#darkest dungeon theory

[cyber-garden]

Let me know what you guys think.

[coffee-in-veins]

RRR trivia tuesday is back! 

Before the big DD-month related pause, HungryHannya asked the following:

What’s the hierarchy system of the CC enemies? Can the infected adventurers be affected by it, like can the Countess order an infected hero around?

And of course, CC is a big part of the worldbuilding, so thank you for this ask!

if anyone's interested, feel free to check it out!

and if you need pf invites, just let me know :}

[flhoarder]

what if Chris Bourassa took out crusaders because he saw Reymas ship sailing and got jealous of Reynauld

[quantum-temporal-anomaly]

1am darkest dungeon rambling (DD1 and DD2 spoilers)

headcanon that the heart of darkness is actually either the ancestor's, the heir's or humanities confession boss

aside from the fact that the other confession bosses in DD2 are body parts (brain, lungs, hands, eyes, stomach, and the whole(body of work))

---- note that technically confession one isnt the brain and actually the chains... functionally its the brain.

the confessions are also tied to some kind of revelation or lesson

what if the heart of darkness is tied to the revelation of seeing the work for what it """truly""" is the same way the confession bosses are tied to their revelations

in this theory this is why the ancestor offs himself before the game starts. he was the final sacrifice for the iron crown ritual. i think he would still have an unperfected version of the ritual even by the time of his death. i feel like the ancestor is less of a scholar than the protege, and way far less mad as him.

so what did the ancestor's ritual accomplish? (im assuming his goal was also to be chosen by the iron crown) maybe it just gave the result of him being a funny ghost man, maybe it did nothing

or maybe

it bonded him with the heart of darkness in a more significant way than all the other people bonded with the heart

heck this could have been his end game. instead of bonding with the iron crown, he wanted to join the thing he saw in his youth in the court yard. which could be why his ritual looks different from the protege's.

maybe it was to trigger a timeloop like the similar time loop of the protege's bosses.

i say the ancestor bonded with the heart of darkness in a more unique way than everyone else because he seems to have kept some kind of hold on his self

even after being one with the heart he still can talk and recollect on his life and the lore of the land, but it seems people like the cultists are in some kind of imperfect bonding with the heart by the way they dont really retain any kind of human appearance (at least compared to the ancestor)

the ancestor DOES become fleshy, so for all we know this isnt even the true ancestor(bc he died long ago) and the heart is just using his image and memories as some kind of flesh puppet (heck the ancestor lore could all be a lie by the heart to strike an emotion connection with the heir so the heir can see the whole quest through

killing the heart of darkness means you have completed your confession

you see things for how it is

the whole futility of humanity, leading you to end it all

only for another person(yea yea technically it is the same heir but its functionally a fresh person) to begin their own journey to discover the same revelation you did

[thesugarhole]

i like this little bark because while its obviously referencing the estate from dd1 (this guy used to take care of it in your and the ancestors absence) it can still be interpreted in different ways like, for example, 1. fractured human psyche (dd2 is in an alternative timeline) or he's thinking of the past and what he left behind (dd2 is a direct sequel)

[gabersupermurder]

Do any of you guys have a theory that isn't even BAD? But you hate and any mentions of it with a burning passion?

For example for me I hated the "Mike is The Chapter 3 boss" to the point where I would refer to them exclusively as "The TV fuck" and I'm a lot happier than I should be it was canonically disproven by the Spamton Sweepstakes

[blackbackedjackal]

Hey, I'm sorry Dog coming back brought out old feelings again (that surprised me too).

I'm kinda baffled about the June and June ripoff thing, and you mentioned in a recent post that Blud admitted to ripping her design intentionally (or I misunderstood this part, not sure). Do you mind elaborating more about that whole situation?

I figured she was planning to come back since she deleted her posts about the situation recently. If she's going to come back she AT MINIMUM needs to apologize to the people she's hurt. But she'll likely just block anyone who tells her the truth of the situation.

So Lacey, bootleg June, was a character Ependa made as a self-insert to make art of with Phoebe, DogBlud's """"trans"""" self-insert OC (that's a whole other can of worms I don't even wanna touch rn).

But basically, and this is my theory knowing the context of the situation, Dog was "interested" in me and June because she equates OCs to personas/fursonas. She assumed I WAS June because that's how she views OCs. I was dating a girl at the time so I was "off-limits" as she would put it, so she convinced Ependa to change Lacey to look like June since they're dating.

