#Akaba Layra

[number-1-kuaidul-fanboy]

Top Ten Arc V Characters (Updated)

I was doing another Yugioh tier list and noticed that my opinions on this changed drastically since I first watched Arc V. So here's an updated top ten Arc V characters. Some of these picks may be partially motivated by spite. Also, I'm definitely gonna go back and forth between sub and dub names. Arc V is about even in dub and sub for me and some of the dub names are easier for me so just bear with me.

10 Dennis Mackfield

Dennis is kind of just funny to me but he does also have a complete character arc that isn't botched or cut off in some way, which is more than I can say for some other Arc V characters. He's a naughty bad guy but an enjoyable one who was kind of just a brainwashed kid with a redemption I can accept.

9 Yuto

The only Yu boy I can comfortably say I still like. He's got a sympathetic backstory that realistically shaped his current personality and while he appears scarcely, I enjoy the times he does. I like his dynamics with Yuya, Ruri, and Shun.

8 Shingo Sawatari

He's a cringe fail boy. I like the cringe fail funny characters that exist to be laughed at. I do wish Sawatari had more of an arc or development but at the end of the day, he's entertaining and that's all a character needs to be sometimes.

7 Sora Shiunin

Rushed as shit redemption arc aside, I find Sora's energetic hyper personality of season 1 entertaining and Sora vs Shun genuinely felt like a huge betrayal. On paper, the reasons for his redemption work and are sympathetic, I just wish more time was dedicated to fleshing it out. Still, wanting more of a character is generally a good thing.

6 Shinji Weber

I like villains/antagonists who have valid reasons for being upset. If anything, they actually made Shinji too valid up until they pulled the "he wants to oppress the rich" thing out of their asses but that's a can of worms on its own. I think Shinji's motivation is understandable, even if, for the writers' intentions' sake he "went too far", and those are the kinds of antagonists I like most. Also, he's canonically good with kids like Crow is and I just really like that. It shows he's got a sweet centre beneath all the gruffness and anger he displays. I like that.

5 Riley Akaba

Talk about wasted potential jesus christ. "This character has known nothing but being a vessel for other people's desires. So let's end the series by forcing her to once again be someone's vessel!"

Horrific treatment aside though, I still enjoyed Riley as a character. I relate to her anxiety, I liked her arc while it lasted, she and Declan have such a great sibling bond, she's still a good character. But yeah... the way the narrative botched her did drag her down a few slots I'll admit.

4 Zarc

One of the only saving graces of the fusion arc as far as I'm concerned. His escalation of wanting more and more violence in his duels as the audience pressured him into harsher duels was interesting and felt narratively cohesive with the better parts of Yuya's arc. And the way he's eventually stopped, not by defeating him but by Yuya understanding him and reminding him why he was duelling in the first place, that's really touching. One of my favourite Arc V moments for sure.

3 Serena

Yeah, I like Serena more than Yuzu. Even putting aside the fact that I loved her Duel Links event and her fusion based deck, Serena stayed a good character. The narrative treated her as badly as it treated Yuzu but her personality, when she was in her right mind, remained the same: headstrong, stubborn, and fierce. Plus she was the first to defect from Duel Academia and she did it best in my opinion.

2 Shun Kurosaki

I like Shun for all the same reasons I like Yuto: his genuinely tragic backstory that damaged him and turned him into the edgelord we know and love him as. He's also just way more badass and has more character development than Yuto. The way he's able to regain some form of happiness and stability over the course of the series despite all the horrors he endured, thanks to his new bonds with characters like Crow and Yuya, was really endearing to me. I'm probably the only person on earth with this opinion but as dumb as the bracelet girls and yu boys fusing together was, I think the one good thing that came out of it was that Shun had to just accept that Yuto and Ruri were gone. I get why people found it unsatisfying, but I think the fact that he was able to move on showed a lot of strength that I have to admire him for.

1 Declan Akaba

Declan is my favourite because I relate to his family situation and I refuse to explain myself further.

....Okay fine. I'll admit, Declan isn't the most well implemented character in terms of Arc V's narrative. I think we can all agree his change in character was out of nowhere and Sawatari made for a better rival to Yuya. But dammit I don't care I like him anyways. I think his moral ambiguity is fascinating. He's fighting on the "right" side and has good intentions and goals but some of the things he does to accomplish that goal range from morally ambiguous to just straight up evil at times and I love that. It's one of the best examples of one of Arc V's core themes: "war corrupts both sides." And while his switch to being a better person is sudden, I can accept it to a degree because in my mind, he always wanted to do the right thing and genuinely cared deep down. It doesn't excuse his early actions but it does help me understand and identify with him.

