Eh?

I've gotta say, I think the dub version of what Yami Bakura wants with Mokuba makes far more sense than the original version. What in the world would he want with the keycard to KaibaCorp? I find it far more believable that he instead wants a host that won't be able to fight against him. The dub writers probably took one look at the original script and went "... What? Okay, let's change that...."

... Although I suppose one possible reason why he might want the keycard to KaibaCorp would be to keep Pegasus from completing his scheme. Yami Bakura definitely wouldn't want Pegasus to gather all the Millennium Items, since he wants them. He wouldn't have any reason to keep him from using Seto's technology, though....

A couple of months ago I found this thoroughly intriguing essay on Yami Bakura. Don't have the link handy at the moment, but it completely changed my perspective of him during ancient Egypt. Basically it pointed out that in ancient times, he would have been considered good to fight against a government that had committed an evil like massacring a village just to further their power. It also mentioned how an eye for an eye was an acceptable thing back then. The person felt that Yami Bakura really was a good person before he got hold of the Ring and Zorc started corrupting him. I had already been leaning towards Yami Bakura being rather justice-driven in my post-series verse, due to his protectiveness over Bakura in canon and my thoughts on why he really tormented Bonz and company, and that essay certainly added to those thoughts. So instead of doing a slant of Yami Bakura discovering justice, it's more like Bakura is reminding him of how he wanted justice in ancient Egypt before Zorc poisoned him and changed his goals. The big problem, according to Bakura, was that he ended up targeting the wrong people. Bakura feels that if they all really had been responsible for the massacre, Yami Bakura would have been right to try to bring down their rule. (Which makes Bakura a bit of a darker character, I suppose. It's an interesting angle to take with him. Like Atem in the original anime, I have Bakura say that if he had been the victim in Kul Elna, he would have been hateful too, maybe moreso. Bakura doesn't condone revenge, but he seems to feel that Yami Bakura wanted justice the most. Yami Bakura isn't so sure that he himself sees much difference between the two.) Yami Bakura doesn't need to learn how to be good; he needs to re-learn it and remember that he was good (and realize that he is again, and maybe learn how to tone down his justice sometimes, LOL.) And I don't have it that he was insane before Zorc poisoned him (although he became insane afterwards). He definitely was filled with hate, but also with the desire for justice. In my post-series verse, he's a little bit like Yami Yugi in the early manga volumes. On the one hand, he knows that in some circles he wouldn't be considered good for trying to deal out justice on his own. But on the other, he can't really believe he's doing wrong if he knows he has the correct target. He also feels that anyone he hurt has a perfect right to come after him seeking justice. He is certainly an interesting character to write. And I love giving him a second chance, something I felt he deserved ever since I learned about Kul Elna (and something I wanted for him even before learning about it, since he intrigued me and he seemed to have some good in him due to his protectiveness towards Bakura).

To that end, while musing on the various musical themes for Yami Bakura, it occurs to me that his dub theme for the ancient Egypt arc is sweeping, epic, and majestic. It sounds determined, it sounds proud, and it has an ominous, dangerous hint. But overall, it sounds like the theme of someone who is not necessarily a bad person. The Japanese theme I also like, albeit it definitely emphasizes the dangerous side of him and is rather chilling and ominous, if I remember right. Then there's the dub theme for him in the present-day, which sounds very antiquated, mysterious, and intense. All fit him, as does the Japanese theme for him in the present-day, which I can't remember now except that I thought it also sounded antiquated.

I've said it before, but I really like how the anime changed things during the Pharaoh's Memories arc, except for removing a lot of the deep conversation between Yami Bakura and the Pharaoh's court. I wish they hadn't done that. But the anime does bring out the horror of Kul Elna more and also has it that it's Mahad instead of Yami Bakura who pulls most of the dirty tricks in their duel. Fascinating. In both the original and the dub, at different points Yami Bakura even comments on that.

I was watching some Doom Arc the other day and musing on the curiosity of "What if Atem really had been an evil king in Egypt and Yami Bakura actually was in the right trying to fight against him?" It's an interesting thought for an AU, but I don't think I could ever bring myself to write that. I really dislike when things such as Wicked try to make the antagonist look good by twisting things so the protagonists are really bad. I loved The Wizard of Oz characters (at least movie-wise; I never read much of the books), and I remember The Tin Man especially seemed to fare poorly in Wicked. And I love Atem too much to want to write him being evil. (Although, if say, he was corrupted or possessed by something, that would be something different again.)

I finished the multi-chapter I've been writing for the past couple of months. Now I'm working with some oneshots I wanted to get up. Don't know what the next multi-chapter will be yet, although I'm throwing around some ideas. At the moment, I was hoping one of my oneshots was about ready, but reading it over, I think it needs a whole lot more to really pack the punch I wanted.

Also, Yami Marik has finally been added to the Gate in Duel Links! I can trounce him every day! I did so twice this morning (and got trounced once). Still working on improving my deck. Most cards stay the same, but I switch out certain ones every now and then, usually some of the Magic and Trap ones and only occasionally a monster. I've actually managed to use Dark Necrofear sometimes, so I try to keep a good number of Fiends in the deck so it will be somewhat easy to get her on the field when possible. I got awfully fond of her when writing my multi-chapter. I finally, sadly let The Portrait's Secret go, only because it's such a weak monster. I still have The Gross Ghost of Fled Dreams, however, because its defense is better than that of many monsters with higher attack points than it has! Although the same is true for The Portrait's Secret as well, but so many times I'd draw it when I needed something strong for attack, so I finally opted for stronger cards. I'd probably keep it if the deck size limit wasn't small, though. Or maybe I'll bring it back if I keep this Field Spell that raises Fiends by 500 attack points. I don't use Field Spells much because they usually benefit both players. (I love when I end up dueling a Yami Yugi who is using the Field Spell Yami.) But I have one that only benefits me, so I've been using it occasionally. It's actually for Archfiends, which I don't use, but it can also just be used to boost the attack strength of regular Fiends. Sometimes it's tempting to buy the extra deck slots, since there's so many awesome cards and it's so hard to narrow it down to just 30. I think I can add up to six extra cards. But I don't want to buy something through a Google app, really, because it seems like my Google account keeps getting compromised, according to Google. The last thing I want is to share my PayPal with an account that keeps getting compromised. Although it seems like I had to give my PayPal information when I first signed up, because they needed it for the Card Shop or something, so maybe it wouldn't matter if I got a deck slot now and then.