#☽ ＼ ‘ wicked and hellbent … ( study i :: headcanon ) .

[midmare]

i've been thinking about midnight's "nightmare" spell, where he created a large scale illusion vs. erza & . . . ok so, the anime extended that scene so that midnight basically mind - read erza or something ( since i feel like it's a stretch that he'd know about rob & simon ) and i've decided to exclude that bit from my portrayal.

tl;dr — this is a meta / canon div. about how midnight's illusion magic works.

it definitely feels like the part with simon / rob was just anime padding to make the episode longer, because it doesn't actually make sense? it's a cool concept, but it's sorta godmod - territory, & in my opinion, midnight's illusions are reflections of his own fears, not anyone else's. basically, he's limited by the “illusions can only be as real as the caster's grasp on reality. yes this is a khr quote shhh” principle. they could create illusions of another person’s fears ( given that they know what those fears are ) but it wouldn't be as effective or believable, because they’re simply not as well acquainted with every gritty detail.

this also plays into what sets midnight's illusion magic apart from other illusions shown in the series ( mavis, ivan / alexis, etc ). because it's not actually just magicking intangible things into existence, it requires a much higher degree of familiarity with the subject. midnight can't create illusions of things that he's never really seen before, which rules out a lot of fantasy horrors ( but he can create an illusion of monsters that he's seen in his nightmares! ). on the other hand, his illusions aren't susceptible to the same pitfalls that actual illusion magic has ; that is, being aware that it's an illusion won't weaken or dispel the image.

going back to the “midnight creates illusions based on his own fears” thing, remember the battle with richard / hoteye?? midnight created an illusion of him losing to richard & panicking about being abandoned by brain ( which, tangent, is telling about how midnight felt about fighting a friend ; midnight usually creates illusions of his opponent losing! instead of tormenting richard, midnight tormented themself. anyway, ). midnight's fear of loss & abandonment is very real, & it made that illusion all the more stronger because of it.

and then!! in his fight with erza? he created an illusion of himself turning into a monster & using darkness magic. there's a lot to unpack there, but honestly? midnight is afraid of brain / zero, who uses darkness magic, just as much as he wants brain's acceptance. i could also go out on a limb & say that midnight is afraid of himself / what he's become too. this also lines up with macbeth creating an illusion of zero in the fight versus jellal ( though i largely do not like that fight & don't really factor it into my portrayal ).

metaphorically speaking, midnight's "nightmare" spell 'reflects' his own fears onto his opponent, which makes way more sense thematically & in practice.

[midmare]

📂 : midnight has dyed his hair multiple times for fun, oftentimes using two colors, one for each part of his hair.

📂 : midnight can't participate in movie night because he always falls asleep in the middle of the film.

📂 : midnight's least favorite time of year is summer, because of the excessive heat.

a random yet completely useless headcanon / @caelitus 

📂 : midnight has been ridiculed more than once while out in public. also, certain people were never heard from again.

📂 : midnight once flooded part of oracion seis' guild hall by accident.

📂 : midnight once lit a different part of oracion seis' guild hall on fire, by accident.

📂 : midnight once gave everyone in the guild food poisoning. by accident. they were narrowly saved by cobra.

📂 : midnight has an itemized list of house chores which he's not allowed to do anymore.

📂 : midnight once lost an arm wrestling competition to klodoa, making him the physically weakest member of the guild.

📂 : midnight's fur-lined coats and vests are very fluffy.

📂 : midnight is a very good liar. sometimes he convinces people of something stupid, just for his own sick amusement.

📂 : midnight definitely isn't allowed to drive, after he crashed one of racer's favorite cars.

📂 : midnight has slept through more battles than he's actually participated in.

📂 : midnight cannot make anything more complicated than a ham and cheese sandwich. he's very bad at cooking.

📂 : midnight pretends to be asleep to avoid responsibilities. no one has caught on yet.

📂 : midnight doesn't drink coffee or alcohol.

📂 : midnight is a quick study, which is fortunate, because he chronically falls asleep in the middle of lectures.

📂 : midnight has an excellent memory.

