#afteshi

[writing-is-a-martial-art]

The great OC alphabet caper, letter A

I will probably try to do this by letters, a letter a day perhaps? We'll see how this goes.

name: Arc

age/pronouns: late 30s/early 40s, ze/zir. Ze uses gendered words: wife/spouse, father/dad, sibling. Ze prefers sir to ma'am but captain is always better than any other options.

brief physical description picrew:

brief list of defining traits: calm and chill, person-smart, pacifist, the dad friend, always tired, the captain of a spaceblimp, ze has all the braincells on zir ship but wish ze had somebody to share them with. An I Love My Husband guy - you will probably hear about zir husband and kids five minutes into a conversation with ze. Pictures will appear on first sign of any interest in the subject. Named zir ship after zir husband: Noah.

***

name: Afteshi

age/pronouns: early 40s, she/her

brief physical description: a short, plump woman with straight, long brown hair and black eyes, bronze complexion. Wears practical, toned-down clothing.

brief list of defining traits: kooky scientist who uses the remnants of an ancient demon to perform experiments on souls (she's lovely and not a villain at all I promise), I Love My Wife lady, cheerful and book-smart but not all that good with people. Most likely has ADHD.

***

name: Alex

age: ???, somewhere over 300, they probably lost count themself. Appear to be in their mid-20s. they/them, he/him and occasionally she/her, although almost always comfortable with they/them.

brief physical description: a lanky, androgynous person with straight long black hair, light brown eyes and a pale complexion. They wear bright colors and like to dress fancy.

brief list of defining traits: I Am Literally Just A Baker (runaway evil lord of a dark empire that has collapsed a few centuries ago), they've seen enough shit and now just want to live a quiet life, with new cookie recipes being all the excitement. Kind because they tried everything else and settled on this option. Usually put up a flirtacious, carefree persona.

[writing-is-a-martial-art]

May I request an Uncle God ramble?

Oh, always. (warning this is going to be Long)

Okay, so there are many things I love about this pathetic excuse of a person. First, let's talk a bit about his origin.

He was originally a god of Death, and there are many gods of that sort, few of them nice. He is from a northern country, his legend rooted in the ancient Iiima perception of Death as a guiding creature between worlds, one that has never seen the light of day, which contributed to his pale complexion and colorless hair.

The original benevolence attributed to the ancient god, however, did not stick to the newer legends, his image reimagined into that of a cold and cruel warrior, or sometimes judge, or sometimes thief.

Although belief does not affect a god's personality, it does affect their perception of themself and their memories, and so although Uncle God is not cruel by nature, he thought himself so and, on the occasions when he interacted with humans, acted accordingly, stricking fear into their hearts, until...

So, there's Talima and Afteshi, two genius scientist ladies who, being recently exiled for treason against their empire and on their honeymoon and having the best time of their lives, decided to commit a crime against gods and nature by creating an artificial soul (souls are the power source to everything, so they monopoly gods hold over souls is very important to them).

To do that and not get divine retribution-ed into charcoal, they needed for the god responsible for keeping account of souls to disappear. Yes, that is the God of Death.

The poor deity had nothing on a combination of magic, science, and the element of surprise, and so, quickly and without issue, he got imprisoned in the basement of Talima and Afteshi's castle. He was furious, of course. He wanted revenge and to wreak havoc upon the impudent mortals and all that good jazz.

However, there was a problem. The problem's name is Heshiktow, the child whose soul the scientists artificially created, a homunculus, and also the sweetest creature to ever grace the Aerth with their presence.

They visited the god imprisoned in their basement, whom they came to call Uncle, every day, chatting about their adventures and discoveries and bringing him food. They were quite a lonely child, growing up in a castle in the middle of a forest that was considered haunted, and so their moms, their books, their chimera companions and the funny uncle that lives in the basement were their only friends.

At one point, when Heshi was about 12, their moms went missing as the result of an experiment gone wrong, and so from this age to the age of 16 they were completely alone. They could take care of themself at that point, the castle running on maintenance magic and the Heart Garden always bearing plenty of fruit, but their emotional state was far from good, and their so-called uncle was the only person who they could talk to.

Uncle God and Heshi bonded much closer during this time, and when the events of the story set in motion and Uncle God is released under far-from-perfect circumstances, the first thing he does is exhaust his powers in order to save his nephew, rendering him mortal. That is actually the start of his journey of existential horror, fight with hubris, and discovering the joys and dreads of being somewhat human.

And he looks like this:

Yes, he's a bit of an asshole. Yes, he doesn't know how to human in the slightest and acts like an arrogant god even thought he is rendered a noodle-armed man with about as much power in him as the average snail. He wears anything he considers fit for an (ex) god, from fancy suits to fancier dresses. He's aroace and doesn't really know what a gender is. I love him dearly.

[writing-is-a-martial-art]

I've been thinking about Afteshi and Talima for Quite a While (they're stubborn and won't leave my head) and it resulted in this:

TW: body horror, implied character death

Taglist of people who said they wanted to be tagged in all posts and now suffer the consequences: @euphoniouspandemonium @47crayons @enchanted-lightning-aes

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There's nothing to fear. Your heart-

They say the heart is what you love with, but we know better, don't we?

You won't mind me taking it out for a little bit.

I'll put in a new one, one that will beat and work and keep you here.

Breathe. Please, please breathe.

Alright, if not that-

The brain. That's you, isn't it?

Please tell me it's you.

I know you cannot speak yet, so here are some vocal cords and lungs and a ribcage and a scull and a tongue and lips-

I won't need them, don't worry, don't you worry about me, I'll think of something later.

Eyes- those would be tricky to… here, I hope I placed them right. Can you tell me if I placed them right?

Why are you crying?

I'm fine, I'm just a little tired.

My heart is not what I love you with, so it's fine if it's not beating.

Just make sure yours does.