#Akaba Ray

[purpleleafsyt]

I think Ray should be filled with rage.

[fluffalpenguin]

THEY'RE FINALLY IN MY HANDS MY COFFIN RAY ZARCS

(me hurriedly making use of the afternoon sun right before the clouds cockblock me)

sorry for the mid photos but i've been waiting for these bitches to finish production for months im so happy they're finally in my hands🥺

unlike the beans these have limited stock since they're already made, except I still have to switch out the clasps (I got rose clasps for them specifically!!!!) but the clasps ALSO need new jump rings which i still need to go order and... man merch making, huh...

I'll be sharing more info once that's done! (hopefully with cooler photos too)

[enter-the-performapals]

@arcvmonth Day 27: Square Zero!

It's always fun to speculate on what Zarc and Ray were to each other. Did they know each other before Zarc lost his mind? Did they ever duel before then? Was it just passing by each other in waiting rooms before their next duel? Were they possibly romantically involved or the feelings their counterparts have for each other due to growing up in proximity to each other? Or even some twisted subconscious knowledge of being the only people left from the original dimension around them?

Sometimes I wish we knew more about them, but I think the mystery surrounding them is so much more alluring. So much of Arc V can be left up to speculation and theory and I think that's a big reason why I love it so much.

[merryfortune]

Goodbye, sweetpea

Written for Femslash February and the Sweetheart Bingo from @sweetspicybingo

Day 9. Sweet Pea

Title: Goodbye, sweetpea

Ship: Refractionshipping | Masumi/Ray

Word Count: 1,580

Universe: Arc V - Canon Divergent

Rating: T

Tags: Character Death, Angst, It Got Worse, Grief/Mourning, Crying, Unrequited Crushes, Unrequited Feelings, Age Difference, Past/Referenced Masumi/Yuzu

   The confusion was mutual as their eyes met and their lips opened with a singular, united question: “Who are you?” 

   In each other, they both saw a patchwork of people similar enough but not good enough to satisfy this question. Ray saw bits and pieces of her childhood friends, peers, and rivals. Her head ached as her heart tore apart. She knew who this girl in front of her saw but listen. She was not her and her was not she, either.

   Eyes wide open, heart devoured by rancour and upset, Masumi saw Yuzu but… Yuzu’s hair was pink. Not red. She had only wanted to see Yuzu as this girl - no, woman, she looked older than eighteen at the very least - came into focus against the memories Masumi had of Yuzu.

   “Do I know you?” Ray asked. 

   Masumi shook her head, “I don’t think so but…”

   “You knew one of them?” Ray asked.

   “Yes.” Masumi replied. “I knew Yuzu.”

   “Ah, the Standard girl, the En Flowers card holder…” Ray murmured and she pulled her hand to her chest, her fingers curled into a fist. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

   Masumi bit her tongue.

   Was it a loss if she had never existed at all?

   Except it was. The ache in her chest, the way she bristled over how unfair it was, that was very, very real. No one could deny that.

   Ray’s maroon eyes saddened, turned a jewel tone, “You weren’t one of the Lancers, one of my brother’s recruits, were you?” Ray asked.

   The word ‘brother’ felt clunky in her mouth. For her life up until now, she had been an only child. Now she was the eldest of three.

   “No, I was carded.” Masumi shrugged. 

   Ray nodded her head and mumbled sympathetically, “I’m sorry.” She apologised on her father’s behest. It was all her fault, in a way, but not at all in many others.

   “Don’t be.” Masumi spat and she was fast losing interest in this.

   “Well, um, I better be going. I still have more to do so I can get a foothold in, um, what’s going on.” Ray said.

   “Yeah, seems like a lot of people want a piece of you.” Masumi said.

   “Yeah…” Ray agreed.

   “I’ll see you around.” Masumi said and she walked off, a thorn in her side.

   Ray sighed.

   She knew she was going to have a lot of interactions like that. Especially as people drew in from beyond the immediate sphere of action, taken by her Father, Academia, her brother, the Lancers, and more.

   Masumi was just the first.

   She was going to be last.

   That’s what Ray decided because Masumi kept coming back.

   She had to. She wanted her friend back. She wanted her rival back. She wanted her first love back.

