Sideline✰Stars, we have donated a total of $138USD to the Best Friends Animal Society! After nearly a year, this zine has come to full fruition! We have sent out all physical and digital copies to both our customers and our contributors, and have successful donated all our remaining profits to our charity of choice, a whopping $138!
All the mods are beyond amazed and grateful to each and every one who made this project possible, whether it was from the start or somewhere along the way. We couldn't ask for a better team and lovelier support, and we couldn't have created a more beautiful zine full of wonderful works by passionate and talent creators.
So, with shipping and donations completed, we now bring Sideline✰Stars to a complete close, so once again, thank you all very much for everything. Happy New Year's, stay safe and happy, stay Sideline✰Stars!
Math boy figured out the equation to her heart, and it involved a lot of arcade and gashapon to find a pair of plastic rings. But to be honest, I think she would have enjoyed anything he came up with.
Full piece I had the honor to work for the Yu-Gi-Oh! Sideline Stars zine [ Tumblr | Twitter ] <<—check them out please!
This zine focuses on side characters that should get more love, and who’s better candidates for love than the Doma boys?! (they deserve having fun TvT)
Also sort of a 2nd piece to my Duel Cafe piece XD
(huge watermark because this is zine work..)
Sugoroku has lived a long and fulfilling life. He had seen many wonders of the world, up to and including his precious grandson. This was more than acceptable, and he gusted out a sigh, nodding to himself.
The Secretary General staring pointedly over the rim of her tea merely maintained her focused gaze. Her question, so bland it was nearly a statement, remained unanswered as he loitered over his own tea.
His distraction, made in the form of the stark, luxuriously sweet black tea common to Lady Ishizu’s home, was delicately savoured as the parry to the good lady’s interrogation it was. It was a good blend, he mused, smooth and floral with just the slightest, bitter edge underlying the initial wash of honey on his tongue.
Much, Sugoroku thought, like the woman herself. It was an eponymous tea, its blending reflecting careful thought that both reflected Ms Ishtar’s roots and her ambitious archaeological career. This would be a delicately-wrought game, indeed, and he would need to watch his step lest he fall down some unerring trap.
Sugoroku smiled into his tea, How delightful.
He set his cup down with a delicate clink, relishing the placid crocodile stare of his opponent as he acknowledged his turn’s battle phase. “Neither I nor any of my family members are grave robbers of any sort.”
The near-silent sigh drawn out of Egypt’s premier hunter of repatriating cultural artefacts was its own admission of turn player changing, and it made him lean back into his chair with an intrigued slouch. Seeing Ms Ishtar’s hand being shuffled around in response to his riposte was its own unique gamble, and he could see she was a skilled player, scarcely a ripple of emotion across her face as she offered a refill of Sugoroku’s cup before her own.
“No, thank you, Your Excellency,” He said, a congenial tone to the polite shake of his head. The glacial reprovement visible on Ms Ishtar’s face nearly makes him chortle, but he managed to restrain himself to an arguably gregarious smile.
“As you wish, Mister Mouto,” She replied, expression warming to somewhere in the neighborhood of dispassionate. The steaming arc of tea was an enviable curve, elegant even as it displayed the quality of the Secretary General’s tea service.
Their repast lasted several moments more, taken in relative silence between cups of tea and the delightful assortment of pastries and cookies arrayed on a silver platter off to their side. Sugoroku transferred a piece of basbūsah to his dessert plate, sighing in satisfaction at the taste of the soft cake. Truly, ever since he had left Egypt because of his last game, it had been a trial to eat genuine food from the country without leaving his home.
Though, given the nearly unblinking stare of his hostess, perhaps he should have braved the land of the pharaohs for another bite. It’s not like his path didn’t get him a partially unwilling audience with an astute, beautiful woman— that sort of opportunity was once in a lifetime. Sugoroku chewed thoughtfully, thinking of his dear wife. Perhaps twice in a lifetime.
He was certainly a lucky man.
Well, this seemed a ripe opportunity to pay his dues, even if Ms Ishtar had levered some frightfully egregious accusations to him and his lineage. Sugoroku paused long enough to take another bite of basbūsah, washing it down with his tea that had taken on a caramel tone in conjunction to his chosen dessert.
“Your Excellency,” Sugoroku opened his turn, if only to see the slight lapse in sternness as Ishizu Ishtar’s eye faintly twitched, “There has been no theft.”
