#godrent

[apricotheart]

@godrent​ said :  vex   /   for the funsies | (  if they had a kid  /  accepting !!  )

Name: Akumu (  悪夢 - japanese origin, meaning ‘ nightmare ’ ). Gender: Cis Female General Appearance: While she might resemble Anzu in general colouring, her overall features are sharp and angular like Bakura’s. Her eyes are considered her most “unsettling” feature, often appearing empty and reflective like a doll’s. She is quite short, standing at only 5′0 / 152 cm, and thin — possessing gangly limbs that sometimes appear awkward and too long for her body as she goes through puberty. Personality: Anti-social, rough around the edges, and often appearing to be disinterested. Akumu is the antithesis to Anzu’s bubbly, social nature. Akumu quickly comes across as someone to stear clear of because of the constant “mean” look she wears. In actuality, she’s really quite lonely and merely wants to guard herself from future hurts.  Special Talents: Tarot readings. Despite a lack of general spirituality in her household growing up, she quickly became interested in Tarot cards, and enjoys divining information about the past, present, and future. She also just thinks people’s reactions are hilarious when her readings hit a little too close to home. Who they like better: Bakura, if only because he isn’t overbearing. Who they take after more: While she definitely has some less than friendly attributes, I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s because she takes after Bakura. Akumu has crafted her own identity, and as such, it’s hard to pin down her personality in the scope of Anzu’s or Bakura’s. Personal Head canon: Akumu identifies as Greyromantic Asexual. This means that she very very rarely feels romantic attraction towards others and has little to no interest in sexual activity. Face Claim: Hori Kyouko

[futureheld]

---  a  ship  manip  for  @godrent  just  because  !

[apricotheart]

❛     WELL, WELL ———     ❜     with swiftness in his movements, bakura swipes the girl's wrists into the palm of his hand and pins them against her back, carefully pulling her against his frame. his free hand then moves to clasp tight against her shoulder as he leans into her ear, voice bathed in a soft venom.     ❛     what do we have here — a nosy, lost little girl?    ❜ how interesting, he hadn't anticipated anyone to come wandering around... least of all anzu mazaki. ♡

( unprompted / always accepting !! )

            𝐓𝐎  𝐒𝐀𝐘  𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓  𝐀𝐍𝐙𝐔  𝐈𝐒  𝐀  𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄  𝐏𝐄𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐃  𝐖𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃  𝐁𝐄  𝐀𝐍  𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓.  Things  were  supposed  to  be  different  now.  Maybe  not  normal  —  she  can't  remember  a  time  when  their  lives  were  ever  normal  —  but  something  close  to  it.  At  the  very  least,  Anzu  was  over  the  whole  mystical-item-world-takeover  bullshit.

            She  could  almost  excuse  being  grabbed  by  someone  on  the  street.  New  York  was  as  much  a  dream  come  true  as  it  was  a  filthy,  crime-ridden  cesspool;  it  depended  on  which  part  of  the  city  you  were  in.  Maybe  she  was  finally  being  mugged.  It  was  a  miracle  she  hadn't  been  since  moving  overseas  two  years  ago.

           Ba-bump.

            She  registers  the  coldness  of  his  hands  before  anything  else.  Anzu  can't  even  see  his  face  properly  before  she's  spun  away  from  him,  hands  behind  her  back.  But  the  shock  of  white  hair  triggers  a  fight-or-flight  response.  The  low  voice  that  hisses  next  to  her  ear  is  an  uncomfortably  familiar  one.  One  that,  Anzu  had  hoped,  she'd  never  have  to  hear  again.

            Ba-bump.  Ba-bump.

            ❝  You,  ❞  Realisation.  Accusation.  She  had  learned,  not  long  after  helping  Atem  to  remember  his  name,  that  names  held  power.  Intention.  She  may  not  have  understood  everything  about  Ancient  Egyptian  culture  —  in  fact,  she  knew  very  little  —  but  she  could  glean  that  much  from  their  harrowing  adventures  over  the  years.  Saying  his  name  would  only  empower  him,  and  even  if  it  didn't,  she  would  not  give  him  the  satisfaction  of  remembering  it.  ❝   What  disgusting  pit  of  despair  did  you  crawl  out  of  this  time?  Shouldn't  you  be  suffering  eternally  in  the  Shadow  Realm  or  something?   ❞

            Anzu  was  suspended  someplace  between  disbelief  and  disappointment.  It  wasn't  so  much  a  surprise  anymore  that  their  days  fighting  Shadow  Games  and  evil  spirits  weren't  over  and  a  part  of  her  hated  the  inkling  of  hope  it  gave  her  that  Atem  might  just  be  back,  too.

            He  deserved  his  peace.  They  all  did.

