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gx-gameon · 3 days

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Gx watch through continues

This is the part of Gx where they start throwing things at the wall and see what sticks. It makes the show both endearing and ridiculous

Episode 12

Jaden your a butthole. Walking three batters so he can get the chance to pitch to Bastia and get even. I love your competitive spirit but my boy rein it in.

Crowler why are you putting down Chazz to put up Bastian? Like I get you want and obelisk blue to beat Jaden but to publicly humiliate Chazz and tell him you will drop his dorms if he loses all because he lost to Jaden is wild. (Like I want Chazz to become a better person but Crowler stop bullying your students)

I love Bastian getting Jaden and Syrus to help him paint his dorm and hang out. Also I love how much they support Bastian.

Meeting Chases brother for the first time. I hate them just as much as I remeber

I love Bastian coming to sleep over at the Slifer dorm. (This is setting up for all the students who start living there in season 2)

I love Dorthy coming to tell Jaden about Bastian’s cards getting thrown into the harbor. I love Jaden’s worry for his friend. (Chazz that’s such a dirty trick)

I love Alexis and Zane coming to rat out Chazz’s actions. (But Alexis why didn’t you get the cards out of the water? Like I get it it’s dark and harbor deep but Joey Wheeler jumped off the side of a moving ship to get Exodia. You knew those were someone’s cards and you act like your deck is your life, so why not try and save a few? By the time Jaden gets there they are ruined but not when Alexis is there. Obviously the current is nonexistent if the cards haven’t moved between Chazz dumping them and Jaden finding them. Fl just jump in!)

Love the reveal that Bastian has six decks strapped to him at all times.

I love Bastian’s chemistry deck. I wish they did more with it. Making creatures based on the elements of the period table and then creating fusions for compounds would be sick. (I know they have something similar but I want more of these element themed dinosaurs)

I love Jaden and Zane (we will throw Alexis in to) complementing Bastian’s dueling skills to Syrus

Bastian proving that Chazz stole his cards by showing the formula he wrote on one, amazing “Chazz you stole you cheated, you lost, you deserve to be demoted.” Why didn’t we get more of this Bastian?

Also Bastian refusing to become obelisk until he’s the number one duelist in the freshman class. And then turning to Jaden and saying that’s you.

Episode 13

The monkey looks like and Xenomorph with the helmet and wires on it.

Chazz leaves the school. Jaden calling out how awful Chazz’s friends are. Then they all decide to go and look at him.

A dueling monkey named Wheeler. Enough said.

In this au this episode is summed up with a picture of Jaden and Wheeler going in the family group chat. “It’s me and Uncle Joey.” Joey is high key offended, how could his littlest buddy betray him like this. The. Jaden tells them what happened. Joeys still mad but now at Kaiba.

Jaden also tells them about how the scientist were going to take all of the monkeys and the student if Professor Banner didn’t come to their rescue. Seto’s furious. “Oro-san I never ask this, but can you fire these guys?”

Episode 14

I love the duel spirit is showing up this early.

Jaden not going home for the holidays shows that his cannon parents and him aren’t close. In this au I think he stays because Syrus and Chumley are staying.

Using jinzo to call back to the DM show (Joey’s getting so many shout outs)

Jaden offering his soul to save three other people, it’s very heroic, but Jaden please work on your self-sacrificing attitude before people (your friends) take advantage of it.

I love that Jinzo see Kuriboh and is surprised Jaden has a duel spirit beside him. Jaden’s “he’s a friend first and a spirit second.” I love them.

Jaden ending the episode knowing that duel spirits are real, and dangerous. Great set up.

Episode 15

This dumb episode.

Why are we dueling over Alexis? To be her fiancée? Her and Jaden are first years and this guy is a third year. (It’s giving ‘where my hug at?’ Energy)

Alexis saying the only reason she’s still there is to see if Harrington is as strong as Zane. Fair. But also I wish she was more active.

I already said that Jaden doesn’t know what a fiancée is in this au because Yugi and Seto skip that step. But I also see him being very upset at the way Harrington talks about Alexis. He was raised around Mai and Téa. He’s not taking this.

He was already annoyed with the way Harrington kept interrupting their conversation with his over possessiveness. I think when Harrington challenges him and says ‘winner gets to be Alexis fiancée,’ Jaden might not know what that means but he’s not a fan of this guy trying to make decisions for Alexis. He turns to Alexis and points at the guy. “Do you want to duel him or do you want me to?” Harrington is upset because he challenged Jaden! But Alexis is touched that Jaden puts the ball in her court.

Harrington is throwing a fit so Alexis tells Jaden he can duel but she’s not going to be anyone’s fiancée. After the match Haden goes over to her and asks ‘what’s a fiancée anyway?’ Which surprises everyone and allows Alexis to responded with “it doesn’t matter. We’re friends.” And Jaden just shrugs it off. If Alexis doesn’t care why should he.

Episode 16

Crowler being stressed about his obelisk’s losing duels and having Antes with are against the school rules. (Didn’t Chazz’s first duel with Jaden have an Ante? Look how many rules that boy broke)

Also him comeing to Jaden to fix his problem. (And so it begins, Jaden being the school aron boy.) “no homework for you and Syrus for the rest of the year!”

Chumley asking Jaden “do you even know how to say no?” And Jaden looking confused that’s it that’s the root of all of Jaden’s problems

I love how much more active kuribih is. And that there is a track in the academy for kids who want to design games, not just play them. Since that is what Seto and Yugi do they grow up to make games/game tech.

Jaden you did not just put Winged Kuriboh up as an ante. Atem is going to lecture you hard when he finds out

Jaden figured out the duel giants identity in less then 24 hours. Anyone who says Jaden isn’t smart is wrong. He just has tunnel vision.

These two losers being willing to sacrifice their dreams for each other. Jaden not turning them in because he knows what it means to be made fun of. I wish these two were reoccurring characters. Jaden is such a good person

Also the two returned all of the ante cards. Way to go Jaden.

Episode 17

Unlabeled sandwiches! This place is ridiculous

A whole episode to practice the destiny draw.

Over all thoughts for the au

These probably won’t get full chapters

Bastian’s duel probably will as will Alexis. And the jinzo episode defiantly will get covered.

but the duel monkey, duel giant and destiny draw episodes will be covered in text messages between Jaden and his family.

#jaden yuki #judai yuki #yugioh gx #alexis rhodes #Bastian #syrus truesdale #chazz princeton #yugi moto #seto kaiba #yugi mutou #dad yugi #rivalshipping

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aberooski · 8 months

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I haven't actually touched it in a very long time but I think about my GX rewrites every day. And the thing that keeps me up at night, like last night for instance, is thinking about the relationship between Chazz and Alexis.

It's not romantic in any sense. It never was, and that's what's so frustrating about the actual show. It's fine until Chazzanova when he tries to win her affections and she very politely and kindly turns him down. That should be the end of it, but of course it's not. And the thing is it really holds back both Chazz's character and his friendship with Alexis.

But this is where I come in 😌

See after she turns Chazz down, he should be allowed to move on from her. This is his journey to learn what love in all its forms is like. He doesn't understand it because well, he doesn't have anyone in his life that loves him. His brothers don't, and he's only been treated poorly by people and only valued for his money and dueling skills. I don't even think he's actually in love with her as much as he's in love with the idea of her. The idea of having someone he loves that loves him back for real. But when she turns him down, he starts to realize that. She shattered his delusion in a sense and now he's starting to understand his end of things.

So at some point down the line after the duel with Kagemaru, he apologizes to Alexis for stealing the spirit keys to try and get a date with her and all of that, even though it was all Atticus's idea in the first place. He also apologizes for getting Atticus involved in his delusion, to which Alexis just sighs, shakes her head, and tells him it's okay. Having talked to Atticus about it after the fact, she kinda got the impression that it wasn't as simple a situation as it seemed to the others. After all, her brother's an idiot but he's not stupid. No doubt he knew all along that the plan wouldn't actually work, but he couldn't just not help his friend. In truth Chazz needed her rejection to help him continue to grow and further understand how his own feelings worked on their own, rather than how other people tell him to feel or he thinks he should feel. And Atticus knew that.

Alexis also tells him she meant it when she asked him if they could still be friends when the duel was over. He may be a little obnoxious sometimes, but he's still one of her best friends, and she cares about him.

Genuinely.

This is something Chazz really doesn't know how to comprehend because he has so little experience with people genuinely caring about him, largely due to his horribly abusive and emotionally manipulative brothers. For example, Jaden and the rest of the J-Squad standing up for him after the school duel is probably the first time anyone has ever stood up for him before in his life. And you can note in his reaction that Chazz is genuinely surprised that they're doing this for him. He just isn't used to any sort of genuine kindness being expressed to him. I think Alexis was always nice to him even when he got on her nerves, and that might've been part of why he thought he was in love with her and vice versa. But when she again, very kindly, turns him down in Chazzanova and genuinely asks him with a smile if they can still be friends afterwords, that's when he begins to understand his own emotional autonomy in a completelydifferent and on a deeper level than breaking away from his brothers allows him to. Or rather, it should be cough actual writers cough because this is essentially the missing piece of that understanding.

And from this point, they can move on from it. Chazz can use this experience to grow and start to better understand himself and others, and he and Alexis could grow to be incredible friends. I've always seen the potential in their relationship in how it's purely platonic but very affectionate.

By the end of the show, he's her best friend. He's essentially a second brother to her, that's always how I thought of them and wished they were. Atticus and Alexis are Chazz's chosen family, that's just the case. I wish they functioned more like that.

So in my version of events, they do.

#also in my version chazz and atticus are canon but that is actually completely independent of my thoughts on chazz and alexis #like genuinely #but god the writers really fucked up chazz and alexis #like both individually and their relationship with each other #I really wish they let him move on from her it does nothing to serve the story and holds back his character it really does #also um... she's more than eye candy for the men #I hate that every 3 episodes there's another rando guy who's obsessed her and that's the entire plot of the episode #that happens like 3 or 4 times and I hate it #quit doing her like that 😭#and chazz deserves better than to have to be apart of that #but I digress 😔#yugioh gx #ygo gx #chazz princeton #jun manjoume #alexis rhodes #asuka tenjoin #atticus rhodes #fubuki tenjoin #jaden yuki #judai yuki #abby rewrites yugioh gx #been a while since I used THAT tag hasn't it akaksks #character analysis #yugioh #ygo

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ben-talks-art · 2 years

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Why I like Jaden

"As long as I'm here... As long as we duelists are here, we can continue to believe in our possibility!

Your turn will never come."

One trope in storytelling that I tend to really enjoy is the "reaching your lowest point" trope. I know, shocking, the guy that loves stories about struggles, relationships with misery, and fighting back to earn your victories... Who would have imagined it!!

