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@Hawk - I like several of the YGO characters, and can get into the heads of most of the characters, which is what really attracted me to this series. I also really like yaoi (though it's no necessity) so that hasn't been a problem for me. I'm with you on the female characters though, Mai is about the only one I can stand myself.

Sounds like a pretty useless therapist to be a bit crass. Did they just disregard or belittle the problem? I mean it may seem like a trite fixation, but that doesn't make fixation itself not a valid problem to be taken seriously.

Well I'm sorry, if it's any consolation I don't hate your character for the fact that she exists, in fact I don't hate her at all. Which in itself would be part of my problem, hahaha. I need to love or to hate a character to become invested, and so unknowns become complected. Most everyone I know has at least one established OC in one series or another, I just think the Malik fandom in general is really picky and yes obsessed with yaoi. You could run an experiment, say your character is a guy, don't play her any different than you would, in your head she's exactly the same. But see if people relate to her better if they believe what they want to believe.

@Kits - How many hours is the class? And is it a first year course? Because even at UCD generally after year 1 languages at the upper division level bump up to being 3 times a week as well. They then have their intensive upper division language requirement as the justification for high units, though many of the classes do drop back down to 4 (my school the average class was 4 units) when hours drop.

Yea I guess to much is better than too little. I don't like a lot of homework, busy work feels a bit meaningless sometime so the pressure to keep up with busy work unnerves me. I expect a language course to have a fair amount of homework daily just to better promote comprehension, but if it's just burying down assignment after assignment for quantity sake I can imagine that being hectic and not very motivational.

I rather did love my university. Although it has had some rather sad changes since I left with all the federal budget cuts in CA.

Yea, I think that's probably why I got sucked in because there was a lot to get sucked into, but I'm glad I did even if it faded, I do rather love this rp so far. xd I'm also going to meet Morgey in a couple weeks I think, probably just quick coffee before we both head home for the holidays but that's still pretty nifty.

I really need to get back to my zombies fic, I'm actually ahead for once...dun dun dun. I mean I have tons of research I can do but I think I'm going to try and get my week 11 reading (tomorrow marks the beginning of week 10) done for my Victorian Modernity class after I finish with Gaia (it's quite brief for once *dances*) and then depending on how late it is I'll try and update a few more chapters. I know I have more written than I uploaded. Maybe if my papers aren't too overbearing (or none of my friends back home want to see me *tear) I will get some more writing done over break. If not I vow to get back to it by next fall after I finish my degree. sweatdrop

@Both - I definitely think there is a very valid point to Malik and his attraction for controlling people. And I will digress from delving further into that for awkward reasons. stressed People do tend to like a type, either that they identify with or want to identify with. Or some combination therein. I mean Seto especially attracts me because we share several like qualities, and he has several other qualities that though they seem narcissistic and cruel, I rather admire (though I can't say I'm narcissistic or cruel enough to embody them personally, nor do I want to be). Some types are more versatile than others.

I think that's also why I'd never be attracted to role-playing some of my favorite series when I would want to do things with series I'm fond of to a lesser degree. I'll love certain characters but just can't relate enough to them to enjoy playing them. I don't think it's so much being unable to play a character, but I don't particularly see many people putting in the effort to do something they wouldn't enjoy. I certainly wouldn't.

I like 1x1 role-plays just because every other one I've done has been a group role-play and it has ended up chaotic and eventually fell victim to too many players dropping out. It's hard to get a group to commit and to be able to work within the same time frame. 1x1 attracts me just because it has a better chance of success. And even if someone goes on hiatus it's easier to get it going again.

Haha, I haven't seen Code Geass but I've wanted to so I do know who you are talking about. It's hard to be creative outside of wacky hairstyles in the anime/manga-verse. There isn't much in the way of individualistic facial features and they really come down to coloring, clothes and hair. Maybe height and curve factors as well, but that's often it in the looks department.

Haha, don't worry about memes, if I ever rp with you (or follow an rp that you're in) I'll just figure her out in context. I mean I can't promise not to be wary but I can promise that if I agree to give something a chance I will give it a chance. And if she's not a Mary Sue then I'll get used to her eventually. And if she is, well, if there's something else in the story to go off/get attached to I might be able to reconcile to it anyhow.

