#imagining lewis has the power to just turn into a ghost form;; which he uses for villain stuff. think danny phantom

[zecoritheweirdone]

so i saw this old-ish post about an au centering around a villain lewis and a hero arthur,,, and i. may have gotten attached to it,, dkdndkdjs. so i decided to make some edits + doodles based on it!! i also really wanna make a lil oneshot about it as well,, but uh... whether or not i actually follow through on that, we'll see,, skdjsojdks.

edit: good news, gang,, i wrote the fic!!

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

What if Arthur was fixing something on the train and the depot agent who was supposed to be in the car with him stepped out real quick right before Vivi came in, so she thought *he* was her opponent and tried to battle him? She was really, really sorry afterward, because he had gotten really freaked out when she tossed out a pokemon to try and battle poor little Galahad. They became friends after she insisted on making it up to him, maybe by taking him to Lewis's restaurant? Yes, let him feed the zoruas!! That's so cute, him being like well now I gotta feed them, they're family. I don't think Ingo has like a full kitchen or anything, though I could see there maybe being a communal one in each of the clans and Beni has one in Jubilife, but he's still gotta make food. He probably has like pots and utensils and a way to make the snacks wardens apparently make for their nobles, at the very least, so I'm sure Lewis could figure out how to do something with that.

Oooh, I love the idea of Mystery getting frenzied and changing type because of it! They probably didn't do anything like that in the games because they thought it'd be too much to have bosses that are both new variants and gain a frenzy form the player can't get. But for Mystery, we could say that the reason he does but they don't is because he's an ultra beast, so power that strong didn't mesh well with him, as he's not native to this universe. Or maybe he's just a regular legendary not an ultra beast, but the original nobles were given a sort of divine tolerance to it that was passed down to subsequent generations.

Okay, so, if we go with Ingo disappearing in the middle of a work day, what could also have happened was that something broke and Ingo called Arthur to ask about it, but Arthur was being possessed by Giratina at the time and was kinda fading in and out, not really sure what was happening. Giratina/Volo was like this is great timing and used Arthur to tell Ingo to come see him in his office or wherever. Ingo goes and doesn't tell anyone where he's going or bring his pokemon, because why would he he's not leaving the station or doing anything potentially dangerous, and when he gets there Arthur is nearly unconscious, just barely aware enough for Giratina to tell when Ingo approaches him to check if he's okay, and completely passes out when giratina pulls more energy from him to open the rift under Ingo. When Arthur wakes up, he doesn't remember telling Ingo to come see him or Ingo arriving, but he does think he vaguely recalls Ingo calling him for some reason. Maybe he goes to call him back, but Ingo never picks up so he's like, okay guess he didn't after all and it was Arthur's imagination, until it turns out a little later that no one knows where Ingo is at all. I don't think Arthur is like, a suspect or anything, but chandelure can probably get a sense of giratina's ghost residue on Arthur and in his office, and so is weird about him for a while, which makes him nervous for a number of reasons.

My guess for what keeps giving him away, given what he looks like and does in the videos vs what zoroarks look like and can do, is that he tends to get wispy around the edges, especially his hair, like how the zoroarks have wisps coming off of their bodies and wispy manes. That and he's pretty open about using like, shadow ball and, when taking about Arthur, bitter malice. I thought I remembered reading on bulbapedia that the zoruas can make illusions of a person's worst fears and make them so scared it drives them insane or something, which I think is where that fanon that they can read minds comes from, because otherwise how would they know what shape to take. It's not there anymore though, so I could be wrong or misremembering things. But if he could, yes I think he would try to see if he could do something to help. Although I'm willing to bet Ingo's Alakazam has already tried that and failed.

Lmao Emmet would be so offended. They seriously think that he couldn't take *Arthur*, who is so visibly exhausted he looks ready to fall over or nod off at any given moment and only has a single, level 4 pokemon. Not to say that Arthur doesn't have some strength to him, he's a mechanic he kinda has to, but this is definitely not Arthur at his best and in any case no matter how strong he is he's no match for any of Emmet's pokemon, let alone all of them. If he did somehow manage to kill Emmet I'm pretty sure he wouldn't even get two steps before chandelure flash fried him with a full strength overheat, to say nothing of what the others might do.

I bet Emmet has to spend like half their trip just taking breaks to make sure Arthur eats the snacks he packed and drinks plenty of water, so he doesn't pass out. Arthur wants to go go go, and so does Emmet! But Emmet also wants his employee to not die, so he has to be a responsible adult and rein Arthur in. Both are chafing at the idea that this is wasting their time, but unfortunately Arthur can't be trusted not to work past him limits, which is dangerous! The upside is that all the extremely hostile pokemon around make Arthur very disinclined to wander off without him, so Emmet doesn't have to worry about him doing something stupid like sneaking off in the middle of the night. Arthur's insomnia is so bad though that Emmet is probably tempted to catch something that can learn hypnosis, just so Arthur can get some *sleep*.

Oh man, the distortion bubbles must freak Arthur the fuck out then, even just seeing them from the distance. But yeah, I can definitely see Arthur's trauma getting swapped to both distortions and giratina. Even if he doesn't quite know what giratina was doing or that it was giratina doing it, he was possessed by it long enough the first time that his body probably still remembers what the thing draining him felt like, even if his mind doesn't. If he ever got close to giratina again he might be able to tell that this is something that hurt him before, and even possibly that it's linked to the distortion world, if his connection to ghost vibes is strong enough to sense it.

arthur panics and gets his wires VERY crossed and just full force throws what he's holding at her which happens to be a whole ass wrench. it's fine tho bc she parries it flawlessly. and it DOES make for a great conversation starter. and yess!! ooh that's true about the wardens making offerings for their nobles, i forgot about that. if we've all agreed to collectively pretend that the ride pokemon are nobles then it would stand to reason that they also have somewhere to prepare offerings. (although... iirc iscan does have you make food for basculegion and he just does it like, outside his house. but still)

YESS!! idk how i feel about him being an ultra beast, bc those are like... beings from outside reality and idk if that matches him very well? i feel like a normal legendary/mythical makes more sense with the fact that he is a mythical being in canon. anyway though. yeah i get why it didn't work in canon but augh it would be so cool... maybe there would be some kind of mechanism where like, if you go into a space-time distortion you can forme change them? or there's an item you can collect from the distortions that works like the other forme change items do? OR you literally just use the griseous core on them.

ok yeah "arthur, while possessed, called ingo over to look at/deal with something, ingo didn't bother bringing his pokemon or anything bc it didn't ping as unusual at all, then he got rift-grabbed but since nobody really noted his going at the time and arthur has no memory of it happening, nobody really connects arthur with him disappearing at all" that's a good explanation i think. and re: chandelure hmmm what i was more thinking is if chandelure knows what happened it would probably be trying to just tell anyone about it, and if arthur's spirit sensitive then he'd probably be a primary target for the HEY HEY LISTEN, but chandelure actually sensing that he's been possessed and being unable to tell anyone that is also very fun.

ooh yeah, him sort of becoming wispy/looking like spirit flame around the edges would be a very fitting tell. that and the moves yeah lol his shadow does some Funny Stuff when he talks about arthur. and. man, yeah, now that i'm thinking about it i have no idea where the idea that zoroark can read memories comes from. why did we all just absorb and accept that as fanon?? is it an anime thing that unovan zoroark can also do?? did one person just make it up for the angst and then it got perpetuated throughout fanspace? is there some throwaway trivia line that i'm forgetting?? i feel like it predates daybreak which is the only time they're mentioned in the game to my knowledge, so what gives?

