ok this needs its own post. i have to talk about the missed opportunity that is making au ena a dedicated influencer / instagram model. if she didn't have niigo, if she gave up on art, that's naturally what she would turn to, relying on online validation to literally keep herself alive. how are you going to make an au where ena's life is worse and not even mention her major coping mechanism? there's this (highly distressing) line in now i wear this ribbon where young ena equates likes on her selfie with proof that people actually care about her. without kanade and the others saying they need her, this is what she'd have to settle for.
and can you imagine how fucked up it would feel to see that version of ena? (because that's the point of these events, to show the inherent wrongness of the units being apart). we'd see a girl who's let go of her passion and her dreams, her drive to improve, and is just taking the easy way, just trying to survive. she's presenting a shallow caricature of herself and trying to pretend she's satisfied with being recognized only for that. that's the antithesis of the ena we know, the person we've watched her grow into. it's everything she hated the most about herself now running her life. it's all her deepest flaws but none of the strength to overcome them, because that strength came from niigo.
I read the n25 wl2 stories as they were coming out on en and this one line from Mizuki drove me absolutely insane:
<- this line in reference to her completing the dress she was working on, her first one.
Which it's like one throw-away line but extrapolating from it paints a more tragic picture of Mizuki's circumstances imo. She knows An. (yes I like An most but me mentioning this isn't about her, this is about the specific relationship she has with Mizuki.) In the canon timeline, she met An in her first year at Kamiyama and became friends because they're classmates. So clearly, her dropping out wasn't premediated before high school; the pressure and harassment she faced must have caused her to drop out at some point into the school year---she wanted to go. She made friends with An and seemingly still talks to her---she didn't want to be alone! If she didn't want to go to high school, why would she let An in?
She tried! She may say she's happy having dropped out, and in this timeline school was so much harder to withstand alone so of course she dropped out in comparison to the alternative of suffering every day, but it's not necessarily authentic, what she's saying about being happy, because she must convince herself that she's happy as is. What I mean by that is that her ability to convince herself that she's happy just having fun all day is the only thing keeping her away from 'wanting to disappear', so to speak. She's not happier than canon, she's just so much more aggressive in masking her despair because she doesn't have any hope for herself.
The fact she's contacting An specifically about the dress stuck out to me too; An's not exactly that knowledgeable about Mizuki's fashion subculture or even sewing as a concept, as far as I know, especially compared to someone like, say, Ena. She also doesn't attend school, yet An, who she would only really know from school, is the only person she even considers contacting... is An the only person she could consider a friend here? She's terrified of getting close to people but she couldn't stand being completely alone (as she says in the screenshot, "I want someone to see it".) She wants to be seen. She wants someone around and she wants to be loved no matter how much she feels she doesn't deserve it and right now she's just running as fast as she can from her own hopelessness and loneliness because if it catches up to her she has no one to help her up.
In which I rank different RuiKasa aus based off of how much I love them :)
Some flimsy rules to understand how I'm dealing with this:
I will be ranking them by card duos that people actually would care about (meaning character focus cards), the obvious pairings you'll see like Cyberpunk or Alien, ect
Since RuiKasa has a very flavorful fanbase, I will add in the most popular pairings for aus created by them, which you'll see in CyberDol, SorceValiar, ect.
I also will add the most adored alternate universe/canon divergent Ruikasa aus for completion sake, which you'll find in Middle School Ruikasa, WL2, ect.
My rankings will mostly be fandom influenced (how their au is portrayed), as well as how flexible and interesting the au can be on its own (VERY SUBJECTIVE.) I ended up with 27 aus, which is part because of base Tumblr's photo limit.
This is more of a disclaimer but I am not a fan of aus in general. So if you're expecting someone to fawn and gush over multiple Ruikasa aus.. uhhh you might not like my takes on these. I hold Ruikasa very close to my heart and that means changing them too much leads to a sort of alienation I'll feel towards certain aus, my apologies.
If I didn't include an obvious au, I'd like to know so I can at least mention it :3
With all that said, let the ranking commence!!!
27 - Emu4 RuiKasa
-Incest. That simple. Even without that factor, I'm still utterly baffled that Tsukasa in this set isn't Peter Pan like he was in Emu4, which y'know, is the whole theme of this card set. I'm only considering the most popular iteration of this set, and that's how I'm treating it in this ranking. Incest, next rank.