Her Excellency, poised admirably as she was, brokered a pause in her tea. The Tauk glimmered at her collar, a similar sheen to the woman’s eyes as she decided her next step. Perhaps she already knew how this conversation would end—but then again, half the journey was the trip, and he fully intended to enjoy participating in one of the first robust games since his archaeological retirement so long ago.
“There was no record of the Millennium Puzzle leaving the country.” Was her decided, plainly-laid joust.
Sugoroku hummed, curiosity in the tilt of his brows, “Was there a record of it at all?”
A sharp intake of breath. Aha , he thought, toasting his cup to her, You’ll need a different angle, dear general.
He pressed his offensive with a glib observation, “The pharaoh chooses his own destiny.”
Ms Ishtar gave him a sour look, only faintly noticeable in the tenseness of her brow. After a moment of tense stand-off, she sighed, breaking her professionally-unsettling gaze to select one of the many expertly-arranged pieces of baklava.
Sugoroku nodded, accepting the repast for the counter that was. The tone of their silence was tinged with a more mutual mood of observing this battlefield, his latest strike shifting the terrain. Her baklava was eaten thoughtfully, eyes fixed on the past—likely on the juxtaposition of rules he presented her with.
For surely, if the owner consented to their property leaving the country—as a gift, no less—then the Secretary General politely questioning him over tea cannot charge him with neither theft nor smuggling? It was, regrettably, a concern that said owner was long dead, but providential that one of the pharaoh’s own guardians was also questioning him, in the same individual.
He grimaced faintly at his internal monologuing, remembering the corporeality issue his grandson was suffering as host to the pharaoh’s soul. Ishizu Ishtar was her own person, and at best a reincarnation of the pharaoh’s priestess.
As if catching his thoughts, Her Excellency glanced up, breaking her gaze on the past. She pursed her lips, back straight and looming as she weighed her judgement. “I believe,” She said, words careful and grave, “That you’re a most honoured guest in Egypt.”
He grinned.
“Despite your dubious predilections,” Ms Ishizu finished, expression tilting into reprovement.
“Well,” Sugoroku said, lifting his cup in jovial admission, “As the lady says.”
--
Author's Notes
This was originally a zine submission for Sideline Stars (on tumblr as @ygosszine), which ran during 2021. Another Ishizu-centric fic of mine, dbḥt-ḥtp, was actually written after this one - pertinent because I had realized the worldbuilding issues of Ishizu's status within the SCA and attempted to course-correct in that fic where I had stumbled in this one. Nevertheless, the plot should be intact here, and I immensely enjoyed two characters that were so crucial to DM's plot and yet likewise remained as beloved side characters.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Kaiba Mokuba & Leon von Schroeder
Characters: Kaiba Mokuba, Leon von Schroeder
Additional Tags: Apologies, Post-Grand Championship Arc
Summary:
After our heroes foiled his brother’s attempt to sabotage Seto’s Grand Championship, Leon wants to apologize for his own involvement - But Seto is busy, so the only one he can talk to is Mokuba, little brother to little brother.
Hey there, duelists! For those of you who missed on Twitter, all our buyer orders were shipped out a few weeks ago so hopefully they should be arriving to you all soon! In the mean time, our shipping mod is getting contributor orders ready to ship out which means we’re almost done with shipping completely!
Be sure to post your bundles when they arrive, we’d love to see them!
Thank you all so much for all your support, we all hope you’re enjoying your zines!
Good news duelists, another round of orders went out today! There should be one last batch of US orders going out next week, and then we'll tackle the international orders! Thank you all so much for your patience, and be sure to check your emails to see if your order has shipped!
Another note as well, now that orders are being shipped feel free to tag us when you receive your order! We'd love to see everyone's orders, and which character you got on your package. Mod Mora did a little doodle of one of the characters from the zine on each package as a special thank you for supporting the project.
Hey there, duelists! We have another small update to share with you! As some of you may know, all PDFs were sent out to everyone earlier this month. As for all the other bundles, packaging is now finished so we'll go ahead with shipping things out very soon! Keep an eye on your inboxes, because we’ll be sure to let you know when things are officially all shipped out. Thank you so much everyone for your patience and support, we’re all very eager for everyone to receive their bundles!
