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[empires-au-ideas]

Fwhip and Gem Try to Keep Warm

Fwhip and Gem have a grand plan... they'll move from city to city until they find a hero agency willing to train them- the uncontrollable power to bend and break metal and the powers of manipulating nightmares SURPRISINGLY doesn't sound heroic to most people- then they'll go off on their own and fight crime as vigilantes.

Or... that WAS the plan until they stumbled into Empire City, a small town thrown into an eternal winter two hundred years ago. With not enough money to get out of the frozen city, the twins elect to settle down, getting a for hire job at the library.

But the twins quickly get entwined with Exor- the scary guy they keep seeing on the wanted posters- and the Wolf Spirit, the vigilante that swore to take down this demon at whatever cost. And all too soon they catch the villains attention, along with his minions.

Now the twins need to get out of town before Exor catches them and forces them to use their powers to take control of the city.

... all while making their money at the library, and trying not to annoy the librarian Pix too much.

[empires-au-ideas]

I just realized how funny the Esmps1!Gem haunting Esmps2!Shelby AUs could be now that Esmps2!Shubble is Wcsmp!Shubble if Gem just continues to haunt Shelby out of boredom or something else after Empires S2 ended

[empires-au-ideas]

*looks at canon Shelby angst* *looks at poison flowers potential angst* oh yeah, thats a panic attack about to happen, to Shelby

Now the question is what would Kath do if she were to find Shelby IN said panic attack :3

Hmm... depends...

Shelby and Katherine really fucking hate eachother in costume not gonna lie. Like even if it's just crushes in disguise it's like pretty "attack on sight" for Katherine at least when she sees Wanted.

But both Light Star and Hunter are known for a sense of honor. She won't attack villains who aren't in costume (or, villains without masks on at the very least) and she won't attack someone who clearly can't attack.

And depending on the severity of Shelby's panic attack (which, knowing her tendency to bottle, the severity will be a LOT), Shelby wouldn't be able to attack. The cold emptiness crawling over her skin, her vision going dark as the expanse of space covers her eyes...

Katherine would have to calm Shelby down, should Shelby have been de-masked prior to the encounter. And... Katherine couldn't just continue fighting after something like that. Katherine would run, Shelby would be left stunned.

[empires-au-ideas]

I have a question, does Bratwurst exist in the AU?

And if so, would they be actively to pull Shelby into a darker state of mind?

Yip! We love Mr. Bad influence.

Sausage WAS a young upcoming hero, Guardian, whose set of powers completely change based off his emotions. Usually while he's a hero, he has his "angel" set, when he's relaxed he has his "sanctuary" set, when he's nervous he has a "sorcerer" set... and when he's in pain, he has his "servant" set.

Much like Shelby's powers, Sausage's take a hold of him, clinging to his mind and making the emotion linger and fester, making it extremely difficult to get out of any set.

So when Sausage got fired from the agency... getting hunted down after he saved some citizens instead of going after the threat, like his supervisor instructed... he was hurt. Physically from the fight after both heroes and the villain turned on him, and mentally. He was just doing what his mom would have told him to, he saved lives! Why is he the bad guy now?!

Even normally that'd be a hard mindset to get out of, but with his powers holding onto his emotions? Sausage's plan to turn to vigilantism is ruined by his desire to hurt the hero agency, hurt villains, really just to make people hurt more than any good guy should.

A WONDERFUL influence on Shelby, having also been betrayed by the agency, as well as her powers messing with her mind.

[empires-au-ideas]

Hear me out Shelby/Wanted fully knowing Kath/light/hunter has a crush on her and fully using it to her advantage(and not because their cute at all-)

And after a while she gets concerned about them and just leaves pamphlets after every other fight or so

All pamphlets directing to Gem, maybe

Oh no, Wanted is just as oblivious to Katherine's crush as Katherine is. And... though she wouldn't admit it, Shelby absolutely eats up the attention that the "two" give her.