📂 : midnight rarely cleans his room.

📂 : midnight has many fears, but he's never told anyone what any of them are. he already knows how ironic it is, he doesn't need anyone to tell him so.

📂 : midnight is good at drawing and art.

📂 : midnight likes going clubbing, despite what other people assume. it's something to do on nights where he can't sleep.

📂 : midnight gives everyone who asks the same fake number, because he's lazy. he still doesn't know who the number belongs to.

📂 : midnight rarely wears the same shade of lipstick two days in a row. most people can't tell the difference though.

📂 : midnight catches the flu easily.

📂 : midnight likes to antagonize people for fun when he's bored, but it's hard to tell that he's doing it on purpose.

📂 : midnight has scars on his wrists from the tower of heaven, which he hides by wearing wristbands.

📂 : midnight cheats at tabletop games. he's pretty good at not getting caught, too.

📂 :  midnight once got lost in oracion seis' guild hall for a few hours, but no one noticed he was missing.

📂 : midnight almost got a tongue piercing once, but decided otherwise at the last minute.

[midmare]

on a more serious note: the blatant favoritism brain showed midnight. & it was fairly evident that midnight thrived in that, he felt validated by the knowledge that brain approved of him, & it only pushed him to become more twisted. midnight idolized brain. i also think that brain favored midnight because he had the least inhibitions towards cruelty; 'people hurt me all the time, why shouldn't i hurt them back?' midnight is the type of person who has suffered, therefore he reflects (pun intended) that suffering back, instead of trying to protect others from suffering like he did.

brain saw this in midnight & capitalized on it, encouraged it even. midnight has never had a lot of backbone or a firm sense of self / his own principles; he was easy to manipulate into what brain wanted. when midnight saw the suffering of others (at his own hands, even), he didn't empathize with them or feel guilt, as much as he thought 'i'm glad that isn't me'. it only became worse as he grew older, & there wasn't any place for remorse, & positive reinforcement for ruthless behavior.

it didn't help matters that midnight was both brilliant & had high latent magical power, while also not having a lick of ambition or a tendency to be headstrong / freethinking (cough erik). brain never had to fear that midnight would betray him or try to challenge his authority, because midnight had neither the courage & resolve, or a motive to do so. essentially, midnight was the perfect son.

don't get me wrong, the relationship between the seis and brain was absolutely unhealthy & not a good place for them to be. but midnight did (and still does honestly. adoptive, abusive, etc or not, parent - child bonds don't just... disappear, even if one wants them to) consider brain to be his father in every sense of the word, & i do think he got special treatment (whether brain was conscious of it or not).

[midmare]

midnight can fall asleep pretty much anywhere, but he’s rarely in a place where he’s fully comfortable. i think he’s still looking for his ideal environment. he knows that he doesn’t want to be anywhere he can hear the sound of the sea, at least. the oración seis guild hall was a nice place, but sometimes the walls felt too small. but he doesn’t particularly prefer sleeping outside either, because it gets cold at night, & he feels unsafe due to having to watch out for animal attacks or otherwise. it’s maudlin, but i think his ‘ideal environment’ isn’t a place, but people & feelings. being surrounded by people they trust, plus the all - encompassing feeling of safety / warmth that those people invoke — that’s what macbeth is searching for.

what is your muse’s ideal environment? / @caelitus

[midmare]

midnight isn’t much of a snacker, but he does have favorite snack foods. originally, they were a pretty light - eater overall, first out of necessity due to the bereft portions served in the tower of heaven, when macbeth wasn’t large or strong enough to secure food for themself. later on, he still never really got into the habit of binge - eating. he rarely eats more than he strictly needs for nourishment. but in the cases where he does indulge, probably because someone persuaded him to, he likes vanilla wafers ( or the earthland equivalent ), anything flavored with honey, & thumbprint cookies with jelly. they definitely have a bit of a sweet tooth.

does your muse enjoy snacking? what do they snack on? / @caelitus

[midmare]

📂 : midnight’s hair is naturally curly. back when he was a member of oracion seis, he straightened the white part of his hair manually.

