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ryou & marik bios 2014
Jun. 5th, 2014 10:32 pmremember we were TOTAL KIDS when this started out!! literally ages 12-13-14. total goofs.
we’ve grown up a lot since then but don’t forget how everything began!
★remember the whole "TRUE NAME" bit was a big part of ygo
REMEMBER THEY BOTH CHOSE TO TOTALLY LEAVE BEHIND THEIR OLD LIVES AND DREAM ANEW
THEY DO NOT WANT TO PERPETUATE WHAT THEY MOVED ON FROM!! SAME WITH CZ!!
★PERSONAL STRUGGLES ARE REFLECTED IN THEIR "YAMIS"
★PERSONAL CHALLENGES ARE REFLECTED IN THEIR "SOUL MONSTERS" ("DAEMONS")
★PERSONAL TRUTHS ARE REFLECTED IN THEIR "GOD TIERS" ("METAINOMENAI")
Ryman Ezekiel Saikarassoul
- color: blue. black accents?
- white skin, smoky blue hair, blue eyes? originally brown eyes.
- symbol: 5 point star (pentagram). seems to break down into triangles at times?
- elements: shadow and SOUND?
- fights with a grimoire of spells; no weapons
- paladin of void
- throat chakra. uses spoken spells mostly, summoning circles, etc.
- wears necklace still? more of a choker?
- cherublack morph. later he got one from justice, used it in 2005 against vengeance!!
- Latios/ Sceptile/ Rayquaza/ Pikangel/ Raokon/ Cherublack
- struggle: "your existence is empty/ your life is a lie" (lost soul)
(he would have a HELL OF A TIME accepting headspace in light of this???) - challenge: to accept his shadows (AND buddhist "emptiness" of being?) as part of his complete self? (void)
(also tied strongly to the very concept of identity, wrapped up in d.i.d.) - truth: through embracing the infinite cosmic void, every soul can connect to every other spark of existence
("I am nothing and so I am everything" feeling.)
- "Change of Heart" outfit ('dark' upper half looked almost like a Dark Magician, and the heart on his chest was black)
- Cherublack morph
- Paladin god tier outfit
- White Mage outfit (FF1/manga) (this is NOT an alter!!)
- Soul form 1 (sapphire wings)
- Soul form 2 (wispy starry sky wings)
ALTERS…
- his "protector," in other words, the laurie-like yami that I can ONLY see in fanart!! "LADY OF FAITH?" loves this one.
- his shadow, the "canon yami." abusive, manipulative, spits hatred. dark side of self, focuses on words? despises this one.
- "white magician?" in the canon he was separate.
…is named Lethe. He lives in a currently unknown location? I see him creeping on Rio in his room though.
(I think his closet doors open up INTO his daemon realm.)
His color is Brown? His Vice is ??? (sloth?)
DETAILS FOR HIS BLC ROLE; NOT YGO STUFF (DOES NOT APPLY!!)
- "the mage." works with dark AND light magic. uses a lot of tomes and grimoires, as well as magic circles
- white mage in ffi. healer with holy magic.
- loves junk food, is a bit 'fluffy' in body shape because of this. cream puffs still a big fave. like seriously this boy will sit in front of a fridge at 11pm and eat if he wants to.
- "RIO" is a NICKNAME that he likes more than his given name. means "river." is that relevant? (IT IS LATER!!)
- morbidly fascinated with death and other existential stuff like that? not 'paranormal ghosts' or anything, just the dark "nature of the soul" side of it.
- "CHANGE OF HEART" was his defining card. specifically it was why I fell in love with him initially; THAT was what defined him to me.
- remember one of the first 'powers' he showed was using the ring to change his voice, specifically to sing!
- original episode-- putting souls into cards! this WAS a thing he could do with the ring.
