#maybe the entity erased some of their memories

[larluce]

AU where Merlin is Arthur's familiar

Firstly, for everyone that doesn't know, in European folklore of the medieval and early modern periods, familiars were believed to be supernatural entities or spiritual guardians that would protect or assist witches and cunning folk in their practice of magic. They're almost always represented as some kind of animal, like a cat or a bird, sometimes a demon.

So, having that cleared up, how would Merlin be a familiar and how would he be Arthur's familiar of all people when Arthur isn't a sorcerer?

That's the thing, in this AU a group of evil druids or sorcerers find out about Merlin's identity earlier and his whereabouts while he is still in Ealdor. Not wanting Emry's magic to be under the command of some prophesied king and desiring that power to themselves, they kidnapped him and make a ritual to turn him into a familiar (a merlin especifically). They also erase his memory so Merlin doesn't remember he was ever human. Just when they where about to bond the bird to the sorcerer/druid leader to have Emrys magic under their command, Merlin manages to escape. He doesn't know who he is or where to go, he just knows he has to go far away from there.

Somehow, probably through his run away ordeal, familiar Merlin ends up in Camelot's castle, with an injured wing. He's chirping in pain when the young prince finds him in his yard.

Arthur: (covering his ears) Why are you making so much noise? Shut up! (looking closely) Wait! you're hurt? (picks him up carefully) I think your wing is broken. (Merlin chirps louder) Alright, alright! I'll find help. (runs as fast as he can) Gaius! Gaius!

The court physician bandages the bird's wing, but he can't take care of it due to his work, so Arthur does it. He makes a place for the bird in his room and feeds it. He tries to not get attached to it knowing the bird will have to return to its natural environment as soon as it recovers. However, after the bird's wing is healed, it doesn't want to leave, not matter how many times Arthur frees it in the forest, it always comes back, so finally Arthur decides to keep it. He has a bit of a fight with his father, because he never let Arthur have a pet, but after the bird protects the prince of a witch that was in disguise by stinging her eyes out, the king finally allows the prince to keep it. The prince, very happy, brings the bird to his chambers.

Arthur: (with Merlin in his forearm) Now the you're oficially my pet- (the bird chirps in protest) Well, my, eh... animal companion? (the bird deadpans) We'll work on that later. The point is, I should probably give you a name. (the bird moves its wings, excited) What about...bird? (the bird shakes it's head) Yeah, I've been calling you that from the start, so no. hmmm. What about falcon? Gaius says you're a falcon, though you're too small to be one, honestly. (the bird chirps, offended). I should just call you falcon or little falcon. No, it's still too long. Lil' falc? No. hmmmm. I think Gaius said you were a especific kind of falcon? How was it? Mar... Mer...Merloni? Merlon... Merlin! That was it. I'll call you Merlin.

Without knowing, Arthur just finished the last step of the ritual: naming the familiar, and with that, becoming the familiar's master. When the bond is created, a flash of light blinds him and, suddenly, the bird is replaced by a boy, who now is sitting on him, while he's spread on the floor.

Arthur: (looking up, shocked) What the fu-

Merlin: (looking down, confused) Arthur! Why are you smaller now? Wait... I can talk? (brings his hand to his face surprised) And I have... hands? Where are my wings? (panicking) Arthur, I lost my wings! And my feathers!(crying)NOOOOO!

Arthur: Merlin? That's.. you? Merlin? Mer...Merlin, shut up! (Merlin stops crying) And get off me! (shoves Merlin aside) How did this happen?

Merlin: You think I know?! Maybe that witch cursed me to be as ugly as you as a revenge for turning her blind. (sobs) My wings, my beautiful wings.

Arthur: (offended) Excuse me? Is not like you were a "handsome" bird either, you poor excuse of a falcon.

Merlin: How would you know, human with so little imagination that names his bird after their species?

After their stupid fight, they go to Gaius, in secret, of course. They can't have the king knowing the prince's bird was cursed. The physician does his investigation and, after Merlin discovers he can turn to his bird form and his human form at will and do some magic stuff, he concludes Merlin is, in fact, a familiar.

Gaius: Incredible! I thought they were a myth. It's said they're spiritual guardians of magic itself and that just the most powerful sorcerers could summond one and tamed them to become even more powerful.

Merlin: No... it can't be. I'm just a bird! I can't be a magical creature! I can't!

Arthur: (Knowing Merlin's scared due to his father laws and believes) Merlin. It's okay.

Merlin: (crying, almost hysterical) NO! I'm not a monster! I swear! I'm not evil!

Arthur: I know. Human, bird or familiar, or whatever, you're a good person. Well, a good being. Nothing is going to change that and nothing is going to happen to you, alright?

Merlin: (calms down) alright (snifs)

Arthur: But we need you to remember. Do you have any memory of you being anything but a bird?

Merlin: No, I've always been a bird. Although... (thoughtful) I don't... remember being a chick before.

Arthur: A what?!

Gaius: He means a baby bird.

Arthur: Oh, right (blushes). I knew that.

Merlin: Yeah, my very first memory is just before I came to Camelot, when... I was trap in a... cage. (he trembles at the memory) There were humans with capes, I think. They said they wanted to... control me, to had me at their mercy. I don't know what they wanted to do with me but I escaped. I thought I wouldn't make it. (with tears in his eyes) I was.. so scared.

Gaius: They must be the sorcerers that summonded you.

Merlin: Great. So not only I'm some magical entity but I'm sorcerer's slave now?

Arthur: (fiercely) You are NOT a slave! You are... ("mine" he is about to say, but stops) your own.

Merlin: (suddenly scared) What if they look for me?!

Arthur: I won't let them take you. I promise.

Gaius: And I don't think you have to worry about being some sorcerer's slave, Merlin. If you were bonded to one, you wouldn't have been able to escape in the first place.

Merlin: That means... (hopeful) I'm free?

Gaius: And in Camelot where magic is forbidden, so you're safer as you can be. You'll just have to keep pretending you're a bird, if that's not a problem with you.

Merlin: I'm completly fine with that.

Arthur: (joyful) And me! (composes himself) I mean, I like him better when he can't talk. (Merlin frowns at him)

Times goes by. At first, Merlin stays in his bird form and tries not to do magic, because, apparently he's been doing magic all this time without knowing (honestly, how was he supposed to know all the things he accidentally broke or dirt in Arthur's room were repaired and cleaned by him? He just thought Arthur has very efficient servants!). But it becomes impossible, not only because not doing magic makes him sick, but Arthur keeps running into danger time and time again, so he has to use magic to protect him. Arthur scolds him everytime he does that, he doesn't want his friend to be discover, but eventually it becomes rutine. Also, Merlin starts to take his human form more and more frecuently, because he needs Arthur to understand him, sometimes to give him a piece of his mind, to warn of some danger he finds out, or simply to cheer him up when he's sad or pass time.

Merlin: Is magic really evil? (he looks at his hands)It doesn't feel evil when I use it.

Arthur: How does it feel to you?

Merlin: It feels like... flying (he smiles and closes his eyes) So natural and beautiful, like the earth under my feet and the wind moving my feathers. And I feel it everywhere, not just inside me, but in every living thing. In every flower that blooms, every pup and chick that is born. Even in you. It's suppose to corrupt you, but instead of feeling wrong, I feel so good and... so alive.

Arthur: (looks at him for a moment, completely in love and then composes himself) I don't believe magic is evil. Not anymore.

Merlin: (open his eyes, surprised) Why's that?

Arthur: At first I thought you were an exception to the rule, but then Morgana-

Merlin: (even more surprised) She told you?!

Arthur: (just as surprised) You knew?!

Merlin: I could feel the magic inside her (he admits, guiltily). I wanted to be wrong. She's one of the kindest human I know, but then I saw her doing magic and... I just couldn't tell you. It wasn't my secret to tell, I'm sorry.

Arthur: It's alright. I understand. (he sighs) She was... so scared, Merlin. She begged not to tell my father, like I could ever do that (he laughs dryly). And she didn't learn magic, she just have it. She didn't even know she was a sorcerer until recently.

Merlin: Oh... (thoughtful) That explains a lot of things.

Arthur: What do you mean?

Merlin: Morgana isn't the only one, I think. Sometimes I fly around and I feel people with magic inside them. Some of them are evil, so I call you, but there are others that just do minor stuff, like healing spells and potions. But there are other too that… don't do magic at all and yet… the magic inside them is so strong. I thought maybe I was seing the potential of magic, but now…

Arthur: (in heavy realisation) So it's true. My father's been killing innocent people all this time.(with tears rolling down his eyes) I've been killing innocent people all this time.

