#Of course the first thing I think of is a ygo au | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

chaotic-guinea-pig · 5 months

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For the character ask game: 7, 8, 18, 21, 26. For Kyle.

26: do you see Kyle as the taller one or Stan? I’m always very interested to see how different artists and/or fic writers view heights in general. Typically it’s common for people to make Kyle the taller one, but I’ve always enjoyed the idea that, as a kid, Kyle was one of the shorter guys in school but ended up getting a huge growth spurt around middle school - thus popping up taller the the other main three. But I’m curious to see your take on it! (And if you’d like I think it’d be cool to know how you imagine Stan and Kyle in your fic, like heights, clothes, scars, accessories etc!)

(Ask game here!) TEEHEE, YAY THANK YOU ANON FOR ASKING ABOUT MY OTHER FAVE. :D

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

How we all let him play and succeed in the basketball team! Kyle in canon does have wide variety of interests, so I do adore that in fanon, we bring out his sporty side more!

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

cracks knuckles Here we go lmao. I'm choosing violence today. <33 Actually should say that I don't see this as much anymore - this is more reacting to something that was common earlier 2023:

The way fandom holds Kyle to a much higher moral standard than others, hands down. I noticed this happens with morally right, outspoken characters in general, but it seems that whenever Kyle makes a mistake or is a hypocritical asshole, he is suddenly the worst and "as bad as Cartman." which... honey no, that's not it at all. Kyle is flawed, yes, but to say he's as bad as Cartman is blatantly wrong imo. When you reduce Kyle to just a bad guy, you just lose so much nuance which is a shame because the fact that he tries to be a moral person is SO FASCINATING!!

I've said it before but also how the fandom judges Kyle for not saving Stan during YGO/Assburgers. Someone on Tumblr said it first (can't find the original post), but my issue with the "But Stan saved Kyle many times, why can't Kyle?!" argument is that in all of those times, there was an easy fix. In 'Super Best Friends', all Stan had to do was break the glass to stop him from drowning, while in 'Cherokee Hair Tampons', Stan tricked Cartman into donating his kidney to Kyle. All simple solutions. But when it comes to depression, there's no simple fix at all (nevermind the fact that Kyle is like... 9, and adults struggle with this too).

(And of course, people are allowed to disagree with Kyle's actions, or think he should have done more. I just think that putting a moral judgement i.e. calling him good/bad over something as complicated as depression rubs me off the wrong way.)

18. How about a relationship they have in canon with another character that you admire?

IKE!! I really adore their sibling relationship, how Kyle goes from finding Ike annoying (as any young kid would do), to how he becomes protective and caring over him.

21. If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?

Favourite thing: KYLE IS SUCH AN INTERESTING CHARACTER TO EXPLORE. You can put him in many different scenarios and get interesting character studies! You could do an character study before the Post COVID special, you could explore his need to do the right thing and be the mature one (bonus points if this is in a Stick of Truth AU!) and so on.

Least favourite thing: This is specific to 'A Ballad of True Hearts' but it was heartbreaking to write this kid get into an crisis over his morals and his identity after failing to save Stan from banishment. A young prince with pure intentions finds out how cruel politics can be in the worst way possible by losing his soulmate and best friend and almost-lover to banishment. A young prince who only wanted to right by his kingdom by getting humans to join knighthood... only for it to backfire. SIGH.

For a more general answer though, I would say probably trying to find the right balance between the compassionate Kyle versus the times where he can be unintentionally cold vs him being hotheaded. Not something I dislike per se, but more like something challenging!

26. Do you see Kyle as the taller one or Stan?

OOOHHHOOHHHH OKAY, so I'm a believer that Kyle initally starts as the shorter one when they hit puberty, only because I think Stan would totally heckle him for his height AND hear me out, okay - Cartman getting his ass handed to him constantly by the shortest kid of their group… how super embarrassing for him. <333 And of course, by the time high school starts, Kyle gets a growth spurt and becomes the tallest one in their group. In a world where Style gets together during high school years, their height differences is something they banter about, hehe.

(And if you’d like I think it’d be cool to know how you imagine Stan and Kyle in your fic, like heights, clothes, scars, accessories etc!)

Ahh, very sweet of you to ask this, hehe! For heights, I imagine them to be more or less to be of the same height, just to follow the "Stan and Kyle are on equal footing" symbolism.

I'm going to be honest and say that at the start, I didn't put too much thought into their outfits because I kinda just imagined them dressed in their Stick of Truth/Trilogy outfits, except older haha. Stan pretty much wears this throughout the fic. His blue helmet, however, does become cracked and shattered after their fall from the sky at the end of chapter 10. So by Act 2, he ends up sporting some bucket-hat looking helmet like this (except without the rustiness of course!)

(Source)

Before he was banished, he did occasionally wear a surcoat that bore the Broflovski House emblem (what that looks like... I'm not sure yet LMAO). He doesn't wear this in present now ofc since that's easily identifiable to assassins.

As for Kyle in Act 2, he definitely wears his Black Friday trilogy outfit. As for Act 1... he is said to dress in a typical attire for elf pages, so I imagined something like the elf enemies in Stick of Truth. Maybe this little guy in particular:

Edit: Jks lmao I'm retconning this :') Kyle wears a plain robe, hood and cloak in act 1.

Speaking of, I may do a minor retcon to remove his ushanka hat until the beginning of Act 2, and replace it with one of the elf hats. It doesn't quite make sense for leafy, temperate Larnion to have ushankas.

As for his attire as the prince - I'd like to think he wore red robes that were more simple and had less patterns than his Stick of Truth one. The crown (another retcon I gotta do eeeeeeep), is a circlet! Probably similar to Thranduil's crown circlet from The Hobbit, but same colour as the branch crown that his Stick of Truth persona as (which is the crown that Gerald wears!) He doesn't wear this in the present, though. :(

RIGHT FOR SCARS... in chapter 9-11, they both bruises on their faces from their brawl in chapter 9. And eye bags... yes, they're chronically tired and in desperate need of rest. They do have scratches and scars around from their run-in with the assassins - noticeable in the legs and arms, which gets covered anyway by their attire. Stan still has scars around the torso from the torture.

Hope that helps, I apologise if it was vague. Kinda just chill with leaving it to people's imaginations, and whether they wish to imagine the canon designs or not.

Thank you again for the ask!! :]

#asks #kyle broflovski #a ballad of true hearts

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sanchoyo · 1 year

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arc v episodes 101-115 thoughts under the cut but first....yuyas dad is FINALLY here and I feel bad for being so suspicious of him. but also still Mildly Distrusting bc i KNOW how ygo dads ARE

-NEW OP!!! its very Cool, sounds like smth in ddr. still think believexbelieve and kirifuda are above it but its a solid third place I think. very hard to pick bc theyre all rly Good and the visuals on this one are rly rly good

-strongly disagree w yuya saying 'umm kaito if u card ur enemies ur just as bad as them >:/' dude cmon lol hes fighting against ppl hunting everyone in his city for sport. not the same thing at ALL

-the second shingo fckin said hed duel kaito i was like. well shit rip lol. gon and yuya reluctantly doing the action duel chant with him was so funny pls

-kaitos deck is weird as hell what happened to it. where is your galaxy eyes photon dragon i MISS Her. photon deck > cipher deck just bc photon had his magical girl transformation. i do appreciate how rainbowy cipher dragon is. wait wasnt photon stuff implied to be from another dimension (like, barian/astral stuff, not..arc vs version of Other Dimensions) so..yeah this kaito never got his Space Illness!! hes Healthy Kaito! wild

-ok. so just from yutos like exposition of saying he knows of kaito and his expression is different now (and us seein a flashback to a smiley happy kaito…) …and the lack of orbital and his photon form and the fact he was going to be a duel champion…haruto never got sick in this au version did he? which means faker wouldnt have had to shove tron/kazuma into the barian/astral portal thingy, and faker wouldnt have made a deal w vector or made kaito a numbers hunter? so he could focus on his own goals and live a more normal life I guess? so..does that mean yuma and astral NEVER MET?? DO THEY EVEN EXIST IN THIS WORLD. SAD. like even in a world that seemed to be kinder to kaito by not making his dad such a dick or his bro sick, he still got fucked over by a WAR in the end which is worse than what happened in zexal akjsfkjhn. well. at least this kaito hasnt taken the Moon Trip.

-ohhh my gosh yuto, shun, and ruri in casual clothes hangin out and watching kaito duel (also, this heartland has duel schools! named after card suites! thats fun) shun and kaito must be the same age, right? …so I assume the flashback is when they were 17ish and kaito is 18 now like in zexal? so the attack on heartland took place over the course of a few months to a year (ongoing it seems like but only to get stragglers now…oof) I thought shun, ruri and yuto were all the sameish age but nope. knowing yuzu and yuya are 14 makes me think all the counterparts are the same, so its probably pretty likely all three went to normal (non dueling) school together AND then duel school together, but yuto and ruri are prob in the same age so they mightve been friends first from going to the same school, and ruri later introduced yuto to her brother? so they have a cute lil trio now…this is my headcanon. (it rly does seem like all the yuboys and bracelet girlies were bffs from young ages EXCEPT serena and yuri jkdshfk)

-also can I assume at least SOME of the original characters from zexal are in this universe if not yuma for whatever reason (and prob not any of the barians?) like. would kotori have been goin to school and been in the grade right under yuto/ruri? …I want ruri and her to be bird friends

-the ED is still a dsod commercial booo let me see the ed animation! I had to go look it up on youtube. and its prob my least fav so far sadjfhkj its nice looking but so Plain compared to the others..the song is nice?

-oh my god kaito said he dueled yuto countless times and yet it took him halfway into the duel to realize yuya looked like him. kaito faceblind like me confirmed? also I like how kaito didnt beat yuya SUper fast like jack did the first time lol, makes me think yuyas getting a lot stronger gradually which is fun!

-yuto during the kaito stuff started speaking to yuya? he literally has not regularly done that at all up until this point. was..he able to do that all along and just Never did?? lmao?? not even to pass along messages to his bestie shun??? nope, kaito is Thee Important Guy to talk to yuya abt I Guess haha. good to see him again. also still good that yuya is not Questioning Why yuto is Tagging along inside of him or why that happened in the first place. lol

-yuto rly told yuya YA DONT TELL THEM IM HERE DONT TELL THEM MY SOUL IS IN YOU bro…theyre just gonna assume ur missing forever….yuya NEEDS to let them know lol

-'then my dad rly wasnt a coward!' yuya why is that your reaction to your dad having gone to xyz?? did he rly not tell ur mom at least?? was he helping in the War??? i still am salty he left yuya at home to do that seemingly w/out word of when he could be back or what was going on to at least his WIFE?? I get not telling ur small child maybe but cmon... the xyz ppl called him a coward tho lmaooo??

-ARE ALL THE GIRLS IN FUSION DIMENSION!!! YES!!! GIRL TIME

-14 yr olds HAVE to be in academia…literal child soldiers!!! oh god yuzu!!! (but also I NEED her to go and hang w the other girls lmao) the fact kids regularly run away and the adults are like WE GOTTA SEND HER BACK…chasing her down for it…GOD

-LOVE THE DRAMATIC REVEAL OF ASUKA. AS IF I COULDNT RECOGNIZE HER. I lichrally dont recall anything abt her but im glad to see her again anyway. looks like shes not with academia despite still wearing the uniform LOL. love cyber angels designs too

-on the other hand im very lukewarm to edo being here. hi I Guess u were not my fav in gx nor did I dislike u...just some guy to me... same hat on us both not liking yuyas dad? (I DONT HAVE A VALID REASON I AM JUST SUS ABT HIM AND DONT LIKE HIS VIBES SO FAR. like i GUESS theyre implying hes a good guy but im like :/ ok.)

