( 001 ) ≠ video;

[denyamenti]

I'm starting to think these World Turtles have a fascination with using people's souls as cosmic currency in some way or another.

[ Someone's grouchier than usual today. And apparently uncaring about the hypocrisy of him presenting this particular argument. ]

That's the only reason I can think of for why they're continually attaching ours to some kind of tangible reminder: first lanterns, then jewels, now being marked like a gods-damned heifer at market.

At least no one should be able to swallow these tattoos, unlike the gems-- and before anyone asks, yes, that's a thing someone tried once.

Comments

Re: video;

[denyamenti]

Marked in the less literal sense than this, but yes. Fore-- Dreamfolk, we're called now. There used to be a piece of jewelry with a magical gem set in it, everyone's was different.

You could take it off, but if you did so for more than a day or two, you started experiencing ill effects, and eventually you'd die from it.

[driverslicense]

Then we should not attempt to remove these marks... There would be no way to get it back.

[Also—he noticed that slip. He's been gnawing on that issue since he's gotten here, so it's an easy thing for him to add—] What did you used to be called?

[denyamenti]

Who knows? Soul gems reappeared for those who ended up reviving, but not always. Souls are a tricky business.

[ He'd know. ]

'Foreigners'. It seems they've moved to something more cordial.

[ a beat, and then he allowed: ]

But there are many, many more Dreamfolk here than there ever were Foreigners, and they're better integrated. So in truth, my experience with the former system appears to have less bearing than you might think.

[driverslicense]

["Foreigners" actually makes a lot more sense to him, but he also doesn't think "Dreamfolk" sounds any more cordial, so he'll just accept that, like a lot of things, he's missing some nuance there.]

[But "former system" puts some things into perspective for him.]

So it was not always like this. [Which probably should have been obvious, but he may not have thought the whole thing through.]

How did you know they were souls?

[denyamenti]

I have some experience in handling souls, that's how.

[driverslicense]

Then you know for sure. The tattoos have our souls in them.

Do you know the method?

[denyamenti]

Not in them, no. They're more like anchors.

Method for which part, exactly?

[driverslicense]

["Anchors"? Now he's lost again. But first things first—]

For getting the tattoos on.

[denyamenti]

I don't know how to get this sort on, nor off. I'm no mage. I said I could tell they're soulbound, that's all.

[driverslicense]

[That statement lets him put it together with the "anchor" comment. He's got it now.]

[...Kind of. Roidmude have Cores; he's only assuming a soul is much the same thing.]

Do they share other similarities? [Souls aside, it might not be the same thing, if the form's changed. From his experience, anyway.]

[denyamenti]

[ Chase probably isn't inaccurate in the metaphor, to be honest. Bakura's also having a time following Chase's questions, which seem to jump from context to context. ]

Souls are a near-universal thing, it's only people's understandings of how they work that change.

You sound like you've never heard of such things before.

[driverslicense]

[Chase is just tossing out the things he wants to know, so long as Bakura is willing to answer. His conclusions, he keeps to himself; not so much habit as not feeling like he has to share them or to provide reasons for his asking.]

I've heard of them. [He's just never put much thought into it. His concern was always for the lives of humans, not so much their souls.]

Did the other objects have a function other than anchoring the soul?

[denyamenti]

Not that I know of, just the side effects I mentioned before.

Although I suppose if I wanted to be less charitable about it, they did function as leashes of a sort.

[driverslicense]

Leash...? They restricted your movements?

["Can't be separated from it" is one, he supposes, but it seems to him that having a soul...detached, kind of, like that would only be a personal threat if there were someone threatening the soul to begin with.]

[denyamenti]

It lost power if removed too far from the turtle's landmass.. I wonder, if that is still the same.

[driverslicense]

[That certainly is a leash.]

If it is the same...then that means our souls will be detached when we leave.

[For him, who's pretty sure he's dead, that doesn't have good implications. But, well, it's not like he was jumping at the chance for a second life; he currently finds himself too purposeless to be glad for it. On the other hand, he isn't volunteering to test Bakura's theory, either.]

[And he belatedly realizes that for humans, having their souls separated from their bodies isn't good to begin with.]

You encountered this problem, before?