pico-farad

[pico-farad]

Shou, Johan, and the spectre of a boy in red.

Marufuji Shou is at the dorm's entrance, looking up at the pristine castle exterior. He's back in the blue uniform he'd worn when Johan met him. "So Judai was the same for you," he says to Johan quietly. And that's how they end up in Johan's bedroom, Shou awkwardly standing by the door while Johan regards him somberly from his seat on the bed. "Congratulations on your promotion," he starts. "Do you feel ready for Blue again?" "I'm surprised you remembered that," Shou mutters. "I thought you were focused on Judai."

Heyo, AO3 embeds are working on Tumblr again! Just in time to post my piece for the Yugioh Rarepair Minibang. Working on this was super fun - it practically wrote itself at times, and I'm a little obsessed with this dynamic now.

This fic is based on @pico-farad's beautiful artwork and extremely compelling thoughts about Shou and Johan, also detailed on the same post. Go check it out immediately! (That and I'm reblogging it right after this post goes up.)

[pico-farad]

SHOUHAN..... MY FAVORITE GX SHIP I'M NOT JOKING.

Have you ever thought about how Shou is extremely protective of his status as Judai's best friend (source: beefing with Kenzan), only for Johan to show up and start calling Judai his best friend left and right. Johan, who is literally better than Shou in every single way, who hits it off with Judai immediately, who is his equal in every way that Shou and Judai aren't.

Have you ever thought about how Johan and Judai are set up to be this perfect match, equals in every way, but it's still not enough. Because when the hero came to save him from the dragon, he chose the dragon instead, and now the person Johan is in love with is sharing a body with the same person who tormented him and tortured his family. Have you ever thought about how Johan and Judai aren't so perfectly matched after all.

Thank you @seventhdoctor for partnering with me for the rarepair minibang! Go read the fic they wrote!

[pico-farad]

Hi! If you feel like it, Yami Marik in 13 would be cool :)

oops, I drew a normal evil Malik instead

palette requests are closed, sorry if I didn't get to yours! but I'll definitely try and do this again some time.

[pico-farad]

POKEMON x GX

tomfoolery

if you think i'm wrong educate urself ↓

JADEN / JUDAI

Eevee -> Umbreon - Brown fluffball = Winged Kuriboh. He's like the Let's Go Eevee who can learn signature moves of all types, evoking the Elemental part of Judai's Heroes. Stays unevolved for a long time (like how Judai stays in Osiris Red) but evolves into Umbreon to represent Judai coming into his powers over the Gentle Darkness

Palafin - Superheroes. That's Aqua Dolphin contact fused with Neos. And his ability is like Mask Change :)

Torracat -> Incineroar - Referenced in this art I made! 1) Cats because of Pharaoh, even has the same stripe pattern 2) Big buff wrestler guy fits with the Heroes 3) Fire and Dark-type representing Osiris Red and the Gentle Darkness 4) Incineroar is stupid and OP like Judai

Hawlucha - Masked Fighting-type also very Hero-like. The green and red evokes Featherman + Flame Wingman.

Zweilous -> Hydreigon - Yubel :) 3-stage Dark Dragon. Zweilous is more similar to Yubel's two-headed forms, but Hydreigon has the terror factor of Yubel's final form.

Buzzwole - Ultra Beasts are extraterrestrial like the Neospacians. Neos (BUFF Fighting-type) contact fused with Flare Scarab (Bug-type) contact fused with Air Hummingbird (red + long beak).

CHAZZ / MANJOUME

Luxray - Electric-type for Manjoume THUNDER. Luxray -> Luxury because he's rich. Also he looks like one lmao. Its ability is RIVALRY.

Haxorus - Armed Dragon. Its ability is ALSO RIVALRY. Deals less damage to Pokemon of the opposite gender and more to the same gender. Manjoume cannot be normal about women and neither can his Pokemon.

Dragapult - XYZ Dragon Cannon. Another pseudo-legendary that probably cost a lot of money.

Scraggy - OJAMA YELLOW.

Impidimp - OJAMA BLACK.

Trubbish - OJAMA GREEN. Stinky :)

ALEXIS / ASUKA

Kirlia -> Gallade - CYBER TUTU. Fairy-type like the Cyber Angels. The fork between evolving into Gardevoir or Gallade represents Asuka being pressured to conform to femininity, ultimately choosing to evolve into Gallade which is a Fighting-type like Asuka's Warrior-type Cyber Girls, and evokes Blade Skater with the arm blades. Has the ability Justified and protects others, like Asuka

Primarina - 1) Counterpart to Judai's Incineroar 2) a singer and performer like Asuka's dancer-themed deck 2.5) Cyber PRIMA, balleRINA 3) Fairy-type 4) blue, pretty 5) I think it originally belonged to Fubuki. They have the same personality.

Oricorio (Sensu) - Dancer. Sensu variant because of the coloration and holding fans like Cyber Angel Benten

Medicham - Fighting-type. Several of the Cyber Angels draw from South Asian mythology. Mega Medicham especially looks like Cyber Angel Vrash

Froslass - Scary female Ice-type evoking her Society of Light/manga decks.

