Jan 5
Silly Billy
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Silly Billy
The Vessels AU
Okay so. Thoughts dump basically.. hiii. Copying the thing I already typed out to explain the basic premise.
Vessels AU
From its page in the masterlist:
“An AU in which several crew members, including Billy’s own loved ones, get taken over and forced to be vessels to strange entities. Billy strikes a deal in order to gain their freedom– he will face several trials, created by each entity, and he will rescue the vessels from these trials. If he can do that within a given time limit, and be successful every time, then the entities will let him go.
If he fails, he will be killed.”
In this AU, all of the characters are possessed by an entity that wants to use them as a vessel. However, when Billy (and Cait and Maidie, who he’s had to take care of since Caz and Suze disappeared due to being taken by the Tide and the Hunter, respectively) finds them, he gets the King, the eldest of the entities and somewhat the leader (also possessing Rennick), to agree to a challenge. A game, of sorts.
Each of the vessels, members of the crew, have their own trial based on and structured around something they fear deeply. There is a lot to elaborate on, for this AU, and it would easily turn into too much rambling here I fear. Maybe later!
So, of the things to elaborate on, there are two main chunks I break it off into. The character specifics, and the storyline and events. I'm mostly only specifying the character specifics here, since it's still kind of a lot. All of this will be under the cut!
Soooo!!! There's no rig in this AU, but the crew just. All live around each other, same city. Siren's Rest characters are here too. I know it doesn't make a lot of sense, but hey this is a self indulgent Putting Everyone Through The Horrors thing so <3 All of the crew get possessed by strange entities, who have plagued the Earth for a long time it seems. They inhabit a sort of pocket dimension connected to the regular world through the back room of a church, and the world they live in is called the Backwards world. The entrance to it, what *would* be a church in a city in the regular world, is actually a dilapidated, broken down building in the middle of a flat, wide stretch of land. Like a field. There are trees and cliffs around, but all of it feels.. off. The Entities' temples are scattered about the seemingly endless Backwards world, and the first can be found by following a path leading from the dilapidated building.
Time doesn't pass here, the sun is always in the sky. Unless, of course, the entities are in one of their 100 year-long hibernation cycles, then the sky is dark and dotted with stars, and the entities are all visible sleeping in a nest in the sky, and the nest is seemingly *made* of the sky. This world is theirs and they can influence it, as all their temples have different appearances and everything.
These entities are all siblings, technically. All spawned from the same Source, with the King being the eldest and kind of the very contested leader of all of them. They are pretty petty and all act kind of like a stereotypical rich, privileged child would, because they have always been allowed to do whatever the fuck they wanted. Visible in their very common tradition of, when they wake up from hibernation every hundred/thousand years or so, going into the real world and snatching a person to possess and use as a vessel for themselves. They all have an aspect of life they want to experience-- some of them, like the Storm, want to be worshiped or have power. Some of them, for example, the Mob, just want to get drunk and experience human pleasures. The Backwards world is inhabited by nothing but the entities, after all. They take these people as their vessels and possess them until those people die, and by then the entities must return to the Backwards world to hibernate again.
So, this is what they're doing for this AU to start. They've just woken up from hibernation and are picking their vessels out. Unfortunately, Billy's loved ones are all taken, which is the catalyst (alongside his luck, I suppose) for him to discover them and get them to agree to the little game this AU follows.
I have many lists for this AU, about the characters and things. Here is an adapted version of all the current characters who have vessels and trials decided (because some of them are still wips, yeah)!
Billy Chamberlain
Billy F. Chamberlain - the Orpheus
Looking after Cait, Maidie, and Rory.
Facing the trials to free his loved ones.
Fears many things, but the one that gets played on most here is powerlessness, being ignored and/or unloved, and the need to be a service.
The main guy!! He is not possessed, but rather, he is the guy traversing the Backwards world and the temples to save everyone from their trials and entities. The entities gave him the nickname of "The Orpheus" both because those titles are more natural for them to say, and to mock him. Basically to say that no matter how far along he gets, he is going to stumble and fail. They also gave him the costume, which was the Croon's idea.
Though maybe they do underestimate this guy. The King, as well as its siblings, know his mind. They could look inside and see everything as soon as they met him, but! He's not stupid, and he comes to know them too. He even manages to frighten the King at one point, very briefly!
He also gets made into a vessel, briefly, at the climax of the story, but he has no notes because his possession is very very different and unusual.
Cameron "Caz" McLeary
Cameron F. McLeary - the Tide
Trial starts on the top of high cliffs stretching out over the churning sea. The weather is bad, and it looks like worse is brewing. There is a long, winding cave inside the cliffs that eventually spits you out on the coast below. Caz sits at the edge of a rickety old boat dock, trying to keep it from falling apart.
Fears the water and the loss of control– he cannot fight the waves and he is terrified by that.
So, Caz! The first trial Billy must face, and it's his best friend Caz. The trials are all based on the characters' fears, and so Caz, afraid of losing control / not having control of something, has his trial reflect that!
All of the vessels, while they're possessed, have their appearances warped by the entity possessing them. They also get a weapon, fitting with their whole theme in a way. Also also! The entities possess a person by having the person breathe them in, so they all have a certain taste, which gets noted here too.
Notes:
Caz's weapon is a mallet, like a bigger version of the fish bonker that fishermen can use.
The Tide is associated with the color blue, which appears in Caz's design as streaks in his hair.
The Tide tastes like the sea. Like if you were to drink seawater.
Caz was, so far, the 27th person to disappear and be reported missing.
Susan McLeary
Susan B. McLeary - the Hunter
Mr beast hunting people for sport video
“The trial begins in a dark forest littered with various hunting traps and game cams.”
Fears her own capability, she is afraid to know just what she would do to survive, and afraid of what others would think of her should they know.
Suze's vessel appearance has not been drawn, but she is heavily cloaked and its almost impossible to see her face until she takes her hood down.
Notes:
Suze's weapon is a hunting rifle. She is one of the two vessels who fight with guns. Rip Billy
The Hunter is associated with a dark green color.
The Hunter is noted to taste like "mud and well-worn boots" when possessing someone.
Suze went missing about the same time as Caz, and is the 28th person reported missing.
