’t like Seto could just ask Yugi to lend him his car to go get something else to eat. This left Seto with the only option of going forward. Besides… if Yugi really did seem so sure that there was no risk, then he’d have to trust him. The interior of Burger World, Seto noted, was a tacky nightmare of neon and booths and what seemed to be plastic tables. “You actually eat here?”

“All the time,” Yugi replied as he led Seto towards one of the more private booths. “I really like the burgers they serve here.”

Seto paused as he tried to figure out what Yugi was talking about. The way Yugi referred to it was as if everyone would know what it was. Rather than risk looking like an idiot, Seto merely sat across from Yugi and said nothing. Seto wondered where the hostess was and why they had to seat themselves. “How does eating here even work?”

Yugi looked at Seto as if he’d just asked how to tribute summon a monster. So much for avoiding looking like an idiot in front of Yugi. “Have you never eaten at a casual restaurant before?”

The answer to that was a resounding no. While he’d sometimes handed Mokuba money to go to a restaurant like this, Seto avoided places like this. Most of the restaurants Seto went to would be out of Yugi’s price range. However, Seto got the feeling saying that out loud would not go over well and he was supposed to be trying to work with Yugi. “There was no hostess,” Seto remarked instead, looking back over at the entrance. “How is the wait staff supposed to know there’s someone here?”

“They just do,” Yugi said with a shrug as he checked his watch. “Typically a waitress comes over in a few minutes.”

Seto was about to remark upon how he thought this was a poor business model when an overly perky blonde approached them with two menus in hand. “Sorry about the wait,” she said as she placed the menus in front of them. Yugi gave Seto a sharp look and any retort he had died on his tongue. “My name’s Haruka and I’ll be your waitress today. What can I get started for you guys today?”

“I’ll have my usual,” Yugi said. Haruka nodded and wrote something down on her notepad. “I think Seto needs to try one of the classic burgers. I get the feeling he’s never had a burger before.”

Instantly, Seto was torn from snapping at Yugi that he could order for himself and being flushed that Yugi would actually be that bold. He was surprised that Yugi had realized that Seto hadn’t ever really had a burger before. “Never had a burger before,” Haruka said, sounding surprised. “Well, you’re in luck. We have the best burgers.”

Before Seto could remark on that, Yugi gave him another glare as if he knew what Seto was about to say. He gave a soft “tch” as he folded his arms over his chest. “Fine,” Seto said, figuring it was better than trying to decide what to order for himself. “I’ll try one.”

“And what will you have to drink,” she asked.

Seto glanced at the list of things to drink on the back of the menu. He noted that the only choices were soda, lemonade, or water. “Water’s fine,” Seto said.

Yugi rolled his eyes as she noted it and left the table. “Didn’t Mokuba tell you that you’re supposed to be nice,” Yugi asked, sounding exasperated. Seto opened his mouth to point out that he’d been perfectly courteous and Yugi shook his head. “You were glaring at her the whole time. Just relax, Seto.”

Was that how Yugi could tell when Seto was about to say something? Did he really have a tell? How long had he had this tell? “I’m being perfectly agreeable,” Seto replied, well aware he sounded curt. “Can I help that you regular places like this dump?”

“Seto, please,” Yugi said, reaching out the table to cover Seto’s hand with his and once again, Seto froze. The motion was just a little overly familiar. As usual, it did not seem to impact Yugi the same way it impacted Seto. “Can you at least try to be normal for one lunch?”

“Okay,” Seto said automatically, not sure where it came from. Yugi squeezed his hand and smiled and Seto’s heart began to beat irregularly. Seto was starting to get annoyed by the random arrhythmia that being around Yugi seemed to bring on. “You and Mokuba are both massive thrones in my side, by the way.”

This didn’t seem to bother Yugi. In fact, he laughed. The stupid arrhythmia acted up again and Seto did his best to ignore it. “Good,” Yugi said. “That means you aren’t doing anything stupid any time soon.”

“I never do anything stupid,” Seto retorted, wondering what were the common causes of arrhythmia. Maybe he should be writing down when it happened? Perhaps that would better help the doctor when Seto got it checked out. “Not sure why you and Mokuba would both think that I would.”

Yugi gave Seto a strange look as he pulled his hand away. Seto didn’t know why that bothered him, either. The waitress had already come back with their drinks, setting them down in front of them. She said nothing and left quickly after. “Seto, do you really not get why people might be worried about you?”

He didn’t understand Yugi’s question. On some level, he did understand why Mokuba was worried. However, it wasn’t like Seto intended for his actions to look like… He pushed it aside. “If this is about the dimension jumping again, I already took it apart. I wasn’t going to do it again.”

“That’s not the only reason w… Mokuba’s worried about you,” Yugi said, his eyebrows furrowing as his gaze bore into Seto. Seto looked away, uncomfortable now. “Look… I… I know that none of this has been easy…”

Now he understood what Yugi was getting at. “I’m not depressed,” Seto snapped. He’d heard the same concern from the therapist that Mokuba was making him go to. He was starting to get a little tired of everyone insisting that he had to be weak . “I’m fine , Yugi. No one needs to get concerned about me.”

“It’s okay, Seto,” Yugi said and for once, Seto could actually tell what Yugi’s expression was communicating. However, Seto couldn’t figure out for the life of him what Yugi might be pleading from him. There was nothing he could give Yugi. “You really aren’t alone, okay? I… I’m here for you, Seto. I… I just need you to be open with me.”

Open? Has Yugi lost his mind? “I don’t need your help,” Seto said automatically, looking for a way out of this conversation. How had they even ended up on this topic? Must everyone be this concerned with his mental health? “Mind your business.”

Rather than seem put off by this reaction, Yugi seemed to be actually expecting it. He hated that Yugi actually seemed honestly concerned. Yugi’s head tilted, as if trying to figure something out. “Seto,” he said and it was like a gut punch. “Surely you can see that no one would understand better than me how it would feel to lose Atem. If you would just talk to me -”

Seto cut Yugi off, his heart racing as he snapped, “I don’t need your help, Yugi. Have I made myself clear?”

