#The Exile Gilded Gorgon

[punkrangerdraws]

Last oc kiss, the very acrobatic snake boy belongs to @the-rebel-archivist

[samdravvs]

2021 vs 2024

My gorgon MC from @exilethegame ❤️

For @bweirdart s mARTch challenge day 28: redraw something old!

In three years, i seem to learn: How to draw blood, cleaner line art, contrast, better proportions and better composition 💪

[thegildedgorgon]

The Hanged Man

Upright: Uncertainty, letting go, sacrificing

Reversed: Discontentment, negative patterns, fear of sacrifice

my gorgon commander, tobias, from @exilethegame !! (ve/vim/vimself pronouns for vim pls!)

[harbingersecho]

“You feel sick to the stomach every time you remember what happened. You're a monster, a killer, and that's something you'll have to live with for the rest of your life. No amount of good deeds can fix what you've done, but you'll keep trying anyways.”

Ex-Commander of Plaithus, The Gilded Gorgon

[nanowatzophina]

Now for my monthly @exilethegame doodles.

I’m so bad at finishing things.

[bonesif]

You were great once. You were prideful and skillful and cruel. You still are these things, you think.

And maybe you can successfully drink and laugh and flirt and chase your pain away. But the person that you were grips your jaw and demands attention. You have no title to hide behind, no way to look away. You wouldn't deserve to.

They told you that you'd be great. It's time to face that you were never good.

Enter commander Emery Belrai, the gilded gorgon.

[ from @exilethegame ]

[the-rebel-archivist]

unusual muse associations.

not tagged by anyone, Aurie is just noisy and demanding tagging nobody explicitly but if you want to take a stab at it please do

Aurelian Sidewinder, the Gilded Gorgon (the exile)

SEASONING: honey, tamarind

WEATHER: blistering, rock warming heat waves

COLOUR: iridescent green, burnished gold, warm brown

SKY: starless night

MAGICAL POWER: enhanced senses, glamour and manipulation, a lifetime of training in war

PLANT: edelweiss (courage, perseverance, devotion), snapdragon (deception, graciousness)

WEAPON: envennomed fangs and twin daggers, Fang and Talon

SUBJECT: psychology and military strategy

SOCIAL MEDIA: [cancelled immediately]

MAKEUP PRODUCT: bit of oil for half-translucent scales, patented Fantasy Fuckboy cologne, you know he smells good when he's not knee-deep in mud and blood and hate him a little for it

CANDY: too cloyingly sweet on his tongue, milk chocolate pretzels at most

FEAR: (you are a murderer, you have always been a murderer, you will always be a murderer, you are fit for nothing else)

ICE CUBE SHAPE: anything that won't get sucked up a twirly straw

METHOD OF LONG-DISTANCE TRAVEL: horse, griffon taxi (once)

ART STYLE: baroque

MYTHOLOGICAL CREATURE: is gorgon too on the nose?

PIECE OF STATIONERY: long-travelled diplomatic pouches full of other people's doodles

THREE EMOJIS: 🐍🗡💔

CELESTIAL BODY: the sun

[redwayfarers]

Well, it is official. I am making yet another Cass AU. Because lord knows he doesn't have enough presence everywhere else already. I am such a clown for him, I swear. 🤡

But for myself and anyone that may care, here's the list!

Cassander Inteus, canon, ❤️ Aeran, Melchior

Cassander Sero, Gilded Gorgon, Exile AU, ❤️ Sabir, Nikke

Cassander Ioannidis, Blood Moon AU, ❤️ Roe (coincidentally, this Cass could actually be the half-brother of my canon MC, Angelina. We'll see.)

🤡❤️🤡

[wildmelon]

Hi Lush!! I would love to know more about your Exile MCs if you're willing to share! (Perhaps especially the one with the scar and the one with the horns...) I love hearing about people's OCs. <3

literally thank u sm for this opportunity MWAH can't believe i get to dump all this info out rn omg

phaedra vimeral, the white wolf | tortured by what-ifs. who was she supposed to be-- was it taken from her-- which time-- what now-- do not think, do not feel. she is dead, because this is not life. the life was bled out of her, slowly and then in a moment. fault, fault, fault, a heartbeat in her chest-- mine-- not mine--

callisto drevaspa, the gilded gorgon | she will be forgiven. she must be. there can be no life otherwise. despair in waves. all that patience must have had a purpose. do not question if that is true because it must be it must be. hope is the only way to stay alive. the possibilities bring tears-- home-- one day, one day, one day--

ursa kareskol, the deathless demon | she is burning, always. always has been. what is wrong with her-- nothing. do not wonder. was it born or made-- does she like it, the anger-- does it help, the fury-- is her rage really the weakest thing about her-- why-- why-- why--

leto carian, the painted phoenix | matter-of-fact. this is it, and they will bear it. do not dwell and do not stop. this is not torture, this is life. this is not death by a thousand cuts, this is the truth. this is, and there is nothing to be done about it. they will not capitulate. bear it. on, on, on.

