#Ryoken Japan

[number-1-kuaidul-fanboy]

TO SHOW OFF THE POWER OF FLEX TAPE

I SAWED THIS SALAMANGREAT IN HALF

[ultimateaclrecovery]

Japan Day 6 Hakone!

Today we traveled to a mountain town called Hakone.

We got to see mt Fuji on the train and honestly the train ride of just having a full two hours to sit and not do anything was really nice

Then we saw an ad for the Hakone open air muesuem and it was really cool! Highlights including the foot bath, giant fried egg that you could stand on, a stained glass tower, a hilarious interactive display where they put your face on a digital artwork in the museum background and a Picasso room.

We then got to take a gondola up to the mountain top and down to the lake where we got to take a pirate ferry boat across!

And then after some brief chaos with the bus system (it just never came) and taking a taxi (that also went to the wrong place at first) we finally got to check in at the Ryoken and enjoy our private onsen. We also got to enjoy this many courses traditional dinner. There was a lot of sea food and my boyfriend kept trying to get me to keep trying it so I didn’t have the best time. But the non sea food parts were very good and everything was super pretty.

Overly long and tmi travel diary

We get up early to catch a two hour train to Hakone. My tummy is just a little a bit upset this morning. Between travel, stress, being on my period, and lots of new food it’s been through a lot. I also feel like I haven’t been pooping enough. But they could just be not eating enough for how much walking we’ve been doing.

The train is really nice and we get some lovely views of the sun rising over the mountains. I update my travel diary, take a nap and then we get to see a view mt Fuji through the window. It is impressively taller than everything else around it.

We transfer to a smaller train and then a another mountain train. And then it’s a cable car.

5000 yen for Hakone free pass for transit. I am down to 1000 yen in cash. (Really 3000 as I later find another 2000 yen note in my pocket that I didn’t see before)

5000 yen for Hakone free pass for transit. I am down to 1000 yen in cash. (Really 3000 as I later find another 2000 yen note in my pocket that I didn’t see before)

We see an ad for Hakone open air museum and decide to get off a stop early and go see it. (I think I paid by credit card, 1200 yen each including a 200 yen discount from our Hakone passes).

The museum has a couple galleries where you can’t take pictures (although my bf tried) but mostly it’s big outdoor sculptures. There’s a fun star maze and some garden areas, and the whole place is set up with a great view of the surrounding mountains. I love the Picasso room. I hadn’t realized he did so many ceramics. We stop at a foot bath where we get a towel out of a vending machine for 100 yen. It’s small but a surprisingly nice towel and is branded to make it a souvenir. There’s a big tower made of stained glass that’s really fun. And a fried egg sculpture that you can stand on! I deeply love getting to stand on or interact with art.

After the museum we go grab lunch at a little road side restaurant. Ignoring the delightful ninja cafe next door full of authentic delicacies such as spaghetti and ninja ice cream.

Foot bath and a vending machine towel for 100 yen from Anthony

I get pork ginger and rice for lunch in the card.

After lunch we take the ropeway (hanging cable car) to the top of the mountain. On the side of the mountain are a bunch of thermal vents venting steam. You can see the yellow sulfur deposits around it. Supposedly you can get a black egg cooked in the sulfur water that adds seven years to your life, but we don’t get it.

We spend a little time at the top looking at the mountain and then head down the other ropeway to the lake. And then we get to ride a pirate ship!

The pirate ship we get is called queen ashinoko and is gold and red. We take it across the lake. I love all the sights and being on a boat and my bf tolerates it and enjoys the view. It does get a little chilly but is otherwise a delight. I see a lady take a bunch of silly titantic esque photos on one of the interior balconies. Sometimes it’s such a delight to watch other people live their best lives.

After the ferry we try to get on a bus to go to our hotel but it’s super delayed and the lines are insane so we give up and hail a taxi. Anthony impresses the taxi drive with his handful of Japanese and good pronociation and they have a good chat. The taxi ride ends up being just shy of 5000 yen which is more than I thought it would be (and we get a little turned about by the directions. Anthony gave the hotel name but written in English and just said like Japanese so we go to a bit of the wrong place first and then have to give the actual address which gets us to the right place.

We head into the rykone and They take your shoes and give slippers. The ryokan has a very traditional feel. We are shown where our private onsen will be and then to our rooms. Our rooms have yakata (?)robes in them to wear around. Mine is pink and my bfs is blue. They both have blue overcoats. We head down to the onsen before dinner. The sun is starting to set and the view is really pretty. The leaves are mostly either green or fallen but it’s still so peaceful. We shower first in the attached shower and then step into the sulphuric mineral water. It’s so cloudy and so hot but also feels so good. It would be better if it were like five degrees cooler but it’s still lovely. We hang out for a bit stepping in and out to cool off as needed. They’ve also put a thermos jug of cold water which is perfect.

We rinse back off and head back to our room for dinner.

Dinner will be served in our room and is a traditional set meal.

