#ryoken friendship

[number-1-kuaidul-fanboy]

My New Top Ten Characters in VRAINS

Because I noticed my opinions have changed a lot since I made that original list. No long winded explanations this time because I’ve explained why I like the majority of these characters either in the old list or other places on my blog. I’m just gonna rapid fire off my picks from 10 to 1 and an actually brief explanation of each. Les go.

10) Kusanagi

Good supportive big bro to his biological lil brother, Jin, but primarily Yusaku. Their duel made me cry my eyes out.

9) Aoi

Underused but super cool every time she is there. I relate to her loneliness, enjoy her arc, and love her cards, both the Trickstars and Marincesses.

8) Flame

A great partner to Takeru, they have such a sweet and amusing dynamic. His arrogance is charming and funny. Also, his death made me cry my eyes out.

7) Spectre

An absolute prick in a mostly amusing way who’s also pretty interesting with a lot of untapped potential and a backstory that is a special kind of fucked up even for this series. 

6) Roboppi

The sweetest character in the world. I’ll never forgive this show for what they did to my pure cinnamon roll son in that final season.

5) Ryoken

When the writers aren’t making his fear/hatred of sentient AIs sound like bigotry in the context of this show’s narrative, I honestly really love Ryoken. I clown on him a lot but I have a soft spot for the “jerk with a heart of gold” characters. Plus he’s really funny and his arc had a lot of potential that season 3 and Duel Links decided to ruin for some reason-

4) Takeru

Adorkable cinnamon roll with a relatable way he processed his trauma and the most depressing backstory out of all these characters. It hurts my heart to think about.

3) Yusaku

My favourite of the disaster trio. I love his slow burn subtle development over the course of the series, I love his dynamic with Ai, and I relate to him just a little more than Takis.

2) Windy

I cannot believe I am putting this silly green bean this high. Because while I love unhinged mind controlled by Lightning red eyes Windy, it’s Windy’s original personality (that we never saw in canon I’ll admit), that I’ve latched onto. Just the idea of an Ignis who had no ill will toward humanity, maybe even wanted to befriend his human, waking up to find out he was mind controlled to kill that human, it’s a really heavy idea that’s been on my mind ever since the reveal that Windy’s personality had been altered by Lightning. It’s something I’d undoubtedly like to write about if I can find the motivation and time for it. Also his implied past friendship with Flame is really cute, I want more of it.

1) Ai

Yeah, there was no topping the original silly bean. Every funny moment with him just works for me and his character arc is fascinating and tragic. He’s honestly my favourite villain, even outdoing Yubel and Paradox, and one of my top three characters in all of Yugioh.

[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).

[merryfortune]

Faster than a Firework

Written for @respectfulshipweek2023

Day 3: Fast Food | A Home Cooked Meal

Title: Faster than a Firework

Ship: Respectfulshipping | Ryoken/Spectre

Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh! Vrains

Rating: T

Word Count: 2,202

Tags: Fluff, Kissing

   The person handing out flyers, was handing them out in all directions from the centre of the crowd. Her eyes were going every which way as she tried to promote the event that she was assigned to and then her hands in the opposite way in a flurry so she could hand out the promotional material. Therefore, it was pure coincidence that Spectre, who was never noticed by anyone, not even obnoxious people with flyers, was handed one.

   He walked off, looking it over and thought to himself, Actually, this didn’t sound so bad.

   The flyer was for a shrine visiting event next week. There would be all manner of carnival games and food stalls, with a fireworks exhibit as the grand finale before a midnight close. It honestly sounded quite… mundane, mundane but fun, and Spectre figured that it would make a nice date night for himself and Ryoken.

   But when Spectre brought the flyer home and when he showed it to the others, it quickly grew from something private between himself and Ryoken. They agreed that they needed to do something a bit mundane and a bit fun for once. It did sound like a rather pleasant way to spend the upcoming summer solstice and so, the flyer was pinned to the fridge as a reminder of their big night out.

   Though, with something so unusually delightful on their calendar, it was hard to forget. As grouchy or grumpy as any of them could be given the duress of their illicit, and even some of their legal, activities, it really was a bright spot in the monotony of looking after the Neo Link VRAINS from the shadows. Especially given that previously, they had been one of their biggest threats and the other threats, in the form of the Ignis, had been eliminated through none other than the power of friendship.