As she so eloquently puts it, she "files off the barcodes" of characters and then makes them her own. She already did this with Phoebe as she's just the Grave Robber, Audrey, from Darkest Dungeon as a catgirl (no I'm not kidding). I think because June was getting more known around the werewolf community, she wanted to use her as a stepping stone to gain more popularity. She's obsessed with being known/popular within the community and if she can't convince someone to fall in line with her, she steals from them or tries to choke them out.

She was called out about it by several people after the initial drawing was made and I approached her privately about changing the design. I would have much preferred them to go back to the old design because the way that Lacey is written she's the stereotypical poc guard dog character who protects her uwu precious snowflake Phoebe. We discussed this at length multiple times during the development of the studio and she deflected it every time. I'll have to pull up the screenshots of what had me 100% fed up with her bullshit, but yeah, she's literally just trying to fuck my OC in a roundabout way while also making her a ciswoman because Dog is deeply transphobic.

She always said that the werewolf community is a "small pond" and she obviously was aware of June and June's design prior to Lacey being changed. She tried to play it off like she "didn't notice" as if she hadn't drawn June before or like we hadn't been sharing art with each other for a year prior. Nasty ass.

[pianokantzart]

for the ask prompt: ❤️‍🩹🤒

❤️‍🩹 Reunited after a long time apart 🤒 Needing to be looked after

Content warning: Injury and implied torture

Mario had a terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach long before he came home to find the house trashed and his brother missing, a halfway completed dinner strewn about the dented floor and smashed furniture. Naturally, Bowser was the first suspect, even if Luigi’s disappearance lacked the Koopa King’s usual showmanship. Whenever he stole something or someone he always made a scene, gloating and threatening, making his angle clear. This was the argument Bowser made when Mario fought his way into the heart of The Darklands, demanding his brother back. The King even allowed the plumber to search his dungeon unhindered, so long as he didn’t do any more damage or hurt any more minions. Sure enough, the search came up empty. Not even a scrap of green fabric could be found. A call to Elvin Gadd confirmed that King Boo was still in captivity. He had no guess as to what had happened, or who else Luigi might have made enemies with, but promised to investigate the matter himself. Princess Peach sent out a message to every ally she knew, asking for information regarding Mario’s missing brother. Sarasaland sent out a call of their own, as well as a few search parties, but no matter what reward was promised, or what powerful figures offered their services or support, all leads ultimately went nowhere.

As days passed into months, Mario stopped coming home, even after the horrible mess created amidst his brother’s abduction had been investigated and cleaned up. He stayed as close to The Mushroom Kingdom as necessary to keep Peach protected, but was often found in surrounding territories, peeking into hidden corners and asking questions. He was never inside when night fell, and instead laid sprawled out in open fields searching the skies for shooting stars. He knew the power of wishes. He intended to make as many as possible.

___

After seven months, Luigi was finally found. Captain Toad and his Treasure Trackers discovered an ancient underground temple hidden deep within mountains of jagged black stone, just outside of The Darklands. Before they realized the location was a secret meeting place for magikoopa rather than a cache of treasure, they found a familiar man in rotted green clothes lying unresponsive in a cell, shackled and barely breathing. At once they went for help while trying with all their might to carry his withered body back to The Mushroom Kingdom.

___

Once Luigi was safely delivered to the palace into the best care Princess Peach could offer, forces from The Mushroom Kingdom and Sarasaland alike raided the temple uncovered by Captain Toad. The magikoopa responsible never appeared, likely having heard word that their secret was unearthed, and wisely choosing not to risk their necks by returning to the scene. Bowser immediately went on the defensive, insisting that what happened to Luigi was outside of his jurisdiction. Mario’s brother had been found near The Darklands, not in The Darklands, and though his closest advisor was a magikoopa himself there were many others besides Kamek, who conducted their own business and research far outside of Bowser’s knowledge or control.

Books and journals were gathered and brought to The Mushroom Kingdom for further study. Their pages revealed that Luigi had been the subject of a long, grueling series of experiments, dealing with the darkest and most forbidden forms of magic. The magikoopa were trying to turn him into something– what it was was anyone’s guess, but a theory scrawled between the lines inferred that Luigi had some innate ability to attract dark forces– an ability that they wished to harness. What a joke. The mere idea would’ve been funny, had the results not been so horrible.