anyway. yeah lol. not that lewis wouldn't just hear that and go "NO, that's what he WANTS you to think, he's using deception and getting you to let your guard down-" but emmet's like. that requires a level of brain function that i don't think he currently has. and yeah if he was actually going around murdering people chandelure would have IMMOLATED him by now, i think it can probably tell if a person's done a murder

qhqkjhqjk yeah. i feel like they're sort of on opposite ends of the spectrum here where arthur's on a 24/7 rollercoaster and emmet's just like. temporarily suspended emotions.exe so he can be a Functional Adult and find ingo and not get killed by a stray garchomp. so he is very much the one herding arthur at this point lol. bad news if the universe does manage to separate them, though

yeah i mean. i feel like... if arthur punched a hole in spacetime to get to the past, he probably already knows about giratina and the distortions to some extent? bc otherwise how would he know to like. do that. he might not have figured it out until the second possession, but he must have some idea what he's doing at this point, right. BUT. yeah. that's not gonna be a fun time

[eagehaunting]

Mystery March 2021 day 8: Home

I used today as an excuse to write out a little something on how Lewis took possession of the mansion! I hope you guys enjoy!

Lewis wasn’t sure how long he had been in this mansion. If he could focus enough to estimate, probably a few days, if worse came to worse, probably months.

And yet, he still hadn’t cleaned... Lewis turns a corner and takes in the long, dusty corridor. The many rickety doors stared back at him mockingly. The rugs hissed as they crunch under his shoes. The peeling wall paper threatened him with every step that he took.

“Lewis, what are you doing?” Comes a voice to his left, shocking Lewis out of his exhausted stupor and bringing him to look at the wall- more appropriately, the portrait. The woman with fine purple curls- Faust- stares back at him pointedly. “Well?”

“I... I wanted to get out of my room,” he admits, before his eyes wander to the mildew forming beside the portraits golden frame. “But now I remember why I didn’t want to come out.”

“Oh, don’t be like that. I know it seems difficult now, but it’ll become easier. I promise.”

His frown deepens, and Lewis sighs miserably while leaning against the wall across from her. “I know.. I just don’t think I’m ready.”

“Why’s that?”

“I haven’t gotten a hand on my powers. Not yet, ” Lewis admits, chewing on his lip. Faust rolls her eyes, but props her elbows on her frame. Even though she couldn’t poke her head out far enough, Lewis understood the sentiment.

“Lewis, look at me.” He drags his gaze to meet hers. Faust’s eyebrows soften, and she heaves a gentle sigh and leans out a bit more, letting her curls fall out and touch the dirtied ground. “Being dead is tough, trust me, I know. Being in your shoes is also hard, and I can’t imagine how much it’s hurting you to deal with what happened.” The almost condescending tone- something Lewis knew he was imagining - made him flinch, averting his gaze to the painted tree in Faust’s background. He almost regrets sharing all of his backstory with her, and if he knew she would have this tone most days, he would have kept his mouth shut.

“The house is ready to accept you, and so are all the occupants. We will stand behind you every step of the way.”

Lewis grimaces, but nods. There wasn’t a point in fighting her right now. He had a good feeling all of the other portrait ghosts would be on her side too. It only makes sense. Lewis did accept the role as the new owner... he just had to take control, let his power manifest.

Now if only it wasn’t so hard.

Clicking her tongue, Faust straightens up. “Worry not, Lewis. You don’t have to do it this instant, the moon is still out and clearly you aren’t in the right state of mind. Now...”

A distant familiar clacking of metal grew nearer. As two suits of armor step into the entrance of the hall, they cast Lewis a worried look. One that Lewis doesn’t return, instead opting to glare at the stained rug.

Faust continues, “I think it’s time for you to go back to sleep. We will figure your abilities out tomorrow.”

Lewis follows the guards up the steps, and then up another. The wall paper, bricks, and windows full of moonlight blurs together until it accumulates into one door. His door. Leading to the single highest room in the entire mansion.

The guards take their stand on either side of it, nodding to Lewis carefully and not waiting for him to nod back before stilling.

“Thank you, sir Clive, sir Ranveer.” Lewis murmurs, pushing open the door and stepping in.

The room is simple, despite the elegant state one may expect. An old, wooden bed frame, scratchy wool blankets and a silk top sheet. Light pink curtains that flutter in the open window. Lamps on either side of the bed that didn’t actually turn on.

His room, and yet far from it.

Pulling the blankets aside, Lewis crawls into the bed, nestling his face against the pillow and pretending like he couldn’t smell the light stench coming from it.

Tomorrow he will take hold of his power, and he will make this mansion his home.

His home, for him and all the spirits already residing within it.

Lewis’s eyes moisten as he falls into his ‘slumber’. Praying for no nightmares.

“Im going to take the lower path, why don’t you two take the other... don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine! I have Mystery.”

“Dont cling to Lewis too much Ar...”

The moss and slimy green walls reflected like a million eyes. All watching. All staring.

Even as Lewis peered up at his own hand, clutching his torch, knowing what was to happen... he wished more than anything that he could simply turn around.

His stomach drops, his blood runs cold. The sudden halt broke his fall, his spine bent oddly and digging behind his bellybutton.

Cold. Cold. Yet so hot.

Empty. Yet rushing. A river, but still. There was so much light at first, and then it was so dark. Growls, howls, screams of every kind...

Loneliness.

All he wanted... was for them to come back. Save him.

Of all the memories Lewis had to revisit, why did it always have to be this one?

There was still gaps, such as the moment when he hit the spike, and when he forced himself up. How he even did it, Lewis wasn’t sure, but he couldn’t focus on that when the gaping wounds in his chest filled with with and stung from the cold.

His legs still ached from the stillness and the fatigue, and from the exhaustion of being awake despite dying. He wobbled far, tracing his dead fingers along slimy walls and against currents of chittering laughs. Then the constant thought. A mantra. Over and over. Come back for me. Come back, please.

Wake him up from this bad dream.

If only he accepted that it wasn’t going to happen...

He didn’t know where he was going, nor how long he was going to walk, but Lewis didn’t stop until he was face to face with a tall metal gate that shined unlike the eyes in the walls.

The rusted lock doesn’t break, but Lewis pushes through like jelly.

The staircase was a nightmare. Transitioning from cave stone to proper granite the higher he ascended. All while the prickling sensation of being watched crept up his back and urged his weak and heavy body to move faster.

Lewis ‘wakes up’ up with a shallow gasp. Eyes wide, he pants. Slowly turning his head, a layer of sticky sweat clings to Lewis’s face. He wipes it away and peels back the blanket, crawling out of the bed as the lingers of his ‘dream’ fights to hold the forefront of his mind.

His friends... they still haven’t come back for him. The guards would have alerted him if they returned to the cave, and Lewis would have been rushing out the doors if he heard the familiar engine.

They weren’t here. Lewis isn’t sure why he kept expecting them to suddenly show up.

Pushing himself to move, Lewis hops into a float and drifts to the door. Figuring that he may as well show that he has a grasp on some of his new abilities, now he just needed to realize what his main skillset was.

The guards lead him down the flight of stairs, past the library, and the office, and to the largest room in the mansion.

The living room was filled with an air of elegance, even if covered in dust and mildew. Several portraits line the walls beside the mighty fireplace, and leading to it was two long couches and an even longer coffee table. Book cases sat in between the tall windows, and smaller spaces left unused seemed to act as their own mini lounge, with a smaller bookcase, chair, table, and lamp.