   Thus, night of, Kyoko not only dolled herself up, but the others, too. That meant appropriately thematic yutaka for everyone. She chose something pink for herself, something brown for Aso, something green for Genome and then for Ryoken and Spectre, yutaka which had a much more youthful, fashionable facade than what she had chosen for her fellow Lieutenants. It was a bit much, all in all, but not unappreciated. They never wore anything traditional and it really did help with the overall mood of the night.

   They arrived at around eight o’clock for the start of the festival and split off from there. Thank goodness, Spectre thought, as he had been hoping to just have some one-on-one time with Ryoken, and outside of their work-related duties. It was just a shame that even though Kyoko, Aso, and Genome had dispersed, there was still another figure to take account of: Ryoken’s insatiable hunger for street food.

   Honestly, Spectre should have known that he would never get a second glance, not when they were in a verifiable wonderland of all sorts of fried goodies and other, assorted treats. Even he had to admit, the chocolate bananas at that one stall did look really good.

   “Are you sure you're full, Spectre?” Ryoken asked. “I know you always eat like a bird but still. Enjoy yourself for once.”

   Spectre laughed demurely, he lifted his popsicle embedded banana to Ryoken as a reply. All whilst his eyes caught on how Ryoken was struggling to hold his taiyaki and his octopus balls and the snow cone, too, and a hot dog, as well, from nowhere else but Cafe Nagi. 

   “I’m right, thank you for asking.” Spectre said but then, looking up, to the side, his eyes did widen - and Ryoken did notice.

   “Did you see something you wanted?” Ryoken asked.

   “Er, yes, actually. I want to play a game.” Spectre said.

   “Let me buy you some tickets, then.” Ryoken insisted. “If you're not going to eat, at least get some nice prizes for yourself.”

   In Spectre’s liege, Ryoken hobbled over to the carnival stall that Spectre had picked out for himself and then somehow managed to fish out his wallet, as well as some money, so he could pay for Spectre’s tickets. Quite frankly, watching Ryoken juggle all his food and his cash as well, both impressed and embarrassed Spectre.

   No matter, he got the tickets in the end. The ticketer passed them to Ryoken, Ryoken passed them to Spectre, and Spectre passed them to the ticketer again. Let the games begin.

   The game that Spectre had picked first was a game of shooting balloons with air rifles. Colourful balloons hiding cards labelled with numbers of points to score were pinned to a cork board backing, flanked either side by all the wonderful prizes that could be won. Plush toys modelled on popular characters in knock-off proportions, glow sticks and lollies, but what Spectre wanted were the masks, hidden behind these more exciting prizes. 

   They were a little old-fashioned looking and he didn’t have a need for any toys, so he would aim to collect enough points for those. Looking at the price tags, he needed a medium amount of points, around thirty or more. Cheaper than the biggest, most high quality of the various plush toys but dearer than the glowsticks, Spectre was very confident in his technique.

   Especially with his master watching. He couldn’t let down someone who called themselves Revolver down in a game of air rifle firing.

   Bang, bang, bang. Spectre lined himself up with the air rifle, making it a natural extension of himself and with his keen intuition, he just knew which of these balloons of all seven colours of the rainbow would be hiding the cards he could make the most bank on.

   The carnie was most impressed once Spectre had all three shots that had been paid for him. Impressed in a begrudging way, of course, as his hand showered over the prizes that Spectre was now owed.

   “So, what’ll it be?” he asked.

   “This one please.” Spectre said and he pointed out a white fox mask. Its red accents were sun faded and now appeared orange - or at least they did in the orange highlights of the festival’s atmospheric, lantern lightning.

   The carnie nodded and unhitched Spectre’s mask off its hook then handed it onto him. Spectre was appreciative and fixed it to the side of his head promptly. It was real wood but still cheaply made overall but he liked it.

   “Thank you.” Spectre said.

   And that was that. Well, for that game, anyway. 