Hmm, even I know Asperger's (granted my parents both went into mental health) so I do now wonder about her credentials. Other than dependency I probably wouldn't liken it to a drug addiction aside from just being addicting, though I don't know enough about it at this point to say. Substance dependency and what is coming off more along the lines of fanatical obsession aren't very parallel. I mean drug addiction does have a psychological element, but it is very rooted in a physical dependency. Whereas obsession would more likely be a psychological dependency that can have physical outcomes. Granted that separation won't particularly help you, unless you were ardent for a more apt analogy. Anyhow guess if you don't get your fix we shall see this unpleasant side and perhaps make finer assessments then eh? xd

No there is nothing wrong with fanfiction or role-playing, which is why when I was burnt out and uninspired with my own writing I decided to dabble within those realms. just to give my creative energies some exercise and to keep writing. I've found both very enjoyable, I think role-playing rather more, just because I love that element of surprise.

I wouldn't blame someone their finickiness, but I suppose it would make finding a partner a lot more difficult.

I find it is easier to get into the mind of your own character than someone else's, particularly a character you didn't necessarily care for. I mean that's part of why I decided I wanted to role-play, I wanted to practice "getting in character," to work on the whole character development process. Trying to conform to a mold. Sort of like structure/parameter exercises in poesy. Characters are like metre, I'm fitting myself to them, not the other way around. So while I don't necessarily mind everything established, it doesn't necessary cater to my main aim in why I rp. I probably wouldn't be satisfied playing the same character over and over and over again especially with the same parameters and guidelines.

If you want to do the memes I would certainly take a look at them. I'm in this other guild which is supposed to be for OC rp (own stories, own characters - it's just tandem efforts), however it's in a bit of fail mode now. I hope to kick it when I have more time, but for now I don't, and it's not my guild and the captain doesn't seem too inspired on kicking it so for now I'm just going to focus on my one rp and on actually obtaining my MA next fall with decent marks. xd

And I see nothing about you asking for the rules so I shall assume you have deleted any inquiry therein. rofl

@JK: The class if five credit hours, and is a 101 class. I've looked into the upper division ones, and those are only two days a week, though that's only past 202.

Yeah, like when I get just tons of workbook assignments for a language class, even though it's tedious, it's really helpful and I learn. But my Japanese teacher just mostly gives us long, unhelpful projects; they're just means of compiling what we've learned and showing it, rather than actually learning more or practicing what we've learned. That's where I get upset, having constant homework of something that's hardly benefiting me. I'd rather just do workbook assignments.

I'm glad you love the RP; I'm loving it too. XD And yay, I hope you and Morgey have fun.

I definitely wanna give your zombie fic a complete read-through once it's done, so be sure to keep me updated. I actually started rewriting that really old fic of mine, though only got the prologue done before school started again and I had no time. ;_;

Hee, I can definitely see some Kaiba traits in you, but more of his good traits than bad traits. XD;; I don't really see so much of Jounouchi in myself though. If I'm like any character, I'd say I'd be more like... Rishid maybe? I dunno, I'm not good at comparing myself to characters... but I digress; I have no idea why Jounouchi is my all-time favorite character, because he's so different from my own personality or from what I find attractive, yet I just love him.

I agree on 1X1 roleplays; with only one person posting besides you, you can't just put off replying and hope someone else will take over, so both of you are motivated to keep posting so the other won't wait. I've never had a successful group RP, but I've had tons of successful one on one.

@Hawk: No problems with language in this guild. Gaia gives you the option to censor it if you want, so it's not like we're forcing people to see curse words if we post it. If there isn't something specified in the rules of this guild, going by Gaia's ToS works; our rules here are pretty much what you'd expect from a guild.

@Hawk - Pairing with canon isn't something that annoys me about Sues so that doesn't matter (I mean I wouldn't expect them to pair with someone else). Generally it's the overly hyped perfection and the entire canon worlds fascination with an "other" character that gets a bit annoying. They don't fit into the world they consume it, and they do it in obnoxious perfect fashion.

This is an HP example but it pretty much sums up my entire feelings on Mary Sues: http://piratemonkeysinc.com/ms1.htm <<--I love that comic. *huggles*

I think I could see Kill the Pharaoh theme a hundred times if the plot and characters and reasons actually changes. For me it's more about oh it's this shipping again and again and again and no other pairings will ever exist (unless they are canon, keeping a canon shipping I don't mind, but abusing to death a personal/original one - especially if it's not necessarily believable in the first place gets old). I've had friends who have gone ok Character A + Character B grow to madly love each other in a mall...now we are in feudal japan...now we are in high school...now we are businessmen...etc etc etc. The pairing, set up, action, interaction, etc never changes, just the scenery. I've read Kill the Pharaoh stories that are the same story again and again and again, and yes I want to strangle the life out of those. However there are stories that offer new and interesting takes and motivations, and those are fine. Just - as Ezra Pound said - make it new.