Also. Like Katherine would go to a fellow hero about her obsession with some random villain.

(Using this as an excuse to expand on Gem)

Gem is also a hero! She has somnomancy so she can put people to sleep, as well as her much less used power of invading dreams. She is very devoted to the hero agency and is just an absolute paragon of what they should be (on paper)... save for teaming with vigilantes quite a lot, but that is like the ONLY rule she'll break.

[empires-au-ideas]

*Shelby trying to mind her own business*

Katherien breaks down the door: ove come to fight you!

Shelby five minutes away from a mental breakdown: GrEAt-

Oh, I cannot over pronounce how much of an outlet Katherine is to Shelby. Like if this happened and Wanted was actually about to break down, she'd go right to the attack, because it always makes her feel better.

[empires-au-ideas]

Shelby dreading the day that Hunter and light hope(I think?) Meet because theses two are obsessed with her

Pft- imagine after one meeting she leaves a therapy pamphlet nearby for Kath titled "how to deal with feelings!" Or SMTH

meanwhile their the same people just ones more free then the other

Oh nah. Heroes will get in a LOT of trouble if they are found training in any capacity with a vigilante. Not to mention the two do-gooders work on completely different hours, Light Star in the day and Hunter at night. Shelby's got this in the bag.

And YES Wanted is full of taunts. Just so many. Sometimes it's intentional and sometimes it isn't, but Wanted usually say whatever comes to her kind, which when you're getting thrown into the ground and walls and incinerated with the light of the sun or drained by the dark of the night, is usually insults.

Aaaaaaaas well as a taunt here or there about Katherine's obsession.

[empires-au-ideas]

Please, tell us even more about Poison Flowers, I need more superhero AUs in my life uwu

Of course you of all people, Geekord, want more of the super power au, ha.

But yes, super hero aus my beloved. I'll expand more on Shelby with this, I think.

So Shelby's powers are... infectious to say the least. The powers of the void let her create dark splotches and illusions that look like infinite falling or space. There's that and then she also has to power to make people feel just. Oh so very small. With a mist, she can enchant people to feel utterly lost and alone, like the whole world has disappeared.

That's a... LITTLE bit what's happening to her? There's dark spots on her, and though logically she knows she's not been abandoned by everyone, it's hard not to when the hero academy kicked her out and hunted her down instead of helping her fight against her powers that are invading her from within. Or how heroes vigilantes and other villains alike all hate her, or how none of her clients stick around once they get an accidental taste of the extent of her power... Shelby is alone, and her powers don't make her feel any better about that.

She needs to get rid of these powers. If she gets enough money from her odd jobs she can pay a healer off to treat her, but all the good healers work for the hero agency, and all the more morally dubious ones charge a pretty penny for their services.

Being a big time villain wasn't the plan. That's why her name is just "Wanted", it's the only word people associate with her. She had no plan, she never gave a name because she didn't think of one. But the public had other plans for the mysterious villain that no hero can seem to touch.

Well, any hero but Light Star, as well as the vigilante Hunter.

The only reason Light Star or Huntercan even get CLOSE to Wanted... she makes her feel important. Worthy. Special. So Wanted is intentionally leading the "two" on so they'll keep chasing her.

[empires-au-ideas]

Katherine almost taking Shelby by surprise to only have a gay panic in the middle of it-

Meanwhiel Sheoby is also having away panic, but handling it far better(surprisingly) and can actually MOVE HER BODY-

Ha. See, Shelby has more practice dealing with the guy panic, just because she thinks she's dealing with Light Star (Katherine's hero name) AND Hunter (her vigilante name) as two different people. And of course, those two are the ones obsessing over SHELBY, she's the one just trying to do her job, man.

Meanwhile, Katherine has to forgoe the fact she's focused on on villain. Which... obviously it's just because she's evil and her powers are destructive. Not because she doesn't know what to do with the fact that Wanted (Shelby's villain name) can fluster her so easily.

