#thiefshit

You have to answer what it was like before and what it was like after. But I think the “after” Bakura is a really shockingly honest, terrible time for Malik. Because he has to confront his own behavior and realize how much he missed, knowing what he knows now about what Bakura was in relation to himself.

Malik beats Yami Malik because he’s honest about being just a human being who fucked up really bad, instead of fancying himself a god-thing who is above moral and physical laws.

And when he thinks about Bakura later, I think he realizes that the secret to living forever is to do one thing well and forget the rest —- and part of him envies Bakura for this, and part of him doesn’t.

Yami Malik is a manifestation of proto-Malik, really. The Malik that had the willpower to stay alive and survive the ritual, the Malik that is the real wielder of the Rod. He’s the Malik that has a willpower that matches Bakura’s, who has the capacity to rise above mortality and attain the godhood that he believes will keep him safe and satisfy him.

Ultimately, Malik’s dominant personality overrides Yamima and accepts mortality, and responsibility for his actions in this life, instead.

Bakura was above human affairs and was completely comfortable in himself, but when it got down to it, Bakura is a god because he lives single mindedly and on will alone. There’s no deciding that he doesn’t want this anymore for Bakura. There’s no starting over somewhere else for Bakura. One part of Malik wanted this for himself, and the other part, which is the human part, didn’t. After Battle City, and definitely after Bakura’s death, Malik has to deal with that and live a mortal’s life.

I have considered this and I think it’s a very valid interpretation of Malik’s aesthetic/moral attitude that comes with it. Malik’s entire persona is very topical and that lends itself to hypermasculine posturing really well.

Of course, I think he picks and chooses what to identify with as his taste changes, which is by the minute. Sometimes he’s a modern James Dean figure, and sometimes he is the embodiment of an immortal ancient Egyptian pharaoh ---- I think the central portion of his feeling about himself is that he’d like to be timeless, immovable, and ultimately, above all human affairs.