#the first book of urizen

[arthurstudieshistory]

prints from “the first book of urizen” by william blake, 1794 (william blake archive)

[midnightkolrath]

One thing I like about DMC is the parallels they sneak in where at first you may not think it is...but the more you think about it...

Like the scene in 3 with Arkham is essentially Vergil's first big footsteps into hunting for his father's power years later after the tragedy he endured. He's looking for a way to grab that power, and here comes Arkham to begin to properly set him on the path that builds up the domino effect that THEN sets up the rest of the suffering he has to endure. From his clash with his twin, to his defeat, then his attempted clash with Mundus that leads into his enslavement and weakening that sets the stage for DMC5 with the birth of V and Urizen.

Then, in Visions of V, the climax has it where V embraces Urizen and encounters essentially the form of his fears and weakness as his younger self. Of course, V is met with immediate act of aggression through instinct of self defense by his younger manifestation but he still is prompted to not show his special book to return to him, but also remind him that 'Power alone is not enough'.

That line alone has me thinking like....wow. A complete opposite to the context of the moment with Arkham, where there's the talk about power and the desire for it. The fact that its basically himself on the other side of his own sword in VoV telling him that is, to me, such an interesting display of character growth. I don't know if that moment in VoV was meant to reference the Arkham convo in 3, but I like to believe it was. Its so alike, that it'd be weird if it wasn't to me.

Here's another cheeky one I like too, by the way.

The very night that Vergil reclaims Yamato and heads home to split himself into V and Urizen has a full moon. JUST like the very night when Vergil first defeated Dante that would eventually lead into the escalation of 3's plot and even having an ironic callback in 5 that would lead into Dante unlocking his Sin Devil Trigger.

One's a moment of victory over his twin brother, asserting his power. The other? A moment of reflection of losses that haunt him to this day, reminding him of the weakness he's desperately trying to chase away. The said desperation that peaks his desire for power and pushes him to believe abandoning his humanity is a benefit.

Of course, these thoughts still haunts him even as V (and especially Urizen, but I've mentioned that before) to the point where he reflects over it a few times. I often talk about these moment in VoV, but its just...man. One of the best things we got for DMC. A good addition for Vergil's character and essentially the icing ontop of the cake for 5 alongside the Before the Nightmare novel. There's several things it calls back to for Vergil's journey subtle or not. I hope we get more content like it in the future (maybe even have VoV localized officially), alongside games of course.

[icycoldninja]

Hello! I have an idea for a (fluff / angsty?) request with Vergil - might be a little long sorry abt that

Basically after dmc5 he returns from hell with Dante and he has some loose ends to tie, one of them being mending his relationship with his s/o (aka neros mother). I was thinking maybe she worked for Dante as a devil hunter and V gives subtle hints of his true self but she didn't catch on until the big reveal. I dunno if that'll be good enough so feel feel free to add on whatever!

Thanks for reading all this if you do and have a nice day :)

Nah, nah, it's fine. Have a MOTIVATED day yourself!

Lots of catching up to do (Vergil x Fem!Reader angst/fluff)

You knew something was odd about this "V" fellow the moment he set foot through Devil May Cry's door. You'd been visiting your employer and friend Dante at the time, and happened to be present when the mysterious man showed up, cane and book in hand. You recognized that book; it was an old copy of William Blake's poetry that Vergil used to tote around, occasionally reading excerpts from it during his downtime.

Ah, Vergil. It'd been a while since you heard that name, or even seen the man, for that matter. The last time you had an interaction with him was years ago on a moonlit eve as you said goodbye to him for what you thought was the last time, right before he departed in his quest for power, and just a month before you discovered you were pregnant with your son Nero.

You were lost in thought for a while, barely even noticing the fact that V was staring you straight in the eyes, a smug smirk on his face, as if he knew something you didn't. You wanted to question him, but knew it'd be better to keep your mouth shut. You, Dante, and the rest of Devil May Cry's staff had a mission to complete.

Imagine your surprise when V insisted on you accompanying him and Nero into the Qliphoth, only giving you a vague, meaningless reason you didn't care to remember. It seemed he just wanted you nearby, even though your skills would be better put to use on the front lines, with Dante, Trish, and Lady.

After the first assault failed and mostly everyone crawled back home, defeated, you found yourself being followed by a tall, skinny, emo-looking man whose name was one letter long. Why he was still following you around despite the separation of the devil hunting team made no sense, but since he was somewhat friendly and didn't seem to have ill intentions, you let him stick around.

Some time passed while you tended to your son, whose arm had been ripped off not too long ago, and over time, you two had to charge back into the fray to save the city from more demon attacks. V disappeared for a while, but you didn't mind, since your focus was on helping and protecting your son. Nero always came first in your mind, because he was the only piece of Vergil you had left.

V eventually returned, in terrible condition, bringing with him Dante, who had been found half buried and covered in blood in a hole near his shambling house. Though none of you but V knew it, the moment all four of you stood together was one of the rare moments when the whole Sparda family was all in one place.

Then V scampered off, trying to find Urizen before the others did, and while an inner instant compelled you to follow him, you decided to go with your son, because again, Nero always came first. You ended up running into V once again, except now he had all the structural integrity of a soggy marshmallow, and needed to be carried between the two of you to his final destination, where Dante was duking it out with Urizen.

After the beast had fallen, V broke free of yours and Nero's hold and scrambled on top of it, which was when he jammed his cane right through its chest and exploded, bringing forth an individual you never thought you'd see again: The father of your son and the love of your life, Vergil.

The hope and joy you felt as you watched him materialize was nothing short of incredible; now you saw why V was the way he was, why it was so soothing to be around him, and why he chose to stay with you. V was Vergil. In a way, he'd been with you all along.

You thought that this would be the end of everything, that now, after so many years, you all could go home and be a happy family. You couldn't have been more wrong, for not one minute after finally returning, Vergil went off to the top of the Qliphoth to fight with Dante, Nero following after them, with you being the last to catch up. You arrived just in time to watch them dive off the demonic tree into the underworld, and felt all the happiness drain out of you in an instant.

There he goes, again, this time taking Dante with him. Oh well, you decided. You'll have to devote all your attention to your darling son, who surely needs more comfort than he's letting on.

Several months passed with you and Nero dedicating all your attention to exterminating demons that lingered in the land, feeling sad over the departure of the Sparda twins, but unlike most, you two vented your stress and worry out on demons, by killing them. You two were doing somewhat fine; Nero was still struggling to cope with the fact that Vergil was his father and you never told him, and you were still heartbroken. Then, out of absolutely nowhere, Vergil knocked on the front door right as you were getting ready for bed.

"Vergil?" You gasped as you opened the door.

"Yes," Vergil replied, expression as grim and stoic as ever. "I...I'm home, Y/N."

