#do you just like ryoken because he's pretty

[overobsessedfanboy23]

My Biggest Problem With VRAINS

Spoilers: It’s this guy:

And I know that’s not a particularly popular take but I’m sorry, Revolver pisses me off. I don’t know if I’d quite call him the worst character in all of Yugioh (he certainly has his moments) but he is the most frustrating. Because there was a good character buried somewhere in there that just… never came to fruition for me.

(This ended up being very long, as I expected. Honestly steer clear of this one if racism/bigotry/homophobia/transphobia or anything of that vein are triggering topics for you. The Ignis are a race and Revolver hates them all for existing, so I think my use of the word “racist” is justified and necessary for my explanations but I understand it’s a triggering topic.)

At first, Revolver was perfectly fine.

(As a character that is. That first avatar design was ugly as shit.)

He’s an effective first villain of the show, the leader of the Knights of Hanoi who were straight up terrorizing Link VRAINS, which only Playmaker had the strength/courage to fight against. He’s aided by Ai, a rare AI with free will (or an Ignis) that we learn later was created by Douchebag Kogami- oh, I mean Ryoken’s father to be the successor to humanity. Blah blah blah you guys know the history. This is where my problems with Revolver start. His father is clearly clearly in the wrong. He kidnapped and tortured six children for six months to create the six Ignis…

And then he fears that humanity will resent the Ignis and go to war with them. AND THEN GET THIS.

HE RESENTS THE IGNIS AND GOES TO WAR WITH THEM.

He’s evil and bad, no one in the show tries to say otherwise. Except Revolver.

He doesn’t justify torturing the kids thankfully. He was the one who put a stop to that and that landed his father in jail which… admittedly yes that would weigh on an eight year old and possibly screw them up for life. It doesn’t surprise me that Revolver ended up so messed up. It doesn’t excuse it but it does make sense and could’ve been really interesting if they’d bothered to explore that.

No, what pisses me off to no end with this character is that not only does he believe his father’s shitty “all the Ignis should die” rhetoric but how he never bends on that belief throughout the rest of the show, not once. It’s fine in season one, because he’s the villain. His actions against Link VRAINS and humanity are very clearly put in the wrong in that season, and by extension, so is his visceral hatred of the Ignis. It’s in season two when this becomes a problem. Because he didn't come back as a villain, he came back as an anti hero, or morally grey, whichever. So… he’s at least partially in the right now so him retaining this visceral hatred of the Ignis throughout every appearance he has in the show is presented as… a debatable topic. And this is the thing that makes me hate him. Because to put it simply, Revolver is a racist. He hates the entire Ignis race because of what they are and what he thinks they could do. It’s the very definition of bigotry:

Imagine some of Revolver’s quotes about how all Ignis are terrible and will lead to the end of humanity if they aren’t stopped only with the word “Ignis” were replaced by “gays” or something to that extent and you now have the slightest idea of the white hot rage that boils within me when I see this pathetic excuse for a man.

With all that being said, Revolver’s stubborn refusal to change his beliefs on the Ignis would honestly work.

IF HE WERE DEPICTED IN THE WRONG FOR IT.

The other characters (mainly Yusaku and Takeru) argue with him about it but the very narrative of the show itself only ever reinforces Revolver’s horrible backwards racist beliefs. There are plenty of moments throughout season two where his beliefs about the Ignis are proven wrong, moments that I thought were setting up him coming to realise he was wrong to generalise the Ignis as a species.

The moments:

-Ai, Flame, and Aqua vowing to fight for humanity at Revolver’s side despite Revolver saying to their faces that he would kill them all after

-Flame and Aqua straight up dying protecting humanity (which he definitely saw, they all did)

-HIM LEARNING THAT THOSE FUTURES HIS FATHER SAW WHERE THE IGNIS KILLED THEM ALL WERE ONLY CAUSED BY LIGHTNING. SOMETHING HE NOT ONLY FULLY UNDERSTANDS BUT WAS THE ONE TO EXPLAIN.

BUT WE JUST CAN’T HAVE NICE THINGS CAN WE?! Because the very next time we see him after he comes back from being fucking dead, (BEFORE AI’S ATTACKS ON HUMANITY NEED I ADD) he says this insulting shit:

(This is right after the Bohman duel by the way. Poor Takeru basically just lost Flame and is having to deal with this shit)

And this is the scene that broke my fucking patience. He’s been given reason after reason to stop believing this crap but instead, he doubles down on it and refuses to change. Ever. And then what is this scene followed by?!

AN IGNIS ATTACKING HUMANITY AND PROVING HIS BELIEFS RIGHT. This show basically made a character racist, gave him plenty of reasons to stop being racist, had him refuse to stop being racist, and then proved that he was right to be racist all along. WHY THE ACTUAL FUCK IS THIS GUY A FAN FAVOURITE?!

Also, he repeatedly refers to the Ignis as “its”:

Even when the other characters start to use he/him pronouns (or she/her for Aqua) and it feels like he’s calling them objects or god forbid doing that thing trasphobes do to transgender people and OH MY GOD I WANT TO PUNCH HIM IN THE FACE.

So… as you can tell, my annoyance of this character is… very personal and emotionally charged. But there’s more. Oh boy there’s more. Because Revolver being a fucking piece of shit doesn’t just fuck with his character, it fucks with the very themes of this show. It doesn't completely ruin them but hear me out: Yusaku, our beloved main character, believes that there can be peace between AI and humans, that they can coexist. This show ends… with every AI with complete free will dead, which was Ryoken’s goal. Ryoken isn’t even punished in the end for all that he did (guarding Link VRAINS isn’t a punishment). He got exactly what he wanted and his bigoted views were never called into question or presented in the wrong after season one which is AWFUL.

I mentioned a while ago that if they permanently killed Ai, this is the message they would be sending:

And… yeah, they still kinda did. Not completely (Blood Shepherd, Queen, and Go Onizuka were never justified, that still stands) and I still absolutely love Ai’s villain arc and Yusaku and Ai’s final duel and all the emotions between them. Ai only ever fell to villainy because he was terrified he would eventually become the monster horrible fucks like Ryoken believed he would. Well, that and wanting to prevent Yusaku’s death. The show doesn’t say that all AI with free will are evil and want to take over humanity but it doesn’t say Ryoken is wrong to believe that either which is where my main problem arises. And this could’ve been fixed. Like I said, Ryoken seemed to be coming around a bit during his death. Why not just cut that scene in the season 3 premiere where he goes back on what little growth he showed? It wouldn’t completely fix everything but it would at least help.

So… Ryoken makes some of the themes of VRAINS a complete mess. Not all of them. For some reason, I really like some of his more… philosophical quotes. I don’t know why, I just think they’re cool:

That’s kind of a VRAINS thing in general but Revolver in particular has quite a few of these quotes. He’s even a character archetype I like. Trust me when I say I wanted to like this character, I was actually excited for his return in season 2 at first and gave him plenty of chances to be a developed character. And… yeah he did develop but… not in a way that mattered if I’m being honest. I have no idea why Yusaku cuts him as much slack as he does. I have never once understood their “bond,” Ryoken will not bend on his hatred of Yusaku’s partner and told Yusaku to his face he regretted saving his life and giving him hope. So by the time season 3 came along I just… fucking snapped.

But Ryoken had potential. I mentioned a while ago that I’m writing a post-VRAINS story and Ryoken’s in it… well… it’s not done yet, so I’ll just say now that hope I’m able to do this character justice.

#tw: racism #tw: transphobia mention #tw: homophobia mention #there ya go there's the essay #I had a burst of inspiration to finally do it #yugioh #ygo #yugioh vrains #ygo vrains #vrains #if revolver were written better #or surgically removed from the show #VRAINS would easily be my favourite YGO #as it stands now... #it's still my favourite #it's just tied with GX #don't make me choose between them #be honest with me guys #do you just like ryoken because he's pretty #are you all spectres :) #long post #essay #rant #analysis #anti revolver #anti ryoken kogami

[chibi-taylormoon]

vrains au where Yusaku and Ryoken are online friends that play games together online and want to meet in person.

Playmaker and Revolver been friends for years and only know eachother's avatars and voices, neither of revealed what they look like to eachother. Yusaku feels average and uncool as himself, but as Playmaker he has confidence and he talks a lot in a voice chat with "Revolver"

The two of them talked for a while before the fact that they live in the same city came up. Yusaku was stunned to learn that Revolver lived in the city, what were the odds? Yusaku wished he had the confidence to ask if Revolver and he could meet in real life, he almost did. But Yusaku's fingers hovered over his computers keyboard and never was able to bring himself to ask. Meeting someone made Yusaku nervous, he was shy in real life in comparison to his online personality. Revolver would probably dislike him. Yusaku didn't want Revolver to meet him in person and not like him, because as ridiculous as it sounds-Yusaku was harboring feelings towards him. Yusaku felt stupid about it, all he knows is Revolvers avatar and that deep beautiful voice of his. How could he like someone just based one that?

But on his worst of days when Yusaku felt lonely and sad, Revolver was always there to encourage and make him smile. Maybe that's what made Yusaku start to crush on him, Revolver's kindness when they were just chatting and not gaming made Yusaku happy. Yusaku hoped that wasn't just a fake online persona, because of Yusaku meets Revolver in real life and he's the way he is online, that would break his heart. Yusaku has never liked anyone to this degree before, that scared him.

One night though, before Yusaku was about to head to bed, he received a ping for a message. There was only one person that ever messaged him besides Kusanagi. Yusaku stared at Revolver's name and opened the message, waiting a couple seconds as to not look to eager. Yusaku's eyes widen at the message, Revolver wanted to meet him. Yusaku thought he was reading it wrong, but in a formal message; Revolver was asking if he'd ever like to meet up one day. Yusaku's heart was beating so fast he could practically hear it between his ears.

Playmaker: do you know cafe nagi, the food truck is usually in the city square.

Revolver: I know of it, yes. Is that were you'd like to meet?

Playmaker: Yes, I actually work there part time. if you come around 5 pm my shift will be over

Revolver: i'll be there. see you then.

Playmaker: goodnight.

Revolver read his message but didn't respond, Yusaku could see the red light next to his name indicating he had logged out. Yusaku sighed and leaned back into his chair. He was going to meet Revolver tomorrow, he was so nervous yet excited.

Yusaku had barely gotten any sleep that night, he kept tossing and turning and replaying scenarios in his mind about what he would say to Revolver. He was so awkward and bad at small talk, he'd probably sound like an idiot. Yusaku grimaced as he stood at the grill and cooked the hot dogs, Kusanagi had lectured him already about looking so angry. Yusaku felt bad that he was potentially scaring off customers, especially if one customer could be revolver, he could look and sound like anything. Yusaku felt a little panic, the end of his shift was nearing and he peered into the courtyard and at the customers sitting at the tables. Yusaku pouted, what if any of these people are Revolver and he's already made a bad impression. Yusaku was so busy mulling over his thoughts, that he hadn't heard footsteps approach the truck.

"One hot dog, please." came a voice, a deep voice. A very familiar and distinct voice.

Yusaku lifted his head and was met with the prettiest man he's ever seen in his life. Captivating blue eyes and pretty eyelashes, that voice felt almost out of place on someone so handsome. Yusaku was sure he was using some kind of voice changer to mask his identity. But no. Yusaku gripped his cooking utensil and leaned forward.

"Revolver?" Yusaku whispered quietly.

"Revolver" looked stunned for a second, like he was trying to process how he knew his name. Then Revolver smiled at him.

"Playmaker?" Revolver asked in return.

Yusaku nodded, and his cheeks flushed.

"My name is actually Yusaku." Yusaku commented as prepared Revolver's food and handed the bag out for him to take.

"My name is Ryoken." he said as he graciously took the food, their fingers just brushing against eachother.

Yusaku pulled his hand away quickly and so did Ryoken. An awkward moment passed with them just staring at eachother. It wasn't until Kusanagi walked over and slapping Yusaku on the back for him to look away. Kusanagi whispered in his ear that his shift was over and that he can go and enjoy himself. Yusaku peaked shyly over at Kusanagi as he took off his apron.

