YGO 30 Day Challenge quiz thing
Sep. 1st, 2018 06:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
insaneladybugHappy 1st Meteorological day of Fall! It will always be the real first day of autumn to me.
I got inspired by ThickerThanLove starting a 30 Day Dragonball Challenge to look for YGO ones. I found a neat one, and as usual, I answered everything more or less at once. I've been tinkering with it and revamping it a bit for the last several days and debating whether or not to post it all together as I prefer to do. I decided I'll post the whole thing here, but I don't know how I'll post it on Tumblr (or if I will at all).
YGO 30 Day Challenge questions by Yaoiyugiohtime.tumblr.com. Answers by me.
1. Which of the series have you seen?
All of YGO Duel Monsters, assorted episodes of the Toei anime and YGO GX. I'm not even sure why I was watching the latter; I always found the concept of a duel school preposterous. Not that saving the world with a card game isn't preposterous, but somehow the series made it make sense. LOL.
I really have no interest in anything beyond YGO Duel Monsters. None of the spin-offs appeal to me and I don't consider them canon. The characters are probably fine (I actually like some of the GX characters), but they're not the ones who are YGO to me. And I don't care for the settings of either GX or 5Ds. After that point, I didn't even hear anything about the contents of the succeeding spin-offs, so I don't know what I'd think of their settings or concepts. I think hearing that 5Ds is set in a rather post-apocalyptic Domino City was what did it for me with the spin-offs. I don't want to think of my beloved Domino City ending up trashed! Not to mention that playing Duel Monsters while riding motorcycles is just ... seriously, WTH? I shudder to think of the stupid kids who might have tried playing Duel Monsters while riding their bicycles after watching that.
2. Favorite character?
This fluctuates depending on my mood and current inspiration, but right now it's Yami Bakura. Although he was my first favorite YGO character overall. I was one of those lucky people whose first episode was The Evil Spirit of the Ring, and it immediately drew me in to the show and the characters. Yami Bakura utterly fascinated me as a villain and I hoped so much that we hadn't seen the last of him. I was thrilled when he returned, and ecstatic when his manner of return was to be awesome and rescue Tea, Tristan, and Ryou Bakura from Pegasus! From that point on, I really hoped that he had goodness in him and that he could be redeemed.
While it will probably forever be a point of debate among fans, for me I feel that when he saved Bakura from Slifer in season 2, he really did care no matter how he denied it. One interesting thing I was thinking about recently: naturally Yami Bakura preferred to keep Bakura as his host body and wouldn't want to do something to mess that up if he didn't have to (in the original, he isn't interested in switching his host body to Mokuba), but he knew that he would endure if defeated because of the part of his spirit he had bound to the Millennium Puzzle. He made that clear when he was defeated by Yami Marik. So if Bakura had died from Slifer's attack, Yami Bakura would have still existed. But Yami Bakura chose to save Bakura when he saw that Bakura couldn't take the pain of the stab wound. Was it only because he needed Bakura? Since he could have survived in some way without Bakura, I think it's at least a possibility that he had additional reasons! There's nothing to say absolutely that he couldn't have, anyway.
Learning about Kul Elna broke my heart. Come on, a six-year-old child sees his entire village sacrificed alive to create magical items? Who wouldn't turn out at least a little messed-up from that?! Not to mention he honestly believed that it had been done to increase Egypt's power. If the Pharaoh and his court really had all been in on things, especially for that reason, I think Yami Bakura would have been in the right to try to bring down their reign. And I think he had every right to believe the Millennium Items all belonged to him. They were all that was left of his family and friends! Who had more of a right to have them? Now, I'm not saying him getting them all would have been a good idea. (Obviously it wasn't.) I'm just saying, I think he had that right. Of course, his hateful methods certainly weren't right, but even the dub anime acknowledges that it's perfectly reasonable for him to feel hateful under the circumstances. I wonder if anyone could come out of that situation at such a young age and not hate....
I felt thoroughly betrayed by season 5 when Yami Bakura became the Big Bad and wanted to release Zorc, although I thought it was kind of cool how they had been leading up to that all along. But finding out that Zorc was part of him made me feel even more betrayed. I loved him so much, had loved him from day one, and then to find out that the personification of the darkness in all human hearts was part of him? Um, no. He had always been Thief King Bakura to me, a tortured spirit of a mortal human. I couldn't reconcile this new information. It didn't help that it was also implied that Yami Bakura was destroyed along with Zorc, which upset me too. For at least two or three years I didn't know how to even write about him any more. Then, somehow, I had the inspiration to write him surviving Zorc's destruction and returning in tatters to Bakura. Free of Zorc's and the Ring's poison for the first time in three thousand years, and with Bakura's kindness and help, he could at last begin to regain whatever goodness he had possessed in his mortal life and gain new goodness from his new existence in the present-day. I had the beginnings of my redemption arc at long last, and I was thrilled. And the best part is, since it's all fantasy anyway, it doesn't matter whether or not it's realistic. I've always considered that I write fairytales, and the idea that there could be hope for such a dark soul is a beautiful idea regardless of whether it could really happen. Honestly, screw reality.