Yugi sighed, shaking his head. “Fine,” he said and he sounded more resigned than anything. “If you won’t talk now, that’s fine. We have the rest of this project for you to start talking about.”

This time, Yugi had the same look he had just before he’d threatened Seto. This was, in fact, a threat. Must Yugi be this insistent on being friends with him? Seto supposed he shouldn’t be surprised. He’d never once known Yugi to back down from a challenge. “Don’t expect this to go your way,” Seto said, slumping back in the booth. “You can’t make me open up to you.”

“Stop acting like a child,” Yugi said with a roll of his eyes. “You know that Mokuba and I are coming from a place of care. If we didn’t care, we’d let you just push us away. Neither Mokuba nor I are going to let you do that. So you can pout, stomp your feet, act like a dick all you want. Neither of us are going anyway. Get used to it.”

Seto was taken aback by the ferocity in Yugi’s eyes. Something told him that Yugi absolutely meant it too. At this point, Seto wasn’t sure how to keep Yugi at arm’s length anymore. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t try.

“I can’t believe you got Kaiba to try a burger,” Jonouchi remarked with a laugh as Mai passed him another gift to unwrap. “Seriously, how did he react?”

“He seemed to think that he was going to get set on fire at Burger World the entire time,” Yugi said with a shrug, leaving out the gritty details of the conversation he’d had with Seto. “I don’t think he cared much for it, either. Claimed it was too greasy.”

Jonouchi laughed even harder at this as he unwrapped the gift that Yugi had gotten him. “You know, you whippin rich boy’s ass tomorrow would’ve made a fine birthday gift,” Jonouchi remarked, looking rather amazed at the framed picture from the last tournament that Yugi ever did with Jonouchi. Yugi’s arm was thrown around Jonouchi and the two of them looked thrilled about doing a tag team duel together. “Though I will admit… this is nice.”

“Oh, I’m sure Yugi’s gonna kick Kaiba’s ass tomorrow,” Mai said with a light laugh as she leaned back in her chair and her head resting on Jonouchi’s shoulder. Jonouchi’s arm snaked around her waist as he gave her a soft smile. “Seriously, the guy’s been out of the loop for the past four years. No way he’ll be able to be duel ready in only a year. And Yugi’s only gotten better since Battle City.”

“Kaiba’s not like any other opponent that Yugi’s had, though,” Ryou remarked with a slight frown. “I wouldn’t expect this to be a cake walk. Yugi should really be taking this seriously.”

“Please, no one’s even come close to unseating Yugi in the past six years,” Honda pointed out as he took a swing of his beer. “Do we really think Kaiba’s gonna figure out how to beat Yugi now?”

“I dunno,” Otogi said with a raised brow. “Hate to disagree with you, babe, but Bakura’s got a point. Kaiba’s always been weirdly intense about Yugi.”

“Seto’s not going to win,” Yugi said confidently. While there was a point when their points may have rattled him, he was prepared. He’d been looking forward to Dueling Kaiba again. He knew Kaiba had been improving and was expecting an actual challenge this time now that Kaiba was familiar with the meta. “He’s improved his game a lot in the past year but I still know a few tricks.”

“He better not,” Jonouchi said with an easy going grin. “After all, you beating Kaiba’s your primary birthday gift to me.”

Yugi had another reason for wanting to win this Duel that he didn’t tell his friends. From previous experience, Seto was more willing to be open during a Duel. Sure, winning didn’t exactly seem to change that but he’d noticed that Seto tended to be more willing to rant when he lost. He almost felt nervous as he walked out onto the pitch, his gaze set firm on Seto. He’d barely noticed the cheers when he’d entered and only vaguely remembered to smile and wave at the crowd. He noted that Seto’s Duel Disk was activated. “Kaiba,” he said simply, carefully examining the expression on Seto’s face. “Are you ready for me to beat you again?”

“I’d like to see you try,” Seto replied, glaring at Yugi. Yugi could only assume that this was because Seto had some level of wariness when it came to dueling Yugi again. “I know it’s been four years but I assure you: I’m still going to crush you.”

As per usual, they shuffled each other’s decks and Yugi stared Kaiba down the entire time. For once, it seemed like Kaiba might not actually be as revealing during the duel. That wasn’t good. He needed Kaiba to actually start talking. Well, Yugi had a plan to start the conversation and it rested right in his deck. His first hand was perfect to make sure that he’d wind up in control of the board early. It was Kaiba’s turn first. Another advantage on his side: Kaiba was surely going to try to set up.

“I’m activating Cards of Consonance, allowing me to discard the White Stone of Legend from my hand to draw two cards,” Kaiba called out. It seemed Kaiba still had the same type of deck. Yugi could only assume it must have been updated. “I’m setting a monster face down, two cards face down, and ending my turn. During my end phase, when the White Stone of Legend was sent to the graveyard, it allows me to add a Blue Eyes White Dragon to my hand. Make your move, Yugi.”

If Yugi knew his archetypes - and he did - then it was most likely White Stone of the Ancients that Kaiba had placed face down. Its Graveyard effect would ensure that Kaiba got out Blue Eyes White Dragon fairly early. He needed to cut its effect off early before clearing the way to Kaiba’s life points. “Fine,” Yugi said as he drew, noting it was Gravekeeper’s Priestess. A precautionary card at most. If Kaiba removed Necrovalley, Priestess could act as Necrovalley. “I activate the spell card, Terraforming! This allows me to add a field spell from my deck to my hand. And I chose Necrovalley!”

“What,” Kaiba said, clearly caught off guard.

“And now, I activate Necrovalley,” Yugi said as the field around them reflected this change. The pitch’s concrete now had sand across it that felt almost lifelike as the temple pushed up from the ground. Yugi might’ve previously reacted to the Solid Vision’s lifelike rumbling and been knocked over. Now, he held his ground. “Necrovalley’s effect now takes effect! Both our graveyards have been locked down. No graveyard effects can be activated and no monster can be banished from the graveyard and no monster can be special summoned. The dead stay dead.”