"Ah-um. Its nice to meet you in person." Yusaku stuttered over his words.

"Like wise." Ryoken spoke simply, but he was smiling. It was a beautiful smile.

Yusaku had left out of the back of the truck and joined Ryoken at one of the tables so they could eat dinner together.

From the food truck, Kusanagi watched fondly with a smile. He was happy Yusaku made a friend in person, and that it seemed to be going well. He'll be there to always support his best friend.

#yusaku fujiki #ryoken kogami #vrains au #datastormshipping #i had this idea in my head all day but no time to write a full fic #but heres a drabble!

[gayestyugiohcharacter]

I haven’t seen a case for Takeru Homura/Soulburner from Vrains yet so I’ll toss it in! Because that’s a WHOLE unapologetic bisexual right there!

Like we all know Takeru is head over heels for Kiku, she’s basically been there for everything, that’s very established in canon when he takes her into Vrains and she makes him blush by complimenting him, but that’s not touching literally every other crush this boy has had the entirety of his screen time. Because there’s MANY.

With some gentle motivation from Flame, the **literal light of his life**, Takeru just straight up moves across the country to help his hot internet crushes fight cyberterrorism! While he’s all smiles despite the circumstances to duel them both in show, even Duel Links(which is CANON) decided to show Soulburner all blushy and dreamy-eyed at the prospect of facing off against Go Onizuka and Blue Angel once again.

Let’s get back to Flame, because Flame is who lights the fire under him and pushes him forward. To reincarnate like the phoenix he is. And Flame’s death and impact stays with Takeru so strongly that half of his Duel Links audio just references Flame. Flame is also lowkey the perfect wingman, being the one to suggest the ferris wheel for Takeru and Yusaku’s first conversation AND the one to help explain Ryoken’s true feelings.

Ryoken. Do I even have to explain the tension? How much they push each other to evolve past their roots? Takeru really wants to hate him in the end, but he just can’t! Not only would it be wrongly placed, but he’s too pretty!!! Soulburner broke off Revolver’s mask and gets to stare at his pretty face as a reward.

Also, “Revolver, I’m glad I met you.” !!

And all of this is not even touching the absolute MESS Takeru is trying to make a good, everlasting impression on Yusaku during their first day of school together. Takeru NEEDS Yusaku to approve of him. He sees Playmaker and Yusaku both and unconditionally loves both of them!!! Takeru puts himself through the absolute ringer for Yusaku from the minute they meet. PLUS, when Duel Links makes them tag team together in one of the first tag events pose Vrains world addition, Soulburner is so filterless and ecstatic about being able to duel with Playmaker for once that he makes him **blush.**

he’s added!

#submission #this makes me want to rewatch vrains again #i love takeru he really is a disaster

[veiledlinks-vn]

sorry to bother you in not only reblog and replies, but I'm so curious why you decided on kusanagi to be the love interest for ryoken. no offense, I just imagined spectre to be the candidate, he's usually the one beside yusaku and takeru

Oh, dear, prepare for a long pre-production story:

When I started working on VL back in September 2021 (or that's when I created the ren'py file at least, the concept took much longer to develop), my plan was to make a longer multi-ship game with Yuusaku, Takeru and Ryouken, with the player being able to choose between them and unlock ships through the course of the game. Only having the Disaster dorks and the ships between them wasn't enough for me, though; I had already made a silly game like that just to learn the basics of coding. So, instead, I decided, just for fun, to have another candidate (which was Spectre), PLUS one more unique character for each of the guys.

Fireball was pretty much a given for Takeru. I had still not decided if I wanted Kusanagi to be part of Yuusaku's route (again, a story didn't exist yet), so Hotdog wasn't an obvious option. In the end, it did come down to personal preferences. While I'm terribly weak for platonic Aiball, I do like romantic Aiball more than Hotdog. Plus, it would look a bit weird (to me, at least) to have Fireball and not Aiball.

Which left Ryouken with pretty much no one. Spectre was already a candidate back then, so who really remained?

Well, Kusanagi.

The thought made me snicker first, because I hadn't even thought about them much before. Then, conveniently enough, I stumbled upon fanart of KusaRyou (or Patronshipping as I later used for it) and fell head over heels in love with them.

As I started working on the plot summaries, drawing sprites, finding backgrounds to use, designing the gui and coding the variables, I realized early that having 9 ships would be all too overwhelming to work with. And when it came to deciding which ships would stay and which I had to take away, the sad truth was that taking away the Spectre ships was the easiest choice. It's not one I really liked, but again, it all came down to personal preferences. I prefer Fireball before Wildfire and Patron before Respectful. And while I do prefer Wisteria before Aiball, I still thought it would look weird. If it was possible to add every possible ship combination between the characters I'm using, I would, but I'm only one person.

(Who knows, there could be a Spectre DLC in the future if I don't get tired of this project, but I don't make any promises.)

So, there you have it. I've had lots of fun creating the Patronship route, and I hope others will enjoy it, too. ^w^

#yugioh vrains #ygo vrains #vrains #veiled links #visual novel #ask

[pocketsonny]

For the character ask meme: 2, 8, 14, and 16 for Ryoken and 18, 24 for Jin! :D

Ryoken! <3

2) When I think I truly started to like them (or dislike them, if you've sent me a character I don't like)

It's so hard to pin-point THE moment...like, I always liked him but I think with his face reveal I started to really like him JKASKJD I'm weak for white haired pretty boys okay! xD

But back in S1, I would've said my fave was more Yusaku and Ai than Ryoken. As the series progressed tho, and I started to pick apart Ryoken's character more...as I wrote him...I just came to love him a lot!! And I kept going back to s1, and appreciating his S1 self more, analyzing his actions...now I can ramble for days about this guy. SO MANY LAYERS TO HIS GUILT!

8) Your favorite outfit of them

He wears the same blazer and ankles pants every day, what outfit KASKJD Okay listen this guy has 10 of the same outfit, he's stupidly practical, SOMEONE TAKE HIM OUT SHOPPING!!

I do really like his avatar looks tho, I'm a fan of 👽 S1 alien look, but his s2 avatar is very pretty as well (I'd say I like the color scheme of his outfit more in s2 more!).

I do think he'd looks sooo good in turtlenecks...

14) Best storyline they had

S1 storyline for Revolver/Ryoken is very solid, you can draw a lot about Ryoken's character and actions, his way of thinking at that time. I love to go back to it to pick his character apart. PLUS HE'S SO GOOFY BACK THEN, I love that (even though it gets sad when you think he got to have that much fun because he was gonna...sacrifice himself with the Tower and everyone else so like, he didn't care! fuck it! he can be terrible cause nothing will matter in the end! GAH o|-<)

THO I also love the storyline(? if it can be called that) he had with Soulburner/Their duels. I always wish we'd got more of them...like I know i'm biased cause I love the ship and them individually, but their final duel is SO GOOD!!

16) A childhood headcanon

HMM the one I'm thinking of right now is cute/sad: he learned a bunch of like, tricks? Or stuff that would impress potential friends he made, like yo-yo tricks or card tricks , small things that'd make him look cool LOL. but he never got to show anyone.... :''')

Also he read a lot about astronomy...he always liked stars.

Jin!! :D

18) How do you think they were as a kid? (Like, were they shy, noisy, wild, etc)

I think Jin was a bit of a shy kid, but cheerful back then. He was always going somewhere with Shoichi, holding onto the back of his shirt when he was scared...they played a lot together. Shoichi had other friends from his grade, but Jin struggled to meet other kids his own age, which made Shoichi spend so much time with him so he wouldn't be lonely :') Also partly what made him so protective from early on.

Jin also always liked reading a lot--he's very curious! Liked fantasy when he was younger, mystery novels...

24) What do you think is a secret they have that they never told anyone?

HMMM 🤔

I do have a HC to kinda work with canon's "all of jin's memories of the incident where deleted when lightning used that 1 LP". Because I think that's dumb BUT...what if what that made was just repress the memories.

Like. Jin is AWARE there's a gap in his memories. And he's aware Shoichi is hiding something from him--but he hasn't told him that. Because whatever it is, seems to make him brother terribly sad, even when he hides it.

Jin often has vivid nightmares that he doesn't know the source of, either. He hasn't told Shoichi--if some mornings he's particularly exhausted, it's because he stayed up reading again. Doing homework. Playing a game. He doesn't want to cause his brother any more worry, because while his memories are foggy, he does remember Shoichi caring for him for a long time, he remembers the care facility he stayed at, but he doesn't know WHY he was there. He's just pretending all is normal now.

It does frustrate him though that Shoichi won't talk about it, or tell him--he feels people around him know something he doesn't.

This something i want to write for Future Circuit but the biggest secret may be that when he heard about the L.I on TV, something tugged at him...and he may have started to investigate on his own about it, trying to piece things together. Part of him doesn't want to know what's behind those nightmares and visions--too afraid to really KNOW but he also hates how people seem to be keeping stuff from him.

THAT'S WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT AKJSKJDS he may have other. smaller, more chill secrets like. secretly uses his parents credit card for gacha games--JK JK (but what if lol )

#ask #answered #imaginarystormz #THANK U ERIN FOR THE ASK <3

[saltiestcoconut]

Ai for the unofficial president of the Ai Simp Club™!

Jfkldsajklfdjslkf omg ai my beloved yall ain’t READY

How I feel about about this character: ah my sweet ai how I love you so I just wanna squeeze the artificial life out of him whether through a hug or one of the plush death grips idc hes the apple of my eye love of my life call me yusaku because he was made for me to love him he literally has all the characteristics I love in fictional characters how can I not fall madly in love jfkdlsjl I loved him since episode 2 (if you know you know) and sheesh my love for ai only deepened as I continued to watch vrains I love him so much fjdsklafjkl sigh whatever you want baby boy name it and its yours goddamn the way that I’m just so whipped for him it’s hilarious I’ve never felt like this for any other fictional character lol I would throw myself at his feet idc I don’t think I can last a day without seeing ai’s adorable face idc what form he’s in (I love them all) I need to see him at least 5000000 times per day I need time to just love and appreciate ai every day I’m so whipped fdksljafkljsdak

All the people I ship romantically with this character: YUSAKU! Yusaku! I love them so so so much I'm never getting out of this hellhole anytime soon :'v then to a much lesser extent ryoken also I think writing lightai as a past/unrequited relationship is fun too even though I technically don’t ship it lol

My non-romantic OTP for this character: ai and roboppi! Gosh I love them so much fdjksa also ai with the rest of the ignises I love them so much. . . ! also I think ai and pandor would be pretty great too I gotta find an excuse to write those two more often . . .

My unpopular opinion about this character: gosh do I even have one? I think just about every headcon I have I’ve seen support for it . . . I guess there needs to be more trans ai headcons? Why won’t yall make ai trans hm? What’s stopping yall from appreciating trans ai

One thing I wish would happen/had happened with this character in canon: more flashbacks of ai with the rest of the ignises blease I love what we got but I wish we got more like it’s obvious ai loves and adores his family but I wish we got a reason as to why? Most of the flashbacks we got was lowkey just him getting bullies by the others lol most of the good interactions is during canon which is fine I love it but I wish we got to see that more in the past to help show why ai was willing to go to the extreme lengths he did to protect and save them but hey that’s just a small part of a bigger overall issue with vrains and I’m here to love and appreciate vrains not simmer in my discontent with it lol

#obviously i dont mind bullying ai cause i do it all the time too lol #ai is a very bulliable character and sometimes he deserves it #my perfect little meow meow my most beloved of blorbos oh how i love to make you suffer #one day ill make the most magnificent ai shrine just watch!!! tho it wont have much charms cause most of them are in my ita bags lol #jfklsdjfdsajfksjfj ai dskljfaldsjfjsdfj #okay okay ill shut up about ai now #ygo vrains #ask and ye shall receive #im just gonna wait for someone to ask about yusaku yall aint ready for my unpopular opinion about him lmao

[xxxcrimsondreamsxxx]

UPDATE: Toxicity

014: Naivety

Takeru was eager to return the books he had used to study and pass the final exams. Getting rid of these meant that he was one step free of responsibilities and he could go visit Yusaku now that Bon Odori was coming up.

