#zexals getting so good

[tubbytarchia]

My very not so condensed overview as to why Mizakai is such a nuanced #deep Yugioh pairing (AKA Mizakai propaganda)

Mizakai is really fucking good and I need everyone to understand this

If anyone out there is on the fence about Mizakai please allow me to convince you to the best of my ability

Right off the bat, Mizael is supposed to be fighting for the Barian World yet he focuses on his rivalry with Kaito instead from their first encounter, and why was Kaito there anyway? An average viewer might say it was because they're both Galaxy-Eyes users but WRONG it was Mizael's homosexual pull. Shark was literally rearing up to duel Mizael when Yuma no longer could but then Kaito flew in like "no, me". And let me remind you how Zexal I ended: Kaito proclaimed that he had no reason to duel once Haruto was safe - he only ever dueled for him - to fight, while Yuma taught him how to duel for fun. And Kaito's first proper appearance in Zexal II where he duels is the episode he turns up to face some gay sassy blond when he didn't need to. So a bunch of homosexual banter, bla bla, and at the very end before their duel can conclude, as the last thing, Mizael gives Kaito his name

What happens the next time they meet? Kaito calls out his name <3

Anyway Sargasso time!!! All the Barians put into effect a card that causes damage to every player, but they also each have a card to protect themselves from said damage. Mizael however doesn't use it, because he wants an even fighting ground with Kaito. Later, when they observe Yuma having an epic 13yo breakdown for awhile, at some point Kaito decides 'that's enough of that' and instead asks Mizael "where are you looking?" (ep 98) like ok sir. Don't forget that Kaito and Yuma are literally friends too but this ain't about Yuma!! He can deal with this extremely traumatizing event on his own, Kaito's given him enough encouragement already

So Mizael is just soooo down bad and so desperate to just finish ONE singular duel with Kaito and is doing everything he can to make that happen. So naturally after killing 2 children, an autism creature and Kaito's ex, he goes to the Moon to duel Kaito because this matter simply can't wait. But he had the right idea because this is just the right place to duel anyway, and tension is significantly stronger in space than it is on Earth!

Que Kaito telling Mizael of his past as Mizael struggles to come to terms with it. As he is conflicted though, Kaito sees right through him and understands him better than he himself could. All this time Mizael was seeking to duel Kaito to prove that he's the real dragon tamer, when in this duel, as Kaito is dying, he without hesitation declares Mizael the true dragon tamer without Mizael having to beat him, or before the duel even concludes (which Mizael simply cannot fathom). And as practically a dying wish, Kaito asks "Mizael, if we were to meet again, wouldn't you tell me, what happened to you?" before he makes the finishing blow and yet, kind of reverses the odds as he ends up dying instead of Mizael despite every other duel ending in the death of the person that lost. Kaito in his dying moments breathed so much wind into Mizael's wings for him to "keep fighting for what you believe in".

But what does Mizael believe in? Well, Kaito was teaching him to believe in people just as he had been taught to. Mizael might have been the true dragon tamer, but in his pursuit trusted no one but dragons. He was raised by a dragon before his people failed him, and seeing as they had, Tachyon then protected Mizael from any further evil of mankind. As Tachyon can seal up into a weird bento box, seemingly shielding itself in the process, it shielded Mizael. How could Mizael ever accept that Tachyon was his curse? But Tachyon had been cursed by Don, just as Mizael had. No matter what they fought for then as a result, they stuck together of their own beliefs. But what made Tachyon Mizael's curse was that it stopped Mizael from moving on from the past. Even as time passed (and even if Barians don't age), Mizael's mindset never changed until Kaito came in to reap him of this shield that Mizael had put up. With Tachyon's effect of rewinding time, Mizael hoped to change the past, but Kaito showed him a future, thus removing his curse

Kaito taught Mizael that he was (or even is) human, a fact that Mizael does not want to accept one bit, literally shown visually as Mizael is forced into his human form, in rage then transforms back into his Barian form, only to be reduced back to his human form by the end anyway. And note that he STAYS in this form, he doesn't change back again!! Which is especially driven home when you see Nasch literally right there, Mizael's last surviving comrade, and yet he stays in his human form, as if to show that he is paving his own path now. And he is, because he's free of his curse. He's technically still a Barian but in a metaphorical sense, his curse has been lifted thanks to Kaito. Mizael was still fighting for the Barian World even if his focus shifted to some blondie, but in his final duel, he isn't dueling for the Barians, he's only dueling for himself. He gives it his very best shot to defeat Don on his own terms and, you know, despite the bullshit that Don pulls, Mizael doesn't look all that upset to die. I think that even as he was dying, he had found some fulfilment and was content to leave the rest to Nasch and Yuma

And speaking of Yuma - in his dying breaths, Kaito bestows Numeron Dragon onto Mizael (And don't forget that character A giving character B their card is basically a marriage proposal in Yugioh. Even within Zexal, think Yuma/Trey and Yuma/Shark among other instances). What does Mizael then do? He bestows the card on Yuma - The person who had taught Kaito to believe in people, just as Kaito had now taught Mizael. Sometimes Zexal is so beautiful in how it comes full circle, it makes me want to cry, and Mizakai comes in SUCH a circle it is INSANE.