3. Not counting the character you just named, favorite male and female character?
Male: Marik Ishtar, also a highly tortured soul, and one who got probably the best redemption arc out of anyone in canon. Both Japanese and English versions are powerful! It inspired me so much to see Marik struggle to fight his way back to the light after sinking so far into the darkness. And his siblings never gave up on him, which is such a beautiful concept! Ishizu believed that only the Pharaoh could save him, but honestly, he never could have made it back without her and Rishid's love.
I didn't like Marik at all at first. Such a nasty villain! And of course, the dub made it worse by having him after power and not thinking the Pharaoh killed his father. (I still don't understand why the dub couldn't have made it that he was angry because he thought the Pharaoh sent his father to the Shadow Realm, since that was the man's fate in the dub.) Then, weirdly, I had a dream about him and woke up wanting to know more about him and if there was any chance for redemption for him, etc. At that time, no one seemed to know. But the dream had kicked off an interest in him that never stopped, and I wrote a redemption story for him long before I saw that canon would indeed have one. I like canon's better.
Female: Tea Gardner. All these years later and I still can't understand the fan-hate for her. She's a strong character who won't put up with crap from anyone and she's a loyal and devoted friend. But people don't like that she talks about friendship, so she's always been one of the most hated characters on the show. People seem to like her in the manga a little better, but aside from her scaring Joey and Tristan off when they were bullying Yugi before becoming friendly, I really prefer her in the anime. Anime Tea doesn't break things when she gets frustrated, nor does she lie and say guys are molesting her when they're not, just to get Atem to come out. The only things anime Tea did that annoyed me were sticking out her tongue at Mai and the thing with insisting Tristan and Bakura be blindfolded going up the rope so they couldn't see up her skirt. (They couldn't have anyway, since it was form-fitting.) That really put Tristan and Bakura in danger! But that didn't happen in the dub, which I'm perfectly fine with. Every now and then, the dub made a good storyline change.
4. And what about your least favorite characters, of both genders
Male: Mr. Ishtar. Ugh. His abuse of Rishid was just appalling and horrific. He never saw Rishid as his son because Rishid was adopted, and after his wife died and she wasn't there to stop it, he unleashed extreme verbal and physical abuse on the boy.
Female: Vivian Wong. Her being a fangirl is amusing and cute, but not the attitude she cops or the methods she uses. She supposedly wants Yugi to like her, so she kidnaps his grandfather, hurts his back, and holds him hostage to force Yugi to duel her? And Yugi has to be her love slave if she wins? UGH!!!!! That's the kind of fangirl no one needs.
5. What do you ship
Azureshipping: Seto Kaiba/Tea Gardner. What's funny is that I was thoroughly against the idea and scoffed at it. But then I started wondering if there was any possibility it could happen, and my curiosity resulted in a love for the pairing that hasn't quelled in 16 years. The icy businessman and the fiery dancer, who have clashed several times in canon and Tea clearly doesn't like him? Why do I love them so and why does it work so well in my perspective? I don't know, but Seto is a far deeper person than he initially appears to be, and I love the concept of Tea coming to know him better and starting to like him and it going from there.
Cheershipping: Duke Devlin/Serenity Wheeler. While I feel bad for Tristan, I really think Duke is a healthier beau for Serenity (as long as he's a more moral person than some fans think he is). Serenity has been sheltered her whole life. She needs to spread her wings, and Duke would encourage her to do so.
6. What shipping do you despise/don't understand how people could ship it?
Marik/Yami Marik. Considering Yami Marik started as a split personality, trying to pair them would be like masturbation. Pass.
7. Your OTP? Why?
Azureshipping, see above. Also, while I don't actually ship Tendershipping or Gemshipping, I am every bit as much in love with the idea of Yami Bakura and Bakura having a close platonic relationship post-canon as I am with Seto and Tea getting together romantically post-canon, since I've always clung to the idea that Yami Bakura cares about Bakura (even if he denies it) and I find the thought of Bakura's sweetness getting through to him the most precious thing. To that end I certainly understand the appeal of Tendershipping and Gemshipping. (I do not, however, understand the appeal of a twisted manga-based pairing set during canon or after canon with Yami Bakura still as twisted as he was during the manga.) I save a lot of non-sexual Tendershipping and Gemshipping pictures. There are some seriously adorable ones that can be taken in either a platonic or romantic light, depending on one's preference.
8. How did you get into Yugioh?
I was watching The Powerpuff Girls during its brief stint on Kids WB and I saw ads for YGO. I kept getting more and more intrigued, so one day I decided to watch. It was the perfect day to do so, as The Evil Spirit of the Ring was on and I was captivated. The show, the characters, I was immediately in love and had to have more, more, more! Some people thought it wouldn't last, especially a non-anime friend, but did it ever. I've said at times that YGO changed my life, and I seriously mean it. My writing and drawing improved from watching YGO and wanting to write about and draw the characters, and most importantly, I made many, many friends, a few of whom are still around.