Things like" The Empire Strikes Back" from Star Wars, "The crossroads of Destiny" from Avatar, the fight against Scar from Fullmetal Alchemist, the season 2 finale of Reboot, basically every episode of Arcane, the entire final arc of Cahinsawman part 1...

I just love when the heroes get their asses kicked super hard, take some time to lick their wounds, and then return even stronger than ever after going through some spiritual or emotional journey so they can get back to the fight, except this time you, the audience, is even more pumped than ever to root for them because now we have a score to settle!

And I feel like the character that left the first big impact on me with this trope was Jaden, from Yu-Gi-Oh! GX.

What's funny is that, even before his "fall from grace" moment, Jaden was already a character that I liked a lot.

I was super into his cheerful and upbeat attitude while playing the duels. This was a small thing that kinda bothered me about characters like Yami or Yusei, they never seemed like they were having fun while playing. I like that Jaden would look like he was having a blast even when the opponent was winning because just enjoyed their cool boss monsters or weird strategies that much.

Even when he lost he would just be like "Man... That was still awesome, though! Let's do it again sometime!" He was just such a chill dude, the kind you want to hang out and play with.

I also was a huge fan of his deck. "Elemental Heroes" was an archetype that mixed a ton of things that appealed to me in particular. The use of superheroes reminded me of Marvel and DC movies, the use of the elements reminded me of Avatar and Xiaolin Showdown, and the use of fusion reminded me of Dragon Ball Z, Digimon Adventure 02, and Megaman: Battle Network.

A big part of why I liked the duels in GX was that it always felt exciting to see what fusion he was going to use next, which heroes would he combine, and what they would look like. It was like in Ben 10 where part of the fun was finding out what new alien would be used next. It just brings a very kid-like joy.

Although I really wasn't a fan of the whole animal alien thing they tried to do later... To me it felt like fixing what wasn't broken.

But yeah, the real thing that made Jaden stand out so much was his journey back from hell.

I think this was probably a common thing at the time, have a character fall so they can rise back again, but this was my first time seeing it done in such a way. It wasn't just that he took a hit, it was that the hit itself was his own fault.

Jaden often receives negative comments from the fanbase that he is too cheerful, too upbeat, and that he doesn't take things seriously enough (because God forbid we have someone actually enjoying playing card games... ), so it was interesting to see him going through an experience that makes him completely question his life choices and wonder if he needs to change before progressing.

Like I mentioned in my Zuko post, I love when characters look back at their own actions and try to wonder if someone's getting hurt because of the way they live their lives, and this is exactly what Jaden goes through.

His arc isn't just a "reaching my lowest point" moment (they did that in season 2 already), it's also a "reality check" combined with a "redemption arc" where he needs to look at his own flaws and grow from it so he can make up for his mistakes.

And what I really appreciate is that his mistakes aren't just boiled down to "don't have fun playing." His mistake was that he didn't take into consideration that there is a time and place for everything.

It's not that he should be always serious or always cheerful, it's that he needs to know not to live under extremes and realize when to be serious, when to be cheerful, and especially, when to consider the situation of those around him and their own struggles as well.

This is one of the few series that actually feel like they make use of the "power of friendship," because a big problem Jaden was also having was that he was starting to get too strong for his own good and ended up relying on his friends less and less, and it was that reconsideration that caused his downfall and only when he realized that someone was suffering more than he was that he started his journey to truly maturing.

Whether it is kid-like Jaden or adult-like Jaden, there is always something about him that brings a smile to my face.

I feel like Jaden is one of those characters where you can analyze and take away tons of interesting themes and messages. Loss, growth, friendship, learning to enjoy life, knowing how to enjoy life, sympathy, support, sacrifice...

Favorite character list>>

#jaden yuki #supreme king judai #yugioh gx #judai yuki #yuki judai #yugioh

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borreloadsavagedragon · 1 year

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Give Kaito essay (for the character meme)

Oh god, I’ll read more this because it’s gonna be a journey and that's also why it took so long gjdaslgk-

And the standard zexal and arc v spoilers warning message-

1. how long have i known about them A LONG time though it didn’t get to like he’s my whole world status until pandemic era-- MalindaChan did her cosplay for him back when I was still a certified Yugiboomer who entertained GX and 5DS because "lol abridged series jokes" and that’s when I first remember seeing his design? I tried watching Zexal briefly when it was actively airing but just couldn’t get far bc Boomer Brain ™, but I remember him being cool but the "Kaiba-likeness but not being Kaiba" Yugiboomer wall couldn't be overcome right away, I had to train my skills Then 2020 happened, I watched Vrains to understand Link Summoning, got SUCKED into it, and was like wow past me was dumb, ALL of the spinoffs are GREAT Zexal reached a hand back out to me when I was kinda struggling with the Vrains community and I'd decided to start writing more spinoff muses with some mutual friends and that's also when I realized I’d be subconsciously collecting Galaxy and Photon monsters since they’re pretty + space themed but also because they were inside of ALL of the Kaiba support sets(because DUH) so it was like,,, well, let’s try that again

Now I’m In Hell And It’s All His Fault Do you think I ENJOY playing Photon competitively? Well yes, but also NO. It means learning new decks is HARD because I can't look at dragons and knights in SPACE.

2. whether or not they’ve ever made me cry Moon duel? W,, what Moon duel,,, I don’t,,, remember any space dueling, ahaha, isn’t that another yugioh, the rush of the go,,,,,,, In all serious though, yes lmao The duel against Zexal when he tells you his reasoning for why he’s the Number Hunter and he looks so broken, that got a solid few tears The flashback of him trying to break Haruto out of the city got some tears The duel with Chris is also really good show of his character at the root, the thing that gets him back to his feet is the moment Chris even considers Haruto as part of his suffering, g o d The moon duel of course. That’s. That one was brutal. Yeah.

3. whether or not i have any merchandise/objects with them uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

There’s a wall scroll behind my work desk that sneaks into my Zoom calls, there’s a canvas print he’s on that sits at my work desk, my ita bag has a handful of charms, pins, and buttons for him(still hunting for artists who draw him with merch wink wink)

I guess my Photon tcg deck counts? The tcg is just one big merch machine if you squint enough-

My Book of Moon themed binder is literally just all of my collector Photon and Galaxy/references to Kaito cards + a small page for Miza since Tachyon is a Galaxy Eyes

Do cosplays count? Because I’ve got all but his space suit basically done + his duel disk

4. what about their personality i like How seriously he takes himself despite literally everything else about his character

He’s often off to the side with his arms crossed, pouting or frowning, having the cool guy edge lord behavior But also he’s screaming in the rain, jumping through a window on a kite glider he made himself that also doubles as his robo-butler, flying to the whole ass moon because a rock told him to, and beefing 14 yr olds, he’s just a legend

I also love that he's like... very clear about himself and on how you should treat him. He straight up says he's going to hell for what he's done and just continues to be there because that's how he'll atone because atonement isn't forgiveness, like he's not ours to forgive. Love him so much.

5. what about their backstory makes me emotional Honestly, most of it

Watching Kaito slowly lose his autonomy (his brother whose been his responsibility for what could be read as since birth, his father just becoming a figure head in his life versus an actual parent, Chris walking out on him with no closure until they duel, being watched by and trained under brutal conditions by the government, failed escape attempts, getting lied to and used, etc) and then knowing one of the people who he attributes half of that loss and suffering to is someone he never gets closure against is very hard to watch

Even in Arc V, he loses his entire family in a way that makes him cut ties with every single person left in a desolate city and hunt his enemies down one by one to pay them back for his suffering, and it happened before we finally actually get to see him or hear of him for the first time so god knows the details

He really just gets put through it time and time again, yugioh be nice to that onion challenge

6. the moment of theirs that made me the saddest there was no duel on the moon in yugioh zexal

But actually, Kaito dying is tragic for a few reasons

THEY JUST LET HIS BROTHER WATCH IT HAPPEN? FAKER??? HELLO?

He was... ok with it happening-

He was killed off before the final duel and before he could reunite with Yuma and Ryouga again, and even though he came back as a spirit, it felt like a such a cop out

7. the moment of theirs that made me the happiest The pure look of joy on his face reuniting with his brother after they defeat Vector the first time, it’s so good The first time Prime Photon is summoned, goated, perfect, all boss monsters should be willed into existence like that But also Arc V, Kaito watching Dennis duel Yuya after everything with Zarc and clapping for him is so sweet omg

8. something about them that made me laugh HIS ONE LINERS, yugioh really gives the rivals the best solo lines I swear to god

Ok listen, dub and sun debate aside, I watched both because I’m a mess and need as much Kaito as I can get, but the dub has some heaters and Kaito’s got a few good ones, ESPECIALLY when he's talking to Mizael

The one to Shark, “You’re quite the romanticist”, who the fuck says that out loud to another person Kaito talking to Dennis is also a fever dream, the dub especially is so jarring, I love them

9. my favorite canon outfit of theirs White coat with the gazer tattoo, you can never go wrong with the Photon coat Numeral Hunter is also based, I know that's not like HIS look in any show, but... I HC that would be his Vrains Avatar, he could go to Vrains very easily, Solflare is an exploitable card in his deck

10. my favorite moment with them in canon UUUUGGHHHH CHOOSING ONE IS HARD

Uhhh, episode wise Shark Hunter is prooobably my favorite(for obvious reason but besides those LOL) because it’s such a tone setter for who Kaito is and also I could listen to these two bicker all day long, we really didn’t get nearly enough of their side rivalry as opposed to like Kaiba and Joey or Takeru and Ryoken

And then the Moon Duel is like my second favorite duel in the whole franchise, only outclassed by Soba and Revo in Vrains, you really get to see just how strong he is because he's half blind, still actively dying by dueling, and gets his helmet cracked in the vacuum of space, and he's still able to win

Character moment, the duel against Chris comes to mind again because it shows a lot of Kaito to his core, but also Kaito hauling ASS to get Yuma to Astral world to reunite with Astral is iconic, Kaito's always ready to take the plunge when everyone else says not to because he just KNOWS he's right

11. my favorite relationship they have with another character sweats profusely, I said it above somewhere I think- removing shipping from the equation entirely, I REALLY like all of the bff / rival dynamics across all of the shows, I love how well done they are and I fully find them more interesting than the standard protag/rival ones, even with KaiRyo having like the least amount of time dedicated to theirs comparatively. Ryouga and Kaito being treated so similarly by the hands dealt to them to where they'd understand the other one like looking in a mirror and yet they cannot stand each other, I eat that shit up. But also knowing the other person so well that they don't even have to talk and also realizing that person is their one of their only option to success? Give me MORE of that I also really love the foil between Mizael and Kaito a lot, I REALLY wish it got the time it was rumored to get, guess I gotta do everything myself In Arc V, Kaito and Shun's dynamic is really good for the little bit we're allowed the time to see it, Shun being one of the only characters who actually goes back for him after leaving so abruptly between Arc V and Zexal... tugs on the heart strings I also love that Kaito took ONE look at Edo in the safe house and decided to speed run the enemies part of the enemies to lovers arc they were going to have, I wish they could have spoken in canon more, hell GX Edo and Zexal Kaito would also be such an interesting dymamic