"You came back from Hell...but how? And where's Dante?" You asked, not entirely sure if this was reality or you were dreaming again.

"He is at his shop," Vergi, replied, sternly. "Do not concern yourself with him. Where is our son?"

"He's upstairs, why?" You said slowly, wondering if he had ill intentions at heart.

"We have a lot of catching up to do," Vergil answered, a warm smile flitting across his face for just a second. "All three of us."

"That we do," You agreed, chuckling as you took the half devil by the arm and dragged him into your house. "Nero! Come down and meet your dad!"

[mariyekos]

Forgetting / Vergil

WIP Folder Game: make a new post with the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. [...] People can send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! (click here to see my list)

So this one is more of a concept than a real fic! I like to headcanon that post-DMC5 Vergil is actually missing a ton of memories, both because of what Mundus did to him and potentially because he lost some when he split himself with the Yamato, and this fic is my way of exploring that.

I like to headcanon that Mundus attempted to destroy Vergil's spirit/consciousness in order to get the perfect/subservient knight, and that part of that process was essentially wiping the slate clean by getting rid of Vergil's memories. Some he very specifically targeted, others were (conveniently? inadvertently?) destroyed as part of the Angelo process. As for the Yamato thing, Griffon, Shadow, Nightmare, and Phantom in the Visions of V Mange seem to be made of Vergil's unpleasant memories. In separating them from himself, Vergil at least temporarily freed Urizen of the burden of those memories. Would destroying Griffon and co. destroy those memories entirely (like what V did to Phantom in VoV, and Dante did to the trio in DMC5 M18)? Or would they go back to Vergil once they were all dead? I haven't quite decided. I think it would be interesting if Vergil carved them out with the intent of getting rid of them, but phantoms (hehe) of the memories remained somehow. The impulse is there even if the tangible memory is not.

Anyway! This fic is basically supposed to explore the idea of Vergil being upset by how many mundane memories of his are missing. Sure he's been freed of Mundus in that he's no longer subservient to Mundus, but he still feels shackled in a way because the effect of Mundus' actions (Vergil's loss of memories) remains.

While Vergil isn't as clingy to his humanity as Dante is, I think it would still disturb him to know he's incomplete/"broken." He's been altered in a way he cannot fix. Not even the Qliphoth could do it. So, this fic would be an exploration of mental/emotional wounds, perhaps made worse by the fact that no physical wound remains. He can't look at something and go 'yes, something happened here' because there's nothing to look at. He can't get visual confirmation of his experiences. It's all in his head and there's no one who'd know but him.

He also doesn't know just how much he's lost, because he'd need to know he had it in the first place to know it's gone, and this is also a particularly painful topic. Is it that he never knew XYZ, or that that knowledge has been taken from him? How many times will he accidentally/randomly upset himself because he runs into knowledge/memories he should have but doesn't? How many times will the wound be reopened? How is he to avoid reopening the wound when he does not know its depth, its length? He can't. And it frustrates him immensely. He wants to move on, but it's hard when you never know what will set you off and have no way of regaining what you've lost. Sure, Dante can tell Vergil about some of the things that happened in their shared childhood, but there's an entire decade Dante missed before their encounter at eighteen, not to mention a decade of haze afterward that Vergil may or may not be interested in recalling (I think he'd be less interested in remembering that because he did cut out those memories with his humanity as a source of weakness, but I'd like to think post-DMC5/V Vergil would be more interested in that than he was at the start of the game).

Thank you for sending the ask! I haven't looked at this fic in a few months and this makes me want to get back to it. For fun, I'll put the rest of the outline below the cut.

Dante: “That book steal your favorite teabags or something?”

Vergil's head snapped up to look at the source.

Vergil goes on about how he knows he read this series. He knows it. Something in the book was important to him, changed his outlook on…something. Life, maybe? He doesn't know. He doesn't know because even a hundred pages in, the words are completely unfamiliar. There's not even a fragment, not even a wisp of memory there. No hint of recognition. And he knows that people forget things, sometimes, but this isn't simple forgetting. The memory has been carved from his mind. Broken and siphoned out and thrown away, never to be used again. It is gone. 

And he isn't sure how to feel about that. Why would Mundus eliminate such a memory? Was it because he was trying to completely erase Vergil? Was he targeting Vergil's more “human” memories? Was he trying to destroy each and every thing Vergil ever enjoyed, to punish him?

Dante tells him it's okay. It's just a book. Vergil can read it again-

And Vergil snaps back that it's not just the book. He hadn't even realized he'd lost this memory until he came across the book in a pile of Dante's stuff in the back room. He hadn't known he'd lost it.

How much has he lost without realizing it? How much has been taken from him? How much will never, ever come back, because it's been scraped so clean there's no residue to reform it from?

The majority of his life in the human world wasn't a pleasant one, but it was his. It's what made him into the man he is. If it didn't, then it meant Mundus did. And he didn't want to be that man. He wanted to be the man he himself formed, through the things he chose to do and the books he chose to read. And if he doesn't have that then…

[basil-does-arttt]

I see a lot of people (including myself) tend to think Nero was accidental. That he wasn't planned on either Vergil's part or Nero's mom's part, he was just a byproduct of circumstances or whatever and thats why he was abandoned by his mother in the orphanage.

But what if he wasnt accidental at all?

What got me thinking about this was Vergil's line in his ending in DMC4SE; "Soon they shall know this devil's power. The power of a son of sparda".

Theres no way he would've been talking about Dante. By that point in time he likely assumed Dante was either dead or long gone off on his own thing, and he probably wouldn't be meaning himself either because he's leaving fortuna in this cutscene. That leaves one option: Nero.

Vergil wanted to follow in his father's footsteps. Thats why he was in Fortuna in the first place, to learn more about Sparda and the life he lived, what he did and accomplished, etc. Sparda had two sons, and you probably know where im going with this by now.

Maybe thats why Vergil did too. He wanted to follow in his dad's footsteps, and being the misguided and naive teenager he was, he couldve thought that was the next step in his journey. (Then promptly realized he either didnt want or wasnt ready for a son and fucked off)

"Soon they shall know this devil's power. The power of a son of sparda".

Not just any son; His son.

Another thing that makes me lean into this theory is how he reacted to the revelation of Nero being his son from Dante in DMC5. He didnt sound all that surprised, if you ask me.

His reaction comes across to me as if he knew of this "son" ready, but of course since he had never met Nero in his life, he didnt know who this son was. He knew he had a son, he just didnt know it was Nero specifically;

Nero, who he'd just spent basically an entire game relying on and trusting his fate to (and dante ig but thats not the focus here) as V, Nero who he ripped the arm off of to regain Yamato unknowing of who he really was - only that he had Yamato - and Nero who he'd just abandoned yet again to fuck off to the top of the Qliphoth where he intended to meet one of two fates to his battle with Dante; death, or survival, and neither of those involved his son at all.

