#for gus and Spectra only

[hexados-on-a-string]

anyway screenshots of the only character who matters (spectra is there too)

[nullians]

It’s actually insane how fandom in general has become so scared of making weird and dark and ugly works. Like I look at myself and see how I have also subconsciously adapted this instinct to self censor and make things “marketable” and it’s making me want to crawl out of my skin. I need to get weirder and worse and more off-putting hello

[fluffomatic]

When dealing with a chronic overworker, you need to bring out the big guns. So whenever Spectra reaches day 3 with no sleep, Gus needs to remind his Master what happens when he refuses to take care of himself. Poor man has incredibly ticklish thighs. It's his most ticklish spot~ One Gus only tickles when Spectra deserves it. He'll surely cave quickly~

(My art don't repost but please reblog)

[catatonic-bug]

There's one Spectra and Gus episode I need to talk about.

So we’re all familiar with how Gus and Spectra’s dynamic remained almost unchanged throughout NV – Spectra’s blinded by his pursuit for power so much so that there is a visible neglect in how his relationships with other characters develop; so is the case for his relationship with Gus. BUT there have been a few hints and moments between them that hold potential for growth and scratch the surface of something more than only a master and loyal right-hand dynamic – their time on Earth, the jacket scene, Spectra apologizing for the first and only time in this entire season and he does it to Gus – but now I’m going to mention an episode that is the perfect example for the small changes that Gus and Spectra go through individually and as a pair. 

I’m talking about ep. 33 of NV.

It’s a good opportunity to point out how the eng ver of the title - Brontes’ betrayal – completely misses the point of the episode. Because episode 33 as the jp title says, is actually centered around feelings – specifically the feeling of love and the many forms that it can take.

There’s the example of family love shown in the scene of Baron and his younger siblings.

Then, through Klaus’ words, the bond between the brawlers is another form of love and it’s the source of their strength, something that at the moment Spectra can’t comprehend.

And the 3rd form of love would be the bond that Bakugan and their partner share – it’s an example of strong devotion and trust and it’s shown through Volt’s remorse and attempt at reaching Brontes’ heart.

Through this episode Spectra and Gus go through their own separate missions in which they are both faced with examples of these strong feelings.

From Spectra’s pov, his plan of catching the brawlers by surprise fails, instead he meets Klaus, who talks about the importance of love and how Spectra lacks it. Spectra thinks he can prove everyone wrong and change history itself, for the time being he doesn’t have the patience to listen to a stranger’s babble about feelings.

First thing he does when he returns on the ship is look around and call out Gus. Why did they feel the need to include this small moment? Perhaps because after being betrayed by the Vexos, Gus is the only person Spectra can trust; without Gus, he is completely alone at this point of the season. So perhaps this scene is included to show how Gus has grown to be an important person in Spectra’s life. Perhaps. We shall never know.

On the other side, Gus witnesses Volt actively giving his all to make Brontes forgive him and come back to his side. Volt fights with everything he has and Gus finds it foolish and unnecessary. But at the end of the battle, Gus says this:

This is the moment Gus realizes the sacrifice Volt was ready to make for Brontes and it’s something he is always ready to do as well when it comes to Spectra (a great foreshadowing for what he does in episode 39). He recognizes these strong feelings but it’s not certain he knows how to name them.

To sum it all up, this episode brings out the emotional side of some characters and the importance of their bonds and connections. Spectra and Gus seem to have a lot to learn about these feelings and so through these experiences they reach their own conclusions. Spectra is yet to admit he needs friends, closure, he needs Gus more than he cares to admit and only after he loses him several episodes later, does he realize it. It would have been nice to get a glimpse of Spectra remembering his conversation with Klaus later on when he feels the absence of Gus or when he decides to join the brawlers. But alas! These are the crumbs we have to work with 😭

Thanks for reading my rant!! I tried to keep it as short as possible cuz I could write a whole dissertation about these 2 🫡

[myriadium]

