#and ending up in a position where people take constant advantage of your inexperience and overcharged work ethic

[fiddleturnips]

This is a story about how Gifted Child Syndrome sucks, btw.

[rainbowoverdragon]

Thoughts on Ryo

This is an analysis of Zane Truesdale/Ryo Marufuji, focusing on his mindset as well as his relationships with other people. As I am basing this off the original Japanese version for standardization, all names likewise are their sub counterparts.

When Sho obtains a rare and powerful card from his brother, he believes he has it made. After this, Sho finds the courage to confront his bully in a duel. So after he draws Power Bond, Sho thinks he has it made. He gloats to the bully, insulting him, making outlandish claims out of the arrogant belief that he can't lose. Before he can use it, Sho is interrupted by the very person who gifted him that card. "You aren't worthy to use that card yet. Until you have what it takes to be called a duelist, I declare that card off-limits.'' Devastated by this statement, Sho proceeded to view himself as incapable of dueling for years; unworthy of Power Bond. It’s an establishing character moment for both Marufuji brothers, setting Ryo up as an impossible standard to reach in Sho’s eyes. However, for Ryo, his intentions are revealed to be more well-intentioned than Sho is led to believe. In episode 8, Sho realizes that Ryo wished for Sho to treat his own power with respect: towards both his opponent and his high-risk high-reward cards. This constant cycle of good intentions and misplaced words leads to a negative feedback loop between the brothers that seems impossible to resolve. Ryo struggles to convey his own observations to others in a way that doesn’t come off as condescending. Sho cannot take things past face value, and places his brother upon a pedestal that he cannot surpass. After all, how can you beat perfection itself?

During his years in Duel Academy, Ryo is the embodiment of perfection. He is the opposite of his brother, never missing a single mark in any area. Everyone constantly refers to Ryo as “perfect”, from his teachers to his peers to even the Kaiser himself. He even soundly beats Judai in the first duel they have together, a feat seen as impossible by the audience. But it’s this very idea of perfection that haunts Ryo, as he believes that perfection implies stagnation. If Ryo has perfect scores in class, there is no way to improve them. If he reached the peak of his potential in one duel, that means it’s all downhill from there. His greatest fears are confirmed when he loses to Edo in the Pro Leagues, starting a chain of losses that ruins his career beyond repair. Ryo is perfect. He is so perfect, that during his school years he never truly struggled against an opponent (Aside from Judai in Episodes 51-52 however he maintained the advantage for the majority of the duel). In fact, he suffered from the opposite problem. As Ryo is too powerful, he’d purposely hold back until his peers could unleash their trump cards against him. Only then did he defeat them with just enough power to avoid humiliation. His first loss wasn’t only his first loss, it was the first time Ryo found himself in a disadvantaged position. His inexperience with failure led to him associating the mere act of struggle with the idea of loss. Ryo’s inability to move past this is his own self-fulfilling prophecy. Being afraid of failure makes people play to not lose. Playing to not lose instead of playing to win causes chokes, which results in losses. Unable to break from this cycle, Ryo is abandoned by his sponsors. Which is why the idea of Underground Duels, a place where he can start over and regain his bearings is so enticing. At least, until they reveal the condition.

And at first, Ryo despises the Underground. He appeals to be released, he states it’s not what dueling is, it’s nothing like he could ever imagine. And how could it be? Ryo’s life is on the line, and for no good reason. The shock collars are there to make things fun for the audience, not for any other benefit! In his duel with Sho, who says that 'this isn't dueling', Ryo even admits he thought the same thing. It spits on the very concept of respecting your opponent. The collars humiliate you, egging you on to forget about the other person. And in general, is amoral (as well as a human rights violation). Underground Duels are almost always life or death, because nobody fights harder than people who are convinced they are going to die. And Ryo is convinced that if he duels the way that he always has, if he clings into his morals, he will die. His opponent, Mad Dog, purposely created a deck to counter him. So why should he respect him? Why should he not aim to win? Why can’t he aim to survive? After crawling from hell, nothing is the same for the Kaiser. Because every duel is another reminder that he survived. He is unable to see any match he takes for fun, every duel to him is life or death. In the real world, there are people who lose and wither away, and people who win and thrive. And by god, he wants to feel alive. He spent so long losing, something utterly unthinkable for the Kaiser of Duel Academy. Ryo was undefeated before, now he truly wishes to not experience it again. If forcing himself to feel that every fight of his is to the death, literally or mentally, then so be it. He continues dueling in the Underground, continues to utilize the shock collars he once despised. No matter what cost, health or mind, Ryo requires victory.

