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'Alright Jounouchi, let me find the phone and you can explain when I get back downstairs,' Shizuka said hurriedly, trying to keep her voice cheerful. Her mother's room was colourful and bright, everything Shizuka was having a hard time feeling at the moment. She tucked the laptop under arm and glanced around the room hoping to quickly locate the cordless phone. The room was pleasant but far from tidy.

((Happy Egg Day! biggrin ))

Shizuka rushed back down the stairs, phone and laptop in tow, emitting a startled gasp when she almost bumped into her brother. 'Ah, I didn't see you, why are you hovering at the bottom of the stairs?' she asked, slightly annoyed at having been so startled.

'It's alright Jou, I just wasn't expecting you to hover, all you alright?' she asked suddenly concerned, wondering if perhaps the awkward lingering at the bottom of the stairs was meant to reflect more about her brother's mental and physical states rather than his own worry about her.

'Just checking,' Shizuka said softly, brushing a stray lock of hair off of Jounouchi's seemingly agitated face. She didn't press the subject further though, and instead handed him the phone before heading into the living room to hand Yuugi the laptop.

((So...much...words. Oye, I check this everyday and am like hmm, maybe I'll say that, but oh I don't want to write anymore and I go away. I'm trying to finish up my first provisional chapter draft by this weekend, and I'm on track to finishing it in the next hour or so I hope, so yay for one of those rare moments of 'ahead'. So this weekend I shall get to be much more alive. Though then May will probably brutally brutally murder me dead. I'm invigilating exams (kind of like an exam proctor? Though Davis never had those, not sure if many/any States in the US do, but the UK is very serious about exam etiquette) for monies and I've probably taken on too many hours. Plus my other job which I've had longer and will get mad at me if I go poof just b/c they haven't been giving me enough hours and I'm starting to really feel a need for money. Also, adapting part of my chapter into a paper to give at my first conference (first where I'm presenting anyhow) at the end of May. And of course my PhD progress panel review where they might throw things at me and tell me to just quit now (I hear that almost never happens though). So yea May might not be my friend, guess we'll see. If I puff that there is why, but hey maybe the business will actually be good for me and I'll totally not go collapse and cry in a corner. Right? stressed ))

'Of course,' Shizuka said smiling, following her brother into the kitchen so that they could make their call without distracting those absorbed in research.

((I have been, although I am just now getting over being ill - which is why I went 'poof' in my free time. That and I bought Dragon Age on Steam and spent almost 13 straight hours (5 hours and then 8 hours split by sleep) playing. Slowly finding more time to play games lately. Playing less stupid FB games. The only FB game I have left is being shut down in June, so I've decided no more flash games. If I'm going to allow myself gaming time I'd rather do it with proper games. Speaking of poof, a wild Morgey appeared on the TAS thread, not sure if you've noticed. There was also someone on the welcome/another thread a couple of months ago, but I replied to them and they never said anything again, which is why I never bothered to bring it up.))

'Shizuka is here as well,' Shizuka inserted after her brother neglected to mention her presence, 'how are you? It really has been much too long.'

((I really like it, although sometimes I find the mouse controls to be a bit fiddly. It also hates my mouse so I've had to finally borrow one from my boyfriend, don't know what it has against mine. The Ultimate edition was on sale for a fiver (probably around $ cool the other day and the bf bought it. It looked fun so I decided to get it while it was still on sale as well. The story has been great thus far and I like how involved relationships can get between certain sets of characters (can't call them npcs necessarily as you can control them from time to time, but the characters that are in your party who aren't the main character you created) I'd definitely recommend it. The fiddly things are probably my own stupidity than anything else as well. If it hadn't been Morgey I wouldn't have said anything (like with that guy a few months ago) because I do feel it's kind of hit that patch. It'd be nice to see it active, but most of the new ppl who do appear in the guild generally would require instant gratification and proof of equal interests, which I don't know if any of the old members could or are willing to offer. However, if someone is willing to take it over it would be nice to see it active, if it could be. I suppose if nobody wants to take that on (b/c I'd be willing to help, but I've not the time or the motivation to take it over) then we could just let it sit until we finish or get bored with our rp and then close it? I suppose if its left to 'rot' at least if people want to wander in and look at old things or find old people they could still use the guild to connect to other things. I suppose those are my thoughts at this time.))