12. what i like about the way the fandom portrays them Everyone drawing him like >:D all of the time, keep doing that The white lab coat look too? Like not the Photon one, like a standard white lab coat? Perfect, DO NOT change that

nsfw next but also just how everyone knows he's a bottom no matter which ship it is lmao

13. what i dont like about the way the fandom portrays them that no one talks about him except in “WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE RIVAL” polls fndhxjshxbs

I’m going insane in my thoughts alone over here, I need to convert everyone to watch Zexal

14. what i liked about the way canon portrayed them Ok here we can get heated for a bit because I’ve seen an argument somewhere that Kaito didn’t develop at all from season 1 to 2 of Zexal but he 100000% did and I honestly like how it's done

Season 1 Kaito was purposefully talking to the air Astral could be in to avoid even looking at Yuma because he thought so little of him despite how much clawing to get on the same level as him Yuma did

Season 2 Kaito is jumping in to keep Mizael from killing Yuma without a second thought, he's going to the arctic despite ALL of the protests to build the bridge to Astral

His development is subtle, but it's very there, not to mention he can now stomach being in the same room as Faker, gave Chris a second chance, his dying words to Yuma are all the more apparent how important Yuma became to him Like the ONLY person we should have seen an actual conversation touching on Kaito's actions with WAS Ryouga but... be honest, Ryouga's not accepting that from Kaito, they're both very much people of action and they established their bond through the snark and bickering, that's how they communicate Plus Kaito's also outward about not being a good person, telling Yuma he sold his soul to the devil, telling the gang in the first episodes of Zexal II he's already going to hell because that's what his guilty soul deserves Ryoken and Kaito would be SUCH an interesting duo, I'm just saying

15. what i dont like about the way canon portrayed them Oh boy now here we go LOL

The duel against Mr Heartland. - This one's unbelievably bad for so many reasons, mostly because there’s no universe where Kaito struggles against Heartland of all people in a duel, but also this is the person who’s been THE symbol for most of his trauma and trials up until that point. There is no chance in hell he struggles, gets crippled by him, and has to have Yuma take over. That was and always should have been his duel to win, but Yugioh has the unfortunate "this is a story through the protag's eyes" shonen protag bug at its core (Yuma sweetie you’re lovely and wonderful, it’s literally not your fault)

Arc V giving him literally no time for their version of Kaito to have a more satisfactory character arc because of how long and bad the Synchro Dimension/Friendship Cup arc was. Just another victim of the Synchro Arc, sighs. The dub also puts this weird and bad attempted joking line about how Kaito doesn't do family and like have you literally watched any of Zexal, you're the whole ass studio Kaito just doesn't feel very Kaito the same way in Arc V, it's very sad, lots of shit you know og Kaito wouldn't let fly that just goes by in Arc V, but different versions, dimensions, stories, etc etc, it's just such a whiplash coming from Zexal where he's just so much more

OCG Structures was a coward and didn’t want to play with dimensional physics because Kaito 110% could find a way into that timeline I haven't read the Zexal manga in full just yet because I wanna collect them all physically so that'll be later- And a little bit for the games since Konami wanted at least one of those to be canon thanks to Vrains world-

Cross Duel literally had you consider killing kids for him but honestly this one is more funny than infuriating, everyone's a worst version of themselves in Cross Duel agjdaslkgj Duel Links is usually pretty good, but since Kaito’s first launch event where he's hunting you down, he’s been very much more like an NPC for the Zexal world events, just seems weird to me, I'm sure that'll get thrown out once Chris' unlock event actually happens coming up here and when Miza gets added... then that digital world won't know WHAT to do

#THIS WAS FUN THOUGH #kaito really is the character of all time in this house #kaito and takeru fight for favorite spot in my head all the time #asks #answered #kaito #kaito tenjo

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raemanzu · 1 year

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I posted 3,885 times in 2022

17 posts created (0%)

3,868 posts reblogged (100%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@tearlessrain

@propheticfire

@derinthescarletpescatarian

@ladyyatexel

@binaryystars

I tagged 1,659 of my posts in 2022

#the untamed - 153 posts

#cats - 148 posts

#zexal - 117 posts

#yugioh - 106 posts

#i need a gx tag - 44 posts

#good omens - 36 posts

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#commander cody - 29 posts

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#sabikui bisco - 27 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#this post came back to haunt me while we were driving home from a fruit stand and the watermelon and cantaloupe kept thumping around in the

My Top Posts in 2022:

ofc the day I finally get my top surgery date set is the first day in months that I feel utterly ambushed by Bad Brain for the first half of the day before getting the phone call lol. Anyway I’m initiating operation flatness at the end of January woop woop.

3 notes - Posted November 30, 2022

sometimes love is a quiet spoon

because metal scraped against ceramic

is painful to sensitive, half-sleeping ears

sometimes love is trusting

enough to say "hey, this hurts"

what to some might seem foolish or small

and love is listening

finding ways to live more gently

and to need more honestly

and to say

okay

I will try something new

so here is to compostable plastic spoons

kept from a trip to IKEA

they are now a tool of affection

just a small way for me to make life

a little easier to walk through

and every morning

a wordless prayer

over my cereal

sleep well

wake gently

know that you're safe here

4 notes - Posted September 27, 2022

Good Omens Fanfic: The Gospel of Crowley (Chapter 13)

“I asked God about you.”

Crowley’s stomach plunged through the earth and he steeled himself. That is, he tried to steel himself, but could not find much steely within to summon.

“Eh?” he croaked. He cleared his throat. “That so.”

Jesus’ expression was complicated, brow furrowed, mouth twisted somewhere between a weak smile and a pensive frown.

“I’m still trying to figure out the answer. But here’s what I think it is.”

—–

An AU where Crowley and Aziraphale end up a bit more involved in Jesus’ life than they intended. Begins around the Nativity, hits upon various points in Jesus’ childhood and the rest of his life and death. Kids have always been easy for Crowley to interact with, but what about the literal son of God?

So, wow... it’s been ages. This chapter was sitting around waiting for edits for a while and now we can finally share it! It may be a while before the next update since the next chapter is only half written... but we do intend to continue. We love this story a lot.

Preview:

Rain fell heavily on the thirsty earth, and it was too dry to drink it. Huge stretches of rock and brush were submerged in pools of runoff, wide temporary rivers cutting new paths in the dust, and the desert became muted, colors blurred and softened under the dark grey sky.

There was no pressing reason for Crowley to be out here, standing underneath his tree. It certainly didn’t need watering, and its roots were holding well. Still, an inner compass had pulled him ever closer in his restless wanderings along the washed-out road, and the scent of the fruit, gone bright in the rain, had done the rest.

He sat in the lower branches now, listening to the loud patter of fat drops on glossy leaves. It was peaceful. He kept his eyes closed, or watched the movement of the muddy water below. He tried not to remember. At one point, his eyes tracked the crawling of a tiny bedraggled fig wasp, its wings too heavy for flight.

Wet footsteps below brought him out of his trance.

“What are you doing out here?” Crowley asked before he even saw Jesus.

Read it on AO3

5 notes - Posted July 1, 2022

Did not anticipate just how much being trapped at home with covid in the early summer would make me want to be able to go shirtless all the time but it really does. Why do my nipples have to be female presenting.

5 notes - Posted June 2, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

We Don’t Talk About Vector

(Just after Nasch and Rio remember they’re barians, but before remembering that Vector killed them, they ask the other barians if they can trust Vector or not)

We don’t talk about Vector, no, no, no!

We don’t talk about Vector… but

(Gilag and Alito)

We were invading earth

[We were invading earth]

Just possessing humans and we thought things were goin’ just fine

[thought this was our time to shine]

Vector shows up in this middle school getup

[LITTLE PUNK]

You telling this story or am I?

[Sorry bro, my bad, go on.]

Vector tanned Alito’s hide

[that so-called Shingetsu Rei]

I swore I’d carry on his fight

[wish I’d seen it a mile away]

Vector got Yuma on his side

[what a surprise that tricky bastard LIED]

We don’t talk about Vector, no, no, no!

We don’t talk about Vector!

(Durbe)

We’ve gone centuries putting up with his audacity

His bragging and his brashness push our patience past capacity

But I must admit, that in your absence, he’s made plans….

Plans that while elaborate have proved that he’s intelligent

And whate’er his motive is the outcome’s to our benefit

But then again, he is a master at all sleight of hand

Do you understand?

(Mizael)

See the full post

45 notes - Posted April 21, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

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aspiringhorrorauthor · 2 years

Text

GX Month- Reunion

A missing scene from my fanfic aptly titled 'Reunion'. Jaden has returned, just in time for the overseas champions to leave in the morning. Jesse wants a few words.

For @gxmonth

AO3 for GX month: https://archiveofourown.org/works/41403294/chapters/104789304

AO3 for Reunion (the fanfic, not the prompt): https://archiveofourown.org/works/17122073/chapters/40268219

Warnings for this one is panic attacks and PTSD symptoms, same as for Reunion itself

The few hours after Jaden’s return quickly became a blur, of tears and hugs and gratitude to all be safe. Jesse could barely stay focused for it, trying to find his own private space and stay grounded with Ruby’s help, desperately trying to find the appropriate time to ask to search for the stuff he’d left in Jaden’s room before everything had gone down. Yet as minutes turned to hours he was increasingly trying to decide if it was even worth asking, or just leaving to try and get some sleep before they departed in the morning.

Yet eventually people were wanting to go to sleep, with Syrus and Hassleberry both wanting to spend the night in Jaden’s room. Jaden smiled and laughed, but Jesse could see the apprehension in his face, as had Jim, who’d instead insisted that Jaden probably needed some space to breathe, and that if he wanted to sleep alone that night, without roommates who didn’t even live in his dorm keeping him awake, then he should be allowed that. The look of disappointment on his friends faces when he confirmed that he would like a bit of quiet was heartbreaking, but they listened to his wishes, walking him back to his room as if he would leave once more if he left their sight.

Jesse was at the back of the crowd as Jaden disappeared into his room, everyone turning to leave as he pushed his way towards the door, trying to catch it before it closed on him, his foot in the doorway, his hand grabbing the frame. “Uh, Jay? Do you mind if I look for some of my missing stuff? I think I left it in your room,” Jesse called through the gap. The rest of their friends paused, turning to watch as the door reopened, Jaden’s slightly surprised face appearing once more.

“Sure Jesse, you’re welcome here anytime,” Jaden pulled the door open wide, allowing Jesse to walk in, turning back to see Jim and Axel hovering close by.

“I’ll walk back on my own, don’t worry,” Jesse suggested, “you two should get some sleep.”

“Are you sure?” Jim asked. “We don’t mind waiting.”

