The setup for my creepypasta world
(I dont like calling it an AU cuz that implies a creepypasta "canon" and lets be real there is no such thing. So my world <3)
The Creepypastas are split into two factions: Nofaces (cared for by Slenderman) and Manymouths (cared for by Zalgo). Who a Pasta goes with usually depends on who gave them this life in the first place; for example, Clockwork could have never escaped that facility without Slender's help, and Smile Dog wouldn't even exist without Zalgo. The public knows of these two factions as the "No-Face Cult" and "Seven Mouths Cult" due to their Pasta Activity always invoking their images.
Slender and Zalgo have their own Sicknesses they use to control and give power to their Pastas and victims. Slender Sickness is characterized by coughing, nausea, irritability, insomnia, and excessive nosebleeds. Zalgo Sickness is characterized by extreme paranoia, manic episodes, and eyes and gums bleeding. Due to Slender Sickness affecting one's perception of reality, attempts to capture their view on camera are met with static garbled messes of visual noise. Zalgo Sickness effects, on the other hand, spread through visuals and is much easier to capture on camera.
Due to Slender and Zalgo being at odds with one another, this carries over to their Sicknesses. Pastas on opposite sides that spend more than a few hours with each other report splitting headaches, nosebleeds, and weakness, along with being unable to use whatever powers they've been gifted. Injuries that normally don't affect them also suddenly become a problem.
"Stealing" Pastas from each other is also not unheard of, though due to the effort it takes they don't do it often; only if they can see a real advantage in having them on their side or the Pasta themself doesn't want to be under their current Overseer's control. Jane and Liu couldn't stand to share a space with Jeff, so they left to grow under Zalgo's care instead. In retaliation, Slender stole Smile and Grinny with the promise of a more luxurious life (seeing as Zalgo rarely let them indulge in their behaviors outside their respective sources).
Similarly, pretty much all of the Haunted Video Games and Lost Episodes and the like were all created by Zalgo, and all of them instead moved under Slender, who gave them more influence and control over their source media. While Zalgo Sickness only affects what's already there, Slender Sickness' affect on technology allowed them to break more outside their coding and let them have some fun with it. There's a dedicated Game Room in the Slender Mansion to safely store all of their source medias for them to come and go as they please. Speaking of which...
There's 2 non-euclidean mansions in a clearing of a forest. It's not just the Slender Mansion, but a Zalgo Mansion as well for Zalgo and all his underlings. They're both in a VERY heavily wooded area, separated by a raging Lake that's prone to flooding; yet, the properties are connected by a bridge over the Lake so the two worlds aren't totally separate. Nobody really remembers who built the bridge, but everyone knows there's no tearing it down.
The mansions serve as a safe space and reconvening point for the Pastas; as safe as a space can be when all your roommates are knife-wielding maniacs or otherworldly demons, that is. There is a general truce agreement between everyone, but that doesn't mean theyre all friends with each other. Many Pastas have a fundamental disagreement with each other, or just in general don't care. They can play nice enough to share a common room, but if even that gets to be too much, everybody has their own rooms tailored to their needs, that can be locked or hidden away in the mansion whenever they need some alone time. That isn't something they can do on command, it's moreso at the Overseer's whim.
The Pastas can stay as long as they want at the mansion... but eventually, they'll have to fulfill their end of the unspoken contract they have with their Overseer. In exchange for all their power and second chance with a better life, they must go kill and wreak havoc in the name of their Overseer to further spread their influence. Nofaces leave operator symbols and Slender Pages at the scenes of their crimes, while Manymouths leave Sickness-inducing pages of their own on their outings. These crimes can range anywhere from graffiti-tagging important buildings all the way to massacres of entire neighbirhoods; whatever the Overseers tell them to do, they must.
If a Pasta tries to defy them, it's met with heavier symptoms of their Sickness and stripping of their powers until they comply. The method is to starve them until they're desperate enough to comply, and make defiance a punishment they'd do anything to avoid.
Basically its like the mafia. All fun and games and feeling tough until you dont wanna do it and you gotta realize they werent asking you. Youre GONNA do it. Theres no leaving da Pasta life kid. Youre done when the Overseer says youre done.