Well I wouldn't want to put anyone into a world of withdrawal, but yea I couldn't offer any further insight with what I know. And much of mental health is broad and gray line, but you think a professional would have some basic insight into generally what's out there (if never having specifically encountered it). Generally what I know about it is that it's a for of autism relating to social interaction and communication, and that my neighbor possibly has it. That's the reason it came up with me, my neighbor, although I have a lot of friends currently working special ed - particularly with autistic kids. Generally the only autistic kids I've been around (in my capacity as a lifeguard actually, though somewhat as a clerk in school offices, I didn't have to interact with them on any level though the way I did with the kids I was supposed to keep from drowning) with autism do not have Asperger's though. They were a much higher level, much less functional condition. I respect my friends who can actually work in education there, I tend to rely on reason in approaching/interacting with anything and that just wouldn't work there, I'd be so helpless. It's a seriously tough job.

You looking for just writing memes or art memes?

@Kits - I guess at UCD to break it down for my own understanding lower div/first year was *insert language* 1/2/3 (for 3 quarters). The median series was for French in the 40s, idk, but for most classes it was something double digit. Upper div was in the triple digits (so any 101 class would be upper div here). Greek and Latin - faster as they don't rely on an oral/aural aspect to the class (it plays a part but as these are "dead" languages you aren't studying for context and daily use but for translation purposes) jump from 1/2/3 up into the 100s though. Nothing in the 200s is generally an undergrad course. Anyhow if it's 5 credit hours (regardless of if you spend 5 days in class) I suppose you are expected to be taking in a 5 class hour amount of work, which would align with what I had to do at UCD. We had 50 minutes of class a day (so tech it was 4 hours and 10 minutes of class).

That busy work would be awful, I rarely had projects, and usually projects were cultural assignments not language assignments. It was just work book and translation exercises, and with French there was an online audio interactive as well.

I hope so, we shall let you know...maybe. Unless we for some inexplicable reason decide to murder each other in cold blood. I'm sure that won't happen though. stressed

I will definitely let you know when I'm much more active with the fanfic again and/or when I finish writing it (or posting it, whichever you prefer).

Well there are definite things that I think anyone could idealize about Jou, especially of a romantic quality. I mean he's funny and he's loyal and he's pretty. I doubt those are things you find unattractive. And I feel that loyalty is something you possess to an extent. And who can't relate to Brooklyn rage? Heh, j/k. xd

I'd be willing to try larger role-plays again maybe, depending on who composed the group, but no more than 3-4 max (except for a crack role-play like the chatroom that's easily drop in and drop out - had not EVERYONE dropped out sweatdrop ). However no time soon of course as I'm crazy busy, especially this month.

@Hawk: Well, workbooks are kind of necessary for Japaneses, as learning stroke order for each character is really important, and you just can't practice that by typing.

@JK: That comic was amazing. I lawled when Anastassia's magical Sue powers made Snape and Lupin hug. XD

I agree; if something has a same plot or setting or characters or even pairing over and over again, that's fine, as long as it works it all in different ways and throws new things on the table.

UCD sounds quite a bit differently structured than ASU. And I do understand that a 5 credit class would entail more work, but I am not kidding when I say I have had twice as much homework in this one class than I have in all my other classes combined. That's just ridiculous; my other classes combined are 12 credits, more than double what my Japanese class is worth, yet those 12 credits only give me half of the work of the Japanese class.

Lucky, I would love to have a language class that was just work book and translation/audio.

Yay. XD

Ah, well I'm not attracted to Jounouchi in a romantic way. Only ever felt that way about Brock from Pokemon and Sailor Jupiter, dur hur, but that was back before I was even a teenager. I think everyone has loyalty to an extent, but I don't feel I'm anywhere near as loyal as Jounouchi. XD Guess then I'm not so like Rishid either then, since he's even more loyal than Jounouchi. Gotta love the Brooklyn Rage though.

I'll always be willing to keep trying large roleplays, because they are fun. I just never put hope in them lasting long. XD

@Hawk: I don't think Yuugiou really even has any canon pairings among the major characters. Only ones I can think of are like... Pegasus/Cyndia. You could say the Yuugi/Anzu/YamiYuugi triangle is canon, but those are just crushes... not actual 'pairings.'