9. Do you duel?
Thanks to Duel Links, yes! I longed to duel from the start, but there was no one to play with. I'm thrilled to finally be able to duel, and even better, to duel as some of my favorite characters! Finding out Yami Bakura was a playable character all the time and not just during events spurred me to get a device I could play Duel Links on, and it was an investment well worth it! (I've since needed to use the gaming tablet for many work-related tasks as well, as my poor white tablet and my laptop browser are becoming too old for many apps and websites to work with, so it was really good I got another tablet when I did.)
10. Favorite monster?
I'm sure I had a different favorite monster in the past, but for the life of me I can't think of it. It may have been Wingweaver, but I'm not sure about that because that was a friend's favorite card. The only monster coming to mind right now is Hysteric Angel. I always thought it was a neat card, and a powerful one. I've been using her in Duel Links and she's helped me out of many jams. Plus, the idea of an angel bureaucrat amuses me.
11. Your least favorite monster?
The Ojamas. Very ugly and creepy, and Ojama King's effect of blocking up to all the monster spaces has always been seriously misused when Duelists have used it against me, effectively preventing me from attacking at all while they can attack over and over. They don't have to block every single monster space, but they do anyway so that the other player can't even be part of a fair fight.
12. Most stupid monster?
Define stupid. Stupid design, stupid effect . . . ? I think the Ojamas look very stupid, but they're pretty useful if used the right way. However, I do think it's pretty stupid when a card can only attack once and then goes into defense position, or worse, face-down defense position, and can't be flipped back up unless you have a special effect. How is a card like that even helpful enough to be used regularly in one's deck?
13. What's the most Mary Sueish or rigged card you've seen used?
Just one card? I am pretty bitter against Amazoness, Sylvan, and Fur Hire decks in general. They're so superpowered and unfair. Plus, they don't require a lot of skill to use, especially Sylvan and Fur Hire, since each card has such tripped-out effects. But for one card I'd say either Amazoness Queen or Ojama King. She prevents all Amazoness cards from being destroyed by battle, which is absolutely maddening and makes those decks so hard to defeat. And he can block up to all of your monster spots, indefinitely! WTH? At least there should be a time limit on how long the slots are blocked, but there isn't.
14. Favorite summoning method?
Just being able to slap a card down and have it appear. Tribute Summoning isn't always convenient, especially if you have to Tribute two or more monsters and end up with one. If the opponent's monster is in defense position, your new powerful monster won't cause them to lose lifepoints unless it's the kind that delivers a punch even while a card's in defense position. I usually prefer to have two or more monsters on the field, get rid of the defense monster(s), and then still have a monster or two to deliver a blow to the lifepoints. Fusion Summoning can also be a pain, especially since sometimes the individual cards making up the fusion aren't so powerful by themselves and maybe I'd rather have more powerful cards instead of trying to get all fusion pieces and the Polymerization card in my possession all at once. Ritual Summoning is also a pain, because you have to take up a valuable magic card slot with a Ritual spell, plus the Ritual monster has to be in your main deck for some reason even though it says the Extra Deck is for fusion monsters AND other monsters summoned in a special way. And to get it on the field, you still have to Tribute monsters as well!
15. Favorite trap?
Oh gosh, there are so many good ones. Radiant Mirror Force is an amazing one to have in a pinch. I got it in a card pack early on in Duel Links and it's been a staple of most of my characters' decks ever since. It destroys all opponent's monsters if they're in Attack position and launching attacks! Wall of Disruption was a maddening card that kept being used against me, and then I finally got it in a card pack and started using it too, LOL. Each of the opponent's monsters loses 800 attack points for each monster card they have on the field. If they have two or more, the damage really adds up.
16. Favorite Spell card and Field Spell?
I like Equip Spells such as Mage Power, which grants 500 attack points to a monster for every Spell and Trap card on the field. Equip Spells are best when they can be equipped to any monster type, since I run several types in my decks. Field Spells usually annoy me since they service both players, but I love getting into duels with a Yami Yugi using the Field Spell Yami, as it helps me a lot. LOL. 200 extra attack points for every Fiend and Spellcaster type monster!
17. What's your favorite deck you've seen used in the show?
Marik's Revival Jam deck. Revival Jam is such a cute and useful monster on the show, and that was a pretty awesome deck, even after Atem exposed its weakness. On the other hand, Worm Drake is one of the ugliest monsters I've ever seen. An eye on its tongue? Ewww...
18. Favorite Shadow Game/Shadow Duel?
Yami Marik vs. Yami Bakura. It was the one time one could really root for Yami Bakura to win and feel good about it. Sadly, he lost to that demon. (I love how he keeps calling Yami Marik "fiend" and "demon" and clearly doesn't mean it in a positive way!) Also, his inability to get along with Marik led to some hilarious exchanges. And other important things were learned during that duel, as it's when Marik first reveals that he's now aware he was wrong and he wants to repent, and Yami Marik announces that he is complete without Marik.
19. Favorite arc?
Season 4, the Doma arc. Definitely the darkest arc, but also the most beautiful and inspiring. I just love the focus on overcoming the darkness in one's heart and looking to the light. And I found the bikers intriguing, especially due to the uncut versions of their pasts.