Clearly it's because Katherine LOATHES Wanted. There's clearly no other explanation.

[empires-au-ideas]

Nature wives vigilante au? Do tell more

(Also may i propose, Poison flowers as the au name?)

POISON FLOWERS LOVE THAT THATS THE NAME NOW FOLKS

But yes! Mayne I'll revamp it a bit though, now that we aren't what, only a month into the season? Also returning the focus to be specifically s2, to where before it was more a mix.

Katherine stays pretty much the same. By day, she's the poster child for young upcoming heroes with her light manipulation, by night she's a vigilante uncovering some secret that she needs to find out before the hero agency does.

Shelby... changes a little. She started off well! Or, she started off bad, training at the hero academy, not being able to memorize all the rules and regulations. Why couldn't she just follow her gut? Do what was right without thinking of the consequences she might face from a supervisor?

Shelby is also frighteningly strong. It's honestly a LITTLE scary. She has powers over voids and the vast (like... a Vast avatar but for more like "space and existential" than just sky). In an event that almost tore reality for the city, Shelby got expelled (and is being hunted down just a little-). Her powers are infecting her just slightly, so she sets up a little odd job shop, where she can use her warping powers to help who she can. And maybe she can take her anger out on heroes when she has spare time.

So now Katherine has to focus both her hero and vigilante personas on this villain, and she us absolutely NOT obsessed with taking the villain down.

[empires-au-ideas]

Once again... sorry for all the Shelby posting. But she IS my poor little short sighted magical meow meow and I WILL put her in situations <3

Anyway. Withered Witch au my beloved <3

...

A Strange Force

...

Shelby straightened her books on the shelves, making sure they were all in line. Her cauldron was polished clean and all the potions she had prepared were neatly organized into crates.

She was wearing her nicest sweater (so the one least stained with mud) and her green overalls with the dainty embroidery her grandma made as a parting present. She fluffed up the flowers on her hat and tied back her hair in a neat-ish ponytail.

She even went though the effort of scraping away the mud, pulling out the plants that grew on the paths and getting rid of as many of those stupid roots as she could. Which... Shelby admits, she had been putting off for a while.

But Katherine was coming over soon, for her first visit to the Evermoore for a trade deal. Everything had to be PERFECT.

"ShelbyYyYy~"

"She know who we are, Sausage. Stop pretending to be some incomprehensible spirit."

Speaking of...

"Sausage. Gem." Shelby cleared her throat. "I'm... going to be doing a trade deal in a moment here, so if you wouldn't mind... not being around right now?"

"Who's coming over?" Sausage snapped his attention over, clearly excited.

"Better not be that archeologist," Gem mumbled, crossing her arms. "I bet he knew who we were, no thank you."

"Or that grave robber!" Sausage scrunched his nose. "I swear, he looked RIGHT at me-"

"Uhm..." Shelby shuffled her feet. "Just uhm- just..."

Why did her face get all hot? It wasn't embarrassing, to have a trade deal, right? The two ghosts were emporers way back when, they knew how this stuff worked. And they live in her house, have been, possibly months prior to their first appearance. Shelby has nothing to hide from them.

And... why did everything have to be perfect for Katherine? Katherine was really nice and cool and strong she guessed... probably just because she's a princess. Yes, Katherine was a princess with a nation that could squash the Evermoore like a bug. It would be important to impress her.

"Katherine!" Shelby blurted out. "Just- just Princess Katherine. So please don't make me give off a bad impression because it's very important this goes well because she's really strong and could proooobably kill me if she wanted to."

Ah! That must be why Shelby was so nervous. She was scared of Katherine, obviously.

"Ah..." Gem nodded knowingly. "Magic emporer to magic emporer, Shelby, I never got used to dealing with royalty. It doesn't get better."

Sausage blinked back, shaking his head. "Uh, hello, Gem? I was a king? And one of your closest alliances?!"