Merlin: (hugging and comforting him) No! Arthur you did nothing wrong. You didn't know.

Arthur: (crying and hugging tightly in return) I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!

Aaaand that's it. I don't know what else could happen. Apart of merthur getting together obviously. There would be a lot of pinning and confused feelings. Arthur first meets Merlin as a bird after all, so accepting he has a crush on his bird friend is not going to be easy. The same goes to Merlin. Lets not talk about when they both discover they're bonded and Arthur could technically control Merlin and use Merlin's magic at his will if he wanted. And I guess at some point the evil sorceress/druids would try to get Merlin back. And then Merlin finding out he was human before and has a mother in ealdor… Damn that's a lot of angst.

Anyways, I still have a couple of fics on going so I don't think I'm going to write this anytime soon... or ever. So if anyone wants to write it feel free to do it. Or just comment any ideas you have for this concept/prompt below so I can keep them in mind if I write it in the end.

EDIT: I DID A PART 2, GUYS!!! -> LINK

[thewertsearch]

EB: and now i have all these sweet wind powers. EB: which is how i am making this car fly! GG: ohhhhhh! GG: that makes sense GG: dave had mentioned you reached the god tier

I think it’s funny that becoming a god hasn’t changed John’s personality, nor his modus operandi. He’s just as meandering as he's always been, and reaching the God Tiers simply enhanced his ability to meander.

If your Title does relate to your personality, then this would make a lot of sense. Perhaps you always get a power that helps you follow your own natural inclinations.

GG: but he did not say what it involved D: GG: he probably didnt want to make me worried EB: maybe, or he was just being some sort of aloof coolkid. GG: or that!

It’s nice that John and Jade are fully on the same page in this conversation, with access to more or less the same information. That’s pretty rare in this session, and it’s particularly rare with Jade.

For a long time, she was in the lonely position of knowing more than everyone else - and then, when Descend ruined everything, she was forced into the equally lonely position of understanding jack shit. When John declared that they needed to get Jade into the loop, there was real weight behind it, and it’s gratifying that we’re finally here.

GG: i wonder what space powers would be like?? […] GG: oh well EB: maybe you shouldn't rule it out though? EB: i mean, you did mention your dream self isn't COMPLETELY dead, remember?

I’ve been thinking about this.

See, the main problem with a Jade/Jadesprite merger is that when John died on his Quest Bed, he was completely supplanted by his Dream Self. There was no more Real John.

This wasn't a problem for him, because both Johns appeared to be the same person, with the same memories and consciousness. When John abandoned his realself, he didn't lose anything, apart from his sylladex.

Dream Jade, however, has completely diverged from Jade. They're clearly different people – so if one of them was erased in the merger, we’d be losing a unique individual.

Yes, if Jade died on her Quest Bed, her two selves might fuse into one entity, with both sets of memories - but there's no guarantee, especially when a Sprite is involved. There's a decent chance that Jade's ascension would destroy one of her incarnations, and that's too great a risk.

GG: why dont you tell me about your new friend? GG: he sure seems to be enjoying that horn! […] EB: he is just this silly guy i met when i woke up here. EB: he seemed to be curious about me and followed me around for a while. […] EB: also, another thing about him… EB: he has the queen's ring! […] GG: thats great! john you have to get that ring from him! EB: i've tried! i asked him politely for it and everything. EB: but he is very protective of it!

The Ring would be incredibly useful, if it wasn't destined for Earth.

As it stands, any attempt to use it is fraught with risk - and permanently separating it from WV would almost certainly doom the timeline.

EB: i think he is supposed to keep it. GG: you do? EB: yes. once i saw something in the clouds. EB: it was hard to tell what was going on, but i saw him! EB: im pretty sure it was the future, and he had the ring, and… […] EB: and then the cloud stopped showing me. EB: but i am pretty sure that some day… EB: he will have to wear it!

It doesn’t sound like John actually saw WV wearing the Ring. Seems more like he saw him holding the Ring, and jumped to the 'obvious' conclusion.

WV held the Ring for his entire Exile, and never used it once. I’m actually a little skeptical that he will wear it, at this point, especially since he's started dreaming about how much he doesn't want the thing.

[gottawriteanegoortwo]

Dilliam/Darkstache - The Forgotten Betrayal

The memories of Wilford Warfstache are something that are generally underestimated. What if he was the one who remembered what happened before the events of Who Killed Markiplier, and Dark didn't?

Adding to that, what if William and Damien had been secretly dating, and William threw all that away in an act of selfishness?

(This story covers infidelity and arguing. There are also references to a gun.)

Word Count: 3,901

-

The night was coming to a close. With the studio focused on projects beyond the antics of the egos, there was ample time for those on the production and managerial sides to come together and focus on some well-needed restructuring and organisation. Meetings were long and dull, but productive. Plans were being put in place for the future.

It meant that by the time Dark and Wilford got home, it was nearly bedtime. The reporter had opted to have a quick shower to freshen up after his night routine. By the time he came out of the ensuite in clean, soft pyjamas, Dark handed him a cup of herbal tea and kissed his cheek before stepping into the bathroom.

Wilford slowly sank onto the bed with the cup cradled in both hands. The tea was the right brew that had been recommended to help Wilford relax before bed, made just the right way. Dark had even picked Wilford's favourite cup for the tea (distinct from his favourite cup for coffee).

He had always made it clear in the studio that he was the luckiest man in the world, maybe the shattered multiverse, to have Dark love him. Right now, that was all that was on his mind.

Why did Dark love him?

"Will? Something the matter?" Dark had stepped out, adjusting the sleeve of his pyjama shirt, only to stop when he noticed his partner's vacant expression staring at the tea. "Is it the wrong one?"

Wilford blinked, shaking his head as he looked up at Dark. "No… No, it's perfect. Have I told ya lately that I love you?"

"I would guess about an hour ago when I finally ended the board meeting," the entity answered with a smirk. He crossed the room and knelt down in front of Wilford. Placing a hand on the reporter's knee, he continued, "If there is one thing I know for sure in this distorted world that's a far cry from the one I grew up in, it's that you love me." Dark shifted himself so he could reach up and place the hand on Wilford's cheek. "You don't need to worry that I've ever forgotten that, William."

"Thank you, Damien." Wilford closed his eyes and leaned into the touch. For a moment, he could have the reassurance that everything was okay. 

"Come on," Dark's hand gently patted Wilford's cheek, "It's time for bed."

-

Unsurprisingly, after such a long day, Dark had fallen asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

Unsurprisingly, with so much on his mind, Wilford was wide awake. He turned to lay on his back and stare at the ceiling. Both hands move to interlock on his stomach to stop them from fidgeting and lessen the risk of waking Dark.

Dark valued honesty in communication. If something was wrong, he wanted to be told. But how could Wilford talk about what was troubling him when the weight of truth was like rocks shackled to his ankles dragging him under the waves of guilt?

Dark should not love him. Damien would have never given him a second chance.

But Dark didn't know that there had ever been a first chance, or maybe he did; and he instead didn’t know that the first chance had been ruined beyond repair. Damien went through something as awful as William during their years apart. While Wilford ultimately picked pieces from the broken lives he had experienced to create the person he wanted to be today, Damien's memories had been smudged at points, as though someone had wanted to erase everything and leave him as little more than "Dark", the "monster". It was a miracle that Dark had regained any true semblance of self after everything.

So how could Wilford ask about something that Dark didn't remember? Why bring forward pain that wasn't there? Why give him memories that he never asked for? 

But oh, how brightly those memories shone in the pitch black bedroom for Wilford. It had been some time since he reflected on the life of the broken soldier, yet the thoughts of his actions still brought Wilford pain.

-

-

-

The Mayor's office was resplendent. It was furnished with perfect, varnished dark wood features. Everything about the office boasted its age, wisdom, and experience, without considering the splendour that people like William would never afford. It perfectly encapsulated the "us and them" divide that was so clear throughout the city.

But there were two large windows at the back, letting the light of reality pour through and bring some sense of normality to the room from another world. More importantly, the sunlight gave the man sitting behind the desk a radiant glow. In that moment, Damien was more an angel than a man.

The fitted, black suit looked like it had been invented just for him, and every other man in the city suffered with the stiffness and awkwardness of the formal wear. There was not a wrinkle out of place, even after a full day of pulling the jacket on and off as required. The flower pinned on the lapel was made from fabric, preventing the warmer weather from wilting it too soon.

Not that William minded. Beauty blossomed on the young Mayor's face as he looked up and realised the soldier had snuck in. 

