#im in love with her empires s2 pov

[obarona]

few sketches of shelby and tango!!

[ilexdiapason]

"what is the pearl the bard au, ilex?" im SO glad you asked: a primer

first of all, hello jon, apologies for the deception, but i thought it was necessary to get the traffic people in through their scrunkle, so i didn't call the au by its proper name. this is eswap, the empires swap au, featuring pearlthebard. but i'm gonna tell it from her pov so it's all good

the following is a brief summary of what i refer to as "season one" of pearlthebard, and can be read in its entirety by going to @pearlthebard and reading through the linked directory, but if you don't have time for three months of tumblr rp then here's the gist of it!

Once upon a time, cruel gods named Watchers brought in just over a dozen people to play participants in a sick little game of death and betrayal. Pearl was not there. She was there when they did it for a second time, but she didn't win, so she can't remember it. The third time she prefers to forget, for the most part: it's a big awful blur of self harm and mania and dying and killing and losing everything she ever loved without ever really knowing why.

At the end of Double Life, she stands on a hill and watches the man who would not be her soulmate light himself ablaze, and when he blows up it takes her with him.

At this point, we step out of the narrative briefly, because Pearl the Bard doesn't actually begin with Pearl, not really - it begins with my friend Al going "hey i should make an au where the empires smp season 2 characters are role swapped", and hitting number thirteen Oli TheOrionSound, and going "ah shit well i guess i'll swap him with santa perla that works". Thus, Saint Oli, and Pearl the Bard. However, notably, Pearl cannot map neatly on to Oli's backstory of being isekai'd in from the end of Afterlife SMP, because she wasn't there.

At the end of Double Life, Pearl is blown up, but she does win. And a winner, by the usual metrics, earns a prize.

Saint Oli catches her when the blast flings her soul from her lifeless body, looks this incredibly wet cat up and down, and decides to give her a second chance.

She lands in the Empires SMP.

If you've seen Oli's episodes, which you probably should there were only four of them for the entirety of ESMP S2, you'll know roughly how the story goes from here, but the faces are a little different. She steals a goat horn from Princess Katherine of Dawn, she is jailed by Deputy Sausage of the Goblands, and while she awaits her judgement by the Sheriff Smallishbeans, she hears an awfully familiar voice from the floor of the cave asking what she did to get put in there.

Mayor Smajor of Animalia is a normal man. He runs his empire with a fairly loose grip, but he's proactive about developing a safe space for all animal folk to live among the pretty amethysts and not have to conform to the standards of human society. He, though, he's not an animal, no way, behind this dark mask he's completely human and not a cat. He has a life here, has lived in the Empires for years and founded a community with his own paws hands that he's very proud of.

The weird girl in the cage, the woman who brought two HUGE dogs to his lands and then somehow decided it was his fault for hissing at them that they didn't get on, and the new bard his neighbour Sausage has been gossiping to him about all seem to be disconnected, until they very suddenly aren't.

Pearl is a mystery to Scott. Despite him never having seen her before in his life, she seems convinced that he's either a regret or a danger, and she even goes so far as to stab him to death rather than tell him what the hell is her problem with him. He gets a little bit obsessed, if he's honest - finds her house to show up at it, insists that Sausage keep him updated on her, even starts to lose sleep. And when he does sleep he has strange dreams, dreams of being far taller, being tailless, being ten times better with a weapon than the Mayor of Animalia would ever need to be.

Pearl, steadfast in the conviction that the best thing she can do is get far the hell away from this weird, tiny Not-Smajor and never speak to or of him again if possible, runs to the distant shores of Sanctuary. And then squats in the Eversea. And then borrows Joey's spare room in the Evermoore. And every time, some coincidence sends Scott dangerously close to her escape path, forces them to make small talk, gives them both another nightmare of another time that Scott can't remember and Pearl wishes she could forget.

And then eventually they do catch up with one another in the streets of Chromia, and Scott refuses to back down until Pearl admits to him the truth of whether she really belongs in this world and what her connection is to his dreams and why he feels so weirdly, encompassingly guilty when he looks at her, and... well, i won't spoil that, that was a good one, i liked that one, you should go read it.

