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thefirstknife · 8 months

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sorry if this is a lot to ask, but could you sum up the veil lore now that we have all of the logs? I haven't been keeping up with them.

Love your lore summaries <3

Sure thing! I'll quickly summarise most important stuff we found out in each log and I'll put links to them for reading more. Here's the link to all logs in order in a playlist on Destiny Content Vault.

First log is a part of the mission and has some extra stuff going on, but the log itself is there to just establish what we'll be listening to. The narrator of the logs will be Chioma Esi, one of the founders of Neomuna and a Golden Age scientist of the Ishtar Collective. She tells us how Maya Sundaresh, her wife, picked her up with Exodus Indigo on their way to Neomuna just as the Collapse was happening around them.

The second log is immediately a huge lore drop about the Veil and the initial reaction that people had to it. It confirmed that the Veil had already been there before they arrived, that Maya immediately connected with it and it spoke to her in her own voice, as well as how it had an adverse effect on the Exos. Chioma also mentions how the Veil is a "thesis statement to the Von Neumann-Wigner hypothesis" which I mentioned very briefly in my post, but I do not have the knowledge to explain quantum and theoretical physics. However, other people do! Please check out this reddit post about this which goes in-depth in language as approachable as possible to understand how much this single sentence means in the grand scheme of things.

Third log! Chioma is suspicious about the Veil, but Maya insists that this is where they have to settle. It's confirmed that Neomuna nanotechnology comes from SIVA which was on board all Exodus ships, which includes Exodus Indigo. The nanotech helped them build settlements quickly, but not quickly enough before all of their Exos succumbed to the exposure of the Veil.

More under:

Log number four goes into some of the stuff about the Vex and their relationship with the Veil. The Vex quickly established themselves in Neomuna and started attacking the settlement, but were prevented from going too far into it, stopped by the Veil. The Vex retaliated by creating a "screen" that isolated Neomuna from the outside world. This made Neomuni safe, but also stuck with the Vex.

Fifth log was big, and mostly concerns with the Exos again. This one revealed to us that the Veil is capable of essentially breaking down the alkahest used to make the Exos function. The Veil's power "overloads" the Clarity aspect of alkahest and essentially erases the Exos, rendering them dead. Maya reveals that she wants to use the Veil to instead "fabricate consciousness" into the newly dead Exos. Chioma is sinking further into despair about Maya's behaviour. Osiris also poses the question if Nimbus knows more about how Cloud Striders are made, implying a possible link between them and the Veil's power.

Number six! This one continues in the same vein, showing us how they speculated about using SIVA, nanotechnology that functions similarly to radiolaria (but mechanical instead of biological), and components from both the Vex and dead Exos in order to create some technology or enhance the use of the nanotech. Osiris confirms that there does seem to be some link between the Vex and Cloud Strider technology.

Seventh log shows us further experimentation with the Veil. Maya managed to build a prototype interface for the Veil which consists of an "orchestra" and a "conductor:" multiple people would connect to the Veil with the interface and follow the conductor to sync up and control the input and output, especially to parse through the data. This was very risky and dangerous. Chioma is falling even deeper into despair over how unethical and dangerous what they're doing is.

Eight! Things get worse! Experiments with interfacing with the Veil proved entirely fatal for the whole team. Maya did not seem to care about this and only cared about valuable data, while Chioma was having harder and harder time dealing with the situation. Osiris also points out how similar this whole situation is to what the Witness had done to its species; how they all used the Veil to interface with it and merge into one.

Log number nine caught us all by surprise by revealing that Maya continued with the experiments and used previously dead Exos to "fabricate consciousness" into them; she hooked them up to the Veil's interface and fabricated a new consciousness into an Exo known as Lakshmi-2. We don't know how many consciousnesses were used to create this, but Maya also used her own, giving Lakshmi her own voice and some of her memories. Big implications for everything about Lakshmi, especially Lakshmi's involvement with the Future War Cult as their leader, given that the Future War Cult was founded by Maya Sundaresh in the Golden Age. It also brought some new perspective to Lakshmi's interest in the Spontaneous Exo Reset Syndrome, as well as possibly a bigger reason why Savathun sought to corrupt Lakshmi and remove her from the City. Here's also my post recaping Season of the Splicer after we learned about this, to clear some stuff about her and Savathun's corruption of her back then.

Tenth log tells us about Maya finally succeeding in connecting people to the Veil without casualties. Months and probably years of work eventually paid off and the Veil became a viable source of power for the Neomuni and this event is probably what paved the way for the CloudArk. The Veil is described as a web of consciousness and Chioma further explains why the Vex might want it, as it would allow them to run paracausal simulations, something they aren't capable of doing currently. Chioma recognises that this should be a moment to celebrate, but she can't because she knows the Veil is dangerous but now there's a whole civilisation built on it.

Eleventh log was short and sad. Chioma tells us how she found Maya dead, alone, in the conductor's chair. It's unclear what she was doing and how she died. Chioma is unsettled by Lakshmi who is half-Maya, but "developmentally incomplete" and has her quarantined. Maya most likely died communing with the Veil, which has interesting implications for her consciousness.

Log number twelve tells us a few things about Neomuna's knowledge about what was going on outside of Neptune. Chioma detected Rasputin waking up in the Dark Age by monitoring her ex-work station on Hyperion, the moon of Saturn. Rasputin detected Neomuna and gave it a classification of "Nefele Stronghold." Chioma decided to send a Cloud Strider, Stargazer, to Earth to erase records of Neomuna, not because they wanted to keep their secrets or to save themselves from Warlords (although that must've also been a factor), but primarily to protect the outside world from the dangers of the Veil.

Thirteenth log shows us Chioma deciding to shut down the whole facility known as Veil Containment. She decided to hide it all and not to leave this mess on other people's conscience. She understood that there's nothing else to do and that Neomuna will go on, but that nobody else needs to know how they got to where they are. We're told that there's a Vex signature crawling through the logs, identified as "MSund12."

Number fourteen is where we end for now. Chioma reminds us about how the Ishtar scientists got exposed to the Vex and simulated by them 227 times, fully confirming that the "MSund12" Vex signature is one of Vex!Maya copies (number 12). Chioma decided that there's nothing more left to do or tell and that she made contact with the Vex, presumably to end her life with the hope that by doing so through the Vex, she will return to the Vex Collective and find Maya there. Osiris recaps things for us, reminding us again that the Veil is "the power of consciousness made manifest" and that the Traveler and the Light are the power of the physical world. He recognises the risks here, despite the great power being offered.

This gave us incredible insight into the Veil as a paracausal object and what it represents. Paired with the Witness cutscene, we learned a lot about what it means and how it's used. It's a paracausal entity with great powers over consciousess and the mind, capable of transferring, deleting or creating consciousness. It seems to parallel the Light and the Traveler which are both firmly based in the power of the physical world. Somehow, these two entities have been connected before and can connect again.

