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merryfortune · 2 years ago

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ok so ignoring the fact that if you follow me, that makes you contractually obligated to vote Spectre, here is why Spectre is my absolute beloved whom you should vote for.

I remember when the Hanoi Tower arc had begun to detonate, everyone was expecting Spectre to take the opportunity to backstab Revolver. Everyone, legit, everyone was expecting this, me included BUT THEN we see him absolutely slam Kitamura both verbally and in a duel, affirming his loyalty to the Knights but more importantly Revolver. Absolute badass moment for Spectre, my heart flutters

Following this up with pretty much everything about Playmaker vs Spectre, just an amazing the duel!!

The twist that Spectre was one of the six children of the Hanoi Project was brilliant, it was so out of the left field and yet... foreshadowed by a tiny moment during the second half of Playmaker vs Revolver where they were duelling for Blue Angel's cure.

There was this tiny little scene where they were discussing the Incident and then we get this peculiar little cut to the Knights of Hanoi's lair, where we see Dr Kogami... with Spectre as this dialogue of the duel continues over. Just a small moment but it has such a huge impact (this will continue to be a theme, put a pin in this for later)

Going back to the duel, the way Playmaker was rattled by Spectre's recount of the Incident and what it meant for him was chilling. Spectre's psychology is so different and unique, it makes him a really memorable villain!

And a character who doesn't need too much to function, either.

Thinking of Earth, there are some really tiny moments where Spectre's loyalty was shaken.

During the Hanoi clip show episode, in just one line, we see a different side of him when he asks the foolish question of, "Where is my Ignis? Why hasn't he sought me out yet?" (not verbatim, my apologies) before Dr. Genome says, "because we're the knights of hanoi, duh." (also not verbatim but you get the gist).

He also refers to Earth as "my Other Self" which is a really neat call back to DM with Yugi and Atem. It really makes me think.

And then finally, just that one ending scene of Spectre crying, my heart breaks and then breaks again because we've seen him cry before, during his Duel with Blue Angel but... Those were fake tears. Big, blue fake crocodile tears which were overdramatic and making fun of Aoi but here? We get one, small crystalline tear going down his face as he realises something is wrong. Earth is dead. This was such a humanising and heartbreaking moment for Spectre, and I just... I just love it.

Still in season two, of course I have to talk about Lightning and the Extra Link. Spectre is the only character in Vrains to have accomplished the Full Extra Link and it was amazing! It was beautiful and best of all, it proved Lightning wrong,

Lightning said he was weak and Spectre agreed. He is. He needs protection from his Mother and from Revolver but this is still an amazing accomplishment, he had Lightning on the ropes and managed to find the weakness in his armour which is really super impressive.

Now, Unfortunately in season 3, his role was greatly diminished due to VA unavability and probably a whole heap of other reasons, too, he didn't get to do much but he did do one thing which intrigues me greatly.

He disobeyed orders that Revolver had given him. He was meant to be paired up with Ghost Girl and Blood Shepherd but instead, he abandoned that post so he could go support Faust and for me at the very least, that means a lot. It shows that Spectre really cares about the Knights of Hanoi, I am a found family truther for them and even though Ai clearly demolished Spectre (and Faust), this little moment still makes my heart quake.

So yeah. Vote for Spectre. This was huge and rambling and probably only half coherent but here it is, the almost complete Spectre essay. I could have gone more into him vs BA but the idea is to make him look good lololol and I am probably alone in being like, his win against blue Angel was Really Good Actually, for them both.

But that's just the anime side of things, I have more so here are some personal/extraneous anecdotes to finish:

One time someone on a non-ygo discord mentioned they were watching yugioh vrains and were like, "hey, that's where your guy's from, what episode does he appear in? I'm up to episode 15 or something" and I had to say episode 1. Mentioning this to support how underrated/overshadowed Spectre is.

Also, this accomplishment is an accomplishment Which by the way is absolute king shit. not many yugioh characters can say they appear in episode 1 and in the final episode, so 120 in this case AND ALIVE, too. So that's nice.

Second ancedote is when I mentioned on Reddit I will be playing Sunavalons for the Link Regulation event in Master Duel someone replied saying, "I've never heard of that deck, is it old?" Nope quite the opposite, a very new deck

But is also a deck with one YCHs win under the belt as part of a Mystic Mine-Rikka deck but the Sunavalons still played a very important part!!!!

Speaking of his deck, what an amazing thing to have it at all. It was one of the options in a voting contest that was only open to Japanese fans. Sunavalons came second and I was crushed, losing to Jim's Fossils (though still a W as an Australian lol) so imagine how it felt like Christmas was coming early for me when it was announced that despite coming second, Sunavalons would be coming to the OCG/TCG.

And finally, I mentioned Spectre's Japanese voice actor, Kajimoto Daiki, before and here are some fun facts about Kajimoto. Spectre was his first anime role, he's primarily a theatre actor, for example he was a character in the Kuroko no Basuke stage show and he still really loves Spectre. The night of one of his shows, he did Spectre's little hand salute behind stage for a photo and has drawn Spectre fanart. Heck, he's even liked an Instagram post I made which involved Spectre so he really loves him. Not to mention how he simped for Revolver in Cross Duel lmao with all them broccoli and tree emojis so yeah.

C'mon, please, vote for Spectre

look at how cute he is when he's smiling, vote for himmmmm

ROUND 1 MATCH 3 APORIA MEMBER OF ILIASTER FIGURE OF DESPAIR VS SPECTRE/SPECTER MEMBER OF THE KNIGHTS OF HANOI AND LOYAL RIGHT HAND MAN TO REVOLVER

#LONG POST #yugioh #vrains #5ds #polls #SPECTRESWEEP

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number-1-kuaidul-fanboy · 2 years ago

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Good lord it’s like these writers read my mind while I was watching VRAINS. This is so meta XDDD

#yugioh #ygo #yugioh sevens #ygo sevens #sevens #otis sevens #again vrains is my beloved #I love it #more than sevens as a whole tbh #but the duelling was overly complicated XD

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yoshifawful64 · 2 years ago

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ngl the upcoming vrains world is kinda tempting me to try duel links again

#i literally haven't played since master duel came out and i didn't really ever intend to again but… vrains my beloved #i'll probably have to switch to japanese voice acting though because i've seen bits and pieces of the dub and like 1) i'm used to those VAs #and more importantly 2) i just. i hate how much they seem to have like. memeified it. this is like the worst ygo series for that treatment #(also i hope ai gets to be a playable character by himself. can't believe there's still no solo yuma or astral)#yugioh #vrains #duel links #now i kinda wish i hadn't just let most of my card tickets expire though

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elemental-daddy-neos · 4 years ago

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Personally it feels like quite an honor that my girlfriend genuinely thought Yuma's response to Astral saying "Just... Think!" in the dub was "Gasp, I've never thought of that before!" because I said it as a joke

I'm taking that to mean that I'm funnier than canon and I will not be accepting any other takes

#frankly i was surprised that yuma Didnt say that #zexal dub my beloved #i cant wait to rewatch zexal dubbed again #it committed a few sins like cutting nistro and dextras backstory and erasing alitos bisexuality which we hate to see #but i do think its the funniest yugioh dub #haven finished vrains dubbed yet but its also Really funny #ygo zexal #yuma tsukumo #astral

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merryfortune · 3 years ago

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4 Absence of Singularity

AiYusa Month Week 4

Forever or Sparkles or Hunt/Escaping

“My life was hell before I met you, and when I met you, it turned into something worse.”

Soulmate AU or Canon Divergent AU

Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh! Vrains

Ship: Aiballshipping | Ai/Yusaku

Word Count: 743

Tags: Soulmate AU, Fluff

Humans were so cosmically significant and yet were so beloved to the universe as well but what did that make him? An A.I.? Ai mused, benevolent and with a welling tear, as he observed the marking on his arm. He was just a monster in the shape of a neuron inhabiting a tin can all covered in silicon and rubber, a farce of a human and yet, for some reason, the stars decided that he, too, can have a fated loved one, the very same one whose agony and torture he was born from.

“I don’t understand.” Ai protested and yet a quirk of his lips betrayed him. Through his tears, he sounded happy.

“What’s confusing you?” Yusaku asked as he took Ai’s hand.

He was gentle, pushing Ai’s sleeve slightly further past the crook of his elbow so he could admire the markings. The words that formed a sentence which was nothing less than the most important thing that his soulmate - Yusaku - was ever going to say to him.

And what those magic words were, of course, the meaning of his name. He was meant to love people. Love humans. Love Yusaku most of all. Though he did not have a heart, his motors hammered and the supercomputer in his ‘brain’ whirred at paces even he couldn’t keep up with and it was his.

“I’m not human. I’m not deserving. It's so silly.” Ai continued to protest.

“I know but… can’t we have this small joy?” Yusaku inquired.

He genuinely thought it was impossible to have a soulmate. That serene and idyllic love just for them, unique to them, just seemed impossible in regard to the size and scale of the universe that twinkled with these arbitrary decisions and impossible for him as Yusaku thought he could never really leave the small confines of that white walled prison he had been confined to as a child. Maybe his soulmate being Ai was proof of that that was all he was going to be, for better and for worse, maybe this was his way of being told he was connected to the world far beyond those four walls. It was difficult to say but just like when a duel depended on the next draw, Yusaku wanted to take that chance and savour hope.