Kelly
Angus M. Kelly - the Coma
Whats that hoarder show
“The trial begins with Billy waking up sitting at the table in the kitchen of a strange house. It is quiet and still, and there are various items scattered around on the floor. Trash, trinkets, clothes, toys, tools, all sorts of objects. He looks around and sees several of the other chairs at this table are situated on the ceiling, as are the countertops. There is a microwave hanging by its cord from the ceiling, but it doesn’t seem to be at risk of falling or anything.”
Afraid of being stuck, of being trapped in any one place. He is suffocated by stress, and he wants to escape.
Kelly's name here is a headcanon! I have a lot of headcanon character names here.
Notes:
Kelly's weapon is a sedative, and in seemingly endless supply.
The Coma is associated with the color indigo.
The Coma is described to have an oddly comforting taste, but with a very quick aftertaste of medicine.
Kelly was the 16th person to go missing.
Alan McLurg
Alan S. McLurg - the Hero
Everything is awesome (brick hits and kills me)
“The trial begins with Billy standing beneath some scaffolding in a crumbling construction site.”
Afraid of not being able to protect people, of failing people and having tense relationships.
Fergus' cousin, but both McLurg and Fergus had no idea the other was possessed. They have a bit of a strained relationship, but are still glad to find the other okay at the end of everything.
Notes:
McLurg's weapon is an axe.
The Hero is associated with the color orange.
The Hero is noted to make the possession victim's mouth feel like its "coated with dust and sweat."
McLurg was the 15th person to go missing.
Roy MacNair
Roy T. MacNair - the Rot
Mold forestttt
“The trial begins with Billy inside a trashed greenhouse, overrun with mold and various strange plants, and rotted meat beneath the dirt.”
Fears the concept of death and decay, of being left to rot. He is afraid to find no heaven or hell after death, he is afraid for it to turn out to be, simply, nothing.
Roy c: His design is not drawn yet, but he looks like a moldy priest. Which I'm sure he'd be happy to hear about.
Notes:
Roy's weapon is a shovel.
The Rot is associated with the color maroon.
The Rot is noted to taste, "warm and humid," and like mold.
Roy was the 11th person to go missing, which stressed Caz, Suze, Billy, Kieran, and Fergus out a lot. One of their friend group was missing!
Alex Cranstoun
Alexander R. C. Cranstoun - the Swarm
Anthill trial
“The trial begins with Billy tumbling down a long, dark burrow and landing at the bottom of a large cavern, looking like the inside of a hollowed out hill. There are many passageways, with most of them being dark as the only source of illumination in the cavern (the hole Billy had fallen down) does not reach them.”
Fears the bonds of family– both losing them and being smothered and trapped by them. Alex is also deeply, deeply afraid of acting outside of what would be considered normal.
I don't believe I've drawn his vessel design yet, but he is a bug guy. Has mandibles and things.
Notes:
Alex's weapon is swarms of bugs that he controls.
The Swarm is associated with the color green.
The Swarm tastes (and feels) like inhaling pollen.
Alex was the 19th person to go missing.
Eileen Finlay
Eileen S. Finlay - the Disease
Hopital :(
“The trial begins with Billy in the bathroom of a dingy, run-down hospital. It feels like you could catch a disease just breathing the air in this place. He walks outside and there are almost no actual staff that he can see, the hallways are endless and filled with rooms of sick, bedridden people.”
Fears loss. Loss of life, autonomy, or ability. Loss from things she can’t truly fight, not in any way she knows how.
Finlay's trial is one of those that hits a little close to home for Billy. Being manhandled by doctors is a Thing for both of them, for different reasons, but the effect is the same.
Notes:
Finlay's weapon is a scalpel.
The Disease is associated with the color yellow-green.
The Disease tastes like the taste that lingers in your mouth after you vomit.
Finlay was the 30th person to go missing.
Addair Taylor
Addair J. Taylor - the Flare
Chicago????
“The trial begins with Billy on the outskirts of a burning city. He follows the road and the smoke, finding the entire place on fire.”
Fears destruction and his own anger. At the same time, he knows nothing but living by that anger, so he knows nothing but utter destruction. Self or otherwise.
Everyone's favorite Addair c: and finally someone else I've actually drawn! Being possessed gave him his hair back.
Notes:
Addair's weapon is a fire poker.
The Flare is associated with the color scarlet.
The Flare tastes like biting coal.
Addair was the 23rd person to disappear.
Archie Hawthorne
Archie Hawthorne - the Prophet
Snow
“The trial begins with Billy waking up underneath a small rocky overhang, surrounded by snow everywhere. It’s still falling from the sky, too, and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon.”
Afraid of.. Many things. Mostly accidents or misfortune, plausible or otherwise.
His entity name is a nod to my friend's AU, while also still fitting with Archie's theme and trial (as in, he's trying to predict everything that could go wrong).
Notes:
Archie's weapon is an ice pick.
The Prophet is associated with the color cyan.
The Prophet tastes like dirty snow.
Archie was the 17th person to go missing.
Davey Henderson
Davis G. Henderson - the Mob
My littlepony reference
“The trial begins with Billy standing at the back of some large crowd. The people are packed pretty tightly together in the street, a few of them shuffling forwards, but seeming rather aimless.”
Afraid of mob mentality. He fears being singled out and having no ability to defend himself, let alone say anything.
So! Davey <3 this guy is like a gecko, and he can climb on walls now. Which is why he doesn't wear socks or shoes, because then he wouldn't be able to use his feet to climb properly.
Notes:
Davey's weapon is a pitchfork.
The Mob is associated with a yellow-green color.
The Mob tastes like asphalt.
Davey was the 24th person to go missing.
Ewan Muir
Ewan P. Muir - the Caterwaul
In roaring he. Is he rising? Is he rising yet guys i cant s
“The trial begins with Billy waking up on a cliff. Climbing ropes are tied around his waist, and he sits up and looks around, but finds that everything is mildly foggy and he is alone.”
Fears abandonment. He is afraid to be left alone, whether by his fault or someone else’s. He is afraid of not being wanted around, and being abandoned for it. Either they don’t want to see him or they cannot.
His and Innes' entity names are connected c:
Notes:
Muir's weapon is climbing ropes, which he controls and act kind of like tendrils.
The Caterwaul is associated with the color gray.
