* the danger is still present, in your time, as it was in ours. - โ this place is not a place of honor. this place is best shunned and left uninhabited
(my body is a godless temple / long since fallen to ruin / and yet i kneel to pray)
god of dreams, morpheus. maker of prophets and madmen. an independent, private, highly selective portrayal of darkrai. re-imagined for the horror genre.
a study of divine portent, moonless nights, destruction, and redemption. by percival (he/him, 30+)
legend (tba). this blog is a sideblog to @oneiromanciy
rules tba, but it's me percy and i love darkrai it's my favorite pokemon lmao.
he has always found a home in the shadows. since the moment of his creation as the counterpart to the moon mother, darkrai had been made of shadow. a nameless terror, an omen- always there, always watching. this time was no different.
yris bore the name of someone with a great destiny- a vague concept that could mean anything. morpheus had seen her power many times. he had faced it twice; clouded, and he had lost โ he thinks of his poor oracle tending to the wounds that appeared suddenly on his body. tobias was a good boy, devout, and would have his reward- but this was the consequence of their bond โ . this time, she had almost lost with him. what a tragic thing- to die, to almost die. to stand at the edge of the abyss and return.
how incredible she was.
come out of the shadows if you are here, she says, and her own flickers. yes, of course he is there. his oracle is safe, armed with the glaive and the mantle of a god- morpheus has come to understand that perhaps tobias needs space. it means he can travel on his own, too.
this is what he has chosen.
ใ i am here, ใ comes his purr, low and haunting. ใ always, if you wish it. ใ
another little dump of morpheus' tulpa. he does look a little like his chosen oracle, that's. expected, i guess.
he's over 7' in height with that broad shoulders-narrow waist sort of build. and of course, nice toned legs, because some things sorta translate over! he's vain about it, too.
ok but to elaborate on this because i KNOW this needs to be elaborated on and cant just be sent out as a simple 'send tweet' sort of post:
darkrai is an elder god from the age of beginnings. a biblical terror that resided on new moon island and exists in a cycle with lunala and her daughters, it was after the age of men came to be that morpheus truly started to choose oracles and mingle more with mortals.
he feeds on fear, he will make you feel afraid by aura, and then to feed, he draws entities in, often by enthralling them. while he doesn't keep permanent thralls, morpheus can permanently alter another entity's perception of literally everything, because he gets into their minds.
notably, his oracles have been seen as his thralls. they often do go mad and seek escape from it, often by death. (now, to prevent this, he has forced his current oracle through apotheosis)
legends z-a rundown for what the heck is going on with morpheus. which also links to @mooncrcwned because anyone who knows anything about my history in the pokemon rpc knows kei and i have been like some weird package deal for over a decade now.
naturally, morpheus is connected to the moon maidens, and so he is interested in seeing what's up with them. he has a link to yris who once beat the shit out of him in almia, and he respects that sort of bravery
he is also drawn to places of great tragedy, since ptsd nightmares sure are a thing! and since he feeds on fear, what better place than a city and region coping with such pain?
his frenzy is less mega evolution related and more grief related, because morpheus never coped with anything in his life. ever. and so it takes a great deal of effort to take him down again.
sorry to the people of lumiose, a biblical angel just came to scare the shit out of all of you, i guess.
and that's the gist of it, but something more polished will be written at some point!
morpheus god of fear functions like a mind flayer. he creates a nice looking form to enthrall his prey and then he breaks minds and eats them. because things approach you easier when you aren't showing up like a biblically accurate angel.
โ darkrai is, after all, also a god and thus he has a tulpa. โ
anyway some fun horrorfacts about morpheus inflicting primordial terror on other beings:
โบ he can control the ability to create night terrors, which means when he goes to make someone's brain into soup, it is a willing decision. he WANTS you to suffer. which is horrific- and many mortals wish that his ability was simply something he couldn't control, because knowing that he CAN control it makes him worse.
โบ morpheus' deity form is not his true form. it is simply the shape he takes, unless he decides to take a human shape- his true form is too many eyes and sharp teeth and shadowy tendrils and that primordial halo most certainly the color and consistency of blood, not to mention the many eyes that move and change in shape and size that are embedded in the horror halo. he can manifest the halo in his deity form and in his human form, but it will not manifest as the bloody terror it actually is- instead it will simply be a deep crimson and appear as if it is made of crystal.
