#as for thief king... if youre familiar with buffy yall can take a guess how he comes back maybe

[thatumbrellaoni]

Deep in my enemy I find the lover;

Scene from a post-DSOD AU (ryou sandwich = tendershipping + gemshipping) I've been picking at for a while.

Part I is detailed here (contains malik/ryou but the relationship ends).

Part II is in progress (the actual tender/gem saga).

Everything will be posted under the #occult killer au tag when it's done. But here's a summary, so major spoilers.

Post-DSOD, supernatural entities start targetting Ryou. While figuring out why, he fights them with the help of his friends. On top of that, Bakura reappears, followed by Thief King Bakhura―and it definitely doesn't help when Ryou instigates/ends up in a very complicated (and physical) relationship with the two.

Eventually, the mystery unravels. The final entity reveals to Ryou that he's been an anomaly for a very long time: He was supposed to die in that car crash as a kid, but due to being Bakura's destined host (the events of YGO needing to happen), the accident took Amane and his mother in exchange. This devastates him.

What Ryou and Yugi initally thought was a "new evil" born because the Millennium Items were disturbed once again during the events of DSOD is really just the Outer Gods now more aggressively trying to restore a long lost balance (Ryou has "died" a total of three times in YGO but is brought back each time because of Bakura/'s influence). As long as Ryou's borrowed lives are not "returned", entities will always be after him/attempt to take the lives of those around him as compensation.

"Death is your gift."

This AU started because of two things: ① the slew of fanart I see of Ryou beating Bakura up/threatening to throw the Ring away, ② Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer reminding me of Bakura 🤭 (demon, pale hair, black coat, Spike dresses like a punk vs JP Bakura talks like a street punk, Buffy is stronger than Spike vs Ryou defeats Bakura in Monster World). I'm like, ah yes. Tendercore jk.

Anyway, the story takes some inspiration from Buffy (scenes and lines are borrowed), but it's not a 1:1 AU. It's not a vampire AU either. This comic is actually inspired by dialogue from Buffy S6E10.

If you're wondering what's up with Bakura's outfit, it's based on Takahashi-sensei's illustration (the IG link there no longer works). It plays a role in this story btw (even the nail polish). It's not just a glowup to me!

#bakura ryou #yami bakura #tendershipping #ryou bakura #dark bakura #thatumbrellaoniart #ygo #yugioh #occult killer au #yuugiou #umbrella #bakubaku #imagine bakuras surprise when he returns and ryou beats him up when he steps out of line #it fucking hurt but strangely he is aroused #as for thief king... if youre familiar with buffy yall can take a guess how he comes back maybe #theres also angstshipping in part 1 since malik echoes angel/angelus' role #it ends tho #and no weird dangling of it like in buffy #we are spuffy/Bakubaku here #I just want something about ryous constant resurrection because I dont see anything about it ever #ryou most underutilized character #so much potential you can do so much with him! #so look at me #Im the captain now #if this story were a lighthearted comedy itd be called how to train your demon #also this is not a love triangle