“I’ll be fine,” Jesse assured him with a smile. “See you in the morning.”

Jaden slowly closed the door on them, leaving just him and Jesse alone in the dorm room once more. It wasn’t as he’d left it, back before they’d been transported to the desert. It was a mess then and now, sure, but Jesse couldn’t help but notice that his stuff had been moved. His spare cards, his clothes, as if someone had been picking them up and putting them down. Jaden opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came for a few minutes. Jesse reached to pick up the cards from the floor.

“How have you been?” He asked, “I didn’t get a chance to ask, what with everyone…”

Jesse swallowed hard; he’d been lying to everyone else, and he knew no-one bought it. What was the point of another see-through lie? “Better, since my family returned. Thanks for keeping them safe.”

“Thanks for trusting them to me, I wouldn’t have gotten back without them,” Jaden gave a small smile, moving to sit on his bunk bed. Jesse continued to gather his things. “You can stay here, if you want. You don’t need to move your things.”

“We leave in the morning,” Jesse explained, feeling the sudden tension in the air. Jaden didn’t know, he hadn’t even suspected… “Jim, Shirley, Axel and I. Adrian didn’t…”

“Adrian didn’t return,” Jaden finished. The half memory of what Yubel had done to Adrian flashed behind his eyes, and Jesse gripped the cards he’d picked up tighter, feeling the card stock dig into his hands. Ruby’s sharp trill suddenly sounded from near his ear, and he finally let out the breath he’d been holding. “Oh! It’s good to see you Ruby!” Jaden greeted her brightly, which was followed by the cheerful trill from Winged Kuriboh.

“And you, Kuriboh, it’s always a pleasure,” Jesse greeted the little fairy with a smile. Ruby tried to reach out and swipe Kuriboh, before jumping to the desk for the two to play more properly. Jaden and Jesse watched them a while, before Jesse turned to the pile of his clothes that had been shoved in a corner, picking them up and trying to fold them neatly, to save himself the job later.

“Jesse,” Jaden started, but quickly faded out, his face screwed up in thought. Jesse paused what he was doing, waiting instead for him to continue. “I wish I came back sooner. I wish we had more time together. After everything that’s happened… It’s not fair. After all that happened, and I only get to see you again tonight and tomorrow? It’s not fair!” Jaden yelled, grabbing at his hair in frustration. Jesse involuntarily stepped back, as if Jaden’s anger had frightened him, and Jaden noticed it too, his face falling, “I didn’t mean to… It’s my fault. This, everything, it’s all my fault…”

“Your fault?” Jesse asked, abandoning the clothes and sitting beside Jaden on his bed instead. “What’s your fault?”

“All of it, Jesse,” Jaden muttered, wrapping his arms around himself. “People died in that world because of me.”

A shiver ran down Jesse’s spine, and a sudden feeling that he was being watched came over him, as he glanced around the room for whoever, or whatever had caused it. But the only souls her besides him and Jaden were Ruby and Kuriboh, who’d abandoned their game as Winged Kuriboh made his way back over to Jaden, to offer comfort. “I’m sure you just did what you had to do to survive…” Jesse offered, the twists in his stomach desperately wanting to talk about anything but this. Anything but what had happened.

Jaden turned his face away from Jesse, hiding it in his hands. “No, I didn’t. I hurt Jim, and Axel, I failed Alexis, and Chazz, and Hassleberry, and Atticus. Zane died trying to help me. No-one had to die, but they all did.”

The blood in Jesse’s veins ran cold. “But they’re not dead,” he whispered, a dread settling in his mind, he’d seen them, talked to them, they were very much alive and still here. Weren’t they?

“Yubel saved them,” Jaden started, but the name made Jesse hiss, leaping from the bed in fear. Jaden’s eyes widened at his reaction.

“Don’t say their name,” Jesse demanded, gripping at the front of his shirt as he tried to recatch the breath that had been shoved out of his lungs.

“Jesse?” Jaden asked, standing to his feet. “What’s the matter?”

He was suddenly feeling lightheaded, and the look on Jaden’s face suggested he probably looked like shit too. Instead he turned back around to his things, trying to gather them all up as quickly as possible. “Jess, talk to me. I know Yubel-” Jesse shuddered again at the name, dropping some of his things with a loud curse, trying to pick them all back up again as quickly as possible, “I know that they hurt you, and your family, you can talk to me, alright?”

Jesse let out a laugh, more out of fear than true humour, as he finally managed to gather everything up. Ruby was watching him with wide, worried eyes. All Jaden saw was him possessed, he didn’t know half of what Yubel had done… and Jesse wasn’t prepared to talk about it either. “I need to go, early morning tomorrow!” Jesse splurted out, trying to make a quick dash towards the door, but Jaden beat him to it.

“Jesse, please,” Jaden asked, an imploring look on his face that Jesse closed his eyes to. “Talk to me, what’s the matter?”

“Nothing, I’m just tired,” Jesse lied, trying to laugh it off, reaching towards the door handle, but Jaden put himself between them. Jesse swallowed hard; he didn’t want to talk about it, he didn’t, he didn’t… “Get out of my way, Jaden,” Jesse warned, trying to reach around him. The look of hurt on Jaden’s face stung, but Jaden complied, stepping aside as Jesse wrenched the door open and ran outside, the cold night air hitting his lungs, and he was glad for it.

So glad to not be trapped anymore.

#yugioh gx #jesse anderson #jaden yuki

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zeravmeta · 2 years

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I only watched i think season 1 of Gx and the movie, and from my half forgotten memories, Judai was this typical shonen protagonist, a more "kid friendly" protagonist compared to Ansem. But reading your mets, it seems like Judai was this psychological experiment on how to systematically break a duelist and what it means to be human. He sounds more like a daganroppa character.

So with all honesty, what is the deal of Judai in his entire arc and what are the misconceptions that abound about him in the fandom?

Thanks for reading! though credit where credit is due the post I think youre talking abt specifically wasnt mine but i have talked abt ygo meta before. Judai's character is really good and a lot of it stems from the fact that he's actually an incredibly sensitive person who crumbles under expectations because he's desperate to be liked. You'll notice that he treats Duel Monsters the game as more of a game than most other characters throughout the entirety of the ygo franchise but GX goes the extra mile to be like "actually these are life and death situations and also the cards are alive and always watcting watching always watching always judging-". Suddenly the game he played to try and connect with others became far more serious and you'll notice that in season 1 we actually get a whole bunch of plots surrounding how judais win streak is actively ruining the lives of other people, and it continues to snowball all the way to season 3 when the whole thing with the dark world starts and the supreme king awakens within him. A whole bunch of duels within GX also go out of their way to remind Judai to not be afraid of losing and that he should enjoy Duel Monsters as a game, which gives him confidence throughout all up until it’s directly his actions that causes the deaths of his friends and makes him give into the darkness inside himself as a way to escape.

There’s also his relationship with Yubel and how they serve as both a parallel to Judai and the other half of his character. Judai as a child could sense duel monster spirits but didn’t really understand that they were alive, and all he knew is that bad things kept happening each time he used Yubel, because Yubel was incredibly protective of Judai and directly caused Judais intense fear of isolation. When Yubel comes back during s2-3, they throw those feelings of isolation directly into his face because they posit to him that despite fearing being discarded, Judai just as easily discarded them away because they were inconvenient (of course there was the Light of Destruction pushing along events to become more extreme).

Judai character arc ultimately I would say is about accepting and overcoming the trials that come but without losing his optimism. We see Judai heavily depressed throughout the series, which is why multiple times throughout we have characters reminding him to have fun with the game that he loves so much. I would heavily recommend watching the rest of GX and doing it with the sub because the dub makes things waaaay more lighthearted and season 4 was never dubbed. Many of Judais misconceptions comes more from how when GX was dubbed it was still in that era of dubbing that straight up changed characters and plot just to make it more digestible and kid friendly. Watching the dub is fun, dont get me wrong, but GX as a narrative should be experienced with the sub.

#zerav meta #zerav responds #yugioh

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pridewhatpride · 3 years

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do you have any gx rivalshipping hcs!! im super curious on your take of them :]

When I saw this ask my immediate reaction was thinking: "Yes, I have an excuse to talk about gx rivalshipping, YES."

So yeah. I love this ship a lot, like a whole damn lot and it's a little hard to explain why, especially when gx has so many open possibilities for romances involving Judai. By which I mean two, really, and Manjoume is not one of them (sadly for me). I am referring to Yubel and Johan, by the way, I refuse to acknowledge Asuka as a love interest.

I'll start off with a bit of fluff headcanons?

Manjoume thinks Winged Kuriboh is really cute and that its friendly and fluffy appearance screams Judai, in a way. But he will never admit it because of what that might imply for him and the Ojamas.

Manjoume is fueled by caffeine and monster, he only really starts to recognise how nice it can be to have a meal because of how much Judai enjoys his food. He tries to sit at the table with him with dumb excuses.

Judai feels a bit guilty for how his actions impacted Manjoume's life, but Manjoume generally tells him that it's fine, it's better this way, that he's never this happy, that the only reason why Judai should maybe feel bad about it is because of his tendency to get overly invested in other people's problems and getting hurt in the process. Judai responds with bear hugs.

Manjoume brags about Judai a lot, actually. "Oh you think that's cool? One time Judai managed to do a backflip, you loser." "Slifer reds suck, but they do have redeeming qualities, by which I mean one of them is actually good."

Judai likes to indulge himself in the thought that he's Manjoume's most trusted, that he's the only one who could ever be allowed to have that many incriminating pictures of him. Because Judai just loves taking candid pictures of Manjoume. He thinks he looks and and cool in every situation, so yeah. A part of him does it because he has an inexplicable fear of forgetting people and the way they look, but he just can't say why that is.

They hang out in silence a lot, but once they start talking they just never stop. You'll find them on the beach at 3 am with a smiling Manjoume listening to Judai go on about how crazy it is that you can fry food in so many different ways and how he once caught a butterfly as a kid and named it Kujaku.

They share their music a lot, so Manjoume's tastes switch from just emo to fast paced rap and the weirdly happy sounding songs about very morbid things Judai listens to (plus emo). Judai starts to enjoy a bit of angry screaming into microphones thanks to Jun. Do they sing along like idiots as they share earphones? Yes. Is Manjoume mesmerised by Judai's singing voice? Also yes.

Judai loves hiking and sometimes invites Manjoume, but because he's a lot weaker and has less stamina, they take it slow. Manjoume keeps cursing himself for being slow and dead weight, but Judai is just happy to have a companion. Admittedly, going slower makes the walks better as he has the time to enjoy the scenery properly. He never teases Jun about his lack of physical training.

Now... I wanted to talk about my general view on the ship, plus headcanons I guess, but this is going to be EVEN LONGER (you are getting more than you asked for, your fault for enabling me, really). For the sake of the sanity of mobile users, I'm adding a cut so nobody has to unwillingly scroll through endless text.

