Artivio

I imagine Kenta tried not to confront Ryuga about it when he came back in hopes of him changing before he needed to, but as Ryuga keeps behaving in toxic and mean ways over and over Kenta would loose it at some point

Even tho Ryuga has changed, he doesn't want to show it for the good first bit of the story. He pretends not to care, and acts harshly when Kenta tries to go with him (But he eventually warms up to him)

Kenta didn't deal with the trauma very well, he hasen't really talked about it to anyone because he feels so guilty, maybe he was about to finally open up to Gingka about it right before Ryuga came back, and then he got side-tracked bc of that. Anyway, I just think Kenta deserves to yell at Ryuga, so here

My boy needs to realize that what happened was in-fact NOT his fault, but Ryuga's stupid ass (I just rewatched the Fury finale and omfg I forgot how stupid Ryuga is I just wanna kick him, "Ryuga fight with us!" "Don't tell me what to do, ever!" omg shut UPPPPPPPPPPP

I never actually thought of that :0, that’s a really interesting take! I definitely see him more toned down in my AU. I know I haven’t talked much about his personality in my AU yet so here is a bit if anyone’s interested! Keeping the depression idea in mind!

I imagine that he’s very lost when he comes back from the cosmos, he probably wasn't conscious for all that time he was resting and healing physically. When he meets Ryuto who tells him about the Dragon Clan and he goes on his journey to discover his past, things start to go down.

He wants to do this mission alone, this is the only thing keeping him going atp, he doesn’t have any other direction of purpose as he doesn’t actually have his bey anymore (he will get a new one later in the plot, the spirit of L Drago is still with him, keeping him company and protecting him, but he can’t bey battle anymore. I Imagine L Drago was sleeping somewhere in the mountains, waiting for him to return. Most of  L Drago’s power is still in Saggitario, which will be plot relevant later for Kenta.)

Ryuga is rude to people, but not in the same way as he was in Fury. He doesn’t go out of his way to ridicule people, or smile mockingly at them, he’s simply rude and aggressive, or completely silent and just ignores people, which is what he mostly does.

Him having depression is not an unrealistic idea either- not having his bey is quite devastating for him, but the biggest hit is probably him slowly realising that that pride he held so closely/highly to the bitter end was a result of his upbringing in the Dark Nebula. Doji constantly fed him the belief that power = good, and Ryuga realising that he never actually completely broke out of his influence must’ve hit him hard, he thought he had made a new version of himself, but Doji was always there to a extend. It hurts Ryuga deeply, and the way he deals with it is just pushing people even more away, being more aggressive, more silent, and he very rarely smiles, if he ever does.

I like to think that L Drago is his protector, knowing that Ryuga is hurting, he travels with him and helps him when he needs it, (like can you imagine L Drago keeping him warm, making fires for him, finding food for him, letting him ride on him if he's too tired to walk 🥺, but also guiding him and protecting him from danger) especially if he’s dealing with chronic-fatigue, (although Ryuga probably tries to push through as much as he can because he’s just that stubborn, doesn’t mean it always works). L Drago is the only one Ryuga will allow to help him, as he’s so closely bonded with him in spirit, after all it was him that freed L Drago from the dark power. 

It also makes it even harder for Kenta to get near Ryuga, and it will take some work to actually allow him to go with him. Ryuga only allows Kenta to go with him in the start because he tells him that most of L Drago’s power is still in his bey. I think Ryuga is hesitating on the idea of getting his bey and full power back, as he knows how much it messed with him in Fury and what it resulted in. However, the idea of him not having it is also scary for him, so he allows Kenta with him anyway in the end.

Through the journey they will form a deeper bond, and Kenta will manage to get closer to Ryuga than ever before, even if it takes a long time. Ryuga manages to heal quite a bit throughout it, and learns to form a new perspective on beys and bey battling, which ultimately makes him search for a new bey again. However, this will be much later in the plot, he goes for a long time without a bey, so I think him getting back into being a blader is a part of his healing journey. Sort of a start of a new era for him if you will. He will learn to use it differently.

Also I haven’t watched Shogun Steel, so the whole concept of beys being unpopular after Nemesis and not used as much is not really a thing in my AU.

@hannohitorigoto

@artivio

so im writing a quick section on Ryuga in some fic about Yu in the Dark Nebula, and i started writing it with Ryuga having an affitinity for fire, and getting taken over by the shadow he casts, whatever. dramatic shit ensues. but then i realize that doesn't feel particularly right. so i restart, having him not be posessed, but have his humanity stolen with each victim he consumes. i like this one, i still do, but it still not right for his character, and i think i finally pinned down why, but im not sure what to do with it.

ryuga is a character that in metal fusion especially (and keep in mind, right now i have only watched metal fusion and... about thirty episodes of metal masters) that seems to be completely, inexcusably, assured in what is clearly "evildoing." He can't plead possession like a lot of characters in beyblade's later seasons. he cant say he was being manipulated, and if he was, said maniupation was clearly mutual- Ryuga would be Doji's chained beast for a bit, and Doji would bring him victims. He's so obviously evil, but at the same time, its made clear that he deserves empathy, not because of his actions, but because of the creature he willingly became.

Ryuga, so far as ive been watching, has not been given an "out" by the writers. We were not given his reasons for keeping L Drago, nor were we offered what insecurities it plucked at to get a reaction from him. We know little to nothing, but we pity him anyways, because even though it was his actions that lead to him getting possessed in season 1's final battle, he was still used. and by me giving him "oh, he got posessed by L Drago", or was dragged into the shadow of the flame he wielded, or any other bullshit reason i could come up with, it gives him an excuse he both doesn't need and shouldn't have. L Drago is a catalyst, not a reason, but the energy causing it, and i just dont know what the reason is.

like sure, power. lets go with that. why do you want power? why are you convinced this is the only way to get it?

and its difficult for me to write a charactre wielding such a different moral compass than me, because surely, at some point, we started out with the same compass? Soemthing must have pushed him to something moraly recomphrensible or whatever it's called, and then that became something he was willing to do, and so on and so on. but i keep giving Ryuga "outs" because some part of me believes, on some level, that he must have a reason. That he's not a singleminded character- he has nuance. He likes Yu Tendo, hes gentle with the kid- so there must be more to him than to blindly follow some creature's promises.

But hes not some tragic villain... not in the way im used to seeing, anyways... and it just feels like i dont have all the pieces.

In metal fury Ryuga is angry at Doji for manipulating him, we can assume that Ryuga was in Dark nebula as a child and didn't know any better. That's still partially an excuse.

In the manga Doji founds Ryuga(who in the manga is like 1000 years old) under a cliff. He wants power to prove himself (or the dragon clan, his parents) that he is powerful enough to survive the world. idk but it could fit in a way.

Now in fusion we see Ryuga with the help of Doji being calculated about feeding L-Drago. Ryuga is greedy for power (we know this bc of his actions in seson 1 and 3). That is what in the finale the possession of losing his calculated self to his on greed that then becomes Ldragos goal.

The "reasons" for evil-doing I interpret as situation that caused him to make the decision to want power and to believe to be the chosen one for L-Drago. (he could have chosen differently, of course)