SHADOW // DUEL.

a multimuse for characters from the yu-gi-oh duel monsters manga, written by meri. still re-reading the manga at present!

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SHADOWGAMED: an independent multimuse for characters from yu-gi-oh! duel monsters, written by meri. please note that this blog is a sideblog, so all followbacks will come directly from my main blog, @guardiandamned!

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DARK MAGICIAN GIRL // mana, the apprentice.

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okay so seto starters WILL come out hopefully soon, but i'm finding currently that perhaps to nobody's surprise, he's actually quite a hard character to write but ESPECIALLY when you haven't read the manga in years. so... today i'm focusing on mana!

LIKE THIS POST for a starter from her if you'd like one. thank you!

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i genuinely think i could write about seto's struggles to accept magic as real all day. it brings me an unfathomable amount of joy. and i haven't even TOUCHED on the fact that he's a reincarnation yet!!

[mahoushojoumonster]

She lifted her head with a smile, thinking over the challenge for a moment.

“I’m really not sure how I could prove it. Information is useless for the most part, since it’s possible a holo-AI would be able to pull a lot from your system database. And you’ve been toying with solid vision, so if I touched you, you’d likely claim it was the realism fields… right? Finally… a hallucination. My understanding is that’s usually your go-to explanation.”

She hummed softly as she lifted back up into the air and into a seated position, floating with her legs crossed as she summoned up a string of light. It looks entirely like she was playing with a cats cradle as she continued to think.

“So tell me, what would you believe? I’m more than happy to be your hallucination, if that makes you feel any better. Or perhaps… if you can think of a scenario or question I could answer that you would accept.”

She leaned toward him and held out her hand, as if to shake. “For now, though…. It’s nice to meet you properly. My name is Mana, or Dark Magician Girl, if you’d prefer. Seems a mouthful to me, so I’ll also accept Dee-Em-Gee.”

[shadowgamed]

There's something profoundly irritating - and equally as unsettling - about Mana's surprisingly empathetic response. She doesn't seem like she's being condescending, and as painful as it is to admit, pretty much everything she's saying is reasonable.

After all, he's not sure what would convince him that she's real. All of her hypothetical explanations are ones that he'd use - because they're the rational assumptions to make, of course - but Mana seems to be understanding of that. Acknowledging that it's hard to believe doesn't make it any less ridiculous, but stil... if, hypothetically, there was a conscious being in front of him now... how could she be expected to prove it?

Seto sits down again and leans back in his chair; his gaze level. Doubt is once more creeping in at the edges of his mind. He's not stupid - he knows that these ideas of ancient Egyptian magic, shadow games and curses could be reality on a purely hypothetical level. But he also knows just how many times people have been fooled throughout history by things that seemed like magic on the surface. It happens in today's world every day! Fraudsters take advantage of people every day by tricking them with lies and fairy-tales, and people believe it, and because of that, they lose everything...

Yet even if that's true, and he knows it, his heart remains stubbornly unconvinced. The turbulent storm of emotions trembling inside him is proof of that.

"At least you're aware of how ridiculous this all is." he starts - and all of a sudden, he feels exhausted. There are so many reasons not to believe it that they're hard to count, but if he had to narrow everything down to just one... what comes to mind first is the number of demonstrably false examples of "magic" that already exist in the world. Why would he be so "lucky" as to get to witness the real thing, as opposed to being just another person being tricked? The chances are ridiculously small.

"But that doesn't change anything. There's no way you're alive." he stubbornly insists. "Do you know how many people in this world think they've seen the paranormal every day? Yet each and every time, there's always another explanation. Why should I believe that this time is any different...?"

But then, he trails off. He just feels... this bone-deep exhaustion. And the same doubt as ever hits him, the one he hates the most - what if he is wrong, and everything Yugi has shown him has been reality? What would that mean? Why is the thought so unfathomably terrifying?

"Damn... what the hell am I doing...?" he asks himself, not caring that Mana can hear him. He hates being so afraid. He hates that his mind can trick him like this to begin with. Strangely, though, being seen in such a vulnerable state by Mana doesn't bother him. It must be because he knows she isn't really there.

"How am I supposed to know what's real... when there's no way to prove it either way?"

[mahoushojoumonster]

Her face softens as she watches him, the movements as familiar to her as breathing. It breaks her heart to see him looking so… lost. Like a buoy untethered in the sea. Grasping at straws that are still eluding his touch.

And hearing him say what he did, she decides that perhaps she should make a move that the others might not approve of. Everyone had been content to leave him be, knowing that Fate would bring the man where he may have been needed.

Mana had always disagreed with the notion.

If Seto Kaiba is a man that requires proof to believe… then that’s exactly she’ll give it to him.

She lets out a soft sigh, cricking her neck as she steps out of her position entirely with another step forward.

“You don’t need to do anything you don’t want to, Seto Kaiba.” No ringing bells, no silly giggles from the modulators.

She kneels in one motion, smiling up at him. “But I don’t think it’s stupid to try and talk to new friends, even if you’re not sure they’re there.”

[shadowgamed]

"What-!?"

Seto's melancholic, but nonetheless reasonably calm demeanor shatters in an instant as soon as he realizes the strangeness of what just happened. It took him a moment to process it - but holograms don't just get up and start responding to you on their own. They're not programmed that way!

His heart races in his chest. And he goes to yell at her, to tell her that obviously he knows that and that they're certainly not friends, either... but while he does stand up, looking furious, Seto cuts himself short before the words actually leave his mouth. It feels like yelling at her - no, it - would be letting it win, acknowledging that there's actually a conscious being before him instead of what's merely an illusion, sophisticated as it might be.