The Witness' species used the Veil to fuse their entire civilisation into a single being and set off in the pursuit of the Final Shape. The Veil was also specified as being somehow connected to the Traveler in the past, but that they've become separate and that the Traveler has since been avoiding coming back in contact with it. When the Witness attempted to connect them again for the first time, the Traveler fled and has been fleeing ever since. And now that the Witness caught up with it and finally did what it always wanted to do, a mysterious portal has been opened into a realm of unknown power and origin with unknown consequences to both the Traveler and the universe itself. All of this was made possible only with the Veil which means that the Veil's paracausal power of consciousness must have something important to do with it. Both the Witness and Maya Sundaresh were using the Veil to move and fabricate consciousness, though Maya worked a little bit smaller in scale.

Still, all of this is a great deep dive into some of the most mysterious aspects of the setting. The Veil is still a complicated paracausal entity, but the Traveler remains so as well. Possibly even more so right now. The link between the Traveler and the Veil is still left to explore, especially with how and why they are capable of opening a portal to an unknown dimension when they come in contact. This will for sure be in some way explored in the future, either in seasons themselves, the two remaining Veil Logs or maybe we'll have to wait for The Final Shape to know more. Either way, there's something going on here, in their connection and their parallels and their opposites; something needed to open a portal to a mysterious realm that has been described as "place of new wonders and old memories."

And yes, there's two Veil Logs remaining! One will be available next week when the next season starts and then the final one will be ready in the final season of the year. They've confirmed this in an article with the commentary on the Veil Log quest as a whole and their goals with it. I talked about it here, it's really interesting!

#destiny 2 #lore vibing #long post #veil log #ask #the veil #chioma #maya #i hope this helps to keep things in one place!#i definitely recommend listening to all logs on your own as well #the VA did an incredible job with them

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cookiesupplier · 2 months

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A Friend Down In Hell - Part Eleven

pairing: Nick Folio x ofc (Ishtar)

warnings/tropes: slow burn, pining, idiot in love, language, drinking, mentions of violence, mentions of torture, mentions of religious mythology.

summary: Folio can't quite tell you how long he's been dead, but it doesn't matter when he has friends like his, and Ishtar. Ishtar, with whom he fell in love the moment he met her. The problem? She doesn't know it. How does he convince a demon, who is practically immortal, to date him when he's dead? How did Ellie do it so easily?

author’s note: Unbetaed.. Enjoy!

To read from the beginning: A Friend Down In Hell Masterlist

And for those that missed Noah & Ellie's Story previously, all Hell-Verse stories will be included here: Combined Hell-Verse Masterlist

tags: @spicywhenspeaking @tearfallpixie @cncohshit @nyxthedestroyerofworlds @lyschko666 @bngurngheart @lacktoesandtoddlerants @sorrowsofsilence @collapsedglasshouses @vinyardmauro @dsireland86 @4rtificialfolio @emmmm127 @badomensls @agravemisstake @sunsshinesunny @blackveilomens

Tag lists are open, please let me know if you'd like to be added to this story, the Hell-Verse as a whole, or Everything

As far as Ishtar was concerned, that fact that she had lunch with Nick to look forward to today, was the only saving grace that Tony had last night when she was at work at the bar. She had had the most wonderful morning with him at the café, even if their meeting had started just a little bit jarring as it were. Sitting laughing over breakfast, with Nick telling her about how he loved to come here for breakfast ever morning, but their special wraps were perfect for hangovers. He even told her about how he had started trading his hangover cure, for Ellie’s hangover cure, and it was no surprise to Ishtar that Ellie’s cure was likely a lot healthier for the body. She laughed at the cutest face he’d made talking about the horrible shake he’d had to drink the day after the last shot challenge.

Ishtar couldn’t entirely say she blamed Ellie. Those girls always trying to sink their claws into Sebastian all the time lately, and what that one in particular had been saying that night… if she wasn’t certain that the little wench would report her for it, she’d have given her what for herself when she’d thrown her out on her ass that night. However, she was glad she didn’t, especially when her surprise visit later, to be so called reprimanded by Lord Sebastian, turned out to be nothing but a girl's days with Ellie.

A girl's day of sorts that started with lunch and ended with a plan hatching. A plan that had, of course, taken place yesterday. Admittedly, it didn’t go quite to plan, obviously, but in the end, gone splendidly just the same. Ellie had given her the name for the café that Nick, sorry, Folio, liked to grab his breakfast from every day. The idea had been simple enough anyway. A manufactured chance meeting for her to meet him away from the bar. They’d agreed since her hints over the years to him of all the ways he could meet up with her had led no where, that this would be the best way to go about it, and now here they were. She’d finally gotten to spend time with Nick, and had a proper conversation with him outside of him chatting her up while ordering drinks.

By the time she’d gone into work that night, she had been feeling great, even if she was having to work the bar itself right alongside Tony in person. It was easier when he was out the back, and she didn’t have to deal with his jibes and comments right in her face. She was however thankful that Nick didn’t come by tonight, she didn’t think she could handle dealing with Tony without knocking him out now.. It felt different now, Nick wasn’t just a customer anymore, it would seem she was going to have to find a medium between customer and, so much more.

Yes, so much more. As to putting a label on what they actually were, that remained to be seen. Though, she wondered how long it would take Nick to ask her, Ellie seemed to think not too long. Ishtar had been sceptical when they talked this morning, after all, look how long it had taken them to get this far, maybe she should just ask herself.. But Ellie insisted that this one Nick would do. Ishtar had made the move to meet him, let him ask. After all, wasn’t that the idea she had suggested, make him work for it? Besides, Ellie had told her she was sure that with how excited he had been yesterday about their lunch date, he would not take long, not long at all. Hearing that this morning had made her smile.

Today, she’d even gotten a little dressed up, wanting to look nice for Nick, and not just look the same as she always did at the bar, with the all black attire, and the bar icon on the shirt.. While she’d been all kinds of casual not wanting to seem anything out of the ordinary when she went to the café, chance meeting and all, whether she’d fooled Nick or not she didn’t know, this time, they’d planned together, it was different. It was an actual date. They’d agreed to it. Admittedly, they called the café their first date, do to remove the first date jitters, but this was planned, on both their parts, so it was a bit different. So Ishtar only hoped that Nick liked how she looked, it had been a long time since she had gone on a proper date.

Yes, even a lunch date at the diner was a proper date to her, she didn’t need to be wined and dined, while a fancy night was wonderful for a special occasion, she was a simple girl, who liked simple pleasures. Hopefully Nick would understand that.

