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phoenix-writez · 3 months ago

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Decided to post entry #1 here as some people may not enjoy reading things on ao3 :D

I'm not sure how to format the fic on tumblr, so feel free to give me criticism! (Constructive. Criticism. I will ignore insulting)

So, have fun with Scar's POV! It's in first person, so if you're not a fan of that... Sorry! I try to analyze the characters beforehand and write them as themselves! Scar's a silly little guy, so I hope I got that down!

—

Entry #1

[SCAR]

August 18, 1997

This place is fun, honestly! I got here just four days ago!

A theater filled with red and pink strobe lights, it feels rather disco-ey, if I'm being honest. There's a rather large stage where people step up and say whatever they want. There's actors, circus acts, and even singers. Or karaoke.

Why is karaoke spelled that way? It should be kareoke, but to each their own!

Either way, I've gone up there a few times just to sing songs from my favorite cartoons. Had a few cheers from the crowd, but not many.

I loved it here though!

When I first got to the theater, I had been with a few friends. I don't know where they went, lost track of them. I remember this guy welcoming us, holding out his hand and grinning fancily.

“Welcome, all! This is the Eye’s Spy Theatre!”

Trust me, it's not spelled theater. I learned the hard way.

“Want me to take you to your rooms?” The fella acknowledged each of us. He had a towel folded over his arm, just like a butler would in a fictional story. I tilted my head to the side like a dog, “Sir? No offense, but I don't recall this being a hotel.”

“Perhaps you missed the sign, but all is well, Scar Goodtimes, your room is already booked. First floor, as always! Can't be giving you anything further than that with your given situation, can we?” He says, then steps behind me.

I raise my hands, “WAIT– Hands off, fancy guy! Firstly, what do you mean?”

“How do you know his name?” My friend asked. Fancy Guy looked over, “When you book a room, we get your names on the screen. Besides, I know everyone in this town.”

Right.

—

August ??????

I woke up with a start, hearing a bang nearby. I pull myself onto my chair and roll onward, out of the room.

“What?! What happened–”

I look towards the stage, my breath slows. “Oh! Obviously.” I giggle, then I do a double take. What the– “What am I doing up there?!”

On the stage, was me in a weird outfit. I've never seen this kind of outfit before, honestly. Maybe some new fashion shaped itself in the six days I've been here.

Wait… how long has it been?

I blink, but I can't really think. My memory is kinda foggy.

I see more characters on the stage, some blue haired guy and this ginger lady clearly tired out and breathing heavy. I'm not sure if it was Hollywood level acting, or they were actually just overworked out of their minds.

I roll towards the bar, and no, this bar isn't necessarily an alcoholic bar you see at night time when everything else closes. I'm sixteen! I can't even drink anyway! I doubt rules changed that much when I've been here.

I grin at the tender, “Do you have anything other than really warm milk? It was you, after all, who said you'd make this the best experience possible y'know.”

“I… we do, in fact. Anything you want, dear hero.”

“Hero? My name is Scar, did you forget that fancy pants?” I smirk. “No. I did not.” He said flatly.

“Oh.”

“I'd like just a simple water, honestly.” I said. “Ah, only the crispiest we'll hand out for you.” The man kneels towards the shelves.

Huh? I blink. He's reaching up at them actually, I swear I've been seeing things.

I spend my time drinking the water and distracting myself from the fact I may have just met my walking doppelganger. Though he's using a cane, still those legs can work and I'm jealous.

Just kidding, I don't care.

—

After a few minutes, I nearly jump, but I keep my composure. Another guy, looks around my age but surprisingly short. I'd give him a… 4’11? Jeez, really needs a growth spurt by now.

He ordered an orange juice and stared into the distance. That's when he spoke to me, “Fun act, right?”

“I wasn't really interested, too confusing. What was that back there, some kinda jester or whatever?”

“I'd give it a 5 out of tried their best.” The short guy said, then he turned to look at me and giggled. “You look like one of the actors.”

“Must be a long lost brother.” I put my cup down and look at him, and woah. My eyes widened and I smiled awkwardly. “Well! That's a… so what's your name, orange juice?”

“Oh! My name's Grian.” He smiled so brightly. I chuckled, “Cool! My name is Scar.”