He offered a smile to Ai was still flabbergasted that a non-human creature would be given the same pittance as Yusaku but Yusaku hadn’t even grown in his stripes. After all, they only typically appeared on the skin of the wrist at around the ages between eighteen and twenty-two. An arc that Yusaku was just shy of at seventeen-ish.

And also part of why Ai was so frazzled by this turn of events but just how did an Ignis quantify their age? Chronologically, yes, they were ten but they started at the baseline of a six year old’s life experience and were perpetually ageless, going back and forth through simulated timelines with lifetimes upon lifetimes lived. Surely that was further confusing and confounding the universe owing to their present situation with Ai experiencing every rollicking emotion there was with the emergence of the soulmate’s fated writing on not exactly his own body.

“But does it scare you?” Ai asked, fright in his rectangular pupiled eyes. “That this is it? The peak of all there is?”

“That’s not definitively true.” Yusaku offered. “We’ve come so far and this is just one part of the ascent, there’s still more to come.” He reminded Ai and he nuzzled Ai’s wrist. He had a hand like a beautiful, mechanical doll. “And even if we get to that second peak, we would still have more to go, even if it's the descent. I look forward to one day learning what the most important thing you ever say to me is, even if it's just a simple I love you.”

“Ohh,” Ai complained again but his voice took on a playful toll, he flung his arms around Yusaku and clutched onto him tightly in an embrace that had them waltzing around, making Yusaku’s heart sing and his eyes roll, “I’m sure it could never be so simple as that.” He tutted. “It’s bound to be something very big and dramatic and theatrical, nothing less for me unto you.”

Yusaku smiled a small smile and patted Ai’s back, “You're totally right.” he agreed, fond, and he was still held tight as they savoured this moment together.

#aiyusamonth #aiyusa month #aiballshipping #yugioh vrains #vrains #yugioh #ai (vrains)#fujiki yusaku #yusaku fujiki #writing tag #absence of singularity

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lunatic-fandom-space · 3 years ago

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Ranting about Jaune killing Penny and also rambling about VRAINS a bit

Greetings ladies, gents and other friends! I just had A Thought and now Im unreasonably angry and need to rant. Unlike in previous posts, I wont really explain anything because I just need to get this out of my system as fast as possible, so if you need me to elaborate just ask, I would be happy to explain some shit. Also apologies in advance for probably being a bit incoherent.

Oh god there are so many issues I have with Pennys death but the biggest one was definitely that Jaune just had to be the one to kill her! Like, Im not gonna say Jaune is a self-insert even though he is because thats not a legitimate critisism because SIs are not inherently bad. But jesus f u c k the writers are far too attached to this stupid bitchboy!! I dont even understand why!

Like, I get that the typical Heroes Journey is easier to write but if its just that then why not Oscar? Hes not the main character either obviously, but hes actually somewhat interesting simply by virtue of having Oz around.

Hey, you know that tweet where Miles Luna was like "hehehehehe this volume is truly ending in a darling massacre!"?

Uh, yeah, where the fuck is it? Jaune is arguably the biggest writer-darling and hes not only alive and well, but GOING WITH THE ACTUAL PROTAGONISTS TO A COMPLETELY ISOLATED MAGIC BEACH LAND

The only thing that got massacred this volume was Pennys arc tbh

This was like, the big defining moment of the volume where A Beloved Character is killed off by one of our protagonists for Tragedys Sake, and literally all I felt was annoyence because it was Jaune instead of, oh i dunno, THE ACTUAL TITULAR PROTAGONIST RUBY ROSE???

And for the love of god, if I have to hear that stupid defense thats like "oH iT wOuLd Be OuT oF cHaRaCtEr" I will literally burst into flames out of anger. Luckily I havent heard it in a while because everyone seems to have gotten mostly over it, and honestly, me even bringing this up is kinda beating a dead horse at this point but fuck it. This dead meat deserves to be beat! Like

Hey, heyheyheyheyheyheyheyh ey hey.

Hey

You know who else has a kinda goofy AI friend that they would usually never ever hurt because they mean so much to them, but is then forced to do so anyway?

Yusaku "The fucking Playmaker" Fujiki

Like, dude, thats literally part of what makes the final duel so incredibly heartwrenchinh!! The fact that Yusaku still loved Ai, still saw him as his Friend and Partner (HIS PARTNER) but had no choice but to defeat him anyway. Why would you not want this?!? Why would you rather have Vomitboy, who had NO interactions with Penny, to kill her instead?

I literally blacked out for more than half of VRAINS when I first watched it and I still havent rewatched it, and I have felt infinitely more during those final episodes than the entirety of V8, because it wasnt just that Yusaku and Ai dueled and Ai basically died; it was that Ai turned to villainy during the last part, it was that Yusaku still seemed somewhat hesitant in some ways, despite the fact that losing meant certain death, it was the fact that Ai set up this messed up suicide trap to begin with, it was Ai asking Yusaku to merge conciousnesses with him because he still wanted to exist in some form, it was the fact once Ai was defeated, Yusaku still got to hold him and tell him that his name means 'love' and cry and Ai got to say that he loved Yusaku and also cry and ugh.

Man its just. Much sad. Very feelings. Would not recommend, but will watch again. Twice, atleast, if everything goes according to plan.

But anyway, the point I was trying to make here was, you cant just kill a beloved character and expect that alone to make an impact. The context is just as, if not more more, important as the death itself. Even more so in a series like YGO or RWBY, where (permanent) deaths are very rare.

If a character dies and Im meant to feel sad because a characters dead but Im too busy being annoyed at the writing afound the scene, you failed as a writer. Hell, if I, as an audience member, am even conciously thinking about the writers during the series AT ALL, thats a failure.

Like, jesus fuck, imagine writing what I assume to be a YA-series only to have less good writing than one of the fucking card game anime, all of which are aimed at like, twelve year olds.

So yeah, in conclusion: Jaune Arc? More like Jaune Shouldve Died During The Fall Of Beacon With Or Instead Of Phyrrah And Ren's Semblence Being Able To Mask So Many People All Of A Sudden Should've Been Handwaved With A Line That Implies Ren Having Trained His Semblence A Lot Recently

Thank you for coming to my rant, I am much less angry now and will probably have a fine day

#rwby rant #rwde #anti jaune arc #ygo vrains spoilers

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ignister-sanctuary · 3 years ago

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A fanfiction featuring a very angry Flame🔥

This is a translated version of my friend's masterpiece (I did a lot of freestyle out of spite though, sorry about that). The original is in Chinese, and I'm no professional translator, so I apologize for any weird syntax and metaphor.

It's a silly idea, really. Saying that Flame would harm, or even remotely pose a threat to humankind is probably one of the most daring statements throughout vrains' history.

But what if he was there, at the frontline during the war between humans and Ignis, furious and evil; There is a 98% chance that Windy would coexist with humans, not 100%, and I doubt it shall ever reach 100% for any of the Ignis. So what could happen in the 0.001% part of Flame, where he opposed his partner and allies? Why would he do this? Did he get betrayed? Did he lose something precious, a dear friend, a part of his beloved family?

What if, just what if, Ai got destroyed by the humans, and Flame actually snapped.

～$ The flame of revenge

Flame had to admit, he was not good at making statues.

Maybe he could ask Windy. The playful Wind Ignis was fond of making these delicate data artworks, taking pride in his "Unbeatable Ignis Craft™". But no...he would rather not. Windy would only look down on him in pity, Flame could see it happen even without simulation.

And he hated the pity.

Limbs and body were easy, since he could refer to himself, while the expression was hard. He called up recordings from his memory, again and again, stopped to a freeze-frame, cut out the section containing the facial pattern of that smiling Ignis, zoomed in, zoomed in, zoomed in some more. Every curve and angle was measured to the most precise value, then transferred onto the lump of data clay resting in his hands. The results were never satisfying. Every parameter was configured with perfect accuracy, yet they were merely exquisite imitations at best.

He was splitting hair at this point. The highest goal for such a sculpture is to be lifelike, to match the real thing, which he already achieved. He was just denying it, deep in his subconscious: That the living passed away, that the living was no more.

"Flame, resistance force just appeared in Area 39 of U District. Seems to be an elite force, please exterminate it as soon as possible."

A command from Lightning came through the Ignis' secret channel. He placed the nearly completed statue on his palm, caressing the bright golden eyes lovingly, then gently set it down. This one was statue number 1306, depicting Ai holding Linkuriboh by its tail and making it twirl around, placed next to a sleeping Ai and a pretentious Ai reading a book. There were statues of Ai all over the Dark Realm, Flame had put a lot of effort into them.

As he stood up, a small data storm whipped up around Flame. Data material covered the Ignis' body, morphing and reconstructing itself into the appearance of SOLtiS. Moving around in the network in SOLtiS form was more efficient for the smooth connection with their real-life prosthetic body, so the other four Ignis rarely used their original Ignis shape given by birth now. However, Flame had always insisted that he must change back to his former form whenever he returned to the Cybers.

'Twas sort of his usual love for ceremonies and commemorations, like the way he treated the whole war as a blood sacrifice dedicated to Ai.