Folio was so, so, nervous now, he’d been bummed all day yesterday, that he knew he was going to have to wait a whole day to see Ishtar. He had been tempted to go to the bar, but Ellie had talked him out of it, reasoning that he had already felt awkward before about being what he thought of as a barfly, wouldn’t it be worse now if how he felt was amped up even stronger at the bar? Jolly had just snickered and pointed out how much he was already simping for her, how much more could his feelings have amped up after one teensy little breakfast date?

They’d both just looked at him across the desks, and he’d just smiled a little, thinking about said breakfast, especially at the way Jolly had called it a breakfast date. He didn’t think anything about his feelings for Ishtar could ever be considered negative, or be called worse, so what did he have to lose, right? However, Ellie had taken one look at whatever she’d seen on his face, and then looked right back at Jolly and without skipping a beat just said,

"Are you kidding me? Look at that face!"

Folio looking between two of his best friends as Jolly was nodding resigned, before shaking his head, almost as if he was just so horribly disappointed in him for some reason.. What.. what was the problem here.. Folio didn’t see a problem here! Ishtar was the most amazing creature to walk the planet, dammit, he was not going to consider her any other way!

Jolly sighing… glancing back to Ellie with his..

"I don’t know what I was thinking."

Either way, Ellie had managed to talk him from going to the bar in the end, instead the guys came over to his place just like old times, for a card game, munchies, basically just hanging out and shooting the shit.. If they also teased the hell out of him about everything going on with Ishtar as well, he wasn’t going to tell Ellie. It was what they did, she’d just get defensive, and while he loved that about her, sometimes they just joked around, and just wait until Nicholas and Jolly met someone.. They won’t be able to hold him back, for sure!

Today though, he was running a bit late as he climbed off his motorbike, the souls had been a tiny bit chaotic this morning, and he’d been helping Jolly deal with the last one before he had gotten out of there to head off to lunch. He hadn’t wanted to leave them high and dry just because he wanted to rush off to have lunch with his girl.. Ah.. well.. The girl he liked. He couldn’t really call her his girl yet, now, could he? Rushing into the diner after, he took his helmet off, quickly brushing his fingers through his hair to get it as neat as he could, well, less insane biker looking at least.

He glanced along the tables, thankfully they weren’t that busy today, and only half of them were decently full, it meant that they would have enough space, and the noise level wouldn’t be too loud to talk. Really though, he was just trying to find where she was sitting, and Folio smiled when he finally spotted her, there she was. Walking along the tables, he loved this place, it was very, quaint, fifties retro diner, but had quite a few modern amenities behind the scenes so you could happily enjoy the atmosphere around as it stood.

When Folio came up along the table where Ishtar was sitting, oh, she took his breath away.. There she was looking absolutely divine, making him feel like a ruddy ant considering he’d rushed over from work on his bike so probably looked all hot and sweaty right now. He certainly felt it despite the blast of the air conditioner doing its fair share attempting to cool him down since he’d walked in the door. Compared to her, he might as well be a swamp monster, and her an absolute angel of a goddess. Knowing her mother was an actual goddess from what Noah and Nicholas had told him, should he really be surprised? Finding out last night that this was a story that apparently most demons already knew about, the Goddess coming down to hell, and ended up as a corpse on the wall, he’d been shocked.. Wow..

On one hand, that that was how her parents met.. On the other hand, that her mother was a literal Goddess. Looking to her, in her beautiful white sundress, and the way her hair curled so beautifully around her horns, they sat framing her face as she smiled when he slid across from her in the buckets seats of the diner table. While he was a sweaty, messy, disaster.. Had he thought about how absolutely perfect she was? Because she was.. He needed to again, there was just, not enough..

“You look amazing.”

Seeing her eyes shimmer like that.. It had taken him months to tell the way she flushed, the warmth of her skin wasn’t as easy to tell with the plum hue not changing colour quite the same.. But it was in her eyes. Her eyes were the most beautiful amethyst the way they shone in the light, they matched the colour of her horns, but when they shimmer as she blushed, it was something oh so delightful. Then there was when she got angry. Folio never wanted to be in her way when she got angry, he thought Noah got scary when he got angry, he never wanted to be anywhere near Ishtar when those eyes lit up with crystalline fire.

Laughing softly,

“And you look…”

He could see her trying to find a positive adjective for it, he could,

“Like a disaster I know, I just got off my bike, please don’t judge me.”

Trying to brush his fingers through his hair again, which was probably sticking up every which way like he had gone crazy somewhere along the way. He was sure the guys could vouch for the fact he absolutely had.

“I was in my old Motorcycle Club when I was alive, and I had this nickname when I was riding, they called me Animal, said it was because I always looked so wild when I got off my bike, so it fits.”

Hearing her laugh louder then, sounded absolutely wonderful, and he couldn’t help but want to make her laugh every single day, somehow, anyway he could, no matter the reason.

“You have such a beautiful laugh.”

“Why thank you, Animal.”

That got a chuckle out of him too now, sitting back in his chair, figuring his hair was as tame as it was going to get now. Next time he was going to plan a date, so he actually had at least a little bit of time to go home, get changed and look at least a tiny bit nice. He wanted to look and feel what he thought Ishtar deserved, and that was so much more than the swamp monster that could shift into an animal just in a blink.

Reaching for the menu,

“So, Nick, what do you like from here?”

Smiling, his grin bright, it was not lost on him that she liked calling him by his first name. He hadn’t had anyone call him that in so long, it was such a surprise. The first few times she’d called him that, he hadn’t even really responded right away, not entirely sure excepted she was looking at him.

“Everything, everything, is good here, Princess.”

His cheeks flushed warm when he realised what he said,

“I mean, how about this, I could choose something I like for you to try, and you choose something you like for me to try, and if like them both, we share?”

He'd make sure it was vegetarian, of course.

Ishtar just smiled across the table towards him, her eyes lifting from the menu, watching him after he fumbled with his words as he called her such a sweet endearment.. Only her sweet Nick would call her that. She’d been called all manner of things at the bar, and most of them all involved some form of sexual implications from drunken revellers, but Nick, he was sweet. Hopefully, he wasn’t always sweet.. That there really was an animal in there somewhere… please. “I like the sound of that.

Dividers by @saradika-graphics

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spacetimesally · 7 months

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The residents of the Venusian sky city of Dusren above Ishtar Terra are beginning to get that sinking feeling when the city's loft stabilizers start to give out one by one, now Sally's stuck in a crash course on learning to fly a floating metropolis in, "Ignition Key to the City"

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hasarjunadoneanythingwrong · 2 years

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what is this pattern where fgo overstates how ~special~ and ~overpowered~ japanese servants are? genuine question bc none of the grand servants or candidates are japanese. there are no japanese lostbelt kings. none of the japanese servants listed on ooku's event bonus even stand out to me as especially strong in lore

It’s one of those weird things that you at first don’t think is a thing and then you start actually reading and it’s like. O_O.

