#but it was surprisingly fun to write

[rainbowlack]

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Why would you—That's not—I just wanted to ask for help, why did you have to go and make it awkward???

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[edgeray]

Arlecchino is a cold person.

(Arlecchino x Reader Blurb)

It's no suprise to anyone. It is simply an objective fact of the matter. She is aware of this. The House of the Hearth is aware of this. The Fatui are aware of this. It's ironic given the nature of her vision, but it nonetheless rings true despite the fire she possesses on her blackened fingertips. She is callous and curt, and underneath her skin there is nothing except frigid ice that envelopes her being like a fitted coat. She speaks with no warmth, acts with the absence of heat, exists in a constant state of cold emptiness--a state in which there is a void inside of her, as if sucking all that is human of her.

Years ago, when she was just a child of the same orphanage she headed, she had naive thoughts of finding companionship, someone who would provide the warmth she sought on lonesome nights. She was barely just an adolescent who dreamed of lying in someone's arms, feel the heartbeat of another so surely, it would remind her that she was indeed alive. For even the briefest of moments, she yearned for someone who would, if not shield, then distract her from the cruelties of this world. She had shed those foolish wishes aside. In the House of the Heart that she was raised in, such notions were admonished, in fact, the wishful thinking was one of the reasons she had nearly lost her life. Never again, she had promised to herself, when she mercilessly beat the backstabber. It was then that she believed when the time came, her tale would end the same way as it began for her: alone. As the years of being a Fatui, then becoming a Fatui Harbinger, hardened her, there was comfort in that view.

That is what she believed in. Until you came.

Iciness wraps her being. It is present in her expression, in her words, in her touch. But that is exactly why she finds solace in your being. Her vision could only grant her a synthetic flame, but, you, you're an everlasting hearth. She melts in your embrace every time she slots herself in your arms, as it feels like a kindling ignited in her heart. It is only with you, that she learns how warmth can be found in.

Arlecchino is a cold person.

It is why you, as a warm one, is perfect for her. You whisk away the most depraved thoughts, ease her of any emotional and mental turmoil, and you do not treat her with the same coldness as the world seems so fond of doing to her. You are her flame, the one that sparks her being and reminds her that she is alive because her heart beats with you, beats for you.

Except you are cold now. It is unfathomable to her how you can be this way when your entire being exists to warm her, but when she touches your skin, you are unbearably frozen. Your body does not tremble like it does when her clawed fingers ever so gently trace your skin. The corner of your lips doesn't quirk up into the usual small smile of yours when she appears in your sight, but they remain ever rigid like the rest of you. Uncharacteristically, your expression doesn't soften with her presence.

You are cold, just like her. And that makes her afraid. Her hand searches for it, prodding your skin for a familiar thumping that is nowhere to be found. You continue to stare at her, unblinking. Here would be the moment where you give her a beaming smirk and you'd cup her face tenderly as if she was glass. And she would let you, because you are her beloved, who has watched her shatter so many times before and wordlessly each shard back together, and it is for that reason that she would lean closer towards your touch.

Because you lie broken in her arms and her hands are stained again with the familiar color of red. Your eyes are glossy and gaze unblinkingly at her. Frozen. Even when you are covered in your blood, you are beautiful, she notes, but oh, so cold that it makes her doubt if you were warm to begin with.

She misses your warmth. Where has it gone? Or has it died along with you?

Her hearth is gone. And as she clings onto your form, her body wracking with a fear and desperation she's never known before, two revelations come to her: that there is no such thing as an everlasting fire, and even after so many years ago, she was right along.

Arlecchino is a cold person. And she will remain always cold.

[bekolxeram]

Human remains as props — the Billy Boils of old horror movies

In this week's Halloween themed 9-1-1 episode, Buck rented a mummy replica from a Hollywood prop shop which turned out to be a real human body. This set off a series of misfortunate events for the firefighter, that might or might not be the result of a curse. Once again, the writers have surpassed themselves in terms of over-the-top silliness that has become the trademark of our beloved weewoo show. There's no way someone can accidentally get their hands on a real corpse... right?

Oh, you'll be surprised. You too may have seen a real cadaver or two on the silver screen.

The Economics of prop dead bodies

Using real human remains as movie props was such a common practice back in the days that prop masters working on the 1979 Vietnam war epic Apocalypse Now were totally unfazed when body broker (later revealed to be a grave robber) brought several dead bodies to the set. The plan to use those bodies as props for maximum authenticity was only scrapped after a producer ruled against it.

Source: The Independent

Interestingly, films that ended up actually featuring real bodies were the low-budget, fake looking ones. In the age before 3D printing, creating a set of realistic human skeleton was a very labor intensive process. That combining with the cost of the material used, the price of a plastic replica was in fact more expensive than a real skeleton.

A special effect make-up artist who worked on the 1982 Spielberg classic Poltergeist explained the film's decision to use actual human remains on a podcast:

Source: Snopes

Eerily, two young actresses who worked on the Poltergeist trilogy passed away unexpectedly shortly afterwards, leading to the urban legend of a curse on set.