And now that he knows who his son is, now that he's met and has known his son for a while now actually, he's left to deal with the guilt of abandoning him and leaving him on his own for the last 25(ish) years. For hurting him, mutilating him, damn near fucking killing him as Urizen. This son who he never had any intention of knowing, ever, not even once.

This son who he now has to learn to love, or at least accept as a part of him and his life, whether Nero himself accepts it back or not.

(And yknow, i think things will work out fine for them if capcom ever decides to make another entry into the timeline. Nero seemed pretty set on keeping his father alive after all, why would he bother if he didn't care? And Vergil seems to be making an effort - albeit an awkward one but its still an effort nonetheless - to be present in Nero's life at least to some degree judging off that main menu screen of them sitting together in the van in tense silence.

And he does care about Nero, way more than he lets on. Gifting his book to Nero is clean proof of it, that book which represents his heart. His love, his soul, his being.

So yeah. I think they’ll turn out okay.)

[that-gay-guy-from-hell]

Despite Your Flaws: Vergil x G/N Reader

SUMMARY: Vergil and you are spending a soft moment together; one where Vergil asks a question that has been on his mind since V defeated Urizen.

BEGINNING NOTES: I wrote this while listening to “Our Happy Ending” from Buddy Simulator 1984 (I'll link it below). I highly suggest reading this while listening to it. The song helps set the tone; plus there are no words so it doesn’t mess with your reading (at least that’s how my brain works lmao) and it's short. Quick reminder: Check my H/Cs for what Vergil is wearing--you can find it through the AO3 link below. 🟪💠⬛🟪💠⬛ Vergil x G/N Reader Fluff Not angst per se, but kinda sad Short and cute; at least I think so anyway

==

     The room was quiet except for the faint baroque-style music coming from the record player. In the middle of the room on the queen size mattress were two people; the eldest son of Sparda and you, his beloved muse. The pair were leaning up ever so slightly against the headboard; Vergil had a book in hand while you were studying the former.

     It was the first time in a long time that the both of you took a day off to yourselves; one that was only about relaxing and indulging in each other’s warmth. No training. No paperwork. Nothing. Just the two of you intertwined in one another’s limbs.

     An unintentional quiet delighted hum emanated from you as you mindlessly traced Vergil’s tattoos; something you used to do quite often with V. However, when compared to V, tracing the complete man’s skin was different. 

     He is more muscular than V. Vergil’s skin is much warmer and rougher to the touch; the divots and seemingly random scarring that adorned the pallid skin only added to the sensation. Despite them being the same person, their reactions were almost opposites; V would seemingly melt into your touch, while Vergil tends to flinch and pull away from your soft touches--which you'd never hold against the tormented man, but it was still different. 

     “I do not understand why you do that,” Vergil sighed as he watched your hand travel up his forearm.

     You looked up at him with a raised brow, “Do what?”

     A soft thump came from his book as he shut it, focusing on the conversation, “Trace those.”

     It wasn’t surprising that Vergil disliked his tattoos, not only because of the painful memories that spawned them but because of the man who adorned them before.

     You gently traced down one of the larger lines, “I don’t really have a reason,” your fingers ghosted the back side of his hand and down his knuckles, “Do you want me to stop?”

     Vergil set his cheek against the top of your head and grabbed your hand, “May I ask you something?”

     “Sure.”

     “Do you wish I was-” his brow twitched at his thoughts, “was still him?”

     A small sad frown pulled the corners of your lips down, “What? Who do you mean?”

     “V.”

     You shook your head gently, “No,” your fingers tightened around his, “I like having the entire person; not just half.”

     Vergil stared down at the intertwinement of your hands, “Are you… sure..?”

     “Of course,” you got up and moved to sit on his lap, wanting a better view of your lover, “Why would I want anyone else?”

     “V was much kinder to you,” his eyes avoided yours, “He was more personable… V was raw unfiltered humanity; why wouldn’t you want that?”

     “Because,” you gently pulled one of his hands to your lips and kissed his knuckles, whispering softly, “I prefer a man with flaws rather than one who is perfect; if they are perfect, they cannot improve, cannot change. Flaws are what makes someone human, Vergil.”

     He shook his head ‘no’ and looked at you with a furrowed brow, “That doesn’t make sense; V was precisely all of my humanity, how could he not have been human?”

     You gave him a soft comforting smile, “Just because something is labeled as one thing doesn’t mean that it fits said category; you are a prime example.”

     “How so?”

     Your smile widened, “One could label you as a fickle evil man, while all I see is a man who was hurting, who needed help and couldn’t find any; someone who acted out of pure emotion. A man who needed to be cared and loved for.”

     Silence fell back over the room as Vergil mulled over his thoughts and shook his head. 

     “But why do you care for me? After everything that I am responsible for causing? Why wouldn’t you want someone free of those sins?” Vergil’s face was that of curiosity but his voice had an underlying sadness.

     You gently placed your palm on his cheek, rubbing it with your thumb, “Because you deserve it. Because I fell in love with Vergil; both halves of you.”

     He scoffed and turned away from you and your palm.

     “I mean it,” you took your other hand and used it to turn his gaze back to you, holding both sides of his face in your hands, “Despite everything, you still deserve to be loved, to be cared about; no matter what. You are a sweet and loving man, Vergil. I wouldn’t trade you for V, for Urizen, even for the world itself. You mean more than anything else ever has to me, my dear. I would follow you to the ends of the Earth if that is what you wished. I could die tomorrow and I wouldn’t regret a single moment spent with you; only that I couldn’t spend more of my time with you.”

     Vergil turned his gaze down a bit, blinking slowly, “That is a dangerous mindset; one that could be taken advantage of, you know that? How do you know that I won’t do so?”

     “I trust you,” you smiled warmly and paused for a moment in thought before smiling wider, “ ‘For Mercy has a human heart, Pity a human face, And Love, the human form divine, And Peace, the human dress’.”

     The blue devil smiled and turned his gaze back to you, “Have you forgotten that I am half-devil?”

     “Not in the slightest, in fact,” you squirmed closer to him, placing your forehead against his, “I can hear a loud purring from him.”

     Embarrassment spread across Vergil’s face, “You are hearing things.”

     You decided to ignore his comment, “You know, I like hearing you purr, Vergil. It lets me know that you’re happy, at least to some extent, and that’s all I want; for you to be happy.”

     “With you my love,” Vergil placed a gentle sweet kiss on your lips, “I am in pure bliss.”

