#Ai (Dark Ignis)

[emeraldhypothesis]

I'm back and I have a triple order!

I wanna hear your thoughts on the doomed yaoi men: Yami Yugi, Bruno, and Ai

(Only if you want to, of course)

oh baby we got some good ones

Yami:

Why I like them/why I don’t

God, Yami/Atem is just... such a good protagonist. He's one of the foundational protagonists of my childhood in terms of what I like about a hero, up there with Optimus Prime in how I've grown to love an idea Peter Cullen once said about how he plays Optimus, "Be strong enough to be gentle."

Atem's early behavior in the manga is legit so crazy to look back on, he's like a chained-up demon who bestows karmic justice without concerns of morality or how it looks to others, but gradually softens as he comes out of his shell and interacts with Yugi and his friends more, becoming a more noble and honorable figure worthy of the title of King of Games. I love his boundless enthusiasm and appreciation for games, the deep care and love he has for the gang and how they accept him once they learn about him. He's so fun to follow across the series, not just for his growth but because he's just a naturally engaging character.

What I like about their appearance

I love the vivid shade of purple his eyes are in DSOD, it's so gorgeous. I love the sleeveless jacket he sometimes had during Duelist Kingdom, and his little jacket-cape that he starts wearing in Battle City.

I'm also stupidly fond of his little gray coat from the Dungeon Dice Monsters episode.

Do I prefer their dub names or original names?

Same in both, so no preference. I will say I like the Japanese having Yami and Yugi refer to each other as "Other me," which gradually shows how deep their bond runs.

I'll repeat a lot of what I said about Yugi for the languages though, Dan Green and Shunsuke Kazama are both perfect in the role and I adore both of their takes on Atem. I think I'd give it overall to Dan Green just for how much gravitas he gives a lot of scenes, which gives his softer-spoken moments or his comedic bits more impact.

OTP

Like I said for Kaiba, it's Prideshipping, no contest. Yami and Kaiba's rivalry is one of the foundations the series is built on, and both characters compliment and complete each other in such a way that one without the other feels like a phantom pain from a lost limb.

I also do like Atem/Mahad, largely because Mahad is just the absolute GOAT during Millennium World that I must respect his dedication to the bit.

NOTP

I'm not super fond of shipping him with the other Yamis, and admittedly that's largely due to a Thiefshipping bias but also a bit too little chemistry.

OT3

I think him, Yugi and Joey would have been cute together, or him, Yugi and Tea.

I'm also fond of Atem/Mahad/Mana.

Favourite card they use

I love how sassy Dark Magician can get with its little finger wags and smirks, but I gotta give it to God's Favorite Little Guy, Kuriboh.

Favourite moment they were in

So many, it's so hard to pick. I could list off like five and I'd still be left going "Oh but I could bring up him decking Strings out, or BESERKER SOUL, or his manga ferocity making him nearly kill Kaiba in Duelist Kingdom, or his return in DSOD where he summons Mahad and you get the awesome symbolism of Mahad being summoned facing his king and kneeling before he attacks Aigami and... you get the idea." He has so many, we'd be here all day.

I think I'll give it to the Ceremonial Duel though. It's a perfect ending all around, with Atem giving a wonderful final performance in his summoning of the God Cards, his his warm praise that creeps in when Yugi outplays him and pushes him into a corner, and him embracing his end with serenity and dignity. I saw a post once that referred to it all as the perfect funeral for Atem.

I still cry watching that scene.

Least favourite moment

I've never thought that DOMA made a great case for Atem playing the Seal of Orichalchos when he did, especially when the duel with Raphael had zero stakes to it. It's a bit of a "He would not fucking say that" moment for me, but I'm willing to accept it to allow for his arc that season of being this darkest hour for him that he did play that card and it had real consequences for people around him.

Would I fuck, marry or kill them

at the risk of getting crass: I've had a crush on Atem since I was a child. I would commit many a grave sin to know him carnally.

Bruno:

Why I like them/why I don’t

God he's just so cool though. A fearsome rival who's intensely mysterious throughout the series, alongside Bruno being one of the better Second Season Best Friend characters alongside Johan and Vector. He's just such a silly guy who's helplessly in love with Yusei the bikes, and who can blame him!

Even his name is cool! I love how much meaning went into the Four Stars and their names. It's sick.

What I like about their appearance

I love Bruno's jacket, it looks very comfy.

Antinomy's jumpsuit is super sleek, his slicked-back haircut is rad, and I love his glasses- very telling that Antinomy has to view the world/Z-One through rose-tinted glasses, eh.

Do I prefer their dub names or original names?

Same in both, but I would say I prefer Dark Glass as an alias over Vizor. I am very fond of how they translate "surpass your limits, Yusei" into asking if he's found "The Synchro Solution," that just tickles my fancy.

Voice wise, it's mutual bangers on both sides. Hiroki Tanaka's performance as Bruno/Antinomy is so layered to make each identity distinct, and he does a wonderful job with it, especially in his last duel and his voice softens on that final "Yusei..." augh my heart. He's also just so bombastic with the summon chants that it's hard not to adore Tanaka's take (especially with the Delta Accel chant he did for Glaive Blaster during AGOV's OCG Times stream, super fun watch).