   Masumi held onto things tightly, strongly, firmly. Especially if they were grudges. She had an analytic mind and an insatiable need to be right. She also had an insatiable need to be challenged, also. It was unjust and plainly, not fun either, to be elite by virtue of domineering over everyone. It had to be an even playing field.

   That’s why she latched onto Yuzu. She had seen that shine of potential and it just needed some polishing then it would turn into a full of lustre that Masumi would be dazzled by, she was sure but Yuzu didn’t exist anymore. She never had.

   Yuzu had been a trick of the light. A blessed seal on a dragon. She had just been a portion - a quarter - of a different person. 

   Masumi didn’t really get it and despite how she hounded Akaba Reiji, his lips were sealed. 

   The rest of the Lancers were in shambles, too, so she wasn’t going to get anything out of them either. Yuya no longer existed either and because of that, Gongenzaka was in a deep, manly mourning. Sora and Dennis were horror stricken by how the Professor had gotten what he wanted so their work as child soldiers were validated. Kurosaki was robbed of his younger sister, the one he had been fighting for and his comrade, too, his best friend was gone. They were a part of Zarc much the same way Yuzu and Ruri were a part of Ray.

   So it was clear to Masumi that the only way she would get an answer was by going straight to the top. To the girl that Yuzu had been a part of. But that girl - that woman - didn’t want to be a part of Yuzu like everyone around her wanted her to be.

   She was her own, real person, after all.

   “Did you treat Yuzu this way, too?” Ray asked, sick of being pursued by Masumi.

   For answers, for duels, for affection, for anything.

   Masumi harrumphed and folded her arms, “Maybe.”

   “You’re a cute girl, Masumi,” Ray chuckled and Masumi felt her heart flutter, “and I have something for you.”

   Masumi postured. Her schoolgirl crush was as plain on her face as her nose, her eyes widened and she pushed her shoulders back. There was even a scant trace of a burgundy blush in her cheeks as she had hassled Ray out of her seat just by appearing before her.

   Being an Akaba meant she had to do Akaba things like enjoy the facilities of LDS. That’s where Masumi was often able to make her path cross with Ray given that she was still an LDS student.

   “I had actually been hoping to run into you here,” Ray said, “I had been waiting for the right time to give this to you and I think it should be now.”

   The sensation of her blush and her crush now even burned in the tips of Masumi’s ears as she watched Ray. Everything she did had a mature grace to it. She knew who she was. Even if no one else did. Her titles and accolades had been destroyed in the merging and splitting of worlds but Ray still embodied them.

   She stood up and bent around to her far side to where Masumi couldn’t see. Try as she might, though. She tried to follow, bending at the hip so she could see what Ray’s body obscured, what she had been sitting with in this nook which belonged to the in-between of this floor’s library and kiosk which provided refreshments.

   “Here you go.” Ray said.

   She presented Masumi with a bouquet. The verdant green stems were wrapped in shiny, pink plastic. The ends of them still dripped with water whilst turning a faded green. Then, from the carefully wrapped folds, emerged the flowers. They were beautiful and abundant. The petals were large and came in pairs of two at the bulb; a brilliant and warm pink on the outside but a soft white on the inside.

   Masumi’s interests lay in crystals, gemstones, and minerals. Not flowers so she didn’t immediately recognise them - but she could say the same thing about the ethereal gems once inlaid in Yuzu’s bracelet. It, too, gone and vanished with her…

   Recognising that Masumi didn’t know what to say nor how to identify them, Ray spoke up.

   “They’re sweetpeas,” she said, “and they symbolise farewells.”

   “Pardon?” Masumi’s voice sounded hostile, her eyebrows furrowed and her shoulders rose, ready to become hackles. She didn’t want to jump to a conclusion but she already had.

   “I’m saying goodbye, Masumi.” Ray said. “We don’t know each other and I see no reason for us to know each other. Just because I remind you of a girl that I…”

   “That you killed.” Masumi said.

   “I didn’t kill her,” Ray murmured, “I am her restored.”

   “But that doesn’t make you her.” Masumi said.

   “Exactly.” Ray agreed with a smile. “Now, let’s depart on good terms. Besides, I’m way too old for you.”

   Masumi pouted. Not exactly beating that allegation there. She, for one, thought she was plenty mature.

