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bakugouisabitch · 4 years ago

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What do you think Ryou's soul room looks like?

sorry for the late reply. I honestly had some things to do lately and I knew it would take me some time to reply to this, anyway

I’ve seen many posts speculating about Ryou’s soul room and from what they say overall they mostly see it as this room of a simple boy, ofc, but with some dark traces or secrets hidden away thanks to the influence of the ring (see here and there) - which is a very realistic way of seeing his soul room imo because no matter how many times they try to deny it (in canon itself) the spirit of the ring has 100% been a big influence in Ryou’s life . period. It left an impact, for sure, and naturally so, otherwise, it’s just sloppy characterisation which is a common bad habit with the Bakuras I noticed anyway I am digressing...

Drawing conclusions from the fanon’s pov, I also tried to analyse some of the canon content... In the anime we were blessed with that wonderful, good-quality animated episode 79 which is literally just a Bakura filler cause none of it is shown in in the manga and in that episode (if you watch the sub version cause it was cut out in the dub) we can see, before that moment where Malik and Yami Bakura are talking “inside Bakura’s host”, a transition that goes:

...from Ryou’s dreaming face -> to Domino City -> to outer space -> and then this:

I’m 99% sure this is the animators’ idea/theory of Ryou’s soul room - which looks very similar to Yugi’s in fact.

You can clearly notice that it starts with an “opening of doors” sequence, almost like we’re entering a room, and it ends with another set of opening doors as well in the same ancient style of Windows Moviemaker. What i guess we can decipher from that, is that Malik was looking around for Yami Bakura, entering Ryou’s soul room at first and then leaving it. The next “room” we see might even be Yami Bakura’s soul room - even if it looks just like a vast space/infinite sky.

Here we see Malik in the middle of this infinite space. The “opening of doors” that precedes this setting is a clear sign for me that we are NOT in Ryou’s soul room anymore here. Also cause Malik says:

“...found it.” So he was probably looking around for Yami Bakura’s soul room, proving in fact that he was in Ryou’s before that. We even see Yami Bakura “flying” and coming from somewhere else to reach Malik:

...so we can’t even imagine how big and vast and almost infinite Bakura’s soul room might be (the concept of it being infinite even makes sense when you think about how big/endless Atem’s soul room is - the labyrinth of stairs)

Yami Bakura’s first reaction to that is:

which proves to us even more that Malik really managed to enter their soul rooms in this scene. Also because it makes sense since he gained access with it through the Rod. I like the idea of Yami Bakura having to fly to talk with him because I think his soul room is so vast and has more to offer than anyone can imagine...

ANYWAY, sorry i am digressing again - we were talking about Ryou here:

Ryou’s soul room looks pretty similar to Yugi’s: a room full of scattered toys of their childhood. What is peculiar about Ryou’s is that, between all the toys of cars and Godzilla and a big ass soldier, we see what looks like some sort of Barbie dolls:

here is one, and another:

One could, of course, conclude from that that Ryou liked to play with Barbie dolls as a kid (which is fucking CUTE) BUT i have to say that seeing that second doll placed right next to a figurine of a plane with a broken wing kind of feels like... telling to me... I know these are all headcanons but what if these dolls are supposed to be Amane’s toys?

What we know about Amane - Bakura's deceased sister - is that she died at a young age, with her mother, in a car accident - so it’s no reach to think that this plane and the fact that it is broken might even suggest that some of these toys might have even belonged to Ryou’s little sister at the time of the tragic incident?? And he keeps them in his soul room as a memory of a past long gone in which they used to play together and he was more happy ofc and careless?? fucking tragic, i know.

So... what I’m gathering from that animation sequence is that the toys in Ryou’s soul room do NOT ONLY symbolise some sort of innocence in him - kind of like in Yugi’s case - but they give me more of a nostalgic meaning, because in fact if we have to point out the difference between his and Yugi’s childhood, in Ryou’s case it’s marked by memories of a past long gone, a state of being he never got to live again ever since the tragic event. But the fact that he keeps them in his soul room symbolise like a longing, imo, of that peaceful state of mind he used to know back then, only as a child. *cries*

So, in conclusion, if you want to hear my version of Ryou’s soul room it would in fact be very similar to what the animators did there: A scattered pile of toys and objects of his past, his innocence, and his nostalgia. More objects that allude to his sister cause let’s not forget he still writes letters to her in heaven like shown in the manga and his mother, and the natural grieving that comes with it. Plus, i would add some duel monster cards and most of all some figurines of his DnD campaigns, cause they left an impact on his life as well. I’d imagine most of them are placed neatly inside a glass case, like a proud collection, but the ones hidden in the back are stained with blood and have cracks on their surface - cause a big portion of traumatic events that happened in his life were, unfortunately, alluded to these DnD figurines.

Since we can also see walls in some depictions of these soul rooms (like in Anzu’s case we can see them belonging to a dance room), I like to imagine Ryou’s walls to be transparent, made of glass, and reflecting onto that vast sky-like place that seems to belong to Yami Bakura’s soul “room”. Cause as much as it might be painful for him, he is always fully exposed to the spirit. Whatever goes on inside his room, or his head, is for the spirit to see and control, whereas he still has no clue from where or what that spirit comes from - and it’s portrayed in that infinite space he can only gaze upon but never venture in. But I like to think, by the time the Millennium World arc took place, most of his DnD figurines were immersed in sand, and the vast space he gazed upon changed into that of an ancient village, wrecked and abandoned, but for Ryou finally clear to see.

sorry this got so long omg

#bakura #yami bakura #yugioh #yu-gi-oh #ryou bakura #marik ishtar #malik ishtar #ygo #ask #icouldbesus #ygo discourse #malik #tendershipping #cause yes sorry #ziggy talks #*

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answrs · 5 years ago

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Catbun Shiro AU

I promised to post my notes for this au and then never got on the desktop to do it, asdfkl sorry y’all. :x @headspacedad this one’s for you. (I reeeeeally hope this isn’t too confusing, it’s mostly a big jumble of notes for the au assembled in relative order to something resembling a plot. so uh, you’ve been warned. there’s pictures at the end though!)

Important note on setting, since I’m deathly allergic to basically anything besides the existence of characters post season 2, the whole deal with the castle is pretty malleable as a setting to me. basically, castleship wasn’t destroyed, at least not entirely. it’s disabled and most of it is too damaged to inhabit, but the lion hangars and the controls are still functional, if a bit beat up. (tbh mostly because it’s much easier than trying to juggle everyone with the lions as the only transport). so they’ll end up setting up camp close to the lions with Allura and Coran having a quick way to get to the control room to steer the castle out of any action they fall into, since the weapons/defenses are basically shot. no time travel nonsense or other funky shenanigans either, but the characters are all there.

also I’ve never written voltron before and it shows asdfkl but I TRIED AND THAT’S WHAT MATTERS

Now that’s out of the way, the actual good part of the au, the plot! :p

It happens when Allura tries to smash “their” Shiro into the clone’s body. Something goes wrong, or maybe Shiro’s soul is just so affronted by the idea of them expecting him to just... nonconsensually wrest control from an already occupied body. But he’s still being yanked back onto the mortal plane and if he doesn’t have a body his mind will die, so either subconsciously on his part or purposefully on Black’s, it rebounds into the nearest available viable occupancy.

The group watches as Allura struggles, frustratedly trying to shove “Real” Shiro into the traitor’s body, but before they can comprehend the shock and despair on her face as the tendril of essence is ripped away from her, the black lion roars and bursts away, no pilot at the helm and racing towards stars-knows-where.

It’s a small junk planet of sorts, with no obvious humanoid or sentient species. Shiro is groggy and stumbling around because there is very much something wrong with his limbs…

(the black lion seems much larger than he remembers and oh look he can see his reflection in her plating now and whoops…)

The body looking back out at him from the mirrored surface is some sort of small quadruped creature. Its fur is entirely black, or possibly a dark gray, but for the tuft of bright white on the head just like his former body’s had had. did whatever stuck him in this thing have just that sheer luck finding a body, or was that obnoxious hairstyle just inexplicably tied to his soul now-? (he can feel Black huffing her laughter in his mind, she'd had the option of a body with matching fur to her namesake color, but his quintessence had bleached his new little mane going in. or… something to that effect, at least. he'd gotten much more fluent in translating her thoughts and images into words in that void of her mind, but a year could only teach you so much with a whole universe's worth of cultural (and species) divide.)

rolling the steel grey eyes- again just like his own- or would it be former? body ("windows to the soul", a quote surfaces in his memory), he goes back to plotting out this new vessel. It's quite fluffy, but he can make out two long ears that remind him of a rabbit. the hind legs are elongated like one too, though not to the extent an Earth's species' would be, he thinks. The tail poking out just behind them is short too, but reminds him more of the grouchy old cat his grandmother kept when he was growing up. opening his mouth, the similarities to the old bobtail seem to extend to its dentition too, pointed fangs indicative of whatever species this was being at least some sort of predator. Life hadn't been kind to the former inhabitant, and not just that this body had been recently vacated. nicks are evident on an ear, and he'd bet the unkempt fur covered up at least a few scars of its own. But thankfully none of his own scars had seemingly crossed over on top of the rest. he can very much feel his (formerly) missing arm… paw? and he starts when it finally dawns on him just how much easier his breathing is without that huge scar marring the bridge of his nose.

the team arrive to find Black lying in a covered clearing of sorts, calm as can be, and shields down. nothing seems amiss but as they get closer, Lance with his sharpshooting eye is the first to spot something on Black's muzzle. with everyone on edge after the clone, even the local fauna don't get a pass from their scrutiny and they ready their weapons, but the moment a charge starts to hum the shields slam up, startling them.

(the clone = Ryou/Jiro/Taka, Shiro’d called him many things watching him from his place in Black, which is absolutely of course not just an excuse I’m making up because I can’t decide what he decides to go by so I just keep using them interchangeably sorry if it’s confusing D:)

Once the team collects Black and her finally returned passenger, Shiro absolutely is constantly sitting on Ryou's head, or riding on his shoulder, or just generally hanging out around the clone.

(Honestly, at first it's also because he's not entirely sure he trusts anyone, clone or not, not to do anything rash and he'll be damned if he's not be there to prevent another tragedy.)

(He's still rather indignant on the man's behalf, honestly, and even if he can somewhat see why the group reacted how they did he doesn't accept their actions. And he's been watching the guy through Black basically the whole time, it was so obvious to him the poor kid was being controlled against his will. Not to mention his reaction afterward, how he doesn't trust himself and is afraid of hurting anyone even tied up and literally disarmed in the back of the cockpit the group is convened in. Maybe Black has rubbed off on him with treating her chosen paladins as cubs to be protected, but he sees him almost as a little brother and it rubs him the wrong way how he's being treated by the group. So even if the comfort he can offer him is little and a bit strange, he'll chill on his leg for hours for a nap and some eventual fingers combing through his fur when the clone is finally distracted enough to not be thinking about it.)

It’s possible Shiro had been part of Black long enough to pick up how to communicate through the lion's bond, and uses it to talk to his new little brother. (It’s certainly a lot easier than constant, neverending charades)

Telling the kid to ask the others to remove the restraints, to which Jiro steadfastedly refuses, half because he's afraid of himself, the other because (to the other's confusion, since they only hear the clone talking out loud) they absolutely would not believe that the request isn't just his own and he was making it all up. Gets kind of heated because Shiro just will not let it go despite his refusal, because to him he obviously isn't dangerous and doesn't see the problem here. He's been disconnected from the problems of the living for a bit too long perhaps, and while he knows on a level there’s distrust between the team and the clone, and even the clone with himself, because he's seen the man’s soul and has known him much longer in a metaphysical sense he kinda forgets others don’t automatically see in that way.

There's one point early on, that the group first learns Shiro can (and has been) talking through the mind link to him. Lance notices the small fluffy body half inside of his bag, rummaging around through his toiletries. He’s been going crazy with all the extra fur on this body (it might even be shedding season for the creature, and it's just so. damn. ITCHY.) and he's desperate enough he’s resorted to getting the scissors he knows are hiding in there out himself. Except no one knows what he's doing and eventually break to come ask the clone if he knows what the fuck is going on and what he's trying to tell them, to which he's like, he wants you to trim down the fur?? he's been driving me insane complaining about it the past few days?? can he not tell you himself?? (he thought Shiro could and had been talking to the others just like he had been to him the whole time. and was just choosing to complain and annoy him constantly for whatever reason instead of asking them himself)

Piloting the lions in a battle the first time is... not great. There's a nearby planet being attacked and Red nothing short of demands her pilot back, allowing Blue a perfect excuse to grab Lance again, because Black's got two perfectly semi-functional pilots right here, so really, what's the problem? the paladins eventually figure since Black refuses to respond to Keith and Red is practically banging down the door to his mind while ignoring Lance that it's better to have four lions than two and fly in their original configuration, leaving Allura to pilot the remains of the castle to a safe distance since the weapons and shields are damn near useless in a fight right now.

None of the paladins would want to fly with Jiro, and he doesn't trust himself enough to do it even if they would, but Shiro can't exactly reach the controls right now and she's been out of the battle long enough and the galra are converging and ffs, Black just has to do everything herself now doesn't she... Cue a very terrifying sudden scene of his body going lax with a blank look on the poor clone's face, eyes glowing the bright yellow of the giant lion as he robotically stands up and goes straight to the awaiting lion's maw, ignoring or discarding any restraint with impossible strength as the Alteans and company scramble to stop him, only to ram into metal or shield as the lion scoops them both up, apparently tired of waiting. (They didn't notice, but the small passenger's body clinging to the material of his shirt had also gone ramrod straight, but Black is very much telling both of them to Cat Up and just get over here already)

thankfully they don't have to form Voltron, since there's absolutely no way they'd be able to just then, even if the rest of the team somehow thought only the "real" Shiro was at the controls. after the battle Black finally allows the others to enter, and en masse they burst in to find The Traitor™ sitting in the seat, lone hand on one part of the controls, Real Shiro™™ situated on his knee, paws resting on the other half. Clone is eyeing them guiltily, but not moving in order not to jostle his passenger, who’s just now turning to look at the small audience, blinking owlishly as he finally manages to disengage from Black's direct connection. (he's spent so long enveloped in that nebulous and vast mindspace he needs to remember he has a body to return to now, mismatched as it is.)

---

and now some pictures! pro-tip, turns out it’s much harder to mix together a cat and bunny than i’d ever expected like what??? ah well, have a doodle of The Fur Boi

And a little pre- vs post- haircut inspo:

#vld #vld au #vld shiro #voltron #headspacedad #mine #answrs does plotshells #how tf do you tag this #ive never written voltron before and it shows omf

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hoshigomi · 5 years ago

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Valley of Xuanyao // RAY! (not a review.)

Some thoughts on Xuanyao/Genyou/Dazzling Valley/Mysterious Valley/whatever you want to call it + Ray!

(This isn’t a fully-formed, plot critical review by any stretch of the imagination, but I wanted a chance to say everything I loved about these pieces of theatre, as well as a few criticisms I have.) (These are all my opinions and I’m sure people would agree or disagree with plenty of them!) (It’s literally just a couple lists, read at your own discretion.)

There are MANY SPOILERS HERE so watch out.

First off: Genyou no Tani / Valley of Xuanyao / Chinese Aterui (I guess it’s not as much like Aterui as I initially assumed) / AVATAR (the blue people one) (but set in China) / not NOT Pocahantas ~

Call it what you want, I’ll admit right out of the gate that I didn’t follow the entirety of this show. It got a lot better on the second and third try, but the first go was a little rough.

Official plot summary here.

Things I LOVED:

This show is beautiful. The set is very Alphonse Mucha aesthetic in style, and it makes me very sad that exactly 0 pictures do it justice. Not only is the set STUNNING, but it’s INNOVATIVE as well, the way they used huge hilly mountainous set pieces to create, well, valleys (haha) and set the scene actually grabbed my attention SEVERAL times. There are also no pictures that do the palace set justice, but the grandeur of it took my breath away, as did the EASE with which the set took us between settings. Unfortunately the visual aesthetic of the show is like not something I’m skilled enough to describe in words, but my point here is that if you get the chance to see this show, it would be worth it for the visual feast alone.

This show is beautiful (music edition). BOY! The music is HAUNTING and POWERFUL and simple and complex all at once. I have told several people that if either the opening or finale songs are put on that custom CD maker thing in the theatres I would literally buy a custom CD just to get my hands on these songs like a couple weeks before their official release. I got chills every time Shirotae Natsu opened the show (we could NOT ask for a better new fukukumichou), and without fail, at the (spoilers) mass exodus of the Wen people (hello, Coto Moses?) song.

The show is beautiful (general stage edition): It’s SO DANCEY. IT IS SO EXPRESSIVE. Even though the vast majority of the cast is costumed… nearly identical to one another, watching a n y one of them is a treat different from any other. There is no shortage of opportunity for these women to emote physically, and not a single one of them holds back. There are also like a billion acrobatic tricks in this show for some reason. They don’t take you out of anything, it’s just all VERY PHYSICAL. The Wen men and women specifically use physicality HARD to express their… history, I guess? There are several scenes with a few singers and a few dancers working together to tell a story. They give me CHILLS. The women (led by Honoka) in the palace also serve to set the aesthetic world and honestly I don’t have anything smart to say about them but they blew me away. Aomi Sario does several cartwheels. Yuunagi Ryou jumps like five feet in the air and does a somersault. I don’t know why any of these women are airborne as much as they are but they sure are good at it.