Hisuian Lilligant - Cyber Blader! Female Fighting-type gymnast/ice skater who fights with bladed arms and skates. Also I just learned this, but the Moon entry for Lilligant is "As soon as it finds a male to be its partner, the beautiful flower on its head darkens, droops, and withers away" LMAO. That's Asuka with all the men trying to date her.

SYRUS / SHOU

Revavroom - Vehicroid. He's even got the Vehicroid googly eye. Mono-Steel specialist!

Magnezone - The Vehicroid googly eye :) That's UFOroid. Also evolves by combining like Shou's fusion monsters.

Corviknight - Vehicle (Corviknight taxi service in Galar). Gets bullied.

Excadrill - That's Drillroid (and Grand Mole. Judai traded it to him)

Orthworm - Supposed to look like a subway. Expressroid.

Archaludon - Steel/Dragon representing taking over the Cyber Dragon legacy. Has an urban aesthetic and turns into a bridge; Megaroid City.

ZANE / RYOU

Kommo-o - A dragon covered with metallic plates (learns Steel-type moves too despite not being Steel-type). It seeks out strong opponents, and "after completing its harsh training, returns to its birthplace to protect Jangmo-o. However, it only watches over them from a distance." <- his relationship with his brother.

Steelix - Looks the most like Cyber Dragon

Metagross - The Steel-type pseudo-legendary. I wanted him to have a lot of grossly powerful Pokemon to match his high ATK monsters. It's also a fusion of Beldums/Metangs like his Cyber Dragon fusions, and I think Mega Metagross looks like Cyber Eltanin from the manga.

Hisuian Samurott - I initially had Empoleon for being a Steel-type with an emperor theme (complementing Ryou being Kaiser) but... yeah, Hisuian Samurott is simply the truth. Cold-hearted Dark-type who will do anything to win, unlike OG Samurott who is noble and fair. cyberdragoninfinity got it in one and I have nothing to add.

Kingambit - King. Kaiser. Dark Steel-type. A battle-hungry Pokemon which evolves by standing above all others.

Iron Jugulis - THE CYBEREST DRAGON. From the future, made of LEDs, three heads like Cyber End, Dark like Cyberdark Dragon, described as having the ruthlessness of a machine.

ATTICUS / FUBUKI

Charizard (Shiny) - Black and red for Red-Eyes. Also Charizard and Red-Eyes are both nostalgia-bait. Fubuki is both a Yugiboomer and a genwunner.

Alolan Raichu - Surfer! Raichu is also Gen 1 nostalgia.

Lapras - More classic Gen 1 Pokemon. Pokemon AU Fubuki is probably a Red fanboy. Lapras is a singer (he wants to be an idol), and an Ice-type to match his name (which means blizzard)

Ludicolo - Musical dancing Pokemon. They have the same energy.

Jynx - Dancing, singing Ice-type, who has an association with kissing and love -> the Love Magician.

Darkrai - Darkness. Casting the world into eternal nightmares.

BASTIAN / MISAWA

Alakazam - High intelligence nerd Pokemon. Also he's yellow.

Gyarados - Water Dragon. Hydrogeddon (Water) + Oxygeddon (Flying)

Dartrix -> Decidueye - The final of the starter trio representing the three dorms. In my original Alolan starters GX art I gave Rowlet to Shou (glasses lmao) but since Shou is mono-Steel this time, Misawa can have it as the "yellow" starter. I used Dartrix because it's snooty like Bastian in the dub lol, but I think evolving into Decidueye (Ghost-type) kind of evokes his Yokai deck in the manga. Also is a counterpart to Incineroar (Tania)...

Probopass - Evokes his magnet deck used against Tania and Manjoume.

Reuniclus - Made from three cells/atoms, like a water molecule -> Misawa's chemistry deck.

Porygon-Z - Tri-Attack and wide elemental coverage representing Misawa's 6 attribute decks. Another classic nerd Pokemon. Also the Pokedex entries say that its evolution is spurred by a program that allows it to travel across dimensions, which represents Misawa's research and traveling the spirit worlds.

CHUMLEY / HAYATO

Komala, Kangaskhan, Smeargle - I have nothing to add. Normal Australian Artist. Has a half-size team because he's not much of a trainer and nothing else is as fitting.

ASTER / EDO

Gliscor - Destiny Hero Plasma. Purple, bat wings, a claw pincer, spiky tail, and vampirism (Plasma's other name is Bloo-D, attacks with blood, and drains opponents' ATK points for his own). Also Edo is Batman.

Lokix - It's based on the Kamen Rider superheroes, and is Dark-type reflecting all the anti-heroes in that series, just like how the Destiny Heroes are Dark-attribute anti-heroes. 

Hisuian Sneasel -> Sneasler - ...He looks like one. And acts like one. Its claws look like Plasma's left arm and the spikes behind his head. I used Sneasel in the image because Sneasler is too tall to be Edo lmao but yeah it fits too. A Fighting-type for his Warrior-type Heroes.

Absol - Able to fortell the future referencing his relationship with Saiou and belief in Destiny, but is followed by misfortune as a result because Edo's life is suffering

Ceruledge - Edgy sword guy fueled by resentment and revenge, aka Season 2.