On to the the juice, then. My thoughts on the ship. Manjoume and Judai are, of course, the rivals of the series and, if my thoughts on rivalry weren't clear enough, I am one of those people. It's just really romantic to me. What is very interesting about the two of them specifically is that they are polar opposites in the way the reason why they play, throughout the whole series. Hell, their views end up getting reversed completely: Manjoume goes from "if I don't win I'm gonna have a breakdown breakdown" to "losing is ok, as long as I enjoy the game and am true to myself", while Judai does the 180 from "I really just love playing cards with my friends, who cares about the outcome, it's fun" to "I have card game related trauma, nobody speak to me, games are only an excuse to assert a sort of power scale and honestly fuck that".

Manjoume is sort of the only person in the 'friend group' (he's never actually part of it, sadly, literally only Judai and Fubuki like him) to not idolise Judai, not explicitly. He clearly has an admiration for Judai from the beginning, but he is adamant on expressing it as hatred towards for being better than him. A part of me feels that a lot of his superior act is meant to try and fool himself and Jaden into thinking that he's a worthy rival, because I know for a fact that Manjoume doesn't believe that. He wants it to be true, yes.

What I am trying to get at is that Judai is probably a little confused by the fact that Manjoume doesn't drool all over him like the rest of the school does, but it soon becomes a crutch. Judai is under a lot of pressure because he is the hero who will save everyone and people like to remind him of how much they count on him. Manjoume is in it for Judai. He wants to be acknowledged by him, he wants his recognition and his attention, but he never asks for help or expects Judai to fix his problems for him. Judai is probably thankful for that.

Manjoume is also really scared of being left behind and cast aside as soon as he stops being useful and that's exactly what the writers do to him!!! hooray!, but Judai keeps insisting that he's not a bad guy, that he's fun to be around, that he's competent. Manjoume doesn't really believe all that that much, but Jaden keeps playing him despite his repeated losses and to Jun that's the equivalent of someone kissing his tears away. Manjoume only learns to accept his losses and shortcomings because Judai did it for him first.

So basically Manjoume is the only one who fully sees Judai as a person, while Judai is the only one who is really willing to look past his pretentious facade. I fully believe that Judai was relieved to learn that Manjoume was not just a perfect boy with perfect manners, by the way. They both just love to learn about every imperfection that the other has and silently thinking that they just add to the beauty of the other's character. Will they tease eachother about it? Fuck yes. Do they feel awful when the other tries to fix something about themselves because they pointed it out? Also fuck yes.

They are in a dumb competition against themselves to be better in order to earn the right to be friends with eachother, but because they are fucking dumb they never actually communicate (until they do), so for a long time it's endless pining that is definitely not gay because admittedly Judai just doesn't think that dating is a thing, while Manjoume is straight™, really straight. He has never liked a boy in his life, he's so very fucking straight, I swear.

So Manjoume is a bisexual disaster (and in my headcanon he prefers boys, actually, the Asuka incident is the biggest example of denial™ ever. He prefers Fubuki, fight me over this). The problem is that he never really considered he might be crushing on Judai, but at the same time admitting to maybe liking boys too means that there was more to wanting to stay at DA, to hanging out with Judai's crew despite their mutual dislike, to his continuous playful headlocks and ear pulling. To add onto that, there is probably a certain amount of guilt over having betrayed that bond with Judai by trying to throw away his cards and everything. Judai, on the other hand... is confused at how bothered he is by the public declarations of love, because Manjoume is his rival and rivals are supposed to focus on eachother, not on some girl, no matter how good said girl is at card games.

So maybe they are a bit gay for eachother. And maybe they just want excuses to be together as much as possible. And it's really just the vibe of highschool romance between two people who don't want to admit to caring for one another on a deeper level, but are also weirdly possessive of eachother for no apparent reason. And I think I'll stop here with my gay retelling, but really if you look at the two of them you do see that they do a lot for eachother's characters. It's kind of beautiful, really. They are the two socially inept characters who find comfort in someone being just like them and understanding them as they change and grow up.

I have a lot to say about how that changes once the transfer students come in, but I think I've bored everyone for long enough- as in nobody will read this lol. That's ok. I thank you again for the ask and for allowing me to gush about this ship that is so close to my heart. If anyone ever wants to talk about them, just. Do. Break into my house at night and I still won't mind, I just want to talk about them.

#shut me up #i'm so sorry #i started and i couldn't stop #i also didn't want to be disappointing by giving an half-assed response #i've thought about this ask all night #i still improvised the whole thing and i'm sure you can tell #yugioh #ygo #yugioh gx #ygo gx #gx rivalshipping #manjoume jun #jun manjoume #chazz princeton #yuki judai #judai yuki #jaden yuki

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overobsessedfanboy23 · 2 years

Text

Spirit and Soul Intertwined Chapter 1

Description: A few months after the events of season four, Judai is still traveling around trying to find his place in the world. On his travels, he meets an old friend, causing a rift between him and Yubel.

(Author’s Note: This is the first Yugioh fanfiction I’ve ever written so of course, it’s about my favourite of the shows so far: GX. Since I watched this show in sub, I will be referring to the characters with their original Japanese names. Jaden is Judai, Jesse is Johan, Banner is Daitokuji, etc. I will also be referring to Yubel as a “they” since in their current form, I don’t think they’re male or female and I don’t want to start a fight over their gender.)

Judai’s POV

Bag slung over his back, Judai made his way to the top of the rise, overlooking the rocky landscape stretching out around him. A light breeze whisked his hair around and cooled his skin. Judai took a deep breath. It was so peaceful up here, far from the hotspot for trouble that Duel Academia had been and far from people in general. However, no people also meant no duelists. Judai intended to learn all he could about the duel monster spirits of this world. He couldn’t do that alone. Besides, as nice as this peace was, it would quickly get boring.

The sun was barely peeking out on the edge of the horizon, leaving faint slimmers of pink and orange in the west. Meanwhile, the rest of the sky had gone dark blue. Judai even spotted stars in the dark expanse, beginning to peek out with their dim glow. Sighing, Judai took a step down the rise. He found the slope down, allowing his feet to slide him down the incline without losing his balance. Then he hopped away. Pharaoh, his former teacher’s cat who’d waited at the foot of the hill, padded after Judai with an eager meow.

Judai allowed Pharaoh to brush up against his leg. He smiled. Kneeling on the ground, Judai patted Pharoah’s head. Then he continued walking. It was completely dark by the time Judai had gathered enough wood for a fire.

“Stopping for the night?” A familiar voice asked from his mind.

“Yeah,” Judai nodded as he sat down in the dirt.

He plopped the pile of wood down, bunching it up before he scraped a rock across one of the sticks. A fire lit, hungrily engulfing the woodpile. Judai scooted toward it. Taking his backpack off, he grabbed his food, some pears, out of the bag. Judai looked around. However, besides Pharoah, he was completely alone in the dark night.

“Yubel…” Judai prompted, holding up one of his pears. “You want to come out?”

“You know I don’t eat,” Yubel replied, still not showing themself.

“But you can keep me company,” Judai insisted, taking a bite of the pear.

He heard Yubel let out a sigh. Moments later, a tall shape faded into view beside him. Judai couldn’t help but look his partner up and down, admiring their huge spiked wings, multi-coloured hair, and glowing orange and blue eyes. In their past lives, Yubel had taken this form so they’d be able to protect him. Others claimed this form took away Yubel’s beauty. All Judai could think in response to that was that he had never disagreed more.

Judai smiled. “There’s my favourite duel spirit,” he winked at Yubel.

They smiled, looking away.

“Kuri! Kuri!” A little voice protested.

Something furry brushed against Judai’s cheek. Judai giggled. He looked over his shoulder to see a very cross-looking Winged Kuriboh, squeaking in protest.

“Chill out,” Judai chuckled, gently pushing Winged Kuriboh away. “You’re my favourite too, Winged Kuriboh. Just in a different way.”

“Kuri? Kuri?” Winged Kuriboh tilted his head to the side.

“Don’t worry about it, little buddy,” Judai replied, ruffling the fur on Winged Kuriboh’s head. The monster let out a huff.

“Seems like your little Kuriboh is jealous,” Yubel remarked, ruffling their wings.

“He shouldn’t be,” Judai insisted, scooting closer to them. “There’s enough Judai for the two of you.”

He rested his hand on Yubel’s. They responded by taking Judai’s hand, their fingers intertwining as Yubel held them up.

“Well isn’t that a relief,” Yubel replied with a smirk.

“Yeah…” Judai sighed, getting lost in Yubel’s eyes.

Forcing himself to look away, he reached for his food and started eating as his mind wandered. Judai didn’t know where he’d be without Yubel. Before finding them again, Judai had been so immature and callous, not appreciating the people he surrounded himself with and never taking anything seriously. The circumstances Judai and Yubel had reunited under were of course terrible. Yubel had been so twisted by their time apart and the light of destruction twisting their mind that they’d done horrible things to Judai, taking Johan away and forcing him to watch many of his friends die all around him. Judai wished it hadn’t taken all that for him to realize he couldn’t act like a child forever.

The biggest turning point had come during their duel. Yubel was threatening to destroy the twelve words and Judai was channelling his inner Supreme King power in order to save the world. All he cared about was defeating Yubel. It was the only way to save the twelve worlds from destruction, or so he thought… He wasn’t sure why or how but during the duel, Judai remembered his past life with Yubel, when they had both been humans far in the past. They had been close friends. Close enough that Yubel was willing to go through immense pain changing their body just to protect him. Judai had sworn his love to them then. And he meant it.

Even in the present, he felt his intense devotion toward Yubel in his heart: warming it so much it burned, it ached like a stab wound. When he first felt it, he wanted to keel over and cry out in agony. The idea of ever being separated from Yubel, or of the pain they had been in, some of which Judai had caused, was like that stab wound being filled with blood-sucking thorns. He couldn’t take it anymore. Not caring about what happened to him, Judai fused his soul with Yubel’s to end their torment. It seemed to work. The light of destruction disappeared from Yubel and they would never feel the sorrow of being separated again.

“That’s an odd thing to reminisce about.” Yubel’s voice dragged Judai out of his thoughts.

He gazed at them in alarm. “How did you…?”

Yubel just smiled. “I’m a part of you now, Judai. I feel all of your emotions as if they’re my own, it wasn’t hard to guess what you were remembering.”

“What’s odd about it?” Judai asked, bringing it back around to Yubel’s initial comment. “You changed me for the better. I don’t know who I’d be without you.”

Yubel looked away. “I changed you for the better…” they echoed. “Through all the immense pain I put you through?”

Judai’s heart skipped a beat. “That’s not what I meant. You know I’ve forgiven you for all that, Yubel.”

He scooted closer to them and was alarmed when he noticed tears welling in Yubel’s eyes.

“You didn’t have to…” Yubel’s voice shook. “You would’ve won the duel if you hadn’t… you didn’t have to save me.”