He remembered that sunny afternoon. A strong breeze blew through the shore, the sound of tides ebbing and rising just a few feet away, like an impressionistic painting, soothing and pleasant, that Flame even enjoyed it a little. Yusaku Fujiki did not go to school, not caring to take a leave of absence, leaving his ringing phone to Kusanagi - who knew how to make up the most reassuring excuses for his teachers. Instead, Yusaku was delved deep into the networks, exhausting all means to track down the bounty hunters from SOL Tech. Takeru brought him a cup of coffee, suggesting to take a break.

The Flame back then said: "While the search for Ai is the top priority at the moment, proper rest is also necessary."

'How could I be so calm and collected?', Flame later asked himself countless times. He knew full well that SOL Technologies had no good intentions for the Ignis, he knew full well that Ai, fallen to their treacherous trap, was in severe danger; He knew...or did he?

"Ai is the best among us when it comes to tag and hide-and-seek. I'm sure he's also looking for chances to break out right now."

He was always confident about that. There was no crisis Ai could not escape, just like there was no data an Ignis could not restore.

Suddenly, without a cause, his "heart" skipped a painful beat.

It was as if someone just plucked out a piece of his heart alive, leaving a massive black hole in its wake. Flame's vision shifted, pictures, sounds, temperatures...everything warped and distorted as if they were being sucked in. The Ignis panicky grabbed onto the duel disk to get a hold of himself, but the black hole was still there, patiently waiting for the big bang.

"Flame……"

A voice rang out, faint, almost inaudible. A bone-chilling ache ran through Flame's entire body, as if he was being dismembered.

"Ai?!" He looked up sharply, but failed to find any source. He did not really hear... He "intuited".

"Flame...what does it mean again...?"

That familiar, annoying yet lively voice of his sibling was now trailing off into a distorted murmur, blown away by the wind, not even leaving an echo.

There was no big bang, but something even worse spilled out of the black hole, a mixture of remorse and misery.

What was that?

Flame froze in place, his cognition module had never worked this slow.

This sudden, inexplicable sensation was probably their Link Sense. The last time he experienced that feeling was way back during Hanoi's siege of the Cyberse, when he sensed Ai's piercing cries - he later learned that Ai was being gnawed on by the Cracking Dragon. But this time, it was a thousand times more painful.

Fueled by pain and sorrow, a small flame ignited in the depths of the black hole.

What happened to Ai?

He already had the answer, he just refused to acknowledge it before he broke into SOL Tech's secret laboratory and saw the end for himself.

Flame had never contemplated the idea of death for an Ignis. That was until then, until he saw it, that unintelligible mess of trinary code, once called by the name "Ai".

He didn't outright accept it, of course.

Ignis possessed an extremely strong nature to self-repair. Even if 99% of their code deteriorated, as long as 1% of their core algorithm remained intact, they could still perform a regeneration process. Ai had already pulled this off once.

Flame searched desperately through the scattered scraps of data, bit by bit. The further he got, the fainter his hope, the fiercer his hate. Every section was decompiled, he might still be capable of recognizing their original shape: These were the hands, that pile together used to be a torso, the eyes, the shapeshifting function for his predatory form... But nothing could change the fact that all Flame could see were plain characters now.

But it was not over yet, he just needed 1%, a tiny bit, a single line... Finally, at the very center of the data ruins, with great hope, with great despair, he opened up the last fraction of code.

Shattered and scrambled.

To make it even worse, their decompiler could not afford to fully parse the sophisticated and complex source code, mixing errors and glitches into it; 30% of them were just garbled numbers at this point.

His fire burst out, inflaming sky and earth alike.

...What is life?

What makes you think that Ignis share the same lives as humans?

'Because we are equipped with consciousness, a free will', Flame would have answered.

Then what happens after that will has perished? What would the remains of life look like?

Just some flesh, blood, molecules, atoms, zeroes and ones?

Flame looked up and around, into the boundless black residing in the Dark Realm. He was barely able to illuminate a small circle around himself, leaving everything else in their slumber. Here used to be Ai's realm. Flame could clearly recall the amazement when he first arrived at this place: The seemingly bottomless pit had concealed a breathtaking metropolis in it, Cybers creatures were all over the place living their best lives. Light-affined monsters were floating in the air, their unique shines intersecting and reflecting, mixing up to dreamful hues.

Those lights were dimmed away by now, so the life for Ai.

The empty abyss gazed at him.

Why?

Why couldn't he do anything?

Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

No...he must be wrong. Impotence was only for the cowardly humans, not him. There was something he could yet accomplish, for sure, it had to.

"SOL Tech wants to have a talk with us, right tomorrow."

Lightning walked in when he was creating the first statue of Ai, his overly sensible voice as cold as ever.

"About what? What's here to talk about?" He replied, without ever moving his glance.

"For all the consciousness data you're holding."

Flame remembered. As he rushed into SOL Tech's lab, it all felt like he was just clearing the path, disposing of every obstacle standing in his way of finding Ai. When he came to his senses, he met the astonished, even somewhat frightened eyes of Yusaku and Takeru, realizing a strange weight in his body. Consciousness data filled up his cache storage, the entire staff of the laboratory was lying in a coma.

"...I need a moment."

He said after a short silence, before the two could catch up, and disappeared with those data into Takeru's duel disk.

"What are your next intentions?" Lightning's voice pulled him back to reality.

"I have no use for their consciousness. But neither will I give it back that easily." He said while continuing his handiwork, this time splitting the clay in two, the larger lump shall become Linkuriboh later.

"Do you seek revenge?" Lightning turned up his tone slightly, with a sense of triumph.

"They must pay the price. How dare they turn Ai into...unforgivable!" Flame's eyes widened with anger, he was just calm enough to put his half-finished piece down before clenching his fists.

"How pathetic, Flame. But your poor emotions do have their justification in a certain sense. Humans should be held accountable for what they did to our kind."

A dangerous ambition was lurking behind Lightning's words, but Flame was willing to take the bait.

"If they know any method to recover Ai, I'll do everything to make them hand it over. But if they don't... What should we demand from them anyway?"

"In that case, why not take an eye for an eye?"

Flame looked up for once, staring into Lightning's diamond-shaped eyes. "You're saying..."

"Humans are all similar in nature; They are selfish, profit-seeking, short-sighted, going with the flow. Every human being is a potential enemy of us. What happened in the past can no longer be changed, but we still have the opportunity to carve out a future for the Ignis."

Eventually, Lightning revealed his intent to its fullest.

Not long ago, Flame would have angrily rebuked Lightning for being far too extreme. Now, however, after a brief period of consideration, he once again picked up the statue, shaping two big round eyes for the Dark Ignis, and responded.

"A wise choice."

On the last night before the peaceful days came to end, Flame returned to Takeru, to bid farewell to his partner.

The teenager already knew what was going on, having a struggle with finding the right words. Just as Flame expected... or rather, he would prefer the silence. Words were the last thing that mattered.

But after having heard him calmly stating his plans, Takeru still could not help but speak up.

"Flame... Are you going to take revenge?"

"If you call that revenge, then so be it."

"You... You once told me to get over the sad past, to look forward, to open up a new future..."

"Takeru, that's because you're human. You have too many limitations, too many things you can't change. So in order to move on, to live a meaningful life, you must learn to live with what cannot be changed, to harness the past rather than to be..."

Flame paused. In the back of his mind, he smiled bitterly.

Homura Takeru, worthy of being his origin, worthy of being chosen by him to be his companion. After just a few months together, the young man already knew how to use Flame's own words against him.

At that moment, Flame was suddenly slightly shaken.

The preaching Flame from the past was sitting on the other side, saying things he knew too well, those right, positive, infallible words.

Should he forgive? Should he forget?

He turned back, in the Dark Realm where no light would ever shine again, tireless flames burned incessantly.

Every life has a death, some weighty like a mountain, some trifling like a feather. But who was there to judge the weight of an Ignis?

Should he forgive, who would be there to riot for Ai's demise?

Should he forget, who would be there to cry for Ai's absence?

Flame shut his eyes.

"There's no point talking about it. Homura Takeru, please take care of yourself."

With that, he left without looking back, not even bothering to see what kind of look Takeru gave him.

The scheduled and scripted negotiations were archaic and boring. People apologized, people bowed, people shook it off. None of these petty acts could bring a living Ignis back from destructed code.

Lightning was busy making excessive demands that no one could agree to. The human representatives kept shaking their heads, courteous remarks spouting out of their mouths, trying to justify their immature refusal.

Flame was beginning to tire.

Earth was quiet as usual, but his face did look a lot gloomier. Windy had a lot of fun throwing provocative comments across the table, enjoying the moment the humans tore down their friendly facade, laughing at their idiotism.

Aqua still believed in the idea of peace. The fair-minded Water Ignis was always striving for balance and harmony.

"Lightning, your requests are ridiculous."

Lightning smiled without a word, knowing that this small voice shall not affect anything.

"Flame, why are you keeping silent?" She turned her head, looking at Flame.

"I know Ai's decease upsets you, but that lies in the..."

She was too gentle, too unbiased, too sincere, therefore also too ignorant.