It starts with appetizers and is mostly fish which makes me sad. I knew this was likely that I wouldn’t like a good portion of it but it still makes me sad. The plates and the way everything is presented is so lovely. I try to focus on how fun it is and not how gross all the fish is. I get talked into trying a piece of the raw tuna and it’s awful. I also try a piece of sushi, the first bite is okay but when I take the second bite I realize that the first bite had way less fish in it and I Gag a little and almost throw up. I also try one of the little fish eggs since my bf claims they are mostly salty and not fishy. False. Very false and very gross. Combined with new and questionable vegetables I’m way past my limit of new food. Luckily there are some things that I like too. There’s a beef dish that is so delicious and comes with the cutest little wedge of cheese.

There’s also a hot pot like thing with pork and milk that is so cool and delicious.

We get sweet pudding for dessert.

After dessert we go have more onsen time. It’s fun to be in it at night with it being all dark. Unfortunately it’s too hot to really cuddle in the onsen which bums we out.

We head back up to the room and watch Japanese tv before bed. We get to see some sumo wrestling, a cooking show and some weird childrens tv show. I get a little sad because I had such high expectations for this part of the trip and then I didn’t get to cuddle or do more than cuddle and didn’t like a lot of the food.

It’s a traditional style hotel room so it has two twin beds. We push them together(I push mine into his) but it’s not really what I wanted. I take a moment to cry a little in the bathroom and I feel a bit better. It’s hard when you feel disappointed in something you feel like you should really be enjoying.

[arkadiaasks]

Which YGO series is the most queer?

I think you can make decent arguments for three of them? Maybe 4.

Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

It deals a lot with non-normative identities dealing with a patriarchial power structure (the Academy). Judai heavily flaunts the system's expectations, ends up rejecting most of his female love interests, and his deepest connections are to Johan (another man) and Yubel (a genderfluid entity of unknown sex).

Asuka's whole story arc deals with her unwillingness to confirm to the vapid trophy wife who picks up Dueling as a marriage resume item, and is more interested in the actual athletics of the sport and later essentially being a researcher and professor. And just her general unwillingness to conform to the expectations of a (rich) woman in 200X Japan.

Manjome regularly deals with the difficulty of articulating his masculinity, and while he presents himself as masculine, he always has the Ojamas, who denote a certain non-normative sexuality and identity, as well as him having dealt with being outside of his precious power structures earlier and the friction of doing things his own way while depending on his brothers.

And Yubel, whose villainy isn't due to their identity, but rather the complicating factors of their life, and a toxic understanding of love, which isn't caused by them being a demon or genderfluid, but tragedy heaped on tragedy.

Rei, despite her lack of any focus, while being an incredibly cis het woman, at the same time flaunts and discards a lot of normative behavior.

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's

Yusei's most important interests and relationships are with Jack, Crow and Bruno/Antinomy. He shows little interest in Aki as anything other than a friend.

Z-One and Aporia's relationship is treated basically as kindred souls, who would rather not be fighting but Z-One is so jaded he can't listen to the man he's spent most of his life with.

Even Aki gets brief flickers of something with Sherry.

And Jack eschews the women in his life for a focus on his passion as a Duelist.

There's also a decent amount of heteronormativity but Yusei at the same time doesn't do much to establish he's straight.

Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS

It eagerly avoids any sort of romantic subtext between Aoi and Yusaku.

Friends of mine have noted while Aoi is presented as a Cis Het Woman, a lot of her story is easily comparable to a Trans Woman's behavior. She's an estranged relationship with her family who doesn't know her, her digital counterpart is well. Infini-Tiddy, and fits the experience of a tween or teen getting online for the first time and being "wait, I can do that???"

Yusaku's closest relationships are with Ai and Takeru/Soulburner and Ryoken/Revolver, other men/male-presenting characters. But he can easily be articulated as an asexual character.

Ai literally proposes to Yusaku at the end of the series.

There are heterosexual pairings with Emma and Akira and Takeru and his girl back home, but at the same time. It also deals with the disconnect between identities that a lot of queer folk engage in.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Go Rush!!

Yudias and Zuwijo's Duel at the end of Season 1 is literally in a field of flowers that fits many a shojo series.

Chupataro's inability to get Yudias Meg-chan out of his head (even though he's not thrilled with the feelings)

We have plenty of girl-girl tensions with Yuna and Asaka.

The relationship with the Phaser Brothers.

Yuna's literal arc is 'do I want to be a lesbian' or 'do I want to be straight' and her inability to pick a choice, leading to her being a problematic fave bisexual that I wish they focused on her and Rovian instead. But her arc literally lasts at least 3+ years of her life.

= = = = =

The main caveat is that these are all kid's shows and can only show a half hearted queerness at best, where you find the queerness in the corners, unlike Witch of Mercury, where the queerness is main text.

Overall though, a lot of Yu-Gi-Oh! has an innate queerness and outsider perspective that comes from it being a shonen series dealing with delinquency where shonen due to its constraints and decisions leads to a strong sense of homoeroticism, and the women often feel like unintended beards.

