nadventure15

Jonouchi:

You can build your own destiny all ya want, cat-boy, but it don’t mean dog shit when luck ain’t on your side. And lemme tell ya somethin' Lady Luck loves me.

Pipe down, kitty. Ya keep puffin' up like a panther when all you're is a declawed house cat with a flea problem. Adorable.

Kaiba, you're nothing but a first-rate ego with a fifth-rate budget.

Kitty, Cat-Boy, Alley stray, Declawed house kitten

Kaiba:

You’re not a duelist, Wheeler, just a gambler with a budget. The only board meeting you belong in is at a blackjack table.

You're just a lapdog in a tuxedo barking orders and drawing cards like it’s a slot machine.

You may have the money, but I have the brains. Your success is a statistical anomaly. Let’s see who wins when luck finally fails you.

Serenity/Shizuka takes care of his PR and fills the Mokuba role - I imagine she dresses smartly, in nice suit, and is generally amiable with the main cast

Joey's deck leans even further into the luck factor - but he also lines up win-win situations for himself: Time Wizard will either wipe Yugi's field or puts a bunch of cards in the graveyard he wants there

His animosity is mostly towards Kaiba - towards Yugi, he's chummy, if condescending, though the amity isn't quite returned even if Yugi still sees the good in him.

Red-Eyes and its other forms is still his ace, and Solomon Muto either has one instead of a Blue-Eyes, or Joey hunts down Blue-Eyes so that they can't overpower his Red-Eyes. If the former, Joey puts every new Red-Eyes he finds into some kind of death game, like holding it over a cup of water and seeing if it lands inside to decide if he'll keep it or eliminate a potential competitor

His business strategy seems utterly deranged to his board, taking risks that seem insane to them, but he makes them so much money that they quickly pipe down once the cards are on the table. But sometimes, a risk that seems right up his alley, even a small one, will be rejected out-of-hand. He's got a sixth-sense for a good gamble.

Either he ends up with the Winged Dragon of Ra (maybe using something more like the TCG version, where it drains your lifepoints to the last drop for its strength, seems up this version's alley, living on the edge) or he forgoes the God Cards as a gimmick and designs a strategy or card to counter them

Main weakness - love of the thrill, of course. When caught up in the thrill of the game, Yugi or Kaiba can lure him into rolling those dice or flipping that coin one too many times, or setting up their own situation where his successful gamble turns against him - for example, the Dark Sage as seen in Duelist Kingdom. He absolutely pulls the slit-my-throat-with-your-card gambit on Yugi to try and save Serenity from Pegasus.

Kaiba -

Still arrogant, still extremely confident, still a talented duelist, but terminally poor and short on strong cards. His ace is a single Blue-Eyes White Dragon, a gift from Mokuba - maybe getting his hands on it was part of what lands him in the hospital and drives him to Duelist Kingdom

He still has a tooth-and-nail rivalry with Yugi, but it's constructive one where they feed on the other's energy and competitive spirit, and see the other winning as the drive to push on and become even better. They trade barbs and insults that Kaiba wouldn't let slide from anyone else, and they'll be grinning in one-another's face as they trash-talk. Yugi takes his "I'm the only one allowed to beat you" talk as even more friendship power.

He plays all kinds of mind games to trick his opponent into overextending or leaving themselves open and lets out Blue-Eyes when the time is right and he's got a clear path to victory, or a strong move. He wants to gather three Blue-Eyes White Dragons, and for a recovered Mokuba to see them on the field all at once. In the Battle City finals, he absolutely seizes a come-from-behind victory with Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon in a nefarious strategy to get all three on the field at once.