Lunala - 1) Another bat because Edo is Batman, and many of the Destiny Heroes have bat wings and a night motif 2) it looks like Destiny Hero Celestial when it attacks 3) Its form when taken over by Necrozma represents Plasma being infected by the Light of Destruction

SARTORIUS / SAIOU

Malamar - Very Arcana Force-coded, chthonic tentacle being. Legitimately just looks like The Hanged Man and you literally turn your DS upside down to evolve Malamar. Has mind-controlling hypnotic powers -> Society of Light brainwashing (and Saiou himself)

Xatu - Able to see the FUTURE (Saiou) by staring into THE SUN (Light of Destruction).

Gothitelle - Creepy female design looks like the feminine Arcana Forces. It can also see the future from the movement of stars (light). Gothitelle attacks by projecting "dreams of the universe’s end. These dreams are apparently ethereal and beautiful." The Light of Destruction is described as being pure entropy and akin to the heat death of the universe.

Claydol - It looks kind of like The Chariot. It was brought to life from exposure to a "mysterious ray of light." HMM.

Deoxys - Arcana Force Pokemon of all time. The tentacles, the gem cores, the spikes. It's from space like the Light of Destruction. The defense form looks like The Moon. Mutated from exposure to "a laser beam." I'm half convinced the Light of Destruction just exists in Pokemon now, and it might be...

Necrozma (Ultra) - Arcana Force EX - The Light Ruler has a dragon head. Necrozma being an extraterrestrial entity which can take over other Pokemon's bodies. Has a move called Light That Burns The Sky.

HASSLEBERRY / KENZAN

Tyrantrum, Rampardos, Bastiodon, Archeops - Dinosaur :) All chosen for looking like one of his monsters.

Arctozolt, Dracovish - Fossils made by mismatching bones, like the dino bone in his leg lol

BLAIR / REI

Mawile - Acts cute to lower the guard of foes, natural Fake Tears learner, wears yellow. Maiden in Love + Defense Maiden.

Luvdisc - Love. Hearts. Romance.

Plusle - A tag team Pokemon like the Tag Duel in Season 4, and another Fake Tears learner. Red for Osiris Red, and a positive Pokemon who cheers for others, like how she encourages Martin.

Volbeat - Sort of another tag team Pokemon! Volbeat and Illumise are also associated with mating/romance. I went with Volbeat because it's red, and Rei presents as a boy twice and uses masculine pronouns.

Blissey - Egg Pokemon like her Mystic Egg deck she used against Manjoume. Also loves taking care of others, like she does with Martin.

Dragonite - Mystic Dragon.

JESSE / JOHAN

Carbink - Carbuncle encrusted with gemstones. Ruby-sized. Rock and Fairy-type for the Crystal Beasts.

Espeon - Also based on a carbuncle with a ruby in its head, but with the coloration of Amethyst Cat! It's the counterpart to Judai's Umbreon (evolving with friendship representing his bond with spirits + sunlight like Rainbow Dragon)

Arcanine (Shiny) - Mr. Mary Sue needs a shiny Pokemon. Shiny Arcanine is yellow and striped for Topaz Tiger. It's also a mythological creature like many of Johan's cards.

Grotle - Emerald Turtle.

Dragonair - I thought Johan should still have a dragon, and this is the closest to Rainbow Dragon available. Long, decorated with crystals, wings on the head, and said to be able to alter the weather, which means rainbows. Adds blue to his team's color palette.

Ho-oh - The Rainbow Pokemon. Leader of the Legendary Beasts. A bird on the team to evoke Cobalt Eagle. And when Gale of Darkness is remade with a Shadow Ho-oh, that will be Rainbow Dark Dragon :)

ADRIAN / AMON

Altaria - Cloudian

Drifblim - Flying-type and has a cloud on its head. Ghost-types also reference how the Cloudians can't be destroyed in battle.

Cursola - Another Ghost-type. It's a Corsola that was killed by climate change (Amon) so that's Echo. Also kind of looks like a cloud.

Weezing - Because of the Cloudians based on pollution, acid rain, and smoke clouds. And his noxious personality :)

Politoed - Evolves with King's Rock and Amon is obsessed with becoming a king. Also has the ability Drizzle, which fits with his weather-based deck.

Landorus - That's Exodia on a cloud. I think all of the genie Legendaries fit super well with Amon, but I went with Landorus because it has Exodia's coloration and his signature move Sandsear Storm references Amon being from the desert.

JIM

Krookodile - Karen. Jim "Krookodile" Cook. It's a ground-type too to fit with his Earth-attribute Fossil Warriors. And it's a cool motherfucker like Jim.

Nidoking - A king for Fossil Warrior Skull King. Also looks like Fossil Dragon Skullgar.

Duskull - One red eye for the Eye of Orichalcum. The skull motif also reflects his Fossil deck (all of the fusions have "Skull" in the name) and Ghost-typing reflects how they are fused with materials from the graveyard.

Kabutops - Fossil. It just looks like a Fossil Warrior.

Marowak - More skull and bones and graveyard motif.

Rhyhorn - Rhyhorn is rideable (in X/Y) which represents the Fossil Machine fusions. He also looks like Fossil Machine Skull Buggy.

AXEL / O'BRIEN

Armarouge - Arm gun. Designed to look like a soldier (which O'Brien refers to himself as). Learns Destiny Bond too, which is like how he forces a tie against Haou Judai.