The look on Kaiba’s face said everything. He’d seen that look before when he’d shown Kaiba that Atem no longer would come out from the puzzle. “You dare?”

“That’s right, Kaiba,” Yugi said as he placed Gravekeeper’s Heretic on his Duel Disk and set Spell Vanishing and Imperial Tombs of Necrovalley. “And now, I summon Gravekeeper’s Heretic in attack mode and place two cards face down. Now, Heretic will attack your facedown!” As expected, it was White Stone of the Ancients. The magic blast from Heretic sent the stone shattering around them and Yugi ducked out of the way of the blast. Kaiba, for his part, looked pissed. “I bet you were expecting that effect to activate. Unfortunately for you, you won’t be getting Blue Eyes out that easy. I end my turn!”

Kaiba gave a “tch” before he drew, narrowing his eyes at Yugi. “You dare to interfere with my plans again, Yugi,” Kaiba said, examining the card he drew. “I won’t let you! I reveal from my hand a Blue Eyes White Dragon to special summon Blue Eyes Alternative Dragon!” Yugi’s eyes widened as the Alternative’s wings spread out, a loud screech coming from her. He knew that there was no hope of saving Heretic once she attacked but he knew Kaiba just a little bit better than that. “I activate Alternative’s effect to destroy Heretic!”

“Now! I reveal my facedown card, Imperial Tombs of Necrovalley! I can activate this card whenever you activate a spell, trap, or monster effect,” Yugi said as the card flipped face up. Instantly, Blue Eyes Alternative Dragon was yanked into a coffin that sunk back into the sand. “It allows me to negate the activation of your monster’s effect and destroy your monster! Say goodbye to your dragon, Kaiba!”

Control of the board remained firmly in Yugi’s hands. Yugi suspected any other Duelist might have an actual issue against Kaiba’s formidable strategy. Yugi glared back at Kaiba defiantly, daring Kaiba to actually lay a finger on him. Kaiba’s stare became rather guarded before he looked away, a slight smirk forming on his face. “Suppose I should’ve expected you to have a counter,” Kaiba said. Yugi raised a brow at Kaiba, trying to figure out exactly what Kaiba was thinking. “Fine. Let’s see you negate this: I summon Protector with Eyes of Blue! This allows me to special summon a level one light tuner from my hand and I’m summoning Maiden with Eyes of Blue!”

Protector and Maiden both summoned out and Yugi recognized this combo. In fact, something was in the back of his head as he remembered mentioning it offhand to saggithedarkclown. It had been a hypothetical scenario. “I see you’ve gone and updated your deck,” Yugi remarked. “Maybe you’ll actually be able to keep up with me for once.”

“Oh, I’ve always been able to keep up with you, Yugi,” Kaiba said. “Now I target Maiden with Protector’s effect, sending her to the graveyard to special summon Blue Eyes White Dragon from my hand! But that’s not all, Yugi. Because Maiden was targeted, she also summons out a second Blue Eyes! Now! I bring forth Blue Eyes Twin Burst Dragon!”

Yugi might’ve been able to prevent Alternative from coming out but now he was staring down the duel headed Blue Eyes and she looked pissed . Yugi ran through his options. Raigeki was in his deck but there was only one copy of it so he couldn’t hope to rely on it. So far, Kaiba has already run through two of his Blue Eyes but there were still two more Alternatives and another Blue Eyes in his deck. If Yugi could ensure that Kaiba could not summon any more Blue Eyes cards, then his victory was all but assured. “Kaiba,” Yugi said, well aware that Kaiba wouldn’t listen to him. “You won’t be able to bring back your Blue Eyes once they’re in the Graveyard. They will stay there for the rest of the Duel.”

“That’s what you think, Yugi,” Kaiba said with a glare. “I will destroy Necrovalley! For now, Twin Burst will destroy your Heretic! Twin Burst Stream!”

Twin Burst launched two lightning blasts at Heretic and Yugi put the card in his graveyard. Yugi’s life points went down to 7300, barely a scratch. The Duel Disk still assured that it caused a little sting. Yugi had gotten used to the feeling of the shock going up his arm from lifepoint damage. “Well played, Kaiba,” Yugi said, examining Kaiba. Oddly guarded. “You did, indeed, come prepared.”

“Don’t you dare try to flatter me,” Kaiba said, his careful mask slipping for just a second for Yugi to notice he’d gotten flustered by the compliment. Yugi smirked slightly: there it was. Kaiba didn’t seem to anticipate Yugi being nice to him. “I’m setting two cards and ending my turn!”

“Then it’s my turn,” Yugi said as he drew, anticipating one of Kaiba’s facedowns to be a way to destroy Necrovalley. “I set a card and now I activate Necrovalley Throne! This card allows me to search out a Gravekeeper monster from my deck and immediately after, I have to summon a Gravekeeper monster!” He added Gravekeeper’s Spiritualist to hand, glancing at the cards in hand. Getting Gravekeeper’s Supernaturalist out would help him out here. He had Gravekeeper’s Oracle, which would give him enough attack points to beat over Twin Burst. This Duel could end quickly if he did that. However, if he did that, he could not make sure that Kaiba opened up. Instead, he needed to drag this Duel out. He glanced up at Kaiba before looking back at his cards.

“Are you going to actually make a move,” Kaiba sneered, a look of victory on his face. It seemed like Kaiba believed that Yugi had no out to the position he’d put Yugi in. “Or are you too scared?”

“Kaiba, you have never once managed to scare me,” Yugi remarked casually as he passed over Visionary. “I summon Gravekeeper’s Recruiter! And now I activate Gravekeeper’s Servant. This continuous trap makes it so you can only attack if you discard a card!”

“I activate the quick play spell Twin Twisters,” Kaiba declared, flipping over one of his set cards and discarding a card from his hand. “And I’m choosing to destroy both Necrovalley and Gravekeeper’s Servant!”

