I made stupid Duel Monsters Telegram stickers. Actually wanted to make a seperate Duel Monsters pack, but until I don’t have about 10-20 I will put them in my personal pack. If I ever get enough done, I will share the link for the pack, if anyone is interested ^^ But I won’t use humanoid monsters, this would be too simple :P

just adding 3!

thanks to @tradingcardkind for the suggestion with the DM - even if I think, you didn’t mean it that way and I already had to break the ‘no humanoids’ rule x)

I’m sorry.

… I would take suggestions for ideas and/or monsters if you have any :D

Just reblogging AGAIN to say, they got their own pack now on Telegram:

https://t.me/addstickers/duelmobsters

will add some new ones over from time to time ^^ and maybe will put them on redbubble as real stickers to buy, but not now.

new and relevant :u

omfg… they are amazing, well done 😂

Thanks! I got even more done >.>

the latest addition to the family

I never mentioned that Shadow Ghoul is one of my favourite monsters, but he is! Wanted to have him in the pack, too, but I lacked an idea. Until now.

omg, I’m so sorry that this post is getting longer and longer x’D

so @egyptiansapphiredragons wanted an Ultimate Blue Eyes - here you go :P

I myself wanted some toon monster, but nothing worked (scraped like 3 ideas with the toon blue eyes and two with the summoned skull), but somehow finally  ended on this and I regret nothing.

let’s do this again!

Mystical Elf and Rescue Cat! I don’t know why I chose Mystical Elf - I just though it would be funny when she uses her own dress to take off the sweat. Shower thoughts x)

I really don’t want to make this longer and longer, but I don’t want to make a new post also… *internal screaming*

Anyway:

please never stop

thanks for your words, but maybe you’re regretting them with (e)Moja joining the party …

oh wow, it has been a very long time, but let’s bring this looooong post back with some new stickers for the pack!

just one more for today x)

I really hate that you can’t put pictures in reblogged posts as you can in new ones… that would make this whole scroll of pics a lot shorter…

Another one! 

And to also add it here: the stickers are available on Redbubble!

https://www.redbubble.com/de/people/kampfkewob/collections/965036-duel-mobsters-stickers?asc=u

Except the latest one- I will add it, when I’m at home again after this weekend,

@monochrome-king (can’t tag you?) - the thing you suggested!

im not at like #politicalscience knowledge level when it comes to how the country works, but as a citizen of the u.s.a., isn’t it bad that the government is shut down. and on top of that, i’m finding it kind of weird how no one seems to care

it’s pretty bad.

workers:

according to CBS, a projected 420,000 federal employees (post office, prison guards, police officers, etc.) will be going without pay. this was from december 22, and it wasn’t an exaggeration. the washington post says 800,000 employees - people are literally just not getting paychecks.

specifically: politico says that 400,000 are being furloughed - mandatory time off without pay - and another 400,000 were deemed “essential” and have to work without pay.

“Essential employees who continue to work during a shutdown are guaranteed pay for that period, but those checks are not paid out until after the shutdown has ended. Furloughed employees are not necessarily paid for the shutdown period, and any paychecks for them must be appropriated by Congress.” - politico, january 8

none of these employees are being paid right now.

“Trump is the only president to furlough employees while his party controlled both chambers of Congress.” - business insider, january 8

“Real-life consequences of the shutdown are already beginning to seep in. In one example Friday, union leaders said hundreds of Transportation Safety Administration workers at major airports nationwide are off the job because they can’t afford to get to work, although a TSA spokesman said the absences aren’t enough to affect airport security operations. Millions of Americans also face delayed tax refunds and cuts to food stamps if the standoff drags into February.” - washington post, january 4

time:

this began as a partial shutdown - because trump asked for 5.7 billion dollars to go towards building the mexico - U.S. border wall, and congress denied his request. he’s considering declaring a national state of emergency, and mike pence is urging representatives to vote against opening the government back up until they get the funding.

this is the second-longest shutdown, according to the new york times, coming only after a 21-day shutdown that occured in december of 1995.

national parks:

three people died in national parks in the week after the shutdown began. this isn’t out of the norm - a spokesman said that an average of 6 people die a week, but i figured i may as well include it.