- brave as hell; this kid does not stand down. however this is partly because he doesn't always understand how dangerous stuff is? his morbid streak can make him very naïve and rather foolish at times
- at first he often looks at things like a 'game' or adventure when that's not very wise? however when things are too directly creepy he will freak out-- more of a "haunted house" reaction than marik's real terror though. I think later on he realizes the gravity of things though
- has a lot of scars, some from carelessness, but a lot from his yami harming him. in their case it was more of a "do what I say; pay attention to me" thing, ryman was more exasperated with that than anything, didn’t give in and secretly thought the scars were 'cool' at first. after a while he decided "this has to stop"
- chest scars from ring! also on arm. those were the main ones
- originally ONE "yami." the dark guy. originally had him 'chased out of the ring' around 2005?
- his yami was originally the result of POSSESSION. may end up being an "introject" like julie?
- knew his yami as an individual, but not well. the two did not get along, yb was cruel towards him and would hurt him, BUT ryman didn’t hate him I don’t think? he's just exasperated, "why wont this guy just leave me alone."
- originally, the story with jewel's yami was this: ryman's yami was a thief that had challenged the pharaoh because the dude was an unjust ruler, the thief stole the millenium ring in order to use it for some greater purpose? like otherwise this stuff was untouchable, under lock and key. now this guy was found out, kingdom wanted him dead. however jewel's yami was some sort of young priestess in training? not much influence but still some. she didn’t want ryman's yami being punished, she agreed with him, wanted to meet and join him. unfortunately I think they were both killed?? but yeah that's it.
- from the manga (#7)= yamib lies and says a monster attacked him and stole his treasure: " a holy sword; the only thing that can defeat zorc." then he turns into zorc himself and says, "there is no sword in this world that can defeat me!" and the response I keep hearing from ryman is, "that's why I left this world."
QUOTES
"I won't let you kill my friends. I will fight too!" "I won't let you control me anymore! I'm going to help my friends strike you down!"
"Get out! Get out of my head!!"
The Ring is precious to him because his dad gave it to him, and he very voluntarily wears it every day, despite all the trouble it brings him. This is very important.
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Markus Ishmael Barashir ✸ minD
- color: dark purple. gold accents.
- dark brown skin, dusky purple hair, indigo-violet eyes (from dream).
- symbol: 8 point star (octagram) "STAR OF ISHTAR"!!!
This is the traditional Star of Ishtar.
Composed of two intertwined squares, this is a symbol of regeneration. It is a symbol for the natural universe interweaving order and disorder, yin and yang, to create an ultimately harmonious and balanced design. - elements: ice and flowers? specifically roses.
- fights with a holy scepter/ magic staff? also uses for martial arts?
- pharaoh of hope
- 3rd eye chakra.
- has THREE EYES, one on forehead.
- visogem morph was main! (temple-core, fitting) then cherubright morph later?? ALSO got a neoeye morph holy geez
- Ho-Oh/ Swampert/ Deoxys/ Visogem/ Ixcell/ Cherubright
- struggle: "you can't know anything for sure/ you can't know truth" (lost mind)
(DOES HE HALLUCINATE??) - challenge: to believe and trust (in his own soul especially) even without "logical proof" or overthinking (hope)
- truth: true knowing is touched through trusting in the greater cosmic mind, which transcends doubt and ego limits
FORMS…
- Visogem morph (color?)
- Monk outfit (FF1)
- Pharaoh god tier outfit
- Soul form 1 (rose petal wings)
- Soul form 2 (temple wings)
ALTERS…
- his "brother," and safeguard. kept bad things away. very close to him, compassionate, source of hope. BLUE.
- his "sister," and protector. source of bravery, mother figure? stands up for him. kind of like lynne. VIOLET-PINK?
- his "yami," the EVIL one, tied to tar. this is the one whose voice he hears. full of violence, rage, and manic hatred. RED?
- his GOOD "yami," the gold one tied to ra. very hard to find. GOLD.
HIS DAEMON
…is named ???. She lives in a huge dark labyrinth in his mind, like where he lived in the YGO canon.
Her color is Yellow. Her Vice is Pride.
DETAILS FOR HIS BLC ROLE; NOT YGO STUFF (DOES NOT APPLY!!)
- "the pharaoh."