==

ENDING NOTES: I have been working on a smutty Vergil fic and needed a break so I just wanted something short, cute, and soft. Also for more context: Vergil will never admit it but he sees/saw V as the "better" half of him. Urizen was a powerful brute but that's not what Vergil wants to be; sure he wants power but a warrior without knowledge is worthless in a fight. 💠💠💠 Hope y'all enjoyed reading and thanks for the support! It truly means a lot to me after all the other fandoms I've been in; ones where it is so toxic that I never shared my stories or art, so it's nice to have a kind community like the DMC one ;)))

==

Link for song: Our Happy Ending: Buddy Simulator 1984

==

If you like this please consider checking this on my AO3. There are extra chapters and my H/Cs over there, so please consider checking them out! Comments, Likes/Kudos, and shares are always appreciated! Thanks so much for reading!! :)))

MASTER LIST FOR TUMBLR

[leatherandmossprints]

‘The First Book of Urizen, Plate 3 (Bentley 22)’ by William Blake, c. 1794.

[a-wartime-paradox]

Paradox of the Thirteenth, or "There's a surprising amount of Faction Paradox in Series 11-13"

Despite not being many fan's top choice, the Thirteenth Doctor's era shared concepts with the Faction Paradox series surprisingly often. Some of these were explicit, such as The Paradox Moon featuring Siblings Same and Different (although these Siblings' Faction is otherwise unrelated to the FP Faction, as of 2023), whilst others are simply similarities in creative choices, again varying in how obvious they are, from the "Ashad" (Series 12 - The Timeless Children) resembling FP's technosapiens, to Time Lords "binding" time in Once, Upon Time (part of Series 13/Flux)

So, here I will attempt to list every possible connection between the Thirteenth Doctor/Chris Chibnal's era of Doctor Who and the Faction Paradox mythology

Firstly, an explanation as to why this is all happening...

Explanation as to why the Thirteen Doctor is meeting Faction Paradox-esque entities.

The War has been ended for a long time, and the Great Houses have finally, actually, fallen (see The Timeless Children) leaving no one to hold up their imposed metastructure of history. Why didn't anyone invade in Series 1-7, before the Time Lords returned?, you ask. Well, it's not because The Day of the Doctor is a bootstrap, as I don't believe in perfect bootstraps, but rather because well... They did. During Series 1, the Reapers arrived, explicitly due to the lack of Time Lords (Father's Day), and so did a lone Dalek (Dalek), and finally the original Dalek Emperor's last Time War fleet (The Parting of the Ways). Then in Series 2, the Cult of Skaro arrived (Army of Ghosts/Doomsday), followed by Davros (The Stolen Earth/Journey's End)- who along with the Supreme Dalek, somehow survived the Crucible's fall (The Magician's Apprentice/The Witch's Familiar)- and then the New Dalek Paradigm emerged, from survivors of the War (Victory of the Daleks). All this interference from War-time participants is what's preventing pre-Anchoring entities entering the Third Universe, as it echoes the status quo which was so hostile to their very existence.

Oh, and "Dvapara Yuga" means "the Dark Times, as understood to not be an early period of universal history, but rather the state of history metatemporally predating Rassilon's anchoring of the thread"

She is born out of an interaction with a past Doctor (Twice Upon a Time) - if it wasn't for acausal (and unintentionally) intervention of the First Doctor, the Thirteenth Doctor never would have existed. This is a bit of a stretch, as interference forwards in a timeline is much less paradoxical than the reverse, but this is her first appearance so...

The Solitract, from It Takes You Away, is an intelligent & conscious universe, exiled from the main universe in order to allow for it's creation. "Creation" here probably refers to Event One/The Big Bang, but, if one is on the train of "the universe before the Anchoring of the Thread didn't have a beginning, and the Big Bang was retroactively added by Urizen [Rassilon]", then this is very easily re-interpreted as a mention of the early Sun Builders (a.k.a Time Lords) cleaning up their area of spacetime in preparation for imposing rationality on it. To be even more bold, I may suggest that this isn't a universe at all, but instead an intercreational, a class of being first mentioned in The Book of the War, although one type was first mentioned in the BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures novel The Taking of Planet 5, as a "Swimmer". I propose that the Solitract is not a Swimmer, or a Leviathan, but rather a smaller intercreational, perhaps growing out of the Third Universe (the main DW/FP universe), before being banished by the Great Houses. See Explanation as to why the Thirteen Doctor is meeting Faction Paradox-esque entities at the top of this post.

The Ux, from The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos, are clearly some gods from the Dvapara Yuga.

Orphan 55 features a future version of Earth which deviates heavily from most other depictions of it. Speculatively, this means the Thirteenth Doctor travelled to an aberrant timeline, or that the Ghost Point has somehow worsened since the degradation of the Great Houses's imposed metastructure, rather than healing.

During Fugitive of the Judoon, the Doctor interacts with Gallifrey's distant past. I can't really explain this even by the standard explanation at the top of this post. However, one thing interesting to note is that the ancient Time Lord "Gat" considered "Mutter's Spiral" to be a "tiny galaxy". This is notable because Gallifrey is basically always said to be in the centre of Mutter's Spiral - that is, the Milky Way - and naming a galaxy as "tiny" kind of implies that you aren't from it. Maybe Gallifrey wasn't always in Mutter's Spiral, and got moved? Or maybe Gat and the Division come from some alternative Gallifrey? I don't know, just interesting to note.

The novel At Childhood's End (written by Sophie Aldred, actor for Ace) featured Ace meeting the Thirteenth Doctor, and descriptions of the former's fractured timelines. Notably, the next time Ace and the Doctor met (in The Power of the Doctor), neither one of them mentioned this, almost as if the timeline in which it happened had fractured...

Rakaya and Zellin from Can You Hear Me? are clearly some kind of pre-anchoring gods like the Ux. In Time Lord Victorious short story The Guide to the Dark Times, it was confirmed that they were, specifically, Eternals (not the MCU kind), and another Time Lord Victorious text, a novel called The Knight, the Fool, and the Dead, claimed that Eternals were among the other inhabitants of the Dark Times, the "Old Ones". Interestingly, multiple Eternals do indeed appear in the "classic" series of Doctor Who, implying that the Anchoring did not fully remove them, but as they didn't appear in NuWho until now, I feel safe in speculating that the War somehow barred them from it - perhaps they'd joined the conflict, on the side of both the Time Lords, Daleks, the Enemy, and others, "helping out" wherever it benefited them?

Ashad, first appearing in The Haunting of Villo Diodati, and then in the following serial Ascension of the Cybermen/The Timeless Children, is an "emotional Cyberman". Any readers of Faction Paradox could immediately draw the connection between this and Faction Paradox's "technosapiens", named as such partially to avoid infringing on the BBC's trademark, but also because The Book of the War showed that many sects of posthumanity had become cyborgs, but many were not emotionless and evil like the Cybermen.