When Kaito had nothing to defend anymore, he lost his reason to duel - but he refused to let Mizael lose his reason, even as Mizael had lost everyone except for Nasch, and so Mizael found a reason to duel (by virtue of finding what he really believed in)

I couldn't find a better place to put this but also just how visually beautifully tragic it is that Mizael, who can't for the love of him stop yapping, in his endless stubbornness, cannot bring himself to say anything as Kaito dies right before him with a smile on his face. All Mizael can do then is cry

So of course Mizakai would be a goldmine in a post-zexal scenario too. I'm gonna yap about more headcanons rather than canon stuff but bear with me

Two characters mending together is always such good hurt/comfort shit but ohhh my god Mizakai... Compare Mizael's and Kaito's traumas and imagine how they would handle them in one another's presence. Mizael would probably project an immense amount of his frustration onto Kaito subconsciously or otherwise, but with how understanding Kaito was, his patience to deal with it must be limitless. Mizael seeks the Kaito that would challenge him - just as Kaito would challenge him to duels in Zexal II, he wants Kaito to challenge what he says, and it would take time for him to adjust to the fact that Kaito isn't some miracle noble being - he's human just like Mizael, as selfless and self-sacrificing as he is, and what he did or does for Mizael is from this tangible human care - something Mizael needs time to come to grips with, as he's still new to this whole "being human (again)" thing. Another wonderful place to bring up the Galaxy-Eyes', as Mizael is just as "noble" as Kaito. He always fought for what he believed in but he got lost along the way with the cursed Tachyon, whereas Kaito chose Photon (who was always pure and never cursed) to fight alongside him (even if he acted somewhat selfishly in taking people's souls etc, he was doing it for someone he loved) (harkening back to the idea of Kaito freeing Mizael from his curse (and the idea that Mizael's curse was his own personal dilemma, not the fact that he was a Barian, even if that was the case literally speaking)). In the end they both had their Galaxy-Eyes' to ensure that they were never truly fighting alone, even with Don's curse in Mizael's case. Just as they valued an even fighting ground in duels, Kaito wants to even it now too to stop Mizael from putting him up on a pedestal to such a degree that it frustrates him, because they're really not so different

Anyway Kaito is a sickly little victorian man, seeing how bad of a state he was in all throughout Zexal and especially by the Moon duel. You could argue that the Numeron Code is perfect and would bring everyone back in a perfect state, but I say there is no perfection, nothing is ever "perfect", as everything is always in motion and changing (but that's getting too semantic and philosophical (but then, what is Yugioh if not that?)). If the Numeron Code really did bring everything back "perfectly", wouldn't it erase the character's traumas and stuff too, instead of just bringing them back to good physical health? So my point is, Kaito is still a sickly little victorian man, but fighting is all he knows. This plays into why he went out to duel Mizael as well - it's... all he knows!! He needs to fight and if there's nothing to fight then he works. Just as he was denied rest or nourishment in his training and number hunting, he is hardwired to deny those things to himself. But now imagine how it makes Mizael feel, when he sees Kaito tired or even fainted. He absolutely cannot allow Kaito to die again (even if Kaito is sure that this photon illness aint gonna get the best of him), because he already struggles to forgive himself for what he did.

Kaito doesn't know all of his past, yet it damn near feels like he knows everything about Mizael, and did everything for him, even arguably dying in Mizael's stead. What else would Mizael want to do but to return the favor? To want to learn about Kaito and to be able to understand his troubles, and not only help care for him physically but also help him deal with past trauma once he begins to get over his own. Mizael, who is so deeply emotional and vocal practically forces his troubles upon Kaito, but as he starts to figure himself out, he convinces Kaito to talk to him, and shows him that it's okay for him to be emotional. Because Kaito very much suppresses his emotions and would rather bury his troubles at the back of his mind rather than deal with them healthily. He's much more prone to making quick easy decisions and adjustments for the sake of others, like for example forgiving his father because it's easier than not, even though he has a lot of complicated feelings that he just refuses to dwell on

Basically they switch roles lol and there's just something really beautiful and poetic about that. Even if that way, Mizael ends up adopting this selfless patience that so greatly frustrated him about Kaito in the beginning

Kaito had never once stopped fighting for the people he loved, until Mizael came around and Kaito made the choice of his own volition to face him. But when did anyone really dedicate themselves to Kaito that same way? Well, Mizael sure would!! And Kaito likes how tangible Mizael makes him feel through affirmation and touch - grounded in the reality that he himself seems to be at a disconnect with, the same reality that he brought Mizael to. He reaped Mizael of his shield and basically forced him into this new ironically alien world, but he was here for Mizael to land safely, and Mizael wants to be there to help him stay grounded. If Kaito needed a friendly face in Heartland Tower to make it bearable to even still be there, or if he needed someone to give him a reality check mid breakdown, or if he needed someone to bring him coffee and carry him to bed, then Mizael would be that someone

In conclusion:

#zexal writers accidentally popped off so hard with mizakai #mizakai #zexal #mizael #kaito tenjo #galaxymastershipping #Im a liker of most ships btw like stuff like chris x kaito is so good and valid too. but #the more I think about mizakai the more insane I become #mizakai in particular for some reason is just so insanely. what the fuck. what?what the fuck how did they do this #insane #Im so ill #my brain is actively being gnawed away at #I had like no good screenshots at hand to visualize this post so you get memes only

[dualumina]

So we've yet to get through the entire SotO pt 2 story but we had a dream of what the rest of the Nayos map will look like (we have explored the starting zone for the record):

You know that general aesthetic of man-made sci-fi space structures? Like the buildings seen in the Alien movies or what you might see in the Ratchet and Clank games?

Okay picture that, but covered in the Kryptis flesh stuff. Now that's the main base.

You're given a special action to let you short range teleport between platforms that lead up to this base, similar to the mechanist teleport.

The final step to actually reach the base is riding on top of a flying Kryptis centipede thing about the length of two school buses. Now that you're successfully at the base, this is where the interesting stuff happens.

You get a cutscene with Peitha and the Commander, and she explains that, as you currently are, you can't enter in order to complete the mission (it wasn't clear if the air inside the building was too thick for you to breathe it, or like the security mechanisms wouldn't let you pass for not being Kryptis/Kryptis royalty, or whatever).

So what is the solution that Peitha suggests? Oh, you know, the usual, she just merges her body with yours and you're now wearing a full body version of the Kryptis armour set (to visually show that fact she has indeed merged with you, in case you forgot)

But ya know what, it works! You step inside, there's even more flesh stuff covering walls and things, some chests you can loot. Very dark and creepy vibes, but you probably stopped paying attention the moment you read the part of Peitha merging her body with yours, didn't you.

