#Blue Stratos

[tvneon]

A very 80's cologne commercial...

[308ferrari]

[theleoisallinthemind]

archipelago by photographer Stratos Kalafatis

[gradienty]

Stratos Science Blue (#07024f to #0868c8)

[nicholask-la]

From March, 2023

[slumbergoblin]

I've had an idea for Lucille for a while, but I finally put a design to her

She's Stratos's 'grew-up-poor-then-became-rich' southern friend from highschool^^

[lafflanes]

ive been working on putting together custom gag panels for my toontown ocs, and i really like how they turned out!

[spoonietimelordy]

Huuuum wrong show xD I was not expecting the tardis to appear in the first chapter of a Life on Mars book but okay x)

[moldyrainbowbutter]

Empires SMP Headcanons

(most of these are season 1, I'm not caught up on season 2 lore)

S1 Gem and fWhip were both born human. They each chose different paths to gain power regardless: Gem chose wizardry and fWhip chose to be an artificer/alchemist. Part of the reason he moved to the Grimlands from the Crystal Cliffs is because of the corruption there (not the Xornoth corruption). It fascinated him. Eventually, prolonged exposure to it changed him. Like how in cannon, the corruption gave him real dragon wings to replace his mechanical wings, but I think it also turned him into a vampire.

This one is pretty vague but I think the floating islands of Stratos might have something to do with the floating islands in The Overgrown or the ones Wizard Gem fled to.

IDK if this is cannon but the lines from where water level changed that you can see at the Pix's archaeological dig are from when the ocean drained.

Sheriff Jimmy, Princess Katherine, and Princess Gem were childhood friends (I stole this from a YouTube comment)

Apollo (Gem's s2 bear) is a reincarnation of her X Life bear, Blue. This would fit with the cannon fact that she brought the season 1 dragons over from a previous world she'd lived in.

In season 1, Scott felt particularly protective of Shrub because he felt guilty for her home being destroyed (even though he literally did not cause it and could not have stopped it, he's just like that). That's why he didn't get too mad when she stole the Xornoth crystal. The reason he gave her those boots in the first episode was because he could sense that she had been near his brother, even though he didn't know that was what was happening.

In season 2, Pix, Gem, and Joel always knew about Lizzie being a cat. Pix and Gem because they know none of this is real, and Joel because he's her husband so of course he'd know

[watcheraurora]

I know there probably won't be an Empires S3 and that's genuinely fine

But imagine with me for a minute

It's 1,000 years since the end of Empires S2, and the souls of the rulers are reincarnated yet again, fresh and new as before

And one of them in particular—a blond, brown-eyed young man—wanders the land with a pair of yellow-gold wings folded against his spine

Those wings bear him through the sky, soaring high above anything else. Sometimes he wonders if he could even fly so high that he would reach Stratos, the long-forgotten, mythical land of the gods. Or, according to myths and legends, the last god

With those yellow wings in the sun and his warm blond hair, he's given the name Canary King by his people

He builds his empire from scratch. He plants orchards in a plain biome—a canary's natural habitat. He trades honey and apples with the other kingdoms

He builds homes for his people with his bare hands. He builds his seat of power nearby. A palace for an Avian nestled in the branches of the tallest tree in the world. He made the tree himself, in a way. With the help of a little magic, he grew a sapling into a true marvel. A grand treehouse, high in the air, is where he builds his throne. The perfect fit for a wingéd king, born for the high blue skies

Sometimes he dreams of a homey swamp full of cod and slime. He dreams of gills in his neck and webbed hands. He dreams of a woman with blue skin and pink hair like Lizzie's in a light, flowy dress. He calls that woman sister, in his dreams. He dreams of an elf from the cold, high mountains—an ally. Sometimes he wonders if there was something more there. He dreams of the demon. The corruption.

Other times he dreams of a mesa—badlands. Exact opposite of that homey swamp. Instead of perpetual damp, the mesa is bone dry and blisteringly hot. He dreams of a brass badge on his chest. Tall boots to keep the sand out of his socks. He dreams of a hat to keep the sun off his face. The mesa is empty and lonely. He dreams of enclosed walls meant to emulate the blue sky and clouds the badlands are too hot to form. He dreams of mocking laughter. Shouts of "Toy!" He dreams of strangers appearing in the world, smaller than most everyone else. He dreams of the world the strangers—Hermits?—came from. A Rift in reality. He dreams of a funny old man with a grey beard teaching him to be "better" in his role

He dreams of a man with blue fire for hair, blue eyes with darker blue sclera, and a long black coat rarest of all, but they are always the sweetest dreams. The Canary King wears the brass badge and boots in those dreams, and the blue-fire-hair man isn't like the others—he treats him kindly. Even sweetly. In stark contrast to the mocking teasing of the others