"Will!" Damien scrambled out of the ornate chair, tripping over his own feet in his haste to throw himself at William. The action, though uncharacteristically clumsy of Damien, was rewarded with a strong pair of arms wrapping around him and holding him close. 

Damien's beauty was an undisputed topic. Everyone knew it. Only William saw this side of him, where Damien's entire frame relaxed while he rested his forehead against William's shoulder. It didn't matter that strands of hair had fallen out of place in the flurry. Right now, all that mattered to Damien was pulling back just enough to beam at his partner. 

There was no denying that this was a man in love; and somehow, William was the lucky fool who had captured his heart.

"I didn't think you were back until the weekend!" Dark brown eyes sparkled up at William, and he found himself briefly lost for words. Fortunately, Damien spared him from becoming too lost in those eyes as he nestled against William.

"Things finished faster than I thought. McKinley offered to take me out fishing to make up for the shorter security job, but I said I wanted to come home. I missed you." 

“I missed you too. I can’t wait to hear the stories of what happened while you were away. I hope you were alright throughout it.” 

Damien’s beauty was in more than just his appearance. He valued honesty, and loved the opportunity to have open conversations about the good and the bad. Whenever William had a problem, Damien listened, and William returned the favour when the roles were swapped. Things were perfect just as they were, with the pair in an embrace that brought a familiar comfort to it.

William didn’t answer, opting to kiss Damien instead. The moment was short-lived when the secretary knocked the door to ask whether the Mayor would be free to attend a meeting in ten minutes. The pair haphazardly sprung apart in case the door was opened. 

Only a small handful of trusted people knew that Damien and William were dating. As far as the public were concerned, Damien was a bachelor - a fact that William loathed, and one that he hated being reminded of.

"Blast that woman," William hissed as he stormed over to a chair to sit on. "Can't we get five minutes in peace?"

"She's only doing her job, Will. She knows better than to throw the door open." Sighing softly, Damien followed William and sat on the other chair so he could rest his hand over William's. "I hate lying about us as much as you do, but it's something we need to do. I just need you to wait a little longer -"

"Haven't I waited long enough?" 

"I just need a little more than a year. Please. My term is nearly up, and I'm not running again. One more year, and then I am yours, fully yours. I know you hate hearing people trying and play matchmaker with me, but surely you know my heart is only yours… Don't you?"

There was a short pause. William tried to hold firm, but a heavy exhale and a slump of his shoulders proved otherwise. "I know. I'm tired of pretending."

"And I'm tired of pretending we aren’t together." Damien softly squeezed William's hand in reassurance. "We're nearly there. Once the role of Mayor has been passed to my successor, you and I are going to France on that holiday you've been promising me for two years."

William's chuckle was hoarse. "You still want to go?"

"I've been reading books all about France! I want to see the controversial Eiffel Tower with my own eyes, with you and no one else."

The frustration passed, but the simmering anger remained as it always did. 

–

Wilford sighed. That soldier was naive. He had grown up in the circles of the rich. He thought he knew their workings and believed Damien was overreacting.

In reality, however, William was only on the periphery. Damien was the one stuck in the circle of the elite from birth, forced to perform the same song and dance as was expected of his calibre. He was viewed with as much potential as thoroughbred horses. If there was any trace of imperfection, Damien would have been stripped of his family name and whatever savings he had, just like a horse only needs to trip once to be deemed worthless in the eyes of its trainers.

Had this happened in the world of politics, he would have been dragged through the mud and shamed with such intensity that he wouldn't be able to publicly show his face in the state again.

All Damien wanted was to wait before making the relationship public. In hindsight, it wasn't a big ask - but at the time, it was a large obstacle.

All William wanted, however, was to feel like he was in a relationship and not be some dirty secret. Damien might have been completely upfront, and the relationship was established on these terms, but it still felt like Damien treated him as an acquaintance when at an event. Just once, he wanted Damien to react to him in public the same as he did when no one was looking at them. He wanted to step into a room and see Damien's face light up. He wanted to be able to take Damien's hand, or kiss him on the temple like other men in relationships can.

Like how Mark could with Celine. Did they take for granted the simple luxury of expressing affection? Celine always looked somewhat indifferent to it, yet looked for that attention to show how important she was. Why couldn't Damien be granted that simple luxury? Was that too much to ask the world? Why was a man who had worked so hard to get to this place denied the basics?

… Why was William denied the basics because of this?

These thoughts were ultimately shoved aside, as they always were. He promised he would wait, and wait he would.

However, the longer he worked in the Manor of the Actor, the more he found these thoughts returning to the surface. Each time it emerged, it grew harder to fully quash it, until it remained in the back of his mind at all times. The thought began to sour his perspective of the relationship, as he reached a terrible conclusion: Damien was truly being selfish.

Was William not worth being seen? Was he some sort of embarrassment? Why couldn't he have something good for once?

After all, Celine was giving him a look when Mark was out for rehearsals. She flashed him a playful smirk that teased him to get more.

He would swear he could hear whispers egging him on.

So he listened.

By the time he realised the full impact of what he had done and the consequences of his actions, it was too late.

Mark had walked in on them one night. He lost his temper and threw the pair out without so much as handing them a jacket. Celine left town, revealing that the feelings were never mutual beyond a fling.The stories ran rampant in the local papers. His entire professional and personal history was on display for the whole city to see. His name was being thrown through the rumour mill over and over again.

And Damien?

Damien knew.

That was the worst thing of all.

-

Damien was Celine's twin, almost identical in looks, yet there were aspects that completely contrasted one another. While Celine had a notorious short fuse, Damien had the patience of a saint. He could weather many irresponsible mishaps, he could keep his cool during the most heated of arguments in favour of hearing out both sides. But there were two things he could not tolerate:

Liars, and cheaters.

Damien loathed the concept of dishonesty, and was known for looking down on those who would go behind the backs of a romantic partner. He was of the opinion that if someone claimed they were happily married, only to have an affair, then there was no redemption for you, for you could not be trusted with anything. Of course, things were not so simple, and situations might differ if a relationship was strained or potentially dangerous, but William’s actions were not caused by a neglectful partner.

---

The argument in William's home was explosive. For once, it was William trying to keep things calm.

"Damien, please -"

"Don't you 'Damien please' me!" Damien turned to glare at William, a fire burning in his eyes that didn't belong. "There is one thing I always made clear: if there was a problem with our relationship, tell me! We're both adults! We can have a conversation! We could have found a solution to what made you so unhappy-"

"But I am happy!" William countered. The words, however, had the opposite effect.

"Then why did you sleep with my sister?! Do you have any idea how vile such a thought is?! Did that empty head of yours consider, for just a moment, that choosing my TWIN over me was a bad idea??"

"What did you expect me to do? Life is short! I can't spend it playing pretend!" William's temper got the better of hindsight, but the anger was a spark in comparison to the inferno raging from Damien. The Mayor marched forward and jabbed a finger against William’s chest.

"When you courted me, I told you upfront that you would need to wait until I was finished my term as Mayor before we could go public. You agreed to this! You agreed on the premise that we spent weekends together where possible. And we did! The only times I have ever cancelled is when something came up last-minute, or we were spending time with Mark and Celine. I never went back on my promise!" With the cane thrown aside in frustration at one point, Damien began pacing the room, wringing his hand with such intensity that the knuckles were turning white. 

"There are fourteen months left in my term. Three of those are dedicated to the local elections and preparing for the successor. I've had a calendar hidden in the top drawer of my desk since January. I've been marking off every single day that passes because, while I am honoured to be in my position, I want to experience life as a nobody. That promise of a trip to France kept me going through it all. I've hated every minute of pretending we aren't dating! I wanted to introduce you to others as 'my partner' for so long! I was going to propose to you the day after I finished as Mayor! I had already gotten your parents’ blessing, for God’s sake!"

The revelation forced Damien to a halt. Both hands dropped to his side.

William felt his blood run cold. The cards were laid out on the table before him and their message was clear: he ruined everything.

Tears began to line the Mayor's eyes as he shoved a hand into his pocket. "Fine. You win. If you want to be in a relationship where you can do everything you want at the drop of a hat, you can go right ahead and find it. I'm sure Celine would work." A brown key was taken out and slammed on the counter. "But as long as I live, Colonel, you'll never get that life with me."

William tried to reach out. His hand grabbed only the air as Damien pulled away. He lifted his cane and tucked it under his arm as he reached the front door.

"Goodbye, William."

The slamming of the door left with it an echo that was as hollow as the gaping hole growing in William's chest.