When Ryo is told that his health is failing from his shock collars, he doesn’t seek medical attention. Because to Ryo, being alive is more important than living. He transformed into Hell Kaiser achieved the great power that comes from becoming a monster, at the cost of self-destruction. He flirted with death, and finally has to pay the price. And he doesn’t care. As long as Ryo obtains what he wishes, he is happy. And what the Hell Kaiser wants more than anything else, is one last duel to surpass all others. Ryo would rather reach the limit of his capabilities, and die meeting them than waste away quietly to be forgotten forever. Thus he seeks Yubel, the strongest monster spirit in the Universe. If he meets an opponent of his caliber and 'shines' during the mattle, then he’d have nothing to fear in death. But he does. After entering his long-awaited match, Ryo admits to not wanting to die. He wants to live, he wants to leave a mark that can never be forgotten. Yet he doesn’t want to die. Ryo has achieved everything he wanted, shown the strongest he has been or will ever be. Before he duels Yubel, he comes to a revelation. At first, Ryo wished to fight the strongest being to win. He doesn't care anymore. Ryo is dying, win or lose the result is the same. Since he turned Hell Kaiser, Ryo only respected victory. The joy he obtained by knowing he survived another duel is utterly meaningless against Yubel. What happiness does he obtain knowing he survived….when he isn’t going to live to begin with? He understands that the duel itself is what makes Ryo feel alive, doing the most with what remaining time he has with his life. As Ryo tells Judai, his death is the end of the road for people who glorify power. And thus it’s no surprise that Ryo is taken out by the card he is associated with most: Power Bond. A card that lets you receive unthinkable amounts of power, at the price of self-destruction.

Out of all the people who save Judai from himself, the Kaiser’s impact is one of the most apparent. It takes someone who knows the suffering someone else goes through to achieve empathy, especially in Judai's case. Judai struggles with sympathy, as shown with his interactions with Sho in Seasons 1-3. Whenever Sho asks for help with his confidence, Judai gives him the helpful advice of "Don't be anxious!" Judai cannot comprehend being insecure with one's capabilities, thus he cannot help Sho directly. In contrast, Judai is more receptive to empathy. Manjoume's crisis in Season 1 revolved around the pressure others placed upon him to succeed. Judai deeply understands his strife, and helps him fight for himself. This is why Misawa's speech about accountability fails to help Judai utilize Polymerization. Misawa has no fundamental basis to understand Judai's feelings. In contrast, Kaiser's duel with Yubel awakens Judai's character growth. Ryo is Judai's cautionary tale, a warning of self-fulfilling prophecies. During the Graduation Duel, Ryo tells Judai that he possesses infinite potential compared to himself. This rings true in watching Ryo's belief of his own lack of capability to change, resulting in his inability to change because he destroyed himself beyond repair. In contrast, Judai has not fallen to this path. Watching Ryo's descent as well as his late realization means everything to Judai: especially someone so responsive to empathy. This is because they are mirrors of each other, to the point their character’s arcs are entirely parallel to one another. Both are idolized for the power they hold over others, both of them experience the loss of the pedestal they once stood upon. Both achieve the sharpest fall from grace (against an opponent with ‘Mad’ in their title), which leads to them glorifying their own power and abusing it against others. Despite their friends trying to help them, it is ultimately up to themselves to self-actualize their shortcomings. However it is Ryo, who thinks he cannot change, who succumbs upon his own revelation. And it is Ryo, who always believed in Judai’s infinite potential even in the Graduation Duel, who changes Judai’s path. Without Ryo, Judai would be unable to utilize his power responsibly. Because Judai now knows what happens to people who push themselves too far, just like how he used to. Power is not something to be afraid of or abused, but to use responsibly.

