Summary of my replies to reviews for "Return to Romance" Chapter 25
Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I really appreciate it and it was so encouraging to hear from people!
Using Duel Monsters cards to send messages: I’ve always liked the language of flowers, where different flowers have different meanings, so that each bouquet carries a message. I really wanted to see if I could make the language of flowers work with duel monsters cards - especially since Yami and Kaiba seem to be talking in their own duel monsters based language a lot of the time anyway. And I also liked the idea that even someone who knows Kaiba as well as Mokuba did would see the same cards but not see the message.
I couldn’t have done the chapter without the Yu-Gi-Oh! Wikia. I knew I wanted to use Devil’s Sanctuary because of all that card has met between them. For the rest I thought about the message first. Then, once I had figured out what message Yami wanted to send, I had to translate it into a card action. Once I’d completed that, thanks to the wikia I could look up and sort through the cards that fell into that category.
Yami chasing Kaiba: I really wanted to take the dynamic we see in Battle City where Kaiba is literally chasing him all over Domino and see how that would affect their attempt at a relationship. Kaiba is very focused on Yami throughout Yu-Gi-Oh! When they duel or in a lot of their conversations, while Yami at times gives Kaiba his full attention, his friends are in danger, he’s trying to win to unlock his memories - he really has a lot going on. I could see that sticking with Kaiba, who is used being used by people who want his technology or his skills but who have no interest in him. But the situation is different now, and I thought it was important for Yami to get a chance to think about both what he wants - and what he has to be willing to change.
I also wanted to show Kaiba being excited in a teenage way and more than a little confused at having Yami being the one doing the chasing. I wanted Yami sending those cards to have a bit of a flirtatious feel to it - something neither of them were completely aware of or able to identify.
Yami and Bakura: I liked the idea that Bakura and Yami had things in common - and that Yami could help with the things that they are both struggling with. I think helping others is something that will always be important to him. And I liked the idea that Yami’s learning that he can sometimes help people by opening up about his own doubts and struggles.
Honda and Bakura: Honda - possibly because he’s the one of the core group who’s the closest to the fringe of it himself - is usually the character most concerned with those who are not quite in the inner circle.
Kaiba and Yami: I really wanted to look at how these two stubborn, sometimes overly proud characters would make a relationship work - and what problems they would create for themselves. I love the way Kaiba always wants Yami to be at the top of his game, like the way he basically tells Yami to suck it up both in his duel with the mime in Battle City and also in Noa’s Arc.
Kaiba, Yami and listening: It was important for Kaiba to find out in the last chapter that Yami hadn’t seen the news about Kaiba Corporation. I think that helped him see how his own assumptions had contributed to their fight - and made him more open to listening to Yami’s message. I think Yami had done that as well. Kaiba is terrible at saying what he’s feeling or what he wants emotionally, but Yami wasn’t all that good at listening either. For instance, very often, he dismissed Kaiba pointing out that he wasn’t Yugi or Yami’s other friends, instead of thinking about why Kaiba raised this so often.
Kaiba and Mokuba: That Kaiba loves Mokuba is undeniable. But that doesn’t mean that he invariably listens to him or follows his advice. Kaiba is the /older/ brother, something he takes very seriously, but it has never meant that he does whatever Mokuba wants.
Note to Wolf’sVine: Thank you so much! Because Kaiba is so damaged, he’s spent a lot of time sabotaging the things he wants and needs. (I want to shake him, too… frequently!) And it was important to me to show both Yami’s doubts and his courage. Re: the millennium items: the premise is that they have lost their power and have been returned. I think that was the implication at the end of the series and I kept that in this story. I was assuming that once the items lost power, Yami also would not have access to it.
I also wanted to thank you for your review on “It’s Deja vu All Over Again" and "Giving Up the Ghosts!” It’s great getting reviews on completed stories!
The link to Chapter 26 at FFNet is here: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11040748/26/Return-to-Romance
The link to Chapter 26 at AO3 is here: http://archiveofourown.org/works/3341984/chapters/18962734
This entry was originally posted at http://www.dreamwidth.org/12345.html There are
comments on the original post.