The story of Elmer J. McCurdy

In late 1976, the production crew of the TV show The Six Million Dollar Man was filming scenes at the Pike, a then amusement zone in Long Beach, California. While shooting a scene at a thrill ride, a member of the prop department spotted a wax mannequin covered in fluorescent paint dangling from a noose. Worrying it would get in the way of the camera, they gave the dummy's arm a tug in an attempt to remove it, but instead of the whole thing coming off, only the arm broke off, exposing a human bone and muscle tissues.

A penny from 1924 and ticket stubs to the "Museum of Crime" were found in the body's mouth. Investigators contacted the museum owner's son, who identified the body as Elmer McCurdy, an outlaw killed in 1911 in the middle of a shootout with police following a botched train robbery in Oklahoma.

Unlike the fictional McCurdy in 8x05, the real McCurdy was a simple petty criminal looking for some extra cash to support his alcohol habit. Utilizing the skills he learned from the army, his robbery method of choice was explosives, but he was very terrible at it.

Source: KCRW

His body was subsequently taken to a funeral home, where he laid unclaimed for the rest of his stay. The undertaker embalmed the body, shaved his face, dressed him in a suit, but refused bury him until someone come forward to claim it and pay for the service. As time went by, the owner of the funeral home decided to dress the body as a gunslinging cowboy and allow visitors to see "the Bandit Who Wouldn't Give Up" for the price of a nickel, in order to fund his burial.

5 years later, two men claiming to be McCurdy's long lost brothers came forward to take custody of the body for a proper burial. End of the story, right? Well, of course they were travelling carnival owners lying to acquire the body for their shows. In 1922, the body was sold to yet another travelling exhibit called "Museum of Crime", which featured wax figures of other famous outlaws in history.

For the next 3 decades, McCurdy's body travelled all around the country as an attraction. He even had a brief film career. He was once used to promote the 1933 film Narcotic!, then he had a small cameo in the 1967 B-movie She Freak. In 1968, the Museum of Crime owner's son decided to sell his father's exhibits to the Hollywood Wax Museum. There, McCurdy's body started getting mixed up with other wax figure, and his origin story long forgotten.

Following over half a century of voyage, McCurdy eventually became fully mummified. The wax museum believed that the body was too gruesome and unlifelike to be showcased anymore, so he was finally sold to The Pike, an amusement zone in Long Beach, where he began his new life as a thrill ride decoration dummy.

After the shocking revelation by TV crew in 1976, McCurdy was transported back to Oklahoma, where he took his last breath 66 years ago, and finally laid to rest after a graveside service attended by 300 people. (Under 2 feet of concrete, to prevent grave robbing)

Source: Atlas Obscura

[star--anon]

Minho, who moved into Gally's childhood house

unknowingly also moving into an active War Zone™

it's Gally VS Thomas

they're both ghosts

they're fighting over who gets to haunt the place

both of them have attached themselves to the house already and are trying to convince the other to un-attach themselves

attaching oneself to a place is a simple procedure

In fact, it's so simple it can happen on accident for a lot of ghosts

like Thomas, who thought the house was cute and spent so long there that he just woke up attached one day

meanwhile, Gally grew up in the house as a living human and has haunted the place for three years

So he's not about to let some silly accidental ghost take it away from him

any number of ghosts can be attached to a property, but traditionally, only one ghost haunts it

the others just kind of... meander

most ghosts lose interest in staying connected to the physical world

and enjoy floating mindlessly in some forgotten corner of an establishment, wandering in their waking dreams

but Thomas and Gally aren't those kinds of ghosts

Minho isn't even aware of the fight between the two at first

Thomas and Gally don't really pay attention to Minho either

He's not really a "human being with feelings"

he's just another part of the house

that the haunting ghost gets the right to mess with

until Minho starts tearing down the old wallpaper, renovating the showers, replacing the mirrors, etc.

the two ghosts quickly set their rivalry aside to drive away the parasite that's demolishing their precious haunting place

they start off small

Minho can't find his keys, his TV remote is always missing, why is his toothbrush in the toilet, where did all the windows go, was this area of the house always this dark, why is it so cold, why are his blankets trying to strangle him

(okay Gally went too far with that one)

Step 2: ants start stealing his food, faces appear behind Minho in the mirror, rats drown themselves in his morning coffee, the doors open and close loudly at night, the basement stairs try to chew off Minho's feet

(okay Gally went too far again)

before they can get to Step 3, Minho catches on

he guessed that there was a ghost in the house at Step 1

Step 2 made him realize the ghost might be more malicious than he thought

he starts tossing food into the campfire as offerings for whatever spirit is messing with him

a ghost is kind of like a vampire. They need permission to do certain things

such as eating physical food

Thomas, who died last week and is unused to no longer being able to eat, eagerly accepts whatever Minho throws out of the flames

he stops messing with Minho

Minho notices the decline in ghostly antics and increases the food offerings

Gally is offended that Thomas is so easily swayed

"This is why you would've never made a good haunting ghost"

"Okay but you haven't tasted his pasta. He makes really good pasta."

as respectful and knowledgeable as Minho is, he's wrong on one thing: He thinks there's only one ghost

He buys a larger bed and another pillow, inviting the ghost (just one) to sleep. He puts out a second toothbrush (just one). He makes a second dinner (just one) and buys a second kitchen chair (just one)

for all his kindness, Minho only ever invites one ghost

so of course, Thomas and Gally fight over who gets to be Minho's ghost

(at some point you have to wonder if maybe they just like fighting)

"Just haunt the house. You love this house. You've haunted it for three years or something."