He was a little worried about the weather, the sky was cloudy but they had already predicted that it would be sunny all week. Be that as it may, not even the worst storm would stop him from seeing his best friend.

Entering the library he signed the register back and was told the shelves on which he had to place each book. Coming to the last book, this one almost slipped from his fingers, in fact, it fell on his foot because he was distracted. “Shit!” he yelled through his teeth.

He suffered so much from his sore foot that he was slow to pick up the book, a stranger was already helping him beforehand. His thin hands delicately outlined the thick cover of the book that was gently handed to him.

Takeru was going to raise his eyes to thank the young man, however, his eyes were fixed on the reddish tattoo on his snuffbox and although he didn't recognize the meaning of that right away, his memory triggered the few scenarios in which that symbol was seen. involved and everything took him to a single organization.

"Hanoi."

Takeru finally looked up but not to see the man with kindness but with discord. The subject's celestial orbs were sharp, not in an unpleasant way, at least not in the case Takeru was comfortable with his presence. Those eyes made him deduce a single name.

He wanted to throw up, he was dizzy but…

Anger got the better of him.

“If you plan to punch me, there are other ways to do it, Homura Takeru."

Takeru's lips split, he didn't say anything, he just gritted his teeth and his fist was suspended in the air. Why did he stop himself?

Takeru didn't want to agree with him, but it wasn't wise to wreak havoc here and now.

Kogami Ryoken, the leader of the Hanoi known as Revolver in VRAINS...

… The man who ruined his life, was right.

"I don't want anything to do with you, because of you Flame… Because of you…!"

He adamantly refused to follow any advice someone like him gave, so he grabbed his shirt collar and shoved him against one of the shelves, causing several books to fall. A series of 'shhh' appeared in the background, some approached to peep but nobody separated them.

"Do you think this is the way to get him back? Did you touch your duel disk again?"

Takeru's throat closed up. Stomping his fist on his pretty boy face wasn't going to do any good, just going back to that past he didn't want to touch because Flame pulled him out of that abyss, but he didn't want to touch his duel disk either because Flame was on that device and having it empty was very painful. The Salamangreat deck belonged to both, it wasn't just his. It would feel horrible to use it if Flame wasn't there to see it.

Although he always carried his deck with him, because it was the only way to believe that Flame and his parents were with him.

Takeru collapsed to the ground, letting go of Ryoken. Pathetically for him, he ended up crying at his feet. "Why are you doing this to me right now? Why?"

Ryoken pursed his lips, it took him a long time to answer Takeru. "Because we have a pending duel."There are issues that need to be closed."

Ryoken also needed to close his chapter with Takeru.

However, the moment Takeru looked up from him tearfully, getting up from the ground, he didn't know that he was opening a new chapter with him. Suddenly finding themselves both sitting at a private table, having the duel they owed so much; far from the digital world, from the spectators, only with the emotional burdens that they gradually shed.

Keep reading on AO3

#aiballshipping #aiyusa #ai vrains #yusaku fujiki #ai x yusaku #takeru homura #takeru homura x ryoken kogami #RecoilShipping #vrains #yugioh #yugioh vrains #update #my stuff #yugioh fanfiction

[incorrect-vrains-quotes]

Probably putting the cart before the horse but I could swear 5D’s and ZeXal worlds dropped earlier than Arc V world in Duel Links so I see no problem in why I can’t post my theories and expectations for Vrains world which is presumably in the works for October 2022 at the latest, I would say. I’ve heard rumours that there are link-related data in one of the recent DL updates, just sorta making space for them sorta thing, the name of a link card was found, those sorts of scraps.

So here is my expectation for the initial vrains world lineup that covers month 1 of debut and a little after

Playmaker. As much as I prefer Yusaku’s design, for some reason his avatar is much more frequent in overworld lineups done by staff and such so I think we might get a Yusaku image, it’ll be Playmaker that we’re playing as. I do think as part of the world’s opening story, we will get a few Yusaku lines before the inevitable “LINK INTO THE VRAINS” lines.

Soulburner. Obviously staff’s best boy is a shoe-in as a straightaway character, he’ll be in his avatar as well. Not much else to say but I predict he will be unlockable somewhere between levels 2 and 5, I can’t imagine them placing him much higher and I can’t imagine them picking Shoichi over Takeru here as well, unless they go pure season one which I don’t think they will. I think they would want sympathetic Ryoken out the gate.

Aoi.... Blue Someone.... Aoi is bit of a mystery to me but she is absolutely guarenteed as series Best Girl but because she has three avatars, I don’t know if we’ll get all of them, if they would be treated as skins (unprecedented in Duel Links which sucks because I would shell real fucking money to put Kaiba in a bathing suit, we deserve seasonal alts!!! but I digress), or if she’ll be exactly one of her personas. I thiiiiink Blue Angel is likeliest because it feels like other characters are at the beginning of their arcs in other series but I could be wrong.

Ryoken, uncertain of s1 or s2 onwards Revolver. Similar boat to Aoi but not quite so bad, Ryoken having two avatars does make it tricky but since s2 onwards Revolver is no longer a villain, I do think that makes that design likelier despite my perceived precedent of character arcs tending to be early to in the middle. I also think he will be the first event character but will still debut within the month like with Reiji and I think Ryo (?).

However, I do think, given enough time, I do think that Blue Angel, Blue Girl, and Blue Maiden as well as both Revolvers will be unlockable characters.

And you must be thinking, I’m keeping the best til last, my best boy goes right here as a level 10 onwards unlockable character out of the gate. Nope.

I honestly think Go or possibly Ema has a higher chance than Spectre being like one of the starter kit characters. Altergiests are in the game already since they’ve got Synchro support however Go has two archetypes - Goukis and Dinowrestlers - and both are in the game too giving him more cards out of the gate. I think giving these archetypes character related skills feels very... on the cards, if you will, hence their placement.

Next comes SOLtiS Ai as the event character after Ryoken, I believe. It feels like a good use to keep attention dragged out over a period of time if the robotic pretty boy comes a month or two after debut. Not to mention it will give characters time to “develop” justifying why the last season’s boss is finally here. I want to believe SOLtiS Roboppy will make an appearance in some way, shape or form but its veering on too hopeful for me.

And speaking of veering too hopeful, here comes what I consider the last two most important vrains characters who deserve to make it to duel links: Shoichi and Spectre.

I have very flimsy hopes for Shoichi but he does get a huge boost in being on the allies’ team from the get go. I think he’ll be mentioned in the prologue, he might even get a portrait for any lines that he may have. If like in one of the ZeXal world stories which incorporates the anime, I think bare minimum he would appear in that if Vrains has one. And then there’s Spectre.

Spectre’s duelled more often than Shoichi so I think that does look good for his chances. Especially if my previously dismissed idea of going pure season one for these characters is more on the money than I realise. My one true hope is that he gets character portrait rights when Ryoken is introduced. I don’t even care if they put avatar!Spectre in conversation with irl!Ryoken before he henshins into Revolver.

so yeah tldr..... i can’t think of a good tldr, i think Yusaku, Aoi, Takeru, and Ryoken are givens, fifth squad member is a toss up between Go and Ema, depends on where in the story they wanna add DL

#mod stuff #not a quote #vrains meta #this is a very long winded way of saying if i keep my expectations low they might pleasantly surprise me #but i doubt it since none of spectre's monsters in master duel have boss summon animations yet #despite the MULTIPLE emails i have sent about this oversight

[overobsessedfanboy23]

Meeting Over Hot Dogs

YGO Rarepair Week Submission

Day 5: First Meeting

Pairing: Jin/Ryoken

Word Count: 789

Description: Ryoken gets his usual hot dog from a less usual source.

“Can I get the usual?” Ryoken didn’t even look Kusanagi in the eye as he addressed him, his hood covering his face as he gazed blankly at the ground. He knew it would seem rude but couldn’t bring himself to care right now.

“The usual?” Ryoken flinched at the sound of an unfamiliar voice. “I’ve never met you, sir.”

Ryoken looked up, sliding his hood off. The person at the counter wasn’t Kusanagi at all: it was his younger sibling Jin, who beyond name and appearance, Ryoken didn’t know whatsoever.

Ryoken blinked. “Where’s your brother?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“On a supply run,” Jin answered with a shrug. “He figured he could trust me to run the stand for a while on my own. Wait…” Jin paused, suddenly squinting at him. “Do I… know you from somewhere? You… seem kinda familiar.”

Ryoken bit his lip. He hoped Jin wasn’t referring to their technical first meeting: when Lightning had blackmailed Revolver during their duel with Jin’s consciousness, putting their origin’s life on the line to save themself. Surely there was no way Jin could remember that after Lightning took some of their memories away…

“Well, I come here a lot,” Ryoken replied, gazing off into the distance. “Every day when neither Spectre nor I feel like cooking.”

Jin chuckled into their hand. “Ah, so it’s your lazy food.”

“Would it be offensive to you for me to consider it that way?”

Jin shrugged. “Nah, I don’t eat hot dogs, I’m a vegetarian.” They covered their mouth with both hands. “Don’t tell my brother I said that.”

Ryoken’s lip twitched up. “I won’t.”

“So uh…” Jin grabbed a hot dog with a pair of tongs. “What’cha ordering?”

Ryoken sighed, bracing for the inevitable gasp of horror. “An everything hot dog with marshmallows.”

Jin dropped their tongs. They put them aside and smirked a bit. “You’d seriously ruin perfectly good marshmallows like that?”

Ryoken huffed with laughter. Then swiftly covered it with his hand, pretending to clear his throat.

“Yes, I would.”

Jin chuckled as they set a hot dog on the grill. “One marshmallow everything hot dog coming right up.”

Ryoken gazed off into the distance as Jin grilled the hot dog, occasionally flipping and rotating it from time to time.

“Do you duel?” Jin broke the silence to ask.

Ryoken nodded.. “Yes.”

“In Link VRAINS?”

“I’m not telling you my username.”

“Don’t have to. You’re Revolver right?” Ryoken stiffened. Jin seemingly took their silence as a yes as they added, “I’ve watched all your latest duels, you’re very talented.”

“I’m not Revolver,” Ryoken insisted, turning to glare at him.

“I didn’t catch your name,” Jin suddenly put in.

“Ryoken.”

“Yep.” Jin took the hot dog off the grill, sliding it into a bun. “That's the name Yusaku and Chi-Chi said.”

Ryoken raised an eyebrow. “Chi-chi?” he repeated incredulously.

“Shoichi, my big brother.” Jin began topping the hot dog off with shredded cheese and relish as they spoke. “I call him ‘Chi-Chi’ for short. He and Yusaku told me that Revolver’s real life name is Ryoken…” They paused to meet Ryoken’s gaze with a smirk. “And that you’re really cute.”

Ryoken frowned, his face flushing. “You’re not supposed to flirt with your customers, Jin.”

Jin held their hands up. “Sorry, sorry, just telling ya what they told me.”

They returned to silently preparing the hot dog, sprinkling on some jalapeño slices and onions. Then reached for a small bag of marshmallows.

“Which of them said that?” Ryoken asked, shifting awkwardly in his spot.

Jin glanced at him. “Said you were cute?”

“Yeah, which of them said that?”

“Well… Yusaku didn’t say that exactly… His words were something like ‘it’s a shame he’s so annoying because he’s actually kinda pretty’.”

Ryoken huffed, rolling his eyes. Before he could comment though, Jin went on,

“I wouldn’t say you yourself are annoying.” They sprinkled the last of the marshmallows on before wrapping it in paper. “Though your order is really complicated.”

Ryoken chuckled into his hand. “Far from the worst thing I’ve been told about it.”

He took another moment to think about it, mostly about how Jin’s older brother was probably gonna want to kill him for this, as he took out a pen. As Jin handed him his bag, Ryoken tore off a small part of the paper bag. He placed it down against the truck and scrawled out his phone number as legibly as he could while rushing before sliding the paper onto the counter.

