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Welcome to the forum Hawk. Sorry I didn't welcome you earlier, but I've been trapped under an enormous pile of dissertation lately and didn't have much time for Gaia. Still don't really, but screw it. Hope you're enjoying the guild so far. It's kinda quiet, but very friendly.

Kitsune, I totally agree with that stuff you wrote about Malik. And he's supposed to be my favourite character. I would not get on with him irl. I'm immediately related to certain people with tempers like his and I do not enjoy it. Also, your description of him shrugging it off makes me laugh. I picture him going "Oh well. I wonder what's on TV" and walking offscreen to reveal burning wreckage and people running around screaming. It's so accurate.

The ending of Battle City was just weird. All of this gut-wrenching drama has just happened, and okay, it's over, lets go home.

And I agree that he doesn't come across as too bright, but more uses charisma, and now I have 'Popular' from Wicked stuck in my head. Thank you, universe. (Btw, you might remember when I said I hated Wicked. Yeah, well, it got me in the end. The music's too bloody catchy.)

Hawk: Yeah, Yami Yugi is not cool. I don't mind that he's arrogant. I like arrogant characters. I am not fond however of the way the YGOverse shifts itself round so he can be right.

I think Malik did the right thing in making up with him though. Now that chapter of Malik's life is over, he can go and become a politician.

@Hawk: Ah, I see. Well yes, Malik's early life can definitely be described as 'poor' conditions.

I think what interests me most about Malik isn't just the fact that he completely saw himself as justified, but also because of how utterly wrong he ended up being. I mean, talk about a blow to the ego, and may other emotional areas. On a moral level, I found it wrong the way Malik treated his Ghouls, but then again, he's a villain, so that doesn't make me like him less; it fits in with his role in the show and his personality.

I would've liked if Malik kept his hatred for Yami Yuugi as well; even if that seemed overdone, at least it would've been more fitting than him just magically becoming happy sparkle Namu!Malik.

And as much as I agree with you on the unhappiness Yami Yuugi brings (he's my least favorite main character), I do have to consider him at least somewhat justified on the memories thing. I mean, most people would be exceptionally curious to find out their entire past. Whenever you see amnesia episodes of shows or whatever, it is always extremely frustrating for the characters who have forgotten everything. It's just human nature to want to know about yourself. Not to mention the plot was pretty much shoving Yami Yuugi into recovering his memories. Yes, he had a choice, but given the circumstances, I think it would've been unreasonable for him to give up on finding his memories, at least back when Battle City first started.

However, once all the bad things started happening and Yami Yuugi realized it was all for his memories, that was when it was time to quit. And once again, I do have to give him credit that he decided his memories weren't worth it when Jounouchi was dying, but then... he lost that respect he had gained almost immediately when he decided that since the Sennen Tauk showed him Jounouchi would survive, he's like, "Oh! Well ******** this s**t, let's get to dueling Kaiba then!" The whole moral behind the Tauk was that you can change the destiny it predicts... Kaiba proved that, and yet... Yami Yuugi decided, "Since I got this vision, it has to be right, and I don't have to worry about Jounouchi Kun anymore! Never mind that me continuing the quest for my memories could endanger anymore lives; the Tauk says Jounouchi Kun will be okay (never mentioning Mai, Bakura, or Rishid), so all is good in the world! Memories here I come!" Though I am not someone who often agrees with Anzu, I was fully behind her when she ranted at Yami Yuugi for his decision there. So yeah, I think in the beginning it was reasonable for Yami Yuugi to be looking for his memories, even though I still don't like him, but that didn't last for the whole season, yet he went and continued searching for them anyway.