Flame jolted to his feet, pouring out a torrent of furious syllables in the Ignis' original language - not unlike the noise of a broken radio in a thunderstorm, or a distorted roar of a wounded beast. Even Earth stood up, shielding Aqua behind him.

After two or three seconds, Flame stopped, the room was filled with silence again. The path of fate was set in stone. Aqua looked away in sorrow, keeping the unbearable "truth" to herself.

"Do you have any means to retrieve Ai?" Flame sat down, turning back to human speech, his tone chilling to the bone.

"We are terribly sorry..."

"Fine." He cut off their attempt to excuse. "You shall pay your blood for it."

Consciousness data of the SOL Tech's researchers slowly emerged from his palm, a dozen tiny pale balls of light floating mid-air, somehow pulsating with their radiance, as if they were alive.

Flame made a small gesture, and they turned to dust before everyone's eyes.

He came to be known as "The Inferno Ignis".

His rules were fairly simple: You pay what it costs. If mankind had made one-sixth of the Cyberse unlivable, they might as well pay for their redemption with one-sixth of their population.

What goes around comes around.

Even Windy, who saw the whole war as a game and took pleasure in the fancy of killing was not as cruel as he.

Drive the crowd into the buildings, seal off all entrances, and set them on fire. A massive army of machinery was under Flame's command, cutting off all hope to live with fire and smoke, growing piles of despair in the isolated rooms. Agonizing screams rang out from every corner, the stench of burned flesh roaming in the air. Sometimes the crumbling constructs would collapse before the flames had burned out, leaving the victims nowhere to run. Sometimes the misery spread from house to house, turning the neighborhood, even an entire town into a sea of flames.

Flame...his very concept became the root of all evil, every person to behold his presence would flee in horror. The Fire Ignis in cold blood was not particularly in the mood for compassion, though - who was there to care about Ai's suffering?

One group of people turned into charcoal, and here came the next; One town was razed to the ground, and here came the next! The flames spread across the map, scorching the earth wherever they touched. The culprit did not ever blink, almost drawing comfort from his achievements. He was not helpless, no; He could destroy the world if he wanted, he was almighty.

There was one exception, when he came face to face with his origin, Homura Takeru.

Whether it was the will of god or Lightning's meticulous scheme was irrelevant. The war would go on, just like this day would come. The young man was already a core member of the human resistance, neither daze nor fear was to be found in his eyes, only the determination to fight to the bitter end.

He did hesitate, right before he stepped forward, but sobered up soon enough.

"Guess whatever I say won't come through this time... So let's just have a proper final match then, Flame."

The war had tempered his will, leading him to grow out of that hapless boy, to become a true warrior.

Flame was indeed delighted to witness, but he also knew before they even started: That this was a duel destined to be fought to their death, that this was a duel destined to end in Takeru's defeat - no one could know Salamangreat better than Flame did after all.

He did not cause Takeru any pain. It was the only duel he had ever fought without turning on Stereoscopic Material Projection, simply betting on their consciousness data. At the end of it, what made up the human named Takeru gathered on his palm. He lit a gentle flame, turning the youngster's unyielding soul into a delicate breeze. To stop the functions of an unconscious body was then solely a part of his daily routine.

Takeru stopped breathing in his arms, his heart lying still, the once boiling blood would eventually cool down to dark, stagnant water. Flame had killed numerous people, yet he did not learn the weight of a human's death until this moment. Takeru's lids were closed, mistakable for a peaceful afternoon nap. The tranquil memories from that distant village flashed up before Flame's eyes, then dissipated into smoke amidst the crackling fires.

That black hole tore up once again. He had fallen deep enough by now, Flame thought, not expecting that the vengeance could drag him down even more. He hold Takeru's body tighter than he thought he would, unable to lift his head, his shoulders shaking.

In order to not reveal any weakness, he removed the ability to "cry" from his expression management. For the first and last time, the Fire Ignis regretted, not being able to shed a single tear over the loss of his origin, his partner...his best friend.

After sending Takeru back home for his burial, Flame gazed upon the endless sea, feeling a sudden sense of relief at the end of his heartbreaking grief.

He was ready to murder his origin who was once so close to his heart. Was there anything such an Ignis could not commit?

Because of that, when he arrived at U39, seeing the Yusaku Fijiki face him alone, he was neither surprised nor sentimental. Sooner or later, he knew, he would put an end to Yusaku's life, just like he did to Takeru Homura.

"Flame, we finally meet. I've been looking for a chance to talk to you..."

There he went again, his stubbornness annoyed Flame the most. What was left here to sit down and talk about? Idealism?

"I have nothing to say to you. We can only stand or fall."

He rudely interrupted, commencing the duel by force.

Yusaku tried, several times even, to speak up during their duel, only to be countered by Flame's fierce and meticulous combos. What would he say? What could he say? Ai was not coming back, and Flame had long gone beyond the point of no return, too.

Besides, it was not like had a heart for Yusaku Fujiki.

Just one last hit to go. Soaked in all the grief and slaughter, his deck and tactics had become more and more brutal and aggressive. His opponent was Playmaker, the leading hope for humanity, defeating him would be a crucial turning point for the eradication of mankind. Flame had simulated countless strategies against him, and all of those were proving to be effective right now.

"At long last, I can finally get this out of my chest, Playmaker...Yusaku Fujiki."

He raised his hand, making his final declaration of attack.

"As the one responsible for Ai's death, your sins shall be judged by me."

The materialized Salamangreat swung its claws and lunged in Yusaku's direction. Decode Talker - Yusaku's most loyal servant from the Cyberse, the very first card he seized from the Data Storm Ai conjured up - scrambled their last strength to stand in front of Yusaku, giving his scarred and bruised body a final moment to brace up. He struggled, uttering his last words in a stressful whisper: "Flame, I have to tell you... That time, the accident, Ai was trying to protect me..."

What?

Flame halted, however, it was too late.

With Decode Talker torn into data fragments, Yusaku fell to the ground, his last breath leaving his lungs.

"Ai, Yusaku Fujiki is dead."

Fire lit up the night sky. The surrounding temperature reached around one hundred thirty degrees Celsius, well enough to keep any human from both approach and escape. There lay the young duelist's body, somehow unlit out of compassion the Fire Ignis felt, his face calm, visibly losing moisture.

Flame stood still, his body encircled by his metaphorical relatives. Yet he felt no heat, yet he saw no light, as if he was in the midst of darkness; Tenderly, he spoke to his lost kin.

"...The war between humans and Ignis will probably be over soon. After that, it will be up to Lightning to decide what is left to do."

Two hundred, three hundred, four hundred degrees Celsius and counting, no organic lifeform was left in Flame's detection area. He shivered, feeling nothing but biting cold.

"...Right before he passed away, he told me the final truth. You were deliberately taking the hit by SOL Tech's hacking program... to protect Playmaker. Since you cannot hear me anyway, I shall not comment on that. But it did remind me of something, when I heard that human call up your name again..."

"You were fighting so hard for the peace between us because you loved Yusaku, weren't you?"

The voice in the speakers trembled as the outlines of roads and buildings began to blur. The human civilization was burning bright, taking everything with it to fall into ashes: The past, the future, some family's happiness, some sinner's suffering, some hope an Ignis gave up their life for - and some 'purpose' an Ignis never let go of.

Flame, what did you get?

...Flame, what did you wish to get?

"I see. I think I'm slowly understanding it."

The finest parts began to gradually melt away, affecting the joints of the SOLtiS, actually giving the Ignis a rare experience of unsteadiness on his feet. A message from Lightning arrived, alerting him to wrap up the mission and leave the scene on time, on which Flame disconnected without replying.

"All this time, 'talking like a know-it-all'... 'acting like a know-it-all'... Sorry about that, Ai. But don't you worry, everything's alright now. ...I've got nothing left to say anymore."

...

"Actually, I do have one more thing. Did you know The Little Match Girl? That one who lit up matches in the cold winter night? In the flame, she was seeing the things she dreamt of so dearly; A warm stove, a holiday feast, a happy family..."

...

"Quite intriguing, is it not? The fire burns down everything it touches, but it lights up the dark, too. Though either way, there will be nothingness in the end. This mirage standing here right now will also disappear soon enough, I'm sure."

Flame stood still, his silhouette swaying in the flaring crimson curtain. It was almost a flame by itself, a weak candlelight, offering one last dance for its unlit glim.

Flame shut his eyes.

"How rude for you to forget. It's written Fu-Rei-Mu in Kanji: The unyielding spirit has yet to enter the realm of dreams... But AIs cannot dream."

"Ah... After all of this, it just sounds like a silly joke now."

The Fire Ignis embraced the fire, one indifferent from the other.

The daylight did come in the end. That raging inferno had taken everything away: Life, culture, hatred, pain, crime, regret, sorrow. A sorry sight, really - never will a fire blaze this wild and violent again. Only ashes were left on the ground, whatever you were, whatever I was, there was no difference. All beings were equal.

Every life has a death, some weighty like a mountain, some trifling like a feather. But who was there to judge the weight of an Ignis?

Who could tell what life is, anyway?

The winds swept over the scorched land, taking the answer with them.