Justin Badger I preferred for a bit as Bruno over Antinomy, but he really got to shine when Duel Links gave him a full chance to play Antinomy. I heard him in an interview once discussing how he played Bruno, Antinomy and Dark Glass differently and that was engaging to listen to. Badger has such a commanding voice that lends itself well, with him going for a more clipped, professional tone that lets up a little when he's going for the bombastic summon chants.

Both are great, is what I'm trying to say. Perfect performance on both sides.

OTP

Toolshipping is suuuuuch painful doomed yaoi. Easily my favorite Yusei ship, the bond it allows Yusei to forge across Season 2 is such a wonderful, soft time that hurts like a knife to the eye when it comes to a violent, miserable end in the Arc Cradle.

Here's how I can ship Faith and Tool at the same time and still win! By throwing Antinomy into the black hole!

NOTP

Bruno/Sherry is too much mlm/wlw solidarity for me to look at them romantically.

OT3

As with Z-One and Aporia, old man polycule yaoi my beloved.

Favourite card they use

Tie between Hyper Librarian (I LOVE DRAWING CARDS IS THIS THE SYNCHRO SOLUTION YOU WANTED) and Halbred Cannon. I like a lot of the TG's though, they're a pet favorite deck of mine.

Honorable mention to his legacy support having some of the best references in the art of any legacy support deck, like Star Guardian Literally Just Being Antinomy, TG Close depicting Halbred Cannon's choke-slam, and Shooting Star Dragon TG EX reflecting Yusei and Bruno's bond.

Favourite moment they were in

His entire last duel with Yusei is one of the best duels of 5D's, and Ark Cradle is a arc of nothing but the best duels in 5D's. The environment is so unique and cool to look at, Halbred Cannon's summon collapsing a star, Halbred Cannon CHOKE SLAMMING SHOOTING STAR DRAGON, and his sacrifice to save Yusei all just works so well.

Least favourite moment

He didn't have one- a GOAT always stands on business and the Synchro Solution waits for no frauds.

I guess his future self's moustache was kinda cringe?

Ai:

Why I like them/why I don’t

Ai manages the difficult task of being a comic relief character who morphs into a tragic figure. His arc across Season 2 has him slowly stripped of the whimsy and zeal for life that he starts with, cumulating in him learning true rage after Earth's death and his broken sorrow after the other Ignis sacrifice themselves to give him and Yusaku a chance to beat Bohman.

It's amazing how complex Ai's villain arc is made given the short time frame Season 3 has to work with. It arguably takes up too much time- you basically need to go into Season 3 already liking Yusaku and Ai for a lot of the Season to land, but as someone who does, it's fantastic.

Ai's journey in Season 3 is perfect. It's a bit abrupt to go from his comic relief angle in Seasons 1 and 2 to such a dark swerve but I think the writing nails it. He's probably my favorite villain in the show, I adore his dynamic with Yusaku and how fucking dooomed it really is, and he manages the impressive feat of going on a massive relay run of older enemies to beat, and made it entertaining. I adore his little deck, and how much symbolism of his grief is tied into the ace monsters and AIland, I love how stupid all of his AI backrow cards are with their silly puns. And I love that all of the jester stuff is hiding a deeply, agonized and lonely character who is basically forcing the one human he's ever loved to be his executioner and God. He's a person who wants to die because both his family are dead and if he stays alive, his last love will die for him. No wonder he's a barely functioning mess.

I am very biased about Ai's Season 3 turn, I have no real notes beyond "Man imagine how much more cool shit we'd have gotten if he had fifty episodes to cook."

What I like about their appearance

His Ignis form is the definition of a scrimblo. A scrunchy. A creechure, you may say. He's very expressive and the design lends itself well to that. I love how you can see him duck and weave inside of the Duel Disk to dodge Yusaku's hands sometimes.

His Soltis form may be a bit "Sterotypical Tumblr Sexy Man" but... look I'm on Tumblr I'm allowed one. I like his earrings. :)

Do I prefer their dub names or original names?

Same in both.

I think I overall prefer the sub, but more because of what Ai is allowed to say in that and how the Vrains dub handles tone in general. It's nothing against Michael Liscio, I'd even say this is his best performance of his major roles (especially because unlike Arc-V he doesn't have to juggle six character voices, seriously who decided that?), but the Vrains dub does have an issue of fearing sincerity sometime so it has to crack jokes. A lot of the time the jokes land are funny, but it does undercut the severity of the moment when Ryoken is fumbling the "Gotta break an egg to make an omelette" analogy while telling Yusaku about Earth's death- or translating Shoichi and Yusaku's Season 2 conversation into the climax of the "Is a hot dog a sandwich" running bit. Liscio does well, but I think I'd have to give my preference to Takahiro Sakurai's Ai largely because of the material. If Liscio was given things like Ai's dying love confession it'd be more even so... get back to me when Duel Links adds Ai, going off Yudias's voice lines love confessions are back on the menu.