โบ one of morpheus' favorite primordial terror tactics is letting whatever form he has literally peel away to reveal his true form, which is honestly ... eesh- and among humans that he torments, isn't it nice for them to see all the hellish overlay of his true form flickering in and out of reality on top of his rather attractive human shape? yeah, he'll make his targets have the worst time.
i think the scariest part of it is that morpheus enjoys doing this shit- dude's evil because he could choose to NOT do any of this, and while there are plenty of cases where all he'll do is send weird and unsettling omens, the fact he can just decide on Being A Monster is ... yeah. there's a certain category for entities like that, but here's the real kicker! morpheus is not an outcast among the gods! the gods don't care because they're all blue orange mentality! the closest to good that the gods will get is "morally grey" and it only gets worse from there!
is morpheus just as horrifying as the black fog? yes
morpheus can choose to inflict that level of horror on someone he can in fact choose to be like that and i think there's something about actively choosing to do that which makes it so much worse (also he seems to like doing that he can be so evil)
anyway night terrors fuck you up because they actually cause physiological responses like tachycardia and diaphoresis and confusion โฆย and people donโt often remember night terrors. they might remember nightmares, but those happen in REM sleep, which is where peopleย โdreamโ, but night terrors are not happening in REM sleep
so imagine not knowing why your body is reacting like itโs having a constant panic attack, people hear you screaming at night? anyone who comes in to see you sees your limbs jerking around, sometimes people actually have their eyes open,ย
night terrors can also be a symptom of other disorders.ย
what iโm saying is darkrai doesnโt inflict nightmares, darkrai inflicts night terrors. beyond that, darkrai sendsย โdreamsโ which are often visions, but actually doesnโt deal with REM sleep โ thatโs actually the domain of the cresselia. darkrai inflicting night terrors is also what has earned the god such a fearsome reputation, because itโs (initally) UNEXPLAINED CASES of night terrors in ADULTS.ย
darkrai doesnโt inflict night terrors on minors! because thereโs also aย โjudgementโ sort of portion to this. as all gods may do so in their own way, judgement is another way of sayingย โdestroyโ orย โsmiteโ, which all gods can do, arceus just has the direct name for it โ darkraiโsย โjudgementโ is actually in the form of dark void, which sends the target into deep sleep and then sends their body into overdrive.ย
:) tldr, darkrai is terrifying, you will be afraid, but you wonโt know what youโre afraid of, but itโs there and your health will deteriorate :) very fast :) if darkrai decides to inflict night terrors :) because itโs more than just psychological :) thanks for coming to my tedtalkย
or, darkrai and humanity. myths around the creation of human beings vary across worships โ some popular versions are that human beings are simply created by the allfather, arceus. however, some believe that human beings were shaped by other forgotten gods. and only the gods know the truth, and theyโre not talking! so โฆย
notably, while ancient as a god, darkrai is considerably younger than the primordial four ( eternatus the first god, dialga the omega ark, palkia the worldweaver, giratina of the domain of death ), morpheus is about the same age as solagleo and lunala (as he is also lunala's spiritual foil- that will be addressed later) and as such, he is older than the lake trio, due to the fact that his purpose was to create dreams โ but in mortals. mortals needed to exist with enough capacity for conscious thought that unconscious messages would have some goddamn meaning. ( similarly, the eldest of the moon maidens was born around the same time darkrai was created )ย
after the creation of mortals ( and especially humans ), the god of dreams began to send prophecies and visions โฆ and while terrifying, those things helped shape the world as it became. to this day, he has made prophets of mortals, and is responsible for magnificent feats made by human hands.ย
it was the god of dreams, morpheus, who sent visions to an architect in alamos town. it was through these terrifying visions that the space time basilica was built โฆ with a song written by morpheusโ first chosen one, sanivar harmonia โฆ the people call the melodyย โoracรญonโ.ย
MORPHEUS AND DICE ASTRAEA
well, actually, this is where i get to talk about the lake trio and how they play into things. as mentioned above, darkrai was created by arceus right at the dawn of sentient life basically ( because humans are not the only beings that can dream thank you very much! ), but then, these beings needed to be governed to not be completely out of control. thus, astraea was created. rather, astraea is three deities more commonly known as the lake trio.ย
they govern human willpower, emotion, and knowledge. it is the astraea who tell morpheus and the maidens which people are worthy of prophetic dreams. it is the astraea who put people on theirย โmoral pathsโ. but, as deities donโt think like mortals, the path that the astraea may lead someone to โฆ is not always a path of virtue. sin itself exists due to the existence of two things: the primordial khaos, progenitor of arceus, and mortal beings. sin is moderated because of astraea ( and other deities help, too โฆ ).ย
popular myths also list the astraea as bearers of โunconventional sinโ themselves โ uxie has been known asย โsin of comparisonโ, mesprit isย โsin of compassionโ, and azelf isย โsin of devotionโ. as in, traits that in excess are toxic to any mortal being โ but, the astraea seem to be holding out fine โฆ probably because theyโre divinities and donโt need to follow the rules of mortals!