The Caterwaul tastes like tears.
Muir was the 33rd person to go missing.
Owen "Raffs" Rafferty
Owen J. Rafferty - the Self
Mirror land
“The trial begins with Billy waking up in the middle of a mirror maze.”
Afraid of not knowing himself, of his reflection not matching him.
Notes:
Raffs' weapon is a kaleidoscope.
The Self is associated with a willow gray color.
The Self tastes "cloying."
Raffs was the 22nd person to go missing.
Terry Innes
Terry Z. Innes - the Croon
Ptsd bunker
“The trial begins with Billy underground in a dark military bunker. There are sirens, and gunshots, and people yelling, instantly disorienting and stressing him.”
Fears losing his sense of self, losing who he is in a cacophony. Losing track and never being able to find it again.
Innes' trial is particularly influenced by him having served in the military.
Notes:
Innes' weapon is a fencepost with nails stuck in it.
The Croon is associated with the color purple.
The Croon tastes like gunpowder.
Innes was the 25th person to go missing.
Bruce
Bruce Carson - the Harpy
Hmmidk yet
Afraid of being falsely accused. Of someone seeing the wrong thing from him and taking it to mean something it doesn’t.
Unfortunately, Bruce is one of the underdeveloped ones. I have yet to come up with the best trial, but fire and burning to death will be involved.
Notes:
Bruce's weapon is a torch.
The Harpy is associated with the color red.
The Harpy tastes like overcooked remains.
Bruce was the 35th and very last person to go missing, so far.
Stuart "Gibbo" Gibson
Stuart “Gibbo” Gibson - the Liar
The Pit
“The trial begins with Billy waking up in a narrow passage in some sort of cave. He tries to make his way through it, only to hear someone approaching him. He fails to escape them and gets a hood pulled down over his head. Whoever it is ties his arms behind his back and drags him into a pit, where several other people, including representations of Addair and Trots, are. Everyone is constantly mumbling “I love you, Gibbo,” and getting hurt if they are too quiet or say anything else.”
Afraid of being a secretly terrible person, secretly enjoying any suffering he causes others, and people not liking him.
Notes:
Gibbo's weapon is a blindfold. He uses it to cover up Billy's eyes, and then just beats him up normal style.
The Liar is associated with the color turquoise.
The Liar tastes like blood.
Gibbo was the 32nd person to go missing.
Martin O'Hagan
Martin O’Hagan - the Judge
The justice scales thingy
“The trial begins with Billy suspended in the air by some mysterious force. Everything around him is oddly dark, and hard to see, except for what's below him. Down there, he can see the scales, as well as a platform in front of them which Martin is seemingly trapped on. Beneath both the platform and the scales is an odd, pulsating mass of something resembling flesh.”
Afraid of having to make a tough decision completely on his own, having to choose between what he thinks is right and what others think is right.
Martin!! I think I legitimately have given this guy the Billy treatment, in that I made a bunch of stuff up for him and very much like him now. Even though he's also a very nothing character.
Notes:
Martin's weapon is basically just a sledgehammer, but modeled after a gavel.
The Judge is associated with the color orange.
The Judge tastes like oil.
Martin was the 31st person to go missing, and it was after he'd befriended Billy during the panic about the missing persons cases. Martin had been the officer Billy talked to and quickly became the only person he could call for comfort, and then he went missing too. This is a big reason a lot of suspicion falls on Billy, alongside the fact that all the missing people are connected to him somehow.
Kieran Write
Kieran W. Write - the Infinity
Laika arc
“The trial begins with Billy standing on an asteroid in the vacuum of space, able to breathe through magical means.”
Fears vast things, and isolation that comes with large empty space. Additionally, he is afraid of things that are, ultimately, unknowable. Things that challenge his perception of the universe.
Kieran, another of Billy's good friends. Oh, this one did hurt Billy. Kieran, in his trial, becomes very apathetic to everything, overwhelmed by the size of the universe.
Notes:
Kieran's weapon is actually telekinesis, he can lift things up magically. He uses this to throw Billy into many walls.
The Infinity is associated with the color lavender.
The Infinity tastes very, very cold, and a little sweet.
Kieran disappeared about the same time as Caz, Suze, and Fergus. he was the 26th person to go missing.
Iain "Trots" Campbell
Iain “Trots” Campbell - the Pests
Tented house
“The trial begins with Billy laying on the bed in the bedroom of Trots’ house. The air feels weird to breathe, and he wakes up with bugs scurrying across the room all around him. Several of them have fallen to the floor and died, others have not, and some are eating the dead ones. It's not any type of bug he can really name, it is a big species that resembles many different types of bugs. A few of them crawl on his legs and contact with them burns his skin, so he swats them off.”
Afraid of thinking bad things. He fears his mind being infested with bad thoughts, which prove to everyone that he’s a bad person.
Notes:
Trots' weapon is an electric baton.
The Pests is associated with the color green.
The Pests tastes like "how rat poison would probably taste. Rat poison and the rat who ingested it. And from the way it felt, the rat's heart was still beating as it went down with everything else."
Trots was the 20th person to go missing.
Douglas Dunbar
Douglas Dunbar - the Spotlights
Old farm and corn maze. People’s eyes are lights which burn a whole lot when they look at you.
“The trial begins with Billy in a dingy, cluttered carport. He walks out from beneath it to find himself on some sort of large property.”
Afraid of people being able to read him, or see the things he tries to hide, or otherwise being able to know all his secrets.
Douglas! I hc him and Dunbar are brothers.
Notes:
Douglas' weapon is a flashlight, probably far too bright to be safe.
The Spotlights are associated with the color yellow.
The Spotlights taste like something charred.
Douglas and Dunbar both went missing at the same time, both being reported as the 4th missing person's cases.
John Roper
John Roper - the Shark
Standing atop the roof of a tall building, everything else below is flooded.
Afraid of things being out of place, about sudden, unpredictable disasters happening that he cannot stop or plan for or control.
I put this as his fear because I like the idea that he was freaked out majorly with the drill malfunctioning, and it makes the Shape even worse for him.
Notes:
Roper's weapon is a harpoon.
The Shark is associated with the color blue.
The Shark tastes like still water.
Roper was the 21st person to go missing.