   “Our paths were never meant to cross, either. We are from different worlds, literally, timelines, even.” Ray continued to lecture her but her voice was steeped in a tone of apology. “So, let this be goodbye. I have plenty of tethers as is but I need to go my own way…”

   “This is so unfair.” Masumi said, her voice cracked as her eyes began to turn wet with tears. She blinked them back hard, however. “You don’t get to say goodbye to me.”

   Masumi began to crinkle with the sob that she was holding back - and the furor that was keeping her dry within the typhoon of her feelings as her heartbroke. Her shoulders quivered, her arms tensed.

   “I didn’t get to say goodbye to Yuzu.” Masumi snivelled. “So you don’t get to say it for her.”

   “Please, Masumi, don’t make this any harder than it needs to be.” Ray begged as she offered the bouquet to Masumi. “You’ll understand one day. Just trust me, okay?”

   Reluctantly Masumi accepted the bouquet but because of the plastic shielding them, they didn’t feel real to her. Nor did they feel like love or apology. Just a token to placate her. Even so, she squeezed her arms around them in a hug, thinking about Yuzu’s bony shoulders and her thin frame and the fizzy perfume of the sweetpeas, too. A scent which mimicked Yuzu, who was citric-smelling, just enough to make Masumi cry, releasing a tear from her eye that dribbled down the side of her cheek.

   “Thank you, Masumi,” Ray said, “and goodbye, sweetpea.”

   “Goodbye.” Masumi cried.

[higuchimon]

[fanfic] No Celebration Here

Today would have been her birthday.

Professor Akaba Leo stared out the window of his quarters to where the summer sun drenched the Academia grounds with glittering gold in the fresh light of dawn. It wasn’t as hot as it would be later. Raye had always enjoyed this time of morning. So many times she’d popped into his room to greet him before he’d had his first cup of coffee.

He’d found it mildly annoying back then. Not to the point he wanted to tell her to stop, of course, but he hadn’t appreciated it as much as he missed it now.

There wasn’t a lump in his throat. Certainly not one that he swallowed with a cup of hot coffee.

How old would she have been if everything hadn’t happened? He honestly wasn’t sure. In its own way time seemed to have – fluxed – since everything changed. At least his perception of time had. He couldn’t be certain one way or the other.

What he was certain of was that he wanted her back and he would get her back. It would cost lives, but if the truth were to be told, Leo didn’t care. What he cared about was having his daughter back, his firstborn child.

Sometimes he thought about his other children. Reiji was probably – fifteen now? Sixteen? Leo was reasonably sure that time flowed the same between the dimensions but he honestly didn’t remember how long he’d been gone. He’d heard about Reira, but it had been so long since he’d been in Standard that he scarcely recalled what the child was like.

Traumatized, if he recalled. That was another reason he wanted to bring Raye back for – because her sacrifice hadn’t done anything to change the fundamental nature of humans to always want more violence. Reira was proof of that. If it weren’t for wars and carnage, they wouldn’t be the way that they were. Had been. Whatever.

He didn’t remember everything from what the world had been like before, but he couldn’t remember if there had been wars like this. Perhaps there had been and this would have happened regardless. Perhaps there hadn’t been and restoring Raye would restore peace as well.

I won’t know until I try. Until I succeed. He refused to think that he’d not succeed. After everything that he’d gone through already, how could he not? He needed to get this done as soon as he could.

It would still take time. His army was almost complete. The irony of causing a war to end a war wasn’t lost on him. But he would do it regardless. Sometimes one had to do things one didn’t want to do, in order to achieve something more.

None of this was his fault anyway. This was all Zarc’s fault. If the monster hadn’t tried to destroy the world then Raye wouldn’t have had to save it.

If I’d been able to do it… Raye would have lived. His failure meant her sacrifice. So he would do everything in his power, and perhaps even more, to undo that sacrifice and save everything that truly deserved to be saved.

He would, of course, make certain that the pieces of Zarc didn’t survive to see the restored world. Doing so wouldn’t be easy, since if they drew close to one another, they would begin to fuse together, like pieces of a puzzle.

Leo touched one control on his surveillance system and observed what he saw. He mostly let his trainee soldiers do as they pleased, within reason, but there was one that he kept an eye on regardless. Yuuri lounged his private garden, legs stretched out, carefully going over his deck. Leo’s lips twisted in disgust at the sight of him. He’d seen this piece of Zarc grow from a child into a teenager, and done his best to ensure that his path never crossed with Selena’s. Selena wasn’t his daughter but she was part of Raye and he wouldn’t have any part of her near any part of him.