20. Dub or sub?
As much as I hate silly dub changes to the plot, the dub names and voices are who the characters are to me. I've tried to watch it in Japanese and it just doesn't fly for long because those voices are not the characters I grew up with. At the risk of sounding utterly cheesy, I love the characters to the point that I consider them my "friends," and it's the dub voices that endeared them to me to that extent. And honestly, Yami Bakura's wonderfully gravelly, educated, and classy dub voice is part of the reason I fell in love with him right off the bat, heh.... I find that very attractive in a fictional character, whereas talking and laughing like a little girl or boy just doesn't do much for me.... That said, his Japanese laugh is super creepy and iconic.
21. Pet Peeve towards the series?
That almost all the villains were redeemed, even Dartz, but Yami Bakura wasn't. He was traumatized as a child, immediately corrupted by the darkness of the Millennium Ring when he put it on, and poisoned by Zorc for three thousand years. He deserved another chance just like the other villains who were granted one. I remember being stunned when Atem said that he had felt Dartz was a good and noble king before the Orichalcos got hold of him, since he honestly hadn't given any indication of such a feeling before he said it. He had just acted justifiably outraged and angered by Dartz's evil. By the same token, he could have revealed some feeling about Yami Bakura that he deserved another chance, but he didn't. Although in the original, at least, he says that he would have hated too, had he been in Yami Bakura's position.
22. Insert yourself into the series. Tell us the need to know info that this insertion would hold.
Honestly, I detest self-insertions. I'd rather not put myself in the series! However, as a starry-eyed kid I'll admit that my first YGO RP involved self-insertions of me and my RP partner. I joined the high school and pined for Seto Kaiba, heh. And annoyed him trying to get him interested in me. Since I certainly wouldn't do anything like that now, I imagine a self-insertion would just be me as a random kid in Domino City who loves to duel and idolizes the canon characters without trying to get a date with any of them!
23. If you could be friends with any of the characters, who would you pick?
Probably Yugi or Bakura, the sweet ones. We could have fun playing games.
24. Which Duel Monster would you want as your Spirit Partner? And which one as your Ka?
Wingweaver as my Spirit Partner. Powerful and beautiful. I love the Angel cards. St. Joan or Guardian Angel Joan as my Ka, because I wish I was a strong person (emotionally, not necessarily physically).
25. If you could have any of the powers shown on YGO, which one would you have?
I can't deny I would love to read minds, but not for any ill purposes. It would help me understand other people better so misunderstandings might not happen as much. And if I could read my cat's mind, I'd be in paradise. I'd love to know what she's thinking!
26. Do you have any YGO video games? If so, which ones do you have and have you enjoyed them?
I only have Duel Links, and yes, it's amazing and incredible!
27. Is there anything related to YGO that you treasure and hold dear to you?
Honestly, every bit of memorabilia I've collected I treasure and hold dear. At the moment, however, my favorite piece of merchandise is undeniably the Kotobukiya Yami Bakura figure I actually managed to procure! **cuddles him.**
28. Any moments from YGO that made you cry?
Oh, so many. I usually cry at the beauty of the second Yami Yugi vs. Raphael duel. And heartbreaking things like Yugi's sacrifice to the Orichalcos. And of course, the ending to the series. Gah.
29. Any funny YGO moments you'd like to share? (Outside of the show or in the show, doesn't matter.)
Yami Bakura's reaction to being surrounded by Halloween monsters will never not be hilarious. "What is the meaning of this?!"
30. End it with a bang. Say your favorite catchphrase.
It's time to Duel!
I got inspired by ThickerThanLove starting a 30 Day Dragonball Challenge to look for YGO ones. I found a neat one, and as usual, I answered everything more or less at once. I've been tinkering with it and revamping it a bit for the last several days and debating whether or not to post it all together as I prefer to do. I decided I'll post the whole thing here, but I don't know how I'll post it on Tumblr (or if I will at all).
YGO 30 Day Challenge questions by Yaoiyugiohtime.tumblr.com. Answers by me.
1. Which of the series have you seen?
All of YGO Duel Monsters, assorted episodes of the Toei anime and YGO GX. I'm not even sure why I was watching the latter; I always found the concept of a duel school preposterous. Not that saving the world with a card game isn't preposterous, but somehow the series made it make sense. LOL.
I really have no interest in anything beyond YGO Duel Monsters. None of the spin-offs appeal to me and I don't consider them canon. The characters are probably fine (I actually like some of the GX characters), but they're not the ones who are YGO to me. And I don't care for the settings of either GX or 5Ds. After that point, I didn't even hear anything about the contents of the succeeding spin-offs, so I don't know what I'd think of their settings or concepts. I think hearing that 5Ds is set in a rather post-apocalyptic Domino City was what did it for me with the spin-offs. I don't want to think of my beloved Domino City ending up trashed! Not to mention that playing Duel Monsters while riding motorcycles is just ... seriously, WTH? I shudder to think of the stupid kids who might have tried playing Duel Monsters while riding their bicycles after watching that.