            Ba-bump.  Ba-bump.  Ba-bump.

            Anzu  fights  against  the  grip  on  her  wrists.  He's  stronger  than  she  remembers.  His  fingers  are  like  iron  shackles.  Then,  as  if  something  else  finally  falls  into  place  in  the  pieces  of  her  memory,  she  panics;  a  surge  of  anger  fuels  her  to  throw  her  head  back  with  as  much  force  as  she  can  muster.  The  back  of  her  skull  crushes  his  nose  as  much  as  it  sends  a  ringing  all  through  her  head  and  ears.  At  the  same  time,  the  muscles  in  her  legs  give  the  needed  leverage  to  push  off  the  ground  and  counterbalance  his  own  weight,  propelling  him  backwards.  When  she  feels  his  grip  loosen,  Anzu  roughly  pushes  away  from  him.

            He's  here.  He's  solid.  He  has  a  body.

          She  spins  on  her  heel,  keeping  distance  between  them.  ❝   What  did  you  do?!  Where's  Ryou?!   ❞ 

[apricotheart]

@godrent ADA TURN ON YOUR LOCATION. I JUST WANNA TALK.

[takhalaa]

in a post-battle city / post-canon context, is malik genuinely attempting to reform himself, or is this just a front for the sake of isis and rishid?

malik  is  genuinely  attempting  to  reform  but  he's  still  in  the  process  of  determining  what  this  looks  like  and  what  this  means  for  him.  while  his  main  motivation  to  reform  is  because  he  wants  to  be  someone  deserving  of  isis  and  rishid's  forgiveness  and  companionship,  malik's  innocence  is  gone  and  has  been  gone  for  a  long  time.  he  is  no  longer  the  kind  or  gentle  boy  that  he  once  was  and  he  has  formulated  a  personality  with  values  and  beliefs  that  are  engrained  into  who  he  is  now,  these  are  fundamental  and  he  has  no  interest  in  changing  these  aspects  of  himself.

what  this  might  look  like  is  that  malik  is  most  likely  to  be  civil  with  those  around  him,  he  may  be  snarky,  sarcastic,  rude  or  otherwise  unfriendly  but  he  has  no  intention  of  being  malicious  or  antagonistic  unless  he  is  provoked  or  threatened  first.

malik  is  trying  to  be  a  better  person.  for  the  most  part  this  only  means  that  he  is  now  more  or  less  on  the  side  of  the  "good  guys",  not  that  he  himself  is  a  good  person  or  that  he  does  "good  things".  he  is  still  every  bit  as  malicious,  cunning, conniving,  manipulative,  cruel,  and  sadistic  as  he  has  been  in  the  past.

[takhalaa]

𝐒𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆  𝐃𝐔𝐒𝐓  𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐓      ➸      [    accepting    ]

❛          you  knew  and  you  didn’t  tell  me?!          ❜

malik  met  the  others  gaze  with  a  sudden  and  intense  interest.  since  abandoning  the  tombs  and  rising  to  the  surface  malik  had  learned  all  he  could  about  the  world  he  had  been  denied.  the  sights,  the  sounds,  the  histories  and  the  cultures.  it  had  all  been  so  fascinating,  so  intriguing  and  the  people  had  elicited  the  same  interest.  humans,  mortals,  they  were  all  so  predictable.  shatter  one  mind  and  one  had  shattered  them  all.  everyone's  thoughts,  desires,  emotions,  memories,  malik  had  grown  to  know  them  all.  recognizing  the  marks  of  trauma,  the  fogs  of  disinterest.  there  were  memories  that  malik  had  seen  clearer  and  more  vivid  than  even  their  beholders.

          but  bakura  was  different.  malik  didn't  need  to  touch  his  mind  to  know  that  the  spirit  of  the  millennium  ring  was  different  to  any  others.  and  yet  at  times  he  was  just  as  predictable  as  the  mortals.

          malik  laughed.  a  sharp  and  singular  sound  that  seemed  to  make  his  boyish  features  age  and  distort,  ❝  i  wasn't  aware  that  i  was  supposed  to  tell  you  anything,  ❞  malik  said,  his  amusement  lacing  itself  into  every  word.  a  condescending  arrogance  spilling  from  his  lips  as  he  leaned  back  and  folded  his  arms  across  his  stomach.

          ❝  did you think our deal meant you were entitled to my plans? hm? that i would tell you my every move?  ❞ malik's scoffed, ❝ surely you know better than that, ❞ // @godrent

[apricotheart]

does anzu have traumas, whether big or small, caused by the events of the series? if so, how does she handle them?