Lewis compared it to a community center before, but now it felt like a stage.

More guards file in behind Lewis, with Sir Clive and Ranveer taking their positions behind him. He could feel a heavy, although gentle pat on his back from Ranveer.

After that, the dozen or so smaller, formless and colorless ghosts fly in and take their seats on the cushions.

The fireplace before him seemed to smile at him. With its decorations acting as its wise and considering eyes.

A line of sweat slides down Lewis’s cheek. Now wasn’t the time for stage fright, but his legs lock up in their floating position. He inhaled slowly.

“Psst.”

Glancing over, Lewis catches the soft, affectionate smile on Faust’s face. She tilts her head. “You got this.”

Lewis balls his fists, ”Do I? I really didn’t expect everyone to gather for this...” he admits.

“We know.” The portrait of the priest, Father Zachariah, responds. He gives Lewis a stern look, reminding Lewis to stand straight. “We didn’t want this to be a private affair. If you are really taking over this mansion like you said you would, then we have to right to partake in your awakening.”

“Aw jeez, give the man a break, will ya?” Another portrait, Terri to wrestler reaches out and fists some of Zachariahs robe, glaring at him. “Can’t you see he’s nervous?” He then says, throwing out his hand in a grand gesture toward Lewis, who shrinks back slightly.

Tamaki, the attorney, rolls his eyes dramatically and pinches his brow. “Lewis, I can assure you this isn’t a judgment, quite the contrary. We knew that it would have been hard for you to do this on your own, so we are providing an ample amount of support throughout the activities. Do you understand?”

He nods, unsure how else to respond, although the exhaustion made Lewis want to join the spirits on the couch and take a long nap.

The two portraits of shadows, Haseeb and Ameena, also nod in tandem. “Yes, Lewis. Infact, since you enjoyed music, we wanted to bring out the excitement.... I hope you’re okay with that.”

“Speaking of which,” Faust pipes up, leaning out of her frame and narrowing her eyes at the spirits sat on the couch. “Weren’t you all supposed to grab your instruments? Where are they!”

The colorless ghosts jump and flash past Lewis in one synchronized movement, before rushing back just as quickly. Returning with old violins, cellos, flutes, clarinets, and trumpets. Two more lag behind, with a cymbals, and one final one dragging something heavy. He turns, eyes widening as a singular spirit drags a *piano* from a closet he didn’t remember being there.

”Hold on, I’ll help you.” he says before realizing he was moving, that is until he floats past to the other side of the piano and bracing itself underside. Only for the spirit to send him an anxious look.

Oh.. it’s probably too heavy for them to also lift. Lewis spots the mini orchestra and waves them over. ”We need more hands, come over here and help up.”

Abandoning their instruments, several more spirits rush and brace the other side, allowing the piano to be lifted and carried earlier.

“Yeah you deadbeats! Why do you need his command to get a move on?” Terri calls, anything but cruel however. Deadbeats... that’s an interesting term. Lewis faintly ponders as he sets the piano down, before going to retreat the stool.

At the same time, the living rooms doors open, and the puny skeletal gardener drags in the painter spirit.

“Rye! Thank you for fetching Elora.” Tamaki says.

“Oh eff off,” Rye responds, plopping down on one of the chairs and sinking down. “I was busy trying to save up my energy for tonight’s show. You want there to be flowers, right?”

Flowers?

“Yep, thats why the windows are open. Let’s wait until Lewis is prepared however.”

”N-no need to wait, I’m ready now,” Lewis squeaks out, clearing his throat as he turns and takes in the grumpy strawberry looking gardener.

Rye bobs their skull and spins away from him, “Fantastic.”

She raises her arms, and in a swift motion, glows the same ripe red color as her dress. All at once, the windows are swarmed with vines. Green foliage spilling in, connecting across the ceiling, draping and tangling amongst the curtains, and wrapping around the stone busts on the bookcases. It happened so fast that Lewis couldn’t react. Instead he gaps up at the magnificent display, watching as floral arrangements burst, forming meticulously designed patterns along the entire room.

When he finally tears his gaze away from the display, Lewis is met with calm, expectant smiles.

“Ready whenever you are, bucko.” Rye pats his arm and reclaims her seat, leaving him in the center of his imaginary stage.

Now, his anchor beats twice as fast, almost overwhelmed by all of the effort, all the eyes sim directly at him.

Pressing his finger tips together, Lewis wets his lips. Several heads tilt as they wait.

Clearing his throat, Lewis lowers his head,”... I’m sorry. What am I supposed to do first?”

Faust gasps lightly, the first to realize their crucial mistake. Ignoring Terri’s chiding, she clears her throat.

“Of course, Lewis, the first thing we need you to do, is concentrate on your internal thoughts. As you do, try to figure out which emotion or feeling is more prominent.”

A single note plays from the deadbeat sat at the piano, followed by the violin, and a growing hum from the others who hadn’t begun to playing. Lewis’s heart skips a beat, and he bites his lip as he closes his eyes. The piano continues, the notes floating through his mind and striking chords that were far from forgotten.

A new set of voices fill in the emptiness between notes, running alone side the piano and dancing along with the violin. A flute begins, and Lewis sharply inhales.

He loves music, he always has, it always made him want to dance. Grab the first person in arms length and pull them close, whether it be the waltz or a swing, it filled him with warm laughs that always spread across his face in a smile. A familiar tingle fills his arms, and Lewis is sure that he can feel Vivi in front of him, swaying as they listened to the music. The warmth grows as she fills his minds eye. Her soft scarf tangled in between them, how her skirt swirled and swished as she spun and dance, leaving him warm in the face and his chest full of bubbling warmth.

Warmth. He felt warm.

That certain warmth fills his hands, tingling at his finger tips and running along his scalp.

The room smelt faintly of decay and staleness, but a memory envelopes him, and Lewis is in his families kitchen. Dancing in place and singing at the top of his lungs with his sisters twirling around him. Cinnamon, garlic, sugars and herb fills his nostrils. The lavender and sweet floral in the air elevating the smells of their garden which he pranced through many times during the warm summer nights. The bonfires, the flare of heat from the oven, the thick humidity in a late evening as Lewis arm wrestles with his much scrawnier friend.

The warm spreads up his elbow and all along his back. Before Lewis knew it, the singing, the music grew loud, amplifying as more instruments add to the mix, and as his own voice joins them. A crash of the cymbals becomes the splash of the beach, and the laughter chittering along with it.

His heart races, and the warmth becomes hot and exhilarating as he recalls the endless nights of fondness. Of redness in his cheeks from drinking alongside his friends, on his tongue as he taste tests his fathers latest recipe, and the swell of pride upon seeing Cayennes first ballet recital.

Pride, love, happiness.

Spastic notes become fireworks. Blasting, rocketing, exploding across the night sky. It becomes the crash and crackle of buildings as he and his friends rush from burning buildings, away from spirits whose voice booms too loud. The warmth spreads to his legs, in the ache of running, carrying his friends over his shoulders in a desperate need to escape. As his heart burns in the terror of thinking they were hurt. In wanting to slam his fist into the fiends face for daring to threaten his loved ones.

The guards dance with him, metal clacking and sparking. Lights spot the area as Lewis shoots out his arms and pulls one in against his chest to spin in tandem, before releasing them in a dramatic flourish.

Anger, fear, the need to protect.

His friends, his family.

The loves of his life-

Lewis opens his eyes, and the passion fueling his movements die in an instant.