Other standout things I loved- there were a LOT more, but I need SOMEONE to talk about these people and moments, and I guess it’s my burden to bear.

FOR SOME REASON OOKI MAKOTO TALKS LIKE A LOT. She may talk more than Amahana Ema, freshly-transferred Ayaki Hikari, or Kiwami Shin. I can’t stress enough how much there is NO REASON FOR THIS. She ALSO, in a TURN OF FATE, IS NOT PLAYING AN OLD MAN. She’s playing a young soldier (NO FACIAL HAIR!!!!!) who at one point is goofing around under a tree on the edge of a stage and does some incredible pantomime work getting a spider off of her. I’m a little in love with her. I could not be happier that they truly just let her GO OFF this show. If you have ever liked Ooki Makoto, you need to see this show.

Ooki Makoto is always accompanied by Tenju Mitsuki who, as usual, is doing The Most for the Least Payoff because she like angered a God in her past life but not enough for the God to not give her the most beautiful face known to man. She doesn’t get to do much at all, unfortunately as USUAL, though her character very much has the vibe of her Kamatari character, and she does get to do a really fucking sick trick where she gets hit by an arrow and despite watching her through opera glasses three times in a row I have no idea how she does it.

SEO YURIA REALLY STEPPED UP HER GAME? This was a good meaty role with a nice little bit of her Red Oni from Another World mixed in for like chaotic measure. She sounds vocally FANTASTIC and looks at times actually TRULY PHYSICALLY IMPOSING. I’ve always been theatrically on the fence about Seo, but it looks like she’s really finding where she fits onstage and her strengths and is working HARD. I’m really into it.

Arisa Hitomi does beautiful work as the narrator of the whole piece, more or less, I just wish we could have seen more of her. That’s kinda how it’s gonna go from now on huh. Sigh.

Amato Kanon Amato Kanon Amato Kanon Amato Kanon Amato Kanon Amato Kanon . I will live and die in Hoshigumi, but if one day they move her to somewhere else to be top star, (after I mourn for a year and go through the five stages of grief), I will be right there by her side. Her character is spunky and fun and young and then gets tortured and killed (sorry, I said there were spoilers) in a way that I almost couldn’t WATCH. She’s an expert on throwing her (rapidly becoming lifeless) body around onstage in a way that really, really, really broke my heart. I winced. I’m sure I’m not the only one in the audience who would have put myself in her place to save her.

It’s very cool when they use projections to enhance moments in this- like a sword striking a rock and the sparks that fly, or the mysterious man disappearing. Additionally, the SOUND DESIGN of this show was pretty flawless.

Current Kumichou and Soon-To-Be-Senka member Mari Yuzumi played, obviously, Coto’s mom, and the two of them share some really beautiful moments and part of a song- it was a fitting and sweet part to give her, and I’m so glad she got some real stage time here because lord am I gonna miss her.

There’s a little drumline throughout some scenes of Wen people featuring (I THINK) Toudou Jun, Asamizu Ryou, Sayaka Rin, Sakuraba Mai, and POSSIBLY Kuresaki Rino. They don’t do anything to serve the plot, they just sometimes act as a transition in and out and winding through group scenes. It kicks ass.

Though this show was by NO MEANS an “ensemble show” (it was obviously very heavily (and wonderfully!) pulled by Coto, and all the ensemble was…. To be honest, visually mostly indistinguishable from one another), it like… WAS an ensemble show. There are MANY scenes with the HUGE chunks of the troupe, whether it’s the soldiers doing some INCREDIBLE sword and spear work or the dancers as the Wen people telling stories through the sheer power of their NUMBERS, or the women in the palace with their ribbons and dance, the real power of this show is in the ensemble and what they give to the story. Personally, ensemble driven stories tick ALL my boxes, so even if the plot was a little rough for me, the sheer POWER of Hoshigumi really made this a show that I realize now, sitting at my desk in Tokyo, I wish I was seeing again like today. This show did a complete 180 for me, and I can not recommend it enough. It isn’t FUN, but I can’t find the words to express how MOVING and BEAUTIFUL it is. If you can’t see it in person, I guess I recommend buying the blu ray, renting out a movie theatre, and watching it on as big of a screen as you can possibly get.

RAY:

Ray was just OKAY to me, though I admit I DID love it a little more with each consecutive viewing. I wonder how I’ll feel about it at the end of the Tokyo run- it very well might grow on me and stick in my heart as a revue I really love, but for now I’m personally a bit lukewarm on this one. I’m gonna express my three gripes first, and then move on to the things I love.

1.) God this revue really fucking abuses projections. Not only does it OPEN AND END with an unnecessary mini movie, and not only do they use the projections to transition us literally through the starry galaxy to the PANTHEON which they make with like Windows Screensaver level skill and then for some reason also show us on a real backdrop- if they had the REAL backdrop, why did they need to also show us a CGI version?, but they also straight up show us MOVIES while people are singing. As captivating as I find every single woman in Hoshigumi, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the acid trip that was the projections. They weren’t STILL EITHER. They were THIS distracting, down to the literal giant eye. I hated them so much. They didn’t make any visual sense, they didn’t enhance a thing, they really weren’t even vaguely thematically appropriate. I hope beyond hope that the venues they use for the tour just don’t have the tech power for this and the projections get cut. I didn’t like a SINGLE one of them.

2.) I can’t really explain this one but something was… missing. The numbers weren’t…. varied , I guess? They were all the same like. Power level and mostly had the same amount of people onstage (a lot), and while there’s NOTHING I love more than a big group number, this one had… I guess maybe too many? Or maybe it wasn’t the amount that is the issue, maybe it’s just how they weren’t like tonally varied. The numbers were all GOOD, but the flow was weird? I don’t know. Something felt off. If anyone sees this and gets what I mean, please talk to me about it.

3.) And this one is personal preference, but I thought the whole Ray theme was…. Much too heavy handed for an ohirome GT. To clarify, I think this would have been VERY suitable for a taidan revue, thematically, but I think it’s too early to be playing top star name games and adorning the whole stage with her name�� repeatedly. I GET that it’s clever because like, ray of light, starlight, etc, but I didn’t like it. I wouldn’t have liked like, Dramatic ‘S’ as a first revue either, for example. This isn’t personal or about Coto, if they had made Kai top and called her first revue like ‘Seven Seas’ I also would have been like ….#yikes. I just wish they’d save this stuff for later in Coto’s run.

That said, the good outweighed the bad! Some numbers of note (this is NOT all of them, just the ones that stuck with me) include:

The opening, which was very fun! The set was cool, multi layered and opening with just Coto inside like a cut out diamond shape on a platform and made good use of a pretty bare stage to really give EVERYONE a moment. There were more featured faces in this number alone that I didn’t even RECOGNIZE than I can count- and that made me really happy to see! Special shoutout to Taiki Hayate and Ruri Hanaka for getting to stand on the edge of the stage and sing. I just think they’re neat. The opening was rock-y and sexy and mature and it was very fun to get to see so many people shine in it.

This was followed by Seocchi in a number with again, a BEAUTIFUL set. Seriously, when they aren’t abusing the hell out of a projector, this revue IS VISUALLY STUNNING. It’s like set on Jupiter kind of, there’s a swirling galaxy all lit up behind the dancers (Seo, Amato Kanon, Minato Rihi- who has big Renta energy and always makes me happy to look at) Aomi Sario, Ruri Hanaka, notably.) This number has big Look At The Youth Of Tomorrow energy. Seo sounds INCREDIBLE, and everyone who is featured here makes my heart leap. This was definitely one of my favorite numbers.

There was a tango that would have been 90x sexier if only it didn’t feature those stupid turbans on literally everyone. Mikkii gets to sing her bridge solo (thank God), and the energy is rowdy. Everyone is in white pants.

The chuuzume is nice. It starts what feels like oddly early, but probably isn’t. They abuse the projections during the start of this one, (Hanagata Hikaru) and then thankfully pull the screen up and get rid of them for a while. The chuuzume is neat in that it also features a lot of little groups of siennes, from the young ones (who even get to SING small solos and things) (and I mean SMALL ones)- Amato Kanon has a solo at a point (and is CENTER ON THE BRIDGE for the kyakuseki part of the chuuzume), Aomi Sario and (iirc) Yuuhi Maki get a small duet, little groups are coming on and off constantly. It’s fun. They put the otokoyaku on the bridge and they do some sharp dancing and some kinda… seductive, to me, stuff. Most everyone is in red. The aesthetic of this chuuzume is GOOD.

THIS ROCKETTE MIGHT BE MY FAVORITE ROCKETTE EVER.

Aesthetically it is flawless, and it’s led by three girls including RURI HANAKA who gets a CENTER OF THE BRIDGE SOLO. These costumes are BEYOND adorable as well! Look at them! This rockette really shows off how skilled some of these girls are. They also do a lineup that goes as usual from shortest to tallest to shortest again, except they break this up by putting the three leads in the MIDDLE, which really means its like, short to tallest to SHORTEST to tallest to short again and believe me when I say it is COMICAL. There’s a solid foot difference between some of these women.

The Olympics number which immediately follows the rockette is lovely, it features a biiiiiig group of the cast and then Mizuno Yuri, Otosaki Itsuki, Sazanami Reira, Aomi Sario, and Amato Kanon as the colors of the Olympic rings. Musically this one didn’t stick that hard with me, but it’s a visual treat, and everyone’s dance proficiency is on full display. Plus if you look at the back of the stage you’ll see Yuunagi Ryou and Hiroka Yuu doing like a dance battle and pulling and pushing each other around which is extremely relevant to my interests.

From here it got really lovely for me personally. Amahana Ema and Kiwami Shin led Swingin’ On A Star on the bridge (and both of them sound lovely and sweet), and then theres a couple dance featuring about 10 or so people including Toudou Jun and again Yuunagi Ryou (this is the only place in the revue I didn’t have trouble spotting her unfortunately, and I’m GOOD at finding her), going on while Maisora finishes up the number. It’s sweet and it’s sugary and it’s a piece of like small lightness after all the very Heavy and Full group numbers before.

The kuroenbi is pretty good, it felt somehow… unfinished? But immediately after that is Coto jumping into You Are My Sunshine which I personally find to be the most charming thing in the world. It includes solos for Seo, Hanagata Hikaru, Aichan, and a LOT of attention on Hoshigumi’s musumeyaku who get to ALL line up on the bridge together and sing. It’s a treat. It made my heart happy and made me grin really big.

Other shoutouts go to

Sazanami Reira and her wild hair flips

Akachan who for some reason sounds vocally like she’s underwater, which was hard for me to place until recently

Maisora and Coto who really DO work together well as a combi though these two shows didn’t give them much chance to see that (please watch Mozart once it’s out on DVD to see what these two can DO together)

Mari Yuzumi for still killing it with everyone else in every number despite the fact that she’s so up there that they’re moving her to senka after this- boy I am gonna MISS her

Amato Kanon for holding my future in her, soft, capable hands.

Minato Rihi for smiling like Renta

The upperclassmen for not letting being completely sidelined ruin their attitude and for still giving their all to everything and pulling my attention with their YEARS of expertise

Kisa Kaoru, Soua Takeru, Houma Toa, Hiroki Yuzuha, and Kuresaki Rino just because they make me smile.

Sakuraba Mai and Haruto Yuuho who should actually be a top combi together.

Seo Yuria for really just like stepping it up all around and drawing my attention and taking up SPACE.

Ruri Hanaka because holy shit, girl….

All in all, this was a good pair. Not every revue works for everyone, and maybe this one just didn’t grab my heart the way I wished it did. It was still fun, and it definitely had enough numbers that I loved for me to want to go back multiple times, and whatever Ray lacked, Valley picked up for me. It’s a good set of shows, and everyone does really lovely work. I can’t wait to see where Coto and Maisora’s Hoshigumi goes!

#takarazuka #hoshigumi #valley of xuanyao #ray #tkz

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curiosity-killed · 5 years ago

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almost like memory

@bbtree first off: thank you so much <3 and also thank you for accidentally giving me an excuse to wander off into a Shallura genre I don’t normally touch (ngl I had to make myself stop bc otherwise I was never going to get it posted - so fingers crossed, there may be more to come!)

————

His colors are wrong. Under the fluorescent lights, everyone becomes washed out and green-tinged, like they're half-human, half-hologram. The group leader had apologized for it at their first session, explaining that the church didn't have the money to upgrade to the new system that illuminates most the city. Attendance has dropped off over the years, and now more people enter for these support groups than for Sunday services. If she had to guess, it's only the state funding for these groups that's even keeping the flickering lights on.

The lights aren't the problem with him. It's something deeper, bigger: his hair's too dark or there's something missing in his face or his green t-shirt is the wrong shade. He should be in black. She brushes the thoughts away with a shake of her head. This is the first time she's ever seen the man, and they haven't even met yet. Just another delusion, mixing streams. The doctors have assured her that it’s normal, that though she can’t remember it, she still has a past locked away inside her, and occasionally her subconscious might let a little slip through and muddle her new reality. He introduces himself as Ryou Kurogane, and it’s wrong wrong wrong. The intensity of her conviction is stomach-churning, nearly nauseating. She can’t get it to shut up. He smiles at her when it’s her turn to introduce herself, and she smiles back reflexively before she remembers to duck her head, let her hair fall in a dark curtain between them.

Words don’t come easily to her. She doesn’t know if that’s new or if it’s always been that way. The doctors weren’t much help; they don’t like to talk about her past at all, even if they know it. They say it isn’t conducive to healthy recovery, to establishing her new identity.

