Holy mother of Ra...

*mouth drops open in shock*

This was... This was... This was WOW.

I cannot even begin to describe what I felt while reading this story. Mostly sadness...for Yugi and Ryou and Malik (at first)... and then that ending... T.T Beautiful ending.

I like to think that after everything is said and done, Malik and Jonouchi would make an interesting pair of friends. I don't know why, but it just seems like they'd hit it off pretty well.

I loved the incorporation of Yami Malik's thoughts and you captured Malik's downward spiral really well... I'm glad Jou was there to save him in the end. :)

Amazing story. Great job!

This was beautiful, in a rather depressing way. Joey seemed kind of distant from Yugi and the others, was that just supposed to be a byproduct of them maturing (though I did love his role in the story and think it fits him very well, especially when he saved Malik at the end)? And Ryou seemed really cold, but it made perfect sense in the context of the fic. Overall every single one of the characters in here seemed really depressed/depressing and falling apart. You definitely set the tone in this fic and kept it up until the last minute.

The way you portrayed Malik's slowly spiraling insanity? depression? was absolutely perfect. I wanted to cry more and more as the fic went on. I loved your use of parenthesis, too. I don't know why, but somehow they added to the fic and definitely helped with the overall mood. I don't think I've ever read a fic that used parenthesis this well; most of the time they're just there or have no reason to be there.

I would love to be able to give you criticism just so that it doesn't seem like I'm trying to put you on a pedestal or something, but your spelling and grammar were great and the characterizations all made total sense. I mean, I'm personally not a fan of a cold and harsh Ryou, but I can't imagine him being any other way in your fic, so I can't complain about it at all.

Anyway, great job and keep up the good work!

That seemed like a happy enough ending...

loved it.

I am loooo-ving this. Beautiful, beautiful angst AND a happy ending. How does that happen? I don't know, but it works andI love you for it!

Wow ... just ... wow ... XD

*cue many suffocating hugs and heck-loads of squealing* ... Have I mentioned that I absolutely love you? Seriously, you are just... Words fail me. I'm absolutely speechless (me, speechless? What is happening to the world? XD) You are basically a superstar, Saffy, you lovely talented girl!

I mean, you wrote an *irateshipping* which actually matched my requirments! Me, the pickiest- I'd love a cameo of X, Y and Z, oh and I want angst but it must have a happy ending as well- and you wrote it *so* well. This story is genuinelly one of the best stories I've *ever* read on this site. And I've been here for about three years!

(It's definitely the best irateshipping on the whole internet!)

The plot... *dies* So perfect. *So* perfect. I loved disturbed!Ryou (made me cry!) and the hints of Yugi being pretty messed up as well just added to the heartbreaking storyline of how these three have been irredeemably changed by their shi*ty lives. (Aah, swearing in front of a minor! o_0 Meh, I'm sure you've heard worse!)

The scene at the end where Jou saved Malik's life? Only the best romantic scene EVER! And that hug, oh that hug... *bliss* I will be having lovely dreams of that for many nights to come!

At the end of the story, I was crying from both sadness and happiness. It was just so darn perfect! I loved your writing style (I think one reviewer said it was 'poetic'- couldn't have put it better myself; it just flowed so beautifully) and of course your characterisation. Jou was written excellently (the hints about his situation at home were so poignant!) and your Malik (considering he's a character I can never get exactly right) was brilliant. Exactly how I wanted him to be- you're just an awesome writer!

Wow, I think I've gushed quite a lot in this review! xD But that's only because there was nothing to criticise, it was just really really brilliant. Much love for writing this, you continue to be absolutely freaking awesome! :D

*hugs and sparkles and kisses*

Bookworm

PS IF I COULD FAVOURITE THIS MORE THAN ONCE, I WOULD! (Heh heh, capslock fun! XD)

I - what - what. :D Honestly. NOTHING CAN DESCRIBE THIS ADEQUATELY.