Like Anzu exists but most of the original YGO deals with the tension and relationship of Yugi with both Kaiba and Jounouchi, which might not be inherently romantic, it deals heavily in a 'I can't not have you in my life' tensions.

But I feel like GX is probably one of the best at portraying it dealing with the friction of the patriarchal system versus characters with non-normative identities.

[merryfortune]

I don’t want to derail this post but I think think these (or at least one) would derail it but. I think honorofics should be used in anime where possible but especially for anime where the setting is actual literal Japan, this helps to give the illusion that whilst we are hearing English, they are speaking Japanese. That just makes sense to me.

but the other reason.

Is much more unhinged/more personal.

Spectre uses “Oka-san” for his tree mother + Dryatrentiay and this unravels me every fucking time.

Because the most polite version of mum/mother in Japanese is haha-ue and since Spectre uses keigo most the time, I think him using this would make a lot of sense but instead, he uses the much more familial “Oka-san” which is VERY CUTE however.

He calls Ryoken/Revolver, by “sama” and this is where I really get lost because what is going on with Spectre’s love map here, something weird and fucked up I am sure. Especially given the parallel that Spectre directly draws between his mother and his master regarding the protection that he receives from them both.

Basically any time I think about the honorofics Spectre uses, I end up feeling like this

[ace-angel-judas]

Did mark ask hyejin's dad to marry her or her mom?

Mark had been coming to Japan for Hyejin's birthday for the past three years now, since her mother had moved to the country to join her father. It was strange how it had worked out, what had once been complex family structure seemed to smooth out in the years Hyejin had been distant with him.

Her father's house was more of a Ryoken, it had an Ancient Japanese feel to it, build in the countryside. There was an entire onsen at the house, overlooking the view of the garden.

Overall, it was peaceful.

"I have to ask you something,"

Mark didn't mind Itsuki, he was a fellow musician and he shared a lot of similarities with his daughter. From having an insane sweet tooth to having a love for music, it was obvious they were family.

"Of course," Itsuki leaned against the counter, sipping a mug of tea, "Food?"

"Uh, I'm good," Mark tapped his hands on the chair in front of him, "It's about Hyejin,"

Itsuki raised an eyebrow, "Uh huh..,"

The young man swallowed thickly. Mark didn't think he'd be this nervous, this was the only time he could ask while Hyejin visited Ren for the day.

"I want to marry Hyejin," Mark blurted out, "I wanted.. to, ask? If I can,"

Itsuki laughed, one that made his canine teeth show. Mark always found Hyejin's sharp teeth cute but they looked scary on Itsuki yet down right terrifying on Ren.

"I'm not the person you need to ask," Itsuki stated.

Mark furrowed his brows before his eyes went wide and he shook his head.

"I'm not talking about Ren, don't worry, I wouldn't subject to that torture, he'd probably rip your throat out," Itsuki sipped his tea, "I mean Hyejeong,"

Mark rubbed his neck, "Are you sure? Traditionally-"

"Fuck tradition," Itsuki rolled his eyes, "I love my daughter but unfortunately I didn't raise her, Hyejeong did, she put in every sleepless night, every sick day and every first moment, you need to ask her,"

"What if she says no?" Mark asked, "She said no to you,"

Itsuki just smiled, "You haven't made the mistakes I have,"

"But I have made mistakes," Mark pointed out.

"Like getting two women pregnant at the same time?"

"No,"

"Then you'll be fine," Itsuki clapped his head, "And anyway, Hyejeong only said no because she doesn't want to be tied down, I think you and Hyejin will always be together,"

"How do you know?" The Canadian asked.

"Because you're still together now, don't take it for granted,"

[jengerxbread]

staying at a ryoken in hakone tonight

[luxconcordiae]

       The intent in coming to Japan was to meet for political affairs. To profer for peace and alliance with a country known for its deep reliance on tradition and mythology. To argue her case, and see her people are assured their freedom from the harshness of the non-mages - or to set about the means of taking them from these lands with as little trouble as necessary.

       So far, only the initial meeting had been done. Introductions, handshakes, pleasantries and pleasant faces. The real work would begin at the next gathering. Until then, Melody was free to wander and explore the lands as she sought fit to, and enjoy the change of air and environment. It'd been nearly four decades since the last time she'd come upon the land that had, no doubt, changed since then. 

       In her touring, she’d overheard of a particular Onsen from a passing local. “Tsu..chi..moto...  Ryoken and Onsen.” She marks, stepping up to the establishment and pausing to look about before she makes her way in further, leaning forwards to glance about the main room.

@misericordes​ (For Riko!)

[authoratmidnight]

A crossover idea I had the other day.

Glitch Techs-VRAINS crossover.

When they were talking about the possibility of a Glitch being able to disguise itself as a human and how if it managed that what that would would even mean and Five’s description made me go ‘oh my god, that sounds like an Ignis’

So, crossover time.

Not sure how or why the Glitch Tech team would go to Japan, maybe a work sponsored trip or for work. Small details. They’re there and in Den City.

