Having thoughts about Doey being not simply an amalgamation of Jack, Kevin, and Matthew with clear lines and control, but one being born out of that unwilling and traumatic ordeal. He has traits from each, some scant memories and sensory experiences from Before, but now he's not them, he's Him, and now he has to live with that. That three kids went into making him who he is, and they're kind of present but not, and now he's Doey, but who is Doey but this horrible start, this compounded pain and misery that still is trying desperately to be good. But is that his desire, or is it one of the boys? Will he ever get out from under that shadow, could he ever be forgiven for the terrible things that happened to make him or because he was new and confused and didn't know better?
He tries to be cheerful, because that's what's needed and sometimes even in hell there are kids being kids, doing silly stuff and cracking jokes, but it's hard to square with, because Something Horrible happened and...he's the only one left standing. The scientists aren't there, Harley's gone after Playtime falls. Who is there left to blame but himself?
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Though this time from the thought of it just being a story. Namely Orion's story. Everything up until Hypatia shows up is presumably his own train of thought, barring the one edit Hypatia provokes regarding kid Orion being able to see the future.
...So, does this mean he also came up with Dark sacrificing himself, apropos of nothing? It's a really negative way to supposedly conclude the tale, and one that Hypatia...kind of doesn't seem to grasp the weight of completely given how her 'fix' is to resurrect Dark from kid Orion's memories. Which isn't bad, if anything that's kind of what you'd expect of a child that hasn't had to deal with death before. It's not really a failing of Hypatia, she's all of around ten. Unless there is some event that brings it to the forefront, most people in the modern era haven't had a ton of experience when it comes to someone dying except in perhaps a passing sense.
Which makes it seem stranger that that's where Orion's mind went as far as how to resolve the whole issue with Dark's conflict. That as far as the adult Orion is concerned, the notion of a character just noping out of the narrative entirely is a potential response. Granted, Dark's whole situation is a little screwed up; he's basically ridiculed, stereotyped, and at times even mislabeled for doing what he was made to do. And Orion seems to have something of a wary fascination with the idea of death and dying immediately off. It's presented in a similarly unaware, childlike way, but its there. Death and the unknown become synonymous, because that's how Orion views them. Probably then as well as now.
It's not clear if he's had experience as far as someone dying, but he's definitely a bit more knowledgeable now. There's this tinge of adult cynicism that makes its way in with Dark basically committing suicide on-screen, this reminder that sometimes the ending isn't happy, because that's not how things are in real life. He's supposedly already got signs of a kind of cynicism in childhood (Nihilism vs Existentialism for Kids, in the sequence right before he brings up this fear of the unknown), if his depiction in the story is accurate.
There's also the notion of what role Dark plays in the tale, which I think is a bit more than just that of a deuteragonist. When looking at his personality, I couldn't help noticing how he's a shadow archetype of the younger Orion. He's big where Orion is small, idealistic where Orion is cynical, friendly and open-minded where Orion is wary and closed off, the comparisons abound, really. He doesn't completely slot into these comparisons, he's definitely not naΓ―ve regarding life, though instead of sitting stuck, he wants to enact change on what he views as unfair.
Which makes what happens to him...really something. This friendly, wide-eyed, desperate for change personality basically does the equivalent of throwing himself in front of a train when confronted with the notion of being alone for the rest of his (in the story) immortal life. Which makes me go back again to the notion of Orion as a storyteller and what he might've been drawing from to both create the character of Dark and follow that tale to what he seems to consider a logical conclusion.
There's also the fact that the adult Orion plays a similar role for Hypatia to what Dark plays for the younger version of Orion: a person that presents an alternative idea and POV. They even go on a little journey together. Wonder if, in his own way, the adult version of Orion is a composite of both his child-self and pieces of Dark. It's some definite food for thought.
If I had a nickel for everytime night or some embodiment representing night got screwed over, I'd have three nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened three times now.
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Been thinking about a short story/snippet collection for the entities, mostly documenting their growth over the past few hundred million years and how they all bond.
Had the somewhat funny thought of calling it something like 'The Annuls of the Ancients'. Something really legendary-sounding, meanwhile one of the first stories is gonna be the older of the group, particularly Time, attempting to wrangle some rudimentary clothes on Dark at the start of the Cambrian age, because when the giant insects become a thing you will thank me for giving you a barrier between them and your bare skin, YOU LITTLE SHIT, GET THE HELL BACK HERE---
I know there's a lot of people out there that think Dark and Light should have a romantic relationship, but, hear me out...
Twin siblings. Make 'em twin brothers. Yin and yang, what have you, but they're basically total opposites in some very key ways. One example, Dark is easily flustered and takes things to heart a lot. Light is more unflappable and clearly settled into his own skin. Makes arguments the most frustrating things ever for Dark given that he'll be all ready to bleed off the resentment he has from being thought of as 'the bad one' and Light just, doesn't match his energy. Doesn't get mad. Absolutely sees the projection for what it is, and Dark is just no no no no I wanna be pissed off at something LET ME BE PISSED OFF!
And meanwhile Light's like sure, man, you can be pissed, but not at me because my existence isn't what's wrong here. We both know you're not mad because of ME specifically.
And Dark gets huffy because he's not gonna be able to correct all instances of nyctophobia on planet Earth. Though Light lets him rant a bit anyway because, hey, better than the guy stewing in private.