-

Mark was lucky, in one way. His descent from stardom and his gradual disappearance from the public eye could all be justified because of the affair and how he was handling it.

Damien did not have that luxury.

His relationship had never been discovered, so he had to go through the grieving process of a difficult break-up without anyone catching on. His personal life could not interfere with his duties. He had to pretend everything was fine, even when the reporters asked for his opinion on the affair and the consequences of it. When he responded that the matter was personal and that he would rather not talk about it, it was respected. The reporters all assumed it was because it was due to his sister's involvement, and Damien didn't have the energy to correct them.

Meanwhile, William had to live with the consequences. He had happiness. He had a life where someone loved him despite all his flaws and his problems. Damien deemed him more important than the moon and the stars that were so precious to him, and how did William repay this?

He threw it back in Damien's face because his selfish impulses won out over common sense.

When they would next cross paths, Damien would smile and be polite, but it was like nothing had ever happened between them. The gap was too wide. William would never be allowed to cross, and he knew Damien would never allow himself to love another person. They would both be doomed to remain unhappy.

Instead, all William could do was lie in a half-empty bed, hands interlocked over his stomach as he stared at the ceiling. How could he sleep when the pain of regret weighed heavy on his mind and his heart?

-

-

-

Wilford blinked, tears briefly blurring his vision. He turned his head a fraction to make sure Dark was still asleep.

Damien would find out the truth one day. Wilford could continue dancing around the topic and let Dark believe the lie that he remembers more than Wilford, but that wouldn't work forever. Celine would 'wake', and she would make a comment about it. Would it be in relief to see her brother happy, unaware he didn't know the truth; or a snide comment about giving chances to those who didn't deserve them? Either would be likely for her.

What would he do when that day arrives? He had behaved. He used to sleep around, but cut that out immediately the moment he realised he had a chance with Dark. 

William had been asked to wait less than two years. Wilford had to wait nearly a century thanks to the soldier's selfishness.

This second chance, this ability to love Dark, should not have been permitted. Damien had vowed to never forgive William because he couldn't trust the soldier. Was Wilford just as bad for pretending he didn't know the truth?

He was happy. He didn't want to lose this second chance.

-

A sniff and a shaky breath stirred Dark from his light sleep. He blinked to let his eyes adjust to the darkness, realising that Wilford was still awake. The reporter was staring at the ceiling, ignoring the tears that stained his cheek.

"Will…?"

No answer. Wilford didn't even budge in acknowledgement.

The entity lifted himself up so he was propped up on his right arm and could place his left hand on Wilford's bicep. Thankfully, this gave a result.

"What are ya doin' up?"

"I could ask you the same question," Dark whispered. "What's wrong?"

"Nothin' is wrong. Go back ta sleep."

"I know when you're lying to me."

Wilford sighed. It was wishful thinking to hope that Dark would have been too groggy to notice anything was amiss. He should tell the truth and speak the thoughts on his mind, but the fear of losing Damien again makes him ask something else:

"What do ya think of second chances?"

Dark frowned. "What about them?"

"Do ya think people should get 'em?"

"I'm hardly in a place to make that judgement after all the atrocities I've committed." That seemed obvious to Dark, but he did acknowledge the possibility that Wilford simply wanted another opinion. "But to answer your question… A second chance is an opportunity for someone to prove they are better than what is perceived of them. If they seek such a thing in earnest, and prove themselves to be better, then I don't see the problem with trusting someone one more time."

Wilford frowned. That seemed too easy compared to Damien's previous stance on the matter. "What would ya do if I hurt ya?"

There was a short pause. "But you did. Remember when you shot me in the shoulder when trying to show off your 'gun tricks' to Illinois?"

The icy fear of the first sentence paired with the surge of relief with the second brought out a laugh from Wilford.

"Are you still worried about that? That was months ago. Everything healed just fine, and I already forgave you for it. Besides…" Dark lifted his left hand to rest it on Wilford's right cheek and gently brush away the tears with his thumb. "I know it was an accident. I know you can be impulsive, and you can be an idiot sometimes, but you're my idiot. You have a good head on those shoulders, and a kind heart in that chest." Then, Dark leaned down to kiss the tears away on the left side.

"It's okay to feel regret for the past, but you shouldn't let it hinder our future. Wouldn't you agree?" As Dark leaned back, he caught a hint of surprise on Wilford's face.

"Yeah… Yer right. C'mere, there's been somethin' else on my mind."

"And what would that be?"

"I'm low on my daily cuddles."

Dark snorted as he lowered himself to press against Wilford's side, and was swiftly trapped by a warm arm before he could change his mind. It was a familiar moment - a sense of safety that lasted a century.

"Dark?" Wilford's voice was soft after a moment of silence. "Ya know I'll never hurt ya again, right?"

"Of course I do. I banned bullets in the backstage areas for a reason."

Wilford chuckled, kissing the entity's hair. It wasn’t the answer he wanted, but it would help ease his troubled mind.

-

-

While this isn't a songfic, the song 5 to 7 Years is a great way to compare what Damien was trying to ask of William.

[atola]

So I've been brewing on this.

The world of tmp could be some form of a parallel universe, sure. My theory tho, is that it it's maaaaybe the same universe where tma happened - only with the apocalypse removed from the memory of the people.

If this is the case then Celia existing in this world is not surprising. She was always part of it after all. Same goes for why it's not bizarre to see a person with last name Bouchard.

Jhonny and Martin stopped the ongoing crisis sure, but you can't actually destroy fear. It's an instinct, a primary response, a survival skill. They could weaken the entities link to our plane but it's impossible to fully erase fears.

So, if the period of the eyepocalypse was wiped from memory, it is possible to have people remember parts of it. Celia could still remember Johns voice, maybe because he was a strong link to the eye. Similarly, what if Alice and Colin can also remember. Especially with Colin we now have heard him talk about "the worst of it", and with his open hate for the camera it's not such a far stretch to say he has encountered the eye. Alice as well has spoke of "the worse things".

If there are people in this world who can still (or have the potential to) remember the original fears it would make sense for these entities to want to have them in one place. The fears are weak, they hunger and even when they do make avatars - needless my beloved - they're barely strong enough to feed themselves.

Having a group of people who remember their true power, all stuck together in some dingy night shift job seems like a pretty good snack. And we know it's not that difficult for the web to organize this lovely office get together.

The fears are hungry, they're weak and angry and desperate and I'm sure they're ready to do anything to get back even a shred of their previous strength.

I'm sitting on the floor of my living room, rocking back and forth in front of the string board

[jupiter049]

Last minute theory about how they will defeat Sutekh

Sutekh is very much unbeatable. Stronger than both The Toymaker and Maestro with no real weakness and is in possession of The Tardis.

There's only one entity which we have actually assume has the potential to stop Sutekh, and that is her.

An incarnation of Susan Twist, who as we know now is an extension of Sutekh was completely scared off by her.

Furthermore, as Kate states, the appearance of the woman suspended the timeline across Ruby's own event. While this line is vague, I think very much everybody agrees it means that in some way the appearance of the woman made aliens and magical creatures around disappear as seeing how it happened with The Doctor himself.

Seeing as Sutekh literally never manages to emerge again, I don't think there's anything else left to assume than that the woman just banished him (either when The Doctor stepped on the circle or when it scared off Susan).

There's some counter arguments you could make but the fact it can even be interpreted at all that the woman actually banished Sutekh gives it some huge weight (remember, there's literally nothing The Doctor has that can stop Sutekh, genuinely 0 things. She has huge weight because literally nothing else in this season does).

Plus, as we saw at the end of '73 Yards' the woman rewinds time to before all terrible things happened. Judging from the trailers, earth and a big chunk of the universe will be destroyed, meaning they will inevitable have to find an excuse as to why all of that is undone and the woman can literally act as a reset button.

One thing is that the episode's synopsis and the marketing do state that a "kind woman" will be the key to defeat Sutekh.

This woman will probably have some knowledge about the mysterious woman. Maybe she helps to recreate the circle, or has some other object with a similar power, or maybe gives The Doctor and Ruby the knowledge to manifest her some other way, etc.

My guess is that whatever happens. My idea is that in the end Ruby will manifest the woman by remembering the alternate '73 Yards' timeline. Sounds insane, but like, think about it.

Maestro (who is part of the pantheon, with their episode clearly working as a prelude to this finale) was defeated by John Lennon and Paul McCartney playing music despite that no music existed on earth. Even when changing the timeline, music and the memory of it still existed inside them, and we do know Ruby somewhat remembers the '73 Yards' timeline.