-yuyas dad. right there. running a duel school for academia runaways. cool? glad hes kinda helping stuff?? god yuzu's reaction to seeing him broke my HEART she is so compassionate and immediately cries out of relief bc she knows how much everyone was worried abt him. she prob was too bc he was prob like an uncle to her...agh

-oh my god yuto POSSESSED YUYA and his eyes turned grey. gonna be real bodysharing is one of my fav tropes and im enjoying yuto being more Active A Lot :3c (also, yuya seemed to be in PAIN before and after yuto did this. so. interesting)

-this monster is AMAZING LOOK AT THOSE STAINED-GLASS WINGS!!! BRO DARK REQUIEM XYZ DRAGON IS EVEN A COOL NAME. LOVE HER

-shun talking to kaito abt the power of friendship was RLY cute and I appreciate his effort BUT HES GONNA BE A TOUGH NUT TO CRACK. HIS WHOLE FAMILY IS CARDED. poor haruto :( (do not care too much for dr faker at all tho tbh)

-ppl rly just accept when yuya says yuto is inside of him. love the ygo universe bc its such a Normal Whatever thing

-106 kicks off with some BOMBSHELLS. leo and yuyas dad worked together to make real solid vision?? I was under the impression his entertainment dueling was created separately but No. they worked together. classic ygo dads moment. and yuyas dad looked tiny baby reiji in the eyes after being asked to be the leader of the lancers and decided to go do stuff on his own anyway to try and TALK to leo. I get it! he didnt want the kid to be involved! understandable actually but he fucked up by going before the system was ready and landed in xyz oof...dumbass moment but I get it. he wanted to try and solve things himself...does he know what leo's plans entail?? can he tell me if so jkdsjfn is it rly just Rule All Dimensions bc thats sooo lame if so

-glad to see a lot of fusion kids were running away and doubting stuff going on… the random girl begging asuka to run away with her…lesbian moment. and shes a nameless bg character. damn. so sad

-yuzus new outfit is SOO cute!! and hair down moment!! need more hair down gel-less hair moments in ygo lol

-there had better be fanart of yuri or fanfics where he has plants (esp venus flytraps and stuff) bc of his deck

-OJAMA MOMENT. YURI CALLING THEM UNPLEASANT TOO LMAOOO says the guy with plants with eyeballs on them!! his reaction was SO funny. he is like a little cat to me. funney little guy. also when it zooms in on him and in the last (or the one before that?) op he has slit eyes sometimes. is that like. for a reason or just stylistic. its FUN

-jesus christ he took 5 of them out in 1 turn! overkill much! but also once again showing him as a Threat. right before he gets teleported AGAIN LMAO yuzu is Immune to Yuri

-YUGO IS IN FUSION TOO?? HOW LONGVE U BEEN HERE BUD I MISSED U

-the…effect yugo has on women.......... ^ (+how serena was constantly kicking/punching him away) hes like a golden retriever JKSDHFJK he just needs to find someone to match his energy!! poor boy 😂

-leo could not look more like a villain if he tried. my god sitting on his chair with THAT villain pose. ordering ppl around but seemingly doing NOTHING himself. his vibes. I RESPECT the aesthetic even tho hes a piece of shit father (the same goes for reijis MOMs vibes, my god its a wonder reiji doesnt have Villainous Mannerisms from being raised by them LMAO)

-NEW GIRL VILLAINS? NEW GIRL VILLAINS? NEW GIRL VILLAINS? NO ONE TOLD ME THERE WERE EVIL WOMEN IN ARC V HELLOOOO

-GRACE AND GLORIA YOURE BOTH SO. CHEFS KISS. MORE EVIL WOMEN ALWAYS. AND AMAZONESS CARDS!!!! OOOOH. >:3

-poor sayaka with her survivors guilt ;^; Feel Bad for Her

-OH!! sayaka uses fairies!!! FAIRY CHEER GIRL IS BACK YES KOTORI DECK LETS GO. I have now decided sayaka, ruri, and kotori were besties. two birds and two fairy users. it just makes Sense!

-'the professor would never send us for duelists of your caliber' they say then keep taunting the kids. my god grace and gloria arent just evil women. theyre MEAN women pro assassins for academia. I am OBSESSED with them. are either of them single

-iron wolf trains design is so funny to me. ive seen the card before but i didnt kno there was a character who used it in the animes...train deck is such a funny concept. beep beep

-I mean Obviously yuya/shun would win against the ladies, but it was very nicely done? gloria/graces strats were cool, they got their LP to an INSANE number before bein taken down and yuya did it with STYLE and a FLARE and put smiles on everyone (sans edo)'s faces which was. good to see. good.

-hey i was gonna say 'edo love ur shoulder fringe thingies' but then…I saw the rest of his fit…what are u WEARING. SNUGGIE??? thought u had beef with xyz but maybe ur mad the barians stole ur fit like HUH. WHAT IS THAT OUTFIT. LMAO. (going to get roasted alive if it turns out he wore this in gx and I just forgot but tbf I remember like. 4 things abt gx. yubel was there. there was a...caveman? dinosaurus guy. he got the dino bone in him and went to space. vampires? that is all. manjoume was there.)

-sayaka's visceral reaction/panic when the obelisk force's monster came out…I knew she had severe anxiety+ptsd but GOD IT MAKES ME SO SAD. PROTECT HER. (+ the chaos named monster being in xyz world…yes. good)

-i think kaito is the only person not to flinch at all during the 2000 interference policy bs. icon

-'i will KILL SAYAKA YUUSHOU'S SON' …I wonder if the literal translation is KILL?? thats what the subs said but my god edo, do u not mean 'turn into a card' kill seems like. well. a bit SEVERE.

-aww edo fuckin. put yuya in a CAGE MATCH. I was hoping we'd get edo v kaito. I am still holding out hope for kaito and jack to interact somehow

-grace wanting to watch while gloria is like UGH LETS GO ALREADY peak sisterisms. …damn they arent gonna keep these women evil are they (they were prob child soldiers too, which, fair enough)

-kaito rly said nO PROB takes out entire obelisk force alone KING SHIT

-this duel prof guy whos name I am not committing to memory (guy with coconut hair) is mad annoying. I miss the actual professor from gx, he at least had cute clothes and lipstick for that certain gnc flair. this dude is like if spock sucked

-oh. ok edo has pants under his robes and stuff. from the side its more obviously like, a cape situation with hangy bits, but, I like my idea that its a snuggie better. </3

-it makes perfect sense why edo is upset but him being like 'I DIDNT SMILE!! I DIDNT!!' is a LITTLE funny. and ofc he would think duels arent supposed to be fun, yuya. my god hes only known them as tools of war! its like goin to someone and being like 'i KNOW guns are scary but where IM FROM all the bullets are marshmallows and we shoot them in each others mouths and into our friendship cocoa so dont worry, I want to understand u by shooting u gently with marshmallow gun :)' and u gotta be like. ok well where im from they are Death Weapons :( HHHH.

-also now that we're seeing more of yuyas dad can I just say. I DONT UNDERSTAND YGO GENETICS. DOES YUYA DYE HIS HAIR??? HIS DAD HAS BLACK HAIR AND HIS MOM IS A REDHEAD. anime genetics in general are screwy but with multicolored hair…its like. it MUST be hair dye right. if we are being honest. in a realistic au where that IS the case do we think yuya has 1. natural black hair or 2. natural orangy hair like his mom 3. some mix of the two (brown hair??) hmm.

-I feel like yuya's performer persona has come out 10000% more in these two past duels than the entire series and i LOVE IT YUYA FEELS LIKE HES GETTIN IN THE GROOVE OF IT. YES. MAKE THEM SMILE BABY. i am smiling too. cute…

-aw edo swapped sides and threw his fake snuggie away. also grace being SO READY TO JOIN YUYA HAHA. even edo and the tyler sisters hear yuya explain 'o ya yutos a guy whos Me from xyz ^^' and theyre like oh ok :) I LOVE HOW THEY ARE JUST. FINE WITH IT. I LIKE when everyone is friends so this is fine.

-kaito putting the fear of god into loser spock. amen

-…ok academia soldiers immediately switching sides and helping was cute. idc if its a bit unrealistic for all the child soldiers to flip that quick. its NICE in theory.

-edo being like 'o ya we can return the carded ppl to normal' casually and everyone being SHOCKED. i …kept forgetting everyone prob thought it was forever Permanent LMAO??? like. obviously /i/ know they return everyone to normal (just bc on a meta level Killing Everyone including minor charas FOREVER is too Much for ygo probably, and itd make academia a LOT more unforgivable imo) but. still. wild

-yuya/yuto speech abt 'yeah, we NEED to forgive to move on, ofc theres unforgivable stuff and thats even more painful but the best we can do is try to make ppl smile' …sweet sentiment. like I get what he means but I also dont 100% believe ppl in xyz would realistically be That WIlling to let academia ppl Help Them jdsafhkj

-so yeah, the cards are being used for Soul Energy or whatever, and edo thinks all the ppl are gonna be reborn. wonder if thats bs from leo or real? and 'reborn' as in like, immediately the same? so more like respawn that reBORN right. anyway what in the world is leo ACTUALLY aiming for bc i still dont believe its some utopia bullshit. hes using child soldiers and kidnapping girls…

-they put shun in A POD?? MAGIC HEALING POD??? HOW IS HE /THAT/ INJURED CMON. WE NEED FIGHTING BIRD. nooo are we rly leaving him in xyz for now boooo :(

-wait we're really going to fusion NOW? are we coming back to xyz after? it feels too SOON we have like 40 eps left, also, we spent way longer in synchro comparatively…

-christ, im GLAD yuyas dad is finally like 'yes ill go, ill take charge and talk to leo' buddy your old pal is using child soldiers and causing genocide, we are a little past trying to get him to egao!!! also how long have u been in fusion, u didnt IMMEDIATELY GO TO DO THIS??? IF UR SO SURE U CAN TALK TO HIM??? annoying asf im sorry i dont have a valid reason to dislike this man but i DO i do dislike him. one thing abt ygo is all the dads usually suck so im just WAITING to hear some SHIT abt him ToT

-dennis is finally back??? I forgot he existed. sorry dennis. you're FUN but not one of my favorites

-i do love all the students being like. NOOO YUYA'S DAD SENSEI STAND DOWN LET US HANDLE DENNIS. fuckin DENNIS trying to be a threat jdsfkj. as if yuyas dad is like, old and weak?? his leg might be injured but my god I seriously doubt he, as a pro duelist, who INVENTED A NEW TYPE OF DUELING, cannot beat DENNIS. funny

-…I do think dennis wouldve lost, but THEY RAN AWAY FROM THE DUEL. how many times has this happened in ygo ever?? wild!! theyre rly going for academia right NOW?? OH GOD ITS HAPPENING. WILL THE BRACELET GIRLS ALL FINALLY MEET UP

-YUYA YUZU REUNION. AGAIN.

-the INSANE BACKFLIPS KAITO JUST DID. I AM ON EP 113. HE JUST. KAITO WERE U A CHEERLEADER AT SOME POINT?? WHAT WAS /THAT/

-kinda mad abt yuzu being relegated to Damsel a bit, but glad she can also protect herself and duel

-yuto is SO funny popping out while yuya homosexually Duels kachidoki right after he says smth like 'bring out ur evil xyz dragon' and yuto says 'wow he rly hates u…' BRO ITS /YOUR/ DRAGON HES TALKING ABT LMAO??? yuto is so. well. im glad after this long, for this arc hes so much more PRESENT

-ok, yuya says smth REALLY interesting to me. he makes a point to be like 'because of how I was dueling back then (against kachidoki the first time, when the Demon Thing overtook him n yuto) I couldnt save kachidoki, but it's different now!' and. yeah? his character development has been kind of subtle, but in MY opinion he went from trying to force himself to smile as …a kind of Repressing of his Real feelings, and to just kinda emptily echoing his dads words without understanding them deeply, to actually wanting others to smile with him because hes Witnessed the Horrors and Injustices and wants to uplift ppl genuinely while honoring his dad too and…idk, it's NICE. I think the Demon thing is Less of an Immediate problem now bc hes! feeling his feelings More or smth? …is the Demon Form a Metaphor. (I know it wont be lol im still mildly worried abt it, esp since we got all the yuboys in the same dimension now..) anyway its nice and i already KNOW hes gonna befriend kachidoki :)

-kachidokis rainbow magic evil tattoos are so fun. love those

-the way yuya is struggling on roller shoes but was a natural on a bike in sychro is SO funny. granted his mom was a biker, so

-yuto's little 'hey are u doing this on purpose…' to yuya my GOD he is SO funny. emo king has JOKES (I think hes being serious which is even funnier actually)

-my god kachidoki's backstory is so sad but hes been fixating on yuya for EIGHT YEARS? yeah they are so. hmm. rotating them in my mind together. kachidoki was willing to make them both lose if it meant yuya losing…and yuya stopped him from doin that…offered him a friendly hand….going to CRY

-this is prob the first time kachidoki got praised like that in a duel too HHHH IM SAD. also why are u walking away, ur in a random dimension king, howre u gettin home? DENNIS? is DENNIS gonna send u home? jdsfkjhk

-my god dennis v kaito. why am I laughing so hard. kaito is like the biggest straightman ever to dennis' silly Menace and…yeah it's very funny to me. kaitos gonna beat his clown ass. kaito is THEE undefeated ygo rival I am not even a little worried

-ok quick card appreciation moment. bubble gardna is so CUTE

-Ok i expected kaito to win. did not expect. DENNIS TO, INSTEAD OF JOINING THEM, TURN HIMSELF INTO A CARD. jeez. ok. this was immediately overshadowed by the fact SERENA BACK!!!! ITS BEEN TOO LONG. HIIII SERENA :D

-…PIRATES ARE CANON. yet another epic win

-Moment. (followed by immediate betrayal, lmao I was wondering why we didn't get to see what she'd been up to and she just gave a vague summary...up to being brainwashed I Guess? unsurprising)

-I'm actually mad at how easily yuzu gets captured and goes along with this tho. bc it looked like serena just..mildly twisted her arm?? s1 yuzu would've fought Harder and been yelling (her being so spirited was one of my fav things abt her!) and they keep making her More of a Damsel and im >:( u still have legs girl! kick! bite! I want u to go down swinging if u must be caught!! struggle more!! damn!!!