“Still, roughly half a dozen rangers are available to patrol Yosemite National Park, for example, which is about the size of Rhode Island.” - washington post, january 5

“The government shutdown has left America’s national parks largely unsupervised. No one is at the gate. No one is collecting a fee. The visitor centers are closed… People are streaming into the parks, enjoying the free access, but they’re finding trash cans overflowing and restrooms locked. Vault toilets are not serviced, and there’s hardly a flush toilet to be found anywhere.” - washington post, january 1

raises:

on january 4th, the washungton post reported that “scores of senior Trump political appointees” were scheduled to recieve pay raises of around 10,000 dollars.

“The raises, for hundreds of appointees, including ambassadors, appear to be a consequence of the shutdown: When lawmakers failed to pass bills Dec. 21 to fund multiple federal agencies, an existing pay freeze lapsed. It was enacted by Congress in 2013 for top executives and was renewed each year since then. The raises will occur because that freeze will expire Saturday without legislative action, allowing the increases that accumulated over those years to kick in.” - washington post, january 4

a day after, federal agencies were told to freeze the raise.

not great.

Philip DeFranco, @feminismandmedia, and many others have also covered all of this. Government shutdowns are supposed to force the parties to work together, but when offered 2.3 trillion (iirc), Trump decided to up the amount he was asking for.

He’s negotiating like this is a business he can afford to run into the ground (like his university, his steaks, his casinos, various other businesses, he’s declared so many companies bankrupt and claims to be a successful businessman?), but this is an entire country and economy and he can’t win over Congress by throwing a tantrum. He’s currently saying he doesn’t want to declare a state of emergency but insists he can and is going to have to prove legally that the immigration “problem” and border security warrants military action to get anywhere close to the funding he wants. He’s abusing his position outright, refusing to negotiate with the House, and can’t even keep his own party in line because even Republicans know that half the stuff coming from his people is deliberately misleading to fear monger.

And yet Congress thinks they’ve earned a raise at the same time that they’re threatening 800,000 people with potential homelessness (failure to pay rent could result in eviction), food insecurity, and more.

This country is fucked.

@larry8d asked if there have been any demonstrations.

there was a shutdown protest january 8 outside of the white house during trump’s oval office national address.

AFSCME is planning a rally for january 10 outside of the white house.

there was a protest january 8 outside of the independence national historical park in philadelphia.

there was a protest january 4 in st. louis, missouri.

Please go january 10 if you can and share!

OH. MY. GRAPES. 😇

Here it is! The comic I’ve been working on for @rymyanna fic Ghost done in celebration of the @ygobigbang event! I got such an autumny feel from the fic, or maybe I’m tired of the perpetual heat. Graverobbing, horror writers, ghost fighting, and romance!? Check out the fic! 

Atem without the dreads! Poofy and floofy hair. It took him (and Yugi) a couple of hours to undo.

6 HOURS AND 20 MINUTES, AND IM FINALLY DONE!…. Turned out pretty nice. @drawing-cookie I saw one of your pictures of Atem in dreadlocks and I just HAD to try drawing them out! ❤❤

Dreads!Atem is life. I love him.

PRIDE month, right? ah ha HA HA

((this month also marks 1 year of me secretly, but probably not so subtly, shipping these two dumbasses and i blame @sergle 100% ))

Malik Ishtar and Chronic Pain

People are often dismissive of the idea that Malik Ishtar would experience scar pain, arguing that it goes against canon. Even in the dub, where they are entirely tattoos, there is a possibility of him suffering pain from them.

The purpose of this post is to offer factual evidence to any RPer/writer of Malik Ishtar’s character to use in support of their portrayal of Malik. Here is some medical evidence and analysis of the type of conditions supporting him feeling pain.

Firstly, to understand how Malik can develop pain, the reader needs to first understand the concept of scarification and the recovery process. In the Japanese canon, Malik’s scars are not the same as a tattoo. These are literal carvings into the flesh; removing chunks of skin with a heated knife. Read more about scarification in this post.

I’m going to discuss two ways in which Malik could suffer long-term pain from his scars. The first of which is caused by physical damage.

While I will concentrate heavily on the scarification narrative in this post, I will add that even if a writer solely relies on tattooing or a combination of the two methods, nerve damage can still occur. Most traditional tattoos have involved shallow cuts and adding dye into the wounds. Considering that the ritual was passed down through thousands of years, we can assume that the method was traditional from ancient times.

As noted in the scarification post, to maintain the detailed shapes of the scars, Malik’s wounds were purposely irritated so they would take a longer time to heal. In this span of time, they could easily become infected. Malik could have also easily reopened his wounds. Repeated trauma to open wounds (i.e. Malik falling directly onto his back) like these could cause long-term nerve damage.