His hand glows, his arm flaring. A line of fire burns away from him, pink and flaming and just as excited as he was. Gasping, Lewis tears himself away, slipping and hitting the ground. The music screeches to a halt all at once. Everyone freezing.

“Lewis, are you okay?” Faust calls out, gripping her frame as if she were going to rip herself out of it. Concern warping her face, along with the other portraits, the ghosts, everyone.

“You were doing good!” Terri says, “don’t tell me you got cold feet!”

Tamaki nods in agreement, “it’s truly delightful to see you smile for once. I was worried we would never see it.”

Shoulders tense, Lewis’s eyebrows furrow.

That... was him?

Baffled, Lewis holds his hand in front of him, and sure enough his palm was glowing. He tenses the muscles, and he jumps as a small flame puffs out at him.

”I- wait, seriously? I did it?”

“Yes, you did. Marvelous work, Lewis.” Zachariah hums approvingly. The warmth- embarrassment and concern- floods his chest, before Lewis is smothered by smiling deadbeats swarming him in a hug. Curling around him and nuzzling their formless heads against his.

His legs twitch as Lewis rises, floating naturally instead of jumping this time, and becoming upright.

Everyone is smiling at him, faces warm and bright with delight. Warm with the same sentiment, that it was time to make this his home...

He knew it, they knew it, that had to be the entire point of everyone gathering. Not to help him, but to watch him accept them as his new family... leaving his old.

Leaving his family, and his friends...

Faust is the first to speak, eyes crinkling. “Are you ready?”

What about Vivi? Arthur? How is he going to be there for his sisters? How can he keep his friends safe if he can’t be there for them. He can’t abandon them. Because they won’t abandon him. They wouldn’t. They’re coming back for him.

”No. I’m not.”

The disappoint was clear by the stilted air. But no one argued with him. The deadbeats had sunk, their instruments hitting the ground in shock, before being lifted up and taken back to their proper places. The vines retreat and retract, and quietly, the spirits all left the living space. Even the first place seemed to grow cold, if that was even possible.

Lewis didn’t say anything to the portraits when he left the room and raced upstairs to his tower of solitude. The same thought racing through his head again and again.

They’re coming. They will.

Soon. Soon...

Soon...?

Feeling trapped and terribly homesick, Lewis crawls under his blankets. His eyes sting from moisture that shouldn’t accumulate in the sockets, but he wipes them away anyway. Pulling the blanket over his head, Lewis curls into a ball.

Why did it hurt so much reject them? Why did it hurt so much to hold off for so long?

What was he expecting? For Arthur and Vivi to pull up in their bright Orange van and pull him out of the bed, pull him into an embrace, and into the van. Whisk him away so he can embrace his mami and papi, kiss his sisters and tell them how much he missed them.

Why was he even holding out hope? They arent coming back! Why would they...

Arthur killed him... Lewis’s arms shake and he grips the blankets. Arthur shoved him off that fucking cliff with a smile on his face. He should be grateful for anyone to accept him into their family.

He wanted to slam his fist into his gut, to direct the pain from his aching chest. Lewis wanted his eyes to stop stinging.

But he couldn’t. Home was where they were, and he has been thrown away.

Lewis fell into a half sleep, living through the same memory of his death again and again. Watching as his nightmare loops with his life being torn from his grasp with a single push.

That one moment of inaction, the one second of trust. And now?

Lewis is dead.

The memory looped for a fifth time, with Lewis desperately searching for an escape from the grip of reality, when the universe finally gives him one.

An engine. It’s not loud, and it rattles lightly. Lewis pops awake, disoriented from the jarring switch from the cave to his bed, but he disregards it.

Tearing the blankets, an adrenaline thrashes through him. Warmth, heat, rocketing through him. It burns his soles as the impossible dangles right in front of him.

It can’t be, is it really them?

Are they here for him?

Lewis’s anchor skips a beat as he almost falls down the first set of steps. Before he hits the steps face first, his body vanishes in a burst of flame and reappears with a running start at the bottom. The halls wake up with the pound of his feet and his heart, and Lewis forgets that others lived on this decrepit mansion as he races to the main stairway, leading to the front door.

He expects specks of blue, yellow, and white to meet him there. For smiles to spread across their face as they run to swallow him in a hug.

Lewis freezes. Heart going still. Heat draining as he takes it in...

There’s four people, who he hardly recognizes, except for the role they were trying to play as they whisper amongst themselves.

”This place wasn’t here a few days ago.” “do you think it’s a trap?” “Do you think anyone’s here?”

Paranormal investigators...

They start to wander, poking at the busts and pushing open doors, unaware of Lewis staring at them.

It’s not them, his friends aren’t coming.

Now strangers are in ... in this mansion, disturbing the people who have been nothing but kind to Lewis.

The need to protect returns, strong and lashing as his fists ball up, tears stinging his eyes.

Teeth grinding, heat pools into his hands, and fire spits out like sparks of electricity. Finally grabbing the investigators attention as he stomps on the first step. The fire crackles, leaving a singed footprint in its place, but Lewis doesn’t care. Focusing on the bug eyed look of the four intruders who back away in mounting terror as the flames rise.

Breath coming out in hisses, Lewis growls. ”Get out.”

It was enough to send the four scrambling for the door, the engine roaring again as they undoubtedly piled in. Just in time for the suits of armor to clamber behind him, looking around in shock until they see him.

The furious gaze didn’t die upon seeing them. No. Except Lewis turns away from them and floats to the bottom step, theres a strain on his body that extinguishes the fire in his hands, but that didn’t matter.

Lewis rounds the corner, leaving a trail of smoking fire pits in his wake.

Until he’s stood in front of the fireplace, the hearth that he was instructed to simply light it to accept his place as the homes new owner and protector.

His first family protected him, but his loved ones ended his life. Now it’s his turn to ensure the safety of the only family he may have left.

Lewis’s arm wavers as he lifts it up, a ball of fire burning his palm and spitting in every which direction as he glares at the fireplace, whose glass doors open wide.

The flame shoots out, and upon making contact with the bricks and wood, the entire mansion lights up in a magical blast. Transforming peeling wallpaper to freshly striped, strewing chandeliers in every room it could fit, burning away the rot and leaving the floors warm and spotless.

Everything around him changed in an instant, but Lewis doesn’t see it.

His anchor hits the ground with a soft clink, hot to the touch and wet with tears.

[salenakingston]

The Future: Theories and Predictions

Boy what a wild ride this has been hasn’t it? The Future has been out for a few days now and I’ve seen a lot of interesting discussion going on about it. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to toss in my two cents about some things that I have noticed, a few theories/food for thought, and some predictions I have for the next video. Yeah we’ve got a while before then, but that gives us all plenty of time to expand on theories and ideas. Anyways, onto the rambling. I apologize if I am repeating some stuff that other people have already said <3.

1. Shiromori and Mystery

This seems to arguably be the biggest mystery (haha) that’s still present in these videos. A lot of what we can gleam from them is some interactions and still image flashbacks. It’s clear there’s a connection between her and mystery’s blood, and I’m pretty sure we can assume mystery is the one that brought her to life with his blood. And given the third image that is shown to us in Hellbent, I think it’s safe to assume they had some kind of symbiotic relationship, at least in the past.

But now with the release of future, there seems to be much more going on between them. I know these details have been pointed out by many other people, so I won’t drag on too long about this, but rather go over some things that stood out to me. I had seen one user point out the fact that Mystery hesitated to join the fight between Vivi and Shiromori at the start, only stepping in once Vivi’s face got cut again, and again when the vines started coming towards them.