#guild wars 2 #gw2 #gw2 peitha #peitha #dreams #Hi Beans. You have exactly 12 hours to find this post before we're yeeting this at your face #Good luck. #Oh not with finding this post; we mean functioning the rest of your day with that mental imagery lmao #if you know what zexal morph is from Yugioh aka the whole body merge thing it worked kind of similar to that #not the same visuals and -100% lack of card abilities but the idea you get themed armor + being able to hear each other's thoughts/emotions #but you can already do that with Peitha normally so the big new thing was really the armour if we're being honest

[ojamayellow]

i really want to talk about my tf fan verse but i'm worried like, despite the fact transformers media changes things up all the time? what if someone doesn't like the unique stuff ive written up :(

#kit.txt #my....wheeljack situation is peculiar. dw hes still a mad scientist! but hes missing for a portion. also due to stupid miscommunications... #he and ratchet have a divorce. sorta. #also lickety split main cast because i said so and adore her design. #(mostly the whole wj missing thing its. he gets kinda fucked up. he'll be fine in the end ill never let him die) #no context fan verse spoilers: that image of iii arclight from ygo zexal with the stripes on his skin #this makes no sense to anyone except me #OPTIMUS PRIME IS A FIRE TRUCK AGAIN BTW. also skystar wlw evil scientists + divorce #no one will read or question me abt this. good day

[thesilverlock]

if you could, how would you flesh astral and mist out as characters? especially since they sort of got the short end of the stick in canon, especially mist

HOOOOOOOOO BOY. Lol. I am apologizing now because I know this is long, and I am sorry. <3

I also apologize for the ramble style of this but I have no other way to articulate thoughts at this second --- agshdjk

1.) Let Astral have a relationship outside of Yuma. I adore the sunshine boy plenty, but good grief he can be a blackhole of a main character.

(Even things like the Zexal morph? He had predominant control, and Astral was a glorified voice in his head. And, this could be inaccurate, but I remember it even being to a point were people lowkey treated Z forms with the vibe as if they just?? Were Yuma?? Maybe that’s more a fanon thing I am misremembering cause I haven’t watched Z1 in a spin, but you get the gist)

Though I know the central issue is that Astral’s character was written in a poorly handled way for what was supposed to be and advertised as the Secondary Main.

Astral was reduced to being the “ghost duelist” for nigh the entirety of the series. They forced him to not be able to really get to know anyone else. Yuma alone could interact with him, see or talk to him. He had no development that wasn’t attached to Yuma, and even with Yuma his development got still snuffed or overshadowed a lot.

There was even some plot device with the pendant having some invisible or implied tether? So Astral couldn’t physically remove himself from a certain radius to the pendant and/or Yuma -

(mentioned in that filler montage episode where Kite keeps freezing time to check all the places the two have dueled, but then again, an earlier episode where Yuma lost the key and reminisced about his dad also maybe contradicts this, so idfk)

Anyway - That contributed a lot to Astral’s entire character falling flat and often being codependent. And, at worst, horribly stilted and one-dimensional. Yuma had all these other explored relationships, with different sets of characters, but Astral didn’t and couldn’t.

Number 96 was probably the closest thing we got to Astral having that. And in the end that in itself was. . . not much, to say the least. Lol

But yeah I think if Astral had someone else to bounce off of, it would have broken ground for a lot more in-depth things to be fleshed out for him.

Speaking of the goo ink boi;

2.) You give all basically all season 1 villains redemptions. Give Shark like nineteen. Even make Don Thousand and Eliphas sympathetic. Topping it off with a cherry of Vector redemption (??!).

But don’t throw a single, gosh-darned bone Mist’s way. That is pure disrespect.

And that is all I am gonna say on this because GOSH this is already long!

( Thank you for the ask though <3 )

#(( I get heated or petty and even say a that when I mean relationship outside of Yuma #I mean completely removed from him. #Not a friend of Yuma’s first. Or at all. Maybe doesn’t even vibe with the kid potentially #and who is Just. For. Astral. #But I have a feeling general fandom wouldn’t like that. So. aghsjdkf #And let’s not get started on Zexal obsession with throwing out redemptions to those who - sry not sry- DON’T DESERVE IT. #I’m not saying Mist deserved it necessarily either. This is more the disrespect that pretty much Everyone but him got one #when he did less offense than a good portion of the other contenders )) #pallotdip #(( SORRY IF THIS GOT SPICY agshdjk <3 thank you for the ask ;; )) #| blue rambles | º☕︎

[alewyren]

broke: shark and rio have dueled many times and rio has never won

woke: shark and rio have dueled many times and rio has actually taken a fair few wins over the years. however, shark insists they don't count because he bricked.

#this isnt even a sexist writing complaint #this PURELY bothers me from a ''has played the card game'' perspective #it doesn't matter how good you are sometimes you just open a completely unplayable hand and theres nothing you can do #besides it's so much funnier for shark to say she's never beaten him and rio says she beat him yesterday #and he proceeds to go ''THAT DIDN'T COUNT. I BRICKED.'' #''sure keep telling yourself that'' #''i opened three MST two xyz slidolphin and topdecked call of the haunted WHAT THE FUCK WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO'' #dont get me wrong i am absolutely criticizing the sexism too but cmon at least make it believable #ygo #zexal

[shitpostingkats]

I know its been said to death and back, but one of the realest struggles of being neurodivergent is getting stuck in sequences that only make sense to your brain.

A friend of mine has a birthday in a few weeks. It’s been my plan (for months now) to hand sew them a little present. However, I cannot sew without some outside source of stimulus, otherwise I get distracted. So I like to put on a tv show in the background while I work.

The next tv show I want to watch is Zexal. I cannot start watching Zexal until I finish my reviews of the first Big Three Ygo Shows, which are currently sitting half completed in my drafts. I cannot watch any other show than Zexal while I sew, because the criteria for a Background Noise Show is extensive and I don’t have any other good candidates right now. So I have to finish writing my reviews.

I cannot finish writing my reviews this morning, because I’m organizing an online event with some friends for this evening, and that takes priority in my Writer Planning Brain. I have to organize some slides, relearn powerpoint hotkeys, etc.

Just to get started on One Thing, I have to finish Three Other Things, otherwise the Sequence is ruined.

Nd folks are used to being called “lazy”, when really, we’re doing massive amounts of planning and scheduling in our own brains. It’s just invisible to the outside observer.