The Hell Kaiser doesn’t entirely work for others; he even states he fought Yubel out of selfish motivations. However, Ryo is also constantly associated with lighthouses. To the people that mean the most to him, Ryo is a light that tries to guide others to safety. However lighthouses are far away from the people they try to save, and thus it takes the initiative of others to help themselves after seeing the light from afar. This is shown by Ryo’s relationships with the people he’s closest to remaining fundamentally the same from his own side: regardless of his actual guidance being positive or negative. Ryo’s actions and intentions around Sho remain the same across both his younger self and Hell Kaiser: each time trying to guide Sho to become the best version of himself. "Until you have what it takes to be called a duelist, I declare that card off-limits."", is the devastating statement Ryo told Sho as kids. But Ryo believed his brother needed to understand true power in respect, guiding Sho away from arrogance and towards the light of good. His brother's weakness required defending. This concept is twisted on its head once Ryo becomes Hell Kaiser, who only views power or meaning in victory. Thus he employs the same tactic, because Ryo does not see the difference between restricting Power Bond to teach respect, and having Sho experience the same pain he did to ditch it.

Both Ryo and Hell Kaiser sing the same song. Ryo intends on ‘protecting’ his weaker brother by teaching him right from wrong. Both times, Sho and Ryo misunderstand each other. At first, Sho doesn’t comprehend the real reason why Ryo forbade Power Bond. The second time, Ryo doesn’t understand how Sho can cling to his own beliefs of respect even if he loses because of it. However, the one time Ryo’s words connect is when he saves Sho in season 3. And even then, it’s an admission of distance between the two. Ryo sees Sho’s pain inflicted by Judai far outweighs what Ryo had done to Sho. Thus Ryo advises Sho to follow Judai, since it’s what his heart truly desired all along. He then leaves, to force Sho into walking his own path. Ryo cannot spell out Sho's wishes any more than he does. And if Sho is alone, then he is forced to swim instead of sink.

Ryo’s association with lighthouses in canon directly correlates to Fubuki. As much as Fubuki is associated with darkness, Ryo is quite literally the light that shines through to him. When Fubuki was overtaken by Darkness in the first arc, we later find out that Ryo regrets being unable to find Fubuki no matter how much information and effort he scrounged up. Fubuki then replies that the mere act of trying saved him, as he could see Ryo’s feelings in spite of the darkness that consumed him. To Fubuki, Ryo is the lighthouse that guides people through the darkness. And when Fubuki is overtaken by the Darkness in an attempt to save Ryo from it, Ryo’s feelings once again vanquishes Fubuki from the dark. However, instead of the Kaiser saving Fubuki, Hell Kaiser explicitly protects him from Darkness. Because the two are friends, even after everything Ryo’s been through. This leads Fubuki to a revelation that no one else understands: Hell Kaiser is not fundamentally different from Ryo. Fubuki realizes that even as Hell Kaiser, Ryo respected Fubuki. Why else would he save him from Darkness? Indeed, every interaction of Ryo’s major interpersonal relationships are fundamentally the same. It’s simply his worldview that shifted. As much as Ryo wishes to respect others, he doesn’t think he can in a world where everyone must take advantage of their life to the fullest extent.

And Ryo, who cannot change because he thinks he cannot change, stayed as he was until it was far too late to be saved.

[my-mystic-messenger]

Who’s the RFA virgin?

Gurl. GUUURL! This was so interesting to write what the heck?! 

Hope you enjoy! :3 P.S - some of these have rather intense and heavy content so for those who are sensitive to it, read with auction P.S.S – changed some of the character symbols to make it prettier and more fitting in my opinion P.S.S.S – Rika was aged up for plot purposes, because the actual MM time line is messed up and inconsistent to say the least

Zen

♬ Zen was rather young when he lost his virginity, maybe a little too young, only fifteen years old

♬ he’d just been kicked out by his parents and found himself stumbling from one troubling situation to the other

♬ he was homeless, lonely and all for a dream he didn’t even know whether it would come true or not; in other words, he was vulnerable

♬ in a life where everything was changing and sadly for the worse the only positive constant were Zen’s stunning looks, something he soon learned to use to his advantage

♬ he knew how women responded to him and somehow that made him feel good – if he ignored the quiet voice of disgust nagging at the back of his mind

♬ Zen lost his virginity to the wife of the gang leader, an older, mature woman that couldn’t be described as anything cougar

♬ when he husband was busy and couldn’t take care of her needs he allowed her to keep a pet, in this case it turned out to be Zen

♬ she took control of the situation, taking whatever she wanted from his young body while Zen merely watched with admiration, pleasure claiming the both of them

♬ she made rode him until she’d come twice before finally taking care of him, showing him what pleasure could feel like

♬ he learned a lot from her over the course of the next year and while it was his sexual awakening, it was also the beginning of a downfall

Yoosung

★ he was a virgin until you stumbled into his life

★ the two of you dated for quite some time until you finally had sex

★ not because you wanted to wait, but because he was scared shitless at the idea of having sex with you for the first time

★ what if he sucked?!