   With the love of the hunt ignited, Spectre wanted more. He couldn’t help himself, it was that fierce competition that had kept him alive as a child. Not to mention, he finally had Ryoken’s attention, he was politely clapping Spectre on through every rigged game that he busted. So, Spectre was rather stoked to keep going and Ryoken very happily trailed after him as Spectre sampled a few more sideshow stalls. He knocked over glass jugs with baseballs, he attempted to scoop up fish with paper paddles and it all came to rather lovely success with the prizes that he was amassing.

   Aside from his first won mask, Spectre now had a yellowy-coloured goldfish named Kiro in a bag and a fuzzy teddy bear he intended to give to Ryoken later, too. Honestly, he was starting to look like Ryoken with all his food with what he was now lugging around.

   Fortunately, for the money in the kitty especially, the fireworks were starting soon. They regrouped with the Lieutenants who were quite impressed with Spectre’s haul, though they did wonder who was going to set up a fish tank for Kiro to live in - assuming he lived that long at all. But before anyone could get too chatty, there was an announcement through a very crackly microphone.

   The announcement could hardly be heard through the technical difficulties, let alone the murmur of the crowd’s excitement. There was a flush of movement closer to the shrine, where the fireworks were going to be set off in an adjacent acre of land where no one would get hurt.

   Ryoken and Spectre were close, shoulders overlapping, and looked up, straining their eyes into the dark sky. This was as clear as a night as it got in Den City, alas. Smoky, cloudy, only a few glimmering stars but it didn’t matter. Not when fireworks were soon going up, up, up, one by one and exploding into a scatter of stardust.

   The embers of the fireworks lit up the night sky in shades of red, yellow, and orange. All bright colours of the summer, then followed by oceanic blues and soft purples, like the flowering wisteria all over the shrine’s grounds. The crowd was in awe and Spectre stole a glance at Ryoken.

   He, especially, was in awe. Ryoken’s eyes were lit up, his lips slightly apart and Spectre felt his heart leap to his throat. The boom and crash of the fireworks were deafening but he could still hear his own thoughts inside his head: they were in louder than the ordinance that the fireworks were providing. Even more daring than those beautiful explosives.

   He wanted to kiss Ryoken. Sorely, dearly, desperately. 

   Ryoken was utterly enamoured with the sky, he didn’t even notice as Spectre tried to lean in, tried to whisper to him. Instead, he started to chew some taffy that he had bought from goodness knows where and Spectre leaned out. He kept the sigh of disappointment to himself, even if it clearly wasn’t going to be heard and instead watched the fireworks.

   The theatrics were nothing less than gorgeous, well placed and timed like a dance recital. And then it was over. As fleeting as those sparks the fireworks produced, over and over, in busy cascades and then solo blooms and then nothing. An announcement that the main attraction of the festival had come and gone, that amusements and food stalls were likely going to close in an hour or so.

   “Thank you for coming.” the Speaker said, the clearest the microphone had been all night.

   “Let’s go pay our respects at the shrine, yeah?” Ryoken turned to Spectre to suggest.

   “Alright.” Spectre said and since he didn’t sound ecstatic, that confused Ryoken.

   Still, they waded against the crowd - and told the Lieutenants they would be in touch soon, promise. Together, Ryoken and Spectre made their way to the front of the shrine. They passed by underneath the torii, the scarlet dulled in the dim of the night and then made it to the foyer.

   Ryoken popped a couple coins as tribute into the large chest whilst Spectre said a prayer. Ryoken snickered and Spectre cast a suspicious eye on him.

   “What’s so funny?” Spectre asked, frowning.

   “You look like a youkai in your yukata and the mask, too.” Ryoken replied, explaining his little in-joke. “Truly spectral tonight.”

   “Oh, I see.” Spectre didn’t quite know how to reply to that.

   “What did you pray for?” Ryoken asked. 

   “Your health, of course.” Spectre replied.

   “I’ll pray for yours as well then.” Ryoken said and he clapped his hands once in front of the shrine’s bounty. 

   Spectre was a little miffed by the display of it but he couldn’t say he wasn’t flattered. When Ryoken finished praying, it seemed he still had more to ask.

   “Why do you have a bee in your bonnet all of a sudden?” Ryoken asked.

   “...I wanted to kiss you during the fireworks, I thought that would be nice but, well, you were too busy watching them to notice.” Spectre sheepishly admitted, then grumbled, “Not to mention, you’ve been doing nothing but stuff your mouth with food.”