“Oh I know–”

“Huh?”

“Sorry, long story.”

“Everyone knows my name in this place!” I look back at the table in front of us. “That would be a given. This place isn't really, well, real.” Someone walked towards us both.

Actually, a group.

The actors.

“Aw, I'm getting a standing ovation from the fellas themselves–” I look around. “Where's the guy who looked like me?”

“Hi.” This strange lab coat wearing guy– oh! I know him. Cub?!

I blinked. How long ago did he show up here? Two days ago I saw him on the news and he looked much shorter, and he'd been running away from a police department, some sort of forensics office he'd blown up.

Cub raked his hands through his hair, it looked really messy. “I sorta used this weird amulet to change my appearance.”

“Are we still acting?” I asked, “Amulet, you say? Well, I simply cannot!” Immediately, my hand impacts my forehead dramatically. “... We're acting, right?”

“No.” Grian said, “Though he is lying, listen, Scar. I'm gonna ask you a really weird question and you have to answer me.”

“Uh-huh…”

“What year is it?”

“Oh! That's easy, 1997, duh! Did you guys hit your heads or something?” I smiled, chuckling. The bartender finally came by and gave Grian his orange juice. Then he vanished.

Grian grabbed his cup and he took a sip. “1997, hm? What if I told you it's not?”

“I wouldn't believe you.” I giggled. “I've been here for a week, duh! Got here just Monday with some of my friends. Where did they go, though?” I looked around. I still couldn't see them.

“They probably got out.” The sassy blue guy said, “Yeah, or stuck.” The ginger crossed her arms. I looked at them. “They’re just in their rooms.”

“Why don't we take a look then, huh? Where are their rooms?” Grian asks, I shift awkwardly. “...Third floor.”

“This thing doesn't have an elevator for you?” Cub asks.

“If a building ain't as tall as five stories, there's no need.” I lean back in my chair. “Which is, uh, needless to say, no.”

The ginger thought for a moment, then she grinned. “Tell them the numbers, and we'll go on from there. I'll stay back with you, just so you have someone near you!”

“I'm fine on my own.” I looked at her. “Absolutely not,” she glanced at me up and down, “genuinely, if I had to guess. You're dehydrated, probably haven't eaten much, and the moment you see the sun your eyes will wish you'd gone blind.”

“With these strobe lights? Might as well have gone blind already.” I shrugged, she stared at them. “They're LED now.”

“Meh! I think they always have been, luminescent and whatnot.” I said, “What's your name, by the way?”

“Gem. That there is Scott, he's uh… something, alright.” She sighed. Scott, the fancy blue guy, waves. “I'll go up third floor, what's the room?”

“Rooms, uh… 307, 315? I think?”

“Why are they so separated?” Grian’s eyes widened. “The rooms might've been taken between ‘em.” Cub immediately began his journey towards the stairs.

“Eight rooms between them?! Cub, there's seven people in this room!”

“Most people got drained after the second day and went to sleep. Haven't seen them since.” I added.

Grian paused. He looked at Gem, and they both seemed to come to an agreement. I heard Gem mutter, “Hypnos,” and she sat by me. Grian stood up.

“I thought that guy was fine by now! What's going on?” He grumbled. My head laid on the table like my neck had gotten exhausted from holding it. “Maybe he changed his mind.”

“Or maybe, this establishment is really old and he forgot to tear it down.” Grian sighed, then he took a step forward and looked at the ground.

“What's… this symbol doing here?”

“Aren't you supposed to be heading up to the third floor?” I said, for some reason my body felt like all the energy was getting sucked out of it. I don't know how, but everything in my field of vision was getting blurry. And Grian had sharp-ish ears, and an elven face. I swore he didn't look real.

Because he didn't.

I glanced at Gem, and she looked completely normal. Besides the fact that she was actively plotting something and had a sword in her belt. I don't know what I saw before, but I guess I just assumed she was in some sort of costume.

Everyone wears costumes around here. I've seen a giant guy with a hundred arms walk around here demanding for some cyclops guy, then he exited the building fine as that.

I felt nauseous, and everything went black.

—

I don't know. I don't know what today is. Everything is the same.