Ew, sappy romance. That drives me up the wall. Severely. In fact, I have made a point to state how much. Most music on the radio is some sappy break-up or relationship. If it isn't that, the song's unreasonably happy (usually around Christmas it's being shoved down my throat) and I feel as if I'll get diabetes. Speaking of Christmas, I happen to be a Scrooge. I'll get presents for people, but I ultimately hate Christmas. Everything about it. I like the food and the brief togetherness, but any more than three hours and my family starts spouting numerous carols. Pff. I hate Christmas. I am so different from the rest of my family even if I inherited my grandfather's love for English. It's difficult for me to socialize with other people so everyone being all cheerful makes me want to vomit.

Alternatively, if everyone is overly emo, I feel as if the second Great Depression is coming (it might as well be with this economy).

I don't mind if people are happy; I just don't want it shoved down my throat all month. Christmas is a depressing time for me, because I have to socialize with people I'm uncomfortable with. Why am I uncomfortable with them? They're so prim and proper. My uncle is a freaking minister, my grandmother is a Chemistry professor, and everyone else is too busy talking to include me. Even if they did, they all talk about crap I don't know a thing about; such as politics, religion, being 'joyful', etc etc. D:

They aren't even bad people. I just don't seem to fit in with them. I think my dad feels the same way. My brother talks too much so he's able to socialize easily. Oh, another thing, I happen to hate my brother. Every time I think I've finally started forgiving him a bit, I find another reason to despise the creature. It is literally impossible for us to get along. He's grouchy, disrespectful, and lazy.

Now, I'm not saying I'm a health nut. In fact, I am most definitely not one. ~eyes box of ice cream in the freezer~ But he doesn't always clean his messes. My dad doesn't either. I'll walk into the kitchen and see a puddle of spilled milk. I can't put up with that when I spill milk. Hell, I spent about thirty minutes perfecting my meal yesterday, because I kept spilling stuff and I wanted it to be nicely prepared. That said, I am a horrible chef. And the food was delicious. It tasted like 3-dollar creamy chicken ramen.

Two days ago, my mom requested some help with a letter. She had to fabricate a weekend routine of togetherness. My family is mostly anti-social. I interact mostly with my mom and my brother interacts mostly with his dad. There are days where some of us don't even speak to each other. My brother started spouting out random suggestions that don't even make sense, such as fishing. We do not own a fishing rod. How is that plausible? Oh, but he's okay in public. He's only presentable outside the household.

All this from a remark about sappy romance being intolerable. LOL.

Yea, I ramble. Maybe this will keep the conversation going though.

Edit: Screw Pandora. If I had Malik's Ghouls, I wouldn't hesitate to kill them either. Rishid was pretty tolerable. I liked him.

@Hawk - Music doesn't bother me as much, and I rather love Christmas music, though by the end of the season I'm sick of it the way I'm sick of anything in high repetition (I'll go through Christmas music phases in summer sometimes though, when other than my own self-imposed exposure it isn't around). I mean ridiculous teenage over the top music will get on my nerves in that it's just ridiculous. And I tend to rather love the broken heart stuff more, but there's plenty of romance and happy that I can stand in music. See I'm the opposite, I mean I don't dislike Christmas but I'm not very spirited about it. My family eats together, there's more food, but that's about it. We don't have family togetherness, we don't have holiday merriment. My family is just my immediate, the parents and the brother. Sometimes one of my parents friends come over, but that's about it. It's rather depressing. I wish my Christmases were vomit-inducing.

Chemistry professor = prim? Ha, not the ones I know. Granted they aren't grandma age, and I think the generational age has more to do with that then the profession. Of course minister speaks for itself. I imagine that would be hard for someone who didn't easily socialize to begin with, to have to socialize with people who make them uncomfortable. Socializing is actually something I'm very good at, and I've always been rather adept at socializing with those older than me. Generally the worst case scenario for me is boredom if I'm just not interested, but again family interaction (especially outside the immediate, which hasn't happened in over 5 years since my mom disowned her family and my dad's family aren't that close to him) is just such a rarity for me. It's hard to be resentful over what you don't have.

How old is your brother? Because if he's under 18 I wouldn't fully judge that that's how he'll always be, people change as they grow up, as they have to grow up. If it's like that and he's 30 though then, well that's too bad.

