FOR MALIK

[duranduel]

Comments

[godcards]

That's why it's better to not get too close to anyone. You wouldn't want to be devastated week after week, would you? Emotional people are miserable and unpredictable.

[ see: beau ]

[duranduel]

They are? I see.

[He's replying like he's hearing of this for the first time.]

So you've been doing well, then. Since you're not too close to anyone.

[godcards]

More or less. Death is just another aspect of life, anyway. It happens. If people really wanted to care, they should make their peace with it and move on for the sake of the dead. They're already moving on, so why not everyone else?

[duranduel]

That's an interesting way of seeing it.

So, if you died, we should just all move on without a care in the world?

[godcards]

...I think that's for the best, yes.

[ except his emotional dissonance is calming down, and hm, he kind of doesn't like that? don't make him actually consider his feelings, mandricardo. ]

Besides, I'm not close to anyone here. Why would anyone stop and grieve? It's to be expected that would be the case if, say, your family died... but we've only been here for several weeks, and that's not nearly long enough for it to matter in the grand scheme of things. After my death, the most important thing is burial rites so my soul could make it to the afterworld... but since I can't be buried in Egypt, I'm doomed anyway.

[ waves a hand dismissively so he can DISMISS THESE FEELINGS ]

It's something I've accepted, as unfortunate as it is.

[duranduel]

[consider your feelings while mandricardo just stares at u like a vaguely interested therapist]

...Egypt...I see. Burial rites are important. To store the soul, in its own way. So here, it would just mean that dying would be a total and complete end.

[Wow.]

But even without burial rites...sure memories could take the place of that? After all, they say that some people live on in the thoughts of others.

[godcards]

That might be true, to a degree... but even that has rituals, offerings-- things like that, that need to be considered. Memorials only go so far without someone to tend to them. And then those people die, and there's nothing to replace them...

I'd rather have a decent afterlife.

[duranduel]

What guarantees a decent afterlife? In Christianity, I think, its like. Doing good deeds. But what about in Egypt?

[godcards]

[ closes eyes. me, not malik. ]

Part of it is how you lived... Wicked souls are fed to the goddess Ammit if you do not pass judgement after you die. To even make it that far, one's soul has to travel through the Duat to be judged at the weighing of the heart ceremony... where all your deeds are weighed against you. There's also the 42 negative confessions that must be done in front of the gods. However, one's soul needs help from the Book of the Dead to even make it through the Duat and whatever challenges may lay therein. I don't have anything like that here, and nobody is equipped to handle such matters, so it's like I said... I've already accepted what is going to happen to me after death.

[duranduel]

...T-That seems like a lot.

[HOLY COW]

So you're just going to get. Eaten by this goddess? Or not even make it to her? You have no chances?

[godcards]

It's going to be one or the other. [ SHRUG haha no he actually does sound kind of sad this time. ]

[duranduel]

...

[Kind of. Peering at his face.]

Well, if you're sad about it, which...I think you are, then why wouldn't you allow yourself to be remembered? Even if people die, your memory lives for a time, you know. That's better than being eaten.

[godcards]

It's... complicated.

[ turning away DON'T LOOK AT HIM. ]

This place will probably manipulate memories anyway, since it's already been doing that.

[duranduel]

[hey dude LOOK AT HIM, BINCH. Tapping him with his hot chocolate on his shoulder.]

Hey. Look at me. [Hm.] Do you have a pen on you, by any chance?

[godcards]

No... but I can get one?

[ if mandi will let him, he'll go get one from the dorm. i promise he will not bail on him.

except he's looking at mandi incredulously now. ]

[duranduel]

[Just nodding! Good!]

Write down a memory or something you want to remember on my hand or arm or neck or somethin'. If memories are manipulated, you need physical evidence then, right? Something will stay behind. So you know that I have that memory.

[godcards]

[ malik looks at mandricardo. frowns. ]

I'll need some room, so give me your arm.

[ and because we haven't driven home just how egyptian he is, malik is going to draw 3 cartouches on mandi's arm. one is blank. the other two have names in them: isis and rishid. rishid isn't even an egyptian name so idk how that'd be rendered in hieroglyphs but i didn't write yugioh don't at me. ]

...Wait, one more.

[ and the word 'moon,' also in hieroglyphs. mandi's body is going to be looking like a temple wall if he draws anything else, so that should be good enough. ]

[duranduel]

[Mandricardo just lets him do this! He just watches as Malik makes some cool tats on his skin for free, truly his true motivation for this.]

[When the other is done, he looks over at them, nodding, then back to Malik.]

They look beautiful. Your language, I guess?

[godcards]

That's right. There's a different script that we can use for... religious texts, mostly. It's not very good for names or anything.

...And I can't do yours, because it's not Egyptian, so don't ask.

[duranduel]

Oh, I don't care that much about my name. It's not a big deal.

[But he seems to be...pleased? In a vague way.]

I'll keep these memories safe for you. Mind I ask what they are, in case you need a reminder?

[In case this place is like HAHA NO MEMORIES NOW]

[godcards]

[ He looks a little uncomfortable at being asked, and he takes a moment longer to hesitate on answering. but ultimately, he taps each in turn as he explains: ]

The Pharaoh. [ the blank cartouche. ]

My family. [ Isis and Rishid. ]

...I don't want to explain the last one. Just tell me it's about the moon. Maybe I'll remember, maybe I won't.

[duranduel]

Okay. The Pharaoh. [Points.] Your family. [Points to that.] And the moon.

[And he smiles? It's an awkward smile, but it's a smile.]

We'll keep your memory alive yet, Malik.

[godcards]

[ hey what the fuck. malik kind of... smirks. it's hard to give an honest smile, but look. ]

That means you have to stay alive too, so don't disappoint me.

[duranduel]

[He thinks, before raising his hot chocolate with his pinky outstretched. His other hand is kind of useless at the moment.]

It's a pinky promise that I'll do my best to stick around. Good as anything here, really.

[godcards]

[ malik just kind of. stares. he's never done a pinky promise before wtf is this. ]