OTP

"If losing a friend means your heart breaks, then why are you trying to break my heart?"

Aiball is one of the peak Doomed Yaoi ships in a franchise that already has an overabundance of Doomed Yaoi. Their bond over Seasons 1 and 2 gradually transitions from hostage to ally, making any time Yusaku slips and calls him "Aibou" all the better. They clearly care for each other and like being around them, but the circumstances of the story keep separating them, and eventually Ai is forced to launch his own Ignis Rebellion in order to find a way to die that guarantees no one brings him back.

It's also fun from a toxic yaoi perspective because of how the entire duel works out- Ai basically goads Yusaku into the fight and only then reveals that he dies either way- meaning he's forced Yusaku without his knowledge into a situation where Yusaku helps Ai commit suicide either way, and that's really fucked up and I kinda love it.

Their last scene together is so haunting, not helped by Ai gradually letting slip that his motive was born from love- seeing Yusaku die in every simulation that Ai made broke the poor guy, so he decided that the best way for Yusaku to live was to take himself off the board for good.

(until Duel Links)

That last shot especially of Yusaku standing among a field of Ai's corpses is genuinely so harrowing, holy crap.

I also have a soft spot for Ai/Lightning due to a reading from a friend that clued me in on them having the world's messiest divorce arc and neither of them having gotten over it by Season 2.

NOTP

Anything with Bohman. I hate Bohman soooooo much.

OT3

Like I said with Revolver, the idea of Ai and Ryoken having to co-exist in post-canon works because they both like Yusaku too much is the definition of hilarity to me.

Favourite card they use

The Arrival, no contest. Such an otherworldly design, helped by an immaculate summon chant.

The A.I. spells and traps are all so adorable though, whoever had the idea that Ai's ego would have him base all of his backrow art of himself was cooking, you absolute genius.

I also like Pikari's funny little hat. :) Maybe Lightning wouldn't have tried to enslave humanity if they had a funny little hat!

Favourite moment they were in

Yusaku vs Ai is probably my favorite final boss duel in the franchise, for reasons I went into earlier, but I think I'll say my favourite overall moment of the duel is when Ai manages to get out the @ Ignister monsters that represent his friends and takes a moment to both think "Holy crap I made the perfect board," and lament that none of them are there to see it.

Shout out as well to The Arrival's summon chant where he can rattle off five superlatives in short order, but hesitates at the sixth- his self loathing coming home to roost and meaning he hesitates to think of something good to say about himself.

Least favourite moment

Ai trying to imply he's the real reason Yusaku took up arms against the Hanoi in their duel. I never liked that line, it comes off as trying far too hard to make Ai manipulative (I can accept he set up the Cyberse deck but I refuse to believe Ai organized Yusaku meeting Shoichi) and it never comes up again so I write the line off as non-canon. It also comes too soon after Lightning is retconned as being the root cause of all evil in the known universe, so that didn't help.

Would I fuck, marry or kill them

Yeah he'd be fun for a rumble in the hay or two.

[dinersaturn]

If I had a nickle for every one-eyed purple being that tagged alongside a blue-haired protagonist (and was possibly going to use the protagonist in order to obtain physical form) I’d have two nickles. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.

[number-1-kuaidul-fanboy]

Season 1 of VRAINS in a nutshell

[dustydoodles]

i love 愛 (if this doesn’t upload as transparent i’m gonna cry)

[kcuf-ad]

The only AI I trust.

[oddchirithy]

Ai's Home 3 Audio

Part of the cutscenes once you reach level 20 with Ai

[numberoneplaymakerstan]

this is extremely important you all must answer

[kcuf-ad]

He was correct the entire time.

honestly same-

[musicalherbalist]

"Witness me now! Come, Caress me now!" "These translucent clothes I'll now adorn!" "Break from my cocoon, butterfly born anew!" "I'll show everything in all it's glory for you!" "This stage, bitter cold, performs not a soul." "So, I'll step to the beat with a 1, 2, 3!" "Not a puppet at all, just dancing along!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This isn't really my usual kind of art, and I know I promised oc stuff, but I've been lowkey blitzing through Vrains while working on commissions, and tbh, I am absolutely loving it so far! I'm uh...kinda on season 3, so I figured I'd post this art I did of my favorite character! I'm not finished with it yet, but I stumbled across MICCHI's cover of "Abnormality Dancin' Girl", and it kinda fit where I think his character is gonna go. Possible spoilers below the Keep Reading for my thoughts!