   Ryoken laughed, “Sorry, I thought you would want to wait until we were in private. Here, come with me, let’s go somewhere a bit quieter. Besides, I think it would be disrespectful to kiss in front of the shrine.”

   Ryoken offered his hand to Spectre and Spectre took it, grateful. A scant blush to his cheeks, however, but he allowed himself to be tugged into the pine woods surrounding the shrine. Not its no go zone, where the fireworks had been launched for, as that was the opposite direction but it still felt like a prohibited zone belonging to the shrine. Though, admittedly, that thrilled Spectre at least a little bit.

   Still holding onto Kiro the Fish and the unnamed teddy bear tucked under his arm, Spectre did feel like something of a hypocrite since he had been internally nagging Ryoken for holding onto so much but with his back against a tree, Ryoken’s leg slotted in between his own, he didn’t care much. Ryoken kissed him gently, sweetly - literally, he still tasted of the taffy that he had just been eating, as well as of fairy floss, too - and Spectre kissed him back.

   In the quiet of the forest, with absolutely no one watching, Spectre did feel a touch foolish for thinking he would want a more public display underneath the fireworks rather than foliage. As they kissed, a warm breeze blew but it was pleasant as it was the height of summer, fireflies even floated around idly, too. And so, they sealed the end of the night with this kiss. 

[kcuf-ad]

Soulburner for the ask meme :D

My BOY!

1. Before I met him, i have only known him for a year or so.

2. I am an almost robot, so he doesn't make me cry, but when he dueled Ryoken, man...

3. Sadly no. Croatia isn't too big on anime merch.

4. His attidute as he reminds of Season 1 Jaden, but with the added bonus od Season 3 Jaden. I Like how goofy, funny, charming and friendly he is and how Nice he is, but isn't too shy off getting sad at certain situations.

5. Probably that speech with Flame as he wasn't afraid of Despair of the Dark, but how he is afraid of the monster around the incident, and how he should reincarnate his soul.

6. His duel against Ryoken, before his last turn, when he asks how he could Forgive himself after everything, and the speeches from both Ryoken and his imagination of Flame, and how at the end he thanks his long lost buddy.

7. The same duel where his Heatleo defeated his Borreload Dragon.

8. How horrible he is at technology and how the fandom bullies him over it. Myself included.

9. After Yusaku vs Ai, we see his outfit Being a combination of his New and old look.

10. The entire duel between him and Ryoken. Easy top 5 duels of all time.

11. Entrustshipping, I am sorry, that Is just the best side ship in Yugioh, and I can't help, but love both of them in that ship.

12. His kindness to others. Reminder, he forgave Ryoken, so ofc he is willing to be Nice to other people Like him.

13. Not much, but I guess him Being shipped with Flame. No offense to people that do that, just isn't my flavour of drink.

14. Everything... Okay, but if I have to be specific, his friendship with Flame.

15. I don't have much, but I guess, I will Pick his win over Skye, but I don't have a problem with that duel Like others do.

[kanamori-kamper-moved]

theodore fatass hamilton

favorite thing about them: He's just. This fucked up version of garfeild and I think thats amazing. BUT HES ALSO SUPER CHARMING AS SOULBURNER?? He's lowkey just a fun character, we love him.

least favorite thing about them: He kinda got sidelined during the whole arc with Ai and stuff. It's not like he wasn't there, it's just that he wasn't very prominant and thats a shame. But no real issues with his character tbf

favorite line: I DONT REMEMBER EXACTLY BUT THE FACT THE LAST THING HE SAID TO HIS PARENTS WAS TO MAKE LASAGNA IN THE DUB KILLED ME??? HELLO????

brOTP: Yusaku. Him and Yusaku have a literal godly friendship where its just this quiet guy and another guy who won't shut the hell up. Pretty good innit.

OTP: Probably Yusaku/Theo, or Ryoken/Theo, moreso the latter. Their both pretty good, no complaining.

nOTP: Any straight stuff. Thats a gay man lmao. But on a serious note, it feels like he legitimately doesn't click with the female characters on a level to be shipped, it absolutely KILLED ME when I saw someone ship him with Blue Angel/Aoi/Skye.

random headcanon: Trans man, has nipple, tongue, and clit piercings, favorite food is lasagna, has a collection of Garfield plushies, makes Yusaku watch Garfield and Friends with him too much, and the reason he has such a fat ass is because all the carbs went there instead of anywhere else. I made Vrains, this is canon.

unpopular opinion: His outfit as Soulburner isn't that good... ough..