After the session, Ryou – not Ryou, wrong wrong wr— stays to help the group leader fold up and stack the chairs along the side. She finds herself lingering, reluctant to leave. She doesn’t know why, exactly, just that there’s something drawing her to stay. To keep close to him. She’s fussing with the water cups, flimsy little biodegradable things, when she hears him step up close. “Hi,” he says. She startles at how close his voice is, and when she turns, he raises his hands in apology. There’s something not quite right about them. They’re too similar, identical creases in his palms. She shakes it off. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” he says. “You’re Romelle, right?” Somehow, the name the doctors gave her sounds even more wrong in his voice. Her lips twitch up in what’s meant to be a smile but comes out closer to a grimace. “And you’re Ryou,” she says. It doesn’t sound better in her voice either. “That’s me,” he says, pushing his hands back into his pockets. His shoulders curve in with the motion, as if he’s trying to narrow himself, bend himself into a smaller space. He’s taller than her. She’s not sure why it surprises her, except that she thinks he wasn’t always. Isn’t always. That makes no sense at all. It’s not like their heights could change. “Sorry, you just – you seem really familiar,” Ryou-not-Ryou says. “I – uh wanted to say hi.” “Oh,” she says. Surprise ripples through her – and relief. It’s a foreign thing, distant, as if from someone else. “I uh – I’m – I’m sorry, I was in an accident a few months ago and don’t remember – much.” The words stumble out of her mouth, tripping and falling over each other all out of order. She winces when they land, regret rushing through her before she can shut herself up. “Oh!” Ryou says. “I – I know how you feel.” She stares, waiting for the second half of whatever joke this must be. “I was in an accident, too. Amnesia, everything before is just – blank,” he explains. It seems almost too perfect to be true. How could they wind up with the same story? But there’s nothing but sincerity in his voice and gaze, and something deep in her chest says he wouldn’t lie. Not about this. Not to her. “Oh. That’s – I’m sorry,” she says. He gives a little shrug with his left shoulder as if to brush off the apology. The smile he offers her doesn’t reach his eyes, just pulls up one side of his lips. “Sounds like we’re in the same ship anyway,” he says. A funny way of saying it, but she manages a smile in response. There’s something worming up her chest, words half-formed in her throat. “Do you wanna get a bite?” He looks almost surprised by his own words, as if he hadn’t meant to let them escape. She feels the same when she answers without a conscious decision. “Yes.” They wind up in a little diner half a block down from the church, a quiet little Akubari place that uses an outdated waitstaff model, the kind that would have been popular when Allura was young. It’s all blank, but she spent hours researching them one night, watching videos of their jerky movement and listening to recordings of their little trills and beeps, in case someone brought up nostalgia for them around her. They haven’t yet, but when they do, she’s ready. She’s prepared with a whole set of pretend memories so she’ll have a chance to connect with this future stranger, a chance to imagine a shared experience. He orders tea and grilbeck with mango and she settles on water and a thick yellow soup. Learning – relearning – her own tastes over the last few months has largely been too daunting a task to expend much effort towards; she's grown used to the food that's cheap and easy, sandwiches and pre-packaged dinners. She's not sure she likes them exactly, but figuring out how to live without a past, without an identity or network or any kind of supporting structure, is exhausting enough that sometimes she just wants something to be easy. Food is a simple enough opportunity for that. “I don’t think I’ve ever tried Akubari,” she remarks. At least not in the last three months. Maybe the other her, the past her, had. “One of my neighbors is from Akubara, actually,” he says. “They kinda got me hooked on it.” There’s a sheepish tone to his voice, as if he’s almost embarrassed by the admission. It makes her smile, her nerves inanely assuaged by the description. She doesn’t really have neighbors – or, well, there are people who live in the apartments beside and above and below hers, but they don’t talk. She’s seen maybe two of them out and about in the building all told. “I’ve heard their food culture incorporates a great deal of sharing,” she says. “Yeah! Drufbila just showed up at my door one day and ushered me in to the dinner table like I was their cousin or something,” he laughs. “Their mom kept fussing over whether I was eating enough, of course.” She breathes out a laugh at that, struck by the image of the great tentacled Akubari prodding him to take just a little more of each dish. Next to their towering, amorphous forms, his lean frame probably would seem underfed. It warms her to know someone, at least, is looking out for him. Weird. She shakes the thought away, disguises it as amusement. “What about your neighbors? Any nosey grandmas there?” he asks, leaning his cheek on his hand. The motion curves his body towards her, shoulders and waist twisted as if to block out the few diners sitting in the rest of the restaurant. His attention is a gentle thing, like sunlight or — Ridiculous. The sun hasn’t been seen through the smog here in decades. She’d have to have been off-planet to have an idea of what sunlight felt like, and surely, then, someone would have been there after her accident. No one traveled alone, not that far. If she ever had, there would have been someone to notice her missing, someone to seek her out. “Oh, no,” she says. “I’m afraid my building mostly keeps to ourselves.” “That’s a shame,” he says, a sympathetic twist to his lips. “Can’t help with–” He flicks his hand up in a little gesture towards his head, and she shrugs. “It can be a little lonely,” she concedes. Before he can ask more, their food arrives on the creaking arm of their servant and is slid onto their table in three jerky pushes. Her soup nearly slops over the lip of the blue bowl with the motion, and she has to steady it with her hands. Finished, the robot gives a happy little beep, and he reaches out to pat its head. “Thanks, bud,” he says. The robot rolls away with a contented little three-note trill. He turns back to her with a little smile and lifts his fork. “Bon appetite,” he says. “Buen provecho,” she answers, from somewhere she doesn’t quite recognize. He grins, still, and she can’t bring herself to question it when that smile is so unmuddied, so clear and easy. “You wanna try some?” he offers, gesturing to his plate with the fork. Orange glaze covers the blue of the grilbeck meat, turning it almost green, and mango slivers stick out of the flesh like oddly colored spines. It’s pretty, in its own way, even in the yellowish light of the diner. “Sure,” she agrees. “Want some of mine?” They wind up with the dishes in the middle of the table, snagging a bite from each plate with equal frequency. It feels…familiar. Comfortable. Like this isn’t the first time they’ve done this. She recognizes something in his expression when he takes the first spoonful from her soup and cants his head, considering. She’s seen that look before, seen the thoughtful way he savors the bite before swallowing and giving a thumbs up. Partway into their meal, conversation resumes once more, and comes back to them as easily as sharing. “Yeah, I have Doctor Honerva, too! That’s so weird,” he says. “How have we not bumped into each other at her office?” She shakes her head and licks a bit of mango glaze off her bottom lip. His gaze drops to follow the motion, just briefly, before flitting back to meet hers. A flush starts, warm pleasure rising in her cheeks. “It’s quite a coincidence,” she agrees. Maybe that’s where she remembers him from – maybe she’s seen him in passing and those memories have become conflated with those locked away from her. “Maybe we’ll see each other now that we’ve met.” “I’d like that,” he says. There’s a warmth to his gaze, a steady sincerity in his tone, that makes her duck her head. This is the longest she’s spent with anyone aside from her doctors since waking to a cold white room three months ago. It’s getting to her head, surely. She’s not sure she minds. “Me, too,” she agrees, meeting his gaze. The moment stretches between them, soft and welcome. She could make a home in this moment, in the gentle way he looks at her, in the pleasure in the soft curve of his lips. For the first time in months, she feels warm. Safe. A four-note beep announces the robot’s return, breaking apart their quiet. They split the check and head to the door. It’s started raining, the drizzly kind that leaves the whole city stinking of wet concrete. For once, it doesn’t bother her. It’s barely a footnote next to the chapter that this evening has become. He pauses outside the door, hands back in his pockets, shoulders bowed inward. “I’m down that way,” he says, nodding in the opposite direction of her apartment. “I’m afraid I’m the opposite way,” she says. Do his shoulders slump? Maybe she’s just looking for signs now. “I – I’d really like to see you again. If you want,” he says. He bites down on the inside of his bottom lip, watching her intently. Warmth flushes through her, up to the tips of her ears. She smiles and only barely keeps it from beaming. “I’d quite like that, too,” she admits. “Here, why don’t we trade numbers?” At that, he seems to light up from within. He straightens out, broad shoulders squaring back into their full breadth, and he pulls his phone from his pocket immediately. Surprised delight radiates through his entire being as he unlocks it and flips through to the right screen. Watching him through her lashes as she does the same, she can’t suppress the feeling that this, for once, is right. This is what is meant to be. Somehow, impossibly. They trade numbers and say farewell with smiles, and when she glances back over her shoulder as she walks away, she catches him looking back as well. They both laugh, as if at themselves, and give a little wave before continuing on their way. When she gets home, she’s greeted by a grave-like apartment and her treatment unit sitting ready on her end table. She stands in her doorway, considering the machine. It’s simple, easy to use. Back at the hospital, there’s a much larger version, but this one was specifically designed for home treatment. She’s supposed to use it every night, to help her brain heal. It always leaves her feeling numb, grey. Like it strips the color from her day and replaces it with a fresh coat of waiting-room-off-white. Normally, that isn’t much of a problem. Her routine is simple and largely emotionless. Painting over it is like laying a layer of grey over ninety other layers of nearly the same shade. Today, though – she wants to keep today. She wants the gentle gold of his attention, the soft grey of his eyes. The colors aren’t quite right – but at least there are colors this time. There are shades and hues she doesn’t know she’s ever seen or felt. It’s not what the doctors told her to do, but she doesn’t want to sacrifice them this time. She doesn’t want to cover up the silver flecks in his eyes with matte. The unit is tucked neatly in her bathroom cabinet, and she settles into her blankets with a strange feeling of satisfaction. That night, she dreams impossible things. She dreams of space, unfurling in feathery nebulae with tendrils curling purple and red around newborn stars. She dreams of machines, great ships and weapons that soar through the edges of the universe. She dreams — of him. His warm eyes, his fierce dedication. His hands, one flesh and one metal, cradling her jaw like something precious, like something to be adored. His lips are soft when they press against hers, his heart beats steady and strong against her palm. His voice aches when he speaks, a single word that is a prayer, a plea, a promise – “Allura,” he says. “Allura, Allura, Allura.”

#shallura #allura #shiro #voltron #vld #voltron fic #my writing #THIS WAS SO FUN TO WRITE HOLY SHIT #like lowkey i was either stopping here or writing a fully fledged fic #so this is #(tentatively)#a pause but not an end

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apricot-kingdom · 5 years ago

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Random Yugioh ideas/headcanons/au’s and basically things I just usually consider when writing them or ideas I had, mostly the Bakura’s and Ishtar’s Names used for yami’s and Hikari’s: Ryou (Hikari), Bakura (Yami Bakura), Thief (Thief King Bakura), Malik (Hikari), Tau (Yami Marik), Yuugi (Hikari), Yami (Yami Yuugi), Atemu (The pharaoh) Under the cut

if twins the Yami’s are the younger twins not the Hikari’s and usually Malik and Tau (Yami Marik) are usually the youngest despite being tallest. Yami isn’t necessarily always Yuugi’s twin, their the same age but Yuugi’s still just older and they found Yami one day either by him just showing up and them taking him in, or him being taken to Grandpa’s shop by someone who assumes the quiet boy is Yuugi

Thief (Thief King Bakura) is a huge family man, he’s ultra friendly, fluffy, happy and everything else. He’ll definitely hug you and befriend you. He’ll call you little brother or sister or just count you as family regardless, and whilst he holds a large section within himself full of hurt, hatred and everything else. And if he lets it out, you’ll definitely need damage control, so never hurt his family. He’ll be after you and you’ll regret even crossing him. He’s kinda short so it’s easy to just look past him, but he will not lose his second family, he will not allow that to happen. He’s absolutely terrifying when he desires to be, it’s hard to believe sometimes but his friends/family know better

Tau (Yami Marik) is a selective mute, it depends on the situation. (Au wise.) But most part its because of childhood trauma thinking his voice is demonic somewhat, but he’ll talk to you, its just more —more exclusive who he’ll talk to, or in another situation its because he wants to try being whole and in a way hearing his own voice, makes him kinda still feel apart of Malik. Either way he’ll only talk to you if he’s comfortable, otherwise he’ll write, ignore or sign to you. When he does speak, his voice is like venom, it’s always deep and somewhat scary/pissed off sounding or he has a smug amused tone he can use

Tau called Malik’s father Daddy, because the man was so formal, he knew it was damn childish. But it sure enough was a good blow to the man who desired to be called nothing less than father by his children and Master by Rishid (Rishid’s too good for him anyway). So Tau goes around calling him Daddy in the most cutesy childlike tone he can muster. He does so out of mere habit even years after killing the guy

Like Tau Yami (Yami Yuugi) is often silent, he’ll talk a lot to Yuugi. More so than anyone, and he’ll definitely speak up if someone needs defending. He’ll fight for the side he regards are right or for friends. However most times he only otherwise speaks to say things he finds absolutely important to do so, or ask an odd question now and again just about life, Bakura (Yami Bakura) can usually stir up an argument though

If Malik and Tau are twins, and both receive the initiation, unlike Malik, Tau gets demonic wings instead of angel ones

Tau has little to no interest in sex -sorry to people who write him purely as something that just really wants to sleep with Ryou or someone. I think he has more important things to him he needs to think about. Like firstly learning to move on from hate and become a whole person, learning to trust, learning basic human touch, he would much rather what people probably call vanilla things, holding his hand as you walk, leaning on him in movies, sleeping beside him in bed (this one is important because sleep is one of the most vulnerable states a person has and your trusting him), just trusting him, giving the benefit of the doubt, it confuses him but he just adores it. Surprisingly to most, these days when there’s no giant revenge scheme going on he actually really really enjoys the mundane things of life and finally receiving the love and care no one offered him in the first place

Tau changes his name a lot, he’s often concerns himself with being Malik, he does not want to be Malik. Not any more. He’ll let you know when he changes it, sometimes the name can last nothing more then that day, other times it can last months. There’s still one he usually circles back to regardless of all this and most times if others know he’s chosen a name he wants for a while they are more than willing to help him with getting it legally changed regardless of the amount of times they do it

Bakura/Thief have a motherly tendency/urge, Ryou is pretty caring in the sense he can play nurse, but Bakura/Thief have a strong protect my children type thing. They’ll make sure your fed, shower, do your teeth, get some sleep (they were bad at first because they forgot how much sleep someone should get), but all those basic things

Art wise: Ryou: He’s better at writing stories, and draws a chibi like thing now and again Bakura: He draws stick figures, and can’t draw well at all. He gets paint everywhere humanly possible but loves it and is slowly improving Thief: He does either complex Egyptian stuff or finger painting. No in between Malik: Prefers to take photos of other things Tau: He’s basically a professional, mostly avoids too much realism and goes more Manga style. It started as an anger management activity but he found he actually quite enjoyed it and it allowed him to express himself better

Bakura wears hearing aid’s (Au) I don’t really have a reason for why. I just started writing him with bad hearing and I incorporate into their backstory, so Ryou/Bakura’s Mum was completely deaf and thus didn’t hear the horn or any warnings and died in a car accident with Amane. Bakura’s not deaf completely but he does need hearing aids for the rest of his life and he can struggle hearing things too softly spoken or farther away sometimes

Malik is actually very camera shy. He loves taking photos of life to capture everything he was missing out on in childhood on film to keep forever. Except he hates to be in photos himself, he’ll avoid it if humanly possible. I think so because he always hid behind everyone to the very end of his arc, behind each of his minions and then just in the back of others minds, behind his brother and his Yami, stood behind the group going to the last duel, you know? (I mean he was trying to blend in the background during Rishid’s duel but I also don’t think despite his fashion he’s actually a very showy person, he enjoys being dramatic and such but can get put off by too large of crowds. I think this is slightly related to just his upbringing, he was brought up with just his family. So whilst he has a powerful personality, so many people can still be a concern to him. He just tries to not let it get in his way too much if plausible)

Bakura and Malik rely on each other for comfort more than anything just finally having someone there by their sides who has a great pain, something no one will probably ever fully understand. And they can talk about it the other will listen without hesitation, but they also understand you don’t always have to say something

Malik isn’t keen on horror, he’s low key traumatised from flashes of his fathers murder and his back, he respects others like it and can put up to it til a point and jokes about similar things but otherwise he’d prefer not to watch it if possible

Malik and Tau prefer cartoons over realism, it’s easier to understand and just more comforting, even if people comment their watching things way too young for them. F*** those people, they can watch what ever they want

Meat actually makes Malik and Tau sick from the lack of it in their diet so they don’t eat it purely on that basis and that’s how they grew up. No other reasoning behind it

Malik is actually stronger than Yami Marik, and as a villain he actually is one that has the support of family and friends to support this. Just hear me out on the strength thing, sure Tau takes over when he’s mentally torn and worn out. That’s because Malik’s in fact at his worse, usually he’s able to keep Tau locked away within him, so in a fight I do believe Malik would win even if I think Tau would have more visible muscle. Tau’s more about mind games and tricks to assist him

Also Yuugi is stronger than people give him credit for. He may be small and look a tad squishable. But remember he was in a burning building struggling between completing the puzzle, pulling the puzzle, holding onto it whilst his two friends one of which use to be in a gang pulled him desperately from it and he wouldn’t let go. They actually decided they had a better shot of pulling the metal spike out of the concrete or whatever that thing was made from then they did removing an almost passed out Yuugi from his puzzle. So I’d say Yuugi’s pretty damn strong

Hiroto and Ryuji fight over girls constantly but they are basically together and this is just them trying to flirt. Truthfully they can only flirt on those they aren’t actually interested in, they’re masters until it’s someone they like like and then it’s like c*** what do I do which is how they get with each other

Thief is the king of pick up lines, puns, flirting in general. Where Atemu can’t flirt to save his life and he tries hard but its barely recognisable and he almost always screws it up. Thief finds it amusing and loves that he tries. However on the other spectrum. They’ve been dating and living together for like a year now and Thief only just figured out because they were on a date and he said they should go on a date sometime. They’ve been acting as an exclusive couple up til this point, he just honestly didn’t notice it just enjoying the ride

despite dating and Thief going as far as to call Atemu his future hubby before they even get engaged. Sometimes Thief admits that a large part deep within him will always somewhat hate Atemu, and blame him. He’s tried moving on but sometimes it can just fire up. They don’t always talk about it sometimes they don’t just talk and merely sit together or sometimes he just gets upset and Atemu tries to just be there. Not always try to understand or even offer pointless advice more so just be there for Thief regardless And thief will also admit, sometimes he avoids saying Atemu’s name using all his childish nicknames he can make up because of their history. And sometimes even the name can just bring all that back up for him. He truly loves Atemu and it does make him feel guilty or upset but Atemu always reassures him its ok to feel the way he does Just a little bonus note: Thief’s death pack on Atemu has changed, he still declares if Atemu’s to be killed, he’ll be the one to do it. But now more so its, we’ll be together til death does us part and even then he promises Atemu he’ll never be able to get rid of him

Mai is Jonouchi’s big sister (Adopted). She took him in as her little brother and Serenity. They often fight over what’s on tv and she shows Serenity how to put on make-up and perfumes. Goes clothes shopping and stuff. She had a big house growing up but no one to share it with, but now she may not have as big as place but she’s got a proper family

Ryou’s Dad Hideki is the king of dad jokes

Whilst Amane was still alive and a baby, Ryou excitedly took her into school for show and tell. He was really proud of his sister from the day she was born and wanted all to see. In saying that he was protective of her with others, when anyone was around his little sister he was ensuring to watch them with her even falling over a few times from leaning too far to keep an eye on them

Bakura always makes friends by pure accident and he doesn’t realise for ages. Then he freaks out about it. Because. How. When why. What the. But then their his and they are never gonna go anywhere. That or if its where he shares a body with Ryou he does it originally for his own cover, but then after time he starts just going there in general and before he knows it and yes he doesn’t know it he’s friends with the lot of them. Plus sometimes Ryou just taps out with them and at first he got irritated because he didn’t want to deal with that but he doesn’t remember at what point he stopped even noticing if anything it made him happy When he realises he has a huge c*** moment and just takes a few days to process and figure it out in his head

Au Thief, his village did burn down or everyone was killed regardless. He’s still the soul survivor, and going to another town no one knows exactly what to do with him. But they figure out he had an Uncle currently in Egypt. So he’s taken to him, Hideki Bakura. An archaeologist. Hideki takes him back to Japan to meet his other two sons Ryou and Bakura, who he acts as an older brother too now

Thief and Atemu are mostly the shortest, however instead in Au’s. Their usually Yuugi and Ryou’s cousins who had to move in due to other things back home

When Ishizu tries to display things from their home, at the museum. Malik and Tau constantly steal them. With the excuse. ‘It was mine first and you stole it from me.’