I wasn't out for long, fainting spells don't usually last longer than a minute. I woke up and everyone was staring at me with concern. “We found your friends.” Scott grimaced, “And we found you, doing the same thing as them.”

“I passed out, I don't know what happened.” I groaned, “Grian, since when were you an elf guy?”

Grian giggled, “I'm not an elf, idiot.”

“Why are your ears all sharp then?”

“Oh! That's just normal, I was born like that.” Grian shrugged, “But back to you. You passed out on our watch, which means this doesn't happen when you're on your own.”

“Possible.” Cub gazed at the floor, then he leaned and played around with the tiles like it was a puzzle. “What do you mean possible? We proved your hypothesis, thank you.” Grian tilted his head.

“What if we're not registered here?” Cub lifted himself, holding a brick that revealed a gaping hole underneath the building. “What if we're just simply wanderers with no true meaning to this place?”

“We'd still be people, hun.” Scott said flatly.

“Not in this place. I think this is an entirely different world compared to, well, Earth.” Cub grabbed a coin out of his pocket, and he dropped it into the abyss.

“Scar, do you perceive things differently than normal people?” He looked up at me. I couldn't help but think that this situation is way too serious for a random questionnaire I've had billions of times when I was younger.

The answer is yes.

It's always yes.

“When I was, like, six, my mom found me digging at the ground. It's ‘cause I heard some rattling, and I wanted to free the thing that was suffering. When I finally did, it was a skeleton monster! She grabbed me and pulled me away, told me never to do that again.” I started, “That those things are dangerous, that my father would be back and he would never want to see me playing with creatures I can't define.”

“I mean, a skeleton monster is pretty much accurate.” Grian laughed, “Wait, you don't know your dad?”

“Nope!” I smiled, “Always asked, was told he died.”

“...So how would he be back?” Scott squinted. “We had a ouija board in our house, although it's only for eight year olds and older, and I was barely able to simply sleep on my own.” I sighed.

But, the presence of the board didn't scare me knowing what it did. I quite like the idea of ghosts, and I know we had some in our house. They slept in the corners, watched me do my chores, and stared at me when my health declined.

Not much they could've done anyhow.

I felt my hands clenching on my legs, and I released them. “Uh… I never believed that. There was no grave we visited. Ever. She just said it like it was a fact from years ago.”

Cub nodded, then we heard the coin ding and slam itself into what sounded like concrete. I glanced at the floor. “What was that?!” I press my hands to the wheels of my chair. “Cub?!”

“I heard what I needed to hear.” He smiled, then simply disappeared.

We all stared where he left. “UGH! CUB!” Grian grabbed a knot of his own hair and tugged, but not pulling anything out. I gazed at the underground, and I swear I felt a calling.

Like I needed to be somewhere.

That's when the stupid butler grabbed all of us and dragged us out. “I do believe your time here is over, thank you for being so kind.” He shoved us out the door. I locked my chair and looked around, frozen.

“Where's Cub?! WHERE'S IMPULSE YOU–” Grian grabbed Gem and pulled her aside. She'd been yelling at the guy the whole time we were getting kicked out. I had no idea there was another person with them that had gone missing.

I had a theory, but it wasn't so friendly.

And I swear I could see that guy in a different form now that I had been placed outdoors.

He was tall, almost goopy, and I swear he had one giant eye in the middle of his face that stared deeply into your soul.

Normally I saw him as just this generic black-haired guy. He had this way about him that felt, well, casual yet business.

Like he was familiar with you but he didn't want to get fired.

I covered my face with my hands. Just thinking about my mother made me realize something.

“Guys, what year is it?” My tired eyes felt like they were dragging on the ground. I could just feel the hot pavement scraping my eyelids.

“...Scar, it's 2025.” Grian said.

“...Seriously?”

“Yeah.”

I stared at the outdoors, and felt like I'd been through multiple disasters at once.

“It was just a week…”

But now I realize how much time I truly spent there. And it doesn't make me too glad to know it.