I think it's going to be a "Live long enough to see yourself become the villain"-type scenario. He was the survivor of the Hanoi attack on the Cyberse World, was a refugee for 5 years, a hostage for a while, and even though he found friends and support, after things were finally safe enough for him to go home, it was destroyed, with nearly everyone he knew lost. Then, he gets to slowly regain those friends and grow closer to Yusaku and everyone else, only to find out someone he admired as a leader was the one who ruined their world, one of his friends is dissected alive, the rest are picked off one by one, Yusaku and everyone else has to suffer through fixing a problem that should never have happened, all because Lightning had an inferiority complex… So yeah, it makes sense that he'd be angry and vindictive. Everyone sees him and his kind as evil, and he'd just want he and the few friends he still has to be safe, so of course he'd go after the head of SolTech after leaving behind his smaller. The "Lazy and annoying Dark Ignis" is finally the big, bad monster others would make him out to be. This isn't something that he wants, though. It's clear that a lot of it is a front for something else. Hell, in his calling card to Akira Zaizen, someone who he seems to respect, at least, he reveals himself and tells him when he'd be coming for him, and waits until Yusaku is there to start his attack. He doesn't kill Queen either, when he honestly could. I don't think he actively wants to hurt anyone, but it's like he's just trying to... burn himself out in the most spectacular way he can, while getting back at who he can. Vrains is really, really good at depicting a good potential downward spiral for it's characters. Yusaku's story is gradually working himself out of one he'd been in since the Lost Incident, Takeru goes through one before we meet him and nearly goes through one when he has to work with Revolver. We see a potential one for Aoi, too, when she comes in contact with the Knights of Hanoi. Hell, I'll actually kinda defend the direction Go Onizuka's character went, too, because of course the guy obsessed with being "The Strongest" would crash out after finally realizing that he can be strong for just himself, only to get wiped out by Revolver with his Boomer Traps, and Playmaker for the umpteenth time later on. Hell, Season 2 is just everyone dealing with the end results of Lightning spiraling when he finds out that he's fundamentally worse than the other Ignis, and is the most likely one to cause them all to fail to connect with humanity. We see Windy mid to the end of his corruption-induced spiral, too. Why would Ai be any different? He's been through hell and back, and what's he got to show for it, ultimately? He failed. He couldn't save any of the other Ignis, Yusaku had to be put through hell, Takeru lost someone he leaned on for emotional support, Spectre didn't even have the chance to meet Earth(which could have done him some good, tbh), Aoi and her friend lost Aqua, Windy was driven to insanity, and so, so much more. Why wouldn't he want to lash out with the help of his only other ai friend? ...And why wouldn't he want someone to stop him? "Ai" does mean "Love", after all. And hell hath no mercy than that of love scorned. Also, I realized while drawing this that he made himself into a gay pirate twink, and I couldn't be happier for him looking fabulous during his possible crashout! Thank you for reading, if anyone did!

[pico-farad]

Vrains season 2 thoughts - part 2!

Go, Blood Shepherd, Ghost Girl, and the Ignis

All Vrains season analysis posts

⇀ Go

I'm devastated LMAO. In shambles. They massacred my boy (shh don't tell me the Go in my head isn't canon).

It's okay Go, Secret Identities AU will save you...

So, I don't think it was a bad idea for Go to "defect" to SOL. Go was already playing third fiddle very hard in the first season, and there was no way he could compare to Soulburner in terms of popularity as a main character, so turning him into an antagonist could be refreshing.

But it says something about Yusaku and Go's lack of relationship that when Go joins the bounty hunters Yusaku isn't even interested, much less betrayed. He doesn't ask, "Hey Go, why are you doing this?" he just glances at him and goes "Hmm, SOL Technologies sent bounty hunters."

You can tell too, during their duel later, that Yusaku just isn't close enough to Go to even attempt to break him out of the brain hacking. The best he can do is, "Didn't we fight against Hanoi together?" Uh I dunno Yusaku, did you? Isn't the reason why Go is in this downward spiral because you solo'd Hanoi by yourself?

The Soulburner vs. Go duel could have been a good place to explore that reasoning. Go's annoyance here is justified. It's completely understandable to feel like you're being talked down to, when fanboy Soulburner -- god bless him -- tells you that you're a hero who saved Vrains, even though you know that you couldn't do anything, you were useless. There's almost a narrative self-awareness there, that your duel was only used to make Playmaker look better. Playmaker is the real hero of Vrains, and you were just a stepping stone. Of course Soulburner's gushing would rub you the wrong way.

This relationship could have been sooo good if they built on it. Soulburner believes in Go, even when Go himself doesn't believe he's a hero. He understands that it isn't strength that makes you a hero, it isn't winning duels. It's having the courage to stand up to evil. That's why he admires Go and the others. Because that's what gave him the courage to stand up to his own demons. Imagine a rematch where Soulburner returns the favor, where he's the one to save Go from the darkness and convince him to be the hero that he believed in.

But no, instead, they kind of make him as unsympathetic as possible. Maybe that was the point, considering how they end up gutting his character, but this duel really, really makes him look bad. A grown adult playing victim olympics with children and losing. "You were traumatized as a kid? Oh yeah, well I grew up in an orphanage!" nooooo go you can't say that to an anime boy.

