#What an old gramp solomon is

[tsukii0002]

Mc and Solomon taking notes in class.

Mc: *Putting the tablet in recording mode to check it later in case they have missed something*

Solomon: *looking at them* In my days we had to write until our hands hurt and if we didn't get something, we had to putt up with it.

Mc: Solomon, my dear, in your days papyrus did not even exist, in your days there were no classes as such because the fucking slavery was a thing, so stop telling me all this bullshit.

Solomon: ...

Solomon: Rude.

.

.

[gx-gameon]

I just read Jaden in 5DS era AU and I want to know if that is part of the Yugi adopts Jaden AU or Canon Jaden.

Also about BBT in the Jaden Muto AU, what is Jaden feeling the entire time? It isn't everyday you team up with the younger self of your dad XD

The 5Ds era Au will probably be cannon Jaden.

I want it to be approachable to any reader. The Yugi Adopts Jaden au is going to have a lot going on in it already.

I also haven’t decided if Jaden will go home at the end of that Au. I think Jesse will come forward in time and they will join the 5Ds crew going forward. And if that is the ending, Jaden gaining new friends and now the “Robin” of the crew. Then I don’t know if I want to connect it to Yugi adopts Jaden since Jaden won’t come home. He’d miss having like 30 years with his dads and that’s super sad.

But let’s focus on your second question.

In the Yugi adopts Jaden Au the bonds beyond time movie is wild.

Because Jaden is currently traveling the globe. Helping out where needed and just finding himself again. He hears that Zane/Syrus’s cyber dragon has been stolen and he’s looking for it, when Jesse calls. Rainbow Dragon has been taken. That is not something Jaden can allow to happen.

Personally I love the idea that Jesse actually met up/ran into Jaden in Venice. Maybe he was looking for his friend. Maybe he was there for a tournament and bumped into Jaden. Maybe they arranged to meet there or Jesse was surprising his friend. (I’ve read some great fics like this)

Either way Jesse is with Jaden when Rainbow Dragon is stolen. Jaden watches as Jesse loses a member of his family and swears to get it back, rushing off before Jesse can follow.

By the time Jesse catches up the square is already destroyed and Jaden is already with Yusei.

But back to topic.

In this au Jaden mets Yusei and everything goes according to plan, until they travel back in time and met Yugi.

Holy cow is this weird for Jaden. That’s his Dad!! But he’s young and the millennium puzzle hangs around his neck and Jaden knows what that means. This is back when Yugi and Atem shared a body.

But Yugi is crying because Grandpa is dead? And the whole square blew up. Jaden’s head is spinning. Gramps can’t be dead! No that’s not right. Gramps had just called him not even a week ago and the old man was still as sharp as ever. He couldn’t be dead.

Worse this is Yugi before he adopted Jaden. Jaden didn’t know it at the time, but now that he’s the same age that Yugi was when he adopted him Jaden understands how much Yugi sacrificed to take him in. To be his dad. And he knows a lot of that was only possible because of Gramps. Sure things changed when Oto-san and Dad got married but earlier on it was Yugi and Solomon taking care of him. Atem to after he adjusted to living in the modern era.

If Gramps died then would Yugi even be able to take Jaden in? Would they even meet? And he feels awful for think it. After all he shouldn’t be thinking about himself right now. But his whole reality depends on this one going right.

Plus he hates seeing his dad cry.

Paradox had stolen Jesse’s family member, killed Jaden’s great grandpa and made his dad cry. Jaden’s going after him with all he has.

The duel itself is awesome. Dueling along side Yugi and stem when they shared a body is so weird yet also one of the coolest things ever because he can see both their strategies at play and how the seamlessly blend them.

Yusei is an amazing duelist to and Jaden is honestly having the time of his life fighting beside them. He’s going to have to make it a goal to meet Yusei again.

They win and Jaden gets returned to his time (successfully) and says goodbye to Yusei. (They will met again)

He mets up with Jesse to return Rainbow Dragon and tell him about his adventure. While doing so he realizes he needs to call to people. He calls grandpa first just because he wants to make sure the old man is alright. (He’s just fine and over joyed to hear from Jaden) second he calls his dad and Uncle Atem.

He tries to dance around it but the both just laugh and say that they remember him. It’s really weird. They didn’t have these memories before today. But whatever alternate reality Jaden and Yusei had stopped from happening by meeting up with Yugi must have merged with their own.

Yugi didn’t seek Jaden out because of their duel against paradox. Their meeting was complete accident or fate depending on how you want to see it. But now that he has those memories he, Jaden and Atem can all discuss the duel and Yusei.

[thewittyphantom]

Here’s Solomon’s dialogue with Mokuba and Tristan. I love seeing them all bond! And now I have the urge to play Capsule Monster Coliseum and watch the CM anime. (And that ‘Setos’ typo is transcribed as-is. XD) Aw at the Miho reference too!

Mokuba: You’re...Yugi’s grandpa! Solomon: If it isn’t Seto’s brother - Mokuba! Mokuba: That’s right! You can call me Vice President of KaibaCorp too if ya like! ...But that’s not important! Listen up, Gramps! Leave! Solomon: Ho? Mokuba: This world’s too much for an old timer like you, so you should leave - for your own sake! Solomon: You sound just like Yugi... Mokuba: Except I’m not nice like Yugi, so I won’t say it twice! You’ve been warned! Solomon: So I have. Thank you for the warning. Mokuba, weren’t you once Capsule Monsters champion? Mokuba: You know about Capsule Monsters!? Solomon: Of course I do. I own a game shop after all. Capsule Monsters is a wonderful game! I love how each monster has their own abilities. And the field creates an additional strategic element. That part’s my favorite! Mokuba: Gramps, you sure know your stuff! Capsule Monsters really is fun! Solomon: I still play it in my shop, so you should come over if you want a challenge! Mokuba: Me vs you? I don’t think you’d be much of an opponent. Solomon: Experience comes with age, and I’m on no mood to lose to a whippersnapper. How about you test my skills in Duel Monsters first? Mokuba: Haha! Sounds fun! Us Setos are invincible! You couldn’t defeat my big bro, and you won’t defeat me!

Tristan: Heya Gramps! Solomon: Tristan! I didn’t know you come here to Duel. Tristan: Come here, get dragged here - same difference. I’m in my training stages. Solomon: I never say no to a Duel, but my main goal is to find rare cards. You should search for cards as well. A Duelist needs both skills and cards to succeed. Tristan: I see... Solomon: But there’s also nothing wrong with using a card because you adore its artwork! There are many different illustrations, so you’re guaranteed to find one that you love. Tristan: You sure know your stuff, Gramps! Solomon: Ho ho! Speaking of love, whatever happened to that girl? Tristan: What girl? Solomon: The one you gave the white jigsaw puzzle to. Tristan: Gah!!! Just when i forgot, you had to go and remind me! Solomon: Huh?

[books-and-catears]

Hi darling, I'm not sure if your request are open at the moment bc your bio says no but your post says yes so if they're closed please ignore this.

But if they're open, can I request the brothers and side characters reaction to Solomon being MC's long lost grandpa??? who died on a war something idk

Like when they arrive to the devildom they take one look at Sol and are like 'I know u from somewhere, just don't remember from where...' and after a couple months or so they go to visit their family in the human realm and they send a message to everyone like 'I know where I've seen Solomon before 😐😐😐' along with an old photo of the wedding between their grandma and Solomon, turns out he is, indeed, their Grandfather who left one day and never came back

WHAT'S WITH ALL THESE HILARIOUS ASKS!!?? Oh my god 😂😂😂 Y'all are precious I love you so much!

Solomon about to be the dude who left to get milk and never returned AHAHHAHAA PLS

Everyone told you Solomon was shady in one way or another. But you sensed something different. The moment your eyes fell on his face - it was like it unlocked a childhood memory stowed away.

"I know you from somewhere..." You blurted out when he introduced himself.

"Perhaps we've met in human realm? I do travel a lot." He had simply said.

You took a picture of him with you when you returned home. Maybe your family could help refresh your memory. And they sure did.

That night everyone you knew in Devildom received a picture along with your text : "I know where I've seen Solomon before. These are my grandparents when they were young."

And attached was an picture of Solomon and a graceful young lady smiling at the camera.

"This is my grandpa who supposedly died at war and never came back home. -_-".

Lucifer almost chokes on his coffee as he reads your message. He disguises his laugh into a cough and shakes his head. He doesn't laugh but cannot help the snide smile on his face when he sees Solomon next time.

Mammon falls off the couch laughing. He remembers when you jokingly called him 'gramps' one time. Who knew that would come true? Addresses Solomon as MC Senior from then onwards.

Levi lets out a wild laugh and keeps repeating this story to his online friends. He was with Mammon when they got the text. Rants about how this is the plot of "My Love Rival Turned Out to Be the Grandpa of my Crush!"

Satan lets out an audible "Pffft-" as he gets the text. He gets genuinely curious about Solomon and starts interrogating him about anything and everything he did in his life: Why did he leave? Where was he all that time? Is he proud that his grandchild got his powers too? What do you mean Satans's being invasive?

Asmo cackles in front of the mirror as he reads your text and stares at the picture you sent him. Oh my Diavolo, is that really Solomon?! What is he wearing?! He really never had any sense of fashion did he?! Just wearing suspicious wizardy robes?! He should learn from his grandchild!