And just as likely, Malik’s father could have also caused nerve damage by cutting too deeply into specific spots near the spine. Damage could have also happened while using a heated knife (i.e. second degree burns) during the process.

It’s very common for patients to develop nerve damage after surgery. Nerves, especially along the back and spine, are very sensitive areas. A patient could suffer lasting sensory damage from one or two post-surgery scars. Now, imagine having one’s entire back constantly exposed to repeated trauma. There is the possibility of developing long-lasting peripheral neuropathy and chronic pain (pain that lasts for over six months).

What is peripheral neuropathy?

The peripheral nerves make up a system of intricate networks that connects the brain and spinal chord (the central nervous system) to the muscles, skin, and internal organs. Damage to these nerves interrupt communication between the brain and other parts of the body, often resulting in numbness, pain, and impaired muscle movement.

Peripheral neuropathy’s symptoms are different dependent on the type of nerves that are affected.

Sensory nerves transmit sensory information (such as touch, feeling, sight, etc.) from the skin and send it through to the central nervous system. Motor nerves are what control muscle function. Automatic nerves control automatic functions in the organs such as heart rate, breathing, and body temperature.

We can clearly see from the canon that Malik Ishtar has no trouble with balance and normal movement since he can drive a motorcycle and walk around. This would make damage to the motor nerves a less likely case. Motor nerve damage would impede his ability to move around and give him muscle atrophy (shrinkage of the muscles). Also, given his physical build, I would also doubt him having much issue with automatic nerve function. 

For Malik Ishtar, I will focus primarily on sensory nerve damage. Harm to the large sensory fibers can affect a person’s ability to feel sensation. This can manifest in a feeling of numbness to pain or to temperature change. Sensory damage can also cause strong neuropathic pain. Neuropathic pain is an oversensitization of the pain receptors in the skin. This added sensitivity is known as allodynia which is pain stemming from stimuli that would normally be considered painless (i.e. Feeling pain from having blankets draped over the back). Neuropathic pain also can get worse at night, often causing sleep deprivation.

For more information on peripheral neuropathy, click here.

Another way for Malik to experience pain is through psychological trauma. His sense of pain could be heightened through a trigger of past events which can cause psychogenic (stress or anxiety causing physical pain) or worsen existing physical pain (such as with nerve damage).

What we do know from the canon material is that Malik has a dissociative disorder due to the appearance of Yami no Malik no Jinkaku. Many people would argue that he has Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), but it could more likely be the case that he has Other Specified Dissociative Disorder (OSDD). Click here to read an older post going into more detail on OSDD and how it relates to Malik.

I’m not going to focus specifically on his dissociative disorder here, but I will say that is often linked to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). A person with PTSD is often more likely to develop a dissociative disorder than someone without it.

In the manga, this is the only verbal indication we are given that implies Malik possibly has PTSD.

Malik: Heh. No one in this world fears the darkness more than me. Even when I sleep, it’s nothing but pure terror.

Now, many people use this line to imply that he simply has nyctophobia (a fear of the dark). “Pure terror” implies that there is something else in that darkness that causes him fear. It is also important to note that this terror happens when he’s asleep. While he may have nyctophobia, one can also interpret this line to mean that he experiences severe nightmares and flashbacks from his life in the tombs. 

The initiation ceremony has no doubt caused him severe psychological trauma during his childhood. It was so severe that Malik had to dissociate and create a new personality in order to cope with what was done to him. Along with this dissociation, the ritual and subsequent loss of his father leads him to exhibit many symptoms of a person suffering from PTSD.

For the purpose of keeping this post focused on chronic pain, I decided to make a separate analysis post to explain PTSD in more detail. If you are interested in learning more about PTSD symptoms and Malik’s connections to them in the canon, please click here.

PTSD is often tied to chronic pain. This pain may serve as a reminder of the traumatic event which could often make the PTSD even worse.

Also sometimes linked to PTSD is psychosis and psychogenic pain.

Sufferers of PTSD are more likely to develop symptoms of psychosis if the PTSD is left untreated or is severe. In addition to this, dissociative disorders are also known to have many overlapping symptoms with psychosis.

With Malik, it is entirely possible for him to suffer from some symptoms of psychosis given his potential to have PTSD and OSDD.

