Emet-Selch

                   “I also take offense to my portrayal                        as a megalomaniacal madman.”

   There was no such thing as secrets between them. There hearts were always bare to the other, a naked canvas for only their eyes and their eyes alone to roam and know, to feel and listen. Words that might sound brunt or hard to another but simple truths to them. Facts given freely to judge and know only truths. This was what their love was. No holding back or saving face. Them given. Fully and accepting. 

It was why Hyth had gotten upset earlier, knowing full well hiding his disdain was off the table, and this was why Hades told him simply without brushing it away, that he and he alone was his heart. Not this woman of power who matching him painting along the hallways walls, mounted besides one another. 

His heart. His soul…was Hythlodaeus. He living proof of who he loved all this time, even apart. The specs of hi soul in eachother was a bond that transcended time and space and everything in between. Unconditional. Unchallenged. Unmovable. Hyth always knew it but it still made him smile that he continued to go unchallenged. ‘’She sounds wonderful darling. Quite the fetching catch.” The lavender haired ancient mused with a loud dramatic snort and an eyeroll of heavily divine lilac hues. So he just being here would make her feel threatened? Good. Yes, he was a petty man and damn proud of it.

“So you’re saying my presence alone has the potential to start all out civil war? Sounds fun~” Ever in it for the chaos, who was he to turn down so much havoc making? In that case he already knew what he would say as he came to stand before his soulmate, his hand claiming Hades’s own in a tight promising hold, squeezing his digits before pulling his bare hand to his lips. This was his road to walk and he would choose it willingly so long as he took it with Hades from now on. No. No longer would he make Hades toil in the torment alone. 

Together or not at all.

“I will be your lover for this world and the worlds in between to bare witness too. No longer will I be a shadow. Let the gods and folly know my name. I am here to stay and tot love you with the might of ten thousand years in waiting. This is the path I choose. My hand is yours is all that matters. You lead. I follow. You ask, I do, blindly and in love. Have me as your side. Let me share and bask in the chaos. We make it as one.” His free hand reached up to caress his beloved with a slow slide of slender fingers. “Concubine, paramour, lover, whore. Whatever bloody name or title I must abide by, I do it gladly.’’ He smirked that mischievous grin of his. “Besides I don’t think I could do one more minute of pretending i’m not woefully in love with you. Far too much effort, darling~” With that he let the other man go to instead grab him by the shirt and yank his darling Hades into a deep heated kiss, officially making it known where he stood and what he was willing to do for his lover. His and his alone. The worlds could burn so long as he stayed in his arms just like this. And he would happily be he one to light the flame if need be.

He might have to correct Hythlodaeus later that they aren’t quite aiming for a civil war just yet—merely planting fertile seeds to be harvested at a later point in time if the resulting conflict becomes useful. Such is their method: constantly arranging and rearranging the pieces on the board, always forming multiple contingencies and working around shifting landscapes toward their goals. This is how they keep winning: ever playing the long game, never tied to one set of circumstances. Adapting always.

Hythlodaeus’s sudden reappearance, too, is a feature of that shifting landscape—not only the landscape of Garlemald, but of the Ascian hierarchy. As a fellow Unsundered, his voice will hold equal weight to the three Paragons regardless of not sitting the Convocation himself. Emet-Selch wonders briefly how Lahabrea and Elidibus will receive their dear Architect; for now, he belongs only to him. And with Hythlodaeus’s tongue pressing into his mouth, Hades is content to belong only to Hythlodaeus a little while longer. After all, they have years and even eons to enact their plans, none of which are half so immediate as the heat between their very tangible bodies.

The two of them together once again… serving Lord Zodiark, restoring their world.

Emet-Selch returns the kiss in earnest, answering Hythlodaeus’s fervor with newfound hunger of his own. With that first round of reunion lust having been already slaked there is a regained comfort with one another’s bodies, with their implicit permission to touch one another. Hades’ hands help themselves to Hythlodaeus’s derrière, filling each palm with a cheek and squeezing, as though to say ‘this is mine.’

He walks him thusly toward the bed, throwing him down ungently onto its plush surface once his knees touch the mattress. The bed itself is richly dressed in crimson silk and gold trims, as befits an emperor of Garlemald, and he takes a moment to appreciate the sight of Hythlodaeus sprawled upon it before crawling atop him.

— @lavender-ancient​ and my Dynamis characters are having an eternal bonding ceremony tomorrow night! If you happen to have a character on Seraph or want to create an alt there to attend the ceremony (we’d be tickled if your RP muse who we know on Tumblr shows up), I have about 5 invitations left for Tumblr friends.

As this is also a celebration of the completion of our Amaurot-themed house, there will be a get-together there afterward. Feel free to stop by the house whether or not you can make it to the ceremony!

Things are generally kind of loosely IC-ish and your brand new alts will be forgiven for attending in starting gear. There will be a ton of NPC characters attending, some duplicates, we don't question it. Guests can be ferried from Gridania to the chapel as needed.

Please message me here or in game (Catboy Emet-selch, Seraph) if you would like an invite.

Some house pics under the cut!