While there they pick up a strong glitch signal which leads them to a plaza (currently showcasing a live stream of some event in Link VRAINS) and specifically the food truck parked there. Except they don’t see a glitch, just a dude cooking hotdogs.

They try to talk to him but oops language barrier. Until he drags in an impossibly pretty young man to act as translator. Who introduces himself as Lightning and states that he’d an android. And weirdly is the source of the glitch readings. They can’t actually do anything so they settle for getting food and having Lightning explain to them about Link VRAINS while they watch the stream.

And it’s fine and dandy till it’s not and something manifests inside Link VRAINS. So they instinctively go to help, completely ignoring Lightning trying to tell them that it’s under control.

They login via guest accounts, only to find several people already fighting the Glitch.

Enter the local heroes of Link VRAINS, Playmaker, Revolver and Blue Maiden (and their Ignises Ai, Aqua and Windy-I’m throwing him w/ Rev b/c the idea sounds fun lol). They were just chillin in LV, participating in the event when whoops some rogue malware suddenly got loose and went on a rampage in LV and now it’s turned into some kind of monster is beyond strange.

While fighting it/getting logged in users to safety, they run into the Glitch Techs who insist on tagging along and fighting it and explain what it is (since LV is virtual I’m just gonna pretend it translates things automatically, sort of like how being transformed allowed the girls to understand each other in Ojamajo).

Side note, while in Link Vrains that Ignis are their tiny Ignis forms b/c they use SOLtis outside of LV. Also they too register as high level glitches to the GTs. Also they turn into tentacle form to eat up the malware, which effectively neutralizes it

So they fight it and get rid of it (by way of what looks like a game of Hungry Hungry Ignis) and the GTs want to mind wipe them (as they’re supposed to do after Glitch events) but Rev is like 1) no 2) you’d have to mind wipe all of Den City cause this was live streamed so a lot of ppl saw it, and there’s no way they can manage that so again, no and 3) since it happened IN link VRAINS everyone’ll just assume it was a hacking incident or something. At which point he, PM and BM proceed to just log on out.

Yusaku decides to swing by Cafe Nagi to see Kusanagi/tell him about the sit and WHOOOPS there’s the Glitch Techs. Again. Who then zero in on Ai and now it’s Ai’s turn to play translator for Yusaku.

Everything after this is toying w/ ideas including:

-Yusaku’s unusual Link Sense causing him to set off their censors as some kind of anomaly which is very confusing b/c while Ai and Lightning are androids (albeit, very life like androids and in Ai’s case, surprisingly emotional) Yusaku is absolutely human

-Lightning and Ai absolutely set their stuff off as ultra rare glitches but like, they can’t do anything b/c the Ignis, aren’t doing anything. They’re clearly not a threat so they can’t just, take them away.

-Ryoken showing up to check in on Yusaku (Windy has been left with Pandor since she’s trying to teach him manners cause he’s kind of a brat/wild child lol)

-I def think the GT crew would figure out that Yusaku = Playmaker if only b/c of Ai, the tiny purple AI and the handsome SOLtis have the same readings

-I want Roboppi to show up at some point but idk how

-Yusaku gets dragged into showing them around, or at least showing them where the arcade is, since they are made up of gamers (and proceeds to get thrashed at video games b/c he’s a hacker not a gamer, before making Ai play instead)

-Yusaku introducing Five to Duel Monsters (we know he plays card games b/c we saw him playing against Ryu) they communicate using what’s basically google translate since Ai is busy. It’s not perfect but it works

-the GT crew trying to figure out what is UP with Yusaku and Ai’s relationship b/c even if they can’t understand them, from tone of voice and body language alone they can tell that Ai is flirting with/teasing Yusaku and while it does seem to be annoying Yusaku he seems, fine with it?? He’s not making any attempt to stop Ai and they swear he even smiled. And when it’s clear Yusaku is tired/all peopled out and they need to split Ai is just, so tender with him and Yusaku accepts it. And even tho Ai is an AI there are moments they swear, he’s almost, human.

[bonebreakjack]

Each of the Ignis could represent what the lost kids wanted from themselves

Miyu=Truth(Aqua). The most obvious one of all what had kept Miyu going was wanting to apologize to Aoi. Aoi lying for her got her friend in trouble when she wanted t tell her mom the truth even if she had been punished for it. 

Takeru=Logic/Calm(Flame). For the longest time I had a hard time making this post cause I couldn’t figure out what Takeru would have wanted from himself so much when Flame came to be the way he is...until episode 116. Takeru explain before he was kidnapped he had fight with his parents and ran off. Essentially he got emotional and angry letting it cloud his decisions that led to him being kidnapped. meaning that he saw is he had been calmer, if he hadn't let his emotional control him he would have been home instead. Flame is thus born due to Takeru’s desire to be calmer and think things through.

Spectre= Connection(Earth). Spectre had a hard time connecting with people as a child(not that uncommon really and can be helped with therapy). But he never got the chance for that before he was kidnapped. So he connected with nature instead. Now Spectre is an odd one in that he enjoyed his experience, and I believe his desire with connection not only comes form nature but also with the world.