'Japan as a whole seems to be doing well right now, although I'm afraid we are having a bit of a personal problem. It's unfortunately why we are calling now. Jou can probably explain better than I though,' Shizuka said, turning to her brother to allow him to elaborate as much as he was able about their situation.

((The battle system is action mixed with squad combat, but very point and click. I'm absolutely terrible at defending though which is why I get frustrated. My style is usually bash all the things to death, but I decided to play this as a mage as my bf was playing as a warrior, I wanted to see how one of the other two game paths started out as I'd already seen the beginning of his before I decided to buy the game and play myself. In squad combat I really like being a mage, but when I'm on my own I wish I was more of a warrior. Of course my spell selection also has probably heavily impacted my game play. I probably focused on leveling up and using spells that are better for squad combat because up until recently I've mostly been in a squad.

As for a guild that sounds like a plan, maybe there is someone still about who'd be interested in running a guild. I wish I had more time and energy, but I honestly don't. I think part of what might be necessary to make the guild successful would be a familiarity with all branches of YGO, and I'm only familiar with the original series, and the card game at the barest level. A lot of the new people who have popped in over the years have immediately listed their interest in the card game, or GX, or 5D. I've seen some of GX, and I'd like to see 5D, but those things are just probably very much on the back burner for the time being. So it's hard to offer this new gen what they want out of a YGO guild.))

'Do you think you could help us? Any idea of what we should do, what this might be, or how we'd find out?' Shizuka almost pleaded, desperately wanting an answer to this nightmare.

((I'd definitely recommend it. I'd like to be a better defensive player but I tend to be the run and flail when I attacked type (like in real life). I mean in games like Elder Scrolls I can sneak around and my preference is to kill any enemy before they even see me. It's just that's not much of an option in Dragon Age. Pretty much you enter a room filled with an enemy/enemies they instantly will see you, probably before you see them. Not so much if you're a mouse or something, but attacking as a mouse doesn't work out so well (mages can transform into animal things, which is cool, though mouse not so much other than for crawling through tiny places - only reason it exists). In squad it's great (I do love squad-based) b/c my warriors charge in and I can position myself (and my rogues, though usually I'm lazy about directing my squad so I just kind of trust them to keep themselves alive - with mixed results of course). Anyhow I'll stop blathering, if it's on sale again I'd definitely say give it a buy. It probably will be, I'm probably terribly misquoting my bf but he said something about it being over-saturated in that they released expansions and a sequel around the same time. I'll let you know if I notice it go on sale on Steam again. Though will probably have less time to sit on Steam over the next few weeks, though I'm about as 'ahead' as I can ever be atm so maybe I will get to play games more often. However, Dragon Age won't work with my mouse for some stupid reason so I can only play when I borrow my bf's extra mouse. I have bought tons of games over the last few months (which I still think only has my Steam account at 17-18 games, but still, that's tons for me and I will ignore my bf's library of hundreds of games) so when not able to grab his mouse I certainly can give some of them a play. Finally bought L4D and L4D2, played about halfway through the first one and I do rather enjoy it.

I'd say I feel the same way - though sometimes it really is time. A lot of my love for YGO was built out of a friendship I no longer have, and while I still really enjoy the series my passion kind of inevitably went wayside with that friendship. Like you I probably have more organisation prowess than marketing skills. Assisting I'm pretty good with so long as I either can or know how to put someone in touch with someone who can better assist, though that requires more people which is back to that marketing issue. Anyhow let me know if anyone bites, if they are interested but want any sort of help or whatnot that I could offer, etc.))