That situation with Malik and the Rod does remind me of Team Rocket. XD And yes, the people who get fooled by the stupid trick (Yuugi and the group/Ash and the group) are probably dumber than the trickster but... at the same time, just look at Team Rocket. They get away with their stupid disguises because of their stupid prey. That doesn't change the fact that what they're doing is stupid; they just got lucky in finding even stupider enemies. I see Malik's situation kind of the same; he got away with his poor decision because of the naivety of the other characters, not because he was intelligent about it. A lot of anime does that though. Like Dragon Ball Z is completely notorious; I've long believed the only intelligent character in that series is Piccolo, and I'm not just saying that because he's my favorite character. XD All the other characters just never think things through like he does. And on a side note, Jounouchi, in his one moment of being more intelligent than the rest of the characters, was suspicious of Malik. He didn't point it out though because he's still a dumb brick. *hugs him*

@Morgey: Heheh, nothing wrong with bashing your favorite character. What fun is a character who doesn't have any flaws? I may not think Malik's a genius or even very likable, but I wouldn't change anything about him. And I love your description of Malik just going to watch TV. I bet he had Rishid go and make pancakes for him. XD

I think the moment that Yami Malik started begging Yami Yuugi to join him or spare him or whatever that crap was, that was when the absolute amazingness that was the Battle City tournament suddenly exploded into hundreds of little pieces of fail. It was like from that moment, all the characters just went... out of character. Yami Malik was pathetic instead of terrifying, Malik was happy rainbow unicorns instead of an emotional p***k, Isis was all happy and loving instead of serious, Mai was playing pranks instead of freaking out that she had been stuck in an hour glass with a bunch of crazy evil bugs (or sand, for the anime), Kaiba decided to blow up the island WHILE HIS LITTLE BROTHER AND EVERYONE WERE STILL ON IT (though that isn't toooo out of character for Kaiba), Bakura came out of the closet and illustrated his love for bananas to everyone... okay, now I'm just pulling at strings. XD But anyway, yeah, I didn't appreciate the ending to Battle City. It was like all the crap that had just happened suddenly didn't matter, and the only thing that was important now was Kaiba decided to blow up an island and fly to America. But hey, isn't that what dealing with emotional trauma is really about in the end?

OMG I remember that Wicked conversation. XD I remember saying it didn't really turn Elphaba into a saint like you thought, because I was referring to the book and hadn't seen the Broadway yet, and didn't realize that's what you were talking about. I have since seen the Broadway, and though I still prefer the book, I did like it a lot. Glad you liked it too. XD

I agree with you about Yami Yuugi. Everything just works out too perfectly for him.

Awww, Malik and Isis, sibling politicians extraordinaire.

Hawk: But by recovering his memories, Yami Yugi can leave forever!

Kitsune: -Hugs Jounouchi as well- Yeah, I'm butting in, watcha gonna do?

As Roger Hargreave's seminal work 'Mr Perfect' taught us, there is nothing fun in a character with no flaws. ^^

And then Rishid gets a face full of pancake when he puts the wrong sauce on them.

"I want lemon juice!"
"But you said you wanted..."
-SLAM-

Poor Rishid. =[

Agreed totally about Battle City. With the Mai thing, I know she tends to pretend she's okay, but DUDE NOT FUNNY. But yes, maybe blowing up an island does cure trauma, we must tell the people!

I still find Wicked pretty strange as a prequel, but I still haven't got around to reading the book. And I still find it odd that it tries to explain that she wasn't really bad, it's other people that were, but I get the point it's making about history so maybe I should just shut up and enjoy it. And probably the 'other people were, and then they weren't but other people were and the whole world is screwed up and we just do what we can' thing is the point. And in a world where so few things pass the Bechdel test, I do find the musical's focus on female friendship really cool. I do mean to actually read the book at some point, so yay.

Aww. XD

Hawk: YAMI R TEH BESTEST!!1! and the show's going to make you agree whether you like it or not. razz

I also think Yami Malik's subplot ended too neatly. I'm not really sure to what extent he could have suffered further after having his rampage of evil ending in him looking like a whiny baby, at least without seriously injuring Malik too, but then I agree that torturing your favourites is always fun so *Cough*


How the hell did I just type 'is always' as 'ia aslya'?

XD That's hilarious.

And LK's done that to me on a few things too. I went through a phase of not liking Abridged because of the "HE'S THE ONLY REASON ANYONE CARES ABOUT YGO" thing some people were saying, but I think the ship has sailed on that one, and I haven't read the manga in a while, so I'm probably going off his work more than I care to admit now.

I don't like Yami Yugi enough to enjoy his suffering. Probably a lot of why I'm not fond of him is I find everyone else more interesting. But people not joining him on his quest would be funny. >]

Hmm, yes quite a difference. XD

And the quoting. Aaaah. Yes, it's funny and it's human nature to repeat funny things you heard, but so much.
"YuGiO..."
"SUPERSPECIALAWESOMEMYHAIRINAMERICA"

I don't see it as much anymore, but it got to the point where it was just ridiculous.