Thief is blind in his scarred eye

Bakura’s first name is Florence, and no. This has nothing. NOTHING. To do with the abridged series. Its just his name, he got it from his mother. It was a family name and whilst he often hates it and loves Japan because you can use your last name without question. But no matter how many times he fills the paper work out to change it. He never does, he can’t. Deep down its apart of him and he actually does want to keep it. He likes it. People he’s close to can call him Florence or Flow for short (or Thief calls him Flow Flow)

Yuugi and Bakura like doing puzzles together it’s oddly calming and allows Bakura time to nut out his own thoughts and if either one wishes to speak they are both open minded to what is being said. They listen to piano music a lot during this time

Bakura hates to admit it but he actually really enjoys the mundane things, cooking, doing the washing, things that just remind him he’s alive

When Tau can’t express himself, emotionally or otherwise. Too frustrated or anything like that, he often draws animals to represent people finding it easier to explain that way rather than words, he’s a lion, Ryou’s a bunny, Malik a fox, Bakura a cat, etc. I kinda imagine him drawing them a bit like how they look in Kamy’s animal au. So others know to look for them in his books and if the lion ever looks down it's a good time to start trying to comfort him. Since he’s not always the best and expressing himself verbally he’ll scream maybe but otherwise he often keeps it bottled up somewhat like Malik did when he created him. So Ryou and such know to look at how the lions doing in his books because if its not doing well something might be wrong

Bakura, Yami (Yami Yuugi), Tau, Atemu, Thief and Malik were confused as frig when they were introduced to video games but after learning about them they are get every possible console to play them, in group games like Mario Kart and such, Bakura and Thief might stand in front of Yami or Atemu whilst playing or put his hands out, Malik pokes out his tongue. Thief can not sit still, sure he does try to get in Atemu and Yami’s way, but he still doesn’t always do so on purpose, he jumps up and kicks out, gets on the edge of his seat, jumps off the couch everything. Malik will talk and yell at the game and has been known between him and Tau to throw their controllers at the screen

Ryou gets sea sick easily, Bakura’s really confused at first when he jumps on a boat in Ryou’s body, he’s basically sick the entire time and from then on he knew to take the pills

Malik and Tau can’t swallow pills. They just can’t, they try really hard but their unable to force themselves to swallow and spit them out time and time again, they even try the hide it in your food and it doesn’t work

Thief is a neat freak, and he cleans when he’s pissed off these days. And since all his things are clean and in place he’ll break into his ‘friends’ places and clean and if someone’s home, he’ll rant to them. Atemu often makes a tea and just sits nodding. Whereas others like Bakura, Tau and such will purposefully make messes as he tries to clean so its a contest if they can mess it up faster then he can clean it Malik tells him off for touching his garage because it may look like a mess and sure it probably was but thats how he wanted it and he knew where his things were. Malik made a wall of people not allowed to clean it has two things under it, a note saying ‘ANYONE WHO IS NOT ME MALIK ISHTAR’ and then a photo of Thief which he wrote ‘ESPECIALLY YOU’ beneath beside the note

Diabound is kinda like a vampire, because whilst yes he’s a snake man he’s a snake so your telling me won’t bite anyone, he can fly and instead of turning into a bat he turns into a white snake and slithers up you the hugs warmly around your shoulders as he gets ready to bite (Not really a- anything? Just something I thought about kinda just figured I’d throw it on the end because why not?)

#decided I'd just post them #honestly I don't really think anyone will see these #so all good #yugioh #ygo #still procrastinating doing things #ishtars #malik #marik #apricot #ryou #bakura #yami bakura #I don't take any of these seriously and a lot probably wouldn't work in canon but still #I like them #if you have more feel free to share #if you like one of these in particular feel free to tell me #if you'd like I can put it in a seperate post #sorry for the random spam of my writing and stuff

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cartoonus-maximus · 6 years ago

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“This Our Town of Halloween” - Chapter 1

a “Yugioh DM” fanfic inspired by the lyrics to the song ‘This is Halloween’ from ‘the Nightmare Before Christmas’

also known as the ygo Halloween fic that I want to do every year and never do

I don’t know if I’m going to actually finish this story by Halloween, but I’m gonna really try. But anyway, since I’ve already talked a little about it, here’s an upload of the first chapter to get us started.

summary: Yugi, Ryou, and Marik fall through a Rift into the Hollow World, an alternate world where monsters live. They only have two options - escape from this world and get back home, or make their new home in this world. And, as time passes, both options begin to sound impossible.

rating: T for horror themes and elements

pairings(in future chapters): Puzzleshipping/Blindshipping (Yugi x Atem); Tendershipping (Ryou x Bakura); Bronzeshipping (Marik x Yami Marik); very light one-sided Dungeonshipping (Otogi x Pegasus); maybe others

Chapter 1: Down, Down to Goblin Town

written 7/1/2018

1,153 words

Boys and girls of every age

Wouldn't you like to see something strange?

It was a strangely cool evening in October when Halloween finally rolled around. A sharp wind whistled through the trees, blasting three young men square in the face. The palest of the three, an albino with pink eyes and hair just as pale as his skin, cried out in displeasure as he pulled an old sheet more firmly around him.

The blonde Middle Eastern American beside him glanced at his friend with a frown. “Don't handle the cold too well, do you?”

The albino shook his head, but didn't answer. Instead, the young man sitting on the other side of him answered for him, violet eyes peering out from behind shaggy black hair and blonde bangs. “Ryou's body temperature has always been naturally low – he doesn't generate his own heat all that well.”

Marik's frown deepened. He'd only met Yugi and Ryou a few weeks ago. The two had apparently grown up together in Japan before immigrating to the States as teenagers, and he had yet to see them apart from one another. He'd run into them on the streets about a month or so ago, and the three had sought shelter together from the blistering heat. Since then, the pair had stuck with him, sharing with him what provisions they had and accepting his in return.

They were homeless. And if they didn't look out for one another, who would?

Marik had been kicked out of his own home as a teen after arguing with his father over a very particular subject. From what he understood, Yugi and Ryou had been living with Ryou's father and had suffered a similar experience. Now, with an incomplete education and not a dollar to their names, the three males mostly moved from shelter to camp to shelter, trying to find semi-permanent jobs and roofs over their head.

This evening, the three had been in camp with several others, emphasis on had. Since it was Halloween night, a group of dumb college students had come out during the night, looking to party and get themselves drunk away from prying eyes. The party had moved too close for comfort to the camp, so everyone had quickly and quietly grabbed their stuff and moved out. Now, Marik and his two newfound friends were on the move, searching for a new location to set up some sort of temporary shelter to stay in for the night.

The blonde grinned suddenly as he spotted a fence, recognizing immediately what it was. “Guys, look!”

The two Asians followed his gaze, Yugi voicing their concerns. “... A cemetery?”

“Yeah!”

“Won't we get in trouble if we spend the night in a cemetery?”

“Not if we're quiet,” Marik answered, approaching the fence. He gestured for the other two to follow him. “I've slept here before and been fine.”

“I don't know...” Ryou's eyes shifted to the side, suggesting discomfort with the idea. “It doesn't sound--”

He was interrupted by Yugi, who suddenly pointed into the cemetery, his eyes wide. “I think someone else is already in there!”

Confused, Marik turned, following the direction of Yugi's raised finger. Sure enough, three moving figures could be seen in the graveyard. They seemed to be crouched in a circle on the ground, but the blonde couldn't tell what they were doing from this distance.

Yugi's eyes were better. “I think they're digging up a grave!”

Realizing how right his companion was, Marik's eyes widened. “What kind of disrespect--?!” Unable to contain himself, the blonde took a running start, launching himself over the fence and taking off towards the figures. “Hey! Hey, you!”

The figures suddenly jerked their heads up, staring at Marik is surprise. They looked like children, their small frames almost completely covered by Halloween costumes and masks, candy sticking out of their mouths. One of them was so surprised his jaw dropped open, his lollipop slipping out from his lips and hitting the ground with a dull 'clunk.'

“Quick, get in!” one of the figures ordered her two companions. To Marik's horror, the figure pitched herself forward, falling into the open grave. The other two followed suit, leaving not a single trace of their presence except the fallen lolly.

Marik stared at the ground where the kids had just been sitting. The longer he stared, the more baffled by the situation he became. The hole looked like an open grave, but there was no marker beside it or coffin within it, and there was no heap of removed dirt. It almost looked as though a grave-sized hole had simply opened up in the ground.

Yugi and Ryou slowly came up behind Marik, still carrying their meager belongings on their backs. Ryou still had his sheet wrapped tightly around his shoulders, and now Yugi had Marik's discarded backpack in his hand along with his own.

The blonde turned to look at his friends, pointing vaguely at the hole. “It's empty, and... They jumped in. They jumped in and it's empty!”

Their eyes widened in surprise at his words before staring at each other for a moment. Ryou took a step forward, peering down into the hole curiously.

“You're wrong, Marik. It's not empty.” Ryou's voice was eerily calm and betrayed nothing. “There's no bottom to it.”

Yugi and Marik joined Ryou at the edge of the hole, staring down beside him. To their surprise, the hole went deep, down into the ground, seemingly never ending. It really was like a chasm had simply opened up in the earth.

“If there's no bottom to it, where did those kids go?”

“HEY!” A older man's voice interrupted their thoughts. The groundskeeper had spotted them, his flashlight illuminating the area around them. “WHAT'S ALL THIS NOISE?”

The three young men froze in place, terrified of being caught. After a beat, Yugi took a step towards the hole, dropping Marik's backpack. “I'm sorry, guys, but I can't go to jail!”

“Yugi--!” Marik watched in horror as Yugi jumped into the hole, falling down into the earth, vanishing from sight. Ryou screamed, but quickly followed behind his friend. As taken aback as he was by his two friends vanishing, Marik wasn't surprised to see them go together – he had yet to see them separated, after all.

Marik hesitated for a minute, his eyes tracing a horrified path between the open, gaping maw of earth at his feet and the approaching groundskeeper, flashlight aiming directly at his face, almost blinding him. But, then his feet moved, pitching him forward into the hole, following after the only two friends he had in the world. The air whizzed past Marik's ears as he fell into the blackness. The hole was completely and utterly empty, with nothing to break his fall, or even slow him down.

His scream was the only thing that filled the empty space as he fell.

#my writing #the halloween ygo fic #it's almost october so here we go #I'll probably start putting it up on ff.net too #so if you'd rather read it there that's fine

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higuchimon · 6 years ago

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[fanfic]Rebirth of Kaiser: Chapter 1

Shou sat, hands in his lap, staring at the door. He tried not to, but he did anyway. He’d sat in rooms like this before, worried like this before, but never to this degree. Never with the true, deep down fear that his brother wouldn’t come out of this. That something would happen that shouldn’t.

He closed his eyes, trying to think about something else. He wasn’t particular on what. He just wanted to think about anything that wasn’t the doctors on the other side of the door doing their best to save his brother’s life.

A hand brushed against his shoulder and he looked up to see a face he hadn’t seen in well over six months. Without a bit of hesitation, he threw himself into Juudai’s arms, shaking all over.

It was Juudai. He could do that with him.

“Aniki! Aniki!” Further words just stuck in his throat. He trembled and sat back down, Juudai beside him now. He wanted to believe everything would be all right now. Aniki was here and…

He still couldn’t make everything come out all right. He wasn’t that good. He wasn’t flawless. He could make mistakes.

Shou had to remind himself of that. It wasn’t easy. He’d spent long enough believing that Juudai really could do anything that he wanted to, and he’d had a hard enough time realizing that wasn’t true.

But that didn’t change the fact that Juudai being there eased a lot of the tension he’d been living with since he’d arrived here.

“So what happened?” Juudai asked, voice quiet and soft. Shou swallowed a little. He hadn’t actually told anyone since this started. There hadn’t been anyone around to tell, and he’d been too worried to put his fingers to keys and send an e-mail.

Which did make him wonder just how Juudai found out he was there in the first place. But here he was, and that was all that mattered for the moment.

He focused. “Everything was fine. He took his medicine every day. He didn’t push himself too much, even with our Pro League.” He couldn’t help but be proud of how far their League had come in the seven years since graduation. “Then...he just said that he hurt a lot. That he didn’t feel good.”

Shou swallowed, heart pounding as he remembered seeing how pale Ryou looked when he spoke. “I wasn’t sure what to do. So I brought him here. He … he passed out almost as soon as we got here.”

Shou’s hands pressed even tighter together. “They’ve had him in there for a long time now. I’m not even sure what’s really wrong.” It had probably been his heart. His brother had been doing so well but things happened and there wasn’t anything else he could think of.

He swallowed. He didn’t want to look at the time. He didn’t want to know how long it had been. No matter how long it had been, it couldn’t be good at all. If he didn’t know, then it would be… all right, wouldn’t it? Sure. That was it.

Sometimes nurses came out from there, and once a doctor. She hadn’t talked to him, though, and he wasn’t sure if she even had anything to do with his brother. But seeing them worried him even when they said nothing at all.

He heard noises from the other side, but never anything that he could make sense out of. The words he could understand, but what they meant was all in medical jargon. None of it said what he wanted it to say: that his brother was fine and would recover soon.

Shou glanced up once to see Juudai working on something, fingers dancing over keys. It took another moment to grasp it: he was sending out messages. Letting people know what was going on.

Oh. Better than he could do right now. He tucked his head back down, too scared to sleep, too scared to stay awake. He sort of wanted to yawn, but if he did, he’d fall asleep. He was almost sure of it.

“Kenzan and Manjoume-kun are on the way,” Juudai said. “Asuka, too. I haven’t heard back from anyone else yet.”

Shou nodded. He couldn’t decide what else to do. Words just didn’t want to come right now.

A ringing sound. Shou looked up, mostly out of habit. That usually meant that someone was coming out of there.

A doctor emerged. She looked every bit as exhausted as he felt. She looked around the room, attention falling on him.

“Marufuji Shou? Here for your brother?”

Shou’s heart clenched. He nodded. This would be it. This would clear up everything.

“I’m terribly sorry. We did everything that we could.” Her voice was quiet and weary, head bent. “You have my deepest sympathies.”

Shou’s heart froze altogether. No. No. He couldn’t have heard that. It couldn’t be what he thought she said. After all this time, all that they’d done together, all that they’d fought for together, how could that have happened?

He jerked his head around to where Juudai sat, hardly noticing the hot tears streaking down his cheeks. “Aniki...” He knew what he wanted to ask. What he wanted to demand. But it couldn’t be. He could not forget that Juudai might be powerful, but he wasn’t a god.

Juudai rose up. “Can we… see him?”

The doctor’s lips turned down a bit. “It’s not usual, but… I think it might be all right. Just this once.”

Under other circumstances, Shou might have wondered if Juudai did something to influence her. Right now, he didn’t actually care. He stumbled along in her wake, guided through quiet empty corridors. It was very late at night and only the occasional doctor or nurse turned up.

Shou could barely think as they entered a room. There, a white sheet pulled up over him, was…

Shou didn’t even think at all. “Nii-san...”

Juudai stared at what he saw, at what – who had been the Kaiser. He let Shou go first, turning his own thoughts inward. He’d never considered doing anything like this before. One thing he’d learned very fast was that there were certain lines that he couldn’t cross.

But this was Shou and this was the Kaiser and if he couldn’t do something for the people that he cared about, then what could he do?

Yubel.

We can’t bring him back. The ties to his body are already severed.

He’d expected that. But there had to be something else that he could do.

Does he have a ghost? Like Daitokuji-sensei? That was the only thing he could think of right now. His old teacher still hadn’t moved on, but he’d stopped by Duel Academia to leave Pharaoh with Principal Samejima before coming here. He was pretty sure hospitals didn’t want cats around.

Yubel didn’t answer at once. He had the sensation that they were searching, even if he couldn’t see them.

Yes. Most people do, before they leave. But I can’t say how long he will remain.

Juudai nodded. If I looked with your eyes, could I see him?

Yes. But hurry.

Juudai concentrated, feeling Yubel’s energy move through him. They were together at all times, but only when they both put in this effort could he see things the way that Yubel did.

Ryou wasn’t the only spirit there. Cyber End Dragon hovered behind Shou, dividing its attention between the Marufujis. Ryou stared up at it, awe written over his features, before he turned toward Juudai, face assuming his usual calm expression.

“Juudai.�� He said nothing more, a greeting and a farewell in one.

Juudai inched forward. “Do you really want to go that much?”

Ryou tilted his head. “I don’t think I’m being given an option.” His gaze flicked back toward Shou. “But I don’t think I would if I could stay.”

Juudai held back a bit of a grin. He’d hoped for something like that, even if he didn’t know how to do it.

“There might be a way. I mean, I don’t know for sure, but…”

Yubel stood next to him without warning. “There is a path that isn’t mortal rebirth or the afterlife. It isn’t one that everyone walks and some are called to it without warning. Have you noticed that there are some Duel Spirits who bear too much of a resemblance to humans?”

Both Ryou and Juudai nodded. Yubel folded their arms over their chest as they spoke.

“It isn’t unknown for a human to be reborn as a Duel Spirit. Or a Duel Spirit to be reborn as a human. That is a path available: with the help of the Gentle Darkness.”

Juudai jerked his head up. “You’re serious?” He’d sort of had an idea that he could do something, but he’d more or less thought of it as being healing or something. Not like this.

“When am I not, Juudai?” Yubel asked, a small smile on their lips. Then they turned back to Ryou. “It is a path taken by those with the strongest of wills only. And like those who experience mortal rebirth, you will not remember your first life.” Yubel considered for a few seconds. “Though I cannot say that the memories won’t ever return. It is possible. But it would require much effort and isn’t always something to strive for. There are times when it’s better to forget the past and move onward.”

Juudai couldn’t help a snort there. “Really?” To hear Yubel of all beings saying that…

“There are circumstnaces where that isn’t an option,” Yubel said, eyes glittering for a few seconds. “But I spoke of humans, not us.”

Juudai waved one hand before he looked back to the Kaiser. “I guess that’s an option, then. Is that what you’d like?”

Ryou considered in silence, his gaze going between Juudai, Yubel, Shou, and Cyber End Dragon. He raised one hand to rest on one of Cyber End’s muzzles.

“I would be a card spirit?”

“Yes. Only those who have the gift to see them would see you in this world. You might not even be created as a card here for a great deal of time to come.” Yubel answered. “But you could also live in one of the spirit worlds. Anyone living there could see you.” Yubel raised a hand, cutting off whatever questions were next. “We don’t know what kind of a card you would be, either.”