"You're just saying that because you want to haunt Minho"

"You want to haunt Minho too!"

"He's in my house! He's mine!"

"I literally died last week! I deserve some sympathy! I'm vulnerable and sad right now! You have no sympathy!!"

"You can get the pasta that he throws into the fire"

they draw hearts in the mirror (Thomas erases Gally's)

they helpfully write grocery lists for him (Gally tears up Thomas')

they drive away pests from his garden (both try to take credit for what's technically a team effort)

Thomas coaxes a stray cat into the house and is heartbroken when Minho tosses the cat back outside, not knowing it's a gift

Gally offers his old childhood toys (memories are the most precious thing a ghost can give) by putting them on Minho's bed and then sulks when Minho doesn't touch them

(he's afraid of angering whatever put them there by messing up the toys)

Thomas irons out Minho's clothes

Gally steals clothes from random passerby's and gifts them to Minho

(definitely Gally going too far again)

(Minho is frazzled by the increase of naked people outside his house)

they TOTALLY fall in love with him during the process

this is important and 100% normal

they start worrying when Minho takes too long to come home from work

Gally and Thomas even detach themselves from their beloved house to go looking for Minho

(who fell asleep at work 'cause his boss overworked him)

(picture that scene from Ratatouille)

Gally drapes a blanket over Minho's exhausted body while Thomas angrily goes to find his boss

he spends the rest of the night terrorizing him

(Gally is impressed by Thomas' ferocity. He doesn't tell him that, of course)

Minho is losing his mind

because he is the receiver (the victim, really) of a ghost's affection

unbeknownst to him, he is in fact the victim of TWO ghosts' affection

and how is he supposed to maintain his reputation as a normal person... if he's starting to feel affection for a ghost

it ends with all three of them kissing btw

[illarian-rambling]

Gonna be a shit day at work today, so if y'all would like to reblog this with something sweet that happens in your stories or a fun fact about your ocs, that'd just make my day <3

[box-dwelling]

Imagine if Astarion made one joke about virgin blood while he and Wyll are still courting and wyll gets a weird thing in his head that he's going to want to stop feeding on him as much after they have sex. Which shouldn't be a problem, he can just get live animals but also, you know the monster fucker in him is very much into that and he'd be very upset to lose it.

Then when it finally gets raised astarion basically recites the wwdits "imagine if you had a sandwich, you'd feel much better if someone hadn't fucked it" bit but then adds on "but if you fucked it then it's just kinky"

[miss0atae]

BL Fashion in The Heart Killers (EP 1 - 3): Bison’s fashion style.

Kant's fashion style: Here

[aldisobey]

🕳️ WIP Wednesday (on Thurs) 🕳️

edit: full release on AO3

Tagged by @heylittleriotact

WELL this one was supposed to be released by now but I have had the absolute delight of needing to write confronting truths to the worst sorts of people. Menace is a way of life. I bring you this. I don’t know what to title it. Weeping Lizards? Sodden Hole? Muddy Salt? Help. I blame @emmg for its creation this is your fault. We’re in Hossberg and Emmrich is crying over a muddy hole that reminds him of Worne (Rook).

———-——-

“Now, please, I have to see to Emmrich, shoo. Everyone’s off.” Rook motioned it with a flick of his hands this time; well aware he might have better luck physically urging the ground below to trot on before budging the Qunari. Thankfully Taash needed no further encouragement and long strides were soon taking them past Emmrich. They paused at a shout from behind.

Rook, calling like a concerned parent, “And get something nice for Lace first!” Taash waved back, looked over their shoulder, regretted that once the Warden started mouthing further instructions, what was he saying? “Floooowers.” And he was pointing at himself, and at Emmrich and. Taash rolled their eyes. Took a moment to turn and mouth back an exaggerated but silent, “Nooooo.”

Rook flipped them off, they sent two back. Rook’s eyes went wide, and he pointed a stiff finger at them. Taash groaned and rolled their head full round. Mouthed a “Fiiiiine.” And finally disappeared down the path back to Lavendell.

The Warden quickened his step. Emmrich hadn’t moved in the time it took to send Taash away for errands. The mage remained locked in place, red and wet faced, staring long at a muddy hole.

Rook didn’t question it, did his best to not startle him, that hazel gaze was far, far away. “Emmrich.”The hushed tone was followed by a soft touch. Fingers entered at waist, trailed up the spine until they went up to hold that opposite shoulder steady, gave a firm grip, a gentle pull towards the rogue. The necromancer was trembling, Rook eased into a shape that fit close, that first touch a needle of first stitch, and like thread he pulled them flush together.

Emmrich didn’t startle, seemed to expect him, subtle movements meeting Rook as he settled into the Warden’s hands finding their way to their places. Still, he kept a bit tense, hands tight together in front. White knuckled as he spoke sniffing,

“Rook. Darling, it’s…look, I…” and then Emmrich laughed, piercingly loud, a wincing crack that made Rook flinch to a confused smile. But the noise was manic prelude, and it was swallowed in the sob that drove it free. The mage’s eyes welled, wet trails provided easy paths for fresh tears as flood resumed. He turned his head down and into Rook, lips quivering to recall words. Shine on his face wrenching the rogue’s gut, Rook listened, attentive as possible, but the necromancer’s trembling smile stretched the sounds.