#this post conveniently doubles as an explanation to why I have been negligent in my Yugioh posting #It's all about the Sequence yall #neurodivergent #adhd #autistic #neurodivergence #actually adhd #actually autistic #neurodiversity

[yukii0nna]

Shot Me HoM au

Kikyo at the mini bar drinking some soda

Freya: Bad day?

Kikyo flashback to earlier

Gaston: So you're mother is coming here?

Kikyo: Yes and I would appreciate it if you could treat all her nicely?

Jafar: She will be fine as long as she-

Hannah comes in

Jafar: Hello my dear*kiss her hand*

Kikyo: what?

Hannah: Oh my, you must be -

Hades: *take her hand*Need a hand. I would know the place,in fact you know your daughter and she is a peach

Kikyo: Hold on a min-*gets pushed into a closet by Gaston*

In the present

Kikyo: And if I don't do something soon, I may have men trying to marry my mom!! Like I don't deal with that at home...

Freya: Ouch, Good luck I guess

Kikyo: Thanks....

@anxious-twisted-vampire @marrondrawsalot @imafrealinrainbow478484 @zexal-club @writing-heiress @liviavanrouge @abyssthing198 @bakawitch

#oc #twisted wonderland

[shifuto]

come here for a second while I psychoanalyze the Sargasso episodes

this is mostly about Astral, but there will be things about Vector and Yuma too (screenshots from episodes 96 to 98)

Vector was terrible, but he was right

if you don't think too deeply about it, you might miss this whole macabre undertone in Astral's very existence

so.. we don't get to know Astral and Yuma are the same person until the last episodes. Their Zexal morph is a very good hint though!

some points to take into consideration regarding them:

Yuma and Astral's relationship is borderline co-dependent (even more so on Yuma's side, considering his age and attachment style);

Astral was shoved on Earth and forced to stay by his side, risking his own life to recover the Numbers. Yuma's dad was the one who set that in motion by modifying Astral's "programming" and giving Yuma the Emperor's Key - that Astral himself gave Kazuma - and the Key set Astral "free" but causing his amnesia;

the fact that they have been one person is not the problem. Now that they are separated, they have lives of their own. Is it "fair" or "right" to mingle those lives, feelings and experiences into a sole unit again though? What happens with their own singular existences?

2 halves of 1 whole means they're both "incomplete"...... or are they?

Astral never had any will of his own. All this time, he's been bound by his mission. I don't think he's "emotionless" because he's from Astral World (plenty of people there as emotional as humans), it's probably because he is a weapon

he learned a lot of typically "positive" emotions through living around humans - more indirectly, by observing and watching in general; and also directly, thanks to Yuma, his friends and family - and, although, he had also experienced typically "negative" emotions, those were quickly shutdown, resolved or reframed

what Vector did, when he planted those seeds of discord, was to get Astral to face those "negative" emotions without any immediate way to diffuse them

what happens when an individual that is supposed to remain pure and impartial, keeping his feelings in check and using neutrality as much as possible, is driven into an emotional corner? What happens when this individual is pushed to experience conflict - and a very harsh one at that - when he's never had the tools or expertise to deal with it, since he was never really allowed to feel it?

Vector calls for Astral's "free will" knowing he had little to none at that point

his manipulation succeeded because, as Astral was the pillar of support in his relationship with Yuma, and Yuma was unstable with the whole betrayal drama - which, ironically, he also did to Astral, although it was more of a "lie by omission" - Astral did not have anyone close enough (other than Yuma) to support him, and Yuma was now a "liar"

Astral was alone, what a mess!

yes, Astral could have simply brushed it aside and thought about it rationally like he always does, conflict resolution is one of his specialties after all, and it works wonderfully when you're able to put emotions aside and use solely logic

in the end of the day, he would understand why Yuma did that, he would take Yuma's point of view, personality and own issues into account, and he would forgive him - as he did anyway!

he would have not looked into himself though so... Vector asking those questions was maleficent in essence, due to his intentions, but it also served to make Astral face his feelings

and Astral breaks, of course he does

...

one thing that really bothers me now, going through these scenes again with a different mind and thoughts, is how they handled Astral after: everything went "back to normal" and when something similar would happen again - Astral imbued with Number 96's Chaos that other time - Astral went the self-sacrifice route (probably part of his "programming", if I were to guess) as he always have done. Little to no regards to his own self

again and again and again he just pushes himself into neutrality and completing a task - hell, he can't even feel anything that isn't the most wholesome and healthy emotions without that throwing him for a loop, with a risk of him going berserk again, who even knows?

also greatly dislike how feelings of anger, being betrayed, sadness and hurt, are painted as "evil", literally

that is the whole premise of Chaos as the "enemy" after all: while Astral World is "pure" with only "acceptable" emotions, Barian World accepts the full scope, focusing on the sadness, the hurt and the anger.. understandably so

this scene is fantastic and really hits the nail on the head:

yes, Astral, Yuma did something terrible

many other terrible things too

you didn't get angry, how could you? After all, Yuma didn't mean it!

there we go: Vector played him like a fiddle

he knew exactly where to go and what buttons to push - for both Yuma and Astral - and he absolutely nailed it

even though it was the Barian power who caused them to split and Astral to lose control. That power is Chaos, it's all these "negative" emotions Astral literally cannot feel fully because they are fatal to him

what's really interesting though? This is his own inner voice:

it was the first time we heard Astral talk to himself like that - notice how deeper it sounds, much like Number's 96 voice (96 would be Astral's Chaos counterpart, I guess)

and then finally...

oh, now this is fun

I can see 2 things here:

Astral wants to become whole and/or

this is pure power lust (since he is stronger as Zexal)

this scene with Yuma bothers me a little but I get it: they're the same guy and Astral is an alien so it makes sense that Yuma would be able to "access" his heart, now... what he does, although it's a very "Yuma thing", also gets on my nerves but we'll get there when we get there...!

his own words - with a nudge from Vector, of course - man, this was so satisfying to see! Astral recognizing his own feelings, his own pain, not having to immediately make peace with it and just...... feeling these emotions

that's growth, baby!