The Canary King dreams he builds the two of them a ranch in the badlands, and then sees the fortress in the frozen norths of the Hermits' world that the blue fire hair man built himself

The Canary King always wakes up from these dreams feeling nostalgia. Like he misses something he never had, or lost something he no longer remembers

He serves his people and enjoys the company of the other rulers, his friends. He pretends he's not haunted by these dreams and the lives that seemed to be contained within them. No one else speaks of reoccurring dreams. No one else seems to notice the thousand-yard stare that he has when he thinks about them

Sometimes Scott smiles at him a little too fondly. Sometimes Joel's teasing needles him a little too deeply and he feels much smaller than he is. Sometimes Lizzie scolds him in a tone that sounds like the older sister the Canary King doesn't have—

And he remembers those dreams all over again

And his wings pull closer to his body, trying to protect him. He seeks comfort in the feeling of his feathers against his hands. He ignores the flashes of red-yellow-and-blue macaw wings on one of the Hermits in his dreams

So he flies. He flies and flies and flies. He sees the world whiz past below him. He flies so far and so fast, he tries to let the wind steal his thoughts and dreams from his mind. The skies are his home even more than the treehouse he poured blood, sweat, and tears into. The skies bring relief. And quiet. And solace. He still hasn't flown high enough to reach Stratos. He doesn't think he ever will

He doesn't want to anymore, with those dreams following him

The Canary King flies for days, barely sleeping, barely eating

He doesn't stop until he sees a mesa below him

It pulls him up short. He circles as he descends, eyes sweeping the land

He lands and kicks at the red sand here and there, thinking himself ridiculous for hoping to see—to find—anything

Until he slams his foot into something

He digs with a shovel and a pickaxe for what feels like hours. He exposes the ruins of an old town. He knows exactly where he's going to find the next building, somehow. As familiar with this town's layout as he is his orchards and the villages he built with his bare hands back home

He finds a small wooden sign with Welcome to Tumble Town! etched into the wood

He drops the sign and takes wing again. He deliberately ignores every swamp he passes over

He flies until he can't anymore. Until his beautiful, strong, yellow wings have no strength left and cannot bear him on the winds any longer. He crash lands in the snow and does not get up

The Canary King expects to freeze to death and never see his orchards or his treehouse palace ever again. He expects to finally be free of the dreams

Night falls. Creepers sneak around the mountains. Spiders spit and skeletons clank. Zombies groan

The world has grown dark, and the Canary King's vision begins to become even darker—

A blazing golden light flares. A voice cries out and then giggles

That same voice asks if the Canary King is alright. A warm hand rests on his shoulder

The newcomer has yellow fire for hair and red eyes with darker red sclera. He has the same face shape, the same nose, the same ears as the man in the Canary King's dreams

The newcomer is concerned and the Canary King is on the brink of unconsciousness. The newcomer promises that he's safe now—he'll be taken care of. It's the last thing the Canary King remembers before passing out

He wakes up in a cozy ranch house

He feels like he's home for the first time since the dreams started

[saym0-0]

hi hello heres a wip animatic of my esmp jimmy never forgot au im brewing :33

rambles about the au under the cut vv

basically, the idea of it is that while lizzie went on land as in canon and forgot, when jimmy followed her he just. didnt forget. somehow. the curse thing just passed right on over him.

so basically hes just an immortal fish god woo! he spends most of his time up until esmp s1 disguised as a human, or another regular hybrid, and then in empires he still realises that lizzies his sister and he just never recognised her (not blue skin + a name she didnt have last time they saw each other + a long ass time does not usually equal recognition lawl)

post rapture he sticks with joel, and helps him achieve immortality and godhood, where he'll eventually become god joel of stratos.

the toy joke/relentless teasing is like. the sibling dynamic where you can bully and tease each other relentlessly but at the end of the day, if its a serious moment then they have each others backs. they've stuck together for a thousand years after all!

i have SO much to say about joel in this au but i'll probably save that for another post or maybe a reblog

[gradienty]

Stratos Navy Blue (#020136 to #00097e)

[observerkaine]

Atlas mentioned Kraken once on stream so I ended up doodling fanart because angst. @rhapsoddity your au is really good and awesome.

Oh, what’s this? A secret drabble related to the art below the read more?

Boots stomp roughly against the asphalt as the two sprinted through the city. The skies above were overcast tonight, already having rained once. Sheriff’s breath came out in rough puffs as he pushed through the cold, eyes locked on the villain who continued to call back to him.

“Hurry along, little Cowboy! Where’s all the arrogance you normally have? You’d usually land a hit on me by now!”