____

“Hey. Breathe, bro. They’re trying to help.” Mario spoke gently as he could, struggling to keep his brother still as the nurse toads changed his bandages. It was difficult for Mario to keep hold of his brother’s hand, only because he feared gripping it too hard would break it. Every bone could be counted through his skin, turned an ugly corpse-like color by the combined efforts of magic and complete seclusion from sunlight. What remaining hair hadn’t fallen out in clumps had turned from dark brown to an ugly grey. The blisters of ingrown restraints and festering incisions shone bright red in the first stages of healing as the bandages were pulled away and replaced with fresh ones, all the while Luigi struggled, the hand that Mario didn’t hold swatting away the intruding toads with a strength only made possible by panic.

It would’ve been easier if Luigi could only see. His sight should’ve returned by now. It was said that his vision would be perfectly restored within three days. The medical examiners couldn’t find any direct physical damage done to his eyes. “Then again, the true extent of the harm will only be understood in time,” a doctor explained somberly, “physical injury combined with magic of this sort could harbor unexpected consequences. All we can do is wait, see what heals, and treat whatever we can as it comes up.”

“Luigi! Calm down!” Mario took both of Luigi’s wrists, and placed his palms against his own face. The initial response was aggressive, blistered fingers with missing nails wrenching to fight back until at long last Luigi recognized the feel of the mustache and soft round cheeks. He shivered, but stopped fighting, tears filling his clouded eyes as the nurses took advantage of the moment of calm to quickly finish their work. “I’m here bro, I’m here.” Mario continued in a broken whisper, struggling not to cry himself. “Nothing’s gonna hurt you while I’m here, got it?”

Luigi didn’t speak. He hadn’t spoken since he had been found, but he nodded. For now, that was more than enough.

____

Mario wasn’t sure how long it would be until Luigi was deemed well enough to go home. Given what had happened the last time he was home, Mario was unsure if taking him back at all was a good idea.

But that was a problem for another time, and whatever concerns arose there was no doubt the princess would help however she could. When Luigi’s eyes finally developed to the point he could see large splotches of shape and color, Peach had his bed clothes changed from pink to green, and arranged to have some of the more opulent decorations exchanged for more simple, homey wooden furnishing. Every morning, the princess found time to personally bring Luigi’s breakfast, and every morning she asked him questions about his health and wellness, not minding at all if she was met with nothing but silence. She would later take Mario aside and ask similar questions, seeing to it both brothers' needs desires were met to the best of her abilities. That afternoon, the toads delivered boxes filled with books and trinkets that had been gathered from their home. After thanking them, Mario sat on a recliner next to Luigi’s bed and read aloud a hardcover fantasy he knew to be one of his brother’s favorites. Halfway through chapter four, he heard a raspy voice call up from the mound of jade-green cushions. “Hey, Mario?” Mario paused his reading, and bookmarked the page with his thumb. “Yeah, Luigi?” “Am I gonna be okay?” This was the fourth time he asked that today. When Luigi had finally regained his voice it was full of strange rhythmic repetition… statements and questions asked over and over and over again with little regard to the answers he received. Mario didn’t care. He was talking, that was something. He smiled, and answered the way he always did: “Heh, you’re doing better already.”

And that was the truth. The color was coming back to his face, his mustache was fuller, and his body had regained some of its old muscle and fat. Already Luigi was able to stand unattended, though he needed a cane in order to shuffle to his bedroom window and look out.

Luigi nodded and fell silent again. Mario opened the book back up and continued to read, not stopping until he heard a gentle snore of his brother gently drifting off to sleep.

[noctusfury]

Who Ruled the Berserker Tribe in Dagur's Absence During His Subsequent Imprisonment and Outlawry? (DreamWorks Dragons)

Hello, everyone! Welcome to another HTTYD article! Once again, we'll dive into another Berserker article/theory/question.

So I'm not sure about you guys, but I've always wondered who was managing the Berserker Tribe while Dagur was enjoying a 3-year vacation in Alvin's dungeons. Granted, different production companies made Defenders of Berk and Race to the Edge. And since the Dreamworks Dragons series usually doesn't get into details of external family and stuff, we can only speculate.