Like Japanese buddhist religious interpretations are given a stronger influence than other religions that run parallel to Buddhism (see kama/mara: mara is only really linked to kama in Buddhism and it’s basically maras presence alone making them an assassin despite both kama AND Sakura being notable archers, also the fact Indian god kama decided to make a Japanese themed hell depravity pit and that no Indian servants besides kama and parvati have bonuses despite ooku being a lb4 prelude and kama also being an Indian god as an example; also how the Buddhist priestess kiara is essentially always one step ahead of kama even if she does get destroyed at one point) this is also linked to how fate tends to sort of be anti god in the sense they don’t really believe in humans ‘relying’ on gods-whether through worship or actual divine intervention

There’s also the fact that they’ve just straight up released far, far more Japanese servants than other nations. Obvs some of this is just a familiarity bias, but when you also look at how there’s basically no African or South America heroic spirits it’s a bad look that they keep putting them out

This is an older map and it’s just Asia, but you can get a decent idea of just how heavily weighted it is

That being said, even if there are no grand servants who are Japanese they’ve still been either hyped up plenty in story. Fgo went out of its way to establish that more modern heroic spirits are always going to be weaker than ones with greater mystery, yet the shinsengumi and artists like hokusai or bakin are both ssrs and treated as powerful characters by the narrative. In Babylon king gilgamesh specifically tries for summoning Japanese heroes bc, in his words ‘they’re better at slaying demonic creatures’ (says this in the anime at least)(like…there are lots of cultures that have legends of heroes killing monsters????) and out of the eight servant he summons, only two, leonidas and Merlin, aren’t Japanese.

There’s also the fact that writers are implied to be weak heroic spirits, and as a result shakespeare and hans are both low rarity units-but then both sei AND murasaki, semi-obscure-outside-of-Japan authors, are 5stars? They also noticeably buffed murasaki’s combat ability by giving her the ability to use onmyouji, something which she herself says she never really used in life. Of course unit rarity doesn’t necessarily mean anything, but why is Sei so much more powerful than Shakespeare? Shakespeare is literally one of the most famous authors in the world, and his noble phantasm is described as being able to completely mentally cripple someone, yet this isn’t reflected in his gameplay at all

There’s also the fact tametomo is a grand archer candidate, can easily and effortlessly pierce through things such as Constantine’s np with his own, and was able to apparently create a large struggle for a group consisting or servants like super orion (an actual grand archer) Chiron, arjuna, and Ishtar simply to stop one of his arrows. For a guy who’s legend was sinking a boat with his shot. It’s true he had grails powering him both times, but it does read very ‘our guy is the most specialist and coolest of them all’

Musashi also runs into this issue tbh-she’s a much more modern swordswoman, but she had mystic probability deducing eyes, can cut the void, leap through reality, everyone loves her, while non-Japanese people from the similar time period are usually given far less to work with. Or how they insist you need to have a strong, well known legend to manifest as a servant, but then choose relatively obscure tales like the cut tongue sparrow and make her a limited 5 star.

Like idk there’s more to proving a certain group gets favored than JUST having grand servants. I’m not sure how much sense this makes bc it’s late and my typing is NOT working but I hope the gist comes across? I think the thing is we expect there to be SOME favoritism and prioritizing of Japanese myths and history, it is made in japan after all and may hold biases, but it’s annoying when that’s all they ever do

#if you can’t tell I’m really mad about the Hindu/buddhism thing #like yeah they have a lot of overlap! Buddhism came from it! but like why treat it as a ‘superior’ thing that overrides the Hindu version #it bugs me #my asks #did you come from reddit? be honest bc I wasn’t even talking abt this here

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megukami · 1 year

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"Death ends a life, not a relationship."-Chapter 1

We walked through the HelHeim, until we entered his castle. Everything was beautifuly designed, tall roofs, diferent pa intings of his brothers... We went up to the second floor, were the room reserved for me where.

-So this is going to be your room, I´ll order your luggage to be sent here-he said.

-Thank you Lord Hades-I tried to sound polite.

-You don´t have to call me "Lord"-he laughted-. It´s weird for me to have the daughter of my babysitter calling me that.

-WAIT WHAT?!?!?!?! MY MOM WAS YOUR BABYSITTER?-I didn´t have any idea of this.

-Yes, your mom took care of me centuries ago when I still couldn´t take care of myself nor my little brothers. In fact I knew that she was going to send me your help here in HellHeim but I didn´t know that Zeus was also involved in that.

I would like to see my face in that moment because I´m sure It was a totally mess. Why my mom didn´t told me this things? Hades probably thought I was stupid. He left me alone so I could explore my room. The bed was a big one, there was also two bedsides tables, a desk and a makeup vanity with a big mirror. Next to one of the bedsides tables there´s a door that comunicates to a private bathroom with a big bathtub, a toilet, a sink, towell rails and anything necessary for a luxury bathroom.

-Wow-I said to myself-. Hades really thought in everything!

Then I heard a knock in the door of the room.

-Y/N, can we enter?- It was Hades. Wait what? We?

-Yes you can!- I responded.

He entered the room with other boy. He had black hair, red eyes and was dressed with black clothes. I remember when my aunt Ishtar, summerian goddess of love and beauty, showed me trends from the human world. He looked what humand called "emo".

-This is Beelzebub, I wanted you to met him because he´s going to stay in the room next to yours and also is going to help you in your duties.

-Oh, hello Beelzebub, nice to meet you-I shaked his hand-. My name is Y/N.

He only shaked my hand and didn´t said anything. He looks a little bit weird but I think He´s just shy or something.

-Your luggage will arrive soon, please wait for It and then just organize your things. When you finish please come to the first floor, I´ll be waiting for both of you to show all the castle and then I´ll entrust you first mission-Then Hades left the room with Beelzebub.

My things only took 5 more minutes to arrive. All my colthes, accessories, make up, books, games... everything arrived fine.

-I wish I was just a suitcase so my mom could sent me to this room directly.

I arranged everything, even I had my small tv with me so I could play with my Nuntenku Swoch, the newest videogame console between the gods.

-Maybe one day I could teach that two how to play Marino Party- I said in loud void-. I don´t think that two know how to play It-

-How old do you think I am? I´ll probably play Marino Party better that you.

-WAAAAAAA-who was that?!?!?!?. I turned back to see Beelzebub in my door-. You scared me! Please knock next time!

-Sorry, sorry, you were taking a lot of time arranging thigs and I came here in case you needed help.

-Don´t worry I almost finished- I said in a hurry trying to finish quickly-. I´m done, let´s go with Hades!