With Hanoi this actually is Spectre wish coming semi true, he is connected to the world through Vrains and Hanois cause. Being apart of something grander then him. He also developed a connection with Ryoken.

In Earth words “He just socially awkward”.

Windy’s Origin= Freedom/Peace(Windy). This was the hardest to do but I based this mostly off of how the other Ignis perceived Windy before Lightning altered his personality, how he acted to get an idea of how his Origin was. This is based on Windy’s Element which is wind, and his Monk Ai. Windy is born from his Origins wish to be Free and untied by mortal things. 

Specifically to be freed form his situation, similar to a caged bird. We don’t know how his life was like before he was captured, but form we saw he had friends, he had parents. So we can assumed he may have had a normal boring life before and after the incident. Thus causing Windy to have a carefree mischievous nature which is more like how I think his Origin wanted to be.

Jin= Strength/Power(Lightning). This one was a head racker but then I read the post about Jin being possibly the worst duelist out of this kids and Lightnings behavior makes more sense. Lightning is born from Jin’s desire to be stronger, to be powerful enough to get himself out of the situation he was in. 

Jin essentially learned that being weak was bad, this in turn passes to Lightning who sees his origin as Weak so he must be the opposite to succeed. If your strong and powerful people can’t hurt you and you can’t hurt yourself. Lightning probably initially thought that if he pushes Jin harder then he will eventually learn what not to do and become stronger as result. So he upped the punishment, but instead of strengthening Jin it broke him instead.

Another detail to reflects need to be stronger could be his older brother. A tibit I found odd in the series when they mentioned how and why Shoichi was fighting and becoming a hacker. They deliberately mentioned that the older brother was really into sports as in playing them. It would make sense if Shoichi is stronger due to that, and maybe that’s a quality Jin admired before he got captured. It could also be that his brother was someone who protected him with that strength.  Jin wish could be for his brother to save him with his strength or even that he was strong like his brother.

Jin wanted power to save himself.

Yusaku= Love(Ai). Yusaku wanted someone to love him and in turn love someone the same way. He seemed incredibly eager to go with a child he just met while the sun had been going down(presumably going home). I’m not sure how it work in Japan cause I know kids are allowed to wander but I’m pretty sure it’s not normal to be allowed so late.

It incredibly strange how out of. all the Lost children Yusaku was the only one who can’t remember his life beforehand. That’s like 2-3 years of developmental memories that are just gone! Why is it only he lost them?

A theory I have is either Neglect or an orphanage to begin with. He either didn’t have a family that cared for him or no family at all. Thus information in his head that he dumped out due to his trauma of the incident. I think that Yusaku may have actually had no one to begin with, so he wanted someone to love him. He may have been the happy lonely child type that relied on having friends to keep him happy. 

Ai has a very interesting name, because while it is a simultaneous pun for A.I. and Eye, but anybody with basic understanding of Japanese knows Ai is also the word for love.There no way that wasn’t deliberate, fans would jump on that too.  Ai is technically the closest person Yusaku has to a family, and while initially he was using Yusaku to get back home he genuinely cared about him as his Lost kid. Ai didn’t have to do alot of thing he did for Yusaku during the duration of the show, but he cares so he did it anyway even when his Lost kid was an ice prince.

This is all speculation and rambling but It helps me write each Ignis a bit better. And I wish the show didnt have to end so soon so we could have known what was up with that. So many answered questions.

[negamekos]

A bit of a follow up for anyone who cares: I bought this yugioh 20th anniversary disc set in japan at some random cd store for about 6000 yen which I thought was really cool. The illustration on the cover I realised is the same as the one in the yugioh cafe post that @uglifish made

It consists of a DVD and CD set (shame about the dvd part, but I’ll get to it later). The DVD is essentially a ranking of the top 5 most popular monsters from each respective series, and what really excited me is the fact that the characters’ voice actors had returned to introduce the rankings. The CD is a collection of the best soundtracks from each series including my favourites Passionate Duelist and Playmaker’s Theme.

Not only that, but there’s also a commentary booklet with more details on the card rankings and an exclusive Black Magician Girl card which made me really happy:

The back cover has more info on the rankings and returning characters too:

(Sorry for the blurry photo) There’s two returning characters from each series, with the exception of VRAINS, which has three (Yusaku, Ai and Ryoken namely). The other characters that return besides the protags are Ryo, Aki, Kaito, Sawatari and the other two I mentioned.

Quite curiously, out of all the yu-tagonists, Yugi is the only one to not appear, with only Kaiba and Jonouchi being there instead :/

Now I only realised (or more like my parents realised) after I bought it that the region code in Japan is different from other countries, which means that there’s a possibility that I can’t play the DVD when I get home (still on holiday at the moment). But trust me I will find a way to get that DVD to play. Somehow.