Emmrich’s hands unclenched from each other and dove round Rook in a desperate clinging embrace. The Warden answered with whispered soft ‘shhhh’s’ and diligently caressed the tall man’s back. They held there for long moments, Rook bearing their weight as the quivering necromancer eased into fewer wails and more whimpers.

Blubbering, mumbling, further shuddering chuckles, but eventually, helped by Rook’s firm embrace, calming touch, and steady pace of lungs, the breaths came even enough for thoughts. Emmrich squeaked out, “...it reminded me of you.”

He gestured towards the filthy hole. And then a lizard popped its head out. Mud obscured its sight, some kind of weed stuck to its chin, and its big dumb face was wide, letting nary a thought bother its whim. Emmrich snorted. Then started weeping again.

—————

tagging: @caffeinatedmunchkin @thepalehorsevictoria @ollypopwrites (look I know you’ve likely been tagged but this is me saying tag me on all your writing updates because imma miss it if you don’t I’m staying away from this place as much as possible to write. Sincerely haha I’ll catch up on commenting when I caaaaan because holy shit all the writing is so good. I’m forgetting people TAG ME I need to post or imma edit the whole thing again.)

[amethystina]

Pole Dancing

Fandom/Pairing: X-Men: First Class - Cherik

Length: ~ 5 000 words

Rating/Warnings: T / None

Additional Tags: No Powers, Modern AU, Flirting, Pining, Meet-Cute

Summary: If anyone had told Charles a week ago that he would find himself taking pole dancing lessons, he would have called them mad.

It's not his choice, of course — it's Raven's, selected as punishment for a lost bet — but that doesn't change just how mortifying the whole ordeal is. Charles is under no illusions as to his own physical prowess — or lack thereof — and knows that there is no way for him to emerge from that class with his dignity intact. But no amount of protests or wheedling can make Raven change her mind.

What's worse, she insists on telling the very handsome stranger that Charles bumps into in the gym lobby about it, too. As if Charles isn't mortified enough.

But, to Charles's surprise, the man seems more amused than judgemental. Maybe even a little intrigued.

Charles can definitely work with that. GO HERE TO READ

[everytimewetouch-dot-mp3]

me: okay i’m gonna sit down to work on my omegaverse fic bc i can’t stop thinking about it

me: buys a book about writing fiction

(a few days later)

me: okay i’m gonna sit down to work on my omegaverse fic bc i can’t stop thinking about it

me: buys a book about writing fiction

…i have like 5 new books about writing fiction and no progress made on my fic. pls. it’s just fanfiction it’s okay if it’s bad

[derangedanomaly]

How would the boys react to a reader who's low key stalking them, They never do anything to them, they're just always nearby

THE BOYS REACTION TO A STALKER READER

NIGHTMARE:

He's gonna feel somewhat flattered

You mean you're spending your time following him around?

As you should. He's your king 🙄✋

Nightmare would probably get SO quickly annoyed though 💀

Long story short-

You're dead by the end of this.

CHAOS:

CHAOS WOULD FREAK OUT SO BADLY 😭

He literally doesn't know how to deal with this

So he does the first thing that came to his mind-

He's gonna approach you, and talk with you about your.... stalking. 💀

Good luck lol

ACE:

He dipped.

BLADE:

He's gonna immediately assume you're in love with him-

Yeah- now you're stalking each other.

It's a weird situation tbh. 💀

You're gonna have to talk to him to somehow resolve it.

TED:

Ted would know about you. Instantly.

He knows you like to watch him when he's taking care of the little ducks he found all alone, injured in the rain :(

He knows you like to watch while he's chopping the wood. Trust me- he knows.

But he doesn't do anything about it. I mean- you're not posing a danger- so for now... he's just gonna let you be.

[fogwitchoftheevermore]

very very intrigued by the snippet

what's your esmp s1 superhero au like?

YAY thank you for asking!!

So, there's a lot going on in this AU and I'm kinda using this as a chance to do a master post, so I'm gonna throw everything under the cut. I'm also not gonna get into the full nitty gritty of the plot (HI, SPACE FROM THE FUTURE HERE, THIS WAS KIND OF A LIE), just because it is a lot but I will give you the broad strokes of how we cover the plot of Empires!

First things first, let's get to know our heroes/vigilantes/etc.!

The Wither Rose Alliance: A group of vigilantes who have all known each other since childhood.

Gem, code name Sorceress. Gem was born with powers kinda similar to a Green Lantern, where she can create light with a physicality to it. She channels this light through a staff (primarily for aesthetics) and uses it either as projectile weapons or shields the majority of the time, but can use it for whatever she wants. She also has wings by the time our story starts, which were built by Fwhip. Gem and Fwhip are siblings, but when Gem developed powers in her early teens she became terrified of being unable to control herself and drawing unwanted attention to her family or hurting them, so she ran away. She was taken in by ex-vigilante Aello (I'll explain them when we get to the plot) and has been in the business since she was about 16. Her and Fwhip reunited when they were adults and now vigilante together and with their childhood friends Sausage and Pearl. As of the time of the story, Gem is a student and also works at a local library.