But yeah! Pearl the Bard! It's good! Soulmate drama forever :D

[angelonasher]

[this gets a bit ramble-y heh]

the way i imagine the scars in the life series working would be based on emotional significance

the more emotions based on the death (or maybe not death?) that caused the scar, whether that be stronger emotions or by more people, or both, the more uh dark? obvious? the scar is.

or it can also be based on what that death symbolizes/the significance in the story

so- the winner's final scars would be bolder(? i cannot find right word.) i think it'd be the same with jimmy's last deaths, because it's the canary curse continuing

so uh take an example like explosion scars from Pearl and Scott's last death in double life, where Scott exploded himself and Pearl won. I think Scott's scars would be bolder, both because yeah it's significant for him that he blew himself up, but also for Pearl.

The thing important about that death isn't that Pearl blew up, it's that Scott blew up. Scott doing that is what made Pearl forgive him; it was a very emotional moment for her and significant for the story. But it's not significant because Pearl died, it's because Scott did.

Or take Martyn's winning in limited life. Impulse and Scott's scars would be bolder than Martyn's, because whats unique about him winning is that he betrayed them (probably bolder scars for Scott, considering they were allies from the start). The thing significant about Martyn's winning is Impulse and Scott dying, not Martyn running out of time (however that would scar) or him being /kill-ed if you wanna go with what actually happened and not lore.

And Grian and Scar would probably have bold scars from their 3rd life last deaths, Scar's being the significance of Grian killing him, betraying his day one ally he owed his allegiance to, Grian's being the grief or whatever made him yeet himself off the cliff.

Make sense?

Or when Ren got beheaded in 3rd life. Bold scar, definitely. I didn't watch much of 3rd life or either of their povs, but from what i understand it was kind of a trust thing? Ren was putting trust in Martyn as his hand, Martyn was showing his allegiance to Ren, it marked the red winter beginning, it was an extremely significant event for them, the whole server, and story. I think that scar would be very bold.

Jimmy's last death in 3rd life prob would be bolder than his other last deaths, at least in my general headcannons, since in my brain/lore/headcannon it was that first time being the first one out that sealed his canary curse.

Also, Skizz's last death in 3rd life- apparently that has lore that the death being such a bloody/hectic(?) death was the birth of the boogeyman curse (hence the reason the curse wasn't there in double life or why Skizz has never been the boogey), and given that the boogeyman is so significant in the seasons it is present, that would prob be a bold scar.

In my headcannon, the eye scar Pearl had in her Scarlet/5am Pearl skin represented the separation between her and Scott. So, whether or not she did that herself in bitterness or got it because her soulmate wasn't there to defend her, it sort of was a visual representation (and a non-death scar)of that plot point everyone loves.

(I imagine they both got glass eyes after that season, and Pearl removed hers when being 5am Pearl in limited life for the spooky effect. i refuse to believe Scott didn't get a scar bcuz hello they were linked also empires s2)

I can't really speak too much about scars given that i definitely need to watch more povs of the life series (last-life im so sorry i know so little about you) but uh yeah. ✨headcannons✨

[soulfairre-slamamancer]

what if. just maybe. the rift was caused by xornoth?/hj im not serious about this theory, but hey

i mean, in empires s1 xornoth and scott were canonically brothers. pearl was in season 1 of empires, but not s2; she switched to hermitcraft but scott stayed with empires. same with shubble and fwhip, who were the first and most affected by the corruption and xornoth. also lizzie, with connections, but not horribly affected by the corruption.

and after the final battle, they trapped him in a crystal

when the rapture occurred, xornoth escaped the crystal

the rift(at least on empires side) was decorated with crystals, almost like a calling card.

in season two, shelby is the resident witch of the server, the only resident of the evermoore

and, according to her, the evermoore seems to be “haunted”. Similar in fashion to xornoth’s behavior when the corruption was just starting in the undergrove. the first noted instance was in her 3rd episode, when she mentioned she hears weird noises in the mangrove at night and fog that plays tricks, hinting that the fog is the source of the voices

in season 1, lizzie held the book of prophecies; predicting core events that were the negative points in the season. in season 2, she has an amethyst business; the crystals and blocks surrounding and in the site of the rift(empires side). as well the citizens of animalia are animals on two legs, the only call back was the axolotl-enderman creature that she found with the prophecy.

