*Crying Over Egos*

Anti has won as the hottest and most popular ego for the 3rd year in a row!

(f2u - Credit optional unless someone asks where you found it)

So yesterday me and @meo618 were joking about how Dark would probably have a LinkedIn, and he'd have to act normal and human for job interviews. Then it shifted to him and Author and Author making him guess the songs from the bands on the T-shirts he wore because he was probably only wearing them to be edgy.

Anyway, have young!Dark and Author. Warnings for bad language and potential car crashes.

---

“So . . .” The Author drummed the fingers of one hand against the steering wheel and used the other to scribble something into the notebook lying on the central console. (He didn’t know why Edward told him to use both hands when one hand worked just fine, as long as he didn’t hit anybody and stayed in the correct lane, right?) “How was the interview?”

Dark didn’t answer, but the Author swore some of the monochrome inched closer to his side of the car. His arms were crossed over his AC/DC shirt and that stupid tie he insisted on wearing. It was hard to make out its design through the black and white– and out of the corner of his eye– but the Author thought it might have cars on it. No wonder he didn’t get the job. What an idiot.

“Do you know any AC/DC songs?” He pressed, and Dark twisted his head away from the window to glare at him. His eyes were black, black, black. 

“Of course I know AC/DC.” His voice rang– it hurt his ears like a motherfucker. The Author winced and yanked the car to the side out of reflex. Wheels rolled briefly onto the grass before he righted them again with another violent jerk.

The Author then smirked and reached for the radio knob. Thankfully, Edward had forgotten to take his CD out from the last time he’d borrowed his shitty little Prius. “Guess this song, then.”

Now, all of Dark’s murderous attention was on him. “I don’t want to play Guess This Song.”

The Author ignored him, opting to crank the volume and press play. “If you can’t get this one I’m crashing the car.”

As the chords of “Thunderstruck” began to rattle the windows, Dark’s face softened from rage and annoyance into something more pensive. Still, it took him longer than it should’ve to answer. The Author was moments away from sending them hurtling into the trees when he ventured, “Thunderstruck?”

“Ding, ding, ding!” The Author skipped the next song, and then the next. “Now this one.”

Dark scoffed. His voice was nearly lost under “The Razor’s Edge.” “This game is for fools.”

“Sounds like someone can’t guess this song!” The Author sang, and inched the car toward the edge of the road, slamming on the gas as he did. “Into the ditch we go.”

Dark scrabbled for the wheel and they engaged in a brief but violent struggle for dominance. “I can’t be impaled again, how will I find employment?” He spat, while the Author shot back, “Guess the fucking song, then!”

“Razor’s Edge!” 

“Fuck, finally!” The Author straightened them out and slowed, and Dark melted back into the corner of the passenger seat, fuming. The Author again stabbed the skip button, replacing that song with the next. “This one, now.”

Got jealous that Actor took us on a date

Interrupted said date to try and persuade us to be with him instead

Practices both his monologues and eyeliner in the mirror

Only wears his suit when he's meeting with us

He keeps checking in on us because while he can't stop us from being around Actor he can sure as hell call us dummies and watch over us

Is very soft and kind to Wilford

“Can the Host control the True One?”

And I don’t mean it just by their outfits. Despite their identical faces, they look different!! Their face expressions are not the same, their whole charisma, their body language… All of these make two characters who are identical in looks, played by the same guy, actually look different when you get to know them.

Also, THEIR VOICES! They both sound like Mark. Clearly. But the Damien voice is nowhere near the Actor voice, and even farther away from irl Mark’s natural voice. That’s a peak acting attribute right here.

Janus and Logan are talking about some old poet or something and he just gets super into the whole thing and Logan is super confused because Janus’ scales are suddenly a lot brighter yellow.

Like I promised: here’s a post on what I think are Dark’s powers and what he is (I’ll do a theory on what Dark’s motives are next). I’d love to hear you guys’ theories too! Let’s go down the rabbit hole, shall we?

Like @antiisepticeye said in their post, Dark shows some clear similarities to a psychopath. But I think it goes a lot little further than that. I’ve been doing some research on what Dark might be, and my strongest guess is something that people call a Spiritual Demon (more information on that here). Some of the powers that come with this type of demon that I want to discuss in this post are: Empathy, Energy Manipulation, Illusion Manipulation, Invulnerability, Possession, Telekinesis and Teleportation. Don’t worry, I won’t dwell on every subject for too long!

Empathy = The power to fully interpret and replicate the emotions, moods, and temperaments of others.

Dark isn’t capable of having what we call emotions, but he knows how to replicate them. He’s been watching Mark since 2012 (or longer, who knows) and he knows how Mark would react to things. Don’t believe me? Look at what he says to you, while he’s trying to understand you.

“Good choice. But why do we need to choose in life? (…) If dinner is what you want, then I can provide.”

