#there was a rambly version in my brain that mentioned yugioh

[the-fandom-crossroads]

I've seen a bit of your essays about egypt references in sumeru. Will you do one for each character? Asking because I really wanna know what you think of Alhaitham, Deshret and Nabu Malinka

Oh Wow I'm so glad folks are still finding those! (also so sorry it took me like a month to respond)

So I double checked and I only got around to posting Nilou, Cyno, and Apep on Tumblr. I thought I vaguely touched on King Deshret just before 3.0 launch but I think that was just in a comment on someone else's post about Sumeru and Egypt. Same thing with Candace unfortunately.

I'd have to look into Al-Haitham a little more. Other than his name being Arabic there doesn't seem to be much linking him to the Egypt side of things. Most things from the Akademiya are Hindi inspired and I don't have enough knowledge in that area to feel comfortable assuming links between things.

For Nabu Malikata it was a waiting game. We knew about the flower goddess in 3.0, but it's only been the last two area updates where we've even learned her name. Now that we have all of it. . . It actually doesn't make it that much easier. Nabu implies Mesopotamian gods might be involved meaning there love myths are on the table along with the OsirisXIsis myth which would be the easy answer (if it was like a role swapped version lol), then you have the Tanit and Babel dropping Torah references left and right. On top of all that since we know Nilou is supposed to symbolize Nabu and Nilou has Hindi connections in her stuff we can't rule out Hinduism from our list of old religious sources.

Basically Mihoyo pulled from every middle eastern primary (hopefully) source they could get their hands on. And didn't care which they put on some characters. Characters like Cyno or Candace are easy to break down into Anubis and Horus. But even King Deshret has other things mixed in there. Like they legit replaced Amun-Ra with Deshret. Like they redesigned the eye of Ra to mean King Deshret in Teyvat. I'm guessing because Ra is so well known they couldn't use the name? But it just makes things messier.

So short answer Candace, Deyha, and King Deshret are definitely on the table for me to finally post their breakdowns. (Seeing as Candace's character quest or hangout apparently isn't happening). Nabu Malikata's breakdown and King Deshret and Nabu's love story on the other hand are in time out until if figure out if they're even an Egyptian myth or a Sumerian one.

And no time frame for any of these. It took me a month to get to this ask. I'm not exactly the fastest historical researcher at the moment.

[bakugouisabitch]

First of all @nightingalejune i love your brain!!

And second of all, yes. To all of this. I’m gonna use this chance now to ramble under my own gifset sgsjsg

Despite in the manga it being more of a clear point that TKB is still inside Yami Bakura (he calls himself thief, and references being an ancient soul seeking vengeance, and even complains abt royalty just like thief king does by saying “gotta do the king’s dirty work again” - elements that have been all removed in the anime for whatever reason), there’s no denying that he got his priorities a little confused thanks to Zorc’s influence (and also thanks to his memory loss because, yes, just like Atem, he has some amnesia in the manga too - makes sense as a 3000 year old spirit) BUT i totally agree with the fact that you’ve pointed out.

Yami Bakura in this duel is at his most human we ever see him. It’s true that he’s doing this all to get at the scriptures on Malik’s back, but I have to say, he’s really risking it all (a literal death shadow game) just to make sure that agreement works, which was basically: saving Rishid for showing me your back. I like to think Bakura got reminded of a younger version of himself when he saw Malik, of his old rebellious self, fighting against the Pharaoh for the mistreatment of his people. If YuGiOh’s writing would have been a bit deeper and focused much more on the portrayal of the character’s feelings, i would even be as bold as to say that this moment right here could have become Bakura’s redemption, or also the moment that makes the audience actually see him in a different light for the first time. There’s something just so human in seeing this half ghost/half demon risking it all to protect someone else (not to mention, protecting him from another character who was actually working on destroying their common enemy = the pharaoh). It’s also true that Yami Bakura has had a plan since millennia and, ever since he can move/control his host’s body, he’s finally setting it in motion, so any deviation of said plan (in that case being Yami Malik) is a nuisance to him. He’s not a fool without a plan, he knows exactly what he’s doing. But it’s, hands down, just so beautiful to see how far he goes to protect Malik/Rishid - really not something you’d expect of a villain/character you’re supposed to dislike.

Bakura (+ Malik) in every DM Duel: vs. Yami Malik (pt. 5)

“I’ll be resurrected in due time! To kill you! I originated from the darkness in the first place!”