Exactly what Yuuri thought behind those cool, sadistic eyes even Leo couldn’t guess. Leo suspected it had something to do with rage and sadism and hurting everyone that he could. That had been part of Yuuri for as long as the Professor had been aware of him. He certainly took after Zarc more than the other three did.

It didn’t matter in the end. No matter how much they were like or not like him, Leo would see to it that they were all disposed of. He wasn’t certain if they could be killed or not. Whatever Zarc had done to himself changed some things about him.

But Leo already had a plan in mind for that. It was one of the reasons he’d developed the technology to seal souls into cards. Doing so would help with the reviving of Raye, of course, but it would also serve as a way to dispose of the pieces of Zarc in such a fashion that they would not bother anyone ever again. He would use Yuuri to do that to the other three, then take care of Yuuri himself.

Not by dueling, though. He did have many years more experience than Yuuri did, but he wasn't going to give the brat any chances to turn the tables. Yuuri would be disposed of within moments of his defeat of the other three. So the Professor had planned.

Then those cards would be sealed away, never to be found by humans ever again. He and Raye could live the rest of their lives in peace. Or if it came to that, Raye could live her life in peace. So long as that was the end result, he would pay any price.

The End

Notes: Too bad it’s not going to work out like that, Leo.

[zxal]

can't you hear her?

[svxlua]

it’s been 10 years since yugioh arc-v first aired ₊˚⊹ ᰔ

[firbetmakes]

Preview of the digital wallpapers I illustrated for the second @ygocookbookzine! I'm so happy I could work on the zine again <3 it's on Preorder until >> April 20th << so make sure to pick one up!

All 5 wallpapers are formatted for desktop, tablet, and phone sizes. So they'll look adorable no matter what ☆⌒(≧▽​° )

This idea snowballed alot but I can never resist a set of illustrations. All 5 of the Yu Boys and Bracelet Girls in reverse cafe outfits, with a fruit spin.

[nancelilspace]

Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc V 「Dashing Pendulum」 FanAnimatic

I made this animatic as a way to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Arc V! Unfortunately, I couldn't finish it on time TwT, but I want to share this little project with all of you 💖

I used the last ending of the series "Dashing Pendulum" as a way to represent a closure to this series that I loved since the first pv was announced.

And I may sound cheesey, but I'm grateful for this series, and everyone who has left nice comments and has supported me these past years, I'll continue to work hard to bring even better things!

[cyberdragoninfinity]

I need to know on a primal level what Ray Akaba's like in the Kansas AU and how miserable her and Zarc's situationship was. Please spill the tea.

OH YOU KNOW IT'S A MESS IN THERE. ABSOLUTELY RADIOACTIVE. MOUNTAIN GOATS DISCOGRAPHY-ASS SITUATIONSHIP.

ray and zarc in beautiful Not-Lawrence Kansas....it's like. theyve been together (""""together."""" i feel like they 'break up for good' and then hook up again 17 times a year at minimum) since they were in high school and they are both just mildly-to-moderately insufferable people. Couple that smokes in the car together and gets into big nasty fights in public. They can't stand each other. They break up and miss each other so atrociously badly. They make out sloppy style. They light up each other's day (this is not good for them or literally anyone else around them.) They're like this, to me:

Ray's two years older (35 to Zarc's 33) and is really just like. I Am 30 or 40 Years Old and I Do Not Need This at this point in her life. she's so fucking tired. she's a manager at a Ross Dress For Less. She's some kind of bigender and he'll change pronouns during sex specifically to send Zarc into a shrieking "IM NOT GAY! IM NOT GAY!!!" manchild meltdown. She's Leo's kid from his first marriage and their relationship is presumably disastrous (least of all since Leo is currently 'fleeing the country' for 'bankrolling a conservative war cult masquerading as a summer camp'.) I feel like she does/did a bunch of stuff specifically to rebel against him, like getting her sick tattoo (Zarc thinks said tattoo is, "kinda hot" also -__-)