[i-mybrunettelady]

2 & 14 for mirka, 11 & 17 for siona and 20 for some cass on main [echowilds]

a lot of beebs + you're enabling him, ily

Mirka

2. Their emotional/moral weak spots

Almost losing Kov while he was in the womb. She isn't weak for much but Kov and there are days where she cries knowing she could've lost him on the way to her father's home. It hits really close to home for her.

14. Ingrained habits/forces of habit

Cleaning armor, even when it's fully cleaned. Her day does not fully manifest till she's brushed her armor, even if perfunctorily. Also looking on her eye-level when she's talking to someone and it takes her a quick moment to realise not everyone's 9'3 and she has to look down to look at them in the eye lmao

Siona

11. Bad or petty habits

I'm not sure how bad or petty this is, but only thing that comes to mind is this face she makes when she dislikes someone without exception, like she bit into a particularly bitter lemon. She still makes a variant of it when she's gotta be diplomatic lmao She's nothing if not direct

17. Regrets

Not being able to dissuade Cadeyrn from making Nightmare Court happen.

Cass on main (under the cut for spoilers)

20. What-ifs/Alternate Timelines

Only fully acceptable Cass AU is his Exile one, where he's known as Cassander Sero, the Gilded Gorgon. He's a snakeman with glamour and charm powers. Also hella angst because Exile is angsty. Highly recommend. Currently into another snakeman, Nikke Ivante.

If the Spire didn't fall, he would've never fallen in love with Aeran. I know, weird, him not being in love with our beloved clown archer

Strictly speaking, his canon has two routes, canonical alternate timelines if you will: 1) in which events unfold thusly that allows him to actually be with Aeran by the end of ep. 2; 2) in which one event doesn't happen and that makes sure he doesn't know Aeran's feelings for him so he sleeps with Mel and is predicted to be developing a crush as we speak. CassMel clears my skin and feeds my children. Certain chapters in Tales of the Red Wayfarer feature CassMel (happiness, symbols, imagination). Tales are a good source of Cass lore and I'm two prompts away from finishing it!

[anxietytwist]

𝐘𝐯𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞 𝐋𝐲𝐧𝐳𝐚𝐥

“𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐺𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝐺𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑜𝑛”

[ 𝟹𝟷 | 𝟼'𝟺" | Demigirl | Greysexual | 𝐒𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐫♥︎𝐍𝐢𝐤𝐤𝐞 ]

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⊰𝕱𝖆𝖘𝖍𝖎𝖔𝖓⊱

“Casual” clothing (loose tunics & leather pants), she also prefers to have very little skin showing since the current state of their body causes them MASSIVE dysphoria ☹️ ✱ They've always wanted to wear pretty things ... but fear that they'd make them ugly now ✱

She prefers to wear a mix of leather & chainmail armour (they DO NOT want to wear their old “𝐺𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝐺𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑜𝑛” armour 😶)

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⊰𝕹𝖔𝖙𝖆𝖇𝖑𝖊 𝕾𝖈𝖆𝖗𝖘⊱

+ the scar on their ribs from 𝐕𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐧𝐚 stabbing them 😓

⚠️𝗧𝗪 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗺 𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗪⚠️

Whenever she experiences overwhelming distress 𝐘𝐯𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞 defaults to pain as the primary way of grounding herself ... a lot of the scars covering her body (except those listed above & her “vivisection” scars 😬) have been self-inflicted during such episodes...

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“𝐂𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐥”

I really hope we get to see our horse (+ 𝐓𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐞 & 𝐏𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐭) again ... 𝐘𝐯𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞 really needs some emotional-support horse therapy ♡

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⊰𝕹𝖔𝖙𝖊𝖘⊱

ᴍʏᴛʜᴏꜱɪ➙ Half-gorgon (🦷 / 👅 / 👁️ / 💅🏻 / 🐍) ʙᴜɪʟᴅ➙ 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘲𝘶𝘦 ᴘʀᴏɴᴏᴜɴꜱ➙ She/They ꜰᴀʟꜱᴇ ɴᴀᴍᴇ➙ “𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞” ꜰᴀᴠᴇ ᴄᴏʟᴏᴜʀ➙ 𝘛𝘦𝘢𝘭 ꜰᴀᴠᴇ ꜱɴᴀᴄᴋ➙ Pretzels ��� ᴡᴇᴀᴘᴏɴ➙ 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘈𝘹𝘦 (“Oblivion”) ʜᴏʙʙʏ➙ Cooking (they do most of the party's meal prep during the “suicide mission”)

❧ Despite EVERYTHING that's happened to her, 𝐘𝐯𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞 is still a kind & genuine person at heart 💔

❧ They are NOT a fan of coffee (they think it tastes like dirt)

❧ 𝐘𝐯𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞 is resentful towards most of the people from her “past” (sans 𝐒𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐫, 𝐄𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐝𝐚, 𝐓𝐫𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧, & 𝐎𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧) & doesn't view 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵𝘂𝘀 as a “home” that she ever truly belonged in, even though she DOES miss aspects of her “old life” at times 😔

❧ They've always loved stargazing, it's one of the only decompressing activities that they could freely do ANYWHERE they were posted (& doing so at the coast was their favourite, the sounds of the waves made it 𝟷𝟶x better)

❧ Even though she was groomed into a killing machine, 𝐘𝐯𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞 tries her very best to only “incapacitate” her foes (she really just wants to protect people ... not kill them 😞) & if she actually had the choice she'd definitely be a pacifist ...