2. Favorite character?
This fluctuates depending on my mood and current inspiration, but right now it's Yami Bakura. Although he was my first favorite YGO character overall. I was one of those lucky people whose first episode was The Evil Spirit of the Ring, and it immediately drew me in to the show and the characters. Yami Bakura utterly fascinated me as a villain and I hoped so much that we hadn't seen the last of him. I was thrilled when he returned, and ecstatic when his manner of return was to be awesome and rescue Tea, Tristan, and Ryou Bakura from Pegasus! From that point on, I really hoped that he had goodness in him and that he could be redeemed.
While it will probably forever be a point of debate among fans, for me I feel that when he saved Bakura from Slifer in season 2, he really did care no matter how he denied it. One interesting thing I was thinking about recently: naturally Yami Bakura preferred to keep Bakura as his host body and wouldn't want to do something to mess that up if he didn't have to (in the original, he isn't interested in switching his host body to Mokuba), but he knew that he would endure if defeated because of the part of his spirit he had bound to the Millennium Puzzle. He made that clear when he was defeated by Yami Marik. So if Bakura had died from Slifer's attack, Yami Bakura would have still existed. But Yami Bakura chose to save Bakura when he saw that Bakura couldn't take the pain of the stab wound. Was it only because he needed Bakura? Since he could have survived in some way without Bakura, I think it's at least a possibility that he had additional reasons! There's nothing to say absolutely that he couldn't have, anyway.
Learning about Kul Elna broke my heart. Come on, a six-year-old child sees his entire village sacrificed alive to create magical items? Who wouldn't turn out at least a little messed-up from that?! Not to mention he honestly believed that it had been done to increase Egypt's power. If the Pharaoh and his court really had all been in on things, especially for that reason, I think Yami Bakura would have been in the right to try to bring down their reign. And I think he had every right to believe the Millennium Items all belonged to him. They were all that was left of his family and friends! Who had more of a right to have them? Now, I'm not saying him getting them all would have been a good idea. (Obviously it wasn't.) I'm just saying, I think he had that right. Of course, his hateful methods certainly weren't right, but even the dub anime acknowledges that it's perfectly reasonable for him to feel hateful under the circumstances. I wonder if anyone could come out of that situation at such a young age and not hate....
I felt thoroughly betrayed by season 5 when Yami Bakura became the Big Bad and wanted to release Zorc, although I thought it was kind of cool how they had been leading up to that all along. But finding out that Zorc was part of him made me feel even more betrayed. I loved him so much, had loved him from day one, and then to find out that the personification of the darkness in all human hearts was part of him? Um, no. He had always been Thief King Bakura to me, a tortured spirit of a mortal human. I couldn't reconcile this new information. It didn't help that it was also implied that Yami Bakura was destroyed along with Zorc, which upset me too. For at least two or three years I didn't know how to even write about him any more. Then, somehow, I had the inspiration to write him surviving Zorc's destruction and returning in tatters to Bakura. Free of Zorc's and the Ring's poison for the first time in three thousand years, and with Bakura's kindness and help, he could at last begin to regain whatever goodness he had possessed in his mortal life and gain new goodness from his new existence in the present-day. I had the beginnings of my redemption arc at long last, and I was thrilled. And the best part is, since it's all fantasy anyway, it doesn't matter whether or not it's realistic. I've always considered that I write fairytales, and the idea that there could be hope for such a dark soul is a beautiful idea regardless of whether it could really happen. Honestly, screw reality.
3. Not counting the character you just named, favorite male and female character?
Male: Marik Ishtar, also a highly tortured soul, and one who got probably the best redemption arc out of anyone in canon. Both Japanese and English versions are powerful! It inspired me so much to see Marik struggle to fight his way back to the light after sinking so far into the darkness. And his siblings never gave up on him, which is such a beautiful concept! Ishizu believed that only the Pharaoh could save him, but honestly, he never could have made it back without her and Rishid's love.
I didn't like Marik at all at first. Such a nasty villain! And of course, the dub made it worse by having him after power and not thinking the Pharaoh killed his father. (I still don't understand why the dub couldn't have made it that he was angry because he thought the Pharaoh sent his father to the Shadow Realm, since that was the man's fate in the dub.) Then, weirdly, I had a dream about him and woke up wanting to know more about him and if there was any chance for redemption for him, etc. At that time, no one seemed to know. But the dream had kicked off an interest in him that never stopped, and I wrote a redemption story for him long before I saw that canon would indeed have one. I like canon's better.
Female: Tea Gardner. All these years later and I still can't understand the fan-hate for her. She's a strong character who won't put up with crap from anyone and she's a loyal and devoted friend. But people don't like that she talks about friendship, so she's always been one of the most hated characters on the show. People seem to like her in the manga a little better, but aside from her scaring Joey and Tristan off when they were bullying Yugi before becoming friendly, I really prefer her in the anime. Anime Tea doesn't break things when she gets frustrated, nor does she lie and say guys are molesting her when they're not, just to get Atem to come out. The only things anime Tea did that annoyed me were sticking out her tongue at Mai and the thing with insisting Tristan and Bakura be blindfolded going up the rope so they couldn't see up her skirt. (They couldn't have anyway, since it was form-fitting.) That really put Tristan and Bakura in danger! But that didn't happen in the dub, which I'm perfectly fine with. Every now and then, the dub made a good storyline change.