Gem looked him up and down. "My point still stands. So Shelby, if you need me to set up some spells, scare the princess off-"

"What?!" Shelby blanched. "No no no no, it's just a trade! I just need to impress her!"

... if Shelby was scared of her, why WOULDN'T she want Gem to scare Katherine off?

Whatever.

"Just..." Shelby took a deep breath. "Don't do anything stupid? Please?"

Gem looked over at Sausage again.

"Hey!" Sausage put on the meanest face he could... which wasn't that much. Despite what the books said, Shelby could NEVER see this guy being the servant of a terrifying demon.

"I literally said nothing." Gem crossed her arms, turning away.

"You both had what, a thousand years to make ammends and apologize?!" Shelby touched her temples. "How do you still SQUABBLE this much?!"

"Wrong," Gem rolled her eyes. "We had a thousand years to get SICK of eachother. "Why couldn't I have been stuck in the material plane with Scott? At least I could have a civil discussion about magic with HIM without it turning into a screaming match. Or Katherine. Or Shrub. Or Pix. Lizzie."

"Joey?" Sausage raised his eyebrows.

Gem paused. "Okay, no. I wouldn't go THAT far."

Shelby yelped as someone knocked the door. "Oh my goodness, she's here!"

Shelby rushed over to the door, turning around one more to shoo the ghosts off.

Sausage shook his head. "Man, this is the thanks we get for the free tutoring?

The ghosts disappeared, but Shelby knew better than to think they were gone. She brushed off her green overalls and adjusted her hat one more time before opening the door.

"Katherine!" Shelby cringed a little as her voice slightly cracked. She cleared her throat, trying to play it off. "How are you?"

Katherine was so cool. She always had the best outfit for the occasion. In the muddy and chilly Evermoore, she wore a pinkish purple peacoat and a brimmed hat with a bow. "Shelby! Here, I've got that string you ordered."

"Nice!" Shelby gave a thumbs up. Was that weird? That felt weird. "Here, you can come upstairs with me and take your choice of potion-"

A book page flipped.

"What was that?" Katherine leaned over to look behind Shelby.

The witch also spun around, seeing Sausage raise an eyebrow as he flipped through her potions manual. Katherine didn't seem to see him at least, but she could definetly see and hear the book's movement.

"Just a draft! Weird... fog draft!" Shelby laughed, rushing over to her desk to slam down the page Sausage had flipped to so he couldn't interact with it. "Yeah, if you'll come with me I-"

Shelby looked down to close the book to take upstairs with her when she froze. Sausage had opened up the book to the page on love potions.

She turned bright red. Why was she bright red?! Shelby quickly closed the book, hoping Katherine didn't see.

"Hey, are you okay?" Katherine crossed her arms. "You don't look so good."

"Just..." quick quick quick- "I get small allergies to the potions sometimes! Yeah, uhm... me and spider eyes don't mix well, ha."

"I TOLD you!"

Shelby glanced past Katherine to see Sausage floating circles around Gem, who surprisingly looked quite bemused herself. "Okay, I totally see it now... you know what they remind me of? Like Scott and Jimmy before Scott actually made a move."

Sausage barked a laugh. "Oh MAN does that bring me back!"

The two faded out and Shelby was left simmering and confused. Through their talks she had learned that there was a near identical ruler from their time for all of the empires now (except False? And Oli? She really needed to get around to asking about that...), but she had yet to actually write down who was who and what goes where.

"Shelby?"

The witch spun around. Right! Right. "I uhm... yes?"

"Which potions are strength again?" Katherine went over to a crate, picking up bottles and rotating them so they reflected in the candle light. "I told you I'm gonna be fighting over by the Ancient Capitol tonight, you know."

"Really?!" Shelby cleared her throat, not intending her voice to be that high. Or to crack that much. "That's uh- that's cool! Here, strength are the red ones."

A minute or two went by without anything jurassic happening. Shelby helped Katherine load the potions into her bag, even though the princess didn't really need that much help.

"And you're sure this is gonna work?" There, Sausage. From somewhere outside.