Ryoken’s heart palpitated, making him tremble slightly. “See you around.” He walked off with his food before Jin could answer.

Jin stared at the little piece of paper for a moment before smiling. “Heh… Score!”

#ygorarepairweek2023 #ygorarepairweek #blackholeshipping #ryoken kogami #jin kusanagi #another Ryoken ship haha oops #I ship him with a lot of characters and they're all rarepairs #I can't help it

[seqka711]

Each Yu-Gi-Oh Rivalry's Dynamic (DM-Vrains)

So I've been seeing arguments about who is who's rival all throughout my time in this fandom. The usual stuff like "Ryou or Manjoume?" "Shark or Kaito?" I'm pretty used to by now. But I saw someone say that Go is Playmaker's rival in Vrains and my brain died. So I'm writing this.

Every show has a different main character to rival dynamic. The number of duels has nothing to do with it. Who wins and who loses has nothing to do with it. What matters is that there's some sort of dichotomy between the protagonist and rival.

Atem and Kaiba's rivalry is actually really interesting because they both see it differently. For Kaiba, this is a competitive rivalry. He sees Atem as the best opponent, and in Battle City, while he does want the God Cards most, he really wants to have an epic, show-stopping duel with him. Which makes sense, since their other duels had sort of weird conclusions. So a definitive duel with no potential suicide, no exodia, no BS is what he wants most. Even after Atem dies, it's still what he wants most, and he has no problem dragging Atem from the grave in order to do it. Meanwhile, Atem sees this as an ideological rivalry. He wants Kaiba to become a better person through dueling. He spared his life after the Exodia duel because Mokuba told him about how Kaiba used to be a really nice person before Gozaburo screwed him up, and he even uses the Mind Crush shadow game as a way to help him instead of just get revenge, a first for Atem. Part of why Atem and Kaiba can never see eye to eye is because they both think the other views their rivalry the same way they do. Over the course of the GX Majoume and Judai's journeys mirror each other. Manjoume lets go, and becomes more and more relaxed, and enjoying duels more. Judai meanwhile, is put under more and more pressure. That mirroring is what cements them as rivals. When it comes to actual dueling, both Judai and Manjoume didn't really see each other as an end goal. They both had other things to deal with, especially by S3 and S4. For Judai, acknowledging Manjoume as a rival would mean acknowledging Duel Monsters as a competition, something Judai never does. For Manjoume, acknowledging Judai as a rival would hurt his pride. So he calls him a slacker and an annoyance and even a friend, but never a rival.

Jack thought he was better than everyone, and Yusei proved that wrong. Unlike Kaiba or Majoume, who would never admit to being faily defeated, Jack is the one to point out to everyone else that he lost. He even refuses to be called the King because of it. Yusei is a goal for Jack to reach, and that's what their rivalry is based on. Yusei and Jack are friends (more like family, really) first and rivals second. They're comradery is part of their rivalry. Even during their final duel, sure they both want to win, but more than that, they want to encourage the members of 5Ds to choose their paths. So their rivalry is in service to their friendship. Shark is Yuma's rival, and Kaito is Astral's rival. Throughout all of season 1, Astral acknowledges Kaito as the only duelist he's met who surpasses him. In the WDC, when Yuma confronts Kaito, Kaito makes it clear that he's looking for a rematch with Astral, not Yuma. And Shark is Yuma's rival. During most of his duels with Shark, Yuma tells Astral to back off. It's Yuma who trusts Shark in the final duel against him. There's two rivals in Zexal because there are also two main characters. If you need to, you could call Shark the "main" rival, since Yuma is more of a "main character" than Astral, but the idea is still there. It's Astral vs Kaito, Yuma vs Shark. Reiji respects Yuya because he was able to create Pendulum summoning, and it was important for him to get Yuya on his side for the war against Academia. He also looks up to Yuya's father. Reiji is very practical and super intelligent. Meanwhile, Yuya understands people and is emotionally intelligent. The outcome of the duel is predicated on what's most needed at the time. During their second duel, Yuya needs to calm down and the lancers need to act logically with the information they have, rather than storming off to save Yuzu. But at the end of the series, what people (and especially Reira/Zarc) need is levity, so Yuya wins. It's an ideological rivalry, where whoever's right, wins. And lastly, Yusaku and Ryoken are rivals because they're both ruled by the same past incident. Every action Playmaker and Revolver take are informed by the Lost Incident. They didn't stop dueling each other in S2 because either of them changed fundamentally. They just never come into conflict again. Neither of them duel for pleasure, they both duel to achieve their goals. In this case, it's actually their similarities that make them rivals, rather than their differences. They're both looking to bury the incident, but for Yusaku that means getting vengeance and for Ryoken that means burying the Ignis. They're both unmoving in that goal, so it's sort of like Unstoppable Force vs Unmoveable Object. Which sort of explains why half of their duels ended in ties. What makes a Yu-Gi-Oh rivalry isn't the number of duels someone has, or else Yusei's rival would be Ushio! And it isn't how much fun or how excited someone gets, or Judai's rival would be Johan or Ryou. What's important is the dichotomy between the two duelists. The rivalry needs some sort of chemistry outside the duels to be a real rivalry.

As for Sevens, I'm really far behind, I'm only on episode like, 14? So I need to catch up first before I can comment on it.

#yugioh #yugioh gx #yugioh 5ds #yugioh zexal #yugioh arc v #yugioh vrains #yugi moto #judai yuki #jaden yuki #yusei fudo #yuma tsukumo #astral (zexal) #yuya sakaki #yusaku fujiki #seto kaiba #manjoume jun #jack atlus #ryoga kamishiro #shark (zexal) #kaito tenjo #reiji akaba #ryoken kogami

[merryfortune]

The Monster in the Fruits Basket

hi @ina-bon​ I was your secret santa on the discord

Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS

Ship: Takeru/Kiku

Word Count: 5,876

Tags: Alternate Universe - Fruits Basket, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Minor or Implied Child Abuse

   “I don’t like it here anymore, Gramps…” Takeru confessed and he stared at his hands whilst thinking about her. Kiku. “It feels like I’m sitting in a lukewarm bath. I’m just getting pruney.”

   His Grandfather regarded him cautiously. Ever with a stern brow and a stern upper lip.

   Takeru swallowed. “I want to go out and fend for myself again for a bit. I’m sick of being here. I want to pursue my passions in judo and other martial arts. When we went camping for those few months last year, it was the best time of my life. I feel antsy and dull in comparison to living here. With them.”

   “I disagree.” his Grandfather said. “I think you are making excuses.”

   “I’m not!” Takeru snarled, he banged his hand on the table.

   The door slid and Kiku was there, she was holding onto a tray of rice balls and looked jumpy and apologetic. Takeru looked up at her and the grizzle in his face all but vanished when he saw her. His eyes were wide, lit up, and for a moment, a flicker of remorse for having raised his voice.

   “Sorry, this is a bad time. But, when you're ready to come down stairs, there will be rice balls and other refreshments.” Kiku said and she excused herself just as quickly as she had interrupted.

   “I disagree vehemently.” Takeru’s Grandfather insisted, a low growl to his voice.

   Takeru glared. He felt like he was pushing at a wall which wouldn’t budge for it was all bricked up and mortared and more. And when that energy expired, he collapsed over the table, burying his head in the crooks of his overlapping, folded arms. The beads - bone yellow and blood orange - clinked on his wrist and glinted in the fluorescence of his bedroom’s light on the ceiling.

   This was twice now that Takeru’s Grandfather had to see his own, intimate kin wear that bracelet.

   He recalled meeting The Cat as a youth but his youth may as well have been another world with how it changed and collided. He had been playing out in the courtyard with a ball, just bouncing it off every surface available whilst trying not to hit any of the servants or other passerbys until it bounced to the other end. Into what appeared to be a barely open shed. He had crept inside and found a man in a beautiful kimono in a small room but he was caged. He was also holding the handball that he had been playing. They exchanged pleasantries and the man handed back the ball and he left. The man seemed glad to have had a visitor but his visitor was unsettled by the whole exchange, it seemed so ordinarily peculiar.

   He would only later learn that person was The Cat but he would learn it at a wake he unintentionally attended.

   After that Cat died, the next one was born and after that surreal moment, like a dollop of honey on a wooden spoon, in a summer afternoon, playing handball, the next Cat was born to him and his wife. He liked to think that he had done his best to raise the next Cat but life was arbitrary.

   Takeru shouldn’t have been born the Cat but his father died before he even learned he was a father. A freak accident. It could have been anyone. And his mother. His poor mother. She drove herself to madness because of her husband’s death and when her son was born, when she held him in her arms for the first time, still covered in the mire of being born, he did not remain a baby. He grew fur and claws, became a white and ginger kitten.

   It was harrowing for her to say the least and for six years, Takeru never saw his grandparents or even the outside world. He was his mother’s little treasure in every sense of possession. His little hands forever checked for stray hairs and claws. His little wrist was the most delicate of all as she checked that the rosary against all that being inhabited by the spirit and jealous of the Cat entailed. The rituals of it all were ceaseless until one day she didn’t come home from grocery shopping and she still hadn’t even ten years later.

   “I think you should go down and have something to eat.” Takeru’s Grandfather told him.

   “I’m not hungry.” Takeru complained.

   “You should eat regardless, then.” his Grandfather continued. “You will need the strength tonight. There’s a storm.”

   “I’m not some little kid anymore,” Takeru spat, “I’m not afraid of storms.”

   His Grandfather smirked and there was a clash of thunder. Takeru stiffened to the last hair on the back of his neck.

   “Then this discussion is over. Until further notice, I want you to stay here, in this lukewarm bath as you called it. If you run away, I will make sure she brings you back.” his Grandfather said.

   Takeru lifted his head off the table and his arms, he quirked his brow, “She? Whose she? At least do it yourself, you lazy old fart.” Takeru growled.

   His Grandfather ignored him. Gracefully, he got to his feet and Takeru scrambled to join him, a flurry of limbs until he straightened up. They left Takeru’s room and came down stairs to where everyone was. The atmosphere decidedly terse.

   Everyone was clustered around the long, low table in the centre of the room, trying to avoid the windows as they banged and rattled. At the moment, it was more the wind than the rain itself which had everyone on edge - assuming it was the weather at all which had made them uncomfortable, and not whatever they had overheard from upstairs between Takeru and his Grandfather. 

   Still, Kiku sat on her knees and she already had two plates at the ready as she hailed down Takeru and his Grandfather. Takeru readily sat down next to her as she piled one rice balls onto his plate before sliding it towards him with a smile. Takeru’s grandfather observed her, still standing up, awkwardly hovering close to Shoichi and Jin who were watching similarly twitchy.

   “See? No chives since I know you don’t like chives.” Kiku piped up. “Oh, and these ones are tuna-mayo since those are your favourite but this one’s chicken.”

   Takeru smiled. “Thanks, Kiku.” he replied but as he accepted the food, his smile faltered. He was thankful for her but she also represented too much to him but he ate the food to be polite. “It’s good.”

   “I’m glad to hear it.” Kiku smiled.

   With Takeru eating, it could be argued that the atmosphere was easing up from its irrational tenseness. Even Ryoken, who was sitting in the corner, like the mouse that he was, had unhooked his arms from around him and had reached for more of Kiku’s rice balls. She encouraged Ryoken to take more but saying that prickled Takeru, so he grabbed another - one which didn’t appear flecked with chives - and wolfed it down all but immediately.

   He didn’t spare a moment to savour it as he swallowed. He was just thankful for the food. It somehow felt that dinner was so long ago but it wasn’t really. The argument that he had had with his Grandfather had simply exacerbated that distance but the rice balls were good. Kiku was a good - no, great - cook. From the moment that she had arrived at this hodgepodge house for the exiles of the Main Kogami manor, Kiku had been charming all of those around her.

   Takeru kind of wished he had been there. That moment when she had all but turned up out of the blue and introduced herself to her so-called neighbours; enchanting Shoichi with not only her etiquette but her knowledge of the Chinese Zodiac. His little painted models had been fatefully sitting out in the sun and she had mentioned it to him, talked about how adorable they were but it was a set of twelve rather than thirteen and she was the biggest fan of the Cat from the story. She didn’t want him to be lonely.