“We could get President Pegasus to make a card, eventually. Or Hayato, Hayato could do it!” Juudai declared, trying and not perfectly succeeding in keeping his voice down. Shou didn’t seem to notice, though. His heart and mind were too busy mourning.

“Make your choice, Hell Kaiser Marufuji Ryou,” Yubel said, “because the time you have to make it runs very thin indeed.”

Ryou did not move his hand from Cyber End’s muzzle. He breathed, if a ghost could be said to breathe at all, for a moment.

“I’ll do it,” he said. Juudai thought he’d made the decision at the best time. He looked a little transparent, even for a ghost.

Yubel extended one hand and in it was a card, blank of title and without image. “Then touch this. We’ll carry you there and you’ll wake up… eventually.”

“Eventually?”

“It takes time to adjust to a change like this. It could take a very long time.” Yubel pointed out. Ryou nodded before he reached his other hand out and rested it on the card.

There wasn’t a flash or anything. One moment he stood there, then he wasn’t. There wasn’t anything to see on the card even then, but Juudai could feel his presence in the card. Yubel handed it to him.

“What world do you want to take him to?” They asked. Juudai knew without even having to think about it: the world that he had troubled so much when he’d hurt with all of his heart.

The world where Hell Kaiser was still hailed as the hero who’d defeated Haou and brought his evil down. In all the years since, no one had ever told the people there otherwise. It would be a good place for Ryou to start a new life.

He would have to bring Shou there, eventually. When he wasn’t in such pain from the passing of his brother. Not that he’d tell Shou that Ryou wasn’t technically gone…

Shou, or anyone else. They could all find out later, when Ryou remembered them.

If Ryou remembered them.

To Be Continued

Notes: This one will be updated once a week for as long as I can. I hope you enjoy it!

#fanfic #higuchimon writes #ygo gx #marufuji ryou #fujiwara yuusuke #chapters: rebirth of kaiser

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bosstoaster · 7 years ago

Note

For the 10 years on fics, what would have happened if project kuron had still gone ahead and kuron was with the team while Shiro was stuck in Black for all those years?

I mean, honestly? It’d be awkward.

I assume that they would have figured out Kuron wasn’t Shiro at some point. Like, that’s a long as time to never have any of Haggar’s plans come to fruition. I’m going to guess that they thought the Galra killed Shiro, in that case? Like, they’d assume that the Galra somehow knew Shiro was gone, and that they could therefore set Kuron/Ryou out without rubbing up against the real thing. They probably spent a long time still looking, but then eventually you just... have to assume. It’s been years, by that point.

And man oh man, awkward. Keith is not going to take that well. Here’s this clone who’s not quite right and your best friend is dead!

Kuron/Ryou would also have a lot less reason to distance himself from Shiro, since... they’re pretty sure there is no Shiro, anymore. And the team still has that hole that needs to be filled. He’s a little different, and they’re never quite sure how much, because there’s no one to compare against. But if we’re going off of canon assumptions, rather than DLS, Ryou does get decent at using the BL. He’s not as good as it at Keith, honestly, and about as good as Allura, but he can step in.

But mostly he becomes this... awkward midground. You can kind of ask him how he thinks Shiro would have reacted to this or that but he’s also Not Shiro. And the more time goes on, the more Ryou can’t really say one way or the other. He doesn’t know, because that mentality is almost a decade behind him.

Ryou also looks different. He’s filled out, he’s grown his hair out, he keeps trying the beard (give up, Ryou, sorry. You’re never going to get one as nice as Hunk).

Then Shiro comes back and it’s like- oh.

But at that point, Ryou is a really, deeply established part of their team. He’s been around nearly 9 years longer than Shiro was.

Shiro would just have... no idea how to deal with this guy. It’s his clone, and he hates that someone else was being him for nine years, but Ryou wasn’t. He was being Ryou, who just wasn’t all that different, because someone needed to fill the same niche.

Ryou, on the other hand, would probably kind of see him with a sort of reverence. This is someone that Ryou has never really felt like he lived up to, but that he owed being there for the people who were left behind. But I think that would fade really fast, because... this is also a kid, really. 23 years old, scared, confused, trying so hard to hold to together. Ryou’s seen all that before, and I think he actually ends up getting really protective of Shiro.

Everyone else is struggling to break through this idea that Shiro was in charge and calm and always had the right answers. Ryou has always known that wasn’t true, because it wasn’t for him, and so he has even less trouble seeing that Shiro is young now. He ends up being really protective, I think.

Shiro would be really unsure of him at first, but would eventually appreciate someone who gets it. Ryou is him, kind of, sort of, in a way that saw the other side. Ryou’s lived. He survived when Shiro thought he’d be dead in a matter of weeks, maybe months.

Ryou is proof that Shiro can really live.

He thinks the long hair looks silly, though. Ryou proves he’s older and bigger and he could definitely noogie Shiro.

(Left turn - ask about a change in a plot, and I’ll tell you how it would have altered the story)

#Voltron #Ten Years On #Ten Years Later #BT Writes #BT Memes #Anonymous

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mischiefandspirits · 7 years ago

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She Never Felt Alone

Part of the Cat of a Different Color series

With Allura all healed up, the team decide on their next move. It was supposed to be a quick in and out mission. Instead one of their own ends up captured while another ends up at deaths door. Can the team save them both before it's too late?

Part 1: Just Kitten and Get Out

Things seem to be going fine, then they don’t.

“Come on. Hold still for just a few more seconds.”

“He’s right, you do!”

Merla hissed at both Blue and his paladin.

“Yeah, yeah. You're all done, mopey cat. What do you think?”

Merla turned to the mirror and looked herself over.

“Has she always been like this or is it Keith’s influence?” she heard Lance whisper.

Merla snorted and turned to the side, still looking in the mirror.

Well, she supposed it wasn't nearly as constricting as the armor, and the train felt light enough that it wouldn't tangle with her legs or weigh down her tail if she needed to run.

She'd still rather not wear it.

Lance’s bedroom door opened and the three looked up to see Keith standing in the doorway.

He blinked at the scene in front of him, bemused. “What are you doing? And what is Merla wearing?”

Lance smiled and reached over to adjust the train of the cheetah’s red and white dress. “I'm making the cats fancy clothes. You know, so if we have another party like on Arus.”

“Why would they need fancy clothes?”

“So they'll look fancy. Look at them, running around naked like wild animals!”

“They technically are wild animals. Physically, at least.”

“That doesn't mean they have to look it. They don't even have collars!”

“Merla bit Shiro the one and only time he tried to put a collar on her. He almost needed stitches. Speaking of which, how did you get that on her in the first place?”

Lance winked at him. “What can I say, I have a way with the ladies.”

Keith sent him an unconvinced look. “Blue talked her into it?”

“He may or may not have had a hand in it,” Lance shrugged.

“Thought so.”

“So what do you think? Merla likes it!” Lance said, holding his arms out.

Keith shook his head, a smile tugging at his lips. “I think it's unnecessary and pointless, but by the looks of it you're going to be making the cats entire wardrobes.”

“Why not? Blue’s practically got his own closet back at home filled with lil cat clothes.”

<Seriously?>

“That's… I don't know what that is,” Keith chuckled. “Anyways, play time's over. Allura and Shiro want us all on the bridge.

<Freedom!> Merla cheered, phasing through the clothes and darting out the door.

The three stared after her before Lance carefully picked up the dress. “I guess that's one way to get it off without messing up the pins.”

“I’m sorry, Princess, did you say we ?” Keith asked, turning to Allura.

“I’m going with you. I’ve traveled through the Galra transportation hubs many times with my father before the war began. I know more about them than any of you.”

<She’s got a point,> Pua agreed.

<Oh please, she walked around with an escort. She’s never had to be sneaky. Hunk has way more experience sneaking through military buildings than her. Plus that was a long time ago. They’ve probably changed floor plans since then,> Merla snorted.

“Princess, I’d rather you stay here,” Coran said.

<Agreed,> Ryou huffed.

<By the Anodites, Merla and Ryou agree on something,> Chip hissed quietly to Blue and he shook with witheld laughter. <Is it time for the Great Shadowing?>

“I’m a part of this fight against Zarkon as much as anyone. I’m going. Does anyone have a problem with that?”

The paladins all looked away from the princess.

<Me!> Merla chirped. <Ryou too. Keith, tell her that!>

Keith glared down at her. No, he mouthed. He liked living, thanks.

Coran turned to Shiro with a worried look.

Shiro shrugged. “Fine. Suit up.”

Coran shrieked and the paladins shot Shiro shocked expressions.

<Come on, guys. The princess knows how to fight. She’ll be fine,> Blue growled.

<Love, being able to fight is low on the list of necessary skills for a spy. The best spies don’t even have to fight.>

<I’m with Blue, you guys are being too hard on her,> Pua snorted.

Chip sighed.

“He’s still looking. I think he’s waiting for a signal or something,” Lance whispered.

“I got it.” Hunk crawled out from under the console and held up one of the sentinels. He used the wires on it’s disconnected arm to make it greet the Galra on the screen, pretend to type at the console, then point at the Galra, then give him a thumbs up.

The Galra held his hand up in acceptance before ending the call.

Chip said as Hunk sighed.

“Nice job, Hunk.”

“Thanks,” Hunk said, giving Lance a high five with the robot hand.

“Okay, download complete,” Pidge announced and everyone crowded around her.

“What’s it say?” Keith asked.

“Nothing. This place doesn’t have any useful information. Just a schedule of the ships coming in and out.”

“Well, I guess this mission was a bust,” Lance said.

“Let’s get back to the Castle,” Shiro commanded.

“Hold on. Pidge, do you know where that ship is headed?” Allura asked, pointing at the one that had just arrived.

“Um, it’s scheduled to be here for about a half an hour, then head off to Central Command.”

“That’s where they have the information we need, and I’m going to sneak aboard that ship and get it for us.”

<By the Anodites,> Merla groaned.

<Called it,> Chip sighed.

“What? No way!” Lance exclaimed.

“How are you going to get in?” Keith asked, looking skeptical.

Allura pulled off her helmet. “I’m going to walk right through the front.” She closed her eyes and her skin faded to a soft violet and her limbs stretched until she was more than a head taller than all the paladins.

<That’ll help,> Ryou noted as the paladins gasped. <Still a terrible idea.>

“How the heck did you do that?” Hunk asked.

“The Alteans are a chameleon-like people who can blend in with the local populations. It’s the ability that’s made us great explorers and diplomats throughout our history.”

<Actually, chameleons change color mostly in response to mood or to regulate temperature. A better comparison would be certain cephalopods, like cuttlefish.> The cats turned to Blue, who held up his nose. <What? Yeah, I know things. You got a problem with that?>

<Once an organic nerd, always an organic nerd,> Merla purred, cuddling up against him.

“No, just one at a time, and I will need a change of costume,” Allura replied to Lance, Hunk, and Pidge as the cats refocused. She turned to the Galra Shiro had knocked out. “I can use his uniform as a disguise.”

“I can’t let you go in there alone.”

“Excuse me?” Allura turned to Shiro with a defiant expression.. “I do not need your permission.”

<Chip, no.>

“It’s too dangerous. I’m going in with you.”

“You will stick out like a choferiak’s nose.”

“You’re going to need that nose, princess,” Pidge stepped in. “Shiro’s hand is made from Galra tech. It’s the only thing we have that will allow us to interface with their systems and gather intel. I can monitor the download remotely from here.”

Merla bit down on Blue’s ear.

“Fine, you can come.”

“Uh, you guys better hurry up if you want to get on and off before the ship leaves for Zarkon central,” Hunk pointed out.

The two turned to go and Keith asked, “How are you going to get Shiro on board?”

The two shared a look.

“Oh! Laundry cart!” Lance explained, earning confused looks all around. “Like, you know in those break out movies when the prisoners hide in the laundry carts in order to sneak out! Shiro could hide in one of those crates they’re loading onto the ship and Allura could push it onboard! Like a laundry cart!”

Keith and Allura still looked a bit confused, but Pidge nodded. “That could work. Might be a tight fit. I'm pretty sure those things aren't filled with cloth.”

“It's our best bet though,” Shiro sighed. “Alright, Allura, get changed.”

The princess got to work pulling the Galra’s armor off while Shiro turned to the others.

“You guys stay here and stay hidden. Pidge, try and see if you can get any other information out of here.”

“Right.”

He turned to Ryou with a smirk. “You wouldn't stay here even if I told you to, would you?”

Ryou snorted and pressed up against his side.

“Didn't think so. Just stay close. We don't know what would happen if the Galra got their hands on one of you.

<Could they even keep us contained?> Pua asked.

<Doubtful, but we still should be careful,> Ryou replied.

“I’m ready,” Allura said, coming in fully armored.

“Alright, let’s go.”

Merla couldn’t say she hated being right. Actually, she loved it. What she did hate, however, was when being right came with a cost.

Things had been going fine. They’d snuck in, quietly taken down the sentinels guarding the room, discovered that the Galra had somehow been able to tap into a new source of quintessence (or at least she hoped it was a new source. If they had once more reached the Lifelight then the team had more problems to worry about then they’d thought), and stolen a vial of refined quintessence off a cart.

And then the weirdo in the hood that reeked of dark magic appeared next to Keith and everything went downhill.

<Keith!> Merla growled. She pounced at at the druid that blasted Keith, but they teleported away.

They appeared next to the vial of refined quintessence Keith had dropped when he flew back and picked it up.

“Okay, plan B!” Keith shouted, leaping to his feet and drawing his bayard. They both charged the druid, only for them to teleport away again after setting the vial on a new cart.

After nearly getting her head sliced off on accident, Merla fell back, watching Keith chase about the appearing and disappearing druid until they disappeared and didn’t come back.

<Where’d they go?> she hissed, looking around.

“There,” Keith called, jumping aside as violet lightning rained down on them.

With the druid’s focus on Keith, Merla jetpacked to where the druid was. She latched onto the shocked druid just as they tried to teleport again.

She felt her armor fall away and her physical form disintegrate as her quintessence was pulled along with the druid. She felt her quintessence brush against that of the druid. She felt their pain-surprise-confusion-pain-fear-curiosity-pain-anger-curiosity-pain-fear-anger-pain-curiosity. She felt them return to the physical plane and she returned to her physical form, digging her fangs into their shoulder.

They let out a shout and blasted her off with magic. She flew backwards, slamming into a case of quintessence. She heard Keith call out to her as the glass shattered and the quintessence poured over her.

Then everything went white.

“I think we’re in trouble.”

“You think?”

<Now’s not the time for fighting,> Ryou huffed.

Allura looked around the room before taking a few steps back. “Okay, stand aside.”

“What? Why? What are you-”

Allura rushed forwards, slamming the door off the track and plowing into the guard standing outside. The boys followed her out as she yanked the gun out of the unconscious Galra’s hands. Ryou sent an impressed look to the helmet embedded into the wall before turning to his paladin, who was gaping at the princess.

Ryou snorted as she asked, “What?”

Shiro just looked her up and down.

He finally snapped out of it as a group of sentinels turned a corner and began charging them.

“Let’s go!” They took off down the hall and Shiro called into the comm, “Pidge, fire up the Green Lion! We’re coming in hot!”

They stopped as a pair of sentinels appeared in front of them. Allura tried to shoot them and Ryou dropped to the floor to avoid the blasts that flew out and hit one of the sentinels behind them. Shiro quickly stepped in to take down the two. As the others approached, Allura grabbed one of the fallen and tossed it, knocking down the others.

“I thought you said you’d traveled around the galaxy,” Shiro said, grabbing the gun from her and turning it around. “I mean, you fly a spaceship. How could you possibly not know how to hold this correctly?”

“I’m tense. This is a tense situation,” Allura snapped, grabbing the gun in one hand and his arm in the other before dragging him away.

They paused as the realized no one was following them. They turned to see Ryou still collapsed on the floor.

“Black, come on. We need to get moving.”

The liger whined, but didn’t move.

“Ryou, what’s wrong?” Shiro asked, coming to his side.

“Secure hatches. All personnel take positions for departure.”

Allura looked up at the announcement before shoving the gun back into Shiro’s hands. She scooped Ryou into her arms, saying, “We can’t stay here.”

“R-right.” Shiro took the lead. He made sure Allura was keeping up before calling into the others. “Guys, something’s wrong with Ryou.”

“He’s not the only one. All three of ours suddenly just collapsed before disappearing on us. Pua and Chip were gone right away and Blue only stuck around long enough to tell Lance they’d gone back to the lions before disappearing as well.”

“It’s not just Ryou. Chip, Pua, and Blue were also affected,” Shiro explained for Allura’s sake.

“What could be causing this?”

“Your guess is as good as mine. Ryou, you should head back to the Black Lion and rest.”

Ryou gave a weak growl and pawed at Allura’s shoulder.

The princess gave him a sad smile and pressed her head against his. “We’ll be okay Black. Go on. You’re in no condition to fight.”

“She’s right. We’ve got this. Head back. Once we get back to the castle, Pidge can run a diagnostic and hopefully figure out what happened.”

As Ryou finally relented and disappeared, Pidge called through the comms, “Shiro, we’re at the Green Lion. We’re going to-”

Shiro gave her a moment to continue before calling her name.

“Sorry, I'm fine.”

“You collapsed! She collapsed, Shiro!” Hunk added with a worried voice. “Lance is helping her into her seat because she can barely stand on her own!”