( unprompted asks / always accepting !! )

Oh yeah, absolutely. The biggest one I can think of is Battle City. Aside from nearly having a crate crush her to death and watching Yuugi almost drown in the span of a few minutes, which definitely rattled her for a while, the big obvious trauma I can think of is being possessed by Malik... and just... the Finals in general were pretty traumatic.

There were nights after Battle City was over that she woke up from nightmares of looking in the mirror and seeing a twisted, distorted reflection of herself staring back at her — typical horror movie-style. I can't recall if it was ever stated in canon ( manga or anime ), but I like to think that even if Anzu wasn't in control of her own actions, she was present. Like an outsider looking in, but powerless to do anything to stop it.

I think Anzu would definitely suffer from some undiagnosed PTSD because of it. Maybe not too overpowering, but enough that she still occasionally deals with nightmares and paranoia in the months and years afterwards.

I think being possessed kind of feeds into why Anzu is so fiercely defiant and independent post-canon. To feel so helpless, and essentially violated in a way, to not have any control over her own actions, really really bothered her and still bothers her to this day.

As far as how she deals with it, I think she handles it better than most would. Anzu isn't the type to bottle up her feelings. She needs to let them out. Talk about them. So even if she doesn't necessarily go to a therapist ( how would she possibly explain everything that happened? ), I can definitely see her talking to one of the guys. Not Yuugi, because she knows that if she unloaded all her trauma on him he'd only feel personally responsible and guilty. Probably Jonouchi, though, because they were both in that position of being possessed by Malik. He'd be able to understand where she's coming from.

[apricotheart]

@godrent​​ said :  kiss roulette, please, feed me. | (  kiss prompts  /  accepting !!  )

                                       15. kiss in the rain.

        𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐃. It was the only way to explain it. This wasn’t the first time she had felt like there were a pair of eyes boring into her back. Ever since the events that transpired with Diva, she had the unmistakable feeling of being watched. Even in New York, Anzu couldn’t escape the eerie, skin-crawling sensation that her privacy was being invaded. At first, she chalked it up to simple paranoia. After everything they had been through, it was only natural to be a little on edge. But the Millennium Items were gone now, and that should have meant no more threats. No more danger. No more nightmares. 

        Anzu couldn’t have been more wrong. 

        The first time she sees him, it is just a glimpse — a reflection in a shop window — gone as quick as it had appeared. She blinks several times, willing the reflection to reveal the figure again; but nothing happens and Anzu dubs it a momentary lapse of alertness. She’s been pretty tired lately. Maybe she just needs rest. 

        But it happens again. And again. And again. Each time she sees him, he seems to stick around for a few seconds longer. It isn’t until she’s in Domino again, that it becomes all too real. 

        Rain pelts the sidewalk, skating sideways in her vision as Anzu hurriedly moves from under one shop awning to the next. Having forgotten an umbrella that morning, she’d been caught in the storm unprepared. A streak of lightning cracks open the sky like an eggshell, and it is at it’s lowest point, disappearing behind the shadow of a building that she sees him again. Only this time he doesn’t disappear, and Anzu can make out through the rain, the unmistakable glint of gold spikes. Her stomach drops and she is immediately filled with dread. 

        Bakura turns, disappearing down the alley and Anzu, despite herself, runs after him. Soaked hair is pushed from her eyes as she comes face-to-face with an all too familiar malicious grin and soulless, brown eyes. It shouldn’t be happening. It should be impossible that he’s here right now; but Anzu has long since learned to accept impossible things happening in their lives is sort of the norm.  ❝  Bakura?! How —  ❞ Her eyes are drawn to the Ring. Even just looking at it now gives her the creeps. If the Millennium Ring was back, and so was Bakura, then what did that mean for the rest of the Millennium Items? Could it be that something bad was on the horizon, ready to threaten their newfound peace?

        All of these questions and more percolate in her thoughts as Bakura suddenly stalks forward, forcing her to step back. When her back hits the wall, he grins like a cat who has caught the canary. Something in Anzu snaps. This is too much. This was supposed to be over. She is tired of being bullied, manipulated, possessed and intimidated by Spirits and mystical items! ❝  I’m not afraid of you! ❞

        Bakura laughs, unkind, in response.  “ That’s what I like about you. Always so full of fire.  ” Anzu doesn’t anticipate his next move until his lips are already ghosting at the corner of her mouth. She freezes; considers slapping him. Instead, she goes for surprising him by shifting to kiss him full on the mouth. If he thinks trying to kiss her will intimidate her into submission, he has another thing coming. Mazaki Anzu is not some scared little girl, afraid of the monsters under her bed. 

        The kiss is short-lived, lasting only long enough for Anzu to taste cinnamon amidst the rain drops and then she’s suddenly cold. Bakura is gone, leaving her alone in the alley.