...And I see Lady linked you to the admission of my inferiority complex...but I'm what I like to call IBN (insecure by nature), so we'll just ditch that. (And for the record, I wanna know this Isis/Ishizu rant as well. ;D)

Just - just take all of the good comments you've ever gotten, smash them together, and stick them in this review. Is that a good enough bit of praise? Because I'm lost for words, and there's definitely no way I can form coherent sentences of said praise right now. (But obviously, I can form coherent sentences of other things, derp.)

(And I totally love all the parenthesis-usage. Toootally.)

I was completely engrossed in the story, and I loved the hinted Tendershipping (especially how you described Bakura as a 'wraith' - F*CKING BRILLIANT /cough/)

And you've gotten me completely HOOKED on Irateshipping now (and you know something? I would love you forever if you wrote a multichapter Dealshipping. LOVE YOU FOREVER! /is referring to forum post which I never responded to/)...which is just great. Yet another crackship I can now call my friend~ XD

You've fast become one of my favorite authors on the site. Great job, Keruth! :D

this was interesting. i liked how you wrote it. it kinda reminded me of a poem. It flowed really well together and i liked how you aged the characters. _ it was very good.

WOW, a story BETWEEEN contest pairings? Color me impressed.

Before I review your story, I just thought you should know that your name came up in the Wacky Pairings forum. ( topic/46101/14890400/8/#32406077)

Basically, we decided that you're a genius and a prodigy and you make us feel inferior in comparison XD. Then we got all emo and had to discuss Mana x Miho to cheer ourselves up with the extreme peppiness.

Oh and also, I want to know your rant on why modern Isis/Ishizu Ishtar is 'Isis'. That point has always confused me. Does it have to do with the way it's written in Japanese? Because phonetically (in the Japanese version), it definitely sounds like they're saying 'Ishizu' in Battle City and Isis (or rather, AYYE-sis) in Millenium World. PM me?

And now, about 1000 characters in, I'm going to start actually reviewing the fic.

I'll begin with some concrit (because you're fabulous and brilliant and I only want you to become more so): But anyway. Some of these sentences have too many commas, and I get lost in the middle. For example: "Isis was actually the first one he saw, because Malik had been bundled up into a thick winter jacket with black scarves shrouding his face like the veils that covered the heads of the people of the Middle East, and with those over his eyes and voice there was none of his fire left to flare out and announce his presence. " I think that would've been better as 3 sentences: "Isis was actually the first one he saw. Malik had been bundled up into a thick winter jacket with black scarves shrouding his face like the veils that covered the heads of the people of the Middle East. With scarves over his eyes and voice there was none of his fire left to flare out and announce his presence" I thought the same thing about your Mizushipping fic, so I think that's maybe an area you should concentrate on. (I should too...I know I'm completely guilty of overusing semicolons...I suppose we all have our pet punctuation XP)

One more concrit: Isn’t the plural of ‘passerby,’ ‘passersby’?

I really liked the little snippets of humor you threw in here and there...Malik taking off his shirt..the reference to the 'monster with the dragon's head at his crotch'...

Joy of joys at brief hint that Malik is bisexual. I've always thought that, I don't know why. Maybe it's just because I get sick of people acting like gay or straight are the only two options.

The paragraph that ended with: ‘The emptiness was better than anything he could be, and from what he had heard, Ryou had always been the overachiever’. Oh my god, that was absolutely beautiful. Malik’s fear and anger, Ryou’s depression and apathy…they were so beautifully captured.

And OF COURSE Yami Malik would come back. Because, as you say, a part of yourself can never leave.

And then after that, I got too engrossed in the story to continue going line-by-line. I just LOVED it. I love how Jounouchi saved Malik, and how Ryou was beyond saving. I loved the little details about NYC (I wish el stops were heated, no fair…) I loved Malik’s desperation and cursing in Arabic. I just loved it. You continue to astound me. :o That’s my astounded face.