You know, everyone always likes to fixate on the idea of Night(Passive) being taken over by Mare(Corruption) either for evil or as a protective entity, but I swear I have never seen a fic that explores the fact that the Corruption is literally born in the Apple Incident.
Because that's an entirely new dynamic.
Imagine.
Because regardless of if it happens at the canon age of 6 or even, say, twice that at 12 (hint hint), it still more or less changes everything.
What if it was literally just a newborn? A hatchling unknowable something that burst out of the shell that was the dark Guardian's own form like a bird from an egg. A lost, out of control, baby with a terrifying amount of power and the screams of a little kid echoing in its head. Because in that situation, the Apple Incident is really just.. two very young children with an absurd amount of power basically having a panic attack.
The Corruption is like a wild animal, and obviously the villagers in that situation will take one look at this Venom/Symbiote looking thing and call it a demon that needs to be eradicated. And that's on top of the fact that internally it's aware that the young and suddenly helpless Nightmare is just screaming because of everything that's happening and his inability to do anything, and it obviously won't have a concept of language at birth and can only rely on the fact that Nightmare is screaming in pain, grief, and utter confusion while a bunch of strangers are trying to hurt it while it's trying to figure out how it's own self works- and that's just a perfect recipe for disaster.
Why wouldn't it lash the fuck out?
And don't even get me started on the aftermath. Because in the situation where the Corruption is just a newborn baby with Passive/Babymare being stuck as little more than a voice in its head that it can't even understand yet, there's a lot that can go wrong. There's no parent or adult that can manage this thing. Really, it's a walking disaster constantly throwing a tantrum at every little thing because again, in this situation, Nightmare has been reduced to complete and utter helplessness as only a mere witness to its mindless actions. And he's just a little kid himself.
That's the real kicker. He's a child stuck watching a newborn baby toddle around in confusion with no one to help either of them.
What if they were both just scared and confused kids?