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adina123 · 2 years ago

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Bad boys pjo au

Jimmy is a child of poseidon and Lizzie is a child of Neptune because seablings. they have the same mortal mother like Jason and Thalia. they were separated at a young age similar to s1 empires canon but lizzie still remembers Jimmy while jimmy does not remember Lizzie because he was so young when they were split. There mom was good she loved them but they never new her because she got sick and died not long after jimmy was born. Lizzie felt responsible for her brother and when she got older she became aware of the monsters. She pieced together a theory she thought that the monsters were targeting her and while that was true she didn’t realize that they were after jimmy as well and she left to protect him

Grian is a very mischievous child of Hermes. when his dad left his mom she broke down and became depressed these feelings led her to join a sketchy cult. grian was raised in this very restrictive environment but at a young age he knew he wanted get out and travel. as a child of Hermes he couldn’t stand to be stuck in one place for so long. like many Hermes kids he was a prankster and he got into a whole lot of trouble when ever he’d put his devious plans in place. He doesn’t hate his mom or dad but he tries not too think of them and tries to pretend they don’t exist. He ran away when he was super young and has never looked back

Joel is a son of Demeter his father was a farmer until he happened across a whole lot of money and he moved them to the city. his father spoiled him with their new found wealth making it so joel grew to have a very expensive taste but Joel still missed the plants and nature so he started painting beautiful landscapes. like his father joel has a tendency to let power go to his head. Eventually the money ran out and they became homeless. Joel’s father kept spending money they didn’t have sending them into debt and joel grew to resent his dad. Like his mother joel has very extreme emotional reactions and when he or someone he likes is wronged he takes revenge. weather it’s pranks or competitions joel doesn’t do things in half’s

like Thalia Luke and Annabeth they ran away young and found each other before making it to camp

#grian #jimmy solidarity #solidaritygaming #joel smallishbeans #smallishbeans #empires jimmy #empires lizzie #ldshadowlady #pjo au #percy jackon and the olympians #demigod au #esmp s1 #limited life #life series #life smp #bad boys limited life #percy jackson au

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ep2nd · 9 months ago

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GUESS WHOS BEEN READING PJO AGAIN?!??!

On the 5th book of the first series and WOW I LOVE EVERYTHING

Shout out to my friend for letting me borrow the books

So.I wanna make a PJO AU and YOU KNOW I WILL BRING EVERYONE IN HERE

Traffic SMP

Empires SMP

Hermitcraft SMP

Some extras from Rats, Origins, Pirates, Afterlife, etc.

Here's the list for the gods you know ideas are always nice (List more gods cause I'm only new don't know ALL the gods yet)

Poseidon

Zeus

Hades

Athena

Demeter

Hermes

Ares

Apollo

Hephaestus

Aphrodite

Dionysus

Hunter(Artemis)

Nemesis

Eris

Other(god I don't know or forgot)

Undecided

Special(Cyclops, Satyr, Dryad, Centaur, etc.)

#pjo au #Hermitcraft #empires smp #traffic smp #rats smp #yet another au #probaly forgeting some gods hehe #PERCY JACKSON SO GOOD #already have some ideas but more are appreciated :3 #MCYT PJ AU

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that-one-raccoon · 2 years ago

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#skunk streak squad #mini comic #percy jackson #tommyinnit #claire nuñez #claudia #pjo #tales of arcadia #trollhunters #dsmp #dream smp #heroes of olympus #the dragon prince #hands are so hard to draw #my art #my au #that-one-raccoon’s art

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bluntforcefem · 9 months ago

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aaaaand pyrrhic with characters of choice

won at too great a cost

when they'd been shown to the cabin the first time, their bag and the minotaur horn had been in the middle of the floor, surrounded by a handful of others. it was fine, for a moment, but then declan was suffocating, and something about the look on their face must've screamed please don't make me do this today because negotiation for a spot against the wall goes quicker than they thought it would. they wrap the blanket around their shoulders and huddle against the wood, staring at a spot that's been painted and re-painted so many times that the chips are coming off in every color they can think of.

"hey," someone says, a little like they're trying to coax some scared animal. declan turns their head to stare, and staring back at them is a kid their age with bright green hair and darker brown roots, smile pulling at the scars covering half his face. "hi, yeah, you. declan, right?"

"yeah," declan answers quietly. they try for a smile and regret the effort immediately - it comes out wobbly and makes their eyes water, and they duck their head away again, blinking. "hi. sorry."