James "Scooby" Scobie
James Scobie - the Cuckoo
A houseparty. There is a monster bird thing that only Scooby can see.
Afraid of seeing or noticing something other people don’t. And these people don't believe or give credit to him no matter how hard he tries, and he is either thought to be crazy or blames himself for whatever issue he has to watch unfold because he couldn't convince anyone it was going to happen.
Notes:
Scooby's weapon is a baseball bat.
The Cuckoo is associated with the color dark purple.
The Cuckoo tastes like flat, room-temperature soda.
Scooby was the 3rd person to go missing.
Keith Schaw
Keith Schaw
Hm
Afraid of responsibility, and having to take it on in any way. Nobody else believes he can do it, and it's comfortable not having any responsibility, so why would he want it?
I have yet to come up with a lot of specific information for him, too. Unfortunately. I'm rotating. I do really like him and his brother, Shuggie.
Notes:
Keith was the 8th person to go missing.
George "Gregor" Edmond
George “Gregor” Edmond - the Recluse
A crowded bar, the details of the decor change every time you look at them.
“The trial begins with Billy entering the bar, immediately disoriented because of how.. Wrong it all feels. The sounds feel too hazy, he swears the colors and pictures keep changing, and it's crowded. He looks around for Gregor, mumbles “excuse me”s and makes his way through the various groups of people.”
Afraid of not being able to trust anything– his brain, his surroundings, his peers. Afraid of people being secretly out to get him.
His trial is like a particular "fuck you" to Billy, because in order to get all the vessels free they need to trust him. The entities think they're sooo funny.
Notes:
Gregor's weapon is a broken bottle.
The Recluse is associated with the color brown.
The Recluse tastes like a spiked drink.
Gregor was the very first person to go missing.
Aidan Dalgleish
Aidan Dalgleish - the Trap
Sewer
Afraid of being uncomfortable. Of having to be somewhere he doesn’t want to be, or otherwise doesn’t enjoy.
Notes:
Dalgleish's weapon is either a broken pipe or a manhole cover.
The Trap is associated with the color purple.
The Trap tastes very slimy.
Dalgleish was the 9th person to go missing.
Fergus McLurg
Fergus W. McLurg - the Storm
Lightning strike go!!!
“Trial begins with Billy standing on a dirt road at the edge of a large property. The sky is dark and it is very windy, and he can see a tornado in the distance. Nevertheless, he has no choice but to venture into the field.”
Fears recompense. Payback for the (surely many) things he’s done, payback that will uproot his life. Additionally, haunted by never ending guilt that is always there, whistling through cracks in the walls.
Fergus!! Billy's husband, in this AU, and the man who's disappearance hurts him the most. Fergus is deliberately kept away from Billy for a while, so he doesn't give up the game because he got all his loved ones free already. He is the only one of the vessels who can fly, and the Storm's temple is very high up in the air for that reason.
Notes:
Fergus' weapon is a trident.
The Storm is associated with the color gold.
The Storm tastes like when you bite metal.
Fergus disappeared at the same time as Caz, Suze, and Kieran. he was the 29th missing person reported.
Devon Cranstoun
Devon “Penny” Cranstoun - the Prisoner
Rainy city block, which is his hometown. Wires and snares everywhere.
“The trial begins with Billy walking along the sidewalk in an unfamiliar neighborhood, rain beating down on him.”
Afraid of being controlled, or trapped, or otherwise being unable to have his autonomy.
Technically an OC now, but I included him before the QnA revealed Alex's last name was Cranstoun, and I'm still including him because I really really love him. He shares no relation to Alex.
Notes:
Devon's weapon is barbed wire, which he controls similar to how Muir controls his climbing ropes.
The Prisoner is associated with the color dark blue.
The Prisoner tastes very dull, almost disarmingly plain.
Devon was the 13th person to go missing.
Shuggie Schaw
Shuggie Schaw - the Scarecrow
Power plant maybe.
Afraid of being reduced to one trait, one aspect of himself. Of having everyone label him as one thing forever.
Notes:
Shuggie's weapon is a sickle.
The Scarecrow is associated with the color yellow.
The Scarecrow tastes like burnt hay.
Shuggie was the 34th person to go missing.
Donald O'Connor
Donald O’Connor - the Clock
The canyon that makes you old /silly
Afraid of the passage of time. Being forgotten, growing old, and how inevitable it all is.
Notes:
O'Connor's weapon is two spears, which look like the hands of a clock.
The Clock is associated with the color orange.
The Clock tastes like sand.
O'Connor was the 18th person to go missing.
Dobbie
Clyde “Dobbie” Burns - the Crash
The highway
Afraid of being in the way. Of interrupting things or otherwise being a disturbance.
Notes:
Dobbie's weapon is a tire iron.
The Crash is associated with the color yellow.
The Crash tastes like swallowing glass.
Dobbie was the 6th person to go missing.
Toby Boyd
Toby A. Boyd
I’ll figure it out
Afraid of how much he’ll put up with, how easily he could rationalize something. Creeping normality, frog in boiling water, etc etc.
Notes:
Boyd's weapon is a heated metal rod.
Duncan Dunbar
Duncan Dunbar - the Gambler
Buckshot roulette ripoff
“The trial begins with Billy in a dark room, sitting at a small table with his wrists strapped to the arms of the chair he’s sitting in. There are four other chairs at the table, and Billy watches two odd, almost hazy people (one of which he thinks might be a representation of Douglas, and the other he’ll later realize was Davros) sit down in the chairs beside him. One of them gently shakes Dunbar, who Billy didn’t see before, and who wakes up disoriented and unsettled in the chair directly across from Billy.”
Afraid of losing, getting put down in order for someone else to raise themselves up, or falling short in some way.
Notes:
Dunbar's weapon is a shotgun.
The Gambler is associated with the color green.
The Gambler tastes like old coins.
Dunbar was the 4th person to go missing, right alongside his brother, Douglas.
Bryce Davros
Bryce Davros - the Passage
Stuck in a small system of caves. (pickles’ idea)
Afraid of small spaces, not having free space to move or breathe.
His trial is a spelunking nightmare.. he was reduced... to a shape /ref
Notes:
Davros' weapon is a safety reel.
The Passage is associated with the color gray.
The Passage tastes like stale air.
Davros was the 5th person to go missing.