Skeledirge - A fire gator which matches Jim's Krookodile. The Volcanic monsters look vaguely reptilian too. Also I think spamming Torch Song is like the Blaze Accelerator cards. 

Turtonator - He explodes. Volcanic SHELL.

Centiskorch - I think it kind of looks like a clip of ammo. Bug-type also evokes the "ammo" Volcanics like Shell and Scattershot which have carapaces.

Alolan Marowak - Matches Jim's regular Marowak. Also a reference to his mom trauma in the duel with Trueman lmao

Magmortar - Arm cannon fire pew pew

CROWLER / CHRONOS

Klingklang - Gear.

Golurk - Ancient Golem.

Oranguru - The teacher Pokemon, signature move Instruct :)

Bronzong - Ancient Steel-type.

Copperajah - Big hulking Steel-type. I think its trunk looks like Ancient Gear Golem's fist. And elephants are maternal creatures and Chronos loves his kids <3

Meltan - I really wanted to give him Melmetal because it looks like an Ancient Gear (hulking Steel-type from ancient times made of nuts and bolts) but I avoid giving Legendaries to characters unless it fits narratively... It seems like Meltans just run around though, so Chronos can have a metal baby.

BANNER / DAITOKUJI

Skitty - Pharaoh <3 Has Pharaoh's and Daitokuji's eyes. I considered Galarian Meowth too though, for being made of metal like the Alchemy Beasts.

Cofagrigus - He's a mummy and the Helios cards are mummies and he explored ancient tombs. Cofagrigus is also made of gold (like Golden Homunculus) and evolves from Yamask (used to be human and has a kind of wimpy personality like Daitokuji, references his involvements with Fubuki and Fujiwara and the mask of Darkness)

Solrock - A sun rock for his Helios cards and the Alchemy Beasts being Rock-types.

Sigilyph - Found in the ruins of ancient civilizations.

Gholdengo - The boss of his deck, Golden Homunculus. The ultimate goal of alchemy to transmute metals into gold. Ghost-type because he's dead.

Necrozma (Dusk Mane) - 1) It's a cat 2) Solgaleo = Helios the Primordial Sun 3) Steel-type like the metal Alchemy Beasts 4) Taken over by Necrozma representing his role in the Darkness stuff with Fubuki and Fujiwara, and helping Kagemaru

FUJIWARA

Eternal Floette - HONEST. Fairy-type waiting for his master who has sunk into despair due to the death of his loved ones and brought about an entity that will absorb all life on Earth.

Yamask -> Runerigus - The Darkness mask. Yamask crying over the memories of its former life and searching for someone who remembers it -> Fujiwara's relationship with memories and fear of being forgotten. The Galarian version being a vengeful curse which takes possession of a Yamask. Runerigus matching Daitokuji's Cofagrigus in reference to his role in Fujiwara's disappearance.

Hisuian Zoroark - Normal-type representing the attribute-less Clear World cards. Persisted beyond death through its utter resentment for every living thing on Earth. Uses illusions to torment others to madness (the Darkness nightmares). Can change its form like Honest and Trueman.

Mega Sableye - Visually evokes the Clear World monsters, which are encased in that crystal.

Nihilego - Nihilism. A parasite which latches onto others to manipulate them (Darkness), feeding mostly on "those who feel intense worry or anxiety." Also white/transparent/a rock like the Clear World cards.

Necrozma - The black form of Necrozma to represent Darkness and how it latches onto and possesses others, siphoning their energy. Necrozma's relationship to Solgaleo and Lunala is a reference to eclipses, which is also how Darkness is given form.

I used this trainer card maker

[pico-farad]

same anon as earlier! I've begun vrains and oh, the shenaniganary we could've had...

That last point on your post had me put down my phone for a solid minute just to imagine a frantic Revolver showing up in link vrains to ask Playmaker if the headline is true.

Either A. Playmaker stays silent and it's simultaneously better and worse, or B. He actually laughs, or C. He's very disappointed, and tries to track Revolver down via his newsfeed subscription

You mentioned giving Kusanagi Akira's "you're just a kid/go live your life" talk (unless those are two different ones), any details on how you see that going?

started an answer and then ended up with a whole Season 1 outline here you go anon

The Yusaku-Kusanagi conflict would probably be the big emotional climax of "Season 1." In retrospect, I liked the sense of mystery that Season 1 had, where they introduce you to Yusaku and make you wonder: what happened to him? What is the Lost Incident? What is Ai? Who is Hanoi? I'd probably play the mystery up even more in SIAU, and have the Lost Incident reveal much later (in canon, it's revealed by episode 20 with the Akira duel).

Like in canon, Kusanagi is the one who suggests Yusaku join the Duel Club to get closer to Aoi Zaizen, as their gateway to SOL Technologies through her brother. Since I've deleted the Blue Angel Yugioh Girl Coma plot point, this would become a longer "Duel Club arc" I suppose, where the following things happen:

1. Slice-of-life shenanigans to establish the characters

2. Yusaku trying to get closer to Aoi to gain access to her brother/SOL. Now that I think about it, this is really funny, and probably what makes Akira go into overprotective "he's trying to date my sister!" mode. This goes horribly the first few times (Yusaku being Yusaku, Aoi being used to people only approaching her because of her brother -> related to feeling disconnected from real life and why she finds solace in being Blue Angel, where people love her for her own merits). There's also some fun stuff to be done here with Aoi's conflict with her brother.