I also love how he experienced splitting (black and white thinking): can't feel bad emotions at all -> can only feel bad emotions. And hyperbole, over-generalizing: "I can't believe in you anymore."

goodness, I love the immediate change in his tone when Yuma calls out to him: he's back using his soft monotone voice, tinged with a bit of curiosity

and he slowly...

... descent into madness...

... as he speaks about his feelings. I dare to say this was the most expressive Astral has ever been (and it's a shame we don't get to see such huge variety in his facial and body expressions for the rest of the show)

Astral goes back and forth in his exchange with Yuma here: a soft tone when answering directly to Yuma's feelings, just to be swept away by his own frenzy again

it's a really lovely contrast, and I wonder if it was on purpose? Even when lost within himself, he still directs gentleness towards Yuma; even when his very words bring Yuma to tears, he does it kindly.. sort of

we love to see it! And it was power lust after all

now.. let's talk about Yuma a bit, shall we?

Yuma is stubborn

that's kind of.. his whole gimmick with his "kattobingu" and everything. He will get what he wants with the power of friendship and being obstinate to the point of annoying. Unsurprisingly, it does work well for him! He managed to change and befriend, virtually, all characters he have met who showed any kind of animosity towards him or someone else

the flip-side is that he will not take "no" for an answer, will he? Like how he managed to break Ryoga in, by being extremely persistent on wanting to be friends...

... or when he jumped off a window to get Astral to stop

he will see the "good" in everyone and he will push his ideals and kindheartedness with no regards for the other person's wishes. It's really bothersome because it's genuine

too much of "too good" can be very toxic though and, ironically, Astral's predicament is good proof of that. But how can he blame Yuma? How can anyone blame him at all?

he did what was "right" in his heart and had no ill-intent. His naive nature makes him extremely easy to manipulate and he can be driven into corners having to make hard choices he will not be able to make (such as which friends will he be able to save? So many of his foes exploited this very weakness of his)

...

at last, forgiveness:

... and we're back to the "good" X "evil" dichotomy...

this is precisely why Astral World is dying (but they will only realize that later in the show), and why the Barians are trying so hard to save their own world: the "villains" are trying to survive, and the "heroes" are imposing their own wishes over everyone else - how ironic, considering the protagonist and main "hero" is famous for doing exactly that aha!

so the lesson to be learned after all this:

yes, that's the point!

this is a good thing, actually. Astral is capable of experiencing emotions, all of them! He grew and he became stronger than before, this is why they managed to evolve their Zexal form

to me, this was a massive step in completely "separating" Astral's existence from Yuma's, meaning: Astral existing as his own person

unfortunately, the show did not explore that development much further, and like I said earlier, everything went "back to normal" in a way or another

I guess.. uhh... it was probably good that Astral went back to Astral World in the end, after all. He was in his own world, not bound by Yuma or the Emperor's Key anymore, and he was living his own life independently

and an addendum: while Zexal 1st was more alike Yuma, Zexal 2nd was more alike Astral! Probably because the scales were tipping to his side more, due to everything that has happened. I think it's interesting and makes me wonder how Astral would look like as a "human" (2nd looks close enough to me)

also big shoutouts to Mizael for hating Vector's gut. Me too, mate, me too LMAO

Vector is probably the most intelligent character in this whole show, he was written brilliantly and the fact that he doubles down and keep on "betraying" people, just makes him so much more interesting

he is vicious and remorseless, and these are some of the things that make him such a wonderful villain. You really get to see him and his fiendish mind shine in these episodes

...

if you read until here, congratulations! You are very cool yay <3

#ygo #zexal #yugioh zexal #ygo zexal #yugioh #shif writes #long post

[overobsessedfanboy23]

Does the Yugiohs goes to space?

DM: No space content. Lame 0/10

GX: Judai spends one episode on an alien planet and comes back with a deck full of aliens. They also fight a satellite in space at the end of season 2 and best boy Judai once sent his enby dragon partner to space once. Slightly scarce but decent space content. 6/10

5Ds: City falls from the sky and a motorcycle flies but neither to or from space :( 1/10

Zexal: Alien from space is always at the protag's side from episode 1! And the second season is all about even more aliens, complete with an epic journey through space to fight some aliens on another planet. Very good space content 8/10

Arc V: Exactly one scene where a monster attacks from space like a satellite. 2/10

VRAINS: Still no space. I'm getting bluespaced. 0/10

Sevens: The program for rush duels is a robot on the moon that's very plot relevant in the season 1 finale and throughout season 2. The Goha 6 also come down from space at the beginning of season 2 after attending school in space for a while. The final duel also takes place entirely in space after the main gang built a rocket to space and powered it with explosive curry. Awesome space content. 8/10

Go Rush: Entire show takes place in space and includes so many aliens! 10/10 Best space show.

#yugioh #ygo #yugioh duel monsters #ygo dm #yugioh gx #ygo gx #yugioh 5ds #ygo 5ds #yugioh zexal #zexal #yugioh arc v #arc v #yugioh vrains #vrains #yugioh sevens #sevens #yugioh go rush #go rush #silly thing #shitpost

[liviavanrouge]

Rival

Angel Dust: Hey everyone! Brought one of my good friends!

Lexun: *Waves smiling, his tail flicking around behind him*

Amara: OHHH YOU'RE A CAT! Like Husk

Lexun: Sure am, and you must be the lovely angel I've heard so very much about from Angel here

Amara: *Giggles as he pressed a kiss to the back of her hand* I guess so!

Alastor: *Narrows his eyes at Lexun*

Lexun: *Chuckles* I'd love to learn from the hotel here..

Charlie: OF COURSE! Amara can you show him around, Vaggie and I should get him some stuff!

Amara: Of course! I would love to help!

Lexun: *Steps closer, placing a hand on Amara's shoulder* And I'd love to be shown around by you, shall we?

Alastor: *Uses his staff to remove the males hand* Might I join as well, Lady Beauty

Amara: Hm?