4. And what about your least favorite characters, of both genders
Male: Mr. Ishtar. Ugh. His abuse of Rishid was just appalling and horrific. He never saw Rishid as his son because Rishid was adopted, and after his wife died and she wasn't there to stop it, he unleashed extreme verbal and physical abuse on the boy.
Female: Vivian Wong. Her being a fangirl is amusing and cute, but not the attitude she cops or the methods she uses. She supposedly wants Yugi to like her, so she kidnaps his grandfather, hurts his back, and holds him hostage to force Yugi to duel her? And Yugi has to be her love slave if she wins? UGH!!!!! That's the kind of fangirl no one needs.
5. What do you ship
Azureshipping: Seto Kaiba/Tea Gardner. What's funny is that I was thoroughly against the idea and scoffed at it. But then I started wondering if there was any possibility it could happen, and my curiosity resulted in a love for the pairing that hasn't quelled in 16 years. The icy businessman and the fiery dancer, who have clashed several times in canon and Tea clearly doesn't like him? Why do I love them so and why does it work so well in my perspective? I don't know, but Seto is a far deeper person than he initially appears to be, and I love the concept of Tea coming to know him better and starting to like him and it going from there.
Cheershipping: Duke Devlin/Serenity Wheeler. While I feel bad for Tristan, I really think Duke is a healthier beau for Serenity (as long as he's a more moral person than some fans think he is). Serenity has been sheltered her whole life. She needs to spread her wings, and Duke would encourage her to do so.
6. What shipping do you despise/don't understand how people could ship it?
Marik/Yami Marik. Considering Yami Marik started as a split personality, trying to pair them would be like masturbation. Pass.
7. Your OTP? Why?
Azureshipping, see above. Also, while I don't actually ship Tendershipping or Gemshipping, I am every bit as much in love with the idea of Yami Bakura and Bakura having a close platonic relationship post-canon as I am with Seto and Tea getting together romantically post-canon, since I've always clung to the idea that Yami Bakura cares about Bakura (even if he denies it) and I find the thought of Bakura's sweetness getting through to him the most precious thing. To that end I certainly understand the appeal of Tendershipping and Gemshipping. (I do not, however, understand the appeal of a twisted manga-based pairing set during canon or after canon with Yami Bakura still as twisted as he was during the manga.) I save a lot of non-sexual Tendershipping and Gemshipping pictures. There are some seriously adorable ones that can be taken in either a platonic or romantic light, depending on one's preference.
8. How did you get into Yugioh?
I was watching The Powerpuff Girls during its brief stint on Kids WB and I saw ads for YGO. I kept getting more and more intrigued, so one day I decided to watch. It was the perfect day to do so, as The Evil Spirit of the Ring was on and I was captivated. The show, the characters, I was immediately in love and had to have more, more, more! Some people thought it wouldn't last, especially a non-anime friend, but did it ever. I've said at times that YGO changed my life, and I seriously mean it. My writing and drawing improved from watching YGO and wanting to write about and draw the characters, and most importantly, I made many, many friends, a few of whom are still around.
9. Do you duel?
Thanks to Duel Links, yes! I longed to duel from the start, but there was no one to play with. I'm thrilled to finally be able to duel, and even better, to duel as some of my favorite characters! Finding out Yami Bakura was a playable character all the time and not just during events spurred me to get a device I could play Duel Links on, and it was an investment well worth it! (I've since needed to use the gaming tablet for many work-related tasks as well, as my poor white tablet and my laptop browser are becoming too old for many apps and websites to work with, so it was really good I got another tablet when I did.)
10. Favorite monster?
I'm sure I had a different favorite monster in the past, but for the life of me I can't think of it. It may have been Wingweaver, but I'm not sure about that because that was a friend's favorite card. The only monster coming to mind right now is Hysteric Angel. I always thought it was a neat card, and a powerful one. I've been using her in Duel Links and she's helped me out of many jams. Plus, the idea of an angel bureaucrat amuses me.
11. Your least favorite monster?
The Ojamas. Very ugly and creepy, and Ojama King's effect of blocking up to all the monster spaces has always been seriously misused when Duelists have used it against me, effectively preventing me from attacking at all while they can attack over and over. They don't have to block every single monster space, but they do anyway so that the other player can't even be part of a fair fight.
12. Most stupid monster?
Define stupid. Stupid design, stupid effect . . . ? I think the Ojamas look very stupid, but they're pretty useful if used the right way. However, I do think it's pretty stupid when a card can only attack once and then goes into defense position, or worse, face-down defense position, and can't be flipped back up unless you have a special effect. How is a card like that even helpful enough to be used regularly in one's deck?
13. What's the most Mary Sueish or rigged card you've seen used?
Just one card? I am pretty bitter against Amazoness, Sylvan, and Fur Hire decks in general. They're so superpowered and unfair. Plus, they don't require a lot of skill to use, especially Sylvan and Fur Hire, since each card has such tripped-out effects. But for one card I'd say either Amazoness Queen or Ojama King. She prevents all Amazoness cards from being destroyed by battle, which is absolutely maddening and makes those decks so hard to defeat. And he can block up to all of your monster spots, indefinitely! WTH? At least there should be a time limit on how long the slots are blocked, but there isn't.