But hey, that's why you guys are here, right? lol 😂😉

But anyway, while Dagur was sipping the ale of losers in Alvin's dungeons, just who was leading the Berserkers? We know Captain Vorg was in prison with Dagur and the others. One possibility is Savage, since he was able to escape; and this could explain why he was able to rally a coup d’état against Dagur when he turned traitor and became soft for dragons and Berk in particular. However, with Savage the way he is, I doubt it. Also, we see that after Dagur's absorption into Viggo's camp, and then eventual desertion, Savage wasn't anywhere to be found.

Eventually, we see him in "Darkest Night" when he captures Hiccup, now as a mercenary/bounty hunter/still-Outcast. So it's likely that's what he was doing before he broke Dagur free. Of course, we don't know why or how he ended up returning to Outcast Island to free Dagur. Due to the unfortunately added "Traitor Johann Arc" (I can't STAND that arc!), it could be assumed that Johann had led him there or even hired him and a team to free Dagur. After all, I highly doubt that Savage would've bothered doing it by himself if he hadn't tried to free Dagur sooner. Three years is a long time, you know.

Again, though, we can't know for certain. It could be that Savage had tried several times but couldn't get past the defenses; or maybe he wanted to wait for the right moment when the Pro-Alvin Outcasts had their guards down; or maybe there's another reason we're not aware of.

And we know that, with Osvald dead, Heather living peacefully with her adopted Tribe, Great Uncle Haggard long dead as well (probably), there wasn't any other family member that we know of who could've taken over the Berserker Tribe after Dagur's defeat. That we KNOW OF, at any rate.

It's also possible that some subordinates were ruling as de facto, temporary substitutes until either Dagur came back or somebody else took over. But that's also very unlikely.

However, there's an important clue that Seasons 1 and 2 give us: After Dagur is freed, he doesn't return to Berserk! Why? Besides the fact that he's deranged, he should know better than to fight the Dragon Riders without the support of his Tribe, right? What's interesting to note is that his ships and men are significantly less than during his war against Berk 3 years before! Also, he had to "P-A-Y" for new ships after being released, since he only had the one ship that he stole after escaping imprisonment.

Again, why? Why would he do that? Was he that desperate for revenge against Hiccup? I mean, yes, but there's more to it than just that. Why would he not return to his Tribe and reclaim his authority and rally his fleets and warriors to attack Berk again? Why did he have to buy ships, only have his men that escaped with him and some outcasts/mercenaries, and had to turn to the Dragon Hunter power in order to defeat Hiccup? Did he realize he couldn't win by himself or by his Tribe's strength? No, because Dagur is stubborn and is a Berserker supremacist.

Don't forget this important detail: Dagur is an OUTLAW. A CRIMINAL. A WANTED MAN. As such, several Tribes will want his head and won't stop until they do. Even if he was able to return to his Tribe, they won't have the strength. As such, when he couldn't defeat Hiccup by himself, he turned to the Dragon Hunters for sanctuary and to help him defeat Hiccup and the Riders.

Also don't forget that Dagur is a LOSER. He was DEFEATED. In Viking society, no matter if you're the leader, if you are known to lose a lot of battles, no one's gonna want to follow you. Vikings want to follow leaders who are generous, charismatic, ambitious, and, most of all, VICTORIOUS. Nobody wants to join a loser. Berserkers most of all. That's just not the done thing. It's not common sense. Remember that they lost to Berk over 50 years prior and had to have a non-aggression treaty with Berk for that long due to Osvald's passive stance and preference for peace. For Berserkers, there's no greater shame or weakness than losing battles or refusing to take part in them. Raiding, after all, is in a Viking's nature. Dagur was popular because he promised to bring back the Berserker traditions and to go back to raiding. He was aggressive and pro-war. And he had many victories. However, once he started losing to Berk repeatedly until his eventual complete defeat at the hands of the Berk-Loyalist Outcast Alliance, he lost his popularity and his support after that. Even if they ignored his outlaw status, just the fact that he had failed his people and had too many defeats under his belt was enough to justify not reinstating him as Chieftain.

But there's also one other important and possible clue: there's a possibility that someone who's plausibly a family member of the Berserker Royal Family has taken control of the Throne — like, say, a cousin or uncle or whoever. It makes sense since a Tribe without a legitimate leader wouldn't be very good. And a subordinate can't do as good a job as a proper leader would, usually.

