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wavesoutbeingtossed · 1 year ago

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Screaming from the crypt (or how the past haunts the present on Midnights)

I know it's been discussed so much since Midnights came out but just.

I love how there is such a clear narrative throughout the album (and perhaps especially on the 3am/Vault tracks). About questioning and regret and choices and coming to terms with all of it. It is one long story about how we're all a mosaic of the choices we make, each one taking something from us and leaving something else in its place.

(And now a disclaimer: I'm looking at this mostly through a narrator/subject lens, and trying not to dive too deeply into real-life events or speculation except for in a general sense. For this purpose I like to look at the body of work as art, like literature, because I find it makes it easier to see the common threads in the different songs and cohesion in the narrative.)

In looking at the 3am+ tracks in particular, it's fascinating how some turns of phrases or themes repeat themselves in different songs, in different contexts. (I'm only focusing on the non-standard tracks because there are too many songs and I'd be here all day but I bet I could do a part two lol.) I know many people have pointed out the parallels throughout her discography already and I’m not saying anything groundbreaking by writing this, but I love how these parallels run through in the same album, because it makes it seem like it's one long story, or at least, one long rumination on many different stories that are coalescing into a single narrative.

Battle (let’s go)

For instance, the one that jumped out at me when I started writing this post the other week was, "Tore your banners down, took the battle underground," in The Great War and "If clarity's in death, then why won't this die? Years of tearing down our banners, you and I," in Would've, Could've Should've. It's a story about staying stuck in the same cycle of reliving trauma and coping mechanisms and bad habits over and over again and fantasizing about how taking the “antagonist” out and gaining the upper hand for good would bring closure (WCS), but the truth is that nothing ever will. All that cycle does, though, is repeat itself in other situations, and in this case pushes someone away the narrator cares for (TGW). The difference is that the imagined battle in WCS is a two-way street in her mind (that is ultimately unwinnable because it was never a fair fight), but in TGW it's one-sided -- she's the one fighting dirty, taking shots, the way she'd been doing in her imagination (or nightmares) all these years. But the person in front of her isn't fighting back the way the person in her mind in WCS would, because their intentions are honourable instead of exploitative.

And that's paralleled in another pair of lyrics from the two songs, "And maybe it's the past talking, screaming from the crypt, telling me to punish you for things you never did," (in TGW) and "The tomb won't close, I fight with you in my sleep," (in WCS). In both cases, the funeral imagery makes it seem like this past event should be dead and buried in WCS, but it keeps rising from the dead, haunting her no matter what she does and in TGW, another (or perhaps the same?) tomb that won't close keeps unleashing new ways to hurt her and in turn the new person in her life. In other words, the trauma from the past continues to bleed into the present.

(Again from a literary point of view, I'm not saying the events of the two songs are linked IRL, but they're fascinating textual parallels on the album as a string of chapters, which is why Dear Reader is so compelling, but that's a whole other essay.)

To keep the battle motif going, there’s yet another parallel, this time between TGW’s "[You were a] soldier down on that icy ground, looked up at me with honor and truth," and You’re Losing Me’s "All I did was bleed as I tried to be the bravest soldier, fighting in only your army.” In the former, the subject is laying down his armour in the war she’s projecting onto him, waving the white flag, and she realizes that she’s about to destroy something if she doesn’t put her sword down too. By the time we get to YLM, the roles are almost reversed; at the very least they’re supposed to be on the same team, but in this case she’s doing all the heavy lifting, fighting for their relationship in contrast to his apathy killing it. It’s also pretty interesting (if not outright intentional) that one of the 3am+ editions of the albums starts with The Great War, where they find themselves in conflict (even if it’s in her head) that ends in a truce, and ends with You’re Losing Me signalling the end of the relationship, evidence that the resolution in the first song wasn’t an ending but merely a ceasefire before the last battle.