Yes, yes they do. Although I never got to finish the original because the stupid shops no longer sell the manga -whine-

EDIT: Now that I think about it, I've done a lot of quoting myself. But I'm not complaining about me, I'm complaining about other people, so that's good.

That does sound annoying.

And exactly! I don't want to come across as though I don't like Abridged because I do, it's just a little sad how it's overshadowed the original. That said, I haven't posted fanfiction or AMVs or RPed or contributed anything at all to the fandom in a while, so I can't complain. You can though. =]

@Hawk: Um, well actually, I totally had spelled extraordinaire wrong, and Firefox corrected it to what you saw in my post. So it might still be wrong if you're saying Firefox spellcheck fails on that word. XD

Yeah, I think I'd dislike Yami Yuugi far less if he wasn't the main character. That is the curse of main characters; they almost always end up hogging the spotlight. Not a big deal if I like the main character, but if I don't, it only makes me hate the main character more.

I agree with Yami Malik's death. I love seeing my favorite characters suffer too, so I would've loved a more horrible death for him. XD Or at least if he went out laughing like a maniac instead of begging for his life. That at least would've been enough to make the other characters nervous if he was really gone for good or not.

@Morgey: I like your logic there. I want Yami Yuugi gone forever. =D

Nothing, we can hug Jounouchi together and turn him into a peanut butter and Jou sandwich!

Dawww... *pulls Rishid into our gross sandwich hug*

Seriously, that was kind of a completely horrible prank that Mai and Shizuka pulled. Yes, it was funny, but OMG poor Jounouchi! Even after he acted retarded about his stupid friendship dream, he didn't deserve that.

The book definitely downgrades the POOR ELPHABA THE WORLD WRONGED HER SO MUCH thing a lot. It was more like... yes, she lived in a corrupt world, yes people avoided her because of her skin, but she wasn't some saint all trying to speak out and improve the world like crazy. She was bitter and cynical from the start, and though she was into Animal rights, she actually partook in illegal activities for the cause, and ultimately brought most of her problems onto herself. By the end, she also actually considered herself a Wicked Witch, and kind of did go crazy. Sadly though, it didn't focus on Elphaba and Glinda's friendship as much as the Broadway, which was probably my favorite part of the musical. Oh, and if you read Wicked and like it, definitely read the sequel as well, because I at least consider it far superior to the original. Son of a Witch was just so good. <3 The next book, A Lion Among Men, not so great, but kind of necessary if you want to get a huge amount of questions from the first two books answered and continue the overall plot of the series.

@Hawk: Lawl, orange juice.

Yes, the Abridged Series is known and loved by all in this guild. XD

And speaking of v****a and steak, I remember once I went to Fajita's (a Mexican restaurant that sells... fajitas *gasp*) with my family, and when my brother saw the place, he yelled out the name of it like it was spelled (Fa-Jai-Tas!), which made him sound like he was saying "Vajinas!" with a cold. The whole car went silent, then my brother went red and freaked, saying he didn't mean it to sound like that and was just saying the name like it was spelled. XD

@Morgey: It does get annoying when people only like Yuugiou because of the Abridged, or say the Abridged is better, but I try to just look at it like that it's bringing more people into the series, even if they're only appreciating the comedy aspect. And we still have each other to fan over the actual series with. But I've definitely always liked the Abridged. XD I mean, for me it's just fun and hilarious, you know? Not something I'm emotionally attached to like Yuugiou, and I don't try to analyze the characters and all of that. I just enjoy it as what it is, a comedy, and don't expect anything more from it.

Kind of agree on Yami Yuugi; I've found his suffering enjoyable on a few occasions, but overall just don't care enough about him to think it's worth giving him the extra screentime for. I'd rather just have him out of the picture.

@Hawk: I'm surprised roleplayers actually take personalities from the Abridged. XD I mean, it's just a comedy... the characters are made to work for the sake of enjoyment, rather than the characters being their own entities in the original Yuugiou. I just don't see how that would transfer well to a roleplay, unless it was a comedy, or specifically an Abridged roleplay.