Of course, you might wonder why would that supposed family member then relinquish his rule for Dagur to take over again? Good question! I haven't a clue either! That family member would have to be as agreeable as Osvald to let a deranged person like Dagur to take control again. Even if he is "reformed" or "enlightened", there's no way in helheim that I would've let him back into the fold. In fact, I would've killed them then and there. But blame that on Netflix scriptwriting. Realistically, Dagur reforming, when he is a deranged being, is impossible (unless he was an excellent actor and pretended to be deranged). And he was rather great as a villain, but then to just... "reform" him like this is just lame.

So in my headcanon, Dagur is still Dagur, and thus, if he had a family member ruling the Tribe in his stead, and since he's still an Outlaw and a Wanted Man, it stands to reason that he wouldn't be able to have the strength to survive let alone defeat the Dragon Riders, and couldn't return to his Tribe and resume being their leader; thus, Dagur had to turn to the aid of the Grimb(j)orn Tribe led by Viggo and Ryker, as seen in the first 2 seasons of RTTE.

A new leader, like said unknown relative, could've risen up to lead the Berserkers if Dagur had died in "Twinsanity", had Stoick gone through with his assassination plot as I detail in my article (here).

Another possible death scene was when Dagur lost the battle against Alvin, and after the war, Alvin ends up executing him with his head put on a spike in quite the treacherous fashion. 💀

Personally, I think it would've been cooler if, after Dagur's death, Heather traveled to Berserk Island to become its new ruler. "High Chieftess Heather" just rolls off the tongue, doesn't it? 😏😉😂

Hail Heather Iron-maiden, High Chieftess of the Berserker Tribe! O Hear Her Name and Tremble, Ugh, Ugh! Long may she reign! 🤣

What do you guys think? Is it a plausible theory?

Long Live the Night!

— Noctus Fury

[isagrimorie]

I have a theory that Agatha will end up saving her coven despite her intentions because to get her power -- she does have to team up.

Because Jen is right! The Lyrics are:

Gather sisters fire Water, earth and air Darkest hour, wake thy power Earthly and divine Burn and brew with coven true And glory shall be thine

And not, coven two -- maybe that's the reason for the delay in the door opening because Agatha screwed up the wording. But also as the Production Notes (Warning: Link has Series Spoilers).

Basically, in D&D terms the Witches' Road is a Dungeon crawl to get to the end for all the rewards.

"And the key to surviving the Witches' Road is that the coven needs to be like a Seal Team 6 of witches," explains executive producer Winderbaum. "They need to be really in lockstep with each other, and almost instinctually know what every other witch is going to do before they do it. Because the clock is ticking, Agatha assembles a group of witches in proximity to her and pulls them all into the road. They're all strangers. They don't work well together, and they argue the whole time. But somehow, they must survive. And we'll see if they do."

Agatha has to pull it together too if she wants her prize. She has to get into her very stubborn, anti-social, grumpy head.

Agatha is really closer to Root than anyone else in recent media I've consumed. She isn't here for redemption. She's not here for that. But just like in the Firefly movie, Serenity -- Agatha doesn't need to care for everybody.

She just needs to care for somebody. Or a few somebodies.

A FMA B!Greed ending is my guess for the finale of Agatha All Along. (Not the part where Greed sacrificed himself).

[birdyverdie]

Hiya! Just wanted to drop by and say hi and thanks for reaching out and saying hi on my silly little post about talking about DD :,)

I love seeing all the Paracelsus enjoyers, she is the best shrimp posture doctor. <3 Do you have any personal favourite/niche headcanons for her?

Also good luck with your exams! Are you studying medicine/biomedicine? (I did a few classes a few years ago, and kudos -- it's so much material, especially the anatomy classes.) Do you have a favourite class? :o

Hi hi! :D! I put the personal stuff under a read more because by GOD can I ramble </3

Of course! I always like saying hi to people I see in the Darkest Dungeon tag! I think your art is SO lovely too!! I adore the way you draw Dismas and Reynauld!! They're so shapely in your style <3 pair that up with a Bloodborne crossover?? you're spoiling us fans fr!!