AN///Here´s the chapter one! I hope you enjoy It! Again sorry If there´s any mistakes! Thank you for reading <3

#hades snv x reader #hades shuumatsu no valkyrie #hades ror #hades x reader #hades snv #shuumatsu no valkyrie x reader #shuumatsu no valkyrie #record of ragnarok #record of ragnarok x reader

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reginarubie · 2 years

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Sansa is connected with Medusa. Winged creature(winged wolf) and with serpent's in hair(silver hairnet with black amythest). She was used as pawn to kill Joffery and there were rumours about her doing witchcraft for escaping as wolf. But I think Dany is also a Medusa. Winged creatures can be Dragons. What do you think?

Ciao anon!,

you pose an interesting question and I think the matter of mythology in asoiaf is extremely interesting and that certain character might embody more than one singular mythological figure. Just look at Cersei (Venus and Eris) or Daenerys (Inanna/Astarte/Ishtar and Hecate) or Arya (Athena/Enyo and Hecate).

Sansa, herself, on the same line of thought might embody more than just one mythological figure. Some are already confirmed (like the Medusa and Persephone connection) others are just potential while sustained by textual evidence (Psyche, Gunnlöd and Isis for example).

As always, some premises are in order. Firstly I am in no way an expert on this subject and matter, I form my opinion and deliver it to you, based off the researches I do and the classical studies I did in high school, but I am in no way pretending to either an expert nor to hold the complete truth of it, so if anyone knows better please come forward for I enjoy learning on every subject.

Secondly, when speaking of ancient mythological figures, exactly as for goddesses etcetera, we have to take in consideration that during the span of time in which they've piled up, they have suffered from mixing, merging and shaping to serve the purpose and means that the author wanted them to serve. So it's never a clean-cut interpretation and often these figures embody elements that we'd not approach together (desire/death, for example, or love/destruction, like I have analysed in the Venus meta pertaining Cersei and Daenerys, x).

So, now, let's hop onto the first confirmed connection you have cited:

MEDUSA THE GORGON AND THE MAID AT THE FEAST WITH PURPLE SERPENTS IN HER HAIR

"I dreamt a wolf howling in the rain, but no one heard his grief," the dwarf woman was saying. "I dreamt such a clangor I thought my head might burst, drums and horns and pipes and screams, but the saddest sound was the little bells. I dreamt of a maid at a feast with purple serpents in her hair, venom dripping from their fangs. And later I dreamt that maid again, slaying a savage giant in a castle built of snow." — Arya VIII, ASOS

I am not digressing on the whole ‘(...) the saddest sound was the little bells’, I am not digressing on the whole ‘(...) the saddest sound was the little bells’ connected to war and destruction and — damn I totally am, in that other meta someone requested about Daenerys/Cleopatra (@sansaissteel this is all your fault, I want you to know, you fiend, I adore it).

Anyhow, back on track. We know, for sure, that Sansa is the maid at the feast with purple serpents in her hair, their fangs dripping with venom, as she wears the silver and black amethyst hairnet to Joffrey's wedding feast — and I've already said it, but purple is not only the colour of sorcery and power, but also of royalty and Sansa is royalty, by being princess in the North to her brother Robb, but I am digressing on colour codification and this is neither the place neither the time; just let it sink in that the only women who wear shades of purple/lilac are Daenerys a former princess turned queen, Sansa a princess and Arya another princess; three girls born as royalty as three are the Gorgons? mhhhh— and that inside the gems of the hairnet was the poison used to killed Joffrey (the strangler).

"There was murder in them!"

"Softly, my lady, softly. No murder. He choked on his pigeon pie." Dontos chortled. "Oh, tasty tasty pie. Silver and stones, that's all it was, silver and stone and magic."

The bells were tolling, and the wind was making a noise like he had made as he tried to suck a breath of air. "You poisoned him. You did. You took a stone from my hair..." — Sansa V, ASOS

By your description of Medusa, I assume you are talking about the most ancient myth associated with this particular gorgon, the one by which she was already born with serpents for hair and the capacity of turning to stone those who looked in her eyes, she also had wings, like her other two sisters.

In this, more ancient, essentially greek-migrated-from-the-east version of the myth Medusa was the daughter of the ancient marine deities, Phorkys and Keto, and she had two sisters, she was also the only mortal of the three gorgon. Perseus, demigod son of Zeus, kills her by beheading her, retaining her head for its properties (turning those who met her eyes to stone).

But, personally, I think Sansa represents better the roman version of this myth, the one narrated by Ovidio, whom transformed Medusa into a very beautiful woman whose most beautiful asset was her long hair, who Poseidon had sex with inside a sanctuary of Athena, who, furious at this, condemned the girl to become a monster, making of her beautiful hair serpents and making sure that she could meet no one's else gaze anymore, making sure her beauty became her curse. Mostly because Sansa was not a Medusa to begin with, she still isn't, as she was unaware of the purpose of the hairnet, and was framed thanks to it, and is aghast when she understand it. Also, it recalls nicely to the fact that Sansa's beauty resides much also in her thick, curly, auburn hair — so much that Cat thinks she'll grow more beautiful than her, when she recalls about brushing her hair — and the fact that after she was made of a Medusa she is forced to hide her identity for safety reasons and thus has to dye her hair dark, thus taking away part of her own beauty and identity.

She's still beautiful and charming — as proved by the fact that not a single lord or lady dismiss her and her role as de facto great lady of the Eyrie, and they hate LF, so they don't do it out of respect for him — still, her identity is put under trial here.

Also, as you yourself state, Medusa is a winged creature with serpents for hair and Sansa — who has worn poison in her hairnet — is being framed for Joffrey's murder — becoming a murdress, and herein comes the connotation of the name Medusa for ‘becoming a monster/ or lovely who does evil’ — and people say (a metropolitan myth if you'll like) that she killed the king with a spell — much like Medusa killed with her eyes only — later turned into a wolf with bat-like wings and flew away.

The northern girl. Winterfell's daughter. We heard she killed the king with a spell, and afterward changed into a wolf with big leather wings like a bat, and flew out a tower window. — Arya XIII, ASOS

So, wings. Of the Starklings only Bran and Sansa are connected with this image of the winged wolf. Sansa, as most women, connotated negatively (as a witch) and Bran as some sort of all-powerful mage. Which actually shall bring the twist because I believe Sansa to be the more innocent out of all her siblings, barred for Rickon, and Bran will have an hard time breaking free from Bloodraven, tho he ultimately will and in doing so he will reject the winged wolf and never fly again. Sacrificing magic, which can mean so much to him, for the good of the Realm and thus posing himself as the best prospect to lead the realm. Sansa, instead, is supposed to rule the North and she will do so by shedding the veil of this false accusation of being a Medusa, by proving she's her father's daughter first and foremost. Besides, I live for the Sansa Stark/Cregan Stark parallels and Sansa being appalled at Joffrey's end and her unwitting, unwilling part in it reminds me of Cregan schooling everyone as to why a king, even an opposing king, should be killed with honour, in battle, and not by poison. Sansa too washed her hands off the South in the same way as Cregan refused to stay and serve as Hand.