26 - Pandemodium RuiKasa
-Genuinely never understood the appeal of this au if I'm being honest. The whole yokai aesthetic doesn't impress me, and most of the time their dynamic is either completely different from original RuiKasa, or it's some sort of trope I can watch from any other anime. As for my take on them... meh. I'm sure the fantasy setting appeals to a lot of people, and has a lot of potential for rich storytelling. But again, as a RuiKasa au, it completely gives me nothing I like. Plus, every single fanart I see of Tsukasa in this au makes him look like an omega twink so yeah no I'm good.
-A shame for me cause the Pandemodium is peak.
25 - FesPup
-I think this might be a hot take but I do not fw this I'm sorry. Why is Rui a dog. Can't he just be Tsukasa's husband/boyfriend considering Tsukasa in this AU is just... normal Tsukasa with a different hair and maybe a few years older. Rui being the only half-animal being just feels like an excuse for puppyplay/fetishist content. Which btw, no shame in that, I adore puppyplay as much as the next person, but in no instance have I ever seen this au be portrayed in any setting other than 'Rui acting more animalistic and biologically preditory/possessive than fanon Rui usually does towards a normal Tsukasa'. If I wanted animal Ruikasa, I would personally just make both of them animals.
24 - Potato RuiKasa
-Why. What's the difference between this au and just normal Ruikasa. I have no problem with this au, and I assume this is like, a showman/casino kind of au, but genuinely what will I get out of this au that I can't get out of, say, normal Ruikasa, or anything more interesting from any other au with better depictions of their characters. I know that makes me sound really picky, and that's because I am. Thanks for noticing. I just find this au disposable.
-Also side note, I really don't like these outfits, especially Rui's. He just looks tacky in that suit, so yeah I'd rather choose an au where the characters look more aesthetically pleasing.
23 - Kasa4 RuiKasa
-Despite being kind of low, I do quite like the creative storytelling and dynamics you can pluck out of this au. It's like the samurai version of Kasa6 RuiKasa, except it's more linear and stuck in the confines of old ass Japan. That being said, I'm not really a fan of Rui and Tsukasa's personalities and characterization in this au personally. Maybe it's cause it's so far from the actual RuiKasa that if I wanted a samurai enemies to/and lovers story, I would just watch something else instead of completely different versions of my favorite characters. It's a whatever, do or do without au for me.
-You will hear different variations of that statement in this ranking.
22 - SorceValier RuiKasa
-Might be a hot take again? Between the 2 big RuiKasa fantasy aus (this and KuroShiro) this is the one I don't exactly vibe with, and am conflicted on. This is the quintessential example of a good and interesting au that I do not care about. On one hand, lots of opportunities to explore different core aspects of Rui and Tsukasa as characters in different ways, which the fandom does pretty well. I like how Tsukasa gets his sense of justice and/or one track minded-ness especially highlighted and challenged in this noble and heroic incarnation of him, while Rui's rebellion against the world could be an allegory for his desire to challenge the stigma of social norms in his heavily neurodivergent character, which to me, are things I look for in aus. But on the other hand, it's the way they're usually characterized that I don't really care for. I can't exactly explain why I don't find myself as in love with it as the rest of the fandom is, but I think it just boils down to not liking the theme, and them being so different from the original to the point where I could just watch something on its own without putting my favorite characters as the face of them. Basically Kasa4 RuiKasa but more flavorful.
-That being said, I do find their meme content very funny.
21 - Rui2 RuiKasa
-Usually, the story between them is very unrelated to Tsukasa and Rui themselves, with most of the appeal coming from the thematically heavy power dynamic set by the world. That may appeal to a lot of people, but to me, it's just something I'd rather find and read in a different piece of media. It's not the RuiKasa I love, even more than SorceValier, so I do not find myself liking it as an au of these two. I see the oppression and rebellion elements befitting some aspects of Rui and Tsukasa as characters, but they don't impress me that much.
-I do think it has potential of really cute skits, but again, I don't gravitate towards the characterization or dynamic this au lets depict.
20 - Kasa6 RuiKasa
-Basically you can apply the same thing I said about Kasa4 RuiKasa here. Though I will admit, this at least has more leeway in time period and identity, so long as they're edgy and hot or whatever (i don't see the vision but I get the hype).
-Will not reach out for content of it, but it ranks higher than SorceValier because their personalities aren't too confined by who they are, and can still preserve the RuiKasa personalities, despite the very different setting of anyone's choice.
-I might be the only one with this opinion, but I don't think there's enough fanart of what the context of Rui and his goofy ass holding up the car key to the POV could be. Guys there's so much meme potential for this, stop stroking it and get to memeing.
