#I’m also dropping a few bombs here about Damien’s magic and intentions but 😙

[consul-valerius]

A breakdown on the magic Damien got from his Mama (and also how it differs)

Overall disclaimer for general Arcana spoilers and also casual discussions of sex ahead. For reference, most of this will be discussing Donna’s abilities post-game events! Also for a refresher on Donna’s magic, see this post here ✨

In general, due to Donna being The Fool, Damien’s magic abilities were always extremely strong from a very young age. A lot of his training with Asra involved repressing and controlling that raw power; without it, Damien can easily hurt himself and others without meaning to. However, Asra only taught Damien for a short amount of time; once Valdemar took over, he was taught the exact opposite: his powers needed to be increased and honed, and they proved to Damien he can do some…. Earth shattering things if he wanted to.This lends itself to Damien constantly being conflicted with his own powers, and it results in his powers being extremely unstable.

As an adult, it’s back to Donna primarily to begin retraining Damien certain skills, which adds a blend of both Asra and Valdemar’s ideals. They don’t want him to be fearful of his power, but they do want him to be realistic about it and to be self reflective of it.

Below cut is more in-depth about how their magic is pretty similar but the “execution” (for lack of a better word) is pretty different between Donna and Damien!

Divination and Scrying

Both Donna and Damien communicate with the dead very frequently. Donna was always able to from a young age, but they were always able to tell what was real and what wasn’t quite so real. Damien, however, always struggled as a child telling the difference as the line between the physical world and the not-so-physical world is VERY thin for him, and so they interact with him differently.

That means that while most spirits are harmless to Donna, they can physically affect Damien in numerous ways. Because of this, he never does seances (or he says he doesn’t do them), as it leaves him very vulnerable. As a child, Damien was also prone to pretty much getting possessed often and actually expelled ectoplasm frequently (can you tell I used to be into Danny Phantom?) Donna has been overshadowed before, but never to the extent that Damien has and never did it leave a physical imprint on them. It still really frightens them as a family, and it’s an unspoken fear they all share.

They both scry via mirrors. Damien has a very distinct and enhanced means of scrying in which he can make his visions physical and place them into reality. He has also been able to see the “other routes” via scrying too, which um….. has definitely affected his perception of the M6 (he’s seen all their reversed endings 😬). Donna could in theory do this too, they just never felt inclined to do so or were even aware of it. Damien only knows this because of Valdemar.

Tarot and The Arcana

Donna has a much better relationship with the Arcana post the game events; they’re much more at peace with them and can hear their voices clearer than ever before.

Damien is the exact reverse of this; he is only able to communicate with The Devil, his patron, and even that is very dull due to Donna encasing him. Damien understands the cards and their meanings, so he can give readings if it is asked of him, but his readings definitely are lack luster compared to Donna’s.

Damien is extremely conflicted over Donna’s childhood trauma related to The Devil, and it’s something he hasn’t quite worked out fully himself. What the other courtiers (and The Devil lol) remind Damien of constantly was that it was Donna’s parents who made the choice to sacrifice them to him; he never explicitly asked them to do that, they were working on the assumption it would be the “ultimate deal.”

Illusions and Conjuring

I brushed on this briefly in Donna’s OG magic post, but they and Damien both use illusions pretty frequently and mostly for entertainment and cosmetic purposes.

Damien often disguises himself to catch people talking poorly about him or his family often; it also makes it easier for him to enjoy his night life if he isn’t “Damien the Court Magician” but just “Some Guy.” He also employs these tricks the most @ the palace because it requires the least amount of energy and gets the biggest reaction from unknowing diplomats and nobles.

Both Donna and Damien shape-shift their genitals based on their own moods and also based on what their partners are into. Damien more often just goes with a good ol’ fashion dick and messes around with size a lot, while Donna does many fantasy shlongs (their favorite is their tentacle dick, but the sky’s the limit with them lmao)

Other physical magic/skills

The biggest distinction between Donna and Damien’s magic is the use of chains: Donna can break The Devil’s chains; Damien can create them. (More on this in a bit)

Both use fire when they are angry; Donna’s magic can appear as sparks when they are in a confrontation, but Damien’s appears as actual flames.

Both are able to levitate, but Donna doesn’t do this often as they see it as flexing far too much essentially lmao Damien, however, loves it, and he also rides a broomstick!

They are both very skilled palm readers, and they both use it to pick up chicks (gnc) lmao

Donna and Damien’s moodring hair both function more of less the same. Blue = sadness/discomfort (says a lot that Donna’s hair default is blue lol); Blonde = happiness/comfort; Green = sickness/revulsion; Purple = major use magic; Red = passion (be it anger or lust); Pink = love/embarrassment. The main difference is when they are both EXTREMELY upset/under distress; Donna’s hair goes completely black (it went black, for example, when Valerius’s coup happened); Damien’s hair goes completely white, devoid of color (it happens when [redacted].)

Damien has the ability to hypnotize people; this is darker magic, so Donna doesn’t fuck with it. (Sam is able to do this too, but now he only does it on willing people for kink purposes.) Damien is also very good at necromancy and learned it all from Valdemar— Donna is not able to do that at all. In general, Damien knows more and uses more dark and blood magic; Donna is still too traumatized from it due to their parents.

Love Magic

Donna uses love magic inadvertently more often than purposely. They feel using love magic feels a bit like taking advantage of someone/manipulating the person. However, there’s just a certain inexplicable charm to the simplest of their movements; casually flipping their hair or holding eye contact or the brush of finger tips or a quick kiss can leave a bigger impact on someone they’re interested in than is “natural.”

Donna also embeds a lot of candles with love magic too, and they exclusively use these on their partners/bed mates. They feel it can add a new level of intimacy and help break walls down with the people they feel truly want it from them. Also, if they roll you a blunt, you may just fall in love with them for a variety of reasons LOL

Damien is pretty similar in that there’s a magical charm to a lot of his actions. However, he is FULLY aware of this and 100% consciously uses it to get what he wants. Damien has no issue using love magic to manipulate others and get them caught up in him to nearly toxic degrees. He wants people dependent on him, and he’ll do what he needs to to get people at that level with him (Think: The Love Witch lol)

Damien’s chains are also directly tied to his sensuality/love magic; he isn’t making deals, but he is making bonds. Many of his partners are literally bond to him due to their attraction to him, and he can use that against them if he feels inclined to (as in he can control them). Makes ya think why he has so many sexual partners, especially noblemen, hmm? :^3

Damien also uses physical items too to enchant people, not just with candles, but with food, sachets, charms, lotions, etc.

Physical effects on their bodies due to magic:

Both Damien and Donna get easily fatigued by over extending their magic. It’s very easy for either of them to over do it, which is why Donna meditates so much and also smokes so much weed 😎 but seriously, they need to be grounded or else they run the risk of seriously fucking themself up. This is the main lesson they try to teach Damien.

They both suffer from very bad migraines, especially due to divination, and they also have some acute chronic pain (mainly in their back and legs.)

Damien also has pretty bad nausea and vomiting. He also disassociates quite often and often can go non-verbal depending on how severe his visions are.

Donna also suffers pretty bad lapses in memory and can get some pretty severe brain fog if they’re over doing it. They also can get sick very easily, but this is due more to their death than to their magic. They also can get extremely tired very quickly due to their weak heart 😬