Beel just stares suprised. Solomon and you don't look very alike from a distance, but then he and Belphie didn't either. Gets low-key upset at the wizard for abandoning family and making up a lie about it.

Belphie just snickers sleepily. Looks like there's one less person he has to fight against for your attention. Snickers some more when you call him 'old man'. Now he calls him the same thing, even though Belphie is several millenia older.

Diavolo was highly suprised and amused. How wonderful! Two humans from the same family! Humans like being close to family isn't it? That too when it's long lost family!?

Barbatos just wears an all knowing smile as he talks to Diavolo. Of course, he knew. He knew about Solomon's life more than anyone else. He cheekily smiles at Solomon and asks about his grandchild whenever he gets the chance.

Simeon and Luke have too much with this whenever you came over to visit the Purgatory Hall later. Simeon insists you invite Solomon over for Thanksgiving and Christmas, your family after all? Luke also accidentally calls Solomon Grampa once in a while.

[gallusrostromegalus]

How young were everyone in the fix when they had their first alcohol?

Yugi: 6 months. Gramps is from the generation that believed "rub some whiskey on his gums" was a reasonable way to deal with teething pains. He had his first alcohol on purpose at like, age 6 when he was curious what Solomon was drinking, and Solomon figured that if Yugi tried beer while he was still bitterant-averse like most little kids, it'd put him off drinking as a teen and he was RIGHT.

Yami: Also 6 months. Water wasn't really the safest in ancient Egypt so he started being given low-fermentation beer pretty much as soon as he was weaned. Got mildly intoxicated on Ceremonial Wine ONCE and hated every second of it.

Joey: Never has, and probably never will. He's seen what alcoholism is like in his family and is determined to not end up like his father.

Tristan: 15. Family Trip back to the old country where the drinking age is much lower, and he was curious. He had a great time getting hammered with his cousins and uncle, and the resulting hangover cured most of his curiousity about the stuff.

Téa: 7, wine at her first Holy Communion. Thought it was gross but has since revised her opinion and gets into her mom's wine chillers on a semi-regular basis to deal with her mom's crazy bullshit.

Bakura: The Parasite managed to get ahold of a bottle of Vodka when Bakura was 12, and promptly discovered: 1. Vampirism and Alcohol don't mix 2. Anaphylaxis SUCKS SO BAD There's a lot about Bakura's body that Disappoints The Parasite but that's near the top.

Seto: Was introduced to how Mild Intoxication Makes Computer Programming Go Way Better by a tutor at age 13. Said Tutor also stressed that there was a very steep dropoff in code quality once one got any more than "buzzed", so Seto subconsiously thinks of Single-Malt whiskey as "Potion Of Program Real Good" and literally never drinks otherwise.

Mokuba: Tried some of the Single Malt at age 8 to see what the fuss was and was DISGUSTED. Convinced all adults are insane, hypothesis confirmed by sampling Black Coffee, also Gross.

Mai: Mai's family is Italian-Americans who own vineyards. Wine has been a part of her life since she could hold her own cup. She has OPINIONS on Wine and could legit work as a Sommelier. Can also blend wines to create extremely convincing fakes of expensive vintages.

[fgodestinyawakenings]

And also adding my own thoughts below (free to ignore as always):

It seems like the story so far still starts off very familiar to how Camelot started excluding:

- Gudas, Mash and Da Vinci didn't meet Ozy first before going into Jerulsaem - Our boi George is an antagonist serving Jacques and the Templars - Goetia is debatably NOT the villain right now until further confirmation. Apparently the silhouette of Solomon is not even appeared full but as Shadow Servant from what I heard - Even Romani our favorite doctor hasn't appeared once for the whole of arcade, so as of now, everything definitely shifted away from the mobile version plot - Instead of purity, the templars outright just wants the soul of the refugees instead (I thought Lion King was messed up enough, this is just another level) - RIP Serenity and Hundred Face due to limitation, so Mata Hari replace their roles for joining Hassan instead. - Izou and Medusa replacing Touta and Xuanzang role as allies are hilarious bunch XD - No meeting of Gramps Old Man Mountain, which was replaced with meeting to Ozymandias instead - Nitocris instead of Caster version, appears as her Summer Assassin version while remain her role as a servant to Ozymandias. - Ozymandias, aka Sun King (Lion King apparently for the role wise), takes on the secondary villain due to going against the main villain of the Arcade plot. (And please don't bring his wife as limited Arcade version Servant. I'LL PERSONALLY RIP YOU APART TO MORE FOLDS THAN BEFORE) - Beast from Ozymandias by the Kanji used it's most of "獣" instead of "ビースト" or "災害の獣" - But it may also be possible foreshadowing Beast Class are still highly involved in the Arcade plot - Hey Sega, you throw that Prototype Collab here as limited, I'll still rip you more folds than needed! (Since Ozymandias indirectly mentions both Proto Arthur and Arash, unable to face them at his current state) - Ozymandias refers to Arcade version Chaldea as Another Chaldea (So Proto Chaldea while Mobile is OG Chaldea?) - Lion King plays a role as an ally this time to go against Jacques, summoned from OG FGO Chaldea story side. - Story unfortunately concludes there as stated in reddit until the raid is over

Personally this is really one fuck of a cluster mess for plot. Due to it being randomly shove in at the near of the 1st supposedly arc for arcade version. I'm with the user getting so much confusion on what's going here They really need to start it from the beginning instead of just this! But there is now definitely a huge core difference also happening here... It feels like FGO Arcade 1st arc is just a cover to roughly follow on the current plot of Lostbelt arc. Everyone finding hopeless and no reason to restore panhuman history, except we don't even know it's an Alien God involve in this. Main Villian wise, it's been hinted to be a saint close to both Mash and George. Is it Galahad? Or another Saint using Solomon 72 Demons to destroy Panhuman? Or still the Alien God who really mess up both OG and Proto Chaldea at once? Jacques and Lion King... There's such a huge contradict after watching the playthrough. While Lion King has her Knights, Jacques literally has no one except souls he called upon for Noble Phantasm. His historical past definitely stungs here, reminding he's like Jeanne who eventually burned alive by the people he served. But more of Jeanne Alter with potential in current story to go into class of Avenger, but he'll never be able to rest for sure even after his death.

Potential Appearance of Beast VI?

Near the end, the plot is thrown with Jacques supposedly summon a Beast or Demon Pillar even Ozymandias refer as six heads closely to a certain Mother Harlot and Beast of Revelations. By the appearance it feels and seems like Pseudo compared to what Manaka once potentially summoned.

And of course if Sega or DW decidedly thinks it’s OK to make them limited plot to Arcade just to pay more... They are just going to do a fantastic job in killing both Arcade and Mobile altogether :D

[rora-s]

The Derivative  Chapter 11: Prediction

Chapter 1 <- Chapter 10

My foot tapped repeatedly as I sat in a chair outside the principal's office. I had no idea why I had been called out of my english class to be here. Not that I was complaining about being taken out of a monotonous lecture on adjectives and adverbs. 

“Hey Abby” I looked up as the door opened and Mrs. Clive was there looking down at me. “Come on in” 

I grabbed my backpack and walked into the office, Clive closing the door behind me. Principal Brick was sitting behind his desk. I always thought his name fit his features with how square his head was. 

“Take a seat Abby” he offered, I nodded and sat down. Clive took the seat next to me. “I’ve heard a lot about you Ms. Calvin from Mrs. Clive here as well as your other teachers. Many of whom are concerned about certain behavioral issues you’ve shown since joining us here.” 

“If this is about that fight in the cafeteria I thought we had that sorted out I mean I didn’t cause it” I quickly defended myself sitting up in my seat. 

“We know Abby, that's not what we’re talking about” Clive reassured me. 

“Then what is it?” I asked, growing suspicious. 

Brick sat forward resting his hands on his desk. “To be completely honest with you Abby, originally we were led to believe by your social worker, a Mr. Grant, that your behavioral problems would be expected considering your history with the foster system and problematic past parent situation.” I shifted in my seat “however, Mrs. Clive has brought a different perspective onto the situation”

My head snapped to look at the teacher. She had a light smile on her face “I got into contact with a friend of mine Michelle Wiat she’s a principal at an elementary school it turned out you attended. She told me about the advanced courses she put you in College Algebra, Calculus. As well as your IQ testing she provided all the documentation as well” 

There was a moment where my brain was flustered hearing Ms. Wiat’s name again after so long. Then I finally collected my thoughts “so what does this mean? Are you finally putting me in advanced courses?” 

“Not exactly” Brick objected “we believe at this time that this school can no longer provide what you need to learn” 

“In other words we know you’re not thriving here” Clive cut in “so I’ve arranged here with Mr. Brick for you to possibly test out of high school” 

I was stunned at the news but felt excitement bubbling within me “serious like no more school?” 

“Part of it will require you to continue your education somewhere else such as college, university, or career center but you will no longer be attending high school” Brick explained. 

“This is awesome,” I cheered excitedly. 

“Don’t get too excited you’ll have to take a test to prove you’re capable and that’s only if your father approves all of this” Clive clarified. 

I felt my excitement hit a wall “my father?” 