Holiday Banky
Holiday Banky - the Daze
An underground parking garage.
Afraid of forgetting something. Of going through his day missing some sort of knowledge and not realizing it is even gone.
Banky's trial is specifically hell because every time either Banky or Billy cross to a different level in the parking garage, their memories get completely wiped.
Notes:
Banky's weapon is a scissor car jack.
The Daze is associated with the color gray.
The Daze tastes like cobwebs.
Banky was the 7th person to go missing.
Bannon
Harris G. Bannon
Enclosed space.. Perhaps a train or a plane.
Afraid of having limited options, and having to make do with less. Afraid of not being able to go anywhere.
Bannon's also very unfortunately not super thought out yet.
Anderson
Anderson Blair - the Fool
“The trial begins with Billy almost being knocked off of his feet, suddenly in a room with the floor and walls spinning. It's all painted in bright colors with spiral patterns, too, and that, combined with getting hit on the head so hard before he fell into the trial, all make Billy extremely disoriented and dizzy.”
Afraid of being unable to act right. Of not knowing how he’s supposed to behave, or of not performing to the degree someone wants him to, and thus suffering the consequences.
Anderson's is another trial that hits real close to home for Billy.
Notes:
Anderson's weapon is those bowling pins that you juggle with.
The Fool is associated with the color pink.
The Fool tastes like overwhelmingly sweet candy, makes your teeth hurt.
Anderson was the 12th person to go missing.
Buck
Kieran “Buck” Gallagher - the Double
A house full of identical copies of him– each of them very adamantly insist that they’re the real Buck.
Afraid of being compared to other people, and of being brushed off or ignored after.
The second Kieran! and this guy would absolutely kill me for referring to him as that. I like him, he's cool.
Notes:
Buck's weapon is a kitchen knife.
The Double is associated with the color blue.
The Double tastes like it would feel to swallow string.
Buck is the 10th person to go missing.
Sunil
Camden Sunil - the Stray
An endless, basically treadmill-esque road.
Afraid of never being able to stop moving, never finding anywhere to stop or sit down, never finding home of any sort.
Notes:
Sunil's weapon is a trekking pole.
The Stray is associated with the color blue.
The Stray tastes like dirt and gravel, and really dries your mouth out.
Sunil was the 14th person to go missing.
Davey Rennick
Davey Rennick - the King
Is that the beira d??????//
“The trial begins with Billy in the pontoons on the Beira D, which are actively flooding as the rig falls apart and sinks.”
Afraid of inferiority. He fears being used until he's useless, and abandoned after that.
The final trial! And the one Billy fails on, because Rennick is quite an asshole and afraid to trust anyone.
Notes:
Rennick's weapon is a staff.
The King is associated with the color yellow.
The King tastes "sharp, almost pungent enough to burn." Like how "gasoline and soda" might taste.
And that's the vessels!! For now, of course, I still want to come up with things for these guys if I can.
But beyond that, this is everyone so far c: ALSO!!! If you maybe want me to come up with a trial for your OC then I will.. because I love making these up and have made a few up for my own SWTD OCs. I just need to know what they fear deeply.
I know Billy technically already does have a trial in the Vessels AU, but I had thought previously about what his might be if I gave him a proper one. One built around his fears and things, rather than the Sludge and abyss that actually occurred.
So, I thought about it, and came up with something for him. He is afraid of the ocean, and drowning, so of course the ocean and swimming are featured heavily. Like in Caz and Roper's trials. It starts in a locker room, because he also hates and is mildly afraid of those due to childhood experiences. There are the usual People (fake and Wrong in some way) there and they're all ridiculing him. To escape them, he runs, and gets trapped into having to complete laps in a public pool to escape them. The pool gets deeper, and darker. He feels things brush his legs. Everything chasing him is relentless, he gets glimpses of representations of people he cares about-- his father, Abraham, his husband, etc. etc. Every time he surfaces on the other side of the pool the People have changed to someone new, and they all basically force him to swim back to the other side through some means.
And then, at some point, he resurfaces to find himself in the middle of the ocean. He's been abandoned. He still needs to get to the other side, because you want to be useful, right, Billy? You want to do what they told you, right? You want to please them?
And anyway, he drowns. He always drowns. He doesn't even know how to swim in real life, and the ocean is too big, too dark, too strong, and the "exit" is just too far away.
All of the vessels' trials would've been a loop of some sort had Billy not been there to intervene, and this one is the same. Billy always drowns, then gets dragged back out of the public pool and is very rudely awoken by representations of his bullies again to go for round two. or three. or twenty.
Here's some doodles of this concept.
I think I downloaded the wrong version of Silksong… my cogwork dancers look a little strange
The Vessels AU - The Story (2/2)
The second post!! YAYYY!
You'd probably need to read the first one to understand all of this. This covers the second half of the storyline for the Vessels AU.
The Everything:
So, Billy fails. He fails Rennick's trial, after making it through all of the previous ones. He and Rennick still escaped the trial. However, the King doesn't want to be beaten, and so it catches Billy on a technicality. Stressing specific wording. I wrote something about this moment!
“You took too long,” the King drawled. Rennick took several steps backward, just being in the vicinity of the King made his skin prickle.
Following Billy being failed, but the King still having been displaced, it decides to make Billy into its vessel rather than kill him.
Unfortunately, the same sort of thing that happened with Cait and Maidie happens here. All of the entities want a vessel, and so, they all sort of dogpile into Billy and start fighting.
This process is.. a very highly unusual one, and strains Billy quite a lot. Described in the fic above, he seizes up, chokes, and overall has a very bad and very uncomfortable time. Also, his injuries are being forced to heal by the entities, but because they're actively fighting for control of him, the process is messed up with rapidly switching control.
Rennick flees, during this. Backs away and runs when he finds the temple's exit.
In Spectator Jail, they see this go down, and this is when the panic gets particularly bad. Though, due to the King being briefly displaced, the cell is kind of loose and Cait and Maidie are able to free everyone. They all get out of the cave, and the building as a whole. The crowd runs into Rennick, running blindly down the path from the King's temple. When they meet, Fergus tries to punch him and has to be held back. There's a fic about this moment too!
A fight is prevented, and Rennick makes it pretty clear he believes Billy's dead. That the entities killed him. Fergus refuses to believe it, and he wants to help his husband.