M_y|_E|\|e or mylene (named after a star visible on Vestar), 6'8", she/[they], hunter build

mylene has an extremely traditional hunter form (with a little help from gene editing) and 10 secondary limbs. probably some sort of statement.

originally the number one brawler, mylene is obsessed with perfection in whatever she does. it is no surprise why the monarch chose her to be in the Vexos. She lost her position to spectra and gus, which she is still very salty about, but works with them with a cold professionalism nonetheless. let's hope that grudge does not lead to any shady dealings and unrest in the vexos or the monarchy...

her human form is the best out of any of the Vestals, with two eyes, ears, hands, fingers, and feet. unlike other vestals she added teeth to her illusion form, although they are not colored correctly. She can even manipulate all 10 of her fingers!

completely uncaring of humans or bakugan or even fellow vestals, mylene is in search for the perfect bakugan to complement her perfect form. power hungry and opportunistic, she will not let anything get in her way.

brawlers' comments:

she's really scary. she's on the shorter side when it comes to vestals, but she's all sharp angles and corners and blades. she reminds me of a luxury car, but if you strapped a chainsaw to the top of it. she's very skilled, so I have to wonder how much more powerful the top two are. she constantly cycles through bakugan so i don't think she has a brawling partner. I've seen her use some other attributes but she seems to really like the attribute changing abilities of aquos bakugan

-Shun

mylene is an extremely aggressive aquos brawler. the attribute requires a lot of planning, triggering traps, and taking advantage of your opponents' bonuses with attribute changes and she's very very good at it. there's no banter or conversation between her and her bakugan, but she probably believes that they're just playthings.

-Alice

i know [they] are a bad guy, but [they] have one of the best human forms ever! modeling and coding a human illusion form is really tough, especially because not only do you have to rig up your limbs to different parts on a human body, you also have to code it so that it moves naturally. it took me forever to model human hands, but i'm still hard stuck on the rig for individual finger movements. [M_y|_E|\|e] is the only vestal i know that can move all her fingers accurately. that must have taken forever.

-Baron

[marukrawler]

Do you think that Gus and Spectra were queer coded or am I reading too deep into things? I just remember that in the late 90s/early 2000s a lot of anime loved to spam the subtly queer coded villain trope.

oh, i definitely think they're queer coded. bakugan might not be as obvious about their queer coded villains trope compared to metal fight beyblade but a lot of the bakugan villains/antagonists still manage to fall under that category.

for gus and spectra, they have the classic master/servant dynamic, with an added bonus being the unmistakable homoromantic subtext and framing. gus' loyalty towards spectra goes above and beyond what's expected from a subordinate, to the point of canonical worship. spectra phantom is everything to gus; his reason for fighting, his light of hope, and his idol of worship. it's his spectra, not mira's or anyone else's. he is the one who'll be by spectra's side once he rules over the world.

as for spectra, his outfit and mannerism are very flamboyant and over the top. out of the entire vexos group, he's probably the closest to resembling the stereotypical queer coded villain. his relationship with gus only adds to this, what with gus being his only ally and the closest thing he had to a friend before joining the brawlers. the show also acknowledges this through the title of episode 39 where spectra says the title name, almost as if he is speaking to gus.

in the same episode gus also apologizes to spectra for not being able to be by his side anymore.

gus' "last words" are spoken in spectra's honor while he presses a hand to his heart. i think that's what the youngsters these days call

GAY

[aishien-the-aishien]

Bakugan AU doodle dump!

My contribution to the SpectraGus fandom After a particularly heated quarrel at the Vexos quarters. Gus - without much thought - went into his transformation form in defence of Spectra, and found out on his own skin that even a desert wolf isn't strong enough to take on four Vexos with orders to hold him down. Besides, it's so humiliating for the likes of him - Canine and Feline - to give in to impulses like this... Especially since it takes such basic focus for a Vestal to keep most of their clothes on in their transformations, and he could hardly even do that. Even Spectra thought it an overreaction... But at least he was there afterwards.