For him, I would say that his symptoms would most likely fall under hallucinations. These can be auditory (hearing voices) or visual (seeing people, events, or lights that aren’t physically there). These hallucinations can also manifest in extremely realistic flashbacks of traumatic events. For example, if Malik is triggered, he could feel as if he is reliving the ritual.

Hallucinations or any other manifestation of extreme stress can sometimes result in psychogenic pain. Psychogenic pain is any type of pain that is caused, heightened, or prolonged by mental or emotional distress. In Malik’s case, having flashbacks of the ritual could result in a prolonged or heightened sense of pain that may not coincide with the amount of pain that should usually result from his scars.

With all of this research in mind, it is possible to depict Malik Ishtar as someone who suffers from chronic pain whether it be from physical neuropathic damage, psychological causes, or a mix of both. There is evidence that can support all three of these types and all of them can be linked back to childhood trauma.

While the canon material doesn’t give any clear-cut evidence to say that Malik was suffering from pain, there isn’t any evidence to suggest otherwise either. Another thing to note is that people who suffer from chronic pain often develop high tolerance levels of pain. This means that people who are constantly in pain are often better at handling or hiding their suffering.

Since the canon material does not comment one way or another, it is left open to the reader. Obviously, there are many different ways to analyze what sort of scarring Malik has, and many different ways to write Malik’s experience of them. However, the notion that any scar pain is against canon assumes that the lack of commentary in canon must mean he does not experience any. This thought process is not backed up by canon (Malik never states that he doesn’t feel pain), and may be a result of people not wanting or considering Malik may experience chronic pain. In the first case, it’s possible internalized ableism may lead people to avoid writing a character they perceive as “crippled.” Please consider that possibility when writing Malik without chronic pain.

Overall, I do hope that this helps people who want to further develop Malik’s character for RP or fanfiction. I’m in no way saying that Malik’s scars should hurt or that this is the only correct way to depict his character. Everyone is open to their own interpretation. The purpose of this post is to offer information and analysis of an alternative view.

I have the opportunity to change my life but I need help

You guys know how I’ve been dealing with being super pathetic for long time? I’m disabled, chronically ill including MD, I’m the sole provider and caregiver of my elderly mother who has severe Alzheimer’s. I should also mention I’m queer because I know that’s a dealbreaker for some people. I’m on disability so I’m not allowed to have a savings, own a home, work, get married, etc. etc. or my health insurance will be taken away and I’ll be dead in about a month. I also have no car and because the accessible transit here is so bad I can’t get to my doctors appointments or get my mother’s to hers.

I’ve asked for help in the past and you guys have really come through, I’m hoping you can help me again. I was just given this great opportunity to have free live in care for my mother and I and the ability to get an accessible car. This is everything I’ve been dreaming about for years, I can’t tell you how badly I need and want this for my mother and I.

My issue is that I have to pay the last of our house and medical debts that total about $8,000

It’s a lot of money, and although if all of my followers gave less than a penny I would still have more than enough I know many can’t or won’t or aren’t even around anymore so if you’re willing to donate something please do, it would absolutely change my life. It would actually give me a life.

Anything you can give would be amazing, but I’m also going to be selling literally everything and for those things you can buy online I’ll keep you tabbed, but if you have a job I’d be capable of doing please let me know. 

At this point my life depends on it, as I’m sure you’ve guessed if you seen my withdrawn behavior over the last year.

Thanks guys, whether you can give anything or not, I always love and appreciate you

Help save a vintage millennial X-Men fan. The mutant metaphor is real.

Ko-fi, PayPal

Toei Yami Bakura sure liked the clasped hands pose in Monster World. When he’s not rolling dice they’re usually like that XD

heh

My brother is really obsessed with shoes so I asked him about the shoes Jou almost died over and this was his immediate response. I don’t even know what an Air Max 95 *is* he just identified them on sight.

Wow, of COURSE the scorpion shoe is based off of specific real world events. OF COURSE IT IS.

thrift king bakura

A friend is in a shitty situation where he’s not allowed to work and also being denied government funding, despite being a refugee. Till this is sorted out he still needs to eat and life, thus this fundraiser. Please consider donating, every amount does greatly help in such a situation. Like a coffee-amount of 3$ is great (tho the minimum seems to be 5$). Reblogging does also help, please consider. Thanks for reading.