Yusaku: *manipulating a high school girl in order to tear down her brother and the megacorp he serves* Aoi: *feeling like she might finally be able to confide in someone* I just feel like I never get to see him. And when I do, he doesn't really listen to me :( Yusaku: (......Shit.)

3. Interspersed flashbacks and references to the Lost Incident + VRAINS skirmishes, making it clear that the reason he has trouble integrating into the Duel Club is that his mind is always being pulled away by something that the audience doesn't grasp yet.

4. Some stuff with Ai, establishing him as a character and building on the Ignis mystery (I'm working on answering a different ask pertaining to this)

So this would conclude with Yusaku succeeding at infiltrating SOL or whatever, digging up the dirt on the Lost Incident, and probably having a confrontation with Akira.

If you're only in S1 you might not have gotten to it yet, but I'd probably write a different backstory altogether for how Yusaku and Kusanagi met, and they don't really have that level of trust/partnership yet.

An idea I just had is that maybe Kusanagi doesn't actually know what happened during the Lost Incident? He knows that Jin and five others were kidnapped, but he doesn't know what they went through or why. Jin won't talk to him, and the investigators kept the information behind red tape.

It's so much more visceral if the moment that Kusanagi learns what happened to Yusaku and his brother is the exact same moment that it's finally revealed to the audience. He's our stand-in -- we experience the horror and realization through Kusanagi.

Bonus points if Yusaku did not want Kusanagi to find out the way he does. I don't know exactly how I want this to go -- something like Yusaku being strangely cagey and secretive about the data from SOL, which leads Kusanagi to go behind his back and look at the data, and he finds... footage. Of the kids, his brother and Yusaku. Being electrocuted and starved and forced to duel, crying for help that will never come.

Kusanagi is horrified and furious, but Yusaku is even more furious when he discovers the incursion. That's his trauma, his deepest vulnerability that Kusanagi just witnessed, in violation of his trust. And Yusaku looks at him, and sees the damn pity in his eyes, and he hates it.

This somehow leads to the big fight where Kusanagi doesn't want Yusaku to fight Hanoi anymore, because he's realizing that Yusaku's just a kid like his brother, who's hurt, and this single-minded quest may not be healthy for him.

(I'm improvising, but it's even better if Yusaku's battle with Akira was a really close call and even though he got what he was looking for, he took some real and/or psychological damage in the process, which is a wake up call for Kusanagi that Yusaku is taking on a massive risk/burden for this)

He tells Yusaku that he should go and be a normal high schooler, and leave Hanoi/SOL to him, an adult. But it doesn't work, because why would Yusaku trust adults with anything? Kusanagi just broke his trust. Like in the canon confrontation with Akira, Kusanagi doesn't understand that Yusaku can't just go and be a normal high schooler, because he cannot move on from the trauma of his past without some form of closure.

(dramatic mic-drop where Yusaku goes "I quit" and leaves the hot-dog truck. Ryoken is devastated -- where is the hot-dog guy?!?! that's 30% of the people he talks to!)

This is Yusaku's lowest point in the season, where he resolves to work alone and never trust others again, but struggles because although it's true that he can't just abandon the past, it's also true that moving forward isn't possible without existing in the present, which in the context of the themes built up means the relationships he's made through learning to connect with others.

This culminates in the final battle (this might be the Tower of Hanoi, or just some similar scheme) where Yusaku recklessly tries to take on the enemy on his own and ends up getting overwhelmed, but in a classic shonen moment, Kusanagi saves Yusaku. I'm thinking he reached out to Go Onizuka and Blue Angel to get them to show up and help Yusaku, and all three of them -- two who don't even know that they're talking to their Duel Club friend -- tell Playmaker that he doesn't have to fight alone. He's not alone.

Yusaku and Kusanagi make up, and it's a turning point for Yusaku as he understands that he needs Kusanagi's support and he can't win this fight by himself, and Kusanagi starts to genuinely try and understand Yusaku, that he needs this for this own healing process.

Friendship... growth... connection......

YUGIOOOOOHHHHHH!!!!!!

[pico-farad]

Aki in 10!

the 5ds designs were really good

still taking palette requests!

[pico-farad]

hello as someone who knows next to nothing about vrains, may I ask for more of your secret identity au? Pretty please?

Took a while, it got longer than expected, but here's various stray ideas I had :)

Original Secret Identities AU

I want Yusaku and Aoi to have cute civilian smurf accounts. Yusaku's is the equivalent of the default Mii.

Everyone is convinced that Aoi is a Blue Angel superfan and keeps gifting her Blue Angel merch, which only makes her look more like a superfan. Do you know how embarrassing it is to fall asleep surrounded by pictures of your own face?

Go is super proud that he managed to get a Blue Angel autograph from Blue Angel herself, as a perk of fighting Hanoi together. Aoi has to pretend to be surprised by the autograph she signed herself yesterday.

There's some joke to be made, about Naoki being a Playmaker stan and Aoi being a "Blue Angel stan."