Just then, they all feel.. something. described in the second fic as a strange wave, an odd feeling that washes over them.
What that is is all of the entities inside Billy figuring out how to work together, all meld into one and sync up, in a way. They all control him, but something snapped into place and Billy is a proper("proper"..) vessel now!
His appearance changes, but because of how all the entities are associated with a color, and how they're all present here, the colors all meld together into white. And Billy has no real traits from any one entity, because they all cancel out, in a way. So he looks mostly normal except for all of the color stuff.
Now, as a vessel, Billy isn't really kicked into his own trial like the others. Rather, the entities have all mentally subdued him, in a way, making him feel Very Good and like he Loves the current situation and circumstances. He feels complete! That never ending sense of something being missing has finally abated! And Billy is pushed to a place where he recalls little about the depth of relationships, and ultimately will turn on even the people he loves the most if the threaten his completeness.
Which is exactly what happens when everyone gets to the King's temple, following Fergus getting Grabbed off the ground and kind of teleported into the temple by Billy (who, in vessel form, is referred to as the Everything or a Vessel for the Everything).
There's a small script I wrote for a PMV about Billy's possession and how it goes, in a way.
Now, bear with me here, but I am going to yap into the possibly confusing specifics of the Fucked Up nature of Billy's possession.
Also, I do know I said Billy isn't pushed into a trial, and that is true, but it is true because Billy kind of. Fractures, in a way, due to the clown car looking ass possession. There are three distinct Billys, at least in the PMV I scripted due to taking creative liberties. These Billys are the Everything Billy, the husk Billy, and the Orpheus Billy.
The Everything Billy is the messed up semblance of him that remains in his body after the entities take him over. He is barely Billy anymore, easily molded and directed by the entities, and far too eager to kill all of his own loved ones.
Now, the Husk and the Orpheus Billy are the part of his consciousness that is fractured from the docile Everything Billy. This Billy does go into a sort of trial. I like to compare it to the additive and subtractive color models. Everything Billy's outward appearance is comparable to that of the additive color model, where all of the colors melt together into white. Meanwhile, inwardly, Everything Billy is comparable to the subtractive color models, where every entity has their own thoughts about how to construct his trial (since it happens kind of automatically with possessions), and with the constantly switching control, every entities' aspects of a trial meld together into black. An abyss, full of dark Sludge formed by all those conflicting ideas.
The Billy that gets sent there is met by the King, retreating inward to at least establish some semblance of better control over the Abyss, and he meets Billy at a fake bar, unreasonably long, and with all the other former vessels sitting on barstools with their faces not visible. The King, behind the bar, lifts its glass to Billy. All of the other vessels lift their own, wordlessly. Billy, just now realizing he had a glass, lifts his own back to the King. Basically, and unknowingly, accepting the possession and joining the other former vessels.
However, it doesn't work entirely correctly, as nothing does when possession is this messed up. Billy drinks from his glass, and basically gets torn in half as his consciousness splinters further. Forming Husk Billy, who's basically a barely-there corpse of a man that sits at the bar and acts as a prop for the trial rather than Billy. the King is even able to control and speak through the husk, while he remains at the bar. Meanwhile, kind of all the lively, human, and unfavorable (to the entities) aspects of Billy are separated and distilled into one form of his splintered consciousness, the Orpheus Billy. The Orpheus Billy tries to fight it, but gets dragged by an invisible force directly into and through the Sludge of the trial, and out of sight and reach of the rest of him. Its like being repressed, kind of!
And, in the waking world, the Everything Billy is finally fully fractured from himself, and also finally tires of the former vessels' attempts to get him to "snap out of it." He attacks Fergus, then kind of sends out a shockwave that flings everyone away from him. And here, now that the entities and the tiny splinter of Billy have snapped into an unstable sync, is where the consequences of such a possession truly show in the Backwards world.
The entities affect and change the appearance of their temples just as much as they do the trials, so, at this point, the King's temple basically gets destroyed as it starts to warp and change. The general consensus here? for Billy? There is Too Much. Too many entities in his head, too many thoughts about too many different temples being his. And so the temple around him shifts, walls crack, break, and reform. The floor caves, the ceiling splinters. The part of the floor that Billy is standing on starts to raise up with him on it. The foundation beneath Billy's feet is as unstable as the rest of him, in this form.
And it gets Worse! While the Everything is fighting all of the former vessels, rapidly switching what weapon he uses depending on what entity is in control, which doesn't make him as uncoordinated as you'd think. It does serve to make him less predictable, but he is still kicking all of their asses unfortunately. Though, while this is happening, a physical Break forms in the Backwards world. Too Much is happening, and there is an actual, real break in the ground of the temple where the Nothing trial starts to leak through, bringing Sludge and overwhelming nothingness within it.
Eventually, the former vessels make the connection that, if they want to save Billy, they're going to have to do what he did for them. They're going to have to get close enough to make contact, and.. do something to get into some trial.
So this is what they do! One by one, and they quickly realize that what they're doing is actually taking the entities out of Billy and into their old trials, and they are each still connected to the entity in a small enough way (memories) which allows this to happen.
It is also realized, eventually, that taking the entities from Billy's head in this way causes immense pain and distress in him. However, there's no other option for the former vessels, so this is what they must do.
Rennick and Fergus are the last, and Rennick probably would've run again. Except that Fergus was counting on him, and so was Billy, and everyone else. And he knew this was his fault. So, he soldiered up and tore the King from Billy's head, thereby separating the last of the entities from him and leaving him free of them.
And.. this also messes him up a bit. Because, with the possession, the entities had basically stretched his brain incredibly thin. Billy was very harshly and abruptly beset by Too Much, too many entities in his brain, too much power, too many thoughts and desires and things and too much fracturing of his own consciousness. It was like a severe escalation, 0 to 100 immediately. But then, having that all torn from his skull almost as abruptly as it came to him? His brain had no more time to acclimate to the sudden emptiness than it did the fullness, and even then, he had barely a splinter of himself still in his head. It was suddenly, and just as harshly, Too Little.