@seatedsacrifice​ asked: What childhood obsession(s) did your muse have? Is the muse embarrassed of any of these phases?

childhood headcanon meme → still accepting

I don’t hc that he found his love of theater until he was a bit older, but I think the underlying personality traits that made him love it so much would have loved other kinds of narrative stories too. I don’t have any solid headcanons here but I could see him latching strongly onto a certain character and being a bit of a fanboy (haha cringe amirite?), especially if the character displayed traits that he felt he lacked and wished he had. His lack of charisma interfered with his ability to form friendships from a young age, so I could see his childhood idol being a character who was well-liked and had lots of friends.

@morganaux​ asked: What typically lulled the muse to sleep?

childhood headcanon meme → still accepting

@fourteenth-seat​ asked: *sprints in for your delicious hades lore* Does your muse have siblings? What kind of relationship does the muse have with them? + Why did the muse’s parents/guardians choose their name? Does it hold a special meaning?

childhood headcanon meme → still accepting

Regrettably, I have kind of boring responses for both of these, haha. So I’ll expound a bit more on the how’s and why’s of them being non-answers. 

Does your muse have siblings? What kind of relationship does the muse have with them?

He doesn’t have any siblings, and therefore he doesn’t have any relationships with any siblings. I hc that the Ancients had 100% reliable magical contraceptive methods and took a very responsible approach to parenting, so there weren’t really any “oops” babies, people having kids just out of vanity, or a cultural script that says they’re supposed to reproduce in order to fulfill their purpose in life. Ancients were very communally-minded, and so those who chose to become parents did so if and when they believed that bringing a child into the world was something the world needed at that time. All this is to say I headcanon that Ancients would have had smaller family sizes overall and a more stable population size than what we have IRL.

That isn’t to say that no one ever had any siblings in my headcanons (after all, two children per person would be the replenishment rate of a stable population), but Hades happened to not have any and that was quite common. I also hc Ancients lived so long that their reproductive years were several times longer than the length of a childhood, so it probably would have been rare to be a child at the same time as your siblings.

Why did the muse’s parents/guardians choose their name? Does it hold a special meaning?

I haven’t really thought about what Hades’ name means in their culture, though I have thought about what it doesn’t mean— he isn’t named after a god of death or anything to do with the underworld, and there is no connotation between death and the underworld and the name Hades in Ancient culture. However, an RP once got me thinking about whether the name Hades might have such connotations in later cultures and the present Sundered world, and I could see that coming from him as the Hades in question, rather than being something that predates him being named that.

Of course, the Ascians are supposed to be mysterious and barely known to mortals even by their public-facing Convocation names, but given that Emet-Selch has had a lot of mortal guises over the millennia and a staunch attachment to his own identity, it’s not out of the question that he might have used his real name for some of those. And “priest of Nald’Thal” is one of my standby guises for him—not necessarily an identity he would have lived a whole life in, but something he falls back on now and then when he needs to briefly disguise himself as a mortal and have a convincing enough identity and backstory to go with his presence. So maybe one or two “Hades, priest of Nald’Thal”s have made their way into forbidden lore and passed down legends of tragedies and calamities. Maybe even actual written history, idk.

SADNESS. —  tearing up.  self hugging.  one-arm cross.  an aching chest.  scratchy throat.  a runny nose.  turning away.  deep breaths.  quivery smiles.  crying.  infantile sobbing.  hands gripping each other or an object.  covering mouth.  puffy eyes.  eyes appear red.  voice breaking.  a distant or empty stare.  monotone voice. asking for comfort.  faking a smile.  crumbling.  shaking.  whimpering.  depression.  abusing an unhealthy habit.  withdrawing from others.  big teary eyes.  doing something even if it could hurt them.

ANGER. — furrowed brows.  baring teeth.  passive-aggressive comments.  avoiding eye contact.  sarcasm.   headache.  sore muscles.  hiding clenched fists.  irritability.  jumping to conclusions.  raising voice.  going silent.  demanding immediate action.  keeping it all in until exploding.  body tensing.  making risky decisions.  middle finger.

FEAR. — wanting to flee or hide.  what-ifs.  images of what-could-be flashing in mind. uncontrollable trembling.  rapid breathing.  screaming.  a skewed sense of time.  irritability. keeping silent.  denying fear.  turning away from the cause.  pretending to be brave.  nail-biting.   lip-biting.   scratching skin.  a joking tone but a voice that cracks.  fainting.  insomnia.  panic attacks.  exhaustion.  substance abuse.  tics.  rushing adrenaline.  face draining of colour.  hair lifting on the back of the neck.  feeling rooted to the spot.  making body as small as possible.  staring but not seeing.  crying.  a shrill voice.  whispering.  gripping something or someone.  stuttering.  flinching at noises.  pleading.

EXHAUSTION. — eyes.  mood swings.  hallucinations.  calling people by the wrong name.  dizziness.  denying they’re tired.  slow blinking.   trouble concentrating.  stumbling.  leaning on a doorframe for support.  sluggish movements.  falling asleep someplace that isn’t a bed.  becoming irritated by the smallest things.  “i’m awake, i’m fine.”  shaking so bad they spill their drink.  fall asleep in their clothes.  lay their head on the table because they’re so tired.  passing out.