"Yes, yes." Gem, sounding as done as ever. "I've done this one a million times before. I did it at Joel and Lizzie's wedding, for crying out loud! Even with your grimy blood sheep magic in the way."

"Hey!"

"Well!" Shelby clapped her hands together, leaning towards Katherine on her tip toes. She needed to get Katherine OUT OF HERE before these ghosts embarrassed her any more. "Thank you so much for making a trade with me, Katherine! I'll see you-"

"Aw," Katherine's smile fell. Only by a little, but for whatever reason it made Shelby feel like she had committed the ultimate act of betrayal. "You aren't gonna show me around the Evermoore?"

"It's..." Shelby looked outside, and was for the first time ever grateful the sun was going down. "It's gonna get dark soon, and not even YOU should brave the Evermoore alone at night. You know? Here, I'll-"

A record scratched. Music started playing. But it wasn't like the weird eery music the ghosts usually played. It sounded like it was coming from all around them.

And it was... some kind of waltz, heavy with strings and wind instruments, not a lot of percussion. Which, if Shelby had to guess (based on a school project from what, five years ago) would make that a song from the long fallen Ocean Empire, dating it roughly 1000 years ago. Based on the counts and the tempo, it was... matrimonial.

Huh. Gem was right, she really had potential for history.

Speaking of Gem, and Sausage, Shelby was going to DOUBLE MURDER THEM.

"This..." Katherine tilted her head, listening to the music for another second before continuing. "Huh. I don't usually like these songs, but this one is quite pleasant! Is this a spell, Shelby?"

Shelby was going to melt away and die. "Uhm I- well... yes! It's my... it reminds me to make sure I don't have any potions left on the stand."

"Do you dance?"

Sausage's laugh could be heard from inside the room, but Shelby couldn't make herself glare to try and find him through the blush.

Why did that make her blush so hard?!

"Uhm, well I uhm- the-" Shelby took a breath. "No, no not really. Just like lame school dance stuff you know..."

Katherine groaned. "Oh gosh tell me about it, I have to go to all these prissy galas and balls... it's been years since I started going to them and I STILL cannot do any of the dances."

"Yeah at the dances I was always just sort of-" Shelby did a short little awkward dance, smiling when Katherine starts to giggle. She did that, she made Katherine giggle, she was doing such a good job. "You know?"

"Oh that looks MUCH more fun than a boring old waltz-" Katherine copied the move Shelby did. She laughed again, doing the dance with a bit more confidence, stylized. "Come on, dance with me!"

Shelby laughed, awkwardly doing the little dance with Katherine at first, but getting more comfortable as she realized Katherine was not taking it seriously one bit. They both loosened up and danced until the record scratched out, Shelby had kind of forgotten it was playing- and who might have started playing it- until Katherine stopped dancing.

Katherine and Shelby just danced together- kind of- to a marriage song.

Shelby stutters to a stop as soon as soon as the song is over, once again: she was going to DOUBLE KILL Sausage and Gem.

As Shelby's face goes back to a furious red, Sausage laughs again, and she SWEARS she heard Gem's snicker.

"Aw, well. That was fun." Katherine lifted her bag of potions with one arm effortlessly. "And Shelby..."

Katherine slowly looked around the room, before her eyes resting on Shelby, looking her up and down. Shelby felt her skin tingle at her gaze, she felt like she was going to bubble over word vomit. "S- Something wrong, Katherine?"

"No offense..." Katherine gave her a sympathetic smile. "You look like a mess... I think I know what's going on."

Shelby ALSO thinks she knows what's going on. Her heart stops, she was too obvious... she wasn't even doing anything she didn't even realize what she was doing or why she was acting like that... "Listen, I'm-"

"Ghosts are tough, but I know how-"

"What?!" Shelby's eyes went wide. She maybe looked a bit too relieved that Katherine didn't know about-... what she was thinking about.