Song i associate with them: None, sorry... sob sob

favorite picture of them: This one, duh.

[encyclogeekiavol-1]

Ya know what I didn’t expect to be hard to write when write a VRAINS fanfic, Ryoken and Specter’s friendship. Most of the interactions we get to see in the show are just Rev giving Specter orders. By all accounts Specter wouldn’t make so much as a snide remark to Rev, which is a problem seeing as how being snide and sadistic makes up so much of his personality. As a result I can’t really figure out how to bounce them off each other in an engaging way. Any tips?

[koushirouizumi]

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{DigiAdv 02 Ep. 43} (J.P.N Version) [Sub] ~ KEN & RYO Akiyama + Adventure~02 Timeline + Ken directly referring to Ryo & Wonderswan Games lore

“ABUNAI!!!” “Ken-chan!!”

“TWO Years Ago” “Back then, did I injure my neck?” “YEAH, you DID.”

“All of my memories are hazy, BUT...”

“I feel like SOMETHING HAPPENED to me at the time...”

{Clipped by Me} {IMGs by Me} {DO NOT re-post} {DO NOT remove caption} (Please ASK to Use) [Disclaimer: I Do Not own DigiAdvs / DigiAdv ( C ) T0ei @nimation]

(Note: This is mainly intended as Canon reference + Ryo-informative/Positive + 02-informative. Please respect that if interacting, Thank You!) {DO NOT Discourse on my Posts or I WILL Block}

[Note: replies/Tags that are Positive/respectful OK!]

[incorrect-vrains-quotes]

Ryoken: Ah, Aso, what am I gonna do? All five of my best friends have really good reasons to go to the Gala. Spectre, Yusaku, Takeru, Jin, or Miyu? Oh, who should go with me?

Kusanagi: Have you made your decision?

Ryoken: I CAN'T DECIDE!!!

Aso: Ryoken, he just wants to take your order.

Ryoken: Oh.

[revolverkun]

{ Receiving Interference From… @shirobokurei​ }

❝ ...I’m not sure I want to know how or when you got onboard. ❞

Arms crossed, he looks down at the silver-haired stowaway.

The only passengers Ryoken had planned for were himself and that of his father’s body. The last thing he expected was for his assistant to be here as well. But that was assuming Spectre had been in the boat before logging into LINK VRAINS earlier, and---

He doesn’t exactly put it past him to do that.

❝ In any case; the Tower failed. But surely you must’ve figured that when you woke up. ❞ After all, they were still alive. Neither of them expected to wake up again after the Tower’s completion, but despite his best efforts, here they were. ❝ You fought well. I... regret having let yours and father’s efforts go to waste. ❞ 

But he wasn’t done yet. He’ll be damned before he was done. So he offers his comrade a hand, thinking to himself that maybe the other wasn’t either.

[ema-bessho]

4.6k, Yusaku->Spectre, Yusaku & Aoi & Spectre (& Ryoken), tiny little bit of revspec

 5/10: If We’d Turned Our Backs on the Future

Though its form may be different, they all understand.

(Chanting: friends friends friends friends)

[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.

[chancellorxofxtrash]

For the meme: 2 with Bulletstormship and LightJin, 3 with Ryoken, Windy, Vector, Lightning and Ai (if you don't mind doing them all)

Hello, ygo nonnie! Of course I don't mind! Will put them under a read more

Ryoken/Windy:

When I started shipping them: okay so Immi and I were talking about possible season 3 ideas, and I came up with the idea of Ryoken pairing up with Windy through convoluted means. The more I talked about it, the more I liked it, and the next I knew, I was attached.

My thoughts: I love it way too much. It started as a silly side-thing, and now I'm obsessed.

What makes me happy about them: listen! Listen! The idea of two guilt-ridden messes finding solace with each other! That's my shit!

What makes me sad about them: ALMOST NOBODY IS ON THIS BOAT WITH ME. LISTEN. THIS IS MY THING. PLS. THEY ARE GOOD.

