post-fury Ryuga having severe depression and chronic fatigue has been something I though about since rewatching parts of the show. ntm him slowly recognizing the guilt that his “death” was a result of his pride. like it’s never outright said nor does he even admit it but it’s prominent with how he interacts with others now.
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.
Hope this reply was interesting and not too long loll
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