-YUYA CAN SKATE ON TIGHT ROPES!!! i think I wondered earlier in this liveblog if he could do Circus Skills and he CAN MY GOD I AM SO VALIDATED RN. LOVE THIS

-reiji, layra, tsukikage, and crow are finally here. about god damn time. AND SORA IS TOO. YAY. why is jack not with them :<

-sora using a kraken monster against the pirate (pirate..cosplayer? lmao) so why DOES academia employ Fake Pirates exactly. like im not complaining I Just Want To Know

-this little?? approving nod and smile reiji gives to sora?? so cute ;_; genuinely glad to have both of them back, reiji is Best Team Leader and sora is very much needed if we're goin to academia (and look..hes all buddy friends with the other lancers now…cute…his FRIENDS…HE HAS FRIENDS NOW.......PROUD OF U DOT COM)

-also very glad yuya was like 'yeah serena wouldnt fucking DO THIS of her own will' and they did establish its Brainwashing. like, good on them for being smart and trusting their friends. refreshing to see

#sanchoyo liveblogs arc v #this one is Long and screenshot heavy but i had MANY thoughts #starting to think my dislike of yuyas dad will be irrational and baseless but still.#i dont like his...Vibes....#SDJFKFJ #like hes been nothing but chill this far in but im still like. SUS.#ygo #arc v

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riyuyami · 2 years

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Okay.

I’ve had time to think this over (I slept on it because working a night shift while emotionally overwhelmed is not great), and decided to put my thoughts down on all this in a much better way than my previous posts.

In December of 1999, the day I moved from the states to Germany, my dad got a magazine that talked about games, comics, cartoons, movies, things like that, and said my older sister and I would like it. Of course we would, it had Ash and Pikachu on the cover.

Well, inside was an article about a new series that would be coming to the states sometime in 2000-2001.

The image they used for this new anime was of two teenagers, one dressed in green, the other in shiny, blue and black leather. Blond hair, weird star-shaped hair, and they were holding cards.

This image is the cover of the fourth Duel Monsters era book, and was my very first introduction to YuGiOh.

And I fell in love instantly.

I wanted to know everything about this series, about who these two guys were, why they were playing card games, and what that ancient Egyptian puzzle one of them was wearing had to do with the plot.

When the show finally aired over on an American channel while I lived in Germany some time later, I was hooked. I wanted to watch the adventures of Yugi Mutou and his friends every week.

I remember being so upset when, during the Pegasus and Yami Yugi/Yugi duel, the channel stopped airing the episodes for the series and I had to wait a few months to see the end of season one.

I remember my dad got my sister and I our very first issue of Shonen Jump (it was the second volume) in 2003, by then I was already watching the show, collecting the cards, but seeing the manga changed something in me.

I saw more games, I saw how much of a little shit Yami Yugi was, how cool Yugi could be at times. Joey was a total badass, Kaiba was prepared to kill a man over a card game. Tristan and Tea had more personality to them, Mokuba was a gremlin, Ryou and Bakura felt more fleshed out.

Later on in that year, the worst year of my life, I was in the hospital for a month and my sister brought my ygo manga for me to read and it brought me joy.

I was in love and the manga and show greatly influenced me into drawing more than just Spongebob and Powerpuff Girls are as a little kid.

I wanted to draw cool action things, I wanted to draw monsters, I wanted to draw characters... well... kissing.

Because I ended up getting involved on the online fandom scene in 2005.

And everything changed from there.

I met people outside of my small group at school that liked the series. I could talk to them about the characters, not just the card game, the ships I grew to like, the cool stories and comics people created, the aus! I met people who became my friends, I met my first ever girlfriend in this fandom.

My art improved the more I drew these characters, I still have influences in my art from this series (mostly in how I draw clothing and certain hair and eye styles, but whatever). I cringe at my old art, but I’m happy to see how it improved the more I drew these characters.

I still had fanfics printed from the good old days of not having internet on a phone.

I still have fanart printed too, all in folders.

There’s a framed Joey on my desk right now, making The Face, that’s a bit of motivation for me.

I’ve cosplayed characters, I was the third best duelist in my high school, I had/have so much merch still. I’ve watched all of the series fpr DM, including the Capsule Monsters mini series (my favorite season), read all the manga. Hell, I nearly killed my computer watching season zero a while back, but it was worth it.

I’ve watched DM, and some of GX, in multiple languages because youtube used to let you do that, and I had German and Italian channels where I could watch the series that way.

I saw Bonds Beyond Time in theaters in a theater filled with people like me who grew up with the show, and we were all cheering and freaking out during the movie.

When DSOD came out, I was not in a great mind state, but that movie really helped me bring up my mood and started my second era on the internet as a ygo fan.

I made more friends here on tumblr with this account, so many people were/are interested in my aus and nonsense. I drew so much more fanart, you guys put up with my dumb crush on Timaeus and his thighs. So many of you were there for me when I went into the hospital again in 2018.

Hell, a lot of you were excited when I showed you guys my cartouche tattoo of the pharaoh’s name!

I’m not as active as I was when I was in college, but I’ve never stopped loving this series. I’ve been in love with this series since 1999, and I doubt I’ll ever stop.

Kazuki Takahashi left one of the biggest impacts on my life these past twenty-three years, and I am so thankful for that. I wish I could have met him, but I’m just happy that I was able to have some of the best fun I’ve ever had in a fandom because of his attempt at a horror/action manga centered around games.

Thank you, KT, for everything, from the past, the present, and into the future.

#John's commentary

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universestreasures · 12 days

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An Anonymous Mutual Sent:

(( Hello Rarity! You may ignore this for your comfort but i didn't want to ask directly and you have anon option turned off. So i hope you don't mind we are mutuals on a blog i have. I was considering this year moving forward i'd try gift giving to my friends / mutuals as well. And i would love to ask if you had some type wishlist? Something you wanted be it plot ideas ( group setting or one on one thread. A type of character you'd really wish to see in an active fandom you are in ( Ygo for example.) or simple thoughtful edits..I want to give back and thank you for being here and giving me a chance by following me. ))

Hi there Anonymous Mutual (whoever that may be!) First off, I want to thank you for reaching out to me! Normally I don't do anons for my own comfort (and to avoid the bots or randos causing trouble), but I can understand the anxiety of asking someone about these things. Please know you don't have to be with me! I don't bite, and I am very much a chill bean who values communication.

I think it's very sweet you want to give back to your friends/mutuals. It's always something I know I appreciate when it happens, and as you've probably seen with my birthday event this year, is something I enjoy doing as well.

As for the wishlist or plot ideas for solo or group threads or characters, I'd love to see, that's really broad, and I don't have any clear answers atm beyond what I might have said in previous posts (as again, I don't know which fandom you come from.). I am open to discussing all sorts of ideas, crossovers, aus, canon, and the like, but I don't want anyone to 'force' themselves to do something just cause I like it. Rping is collaborative writing, and in order to do that, IMO both sides need to be invested and have a good time. So, while ideas can, of course, be mutually shared between muns, they should be ones both are down for. That's why I always try to check with my partners first for any big ideas I have before responding and asking for clarification.

For example, I love my Mokuba's Buddyfight crossover friend squad to death (and I do consider them a big part of my Mokuba's identity and portrayal), but if someone was like, "Hey, I'm more comfortable with just having Mokuba without those connections/lore" I'd 100% understand and roll with that. I'm here to have fun exploring characters and stories. Thus, I'm very much flexible with things, and I love incorporating what others have come up for their portrayal's unique aspects (whether it's canon divergence or sticking to one canon)

I hope that helps put it into perspective my view! I'd love to discuss plot ideas with you, any which you have! Please don't be shy and just come into my dms to chat! And there is no need to thank me! If I follow you, it means I want to write with you! <3

#anonymous #💎 Dottr Treasure (Mun)#💎 Dottr Answers (Mun Asks)#💎 Dottr Speaks (OOC)#(Thank you for the sweet anonymous message and I hope to talk to you soon whoever you may be! <3

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deejadabbles · 3 years

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Heres some post-canon-Atem-stays-AU headcanons bc I will forever be in denial that the ending of ygo ever happened.

First off can we all address the fact that Atem would have an accent!?! He knows Japanese bc of Yugi but once he has his own body back, his muscles and brain are used to different speech patterns, therefore we get an accent! The first time the gang hears him talk and this (adorable) accent they're floored but love it, it kinda helps further cement that he really is his own person apart from Yugi (not that the gang really needs that but still).

I think this would also lead to Yugi asking Atem to teach him some Ancient Egyptian. He says it just because he's interested but really he wants Atem to feel slightly less alone now that literally no one else speaks his language.

Also. Contrary to what some (*cough*Kaiba*cough*) think, Atem knows how to work modern tech. Like, come on he shared Yugi's body for years, he knows how to work a phone and computer. Now, he may be a bit of an old man and prefer not to use some modern things, but he's competent at least.

(okay okay but can we entertain the idea of Atem making "back in my day" jokes bc he thinks it's funny and Honda n Jonouchi take to calling him "old man" and it's just a big running joke between everyone?? that'd be great.)

Another misconception I think Atem would prove wrong is that he actually doesn't have all too much trouble adjusting to being a "commoner" and having to live a normal, rather un-luxurious, life. Again, he spent years watching Yugi interact with the world and live in it as someone who wasn't royalty, or even rich, and did that with no context of his previous life.

So yeah when Atem returns to earth with his own body he doesn't like...expect to have everything provided for him, or be waited on hand and foot like some ppl expected since he was royalty. Sure, he may not actively think "oh, I have to get a job in order to live now" on his own (mostly bc I think he's just still amazed he's alive at all, a lot of things don't come to mind), but when the subject comes up Atem isn't astonished or taken aback by the idea or anything weird, logically he knows he has to provide for himself now and knows at least the basics of how to accomplish that in modern times.

Okay but seriously can we all take a minute imagining Atem getting a fast food or clerk job to get by until he figures out what he wants to do next. Jou and Honda thought he'd be too prideful to "stoop that low" as ppl say, but Atem's fine with it. If dishing out fries to shitty customers or ringing up cigarettes at a gas station ensures that grandpa and Yugi don't have to carry him through life he's fine with it.

That being said, I can see Atem just being...forgetful that he has to take care of himself sometimes. He's not ignorant of the modern world, but he also has his memories back now, so I can see him laying in bed for a good 10 min before he finally remembers "oh yeah servants aren't coming to dress me, okay lets do this". And sure he knows the basics of life from his time with Yugi, like cooking and doing laundry for himself. But there's times where he just runs out of clean clothes bc he forgot to do laundry, things like that, but hey that's stuff even us non-ex-royals do as Adults so that's okay.

My point is that Atem adjusts to the modern world and not being royalty really well. He's just a forgetful dork sometimes.

Okay but going back to my "Atem gets an entry-level job" headcanon. Now I'm thinking about Kaiba finding out that Atem got a fast-food job instead of coming to him for work. Next thing Atem knows Kaiba storms in (probably cutting the line because of course he would) and starts this melodramatic speech about how no one has the right to employ the rival of Seto Kaiba besides SETO KAIBA himself.

Atem, who was already chewed out by a customer for getting the wrong sized drink, is having NONE of this and is completely ignoring him, trying to serve the next customer in line. When all Atem will say to him is "sir if you wont buy anything please leave" the petty giraffe known as Kaiba slams a pile of bills on the counter ....this then leads to Atem matching his pettiness! You know that tiktok, it's basically that. Atem takes the entire stack of bills, looks Kaiba dead in the eye, and tells him to get his own chicken nuggets.

Next thing we know Atem's managers are trying to pry them apart because Kaiba hopped the counter. There are nuggets and fries everywhere, someone threw a large coke, the customers are filming. It's a big mess.

OMG imagine the headline "Local billionaire has melt down at McDonald's"

Okay, moving on from that, sorry I just had to get that outta my head.

Once again I'm going to drive home my "touch starved Atem" headcanon by saying that Atem actually likes not being royalty in his 2nd life because Yugi and his friends aren't afraid to show him affection. This boy craves touch so much and is loving the fact that no one thinks it's offensive to hug him. Atem's the type that once he's comfortable with someone, expect hugs for every hello and goodbye. He's also known for putting his hands on shoulders and sometimes playing with hair (only if the other is comfortable with it of course!).

The hair-playing thing is because he has these precious memories of brushing and styling Mana's hair when they were younger (and once or twice being able to beg Mahad to join their hairstyling sessions). Now he loves doing it because he equates it with affection and unconditional friendship. He especially loves playing with Ryou's hair since it's so long and soft, and even bought Ryou these tarot card themed hairpieces just so he could style his hair with them.

After experimenting with alcohol a bit, Atem finds that he likes some wine cooler-type drinks but sometimes he'll crave a beer, since that was the drink of choice in ancient egypt. He weirds ppl out though because he prefers them warm, cold beer is too harsh on his sensitive teeth and he's just not used to it. Also, it took a long time to find a beer brand he likes because most aren't up to the quality he had "back in his day" lol.

At first Atem only knows how to cook basic things (again, what Yugi knows) but he soon realizes that he enjoys cooking. He gets a Pinterest account just so he can save recipes he wants to try (he starts saving other things though, he likes aesthetic boards and interior design!). The whole gang ends up loving this because he cooks meals for them sometimes and they're so good! While they're still in high school he makes Bentos for everyone about once a week and it's the highlight of their week <3

He does get a bit sad though, when he tries to recreate meals from his culture and they just don't taste quite right.

oKaY I WAS going to go on about what career I think Atem would eventually pursue, but they got really long and this is already long so I'm going to put them in their own post. All I'll say right now is: college student Atem and later, professor Atem.