Alastor: There are places you might miss, Lady Beauty

Lexun: Oh...I-I don't think he trusts me, Ms Amara

Lexun: Makes sense though, after all I am a demon and you're an angel and I'm new here so his concern is so very understandable

Alastor: *Looks slowly at Lexun* That is not my intention at all

Amara: It'll be okay, Alastor! I got this!

Amara: Come Lexun! Let me show you around

Lexun: *Smiles at Alastor, flicking his tail in the demons face*

Angel Dust: Oh dear...

Husk: Looks like we have another beef storm coming in..

Nifty: Hehe! The new guy looks like a bad boy!!

Vixenne: Darling, this is gonna be interesting~

Alastor: Let the games begin~

@anxious-twisted-vampire @yukii0nna @writing-heiresss @zexal-club @marrondrawsalot @yumeko2sevilla @abyssthing198

#hazbin #hazbin hotel #vivziepop hazbin hotel #hazbin alastor #hazbin hotel fandom #viziepop #hazbinhotel #alastor #alastor the radio demon #hazbin hotel alastor #radio demon #hazbin hotel oc #hazbin hotel original character #hazbin oc #hazbin original character #nifty hazbin hotel #nifty #hazbin nifty #husk #hazbin husk #hazbin hotel husk #husker hazbin hotel #angeldust #angel dust #hazbin angel dust #charlie morningstar #charlie slimecicle #niffty

[cyberdragoninfinity]

The idea of the zexal kids in college is both wholesome and silly to me.

Like, imagine if Yuma ends up being that friend with a habit of Literally picking up his friends and carrying them. Or astral somehow getting a human look like the barians can to go to school with his friends (if him and Yuma don't just go zexal full time at that point)

OOOO you know the collage groups that run really long DND campaigns between classes? Zexal crew!!

GOD THE IDEA. THAT YUMA'S GONNA GROW UP AND HAVE HIS DAD'S STURDY BUILD. IS SO SO GOOD. LITTLE GUY DIGIVOLVE TO.... BIG GUY !!

still taking some getting used to to have to actually Call astral instead of just having a mental conversation but it's a small price to pay. for gettin to go to class with your Soul Partner Bestie. anyway yuma is definitely Guy (gender neutral) who ends up in like 4 D&D groups even though he should REALLY!! BE STUDYING!!!!!

#yugioh zexal #yuma tsukumo #+ human form!astral. rotating him around in my mind #ygo posting #asks #anonymous #ygoart #dana art #college AU yuma COOKING. i think he's got some Any Pronouns realness tbqh

[secretkittywolf]

Zexal shipping Incorrect Quotes

Yuma: WHAT’S YOUR TYPE Reginald: Anything, honestly, but idiots especially Yuma, desperately, as Reginald bleeds out: YOUR BLOOD TYPE! Reginald: Oh! B positive Yuma: DON'T TRY TO CHEER ME UP JUST TELL ME YOUR BLOOD TYPE!!! Reginald:

Trey half asleep: Do you think you’d actually notice if someone didn’t cast a shadow? Or if their limbs were just slightly too long? Or if they had just a little too many teeth? Like how many times have you passed Something on the street and you just didn’t notice it? Yuma, also half asleep: Stay woke monsterfuckers your love is out there!!!!! Trey: Y'know what? Not my point at all in any way whatsoever, but I’m glad I could be an inspiration

Yuma: You often use humor to deflect trauma Vector: Thank you Yuma: I didn't say that was a good thing Vector: What I'm hearing is, you think I'm funny

Reginald: I made tea Kite: I don’t want tea Reginald: I did not make tea for you. This is my tea Kite: Then why are you telling me? Reginald: It is a conversation starter Kite: That’s a lousy conversation starter Reginald: Oh, is it? We are conversing. Checkmate

Quattro: I turned out perfectly fine! Dextra: Honey, this morning you thought a ghost made your toast Quattro: I DIDN’T PUT THE BREAD IN! YOU DIDN’T PUT THE BREAD IN!!!

Astral: How do I deal with my enemies? Reginald: Kill them Astral: That's a bit extreme, I was hoping for a more passive solution Reginald: Kill them only a little?

*Yuma and Shark sitting in jail together* Reginald: So who should we call? Yuma: I’d call Kite, but I feel safer in jail

Yuma: Let’s watch Sharkboy and Lavagirl! Reginald: Okay Yuma: And make out during the scary parts Reginald: Th- Reginald: The scary parts? Reginald: Of Sharkboy and Lavagirl?

Vector: Welcome, fellow idiots Yuma: Hello, Ray! Vector: No, no, not you, you're not an idiot Yuma: You underestimate me

Reginald: I'm 10 times funnier and sexier than you Kite: 10 times 0 is still 0 though Reginald: Jokes on you, I can't do math

Dextra: I actually have a black belt Quattro: In what, karate? Dextra: No, from Gucci *shows off belt*

Reginald, pointing: May I sit there? Astral: That's my lap Reginald: That doesn't answer my question, Astral

Vector: Okay. I get it. You've had a really hard time lately, you're stressed out, seven people died- Yuma: Twelve people! Vector: Not the point. Look, they're dead now and really whose fault is that? Yuma: Yours! Vector: That's right: no one's

Yuma: So that’s my plan Trey: Are you alright with constructive criticism? I don’t want to sound mean Yuma: No, go ahead, I want to hear it Trey: It fucking sucks Yuma: That’s not constructive criticism

#ygo zexal #yugioh zexal #Gladioturashipping #droite zexal #quattro #thomas arclight #aztecshipping #michael arclight #yuma tsukumo #ryoga kamishiro #reginald kastle #unawareshipping #sharkbaitshipping #kaito tenjo #Challengeshipping #Stolenshipping #Hellshark #disqualifyshipping #vector zexal #ray shadows #rei shingetsu #kite tenjo #Negativeshipping

[blackfeatherdragon]

These two are pretty much the same, just portrayed in opposite ways by their respective narratives.

Tron (on the left) was betrayed and sacrificed to the Barian World by Dr. Faker, came back with the body of a child, and is now bent on getting revenge against Faker, using his three sons as his pawns in his scheme. It's made clear that Tron is one of the villains of the first half of Zexal, as his schemes go on to hurt numerous characters beyond just Faker and his family, and he willingly tosses his sons aside the second they're no longer of use to him. You're not supposed to view Tron as a good guy, you're supposed to view him as an villain who has let revenge consume him.