“I'm fine. It's just Chip. I can feel her better in here. It's… They're hurting bad. It’s like pain and exhaustion and numbness and lightheadedness all rolled into one. I… I don’t…”

“It’s okay, Pidge. Can you guys fly?”

“Yeah, we’re heading out.”

“Good.” Shiro ducked as laser fire shot past them. “This way!” he told Allura turning them down a side hallway.

“Are you alright?” Allura asked.

“Yeah, just worried about the lions. Do you have any idea what this could be? I didn’t think they could get sick.”

“Neither did I. But then, we never thought they could speak or create other forms either. My father had always just assumed it was an odd result of mixing the material the lions were made of with Altean science. A sort of accidental AI. To think that they could be thinking, feeling creatures capable of intelligent communication is… astounding! I don’t think my father ever had any idea of what they are capable of, let alone Coran or I.”

“Then what are we supposed to do?”

Allura bowed her head a little. “I suppose all we can do is what you suggested. Have Pidge, Hunk, and Coran run some tests and hope for the best.”

Shiro nodded with a shaky breath. A shot nearly grazed his side and he shook himself. Right, focus. We need to get out of here and then I can worry.

Allura turned to shoot at the sentinels chasing them as Shiro turned a corner and called out, “The escape pods are up here!”

“Formulating navigation. All crew assume secure hyper-speed positions.”

Panting, Allura pulled the Galra helmet off her head. “Hurry! We can't leave once the ship goes into hyper-speed!”

“Sh-Shiro.”

“What is it?”

“I… I think we know why the lions are so messed up.”

“Why?” They ran into the escape pod hanger and Shiro set his hand on the door controls to shut them. “Hunk?”

“Shiro,” Lance said. “I think Merla’s dying.”

#Cat of a Different Color #voltron #voltron legendary defender #Collection and Extraction

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musicprincess655 · 7 years ago

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Youichi was considering making his apartment off limits to his friends. Nothing but trouble ever happened when they came over, and this was coming from someone who had accidentally bound a demon to himself when he was left unsupervised.

Jun had a habit of stealing all his snacks, and Tetsu and Ryou were an absolute nightmare together. They’d figured out that they were great partners in crime, which was funny until the object of their teasing was Youichi himself. Plus, if Sawamura was there – and he usually was, because he came to visit Miyuki – he’d start yelling about his newest farfetched theory for how Tetsu was really a magic person. His current working one was that Tetsu was a descendent of some clan that had lost some magical war, and that he was in hiding to protect his identity.

But nothing would compare to the kind of trouble Furuya and Haruichi caused.

Youichi had noticed that Furuya and Haruichi were something almost as soon as they became something. In the interest of keeping Furuya from getting castrated, he’d planned on trying to keep Ryou from noticing anything was going on.

Haruichi had thrown a wrench in that entire plan when he’d brought Furuya over as his boyfriend.

Youichi hadn’t thought Haruichi had much steel to him before this. He’d had to amend his assessment, because apparently Haruichi used his sweet appearance to hide balls of steel. It couldn’t have been easy to tell someone like Ryou I’m dating Furuya-kun and see Furuya live to tell the tale.

And in his defense, it had gone a lot better than expected.

“You’re what now?” Ryou asked from the kitchen, and when had he grabbed that knife? The cats were both flanking him, looking more like eldritch abominations than Youichi had ever seen them.

“I’m dating Furuya-kun,” Haruichi repeated calmly. “Please calm down, aniki.”

Ryou’s aura only grew more threatening, and one of the cats actually hissed.

“Ryou-san, you can’t kill Furuya,” Youichi sighed. Ryou gave him a look that said exactly what he thought of the situation. “I’ll help you bury his body if he does anything worth killing.”

Ryou had retreated into the kitchen, appeased for the moment. And to his credit, he’d turned a mostly blind eye to his little brother dating.

For how much trouble everyone else was, Sawamura turned out to be one of the least annoying people to have in the apartment. All he really did was startle Youichi occasionally with his outbursts while he was doing his homework, which he preferred to do at their place so he could pester them for help.

He was there today, but it was a quiet day, a sleepy day in the week after winter break. Everyone was tired from having travelled in their week off. Miyuki had gone to his dad’s house, and Youichi had gone home to visit his family, which meant Ryou had also gone home to meet his family.

Youichi had mostly ignored the approving looks his mother sent his way every time she looked at Ryou. It didn’t matter how attractive he was. Youichi was still convinced it would never happen, no matter how much Ryou liked teasing him.

The atmosphere was quiet and subdued, and even Sawamura’s usual outbursts weren’t enough to really disturb the peace. He’d come over to work on homework, but he and Miyuki had started working on something for the team, because they were both idiots with one track minds.

Youichi was working with Ryou on the newest prototype spell for unbinding them. They’d made some real progress with the spells Jun had tried to reverse engineer from that book, but they weren’t quite there yet. While they’d managed to find a spell that kept plants alive when they were unbound, they’d gained the new problem of the plants switching parts, and Youichi didn’t particularly want two different arms or legs.

They were trying something Jun had mentioned offhandedly. Since Youichi had been the one to cast the spell that bound them, he would have to be the one that undid it, but Ryou’s magic had been caught up in the bond, so having him play a secondary role in undoing it might help make sure everything got back to where it was supposed to go.

That was the idea, anyway. It wasn’t like it was a serious theory, just something Youichi and Ryou were messing around with when they had nothing else to do.

They got derailed when they accidentally sent a rush of pure chaos magic over to where Sawamura and Miyuki were sitting at the table, sending them both sprawling. Youichi winced, standing up to apologize as he heard Sawamura’s loud complaints, when his eyes landed on Miyuki, who was surprisingly silent.

“I can’t do this anymore,” Miyuki said. Rather than yelling or panicking, he actually sounded deathly calm. “I can’t live here anymore.”

“Hey,” Youichi said, getting Miyuki’s attention. His eyes were clear and determined. “It’s okay.”

“I’m sorry to leave you hanging like this,” Miyuki said. “I know rent is gonna be hard on your own, but I need out.”

“I get it,” Youichi said. “I do. No hard feelings. You do what you gotta do.”

Miyuki nodded. He sighed.

“Moving is going to be such a pain,” he whined. “I’ll never find a place as good as this one, I swear.”

“Move in with me.”

Youichi and Miyuki both turned to see Sawamura staring at them. He’d stood up and brushed himself off. Not for the first time, Youichi noticed that his gold eyes were a little unsettling when he was serious like this.

“What?”

“Move in with me,” Sawamura repeated. “Masuko-senpai is moving out at the end of March after graduation. My landlady was going to start advertising for someone else to move into the room, but I’m sure she’d be happy to lease to you if I say you’re my friend.”

“No chaos magic?” Miyuki asked, looking suspicious, like the offer was too good to be true.

“I have to use it sometimes for homework,” Sawamura said. Like most nature witches, he had a neutral alignment, so he could use both order and chaos magic. “But I can do it in the study rooms in the library if that makes you feel better.”

Youichi was surprised Miyuki didn’t propose on the spot.

“When can I move in?” Miyuki asked. Sawamura considered.

“I mean, you’re always welcome to our spare futon, but you could probably move in before Masuko-senpai moves out. I’m going home to visit my family over spring break, so you could camp out in my room until Masuko-senpai leaves.”

“Hey, Sawamura, how come I never get a senpai?” Miyuki asked, throwing an arm around Sawamura’s shoulders, but he looked more relieved than anything else. The two got wrapped up in each other, Miyuki winding Sawamura up and Sawamura taking the bait. Youichi turned to Ryou.

“Don’t take it personally,” Youichi told him. “This isn’t all because of you.”

“I didn’t really feel guilty,” Ryou said. “If he’s happier somewhere else, he should go somewhere else. Why he thinks living with Sawamura will be easier is beyond me, but more power to him I guess.”

“Savage,” Youichi commented, but it was with a laugh. “Personally, I think those two idiots are custom made for each other. They’ll be fine living together.”

“If they don’t end up killing each other first,” Ryou said.

“They’re not helpless.”

“Miyuki put a hammer in the wall trying to hang up a picture.”

“And I will warn Sawamura to keep Miyuki away from the toolbox if he wants to keep his security deposit,” Youichi said. Then his words hit him, and he groaned.

“What?”

“I cannot afford rent by myself,” Youichi said. “Especially if we’ve already lost our security deposit.”

He looked at Ryou. Ryou looked suspiciously back. He was inching away.

“You better not be thinking what I think you’re thinking.”

“Ryou-san,” Youichi said very seriously, because he was thinking exactly what Ryou thought he was thinking. “I need you to get a job and help out with rent.”

#kuraryou #furuharu #miyusawa #fydna #dailydaiya #daiya no a #ace of diamond #dna #my writing #elt #magic au

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sitabethel · 7 years ago

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Any chance you could post some random fluffsmut headcanons for trashshipping today? I kind of ran into some jarring stuff I'm gonna have to deal with later. -aspidisecalis being a nerd at the bakery again

Oooooooo~ I think It’s time to do a teaser for One Man’s Trash (the Trashshipping fic I’ve been working on here and there. I have 14 finished chapters so far). This is the end of Chapter 8, the “first kiss” scene.

Context: Kek and Bakura are trying to live like “normal people.” They finally get their own apartment, but they’re broke af, so they don’t have much. There are some OC mentions:

Tomoko: She’s the landlady at the hostel they stayed at before they could move out on their own. She’s pretty much an adopted mother to Kek.

Granny: She’s a grumpy old woman that owns the noodle shop in which Bakura works. She walks around all day drinking booze and coffee, so Bakura gets along with her pretty well, actually.

It was frightening, how he felt, but Bakura caught his reflection in a store window on the walk home and stopped to really stare at himself.

He saw a little of the thief he once was, mostly in the set of his jaw and the way his eyes narrowed in automatic suspicion at everything in the world, but otherwise… he looked like he belonged in Japan, Ryou’s long lost cousin. He had Ryou’s delicate cheekbones and eyes, his narrow nose and thinner lips. It was like he’d been reincarnated, and Bakura supposed he had been. He fought the Pharaoh in video games now, and snuggled on the couch with an orphan who’d been adopted by a hostel’s landlady and a tanuki who possessed a couch. It wasn’t weirder than anything else that’d ever happened to him.

Bakura snorted, smirked at his own reflection, and walked home, wanting to see Kek. He struggled for a second to get the key to turn in the worn out lock, but then he opened the door and stepped inside.

“Hey, Kek, I was wondering if you wanted- holy shit.” Bakura started laughing.

Bubbles covered the kitchen floor. In some areas, the suds rose almost half a meter tall. The mess soaked into the edge of the living room carpet.

“Just- shut- the- fuck- up!” Kek shouted through sobs. He knelt amidst the foam with a towel in each hand and tears running down his cheeks.

“Oi, oi.” Bakura shut the door, slipped off his shoes and socks, and tiptoed to the kitchen. “It’s not that big of a deal.”

“I can’t do this!” Kek wailed. “How am I supposed to be a human being when I can’t even run a dishwasher!” He rubbed his eyes against his bicep. “What did I do wrong? I don’t understand how I fucked up something so easy.”

“Did you use a tab?” Bakura asked as he crouched beside Kek.

“Tab? I used dish soap?”

“The liquid kind?”

“There’s more than one kind?” Kek’s face wrinkled, still shouting. “How was I supposed to know that?”

“You weren’t.” Bakura wrapped his arms around Kek and held him. “Tomoko didn’t have a dishwasher. How could you know? I only know because of Ryou.”

“Stupid Marik,” Kek hissed between clenched teeth. “If he was normal- I wouldn’t be so fucked up!”

“You wouldn’t exist.” Bakura used his thumb to tilt Kek’s face up. He smiled when Kek looked at him and traced Kek’s cheek. “And hey, I kinda enjoy the fact that you exist. This humanity thing would be underrated if I couldn’t watch you stumble through it with me.”

Tears welled up in Kek’s eyes, and Bakura hated seeing tears in his eyes.

“It’s just soap and water.”

“I fucked up all the towels.”

“I’ll go get some more.”

But Bakura didn’t stand up. Instead, he dropped down to his knees, allowing the bubbles and water to soak through his jeans, and leaned in to kiss Kek. They both closed their eyes as their lips moved tentatively against each other. When Bakura pulled away; Kek gasped.

“I’m going out to get towels-”

“We can’t afford-”

Bakura kissed him again and realized it was a great way to shut an Ishtar up. He should have kissed Kek back in Battle City. He’d take that over getting roasted by a god any time.

“Don’t worry about it.” Bakura shook his head. “Towels are cheap, and I’ve been stingy so I could get your present- which I’m also getting, so throw those towels in the wash, and I’ll be back in half an hour.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t know about the tabs.”

“It’s not your fault.” Bakura combed Kek’s hair with his fingers, and then got up and left before Kek could apologize again.

He went to the thrift store with soap-soaked pants. He grabbed the entire stack of towels, and the manager noticed Bakura carrying an armload of towels with wet pants and a sheepish look on his face, and she gave him a discount for buying the entire batch. After the thrift shop, Bakura counted up his money. He’d been trying to manage to save enough to get Kek a nice, red leather jacket that he’d seen, but the dishes, the eggs and rice, the extra towels… Bakura still had enough for something, but not a leather jacket. He sighed and started walking towards the house, glancing at the shops and wondering what the fuck he was going to do.

Then he saw the pet shop and had a brilliant idea. Bakura bought a fishbowl, dark purple gravel, dechlorinator, and two cheap fake plants. Then he went over to the betas and picked the brightest, most blood-red one he could find. His shopping bags in one hand, and a plastic container in the other, Bakura rushed back to the apartment with a huge grin on his face.

“I’m back!” He shouted into the apartment.

“Did you get the towels?” Kek asked, standing over the rice cooker with bubbles all around his feet. The apartment carried the warm scent of cooked rice as Kek used a regular spoon to stir it because they didn’t own a rice paddle yet.

“I got something better than towels.” Bakura held out the fish.

“Idiot.” Kek rubbed at his eyes, but didn’t cry again. “You shouldn’t have bothered.”

“I wanted to.” Bakura set everything down on their table.

Kek walked up behind him and, despite the wet floor, Kek picked Bakura up, turned him around, and set him on top of the table beside the fish. Bakura opened his mouth to complain, but Kek’s tongue slipped inside and he moaned instead.

“Thank you,” Kek whispered against Bakura’s lips. “You taught me how to say that, you know.”

“It’s just a bad habit I picked up from my old host.” Bakura chuckled at himself because the statement was true.

“H-how do I…” Kek pushed away from Bakura and went towards the fish.

“Put the gravel in the bowl. Add the plants. Fill with water. Then follow the directions for those drops.”

“It says it has to sit to work in the water.”

“Then let it sit. He’ll be fine in the cup until then.” Bakura stretched and groaned. He grabbed the towels and they used them to mop up the floor and then Bakura stripped and stuck in clothes and the towels in the washer.

“Should have saved one for yourself,” Kek said.

“Shit,” Bakura cursed. He sighed, shoulders slumping. “Whatever. I’m still taking a shower and drawing a bath to soak in afterward.” He glanced at Kek. “Want to join me in the bath?”

“W-wh-what?” Kek giggled, his face going flush even through his complexion.

“It’s common in Japan. You rinse off in the shower and then relax in the tub.”

“With other people?” Kek asked, narrowing his eyes.

“Yes.” Bakura snorted and walked towards the bathroom. “Look, I don’t care either way, just thought I’d offer.”

“I didn’t say no!” Kek followed.

“Give me a second to shower first.” Bakura laughed.

“You’re already naked. What’s the point of me waiting now?”

“Whatever.” Bakura stepped into the shower.

He washed his hair, soaped up, and rinsed everything as quickly as possible. He heard the bath running as he rinsed. Bakura didn’t have a towel, so he had to wring out his hair the best he could and shake dry before stepping out of the shower cubicle.

“Thought you’d want to go straight to the tub,” Kek said.

“Thanks.” Bakura dipped his body into the huge bathtub. “Fuck. This is nice.”

“I’ll hop into the shower now.” Kek disappeared behind Bakura.

Bakura kept his eyes closed and relaxed. He heard the water turn on, then a few minutes later off, but didn’t bother opening his eyes until he felt Kek’s bodyweight displace the water in the tub.

“It’s nice, right?”

“Sure is.” Kek sighed.

“After today, we both deserve a bath.” Bakura stared at the ceiling. Water stains bloomed like yellow carnations

“I made rice.”

“Sounds freaking delicious.”

“We still don’t have towels.”

“I’ll use a shirt.”

Kek laughed. Bakura grinned and shifted so that he could look at Kek instead of the ceiling. “I’m serious. It won’t work as well, but fuck it? Better than dripping over the rest of the carpet.”

“You’re the same as always.” Kek rose out of the water.

“How do you mean?” Bakura averted his eyes, although he really wanted to stare at the way the water gleamed off of Kek’s body.

“Even when things don’t go according to plan, you just roll with it.”

“Ha, yeah. I had to learn that skill pretty early on. It’s the only way I survived.”

“Pffft, I’ll get some shirts then.”

Kek went away and returned with two of their more worn t-shirts. They did a piss-poor job drying, but Bakura made do and put on dry clothes. He used the wet shirt to wrap up his hair, adding a hair dryer to his mental list of shit they needed to buy.

“I’ll serve the rice.” Kek walked onto the now dry kitchen floor and grabbed their only two bowls out of the dishwasher. “There’s still bubbles in here.”

“Just rinse them off. I think we may actually have a dish towel left.”

“Fuck. I forgot dishtowels even exist.” Kek pulled the drawer and took one of the smaller towels out.