Anyway, digressing is a nice activity, but I will never come to end of this reply if I keep this on.

Sansa is also deeply connected with Jenny of Oldstone, flowers in her hair and dragonfly theme associated with her; and we all know that Jenny was married to Duncan, who refused his right and claim to the Iron throne to stay with her. Kind of like Jon refused his claim and right (Robb made him his heir, not that he knows yet) and everything he ever wanted for his sister *cough* cousin *cough* Sansa.

“Winterfell belongs to my sister Sansa” — Jon Snow, hidden Targaryen ‘prince’

“By right Winterfell should go to my sister Sansa.” — Jon Snow, hidden Targaryen ‘prince’

As a footnote, in some forms of the myth Medusa is pregnant by Poseidon when she's killed and posthumous she births Pegasus and Chryasor (a giant wielding a golden sword); so she's connected to another winged creature — which, again dragonfly (Sansa is connected to dragonflies and thus Jenny of Oldstone and her prince Duncan) and dragons.

Jon (hidden Targaryen — dragon, winged creature/direwolf, crow) and Sansa (‘winged’ wolf — little bird) mhhhh why does this sound like a pattern?

So, yes, without doubt Sansa does have some parallels in some form Medusa, but I think it will more of a Sansa shedding this forced image of Medusa imposed on her by her being framed for Joff's murder, than her embracing her inner gorgon (murdress). She'll probably skirt the line, but in the end as the red keeps creeping back under the dark dye, Sansa will always remain Ned Stark's daughter as I have analysed here (connected with LF trying to trap her in his schemes) and here (connected with her choosing the pear instead of the pomegranate LF offers).

THE GORGON AND DAENERYS

On the contrary, Daenerys is embracing her inner gorgon. As we've seen when she embraces the dragon (winged creature) capable of killing from distance (dragonfire), as she flees Meereen on Drogon's back.

‘Mother of dragons, mother of monsters (...) if they are monsters, so am I’ — Daenerys Targaryen

And she embraces both the more ancient form of the myth as, just as Medusa, Daenerys is a children of three from an incestous marriage between sibling coming from an ancient line of people (gods) lost in time (the valyrian), just like the Ovidio-version she starts off as a lovely maid which circumstances make of a gorgon, the point is, in this case she is her own perpetrator. She's the one who chooses to do the blood-rite deliberately knowing what it entails, she's the one who embraces the dragon, as I have analysed in this series of metas (x, by the title of blood magic and dark rites), she's the one who keeps embracing the dragon.

She's a lovely maiden, especially when AGOT starts, and her beauty is again mainly focused on her physical traits, her valyrian silver-gold locks and her amethyst eyes, and she's called the silver queen. And, after her blood ritual, and her death and resurrection (this is my personal theory) she lost all of her hair and they have become so brittle because of the stress, that she can't get them long again and styles them short, without braids (if not little ones) and bells instead.

[I won't digress on ‘(...) the saddest sound was the little bells’ connected to warcraft and destruction, I won't. Not now, but I really want to]

Also, just as Medusa posthumously birthed Pegasus (a winged horse, Perseus rides) and the giant with the golden sword...Daenerys too, posthumously imo (again for that theory of resurrection in asoiaf) ‘births’ children. Three dragons (one of which, Drogon, serves as her winged ride — she flees Meereen on dragonback) and if we have to go by the dark AA theory one of them (Drogon, again) might be the Lightbringer (the sword of AA)...even if the rider of Viserion (golden) might actually be connected with this point.

Anyway, you catch my drift. Daenerys chooses to embrace her inner gorgon, her inner Medusa (lovely face capable of great destruction — which coincidentally might be one of the interpretation of her name, as I have already said in the previous ask about her and the Venus parallels, as Daenerys seems to me like a merging of the greek names Deianira and Iris, which would mean ‘extremely beautiful woman capable of great destruction/destructress of mankind’) and this is where her arc is headed imo, though that remain to be seen.

So, yes, of course Daenerys has parallels with Medusa as well, though, as always with these two (Dany and Sansa) they are rivals, they are moral opposites (one shedding and refusing her imposed mask of Medusa, the other embracing it). Unsurprisingly, really.

On a footnote, red keeps creeping back in Sansa dyed hair, while Daenerys’ hair have difficulty growing back — again one rejects the gorgon the other embraces it.

And we could cut it here, sadly, now you have unleashed an long-ass analysis of possible mythological figures connected to Sansa and I won't stop. Sorry, it was your mistake really for stoking my curiosity.

— joking obviously, but I won't stop here.

So get your seatbelts ready.

PERSEPHONE, QUEEN OF THE UNDERWORLD AND SANSA STARK ~ THE MYTH OF HADES AND PERSEPHONE REVERSED

Petyr cut a pomegranate in two with his dagger, offering half to Sansa. "You should try and eat, my lady."

"Thank you, my lord." Pomegranate seeds were so messy; Sansa chose a pear instead, and took a small delicate bite. It was very ripe. The juice ran down her chin. — Sansa VI, ASOS

It sounds like a wolf, thought Sansa. A ghost wolf, big as mountains. — Alayne II, AFFC

Sansa is deeply connected with Persephone, goddess of spring and queen of the underworld. She's often connected with the pomegranate, not only is she served some — and refuses it choosing the pear instead and I've already analysed what that means for her and LF, who is fulfilling as a foil her Hades in the previously linked post when I spoke of her shedding her Medusa' mask — but she also thinks that when she blushes she looks like a pomegranate. Which makes me think that Sansa refused LF because he is just a foil, a dark look-a-like who truly isn't, of her true Hades who will not try to manipulate her to eat the pomegranate, but will make of her inherently a pomegranate by making her blush 'cause of love.

And, who is currently laying dead in a pool of his own blood (red as the pomegranate) in a snow field?, someone whose death she has felt and that she is foreshadowed in the very same passage as to led him back from the realm of dead and bring him back to life and spring in a reversal myth, Hades brought Persephone to the Underworld and kept her there, Sansa will lead Jon back from the realm of the dead, giving his life back meaning and purpose (like she did in the show) and will possibly help him through from winter to spring, as I have analysed here.

Also, as I have said more than once, Sansa is the first child of Ned and Cat born of love and in Winterfell, but she's also the first Stark kid born after winter (Robb was born during the false spring and the Rebellion — and in fact he creates the North as an independent kingdom but loses it; Jon if the book goes by show will do the same and he should be born in the year of false spring/nearing the fall back of winter), but before the long summer, which has been lasting for 9 years (approximatively since Arya's birth) while Sansa is eleven by the time AGOT starts, so it stands to reason she might be born during spring or at the very beginning of spring.