Things done in fanfic that annoys me: This would require more fics

Things I look for in fanfic: Existing. Also bickering.

My wishlist: I just wish more people would be on this train! Or if I'd have more plotbunnies for them. I miss them.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: Uhhhh, they are clearly my preference for both of them. But I like basically the Ignis/Origins/Partners in a pile of poly.

My happily ever after for them: Being paired up and healing from their guilt and trauma!!

Lightning/Jin

When I started shipping them: This was a given. I love Ignis/Origin ships, this one is an Ignis/Origin ship.

My thoughts: CANON DID THEM SO DIRTY OH MY GODDDDDD

What makes me happy about them: I love them a normal amount your honor, and they are HAPPY TOGETHER I SWEAR

What makes me sad about them: >:(

Things done in fanfic that annoys me: I don't know, I only read Lightning/Jin from people I trust

Things I look for in fanfic: FERAL JIN COMPLETELY ACCEPTING LIGHTNING AND LIGHTNING BEING TREATED WELL

My wishlist: FFFUUUUCCCCKKKK CANON

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: My priorities are always Ignis/Origin and Ignis/Partner ships, and this is technically both. But I always like the Ignis together and the Origins together too

My happily ever after for them: BEING PAIRED UP AND ALIVE AND HAPPY

And now the character ones

Ryoken

How I feel about this character: what a frustrating, frustrating boy. Loving him as an Ignis stan is frustrating. I want to wrap him into a burrito, and push him over.

Any/all the people I ship romantically with this character: Windy, Lightning (usually alongside Jin and/or Windy, but on their own too), Ai/Yusaku as a pair, Takeru, Spectre - most of them are in poly context because----- Oh and also, generally, all the Lost Incident kids are in love with him, I don't make the rules.

My favorite non-romantic relationship for this character: even though I do ship him with Spectre, I also do love his interactions with Spectre in a non-romantic context too a lot.

My unpopular opinion about this character: his character development got fucked up. FUCK SEASON 3 REVOLVER, only the Takeru duel is good. Also, him pairing up with Windy would make perfect sense I HAVE AN ESSAY ABOUT IT

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: GET HIS FUCKING CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT FULFILLED AND NOT DANCE BACK TO "THE IGNIS ARE BAAAAAD". HE WAS CALLING AI BY HIS NAME IN THE END OF S2 AND THEN GETS BACK TO "DARK IGNIS". I HATE IT. Oh and also, teaming up with Windy.

Favorite friendship for this character: Does Spectre count?

My crossover ship: Well, Johan (GX) might end up kissing him in this WIP of mine, and in my Wind Kid Vector AU, Vector might also kiss him.

Windy

How I feel about this character: I LOVE HIM A COMPLETELY NORMAL AMOUNT I LOVE HIM

Any/all the people I ship romantically with this character: Ryoken, Lightning, Flame, Wind Kid, basically all the Ignis/Origins/Partners in a pile.

My favorite non-romantic relationship for this character: Uhhhh. I like him with Lightning, regardless if he smooch or not.

My unpopular opinion about this character: He was always a gremlin. Like I don't like if people characterize him pre-Lightning as "oh he is soft uwu" whatever. Flame and Ai did not realize him acting different before he went absolutely homicidal. They didn't think him doing an asshole prank was out of character for him. HE WAS A GREMLIN.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: A L I V E

Favorite friendship for this character: Uhhhh, the Ignis, I guess

My crossover ship: I did make Vector kiss him for a damn good reason. Also Johan might kiss him too.

Vector

How I feel about this character: I'm so normal about this guy. So fucking normal. He's the worst. I adore him.

Any/all the people I ship romantically with this character: Yuma, Shark.

My favorite non-romantic relationship for this character: Mizael, Durbe

My unpopular opinion about this character: I... don't... know what's the unpopular about him? HE SUCKS. I LOVE HIM.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: We pretty much got everything what I wanted with him. I would have maybe loved to see more of him in the end?

Favorite friendship for this character: ...does he have friends? The rest of the Barians? I guess?