The Timeless Child, first appearing in The Timeless Children, is vaguely reminiscent of the idea hinted upon in The Book of the War that the Great Houses stole the power of regeneration from another species, in The Book of the War being the Great Vampires, and in The Timeless Children being the titular Timeless Child. This note of continuity was expanded upon by the writer @aristidetwain in his short story Out of the Box introduced the "Child-That-Was-Taken", intended to be a member of the Yssgaroth species, and to be the Timeless Child itself. Additionally, this Child was the motivator for the Great Vampires' war with the Great Houses, the Eternal War (a.k.a First War in Heaven).

In The Timeless Children, Tecteun is shown alongside Rassilon and Omega. Previously, the figure alongside Rassilon and Omega was the Other, a version of the Doctor from before he was the Doctor. My personal fix for this, which I admittedly took from @/aristidetwain, is that there were many Others, assisting Rassilon and Omega at different points in time. Other Others may be the human Dr. Who from the novel Human Nature, the Eleventh Doctor "Cheesemaker" (The Lost Dimension), Osiris (in his car future), and the Sixth Doctor (The Scrolls of Rassilon)

In Shadow in the Mirror, the Thirteenth Doctor released Aphasia / Daughter of Mine from her mirror of entrapment, despite the fact that Aphasia mentioned a "ginger haired doctor" who "believed himself to be the last" (likely Muldwych/Merlin), meaning that the Doctor had been interacting with Aphasia out-of-order, which is... Reasonably dangerous.

Throughout Flux, the villains "Swarm" and "Azure" attempt to remove the Mouri from the planet Time, effectively de-anchoring the thread. They're method, strangely, is to try to destroy the entire universe using "the flux".

Village of the Angels features the first instance of Weeping Angels being shown to posses proper intelligence, as they ally themselves with Tecteun, presumably in exchange for something, and even more interestingly, they have a rogue member, suggesting power structures in their ranks. This isn't particularly Faction Paradox -related, but it feels like it is, and I hope Faction Paradox writers use Weeping Angel - analogues to continue to explore this.

Eve of the Daleks features the Doctor "resetting" the TARDIS, causing a localised time loop. However, perhaps more notably, the Daleks which appear in this episode are "Dalek Executioners", which make their debut in Time Lord Victorious.

The Power of the Doctor won't be mentioned here, perhaps I'll grant it a full post going over all of its batshit-insanity (affectionate?) some other time.

This post was made after I saw @familyparadox remark at the high amount of Faction/Thirteen content

[sinful-morningstar]

Spartober Day 21 Vergil (VerNero)

Author's Note: This was a lot to write and in hindsight it is more accurate to the Experimentation prompt but not much happens in this just some hurt/comfort and some kisses. Enjoy Today's prompt ! Prompts by Whatsanapocalae1 ( I use a combination of SparTober and Devil MayTober Prompts) 21: Vergil(VerNero) ‘He’s your Father!’ the words echoed in Nero’s mind as he looked over at Vergil who sat across from him reading a book in Nico’s Van. His gaze was full of curiosity as he saw the man who was once separated V and Urizen now combined to make the man before him..man and demon collided. He looked away avoiding his father’s gaze.

A sudden shift in the atmosphere in the room causes Vergil to take notice. The book he was reading slides to the floor from his lap. The man's piercing gaze turns to Nero.

“Nero.. What do you want?”

"Nothing…it's fine…go back to your ..poetry or whatever.." Nero stammered avoiding his gaze once more blushing softly though he wasn't exactly sure why.

“My, my.. I wasn't aware that my presence was so intimidating..”Vergil chuckled to himself as his gaze turned back to the book.

“Oh, this here? It's not poetry. Just some philosophy, that's all.”

Vergil picks it up and opens the book once more to continue reading it, as his gaze is focused on it, rather than Nero.

“Ah..so I'm guessing when it belonged to V it was poetry and now that it's yours. Its philosophy now.." Nero said softly, feeling a bit at ease with Vergil's soft chuckle. It was oddly comforting.

“Something like that, yes.” Vergil said with an unamused tone, although there is a slight hint of a smile in the corners of his mouth after he said that. It is quite apparent that he's teasing Nero, as he leans back casually on his chair with his feet crossed. As his eyes return to the book, he turns onto the next page of the book.

Nero smirked softly, enjoying the sight of the slight curve of a smirk on Vergil's face. It made him happy to know he could get such a reaction from him. He looked away and sighed watching as the streets of Redgrave blew past the window.

Vergil continues to remain in the same position. He is engrossed in reading his book with a rather stoic expression on his face, his black hair falling over his eyes as a gentle breeze blows it.

He then speaks in a rather casual tone without turning his gaze back to Nero, but rather in the direction of the window.

“It's a nice day outside, isn't it?”

Nero chuckled softly at Vergil's attempts as small talk "Wow…uh i mean i guess it is…" he shrugged gently as he looked up at Vergil with a raised brow. This was a start , he couldn't complain much, not when their first meeting was a fight.

Vergil remains silent for a moment as he reads his book before he speaks in a rather nonchalant tone once again.

“You know.. we, humans, often take great pride in our achievements, but as I sit here.. reading my book..”

He chuckles, looking up from his book and fixing his gaze onto Nero before speaking with a serious and sharp tone of voice.

“I realise that in the grand scheme of things..”

Vergil turns his attention back to the book and continues to read it before falling into a slight silence.

Nero perked his head up "Half Demon..half human… remember that…" he said softly, listening closely to what Vergil was trying to say .

"You realise what?" he asked, tilting his head gently.

Vergil turns the page of his book, and looks back to Nero.

“As I was saying.. what I've achieved throughout my life so far, seems rather.. insignificant.”

He chuckles, as he reads his book once more.

“Even my struggle against my own brother.. “ He whispers to himself as he continues to read his book. His facial features become slightly more solemn for a moment as he speaks, but he quickly recovers..

“..seems so trivial and.. meaningless.”

Vergil finishes the sentence, without looking away from his book.

"Oh…." Nero said softly nodding he knew what Vergil meant, part of it was self depreciation but he knew it was also an admission of guilt and knowing when to stop , it seemed V had gotten to Vergil in his subconscious , but he knew he was right.

“And to think… It was my own pursuit of power..”

Vergil says to himself, before he closes his book and looks to Nero.

“…that caused me to lose everything. The people I loved.”

He looks down at the floor as he speaks. There is just enough silence between the two of them to hear a pin drop.

Nero nodded gently, taking in Vergil's words that they were true, accurate to what had happened all those years ago between Dante and Vergil. he swallowed softly.

"Yeah…"

Vergil sits in silence for a moment, before he speaks again. This time, his tone of voice is rather bitter, yet, his gaze remains glued on Nero.

“I was young.”