HIS "PHARAOH" TITLE IS HUGE IN RELATION TO HIS ASPECT OF HOPE--- in the BLC story, the "Pharaoh" title essentially refers to someone who is cognizant of their "true self" (in other words their "I AM" or Godlike aspect of 'self'), and who holds that "position of power" NOT as a controller, but as someone who leads through their holy example. (The Egyptian Pharaohs were considered gods, after all.) HOWEVER! Markus's role is mind, something which can VERY EASILY be turned into a tool of the ego/ Tar/ etc. So Markus struggles with a LOT, but his huge desire is to "become the Pharaoh." Notice the word become. This desire is technically misplaced-- by virtue of existing as a "child of God/ Light/ etc.," HE ALREADY IS "THE PHARAOH," as is everyone else in existence of course. BUT, Markus has a big saving grace here-- instead of chasing that ideal through greed or revenge or anything egotistic (which, admittedly, he did in the canon, due to morally tangled motives), he pursues it through a genuinely goodhearted HOPE, something that OVERRIDES THE MIND, and pushes him courageously closer and closer to that final moment of surrender when, giving in totally to that hope-- WHICH COMES FROM HIS "TRUE SELF" in the self-loving desire to remember its true nature-- he REALIZES THAT TRUTH. It's not a "becoming," it's a recognition. And his finally achieving that is what gives him the frankly beautiful title of the "PHARAOH OF HOPE." - monk in ffi. fought with hands, did massive damage
- in dream, had a massive cyberpunk axe weapon. three stacked square blades, glowed blue?
- freaking loves motorcycles, still. he has one and babies it, drives it everywhere. sense of "total freedom."
- this poor kid is still struggling with his sexuality btw. it's the "I'm not gay but I like boys" bit mainly.
- he is surprisingly feminine, when he lets himself show it? at least in expression, he is not camp or anything like that. but he is in no way hyper-masculine either; I think he eschews a lot of that? besides, remember we originally thought he was a girl.
- tends to act sassy and snarky as hell, acts like nothing fazes him, "tough cool kid." however when things get really bad he tends to go into an "oh my god what do I do" emotional breakdown. he is NOT stable with actual crisis situations at ALL.
- originally wanted to "rule the world," but more in the sense of "I could do a better job than these megalomaniac idiots in power." this was when he was young really; he had virtually no (conscious) self-doubt at the time.
- He does NOT seem to be comfortable with the concept of death?? His biggest freakouts in headspace where when CZ almost died during the XMen crossover, and when I did "die" temporarily during our 3rd incident. (He does not like seeing people near death; unlike Ryman, he has been known to unravel emotionally when one of his friends is in dire trouble. This motivates him to do everything he can to preserve or save their lives in such situations, often to incredible lengths.)
- He has a huge fear of "harming others by trusting them," a fear of the darkness in his mind? He confessed this to Infi; he is frightened that that part of his psyche will taint the pure honesty of others, in the same way the cynicism of adulthood mars a child's simple and bright mind. He does not want to see this happen to anyone because of him.
- His heart is open; he is able to love people and he holds no prejudices… but his mind is not open, meaning that he keeps trying to "logically explain" everything and therefore overriding what he actually feels.
- still lived underground? not sure. may be an internal place.
- loves the stars and the snow, both things he never saw as a child. (see previous. may be snow and flowers.)
- ice cubes, that is all
- had a HUGE rivalry with cz, centered around abandonment and "self-worth" issues?? (HEART VS MIND!!)
- "I want to destroy the pharaoh (YUGI)!" remember he was so moody about it initially, total drama king. thinking about it, that was likely a HUGE self-worth issue: "why can that guy be pharaoh but not me?" he lashed out against that.
- wore that robe/hoodie thing because he thought it made him look cool and creepy. however it had a freaking EYE on the forehead, it MIGHT HAVE BEEN something significant. (IF HE HAS A 3RD EYE ALWAYS, THAT WOULD HIDE IT)
- he is RIDICULOUSLY SELFLESS even if he is scared out of his wits, does not really realize this.
- has ONE "yami," thinks he just "hears voices," gets headaches. but he tries style="font-size: 10pt">very hard to fight and/or deny the reality of this and gets angry-scared when it is brought up. honestly he is terrified of his yami.