"You look tired, your eyes flicker," Katherine listed off her evidence, keeping on that warm pitying smile the whole time, to her credit. "Books move on their own, MUSIC plays randomly... you even told me yourself I shouldn't go alone through this place. You've got ghosts!"

Shelby blinked at Katherine for... a long moment. The two ghosts stand behind her, Gem looking rather impressed and Sausage rather indignant. "I... am having a bit of a ghost problem, yes."

Sausage threw his hands in the air, grumbling. Gem face palmed.

"I see..." Katgerine looked out yhe windows, before leaning in to whisper, as well as pulling Shelby down to her level to be closer. That did NOT make Shelby's heart stutter, no siree. "Well... I have a little side job I do for the empires... I'm a monster hunter, and I'm sure I could get rid of your little ghost problem if you wanted."

Shelby smiled, big and awkward, not... really sure what to say? What could she?! "Oh don't bother they're from the ancient empires and help me with my magic 101 homework" like what?! And Katherine looks so eager to help...

Not to mention if Shelby DID say that... she'd need to explain WHY she needed tutoring...

"Wow, really?!" Shelby laughed, mainly from the nerves. She managed to give it a relieved air, she's really good at lying on the fly. "That'd be so helpful! How can I repay you?"

"Oh... you're a witch, right?" Katherine looked off to the side, scratching her arm.

"Yes...?" Shelby ignored how that also felt like a lie.

"I've- no, my KINGDOM has this curse, right?" Katherine explained glumly. What Shelby wouldn't DO to get that tone out of her voice. "And now that my parents are retired they- and my kingdom- expect me to cure the land. But I'm not sure how... but! You're the Great Witch Shelby! If you could come over to Glimmer Grove sometime and take a look-"

"Sure!" Shelby smiled, no she did not squeal that out. "I'd love- or, it'd be my pleasure! I'll do some research and... thank you!"

Of course Shelby did not want to get rid of the ghosts, but she did now have two reasons to be around Katherine. It was honestly annoying how much that idea made her grin like a fool.

The ghosts were silent as the emperors bid eachother bye, Shelby sighing dreamily as she leaned against the door after Katherine left.

This moment was ruined by Gem appearing in front of her, arms crossed and foot tapping. Man, she REALLY DID look like her teachers back home. "So now you're letting a ghost hunter in the Evermoore because she's your girlfriend?"

Shelby blanched. "Katherine is NOT my-"

"Not YeEeEeEet~" Sausage teased, forgetting he was in a bit of peril with a ghost hunter on their case now to torment Shelby's crush. Shelby didn't have any siblings, but this is what she thinks her peers at the Academy were talking about when they complained about their younger brothers and sisters.

Shelby hid her face in her hat. "Shut up, both of you! Gosh... now I've got to search for curse cures-"

Gem groaned. "PLEASE use the correct terminology-"

"AND for ghost PROTECTION spells, who would even write about those-" Shelby ignored her and started searching the books on her shelves.

Gem looked over her shoulder, helping her look, but still engaging in the conversation. "Just make sure you tell us before you start like. Kissing or something."

"Gem!" Shelby hissed, turning red again, she struggled to take five books (unlike Katherine, who could probably carry a million books) to her desk. "Can we PLEASE drop it?!"

"Nope!" Sausage piped in. He began to sing. "Shelby and Katherine sittin in a tree~"

Shelby glared down at her books. Maybe she WOULDNT look for those protection spells.

[empires-au-ideas]

Wait was evil Sausage shocked to see the ghosts of Gem and his past self?

Also can the ghosts leave the Evermoore? Or are they just stuck there or stuck with Shubble?

Evil Sausage was shocked of course, but he knew SOMEONE- namely another Sausage- would be there, as he recognizes the multiversal feedback noise of having multiple of the same person in the same place. He thought it'd be s2 Sausage though, so when he saw the ghost he was decently taken aback.