[someone remind me to write a oneshot out of this because I sure as heck will forget]

Prince Hydron with a concept of his transformation form (based on an Earth fennec fox). His necklace, it says his name - a gift from Hydron's mother, that king Zenoheld only commented on with "you better wear it so I don't forget your name, dog." Hydron hasn't taken it off since.

Gus, the Desert Wolf, with concepts of his transformation form (based on an Earth golden jackal). I altered his pre-transformation design a bit as well, but don't get too attached to it, I will probably still change it

BONUS

My OC from an original story, by the name of Arhes, but it's a Bakugan AU design :>

[pixelbytesquad]

"Trial by Fire" AU (Fire Mira)

Okay, time to explain yet another AU of mine- this time it’s an AU called “Trial by Fire”, or, the AU where “Fire Mira” comes from. I did post some art of her in the past. Like this icon, and this doodle of her and a ‘cursed Ace’ (info on the Ace coming soon ack-)... I thought I posted about her more but looks like I didn’t- oops-

I posted a doodle dump about her on the doodle account

Backstory time-

Anyways, this AU originally started thanks to a weird dream. Basically the Mario “I hate you” creepypasta but with Spectra and Mira, the only difference is that Mira comes back as a vengeful spirit…

However, I would, change the story over time… it gets sad :’D

The events kick off at the start of the second arc of NV, when the attribute energies need to be passed to the brawlers. However, even though the newbies helped to free NV, the Soldiers, in this universe at least, aren’t as eager to give the energies to the vestal trio, so they're put in quick trials. If they win, they’ll get the attribute energy, if they lose, their predecessor gets the attribute energy. Baron and Ace pass their trials, but Mira, who’s forced to fight a Keith/Spectra illusion (haven’t decided if it should be Keith, Spectra, or a combo, like maybe Keith with the Spectra mask?), loses the battle. The soldiers weren't impressed, and it wasn’t the first time she put the mission in jeopardy due to her own brother… so,  they curse her :’D.

Now yes, I know, this makes the soldiers jerks in this AU, but part of me kinda likes it? Again, I like AUs that have the characters be a bit different from their original counterparts, things are about to be different across the multiverse.

Scorched by the fire, this Mira was basically taken out of the fight. The brawlers of course are shocked to see Mira’s current state. So she’s rushed to the hospital.

Of course, since they still have to deal with the Vexos, the Brawlers still continue their business, but this Mira is the one to be on the sidelines.

After the BT system is dealt with, Dan basically drags Spectra in  so he could come and see his sister. At first he tries to brush it off thinking everything is okay- but no- the two would talk about what happened to her. 

After the whole Vexos saga is done, Fire Mira would return to vestal alongside Spectra and Gus. She would try to live a normal  life there, but she would get more and more comments about her appearance there. Vestals would pretty much insult, think her condition is contagious, try to stay away from her, all that nasty stuff. She would stay locked inside for a few days until Spectra asked her if she wanted to join him and Gus, as they plan to travel the universe and explore. Mira however, would ask to be dropped off on Earth. Sure, being alongside her brother would be nice, but she thinks that maybe sticking with the brawlers would be better, since they know about her current condition and wouldn’t judge her. So, she moves to Earth. 

Vestal money is… kinda useless on Earth so the girl would get a random job, but Marucho would eventually get her a job at one of his parents' companies  once he learns about the harsh environment the current job she has there. Eventually, she would be tasked to help Marucho on Interspace (she would also get to meet Ren).

Misc information

She has markings all over her body. She also has rocks on her body. She did try to get these removed through surgeries, but these would always grow back. She ended up hiding these with bandages and clothing. Unless you’re a person she could trust, she will always wear these to cover the rocks/markings.

Markings can also glow, as well as a portion of her eyes. Her eyes have this sectoral heterochromia. 

Her body is constantly warm. She’s doing pretty okay in winter, however the summers are a nightmare for her.

Tears have an orange tint, and they’re boiling hot.

Her blood/flesh is also orange now.

She does have mild fire manipulation powers, but she’s unaware of this. Fire nearby her may act strange if her emotions are strong.