Mary (on the right), likewise, was tricked and poisoned with the plot driving poison by Vermouth, but survived in the body of a child. She likewise wants to strike back against Vermouth, with the addition of also wanting an antidote to the poison so she can get her adult body back. She's also paranoid, and frequently uses her teenage daughter, Masumi, to act on her behalf regarding getting info about Conan and the antidote. She tells Masumi to steal the antidote from Conan once she finds out he has one, she refuses to let Masumi openly communicate what she wants with Conan/refuses to trust anyone but Masumi to help her, once picked a physical fight with her adult son Shuuichi because Shuuichi wouldn't come home to act as a substitute father to a then young Masumi...

...and the narrative wants the readers to view Mary as a good guy, or at least Not A Villain. Mary is not condemned for her actions or her intense paranoia, it doesn't really touch on how she refuses to communicate with anyone beyond Masumi/how that might be a problem (and even Masumi doesn't have all the info she needs), Conan is shown to be annoyed by Masumi's attempts to get info/antidotes out of him and is now wary of Masumi because of what Mary keeps telling her to do, Mary refuses to trust Conan despite knowing that he is on the same side as her/lets her paranoia control her. She is, narratively, in an extremely similar role to Tron, but unlike Tron is positioned as Not A Villain because she also wants to see the villains taken out, despite the extra stress she causes Conan and her refusal to talk to him directly/insistence on trying to steal an antidote from him.

#yugioh #ygo #yugioh zexal #detective conan #tron arclight #byron arclight #mary sera #masumi sera

[tubbytarchia]

I have a wide array of reasons I like ARC-V (It's very close to being my favorite YGO next to Zexal) but I will attempt to sum some of them up

So many well rounded and lovable characters. EVen if they get rushed or shunned they still make a great impact

The monster diversity is the absolute best. Performapals, Frightfurs, Raidraptors, Phantom Knights, Speedroids, Predaplants... Literally like almost every single deck in ARC-V is visually appealing. These are all such interesting archetypes with very engaging visual design (I love how they mixed things up with Legacy duelist decks as well)

To go off of that, the dimension dragon designs are sick, and mainly because they are ALSO diverse in body-types - they're all distinctly different in silhouette alone!! Instead of the cookie-cutter basic bipedal almost humanoid dragon that most yugioh characters have had as dragon aces

Action dueling is fun and made me actually pay attention to the duels. It allows for fun and dramatic hijinks and visuals. Action cards in kind were a great idea in concept but I'm saddened that they didn't stick to action traps etc

The monsters get personality which is something Yugioh desperately needs more of!! Performapals are very emotive and characters interacting with their aces etc is so much fun

Masumi

Also a girl character (Masumi) using monsters that aren't feminine which very few other ygo girls have done

Oh the monster CGI is also the best in any Yugioh when they remember to lower the framerate to match the 2d. Like by anime standards in general at the time, this CGI holds up GOOD and I dont mind it

ARC-V has such a KILLER OST OH MY GOD. I would ONLY rank it below Sevens OST personally but they went fucking insane with ARC-V dude go listen to Yuto's Passionate Soul

Disregarding the whole egao deal, I love Yuya sooo much because he feels so grounded and relatable. He feels down constantly and yeah king!! Me too!! Life is depressing but he's doing his best and I'm proud of him

I fucking love the prison break arc

ARC-V gave me Kaito/Edo/Shun interactions :)

#arc-v #arc v #ygo arc v #yugioh arc v #this is not nearly all my reasons but some of them esp ones I see brought up less #arc v my love #mostly gushing about the monsters lol haha BUT ITS TRUEEE

[kaiowut99]

oh my god it's good to get to see these in-context finally

Vector's quality long-game plan, you kinda see it as a bit too good to be true that this new "transfer student" cozying up to Yuma is natural but you roll with it, then notice those quick nuanced looks the past 10-15 episodes as a little detail gets mentioned about the Barians and you start to see him look a little fishy, then "Vector" kidnaps him and has Yuma think he's dead to get him to lose his shit by also making this big reveal

And he set Yuma up with Limited Barian Force to use his fitting Vain - Sneer of Betrayal Trap on his "V" Monsters--his Hope Ray "V"

Seeing Yuma distraught at what he thought he knew crumbling, the trust he put into "Rei" all that time (and sticking up for him against Gilag ofc) working against him and even causing a slight rift between him and Astral... also, the BGM playing as this all goes down... He's being an absolute troll about it all, right down to using his Shingetsu voice to really rub salt into the wound, and yeah, it's good stuff

I did have some inkling at the twist eventually coming being in the fandom as long as I have and Vector being such a meme (but being so because he's seen as a great villain), but did my best to avoid/scroll past spoilers going into watching ZeXal for the first time the past while, and even then it was done pretty well to still make the twist land nicely.

[also, checked the dub on a whim, and it's nice the dialogue is mostly intact, but oof dub!Yuma really could not do distraught... though it was interesting that Liscio Jr. sounds like he played R[ei/ay]? Apparently Vector too, but they put a voice filter on him so even if he's supposed to be mockingly using Ray's voice it doesn't hit the same as JP!Vector mockingly going "I lured you here and you thought it was all for the beeest to involve people that didn't need to be"

Also, Durbe I think at some point in Vector's reveal originally says he's pulling "a clever move," his tone implying he's a bit annoyed at the lengths Vector's going here and that there's some history there, but that line's removed in the dub

also how dare they cut the close-up shot that got the entire episode's art budget spent on it]

bonus: me on five hours of sleep:

#Lance watches ZeXal #they really did spend the episode's budget on Vector rip Kite #looking forward to how it goes uphill from here #the OST really has been good too through ZII but really has picked up the last couple eps #and last ep with the Gil-bo Noh team animation was A+ #ZeXal #yugioh ZeXal #yugioh #ygo #ygo zeXal #vector #Rei Shingetsu #Yuma Tsukumo #Kite Tenjo #this is like finally getting to the 'The gays... they're trying to kill me' line in White Lotus's S2 finale haha--top notch #JA JAAAAAN

[linkspooky]

Hi! I love your meta btw, your recent posts reminded me that yu gi oh exist lol i used to watch it as a kid but I don't remember anything so I wanted to ask you what's the best watch order and (maybe) your general opinion about the various spinoff

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters: I'd recommend watching this one first because every spin-off after this one either recycles archetypes, or subverts tropes from the original so it'll enhance your viewing experience.