“Arrogance? You’re mistaking me for Stratos, pal.”

He bites his lip as he pulls his hat down more onto his head, wind whipping around them threateningly. He can already feel his throat itching from the weather, no doubt a cold or some sort of ailment for wearing drenched clothes.

He roughly had to pull himself out of his own thoughts when Kraken suddenly drops down, swinging his knee up and ramming the vigilante hard in the chest before pulling hard on his lasso and swinging him forward once more for a second hit. Before the Sheriff can catch a second wind, he feels his body suddenly shift as the puddles around surge up and wrap around him, throwing him a few feet off the street and onto the docks.

He struggles to stand up, only for the water still around him to slam him back down, head colliding roughly with the wood.

“You know how rude it is to ignore someone when you’re in the middle of an encounter, dear Sheriff! If I didn’t know any better, I’d have assumed you’d been purposely ignoring me.”

He snarls, opening his mouth to argue-

Before his vision is swarmed with shifting shades of blue in the dark night, the water effortlessly forming completely around his form rather than just around his arms. He chokes as he feels it threaten to flood his throat, his lungs. For a moment, a spike of fear creeps into his chest as he tries to writhe free. He’s trapped, and he can’t see, can’t breathe, can’t do anything-!

He can only hear the water, footsteps… and muffled shouting?

He can feel himself shifted around as the shouting gets louder before suddenly going quieter, before a gloved hand roughly grabs his bandana and jerks him out of the water that flows around the pirate who seems to smile at him as much as is visibly possible with that mask over his mouth.

“Good news! Your involuntary assistance of acting as bait helped me catch that slippery little pest that’s been trailing me all week!”

Sheriff coughs and spits up water before slowly blinking his eye a bit more open. His fear only deepens as his focus is directed to the figure suspended over the larger mass of water.

Pyrolisk’s legs flail and twitch uselessly as he tries to kick at the villain, arms and head restrained and slowly drowning the fire based hero. His mouth moves, but any shouts are muddled out by the intense bubbling caused from his repeatedly doused flames. Any chance he manages to get his hands free, more water waiting below quickly surge up and secure him once more.

“S-Stop! Please! Leave him alone!”

Kraken doesn’t take his eyes off the hero, hand slowly closing more and compressing the water firmer around the hero’s head.

“Let him go! I- I’ll go with you if you leave him alone!”

The water stops and Kraken’s cold eyes slowly shift to him, eyebrow raised in silent question.

“The… the last time we fought, you said you’d wanted me, right? A-And Pyro intervened! So just let him go, I’ll go willingly!”

Kraken fully turns to him now, other hand still prepared to close fully.

“And what’s stopping me from just offing this hero and taking you regardless?”

Sheriff winces before slumping his head down.

“If… If you kill him, then you can’t hold this victory over him. You can’t brag to him or the other heroes that you’re the most dangerous threat around, and he’ll be proof that he’s only alive because you let him live…”

It’s agonizing how long the silence afterwards follows, especially when Pyrolisk’s movements start to slow down. The water is obscuring his face in shadows, no longer sizzling or boiling as his hands start to go slack. Then the water jerks forward and Pyro chokes a gasp as he’s slammed against the concrete, body trembling as it focuses on coughing up the water in his system.

“Normally I’d have let him die, let him sink. But, you do speak a point.”

Sheriff yelps as he’s slammed roughly to the floor, Kraken’s hand now outstretched to him. There’s a flash of pain before a sudden tightness in his nerves and veins, muscles flexing and throat dries as his body slowly rises up. The villain easily steps over the hero, only stopping to kick his back and rest his heel over his spine.

“Let this be a reminder to mind your damn business next time, okay?”

He looks up to Sheriff, a cruel glint in his eyes as he motions with his finger to follow along.

“It’s time to go, pretty boy~ This isn’t a request.”

Pyro weakly watches, with dots of darkness forming in his vision, as the Sheriff follows almost mechanically after the villain, gaze refusing to meet the hero’s. He slowly reaches out, hand trembling.

“D..on…t…”

His vision blurs before his eyes shut, hand dropping as unconscious settles in finally.

[slumbergoblin]

Redesigned Oscar's siblings for (hopefully) the last time!

[lafflanes]

more up-to-date refs of my main toon ocs' main outfits in-game, since i tweaked some of their outfits a bit! the creative liberties used in their designs as ocs are still p much the same though!

[rhapsoddity]

If you were to assign a few VSAU characters Ice Cream Flavors, what flavors would you choose?

Neapolitan for Spectrum

Mint choc chip for Hephaestus

Sheriff is chocolate

Cuteguy is strawberry, Hotguy is blue raspberry

Stratos is vanilla and Sanctuary is pistachio