Go: For everyone to appreciate me, I must win! Playmaker is in my way. Lost Incident victim, he says? I know he suffered, but I also bet my life on dueling! I'm the one who'll be number one! I'm not Playmaker's stepping stone! Soulburner: ...I don't think you're Playmaker's stepping stone. But right now, you're just SOL Technologies' pet dog. Actually, a pitiful loser dog who complains to strangers. Go: How dare you say that-- Soulburner: The Go Onizuka in my heart is a great duelist! Number one? Everyone appreciate you? The Go Onizuka I know would never say pathetic things like that! Go: Be quiet! What do you know? Soulburner: I do know! Because Go Onizuka is a hero who gave me courage when I couldn't move forward. No matter how cornered he was, Go Onizuka was an independent duelist who believed in his own strength to the end. Where is that person who gave me courage? Go: *turns away* ...I end my turn. Soulburner: Go Onizuka... I want to duel the real you.

Do you see my vision?

But none of these ideas really come back, and it's all downhill from there for Go, with the AI implant and Earth and all. He just becomes another evil, unhinged, "pathetic" villain to be put down by Yusaku, who doesn't give a shit about him. We were so robbed of the Soulburner vs. Go rematch.

⇀ Ghost Girl and Blood Shepherd

I don't have much to say about Blood Shepherd, I'm sure I would have found him cool when I was 13. No, I really only need to talk about Ghost Girl vs. Blood Shepherd.

This duel needed to be a two-episoder. They've built up this mysterious shared past, raised the stakes by putting their accounts on the line, and then the duel is over in three turns. The majority of Vrains is two-episode duels, but Ema gets the short stick by having both of her duels be singles?

(Aoi also has 2 single episode duels, out of 3 total. Let's do some math, this season Aoi and Ema combined have 6 episodes of duels. That's the same amount that Go, Revolver, and Lightning each have alone. Blood Shepherd has 8. Soulburner gets 11 episodes of duels. And Bohman gets 12. All six of Bohman's duels are two-parters, four of them are against Yusaku, and none of them are that memorable. Couldn't he have donated one episode to Ema?)

It's revealed that Ghost Girl and Blood Shepherd are half siblings, but it's not particularly clear whether they've even spoken outside of Vrains. If they had the extra episode, they could have given them a flashback together, arguments about their respective upbringings, anything to flesh out their relationship and make the ending of this duel make sense.

Ghost Girl loses. Fine, we can't have nice things. She isn't going to get anything important for the rest of the season, so let her go out honorably. But no, Blood Shepherd doesn't even give her the dignity of following through on the stakes of the match.

It's not like I want the female character to get deleted, but without showing any kind of shared history or interpersonal relationship, this "brotherly mercy" reads as patronizing bullcrap. They're both adults who have committed to an unforgiving line of work, but Blood Shepherd does a 180 because his absent father -- who we were just told about 8 minutes ago -- actually did sort of care about him.

Never mind that his father and Ema didn't try to help him, this one sentence is apparently enough to make Blood Shepherd not only take back the stakes he proposed, but also risk and lose his life to Lightning, because, "It's a brother's responsibility to protect his sister." No, you're both adults, you don't have a history together, you don't have "a responsibility to protect her" just because you share the same father. And when that's all that they show, it feels uncomfortably essentialist, out of character, and cheaply written.

Part of this is cultural difference, but it's just a trope that I personally hate for various reasons.

⇀ The Other Ignis

I don't really have thoughts on Earth or Aqua, other than that they sure did girlcode the Water Ignis and then damsel her. Windy and Lightning are fine as mid-series antagonists, though I think they lack impact with just two of them. If either Earth or Aqua was also on the side of the bad guy Ignis, having a nice round antagonist trio would be more imposing and balanced (3 Ignis being pro-human and 3 against)

They even acknowledge themselves how underwhelming their group is, by trying to recruit Blood Shepherd, and by the fact that they had to really clumsily split up the hero team in the final fight so that they aren't clearly outmatched. This contrivance is lame. Compare that to, say, Ark Cradle in 5Ds where each character has a specific opponent, a high note to end on, and all the other characters are counting on them to prevail.

This is the same problem Vrains had in season 1, where they insist on Yusaku being the Last Man Standing, and less important characters have to be picked off so that Yusaku's big boss fight has higher stakes. We'll see if that actually pays off in season 3.

-----

Gonna cut it off here, I need to watch the rest to properly cover Bohman, Revolver, Yusaku, and Ai. I know I really went in on the writers in this section, but I am actually looking forward to these next 30 episodes. I don't think I'm gonna come away loving Vrains, but I'm very curious about this ending, and why I see so much fanart of hot anime boy AI. I think it's gonna be a good time!

...Sorry, did I forget someone again?

Sigh...

Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh Vrains Analysis: How the Fuck Did Aoi's Writing Get Worse

[number-1-kuaidul-fanboy]

You know they would.

[lazyheartcomputer]

Yup, what did they did this time?

I finally succumbed to the Barbie Meme and knew exactly who I needed to draw. 

[kcuf-ad]

AI is horrible and it can’t be trusted.

Not you, Ai. You are great they way that you are

[evebah]

Tier III Non-Canon Fire Ghoul

Headmates may not turn out exactly how described or even change over time. This is normal, and the info can be edited as needed.