We all have things we want to ‘fix’ about Yugioh (less card games, more of our favorite character, ships being cannon etc)

My biggest is Bakura not getting a redemption arc. Every big bad that Yugi had, Kaiba , Pegasus (Kinda it was mainly in the show but still) and Marik all had one. You could even argue that Marik didn’t, everyone kinda just forgave him after seeing his split personality almost kill him.

Bakura is the dark anti hero I want

I want him to be dragged kicking and screaming into being a redemption arc.

I want him acknowledge the fact that while he hates Atem more then anything - they are the only people in the entire world from their culture left.

I want Atem to acknowledge that Bakura’s soul formed a holy Ka, that before Zork Bakura was fighting for the justice of his people.

I want to see Bakura crushed under the weight of the knowledge that he was completely used by Zork, that he worked and died for the monster that made the Millennium Items in the first place.

I want Bakura to acknowledge that he became just as bad as the people that killed his village, that he stole souls for his own gain.

Most of all I want a fight between Atem and Bakura over if the The Mummy movies are good or not.

See for me, I think the strongest thing you could do for Bakura in Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters’ canon is to deliberately, explicitly and emphatically not give him a redemption arc. I have a hard time articulating this so, uh bear with me? 

Oh and it goes without saying this is subjective AS FUCK.

This isn’t to say I don’t want him to have a redemption arc; like many people, I’m writing one. I just think it undercuts Yu-Gi-Oh!’s narrative of redemption arcs, and therefore is better in the realm of fanfiction.

It’s also not to say I was happy with the canon as we got it. I thoroughly feel Bakura was glossed over in the same manner, and for the same reasons that Kisara was.

However, I really think both Bakura’s character arc, as well as Atem’s, and the entire thematic arc of Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters, is best served by obviously, and clearly not redeeming Bakura. I think it is best served by Atem attempting to redeem Bakura, and ultimately failing.

As OP noted, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters has a repeated theme of redeeming its arc villains, sometimes post-humously. Empathy, apology and redemption are repeated narratives throughout the series, done in such a way as to foil with Atem’s own character flaws of ruthlessness, pride, justice and longing.

In a more detailed example, we see in Malik’s desire to avenge his father, and clan an echo of Atem’s own feelings of justice. Like Atem, Malik wrestles with inner-darkness, and with the concept of forgiveness. Just as Atem forgives - or at least overlooks - Malik’s violence against Atem’s loved ones, Malik also forgives Atem for this. However, there is a broader examination of how deeply we hold onto the past and where it may impede our efforts to move into the future, characterized as “darkness of the past” and “stories that begin in the light”.

This sentiment is echoed in Pegasus, who is attempting to hold onto Cyndia’s memory, and harms many people, including himself, in these efforts. Contrasted against Atem’s own ruthlessness, and longing for his identity, we continue this pattern of Atem’s redeemed opponents acting as a foil, and contrast both for the audience, and for Atem himself.

Seto Kaiba’s arrogance, and ruthlessness.

Dartz’ desire for justice, and idealism.

Atem’s arc is realized only through the redeeming of his enemies. He becomes a more complete version of himself only by understanding, and forgiving those he faces. This is the lesson Yuugi Mutou imparts to Atem, and it is explicit through the series.

Which is sort of where I come to Bakura. Now, I love Bakura, he is my favourite character, and writing redemption arcs for him is my bread and butter. This being said, he is - ultimately - the core villain of Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters. I’ll happily debate that Shadi inhabits a similar narrative place, that Seto Kaiba is the most commonly leaned on reformed-villain, and heartily agree that Zorc is the final boss, but more than any other character, Bakura is the central antagonist of Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters.

This is exemplified in Bakura’s own backstory. Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monster arc villains are characterized by sympathetic backstories, and understandable motivations, and emotions. We can debate it, but Bakura has what is quite probably the most sad, unjust, unreasonably horrific backstory of the series. He has one of the most horrifyingly sad histories of any character I’ve ever seen. Ever.

Tragedy is used in the arc-villains in order to predispose them to redemption narratives. Bakura, being rich in tragedy, and our concluding antagonist, therefore feels like an ideal and apt candidate for this. 

This is why so many people want him to be redeemed. He has a powerful potential for it, he has a great depth of tragedy, he is the central foil to Atem’s arc, and the entire series leading up to this point has repeatedly told us - the audience - that people like this are deserving of redemption. That people like this should be saved.