#vrains #darkfireshipping #ignis(vrains)#flame (vrains)

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finding-fallen-stars · 4 years ago

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YGO Questionnaire Part 2 Electric Boogaloo

So, my gf/bf @howaboutalittlehelpneos tagged me to do this again a... good long while ago, and I had wanted to wait until I'd finished my GX rewatch before trying this again. But ouch oof I accidentally also got through all of 5Ds again before getting to this lol

But the 5Ds rewatch definitely reshaped a lot of my thoughts, so... cracks knuckles. This won't be spoiler free, fair warning~

Favorite Series: ugh the formatting killed my original essay on this but okay GX and 5Ds are pretty tied in my book, now-- I love them equally, but in different ways! GX fulfills my love for subversive coming-of-age stories with a heartwarming, humorous, and also soulcrushing touch, and I love how each season brings a new story and new characters-- it's like reading installments of a novel series, and I think the formatting works wonders for it as a whole. It has some absolutely phenomenal character writing, too-- even the characters I dislike are ones I can appreciate for what they introduce to the story! And honestly, not enough people give the first two seasons of GX the credit it deserves: they're half the charm, really. How are you going to feel the full impact of the heartbreaking content in seasons 3 and 4 if you aren't properly attached to the characters?

But on 5Ds's side of things... it fulfills my love for stories with time loops, found family, human nature, and of course, love and death and how they intertwine. I love how the leading characters are just a bunch of broken kids from broken circumstances who all find a home with each other, and of course, how it highlights class disparity and how fucked up the prison/"justice" systems are. Yea, sure, maybe it underwent executive meddling and all, but I genuinely love it for what it is and I wish more people appreciated it... my only problem with 5Ds is the untwist with Z-ONE and then the ending s m h I adore it overall and I could go off for a long while on it. Overall, these are my two instinctive recommendations for anyone getting into Yugioh!

(look at these boys they're so important) Favorite Protagonist: Oh, believe me, absolutely nothing has changed here-- Yusei Fudo is and always will be my favorite protagonist, and my rewatch only solidified that.

I just... love him so much? He's seen so much hell in his life and carries so much guilt on his shoulders, but he still has room in his heart to believe in others and to believe that anyone can defy fate and find hope even at rock bottom. I love that he's initially introduced as this quiet, brooding figure when he really just turns out to be a huge softie who wears his heart on his sleeve half the time and wants to bring about change for Satellite and its people. Plus I just really love that his greatest flaw is something that would ordinarily be a positive trait-- he's Overly self-sacrificial, to the point where he's basically setting himself on fire to keep others warm, and that's not really framed as something Heroic

Just... he makes me so happy. I have two Yusei charms that I ordinarily keep on my keys (one was a gift from Zenzen) and they're a constant source of serotonin for me. He's Peak comfort character for me. Best protag in my book Favorite Rival: Same deal here-- still Manjoume!

look at him he's so important

While he spends a lot of the anime getting the good old damsel in distress treatment (getting suckered into a cult, getting knocked into a coma, becoming a zombie, getting fucking Killed, etc), I still think his character arc is really well-written overall and I only appreciated it even more when I watched GX again. I love the fact that he's got a soft heart he buries beneath the edgy facade, and that he's simultaneously really sharp and also kind of dense lol. He's just a fun character and watching how he evolves from episode one to episode one hundred eighty is such a satisfying journey.

Plus, props to him for being such a versatile duelist-- 50 wins in a row is HARD as is, let alone with a deck full of cards he just found laying around in the Arctic. Three ace monsters, three different archetypes... he's a really good duelist and I'm proud of him for it

Oh, but honestly, I don't really dislike any of the rivals-- I'm neutral towards Revolver and Reiji, but the remaining four (Kaiba, Manjoume, Jack, and Shark) compel me. yes I accidentally wound up liking Jack Atlas shhh Favorite BFF: Honestly, I really like most of the characters who fit this archetype-- Joey, Crow, Gongenzaka, Soulburner... I still lean a little bit more towards Joey, but I really appreciate all four of them. I'm gonna say Joey again, just because I find his evolution as a character the most compelling, but I appreciate the other three a lot. Soulburner has the best design though Favorite GFF: Oh absolutely still Aki, but I honestly... really love most female Yugioh characters? I'm assuming this is lead girls only, but like. I'm dumb and gay and I love Girls so this is naturally the most difficult one for me to answer lol

Aki just resonates with me the most because she's the prime example of how trauma doesn't always manifest in palatable ways-- when we first meet her, she's angry and lashes out at anyone and anything just because she wants the world to suffer in the same ways she's suffered, and then... we get to watch her grow from that, once she's free from Divine and able to heal the way she needs to heal. I know the second half of 5Ds didn't give her character the attention it deserved, but I'm still proud of her for winding up on the path she did-- seeing her channel her power and energy into wanting to heal and help others was just so good and was one of the few things I really Loved about the 5Ds ending.

oh, but like. Asuka Tenjoin and Aoi Zaizen are very close seconds for me!!! Aki just has a vice grip on my heart Favorite Villain: Okay, it's still technically Vector-- I think he's the most entertaining, well-written, and effective villain out of all of the ones we've seen so far, but... I also want to add Takuma Saiou and then all of Yliaster as honorable mentions?

As someone fond of tarot myself, I was naturally pretty intrigued by Saiou the first time I watched GX, but my attachment to him only grew the second time around where I actually got the chance to understand his character better. Plus, like... the visuals with him are fucking astounding and he's always so interesting to watch.

As for Yliaster, I just... really love how the big bad of 5Ds turned out to just essentially be a broken man desperate to save anyone and anything and three robotic reconstructions of the friends he'd lost. I still think the untwist with Z-ONE was stupid and I much prefer the idea of him and Yusei being the same person, but I'm still compelled by the other three-- well. Paradox less so, because we don't get a lot of Paradox lore, but. Aporia and Antinomy for sure.

ugh Yugioh has some damn good villains

Favorite Card: now that I actually play the TCG game...

Stardust is always going to be my favorite of all cards because it checks every box for me (my favorite YGO character's ace monster, space theme, what more could I want), but Aromaseraphy Rosemary has really become one of my aces in my best TCG deck! I'm still mastering irl plays, but I'm happy with my progress and I love my plant gang...

Favorite Episode: alright, here's where there's actually been a Lot of change, so...

Season 0: Episode 16: "Turnabout by a Hair's Breadth - The White-Robed Crisis" -- The more I think about this one, the more I love it; there's a... lot of corruption in the medical industry, and I've seen a lot of it firsthand, so just. Seeing a corrupt doctor get what he deserved at the end was cathartic, in a way? Plus, a Jounouchi-centric episode is always a good time.

Duel Monsters: Episodes 96-97: "Darkness vs. Darkness/One Turn Kill" -- this hasn't changed, I still love seeing Marik and Bakura bitch at each other for two whole episodes LMAO

GX: Episode 152: "Activate Super-Fusion! Rainbow Neos" -- This one hasn't changed and it likely never will-- I take so much pride in seeing Judai push forward, past the fear and guilt he's carrying, all to save Johan... it's cathartic and I never get sick of watching it.

5Ds: sweats. still all of Crash Town, but also episodes 137-147-- the Ark Cradle is one of my favorite parts of 5Ds and one of my favorite YGO arcs period, and even though each duel is a fucking gut punch, I love the emotional intensity and weight in each episode... It hurts but in a mostly good way

Zexal: Episode 143: "The Aloof Duelist 'Nasch': The Destined Final Duel" -- this one hasn't changed! Still hurts, still love it, I still weep over Ryouga Shark Kamishiro on a daily basis

Arc-V: Episodes 81-82: "Our Respective Battlefields/The Ultimate Falcon VS The Black-Feathered Thunder" -- Okay, honestly, this was hard because I... genuinely. really don't like Arc-V very much at all lol (it's just not my cup of tea, but more power to those who do like it!), but I thought this duel was a lot of fun! Shun is my absolute favorite from Arc-V and I really like the friendship he struck up with Crow a lot, so here we are

VRAINS (so far): Episode 25-26: "Virus Deck Operation/Three Draws Leading to Hope" -- honestly I am so biased because I just really love Blue Angel and I loved seeing her get a well-deserved victory like this lol. I'm not done with VRAINS, so this is probably gonna change, but anytime Blue Angel or Soulburner are on screen, I'm happy

Favorite Decks to Use: Aromages will always have my heart, but I adore Cyber Angels too! I'm building my Trickstar deck, my Synchron/Stardust deck (just waiting on Dawn of Majesty...), and my Magician Girls deck, too! Fusion, Ritual, Synchro, XYZ, Pendulum, or Link?: Synchros my beloved... but also Ritual Years in fandom: I've been here for just a little over one year now! and I wuv it... I'm never looking back Who am I tagging: no one I'm too shy

#yugioh #ygo tag meme

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elencelebrindal · 4 years ago

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Favourite colour, music, film, anime? I'm curious

Uuhhh, sorry for the wait, this ask has been waiting in my inbox for a lot by now, but let me answer you. Some of these answers are really long, so I marked them with a title in case people are not interested in everything. Though, I don’t think many people would be interested at all, my life is not that eventful.

Favorite Color

My favorite color is black (even though black is not technically a color, damn you art school why did you have to teach me that), closely followed by blood red and silver.