📂 : midnight has a mental stash of blackmail he’s gathered from unintentionally eavesdropping on conversations while people think he’s asleep. unfortunately, he also experiences hypnagogic hallucinations, so he can’t be sure whether something he heard / glimpsed is real or not.

📂 : midnight uses his illusion magic to make it easier to apply makeup. it’s actually how he first discovered the light - bending trick, and how he continued to practice it until he could accurately create detailed images using reflector.

a random yet completely useless headcanon / @emperorvastias

[midmare]

📂 : midnight knows just about every trick in the book when it comes to diy prison makeup, and pioneered quite a few hacks himself. they frequently had altercations with the prison guards over the possession of “contraband”.

📂 : to this day, midnight is still convinced that he’s haunted by an invisible demon that only attacks him when he’s falling asleep / waking up. he stopped trying to tell people about it after brain callously dismissed his fears, so he has no way of knowing that he experiences sleep paralysis.

📂 : midnight can be expected to take up about two hours in the bathroom every day. he’s actually quite efficient with his beauty care routine, there’s just a lot of steps involved. to make things worse, due to his fragmented sleep schedule, it is impossible to predict at what time he’ll wake up and monopolize the bathroom.

a random yet completely useless headcanon / @killrate

[midmare]

a peek at what's inside their pockets . . .

loose change: generally, macbeth pools finances with oración seis / crime sorcière, in the respective verses. he does hold onto some spare jewel, mostly for making small purchases when passing through towns. however, even in other verses, macbeth is the type of person who’ll go out without any money, & end up having to rely on his friends to pay for him. he’s very unrepentant about being so remiss all the time, even after being told on multiple occasions to get a wallet.

makeup bag: he can’t really afford to carry around a purse, but that’s what wearing an oversized coat with pockets is for. while on the run with crime sorcière, he carries everything he uses on his person, which isn’t much ( given the situation ). in verses where macbeth has a permanent residence, they have a larger kit at home & only keeps the essentials in their makeup bag.

fake id: the staple of any known criminal’s personal belongings. ( i’m not actually sure if earthland would have a lacrima based equivalent or a completely different system entirely, but anyway, ) midnight used a fake id fairly often when they were a member of oración seis, but since crime sorcière tries to steer clear of towns ( not to mention committing more crimes, in general ), the fake id is mostly useless now.

magic carpet: due to a spatial enchantment, the carpet is magically compactible, and therefore can be stored in clothing pockets. ( canonically it kind of disappeared in between scenes & then never came up again. i considered the possibility that midnight could requip it too, but decided that’s too convenient ) the original magic carpet was seized when midnight was arrested, but it was returned after the pardon. he uses it so that he can sleep & walk at the same time, but it’s not particularly fast or energy efficient, so it’s stored whenever it’s not being used.

a single earring: it's silver, in the shape of a cross. he misplaced the other one somewhere. there’s no reason for him to hold onto it ; it’s just one of those things that gets shoved in a pocket & then forgotten about.

pockets / @quiiscnt

[midmare]

📂 : midnight doesn’t know how to swim. he’s never tried to learn, mostly because he has never needed to, but also because he doesn’t like getting wet very much.

📂 : midnight once unintentionally convinced a handful of people he was a vampire. there was no other explanation for why he only showed up at night, had bloodstains on his clothes more than once, and was oddly secretive about himself.

📂 : midnight doesn’t know when his own birthday is, and there is a chance that he remembers his age incorrectly too. for the sake of simplicity, he counts himself one year older on new year’s day at midnight.

a random yet completely useless headcanon / @lucentaire

[midmare]

honestly i think midnight has spent most of his life in some state of grief, so he is pretty numb to feeling sorry for himself by now. for the most part he just shuts himself away and ignores whatever is bothering him, ideally by falling asleep until it goes away (this doesn’t work for a lot of problems, but that doesn’t stop him from trying). midnight handles grief like people handle bad weather, he frowns, moves on with life, and avoids confronting it if at all possible. he’s so used to feeling sorrow, anguish, etc. that it just doesn’t register in a profound way. in cases of extreme loss he might shed tears, but midnight is definitely a silent crier.