And Persephone was the goddess of spring and she's connected with Jenny of Oldstone by wearing flowers in her hair, just like the iconography of Persephone, who often is depicted with flowers in her hair.

Also, in the myth, Hades was pretty lax with his punishments (usually it would just suffice running some errand — perilous often — for him and he was done with it) but when Persephone sat beside him on her throne — ah as we said in my high school when we learned of their myth ‘meglio andare all'inferno d'estate, che d'inverno’, ‘better to go to the underworld in summer than winter’ as in winter Persephone was in her tenure as queen of the Underworld — and would administer justice beside her husband, often delivering punishment and justice to the souls that came to Hades' court.

And, as Jon is more focused on “I don't need to trust you to have need of you”, Sansa whole journey in the Vale is aimed at her becoming the one administering justice the same way as Ned was the one to deliver justice when he was lord of Winterfell. Which is why I always grimace at how undeveloped is the scene of LF's trial and execution, based on the whole arc of Sansa in this respect.

So, here's what I think about her confirmed (in part) connection with Persephone.

Let's hop onto the unconfirmed (yet) ones.

GUNNLÖD, THE WINE OF POETRY AND SANSA STARK

And later I dreamt that maid again, slaying a savage giant in a castle built of snow." — Arya VIII, ASOS

So, the connection with Gunnlöd is pretty interesting and actually a bit obscure but I feel like it's greatly pertinent to Sansa and her whole arc at the moment, fulfilling both the role of the original Stark lady and the Stark lord bastard son of Bael the Bard.

Gunnlöd is a figure of the norse mythology, and she's a giantess, daughter of a giant (lord/king of a castle) who is kept prisoner in her father's castle and forced to brew and care for three kettles with beverage she shall not let anyone taste on her own father's order.

You can see where I am aiming for, don't you?, Sansa is posing as Alayne Stone, bastard daughter of Littlefinger, whose family's sigil was the Titan of Braavos and that is highly associated and connected with the giant the same maid of the feast (Sansa) shall slay in a castle build of snow (Winterfell, the whole point of Sansa building Winterfell from snow and using LF's lessons against him as she embrace her identity as Ned Stark's daughter is something I've already discussed about here).

Anyway, point is Gunnlöd is dutiful and obeys her father, but when Odin comes to her, after a long travel very thirsty and ask for a sip of the drinks she is moved by his pleas and offers him to drink, Odin then proceeds to seduce her and offers to obtain three sips in exchange for three nights of passion. Gunnlöd accepts and Odin complies, and after having offered her the three nights he drinks the whole beverage, escaping and sharing it with the rest of the gods of Asgard after having fled in form of an eagle. The beverage he drank was the wine of poetry and thus Odin stole the gift of poetry from Gunnlöd.

Though, other versions of the story, want Gunnlöd to have fallen in love with Odin and have willingly helped him and that he himself would think back on his time with her with fondness, displaying some kind of affection toward her as one of his lovers.

I like this parallel, one because Gunnlöd who is imprisoned in the castle of her father to guard his secret powers (poetry — A harp can be as dangerous as a sword, in the right hands — something we know, by Arya, that her sister is very good at composing) is the one who makes sure, wittingly or not, that that power is no longer possession of only her father, which makes me think of Sansa whole arc posing as Alayne, learning all of LF's secrets and modus operandi to then use them against him, once again (just like in their Beal and original lady Stark version) fulfilling two roles at once (Bael's bastard son and the lady Stark) the one of Gunnlöd and the one of Odin, also since, ya know ‘red keeps creeping back (like a thief):

"You wrong me, ser. I am no thief!"

Ser Roland placed his hand over his heart. "Then how do you explain this hole in my chest, from where you stole my heart?" — Alayne I, WOW

Especially since, as it's hinted at in the text, is possible Sansa shall use her abilities to spin a story, to forward the rise of House Stark and the restoration of the North.

Just as Gunnlöd crippled her father thanks to her offering the gift of poetry to Odin, in the same way Sansa will cripple LF by using his secrets against him.

So yeah, pretty obscure and relatively unapproached until now, but I stumbled upon this one and I loved it.

PSYCHE AND SANSA STARK (rif)

I've already spoken a bit of the parallels between Sansa and Psyche in the previously linked post about the parallels between Cersei and Daenerys and Venus (linking the story of Eros and Psyche with the younger, more beautiful queen prophecy) I won't digress here further than that simply because I mean to write a meta about it (so, if you are interested stay tuned for that), so let's just say that Sansa has some connection with Psyche as well as Cersei/Venus spiteful of her — for her beauty — marries to a monster/Tyrion from whom Sansa is stolen by Eros/Jon).

And lastly, one of my favourites of these unconfirmed (yet) possible connections:

ISIS, GODDESS QUEEN OF EGYPT AND SANSA STARK

(...) the wind was howling fiercely. It sounds like a wolf, thought Sansa. A ghost wolf, big as mountains. — Alayne II, AFFC

She was a Stark of Winterfell, a noble lady, and someday she would be a queen. — Sansa I, AGOT

Sooooo this might be my favourite (or one of) mythological connections for Sansa ever, and it is mainly Jonsa (I mean, we know that Sansa will play a role as lady — queen — in the restoration of the North when spring comes, and that she'll play an important part in Jon's whole resurrection debacle, as the show has hinted and as that very passages in Alayne II, AFFC and Sansa VII, ASOS hint toward at, and in the political game.

Isis might be one of the few mythological figures that might be perfectly embodied by Sansa.

So, the myth goes that Osiris is king of Egypt and he has a wife, Isis, and they have two other siblings, a girl Nephthys (who was associated with death and decay — keep this in mind it'll be helpful later —) and another male, Seth. Seth, grow envious and jealous of his brother abducts him and puts him in a coffin and sends him off, imprisoned and becomes king of Egypt.

Isis goes in search of her brother-husband coffin and finds it, returning with him to Egypt. Seth, enraged, then tears Osiris to pieces and scatters all pieces in different directions, thus thinking his brother gone for good.

Isis, distraught, with the help of her younger sister Nephthys, searches and finds all the pieces of Osiris (save for his manhood) and bends him back together, making of him a living mummy and the king of the Underworld; later she gives Osiris a son, Horus, whom she puts on the throne of Egypt after he has dethroned Seth (in some stories Isis takes pity on Seth and Horus beheads her to then magically give her back her head and reconcile with her).

Now... Nephthys is connected to death and decay.

Isis, on the other hand, was the picture of the perfect wife of Egyptian times, and her attributes (besides a crown with the solar disk — sun and the moon as for Sansa and Arya — has also wings — again, dragonflies and winged wolf/little bird imaginary) are also linked to Sansa, she taught Egyptian women to sew and manage a household, she was content to stay in the back but offered fierce and fearsome protection to her husband and her son thanks to her wit.