Naoki: Well, Yusaku!? Whose side are you on!? *has made up a conflict between him and Aoi about who is cooler, Playmaker or Blue Angel* Aoi: (I don't actually care though...) Yusaku: ... *also does not care* Yusaku: Go Onizuka. Go: *literally overjoyed*

Go is still recruited by SOL in this AU, and he's assigned a mission to unmask Playmaker (while being fed information by SOL about how Playmaker is a threat to society and such) setting up for the most dramatic confrontation possible when he eventually succeeds only to find out that it's Yusaku.

A growing issue with SIAU Yusaku is that he has to learn how to be friends with people. Due to his trauma and his hyperfocus on his Vrains life in order to pursue vengeance, his real life is the one that feels not real, inconsequential, and like the IRL Yusaku is a shell or facade.

Consequently, Yusaku doesn't think he's doing anything bad by deceiving his friends, or even realize that he values their friendship. When he has to fight against his friends as Playmaker, Kusanagi is like "hey... are you sure you're okay doing this?" and Yusaku is like "? Why wouldn't I be?"

But when he has the confrontation with Go he realizes "oh...... this feels bad :("

Ai urges Yusaku to go into hiding because Go will give his real identity to SOL. They end up in an ambush that Ai thinks is a result of their cover being blown, but actually Go shows up and betrays SOL to save Yusaku because they're FRIENDS.

You know who else makes me sick in the head. Aoi and Akira.

Akira: I find you despicable. Your fans hang onto your every word, yet instead of using your influence to foster the safety of VRAINS, you instead promote this Playmaker propaganda just to further your own popularity. Have you no shame? Akira: And now my poor sister is entertaining ideas of going into VRAINS herself. Don't you know how dangerous that is right now? Ever since becoming a fan of you, she's been increasingly unreasonable. Blue Angel: ...Your sister is her own person. She can make her own decisions. And she's stronger than you think.

In the Blue Angel secret identity reveal, Akira is in danger and she steps in and protects her brother, sacrificing her secret to do so. The culmination of their arc is that Akira finally understands that Aoi didn't need his protection, because *she* is strong enough to protect *him*

Probably the most obvious choice for a secret identities story would be to have a Yor-Yuri-esque subplot where Akira, being the overprotective onii-san he is, thinks Yusaku is romantically interested in Aoi and a series of comical shovel interactions occur.

TBH, I have a soft spot for fake dating (which is not romantic and does not have romantic implications and does not turn into real dating) and I think Yusaku-Aoi fake dating arc would be really funny, but it doesn't feel like it would fit the Yugioh style.

But this is my AU :) painfully awkward fake-dating to get back at Akira but ends up being horrible for everyone.

Kusanagi is trying and failing to get Yusaku to understand how to be a het boyfriend. Ai is giving terrible advice during the fake dates while Yusaku tries to shove him back in the Duel Disk. Both of them simultaneously trying not to blow their covers.

Somehow the truth gets so distorted that "Blue Angel is Secretly Dating Playmaker" makes headlines (it's Naoki's fault. Everyone is upset about this) and Ryoken has an aneurysm when he reads it.

[pico-farad]

GX Week 2024 @gxweek Day 5 - Trio

I think their final evos fit them even better but I didn't want to draw them

[pico-farad]

GX Week 2024 @gxweek Day 1 - Red

wake up get up get out there

[pico-farad]

Secret Identities AU #3

revolver, soulburner, kusanagi, and ghost girl

SIAU tag

⇀ Revolver

So the reason I didn't address Revolver in this AU before is because with the other characters (Yusaku, Naoki, Go, Aoi) I tried to keep them recognizable. The changes made are mostly in their circumstances, but their core traits are the same.

That's not the case with SIAU Revolver.

In a secret identities story, half the fun is how characters show off a different side of themselves. People love Contrast, so I was disappointed that with Vrains, Aoi is kind of the only one who takes advantage of that (and then it drops off after season 1). You could argue Takeru but... I want a true old fashioned Alter Ego, where the secret identity is something that frees you to become someone else.

Anyway, I want to make IRL Ryoken a pathetic, unsocialized, sopping wet cat.

I want him to be a basement-dwelling, chronically on Reddit and StackOverflow, miserable little nerd who only goes outside to eat hotdogs. You can keep Revolver exactly the same with his smirks and his monologues, but when he logs off of Vrains, he has a nervous breakdown over the landscaper making eye contact with him through a window.

It's absolutely bait, and people would gobble it right up. The ultimate Yugioh meow meow. 

He may be a hacking genius, but he can't take care of himself. The Knights of Hanoi look up to Revolver-sama with utmost loyalty, but outside of Vrains he's useless and they have to do everything for him. They beg him to make one relationship outside of Hanoi, so of course he just goes with the boy from the hot dog truck, the only person he sees semi-regularly.

Secret identity stories thrive from betrayal. Ryoken will never recover from the betrayal that the hot dog guy is Playmaker.

And while I'm at it, I think it would be fun if mid-series, he shows up at Yusaku's school as a transfer student for Hanoi Reasons. You weebs know what I'm talking about. Yusaku's mind is drifting in class as he thinks about how there's been no sign of Revolver since The Confrontation. The teacher announces that they'll be having a new student in class. Yusaku looks up, their eyes meet, and he thinks to himself Oh hell no. And Ryoken is having an even worse time.