Also, no, I wasn't joking or exaggerating about relating to Declan's family situation. Without giving away too much, I have an intimidating father who's not around much, a manipulative mother who's around but in all the wrong ways, and a younger sibling who I've had to watch be treated poorly by my mother for years. Declan's situation is more extreme but the similarities are... they're hard not to notice. Declan is number 1 on this list because of how much I relate to and look up to who he is by the end of the series. He'd probably still be on this list either way but he's at number 1 because of how much he personally means to me.

[juno-s-bah-blog]

Self Indulgent Riley Akaba (Yu-Gi-Oh-ArcV) Fictive

Names: Riley, Card, Fluffle, Layra

Roles: Syskid/Systeen

Age: 9-12 (Age Slider)

Pronouns: She/Her, He/Him, They/Them, Card/Cardself, Duel/Duelist

Gender: Nonbinary, Demiboygirl, Agender

Extra IDs: N/A

Likes: Plushies, white noise, watching Yu-gi-oh

Dislikes: Pure silence, being yelled at

Positive Triggers: Declan Akaba mentioned, watching Yu-gi-oh Arc-V, playing Yu-gi-oh Master Duel

Negative Triggers: Too quiet, too loud, feeling neglected

Species: Human

Appearence: Like that of Riley/Layra Akaba from Yu-gi-oh ARC-V. Main outfit is a black baseball cap with a yellow/blue striped long sleeve shirt, basketball shorts, and white tennis shoes. Alternate oufit removes the jacket and baseball cap and shows Riley's long silver hair. Carries a purple/yellow raggedy stuffed bear and a duel disk everywhere.

Aesthetic:

Faceclaim:

[enter-the-performapals]

Quick doodle

[tiredgremlintime]

you should bingo. the reira

THE BABY!!!!!! I LOVE THEM SO MUCH THEY DESERVE SO MUCH BETTER!!!!! The fandom barley talks about them which is sad cause Reira was a very important character!!! Even before Ray showed up.

Little fella,,,,,, I think about you sometimes,,,,,

I should draw ‘em soon!

(Btw the purple text under I would kiss them says “on the forehead”)

[ygoprideflags]

Nonbinary flag but it’s color picked from Riley Akaba!

[iyliss]

bday art for a friend ♥

[gia-xy]

Okay, so this is actually a random headcanon. I must let this out for at least once. And I will not take any comment on how this is weird or not making any sense. Please keep your opinion to yourself, I just want to let this out of my mind. Just read if you are interested and leave it be if you are not.

So, here it is. Please remember, this is not canon.

Edo Phoenix on ARC-V an Akaba Reira on ARC-V was actually brothers—I will refer Reira as a boy since I believe Reira was a boy at least until Ray got into his body—but they both forgot about each other. As for Edo, he lost all his memories because of his trauma from the war, or maybe Akaba Reiou just wipe the memories for him since he could not bear seeing Edo suffering—Reiou might be still that nice, or at least care for Edo! As for Reira, we know he had a serious trauma, so it affected his memories from before he was saved by Himika. Or maybe the experiment Himika did on him just affected his memories.

So, that was how they did not remember each other. But the ironic part of this headcanon was how they both taken in by people from the same family, but on different side.

Anyway, let's talk about the incident. So Edo was found by Reiou when the man was back to Standart for a while. That time, he found the injured Edo—possibly, unconscious and near death. This is mean, but I kind think if Reiou was watching him running from the invanders or bomb after separated from his little brother. Meaner, Reiou was the one who invade the land, just to take in the chosen person to handle his big mission—the person who he can made to just think about the invansion of XYZ Dimension by wiping the memories that person had and reshaping his personality plus his way of thinking.

Wait, it makes more sense if Reiou was the one who invade the state, so there is a reason for Himika to track on the war, find Reira, and choose to use him. Is it not so random? Taking in a child from a random warring state? Like, huh? When you can just taking in another adult who has a same trauma as the child? Well, it might be easier to use a child on experiment, but let's continue on the headcanon. So, maybe Himika knew Reira's older brother was taken in by Reiou. Or maybe not. She just lucky to find this boy and at first was not planning to use him, but then just found out his condition was perfect to make him into a duel soldier.

Wait, how did it become this dark? Okay, let's end this.

In conclusion, this is a headcanon about how Edo and Reira was brothers who was separated and used by The Akabas. Wow, wild.

Anyway, I think of this headcanon since Edo and Reira kind of have the same hair and eyes colour. Yeah, that's it. Hahaha ….