What more, at the beginning of Egyptian society she was mostly obscure and unattended goddess, but she grew in importance as Egypt became richer and stronger, until she became known as one of the most important goddesses of the Egyptian pantheon and ended up as being recognised as the epitome of the queen of Egypt and a example of virtuous and dutiful, clever and intelligent as well as protective wife and queen.

Just see this and think of Sansa and Arya, and Jon (currently dead but that died to go save Arya and that will stitched back together by Sansa, and will probably return as the fiercest protector of his sisters, Arya and Sansa).

Arya who is right now an acolyte of the Faceless Men, servant to the God of Death, that, just like Nephthys, is connected thus with death and decay.

Well...it makes sense to me, does it to you?

As a footnote, the images are not mine, credits to the authors, I simply found them on the net.

As always, thank you for your ask!, it was very interesting and sorry if, after replying your question I ended up taking the tangent and creating a whole ass essay on figures you had asked nothing about...but it sounded compelling and interesting to me, so I said why not?, hope you enjoyed the read!

You can find my other mythology essays here:

Cersei vs Daenerys — Venus decoded

Jonsa mythology — Jonsa foreshadowing, part VIII: Love and Psyche

Jonsa mythology (2) — Jonsa foreshadowing, part IX: Osiris and Isis

As always I wish you a very nice day!

#ask the hag #anon asks #mythology and asoiaf #greek-roman mythology #norse mythology #Egyptian mythology #gorgon #medusa and sansa stark #sansa stark #persephone and sansa stark #psyche and sansa stark #gunnlöd and sansa stark #jonsa #isis and sansa stark #dark daenerys #medusa and Daenerys Targaryen

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millenniumdueled · 1 year

Text

The Final Round

So this is what it all comes down to. Despite his Duel with Kaiba predicted in ancient stones, somehow Yugi knew this would be the final match.

Except, he isn't really Yugi, is he?

Of all the stakes on the line, that seems less important now. His memories, his past, his name seem insignificant. It's something else that drives him now as he steps onto the Dueling platform.

Mai Valentine's life on the line. The unstoppable Darkness Marik could unleash with all three God Cards. Joey's pride as a Duelist, and the fight they've promised each other.

Yugi's heart pounds as the platform ascends.

He adds the cards he's received from Kaiba to his deck, Obelisk the Tormentor and another, a gift given to him without explanation. Devil's Sanctuary? Without time to read over the card's descriptive text, he simply chooses to trust his fated rival with the addition.

"And now, the Battle City Finals!! Finalists Yugi Mutou and Marik Ishtar! Please approach your opponent to cut and shuffle each other's deck!"

The air swirls with tension, with hatred and resentment, with the scorching winds of battle as the two do as told. Marik towers over the shorter man, but Yugi's eyes burn with determination, a firey passion fueled by the support of his friends, of everyone counting on him.

I see that Kaiba gave you a little help. Doesn't that make 41? Oh well, no advantage will protect you from the might of Ra,

Marik sneers.

Yugi's brows crease as he hands his deck to the enemy. "I will defeat you, Marik. I'll take all of the pain and suffering you've caused and send it back to you tenfold," he spits.

Hahaha!! Unfortunately for you, Pharaoh, I enjoy pain!

Marik's laugh is wicked, deranged, his tongue hanging ludely from his mouth as he shuffles Yugi's cards.

Decks returned to proper ownership, the two finalists walk back to their ends of the platform.

Did you shuffle thoroughly? Hoping Ra would sink to the bottom?

"Heh. Don't ask me, ask your deck." Yugi turns on his heel, gripping the collar of his jacket draped over his shoulders to cast it off into the wind with dramatic flair. "It already knows you're going to lose!!"

Once again, the announcer's voice rings out. "Going first is Marik Ishtar. Duel, start!!"

The moment the game begins, black clouds swirl overhead, darkening the sky until noon turns to night. The air grows heavy, choking not only the Duelists, but the friends cheering from below. Another Shadow Game. Of course. Why would this final, dire match be different than any other of Marik's unsavory fights?

Look around you Pharaoh, the hungry shadows are calling. They're saying this will be the greatest Shadow Game of all! Darkness will reign, and the gates of hell will open... I'll snuff out every pathetic life on this planet!!

Yugi grits his teeth.

Starting with... This one!

The shadows come together, swirling inky blackness that parts to reveal another figure, a human form suspended in mod-air, visible only to the Duelists on stage and none of the spectators below.

Yugi's eyes go wide in horror.

"Partner...?!!!"

Yugi, little Yugi, his Partner, his other soul. Bound and suspended by rings of inky darkness, held aloft and spread eagle as his big, violet eyes flutter open.

"wh. what's going on?!" he gasps, struggling to comprehend the situation he's been forced into. his panicked gaze meets a similar pair of eyes from below. "other me?!"

Marik doesn't give the pair another second, using their mutual, horrified confusion, as a chance to summon his first monster.

Vampiric Leech!! Direct attack!!

Though the monster has only 500 attack points, the pain as it bites into the Pharaoh is excruciatingly real. But the scream that cuts the air doesn't come from him.

The Other Yugi looks again at his helpless Partner, only to see Yugi's face twisted in agony and horror as a section of his leg seems to melt away, skin sizzling and burning as it does.

Marik laughs at his cries.

Not only does your sacrifice feel the pain my attacks inflict on you.... His body will be devoured based on the life points you lose!

Again, the Pharaoh calls out to his Partner.

As for me, my Sacrifice is this guy.

Marik hooks a thumb over his shoulder in the direction of another suspended body. His own other half floats helplessly, bound in a similar fashion as Yugi.

The moment the Player's life points hit zero and the Sacrifice's body consumed, they'll both suffer the ultimate pain. You'll both feel every fiber of your existence shredded, ripped apart as you die, separated and alone!!

Marik's eyes narrow, an almost perverse expression on his face as he licks his lips.

Pleasure and pain, life and death... Even if you win, can you live with yourself, Pharaoh?

The Other Yugi's stomach twists. He's made so many promises this tournament, including one to his precious Partner. No more killing. For a second, his focus shifts below, to Marik's sister Ishizu.

"other me!!!"

Yugi's voice draws his attention once more.

"don't let him get to your head!!! please!!"

"But Partner, you--"

"just fight him!!!"

The Other Yugi's eyes narrow, directing his anger and his focus to the game at hand again.

"Hang in there, Partner. I will get you out of this alive."

#ooc #ic action #not visible ic #ppthththp im supposed to hang out with a friend so idk if I'll actually get to write out the whole Duel #I struggled getting started and now its pretty late LOL #but I did at least want to illustrate the Stakes here (:#drabbles

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