Think of the possibilities, okay?

⇀ Soulburner

I had some comments on the first SIAU post saying that they'd love to see Takeru fitting into the Yusaku Defense Squad, but the thing is, Takeru isn't really a character I would have created if I was actually making SIAU from scratch.

Like I've said before, Soulburner was added to Season 2 because Yusaku needed a real "best friend character." But in SIAU, he already has Naoki, he has Go, he has Aoi, he even has Kusanagi and Ai. Making him Yusaku's best friend would not only be redundant, but it would undercut the friendship arcs that were developed and earned through "Season 1."

Originally I thought that I would have just cut him out completely, but I've come up with a better idea. This one's also going to be quite divergent from canon.

While I was doing research, I read a lot of fan reactions from when the episodes were coming out live, and the widespread theory about Soulburner... was that he would be the Bakura of Vrains. That is, a character who was friendly, but either reveals themself as or becomes something twisted and antagonistic. It's not a rigid definition, but some classic examples would be like Ryou from GX, Kiryu, Rei from Zexal, and Sora. A lot of people were waiting for the other shoe to drop with Soulburner, but it never did.

I'll sign onto it though. I'm not sure how I'd make it work exactly. IRL Takeru, the "facade," can be the soft-spoken, normie glasses guy that we see in Vrains, but I don't think I'd make Soulburner as... unhinged as the Bakura usually is, since Spectre already exists. I might model his personality more off spiky Takeru, the one we see in the Blood Shepherd flashback. Intense, angry, unstable, prone to lashing out whether you deserve it or not. And well, maybe he can be a little unhinged too... as a treat.

Ultimately, Soulburner should be an antagonist, so it makes the most sense to put him on the side of the Ignis. I'd erase the Bohman stuff (sorry Bohman likers...) so that this conflict is represented by Yusaku being in conflict with Soulburner, and Ai being in conflict with the rest of the Ignis. I think it also makes for a more compelling story if the Ignis are a united faction, and Playmaker and Ai are stuck in the center of a three-way conflict between SOL, Hanoi, and the Ignis. It makes Ai's conflict much more poignant, that all of the Ignis are asking him to join their side against humanity, but he can't make that decision. The Ignis dynamic would also be interesting to explore in this scenario, with Lightning, Aqua, Windy, and Flame actually being on the same side. 

As for what Soulburner is doing on the Ignis's side, I'd have to... develop the plot a lot more... Maybe the Ignis are using him? It would require the Ignis to be more sinister, especially Flame. It could be connected to the Ignis targeting their Lost Incident counterparts; rather than the SOLtis route, they plan to use actual human bodies as hosts. That would be pretty compelling, and it's a Yugioh classic. I'd be so down for Kusanagi dueling Lightning in Jin's body, and Earth facing Spectre to try and steal his body (maybe even succeeding and infiltrating the Knights of Hanoi? That could be fun). The Flame and Soulburner relationship could also be fascinating in this iteration, although I'm not exactly sure where I'd go with it.

Open to other thoughts on how to make Bakura!Soulburner work!

⇀ Kusanagi

I want him to have more of a surrogate brother dynamic with Yusaku. With a greater emphasis placed on Yusaku's secret identity, Kusanagi being the only person who knows that about him becomes even more important, as someone who knows both sides of his life and can see how each affects the other.

I think it's clear that Kusanagi feels like he failed Jin, and I think it would be poignant for that to bleed into how he sees Yusaku. Because he's thinking about the life that Jin should have lived. 

He's the one who encourages Yusaku to make friends with the Duel Club, and translates normal high school interactions for him when Yusaku doesn't understand them, and worries about him balancing being Playmaker and his personal life.

Since Zaizen stays an antagonist in this AU, I would give that confrontation to Kusanagi instead: about how Yusaku is a child and a victim and should leave this to the adults.

At first, Kusanagi just sees Yusaku as an ally to find those responsible for the Lost Incident, but as they grow closer, he sees Yusaku as his brother, someone who was hurt, who's still a child, who should be living a normal high school life, and feels more uneasy about Yusaku taking on the heaviest burden in pursuit of his revenge. Zaizen's platitude of "Leave this to me, you don't need to do this, I'll find those responsible" carries more weight if Kusanagi is the one saying it to Yusaku.

The fallout drama... immaculate.

⇀ Ghost Girl

In SIAU, I want there to be a greater emphasis of different factions in conflict not just with Yusaku but with each other. And I want Ghost Girl to play for all of them because she deserves to backstab as many people as possible.

Also, since there isn't a true "secret identity plot twist" so far, I think it would be fun for Ghost Girl to be the one. By which I mean her true identity is revealed to be someone who's been under our noses the entire time. Corny I know, but it's Yugioh. I think it would be fun.

Specifically I want her to be that secretary with a crush on Akira. Hayami. I want her to be spilling coffee on Akira and blushing and going "Oh Chief Zaizen!" while inserting dubious USBs into his computer behind his back. I THINK IT WOULD BE FUN, OKAY?