However, she also has a fear of the fire… for obvious reasons. She also tends to get nightmares about fire.

Sometimes, her body "overheats", when this happens, sometimes small flames may form on her body.

This isn't the only thing that could happen, as she could "get sick" when in this state. (Feeling dizzy, headaches, all that "nice" stuff)

Obviously started to take a liking to some of the human clothing style (hoodies specifically), as she sometimes uses these to hide the rocks/markings on her limbs/body.

May be forgetting some things, I'm sorry- I'll try to update this when I remember.

Again, if you have any questions, feel free to ask, I’ll try to answer.

Here's the girl's ref sheet :D

[lenioxoxo]

what do you think abt the way spectra was redeemed?

loving the fanfic btw

Thank you! And ooo I have a lot of thoughts on this

TLDR; I think on paper, his redemption arc was fine, in execution— not so much. The process was okay, but the turnaround was too quick and dramatic to really feel earned and I think he just need the slightest smidge of more time to get it ironed out.

The thing you have to keep in mind about New Vestroia is that it moves an incredibly brisk pace. If you watch very closely then you’ll see that there are a lot of plot points that were raised and either quickly resolved to get it out of the way, or forgotten altogether. Spectra’s redemption is the former, while Ace’s character arc is the latter. So when we enter discussion about how something would theoretically be fixed, you can’t plausibly give an elaborate idea because there just wouldn’t be time for that and retaining everything else that happens in the allotted runtime of the show.

The most obvious explanation for his redemption given via the show is that he came to the realization that he just simply wasn’t strong enough to overcome Zenoheld and Dan, no matter what he did to Helios, and realized that Zenoheld is the bigger threat and therefore it’s better for everyone if he joins up with Dan. We see this in small increments before he joins up with them officially and I think that was a good choice because it eases us into the idea that he might not really be a bad guy later on if he can work with us. So okay, this is fine. But my problem with this is that it doesn’t really force him to re-examine the bad that he did while he was a villain. Had he just bullied a few kids I wouldn’t care, but he was actively torturing (and in the JP dub was implied to have killed) sentient creatures for his own goals. As it is, it seems like he didn’t really care about reforming as much as he just wanted to be on the winning side of things. It would be one thing if he was very open about the fact that he’s only in this for himself, but once he switches sides he acts like he’s a completely changed man and I just don’t buy that with this scenario.

It feels like he gains too much too quickly and doesn’t have that “come to Jesus” moment to warrant it. I feel like there needed to be at least one scene where he sort of unpacks everything he did, maybe one with Drago since he tortured him, and he understands the repercussions of his actions. He wasn’t just being mean to children, he actively ruined (and maybe ended) lives, this is just sort of swept aside.

Now I want to address that him feeling like he has to win this war isn’t the sole factor in him switching sides. While the feeling of powerlessness started this transition, I think the (subtler but maybe more important) nail in the coffin was losing Gus. There are a few wide shots of him alone that really stresses his loneliness, and this does make the sudden shift of him and Mira being best siblings ever make more sense because he would have been desperate for that relationship again. But I do think that everyone being willing to trust and be friends with him is just way too soon. The episode him losing to Dan ends, and then in the first two minutes of the next one, everyone is best friends with him. IIRC (and if I’m not then ignore this) there’s maybe one or two lines by some characters along the lines of “are we sure we want to trust him”, but those fears are really quickly assuaged by him being cooperative and nice, and I’m just needing more of that distrust.

If I was writing this arc, I would make very minimal changes to the lead up and aftermath of him switching. I would have one tiny scene before Gus vanishes of him contemplating how far he’s pushed Helios and he can’t go any further safely, because this plants a “fuck I ruined him too much” seed of doubt and gives leeway to reflection later. Then, instead of him being immediately hopeful after losing to Dan and taking off his mask, I’d show him being a little more apprehensive of his uncertain future. He doesn’t have to say anything, his face just needs to look a little uneasy. And then the last thing I would change is giving him a moment of reflection (whether it be by talking to Drago or Helios) that in his quest to be powerful, he might have been doing the wrong thing the whole time— because he’s now more powerful by having secure alliances/friendships and no one had to be hurt to do it. Maybe replace a couple of the “Omg guys Keith is so nice” lines from the cast with more discernible concern or distrust for good measure. I don’t think anything else would need to be changed. It would still be a little too quick, but I think it would feel more rewarding for him if very minimal adjustments were made to compensate him. If the show had all the time in the world then I’d have a thousand more suggestions, but if we’re keeping this arc as brief as possible to stick closely within the runtime of the show and not step on anything else happening in the plot, then I think this is a decent way to go about it.