- his yami is the result of SPLITTING. his yami is mostly Tar.
- has an older brother and sister, still. doesn't see them much but loves them dearly. MAY BE ALTERS.
- vegan? does not eat meat, ever.
- still has the scars on his back! but WHY??
- main person to know about "shadow realm," which is POSSIBLY BLACKSPACE. for heavens sakes it's full of eyes and creepy subconscious stuff!
- did not get along with chaos when they met; he would poke fun at him and kind of torment him that way, but did not consider him a friend. secretly he was terrified of becoming a "third wheel" in the group, he is scared of being abandoned or left alone. (also in light of the fire/water point further down… was he secretly hopeful towards cz? like maybe this guy could help? but self-loathing or envy or anger or fear of healing got in the way and made them rivals??)
QUOTES
'To me, even falling asleep feels horrifying."
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CLIPS FOR MARIK/MARKUS FROM FANDOM ANALYSIS ONLINE =
"…he was a psychopathic villain with a moral cause gone awry… the ‘normal’ Marik is differentiated from his sociopathic split personality not just by the ubiquitous light/dark motif, but additionally one that contrasts water with fire, and how in the end, water ends up quenching out the fires of hatred.
Marik is introduced in the manga as a highly intelligent yet sociopathic Egyptian man with a quest to murder the Pharaoh he erroneously believes responsible for the death of his own father. But despite being the villain, there are hints early on that Marik is not secure in himself, and that he, too, is afraid. He is afraid of the dark, so much so that he cannot sleep.
As well as showing an internalized fear of himself, Marik’s entrances in early to mid Battle City also exemplify a relationship to the element of water, perhaps a tad conspicuously. Perhaps the most obvious is that he has to cross a body of water to reach Battle City itself. He then shows an affinity for WATER-attribute monsters such as “Revival Jam” and “Humanoid Slime” in his first duel against Yugi – specifically those which can mold and change form (OMFG SERIOUSLY????). Marik also had this to say about water itself during that same duel: "I was just testing the waters on that turn. I cast a pebble to see how big a ripple it would make… and to measure your skill as a duelist… if a duelist is a vessel, a strategy is like water poured into that vessel. The water takes the shape of the vessel. And if the vessel is shallow, you can see the bottom…"
By the end of Marik’s duel with Yugi, it is supposed to be relatively apparent that Marik, up to that point, has some sort of connection with the element of water. Even the effect of “Slifer the Sky Dragon” brings forward ideas of malleability; its main ability is how flexible its ATK power is, depending on the number of cards in the hand. Marik is even conscious of his own similes; four pages later, on Chapter 172 page 6, he likens water as a weapon that he can alter between shield and sword to serve his purposes.
The first glimpses of fire imagery, which will later be shown to be connected to Yami Marik, occur during the duel between Yugi and possessed Jounouchi. There is still a connection to the motive behind normal Marik, shown by the threat of drowning in water as penalty for losing, and Marik’s specific choice of the docks for the duel to take place. However, fire imagery begins to appear – Jounouchi’s deck has been changed to include as many direct-damage burn cards as possible. In addition, Yugi “fights fire with fire”, so to speak – both of the high-attack power monsters he summons, “Red Eyes B. Dragon” and “Demon of Gilfer”, are given attack names with fiery connotations, and their fiery attack can symbolize the ‘evaporation’ of Marik’s control over Jounouchi.
This last image, with Marik ‘evaporating’ under the influence of fire, is in fact foreshadowing to Marik’s own internal fire, his split personality which removes his own sociopathy into a psychopathic alter ego and granting Marik the ability to feel a crushing guilt for his actions. This character, Yami Marik, makes many references to hellfire and burning in pain, a direct and striking contrast from the strategy of fluidity found in his normal half. At the end of his duel against Mai Valentine, whom he defeats, Yami Marik remarks that the more souls he conquers, the stronger he becomes – perhaps similar to fire, in that the more fuel it is given the stronger and more uncontrollable it is. Even his signature card, “Winged Dragon of Ra”, has the attack name god blaze cannon, and his dueling strategy revolves around continuing to summon this dragon again and again… Near the end of Marik’s time in the manga – his duel with Yugi – his fire imagery has begun to turn against him…
The first is when Kaiba talks to himself about the powers of Ra, translating them so the reader can understand the Hieratic text on the card. The third and ultimate power of Ra is “In an instant, Ra shall become a phoenix” – its ability to regenerate. This imagery is fire and is indicative of Yami Marik’s general duel strategy, but the symbol of the phoenix could also be representative here of the spirit of the normal Marik, which will be ‘reborn from the ashes’ during the duel against Yugi.