   But Takeru was the Cat and he wanted to be lonely because bad things happened to those around him when he was anything but lonely.

   Yet, since meeting Kiku, Takeru had felt a slight change in him. A transformation different to how he became the Cat and how he became… nevermind that. Kiku was the reason that his fingers were pruning in this lukewarm bath. She treated him with a kindness that he wasn’t used to. Telling him he had a plum on his back and that she wanted to learn things about him, from him, going so far as to do her own research on subjects that he liked such as martial arts. She was dense and happy-go-lucky but her laugh was like nectar.  He liked it best when she was smiling, with her golden eyes all lit up like the sun.

   Soon enough, Takeru had eaten more than the lion’s share of the rice balls that Kiku had prepared, disgruntling Ryoken in the process but having seen his grandson eat so vigorously, Takeru’s Grandfather was pleased. Yes, there was a tentative serenity to sitting around, having a snack after dinner. There was even laughter and Shoichi, who was standing around, watching, hoping Jin wouldn’t come down from his nap at an inopportune time because it seemed like now was the time to strike. Just when there was a lull in the group.

   “Takeru,” his grandfather interrupted the teenagers at the low table, “I want to go outside. To spar.”

   “Huh? What?” Takeru half-growled, raising an eyebrow at the absurdity of such a demand. “It’s pouring outside.”

   “I think it could be fun,” Shoichi piped up, voice suspiciously airy, “and its not pouring, just… spitting.”

   Everyone glanced out the door on that. Opened just enough to let a breeze in because the days had grown humid and stuffy thanks to the spring showers. And it was dark out there but not with thick storm clouds. Just with twilight settling down in the puddles.

   “Ooh, you could show me that left hook that you’ve been working on, pretty please?” Kiku emphasised, taking the bait that Shoichi had set out. “You’re always talking about what a great judo master your grandfather is, I want to see this in action.”

   “It would be nice.” Takeru said, embarrassedly thinking about how he had been hankering to do just that for the past day since his Grandfather had come around to visit.

   “Good.” Ryoken piped up. “I’ll look forward to seeing an old man kick your ass.” Yet despite his stoking remarks, he seemed dubious of this sudden exhibition match between Takeru and his grandfather. 

   “Oh, shut up.” Takeru snarled but in a more playful way than usual.

   “Should we wake Jin up?” Kiku asked, looking towards Shoichi. “It sounds exciting, he should come down.”

   Shoichi waved her off. “Him getting enough rest is more important, besides, his sport of choice is soccer. Not martial arts, I doubt he’d be interested.”

   “Yeah, that’s true…” Kiku agreed.

   With that settled, despite a strange crackling feeling in the air which wasn’t lightning about to strike, everyone got up and shuffled outdoors. Going from the cool air conditioning indoors, just behind a sliver of glass, to getting out into the soggy grass of the front yard was disconcerting. It was humid - sticky and all encompassing - and getting dark. Storm clouds brewed and despite the subtle strangeness of it all, Takeru and his Grandfather took position in front of their crowd.

   Kiku stood with Shoichi who stood with Ryoken who stood by himself, out the front, just by the window. Kiku clasped onto her hands, cooing, as she watched how Takeru and his Grandfather eyed each other down. It was heated and fiery, without words, as they stared, readying their stances, and then pouncing. 

   They all gasped as Takeru was entirely outclassed by his grandfather. Takeru couldn’t let a single strike on his grandfather; he seemed so strangely clumsy compared to his grandfather who avoided him with ease. The nimbleness that Kiku, and even Ryoken, associated with Takeru seemed so slow as his grandfather blocked and parried his decisive movements. 

   “Appalling.” his Grandfather scolded him.

   Takeru gritted his teeth as he tried to force a landing on his Grandfather but he was stopped entirely. His Grandfather took his forearm and grabbed him. It was a reversal of all Takeru’s raw strength funnelled into his own upheaval. Takeru landed with a thud on his back on the ground. Kiku grimaced as she knew she would be the one to do the laundry later.

   “Is that it?” Shoichi asked. He scratched his goatee in thought.

   Takeru’s Grandfather sank to Takeru’s level. “You’re short-sighted, boy.” he said.

   “You don’t say?” Takeru sassed him. “Better get new glasses, I’ve been on the wrong prescription for years then.” He wasn’t even wearing his glasses tonight; they had been annoying him.

   His Grandfather rolled his eyes at him. “You need help. To get better at your practice, you need a more holistic and unafraid approach. One more balanced than brute strength. And I’m going to show you how.”

   Takeru’s eyes widened as he had the ghost of a question on his tongue, “What…?” he barely managed to eek out of his mouth as he had a terrible realisation of just how helpless he was in this position. His grandfather took his hand and Takeru watched as the bracelet around his wrist, supported and protected, was removed.

   It felt as though time slowed for Takeru as he tried to get up, tried to get the bracelet back, tried to resist every inch of what was happening to him.

   Shoichi stood, gawking, and guilty. He was acting strange but he couldn’t look away. Completely unlike Ryoken who shut down with what was happening. He looked away, eyes closed tight, and Kiku noticed how he flinched. She had an exclamation or a gasp just beyond her lips but she could only focus on Takeru as he ripped himself from the ground and how his Grandfather let the bracelet drop into the mud. A transformation completely unlike anything Kiku had seen occurred.

   When Kiku had first arrived at this house, it had been one accident after another which led into a spiral of female on male contact. Nothing serious. Just hugs and even something as simple as brushing up against Shoichi and then Ryoken and then Takeru had caused the curse upon them to activate. It was silly and kind of funny in hindsight as the pretty looking young men around turned into a dog, a mouse, and a cat respectively. It had been strange but light-hearted.

   This, what was happening now, was strange and anything but light-hearted. It was monstrous. 

   There was genuine fear and horror in Takeru’s eyes as he tried to get up but his body disobeyed him as he transformed. A transformation that was jagged and unshielded by the mist usually produced by the curse. This was raw and grotesque. A stench emanating through the yard, from Takeru, as his muscles burst and his bones broke, reshaping, until he was anything but human. Or even like an animal.

   Ryoken refused to look towards Takeru’s general direction; he had a hand clamped over his mouth and he was gagging. Shoichi was transfixed the same way one became transfixed around disasters like car wrecks. He was pale but stern. Kiku. Kiku was somehow both. Her stomach knotted as she recoiled visibly because of the smell and the sights; she wanted to look away, to alleviate the strange and horrible feeling in her gut, but she was unable to.

   Takeru became a creature the likes of which Kiku had never seen.

   His proportions were all wrong. On all fours and with a long tail but his appendages were stooped in ways that looked broken. His fingers were elongated and his bones were sharp beneath the taut skin of a sickly orange. And his muzzle was jagged with huge, gleaming eyes that were predatory and afraid.

   His Grandfather rose to his full height and he observed cooly as Takeru launched himself from the ground in shame. In fear.

   “Ta...keru-kun?” Kiku murmured. She blinked. 

   The sound of Takeru’s claws scraping through mud, through tile, through tree branches - wherever he landed in his fleeing leaps and bounds - echoed through the air. It began to rain but the rain barely softened the horrid sounds: the crunching and the breaking. 

   “That is the other form of the Cat Spirit,” Takeru’s Grandfather began to explain to the dumbfounded Kiku, “does it disgust you?”

   Kiku was silent but she leaned forward slightly with a horrified stare and a slackened jaw.

   “Does it scare you?” he asked.

   Kiku was silent but she was no longer still. She was propelled forward on something like instinct. She kept her head up and she passed by the bracelet in the mud as she kept going forward, as uneven and rock as her steps were. Where she ignored it, Takeru’s Grandfather picked it up and said his prayers for his grandson on it: not praying to any deity, just a girl whom he, and many others affected and involved with curse, had high hopes for.

   Kiku ran into the forest. Chasing after Takeru or what had become of him in this other form. She had no idea. She had no idea that the burden of his Curse ran so deep but it certainly explained some things. In the dark, she was blind to everything but she kept going forward, trying to find Takeru, unfettered even as she fell over and tripped. As she knew she had no idea what she was getting into. The instinct she was acting on was the kindness that she had been taught and she valued so dearly.

   She had to keep going, she thought to herself, before bile spiked suddenly in the back of her throat. She got up, on her hands, but she felt her whole body weaken and she threw up in front of herself. She wretched quickly, fouled by the taste and the quickness of how it had come from nowhere but it stopped her altogether.

   Confusion was thick and rotten all around her. Kiku didn’t know what to do, what would be right and what would be wrong, that was the truth of the matter as she tried to grapple with what she had seen. The sight of Kyo’s transformation was not something that Kiku would forget soon; the botched way his arms bent and the way his eyes gleamed. Recalling them was more than enough to elicit fear from her, making her skin prickle and her stomach squirm again. But, even so, with tears in her eyes and on unsteady legs, Kiku got up. She clutched onto a tree for leverage as she got up. She kept going.

   The rain felt freezing after being so hot. It was pouring down now with no end in sight. Only misery.

   Takeru sat on his haunches as far away as he could. He pulled up his knees to his chin and buried himself in himself. He clenched his eyes shut and he felt like a child. Beneath the leathery hide of this monstrous form, he felt like a small and vulnerable child again. Between every lash of cold rain, he could swear that he felt his mother’s breath on him, slowly encroaching on him with a cruel and all encompassing embrace, her hands following his limbs along to that bracelet.

   Those memories of his mother raked through him. A growl dribbled out of his mouth in genuine pain of them - and of this transformation. It was anything but painless, it felt like sulphur was in his veins. He hated it and he hated her and he especially hated her love. How it was transfixed on making sure he was protected, insulated, from the big, wide world which would hate him more than she hated him.

   Takeru whimpered to himself, all alone, on a little island in the middle of the flooded pond in the forest. He just wanted the world to collapse in on itself so he didn’t have to deal with it. He thrashed about, causing landslides around him with his claws but the senseless violence did little to quell all that fear and fury in his heart. Growling, he looked up, and he was surprised to see someone on the edge of the trees, on the shoreline of the pond.

   Kiku stood there, wonky and awkward, holding onto herself and a tree. She was looking out across the murky water to him. She tried calling out to him but her voice was too weak. Takeru’s wasn’t.

   He snapped at her, shouting, “Go away!” A monstrous snarl to his voice.

   Kiku didn’t even flinch as Takeru’s voice boomed across the water and through the rain. She just stared with this sympathetic look to her face.

   “Why… Why the hell’re you following me like nothing’s the goddamn matter?!” Takeru growled.

   Kiku tried to call Takeru’s name again but he cut her off with a howl. Her body language drooped. Saddened. And yet she stepped forward, nonetheless. The water was cold and thick around her, even at just her ankles.

   “I said go away.” Takeru growled, his voice frayed at the edges now. “What’s wrong with you…? Are you blind? Can’t you smell…?”

   Kiku kept coming forward. Takeru watched how she waded through the water, how it ate up to her knees now and how she held herself as she approached. 

   “Don’t you hate me? I-I’m creepy and sickening and we both know it.” Takeru whimpered. But then he turned to a roar: “Why can’t you leave me alone?!”

   Kiku slowly set foot on the island that Takeru was on. She felt exhausted. Drenched to the bone, the taste of vomit still on her mouth, to say nothing of the stench that reeked around her so she came to her hands and knees. Still, she crawled closer to Takeru, her eyes wide and huge.

   “I don’t need any of your pity.” Takeru murmured.

   Kiku listened but she kept crawling closer. Mud on her hands and knees, skirt dragging in the mire. She came within a talking distance of Takeru, stood at his paws on the mound, and looked up at him.

   “Please…” he begged her. “Please, don’t do this.”

   “Takeru-kun, but I…” Kiku murmured as she lifted a hand to him with the intention of stroking him so that he might feel some vain semblance of comfort in the downpour and misery. “But I love-”

   Takeru didn’t want to hear it. The way that seemingly simple word tumbled out of her mouth elicited the worst in Takeru. He struck out. He swiped at Kiku, tossing her back as she was nothing but a rag doll before him. Kiku screamed, more from the impact than from the horror of being hurt by her friend.