It’s like Mystery doesn’t want to fight her, and this seems further supported after Shiromori loses her arms and they get frozen over. He steps in and protects her, something that surprises her and Vivi. He cares about her, even if he is afraid of her to some degree. There is more evidence to this when Shiromori’s body is destroyed (I’ll come back to this bit shortly). The look he gives is shock/horror at what happened. Sorry I am not good with description words.

One other interesting thing to note is that when Shiromori attacks Mystery when he snaps is that she can be shown crying. So she to some level cares about Mystery as well, to the point where yes she wanted his blood, but not want him dead. Just an interesting detail.

So with all that being said do I have any predictions about this going into the next video? Honestly not really, at least not at the moment. Considering how the ending of the Future is set up, I’m not sure how much more information we will get on these two. I know the main creators have mentioned the possibility of doing more after this current arc. Maybe this would be something to explore if more is not shared. One thing I will say about Shiromori is I don’t believe she is dead. Yes, we see her body disintegrate, but her heart remained in tact. After all Vivi, only hit it and didn’t break it as far as we could see.

2. Mystery and his tails

Now, I will say upfront that I know next to nothing about kitsunes and their lore, so for a lot of this I’ll just be going off what we see in the videos. I do know that the tails in lore connect with a kitsune’s age, but I am not sure if that plays a role here, as many have already pointed out that in the Shiromori flashbacks he has nine, in the Ghost flashback he has six, and present he has seven, which become nine at the end of the Future. Since that all has been talked about, I have something more to chew on in terms of this and Mystery’s heart itself.

It seems that to Mystery, his tails are connected to other beings, beings that he cares about, as evident to him growing his eighth tail when Vivi gets injured and his ninth when Shiromori “dies.” Each person is represented by a stream of color coming out of his heart.

I do find it interesting that of all the colors, those are the two with patches on them, making me wonder if this also ties into his connection with Mushi and Mystery’s past, but I don’t have enough to go off with that. What I am more interested in are the other colored streams. A lot of people have been connecting colors to others we know, like magenta/purple being Lewis and yellow/oragne being Arthur, something I also support. Green might be linked to ??? but that makes me wonder something I’ll get into in another bullet point.

Bringing this all back to my point, this is just something to think about more than a theory. If we assume that this is the case, then did Mystery grow to six tails after everything that happened in the cave, or did he start out with six? Along with this, if we assume who some of these colors belong to, who got hurt or killed between the time in the cave and present day to make Mystery have seven tails? I could just be looking too deep into this, but thought it was interesting to look at when put into the context of the previous videos.

3. Mystery and ???/Multiple ???

I know that header might seem a bit confusing but stick with me on this one. There’s a clear connection between Mystery and ??? that is more of less confirmed by the end of the video when ??? reaches out and grabs Mystery’s heart. It’s clear that ??? has got a hold on Mystery... but my question is how? The last time we saw it was in Freaking Out, and it wasn’t for very long. It was sure quick to run away when Shiromori popped out of the ground, looking very worried. Almost as worried as someone else we know.

More importantly though is how did ??? not only find the Mystery Skulls gang, but catch up to them running around as just an arm? He has been hanging out at the cave until Shiromori even showed up. We at least know Shiromori was able to track them due to the flowers she spawned, and was fast enough underground to keep up with two moving cars going at a very high speed. I find it a bit hard to believe that ??? was following them the whole time, or was even able to keep up.

I will admit that there is still not a lot we know about ??? and it is very possible that there is more that will be shown in the next video, but this does give me a couple theories that are worth looking into.

Either ??? might have been a part of Mystery the whole time, or the events of the cave left a bit of ??? not just in Mystery, but Arthur’s arm as well, which would mean there’s two... pieces for lack of a better word, running around. I’m not swayed towards one theory over the other, as both seem to have a good backing to them. There is a clear connection between the two of them though as evidence from a couple frames that pass rather quick after Mystery grows his eighth tail.

He’s already changing at this point, and it only fully goes through at the end once Mystery’s passed out. I assume that is because it is a point when ??? could easily take over. But that also harkens back to my second theory. How? If all of ??? is still trapped in Arthur’s arm, how would Mystery be changing like this? There’s no way the arm was somehow able to get inside him off screen right? It makes me wonder if the arm (the physical arm, not just ???) will turn up in the next video and expand more on how it was able to do this.

4. Arthur’s arm/??? and Lewis

And that finally leads me to my final point, being Arthur’s own arm, specifically the left one in both senses. Yes, it’s metal now, but that doesn’t mean he’s got full control over it. At the end of the Future, when Mystery starts to transform, Arthur’s arm really starts to freak out. I only really noticed when @ectoimp​ and @arthurtristankingsmen​ pointed it out on my feed, but the arm seems to be moving on its own and pulling him towards Lewis.

Now I’ve seen a couple theories floating around about this. One thing I would like to point out is the color of the sparks. I’ve seen people tribute this to Arthur himself, but I think it’s just simply a show of the metal arm itself. It’s metal and it’s a show of it sparking and malfunctioning. Yes, we saw this when Lewis’ sparks when into Arthur’s arm and shorted it out, but he’s a ghost and that was his power. These may just be normal mechanical sparks coming out.

Another theory was that it was pulling Arthur towards his friends. While yes, I could see that, there’s one key detail, and that’s Arthur pulling his arm away from Lewis once he sees what it’s doing. Now why would he be physically holding his arm back if it only wanted him to be back with his friends?

I’m more inclined to believe that Arthur’s arm might still be possessed in some way, or ??? still has some kind of influence over it, even if it is metal. With that in mind, something to think about, why is it still going for Lewis? We know it was used to push Lewis off the cliff and kill him, but Lewis is dead now. Granted he is a ghost, but what can Arthur’s arm do to him? It can physically touch him as we saw in Hellbent, but what else? Is there some connection between Lewis and ??? that we don’t know about? Or is it perhaps ??? trying to get rid of another threat since Lewis is still around? Maybe Vivi as well? Just some things to think about.

Also, I wonder if this has a deeper meaning between Mystery, ???, and Arthur given the “vision” we see in Freaking Out where Arthur’s arm can also be seen sparking at the sight of Mystery in kitsune form. Perhaps more than just clever foreshadowing?

5. Predictions

This is mere speculations now, but what can I see coming out of this and going to the next video? Boy we’re hitting the climax and I’m super excited. Ok, so most of the new videos have been starting with some kind of intro before the actual song starts. I imagine the next one will as well. About what I am not sure.

Now this is purely based on a post made by @heilos​, but the word designs was used. Designs, plural. We’ve already seen Murder Mystery, so who else could it be? I’ve got three guesses on who could be getting some kind of design. Arthur: if something is really going on with his arm and ??? starts to take over again, ??? itself: maybe getting a look of his own rather than just being a walking arm, and Lewis: hell, if Mystery can change forms and is a supernatural being, then why can’t Lewis do the same? Especially if Arthur and Vivi play some kind of role in that.

I also think Arthur might play some kind of larger role than just being the one running away. I image his will still do that, but think about it. He’s had experience with ???, he’s got a soft spot for Mystery, even after what was done to his arm, and maybe that could lead to him being a key to helping bring Mystery back to himself.