19 - QilTac/TacQilin
-I think this is the most neatest of aus, while also the most stiff. It's fun, oh don't get me wrong I love fun aus over most, and Tsukasa being a divine dragon x Rui being a war tactician has all the potential for wacky interactions and rich storytelling that I might find myself wanting to indulge in. But it's also trapped in the nature of who they are and who they're supposed to be for their time period, and I get that a lot of people are a fan of their nature in this au, but I'm not particularly a fan. Again, if I wanted a fantasy, Chinese love story between a divine being and a commander, idk I'll just read a manwha or something, RuiKasa being changed to this trope is funny sure, but they're changed too much for me to actually care about them as much as I'd want to.
-That said, I won't even hide it, their smut (tsurui) is hilarious. I find pure delight when an artist depicts Tsukasa having a 12 feet dragonhood because that's the goofy kind of thing I can get behind.
18 - MerKing RuiKasa
-Might be one of the most underwhelming and disappointing rank of this whole list. Everything in concept and execution of this au should check every one of my boxes to be a favorite au for me. I love fantasy, I love silly RuiKasa aus where silly skits and content could thrive in, and yet, this au is entirely forgettable to me. I won't deny that there's opportunity to subvert expectations with their story and dynamic, but when it's RuiKasa, I just don'r care about this au, and would rather feed off of something more funnier or unique, dare I say. I think it all just boils down to not being special or memorable enough for my tastes.
17 - Let's study hard RuiKasa
-Basically apply everything I said about MerKing here. There's more opportunity for compelling stories, but at the end of the day, I don't find myself caring about the fact that this is supposed to be Rui and Tsukasa.
16 - Rui6 RuiKasa
-Getting this out of the way- why the hell are all of their fanart together just Rui either being possessive or obsessive over the fact that Tsukasa looks like he doesn't wear any underwear. This gets lower in the ranks because all I see of this au so far are just alphaRui and twinkKasa bs that I could go my whole life without.
-With that out of the way, I think the potential of these characters being puppets/dolls of some sort is practically infinite. Dolls and puppets cqan symbolize many things that you can use to explore aspects of Rui and Tsukasa's actual characters, which I find very interesting. Plus, they can preserve their default personalities, which I personally really like. Unfortunately, other than that really cool storytelling potential, I think this au is just alright, and I can't derive actual joy or serotonin out of their existing fanart or content because they're very generic, with none of the flavor I personally adore in RuiKasa fanart. If this had a rating, it'd be like, a 6/10 cause it's just not that fun as it is interesting.
15 - Elementary RuiKasa
-I'm categorizing this as a canon divergence rather than a full on au (ik it's the same thing but shh). I don't consider this a high ranking, but do take my genuine positives as more of a 'despite all this' segment. The fanart is adorable, I love seeing these silly little goobers interact. The potential for fanart is infinite. The appeal is completely cut and dry, it's two weirdo lonely kids, and I can see the appeal behind that, it's simple. I am maternal for these creatures, though I suppose the only thing I want to note is that elementary school RuiKasa isn't complete if they're not both friends with Nene, in the same way Middle School RuiKasa isn't complete if they're not both friends with Mizuki to some capacity.
-That said it's not something I'll look out for or seek. I do not particularly care for them, despite my liking for them.
14 - Cyperpunk RuiKasa
-While it's completely possible for Rui and Tsukasa to maintain the exact same personalities and dynamics as their original counterpart, while simultaneously tell a very fascinating story about certain industries... I don't really care about them? Not as in there's no compelling merits to be found in stories like that, it's just, why does it have to be RuiKasa? The dynamic can be fun as hell, but I find myself not really that interested in a completely different setting of these characters where the things explored aren't particularly unique to me.
-Another thing, unfortunately, is that it's not that funny, compared to a similar au I'll get into. The comedy department is a bit dry in terms of wacky hijinx, from my perspective at least.
13 - WaitorSamurai RuiKasa
-I thought I would rank this higher but honestly when I really think about it, the initial humor and absurdity kind of wears off when I realize how one note the story and interactions these two could share are. Don't get me wrong, one of my favorite RuiKasa au comics are of this au, going into Tsukasa's inherent loneliness and Rui's.. uh.. samurainess I guess. But honestly, as much as you could change up their dynamic and characterization, it really boils down to something that's fun for one day, but disposable when you're done. At least, from my perspective. It leaves a charming and funny impression, but I would rather indulge in something else.
-That said, I don't actually know if this au is that well known and popular enough to add so if it isn't you can just disregard this.