That's all for now, expect more in the future though because I will never not support Atem stays AUs <3

#atem #yami yugi #atem headcanons #atem stays au #I'm just really bitter about the ending and i'll never be okay with it #ygo #also I'm just obsessed with the idea of atem working a fast food or retail job and not taking any ones shit #yami yugi headcanons

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sage-nebula · 3 years

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Listen. All I'm saying is—

Cardcaptor Shizuka AU.

Everything in YGO canon remains the same except Shizuka, age 13, finds the book of Clow Cards in her grandma's old library and manages to open it. Cards scatter everywhere in a huge gust of wind, and a golden lion currently taking the form of a little plush toy awakens.

Only Shizuka can't really see him very well, because this is before she has her surgery. (And before her surgery is even on the table, really.)

Like, okay, she can kind of see him. She can see that there is a blurry mass of yellow floating in her face, and since her hearing is fine, she knows that thick Osakan accent is coming from the blurry yellow mass. But that's about it.

"If ya can't see, what were you doin' in a library?" the yellow mass, who has introduced himself as Keroberos, demands.

"Some of Grandma's books are in braille. I was looking for one of those," Shizuka says, although that's not really true. Something was calling to her in the library, something she couldn't quite put her finger on. Something wanted her to open that book.

"Well, I never thought the Cardcaptor would be blind," Keroberos—and really Shizuka thinks she might call him Kero-san for short—says. "But where there's a will, there's a way. Congratulations, kid—you're the new Cardcaptor!"

Of course, Shizuka has no idea what that means, but she soon finds out.

See, at first Shizuka protests because she doesn't have magical powers. Kero-san ("It's Keroberos!") is mistaken. When he points out that she couldn't have opened the book without magic, she reminds him that she's legally blind and will eventually lose her sight completely.

"Don't worry, I'll direct you. Just consider me your seeing-eye Clow guardian," Kero-san says.

And direct her he does, because when the Clow Cards start causing trouble around Hanafuda City—well, someone has to deal with them, and Shizuka is the only magical girl around. It's far from easy, but with Kero-san acting as her eyes and her staff in hand, Shizuka manages to capture The Windy, The Watery, The Mirror, The Jump, The Fly, The Shadow, and The Shield before her brother calls.

Because that's the thing with this AU: it overlaps with Battle City.

Thankfully, there are no Card crises while Shizuka has her surgery or during her recovery. The biggest challenges are the lengths of time that Kero-san has to pretend to be a plush toy, something that gets exponentially worse for him when Honda and Otogi pick Shizuka up from the hospital and take her to meet with the rest of the group.

The idea here is . . . Kero would absolutely recognize the Millennium magic as magic, and as powerful and tbh evil magic at that, much different than what Shizuka can do and more than she can tackle at the moment with her limited cards. There are times when I think Shizuka would still be tempted to try to do something, anything, but ultimately she would keep her magic secret and vow to get the rest of the Cards and learn more magic so the next time something like this happens, she CAN help.

That said, people who can sense her magic even if they can't quite pinpoint it are: Atem, Yuugi, Bakura, Ring Spirit, Malik, Isis

People who are suspicious af about Kero are: Jounouchi

People who think Jounouchi is being stupid by being suspicious of a plush toy are: Honda, Otogi, Anzu

People who secretly think Kero is cute and wish they had a plush toy of their own are: Mokuba

Anyway, when Battle City is over, the reason Shizuka doesn't join the rest for the Millennium World arc is because she had to return to Cardcapting (and also middle school). She does get the rest of the Cards and becomes their master. I don't know where Yue fits into this, but I imagine he must be someone also in Hanafuda.

A couple other things:

— I don't know how possible this is because I've never used one, but I like to imagine Shizuka would use a braille writer to put her name on the cards in kantenji (a.k.a. braille kanji), especially since her first handful of cards were before her surgery. Like I don't know if you could stick cards into a braille writer, but also this is a story about magic cards so let's go with it.

— I do think Shizuka does eventually tell at least Jounouchi about her magic. Or like I think she'd show him, perhaps with a card like The Glow. He mighr freak a bit at first because he hates occult stuff, but this isn't any more occult than Atem, a literal actual ghost, was so he'd be fine after a second, especially since The Glow is really pretty. Plus his baby sis is a superhero!! How cool is that??

— Kero and Jounouchi have a lot of personality traits in common, so tbh I think they'd get along even if they occasionally butt heads. More importantly though, Kero would remind Shizuka of her brother which means he would be a good guardian for her.

Anyway, I just think Shizuka deserved more than whar canon gave her, that she's every bit as brave and strong as her big brother (even if in a quieter way) and that she deserved more time to shine, so. Cardcaptor Shizuka was definitely happening behind the scenes and no one can convince me otherwise.

#yugioh #kawai shizuka #cardcaptor shizuka #fic fix #kind of not really #Shizuka calls him Kero-san bc she's less familiar / outgoing than Sakura #(at least at first . . . she might warm up to a Kero-chan)#and she doesn't tell Jou abt her magic during Battle City bc well #there was a lot going on #Jou died for a brief time there & that was after two (2) attempts on his life #there just wasn't time for ''I'm a magical girl & my plush toy is my familiar''#so that had to come later #but anyway

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higuchimon · 3 years

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[fanfic] Plans To Avenge

Camula swept into Haou's throne room, tilting her head in greeting. Tearstains still marred her features but she'd made an effort to be presentable. She wanted to ensure that Haou took her seriously. Her rage had only grown over the few days that passed since she'd discovered Ruthven's demise. Only now it had hardened into a spike of ice centered on her heart.

"Lady Camula," Haou greeted her, bending his own head slightly. "A pleasure to see you again. Have the years been kind?"

She knew as well as he did that this was nothing more than empty courtesy. She knew he wasn't the soft little boy that she'd first met in Celestia's realm all those years earlier. She wasn't the idealistic teen she'd been then, either. But this was as close to friendship as she thought herself capable of with a human - if Haou, the incarnate Darkness of Destruction, could even be said to be human. He did bear the form of one for now, of course. But that was musings for another day.

"They were, for a while," she admitted, taking the seat he gestured her to. A quick glance around showed her that the years had indeed been kind to him - or he had ripped what he wanted from others. She knew which was more likely, since he'd come into his power and his true nature. The room wasn't very large, but the floor and walls were marble, softened only by rugs and tapestries of costly weave and materials, all in shades of dark reds and blacks, his favored colors. She'd come by past dark, so there wasn't any sunlight in here. Silver spheres of light hunt from the ceiling and set on the walls to illuminate the area. One guard stood by each of the three doors.

Perhaps in deference to their long years of having known one another, Haou wasn't visibly armed beyond his deck. She respected that, and had done the same, as best she could. Frequently a vampire could be considered a weapon all on their own.

One eyebrow quirked up on Haou. "Yes, I had heard of your wedding to Ruthven. I wish that I'd been able to attend. But I was otherwise occupied."

So she'd heard - being a gladiator for Brron. She'd not quite believed all the tales she'd heard during the years between their first meeting and now. But if they were true, then he was exactly what and who she needed.

"But no longer. When I returned home a few days ago, I discovered -" Camula's voice broke off, a lump of tears lodging itself in her throat. Her fingers dug into the arms of her chair and she pressed her lips together, fighting to get the words out. "Ruthven - Ruthven is dead." Her heart spasmed, knives of pain stabbing into her each time she had to think about what she'd found. "I found him in our home. None of the servants saw anything or anyone. There were no traces of magic."

Haou leaned forward, his sharp eyes softening just the tiniest bit. She doubted that anyone else would have seen that from him. "Were there any other signs?"

She shook her head. "It was as if he simply dropped dead. But he couldn't have. He had his duel disk on him. Someone dueled him and he died." Her fingers tightened harder, digging into the chair. "I've never heard of such a thing. Not a wound on him. As if simply fell over dead."

Haou considered quietly, before he nodded towards her. "You want my help to find who did this."

There wasn't any way that she could have disagreed with this, even if she'd wanted to. She nodded. "In return, what do you wish of me?"

He leaned back now, head tilted upward, eyes closed as he considered for a few endless moments. Then he said, "Eventually I am going to require your help. You have heard of this little 'rebellion' that some of the survivors of my attacks have begun to form?"

She had. It hadn't meant much of anything to her. Humans were humans and how they ordered their lives and realms wasn't of much interest to those of the vampire persuasion. It would all settle itself out sooner or later.

"I have been researching them - learning what they're like. To see if any of them are worth standing in my army." He chuckled a little at some thought she didn't know. "There is one in particular that interests me, but that's not who I speak of now. The one I am thinking of - perhaps you've heard of him? Marufuji Ryou - the Hell Kaiser."

Camula's eyes narrowed for a breath. "Yes, I've heard of him." She'd almost fed on his little brother a year or two earlier. He'd driven her off, and she'd itched for the chance to avenge the slight ever since.

"He is proud. Very proud." Haou spoke the words as if they were mildly offensive to him. "I think he doesn't fear death. So should the need and the opportunity ever arise, I have a fate planned for him that is worse than death, by his standards."

Camula knew something of how Haou thought. He wouldn't have brought this up if he hadn't wanted a particular talent of hers - hers or any vampire. "You want me to turn him."

"In time. He's not important enough yet for me to send you after him. I have quite a few other matters to deal with before I wish to deal with him." Haou drummed his fingers lightly. "But I will have all of my servants search for anyone who may have murdered your beloved and when that person is found, you will be allowed to exact whatever vengeance you desire upon them."

Camula's heart didn't quiver, quite, but she smiled a fraction of a smile. She hadn't felt relaxed or at ease or anything but endless rage since the moment she'd discovered Ruthven's body. Not even giving him the proper rites had eased her fury. This didn't either. But it came at least a little close to it.

"Thank you, Haou-sama," she declared, bending her head once again, the deeper gesture that one who had pledged their loyalty to a higher power made.

"I will have quarters set aside for you here, but you may come and go as you please," Haou told her. "And I would like to introduce you to the Fallen Angels. They are my closest allies."

Camula nodded slightly. So she'd heard - that Fallen Angel Lucifer himself had sired Juudai, and he had been stolen as a baby from their care. Tensions had been tight for years between Celestia's realm and that of the Fallen Angels due to that, but very little had come of it. Celestia's armies, mages, and allies made certain of that. Until Haou came into his power and everything had gone downhill from there.

At least for Celestia.

Dismissed, she departed to be escorted to her new quarters. They were deep within the castle, far from any hint of sunlight. Such a thing would not have harmed her, but the light did burn at her eyes, and she'd never been fond of it. Haou clearly knew that very well, and she remained grateful for that. She settled down in a chair and stared down at the ring on her left hand.

She would not take it off, no matter what. She'd pledged her heart and soul to Ruthven and she would never regard another in the same fashion. Slowly she closed her hand.

I will find the one who killed you. And I will have my revenge.

Haou tried not to laugh. He wasn't very good at it, but he managed to keep most of his mirth under control. He'd honestly not expected his efforts to work out so well. But they had, and the first steps to his future plans were taken.

Lucifer chuckled softly as he entered the room. "I could feel your mirth as soon as I entered. What's amused you so, my son?"

Haou leaned back, grinning as widely as his lips could manage. "Camula came to pledge herself to me. She wants my help in finding whoever it is that murdered her husband Ruthven."

One finely crafted eyebrow flickered upward. "Is that so?"

"I told her that I would help but I would want her assistance for whenever I should actually capture Marufuji Ryou." Haou didn't really expect that to happen for quite a while, if ever. He would have to either set out to do it himself - far more trouble than it was worth right now - or Marufuji would make some kind of drastic error to fall into Haou's hands. A bit more likely but from what he knew of the other, it wasn't completely impossible.

Lucifer chuckled at that. "Fascinating. I look forward to meeting her." He settled into his chair, taking out his deck and regarding it for a few moments. Haou smirked slowly.

"A duel later?" He suggested. Both of them did need to keep in shape - and Camula would never know who had truly done the deed.

The End

Notes: Juudai didn’t know that he’d eventually capture Johan and that would lead to Ryou coming to find him, which led to Ryou being revealed, captured, tortured, and turned. But he had plans for just about all of his enemies.

Also, I can’t ever decide between Camula and Haou as my favorite villain, so I wrote something for both of them!

#fanfic #higuchimon writes #ygo gx #gxmonth2021 #camula #yuuki juudai #haou #au: reversal

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aberooski · 4 years

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So of course after spending WAY too long creating my Fire Emblem stat template, I spent even LONGER actually using it the last 2 or 3 days 😅

I've done 2 characters so far, and since Fire Emblem: Awakening is my favorite FE, I'm getting all my stat parameters and classes from there atm (though I might dip into some FE Fates classes in the future, or even cheat a little and throw in a Final Fantasy class or two, who knows lol).