shelby haunted; creepy happenings occuring post dragon-death. lizzie with the cards; bipedal animals and crystals. now how bout fwhip and scott?

fwhip is a goblin, too consumed in creating a booming city beneath the mountain to notice just about anything; but the cavern is exactly what ties him to the rift. a small, unseeming cave on the side of a mountain that cracked and expanded into a massive portal. as well as he sent sniff, snort’s older brother, through the portal. in his pursuit of business, hes created a whole lot of unbalance

and scott? well sorry but i havent watched much of his pov, however i know his portal is covered in tendrils similar to the ones spread by xornoth’s corruption

something common between most of things is the color purple. crittercity and anamalia’s town hall having purple roofs and amethyst. shelby’s shop’s roof and her wand’s aura is purple (according to scott). the end (yknow cuz its just yellow, white and poiple). xornoths lil glowy bits. the rift is all purple, all of it.

this is entirely brought forth by a random thought that flew through my brain whilst i was listen to empires the musical. specifically, “you’re gonna see more of your old friend xornoth”

love adhd lol, also ive only watched empires and not hermitcraft which is why ive only been pointing to examples from empires

[memryse]

i’ve only watched Grians POV and Im working my way through Rens POV so I’m not like a 3rd SMP expert but your question was very interesting to me.

First of all, Zombie Cleo and Lizzie. She and BDubs had the best defensive base in the server and she clearly knows how to strategize. I think she and Lizzie could be one heck of a team because from what I watched on Empire SMP, Lizzie is a mischievous personality and she’s got hell of a grit. She literally gathered resources for hours upon hours mining coral for her coral castle, and she spent a good while making a very aesthetic river to the Jungle Kingdom. Lizzie is very good at designing things when she puts her mind to it.

Second of all, Scar. Just Scar. Whoever Scar partners up with, he’s genuinely so charismatic and also very good at coercing people. I remember several times he convinced people to give them their pants, chest plate, and shoes and he also had the balls to ask Ren for the enchanting table, which was Rens living. As long as Scar has someone behind his back, go anchor him, he gains a lot of confidence.

I don’t know a lot of the other members. I’d also like to say Grian would do well, but it’s genuinely so unpredictable until we see solid teams form. That’s what I adored about 3rd life. I feel like anyone can do really badly or really well depending on who they team up with, and how they interact with the other teams.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about it. So excited for Season 2.

WOO THESE ARE THE KINDS OF ASKS I LIKE TO SEE :D it really does depend on so many factors, you're right. it's fun to talk about the hypothetical alliances and how things might end up though :D and this way i get to come back to my pre-s2 posts and see how right or wrong i was about it!

hell Yes to cleo and lizzie. cleo's one of my top 3 bets (alongside pearl and martyn) - she's got great survival skills, and whilst she is impulsive, she knows when to take risks. mostly. the arson was kind of an outlier in that regard. when she lost her final life to the red army, though, that was a calculated risk (try and catch them off guard now, or just get steamrolled by them later) and it would have been fantastic if it had paid off. as for lizzie, yes absolutely she is so dedicated when she puts her mind to a project. she may not be the best at fighting, but she'll be fine with backup. she might team up with joel, but honestly i would love to see a team of the three girls, simply because all of them together would be unstoppable. like, pearl is a force to be reckoned with on her own.

and yeah, scar definitely needs someone to anchor to if he wants to do well. his problem is how easily he dies to natural causes, lol. there's no stopping him with that, he'll find a way no matter what. i would love to see scar and bdubs ally, personally, that'd be a fun combo. or mumbo, if the 17th player turns out to be him.

i hope grian goes out somewhere in the middle this time. he may be my favourite little chaos demon but he needs to spare some victory for the rest of them. i hope he dies in a really stupid way. <3 let him blow himself up at least once.

