Yes! Rebecca's horse DID have an actual name! it was Copernicus! She says it when she's berating Yami for taking him out into the desert alone :D

Gods, I love this and Variations...

Anzu and Dark Anzu for the win. Plus Mai, who seems to have something of a big sister/little sister complex developing. Either that, or a really, really big crush.

Characterization of the others aside (wonderfully IC, by the way) the thing I love most about this story, I think, is how you wrote Mai Valentine (or Kujaku, if you insist). I found what happened to her during 'Waking the Dragons' to be one of the more distasteful elements of that arc (and her character in general) and it's nice to see her back on the right team with Yugi and the others.

I cannot say the same of course, concerning Valon, whom I loathe with no measure of restraint... but nothing's perfect, I suppose.

was bored during a free period, and started looking through the stuff you'd written for yugioh. since there was a deviant art picture based on this story (one that was actually very good), i decided to read variation on a theme, along with unforsaken.

like all your stuff, it's just sheer brilliance. you have a feel for group dynamics that i try to learn from to make my own fics better. your portrayal of anzu is a refreshing change from all the anzu-bashing i find all over yugioh fandom, and your insight on her personality has even affected my own writing. your insight on all the characters is nothing short of phenomonal.

you would think that this story would have been funny at best, wierd at least, but it wasn't. i think that's why you're one of my favorite authors: you do whatever it is you want to do with such precision that you instantly get all the right messages across. it's a skill i hope to cultivate in myself, and maybe even get up to your level.

thank you for the stories,

Ryuu-chan

Damn. Your writing is addicting. Do me a favor, and NEVER read my stuff. You'll be sorely disappointed.

This was...oh heck. This was better than almost anything I've ever read. I have one heck of a time ripping myself away from the screen to do Real Life stuff. There's so much to talk about in this. And I believe Rebecca's horse was named Prometheus. Or something having to do with Greek myth. Try going back to the first episode where we see Rebecca and her horse. I think she names him there. Beautiful side fic. Keep writing!

Wow, awsome tie in. I loved the discriptions of Yugi's emotions and reactions especially, and Yami was beautifully done. Hell, the entire thing was spectacular. The part where Yami saw into Yugi's memory was wonderful, though it beggers the question of what exactly Yugi saw... I'd like to see that developed a bit more to be honest but there you go...

On a similar note I also liked the characterisation of hte others, the ongoing, fucked up love tryangel and all the other wonderful little bits that made this story. You really put a lot of emotion and detail into this and, though it is very long, it really is highly enjoyable. I wish only that I could think up still more praise for it. A wonderful add on to the AU you created. Fantastic stuff.

After reading this amazing piece of writing, I definitly have to check out "Variation on a Theme" now. From Mai to Ryou, I love your protrayl of the characters in this alternate universe. Yuugi's reaction was absolutly wonderful and everything is so well written- I am at awe at your talent.

nice story, clears up some details.

TOW

Ahh, Scrib, you're killing me. How is one supposed to take pride in their take on the ohsopainfully melodramatic DOMA (seriously, it is. Yugioh was doing so well without actively working to save the world [minor consequence, you know], and then along comes this Duel Monster world and all the prettiest Duel Monsters to say "help me, Obi Wan Kinyuugi! You're my only hope!" and suddenly we're in DOMA. So. Melodramatic.) arc when you write something like this in a bloody PARALLEL UNIVERSE? It's cruelty, I tell you.

But then, I must be a masochist of the emotional kind, because I love it so.

Side note - Rebecca Hopkins (not sure about Hawkins, sorry) 's horse is named "Billy". Don't know why. I can see Becky calling her horse something with meaning or connotations... but I don't know of any Billies with which to compare... Hm.

Anywho. I find it kind of strange and sad and altogether right that Yuugi's reaction to losing Anzu's soul is entirely different to Anzu's of losing Yuugi. I knew it would be, and it would be very, very strange for Yuugi to be all supportive of Yami the way she was, but it's still sad. They had both charged themselves to protect the other, were both in a kind of love with the other, both all these sorts of things, and yet with Yami's postition as the variable, it's an entirely different situation.