As expected. “I reveal my counter trap,” Yugi said, flipping over Spell Vanishing. “Sure, I have to discard two cards to activate it,” Yugi said as he discarded Gravekeeper’s Spy and Monster Reborn. He wouldn’t need either card anyway. “But once it negates Twin Twisters, it seeks out every copy of Twin Twisters in your deck and discards them! How does it feel to have your own deck destruction strategies aimed right back at you?”

Kaiba had a stunned look on his face. Yugi was certain that he was more surprised about the fact that Yugi had set Spell Vanishing in the expectation of having to negate one of Kaiba’s quick play spells. “You expected me to use Twin Twisters?”

“Of course,” Yugi said. “You never could let the dead rest, could you? Don’t worry, Kaiba. It won’t be the first time I’ll know what you’re planning to do before you even do it.” He glanced back to the remaining three cards in hand. The Duel ending combo would have to wait. “I end my turn.”

Gravekeeper’s Recruiter wasn’t going to stay out on the field long. Yugi regretted that. He felt a little bad, knowing Recruiter was little more than cannon fodder. Twin Burst would dispatch it easily. He doubted the cost of discarding a card from his deck would actually bother Kaiba. What really concerned Yugi, however, was the other set card on Kaiba’s field. It could be anything. Yugi needed to prepare to deal with whatever Kaiba could have set. “My turn,” Kaiba declared as he drew. “If you think having to discard a card from my deck will stop me from attacking Yugi, you’re wrong! I’ll gladly pay the cost if it means I can finally destroy you!”

“Do you really want to destroy me, Kaiba,” Yugi retorted, a sly smirk forming on his face as he noted that Kaiba actually seemed to get flustered by this too. Was it really that easy to throw Kaiba off his game? “You’ve been unable to ever actually beat me, Kaiba. I’d like to see if you actually could.”

“How dare you,” Kaiba said as he looked at the card he discarded from the top of his deck to declare his attack. Yugi couldn’t tell if Kaiba had lost a good card. He’d managed to get that carefully controlled look back on his face. “Twin Burst Stream!”

There went Recruiter. And down went Yugi’s lifepoints again to 6000. “When Recruiter is destroyed, I can add a Gravekeeper monster from my deck to my hand that has 1500 or less defense,” Yugi said as he added Gravekeeper’s Headman to hand. “You know that you can’t actually win, Kaiba. Your Graveyard is locked down and two of your Blue Eyes and one of your Alternatives rests there as well.”

“Then why are you down two thousand life points already, Yugi,” Kaiba said as he set another card. Already drawing this out was getting dangerous. Duels these days were decided in a single turn. It seemed like Kaiba felt so secure that Yugi could not actually destroy Twin Burst that he was not bothering to summon another monster. Kaiba was right that Twin Burst was a formidable monster. Destroying it by battle was not an option - Twin Burst would merely banish the monster that battled that had higher attack. “My Blue Eyes will return to me. I will destroy Necrovalley.”

“You have to know that life points don’t matter unless they’re 0 and that I won’t let you destroy Necrovalley,” Yugi replied calmly. Certainly this didn’t look great for him but he wasn’t concerned. “Besides, Kaiba, this duel isn’t about winning for me. It’s about getting you to actually talk to me.”

“I’ve got nothing to say to you, Yugi, besides that if you don’t care about winning, then you’ll easily be crushed,” Kaiba said, glaring at Yugi. “You always want to talk, Yugi. Enough talking! Show me what your point is with your cards! I end my turn!”

“If that’s what you want, then fine,” Yugi said as he drew his next card. Raigeki. Out of all the cards to draw. “I activate Raigeki! Twin Burst is destroyed!” A bolt of lightning hit the field and vaporized Twin Burst. There went one of his problems. “Your Blue Eyes Twin Burst Dragon will rest in the Graveyard for the rest of the Duel, never to return to the field.”

A dark look crossed Kaiba’s face. “You’re going to regret that, Yugi!”

“I doubt it,” Yugi replied. “Now I summon Gravekeeper’s Headman! With this card, I can special summon a Gravekeeper monster from my graveyard. This effect is unaffected by Necrovalley. And I choose Gravekeeper’s Heretic!”

Gravekeeper’s Heretic returned to the field, a look of amazement on the monster’s face as he looked behind him to give a nod to Yugi. Yugi nodded back, well aware this wouldn’t end the Duel but it would definitely put a dent in Kaiba's life points and keep the crowd from getting restless. “Thought you wanted to make a point about graveyards being closed,” Kaiba said, a nasty look on his face. “Undermining your point there, Yugi.”

“I’m not the one refusing to let go of the dead, Kaiba,” Yugi said. The one thing he knew was that the dead wouldn’t come back to life. However, he could keep their memories close to his chest. He could remember Atem and honor him. “When we lose someone, they’re gone but we keep the memory of them. In that, we never truly lose them. We move forward, Kaiba, without forgetting what we had with them. We carry the lessons they teach us in our heart. Now, Headman and Heretic will attack you directly!”

Both of them hit Kaiba directly, dropping Kaiba from 8000 life points to 4700 in one swift blow. The crowd might not understand why Yugi was doing what he was doing but they seemed to enjoy seeing Yugi finally get an attack in. Yugi looked up towards the crowd and spotted Mokuba and Rebecca close to the pitch. Mokuba met Yugi’s eyes and nodded. Yugi then locked eyes with Kaiba again as Kaiba staggered upright. “You claim that you won’t bring back the dead but I bet you could if you weren’t a coward,” Kaiba spat. “You accepted the Pharaoh’s fate so easily. You aren’t the first to blindly follow destiny.”

Yugi stared at Kaiba, sighing. “I end my turn, Kaiba,” Yugi said. “This Duel will be over soon. By the end of the Duel, you will have to accept that in order to move forward, you have to accept that you cannot change that he’s dead. The past is set in stone, Kaiba. I would think that you would understand that better than anyone.”