[lemongogo]

ok same anon again since u said u wanted to know what my thoughts on s3 were! hope this doesn't spam up yr inbox too much! so. this was definitely the best season so far?? there was a lot more going on that made it interesting (like the plot isn't only Destroy The Big Bad; now there's lotor + kuron + stuff like that) so that was nice bc being really? basic plot-wise idk was an issue i'd had w the other two seasons.. ngl i am Not digging the weird focus on keith. i like him ig but i don't [1/4]

rly get (ok i do from a narrative pov but not a logical one if u know what i mean) why shiro singled him out as a good leader?? + there was that whole arc w mamora too so ig he's probably the Chosen One type of character which im not a big fan of :/ i feel like bc of that focus everyone else has been neglected lmao (in s2+s3)... other stuff ,, hmm,, love lotors generals ,, would let them kick my ass. also would bet $$ that keith + auxia (sp??) are siblings. shiro? rest in pieces. this new [2/4]

guy is fake asf but he clearly doesnt know it so. drama ahead. im ready. ok last thing. imo vld's big flaw is characterization. the protags (except pidge afaik) dont have goals outside of End Evil which is all well + good but not super interesting. + i feel like they're kinda 2D/flat; ik it isnt a v long show yet and theres a lot of characters so to an extent that's excusable but at the same time there were definitely some missed opportunities for growth/development... so uh yeah!!! [3/4]

planning on watching s4. which?? will hopefully be longer than s3?? why was it so short. but yeah. ... sorry this was so long & messy! have a gn and thanks for answering all my asks :^) youre super nice tbh [4/4]

aaH !!! thanks for letting me know how it went, im super interested to see how it went for you !! sorry if my response is like,, super fragmented. id feel bad making you read this super long ass essay so imma try to keep it short but !!! anywho thanks for tellin me what you thought about it

i definitely agree that season three was the best!! i think that has to do with the plot, like you said. i think the thing w zarkon was that he didn’t really seem like that big of a threat to voltron?? if that makes sense? compare him to lotor where, zarkon was only interested for his redemption of the black lion whereas lotor genuinely wants to take down voltron and revolutionize the galran empire in a way thats gonna be such a big threat to everybody and everything. its exciting!!

and yeah i totally get you on keith. he’s my second favorite character in the whole series but sometimes i feel like its too heavily focused on his arc rather than hunk’s, for instance. like as much as i value him as a character and i would do to watch a show thats even just based on keith, i think the issue resides in the fact that this isn’t a keith based show, rather one for 6 or so different characters to grow. so i completely get you there. and yes !! the generals were so good!! im so happy that they decided to change that nasty harem from DOTU into a really cool and dynamic team that poses a big ol THREAT to the paladins. ++ lotor is so ... good. he’s a good villain and i love him as a villain and i can’t wait to see what he has in store. and YEAH i’d like to think that acxa is keith’s sister- fits more than a mother figure since she looks so young && is especially half galra

kuron?? can eat my SHORTS i can’t wait for them to figure out this aint the real shiro nd they get the real dude Back. its so spooky bc i didn’t notice it myself until i read all the theories about it lmao im a Fake Shiro Fan(tm) props to you for noticing >:-0

!!!!!! completely agree with you there though. having mentioned pidge, i’m actually extremely excited for season 4 bc that’s going to have an ep (maybe more) actually pursuing matt and getting to the bottom of this issue, so i cant wait to see how that turns out. especially in terms w her dad?? where he AT. but YEAH the biggest problem i have is with hunk, still. labine (VA) said that he is guaranteed growth in later seasons but that doesnt excuse them for just ,, abandoning him for what seems like 3 seasons now. he has so much potential and its upsetting to see him cast aside so often :(

but same here!! i hope that its everything season 3 was and more tbh. i mean,, technically its supposed to be season 3? like part b if that makes any sense? unfortunately its going to be shorter (only 6 episodes this time around) but i think they said they’re going to start splitting the seasons in half so that they can air them more frequently and be able to have more “”seasons”” in a sense :3c 

nd thank you so much as well!! for not only sending this stuff in but also responding to what i had to say too haha. i appreciate it and i hope you have a super great night !!!!!!!!!