12 - CyberDol
-Basically Cyberpunk if it was more interesting, more dynamic, had more opportunity for fleshing out elements of Rui and Tsukasa's character and saying even more about industry businesses. I would say that I like it much more, but I think I just personally don't like the whole cyberpunk aesthetic and themes. I don't derive as much joy or entertainment as everyone else seems to with this au, and that's alright. I'll just never seek out its content despite having a variation of this au myself. It's whatever, it's alright, interesting but completely not for me.
-Unfortunate non-fav despite being the RuiKasa number
11 - Timekeeper RuiKasa
-Admittedly, I've only read very few content of these two, so maybe my eyes haven't been fully opened to their appeal, but even so, the Timekeeper au has some of the best potential for avant garde storytelling, which no doubt has been fleshed out and executed by many amazing writers and fans alike. The use of Rui and Tsukasa in these roles don't really bore me as some other aus may, since their stories are directly intertwined to the future and past in the main universe. The one thing is that, while it's compelling on its own, I fail to get any real fun with them as a duo. And I know, that's most of the point, that they're both intertwined and doomed to never be together to whatever, but when I consume RuiKasa content, I do want to have fun as much as I want to be enamored by their story.
10 - Factory RuiKasa
-A solid au. Something about this factory setting is so fun, and has more potential for creative, artsy fanart and dynamics, not to mention how the personalities of the characters don't have to change too much just for them to work here makes for lots of comedic hijinx. Literally, tell me what's not fun about a factory that produces robots with fun little knock-off Chiikawa looking ass creatures accompanying the workers? That said though, as fun of an au that is, and as much as I like their designs here, I do find myself leaning towards a more colorful and even more silly au later on. Not a favorite, still wouldn't reach out for its content, but the whimsy is apparent, and the fanart is... uh.. hm. Anyways yeah besides the fanart, a solid au in my eyes.
9 - Idol RuiKasa
-I won't lie, this kind of goes against my arbitrary reasons on why I don't prefer previous aus. I won't deny that if I wanted an Idol love story, I could just watch any other shows or anime about that exact concept without needing RuiKasa as their face, but honestly... this au is just hilarious to me. Whether they're depicted as rival singers or duo idols with the exact same personalities of RuiKasa, I lowkey just think of this as Hirose and Shunichi hamming it up on stage. Sure I won't deliberately seek out Idol RuiKasa content, but as long as I have fun and find it amusing then yeah, it means more to me than SorceValier and TacQilin. I can't justify it ranking higher but ykw it's not half bad of an au.
8 - DanToru/DireThorp
-Holy shit I did not plan for this au to be the 8th place. It was meant to be.
-There is a lot of things going for this au. From the various directions you can take this world, to the character's charming dynamic, usually portrayed for fluff or angst. I like how it's very focused on the nature of Rui and Tsukasa's passion when it comes to their work, and a lot of the fanart is cute and very much my kind of fanart (not talking about all the alphadancho x twinktorupu fanart). But before all else... I still don't care about this au. I know, it's kind of counterproductive considering all the good things I have to say and how relatively high I have it ranked, but genuinely, I still don't have more reason to want to consume content of this au, because... well, I can still find all the fluff and charm in their dynamic in normal RuiKasa. I wouldn't dare say that it's basically the more interesting Potato RuiKasa to me since that feels a bit unfair to compare, but I can't deny the resemblance in value to me.
7 - HakaPega
-The canon divergent au I don't care about the most. ok HEAR ME OUT. While I did put elementary RuiKasa much lower, that's mostly because of how little I derive as a whole from that au. From this, I love seeing people depict Rui's grief and guilt through Pegasus and this au. It has a wealth of emotional value and themes to set it this high, because I've always found myself enjoying and weeping over this iteration of Rui's character, as well as the complicated nature of Pegasus as his own character (usually written almost like Mitsuba from tbhk) and relationship with Rui. I see so much to love, and on occasion, I would feel that love too. On occasion, as in once in a blue moon. Because... it feels a bit bad to admit, but this is the canon divergent version of what WaiterSamurai is to me. It's not as one note, since Rui and Tsukasa can break out into various levels of insanity, but at the end of the day, it doesn't mean anything to me. I can admit that it's one of, if not, the richest RuiKasa au to exist, but the concept in it of itself doesn't have as much sentimental value to me, thus I don't have any lasting fondness for it as a whole. I'm disappointed in myself smh.
-But like lets be so for real, it's this high in the list so I clearly like it.