Holy shit that got long. Sorry for my rambling, but I love sharing about something I care this much about. We may have to wait another two years, but the wait is always worth it! Please let me know your thoughts if you have any or expand on some of these ideas! <3

[jacklambton]

Letter from J.R. Lambton to Archibald Lytton re: The Patient Man - 1925

[Concept loosely based on the last act of Sinclair Lewis’ Arrowsmith (with fantasy/magical realism elements thrown in), cw for references to plague and medical ethics issues]

Dearest Archie,

I deeply resent having to do this, as I do believe if they are going to sell the book, they should have to read the book rather than read a report from me, but as you are a magnificent friend and somehow, impossibly, an even more magnificent editor, I will do as you say. Even if crushing one hundred thousand words into five hundred is the worst form of maiming I can imagine. Nevertheless, and once again, because I adore you, here we go --

Kit Aberystwyth was a good man, and a patient one. (Ah, there’s the name of the book! Apologies, last aside I promise.) He studied hard in school, he married a good woman, Ophelia, and he became a doctor, as all good men did to his mind. He is probably best described as an epidemiologist, though the term did not appear until a good hundred fifty years after he was born. Which, yes, I should mention, the year is 1722. Inoculation has just been successfully introduced among the British gentry after experiments on prisoners. (Yes we will come back to that, oh God, here come the asides again, apologies.) Our dearest Kit is thrilled by these new developments and promptly sets out for the New World to assist the colonists in their efforts against the all new manners of illnesses they encounter. Ophelia, of course, comes with him, the very picture of the proper English lady turned frontier woman. (You may ask what a proper English lady is doing marrying a Welshman. I don’t rightly know, that’s between the two of them, isn’t it?)

But as soon as the Aberystwyths arrive on Caribbean soil, something is wrong. A potential pirate attack is thwarted when the pirates are actually fleeing the island. Disease has ravaged the population, both colonist and native. Kit sets about his work, studying symptoms, using science to solve the problem. The trouble is, dear Archie, that science has very little feeling in it. And there is so much death, and so much destruction, and truly such strange magic in this place. Spirits speak on the wind, chastising, encouraging, whispering truths men like Kit do not want to hear. It is a ghost story and a heroic epic, but a thoroughly modern one. (I hope, oh how I hope! If it is not, we are in a good deal of trouble.) 

Kit believes that the only way to defeat this disease, this monster, is to follow the principles of science. Placebo inoculations and treatments included, all of which offer no help. As more die, the spirits of the island grow (understandably) restless. Ophelia herself becomes ill. He excludes her from his trial and focuses on giving her the best treatment he can. She chastises him, telling him the island needs a doctor, not a scientist. He cannot cure anyone when he himself is sick in the moral sense.

Armed with this knowledge, Kit begins again, appeasing the spirits with humility and toil, acknowledging their existence and their power with each breath. He can feel his health failing but he does not care. Kit dies, but the island lives. Ophelia is left with the natives and few remaining settlers, prepared to disappear into the jungle like Roanoke. Swallowed by the leaves. Cradled by them. Until there’s nothing but the sand and the forest and the sea. 

Will that do, Archie? I feel dirty and depressed. Just make them read the thing, I beg of you.

With great resentment and love,

Jack

[charlie-and-yoshi-rp-hell]

Episode 46 Part 4: 2 for 1

Teamwork and an Ifrit is what brings the sin demon down. But this victory has a consequence. Only time will tell if this is good or bad.

Charlie McCarthey: The rakes to his back hurt like fire, but Lewis supposed he deserved it, and with a grim look just fired back, shoving the broken frame of a mirror out of his path.

They were gonna have so much bad luck for this.

He lifted his head, spotted the sin way to close to Arthur and closed the distance as quickly as he could, shoving Arthur behind him and letting the monster's talons dig through him, the ghost getting the brunt of the attack. Lewis did not bleed--but he cried out, purple smoke ebbing in thin trails from the shallow wounds.

A-actually I'm pretty fucked up without him, go figure. Lewis muttered, steadying himself from the attack and getting his bearings back as he held his torso. He's the reason I didn't rip you apart the first time I sensed you--but guess what? He told me to show you what kind of ghost I am. Lewis curled his growing claws into fists as his body grew and the horns sprouted. I think I will. His voice was low, and a steady growl now.

Yoshi Raven: Pride was looking up at Lewis, eyes wide with surprise. Then, he looked at the broken mirrors. Most of them were gone, so he couldn´t jump to many places anymore.

"Get him, Lew." Arthur growled, an evil grin on his face.

Shit no -

The lion moved his hands and the broken mirror parts started floating and attacked the giant ghost, making a lot of small cuts on his whole body - but then he dared to go after Arthur again, he let several pieces fly to him. The mechanic uses his left arm as a shield but one of the pieces made a small cut on his cheek.

Charlie McCarthey: Glass crunched under the Ifrit's boots as Lewis pushed against the ceiling, the foundations cracking warninly under his girth as he turned in a half circle. One arm swept around Arthur, blocking anymore hits as he let out an enraged roar that shook the few remaining mirrors. After a quick rumbling purr to make sure Arthur was alright, the Ifrit turned on the sin again and breathed out a thick stream of fire, slamming it into the glass.

Yoshi Raven: Pride was roaring with anger when the fire hit him and when it started to melt, he was pushed out of the mirror. He shrinked a bit now that he wasn´t connected to a mirror anymore, the mane looking like poison that was floating.

You bastard... you´ll get that back...!

He shook his mane and purple drops were flying out of it, hitting Lewis but it didn´t do much. It tickled but vanished due to his high body temperature.

No... no!!! Damn it!! The sin turned away from Lewis and ran to the exit.

Charlie McCarthey: The Ifrit roared after him challengingly, and when that didn't get the response he wanted he stomped after the sin in a few steps. He pushed Arthur onto the safety of his horned shoulder--did he have more spikes than usual?--and used his free hands to grab the demon by its back, pinning it under his heavy body.

Yoshi Raven: Arthur was grabbing onto the horn, keeping himself steady. He had noticed the slight change of Lewis´ Ifrit form, too - or was it just his imagination?

The sin was screeching and roaring, trying to claw himself free but the Ifrit´s grip was too strong.

Bastard...! But don´t think you´ll get away with this that easily!

Prides eyes flashed purple and one shard of a mirror was send into Lewis´ arm, stabbing him and releasing poison. It didn´t hurt much, but then the sin started a spell.

Break the mirror of a wrong reflection that is not what it seems. Break the lie and reveal the truth -

"Lewis don´t let him finish that spell or you´ll get in trouble tomorrow!!" Arthur warned him quickly.

Charlie McCarthey: Lewis' massive hand came down, wrapping around the lion's throat and pressing the entire creature down into the rubble. It was a bit of a brutal solution, but it was nevertheless effective. Lewis brought their faces close and opened his jaw wide, fire twisting and turning in the back of the ifrit's throat as it summoned fire breath straight from its core.

Yoshi Raven: Arthur just hoped the half finished spell wouldn´t do damage... he might had to check that later. He activated the Serpentarius spell that was still on Lewis´ arm and let it mix with his fire, making it shine white instead of pink.

Pride wasn´t able to fight back much after that last attack, he could only give one last warning growl.

One day you´ll regret this...

"Yeah, sure. Lew, get rid of him." Arthur mumbled, glaring at the sin with cold eyes.

Charlie McCarthey: The Ifrit's growling melts into a purr of affirmation, his eyes narrowing darkly before he twists his head up and lets a pillar of fire slam into the sin's poisonous body. This time, the fire isn't even warm to Arthur, Lewis is so focused obliterating the entity he doesn't let up til stuttering can be heard in the back of his throat. His fire was dying down from continual use, which was common and fixed by rest.