“But… I did.” Judai took Yubel’s hand, pressing his cheek into their shoulder. “Winning some duel would’ve been meaningless if it meant losing you, Yubel. I saved you because I wanted to. Because I love you.”

Yubel pressed against Judai, resting their chin on his head. “What did I do to deserve someone as amazing as you, Judai?” Their voice was hardly more than a murmur.

Judai smiled. “Exist?”

He wasn’t sure if Yubel’s response was a sob or a laugh. It sounded a bit like both. Shifting closer, Yubel rested their hands on Judai’s shoulders, wrapping their wings around him like a huge cocoon of warmth. Judai nuzzled into Yubel’s chest, his arms draped over their shoulders. Yubel rarely took physical form. So Judai wasn’t used to their warm embrace: it was so nice, he felt he could fall asleep like this. Almost as if on cue, Judai let out a yawn.

“Sorry… I guess travelling took a lot out of me,” Judai muttered, pulling away. However, Yubel kept their wings and arms around him.

“Then you should sleep,” Yubel murmured, rubbing the small of Judai’s back.

Judai sighed and swayed forward, completely numb. He regained feeling in his body when he flopped onto Yubel, and with a start, he realized he was laying on top of them. Instead of getting nervous, Judai shifted further into Yubel’s embrace. They wrapped their arms around him, draping their wings over him like a blanket. Judai smiled. This was much nicer than his sleeping bag…

“Goodnight,” Judai murmured, pressing his lips against Yubel’s shoulder.

“Goodnight Judai,” Yubel whispered.

And with that, Judai drifted peacefully off to sleep to the sound of Yubel’s breathing and the crackling fire nearby.

------------------------------------------------------------

“Judai… Judai!”

“Huh? What?” Judai was suddenly stirred awake by Yubel’s voice, sounding urgent. He met Yubel’s gaze. “What’s wrong?”

Yubel moved away, forcing Judai to sit up as he yawned.

“There’s a strange person nearby.”

Judai stiffened. “Where? Are they a duelist?” he asked, looking around wildly.

Yubel pointed behind them. Judai looked over his shoulder and noticed a figure approaching him from a distance. They wore a hood that obscured their face and hair. Jumping to his feet, Judai grabbed his duel disk and charged toward the figure.

“Hey! You!” Judai exclaimed, pointing at them. “What on earth are you doing all the way out here? Who are you?”

The figure didn’t answer with words. Instead, they raised their arm, their duel disk shifting into place for a duel. Judai couldn’t help but smile.

“So I did manage to find a duelist out here…” Judai slipped his duel disk onto his arm. “Well if it’s a duel you want, it’s your duel you’re gonna get!” His duel disk shifted into place.

“Be careful, Judai,” Yubel muttered as they appeared beside him in their spirit form. “We don’t know anything about this duelist. They could be dangerous.”

Judai nodded as he shuffled his deck. His opponent did the same. They both finished shuffling at the same time, grabbing the five cards from the top of their deck and setting the rest in their duel disks. This duelist moved as if they were Judai’s reflection, their movements almost in exact unison.

“My turn, draw!” Judai called as he drew his first card. His eyes lit up. Polymerization! He could use that. He met his opponent’s gaze, his eyes narrowed. “I summon Elemental Heroes Avian and Burstinatrix.”

He placed their cards on the field, watching as the two elemental heroes, one male and one female, appeared on the field in attack mode. Judai held up his next card.

“Then I play the magic card Polymerization to fuse them together creating Flame Wingman.” He placed the card in the spell zone. Avian and Burstinatrix swirled together in a burst of light. When the light faded, Flame Wingman took their place, towering over both Judai and his opponent.

“Nice,” Yubel muttered to Judai.

“Then I place two cards on the field and end my turn.” Judai placed down two cards to protect himself, then gazed at his opponent expectantly.

“My turn…” Judai’s opponent spoke in a familiar voice, nearly knocking him off his feet. Could it be? “Draw!” The opponent slapped a card onto the field. “I summon Amethyst Cat to the field!”

A light purple cat appeared on the field, with a huge purple gem encrusted on its chest.

“Amethyst Cat? But only Johan…” Judai’s eyes widened.

“Amethyst Cat’s effect allows me to halve its attack points to attack you directly!”

The monster charged toward Judai. He held his arms up to shield himself as Amethyst Cat slashed its claws across his chest. It didn’t hurt that much.

Judai let his arms fall, gazing at his opponent with a bright gaze. “Johan?” he asked hopefully.

The opponent smiled. Grabbing his hood, he tore it off his face, revealing a pair of light green eyes and a head of dark blue hair. Judai’s heart lit up.

“Johan!” He wanted to run over there and hug his friend. However, he held his ground.

Johan smiled. “It’s good to see you, Judai.”

Judai was so startled and overjoyed he could barely speak. “W-what are you doing all the way out here? I haven’t seen you since Darkness tried to destroy the world!”

“We can chat later,” Johan replied, holding up another card. “For now, I have a duel to win.”

Judai smirked. “Not if I have anything to say about it, old friend!”

He and Johan both smiled.

(Author’s Note: Yeah I’m not writing whole duels. I have nothing but respect for the people who can but I cannot without losing my mind and spending the rest of my life on this.)

(Author’s Note: Yeah, I wrote some Soulshipping. This is the first Yugioh fanfiction I’ve ever written so of course, it’s about my favourite of the shows so far: GX. Since I watched this show in sub, I will be referring to the characters with their original Japanese names. Jaden is Judai, Jesse is Johan, Banner is Daitokuji, etc. I will also be referring to Yubel as a “they” since in their current form, I don’t think they’re male or female and I don’t want to start a fight over their gender.)

Judai’s POV

“Stopping for the night?” A familiar voice asked from his mind.

“Yeah,” Judai nodded as he sat down in the dirt.

“Yubel…” Judai prompted, holding up one of his pears. “You want to come out?”

“You know I don’t eat,” Yubel replied, still not showing themself.

“But you can keep me company,” Judai insisted, taking a bite of the pear.

Judai smiled. “There’s my favourite duel spirit,” he winked at Yubel.

They smiled, looking away.

“Kuri! Kuri!” A little voice protested.

Something furry brushed against Judai’s cheek. Judai giggled. He looked over his shoulder to see a very cross-looking Winged Kuriboh, squeaking in protest.

“Chill out,” Judai chuckled, gently pushing Winged Kuriboh away. “You’re my favourite too, Winged Kuriboh. Just in a different way.”

“Kuri? Kuri?” Winged Kuriboh tilted his head to the side.

“Don’t worry about it, little buddy,” Judai replied, ruffling the fur on Winged Kuriboh’s head. The monster let out a huff.

“Seems like your little Kuriboh is jealous,” Yubel remarked, ruffling their wings.

“He shouldn’t be,” Judai insisted, scooting closer to them. “There’s enough Judai for the two of you.”

He rested his hand on Yubel’s. They responded by taking Judai’s hand, their fingers intertwining as Yubel held them up.

“Well isn’t that a relief,” Yubel replied with a smirk.

“Yeah…” Judai sighed, getting lost in Yubel’s eyes.

“That’s an odd thing to reminisce about.” Yubel’s voice dragged Judai out of his thoughts.

He gazed at them in alarm. “How did you…?”

Yubel just smiled. “I’m a part of you now, Judai. I feel all of your emotions as if they’re my own, it wasn’t hard to guess what you were remembering.”

“What’s odd about it?” Judai asked, bringing it back around to Yubel’s initial comment. “You changed me for the better. I don’t know who I’d be without you.”

Yubel looked away. “I changed you for the better…” they echoed. “Through all the immense pain I put you through?”

Judai’s heart skipped a beat. “That’s not what I meant. You know I’ve forgiven you for all that, Yubel.”

He scooted closer to them and was alarmed when he noticed tears welling in Yubel’s eyes.

“You didn’t have to…” Yubel’s voice shook. “You would’ve won the duel if you hadn’t… you didn’t have to save me.”

Yubel pressed against Judai, resting their chin on his head. “What did I do to deserve someone as amazing as you, Judai?” Their voice was hardly more than a murmur.

Judai smiled. “Exist?”

“Sorry… I guess travelling took a lot out of me,” Judai muttered, pulling away. However, Yubel kept their wings and arms around him.

“Then you should sleep,” Yubel murmured, rubbing the small of Judai’s back.

“Goodnight,” Judai murmured, pressing his lips against Yubel’s shoulder.

“Goodnight Judai,” Yubel whispered.

And with that, Judai drifted peacefully off to sleep to the sound of Yubel’s breathing and the crackling fire nearby.

------------------------------------------------------------

“Judai… Judai!”

“Huh? What?” Judai was suddenly stirred awake by Yubel’s voice, sounding urgent. He met Yubel’s gaze. “What’s wrong?”

Yubel moved away, forcing Judai to sit up as he yawned.

“There’s a strange person nearby.”

Judai stiffened. “Where? Are they a duelist?” he asked, looking around wildly.

“Hey! You!” Judai exclaimed, pointing at them. “What on earth are you doing all the way out here? Who are you?”

The figure didn’t answer with words. Instead, they raised their arm, their duel disk shifting into place for a duel. Judai couldn’t help but smile.

“Be careful, Judai,” Yubel muttered as they appeared beside him in their spirit form. “We don’t know anything about this duelist. They could be dangerous.”

He placed their cards on the field, watching as the two elemental heroes, one male and one female, appeared on the field in attack mode. Judai held up his next card.

“Nice,” Yubel muttered to Judai.

“Then I place two cards on the field and end my turn.” Judai placed down two cards to protect himself, then gazed at his opponent expectantly.

A light purple cat appeared on the field, with a huge purple gem encrusted on its chest.

“Amethyst Cat? But only Johan…” Judai’s eyes widened.

“Amethyst Cat’s effect allows me to halve its attack points to attack you directly!”

The monster charged toward Judai. He held his arms up to shield himself as Amethyst Cat slashed its claws across his chest. It didn’t hurt that much.

Judai let his arms fall, gazing at his opponent with a bright gaze. “Johan?” he asked hopefully.

The opponent smiled. Grabbing his hood, he tore it off his face, revealing a pair of light green eyes and a head of dark blue hair. Judai’s heart lit up.

“Johan!” He wanted to run over there and hug his friend. However, he held his ground.

Johan smiled. “It’s good to see you, Judai.”

Judai was so startled and overjoyed he could barely speak. “W-what are you doing all the way out here? I haven’t seen you since Darkness tried to destroy the world!”

“We can chat later,” Johan replied, holding up another card. “For now, I have a duel to win.”

Judai smirked. “Not if I have anything to say about it, old friend!”

He and Johan both smiled.

(Author’s Note: Yeah I’m not writing whole duels. I have nothing but respect for the people who can but I cannot without losing my mind and spending the rest of my life on this.)