MORPHEUS AND SELENEย
alternatively, darkrai and lunala. i mentioned in another post that darkrai is lunalaโs foil in the sense of the moon-motherโs power is greatest with the full moon, whereas darkrai is strongest under a new moon. as with other โcosmicโ deities ( eg. solgaleo, jirachi, ), much of the power that the deities wield is dependent on the celestial bodies. as such, his relationship with the moon is โฆ just like that.ย
rather, morpheus and selene have to deal with each other, and morpheus fell in love with the youngest of the moon maidens, seleneโs daughters โ and selene is a protective mother. so, there was strain from that. however, the two deities respect each other greatly.ย
back to the celestial power thing, when i say lunala is at the height of her power on a full moon, what i mean is darkrai is essentially stripped of everything but his immortality. so, on that one night, itโs lunalaโs job to keep him from being supremely screwed over, and vice versa.ย
tldr, both deities rely heavily on the moon itself, which honestly isnโt surprising. but on a softer โฆ ( ? ) note, morpheus also associates the moon with the cresselia, which means he associates the moon with love :)ย
more commonly known to humans as the lord of nightmares, darkrai. a god most certainly created by the allfather arceus, his domain is the psyche moreso than anything else. the elder of the lake trio, some say that he is related to lunala, but beyond being ultimately a child of the allfather, the only thing he plays to lunala is a foil. where the moon-motherโs power is greatest at a full moon, the god of dreams peaks with a new moon. as in, the two deities are at the height of power when the other is weakest.ย
the original domain of the god of sleep is new moon island, a place that can only be accessed while a person is asleep โ not counting deities, of course, they can go wherever they want. most people came to new moon island purely by accident, which the deity was not too happy about. to protect his domain, he inflicted those who trespassed with maddening visions and night-terrors.ย
the god of dreams bestowed his first blessing to the seventh king of unova, sanivar, granting the king the ability to manipulate the dreams of others. for as catastrophic as sanivar turned out to be, the god of dreams still adored him. after sanivarโs death in 1487, the god of dreams decided to use the manโs likeness as a basis for his own mortal guise. to non-divinities, he gives the name morpheus, because he may hide a primordial form to blend in, but he has no shame of his power or status. itโs easier to interact with other beings in a body that isnโt associated with primordial fear.ย ย
in the early 1800s, morpheus took up residence in alamos town, predicting a catastrophic event in the town, he communicated with the great architect, godey, and instructed him to build the space-time basilica โ renowned as an architectural marvel, and known as the worldโs largest musical instrument. notably, he also taught godey the oracรญon, a melody capable of reversing damage done even by the primordial four.ย
MORPHEUS AND THE FOUR MAIDENS OF THE MOON. alternatively, darkrai and cresselia. ( ft. worldbuilding collaborating with kei @mooncrcwned, my partner in crime! โฆ as we were yelling about this in discord ims โฆ )
legend speaks of four moon maidens, the daughters of the moon-mother, lunala โ to mortals, the maidens were known as the cresselia ( sinnohan: ใฏใฌใปใชใข ). possessing magic shawls, they were capable of taking the form of young women, or the form of swans. the four maidens were said to pass the power from their mother between each other, each holding it for about a week before passing it to the next. known for bringing dreams, the four cresselia were noted to have traits of their corresponding phase of the moon, and as such would bring certain influences to mortals as they slept โ
โบ waxing crescent means intention: this cresselia is one of strong will.
โบ waxing gibbous means refinement: this cresselia is one of incredible grace.
โบ waning gibbous means gratitude: this cresselia is full of generosity and kindness.
โบ waning crescent means surrender: this cresselia is timid and easily spooked.
โบ eldest of the daughters was known as cresselia of willpower ( sinnohan: ๆๅใฎใฏใฌใปใชใข, iryoku no cresselia ). she brings dreams of victory and success, be it in battle or in business. she is favored thus by warriors and merchants.
โบ the second daughter was known as cresselia of elegance ( sinnohan: ไธๅใฎใฏใฌใปใชใข, jลhin no cresselia). she brings dreams of opulence and riches. often she was favored by nobility.
โบ the third daughter was known as cresselia of kindness ( sinnohan: ่ฆชๅใฎใฏใฌใปใชใข, shinsetsu no cresselia ). she brings dreams of joy and peace. she is favored by artists and humanitarians.
โบ the youngest daughter was known as cresselia of purity ( sinnohan: ็ดๆฝใฎใฏใฌใปใชใข, junketsu no cresselia ). she brings gentle dreams, often the domain of love falls under her jurisdiction. she is favored by poets.
now, darkrai is also well acquainted with lunala, as her divine foil, and thus he also is well aware of her daughters. the two closest to him are cresselia of willpower and cresselia of purity, because he is the new moon. however, in the cycle, the youngest moon maiden surrenders the power she holds to darkrai, and come the next night, he hands it over to the eldest maiden.
sure enough, the youngest maiden came around often during her time of power, so she and darkrai became acquainted. and while she was skittish, he did his best to alleviate her fears. over time, the two became quite fond of each other.
the people of sinnoh say that long ago, darkrai was a being made only of shadow, but that the youngest maiden surrendered her shroud to him, and it became the characteristic red โscarfโ that the god now appears with.
anyway, the point being is there are four cresselia and darkrai fell in love with one of them and this legend passes around as a love story :) thanks for coming to my tedtalk