My crossover ship: Windy and Jin, lol. But I also want him to kiss the rest of the Lost Kids in my AU and also Ryoken. Because all Lost Kids are in love with Ryoken, and Vector is a Lost Kid in that AU, lol

Lightning

How I feel about this character: HE WAS RIGHT. HE DESERVED SO MUCH BETTER. I LOVE HIM.

Any/all the people I ship romantically with this character: Jin, Windy, Ryoken, Yusaku, basically the entire Ignis/Origin/Partner pile I mentioned before.

My favorite non-romantic relationship for this character: Bohman! His perfect man!

My unpopular opinion about this character: HE WAS PERFECT. HE WAS FUCKING 10/10. HE WAS RIGHT. Y'ALL ARE JUST FUCKING MEAN. And also, if he would have gotten a sexy android body in canon, people would love him way more.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: ALIVE AND WELL AND LOVED

Favorite friendship for this character: Uhhhhhhhh, I don't know. The rest of the Ignis?

My crossover ship: Huh, hadn't thought of it yet. Hm. I like the idea of him and Saiou, actually. Light-associated people who really should stop looking into the future and make rash decisions.

Ai

How I feel about this character: I. LOVE. HIM. HE'S SO GOOD.

Any/all the people I ship romantically with this character: YUSAKU. Also the rest of the Ignis/Origin/Partners pile

My favorite non-romantic relationship for this character: Shoichi!!!! Their bickering is great

My unpopular opinion about this character: HE WAS GREAT EVEN BEFORE HE BECAME A HOT ANDROID. YUSAKU FELL IN LOVE WITH HIM BEFORE HE BECAME A HOT ANDROID. I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL. SO MUCH OF THIS FANDOM ONLY STARTED TO PAY ATTENTION TO HIM ONCE HE GOT A HOT ANDROID BODY. GODDAMNIT.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: ALIVE AND WELL AND WITH ALL OF THE OTHER IGNIS TOGETHER

Favorite friendship for this character: uhhh the rest of the Ignis

My crossover ship: I hadn't thought much of this one either. Don't really have any ideas. Whoever it is, gotta be together with Yusaku though, the two of them are a set! Do Not Separate! In my head at least.

[pocketsonny]

Respect anon: OOH I LOVE SLOW BURN ASFLDKDJASDF and I feel like, for them, you really need to take it that way. I've seen too many takes of them going too fast into it and I'm like hmmm that's too soon after being enemies. They have to go through that awkward stage of "Are we friends? Should we be friends?" And then once they get there it's "Oh shit, I feel things--" Sorry, not to ramble at you!! It sounds like we have similar ideas about them and I'm excited to talk about it.

I feel you I feel you!! i adore takeryo developing friendship....the arguing turning to playful banter....coming to understand each other, seeing maybe they aren't so different, getting into shenanigans together!! <3 TRULY THE "are we friends?", suddenly realizing one day they've been turning friends....wah

also both oblivious that their banter is starting to sound a bit like flirting, or mutual pining but both are dense about it JKASKD OH SHIT THE FEELINGS

tho I also think there are many ways you can see their relationship developing depending on headcanons or even aus!

for example, in another (older) fic series i wrote, due to [shenanigans], takeryo start having sex early but it's purely attraction, not love....until it slowly develops into more because they become closer / learn about each other (and the intentions behind the sex shift even if they don't realize....THEY ARE CATCHING FEELINGS!! ). same happens in another one where they are having a kissing competition bc they are idiots that can't say no to a challenge LMFAOO

i totally love enemies->figuring friendship out/awkward shift->lovers, but things don't always happen in a linear way and that can also be fun to explore >:3c MANY FLAVORS!!! but i see the romance part always having a slower development, no matter where it starts (partly also bc demiromantic ryoken, i die with this HC)

[merryfortune]

ok i’m a little bit mad that spectre wasn’t included as part of the nakama but i’m warming myself on the fact that earth and s1 go were but still!!!! spectre likes playmaker!!! why can’t it be reciprocated?? ;W;

[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!!!!!!

[authoratmidnight]

A bunch of headcanons I rambled about on discord.