So I like the ideas presented by the show, but it needed just a little more time to feel worth it.

[whiplashisthinkingaboutbakugan]

I’m not over the fact that Spectra Phantom was like…nineteen when he was fighting fifteen years old Dan Kouso to the death. Mf Spectra should be a sophomore in college punking on a sophomore/junior in high school???? Why is this adult man and his boyfriend terrorizing these children when they should be furthering their education 🧍GO INTO STEM IF YOU LIKE PLAYING WITH HELIOS’ DNA THIS MUCH. Spectra is TWENTY ONE in Mechtanium Surge it’s insane.

Yes I’m ignoring that the Vestals are aliens in this post and that age can mean different things in their society. That could be interesting to explore if they gave us uhhhh anything more on Vestal society. Spectra’s always felt like an adult to me but also not. He’s in that liminal gay evil villain space where he’s supposed to be older than the young protagonists but also level with them in some way. He’s Dan’s rival character for the season that’s for sure.

To me he’s someone more so on the precipice of gaining a form of maturity. Like I expected him to be seventeen if he’s beefing with children. It’s just so fascinating that he and Gus aren’t but need to be and so could be figuring themselves out in an environment that allowed for it. Spectra’s always given me the vibe that he had to grow up super early so he never fully matured. Since his dad is LIKE THAT y’know? I’ve only just started watching Mechtanium surge so I’m excited to see who he is after the two year gap. Sadly he doesn’t serve as much cunt in the Darkus fit :’/

[shimmy--sham]

Just finished binging New Vestroia with my friends (got up to episode 41, only 11 more to go this Saturday)

MAN, gotta say that was a VERY bad start to the second part. especially the fight with Alice...

Just...why? Why would they waste Masquerade's final appearance for something like that? If they were gonna have Shadow win just have him win. Why hype us up with a Masq appearance and Hydranoid turning Hades into scrap metal if she's just going to lose? And to a mech bakugan that wasn't even seen until now! That was a complete asspull! There was NO foreshadowing to that thing. Hades gets turned to scrap metal and Shadow just pulls out a new STRONGER bakugan to replace him....

Also not a fan of how hard the original 6 bakugan are getting shafted. They really should have been the ones to receive the attribute energy, not the new 6. It just makes no sense! The original 6 Bakugan actively contributed in the fight against Naga, not to mention the soldiers had more experience and knowledge on the original six thanks to the tests. I understand they couldn't just change the cast again mid season but it just feels so disrespectful.

Aside from that though, quite enjoyable! I love the fact that they still have Shun always be the first one to notice when they're walking into a trap, not to mention keeping his skill consistent with him winning his fight against Volt (even if it was with the help of Baron)

Gus's death is also fucking insane, I did NOT expect them to show not only 3 Bakugan deaths but also a HUMAN one, ON SCREEN! It does make me wonder why Spectra didn't outright kill Zenoheld. it's clear he has no issues with it, he didn't hesitate for a second to try and kill Dan During their swordfight. He had every reason to have Helios turn him grilled pork.

Not to mention the Helios and Drago team up....that was fucking SICK! Even if Helios was being his usual hater self....

Overall, decent season so far. Especially around the middle. Both worried and excited for the finale, although this show knows how to make an absolute banger of a finale so I'm not *too* worried.

Oh, and some funny screenshots.

