So I was scrolling through YouTube when I came across a small but very interesting video:
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It’s an edit video of Alastor and the song used is “Nightmares Never End” by JT music, which is a fan song for Little Nightmares 2.
So this got me to thinking and my brain plotting: what if Alastor was a child of Nowhere that never crossed the threshold fully? I’m here to explain why this could be an interesting topic to explore and how it could fit with Alastor in a crossover fanfiction or alternate universe.
(Spoilers ahead for Little Nightmares 1, 2 and The Sounds of Nightmares. I will also be using some fan theories to help support this.)
The Nowhere is described by Noone in the Sounds of Nightmares to be a place that “is…and isn’t”, a place existing in its own realm that manifests from the nightmares of young children. But not just any child will be targeted by the Nowhere. These kids are often mistreated and taken advantage of by adults in the waking world in some way, shape or form. Thus the Nowhere will slowly and surely lure these fearful and traumatized kids into a nightmarish cycle fed by the fear and trauma they experienced within the realm itself.
In an analysis video about Nowhere, it is theorized that the children are lacking in one or more categories of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. I recommend you go and watch it (link down below), but long story short, one or more of these needs are not being met and these kids escape to this realm which seems to meet those needs, only for them to be twisted overtime.
https://youtu.be/ZiY_OH8An2c?si=ksz1YsV5_na2A1mP
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In regards to Alastor, if we use the time period he grew up in (southern America in the early 1900s), who he was born to (a white father and Creolan mother) and the headcanon of an abusive father, we can paint a clear picture as to how Alastor may have been a target of Nowhere at some during his childhood years.
He would have appeared in many places in Nowhere, from the Pale City to perhaps even the Maw, being spirited away. Despite how terrifying the world was, there was something about it that kept luring him in as it had with many children before and after.
But when it came time to cross the Threshold, he refused. For one simple reason. His mother. His rock and emotional anchor in his rather tumultuous and lonely childhood. He couldn’t leave her behind, and resisted the Ferryman, closing that door behind him.
As an adult and even in his time in Hell, he cannot fully recall his experiences in Nowhere, only that he had extremely vivid nightmares as a young boy. But there is always a nagging in the back of his mind and odd visions of ever seeing eyes that bring forth memories he cannot immediately recall.
Some of my headcanons regarding who Alastor was in the Nowhere:
1) He went by Lie while in Nowhere.
2) His urge for flesh later in life came from his experiences in the Maw.
3) Lie was one of the “winners” in Nowhere (similar to Mono, Six and Low), manifesting in the ability to shadow walk. This ability would resurface after he died and went to Hell.
i ended up liking how gendered french is solely because i can say that i want people to use he/him pronouns for me the same way they use it for angels, blood and blunts