Obviously he made a quick recovery, regaining composure as he spoke to Shelby, only expressing his rage and resentment while she wasn't looking. So yes he was shocked, but it was quickly taken over by hatred and the desire to get back at them the worst way possible, a long game.

And then I haven't actually decided how the ghosts work? I have three options, either they're tied to the Evermoore and can't leave, they're tied to Shelby and they have to go where she does, or they're tied to some sort of talisman so Shelby can take them or not, but they have no control over these.

Of the three it makes the most sense for them to be tied to Shelby as she is like the "unfinished business" they have to deal with before they can rest at last. But I do like the idea of talismen... I'd just have to decide what they'd be and then how they got to the Evermoore. Or maybe Shelby can cast a spell that bonds them to a talismen... I might do that.

But for now, they are tied to Ms. Shelby Shubble.

[empires-au-ideas]

Withered Witch AU!

So evil Sausage is back and visited the Evermoore, how did Gem and Sausage react? Did they finally appear to Shubble again so they can discourage her from going with him? Did Evil Sausage know something was up?

Also, how upset Gem and Sausage is at S2 Sausage for using dark magic again and the Bubbles that freed Evil Sausage (I think that's what happened-)

I feel like I need to reinstate the idea of how really really bad Shelby is at text book magic. She can't tell you the difference of enchantment and illusions or transmutation... over all she's bad. She's very very powerful don't get me wrong... it's just she can't put it to words, nor can she recognize a magical effect when it hits her in the face.

So my point is Shelby doesn't know whats wrong with her, and she absolutely cannot pin what happened to Sausage. But just because she doesn't know whats going on doesn't mean it's not affecting her, so Shelby in her lonely and irritable corruption cling to evil Sausage like a life line.

Gem and Sausage also don't really know what happened, but they're assuming the worse. Sweet innocent s2 Sausage has been taken as a prisoner- either in his mind or in another world- and evil Sausage took the opportunity to weasel himself to center stage. They do not know what Sausage was doing with the Vigil.

Evil Sausage? Can see the ghosts. Like one hundred percent oh my gosh. When he mentioned s1 Shrub and Joey he looked directly where those two were. He sneaks them looks, between glares and grins, and especially gets to s1 Sausage about his evilness, something the ghost regrets.

Sausage was complete deer in headlights when evil Sausage was visiting. Evil Sausage saw this and played to it, making all his extra comments of eating souls, his want to kill, all said while looking directly at s1 Sausage.

Gem was also given a line or two directed at her, but she didn't yield. She held her ground, glaring at the sorcerer as he befriended the witch. She couldn't do anything while he was there, he could see her and hear if she told Shelby what bad news he was, so she had to simmer, control her expression and movement. Ghosts can't cry, but they can still get really really sad.

There is one threat evil Sausage gives to the ghosts... not a WORD of what he is, what he's up to, and he won't shoot them- including Shelby in that- with dark magic. Simple.

So all Gem and Sausage can do now is dance around the problem, as they try and get Shelby away from evil Sausage (once he leaves, of course. He can see the ghosts and wouldn't take kindly to them telling her to be careful). But Shelby isn't listening. To her, nothing is wrong, it's just Gem being overbearing and thinking she's right all the time, it's Sausage just jumping to conclusions. And they've been absent, only showing up to scold her... she can show them that they're not her only options of magic casters to hang out with.

(Also: the "I like you! I won't murder you yet!" Line was definetly said while staring directly at s1 Gem and Sausage. He knows them... the best way to get them around his finger is by something they care about. And even if they're more stand off-ish than usual, the ghosts still deeply care for Shelby.)

[empires-au-ideas]

Send me a title for a fake fic, and I’ll write a fake summary!

[empires-au-ideas]

Soo

How's Gem and Sausage holding up in the Withered Witch AU ever since Shelby got corrupted by the fog? (I wonder if the tradition of 'if you use a wand or a staff to practice magic, you are at automatic risk of becoming corrupted by an evil entity' in Empires)

NOT WELL. They don't appear around her, and if she asks for them they won't answer. It's familiar. It's really, really, REALLY familiar the way she acts, the way she barely notices. Sausage gets much quieter.