He says the man's features remain unchanged as he speaks, as if he had locked himself inside a void.

“Foolish, even…”

Vergil's face is expressionless as he continues to speak, with a rather stern and sharp tone. “But that…” Vergil chuckles to himself.

“..That was no excuse..”

"Father…You; You made some tough choices, granted I don't agree with them, not by a longshot" Nero gave a weak chuckle.

he licked his lips nervously before he continued" but. You made them because you thought it was the right thing to do, and deep down, you wanted what was best for you because well…you felt that all you had left was yourself…"

A slight smirk returns to Vergil's face as he hears Nero's words. He then stands up, looking down at the young man for a moment, before turning to put his book on a nearby table.

“I'm impressed.” He says, while looking at Nero.

“It's not often that someone can put themselves in my.. rather unique, position, and understands my motivation.”

Vergil walks towards Nero, standing behind the young man's chair and leaning forward to hold the chair's back bar.

Nero sighed "No it's not often at all but we aren't like most people…" he said with a small smirk as he moved closer to Vergil.

looking up at him in slight admiration he bit his lip "I know its hard but..I'll learn to forgive you and so will Dante…"

A slight sigh escapes Vergil's lips as he hears Nero's words.

“I suppose it's…about time that i.. forgave myself.. “He says with a soft, and almost hesitant tone.

“….for the choices I had made when I had no idea of what the outcome would really be.”

Vergil speaks to Nero with a hint of a weak smile on his face, but the man's gaze soon moves to somewhere else, as if he is lost in thought.

“That is.. IF.. I was even worthy of forgiveness.”

Nero felt his eyes tear up gently. He could hear the pain in Vergil's voice and see it in his eyes despite seeing the weak smile he knew deep down it was a disguise to shield Vergil from all the pain and burden those around him with it…

"Your are…everyone is..everyone deserves a second chance…"

Vergil's eyes meet Nero's gaze, and for a moment, the man appears surprised by the young man's words.

A second chance..

He says, his voice soft, and tinged with an emotion that is almost as if he is about to cry.

But I'm not sure if.. I deserve it.

Vergil then leans forward, resting both of his arms on the chair's back bar.

Nero looked away blinking the tears from his eyes as he sniffled gently. He licked his lips nervously before speaking again. "Well..Dante's a different story that's for sure, but..for me..I'll give you one in time..you've gotta earn that trust Vergil…"

Vergil looks down at Nero for a moment, before he speaks again.

“Earning the trust of others isn't exactly..” he paused, "..my forte, shall we say. I'm more comfortable alone than.. with anyone else.”

Vergil speaks with an unfeeling tone; but there is a small, slight crack in the man's voice that speaks of disappointment and sadness.

"Yeah I hear ya, but. Maybe; Maybe you don't have to be alone anymore. Maybe you never were" Nero said as he reached for Vergil's hand gently holding it.

Nero's touch causes Vergil to instinctively withdraw his hand a bit, before he lets Nero take his hand, although he remains silent and his expression is almost stern and unamused.

“What do you mean by that, Nero?”

He asked with his tone of voice becoming a bit more serious and sharper in quality.

"Whatever you want it to be…" Nero said sweetly with a gentle smile, a fond look in his eyes.

Vergil pauses and his gaze slowly shifts to Nero. The man's facial features remain unchanged as he speaks with a somewhat awkward tone of voice.

“I'm…. not quite sure that I understand…”

The man's voice then goes quiet for a moment. He then speaks again, but this time, his tone is rather awkward and a bit more vulnerable as well.

“Could… can you please enlighten me a little more?”

"Well I mean that depends really…" Nero said softly as he swallowed gently he inhaled slowly and sighs.

Vergil tilts his head slightly in confusion, as if asking Nero for clarification of the words he had said.

“Depends…on what?” He asked with a raised brow, as his own facial features remained unchanged but there was a subtle hint of curiosity in his voice.

"If you're willing to work on this. Work on..us whatever this is…" Nero shrugged gently.

Vergil looks down at his hand which Nero holds, he then moves his gaze down to Nero.

“Work on… us?” he says with a subtle smile forming on his face as his tone becomes slightly more relaxed, and the hints of vulnerability can be seen in the man's eyes.

“Are you referring to us having a relationship, then?” The half demon questions with his gaze firmly fixed on Nero, while a small smile remains on his face.

"Uhhh..Huuhhh umm" Nero stammered awkwardly as he blushed darkly .

"I..uhm..may have chosen the wrong words or phrases d-don't get the wrong idea.." he said defensively.

Vergil continues to stare at Nero silently, as his smile becomes more confident. He then breaks the silence by speaking once again, with his voice becoming a bit more stern, as if he was slightly disappointed with Nero's reply.

“You do not have to justify yourself, Nero” He then shifts his tone a bit, with a sense of disappointment in his voice.

“You meant relationship.. didn't you. As in..a romantic partner.”

Vergil's face remains unchanged as he speaks, and the half demon's gaze remains locked on Nero.

"Uhh uh well um ..heh w-wait h-hold on why aren't you, y'know disturbed…disgusted …" Nero stammered and stopped himself, tilting his head curiously.

The corner of Vergil's lips curls up into a smug smile, as he remains silent for a moment, before speaking.

“Why should I be?” The half demon says in a rather unfeeling tone, before speaking more gently.

He shrugs “ I’ll admit The concept of romance has always been.. foreign to me. This.. does not mean I am adverse to its effects, if given the opportunity, of course.”

Vergil's voice now has a subtle hint of amusement in it, as the man looks at Nero.

"Okay, yeah, that's valid and all but uh you're forgetting one teensy tiny little detail…I am your son…" Nero blushed and looked away.

"Unless..unless this is normal..for demons?..wait..is it normal?"

Vergil looks straight at Nero, the half demon's gaze is sharp.. almost like a predator staring down his prey; his expression remains unchanged.

“What.. does it matter if .. you are my son?” He asks in a stern and unfeeling tone. The man's voice is cold and ruthless, but he takes no notice of it himself.

“The relationship between us is not like.. traditional parent and child relationship. We.. are half demons after all. You are also an adult, you can make your own decisions, am I not correct?”

Nero looked back at Vergil biting his lip blushing scarlet at the gaze from Vergil. It made his blood run hot and cold all at the same time, his stomach in knots and it flipped and turned with curiosity, fear and a dash of desire.

"I mean, that's true..and technically you didnt raise me but..still isn't it odd?" he asked gently, licking his lips in anticipation.

Vergil gives Nero a look that seems to indicate he was a bit amused by what the young man had just said, before he answers him.

"Perhaps it is odd.."

Vergil says in a more unfeeling tone, as he looks to the side, seeming a bit pensive.

"..then again, so are we. He pauses for a moment, before looking back at Nero, as a subtle smile starts forming in the corner of his lips.