By the way, if anyone’s interested in the card rankings, I’ll just put them here (idk how to do that read more thing, sorry):

(take a shot for every dragon you see in this list)

DM:

5th: Red-Eyes Black Dragon

4th: Black Magician

3rd: Blue-Eyes White Dragon

2nd: Osiris the Sky Dragon

1st: Black Magician Girl

GX:

5th: Elemental HERO Divine Neos

4th: Elemental HERO Neos

3rd: Cyber End Dragon

2nd: Elemental HERO Flame Wingman

1st: Yubel

5Ds:

5th: Shooting Star Dragon

4th: Junk Warrior

3rd: Shooting Quasar Dragon

2nd: Stardust Dragon

1st: Black Rose Dragon

ZEXAL:

5th: Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon

4th: No. 62: Galaxy-Eyes Prime Photon Dragon

3rd: No. 39: Utopia

2nd: No. 107: Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon

1st: Gagaga Girl

ARC-V:

5th: Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon

4th: Starve Venom Fusion Dragon

3rd: Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon

2nd: Clear-Wing Synchro Dragon

1st: Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon

VRAINS:

5th: Gouki the Great Ogre

4th: Trickstar Holly Angel

3rd: Borreload Dragon

2nd: Decode Talker

1st: Firewall Dragon

[tastes-like-ciel]

I'm reading an Ai/Yusaku fanfiction where Ai takes Yusaku with him (because Yusaku doesn't look after himself and passes out). All I can imagine is everyone telling Revolver that Ai took Yusaku and Revolver takes out a shotgun and cocks it.

Not sure where he’d get a gun since this is Japan, but the mental image is funny. He’s always got this cold fury when he’s angry and rarely breaks from it. That’s one reason I mess with him in fic so much, I guess. With cuddles or tickles or siccing Yusaku-nyan at him, etc. I love Ryoken hahaha 

But to humor the thought, him cocking a shotgun with his standard stone-faced, cold fury, eyes all narrowed look. It’s a sawed-off, double-barrel shotgun and when he cocks it, empty bullets pop off and clink against the ground like a set of coins being offered in prayer. His heels click against the floor as he strides away from the glass case he broke that previously contained the weapon. It did read “In case of Ai, break glass”, but the glass is shattered and litters the floor like diamonds twinkling under the glow of artificial light. His tail coat flutters and his helmet gleams. 

He’s in Link VRAINS, of course, because that’s more likely a place for him to have a shotgun (he could mod it in). It works like a real shotgun, too, but he’s 110% a bullet hell baby nerd. So while the aesthetic is old-fashioned, 90s to early 2000s zombie movie and/or Resident Evil-esque, it actually fires out double red beams of light that hurt like hell to be hit by and he’s got a nasty virus coded into them that’ll stop Ai in his tracks (but not kill him because hey, he’s gotta get Yusaku back safe and sound; plus maybe when he’s less angry he’ll be more willing to hear the Ignis out; maybe). 

He strides into his little online Hanoi command center and Spectre quirks a brow up at him. He doesn’t say anything, but the question is there and he’s curious enough to break from the virtual tea he’s fixing up. It’s not every day he witnesses his Revolver-sama stalk through the door wielding a shotgun, but hey, he’s on-board if it’s that urgent. Let it never be said that Spectre isn’t ride-or-die because he absolutely is (at least when it concerns Ryoken).

“The Dark Ignis has taken his Origin captive.” Revolver supplies, but Spectre’s eyebrow only moves higher. “I don’t know what he’s planning, but if he’s willing to hurt humans now, then we can’t risk leaving him in the Ignis’ care. This is a declaration of war.”

Spectre remains quiet for just a moment, but then he sighs and sets a hand against his forehand with an expression that would have Revolver pouting if he was capable of making such an expression. 

And he most certainly isn’t, thank you very much.

“Revolver-sama, with all do respect,” Spectre starts in a weary tone. “this pining of yours has been going on since season one. Are you going to ask him out yet or are you just going to bicker with the Ignis until Fujiki-kun gets tired of you both and runs into someone else’s arms?”

“I’m not pining! This is serious! The Dark Ignis put someone into a coma!”

Spectre tuts. “Oh, no one even liked her after she cut up my Ignis. I certainly don’t.”

Revolver huffs and covers his eyes with a hand. “Stop breaking the fourth wall and just help me.”

“Fine, fine. Anything for you~”

[jadekinsjackson]

Beautiful and (mostly) Affordable Holiday Houses in Japan fr $96/night

So you've booked your Jetstar 'Return for FREE" flights to Japan and now you need to plan the rest of your trip. Here's ten beautiful holiday houses from $96/night! #jadetalkstravel #Japan #holidayhouse #bnb #vrbo #stayJapan #ryoken #guesthouse #hotel

So you booked your “Fly to Japan and Return for FREE” flights with Jetstar (if you haven’t there’s still some seats available!) and now you need to plan the rest of your trip.