I spill stuff all the time, and I can be rather lazy about cleaning it up I suppose. I'll get to it eventually but I definitely hate cleaning and some things I'll try to just hide messes as long as I can rather than take care of them. xd Currently living on my own though so I take care of s**t because I have to. I don't mind it, I appreciate the excuse not to be lazy, my mom definitely lets me and it's hard not to take advantage when I could be doing something else. Cleaning is what I do to procrastinate, so now that I'm back in school I do it much more often. stressed

Well, to literally answer the plausible question, you can rent or buy a fishing rod. A basic one isn't going to really cost that much. I mean I suggest and go white water rafting, I don't own a raft, but can totally rent one. xd People are always more (in general) comfortable with their family than with the outside world. It's easier to be selfish, lazy, resentful, grouchy, etc etc etc around family. People are more likely to worry about being judged by the outside world than their family.

Rambling is good.

I actually rather liked Pandora the first time around, I still like him he's just so minor and background. Conversely wasn't ever really a Malik fan, pretty was all he really had to recommend him to me. He's emotional, he's ridiculous, he blames everyone else for his problems and does nothing to deal with them himself. He just let's them be an excuse for insanity. And while I don't dislike him for (most) of it, there was definitely no great love. But then when he's defeated he turns into sickeningly sweet (basically his Namu alter-ego) like snap of the fingers. Bull s**t. I did like his brother well enough, and most of the rest of his ghouls were ugly and idiotic (mime guy was ok). Pandora actually had something he wanted though and was promised, he wasn't just this idiotic mean jerk. So I definitely liked him way more than Malik with his little hissy fits, who if he hadn't been pretty I probably would have disliked him. Yup not going to lie, it's probably a shallow reason saving him. I tend to not respect villains who treat their own men as disposable. I mean it's unrealistic and you already know in the beginning that they'll fail. It's not about cruelty, it's about poor strategy. Malik is not smart enough to be evil. Or rather, he's too caught up in his emotional turmoil to be smart. And I shan't be forgiving over emotional messes. Though to be perfectly honest I recently had a personal situation that is probably what left me feeling that way.

@Kits - Haha, I like Twilight as a cheesy hilarious good time, not for it's sappy romance. I'm usually internally ranting at the main characters about how ridiculous and dumb they are. The romantic pairs I like are definitely not the trio going on about their blah blah blah feelings. Hehe. I can't stand Romeo and Juliet, though I do understand why it's the epic story. And I do love Mercutio. SPOILER ON MOULIN ROUGE I like Moulin Rouge but it's a bit too much for me, I mean she had to be dying, really?END SPOILER ON MOULIN ROUGE

Hehe, Zombie Sirius is made of win! And I love the recap of all the books, here's a pretty boy, here's a friggin werewolf! Great sum up of an entire book.

Mostly in French we read out loud and had discussions to try and work things in context (I mean in HS yea there were TONS of filler projects and crap, but I'm referring to HS here). Go up to the board and write things out and work on correcting them. In Greek we did read aloud and worked on translating the passages. We did exercises to memorize (and decline nouns/conjugate verbs where necessary) vocabulary and again worked on writing and correcting sentences up on the board.

No they don't create anything certain, but you can't completely rule out the possibility of romance in YGO with them therein. And yea they aren't main at all, I just couldn't think of another established couple. It is a show mostly about teenagers and kids though. And presumably widowed old people. xd

@JK: I used to like Christmas music, but the older I got, the quicker time would go between the holidays, and now it just seems like Christmas comes back too often, where I'm still too sick of the music from last year to be into it again the next year. I do quite like Christmas though; I'm not one of those spoiled people who's all excited to get presents and such, but I'm also not one of those cuddly people who is excited to spend time with family and be thankful and that stuff. I don't feel like I need a holiday to encourage me to love people and be giving, but I just love the atmosphere of the holidays. The colors, the warm houses with cold outside, the Christmas tree, the lights, the break from school, the wrapping paper trashed around the room on Christmas morning, my family sitting together in pajamas... it's just all so relaxing and nostalgic.

I didn't really like Pandora specifically, but I liked what he represented; he wasn't just a mindless Ghoul. He had a back story and a reason for doing this. It made him stand out compared to the other Ghouls, and made the group of villains as a whole more interesting by reminding you that they're all human. I'm not counting Rishid in this, as I consider him more like a right hand man than an actual Ghoul.