“I don’t accept limitations, unlike some people,” Kaiba said as he drew a card. “I activate the Melody of Awakening Dragon! This allows me to add two dragons from my deck with 3000 or more attack from my deck and 2500 or less defense as long as I discard a card! Now, I bring out Blue Eyes Alternative Dragon.” Out came the second Alternative and Yugi knew that meant that the final Blue Eyes was in Kaiba’s hand. Kaiba’s deck would be rendered worthless once all Blue Eyes were incapable of being summoned. “And I activate its effect, allowing me to destroy Headman!”

“Once that effect is activated, you cannot declare an attack on me this turn,” Yugi remarked as Headman was destroyed. Yugi was surprised he didn’t pick Heretic. Headman had less attack compared to Heretic. Certainly there was a plan for this move. “So you must be planning on summoning another monster.”

“For once, you’re wrong, Yugi,” he said as he set a card facedown. “I’m setting a card and ending my turn. You can’t hope to defeat me, Yugi.”

There was only one way to assure the Duel didn’t go sideways. He drew, noting the card. “I’m activating my continuous trap, Necrovalley Temple,” Yugi declared. “Whenever I have a Gravekeeper monster and Necrovalley on the field, your monsters lose 500 attack!” That wasn’t all it did but the rest of the effects weren’t as important. Heretic still couldn’t beat over it, however. “I summon Gravekeeper’s Spiritualist!” Spiritualist twirled out. “When she’s summoned, she fusion summons out any fusion monster I have using cards from my hand and field as well as herself.”

She began to wave her staff around as Heretic was pulled in as well as Oracle from his hand. “I bring out Gravekeeper’s Supernaturalist! As long as he’s out, cards in my field zone cannot be destroyed. During the end phase of this turn, I can add any Gravekeeper or Necrovalley card from my deck to my hand. That’s not all: it gains 100 attack points for each level of the monsters used to fuse him out on top of the 500 attack.”

This made Supernaturalist the strongest monster on the field. Not only that, both Yugi and Kaiba knew there was now no real way for Kaiba to win. “You think I’m going to let your monster scare me into no longer fighting,” Kaiba asked, looking irked. “I’m not like the other opponents you might have faced in the past four years, Yugi.”

“Of course you’re not,” Yugi said, standing his ground. He had to get through to Kaiba. He needed Kaiba to understand. At this point, he wasn’t even sure what he needed Kaiba to understand. Everything about the past four years felt like a fresh wound. Mokuba arriving at the Kame Game Shop, tears in his eyes as he informed Yugi that Seto was gone. Accepting a job at Kaiba Corp because Mokuba admitted he needed help. The AI that Kaiba had built before he left that looked exactly like Atem. “Because none of them understood me like you do, Kaiba. You and I are connected by the same tragedy,” came spilling out of Yugi, desperately reaching out towards Kaiba. “No one but you understands how it felt. Kaiba, please. I need you to be willing to talk to me.”

The grief was plain on Kaiba’s face and Yugi was almost certain he’d bridged the gap between Kaiba and him. Kaiba had to understand that Yugi cared, right? It occurred to Yugi that he was wrong about wanting to force Kaiba to stay for Mokuba’s sake. He needed Kaiba here too. “I already told you that you can talk to me through your cards,” Kaiba said, annoyed. “I activate Heavy Storm Duster! I’ll blow away you, your Necrovalley, and Necrovalley Temple!”

“You think that will work,” Yugi asked as the storm swarmed around them, bent on destroying Necrovalley and the Temple that had formed on the field. It whipped around his clothes and he could barely hear the crowd anymore. “When Necrovalley Temple is destroyed, I can set a Necrovalley spell or trap card from my deck directly to the field besides Necrovalley Temple! Not only that, you fail to destroy Necrovalley due to Spiritualist's effect!” The dust settled and Necrovalley remained on the field. Yugi glared at Kaiba. “You cannot fight the inevitable, Kaiba. You are going to lose this Duel. The sooner you accept this, the better.”

“I’ll never accept that, Yugi,” Kaiba said, taking a step back as Yugi took a step forward. It was like Kaiba was trying to rapidly build walls between them, preventing Yugi from ever fully reaching him. Yugi sighed, shaking his head yet again. “Not as long as I can still fight. You aren’t the first one to tell me what isn’t possible and I’ve proven them wrong before. I’ll prove you wrong too, Yugi!”

Yugi then realized the only way he’d be able to get through to Kaiba is to actually defeat him. “As you just said, Kaiba… I’m not like the other opponents you’ve faced,” Yugi said, pointing to Blue Eyes Alternative Dragon. “Supernaturalist attacks Blue Eyes Alternative Dragon!”

Instantly, Supernaturalist pounced upwards, his staff high above his head as energy gathered at its tip. And then the attack hit, tearing through Alternative. Alternative’s cry of agony tugged at Yugi’s heart, feeling almost bad for having to destroy such a nice looking monster. Once again, Kaiba did not activate his other facedown card. Yugi was reminded vaguely of the duel they had five years ago, when Kaiba had set a card that was never activated. What could possibly be set? “You can’t keep my graveyard locked forever,” Kaiba said, glaring at Yugi as his life points dropped down. There wasn’t much time left in this Duel. “I’ll show you I can raise the dead.”

“You can’t,” Yugi said, pleading with Kaiba to understand that the dead needed their rest as he set Fiendish Chain. “I add a card to my hand due to Supernaturalist’s effect,” Yugi said as he added Gravekeeper’s Priestess to hand, anticipating on using her to end the Duel the next turn. Whatever powerful monster Kaiba brought out would not be enough to change the outcome. What a shame , Yugi thought. He thought he might be able to pull this out longer and instead, Kaiba blew through his resources rapidly, leaving him with nothing. “My turn is over, Kaiba. Take your last turn.”

Even Kaiba seemed well aware that this was the final turn. No one could say that Kaiba wasn’t stubborn, however. He drew his next card. “The final chance to end this has arrived,” Kaiba said as he revealed the final Blue Eyes Alternative Dragon from his hand. “Your defense will be shattered,” Kaiba said with a rather manic sounding laugh. Yugi, for his part, was certain he seemed bored if only because he knew for a fact how this would end. Yugi’s trap card flipped over the second the dragon was summoned and the chains grabbed Alternative, dragging her down as she yelled in shock. “What?”