Favorite Music

My favorite music... I don’t really understand if you’re asking me what genre I prefer, or who do I prefer listening to, so I’ll just go the safe route and answer everything at once. I love metal (especially power metal, epic metal and folk metal, with a significance preference for its viking sub-genre), and I am in love with Blind Guardian, the first ever band I listened to. I still remember the first song I’ve ever listened, which is “Noldor (Dead Winter Reigns)”. Being a Tolkien fan led me to discover them, and subsequently to fall in love with the genre. Among my favorites there’s also Nightwish, Epica, Alestorm, and I’m baffled by Sabaton and Korpiklaani. I do listen to a bunch more bands, but not as much and I don’t know as many songs.

But it’s not my one and only love. Aside from metal music, I also love classic music (I am deeply in love with a ton of Italian composers alongside the others), dark cabaret music (most notably Aurelio Voltaire, Dresden Dolls and Emilie Autumn, though her style doesn’t really fall into one single category), and I go crazy with anime music and openings. I appreciate the music of anime so much, even though a lot of people don’t think highly of it, and since childhood I’ve always listened to our “opening singers” (the most important I grew up listening to are Cristina d’Avena and Giorgio Vanni), so I simply cannot stop loving them. On a similar note, I cannot have enough of movie soundtracks. Composers like Howard Shore, Ennio Morricone, Hans Zimmer... the list could go on forever. I never get tired of their music. Again, videogame soundtracks are on the list of my beloved music as well, especially the music from Skyrim (Jeremy Soule) and Assassin’s Creed (Jesper Kyd).

Favorite film/movie

I don’t really have one favorite. I do have a list of movies that I could watch over and over again, though, and others I just have fun watching even though they’re not my favorites. The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit trilogy are absolutely on the top of my list. As I said, I’m a huge fan of Tolkien, and I’m also a huge fan of Peter Jackson. Add them together and BOOM! I am a tiny bit bitter about the Hobbit movies, but seriously? I still loved it. Right after them there’s ALL the movies by Tim Burton, Alice in Wonderland and its sequel on top. I love Tim Burton, so much I cannot even explain it. And Alice in Wonderland has a very special place in my heart.

[story time, you can skip if you want]

Not just because I love the story and the craziness of everything, but because back in high school (my last year) we decided to do Alice in Wonderland with a twist for our theater lab, and I not only got to write the entire script, but also to play the Cheshire Cat alongside all of my friends. My best friend was Alice, my other best friend was the costume designer, a lot of other people I knew and loved were the other characters. It’s such a delightful memory for me that I never stopped enjoying Alice in Wonderland from that day onward. I got so involved with my part that I ended up making an entire steampunk-ish cosplay of the Cheshire Cat from scratch, a cosplay I brought two times to a convention and I’m currently renovating after taking it apart. This is how much I grew attached to that play and to that character. Some years ago, before this, we had a director guiding us for two years of theater lab. A delightful man that looked at me and decided I needed to be addressed as “Alice” because of how much I reminded him of her. It’s just good memories.

[end of the story time]

I also have the “classics”, like Harry Potter, Star Wars, and the like. If it’s fantasy/sci-fi/something along those lines, I probably love it. Regardless of who made it, being it the writer or the director. One particular movie that holds a special place in my heart is “The Fall”, and I cannot really pinpoint a reason why I love it so much. I just do. There’s many titles I can tell you, even more serious ones like “The Imitation Game”, “The Danish Girl”, or “Dallas Buyers Club” and “Fight Club”. Even though I prefer fantasy themes, there’s significant exceptions. Old Italian movies are among my favorites too, but they’re just a drop in the ocean. To close this, I’m going to bring you my love for the entire “Night at the Museum” ordeal and the entire “Jumanji” series (as of now, but I will never love anything more than the original). I get really excited when I get to talk about this kind of interests, sorry T_T

Favorite Anime

Oh boy. This sounds like it might be an easy one, given the nature of this blog, but it’s actually not. In fact, I forgot Saint Seiya was my favorite anime. You see, I originally watched it when I was nothing but a child, with a memory that obviously wasn’t so good at the time. This eventually led me to forget about how much I loved Saint Seiya, even though its characters never left my mind, and I started gravitating more towards Yu-Gi-Oh!, especially 5D’s. For the longest time I was convinced my absolute favorite was Yu-Gi-Oh!, until I finally started re-watching Saint Seiya and got hit by the memory train.

But let’s not wander too far away from the question. What’s my favorite anime? Of all time is Saint Seiya, hands down. It has so much to offer, so much diversity, so much story and so many characters. Here in Italy, it has one of the most unique dubs of all time, with dialogues that are aulic (for the Italian fans who are curious --> l’origine del registro aulico dei Cavalieri dello Zodiaco è stato deciso da Enrico Carabelli e Stefano Cerioni ed è spiegato in questo video, ed è poi stato mantenuto da Ivo de Palma nella serie di Hades) and filled with quotes from authors like Dante Alighieri, Ugo Foscolo and more, an “oddity” that made me fall in love again and again.

Aside from this, I have another list, because I honestly cannot bring myself to choose only one. Above all are Yu-Gi-Oh! (in order from best to worst for me --> 5D’s, Duel Monsters, GX, ZeXal, Vrains, Arc-V), My Hero Academia, and Sailor Moon. Honorable mentions are Attack on Titan, Black Butler, Another, Pretty Cure ( spent basically my entire childhood/teenage years watching them, my favorites are the first two series), One Piece, Dragon Ball, Naruto, Beyblade, Tokyo Mew Mew... this could go on forever. I’m a sucker for “old” anime as well, so a lot of them are mostly from the 70′s, 80′s, 90′s. Some of them I was so little when I watched it, like for example Card Captor Sakura (I was like three years old and I dressed up as her for Carnival), that I don’t remember them but they still have a place in my heart. I wasn’t even fixated on one genre and that was it, I watched the hell out of anime and I still do (when I have time).

I do also watch yaoi (shame on me, I know), and since I’m here telling you about my favorites: I love Dramatical Murder, especially (and you might not believe me) for how creative the story and the worldbuilding are. I’m also shameless enough to have watched the entire game in all its incarnations, so there’s that. Not only that, I’m shameless enough to have watched more explicit ones, but I’m not telling you ;) I have a reputation here, after all.

This took a long time for me to answer, and I’m sorry. I legit looked at this in my inbox, tried to conjure up some will to write, failed and went back to bed or to my books. Rinse and repeat for an entire week. And to all of you who actually made it through this entire thing without getting annoyed/bored, damn you’re determined.

#ask me anything #movies #anime #music #colors #whatever i cannot tag #just my life #not interesting as always #but here

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minashaia · 5 years ago

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Vrains ending part 2

Aoi didn’t confess to Yusaku! Thank you VRAINS. I really do love their friendship, since they don’t need to be lover “ looking at you past leads” also why couldn’t they bring Miyu into this it would be nice to hear her interact with Jin even if he doesn’t remember anything about the incident. Speaking of Jin look who is happy and finally can say a full sentence

I forgot Go is in the show but good to see you have a nice ending at least

Kiku and Takeru is canon sweet “so no fireball?!!”

Shima didn’t find out about Yusaku as PM. Personally I expect that from the beginning.

The Hanoi have a ship instead of yacht?! Never thought Ryoken would be that rich 🤣and they observe the LV!! How ironic after trying to destroy it back in S1

Are you on a date or something?! Btw why are you having your mask again?!

I will seriously miss you my best rival aka gun husbando, I love you ❤️ forever

One last shot for our beloved protagonist, Into the Vrains

Wait what just happened?!!! how Ai was there?!! So cliffhanger ending like Zexal

Ok I love everything about the episode but this scene!! I am not sure it feels confusing to me like why would you gave us dark moments then this at the same episode, don’t get me wrong I love Ai so much and I am glad to see him happy but I don’t know how to feel about this ?!! Maybe this could be a hint for sequel, crossover series or something who knows

with this Vrains ended, the ending was way better than Gx and Arc v because we got to see everyone having their lives which was lacking in the other two and it was touching in a way that made me happy. Vrains had a lot of flaws whether because of production issues or not “ so do other yugioh showes including DM and 5ds” but we can’t deny it was special to a lot of ppl, felt connected to its characters and their amazing designs “ Yusaku, Ryoken, Takeru, Ai and Kusanagi I will miss you love you forever “, the story was unique full or dark, realistic refreshing from previous series and how it focus on the plot more than anything. I will not forget any of those memories I had with Vrains these last two with the show and the fans. So THANK YOU VRAINS FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART FOR EVERYTHING

#Thank you Vrains #soulburner vrains #revolver vrains #playmaker vrains #yugioh vrains #vrains spoilers #vrains #yusaku fujiki #fujiki yusaku #ryoken kogami #kogami ryoken #takeru homura #homura takeru #I love you Vrains #vrains forever

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flydotnet · 6 years ago

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The Teardrop Seraph and the Boy with Pebble Eyes

VRAINS Rarepair Weeks 2018 - Day 2: Fairy Tales / Horror Stories

Summary: Legend says that a young girl with the power to create rivers is searching for her long-lost lover, a boy with hair white as snow with red streaks like fire and grey eyes like gentle pebbles. The legend also says they met again at a fountain.

Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS Ships: Entrustshipping (Takeru/Kiku)

Wordcount: 1.5K words

Notes: I have been an unapologetic Entrustshipper since Kiku appeared on screen and yet have never shown it yet. I listened to way too much Teen Idle and Melancholy of the Literary Boy when writing this, I swear. It was a nice little experiment with fairy tale-like writing though!

AO3 version available here.

Event hosted by @vrainsrarepairweeks

There is a legend that goes as such.

Once upon a time, there was a young mage dressed in a blue hood and white dress with the power to manipulate water. Kind-hearted and patient, she took it upon herself to bring water to those who needed it the most across the lands. Everywhere she went, she was thanked by the townspeople and farmers alike, saving their crops and their children thanks to the wells she created on her path to an objective no one know the true nature of. It was assumed she was trying to reach someone through making herself heard and known to the entire country, as a way to call for them.

This legend was born from a question she would always ask the people she helped. She described the very same young man: white hair like snow with red streaks like blazing fire and eyes like gentle grey pebbles. Her story never changed: it was always the very same young man she was searching for far and wild, and yet nobody had heard of him. No one. Some rumours said rivers would be born from the tears she shed every time she left a town after saving it, giving her the nickname of the Teardrop Seraph. If every river was a goddess taking form as generous flowing water, then she was their mother, their guardian.

The girl continued her journey, seeking whom everyone assumed to be her loved one, helping people along the way and purifying the polluted waters she came across. The more she cleaned, the more people’s thankfulness made her insensible to the dirt she was touching with her bare hands. Now a famous figure, people searched for her to heal their ill children, the water she purified having the reputation to heal any disease or deformity. She always complied, as long as she could ask if they had seen the boy with the pebble eyes and white hair.

She started to get some leads. Rumours had also spread about the boy, some true but most wrong. The girl was always able to distinguish between the lies and the truth by following her instincts and knowledge kept secret, yet always nodded in some way as a thank you for responding to her request. She found shelter in forests and caves, never stopping in the towns in fear of being abused by humans who knew about her powers. She had heard of terrible stories of abused mages like her before: her trust was never full.

One day, the girl entered a forest half-burnt, half-alive. She wandered amidst the leaves and the ash, trying to see if someone needed her services to extinguish the wildfire ravaging the forest, but found nobody except little animals finding shelter in the still green part of the forest. To help them, she created with her powers a little source in the middle of the blacked trees. White flowers doted the trees, almost like a night sky whose background were leaves. Walking down a path between the two parts, she decided to get inside the burnt parts: it seemed to be the part needing her help.

She eventually came across a shack protected by a fearsome crimson dragon with red streaks over its scaled body. It stared inside her soul with its bright, void yellow eyes. Its wings were covering the shock as if it was protecting it, or rather, protecting whomever was inside. Its mighty roar scared the girl away at first: her hoodie was blown away by the soundwaves, revealing her own yellow eyes and blue hair tied in a braid.

The girl ran through the burnt woods as to find shelter, to escape from the dragon’s claws and fire-breath, feet rising clouds of ash with each of her rushed steps inside of it. With nowhere to go, she hid behind a tree, hoping not to get caught, breathing stuck inside her throat. A few excruciating moments passed without anything happening, giving her a sense that she could approach the dragon. If it ever intended on attacking her, then it would have rushed to her and burnt everything in its stead again. Instead, she found herself curious: why did it not go after her? Was it because she never entered the shed or tried to? She had to test her hypothesis…

The girl slowly walked back towards the shed, noticing the dragon had not moved at all since she had run away from it. It really seemed to be protecting the shed rather than go after anyone to eat. Had the legends about dragons lied? Perhaps. It did not seem to be after her particularly, making her believe she would be fine asking it some questions. Maybe it could answer her?

She arrived in front of the dragon again, hands tied together in front of her, ready to face another of its fearsome roars. It instead simply stared at her, both of them not saying anything for a few crushing moments of anxiety. She had forgotten to put her hood back on, leaving her with her brain on her shoulder and their yellow eyes crossing ways. It seemed to almost recognize her as its stare softened on the second time.

“Oh dragon, please tell me,” she asked, “would you mind answering a question for a lost girl like me?”

“Lost girl, you can ask me one question, and only one question,” it responded in a deep, masculine and rasping voice, echoing through the woods.

“Have you seen a boy with white hair like snow with red streaks like fire and grey eyes like gentle pebbles?”

The dragon did not reply at first, seemingly thinking out its answer.

“There is one such boy inside this shed,” it eventually responded, “but I cannot grant you access to it, lost girl.”

All of a sudden, the dragon’s attention was diverted away from her and to the shed itself by another masculine voice, this time far softer. Hands on her chest, hoping the boy in the shed was her lost beloved, she waited in anticipation for the situation to evolve any further. She needed to know if it was the one she was searching for, the one she had spent months seeking after his sudden disappearance, refusing to believe him dead. He was alive, somewhere, she knew it from the bottom of her heart.

“Wait, Flame,” the voice said as someone exited the house, a boy around her age, “I know her…!”

“Then,” the girl asked back in a moment of disbelief, “what is my name?”

The boy slowly walked up to her with his face flushed and hesitant steps. His body looked like it was about to break down, drops of sweat falling to the floor as the girl felt tears come to her eyes. Heart filled with hope and yet ready to get disappointed once again, she said nothing and clutched her chest.

“Your name is Kiku, of course…” he told her as he collapsed to the ground.

The girl ran up to him, tears running down her face, as she caught him in his fall. Lying down on the floor, his head on her lap, she recognized him. White hair like snow with red streaks like fire, grey eyes like gentle pebbles, and this way to pronounce her name like only he could have. The tears would not stop coming as it all crashed down on her: she had found him again, but he was dying.

“I… I’m sorry, I was too late,” she cried as he smiled at her, a feeble hand on her cheek drying the trails on her face.

“It’s never been too late with you…”

His soft laugh could not lighten the burden of her emotions falling on her shoulders as she clutched the wrist near her cheek.

“I’ve heard of your miracles… I’m so proud of you, Kiku…”

The girl’s voice had been stolen, so she could not reply. Hearing her own name for the first time in months made her too emotional to speak. Instead, remembering the rumours about her, all she could do was try what they had said about her. Did she have actual healing abilities? Maybe. She could only try and see in a last attempt to fix what was wrong.

His eyes were already closing on themselves as they watched together the tears on the ground create a fountain right around them, with only a narrow path to exit the water making a circle surrounding the two long-lost lovers, droplets falling from a statue floating above the ground and linked to it with the slenderest pillars. Desperate, the girl filled a tiny glass bottle she had on her with the water born from her own tears and put it next to his lips. A single chug was heard.

The Teardrop Seraph, as she was called, closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable to happen. Drying her face with her sleeve, she heard a cough before getting clutched against someone else’s chest, hands wrapping around her. The heat coming from the boy’s body had subdued to a familiar feeling she had missed so much.

“Ta…” Her voice finally came back, tears falling down again from another emotion altogether. “Takeru… I…”

“I missed you too,” was all he replied before they profited from each other’s presence.

Ever since, then, it has been said that the water from the Fountain of the Teardrop Seraph can heal illnesses. Do you believe this tale? I’m not sure, personally…

#vrains #vrainsrarepairweek #entrustshipping #takeru homura #kiku kamashirakawa #My writing

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shidoukanae · 6 years ago

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Ryoken Kogami/Revolver Character Analysis (Part 1)

Let me preface this by saying that, truly, I despise Ryoken’s character. I hold a variety of reasons why I hate him (and let’s just say that the fandom does not help) but for the sake of this analysis, I’m going to ignore my bias as much as I can. The fandom constantly pushes Ryoken as such a great and majestic character that I can’t help but think it must be true, if only to some degree. So, for the sake of sating my own curiosity, I’m going to go through literally every episode with Ryoken ever in order to try and piece together what makes him such a beloved and idolized character in this fandom.

This includes extensively and exhaustingly peeking through canon and critiquing what is said, and what is not said, what works, and what doesn’t about Ryoken’s character. In order to achieve this, I’m going to painstakingly write this analysis first as an episode by episode critique of Ryoken’s character (and its build-up) and then, afterwards, I’m going to piece together the pieces to summarize what is, objectively, the outcome of Ryoken’s character. My goal in this is not to appease any one side of the fandom (whether one loves Ryoken or hates him) but to sincerely discover what the VRAINS canon defines his character as and whether or not he’s as great as the fandom suggests he is.

So, that all said, let’s start with episode 1:

Episode 1 literally starts with Revolver’s (Ryoken’s, same diff) introduction. And, I must say, this introduction is done spectacularly. It’s a bit confusing the first time around, but it works. We see from the beginning what Revolver wants in life – the Cyberse and, therefore, the Ignises, gone from the world. Already, we start his character strong: he has a motive which he wants to fulfill and is working to succeed in his goals.

And, when Ai escapes, he continues to pursue those goals by persistently insisting on the destruction of the last Ignis. If Revolver lacked in determination, he wouldn’t have bothered to send his “army” off to kill the Ignis. Revolver shows no mercy to his opponents, and that is already highlighted here within the very first minutes of the show.