14. Favorite summoning method?
Just being able to slap a card down and have it appear. Tribute Summoning isn't always convenient, especially if you have to Tribute two or more monsters and end up with one. If the opponent's monster is in defense position, your new powerful monster won't cause them to lose lifepoints unless it's the kind that delivers a punch even while a card's in defense position. I usually prefer to have two or more monsters on the field, get rid of the defense monster(s), and then still have a monster or two to deliver a blow to the lifepoints. Fusion Summoning can also be a pain, especially since sometimes the individual cards making up the fusion aren't so powerful by themselves and maybe I'd rather have more powerful cards instead of trying to get all fusion pieces and the Polymerization card in my possession all at once. Ritual Summoning is also a pain, because you have to take up a valuable magic card slot with a Ritual spell, plus the Ritual monster has to be in your main deck for some reason even though it says the Extra Deck is for fusion monsters AND other monsters summoned in a special way. And to get it on the field, you still have to Tribute monsters as well!
15. Favorite trap?
Oh gosh, there are so many good ones. Radiant Mirror Force is an amazing one to have in a pinch. I got it in a card pack early on in Duel Links and it's been a staple of most of my characters' decks ever since. It destroys all opponent's monsters if they're in Attack position and launching attacks! Wall of Disruption was a maddening card that kept being used against me, and then I finally got it in a card pack and started using it too, LOL. Each of the opponent's monsters loses 800 attack points for each monster card they have on the field. If they have two or more, the damage really adds up.
16. Favorite Spell card and Field Spell?
I like Equip Spells such as Mage Power, which grants 500 attack points to a monster for every Spell and Trap card on the field. Equip Spells are best when they can be equipped to any monster type, since I run several types in my decks. Field Spells usually annoy me since they service both players, but I love getting into duels with a Yami Yugi using the Field Spell Yami, as it helps me a lot. LOL. 200 extra attack points for every Fiend and Spellcaster type monster!
17. What's your favorite deck you've seen used in the show?
Marik's Revival Jam deck. Revival Jam is such a cute and useful monster on the show, and that was a pretty awesome deck, even after Atem exposed its weakness. On the other hand, Worm Drake is one of the ugliest monsters I've ever seen. An eye on its tongue? Ewww...
18. Favorite Shadow Game/Shadow Duel?
Yami Marik vs. Yami Bakura. It was the one time one could really root for Yami Bakura to win and feel good about it. Sadly, he lost to that demon. (I love how he keeps calling Yami Marik "fiend" and "demon" and clearly doesn't mean it in a positive way!) Also, his inability to get along with Marik led to some hilarious exchanges. And other important things were learned during that duel, as it's when Marik first reveals that he's now aware he was wrong and he wants to repent, and Yami Marik announces that he is complete without Marik.
19. Favorite arc?
Season 4, the Doma arc. Definitely the darkest arc, but also the most beautiful and inspiring. I just love the focus on overcoming the darkness in one's heart and looking to the light. And I found the bikers intriguing, especially due to the uncut versions of their pasts.
20. Dub or sub?
As much as I hate silly dub changes to the plot, the dub names and voices are who the characters are to me. I've tried to watch it in Japanese and it just doesn't fly for long because those voices are not the characters I grew up with. At the risk of sounding utterly cheesy, I love the characters to the point that I consider them my "friends," and it's the dub voices that endeared them to me to that extent. And honestly, Yami Bakura's wonderfully gravelly, educated, and classy dub voice is part of the reason I fell in love with him right off the bat, heh.... I find that very attractive in a fictional character, whereas talking and laughing like a little girl or boy just doesn't do much for me.... That said, his Japanese laugh is super creepy and iconic.
21. Pet Peeve towards the series?
That almost all the villains were redeemed, even Dartz, but Yami Bakura wasn't. He was traumatized as a child, immediately corrupted by the darkness of the Millennium Ring when he put it on, and poisoned by Zorc for three thousand years. He deserved another chance just like the other villains who were granted one. I remember being stunned when Atem said that he had felt Dartz was a good and noble king before the Orichalcos got hold of him, since he honestly hadn't given any indication of such a feeling before he said it. He had just acted justifiably outraged and angered by Dartz's evil. By the same token, he could have revealed some feeling about Yami Bakura that he deserved another chance, but he didn't. Although in the original, at least, he says that he would have hated too, had he been in Yami Bakura's position.
22. Insert yourself into the series. Tell us the need to know info that this insertion would hold.
Honestly, I detest self-insertions. I'd rather not put myself in the series! However, as a starry-eyed kid I'll admit that my first YGO RP involved self-insertions of me and my RP partner. I joined the high school and pined for Seto Kaiba, heh. And annoyed him trying to get him interested in me. Since I certainly wouldn't do anything like that now, I imagine a self-insertion would just be me as a random kid in Domino City who loves to duel and idolizes the canon characters without trying to get a date with any of them!
23. If you could be friends with any of the characters, who would you pick?
Probably Yugi or Bakura, the sweet ones. We could have fun playing games.