6 - KuroShiro
-I was dreading this ranking, but now that I've gotten to it, I actually... adore this au more than I initially thought. Finally, we've gotten to the part in the rankings where I will actively seek out to draw and write/consume content of these two. I think something I adore more than anything about how this au is utilized and depicted is how much people focus on Tsukasa and Rui's inherent loneliness and kindness, which are some of my favorite elements about the original RuiKasa as their own individuals. I'm a sucker for fantasy stories, and this is the only RuiKasa one where I buy Rui and Tsukasa as the main characters, and wouldn't replace them with another piece of media of the same story. Not to mention, all the interactions and memes you can milk out of this is much more than their deaths. They have comedic potential because of how varied their personalities could get, and that's not even getting to the world building. Overall, my favorite fantasy RuiKasa au, with very little that could ever compete.
5 - NakaShira (art by 匸1 on Pixiv)
-Old man yaoi. That's the sum of it.
-Ok but in all honesty, the real reason I prefer NakaShira over so many RuiKasa aus is because of how much of a canon divergence it feels like. Obviously it's not, rarely is Nakayama characterized as being a failed actor now working your average office job, even though Shirafuji's just Rui but older and kept to himself, much like pre-development Rui in the original, but I feel like there's a fine line between 'replacing' and 'diverging from canon', and this trudges that line very seemlessly. Their dynamic in this au feels the most grounded, and appeals to me thanks to its simplicity. I love seeing Rui and Tsukasa in a slightly more jaded incarnation, and it's honestly pretty refreshing to see compared to their eccentricity, which obviously lies underneath it all. Point is, as an au, it speaks to me as its own thing because I prefer the concept over all the aus that rank below it.
4 - RingJest
-My favorite non-RuiKasa RuiKasa au and it's not even close. Honestly, even though this au has pretty limited and cut and dry potential, the sheer concept of RuiKasa just being RuiKasa, except they're fucking insane and borderline psychopathic, is enough for me to fold. I dislike toxicity, unless they're both toxic, and it seems the fandom agrees, because nothing about this world, this au, is ever conceived to be normal or sane, no matter which way you look at it. My bias is fully showing here, but honestly, I don't care about any circus themed couple that gets their rocks off on other people's misery unless they're WonderlandsxShowtime and RuiKasa. The fanart is always mesmerizing, so that's nothing to sneeze at.
3 - Alien RuiKasa
-This is not a non RuiKasa Ruikasa au to me, this is just Rui and Tsukasa as their same selves, except their aliens. I do not go to Alien RuiKasa for compelling storytelling or thematically rich depictions of Rui and Tsukasa's individual characters, no. I want colors. I want wacky hyjinx and ludicrous jokes. I want to see the silliest side of RuiKasa get cranked up to the max. I celebrated 2024's New Year by drawing these silly little goobers, because everything about this au boils down to waterfalls of serotonin, and that is how we cope.
2 - Middle school RuiKasa
-My top 2 aus are canon divergence unsurprisingly, and though I love them, I do have some issues with how the fandom depicts middleschool Rui and Tsukasa. Somehow, I rarely find content of Rui and Tsukasa actually being friends in this au in a way that I can find believable, as the most heartwarming thing about ms RuiKasa to me is the fact that their friendship is the thing that salvages their mental health and loneliness. The deconstruction of both characters, paired with them being able to connect with each other, one way or another, genuinely touches me, because they are still RuiKasa. Challenging the notation of their routines and their outlook on life, as well as themselves, fascinates me beyond compare. Whether portrayed as toxic or healing (personally I prefer healing but I see the appeal in the former), the prospect of seeing these conceivable concepts brought to life is exactly what I look for when I want an 'alternate universe'.
-Oh and about the problematic fanarts.. uhhh I'm not a fan, but in a way, putting aside the fetishists and pedophiles, I pretend that they're more nuanced than they are and move on. Will never actively seek them out of course.
1 - Worldlink 2
-Don't get me wrong, I really dislike how they handled the au and the character's reaction to the knowledge of this concept nearly becoming reality. But with that out of the way, this is the one singular au I've fixated obsessively on for the better time of months at one point, birthing so much creativity and motivation for me to make and consume my own RuiKasa content. Now, I will admit that I already had my own disbanded WxS storyline, so this being my favorite WxS au is no shock, much less my favorite RuiKasa au. The execution of this simple, yet grounded and fascinating concept is already decently handled in the game itself, but to flesh it out even more? Man, that's got me on a chokehold. I love love LOVE how Tsukasa's handled in this au, both in canon and the fandom (for the most part anyways), and exploring the inner conflict both Rui explicitly and Tsukasa implicitly goes through, I adore seeing these characters out of their element and challenged in a way that is, within universe, realistic.
Aaand that's it, thanks for reading all the way if you did, I had fun :3