“Yes we’ll be sending you home today with a note detailing everything and asking for a parent teacher conference to discuss any other issues that may come of this” Brick informed “since you are still a minor you can’t just make these decisions on your own” 

“Right” I murmured as Brick handed me a letter. 

“Don’t worry Abby this will all work out and then we’ll get to see what heights you’ll truly be able to reach” Clive reassured me with a hand on my shoulder. As I looked at the paper I didn’t feel as sure. 

_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

3rd POV. 

Abby sat out in the hallway at school. She was reading Twelve Years a Slave. The nine year old had been kicked out of her 4th grade class for calling another kid an asshole after he broke her pencils. 

“Abigail” she looked up at the familiar disappointed voice of the principal. 

“Hello” the girl greeted. “Call me Abby” 

The principal, Mrs. Wiat, sighed and sat down next to the girl. “Whatcha reading?” 

“Twelve Years a Slave” Abby replied, showing the teacher the book cover. 

“Advanced book for someone your age” The principal voiced genuinely surprised. 

“It’s a good read but I feel bad for Solomon. He just wants to escape his captivity.” Abby voiced “he didn’t ask for any of his problems he just got dragged into it” 

“Do you relate to him?” The woman pressed sensing something. 

Abby shrugged and didn’t make eye contact. “Maybe a little” 

“Abby, you know calling people mean things is wrong” The principal explained. 

“But he broke my pencils,” the girl defended. 

“I understand but lashing out isn’t the answer” Mrs. Wiat kept her voice even as she spoke. “Abby, you've been fighting with other kids and not doing your homework. Is there something going on at home? Something you want to tell me?” 

The girl shook her head quickly “no nothing” 

“Okay” the principal nodded. “Then why don’t you do your homework?” 

“Because isn’t the point of homework to practice the stuff you learn in class?” The fourth grader asked. 

“That’s right,” the principal nodded. “Which is why you need to do it to learn.” 

“But I already know the stuff,” Abby objected. “I mean I get perfect scores on the tests so why do I have to do the homework?” 

The principal found herself speechless at the fourth graders logic. “Because it factors into your grade” 

“Well what's more important in school for me to learn or for me to get good grades?” The girl challenged. 

“Abby” the principal sighed. Then a thought came to her “I want to send a note home with you for your mother” the principal explained “I want to talk to her and get you in a more advanced program at least for your reading level maybe math also” 

“Does this program have homework?” Abby questioned. 

The principal chuckled lightly “Unfortunately Abby all of life has homework.”

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

Abby POV. 

“What you think he’ll say no?” Charlie asked as he moved some papers around on the table. 

“I don’t know what he’s going to say,” I exclaimed, my chin resting on the table the note from my teachers in my hands. “That’s the part that bothers me.” 

“Well then I suppose the only way to resolve that would be to ask him” Charlie argued. I let out a breath in a huff. “Listen Abby, you've been arguing to learn more advanced curriculum since you got here and I’d wager even before then. This is a great chance for you. I’m sure Don will see that and let you test out okay?” 

“Yeah” I murmured. “Don’t tell him about this though I want to be the first one to talk to him” 

“My lips are sealed” the mathematician vowed as he typed on his laptop. 

A moment later Alan came in from the kitchen and I folded the note and stuffed it in my pocket. “Hey,” he greeted “Charlie whatcha working on there?” 

“Sabermetrics” Uncle C replied with a sigh “baseball math found on a dead man’s computer Don’s having me look at it for a case” 

“Oh” Alan murmured a little put off from the dead man fact. He walked up behind Charlie peering over his shoulder “What do these formulas tell you?” 

“The ones I’ve recovered indicate that the Dodgers are not on the right track to win the pennant next year” Charlie informed. 

“Like you needed math to figure that one out, huh?” Gramps muttered. 

Charlie chuckled “no” 

“I heard that, uh, Don was leaning towards the wife.” Alan voiced. 

“That’s right,” Charlie confirmed. 

“Seems to be the first place they look nowadays” Alan mused. 

“I don’t understand” Charlie agreed “I mean, if you hate the person you’re married to that much, get divorced.” 

“Even the thought of divorce holds its own special horrors, let me tell you” Alan sighed. 

“Well, you and mom never thought about- I mean, I was never witness to any kind of-” Charlie stammered as his father leaned on a chair. 

“That’s exactly the way we wanted it.”  Alan explained. Charlie shifted in his chair, eyes still fixed on Alan urging him to continue “well, it was a long time ago, we, um. We had a little rough patch there for a moment, but we got through it.” 

Charlie closed his laptop slowly and I looked between the two men wondering where this conversation was going “how rough a patch are we talking about?” Uncle C questioned. 

“It was when you were 13 years old,” Alan offered willingly “and you went off to Princeton.” 

“Mom came with me,” Charlie added. 

“The separation was pretty hard on both of us” Alan admitted “and aside from the money matters, there was this irrational jealousy. Anyway, even the possibility of divorce was never discussed, because we loved each other too much.” 

“I don’t remember any of it,” Charlie murmured. “I don’t even remember a raised voice between the two of you.” 

“That’s because your mother and I both agreed that we wouldn’t stress you or Don any more than we had to.” Alan explained sitting down. “Charlie that’s how parents argue in front of their children; they disguise the big things as little things.” 

Charlie was quiet for a moment looking at his work. I stood up and made to leave the room a churning feeling in my gut. “Abby you alright?” Alan called after me. 

“Yeah, yeah fine I just, homework” I lied horribly but Gramps didn’t seem to be questioning it and I didn’t really give him time to before I was bolting up the stairs. 

I collapsed on the bed in Don’s old room. Charlie going to college early had put a huge strain on his parents' lives. What kind of strain would I be putting on Don if I graduated early? In all my nagging why hadn’t I considered how this would affect Don. After everything my mom went through and sacrificed for me growing up was I really going to make my other parent sacrifice for me too? Let alone one I’d only known for less than a year? 

I groaned and grabbed the pillow covering my face. When did my life get so complicated? 

_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_

3rd POV. 

Abby sat bored in yet another class at school. She glanced at the clock and sighed. Wondering how difficult it would be to slip out a side door during a passing block. The public library wasn’t too far from the school and it would be open at this time. 

Then her mom's words came back to her. She glanced around the class all of whom were still working on the algebra assignment she had already finished. How was she going to become friends with any of them? Most of them were upper middle class with well to do parents. Nice clothes, new backpacks, and cell phones. Abby wore thrift store clothes, had an old backpack that had seen better days, and never had a cell phone in her life. 

The bell rang jogging her from her thoughts. Gathering her things Abby headed out into the hallway. Going to the freshman lockers to ditch her stuff from algebra and grab her English stuff. 

They were reading “Of Mice and Men” which she had already read years prior. She remembered every word and had told her teacher as much but the woman had still insisted that Abby bring her copy to class everyday. Despite the obvious redundancy. 

“Hey gutter kid” Abby heard the call and turned just in time to get hit in the face by someone’s backpack. “Oops looks like Miss smarty pants isn’t much of a quick thinker.” 

Abby recovered quickly and looked to see who had thrown the bag. She wasn’t surprised to see a gaggle of laughing popular kids not far off. She looked down at the back pack and reared punting it down the hall. 

She smirked broadly as one of the kids ducked and another got a face full as she had. 

“Why you little” One of the kids came at her, pinning her to the locker. She kicked out on reflex and before she knew it a fight had broken out in the hallway. 

When a teacher finally showed up and pulled them apart. Abby was shocked that he first turned to the kid who had started it. 

“What happened?” the teacher asked them. 

“She attacked me-“ 

“I did not you liar!” Abby objected loudly. 

“You be quiet” The teacher ordered her. 

“But I didn’t-“ 

“Come on I’m taking you to the office now” the teacher ordered. He grabbed Abby’s arm and led her down the hallway. 

Not long after she was sitting outside the principal's office. She could hear everything going on inside. 

“She has a history of ditching” the teacher, Mr. Simons, was saying. “And now she’s picking fights.” 

“Abby skips because she isn’t learning anything in her classes if you put her in the advanced class-“ 

“That girl shouldn’t even be in regular classes,” Simons objected. “And don’t act like she’s some genius from the look of her I’d say she skips to go out drinking and do drugs-“ 

“Don’t you dare talk about my daughter like that!” Janice yelled. 

“Settle down both of you and Simons sit the hell down” the principal suddenly snapped. Then continued in a quieter but not any less tense tone “What exactly did Chris say happened?” 

“That she attacked him in the hallway” Simons stated “unprovoked” 

“Alright and what did Abby-“ 

“Why do you need any more convincing? It’s obvious what happened! What are you going to trust the word of some delinquent that can’t be bothered to show up to class or the straight A quarterback.” 

“My daughter is no liar!” Janice exclaimed. “She doesn’t go to class because she already knows everything that’s being taught cuz you refuse to put her in the advanced classes” 

“Do you really think a girl with elementary school education like Swiss cheese is actually going to make it in an advanced class?” Simons scoffed arrogantly. 

“She can remember everything that she’s ever read perfectly just ask her” Janice shot back. 

“Will you two stop!” The principal exclaimed and sighed. “I’m putting both students involved on temporary suspension” 

“What!” Simons exclaimed. The office descended into loud bouts of indiscernible yelling. Abby closed her eyes and tuned them and the world out the best she could. 