And this, piled on top of everything else, is finally enough, and it tips Billy over the edge. He loses consciousness and falls backwards into the abyss, the floor of the temple having broken, and being too weak to hold up after he fell off his raised platform. His trial, in a way, is now physical, and he falls right into it. He sinks through the sludge and the other two fractures of his consciousness reform, leaving him laying, unconscious, in the second layer of the abyss.
The others had all fallen, but only reached the first layer. They're unconscious, too, but in the same way as Billy had been previously due to having been transported, alongside their entities, into their trials.
The Trials - Round Two:
Everybody gets a round two! This time, with the entities actively inside the trials with them and controlling several aspects of it, mostly to try and hurt them and make the trials as a whole worse. Each trial also gets a new enemy in the form of a version of Billy that the entities put in to guilt and attack the vessels. These versions of Billy are all visible dead due to some hazard present within the trial, and they are quite cruel and blame their deaths on the vessel.
The vessels all have to defeat their entity and make their way back out of the trial.
Caz's Trial:
The worse version of Caz's trial takes place on a small, jagged piece of the dock that Caz is floating in the middle of the ocean on. The waves are dark and choppy as the storm finally descends upon Caz, and the Tide swims beneath the float. Another thing bobbing in the water was Billy, bloated and drowned and dead. Caz hauled him up onto the float, only to be attacked by him. Billy, in here, repeatedly tries to drown Caz, blaming him for Billy suffering the same fate.
Suze's trial:
Suze is back in the forest, though its darker, muddier, and she seems blocked in by bramble tangles. The Hunter stalks through the trees, impossible to hear and always watching her. The version of Billy in this trial is one that died from being shot. The top half of his head is an unrecognizable mess of gore, and he relentlessly pursues Suze through the woods. Even getting his leg caught in a bear trap doesn't slow him, this time. He just continues on, not even reacting to any damage his leg sustains.
Kelly's Trial:
The house in Kelly's Trial has fallen apart, debris piled on top of furniture to strand him in what's basically become a landfill of sorts. Billy, here, is always half-asleep and keeps trying to pull Kelly down and get him to sleep, too. His body displays signs of him having killed himself.
McLurg's Trial:
In the aftermath of the collapse of the construction site, McLurg is trapped within some scaffolding. He is trapped with a version of Billy who died by being impaled by falling pipes and other machinery.
Roy's Trial:
Trying to shelter in the moldy greenhouse, Roy can see a version of Billy that got, in a way, consumed by all the mold walking around outside the greenhouse and trying to get in.
Alex's Trial:
Alex is stuck deep beneath the anthill, in the spider grove. The spiders are all after him and there's barely any light for him to see. He is being stalked by a version of Billy who was ripped apart by the bugs, his limbs only attached to his body by spiderwebs now.
Finlay's Trial:
Finlay seems to be stuck in a psych ward of sorts, being pursued now by a Billy who is just. Very diseased, and neglected and mistreated by the doctors. He seems to suffer symptoms of multiple diseases and overall just looks very unwell.
Addair's Trial:
The city is now mostly ash, and Addair has to face both the Flare and a version of Billy that's been horrifically burned to death. Also, this Billy notably sports the fire poker stab wound, still. He's covered in ash and constantly coughing.
Archie's Trial:
Archie is trapped on an even less stable frozen lake in a worse blizzard than he caused before. His version of Billy froze to death, and is very pale, blue-ish, and very very cold. There is snow stuck to his hair, skin, and clothes.
Davey's Trial:
The version of Billy in this trial was crushed. Breathes very noisily and his chest might as well be concave, honestly. My friend @pickleddandelions helped with the design and here's a quote from them: “The main idea of what he looks like I have is that he suffocated in a crowd crush before falling under and his body getting trampled. His lips and skin are tinted blue, some limbs bend in places where they absolutely shouldn't and he's covered in cuts and bruises. He looks closer to a zombie than a human. He's not fast, too many broken bones for that, but he's persistent. Immortal snail type shit” my gratitude to Pickles forever.
Muir's Trial:
Muir is stuck in a ravine that he can't seem to make it out of, and nearly gets crushed to death by a rock slide. The version of Billy here is tangled up in climbing ropes. He broke his neck in a fall, and cracked his skull.
Raffs' Trial:
The mirrors are mostly broken, and even the ones that are still intact don't help Raffs tracking the Self. The version of Billy in this trial was stabbed to death by shards of a broken mirror.
Innes' Trial:
Billy, in this trial, is a severely injured corpse that died due to bleeding out. Also, his arm seemingly got blown off at one point, and he smells very strongly of gunpowder.
Bruce's Trial:
The version of Billy in this trial still has his hands tied behind his back, and suffocated on smoke while he was burning.
Gibbo's Trial:
Gibbo is now stuck in the pit himself, and its half collapsed. Billy, in this trial, was beaten to death and looks like it.
Martin's Trial:
Martin is stuck on one side of the scales, with Billy and the Judge now judging him. This Billy was labeled as guilty, consumed by the Shape, and now functions as an extension of it.
Kieran's Trial:
The Billy in this trial suffocated and also froze due to. Being in space. Kieran is stranded on an asteroid with Billy now the one to insist that nothing matters. Kieran doesn't matter to him. Kieran killed him!
Trots' Trial:
Trots is stuck in the boiler room of the house, where the infestation stems from. Billy, in this trial, died to the insecticide stuff in the air. He looks kind of like he has rabies now.
Douglas' Trial:
Douglas is stuck in the farm. Billy in this trial died due to traumatic injury sustained by the strangers staring at him, his organs are all visible in his torso as the skin there has been burned away.
Roper's Trial:
Billy died in this trial due to a mix of drowning and traumatic injury sustained when he was pushed around by floodwater. Roper is stuck on a roof again, though this time with no method of escape and no way to swim, and the water slowly rising.
Scooby's Trial:
The house is mostly empty now, and Scooby is locked inside. He has to face the Cuckoo and Billy, who seems to have been mailed to death by the bird monster.
Keith's Trial:
Still needs development, sighs.
Gregor's Trial:
The evil Billy in this trial seems to have died to an overdose, or some other bad reaction to what was put in his drink. Nobody else at the bar really reacts to his strange, freaky appearance.
Dalgleish's Trial:
Billy in this trial died from the general bad conditions of the sewer, infected injury and general disease.