With all this talk about how memory is time, how The Memory Tardis will obviously be manifested through the time window, changing memories changing reality, and with how much inspiration Russel is clearly taking from series 5. It feels very fitting that Ruby remembering the timeline brings back the woman from an erased timeline, just like Amy Pond did with The Doctor back in 'The Big Bang'.

Or maybe the kind woman just has an anti-sutekh repellent and that's enough to kill him idk.

[popatochisssp]

Apparently I haven't been checking here enough because there's so many new boys I didn't recognize in the sibling post!!! And they all sound so cool and interesting!!

Thank you! But you’re probably not as out of the loop as you think—I’ve been a little shy about sharing my stuff lately, so I actually haven’t posted about any of those guys before!

If you want a quick rundown…

Transcendtale: The result of a never-ending cycle of RESETs with a No Mercy sort of human. Monsters gradually became aware and eventually resorted to extremes to put an end to the cycle, sacrificing themselves to create one single vessel powerful enough to kill the human for good. In the aftermath, most of monsterkind is gone…physically, but still persist as consciousnesses recorded digitally instead. (Sort of a cyberpunk aesthetic answer to Dusttale.)

Spectr (Transcendtale Sans): The unlucky bastard who got tapped to pilot the ultra-powerful human-killing vessel and one of only a few physical monsters remaining. His new body is entirely robotic but similar to what he had before—the only thing missing is a soul. He’s coping in the aftermath of Everything about as well as could be expected, but pretty heavily dysphoric and doubting his identity and his personhood as…whatever he is now.

PapAIrus (Transcendtale Papyrus): A virtual consciousness, a snapshot of the previous ‘original’ Papyrus, his thoughts, his feelings, his memories, his entire sense of self… AKA, Papyrus, just detached from a physical body and soul. He considers it a major upgrade, really—he’s eternal, everywhere, everything… Maybe a slight god-complex about it, but can you blame him? He can interact with the world directly via hard-light projections of himself if he chooses, so it’s hard for him to see a downside to his new state of being.

Ascendswap: Another never-ending cycle of RESETs with No Mercy to be found, but after a bargain is struck with an entity beyond mortal ken, a small inner-circle of monsters is granted awareness of the cycle, and access to deeper, older, more powerful magic in order to put a stop to the human’s reign of terror. Most of monsterkind is only peripherally aware of all that happened, but a select few have been Elevated beyond what they once were.

Xanth (Ascendswap Sans): He’s the one who struck the eldritch bargain and consequently gained power and magic, as well as the ability to share it with anyone he chooses. It’s come at a significant cost and large swathes of him have been lost, dissolved into pure magic. He’s also now one who’s seen beyond the veil, the ant who has perceived the circuit board so to speak, and he’ll never be quite who he was. Still, he’s happy, and far more attuned to souls and magic and energy than he ever was before, so he’s not complaining.

Piper (Ascendswap Papyrus): One of the beneficiaries of his brother’s meddling, a newly-minted boss monster with full awareness of RESETs and much stronger magic—including an ability to push intent into his words as he speaks them, making their influence stronger. Due to the nature of its source, there’s only so far that little trick can go, but between being far more persuasive than he ever hoped he could be, his increased power, and more than a few timelines of experience, his confidence is through the roof and stress over what people think of him is a thing of the past.

Underfell Fruition: The Royal Scientist is never erased from reality. He continues his work as planned, without interruption and continues experiments which produce marvelous innovations for monsterkind’s eventual conquest of humanity. Two of his most impressive achievements are a device which allows the user to produce magic seemingly limitlessly, from thin air without drawing on one’s own energy, and a war machine that attacks on command—both of which are frequently lent out to the Emperor and the Royal Guard to serve the crown’s purposes. …Until a bit of poking around uncovers some…moderately…alarming monster rights violations, amongst other charges, which lead to the Royal Scientist’s conviction and execution.

Carmine (Underfell Fruition Sans): Captured during his attempt to escape from Gaster with his brother, and due to a consistent pattern of disobedience, locked away—permanently. Altered to produce magic at a significantly higher rate and used as a magic battery, he’s got plenty of energy and a whole lot of living to catch up on now that he’s out of the (barely metaphorical) box. What he lacks in worldly experience, he makes up for in luck, intuition, and a cocky can-do attitude, all too ready to make up for lost time.

Tank (Underfell Fruition Papyrus): ‘Raised’ alone by a cruel ‘father’ whose only use for him was as the pinnacle of his project to create a perfect living weapon for the war against humanity, he is extremely new to a lot of concepts—making decisions, having opinions, being a person… None of that was allowed while he was being developed…er, growing up, so in spite of being tall, intimidating, and built like a truck, he’s hesitant around new people and situations where he needs to do any more than just follow orders. Tentatively starting to branch out and discover what being a monster (instead of a monster-shaped weapon) is all about now that his creator is out of the picture and the brother he thought he’d only imagined is back in it.

Swapfell Fruition: The Royal Scientist is never erased from reality. He continues his work as planned, without interruption and continues experiments which lead to the development of a black ops division for the Empress, a secret service of sorts to serve the interests of the crown and to do the unsavory dirty work involved in maintaining an empire whose citizens are prone to corruption and violence. Espionage, blackmail, and quite a few assassinations are carried out by the unknown team managed, equipped, trained, and modified by the Royal Scientist. …Until one day, he happens to turn up dead and it’s uncovered that the ‘volunteers’ for the program were less willing participants and more lab-grown experiments who were given no choice otherwise. Bearing in mind what’s come to light about the circumstances, the black ops program is disbanded.

Vi (Swapfell Fruition Sans): Stopped during his attempt to murder Gaster and escape with his brother, and because of his clearly duplicitous nature, far more tightly controlled and observed and forced into obedience to his creator after. Used primarily as a handler to debrief, control, and monitor the real asset, he developed a keen eye for detail and skill in fact-finding, being secretive, and lying…which was probably a tactical error because he devoted himself wholly to playing the long con and waiting for the perfect opportunity for another attempt to free himself and his brother. A little late…maybe too late…but better than never.

Hunter (Swapfell Fruition Papyrus): The asset and field agent, a thoroughly trained and heavily mentally conditioned assassin, operant on a small library of trigger words and phrases which compel him to follow directives and alter the functioning of his mind and body. He’s extremely competent when working, charming and ruthless and efficient, but off the leash, impertinent, impulsive, and impossible. He does as he pleases whenever possible which, now that his boss/creator/dad is dead, seems like it’ll be all the time. On some weird footing now with his erstwhile handler—his brother—who was apparently less complicit in said boss/creator/dad’s bullshit than he’d thought, but y’know. He’s out of the cage either way and can chase his whims wherever they take him.

Descendtale: A Horrortale variant, a human’s passage through the Underground has left monsterkind without their king, without any of the human souls they’d gathered to break the Barrier, and without a handful of citizens. The long-lost queen returns to lead her people and pivots toward survival, weathering the long-haul trapped Underground with dwindling hope and resources. An alternate food source is the highest priority as monsters are already starting to go hungry in the wake of the chaos, and one is found…though not without its…side-effects. Light sensitivity, slowed metabolism, darkening of extremities, thorn-like growths on the body, and some mental changes and personality drift among other metamorphoses. The Underground takes on a deep-sea quality—slow, cold, dark—monsters subsisting on what they have and waiting patiently for the next whalefall to swarm.

Kohl (Descendtale Sans): The human’s disappearance has left him more than a little bitter (betrayed, though he’ll never admit that). His opinion of humans (or anyone new) is quite low after what the last one did to them all and he’s not keen on trusting or believing in any, anytime soon. He’s chilly, selfish, and reluctant to engage—though he does have a slight mean-spirited streak, and is greatly amused by creeping out or otherwise agitating humans by his presence. Coping with the changes they’ve all gone through and settling in to his new normal, but very stubbornly digging in to the small pleasures that his altered biology makes more difficult. Determined to live much in the manner of a cockroach: through just about anything and regardless of the opinion of those who’d prefer him not to.

Bram (Descendtale Papyrus): The human’s disappearance has left him confused and hurt. He’d thought they were friends, but well…then they did all that and left, never to return. There’s…a lot of conflicting emotions in there and he probably shouldn’t try to unpack it all—he’s just focusing on being the best friend possible from here on out! He’s a little bit clingy with new friends and people he’d like to become new friends but as much as possible, a perfect gentleman, host, and conversationalist. Some strong emotional outbursts from time to time, and his tendency towards unintentionally unnerving statements do make that a bit difficult but he’s very amicable and unlike his brother, only creepy on accident, so…he can still be popular, right? …Right?

