Live and Learn!

IT'S HEEERE!!! MY ANGST VIA CANADIAN INDIE ROCK BAND!! (Go check out Good Kid if you've never heard of them. They're so good.) This one has been in my head for a month and I'm so happy to finally be able to post it! :D I'm picturing this scene happening at some point inbetween the Ceremonial Duel and DSOD. Yugi is shopping for clothes and catches a glimpse of Atem through a beam of light behind one of the clothing racks.

Anyway now it's yap time cause I have soooo many things to say about this thing!

Yugi's outfit is taken from DSOD and Yami's taken from this MMD video

I had to draw both of their collar bones and I've never had to draw a collarbone before XD

This art is all about Yugi's grief over losing Atem contrasted with Atem himself. Yugi wears black to reflect his grief while Atem wears white cause you know. Angel. :) I also made the conscious choice to leave the choker out of Atem's outfit so he'd seem a little more free. A little less confined. (The fact that he's also got an entire button on his shirt not done up certainly helps in that regard.)

Yugi's eyes don't have any shines in them, as opposed to Atem, who has shines. This is meant to make Yugi feel dead and Atem feel alive when in reality, it's the opposite. I also wanted to use Yugi's eyes to call back to what Yami's eyes looked like when Weevil tore the bug card that he said had Yugi's soul in it. Yugi also has dark circles under his eyes :) And real quick before we move on from the topic of eyes! Yugi's eyes are more angled out from how I usually draw them, showing he's starting to grow up.

Alright, next let's talk about the environment. The walls behind Yugi are grayer and duller while the walls behind Atem are significantly warmer. The beam of light, which is honestly the same beam of light between the two shots, is fainter on Yugi's side. Likewise, Yugi's checking out a bunch of monochrome and dull clothes while Atem's flannels are vibrant and colorful. Even the very clothes racks tie into all this! The circular racks show how Yugi is stuck in a perpetual loop of his grief while the straight racks show how Atem has moved on.

All this to say that Yugi feels he has died without Atem, while Atem has found new life. Stagnation vs progression. Grief vs acceptance. Death vs life.

Anyway, here's a version without the scene elements and stuff so you can see Atem in all his glory cause I tried out some new colors for him and I love how he came out :D