[joeys-red-eyed-dragon]

It’s beautiful that Yuya cares so much about Riley (Reira). He’s like a big brother ♥

[number-1-kuaidul-fanboy]

....awww

[blairflannigan]

Arc-V Ending 4 Icons

[enter-the-performapals]

Wow! This blew up a little. thanks for the replies! Here's a couple new headcannons I thought up for this dysfunctional blended family:

-Himika and Leo both adore Yuzu and almost immediately view her as their daughter independently, despite Syuzo's protests.

-Leo, of course, sees Yuzu as Ray and treats her as his daughter back to life. Yuzu finds this incredibly creepy. Especially because he'll occasionally slip up and actually call her Ray.

-I feel like Himika would be a little wary at first, somehow gaining a new step-daughter, but would probably be happy that she has a girl in the family that she can buy lavish jewelry, clothes, ect. and go to extravagant parties with. Even though Yuzu turns down everything, I have a feeling she'd eventually bond with Himika quite a bit.

-Syuzo would be INCREDIBLY unhappy that basically a Whole New Family is taking his Dear Daughter away to spend time with them. Until he starts receiving funding from LDS... And starts having private access to the Duel courts for practice... and LDS allows You Show Duel School to be the only school in Maiami City to teach Pendulum summoning. Then he starts to (begrudgingly) warm up to Yuzu spending more time with her other family.

-Also, as Yusho is/was friends with Leo, I can definitely see the Akaba's, Hiiragi's and Sakaki's all spending holidays together and all being real good friends over the years

-Reiji and Syun would 100% be complete opposites when it comes to showing affection to Yuzu, even though they'd love her equaly

-Syun would be incredibly over protective. Waking up early to escort her to school. Waiting at the gates to take her back home. Watching from the stands as she duels. Disguised, watching her when she wants to hang out with friends. "Just in case," he'd say, " I don't want anything to happen to my little sister again if I can avoid it."

-Reiji is much more hands off. Yuzu would probably find him a little hard to talk to, as he's quite blunt. But, he'd probably do a lot of grand gestures to make up for it. Tickets to a sold out Orchestra that she wanted to go to. An antique instrument of choice (I personally headcannon she plays Violin) sent to her doorstep. Bouquets of flowers given when she wins a major duel in a tournament.

-While Syun wouldn't be an 'official' part of the family, I have a feeling Reiji would probably hire him to be Yuzu's bodyguard. "You're going to be her guard dog either way," he'd probably say

-Also, on the topic of Syun and Reiji, I have a feeling they'd never refer to each other as siblings to their face, but over time they'd probably just slip up in conversation and say "Oh, but then my brother did this..." without even realizing.

-Even if Fruitshipping doesn't happen, Yuya would 1000% be given the side eye by both big brothers when ever the two of them hang out together, whether alone or in a group.

-If they did end up together, they'd probably keep it secret for at least a couple of months, with Yuya being terrified he'd get his head bitten off if especially Syun heard that they'd even touched hands. The secret would eventually get out after Yuzu accidently spills the beans to Sora.

-I feel like Yuya would legitimately have to leap through hoops if he got together with anyone else to prove he's not into Yuzu. And Syun would never stop giving him a death glare if he got within 5 feet of Yuzu

-In the case of Sparrow/Pendulumshipping... I feel like Yuzu would have to take a full week to process the fact that one of her new brothers was with Yuya, who she was practically raised with. She'd congratulate them eventually, though.

-On that note, anyone who dares pursue Yuzu will have to duel their way through two of the strongest duelists in the multiverse before they can even talk to her.

-Everyone would be head over heels with Layra. Cute, happy, baby, who would be crazily spoiled by his siblings as he got older.

-Reiji incredibly proud of his baby brother as he shows any emotion or assertiveness as he grows up. Giggling and smiling at people, shying away from people he's not familiar with, throwing a tantrum over not wanting to eat vegetables at dinner, demanding something incredibly specific that can't be done... Reiji would probably be strict, but always happiest around Layra

-There is no way Syun wouldnt also become incredibly attached to Layra. He'd probably take care of him a lot, when the others are busy, always keeping an eye on him. As Layra starts to grow up, Syun would probably teach him everything he can about duel monsters, and share stories about Heartland before it was destroyed

-With Yuzu, he'd definitely have a special bond with her. I mean, as Layra was Ray for a short amount of time, they'd end up being pretty attached. Yuzu would definitely be the fun sibling, taking him out to play as he grew up, showing off her duel skills to impress him. I also have the headcannon that Yuzu likes to do crafts, so her making Layra some cute jewelry to wear, like some custom hairclips, to match with whatever shes made for herself would be super cute.