But he can't exactly just ignore her either. So he keeps glaring, looking at Mana intently yet cautiously and thinking carefully about his next move. This shouldn't be as unsettling as it is...

"...You look real, I'll give you that." Seto's pleased that he's able to muster up his usual unbothered tone when he does speak, but at the same time, he's already coming up with potential justifications for what's going on. The first and most obvious - it's just another hallucination. This wouldn't be the first time, after all, and with no-one else around him to prove otherwise, there's nothing strange about that explanation. On top of that, Seto has been experimenting with brain scans in relation to duel technology as of late, even if it's only preliminary... so maybe there's more possibilities to be had there. Or a virus, perhaps?

"But I don't need you to tell you what I already know. You're just a hologram. A combination of light and code, nothing more." he keeps working through the possibilities even as he speaks, eyes never once leaving hers.

"If you expect me to start thinking you're alive just like that, I'm sorry, but I'm going to need a lot more convincing."

[mahoushojoumonster]

The funny thing was, for once Mana wasn’t actually trying to be seen, or noticed as anything more than a duel monster.

She had merely responded to a summons, going through the motions as if she was the actual hologram. There had been no intention of playing games or trying to mess with the humans.

If anything, she’d been content with the idea to be summoned and simply watch the reincarnation of her King do as he did.

She twirled into existence with a smile, settling herself into an easy position. Perhaps this was a simulation while he worked on strategy—

It was just him. There was no one else around, and no other monsters.

Do I know you from somewhere?

She paused, unsure of her choices. He may have been talking to himself, or to her… but not really.

She slowly lowered herself to the ground, letting her confusion show on her face. This was unexpected. What was she even supposed to say?

So she did what she did best… she winked, letting the hologram voice cache let out a girlish laugh on her behalf.

Better to wait and see, right?

— @shadowgamed

[shadowgamed]

Honestly, Seto's sure he must be going crazy. In fact, there aren't many times he's felt as big of a fool in his life, and it's not a feeling he likes.

What is he doing, talking to a hologram like this? As if it's alive... and even capable of responding to begin with. He knows that Yugi's delusions have to be just that - delusions, nothing more than the product of an over-imaginative, easily fooled mind - and that's why it angers him so much that they're bothering him at all even now.

It's not just because Yugi doesn't seem like the type of person to lose himself in fantasy. There's something more to it; a nagging sense of unease and familiarity whenever he hears those stories, even a sense of urgency that seems to tug at him, compelling him to take them seriously. It feels like he's being pulled somewhere beyond his control, and it scares him, if he lets himself be honest for more than two seconds. No matter how many times he mulls over it, trying to remember the rational explanations for everything he's experienced, repeating them as if they're mantras... he just can't seem to let that feeling go.

Seto sighs, and leans back on his chair, letting himself crumple in exhaustion as he holds a hand to his head. There's no-one around to see, so it's not like it matters. Still, Dark Magician Girl's gaze feels like it's piercing through him, in a way that should make him uncomfortable, but... strangely doesn't.

"This is stupid. What am I even doing?" he mutters to himself. After a few more moments pass, he glances at Mana again, looking like he's studying her intently.

"Ancient Egypt... the Millenium Items... Why do I keep feeling like I need to do something about all that nonsense...?"

[koutone]

first time drawing miho I think waow

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guys is it bad that. i kind of want to write miho.

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craving seto and ishizu threads again..........

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guys....... my seto muse is kind of returning. as well as my intense need for threads focused on his past life & his denial of it.

[ms-gal-does-art]

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and of course. i have to ask now. who wants a starter from siegfried????

[koutone]

recently rewatched this ep so I felt like doodling them

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To Siegfried, Seto Kaiba might as well make up the entire world. But it's not like he's ever had a choice in seeing it that way. The shadow he casts is so long and so all-consuming that Siegfried never had a chance of escaping it.

And it's not even really Seto's fault - at least, in a theoretical sense. Seto never asked for the Schroeder family to obsess over him, to destroy themselves trying to destroy him. As a child, Siegfried had hated him - the boy who made his father suffer so much - his father, with the bags under his eyes growing darker each day as he fell deeper and deeper into misery and exhaustion. When he grew older, there was a brief time when he directed his hatred at his own father, instead, and decided he would free himself from the shackles that Seto Kaiba had on his life.

But in the end, fate had laughed at him mercilessly, and Siegfried finally grew to understand what had kept his father up night after sleepless night. Because whatever he did, Kaiba was always, always one step ahead. Perhaps Siegfried should've left it, should've let himself be satisfied with what he had, but... in the end, he just couldn't do it.

Without defeating Kaiba, what was the purpose of his existence? After all he'd suffered trying to get to the top, everything he'd done - had it all been for nothing? A total waste of time? ...No, Siegfried is nothing without Seto Kaiba - it's always been that way. ...But not any longer.

"Mister Seto." When Siegfried greets him, it's with a smile on his face. He's the very picture of elegance and composure, even if the smile he wears is a cold one.

"I never thought we'd meet again somewhere like this. Is something wrong? You're looking rather... troubled."

@sweetcobaltblue ( starter for seto! )

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and of course. i have to ask now. who wants a starter from siegfried????

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i just did the FASTEST skim through of the siegfried arc (I FORGOT THE ACTUAL NAME) that anyone has ever seen. and wow i knew about his rivalry with him, but i didn't realize that siegfried was raised literally for the purpose of defeating seto kaiba?? that's kind of fucked up, man.

ANYWAY NEW MUSE ACQUIRED LET'S GOOOOO-