Fwhip, code name the Mechanist. Fwhip does not have powers and instead makes his own wings and explosives to fight with. He initially got into the vigilante business because he knew that Sorceress was his sister and he needed a way to talk to her, but it turns out he's an adrenaline junkie and loves it. Fwhip is also a student and is a camp counselor at a summer camp as well (not like, the fun middle of the woods type summer camp, to be clear. One of those ones you find in the city where they bring you to local places for activities.)

Pearl, code name Valkyrie. Pearl has super strength and impenetrable skin. She was the last member of the WRA to get into vigilante-ing, partially because it took her a while to realize she had powers and not just like, particularly notable but still totally human abilities. And then it took Sausage almost getting himself killed one day for her to go "Oh god, these three need all the help they can get, don't they?" Turns out, she also loves it, because it's like the wrestling she does for fun but like... she's not gonna immediately win even she's already holding back because everyone she fights is still a normal person. She's getting opponents on her level here. Pearl works with local park services.

Sausage, code name Warlock. Sausage also does not have any powers. He uses a staff (that Fwhip made him) that basically imitates Gem's powers, meaning it's pretty much a funny looking laser gun. After finding out that Fwhip was a vigilante, Sausage convinced Fwhip to cut him in on the whole thing and they've been partners ever since. Sausage works at the same summer camp as Fwhip, I have yet to decide what he does the rest of the year.

The Codvengers: A rival group of vigilantes who are literally only rivals with the WRA cause the vibes were bad.

Jimmy, code name The Codfather. Jimmy has super strength (which he uses more defensively, unlike Pearl) and can breathe underwater (it's genetic). The Codfather Mask is a magic family heirloom type thing that magnifies Jimmy's powers. Without it on or near his person, he can't breathe underwater and his strength is significantly lesser. Jimmy and Lizzie's parents died when they were very young and they were separated through the foster system. Jimmy managed to hold onto his family heirloom, while Lizzie did not. He now works at the local public pool, which just so happens to be the one the summer camp Fwhip and Sausage work for take the kids to. They are nightmares to him in all facets of his life.

Lizzie, code name Ocean Queen. Lizzie's powers allow her to shapeshift into her full ocean queen form (10 feet tall, blue, gills, big tail, sharp nails, sharp teeth, armored scales). Without the Ocean Orb, her own magic family heirloom thing, Lizzie can still grow the claws, teeth, scales, and gills, but nothing else. She doesn't recover the orb until the story is already in motion, but that whole plotline happens a lot earlier than it does in canon (mostly because things pick up way too much in the middle and end for me to not have her at full power, though I haven't decided exactly when.) Lizzie is Jimmy's coworker at the aforementioned pool.

Joel, code name Militia. Joel can manifest clones of himself that work as a hivemind. These clones don't live for too long (not more than an hour) and disappear when killed, but they are strong and will die for him. Joel works at a local art gallery and he and Lizzie are together but probably not married in this AU.

Pix, code name Phantom. Pix has a life drain power, the more he drains from someone else, the stronger he gets. He can kill people with this power, but never does (except for the one time. We'll come back to that.) Pix is a graveyard keeper cause it's on the nose.

And then our miscellaneous "not on a team" crew!

Katherine, code name Empress. Katherine has healing powers as well as plant manipulation. She can move plants to make them do whatever she wants and grow them at extreme speeds. Katherine works at the Sunflower Café, a local haven for superheroes, vigilantes, and villains of all kinds where they all agree to not start swinging on each other (mostly cause they're all in civies). This also means Katherine has gleaned everyone's secret identities and just hasn't mentioned it to them. Katherine is technically a government sponsored hero, but she hangs out with vigilantes a bit too much for the government to be her biggest fans.

Shrub, code name Wolf Spirit. Shrub can talk to plants and animals and also has a pack of wolves who hang out with her all the time. Do NOT worry about how she hides them from her city landlord, I did not think about it that hard. Shrub is an investigative journalist who also volunteers at the local animal shelter. Shrub is a vigilante.

Joey, code name Alexandros (this is open to change, though, I'll be honest). Joey has the basic elemental powers (fire, earth, air, water) but can only utilize elements already around him. Admittedly, this is not that much of a drawback, it just means he doesn't get to show off the fire that often. Joey is a photographer and one of Shrub's coworkers. Joey is an anti-hero vigilante for a lot of the time, the rest of it he's a villain.

Scott, code name Fractal. Scott has ice powers. I don't know what you wanted me to say. I also gave Scott a coffee shop job (different one than Katherine though) mostly because I think the image of him as a kinda bitchy barista is fun. He's also the only government sponsored hero who is actually into the government thing.

Xornoth, code name the Demon (not very creative, I know, but whatever). Xornoth has the power to give people hallucinations and can manifest and control the corruption tentacles we see in canon.

NOW! THE PLOT! THAT WAS A LOT SORRY!

The world of this AU is one where superheroes have existed for a long time. Our Emperors are the latest generation, and the last generation (made up of some OC characters, one of whom I mentioned above, who are here cause I really like them) shows up periodically. Notably, Aello (real name Pi, they/them, mostly human but has wings, ex-vigilante/villain), Refuge (real name Thorn, he/they/she, can make shields and punch good, one of the two owners of the Sunflower Café, ex-hero), and Snapdragon (real name Meringue, any pronouns, plant manipulation, ex-vigilante, other owner of the Sunflower Café and Thorn's spouse). Before them, however, there was a slightly older generation that featured Alinar and Cohnal. Alinar was a hero, Cohnal was a villain, both sponsored (and DNA manipulated to get their powers) by Aeor and Exor respectively.