“My trap card activated, Kaiba,” Yugi said calmly, realizing how much grief had felt exactly like he’d been drowning. He’d felt exactly like that - chained to his own sorrow and being dragged down and held back. Yugi was done with it. He needed Kaiba to join him in resurfacing. “Fiendish Chain activates by targeting an effect monster and negating their effects and preventing them from attacking.”

Kaiba seemed stunned by this, staring at the dragon as if he was expecting her to become unchained. Alternative struggled against the chains and yet, nothing changed. She remained chained. “You had this planned,” Kaiba said slowly. “You expected me to go through my resources.”

“Some things never change, Kaiba, and I still know you,” Yugi said softly as he examined the field. The end game was here and there was no use in putting it off. Nothing Kaiba did this turn would prevent Yugi’s victory the very next turn. “I know that’s hard to believe when so much has changed these past four years… I know. But we’re still here for you, Kaiba. That hasn’t changed.”

The only thing that reminded Yugi that they were not alone was that the stadium full of people was still cheering so loudly that it hurt Yugi’s ears. It was like wind whipping around him - easily ignored. Kaiba finally hung his head and Yugi felt like an arrow had run through his heart. “There’s nothing else I can do,” Kaiba said after a long pause, before the judges could intervene that Kaiba needed to make a move. “I end my turn.”

“My turn, then,” Yugi said as he drew, summoning out Gravekeeper’s Priestess. He was almost amazed by the fact that she seemed well aware of what was going on. The determined look settled on Priestess’s face. “I summon Gravekeeper’s Priestess. And now, Supernaturalist will destroy Alternative.” Once again, Supernaturalist’s attack blasted through the Dragon, turning it to dust on the ground. “Kaiba… Are you ready?”

It didn’t matter if he was ready. Priestess’s attack went barrelling towards Kaiba, a violent flash of golden light filling the arena. When the light cleared, Yugi could swear he saw a tear rolling down Kaiba’s cheek but it must have been a trick of the light. Kaiba’s life points hit zero as the crowd roared in approval. Yugi started to walk towards Kaiba as the holograms cleared but Kaiba turned away, walking off the pitch in a brisk stride. He barely even heard the announcer declare him the winner and still world champion. He wasn’t even sure if he was playing his part right when Pegasus’s arm wrapped around his shoulders, congratulating him on yet another win.

Seto hated weakness. He hated that he saw it in himself when he’d had to hurry off the pitch after Yugi won, desperate to try to collect himself. It was a weakness that Yugi had managed to bring him to tears and Yugi had exploited every weakness Kaiba had. Every part of him felt raw but he put that down to the Duel Disk giving him a hard jolt when Priestess had attacked. He swore he’d seen that face before. It couldn’t have been Isis Ishtar, though. It was just a trading card. He was simply unsettled by Yugi’s vicious attacks. It had completely unsettled him to the point where Kaiba pressed his foot down harder into the ground to assure that he was still on Earth.

The view of Blue Eyes Alternative Dragon chained by Yugi’s trap card remained fresh in his mind. Yugi had planned for Kaiba to run through his resources like that. He had expected Kaiba’s strategy and had known all the weaknesses to exploit. Even worse, Kaiba knew what Yugi was trying to communicate to him. “You and I are connected by the same tragedy” rattled around Kaiba’s head and once again, the entire world was off-kilter again. Yugi had made it very clear what he meant and Kaiba wanted to pretend he didn’t understand. He wanted to pretend he didn’t understand that Yugi was referring to Atem’s death and the impact it had on the both of them. He wanted to pretend that Yugi couldn’t possibly understand his grief; Kaiba couldn’t pretend anymore. He couldn’t look away from the fact that Yugi was right . He reached for his phone and called his therapist for an emergency session.

“I see,” Reiki said after Kaiba finished explaining everything that had happened in the Duel. Funny how there was a time when Kaiba would have just let this fester. Perhaps he was getting something out of these sessions with Reiki, even if it was just somewhere he could vent all his anger and frustration. “I’ll confess: I don’t know much about Duel Monsters. I only know what my daughter says about the game. However, that does sound like a rather intense Duel. Have you given any thought to what Yugi had said during the duel?”

“I’ve given it nothing but thought,” Kaiba said as he stood up and headed down the hallway now that the weight was fully off chest, images from the Duel flashing through his head. He glanced around, surprised that no one had bothered him yet. “I just keep thinking about my dragon chained down and how Yugi had been so confident about his assured victory.”

“He is an undefeated champion,” Reiki pointed out. “Just like you had been confident that you might have won because you’re adapting to the meta, he had reason to be confident in his victory too.”

“I thought you were supposed to be helping me.”

“I am,” Reiki said, sounding amused. “Sometimes help is reminding you about the world you live in. Just like how I have to remind you that Mokuba isn’t out to get you by enforcing the new rules of the company.”

Kaiba scoffed. It seemed like no one was on his side when it came to spending more time at work. “I should replace you.”

“By all means, Seto. Make my life easier,” Reiki said and Kaiba couldn’t help but grin at the familiar rib. It was becoming easier to trust Reiki. Partly because it had been months of Kaiba revealing himself and none of it showed up elsewhere. Reiki had kept his promise, allowing Kaiba to return to full time work and had been the one to sign off that he was ready to live on his own. Kaiba owed a lot to Reiki. “Though, you did call for a reason. This Duel seems to have stirred up old feelings that you wanted to forget.”

Unfortunately, part of the problem with having opened up to Reiki is that Reiki now knew him far too well. More than he was comfortable with. “I suppose,” he admitted as he stepped into his dressing room, closing the door behind him. There was no point in lying. Reiki would know. “It was… Uncomfortable.”

“Growth involves a lot of discomfort, Seto,” Reiki said gently. “Whenever you move past grief, you’re growing. And it won’t be easy. Grief has a tendency to consume and it demands to be felt.”