But yeah, sibling snarkiness and in-jokes. Silliness. 'Oh remember that time when you-' quickly followed by 'WE SAID WE WERE NEVER SPEAKING OF THIS AGAIN AND HERE YOU ARE SPEAKING OF IT'. Occasional moments of Twins being Twins.
Also moments like:
Some Random Entity: So, who's older?
Dark: We're twins, it doesn't matter.
Light: Me.
Dark: BY ONE SECOND---Also, yeah, doesn't matter. Still twins.
Thoughts About OatD to Get Me Back In The Writing Groove
Misadventures with your local embodiment of darkness and night:
Orion and Dark having fun convos at night about everything and anything. Dark is ridiculously charmed by a bunch of the things Orion deals with day in and day out.
"You have to go where?! And do what?!"
Dark just hearing about all the things that happen during the day and while some of these he was aware of some of these he wasn't so he will just be O.O and wanting to hear more. Orion being a kid means he gets a somewhat skewed or incomplete explanation sometimes, but hey, that's what library books are for.
Occasional issues with the various history books.
"That didn't happen like that. That wasn't nearly so big of a thing. And that 'fringe' theory is entirely right. That actually happened." "Wait, how do you know?" "Kid I was THERE."
Dark is also not totally infallible as far as historical events. He could only be present for so much, and due to being on the fringes of things he might've missed a few of the finer details. Also, language maybe changing too much, too fast, meaning Dark's left scrambling to get his lexicons totally straight so he can keep up with what's happening.
Him speaking in Old English to Orion once on a dare. And Ancient Greek. He vaguely remembers some bits of Sumerian as well as a Much Older Language, but he doesn't remember the name of that one and maybe only has a few words.
Orion potentially getting a chance that most pre-history experts and paleontologists would dream of, talking with someone who actually remembers what life was like 5,000+ years back. Again, Dark's memory is not perfect, perhaps he has to own up to a mistake or a misremembering at least a few times, but it's definitely an interesting perspective for an already smart kid who clearly shows an aptitude for picking up information.
Dark also being good for Orion, in a way, even if that part of his life has to stay separate from all the rest. Orion being smart enough to consider the possibilities, he likely gets the sense that he should stay quiet about getting regularly visited by Earth's literal, be all end all embodiment of darkness and night, but he is regularly bolstered by having a friend like Dark, who while being in his corner is not afraid to call him out when he does something stupid.
This coming in handy given that Orion, being a child is still trying to figure out his place in the world. This occasionally means experimenting with different experiences or trying out things that could potentially not end well.
A facet of this is him trying to leave behind the Cryin' Orion nickname by doing things like broadening his comfort zone by watching spooky movies, or doing things he wouldn't think of doing otherwise because he wants to be braver. As it would feel disrespectful towards Dark, and everything that happened during their adventure, to not take those chances and try to become more well-rounded. It's not entirely well thought out, Orion is a kid after all, but it opens things up to character growth for Orion, Dark potentially too as he might end up being present for these, or getting Orion out of some jam as a result.
One of these might involve watching a scary movie late at night. Dark showing up and it turns out, neither of them like spooky movies. Another instance is a high school party that quickly gets out of hand and Orion is forced to call out to Dark in order to avoid getting in serious trouble.
Another fun thing that happens over time, as a way to better keep up with Orion, Dark starts pushing the limits of his own powers and what's possible within his and Light's rhythm. Long-range shadow-jumping? An actual sort of summoning? Dark's hardly a malicious entity, but he is still an entity. Rule of threes?
Orion's perspective changing over time as he grows up. I don't envision him wanting to stop being friends with Dark, especially with the memory of what happened, but I do see Dark being worried that the kid's gonna get too caught up with his life and need to leave Dark behind. Which would hurt, but I could see Dark also maybe thinking it's a good idea if Orion's seeming particularly rundown or busy. Or, y'know, there could be other factors at play, we still have the larger world and rules to think about.
What happened to Dark potentially getting Orion interested in psychology, particularly how to deal with things like depression and anxiety when they start seeming a little too familiar. He also uses this with later instances of their friendship when Orion is growing and changing and Dark is, well, mostly the same as he is as far as cognition (not growing or maturing, there is a potential for change though!).
Dark maybe doing more trips, but it has to be on the downlow seeing as I think Dark definitely got an earful from the others about taking a child on a joyride. Orion does make the occasional good argument that ends in a trip though! One instance being following finals in college and he's just get me out of here, get me the HELL out of here Dark if Dreams wants to be mad by GOD she can be mad at me.
Does Orion travel outside of that? Can think it'd be interesting for him to meet with Dark in places outside of home. Will have to think on this a little more.
Orion being the catalyst for Dark to take genuine pride in himself and his job (I might not be liked by everyone, but you're plenty fine), Dark being the one that enables Orion to be brave and stand up for himself.
Dark occasionally popping in with advice on things, though some of this might be the type of thing where a person gets too stuck in things and can't see alternatives, and someone else just coming in goes 'but wait, why don't you just do x?'. Dark accidentally on purpose being the voice of reason (though admittedly he is getting some lessons in advice-giving and being a supportive presence on the side, more on that in another post).
Dark being a guy that thrives off of physical affection, and Orion growing more comfortable and safe in expressing it. Though I feel like his primary modus operandi as far as helping friends is acts of service and verbal encouragement.
The pair embodying a common trope in the Friendly Globetrotter verse, that being when a human meets with a nonhuman and the pair grow and learn and change for the better as a result. It's a very wonderful and special thing, okay?