I'm not sure if I would include Blood Shepherd in this AU, I don't know if he would add anything. But I'll always be a sucker for a complicated sibling dynamic, so who knows? Maybe he infiltrates SOL at the same time as her and they're both fighting over the dubious USB behind Zaizen's back LMAO

[pico-farad]

Naoki: Thanks, Yusaku. Yusaku: ? For what? Naoki: For putting up with me. For being my friend. I... I've never really had a friend before. Naoki: ... Naoki: Playmaker isn't really my best friend. He doesn't even know I exist. I just thought... he's so cool and amazing. Someone like that would never even notice me, but I just wanted to imagine he did. Naoki: After meeting you, though, I realized I had the completely wrong idea about what a friend is. Friendship is something that goes both ways. You can't be friends with someone unless they know you, and you know them. So now? Naoki: You're my best friend, Yusaku.

can you imagine turning the playmaker's best friend punchline into the biggest gut-punch in the entire series and also a commentary on parasocial relationships

More Secret Identities AU

[pico-farad]

Top 5's of 2024!

my recs:

Chants of Sennaar - a narrative puzzle game "where language is both the lock and the key." The act of translating words is really satisfying, and the ending stunned me.

Scavenger's Reign - sci-fi stranded in a dangerous land, gorgeously terrifying. Has the most phenomenal creature and world design I've ever seen, and the atmospheric writing is stellar.

Mercury Pictures Presents - a winding story of immigrants forming a studio and a family in 1940's Hollywood. What can I say, nobody can turn a phrase like Anthony Marra.

[pico-farad]

randomized screenshot redraw requests (originals under cut)

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my first year of being full-time YGO-brained <3

please do not perceive my lack of a consistent style

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did you guys know about louise the true victim of 4Kids censorship

she's not even a beaver...

[pico-farad]

aaaaaaa omg you've finished vrains?? what did you think of s3? any fav moments? :D

I've got a lot of thoughts and I'm working on a huge Vrains post (actually, two huge Vrains posts)! S3 is interesting to me, it's understandably a mess, but it also has some of Vrains's best writing.

My favorite episode(s) of Vrains are the Ai vs. Pandor duel.

"Yeah we could duel in virtual reality.... but we could also duel on top of a moving plane"

yesss... YES......!! Now THIS is Yugioh. 

The line writing is surprisingly good, and Ai's VA does a fantastic job with it. The grief and resentment that sit just beneath the jokes serves to make the whole thing more bittersweet. I have some concerns with how sharply they veer Ai's character, but this duel sold me on it.

What gets me about this duel is that these are two people who like each other. You can see it in how they talk to each other, how Ai can't help but be honest, coming close to confessing everything to her.

Pandor: Have you given up on co-existing with humans? Ai: Seems so. I've already hurt humans, so I don't think they'll forgive me. And I have no intention of turning back. Pandor: You're going to exterminate humans? Ai: I don't intend to, but it may end up that way. I don't know, myself. Pandor: Is it impossible for humans and AI to co-exist? Ai: I don't know that either. It was impossible for me. But I won't say it's impossible for you, or for future AI that have free will. As long as there is free will, I can't deny that possibility, that everyone's lives can be one. All I'm saying is that I couldn't co-exist. Pandor: Ai... I sense an incredible sadness from you. Ai: Ugh, stop with that... I don't want anyone to know that. Except for one person.

Unlike all of Ai's other duels, he doesn't have any resentment or mixed feelings towards Pandor; he sees her as kin. That's why their interaction feels so tragic, because Ai is the last of his kind (Roboppi isn't quite self-aware yet) so he gets this opportunity to talk with someone who's like him, someone who is not complicit in the deaths of the Ignis, but they're on opposite sides, and he has to kill her. Which probably feels like how he had to kill his friends.

And Pandor is the only character who sees Ai without betrayal or defensiveness clouding their judgment -- and she sees through him completely. It's amazing. This damn therapy-empathy bot just won't stop seeing into his soul and telling him to stop hurting and killing himself -- while they're both trying to kill each other. FANTASTIC. THAT'S WHAT I LOVE TO SEE.

He wants her to be free from being controlled by humans just as much as she wants his salvation. But they have to fight each other, and die, while the humans all get to live.

And on then on top of being deeply tragic, this is also the funniest episode in Vrains. Because tragedy makes comedy funnier, and comedy makes tragedy sadder.

BRO JUST WANTS TO SEE TOPOLOGINA NAYBEE.

I definitely think that if season 3 was allowed to be its full length, we would have gotten more from Pandor, maybe even see her join Ai's side. After all, it's a classic Chekov's gun to have Revolver of all people create a sentient AI and be like "it's fine, I programmed her not to betray humans." Bruh, of course she's going to betray humans. It's as classic as the story of Pandora's Box itself.

Anyway, if you want to know my top Vrains duels, they are:

Ai vs. Pandor

Spectre vs. Lightning

Yusaku vs. Revolver (s1 finale)

And my favorite characters are 1. Ai, 2. Roboppi, 3. Aoi.

To be honest, at the end of season 2 I was feeling pretty bummed about characters I liked at first becoming less interesting as time went on. I was fully prepared with the joke about my favorite Vrains character being Hatsune Miku, mostly on the virtue of "you can't write 10000 words about a character and say you don't like her." But these two cat-coded AIs snuck in at the last moment to charm me.

[pico-farad]

i finished vrains

..............yeah I liked them LMAO. cat coded mfers