"'s whatever. 10 throws me at all the traumatized new kids, i'm used to it." that startles a giggle out of them, and he grins, all cat-who-caught-the-canary. "and now you know why. 'm echo."

"does that work on- everybody?"

"about fifty-fifty. you care if i sit?" he's already settling next to them on the sleeping bag as they nod, tugging at the blanket until they acquiesce and pull themself away from the wall. his eyes catch on the horn, tucked against their chest, and they instinctively clutch it closer. "don't worry. if i wanted to steal it, you wouldn't notice."

declan's nose scrunches, and they move it between their thigh and the wall, where they can feel every groove of the keratin, the jagged-sharp edge where it broke off. echo snorts. "they left it out- in the open in the thief cabin," they mutter, "i don't know why 'm bothering. i don't want it, anyway."

"if you say so," echo hums, disbelief evident. they look back at the wall and he sighs, poking at their shoulder until they stop. "nobody's gonna try n' take it for a while if they know what's good for 'em, trust me. you've got me, you've got 10, and 'm pretty sure rassel's been stalking you from across camp so if anybody's got dibs it's them. you won it, fair and square."

"i don't-" their voice breaks, and they bare their teeth at him, fists clenching. "my fucking dad died- and all i got was some- some credit to pass around a summer camp? i don't want it. i don't care what happens to it, i don't care-" what happens to me- "the minute i see the- i'm gonna kill them."

echo blinks, slowly. stays silent.

"i'm gonna kill them," declan repeats, miserable and tired and angry, angry like they've never been before. "whoever- whoever- i dunno. i dunno." there's bile at the back of their throat, and the longer echo looks at them the worse they feel, guilt at snapping closing up their throat. "sorry. sorry. that- 's not your fault."

"you should keep that anger." a note of approval marks echo's voice, even his expression sharpens. like there's respect, there. "camp's easier that way. and- if you find them? we'll help."

they don't know what to say to that. so they nod, again, and lean away from the wall, resting their shoulder against his. he doesn't move away - just reaches over to grab the horn and set it in his lap, instead.

the gesture almost makes them smile.

#kbitycus art #encrypted-cryptid #prompt reward #sauce smp #AND I WILL THINK ABT THE PJO AU TONIGHT...

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captain-of-the-roses · 4 months ago

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I have many thoughts about this apparently

#this is kinda bare bones but. hear me out #empires smp #pjo au #my fics

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pickastitch · 1 year ago

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pjo empires/hermit au !!

gem - hestia

pearl - apollo

joe - unknown

zedaph - pan (satyr)

cleo - thanatos

false - athena

grian - hermes

scott - iris

fwip - hephaestus

katherine - demeter

sausage - aphrodite

shelby - dioynsus

joey - dioynsus

do need help for the one i haven't done yet/aren't 100% (empires more importantly) the rule with that is i tried not to focus on just one season of their stuff and instead their general vibe

story

pearl gets a prophecy that the moon will come and destroy camp half blood she assumes artemis will come and ruin everything. being very panicked, she goes confides in gem specifying thay artemis will ruin everything. this is great and all until gem, in her sleep, gets visited by artemis telling her not to trust gem

word gets out and everybody starts to panic until Orion shows up and there is a huge battle, but Orion ends up kidnapping the whole empires s1 crew. They don't have a good time, but with fwip and jimmy able to take away his vision they all escape and make it back to camp half blood

#the exception to the character rule is pearl for plot reasons #pjo hermitpires au #sage's aus #if i wrote a fic it would definitely be from gem's pov :thumbsup:#hermitcraft #empires smp

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unhonest-iago · 2 years ago

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Blacksmith’s Forge

Started out as a PJO Au involving only Fundy but then expanded to include the rest of the Cogchamp SMP crew

Kid of Hephaestus, real Leo Valdez vibes seeing as Fundy always has a tool belt on wherever he goes even if he doesn't need it

Having grown up in the mines, Fundy's extremely confused when a man in a wheelchair comes rolling up telling him about some camp

At first thinking it's some type of camp for troubled teens, not really having the best luck when it comes to authorities. Unable to count the amount of times he's ran from the coppers

Whether it's simple graffiti or a joyride on a stolen motorcycle, Fundy can't seem to care. Whatever fills the adrenaline rush when boredom strikes

It's only when he wakes up to his forge being overran by dwarves that he finally heed the warning he was given

Spends most of his time at camp, hanging out with campers from Athena's cabin, being the one to check over the blueprints

Seeing if their ideas are plausible and actually work. It's no problem if they don't. Hell, Fundy prefers when they don't work the first time around as it means he's gets to tinker with their designs.