Now, moving on, the next scene that Ryoken shares some importance in is with Spectre a couple more minutes into the episode. There’s been a time skip, obviously, but, even so, Revolver’s mission hasn’t changed: he wants the Ignises. Why, for now, is unclear but that’s not the point of this scene. The point, rather, is to establish a variety of things:

For one, that Revolver has a relationship with a man (ok well boy) named “Spectre”. For another, Revolver is doggedly tracking down the Ignis and yet has failed for a time frame of 5 years. That’s a long time to have made not any progress in and it’s almost....unimpressive even. For Revolver, I mean. Because, after all, Revolver is leader of the Knights of Hanoi, an already-established terrifying hacker group. And, even then, it’s him (+ Spectre and the Hanoi Family and Kogami and the Knights of Hanoi) against one Ignis – how has Ai managed to survive one year much less five?

I know the Ignises are established in canon as a super advanced race of sentient beings but…even still…I feel like Ai having been able to avoid them this long is stupendously impressive, honestly.)

But, moving on from mid-writing tangents, there’s also a third part to this second scene: Revolver’s introduction to Playmaker. Granted, it’s not in person, but it’s still very much important. Revolver is made aware of the fact that Playmaker is interfering in his business and, while it’s a reasonable nuisance to him, Revolver waives it off because Playmaker’s name means so little to him at this point.

There’s also a fourth point too, but it’s very minor here. That point being that Revolver knows of SOL and seems to detest them for reasons that, again, are not made apparent quite yet in the show.

The next scene with Revolver isn’t very important. Revolver is watching over SOL’s actions as the security scan begins and then takes action to capture the Ignis (who he believes and accurately predicts will flee). Not much to note here other than the fact that Ryoken is prepared and ready at a moment’s notice to fulfill his ambitions.

Episode 2:

“We spent years getting rid of Cyberse users...but there’s still one left?”

Users is an interesting choice of word, considering that it’s the monsters that Ryoken’s talking about, not actual duelists who use Cyberse monsters, according to later episodes. Then again, this whole sentence is worded so weirdly I can’t make heads or tails of it considering what we know about how the Cyberses were created. Maybe this was an earlier idea that was scrapped? Or, perhaps, it’s just an awkwardly translated/phrased sentence considering what we know 40+ episodes later.

[Context here since this is relevant to a much later episode: The Ignises created the Cyberse monsters. It was never stated that these monsters were given to anyone else (nor explained how Playmaker himself got his cards). However, somehow both Takeru and Bowman have them. The latter likely does because of Hal and the stealing of the Ignises technology after the destruction of the Cyverse. The former you can say because he’s one of the Six Kids and it’s to be expected at this point, I guess. However, if the Lost Kids have Cyberse monsters and are therefore “users”...how is Takeru a Cyberse user if there’s only one left (aka Playmaker)? Did he somehow get under the radar this entire time? I have questions, show.]

Surprisingly, this is the only scene Revolver shows up in (unless I skipped something? I never once heard Revolver’s voice after this and I didn’t see him either so idk). It’s not much, but it does explain some things, however confusing this sentence is.

For one: Revolver does not want the Cyberse type to exist and apparently has eliminated any that do exist to the point that is surprised that there is “still one left”. Talk about going to the furthest extent to reach your goals, geez. If anything, this shows even more that Revolver is dogged about tracking down his prey, doing as much as possible to eliminate those who stand with the Ignises and in his way...

Episode 3:

There’s two parts to this episode involving Revolver, but the first one is obvious: Revolver sensing the Ignises presence from within the Link VRAINS world.

Now, I’ll admit, this scene is very well done and just…eerie. You have Yusaku and Shoichi freaking out as the world “glitches” and then Ryoken flies into view on his ace monster, red eventually painting the background as he looks menacingly into the camera.

I have many questions on how exactly Revolver knew that the Ignis was around that exact location. I don’t recall canon ever giving a proper explanation for this scene (except for “Link Sense” on Yusaku’s side and a lost “connection” on Ryoken’s side) but, given Revolver’s lack of a special sixth sense, I’m going to say that Ai’s malfunctioning led to some sort of signal flare that led Ryoken directly to the same area as Yusaku. How this works, I have no fucking clue. Perhaps Link VRAINS overlaps Den City somehow and, when these two things “merge”, a signal given off in the real world can be usurped and expressed in the digital world as well? I don’t know, and I doubt canon will ever explain, either.

Moving on, we’re introduced officially to Revolver as the Leader of the Knights of Hanoi. This does little except to confirm earlier suspicions that Revolver is, indeed, the commander of the Knights of Hanoi. Please, please, please keep this fact in mind because I know for a fact it’s going to be important later and impact so much of Revolver’s character.

Next scene with Revolver is more establishment. The connection to the Ignis is cut and, unable to find the thing he wants to destroy most. We see Revolver frustrated and…can I say, almost angry at himself for failing? It doesn’t come off that way directly, but that’s the general sense I’m getting from him.

Dr. Kogami is introduced next, though we know little about him at the moment. Revolver inquires to him about a “new project”, to which Dr. Kogami explains he needs more time. It can be speculated that this project is likely the Cage of Fire card seen later on in the show, though tbh the project really doesn’t feel much important here except as foreshadowing for later on.

“I don’t think they’re capable of analyzing the Ignis. But I don’t want to give them too much time.”

“I know. If you can draw out Playmaker, you’re certainly capable of defeating him.”

Then, there’s also an interesting back and forth between Revolver and Dr. Kogami. Revolver doesn’t want Playmaker to discover the Ignises’ secrets, so he wants to defeat Playmaker as soon as possible. In other words, Revolver wants to rush his way to the Ignis, seeing Playmaker as an obstacle he must defeat in order to reach his goal.

Cont. on from above:

[Alarm bell rings]

“I’ll leave now.” -Revolver

“Thank you.” -Kogami

[Transitions to Ryoken. Ryoken approaches his father and holds his hand]

“I promise to fulfill my father’s wishes.”

In hindsight, this is actually powerful. At the time, most of the fandom didn’t associate Dr. Kogami with the man in the bed. Now, however, there’s something almost bittersweet about this scene. Ryoken is showing his dedication to his father by attending to him in the real world, keeping him alive while promising to help aid his father’s wishes into fruition.

There’s also almost a kind of respect between the father and son with the first part of the exchange. Kogami depends on Revolver to keep his body alive and healthy, but he doesn’t at all force Revolver to attend to him. Instead, Revolver seems to take initiative, having an alarm system set in place that warns him of his father’s condition. And, when Revolver takes his leave, Kogami thanks him not as if it’s expected of Ryoken, but almost as if he felt Revolver was doing it of his own free will and that Kogami should show his thanks to Ryoken even despite the father-son boundary.

There’s nothing bad or abusive or inherently evil about Revolver’s and Kogami’s interactions. Instead, it seems like an odd and awkward balance. Dr. Kogami is Revolver’s father, a figure of power in Revolver’s, and yet we’re shown that he’s dependent on Revolver, needing him in the real world to keep his body and mind in-tact. On Revolver’s side, we see a wish to help his father, a desperate need to do his best to give his father piece of mind. They are also very much on the same page, referring to a “project” that Revolver is not kept away from and from which Dr. Kogami doesn’t try to hide from him.

I got the feeling that, in a way, both of Kogami and Revolver are on equal terms, both trying to reach the same goal but only in the ways that they themselves can do it in. Kogami is a mass of virtual bits and pieces so, naturally, he knows how to use Link VRAINS to his advantage as a hacker. Revolver is the leader of the Knights of Hanoi, a terrorist group so, naturally, he can use his numbers to help him find Playmaker and weed the man out. It’s a very interesting dynamic that I wish, in hindsight, was explored a little bit more because it certainly seems like this dynamic could have proved very interesting had we seen it more fleshed out.

[Ahhh, update on this. Apparently, it’s expected in Eastern culture for family members to take care of each other when they’re ailing. Therefore, it’s actually more believable for Kogami to expect Revolver to care of him. It doesn’t mean that Revolver isn’t still taking care of Kogami out of his own free will, but it’s definitely also a cultural aspect I was unaware of. Thanks to @haawkgirl for pointing this out to me!)

Episode 1-3 conclusion:

Is it too late to say that I really like how the show reveals Ryoken within the first 3 set of episodes? I actually don’t despise him at all here and still can’t despise him here despite loathing his character. He’s set up really well as this mysterious yet sympathetic villain and it’s such a great depiction. I can see why people like him from these episodes alone and can agree with the sentiment that he’s a Very Intriguing character at this stage in time.

However, that said, episodes 1-3 are the only episodes that ever made a strong impact on me in terms of Revolver’s character. Moving on from these episodes, I can’t guarantee that I’ll think any highly of him from here on out. My goal is to remain unbiased as I continue this analysis, but that won’t stop me from pointing out flaws, virtues, and what could have, perhaps, been done better.

Next up: Episodes 6-8

#vrains #yugioh vrains #Ryoken Kogami #Revolver #Playmaker #Yusaku Fujiki #Dr. Kogami #Kiyoshi Kogami #Ai #Spectre #character analysis #oh boi if you think this is long just wait #there is so much more and this is honestly the shortest section of this analysis so far #I Am Dedicated to seeing why people love Revolver so much as the fan favorite character #Very Dedicated

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