   “Don’t touch me!” Takeru growled. “Get lost!”

   Kiku was thrown into the water. A huge splash followed after her and then nothing. Just the harsh pitter patter of the rain hitting the coarse surface of the water. There was a moment where Takeru watched, with regret, before Kiku rose up. She broke through, panting and gasping, in the shallows on the bough of the island, fingers scrunching through the mire below her as she roiled with how she had been thrown and near drowned.

   “You’re annoying, I want you gone.” Takeru spat with guilt. “Next time, I’ll hurt you for real. For good…”

   Kiku dithered and her hand drew back. She noticed that the sleeve of her shirt was torn and beneath was fresh, stinging scrapes. She was lucky they were only shallow but they hurt like an acid burn, not just a cut. She clamped her hand over them for searing relief but it was curt. She looked up at Takeru again, her golden eyes looked like umber in the dim rain.

   Takeru turned his back on her. He didn’t want to see her anymore and he didn’t want her to see him, either. He begged and begged that she would turn tail but all, save for the rain, was still. Silent. 

   Then, slowly but surely, with her head hung low, Kiku got up. Water dripped off her in the course of her sluggish movements and she chewed her lower lip. And she made her decision. She turned around and walked off. Her legs like lead as she dragged them through the pond.

   Takeru’s ears, long and ribbon-like, anything but feline or human, twitched. He could hear Kiku leave, the sludge that moved around her, and Takeru’s muscles tightened. He wanted to hurt her so bad that she never forgives him. He had hurt her bad enough that she left - and maybe even left for good - and he wanted that and yet, his heart clenched. He didn’t want her to worry about him and Takeru knew - thought - that lashing out was the best option but… but he wanted to look back and he wanted to see Kiku looking back as well. Even if it was just once before moving on for good because things were too wrecked to be fixed or forgiven.

   Takeru couldn’t take it anymore. He was sick of losing people; he was sick of pity, he was sick of feeling miserable, and most of all, he was sick of having things forced upon him.

   He remembered something his mother said whilst taking his hand, toying with the beads of the bracelet on his wrist, but he couldn’t remember how cruelly she smiled. He remembered her assuring him that no, he was as human as anyone else. It was all just bad magic that this just so happens to happen to him. The fact that he became a child again afterwards was proof that the human was not the monster because the monster was temporary. That was trite but what she said afterwards was worse. She told him that she wasn’t scared at all and that she loved him. What rotten lies.

   She couldn’t have loved him less and she couldn’t have been terrified more. Takeru was revolted with certainty. 

   Every hour of every day, she checked to make sure that abominable bracelet was in place. She would draw the curtains tight and never let him out of her sight. It had been abhorrent but he had been a child. He hadn’t known any better or anything else but now that he did. He didn’t want anything akin to that ever again and he would rage against such sentiments in whatever form that they took before him.

   Even if it was Kiku. Kiku who remembered his dislikes and wanted to engage in his likes and told him that he had a plum on his back. Kiku was, Takeru realised with an alien ease, the first person to recognise him and acknowledge the real him. Completely unlike others who had been in his life before who claimed to love him, like his mother.

   Takeru buried his head in his hands. A guttural growl leaked out of between the crooked gaps of his teeth all wrong for his bizarre maw. He knew how those memories ended. Without closure. With his mother simply disappearing and how distant, faceless relatives told him, without knowing a thing about him, that his mother loved him above all. 

   “Stop it!” Takeru roared, thrashing around, swinging his arms, pounding his fists into the ground below. “I don’t want that kind of love forced on me! I don’t need it...”

   He kept murmuring it over and over. I don’t need it. And at the edge of the shallows, where only her ankles were wet, Kiku did hear him. She stopped and she sucked in a breath. She looked over her shoulders, her eyes that were pooled with hot tears, and she surged forward. A force of nature in her own right, outclassing that of the downpour that continued torrentially over them.

   Water skirted up the side of her as she ran back through the mire. She slipped and tripped, here and there, but was undeterred. She flung herself onto Takeru. He flinched as he felt her embrace the long spike of his bowed elbow. She buried her face in his grotesque skin. His head bent around with a snarl but Takeru couldn’t bring himself to say something as Kiku hid herself using his limb.

   “Let’s go home…” Kiku murmured. “We have to go home.” She reefed her face off him, holding him tighter, her cheeks were flushed as she insisted with the utmost determination, “We have to go home together.”

   Takeru blinked and he felt his heart waver.

   “O-Otherwise, I have a feeling, Takeru-kun won’t come back home - to that house - ever again.” Kiku said.

   She took a sharp breath and she could swear she could hear the front entranceway door of Shoichi’s place slam shut. She cringed. She just knew that Takeru was on the other side of that slam and she didn’t want him to be.

   “Stop. Let go.” Takeru growled.

   “No!” Kiku shouted, holding him tighter.

   “Don’t you get it?!” Takeru snarled.

   “No!” Kiku yelled. “No, I don’t get it.”

   “Let go of me!” Takeru howled.

   Takeru pulled back his arm. His head reared back, maw snapping, teeth glinting, and he hoped to forcibly rip Kiku off him but as he flailed about, Kiku held on. Her legs lolled about, straightly, as she held on for dear life to his arm. She whimpered, afraid, but trying to be brave. He slammed her into the ground, belly first and the blow winded her. She sputtered in the aftermath and Takeru glared. Fierce and vermillion. 

   Still face planted, Kiku mumbled, “I’m scared…”

   Takeru’s ears pricked up. He had almost missed it but he heard her. Her tiny little voice rife with terror. And despite that terror, Kiku began to get up. Her hands trembled but she still tried to hold onto the monster that was Takeru for anchorage. 

   “R-Right now, even though… even though I hear your voice, it doesn’t sound like you.” Kiku murmured. She shook as she got to her knees, still too weak to properly face Takeru. “Y-You’re in a form I’ve never seen before a-and it scares me.”

  Takeru stared. His lips were pulled back in an uncertain and feral way, and Kiku embraced him through it. Gladdened that he had stilled.

   “But I want to… I want to understand you now.” Kiku said. “Just like you listen to me when I’m discouraged,” she thought of how they had studied together after that big test had wiped them both out and how their marks improved together afterwards, she thought of how Takeru, and Ryoken, had gone to collect her from her grandfather’s house after the renovations and how it felt so wrong until she had seen him again, and finally she thought of New Years, sitting on the rooftop with him, making wishes on the stars and the skylines, “I want you to tell me when you are scared or hurting, or when you’re feeling weak, and let me worry about you! B-Because I want to keep living together with you.”

   Takeru examined Kiku through the lens of his slit eye. She trembled, soaked with water and mud, and she looked pathetic. But she was being honest. His heart fluttered somewhere within the arcane structure of this body’s form.

   “I want to eat with you, study with you, and worry about you… All those things, I want to continue to live with you.” Kiku sobbed as she embraced Takeru’s malformed arm. Her tears dripped down her face, mingled with the raindrops.

   Kiku trembled as she held onto him, a bawl in the back of her throat. Her words, though quiet, managed to silence the world. The clouds above were grey and Takeru stilled with shock as he listened to her impassioned pleading. And there was a change, almost imperceptible but Kiku felt it. She looked up.

   Takeru, naked as the day he was born, stood on his own two legs and he spoke not facing her, “It would have been fine if she didn’t love me at all…”

   Kiku was slow as she clutched onto Takeru’s lithe arm, he was wet with the slick of the rain. Kiku felt a little bit confused but elated too, with relief, as she looked at him, unacknowledged. Tears pooled in her eyes but she wasn’t crying, even if the muscles of her throat felt soggy and thick.

   “Or if she was scared of me…” Takeru continued, almost aimlessly but there was a shine to his voice, as though he were having a divine revelation about his relationships with others. “Being scared would have meant that she was seeing the ugly part of me. But Mom used to love to avoid looking at me. She avoided thinking about it - and I think she avoided thinking about the ugly parts of Dad, too, or maybe I was just the straw that broke her back…” Takeru began to sink, he sat down and Kiku joined him on her knees, still clutching onto him because she wanted him to feel some comfort in her fingertips. “But I wanted her to think it through with me, to worry with me. I wanted to tell her all the painful things but I never could.” His eyes began to water, his lilac-grey irises were glassy. “I wanted to live in the present with her.”

   Kiku reached out and cupped Takeru’s face. He was finally able to look at her. Her hair had become untied and was in waves and clumps of cobalt black. Her golden eyes were huge with concern and worry, edged with lingering tears. 

   Takeru swallowed a lump in his throat. He had always thought… He had always thought nobody would want to say those things to him, with him. See him as a monster and see him as a cat and seeing him as him as well. Takeru’s heart trembled and his head throbbed. He began to slump forward, into Kiku’s arms. 

   For a second, Kiku thought she was going to be kissed but then Takeru hugged her. One arm cupping her back and the other taking her hand as his body, weak and wracked with exhaustion, all but crashed into her. He nuzzled his face against Kiku’s, he heard a tiny gasp and then a little, thank goodness, under her breath. And in that goodness, Takeru felt a sublime peace that he had never truly known until this moment right here in the mud and mire. 

   “Kiku…” he whispered to her, grateful. He felt her flowing tears on his bare skin.

   The sky began to lighten. Clouds began to part for a feeble but kind sunshine that illuminated the drear of it all and Kiku held Takeru in her arms. He slept, a calico cat, white and ginger, in her arms and he dreamed softly, of dark nightmares melting back to sweet dreams as he was taken home by Kiku.

#ina-bon #ina bon #entrustshipping #yugioh vrains #vrains #yugioh #takeru homura #kiku kamishirakawa #writing tag #merry writes stuff #i hope you enjoy!!!! <333333

[sherry-l]

Why YGO Vrains is such an immeasurable disappointment: a list

First of all, I need to make it abundantly clear that Im a big fan of Vrains – I love Yusaku, Ryoken, Ai, Kusanagi... you see them very often on my dash. I fantasize about the ideal version of Vrains that’s written well, the Vrains that’s fully exploited its potentials, every night in my sleep. I wrote this list PRECISELY because I love Vrains. That’s why I got so frustrated with its cardinal writing issues (and production issues). It physically pains me to hear people calling Vrains the worst and most boring series of YGO – but the fact that I couldn’t argue against that because it’s true pains me more.

And now, an incomprehensive list of the faults of Yugioh Vrains.  

1.      What the fuck is wrong with the character designs (beside that of Yusaku and Ryoken???) Everyone looks aesthetically displeasing – characters in real life look incredibly boring they could easily drown in a crowd of background characters, but their avatars are OSTENTATIOUS. Seems like the character designer had no clue what “less is more” means – blue angel, soulburner, and Bohemann for example, look like they were immersed in a bucket of glue and then dumped into another bucket filled with random accessories.

(from a fan artist’s perspective…Im especially salty about takeru, akira, Kusanagi, and the Knights of Hanois’ designs…like, their designs don’t inspire me to draw. Their personalities might be interesting, but their looks lack the vibrant, enthusiastic energy that the 5Ds, Zexal, and Arc-V characters possess)

(imagine how many fanfics and fanarts of Kusanagi x Yusaku there would be had Kusanagi looked HALF as hot as Ryoken)

And don’t even get me started on the colour palette – whoever decided on the colours just cant make up their goddamn mind! Colour saturation is way off the charts, the range of colour is too wide the audience simply dont know where to focus.

2.      Forgotten plotlines. Yusaku’s link sense? Hanoi’s spy in SOL? The Queen and the rest of the chess pieces? Yusaku’s forgotten memories? The rest of the victims of the Lost Incident? Just to name a few. 

3.      Character relationships are weak to minimal to none. Bonds and friendships – the vital element in all previous YGO series – is practically non-existent in Vrains. Where’s the camaraderie between our main casts (Yusaku, Aoi, Soulburner, Ema, Onizuka, etc…)? They don’t feel like a team fighting the evil together. They’re completely separate individuals who don’t give a single fuck if one of their…acquaintance…dies in a battle. We don’t have heartwarming moments of friendship blossoming and consolidating. It’s honestly such a let down.