I'm a Para enjoyer first and foremost because I relate with the thirst for random medical knowledge that Para has, and also her bird motif!! (She's bird-like in my heart and soul. And I'm a bird enjoyer <3)

I have a few stray headcanons for her, mostly everything is about her scope of practice because that's where my thought process tends to stray when I study. We know that she's named after the father of toxicology, so most of her study goes into figuring out external agents effects on the human body. Though, I like to imagine her to have side interest in hematology as well! Mixing blood with a bunch of other agents seems like something she would be interested at least. (Perhaps that's how she finds out about blood types...*cough* I've been thinking about writing a Paracelsus fic about this for literal months *cough*)

This is a personal thing of mine, but I refuse to believe that Paracelsus actually believed in Humorism. I mean, the first iteration of it was basically a glorified personality test, nay horoscopes! (Yes I know that knowledge was limited back then, but alas, I'd like to imagine her scope is more experimental than observational.)

So instead I headcanon her to--if not the progenitor of Germ Theory--then at least a constituent of it. I think she and Louis Pasteur would have really fun conversations about it.

Another stray headcanon I have is that she receives the equivalent of a newspaper subscription from historical medical practitioners/researchers. So her daily newspaper could be about Edward Jenner's vaccine studies or Ferdinand Cohn's endospores. I don't care that the two of them existed 100 years apart, if we can have a 7th century BC Roman Vestal and a 14th century Plague Doctor in the same room then I can have Edward Jenner and Andrew Wakefield ("vaccines cause autism" guy) duking it out in scientific papers that Paracelsus reads like a WWE match.

Thank you for the luck fellow science enjoyer! Are you also studying medicine :0!?

Thankfully, my exam period is finally over, so I'm taking it easy with recuperating with the post-exam burnout :P And I'm a health major with a nutrition minor, but with a program path towards perfusion! My far-future end goal is to become a surgeon, but due to life circumstances I'll have to settle for perfusion for the time being :P Which I don't mind at all! I think it's such an interesting field, and a hidden hero for many cardiac surgeries! I also really like learning about the circulatory system so I think it's a little perfect ehehe :D!

My favorite class is currently Anatomy & Physiology, I have a really good professor this year, but my god It's actually a lot more complex than I thought it was gonna be while walking in. I genuinely thought it was mostly memorizing like...the bones of the skeleton and perhaps the muscles or something like that. Nahhh it takes a lot of micrology concepts too ;; Which I don't mind! But some days I'm staring at some topics like the neuromuscular junction and wishing I never knew what acetylcholine was. Though some days I do wish to return to Medical Terminology, that class was what I imagined: simple.

Thank you so much for this ask!! It was lovely talking about it!!

[coffee-in-veins]

Hi hi! I've only played the Crimson Court dlc once so I've never wondered about this before, but I was reading a fic that mentioned how the Fanatic has a cure for the curse. Do you have a headcanon on how he got that? I can't recall whether is it a definitive cure or if just temporary, because if it's a definitive cure that's very impressive!

hello hello! hope you're fine and thank you for the ask :}

now i feel like Crimson Curse expert all of the sudden but i'm honoured you're asking me about it ^^

regarding your question - it is true! one of the ways to cure your Crimson Cursed heroes is, in fact, hunting the Fanatic, as defeating him drops a consumable item labelled simply as "The Cure":

Tooltip reads:

Its origin and ingredients unknown, but this tincture will quell the Curse. (sic)

and it's a consumable that, if used on a cursed hero, permanently cures them from Crimson Curse, regardless of its stage. the cured hero can be re-infected but this is the only way to cure the Curse before endgame (where you have the Sanatorium being able to do it after defeating the final boss of the Court) and without defeating any of the CC bosses (the event "A Veil Lifted" which cures all of the infected).

this item also can somewhat explain how Fanatic is keeping himself Curse-free while fighting the infected, but from the looks of it, it comes at the expense of everyone around him. which is doubly funny (and a lot more insidious in-universe) if you consider that the only place you cannot get an encounter with him is... well, the Courtyard itself. the very "den of the plague" he is trying to purge. ironic, isn't it?

i understand the game limitations of why it is coded like that. the in-universe lore implications (or rather theories) of those limitations, however... well. let's look closer, shall we?