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seventhdoctor · 1 year

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Reincarnation and Promises

ITP a lot of thoughts related to Soulshipping as I work on this fic, as yelled to my tabletop group who basically know nothing but what I’ve told them about GX but a lot about my love for reincarnation junk.

Just how does Judai relate to his past life? How does that affect his relationship with Yubel?

In their original lives Judai promised Yubel he'd only love them, after Yubel had already voluntarily become a monster dedicated to protecting him. In the present Judai remembers their past lives while Yubel is trying to destroy the universe, tortured into insanity by a combination of his mistake and the Light of Destruction’s corruption, and he instantly flips from "you're evil and deluded and I will stop you at any cost" to "I accept your love (by choosing Super Fusion), you need healing and I will risk my entire existence to help you."

What is he thinking at that moment when he flips? The decision to fuse with Yubel is about taking responsibility, growing up, and redemption as well as - or even more than - a matter of love. But also, there's so many angles to what he’s feeling about those two things, and how much of each factors into exactly why he chooses to metaphorically return Yubel’s love and fuse their souls.

The flashback to their past lives is brief, less than three minutes of episode most of which is exposition, and you don't really get a full sense of just how much Judai connects with his past life beyond the line "I remember... They're me and Yubel in our past lives" before he watches his past self make that defining promise.

How much does he remember? Does he feel like a continuation of his past life in that moment, or like the next version of the young prince? I feel the answer to that question changes the meaning of his decision to fuse their souls together, in essence ensuring they can't be separated again as a gesture of love and/or to take responsibility for how they’ve hurt Yubel. If he feels a sense of continuity with his past self then that decision is a continuation of that promise to love Yubel, and an as-it-should-be reunion between guardian and guarded. If he views his past self as someone connected to but separate from himself, then continuing that promise is more of a decision he takes upon himself to stay connected to someone he still feels tied to - or maybe not. Maybe it’s simply a sense of duty to someone he’s hurt, someone he promised to love in another life and feels obligated to love in the present.

How much responsibility does he feel to uphold the vows of his past self? How much responsibility does he feel to heal someone who's been hurt badly because of his mistakes (which were made because Yubel was attacking his neighbors to begin with)? Is loving Yubel his obligation, his nature, or his choice? Can it be multiple of these things, or even all three?

And on the other end Yubel made their choice long ago, without all those questions about their relation to a past life because their past is their present in ways Judai's is not. If Judai really wanted, he could probably reject everything about his past life and destroy Yubel to save the world. That's the least likely choice (and again, one he implicitly rejects when he chooses Super Fusion immediately after remembering), but he could probably do it. Yubel doesn't have that choice to reject the past or they barely have it, because they were remade entirely for him and both their existence and sense of self still kinda revolve around him.

The exact feelings Judai has about Yubel and the fusion are a matter of interpretation and/or headcanon, and trying to figure out what I think for fic purposes has brought up a lot of fascinating questions about how their past bears upon the present and the unevenness of Judai’s reincarnation combined with Yubel’s more constant nature. It’s definitely making some scenes both really fun, and also hard to finish before I settle my own thoughts here.

#soulshipping #yubel #judai yuki #yugioh gx #yugioh series #text #man is anyone even gonna see this #i don't get how tumblr tag visibility works anymore #feels like it works different from when i was emilposting in 2010 #oh well i just wanna yell #sorry to the one person on my tumblr who's also in my tabletop group who's gonna see this twice #oops #anyway i love how complicated this relationship can be if you look at it from certain angles #i love them being cute #but also i love them being two trashfires turned into one bigger more mature trashfire #with messy feelings and half faults #and they still choose to love each other #i've fallen deep into this hole again...

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the-evil-authoress · 3 years

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GX Month Day 1: “Hero Signal”

We’re kicking things off with everyone’s favorite hero Judai/Jaden Yuki’s birthday! Show the fluffy boi some love!

This chaos ran away from me. But I’m quite happy with it.

Jaden’s knee bounces, one eye on the game in his hands, the other on his phone. He’s played this game a hundred times before so he doesn’t really need to pay full attention unless it’s the boss fight. His duffle bag is already packed. He’s ready this time, he’s waiting, he’s...excited? That’s a new concept. He can’t remember the last time he’d been excited for his birthday. But last year his friends had gone out of their way to surprise him, so-

Maybe he’s expecting too much.

No, no, we’re trying to be positive here!

Jaden shakes his head, misses the timing for a jump, and has to start the virtual obstacle course over. Today’s gonna be a good day. Clutching the console tighter, Jaden tries to ignore the thick, slimy feeling bubbling up his chest.

His phone vibrates and he dives for it.

[come meet me at central park]

Yes! He snaps the GameBoy shut without saving, chucks it in his bag as he shoulders it, and runs for the door. The park, huh? Maybe he’s not supposed to bring his stuff? Whatever, won’t be their first impromptu sleepover.

He snaps to a halt at the sight of his mother slipping her shoes off at the genkan. “Mom?”

She looks up as if startled to see him. “Judai?”

And there goes his good mood. His mother eyes the bag on his shoulder, what would have been a pleasant but entirely fake smile crinkling into a frown.

“I’m heading out,” he grumbles as he walks past her to get his own shoes.

“I got off early today so I thought we could go get a cake.” Ugh, she sounds so damnably confused, like really? What did you expect?

“I’m heading out!” Jaden snaps, shoving his shoes on, and throws himself out the door before she can get another word in edgewise. It slams behind him. He takes off running.

Geez. Breathing through his teeth, he tugs on his hair. No one even calls him that anymore. ‘Cept that freaking voice in his dreams-

Nope. Not thinking about that. Today’s gonna be a good day.

Winged Kuriboh trills by his head but it’s Neos’ voice that startles him. “She seemed like she was making an effort.”

“Too little, too late.” Jaden huffs and steadfastly plows forward to the train station and out of their middle of nowhere suburb. “I’ve already got plans.” He tightens his grip on the bag strap. And he’d much rather spend the day with people who actually know him and what he likes. He cringes in delight at the memory of the mountain of presents from last year. Wonder what they got him this time?

The train ride is dull like usual; Jaden sticks himself in a corner and plays on his GameBoy until Kuriboh alerts him to their stop. Then the console is shoved back in his bag as he shoulders it and shoves his way through the other passengers toward freedom. The park is a ten minute walk from there, and his friends are conspicuously easy to spot.

There’s a gazebo deck out in balloons and streamers and one of those shiny fucking rainbow “Happy Birthday” signs with his name. Sweet Neo Space, Jaden wants to hide in a trash can like Syrus did at the tournament.

“I can’t.” Jaden spins on his heel, hoping no one has spotted him yet. Sparkman actually goes out of his way to grab Jaden’s shoulders and spin him back around, and Jaden lets him despite the fact he could easily break out of the ghostly hold. “Alright, alright. Gods, my friends are embarrassing.”

As if on cue, someone must have noticed him because a chorus of voices call out.

“Jaden!”

“Jaden, over here!”

Yeah, like he hadn’t already seen the giant sign announcing his birthday to the world. That had to be Atticus’s idea. Walking up to the gazebo is an odd cocktail of emotions, somewhere between please let me die and I will die happy. A mountain of presents sit on the table. It’s...it’s bigger than last year?

“You look like you’re about to faint,” Bastion says, already offering an arm to steady Jaden.

“I might,” Jaden squeaks, a rare moment of vulnerability that is both terrifying and insanely freeing. “You guys... This is a lot.”

“And nothing less for such a special day!” Atticus throws his arms out in a grand display and Jaden winces with a strained laugh.

“A little too much,” he admits.

Atticus’s expression falls into confusion as Christina snorts and Alexis gives her brother a critical look. “I told you his name on the banner was too much.” Jaden nods in silent agreement, not daring to meet their eyes. Bastion’s arm remains a comforting support around his shoulders.

As extravagant as Atticus likes to act, he actually stops to consider this before shrugging. “I’ll keep that in mind then. I guess I do get carried away.” Scratching the back of his head, he smiles sheepishly.

“Oh you think?” Chazz scoffs. “Should have seen what my party looked like.”

Jaden latches onto the ability to swerve the conversation away from himself. “Oh, yeah! Sorry I missed that.”

“You weren’t even invited!” Chazz snaps. “That dolt went and invited himself!”

“You had fun and you know it,” Atticus says, undeterred.

“I have photo evidence,” Syrus says with a smug grin from where he sits on a table bench, and Chazz snaps to gape at him in horror.

“Delete them! Delete them, you little rat!”

“Make me!” Syrus challenges, deftly dodging Chazz’s lunge and darting behind Hassleberry, a solid wall of muscle who Chazz still tries to lunge around.

“Oi! Who said you could drag me into this?!” Hasselberry shoves both of them away as Chazz flails his arms uselessly at Syrus.

Snickering, Jaden moves away from Basation to drop his bag under the bench next to Christina as the game of chase continues. “You brought your bag.”

“Crashing at your place after this,” Jaden says. A statement not a question, and Christina sends him a look but thankfully doesn’t ask.

A screech pulls their attention to Chazz awkwardly dangling from the gazebo railing after what must have been an epic nosedive. “You did that on purpose!” he screams at a smug Syrus, and Jaden’s hands fly to his mouth as the laugh spills out of him.

“Think twice about chasing me next time!”

Just damn his friends are insane and Jaden loves it. Atticus and Bastion take pity on Chazz and help him back into the gazebo, while Jaden cautiously looks over the spread on the table. One side is the pile of colorful boxes, a giant cake with whip cream and strawberries on the other, and Jaden baulks at the figure with a book in his hand at the far end of the table.

“Zane??”

Without looking up, Zane points directly at Atticus and flips the page in his book. “Don’t get used to this.”

“Suuuure,” Christina drawls with one of those I know something you don’t want me to smiles. Ever the king of poker faces, Zane doesn’t react. He doesn't even react to Atticus dropping a party hat on his head on his way to the-

That’s a deep fryer. That’s a deep fucking fryer that Atticus pulls a fresh batch of fried shrimp out of. “Atticus,” Jaden croaks. “I love you but I hate you.”

“Awww, I love you too Jaden!” Atticus doesn’t miss a beat and Jaden slumps onto the bench to bury his face in his arms. These people will be the death of him!

And he will still die happy.

“I think we broke him.” Syrus pokes his shoulder.

“Just leave him alone for a bit.” That’s Alexis’ voice, a brief but firm hand on his shoulder to remind him she’s there if he needs her but will give him space. It’s a little terrifying how well she’s come to know him, that they all have really; Jaden can’t remember ever making the decision to let them get so close. But maybe it’s a good thing, Jaden thinks, as Atticus passes out plates of the best fried shrimp Jaden has ever tasted, he and Bastion eagerly exchange deck theories, and the mountain of presents turns out to be mostly snacks, new video games, and useful but themed items rather than more stuff that will collect dust in his room. The E-Hero throw blanket and the Winged Kuriboh pillow are coming with him to the dorm.

