#nashoe

ummm yesss always 😢

ok so (one version of) the lore says that Nephthys disguised herself as Isis in order to sleep with Osiris and in this process, conceived Anubis.. and then Set found out that Anubis wasn't really his and he got pissed and killed everyone.

i don't like the idea that Nephthys ever cheated. it doesn't contribute anything useful to the story... so imo Anubis IS Set's son 100%... he's not Osiris' at all (i mean cmon... have you seen Set and Anubis?? they look like father and son).

but that doesn't mean that Anubis and Osiris don't have a relationship!!

so. in my timeline, Nephthys sends Anubis to live with Isis when he's an infant (becoz she's scared of Set etc etc and Set is fresh from killing Osiris and taking over). he has no recollection of either Nephthys or Set.

so naturally, Anubis adores the only constant god in his life, Isis. she's his hero. she's what a god is to a mortal man. and so, of course, the love that Isis has for Osiris (that she regularly talks about while she raises Anubis and Horus), it gets imprinted on Anubis.

Anubis grows up with great reverence for Osiris. but he doesn't actually know who Osiris is. they've never met.

now.... no one (except for Isis) has even seen Osiris since Set gave him the axe (literally lol)... because now Osiris is in the Duat, ruling, and he is not allowed to leave there unless he is summoned by The Council (i.e., the Ennead) (something i made up lol).

so, when the Contendings go down, that's the first time that Anubis (and Horus) meet Osiris... because Osiris emerges from the Duat to lecture the Ennead on their indecisiveness.

and you know what? he is sorta just as great as Isis always made him out to be. he's the rare case of "never meet your idols" being completely wrong. he's the real deal.

since Isis sees Anubis as her own son, so Osiris immediately accepts Anubis as his own son too. there is no question about it. he's the boy that his wife has loved and nourished... so why should he disagree? sure, he's the son of the guy who killed him brutally... but the sins of the father aren't the sins of the son in Osiris' mind.

now, post-Contendings, Set leaves with Ra on his redemption arc and this pisses the hell out of Anubis because deep down, he WANTS a relationship with his Dad and he sees Set leaving with Ra as a cop out-- he doesn't have to face any real consequences.

and i think Osiris recognises that.

but he's already made the mistake of missing the signs of jealousy and anger in Set, so he decides not to repeat that mistake with Anubis.

so he gives Anubis a promotion... an extremely honourable one-- he becomes guardian of the dead (fitting since he dedicates his life to protecting Osiris' widow) and receives the task of weighing the hearts of the dead (again, fitting because he is so righteous as a character and has a strong moral compass). and Nephthys was also involved with the embalming process, so it's sort of like Anubis' inheritance.

anyways. so Osiris is the one who personally invites Anubis to join him in the Duat. to become a god of the Underworld.

i think Anubis is shocked at first. he fully expects Osiris to hate his guts because of his association with Set. but then he accepts, eagerly. he wants to prove himself. Horus already had his turn when he contended with Set. now it's Anubis' time.

Osiris is super good to Anubis. he's like a second dad.

he gives him constructive feedback, not too critical, not too sugar-coated.

he actually makes dad-jokes (which Set rarely does).

Osiris is probably the first to pick up on the blossoming romance happening between Anubis and Anput... and he never tries to force Anubis into admitting anything but like... he knows. he hints at it sometimes, like telling Anubis about a secret garden in the far corners of the Duat that is completely beautiful but also guaranteed to not have anyone else walking through it... y'know. hints.