llamrei appears to have gotten me into seriously reading Yu-Gi-Oh. She's done a fabulous YGO introductory post here that made me realise that this series has a lot of the things I really like. The one-sentence description I would use for it is, "An adorable young blond kid with the Maou/Yuuri complex BUT WITH GAMES!" It took me a while to get over the art, but I really like the story! The only reason I haven't started watching the anime yet is because I haven't gotten my hands on it. But I do think I will. I can't believe I just reserved the latest volume the library has, because I'm if I don't reserve it, I won't get to read it til... HEAVEN KNOWS WHEN. I have learnt to make my reservations whenever I'm after something I really want that is also incredibly popular. (You know something's incredibly popular when there are eight copies of it in the circulation system and seven of them are on loan, and the only reason the last one wasn't was because it was due. I like reading the manga from books where it's available, because there's just something so satisfying about reading something physically tangible. ♥
I guess, for a series where several main characters have alternate personalities (and some have more than just the one - Case in point: the Bakura entry on Wikific lists all the Bakuras, and then says, "Please visit those pages for more information about the Bakura you are looking for.") I suppose the staggering multiplicity of pairings isn't surprising. (Still, Seto/Jou, you haven't won me over yet).
All this Bakura talk is making me want cream puffs. And I don't even like them, normally. ARGH, fandom is making me want to eat!
The YGO Shipper's List BREAKS MY BRAIN with the sheer number of permutations and combinations and extremely inventive namecalling, and explains Wishshipping. The YGO WikiFic site deserves a second honourable mention for BREAKING MY BRAIN WITH AMAZING. No, really. I have never seen any fandom go to such lengths to chronicle all, and I really mean all, its pairings.
Wishshipping - or Jou/Yuugi talk
My favourite pairing so far calls itself WishShipping. It's Main Character-Best Friend, which I avoid like the plague when it's too canon, but which I go for like mad when it's got enough spark and/or intrigue to keep me fascinated. As a rule I don't ship best friend pairings (I find them too boring), but I ship KKM's Murata/Yuuri (best friends with complex past lives, a whole wardrobe full of secrets, and DUBIOUS MOTIVATIONS), and I shipped Rurouni Kenshin's Kenshin/Sanosuke, which Jounichi/Yuugi reminds me a little off.
Jounichi started the series off as Nasty Guy Who Likes to Bully the Main Character. But then an even BIGGER Bully showed up on the scene and started to beat up on the Proto-Bullies. Yuugi, adorable, sweet and naive little hero that he is, runs up to the Biggest Bully and goes, "Stop hurting them! Hurt me instead!" Oh, Yuugi. Does the fact that these guys were beating you up not leave any impression on you at all? Turns out that Biggest Bully really is the Biggest Bully - he's just beating up on Yuugi's bullies so he can get protection money from Yuugi. Biggest Bully ends up beating all of them up.
But Jou and Yuugi are friends from then on.
It's really cute! Before the Massive-Beat-Up of Doom, Jou had stolen a piece of Yuugi's puzzle and thrown in into the school pond. But after the Massive Bonding-Bashfest, Jou goes and gets that piece back for Yuugi. (I kinda imagine it like the Britney Spears voiceover for Oops, I Did It Again - Yuugi: "I thought some bully dropped it into the school pond again!" Jou, "Well, Yuugi, I went down and got it for you!")
This puzzle of Yuugi's is pretty central to the story, cause Yuugi's been working for eight years to get it right. He gets a wish when he finally completes it that night, after Jou's given him the missing piece (YOU TWO ARE THE MISSING PIECES OF THE PUZZLE), and he wishes for a true friend. That's why the Wishshippers are called the Wishshippers, because we (XD) see Jou as Yuugi's wish come true.
[Of course, the alternate explanation is that Yami is Yuugi's wish come true, which makes more sense to me. But that's a whole other explanation for another day. Besides, the Yami/Yuugi pairing has its own ship name - Puzzleshipping. ;) ]
Jou - cutest boyfriend ever. He is incredibly protective of Yuugi - amazing contrast from when he used to be the kind of person Yuugi needed protection from. Stunning protectiveness is always a major draw for me when it comes to pairings I support - which is why I love Yuuri/Wolfram so much).
YGO Links
YGO C2 Communities
There are over three hundred fanfiction communities for YGO.
Jonouchi/Yuugi fic
(which I will link purely because it exists, and so that I can have it all in one place instead of memory'ing everything)
My favourite so far is Up, Over, Under, which is actually short gen fic, but I really liked it!
Wishshipping C2 Community (on page 17 of an 18-page community list, I am so proud of myself)
Had Said
Eight Minutes to Sunrise
and media!
first Wishshipping video I found!
(much more love on youtube, which can and WILL call up many more!)