Aeor and Exor used to run the aforementioned superhero division of the government together, but they eventually got into a massive blowup argument about their methods and morals that resulted in Exor splitting off to do his own thing, which was pretty much exactly what they were doing before but Illegal this time and less bogged down by rules. Exor began experimenting on normal humans to see if he could create an artificial superhero, thus creating Cohnal. This had been what the argument had been about, and Aeor's objections were a lot less moral and a lot more "there are rules about this", so when push comes to shove, Aeor's willing to use his government funds to do the same thing and create Alinar to fight fire with fire.

The experiments that gave Alinar and Cohnal their powers were... unstable, at best, and eventually killed the both of them. This was just the first trial, however, and as you might've guessed, Scott and Xornoth are our latest test tube babies. They were both volunteered for Exor's experiments as children and Aeor, upon finding out about this, said "I'm not letting my shit brother have two whole new lab rats" and grabbed Scott for himself. Scott spent the majority of his young life in a lab and has yet to figure out that his childhood was abnormal (this wasn't originally meant to be a metaphor for being raised in a cult but my friend who has given significant input (AND ART WHICH WILL BE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST IF YOU'D LIKE A REWARD) for this AU has brought up the similarities enough that, well, yeah). Scott's only been a "normal" person and part of normal society for like, the last two years. Xornoth has never been apart of normal society and still lives in Exor's lab cause it's a lot harder to make your experiment child a fake identity if you yourself are wanted by the government.

By the time this story starts, Xornoth's done a lot of pretty fucked up shit. Notably, he's killed Shrub's parents because Shrub (who was still living with her parents at the time) was getting a bit too close to whistle blowing on Exor's work and she needed to be... taken care of. This near death experience is how Shrub unlocked her powers and what got her to move into the ambiguous city where the story takes place. Joey's also a new arrival in town, but that's for like, normal reasons.

Other notable events in the plot of empires! I'm gonna try and run through these ones as quick as possible (meaning no nice transitions) because this post is already a lot!

The Dragon: The Dragon is one of Exor's other experiments gone wildly wrong. The Dragon used to be a woman named Marigold who worked for Exor. She was suckered into participating in one of his experiments, but whatever "science" was done to give her powers had some very bad side effects. Marigold's powers are crazy powerful (dragon's breath, huge wings, some sort of magic storm that surrounds her person at all time) and she cannot control them. She's also not really in her right mind. Exor has kept her captive in his lab for a while but by the time the story starts, she's starting to become more of a liability than she's worth. Marigold also has a child named Violet who's being cared for in the lab because she's kinda a loose end, but Violet does not have powers (yet) and is not being experimented on.

Sausage and Joey Go Evil: Exor sees promise in these new vigilantes and heroes that Xornoth's been fighting ever since tracking Shrub to the city and has asked Xornoth to try and recruit some of them to their "cause". Not Fractal, though. Don't worry about why not Fractal, Xornoth. It's not important. Joey is suckered into this in the exact way that he is in canon. To be clear, Xornoth is not into him, but he's willing to lead him on a little bit at the start to get Joey to volunteer for the experiments to give him stronger and new powers (upon going through these experiments, Joey's powers become stronger and he also is able to control and create the corruption tentacles. Joey also changes his name after going fully villain, but this is the only name I have yet to come up with). Sausage is suckered in because he is wildly jealous of his friends who were born with powers and the promise of developing some of his own, rather than having to rely on Fwhip's creations and Gem and Pearl's support in fight. Sausage does not change his code name when he goes evil.

Scott and Xornoth Find Out They're Brothers: By the time this story starts, Xornoth has already begun to be suspicious of Exor and the lab and has been looking into what the fuck they did to him, where he came from, all that. When The Demon starts to cause problems for the vigilante/hero scene of the Ambiguous City, Gem, Katherine, and Scott start working together to investigate the guy's origins and all the things. With Shrub's intel, the three break into Exor's lab and manage to collect some records before getting chased out. Xornoth is suspiciously bad at his job when the three are caught, but that's probably nothing, right? (Xornoth knows Fractal is his brother but is still pretty deep in the brainwashing)

The Codfather Head: One day in the midst of their work rivalry, Fwhip and Sausage break into Jimmy's locker to mess with him somehow (they haven't thought that far ahead) and find the Codfather Mask in his bag. At first, they think he's a superfan or something, but upon further inspection, this thing is definitely real. They have no idea why Jimmy would have this, but Fwhip decides they should steal it. Upon finding out that the mask is missing, Jimmy freaks for obvious reasons. A few days later, Fwhip encounters the other three Codvengers, lacking a notable fourth member, and doesn't restrain from teasing and implying that he knows what happened to the mask. They get into a huge argument and Fwhip agrees to drop the Codfather Mask off in, like, a random abandoned parking lot after getting some sense talked into him about the situation.