Fergus' Trial:
In this trial, Fergus is stranded in the middle of the field. The house is no longer there for cover, having been torn from the ground by the tornado. The Storm's face can be seen in the dark clouds. Billy, in this trial, was struck by lightning one too many times.
Cranstoun's Trial:
Billy, in this trial, was strangled to death by the snares. He is still wrapped up in them, they trail behind him now, mostly. He follows Cranstoun around as he tries to navigate the neighborhood, hardly able to see anything through the heavy rainfall.
Shuggie's Trial:
The evil Billy in this trial seems to have died due to electrocution.
O'Connor's Trial:
O'Connor finds himself back in the canyon, being antagonized by a version of Billy who appears to have died after being buried by sand. There's a lot of it, in his hair, clothes, and mouth.
Dobbie's Trial:
The last version of Billy in this trial is a mangled corpse, due to having been run over a lot.
Boyd's Trial:
This trial needs more development, I fear. High likelihood that the worse Billy here was burned.
Dunbar's Trial:
The evil Billy in this trial looks to have been shot in the chest with the shotgun, alongside the fact that, notably, he seems to have broken his wrists to escape being tied to the chair.
Davros' Trial:
Davros is being pursued through cave diving hell again. This version of Billy that he encounters was buried by rockfall in one of the passages. He's got a lot of rocks embedded into his skin now.
Banky's Trial:
Needs more development, I fear.
Bannon's Trial:
Also needs more development! Sighs bigly.
Anderson's Trial:
Anderson is back being forced to perform, but this time, Billy's in the crowd instead of helping him. Billy seems to be taking enjoyment in the show, at least. He seems to have been turned into a human puppet corpse.
Buck's Trial:
The Billy in this trial got his throat slit by one of the versions of Buck, doppelganger or otherwise.
Sunil's Trial:
The Billy in this trial overexerted himself, his shoes and socks have been worn away and his pants are decently ripped. He is also notably starved.
Rennick's Trial:
A shape infested Beira D, at the bottom of the ocean, this time with Rennick being hunted down by a version of Billy who seems to have gone down with the sinking rig. He's been burned, drowned, and is also slightly covered in oil.
The Abyss:
After defeating the entities and escaping their trials, the former vessels all wake up, tired and beset by phantom pain, in the abyss. They all manage to reconvene. The next step is to find Billy, and then get out of here. The girls show up, just then, and jump down into the abyss to join their parents and help look for Billy.
The Abyss works in a way where it is very hard to navigate. Just. endless void of black, where you can hardly see a person until you're close to them. They have Finlay and Addair stay close by the exit to the abyss, and call out periodically so the others could hear and make their way back to them if they got lost.
After a while of searching, spreading out to find Billy, Fergus and Shuggie find Billy. Still unconscious, and in an odd state of being half-injured and half not. Fergus carries him back, and eventually everyone gets brought back together and they all escape the abyss.
Billy remains unconscious, and they hope for him to wake up when they get back into the real world. Its oddly quiet, in the temple. No sign of the entities, though they're likely still around.
Cait and Maidie are the ones who have to lead everyone out of the Backwards world and through the false wall in the church. Once they get back into the real world, it feels.. both different and not. Surreal, a little bit. Fergus kind of collapses, slightly, and then holds Billy and looks at him. They all do, hoping for him to wake up.
He does not. Eventually, they all get very concerned. Sitting in that back room of the church, they decide a small group of them will take Billy to the hospital, while the rest go to the police or. Their families, wherever they need to go, after suddenly reappearing into the world.
The Aftermath:
Billy is in a coma. He lays in the hospital for.. a long time. It's kind of a shitshow when all of the people who've been missing for weeks abruptly re-appear. And their story is.. absolutely insane. Strange for it to be consistent among all of them, but still. Nobody wants to believe the explanation originally. The police question all of them.
Billy would actually be the best for them to question, and everyone does know it, he knows the full story. But, he is unreachable now. When the police are finally, begrudgingly, done with their questioning (for now..), the vessels can all finally go home.
Its strange trying to adjust to the world again. The police and news and everything are a constant presence in all of their lives. Even Billy gets checked on, a few times, and one of the former vessels has to tell the officer or reporter to leave, because he isn't awake yet. And at least one of the former vessels is always there at the hospital with him. In case he wakes up, or in case something goes wrong, or someone tries to bother him. They've all exchanged numbers and can call each other.
Fergus is with him the most, because Billy is his husband and he is. he really, really wants to hold him again. He wants Billy to wake up. Their house is so empty without him in it...
Sometimes, the other vessels come to the hospital to get him to get some air, take a break and go out and do something with them. Though they always get a lot of looks or questions being out in public.
There is a lot of anecdotes about this time period, for everyone! Liselotte and Addair wrestle with emotions, and both are affected by Billy being in a coma. Its Liselotte who points out how much Billy resembles their son, Tommy, also unresponsive in this same hospital. It very much hurts the both of them.
Martin is struggling with the other police officers, who, as soon as they learn of the Backwards world (after Billy wakes up, though) want to go in. Neither Martin nor any of the other vessels (nor Billy, when he wakes up) want to risk waking up the entities. They're asleep now, but nobody wants to risk it. Billy knows that, if they do wake up, he is their target.
Despite this, a handful of the other officers are a little obtuse and annoyingly stubborn.
Raffs is afraid of mirrors, because of his trial. A lot of the vessels are dealing with something like that, a lingering effect of their possession. Billy, though, has it particularly bad.
When he finally does wake up, he is immediately terrified. He is in a hospital with no recollection of getting there, and the closest hospital experience he can connect to this was Finlay's trial. The vessels have to calm him down, Fergus and Finlay get called specifically for this one. They do calm him, but Billy has a lot of experiences like this. He did not make it out of the Backwards world unscathed, and not physically either.
There is simply a lot of specific character talk here, which I can elaborate on if someone has a character they want to hear about! I can elaborate on anything, actually. If you have any requests or questions or anything, send me an ask! I'm kind of dying to talk about this AU more, I really love it.
Beyond that, this kind of ends much of the larger story! Nothing has really been planned with the aftermath so far, not beyond how everyone tries to move forward after everything. There will definitely be more of this AU.
And, because I shared the first one, here's another PMV script I made for this AU!
This is my favorite part of the song..
Ferlly first date
Their brains work interestingly
Having fun