Well, this is all I can think of for right now. I'd love to hear if y'all have any more ideas. This hectic family is super adorable :3

Ok, so right near the end of Arc-V, after Syun has his final duel with Yuya, he says he's fine with whatever happens with Ruri being reborn, whether that be as Ray or Yuzu. So I can only imagine, after the series ends, Syun just. Coming up to Yuzu and saying "You're my sister now. Let's go." And Yuzu being incredibly confused.

[iylisss]

There you go. a happy layra.

[ygo-colors]

Sora Shiunin/Sora Perse, Crow Hogan, and Reira Akaba/Layra Akaba - Arc V

[lullabyashes]

Apprentices in the marketplace

I’m not sure how present the Akaba family will be in the dragon au but I thought I’d draw them a little anyway.

[iyliss]

Arc V vampire AU

I randomly started imagining a vampire AU for Arc V. So far I mostly have characters rôle, but I may start building a story. And draw for it (well I already have some designs but I feel like I could draw short comics for that).

Anyway enjoy the AU !

The setting is a pretty classic fantasy thing, something looking like XVI century europe.

First group : Yugo and Yuzu

Yugo : A poor orphan who worked for some horses breeders and sellers with his childhood friend Rin. When she disappeared, he left with the best horse to save her. On his way, he meets Yuzu who tell him Rin was probably taken by vampires.

Yuzu : She had a pretty peaceful life, living with her father and her dear friend Yuya. She also befriended Sora, who teached her swordfighting, but happened to be a vampire. After facing some other vampire, she grabbed her best silver sword and went on a journey to protect humans from vampires, and vampires from humans.

Second group : Ruri and Selena

Ruri : She was living with her brother Shun in a monastery, where they were adopted after their parents were killed by a vampire. She was always told vampires were evil, and learned all kind of way to fight them. But, one day, she meets Selena and falls in love with her. Knowing that if Shun learns about it he'll kill Selena, she run away with her.

Selena : a pretty powerful vampire who refused to consider human just as food and an away from her clan. She met Ruri, who hide her a bit before leaving with her. She mostly wants to stay away from her clan, but also to fight it if they become too dangerous for humans.

Third group : Reiji, Layra, Rin and Yuya

Reiji : A nobleman dedicated to study vampires. He's behind most of the known way to kill them, even though he doesnt hate them. He just wants humans to live in peace with them.

Layra : Reiji's younger sibling, who seems to have a strong connection with vampires. He can sense their presence, and is immune to their power. He helps his brother in his research.

Rin : After being kidnapped by Yuri's clan, she was sent to him. Seeing a great potential in her, he turned her into a vampire after drinking most of her blood. She managed to escape, but she decided to not go back to Yugo. She'd rather have him thinking she died than seeing her like this. She then met Reiji, who told her he maybe could find a way to turn her human again.

Yuya : The night yuzu left was a full moon. It's at this moment Yuya turned into a wolf for the first time. When he turned back human, he realized he couldn't control himself during this time and decided to leave his house. He also met Reiji, who helped him and is really interested in studying a werewolf.

Single characters :

Sora : A thin blood vampire, who was following the old and powerful vampire Leo before meeting with Yuya and Yuzu. When he was asked to bring Yuzu back, he rebelled and left to go help her. Sugar seems to efficiantly replace blood for him.

Shun : Ruri's older brother, a priest full of anger toward vampires. He thinks his sister was kidnapped by them, and left immediately to get his revenge.

Yuto : Ruri's and Shun's friend. Ruri told him about Selena before leaving, and he promised to not tell Shun and help her. But when Shun left, he decided to leave too to find Ruri and warn her that her brother would kill Selena, and maybe stop him before he does anything.

Dennis : Yuri's ghoul (a human drinking vampire blood, becoming his servant and has better strenght and resistance). He appears as a simple wandering magician, who goes from village to village to entertain people. He actually kidnapp some people to bring them to Yuri, alongside informations about the world.

Yuri : a very powerful vampire, who get hurt by any strong light. Therefore, he never leaves his house. He's really interested in Yuya.

Sawatari : A rich kid from a very old werewolf family who leaves amongst humans. He's actually unable to transform at full moon and acts as if he just didnt want to. To find a way to awaken his power, he goes with Ruri and Selena a bit (also because he doesn't immediatly realize they are girlfriends). He also meets Yuya. At first, he's jealous of his power but then really loves him to the point he finally turns into a wolf to stop him, while yuya was out of control again.

Masumi : a skilled blacksmith, respected all around the country for her silver weapon, made to fight vampires. She helps Yuzu a lot in her quest.

[joeys-red-eyed-dragon]

Reira & Reiji (Riley & Declan)