Using Duel Monsters cards to send messages: I’ve always liked the language of flowers, where different flowers have different meanings, so that each bouquet carries a message. I really wanted to see if I could make the language of flowers work with duel monsters cards - especially since Yami and Kaiba seem to be talking in their own duel monsters based language a lot of the time anyway. And I also liked the idea that even someone who knows Kaiba as well as Mokuba did would see the same cards but not see the message.
I couldn’t have done the chapter without the Yu-Gi-Oh! Wikia. I knew I wanted to use Devil’s Sanctuary because of all that card has met between them. For the rest I thought about the message first. Then, once I had figured out what message Yami wanted to send, I had to translate it into a card action. Once I’d completed that, thanks to the wikia I could look up and sort through the cards that fell into that category.
Yami chasing Kaiba: I really wanted to take the dynamic we see in Battle City where Kaiba is literally chasing him all over Domino and see how that would affect their attempt at a relationship. Kaiba is very focused on Yami throughout Yu-Gi-Oh! When they duel or in a lot of their conversations, while Yami at times gives Kaiba his full attention, his friends are in danger, he’s trying to win to unlock his memories - he really has a lot going on. I could see that sticking with Kaiba, who is used being used by people who want his technology or his skills but who have no interest in him. But the situation is different now, and I thought it was important for Yami to get a chance to think about both what he wants - and what he has to be willing to change.
I also wanted to show Kaiba being excited in a teenage way and more than a little confused at having Yami being the one doing the chasing. I wanted Yami sending those cards to have a bit of a flirtatious feel to it - something neither of them were completely aware of or able to identify.
Yami and Bakura: I liked the idea that Bakura and Yami had things in common - and that Yami could help with the things that they are both struggling with. I think helping others is something that will always be important to him. And I liked the idea that Yami’s learning that he can sometimes help people by opening up about his own doubts and struggles.
Honda and Bakura: Honda - possibly because he’s the one of the core group who’s the closest to the fringe of it himself - is usually the character most concerned with those who are not quite in the inner circle.
Kaiba and Yami: I really wanted to look at how these two stubborn, sometimes overly proud characters would make a relationship work - and what problems they would create for themselves. I love the way Kaiba always wants Yami to be at the top of his game, like the way he basically tells Yami to suck it up both in his duel with the mime in Battle City and also in Noa’s Arc.
Kaiba, Yami and listening: It was important for Kaiba to find out in the last chapter that Yami hadn’t seen the news about Kaiba Corporation. I think that helped him see how his own assumptions had contributed to their fight - and made him more open to listening to Yami’s message. I think Yami had done that as well. Kaiba is terrible at saying what he’s feeling or what he wants emotionally, but Yami wasn’t all that good at listening either. For instance, very often, he dismissed Kaiba pointing out that he wasn’t Yugi or Yami’s other friends, instead of thinking about why Kaiba raised this so often.
Kaiba and Mokuba: That Kaiba loves Mokuba is undeniable. But that doesn’t mean that he invariably listens to him or follows his advice. Kaiba is the /older/ brother, something he takes very seriously, but it has never meant that he does whatever Mokuba wants.
Note to Wolf’sVine: Thank you so much! Because Kaiba is so damaged, he’s spent a lot of time sabotaging the things he wants and needs. (I want to shake him, too… frequently!) And it was important to me to show both Yami’s doubts and his courage. Re: the millennium items: the premise is that they have lost their power and have been returned. I think that was the implication at the end of the series and I kept that in this story. I was assuming that once the items lost power, Yami also would not have access to it.
I also wanted to thank you for your review on “It’s Deja vu All Over Again" and "Giving Up the Ghosts!” It’s great getting reviews on completed stories!
The link to Chapter 26 at FFNet is here: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11040748/26/Return-to-Romance
The link to Chapter 26 at AO3 is here: http://archiveofourown.org/works/3341984/chapters/18962734
This entry was originally posted at http://www.dreamwidth.org/12345.html There are
comments on the original post.