First I did Téa, since she's my favorite YGO girl, and the character I've drawn the most overall so she just came easily to me. I put her as the Dancer class, it was a pretty obvious class for her since it's her dream to be a professional dancer, so it just makes sense. Normally in most fantasy or RPG contexts I like to class her as a Summoner or a Mage of some kind because I just like her in those roles, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to let her live her dream in some form ☺ Also hell yes I used her super cute DSOD mall scene outfit as the template for her look. I love that outfit so much! And honestly, I'll take any excuse to draw her with the ponytail 🥰🥰 And I actually had already designed her a full outfit for a Final Fantasy au I always have going on in my head, and I thought that one would do for Fire Emblem mostly as well, so I just kinda used that one, but of course my favorite part of the outfit wouldn't fir into just the small portion of her allowed, so unfortunately she looks a little plainer than I'd like in comparison, but still absolutely gorgeous! 😍😍😍

After her, I decided it would be fun to try Mai. I don't draw her too often, but when I do I always enjoy it. I had a hard time placing her in a class though. I kept going back and forth between the different sword classes and mounted units, trying to decide if I wanted her to be a bass class or promoted unit, all kinds of back and forth thoughts. Ultimately I decided to place her in the Wyvern Rider class (partly because my sister insisted I place her as a Dragoon, and Wyvern classes I thought were probably the closest thing Awakening had to Dragoons, Dragoons being a Final Fantasy thing and all 🤭), because I figured that it would be the closest I could get to her Harpy aesthetic, and even though I would've loved for her to be a Pegasus Knight, I just think she's a bit too cool for that 😂 also I can't draw armor for shit, so I went very pseudo-armor, and took some inspo from Camilla in FE Fates.

#yugioh #téa gardner #anzu mazaki #mai valentine #mai kujaku #fire emblem #fire emblem awakening #fire emblem fates #abby attempts to draw

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inktrailing · 3 years

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I stole this from @the-kaedageist because it looked fun.

(Also me: “I’ll do this meme quickly...” ... *loses track of time*)

1) How many works do you have on AO3?

78 to my greatest surprise. I guess the only favor 2020 did for me was in writing.

2) What’s you total AO3 word count?

355,868. Holy...

3) How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

10. Critical Role, CWDC, Men in Black (movies), Supernatural, Doctor Who, PotC. Spattering of some other stuff.

4) What are your top five fics by Kudos?

Unconventional, Men in Black, Jay/Kay, 1211 kudos... somehow

Fish Tales, Men in Black, Jay/Kay, 336 kudos

meet us where the night ends, Critical Role, Essek/Caleb, 298 kudos

I see death cresting over the hill, Critical Role, Essek/Caleb, 276 kudos

message, Critical Role, Essek/Caleb, 273 kudos

5) Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I AM REALLY BAD ABOUT THIS. It’s literally on my AO3 profile that I’m bad about it. I try every now and then but I so often just get flustered and then don’t end up responding. Oftentimes I’m at work and just flailing during the rest of my shift and yeah /)_(\ Words Are Hard, says the writer.

6) What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

OH THERE’S A COUPLE. I would say Caught in the Wires (MIB, Jay/Kay); and you know my soul (CRc2, Essek/Caleb) probably are the two worst for bad end future fics. follow me into the golden wild (DW, Rose & the Moment) is my favorite of my bad end fics though lol. I fucking love that fic hahaha, and it’s one of my least read stories XD

7) Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

I don’t really. Not fic wise. A lot of my thought processing goes through basically using an RP format with myself (because I like icons, okay) so sometimes I’ll take wild concepts and play out scenarios with a bunch of characters and sometimes I’ll get shit out of it that I can actually use but other times I’ll have fun things that will not translate well to fic.

My fav of those was a Pokemon AU that y’know basically dragged a bunch of characters in and eventually they had to deal with a Problem like ya do while still ending up stranded. I enjoyed throwing Dean/Lucifer at that because Dean just ended up “ghost hunting” aka freeing/helping/catching ghosts and ending up with 70+ and Lucifer really only traveling around with a Zoroark and still hating humanity but helping mistreated and scapegoated pokemon.

I just really like Dean and his ghost army lmfao.

An actual crossover fic I have (and maybe one day could finish) was Arrow/The Dresden Files only because Paul Blackthorne except it uses book canon instead of TV canon because of Winter Court Bullshit so like whatever, I do what I want some days I guess \o_O/

8) Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I don’t... think so? I sometimes get minor disagreements on characterization but I typically write for myself and am pretty set in my ways so it’s like okay I accept your opinion but it’s not going to change anything.

9) Do you write smut? If so what kind?

I cannot write smut to save my life.

10) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

If I have I definitely haven’t noticed.

11) Have you ever had a fic translated?

stood too close to the flames (LoT, Mick/Len) was translated.

12) Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No.

13) What’s you all-time favorite ship?

I ship so many things at the drop of a hat and so frequently go back to old ships to find new things to read even if it’s been a looooong time. I would say Jay/Kay since I’ve shipped and written them for the greatest length of time without it fading.

I do genuinely enjoy writing Dean/Lucifer though so go rarepairs I guess.

14) What’s a WIP you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I fucking love I’ll Stop the Whole World (DW, Doctor/Master, 47k words) as I’ve pulled it up again after idk months to skim through but I suppose I learned a lot from writing lost in the lapse again and going backwards to any of my longer WIPs just hurts a bit? I want to figure it out because there’s so much I adore in it but there’s a lot of work to be done and having two monitors helps now but... I don’t have the energy to tear it apart and sew it back together.

15) What are your writing strength?

god idk

I’d like to say I’ve gotten better at I guess... balance? Juggling dialogue and action and scenery. I forced myself to work on scenery descriptions awhile back and I think it paid off?

I learned to take good notes, especially if it’s something with multiple plot threads that I need to keep track of. That’s what has made some of my older WIPs such a bitch because I didn’t do that and I’m like ????? Hey? Past Me? WHAT?!?! And retroactively trying to build a timeline is REALLY DIFFICULT ACTUALLY.

I do also think I keep my narrative parallels pretty tight. I’m sure a lot get missed because people aren’t staring at the same story that I am for months combing things over, but it delights me okay ;)

16) What are your writing weaknesses?

Finishing shit?! Well, I’ve gotten better at that over the course of the last year. Critical Role reaction fics helped A TON with that. Just spitting things out immediately after an episode.

I am a fucking perfectionist though. Like I’ll canon divergence all I want but mentally I need the basis of canon to weave into my writing even if it’s just for a single line. I like willfully breaking canon not ignorantly.

This means I either never get things done because I need to rewatch or I too meticulously obsess over something.

While I think I’m good with writing scenery I’m SUPER BAD at character descriptions?? I’m trying to?? Work on it?? But that’s one thing I’ve finally just been like okay I know I’m bad at this I just need to accept it and go on because if I get hung up on it then again, nothing’s gonna get posted.

I’ve learned that I vehemently hate the words “still” and “probably” because I white noise them even when doing intensive editing and I use them so damn much and now that I realize going back to read old things hurts my soul.

17) What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Look I grew up primarily on writing Yu-Gi-Oh! fic. I had my Time with poor use of Japanese in fic. While I don’t have any fandoms now that I write for that it would be relevant... I can’t do it anymore. However, reading it doesn’t bother me, and it generally doesn’t jar me out of anything. Like it feels normal reading it in MDZS fics for one thing.

18) What was the first fandom you wrote for?

I want to say some super wonky ~new cards~ Cardcaptor Sakura fic. But I think the first fandom I published for on FFN was likely YGO. Anything early than that I would have blacked out of my memory ahahaha.

19) What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

lost in the lapse again took up my life for MONTHS and was really my pride and joy. It was the longest thing I’ve ever written and edited to my liking. I’m so so happy with how it came out and I’m shocked honestly that it has 118 kudos now because I really expected it to get maybe half that, tops. But it was definitely one of those I’m writing this for me, this encompasses what I want, and if others enjoy it that would be really nice!

Otherwise I think I’d say I see death cresting over the hill because it has so many elements I just enjoy rereading. I think it’s my favorite of my Critical Role fics too.

#writing #meme

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managician · 5 years

Text

ARC V Anniversary Day 12

Disccusion prompt: Favorite ships?

ARC V has really made me ship a lot of things, be it with or without taking canon into account just because of the potential, so buckle up ‘cause this is gonna be long. I kept it to a top 10 or otherwise I’d be here all day. Honorable mentions to prodigy and whistle, as they barely didn’t make it.

(PD this is a reupload because I realised the post wasn’t showing up properly, so if you’ve seen it before already I apologize)

With that out of the way, let’s go!

10. Natureshipping

I love many of the bgirl/bgirl ships so naturally I’d love all of them being together… Not only for the awesome aesthetic though, I also think their personalities would fit so nicely with each other and they’d like having the chance to meet and talk about everything they’ve gone through; I have so many fluffy headcanons for them and I really just wanna see them bonding and being happy together!

09. Frypanshipping

Probably the oddest ship in this list, I sure as hell didn’t expect to like them so much, but Crow really helped in making Shingo become a better person, and poor Shingo clutching onto his card post BB-arc the entire time made me so emotional. You could tell they had a good relationship and were very happy to be fighting together after that, they’re so cute.

08. Wingshipping

Look at these two precious babs… On a visual level they both have some of my favorite designs in all of ARC V and they’re both counterparts, so I was bound to at the very least consider pairing them up, but when they actually had a rather peaceful meeting in canon all things considered, and immediately valued each other? When you take into account all the possible fluff and angst you could make with setting these two into any scenario? I was soo sold. And they both share the egao philosophy, they’d definitely get along… It’s just fun to think about ideas with them.

07. Janushipping

I have a weak spot for Fusion/XYZ ships because I think there’s so much room for growth and forgiveness if done right, and while I didn’t expect Dennis and Ruri to actually have some backstory together, this relationship has all I could wish for both of their characters. It adds personal conflict to their stories (especially on Ruri’s side, something that isn’t about being related to Shun or Yuto) and leaves room for Dennis to be able to apologize and improve himself after the war; not to mention their aesthetics mesh beautifully together. It’s so easy to picture them awkwardly falling back into an acquaintanceship and figuring out together where to go from there.

06. Fruitshipping

aka the ‘these two care so fucking much for each other, I don’t know how you can watch arc v and at the very least not appreciate their relationship’ ship.

I don’t know what to say that hasn’t been said about them already, honestly. I was admittedly… Reticent, let’s say, to ship this at first, because the relationships between the protagonist and lead girl in YGO shows tend to be lackluster at best for me, but they built each other up as equals from day one and have a genuinely heartwarming friendship, where they know they can lean on each other for support no matter what. They’re one of the most important people for the other and you can feel that throughout the entire show. To this day they hold the honour of being the only protag/main girl ship I can stand romantically.

Though… since they’re so well-executed in canon, I don’t feel the need to seek fanworks of them because there’s no real conflict in their relationship, if that makes sense, haha.

05. Mysteryshipping

This is sort of to be expected as I enjoy all the relationships between this trio separately (even if Yuto/Yuzu’s was short-lived); this shot in the 2nd ED is what got me to even become interested in the OT3 potential, though it was after I finished the show. Yuzu had clearly been having a period of self-doubt in S1 because of the Yuto situation, and thanks to episodes 36-37 we got a wonderful showcase of how well Yuto and Yuya would have clicked, so if Yuzu happened to explain her problem to either of them and caused them to meet in not-so-tragic circumstancies… You can only dream of the possibilities. And thanks to their bonds being established early on, you can expand on them during or post canon events, both in a positive and negative light. We’ve seen teamwork and discussions between all of them already; it’s fun to try to translate that dynamic into a three-way interaction (cranky but overly protective Yuto being dragged around by his two enthusiastic Standard S/Os who also happen to love each other very much, for one).

04. Musicboxshipping

Gosh, these two are just so cute together. Sora was heavily influenced by both Yuya and Yuzu, but you can tell their relationship is really important by the way they both act with each other, especially during the Synchro Arc. Sora taught Yuzu how to Fusion Summon and thanks to that Yuzu was able to become stronger; but Sora also was able to form a solid connection with her and basically made his first true friend in all of his life. They support each other and care about each other so much that even after they know of Sora’s true colours, Yuzu still has blind faith in him, and Sora returns that feeling by saving her from her Duel crash and even being unable to carry the mission Academia gave him because he treasured their friendship that much. Their little master/apprentice moments are adorable and really give off the fluffy energy these two have around each other; and of course Sora’s Mad Chimera and Yuzu’s Bloom Prima dancing together was beautiful too! That was such a lovely scene that made me really appreciate the trust they have in each other.

03. Swiftshipping

I shipped them together from the moment I learned both of them had been kidnapped, and I was really happy when I saw that their designs fit well with each other’s color scheme. They’re both very caring for people they hold close and since there was no indication of the opposite, for the longest time I assumed they were in a cell together. Imagining both of them trying to comfort and support each other through their predicament got me really invested in their possible relationship, and even if it didn’t turn out like I’d hoped in the end, I still had a solid grasp on their personalities by that time, and I couldn’t let go of all the AUs and concepting I’d made for them. It should be said that I have a really weak spot for f/f ships, and this one hit many of my favorite tropes (stuck in same bad situation where they both would try to be strong for each other’s sake, different growing-up backgrounds; to name a few) so my investment only went up from there. I love them so much.