Why does he look so wholesome 😭

[hexados-on-a-string]

me: teehee yay gus is in mechtanium surge with spectra yippee

my brain, being nice to me for once: hey isnt it cool how gus has been by spectra's side this whole time? through the entirety of new vestroia, and in those 2 years since, he's never left his side. despite how much has changed, they haven't left each other's side, isnt that nice?

me:

[synergysilhouette]

(Some of) My retrospective grievances Bakugan

I loved Bakugan growing up--and for the most part, the first two seasons hold up. That said, I did want to mention things about the series that I wish they'd done better. Some of it's nit-picks, and some of it is stuff that really annoyed me. I don't recall everything, so be sure to let me know if I misremembered some things!

There's NO WAY Dan, Shun, and Runo were 11 years old (in the Japanese version; they were 12 in the English version, which is still unbelievable to me). I'd buy that everyone on the team was 16-18 and Marucho was 12.

I wish the parents and more adults in general were more involved in Bakugan. Magical creatures and cards that put you in another dimension fall from the sky and it's mostly just young people who use them? It feels like parents would at least be more concerned about what's going on, but Dan's parents aren't super involved--heck, I remember being surprised that he had a dad! That's something we never see from Yugi (whose dad is always on a business trip) and Ash (whose dad is a mystery).

Terrible treatment t of female characters. Julie, Alice, and Runo were great members of the team, but they were essentially removed from the show in season 2 because Drago only wanted to involve Dan. That'd be fine, but Marucho tagged along too, and Shun found his way there, too--and the male/female ratio was thrown off enormously, because we got a lot of new male characters, and very few new female characters.

Give more information on the location of the characters. Julie is from Australia and Alice is from Russia. Aside from missing accents, I'd have liked to have seen how Bakugan affected the different countries/cultures.

More backstories for the characters. I recall Shun's backstory and how it ties into his relationship with Skyress, but everyone else deserves that, too--plus it'd be neat to see how his traditional background (with his grandfather being a ninja) affecting his relationship with Marucho, who comes from a rich and modern family, as well as his friendship with Dan, who is also more modern.

Too many side characters who don't return for season 2 onwards. I always hated that we had fun characters like Chan Lee, Billy, and Klaus who are just written off later. It would've been fun to see them become bigger characters as the show went on rather than smaller ones.

Marucho and Shun keep getting new Bakugan. I'd have enjoyed it if the original 6 Bakugan returned to the team and they got Bakugan as well--namely because Ingram and Elfin were the only good "replacement" Bakugan for Marucho and Shun. The girls can just have their OG bakugan like Dan, or they could have two (their OG and a new one) like Shun and Marucho--though I guess technically Marucho would have 3 because of Angelo/Diablo.

Why is it that only some Bakugan can talk while the rest only let out animalistic? I kinda wish they all could talk, as well as not having duplicate bakugan with different elements.

The Vexos needed more backstories and didn't have to die. For a kids' show, this felt like a needlessly grim fate for them--and an annoying one if you grew up with the English dub, since they're just lost in another dimension rather than dead. It's Yu-Gi-Oh all over again--except the original and 5Ds had every right to be that dark. They could've just been imprisoned and we could've learned about more of them outside of Spectra and Gus. I really loved Lync and Alice, as well as Shadow and Mylene's chemistry, as well as the parallels between Volt and Baron.

Ingram's gender. This is more of a dub issue. To my understanding, Ingram is male, though in the dub, he was referred to as female for the first half of the anime with a female voice actor, and then male in the later half with a male voice actor. I'd be fine if he was NB or genderfluid, though if I had to pick between male and female, I'd prefer if he was male, given that Shun already had Skyress as a mother-figure, and Ingram could represent Shun's insecurities.

No one's gonna explain that moment between Drago and Percival in episode 26 of "New Vestroia"? That's the most surprising rivalry-turned-(almost) romance I've ever seen.

"Gundalion Invaders" was basically "New Vestroia" but with less interesting characters.

[fluffomatic]

Been working with the suggestions yall are sending! This is the best way I think I can post this since most of the asks have multiple suggestions. So only the asks that have one suggestions I'll just post as one piece instead of multiple.