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_

“You alright?” Charlie asked hesitantly as him and Don left the Lorman group headquarters. 

“Yeah” Don murmured “It’s just all this stuff about predicting human potential I can’t help thinking about how it’d impact Abby you know?” he explained as the pair loaded into his SUV. “I mean she doesn’t really talk about it but I got enough from her social worker to know that her and Janice lived in some not great neighborhoods growing up.” 

“And this predictive model would have slighted against her despite her potential” Charlie inferred. 

“Exactly I mean she’s incredibly smart” Don explained “and I’ve been trying to go to bat with her regarding these advanced courses and stuff. Like, you were already in college at her age and she’s that same kind of smart. I just want her to have all the opportunities she deserves.” 

Charlie chuckled slightly “you know this side of you Abby brings out it- its kinda weird” 

“Yeah? Good weird or bad weird?” Don inquired. 

“Definitely good weird” Charlie assured. 

Don sighed “I guess I finally just understand what Mom and Dad meant when they said they wanted the world for us, you know. And that’s what I want for Abby” Don explained and Charlie smiled working very hard to keep his mouth shut about Abby’s letter from her teachers. 

_____________

Don glanced up at Abby as she ate her fries, her eyes scanning over the book she had laying on the table. They were eating dinner in their apartment now that he was back from the long case he’d just worked. The man took a deep breath deciding he had given her enough time “so I talked to Ms. Clive today and set up the time for the parent/teacher conference” 

Abby’s head snapped up so fast he was a little concerned “how did you? Did she tell you? Uh…” she fumbled over her words. 

Don scoffed setting down his burger “Abby, first off my job is to figure things out second off if you want a secret kept your uncle is the last person you should tell” Abby groaned putting her head in her hands and muttering a curse word or two towards Charlie. Don chuckled lightly “the only thing I don’t get is why you didn’t tell me. I mean, this is what you’ve been after forever I thought you would have jumped at it” 

“I was and I am… excited” Abby replied carefully biting her lip nervously which made Don shift in his seat. “It’s just… I know me going to college early is a big deal and it’s going to change things for me a- and for you and I didn’t want to make your life harder than I already had” 

Don was surprised by the confession and even more concerned as his daughter refused to make eye contact with him. He thought about what to say and only one thing came to mind “Abby I want the world for you” he told her. 

The girl looked up in surprise, her eyes meeting her father’s “what?”

“Listen I don’t care if this is going to change some things. Because I’m here for you” Don explained “Listen, I appreciate the concern but it’s the parents job to worry about the kid not the other way around or at least not until I’m old and gray” a small smile spread on Abby’s face. 

“Thanks Don” Abby told him. 

“Yeah, of course” Don nodded and he could tell Abby felt a lot better. Not just from this situation but it was like another wall had fallen down, chain had been released. And for him it was like another puzzle had been solved, another crisis averted. For both another step toward being family. 

Chapter 12 -> 

[knybits]

Howl’s Moving Castle! A Murder of One

sup gamers. machute inspired me and i didnt realize how accurate the parallels were with taniko and howls moving castle,,, so thanks @kny-writings and @thunderandrainclouds for pushing me to write this au!! 

Akiko as howl

Tanjirou as sophie

Bc tanjirou has such a kind heart and akiko has NONE

Akiko’s witch vibes,,, yes to all the jewelry and yes to pretty clothing 

But she prefers to have green eyes and black hair bc she thinks that looks best and her eyes hold a whole forest within them

Tanjirou still has the hat shop to have to take over later :,,) 

Tanjirou always covers his head w a hat bc lowkey hes self conscious of his scar aw poor bb 

Wicked witch of the waste is sanemi LMAO and he doesnt like tanjirou and cursed this mans to be an old gramps

But his hobby is to clean!! And akiko is a fat fucking mess in canon!! So yeah tanjirou pulls up to clean her absolute MESS of a castle 

And her crow miruna is calcifer. Kinda symbolic bc she later accepts miruna to be her heart again 

Lettie as nezuko!! Actual star of the bakery she works at 

Zenitsu are markle bc in the book, markle marries lettie :,)

I know howl and markle are supposed to be super like,,, dad and son type of bond, but akiko constantly yelling and zenitsu and zenitsu constantly messing up spells is way funnier

And tanjirou doesnt know jack shit ab witchcraft but hes there to support zenitsu and cook for the boy!! 

Inosuke is the dog lmaoo (wheezing noises) 

God shes so dramatic

After the bathroom fiasco, akiko’s eyes are purple and shes freaking the fuck out and starts to ooze the green liquid and cry so hard the whole port town is flooded

Sure her teacher was shinobu (solomon) but shes AFRAID OF HER and thats why she tells tanjirou to go in her stead as her “grandpa” 

Sanemi as a very nice and soft grandpa bc he has no more powers :,,)

And yES he loves dogs so he has goddy inosuke to pet all the time 

symbolic that she turns into the giant raven when shes out destroying enemy bombers

Tanjirou’s final form (like how sophie is young but w silver hair like fuck guys what a LOOK) is the really cool fire scar he has!!

Turnip head is genya :,,) who has a fat crush on tanjirou for being so kind to him 

Akiko gives tanjirou the WORLD. Shes not a fat mess anymore and embraces her golden eyes bc of tanjirou and when they move, the house looks like his old home and she brings the massive field of flowers to him 

So fuck yeah flower shop tanjirou be BACK 

She gives him the hanafuda earrings (like how howl gave sophie a ring) 

And when they get separated and tanjirou falls down the ravine with inosuke, his earrings flutter a little and lightly yank him towards the door

Young star bright eyes akiko as a child catching the falling star and making a deal with the devil miruna and tanjirou with his fire scar telling young akiko to find him later before being consumed by the Void 

So yeah, akiko has always loved tanjirou but we been knew

Akiko: ow why does my chest feel so heavy 

Tanjirou: thats the burden of a heart! 

And that ending scene with the music and theyre on the terrace flying in the air and akiko bends over to tanjirou to kiss him and theyre just so happy together 

[greenyvertekins]

Do you know how the sonic characters speak to each other in japanese?

What way do you mean exactly?

Like, their attitude? Or how some coversations differ from the English version?

- In the JP script and voice direction of numerous games that feature Sonic and Amy and the latter starts getting all lovey-dovey, the general impression that Sonic gets across is not that of revulsion and/or irritance (Like the English scripts and voice direction seem to want you to believe) but more in the form of bafflement and stand-offishness. In general, if ENG!Sonic is “>:|” then JP!Sonic is “0_o;;” regarding his attitude towards Amy’s crush on him.

- Orbot refers to Dr Eggman as “Eggman-sama”. Which is a mark of great respect. Though Dr Eggman himself often self-refers in this way too. Which exemplifies his pure arrogance and narcissism.

- JP!Sonic in SatSR refers to King Solomon as “Old man”/”Gramps”. He refers to Dr Eggman in JP Colours as “Mustachioed Egg”. Different from “Baldy McNosehair”. He calls Infinite a “Masked bastard” (”仮面野郎!”) when he confronts him alongside Silver.

[mystical-flute]

Come Sail Away Ch. 7

@ouathunter @spiritualpuzzleshipper, it’s finally done! 3,750 words later this fucker is DONE. I don’t even care if it’s bad. It’s done.

Sitting at the table long table with the rest of her squad and Kenji, Reika could barely focus on the words that Kenji was speaking. Nothing had been found in the Big Five's meeting room aside from a video feed into the virtual game Seto and the others had been trapped in, and they'd torn through anything else they (legally) could. Even so…

"How did they escape? Half of them are ancient!" Reika snapped as she looked at Kenji. Snapping in the middle of a meeting wasn't something she liked to do, but between everything that had happened the minute she'd gotten back to Domino and the nightmare the previous night, she was on edge.

 "I don't know," Kenji admitted. "We did, however, get Kemo and the other guards working with them into custody… I know that isn't much consolation."

 Reika gripped the table tight, trying not to let the wave of fear consume her. "If the Big Five are still out there… "

 "Trust me, I know. Until we find them we've increased surveillance around Kaiba Corp and around your grandfather's shop. Fuguta knows what needs to be done without arousing Mr. Kaiba's suspicions."

 Fuguta was a strong, capable bodyguard and fighter, but Reika had a hard time believing that Seto's suspicions wouldn't be raised after some amount of time. Seto was antsy about security on a good day, but after the events of the previous weekend – and God only knew how long this had been going on before the start of the Duelist Kingdom tournament – she knew Seto was probably in his office right now cleaning house of everyone that could have been involved in what happened.

 "Reika, why don't you present your findings from your work in the Pirate Dimension?" Kenji suggested, leaning back in his chair casually.

 She exhaled and stood, going to the front of the room.

 "The Straw Hat pirates are a… unique bunch. They are captained by Monkey D. Luffy, a Devil Fruit user. On his crew are the navigator Nami, swordsman Roronoa Zoro, chef Sanji, sniper Usopp and doctor Chopper. When I left them, they had just taken down a criminal organization known as Baroque Works, which was terrorizing the kingdom of Alabasta," she explained. "Its leader was Crocodile, a Shichibukai."

 Kenji's eyes widened. "You're telling me that some rookie pirate defeated a Shichibukai? How?"