02. Triggershipping

I didn’t expect them to interact much, much less positively, and much less for them to grow to care for each other so much in a short span of time. They have such a friendly and beautiful relationship; Yugo hugging Yuzu because he thought she was Rin and poor Yuzu becoming a blushing mess was a sure way to make me interested from the get go in them, haha. And it only got better from there! Even though she was a complete stranger to him, Yugo still tried to comfort Yuzu to the best of his abilities and looked out for her, fully trusting everything she said, even if to someone else it would’ve sounded like a crazy story. And you can tell Yuzu grows very comfortable with being around Yugo; their small scene with the domestic bantering and her pulling out her fan says that much, as she only uses it with people she really cares for. Whenever they’re on screen together you know you’re gonna be in for a good time, their interactions are always funny and heartwarming.

Yugo saying that Yuzu will always live on his heart in a similar manner to what Yuri said of Rin made me realise how much she really meant to him, and both of them cheering for each other in their Friendship Cup duels was adorable. But if you put their situation into context their relationship is… really sad, as Yugo has lost Rin and Yuzu is all by herself in an unknown dimension. They have that perfect mix of fluff and angst to work with that I love in ships. I adore their relationship; even if it was born out of less than desirable circumstancies, they made it work and learned to appreciate and love each other. It’s always a source of inspiration for me!

(And Yugo’s lack of knowledge of what personal space is just made it even easier to ship them)

01. Counterpartshipping

ARC V has always had the uncanny ability of making me consider ships in the span of a single episode because of the wonderful character interactions. But these two… These two really take the cake. I’m not exaggerating when I say the relationship and development between them has made me cry.

Anyone who has heard me talk about YGO may know how much I like them. As I mentioned in a previous post where I talked about my favorite characters, I hadn’t expected to enjoy Yuto’s character so much, and much less this ship. Yuto remains a latent force of encouragement for Yuya during the entire show; as Reiji beautifully points out on his duel with Yuya after the Battle Royale fiasco, Yuya’s immediate connection with Yuto thanks to their shared ideology was the bond that allowed him to perform a XYZ Summon. His concern for Yuto in episode 37 was so palpable that it hurt; Yuto went from being some random shady dude who was beating up his friend Sora to a kind damaged person who believed in Yuya’s potential to make people happy in a way that he no longer could. It’s really interesting for me to analyse how deeply they affected each other in a short span of time. We’d seen that Yuto was a very protective person thanks to his interactions with Yuzu, so when he said that he didn’t want to hurt anyone else and ended up protecting Yuya at the cost of his own life… It drove the point home, Yuto really saw Yuya as someone worth protecting and that made it so much more painful.

Yuya also later on refers to their dialogue as a vow/promise, despite the fact that Yuto never said so, which really shows just how much thought he put into his words; to the point where those very words managed to snap him out of Berserk Mode when he was about to fight Sora. It really moved me, and the soul-crushing sensation I felt then stayed fresh in my mind right until the final season, which made me fall in love with them even more. They argued, they had fallouts, but their undying trust for each other still rose through all the problems. Yuto trusted Yuya so much that he essentially told him he was okay with falling to darkness because he knew Yuya would be okay and he’d still believe in him no matter what; that moment nearly made me actually tear up because it shows how much they’d helped each other grow.

They’re hands down one of the, if not my most favorite ship in all of the YGO series, and they’ve spurred my creativity so much. I love making AUs or analysing their interactions. They made me interested in creating content for other people to enjoy after I’d hit a stalemate 5 months ago, I’ll just never be able to express how much I love them and how grateful I am that they got to meet.

#arcvanniversary #ygo arc v #arc v #yugioh arc v #long post #you can tell these get longer as the list goes on because i have so many feelings and tbh im not sorry i love all the relationships

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chaotic-guinea-pig · 6 months

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The way you write style is so ❤ do you have tips for characterizing them?

SHIT I forgot this ask was in my drafts!! I'm so sorry about the super late reply, anon! 😭

***

AHHH thank you! <3 I'm glad to hear you enjoy my Stan and Kyle characterisations despite the fic taking place in a fantasy AU!!

I could talk about my specific interpretations and headcanons for Stan and Kyle, but I'd hate to impose it as the One True Way That Everyone Must Comply With Or Else... because it's really not; it's just my subjective opinions based on my understanding of their characters in canon. Instead, I'll tell you my general process in figuring out characterisations so you can find one that works best for your fic.

First, it's a good idea to start with rewatching the source material (the episodes, game playthroughs of TSOT/TFBW etc) so you can get a feel for their voices and mannerisms. If your fic has a specific premise, try to watch an episode that's related to that to get initial ideas for characterisation. For example, if you're writing an argument between Stan and Kyle, watch an episode where they're at odds with each other (Black Friday trilogy, Guitar Queero, YGO/Assburgers... so many...), to see how they behave. Do try to watch a variety of episodes though so you can a get well-rounded view on them, though!

Now, it's important to remember that South Park canon is... pretty messy, and that's no surprise for such a long running satirical cartoon like South Park. Don't stress yourself on trying to retain every single detail from canon, it's simply not feasible. Things like Kyle's diabetes, the fact that Kyle had a pet elephant, Stan's asthma, them playing football and baseball for school... all of those things were only mentioned once. My advice instead is to just focus on getting a feel for their voices (enough that you can write their dialogue), understand the core parts of their personalities, and sprinkle in the details you want for your story.

BTW, a fun way to narrow down their core personalities is to imagine their characters in an AU (TSOT, TFBW, AU where they didn't grow up together etc). What parts of them would stay the same? What would change, and why? Alternatively, you can look at metas and character analyses (of course, you don't need to agree with every take - the point is to just get yourself thinking)

And finally, if your goal is to write the most engaging, the most in-depth characterisation (like say, a character-driven longfic), then: make them well-rounded characters!! I think when starting out, it's easy to fall back on tropes: Stan is the sensitive one, Kyle the morallly righteous, outspoken one, Stan the depressed, Kyle the angry one... and that's not inherently a bad thing, of course; they're fine if well, your fic is literally a oneshot about Stan being depressed! But you can fall into the trap of leaning into these tropes heavily which can lead to flanderisation, and that's something to watch out for if your goal is to create in-depth characterisations.

So my advice here: whatever box you decide to apply to Stan and Kyle - whether that's Jock!Stan, Nerd!Kyle, Depressed!Stan, Angry!Kyle, Elf!Kyle, Knight!Stan, etc etc - remember they are still Stan and Kyle. Be creative! Break out of these boxes! Include their flaws and mix it up!! You'll get some interesting results if you adventure out of the boxes. :)

And finally, finally: HAVE FUN. At the end of the day, fanfiction is our fun sandbox to play in. This is really your fic - just have fun and explore what YOU find interesting about Stan and Kyle!! They are great characters in their own right. :)

TLDR: use canon as your starting point to get a feel for their voices, mannerisms and core personalities and sprinkle in fun details. make them 3D characters if you're shooting for in-depth, realistic characterisations. Have fun. :)

#asks #south park #stan marsh #kyle broflovski #I suspect you were asking for how I interpret them but I don't really like to present my understanding as The Objective Truth #and my interpretations may have not worked for your story. so I thought this advice would serve you more #anyway we should first and foremost have fun. even the fandom debates over their characterisations #and yes it can be argued that some interpretations *seem* consistent with canon than others #but we're talking about fanfiction here where literally anything goes sooooo #If you still want to hear my interpretation and headcanons feel free to send another ask :]#(if you're still in the fandom anon 😅)

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flydotnet · 5 years

Text

Hidden Guardians of Humanity

VRAINS Rarepair Weeks 2018 - Day 7: Other YGO series crossover/Other Fandom AU

Summary: Six teenagers regularly save the world from the misanthropic virus-like AI XANA on a virtual world. This is their story through one of these missions against humanity's greatest danger yet.

Fandoms: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS/Code Lyoko Ships: Hireshipping (Ema/Akira), Entrustshipping (Takeru/Kiku), Zinniashipping (Miyu/Aoi)

Wordcount: 3.8K words

Notes: "On ira, on saura, sauver notre existence, Se donner une chance de tout dépasser. On ira, on saura, sauver notre existence, Afin de faire, Un monde sans danger !"

I was stumbled at first with what to do for today. All the crossover ideas I had weren't very good... until I thought about Code Lyoko and how it was a perfect fit with VRAINS. A virtual world? Check. Keeping stuff secret from other people? Check. A recurring theme of AIs? Check. I rediscovered CL this year by watching the episodes now all up on YT (I think that's only for the original French dub, though). It's been a big part of my childhood and I surprised myself to like it even more as an adult. It was pretty messed up if you think about it: a bunch of teenagers ranging from 13 to 15 saving the world in secret on a daily basis while risking their lives to do so? That's dark for a kid's show dude. The series wasn't hiding it anyway: I can't count the exact number of ways XANA (a big bad virus-like AI) tried to kill the protagonists in. Anyway.

I changed a few settings. Kadic is supposed to be a middle school (collège), but since it's supposed to be a high school too (funny enough, the school it's based on, the Lycée Lakanal, is where I set a part of my original work), well why not. It fitted much better with the VRAINS cast too. I also took some liberties with the original 2003 run of the show to provide more modern technology like smartphones.

This story is, in short, a love letter to Code Lyoko and to my VRAINS OTPs. I may have forgotten to put the romance into that fic though.

PS. The quote in the beginning is the chorus to the Code Lyoko opening, "Un Monde Sans Danger" (A World Without Dangers). That song has been burnt into my soul ever since I was a kid.

Event hosted by @vrainsrarepairweeks

AO3 version available here.

It was yet another day of class at Kadic High School, Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine. Nothing out of the ordinary, for once: boring Physics lessons, typical teenage drama, rumours going through the school about teachers and students alike. In that, it made no difference to any other day before it and any other day that would come after it. However, the routine was only a façade in this school near Paris.

Very few knew about the shortcut in the heater room of the dormitory or the one in the school’s park leading the abandoned factory nearby, resting in an island in the Seine. Most people would have just assumed that place was, well, abandoned and empty. The fact was that: that was wrong. That fact was proven untrue by the presence of a bunch of teenagers going there to save the world on a daily basis.

However, today was a tranquil day in class of rumours and drama. There was always Naoki Shima spreading some kind of rumour on his idol, an e-sport player named Playmaker, which was mostly talked about by fangirls of him around the campus. Meanwhile, a little group of six students was gathering in their usual spot: near the coffee machine, on a bench, waiting for bell never to ring the beginning of classes.

They had formed this little group of friends of theirs in unlikely circumstances. It all started when Ema, from the twelfth-grade class majoring in computer sciences, discovered a way to access the abandoned factory in the river easily after a boring day of school. She apparently had to drag with her Akira, her classmate and a friend since middle school, there. Afterwards, they accidentally dragged with them Aoi, Akira’s younger sister in tenth grade, when she followed them to the factory on one day and stuck with them ever since. With Aoi came her own classmates Takeru and Kiku, who followed suit after they themselves found out about the factory by being friendly to the otherwise isolated Aoi.

“Hey, guys,” Takeru opened the conversation as he looked at the other students in the courtyard. “It’s been a while since XANA last attacked… You think he’s going to come back soon?”

“I hope not,” Kiku replied with the most honesty in the world. “He almost killed sent everyone to space last time… We were lucky you were competing in the martial arts tournament that time, Takeru!”

“XANA will always come back until the Supercomputer isn’t turned off, I’m afraid,” Akira stated as he came back with two cups of coffee in his hands.

“Then that means you need to find the program to materialize Miyu soon!” Ema enthusiastically added as she thanked Akira for the cup of coffee. “It’s on me next time.”

“I’m doing what I can, but it’s going to take longer than expected. Last night was a fluke again,” he sighed as he rubbed his eyes with the hand not busy holding a cup. The yawn would be for another day.

“It’s fine, big brother,” Aoi simply said as she looked at him with a tiny smile. “You’re already doing your best, and Miyu has told us that before.”

“Your sister is right, Akira, don’t overexert yourself for that! I don’t want to recover your unconscious body on the floor of your room again and almost get scolded by Jim again for sneaking into the boys’ dorm for that!”

Takeru and Kiku simply giggled at the anecdote despite how many times Ema had already told them about it.

During Maths class, as usual, Ema was on her phone during yet another boring lecture from the teacher. There had to be someone watching over Lyoko when nobody could be at the factory in case an activated tower, XANA’s gateway to their world and all the potential damage that would always bring with it, showed up in the virtual world. That was a nice way to spend time: instead of sitting through a painfully tedious session of mathematics, she could just chat with Miyu and whoever else was online. It was funnier to be there and occasionally see Akira stare at her to be serious during a class for once.

He only didn’t ask her to stop on the spot because she otherwise could refuse to lend him their philosophy lessons whenever he’d simply stop understanding most of it. The confusing words and concepts didn’t work very well with his arithmetic brain. It was a fine compromise, though.

Right when she was about to point out something funny Aoi had said in the chatroom with Miyu, she heard a strange buzzing sound. The neon over their hands started flickering ever so slightly, before the infection spread to the entire ceiling of the classroom.

“You know what this means?” she asked Akira in a whisper.

“A XANA attack. Did Miyu tell you about an activated tower?”