Putting the rest under a cut because this is waaaaay too long now ⤵️

(There’s also another metaphor there in The Great War with its battle imagery: World War I, aka The Great War, was supposed to be the war to end all wars, because loss on its scale was never seen before and when it ended, most thought never again would the world embroil itself in such battle, the horrors and implications were so devastating. Two decades later, the world found itself in WWII, with an even larger scope and more horrific consequences, the intervening time between the two a period of festering conflicts and resentment leading to some of the worst acts the world would see. Bringing real life into it for a second, there’s something a little poetic, though sad, about The Great War the song being about a fight that could have ended the relationship that they ultimately resolved and was meant to be evidence of the strength of their love, but so too did it end up being a period of détente, the greater battle coming for them years later. But that is not the point of this post.)

If one thing had been different

Another major theme in these editions is pondering the "what ifs?" of life, but I think it takes on even more significance in the broader context of the album in the lyrics of "I'm never gonna meet what could've been, would've been, should've been you," in Bigger than the Whole Sky and the repetition of would've/could've in Would've, Could've, Should've (I would've looked away at the first glance, I would've stayed on my knees, I would've gone along with the righteous, I could've gone on as I was, would've could've should've if I'd only played it safe, etc.) In both songs, the narrator is mourning an alternate course their life could have taken* and questioning what they could have done differently, in the aftermath of trauma and loss, and the regret that comes with that loss, and with the loss of agency in the situation because ultimately it was never in their hands. In an album full of questions, wondering about the path not taken, or the forks in the road that have led to a different version of your life, it's digging deeper into the contrast of choice vs. fate, action vs. reaction, dwelling on the past vs. moving on. When you're supposed to let go of the past, what do you do when it is holding your future hostage?

(*I know there are different interpretations/speculation about BTTWS which I am not getting into on main. I'm just saying that whatever the song is about, it's grieving something that never came to be. The literal origin of the song is less important to the album than the sense of loss it portrays. Whatever the inspiration is, it's crafted to tell part of the story of Midnights of ruminating over how, to borrow from her previous work, if one thing had been different, would everything be different?)

(Also I was today years old when I realized that the words are inverted in the two songs. Apparently I've been hearing BTTWS wrong this whole time.)

There's also an interesting tangent in the role of faith in both songs: in WCS, the events of the story cause her to lose her faith (e.g. "All I used to do was pray," "you're a crisis of my faith,") and question all the things she felt had been unquestionable until that point in her life (e.g. "I could have gone along with the righteous"), whereas in BTTWS, she questions whether that very lack of faith is to blame for the loss in that song ("did some force take you because I didn't pray? [...] It's not meant to be, so I'll say words I don't believe"). It's like pinpointing the moment her life changed and upended her beliefs (WCS), but as a result then leaving her unmoored in times of crisis because ultimately there's no explanation or comfort to be taken from what she used to hold true before that (BTTWS). The words she once relied upon to guide her have long since lost their meaning, but in times of trouble it leaves her wondering if that faith she once held then lost could have prevented this pain.

(Shoutout to WCS for being Catholic guilt personified lol.)

To keep on with the vaguely faith-y notions, an obvious parallel is the line in Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve about, “I damn sure never would've danced with the devil at nineteen,” and, "When you aim at the devil, make sure you don't miss," in Dear Reader. All of WCS is about her fighting with an antagonist who haunts her, with whom she wholly regrets ever becoming involved. DR could be seen as a reflection on that fall from grace, warning the audience that if you choose to go after the person (or thing) haunting you, make sure you do so clearheaded enough to be decisive. Again, these “devils” may not be related in real life: the IRL devil in DR could be speaking about her naysayers, or Kim*ye, or Scott & Scooter B, etc., meaning not to cross your enemies until you know you can win. But taking real life out of it and looking at it textually, I am intrigued by the link between WCS and DR, so that’s what I’m going with here. And perhaps that’s even the point in a wider sense; there will be multiple “devils” in your life, or threats to your well-being. If you’re going to commit to taking them down — whether it’s an actual person, or the demons inside you that refuse to let you go — make sure you have the right ammo so that they can no longer hurt you. (Of course, one lesson from these experiences is that sometimes you can’t win, and you have to live with the fallout.)

(Sidebar: I know that “dancing with the devil” is a turn of phrase that means being led into temptation and engaging in risky behaviour, as opposed to describing the actual person. Given the religious metaphors in the song, that could very well be/is the intention, particularly when it’s preceded by, “I would have stayed on my knees” as in she would have continued to follow her faith — in whatever sense that means — had she never met this person, which could also be a more eloquent way of saying she would have continued to be live her life in a way that was righteous (even naive) and seen the world in black and white. Either way, it’s a force she wholly rejects. Like I said, multiple devils, same fight.)