some people speculate that Fanatic cannot enter the Courtyard because he doesn't have "the invitation" that you get if you kill the Gatekeeper mob. this would indicate that he respects the authority of Bloodsuckers over the Court, which is... weird, for a zealous fanatic. why would having no invitation stop him? he could just get in and do his job. I can understand why the Heir(ess) would try to play "nice" with a den of Bloodsuckers just near their town: if you won't play by Bloodsuckers' rules, Bloodsuckers won't play by their rules either, and Hamlet, in canon, is in no shape to withstand an onslaught of pissed mosquitoes. the town is a sitting duck, and in no position to anger the neighbour substantially. especially considering already present threats from other areas (canon swine attacks on villages, brigand raids, as well as Shrieker raids from the Weald and attacks on ships from the Cove). Hamlet cannot afford to piss the Court off all at once.

unlike a single, highly skilled man who (supposedly) has no base and just hunts those things everywhere they happen to be. wouldn't he be able to get away with this? he should be, right. he has the equipment. if you win, you get bloodsucker-fighting trinkets.

however, I have a much more prosaic and dark headcanon: he's scared to go there. Fanatic knows how risky it is, he knows that he’ll get killed if he steps into the Courtyard. so he simply... doesn’t. he doesn’t go and actually try and fix the problem, he’s “treating” the symptoms.

and by “treating” I mean stalking infected humans.

who are weaker than “true” Bloodsuckers. who are confused, maybe ill from extreme body transformations, probably scared of themselves, of their changes and sudden urges and can barely control themselves. villagers and travellers who would probably trust “a holy man” who promised them salvation from this odd ailment.

and all those people... end up on pyres.

think about it. when you meet him in combat, there are always - and I do mean always - people burning in the background. hell, even your own heroes end up on the pyre during the fight. we also know that surrounding areas, too, have suffered from Bloodsuckers. the initial quest is about a man who died from mosquito bites after he found a way into the Courtyard - which, again, dismantles (at least, for me) the idea of Fanatic being unable to get into the Courtyard if he really wanted to.

the town event after the Court is revealed reads:

Intolerable! Clouds of mosquitoes and other, less identifiable pests continue to descend upon the Hamlet with maddening persistence! Illness and irritation abound (sic)

so mosquitos canonically pester people around. mosquitos which, canonically, can transfer this Curse. it's not just your heroes who succumb to the Curse. it's just that as an Heir(ess) you, personally, are only bothered with your heroes, as their well-being and symptoms cause you to haemorrhage money and you can't simply dismiss them. therefore, Fanatic always have an abundant amount of bodies to shove into the flames.

seriously, with the number of pyres he needs, the dude has to constantly chop wood every waking moment of every day that he's not out there hunting your parties.

and that got me thinking.

he always has wood. he always knows when your party which consists of infected leaves towns. he always has bodies burning.

I believe he's leading a cult.

there has to be someone who helps him. if you tried to play the game you know how much everything costs. food, equipment, items, tools - it all costs money. you can meet Fanatic everywhere, anytime, unless you're following a very specific boss route. so someone informs him of your movement. someone provides him with all he needs to sustain himself and his fires. and frankly, if surrounding villages do start succumbing to the Curse and the guy offers a solution, albeit a horrible one... well... it's Darkest Dungeon. we all know those guys would accept without thinking twice.

that's why you never see him deep in the Courtyard - he doesn't have to throw himself into real danger to feel accomplished, to stroke his self-righteousness and to be convinced that he's "helping". he has a lot of victims - that's true. but that is not helping with the root of the problem.

now, regarding why and how he has the Cure.

well, he is clearly shown to be the priest of the Light (considering his relics), or at least, he believes himself to be one. based on Vestals, Crusaders, and the altars you can find and purify in Ruins, the Light canonically can create miracles if you do it favours and believe hard enough. considering that the guy is called Fanatic, we can safely assume his belief levels are off the charts. and he has a lot of "martyrs". so... that may upset a lot of people, but I think the Cure (and the reason why you cannot get it made) is made out of those burned people. it's martyred ashes and holy water and a lot of self-assuredness. after all, holy water canonically harms cursed heroes (stress and blight if I recall correctly) if they are in a Bloodlust state. so it does something to their cursed bodies. just not enough.

if it's distilled and mixed some more, and purified by a person who sees himself as infallible... well. who knows. but the purity seals, the prayer beads and the overall Light symbolic on the Cure's bottle, mixed with previous awful things happening in DD universe (from Outsiders bonfire having Swine instead of a pig to all of the messed up occult rituals, all of the messed up practices of the Church of the Light, and Ancestor of all things...), it wouldn't surprise me to have this be the basis of the Cure. suffering. pure, distilled, holy (in the most horrible way of that word) human suffering.

wouldn't it be poetic too, in a way? horrible, sure, but... interesting? pooling the suffering of dozens so that the suffering of one could be lifted. the moral choice it presents.