Her eyes immediately darted to the screen, only for a message to confirm their fears. Akira didn’t add anything more.

“Then what excuse do we throw?” she asked again, eyeing the little app she had on her phone she had freshly finished programming in her spare time (or whatever was left of it these days).

Before she could ask anything, the bell rang. Their eyes bolted in different directions, checking for two different parameters: hers to the teacher, his to the hour on his phone. The former didn’t have a watch, the second didn’t match the time class ended at. As everyone was packing their things together to change classrooms, another ring resonated through the corridors: the fire alarm.

“Okay, it’s definitely a XANA attack”, Akira stated the obvious. “Warn everyone to meet together at the factory before we can get spotted by teachers or monitors.”

“Roger that.”

It always took some time to reach the factory and gather everyone. That was why they had this habit of only meeting in the main computer room instead of in front of the factory, giving them more time to fight against whatever XANA had to throw at them on Lyoko. Akira and Ema had arrived first and launched themselves in the elevator to the main rooms before getting joined by Aoi shortly thereafter.

“Takeru and Kiku will be a bit late,” she told them, “I think they had class on a higher floor and had more troubles exiting the school.”

Moments after, the three had taken their respective spots: Akira at the main computer, Ema and Aoi in the cylindrical scans on the floor under the computer room. He had never been a man of actions and was the only one with a real knowledge of how to use the technical beast that was the Supercomputer. Meanwhile, Ema had always loved the thrill of action: fighting creatures on Lyoko was good way for her to exhort her thirst for a way to break away from the real world, even if it was just for a few minutes. Aoi was calmer, but still followed through when she learnt this could help both her brother and the friend she had found in Miyu.

“Are you ready to get virtualized?” he asked them as they set foot in the room, footsteps resonating on the iron floor.

“Of course!” Ema replied with thrill in her voice.

“I am,” Aoi responded more seriously.

“Then let’s get on with it.”

Four scanners presented themselves to the two girls. Each climbing in one, the virtualization process didn’t take more than thirty seconds anymore. They were used to it: getting transferred inside a virtual world wasn’t painful, at best it was dizzying the first few times. Soon enough, Aoi and Ema found themselves in a forest-like environment, all changed up to battle attire. It wasn’t just for show: if Aoi had wings, it was because she could use them to fly. Ema, who hadn’t design herself in her subconscious mind to get those, was kind of envious.

“Miyu should be nearby waiting for backup,” Akira’s voice arrived from the sky of Lyoko’s Forest territory. “Be careful to monsters, XANA has been waiting for us.”

“As usual,” Ema sighed, amused. “Let’s do this, Aoi.”

As they ran to their destination, a tower with a red halo, a girl with long pink hair in pigtails and blue eyes joined them. Aoi’s eyes started to shimmer as soon as they noticed her coming towards them, changing her sprinting direction to directly meet up with their friend. They had a habit of hugging each other as soon as they saw each other too. They had gotten more and more physical when meeting up in Lyoko, to the point of holding each other’s hands nowadays when seeing the others. Ema was certain that, would Miyu know about love like any other girl (despite being a sentient AI that was, frankly, more human than some actual humans she knew), they would already be dating. She remembered overhearing Aoi train herself to declare her love to her friend in her dorm room, after all.

“I’m glad to know you’re alright, Miyu!” Aoi told her as they went back to reaching the tower.

“Thank you for coming so quickly, Aoi, Ema! XANA has sent three Bloks who are guarding the tower, we need to be careful!”

Turning her eyes away from the two friends, Ema noticed one of the Bloks shooting at them.

“Out of the way!!”

Pushing Aoi and Miyu out of the line of fire from the creature sent to them, she took a direct hit to the shoulder from a laser beam, falling to the ground. Trying to shoot back with her own laser arrows at the creature, she was at least relieved to see Aoi and Miyu had made it behind a tree to find a way to shelter themselves from the incoming attacks.

“Ema!!” Aoi’s scream was accompanied by the mirror of Miyu’s mirror reflecting the hit the older girl was about to take, which would have certainly devirtualized her. The Blok took the hit right in its eye, exploding shortly after.

The commotion from this encounter passed, the three girls hid behind the very same tree. There were mock Bloks in the area, almost twice as much as they had first expected. As she watched from behind their little hiding spot, Ema could only notice this would be harder than expected with Miyu virtually unable to fight for herself and herself having taken a hit already.

“That was such a close call!” Miyu sighed in relief. “We really need to be more careful…”

She was holding onto Aoi’s hand as she said so, her sceptre in her other hand. Nobody knew where that weapon came from, really, but they had brushed it off as a mere way to self-defend against XANA’s monsters who, as it turned out, mostly used laser beams with long ranges to attempt ending her own life.

“Let’s be more careful until Takeru and Kiku can get here,” Aoi decided, with the two others nodding in agreement.

“Sorry we’re late…!” Takeru said as he entered the main computer room, breathless.

Akira immediately turned around, his one-ear headphone-microphone still on, a smirk drawing on his face. Backup was finally here.

“Jim tried to prevent us from reaching the factory when we tried to go through the heater room shortcut,” Kiku further explained.

“I see. Ema and Aoi required backup, there’s apparently too many monsters for them to deal with.

She glanced at her childhood friend whose back was against the wall, still not recovering his breath.

“Are you okay, Takeru?” she asked with concern all over her tone, hands on her chest.

“I… I’ll be fine… Let’s get to the scanners quickly, I’m sure Aoi, Ema and Miyu need our help…”

Even if nobody added anything, Akira turning back to the monitor to make sure this wasn’t a burning failure yet, Kiku remained worried. As the elevator went down another floor, she couldn��t get her eyes off Takeru and how flimsy his breathing was. He had never had a pristine health record, and that despite how good he was at martial arts, which made it so she was always concerned in some degree for his condition.

When the doors opened to reveal the scanner room, she handed her friend her help. He gave her a slight smile, a quiet way to tell her not to worry, as they climbed into their own cylinders to get virtualized. There was no time to lose and no time to get concerned for Takeru when there was a tower to deactivate and XANA going on a rampage to make everyone deaf by the end of the day through abusing ringing systems, ringtones and speakers.

The two soon enough ended in the Forest territory of Lyoko, with instructions given by Akira to join back the others. Running on their legs, the virtualization keeping them away from whatever feeling of physical fatigue they’d have felt from that, they soon noticed the group of monsters blocking the way and their friends behind a big tree.

“Oh, looks like XANA did already send a party,” Takeru noticed. “Let’s be sneaky and see if we can end them without Miyu being targeted by them.”

“Agreed.”

“Takeru! Kiku!”

Miyu seemed ecstatic to see them arrive, screaming their names in joy. Only then did she put her hand on her month, remembering XANA’s monsters could hear them. It was easy to make a diversion, but that was it.

“Akira!” Ema yelled to the sky to get their control tower’s attention. “How much enemies are they?”

No response.

“Oh God, that’s bad,” she then spoke to herself. “He must have been knocked away from the main panel.”

“Something happened to my brother?” Aoi panicked immediately thereafter, before clutching Miyu’s hand to keep her calm.

“It may have,” Kiku added as she joined them. “One of us needs to go check.”

They stared at each other, before Ema decided to take the head of things.

“Okay, I’ve got a plan. Aoi, you stay with Miyu to make sure she arrives to the tower in one piece! I’m going with Takeru to face them directly, while Kiku shoots them from the back. I’ve already taken a hit and Takeru has a powerful long-range weapon. Everyone’s good with that?”

“Roger!” Everyone replied in unison as they split in groups.

Ema had in her mind the secret hope of being devirtualized immediately. Takeru had less health point than she did, but she had already taken a hit and was the only one with any knowledge of the Supercomputer outside of Akira who seemed to spend a huge chunk of his nights on it. It was a perfect match for who had to go back to the real world to check on their friends.

She could see Kiku in her white kimono-like robe, braid flowing through the air as she ran and ran, in the corner of her eye running behind Bloks to stab them with her spear in their top eye, jumping on them, braid going up and down, causing their own self-destruction. She was clearly always going for those targeting Takeru, in a nice touch. The boy was himself with her throwing fire at the enemies, either to blind them or critically damage them.

In the corner of her other, Miyu and Aoi ran with their fingers intertwined, the latter with her own weapon out, ready to jump into action if needed. It was a safer solution for them than for Aoi to hold Miyu as she flew over the battlefield just in case she’d get shot in the wings: would that happen, they’d both take considerable fall damage and risk getting devirtualized. The possibility meaning the death of Miyu if it took place, they preferred to stay safe and go a bit slower. Good stuff there.

Because she wasn’t paying all her attention to monsters, Ema quickly found herself to be devirtualized by a second hit in the chest, making her virtual body shatter in pixels before she could resurface in the factory.

Exiting the scanner after getting forcefully devirtualized wasn’t the best feeling in the world, but Ema had no time for dizziness. She ran as fast as possible to the elevator and rushed her hands over the panel to go to the upper floor. They weren’t strangers to XANA using towers to gain access to the real world. In fact, they were even used to Akira getting attacked as to hinder the progress of those on Lyoko. The question was: what had it done to her friend while she was away in the virtual world?

As soon as the door opened, she realized two things: XANA had used a severed electric cable to do its deed, and Akira was unconscious the floor because of it. Her first thought was to rush to his side, to check if he was doing fine. A hand on his wrist, another on his forehead, and her eyes half-focused on the severed cable which now looked as inert as it should be, she let out a sigh of relief when she heard his pulse.

“You scared us again, you idiot,” she muttered under her breath. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to keep an eye on an important mission.”

She gently half-sat Akira against a nearby wall and jumped into the chair facing the screens monitoring everything. Embracing the control tower nature of it all, she picked the headphone and put it on her ear.

“Anyone, you’re receiving me? It’s Ema!”

Everyone or so replied positively.

“Lemme see…” Her eyes deciphered as much information as they possibly could on the monitors. “Takeru, you’re down to 20HP, be careful! One hit and you’re sent back home! Kiku, there should be a Blok behind you! Aoi, Miyu, you’re near the tower, you may be able to fly there…”

She interrupted herself when she saw the cable rise back to life, just as she heard everyone call out for Takeru’s voice. Getting down to her feet, taking a fighting stance, she hoped to be able to fight it back enough to have the time for the boy to reach her room. She knew how to activate the Return to the Past to fix all the damage the buildings around the school must have taken from the excessive sound, if the fact she was able to hear some low-quality rap music from the underground rooms of a factory was any indication, but Takeru didn’t.

Avoiding getting tripped by jumping over the cable’s feet, she was relieved to hear Takeru running towards her. He looked a bit out of breath from running so quickly in so little time, but he took his own fighting stance.

“Ema, get to the computer! I’m sure the others need you there!”

Nodding to him as to confirm his decisions, she jumped back into the chair to see the information: Kiku was close to devritualization with a mere ten HP remaining while Miyu was just about to enter the tower. Trying her hardest to ignore how one-sided Takeru’s fight against the cable was becoming in favour of XANA, she focused on the screens. The boy’s pained scream when his back slammed against the wall didn’t help. Before she could entirely redirect her focus, Kiku had been defeated by a last laser beam.

“Aoi, be careful, Kiku just got eliminated!”

“We know,” the brown-haired girl replied from the other side of the screen. “Miyu is entering the tower now, I’ll try to keep back the last enemies until she can deactivate it!”

“Good, but please make it quick, Akira got stunned and Takeru may be injured from fighting a cable. I’m afraid I’ll be the next, not going to lie there.”

Kiku soon joined the scene, judging from the elevator’s doors opening again and her little steps rushing to Takeru’s side.

“Ki… Kiku…” His weakened voice tried to warn his friend. “Don’t… Come here…”

Without a word, avoiding getting knocked back by the giant cable, she kneeled next to him, her gaze soon fixated on her friend rather than the incoming danger.

“Are you alright, Takeru?!”

“I… I think I’ve broken something against it… But it’s gonna be fine, don’t worry… I’m sure Miyu is about to deactivate the tower…” He gave a timid but warm smile to her.

She gently held him against her, a half-felt one on her lips…

“It’s going to be fine. It’s always going to be fine.”

Judging from Takeru’s weak grip, she knew his hand had been broken in his fight against the machine.

Entering the tower, Miyu made her way as fast as possible to the little panel presented in every tower. As soon as she put her hand on it, the system automatically recognized her, greeting her with the ever same and cold protocol.

MIYU

CODE: LYOKO

The entire tower progressively turned empty as it deactivated. From this little virtual pseudo-cocoon, she could only hope as she looked down everything was fine outside.

Soon enough, the familiar energy wave of the Return to the Past resonated through the virtual world, making her smile as she thought that, once again, everything would be fine and that they had all saved the day.

They were back in the same Maths class, which was still boring, still not interesting. A side effect of using the Return to the Past, obviously. At least, she could safely say that

“Hey, do you remember what happened to you before you got unconscious earlier?” she asked trying to hide her concern.

“I got electricized by a cable, that’s all I can remember. It doesn’t matter much anyway, the Return to the Past cancels every injury we could have sustained.”

“Well, that’s fortunate for Takeru, he broke his hand when fighting the cable.”

Akira suddenly looked very pensive, before having a sort of epiphany flashing on his face.

