Scout rolls over and smacks his alarm clock across the top—the ringing doesn’t stop, so he hits it again, and it tumbles off of his nightstand and in the almost pitch-black of his room he’s barely able to make out the phone almost vibrating off the hook, barely illuminated by the digital clock on its display. It’s still an hour behind—he never figured out how to fix that—but it would be two-something AM. Jeez.
He picks it up, mourning the loss of heat as he sits up out of the covers, yawning into the receiver. A feminine voice says something incomprehensible, so he says: “Huh?”
“Scout, listen,” Pauling curtly replies—something bangs in the background, maybe a gun. Is she still working? “What kind of, um, citrus… helps you dissolve corpses?”
His brain feels like wet goop, pooling out of his ears. He clumsily cradles the phone between his head and shoulder so he can rub the crust out of his eyes. “I don’t… Ms. P, it’s like, two…”
“Quicklime. It’s quicklime. Haha.”
“… Slow down, dude.” He yawns again, makes sure to make this one a little extra obnoxious. “What?”
“It’s a joke. Because it’s like—lime. Like a fruit but, um, also like quicklime. Oh fuck,” and then what Scout imagines to be a little kitten heel driving itself through someone’s eye, as another scream rings out, alongside a sickening squelch. “You know? Heh.”
He slides the rest of the way back under the covers and sighs. “… Oh.”
“Was it funny?”
“I think—“
“Be honest. Constructive criticism, stuff I can really use. Hit me.”
Scout’s sinuses feel like they’re full of cement. “Is this all you called me for?”
“No. Yes. Please just answer the question. And do you think it’d play to an audience?”
Scout thinks about Demo saying something along the lines of ‘if anyone breaks that poor lass’ heart by telling her that none of her jokes make any sense I’m personally gonna destroy everything you hold dear or whatever’. He opts for the reasonable copout: “I liked it.”
“Honestly.”
Shit. “Okay, jeez.“ Scout yawns again, mostly to stall for time. “… You could workshop it a little, kinda. Maybe.”
The line goes dead, immediately. Scout clatters the phone back on the hook and rolls back into the covers, groaning, and then the phone rings again, and he quickly picks it back up and doesn’t bother to open his eyes this time. “Hey, Ms. Pauling.”
“I’m sorry. I got upset.”
“I know.”
"I'll… take it into account."
"Okay." When Pauling doesn't say anything back, he adds: "You're gettin’ there."
"… Thanks, Scout."
He considers saying 'call me at seven next time', like he always considers, but like usual he just feels some part of that would be kind of cruel. “Goodnight, Ms. Pauling.”
"Um, sweet dreams." About half of a shrill shriek somewhere around her gets cut off by her hanging up. Whatever.
He sets the phone back on his nightstand, and then thinks better of it and slots it back into the dock, and then buries his head in his hands and shakes his head until he feels like he's able to sit still enough to go back to bed.
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new oc batch ready! 8 more of these guys lol. the whole deal with this set is they’re from the artisan guild- lunar flair! intentionally spelled like “flair” as in “style” or “a flare for ____” rather than “flare”
basically all the members of the guild are different kinds of artists with different niches (and varying degrees of diva-ness). it’s pretty easy to tell who does what based on the everything about them, but if you want more info their bios are still under the cut!
Name: Jupiter
Name Origin: The planet of course
Pronouns: He/him
Age: 52
Guild rank: Guildmaster
Weapon: Lightning rods
Ethos (Power): Gigantomachy. He can make himself (even more) giant
Flaw power is based on: His overly protective nature, especially where the guild is concerned.
Notes: Literally the nicest guy ever until you provoke him though
Name: Erinome (Erin)
Name Origin: A moon of jupiter, the exact meaning of it’s name is murky but it can refer to grace or purity
Pronouns: She/her
Age: 13
Guild rank: 2 star
Weapon: A Book.
Ethos (Power): Poetic Imagery. Illusions cast forth by his her poems that change the appearance of the physical environment
Flaw power is based on: Her escapist indulgence in fantasy
Notes: You know, like, the pen is mightier than the sword and all that.
Name: Pictor
Name Origin: The constellation meaning “painter”
Pronouns: He/him
Age: 23
Guild rank: 3 star
Weapon: Giant paintbrush
Ethos (Power): Ardor. He can create three-dimensional things with his paintbrush. However they are not animate or alive.
Flaw power is based on: His conceited nature in regards to his own work.
Notes: Goes to museums to talk about how he could probably do it better anyway
Name: Oberon
Name Origin: A moon of the planet Uranus, it gets it’s name from the king of the fairies in Renaissance literature. Notably in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night's Dream
Pronouns: He/him
Age: 29
Guild rank: 5 star
Weapon: Rapier
Ethos (Power): Fantasia. An illusion of changing his own appearance.
Flaw power is based on: His theatrical nature, of course
Notes: Why is he ourple?
Name: Syrma
Name Origin: A star in virgo, it’s name refers to the train of a garment (Typically worn by actors in tragedies)
Pronouns: She/her
Age: 25
Guild rank: 4 star
Weapon: Giant needle
Ethos (Power): Binding threads. She can create stitches on any solid objects and bind them to each other. Including people- The stitches are manifested energy and do not hurt.
Flaw power is based on: The dependency she often has on bonds- i.e. threads that bind people.
Notes: She makes and models all her own clothes.
Name: Parumleo
Name Origin: A star in Pisces, it’s name means “small lion”
Pronouns: They/he
Age: 19
Guild rank: 3 star
Weapon: Microphone bardiche
Ethos (Power): Persuasion. If they can make you laugh you’ll temporarily have to follow his orders. Though it’s too weak to call full-blown mind control, and fairly easy to snap out of.
Flaw power is based on: His desire to be liked by others.
Notes: They’re like a lolcat. They can haz cheezburger.
Name: Leda
Name Origin: A moon of jupiter, the name means swan.
Pronouns: She/her
Age: 28
Guild rank: 4 star
Weapon: Duel ribbons
Ethos (Power): Poise. Complete and utter weightlessness.
Flaw power is based on: Her carefree and utterly absent-minded nature.
Notes: You guys know swan lake right? Well, there ya go.
Name: Styx
Name Origin: A moon of pluto that gets it’s name from the river of the underworld. Yeah it’s also a rock band.
Pronouns: She/they
Age: 20
Guild rank: 3 star
Weapon: Axe-guitar.
Ethos (Power): Vibrato. Powerful soundwaves cast by her axe-guitar
Flaw power is based on: Her brash and blasé attitude
Notes: Calls everyone “baby” or “babe” because they’re a cool rockstar.
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my 20 year old coworker had me follow her on instagram and she's kind of trying to be an influencer basically, but she just posted an instagram story that's just four photos in chronological order of her eating a baby carrot and it says "carrot 🥕"
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