Seto felt tears pricking at his eyes and hated that sometimes, he couldn’t contain his emotions anymore. He locked his dressing room door, putting the phone on speaker and setting it on a dresser. He shrugged his jacket off and glanced around at the bare bones room. “I don’t want to feel grief,” Seto finally said, emotions overtaking him that he could not name. “I don’t want to feel anything.”

“No one can feel nothing,” Reiki countered. “Unfortunately, Seto, you’re human. You’re going to feel emotions, whether you like it or not. It is better you be prepared to feel emotions you don’t want to feel and have coping skills for them rather than deny you have emotions.”

As much as he wanted to argue, Seto knew he could not. Reiki was right.

#fic: you'd come back to me #myfanfic #hello chapter nine is here

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steve0discusses · 3 years

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Yugioh Ep 35 S4: Raphael Joins the Pile of Dead Bodies

Ah 2020, thankfully we have one trashfire somewhat behind us, but I’m still avoiding social media for so many obvious reasons because of all the other trashfires that just never seem to stop burning, so lets talk about Yugioh with all of this newfound time.

Ah, card games. Card games that go on for 6-7 episodes. Lets see how they pad it out:

In a lot of ways, Roland really is just padding for the show, and that’s OK. He’s doing his best, by doing literally nothing but stand outside and check the time.

Inside the dusty soul chamber, Tristan has decided to do us the favor of recapping what happened last episode, which included the return of our four dead friends, so that they could die...again.

Seto’s reaction to seeing these dead people suddenly alive again was very “guys...I went nuts like years ago, I’m just going with it at this point.” and he’s still 100% positive that this is all a hologram and that no one will ever die.

Whatever it takes for Seto to get out of bed in the morning, I guess.

(read more under the cut)

One of the big mechanics the game is that you need to stay level headed, or the Orichalcos just kind of slurps you up. This explains a little why Dartz is so freakin chill basically all of the time, just the Bob Ross of evil over there. It also is sort of funny because Pharaoh and Seto are the least chill people to have ever lived so he’s just kind of waiting it out to see whom between Seto and Kaiba gets the most angry first and completely botches it.

Yugi has to do literally nothing and for the first time in his life this is the right choice.

I’m so glad he gets to use his big brain move of “If I don’t play, no one dies!” from S1. Glad it came back to serve him for once instead of just make everyone else really annoyed.

Yugi just...not moving means it’s now Seto’s turn to put down some cards, and he kinda looks over at Pegasus and goes...well you know what’s gonna happen next.

I have no idea why he didn’t attack Pegasus. Like this episode is kind of weird because we got these flashbacks of Pegasus being like “you’re my only hope, Yugi!” and it’s like wtf, Pegasus trapped you on a murder island and tried to kill you multiple times. He abducted Mokuba and turned both the Kaiba brothers into cards.

yo did Seto and Pegasus get back together in between seasons or something? Was there a whole character development where these two have fun brunches in San Fransisco now? Because I would watch that anime. I would watch the anime where Seto and Pegasus are co-hosting Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, and just destroying every unsuspecting local restaurant they brunch in.

But are we just assuming that the eyeball did all that evil stuff from S1 and that otherwise Pegasus is a good person? Because like...he was a mess before he got possessed. He’s kind of a Yugi, he’s kind of a Bakura, he’s kind of a Marik...in that there’s a mess in that bean, and getting possesed just only amplified what was already there.

So, with his smug as hell grin, Seto surprises Dartz by only barely getting affected by this inescapable moral dilemma and Seto just very quickly deciding to do a murder. And then we get a little blimp throwback to S2 (S3? I don’t even remember at this point, since we’ve been stuck in S4 for an entire year. Thanks 2020.)

If blocking the shot when Marik did it in S3 or S2 or whenever that was, didn’t get Mai to like Joey, then it shouldn’t work if you do it a second time.

But hey, I guess it’s better than letting her perma-die. Although this show desperately needs to figure out how to use Mai if they’re gonna keep her around, youknow?

Like all ships are fine and valid here, ship whatever you want to your hearts content: I don’t ship at all, as you know, but I hope one day they give Mai a personality that is consistently likeable. I do want to like her because she’s like...good at what she does when she plays cards and can be that can be a fun “hey I’m a girl but I’m not a freakin ‘gamer girl’ you male chauvinist assholes” type of character. But, the show just...the show doesn’t know what they want outside of a little romantic tension that they legally can’t follow through because of a 5-6 year age gap with a teenager.

This show actively tries to destroy this ship, and then turns around and is like “oh shoot this ship is all we have.” This show tries to lift up Mai as a feminist icon one season, and then tears her down for being “too” feminist the next season when she decides to--youknow--kill Joey Wheeler because he made her feel weak or something when he saved her life.

Like the show does a lot to explore weakness and strength, and how what we see as weakness is actually strength, and how what we tend to attribute as strengths is actually weakness, and how our modern career/school/success expectations set us up for failure, but I think they explored that way better with Seto than they ever did with Mai.

Could’ve been cool Mai, you could’ve been cool.

Anyhoo, that was my spicy commentary on a 10+ year old anime, good to get it off my chest.

Seto and Yami have the typical problem they have whenever they play cards together, where one goes completely rogue. Except this time, the one going rogue isn’t Seto, it’s Yami. He’s just like...I’ll make life for Seto very difficult and I will lose this game and I don’t even mind because I’m already dead, deal with it.

So honestly this is an episode where it’s just Seto demanding we kill a bastard, and Yami being like “but not THAT bastard” and Seto just shrugging and saying “I have to kill A bastard, Yugi! Just CHOOSE one!”

That actual line in the show (I forget what it was exactly) does infer that Seto thinks Joey holds him back, and that implication speaks miles about Seto’s insecurities.

HOW THOUGH..........what are you jealous of, Seto?

You’re better at cards than he is, he’s never beat you at anything. It’s not about who’s best friends with Yugi because...Yugi’s possessed so Yami is always going to take first place...

......so what could it possibly BE?