Names: Ember, Vulcan, Hephaestus, Kindle, Volcano, Glow, Burn, Smolder, Beta, Ignis, Fuoco, Brand, Coal, Charcoal, Copper, Azar, Cyra, Flint, Keagan, Ash

Pronouns: xe/xem, it/its, fi/fire, fire/fires, burn/burns, ash/ashes, soot/soots, plume/plumes, bonfire/bonfires, wildfire/wildfires, guitar/guitars, lead/leads, lead/leader, 🔥/🔥s, 🌡️/🌡️s, 🌋/🌋s, 🎸/🎸s, 🐦‍🔥/🐦‍🔥s, 💥/💥s

Terms: Nonhuman

Titles: the (fire) ghoul, xe who controls fire, xyr fierceness, the lead guitarist, xe who is (over)protective, xe who is very emotional, xe who wears a rosemary/grucifix, xe who aids Papas, xe who trains ghouls, the big brother

Gender: Aeterignis

Xeno ideas: Anything related to Ghost, nameless ghouls, fire, summer, heat, guitars, rock music, soda, gaming, red, teal, blue, being a brother, leadership, candles

Misc: Spear, Teal-quila Sunrise / Peppermint Boba Tea, Sibling of Sin, Dissocarnivore, Fire Ghoul

Otherkin: Sunkin, fire tornado otherkin, fire ant therian, phoenix otherkin, fire beetle therian, bombardier beetle therian, salamander therian

Role(s): Babysitter, Ordemate, Brother Figure, Religion Holder

Sign-offs: 🌋🔥🌡️🎸🕯️🐦‍🔥

Personality: Realist, outspoken, emotional, has trouble committing to romantic relationships, hard worker, very efficient, loyal, blunt, social,

Likes: Most mood lighting, jewelry, soda, bugs, reptiles, metal music, rock music, bright colors, dark colors, guitars (especially vintage ones), candles, (telling) campfire stories, pizza, energy drinks, suggestive jokes

Dislikes: Sparkling water, clutter, having to take care of a lot of plants (xe wil, but xe will complain during it), overly sweet food, shopping for clothes, office jobs, going to school/college/training/etc, long cutscenes in games

Hobbies: Playing video games, practicing instruments, making DIY clothes and accessories, making kandi, cooking (especially grilling or cooking on a fire pit), acting, acrobatics, low-key loves wine and mead making

Aesthetics: Olderbrothercore, Rock, Rockabilly, Goth, Punk

Appearance ideas:

Images above are AI generated. I personally do not support AI, I did not generate these, and I do not own these images.

Misc:

Doesn't actually have a preference when it comes to soda, xs just says xyr favorite is the 'opposite' of the favorite of whoever xe is talking to (such as saying xyr favorite is 'pepsi' if the other person likes coca-cola) because xe thinks it's funny

One of the very few ghouls who genuinely worship the Papas. Xe is particularly attached to Perpetua due to him being new, though xe is also pretty close to Secondo.

Puts a lot of effort when going out, even if it's just going to the store or a fast food restaurant. Wears a ton of accessories, especially anything spiked or with chains. Though, when xe's home alone, xe'll just wear a band shirt, worn jeans, and maybe a necklace or two.

Prefers to leave relationships unlabeled except for how close xe is to the person, since xe finds it more helpful and it makes more sense to xem.

Goes to sleep either face down ass up or sprawled out like a squished bug, pick your poison.

[shitpostingkats]

Since I think you have met most of the Ignis now- what's your thoughts on them so far? They are like one of my favorite things in Vrains so I wanna hear your thoughts :DDD

BOY ARE YOU IN LUCK BECAUSE I HAVE MANY MANY THINGS TO SAY ABOUT THEM! :D

For anyone who isn't op, these rambles will include SPOILERS up to the end of season two of yugioh vrains. If ye wish to not know, scroll past quickly.

Okay SO:

Ai- Little little guy. I freaking love him so much. Yugioh has pretty consistently done a Dark =/= Bad and Light =/= Good, (more on that later) and Ai is such a freaking good entry into that. Ai is the dark ignis and he's the most human of them all, messy and lazy and silly. And he's like the only one of them who has ANY non-cyberse, non-Lost Incident life experience like!!!! Of course he talks like a comments section! Of course he has free will and self awareness and the first thing he did to prove this was "exerting his free will" by rolling his eye(s)! And OH MY GOD him and Yusaku. The relationship each ignis has with their lost child is SO important to me. Ai and Yusaku are, on the surface, the most different, but where they agree is their sense of surety and their sense of freedom. Ai and Yusaku have the exact same confidence in themselves. In Yusaku, it's the self confidence of knowing he's done everything he can and is smart enough to be prepared for anything. When Ai tells him "just get lucky!" and Yusaku goes "No, I'm not going to get lucky, but I'm going to win anyway." And that's SO fascinating because Ai has that same self confidence, but essentially learned it from Yusaku, that survival response of 'I am good enough that this will work'. Yusaku taught Ai everything about asserting yourself, and it's buried beneath layers and layer of different experiences, but fundamentally they're the same, the same trauma of 'I will be better. I will be enough by myself, because I am in this alone.' and then they find they are both strong but they're stronger together and it makes me want to BITE SOMETHING.