Finally made some Lee!Link art!! I think it would be cute of Zelda was introducing him to some of her peers and just squeezing and poking him the whole time since Link is very quiet lol.

Delilah was the first person I thought of for this one! Plus, I've never drawn my sweet girl getting tickled! I need to make more art of her and her girlfriend, Hikora! They're 2 of my very first ocs along with Anna and Dylan! They were made around the same time!

Suprise Danganronpa art!?! I've been rewatching the Grumps play 1 and 2 in the form of best ofs. So I was reminded of my love for Lee!Byakuya lmao

There was no way I wasn't gonna draw more Lee!Spectra. Literally not a chance. I can picture him and Gus doing some training, Gus grabs on to his leg and uses Spectra's ticklishness to get the upper hand. Thanks @thornoisdono for the suggestion!

(My art don't repost but please reblog)

[catatonic-bug]

You mean to tell me Gus' juice box thing is dub only??

YEA!! 😭 It was a bit random but I liked that they added it (now I can't unhear Gus every time I see a juice box)

For reference, in the jp dub, Gus says sth like "Tadaima" which translates more as "I'm back" rather than "I'm home"

The eng dub certainly liked to make use of the trope "alien arrives on Earth and marvels at everything" because in the scene of Spectra’s return in the warehouse, Gus says "This world is so strange, you could have gotten hit by a bus or something" which... come on, Gus you're driving spaceships and flying cars, you can't tell me those are safer than a bus (or maybe).

Meanwhile, in the jp dub:

Bonus: The infamous "Since when are you my mom, Gus" ; "Since never." is missing in the jp dub as well. Spectra only tells Gus that he's being melodramatic, then it cuts to the next scene.

[myriadium]

gus, unknown meaning, 7'9'', [they]/he, sleeper build

originally a mid-level brawler, gus's battling career seemed to have waned after a horrific and embarrassing loss in the championship almost made [them] quit. no one knew how he was recruited to the vexos until he stepped back onto the battlefield and decimated everyone else, bringing [them] back on the leaderboards.

[they] are very close with spectra, and it is unclear what their history is together. rumor forums often comment on how strange it is that it seems like gus is loyal to spectra more than the monarch. perhaps spectra was the one that saved gus from total obscurity, and now he feels indebted to [them]. still doesn't stop allegations of treason and treachery, however.

gus cares very little about perfecting his human illusion. in fact, it almost seems like he does not like the influence humans have in his species' culture. his v1 has multiple eyes, no mouth, no ears, no hands or feet, an extra leg, and a very long neck. in fact, it is probably the default look of a vestal when translated to a human illusion.

spectra commissioned a rework on [their] form, which gus took on with no complaint, but it's probably only because it was spectra who gave him v2 (still no ears or hands or feet, but the eyes are less fucked so that's nice).

brawlers' comments:

gus was one of the vestals that didn't take a human form in Alpha city. he was standing right next to spectra, and I don't think i've ever seen him leave their side. i'm pretty sure he's a straight blend of a sleeper build...i've never seen a vestal with that much, um, fur? the 'fauna' thing all the vestals have. A<E has a bit but he's also a hybrid...I dunno. i heard sleeper vestals live longer than regular ones because their fauna doesn't die out as fast and can generate a lot of energy. i wonder why not every vestal has sleeper fauna.

-Dan

It was quite a shock when [gus] came back to brawling. [their] previous loss was spectacularly embarrassing; several bad plays combined with an unlucky matchup...and it even ended with [their] opponent taking [their] bakugan, which was unheard of in any tournaments. i believe the opponent returned the bakugan outside of combat, which must have been doubly humiliating. I'm not sure what made [Zz3nO|-|3|_D] take [them] on, but I suspect [5P3(7.-A] had some part in it. whether [they] just wanted a puppet within the [vexos] or if [they] particularly like charity cases, I am unsure.

-A<E

I assumed vestals didn't experience attraction of any kind but looking at gus and spectra I can't be sure, haha.

-Alice