Stageshipping

Stageshipping is the femslash ship between Anzu Mazaki (Téa Gardner) and Black Magician Girl (Dark Magician Girl) from the Yu-Gi-Oh! fandom.

Freeze Play, Part 1
Even before she started dueling, Téa has admired Dark Magician Girl since her youth. It was shown during a dream that, during her childhood, she once went to a play at a theater where one of the performers dressed as Dark Magician Girl and performed several stunts that made it seem as if she was flying through the air. This performance mesmerized the young Téa and inspired her to be one day be involved in theater, aspiring to become a professional dancer someday. Thus, Dark Magician Girl is indirectly responsible for fostering Téa’s dreams for adulthood. In addition, it was also shown during that same dream, that Téa idolizes Dark Magician Girl to an extent and possesses a subconscious desire to emanate her magical and wonderful attributes and abilities.

During the Virtual World saga, Téa was forced into a duel with the Big Five member Adrian Crump, the former top accountant of the Kaiba Corporation. During this duel, both players had to select one of the monsters in their decks as their Deck Master. While Crump selected and took the form of Nightmare Penguin, Téa immediately chose Dark Magician Girl as her deck master, demonstrating how fond she was of the spellcaster, considering her to be her favorite monster. In addition, during the early stages of the duel, Téa was vehemently angered at Crump when he began to dismiss Dark Magician Girl as week without Dark Magician himself to help her, showing that, even though she wasn’t yet aware of Dark Magician Girl’s sentience, she refused to standby allow the monster she so admired to be insulted.

Soon after, when Téa began losing to Crump, which also resulted in her body being increasingly covered in ice as she lost more life points, it was revealed that one of Dark Magician Girl’s special abilities was being able to telepathically communicate with Téa in order to guide her. When she revealed this ability, the young Magician did so by gently placing her hand on Téa‘s as she drew from her deck as a means of both providing her with emotional support and attempting to confront her as she continued to suffer from the bitter cold. Upon learning of her deck master’s ability, Téa showed no hesitation in agreeing with Dark Magician Girl’s judgment, and openly admitted to the duel monster that she had her undivided trust. This further demonstrates Téa‘s admiration and respect for the spellcaster, as they never once argued with each other during the duel, even when they disagreed with each other, showing considerable teamwork despite having just officially met.

It was right after communicating with Téa that, in a moment demonstrating their trust and teamwork with each other, that they both drew the next card from Téa‘s deck together and were briefly able to turn the tide against Crump, allowing them to gain the edge in the duel.

Freeze Play, Part 2
As the duel went on in Crump’s favor, however, the ice surrounding Téa quickly began to increasingly encase her body, with it reaching up to her upper thighs, causing her to continue suffering from the bitter temperatures. As she struggled to stay warm, Dark Magician Girl could often be seen looking at her with visible concern and a pain expression on her face, clearly being tormented by her inability to warm her suffering duelist. During one of Téa’s draw phases, as she continued to shiver, Dark Magician girl affectionately reached out her hands and held Téa‘s right as she finished drawing, hoping to give her at least some warmth to ease her pain. While doing so, Dark Magician Girl once again, with a gentle smile, telepathically communicated with Téa, who returned the gesture with an affectionate look, and urged her to stay strong. This managed to bolster Téa‘s spirits despite the situation growing more desperate for her, showing how Téa had truly come to consider Dark Magician Girl to be her confidante and took her assistance to heart, with it being an important source of comfort and support.

In addition, Téa was shown to be increasingly hesitant in sending Dark Magician Girl out to the field to battle out of fear of her being destroyed by one of Crump’s monsters. This was not only because of the fact that if Dark Magician Girl, her deck master, were destroyed she would automatically lose the duel, but also out of genuine concern for her friend getting hurt. This is especially prevalent in the original Japanese version, where Anzu even refused to commit Black Magician Girl to the field when she insinuated her desire for her to do so, not wanting to risk her life. Also, in this version, Black Magician Girl openly and fiercely stated that she would protect Téa, showing that she was willing to do battle and even sustain damage if it meant guarding Téa from their opponent’s sadistic assaults. In return, Anzu continued to defend Black Magician Girl when Crump offensively called her a weak “cosplay girl” without Dark Magician on the field.

During the duel’s later stages, Dark Magician Girl continued to support Téa as she once again found herself struggling against the Big Five accountant, after he managed to launch a counterattack that costed her half her lifepoints, resulting in the ice rising from her thighs to her waist. In the Japanese version, as the situation grew more desperate, Black Magician Girl moved herself to the field in order to protect Anzu, no longer being able to stomach seeing her suffer. When she did this, Anzu could only mutter her name in an affectionate and grateful manner, clearly touched by just how the young spellcaster was willing to risk her wellbeing for her sake. In the English version, however, Dark Magician Girl once again asked Téa to move her onto the field, with Téa agreeing out of desperation. This, however, also further demonstrates the strength of their bond, as despite firmly losing and with little hope of success, Téa still firmly trusted in Dark Magician Girl’s judgement, as moving her onto the field was extremely risky and could have resulted in their mutual defeat.

Soon after, Crump was once again able to make a direct strike at Téa’s lifepoints, leaving her with only a handful of them left. This caused the ice to rise even further, leaving only her head and arms uncovered. When this happened, Dark Magician Girl was horrified and on the verge of tears at seeing the horrible fate that her friend was beginning to succumb to. When Téa began to despair and lose hope, however, Dark Magician Girl was able to restore her spirit and save her life. To save her, Dark Magician Girl utilized her second deck master ability, which allowed Téa to draw an additional card during her drawing phase per spellcaster in her graveyard. It was this ability that saved Téa’s life, as it allowed her to draw the Sage’s Stone Magic Card, which allowed her to summon Dark Magician, from the nearby Yugi’s deck, to her field. With his and the younger spellcaster’s strength combined, they were able to swiftly defeat Crump and end the duel in Téa’s victory. Because of this, the ice around Téa’s body soon disappeared, saving her from losing both her body to Crump and having her mind frozen in the Virtual Universe forever. Though they didn’t say goodbye before the duel ended, Téa remains eternally grateful to Dark Magician Girl for saving her and all of the emotional support she provided during the duel. Because of this, she remains Téa’s favorite duel monster.

Fanon
Since the debut of the “Freeze Play” episodes, Stageshipping has become a popular femslash ship among the Yu-Gi-Oh! fandom. This largely stems from the affectionate gestures the two made towards each other during the duel with Crump and from how gentle Dark Magician Girl was in providing support and comfort to Téa during the ordeal.

Trivia

 * This ship gets its name from the fact that Téa’s admiration for Dark Magician Girl started after seeing a performance on stage, which set her on the path of wanting to become a professional stage dancer.