But it is Atem’s arc I return to here, because Bakura’s redemption would and should feature into it. In transformative fiction, this condition is altered, but within canon, Bakura is part of a wider narrative about Atem’s journey. Just as Zuko’s redemption arc is characterized strongly in its relationship, and role in Aang’s own story, supporting characters, and their arcs fold into and build upon the core narrative.

In Yu-Gi-Oh! the core narrative is very clear: we are following Atem’s synthesis of his history, present, and ultimately, future. To this end, every core antagonist, every supporting character, and the deuteragonist Yuugi Mutou build into this story. What I’m getting at here is that canonically redeeming Bakura must, and should connect with Atem’s storyline. In transformative work, that doesn’t have to be the case, but in canon? It is the best, more cohesive, well-written narrative.

So. Atem’s arc. By the time we start to look at Bakura in his focus as core antagonist, Atem has learnt much of what he needs to narratively: he has learnt about defining himself by his future, about restraint, about mercy, about grace, and about redemption. This can be debated of course, but Atem’s demonstration of choice in his agreement with Isis regarding Malik, and anime-exclusive confrontation with The Leviathan is - in my opinion - sufficient evidence that Atem has internalized the growth expected of him from his arc.

What, then, does he do in Millennium World? What is he meant to do? He demonstrates this growth. He contextualizes it. He places his understanding of his history - with his father, Mahaad, Set and Mana - in line with his experiences with Yuugi, and the people he meets in-series. 

This is rather beautifully illustrated by Yuugi, and anime-exclusively, Seto Kaiba, providing Atem with the “strength” he needs to face Diabound, and Zorc respectively. Hell, the ‘tachi bring Atem his name, in a perfect symbolic blend of history and present leading into the future.

In this regard, Atem should have attempted to redeem Bakura. The logical narrative progression from sparing Malik Ishtar, is to now demonstrate an ability to reach out to someone. Though the interaction with the Kul Elna spirits touches on the idea, this doesn’t explicitly happen in-series, but it is logically how a redemption arc for Bakura would begin in-series, so let’s entertain it.

So. Atem attempts to reach out to Bakura, attempts to reason, communicate, empathize and help Bakura.

In a completed redemption arc for Bakura, for whatever reason, Bakura would choose to accept this. Whether forced to by circumstance (Zorc is defeated, Bakura is left), or by conscious choice (Atem’s impassioned plea succeeds), there is a lot of narrative power in a successful and complete redemption arc for a figure as tragic as Bakura. 

But not for Atem.

This is a powerful moment for Bakura, but not Atem. I love it for that, and I will read a thousand fics of it because I love Bakura and by god, I want him to have that sort of win, that sort of salvation. But, for Atem’s storyline, which is central for a reason in canon, this provides nothing. Atem can learn nothing significantly new from Bakura’s redemption that he has not learnt through the arc antagonists.

To gain no narrative footing from your core antagonist – the very hyped, very powerful character that is Bakura – is a disservice to your series. It was a disservice in canon, wasn’t it? Bakura’s shuffling to the wings, and Zorc’s defeat was barely satisfying. Yuugi’s duel with Atem was way more satisfying than Bakura bowing out of his own plot.

But redeeming Bakura does not provide this narrative footing. It provides closure, and catharsis for the redemption thematic, but not for the journey and identity narrative that theme exists within.

What then, if Bakura refuses the hand Atem offers?

A person so far gone, and so twisted by what has been done to them, what they have done in response, what they have become in reaction, that they cannot even allow themselves to be redeemed. Atem confronting the limits of forgiveness. Atem confronting the lesson of history against the idealism of the future: there are things that cannot be fixed, people who cannot be saved, hatred that cannot be redeemed? That not everything can begin in the light, and instead, somethings, some people, deserving as they are, end in darkness.

That gives me chills. That, to me, is a perfect narrative about redemption, and a perfect narrative about how we relate to our pasts and our futures.

I think it gives Bakura’s story more power. It questions how much Atem, and his father can be forgiven, if Bakura would sooner destroy himself than forgive. It gives a painful gravity to the tragedy. It contrasts with the series thematic, and complements it by saying Bakura deserves redemption - Atem offering it - but that redemption is hard - in Bakura’s refusal.

If Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters was told more as Bakura’s story - as a fanfiction can be - then I feel redeeming Bakura has the most power, because Bakura’s growth becomes the narrative core. However, in canon, with Atem’s growth as the narrative core, redeeming Bakura feels like the weaker story to tell.