Besides showing off his power, he wishes to have that connection with you, like Mark does.

You can also see this in the differences in dialog during the Right and Left videos. Some of the things Dark says in Left are very similar to what Mark says in Right.

“You made the right call. Come here, it’s okay, it’s okay.” and “You made the right call. Come here.”

But notice the slight differences and the strange things Dark says:

“Just relax, enjoy some nice dairy based treats.” “And eh, get to know each other. Really. Personally.”, this sounds more forced and colder than: “Now, sit, sit. Let’s just relax and enjoy our ice cream together and get to know each other again, as man and you!”

Now Energy Manipulation is a very complicated (and interesting!) thing, but I’m just going to focus on what (I think) we see proof of. In the Stay Together video the cook attacks you. Now you could say that him blowing up is just part of the “game”, but that doesn’t make any sense if you think about it. Mark (or is it Dark?) tells you: “You idiot! Just press x!” After that, the cook blows up. I think this isn’t logical for multiple reasons. Why would Mark have a controller in the first place? In-game people with controllers? Doesn’t make sense to me. Also, the choice of words. Mark uses the word “idiot.” I don’t know about you, but I don’t think calling your date an idiot, is a very smart move. Or is it Dark coming through and losing his temper? Another reason why Dark would interfere here, is because the cook is attack you directly. And he can’t have that. He still needs you. “But how do you explain the x’s in your view?” I hear you scream, well, that brings me to my next point.

Illusion Manipulation = User can create, shape and manipulate illusions, causing targets to see, hear, touch, smell and/or taste things which do not actually exist.

The x’s that appear in your view and the controller might be Dark trying to manipulate you into believing that everything’s “normal” and that Mark is still there, everything’s okay! Nice cover-up Dark. But this isn’t the only time he uses this. He masters this so well, that he actually appears as Mark during the fight in the Freedom video. Not only to you, but to Mark as well (Mark argues with him, trying to convince you that he’s the real Mark). He stays like this until he comes back in his former form (I’m not going to say true form, because who knows honestly) at the end of the Left video.

Invulnerability is quite obvious, when you kill Dark in the Freedom video, he’s still there during the Right video (more on this in my last theory).

Dark switches between taking over Mark’s body (possession), the illusion I just talked about and his familiar form. Not only during the A Date with Markiplier videos, but also during the older ones (assuming that only don’t blink, don’t move and relax are “canon” Darkiplier appearances). Here’s what I think the older videos mean:

I think don’t blink was Dark’s announcement. He wanted us all to know that he’s there and scare the shit out of us. You see an illusion of Mark in the background (or is it an representation of what actually happened?), hurt. That should’ve caught our attention, right? But apparently it wasn’t enough, so he shows up again during don’t move where he has Mark stuck, staring at a wall and even forcing a smile out of him (a form of telekinesis, more on that later). While he tries to show us that he’s there and powerful. Mark gets stronger though, he covers Dark up by using humour, mocking him. He must’ve regretted that, because during relax Dark nearly tortures him. And Dark loves it.

Telekinesis is actually more complicated than it sounds, but I’ll try my best to pick out the stuff we see Dark actually doing. Ever wondered why Ethan and Tyler act so strange around Dark? They don’t question anything. They don’t try and stop Dark from hurting Mark or you. Tyler even says: “Good luck” when you choose the Horror play. Now I hear you thinking: “Oh sure, Dark’s a Sith Lord now?” Well, you’re not entirely wrong, but that’s not what I’m going for here. Using these techniques is actually something people call Neural Impulse Manipulation (or Mental Manipulation, in this case). Now don’t get scared away by the fancy words, it actually means “to redirect the electrical signals between the brain and nerves, achieving control over thoughts, feelings, and movement of a body.” So yes, he’s doing some sort of “mind trick”, but why? Again, to scare you and make sure nobody is in his way. (More on that in my next theory.)

Another thing Dark (clearly) does, is Telekinetic Teleportation. Like I talked about in my last theory, Dark moves us to different places, even without him making a physical appearance in the room (during the loop). But, where are we during the whole speech? My guess: Dimensional Travel (I don’t want to go as far to say it’s Reality Warping or Space-Time Manipulating, that’s some ridiculous telekinesis, and Dark isn’t THAT strong, is he?). I have multiple reasons for thinking this. Dark takes us somewhere during the Horror play, but it isn’t in the real world. It looks like we’re being pulled out of our own world and later (at the beginning of the Freedom video) put back in. Also, Dark’s voice sounds strange (double and incredibly low), we hear a high pitched noice and our vision is strange. Like our minds can’t understand what our eyes are seeing or our ears are hearing. I think Dark loves this place, he pulls us in (or halfway in) every time he connects with us. Because here, his powers are endless and there’s nothing you or he can do to stop him.