Ray and Declan have a tentatively alright relationship, but when she stops by there's a 60% chance Zarc's with her which is really going to make the entire encounter, in Declan's words, "needlessly exhausting." I was gonna say she gets along alright with Riley but what I really think is happening is Riley (who's like, 11-12ish in this AU) quietly thinks Ray is the Cool Adult Nonbinary Secret Sibling and Ray mostly just uses that to get Riley to do things for her. 🥴 Ray Akaba a little bit of a pushy control freak but you didn't hear it from me 🥴🥴🥴 (though of course when ZARC pushes YUYA around oh well then she'll climb down zarc's throat about it. hypocrisy queen <3)

The bracelet girls are all unrelated in this AU so Ray doesn't have much knowledge/connection to any of them, except for Celina a little bit (she's his cousin.) Probably for the best considering the toxic relationship spores Ray and Zarc are perpetually emitting into the atmosphere!!!

anyway tl;dr Ray's just as much of a loser as Zarc is, morep ut together and responsible certainly, but petty and arrogant and stubborn all the same. I like her very much :^)

[blastthechaos]

Zarc:Happy Valentine's to everyone, reminder that I'm not in love with Ray.

Ray:Popping in to remind everyone I'm not in love with this asshole

Yuya:Happy Valentine's Yuzu! I love you a lot!

Yuzu:And I love you a lot too Yuya!

Zarc:...Ok that proves nothing

Ray:Yeah, it's just 1/4th of us, it's whatever

Yuto:Happy Valentine's Ruri...I love you

Ruri:Aww Yuto~ I love too

Zarc:That's still nothing

Ray:Yeah, like maybe half of us has a thing for each other, no big deal

Yugo:Happy Valentine's Rin! You're the love of my life and the person I love the most in the world!

Rin:Yugo you dummy...And you're the most important person in my life too, I love you just as much

Zarc:Ok, but Yuri and Serena hate each other

Ray:Yeah, you can't claim it's love if at least 1/4th hates each other guys, checkmate assholes

Yuri:Ah Serena, I wanted to tell you that even though I seen many beautiful flowers, your beauty outshines them all, I love you

Serena:And you're handsome as fuck, I love you too asshole

Zarc:...Whatever, they're them and we're us, who gives a shit if they love each other?

Ray:Yeah! We hate each others guts, they can have their cute little relationships or whatever, we're not like them at all!

Zarc:Yeah!

Ray:...

Zarc:...*Sighs* I got you some chocolate and flowers

Ray:*Sighs* Thanks, that's really thoughtful of you, oh, you got my favorites...what a surprise

Zarc:...Do you-

Ray:Yes, I will be your girlfriend, I was waiting for it for a while

Zarc:I was gonna ask you out on a date actually, but sure, that works too

[m-a-n-g]

[fluffalpenguin]

merry zarc-mas! (if you liked it, do consider reading the afterword i wrote for this comic as well)

[enter-the-performapals]

If anyone asks me to summarise arc v in one picture, I’m going to send them this

Bonus: Im da joka baybee

[angeat]

I’ve got your fingerprints all over me

[corinnetheanime]

Also one more tonight, but it’s more serious. Based off my Zarc headcanon.

Zarc has two major fears. One is atychiphobia, the fear of failure. He hates losing because he lost too much in life. He buffs up his defense and makes his ace overpowered, so that nobody can defeat him. He reaches godhood so that he would never lose again like he did time and time again as a frail, powerless human.

The other is pisanthrophobia: the fear of trusting others. He trusted too much in the past. And he got hurt. Badly. He set up walls around his heart. He made sure they were high enough to prevent anyone from climbing. He pushed people away so that he can never be hurt again.

His ace card is his lifeline. The logical consequence of becoming a Duel Monster spirit, even one with god-like power. If it’s damaged, so is he. If it’s ripped apart or damaged in some way, that’s it for his soul. He would be gone for good.

Someone once exploited that weakness and took his card, leaving him terrified. Fearing death at any moment. Becoming even more closed off. Held hostage. And eventually left injured.

Yet she, his worst enemy, the one who split his soul into pieces, the one who should despise his guts above all else…saved it from destruction and gave it back to him. Carefully. Without any marks.

He pushed her away before out of fear. She hurt him once, and it tormented him for years. So why…

“You had every chance to get rid of me forever, yet you didn’t. You saved my heart. I don’t understand…don’t you hate me?”

“I never hated you.”