[I’m sorry I couldn’t make it! Happy birthday, Jaden!!! Send pictures!] Chumley texts part way into the festivities with a liberal amount of heart and party popper emojis, and Jaden has to take another moment to recollect himself.

“I tried to get Aster out here too, but the guy said he was too busy.” Atticus holds his hands aloft and shakes his head like this is such a tragedy.

“Hey, I’m surprised you got Zane in on this.” Jaden looks up from the pillow of his arms. He’s starting to tire in the high energy atmosphere but he doesn’t want to leave yet. Maybe his friends won’t care if he just zens for a bit? They didn’t seem to notice last time when he quietly retreated to the side with Christina, but they’d also been screaming over a board game.

“I had the day off anyway,” Zane says, still not looking up, and no one bothers him for not engaging. Then again, Zane has never been much for engaging in anything.

“Just keep pretending you don’t care.” Atticus ruffles Zane’s hair and Jaden sniggers at the way Zane’s poker face cracks the tiniest bit.

Syrus and Hassleberry start arguing over who’s gift Jaden liked better - Jaden refuses to choose much to their dismay - Christina and Alexis seem to be talking about a show they’re both into, and Chazz and Bastion are debating the existence of other realities - really, Chazz? They already know those exist. They’ve been to one.

Jaden smiles, hidden by his arm, left to chill in peace and interact as he pleases.

Yeah, this is a good thing.

Maybe us against the world doesn’t have to just be the two of them anymore.

#gxmonth2021 #ygogx #ygo gx #yugioh gx #yugiohgx #yu gi oh gx #jaden yuki #syrus truesdale #alexis rhodes #chazz princeton #atticus rhodes #zane truesdale #tyranno hassleberry #bastion misawa

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seqka711 · 3 years

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Ranking the six main boy/girl ships in Yu-Gi-Oh from best to worst!

Not all main girl ships are created equally, I'm afraid. Let's take a look at each ship and see what's up! (Except Sevens because as I mentioned in a previous post, I am way too far behind to comment on anything in that show.)

First up is Anzu and Yugi! And YES I do ship them! However, I don't ship Atem and Anzu. Anzu was friends with Yugi, and started to see him in a different light when Atem started showing up. However, those changing feelings also started to influence her feelings about Yugi as well. We saw that in Duelist Kingdom. Then in season 2 when she realizes they're two separate people, she gets really confused! Anzu doesn't know how to feel anymore! Then Atem and Yugi are both playing wingman for each other, so that's not helping matters. I don't really ship Atem and Anzu because Atem just doesn't seem super interested in their date. I know he had other things on his mind, but if they wanted me to ship it, now was the time to show off some chemistry and they didn't.

We saw in GX that Yugi grows up to look just like Atem and he also grows more confident over the course of the series. After the end of Duel Monsters, I think they're both too hurt by Atem's passing to be digging on each other. But, distance makes the heart grow fonder, and I feel like she's gonna come back from the states and have some heart-pounding feelings when she sees him again. And Yugi's feelings didn't change, they were just put on the back burner. So hopefully when they meet back up, sparks are gonna fly! At least, I hope so. <3

Next up is Asuka and Judai! When I watched their first duel, I was 100% on board with this ship. They were cute, they had great banter, it was a fair fight. I loved it! But over the course of the series, I started losing interest in their relationship, fast. By the end of season 2 I was pretty convinced they had abandoned Asuka x Judai for Asuka x Manjoume, and honestly, I was 100% on board with that, I love a good romcom couple and those two have dysfunctional romcom energy. Plus they had evil power couple vibes when they were running the Society of Light together, so I thought for sure they were gonna have Manjoume and Asuka be better friends post possession.

Then season 3 came a long and I was like "woah, they DID do that on purpose! I was right!" when we saw the Judai x Johan x Yubel love triangle they spent the entire season on. Asuka and Manjoume were of course relegated to background characters, as was everyone who wasn't a transfer student. And then the series ended with a pretty definitive Judai x Yubel ending and I was like "cool I like it".

But then season 4 made me question everything by making it clear that Asuka was still crushing on Judai?!?! Uhhh.... what? You haven't mentioned this crush in OVER TWO YEARS ASUKA. You've both changed so much! I thought the whole point was "she had a fleeting crush on him in year 1, but people change and so do our feelings"! I thought they had her fall out of love with him on purpose!! You're telling me the writers just wanted us to ASSUME she was still in love with him this whole time?!

I honestly love the whole "had a crush on him, now that I know him better, he's an amazing friend but I don't like him that way anymore" dynamic and they RUINED IT so bad. And for what? To say "well they fought the whole time, but now look! They can tag duel together!" Well, jokes on them, because a few episodes later Judai and Johan will show off some of the tightest teamwork in the show and I'll have to throw Asuka x Judai in the trash. </3`

Yusei x Aki!!!!!! AHHHHHH I LOVE THEM. Their first duel is very romantic in my opinion. Yusei lives to help people, and it's actually a flaw of his that he'll help people no matter the cost. Usually that's sort of a "who cares" flaw in a protagonist, but for Yusei, it adds a lot of depth to his character. The reason he helps people even at the cost of himself is because he feels enormously guilty due to his parents' involvement in Zero Reverse, and he feels like he owes the world (but especially Satellite) everything. Yusei tried to go to jail in Kiryu's stead, but failed, and I think that only compounded his guilt even more.

Then, when Yusei sees the chance to help Aki, he does it. He's scared of her, but he rallies his courage to face her so that he can help her. And it's only natural that Aki would fall hopelessly in love with him after he continually put himself at risk over and over again JUST to help her. I love the episode where she rescues him from being kidnapped and then accompanies him on a riding duel. I think it hits me harder because it reminds me of how much I want to drive a motorcycle but can't because of reasons I won't go into. But part of her desire to learn to riding duel is because she wants to feel the same things Yusei feels. And that's so cute!

Unfortunately, I do have a certain headcanon that gets in the way of my shipping desires. I won't get into the whole headcanon, but I think Yusei might have ended up time travelling back in time to fix Zero Reverse and prevent Zone's future. And Aki wouldn't have come with him because we see her in the flashforward. Yusei is still giving her strength though. And I like to think that maybe a much older Yusei was able to help a much younger Aki control her powers and not enter a cult in the new timeline. And if my headcanon isn't true, then GET MARRIED AND HAVE BABIES GUYS. <3

On the one hand, I love Kotori x Yuma. They’re so adorable! Not only is Kotori surprisingly self-aware of her crush (usually the YGO girls love to deny it) but Yuma clearly treats her differently from the rest of his friends, even though he doesn’t know why (yet). Kotori’s confession at the end of the show is SO CUTE AND ADORABLE and Yuma accepts and I love it!

But… I can’t love it as much as I WANT to love it. Kotori’s character, especially in Zexal II is kind of boring. I liked her a lot in Zexal I actually. I thought it was fine to have a character not duel as long as she was doing something else. In season 1 she occasionally gets shit done. Or she’s there for comic relief like when she’s riding the duel coaster. Or arguing with Orbital 7. It wasn’t much, but it was something. In season 2, she’s a total non-entity. I thought the duel where she gets possessed was very funny, but I almost wish that her getting possessed by a Barian was played for drama rather than laughs.

I think what could have been cool is either a) after she can hear Astral, her and Astral team up for a duel or b) when watching Yuma she started to memorize his strategies. Or both. Or neither, just get this girl something to do BESIDES watch Yuma! In the end, my love for how adorable these two are is always somewhat soured by Kotori’s squandered potential. <3

Speaking of squandered potential, Yuzu and Yuya are next on the list. I love these two A TON! I’ll be perfectly honest and admit my biases here, I am NOT the biggest fan of Arc-V. The show had a lot of problems, and I’m harsher on it than most.

But one thing I really did like about the beginning of the show was Yuzu! She was independent, driven and her dueling was getting better as the show progressed. Just like Kotori, she became a non-entity in the latter seasons. However, I ship Yuya x Yuzu more than I ship Yuma x Kotori because Yuya was always keeping Yuzu in mind during the latter seasons. So it still felt like the ship was in focus, whereas with Kotori x Yuma, the ship kind of disappeared since more important things were going on. For Yuya, nothing was more important than getting Yuzu back, so really I had no choice BUT to ship it. How could I not? It was so sweet! She was his whole world! I wish we got more scenes with the two of them together though. Them never tag dueling is a crime against humanity. Also its total BS that only Yuya and Yuzu got to come back, but whatever, I guess. I was happy that the two of them reunited and even HAPPIER that the show was finally over. <3

Last and basically least, Yusaku x Aoi. Or Playmaker x Blue Maiden. I’ll be honest, I don’t ship this at all. The show doesn’t go through any effort to get us invested in their so-called “relationship” and if I had watched this show on its own, unaware of the series’ tropes, I wouldn’t have assumed they were a “ship” at all. With Judai x Asuka, I actually liked the fake out (at least until S4 when I wondered whether or not the fake out was actually on purpose or if the writers are just morons) but with Yusaku x Aoi I get frustrated because it wouldn’t have been that hard to GIVE them some chemistry. They’re both interesting characters, and I think Aoi and Yusaku could have had an interesting dynamic if Aoi had learned Playmaker’s identity a lot sooner.

What I think the show should have done was have Aoi discover Playmaker and Soulburner’s identity at the same time they discovered each other. Then have Aqua come into the fold a lot earlier. Trios are popular in fiction for a reason, and I think Yusaku, Takeru and Aoi would have been an excellent trio. Specifically, with both Yusaku and Aoi being so reserved, their relationship would be very understated. But that’s not a bad thing. It just means that the writers would have to put more focus on the little things. Like, maybe after a while of being friends, Yusaku sits next to her in class. That would be a small thing for other people, but for those two, that’s huge! I could also see there being a fun episode where Ai tries to trick them into going on a date but fails spectacularly. The two of them end up spending time together to foil the plan. That could be really cute! LITERALLY ANYTHING is better than NOTHING.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I don’t ship this because the writers thought they could get me to ship it just by having boy meets girl and then having them shake hands over a hundred episodes later. And no. I refuse. I need a LITTLE more than that, please and thank you. </3

That was a very long post! All in all, 4/6 ain’t bad at all! Or maybe it’s more like a 3.5 since I only gave Kotori and Yuma a small heart? It doesn’t really matter, I’m a multishipper. At my heart and soul, I’ll ship anything. Like I said I don’t ship Judai and Asuka, but I totally have shippy fanart of them on my phone, lol. It’s more like… which of these ships would I defend in court and which ships do I only like because I’m trash that’ll ship anything?

Oh, I guess I did title this as a ranking... Well, I'm sure you can figure out my most and least favourites by how much I used caps lock, so it should be fine.

Give me ANY Yu-Gi-Oh ship (straight, gay or in between) and I’ll dissect it like I did these six.

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