The second is this particular panel: Yami Marik shouts, "Brace yourself, Yugi!! I'll boil your blood to steam!"
While it seems like a threat, this is in fact veiled foreshadowing for what will occur to Yami Marik and his more guilt-ridden counterpart. Consider, again, that the element representing Marik is water. When fire is placed under water (when Yami Marik takes over Marik), the water turns into steam – it evaporates. However, as the first distinct water reference in several tens of chapters, it indicates that Marik’s return is possibly imminent on the horizon – that instead of turning Yugi’s blood into steam, Marik’s blood will return from fire to the steam of water before finally settling after the fires of dueling passion have settled once and for all, being banished to eternity by Marik’s surrender and the return of the force of good to Marik’s psyche and, apparently in the manga, to the rest of the world at large. After the death of the psychopathic half of Marik’s personality, and with the end of Battle City, there is one simple bit of imagery which, while normally attributed to Kaiba, is also symbolic of Marik’s change in character
and final victory over his own demons – the demise of Alcatraz Island. Alcatraz is set on fire in a huge explosion, only to be reclaimed by the sea, a mirror to Marik being overcome with his flaming spouts of hell-fire slinging psychopathy, only to crash in on itself and be taken over once again by the calm of the water representing normal Marik.
I have not yet seen this comparison between ‘WATER’ Marik and ‘FIRE’ Yami Marik brought to light…
"I guess you could call it… sacrificing your friends for a better cause? A cause that stretches back 3000 years ago… Yuugi, in order to destroy you, I will do whatever is necessary!"
These are Malik’s last words as himself, twenty seconds before he loses control to Yami Malik. He’s trying to hold onto his priorities, what makes his anger logical, even while admitting that when it comes down to it… he doesn’t care what happens as long as he wins. This is his desperate attempt, boiling over with hatred, to maintain that the reason he does any of this is worthy, that the ends justify the means.
What happens next changes his opinion.
one of my favorite things about Malik is how simultaneously image-conscious and completely impressionable he is. The strongest example of this is probably his motorcycle — he picks up a discarded magazine in the market place when he’s eleven years old, looks at a picture of a motorcycle for about thirty seconds, and LATCHES ON to that image for years. He rides a motorcycle into Domino. His post-redemption outfit is a motorcycle vest. He hitches in a freaking side car when he’s off robbing museums but still too young to drive. And the image of the motorcycle sticks with him, because it’s what freedom means to him.
And that’s so interesting to me because, in a lot of ways, that’s a COMPLETELY CLICHE image of freedom. He wouldn’t know it as a cliche, obviously, he’s lived his entire life underground. But that’s still what resonates with him: this ‘motorcycles, guns and TV sets’ James Dean bad boy vision of who he wants to be.
That’s one of the things that makes Malik so fun to write, for me. You can take these stereotyped images: smoking on a balcony above a city lit up at night, gunslinging in some shady back room of a night club, and fundamentally those still seem like who Malik is. He’s too culturally-inexperienced with the outside world to see them as anything but unironically cool. The midriff top comes straight out of a 90’s boyband, for heaven’s sake, but he has decided to rock it.
And at the same time, he recognizes the power in projecting this image of beauty-strength-power, the power of dazzling people with image and charisma. It’s his charisma that allows him to mind-control people, and he decks himself out in jewelry that matches his knife.
There’s a lot to Malik, but one of my favorite things is this very self-conscious, even pretentious, desire to present himself as the coolest-pretty-bad-boy around.