The Dragon Fight: Around the same time, Exor decides that Marigold is taking up too many resources and decides he needs to be rid of her. Exor tells Xornoth, Joey, and Sausage that if they can kill her, the resources being used on her can start being redirected towards them, and Xornoth isn't wildly down (but isn't not down either) and Sausage and Joey are both up for it too. They try, but they fail, and Marigold gets an idea of what the situation is and breaks out of the lab, taking Violet with her. The Dragon, as the media starts calling her, is drawn to the presence of powerful magic items, which is a surprise tool that will help us in a few sentences. The local heroes and vigilantes quickly split into two camps: "we need to kill/incapacitate her because she is hurting people" (the Codvengers) and "we need to help her because she's clearly not in her right mind" (pretty much everyone else). Anyways, Fwhip leaves the Codfather Mask where he said he would, but he and the remaining WRA members decide to keep watch over it, because they don't really want it falling into the hands of some random civilian. Problem: The Dragon gets there first. This leads to a huge fight and well... you've watched Empires, you know how this fight goes. This also happens to be the only time Pix has used his life drain powers to fully kill someone, and this messes with him for a while (because he also absorbs a ton of Marigold's memories when she dies, and that's not great for the guy's mental state). In the wake of the fight, Gem finds Violet where she was hidden by Marigold when the fighting broke out and... panics. She panics harder when she tries to approach and Violet sends a magic bolt at her in her fear (Gem eventually calms her down but UH OH). Gem decides to take the kid in because she doesn't really know what else to do, but this also gets a target on her back.

Sausage Goes Good Again: Exor learns Gem has Violet and that Violet has powers and decides that he should probably deal with that. He tells Sausage that he needs to go take Violet back from Gem at any cost, heavily implying Gem needs to be killed. And look, Sausage has been willing to do a lot at this point, but this (combined with the events of the Dragon Fight making him reconsider his role in the whole thing) is too far. So, Sausage decides to do something drastic. He does break into Gem's apartment, as asked, but upon getting in there and getting into a fight with her, he communicates to her the general idea of "I do not want to do this and I need you to help me fake my death" through a lot of coded talk (because he's being bugged) and cocky "The only way to stop me is to kill me" boasting. Gem takes the hint and blasts him in the chest with her powers, simultaneously breaking the bug and stopping his heart briefly. It's fine, she manages to revive him (again with her powers, don't worry about how she makes them into a defibrillator). Gem panics and calls Katherine, because Katherine made a few too many jokes about knowing where to hide a body and Gem is wondering if she might know where to hide a live person. Great news, she does! Her bosses, Thorn and Meringue, are willing to house him in the apartment above the café. This safe house will come back later. After Exor is off Sausage's back (not because he's gone but because he has other, bigger problems now, which we're about to get to), Sausage returns to vigilante work under a new name, Scepter. He also stops utilizing the corruption tentacles that the experiments gave him because 1. it causes him pain to do so and 2. well, it's got bad vibes. He does, however, keep using the enhanced ability-to-withstand-a-hit (a power I know has a better name than that but I can't think of it) to make him into a bit of a tank to protect his friends.

Xornoth Gets Crystalized and Scott's Magic Goes Haywire: Okay, this plot line is like, wildly different than in canon. But basically, after everything calms the fuck down slightly, Gem, Katherine, and Scott find out the truth of what happened to Alinar and Cohnal and draw some reasonable conclusions about Scott and Xornoth. The three decide to straight up kidnap Xornoth to get him free from Exor's control. Good news, they don't really need to kidnap him, because he'd also decided to split around the same time. Xornoth also gets moved into the safe house above the Sunflower Café and man the dynamic up there must be fun. Not long after Xornoth is separated from Exor's lab, however, his powers start to go haywire and he starts to get extremely sick. After a lot of conversations about how insane Scott and Xornoth's childhoods were, they figure out that Scott and Xornoth have both been getting regularly given some sort of serum to keep their powers and their bodies stable for their entire lives, hence Xornoth's Bad Time. Thorn and Meringue contact an old friend to help reverse engineer the stuff, which stops Xornoth from being extremely sick but his powers are still hard to control. Scott also decides to split from Aeor at this point (which means he is ALSO in the safe house. This is around the point where Sausage moves out but again THE DYNAMIC IS CRAZY) and starts using the same serum to keep himself from keeling over, and Gem decides to try to help Scott get greater control over his powers. This is how the drabble from earlier happens! Gem manages to recover enough that she doesn't tell anyone about it for about a week but then she collapses for no real reason in Fwhip's apartment and he and Sausage make her tell them what happened. Gem goes to Katherine to get healed and once Scott emerges from the hole he's hiding in, Fwhip and Sausage beat him up in an alley for a bit until they feel better.

The Rapture: This is also a very different plot line than in canon, mostly because I don't want to decimate this city full of civilians. Basically, all of our heroes are together now (Joey going good again happened at some point but I haven't thought about that plot line too in depth) and are trying to expose Aeor and Exor to the public and also destroy all the tech and science they've been creating. There is a problem, however: Scott and Xornoth have been rogue for long enough that both Aeor and Exor have resorted to trying to modify themselves (because they know people are going to come for them eventually) and are now on par with The Dragon in terms of power, so this is now a big fight and a really bad one. In the fall out, Xornoth, Scott, Joey and Pearl (and maybe Lizzie? Undecided) are all particularly fucked up (like, they have to step away from being a hero entirely because Aeor or Exor gave them permanent breathing problems or chronic pain or whatever) whereas the rest of the crew still does the superhero stuff but not all of them stay for a long time (I think most of the Codvengers step away permanently not too long after) and it’s not like new supers aren’t being born everyday to take up the mantle, they’re not leaving everyone abandoned or anything. Hey, maybe Violet will become her own hero once she's not, like, 7!