“I’m going to put the laundry in the dryer.”

Bakura shook his head even as he moved over to the washer. More and more he was adapting to regular life, but it was still odd to think about putting towels in the dryer. Not only was it the sort of thing he used to make Ryou deal with, but there hadn’t been dryers in Egypt thousands of years ago. Bakura would just wash his clothes in the river and nap naked in the sun until they were dry.

“Here’s dinner.” Kek set the bowls on the table.

He took the little cup and popped off the plastic lid, dumping the water into the bowl. The beta swirled like a quick flame before righting himself and breaking the surface for a breath.

“They breath air from the top.” Bakura pointed. “And they blow nests out of bubbles.”

“How do you know?”

“Granny rambles about them all the time.” Bakura started digging into his food. “It’s good.”

“Fucking liar. We don’t even have salt.”

Bakura laughed. “You’re right. I was lying. It’s not bad.”

“Makes it real, right?”

“Yes.” Bakura winked. “The Shadow Realm knows I love steak. It’d never try to tempt me with plain rice. This moment is utterly real.”

#One Man's Trash #Trashshipping #Yami Bakura x Yami Marik #it's more fluff and less smut but this story is the closest thing to slow burn I'll ever write

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knbfanfic · 6 years ago

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Burlesque No Basket

Burlesque Show AU //I got the inspiration for this at random-- sue me -w-;; //

//Fanfiction Mirror Here//

There was a new dance lounge that opened up on Hollywood Ave, and the owner was a foreigner with a taste for beautiful men, it was rare to have a male burlesque. Though that was part of the appeal probably, all of the talent had to pass a few rounds of interviews from personality to dance and service. There were two 'voices' among the crew who could sing instead of lip sync to the songs. They were the top stars in the business, Kise and Himuro. There were plenty of talents hidden in the back, like one of the stagehands, Ryou, who knew all the dances and where to stand behind the set to hear if anything went wrong, or the audio wizard who was generally flawless. Even the band who played during the dance breaks were all gorgeous and unbelievable.

Takao was a new hire who was buried in the kick line, see when they auditioned they didn't get the chance to prove they could sing or not, so it didn't matter. Though Takao had proven himself to Alex by having amazing perception, that itself had gotten him off training and onto the stage must faster than the others he was hired with. He was able to see the stage from above, and actually most of the club as well so he could easily re-balance things if someone overstepped or point out something like a lighting wire that got pulled. Granted that made him a target for jealousy, but he was used to that by now with his personality people were drawn to him, but never stayed close. He'd been working the stage for a couple weeks now and knew that Alex punished people appropriately if they overstepped their bounds, after all she ran a club not a circus, that Ryou was the most reliable and yet timid when not working or if he had to relay a message, and the audio tech Imayoshi was reliable when working but sly and almost cruel when the night was done. Kise was absolutely a doll, everyone loved him, but he was pretty sure that the same loneliness that he himself faced was something Kise was no stranger to; and Himuro was mysterious and seductive both on and off the stage, he wanted people close to him but held them at arms length. There was also a rule of thumb at the club that the dancers could rotate if needed, but the singers could never sing back to back songs; for two reasons, the biggest being that it was a dance club not a singing club, and the second Alex didn't want to hurt the boys throats with the air being so full of the perfumes, glitters, smokes or whatnot.

That said colds do happen, and one night had to lip sync, they still had mic packs clipped to them in case something went wrong, but mostly because they had been put on before everyone found out that Kise wasn't live singing that night. It was Kise and four background dancers, Takao being in the lead spot for the backup, he had to give signals to the other three through the show to keep in rhythm with Kise. For whatever cursed reason that night while they were in the middle of 'S.L.U.T' the audio cut out. Takao cringed he saw what happened when he scanned. Biting his lip he saw Kise ready to start singing, he signed to the boys not to stop moving and swallowed his hesitation. Fanning out toward the back he did a drastic flip which caught the attention of the audience earning a cheer. A harsh whisper cut through the black screen separating the stage from where Ryou would be "Kill me later Ryou~ There’s a wire in the back by table eighteen that got pulled. Tell Alex, and also apologize telling her I accept my punishment later. The show must go on without hurting Kicchan~" Backstage Ryou who was holding a metal clipboard dropped it and it bounced, he ran to Alex apologizing relaying the message.

Alex was about to drop the curtain when she heard a mic pack flip on, followed by another. Kise had forced himself and his voice wasn't that bad, just a bit huskier than normal. 'I--- Love my ass I wanna shake it~ You can thank my momma cuz she made it. Don't you waste your breath tryin' ta change it.' Finally Takao had gotten back to his spot after cuing Hayama and the band to pick up the sound by having the outside man on the otherside move forward with him to cover the movement. So Kise was center stage, Takao to his right barely behind him, Mayuzumi to the far left wanted to kill Takao for this he didn't mind being in the back but being dragged forward could be embarrassing though he kept smiling like he had to. The two in the back almost tripped when Takao sync'd with Kise, to spare his voice. Kise's eyes widened and he smiled nodding 'Just mind your own and we'll keep owning it.' The subtle change was the acknowledgement that things were going well. Imayoshi was trying to find the wire that got pulled almost had a heart attack when the band started playing he peered over and saw Kise and Takao and waved to lighting telling them to put lights on them while he dealt with the mess of sound or lack of it.

Kise made a large move with his next right movement and dragged Takao forward. Takao tinged slight red, and was thankful for Mibuchi's rule of always wear a bit of blush coming in handy. This whole number was completely different from the norm. Mayuzumi retreated to the back and the trio spread out covering the back. Two main acts and the back up, it was easy for them to change, they couldn't help but wonder if Takao could handle being dragged up front. Takao almost whimpered, but he knew the choreography for both the background and the leads for every number that was performed so far at the club, he didn't want to be accused of being favorited so he studied until his feet bled in the beginning. Kise was obviously aware of that considering he didn't bat an eye when Takao easily managed to sync his movements. Kise was a known copycat and could easily mimic a style once he saw it, so he mimicked the little subtle extras that Takao didn't realize he'd added during his practice easily making the dance more fun. And since there were the two of them they got playful with it, they alternated the main pieces and Kise mostly took the chorus instead of the full thing to save his throat 'We've gotta learn to stick together-- Love your color, gender or whatever' The audience cheered and laughed when Takao had jokingly gestured to Kise's blonde hair and Kise retaliated by making a gesture at the brunette for gender. Ryou offstage looked like he might faint from worry, but Alex who would normally be seething by now actually was smiling into the hand covering her lips backstage. She looked like she had found another diamond in the rough.

'Cause your happiness don't need a censor. Just mind your own, and we'll keep owning it' The two of them together was actually risking bringing down the house, there were so many fans of Kise personally from his stint as a teen model that him being paired up with someone just as playful had them in awe. The two of them were perfectly in sync adding little flamboyant touches to the dance, facing each other and glancing at the audience like they got caught doing something risque. Like with their hands on each other's hips or leaning in a bit close, just not close enough for the mics to feedback. 'I'ma do just what I like on the regular, and it's really not my fault if you're scared of a Sweet. Little. Unforgettable Thing.' The background trio seemed to remember they had mics because they clicked them on in time to fill the background 'Unforgettable' Kise and Takao were practically flirting at this point, which was almost amusing to any of their coworkers considering they'd never said more than two words to each other the two weeks the hawk had worked their. A caress of the cheek on sweet by Takao, trailing a finger up the torso on little by Kise, leaning in like a fake kiss on unforgettable and then resuming the set of thing. 'Sweet. Little. Unforgettable. Thing.' 'So incredible' Ryou and Imayoshi were almost certain the background dancers were dying given the changes to the dance, but nothing up front threw them off at least.

Imayoshi had fixed the wiring issue and was taping down the plug on the floor by the table to a waiter couldn't pull it out again, he was clearly annoyed with the new waiter who had tripped and not realized she pulled the plug. He'd give an earful to her later, thankfully Kise and that new dancer had managed something, after all Imayoshi could hear that Kise didn't feel well, and was letting the newbie do the heavy lifting, but clearly that wasn't the original plan. Takao grinned seductively in sync with Kise as they turned from each other to the audience 'Know that I'm not sorry. I'm just loving my body. I don't care if you're scared of a Sweet. Little. Unforgettable. Thing.' Kise's voice was giving out so Takao who noticed gave a wink to the fangirls watching closely and pressed a finger to Kise's lips as part of the next verse, both to spare him and bring the girls satisfaction knowing that their eye-candy was obedient or at least make it seem that way. 'Shame, shame, shame. Shame, shame, shame.' There were quite a few background shames as well for this section, which made it all the more stunning for the moment to hush the blonde at least to the fangirls who were starting to develop ideas about the two, and Himuro who was watching from the bar, who was trying his damnedest not to laugh. Takao had started directed the lyrics to both Kise and the audience to keep their illusions alive, since that's what this club is for, an amazing view and a trip down fantasy lane 'Shame on me baby, I ain't gonna change. Shame, shame, shame on me. Shame on me, baby' Finally the song was wrapping up and the backup crew was more involved 'I ain't gonna change. No, no, no. Sweet. Little. Unforgettable. Thing. Unforgettable. Sweet. Little. Unforgettable. Thing. So Incredible.' Kise really hates losing out when it comes down to popularity and put a hand on Takao's shoulder joining back in with the vocals for the end 'Know that I'm not sorry, I'm just lovin' my body. I don't care if you're scared of a Sweet. Little. Unforgettable. Thing.' 'Shame, shame, shame on me. Shame, shame shame.' Finally the music was dying out and they were getting ready to drop the curtain when Kise seemed to stage kiss Takao, killing his mic pack just before feedback.

The curtain fell, Takao was stunned for more than one reason. That wasn't just a stage kiss, not that anyone who wasn't close could tell probably. The band, the crew and the backup ran over praising Takao and Kise for their quick thinking. The blonde refused to take credit though saying that Takao had coordinated it and actually saved him, Ryou ran over to Kise with a warm drink with honey in it to soothe his throat, Mayuzumi got Takao in a headlock as one of the backups switched off the mic pack for safety sake. And then everyone froze and turned to Alex, with Takao still in a headlock he smiled sheepishly "I'm sorry Alex... I didn't want Kic-- Kise to end up hurting his throat or losing his voice from the cold... I didn't really know what else to do, and fixing the wiring wasn't going to be quick..." Kise was curious as to what he was going to be called and murmured to Ryou softly so no one else would hear the question "Kic?" Ryou smiled and nodded keeping the same quietness he answered "Oh Takao-kun has nicknames for people he's close to or respects. Yours is Kicchan apparently... I'm sorry" Kise smiled and patted the techie's head, that was interesting. So was he liked or respected, now he had to find out.

As if to reinforce the issue with sound Imayoshi was coming back half carrying one of the waitresses by the back of her uniform "He isn't wrong, this one managed to trip over the wire so hard it yanked out of both the soundboard and the wall. I didn't know what ta do I almost thought it was going to be damaged." Momoi was apologizing profusely, she had gotten distracted by the dancers. Takao patted Mayuzumi's arm calling uncle while Alex was looking over at her sound manager and the waitress. She ignored them for the moment turning back to Takao a slight frown as she looked him over and shook her head "You didn't mention you could sing" Takao rubbed the back of his neck, about to say something, but this time it was Himuro coming up from the bar that commented "I was their for his interview day Alex, you sent someone home for mentioning that they could sing... They had an awful voice, but you probably startled the whole batch of newbies that day." Alex glanced at her apprentice and then raised an eye at the rookie who chuckled and nodded "It's true... I couldn't sing for you on the spot that day even if I wanted to, my allergies were killing me and I didn't want to miss my chance working here..." He held his hand at the back of his neck to try to hide his shaking, he really hoped he wasn't losing his job over this.

Their make up artist who was taller than most of the dancers saw Takao's nails looked like they were going to dig into his neck and lightly swatted his hand tossing a towel over his neck without saying more, then giving the back up dancers their towels before wrapping Kise's neck with a warm compress. Takao was still trembling a bit from the adrenaline of everything, after all he wasn't used to being the center of attention anywhere really and currently everything was on the floor. His mind was a mess and he was giddy, he just performed for the first time since high school, with a lead he super respected, who had kissed him, been praised and noticed by the other lead, saved the sound crew, and basically overturned the owners expectations. The hawk was truly soaring to cloud nine, but he was more or less being grounded as he tried to figure out what to do, what was going to happen. Everyone's cheery chattering died down for a bit as they watched Alex, wondering what she would say. She stared at Takao who didn't look away, he held her gaze even though he felt like his knees would give out, she smiled almost a smug smirk and asked "Well, honestly I'm floored. Kazunari do you have any plans Monday?" The hawk blinked and shook his head, Monday was normally a rest or rehersal day, they didn't open normally. Alex chuckled and turned to the band "Work with him Monday, I'll give you some of the songs, we're adding a third lead to the show." Glancing and Himuro and Kise she smiled and raised an eyebrow "Assuming you two don't have any arguments, I'll consider adding in duets or trios as well if you're up for the challenge?" Kise and Himuro had an air of competition as they nodded assent. Unable to hold back anymore Hayama, the band's drummer was so excited he hugged Takao, who was so startled he fell. Which earned concern and laughter as everyone resumed their praises.

Mibuchi was still standing by Kise when he noticed the glint in the blonde's eye, he chuckled "Honestly... I don't know to call you a masochist, or a sadist darling. You're going to make a move on him after today? You could end up breaking him." Kise smiled and after a few sips of his drink shook his head "I refuse to believe he'll break that easily.... What concerns me though... Is how his pheromones have influenced this place." The blonde sipped, and Mibuchi tilted his head then let his eyes roam, Himuro was watching Hayama rub his cheek against Takao's with a slight glint in his eye, Mayuzumi who was know for not getting involved was attempting to help Takao to his feet again despite Hayama, even Ryou who was normally withdrawn or Imayoshi who didn't play nicely with others had come to his defense. Mibuchi's eyebrows raised, just how many people did this rookie actually move? Even he himself wanted to pamper him, but that at least wasn't a rare thing he had an allure to beautiful people. Mibuchi wondered whom here would end up with who now, since there was no policy against dating as long as it didn't affect the show negatively.

#knb fanfic #knb writing #burlesque au #Takao Kazunari #Kise Ryouta #hints of:#TakaKise #kisetaka #Himuro Tatsuya #sakurai ryou #mayuzumi chihiro #Reo Mibuchi #Imayoshi Shouichi #I get the feeling that this will have a chapter two-- aaah #text post #long

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thecrazydragonlady · 6 years ago

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The Immortal Pharaoh Chapter 23

I... this chapter and the next one are wrecks.

“Oh man. We really missed everything last night,” Honda whined. Anzu and Yugi nodded as the four of them continued on their way to class. The morning had come with no indication that anything had occurred; the only thing close enough was a report about a mysterious fire at the docks that investigators couldn’t explain.

Anzu smiled, “Thankfully my parents were out of town this week for a business meeting so there wasn’t any need to explain why I was coming home so late. Rishid was also kind enough to stay as a guard.” Yugi nodded.

“That was nice of him,” Yugi said, “Oh, Grandpa’s alright too. A bit bruised and tired but nothing too bad. They were afraid with his heart the way it is, that he had a heart attack but everything checked out. They still recommended bed rest though.”

Jounouchi nodded, “Glad to hear it Yug. What’s Yami doing today anyway?”

“Staying by Grandpa,” he confirmed, “And still searching. So far, we’ve got five items accounted for- six if you consider we know that Malik has the rod.” Anzu leaned forward a bit.

“How many items are there anyway?”

“Seven,” Yugi replied. “We’re only missing the Millennium Ring. It’s not shown up at all since it went missing.”

“You don’t think that white haired freak could have it?”

“Pegasus?” Yugi shook his head. “We checked him. He only had the Eye.” Jounouchi touched his chin.

“That’s odd. I’m still hearing the rumors about a white haired guy running around making people disappear.” Yugi blanched.

“Wait! That’s still going on?” Jounouchi nodded.

“According to the gang it is.” Yugi’s brow furrowed. Now it was his turn to get the wheels turning.

“It’s a possibility….” He paused. “What if… What if Malik got the Millennium Rod from this guy?”

“How would that have happened,” Honda asked, scratching his head.

“Well, think about,” Yugi started, “we know the items were all stolen on the same night right? Pegasus must have sent someone to get them at first but what if this white haired guy struck the same night? That would explain why Pegasus only had the Millennium Eye.”

“Then that means that that guy walked away with the other two,” Anzu added. Yugi nodded.

“Right and if Malik ran into him, it’s possible the rod chose him which would explain how he ended up with it.” He paused. “I don’t think stealing the items meets the requirements Pegasus told me about last night….”

“That’s good and all but it doesn’t explain why he went off the deep end,” Jounouchi stated. Yugi frowned.

“I know but right now, that’s more information that we had a few days ago.”

“I’m sure Yami will find something,” Anzu assured them, “for now, let’s hurry. We’re going to be late.” The four of them started running to the gate and up to their classroom, making it just before the teacher walked in. They slid into their spots with a sigh. A couple of people teased that maybe Jounouchi and Honda were starting to rub off on the two of them. The door slid open. Everyone moved to their seats while their teacher went to the podium, motioning to the door.

“Everyone,” he started, “today I would like to introduce you to your new classmate.” Murmurs rose from amongst them. The teacher motioned again to the door. A boy about a head taller than Yugi walked in; he had shockingly long white hair and possibly a face that could rival Yugi’s in looking innocent. He joined the teacher at the front of the room. “Go ahead and introduce yourself.”