4.      Interesting and debatable topics thrown away. The conflict between artificial intelligence and humans could spark so many in-depth discussions, but then the writer just decided its all Lightening’s fault. No morally gray situations, no ambiguity between the line of good and evil. It’s just all Lightening and his petty jealousy… yeah.

Oh and if Ai lives on the world will blow up. Why? Do we have a concrete reason to back that statement? eh...

5.      Overall quality of the animation. I don’t know if its because the animation staff was short on time or low on budget, but for a megacorporation (konami cough cough) that makes billions every year, they certainly are capable of investing more in this anime series. I can count the number of episodes in which the characters don’t look wacky with a single hand.

6.      Character development, wasted potentials. Ryoken is the only character who received decent treatment. The rest of the Vrains cast are all disappointments. Original concepts are cool and promising – Yusaku, a victim of child abuse with PTSD, embarking on a journey to overcome his reclusiveness and learn to open up to people around him? HELL YEAH. Aoi, a teenage idol with depression developing into a more mature and responsible heroine who saves Link Vrains? IM ALL FOR IT.  Soulburner’s character arc is fine overall but personally I don’t feel like it’s expanded enough. Also, there’s the mistreatment of side characters like Onizuka, Ema, Akira, the list goes on. I got so furious just looking at these characters and remembering that they’re all wasted and sidelined.

7.      Incoherent/ random plotlines. IDK all episodes in season 1 (Hanoi’s arc) felt pretty consistent, focusing on a linear theme – Yusaku’s revenge on the Knights of Hanoi. But after that it felt like the writers gave up writing outlines and just wrote whatever he pleased/ considered more convenient for the sake of…a plot…that he had no idea which direction it was headed for. This is reflected in the amount of forgotten plotlines we listed previously.

8.      Weak villains. Kinda related to point 4. Bohemann, Lightening, Windy, and Haru are all one-dimensional, flat, predictable villains with the cliché goal of “destroying humanity cuz humans are dumb and Ais are superior”. Not likeable, not fun to watch, not morally gray (something I expect from well-written antagonists), they are just there to serve as symbol of evil for the protags to defeat.

Honourable mentions - what I personally want to see in Vrains, really. Very biased.

-        The familial interaction between Yusaku and Kusanagi? Brotherhood, perhaps? Without any mention of Yusaku’s parents, Kusanagi is the closest Yusaku has to a brother figure. I crave for some wholesome brotherly moments between these two.

-        More slice of life episodes please.

-        The friendship between Yusaku and Takeru. Please. Please. PLEASE. From the second opening we can see the animation staff CLEARLY intended for there to be a strong bond between Yusaku and Takeru – Takeru probably was written to serve as a Jounouchi/ Johan/ Crow sort of character. Yusaku and Takeru could bond over their trauma and overcome their PTSD together. AND IT WAS SO HEAVILY HINTED AT IN THE 2ND OP!!! fam what the fuck happened to that friendship, Im so robbed.

-        Yusaku and Ryoken’s duel or tag duel. These two haven’t duelled AT ALL since the first season ended. Isn’t Ryoken Yusaku’s official rival? Isn’t it Yugioh tradition for the protag and the rival to duel like, a trillion times? AND ISNT IT ALSO A YUGIOH TRADITION FOR THE PROTAG AND THE RIVAL TO TAG DUEL?????? The fact that Yusaku and Ryoken never had a tag duel haunts me every night in my worst nightmares afjw4ot9wgrk

-        Topologina Nabee

Thanks for coming to my ted talk, this marks the end of my rant on YGO VRAINS DISAPPOINTMENTS. Again, I harboured no malicious intent when I compiled the list – its more like a vent of frustration than actual criticism. I would pay billions to see a Vrains reboot or, if there exists an alternate universe where none of the writing/production issues above are present in Vrains, I would do a Kaiba and build a dimension travelling machine and immigrate there.

TLDR: wasted potentials. wAsTED PoTEntialS. WASTED POTENTIALS!!!!!!

#yugioh #yugioh vrains #rant

[loganelfreeces]

Vrains Theory: Yusaku is Hades and Ai is Persephone

Now, as we all know, Yu-Gi-Oh! has always loved making references to ancient Greece and the Roman Empire; from the Atlantis plot in DM, Johan and the Crystal Beasts in GX, Crow from 5Ds being implied to be Icarus, Alito’s past life in the gladiatorial arenas in Zexal and even Rejii’s monsters from Arc-V. Vrains seems to have the most of these Greek references though, with the Titan Atlas appearing in the Writing Life Ending, the Ignis being named after the fire that the Titan Prometheus stole from the Gods to give to humans and Revolver creating Pandor(a) to end the Ignis being the most obvious ones. 

But last night when I was speaking with a few friends (@ina-bon​, @bonebreakjack, @authoratmidnight​​ and @wizqevelynart) we ended up theorizing that the symbolism and similarities with Greek Mythology run deeper than I once thought. The biggest take away I found was that Yusaku had to be Hades, King of the Underworld and Ai was Persephone, Queen of the Dead and Goddess of Spring.

The first thing me and my friends noticed was that the Titan Cronos had 6 (Vrain’s special number) children: Hades, Zeus, Poseidon, Demeter, Hestia and Hera. Hades was the God of the Underworld, so he was always in darkness. Zeus was the God of Lightening. Poseidon was the God of the Sea. Demeter was the Goddess of Harvest and most foods do grow in the Earth. Hestia is the Goddess of the Hearth, which is a fireplace in the home. And some scholars believe that Hera’s name is derived from an ancient word for “Air” or “Wind”. 

Now, the first instinct would then be to think that the Ignis are meant to represent the 6 Godly Children that Cronos had, especially considering how Zeus/Lightening’s behavior/reprogramming caused Hera/Windy to act out and murder humans in his name, even though they were once fairly chill.

But one of my friends reached a different conclusion: that the Lost Kids were the Gods. 

Jin being trapped in the hospital could be taken as a reference to how Zeus was kept in hiding so that Cronos wouldn’t eat him, like he did his other siblings.

Demeter searched for Persephone for a long time, which caused the crops to die, until she found her daughter. Similar to how Spectre’s heart broke when he saw his Mother Tree destroyed and only healed when he returned to the site of the Lost Incident and met Ryoken. 

Hestia's flames going out was a big deal and whenever they were relit, there were a lot of renewal rituals involved, similar to how Takeru had to reincarnate before he could move on from his parents death.

The Lost Child who had the biggest amount of potential connections to their God though was Yusaku and Hades. Because there is a lot of symbolism to pick through here guys, so buckle up.

Hades is the Greek God of the Underworld and has a lot he needs to do. He was known as the Unseen One and very few people actually spoke his name, because they didn’t want to get his attention. He was stern and cold, his duty being to maintain balance and he was feared. Many modern stories paint Hades as the Evil One, but the truth of the matter is he was fairly chill all things considered.

Sound familiar to someone else we know? Who can be stern, cold and always fighting to do the right thing? Not to mention, very few people knew the true identity of Playmaker, so his name wasn’t spoken often. Yusaku himself tends to vanish into a crowd, even with his anime hair. Not to mention how SOL Tech tried to put a bounty on Playmaker’s head, vilifying him, even when everyone knew Playmaker was a hero. 

There’s more symbolism than just this though.

Yusaku’s last name “Fujiki” means “Wisteria”. It’s a type of flower that grows from trees and while it’s very pretty, it’s also deadly.

Wisterias are known for being poisonous and they’re a choking plant, that kill other plants near them. 

Not to mention, almost anyone who gets close to Yusaku or allies themselves with Playmaker end up dead at some point in the show. Sometimes twice.

Then there’s how Hades came to be be the God of the Underworld.

After the original 6 Olympians defeated their Titan parents, Zeus, Poseidon and Hades drew straws to decide who’d get which parts of the world. Hades drew the short straw and got the Underworld, even though he was the oldest and should have had the rights to the Sky. 

Yusaku has often drawn the short straw in life. 

He suffered through the Lost Incident, with only his Voice of Hope to keep him going.

Akira tortured him when Yusaku was only trying to help Blue Angel.

He had to fight Ryoken, his Voice of Hope, after spending a decade trying to find and save him. 

Yusaku had to fight Shoichi, his partner in crime and the closest thing to a friend he had before he met Ai and we know that ended in tears and him passing out from emotional exhaustion. 

To top it all off, everyone had happy endings and got what they needed in the end, while Yusaku lost his most important person: Ai.

But despite it all, Yusaku has kept going, possibly so he can get back Ai. Yusaku has always been the last one standing after everyone else falls, carrying on the wishes of the dead when he fought Revolver, Bohman and even Ai. 

Which leads me to my next point: Ai being Persephone.

Persephone is the Greek Goddess of Spring and the Queen of the Underworld, since she married Hades. It was forbidden to speak her name because of her ties to the Underworld and who else do we know who has an unpronounceable name?

Persephone’s most well known myth is of course, when she was captured by Hades.

Some versions of the story say that Hades feel in love with the beautiful Persephone from afar and received permission from Zeus to kidnap her and take her to his realm of the Underworld. Demeter was distraught by the loss of her daughter and searched the world, neglecting her duties, which caused the crops to fail and the people to starve. The people begged the Gods for food, so Zeus ordered Hades to return Persephone to the surface. But it was too late, Persephone had eaten 6 pomegranate seeds from the Land of the Dead, which meant she had to spend six months in the Underworld with Hades. Persephone eventually returned to the surface, but she still had to go back to Hades in six months time.

This was an origin story for why we have seasons, but if you look closely...

Ai was captured.

Ai was held hostage.

Yusaku let him go.

Ai left.

Ai returned.

Yusaku was happy.

Ai died.

But he came back.

Ai left again.

But came back.

Ai died while saying “Ashiteru”.

Ai might return.

Like the seasons change and happen in a cycle, Ai leaves Yusaku and returns to his side, one way or another, these two always find each other. Ai returned to Yusaku and left him four times, like the four seasons.

Also, in some versions of the myth, Persephone went willingly to the underworld, similar to how Ai planned for Yusaku to capture and use him as a hostage.

Not mention how over time, just by having Ai in his life, Yusaku softened up a lot. He was able to make so many bonds in the end because he’d had Ai in his life to make that first bond with. Ai helped Yusaku to grow emotionally and move past his revenge and history, instead focusing on a future of peace. Considering spring time is the grow time, it makes sense that Ai helped Yusaku like this. 

So TLDR: Yusaku is Hades and Ai is Persephone. Thank you for reading this far! 

#Yu-Gi-Oh! Vrains #Vrains #Aiballshipping #Yusaku Fujiki (Playmaker) #Ai (Dark Ignis) #Meta/Theory #Greek Mythology #Hades #Persephone #Jin Kusanagi #Spectre #Takeru Homura (Soulburner)

[pocketsonny]

Ryoken 13-16 if you haven’t already 👁👁

13) Your favorite friendship they have

This one is a tough question cause...I feel strictly in canon, Spectre is the closest Ryoken has to a friend? But also--not quite? Because they spend most of the time in right hand man and leader roles, not on equal footing, even if as kids I do think they got to be friends before Kogami came back in the picture.

I DO really like Spectre/Ryoken friendship, but if I can just headcanon away...

> Ryoken and Yusaku would have an interesting friendship. They could go hours being in the same room, not talking, both engaged in whatever they are doing in their laptops. They send each other technology news or have Their brand of nerd humor (also lots of cat pictures in that chat).

Ryoken rejected Yusaku's friendship in S1 but afterwards, post-canon territory, I think they could begin to be friends for real. Duel the way they only got to do once as kids. They are both very similar so they'd understand each other pretty well I think (like, both sure love to LEAVE without a word!).

>BUT, I ALSO LOVE THE POTENTIAL TAKERU AND RYOKEN HAD AS A FRIENDSHIP---ROMANCE ASIDE---I THINK THEY'D BE SUCH IDIOTS TOGETHER (gestures at Future Circuit), THEY'D ALSO UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER WHERE THEY LEAST EXPECT IT...i need a whole other post for TakeRyo friendship. It's so dear to me. ALL THE STUPID SHENANIGANS THEY'D GET INTO. The playful nudges. The banter that has lost the heat and anger and it's just them messing with each other. UGH.

