(no subject)

[spoke]

This started out thinking about what little I know about the AE arc, and how it seems to have affected Seto, Ryou and Yugi's personalities now.

That Seto seems to have been braced for trouble, waiting for the blows to fall; that Yugi wants nothing to do with responsibility and duty and would gladly spend the rest of his life gaming; and I am too hesitant of Ryou, of how little we know of what he's doing besides going after wanting to know all about the Millennium Items. Except. Geee, I wonder why he'd want to know.

He never says.

But there is this thing that I think is just Yugi; the boy is affection starved. When we first met him, he is a shy loner, a bully target with only one friend - Anzu. ...who also happens to be his sekrit crush. ;p

Then he solves the Puzzle and Jou becomes his friend... and I'm not sure whether it's a touch of hero-worship or just the starving, that puts this tone of awe and joy that Jounouchi is his friend. *.*

Jounouchi, for his part, does look up to Yugi - this seems to come from a belief that Yugi is a fundamentally better person than he is. ...Jou, in case ya hadn't realized, has self esteem issues. What with the drunken father and the mom who left and took Shizuka with her, you can imagine why. He has been a bully and a jerk (and secretly a dork) struggling to convince himself that he's a basically kind hearted jerk, when into the equation comes Mouto Yugi. A tiny dorky shrimp who's willing to get the shit beat outta him in defense of guys who had been bullying him beforehand - and after they thought he had hired the guy doing the beating.

Yugi, he concludes, must be a really decent guy.

It's easy to see how they effect each other. Jou bringing out the strength in Yugi, helping him to toughen up and be more outspoken. Yugi bringing out the 'kid' in Jou, the enjoyment of games he'd been embarrassed to admit to (Honda comes across as a outsider in the games - these are his friends, but this is not his scene, so to speak) and kindness and enthusiasm about simple things.

Honda. Honda, at first, is not so much Yugi's friend as he is Jou's kinda mean friend who still picks on Yugi. Gets him to run errands and crap.

It turns out that Honda has been convinced that Yugi is still holding a grudge against him for past bullying. Jou actually has to convince him Yugi isn't like that, in a horrible attempt at match friendship-making that's ... it's like one of those stories where the kids try to get the divorced parents back together? Only not. >>;

It says a lot about Honda that he assumes this grudge. Because there's a tone of 'It's what I'd do if I'd been catching grief like that' to it, that shows again and again as things progress. Honda does not do anything lightly. Once he has formed an opinion, it takes some doing for him to change it. Luckily, he is friends with Jou, who has just the right sort of crazy to get him to do so. ;p

But Honda... he is the pragmatist. Probably one of the funniest things in the Doom arc of the anime, to me? Is when Honda sums up his own character in one sentence. "I'm just tellin' it like it is." And little things - like maybe Jou didn't want Yugi and Anzu to know he has a police record, and Jou resenting him for wanting to repay his debt to the Kaibas? That's just too bad.

Series beginning, Jou and Honda both are... well, not to be dramatic about it, but they are on the path to the Dark Side. Jou moreso than Honda, but that's just Jou. As with Jou, Honda is impressed with the basic decency of Yugi. Once he's convinced that it's not just manipulation or naiveté. Possibly because they started later, possibly because they're more different from each other, it's harder to see them affecting each other. Also, because Jou is his first friend, and it's almost never just Honda and Yugi together, most of their interaction comes through reacting to Jounouchi.

On the other hand, they fit. Honda's presence slows things down, allowing Yugi not to get dragged along at Jou's pace if he doesn't wanna - they're almost formulaic in their reaction to each other's reactions to Jou. ;p

Jou: Shiinnny! omgomg this is so cool! :D

if Yugi : Also :D
then Honda: *sigh* *follows in a mix of reluctant/ okay so maybe it is cool*

if Yugi: >> Uhhh, Jou, I'm not sure that's
then Honda: -.- Dude, calm down. No, I mean it. *pries Jounouchi off the wall he has climbed up*

And occasionally they both just watch as Jou goes on and on (or off) about something. And quietly offer each other their opinions. And thus, all is cool. ^_^

Another thing (will I ever move on from Honda? No! Never! ;ppp) Honda is probably the most ...observant member of the group. Reasoning for this is - the Pharaoh. Anzu and Jou spend all this time around him, Jou has fought by his side, but it takes them until Shadi's arc to think 'Gee is there something different about Yugi right now?' :P

First time Honda ever sees him is after the end of Death-T. First time, and he stops and asks Jou in an aside "Is there something different about Yugi?" And while he does not notice the change in Ryou when Bakura takes over - they had known him for a grand total of one day. And a school day at that.