He bowed, “Hello, I’m Ryou Bakura. It’s a pleasure to meet you all.” A couple of people whispered. Was that… a British accent? He didn’t seem to notice and continued with, “I hope to be good friends with you all. Please just call me Bakura!” The teacher patted his shoulder assuringly.

“That’s perfectly fine.” He looked around. “Why don’t you sit next to Yugi? Yugi?” He stood. “Help him out okay?”

“Yes sir,” he chirped. Bakura smiled at him and walked to the seat. Once settled, he turned, holding out a hand.

“Hello! I’m Bakura.” Yugi took it.

“Yugi.” They released hands.

When they got the time, Yugi found Bakura to be a very easy to be around. He was not only polite but thoughtful. The girls took to him almost instantly (much to the disgruntlement of all the boys in the class). Honda and Jounouchi pouted. Anzu patted them on the shoulder and assured them that none of the girls thought about them that way anyway so they had nothing to worry about. She covered her ears but laughed at their immediate responses. Yugi chuckled. Bakura, once broken free of a string of girls, stopped in front of him with a sigh. “You alright there Bakura?”

“I will be as soon as I get my breath back,” he laughed. He straightened. “So what now?”

“Now is lunch time,” Jounouchi cheered. “Why don’t you come eat with us?” Bakura blinked.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course,” Anzu added. “It’s your first day here. Where else are you going to go?” He paused.

“… Good point.” The five of them made their way upstairs. The lunch period turned out to be the best time to learn about him so they asked him about everything: where was he from? What did his family do? Why had he moved to Domino City? He laughed once the bombardment was done and explained that he had come from Britain; his mother was Japanese and his father British. After her death, he had lived his life there. His father was also an archeologist (a coincidence that wasn’t missed by Yugi) who had worked in Egypt for a while. However, due to his declining health, he had to be moved to a specialty hospital here in Domino. Anzu touched his hand gently.

“It sounds like you’ve had it rough.” Bakura smiled.

“I’m alright. He’s alright right now and with the medical help here, I’m sure he’ll be just fine.” She nodded.

“Still, if you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask any of us.” He nodded.

“Thank you.”

“Say Bakura, since you don’t know the area that well and everything, how about we have a welcome to Domino party for you?” Everyone stared at her. Anzu smiled, flashing the victory sign. “How about we go to the arcade tonight?” Their faces lit up.

“That sounds like a good idea!”

“I’m down.”

“Sure thing. I’ll have to call Grandpa after school though.” They faced Bakura. He smiled.

“I don’t have to be to the hospital until later. Why not?” They cheered. While the four of them turned to finalize their plans, he smirked.

*****

The day stayed sunny. This pleased Anzu greatly, knowing that her plans weren’t going to be ruined with rain. Bakura was packing his bag when the four of them walked up, smiling at him. He returned the expression. Together, they walked out of the building, talking animated as they showed him through town. Bakura looked excited. They stopped by Burger World for a quick, early dinner, before they set off for the arcade. Yugi walked beside Bakura.

“You said your dad is an archeologist,” he asked. Bakura nodded.

“One of the best. He did a lot of digs for the British Museum. Mostly in Egypt.” He raised an eyebrow.

“That’s where my grandfather did his work too. I mean, he went all over but he liked Egypt the most.”

“Oh really,” Bakura asked, “It must be a small world after all.”

“That it is,” he beamed. Bakura returned the expression and Anzu called out to them, waving a hand. Yugi waved back, running to catch up to her. As he did, something changed. The Millennium Puzzle began to glow.

Bakura leaned forward, “Uh… Yugi? Is that thing around your neck supposed to be glowing like that?” Yugi’s eyes immediately went to it. The others turned, looking as well. Yugi’s face snapped up.

“One of the items is nearby,” he told them. Their expressions grew serious. They nodded to each other before Jounouchi, Honda, and Yugi took off. Anzu rooted through her bag for her cellphone.

“Sorry Bakura,” she apologized, finding it. “Looks like we’re not going to the arcade today. We’ll explain tomorrow alright?” She took off, dialing on the phone, and he raised a hand to stop her. When she was gone, he turned, snickering.

“Of course that fool shows up.” He kicked a rock, breaking a nearby car window. “No matter. Once Yugi and the Guardian defeat him, all it will take is for me to defeat them to have all of the items.” He softened again. “I’ll just need to play the part a little longer is all.”

*****

The four of them raced through the darkening streets; the light from the puzzle served as their guide, growing brighter when they got closer to the place where the other Millennium item was. They were panting when they finally stopped. They were standing in a park. It was dark except for a couple of street lamps. There was a fountain in the center but it was off; the wind rustled the trees and bushes around them. The puzzle was at its brightest. Yugi looked at his friends, “Whichever one it is, it’s here.”

“Great but where,” Jounouchi asked.

“Why don’t you try asking it,” Honda snickered. “Hello? Anyone out there? Calling all psychopaths!”

“Would you not,” Anzu snapped, “Refer to the people that could kill us in a heartbeat as psychopaths.”

“That’s exactly why I’m calling them that!”

“And why do you think they’re going to attack us faster? It’s because you’re taunting them!”

“Uh guys….” Honda and Anzu looked at Yugi who was wide-eyed. “I don’t think now’s the time to keep arguing. We’ve got a problem.” They looked around. Coming out of the shadows were a several people, all dressed the same way in long, dark hooded cloaks, the Millennium Eye glowing on their heads. They jerked though as if they had no control over their limbs. Jounouchi and Yugi backed up. Honda immediately raised his arm in front of Anzu.

“Oh man. What’s going on?”

“How would we know man,” Jounouchi returned. One of the men suddenly groaned, shooting forward with a raised hand, a pipe revealed from under his cloak. Jounouchi met him. He dodged the pipe by ducking down; when he came back up, he grabbed him at the collar and the front of his pants, sending him flying over his head. He hit a tree and slumped to the ground. Honda met another with a fist from the side. Jounouchi raised a thumb. He looked back over his shoulder at the other two, “Look around and see if you can find this guy. If it’s Malik, try to punch him in the face for me!” They nodded. Yugi took Anzu’s hand and pulled her out of the way. He cracked his knuckles. “You ready for this pal?”

“Always,” Honda smirked, tossing him the pipe his victim had thrown. They ran forward. So did the zombies. They groaned and grunted, coming forth with pipes and knives and all sorts of mismatched weaponry. They ducked when they could, tossed them, hit them in the back just hard enough to knock them out, before they moved on to the next zombified person. In total, about fifteen people went down. They were bruised and battered but both came out in relatively one piece. They panted. Raising a hand, they high fived.

“Good job,” Jounouchi breathed out.

“Same to you,” he returned. “Where did Yugi and Anzu go?” He looked around.

“They went to see if they could find the guy controlling everyone….”

“We’re here,” Anzu answered. The two of them emerged from the tree line, covered in a few sticks and leaves which they dusted off of themselves. “We couldn’t find him.”

“The puzzle stopped glowing a few minutes ago,” Yugi clarified. “But we kept looking just to be safe.” Jounouchi nodded.

“Good try you guys. At least everyone is coming out of this alright.” They nodded. Anzu looked down at her phone. There were several missed phone calls from the same number on it. She scratched her cheek.

“Oops.” The boys stared at her she dialed the number back, putting the phone to her ear. It took a few moments for the phones to connect, “Hey Yami….” She pulled the phone away from her ear and once he stopped shouting, she put it back, “I’m sorry. We were in a bit of a situation. I sent you a message about it.” Pause. “Oh. No one’s taught you to read text messages yet. Great. I’ll do that when we meet up. Just… Look, just wait there. We’re on the way back. Bye-bye!” She hung up the phone with a sigh, holding it up for them to see. “I called Yami to tell him what was happening and he was on the way to meet us but got lost.”

“We better go meet up with him then,” Honda replied. “He’s probably worried sick.”

“Probably,” Jounouchi teased, elbowing Yugi in the side, “Right Yugi?” Yugi blushed but nodded his head. The group returned the way they had come; the night had fallen completely and the street was lit up by the lamps and businesses around. They hadn’t emptied though. People, now ready for the weekend night, were out and ready to party. Yugi looked around. It wasn’t hard to miss the sprinting form of Yami. He was wearing jeans this time, a long turtleneck and a vest jacket Yugi forgot he owned. Jounouchi waved to him. He ran up to the group, staring at all of them.

“Are you all alright,” he asked. The four of them smiled at him and gave him a victory sign. His shoulders slumped. “Don’t scare me like that again.”

“Sorry Yami,” Anzu replied. “I forgot to turn my ringer back on after school.”

“Hey, don’t beat yourself up too badly,” Jounouchi told her.

“That’s right,” Honda added, “Who knows what could have happened if your phone had gone off?”

“Not that it matters much now,” Yugi reminded them, “whoever it was, Malik or that other guy, was gone not long after.”

“We’ll need to be more careful then,” Yami confirmed. The four of them nodded but his eyes locked on Yugi, who flushed a bit under the expression. The other three shared a look. Suddenly, Jounouchi and Honda patted Yugi roughly on the back which tripped him into Yami’s hands. He caught him. They walked by.

“Well, I don’t know about you all but I’m tired,” Honda yawned. It was loud, over the top, and clearly faked. Jounouchi matched him.

“Yep. All that fighting really knocked it out of me. I’m going home to sleep.”

“Mom and Dad are coming home soon,” Anzu sung a bit, “I need to be there or get in trouble.” She winked at Yugi. “But hey, sorry we have to change our plans Yugi.” She clapped her hands. “I know! Why don’t the two of you go out and have fun for us?”

“But….”

“Have fun,” they sang to them. Before either of them could say anything, the three of them took off. Yugi was raging red. He promised himself to have a sharp word, or three, with them tomorrow. He face palmed. Yami tapped his shoulder and he jerked.

“What was that,” he asked. Yugi shook his head.

“Your guess is as good as mine.” He paused. The red on his face grew a bit more; he covered it as best as he could with the back of his hands. “Do you… do you want to head to the arcade with me Yami?” He leaned his head to the side.

“What is an arcade?”

He smiled, “A place that has a lot of things like those games you like at home.” He held out his hand. “You want to go?” Yami looked at his hand for a second before nodding, taking, and allowing Yugi to drag him down the sidewalk and to this arcade.

#the immortal pharaoh #ygobb2018 #atem #yugi muto #puzzleshipping #yugioh #yugioh dm

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musicprincess655 · 6 years ago

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“You know, I actually did have plans tonight.”

“Come on, Nori,” Kazuya whined, stealing Nori’s textbook. “Wouldn’t you rather hang out with me instead of studying...Advanced Macroeconomic Theory? What the fuck?”

“Some of us,” Nori said, snatching his textbook back, “have finals next week. I don’t have time to listen to you complain about how Kominato Ryousuke doesn’t have a soul.”

“I listen to you complain about your relationship problems all the time!”

“That implies I ever had a relationship.” Nori rolled his eyes. “I only complain to you because you’re the only person I know that’s as much of a virgin as me.”

“And because I’m your best friend.”

“Yeah, that too.” Nori opened his textbook again, but he obviously wasn’t concentrating. He groaned, turning back to where Kazuya sprawled across his bed. “Okay, yeah, it’s some shit that Ryou and Kuramochi pulled.”

“Right?” Kazuya said. “They’re supposed to be my best friends. We’re supposed to be a team.”

“I know.” Nori dropped his chin into his hand. “I’m really sorry, for what it’s worth. This sucks.”

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do,” Kazuya said. “I mean, they already didn’t want my help. What am I supposed to do, say ‘I won’t help you now’?”

“Exactly.” Nori sighed. “What can you do? It’s not like you can track down the Joker yourself to rub it in their faces.”

Kazuya sat up. Nori really was brilliant, and it was one of the reasons they’d been best friends since middle school.

“Kazuya, no, I was kidding.”

“I have to go.” Kazuya swung off Nori’s bed. He even had the perfect idea of where to start.

“You can’t go after the Joker by yourself,” Nori protested. “Isn’t the whole reason you paired up with Sawamura because you aren’t good at close fights?”

“So I make sure it doesn’t get close,” Kazuya waved Nori’s concerns aside. “I’ll see you later. Good luck on finals.”

“Kazuya!”

Kazuya paused. Nori didn’t often raise his voice, so when he did, it mattered.

Nori gave his textbook one more longing glance before he stood, shoving his wallet and keys in his pocket.

“If you’re gonna be stupid, you’re gonna do it with supervision,” he said. Kazuya grinned. That was the real reason he and Nori had been friends for so long, and why Nori knew so much about the secret lives of superheroes without being one.

Nori had the resolve to stay when almost no one else did.

“So what exactly is the plan?” Nori asked as they walked to the train station. “If the Joker can’t be tracked with all the Kominato technology, what can you do?”

“I might know someone who can get info the Kominatos can’t.”

Nori gave him a sideways look, but let it slide until they got to Kazuya’s dad’s house. At this hour, Miyuki Toku would be out on the streets as Green Arrow, so the house was deathly quiet.

Kazuya didn’t have the technology or the skills to track the Joker, at least not any better than Ryou could. But he did have something that Ryou didn’t.

A few weeks ago, he’d run into Cheshire, and he’d managed to shoot a tracker onto her costume. If it was still there, if he could find her again, she could be bought.

“Who are you tracking?” Nori asked.

“Ryou probably thinks having a villain’s daughter on his side will help,” Kazuya said. “I bet he forgot that Sportsmaster has two daughters.”

“Are you talking about Katsuko and Jade?” Nori asked.

“Yep.”

“Isn’t Jade...you know, kind of nuts?”

“Yep.” Shockingly, Cheshire’s tracker was still working, which meant she either hadn’t found it or was waiting to see what he’d do with it. “But she has connections, and she might be able to find something we can’t.”

“And you’re just going to go after someone you know is dangerous alone?”

“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not really talking to anyone I’m willing to bring with me.”

Nori set his jaw.

“You’re talking to me,” he said, sitting down in front of Kazuya’s computer. “I can at least give you a heads up if you’re about to get a beatdown.”

Oh. Kazuya would never bring Nori into a dangerous situation, but this...this was fine. Better than fine.

“My comm. links up with this computer,” he said. “You can talk to me that way.”

“Gotcha.” Nori slipped a headset over his ears. “And Kazuya? Be careful.”

“Will do.”

Cheshire was, surprisingly enough, in Star City. Her business could take her just about anywhere in the world, but Kazuya was suspicious of her so close. It was all just a little too inconvenient.

The tracker led him to a rundown apartment building.

“Fire escape on the east side will get you right to the signal,” Nori said over the comm. Kazuya smiled. Nori was a natural at this. It was nice to have someone running mission control for him.

Kazuya hauled himself up the fire escape silently. If he had nothing else, he was good at getting to higher ground quickly and silently. It was a necessary skill for an archer.

He couldn’t see anyone when he got to the roof, and he was just about to he down into the building when he heard a throat clearing behind him. Kazuya whipped around to see Cheshire, face hidden behind her grinning cat mask, holding up two sai.

“I was wondering when you’d finally track me down,” she said, a smile obvious in her voice. “I was starting to think you’d stand me up.”

“Can we...maybe do this in Japanese?” Kazuya asked. His English wasn’t good enough for this conversation.

Cheshire stood, both knives dropping to her sides.

“Fine,” she said. “What do you want?”

“Information,” he replied. “I guess you know what happened to Robin.”

“I heard,” she said. “A shame. I liked this one. He was interesting.”

“We’re trying to find the Joker.”

“Revenge?” Kazuya could imagine the way her face lit up with a smile as she said it. “I thought that was just for us big, bad villains.”

“Would you let it slide if it happened to Artemis?”

“I thought you were all so much better than me.” She took off her mask, shaking out her hair. “This is stupid. I know my sister already told you everything about my family. You have me at a disadvantage, Arsenal. You know everything about me, and I don’t even know your name.”

“Can you find the Joker?” Kazuya asked, trying not to get derailed.

“Of course I can,” she scoffed. “The question is will I. Something this dangerous won’t come cheap.”

“So what do you want?” Kazuya asked. He had enough money to pay her off. Probably. Being the son of a billionaire had its perks.

“Well, money, obviously, but I want something more valuable too.” She stalked closer. “I want information from you too.”

“I’m not giving up anyone’s secret identities.”

“Oh, I figured you wouldn’t,” she waved her hand dismissively. “I just want yours.”

“That is such a bad idea.” Nori’s voice almost made Kazuya jump. He’d forgotten Nori was still there.

“My sister is so protective of her new little friends,” Cheshire continued. “I want to show her it’s all for nothing.”

“This is to piss off Artemis?”

“Partly.” Cheshire shrugged. “It’s mostly for the money. I’m an assassin for hire, after all. I just see an opportunity to get another thing I want.”

“Kazuya.”

“What?”

“Don’t you dare!”

“My name is Kazuya,” Kazuya repeated, pulling off his sports glasses.

“Kazuya.” His name almost purred out of her mouth, caught on the American accent. She took another step forward, and Kazuya suddenly realized she’d backed him up to the edge of the roof. “I’ll see what I can find. Give me a week, and I’ll find the Joker.”

“Just a week?” Kazuya asked. She leaned in farther, until their faces were only centimeters apart.

“You’ll know how to find me,” she said, lifting her hair to show where she’d hung the tracker on an earring. “In the meantime, sit tight, pretty boy.”

All of a sudden, she was gone, disappearing into the night as effortlessly as any of the Kominatos could.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Nori said in his ear.

#miyusawa #kuraryou #daiya no a #dna #my writing #dc!au #utbh

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