how does your muse handle grief / @lightrallies

[midmare]

( his texts vary from plain rude to a bit ominous. )

[ text ]: ugh [ text ]: id say im sorry for ignoring you but im not [ text ]: go to hell [ text ]: do you have any alcohol [ text ]: not the drinking kind

five most recent sent text messages / @thousandflame

[midmare]

midnight started experimenting with cosmetics when he was younger, after leaving the tower of heaven. at the time, it helped him build confidence / identity through self - expression, later becoming a creative outlet. having been denied so many freedoms & decisions throughout their life, wearing makeup is one of the ways that midnight can have control over their own choices.

[midmare]

for basic education, brain did a fairly competent job at catching all five children up to passable levels on core subjects like math, history, writing / reading, and science. definitely a little bit above the bare minimum, considering that brain figured himself quite the academic — i imagine being raised & homeschooled by ‘brain’ is a bit like having a college professor for a parent. beyond that, there was an emphasis on magic training, which did end up meaning that midnight is exceptionally well versed in physics ( optics & acoustics, classical mechanics, etc. ), likewise math is also a strong subject for them. in regards to their worst subjects, they tended to doze off in history lectures, therefore they genuinely could not tell anything about social studies.

describe what education your muse has / @caelitus

[midmare]

midnight is very cynical. a ‘cruel & unforgiving place’ is an understatement in his books ; the world isn’t just unforgiving, it’s actively filled with tragedy. it should be no surprise that he’s jaded like this, given his history in the tower of heaven, but even before that, macbeth’s lot in life was rock - bottom. for him, every day is a struggle against the world. if he wants a better lot for himself, he has to take it, bite & scratch for it, then fight to keep it. midnight despises the world, which has never allowed him even a single night of undisturbed rest. in their opinion, the world can burn for all they care, even better if they’re the one who lit the match. it’s not even an act of revenge against fate / the world, midnight simply doesn’t see the value in the world ; it’s not worth saving, but it’s largely not worth the effort to destroy either.

how does your muse view the world . . . / @metnoia 

[midmare]

silence is golden. midnight isn't much for starting conversations to begin with, partially because he's just introverted like that, but also because he doesn't see any need to. he doesn't hate noise per say, ( though it is somewhat of a case by case basis ) but he does prefer quietude over the alternative. in fact, a surprisingly simple way to garner brownie points with him is to just . . . not talk. he does appreciate company & that includes just sitting around without saying much. he's never seen the point in small talk, and he cherishes the simple calm that comes with silence.

on the other hand, there's also awkward & strained silences, which is a different matter. when silence is fraught with things unsaid, it's really no better than noise. midnight likes silence for the peace of mind it brings, so if silence is the result of a lack of peace, then it defeats the benefit. even so, he still isn't the type to initiate conversations, so even if it's a tense silence, they won't be the one to break it.

how does your muse respond to silence? do they take comfort in soundlessness, or seek to fill the void with noise? / @metnoia 

[midmare]

new tags i.

☽ ＼ ( out of character ) .

☽ ＼ in character .

☽ ＼ ( memes || prompts ) .

☽ ＼ dash game .

☽ ＼ ( promotion ) .

☽ ＼ ‘ wicked and hellbent … ( study i :: headcanon ) .

☽ ＼ ‘ they call me an omen … ( study ii :: visage ) .

☽ ＼ ‘ madness calls to me at night … ( study iii :: musing ) .

☽ ＼ ‘ shadows on my wall don’t sleep … ( study iv :: aesthetic ) .

☽ ＼ ‘ save me your prayers … ( study v :: canon div ) .

☽ ＼ ‘ a villain in a black dress … ( study vi :: wardrobe ) .

☽ ＼ ‘ my nightmares sing me off to sleep … ( pt i :: oracion seis ) .

☽ ＼ ‘ i’m the one i fear the most … ( pt ii :: crime sorciere ) .

☽ ＼ ‘ i fight with you in my sleep … ( pt iii :: pardon || parole ) .