 There was a deep chuckle from the doorway as Reika opened her mouth to answer. An unnaturally tall man wearing a green cloak looked in on the meeting with amusement, jet-black hair brushing against the large tattoo on his face. "Come now. You should know that Shichibukai are no better than any other pirate."

 Kenji was rendered speechless, and Reika had no idea who he was, but she saw Yume's brown hair bouncing behind the man, trying to get into the room. Finally, Yume managed to squeeze herself through the small opening the man left, clearing her throat as she addressed the room.

 "My apologies for interrupting your meeting… but I would like to introduce you all to Dragon. He's The Boss."

 The air was sucked from the room before there was a loud clatter of agents dropping to their knees before the man. That explained the mysterious phone call Yume had received the day before.

 "No need to bow to me," Dragon said as he stepped into the room, looking at Reika. "But tell me. What makes Luffy so powerful that he could defeat Crocodile?"

 "Unwavering loyalty to his friends," she replied immediately as she stood to her full height. "We became friends with the princess of Alabasta, and when we found out that Baroque Works had essentially taken over the kingdom… Luffy's loyalty pushed him to fight until they were defeated. He'd do it for anyone he considers family."

 "Including you?"

 "If he were able to reach me here, I think he would, yes."

 For a moment, Dragon's face was unreadable, and then a chuckle escaped from his throat. "Well then, it looks like Monkey D. Luffy is one that we should watch, hm?"

 "Yes sir."

 Watch for what, she didn't know, but whatever the question was, the answer was yes.

 "What's your name?" Dragon asked, black eyes looking at her, face betraying no emotion.

 "Mutou, sir. Reika Mutou."

 Dragon's lips twitched just slightly. "Good work on your report, Miss Mutou. I suspect we'll be in touch."

 Before Reika could respond, Dragon swept from the room, Yume following close behind. When they'd disappeared down the hall, there was a collective exhale of breath no one had realized were holding. Their mysterious figurehead was no longer mysterious. He was a human – an unnaturally tall human who looked like he could kill someone with one finger, but a human nonetheless.

 Kenji cleared his throat awkwardly. "Yes… I think that's sufficient for your report. We've finished up your documents so you'll be posing as a student while you're back in town, Reika."

 "Yeah… I've been meaning to ask about that. How long am I here?" she questioned with a small frown as she put her bag on her shoulder.

 "We figured four months would be the best time frame in both worlds. Your family will think you're spending the rest of the semester here, which will lead into summertime for American universities and your crew will think your grandfather made a miraculous recovery. In the meantime, you'll do surveillance for us here."

 "Did you need anything else from me today?"

 The man shook his head as they stepped out of the meeting room. "No, that's all. We'll have your things moved out of storage tomorrow, and they should be at the shop by Saturday."

 A majority of her things had been put into storage under pretense of being sent to her dormitory when she'd left to keep up the appearance of a college student. It would be nice to have them back.

 Running a hand through her hair, she smiled at Kenji as she was handed the envelope of falsified documents from another of their co-workers as she approached the exit, her phone beginning to buzz in her hand. "I'll see you guys later. Hello?" she questioned, putting the phone to her ear as she stepped into the sunshine.

 "Miss Mutou. It's good to hear your voice."

 "Seto? What's with the formality?" Frowning, Reika paused outside the building, leaning against the brick exterior casually.

 "I was speaking with my publicity chairwoman, and she believes that one way to improve the standing of Kaiba Corp's stocks and image would be to… perhaps, have a significant other. One that is public."

 "You want to go public with our relationship? I'm surprised," she said, frowning a little.

 "Only if you want to. I won't agree to it unless you're okay with it. You know that with it being exposed will mean that the press will be following after you." The formalities had dropped, so she suspected that he was now alone in his office.

 She looked around to make sure there was no one to overhear the conversation. "Well, with Yugi winning at Duelist Kingdom I suspect that's going to happen anyway. So what's the grand plan to show off our relationship? Certainly your publicity team has come up with something."

 "Naturally. Apparently there's some sort of museum exhibit on ancient Egypt coming to town and I got an exclusive invitation to its gala opening."

 "I didn't realize you were a fan of ancient Egypt, Seto."

 "I'm not. The past belongs in the past and not a priority in anyone's life But I know you are."

 "How sweet that you'd go to something like that for me. So when is this gala?" she asked, stepping into the shop as the small bell chimed over her head.

 "Tomorrow night."

 "You don't leave a girl much time to get a dress, Mr. Kaiba."

 "Sorry. I'll be by to pick you up at seven."

 "Okay – I'll call you later," she said quickly when she noticed her grandfather stepping into the room with a bag in his hand. "Hey gramps. What's with the bag?"

 He chuckled softly, guiding her into the kitchen with a wave. "Do you remember my old friend Arthur?"

 "Sure, he was around all the time when I was a kid. You went on all of those epic adventures together, right?"

 "That's right. Well, he's visiting Tokyo for his research and it just so happens to line up with a Duel Monsters convention, so I thought I would go visit him and go to the convention. It's supposed to be a big deal now that the Duelist Kingdom tournament is over and Yugi is the winner."

 Her lips quirked into a smile as she got a glass of water and took a sip. "Let me guess, Aunt Kumi is going with you to supervise you so you don't get into too much trouble?"

 "I'm going to get some more insight into the game that my son seems to love so much. But yes, I imagine that there's going to be plenty of supervising of your grandfather," her aunt replied, stepping into the room with her suitcase. "What about you, Reika? Any plans while we're gone?"

 "Seto invited me to attend the opening of a museum exhibit on ancient Egypt with him," she said with a small shrug.

 Her grandfather's eyes lit up at the news, but Kumi's lips pressed together in a thin line. "Oh. You and that boy are still friends after what happened to your grandfather?"

 There was a harsh remark on her tongue, but her grandfather managed to step in before she spoke up.

"Kumi, I forgave him for what happened. He's been Reika's friend for years. We all are susceptible to the darkness inside of us, and at the end of the day, what's important to me is my friendship with Arthur. Who, by the way, I'm going to miss if we don't leave now," the older man said soothingly, obviously sensing the tension in the room that was bubbling just under the surface.

 Her aunt looked like she wanted to say something more, but  settled for a sigh and a nod, walking out of the room before her grandfather pulled her in for a hug.

 "We'll talk when Kumi and I get back. Enjoy the exhibit, Reika."

 "Thanks Gramps…" she whispered, pulling away and watching Solomon follow Kumi out the shop, the door slamming to signal their departure, and she let out a heavy sigh leaning her head against wall and listened to the steady tick of the clock.

 "Tomorrow night, everything changes…" Azila said.

 All she could do was let out a bitter chuckle as she looked into the reflection in the glass pot on the stove next to her. "You have no idea how right you are."

 The next day came, and before she knew it, she was zipping up her new deep red gown, staring at herself in the mirror as she tucked a stray blonde curl behind her ear, listening to the muffled sounds of what she was quickly finding out was the chaos that came with her cousin's friends, who were staying over that night.

 Azila hovered over her shoulder, smiling regally at her. "You look like you could take my place as queen."

 Reika gave the reflection a wry smile. "Thank you. I'm just glad I found something with a high enough back to cover the scar…" Her back twinged at the thought.

 "Why not wear your scar with pride? Does this world think it shameful  to have a battle scar?" Azila asked, tilting her head in confusion.

 "That's the problem, Azila," she sighed, putting on a light pink lipstick. "Battle scars aren't as common anymore. Especially ones that were caused by a man with a hook for a hand. Because in this world… that's just a fairy tale."

 The sound of the door opening caught her attention then, and she grabbed her purse and went downstairs quickly to intervene if need be.

 "Kaiba? What are you doing here?" came Yugi's confused tone.

 "Yeah, rich boy. Don't you know the shop's closed?"

 Seto's eyes narrowed dangerously as he stood tall in a purple trench coat that seemed to defy gravity, but a smirk broke out on his face when he caught Reika's eye. "Relax Wheeler, I'm not here to shop. I'm here to pick up my date."

 "What the hell? Who would – "

 "You really don't want to finish that sentence, Joey," she finally said, looking around the room. "I'll be back tonight to tell you guys about the exhibit."

 Yugi's face lit up, although Reika couldn't tell if it was because of the news of the date or because she was going to the exhibit. "Have fun! I can't wait to hear all about it. Maybe you'll find some clues for the spirit of the puzzle!"

 "That's what I'm hoping," she replied with a smile toward her cousin as Seto's hand settled against her lower back, leading her out the door.

 When they pulled up to the museum, the lights from the photographers nearly blinded her. Did they really have so many journalists in Domino?

 "Hm. Less than I thought there'd be," Seto hummed from her left. "Are you ready?"

 "Ready as I'll ever be," she replied, twisting the bracelet so the golden eye faced her body instead of the cameras as Roland pulled the door open, the chattering of journalists beginning to ring in her ear.

 It was subtle, but something transformed in Seto's face as he stepped out of the car and held his hand out to help her. He seemed to be taller, more rigid as they made their way up the museum steps, her violet eyes darting around to each voice shouting for them, his sharp blue staring straight at the doors, his arm firm against her back.