Regret comes up too: in WCS, she says, "I regret you all the time," obviously directed at the person who manipulated her and led to her perceived downfall, citing him as the one impulse she wished she'd never followed, because it won't leave her no matter how hard she’s tried. In High Infidelity, she tells the person to, "put on your records and regret me," and on the surface, it’s like she’s turning the tables, painting herself as the one now causing the regret in someone else, the one inflicting the pain this time. Yet the verse preceding it and the lines following it in the chorus depict a partner who is also emotionally manipulative and vindictive like in WCS (“you said I was freeloading, I didn’t know you were keeping count,” “put on your headphones and burn my city,”). It’s not so much that she’s intentionally harming the person (the way the person in WCS does to her), but rather that the venom in the subject’s feelings towards her seeps through; she’s imagining the way he’s going to feel about her when she leaves, hating her just for by being who she is. (There could be another tangent about how in both songs she’s there to be a “token” in a game for both of the men, who play her for their own purposes.) The regret is dripping with disdain. It’s as though she’s picturing how the person is going to hate her for doing what she’s thinking of doing the way she hates the person who first hurt her.

Sadness, unsurprisingly, shows up in a few lyrics. In BTTWS, “Everything I touch becomes sick with sadness,” sets the scene of a person so overcome with grief that it permeates everything around them; they cannot see their way out of it and feel like the fog will never lift. In Hits Different, it’s, “My sadness is contagious,” the result of a breakup where the person’s grief again touches everything and everyone around them, pushing them further in their despair and loneliness. The reason behind the grief in either case may vary, but regardless of the source, the feeling is overpowering and isolating. They may be different chapters in the story, but the devastation is hauntingly familiar. (As is a recurring theme in Midnights as a whole: there are situations and feelings that present themselves at different points in her journey and colour in the lines in different ways along the road. Like revisiting an old vice and realizing the hit isn’t quite the same as it was in the past.)

Death by a thousand cuts

She also writes about wounds on this album, which isn't surprising I suppose given that the whole conceit is that these are things that have kept her up at night over the years. WCS is perhaps the driving narrative on this never ending hurt when she sings, “The wound won't close, I keep on waiting for a sign, I regret you all the time,” suggesting that no matter what she does, the pain of this experience has permeated everything she’s done afterwards. (Not unlike the overwhelming grief in BTTWS, for instance.) Elsewhere, in High Infidelity she sings, "Lock broken, slur spoken, wound open, game token," and in Hits Different, "Make it make some sense why the wound is still bleeding.” Again I'm not suggesting they're about the same events; the line in HI is about a situation where a partner crosses a boundary, hits below the belt, picks at an insecurity (or creates a new one) and treats the relationship like it's transactional, opening the floodgates in turn. In HD, the wound seems to be more self-inflicted, where she's pushed the person away. (Over a situation real or imagined she feels she needs distance from.) But again, something has picked at her like a raw nerve, and just like in the past, she's hurting, even in a different time and place and person. Almost like the wounds of the past break open over and over again to create new scars. If one were to extrapolate further, it wouldn’t be the biggest leap to wonder if the wound open in WCS, then torn apart in HI makes the one in HD hurt even more.

(I once wrote a post about how I think as time goes on, WCS is going to turn into one of those songs that will be found to drive so much of her work, because it’s just… kind of the unsaid thesis statement of so much of her songwriting.)