Dungeon in Pegasus's castle, after they'd had time to get to know him better? Bakura has rescued Honda. (or is at least offering to) And Honda's only thought is "Can that really be you?" ...I am so waiting for him to grab some large object and clock Bakura, now. I just hope he doesn't steal a gun off one of the guards Poor Ryou.

With Anzu... Anzu is just quietly one of the guys. 'Cept she's a girl. Which leads to teasing somewhat, and...well, you don't see them trying anything fresh after Jou gets decked when they lifted her panties. >>;; But it's nice, how she has this strength and talent and you never suspect anything is there until she steps out - to drive Jou and Honda off in their first bullyings, to tell them about the dancing after they've followed her to her job. To risk killing a guy who's trying to kill Jou. To listen their way out of Seto's falling blocks trap in Death-T, and to actually tell Seto about himself in Duelist Kingdom.

I think I remember seeing somewhere, her sign is Leo. I can see her as a lion, really. All lazy friendly warmth and beauty and sunshine - until it up and roars and you would not believe how loud they are until it happens.

But back to Yugi. There are other friends, temporary although Yugi seems to keep an eye on them. >> And then there's the way he reacts to Seto. Seto has to be his friend. No matter what. At the end of Death-T, after the Pharaoh has shattered the puzzle of Seto's heart and left him to put it back together again - the conclusion Yugi seems to draw from this is that when that is done, Seto will be all better somehow and want to be friends with him. I mean... Seto shows up at Duelist Kingdom and Yugi is all huge eyes and hesitant waiting to smile, 'Are you my fwiend now?'

He is crushed when Seto slaps him down.

In the way he reacts to Ryou, which is dangerous. It's like Ryou is his little brother, as he is Jou's - the one to be guided and protected and taught things. (like not wearing your school uniform on the weekends ;p ) But however similar they are and however well they seem to get along (and they do, it is scary) Ryou is not Yugi. It's possible he was never 'like' Yugi, the friendless loner - Ryou had friends.

I have dark suspicions as to what exactly happened to those friends - or, to relay this back to an earlier point - why it happened to them. I think it went something like :

Ryou: *has been not-dealing with various problems with his friends, and is focusing on the game and how much fun it is - how much simpler life would be if they could stay in the game forever, and not go back to various other areas in which his friends are ticking him off*

Bakura: *yoink!*
*has now granted Ryou's wish to have his friends and stay in the game forever, on every perceivable level*
*SMUG*

...Except the bit where Ryou did not actually ask him to, you know. >> And the bit where they can't communicate at this point, so any sort of gratitude or appreciation is out of the question.

Ryou... for starters, although I can see where he could be called 'shy' around girls, in everything else he's not. Shy implies a certain lack of self confidence, a hesitance born of self-protection and fear of what others will think of oneself. Ryou is reserved, has a certain distance even when he's happily chattering away that I think only Yugi has noticed, so far. He is a watcher, always standing back from the others and seeing what happens - twice I've seen him step forward of his own, once to fight Bakura and the second time with the intention of yelling at Seto about Jou's sister, except that Jou cut him off.

I think, for whatever reasons he has for wanting to know about the Items, it comes down to his soul being drawn to the past - where Seto and Yugi both push it away, although in different ways and to vastly different degrees. Seto is very much plugging his ears and singing loudly at times. Yugi is sitting in a chair, looking the other way and waiting for it all to vanish. ...Ryou is wandering through rooms, calling for it like a lost pet. >:P

I am waay too sleepy by now to finish this properly - but darnit I covered most everyone! I can come back to Ryou. >>;;;

*passes out*

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[lrodell.livejournal.com]

hmmm...
(love the last bit! and yes, come back to it later--sleep!)