His deck starts weak, and duels his skills could win, his cards lose - but through sheer tenacity and force of will, as well as plenty of strategy, he starts to pick up wins, and new, stronger cards. He still leans on seemingly weak cards that he employs creatively to set up his Blue-Eyes OTK for massive come-from-behind victories

If Joey gets Winged Dragon of Ra, then Kaiba doesn't get a God card so Marik has one - but otherwise, he still gets Obelisk, which makes his endgame all the stronger until it has to go to Yugi, directly or indirectly

Without KaibaCorp behind him, he's a huge tech nerd - probably still designs the Duel Spinner, maybe even the Duel Disk, before Joey yoinks the latter for Wheeler Industries.

Prologue: The start of a new tale

Summary: Joey’s battle with Marik turns out different than he expected, and the end of it could change him and his future in ways he could’ve never imagined.

Word count: 557

Honda: Well, you lived a good life, right?

Jonouchi: I'm only a teenager!

part 1, part 2, part 3

very short one today, this is like,,, an interlude between chapters i guess, let's call it part 3.5

posting this mostly to ramble about the amalgamation of thoughts that make up this eldritch AU:

Courtland got addicted to cigarettes in prison. He smells like stale smoke and burned nicotine twenty-four seven, and is the kind of guy who could go through half a pack a day without thinking about it. He'd traded for cigarettes, gotten into fights over cigarettes, and built entire routines around cigarettes because it’s one of his only comforts.

But then during one of Ryland and Colts visitations, one of them, I can’t decide who, admitted that the smell reminded them of their father, also adding that the smoke residue made his childhood asthma act up. They just pushed through it because they wanted to see their brother and hug him.

And that absolutely destroys him, so Court immediately decides he's quitting cold turkey. It goes terribly. He's irritable, he snapping at people, is getting blinding headaches, can’t focus, can barely sleep and often chews on the inside of his mouth till he’s spitting blood. He falls off the wagon more than once because nicotine addiction is a beast and prison is probably the worst environment imaginable for trying to quit.

So he compromises. If his brothers are visiting, he makes sure he hasn't smoked for at least a day. He washes every piece of clothing he owns before, he showers twice if he has to. Does everything possible to make sure when Colt and Ryland hug him, they smell soap instead of smoke.

Then solitary happens. And for once, something awful accidentally helps him. No cigarettes, or people willing to trade and opportunities to relapse. The withdrawal is brutal, but eventually he gets through the worst of it. When he's released, he takes the opportunity and latches onto chewing gum because he still needs something. Something for his mouth to do, to occupy his attention, to replace the cravings. And then that’s somehow the time that sticks.

just to reiterate, this is NOT canon to the comic. or to either movie probably lol.

just love the idea that the reason simon didn't listen to the written stuff was because it sucked to read (and not, like, either defiance or a purposeful disregard for the sake of survival)

Please excuse them. They’re having a MomentTM (Prev )

It is one thing to be able to teach effectively, and another to manage a variety of different individuals needs while maintaining engagement. Every skill that Grace uses in his meeting of Rocky, and building a relationship with him, whether he remembers or not, are skills a good educator and mentor uses.

To not assume ill intent. To approach first with curiosity. To explain difficult concepts in a palatable way without condescension or malice. To empathize with one's situation and acknowledge how it may shape one's responses. To exercise patience. To adapt and shift gears in the face of uncertainty. To remain calm in the height of stress and remain a leader.

Grace as a scientist yes, but as a teacher, maintaining an openness to not only work with Rocky, but to also embrace his differences and utilize his strengths to find creative solutions that benefit both of them.

History is fraught with disputes and wars driven by ignorance and sustained by fear of unique cultures and experiences that are different to our own. It is practically in our DNA to reject or fear that of which is different to us, and so it is not weak to trust or to be kind. It is harder to be these things, because the opposing forces come so effortlessly.

Grace's inclination toward 'flight' instead of 'fight' is not an indicator of weakness. It is preservation. It is learned behavior. To take a step back, recalibrate and approach again. You do not win students over by being a fearless dictator. You win them over by treating them like people, and acknowledging where you yourself have room for growth. Ryland Grace is a coward for many reasons that define his narrative, but being trusting and kind are not among them.