 They made it through the glass doors of the museum, and she exhaled in relief as they walked around, looking at the artifacts. Azila chimed in once in a while, remarking about how she remembered this or that.

 "Seto Kaiba!"

 She noticed Seto's jaw tighten as an equally tall man with salt and pepper hair and blue eyes sauntered up to them.

 "Fujio Yamazaki," Seto greeted curtly. "I'm surprised they invited you to something like this."

 Fujio smirked. "Why Mr. Kaiba, Yamazaki Industries are doing just fine even without the help of your step-father's company. Why wouldn't we be invited to this beautiful event? I'm surprised you even showed up considering your hate for history."

 "Yes, well, as you can see I'm not alone. I can do things for someone other than myself, you know."

 Reika's spine straightened as high as it would go as she gazed at the man with a plastic smile on her face. "Reika Mutou. I'm studying archaeology so when Seto called and told me about the exhibit, how could I pass it up? It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Yamazaki."

 She wished she could have a photograph of the shock on the older man's face as he wordlessly held out his hand, shaking hers and regarding Seto with a strange look before walking away.

 "I don't know how you managed to shut him up so quickly. Good work," Seto said with an amused look on his face as they walked around the museum.

 Reika grinned, pausing in front of a small statue as Seto was called away by one of the museum employees.

 "Great Royal Consort Azila…" she murmured, seeing the bracelet light up, and she pressed it into her side to hide the light. "What is this thing doing?"

 "Gathering power… being around my statue again, and these other things that were around in my life… it's making my power grow. That way people can actually see me face to face instead of just in a mirror. I can help better that way."

 "Yes, I suppose so…"

 "Excuse me, I don't mean to sound rude, but did you come in with Seto Kaiba?" a voice asked from behind her.

 She blinked and turned around, finding herself face to face with an older woman, who looked like she couldn't be much older than seventy. "Oh, yes, I did. Why do you ask?"

 The old woman smiled at the confirmation. "I'm so glad to hear that. It's about time that boy found someone that makes him happy. He deserves it after putting up with Gozaburo for so long."

 "I – what? Who said anything about – "

 "I have known Seto Kaiba since he was adopted, and I know he wouldn't have invited you here if you didn't mean something to him," the woman said with a chuckle, eyeing her again. "I am Maho Takagi. My company and I are partners with Kaiba Corporation."

 Reika bowed respectfully. "My name is Reika Mutou. It's nice to meet you, ma'am."

 "You as well. Are you a fan of ancient history?"

 She nodded, trying not to let the still-glowing bracelet be visible to the woman's gaze. "I am, yes. It runs in my family I think. My grandfather is a massive fan of it as well. He's taken some trips to Egypt and I'd love to go myself one day."

 Reika and Maho continued to walk through the exhibit, Reika taking mental notes about pieces that were connected to the mysterious Pharaoh that had taken up residence in the Puzzle.

 "Mrs. Takagi. I didn't know you were invited to this little gathering," the unmistakable voice of her boyfriend rumbled, his shadow casting a slight bit of darkness over the shorter woman's head. "It's good to see you."

 "Ah! There you are Seto."

 Seto inclined his head. "I'm afraid we can't stay much longer. I need to get started on a new project we're developing. I'll call on you when I'm ready for some extra help," he explained, putting an arm around Reika's waist.

 Maho rolled her eyes in amusement. "You're always ready to leave whenever things start to get good. It was lovely to meet you, Reika. I hope you're both very happy together."

 She nodded and smiled, walking out of the museum with Seto. The press had cleared out during the few hours they'd been inside, much to her relief.

 "Mrs. Takagi was very sweet. So what were you called away about?" she asked when they were back in the privacy of the car.

 Seto pulled a card out of his jacket pocket and handed it to her. "This. It's called an Egyptian God Card. The woman running the exhibit gave it to me… and she gave me an idea."

 She didn't like the look of this card, and she heard Azila's sharp intake of breath. "An idea? What sort of idea?"

 "You'll have to wait and see. I'll announce it soon."

 "You don't even want to tell your girlfriend your grand idea?"

 "I can't, we're already back at your game shop," he smirked as the car stopped.

 "You got lucky this time," she chuckled, stepping out of the car after giving him a quick kiss. "Talk to you tomorrow." She turned to wave goodbye to Roland before going inside.

 Predictably, the living room was a mess, half-empty bags of chips and soda bottles were shoved together on one table, and a Dungeon Dice Monsters board lay half-played on another. Duel Monsters cards were carefully resting near their owners. Five sleeping teenagers were spread out around the room, and Reika smiled softly. There was no need to disturb them tonight.

 It was going to be hard enough to explain the appearance of ancient Egyptian spirits living in jewelry when everyone had a full night of rest.

 The swnw stood just inside the king's throne room, clutching her medical equipment tight to her as she stared at the tall man at the window. The room had a heavy air of grief and sadness, and she felt her chest tighten just slightly. It wasn't too late to turn and run from the room, to insist that another look after the pharaoh, but she knew they already had a level of trust, and to tear that from him so soon after everything would do more harm than good.

 She cleared her throat. "My king – "

 "Is it time already?" the man replied, cutting off her sentence before it even began. He sighed heavily and took a seat at his throne. "Let's get this over with. I have a lot of work that needs to be done."

 She shuffled over without a word, beginning the checkup of their beloved Pharaoh. "They say you have not been eating well, my king. As your swnw I'm conc – "

 "I am the ruler of Egypt, overseeing massive rebuilding efforts, and mourning the loss of my best friend. Forgive me if I seem to be unable to eat," he snapped at her, his eyes narrowing. "If you continue to push me like this, I will have you and everyone gossiping about me, killed."

 Her chin rose in defiance as she continued her checkup. "Then at least I would die doing my job – trying to keep Egypt's king alive. Haven't we lost enough, Pharaoh Seto? I don't think Egypt could bear another blow. He wouldn't want this, would he?" she implored.

 His lips curled into a frown, never a look a servant should want to see when talking to their king."No. He wouldn't want this. Thank you Azila."

[antics-pedantic]

RALLY CO. #3: THE RACKETEER PART 3

          Rib-Eye Renzo was valuable. That’s why Don Malvoli holed him up in a hotel whose owner was on their take. Cozy little spot, though hardly luxurious. So he tried to sneak out as often as he could to go shopping for things to help stave off the frustration of being stuck here until the job was done. Malvoli’s thugs were his security, but Renzo knew ways to convince them into relaxing their guard.

          “Mister Renzo! Whatcha getting’ us today?”

          The neighborhood kids were set to heckle him again. But Renzo didn’t mind: For a little pocket change he’d buy them some candy or a small toy. He couldn’t spend too much all at once, but it felt nice to at least do something until this business working for Don Malvoli was squared away. The nearest grocer or butcher shop would provide him with ribeye steaks, the fresher the better. And then he could resume his divining for the gang.

          Just as he was carrying his paper bags of personal things like toilet paper and deodorant—and a lone plastic bag, tied to secure the ribeye steaks within, he bumped into someone who had stopped by to purchase the latest newspaper from a corner stand run by a teenager.

          “Oh! Dreadfully sorry, my man. Allow me to help you.” said the fellow Renzo bumped into.

          “Aw! I’m sorry, I shoulda been payin’ attention. Real lousy and lout-like I was—what.”

          Renzo perked up when he recognized the famous occult detective, Solomon Callahan! Did that mean that Callahan was onto him? And that Rally Co. bunch that had come back—he’d heard of them! And how they fought ferociously against fiends, despite being new to the adventuring scene.

          “Something the matter, my friend?” said Solomon. The older man couldn’t place what it was, but he tried to maintain a calm appearance. Solomon had no intention of frightening Renzo. In fact, the occult detective wasn’t even looking for him.

          “Here, you dropped your ribeye steaks! Fresh looking cuts, you’re a lucky—”

          But mid-speech, Renzo had just stood up and started jogging away, terrified. Solomon took up the groceries and hurried after, confused but determined to ask what was bothering the poor man.

X

          “Ya told me you wasn’t followed!” exclaimed a woman in a fancy vest, and shirt with folded up sleeves. One of Don Malvoli’s captains: Menace Melanie, as she was called.

          “Get off my back, Mel!” sputtered another gangster, who had tied a bandanna around his mouth. “It was a whole blasted chase! And look!”

          The lowly gangster gestured to his car: Three other enforcers, all knocked out.

          “If I hadn’t taken the wheel and covered my mouth… You shoulda caught a whiff of that juice! They had these fancy pellet-capsule things filled with the crap. Each shot enough to lay out my boys. I ways swayin’ through traffic just catching the secondhand… gas!”

          “Well whaddya waiting for?!” bellowed Melanie, before waving to a few other goons to grab their weapons. “They’re gonna crash this joint real soon! So we gotta nix ‘em before all our product and operations in this neighborhood get busted!”

          “No, I mean—there it is now!”

          Melanie turned to see some of the pellet-capsule things colliding with the wall: She’d just lost a couple more guys to these things, as Felix and Tycho came charging in.

          “Prepare ta be blasted!” bellowed Tycho, letting loose with a barrage of impellets. The remaining gangsters let loose with their own weapons, as impellets and bullets flew every which way.

          “I’ll do the blasting, pintsworth!”

          Ez wasn’t far off, flicking the cap off of a test tube and lobbing it forward to create a small explosion.