Ah, I see. XD Well, I'm having a difficult time liking Twilight even for shits and giggles. I'm reading it because my friend said I'm not allowed to make fun of it unless I at least give it a try, which I felt was fair. And I didn't dislike it so much at first; it was mildly interesting, and I wanted to know why Edward was so weird and acted constipated around Bella and stuff. But once the two got together it just go sooooo overdone, and I found myself constantly getting angry at the main characters. Yes, that predictable part of Moulin Rouge was probably my least favorite feature of the movie. I loved the rest of it though.

Yes, that sounds exactly how a language class should be. My Japanese class so isn't like that.

Well yes, I think those implications (and sometimes lack of implications) are what leads us to shippings and fanfictions to begin with. XD But it's all fan speculation. I mean, as a Puppyshipper, I can argue that Kaiba and Jounouchi's constant paying attention to one another by means of insulting/yelling is an implication of romance, just as others can say Priestess Isis' worry and fawning over Mahaado shows she was totally into him. Yes, that one seems a little more obvious than the Puppyshipping one, but as a fan, with my own preferences in pairings that fight a lot rather than fawn a lot, I'm going to notice the Puppyshipping implications more than the Isis/Mahaado ones. In the end, implications are still only implications and subject to interpretation by the individual. Without actually coming out and saying/doing anything with the couple, it cannot be canon. Ah, sorry, that rant kinda got off topic. XD My point is that no matter what implications you get, Yuugiou's canon pairings can still be counted on one hand. And yes, though the show is about teenagers and widowed people, in terms of anime, shouldn't those be the most shippable characters? XD I mean, look at all the shoujo manga and their lovey teenagers. I think Yuugiou just isn't into romance as much as other series.

@The whole Malik conversation: I kind of agree with both of you on Malik. I definitely like the character a lot; he's not in my top five, but he is one of my favorite characters. I definitely agree with JK that he's overly emotional and doesn't make wise decisions as a villain, but I agree with Hawk that considering his past, this is pretty understandable.

I like Malik as a villain, and though I probably would hate him in real life, as I do not do well with overly emotional people, as a character I think he's wonderful. I just get so sick of all the cold, manipulative villains who seem to have infinite strategy and are always cool and calculating. I found Malik much more interesting, someone who has so many emotional problems that he's developed a split personality. I also like how human he was... like he wasn't just one of those villains who was secretly good and would go off on their own and stare out a window feeling horrible for what they're doing, or constantly questioning themselves. Malik fully, stubbornly, and obnoxiously believed in his own cause, and didn't question his morality at all until he was pretty much proven wrong.

Given that though, I do agree that his suddenly 180 degree change was total bullshit. He was just too... nice all the sudden. It didn't seem like Malik anymore, but an act. If anything, I would've seen him becoming more of an emotional wreck, maybe even suicidal after finding out he killed his father and tried to kill Rishid. Yes, he would've shown Yami Yuugi his memories on his back to make up for all the crap he did, but I still think he would've been reluctant, and maybe even not wanting to be around Rishid anymore because of his guilt. And if not all the guilt and emoness, maybe anger at himself or others for him being wrong? I mean, he developed an entire cult and ruined so many lives just for this goal that turned out to be completely unfounded. But he just shrugged it off and went back to Egypt to start a new life.

On a final couple notes with Malik, I honestly don't think he's too intelligent. I think he's extremely good at acting and highly charismatic. He knows how to suck people in like actual cult leaders, how to completely change who he is as a facade (like with Namu), and how to keep people under his control, with or without the Sennen Rod. But I don't think those skills necessarily translate to intelligence. Yes, his emotions were running a lot of his thoughts and decisions, but there were times where he was obviously putting his brain before his emotions (like when having Rishid pretend to be him, yet standing there with the friggin' Sennen Rod behind his back!), and just didn't make the best decisions.

And on my other final note, I could be wrong, but I don't think the series ever specifically states that Malik lived in poverty. Yes, he had very third world living arrangements, but that could've very easily been because his family was traditional and felt their task of guarding the Pharaoh's memories required abstaining from pleasures of the modern world. I mean, considering that he was from a long line of important guardians entrusted with priceless artifacts, and how easily Isis gained a high role in the Egyptian government, they could've actually been quite rich. Perhaps when Malik left, he even took some money with him and used it to start up the Ghouls organization. If anything, he most certainly used that cult to make money with counterfeit cards/rare card dealing, and that's probably how he afforded the yacht. XD