Another repeated theme is that of the empty home and loneliness. In High Infidelity, she sings, "At the house lonely, good money I'd pay if you just know me, seemed like the right thing at the time," painting a picture of someone who may have everything they'd want to the outside world, but in reality feels metaphorically trapped in their home (or at least alone amidst abundance), a symbol of a relationship gone sour and a failure to build connection. She just wants someone to understand her, want her for her, but as she's written earlier in the song, she's just a pawn in the game, a trophy from the hunt. Home, in this case, is lonely, isolated, an emblem of her fears. In Dear Reader, she continues this thread, then singing, "You wouldn't take my word for it if you knew who was talking, if you knew where I was walking, to a house not a home, all alone 'cause nobody's there, where I pace in my pen and my friends found friends who care, no one sees you lose when you're playing solitaire." It's the same idea, admitting to listeners that the gilded cage she lived in kept her distanced from her loved ones and real connection, keeping her struggles close to the vest but feeling desperately lonely amidst her crowning success. She's pushed people away and it may have felt like the right thing at the time, but in the end maybe felt like she was trapped. And when you push people away, eventually they take you at your word and stop pushing back; you’re a victim of your own success at isolating yourself. What starts out of self-preservation then further perpetuates the underlying problems.

(There's another interesting link about "home" also feeling unsafe with HI's "Your picket fence is sharp as knives," which further leads into the theme of marriage/domesticity feeling dangerous, which is a whole other thing I won't get into here because it's another discussion and may derail this already gargantuan word salad.)

In a slightly similar vein, we have the metaphor of bad weather for a rocky road or unstable relationship, in High Infidelity again with, "Storm coming, good husband, bad omen, dragged my feet right down the aisle" and You’re Losing Me’s "every morning I glared at you with storms in my eyes.” They aren’t speaking of the same situation or even same kind of breakdown, but it is pretty interesting how the idea of clouds/storms/floods/etc. play such a role in Taylor’s music to signal depression, apprehension, fear, uncertainty, etc. In HI, I think the “storm” coming is the looming threat of commitment to a partner who makes the narrator uneasy (if not fearful). In this case, the idea of making a life with this person is not one that incites joy or comfort, but instead makes the narrator feel that dark times are ahead if she continues down this path. Perhaps in some way, the “storms” in YLM have made good on the threat in HI in a different way; it’s a different home, a different relationship, but the clouds have settled in regardless, and some of her fears have come to fruition in ways she did not expect. The person she once trusted no longer sees her or her struggles (or worse, doesn’t care), and the resentment and pain build with each passing day.

Coming back to heartbreak, one of the obvious "full circle" moments is the beginning of a relationship in Paris, where she says that, "I'm so in love that I might stop breathing," clearly enthralled in a new love that allows her to shut the world out and grow in private, capturing the all-encompassing nature of the relationship. This infatuation has consumed her in the most wonderful way (in contrast to the sorrow of some of the previous songs), and it feels like a life-altering (or even life-sustaining?) force that is so strong she may forget what it’s like to breathe. (Metaphorically speaking, of course.) By the end of the album, though, in You're Losing Me, that heart-stopping love has become a threat: "my heart won't start anymore for you." In the former, her racing heart is full of excitement, but by the latter, her heart has given out completely under the weight of the pain she bears. (YLM is full of death/illness imagery which I already wrote about awhile ago so I won't hear, but needless to say that song deserves its own essay for so many reasons.) She's gone from the unbridled joy of the beginnings of a relationship to the unrelenting sorrow of its end, two sides of the same coin.

Love as death appears elsewhere in the music too, for instance, in High Infidelity’s, “You know there's many different ways that you can kill the one you love, the slowest way is never loving them enough" and You’re Losing Me’s “How can you say that you love someone you can't tell is dying? […] My face was gray, but you wouldn't admit that we were sick.” Though not completely analogous situations, they both tell the tale of one partner’s apathy (or at least denial) destroying the other. In the former, the partner’s actions (or inaction) are more insidious, if not sinister; in the latter, the lack of momentum (or admission of a problem) is passive. In both cases, the end result is the narrator’s demise; it’s a drawn out affair that chips away at her morale and her health and her sense of self. (Breaking my own rule about bringing in alleged actual events into the discussion, but the idea that the relationship in High Infidelity, which was obviously fraught with unease and even fear, ended in a similarly excruciatingly slow and hurtful death by a thousand cuts as the relationship in You’re Losing Me almost did at that time must have been so painful. It almost feels like YLM is wondering why what used to be a source of light in her life was mirroring a situation that caused her such pain in the past.)