          “They missed us! We’ve got ‘em!” cried a gangster.

          “You idiot!” screeched Melanie. “It’s a smoke bomb!”

          Melanie stumbled through the smoke, trying to get away when she caught a glimpse of Felix trailing after her. Ez snuck up on a gangster from behind and poured a handful of impellets into their back, forcing them forward and falling into an open crate. Tycho found a ladder propped up against a stack of crates, and began to climb it, before dropping onto a gangster with a body slam.

          “Your number’s up, Mel!” exclaimed Felix, between coughs as the criminal captain struggled to open a backdoor that would have led into the alleyways.

          “I ain’t done yet, you goody two-shoes!”

          Menace Melanie drew a switchblade and thrusted it forward at Felix, who took up her jutte with her free hand and used it to redirect the blade in a circular motion. The lightning fast motion twisted Melanie’s arm and forced her to let go.

          “We want to know about the rising star.” said Felix sternly. “Don Malvoli. Last I heard, the old bosses weren’t stirring up such trouble.”

          “You’re right about that—guy’s a pain in the ass. He had a lot of grief with all the other syndicates. Our old lead, Gramps Toretti took him in on account of the fact Malvoli wouldn’t have made it on the streets on his own as a youngster. But too much pity went around for that little bastard. He had free rein to live comfy. Took some of our… less disciplined people and they all put together a plan. Took out Toretti together.”

          “And now you’re just following him? Isn’t anyone going to stand up?”

          “You don’t get it: He made friends with all the meanest legbreakers, and the saps who run the numbers, balance our business books. All the guys we used to keep in check before he talked Toretti into letting ‘em roll with him. An idiot like Malvoli needs people stronger and smarter than him to buy into his schemes. And if nothing else, Malvoli could sell a sob story. Made all of the slimeballs—even among mobsters, see themselves in him.”

          Felix scowled at the thought. Malvoli might have had a rough life, but that was no excuse for his actions now. The only one he aimed to help now that he had the power to do so, was himself! All others would be his pawns. Loyal to him, but never the reverse.

          “I’ll tell you where he is, if you think you’re tough enough to stick it to him.” said Melanie. “But be warned: He’s turned to some mumbo jumbo and monsters. Another reason why we couldn’t jump him ourselves. But I hear you Rally Co. people got some tricks of your own in the weirdo department.”

          “Quite a way to phrase it, but yes.”

          Felix dragged Melanie back over with her fellows, and the lot of them were bound to a pole with chains found by Tycho. Once Felix had the information she wanted, she nudged the shorter adventurer.

          “I’m going to call Solomon to inform him of our findings. I thought I’d let you know there’d be a cryptid involved.”

          “Any idea what kind?” said Tycho.

          “Hopefully nothing large. I could do without a big monster for a while… That and I doubt its size because I’d have caught wind about the gangs carrying something like that, or using it against enemies.”

          Meanwhile, from a nearby van parked on the curb, a couple of jumpsuit-clad working men were staking out the scene: And In the back, one more of their number keeping a caged beast at bay.

          “They’re boutta go.” said a gangster, adjusting their jumpsuit and cap repairman disguise. “Let that thing out already before they get away.”

          “Youse got it.”

          The third gangster opened the rear doors, and turned the cage to open it: As Felix had suspected, it wasn’t a terribly large cage. But it was spacious enough the nimble cryptid within could move around. Agility was the ally of this one.

          “Hey, is it out yet?!”

          “Don’t scream at it, Agata—”

          But it was too late. The nimble little cryptid reached out a limb and latched onto Agata’s face, becoming a flurry of pain for the two gangsters up front. At least, until one of them could roll down the window in time to allow the cryptid to escape. But by the time they did, their faces looked as if they’d been belted one too many times by a handful of stones and a nightstick.

          “If I was one of them gangsters, Felix,” started Tycho, as the two headed back for the car. “I’d get one of the biggest, meanest jerks I could. And tough luck if they’re too chicken to get a real beasty! In fact, I’ll bet they just up and got an oversized chicken to come after us.”

          But before Felix could respond, the two perked up at a sound: Something hopping along the roofs of the parked cars. Felix would reach into her jacket for a weapon, but by the time she’d fired off a couple of impellets, the approaching aggressor had seemingly vanished. When she turned, she spotted Tycho wresting with something, as the two fell into the shadows of an alleyway.

          “Tycho?!”

          Tycho was swinging his fists, trying to find his opponent, but something caused him to bash his fists into the nearby brick wall. He would have cried out, but the cryptid had its tail around his mouth. It had meant to ensnare his throat, but the stout cryptozoologist was not easily taken.

          “I can’t get a clear shot!” exclaimed Felix. She tried to move in to pry the thing off of Tycho, but he gestured for her to stay back. As Tycho teetered back into the light, she could see just what it was: Some sort of monkey, but the tail seemed to have a stony layer, rendering it a deadly weapon.

          “Mmmph!” Tycho sounded off. Just as Felix watched, Katrina and Ez had wheeled up in the car. Katrina of course, was quick to try and use her telekinesis to tr and remove the cryptid. But as its legs were forced off, it simply latched on with its arms, while its stony tail whacked Tycho over the head repeatedly.

          “Eep!” cried Katrina. She pulled at the arms now. It latched on again with the legs, that club-like tail battering Tycho some more until finally, Katrina got the idea to levitate it by its tail.

          “Tycho! Oh, I am so sorry dear.” said Katrina. “Are you well?”

          But the Irishman was dizzy from the assault. And all he could blurt out was:

          “Slàinte!”

          “I’m almost glad for Malvoli’s rotten luck…” sighed Ez. “Felix being able to intercept Dr. Leistung’s creation, and now Katrina capturing this little nuisance? Otherwise Don Malvoli might have actually had a hypercompetent fighting force.”

          “Issa Granite-tailed Howler.” puffed Tycho, holding his head in his hands as he recovered. “They’re not as bad in the wild if ye leave ‘em alone. But this one was steamin’ mad.”

          “Ah, that’s always how it is with distant relatives, you foolhardy orangutan!” said Ez, getting some things from her bag. “Come here, Tycho. Let me see how badly that thing hurt you.”

X

          The next morning, Don Malvoli was at a golf course upstate, outside of the city of Arcadia. But despite his best efforts, he never could seem to get a hole in one… or anything resembling getting his golf ball into the hole. And his instructor had long since been threatened into near silence. Rib-Eye Renzo was driving a golf cart over to Malvoli’s spot, with the third gangster from the night prior—who had disguised themselves as a repairman or some such.

          “Renzo! What gives?! I thought I told youse to stay put!”

          “That’s just it, boss!” cried Renzo. “I ran into Solomon Callahan on the way to getting more divining steaks. And this goomba here says they not only busted Menace Melanie, they caught your cryptid!”

          “What?! But I ordered a big monster!” spat Malvoli, moving for the repairman-gangster with an impotent thirst for blood in his eyes. But Renzo had stepped in.

          “Wouldn’t you eh… rather have me peer into the future? I only got one steak left and it’s been goin’ bad fast!”

          “What? Oh, aw right, Renzo. Keep me updated… They mighta found youse, but I guess you technically ain’t failed me yet.”

           Renzo nodded meekly and took out a plastic bag he’d filled with ice. There was a ribeye steak starting to lose its crimson shade. But he held it up to his eye, as it peered through the round bone, and into the future.

          “Well?” said Malvoli.

          “I see… I see…!” chanted Renzo. Malvoli just stared for a while, before Renzo slapped the steak a bit before putting it back up to his eye. Malvoli himself proceeded to slap Renzo about the face.

          “Whaddya see, wiseguy?!”

          “Gah! Alright, alright! I see lotsa guns firing. Rally Co., and a spectacular ambush!”

          “Is it ours or theirs?!”

          “I can’t see so good no more. This steak’s bit the dust.”

          Malvoli’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head at Renzo’s inability to clarify. But then he just started laughing.

          “That’s good, that’s good! I’m gonna set up an ambush of my own… That way, Rally Co. ain’t gonna get the jump on us! Cause see, we’ll get the jump on them!”

          “Wow. Real swell plan, boss.”

          “Damn right. Now get outta my sight. Get yourself some new steaks!”

          Renzo nodded and scurried back to the cart. But before the gangster-repairman could join him, Malvoli beckoned for him to turn around. And then with a swing, Malvoli walloped the nine-iron against the repairman-gangster’s rump, an anguished cry ensuing as Malvoli forked over some extra money for his golf instructor to help him beat the underling up.

          Renzo had caught a ride back to the city. Took a walk for a while to clear his head, but that did little good for the stress. So it was back to his safehouse to try and relax. He’d go in thirty minutes to get a fresh steak. Working for Don Malvoli was such pressing work—in the past he’d just been counted upon to help win at gambling. Horse races and blackjack at the underground casinos and backroom card games. Still criminal, but Gramps Toretti kept him away from any drugs or death-dealing actions. Easy enough since Toretti put the organized in organized crime. Settled things with conferences between the local syndicate leads before coming to blows. Now, it was like Don Malvoli used him for every little thing. Regardless whether there was blood to be had or not.