“But.. I am willing to give.. romance.. a try.”

Vergil's expression remains stern and serious, with his eyebrows slightly raising at the words of Nero. He then speaks to the young man, with a slight shake in his voice.

“Odd… or not.”

He moves his gaze to the side for a moment, as his voice drops in tone.

“..I will not stop you from.. experimenting with.. your.. feelings, if you wish to do so.”

He speaks in a rather unfeeling tone, although it's quite noticeable that he is more vulnerable than he appears on the outside.

Nero nodded gently as he as he swallowed audibly looking up at Vergil with intent, he took in his words and sighed gently before leaning in and doing as Vergil said..Experimenting with his true feelings the ones that bubbled and boiled in V's presence and now is reserved for Vergil.

his lips pressed up against Vergil's as he kissed him without hesitation, his heart racing as he held him close.

A slight gasp leaves Vergil's lips as Nero kisses him, his eyes widening in surprise as his face turns red with colour. The man's expression remains unchanged however as he gazes at Nero's face, the half demon's own eyes locking on Nero's lips for a moment.. before he moves to kiss Nero back.

The two share a passionate and tender kiss, their lips tightly pressed against each other, as the warmth of their breath mingled together, and the taste of their lips mixing. Their tongues slowly begin to duel against each other with passionate intent.

[thienvaldram]

The Book of the Snowstorm – Readthrough/Review Part 7

Framing Story (Scenes 16-18)

Did that just imply… Urizen was God. Like the ‘God’ mentioned by the Toymaker in the Giggle was actually Urizen (and thus Rassilon)? Also a Church on Ruby Road reference with the goblin. I like Rich’s little section, and in general I’m curious as to how the events in the 925 Universe tie to the Snowstorm in the library and how the mysterious-99-per-cent-sure-he’s-not-Auteur stranger factors into it, if they do at all.

The God Who Came For Christmas

Hello again FASA War Chief. The glimpse into the Archon’s perception of one another was fascinating and I think I get what it’s trying to do. Imply the FASA War Chief is a Self-Hypnotised Master trying to disguise. Either way, fun little piece even if (IIRC) it’s a sequel to a DW RPG story that I have not seen.

Presents

Interesting piece. The Fantastic Realm is an interesting setting and I like the use of comic book terminology alongside more DWEU concepts. As well as the general exploration of the infinitely variable constantly resetting characters of comic books. Captain America, or well… Captain Yank, was a good choice of character for that IMO and I appreciated the references to other suspiciously similar substitutes for Marvel’s other cast members.

The Cathedral of Winter

Ok so first of all, Abraytha is really fun, and I appreciate his general upbeat demeanour and sense of adventure and fun. Also his aesthetic is cool. The Archons of Winter were really funny, and have similarly funny implications for their temporal counterparts (In that a Multiversal visitor with the appropriate equipment could in theory bypass their defences almost as easily as Abraytha did to the Archons of Winter). The cultural differences between Xiantio and Abraytha were also really fun. Aesthetic was great too, just the general winter theming. (Also Lotto cameo?????)

[realmoftheacornking]

William Blake, "The First Book of Urizen," Plate 3. 1794.

[mybeingthere]

William Blake - The First Book of Urizen, Plate 21, 1794.

[midnightkolrath]

I've woken up on this day with a few quick thoughts on this scene from DMC5

Some things ppl (maybe myself in the past) have noticed and stated probably before but I'll throw my thoughts in anyway.

So, after Dante and Vergil knock back Nero, to keep him from following after him and establishing him as the protector of the human world while they go on to the demon world to cut down the Qliphoth tree. You can see Vergil's gaze linger on Nero for a good moment.

And I mean for a hot minute, too. He's gazing at the one he just found out is his own son. After witnessing the kind of strength his son displayed. He's thinking, and you can tell.

What about, you may ask?

About giving Nero his poetry book, of course. A personal belonging of his that he's personally cherished. And you know...this is actually the most affectionate Vergil has been towards Nero, in his own why. Let me elaborate real quick on why that is.

In Visions of V, its established that Vergil sees his poetry book as his 'heart'. Its tied to all the trauma he's suffered at first, but lamenting with his younger self, he realizes that he no longer needs to run from it and instead face it. His Heart will protect him.

He goes on to say to himself that he doesn't have to toss away what he has left. It goes on, in this moment, to show how Vergil eventually believes deep down that he and Dante can be twins again. It twists the deep sibling rivalry on a more positive spin.

I say positive, because all this time Vergil's been very keen on proving his strength into defeating his little brother who he's lost twice to by this point. As himself (3) and as Nelo (1). Its why he splits himself to gain more power and laments over the whole thing as V.

Its why Urizen is so quick to bring up how he's stronger than Dante and no longer has to 'see him as a threat'. He doesn't even have to spare the effort.

Getting back on track, though. Its funny how its stated V's poetry book is his heart, because of how much its tied to not just him, but Urizen. He named Urizen after one of Blake's works after all, the 'Book of Urizen'. Both halves of him are tied to that one book. His heart.

So Vergil spending a moment to ponder and consider giving Nero that same book? Him having a taunt that involves asking himself if he should entrust it to him? And he does? He's giving Nero not just something personally cherished, but essentially a piece of himself as well.

I think the nice bow on top is that Nero picks up the book, very likely recognizes that its the one V was carrying around all the time and realizes just how important it is. Thus, he's actually reading it by the end of the game to maybe understand personally how it was cherished.

Vergil took a minute to decide on giving his son his 'heart', followed through with it, and now Nero is holding onto and 'protecting it' until the day they can one day meet again. Its basically Vergil's own way of displaying a sort of affection towards Nero, the way I see it.

Its the little things I like about these games, ya know...just the things you can potentially pick up when you think about it. Its a shame alot of added context is in a media that you can only read through fan translation (thankfully) and not accessible traditionally, but its a good thing the community has come around to getting a hold of and translating such things for others to read.

[icycoldninja]

Then sleep (V x Reader angst)

A lump seemingly glued to the inside of your throat, you walked briskly down the sidewalk, headed towards the hospital, eager to see V again. After defeating Urizen and destroying the Qliphoth and whatnot, V had remained separate from Vergil, allowing the two of you to enjoy life together, without the burdens of his degradation--or so you thought.

He'd barely gotten to live one year before problems began to arise. It appeared that no matter what, V was doomed to waste away from the very beginning of his short life. His normally soft and silky smooth skin began to crack once again; movement and breathing became increasingly difficult until you were forced to take him to a hospital, where he sat to this day, strapped to a million beeping machines.

As you approached his room's door, anxiety and fear began to build up in your stomach. Every day it was like this. Every day, you dreaded opening that door because you were afraid you'd find a corpse within, just like every night you feared leaving because you worried each time V said goodnight was the last.