(Readmore because this got long whoops)

Flame- Why is he britsh??? Theo isn't british. He was not made in britain nor was anyone on the project british. I can only assume he purposefully chose that accent to make himself sound smarter. I love him for it. Flame and Theo are tied up in a lot of headcanon for me, most specifically I think Theo is the lost kid who lost the most (barring Spectre, who sometimes lost on purpose) before getting the hang of the game. Thus, his whole rising from the ashes motif. Teddy and Flame are the survival response of spitting out a tooth and getting back up again. They lived through the incident by refusing to stay down, and yet somehow they came out of it as a friendly jock and a silly little nerd guy. The obvious care they have for each other absolutely sends me. Flame's argument against the war is literally "We can coexist with humans. I am coexisting with a human right now, and you cannot stop me." When his home was destroyed the first thing he did was seek out Theodore. I AM GOING INSANE. And of course Theo dropped everything and moved across the country just to help someone he really didn't know before that day ARE YOU KIDDING ME. They are involved in this entire story because they cannot comprehend not helping eachother. Also, again, jock and nerdy solidarity but the dorky guy with the glasses is the jock and the literal being of fire is the nerd.

Lightning- ALSO INSANE ABOUT HIM. JUST IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING. Okay so like I said I have only recently finished season 2 and haven't started on 3 yet so we haven't had a whole lot of screentime with Jin so I can only guess on how they impact and inform each other but. OH MAN. I mean, I feel like I have to take a whole section just to talk about his PERFORMANCE. His english voice acting is phenomenal, just the right amount of utterly sinister, tempered with this no-nonsense confidence that feels perfect for his grand speeches of logical thinking. Lightning is terrifying, easily one if not the stand out villain performance in all of yugioh for me. You don't side with him, but the audience can see exactly how he gets from Point A to Point B, and that clarity of reason makes him both easily understandable and terrifying. And his visual aesthetics. Blinding light, scorching brilliance, the exact same electricity that the Lost Incident is so known for. Lighting shares a lot with his progenitor experiment, with both him and Revolver learn from Dr. Kogami's "The ends justify the means" approach. Really, Lightning and Revolver are the real opposed rivals here, except they're both the villain so neither one can narratively win. All they can do is ensure the other loses. And I said we haven't seen too much from Jin yet but that does not stop me from CONNECTING SOME THEMATIC DOTS. The complete and total shutdown of Jin compared to the detatched and pragmatic coldness of Lightning. Their survival instinct is disassociation. Shutting off the panicking part of the brain, and all its human responses, in favor of pure autopilot and a "Whatever It Takes" approach to ensure continued survival. Lightning rejects so much of where he cam from, but is so clearly the product of the Lost Incident, and more specifically, Jin. Of humanity. He's got this great line towards Ai where he berates him for basically screwing around in cyberspace for five years, while the rest of them were being actively targeted. Hunted. Surviving. Ai got new experiences, isn't defined as strongly by his trauma. But Lightning and Jin? Both of them completely froze their development, are still stuck in their survival instincts, and cannot move on from it. And I have a pet theory that may or may not see validation, that the Armatos Legios aren't really Lightning's. I mean, roman gladiator don't really tie into anything else about his aesthetics. No, I think no matter what he pretends, the Armatos are Jin's deck, and Lightning is still using them, after all these years.

Windy- Haha silly little fast talk guy who- THIS SIX INCH TALL LITTLE FELLA STRAIGHT UP KILLED HIS LOST KID. This little whirlygig canonically ended the life of his counterpart, something Lightning himself actually frowned upon. I think about this way too much. Windy isn't pragmatic, he isn't logical, he's the free spirited "fuck around" to Lightning's "find out". Windy does what he wants when he wants, and that's somehow equally as scary as Lightning's calculated cruelty. I am gutted we didn't get to meet or ever find out anything more about his human partner, and I'm pretty sure that's the whole point. There was a kid out there with his own struggles, his own problems, his own ways of dealing with the trauma of the Lost Incident, and we just. We will never get to meet him. Windy's kid is the first casualty in this war, and we never get to even learn his name. Also the ramifications of Windy being so cavalier about killing someone who is in some lights a version of himself, of the casual dehumanization Windy takes, not just to himself, but to his fellow Ignis. When threatening to kill Ai, Lightning had a "Well, it will kill 16% of our population, but it will ensure the safety of 84% of us." Windy has no such calculation. Windy doesn't bat an eye at his own death, or the death of another Ignis. And yet. And yet. And yet. When designing a servant for himself, Windy formed one out of a music note. A treble clef. The symbol for the start of a song. Does it mean something? Probably not. But I am freaking haunted by the idea that this wounded ai escaped a second attack on his world, and started rebuilding, not weapons, or schemes. But a new home, and one with music.