>AND THIS ONE IS FULLY HEADCANON BUT. Miyu and Ryoken, okay. I wrote a whole fic of Miyu bullying Ryoken and them becoming friends. This one is so funny because it's Ryoken being exasperated a lot and her pushing his buttons--she would really drag out Ryoken's playfulness tho, maybe his confident side too. And he likes how Miyu doesn't mince words, and neither does he, but both are so good at masking their feelings...so they can see the tells when the other isn't doing good. Ryoken cares for her when Miyu gets careless with herself...

Okay so which one is my fave? HARD TO SAY, I JUST WANT RYOKEN TO HAVE MORE FRIENDS 😭😭! !!

14) Best storyline they had -> HERE!

15) Worst storyline they had

It's...hard to say? I wouldn't say "worst" as in "the weakest" rather, I want to say S2 but like. His entrance in that season is the BOMB, so not that, and it's interesting how his views seem to be shifting, if ever so slightly, when it comes to the ignis. His duel with lightning is so good too and his loss...his smile...augh. But in S2 he has good MOMENTS, overall S2 isn't focusing so much on him like in S1 where his storyline is strongest (for me).

In the past I might've said S3, since it's the shortest season, and at first it feels like Ryoken's character has regressed at the start--BUT NOT, because of course he's watching out for Ai, Ryoken still believes in the simulations and in what they revealed, but I did feel that up to Blue Maiden+Akira vs Ai, he...was waiting for Ai to prove him wrong? But Ai mercilessly defeated them and took Akira's consciousness and Rev was like "I won't hesitate to defeat you NOW" (was he hesitating before, isn't that what he's saying?). RYOKEN RARELY SAYS WHAT HE TRULY MEANS SO. YOU REALLY GOTTA WATCH HIM WITH A MAGNIFYING GLASS 🔍

16) A childhood headcanon

Here's one! But have another: this one is more when he's a young teen/almost teen + Spectre is already around, possibly Kogami is back and the KOH were starting to form.

So like. The tattoo thing. How did he get it?

I want to think that it's a funny (?) story where Ryoken + Spectre snuck out to the city and went to a tattoo parlor, but since they are kids got shooed away. But they end up at another...slightly shadier looking tattoo place. And at first the owner was gonna kick them away but Ryoken brandished the Credit Card Tm "I can pay" (Ryoken has a very "money can get me whatever I want" mindset back then HAHSHA).

Owner like shrugs okay whatever kid (the parents can scold him later if he's using their credit card, they think). What do you want done LOL and Ryoken's got like a render or something that he did digitally of the design and the owner is more confused like, he expected something edgy or cringe, this kid is 12, what is this triangle...thing...oh whatever. must be a nerd thing.

And Ryoken thinks he's being so cool like ah yes now I have a MARK of my LOYALTY and guilt and Spectre is like Ryoken-sama that looks SO COOL (and Spectre might've got a tattoo too back then but I haven't decided what).

#ask #answered #THANK U JAY #i can ramble about ryoken for days

[sworntolight]

9- Is there anything you want to do with your muse that you haven’t yet? 14- Does your muse focus on the present or do they look to the bigger picture?15- Are you proud of your muse?

About the Muse!

9- Is there anything you want to do with your muse that you haven’t yet? 

Actually yes! I’d love for Mako to meet and deal with her feelings surrounding Revolver - She hasn’t exactly met him (Mako chooses to be backup to Takeru unless specifically asked to tag along, so she’s never really quite been there when Ryoken/Revolver is. She’s definitely heard enough about Revolver and Takeru’s irritation with him, though, and is no stranger to what Hanoi did in S1), but she’s got some pretty strong feelings regarding him and how he’s treated her friends, and his often expressed desire to destroy Ai and Flame.

I wanna let Kiku explore Link VRAINS on her own and have more of her own things to do. I want to let her talk about her garden and make more friends? I want that for both girls but Kiku moves back to Den at 19 with Mako and Takeru, she needs things to do outside of work. XD But jokes aside, there’s so much to Kiku I want to explore, I could never get into all of it here.

I want Mako to have her own rival and her own fight. I want her to be able to come to terms with her mental state and step past it. I want Kiku to talk about her family and have to deal with that reality. I just... I want so much for these girls we could be here all day.

14- Does your muse focus on the present or do they look to the bigger picture?

Kiku does both, honestly. There’s a lot going on in the present she has to focus on, like school and work and just making it through to tomorrow, that she simply can’t say she doesn’t focus on the present - Mako’s once joked Kiku is the most grounded person in the world, and Kiku won’t ever deny that, so much so she’s started saying it herself. But at the same time, Kiku really does look forward to the future; If she can graduate, she’ll be a nurse. As a nurse, she can help people and make them feel better. She’s got a bright future ahead of her and she wants that. She’s just not as much of a dreamer as others.

Mako on the other hand, looks more at the bigger picture. She’s spent most of her life coasting - She’s been aimless and drifting, simply going where she felt like she was supposed to be, and doing what she needed to to survive. She didn’t have a point to her life, no matter how much she tried to convince herself she did. But now that she’s found her path and realized she wants to be a teacher, and even started battling her anxiety... There’s a future ahead of her that shines brighter than anything else in the world. There’s something to look forward to, now, and she wants her hands on it!

15- Are you proud of your muse? 

God yes. When I picked up Kiku, there wasn’t much to her - She was the daughter of a fisherman who was there for Takeru, but didn’t have much of a path on her own aside from liking to stay busy. Now... Now she’s a nurse as an adult. She’s broken free from a controlling household and walks her own path. She knows what she wants and she’s not going to let anything stop her, and boy howdy she hasn’t. She’s levelheaded and straightforward and has a good head on her shoulders and I love my little flowery butterfly <3

And admittedly... Had you asked me this two years ago I probably would’ve told you no and that I hate a bunch of aspects about Mako.I’ve always loved Mako, but i hated how timid she was, and how she, largely, stayed lost in her fears, no matter how much her friends and family tried to get her to see otherwise. But now? Oh my god I am so proud of her and you know that, Vel. <3 Mako has come so far in the two years I’ve been writing her here and I love her so much - She doesn’t coast anymore, not like she used to. She’s learned how to talk and express what’s bothering her, and how to handle that little mental gremlin that’s always told her you’re not good enough. And yeah, she still has slips and areas she can work on things, but don’t we all? Change and growth is a journey just as much as life is, and we all slip - What’s important is getting back up and trying again, and Mako’s doing that, now. Things I once hated about her I now love, and Mako is an amazing little ferret. <3

But you know, I wouldn’t be as beyond damn proud of my girls as I am now without my partners who’ve helped all of this happen, so Vel, @soulburnings, @kaibacorpbros, @duelcafe, @alphahydrii.... Thank you. Thank you for sticking with me an my girls, and helping them - and me - to reach this point. I’m so proud of them because you all have helped them grow, and we wouldn’t be here without you guys. All three of us love you all, and always will. <333333 Here’s to seeing the grow even more, and expanding more than they have <3

#eyesofblue-heartofgold #Whispered Questions [Asks] #A Look At The Light [Mako Headcanons] #A Flower's Secrets [Kiku Headcanons] #Out Of Cards [OOC] #I love you all <3 #And I am so excited to let them grow and expand and I wanna see them make even more friends #I am so proud of my girls now #and it's largely in part to them having been here <3 #EVen if they are a pair of dorks still~

[ohxdeer]

Revolver? :3

🌿—Thank you, anon 🥺

—Revolver—

Why I like them/Why I don’t like them

Let me just start by saying this: Revolver is one of my many husbands. I love him so much. Revolver is such a unique, interesting and even wise character. His beliefs are also kind of relatable to me. What really made me fall hard for him is his incredible character development. By the end of the series he and the Knights have come so far, it’s just absolutely fantastic, in my opinion.

On top of that, Revolver is an incredibly skilled duelist and uses strategies that never cease to amaze me, and he is so honourable. He keeps his promises, admits defeat and refuses to attack Yusaku and Kusanagi in RL, because "what happens in the network, we take care of in the network".

Also, he is thoughtful as hell. Probably more than he likes to admit. Just think about the first "duel" he had with Soulburner or the program he created for Yusaku to protect him from attacks. Oh, and just his entire 2nd duel with Soulburner.

What I like about their appearance

Let’s start with his very first avatar:

The earrings. On one hand, I love earrings in general and I think that they look really cool. On the other hand, his avatar name is Revolver. And the biggest parts of his earrings are bullets. And they have some kind of blue crystal things? Amazing.

Incredibly fancy from the bottom to the top. Shoes with heels? Very extra coat? Unique colours? 10/10

Now, on to the second one:

To say the least, I squeled when he first arrived and they absolutely showed off his new look

Extremely handsome.

Eyelashes. His eyelashes.

His eyes in general. They are so. so. so pretty. I have never seen lavender coloured eyes before and they suit him exceptionally well.

The hair looks SO good on him are you kidding me. The red locks also strongly resemble the style of his hair in RL which I absolutely adore.

THE GLOW-UP Y’ALL

To be honest I like this avatar A LOT more

Insert point 1 and 2 from before xD

Also, Rev without the mask— oh my god he looks so breathtakingly beautifuI my heart can’t take it

"I saw a man so beautiful I started crying"

Last but not least, his “real life” look

Again, his eyes are so pretty. I remember that one time they showed the reflection of the Stardust Road in them and it was like,,, one of the prettiest scenes I’ve ever seen in an anime.

I love white hair and blue eyes, so—

Also, man cleavage for the win xD

Classy but comfortable (TM)

Just. Gorgeous. Ryoken is gorgeous.

"I saw a man so beautiful I started crying" again

I chose this picture specifically because he looks absolutely adorable here.

Do I prefer their dub names or original names

As far as I’m concerned, the only difference is that they changed his avatar name to "Varis" in the dub (because, of course they did). I have to admit that I like that name, but I probably won’t watch the dub anytime soon and Revolver fits a lot more, so I'd say that I prefer the original name!

OTP

Revolver X Happiness, please. He really deserves and needs it.

I also like the platonic relationship between Rev and Spectre, as well as Ryoken and Yusaku.

NOTP

I can totally understand why a lot of people ship it, but Datastormshipping is a nope for me. As well as Rev X Soulburner.

OT3

Don’t have one.

Favourite card they use

I really like Revolver’s deck, especially because he uses trap cards like "Mirror Force" and "Magic Cylinder", which is absolutely hilarious. When talking about his ace monsters, I definitely adore Borreload eXcharge Dragon, mainly because Xyz is my favourite summoning method and seeing him use it was just fantastic. I also really like Topologic Zeroboros, as well as Borreload Dragon and Topologic Trisbaena. Mainly because their design and animation is really cool! But their effects are also amazing.

Favourite moment they were in

Oh, there’s way too many to count. But, to name a few (in random order):

"I’ve returned to the stage of destiny! In the name of the Knights of Hanoi, I will kill you!"

"Sink into the abyss of bottomless despair! I activate the trap card, Mirror Force."

"I did it for me. That’s why I fought for real. To break my own curse."

"Those who are gone haven’t completely vanished from your life. They just went ahead earlier. That’s what I believe."

"I don't trust AI. The internet world is a fiction. What’s important is the breath and heartbeat of life."

"When I was young, I’d lay down in a field of flowers and look up at the sky, like I’m doing now. I’m reminded of those times. I had no troubles back then. I was just excited about the world that spread before my eyes."

"The time is now. The Knights of Hanoi are back."

"Well done, Soulburner."

Least favourite moment

I'd say when he was willing to sacrifice quite a lot of people to catch Ai — I don’t like how ruthless he was in the beginning of the series.

Would I fuck, marry or kill them

Marry for sure.

#welp! i uh...couldnt stop writing xD #👻 answered ask #yugioh vrains #revolver (vrains) #ryoken kogami #varis vrains