It's the same with everybody, really. That one variable changed everything. Because Yuugi didn't have the puzzle to be teased about, Jounouchi and Honda couldn't join the group. Because it wasn't Yuugi in unconscious lead of the group, Ryou wasn't given the space he wanted, and so Anzu almost forced him into the group. Even moreso with Mai. Yuugi gives people space when they don't want to be around people; Anzu doesn't accept that. It's a whole different dynamic that changes everything.

So we have this group in America. And Yami's reaction to the event changes accordingly. It's a bit odd, really, and once again I have this unending desire for more information. With Yuugi's vote of...not confidence, but... not really even support, but... Yuugi's acknowledgement, did Yami start moving again? Obviously, he didn't bounce back, but start moving? Would he still have done his version of beating Haga to death and beyond?

Mai's kinda sorta fascinating, too. While we lose Jounouchi and Honda's saving grace, Mai gets one. And through her, Valon has his own. Still the same inevitable result, but in a whole different order. And KAIBA! Kaiba, I mean! Would they even try to ask for his help? Or would he be dragged in through a different fashion?

And then there's the question of what Yuugi saw. What did Yuugi see? The darkness, Anzu, his own life, Yami alone? So many possibilities...

This is my problem, Scribbler. You write these fantastic pieces and give us just enough to have to think! This in particular invites the idea that each event impacts the next. So there are thousands of possibilities, and because you leave it where you do, we have no certainty as to the results! Impending doom kinda suspends Yuugi's reactions to everything until it's so long after the fact that he decides to just not deal with them, but the possibilities of what he could have seen... nngh!

It's CRUELTY, SCRIBBLER!

...

And the sad thing is I wouldn't have it any other way. You're beautiful. Thank you so much for this fantastic story.

whoa, i love the part when yami and yugi touched the puzzle and looked into each other's memories.

this was so well written. all their emotions were so raw and realistic. i love it _

This was really beautiful. The moment where Yami gets to see what would've been... WOW.

I really like getting into some of the others' heads here. It's fascinating. I like how some things are worse (No Jounouchi or Honda, no intense Yami/Yugi bond) while some things are better (Mai, Ryou) in this alternate path. It strikes me as very real. It's not like "It's a Wonderful Life" where the wrong path makes everything a disaster. It's just... different disasters.

Beautifully done and very moving.

Top-quality, like all your other fics. Beautiful smilies/metaphors and description, very fresh, never cliche. A bit sappy, at times, but still amazing.

Hm, I have to admit, it's hard finding words for this. I think you used them all up! There's a word for a person like you- a wordsmith, but that doesn't seem to quite do you justice. You're insanely talented not just with mashing words together in a series of coherent sentences, but putting honest-to-goodness MEANING behind them, beyond the superficial. I really admire that, and that's definitely why you're one of my favorite authors.

Of course, I read VoaT first, and the most recent teaser trailer, so it was great fun reading this and spotting which lines were from the teaser trailer and the changes they'd undergone.

Anzu being my favorite character, one might think that I'd avoid any story without her in it, but the catch of VoaT and this story is that the Anzu of the Yu-Gi-Oh verse is not the Anzu of the VoaT-verse, but I still love her. It's amazing how you can literally change the character but still make her recognizable, understandable, and, cheesy as it sounds, LOVABLE.

This was a great extension or spin off of the VoaT story in that it answered a lot of questions, provided a great amount of background, and told a story that we almost-but-not-really knew. It even seems like there could be more to it, but that, of course, is at your discretion.

I'll keep on fangirling you from the shadows (well, maybe the penumbras; you already know I haunt your works on LJ, yes?), so if you come out with future works, you can be mostly assurred I'll be there to check them out and leave another babbling review. As always, keep up the spectacular work.

Now that was good stuff.

Admittedly I lack context with which to fully grasp most of what I just read, but I know I enjoyed every minute of it.

This was an excellent read! Great grammar, wonderful writing. It took me a while to finally understand what was happening, as little things kept clicking in my head, and I was always scrolling back up the page.

I like the concept of Anzu as being the vessel of the Spirit of the Puzzle. right there it makes it different from other fictions out here.