If anybody’s interested in a full lore dump for anything, I can draft something up, but that’s the gist of all the brand new ones!

Sorry for all the words! 😅

[time-lord-hilarious]

A random IWTV speculation but has Armand been trying to erase traces of his existence from the human world after a certain point in history?

Claudia’s diaries have his name specifically removes, he and Louis seem to have collected remaining theatre pamphlets (a theatre that’s fully burnt down at that). Daniel’s memory seems to be altered to forget specifically Armand - the dream about Mary’s cuts off directly before he steps in, and Louis seems to be amused by this fact. When Daniel states “you were there” after Armand reveals himself Louis asks “you don’t remember, do you?” which is something that’s been plenty established. The tapes shipped to Daniel have absolutely no trace of his presence, but we see him turning on the recorder in season 2 preview that aired after 2x01 (did he make a separate tape with his voice on it that they didn’t share with Daniel at all, tucked away somewhere in the safety of their house, not to be given to Daniel or any third party to get it to NYC to him?)

Now I know that all of these could have different explanations. 

Louis and Armand could’ve made an agreement to remove the pages for a great number of reasons. After all even if Louis does not realise the nature of Armand’s involvement in Claudia’s death she made it known to him that she felt abandoned because of Armand, so maybe it was necessary to remove them to keep their love and relationship going and get past that for the sake of Louis’ sanity. Daniel thing could easily be Armand deeply traumatising him on the night of the first interview where it would be needed to additionally permanently remove Armand  from his memory as an entity separate from the interview, and/or a memory wipe of some rendition of a DM scenario. Theatre pamphlets could be a mere archiving effort regarding Armand’s long life. The tapes with Armand’s voice on it might not be relevant to Louis’ story.

But I still thing it’s interesting that Louis is more public with his name, putting it on cards in 70s, presumably transportation and other bills, post shipping etc. And Armand used a specific person as a disguise instead of introducing himself as servant Armand or devising a new persona. Louis also tried and failed to stop him from revealing himself. 

So I really wonder if this could potentially have something to do with the Talamasca too.

Also this would make him going on the record for the interview very dangerous.

[skayafair]

Ok so we've all went through some stages regarding the finale and The Great Divorce (or lack thereof) in S5.

I'm not a patron so I have no idea which turn the plot is going to take in reality, but after some insight from the others I've noticed which way would have been the most enterteining for me.

So a lot of people already noticed that Arthur probably isn't going to be pissed at John all that much. Yeah the situation isn't peachy but they had worse, and I don't even mean like "part 18 The Madness" kind of worse. Whom Arthur took his rage on was Kayne, so the "you lied" might have referred to him as well. (REALLY, THANK YOU to those who noticed that, it made the finale MUCH better for me, although it was good and fun as is.)

If Arthur IS mad at Kayne:

Why did he sound so defeated in the end? Was it an act to gain some time to figure out how to get out of this predicament? Or was he shocked to witness two of his allies die or disappear (and I think he IS worried for Noel a fair amount), maybe spiraling to "everyone around you dies" and "nothing gold can stay" as a possible future implication again?

A fun part for me would be if there is some self-blaming, too. Because after hearing the whole story it's easy to arrive to a horried realization: after Arthur's deal John was supposed to be safe, and he wasn't, therefore, Arthur failed him.

Even though getting John back with no memory was selfish (because erasing the memory would have critically affected John when he didn't have a say in it, and that's obviously messed up) and not ideal (it still put him at least with his friend instead and gave a chance to develop on his own again rather than being consumed by the King, which... yeah... I often forget how fucked up Arthur's behaviour with Yellow actually was from this POV :')), it still helped them both. They had better chances at survival together rather than on their own. It wasn't the worst outcome, Arthur didn't betray his friend. John being safe(-er) was an equally important part of the deal as Arthur not being alone. But since Kayne didn't hold his end of the bargain, John wasn't just in danger. He was in the Dark World, for indefinite amount of time. That was a complete opposite to the conditions of the deal. If Kayne didn't strike another deal with John, they wouldn't have met again, probably. John would have stayed in the DW while Arthur could still have his life and a chance at a new friendship, however sour it turned in the end. So, in a distant, inderect way it was like Arthur was betraying John while not even knowing this. Because he thought he could trust Kayne on this deal. It's not exactly logical and is rather a stretch but it's easy to leap to this conclusion, especially for someone with self-depricating tendencies like Arthur's. He's doing better but I don't think he's completely past it yet. He was failing someone dear to him without knowing, again. We know how he feels about that.

Moreover, we know how Kayne emphasises time and again how powerless John is before him, but Arthur is just as helpless. His rage at Kayne seemed to die out in a span of a few minutes, giving way to a lifeless "I'll come" after Kayne's demonstration of power. Which feels unltimately out of character and I know HG knows his characters well, so there HAS to be an explanation and I'm just... WHICH ONE GRRR I NEED TO KNOW!11 He may be furious about Kayne's actions but still not be able to do anything about this. And in my mind this relates to the talk about faith he had with John: that if he believed in God, Arthur would have had to believe all the deaths around him, as well as Faroe's, was God's plan, and he just can't agree with that. Not said but I think implied: it would have meant that some very powerful entity decided to kill or hurt a person he deeply cares about with his own hands/ignorance, and Arthur doesn't have a say in this while being the one at fault. It's the same here.

Oh, wait, this isn't even the second time it would have happened! It's the third, the second was John's doing, with Parker's death. Arthur has a streak!

So all in all, if the finale revelations don't trigger some trauma in this department that needs dealing with, I'd be a bit sad. But not much, part 40 gave A LOT of new opportunities, so I feel like a kid in a candy store anyway. I wonder which ones are going to be explored in the show, and will be waiting for the ficwriters to do their magic, too :D

[ohnogachaverse]

I've seen this

And I have thoughts, so let's look at it as a repeated motive in a work of fiction (spoilers, obv)

Travelers: twins got separated, one joined the Abyss, other did not. One expects the other to walk their path

Venti: had a friend. One of them died and the other took his form

Zhongli: there used to be two gods of Guili Assembly, but one of them died so the other had to take over the leadership role

Raiden Ei: there were two twins, one died and the other took their place, pretending to be the same person. Then the one remaining destroyed their body and made a puppet to rule in their stead (double two of the same motive)

Nahida: there was one being and before they died they separated a part of themselves to create another. Later the first one erased all the memories of their existence, so the story now is that one person was completely reborn into another, staying the same being

Focalors: separated themselves into the Divine and the Human. The Divine part later killed themselves, leaving only mortal human

Khaenri'ah-related pairs: Diluc & Kaeya (were close, one almost killed another), Albedo & his prototype (one killed another (maybe)), Dainsleif & Vedrfolnir (brothers, one is fighting against the other)

Also technically same people, but got separated as entities at some point: Wanderer & Scaramouche, Fischl in the summer event (there is probably more)

Common motives:

There were two, but one is gone, the one who was left took their place (Zhongli, Ei, Nahida, kinda Focalors)

Two used to be the same being, or at least pretended to be (kinda Venti, Ei, Nahida, Focalors, Albedo)

One is either directly killed another or somehow led to their death (Nahida, kinda Focalors, Albedo, kinda Ei with the puppet and herself)

Prediction: Twins used to be the same being. One of them will die in the end. If this does happen, the one who dies is probably the Abyss twin, so the traveler will take their place in the Abyss Order and it's highly likely that it's a repeating cycle.

BUT that's how it is in Teyvat and its fate (largely predetermined). Travellers, as outlanders, are capable of changing it. However, the abyss twin is no longer considered an outlander. So, if I'm right, now one of the twin's fate is that one of them will die, the other twin does not share this fate and is capable of changing it.

[theproperweirdo]

Okay as a self-appointed lore expert, let me ask you, how the hell is Dura alive in Journey? And how does nobody make a big deal out of it?

THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THIS UP BECAUSE I THOUGHT I WAS GOING CRAZY 💀💀

I’ve got two sort of theories on this:

Before I start I’m prefacing that this is all mostly from memory. I also assumed that Misarte (the wilder’s deity) and the Mauler’s god are both Dura in different forms with a different name. The Lightbearers believe in Dura, and since the graveborn are only former humans, I assume they have the same interpretation. Anyways, onto my theories!

1. This is just an alternate storyline. Most of the arena story/lore seems to be changed or erased in some way anyways, and even if annoying, it’s possible they just revived Dura for the sake of the story.