Aqua- You know, the ignis are one of the few artificial intelligences where it kinda makes sense that they have genders. Aqua is a girl because she learned from a girl. Her femininity is a gift, or a memorial. So is her kindness. Aqua is the only ignis who really internalized hope and compassion. She sees truth and she doesn't let it break her, she fights by encouraging choice, by asking for opportunity. Her refusing to tell Earth which way to feel in regards to the question of Humans vs. Ignis is such a poignant moment for me, that here is someone who understands better than anyone, what Lightning feels and how humans act, but rather than share her suspicions, she asks Earth to form his own opinion, not just listen to her as his only source. In general, I just like Earth and Aqua's dynamic so much. Two sweet protectors, two pacifists, represented by plant life and water??? Good good good visual motifs. That said, I definitely think Aqua is a character they could do a lot more with. All the other Ignis are just so weird, so charmingly strange in any conversation, that it feels a bit of a missed opportunity that Aqua seems completely "normal" and well adjusted. I also am saddened we haven't seen Miyu aside from in a coma or in flashbacks, because as I mentioned, I am utterly insane for the ignis/lost kids dynamics. But she got introduced pretty late in season two, so I'm holding out hope that we see more of Aqua (and maybe Miyu!) in season 3. Also, the crystal heart combo was some of my favorite gameplay story telling this season, hands down.

Earth- Pour one out for my guy. They really did that to him. As silly as Spectre's backstory is, it really gets me that he has this deeply unhealthy attachment to literally anyone who offers him a place to belong. And his Ignis is the protector, the caregiver. Earth, who can make flowers bloom with barely a thought, who's "socially awkward" but genuinely kind, comes from the child who just wanted attention and was at home in the forest. The freaking hardest gutpunch of the season for me was when Earth is being ripped apart, and we cut to Spectre, shedding a single tear, and he has no idea why. Also THAT'S A PLOTLINE THAT REALLY EXISTS IN YUGIOH. Earth's death is almost jump-scaringly brutal, from the same series that brought you such fun euphemisms for a character being killed as "sent to the shadow realm" and "retired retired". Yeah, no, here's a character being systematically unmade, then those leftover pieces shoved into one dude's brain. The dub could have downplayed it, but the sheer horror every character gives when Gore has his big reveal, really sells the brutality of Sol Tech towards these ai, and any living being that isn't contributing to their bottom dollar. Ryoken's cold deliverance to Ai and Flame about Earth's fate, even almost making light of the situation, had me 100% down to declare for the ignis because what the hell, you can't just do that. If Ai turns heel next season, I'm not saying I support him, but I get it. Earth's death feels like it rattles the whole narrative, in a way that forced me to be just as distraught and emotionally invested as the characters. That's good storytelling babey.

This got long, and this is barely scratching the surface on some of my thoughts for these silly little computer guys.

Needless to say, I enjoy them <3

[zexalisliving]

My Yugioh Headcanons:

Eliphas is Astral's father and Enna is his mother.

Don Thousand has a strange french wife that was based off of a remotely Barian-colored Rainbow High doll.

Yuma reads hentai

Astral dislikes Yuma reading hentai and just hentai by itself

Kalin/Kiryu is a hentai bookstore owner and it's called "Kalin's Bookstore of Doujinshi and More".

Yami Yugi also reads a lot of hentai

Don Thousand and Eliphas are brothers, meaning that Astral and No. 96 are cousins

No. 96 insists that he and Astral are "a brother".

Yuma winds up with Anna and not Tori

Yusei loves heartbeats, Doge, unicorns and other strange things.(no, he's still straight)

Nelson/Fuya has a crush on Anna and in some AUs they are in a relationship

Hart/Haruto hangs out with Kalin, despite Kite's hate for him

Kite and Hart are afraid of monkeys

Whenever Hart screamed or emitted energy in ep 40 it was because of germs from other people

Kalin and Misty (the dark signer) are in a relationship and sometimes married

In some stories Christopher is Kalin's son and Pegasus is Kalin's father

Kite, Kalin and Hart created a team in a game called Terarria and they named it Team Defeatium. "To the Wyverns we'll put an end!"

Tea/Anzu, Tori, and Zuzu are slightly bimbofied.

Alito cooks in a strange french cooking show

Marik sends people to the Shadow Realm for 15 minutes as punishments

Lightning (the ignis)'s greatest fear is chicken nuggets, because they look so good and yet he doesn't have a mouth to eat them with.

Specter married Sunavalon Dryas because he's sexually attracted to trees

Yusaku gets away with cheating in duels against AIs because he's human

Shadi and Ishizu are in a relationship

Odion/ Rishid has an egg in his pocket that he gives to Marik whenever he asks for it

Chazz/Majoume plays Minecraft

and Syrus/Sho is a mega wimp who claims to be a pea-brain

ooh, and fun fact: I had a dream where Chazz was part of a basketball team and was creating machines that used... uh... gas to make the other team forfeit, and everyone on Chazz's team were yelling "ALL SMELL THE CHAZZ!!"