Staying in a typical Ryoken (a typical Japanese Inn) will give you a typical Japanese experience but these are generally expensive. These days you can find plenty of apartments to rent throughout Japan, starting…

[takeruhomuraboi]

Guyssssss

In most places of the world, datastormshipping is considered a pedo ship. If Yusaku is 16, Ryoken is 18, and the legal age of consent in most places in the world is 18 (including where they are in japan) then its a pedo ship. Holy f*ck litterally almost all Ryoken ships are pedo ships, surely he deserves better than that? Yeah hes a cyberterrorist and really ought to be in prison but he aint no pedo.

[darkzorua100]

I remember reading a post by you saying that you believed romance is never handled well in Yugioh. Since you're a hardcore datastorm shipper, do you think vrains could seriously pursue a possible romantic relationship between Ryoken and Yusaku or even just hint at such? I mean, Yusaku wants to -marry- seize a new future with Ryoken. Datastormshipping is the most popular ship in vrains by a landslide to the point I'm sure even the writers know about it. How would you react if it becomes canon?

Well here’s the thing when it comes to romance in Yu-Gi-Oh. Sometimes it starts out good, such as with Jack and Carly in 5Ds, but then something happens and it goes to sh*t. Okay sure you can blame that on the whole behind the scenes controversy when that came to Carly’s original VA being apart of a cult but then look at something like Yuya and Yuzu from ARC-V. Yuzu got turned into a damsel in distress and you all know what happened after that. And sure that can go back to the point of “female treatment” in Yu-Gi-Oh but romance and female treatment usually go hand and hand when it comes to this crap. Romance in Yu-Gi-Oh usually just leads to the damsel in distress trope or the female ends up turning into an obsessed fan. 

As for Datastormshipping becoming canon, oh that is NEVER going to happen. Angelmakershipping has more of a chance of becoming canon then that just from the simple fact that Yusaku is the main boy and Aoi is the main girl. Do I want it to be canon? Normally I would say yes. I adore this ship but like I’ve pointed out, Yu-Gi-Oh doesn’t do romance right and since it is a Yaoi ship, I’m afraid they would stereotype it so badly. Not to mention the controversy that would form from it if it did become canon would not be good.

Speaking of which, what are Japan’s views on Gay Marriage anyway? If anyone knows, I would very much like to know myself. 

[incorrect-vrains-quotes]

If you're still doing the prompts, Yusaku/Aoi with a time loop?

i mentioned revue starlight before so revue starlight AU

requests: still open

   Aoi swallowed hard as she steadied her own blade against Yusaku’s. And she knew something that he didn’t as her own weapon resounded so crisply as the metal met and ate upon each other. Grinding, grinding, forever grinding with a pristine glare.

   He was fighting for the future. For his own stage where he could seize it all. She was fighting too. For a future where she could be on stage with Miyu; like they promised all those years ago but Aoi knew the truth and the truth was going to break Yusaku’s heart.

   He whipped back and attempted to throw her off, but Aoi was a step ahead. She dodged, narrowly, the button on her cape wobbled and his eyes turned keened. He thoguht himself close. Just a bit more and he would have tore it - and her head off - with his knightly brave sword.

   Aoi swallowed and she danced on her heel. After all, they were both performers first; not fighters. Their movements were in time, whether they liked it or not, with the music provided to them by the Giraffe who orchestrated all their duels. 

   Aoi glanced aside. If only Yusaku knew the truth. Miyu had explained it to her; she hadn’t wanted to, but she was forced to when Aoi begged and when Aoi dueled. She didn’t want her friend to be hurt; she never had been hurt in these duels before. This was the first time the time loop had changed and it was because Miyu had lost her brilliance.

   It all started with Spectre. Or, more aptly, it started last year when everything just clicked and perfection, or something close to it, was achieved and someone couldn’t let go of it because he had never seen a more sparkling performance. He was enamored - obsessed - with the First Year performance of Revue Prometheus that he and his classmates had put on. The first performance had been seventy years ago. This was to be their seventy-first performance of it. And yet, none of them had aged by the year. It also went back to the start.

   But it all changed when Miyu won her duels, abroad. A decade ago, Miyu had been accepted into the most prestigious performing arts academy in England and it was an opportunity she couldn’t give up. Even if it meant splitting from her best friend but they had their rings, imbued with green and promises of their futures. They would perform together on stage one day and that’s why Miyu took her chance. And when the Giraffe appeared before her and her classmates in England, she took her chance there as well but she had lost.

   And because she had lost, she had lost her brilliance. Her sword was now a dagger because she had lost and when she lost her brilliance, she lost herself as well. The Giraffe had given her a second chance and that had disrupted all of Spectre’s careful machinations back here in Japan, Aoi learned because time had moved on. The loop had ended and now she, for the first time in those seventy years, was part of the duels as well and Aoi refused.

   She didn’t want to see anyone - especially Yusaku - lose their brilliance. Yusaku’s performances were awe-inspiring; genuinely moving because he had their hunger about him. He had come from nothing but he stood to win it all and there was a rawness that drew in everyone. He was likely only rivaled by Ryoken in their class and it would be a shame to see his sword break - his lovely sword, so long and knightly.