Afterwards, the simplest is release order. GX -> 5DS are in the same continuity as Duel Monsters, and they have a crossover Film Bonds Beyond Time.

Zexal's basically a standalone it has no connection to the previous, but I'd reccomend watching it after Duel Monsters because there are a lot of references in plot and tropes to the original.

You need to have watched GX, 5DS, and Zexal to understand Arc-V because they reference settings and characters from the original series. It's basically every single Yu-Gi-Oh! Series fights in a Denny's Parkinglot.

You don't need to see any previous series to watch Vrains.

You need to watch Sevens before Go!Rush because the main character of Sevens shows up in Go!Rush, and Go!Rush is a prequel sort of kind of.

As for my general opinions and reccomendations, below the cut:

Duel Monsters is the original and sets the standard. I think the manga is better on this one because it acknowledges Death-T, which I think is crucial for Kaiba's development. He did more than just steal one of Yugi's Grandpas cards. The arc of the main characters Yugi and Yami with Yugi learning confidence and Yami unlearning arrogance is really good, especially in the manga where Yami starts out as a lowkey serial killer. Battle City and Duelist Kingdom are also two really good tournament arcs, Battle City in particular is probably the best Tournament Arc in the Series.

Yu-Gi-Oh GX! Is my personal favorite but it's a mess. I've once heard it described as "GX is two seasons of absurdist nonsense, and then a complete emotional breakdown." In my opinion there's a lot of good foreshadowing and buildup for what will happen in Season 3, and Season 3 is one of the best shonen deconstruction arcs especially of it's main protagonist in anything ever.

Honestly the worst part of Season 1 and 2 for me isn't even the pacing, it's that it recycles plot points from Yu-Gi-Oh! but less good. The Seven Shadow riders just do shadow duels because they did that in original Yu-Gi-Oh, there are three super powerful cards like the Egyptian God Cards. In season 2 there's a villain with a split personality like Marik, and the Genex tournament is really bad plotless meandering tournament arc compared to Battle City.

Season 3 is also masterful at utilizing things that were foreshadowed in the past 3 seasons, especially in regards to Judai's flaws which have been swept under the rug until now.

I think YGO GX is one of the best casts, and also one of the best at balancing screentime of its cast so characters show up when they're relevant and disappear when they're not relevant, and every major character has an arc. However, it's very much the Judai show, and if you're invested in a character that's not Judai you'll likely think your fave didn't get used to their fullest potential.

Yu-Gi-Oh 5DS has one of the best beginnings of any Yu-Gi-Oh series and it's excellent at building Fortune Cup -> Dark Signer and jacking up tension. Dark Signer, Barian Arc and Gx Season 3 are probably my top 3 arcs. I won't talk about it much because I don't want to spoil.

Season 2 is still good, and the ending is excellent as well as the villains, but the pacing becomes abysmal due to production issues. Carly and Aki are probably the two best female characters in all of Yu-Gi-Oh, and all their screentime and relevance gets erased. If you watch Yu-Gi-Oh for the duels, the relay duels suck and last 3 whole seasons and nobody gets to win a duel if they're not Yusei Fudo. As someone who really enjoyed Yusei in season 1, him becoming a perfect hero who always saves the day and never makes mistakes and never gets challenged signifcantly by the narrative because he's always right makes him super uninteresting. I want to clarify I think Yusei is still a character with depth and character flaws, but the narrative doesn't challenge him on this flaws. Aporia and Z-One do a lot to redeem Season 2 though and it ends on a real highpoint.

Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal is probably the highest quality Yu-Gi-Oh series overall, especially since there's no drop in quality ever it ends on it's highest point. Shark is probably the single best written character in all of Yu-Gi-Oh! and Vector is the best written villain.

I actually don't have much to say on Zexal because I don't want to spoil what's good about it. My only complaint is that it's cast is padded with way too many characters who do nothing. You could cut Yuma's entire friend group and lose absolutely nothing. The female characters in Zexal are abysmal too, the worst in any series. The characters with arcs though are all good and iconic.

It's also the only show that manages the ambiguity where none of the villains are actually villains, almost every single character has a sympathetic reason for what they're doing even the ones that are wrapped up in revenge plots. It gives a really interesting challenge to Yuma the pacifist protagonist who doesn't want to pick sides. Yuma's up there with Judai too in top ten protagonists.

Arc-V.... I think you can still have fun with Arc-V, but the Z-arc plotline just was not a good idea and it makes the show fundamentally flawed because everything from episode 20 onwards is built around the Z-Arc plotline.

Vrains has some solid ideas and themes. I especially love the emergent ai ideas that are present with the ignis and bohmann it's one of my favorite topics in science fiction. I've got two main problems number. I enjoy playmaker as a character, but much like Yusei I feel like over time he's not as challenged as character by his narrative. THough, the final season does a lot to rectify that.

Vrains second and biggest problem is that it plays it really safe after the production disaster that was Arc-V. Which means the first two seasons while enjoyable enough feel kind of by the numbers at times. The third season is amazing though, but it suffers from the series being cut short so it's only about 20 episodes. Still ending on a high note is always a good thing.

Sevens is kind of the closest to a slice-of-life Yu-Gi-Oh which makes it hard to compare to the other series. I do enjoy the main cast of characters, but to be honest it's really hard to get invested for me personally, when every arc is just "I hate Rush Duels. I'm going to try to destroy Rush Duels. Nevermind, Rush duels are awesome actually." Every. Single. Arc.

I'm only 16 episodes into Go-Rush and it's not finished yet, but my main take so far is: Yudias! Yudias! Yudias!

#askspookies #Spooky Speaks