“That makes me think… I should teach you how to use the Supercomputer, Ema, in case this ever happens again,” he whispered to her.

“I’m not against it. I already know how to use it, as you can see, but you could show me your… special tricks.”

The slight innuendo was enough to make him redden in a moment and look to the side.

“D-don’t phrase it like that…”

She grinned at his embarrassment. He was way too easy to tease, but it was always so much fun.

“Oh, by the way,” she added, “your sister is probably going to get a girlfriend soon, and she won’t even be material unless you come up with your program.”

“E… Excuse me?!”

“Miyu. She’s in love with Miyu and vice-versa. It’s just that you’re never here to see them flirt with each other knowingly or not.”

“Oh. That makes sense, when you precise it that way.”

“I know.”

Now, if she had the same modesty as Aoi, maybe she would have the guts to tell him about her ever-growing crush on him…

#vrains #vrainsrarepairweeks #hireshipping #entrustshipping #zinniashipping #my writing

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chrisemrysfics · 6 years

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WIPs and projects: Progress

Hello~!

I’ve decided to do a big progress post that list all my current WIPS and projects, giving out an approximative percentage of how much I’ve written for each, and if they’re in my priority to do list or not.

DGM

Rise of the Walker: Chapter 3 at 0%, top priority.

Meet me Halfway to the End: Chapter 3 at 0%, top priority.

Make it Right: Chapter 1 at 10%, working on it slowly as second priority.

Freedom to Love: Chapter 1 at 10%, working on it slowly as second priority.

The future we choose: Chapter 1 at 0%, will work on it slowly but likely not as fast as other stories.

Bring me to Life: Chapter at 0%, is top priority but since it got updated recently, I will work on others top priority stories first.

Projects for DGM, aka, ideas that I’ll work on slowly: Two AOExDGM crossovers, a JoydAllen story, and a trans woman Cross story. Also, working out sequel to Long Lost Reunion.

Main WIPs in other fandom (those I am more likely to write for when I feel like it)

Secret of Dark Red (NatsuYuu): Chapter 5 at 10%, has worked on it slowly but paused for a bit, intend to try working on it slowly again.

The Divine Battle (BBC Merlin): Chapter 10 at 0%, hopes to work slowly on it.

Our Past (BBC Merlin): Chapter 8 at 20%, wants to work on it, but unsure when I’ll do.

The Joy of Time Travel (Pokemon): Chapter 6 at 15%, hopes to work slowly on it.

Tales of Black Wings (White Collar): Next story at 0%, will be a main timeline story, hopes to work on it. Has a story written for the alternate timeline but can’t post it until main storyline has the canon scene happen.

Other WIPs (kind of hiatus unless surprise inspiration), all have their next chapters not yet started (aka 0% written).

Shadows of Rebirth (Outlast), the one most likely to be updated all of the other WIPs.

Broken Chain and Fated Chain (KKM). I’m having some KKM nostalgia so who knows, but even if I watch some again and poke around, it’ll be slow. Still considered on hiatus. Semi hiatus?

Different Yet Alike (FNAF). Needs to read over my notes for the whole series to get in the mood again, spark inspiration. Considered in semi hiatus, almost full hiatus.

Hellish Chronicles (YGO GX): Inspiration can be hard for this one, so semi hiatus too, waits for inspiration to poke at it.

Projects (things I plan to work on but WIPs are priority over projects).

SkyrimxDAI crossover: biggest project of mine as its a series, wants to work on writing fully at least some of the stories, is likely to take a while before you see it pop around.

Canon AU NatsuYuu fanfic: will work on it once Secret of Dark Red is either well progress or finished. Basic like about it: Natsume is a half ayakashi and eventually becomes Matoba’s Shiki. Once Matoba actually manages to catch him. That takes a few years because sneaky Natsume is sneaky. But also: Natsume has a secret.

Other projects (little things I had started working on, might be worked on before bigger projects and/or whenever I lowkey avoid WIPs for the reason most don’t need that much work on, but inspiration for these is also low).

Two one shots for KKM: oh boy, I have no idea when I’ll continue these. One is a ConYuu ns//fw scene that’s halfway written and that I might decide to post as if (on AO3) if I cant feel like I’ll finish it, and another is one I cant recall if it was a plot bunny or I saw something that inspired me, it’s about fireworks.

I believe I have some character studies for YGO GX that are almost finished, I’ll eventually check and decide if I post as if (I think for some, I wanted to do more, and make a story that’s a collection).

Rewrites of Angel and Sephirot, and Eventful Journey (YGO GX): Still something I have in mind, but will be will a while before I even consider poking these.

One humor/crack ToS story I might repost (had removed it at one point). Is mostly a collection of crackish/funny scenes, canon not always there. I do need to first translate what I had until I removed it. Might continue it too, as in, make new scenes after I finished posting all the ones I wrote.

Same kind of story as above to repost, but in Saiyuki fandom, to be continued possibly. Speaking of Saiyuki fandom, there are french stories I had written and removed, I need to translate, possibly rework, and post. Obviously, that is not quite a priority, but will happen eventually.

There was a third story in the same style as the two above, for Devil Devil. I will eventually translate what I have and post, but not sure I’ll continue.

And of course, quite a few plot bunnies that are sitting waiting for me.

#progress #(that moment you recall you are doomed)#(so many wips and stuff in waiting)#(but as i've said for a bit)#(dgm has taken over my focus)#(i can and will still write for other fandoms)#(but DGM inspire me and I'm really into it and into my fanfics for it)

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mpuzzlegirl · 6 years

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DOMA Ruins, CH 3

So despite the technical difficulties I initially ran into today, I did end up getting this chapter finished! I am trying to post the chapters on Thursdays because that is when I have the most time. This is also the last chapter that is based off of my initial written shorts I wrote three years ago. Chapter 4 and so on will be brand new writing. I also want to give a huge shout out to my friend @bitterpixiebros for helping me edit these chapters, you’re incredible!

Disclaimer: This takes place in an alternate events timeline of an alternative universe. YGO and it’s associated characters belongs to Kazuki Takahashi, and the ocs featured belong to me. This story does cover dark themes of death, violence, as well as other disturbing themes, please be advised. If you do not wish to read or view this, please block the tag au: doma ruins.

~~~

Was she imagining this? After weeks of solitude and wandering the destroyed remnants of her hometown, Isabel began to question her own sanity. But even in her isolation, no way could she imagine people with such detail.

“Miss Corazón?” the blond man spoke first, nearly dissolving her doubts of the situation.

“Are...are you real?” she asked once her voice returned to her. It was rough from the disuse, but still audible over the low hum of the motors.

The three men exchanged varying degrees of startled and crestfallen looks---though the redhead was the hardest of them to read. The large man took a deep breath as he spoke again.

“We are, Miss Corazón...we’re real.”

“How do you know my name? Who are you?”

“We’ve met before, not too long ago. My name is Raphael. You’re not safe out here, we can take you out of the city, to Carmon.”

At the mention of her sister's name, her heart almost beat out of her chest. But before Isabel could ask about Carmon, she noticed the necklace around the man's neck. The aqua stone looked similar to the claws the creatures she encountered had, but somehow was more menacing than it appeared.

“I… I can't recall meeting you,” the hispanic girl managed to tactfully get out. “And you seem like someone I wouldn't forget meeting… Where did… we…”

...The train continued down the tracks, each bump causing the car to jump a little more uneasily as they rode. Their car was tense, either from Pharaoh’s sorrow of what happened to his partner, or because of another force laying in wait...

The other two seemed familiar too, but she was struggling to recall where she had seen them.

“Carmon, get behind me!” Isabel shouted as a figure loomed over them, the younger ready to leap into action to defend her sister.

She noticed the slender man also had a necklace like Raphael’s. The third one didn't, but she could see the ring on his finger

Isabel had turned her weapon into a duel disk, to fight the man from DOMA.

Something about these three made her uneasy.

“Miss Corazón, are you-?” “-will lose this duel, just as Pharaoh did,” he stated plainly, his once blue eyes now red beating down on her, magic pulsing from the stone around his neck. “You claim to be a Guardian, but you fail to understand the weight of that task. Allow my Guardians to teach you that lesson, with the help of the Seal of Orichalcos!”

“ISABEL!” two female voices screamed, and she felt a strong hand pull her away from the light, and Nanu was consumed by the seal.

Isabel looked back from Valon and Alister back to Raphael, her green eyes no longer clouded in confusion.

She remembered now.

They were working for Dartz.

And Raphael was the one who took Yuugi and hijacked the train, leaving Carmon and her to die when their car derailed.

The leader of the group realized she had pieced everything together and was about to speak, but Isabel had already made up her mind. She put her helmet back on and kicked the kickstand up, speeding away from the three of them.

She was gripping the handle bars as tightly as she could, rage and fear coursing through her veins. Like hell she would go with them; how dare they use Carmon as a means to trap her!

It didn't take long for the roar of their engines to catch up with her, but the girl was determined not to be caught. She may have been outnumber and outmatched, but they were playing this game of chase on her turf. Isabel knew her city, and even deserted, the City of Angels always took care of its own.

Making many sharp turns and changing speeds, she maneuvered around debris and rubble to lose her pursuers. She could still hear them close behind, and the road was before her was blocked by a large pile up of cars. Looking over her shoulder, she could see the red bike on her right and the yellow on her left; the black was invisible in the low light. Running out of road and unsure of where the third rider was, Isabel decided to take a risk.

Turning to the left, Isabel pulled the handles up as she made a close u-turn and sped forward to slip right between the two colorful riders. Neither one had the chance to reach out for her, and skidded to a stop just as she slipped down another corner.

“Raphael,” Alister hissed into his helmet, his headphone picking up the faint sound of rubber on concrete. “She’s gone down Chatworths street, I think she’s headed to the Freeway.”

“I’ll catch up with her, but I need you two to cut off any potential exits.”

Needing no further instruction, Alister and Valon raced around the same corner, but found no trace of her. The redhead spat an angry curse as the Australian called their third companion with an update.

------

Isabel was waiting in a shadows of building, her engine turned off, crouched low, listening for her pursuers. A few streets over, she could hear the faint roars of the two she escaped, but the fact that she lost track of the third was what concerned her the most. After waiting for several minutes, she just about breathed a sigh of relief when the sound of an approaching motorcycle broke the silence. The final bike came into into her line of sight and she pressed herself against the dumpster as she heard the rider turn off the bike and dismount very close by.

“Miss Corazón,” Raphael’s gruff voice called out, echoing off every nook and surface of the empty street. “Please, we don’t want to hurt you! Things have changed, and all we want is to reunite you with Carmon. She won’t listen to us...but she will listen to you. Please, hear us out and we will take you to her.”

Her heartbeat speed up as his voice wandered closer to her hiding place, so much so that she feared it would give her away. Slowly, she crawled on all fours towards her vehicle, hoping to at least be prepared for an escape.

The man’s pleading and the girl’s trek was halted when a series of growls and clicks began to descend the area. From the roof and the windows came red eyed beasts, horns and talons sharp, teeth chomping excitedly at the potential new victim. Isabel was staring at many pairs of glowing eyes from the darkness of the alleyway she hid in, they slowly moved towards her. Many began sharpening their green claws on the wall and ground, deep gouges trailed behind them.

She started the engine and tore away, the monsters now running to catch her.

Raphael was shouting something after the teenager, but he was drowned out by the screeching and animalistic calls that took over. As Isabel approached the intersection, the other two motorists zipped from the left, Valon skidding between Isabel and the monsters, a hand raised towards the oncoming hoard. Alister pulled in beside his companion, and their small blockade was all Isabel needed to make her escape down the strip.

---

Hours had passed since she had encountered the DOMA swordsmen and the hoard of Orichalcos monsters. She rode as far as her engine could take her, until she ran out of gas and could barely keep the bike upright. Isabel toppled over and laid limply on the side of the road, dried grass was the only thing to cushion her. Breathing was getting more difficult with the helmet on, and upon ripping it off, hot tears were staining her face and her nose stuffed from crying. Good God, how long was she crying for.

Staring up at the sky with blurred vision, Isabel began to replay the memories that she rediscovered from her encounter with Raphael and his partners.

She had dueled Raphael on the train. She lost. But at the last second, Nanu had pulled her out of the seal’s grasp, sacrificing herself to let Isabel live.

Isabel raised her gloved hands to her face, pressing her palms to her eyes.

Nanu was gone...she was gone, and, most likely, so were her powers too.

Powerless and alone…

No, not alone.

If there was one thing that the encounter with the DOMA members brought to light, it was that Carmon was more than likely alive. They knew where she was, and in turn, the other survivors.

She had to find Carmon now.

As Isabel sat herself up, she noticed something in the sky. Something, in between the dark clouds, wriggled. Standing up, she squinted at the spot, trying to see if it was a trick of the faint light...but another section in the sky wriggled too, adjusting itself for another section to fit better.

Isabel suddenly remembered a name left for her in the voicemail, the name of the thing that Dartz had managed to summon.

Leviathan.

Leviathan was blocking out the sun.

#puzzle writes #au: doma ruins #au: canon divergence #raphael #alister #amelda #valon #ygo oc #isabel corazón

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