Yoshi Raven: The spell mixed with the fire hit Pride and dissolved him completely. He was gone - another of the sins was gone. Arthur noticed Lewis didn´t want to stop the fire so he gently petted the horn and kissed it. The surface was very smooth and it felt very nice and soft. "Lewis, you can stop now. It´s over, you were awesome." he mumbled, smiling at him and continued the gentle kisses until he had stopped the attack.

"If you would put me down on the ground before turning back, that´d be very good."

Charlie McCarthey: The fire died slowly, and Ifrit closed his mouth slowly. He shifted his head a fraction, eyeing Arthur but not unkindly. That expression just seemed to always be there. He noticed the affection and Lewis leaned into it slightly, letting a low purr escape him at the gestures. A hand carefully plucked Arthur off his shoulder and lowered him to the ground slowly, letting him go when his sneakers hit the floor. Mumbling tiredly, Lewis let his eyes dim in a lazy blink and began shrinking, not-quite but almost tapped out.

Yoshi Raven: "Thanks, Lew. Damn, this place is quite damaged but at least, we have another sin down. That´d be... 4 of 7. So just three more to go." When Lewis was finally his normal size again, Arthur hugged him carefully.

"You look exhausted... come on, get into your locket, I´ll get us home with a cab. You need some rest."

Charlie McCarthey: You'd think they get easier the less there are of them. Though I guess that one wasn't as bad as Envy. And Envy's power was only excaserberated by Lust.

Don't... let me... sleep long... He tried thinking about those strange sensations, but couldn't quite muster the energy. Lewis faded into purple smoke, which sucked into the locket and dropped limply toward the ground.

Yoshi Raven: Arthur caught the locket before it hit the ground, smiling a bit. "I don´t think they won´t get easier, they´re probably on the same level... unless they absorb another core..." he mumbled and pressed the heart against his chest right over the mark, knowing Lewis would like the warmth of his body.

He walked out of there, avoiding the shards on the ground and got into a pub. The owner was kind enough to call a cab for him and half an hour later, Arthur was back in the flat telling Vivi about the case.

"Yeah... I´m sorry we already solved that problem, it was just coincidence that Lewis and I were flying close to the place. Besides, it was another sin. Pride, I guess, judging by how he talked... and was getting power from mirrors. Anyway, can you heal the burn marks, maybe?"

Charlie McCarthey: "Arthur..." Vivi had her hands on her hips, and Mystery echoed her serious, scolding look. "I should make you keep those just to teach you to not go into stuff alone... but I won't. Lew did those, didn't he?" She sent Mystery into her room to get her first aid bag--a large, worn bag with contemporary and not so contemporary medical supplies. She choose a little jar with a thick, foul smelling green salve and some normal looking ace bandages with markings wirtten on them in sharpie.

Yoshi Raven: The mechanic sighed, giving her a worried look.

"Yeah... but it was a trick of that sin. He put me in the place of a wrong reflection just when Lewis attacked it with his fire. And... I promise we won´t run into missions alone anymore unless it´s necessary."

Arthur smiled at her shyly, looking at her with that cute gaze where you just couldn´t be mad at him.

Charlie McCarthey: "...and I wonder where Mystery got his begging face." Vivi sighed, shaking her head fondly as she pulled back to study his wounds. Her smile came back though, and she got to work on applying the ointment gently and swiftly. "Now, this should take down the sting and inflammation. Keep applying once or twice daily though to get the burn to heal, otherwise recovery will be as slow as usual. I'll make some more if you get low." On some of the more open places she wrapped the cloth around the covered marks, but it was lose to allow air flow.

"Feel better?"

Yoshi Raven: "Oh you bet... it´s cooling the skin very well. Thank you so much, Viv." When she was done treating the burn marks, he hugged her carefully so that the bandages wouldn´t fall off.

"Best modern age witch I know." he giggled and ruffled her hair. "Alright you two, sleep well and see you for breakfast!" Arthur patted the messy blue hair, then walked to his room, closing the door quietly. He could feel the small burn marks heal already, they were itching a bit. He was able to shield his face with his arms, so his right one might take a day or to more.

Arthur gently placed Lewis´ locket on the bed and changed his shirt and pants before dropping next to the heart, pulling it close to his chest. "Sleep well, Lew."

Charlie McCarthey: Gear snuggled up against Arthur's head on the pillow, tiny pudgy body vibrating from sheer joy as the small ghost settled down against the human's warmth.

For Lewis, though he wasn't really awake, he still responded. The heart pulsed after Arthur bid him goodnight. The glass warmed in time with the glow. As Lewis regained power, the heart would only keep warming as long as he was crammed in there 'resting.'

Yoshi Raven: Arthur petted Gear a few times but now he felt that he was tired just like Lewis. His other hand was holding the locket, this time it was him that kept the other "safe" while sleeping. It didn´t take long until Arthur was asleep, too.

The spell Pride had used against Lewis wasn´t finished, but it still had an effect on the ghost. And it started its work during their sleep.

Charlie McCarthey: Lewis' body formed out of the locket like usual, and the glass dropped in temperature from the loss of the spirit residing in it. And then, rather oddly, a second body followed, this one taking up space at Arthur's back. It looked like Lewis, it was the same size, same fiery hair, same warm body. There was little room for all three bodies, so one of the Lewis' was half in the wall as they all slept.

Yoshi Raven: Arthur woke up late in the morning and slowly opened his eyes. Lewis was lying in front of him in his human form. Good, that meant he felt fine again. He smiled and gently touched his cheek - but then he noticed something warm was lying behind him and was snuggled against his back, one arm on his hip. At first he though it was Vivi - the only other person in the flat, but since when was she taller than him...? And since when was her skin black with... white bone-like markings...?!

Arthur turned his head and saw Lewis - in his ghost form, but solid and instead of a hovering skull, he had a skull-like white marking on his face. He turned back - there was human Lewis. It confused him a lot, his movements were frozen and he just couldn´t decide which one of them was the real one. A dream. Yes, it was probably a dream. He bit on his tongue, hoping the pain would wake him but no. Both were still there. So, which Lewis should he wake now?!

Charlie McCarthey: The black hand on his waist that belonged to Skele!Lewis shifted a fraction, the ghost mumbling in his sleep. He pulled Arthur closer, not quite away from the other though. Human!Lewis' lips twitched, his eyebrows bunching in his sleep as he dreamed of... something. Whatever it was, it pushed him to awake, his movements slow and sleepy.

Waking up and seeing Arthur first thing just made him smile, and he blinked a little, vision coming into focus.

"Hey..." It was then he noticed the slightly worried look. "...you okay?" He slurred, reaching over to pull him closer and colliding with something behind Arthur. The thing grunted and started to stir.

Yoshi Raven: "Eh... I... don´t... I don´t know... maybe? I-I´m either still dreaming or Vivi tested a weird potion on me - or I became crazy?" he squawked quietly, looking at the human and then back at the ghost.

Arthur wasn´t quite sure if he should panick, attack them or be happy about having another Lewis by his side, his brain was working on this but currently, it was just in an endless circle of processing what happened.

"Tell me do you.. do you see him too?!"

--------------------

(Previous) - (Next)

[ionecoffman]

Facebook Groups as Therapy

It was Christopher’s therapist who suggested he look for help online. His wife had cheated on him, and he had been struggling since their divorce, but the $25 copays were adding up. His therapist proposed an online support group—free, discreet, available 24/7.