There are plenty of other things I’ve noticed, Rowan and Lorsan beings strangers, Satrana’s entire backstory being changed (a former orphan saved by antandra, then becoming a flame keeper at the temple. Now she’s a diviner?? What)

There also seems to be lesser gods, separate entities from playable celestials. There’s mention of the Dusk lord and Sun god, lesser than Dura but higher than celestials. In Arena, Celestials are the only ones under Dura, most are created equal I assume. There’s also Hypofiends, not exactly mentioned in arena.

There’s also literally no mention of Annih anywhere in Journey?? Crazy considering he was the main force behind the hypogean invasion.

I personally have been taking Journey as a different storytelling of Arena’s Esperia. Like Esperia A for Arena and Esperia J for Journey.

2. Dura’s death was never publicly known. From my understanding of the timeline referenced from the art book, Dura dies, Annih renounces divinity, and because he leaves, graveborns are created by Quandem. That’s where we are in both Esperia A and J.

It’s said that Dura died in a wilder plane, but only Celestial stories seem to mention any events that relate to her death (Athalia’s search for morality, Titus’s protection of the temple, Orthros rewinding time to before her death, etc.) It’s probably known widely about her being weakened during the hypogean war, but maybe everyone assumes she’s just sleeping or something.

Of course, we get cutscenes in Journey of Dura herself and her voice. The scene with Lyca and Misarte had me externally dumbfounded. I think it may just be her residual celestial powers still in Esperia. She was the major god of this world, I imagine she would have some imprint left after her death. Everyone who references her, being Dura, Misarte, etc, seems to just pray to her as a higher being. It could be possible they’re just unaware she’s dead, and mistake her leftover power as her actually acting.

Of course, these are just personal theories, and I feel like we haven’t gotten enough out of the Journey plot to actually know what’s going on with the changes. I do wish they didn’t make these weird ass changes though, makes everything frustrating and less authentic. But I’m just happy to have more content 🫡 hopefully everything I said was factual LMAO

[vikkirosko]

Hiya! can I request the creepypasta gang with a fem reader who is referred to by their known title as the Red Lady and is very mysterious and enigmatic but is considered an entity in her right, basically the reader is 8 feet tall(like Slenderman) but wears a long red cloak that covered their own body and their face is surrounded in darkness by their hood and nobody knows what they actually look like behind the red cloak she don, the reader also doesn't seem speak only expressing their actions through body language, she tend to unintentionally sneak up on people due to their footsteps being mistaken by the wind and not being heard nor sense her cold presence but she prefer to walk on stealth, the reader also has teleportation so she can sometimes teleport out of nowhere interrupt conversations mid-way, the reason why the reader was considered a mysterious and eerie ghostly figure was because she lures troubled children by gaining their trust as shape-shifting into the idealistic loving maternal figure before stealing their souls adding them to her collection of wisps or she would erased the memories and the identity of the child and implants false memories of their new identity before sending them off in the middle of nowhere

Gang x fem!Reader platonic headcanons Red Lady

When Toby first said that he saw a strange figure in the forest, no one gave it due importance. Toby often said strange things and the others got used to it. But when the others also began to notice the tall red figure. It would have remained a mystery to the others if you hadn't come to their hideout. As it turned out, you were quite real and you became a frequent guest, disturbing their peace

You didn't hurt them, but you managed to scare them by appearing out of thin air. Sometimes it really was like that. You've never talked using body language to communicate. You spent a lot of time with Sally or Toby, but in general you treated everyone with some kind of maternal care and they didn't understand why you were among them until BEN told them about what he found about you on the Internet

There was a real urban legend about you. The children saw you and you looked after them like a caring mother. Those of the children who were from troubled families and those who were considered problematic for society disappeared and either they were found not remembering the life they had before, becoming like a different person, or they were not found at all, and only you knew what really happened to the missing children

No one ever tried to follow you when you left. You were as important a figure as Slenderman. You were like him, continuing to come and go when you wanted to. Sometimes you brought them different gifts, especially little Sally. It was as if you saw in them the children you cared about, but sincerely, and not from the dark goals for which you took the missing children

Maybe someday you'll disappear again, as suddenly as you appeared, but for now you've stayed with them. Your presence was felt in the cold breeze when it shouldn't have been, in the quiet rustle of your cloak and in the realization that they could never be sure that they were alone

[camprell-art]

Does shadoo remember dimentio?

I thought about this for some time now.

So welcome to the "Camprell being mentally ill about his own fanlore" show!

I'm gonna put a read more here because it got soooooooo long.

1st option!

I can do it the extra painful way, that would be if they don't remember but still meet each other, and there is a probability that the whole ordeal with the Pixl Queen happens again, Shadoo is a living killing machine, she's locked behind all those walls and doors for a reason. But I don't like this one very much because it's too bland, and not just bland but a bit out of the plot, like, why would they even meet if nobody remembers anything?

2nd option!

This one can go in two ways, it could be like this story here, I would change some parts of it today, but essentially it's this, Dimentio goes there, says her name, she gets curious and then maybe they would talk... Buuut, this one would not make so much sense in the new characterization, my Dimentio was much more sensitive, more sad than insane? More depressed than psychotic or neurotic? I'll do better research about this, so you can correct me if I'm wrong.

3rd option!

This one is more tricky, because I would have to figure out what to do with the Dark Prognosticus, where the hell did the book go? Did it disappear? Was the Chaos Heart the ultimate point of it? Because I do believe that the DP, contrary to its Light counterpart, wasn't written by anyone, maybe created by something, however, considering that the thing can't keep its records forever (or else the book would be enormous), the only scenario that makes sense is that it is erased and written by itself, making the book more of an entity than an object.

If the DP is gone, then Dimentio can have other thoughts in his head that aren't obscured by the thing talking in it, so maybe some of his memories could slowly start to make sense, his dreams would come back to the "traumatic state", rather than blurry visions of a future that is near.

When I say traumatic state, I mean those memories that are very deep in his mind, the ones that actually explain all the actions and decisions he made in the past. Even the curse would have a meaning, he always thought it was some magic corruption because he kept coming back, but then, after a lot of dreams, he would discover that it wasn't entirely that.

Shadoo is literally what would happen to him if the curse was complete, in her case it was way faster, since the only reason she is alive was because she became a Pixl with the help of the Prognosticus. When Pixl Queen Shadoo dies again, all that is left is a shadow of herself, the thing in the end of the Pits is just her soul. If someone killed her for real, she would just turn into a glittery dust and fade from reality, no Underwhere, no Overthere. But I believe that for this immortal "creature" this is the best ending she could have.

So Dimentio would probably kill her just to end her suffering, and I think that Shadoo wouldn't even be scared if this does happen, all that she wanted was revenge, but there's no reason to do that when your brother came back and you finally can rest after so many years of isolation and loneliness.

Sorry for possible redundancies and grammatical errors + typos + wrong words, I'm so sleepy and I'm lazy to correct and read my own text. X)

[wayward-wren]

See Timeless Child as a concept I don't hate. I think it's got some fun implications to explore and fallout for the Doctor to deal with, identity crisis and all. (Also I've heard Chibnall was drawing from his experience of being adopted, which makes me like it even more). I think there's a lot of interesting things in there, though part of me loves the Doctor being normal, just a bit different, too much to fully embrace the idea that the Doctor is a Special Being. That one is gonna be a 'depending on my mood ill choose this canon' thing for me probably. But on the whole I think Timeless Child is a solid try at something new, and Doctor Who always needs that imo.

What I don't like about the concept, is claiming that there was 'the Doctor' before the First, William Hartnell. Because he starts going by the Doctor in the show, we saw it happen. And I think its more canon that he chose the name at the academy now, but I still love the slow acceptance of the Doctor identity you see early in the show, along side the slow progression of the Doctor embracing a role of protector and defender. So while I can accept the idea that maybe there were Timeless Children, and then that entity had their memories erased and became a child again, who grew up into Hartnell, I don't like the idea that the Doctor existed before Hartnell (and this includes regenerations the Doctor remembers before Hartnell I think).

Which is why I think Ruth!Doctor has to be between Two and Three; because she called herself the Doctor and her TARDIS was a police box (something else that happened for the first time in the show). The Doctor as the Doctor didn't exist before William Hartnell, and I think changing that canon almost does a disservice to the fact that he essentially created the character, and did so with so much love and care.

Anyway. I finally finished season 12 so that's my thoughts now that I've actually seen the timeless children episode.

[ishipgenfics]

What If Desire Captured Hob Gadling?

This is based on tattoed Dream by @designtheendless (although Morpheus doesn't have his tattoes quite yet in this) so if you want to see what Morpheus looks like once he gets his tattoo or you just like really good art, go check them out!