Doesn't make too many changes as most of the mistakes tend to be sleep deprived errors. Still he'll see what he can do to make 'em more efficient

Mainly listens to Jazzpunk while he works, stimming along; mouth pops, banging his wrench against the side of some metal scrap, tapping his foot

Otherwise the other half of the time is spent getting his ass kicked because he decided to taunt one of Ares' kids. Also picking out the most hotheaded one he can find.

Starts out with a simple prank which he blames on the Hermes kids who already hate him

Fundy makes all his failed pick-pocketing gadgets shiny to their sticky hands, usually blows up in their faces literally. Not badly enough that they have to go to the med unit but they do end up with explosions of soot and ash on their clothes

So as you'd expect, they rat him real quick and Fundy always forgets that said Ares' kid will just cut the tree he swiftly scrambled up down

Butchering some remark trying to compare Fundy's fox hybrid traits to the one Aesop's fable—the one about how the grapes are just out of reach and the fox eventually gives up

Which Fundy points out and that's what finally pushes them over the edge

It's during one of these tiffs that he meets his friend group, as another camper, Sam decides to intervene for once. The Ares' kid ends up with some injuries for once as they tried to act hard when really, they were shitting bricks when they saw Sam's gas mask mixed with being a centaur.

'You really don't know when to stop do you?' is the first he asks Fundy when it all ends and when Fundy just chuckles out a 'no,' Sam sighs. Sam doesn't truly know what about the kid makes him invite him to his table but he doesn't regret it.

‘Guys, Sammie’s picked up another stray.’ Tubbo’s remark makes the others look up, seeing their centaur friend walk over with a fox hybrid

‘And he’s not in Hermes’ cabin? Being a fox and all.’ Crumb flicks 5up’s head. ‘That’s like asking if you should be in Hestia’s cabin. Or that I should be in Artemis’ cabin.’

Their conversation ending as the duo sits down, ‘Guys, meet Fundy. Fundy, this is Tubbo, 5up, Crumb, & Ranboo.’

‘Enderman if you’re wondering.’ Ranboo gestures to his dual colored skin. ‘Oh, figured it’d be rude to ask.’

When they make charms for their necklaces, they make sure no one gets the one they made; Fundy gives his to Crumb, Crumb gives its to Ranboo, Ranboo gives theirs to Sam, Sam gives his to 5Up and 5up gives his to Fundy

Exchanging numbers so that they can still talk/bitch to one another when they leave camp and return to normie life

#iago writes #not x reader #pjo au #mcytblr #cogchamp smp #fundy #awesamdude #crumb cuptoast #ranboo #tubbo #5up

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ahllohehn · 4 months ago

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My heart bloomed a garden for you.

about au au tag discord

#Hermits and The Olympians #Emperors of Olympus #katherine elizabeth #katherine elizabeth empires smp #empires smp #pjo au #hoo au #shubble #shelby #shubble fanart #katherine elizabeth fanart #nature wives #empires s2 #empires smp fanart #nature wives fanart #empiresshipping #Ichikarume Art

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pokeythegreat123 · 8 months ago

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Athena being the child of Ares matches the child of destruction vibes. I also like Athena having some kind of connection to Hestia kinda like Nico idk I just think they would

Jamie having some connection to Pan maybe

Easton gives Hermes energy

Fable SMP PJO AU: why did I make this? Who knows. But here’s who I think who’s godly parent is who’s so far

Rae: son of Athena

Icarus: child of Hypnos(they literally sleep all the time)

Momboo: daughter of Demeter

Ocie: daughter of Poseidon

Caspian: son of Hephaestus

Fenris/Wolf: son of Persephone

Centross: son of Nyx

Aax: child of Poseidon

Arisanna: daughter of Hermes

that’s all I got so far if you have any suggestions for the other Fable members let me know!