So he went, naturally, to Facebook, where a search turned up multiple private groups for people dealing with a partner’s infidelity. (Christopher had divorced his ex-wife after finding out their daughter was not his biological child. He asked we withhold his real name when I interviewed him.) From there, he got invitations to other support groups on Facebook, more targeted and even more specific: a group for families dealing with misattributed paternity, a group for children finding out about the same from DNA tests.

[Read: When a DNA test reveals your daughter is not your biological child]

The support groups Christopher stumbled into are just a tiny corner of the vast ecosystem of private Facebook groups. Over the past year, the company has been consciously emphasizing groups—part of an effort, per Mark Zuckerberg, to “give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.” These groups cover interests ranging as widely as the human imagination. Many are “closed,” which in Facebook terminology means the group is findable, but only members can see its content. Some are “secret,” unsearchable and membership by invite only.

It’s not surprising, then, that Facebook has turned into a gathering place for strangers sharing their deepest secrets. Emotional-support groups have sprung up around topics broad and narrow: diabetes, addiction, egg donation, a specific birth-control device now pulled from the U.S. market, parenting children who might grow up to be psychopaths, rare diseases that affect only a few dozen patients in the whole world. The internet has always promised to connect people by common interest rather than geography, and with its two-billion user base, Facebook is where those connections are often being made. “For people searching for support, [Facebook] is a one-stop shop,” says Andrea Downing, a moderator for BRCA Sisterhood, a support group for women who have tested positive for breast-cancer mutations.

Downing carries a mutation for BRCA1, which can raise the risk of breast cancer to more than 70 percent. Finding that out was devastating. “I did not know anybody who was going through the same experience,” she says. “When you can’t even talk to your own friends and family about what you’re going through, just living with that is really hard.” She eventually found out about BRCA Sisterhood on Facebook, where she suddenly found a few hundred women who understood exactly what she was going through. The group, she says, was a “lifeline.” They divulged their anxieties. They shared the latest research. They posted photos of their preventative mastectomies. BRCA Sisterhood has now grown to 10,000 members.

NGLY1 Families, on the other hand, has fewer than 60 members on Facebook, and it doesn’t expect to get much bigger. That’s because NGLY1 deficiency is extremely rare, known to affect only a few dozen patients. With those few dozen scattered across the world, Facebook is a vital node for connection. “This is pretty standard now. You would be hard pressed to find a rare disease without a group,” says Matt Might, whose 10-year-old son has NGLY1 deficiency. Might is a member of multiple Facebook groups for NGLY1 and related diseases, where members support each other through health crises and share hard-won medical information about the rare disease. Recently, Might told me, a member posted about a medical emergency, and he was able to direct them to the right doctors.

Since Facebook has pivoted to groups, it has added several tools for group admins, including ways to filter membership requests and delete content from banned members. Most importantly, perhaps, it made the membership of closed groups private. Until earlier this year, non-members could see who had joined a group even if they could not see the posts inside. (Secret groups are unsearchable and their membership lists have always been private.)

This had created obvious problems for support groups, which want to be findable but don’t want to broadcast their members’ private lives. Last year, Catherine St Clair decided to start a support group for people whose DNA tests revealed unexpected biological parents, after meeting another woman in the same situation on Facebook. St Clair created a closed group because she wanted other people to find it. And of course, she invited the other woman. This was before Facebook made the change, and her membership quickly became public. “When she realized that, she dropped out real fast,” says St Clair.

So St Clair came up with an elaborate workaround: She made the actual group, DNA NPE Friends, secret and unsearchable, but then created a closed DNA NPE Gateway group. Anyone who wanted to join had to first request membership in the gateway before they were invited to the actual group. “Our members are so terrified, genuinely terrified, of being outed,” she explains. When I spoke to members of her group, more than one mentioned the fear that a father might kill someone upon finding out their child was the product of an affair.

Back in March, Downing of the BRCA Sisterhood group found a Chrome extension that allowed marketers to scrape the membership lists of closed groups. She worked with a security researcher to submit the information to Facebook, which sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Chrome extension. On June 29, Downing noticed that Facebook had started restricting the membership list of closed groups to members only. It’s unclear exactly when the change was made. A Facebook spokesperson declined to confirm a date but said the company had already been considering it based on feedback from other groups.

In July, Wired also reported on a Facebook group for sexual assault survivors that had amassed thousands of members. One day, admins suddenly changed it into a group for sharing erotica, and trolls began harassing the members. It’s unclear whether the group was hacked or if its creators had planned this from the start.

These events made Downing worry about other scenarios that could expose the members of BRCA Sisterhood. She considered taking the support group off Facebook entirely. But with nearly 10 years worth of posts on the site, the group couldn’t just pick up and leave. “It’s the only place that these groups can go,” she says of Facebook. Might echoed those concerns: “The problem is Facebook groups are not the best way. It’s the only way.” The NGLY1 also has an active email list, he says, “but I know if we’re not on Facebook, we’ll miss people.”

Other moderators have noticed how Facebook’s algorithm shapes the discussion in groups. Not unlike Newsfeed, posts in a group are sorted algorithmically by default. “If you click on the group, it tends to be the most popular content, but it’s not most relevant,” says Dana Lewis, who is a member of several diabetes groups. For example, according to Lewis, the algorithm might keep showing a post whose question has been answered. And it might deprioritize posts from new members that don’t get much engagement—ensuring they get even less engagement in a form of algorithmic ghosting. It’s not exactly a friendly welcome to a support group. “I don’t think Facebook has done a good enough job,” says Lewis. “They have a lot of room to improve.” A Facebook spokesperson noted that members can choose to see most recent posts first, and admins see posts in their approval queue in reverse chronological order.

Anyone can start a Facebook group—including people trying to profit off of one. While many founders of support groups are people simply trying to find others like themselves, some have used the groups as extensions of their business. In November 2017, The Verge investigated a prominent group called Affected by Addiction, whose founder was even invited to speak at Facebook’s first Communities Summit earlier that year. The founder, it turns out, was also a marketer for treatment centers that mined the group for potential patients, according to The Verge. The ties had not been disclosed.

Other groups are more upfront about selling services. For example, the Infidelity Support Group—20,000 members strong—is run by Bob Huizenga, whose pinned post urges users to sign up for his “FREE Introductory Level of the Infidelity Recovery Center” before pushing additional services that cost as much as $915.

For patient-led groups, money is also a tense topic. Some have entirely banned fundraising, even for a good cause. “Once it happens, everybody jumps on the bandwagon,” says Downing of BRCA Sisterhood. “We have purposely and carefully kept it out of the group.” Facebook support groups, after all, are full of emotionally vulnerable people trusting strangers on the internet. It’s the kind of access scammers dream of.

Facebook does not allow advertisers to directly target a group (though marketers have proposed workarounds). A spokesperson also reiterated to The Atlantic a policy about predatory ads in August, which prohibited ads for bail bonds and restricted ads for rehab centers to those certified by a third-party.

When Facebook announced its decision to emphasize groups in 2017, the company also changed its mission statement. “It’s not enough to simply connect the world; we must also work to bring the world closer together,” Zuckerberg wrote. The change came after its attempt to connect the world ended up spreading fake news to sometimes disastrous consequences. Facebook had failed to understand the machine it built. With its new mission, it is tweaking that machine—coding algorithms and writing policies will affect millions of people who have come to depend on Facebook as as very real support network.

Article source here:The Atlantic