   Thus, Aoi dueled. She was the only one aside from Miyu and Spectre who knew the truth and she was in a unique position due to her wild card entry; something blessed by the angels, she had been told.

   Their blades, so different, continued to hack at one another. The music around them swelled to a crescendo and Yusaku was losing himself in the madness of his own wants. There was delirium in his green eyes and it broke Aoi’s heart but she found conviction in it.

   The delicate sword belonging to her, her blue hilted brilliance, triumphed unfortunately over Yusaku’s and she was the one to scrape past his defenses and remove the golden button on his breast. It fell to the floor with a clatter and Aoi began to cry. She cried big fat tears whilst Yusaku fell into despair.

   She knelt beside him. She begged and pleaded with him as his despair turned him in on himself, creating a fortress out of his body so lifeless in his misery. He hadn’t ever lost a duel before. He hadn’t lost anything before; not that he could recall and according to Spectre, Yusaku was always the one to come second.

   “I’m so sorry.” she told him but it was for the better. To break the time loop. But her words were brittle platitudes as she held onto him, he was too shaken to reject her.

[scratchface]

Datastorm prompt: earrings. I'm interested to see what you do with this (also it was the first thing that came to mind after remembering literally all the other words for prompts you've already done)

There’s a time skip of undisclosed length in the middle of this one.

In the wake of the Tower, the Knights of Hanoi had disbanded with a whimper as the general public gradually learned what had happened. In the end, what was once a massive organization of over a thousand people burst open at the seams and spilt its contents all over internet. There were investigations of course; journalists hunting down the wayward former members for interviews and news pieces. Late-night talk show hosts spoke mutinously about the failure of the government and Sol Technologies to foresee the threat, and for their negligence in regard to the public’s safety. A terrorist organization had almost weaponized a VR game to annihilate all network-connected devices, and in turn almost brought a fatal and unprecedented end to the technological era. 

Even overlooking the economic calamity the Tower would have wrought, and the ramifications of such a modern famine on Japan’s tech-based markets, the initial fallout would have entailed the failing of planes, cars, traffic lights, banks, power grids, archives, and so much more. 

The entire country, and many others, seethed. And then, in almost no time at all, they got over it. There were exposés of former Knights, all talking about their experiences in what had almost been the most dangerous terrorist organization in history, and even more on the duelists that rose to stand against them, and then most people let it go.

Most, not all. Because with the terror, the relief, and the horror came fascination. Some were completely entranced by what Hanoi had dared to attempt, and hailed its leader as a fallen hero, an almost martyr that tried to free them from the constraints of their Wi-Fi enabled prisons.

And that was why Revolver had merchandise now. Such was the nature of capitalism. 

It didn’t matter to Yusaku. He didn’t care. And he certainly hadn’t spent the last three minutes staring through a store’s window at the lines of Revolver plushies, unable to walk away.

Except he had.

…They were cute plushies. 

Reluctantly, he stepped inside. The store was the typical VRAINS merch retailer, with posters and duel mats and all sorts of miscellaneous fannish nonsense, but there was a corner dedicated to the Knights of Hanoi, full of white coats and masks and Revolver. Not much compared to the three entire aisles and the whole wall the Playmaker paraphernalia filled, and yet Yusaku was drawn closer all the same. 

There was even a little display of Hanoi themed jewelry and keychains, most of which Yusaku put his nose up at, until something caught his eye.

The earrings were a decent-quality reproduction of Revolver’s iconic ones: brilliant blue faux jewels hanging above dangling gold bullets. They were clip-on versions too.

Yusaku very deliberately met the cashier’s eyes as he checked out. He had nothing to feel ashamed of.

Moving Yusaku out of his apartment was going to be easy, they both figured, but Ryoken had volunteered to help with the task anyway. It was a one-day affair, spent primarily on figuring out how to dispose of Yusaku’s defunct and honestly worthless furniture.

“What are these?” Ryoken asked, and Yusaku looked up from the single box he was packing to see. He didn’t have much stuff to pack in the first place, and it was all pretty self-explanatory, so curiosity had him padding back over to where Ryoken was sorting through his desk drawers.

Only to freeze in place when he saw gold and blue swaying from Ryoken’s fingertips. 

“Um,” Yusaku said, putting all points of his genius-level IQ to good use. 

Ryoken inspected the jewelry with a critical eye, the corners of his mouth slowly curling up. “Not bad.” He muttered, unclamping one from its mount. His eyes found Yusaku’s, intense and inquisitive. “Have you ever worn them?”

Yusaku felt his face flush, trying and failing to not think about all the times he had. And what he had done with them on. 

Ryoken openly leered then, a dark and knowing glint in his eye. He put on the earrings with the grace of experience, fingering them slightly so they swayed in place. The gold shined against his skin, and the blue accentuated his cold, pale eyes, and Yusaku couldn’t look away if he tried. 

“It’s a good thing we haven’t gotten rid of the bed yet.” Ryoken mused. “But you should have gotten two pairs.”