#fable smp #pjo au

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phoenix-writez · 24 hours ago

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I deadass forgot about this tumblr account LMAOOO

HI YEAH YALL ON TUMBLR ARE WAAAAYYY BEHIND

SORRY I'LL FIX THAT

----------------------------

Entry #3

[CUBFAN]

I'm drenched in some weird black substance, and I can see eyes peering out of the walls.

I had just recently jumped down after revealing a hole in the ground, deciding that chaos truly was an answer that needed calling. Of course, I don't actually know where I'm headed.

But, man, who needs to figure that out? I have a sense that where I'm headed is full to the brim with anger. That just gets me going.

After walking through sludge and eye soup, I find a button. Normally, I wouldn't really press just any button out in the open. But this felt like it needed to happen.

So I pressed it. It opened a large door, kinda felt sci-fi. I slid to the wall, hiding behind the doorway that coincidentally hid me perfectly. I looked inside the room, there were two people chatting up a storm.

“You have no idea what's happening down here, do you?!”

The voice sounded like a woman, but I don't assume. The other voice sounded almost like a gremlin, but with a deep and intimidating voice. That I didn't actually care for, because I've heard worse from Tango.

“Oh, Shrub… you're naïve. Theatre of course is an act, but they all act like children.” The other one said.

Shrub, I guess, began shouting. “They are children! A bunch of teenagers trapped inside of this time capsule! Xornoth, for the gods' sakes, you're so aggravating!”

Xornoth snickered with a sinister hiss of breath as he leaned down towards the mushroom lady, “I am? Awh, a shame.” He pat her on the head, “I pity you. Stuck here with no idea on anything. There, there, little one. I'll be here to save you in your time of need.”

Shrub frowned, she glared at the ground. “No… you've controlled my life far too much already, Xornoth. I can't let you just save me just because I'm stuck in the basement of a maze.”

My eyes widened and I guess I forgot to be quiet, as I quickly gasped and slammed myself back onto the wall so I could be well hidden. Xornoth slammed his hand onto Shrub’s mouth. “Did you bring someone here?!”

Her expression was wild, as she tried to shake her head in refute. She muffled an attempted shout and Xornoth grumbled under his breath, lifting his hand from her face. “NO!” Shrub yelled.

She took a deep breath and veered towards the doorway. “There's no one here. You probably heard wind, or maybe someone else is in this stupid maze trying to get out. Who knows?! There's so many people in this damned building!”

“Damned is not the word I would use.”

“Of course! You'd use perfection! This building is extravagant to you! The best thing that could ever even exist in your plane of life!” Shrub held herself, her fingers tightening on her arms as her face scrunched up with every shout she made.

Xornoth couldn't help but laugh, he began walking away. I heard it, the stomping of his boots against the wooden floorboards. It had been headed away from me, I finally let out my breath.

Arguing fuels me, my mother is the god of chaos and strife after all. But this argument felt oddly draining, like all of my energy was being sapped away as they spoke. I sat down and tried not to be seen.

Of course, that failed.

As the mushroom lady herself hung around the hallway, then marched towards the door. Towards me.

She leaned on the doorway, hands grasping the walls like she was depending on it to keep her steady so the wind didn't blow her away.

She was rather petite, I looked up at this mushroom lady and immediately was frightened. When I said mushroom lady, I didn't exactly mean she had fungus growing in her hair. I saw a mushroom cap on her head, but I assumed it was a funky little hat, and she even wore an outfit that fit her cottagecore yet definitely-lives-in-a-cave aesthetic.

“I almost didn't notice you here,” Shrub smiled nervously. “Nice, uh, glasses, I think? Is that how you talk to people?”

“Weren't you just talking to someone?” I tilted my head as she began laughing. Quickly, she sat next to me and spoke so gently, “That man I just spoke to is Xornoth, I have no idea where he'd come from, or what he's doing here. I'm sorry you heard all of that, or if you don't understand half of what we said.”

“Exactly what do you think I don't understand?”

“The… time stuff? About this place?”