24. Which Duel Monster would you want as your Spirit Partner? And which one as your Ka?
Wingweaver as my Spirit Partner. Powerful and beautiful. I love the Angel cards. St. Joan or Guardian Angel Joan as my Ka, because I wish I was a strong person (emotionally, not necessarily physically).
25. If you could have any of the powers shown on YGO, which one would you have?
I can't deny I would love to read minds, but not for any ill purposes. It would help me understand other people better so misunderstandings might not happen as much. And if I could read my cat's mind, I'd be in paradise. I'd love to know what she's thinking!
26. Do you have any YGO video games? If so, which ones do you have and have you enjoyed them?
I only have Duel Links, and yes, it's amazing and incredible!
27. Is there anything related to YGO that you treasure and hold dear to you?
Honestly, every bit of memorabilia I've collected I treasure and hold dear. At the moment, however, my favorite piece of merchandise is undeniably the Kotobukiya Yami Bakura figure I actually managed to procure! **cuddles him.**
28. Any moments from YGO that made you cry?
Oh, so many. I usually cry at the beauty of the second Yami Yugi vs. Raphael duel. And heartbreaking things like Yugi's sacrifice to the Orichalcos. And of course, the ending to the series. Gah.
29. Any funny YGO moments you'd like to share? (Outside of the show or in the show, doesn't matter.)
Yami Bakura's reaction to being surrounded by Halloween monsters will never not be hilarious. "What is the meaning of this?!"
30. End it with a bang. Say your favorite catchphrase.
It's time to Duel!
no subject
Date: 2018-09-09 11:28 pm (UTC)I pretty much only watched GX for a few eps because I wanted to see the cameos, plus Eric had a recurring role as Bastian, but even then, I kinda lost interest.
Evil Spirit of the Ring was my first full ep, as well! Caught the tail end of the Rex Raptor eps first since I was waiting for Pokémon to start, and the rest is history!
I have to admit, I don't think I ever would have considered or shipped Azureshipping if not for you. Same with liking the Bikers, because I decidedly did not care for them at all until your fics.
Huh, I've never given much thought to which Spell and Trap cards I like. Dark Magician Girl has been my favorite monster for a long time, but traps... Hmm. Mirror Force is a great one, but the Reshef game made it too expensive to use. Same with Monster Reborn for Spell Cards--sometimes, in Sacred Cards, I'd use Seto's trick of discarding a powerful card and then using Monster Reborn to bring it to the field. And then Reshef made it too expensive to use, oyy.
Field Spell Yami is my go-to, as well, heh--most of my deck are spellcasters, as well. Super useful against Mako, since he'll have the water field up.
Noa's Arc is still forever my favorite, on account of the great character development we got for the Kaiba Bros.
Indeed, the dub characters really are like old friends! I think that also hits the nail on the head of why the Pokémon cast changed was unacceptable for me. Aside from how horribly the 4kids cast was treated, it really was like losing friends! ...And then we lost Maddie for real, GAH.
That is a very good point about villain redemption. I never thought about that before!
Oy vey, the self-inserts I did that will never see the light of day again... thank goodness they are buried forever on that old Gateway.
The ending was definitely where I cried most. Seto's sacrifice in the Dartz duel was a close second, though.
no subject
Date: 2018-09-10 12:13 am (UTC)Ahh, interesting! I hadn't realized Eric played Bastian when I heard him in Duel Links. He seemed like a nice character. My biggest exposure to GX characters has been from Duel Links, since a lot of the real people I play against use them. Jaden and Syrus and Jesse are cute characters. I'll even play as Jesse occasionally, I became so fond of him just from the game. Aster is alright. I still don't like Crowler's design, but his personality is kind of amusing and endearing. Chazz is funny when he loses, but otherwise he's pretty insufferable, ugh. Don't like Zane.... Alexis ... she seems like a nice girl, but I get frustrated if I lose to her and she says I wasn't taking the duel seriously. Rather embarrassing.
Awesome!
Interesting about the Azureshipping! I don't remember who it was talking about it that got me curiously wondering if it could happen. It was in a Yahoo Group and several people were having a discussion on it. That's cool that my fics helped with the bikers. :) They really do come across as pretty bad in the first couple of episodes, especially in the dub version. I wish the dub hadn't screwed with their backstories!
Yeah, that was kind of a hard question to answer. How frustrating that the game screwed those cards over! Dark Magician Girl is an awesome monster.
Neat! Umi is easier to deal with than A Legendary Ocean. Ugh, all those powerful monsters getting on the field without Tributing....
Noa's Arc is awesome! I wish the dub hadn't changed some things there too, like Seto is so disrespectful to his elders in the dub, but in the original he isn't so much. He thinks to himself that when Gozaburo betrayed him about his game, that was the last time he called Gozaburo "father." In the flashback, instead of yelling disrespectful things at Gozaburo, he's calling out "Father!" as he's carted away. Heartbreaking!
Definitely! Voice changes are really hard to accept when one is that happy with the other ones. And so heartbreaking about Maddie!
Indeed! It is frustrating.
LOL.
Oh yeah, that was definitely a poignant moment too! And Mokuba being there seeing it....