This is also kind of a prequel to another thing I wrote based on the tattoo au, so here's a link to that!

"Desire, stop this!" Dream shouted.

"Oh?" Desire said lightly, stepping closer. The screams of Hob Gadling rang out in the backround, a chorus to their conversation. "And what will you give me for that, brother dear?"

"Don't give 'em anything, Dream," Hob croaked. He let out a choked wheezing laugh. "I'll be fi-- aAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

The screams broke out again. And Dream-- Dream just couldn't.

Maybe he was foolish, and maybe he was mortal, but couldn't just stand there while the man he loved was tortured like this. Not if he could do something to prevent it.

"Anything," he said. He knew it was a mistake as soon as he said it, but as the screams instantly cut off, and Hob fell to the floor he couldn't bring himself to regret it. "Anything. Just stop."

Hob let out a groan, but then appeared to pass out.

Desire smiled. "Well then, Dream," they said. "Let's talk."

"What do you want from me?"

"So blunt. Well, if you insist." Desire paced circles, and Dream very suddenly felt like he was being hunted. "I am going to wipe your little... what is to you now? Did you ever admit he was your friend?"

"I did," Dream said.

"Oh." Desire seemed almost... disappointed. "Oh well, no matter. I'm going to wipe his memory."

Dream stopped breathing. He didn't technically need to breathe in the first place, but he'd gotten into the habit, and the effect of it stopping was very similar to what it would be on a mortal. Panic, and fear.

"You what?"

Desire's face split into a bright grin. This was better than they could have possibly imagined. "I'm going to wipe his memory, dearest brother," they said. "Or rather, his memories of you. He will still know he's immortal, but his stranger is a very pretty entity with golden eyes, who cruelly left him in 1889 and never came back." They leaned into Dream's face. "He will know you only a collague of his." Oh goodness, was he crying?

Dream frowned, confused. "But I do not work as a mortal professor." He shook his head and straightened himself up to his full height. "It matter not. I shall be on my way now, fair sibling, if you don't mind..."

Desire nimbly stepped in front of him. "Oh, I didn't say you could go yet."

"I paid the debt. I agreed to your terms."

"You said anything, dear Dream." Desire grinned. "That means anything."

"Very well. What else do you want from me?"

Desire's voice was like the hum of molten metal pouring. "I want to erase your memories too. You asked how Hob believing you are only his colleague would work? It's because as far as you know, that's all you will be."

"Who will run my kingdom? Who will watch over the dreamers? You would really justify the order of the universe just for a petty feud?"

"I think I've made it very clear that I would, Dream."

"And this is all?"

"Hmmm," Desire waved their hand in the air. "Maybe, maybe not."

"Desire, please. Even you cannot be this cruel." It grated at Dream's pride to beg, but in truth he had nothing left to lose.

Desire sighed, and Dream searched their eyes, hoping to pick up some sliver of sympathy in them. "Very well. If you somehow manage to get your power and memories back, this specific promise shall become null and void."

"Thank you."

"I'm only saying that because it's impossible!"

Dream smiled slightly, reminded of the days when him and Desire had been friends, and their teasing had been games and not plots to destroy the other. "I know." He bowed his head. "Just... make it quick?"

Desire cupped their hand around Dream's cheek, almost gently. "Goodbye, my brother."

The last thing that Dream of the Endless saw was Desire's golden eyes.

Morpheus woke up on the side of a road.

[real-godzekiel]

my OC girl_Ghost (singular)

click readmore for info on the character, if you want

The text here is WRONG it's girl_Ghost

girl_Ghost is an overpowered entity that can take "overwrite" the "spirit" of anything and living organism and control and modify them as she pleases. every being drawn in the image is her, but they weren't always her. of course, in some cases she tries to create bodies for herself to the point that it's almost like they always were her but in most cases she finds subjects.

if the subjects are alive, she "kills" them by completing erasing their spirit in an instaneous, painless and unnoticeable way. then she will take their "bodies" and become them. then she tries to be them until she feels that that it doesn't fit her. after that, she will take the body away to her dimension because once she starts taking control of a body of thing she cannot leave it. she lives in millions of bodies simultaneously, due to this.

because the effects it may have in society, she erases every trace of the body or thing's influences. that is to say once she stops trying to be a person, for example, she will erase all memories and records of that person ever existing in case it causes unmanageable troubles. she doesn't create a blue glowing effect immediately after taking a subject to become. of course she doesn't do that all the time. how else could she be them without others noticing a difference? (although in some cases where she doesn't want to take a body she will do the glow right away if she wants to fuck with someone)

either way. girl_Ghost wants to find the perfect physical identity. she can never get it right. she went from small infants to scientists to cats to boats to buildings to books to zombies to horrific lab experiments. but eventually it would always be wrong.

luckily, she has many hobbies that are unrelated to this seemingly unachievable she has devoted her entire existence and unfolding to. she likes playing and fucking around with people and things she doesn't want to take, sometimes. sometimes she plays around in a way that seems helpful and empathetic. unfortunately, she doesn't understand human feelings and behaviour very well. she knows pleasure and pain (especially physical), but other lives and experiences seems to interfere when she tries to be 1 thing. that's why, for a lot of the times she had to take living bodies to her dimension it's because she has revealed one way or another to the family and friends that the girl they're talking with is not the girl they knew. she blames her clumsiness.

she has a no idea of what she started off as. maybe the first thing she was was a person, or some other thing. she forgot. sometimes she would stumble across a memory that feels like something long long ago, but she can't ever be sure. they all mix together. she can only pretend.

another thing you might have noticed is how despite the uncertainty girl_Ghost has with her identity, she seems to be positive about her gender. so yes, she almost exclusively takes objects that seems feminine to her in one way or another. bodies are a little harder to say. i don't know how she would do it as she doesn't exactly have ways to read people's minds without taking their bodies,but the idea is that she will take bodies based on the original spirit's gender identity. so yes trans women but not binary men.

[daisywords]

Hello I want to know about uhhh all of your characters in the poll please do expand on some???? :)???

hi :):) don't mind me treasuring up this ask all day (and maybe finishing 1 1/2 drawings so I could have portraits of all of them that I don't hate)

but yes here we go!

Alya (psychic propaganda) is the main character of my wip Fear Me (which belongs to the larger starlightverse [read: a planned trilogy]). She has "mind powers" including a telepathic connection with her brother and, importantly, the ability to basically beam emotions and basic ideas into other people's brains without their knowledge. Before she knows she has this ability, she kind of uses it accidentally, and chalks it up to just being naturally good at talking her way into things. But, as you can imagine, that power has a lot of potential for political uses and literal propaganda, making her a coveted pawn in, well, the plot.

Eli (plagued by "visions") is Alya's aforementioned brother. He is also a coveted pawn, mainly because he has the power of...knowing things (terms and conditions apply). This is not fun for him, in case you were wondering. If I go with the current plan he is the mc of the third book.

Mar (necromancer on a revenge quest) is also from starlightverse (mc of the second book I think?), but her connection to the other two is a secret. But. um. she comes from a group whose culture and language has been mostly erased in an attempt to also erase their magic system, which involves blood magic teleportation and ancestor necromancy. She starts out on a quest to avenge her father's death, and it gets worse.

Pasha (magic rock) is from my wip Deep and Dark, Beautiful and Bright (DaDBaB). I haven't talked about her a ton yet, because there are two timelines to the wip (past and present) and I've mostly been writing the past and she belongs to the present. But basically she has a...seeing stone, if you will, which mostly helps her to find things. When we meet her, she is being exploited by a group of treasure hunters...or maybe she is exploiting them.

Lya (unkillable amnesiac) is one of DaDBaB's two pov characters. A lot to unpack here. She's a zombie but she's still alive. Possessed by an evil entity but also she's the one in charge. Dies a lot but comes back every time. She can pass through gates between realms. There's maybe more than one version of her running around at once? She gains and loses different parts of her memory. In the past timeline she was this religious chosen one figure in a really weird political/social/religious position. She triggered the apocalypse but also she was right?

Trip (magic battery) is the other pov character from DaDBaB. He's also an amnesiac but there were too many other words in his description. He regains his memory more linearly though. Um...as part of the apocalypse a lot of their tech and zombie-destroying weapons stopped working, and he's the only one that can power/use them...for secret reasons. Saddest guy in the world but doesn't remember why. In the past he was pretending to be a Chosen One mostly to stay out of prison, and then things got complicated.

Anyway these are some of my Little Guys™ and I hope y'all like them!