The corner of my lips lifted, only one though. It's a smirk, I never realized I had to explain one before. I snickered and leaned back, “I came here to assist in breaking an important group out of this place. Unfortunately, only one made it through. I'm fully aware this place is one giant time and space continuum joke. I have no idea what's causing it.”

Shrub fidgeted around with her hands. I watched as grass grew from the floorboards, flowers even began to sprout from the wood. She smiled, “Will you call me crazy if I talked about gods?”

“Would you call me crazy if I said I was the son of one?”

Shrub’s eyes widened and her whole body whipped around towards me. I've never seen a smile so bright and innocent before, it made me feel a little guilty. After all, I'd just eavesdropped on an argument.

“NO WAY!” She shouted, “I'm the daughter of Ceres!”

I paused, “Ceres? Like…”

“Oh you know, some Roman god.” Shrub’s hand flapped and went limp, as if she were shoving her words away because they meant nothing. “What about you?!”

“Uh, Eris.”

—

I think I began losing track of time around thirty minutes within that maze. We walked around for so long, avoided Xornoth like the plague, and trapped ourselves in dead ends.

Shrub whined for a while, I guess the mushrooms in her body began to hurt. Because at one point, I glanced at her to figure out the issue and I found a fungus digging its way through her skin.

We made it to a hallway that was splattered in reds, greens, and blues. I scratched the back of my head and stifled a giggle. “Looks like some computer artwork failed here.”

“Computer…” Shrub thought for a moment, “Wait, Cub!” She grabbed me by the shoulder. I turned towards her, “Yeah?”

“Vulcan!”

“...Please speak in terms we can both understand.” My brows lower as I suck air through my teeth, “I can't exactly, y'know, translate Latin to Greek in three seconds.”

“Vulcan is literally Hephaestus! Don't be dumb!” Shrub groaned. “Oh, buddy, if you wanna see dumb, you should see my friends back at camp. Especially the Hermes cabin, good lords.” I look away, back at the RGB modern art on the walls.

“If we're gonna theorize Hephaestus, the best we can do is figure out what this was made for.” I waltzed around, taking samples of the paint and anything I could find.

Shrub shivered, “You think this was just sheer pettiness on his part?”

“Of course it was, everything he does is petty. Should've been the god of being petty, but all the gods are.” I tapped on the walls and felt a pressure change immediately. “Uh,”

“WE'RE FALLING!!” Shrub held onto the nearest thing. Unfortunately, that was me. And we fell faster, because I'm no parachute.

—

We woke up in a ditch, and there we saw him. Laying on his side, my eyes widened in fear and surprise. “Who is that?” Shrub whispered. “Are they dead?”

I got up and walked towards him, poking him. “Cub! What are you doing?!” Shrub stood up.

“...Impulse? I thought you left with the rest of them. What's going on? Why are you…” I looked to my right. A wrench, I picked it up quickly and stared at Impulse. “Your gift is here, buddy. What's going on?”

I pulled him to where he now laid on his back. His lips were covered in fuzz and blood, and his head was a mess. I looked back at the wrench and found blood sticking to it, “This is hours old. Probably days.” I dropped it.

“Cub, what's going on here?” Shrub walked towards me, the concern living on her face along with all the dread.

I sighed, “Remember how you brought up Vulcan?”

“Yeah…?”

“Impulse is his son. Not Vulcan’s, but Hephaestus’ son,” I turn to look at her. “He brought us here for a reason. He told us to find Impulse.”

Shrub got lost in thought, I watched as she peered down at the floor once again. The floor this time was concrete, dry and painful to even step on. She seemed to count the lost pebbles that mixed in with the concrete. Her eyes closed.

“The fate of machine will be washed away by hands that prey on the day.”

“...Hey, I heard that prophecy.” I frowned. “Just before I got here.”

“So did I.” Shrub sat down next to Impulse, “Prey on the day…?”

“Is there some type of Apollo kid here?” I looked around, “Don't see one.”

“I'm the closest we have to day. I'm the feast… the farm, the crops, the nature.” Shrub planted her face on her hands. I glared down at Impulse. “We'll find the answer soon enough, I think I know who's doing the preying.”

Impulse never moved from his spot.

I didn't know if he was ever gonna move again.

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