I wish we knew better about the cure. I wish it provided this moral question. I wish heroes had some barks about using it. but alas. we can only speculate, as far as I'm aware. so, I'm speculating to my heart's content.

hope this theory was fun for you to read :}

[quantum-temporal-anomaly]

there is a very real chance someone could make a somewhat valid theory that Darkest Dungeon 2 takes place completely within the Protege's mind and its just like this

[the-punforgiven]

Y'know, knowing The Collector's coming back to Darkest Dungeon 2, I just had a weird thought, so like, insane theory inbound:

And The Collector's whole Thing is like, summoning severed heads to take on spectral bodies and fight for him, right? Typically a spectral reproduction of the deceased's old body

Now, in DD1, I feel like it's kinda hinted that Alhazred might have had his eldritch power directly connected to the Heart of Darkness, meaning he could be, presumably, capable of using the power of an eldritch entity against itself

And, when he channels this power, he uses a head (or, a skull) with a candle on it to do so

Now. I'm just saying

That's a head, with a candle on it.

Which is, y'know

Something we've seen before.

Plus we know Dismas has Rey's helmet in his posession canonically, and that the devs have hinted Rey to be like, kinda probably dead maybe?

So like, 👀, y'know?

Idk if this is anything but I do think the thought of some sorta haunted armor Reynauld would be really neat

[puppygirlmaki]

About Myself

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Has no clue how to work this site give me a break

------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hello,

My name is Mackenzie/Samantha (she/her),

Edit: I finally found a name I like and still go by Mackenzie, but Samantha is a more personal name to me so if we just met go with Mackenzie or Kenzie please.

I am Trans [MTF] and 24 years old.

This is my attempt at a bio post cause honestly I suck at starting conversations and connecting with people but like talking to them. I am often skittish in new situations that I know nothing about, I do try to learn everything I can though and sometimes I am very forgetful all the time. :3

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Things that interest me and I like talking about are:

Games (In general, developing games, game theory and cool mechanics)

Pets (grew up with cats and a dog, love them to death)

Horror (Grappling with what makes us human or how i can define myself within that subset if i even fit is always a nice mental workout)

Cooking! (I enjoy trying new recipes and new foods, as it also helps relieve stress and give me the short feeling of joy for creating something)

Coding (spent 6 fuckin years of my life with this bs may as well use it)

Computers in general (I built my own, her name is Samantha, I am not quite sold on linux yet but windows 11 fucking sucks ass and shouldn't exist)

Music (I enjoy singing [to myself that is], Maidcore, Whatever tf the cod zombies easter egg music has going on and just cool and moving pieces that invoke a specific feeling in me.)

Cyberpunk esc things (Mechs, futuristic guns, AI* [not the current slop that exists now], cybernetics and body modifications [MGSV is a huge influence here ironically]

Plushies (there are so many send help or more)

Any specific Hyperfixation i have at the moment {usually something grabs my interest and I will be sucked into it for a week or so}

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Bot accounts, Chasers DNI

Minors, DNI as well, This is a NSFW ish account and I try to go by the ideology of if i cant share a drink with you, I shouldn't be interacting with you in a non-professional manner.

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Games that i play/played include:

Minecraft, Cyberpunk 2077, MGSV, Warframe, Destiny 2, Phasmophobia, ROR2, PD3/PD2, Terraria, Division 2, BTD6, Borderlands 2 and 3, XCOM 2, Titanfall 2, Black ops 1, Black ops 3, Black ops: Cold war zombies, Barotrauma, Barony, Elden ring, Dark souls 3, Crypt of the necrodancer, every main series Pokemon game starting from gen 3, Darkest dungeon, Death Stranding, Deep rock Galactic, Deus ex (HR & MD ) Tales of Berseria, Doom eternal and 2016, Skyrim, Fallout 4, The forest, FTL, Guilty Gear: strive.

(this list is like half of the games i can remember, not ordered in how much i liked them or remember them, but mostly the ones i've played more than 50 hours in)

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Feel free to dm me to talk, or ask me something you'd like to know about me!

It may take a bit to respond but I do lurk in my free free time.