★ he was so nervous about the whole ordeal, you were actually the one to initiate it

★ it wasn’t the most romantic or glorious of first times, but it also wasn’t half bad

★ for one, the whole thing was over pretty quickly, since Yoosung didn’t really last long

★ who knew excessive jerking off didn’t help at all!!

★ still, Yoosung was extremely gentle, making sure to hurt you as little as possible as well as trying his best to take care of you even when he was finished himself

★ it reminded you a little of Bambi learning to walk but hey, once they walk they learn to run and boy did Yoosung learn over time

Jumin

♛ he was so celibate until he met you, you could have called him Saint Jumin

♛ not for lack of sexual desire, he just had better things to spend his time with

♛ but then you came along and boy did you wake the animal inside of him

♛ suddenly he was so overwhelmed with desire he almost broke the vow he’d made to himself

♛ but, being the man of his words he reigned in his suddenly overwhelming urges and married you instead

♛ you shared your first time during the honeymoon and while it was a surprisingly passionate affaire, as expected from Jumin Han it was also very…calculated?

♛ it was obvious that Jumin tried to compensate his lack of experience with a lot of research, a fact that made you laugh once you imagined Jumin googling sex tips and tricks

♛ it’s also important to note that Jumin is a very generous lover, worshipping every inch of you

♛ he made sure you came at least once before he even thought about actually penetrating you

♛ by the end of the honeymoon he’d learned quite a couple of tricks and you were pleasantly worn out and sated

Saeyoung/Seven

☽ Saeyoung too was a virgin until he met you, both by circumstance as well as choice

☽ despite experiencing certain needs, Saeyoung had always made sure to control himself and keep his focus trained on more important things; like his work

☽ he might seem scatter brained to a lot of people, but he actually always had things under control and knew that it had to remain so in order to keep his brother safe

☽ when he met you, however, his priorities started to waver and shift as his interest in you grew beyond anything he’d ever experienced

☽ luckily he managed to push you away long enough to safe his brother and keep his conscience clean

☽ much like Jumin, Saeyoung too insisted on waiting until after you were married

☽ for one it was due to religious reasons, but it also gave him the chance to sort his life and himself out, finally being a man he thought was good enough for you

☽ your first time together went surprisingly smooth, considering both your lack of experience

☽ in fact, it was quite the pleasant experience mostly due to the fact that you’d gotten to know one another so well in theory it made the actual practice so much easier

☽ it was like the two of you finally found the part that had been missing and no amount of inexperience could ruin such a holy bound

Saeran

☾ much like Zen, Saeran lost his virginity too soon and under wrong circumstances

☾ it was one of those moments in life that in the moment seem like not that big of a deal, good even, but later on come to haunt you in ways you never expected them to

☾ Saeran had just lost his brother and his home, forced to live with a young woman he didn’t know and didn’t trust

☾ lucky for him, Rika was a good person unlike his mother had been

☾ she was beautiful and kind with a soothing voice and an even more soothing touch

☾ the older he got, the more demanding Rika became, however and instead of soothing her words grew cold and cutting

☾ Saeran would have done anything to please her, just so he could get the kind Rika back, the one that had saved him

☾ little did he know that it was all part of her plan and so was the night they spent together where she seduced him, binging him to her once and for all

☾ Saeran did very little, old enough to understand what was going on but too young to fully process it

☾ it was the first of many night to follow, the step towards his downfall

Jihyun/V

☼ Jihyun much like Saeran lost his virginity to Rika, although the events were much less traumatizing

☼ him and Rika had been dating for a while, steadily falling in love

☼ they’d just moved in together, happily starting their new life when they decided to take the next step in their relationship

☼ neither of them had ever really dated and most certainly not been as in love as they were with one another

☼ they decided to lose their virginity to one another together, planning the entire event

☼ both of them wanted it to be a special moment, something they’d never regret looking back on

☼ they went out on a fancy date in the evening, returning home late in the night pleasantly buzzed from the nice wine but far from drunk

☼ they lit scented candles in the bedroom, even going to the length of spreading rose paddled on the sheets

☼ they took things slow, exploring one another until finally becoming one

☼ despite everything that happened after, despite the horrible things they did to one another, it was that very moment that they’d never came to regret no matter what