❧ Won't hesitate to throw themselves into danger to keep others safe (even if they're currently injured ... their lack of self-preservation only increased after their exile)

❧ On top of her constant mental anguish, she also suffers from chronic pain (though no one would be able to tell due to her taught high pain tolerance & general indifference to her own bodily health) 🤕

❧ Before their exile 𝐘𝐯𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞 was a much more jovial person: they smiled a lot, cracked light-hearted jokes, openly expressed most of their emotions, were freer with casual touch, more likely to forgive transgressions, & actually had the capacity to fully trust others (with 𝐕𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐧𝐚'𝐬 help they've slowly begun to open up again)

❧ She LOVES her big sister; even now after EVERYTHING she knows that 𝐄𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐝𝐚, somehow, still loves her despite her exile & everything that followed (plus, unlike 𝐄𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞, 𝐄𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐝𝐚 actually tried to stand up for her when their mother was being “cruel” ... even though she was just a child then too) 😭

❧ Their feelings towards their mom (𝐄𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞) are best described as pity & heartbreak ... despite the obvious love she holds for them, she NEVER tried to stop the abuse directed at 𝐘𝐯𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞 by her own wife (they think she's a coward & still loves her even though they know she'll never stand up for them ... or 𝐄𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐝𝐚)

❧ 𝐘𝐯𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞 used to be very close with her mother (𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞), she was the only parent 𝐘𝐯𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞 would go to for comfort as a child (especially after a nightmare); their relationship had begun to fracture when they were 𝟷ˢᵗ appointed as Commander ... it was only after she forced 𝐘𝐯𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞 to take the “experimental dose” that it completely shattered (due to the constant abuse she suffered at her mother's behest, she feels nothing but disdain for her now ... even though deep DEEP down she still wishes her mother unconditionally loved her); nowadays she addresses her as “Mother” only in a derisive fashion since she feels it highlights how much of an absolute failure she is as a parent 😠

❧ They'll never forget what 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐲 did for them & fully intends to repay their debt whenever they end up meeting again (despite the lingering dread they feel about what EXACTLY the expected favour will be)

❧ She DID bite 𝐍𝐢𝐤𝐤𝐞 during their impromptu spar (hopefully biting someone doesn't mean anything specific™ to Gorgons 😏)

❧ Their relationship with 𝐒𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐫 started 𝟸 years after he became their charge; it was actually 𝐘𝐯𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞'𝐬 𝟷ˢᵗ time being genuinely “wanted” by somebody because of WHO THEY WERE as a person & not WHAT they represented in 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵𝘂𝘀 (& the fact that he still cares for them makes them feels a little less broken inside ♥︎) ... he's been their 𝟷ˢᵗ for a lot of things 👀

❧ She's very “reserved” when she likes™ someone (which has only happened twice now), but once 𝐘𝐯𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞 gets comfortable with her feelings for that person she does become more “bold” during her interactions with them 😳

❧ 𝐘𝐯𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞'𝐬 PTSD is very present in their mind, & they use to be quite proficient at calming themselves down ... recent events have made it almost impossible for them to cope in a healthy manner though

❧ She IS going to make sure EVERYONE survives this “mission”, even if it ends up KILLING her in the end ... she refuses to lose anyone else to her mother's pointless war games

❧ Despite refusing to make a deal with 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦 while they were jailed (CHP𝟺), 𝐘𝐯𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞 did finally cave-in & agreed to a covenant after their one-on-one conversation (CHP𝟻)

❧ ...

𝐘𝐯𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞: 𝘈 𝘨𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘯𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘹𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺, 𝘤𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺𝘳 𝘴𝘺𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘦, & 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴 ...

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𝐼𝐹: @exilethegame

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[Pre-exile appearance]

𝗛𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗴™ 👌👌👌 (+ how I picture their voice)

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Picrew used:

[punkrangerdraws]

Huevember part 7: Aurelian for @the-rebel-archivist

[night-triumphantt]

🐍🐍.

(Go read @exilethegame :>)

[quietsphere]

Justice.

@exilethegame

[nanowatzophina]

Another set of four. Cuz… wow… I just got a vibe apparently.

Doodles. That’s all I got.

I apologize.

@exilethegame I’ll tell u again. I’ll tell you a thousand times. Go read this fragging story. It’s amazing.

[bonesif]

You are a soldier.

The exile

Emery Belrai & Vethna Mevnrael

Word count: 3101

Warnings: graphic descriptions of injuries, angst

AO3 link

Emery Belrai, in all their flirting and carefree quips, has a knack for getting themself hurt. Vethna has noticed this. But Emery was /The Gilded Gorgon/— they've dealt with worse. They know how to handle themself. They can deal with this on their own... right?

Angsty drabble based on this injury writing prompt by @creativepromptsforwriting. Ao3 link is above!