OKAY WOW THAT WAS A LOT! Anyways, I promised you a few of my friend @pixlostinatos 's doodles for this AU if you stuck it out this long, so here they are!

Scott and Xornoth after getting out of their respective lab cults. Xornoth goes full goth and Scott dresses like a prep school boy who's never had to dress for himself before cause he's been wearing a uniform his whole life.

Thorn and Sausage talk about the whole "turning evil" thing once Sausage starts living above their place of business.

Scott arguing (mostly lightheartedly) with Katherine about "HOW COULD YOU NOT TELL US THAT YOUR BOSS WERE FAMOUS EX SUPERS SNAPDRAGON AND REFUGE AND ALSO THAT THEY WERE MARRIED AND ALSO THAT THEY KNEW ALL OUR SECRET IDENTITIES BECAUSE YOU KNEW ALL OUR SECRET IDENTITIES"

A 14-ish year old Gem talking to Pi and small doodles of gem and Fwhip in their civies.

Space from even further in the future here, I have more doodles from my buddy in these posts! Look!

[teddybasmanov]

You know how it is.

[gingermintpepper]

Day 1: Apollo

Interpretation notes and trivia under the cut!

His interpretation for my work is based very much around the concept of his manifestation as the Radiant God of the String. Because of this, quite like Hecate, he’s triple-fold and occupies three major spaces; the string of Fate and therefore prophecy, the bowstring and therefore distance and destruction and the lyrestring and therefore music and order. He’s a somewhat melancholy figure all things considered - Fate and following Fate’s tennants is something that he struggled a lot with as a child and even now as a more mature deity, the only solution he’s truly found is to take things one day at a time. Very diligent and fastidious, he’s a hard worker and tends to put his everything into completing any task set before him which also tends to work to his disadvantage since he’s prone to becoming tunnel-visioned until he’s finished what he said he would finish. His family orchestrated his winter breaks because he had the nasty habit of working himself sick when he was still very young.

Apollo is generally represented by circles in my work - priests of Apollo will be marked with at least three circles on their face and usually wear triangular jewellry (typically earrings or necklace charms) to reflect the triple-nature of their god. His favoured colour is a rich, deep blue and while he typically wears elaborate eye paint, he rarely uses face powders. Wears gem-toned blues for his lips unless in mourning where he will leave himself unadorned and unpainted out of respect.

Some quick trivia: 

Was born identical to Artemis even though they were born (years) apart. Had brown hair, wolf’s ears and fangs and horns when he was a child but never manifested those features again after his penance for slaying Python. If he’s very stressed or angry, sometimes his fangs will show. The brown of his hair grew out to blond naturally as he developed and matured as a god.

Proficient in all instruments but has always especially preferred stringed instruments. Truly unmatched with a kithara but only uses it for special occasions and official meetings. Generally prefers his lyre for every day usage

Really good at sewing and braiding strings together due to the exercises he had to do while under the tutelage of the Moirai sisters. Can’t weave since Athena banned him from touching a loom but he does like watching her spin. The one time she caught him trying to replicate her patterns with a needle and thread, she complained to Zeus that he had broken his oath. He teases her about that even now.

Was the last of the Twelve to learn how to read and write because he hates letter systems and finds it too arbitrary. Prior to the collaboration that resulted in written letter systems, everyone was perfectly fine with remembering the important stuff and encoding the rest in artistic format such as tapestries, pottery, furniture and jewellry. Apollo himself has a truly formidable memory since he’s been composing and immortalising the events and histories of the world in song since he was very young. He finds written books very dull but Clio’s very insistent about written histories being important and convenient so reluctantly, he’s given permission for his songs and poems to be -gags- transcribed and written down.

Is only called Apollo by his parents, Artemis and Dionysus. Hermes rarely calls him by name in general and the others, including other siblings like Ares and Athena, have always called him Phoebus. Interestingly, Zeus usually calls him Phoebus but will call him Apollo when they are alone or when he’s being especially serious. Apollo is completely comfortable with either name but he does see Phoebus as a bit more formal than Apollo. (Despite his best efforts, both Calliope and Clio also still stubbornly call him Phoebus though he’s fairly sure it’s mostly because they know it bothers him.)

[myers-meadow]

Rolan and/or Gale each wanting to show off for Tav with a display of magic but, instead of just doing it Tav in front of Tav, he puts on a little show of his magic for a group of people (the boy is nervous); he makes sure Tav gets the best spot in the audience, up towards the front and closer to him. However, when he inevitably glances over to gauge Tav's reaction, he catches Tav not looking admiringly around his display but instead admiringly at him.

ah such a cute one!

I do see Rolan easily getting startled by Tav's admiring gaze... Tips of his ears get a lil hot maybe ✨. Also, did he do all this work to impress them for nothing?? At least they seem impressed...

The nail in the coffin of being down bad for Tav, would be them coming up to him afterwards and hugging him, before showering him in compliments. He boasts about his techniques, enough to have Cal and Lia roll their eyes, but you listen💕🌻. Catch the two of you ending the night later than anyone else, under the star light he shows you magic that's only meant for your eyes;;