From the same little breaks in your soul

I said early on that part of what is so compelling about Midnights is that it feels like an album about ruminating — on choices, on events, on people — and the two final “bonus” tracks of the album depict that as well. In Hits Different, she sings that, “they say if it’s right, you know,” an ode to the confusion of a breakup and struggling with the aftermath of calling it quits. It’s a line that has always intrigued me, because the typical use of the phrase is in the sense of, “you’ll know when you meet the one,” but here it seems to have a double meaning, a reassurance perhaps from the friends (who later on tell her that "love is a lie") that she’ll know if she’s made the right decision in calling it off, but could also be her wondering if the relationship is right, she’ll know, and want to reconcile. In the final bonus track, You’re Losing Me, she sings, “now I just sit in the dark and wonder if it’s time,” this time leaving no doubt about the dilemma she faces, though it’s no less fraught. She’s wondering, perhaps for the last time, if now is finally the moment to end the relationship for good. They say that if it’s right she’ll know, and now she’s wondering if that feeling inside her (that once told her her partner was the one, which is why it hit differently), is telling her that it’s time to go for good. Wait Alexa play “It’s Time To Go.” These are not only the things that keep her up at night, but the things that play over in her mind like a film reel in her waking hours.

Midnights as a whole is a deeply personal album, as is most of Taylor's work, but the 3am+ edition tracks seem to dig even deeper to a lot of the issues raised on the standard album. Almost like the standard tracks are the things she wonders about on sleepless nights, but the bonus tracks are the things that haunt her in the aftermath. The regret, anger, sadness, grief, relief, even joy— they’re the price she pays for the memories she keeps reliving. Midnights might be the most cohesive narrative of all her albums, and really does feel like we’re watching someone work through her journal over time, stopping short of outright naming those giant fears and intrusive thoughts (except for when she does) but making them plain as day when you connect the songs together, and perhaps never more clearly than in the expanded album. It’s incredible how the songs stand on their own to relay a specific moment in time, but that they are also self-referential to each other (whether thematically or overtly) to weave a larger web over the entire work. We’re so lucky as fans to have these stories and to keep peeling back these layers as time passes. (And my literature-analysis-loving ass loves her even more for it.)

This is obviously by no means an exhaustive list, and I know there are more parallels and probably even stronger links (particularly when you add the standard version into the mix), but these were the ones that particularly struck me and I’m just glad I’ve had a chance to sit with this and think it through. ❤️

#writing letters addressed to the fire #me thinking too hard about taylor lyrics #taylor swift #midnights #long post #lyrics analysis #song parallels #Gabby this one is for you friend <3 #here goes nothing #Happy Friday or something idk!#(also i know i said there are things i wouldn’t discuss on main but my dms are open lol)#this is not as structured or well plotted out as I wanted it to be #and turned out to be more stream of consciousness than legit essay #but whatever at least i got my thoughts out there and it can release some plot of land in my brain for other stuff to think over lol #If anyone ever reads this thank you! And I’m sorry?#The best compliment i ever got in school #was when we were doing an analysis of a poem in English lit in college #And i brought something up casually #and my prof went ‘I’ve been teaching this class for eight years and that’s the first time anyone’s ever brought it up like that’#’and that just blew my mind’#and i was like ‘who me?’#so that’s all you need to know about me lol #Midnights: The Great War #Bigger than the whole sky #bttws #Midnights: Paris #Midnights: high infidelity #would’ve could’ve should’ve #Midnights: dear reader #midnights: bigger than the whole sky

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fogwitchoftheevermore · 1 month ago

Note

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 FUTURE SPACE 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.

#empires smp #empires season 1 #empires s1 superhero au #my writing #HI SORRY THIS TOOK ME LIKE MULTIPLE HOURS TO WRITE UP. I HAD TO GO THROUGH A LOT OF DISCORD DMS TO COLLECT THIS AND IM NOT 100% SURE #THAT STUFF WASN'T MISSED. AND ALSO ITS A LOT.#if anyone wants any more details uh. feel free to ask! because surprisingly there are more!#they're all about like. interpersonal relationships more so than superheroes but don't we all love superhero interpersonal drama?#isnt that half the fun?#wither rose alliance #the codvengers #katherine elizabeth #shubble #joey graceffa #smajor #xornoth #i really dont wanna tag everyone so shoutout to the wra and covengers for your convenient group names

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