Worth noting that the time for all this is post canon by a few years (like, by the time Yusaku’s graduating)

-Jin and Lightning working at cafe Nagi, (Lightning has a SOLtis body-all the Ignis actually do and can hop between the SOLtis and riding around in the duel disks). It’s mostly simple tasks like cleaning up tables, taking/giving out orders. Also I figure all the SOLtis are reasonably attractive in their own right, and cute guys draw in customers, so Shoichi is gonna take advantage of Lightning’s good looks that way.

-Jin is friends with Windy's origin (to be referred to as Hiyuu b/c I like that name) and Windy so the 4 of them hang out a lot.

-Windy and Lightning are considerably more chill and mellowed out now. and you know, less homicidal. Windy is something of a playful prankster tho (and when he and Hiyuu team up well, watch out lol)

-Lightning is, basically a tsundere about how he feels about Jin. He tries to act like he does not like Jin but heaven help you if you're mean to him (Lightning has cowed many an entitled customer that started being rude to Jin into behaving by just, standing behind Jin, arms crossed and glaring daggers at them till they stop and Jin is none the wiser) plus there's the fact that he destroyed the bit of data pertaining to Jin's memories of the LI-or at the very least what Lightning did to him. He's, trying to atone for what he did. So, he claims not to like Jin but everyone knows better.

-Ai definitely called Lightning 'Light-chan' or 'Hikari-chan' once just to push his buttons. Lightning did not like it. Unfortunately for him Jin was right there and thought it was the cutest nickname ever so now there really is no escaping it. He sometimes breaks it out to be a cheeky little shit.

-Also, Duel Club president Yusaku (since at this point he's in his final year of hs so a couple years of growth and proper healing now under the belt). I endeared myself to the idea of Yusaku actually deciding to, go to it, voluntarily, and start trying to duel again to try and regain that sense of fun he once got from it. And slowly he does start to enjoy himself again. And maybe helping teach Shima how to play better/deck build (esp when it becomes clear he's maybe not as much of a newb at this as was previously thought) b/c I want some friend bonding on that end of things.

And then when the current president/vice president step down and it's time for them to pick someone else everyone just, overwhelmingly votes for Yusaku. Who very much did NOT expect it.

-Tying into the Yusaku going to Duel Club and friendship bonding w/ Shima. Slowly but surely beginning to open up to other people. After watching Yusaku fight/fighting him Shima quickly realizes that, Yusaku isn't some newbie who doesn't know how to duel, the opposite really, it's just that he doesn't duel. So one day he does decide to ask what is up with that. Like, 'you're so good at duelling, why do you act like you can't?'

And for the first time, Yusaku opens up (well, more like he starts rambling and doesn't even realize how much he's said till like, after). He doesn't share the details of the LI, that's personal and is between him, his therapist and the rest of the victims, but he does say that he went through something as a child that fucking him up so badly it took years of therapy before he could even look at a deck without feeling physically sick and having a panic attack. And even more before he could pick up a deck and try duelling again. And while he can do that now, he doesn't really have any fun doing it, hasn't had fun since he was little.

Which safe to say is NOT what Shima was expecting, also he realizes that wow, he may have been a bit of an insensitive jerk to Yusaku in the past (he tries to apologize but Yusaku waves it off cause he was an intentional asshole to Shima too so they're kinda even there). But now Shima is determined to help his friend smile again and enjoy duelling b/c duelling is fun damnit, and everyone deserves to have fun.

-The first time he smiles/laughs during a duel is, ironically, the first one he loses. He's notorious for being damn near impossible to beat but one day it happens. He's fighting another club member and, maybe he was distracted, maybe he just got a string of bad draws, but he lost. And something, clicks. He lost, but also, he lost and nothing is happening. There's no pain, no screaming, nothing bad is happening, just some 'oh my god you did it!'s from his opponent's friends while Yusaku just sort of stares at the table. And then, laughs. A tiny little thing, more like a snort, but it slips out. For once there's no consequence (aside from a broken prefect win record) to losing. He can lose without fear of consequence to himself or someone else, it’s such a breath of fresh air it’s like a weight’s been lifted from his shoulders

-Also post canon Akira absolutely puts together a handpicked team to protect Link VRAINS from threats that way Playmaker and co can take a break b/c GOD they’re just kids, let them enjoy being kids while they can. Ema and Kengo are def on it. And he probably gets extra security help from Ryoken, best to keep those hacking skills on his side after all.