And under Malvoli, they went from fencing goods, gambling and embezzlement to plans for heavier drug trafficking, protection and loan sharks, arms dealing, and controlling prostitution with an iron grip. And with that the rival syndicates would step up to try and match Malvoli’s high stakes operations. Renzo felt a little guilty at first—Toretti’s jobs weren’t exactly noble. But now they were taking more money from the neighborhoods and less from the banks or the suits uptown.

          There was a knock at Renzo’s door. One of the thugs guarding Renzo had drawn a pistol, and gone to check: It was some of the kids from down the block. The ones he’d bought candy for whenever he was out.

          “Mister Renzo, you can’t do this!”

          “What?! What’d I do?!” cried Renzo. One of the kids had lunged at Renzo, battering him with their fists to a little over minimal effect.

          “Papa’s store! Your bums wrecked Papa’s store! He never snitched on your gang, and this is how you pay him back?!”

          Renzo shouldn’t have been shocked. But Leonardi’s shop was around as long as Renzo could remember. Renzo himself used to go in there to bring the best ingredients home to cook. And now here was Leonardi’s kid, blind in his desire for bloody vengeance.

          “That’s enough, peanut.” said the guard, ushering the children away. “Get lost before you get hurt.”

          Renzo sat there a while. This had to end. He was privy on Don Malvoli’s schemes. Heck, even out of his good graces he could combine his knowledge of the mob with his divining power. Put an end to this all! But how could he? The police would never trust him. And Rally Co. was crashing as many operations in town as they could, weren’t they?

          “Hey, yer steaks are here. I didn’t know they delivered.”

          “Huh?”

          “Yeah! All classy-like with that suit. At least ya don’t have to worry about going out in public no more for a while.”

          Renzo looked up to see Solomon Callahan as the door closed. He held in his hands a small crystal, of which Renzo caught a glow. It was the sort of arcane stone that alerted one to other mystical powers in the area, the glow stronger the closer the source was. And once the door shut and Renzo had a chance to test one of the steaks, Solomon was certain he’d found the place: The crystal grew even more brilliantly.

          “Mr. Callahan?”

          It was Felix. She had helped Solomon stake the street, and follow Renzo around the area unseen.

          “That fellow you said you needed help shadowing. Is he?...”

          “Not so loud, my young friend. But yes, you were right.”

          Solomon gestured for Felix to follow him outside. They could not linger here, but they also did not depart from this street right away. The more experienced occult detective between the pair of investigators pressed his index and middle fingers to the temple of his skull, and he glanced back up.

          “Do not make a sound. Your bodyguard needn’t know of this commune.”

          “It really was you!” thought Renzo, responding to Solomon’s telepathy. “I’ll come quietly. I’ll confess to everything, but you’ve got to get your Rally Co. bunch to lay off! I want to help bring in Don Malvoli!”

          “Perhaps. But for the time being we need you to stay in his good graces. Can we count on you, Renzo?”

          “Yeah! Youse ain’t gonna regret this none, Callahan. But I should warn ya: After some fortune telling, Malvoli’s settin’ up an ambush of his own.”

          “Where?”

          “Dunno yet. He’s been private with that info. You’ll have to be careful wherever youse guys track him!”

          Solomon looked over to Felix.

          “Felix. Inform the others: Rib-Eye Renzo is with us. But Don Malvoli has prepared an ambush at an unknown time and location.”

          Felix’s eyes widened with astonishment at Renzo’s change of heart. But nodded.

          “I’ll do you one better, sir: I’ll snoop around and find out just what… then we’ll mount our own counter-attack!”

[swingbakuraryou]

What if Grandpa Mutou challenged Father Bakura into finding the Ring?

(Click below for crack mun musings.  Aka: Thoughts that run through your brain as you lie in bed b/c you don’t want to get up.)

We know Grandpa Mutou has large network of friends, peers and colleagues. He's addressed as "Doctor" which implies he has a Ph.D. then we have Professor Hawkins, and the (student?) Alex Brisbane. All interested or know about the interesting history of Ancient Egypt, Millennium Items, it's lore or something similar.

So, it wouldn’t be far fetched to say that there is a collective interest in these items.  Bakura's father is describes as someone who knows a lot about ancient artifacts, is an antiques dealer and owns a museum.  There are 2 renditions of him from Bakura's memories, one a muted blue haired, small framed man in your stereotypical archeologist brown canvas outfit with a pair of near half moon glasses, then in DSOD, we have the focused, broad shouldered, thick rimmed glasses, facial haired, bow tie, decked out in a nice tweed professor suit in the middle of Egypt, father.  That being said, a quick Google search of the biographies of museums like that of the Natural History Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Arts, the education level for an Art Curator or Museum Director is that of a Masters or a Ph.D.  So this kid's dad is not some simple treasure chaser, and the first homely rendition of his father buying the ring off a street vendor is likely a lie Ryou tells to himself and others.

We know that Grandpa loves games, his dialogue when looking for the Millennium Puzzle is so Indiana Jones he might as well be, he travels, interprets, he reads, he risks and he continues to show that anticipatory excitement and curiosity as his grandson solves the Puzzle.  We also see how he likes to talk games with is best friend Professor Hawkins (to anyone really, even goes out to meet with that Brisbane because "games!"), and both their grand children share their love of games.  So Gramp's thrill game seeking habits has not died in his old age and is willing to gamble his life for a good game. Then, we have Bakura's Dad, who is described to have been searching for the Ring for most of his life and is depicted, in both renditions, an intellectual man, the second having a similar air to the young Solomon Mutou.  With similar interests and maybe personalities, it could be possible that they would have known each other in passing and shared discussions. 

Their age gape could easily place them as Professor Motou and an undergrad or graduate level Mr. Bakura. And with Grandpa's light personality, habit of making side remarks, and gambling nature, it would not be hard for him to light heartedly challenge a young rising student or researcher of ancient studies and/or ancient art history, like Bakura's dad, into looking for the other Millennium artifact that rivals the Puzzle that he found.  He may have even been the one to mention the rumor that the Millennium Items can grant wishes or bestow ancient power as a playful tease.  Such a conversation would be nothing underhanded, but as a possible deliberate nudge, and to a young Mr. Bakura, it may feel like a hint of recognition and respect from the acclaimed Dr. Mutou.  And the wish or power aspect of the Ring only coming into play after he loses his wife and daughter.

So I surmise (yes only surmise b/c I'm not going to do too deep into crazy evidence, that's just not me), that beyond Shadi, Grandpa Motou possessed an extraordinary amount knowledge of the Millennium items.  And once he had found the most sought after treasure, he was done, but trickled down whatever knowledge he had of the other items, likely the Ring, to another.   Because  out of all the records of the items that could have been created, I would guess that there would be more written about the connection between the Puzzle and the Ring, especially because it was the Pharaoh with the Puzzle that sealed away a great evil into the Ring, that’s an important history connection.

And that’s all I got for you.  That was all for fun btw.

[greenyvertekins]

Just wondering, can you list the differences between Sega of Japan Sonic and English-translated Sonic? I've heard that Japanese Sonic is way better than his western potrayls, but I'm not sure how??

I’ll just do a general overview of the most prominent differences and/or ones that stick-out the most to me personally. If I was going to list most or every little difference(s) in the character between the scripts (ESPECIALLY for the Adventure games and Colours), this would be very long.

- JP!Sonic utter engrish fairly frequently. This is presumably a nod to his seiyuu’s sidejob as an English teacher. This quirk isn’t present in ENG!Sonic for obvious reasons.

- JP!Sonic’s pronoun is “Ore”. Which is a masculine and somewhat boastful manner of saying “I”/Referring to oneself. The English language….doesn’t really have equivalents. Hence this element is missing from ENG!Sonic.

- JP!Sonic’s attitude towards Amy when she starts acting upon her crush on him seems much less “She’s obnoxious/Repugnant" (Like the ENG dubs seem to want you to believe) and more “Oh no not again :o”/”She weirds me out”

- JP!Sonic in X at least had a habit of referring to Knuckles as “Nakko”. That’s a nickname derived from the Japanese pronunciation of Knuckles’ name (”Nakkurusu”/ナックルズ).

- JP!Sonic referring to Dr Eggman….as Dr Eggman wasn’t intended to be an insult of his own creation like the English dub of Adventure indicates simply because that’s what the doc had always been referred-to in Japanese materials since the very beginning of the series. So when Sonic sees the doc in Mystic Ruins in Adventure before Egg Hornet, there’s no insulting overtones in the Japanese script in the speech between him and the doctor. As…Yuji Naka I believe said, “Dr Eggman” is an “affectionate” nickname by Sonic with Robotnik being his family name. It’s an appropriated appellation in English.

- JP!Sonic in SatSR refers to King Solomon as “Gramps”/”Old man”. Missing from the English script. He also exhibits a touch more arrogance in the ending cutscene, referring to himself as “A pretty awesome Hedgehog” upon sealing Erazor.

- JP!Sonic in SA2 allowed himself to be captured by GUN a second time so that he could be taken to Prison Island and hence have more of a chance at tracking down Shadow. This ingenuity is not at all displayed in the English script.

- JP!Sonic in SA2′s exploding capsule scene noticeably paused for longer after he said his “last words” to Tails and before he said them to Amy. This possibly implies that he was contemplating saying something different to her but settled on “Take care”

Those are the main differences that come to mind right now.