Sausage probably will appear around her every once in a while, if not just to scold her. It's not like Shelby listens, but it's very weird for him to be in this side if the corruption. Even though he's distant, he almost acts more like Pearl. He's still trying to be friends, he wants to help but doesn't know how, even of he does let her indulge in some unhealthy corruption habits.

Gem retreats and focused, not believing this is happening AGAIN. She's completely desolate, completely absent from Shelby. Even if she's not visible, she can't bear to even be in the same room as her. It's the same thing she did with Sausage, ignoring the person it's affecting and focusing on the magic. She stays upstairs a lot, sprawling books everywhere to try and fix it, find a cure.

Shelby honestly doesn't know what all the FUSS is about.

[empires-au-ideas]

Cold Wanderer thing because I'm rereading the AU and noticed something

So, Scott's eyes are pretty much always depicted as glowing. So what if they glow when he's stressed because magic, and he's pretty much always stressed so his eyes are pretty much always glowing?

And *what if* he's kinda forgotten what his eyes normally look like? What if everyone just assumed his eyes are naturally glowy? How would he react to seeing his normal eyes once he doesn't have to constantly worry about surviving?

Yes! His powers flare up when he's stressed, causing his eyes to glow. His powers flaring up then causes him stress because he still thinks "Oh shit this is Exor magic!" So... it's a terrible cycle really.

People like... have seen him without the glowing eyes? Because it's not like his powers are always ON, you know? But they definetly glow a little when he's seen, when his adrenaline spikes juuuuust a little at the idea of someone figuring out who he is or what he does or if they want to chase or kill him. So yes, most people would have seen him with the glowing eyes, but not enough to where like. It being the reason Scott doesn't remember his eyes. He's probably forgotten for other reasons, mainly the veil itself and then also he doesn't really have access to mirrors.

The rulers who would have caught him most often without the glowing eyes though are Jimmy and Pearl, 100%. And then at FIRST Shelby ALWAYS sees his eyes glowing because he's stressed for her (that's a child! A child he is now responsible for!) But then after a bit as they get used to eachother (and then before they find out what happened to Xornoth when Shelby cane to this plane) she sees his eyes.

[empires-au-ideas]

Idk if you're accepting asks or asks like this rn, if you aren't then sorry, but in your Withered Witch AU, what does Gem and Sausage think about their current S2 counterparts

Oh. Oh ho ho.

Both of them are very fond of s2!Sausage. Gem possibly even more than s1!Sausage, because she knew he existed. The thing from that one episode where s2!Sausage got transported to the Crystal Cliffs has probably happened on more than one occasion, and when she was alive, Gem spend some of her spare time looking into alternate realities, past lives... so she is FACINATED by s2!Sausage.

What's even funnier is that Sausage doesn't actually... know about that. There's like... feedback if the two are in the room at the same time, the first time it happened it triggered a vision. But you know, the Sausages are the only ones who really know about that, but s2 can't see s1, and s1 thinks he's safe from all that interdimensional stuff, so he hasn't thought about it in a while. He's just tired.

And Sausage would click so hard with s2!Gem. Once again, intuitive inter dimensional traveler thing. Once again, s2!Gem can't actually SEE him, and he's not actually in the place she travels to, so she doesn't know he even exists really. Or, not outside history books.

S1!Gem is pretty indifferent to s2... other than the fact she exists. You think s2!Sausage would have mentioned that there were alternate versions of ALL OF THEM. And s2 is definetly hiding something. Definetly definetly hiding something. S1 doesn't trust her too much, but she wants her around to figure out her secrets.

All in all, Shelby is very tired of hearing them theorizing on what's going on. Gem keeps forgetting to mention her knowledge of s2!Sausage, and s1!Sausage doesn't actually know what's up with Gem other than the gut feeling he can't place.