Crossing your fingers, you sucked in a deep breath, knocked on the door three times, waited a second or two, then entered. The first thing you saw was V's skeletal figure underneath thin sheets, wearing a hospital gown nearly 2 sizes too small; his gaunt, yet beautiful face turned towards the door. Upon seeing you enter, his chapped lips curled into a sweet, yet painful-looking smile.

"Hey, V," You said, shutting the door and striding over to kiss him.

"Wanderer," He sighed, voice barely above a whisper. "I've missed you."

"Me too," You chuckled, sitting down on the flimsy plastic chair at his bedside. You watched as he turned his attention to the open window nearby, his bony chest rising and falling dramatically with each labored breath. Beside him, the electrocardiogram beeped steadily, showing that at the very least, his vitals were normal. On the small table at his bedside were a bunch of get well cards, balloons, and plushies that bore strong resemblances to his familiars--gifts from your friends, and you.

"Hand me Griffon, please." V suddenly muttered, weakly pointing to the table.

"Sure thing, hold on." You reached over and handed him the stuffed animal, watching with sorrowful fondness as he clasped it to his chest with all the strength he had left.

"...Shadow and Nightmare too?" You nodded, handing him the requested toys and helping arrange them around his pillow. After you were finished, you placed a loving kiss on his cracked forehead, smoothing his hair in place as you did so.

"Tired?" You asked, noting the sleepy way he blinked. His dark green eyes looked bloodshot and lifeless, contrasting with his ghostly pale skin. Speaking was taxing on the poor man, so V answered you with a simple nod. You smiled at him, taking his thin hand and gently peppering it with kisses.

A few moments later, you heard V speak again in that raspy, barely auditable voice he always seemed to speak in now.

"Will you read to me?" He sounded so desperate and weak, it scared you.

Pressing a kiss to his hand once again, you nodded and reached for the copy of William Blake's poems, which he kept on the table along with the gifts from everyone else. Still holding onto his hand, you opened the book and propped it up on your lap before slowly, carefully, and somewhat theatrically reading one of the passages, though it was very clear you could never read it as well as he did. Despite this, having you around, even if what you were doing was trivial, comforted V, as he didn't want to be alone, especially not now, when the threads of life were quickly slipping from his grasp.

"Wanderer," He whispered, slender fingers tiredly motioning for you come closer.

"Yeah, sweetie?" You asked, setting down the book and edging closer.

"I feel so tired," He told you, a tinge of fear in his voice.

"Then sleep." You advised, caressing the back of his hand.

"I don't want to." He said, listlessly.

"Why not?" You knew the answer to your own question; it was reflected in his tear-filled eyes.

"Because," He gasped, "I might die in my sleep."

"No you won't, silly," You chuckled, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek. "You'll be fine, I'm right here watching you."

"You will stay with me?" V pleaded, voice brittle.

"Of course, baby," You assured him, now massaging his palm. "I'll be right here until you wake up." Seemingly content with this, V nodded.

"I love you," He croaked, bloodshot green eyes lingering on you for a moment.

"I love you too, V," You replied, smiling. "Sweet dreams." Nodding languidly, V shut his eyes, appearing to fall asleep.

True to your word, you stayed with him throughout the entirety of his slumber, never leaving him once; not even after he stopped breathing and the electrocardiogram flatlined.

[silverstream2]

Related to the fragment below, but I feel like the most hurtful thing Dante could say to Modeus about the whole Urizen situation in 5 (this'd be after Dante woke up from his super long nap) would be to stay out of it (in the case below, in Nero making a decision on how to handle Vergil), "Because you're not family".

Because Modeus has all this past history with Sparda, and that effects how he sees Vergil/Urizen, and what he thinks Nero and Dante should do about it. And Dante doesn't want to hear/deal with any of it (Dante, putting a hand over Modeus' mouth and growling at him with glowing red, demonic eyes: "Keep your mouth shut. Not another goddamn word, do you hear me? Keep your bullshit to yourself."), because he spent his whole life cleaning up after his father's messes and being punished for shit his father did, he doesn't want the same for his son/Nero.

The way Modeus reacts to it, Dante could've stabbed him and caused him less pain. Modeus doesn't flinch, tho- you don't, with fellow demons. Flinching shows weakness; it just makes the pain worse. So does begging, or crying. (Sparda: "If you're going to die, face it with some fucking dignity!") That and crying draws attention- a predator could hear it and show up to wonder what the noise was. Show up to investigate and eat any injured prey.

___

WIP from Modeus' past with Sparda. Put stuff I might wanna add or that adds context in brackets:

"... and we were both so close to calling him, 'Father'. [And I wonder, sometimes, if he was ever... If he ever would've- if he had ever been close to thinking of us as-] So close to maybe [being a family]..."

But none of us said anything."

____

"Yours?" Gwen asked [Sparda], pointing back to us [Modeus and Baul]. She had been talking about her own children. Sparda paused for a beat, giving one of those slow blinks that was just a bit too off to be entirely human, like he wasn't used to only having one eyelid per eye.

"No," he said. "They're my apprentices."

And Modeus had hugged his book to his chest, and noted the weight of the sword at his hip as he shifted his weight in what wasn't quite- but that he wished could be- a flinch, and tried to pretend like that didn't sting.

___

Also just. The general concept of Sparda being the first demon outside of Baul that knew about Modeus love for the Human Realm and the humans' creations, like their books, and being supportive of it. As something more than a tool of Mundus' war, too, eventually. Someone that shared Modeus' fascination and respect for the humans, and even nurtured and encouraged it. Which is a big thing, given how much power and influence Sparda had back when he was still Mundus' right hand man.

___

Set back when Sparda was still working with Mundus, and Modeus and Baul were still working under "Lord Sparda" as his soldiers, back when Baul and Modeus were both younger (maybe older teenagers? Or the demonic equivalent of):

Sparda catching Modeus reading a human book or studying human architecture or something else the humans made, and Modeus expecting to get yelled at and punished for it, maybe even killed and eaten. But instead Sparda just smiles in a way that manages to be gentle despite the other demon's sharp teeth, and reaches out one gauntleted hand (Don't flinch. Don't beg, or cry out. All those things just make the pain worse. Go still, go quiet, those things are safe. Like a stone, something that doesn't feel anything.) to, surprisingly gently, ruffle Modeus' hair. And maybe it's just Sparda's power, but his hand feels warm. And his tone is chiding, but surprisingly warm, and kind.

"Put the book down, Modeus. You can read it more later when we get back. I'll even show you how to store it in an archive crystal, if you want. Human books tend to wear out over time, especially in the Underworld- they last so much longer if you put them in a crystal. You can start your own collection."

[visualpoett]

The First Book of Urizen. William Blake ~ 1794