Seto doesn’t attend school anymore, is it about that? Is it because Joey is likeable? Is it because Joey pretends he has a much older girlfriend? I mean hypothetically, Blue Eyes White Dragon is WAY older than Mai so...that can’t be it.

.....what IS it???

Does the “friendship” he have with Joey make Seto too soft? Is that what’s holding him back? Because Seto doesn’t actually think he’s friends with these people and says that Yugi and co are “Mokuba’s friends” so like....

.....what are you talking about, Seto???

Is it because you’re addicted to cards again? Because that’s...sort of Joey’s fault because he was the one who told you he needed a ride to Jacksonville, and then let slip that the “King of Games” title was up for grabs, is that it?

Are you just tired of Joey asking you for a ride?

Not like it matters, because Joey survives, and Seto gets to feel like a complete asshole about it.

As Raphael (who is this purple blur here) motorcycles into the dome of souls, Rolands last words were

“You can’t go in there!”

which was the weirdest thing to say to a guy you just saw fall down a 50 story building a few hours ago. Raphael not being dead should be the thing Roland fixates on, but instead he’s seen so many people die and come back to life, that he’s only concerned that Raphael will get in trouble for trespassing.

Again, Roland is the only Kaiba that hasn’t died yet, and it’s because he’s the only Kaiba that hasn’t broken the law.

Dude. What if the reason Roland is standing outside is because he’s been politely looking for the doorbell to be let in?

...the players asking for death...like clockwork...and me asking for the end of this freakin game...we played...1 turn this episode...

This episode was 1 turn!

And you may ask...well what else could possibly happen to stretch this out and well...

Raphael dives in on a motorcycle to save the day. Which is an aesthetic, by the way, this huge man covered in like a dozen belts, doing a wheelie jump into a chasm of 1 million souls. that’s an aesthetic.

So he shows up, gets off his bike and I was like “Oh good, someone to maybe save Yugi saving Joey saving Mai?” And instead, I was...not given that.

Mostly Raphael is here because he ALSO wants to kill Dartz, and is like “can I join? I know you’ve only played like 1 round, just deal me a new hand, it’ll be fine.” and it’s like...we already played the Orichalcos Raphael, this is not a game of Uno, you cannot just jump in.

Dartz is sort of obsessed with how everyone around him has potential for evil except for him, the chillest human to ever be born, and I gotta say...when he’s in this room...Dartz has a point.

+++++++++++++RANT ABOUT BEING PERFECT FEEL FREE TO SKIP++++++++++++++

It is sort of nice to have the concept of an older generation (in this case 10,000 years older) fighting with a younger generation. To have the older, more typically wiser generation say “Listen, I kinda screwed the planet and the war economy and the prison system...and I’m gonna keep doing that...and you can’t stop me because you’re a bunch of hypocritical dumbasses.” and then the younger generation say. “We don’t care if we’re a mess, dude. We aren’t the problem here.”

I may be putting some recent topical STUFF into this mold here, but it is a nice little analogy that they made even someone who is such a human disaster as Yami and Seto “morally good” enough to fight Dartz. You don’t have to be a perfect Harvard Grad to fight the system, you don’t have to be an entirely problematic-free savior, you can be even as problematic as Seto Kaiba--just get rid of the dumb assholes trying to destroy the world. That’s all.

Like this concept is strangely prescient because in 2020 we’re in a weird time period where if you aren’t perfect, you’re not allowed to have opinions. You’re not allowed to make content. You’re not allowed to make change. This is mostly an online problem in places like twitter, but it’s a real problem--because in the end what you’re left with is no one that wants to step up to the plate because they know that they, too, are flawed.

And like not even just as a political thing, even as a creator, as an artist, I see this problem more and more with kids. Kids who are like “I am afraid to draw because what if I do it wrong and I get dragged on twitter years later?” or “I want to make a story, but I’m afraid to get cancelled because my fantasy story has problematic stuff in it? Am a bad person for wanting to write it?” And it’s like...what are we doing to young creators right now? Did we all fail humanities? How have we failed art and literature SO badly that we’ve come to this point that people are too afraid to even learn how to do it right?

Anyway that was a tangent, but like...you see the similarities, right? That if you really were as perfect as Dartz either politically or creatively, you’d be a freakin monster and would probably just tear down everyone else around you on twitter rather than lift other people up. It’s a stretch but eh, it’s been a while since I went on a good Yugioh tangent and like

---it’s not like I can say this on twitter---

+++++++++++++++END OF THAT RANT+++++++++++++++++++

So it’s at this point that Dartz turns to Raphael is like “I mean...we weren’t really doing anything else, and Yugi and Yami are playing so slowly...I guess I have time to bust your nuts” and decides to bust his nuts.

Oh hey, I was right.

And yeah, that’s still effed up. Dartz killed his Raphael’s family, left him on an island, and then adopted him later after forcing him to dig up their graves. Like...Raphael, that’s effed up.

He also did the same thing to everyone else (and for Valon he just kinda glazed over that really fast because we had to edit his backstory out of the English version)

PS at this part Mokuba started sweating bullets and Tea leaned over and was like “Is this true, Mokuba?”

And Mokuba was like “...yes.”

Because, I don’t think Mokuba can keep any secret from Tea. Like for reals, Tea may be the most dangerous thing to all of KaibaCorp if she wasn’t so distracted by Yami’s endless string of problems. Mokuba is constantly telling them all of Seto’s deepest darkest secrets and there is like nothing Seto can do about it.

The animation of Gozaburo turning into a beautiful Dartz was just a simple fade to white, but man--imagine if they had dome some crazy effed up animation where Gozaburo just whips back his head and he has ass length blue hair and long, luscious lashes?

Imagine.

Anyway, this was enough for Raphael, who was already our most gullible and unstable person on this show, to just flip that switch and go lime green like all those other minibosses before him.

Really glad we built up Raphael for him to just die at the door hahaha.

That was so freakin random.

OK then. Thanks for nothing, Raphael.

I guess we go to the next episode to see if we finally play another turn? We can hope for good things. But if we don’t play a full turn I will NOT be surprised.

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